CU-BA-Eng-SEM-IV-English literature-IV

 Iyengar, K.R. Srinivasa. 1983.Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.  Das, Kamala1965 ‘An Introduction’, Summer in Calcutta. New Delhi: Everest Press.  Das,Kamala, 1998 My Story. New Delhi: Sterling Paperbacks.  King, Bruce 1987.Modern Indian poetry in English. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Textbooks:  Das, Kamala, 1978My Story, Sterling Publishers.  Das, Kamala, 1965 Summer in Calcutta. Delhi: Rajinder Paul.  Dwivedi, A.N. 2000 Kamala Das and Her Poetry (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers,).  Rahman, Anisur. 1981 Expressive form in the poetry of Kamala Das. Delhi: Abhinav.  K.R. Srinivas Iyengar, 1985 Indian Writing in English, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers. Websites  http://www.thegeminigeek.com/who-was-kamala-das/  http://www.poemhunter.com/my grandmother’s house  http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/kamaladas  http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/love  www.shvoong.com 101 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 4: POETRY BY KAMALA DAS: AN 102 INTRODUCTION STRUCTURE 4.0Learning Objectives 4.1Introduction 4.2About the Poet 4.3Analysis of ‘An Introduction’ 4.3.1 Her View on Politics 4.3.2 Identity 4.3.3 Advocacy of English Language 4.3.4 Her Miserable Married Life 4.3.5 Rejection of Patriarchy- Aspect of Feminism 4.3.6 The Imposition of Societal Norms 4.3.7 Her Struggle to Obtain ‘I’ 4.3.8 Gender Biasness 4.3.9 Identifying Herself With the ‘I’ 4.4 Structure of ‘An Introduction’ 4.5 Theme 4.6 Summary 4.7 Keywords 4.8 Learning Activity 4.9 Unit End Questions 4.10References 4.0LEARNING OBJECTIVE After studying this unit, you will be able to:  Analyze the literary aspect of the poetry by Kamala Das.  Explain ‘The Introduction’ and the poet’s idea behind the poem.  Appreciate the poem ‘The Introduction’. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

4.1INTRODUCTION Kamala Pas was born in Punnayurkulam, Kerala in 1934. Her mother, Balamani Amma, is a well-known poet and writer in Malayalam. Kamala spent several years in Calcutta, where she went to Catholic schools. She also spent some years in boarding school. She was married fairly early, before she finished her college, so she happens to be perhaps the only leading Indian English poet without a degree to her name. She began writing early and published her first poems in The Indian P.E.N. Kamala Das, is one of the well-known of her confessional writings, has all the time been disparaged for her extreme honesty as well as commonness, other than, the comprehensive investigation of her poetic works demonstrate how she has attained her objective in presenting the genuine portrait of women in a male-dominated humanity. When other writers challenged to provide an attractive outline of women in the humanity of Kerala, Kamala Das determined on the consciousness of women-her imaginings as well as objectives which would be unpleasant to patriarchal culture. Her poetry are not concerning instructive the confidential life of a women, but it seeks at presentation the ‘true women’; the women along with power as well as might to challenge the societal standards to set-up her self-identity as a human being, and a residence of love along with warmth. As a confessional poet, Kamala Das, truthfully and courageously, articulates prejudice and embarrassment sourced to her. Female is, every larger than the earth, visage unfairness, with no province, no motherland and yet no area of her individual. She does not have her self- identity, but the identity is prearranged by her male-companion to supply him. In patriarchal society, a pitiable gentleman living in a shed, imagines himself to be in a citadel, while a prosperous woman’s corpse is not herself, as she is wholly in the pedals of her male- companion. Kamala attributed the part to the strength of exploration in the love-theme that it also follows her compulsions to articulate and understand the workings of the feminine consciousness. Her best-known poem in this category, ‘An Introduction’ is concerned with the question of human identity, but it effectively uses the confessional and the rhetorical modes in order to focus on woman identity in English. The female autobiographies are viewed as radical and subversive when she writes the self and hence the diffidence and confusion that attends women’s writing. There are two other factors that are often brought up to demean the woman personal experience who expressed in their writing style. A biography as mere personal hysteria supported by Freud, and other one is an autobiography as a fictional construct. She projects herself as a passive female, powerless of action and relapses into panic and she becomes intolerable personality. This has, for all time, troubled herself as well as her own identity. She endeavors during her writings to find out the women unconventional from the restraints of patriarchal culture as well as found their own identity. Woman’s identity is, all the time, a problem as she has no 103 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

independent life. Her position is not fine clear in the society; silent, she constantly struggles to discover a location for her own personality. Prejudice has been uttered in terms of independence, wisdom, individuality and influence. In her three volumes, as an Indian poet, Kamala Das evidence her understandings and efforts in her different poems; she seeks to define female’s bias in gentleman leaning earth. 4.2ABOUT THE POET Known to her Malayalam readers as Madhavikutty, to her English audience as Kamala Das and in her last avatar as Kamala Suraiyya, the spirit that distinguishes all her works, however, remains essentially the same – bold, forthright and often painfully honest. Hailed by Vrinda Nabar, (1994:20) as the first Indo-English woman poet 'to write convincingly of her femaleness,' Kamala Das emerges as one of the best-known contemporary’ Indian women writers, known for her unflinchingly honest explorations of the self, of female sexuality and of women's roles in traditional Indian society. Lauded for her unusual imagery and her distinctly female and Indian persona, Das's strength lies in the spontaneity with which she records 'her most intimate responses, an uninhibitedness which even now is more or less unique in the Indian context’. Das's spontaneity often translated into whimsicality and earned the ire of critics, but it allowed her to explore the paradoxes of life and relationships with emotional honesty. Das has been considered an extraordinary voice of her generation ever since the publication of her first collection of poetry, Summer in Calcutta in l965. Her provocative poems are known for their unflinchingly honest explorations of the self, of female sexuality and of women's roles in traditional Indian society. Many critics have analyzed Das as a ‘confessional’ poet. Like the various American poets, Anne Sexton, John Berryman, Theodore Roethke, and Robert Lowell, Kamala Das too, delves deep in high subjectivism and remains a supreme specimen of a confessional poet. Kamala Das has been typecast as a confessional poet. There is no doubt that her poems are accounts of deeply personal experiences. But more than this confessional element, it is the brutal frankness of her verse that shocked and attracted readers. Kamala writes about sexual frustration and desire, of the suffocation of an arranged, love-less marriage, of numerous affairs, of the futility of lust, of the shame and sorrow of not finding love after repeated attempts, of the loneliness and neurosis that stalks women especially. As such, her poetry speaks not only of her personal distress, but of her outrage against the social norms of a patriarchal society. Kamala was featured in Time magazine for ‘breaking the sexual barrier.’ What she did was to bring new subject matter into Indian English poetry. A whole range of experiences which were never spoken of were introduced for the first time by her. As Bruce King says, ‘Rather than finding salvation in art, Kamala Das's poetry spoke of fantasies, many lovers and the continuing disappointments of love’. Equally important is Kamala's 104 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

experimentation with language, as we shall see in 'An Introduction. ‘She began to use Indian English, not in the ironic and comic way Ezekiel did, but unselfconsciously, unaffectedly, naturally. Not being a foreign-returned English teacher, she had no qualms about using a language which she was comfortable and familiar with. Again, as King observes, ‘More important than its themes was the h e of an Indian English without the concern for correctness and precision which characterizedmost earlier modem verse. Instead, it appeared un- premeditated, a direct expression of feelings as it shifted erratically through unpredictable emotions, creation its own form through its cadences and repetitions of phrases, symbols, and refrains’. While reading the poems, I would like you to pay close attention to the form. 4.3ANALYSIS OF ‘AN INTRODUCTION’ I don't know politics, but I know the names Of those in power, and can repeat them like Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru. I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, I speak three languages, write in Two, dream in one. Don't write in English, they said, English is Not your mother-tongue. Why not leave Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins, Every one of you? Why not let me speak in Any language I like? The language I speak, Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest, It is as human as I am human, don't You, see? It voices my joys, my longings, my Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and Is aware. Not the deaf, blind speech Of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the Incoherent mutterings of the blazing Funeral pyre. I was child, and later they Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair. When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask 105 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door, He did not beat me But, my sad woman-body felt so beaten. The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me. I shrank Pitifully. Then... I wore a shirt and my Brother's trousers, cut my hair short and ignored My womanliness. Dress in sarees, be girl Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook, Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh, Belong, cried the categorizers. Don't sit On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows. Be Amy or be Kamala. Or better Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to Choose a name, a role. Don't play pretending games. Don't play at schizophrenia or be a Nympho. Don't cry embarrassingly loud when Jilted in love... I met a man, loved him. Call Him not by any name, he is every man Who wants. a woman, just as I am every Woman who seeks love. In him... the hungry haste Of rivers, in me... the oceans' tireless Waiting. Who are you, I ask each and every one, The answer is, it is I. Anywhere and, Everywhere, I see the one who calls himself I In this world, he is tightly packed like the Sword in its sheath. It is I who drink lonely Drinks at twelve, midnight, in hotels of strange towns, It is I who laugh, it is I who make love And then, feel shame, it is I who lie dying With a rattle in my throat. I am sinner, I am saint. I am the beloved and the Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I. ‘An Introduction’ is Kamala Das's most famous poem in the confessional mode. Writing to her, always served as a sort of spiritual therapy:’ If I had been a loved person, I wouldn't have become a writer. I would have been a happy human being.’ Kamala Das begins by self-assertion: I am what I am. The poetess claims that she is not interested in politics but claims to know the names of all in power beginning from Nehru. She 106 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

seems to state that these are involuntarily ingrained in her. By challenging us that she can repeat these as easily as days of the week, or the names of months she echoes that these politicians were caught in a repetitive cycle of time, irrespective of any individuality. They did not define time; rather time defined them. Subsequently, she comes down to her roots. She declares that by default she is an Indian. Other considerations follow this factor. She says that she is 'born in' Malabar; she does not say that she belongs to Malabar. She is far from regional prejudices. She first defines herself in terms of her nationality, and second by her colour. I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, And she is very proud to exclaim that she is 'very brown'. She goes on to articulate that she speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one as though dreams require a medium. Kamala Das echoes that the medium is not as significant as is the comfort level that one requires. The essence of one's thinking is the prerequisite to writing. Hence, she implores with all-’critics, friends, visiting cousins’ to leave her alone. Kamala Das reflects the main theme of Girish Karnad's ‘Broken Images’-the conflict between writing in one's regional language and utilizing a foreign language. The language that she speaks is essentially hers; the primary ideas are not a reflection but an individual impression. It is the distortions and queerness that makes it individual. And it is these imperfections that render it human. It is the language of her expression and emotion as it voices her joys, sorrows and hopes. It comes to her as cawing comes to the crows and roaring to the lions and is therefore impulsive and instinctive. It is not the deaf, blind speech: though it has its own defects, it cannot be seen as her handicap. It is not unpredictable like the trees on storm or the clouds of rain. Neither does it echo the ‘incoherent mutterings of the blazing fire.’ It possesses a coherence of its own: an emotional coherence. She was child-like or innocent; and she knew she grew up only because according to others her size had grown. The emotional frame of mind was essentially the same. Married at the early age of sixteen, her husband confined her to a single room. She was ashamed of her femininity that came before time and brought her to this predicament. This explains her claim that she was crushed by the weight of her breast and womb. She tries to overcome it by seeming tomboyish. So, she cuts her hair short and adorns boyish clothes. People criticize her and tell her to 'conform' to the various womanly roles. They accuse her of being schizophrenic; and 'a nympho'. They confuse her want of love and attention for insatiable sexual craving. She explains her encounter with a man. She attributes him with not a proper noun, but a common noun-’every man’ to reflect his universality. He defined himself by the ‘I’, the supreme male ego. He is tightly compartmentalized as ‘the sword in its sheath'. It portrays the power politics of the patriarchal society that we thrive in that is all about control. It is this ‘I’ that stays long away without any restrictions, is free to laugh at his own will, succumbs to a 107 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

