POEM FROM TAMIL LITERATURE - “MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN”

ABOUT THE POEM: The poem speaks about the notion that marriages are predetermined and questions our ability to judge the worthiness of a groom and the soothsayer’s premonition of the proposed marriage. It portrays a daughter who defies the predictions of a fortune teller and ponders her choice of the groom while gazing at the blue lilies of spring with a heavy heart and shedding tears copiously. In this exquisite poem, the girl's companion assures the foster mother that the girl’s choice of the groom is right emphasizing that marriages are divinely ordained and human interventions cannot alter the path of one's union. “MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN” In the realm of matrimony, fate's decree is spun, Who are we to appraise the groom's quality, weighed by none? The seer's wisdom, scorned and disregarded, Behold, your daughter lingers, absorbed and unguarded, Amidst the azure blossoms, spring's delicate cue, A burdened soul, tear-streaked eyes, disheartened and blue. Her selection, not astray, a free-spirited flow, With great poise and grace, her choice doth glow. (The poem is a bold statement conveyed by the girl's companion to the foster mother who harbored doubts about the girl’s predicament and prospects of marriage)