Savitribai Phule Pune University
Department of Education and Extension
Group Members - Diksha Bardiya, Bhavana Late, Harshada Hodshil, Dipsmita Das, Sushant Koravi
Subject - English
Sub-incharge - Mr. Mahesh Mali
Topic- 'PURDAH ' (Poem)
Poet- Imtiaz Dhraker
About Poet:
Imtiaz Dharker (born: 31 January 1954) is a Pakistan-born British poet, artist, and video film maker. She won the Queen's Gold Medal for her English poetry and was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University from January 2020.
One day they said
she was old enough to learn some shame.
She found it came quite naturally.
The poem 'Purdah' it focuses on a significant phases in the life of girl growing into youth in the Muslim community in the youth her physical beauty attracts the attention of people which is improper in conservative society. Therefore they means the society says that she must maintain the decency and decorum of young lady according to above line she was old enough to learn some shame.
Purdah is a kind of safety.
The body finds a place to hide.
The cloth fans out against the skin
much like the earth that falls
on coffins after they put dead men in.
According to stanza, Purdah is a sign of alienation from one's own self.Women who are in Purdah are emotionless like dead man inside a coffin.Not only women's body but also spirit, their mind and individual agency are buried inside Purdah.Darker seems to be anonymously conscious of Purdah's tremendously negative bearings, which deprive and take away a young woman of the opportunity to experience her life entirely and confined her to limited space she traverses.
People she has known
Stand up, sit down as they have always done.
But they make different angles
in the light, their eyes aslant,
a little sly.
According to poet , when veil is imposed, it becomes a turning point in a girl's life.
Sexuality is always reminded to them which creates an awkwardness.
People have started looking at her in a different way which made her feel uncomfortable with her body and made her (all women belonging to Purdah Community) shy about herself.
She half-remembers things
from someone else's life,
perhaps from yours, or mine -
carefully carrying what we do not own
between the thighs a sense of sin.
This stanza suggests that the woman is struggling to find her own identity and is instead living through the experiences of others. The phrase "half-remembers things from someone else's life" implies that she is not sure what memories are her own and what memories belong to others.
The metaphor of "carrying what we do not own between the thighs" suggests that the woman is carrying a sense of guilt or shame for living through the experiences of others. The stanza conveys a sense of confusion and uncertainty, as if the woman is struggling to find her own voice and is instead living through the experiences of others.
We sit still, letting the cloth grow
a little closer to our skin.
A light filters inward
through our bodies' walls.
Voices speak inside us,
echoing in the places we have just left.
In this stanza poet says,According to men, women's aim is to keep her family satisfied.
She has no identity of her own even her sexuality is not her won.
She stands outside herself,
sometimes in all four corners of a room.
Wherever she goes, she is always
inching past herself,
as if she were a clod of earth
and the roots as well,
scratching for a hold
between the first and second rib.
This stanza suggests that the woman is struggling to find her place in the world.
She feels disconnected from herself and her surroundings, as if she is constantly searching for something that she can't quite grasp.
The metaphor of the clod of earth and the roots suggests that the woman is trying to take root and find stability, but is having difficulty doing so.
The phrase "inching past herself" implies that she is constantly moving forward, but is not sure where she is going or what she is searching for.
Passing constantly out of her own hands,
into the corner of someone else's eyes... while the doors keep opening
inward and again inward
This stanza suggests that the woman feels like she is constantly being watched and judged by others.
The phrase "passing constantly out of her own hands" implies that she feels like she has no control over how others perceive her.
The image of the doors opening inward and again inward suggests that the woman feels trapped or confined, as if she is constantly moving in circles and can't escape the scrutiny of others.
Overall, the stanza conveys a sense of frustration and helplessness, as if the woman is struggling to find her place in a world that is constantly judging and defining her.
Refrence link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imtiaz_Dharker
https://youtu.be/Lxt49UxvOSo
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/purdah-1/
