IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Applied,

Natural and Social Sciences (IMPACT: IJRANSS)

DIASPORA LITERATURE: VOICING CONCERNS THROUGH POETRY

Rajbir Kaur
Department of English, Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, LDH, Punjab, India

Received: 03 May 2018 Accepted: 22 May 2018 Published: 02 Jun 2018

ABSTRACT

The paper is an attempt to analyze the poetic works of Ajmer Road, a leading poet, an established playwright and
translator and Surjit Kelsey, a poet, short story writer and translator who has made a mark in the literary field. The
Punjabi community records a significant place as a part of the worldwide Indian diaspora. Immigrant writers of Punjab
origin initially addressed the issues of migration and resettlement in a new land reflective of their experiences and
concerns such as racism, cultural differences, and nostalgia. The contribution of writers of Punjabi diaspora is immense
towards the Punjabi literature as well as English literature. Ajmer Rode’s contribution to the literary world is indeed
remarkable. His poems paint pictures of Indian culture and society in all its shades. He foregrounds complex social issues
with great ease and presents the grim reality of the society. His poems under discussion are taken from ‘Poems at My
Doorstep’ and ‘Blue Meditations’. Rode seems to have a strong dedication to exploring cruel realities of society. Poet
Surjeet Kalsey has established herself as one of the leading writers of Punjabi diaspora in particular and Indo-Canadian
community in general. Her works encapsulate the tribulations of Indian immigrants especially women. The poems selected
for the analysis have been taken from: ‘Shakti's Words: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets’, ‘In this
Solitude’ and ‘The Geography of Voice’. Besides dealing with the issues of assimilation, racism and gender bias there are
echoes of feminism in her poems.

KEYWORDS: Immigrant Literature, Racism, Gender Bias, Cultural Differences, Nostalgia

INTRODUCTION
Diaspora Literature: Voicing Concerns through Poetry

Immigrant literature is also known as diaspora literature takes into account the literary output by the authors
outside their native country. The most important feature that makes these works fall into the category of diaspora is the
explicit presentation of the culture and background of the writer and his association and bond with his homeland. The
Punjabi community records a significant place as a part of the worldwide Indian diaspora. Immigrant writers of Punjab
origin initially addressed the issues of migration and resettlement in a new land reflective of their experiences and concerns
such as racism, cultural differences, and nostalgia. Uma Parameswaran has defined it as follows;

“first is one of nostalgia for the homeland left behind mingled with fear in a strange land. The second is a phase in
which one is busy adjusting to the new environment that there is little creative output. The third phase is the shaping of
diaspora existence by involving themselves ethnocultural issues. The fourth is when they have ‘arrived’ and start
participating in the larger world of politics and national issues.” (Parmeswaran, 165)

Impact Factor(JCC): 3.7985 - This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us

The writers of Punjabi diaspora have immensely enriched the Punjabi literature as well as English literature.
Immigrant literature deals with the themes of alienation, displacement, rootlessness, and quest for identity. The issues of
amalgamation and disintegration of cultures are also discussed through literary writings. Diaspora writers have not
restricted themselves to defined boundaries but they also talk about the issues of global concern from a wider perspective.
While many of them celebrated their love for roots and culture through their mother tongue others have used the English
language as a tool to express and explore their creative faculties which plays a significant role in connecting their culture to
the rest of the world. They have come a long way in achieving their endeavors and left a big impression undoubtedly.

This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetic works of Ajmer Road, a leading poet, an established playwright and
translator and Surjit Kelsey, a poet, short story writer and translator who have made a mark in the literary field.

Ajmer Rode’s contribution to the literary world is indeed remarkable. His poems are highly significant to have a
thorough knowledge of Indian culture and society. He foregrounds complex social issues with great ease and presents stark
reality of the society. Rode seems to have a strong dedication to exploring cruel realities of life.

Poverty, peasantry, racial discrimination, feudal practices, and casteism are some of the themes quite close to his
heart. He unravels the caste-based discrimination and injustice prevalent in the society sarcastically in one of his poems:

“When my mother’s loose shirt

could no longer hide the universe

expanding around her belly button,

someone sneaked into her womb

felt my forehead

and stamped: achhoot, untouchable, outcaste.”

His poetic expression is intense and presents the complex social issues with a fine sense of poetic sensibility and
gravity which jolts the reader and urges him to bring a transformation or revolution. He mocks the caste system when in
one of his poems titled ‘Labels’ he discusses that how a child is labeled with different tags of class, creed, and color even
before he takes birth. In his poems based on caste bias and Dalit experience, he does not scream or preach but through his
powerful means of communication, he uses tropes such as irony and sarcasm. For instance:

Already a variety of

labels have been

etched on him.

