An Old Woman

Arun Kolatkar

Comprehension 1

1. ‘You’ in the poem refers to

(a) the speaker

(b) the passerby

(c) the reader

(d) anyone.

2. What does the old woman offer the speaker in return for fifty paise?

Ans. Take the speaker to the horseshoe shrine.

3. What does the old woman demand from the tourists for her service?

A fifty paise coin.

4. The lines, ‘You turn around and face her with an air of finality’ suggest that he
decided to

(a) give her a fifty paise coin and get rid of her

(b) allow her to take him to the shrine.

(c) end the farce.

 5. The old woman’s eyes are compared to bullet holes.
6. ‘You are reduced to so much small change in her hand. Here, the speaker is
suggesting that

(a) one is reduced to an insignificant position.

(b) one feels that one is being cheated.

(c) one feels a change in one’s personality.

Comprehension 2

1. How is the plight of the old woman depicted in the poem?

Ans. The old woman was a self-appointed tourist guide. She wishes to take the speaker
to the horseshoe shrine. All that she wants in return is a 50 paise coin. Her wrinkled skin
and the way she hobbles tell the reader about her age and her physical condition. When
he looks through the bullet holes she has for eyes, he sees everything from her
perspective. He understands the pain of poverty and of the lonely life she leads. The old
woman has no other way of earning a livelihood on those wretched hills.

2. The old woman in the poem is a self-appointed tourist guide, not a beggar. Do you
agree? Give reasons.

Ans. The old woman is a self-appointed tourist guide. She grabs hold of the speaker’s
sleeve and tags along. She wants to take him to the horseshoe shrine. In return, she
expects a 50 paise coin. Despite being old and weak, she is determined to earn a living.
She makes use of the knowledge of her surroundings which is probably the only resource
she had. She does not beg for alms and wants to live with dignity. She does not want to
be dependent on charity and maintains a strong resolve in difficult circumstances.
 3. How does the speaker’s attitude change?

Ans. Initially, the speaker seems annoyed as he was being forced to visit the horseshoe
shrine. He had already visited the shrine and was irritated with the old woman’s
persistence. He wanted to put an end to the farce and turned to her with an air of finality.
She asks him what an old woman like her could do on hills as wretched as those. When
he looked into her eyes which seemed like ‘bullet holes’, he began to see everything
from her perspective. The wrinkles around her eyes seemed to spread beyond her skin
and appeared to cause the hills and temples to crack. The sky seemed to fall with a plate
glass clatter. She chose to to become a self-appointed tourist guide to earn her living. He
became aware of his insignificance as he faced the old woman, who stood with dignity
despite difficult circumstances. She did not want to beg for alms or depend on charity.
The speaker feels reduced to the small change in her hand.

Comprehension 3

1. “The old woman reduces the self-esteem of the speaker and makes him feel that he
is nothing more than ‘so much small change’.” Comment.

Ans. Arun Kolatkar’s poem, ‘An Old Woman’, begins with a commonplace experience,
but ends in a revelation. Initially, the speaker seems annoyed as he was being forced to
visit the horseshoe shrine. He had already visited the shrine and was irritated with the old
woman’s persistence. He wanted to put an end to the farce and turned to her with an air
of finality. She asks him what an old woman like her could do on hills as wretched as
those. When he looked into her eyes which seemed like ‘bullet holes’, he began to see
everything from her perspective. The wrinkles around her eyes seemed to spread beyond
her skin and appeared to cause the hills and temples to crack. The sky seemed to fall with
a plate glass clatter. She chose to become a self-appointed tourist guide to earn her living.
He became aware of his insignificance as he faced the old woman, who stood with
dignity despite difficult circumstances she did not want to beg for alms or depend on
charity. Suddenly the speaker has a newfound respect for the old woman and he feels
reduced to the small change in her hand.
 2. What is the speaker trying to convey through the lines ‘And the hills crack, And
the temples crack, And the sky falls’?

Ans. The speaker had associated only ugliness and annoyance with the old woman until
he had the awareness of her strength and her plight. With this realization, she becomes
the very symbol of the Indian heritage, and the other things, which had until then been
considered monuments of heritage, begin to crack. The poet seems to suggest that it is the
Indian heritage in flesh and blood that we have to value.

The reference to the hills, temples and sky cracking and falling could also mean the
shattering of the assumptions he had made. When he looked into her eyes which seemed
like ‘bullet holes’, he begins to see everything from her perspective. The man notes that
as he looks at the woman, the cracks around her eyes, the cracks seem to spread to the
landscape around her: to the hills, the temples, and even the sky. But he sees that even
though the sky may fall and shatter around her, she is untouched: she is ‘shatterproof’.

Life has reduced her to just an old woman to the tourists, who is like a burr and not
worth their time but the speaker realises that she is a part of the land, as old as it is: she is
as immovable. She lives, the man realizes, with what is made available to her. With the
man’s realization, he feels as if he has been reduced to nothing more than his money, for
he does not have that kind of connection to his land or his heritage but she stands,
unbreakable and strong.