Old Tamil Poetry

Moodhurai – 17

Those who vanish at the sign of distress,
like birds that abandon a dry pond, aren’t kin;
those who stay back and suffer with us,
like water lilies in that pond, they’re kin.

அற்ற குளத்தின் அறுநீர்ப் பறவைபோல்
உற்றுழித் தீர்வார் உறவல்லர்-அக்குளத்திற்
கொட்டியும் ஆம்பலும் நெய்தலும் போலவே
ஒட்டி யுறுவார் உறவு.

Poet Avvayar (the 12th century one), in Moodhurai (literal meaning – Elder’s words) defines who are our real kith and kin. Those who abandon us at the first sign of distress aren’t our kin. They are like birds that abandon a pond once it dries up. Those who stay with us and share  our suffering, like flowers and weeds in that pond, are our real kin.

There are three types of water lilies mentioned in the verse. கொட்டி, ஆம்பல், நெய்தல் – I could not identify their English names. So used generic ‘water lilies’.