Chapter 7: Samudra Kumari

That day Vandiya Devan spent half the time sleeping and the other half, he whiled away wondering about the strange behaviour of Poonguzhali. What an unusual girl, she is? Such a beautiful name but why is her character so different and difficult. To him, she seemed like a tart mixture of sweet and strange.

She carelessly mentions about killing a tiger, cries while looking at the marshy hot bubbles, sings a hauntingly beautiful song, yet she saved me from the murderous soldiers of Pazhuvetrayars. Why does she behave so strange at times? He surmised that there was some bitter incident in her past that made her behave thus. Or perhaps it could even be a sweet incident… women are strange by nature. Some women were strange right from their birth but her parents seemed like normal people, calm, collected and in peace with their lot in life.

Forget the behaviour, why is she so interested in saving my life? Why did she help me escape the Pazhuvur soldiers? Why did she bring me here to hide? She has also agreed to take me in her boat to Eelangai. Will she perhaps betray me in the end? No. No… That can’t be true. She wants some help from me. She said she would tell about it later. But what kind of ‘help’ would that be?

While he sat thinking about her, the forest came alive with myriad sounds just, as Poonguzhali had warned him. Neighing of horses, people, animal sounds, chirping of birds followed by ominous silence. He realized that the Pazhuvur soldiers were searching for his whereabouts in the woods. He was also astonished by the betrayal of his companion, the Physician’s son.

“Foolish boy! The idea of him falling in love with Poonguzhali was so laughable. Can a rat fall in love with a lioness? But this girl used his foolishness so well. With just a few words, she managed to raise a jealous storm in his heart so much so that he was willing to betray his companion. Women truly can be very dangerous.

But I will need to accept something truthfully and wholeheartedly! I have been under the illusion that there is no one in the world who could challenge me in intelligence and in being clever. But this boat girl from nowhere has proved me wrong.’

The way she had lured him away from the beach to these forests proved just how intelligent she really was.

‘It also proves that I should never let my guard down ever. Just imagine what could have happened if we were still at the beach. The Pazhuvur soldiers would have caught me and all my aspirations would have turned to dust!’

Sun set was a beautiful that evening in Kodi Karai. The southern sea bends towards the western direction in Kodi Karai and when you look towards the beach from a high point, one would see the sea in all three directions - east, west and south. But Vandiya Devan could not see the glorious sunset that evening as Poonguzhali had warned him not to come out of the hidden mandapam, for any reason.

With the sunset, darkness descended on the hidden mandapam. Vandiya Devan got to the top of the mandapam to have a lookout. He could see the lighthouse glowing at a distance. With millions of stars dotting the sky, he sat there for long waiting for Poonguzhali’s signal. At long last, a melodious “cooo…coooo” sound was heard. Vandiya Devan sprang alive from the mandapam roof and came out to the woods to meet Poonguzhali. She signalled him to be quiet and said, “Don’t make any noise. Come with me…”

They walked towards the beach silently, where her boat was ready for their journey with a sail and long sturdy rope. Moving fast, Vandiya Devan tried to help Poonguzhali to drag the boat into the sea but she said, “Please don’t,” and launched it into the sea, while she held the rope. When he tried to get into she said, “Shush! Wait! You can get in after sometime.”

After some distance when there were no more waves in the sea, they both got into the boat. The small boat shook a great deal when Vandiya Devan got into it. With his limbs trembling, he tried to control the innate fear of water that he always had.

“Can we talk now?” he asked

“Yes. If you have ceased trembling with fear, we can.”

“Who is trembling here? Definitely not me.”

“Good.”

“Don’t you have to put up the sail?”

“If we put the sail now, we will be seen from the beach. What if someone comes and catches us?”

“I will take care of everything, you don’t have to be frightened,” said Vandiya Devan and proceeded to tell her all about his brave deeds.

 “The wind is blowing from the opposite direction. If we open the sail now, we will end up back in Kodi Karai. After midnight the winds will change. We can put the sail up then.”

“O! Looks like you know a lot about these things. That’s why your father insisted that I take your help.”

“My father! Who is that?”

“What do you mean? Your father, Thyaga Vida Karayar!”

“He is my father only in the shore. When I am in the sea…”

“When you are in the sea, will your father change?”

“Yes. Here the glorious lord of Sea, Samudra Rajan is my father. Do you know what my other name is? Samudra Kumari! Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“No. Samudra Kumari is such a strange name.”

“Don’t people call Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar as ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ similarly I am called ‘Samudra Kumari’.”

