Kalithogai 115 – Angst and Assurance

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we perceive the fearful stance of the lady, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 115, penned by Chozhan Nalluruthiran. The verse is situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest Landscape’ and sketches a domestic scene and its consequences in the life of the lady.

தலைவி
தோழி! நாம் காணாமை உண்ட கடுஙகள்ளை, மெய்கூர
நாணாது சென்று நடுங்க உரைத்தாங்குக்,
கரந்ததூஉம் கையொடு கோட்பட்டாம் கண்டாய், நம்
புல்லினத்து ஆயர் மகன்சூடி வந்ததோர்
முல்லை ஒரு காழும் கண்ணியும், மெல்லியால்!
கூந்தலுள் பெய்து முடித்தேன் மன் தோழி! யாய்
வெண்ணெய் உரைஇ விரித்த கதுப்போடே,
அன்னையும் அத்தனும் இல்லரா யாய் நாண,
அன்னை முன் வீழ்ந்தன்று அப் பூ;
அதனை வினவலும் செய்யாள், சினவலும் செய்யாள்,
நெருப்புக் கை தொட்டவர் போல விதிர்த்திட்டு,
நீங்கிப் புறங்கடை போயினாள்; யானும் என்
சாந்து உளர் கூழை முடியா நிலம் தாழ்ந்த
பூங்கரை நீலம் தழீஇத் தளர்பு ஒல்கிப்
பாங்கரும் கானத்து ஒளித்தேன்;

தோழி
…………………… அதற்கு எல்லா!
ஈங்கு எவன் அஞ்சுவது?
அஞ்சல் – அவன் கண்ணி நீ புனைந்தாய் ஆயின் நமரும்
அவன்கண் அடைசூழ்ந்தார் நின்னை; அகல்கண்
வரைப்பில் மணல் தாழப் பெய்து, திரைப்பில்
வதுவையும் ஈங்கே அயர்ப; அதுவேயாம்
அல்கலும் சூழ்ந்த வினை.

A simple verse relaying a problem and its solution as well! The words can be translated as follows:

“Lady
My dear friend, akin to how someone, after drinking strong toddy without others knowing, starts shivering, and then, without shame, owns up their act before others, I have been caught redhanded with that which I was hiding! This is how it happened: Taking a jasmine strand from the head garland worn by the son of the goatherds, I tied that within my tresses. When I came home, foster mother untied my hair to rub it with ghee. At this time, both mother and father were at home too. Making foster mother confused, before her, fell a flower from that strand. Neither did she query me about it nor did she get angry about it. Akin to someone who has touched fire, she stood up, shaking her hands, and left from there to step into the backyard. As for me, without tying up my tresses, covered with dried-up sandalwood paste, pulling up my blue attire, with a floral border hanging low, taking unsteady steps, I ran to hide in the dense grove nearby!

Confidante
Hey dear! Why do you fear? Fear not! Knowing that you tied his garland in your tresses, our kin have decided to offer you to him; In the wide open spaces of the front yard, spreading sands and covering with a canopy, they are making arrangements for your wedding; That’s the thing we wished they would do, every single day!”

Time to delve into the details. The verse is situated in the context of revealing a lady’s relationship with the man to her kin. Though the theme comes from the young love phase of the mountain landscape, elements of life from the herder’s community places the same in this forest domain. These words are spoken by the lady and her confidante. The lady starts the conversation with an interesting simile. She paints the portrait of a person who has gone and secretly drunk up some strong liquor. Later, when they start shivering because of its side effects, they will be pushed to a state of shamelessly owning up their act of getting sloshed. That’s what happened to her, she says, and then elaborates by relating to her friend, an incident at home. Apparently, the lady had tied a jasmine flower strand from the head garland of her beloved, the son of goatherds. Later, when she was at home, her foster mother, wanting to do some hair grooming, had opened out the tresses of the lady, and that jasmine strand fell down just then. Without getting angry, without incessant questioning, the foster mother seemed to have simply got up, shaking her hand as if she had touched fire and moved out into the backyard. On top of this, the lady’s mother and father were also at home, just then, the lady says. Shocked by the incident, the lady seems to have run out, tresses loose, holding her favourite attire of a blue skirt with a floral pattern, and hidden in the grove nearby.

Hearing all this, the confidante tells her not to fear at all, for the lady’s parents, understanding their girl’s heart, had decided to wed her to that young man, and at the moment, they were making preparations to spread the sand and tie the tent to conduct the wedding- the very thing the lady and confidante had dreamt about, for long. The joy we feel, when those around us understand and fulfil our heart’s desires, even before we ask for the same, is evident in the verse. Incidentally, it’s also a feeling, which can be felt in equal measure, when we do something like that for someone we love!