“In India”, one of Ezekiel's finest poems, brings out the unique relationship between literature and environment. He makes no secret of the fact that he has to put up with poverty, and squalor, the heat and other dehumanising discomforts of urban life. “In India” is a long poem, divided into four parts. Each part reveals some striking reality of Indian environment. The first part shows with perfect candidness and through vivifying images and apt diction, which has a slow but haunting music of its own, the poverty and squalor, the heat and dust, the misery and wretchedness, the callous and inhuman exploitation of women, children and animals:
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| Nissim Ezekiel’s Poem, In India, Critical Analysis |
“Always, in the sun's eye,
Here among the beggars,
Hawkers, pavement sleepers,
Hutment dwellers, slums,
Dead souls of men and gods,
Burnt - out mothers, frightened
Virgins, wasted child
And tortured animal,
All in noisy silence
Suffering the place and time,
I ride my elephant of thought,
A cezanne slung around my neck.”
The poet silently conjures up the entire scene which is remarkable for harsh reality in his mind's eye. The silence is claustrophobic, and reaches a breaking point in the poet's mind; hence paradoxically, it is a “noisy silence”. The line that follows is equally important, as there is a fatalistic strain in it. The next two lines indicate the poet's reactions and his deep introspection. The poet is introspective as a result of what he sees around him: “beggars, hawkers” etc. He is, of course, describing the slums of the city of Bombay in which he lives and which he has known since his childhood. The lines quoted above present a finely juxtaposed picture of the Indian society. The last line, “A cezanne slung around my neck” is important. Michael Garman has rightly said: “Ezekiel was at once art critic of the Times of India and his use of Cezanne should surely be interpreted to the hilt. For Cezanne, impressions were of first importance (both logically and in the development of his technique), then formalization had to be achieved, but without the loss or distortion of any of the impressionistic data. Thus, Ezekiel is not out to fit the discordant fact of life into a distorting framework which is self - examination, he will take each on its own merit, and delicately outline in a poetic form.” Thus, there has been an obvious relationship between poetry and painting in the case of Ezekiel. It is the influence of the painter Cezanne that has led to the greater development of the pictorial quality in the poetry of Ezekiel.
Irony, wit and satire are skilfully used to expose various pretensions and hypocrisies in the remaining parts of the poem. The second part of “In India” exposes the secular state and the way religions are practised in it. The Roman Catholic Goan boys , the whitewashed Anglo - Indian boys and the musclebound Islamic boys, who copied, bullied, stole in prayer, bragged about their love affairs, confessed their solitary joys and confessed their games with high heeled toys, were very earnest and punctual in their prayers . Mark the subtle touch of irony and satire in the following lines:
“The Anglo - Indian gentlemen
Drank whisky in some Jewish den
With Muslims slowly creeping in
Before or after prayers.”
The third part frankly and satirically exposes the licentiousness, sexuality and unhampered freedom that Indian husbands, influenced by western civilization, enjoy in India, and the low status of Indian wives. How bluntly and frankly the poet shows the discrimination of sexes:
“The wives of India sit apart
They do not drink,
they do not talk,
Of course, they do not kiss.
The men are quite at home
among the foreign styles
(What fun the flirting is!)
I myself, decorously,
press a thigh or two in sly innocence.”
The expression “wooden wives” succinctly sums up the miserable condition of Indian women. The last part provides an ironic contrast to the earlier remark. “The atmosphere corrupt / And look at our wooden wives”. The East - West encounter is ironically depicted. The Indian Secretary of the English boss is modern and forward as contrasted to “wooden wives’. They spend the long evening in the large room drinking cold beer, listening to Western music, talking lucidly, about art and literature and discussing all “the changes India needs.” But in another meeting the perspective changes and the English boss tries to seduce his Indian secretary:
“At the second meeting
In the large apartment
After cold beer and music on
She sat in disarray.
The struggle had been hard
And not altogether successful
certainly the blouse
Would not be used again.
But with true British courtesy
He left her a safety pin
Before she took the elevator down.”
If “the blouse”, “true British courtesy”, “a safety pin” and “the elevator” combine to introduce variety in this passage, its complexity is reinforced by its undertone. The lady expects, the English boss will offer her “true British courtesy” but what she really gets is his boorish lust.
“In India” is a brilliant and ironical exposition of the pseudo modernity and snobbery of a certain class in India. It gives a vivid picture of the Indian milieu, the practice of religions, the pseudo modernity and traditions. The poem is conspicuous for vivid pictorial imagery and ironic contrasts. Its language is remarkable for simplicity and clarity.