1130. The Mirror That That Reflects 'His' Image!

"I think it has been six months since Thirumaran left on his tour. Am I right?" Kodhai asked Maragadham.

Kodhai was a distant relative of Maragadham. She lived in a street adjacent to the one Maragadham lived. Kodhai would often visit Maragadham's house to have a chat with Maragadham's mother. Every time, she came to their house, Kodhai never missed asking Maragadham about Thirumaran.

"It is nearly six months" said Maragadham.

"You are saying this casually, as if you are telling me the age of a child! What has he been doing for six months?"

"Auntie! He gives spiritual discourses. During his tour program, he will visit many places and then only return home. He is not a prince. So has can't be sending me a message about his location and next place of visit through a messenger. Usually, he returns from a tour in two or three months' time. Last year, when he visited some places for the first time, the people there asked him to visit their places every year. So, this time, he is taking a longer time to cover all the places. At the time of leaving, he told me that it might take six months for him to complete the tour and return home."

"It has been decided by both of your parents that you two are to be married to each other. Thirumaran could have gone on the tour after marrying you" said Kodhai.

"What difference would it have made?" shot back Maragadham.

"Once you are married to him, you will be able to have him in your control. If he has love for you, he shouldn't go places, leaving you alone for such a long time!" commented Kodhai, before leaving the place. 

'Goodbye, auntie! Go to some other house, find out what problem they have and aggravate their agony, by talking to them about it and making unhelpful comments' Maragadham said to herself, looking at the figure of Kodhai, leaving her house.

Maragadham stood before the mirror and looked at her reflection. She felt the excitement that she always did, while looking at the mirror. She was having this experience, from the time Thirumaran had left the village.

When Thirumaran, before starting his journey, came to her house for taking leave of her, Maragadham asked him, "You are going away, leaving me alone here for six months. How am I going to survive without seeing you?" holding back her tears, with great effort.

"Maragadham! There is an idol of the Vaishnavite saint Ramanuja in Sriperumpudur. The legend is that Ramanuja, before leaving Sriperumpudur, embraced the idol and infused his personality into it, so that his disciples could sense his presence, by looking at the idol and overcome the grief of his separation. After that, whenever Ramanuja left Sriperumpudur, his disciples would look at the idol and experience the feeling of seeing Ramanuja himself. That idol is called 'thaam ugandha thirumeni' an expression in Tamil, which means, 'an idol authenticated by (Ramanuja) himself.' In the same way, I am going to infuse my personality in you, so that you could always see my appearance, even when I am away" and embraced her tightly.

When Thirumaran embraced  Maragadham, she experienced a sensation of thrill. She realized that that thrill indicated his entering her heart.

From that time, Maragadham had been looking at the mirror several times a day and seeing her lover in her reflection. 'How can people like Kodhai understand this?' thought Maragadam, feeling proud.

"What is this, Maragadham? You stand before the mirror several times a day! Have you gone crazy? As soon as Thirumaran returns, I will get your marriage performed. Otherwise, your craze will intensify into  some form of mental disorder" said Maragdham's mother, seeing her daughter standing before the mirror.

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 113
In Praise of Love

Verse 1130 (in Tamil):
uvandhu uRaivar uLLatthuL enRum igandhu uRaivar
Edhilar ennum ivvUr.

Meaning:

He ever lives in my soul, with delight. But the townsfolk will call him loveless, saying 'he has gone far away, leaving her alone.'

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'uruvaththaik kAttidum kaNNAdi' by the same author.)

Verse 1131 (Soon)
Verse 1129