Untitled by Auvaiyar
Untitled
AuvaiyarI sang of learning, and there was nothing.
I spoke of culture, and there was nothing.
I said he was good, but he was a nothing.
I called him tiger—that good-for-nothing.
I mentioned his muscles, which were nothing.
I praised his charity, and he gave me—nothing.
It’s all my fault: words about nothing
get me nothing.
Untitled
Auvaiyarkallāta ōruvanai yān kaṟṟāy ēṉṟēṉ
kāterit tirivaṉai nāṭā ēṉṟēṉ
pōllāta ōruvanai nāṉ nallāy ēṉṟēṉ
pōṟmukattuk kolaiyay yān puliye ēṉṟēṉ
mallārum puyam ēṉṟēṉ tempaṟ ṟolai
valaṅkāta kaiyaṉai yāṉ vaḷḷal ēṉṟēṉ
illātu cōnneṉukk’ illai ēṉṟāṉ
yāṉum ēṉṟaṉ kuṟṟattāl ekiṉṟēṉē
SELECTED BY TISHANI DOSHI
These are a collection of poems in the cātu tradition, poems that weren’t meant to be written down, but were meant to be sung, overheard, swapped, commented on…. this one is attributed to Auvaiyar – a title given to a female Tamil poet and I’m not sure how far back it dates, but I love the immediacy of it and how it speaks to me now when language has been so degraded, when words are tossed around which are utterly meaningless with such impunity.
I love how the poet takes responsibility here, she’s failed to butter up her patron for cash, she understands that words about nothing get you nothing — a good warning for us all. But I also love how she simultaneously manages to be so direct and funny at the same time.
ABOUT TISHANI DOSHI
Tishani Doshi was born in Madras, India, and publishes poetry, novels, and essays. For fifteen years she worked as the lead dancer of the Chandralekha company and performed all over the world, and as such, the body has been a central preoccupation in her work. Her most recent collection, A God at the Door (Bloodaxe Books), was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize 2021. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and is a visiting professor at New York University, Abu Dhabi.
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SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in A Poem at the Right Moment: Remembered Verses from Premodern South India edited by Velcheru Narayana Rao, and David Shulman, published by University of California Press, 1998. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“A Poem at the Right Moment collects, and preserves, poems called catus that have circulated orally for centuries in South India. The poems are remarkable for their wit and precision, their lyrical insight on the commonplace, their fascination with sensual experience, and their exploration of the connection between language and desire. Taken together the catus offer a penetrating critical vision and an understanding of the classical traditions of Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit.
Each poem is presented in a contemporary English translation along with the Indian-language original. An introduction and a concluding essay explore in detail the stories and texts that comprise the catu system.” (Source)
ABOUT AUVAIYAR
Read more poems by Auvaiyar • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- This is Day 42 of Poems We Carry, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Read A Little Poetry—a living archive I’ve nurtured for two decades. For this milestone series, I invited writers I deeply admire to share poems that have meant something to them over time.
- Explore other works in pursuit of: irony • emptiness • futility • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