woman only out of lust and later feels ashamed of his own weakness that lets himself lose to a woman. Towards the end of the poem, a role-reversal occurs as this ‘I’ gradually transitions to the poetess herself. She pronounces how this ‘I’ is also sinner and saint’, beloved and betrayed. As the role-reversal occurs, the woman too becomes the ‘I’ am reaching the pinnacle of self-assertion. Analysis of An Introduction Lines 1-13 In the first section of An Introduction the speaker begins by comparing her knowledge of politicians to the days of the week and months of the year. Although she does not have a firm grasp on politics itself, those in power have remained in her mind. This shows their power to be much greater than their role should allow. The first of these she is able to recall is ‘Nehru,’ who served as India’s first prime minister after the withdrawal of the British. After these opening lines that set the scene, the speaker moves on to describe her own being. She is ‘Indian’, and she is ‘very brown.’ Lastly, she is from Malabar in southwest India. These are the basics of her life, but of course not everything. She adds that she is able to speak three languages, write in Two, dream in one. She continues to describe language and the role it plays in her life by saying that she is judged for writing in English. It is not her ‘mother-tongue.’ Whenever she is criticized for how she speaks and writes she feels as if she is alone. There is no one, not her friends or cousins, who back her up. They are critics ‘Everyone.’ She directs the next line at this group, asking them why they care what she speaks. She feels a deep connection to the words she uses and how, through ‘distortions,’ her language can only be defined as her own. Lines 13-25 In the next thirteen lines the speaker goes on to describe herself as ‘half English, half Indian.’ She sees a humour in this combination and acknowledges that fact as it is ‘honest.’ This seems to be one of the most important parts of her, a desire for authenticity and honesty. Her identity, as seen through her voice, is ‘human’ just as she is human. It should be held under that single defining category and no other. Das describes the control she has over her voice, whether through speech or text. It can display all of her emotions and her, mind that sees and hears and is aware. Human speech is to humans as roaring is to lions. It is intelligible, unlike the roaring of a storm or the ‘mutterings of the blazing fire.’ The speaker defines her freedom through the use of her voice. In the next lines she explains to the reader that there are other circumstances in her life that infringe on that freedom. They are out of her control. She introduces this section by stating that she only felt older as she grew because she was told of her own physical changes. Lines 26-38 108 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Her unhappiness is defined in the next section of lines and is directly related to a need for freedom. When she was young, she ‘asked for love,’ because she didn’t know what else to want. This ended with her marriage at sixteen and the closing of a bedroom door. Although her husband did not beat her, her, sad woman-body felt so beaten. This line of An Introduction is interesting as she is placing her own body in one of the categories, she rebelled against in the first stanza. It is due to this simplification of a woman as nothing more than a body that led her to marriage at sixteen. She also places blame on her own body for leading her to this place. Her distinctly female parts, ‘breasts and womb’ are a crushing weight on her life. The pressure placed on her by her husband and by her family led to an emotional and mental shrinking. It was a ‘Pitiful’ process. But it ended. he goes on to state that a change came over her. She decided to put on her ‘Brother’s trousers’ and cut off her hair. The speaker is ridding herself of the female image that has harmed her. Now that she is remaking her identity, she is able to say no to the traditions of womanhood. These include fitting in and dressing in ‘saris.’ The ‘categorizers’ might tell her not to, peep in through our lace-draped windows. But she is not going to listen. She chose to move her life beyond the traditional and therefore expand her presence in the world. Lines 39-50 In the first two lines of the next section of An Introduction it becomes clear that the speaker is truly meant to be the poet herself. She wonders at her own identity and marvels over the fact that she can now be, Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better Still, be Madhavikutty. It is by this final name that the poet, Kamala Das, came to be known and is still called. Das added another few reminders on behalf of the ‘categorizers.’ She shouldn’t ‘play pretending games’ or ‘cry embarrassingly loud.’ Her role as woman is supposed to be meek, quiet, and contained. She goes on to describe a time in which she met and loved a man. This person is referred to as ‘man,’ he is not named. This strips him of some of the agency he is so in control of in the next lines. Additionally, the name is of little importance as he is meant to represent every man in the world who uses women as he pleases. At one point, at the height of her emotions, she asks the ‘man’ who he is. He replies ‘it is I.’ The ‘I’ represents the agency he has in the world. Men make their own decisions and have the ability to use the pronoun in order to get what they want. Lines 51-60 An Introduction begins its conclusion with the speaker acknowledging the constant presence of ‘I’ around her. In the world she’s a part of there are ‘I’ men everywhere she looks. A person of this nature is able to go and ‘Drink... at twelve’ and stay in ‘hotels of strange towns.’ As the lines continue the division between the speaker and the ‘I’ is blurred. Eventually a reader comes to understand that she is trying to come to terms with her own independence and identity as both ‘saint’ and ‘sinner.’ She is trapped between her own need for a free life and the world which tries to keep her contained. The final statement is one of 109 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

protest and resistance. Das states that she has ‘Aches’ which belong to no one but herself. She too can be ‘I.’ An Introduction is obviously an autobiographical poem written by Kamala Das Which first appeared in her Summer in Calcutta (1965). The poem is a brilliant example of her confessionalism wherein she unfolds her entire self with extreme frankness and candour. In this poem, the poet expresses her experiences which were strictly private and personal. The poem is a revolt against conventionalism and restraints put against Indian women. In this poem, the question of whether or not Indians should write in English is put to rest. The poem is also remarkable for its daring innovativeness. The poet says she is not interested in politics but claims that since the time of Nehru, she can name all the people who have been in office. She implicitly states the fact that politics in the world is a game of the few selected elites who ironically govern a democracy by claiming that she can repeat them as fluently as days of the week or names of the month. The fact that she remembers them so clearly indicates that the same people have been in power over and over again. Next, she identifies herself as an Indian, born in Malabar and very brown in colour. She speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one, sharing the notion that dreams have a common language of their own. Kamala Das reiterates that the medium of writing is not as important as the amount of comfort one needs. Since it is not her mother tongue, people have asked her not to write in English. In comparison, any time she had a meeting with a critic, colleagues, or visiting cousins, the fact that English was a colonial language predominant as a means of communication during British times attracted still more scrutiny. She stresses that all the imperfections and queerness is her own, the vocabulary she speaks becomes her own. It’s half-English, half-Hindi, which sounds pretty funny, but the point is that it’s fair. All that makes it more human is its imperfections, making it similar to what we term normal. As it voices its joys, sorrows and dreams, it is the tongue of her expression and sentiment. Cawing is as critical to her as it is to the crows and the lions roaring. It is not, though incomplete, a deaf, blind expression like that of storm trees or rain clouds. Nor does it echo the ‘funeral pyre’s incoherent mutterings.’ Rather, it has its own intrinsic natural coherence. She continues to share her own storey. She was a child, and she was later told by strangers that she had grown up and her body had begun to exhibit signs of puberty. She didn’t seem to understand this interpretation, though she was still a child at her heart. When she asked her soulmate for love, not knowing what else to ask, the sixteen-year-old took her to his apartment. The word is a potent critique of child marriage that drives children into such a predicament when they are still very childish at heart. She felt beaten even though he didn’t beat her, and her body seemed crushed by her own weight. This is a rather emphatic 110 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

expression of how a sixteen-year-old ‘s body is unprepared for the attack under which it is exposed. Ashamed of her femininity, she shrank pitifully. By being tomboyish, she attempts to overcome such embarrassment. And then, as she chooses to cover her femininity in male clothes, the guardians impose traditional feminine attire, with reminders to conform into a woman’s socially defined features, to become a woman and a mother, and to be limited to the domestic routine. In order not to make herself a psychic or a maniac, she is threatened to live inside the four walls of her women’s room. They also ask her to catch her tears when rejected in love. As they seem to categorise any person based on merely whimsical points, she calls them categorizers. Towards the end of the poem, the poet mentions his experiences with a man. She doesn’t take names, but the symbolism of her relationship is what she’s trying to express. He’s every other man who wants a woman, like the embodiment of the hungry rush of the river, while she’s every other woman, the embodiment of patience like the tireless waiting of the ocean. When he asks a man who he is, he responds saying he is I. The poet, herein through symbolism, introduces to the readers the inherent male ego of a patriarchal society. He is rigid in his mind as a ‘sword in his sheath,’ and his opinions are not open to debate. It is this ‘I,’ i.e., the male ego, that justifies lying drunk at midnight in the night in a hotel in a foreign area, that justifies complacent laughter, that makes a woman’s love and then feels embarrassed that she is so easily carried away, and yet dies with a rattling in her throat, as anyone else. Death reveals the futility of the male ego, revealing that ‘he’ is not greater. The poet then ends by saying that this ‘I’ should not be different from ‘her,’ and so I am both the sinner and the saint, both the betrayer and the betrayed, as well as the man and the woman. There are no pleasures of ‘I’ that she doesn’t get to feel, not any pains that she hasn’t been through with through. Thus ‘She’ is ‘I’ too. 4.3.1 Her View on Politics The poet starts explaining by saying that she doesn’t know the politics, yet she is well aware of the politicians of her country from Nehru to the ones of her own times. And as the politics of India has always remained in fewer hands (of males) she has memorized the names of all the politicians like the days of the week or the names of the month. The lines depict how the males have been ruling the country without giving this right to the women. Moreover, the rulers are fewer in numbers because democracy exists only in words. In reality, the rule of the country remains in the hands of some people only who have assumed themselves to be the permanent rulers. 4.3.2 Identity The lines which follow are equally interesting: 111 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, I speak three languages, write in Two, dream in one. The poet goes on to declare her identity as ‘Indian’, emphasises her dark skin without hesitation and specifies her expertise in three languages. Born and brought up in Malabar, Kamala Das’ native language is Malayalam. Besides this she also wrote in English. What is interesting in this line is the statement ‘dream in one’. What language do we dream in? Dreams tend to have a language of its own. It does not necessarily be the mother tongue or any language of the waking life even. Perhaps she refers to the language of the unspoken voices which construct dreams. What emerges from the first few lines of this poem is a straightforward personality who knows her limitations, her strengths and her priorities. She sees herself as an Indian above all, not constrained by state boundaries or regional communal borders. She becomes a representative voice of every Indian woman who belong to the same circumstances. 4.3.3 Advocacy of English Language The next few lines show her assertion of self and her rejection of dominating voices telling her what to do with herself and her creativity: Don't write in English, they said, English is not your mother-tongue. Why not leave Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins, Every one of you? Why not let me speak in any language I like? The language I speak, Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses All mine, mine alone. The word ‘they’ stands for all those voices which try to limit her expression, laying down codes which are governed by patriarchy. English, being considered as the language of the powerful masters who once ruled the nation, is not supposed to be used by the apparently powerless female writer. Kamala Das is unabashed about her use of English. She openly claims her linguistic distortions and hybridizations as her originality. This was an attitude which in Salman Rushdie was seen as a linguistic revolution later on, especially in his concept of ‘chutnification’. Das is seen to advocate the same kind of linguistics freedom and personalization. For her, language is a medium of communication, it is a mode of self- expression. Therefore, it is personal. At the same time, she talks about ownership of language. This is an important statement to make because, when it came to women, ownership is a highly problematic word. She breaks a lot of boundaries to claim such kind of linguistic rights which show her revolutionary spirit. It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest, It is as human as I am human, don't 112 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

