A beginning
Down south in India, it is a tradition for people to start a new diary, journal, page or simply a grocery list on a piece of paper, by writing the Tamil alphabet shown above.
Tamil is one of the very few ... ... oldest living languages in the world. Traditions die hard here and this habit of starting out any piece of writing by putting in that inaugural alphabet is still common. The letter உ (pronounced as ‘vu’) is the fifth Tamil alphabet. It is known as “Pillaiyar Suzhi”. To get a handle on this, we have to foray into the realm of Hindu gods. Pillaiyar as the Tamils call him, is the son of Shiva, the destroyer. He is known by other names too, such as Vinayak, Ganapathy, and Ganesh.
“Pillaiyar Suzhi” is found in ancient writings on palm leaves that are many centuries old. It has been found in rock carvings and in antique coins. Many sages and learned gurus throughout the ages have given their views on this habit. A popular explanation is that in the ancient times, Tamils wrote on cured palm leaves by sharp implements. To test whether the palm leaf is not brittle-dry, this alphabet was tried out at the top center of the page. The curve (a kind of half-swirl) ending with a straight line to denote the letter ‘vu’ would probably tear the palm leaf if it was not suitable for writing.
Some scholars questioned that rationale by saying the first letter of the alphabets itself served the purpose even more admirably and therefore, why go down the line to the fifth alphabet? In case you are interested, the first letter in the Tamil alphabets is அ (pronounced as ‘a’.)
Other learned men offered a religious aspect for choosing that alphabet. “Vu’ is the first letter in one of the many Tamil names for Lord Shiva and his consort, ‘Parvathy’. Parvathy is ‘vumaiyal’ and Lord Shiva is ‘vumaiyavan’.
Yet another view that resonates with people is that the curve or half-swirl denotes a difficulty, a problem, a hurdle and the straight line illustrates the solution. The curve is straightened out; the difficult situation is smoothened. It is the popular reason because Pillaiyar is known (and worshipped even today as) as the God who removes all obstacles.
As a writer of short stories and non-fiction articles, I find this reason resonates with me too. Which God shall I pray to remove the pesky ‘writer’s block’ that occurs now and then, if not to Pillaiyar?
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