When he heard the Prince’s name, Vadiya Devan’s hand automatically went to his waistcloth where he had kept the message given by Kundavai. Noticing his action, Poonguzhali asked, “Is it safe?”

“What is safe?”

“The thing you have kept in your waist cloth.”

Vandiya Devan was taken aback and a germ of suspicion grew in his mind. Poonguzhali in the meanwhile was mechanically plying the oars.

“When will we reach Eelangai?”

“If two people could ply the oars, we could reach there by dawn, if the winds are favourable.”

“Let me help you with the oars,” he said and took the oar that rested next to him and soon found out how difficult a task it was to move the boat. His cumbersome attempts at the oars stopped the boat in the middle of the sea.

“What is this? How come the boat moves only when you are plying the oars?”

“I am Samudra Kumari. That’s why. You don’t have to help me, I will make sure that you reach Eelangai safely.”

He sat quiet for a while and tried to look around. Kodi Karai beach was no longer seen. There was water everywhere. Looking around at the boat he noticed a plank in the middle of the boat.

“What’s this plank for?”

“It is to balance the boat in the water so that it does not shake too much.”

“Really! Somehow it doesn’t seem to be working. Look how badly the boat is shaking.”

“You call this shaking. You should see the sea during the monsoon and its swirling high winds.”

“What will happen if these high winds come? Will this boat survive it?”

“It depends on the force of the wind. In most cases, the boat will survive high winds but when a storm or a hurricane comes, the plank can be used to survive even if the boat is lost.”

“Ayyo! Will the high wind drown the boat?”

“I have seen storms and whirlwinds devouring big ships. What chance does a small boat like this have?”

“What is a whirlwind?”

“You don’t know that.  When high winds from two different directions meet, a whirlwind is created. During the months of Thai, Masi, we have ‘Kondal Kattru’ in these seas. It is very safe to travel during those months. It is easy to go to Eelangai and come back within a day. But during the months of Vaigasi, ‘Chozha kattru’ (monsoon winds) blow around. When these winds clash around the sea, huge waves come about and they churn the waters like a butter churn. Mountain like waves rise above and deep chasms are created in the sea. If a boat like this gets trapped in a whirlwind, you will surely meet the God soon.”

Vandiya Devan suddenly lost all the bravado and started trembling in every limb. His suspicion about her intentions too became strong. “Ayyo! I am not coming with you. Please take the boat back to the shore.”

“What are you blabbering? Be quiet. If you are frightened, close your eyes and sleep.”

“No! You are a wicked woman. You have brought me all the way here only to drown me.”

“What is this madness?”

“I am not mad. Will you turn the boat or not? Or shall I jump into the sea?”

“Go ahead and jump. But before you do, you can hand over the oolai that you are taking to Ponniyin Selvan.”

“O! How did you know about that Oolai?”

“I learned about it this morning when I took your waistcloth. I learned who you were and why you were going to Eelangai. I wouldn’t have agreed to ferry you otherwise.”

“You are truly evil! I should never have trusted you. Will you turn the boat or not?”

“If I had been Elaya Pirrati, I would never have trusted such an important message with a fickle minded messenger like yourself.”

“Aha! So you also know who sent the message. I have no doubt about your intentions now. Will you turn the boat or shall I jump?”

“Go ahead! Jump!”

Crazed with panic and fear, Vandiya Devan jumped into the sea. Thinking that the water level would be same as it was at Kodi Karai beach, Vandiya Devan had braved the waters, only to realize that they were now sailing in the middle of the sea, where it was very deep. When he realized that, he started shouting and struggling in panic.

Though he knew how to swim in shallow waters, the boundless depth of the sea scared him and in his panic he forgot how to swim. While swimming in a lake or a river, he would take a look at banks to gain courage and swim ashore but he was in the middle of the sea with no sight of shore. The mild waves tossed him up and down and senseless with fear and fright, he lost the strength to shout out for help. He could see the boat sailing away and lost all hopes of survival. ‘This is it. I am going to die in this sea. And along with me this message for Ponniyin Selvan will be lost.’ Kundavai devi’s face rose before his mind’s eye and it seemed ask, ‘How could you do this?’

‘Aha! I had so many dreams. I wanted to win back my old kingdom and had dreamed of ruling it along with Elaya Pirati as my queen. And they have become mere dreams, all because of this wicked girl. She is a blood thirsting ghoul. She probably learned her tricks from that enchantress Nandini. She could even be a spy of the Pazhuvetrayars. If only I could get my hands around her neck, I would squeeze her… Chi! Chi! Why am I having such murderous thoughts before dying? Let me think about God. O! Lord Shiva! Mother Parvathi! Lord Muruga! O! Lord Vishnu who resides in the might ocean of this universe… Kundavai Devi, Please forgive me. I am leaving this world without completing my mission. I can see the boat now. If only I could get that girl in my hands….’

