From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: KaaLamEgam's silEdai ( was Re: SILADI )
Date: 31 Aug 1992 23:15:00 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

R.Parthasarathy ( partha@mse.ogi.edu ) writes :
>It has been very interesting to read the siladaies, especially
>the one one movie film and a snake. I remeber on siladai by
>the famaous Kalamega pulavar. I read this long ago in Kalki.
>The occasion is when the poet stayed at one Kaaththaan Chaththiram
>in Nagapattinam.  When the poet was about to leave, the Chaththiram
>owner requested him to compose one poem in praise of his place.
>So Kalamegam recited one. It goes like this:

>Kaththu kadal soozh Naagaik       |  In Nagai surrounded by roaring sea
>                                  |
>Kaaththan Chaththirathil          |  In Kaththaan's choultry
>                                  |
>Aththamikkum podil arisi varum    |  Rice will come at sunset time
>                                  |
>Kuththi Ulaiyilida oor adangum    |  By the time it's on the stove
>                                  |  the town will be calm
>Oru pidi annam ilaiyil ida        |  By the time a handful of food
>
>                                  |  is served
>Velli ezhum                       |  Sun will rise.

>The chaththiram owner was baffled at hearing this. However, Kalamegam
>meant differently.

      In ADAMI the veNpaa may be written as
\(TAMIL)

  kaththu_kadal choozh naagaich chaththiraththil
  aththamikkum pOdhil arisi_varum kuththi
  ulaiyilida oor adangum oru_pidi aNNam
  ilaiyilida veLLi ezhum 

 The translation as provided by R.Parthasarathy is a `satire' on the
Nagai Chaththiram. 
   aththamikkum pOdhil arisi varum
  = Rice will come at sunset time ( so late )

   kuththi ulaiyilida oor adangum
  = By the time it's on the stove, the town will go to sleep ( it will
     be night time by the time they start cooking )

   oru pidi aNNam ilaiyilda oor adangum
  = By the time a handful of food is served, the sun will come.
    ( It will be the next day's morning when the food is finally
      ready for serving .)

  The chaththiram owner was very upset when KaaLamEgam delivered this
poem. Then the poet explained him that his poem is not a criticism on
the chaththiram as the owner feared but instead a greeting on the
chaththiram praising the food served therein. The second meaning of
this veNpaa is

   aththamikkum pOdhil arisi varum
  = Fresh rice from the paddy fields is used for preparing the meals 
    served at the chaththiram ( Fresh rice arrives after sunset from
    the paddy fileds )

  kuththi ulaiyilida oor adangum
 = The rice cooked at the chaththiram is so abundant that it can be
    utilised for serving the entire town 
  
  oru pidi aNNam ulaiyilida veLLi ezhum
 =  The rice served at the banana leaf is so bright that a handful
    of cooked rice is like Sun.

   The chaththiram owner was happy to hear this second meaning and
 he served another meal to Poet KaaLamEgam.

> Let me see how many of you can guess the actual meaning.
    
    Here is one entry from Madurai.
                                                           
> Partha sarathy
                                                               - SP
                                                 sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu
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