“Background casually" appeared in the Hymns in Darkness which appeared in 1976. It is a confessional and autobiographical work. It is an uneven work but a strong current of anger and bitterness, just held in check, gives this autobiographical poem an unusual intensity. This poem is in the tradition of confessional poetry, as written by Robert Lowell in his Life Studies. It also shows Ezekiel as a very Indian poet writing in English and expresses his total commitment to India. The poet dispassionately ponders over his failures and achievements and reveals his love for India. He affirms that he is very much an Indian and his roots lie deep in India. In one of his interviews Ezekiel says, “I regard myself essentially as an Indian poet writing in English. I have a strong sense of belonging, not only to India, but to this city. I would never leave Bombay - it's a series of commitments.”
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| Nissim Ezekiel’s Poem, Background Casually, Critical Analysis |
There is a plenty of itemised biography in the poem, and the background - the past - has been elaborated at some length. It is a long poem which consists of three sections, each section consisting of five stanzas of five lines each.
The first section begins in a tone of light banter in the third person mask:
“A poet - rascal - clown was born,
The frightened child who would not eat
Or sleep a boy of meagre bone
He never learnt to fly a kite
His borrowed top refused to spin.”
He then sets it aside, as if he has suddenly realized that he has no - use for it. When he grew up he went to school. He was not a Christian but a Jew. So the Christian boys were unkind to him. They thought that he had killed Christ. The Christian boys had no Christian Charity. The Muslim boys too were inconsiderate to him. Ezekiel ironically describes the feeling of religious of communal discrimination in India:
“I went to Roman Catholic school,
A mugging Jew among the wolves.
They told me I had killed the Christ,
That year I won the scripture prize.
A Muslim sportsman boxed my ears.”
The Hindus too were equally unkind. They were great bullies but they terrorised Ezekiel. He looked down upon them, for their prepositions were always wrong and they were dull and passive. One day he had to use his knife to defend himself in a noisy quarrel.
On Friday nights, there were prayers at home and he was told about his wickedness. He heard the preaching of Hindu yogis and of Jewish priests but nothing could improve him and instil religious zeal into him. So, he was not worthy to become a rabbi saint.
Time passed. At the age of twenty - two Ezekiel was sent to London for higher study with the help of a friend who paid the fare. In London he lived in poverty in a basement room where he studied philosophy. In the following apt - quoted lines he describes his condition in London:
“Philosophy,
Poverty, and poetry, three
Companions shared my basement room.”
In the second part he describes his stay in London, his failure in life and his return to India. He lived all alone in London for two years. He lived a hard and cheerless life there. He was sad and miserable. A woman cheered him and told “my willing cars I was the son of Man. He was aware of his failure in everything. Indeed, it was a bitter realisation. As he was extremely poor, he worked as a menial servant on an English cargo ship which took French guns and mortar shells to Indo - China. He " scrubbed the decks, / And learned to laugh again at home.”
On his return to India he was a total failure. He had studied a bit of philosophy, which was of no use in real life. His study of philosophy added to his “own exasperation”. How to adjust his circumstances was a serious problem? He was in utter confusion. He did not know what to do. But in the best tradition of anglophiles like Nirad Chaudhuri and V. S. Naipal he indicts the Hindus.
“All Hindus are
Like that, my father used to say
When someone talked too loudly, or
Knocked at the door like the devil.”
They hawked and spat. They sprawled around. In spite of such difficulties, he remained attached to India and the city of Bombay. He married, which was the worst mistake of his life. He changed many jobs. He saw himself a fool.
Such has been his background of which he sings but he knows that more still remains to be sung. He now sings of
“My ancestors, among the castes,
Were aliens crushing seed for bread
(The hooded bullock made his rounds)"
In the third part Ezekiel expresses his complete identification with India. He remembers a Major in British army who told him dreadful stories of Boer War in Africa. Such stories frightened the child Nissim, and he would have frightening dreams. He would dream that a fierce man had bound his hand and feet.
Such were his childhood dreams. But as a grown - up man he dreams only of words which he feels, cannot betray. He continued to compose poems till he lost grip on worldly reality and missed the worldly prize. Opportunities in life made him a poet. He is fully dedicated to poetry as profession. People may call him a fool but he does not care for them. Wisdom consists in making the best use of one's opportunities. He makes the best use of his inner tensions and frustrations, and also of the failures and difficulties that life has in store for him. Such personal experiences constitute the theme of his poetry. He writes:
“I look about me now, and try
To formulate a plainer view
The wise survive and serve — to play
The fool, to cash in on
The inner and outer storms.”
Ezekiel is committed to his chosen profession, poetry. He is also committed to India and to Bombay, the city of his choice. The acceptance of Indian reality is a vital factor in “Background Casually". Ezekiel seeks his identity in Indian soil. (Ezekiel’s escape is not from community but into it. He is proud of Indian environment. He has made his commitment. India is his home and he will continue to live here. He has kept his commitment by depicting Indian environment and reality of life in his chosen city, Bombay, which has shaped his sensibilities. The poet serenely accepts the reality:
“The Indian landscape sears my eyes.
I have become a part of it
To be observed by foreigners
They say that I am singular,
Their letters overstate the case.
I have made my commitments now.
This is one; to stay where I am,
As others choose to give themselves
In some remote and backward place.
My backward place is where I am.”
“Background Casually” reflects some of Ezekiel's commitment to well - defined attitudes. K. N. Daruwalla remarks, “The first is to stay where he is. He seeks his identity in the country and its incongruities. He is basically an urban poet, the city spilling over into his verse not as cosmetic but as an organic growth. His poetry is confessional in the literal sense, in that it is littered with a record of his failures.”