Das’ poetry is a movement in itself. When female poets write about their oppression and the double standards of society, we celebrate them as ‘brave’ and hail them for displaying the courage to defy the norms of society. However, Das’ ‘bravery’ is not anchored in the desire to resist but the need to remain true to herself. Her poems offer both the diagnosis and the treatment for the plight of women in postcolonial India. While reflecting upon the associations a woman is supposed to maintain in her life, Das traces the sources of her own misery and exposes the forces responsible for it. Her poetry is a scathing attack on the systems, thought processes, norms and conventions that control and circumscribe a woman’s life. Her poems provide prudent insight into the themes of motherhood, sexuality, matrimony and family life while confronting and maneuvering around the complexities of each. Through her poetry, Das makes it clear that she will not allow any God or person to be the arbiter of her life and regardless of circumstances, she will not surrender to a life governed by someone else’s rules.

 doesn’t hold back from optimizing the power of words to strike back at the power structures conspiring against her, she doesn’t forget that the energy stored in words can be used in beneficial and destructive ways as well. In her poem ‘

’, Das explores the potential of language to inflict pain and damage. At the same time, in ‘

’, she urges the reader to write from their lived experience and understanding of history. Compared to 

 for her poetry’s unapologetic and blunt nature, Kamala Das is recognised as a 

‘ are some of her poems that introduce creative ways to interpret and understand events in life and employ stunning imagery. One of her most celebrated poems, ‘

,’ is admired globally for its commentary on the ownership of language and patriarchal Indian society.

Kamala Das wrote in free verse. Her work is tangible, direct and replete with demotic cultural figures and practices. It explores a woman’s identity in the backdrop of India’s social and political landscape. Das wrote in English and under the pseudonym 

. Her work shreds the cloak of silence imposed on Indian women and defies the codes of the traditional patriarchal society. Das’ poetry mirrors her life and is unforgiving to the systems that aspire to decimate her ambitions and shrink her voice.

Her work was met with hostility and criticism throughout her life by people who considered it revolting for a woman to freely express her views on taboos like sexuality and human intimacy. Despite the backlash, Das continued to write and founded 

, a club of poets, playwrights, publishers, editors and dancers. This little club provided Das and other artists of her time a safe space and a creative forum to explore their talents, bring them to others and glean inspiration.

” the ultimate achievement of any creative pursuit. Kamala Das’ poetry excels in that and carves diverse ways of engaging with the insignificance of reality and twisting it into clever and innovative ways. Her life becomes the blueprint for her work, and in her career, she conquers the forces that otherwise proved too large and powerful for her to annihilate.

An Introduction to the Poetry of Kamala Das

In times of crisis, art provides escape. Although temporary, the preoccupation offered by art induces a sense of calm and composure that assists in navigating through the ups and downs of life. This usually occurs when we allow emotional conflict to conflate with our creative process. As a result, the art we make becomes a vessel for containing our anxieties and starts bearing semblance to our inner struggle. In this way, the process of making art manifests as an act of unloading that proves to be both necessary and revitalizing for the artist.

my happiness streams from having wrenched a piece out of my life, a piece of hurt and beauty, and transformed into typewritten words on paper

”. For Plath, her poetry functioned not only to express her personality but also to preserve her sanity. Her poetry is most commonly viewed as an exploration of self and can be seen as an exercise in deep introspection. As a poet encumbered by the tendency to experience emotions in extremes, joy and despair are co-existent in her work and most of her poems attest to the occurrence of both these emotions simultaneously.

Published two years after Plath’s death, 

 was the second book of Plath’s poetry. First released in the 

 in 1966, Ariel was altered by Plath’s husband, 

 before its release. Hughes is known to have arbitrarily removed and replaced several poems from Plath’s original manuscript and even changed the original title that had been decided by Sylvia for the book.

Ariel is a collection of 43 poems that depict the upheavals and anxieties of a mind at unrest while bearing testimony to Plath’s literary prowess and ingenuity. Her poetry is mostly autobiographical and therefore, cannot be understood in isolation since her art is inextricably connected to her life. While most of her poems offer unique interpretations in multiple ways, the unapologetic and blunt nature of her poetry is the one aspect that stands out. The grief and anxiety that pervaded her life are situated within the lines of her poems and can be understood by evaluating the metaphors and allusions frequently employed by Plath. Allusions to 

 are recurrent in several poems and offer meaningful insight into the wretchedness and helplessness Plath experienced in the years preceding her death.

Since most of the poems included in Ariel were written during some of the most difficult days of Plath’s life, these poems forego the conventional poetic form and carve their own path. This attests to Plath’s apathy towards the need to conform to tried and tested literary techniques in a bid to produce digestible poetry that would have more chances of being published. In the years before her death, Plath’s poetry became an invincible entity that wouldn’t be held back by any social barriers or restraints. As Plath continued to battle depression, she let her poetry unravel in whichever way it desired and in turn, produced poems that astonished and inspired people even today.

