You, Shiva, and My Mum poem analysis by Elsa

1. You, Shiva, and My
Mum- By Ruth Padel
By Elsa

2. Main “story”
 The poem is about Padel’s mother who visits India
because her son is getting married to and Indian girl.
 The poet is really proud of her 80 year old mother who
willingly manages to immerse herself into Hindu culture
during the week she spends in India.
 Padel based this poem on the true events of her
brother’s wedding in India.

3. Title
 The poem makes a reference to Shiva.
 Shiva is a powerful God in Hinduism, who is sometime
represented as a man, a woman, or both; having his
body split in half between his own and his wife’s-
Parvati.
 Shiva is known to have a light blue colour and is
associated with the following symbols: The Third Eye, a
Cobra Necklace, the Vibhuti, and a Trident.
 In this poem, the mother is seen to be as powerful as
Shiva, which gives the poet a lot of pride.

4. Structure
 12 tercets that represent the number of Jyotirlingas.
 Every other stanza is indented which conveys a sense
of cultural divide between Britain and India.
 Enjambment and the random rhyme reflects story
telling.
 This irregular scheme portrays the mother’s discomfort
or unawareness of Indian culture.

5. Questions
 In the poem, the poet asks a lot of questions which
shows she values her audiences’ opinion.
 ‘Shall I tell…where Orissa’s last human sacrifice took
place?’
 The narrator of the poem seems uncertain that his/her
stories will interest the listener, or that the listener won’t
understand the pride she has for her mother.

6. Litany/Prayer/Respect
 Padel lists a number of faiths, ‘Tribal, Hindu, Athiest,
and Christian’ that her mother ‘bowed’ to.
 Here the mother is defying the stereotype that older
people are less tolerant of other cultures or faiths.
 The poet is filled with pride that her mother respects
these differences.

7. Colours
 Padel names various vibrant colours to represent the
new culture that her mother is experiencing.
 ‘yellow turmeric’, ‘scarlet’, ‘pinky blaze’, ‘navy blue’.
 The ‘navy blue’ is an inaccurate description of the light
blue God, Shiva. This shows the lack of knowledge
despite her efforts to know more about Hinduism.

8. Pride/Humor
 This woman is described to do incredible things ‘at the
age of eighty.’
 ‘How this mother of mine rode a motorbike, Pillion, up a
leopard-and-leeches path/ Through the jungle at full
moon,’. ‘How she climbed barefoot to Shiva’.
 Padel is really proud of her mother for doing these
surprising things, ‘Shall I tell how you/ Laughed fondly
at me for my pride/ In her?’

9. Links to other poems
 Look we Have Coming to Dover! - by Daljit Nagra. –
Culture and Society
 Material- by Ros Barber. – Family relationships
 Effects- by Alan Jenkins. – Family relationships
Thank you! 