In this episode, we perceive a mother’s angst, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 165, penned by an anonymous poet. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse talks about the consequences of a lady’s parting away with her beloved.

கயந் தலை மடப் பிடி பயம்பில் பட்டென,
களிறு விளிப்படுத்த கம்பலை வெரீஇ,
ஒய்யென எழுந்த செவ் வாய்க் குழவி
தாது எரு மறுகின் மூதூர் ஆங்கண்,
எருமை நல் ஆன் பெறு முலை மாந்தும்
நாடு பல இறந்த நன்னராட்டிக்கு
ஆயமும் அணி இழந்து அழுங்கின்று; தாயும்
”இன் தோள் தாராய், இறீஇயர் என் உயிர்!” என,
கண்ணும் நுதலும் நீவி, தண்ணென,
தடவு நிலை நொச்சி வரி நிழல் அசைஇ,
தாழிக் குவளை வாடு மலர் சூட்டி,
தருமணற் கிடந்த பாவை என்
அருமகளே என முயங்கினள் அழுமே!

It’s all about the state of those left behind in this trip to the drylands, where we get to hear the onlookers say these words about the lady’s family, at the juncture of the lady’s elopement with her man:

“As the naive female elephant with a soft head fell into a pit, the male elephant trumpets aloud. Startled by the uproar, their red-mouthed, young calf quickly rises up and runs to the ancient town, having streets coated with pollen dust, and drinks up milk from the heavy udders of the good buffalo. Crossing many such places, the esteemed maiden had parted away; And so her playmates now look listless, shorn of their beauty; As for her mother, she picks up the doll lying about in the imported sands, caresses its eyes and forehead. Then placing it upon the coolness of the swaying, lined shade of the chaste tree with curving branches, she adorns it with faded blue lilies from the urn. Embracing the doll, she sheds tears saying, ‘My dearest daughter, won’t you offer your sweet arms for me to embrace? Let my life part away!’”

Time to hear the uproar in the drylands. The onlookers start by relating the state of a male elephant, whose mate has fallen into a pit. Hearing its troubled cries, its young one is startled and runs away to a nearby town, where the streets are covered in pollen. Here, a mother buffalo accepts the elephant calf as its own and suckles it with kindness. The lady would have traversed many places with such scenes, the onlookers connect. Then, moving from where the lady was, they turn to talk about those she left behind, and mention how her friends are all looking sad and crestfallen. As for the lady’s mother, she goes about picking the lady’s doll lying about on the sands brought from elsewhere, and places it in the shade of the chaste tree and adorns it with blue lilies. Then embracing the doll, and seeing it as her daughter, she asks the doll to offer her arms and wishes her unbearable life would depart, conclude the onlookers.

In the scene of a mother buffalo taking care of an elephant calf, parted from its family, hides the metaphor of the lady’s family hoping that the lady finds love and care in those places that she has left to. In essence, a tender verse filled with emotions of loss, lament and love for the one departed!