When Vandiya Devan jumped into the sea in fury, Poonguzhali was indifferent for a while. She thought that he would toss around for sometime and then come back swimming to the boat to save himself. She even put some distance between him and the boat to make him more desperate. But after a while, she realized that he was genuinely in trouble and that he didn’t know how to swim.

‘He doesn’t know how to swim properly. And even if he did, he must have forgotten how to, in his panic.’ His screams now seemed feebler and soon he would start swallowing salt water and drown. I am such a fool, she thought. I should have kept my mouth shut until we reached Eelangai. I shouldn’t have told him that I knew about his secret. But who thought that this reckless fool would jump into the sea thus?

Poonguzhali saves Vandiya Devan

Poonguzhali immediately brought the boat closer to him and said, ‘Come! Come! Get into the boat.’ But Vandiya Devan did not hear her. He was in the throes of drowning had lost the power of seeing and hearing anything but whenever the waves tossed him up, he tried to scream. Flaying his hands around, he tried desperately to keep his head above the water. Poonguzhali noted all this in a second and decided that it would be impossible for him to get into the boat on his own. When she looked at him in the moonlight, she could see the panic-stricken crazed face that failed to register the fact that someone was trying to help him. She knew that she had to somehow haul him out of the sea onto the boat. This is such a nice trouble of my own doing, she thought.

She immediately tied the rope that she had brought along to her waist and the other end of the plank in the boat and then she jumped. Swimming with powerful strokes, she neared Vandiya Devan. Vandiya Devan recognized her and his face became murderous. Poonguzhali was familiar with the actions of a drowning man. Before they drowned, they would almost possess inhuman elephantine strength and would try to hold onto to whatever they could come across. To save themselves, they would even try to hoist themselves up on the shoulders of their rescuer, thereby killing their rescuer too. She realized that Vandiya Devan was in the same last stage of drowning.

She approached him carefully from the back and made a strong fist with her hands and hit him squarely on his forehead. Her strong hands had a tensile strength about them and her punch was very hard on his head. His vision split into a million fragments and in each of them he could see Samudra Kumari laughing gaily, just before he lost consciousness.

Chapter 6: The Hidden Mandapam

Next morning, Vandiya Devan got up well after the dawn. Since he had not slept for much part of the night, he found it difficult to awaken properly and for a minute, he was not sure whether the light that was waking him up was from the sun or the lighthouse. Poonguzhali’s mother informed him that Thyaga Vidha Karayar had gone to the temple. Poonguzhali was not at home and he was hesitant to ask her about the daughter. He went to the temple to seek her but only found her father who was gathering flowers from the woods nearby for the temple rituals. When he enquired about Poonguzhali, her father said that she had not come there.

“She might be roaming in the woods chasing the deer herds or might be walking along the beach. Try to find her and ask her to help you.”

“Thambi! Just be careful with one thing. Do not say anything that can be misconstrued, then she will become dangerous.”

Vandiya Devan remembered the earlier night’s dream and acknowledged the old man’s warning. He entered the woods to search for her but within a few minutes got discouraged and came out to the beach. The pristine sands of the beach glowed gold in the morning sun but there was no sign of her through the long stretch.

‘She will come home to have her mid-morning meal, I will catch her then.’ He thought. The calm beach and the gentle waves beckoned him near and he found himself wanting to take a bath. ‘Didn’t Poonguzhali say that the beach here was very shallow? It is also important that I try to rid myself of this irrational fear of water? How can I go in a boat across the sea feeling scared of water? What’s the harm in taking bath, anyway?’

Thinking thus, Vandiya Devan removed his sword and his waistcloth that held the message he was carrying to Prince Arul Mozhi and left them in the sands and got into the water. Inching slowly towards the water, he moved in hesitantly and found that the water was only waist high, “What’s the use of this sea? One can’t even take bath properly here.”

Aha! We have come so far inside the water thinking that it is not deep. What if the sea suddenly throws huge waves? One can never be sure of anything where the sea is concerned. Thinking thus, he started walking back to the beach.

Aha! Here comes Poonguzhali! Let me get out of the water and catch her before she disappears again. I need to somehow convince her to take me to Eelangai today. Looks like she is coming towards me. What is she asking? he started wading through the beach waves hurriedly to reach her.