You, see? It voices my joys, my longings, my Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and Is aware. Not the deaf, blind speech of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the Incoherent mutterings of the blazing Funeral pyre. She goes on to further define the quality of this language. She relates her language to her emotions, her desires and beliefs. The cawing of the crows and roaring of the lions are languages of instinct. They are not ornamented by human intelligence and artificiality. Kamala das wants to say that her language is as instinctive and honest as these voices of the uncorrupted world of animals. On the other hand, she distinguishes her voice from the sounds made by inanimate objects of nature such as the storm, rain, clouds or funeral pyre. These objects emit sounds not from any conscious agency of utterance but as random wavelengths. Kamala Das is very specific about the element of agency in her utterance and the consciousness behind it. The language used by Kamala Das evolves out of her relationship with her family, relatives, husband and the society. Her language is sometimes pornographic and domestic. The resources of her language and fiction are taken from her own situations as a wife and as a poet. She wants to point out the helplessness and passivity of women in the male dominated society. She assigns the subject positions to the male; woman is assigned the object position, or she makes use of passive forms of the verb free verse to suit her situations and ample freedom. The striking point of the autobiography is that Kamala Das has pointed her husband in dark shoot. De facto she was tender and deeply emotional and desired for a better and more sympathetic and considerate conjugal life by an unfeeling husband. She has tarnished his image. According to her, he was well versed in sex, having had sex with many of the maidservants of his family. The sense of loss, depravity, alienation and superficiality get submerged her inner feeling. She feels repelled against the existence under the burden of sickening experiences of her later life. She often feels that love is a hollow word as the male dominated society, shows no understanding of a woman’s aspirations. 4.3.4 Her Miserable Married Life She moves towards her married life. She was a child although the size of her body grew up i.e., she entered the stage of puberty, yet her soul was immature. As she was still a child (after marriage) she asked for love. 113 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

However, her husband quenched his own lust on the bed. The poet here not only describes her married life but tries to narrate the story of every woman in her country. Her grieves and sorrows are the grieves and sorrows of every woman of her country. The young girls in her country are forced to marry old men without having their consent. They are so young at the time of their marriage that they cannot accept that they have grown up. However, as their body parts including the genitals grow up, they have to accept that they are mature now and thus have bound into the nuptial alliance. The girl after being married desires that her husband should show compassion to her and love her. But instead, she is drawn to the bed and made to endure the pains of sex that she is not willing to do. He did not beat me But my sad woman-body felt so beaten. The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me. I shrank Pitifully. She says that she was not beaten by him, yet her womanly body felt to be beaten and wounded and thus she got tired of it (her body). His genitals seemed to her as some burden that have crushed her. She started hating her female body because it is her body that has given her so much pain. Then … I wore a shirt and my Brother’s trousers, cut my hair short and ignored My womanliness. Dress in sarees, be girl Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook, Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh, Belong, cried the categorizers. Don’t sit On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows. Be Amy or be Kamala. Or better Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to Choose a name, a role. Don’t play pretending games. Don’t play at schizophrenia or be a Nympho. Don’t cry embarrassingly loud when Jilted in love … To avoid its load, she tried to become a tomboy by adopting the attire of males. But it was not led by her in-laws. They started taunting her. She was commanded to dress in sarees, be a girl, wife, embroiderer, cook, quarreller with servants, etc. She was asked not to hide her real self. Her in-laws even commanded to remain silent and endure her unachieved love. The lines expose the condition of a woman in the house of her in-laws. She is forced to give up her frankness and attain the nature of a daughter-in-law. She is forced to do everything that her in-laws desire her to do. 114 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

She has to accomplish all the tasks though she is not willing to do so. Still, she is taunted, scolded as well as abused. She is even advised not to express her grief if she is troubled by her married life. 4.3.5 Rejection of Patriarchy- Aspect of Feminism Kamala Das is primarily a feminist. Her writings are bold and critiques the patriarchal society. As the concept of ‘feminisms’ is highlighted, the ideas of feminism in her writing is derived from the Indian patriarchal society which is completely different from Western society. Her writings also shows the ‘ ecriture feminine’ style of writing. As a confessional poet, she uses self- expression which helps in exploring the interior insights of her experiences in a patriarchal society. The poem ‘An Introduction’ weigh the feminist style of writing. She shows the definition of a ‘woman’ which Beauvoir established in her book that she is a ‘human’. Das also addresses in her poem when the society and her relatives tell her not to use or speak ‘English’ to which she replied, ‘It is as human as I am human’. She evokes the definition of a ‘human’ in comparison to the language she wants to use and indirectly addresses her identity. The repetition of the subjective ‘ I ‘ shows her existence and throws insight into the personal experiences in the patriarchal society. Feminist argues that woman are identified as ‘other’ sex and Das repetitive use of ‘ I ‘ her equal measures relevant to the male in the society to which she says, ‘I too call myself I’. Moreover, the poem critiques the patriarchal society. Indians generally practiced child marriage and Das highlights the fact that she was married when she was only ‘sixteen’ and ‘The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me’. Das hint at the ignorance of a woman’s feminine qualities of a woman where she says that she ‘ignored the womanliness’. The word ‘womanliness’ is a subjective emotions and female experiences which the society fail to recognize. Furthermore, feminist argues that gender is a construct, and it is a role passed down to the two sexes. She mentions the role passed down to a woman and stereotyping stating ‘Dress in sarees, be girl /Be wife, they said. Be embroider, be cook / Be a quarreller with servants’. the lines are suggestive of gender stereotyping and a construct by the society which is passed down to a woman. Das addresses in a confessional tone which sought to breakaway these constructs and passing down of role for a woman in the society. Das’s writings contain ‘ecriture feminine’ where the lines ‘Fit in. Oh, /Belong, cried the categorizers’. The word ‘Fit in’ and ‘categorizers’ are bold and shows the centuries of woman attached to the constructed gender roles. It also evokes the years of oppression a woman had endured fitting in the role and the word ‘categorizers’ is a strong implication towards the woman who had fit in the constructed norms and conventions passed down to a woman. It is evidently directed towards the idea of a gender role in the society. She states that ‘Be Amy or be Kamala. Or better/ Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to/ Choose a name, a role’. The word 115 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

‘role’ directly throws upon the construction of a gender roles in the society which a woman is supposed to ‘Fit in’. 4.3.6 The Imposition of Societal Norms Kamala Das has hardly any other concerns so far as her poetry is concerned. There are certainly two poems in which she tries to express her awareness of the social conditions in this country. One is a poem entitled The Flag, which is about the Indian poor, and the other is entitled Sepia, dealing with the Indian rich. But both their poems are full, in the words of a critic*, of cliched observations and sentiments which cannot compare with the sharpness of other poets such as K. N.Daruwalla. Amore important theme in Kamala Das’s poetry is motherhood, though she has again written only two poems on this subject. One of these poems is entitled Jaisurya which describes the glory of child – birth and expresses, in frank terms, her own feeling when she lay in the delivery-room, suffering from labour pains and waiting for the child to come out from the darkness of her womb into the golden light of the sun. Then there are two poems in which her grandmother is the central figure. One of them is entitled My Grandmother’s House which opens with the words; ‘ There is a house now far away where one/I received love. That women died.’ The other poem is Blood and here, again, Kamala Das recalls her grandmother’s house with its cracked walls and describes her grandmother as a really simple person, ‘fed on God for year’ and proud of her ancient blood. Besides Kamala Das’s sentimental and loving memories of her grandmother, the poem also expresses Kamala Das’s sense of decay and death. 4.3.7 Her Struggle to Obtain ‘I’ She meets a man (whose name she does not mention). The man is, according to her, the everyman who desires a woman (to quench his lust) as a woman desires love from a man. When she asks him about his identity, his answer is ‘I’. This ‘I’ or the ‘male-ego’ gives him the liberty to do whatever he likes. He can drink at midnight, laugh, and satisfy his lust. However, he feels ashamed after losing a woman due to his own shortcomings and also this ego of ‘I’ dies when the person dies and thus his end is no different than the end of the woman. I am sinner, I am saint. I am the beloved and the Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I. Hence like him, she can also attribute the title of ‘I’ to herself. Like men, she is also sinner and saint, beloved and betrayed. Her joys and pains are no different than those of men. Hence, she emancipates herself to the level of ‘me’. 4.3.8 Gender Biasness 116 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The poetry of kamala das extents our understanding of life, especially that of women’s inward experience. She is more a poet, a feminist and a confession list than any other poets. In her poetry, Women’s problems need a different lens and different semantic set to express women truly. Being a women and love poet, kamala das regrets that critics do not realize the values of her poetry. But kamala Das takes boldness to stand against the odds of scandal indignity, and character assassination. She is a liberated woman and a creative writer. It is undeniable that all the works of Das have stamp of her to identify herself and her liberated spirit. She was fighting for her life from the bondage of social values and morals which had been suppressing for a longtime. She seems to be a solitary visionary standing all alone and aloof like a feminine Columbus in the creative discovery of her passionate self. Both Kamala Das life and worksare so controversial and unconventional. She is as to invite many writers to follow her style to telling truth, both her poetic version and her personal life, perhaps, even sensationalistic. Because she examines more boldly that what a man would do, the pangs and frustrations of love, from her various profoundly personal and subtly physical angles. 4.3.9 Identifying Herself With the ‘I’ I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, I speak three languages, write in Two, dream in one. The poet goes on to declare her identity as ‘Indian’, emphasises her dark skin without hesitation and specifies her expertise in three languages. Born and brought up in Malabar, Kamala Das’ native language is Malayalam. Besides this she also wrote in English. What is interesting in this line is the statement ‘dream in one’. What language do we dream in? Dreams tend to have a language of its own. It does not necessarily be the mother tongue or any language of the waking life even. Perhaps she refers to the language of the unspoken voices which construct dreams. What emerges from the first few lines of this poem is a straightforward personality who knows her limitations, her strengths and her priorities. She sees herself as an Indian above all, not constrained by state boundaries or regional communal borders. She becomes a representative voice of every Indian woman who belong to the same circumstances. She identifies herself with the ‘I’. She is also sinner and saint; she has done many virtuous things and committed many vices as well just like everyone else. She loved and had a painful experience of betrayal. Since there is no difference between her and man in terms of joys and sorrows, and experience so she too declares herself as ‘I’. This is how at the end of the poem the poet asserts her identity in the male-dominated society. 4.4STRUCTURE OF ‘AN INTRODUCTION’ ‘An Introduction’ is a sixty-line poem that is contained within a single stanza. The lines range from three words up to eleven and do not follow a specific metrical pattern. Das also chose 117 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

not to use a rhyme scheme. The lines also vary greatly in length and syllable number. This means that the poem is written in free verse. This style of writing allows the poet to explore various structures and make use of more sporadic rhymes. There are several examples of half-rhyme and internal rhyme in ‘An Introduction’. The poem ‘An Introduction’ has irregular rhyme; it does not follow any specific pattern. However, Kamala Das uses literary devices like enjambment. Ellipsis is excluding some parts of a sentence by using three dots. Kamala Das often uses ellipsis in her poetry. ‘An Introduction’ is perhaps the most famous of the poems written by Kamala Das in a self- reflective and confessional tone from her maiden publication Summer in Calcutta(1965). The poem is a strong remark on Patriarchal Society prevalent today and brings to light the miseries, bondage, pain suffered by the fairer sex in such times. The poet says that she is not interested in politics but claims that she can name all the people who have been in power right from the time of Nehru. By saying that she can repeat them as fluently as days of week, or names of the month, she indirectly states the fact that politics in the country is a game of few chosen elite who ironically rule a democracy. The fact that she remembers them so well depicts that these people have been in power for repetitive cycles. Next, she describes herself saying that she is an Indian, born in Malabar and very brown in colour. She speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one, articulating the thought that Dreams have their own universal language. Kamala Das echoes that the medium of writing is not as significant as is the comfort level that one requires. People asked her not to write in English since isn’t her mother tongue. Moreover, the fact that English was a colonial language prevalent as medium of communication during British times drew even more criticism every time she had an encounter with a critic, friends, or visiting cousins. She emphasizes that the language she speaks becomes her own, all its imperfections and queerness become her own. It is half- English, half-Hindi, which seems rather amusing, but the point is that it is honest. 4.5THEME The theme of the poem is one’s search for identity. First the thematic concerns begin from the speaker searching for political space and defining postcolonial crisis in India regarding language. Then the poem’s theme proceeds into the despair one faces as a woman since childhood, the role which she is dictated by the society to play. The longing and loss of love is also a theme in the poem. It ends with the assertion of individual identity. Das explores powerful themes of feminism/equal rights, freedom, and marriage in ‘An Introduction’. This poem is a very clear feminist statement that advocates for free choice for all women. This is in regard to every aspect of life, but the poet puts a special emphasis on 118 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

