The Professor
- Nissim Ezekiel
“The Professor” by Nissim Ezekiel is
a satirical poem. It is written in the form of a conversation between a
professor and his old student. Here, the poet criticises modern way of life and
changing values. At the beginning of the poem, the professor introduces himself
as Sheth. He claims that once he taught him geography.
The Professor tells the student that
his wife has passed away few years back. All his children ‘are well settled in
life.’ He also mentions that one of his sons is a Bank Manager and another is a
Sales Manager. To describe their social and financial condition, he says that they
both own cars. Then he refers to his third son as the black sheep.
The professor then talks about his
daughters, Sarala and Tarala. He says that they both are married and leading a
happy life. He is very proud that his son-in-laws ‘are very nice boys.’ The
professor has eleven grandchildren. He asks his student how many issues he has.
The student probably says three. The professor accepts that the people are
going in for family planning these days which is good. The professor points out
that the whole world is changing. But, he is very concerned that the old values
are replaced by new values.
Finally, the professor talks about
his age related issues. He says that he hardly goes out and he has usual aches
and pains. He reveals that he is not suffering from diabetes, blood pressure or
heart disease. He believes that he is healthy because of the good habits that
he cultivated from his youth. He is sixty nine and and hopes to live for hundred
years. He jokes with his student that the latter was like a stick earlier but
now he has gained weight and become a ‘man of weight and consequence.’
Thus the poem serves as a
contemporary social criticism.