Poonguzhali 

What is she doing? Why is she picking up my waistcloth? “Hey girl! Put that down! That’s mine.” Why is she not listening?

“Listen! Hey girl! Stop right there. That’s mine. MINE!” Even as he started shouting, Poonguzhali turned around and said something that he couldn’t hear and then she started running towards the woods. Angered and incensed by her action, Vandiya Devan too started running towards her.

That wicked girl! No! Not just wicked. She is raving mad. How do I take the waistcloth and the important message that Elaya Pirati has given from her?

After tumbling twice in the water, he came out of the beach and ran towards the sand hurriedly. His wet clothes impeded his movements and he coughed out the water that he had inadvertently drunk when he fell in. Poonguzhali was running towards the woods almost as gracefully as the deer herd before her. Despite the situation, Vandiya Devan couldn’t stop himself from admiring her gait and compare her beauty with that of the beautiful deer. Women like her who live close to nature are more beautiful than those who live closeted away from it. But I can’t say all that to this girl. If I say this, this girl might misunderstand me and… her father too had warned about her. But why is she running so fast and that too with my belongings? If she enters the woods, there is no way that I could get that message back.

Even as he thought that, Poonguzhali entered the thick woods and disappeared and Vandiya Devan berated himself for his stupidity. Entering the woods hurriedly, he scratched himself in many thorny bushes. Looking all around, he shouted, “Poonguzhali! Poonguzhali! Where are you?” And soon, he started asking, “Tree! Have you seen Poonguzhali? Crow! Have you seen Poonguzhali?” What is happening to me? Looks like I am becoming mad too!

Panting breathless he rested under a tree, even as he looked around everywhere for any sign of the missing girl, something fell on him from the top. It was his waistcloth! He opened it eagerly and checked inside. The ooalai and the gold coins were intact.

“Is your money safe?” asked a voice from the top of the tree. Vandiya Devan looked up and saw her sitting high up the tree branches.

Angry and irritated he said, “I have never seen a more demented girl than you.”

“And I haven’t seen an owl like you before. Ammamma! That expression in your face is priceless!”

“Why are you doing this to me? Why did you take my belongings? If it was money that you wanted…”

“Chi chi! Who needs your money here?”

“Then why did you take it and come here?”

“If I had not done that you would not have come to the woods but would have gone to my house.”

“What if I had gone there?”

“Why don’t you get on this tree and look for yourself?”

“What will I see if I get on the tree?”

“You will see ten horses and soldiers and their shining arms that have come in search of you.”

Vandiya Devan looked at her wondering whether she was telling the truth. He immediately tied the waistcloth tightly around his midriff and climbed the tree nimbly. He was not convinced with her explanation for stealing his belongings. Who knows? Maybe she dropped the gold coins and the oolai by mistake and might want to take it back by force. With such misgivings, he climbed to the top of the tree branch and stood next to Poonguzhali and looked at the direction she had pointed to. She was right. There were indeed soldiers and horses standing outside her house.

Who could they be? They must be Pazhuvur soldiers who have come all the way here to capture me? Poonguzhali has indeed saved me from a grave danger. But why?

They both got down from the tree. “Poonguzhali! You have saved me from a big danger.  Thank you from the bottom of the heart.”

“What a big liar you are? All men are liars.” She pouted

“I am not like all other men. I am different.”

“Hmm. Maybe you are different.”

“Poonguzhali! Can I ask you a question?”

“Ask. But it is up to me whether I want to answer or not.”

“Why did you save me? Why this sudden pity towards me?”

It was evident that his question had surprised her. She thought for a while and said, “I am partial towards idiots like you.”

“Then I am glad that I turned out to be one. How did you know that these soldiers have come after me?”

“It was easy to guess and moreover your friend confirmed my suspicions today morning.”

“What did he blabber?”

“Early in the morning, he said that he wanted to search for medicinal herbs in the woods. So I brought him here. And these enchanting woods made him fall in love with me. He declared his undying love for me here with many eloquent words. I told him that, ‘Your friend too is in love with me….’

“What? What?”

“Wait! Listen to the rest. I told him that you were in love with me. And that’s when he revealed his suspicions about you. He said that you were fleeing from some royal punishment and that you had come all the way here to escape from soldiers who are looking to capture you. He said, ‘Don’t spoil your life by trusting such a man. He will surely ruin you. Instead you should marry me.’

I told him, ‘You are in such a tearing hurry to get married. Shouldn’t we ask the permission of our elders?’

And for this he said, ‘Let us elope and marry just as Lord Murugan eloped with Valli.’