marriage. She compares and contrasts the roles of men and women in society and explains for the reader how her life, the rules she’s forced to obey, infringe on her freedom. Readers should be able to ask themselves while moving through the poem how, if at all, the things Das is talking about apply to their own life. If nothing matches up, they might ask themselves why and if some kind of unaddressed or unacknowledged privilege is making their lives better. Kamala Das is an autobiographical and confessional poet. Autobiographical and confessional elements are common and striking features of Das’s poetry. Confessional poetry is a type of poetry in which the poet deals with the facts and intimate mental and physical experiences of life. The theme of An Introduction by Kamala Das is her quest for identity in a male- dominated society. An Introduction by Kamala Das is based on her experiences as a woman in patriarchal society. Kamala Das begins this poem by telling us that although she does not know much about politics, she knows the names of those persons, beginning with Nehru, who have wielded political power in this country. She then describes herself as an Indian, of a very brown complexion, born in Malabar, having the ability to speak three languages, writing actually in two languages, and dreaming in the third. Next, she speaks sarcastically about the many relatives and friends who used to advise her not to write in English because English was not her mother tongue. In fact, she takes such advisers to task for having given her this advice because she claims the right to speak and write in any language she likes. Kamala Das goes on to tell us that, as she grew up form a child to an adult, her limbs swelled, and hair sprouted in one or two parts of her body. Then she asked for love, and what she got was a husband who performed the sexual act with her in the crudest possible manner. The husband’s way of performing this act made her feel miserable. Everybody wanted to give some of the other advice to her. Her advisers urged her to do some embroidery of cooking and also to keep quarrelling with the servants. They told her to call herself Amy or Kamala or better still Mahdavikutty. They urged her not to pretend to be a split personality suffering from a psychological disorder, and not to become a nymphomaniac or a sex-crazy woman. What she also means to say is that she is no different from other human beings, that like every other human being she is sometimes sinful and sometimes pious, that she is sometimes loved and sometimes betrayed in love, that she has the same joys in life which others have, and that she suffers the same disappointment which others suffer. In this short poem, Kamala Das has given us a self-portrait and the anatomy of her mind, recounting the major incidents of her life and the experience which had affected her most till the time of her writing this poem. The poem is remarkable for its compression and for the compactness of its structure even though it contains a diversity of facts and circumstances. The rules of punctuation have her been fully observed; all the lines are almost of the same length. The words used and the 119 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

phraseology show Kamala Das’s talent for choosing the right words and putting them in highly satisfactory combinations. Indeed, the poem contains many felicities of word and phrase. Her brief picture of her husband’ rough treatment of her is an outstanding example: He did not beat Me But my sad woman-body felt so beaten. The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me. I shrank Pitifully. Then……… These lines also show Kamala Das’s uninhibited manner of speaking about sex and about her physical organs. The poem is written in verse libre or free verse. ‘An Introduction’ by Kamala Das is perhaps one of the most famous poems from her first anthology of poems Summer in Calcutta (1965) written in a self-reflective and confessional tone. The poem is a potent critique on patriarchal society prevalent today and brings to light the pain, slavery, agony that the fairer sex suffered in the days. An Introduction is obviously an autobiographical poem written by Kamala Das Which first appeared in her Summer in Calcutta (1965). The poem is a brilliant example of her confessionalism wherein she unfolds her entire self with extreme frankness and candour. In this poem, the poet expresses her experiences which were strictly private and personal. The poem is a revolt against conventionalism and restraints put against Indian women. In this poem, the question of whether or not Indians should write in English is put to rest. The poem is also remarkable for its daring innovativeness. The poet says she is not interested in politics but claims that since the time of Nehru, she can name all the people who have been in office. She implicitly states the fact that politics in the world is a game of the few selected elites who ironically govern a democracy by claiming that she can repeat them as fluently as days of the week or names of the month. The fact that she remembers them so clearly indicates that the same people have been in power over and over again. Next, she identifies herself as an Indian, born in Malabar and very brown in colour. She speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one, sharing the notion that dreams have a common language of their own. Kamala Das reiterates that the medium of writing is not as important as the amount of comfort one needs. Since it is not her mother tongue, people have asked her not to write in English. In comparison, any time she had a meeting with a critic, colleagues, or visiting cousins, the fact that English was a colonial language predominant as a means of communication during British times attracted still more scrutiny. She stresses that all the imperfections and queerness is her own, the vocabulary she speaks becomes her own. 120 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

It’s half-English, half-Hindi, which sounds pretty funny, but the point is that it’s fair. All that makes it more human is its imperfections, making it similar to what we term normal. As it voices its joys, sorrows and dreams, it is the tongue of her expression and sentiment. Cawing is as critical to her as it is to the crows and the lions roaring. It is not, though incomplete, a deaf, blind expression like that of storm trees or rain clouds. Nor does it echo the ‘funeral pyre’s incoherent mutterings.’ Rather, it has its own intrinsic natural coherence. She continues to share her own storey. She was a child, and she was later told by strangers that she had grown up and her body had begun to exhibit signs of puberty. She didn’t seem to understand this interpretation, though she was still a child at her heart. When she asked her soulmate for love, not knowing what else to ask, the sixteen-year-old took her to his apartment. The word is a potent critique of child marriage that drives children into such a predicament when they are still very childish at heart. She felt beaten even though he didn’t beat her, and her body seemed crushed by her own weight. This is a rather emphatic expression of how a sixteen-year-old ‘s body is unprepared for the attack under which it is exposed. Ashamed of her femininity, she shrank pitifully. By being tomboyish, she attempts to overcome such embarrassment. And then, as she chooses to cover her femininity in male clothes, the guardians impose traditional feminine attire, with reminders to conform into a woman’s socially defined features, to become a woman and a mother, and to be limited to the domestic routine. In order not to make herself a psychic or a maniac, she is threatened to live inside the four walls of her women’s room. They also ask her to catch her tears when rejected in love. As they seem to categorise any person based on merely whimsical points, she calls them categorizers. Towards the end of the poem, the poet mentions his experiences with a man. She doesn’t take names, but the symbolism of her relationship is what she’s trying to express. He’s every other man who wants a woman, like the embodiment of the hungry rush of the river, while she’s every other woman, the embodiment of patience like the tireless waiting of the ocean. When he asks a man who he is, he responds saying he is I. The poet, herein through symbolism, introduces to the readers the inherent male ego of a patriarchal society. He is rigid in his mind as a ‘sword in his sheath,’ and his opinions are not open to debate. It is this ‘I,’ i.e., the male ego, that justifies lying drunk at midnight in the night in a hotel in a foreign area, that justifies complacent laughter, that makes a woman’s love and then feels embarrassed that she is so easily carried away, and yet dies with a rattling in her throat, as anyone else. Death reveals the futility of the male ego, revealing that ‘he’ is not greater. The poet then ends by saying that this ‘I’ should not be different from ‘her,’ and so I am both the sinner and the saint, both the betrayer and the betrayed, as well as the man and the woman. There are no pleasures of ‘I’ that she doesn’t get to feel, not any pains that she hasn’t been through with through. Thus ‘She’ is ‘I’ too. 4.6SUMMARY 121 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Kamala Das begins this poem by telling us that although she does not know much about politics, she knows the names of those persons, beginning with Nehru, who have wielded political power in this country.  She describes herself as an Indian, of a very brown complexion, born in Malabar, having the ability to speak three languages, writing actually in two languages, and dreaming in the third.  Next, she speaks sarcastically about the many relatives and friends who used to advise her not to write in English because English was not her mother tongue. In fact, she takes such advisers to task for having given her this advice because she claims the right to speak and write in any language she likes.  Kamala Das goes on to tell us that, as she grew up form a child to an adult, her limbs swelled, and hair sprouted in one or two parts of her body. Then she asked for love, and what she got was a husband who performed the sexual act with her in the crudest possible manner.  The husband’s way of performing this act made her feel miserable.  Everybody wanted to give some of the other advice to her. Her advisers urged her to do some embroidery of cooking and also to keep quarrelling with the servants. They told her to call herself Amy or Kamala or better still Mahdavikutty. They urged her not to pretend to be a split personality suffering from a psychological disorder, and not to become a nymphomaniac or a sex-crazy woman.  What she also means to say is that she is no different from other human beings, that like every other human being she is sometimes sinful and sometimes pious, that she is sometimes loved and sometimes betrayed in love, that she has the same joys in life which others have, and that she suffers the same disappointment which others suffer.  In this short poem, Kamala Das has given us a self-portrait and the anatomy of her mind, recounting the major incidents of her life and the experience which had affected her most till the time of her writing this poem.  The poem is remarkable for its compression and for the compactness of its structure even though it contains a diversity of facts and circumstances. The rules of punctuation have her been fully observed; all the lines are almost of the same length.  The words used and the phraseology show Kamala Das’s talent for choosing the right words and putting them in highly satisfactory combinations. Indeed, the poem contains many felicities of word and phrase. 4.7KEYWORDS  Pioneer:A person who is one of the first to explore a new region or subject. 122 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Introspective:Examine one's own thoughts and feelings.  Drudgery: To do laborious or menial work  Sear: Scorch or bum  Qualm: Feeling of doubt, especially about whether one is doing or has done right  Cadence: Rhythm in sound, the rise and fall of the voice in speaking  Hierarchy: Organization with grades of authority from lowest to highest  Warrants: Justification, authority  Aftermath: Result, consequence.  Schizophrenia: Type of mental disorder marked by lack of association between the intellectual processes and actions.  Nymphomania: Abnormal and uncontrollable desire by a woman for sexual Intercourse.  Ploy: Undertaking.  Protagonist: Chief person in a story or factual event.  Cynic: Person who sees little or no good in anything and has no belief in human progress, and who shows this by being sarcastic.  Empowerment: To give power or authority.  Autonomy: The right of self-government 4.8LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What is the significance of the title of the poem ‘An Introduction’ by Kamala Das? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Find out the autobiographical elements in the poem ‘An Introduction.’ ___________________________________________________________________________ 123 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

___________________________________________________________________________ 4.9UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. What is the main theme of the poem ‘An Introduction’ by Kamala Das? 2. Name three works of Kamala Das. 3. ‘Why not let me speak in Any language I like?’ Who is the speaker of this dialogue and why she said so? 4. What do you mean by the metaphor ‘hungry haste of rivers’? 5. What the poem is all about? Long Questions 1. Write a brief note about Kamala Das and her notion of the typical Indian woman and male domination in the Indian society. 2. Discuss the theme of isolation and womanhood that Kamala Das expresses in the poem ‘An Introduction’. 3. Discuss the poetic style of Kamala Das as reflected in the poem ‘An Introduction’. 4. How does Kamala Das criticize the male in her society in the poem? 5. Explain the following lines. ‘... I met a man, loved him. Call Him not by any name, he is every man Who wants a woman who seeks love.’ B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. In the poem ‘Introduction’, Kamala Surayya claims that she can speak in three Languages. How does the poet distribute the three languages? a. Write in two, dream in one b. Malayalam, English and Bengali c. Malayalam, English and Hindi d. Malayalam, English and Tamil 2. Which religion did Kamala Das belong to? 124 a. Bengali b. Punjabi CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

