In this episode, we listen to a intriguing conversation, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 113, penned by Chozhan Nalluruthiran. The verse is situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest Landscape’ and presents hidden layers in the relationship between a man and his lady.

தலைவன்
நலமிக நந்திய நயவரு தட மென்தோள்,
அலமரல் அமர் உண்கண், அம் நல்லாய்! நீ உறீஇ
உலமரல் உயவு நோய்க்கு உய்யும் ஆறு உரைத்துச் செல்.

தலைவி
பேர் ஏமுற்றார் போல முன் நின்று விலக்குவாய்
யார்? எல்லா! நின்னை அறிந்ததூஉம் இல்வழி?

தலைவன்
தளிர் இயால்! என் அறிதல் வேண்டின், பகை அஞ்சாப்
புல்லினத்து ஆயர் மகனேன், மற்று யான்.

தலைவி
ஒக்கும் மன்.
புல்லினத்து ஆயனை நீ ஆயின், குடம் சுட்டு
நல் இனத்து ஆயர் எமர்.

தலைவன்
எல்லா!
நின்னொடு சொல்லின் ஏதமோ இல்லை மன்.

தலைவி
ஏதம் அன்று எல்லை வருவான் விடு.

தலைவன்
விடேன்.
உடம்பட்டு நீப்பார் கிளவி மடம் பட்டு,
மெல்லிய ஆதல் அறியினும், மெல்லியால்!
நின் மொழி கொண்டு யானோ விடுவேன், மற்று என் மொழி கொண்டு
என் நெஞ்சம் ஏவல் செயின்?

தலைவி
நெஞ்சு ஏவல் செய்யாது என நின்றாய்க்கு, எஞ்சிய
காதல் கொள் காமம் கலக்குற ஏதிலார்
பொய்ம் மொழி தேறுவது என்?

தலைவன்
தெளிந்தேன், தெரி இழாய் யான்!
பல்கால் யாம் கான் யாற்று அவிர் மணல் தண் பொழில்
அல்கல் அகல் அறை ஆயமொடு ஆடி,
முல்லை குருந்தொடு முச்சி வேய்ந்து எல்லை
இரவுற்றது; இன்னும் கழிப்பி; அரவுற்று
உருமின் அதிரும் குரல் போல் பொருமுரண்
நல் ஏறு நாகுடன் நின்றன,
பல் ஆன் இனநிரை நாம் உடன் செலற்கே.

Like the previous verse, this too is another tryst between a determined man and a reluctant lady! The words can be translated as follows:

“Man
O beautiful maiden, glowing with allure, are your soft and curved arms, and those huge and fighting kohl-streaked eyes! Tell me the way to abate this suffering-filled disease you have caused in me.

Lady
Like a crazed person, you stand before me and block me! Who are you? I have never seen you before!

Man
O maiden, akin to a tender sprout! If you have to know who I am, I’m the son of goat herders, who are fearless of foes!

Lady
That sounds right. If you are the son of goat herders, my kin are cattle herders, who gather pots of milk!

Man
I hope there’s nothing wrong in conversing with you.

Lady
Nothing wrong. I will come tomorrow. Let go of me.

Man
I won’t! O gentle maiden, although I know the words of those who seem to agree but wish to part away are shallow, with naivety, I want to accept your words and let you go, but what can I do, when my heart commands me not to listen to my own words?

Lady
Saying my heart does not let me, you stand there, then why do you accept those falsehoods of those, who confuse you with remnants of their love and desire?

Man
I’m clear now, O maiden wearing well-etched jewels! Many a time, on the spreading sands by the wild river, in the cool shade of the grove, on the wide boulders, we have played together with your playmates, wearing woven garlands of wild jasmine and wild lime on our heads, until it became dark. When we delayed further, akin to the roar of thunder that startles snakes, the fighting bulls that stood with the cows bellowed, waiting for us to leave together!”

Let’s explore the details. The verse is situated in the context of forbidden love between a man and a lady. The words are exchanged between a herder girl and a herder man. The man opens the scene by asking a maiden to show the way to cure his love affliction. The lady responds by asking who he is, for she has never seen him before and why is he blocking her path. The man replies by saying to her, ‘If you really want to know, I’m the son of goat herds’. As if introducing her, in response, she says, ‘I’m the daughter of cowherds’. The man queries innocently asking if there was anything wrong in talking to her, to which the lady says, ‘Nothing wrong. Let me go. I will come tomorrow’. But the man persists saying although he believes her words, which are most probably lies, and let her go, his heart is not letting him to. The lady asks why he believes in those so-called lies. The man responds by recollecting a time they both spent together in the groves, until it became dark, and all the fighting bulls that they had brought to graze, had started roaring like thunder, as if telling them, ‘Come on. Let’s get going home’. Through this last account by the man, we understand that the lady already knows the man and is simply pretending not to know him, perhaps because her kin have forbidden their union. The man tries to regain her love by reminiscing about the good times they had spent together. Nostalgia is indeed the stream of water that makes the seed of love sprout with gusto!