‘And you call this man your friend! Very good friend indeed!’

“That gutless rogue!” shouted Vandiya Devan.

“By then, we heard the sound of galloping horses and I bid him to climb the tree to see who had come. He got up the tree, you should have seen him doing it, his legs were shaking! I felt like laughing out aloud.” Said Poonguzhali and laughed remembering the scene.

“Enough of that. Tell me what happened next.”

“He came down from the tree and said, ‘See what I told you was so true! These soldiers have come here to capture him.’ I told him that they might capture him too, as he had come along with you and asked him to hide in the woods until they went away. He agreed and then did just what I had anticipated…”

“What did he do?”

“He went straight to those soldiers and got captured by them…”

“Ayyo! Poor boy!”

“Don’t pity him too much. Save some for yourself.”

“Why? Why do you say that?”

“He went to the soldiers and asked, ‘Who are you people and why are you here?’ They said, ‘We are hunters. We are here to hunt for deer meat.’

‘I know for whom you have come here.’

They looked at each other with surprise and asked him more questions and he finally asked them, ‘I know that you have come in search of Vandiya Devan. I can show you where he is hiding. But you will have to promise me to leave me alone.’ They agreed and he immediately took them to my house.”

“That scoundrel!”

“After they left, I came searching for you and found you bathing in the sea.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this there? Why did you run so fast taking my waistcloth?”

“If I had not done that I doubt if you would have come after me so fast. You might not have believed my words or worse you might even have decided to tackle those soldiers them alone. There was no time to convince you there.”

Aha! How could we think this girl to be mad? At every point, she has merely proved herself to be not merely clever but also exceedingly intelligent. It would be impossible for me to escape from this danger without trusting her.

“Poonguzhali! You have no inkling of how big a help you have rendered me today. I wish you could help me again…”

“What do you want?”

“You know my friend’s true colours now. There is no point in trusting him now. I can only look to you for help. I need you to take me in your boat to Eelangai.”

“You must believe me when I say that I have done nothing wrong. I have a very important mission to complete in Eelangai. You will need to do this for me somehow…

“If I do so, what will you give me?” asked Poonguzhali. Her eyes looked bashful and shy and her beautiful smile was spellbinding. Vandiya Devan remembered the dream that he had previous night and was astonished by the fact that she had asked him the same question in his dream too. He almost gave her the same answer, but with great effort he bit his words down and said, “Poonguzhali! If you help me now, you will have my undying gratitude. I don’t know if there is anything that I can do for you in return for this favour. If there is anything, you only need to tell me about it.”

Poonguzhali was looking at him with thoughtful eyes.

“If there is anything that you need from me, any help… please tell me. I will do it for you,” he said

“Are you truly saying this or just for the sake of getting your…”

“I promise. I am saying this truly…”

“Then in that case, I will tell you when the right time comes. I hope you will not refuse me.”

“I will never forget. I will consider myself to be in your debt until you tell me what you want.”

“Alright. Then come with me. I will take you to a place in these woods. You can stay there safely, until the evening. I am afraid you will need to stay there without any food…”

“You don’t worry about that. I had a hearty meal this morning. Your anni served me rice quite grudgingly and I ate more than my usual portion just to spite her. I will not need anymore food until evening…”

“I am not sure whether I can get any food by this evening. I will try to get some for you. But you will have to stay in this place until it is dark. After the sun sets, I will come there and signal you with cuckoo sound. Only when you hear this signal, should you come out of the place. Understood?

“Yes. I will wait for your signal.”

“We will leave in my boat after it gets dark.”

She took him to a small mound of hill in the middle of the forest. Hidden amidst thick groove of trees, he found that it was an old mandapam that had become dilapidated and was completely hidden amidst the green foliage of the forest.

“Once there was a tiger, living in this mandapam. After it died, this became a private refuge for me... almost a home. I come here whenever I want to be alone. In that pot you will find water to drink. Stay here until it gets dark. No matter what you hear around you, people, horses or animal sounds, do not come out of this mandapam.”

“What if any wild animal comes here… like tiger or a bear?”

“There are no tigers in these woods, only wild pigs and wolves roam around here. I hope you are not frightened of them.”

“I am not frightened. It’s just that I left my spear at your home.”

“Here. Take this and use it as a weapon,” Said Poonguzhali handed him a strange spear shaped weapon. With sharp edges at both ends, it had many pointed thorns too. It reminded him of Indra’s divine weapon, the Vajrayudham.

“What sort of weapon is this? I have never seen this before,” He asked

“This is the bone of a fish’s tail. I used this to kill the tiger that was staying here.”

