1085. Three in One!

"Hey, buddy. A person known to me has brought a three in one music system from Singapore. It's new. It's of a reputed brand. He is offering it for sale at a low price. Are you interested in buying it?" asked Vaiyapuri.

"Three in one? I know that some people in our village have a two in one music system. I have not heard of a three in one music system!" said Kannan.

"Have you heard of the new thing called CD? It looks like a tiny gramophone record. Nowadays, songs of the new films come recorded only in CDs. Three in one system has a radio, tape recorder and a CD player" explained Vaiyapuri.

"What am I going to do with it? I listen to only old film songs. A CD player may not be useful to me."

"Even old film songs are getting recorded afresh in CDs. CD is the trend today. The person who is selling the three in one has some CDs containing old songs sung by T M Soundararajan, P.Susila* and others. Very soon, you will see the Indian market flooded with pre-recorded CDs. Old film songs will also come in CDs. When you go to Mayavaram for procuring goods for your trade, you can buy CDs of your favourite songs and play them in the three in one music system" said Vaiyapuri.

He then came closer to Kannan and whispered in his ear, as if he was telling a secret, "When you go to meet your girlfriend, take this system with you and play the CDs. She will be enchanted and spend a lot of time with you!"

He then blinked.

"Get lost!" said Kannan, in mock anger.

Kaveri was sitting, facing Kannan, at a low level spot hidden by plants surrounding that place.

Kannan asked her, "Why is it that women feel shy to look at a man's face?"

"It is not shyness, dear. It is pity on you men!" said Kaveri, with a smirk on her face.

"Why should we be pitied? By the way, why do you not call me by my name? Is it because tradition requires that a wife should refrain from referring to her husband by name, by way of showing her respect to him?"

"We are not yet married. So I am not obliged to follow that tradition. I call you 'dear' because I like to call you that way. If you don't like me calling you 'dear,' I will use some other term to address you, but don't complain to me, if you find it insulting" replied Kaveri, with a mischievous smile. "Coming to your main question, it is only out of pity that a woman avoids looking at a man she loves, because she knows that the man cannot stand her gaze!" she added.

"You may be right! You look at my face only rarely. But every time you look at me, I feel that heat rays are flowing into my body. It is like Lord Siva casting his look at someone, by opening his legendary third eye, which has the power to torch anyone or anything that its gaze falls on."

"Are you suggesting that my gaze burns your body?" asked Kaveri, pretending to have been angered by his remark.

"No. But it strikes me like an electric current. I am unable to stand it. It makes me feel that I should get up and run away."

"Oh! Now I am going to look straight in your eyes. Let me see whether you are going to get up and run away!"

"Oh, no! Have I come to meet you only to be driven away by you? Have mercy on me. Please look at me without scorching me."

Kaveri looked straight into Kannan's eyes for a couple of seconds and then said," What is this, dear? You have not combed your hair properly. It appears that  you have not shaved your face for three days or more. The colour of the shirt you are wearing doesn't match your appearance. Your dhoti has a brown tinge, since it has not been washed using a whitener. Wearing shoes while clad in a dhoti makes you look like a clown!"

"My goodness! I asked you to look at my face. But with one brief look, you have scanned me from head to foot. I have been looking at you for quite sometime, but till now, I have not even noticed what the colour of your sari is" said Kannan, feeling amazed.

"That's the difference between the way a man looks at a woman and a woman looks at a man. You men will notice only a woman's beauty. We women will scan you completely in a fraction of a second. A woman's gaze can be so fast and sweeping."

"I think I should be careful while being in your company. By the way, why are you shifting your eyes and looking around you every now and then?"

"I am concerned that someone may see the two of us being together!"

"What if anyone did? After all, we are going to get married!"

"That is fine. But I will feel shy and embarrassed if others see us being close before our marriage."

"You present a strange sight! On the one hand, your eyes torment me and on the other, they are also apprehensive. Additionally, they also keep shifting their gaze in various directions. I should tell my friend Vaiyapuri about this!" said Kannan.

"What are you going to tell him?" aske Kaveri, with apprehension.

"He has been asking me to buy a three in one music system. I am going to tell him that I have a three in one system with me already!"

"Three in one system? What do you mean?"

"I am referring to your gaze, which performs three functions - tormenting me, feeling apprehensive and being circumspect!"

* T M Soundararajan and P Susila were popular playback singers of Tamil films.

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 109
Beauty that Torments

Verse 1085 (in Tamil):
kURRamO kaNNO piNaiyO madavaral
nOkkam im mUnRum udaiththu.

Meaning:

Because it torments me, it is like the God of death who is about to take away my life; because it scans me thoroughly, it is the eye; because it keeps looking around with apprehension, it is a doe. This woman's gaze has all these three attributes.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'iraNdu kaNgaL mUnRu seyalgaL' by the same author.)

Verse 1086

Verse 1084