c. Keralite d. Gujarati 3. What is Kamal Das’s pen name? a. Balamani b. Sugathakumari c. Aysha d. Madhavikkutti 4. Which among the listed made Kamala Das an iconoclast among her contemporaries due to her open expression on a. Household Affairs b. Love c. Female Sexuality d. Contemporary Issues 5. Which among the listed do not constitute the theme of In Love? a. Desperation b. Female Sexuality c. Man-Woman Relationship d. None Of these Answers 1-a, 2-c, 3-d, 4-c, 5-b. 4.10REFERENCES References:  Kamala Das. 1973The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (Mumbai: Orient Longman Ltd.).  1968 Review of Indian Writing in English by K.R. Srinivasa lyenagar, Writer's Workshop Miscellany 20, Oct, p.8.  R. PartWasaraltiV, 1970 ‘Whoring after English Gods’ Perspectives, Borrtbay. Popular Prakashan, , pp.43-60.  H.M. Williams, 1976, Indo-Anglian Literature (1800-1970), Orient Longman, , p.llO). 125 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Bruce King, 1987 Modern Indian Poetry in English, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, , pp.47-52).  Bhasin. Kamala and Nighot said Khan. Some Questions on Feminism and Its Relevance in south Asia. New Delhi: Kali for Women rpt.2000. Textbooks:  Das, Kamala, 1977 My Story, New Delhi: Sterling Publisher.  Das, Kamal, 1979 A Doll for the Child Prostitute and Other Stories. New Delhi: India Paperback.  Chavan, Sunanda, 1984 P. The Fair Voice: A Study of Indian Women in English, New Delhi: Sterling Publisher. Websites  http://www.thegeminigeek.com/who-was-kamala-das/  Brozak, Jennifer, ‘Characteristics of Confessional Poetry.’ Pen and the Pad, 25 April 2020, https://penandthepad.com/characteristics-confessional-poetry-20492.html.  https://phdessay.com/summary-of-an-introduction-by-kamala-das/  http://www.languageinindia.com/nov2017/ishfaqfeminismkamaladaspoetry1.pdf 126 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 5: POETRY BY NISSIM EZEKIEL: GOODBYE PARTY FOR MISS PUSHPA T.S STRUCTURE 5.0 Learning Objective 5.1 Introduction 5.2 About the Poet 5.3 Analysis of ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S’ 5.4 Central Theme 5.5 Summary 5.6 Keywords 5.7 Learning Activity 5.8 Unit End Questions 5.9 References 5.0LEARNING OBJECTIVE After studying this unit, you will be able to  Explain the themes of the poem Goodbye Party For Miss Pushpa T.S.  Describe the poem Goodbye Party For Miss Pushpa T.S.  Explain Ezekiel's contribution to Indian English poetry. 5.1INTRODUCTION Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T. S. was written by Nissim Ezekiel, one of India's foremost Indo-Anglian poets. He was born in 1924 and was educated in Mumbai and London. He produced several volumes of verse and plays and was an art critic. Ezekiel died in 2004 at the age of 79. Most of Ezekiel's poetry is for adults, as it is serious and quite difficult to understand. In this poem, however, Ezekiel uses simple Indian' English. Here he is making gentle fun of the people who cannot speak English properly by including in the poem common mistakes made by speakers whose mother tongue is not English. There are grammatical mistakes, strange arrangements of words and phrases and idioms which are direct translations of expressions in 127 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Indian languages - they all sound very odd in English. The poem is in the form of a speech made by one of Miss Pushpa's friends. It should be taken in the spirit in which it was written. The poem Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S, written by Nissim Ezekiel is a satire on the way Indians use the English Language. As English is the second language, there remains a lot of impact of Hindustani when individuals try to talk in English and somehow the cultural and traditional habits are also quite visible in their dialect. Nissim Ezekiel in this poem narrates an incident when a woman (Miss Pushpa) is supposed to leave India and her colleagues have masterminded a ‘Goodbye Party’ for her. The narrator who is likely a man uses Babu English which is quite interesting as he uses the Hindustani dialect and manners in it. The Indianness inherent in the very title of the poem, the occurrence of the initials at the end of the name, a very Indian habit both in speech and writing. Even ‘goodbye party’ seems to be an Indian imitation of ‘birthday party’! The poem ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ is a monologue. At the beginning of the work, the speaker explains that Miss Pushpa is going to a different country and states that she’s a sweet person. He explains that the woman comes from a prominent family and gets sidetracked with his own memories. After digressing, the speaker states the Miss Pushpa is a popular person who is kind and always willing to help others. At the end of the poem, the speaker asks the others at the party to give their own speeches about the party’s honouree. Nissim Ezekiel’s poem ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ is a satirical and humorous work about how some semi-educated people in India speak English. The poem gives the reader a look at Indian culture and the common people within it. To understand the theme of ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.,’ a reader must first be familiar with Ezekiel and the dialect in which he wrote the poem. his poem is often described as a parody of or satire on Indian English. It illustrates the idiolectical features of the brand of English used by Gujarati speakers, as a humorous reconstruction of a particular variety of Indian English. It is actually ‘a satiric self-revelation of the speaker’. As Bruce King has put it, ‘Language reveals the speaker’s mind and social context; clichés, triteness, unintended puns are among the devices used to imply hypocrisy, pretence, limited opportunities and confusion’. Note the Indianness inherent in the very title of the poem, the occurrence of the initials at the end of the name, a very Indian habit both in speech and writing. Even ‘goodbye party’ seems to be an Indian imitation of ‘birthday party’! 5.2ABOUT THE POET Born in 1924, Ezekiel earned a master’s degree in English literature from Mumbai University and studied philosophy in London. He later became the head of Mithibai College’s Department of English and a visiting professor at the University of Leeds as well as 128 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

theUniversity of Chicago. As a prominent figure in India’s post-colonial literary history, Ezekiel is an Indian national known for writing in English. English Professor K.V. Dominic states that Ezekiel’s works are valuable because they depict aspects of the society’s ‘Indianness,’ or collective identity. He made Indian-English prose simple for common people to understand and poked fun at the local vernacular in hopes of improving the quality of life of his compatriots through his works. Nissim Ezekiel (24 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian Jewish actor, playwright, editor and art-critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian writing in English. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his Poetry collection, ‘Latter-Day Psalms’, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. Ezekiel is universally recognized and appreciated as being one of the most notable and accomplished Indian English language poets of the 20th century, applauded for his subtle, restrained and well- crafted diction, dealing with common and mundane themes in a manner that manifests both cognitive profundity, as well as an unsentimental, realistic sensibility, that has been influential on the course of succeeding Indian English poetry. Ezekiel enriched and established Indian English language poetry through his modernist innovations and techniques, which enlarged Indian English literature, moving it beyond purely spiritual and orientalist themes, to include a wider range of concerns and interests, including mundane familial events, individual angst and sceptical societal introspection. The poem Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa TS written by Nissim Ezekiel is a satire on the way Indians use the English Language. As English is the second language, there remains a lot of influence of Hindustani when people try to talk in English and somehow the cultural and traditional habits are also quite visible in their language. Nissim Ezekiel in this poem narrates an incident when a lady namely Miss Pushpa is supposed to leave India and her colleagues have arranged a ‘Goodbye Party’ for her. The narrator who is probably a man uses Babu English which is quite funny as he uses the Hindustani dialect and manners in it. The poem is quite long, and I have divided it into two parts. Goodbye Party For Miss Pushpa T. S. was written by Nissim Ezekiel, one of India's foremost Indo-Anglian poets. He was born in 1924 and was educated in Mumbai and London. He produced several volumes of verse and plays and was an art critic. Ezekiel died in 2004 at the age of 79. Most of Ezekiel's poetry is for adults, as it is serious and quite difficult to understand. In this poem, however, Ezekiel uses simple Indian' English. Here he is making gentle fun of the people who cannot speak English properly by including in the poem common mistakes made by speakers whose mother tongue is not English. There are grammatical mistakes, strange arrangements of words and phrases and idioms which are direct translations of expressions in 129 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Indian languages - they all sound very odd in English. The poem is in the form of a speech made by one of Miss Pushpa's friends. It should be taken in the spirit in which it was written. This is one of the poems of Ezekiel which illustrate a major characteristic of the later phase of his poetic career, namely his preoccupation with Indian themes, a preoccupation to which he seems to have been led by his acceptance of the reality of the Indian situation. Included in his Hymns in Darkness, this poem was one of the eight poems which appeared in the 1970s under the group Very Indian Poems in Indian English. Though this poem is often described as a parody of or satire on Indian English illustrating the idiolectical features of the brand of English used by Gujarati speakers, as a humorous reconstruction of a particular variety of Indian English, it is actually ‘a satiric self-revelation of the speaker’. As Bruce King has put it, ‘Language reveals the speaker’s mind and social context; clichés, triteness, unintended puns are among the devices used to imply hypocrisy, pretence, limited opportunities and confusion’. Note the Indianness inherent in the very title of the poem, the occurrence of the initials at the end of the name, a very Indian habit both in speech and writing. Even ‘goodbye party’ seems to be an Indian imitation of ‘birthday party’! Ezekiel is considered as a pioneer of the modernist trend in Indian English poetry. He was born in Mumbai and belonged to a family of educators. Ezekiel himself taught in a school, a college and then as a professor of English at the University of Bombay. Besides being a renowned poet, Ezekiel was a well-known copywriter, literary critic, playwright, director of plays. He was an active member of THE Indian branch of P.E.N. (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) Club and an editor of several prestigious poetry magazines. He published eight volumes of poetry during his lifetime and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988. Title: A title of a poem, or any work of literature, usually gives one a glimpse into some or the major issue/issues the poem deals with. Remember, when you are asked to write a precis and give it a title? You are told that a title should reflect on the essence of what the precis is all about. The same principle is at work even in a poem. The title of this poem tells us about the context of the poem and also draws our attention to the language. 5.3ANALYSIS OF ‘GOODBYE PARTY FOR MISS PUSHPA T.S’ Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.: 130 Friends, Our dear sister Is departing for foreign In two three days, And We are meeting today To wish her bon voyage. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

You are all knowing, friends, 131 What sweetness is in Miss Pushpa? I don't mean only external sweetness But internal sweetness. Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling Even for no reason but simply because She is feeling. Miss Pushpa is coming From very high family. Her father was renowned advocate InBulsar or Surat, I am not remembering now which place. Surat? Ah, yes, Once only I stayed in Surat With family members Of my uncle's very old friend- His wife was cooking nicely… That was long time ago. Coming back to Miss Pushpa She is most popular lady With men also and ladies also. Whenever I asked her to do anything, She was saying, 'Just now only I will do it.' That is showing Good spirit. I am always Appreciating the good spirit. Pushpa Miss is never saying no. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Whatever I or anybody is asking She is always saying yes, And today she is going To improve her prospect And we are wishing her bon voyage. Now I ask other speakers to speak And afterwards Miss Pushpa Will do summing up. Stanza-1 Friends,…bon voyage. The speaker addresses the colleagues and subordinates as friends in a party to bid goodbye to a subordinate He tells them that their dear sister(friend), Miss Pushpa is leaving the country and they all have gathered to bid her good bye. Stanza-2 You are…………………………….she is feeling. In these lines the speaker starts praising Miss Pushpa’s sweetness which is both internal and external. She is beautiful not only because of her charms but her honesty. She keeps smiling most of the time. Poet is telling us Miss Pushpa’s good and amicable nature. She always puts on a smiling face. It is obvious that Nissim Ezekiel is ridiculing the habitual use of the continuous tense even where it is ungrammatical and inappropriate, and also the use of word, ‘smiling’ in the lines is more like Indian usage. Stanza-3 Miss Pushpa is coming………………………………. which place. The speaker continues his address at the Goodbye Party and tells the audience that Miss Pushpa belongs to a reputed family. Her father was a renowned advocate in Bulsar and Surat, but he does not remember the correct place. Stanza-4 Surat? Ah, yes,……………..time ago. In these lines the fun is made of the wayward mind of the speaker who forgets the occasion and starts talking about his days in Surat with the family of his uncle’s old friend. The speaker is informed by someone in audience that the place was Surat, and he remembers and talks about his experience in Surat. The speaker’s digression to Miss Pushpa’s father, and hanging on it, the speaker’s connection to Surat and then to his/her uncle’s very old friend 132 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

