Indian Women by Shiv K Kumar Poem summary| Indian Writings in English| B.A English Literature 1st Year 1st Semester

B.A English Literature

[1^st Year, 1^st Semester] 

Core Paper IV: INDIAN WRITINGS IN ENGLISH 

UNIT 2: Poetry

Indian Women by Shiv K Kumar

👆Click the above image to listen the explanation of this poem

About Poet:

         Shiv K. Kumar was an Indian English-language poet, playwright, novelist, and short story writer. He was born in Lahore in 1921. He obtained his doctorate in English Literature from the University of Cambridge.

         He has published thirteen volumes of poetry, five novels, two collections of short stories, a play, and this translation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry into English. His own poems have appeared in several renowned newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Poetry Review (London), Western Humanities Review, among others-and been broadcast on BBC.

            He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his collection of poems Trapfalls in the Sky. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature. He died on 2017 at age of 95.

About Poem:

            The poem Indian Women by Shiv K Kumar i s from the collection of poetry Cobwebs in the Sun published in 1974. The poet describes the lifestyle of the typical Indian women in the villages. How they live in the patriarchal Indian society, their character, practices, and activities of their daily life. He culturally defines these women and their nature in this poem. This poem can be considered an embodiment of describing an Indian woman.

            Often he takes a simple fact or incident and develops it into a point where it acquires a new meaning. The poem projects Kumar’s response to a situation: the impoverishment of the human spirit. Images of vainness and despair highlight the structure of the poem.

POEM:

In this triple-baked continent

women don’t etch angry eyebrows

on mud walls.

Patiently they sit

like empty pitchers

on the mouth of the village well

pleating hope in each braid of their mississippi-long hair

looking deep into the water’s mirror

for the moisture in their eyes.

With zodiac doodlings on the sands

they guard their tattooed thighs

Waiting for their men’s return

till even the shadows

roll up their contours and are gone beyond the hills.

Summary:

The poem “Indian women” by Shiv K Kumar deals with endless story of sufferings of women of Indian subcontinent. The highly structured patriarchal society evolved in India through its long history of political and historical upheavals, in which women are the most oppressed and exploited lot. In such distressed conditions, the Indian women practice their infinite patience in their lives while they go through triple-baked sufferings at the hands of the sun, sex and poverty. The harsh sun makes them to trek long distances to fetch water. In this process, she is baked like a pitcher in the hot sun. In her conjugal duties, she is the most exploited in terms of sex as she is only letting her man to extort his love from her.  Thirdly, the women are the worst sufferers from the excruciating poverty of her family.   

They do not etch their angry brows on the mud walls, because within their homes their status remains so insignificant. Their emotions are completely neglected.  Within the mud walls of their homes, they are the passive receivers of male love and anger without their participation. “Mud walls” indicate the existing poverty, a condition which does not affect the women alone but all members of the household. But man can etch his brows on the mud walls (raise his eye brows in anger) and the woman cannot.

patiently they sit like empty pitchers on the mouth of the village well

pleating hope in each braid of their Mississippi-long hair

looking deep into the water’s mirror

for the moisture in their eyes.

This beautiful image evokes the typical Indian village woman who spends much of her time like an empty pitcher in the mouth of the village well. It is the duty of the woman to fetch the required amount of water for the domestic purpose by trekking long distance. She sits on the mouth of the village well like an empty pitcher waiting for her turn to collect water from the well.  But, the water is just trickle and is not so deep to read her reflection with tears in her eyes. Even in this hopeless distress, they pleat hope in each braid of their Mississippi-long hair.

Guarding their tattooed thighs

waiting for their men’s return

till even the shadows

roll up their contours and are gone beyond the hills

Tattooed thighs of women refers probably the names their men (hubands) are tattooed to indicate the ownership of their femininity.  The female has only the duty to preserve her chastity of her femaleness by guarding her thighs against possible intruders. The guarding of her chastity is done not for herself but for the man whose name is tattooed on her thighs. She waits for her man’s return who has gone beyond the hills.  It is now dusk and all the women have already left the well for their homes. The shadows have vanished and the Sun has sunk beneath hills. But, the woman is still waiting for the return of her spouse. Hence, Patience is the virtue for the most cherished women in India.

           Indian women are known for their coyness. Out of shyness, they tend to make doodles in the sand. This is a cultural way of showing positive affection towards the partner or topics related to their partners. ‘They guard their tattooed thighs’. This is again connected with culture. Women have their husbands’ names tattooed on their thighs; this means the woman belongs only to that man (as if she is a property)00. She is supposed to take care of it, in the sense she has to be careful not to get indulged with any other man because that would bring shame to her husband.

          Women wait for their respective men to come back home safe till the night comes (who have gone to work beyond the hills for the family as there is poverty). This is the daily routine of culturally bound Indian women.

