Lakshmi Silks. 
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

































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. 


 images © madhavan palanisamy 2019