Glossary

Vajrayudham - Divine weapon of Lord Indra

Mandapam - An open air enclosure with four pillars

Chapter 5: In the Middle of the Sea

Vandiya Devan looked behind and a silent scream escaped his mouth. With his heart beating wildly he could feel goosepimples racing through all over his body. What he saw terrified him beyond any worst nightmare that he had seen.

Through the vast expanse of beach and the forest, he could see firelights. These were not ordinary fire cause by the burning of a wood or a log. These were naturally occurring fire bubbles that are normally seen near marshy lands. At some places, the fire bubbles danced around wildly and vanished while in others they spread around terrifying the hearts of the onlookers.

To Vandiya Devan’s eyes, they looked like the headless body of an Asura who had countless fiery mouths trying to devour anything and anyone that comes in the way. No wonder they were called kolli vaai pisasu.

Vandiya Devan couldn’t get his eyes off the Kolli Vaai Pisasu even though all his senses were screaming for him to get away from the scene. Even Periya Pazhuvetrayar’s dark palace seemed to be a tame place when compared with this terror. Someone laughed out aloud behind. Who else? It was Poonguzhali.

At any other occasion, such laughter might have evoked terror enough to flee the scene but it had the opposite effect on Vandiya Devan. It told that there was a real woman standing next to him and it helped to dispel the blind terror that had seized him minutes ago. “Did you see my lovers?” she asked. “These Kolli Vaai Pisasu are my lovers. I come here every night to woo them.”

This girl is mad, Vandiya Devan decided. How can I trust her to take me to Eelangai? He looked back at the Kolli Vaai Pisasu and tried to remember a half-buried memory of what he had heard about them.

“Do you think, your friend Senthan Amuthan can compete with these lovers for my attention?” asked Poonguzhali but he did not answer her immediately as he had just remembered somebody’s explanation about the terrifying wonder he was seeing. “These are naturally occurring wonders just as a mountain explodes and waves of fire come out of its mouth.” Terrifying tales about Kolli Vaai Pisasu were told to discourage children from going near the sea, he told himself and his fear dissipated. He turned his mind to the problem at hand. How to convince this girl to leave the woods and go home?

“Poonguzhali! Your lovers will not go anywhere. They will remain here all the time. Shall we go back home?” he asked, but she did not reply. Instead she started crying. “What is this? Why do we get ourselves into such trouble?” sighed Vandiya Devan mentally and tried again. “Poonguzhali! Shall we leave?” but she didn’t stop crying. Vandiya Devan had had enough.

“Fine. Do as you will. I am feeling sleepy. I am leaving.” He said and got down from mound and started towards the lighthouse. Poonguzhali stopped crying and came after him soon. Walking along with her, Vandiya Devan thought, How can I trust this mad girl to take me to Eelangai? But there is no other way I have to somehow use sweet words to convince her to help me.

“There is a vaal natchithiram (comet) seen in the sky. What do you think about it?” asked Poonguzhali

“Yes. A vaal natchithiram is seen. That’s all. I have no opinion about it.”

“But many say that whenever vaal natchithiram appears, something untoward will happen in our lives.”

“Yes. I have heard that too.”

“What do you think?”

“I have no knowledge of astrology but I do know that many in the kingdom are talking about it.”

They walked along silently for some time and then Poonguzhali asked, “Is it true that Chakravarthi is seriously ill?”

“Yes. He is very ill. He is paralyzed in his legs and can’t move from his bed.  That’s why Pazhaiarai physician has sent me here to get medicinal herbs. Poonguzhali! Will you help me?”

Instead of answering his question, she asked, ”Many people are talking about how the Chakravarthy will die soon. Is that true?”

“If you refuse to help me now, it might even come true. There are many rare medicinal herbs in Eelangai it seems and the physician needs it make a new medicine for the Chakravarthi. Will take me in your boat to Eelangai?”

“If the Chakravarthi dies suddenly who do you think will get the throne?”

“What do we care who comes to the throne? What is it to us? Why should we worry about it?”

“Why shouldn’t we worry? Aren’t we the citizens of this kingdom? Whoever comes to the throne will rule over us. We have all the right to worry about it.”

Her answer intrigued Vandiya Devan. He thought, ‘This girl is definitely not mad. I should be careful with her. There must be yet another reason for her strange behaviour.’

“Why are you silent? Who do you think will become the next king?” asked Poonguzhali again.

“Crown Prince Aditya is the next heir apparent. He should become the next king.”

“What about Prince Madhuranthakar? Doesn’t he have any rights?”

