This is a poem which seeks to recreate a typical Indian scene in a language which is highly metaphorical. At a deeper level the poem is a projection of the poet’s response to what one may call the impoverishment of the human spirit. The images of futility and hopelessness which run through the poem serve to reinforce the central theme of the poem in a manner which is typical of Kumar.
1.1- 3: The lines make for a description of a common Indian situation where women never register their protest or anger triple-baked, refers to the hot, parched scenario which is moistureless.
1.4- 6: The image of empty pitchers waiting for water reinforces too the idea that it is the lot of the Indian woman to patiently wait, whether it is for water or for marriage or again for the return of the husband.
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1.7: pleating hope in each braid the line calls to mind the typical Indian scene of women slowly pleating their long hair dreaming perhaps of the fulfilment of their hopes and expectations.
1.8: Mississipi-long: Mississipi is the longest river in the USA.
1.10: There is the suggestion in this line that the eyes of the
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Indian women are always moist with tears.
1.11: with zodiac doodlings on the sand: The act of drawing
1.12 tattooed thighs: Again, a common practice especially among the rural women.
1.13- 17 A beautiful evocation of the fall of dusk which suggests at the same time that the women wait for their men’s return with little hope, and that with the passing of the day have passed all their hopes.