Some Sangam Poets could tell a long story in a
short poem. This six – liner (verse 167, Kurunthokai) is the report of the
nurse-mother (செவிலித்தாய்) to
the mother of a newly married girl, after visiting the girl’s marital home. I
tried hard to translate it in six lines and failed. The translation does not
capture the young wife’s devotion and enthusiasm, her inexperience and clumsiness
in the kitchen and her happiness and joy to find that her husband liked her
cooking. The nurse-mother appears to be telling her mistress not to worry,
because, the husband is likely to relish anything the newly wed girl cooks and
all is well on the marital front!