“He has refused to accept the throne.”

“He refused earlier but it seems like he wants to become the king now.”

“It doesn’t really matter what he wants. People don’t support his claim.”

“I have heard that many nobles and chieftains are supporting him.”

“Yes. That’s true. I am surprised that even you have heard about these rumours.”

“What would happen if the Chakravarthi dies suddenly?”

“The kingdom will be plunge into confusion and anarchy. I need your help to avoid such unfortunate events.”

“How can I help you?”

“I need to go to Eelangai very urgently. I have been asked to get rare medicinal herbs from there for the Chakravarthi. Will you take me in your boat?”

“Why are you asking me? Aren’t you ashamed of begging for a woman’s help to cross the sea?”

“Your father said that there is no body else here to take me across. Even your brother has gone away.”

“What if he is not there? Don’t you have two hands? Doesn’t your friend have two hands?”

“But we don’t know how to row a boat in the middle of the sea…”

“Rowing a boat is not a magic trick. You just need to use those muscles…”

“But how will we know the direction once we are in the middle of the sea. What if we get lost…”

“Then get lost for all that I care…”

They had reached the lighthouse by then. Vandiya Devan didn’t want to pursue the argument as it might end up in blatant refusal from Poonguzhali’s end. Even though she had refused to help him, her questions had given a sliver of hope.

When he lay down outside the house, sleep did not come easily. His mind was clouded and his heart was confused and during the last leg of the night he fell asleep only to awaken in his dreams.

Poonguzhali and Vandiya Devan

They were in her boat sailing away through the dark sea. Sitting across him, Poonguzhali was plying the oars with a beautiful smile. Vandiya Devan looked around him and found that they were in the middle of the sea. Kodi Karai beach had vanished and he could see only water in all directions. A gentle breeze wafted through the boat and played around with Poonguzhali’s lovely curly hair. His heart was brimming with hope and happiness and he forgot where he was going and why? He felt as if he had braved so many dangers for so long only to reach Poonguzhali. But something was missing? What was it? Ah! Yes. Poonguzhali’s song. “Poonguzhali! Won’t you sing for me?”

“What will you give me if I sing for you?”

“I will come near you and give your lovely cheeks…”

Poonguzhali immediately took out a short curved dagger from her lap and said, “Look here you! If you ever cross across that sail and come near me, I will stab your heart and throw you in the sea. The sharks are quite hungry for human meat.”

Glossary

Kolli Vaai Pisasu - Hot bubbles that occur naturally near marshlands
vaal natchithiram - Comet

Chapter 4: In the Midnight

After a simple dinner at Poonguzhali’s house, Vandiya Devan sought her father’s help to go to Eelangai. However Thyaga Vidakaraiyar expressed his regrets. “Once there were many boats banked in this beach but now they all have gone to Sethu Karai to help our army cross the sea to Eelangai. I own two boats and my son has taken two men to Eelangai and I do not know when he will return. What do I do?”

“Who were those men? Your daughter said that they seemed strange.”

“Yes. They were strange and I didn’t like them too. I do not know who they were and why they were going to Eelangai. They had the Pazhuvur signet ring with them but despite that I wouldn’t have asked my son to go. But my daughter-in-law is very greedy and when they gave a bag full of gold coins, she urged my son to take them…”

“Ayya! How can this be? How can your son listen to a woman who has no knowledge about anything?” he asked and then added hesitantly, “I am sorry. This is your family matter and I have no right to judge anybody.”

“Thambi! There is nothing wrong with what you said. There is a curse on my family. My son…” he said hesitantly

Vandiya Devan remembered Senthan Amuthan’s description about his family.

“Is your son deaf and mute?”

“Aha! How did you know?

Vandiya Devan then told him about how he had met Senthan Amuthan and had stayed at his home in Thanjavur.

“Aha! So you are that man? I got news about your escape days ago and I also heard that Pazhuvur soldiers are searching for you everywhere.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Now I know why you are in such a hurry to go to Eelangai.”

“Ayya! I am not going to Eelangai to escape from the Pazhuvur soldiers. I am bearing a message for a very important person in Eelangai. If you do not believe me, I can show it to you.”

“That’s unnecessary Thambi! I trust Elaya Piratti’s words more than anything else. However I still can’t help you with a boat.”

“Ayya! You said you had two boats.”

“Yes. Boat is there but there is no one to ferry you to Eelangai. If you and your friend know how to use it, you are free to take it.”

