தொப்புள்
Thoppul (navel)
Content note: drowning
An astrologer, intent on the sky, tripped and fell to the bottom of a ditch. An old woman walking behind him saw this and scoffed, "Claiming knowledge of the skies above you, how do you lack knowledge of what lies before you on earth?" Thus, when occupied with taking the census of the sky, do not forget to also regard your feet.
Alternatively, a woman intent on her navel — the Manipura chakra, cut twice for surgery — did not notice the portentous sky above her until it split with monsoon lightning and rain. If she shifted her gaze from her navel to the world around her, she might be able to peer through the sheets of rain and quickly get to campus; but if she stopped navel-gazing, she would risk losing her sense of proprioception, interoception, and self — the very qualities that enable her to move. Before she could come to a decision, she slipped on the wet ground and tumbled into a ditch flooding with rainwater. Too dazed to climb back up to the road, she lay there as the water levels rose and passersby ignore her pleas for help, thinking, "Well! She should have been paying attention," not understanding that she is not inattentive but viththiyaasam.
What is star- or navel-gazing for those with the luxury to deride is, for others and outcasts, a choice between two types of drowning.