Indian Women by Shiv K Kumar- An Analysis

 

Indian Women

                                                       -Shiv K Kumar

Introduction

            Shiv K Kumar is one of the prolific Indian writers. He was a poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi award in 1987 and Padma Bhushan in 2001. The poem “Indian Women” is taken from the collection Cobwebs in the Sun (1974). This poem describes the plight of Indian women in the villages. It deals with the themes of women’s oppression in the patriarchal Indian society, their character, cultural practices, and daily activities.

Analysis        

The poem describes India as a triple-baked continent. By triple-baked, the poet means that Indian women are under three unfavourable conditions of the country- sun, gender, and poverty. Indian women suffer in a hot country, its patriarchal society, and the poverty. In such a place a woman does not ‘etch angry eyebrows On the mud walls', because she is not allowed to do so. The head of the family is a male and he is the only person allowed to show anger. The woman is mostly voiceless in the family and society.

Indian women are known for their patience; ‘Patiently they sit’. In rural villages, women cook with mud pots and live in mud houses. They tend to keep those pots and vessels clean, neat, and not damaged for years together. This shows their patience level. The men are the head of the family, and they only take decisions. Women are expected to take care of their respective families when the men go out for working. There is water scarcity and so the women wait to fetch water with patience near the village common well.

            ‘Indian women normally have long hair. The poet compares it to the Mississippi River. The hope is for the water. They look deep inside the well in search of water with tears overwhelmed in their eyes. The poet says this action is, ‘looking deep into the water’s mirror for the moisture in their eyes’. Further, men are compared to water and women are compared to pitcher. A pitcher is meaningless without water. Similarly, the poet conveys that in Indian society  a woman has no space without men.

            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. ‘They guard their tattooed thighs’. In Indian culture, women have their husbands’ names tattooed on their thighs. It indicates the woman belongs only to that man and she is considered as a property. 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. Because, the men go to work beyond the hills for the family as there is poverty. This is the daily routine of culturally bound Indian women.

Conclusion

            Thus, in this poem, Shiv K Kumar portrays the pathetic conditions of Indian women who are culturally marginalized.