Aganaanooru 276 – Stealing with stealth

In this episode, we perceive the ire of a woman, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 276, penned by Paranar. The verse is situated amidst the fish-filled ponds of the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and relays scenes of rivalry in a rich town. நீள் இரும் பொய்கை இரை வேட்டு எழுந்தவாளை வெண் போத்து உணீஇய, நாரை தன்அடி அறிவுறுதல் அஞ்சி, பைபயக்கடி இலம் புகூஉம் கள்வன் போல,சாஅய் ஒதுங்கும் துறை கேழ் ஊரனொடுஆவது ஆக! இனி நாண் உண்டோ?வருகதில் அம்ம, எம் சேரி சேர!அரி வேய் உண்கண் அவன் பெண்டிர் காண,தாரும் தானையும் பற்றி, ஆரியர்பிடி பயின்று தரூஉம் பெருங் களிறு போல,தோள் கந்தாகக் கூந்தலின் பிணித்து, அவன்மார்பு கடி கொள்ளேன்ஆயின், ஆர்வுற்றுஇரந்தோர்க்கு ஈயாது ஈட்டியோன் பொருள்போல்,பரந்து வெளிப்படாது ஆகி,வருந்துகதில்ல, யாய் ஓம்பிய நலனே! Sparks fly in this trip to the farmlands, as we hear a courtesan say these words to her friends, conveying a pointed message to the lady’s friends, listening near by: “Searching for prey in the long and vast pond, a stork, wishing to feed on the white male of the scabbard fish, fearing its footsteps would be heard, walks slowly, akin to a thief entering a well-guarded house, and takes soft steps in the shore-filled town of the lord! Why should I hold back out of modesty anymore? When he comes by to our neighbourhood, making sure his women with kohl-streaked eyes with red lines, see, clutching on to his garlands and garments, akin to a female elephant, trained by the Aryars, to seize a huge male elephant, with my arms as the post, I will bind him with my tresses and hold on tightly to his chest. If I don’t do this, akin to wealth earned, which is not given away to those who plead in need, without being known and cherished with fame, let that beauty of mine, reared by my mother, languish and turn to ruin!” Let’s watch this familiar tussle in the land of plenty! The courtesan starts by describing the man’s town and to do that, she sketches the scene of a stork walking like a thief entering a guarded mansion, so as to prey upon the scabbard fish, swimming blissfully in a pond. After that scene of stealth, she goes on to say that there’s no use suffering with a sense of shame anymore. Declaring that the next time the man came to their neighbourhood, the courtesan, in the manner of a female elephant, trained by the Aryans to tempt and capture huge wild, male elephants, would clutch on to the man’s clothes and garlands and hold tightly, with her tresses as the rope and her arms as the post. The courtesan concludes with a vow that if she does not do such a thing then let the beauty that her mother reared in her, become ruined without any fame like the wealth of a person, who hoards and gives not, to those who come seeking in need.  The core of this tale is that the courtesan is angered by the disparaging words of the lady that has reached her ears and she intends to send back a sharp message to the lady challenging that her husband was about to be stolen away like an elephant in the wild. The opening image of the stork stealing in softly to make its kill is a metaphor for how the courtesan would snag the man with her stealth and strategy. In a verse full of emotions that have not aged very well, there’s one line that shines and that’s about the purpose of wealth, which according to these ancients was meant to serve the needy. If this future descendant could talk to those women of the past, I would say, ‘Dear ladies, quit the fighting over that silly man and realise the power and beauty of being the best you can be!’