and his wife there—are typical of the unprepared, spontaneous speech, characteristic of many Indians who lack propriety in such grave formal functions. Stanza-5 Lines 26-28 Coming back…………………………………………. ladies also. After diversion from topic of his speech, the speaker goes back to Miss Pushpa. He says that she is very popular with both men and women. It is obvious in the lines that Nissim Ezekiel is ridiculing the amusing, ungrammatical speech of Indians and their sentimental, exaggerated way of speaking. Lines 29-34 Whenever …………………………………………….saying no. Praising his subordinate, Miss Pushpa, the speaker goes ahead and praises her good nature. She would never say no to the work assigned to her. This shows that she has a good spirit and her readiness to do any work. She is a willing worker. The unnecessary use of ‘just’ and ‘only’ exhibits the speaker’s ignorance of the usage of English words, creating laughter and fun. Lines 35-42 Whatever………………………………….summing up. In the concluding lines, the speaker says that she was always ready to help whenever asked by him or any other colleague. Today the speaker and the other colleagues have gathered to wish her happy journey as she is going abroad to improve her prospects. After this speech is over, the speaker asks other speakers to speak and says that Miss Pushpa will sum up, after the colleagues’ speech. The narrator use Babu English which can be considered as a mix of English and Hindustani, e.g., ample use of – ing and funny terms like, two three days, what sweetness is Miss Pushpa, external and internal sweetness, smiling and smiling, simply because she is feeling etc. the narrator is trying to exaggerate to show his love and respect for Miss Pushpa. Such kind of exaggeration is quite common in Hindustani and even an important part of Indian culture. The tone of the poem is hilarious however mocking is destitute. The poem is considered as mellow assault on Indian English Speakers. The poem may be straightforward, yet it talks about a genuine subject. The tradition of over praising the one who is about to leave or retire is common in India. The author uncovers the befuddle between Indian musings and English culture. The artist utilizes Pidgin or Colloquial English as it satisfies the requirement for an exceptional dialect in a bilingual circumstance and the artist could likewise mirror the idiolect highlights of English utilized by the speakers of various local dialects. The poem starts with present continuous tense as to the ridiculing of Indian Speakers, which can be seen 133 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

throughout the poem. The speaker and the gathering of people at the goodbye party doesn’t realize that his English is linguistically wrong. The poet ridicules how semi-taught Indians talk or compose the English dialect. He disparages the blunders in sentence structure, linguistic structure and expressions which numerous Indians confer while communicating in English. The poem is very interesting, and the writer impersonates the Indian method for communicating in English with such a significant number of deficiencies. Hence, the poem is all about the use of English by Indians and the reflection of their culture in their expression. The occasion for the poem is a farewell party being given to a college named Pushpa. The farewell speech given by her colleague, possibly her senior, maybe even her boss, forms the content of the poem. We are told that Pushpa is leaving her workplace as she is travelling, maybe moving abroad. Certain qualities of Pushpa are extolled, such as her sweet and smiling nature. We are told that she comes from a family which has a good standing in society though the speaker does not seem to remember the exact details about her family initially, and then recollects. The recollection then leads to a digression about another family the speaker knows. The speaker then goes on with his praise of Pushpa and describes her as being popular with men as well as women. He is particularly taken up by what he sees as Pushpa’s spirit of always trying to be helpful and her habit of never turning down anybody’s request. Pushpa’s going abroad is finally seen by the speaker as something that would improve her prospects. He then hands over the floor to the other speakers to say a few words before Pushpa says the last words. Goodbye party for Miss Pushpa T. S. is ahumorous poem of 42 lines written by the famous Indian poet Nissim Ezekiel. This poem appears in his book ‘Very Indian Poems’ in Indian English. This poem is written in typical Indian English popularly known as Babu English. The poet has tried to Indianised the English language at the creative level. This English is different from classical British English. It has deviated from the rules of grammar and syntax. It is because it is the form of British English created by the intermediate level non-native speakers of English. In this poem, the speaker delivers a speech in honour of This Pushpa T.S. who is going abroad to improve her prospects in life. We can notice no. of deviations from the rules of grammar in the speaker’s address. Excessive use of continuous tense, omission of articles, inappropriate use of adverbs and adjectives and word to word translation method bring humour in this poem. There are no of cases where we can notice the continuous use of verbs of perception like ‘she is feeling’, ‘I am always appreciating, ‘I am not remembering, These deviations create laughter in the poem. Similarly, omission of articles e.g., ‘a’ very high family, ‘a’ renowned advocate, ‘the’ most popular lady, is completely different from the standard English. Use and positioning of adverbs and adjectives are also noticeable in this poem. Examples like ‘only external sweetness’, ‘now which place’ illustrate the deviations of Babu English. The inconsistencies of life and language are matters of humour in this poem. The character of Miss Pushpa 134 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 The opening lines reveal two different characters of Miss Pushpa.  First that she is intelligent because she goes to a foreign country. The second is that the speaker calls her as his sister. This shows that Miss Pushpa is a woman of some respect.  Miss Pushpa has a smiling face. The speaker says that Miss Pushpa is always found smiling.  The speaker also says that Miss Pushpa is kind. She is kind at heart too. She is popularly known for her kindness among men and women.  The speaker also talks about her family background. He says that she comes from a rich family.  Miss Pushpa is also known for her helping nature and good spirit.  The speaker says that whenever someone approaches Pushpa, asking for help, she would never say no. Development of Thought  The occasion is the farewell party being hosted by a group of friends to Miss Pushpa who is going abroad.  Use of grammatically incorrect and inappropriate phrases and expressions mark the poem bringing out the outrageous use of English by the native speakers e.g., ‘departing for foreign’, ‘all knowing friends’, coming from very high family’.  The other aberrations are incorrect use of tense such as in ‘I am not remembering’, ‘his wife was cooking nicely’, ‘she was saying’, ‘that is showing’, ‘is never saying no’, ‘am always appreciating’, ‘we are wishing her bon voyage’ etc.  Attitude of the speaker is reflected through his conscious effort at styling the language and the flattering tone of the speech suggesting a hypocritical and sham personality.  Miss Pushpa, although depicted as a pleasing personality, is not without the pretentious manners reflected through the speakers lines ‘Miss Pushpa is never saying no/Whatever I or anybody is asking she is always saying yes’.  The speaker’s digression to Miss Pushpa’s father, and hanging on it, the speaker’s connection to Surat and then to his/her uncle’s very old friend and his wife there—are typical of the unprepared, spontaneous speech, characteristic of many Indians who lack propriety in such grave formal functions.  The party ends with the summing up and the concluding remarks made by Miss Pushpa after the speaker invites her and other members to the dais.  The tone of the poem ishumorous although sarcastic is devoid of stingy bitterness. 135 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Ezekiel through this poem speaks about Indian English with lucidity. The peculiarities of the Babus’ angrezi are elucidated with wonderful craft andhumour. It’s about time we had some Ezekiel on this site, no? Long before Rushdie wrote Midnight’s Children, Nissim Ezekiel was rendering the way English is really spoken in India with pitch- perfect accuracy, perfectly capturing the quirks, the nuances, the familiar turns of phrase – the bizarre combination of schoolbook formalese and shoddy grammar – in clever little poems like this one. If you’ve lived in India, you know exactly what this little speech sounds like (I’ve tried to capture some of its flavour in my reading, but I’m almost certainly not doing it justice) – with a little effort you can probably even imagine the way the speaker looks, and even, perhaps, the audience he’s speaking to. If good poetry is about finding a ‘voice’ then there are few more charming, more immediately recognizable to our ears than that of Ezekiel. Of course, there’s more to Ezekiel’s poetry than just his grasp of Indian English. If anything, it’s a pity that a man who did so much to advance the cause of modern poetry in India should be remembered for what is, in the final analysis, little more than a clever party trick. It’s just that when it comes to writing like this Ezekiel stands alone, while his other work, while frequently lovely, is far from exceptional and (I must confess) often strikes me as a little dated. And let’s not underestimate the difficulty of writing a piece like Miss Pushpa. It’s not easy, after all, to get people to laugh at themselves. You don’t just need an exceptionally gifted and observant ear to write like this, you also need a considerable amount of talent to manage just the right balance of satire, wit and goodhumour to make this funny while robbing it of its sting. It would take very little to make this poem outright offensive, but in Ezekiel’s subtle hands it is genial and charming, a poem delivered with a smile and a wink of the eye. This is one of Ezekiel's most famous poems, both because of its subject matter and the way in which it was written. There are two abundant sources ofhumour in this poem: Ezekiel's use of Indian English and the character of the speaker, who seems to be lacking certain public speaking skills. Ezekiel uses a type of register and style of speaking that many people in India use when speaking English, particularly when English is their second language. This type of English deviates from Standard English, but it is spoken by a large number of Indians, the number of which is still on the rise. Ezekiel's use of this English demonstrates his commitment to the everyday as a poet—he relays a relatively ordinary bit of speech, exactly as he imagines it would sound. Additionally, this realism adds a bit ofhumour to the overall message of the poem, since the ability to speak English is a huge marker of status in India and the characters in this poem struggle with the language without even seeming to notice. For those with a keen eye, the ability to speak English indicates social status faster than many other markers, such as material wealth, titles, or names. The speaker makes several mistakes that arehumorous for a speaker more familiar with standard English (for example, a person 136 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

