Aganaanooru 26 – Then and Now

In this episode, we perceive a moment when the heart wins over the head, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 26, penned by Paandiyan Kaanapereyil Thantha Ukkira Peruvazhuthi. The verse is situated amidst the lush fields of the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and sketches the nuanced changes in a woman’s life after childbirth. கூன் முள் முள்ளிக் குவிகுலைக் கழன்ற,மீன் முள் அன்ன, வெண் கால் மா மலர்பொய்தல் மகளிர் விழவு அணிக் கூட்டும்அவ் வயல் நண்ணிய வளம் கேழ் ஊரனைப்புலத்தல் கூடுமோ தோழி! அல்கல்பெருங் கதவு பொருத யானை மருப்பின்இரும்பு செய் தொடியின் ஏர ஆகி,மாக் கண் அடைய மார்பகம் பொருந்திமுயங்கல் விடாஅல் இவை’ என மயங்கி,‘யான் ஓம்’ என்னவும் ஒல்லார், தாம் மற்றுஇவை பாராட்டிய பருவமும் உளவே; இனியேபுதல்வற் தடுத்த பாலொடு தடைஇ,திதலை அணிந்த தேம் கொள் மென் முலைநறுஞ் சாந்து அணிந்த கேழ் கிளர் அகலம்வீங்க முயங்கல் யாம் வேண்டினமே;தீம் பால் படுதல் தாம் அஞ்சினரே; ஆயிடைக்கவவுக் கை நெகிழ்ந்தமை போற்றி, மதவு நடைச்செவிலி கை என் புதல்வனை நோக்கி,‘நல்லோர்க்கு ஒத்தனிர் நீயிர்; இஃதோசெல்வற்கு ஒத்தனம், யாம்’ என, மெல்ல என்மகன்வயின் பெயர்தந்தேனே; அது கண்டு,‘யாமும் காதலம், அவற்கு’ எனச் சாஅய்,சிறு புறம் கவையினனாக, உறு பெயல்தண் துளிக்கு ஏற்ற பல உழு செஞ் செய்மண் போல் நெகிழ்ந்து, அவற் கலுழ்ந்தேநெஞ்சு அறைபோகிய அறிவினேற்கே? An emotionally intricate song from the fighting fields of the farmlands. Here, the context is that the man and lady were in the midst of a love-quarrel situation involving courtesans. The man tries to gain entry to the lady’s house by trying to appease the lady’s confidante. This fine friend, citing the worry caused to the lady, refuses permission. But somehow the man seems to have appeased the lady and entered the house. When the confidante questions the lady about this, these are the lady’s words: “The white-stalked huge flowers, which fall from sharp-edged clusters of the waterthorn plant, with curving thorns, akin to fish bones, are collected by maiden, who play ‘Poythal’ games’, so as to add to the adornments of their festivities in the town of the lord, flourishing with prosperous fields! Do you think it’s possible for me to sulk with him, my friend? Declaring, ‘It’s impossible to let go of embracing these breasts, akin to the dark rings, made of iron, attached to elephant tusks that thrust against fort doors ceaselessly’, he would lie there, and even when I ask him to let go, he wouldn’t. Those were the days he celebrated me so! But now, my sweet and soft breasts, are filled with milk for my son, and dotted with pallor spots. Even if I desire to embrace his wide chest, streaked with sandalwood paste, fearing that sweet milk would splash on him, his strong arms loosened when embracing me. Noticing this, I said looking at my son in the hands of the maid with a gentle gait, ‘You have those beautiful maiden to love. Whereas, I have my son to share my love’. Saying this, I gently moved towards my son. Seeing that, saying, ‘I too love him dearly’, he leaned forward and embraced the small of my back. At that moment, like red earth that has been ploughed many times, when moist drops of the rain fall down, my heart melted and went crying to his side, abandoning me. What can I do when I have such a senseless heart?” Time to take a walk amidst the festivities of a farmland town and hear its heartbeat! The lady starts with a description of the man’s rich town, filled with lush fields, where maiden can be seen collecting white flowers of the water thorn for their festive decorations. She asks a rhetorical question to her friend rendering the statement that it’s impossible to be angry with the man. Then the lady goes on to validate this statement with a few scenes, past and present. In the past, the man was so lost in the beauty of the lady that even when she asked him to let go, he would not stop embracing her fine breasts, which he places in parallel to the dark iron rings on a battle elephant’s tusk. That was then, the lady says, and goes on to sketch the present, when she is a mother, nursing her son. At this time, the man seems to be filled with fear that the milk of the lady’s breasts would splash on his chest and seemed to loosen the embrace. Noticing this micro expression, the lady steps away to her son, declaring that the man seemed to have love only for his courtesans, but never mind, she had her son to love. Hearing this, as if repenting for his action, the man rushed and hugged her from behind, the lady says. At that very moment, her heart forgot everything and just the way red earth that has been ploughed well would melt, it too melted with tears and rushed to embrace the man, leaving her forsaken, the lady describes. She concludes by connecting back saying, ‘What can you expect from me, when I have such a foolish heart?’  A nuanced verse that tastefully brings out the timeless situation involving changes in a woman’s body after childbirth and the changes that occur in her love life as a consequence. From another angle, the verse also throws light on the truth of how the heart seems to have a logic of its own and would many a time not bend to the do’s and dont’s of the head! Situations may vary, time and place may change, but such tussles between the head and the heart do continue on and on, in human lives!