After Poompuhar had been swept away into the sea, Nagapattinam had taken over the main seaside trade centre. It was the major port of the
Poonkuzhali stopped running and turned around. And at that exact moment, she heard a mellifluous song start – “Ponnaar Meniyane…”.
She broke into laughter. She recognised Sendhan Amudhan’s voice. “Athaan, is that you? Come forward. I cannot see you in the dark.”
“I can see that you are lying. Just two days ago, two men came here. They also were telling similar lies like the one that you are telling. They said that a magician had sent them, and that they had to get tiger nails and elephant tail hair, for some occult ritual that they were going to perform. They wanted to go to Lanka to get these items. My brother has taken them in his boat.”
Chattrams (resthouses) as part of the Thanjavur Palace Vandiyathevan slept like a log through the night and woke up only after the sun had dawned.