Another Woman Poem
Introduction
The poem explains how a woman starts her day with daily
household chores. Her work has no limitations but
perfection is always expected of her. She makes sure to
select the best vegetables from the market. Her
purchasing should be within budget. ‘Another Woman’ is
a poem about social evil and it narrates a personal saga
of a victim lady. In a simple and sympathetic language,
the poem details the inhuman treatment of society on
women. Specifically, it deals with the evil of dowry.
About the poet
Imtiaz Dharker (1954) is a poet-artist and documentary
filmmaker. She is awarded many prizes at the national
and international levels. She is a renowned poet as well
as a filmmaker. She scripts and directs films, many of
them for non-government organizations in India, working
in the area of shelter, education, and health for women
and children. Her poetry brings together several themes
and issues of contemporary themes like exile, home
freedom, displacement, communal tension, and the
polities of gender. Here poet deals with various problems
of women. But her focus is on the injustice, oppression,
and violence they are subjected to.
Theme
Another Woman by Imtiaz Dharker gives expression to
many such gender issues. According to her many Indian
brides either burn themselves or are burned in the name
of dowry. Statistics show that 80% of the bank loans
availed by the poor in India are to meet the wedding
costs and dowry demands. Another issue is malnutrition.
For the woman in the poem, even a white radish is an
extravagance. She can only dream of its crunch between
her teeth and its sweet-sharp taste. Then we see the
issue of the rights of women. The woman in the poem
does not even have the right to speak to her husband.
She has no space of her own and she has to spend her
time sitting in the kitchen amidst the heat and fumes. It is
a shame that even in the 21st century, a woman is just a
commodity to be bought and sold in the marriage market
and ill-treated at home.
Stanza 1
This morning she bought green 'methi'
in the market, choosing the freshest bunch;
picked up a white radish,
imagined the crunch it would make
between her teeth, the sweet sharp taste,
then put it aside, thinking it
an extravagance, counted her coins
out carefully, tied them, a small bundle
into her sari at the waist;
came home, faced her mother-in-law's
dark looks, took
the leaves and chopped them,
her hands stained yellow from the juice;
cut an onion, fine and cooked
the whole thing in the pot
over the stove,
shielding her face from the heat.
These lines capture the stark picture of a woman
belonging to a traditional lower-middle-class Indian
family. She went to market this morning and brought
green Methi. She picked up white radish which she
wanted to buy. She imagined the sweet-sharp taste of the
crunch it would make between her teeth but put it aside
thinking it an extravagance to spend money on that
radish. She counted the left coins after paying for methi
and tied them into a small bundle at the edge of her sari.
When she came back, her mother-in-law looked at her
angrily. The women showed no reaction at all and sat
down silently to chop the methi leaves. Her hands got
strained with yellow juice from the methi. While cooking
over the stove, she had to keep facing the dark looks of
her mother-in-law. She tried to shield her face from the
heat of the stove.
Stanza 2
The usual words came and beat
their wings against her: the money spent,
curses heaped upon her parents,
who had sent her out
to darken other people's doors.
She crouched, as usual, on the floor
beside the stove,
When the man came home
she did not look into his face
nor raise her head; but bent
her back a little more.
Nothing gave her the right
to speak.
The taunts and jabs of the mother-in-law have become an
everyday affair of her life. The mother in Law accuses her
of spending too much money wastefully. Mother-in-law
keeps cursing her parents also. She says that they have
sent their daughter to darken the lives of others. It is no
wonder then that the birth of a girl child is dreaded in an
Indian family. The women suffer not only at the hands of
her mother-in-law but the hands of her husband. While
the mother-in-law keeps abusing her every day. The
husband remains indifferent to her sad state. She keeps
sitting on her heels with her knees bend on closed to her
body near the stove when her husband enters the house
from his work. She doesn’t even look at his face or raise
her head because she has no hope for him. She bends
her back even more and keeps crouching as usual. She
has not been given the right to speak even.
Stanza 3
She watched the flame hiss up
and beat against the cheap old pot,
a wing of brightness
against its blackened cheek.
This was the house she had been sent to,
the man she had been bound to,
the future she had been born into.
Using highly metaphorical language, the poet gives an
image of women’s terrible tortured state. At the physical
level, she is watching the flames of the stove and beating
against the cheap old pot. The flame of the stove is
beating her black cheeks. Metaphorically poet presents
that her blackened chick is the women youth and beauty
that has been eaten by her husband who is an offshoot of
that very flame. The green methi seems to sing her
simmering sighs. This is the house she had been sent to.
This was the man she had been bound to. This was the
future she had been born into. In this way poet projects
the reality of Indian women.
Stanza 4
So when the kerosene was thrown
(just a moment of surprise,
A brilliant spark)
It was the only choice
that she had ever known.
Another torch, blazing in the dark.
Another woman.
We shield our faces from the heat.
Here the poet continues with her metaphor of the flame
rising from the kerosene stove. At once there is a brilliant
spark of fire. So also happens with a woman whose heart
is already burning with the nagging of her in-laws. She
has been burned by her in-laws. She realizes that her
faith could never have been any different. It was the only
choice that she had ever known. She was just another
woman. It was in her fate to keep burning and remain
surrounded by darkness. The poet says ’we shield our
face from the heat’. In other words, society remains
unconcerned about the terrible fate of the uncomfortable
woman.
