Kurunthogai 6: Only I. Night-time is magical, with its own rules. The Sangam poets have enormous respect for the stillness and magnificence of the night. Some poet called night-time the blotting paper of the day. What a profound statement! Day, with its confusing jumble of events and places and faces, settles down into the unhurried silence of the night. To the clear, creative mind, with all the clutter of daytime filed away, night-time is a clean slate. New doors open up, new paths are cautiously chosen, new trysts are made. Night-time makes us all-powerful. But to the confused mind, there is no greater horror than night-time. The distresses of the day are magnified, brought into focus. Night's silence makes us hear our own voices and fears clearly. There is no escaping it. When in love, night-time can be like walking on a razor edge. The night-time trysts with the memories of the lover can be exhilarating and addictive. It can even far surpass the real meetings, for human flaws can vanish within the invisibility cloak of the night. Moonlight can be magical, turning donkeys into horses. But all this is when the memories are happy ones. When the lover is away, and there is no way to see him, when you have had a fight, when you are pining for him with no resolution in sight, being awake at night can be sheer torture. The agam poems of the night are more auditory than visual (as the other 'day' poems are). Night is the time of silence and stillness, when even little sounds get magnified. So the heroine can hear the faint tinkling of bells as the cows in the yard move their faces. She can hear the crashing waves, the sound of falling flowers. The last murmurs of the day. Likewise, she can hear the suppressed voices in her own head. Will he come? Is he okay? Was I judicious in trusting him? Of course, what an idiot I am, doubting him. Still...things will be okay right? What are the people in the town saying about me? Those murmurs, they were about me right? That I am a fool to wait for him? And she says: while the whole town sleeps, only I can't. #Kurunthokai #ThinaiNeythal #padumanar #thalaivikootru