Tamizh Arichuvadi
Suchita Senthil Kumar
If anything remains of our bodies
it will be the syllables of our language—
every sound spoken with reverence.
At temples, at sanctums,
when you listen to the silence,
can you hear the music?
This is the Land of The Yazh.
Of the Veenai, of the Parai—
all chanting praises of our culture.
We're standing atop the lands
of dynasties we call immortal
and what exists of them?
Stray letters carved onto earthen pots,
copper plates buried underground,
all singing the same glorious song.
As I teach my sister consonants,
with the first stroke of the Zhagaram
I am born. Death waits at its final curve.
She enunciates the sound in her mazhalai
and I hear my language being spoken
into an infinite existence.
The sound reverberates against stone walls,
sits in between the veins of palm leaves.
Millenniums later, some playful child
will place her curious little hands
atop the scars of an umber-hued bark
and wonder where the music comes from.
Glossary:
Arichuvadi: referring to ‘script’
Zhagaram: A Tamil word referring to the zh (reflex approximant) sound
Mazhalai: A Tamil word referring to a baby’s speech
Pattu Paavadai: a type of silk top and skirt worn by young girls
Suchita Senthil Kumar is a poet from Bengaluru, India. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Live Wire India, Corvid Queen, Honey Literary and Aster Lit among others. She makes life decisions asking herself one question: Will Sirius Black be proud?
