Aganaanooru 190 – Nothing happened but everything did

In this episode, we perceive a curious way of revealing something, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 190, penned by Ulochchanaar. The verse is situated amidst the playful waves of the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ and narrates a non-incident. திரை உழந்து அசைஇய நிரைவளை ஆயமொடுஉப்பின் குப்பை ஏறி, எல் பட,வரு திமில் எண்ணும் துறைவனொடு, ஊரேஒரு தன் கொடுமையின் அலர் பாடும்மே;அலமரல் மழைக் கண் அமர்ந்து நோக்காள்;அலையல் வாழி! வேண்டு, அன்னை! உயர்சிமைப்பொதும்பில், புன்னைச் சினை சேர்பு இருந்தவம்ப நாரை இரிய, ஒரு நாள்,பொங்கு வரல் ஊதையொடு புணரி அலைப்பவும்,உழைக்கடல் வழங்கலும் உரியன்; அதன்தலைஇருங் கழிப் புகாஅர் பொருந்தத் தாக்கிவயச் சுறா எறிந்தென, வலவன் அழிப்ப,எழில் பயம் குன்றிய சிறை அழி தொழிலநிரைமணிப் புரவி விரைநடை தவிர,இழுமென் கானல் விழு மணல் அசைஇ,ஆய்ந்த பரியன் வந்து, இவண்மான்ற மாலைச் சேர்ந்தன்றோ இலனே! In this trip to the restoring seashore, we get to hear the confidante say these words to the lady’s foster mother: “Tired out from playing in the waves along with playmates, wearing neat rows of bangles, climbing upon the salty sand heaps, as the day ends, young maiden would count approaching ships in the shores of the lord. This town of ours, owing to its matchless cruelty, spreads slander about him. Your girl did not cast her darting, rain-like eyes on him; So torture her not, mother! May you live long! Listen! In the orchards with soaring tree tops, on the branch of a laurel wood tree, a stork that had flown from far away was resting. Making it screech aloud and scatter away, one day, as the sea waves were tossing and turning, pushed by the cold winds, the lord came riding by the shore; At this time, near the river mouth in the backwaters, his horses were attacked by a shark. Owing to this, the charioteer stopped and removed the yokes of those horses, clad with many bells, which had lost their health and speed, and made them rest there. Until, the time in the late evening, when resoundingly, making the fine sands of the shore quiver, new horses were brought thither, the man stayed here; But you should know that he united not with her!” Time to surf the turbulent waves of this shore! The confidante starts by describing the man’s shore, talking about a place where maiden enjoy playing in the shores all day and then count the ships arriving to their shore by evening. A subtle reference to the prosperous sea trade in the man’s domain! Returning, we see how the confidante turns her attention to the issue in their own town, the way the townsfolk were spreading slander about her friend’s relationship with the man, reiterating that the lady had never looked at him with her rain-like eyes. She requests mother not to torment lady because of this gossip. Then, she goes on to talk about a day, when the man had been going through their town by the shore, when a shark had attacked and wounded his horses. Owing to this mishap, the man’s charioteer had stopped the chariot, removed the horses from their yokes and made them rest. Till the time, fresh horses were brought, the man had stayed on the sands of their shore, the confidante explains and concludes by saying, this was all and the man and the lady never came together.  On the surface, it seems like simple supportive words, vouching for a friend’s behaviour. However, we need to understand the dynamics of communication in these poems. Here, the confidante is saying one thing, and meaning another thing, in fact the exact opposite. Through this, she intends to reveal to the lady’s foster mother, who happens to be her own mother, about how the lady did look at the man with her beautiful eyes and how the man too fell in love with the lady, and had been frequenting their shores. In this roundabout way, by telling something did not happen, she tells mother that it indeed did happen. This information would supposedly be uncoded by the lady’s foster mother, and then taken to the lady’s mother and the entire family, setting the stage for the man to come and seek the lady’s hand. A bizarre way of revealing information indeed, something which makes me wonder what particular thing we do now would evoke the same reaction, some two thousand years later!