Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
What do you understand of the conflict in the poet’s conscience?
Solution
This poem gives a peek into a little girl’s heart and how this fast-moving world molds her into a butterfly from the naivety of the cocoon. Kamala Das in her writings shares her own experience and undergo.
Poet observes the nature and tries to draw her fantasies in the sand as she plays with her brother. Along with these cherished moments, she also comes to experience the anxiety, fear, and agony of her 86-year-old great grandmother for their ancestral house which is in a horrendous image. The conflict between the gratifying fantasies of a child and the bitter reality that money-making is not easy and leads to the defeat of her promise made to her great grandmother that she will keep the house alive.
These and other conflicts show that things and situations should be dealt with pragmatism. Fantasies are good servants but bad masters! The bitter reality should always be taken under consideration while moving forward in life.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
What makes the depiction of a crumbling village house so authentic in the poem? Is this a common feature of most village houses in the context of rapid urbanization? Is the poet speaking from actual experience?
What aspects of Indian society and history get highlighted in the poem?
Does the poem bring out the contrast between tradition and modernity? Illustrate your answer with examples from the poem.
While the poet respected her grandmother’s sentiments of royal grandeur, we can also see that she revolts against it. Identify the lines which bring this out.
Which lines reveal the poet’s criticism of class distinctions?
Is it ‘selfishness’ and ‘callousness’ that makes the poet break her childhood promise to her grandmother of renovating the house? Why does she do nothing about rebuilding the house?
