The attempt to control the flow of thoughts, the act of consoling oneself with false reassurances due to one’s inability, and the act of disturbing old memories by recalling certain past events, are tools that reveal the helplessness of separation. In Sangam literature, separation is often portrayed as the most intense form of sorrow, with the lover departing for the sake of material gain. In such a situation, the heroine, unable to endure or accept the separation, expresses her helplessness to her friend. The lover’s departure causes distress, and the townspeople come to know of it, leading to gossip and accusations. To avoid this, the heroine tries to fortify herself emotionally, a theme clearly explained in important texts such as Thirukkural and Kurunthokai. These texts offer clear insights into the heroine’s emotional state and her attempts to cope with the separation.
Forschung (2024) studied this question.