Aganaanooru 158 – How will she dare?

In this episode, we observe how communication is used effectively to convey two different things to two different people, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 158, penned by Kabilar. The verse is situated amidst the slopes and fields of the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain landscape’ and portrays the intriguing way in which the confidante rises to the aid of the lady. ”உரும் உரறு கருவிய பெரு மழை தலைஇ,பெயல் ஆன்று அவிந்த தூங்குஇருள் நடுநாள்,மின்னு நிமிர்ந்தன்ன கனங்குழை இமைப்ப,பின்னு விடு நெறியின் கிளைஇய கூந்தலள்,வரை இழி மயிலின் ஒல்குவனள் ஒதுங்கி,மிடை ஊர்பு இழிய, கண்டனென் இவள்” எனஅலையல் வாழி! வேண்டு, அன்னை! நம் படப்பைச்சூருடைச் சிலம்பில், சுடர்ப்பூ வேய்ந்துதாம் வேண்டு உருவின் அணங்குமார் வருமே;நனவின் வாயே போலத் துஞ்சுநர்க்கனவு ஆண்டு மருட்டலும் உண்டே; இவள்தான்சுடர் இன்று தமியளும் பனிக்கும்; வெருவரமன்ற மராஅத்த கூகை குழறினும்,நெஞ்சு அழிந்து அரணம் சேரும்; அதன்தலைப்புலிக் கணத்தன்ன நாய் தொடர்விட்டு,முருகன் அன்ன சீற்றத்துக் கடுந் திறல்எந்தையும் இல்லன் ஆக,அஞ்சுவள் அல்லளோ, இவள் இது செயலே? This unique trip to the hills takes us in the presence of the confidante, as she says these words to mother, when the man listens nearby, hidden from view: “Saying, “After a heavy downpour accompanied by roaring thunder, when the rains have ceased in that dark hour of midnight, when a mist of darkness pervades, akin to a lightning streak that suddenly flashes, her heavy earrings sparkled. With tresses that had escaped from the tightness of her braids, with the hesitant gait of a peacock when descending down a hill, I saw her coming down from the loft in the fields’, do not rebuke her so. May you live long! Listen to me, mother! In the mountain slopes near our hamlet, filled with spirits many, wearing flaming flowers, those apparitions might take on any form of their choice and descend down. They could appear so real in the dreams of those who sleep and confuse them;  As for her, she would shiver even if she was caught alone without a lamp in hand; When the owl perched atop the burflower tree in the town centre hoots aloud, terrorised, she would lose her calm and rush to find a place of safety; On top of that, when father, who has the ferocious strength and fury of God Murugan, and who roves with hunting dogs, which are like an ambush of tigers, remains at home, won’t she fear to do this?” Time to brave the dark and walk the ups and downs of the hilly terrain! The confidante starts by asking mother not to trouble the lady. From the confidante’s words, we understand that mother had been worried that the lady has been out trysting with the man. In fact, mother had been talking about how she had glimpsed the lady, climbing down the loft in the fields, as if she were a dainty peacock, descending down the hill, and come walking, with her earrings flashing like lightning on a dark night after the rains. After repeating these words of hers, the confidante tells mother that she was mistaken, and goes on to talk about how their mountain slopes were full of spirits and that they often take human forms of their choice and rove around, adorned with flowers. After trying to impress on mother that she might have dreamt seeing the lady because of the tricks of one such spirit, which makes people believe that what they saw was the truth, when it was nothing more than a dream.  Then, the confidante also mentions what a scaredy-cat the lady is, for she was someone who was afraid to even be alone in the dark, and would scream and rush to find someone, when she hears the owl on the bur-flower tree hooting in the middle of the night. Besides, last but not least, father, ferocious father, known to be out hunting with his fearsome dogs, was right there at home. ‘How will the lady dare to do what you think she has done?’, the confidante concludes by questioning mother! On the one hand, this is the confidante’s way of removing any doubts in mother’s mind about the lady’s relationship with the man by pulling a fast one about wandering mountain spirits and what-not. At the same time, the confidante is saying to the listening man, ‘Do you see what kind of stories I have to weave to confuse mother and keep her from suspecting your relationship with the lady? How long do you think mother darling is going to fall for it?’. Through this, the confidante allays mother’s anxiety about the lady’s activities, and also nudges the man to conclude that his temporary trysting cannot go on and that it was time to seek the lady’s hand. A classic case of one stone, two birds!