Separation Avoided !
This is the fifth song of Aganaanooru. This has been written by Cheraman Paalai Paadiya Perunkadunko.
This song belongs to the paalai thinai, or the desert-like landscape. In other words, the mood of the song is separation, and separation is detested and compared with a desert.
This song narrates the emotions within a family between the husband and the wife.
The husband had decided to go out for trade to distant lands. His path is described as going through forests with huge rocks and boulders. The gooseberries are falling from the trees in scores on the rocks, and they appear to be like dice.
The rocks are sharp, which can cut the toes of the travellers.
The wife of the person approaches her with determined and firm steps that make a mark in the sand.
She smiled at him, which was not a genuine smile. Her teeth were sharp, and her forehead gleamed, indicating her beauty.
She was feeling extremely sad for her husband, who had made up his mind to go to distant lands through forests that were difficult to cross for the sake of business.
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She came near him and said that "if he considered crossing that treacherous forest, then the lovable words that he had said before were mere words, and they were not backed with love."
She stood like a painting, and her face was grief-stricken. She was fighting tears, which were evident when tears blocked out the pupils of her eyes from the sight of others. She was wearing bangles made of gold on her hands.
At that time, their son came there. He was wearing a garland made of flowers on his head. He went to his mother and embraced her tightly. The wife then smelled the flowers of their son, and due to her sad feelings, the flowers faded.
Then the man thought that his woman would not withstand his separation, and hence he dropped the plan to go out on a business trip.
அளி நிலை பொறாஅது அமரிய முகத்தள்,
விளி நிலை கொள்ளாள், தமியள், மென்மெல
நலமிகு சேவடி நிலம் வடுக்கொளாஅக்,
குறுக வந்து தன் கூர் எயிறு தோன்ற
வறிது அகத்து எழுந்த வாயல் முறுவலள், 5
கண்ணியது உணரா அளவை ஒண்ணுதல்,
வினை தலைப்படுதல் செல்லா நினைவுடன்,
முளிந்த ஓமை முதையலம் காட்டுப்
பளிங்கத்து அன்ன பல் காய் நெல்லி
மோட்டு இரும் பாறை ஈட்டு வட்டு ஏய்ப்ப, 10
உதிர்வன படூஉம் கதிர் தெறு கவாஅன்
மாய்த்த போல மழுகு நுனை தோற்றி
பாத்தியன்ன குடுமிக் கூர்ங்கல்
விரல் நுதி சிதைக்கும் நிரை நிலை அதர,
பரல் முரம்பு ஆகிய பயம் இல் கானம் 15
இறப்ப எண்ணுதிர் ஆயின், ‘அறத்தாறு
அன்று’ என மொழிந்த தொன்றுபடு கிளவி
அன்ன ஆக என்னுநள் போல,
முன்னம் காட்டி, முகத்தின் உரையா,
ஓவச் செய்தியின் ஒன்று நினைந்து ஒற்றி, 20
பாவை மாய்த்த பனி நீர் நோக்கமொடு,
ஆகத்து ஒடுக்கிய புதல்வன் புன்தலைத்
தூ நீர் பயந்த துணையமை பிணையல்
மோயினள் உயிர்த்த காலை, மா மலர்
மணி உரு இழந்த அணி அழி தோற்றம் 25
கண்டு கடிந்தனம் செலவே, ஒண்தொடி
உழையம் ஆகவும் இனைவோள்
பிழையலள் மாதோ, பிரிதும் நாம் எனினே. 28
Though this song is about separation, this indicates the lifestyle of the people in those times.
First, the woman was wearing shining bangles. Shining bangles may refer to the gold ornament, reflecting their affluence and the grace of the woman.
The little boy’s head was full of hair, and it was properly combed and tied with a tuft. In that tuft, flowers were tied around.
When the poet alluded to the gooseberries being scattered all around the rocks, he compared them to dice.
This means that the game of dice was common in those days.
