3. Nissim Ezekiel (16 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian
Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and art-critic. He was a
foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically
for Indian writing in English.He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi
Award in 1983 for his Poetry collection, "Latter-Day Psalms", by the
Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.[2] Ezekiel is
universally recognized and appreciated as being one of the most
notable and accomplished Indian English language poets of the 20th
century, applauded for his subtle, restrained and well crafted
diction, dealing with common and mundane themes in a manner that
manifests both cognitive profundity, as well as an unsentimental,
realistic sensibility, that has been influential on the course of
succeeding Indian English poetry. Ezekiel enriched and established
Indian English language poetry through his modernist innovations and
techniques, which enlarged Indian English literature, moving it
beyond purely spiritual and orientalist themes, to include a wider
range of concerns and interests, including mundane familial events,
individual angst and skeptical societal introspection.
4. •Friends,
•our dear sister
• is departing for foreign
• in two three days
•,and
• we are meeting today
•to wish her bon voyage.
• You are all knowing, friends,
• What sweetness is in Miss Pushpa
•.I don't mean only external sweetness
• but internal sweetness.
• Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling
• even for no reason but simply because
• she is feeling.
• Miss Pushpa is coming
•from very high family.
•Her father was renowned advocate
• in Bulsar or Surat,
• I am not remembering now which place.
5. •Surat? Ah, yes,
•once only I stayed in Surat
•with family members
•of my uncle's very old friend-
•his wife was cooking nicely…
•that was long time ago.
• Coming back to Miss Pushpa
•she is most popular lady
• with men also and ladies also.
• Whenever I asked her to do anything,
•she was saying, 'Just now only
•I will do it.' That is showing
•good spirit. I am always
• appreciating the good spirit.
• Pushpa Miss is never saying no.
•Whatever I or anybody is asking
•she is always saying yes
•,and today she is going
•to improve her prospect
• and we are wishing her bon voyage.
•Now I ask other speakers to speak
•and afterwards Miss Pushpa
•will do summing up.
Nissim Ezekiel
6. Notes:1.2: dear sister: addressing a chief
guest or speaker as “dear” or ‘beloved’
sister, brother, professor etc., is very
common in India.
1.3: departing for foreign Note the Indian
use of ‘foreign’ as noun and departing in the
sense of going or leaving.
1.4: two thru days: translation of a parallel
vernacular expression.
1.6: we are meeting today: This is one of the
many instances of the use of the progressive
for the simple present in the poem. The
Indian predilection for the use of the
progressive tense is well-known. Pick out all
the other expressions of this kind in the
advocate”.
7. poem.1.10-11: Note the way in which the
speaker chooses to convey that Pushpa is
not only a woman of pleasant exterior but
also of many sweet qualities of head and
heart
1.12- 13: All that is meant is that Pushpa
always puts on a smiling face which shows
that she is emotional by nature.
1.15- 19: Though these words are meant
to be complimentary, they can be hurting
too to Miss Pushpa, for the speaker’s
words sound empty as he is not quite sure
of her actual parental background and
makes vague references. Note the
absence of the indefinite article in “very
high family” and in “renowned
8. 1.20: Surat? Ah yes: obviously someone has
reminded the speaker that it is Surat.
22: family members: ‘family members’,
‘family friend’ ‘family matter’ etc., are
common Indianisms
.11. 22-25: In India one does not hesitate to
thrust oneself as a guest on anyone,
however distant a relative of oneself or
one’s friend’s friend!
1.24-25: Look at the ambiguity and the irony
resulting from the expression ‘that was
long time ago’.
1.27- 28: Popular lady with men also, and
ladies also: an unusual collocation, for
‘men and ladies’ do not collocate well.
1. 30: Just now only I will do it: a typical
Indian-English expression. Note the
numerous uses of the progressive tense
in the lines that
9. follow.1. 34: Pushpa Miss: This reversal of
the word order is typical of the Indian
speech habit. This is how most students in
India refer to their lady teachers1. 40-42:
The lines mean that Miss Pushpa will reply
to the felicitations offered to her