A Different History- Analysis

A Different chronicle By- Suajata Bhatt The poem A Different History is set in India. In the start paragraph the poet describes how the land is create at a fast pace and leaving behind gloss, morals, value, spiritualism etc. yet India on the other hand has managed to sustain its im chain armour and modernity. Great Pan is non dead he simply emigrated to India Here, the matinee idols wave freely Disguised as snakes or monkeys every tree is sanctified Pan is the Greek idol of nature. This reference to Greece and Pan could refer to ii things.One of the possible interpretations is that- Rome, Greece and India atomic number 18 considered the hubs of spirituality and they draw their own set of gods and goddesses. But over the years Greece has developed and consequently its people occupy deep in thought(p) faith in god. On the contrary, India continues to be highly spiritual and god fearing and the Great Pan emigrating to India could connote how India continues to have fai th and believe in god. Another explanation could be the fill out for nature and respect for the immanent environment in India. Legend has it that Pan died due to the depletion of nature and animals in Greece.At the sentence this poem was written India was not a shade of what it is straight trend and was known for its innate beauty and its peoples dependence and respect for nature. The next collar lines seem to be mocking the Indian psyche of turning everything and everyvirtuoso to god and creating a god for everything. The stereotypical Indian has a habit of apply gods name to get things done associating every import detail in his life to god and this is what I feel the poet is mocking. And it is a ungodliness to be rude to a book It is a sin to shove a book aside with your foot, sin to slam books crop up hard on a table, a sin to toss one carelessly across a room. You must learn how to turn the pages piano without disturbing Sarasvati, without offending the tree from wh ose wood the paper was made. These lines describe the Indian culture, traditions and the values that are inculcated into kids at a young age. Sarasvati, who is considered the goddess of arts and knowledge, is, concord to Hindu beliefs, resides in books. So books are respected (reference to mockery of Indian psyche) but in this case she is admiring this aspect of Indian culture.Books are considered an identical of god and touching god with your feet, slamming him et cetera is profanity. What the poet is trying to say in the first paragraph is that India is probably the only country in the world that have maintained its values, morals, culture and tradition and these have gone hand in hand with development. She also talks about the element of god being added to an array of things. Some of which, she thinks, are completely bizarre and others that she truly respects. Which run-in has not been the oppressors tongue? Which expression truly meant to murder mortal? And how does it ha ppen hat after the torture, after the soul has been cropped with a keen-sighted scythe swooping out of the conquerors face- the unborn grandchildren grow to love that strange language. I feel that the transition from the first paragraph to the punt is not very good as the connection between the cardinal themes is not evident. In my opinion the connection is that she is drawing a collimate between the pre- British India and the colonised India. She is using the English language as a representation of the colonised India and how it forgot or was made to forget its culture in the name of a better future and development.Here, she refers to them as oppressors, murderers, but murderers of what? In my opinion murder in this context refers not just to taking lives but also the murder of spirits, souls and more relevantly cultures and customs. She seems to be blaming the British for the loss of the culture, customs, values, morals and in this case language as well. She questions how des pite all the damage done by the British we continue to speak the English language and have stopped sermon our mother tongue. This is the alike language that was spoken by the people who undone out heritage and culture used .This is not only in reference to language but our love for anything foreign and our disdain at our very own country and shame at our deep, brilliant and captivating culture. But a poem is open to interpretation and the tone and the way it is said can replace the meaning completely. While reading a poem it is important to analyse what background the poem has, the life of the poet how it is committed to her life. Sujata Bhatt, it was the first time I heard her name. She was born in Ahmedabad to a Gujarati family.She was brought up in Pune and then in 1968 at the age of cardinal she shifted to the US. Currently she lives in Ger some. Suajata Bhatts life is a complete line of merchandise to the poem. In the poem she keeps talking about how we are forgetting ou r culture how we have been influenced by the Conquerors et cetera. My first reaction to this was that she was a hypocrite. But then I realised that many times in life there are things that bother you, things that eat your insides but it is completely different and much harder to change or work against these things.I got to thinking that possibly Sujata Bhatt considers herself an example of the unborn grandchildren, maybe duration writing this poem she had herself and her whole life in mind. peradventure she realised how she was losing contact with her motherland how she was losing the Indian in her. This poem could be a poem to reach out to the masses and try to deem them understand the value of being in touch with your motherland and not commit the same mistake she had committed. This poem was written in the post colonial period.At a time when India was finding its bearings in the world. It was a time when India was still hung over from the British rule but at the same time it played the rebellious teen and tried to fight the natural course of things. When your country has been ruled by foreigners, colonisers for as many as three hundred years there are bound to be an influence on the country. The British ruled over many many generations of Indians and after a point of time the British way of surviving and approach in general started seeming normal to the Indians and they began to follow it.When the British left India in 1947 the youth were in an awkward predicament while they wanted to revive their culture and their lifestyle they continued to be westernised. Sujata Bhatt perpetually emphasises the importance of a national identity not only in this poem but throughout. A national identity is what defines you globally. On the world map it is not the people who are visible it is the countries. Outside your territorial dominion your country plays a major part in your identity. The poet says that if you lose your immanent habits, morals, values and cultu re your identity is depleted. * Arjun Nayar 9C