from the United States or Britain), including calling Miss Puspa ‘sweet’ on the inside and outside, and saying that she is popular among the men and the women. The character of the speaker himself also strives forhumour. From these short few stanzas alone, it is evident that he is a jovial character who uplifts the poem into something positive andhumorous. Additionally, his apparent lack of public speaking skills—his tangent about Surat in which he gets too involved in himself and his note at the end of the speech of who will talk next—allow forhumour as the reader imagines what it would be like to be in attendance. The speaker's narrative style is also representative of the everyday—he is not given a lofty or magical ability to speak and instead speaks like someone the reader might have heard in person. Furthermore, English does communicate a certain social superiority which the narrator is attempting to flaunt through his usage of ‘bon voyage,’ his tangent about his travels, and his mention of Miss Pushpa's social class. Thus, readers come to realize that the speaker is flaunting a certain social superiority during his speech, which is discordant with the way he speaks. Ezekiel uses both of these elements—the use of Indian English and the speaker—to wryly comment on postcolonial India's fascination with going abroad. Irshad Gulam Ahmed expands on this idea in ‘Nissim Ezekiel's Critical Nationalism and the Question of Indian English’: ‘This is the yet-to-be decolonized Indian psyche that the poet seeks to foreground. Thus, Ezekiel's critical nationalism manifests itself in the expression of a new kind of outlook on the very notion of colonialism which consists not so much in the use of the English language in its unaltered or undistorted form but in the perpetuation of a colonized psyche, a colonial mindset still persisting in the colonial era.’ In other words, Ezekiel uses this poem to parody the Indian fixation on going abroad in the hopes that it will ‘improve [their] prospect’. Ezekiel's commitment to the everyday and the ordinary is, ironically, a bit risky in the poetic sense. For example, the speaker's tangent about Surat runs the risk of being boring or off- putting for the reader. However, Ezekiel's careful modulation of the speaker's voice prevents it from becoming either truly boring or overly parodic, masterfully conveying a complex and ultimately sympathetic portrait of the speaker's character. Formally, ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ is in line with a lot of Ezekiel's later work. It is in free verse, which means that it does not have a specific rhyme scheme or meter. However, Ezekiel does endow the poem with musicality through line breaks and punctuation. Ezekiel also is unafraid of colloquial language in this poem, as is the case for many of his poems in which he satirizes Indian culture. Colloquial language allows forhumour in a way that stuffy or obviously written language would struggle. Finally, there is a lack of capitals at the beginning of every line, which shows a conscious decision on Ezekiel's part to keep this poem colloquial and easy to read. Nissim Ezekiel’s poem, ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’, is a witty satire on certain common errors in grammar and vocabulary that typify the use of English among educated 137 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Indians. My paper demonstrates that this poem may be used to identify, analyse and correct such errors. Therefore, it would serve as a handy aid in teaching English to advanced learners in India, particularly, undergraduate students across academic disciplines. A lack of proficiency in English among such students is an impediment in maximizing their academic performance. This deficiency is more aggravated in rural than in urban areas as also among students in government schools than in private schools. But heterogeneity in its levels notwithstanding, surveys such as the 2017 ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) have established that the deficiency exists. In fact, even a score of above eighty percent at the Higher Secondary level examination is not a guarantee of English Language skills in an undergraduate. This is because the mechanical, grammar-centric language teaching methods and the memory-testing assessment techniques employed in Indian schools are not conducive to the acquisition of practical skills in a foreign language. The outcome is a category of undergraduate students whose skills deficit means that, first, they cannot cope with course contents in English and fare badly in the examinations; second, experience a debilitating lack of confidence; and finally, suffer a drastic reduction in employability. Higher Education in English and Formal Rectification of Flaws in Grammar, etc. The logic and legitimacy of a higher education in English in India is, of course, debatable. However, vernacularizing of academic course contents at the tertiary level is yet to be achieved. Besides, since English is slated to remain the predominant language in global use (in business and in academia) at least for the next decade, English skills would certainly continue to determine employability in a globalized job market. Under the circumstances, the issue of a skills deficit at the undergraduate level needs to be urgently addressed. However, the formal rectification of flaws in grammar and vocabulary at this level poses several problems. For instance, time constraints preclude a comprehensive English Language Teaching programme in intensively subject-specific courses like a B.A. in Sociology or a B.Tech. By this logic, the conventional method of systematically introducing and explaining the discrete items of grammar, such as the second conditional or the non-progressive verb, and then following up with practice exercises would be inefficient. Also, this method makes for a passive learner, who is incapable of analytical thinking and making practical applications of the grammatical principles. Moreover, for many students, conventionally taught grammar is likely to be a bogey. Conversely, those with a comparatively higher level of language skills would view such lessons as a juvenile project. To be effective, ELT for undergraduates must be interesting, challenging and, also, demonstrate its immediate relevance for the target learner. My paper proposes that ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ may be used to prepare lessons in English grammar and vocabulary, catering specifically to the needs of undergraduate students. 138 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S is a satirical poem by NISSIM EZEKIEL. He decided to maintain the notion of breaking rules of traditional poems. It is considered as mild attack on Indian English Speakers. The poem might be as simple one but discussion on serious topic. The author revealed the mismatch between Indian thoughts and English culture. It was seen in throughout the poem. From his writings he brought the serious theme in a fun manner i.e., mocking. There is a lack of communication skill, and it implies those mismatches. The poem begins with present continuous tense instead of using simple present tense. Thus, the mocking of Indian Speakers is begun. The general theme of Ezekeil was love, alienation, death, and Indian and Spiritual values. It is in the form of dramatic monologue. Miss. Pushpa is depicted as a pleasing personality. In the middle of the poem the author talked about her father and his job seemed as irrelevant and consists of lot of diversions from ideas. The tone of the poem ishumorous through sarcastic is devoid. The speaker called her as sister and showed that he was in respectable position in office. From this poem we came to conclude that she was beautiful both internally and externally There is a lack of clarity in this poem because of irrelevant details. Thus, the poem spoke about the Indian English with lucidity. The language of a land is often considered as the essence or the building block of its culture and civilization. The poets and the authors along with the people of a region act as the foundational pillars aiding in the evolution and building of the system of words. This hence contributes primarily towards the choice of words which has a far-reaching impact on the usage and interpretation of a language. In ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ a similar theme of adaption of a foreign language in a multi linguistic land of India is highlighted. The English came with their tool of power of their language, influencing the commons to look upon and imbibe. A foreign always remains foreign in its essence, no matter how well you lay the basics, yet there will be some differences in its adaptation. In the light of this, Nissim Ezekiel an Indo-Anglian writer inscribes what the language of English has done to the post independent India in its form of adaptation and usage. The Central idea of the poem is a parody of Indian English, satirically illustrating the dialectical features of the English used by the Gujarati speakers. The poem highlights ‘a satiric self-revelation of the speaker’, which is exemplified with the usage of the present continuous tense in place of simple present, while delivering a farewell speech like when Ezekiel writes, ‘Whatever I or anybody is asking/ She is always saying yes.’ It also shows the long winded and incoherent style of conversation. This circumlocution in the theme of the speech made at farewell party is evident when the speaker in the midst 139 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

abruptly talks about his stay in Surat and about his Uncle’s friends there, which seems like an extraneous detail for the reader to know. Also, the Indianness in this poem is inherent in the very title of the poem. The title contains the initials of the name in the very end, which is again a peculiar Indian practice in both speech and writing. Even the title ‘goodbye party’ seems to be an extended imitation of a ‘birthday party’! The poem by Ezekiel is in free verse as there is no evident pattern of rhyme scheme noted. The poem is in a dramatic monologue where, the main character on which the piece is written, i.e., Miss Pushpa (dramitis personae). Nowhere in the poem is her presence evident. The whole verse, in the form of a farewell speech is addressed by only one character, which is the speaker. The speaker is the only one talking and he somewhere side tracks the presence of Miss Pushpa in the scene, as the presumed primary character does not speak a word. The speech also reflects more about the speaker than about others present at the party. The poet also uses the device of digression to side track the main purpose or theme of the poem through the way in which the speaker wanders from his main subject of bidding a farewell to Miss Pushpa without even bothering about it. This can be seen when the speaker starts talking about his own visit in Surat, in the lines, ‘Once only I stayed in Surat with family members of my uncle's very old friend -- His wife was cooking nicely...That was long time ago’ The poet uses the device of Lampoon where he mocks the typical usage of Indian English by the speaker in the lines of ‘she is the most popular lady with men also and ladies also’, ‘we are wishing her bon voyage’, where he actually intends of bidding her a farewell. The poet also uses equivocation to subtly derogate the speaker of his usage of language and also highlights the pun in the line ‘I am always appreciating good spirit’ where he intends the spirit of heart rather than any alcoholic item. The poet uses denotation in the line ‘Miss Pushpa is coming from very high family’ where he is representing high family as a well to do family. He also uses connotation in the line ‘I don’t mean only external sweetness but internal sweetness’ by which the speaker actually means that Miss Pushpa is a good-natured person with a warm heart. Nissim Ezekiel is obviously satirizing not only Indian people's eccentricities and strange habits but also their unnecessary flaunting of the English language. Here we see a farewell addressing of a fellow who is poor in speaking English, yet he blatantly breaks the linguistic rules and moulds the language to express what he wants to convey. The colloquial style suits the purpose. He makes so many mistakes and sometimes the interpretation alters in ahumorousmanner, but we can clearly comprehend his good intentions and gratefulness. 140 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The narrator delivers an adieu speech in honour of Miss Pushpa T.S who is leaving abroad in a couple of days. He praises her and expresses his gratitude for the favours she had done to him and others. He lauds her both internal goodness as well as external demeanour. Her policy of saying no to others is commended. He ends his speech by wishing her adieu and asks for other speakers to speak and in the end, Miss Pushpa herself will ‘do summing up’ i.e., thank them. One significant feature of the poem is the mockery of the tendencies of Indian people. Amidst the speech, the speaker unnecessarily narrates his stay at a distant acquaintance house i.e., his uncle's very old friend in Surat and how her wife cooked great. Fortunately, he returns to his adieu speech. Another feature of the poem is that the intended meanings due to no attention heeded to correct grammar make the interpretation comic. The narrator admires Miss Pushpa's constant smile but his words mistakenly mean criticism of her this feature. The narrator aims to remark that she is popular among both men and women, but she says something else which could offend one, but we know it was in pure intentions. Another couplet ‘today she is going to improve her prospect’ shows the hilarious literal meaning it holds, but again we should note the speaker is good person marred by his choice to use a ‘high-class language’. Nissim Ezekiel was an Indian-born poet of Jewish descent and has been described as the ‘father of post-independence Indian verse in English’. He had a number of collections of poetry published which were very popular and some, such as The Night Of The Scorpion, and the anti-jingoism poem The Patriot, are standard verses still studied in some British and Indian schools. He had a varied career as an English teacher in India, England and the United States. He wrote plays, worked as a broadcaster on Indian radio and contributed many critical articles to the literary sections of magazines and newspapers. Ezekiel was born in December 1924 in Mumbai. The family lived in a small, Marathi- speaking community known as the ‘Bene Israel’ which numbered some 20,000 inhabitants at that time. Unlike other communities around the world this was a peaceful place with no evidence of anti-Semitism to worry about. They were a relatively affluent family with his father being a professor of Botany at the Wilson College in Mumbai and his mother the Principal of the school that she, herself, had set up. Nissim was well educated and had a particular liking for the poetry of such as T S Eliot and Ezra Pound. He did not much care for verse in his own language and, as he grew up, his writing attracted controversy. It was seen as too close to the old colonial influences by many radicals in India. He attended Wilson College and, in 1947, he gained a first-class honours degree in literature and immediately started teaching English Literature. India was, politically, a hotbed of activity at that time and he took an active interest in that for a little while but soon decided to travel to England by boat. He spent the next three years studying philosophy at Birkbeck College in London, living in very low standard 141 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

accommodation. Much of what he experienced during this period is found in his first collection of poems which was published in 1952, called Time To Change. Having completed his studies, he then made his way back home. He could not afford to pay for his fare so worked his passage, scrubbing decks and other menial jobs all the way on an arms carrying vessel bound for Indochina. There followed a period of writing for the Illustrated Weekly of India along with broadcasting on All-India Radio. He wrote for a number of other newspapers and magazines including the Times of India, where he was their art critic in the mid- 1960s. Shortly after he held visiting professor posts at colleges in America and, like many others at that time, experimented with the mind-bending drug LSD. He enjoyed his travels but always seemed to gravitate back to Mumbai despite some feelings of isolation due to his ethnic origins. Ezekiel’s early efforts as a poet had seen him as some kind of dreamer but he developed into someone constantly seeking the truth. He saw much corruption in his country, with a disenchanted population, and tried to highlight the problems strongly enough so that something might be done to make things better. By the 1970s though his motivation had waned, and he realised that nothing much could be done. He seemed to accept ‘the ordinariness of most events’; he laughed at ‘lofty expectations totally deflated’. Reluctantly he had to acknowledge that: Nissim Ezekiel died in January 2004, aged 79. Most of us remember the name Nissim Ezekiel from studying his poem Night of the Scorpion in high school. Widely considered the father of Indian-English poetry in Independent India, Ezekiel’s talents, though, went beyond verse. He wrote prose and plays, co-founded the literary magazine Imprint in 1961, worked as an art critic for The Times of India between 1964-66 and headed the English department of Mumbai’s Mithibai College’s from 1961 to 1972 with brief stints at University of Leeds and University of Chicago in the 1960s. He taught at the University of Mumbai till he retired in 1984. His student and personal biographer R. Raj Rao remembered the poet fondly but critically. ‘I learnt the need for rhythm and economy in a poetic line from him. But I was critical of the moralising stance he had assumed in many of his poems, which made them preachy,’ he once said. He was awarded a Sahitya Akademi award in 1983 and a Padma Shri five years later for his contributions to Indian-English writing. His most famous works include Latter-Day Psalms, The Discovery of India, The Third, The Unfinished Man, The Exact Name and Hymns in Darkness. His poetry dealt with themes of language and its powers and limitations, the craft of writing, religious scepticism, memory and, overwhelmingly, what it means to be Indian. 142 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Towards the end of his life, the poet suffered from Alzheimer’s. He eventually passed away in 2004 in Mumbai at the age of 79. On his 95th birth anniversary, The Print takes a look at some of his work. A layered Indian-Jew identity Born into a ‘modestly bourgeois Jewish family’ on 16 December 1924, Ezekiel belonged to the Marathi-speaking Bene Israel Jewish community in Bombay, which at the time was 20,000 strong but in 2004, only 5,000 remained. His parents were teachers; his father taught botany at The Wilson College (later Ezekiel’s own alma mater) and his mother was a school principal. He went on to translate poetry from Marathi and even co-edited a fiction and poetry anthology. Unlike a majority of Bene Israel Jews who returned to Israel following Partition and Indian Independence, Ezekiel’s family stayed on. In Three Plays, a comedy in three acts, Ezekiel revealed his frustration for people who go abroad ‘for false reputation’. One of the characters, Raj, expresses this in the lines — ‘You could go abroad and come back. They make better use of you when you go abroad and come back. At least they pay you better. You need not learn anything abroad. Just go and come back.’ He did touch upon the alienation felt by his ancestors on settling down in the Indian continent and struggling to find a place in the traditional caste-hierarchy. ‘My ancestors, among the castes, were aliens crushing seed for bread,’ he wrote in a poem called Background, Casually. The line right after this reads ‘(The hooded bullock made his round)’, which is more of a detailed reference to his stock, who were oil-pressers from Galilee. The process of oil crushing involved a blind-folded bullock that crushed seeds to obtain oil. According to The Guardian, these oil-pressers were shipwrecked off the Indian subcontinent and eventually settled down, ‘forgot their Hebrew, yet maintained the Sabbath’. Ezekiel never shied away from his Jewishness or his language of choice being English. ‘Now I am through with /the Psalms; they are /part of my flesh,’ he writes in his last collection of poems, Latter-Day Psalms (1982). He also consistently reiterated the Indianness of his identity and grappled with how history and present interact. A few lines from his collection, Poster Poems (1973), provide deeper insight into his layered identity — ‘I’ve never been a refugee, Except of the spirit, A loved and troubled country Which is my home and enemy?’ 143 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

