Lakshmi Silks.
Photographed by Madhavan Palanisamy
Creative Direction by Radha Rathi
Beauty by Mitesh
Muse: Archana and Vishakha
Photographed by Madhavan Palanisamy
Creative Direction by Radha Rathi
Beauty by Mitesh
Muse: Archana and Vishakha
What She Said
Bigger than earth, certainly,
higher than the sky,
more unfathomable than the water
is this love for this man
of the mountain slopes
where the bees make rich honey
from the flowers of the kurinci
that has such black stalks
Kurinchi: Lovers’ meeting
Tevakulattar - Kuruntokai 3
What She Said
to her girlfriend,
when she returned from the hills
Bless you, friend, listen.
Sweeter than milk
mixed with honey from our gardens
is the leftover water in his land,
low in the waterholes
covered with leaves
and muddled by animals
What She Said
Like moss in water
in the town’s water tank:
the body’s pallor
clears
as my lover touches
and touches
and spreads again,
as he lets go,
as he lets go.
Paranar
Kuruntokai 399
Like moss in water
in the town’s water tank:
the body’s pallor
clears
as my lover touches
and touches
and spreads again,
as he lets go,
as he lets go.
Paranar
Kuruntokai 399
What She Said
to her friend
You ask me to forget him,
how can i?
His mountain,
wearing its dark raincloud
white-crested
as a bean flower
the east wind opens,
his mountain,
that blue sapphire,
is never out of sight.
What Her Girl Friend Said
to Her
...
Your heart is anxious,
you’re lonely, stricken
with pallor.
Now, what shall i say to Mother
If she should notice changes
and ask for reasons?
I know,
our man from the mountain top
where long silver waterfalls shiver
in the wind
like whiter banners
borne high on elephants
with trappings on thier brow,
i know he brought you these pangs.
Maturai Marutanilanakanar, Akananuru 358
What She Said
her lover within earshot
Tell me:
how is it then
that women gather
like hill goddesses
and stare at me
wherever i go,
and say
“she’s good, she’s so good,”
and I,
no good at all for my man
from the country of the hills?
Text taken from Poems of Love and War, Selected and translated by AK Ramanujan. From Kurinci: Lovers’ meetings. Translations from four anthologies of Sangam Literature: Kuruntokai, Narrinai, Akananuru, Ainkurunuru.