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In celebration of childhood

What was later codified as “Pillaittamil” by the medieval Tamil grammarians, had its germination in the devotional hymns of the Vaishnava poet Periyazhvar (8th century A.D.) that celebrated the childhood of Krishna, the endearing pranks and mischief as a human child juxtaposed with the marvels and miracles performed by him as a descent of the deity in human form. Paula Richman has captured the spirit of this beautiful concept Pillaittamil by the apt title of her book, Extraordinary child.

The Tolkappiam, the earliest grammar in Tamil, belonging to the early centuries of the Christian era, vaguely refers to this idea in a sutra (Porul:Putaththinaiyal-84) that says “a child can also be the subject matter of thematic poetry dealing with love.” Naccinarkiniyar, who wrote the commentary on the Tolkappiam in the 14th century A.D., not only mentions, in the context of his interpretation of this Sutra, the various “Paruvams” of Pillaittamil as specified by the Pattiyal grammarians, but also goes on to add that Tolkappiyar has prescribed this only for the human child and not for the divinities. It is possible to assume that Naccinarkiniyar was influenced by the fact that the first Pillaittamil, that came to be known by that name, was in regard to a human being, the Chola king, Kulothungan, and which was composed by his court poet Ottakkuththar (12th century A.D.).

This book by Paula Richman has three sections, a grammatical analysis of Pillaittamil that goes a long way to help a non-Tamil reader understand and appreciate its significance and innovation, and secondly, carefully chosen texts for an in-depth study from different chronological periods to reveal their evolution in form and content from literary, cultural and sociological points of view and lastly the fruit of reading Pillaittamil, carefully constructed in their proper intellectual perspective for academic concern. The translated texts from the original Tamil are not stilted, they have an easy flow and totally unselfconscious in spite of the cultural challenges they may have posed.

An illustration from Madurai Meenakshi Amman Pillaittamil by Kumara Guruparar will show how Richman has internalised the original text with all its cultural nuances to come out with such an uninhibited rendering in English:

You prop up the

eight mountains

to support the high

encircling Cakravala

Range.

You cover the top of the

sky,

then you hang the sun and

moon as lamps,

In the dashing waters,

You wash the old cooking

vessels-

all the worlds-

and stack them up,

Then you cook sweet

ambrosia

from fresh food.

Mother, you have done this

many times.

While you do this

the great madman Siva

with the unmatted flower

wanders through the

courtyard of space

destroying your work again

and again,

and then comes before you

dancing.

You never get angry,

Every day,

You just pick up the

vessels,

Tender young girl

Who plays house with the

ancient universe,

Sway to and fro!

Only daughter of the

southern king

and the king of the

Himalayas,

Sway to and fro!

The child’s 10 stages of physical development are classified as Paruvams and in each Paruvam there are 10 laudatory poems and this particular stage is called Senkeerai, when a child is encouraged to sway to and fro by the mother. Though there are several interpretations for the word Senkeerai, the view of the Vaishnava commentators seem to be a little more convincing. Keer means song (according to the glossary of Vaishnava terminology) and Senkeerai is coaxing the child to sway gently keeping time to the tuneful songs of the mother. The cosmological metaphor for creation and destruction has been beautifully brought out in this poem.

Richman, to establish the literary continuity and flexibility of this genre, has included some of the Pillaittamils that have been composed in the recent past, like visualising the prophets and political leaders as eminent subjects for such a poetic treatment. Even an abstract myth like Tamil Thai (Tamil Mother) is personified and elevated to the status of extraordinary childhood by a group of poets who were commissioned to write on this theme during the International Tamil Conference held in Madurai in 1981. Nothing can be more interesting and entertaining than the poet Singaravelu’s seeking the blessings of Lord Rationalism to protect the child “Periyar” E.V. Ramaswami in his Periyar Pillaittamil!

Richman must be commended for her diligent and insightful study of Pillaittamils, a subject on which there has not been so far an intensive attention, which they richly deserve.

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