In this episode, we observe a person’s decision-making process, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 167, penned by Kadiyaloor Uruthirankannanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse etches in detail the state of an abandoned house in this domain.

வயங்கு மணி பொருத வகைஅமை வனப்பின்
பசுங் காழ் அல்குல் மாஅயோளொடு
வினை வனப்பு எய்திய புனை பூஞ் சேக்கை,
விண் பொரு நெடு நகர்த் தங்கி, இன்றே
இனிது உடன் கழிந்தன்றுமன்னே; நாளைப்
பொருந்தாக் கண்ணேம் புலம்பு வந்து உறுதரச்
சேக்குவம்கொல்லோ, நெஞ்சே! சாத்து எறிந்து
அதர் கூட்டுண்ணும் அணங்குடைப் பகழிக்
கொடு வில் ஆடவர் படு பகை வெரீஇ,
ஊர் எழுந்து உலறிய பீர் எழு முது பாழ்,
முருங்கை மேய்ந்த பெருங் கை யானை
வெரிந் ஓங்கு சிறு புறம் உரிஞ, ஒல்கி
இட்டிகை நெடுஞ் சுவர் விட்டம் வீழ்ந்தென,
மணிப் புறாத் துறந்த மரம் சோர் மாடத்து
எழுது அணி கடவுள் போகலின், புல்லென்று
ஒழுகுபலி மறந்த மெழுகாப் புன் திணைப்
பால் நாய் துள்ளிய பறைக்கட் சிற்றில்,
குயில் காழ் சிதைய மண்டி, அயில் வாய்க்
கூர் முகச் சிதலை வேய்ந்த
போர் மடி நல் இறைப் பொதியிலானே?

We get to glimpse a striking chain of events in this trip to this domain, as we hear the man say these words to his heart:

“With the dark-skinned maiden, who wears a green string woven exquisitely with shining gems of many kinds around her waist, lying on the flowery mattress laid out on a bed, etched with fine art, staying within the sky-soaring tall mansion, the whole of today has passed on pleasantly indeed!

As for tomorrow, with eyes that sleep not, as loneliness arrives to torment, won’t we be there, O heart? Fearing the terrors of those men with curving bows and demonic arrows, who live and eat together by attacking merchants and stealing their possessions, people had left town. In such an abandoned and arid place, ridge-gourd vines had spread around the ruins. Arriving here, a long-trunked elephant, which had just grazed on drumstick leaves, rubs its itching back against a wall, and that wall with loosened bricks falls down, pulling the ceiling too. Startled, pigeons that had been pecking about in the courtyard fly away in fear. In this space, where trees look listless, and where well-etched portraits of gods have faded, upon the uncleaned, dull platform, which had not seen divine offerings in many days, a dog suckling its young lies about in that forgotten old little house, where destroying the once-sturdy wood, termites with sharp faces, akin to spear edges, spread around. That’s the place, right there, in that wide open, unprotected space, amidst that caved-in roof, where we shall arrive tomorrow, won’t we, O heart?”

Let’s brave the dangers of this domain and tread on! The man starts by describing how his today went so pleasantly in the company of his beloved on their comfortable bed, within the cozy expanse of their sturdy and well-etched tall mansion. After this account, he turns to his heart and says, ‘Do you know where we’ll be tomorrow?’, and then goes on to describe this very place. He takes his heart to the drylands, a place frequented by highway robbers, whose livelihood is killing and stealing from wayfarers. There used to be a town nearby, but fearing the antics of these men, the people had left that town, seeking safer spaces. Near one abandoned house in this town, an elephant, which had been feeding on the leaves of a drumstick tree arrives, wanting to scratch its itchy back. Finding a wall, it goes about doing what it came to do, but that wall, unable to bear the impact, comes falling down and pulling the roof along too. At that moment, startled the pigeons which had been pecking about lazily, flutter away in fear.

In this abandoned house, the paintings of gods have lost their lustre and offerings are no more done. On that platform, where such devout rituals used to happen, now there lies a dog suckling its puppies. Not only that, the wood in these houses is being feasted upon by termites, which swarm around everywhere. The man concludes his long description of this place by saying that’s where he’ll be lying down, without a moment’s rest, filled with loneliness, if at all he followed the nudge of his heart to leave in search of wealth. In essence, by contemplating and contrasting the pleasure of his present and the horror of his future, the man comes to a decision not to part away from his beloved!