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Fundamental Framework For Reading English Literature unit 1, Bridge Course, 1st year 1st Semester, B.A English Literature, University of Madras

 UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

B.A. ENGLISH LITERATURE

1^st Year 1^st Semester

BRIDGE COURSE : FUNDAMENTAL FRAMEWORK FOR READING ENGLISH LITERATURE 

UNITS - I : Literature and Humanities – Understanding Literature and its relevance    to life, Intersections with other disciplines

UNITS - II : Empathy and Ethics, Diversity, and Inclusivity – Writings across genres,

            gender, culture, community, boundaries and binaries.

UNITS – III : The Way with Words – Mastering Literary vocabulary – choosing the      right words to convey ideas effectively, What to Read and How to Write.

UNITS - IV : Basic Structure of a Genre – Reading and appreciation of a poem, a            play, a short story, an essay

UNITS - V : The Notables – Nobel Laureates, Award winning Writers – An overview    from classical to contemporary literary icons.

  

UNITS - I : Literature and Humanities –

 

Understanding Literature

Literature is the foundation of life. It means an expression of individual and social life and thought through language. The connection between literature and life is both important and vital. It is a journey that is inscribed in pages and powered by the imagination of the reader. Its subject-matter and treatment are of general human interest; the expression is always emotive as the thought gives aesthetic pleasure and satisfaction. It is a mirror that humans hold up to the world, to themselves and to history.

 Literature has a universal appeal. It does not like to deal with any particular society but with society as a whole. Ultimately, literature has provided a gateway to teach the reader about life experiences from even the saddest stories to the most joyful ones that will touch their hearts. Literature must have social functions. It can show us who we have been, who we are, and who we may become.

Modern writers have developed a flair for expressions, feelings, and situations that are subtle and complex in languages. English writers Wordsworth, realized this and heightened speech of the trustees. Modern literature gives readers a view of present-day politics and sometimes gives us an important view into the lives of the people around us. The more literature is free from its class limitations and becomes the vehicles of the thoughts and feelings of the common men, the working people, the more will attend to become popular and public. So literature is an art that engages us in some of the best aspects of being human.

Literature is important because it teaches you what life is all about, how it had been in earlier times. It should not be confounded with sociology, philosophy, psychology, religion, etc. though these give substance and depth to literature. It may or may not impart knowledge, religious or moral instructions in a direct way. Its theme may be of a social problem or political revolution or religious movement; but it may, with equal justification, be an individual’s passion, problem or fantasy. But the object is not so much to teach as to delight.

Books are regarded as literature and bring us into some relation with real life. It broadens one’s mind, gives the ability to think from all the perspectives, the analytical skills are enhanced. Once the deepest things in life are these that deal with what was called the eternal varieties of life. The ideas of certain moral virtues were supposed to be eternal. But experience and a wider knowledge of the changing conditions of social life have shaken man’s faith in the unchangeableness of such concepts. The function of literature in human society is similar to the role of sweet music in your ears.

 

Literature and its relevance to life

Literature is important in everyday life because it connects individuals with larger truths and ideas in a society. Literature mainly centers around man’s life. These two things literature and life are closely related to each other. Furthermore, they can make connections between the characters and the themes of a book, and how that could apply to real life. No literature can be regarded as literature in the truest sense if it deals with a particular class having no mass appeal.

Literature enables people to see through the eyes of others, therefore, it becomes a looking glass into the world from someone else’s perspective. It is a journey that is inscribed in pages and empowered by the imagination of the reader. Ultimately, literature has provided a gateway to teach the reader about life’s experiences that stem from both, the saddest as well as the most joyful of stories that touch the heart. Reading and being given the keys to the world of literature prepares an individual from an early age to discover the true meaning of life, to be able to see and understand situations from various perspectives.

Literature is the closest thing the world has, which enables man to understand another person whole-heartedly. For instance, a novel about a terrible war written from the perspective of a soldier, allows the reader to imagine their pain without actually becoming that person. Thus, literature can act as a time machine, allowing individuals to go into a specific time period, as mentioned in the story. One then finds oneself into the mind and soul of the writer. Such is the beauty of literature and its importance in our life.

Various attempts have been made to define literature. It is for example, as ‘imaginative’, writing in the sense of fiction-writing which is not literally true. 16thand 17thcentury English literature includes Shakespeare, Webster, Marvell and Milton-but it also stretches to the essays of Francis Bacon, the sermons of John Donne, Bunyan’s spiritual autobiography and whatever it was that Sir Thomas Browne wrote. In other words literature teaches us- how to live?