One for a race.

One for color. One

for religion and maybe

one for a caste. At the same time he

NAAS Rating: 3.10- Articles can be sent to editor@impactjournals.us

is told

you are born into a free world –

Congratulations!’

Poverty and racial criticism are the themes most recurrent in his poetry. His sensitivity and concern get reflected
in his poetry the way he foregrounds the social ills poignantly. ‘The Sphinx in me’ is an attempt to expose the racial
discrimination ingrained in the minds of people. The poets’ daughter is perplexed and enquires from her father, why Cindy
one of her classmates has been chosen over her by the teacher to play the role of Cinderella whereas she believes that she is
better than Cindy.

The poet expresses the trauma beautifully and dramatically when he probes into the matter for an answer to: “was
it or wasn’t it the color

of your child that robbed her

of the chance to play the fairy?

And he wonders about the teacher, ‘Could he be a racist?’

“Meanwhile the monster inside me

expands to full Giza size and

demand an answer.’’

To pacify the magnificent Giza who asked for an answer whether it was the question of racial discrimination or
not, he turned to history books, tore a picture of chimp and hangs it on his daughter’s wall to affirm that: “Genes of
chimpanzee, I knew,

traveled over and over

million times to survive

in me in my daughter,

Cindy, in the drama teacher.”

The poet finds hope in the future generations and believes them to be humane and sensitive, educated and
enlightened in the true sense of the word as compare to the generations of today. He feels that our children will read and
wonder at ‘Those Times’ when people would celebrate all the different colours in the form of flowers, festivals and
seasons but despise a person with different colour. The idea of racism is expressed again with a streak of irony in the
following lines from the poem ‘Those times’:

“Every summer they

celebrated a new color

yet human face of a

different color

Impact Factor(JCC): 3.7985 - This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us

they barely tolerated”

Rode’s poetic piece ‘playing with big numbers’ addresses the issue of poverty and presents the realistic, heart -
rending plight of the South African children who die in big numbers due to hunger every day. Irony is probably the most
pervasive characteristic in his poetry. The horrifying effect of the penury leading to starvation and the magnitude of the
problem are presented with a sense of urgency to expedite some action. The grim reality and the gravity of the situation are
captured as follows:

“Suppose as a result of the debt,

five million children die

every year, as in fact they do,

and each dying child cries

a minimum of 100 times a day

there would be a trillion cries

floating around

in the atmosphere just over a

period of five years.”

The poet believes that a sound wave once generated keep floating in the air and never leaves the atmosphere, thus
affect the whole atmosphere. The poem conjuring up images of the starving, crying and dying children has the power to
shatter anybody’s soul with such intensity that“ it will take/ 14 years to gather /the pieces and put them /back into one
piece.”At the same time, the poet feels that it may not affect you at all. Maybe you have become a master at ‘playing with
big numbers’.

The issue of poverty and hunger has been touched upon by the poet in a philosophical way also in one of his
poems, ‘The Maharishi and the Baby’. The poet seems to ridicule the philosophy of Maya, because hunger follows: no
philosophy, no rule, no religion but food for food is one of the most basic needs to survive. For instance:

“The Maharishi whispers: the flesh is Maya, temporal,

the soul is eternal,

the truth.

The baby

inside the starved mother

insists it must come out

the mother has to eat.

The Maharishi

NAAS Rating: 3.10- Articles can be sent to editor@impactjournals.us

and the baby in the womb

stare across

into each other's eyes.”

The stark reality of life-death of basic necessities, food and shelter make the poet utter a cry of despair. The
poems are an attempt to jolt the readers and urge them to contribute to eradicate poverty and save the society from this
another form of violence. It is an appeal by the poet to protect the basic right of the poor people and restore them to a life
of dignity and decency.

“A great writer in writing of himself writes his age” T.S Eliot

Rode fulfills this dictum when we go through his works. Looking at Rode’s poetry it is concluded that his poetry
becomes a vehicle to raise some very contemporary issues since for Rode, poetry is not a pastime but a serious
commitment. He does not hesitate from expressing his deeper emotions. Rode remains a true representative of his times as
was Tennyson in the Victorian era.

The other poet under discussion is Surjeet Kalsey who has carved a niche for herself as one of the leading writers
of Punjabi diaspora in particular and Indo-Canadian community in general. Her works encapsulate the personal problems
of Indian immigrants especially women. There are echoes of feminism in her poems. She deals with the issues of
assimilation, racism and gender bias. Her poems speak volumes about the condition of women who are marginalized by
their male counterparts in all walks of life. ‘A Color of Nothingness’ is one such poem where she points at the indifferent
attitude of a patriarchy towards women. She discloses the harsh and unacceptable reality of patriarchal society which
undermines the role and contribution of women in all spheres of life. A woman has been rendered helpless, hapless and
powerless since her life is ‘devalued’ which makes her existence ‘a blank colorless page’ because the ‘indifferent shadows’
are always ‘unappreciative’ of her work, her qualities, her potential and her beautiful existence.

