A Cryptic Expression of Love

Expressing love, is what young, enthusiastic and vibrant lovers apply their thoughts and brains to impress each other. The creativity that comes out is always admired and awaited by the opposite party. The suspense/hidden clues in such expressions of love are the interestings bits that really takes people close to each other. Discovering the hidden pieces is the real blast of the such expressions, that gives each other the adrenaline booster. More cryptic the message, more is the entertainment in deciphering it.

There is one such cryptic love message, in Tamil, where the guy write to his lover a cryptic message that is very interesting to decipher. The song is from the famous Viveka Chintamani, the author of this work is unknown, but the message is really out of this world and deciphering requires a real effort, the result of which is really astounding. The song goes like this





"Oru Naangum Eeraraiyum Ondrae Kelaai
Unmaiyaai Aiaraiyum Araiyum Kaetaen
Irunaangum Moodrudanae Ondrum Solvaai
Immozhiyai Kaetapadi Eendhaai Aayin
Perunaangum Arunaangum Peruvaai Pennae
Pinnae Ore Mozhi Pugala Vaendaam Indrae
Sarinaangum Paththum Ore Padhinaindhaalae
Sagikka Mudiyaathini En Sagiyae Maanae"


The message is that the guy asks his lover for a kiss. If she agrees, she will win his heart. But the poet has used his creativity and put in a really interesting puzzle to solve. That his request requires a lot of thought and intelligence to decrypt the message.

Oru, Ore - One
Naangu - Four
Arai - Half,
Eer - Two, so Eer Arai - Two Halves
Kaetaen - Ask
Iru - Two
Moodru - Three
Solvaai - Tell
Immozhi - These words, request
Kaetapadi - As requested
Eendhaai Aayin- Give as requested
Peru - Big, Dominant
Aru - Six
Peruvaai - Obtain, Receive
Pennae - Girl, Young lady
Pinnae - Later
Mozhi - Language, Speech
Pugala - Utter
Vendaam - Negation of an action
Indrae - Today
Sari - Correctness, Exactness
Paththu - Ten
Padhinaindhu - Fifteen
Sagikka Mudiyadhu - Intolerable
En - My
Sagiyae - Friend, An Equal Partner
Maanae - Deer

Lets get the literal meaning first so that we could uncover the clues one by one, that we get the pleasure of solving an interesting puzzle, rather the one that relates to love :)

The literal meaning is,

"One Four plus Two Halves plus One (Six) Hear to what I say
Truly I requested for Five Halves and a Half (Three)
You tell Two Fours plus Three plus One (Twelve)
If you hear to these and give as requested
You will get a big Four plus six Fours (Twenty Eight), young lady
You don't not tell anything else today
Because of the Four plus Ten plus One Fifteen (Twenty Nine)
I am not able to tolerate it, my deer like soft young lady"

The numbers are really cryptic ain't it? Especially, the total in the brackets. Now lets, decipher the numbers and solve the puzzle. The clue to all the answers in this song lies in the concepts used in astrology.

• The first line totals to Six - One Four + Two Halves (One) + One. In this song the poet refers to the sixth zodiac sign which is the Virgo (Kanni in Tamil), and refers to the virgin, the young lady.
• The second line totals to Three - Five Halves + Half. Here, the third day of the week, Tuesday (Sevvaai in Tamil, which also means mouth with rosy lips)
• The third line totals to Twelve - Two Fours + Three + One, which refers to the Zodiac star called Uththiram that also means Acceptance, Consent in Tamil
• Line four is already translated, so we will see the fifth line, which totals to Twenty Eight - Four + Six Fours that refers to the twenty eighth year in the Tamil Calendar which is Jaya that means Victory.
• We will skip the sixth line and move on the the seventh that totals to Twenty Nine - Four + Ten + Fifteen, that refers the again to the year in the Tamil Calendar. Manmadha (A person similar to Cupid). The last line is done.

Now lets gather our clues and put them together to find out the solution to the puzzle. The guy says, "You young lady, I request you to give me your rosy lips. If you accept and heed to what I request, you will have victory in winning my heart. You need not tell me anything else (reasons or denial) today because, I am not able to torelate the effects of manmadha arrow (cupid's arrow)."

Spectacular puzzle and the answer to it!!! If such creativity could be found in old texts like Viveka Chinthamani, our language and tradition has a very rich and excellent stuff to be admired for years to come. I am not sure if the girl consented to this, or even decrypted this message, but the creativity and the intelligence of the guy is truly amazing and out of this world.

More to come, until then...