FOR ELKANA : (Woven Words)

About the Author

Nissim Ezekiel (1924–2004) was born in Mumbai. He is today perhaps the best known Indian poet to have written in English. He had his education at Wilson College, Bombay and later at Birbeck College - London. A professor of American Literature at Bombay University, Ezekiel has written several poems and some plays. A proficient critic, Ezekiel lectured at a number of universities in the U.S.A. and the U.K.

The word POETRY originates from a Greek word meaning TO MAKE. A poet is thus a maker and the poem something that is made or created. No single definition of poetry is possible but some characteristic features of poetry may be mentioned. Poetry has a musical quality with rhythm, pitch, metre and it may use figures of speech such as simile and metaphor. While quite a few poems in this selection are in traditional forms, the unit also includes modern poems that are free from formal restrictions.

The warm April evening

tempts us to the breezes

sauntering across the lawn.

We drag our chairs down

the stone steps and plant them there.

Unevenly, to sit or rather sprawl

in silence till the words begin to come.

My wife, as is her way,

surveys the scene, comments

on a broken window-pane.

Suggests a thing or two

that every husband in the neighbourhood

knows exactly how to do

except of course the man she loves

who happened to be me.

Unwilling to dispute

the obvious fact

that she is always right,

I turn towards the more

attractive view that opens up

behind my eyes and shuts her out.

Her voice crawls up and down the lawn,

our son, who is seven,

hears it—and it reminds him of something.

He stands before us,

his small legs well apart,

crescent-moon-like chin uplifted

eyes hard and cold

to speak his truth

in masterly determination:

Mummy, I want my dinner, now.

Wife and husband in unusual rapport

state one unspoken thought:

Children Must be Disciplined.

She looks at me. I look away.

The son is waiting. In another second

he will repeat himself.

Wife wags a finger.

Firmly delivers verdict: Wait.

In five minutes I’ll serve you dinner.

No, says the little one,

not in five minutes, now.

I am hungry.

It occurs to me the boy is like his father.

I love him as I love myself.

Wait, darling, wait,

Mummy says, wait for five minutes

But, I am hungry now,

declaims the little bastard, in five minutes

I won’t be hungry any more.

This argument appeals to me.

Such a logician deserves his dinner straightaway.

My wife’s delightful laughter

holds the three of us together.

We rise and go into the house.

1. What was the one unspoken thought that crossed the minds of the parents on seeing their son’s behaviour? 
When their son misbehaved, the one unspoken thought that crossed the minds of the parents was that “Children must be disciplined.”
2. What was the logic given by the child that ended the argument?
The son innocently said that he wanted his dinner immediately because after five minutes he would not be hungry at all. His child-like logic ended the argument then and there.
3. What was the reaction of the parents when the child objected to waiting for five minutes for his dinner?

The son demanded his dinner straightaway. The mother had just settled in the lawns and was enjoying the evening breeze in the hot summer. She asked him to wait for five minutes but the child was adamant and he refused to listen to her. On seeing his nerve, the parents reached the same conclusion that their son needs to be disciplined. He needs to be taught manners and about the ways of behaving with his elders especially his parents. 

4. How does the poet portray the authority of the mother when the son asks for dinner?

When the son asked for his dinner, the wife looked towards the son’s father who at once averted his gaze and looked away trying to avoid being the one to answer the demand put forward by the son. The mother asked her son to wait for five minutes by wagging a finger in his direction. When she spoke, she did it firmly and it sounded as if she was delivering a verdict suggesting the end of all discussions. All these suggest the authoritative nature of the mother. 

5. Explain the significance of “Children must be disciplined” in the context of the poem. 

The son asked for his dinner in a very determined manner. His body language added to his resolve. He had his small legs placed apart, his chin was held high and his eyes looked hard and cold. His way of speaking made the parents look at one another. „Children must be disciplined‟ in the context of the poem implies that in the Indian family setting, the children must obey their parents. The children must accept the decisions of their parents and neither answer back or argue with them. 

As the child had spoken with steely resolve, the parents think that he has become undisciplined and needed to be disciplined so that he obeys his parents in future. 

6. Comment on the deft touch with which the poet transforms ordinary events into evocative poetry.

The poem talks about the tiny incidents that take place in a family. There are these small insignificant arguments that keep happening but that doesn’t mean that love and bonding decreases. This proves that the family keeps bonded. These tiny aspects of family life have been chosen by Nissim as a subject. An incident that happens in every Indian household has been sensationalised by the poet. The poem is put into free verses. The poet effectively transforms everyday events into life-sized poetry and makes it seem absolutely effortless.

7. Comment on the capitalization of all the words in the line: ‘Children Must be Disciplined’.

The line is capitalized because the importance of the line increases immensely. This line is the ultimate expression that runs in the heads of both the parents when they stop their argument and completely immerse in the thoughts of their child and hence understand the fact that their child is making an untimely demand. And they both fall into an almost ugly middle position because they love their son too much to deny him of anything. At the same time, they are also worried about him getting undisciplined.