“But we do not know how to ferry the boat and that too in the middle of the sea. Moreover, I do not know how to swim properly in the first place. And I am a bit scared of water too…”

“Even if you knew how to swim, ferrying a boat in the sea needs a lot of skill and those without any experience cannot go alone.”

“And I am not taking the physician’s son along with me to Eelangai. He will be staying here, collecting medicinal herbs. Ayya! You will have to help me somehow.”

“Only one person can help you. But I am not sure if it would be possible. It will be very difficult to convince…however if you happen to be lucky it might even work. Who knows?”

“Ayya! Please tell me who it is? I will try and talk to this person.”

“In Kodi Karai, you will not find anybody as skilled as Poonguzhali. She is very experienced in the sea and has gone to Eelangai many times. I will ask her if she is willing to take you. You also try and ask her when you get the chance.”

“Ayya! Please call her now. We can ask her.”

“No. She is a very wilful girl. If she says ‘no’ right now then nothing in this world can change her decision. Tomorrow, I will speak with her at the right moment. You can also try your luck.” Said Thyaga Vidakaraiyar and went towards the lighthouse.

That night, Vandiya Devan lay down to sleep at the verandah of Poonguzhali’s house. His companion, the physician’s son was already asleep. Saddle sore and bone weary, Vandiya Devan too drifted off to sleep but he woke up with a start when he heard the front door of the house opening. Someone came out of the house and walked out briskly and from the light of the lighthouse Vandiya Devan was able to discern that it was Poonguzhali.

‘Where is she going at this hour?’ Thought Vandiya Devan. When she had playfully invited him to come along with her in the middle of the night, he had thought that she was joking. But no she was really leaving the house in the middle of the night. ‘I will show you my lovers.’ She had said. Could that be true? Could she really have more than one lover? There is some mystery in all this. Let me follow her and find the truth. I will need her help to go to Eelangai and tomorrow I will need to convince her to take me in her boat. Who knows? Maybe she will get into some danger in these woods and I could save her from it. That might make her more amenable to help me.

Vandiya Devan rose silently and followed her carefully. He couldn’t forget the dread that he had felt when he had stepped into the quicksand so he followed her swiftly without losing sight of her.

The area around the lighthouse and the beach was alight with light and it was easy to follow her here but when she entered the woods, Vandiya Devan struggled to keep up after her as she started walking very fast. Through the wild terrain of the forest, the ground was uneven in many places, Poonguzhali who was familiar with the place, walked through it confidently while Vandiya Devan found it difficult to keep her within his line of sight. He climbed a large mound of sand and found her walking below but she suddenly vanished!

Surprised and shocked to have lost her thus, Vandiya Devan got down from the mound. How could she vanish like that? Is this some kind of magic? Could she perhaps have fallen into a pit? He reached the place where she had vanished and looked around. Looking carefully, he found out that there was a small path that wound its way down towards a thick grove of trees. But it was so dark that he couldn’t see his way in the darkness. The windy woods assumed a terrible form and he found himself comparing its trees to formless ghosts and wraiths. The dark shadows of the trees looked menacingly at him even as he contemplated his next move. Vandiya Devan lost his nerve and decided to go back home. Who knows what dangers these woods may hide? Vicious beasts, poisonous snakes might be lurking behind these shadows to attack me. Cheetah or a leopard might pounce from one of these trees too! What foolishness is this? Why didn’t I bring my spear along?

What’s that noise? Who could that be? Who is that standing on that tree? Vandiya Devan’s legs started trembling even as he started recollecting all the ghost stories that he had heard from his childhood. Why are we still here? Let us get back to the house.

Even as he thought of turning back he heard a voice. It was a beautiful voice that sang a hauntingly poignant song.

Vandiya Devan went ahead through the path and followed the direction of Poonguzhali’s song. As the path meandered towards the peak of the mound, he could see her standing on the top, singing even as she looked at the stars. One of the stars that dotted the sky was the long dhoomketu (comet). Her mesmerizing voice and still woods nestled under the stars seemed surrealistic to Vandiya Devan.

He stood right behind her and from the top of the mound, the distant glow of the lighthouse and the dark rolling beach waves were also seen.

 

Vandiya Devan and Poonguzhali

“Oh! You have come after all. When I last saw, you were sleeping like Kumbakarnan.” She asked.

“I woke up when I heard the door open and then I saw you. You walked so fast and didn’t even look back. It is so difficult to follow you.”

“Why did you follow me?”

“Good question! Don’t you remember, it was you who asked me to come along?”

“Did I? Do you remember why?”

“Of course. You said that you would show me your lovers. So where are they?”

“Look behind you. They are there.” She said.