Reading a poem

Reading a poem is always a pleasurable exertion. Did I call it exertion! Well…you heard me. It is because it is such a challenging accomplishment that, along with an enrichment of our mental strength it also confronts our grasping capabilities. If we try to find the reason, it might be because poems are highly individual, irrespective of its subject matter. It could be based on purely scientific or socialistic approach but still it is individual, since it has been created by a single intelligence.

It is just like reading other person’s mind which is nearly impossible. It is not viable that we understand a poem as the author intended it to be. Every one can perceive the meaning of the poem in their own contextual and knowledge based backgrounds. Each poem can cause highly debatable, controversial arguments. It is probably for the same reason that one of my inspiring literature professors used to say, “There is no wrong answer in literature”. We as students, used to feel happy for this statement since he was the one who corrected our papers! Jokes apart, but what he said is very much true. There shall be multiple ways to perceive any poem.

Unlike essays and stories which is more elaborated and elucidated, poems are usually concise and loaded with connotations. To explain this point, I would like to quote a simple yet complex poem by Robert Frost which he himself has said, "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem - very tricky" The poem is called “The Road Not Taken”.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

At first reading the poem looks simple. He talks about a person standing at the fork of the road, and deciding on choosing one way to walk. And that way shall be the road “less travelled by”. But will this poem end with that note? Yes, when I was in collage! Well… if we read it carefully, we can observe much complex realities about life. In the first stanza, the poet stands at a dilemma to choose his path.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

There are two roads diverged in the forest. But the poet could not take both the roads. He, as a traveler stood for long and observed one path. It was visible to a small extent but after that it was bent and was not perceptible.

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And then he observed the other one. This one was of his interest, because it was grassy and looked like very few travelled passing that way. “wanted wear” is a phrase that Frost uses, to indicate the solitude of the road that was “not taken” by many. He decides to take this other road which he felt was less traveled but still “about the same”. Here we have to observe the words usage and its complexities. He says, it looked like “wanted wear” but still it was “really about the same” as the other one. Then what made the second one of his interest? However if we see further;

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

In this stanza, poet observes that both the roads have leaves that have not been walked on. At first he wanted to come back to the first seen way on some other day. But again, he is so much attracted by the other way that he doubted that if ever he comes back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is the stanza that of much confusion. He says, with a “sigh” after many ages, he thinks about the road that he took and which made all the “difference” in his life.

Now the problem is, is that “difference” is a positive one? Or a negative one? This leaves us in a provoking curiosity as to know more about the status of the poet. Was he right or was he wrong in his decision?

This poem speaks about the problems and situations in life, and also our decision making capabilities. I am sure every one of us has come across the situations where, deciding and putting a step ahead in a particular direction is very difficult. Making choices are too complex. In such a situation, should we follow the ancestors foot steps? Or should we listen to our mind and desires and decide over consequences?

Some say, this poem provokes individualism and leads to unnecessary liberation. It inspires the readers to listen to their mind and go according to their psyche, be it very hard or bad.

But some others say that, this poem talks about how choices are inevitable in life. And it also talks about the metaphysical aspect of life, where choice has to be made to lead a blissful life and to attain the enchantment of realization.

Doesn’t both the ways look very much acceptable? This is the joy of poetry which never has a single dimension, which makes us read more and more and dig deep to find the depth of its innate meaning. Some times it so happens that the poet himself would not know that his poem can be analyzed in so many multiple ways.

Reading poetry is not only a delight and joy, it also helps us to explore sublime things hidden within our own selves. Choices are inevitable….so let us also make a choice to read poetry!

Call a mother as mother and pay fine!?

Sounds strange right? My neighbor’s daughter used to attend music classes with me. Cute, pretty girl of about 12 years old. She had a wonderful pitch in her voice, but she was not very interested in singing. Its only at later stages that I came to know that she was attending music classes only by parental pressure. However, she discontinued it later. She is a brilliant girl from a CBSE school and a kannada girl from a perfect kannadiga family. Surprisingly, one day I came to know that she was unable to read and write kannada. Her kannada accent was also like English. The reason sounded truly bizarre! In her school, the students should pay fine if they speak in kannada. It is just like, paying fine to call a mother as a mother! I mean its really strange because, one cannot make a child learn the concept of language by preventing the learning of mother tongue.

It was really shocking to know that schools, charge a fine to small, innocent children for speaking their own tongue! Children will imprint an image that we portray for them, be it on any substance. If the educational institutions itself create such a blunder, the students will obviously get an aversion towards the banned languages. They will feel guilty to even speak that language in public. They will ultimately come to the conclusion that speaking regional language is a matter of shame. And English language itself becomes the status symbol. Finally for marketing purpose, few Medias bring out a mediocre language in the name of ‘regionalism’ and ‘affiliation for regional languages’.

We don’t recognize these mistakes and at later stages we curb for our language being decimalized. We realize the scarcity for regional language affiliation only when it is being politicized. We have become so narrow minded that, only when it comes to the matter of personal relations like marriage or something, we suddenly become regional and culture lovers. But otherwise, we need all ‘modern’, ‘western’! When I quote these terms here, please observe that I have used inverted commas, to highlight the fact that those terms are also misperceived and wrongly applied.

Of course I don’t deny the fact that English learning is of high importance in this globalised world. Without English, surviving a decent livelihood is almost next to impossible these days. And also we have to learn English for the other reason that it is one of the beautiful languages. But should the learning be happen at the cost of regional languages? Any language, is a bliss to the humankind. I personally feel that, study of a language is a broader concept which includes not only the grammatical aspects of a particular language but also the culture, the psychology and genres of human nature. And also, linguistically all languages will have its own beautifying factors.

It is altogether a different matter that we are not even learning English (or any language for that matter) as it needs to be learnt. This statement is being made here keeping the view of the method of learning a language academically. Language learning needs its own space. The forum of language learning methods can be kept aside for time being and I want the readers to know, hatred for any language is foolishness. It is also objectionable to hate other languages in the name of ignorant love for a particular language. If I am a kannadiga, it doesn’t mean that I should hate all other languages. As youth its our responsibility to understand the political games and make the difference out by our own cognitive knowledge. Let us come out of our ignorance and try to learn all languages with equal respect. To begin with, at least let us oppose this disgusting ‘fine’ system and allow the freedom for children to speak and learn their own languages. Because, language is neither politics, nor class!