In this episode, we listen to a mother’s lament, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 17, penned by Kayamanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse echoes the thoughts of a mother at the juncture of her daughter’s elopement.

வளம் கெழு திரு நகர்ப் பந்து சிறிது எறியினும்,
இளந் துணை ஆயமொடு கழங்கு உடன் ஆடினும்,
”உயங்கின்று, அன்னை! என் மெய்” என்று அசைஇ,
மயங்கு வியர் பொறித்த நுதலள், தண்ணென,
முயங்கினள் வதியும்மன்னே! இனியே,
தொடி மாண் சுற்றமும் எம்மும் உள்ளாள்,
நெடு மொழித் தந்தை அருங் கடி நீவி,
நொதுமலாளன் நெஞ்சு அறப் பெற்ற என்
சிறு முதுக்குறைவி சிலம்பு ஆர் சீறடி
வல்லகொல் செல்லத் தாமே கல்லென
ஊர் எழுந்தன்ன உரு கெழு செலவின்,
நீர் இல் அத்தத்து ஆர் இடை, மடுத்த,
கொடுங் கோல் உமணர், பகடு தெழி தெள் விளி
நெடும் பெருங் குன்றத்து இமிழ் கொள இயம்பும்,
கடுங் கதிர் திருகிய, வேய் பயில், பிறங்கல்,
பெருங் களிறு உரிஞ்சிய மண்அரை யாஅத்து
அருஞ் சுரக் கவலைய அதர் படு மருங்கின்,
நீள் அரை இலவத்து ஊழ் கழி பல் மலர்,
விழவுத் தலைக்கொண்ட பழ விறல் மூதூர்,
நெய் உமிழ் சுடரின் கால் பொரச் சில்கி,
வைகுறு மீனின் தோன்றும்
மை படு மா மலை விலங்கிய சுரனே?

The drylands call us back and we get to listen to the point of view of a mother left behind by her daughter, who has found love and has decided to leave her home, to be with her man. The mother’s words are:

“In the prosperous mansion filled with every luxury, when she plays with her ball, or when she plays with the ‘Kazhangu’ beans with her young playmates, she would say, “I feel tired, Mother! My body aches”. Exhausted, my young daughter with sweat beads coating her fine forehead, would come give me a cool embrace and lie in my arms! But now, without thinking of her bangle-clad friends or me, crossing the stern guard of her famous father, my young daughter with an ancient wisdom, the one who has won the heart entire of that stranger, has left!

She has left there, where with a resounding sound, making a town entire rise up in alarm, taking a journey as a huge group, upon a path in that barren domain, the salt-merchants wielding a curved stick, goad their bullocks with a clear shout that echoes all around in the tall mountain ranges beyond; where the harsh sun scorches bamboos in the hill, making huge elephants turn to peeling the trunks of the mud-smeared ‘Ya’ trees, leaving these vulnerable in those inaccessible drylands path with thorny bushes; where the tall-trunked silk cotton tree’s wilting flowers, appearing before, akin to an ancient town in the midst of festivities, lit up with lamps filled with ghee, but now caught in the hot wind’s gust, appear scanty like the stars at dawn! Are her little anklet-clad feet capable of traversing such a harsh drylands domain, surrounded by cloud-covered, tall mountains?”

Let’s delve deeper into this tale! Mother starts her words by recollecting the nature of her little daughter in the past, when even after a little play with her ball or a game of ‘Kazhangu’ with her friends, she would be so exhausted that she would come complaining to her mother and give her a sweaty, cool hug. Through this, mother highlights the delicate nature of her daughter, brought up in much luxury. Then, mother comes to the present and talks about how everything has changed now, because that little gentle girl has decided to take off with a stranger, daring to cross the stern guard of her father’s home. Then, mother launches into a description of the drylands and she brings before our eyes three scenes: One, in which we hear a shout so loud that is enough to make an entire town look up alarm and we learn that the source of this shout is a call to the bullocks by salt merchants, traversing as a huge group across the drylands; Two, where we see an elephant, not having its usual food of bamboos, that being scorched by the sun, feeding on the bark of ‘Ya’ trees; And finally three, where the once-abundant flowers of the silk cotton tree, appearing like the lamps of an ancient town in the midst of festivities, had now wilted and fallen, appearing scanty like the waning stars in the morning hour! All these striking images of the drylands have been given by mother to express her worry and confusion about how the little feet of her delicate daughter would manage to cross such a harsh and formidable path! Well, we have to tell mother that love makes all things possible, and perhaps her young girl has now turned a woman, ready to cross the world with her beloved!