NATIONAL CONFERENCE

ON
“LITERATURE OF THE MARGINALIZED: DREAMS, VOICES &
CHALLENGES OF THE SUBALTERN”

A DEPENDANCY OF WOMEN ON THE SENIOR SOCIETY IN THE POEM

" INDIAN WOMEN " BY SHIV K.KUMAR.
- J.PATTURAJA,
II M.A. ENGLISH,
THIAGARAJAR COLLEGE,
MADURAI.

ABSTRACT
Shiv K.Kumar is a noted Indian poet. He narrates the problems of the Indian people, their
agonies and hopes in his poems. He is an expert in expressing the nuances of man and woman
relationship. Generally, Indian Women remain passive inside the four walls of their houses. They
shut-up their mouths in the social grounds. "Indian Women " is a spirited poem which is written
by Shiv.K.Kumar. It clearly shows the common condition of the Indian married women. It depicts
the worries of the waiting wives on the land of India. The Indian society controls the women in
the name of marriage. The married women are dependent on the arrival of their husbands at
the end of each day. The Indian Women hides their emotions according to the instructions given
by the senior members of the Indian society. This paper shows the Indian Women's dependant
quality in the Indian society using the poem " Indian Women " by Shiv K.Kumar.

Key Words : Indian women, passive, waiting wives, dependant, husbands.

__________
 Shiv K.Kumar is an Indian English a predominant poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer
and critic of the modern society. He displays the problems of the Indian people, their agonies
and hopes in his poems. He talks about the pains of the women and their sufferings in this
social setting. He looks over the conditions of modern day marriages. He gives valuable
suggestions to solve all the marital issues between the growing couple.

He is an expert in expressing the nuances of man and woman relationship. The marriage bond is
the base for our Indian society. Many other countries wonder about the system of monogamy in
the Indian nation. The Indian men have to understand the state of Indian woman in the Indian
society. The women have to reveal her ideas openly in this society. The poet Shiv K.Kumar cares
for the bond between the man and woman in the marital union.

Generally, Indian Women remain passive inside the four walls of their houses. They shut-up
their mouths in the social grounds. "Indian Women" is a spirited poem which is written by
Shiv.K.Kumar. It clearly shows the common condition of the Indian married women. All the
Indian women wait for the presence of their husbands in their small houses. They take care of
their husbands and houseworks all through their day.

The Indian society controls the women in the name of marriage. The married women are
dependent on the arrival of their husbands at the end of each day. "Indian Women" poem
depicts the worries of the waiting wives on the land of India. The senior students control the
junior students in the colleges. The society acts as the senior and it controls the actions of every
Indian married woman in the traditional society.

The married woman has to suffer under the sun, sex and poverty in India. She bears the labour
pain during the child birth. She gets the tortures from her husband during the time of sex. She
works to improve the poor state of her family. India is the important nation in the Asian
continent. The married woman faces the natural, physical and financial troubles in the India
which resides in the Indian nation.
 "In this triple-baked continent" (1).

Normally, we rise our eyebrows when we are angry at someone. The Indian married woman
cannot rise her eyebrows when she is full of anger. If she rises her eyebrows against her
husband, the society will ask her to put down her eyebrows and please her husband. She
cannot raise her voice against the injustice actions in the house. She gives away her anger and
sits quiet in the Indian society.

"Women don’t etch angry eyebrows" ( 2).

The married women wait for their husbands inside the four walls of their house without making
any question. They sit patiently like a empty vessel. Their bodies are weak without the proper
food. Their empty hands search their husbands inside the house. They expect their husbands to
pour love into their vessels. They seek love from their husbands inside the poor mud walls.

"On mud walls.

Patiently they sit

like empty pitchers" (3 - 5).

The Indian married women carry the drinking water from the village well to their houses. The
husbands bring money to their houses. They bring water to their houses. Both are doing the
essential things. The married women have a hope about the arrival of their husbands even
doing some physical works. Their hopes about their husbands are as long as her Mississippi
hairs.

"On the mouth of the village well

pleating hope in each braid of their Mississippi-long hair"(4-5).

The Indian married women hide their emotions according to the instructions given by the senior
members of the Indian society. They sit on the tip of the well by facing the water surface.
Actually, the water surface show the actuality of the environment. The water will reflect the real
faces of the people who see it. The deep waters show the crying faces of the married women.
The married women cry deeply in the memories of their living husbands. Their eyes are wet for
the longer time without the presence of their husbands.

"Looking deep into the water’s mirror

for the moisture in their eyes" (6-7).

The married women who are all waiting for their husbands near the well draw the zodiacal
diagrams on the sand. They marry their husbands on the basis of zodiac matches. They know
nothing to draw but the zodiacal diagrams of their husbands. Their legs draw the diagrams on
the sand out of their shyness. They jot the names of their husbands in their thighs using tattoos.
The tattooed names act as a guard and show the authority of the husbands over their wives.

"With zodiac doodlings on the sands

they guard their tattooed thighs" (8 - 9).

The Indian married women wait for the arrival of their husbands till the evening. They end
their days by thinking about the husbands. The poet expect the husbands to arrive before the
wives end up their lives. The society thinks that the duty of a husband is to work across the hills
and the duty of a wife is to think about the husband continuously. The days can take rest in the
evening. The married women cannot take rest without thinking about their husbands in this
Indian society.

"Waiting for their men’s return

till even the shadows

roll up their contours and are gone beyond the hills" (10 - 12).

'An Indian Mother’s Advice to her daughter before Marriage '' is a poem of Shiv.K.Kumar which
tells how a married woman should act, react and balance everything in the marriage life. Here,
"Indian Women" is a poem which adds satirical elements against the male-dominated society. It
narrates the pains of waiting wives inside the four walls of the house. The Indian married
women think about their husbands all through the day without concentrating on the other
works. They are dependent on the Indian society and its age-old customs.

Mostly, the writings of Shiv K.Kumar will have a universal appeal. He writes this poem, "Indian
Women" to show the sufferings of the Indian married women under the control of the senior
society in the Indian continent. The married women should act freely in this Indian society. They
can care about their husbands but they should set limits for their patience level. They should
not allow this society to set limitations on their paths. They can live for their living husbands but
not for the age-old society.

References :

Kumar, Shiv K. Trapfalls in the Sky, Macmillan, Madras, 1986.

Parthasarathy R. Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1976.

Singh, K.K., Indian English Poetry after Independence, Jaipur: Book Enclave, 2006.

Shankar R. Shiv K Kumars Poetry Imagery and Symbolism (A Critique). Jaipur: ABD Publishers.
2010.

******