Kalithogai 94 – A unique duet of love

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we perceive a unique love story, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 94, penned by Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and sketches the coming together journey of two striking personalities.

குறளன்
என் நோற்றனைகொல்லோ
நீருள் நிழல் போல் நுடங்கிய மென் சாயல்
ஈங்கு உருச் சுருங்கி
இயலுவாய்! நின்னோடு உசாவுவேன்; நின்றீத்தை

கூனி
அன்னையோ! காண் தகை இல்லாக் குறள் நாழிப் போழ்தினான்,
ஆண்தலைக்கு ஈன்ற பறழ் மகனே நீ! எம்மை,
‘வேண்டுவல்’ என்று விலக்கினை; நின் போல்வார்
தீண்டப் பெறுபவோ மற்று?

குறளன்
மாண்ட எறித்த படை போல் முடங்கி மடங்கி,
நெறித்துவிட்டன்ன நிறை ஏரால் என்னைப்
பொறுக்கல்லா நோய் செய்தாய்; பொறீஇ நிறுக்கல்லேன்;
நீ நல்கின் உண்டு, என் உயிர்

கூனி
குறிப்புக் காண் வல்லுப் பலகை எடுத்து நிறுத்தன்ன
கல்லாக் குறள! கடும் பகல் வந்து எம்மை,
‘இல்லத்து வா’ என, மெய் கொளீஇ, எல்லா! நின்
பெண்டிர் உளர்மன்னோ? கூறு

குறளன்
நல்லாய்! கேள்: உக்கத்து மேலும் நடு உயர்ந்து வாள் வாய
கொக்கு உரித்தன்ன கொடு மடாய்! நின்னை யான்
புக்கு அகலம் புல்லின், நெஞ்சு ஊன்றும்; புறம் புல்லின்,
அக்குளுத்து; புல்லலும் ஆற்றேன்; அருளீமோ,
பக்கத்துப் புல்லச் சிறிது

கூனி
‘போ, சீத்தை! மக்கள் முரியே! நீ மாறு, இனி; தொக்க
மரக் கோட்டம் சேர்ந்து எழுந்த பூங் கொடி போல,
நிரப்பம் இல் யாக்கை தழீஇயினர், எம்மைப்
புரப்பேம் என்பாரும் பலரால்; பரத்தை என்
பக்கத்துப் புல்லீயாய் என்னுமால்; தொக்க
உழுந்தினும் துவ்வா, குறு வட்டா! நின்னின்
இழிந்ததோ, கூனின் பிறப்பு?’

குறளன்
கழிந்து ஆங்கே,
“யாம் வீழ்தும்” என்று தன் பின் செலவும், உற்றீயாக்
கூனி குழையும் குழைவு காண்

கூனி
யாமை எடுத்து நிறுத்தற்றால், தோள் இரண்டும் வீசி,
யாம் வேண்டேம் என்று விலக்கவும், எம் வீழும்
காமர் நடக்கும் நடை காண்

குறளன்
கவர் கணைச்
சாமனார் தம்முன் செலவு காண்

கூனி
ஓஒ! காண்

குறளன்
நம்முள் நகுதல் தொடீஇயர், நம்முள் நாம்
உசாவுவம்; கோன் அடி தொட்டேன்

கூனி
ஆங்கு ஆக! சாயல் இன் மார்ப! அடங்கினேன்; ‘ஏஎ!
பேயும் பேயும் துள்ளல் உறும்’ எனக்
கோயிலுள் கண்டார் நகாமை வேண்டுவல்;
தண்டாத் தகடு உருவ! வேறாகக் காவின் கீழ்ப்
போதர்; அகடு ஆரப் புல்லி முயங்குவேம்
துகள் தபு காட்சி அவையத்தார் ஓலை
முகடு காப்பு யாத்துவிட்டாங்கு.

A verse which introduces characters we have never before seen in Sangam Literature. The words can be translated as follows:

“Dwarf:
What penance did you do, for me to see you here, O maiden, who appears with a shrunken form, akin to a shadow fluttering within the water? Wait and heed my words!

Hunchback:
Oh, is that so? You, who appears short and unfit for the eyes and seems like the little one of an ‘Aandalai’ owl, born at an inauspicious time! And you have stopped me saying that you desire me. Can someone like you even touch me?

Dwarf:
Akin to the blade of a tiller plough, bent, deformed and twisted, with your brimming beauty, you inflicted in me a terrible affliction; I can’t bear it any longer. If you render your grace, my life will go on!

Hunchback:
Look at him talk! You naive dwarf, who appears as if a gambling board was placed upright! In this harsh time of noon, you come here and pull my hand, asking me to come to your home. Don’t you have any other women? Tell me!

Dwarf:
O good maiden, listen! Above your waist, with your back upraised, you appear bent like a skinned stork! If I were to embrace you from the front, my chest would hurt; If I were to embrace you from the back, I would feel tickled. It’s no easy task to embrace you. But still, why don’t you let me embrace you a little on your side?

