hearts. The ancient Tamil women were well versed in this
art too. A dancer who knew the art of physically expressing
her emotions (Viral) was called a Virali. Malaipatukatām
gives a graphic account of the accomplished Viralis who
could dance to the mellow tunes of Yal.
We shall now pass on to consider the life of women led subsequent to their marriage. A little girl and a boy would have been quarelling with one another and would have pulled each other's hair even though their foster-mother tired to stop them. But later when these children grew up, and blossomed into youth, their hearts got locked up in love, and they appeared iike beautiful twin garlands. They marry and lead a happy life. Here, in the lives of these young persons. we see the fingere of fate moving. Those who have observed the life of this happy couple have blessed the "fate" for its contribution to their falicity. The entire drama is embodied in a short song by Mōtās aṇār. The stage setting now turns. We now witness a different drama. A young man and a girl meet together for the first time. Till this happy and accidental meeting they were strangers; yet they fall in love with one another. The lover addresses his lady-love in these words: "Your mother and father and my mother and father are not relatives at all. Till this moment we too have not seen each other. The showers fall from the skies and mix with the red soil they soak into. Similarly we have now become inseparable ones.
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. In the ancient Tamilagam, in most cases a short period of love preceded marriage. A girl would like to marry only the youngman whom she cared for. To achieve this purpose she would pray to her God offering Him flowers and incense. Poet Kapilar in one of his songs included in Ainkuçunūçu paints a beautiful picture of such a girl.1