In her next fine creation ‘Voiceless Women’ she points out at her being silent and waiting for ‘someone’ to come
forward to fight for her rights. The poet provokes the women to voice their pain, agony, and suffering and urges them to
bring change. She indirectly encourages the women to be the agents of change, to watch their interest and safeguard their
rights against the oppressors who try to disparage their status. Similarly, many other poems register the pathos of women
life. ‘Selection’ is one such poem which expresses the plight of women through ages and exposes the gender bias sickness
deep-rooted in the psyche of Indian society. The poet reveals that the girl child has always been unacceptable irrespective
of the times she takes birth in. She concludes the whole story of female foeticide in the following stanza:

“History laughs.

Nothing has changed

between now and then

from the ancient midwife’s making

the baby girl sucks her poisonous thumb

at her birth, to see her unborn body through

Impact Factor(JCC): 3.7985 - This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us

the ultrasounds and wash her out.

Difference?

Only it looks more accurate, surer,

professional and six months’ time saver.”

Kelsey despises the idea of society’s preference and wanting of the male. And she believes that technology has
made it all the easier for the oppressors to kill the girl child in the womb and save time.

Another aspect that surfaces in the poetry of Kelsey are immigrant experiences and encounters with a new
different, unaccepting world. The poem ‘Migratory birds’ records poet’s reflections and observations of the immigrant
psyche. The desire and longing for the native land are so strong that it overpowers and overshadows the charm and joy of
new, vibrant and promising land. Painful experiences of migration, non- acceptance in the new country and homesickness
make it difficult for the immigrant to survive happily. The poet believes that the migratory birds will return home one day
and she relates this to the immigrants beautifully:

“We

the migratory birds

are here this season

thinking

we will fly

back to our home

for sure”

She brings out the doubts and dilemmas of the human beings who migrate to other countries in search of better
future. “How shall we reach the threshold/of our home with crumbling self?”The poet seems to be worried about the
consequences of this change.

Kelsey imparts emotion and passion to her poetry. She pulls up the reader and awakens his attention through the
deep and profound thoughts. The poem‘Saffron Leaves’ embodies the cries of poet’s heart. The theme of loneliness and
despair has been dealt with autobiographically by the poet. Not only women struggle in their homes for their identity but
also face racial discrimination in the hands of natives of the new country. The idea of racism and diversity run throughout
in the poem. For instance: “The imaginary fruits do not

mix well to become jelly

in the melting pot,

and their non-adjusting

identity gets stung by

an insect called racism

NAAS Rating: 3.10- Articles can be sent to editor@impactjournals.us

has multicolored wings

covered under the velvet of

race-relation and diversity.”

The immigrant experiences and the turmoil of her heart find expression in her poetry. The intensity of the
emotions has a personal appeal and relates to every woman, immigrant or Indian. She has undoubtedly emerged as a writer
of prominence.

REFERENCES

1. Beavouir, Simone de. The second sex.1969.Translated and ed by H. M. Parshley. London: Vintage, 1997.

2. Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. Ed. J. Rutherford.
London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1990 235-240. Print

3. Mc Gifford, Diane. ed. The Geography of Voice: Canadian Scholar’s Press Inc., 2000.

4. Chukwumezie, T. M. E. "Alienation, Identity Crisis and Racial Memory: The Realities of Blacks in Diaspora in
Andrea Levy’s Fruit of the Lemon." International Journal of Linguistics and Literature3 1 (2014): 9-18.

5. Mc Gifford Diane and Judith Kearns, eds. Shakti’s Words: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women’s
Poetry, Toronto: TSAR: 1990.

6. Parmeswaran, Uma. “Ganga in the Assiniboine: Prospects for Indo-Canadian Literature.”

7. Poems.net/ajmerrode/index.html 4 South Asian Ensemble: A Canadian Quarterly of Arts, Literature and Culture.
Vol. 2, Number 1, Winter 2010, ISSN 1920-6763 5

8. www.ajmerrode.com/

9. www.poetryinternationalwebnet/pi/site/poem/item118696

10. www.poetryinternationalwebnet/pi/site/poem/item11874 7

11. www.surjeetkalsey.wordpress.com

Impact Factor(JCC): 3.7985 - This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us