The Bus by Arun Kolatkar summary| Poem Explained in Tamil| Jejuri Poem| Indian Writings in English| B.A English Literature 1st Year 2nd Semester

 BA English Literature

 [1^st Year, 2^nd Semester] 

Core Paper IV: INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH 

UNIT 1: Poetry

1.4. The Bus by Arun Kolatkar

About Poet:

    Arun Balkrishna Kolatkar (1 November 1932 -25 September 2004) was an Indian poet born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He lived in a traditional patriarchal Hindu extended family. A prolific writer in both Marathi and English, he was a recluse and while he wrote many poems, most of them saw the light of day only towards the end of his life. For the longest time, Jejuri was his only publicly available collection. It earned him the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1976.

    His poems found humor in everyday matters. Marathi poems are far more radical, dark and humorous than his English poems. He won the Kusumagraj Puraskar given by the Marathwada Sahitya Parishad in 1991 and Bahinabai Puraskar given by Bahinabai Prathistan in 1995. His Marathi verse collection Bhijki Vahi and Chirimiri won a Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005.

About Poem: 

   'The Bus' by Arun Kolatkar is the opening poem of the 31 section of his collection of poems 'Jejuri.' It describes the bumpy journey from the starting point to its destination which is the temple of Lord Khandoba in Pune, Maharashtra.

    Along with his brother and a friend, Kolatkar visited Jejuri in 1963, and appears to have composed some poems shortly thereafter. Jejuri, his first collection of poetry published in 1976 (early year of newly independent India) won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize in 1977. ‘The Bus’ is a fine poem from the epic Jejuri. In this poem the poet describes the journey by state Transport Bus in Maharastra. The protoganist, Manohar and other pilgrims are going to Jejuri to visit the temple of God Khandoba. He witnesses some biased things during this travel and explains with satirical tone.

JEJURI:

    Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage near Pune, Maharashtra. Jejuri is known for the temple of Lord Khandoba located on a hill. Kandhoba, the local God of the temple especially worshiped by a community called Dhangar community. The Dhangars are associated with cattle herding and fall under the economically backward classes. Khandoba is a manifestation of Lord Shiva who is worshipped in Maharastra, is a God of sword fighting. He is a warrior, riding a horse with a sword as his weapon. The selected poems describe a journey to the temple of Khandoba.

POEM: The Bus

The tarpaulin flaps are buttoned down

 on the windows of the state transport bus.

all the way up to jejuri.

a cold wind keeps whipping

 and slapping a corner of tarpaulin at your elbow.

you look down to the roaring road.

 you search for the signs of daybreak in

what little light spills out of bus.

your own divided face in the pair of glasses

 on an oldman`s nose

 is all the countryside you get to see.

you seem to move continually forward.

 toward a destination

 just beyond the castemark beyond his eyebrows.

outside, the sun has risen quitely

 it aims through an eyelet in the tarpaulin.

 and shoots at the oldman`s glasses.

a sawed off sunbeam comes to rest

gently against the driver`s right temple.

 the bus seems to change direction.

at the end of bumpy ride with your own face on the either side

 when you get off the bus.

you don’t step inside the old man`s head.

Summary:

    At night, in a bus a group of pilgrims travel together towards Jejuri, the temple of Khandoba that includes some tourists and passengers. Among them is the protagonist Manohar. It describes the bumpy journey from the starting point to its destination which is the temple of Khandoba. It is a State Transfort bus the windows of which are screened by the tarpaulin with which the bus has been covred to keep the possible rainfall , and also to keep off the cold wind which keeps blowing throughout the journey. It is a night journey which the bus has undertaken ; and after several hours of the arduous journey the passengers start waiting eagerly for daybreak. Due to heavy rain, windows of the bus are covered with tarpaulin flaps. But still cold winds are forcing it, which hits the elbows of the passengers.

    They turn on headlights of the bus which helps to see the road that is stranded in rain water. He gazes to the road with little lights from the bus and feels the onward movement of the bus.

    One of the passengers sits opposite an old man wearing glasses; and this passenger , while looking at the old man, sees his reflection in both the glasses of the spectacles which the old man is wearing. This passenger can feel the onward movement of the bus. 

    The old man wears on his forehead a mark indicating his Hindu faith and even the high caste to which he belongs. The old man sitting opposite to him wears a glass which reflects his face in a divided manner.

  In due course, the sun appears on the horizon , and quietly moves upwards in the sky. The sun's rays, filtering through the gaps in the tarpaulin , fall upon the old man's glasses. Then a ray of the sun falls upon the bus-driver's night cheek. The bus seems to have changed its direction. It has been un uncomfortable journey; but, when the destination is reached, the passengers get down from the bus which had held them tightly in its grip.      

   At last this bumpy journey of him comes to an end and he gets down from the bus seeing his own face reflected in both sides. He reached the destination so “you don’t step inside the old man’s head” because religious place never shows favouritism.

    Among the passengers is the protagonist or the persona who speaks in the poem, describing his experiences and his reactions to what he sees at Jejuri.

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