Aram paaduthal
[Pricking with a curse by verse, in response to an insult] was an
age-old tradition in Tamil literary theater. Even the powerful
kings, chieftains and patrons trembled at the thought of being a
recipient of a curse from a learned poet. It is believed that the
Goddess of Learning (Kalai Magal/Saraswathi) resided at the tongues
of learned and sincere poets. Can this be true, in reality? One
could never...
