8. Absence makes us notice

ஆற்றோரம் வாழ்ந்தவன் ஆற்றிரைச்சல் கேட்டதில்லைமாற்றூர் அமைதி செவி

aatroram vaazhndavan aatriraischal kettadhillaimaatroor amaidhi sevi

The man who has lived on the riverbank has never heard the river’s roar; the silence of another town gives him ears for it.

All his life the roar has never stopped around him; another town is the first place without it.

9. Recognising the strain

கயிறறுந்த நாளன்றோ காளைக்குத் தோன்றும்அயர்வெல்லாம் கட்டின் வலி

kayirarunda naalandro kaalaikkudh thondrumayarvellaam kattin vali

Isn’t the day the rope snaps the day the bull sees that all its weariness was the strain of the tether?

10. Surrounded but unseeing

சிறைப்பட்டார் வான்காண்பர் வான்முழுதும் வான்கீழ்பிறந்தவர் வானறியார் தாம்

siraippattaar vaankaanpar vaanmuzhudhum vaankeezhpirandavar vaanariyaar thaam

Prisoners see the sky; those born under the whole of it are the ones who do not know it.

‘Those born under the sky’: people who have lived beneath it all their lives, never shut away from it.