In this episode, we observe a person’s dilemma at the crossroads, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 19, penned by Porunthil Ilankeeranaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands Landscape’ and relays a conversation between a man and his heart.

அன்று அவண் ஒழிந்தன்றும் இலையே; வந்து நனி
வருந்தினை வாழி, என் நெஞ்சே! பருந்து இருந்து
உயா விளி பயிற்றும், யா உயர், நனந்தலை,
உருள் துடி மகுளியின் பொருள் தெரிந்து இசைக்கும்
கடுங் குரற் குடிஞைய நெடும் பெருங் குன்றம்,
எம்மொடு இறத்தலும்செல்லாய்; பின் நின்று,
ஒழியச் சூழ்ந்தனைஆயின், தவிராது,
செல் இனி; சிறக்க, நின் உள்ளம்! வல்லே
மறவல் ஓம்புமதி, எம்மே நறவின்
சேயிதழ் அனைய ஆகி, குவளை
மா இதழ் புரையும் மலிர் கொள் ஈர் இமை,
உள்ளகம் கனல உள்ளுதொறு உலறி,
பழங்கண் கொண்ட, கலிழ்ந்து வீழ், அவிர் அறல்
வெய்ய உகுதர, வெரீஇ, பையென,
சில் வளை சொரிந்த மெல் இறை முன்கை
பூ வீ கொடியின் புல்லெனப் போகி,
அடர்செய் ஆய் அகல் சுடர் துணை ஆக,
இயங்காது வதிந்த நம் காதலி
உயங்கு சாய் சிறுபுறம் முயங்கிய பின்னே!

Once again, we are in the drylands and we turn from a mother’s words of worry to listen to a man speak to his heart as they traverse the harsh domain in search of wealth. The man’s words to his heart are:

“On that day, in that place, you refused to stay back! You came along with me and suffer so much, my heart! May you live long! Atop the tall ‘Ya’ trees, wherein eagles perch and send out ceaseless calls, in those wide spaces, akin to the beats of the rounded ‘thudi’ drum, the harsh-voiced owl hoots too aloud, as if with meaning, and the noise echoes from the tall peaks around. Don’t come along with me anymore! If all you want to do is to stand behind and thinking of going back, then, leave without fail, right way! May you flourish!

Just one thing: Those eyes of my love, which were like huge petals of the blue lotus, covered with moist eyelids, have now become filled with the heat of inner angst, and have dried up, becoming reddened like the lavanga flowers, leaving tear drops to pour out with much suffering. Feeling disheartened, gently, as those soft forearms with a few bangles appear dull and listless, akin to a creeper bereft of flowers, she stands still near the lamp she lit, made from a sheet of gold, seeing it as her only companion. When you go near that lover of ours, and embrace the worrying little back of hers, forget me not!”

Let’s walk along in the hot paths of the drylands and learn more! The man starts by declaring how his heart did not stay back at home then. It had nudged him to go in search of wealth and had journeyed along to those fearsome spaces, where eagles sit atop rusting ‘Ya trees’ and owls hoot with the sound of ‘thudi’ drums, as if saying something filled with meaning. Is the man hearing his own mind’s voice in those owl’s hoots?

Expressing his discontent, the man asks his heart not to come along with him any further, but instead to leave to where the lady is! At this moment, the lady appears in his mind’s eye as standing still near a lamp she has lit at home, with bangles slipping away, akin to a creeper with fallen flowers, her eyes brimming with tears. The man concludes by telling his heart that when it reaches home and embraces this beloved of his, that his heart must not forget the man! In this imaginative dissociation with his own heart, the man expresses his deep yearning to be back in the embrace of his love. The verse thus echoes the fierce conflict in a Sangam man’s mind when it comes to being with a beloved and fulfilling the responsibility of seeking wealth!