Hunchback:
Be gone! You lowly half-man! Give up this thought of yours! Akin to a flower-filled vine that reaches out and spreads on the branch of a tree, there are many, who love my form and yearn to embrace me, and you want to embrace me on the side, O deplorable one! You, who is not even higher than a ‘ulunthu’ crop, O stubby cretin! Is my hunchback shape worse than your form?

Dwarf to his heart:
Even though I go near her and tell her that I have fallen for her, look at the way the hunchback moves away and stands shrunken there!

Hunchback:
Even though I say no and push him away, as if a tortoise was held upright, swaying his arms, look at the way the one who desires me strides like the god of love!

Dwarf:
Indeed, see the stride of Saman, the younger brother of the god, who wields those arrows of love.

Hunchback:
What a sight!

Dwarf:
Let’s find the right place for us to unite together. I will not laugh at you. I swear by the king’s feet!

Hunchback:
Let it be so, O man with a handsome chest! I’m appeased! All I ask is that those in the temple should not laugh at us saying, ‘Hey! Look at those two ghosts frolicking together’! O man with an undiminished golden form! Let’s go down to the grove, and akin to how a minister with flawless wisdom would place a protective seal upon the palm letters, let’s embrace tightly till our desires are fulfilled!”

Time to delve into the nuances. All the verses we have seen thus far talk about the relationship between the man and the lady, the principal, nameless protagonists of Sangam ‘Aham’ literature. For the first time, we get to see the love between the supporting characters, the people who work for the protagonists. This verse is situated in the context of a love relationship between a dwarf and a hunchback and since it contains elements of quarrel and sulking, perhaps this verse has been placed under the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands’ landscape. Let’s dive into the words of these characters that tell this different tale.

A dwarf referred by the Tamil word ‘Kuralan’ is the initial speaker. Note how the term for this short person contains the same core as the celebrated book of the Tamils from the Post Sangam era – ‘Thirukural’ – The book of two-line couplets, filled with philosophy! Returning, we find the dwarf calling out to a girl with a hunchback saying to her that she, the deformed one, must have done some good deeds because he happened to see her there. He asks her to listen to him. The hunchback girl is offended deeply and she calls him unfit for the eyes, looking like an owlet born at the wrong time. She asks him angrily how can he even touch her. The dwarf continuous comparing the girl to a curved blade of a plough, and even though she is so, she has left a love affliction in him and he seeks her grace. The girl is still affronted, and compares him to a gambling board placed upright, and asks him how dare he pull her hand, asking her to come to him. The dwarf still doesn’t get the message and continues talking about the girl’s form, saying it looks like a stork that has been skinned, and goes on to talk about how it would be impossible for him to embrace her in the front, because his chest would hurt, and from the back too, for he would feel tickled. While that may be so, he asks her to let him embrace her on the side. Like any self-respecting woman, the girl is offended, and calls him a half-man, and tells him there are many who want her for who she is, and here he is, with his hunchback form, insulting her!

The dwarf seems to get the drift and laments to his heart about how even though he says he has fallen for the girl, she seems so affronted. The hunchback too, talks about how he keeps coming back to her, even though she pushes him away, and remarks how he walks about like a god of love. The dwarf hears the comment, and says, yes, he is indeed the younger brother of the god of love. In response, the girl says what a sight it was. Now, the dwarf says that they should find a good place to be together and promises in the name of the king that he shall not laugh at her anymore. That’s the word the girl seems to have been waiting for and she calls him with admiring words and says, ‘Yes, All I want is not to have people in this temple laugh at us and talk about two ghosts getting together’. She concludes by offering her acceptance to the dwarf’s proposal and says they should go to the grove and embrace each other tightly, just the way a seal holds tight the palm letters from a wise counsel’s hand!

After seeing more than thousand five hundred verses, which only talk about the perfect and pristine beauty of the man and the lady, here in a riveting exception, we find the poet talking about the love between two characters with defects. The unique Sangam style of comparing a person’s appearance to varied elements, we find here too, not to talk about how exceptional and flawless the trait is, but rather the opposite, to talk about the flaws. While the initial few exchanges seem all about body shaming, it’s actually a way to convey the reality of these characters, whom we would otherwise assume to be the perfect beings that we have become used to.

Two aspects fascinated me in this rendition: One, is in the confidence that shines in the personality of the dwarf and the hunchback, regardless of the so-called defects in their appearance. Two, the moment love blooms is not when one boasts about oneself, as the dwarf does in the beginning, or when one belittles the other, calling out their inadequacies, but it appears in the moment when respect for the other is born. The moment the dwarf says he would never laugh at the hunchback, is when the hunchback accepts his offer of love. No matter who we are or where we are, this striking Sangam verse should tell us the foundation of a strong love is confidence in one self and respect for the other!