Literature broadens our mind. We start thinking more and more about natural phenomenon. It expands our knowledge and understanding of the world we live in. literature is the main source for the new generations to know the history of their place and parts of the world. It grips us with its stories, its characters in conflict. It also appeals to the imagination. Emily Dickenson in a poem says:

There is no Frigale like a Book

To take us Lands away

Nor any coursers like a Page

Of Prancing Poetry –

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of Toll –

How frugal is the Chariot

That bears the Human Soul

Literature creates hope in our heart when we are depressed or sad. Emily Dickenson asserts:

Hope is a thing with feathers

That perches in the soul-

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all

 In eighteenth century England, the concept of literature was not confined as it sometimes it is today to ‘creative or imaginative’ writing. It meant the whole body of valued writing in society such as philosophy, history, essays and letters as well as poems. What made a text ‘literary’ was not whether it was fictional. The 18th century was in grave doubt about whether the new form of the novel was literature at all-but whether it confirmed to certain standard of ‘polite letters’. The criteria of what counted as literature, in other words, were frankly ideological.

In the late 16th and early 17th century, the word ‘novel’ seems to have been used about both true and fictional events, and even news reports were hardly to be considered factual. Moreover, if ‘literature’ includes much ‘factual’ writing, it also excludes quite a lot of fiction. Superman comic and Mills and Boon novels are fictional but not generally regarded as literature, and certainly not as literature, if literature is creative or, imaginative writing, does this imply that history, philosophy and natural science are uncreative and imaginative?

Literature was in a sense an organic society all of its own: it was important because it was nothing less than a whole social ideology. The impact of literature on modern society is immense. Literature acts as a form of expression for each individual author. Literature is the mirror of society and it allows us to better understand the world we live in.

 Literature is a reflection of humanity and a way for us to understand one another. Literature is important because of its purpose and in a society, which is being detached from human interaction, novels create a conversation. Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park subtly dissects an education that confused self-assertion with moral and spiritual insight. Dickens’ Hard Times shows how dangerous it is to rely on a utilitarian vies of human beings in the classroom while hardy’ Jude The Obscure reveals the loss felt by a man who is excluded from an elite university because of his class and poverty.

 A vision of man-God relationship forms the core of all arts and more particularly of literary art. Religious sensibility is stirred when the focus of vision of an artist lies on man and society. The attainment of a Guru is close to the attainment of God. Raja Rao’s Serpent and the Rope as the title suggests is highly philosophical.

 Literature is not a luxury but a life-changer. Reading literature gives one a better understanding of human nature and the complexity of the human condition. It makes one less judgemental and more sympathetic. Literature can also be more insightful than non-fiction. For example, Arvind Adiga’s novel The White Tiger gives information about the dark side of contemporary India. Literature teaches us humanity-to be sensitive and empathetic towards others. It also provides us an outlet for our thoughts emotions and imagination. Above all, literature teaches us language and the power of communication, a skill we cannot do in the 21th century.

Literature has a major impact on the development of society. It has shaped civilisation, changed political system and exposed injustice. It gives us a detailed previewof human experience, allowing us to connect on basis levels of desire and emotion. Literature helps build crucial, critical thinking skills. It helps us to develop the ability to find the hidden meaning within everyday life.

Literature is a form of human experience. Although in some literature the language employed is quite different from that spoken or used in ordinary writing. In Defence of Poetry, P.B. Shelley wrote:

A man who is greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of many species must become of his own.

The great instrument of moral good is the imagination. So in words of Tolstoy, without literature men would be like wild beasts because it endows an understanding. Literature unites mankind. It has just made a better person, more humble, sensible, considerate towards others. Literature is like a ray of hope for me at present time. It is an escape from the negativity of life.

 

Intersections with other disciplines

Literature is the foundation of humanity’s cultures, beliefs, and traditions. It serves as a reflection of reality, a product of art, and a window to an ideology. Everything that happens within a society can be written, recorded in, and learned from a piece of literature. Whether it be poetry or prose, literature provides insight, knowledge or wisdom, and emotion towards the person who partakes it entirely.

Literature in History

            Literature is present during the era of the ancient world. Even without the invention of words and language, literature was already manifested in the earliest human civilizations. Carvings and paintings on walls inside caves of stone give evidence about the lives of prehistoric people. They explain their way of life.

     Literature is also a tool for the foundation of a religion. The Holy Bible, one of the oldest written scriptures, is a compilation of tales, beliefs, and accounts that teach about Christianity (for both the Old and the New Testament) and about Judaism (for some selected books in the Old Testament). Within a span of more than a thousand years from the Prophet Moses to the Apostle Paul, the Bible was written by numerous authors believed to be inspired by God’s divine wisdom and tries to explain about the mysteries of life as well as setting rules for one’s personal faith. The same goes with the Qu’ran for Muslims, Torah for the Jews, and the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana and Veda for the Hindus.

Literature in Revolution

    Literature is an instrument of revolution. Political turmoil, societal injustice, and genocidal conquest can all be ended and resolved in the form of literature. A writer can be a warrior with his words as his weapon. He can be a revolutionist by writing a literary piece that exploits corruption in his nation yet fosters development for his fellow countrymen.

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