At a time when issue of Indianness and citizenship are on everyone’s mind, in the wake of the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by both Houses of Parliament, Ezekiel’s words remain burningly relevant. 5.4CENTRAL THEME The main theme in the ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ isn’t the loss of a friend -- it’s human foibles, or character faults. According to Dominic, this is a popular theme among Ezekiel’s works. The poem offers a satirical look at how some people in India speak English, a device that the poet presumably used to get an Indian reader to laugh at himself. The poem misuses the present continuous tense and uses turns of phrases and syntax found in the Indian language, like when Ezekiel writes, ‘Whatever I or anybody is asking/ She is always saying yes.’ The poem also hints at dramatic irony if the reader infers that the speaker’s audience at the farewell party doesn’t know that his English is grammatically incorrect. Human Foibles (imperfection) The principle theme in the ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ isn’t the loss of a companion – it’s human foibles, or character faults. As indicated by Dominic, this is a prominent theme among Ezekiel’s works. The poet offers a satirical look at how some individuals in India speak English. He misuses the present continuous tense and uses turns of phrases and syntax, the way they found in the Indian dialect, for ex. Ezekiel writes, ‘Whatever I or anyone is asking/She is always saying yes.’ The poem also hints at dramatic incongruity when the speaker and the crowd at the goodbye party doesn’t realize that his English is grammatically incorrect. Satire on Indian English Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S is a satirical poem by Nissim Ezekiel. He satirizes the way in which Indians speak in English through this poem. This is noticeable in the use of present continuous tense where simple present tense should be the norm. Ezekiel is masterful in observing these peculiarities of Indian English and transferring them effortlessly into his poetry. They make his poemshumorous and enjoyable to read.  Nissim Ezekiel also satirizes certain Indian customs, traditions and manners in the poem Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. It is in the form of dramatic monologue.  The poem is in free verse, typical of modern poetry.  The speaker stands for every speaker in Indian context.  He uses free and broken language to share the views and emotions.  The poet mocks at literal translation. For example, ‘two three days’, is the literal translation of a vernacular expression. Another example of literal translation, ‘with 144 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

men also and ladies also’, is an unacceptable collocation used in literal translation of a vernacular expression.  Another way of unfolding parody is the way of not using indefinite articles. For example, ‘very high family’,’ renowned advocate’, there is the absence of the indefinite article ‘a’. The phrase should be like ‘a very high family’, ‘a renowned advocate’. Miss Pushpa is laughed at and laughs at all the people.  ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T. S.’ is a social satire on speech which is delivered on an occasion when all praise the good natured, helpful and sacrificial attitude, and leadership qualities etc. of the person.  Nissim Ezekiel has not given a definite identity of the speaker. We do not know whether it is male of female speaker. Nissim Ezekiel by hiding the identity of the speaker renders the mistakes to every Indian in general. The Use of Language in the Poem The poem right from its first stanza makes fun at the way we speak English. In the first stanza the speaker says that Miss Pushpa will depart in ‘two three days’ instead of ‘two or three days.’ Instead of saying that Miss Pushpa is kind-hearted and gentle woman the speaker says that she is sweet both ‘internal’ and ‘external’. In the same stanza the speaker instead of saying that Miss Pushpa is a pleasant looking woman he says that she is ‘smiling and smiling even for no reason.’ While giving her family background the speaker says that she come from a ‘high family’ for saying ‘rich family’. The speaker’s deviation while talking about Surat shows the Indianism. He remembers his past, when he went to Surat to stay with one of his uncle’s friend. ‘Just now only I will do’, is again a mistake committed by the speaker, when he attempts to say that Miss Pushpa would do things within minutes. Babu English (meaning) Ezekiel wrote many of his works, including ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.,’ in the dialect of urban Indians, particularly those in Bombay, according to Dominic. This dialect is called ‘Babu English.’ Originally, the colonial British used the word ‘babu’ as a derogatory term when referring to subordinate Indians who spoke English as a second language, according to The Hindu website. A ‘Babu’ was a person who tried to impress a British master using stylish ornamentation, as the way that he expressed a message was more important than information relayed. The Poem ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ has been composed by the Sahitya Academy award winner poet Nissim Ezekiel. This poem is included in his book ‘Very Indian Poems in Indian English’. It is an attempt to Indianised the English language at the creative 145 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

level. The poet calls this Indian English as Babu English. This typical English was created and used by the people of clerk grade who were not highly qualified but needed to use English for office works. This Babu English is a deviation from the British educated English in terms of rules of grammar and syntax. The poem is an address given by the speaker at a farewell party in honour of Miss Pushpa T.S. who is going to some foreign country to improve her prospects in life. The speaker shares his work experience with all his colleagues. He says that Miss Pushpa is a polite, helpful lady who never denied helping anyone. She belongs to a good family and has a jolly nature. She always keeps a smile on her face. This entire speech of the speaker is given in Babu English, and we can notice deviations like excessive use of continuous tense, omission of articles, inappropriate use of adverbs and adjectives and word-to-word translation throughout the poem. These deviations create humour in this poem. 5.5SUMMARY  The poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem in the form of a speech by an imagined person, which is presented in the form a conversation that is dramatic in nature.  A usual feature of a dramatic monologue is that the speaker often, inadvertently reveals his character, temperament or actions through the monologue. In this poem too, the speaker in his attempt to praise Pushpa, actually reveals more about himself than her. The virtues for which Pushpa is being extolled, such as her smiling nature or her helpfulness, seem to spring from the speaker’s own selfishness.  The manner of the praise, on closer inspection, shows that Pushpa’s nature is described positively only in terms of how she responded to the speaker, or his requests. Reading between the lines, it is also possible to see that Pushpa was possibly a junior at her workplace and not really in a position to behave in any manner contrary to how she has been described as being.  Also, we see that Pushpa’s praise is in terms of her being a woman rather than her being an employee or colleague. It is not her efficiency for example that draws the speaker’s praise, but her ‘smiling’ or ‘sweetness,’ qualities which are usually seen as desirable in women in a patriarchal society.  So, her inability to say no, which does not necessarily show character, because it is important to say no sometimes, which draws praise from the speaker. In fact, even in the digression, Pushpa’s belonging to a ‘high’ family and her father’s position as an advocate, facts which have nothing to do with Pushpa’s calibre as a colleague, are facts that the speaker focuses on to praise her.  In fact, the speaker, throughout his speech, seems to behave in an overfamiliar manner with Pushpa and not professionally as would be deemed correct. The poem at one 146 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

level can also be seen as a parody of a farewell speech in terms of not just content, but even the language used by the speaker.  If you take note, the speaker wrongly uses the word ‘goodbye,’ instead of ‘farewell.’ Ezekiel, through this intentional wrong usage, wants to draw our attention to the word, not to make fun of how Indians speak English. In fact, it is this colonised mindset, which makes many Indians look at the ability to speak English as an indicator of class, success and privilege; that the poet wants us to pay attention to.  When we do so, it becomes fairly clear that the speaker in the poem is neither fluent nor comfortable speaking in English but insists on doing so because we see English as the language of preference when speaking in a formal occasion.  Ironically, this insistence on speaking English by the speaker, only reveals his flawed mindset. Thus, the poem, both in terms of content and language, serve as a parody, which reveals much about the speaker that may not have been intended. In doing so, the poet, also satirises a typical Indian mindset with regard to gender as well as the usage of English, that we see prevalent in contemporary, so-called modern India. 5.6KEYWORDS  Bon voyage: Used to express farewell and good wishes to a departing traveller  External: Relating to, existing on, or connected with the outside or an outer part  Internal: Of, relating to, or located within the limits or surface  Adequate: Having sufficient qualifications to meet a specific task or purpose  Advent:The arrival or creation of something (usu. historic) 5.7LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What is the poem about? ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Which is the most striking image and why? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 5.8UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions 147 Short Questions CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

1. What inspires laughter in the poem? 2. What is the central theme of the poem? 3. Who is the main character in the poem? 4. What is the main idea of the poem? 5. Write about the poet? Long Questions 1. Analyses the theme of the poem. 2. What qualities of Miss Pushpa T.S. are evident from the speaker’s address? 3. What was Miss Pushpa T.S. popular with? 4. What does the speaker mention about Miss Pushpa doing in the end? 5. What are the ways in which Miss Pushpa shows her good spirit? B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Who does Ezekiel compare the poet to in ‘A Time to Change’? a. A Culinary Connoisseur b. A Stubborn Workman c. A College Professor d. A Teacher For The Poor 2. What piece of art does the speaker analyse in Ezekiel's first collection of poetry? a. A Neoclassical Building b. A Piece Of Modern Indian Art c. Picasso's Portrait Of Gertrude Stein d. An African Mask 3. What corrupts the speaker, in ‘The Double Horror’? a. Religion b. The World c. The City d. Drunknenness 4. What is the main concern of ‘On Meeting a Pedant’? 148 a. The Best Writing Mirroring Lived Experience b. The Power Of Lived Experiences Over Text CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

c. The Power Of Spoken Text Over Written Text d. The Power Of Written Text Over Spoken Text 5. Which of these names is the title of a poem from ‘A Time to Change’? a. Richard b. Joseph c. John d. Robert Answers 1-b, 2-d, 3-b,4-b, 5-d. 5.9REFERENCES References:  Agarwal, K. A. 2003, Indian Writing in English: A Critical Study. New Delhi, Atlantic Publishers.  Agarwal, S. 2014, Marginalised Indian Poetry in English, New York, Rodopi.  Aloysius, G 1997, Nationalism without a nation in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.  Amga, HL 2000, Indo - English Poetry. Jaipur (INDIA): Surabhi Publishers.  Anagol& Padma 2005, The Emergence of Feminism in India, England: Ashgate Pub Ltd, pp.1850-1920.  Anderson & Benedict 2006, Imagined communities, Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London and New York: Verso.  Barry & Peter 1995, Beginning Theory. An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester University Press. Textbooks:  Abrams, M.H; the Glossary of Literary Terms (2004), Prism Publication.  Baldic, Chris; The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (2009),OUP.  Cuddon,J.A.; A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory(1998), John Wiley & Sons  Ezekiel, Nissim; Hymns and Darkness (1976), Oxford University Press.  Rao.R.Raj; Nissim Ezekiel: The Authorized Biography (2000), Viking. 149 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Salunke, Vilas; the Mystic Drum (2002), Orient Longman Private Limited.  Thompson, J.M.W; Close to the Bone (2010), Standpoint magazine. Websites  http://allpoetry.com/poem/8592075-Goodbye_Party_for_Miss_Pushpa_T.S by Nissim Ezekiel.  http://cms.gcg11.ac.in/attachments/article/97/Good_Bye_Party_for_Miss_Pushpa[1].p df  https://www.worldwidejournals.com/paripex/recent_issues_pdf/2018/May/May_2018 _1527574418__159.pdf  https://www.kseebsolutions.com/kseeb-solutions-for-class-9-english-poem-chapter-9/ 150 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)