1147. A Mother's Admonition

"These days, our daughter Vasanthi has been going out quite often!" observed Selvam.

"What if she does? Should she always be confined to home?" countered his wife Amudha.

"You were the one who used to chide Vasanthi, if she was going out somewhere!"

"Well. I wanted to be strict with her as a matter of caution, lest she should go out to meet a boy. Is it not natural for girls of her age to be attracted to boys of her age?"

"Are you speaking from your own experience?" Selvam taunted his wife.

"Yes, of course. That is how I ended up falling in love with you and marrying you! But, I don't want our daughter to get trapped in love. That was why I acted as if I was suspecting that she was going to see a boy, even when I knew that she was not."

"But, why are you allowing her to go out now?"

"By being strict and talking tough to her, I have created a fear in her mind. So, she will be careful. Nowadays, she is going out, only to study together with her friend Kala" said Amudha.

"How are you so sure?" asked Selvam.

Before Amudha could answer Selvam, her neighbour Anjugam came and stood at the doorstep of their house.

"Amudha! I want to talk to you for while, in private" said Anjugam. 

Amudha took Anjugam to an adjoining room. After a few minutes, Anjugam left.

After Anjugam had left, Selvam asked Amudha, "What did she say, Amudha? You look upset."

"Vasanthi has been deceiving me. She told me that she was going to her friend Kala's house, for studying the lessons together with her. But she has been going to meet her lover. Some people in our town have seen Vasanthi with a young man and been gossiping about it. This gossip has reached Anjugam's ears. She came here to tell me about it" said Amudha, feeling perturbed. 

"First, you admonished our daughter. Now, other people have begun to gossip. Hereafter, her love will grow well!" aid Selvam.

"How can you talk so irresponsibly?" asked Amudha, annoyed.

"Admonition by parents and gossiping by other people are like watering the plant of love and applying fertilizer to it. Just as you chose your life partner when you were a young girl, our daughter is in the process of choosing her life partner. What is there for us to be perturbed about it? The only thing for us to do is to ascertain whether the boy is good and if he is, get her married to him" said Selvam, smiling. 

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 115
Shedding Shyness

Verse 1147 (in Tamil):
Uravar kouvai eruvAga annai sol
nIrAga nILum innOy.

Meaning:

This malady (of lust) is manured by the talk of women and watered by the (harsh) words of my mother.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pUnguzhaliyin bOdhai' by the same author.)

Verse 1148
Verse 1146