Some of Plath’s most celebrated poems find their name in Ariel. In her magnum opus ‘

’, Plath compares herself to the Biblical figure of 

’ she reflects on her life as she finds herself to have landed in a pitiful state in a mental hospital. Her poem ‘

’ scorns the institution of matrimony and the roles assigned to women in a conjugal relationship indicating the dissatisfaction she experienced in her own marriage with Ted Hughes. Another renowned poem called ‘

’ finds its place in Ariel and is popular for the allusions to Nazi Germany employed by Plath and is examined as an example of 

. Plath’s fearless writing has been admired and lauded by people worldwide for its brutal honesty and bluntness and is recognised for its contribution to the rise of 

In writing the poems included in Ariel, Plath has displayed the courage to tread risky terrains. By writing on uncommon themes and shunning convention, Plath proves that the voice within her will neither stay still nor concede to expressing itself in a palatable and reductive way. Her genius lies in the way she counters the destructive forces of her life with the creative forces of art and uses poetry as an instrument for self-revelation. While the end of Plath’s life may have been tragic, the art she dedicated her life to continues to exist as an astounding feat in women’s writing. Her poetry bears witness to the literary cogency of her mind that kept her afloat and provided her something worth cherishing and looking forward to during her long and painful battle with clinical depression.

Ariel: A Journey through the Stormy Seas of Sylvia’s Life

On 6th February, Gargi college of Delhi University celebrated the last day of their annual fest ‘Reverie 2020’ which witnessed enthusiastic attendance by students of Gargi, different colleges of Delhi University and outsiders provided the carried the necessary entry passes. Despite being an event full of several amusing activities, food stalls, fun rides and musical performances, towards the end of the day, the fest’s glory took a downfall and became a traumatic memory for many as the fest was hijacked by hordes of unidentified men.The crowd started to build by 4 pm. By 6.30 pm, the main gate was opened and all the men standing among the gathered crowd outside made their way into the venue unchecked. Several middle-aged men also climbed the walls of the college to gain entry.

Students observed men smoking weed inside the campus, molesting and groping college girls, passing lewd comments and masturbating at them. By the end of the day, the number of men exceeded the number of women present by a large margin and the place became so overcrowded, it became difficult for the students to breathe and several reported having panic attacks. When the students complained to the admin about these incidents, the principal told them to not attend the fest if they felt so unsafe.

Even though the CRPF and the Delhi Police personnel were deployed in campus, several students allege that they were useless in curbing the mayhem and chaos and neither were the college authorities or union bodies of much assistance.

On Monday, several students came out to protest against the mishappening and demanded the immediate resignation of the Principal as well as the head of the student union. On 10th Feb, an FIR was registered against the intruders accused of harassment by the students of Gargi.

While the protests in the college continued, ten people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the events of 6th Feb. The Delhi Police has assured the students that many people are being questioned and multiple suspects have been identified from that day. Students of Gargi College have been boycotting classes and are now demanding that the fact finding committee constituted following the incident show its findings.

They also expressed anger against the college’s lax response to the incident and the moral-policing tone that Gargi authorities took after students complained of harassment at the fest. Currently a Saket court granted bail to all the 10 accused of the sexual molestation of students during the cultural festival at Gargi College, on a bail amount of Rs 10,000 each.

Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

Gargi Sexual Harassment Incident – A Report

The previous week witnessed three incidents of firing amidst the anti-CAA protests in JMI and Shaheen Bagh. The first incidence took place on January 30, around 2 pm when a miscreant opened fire at people protesting near the JMI University, injuring a varsity student, Shadaab who was consequently rushed to AIIMS.

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The witnesses claimed that the shooter screamed “ye lo azaadi” before firing and despite the area being surrounded by police, none intervened to disarm the attacker.

The Delhi Police arrested Gopal and has registered an attempt to murder charge against him.

On February 3, around 4:53 pm, another man fired two shots in the air at Shaheen Bagh near the anti-CAA protest site. While no protester was hurt, the witnesses recounted the attacker shouting “Hindu Rashtra Zindabad” before firing.

The shooter identified himself as Kapil Gujjar and denied being associated with any group. He could be heard saying “jai Sri Ram” and ” hamare desh me Kisi ki nahi chalegi sirf hinduo ki chalegi” as the police proceeded to arrest him. On 2nd Feb, he was sent to police remand for two days by the court.

On February 2, around 11:30 pm, two unidentified men opened fire outside gate no.5 of JMI. No one was injured and as per the witnesses, one of the shooters was wearing a red jacket and was driving a red scooty having vehicle no. 1532 or 1534. Following the incidence, a large crowd gathered at gate no.7 late at night to join the on-going 24/7 protest and later proceeded to Shaheen Bagh.

The police said that they were verifying the accounts of witnesses. On that basis, an FIR had also been registered and a team would be sent to collect CCTV footage from Gate no. 5 and 7.

Recent Shooting Events in Delhi – A Report

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist renowned worldwide for her work in the women’s movement of India, as well as for authoring books like the path-breaking The Other Side of Silence and the Partition of India addressed the students of Jamia Millia Islamia today and enlightened the gathering with her views on the creation and dissemination of feminist knowledge. Not only is Butalia credited for the establishment of Kali for Women, a start-up feminist publisher in India but she has also been awarded a Padma Shri for her work in Literature and Education by the government of India.

In few words, she talked about several women and shed light on their stories of endurance and survival in a patriarchal society designed to systematically oppress their voices. From Muktabai Salve’s essay questioning the restriction of knowledge only to the hands of the Brahmins to Savitribai Phule’s sari being symbolic of her resistance and perseverance, Urvashi ensured to enlighten us about the plenitude of women who struggled to make our society a safe place for women where each one gets treated equally.

Having co-founded Kali for Women, India’s first exclusively feminist publishing house in 1984, Urvashi also talked about the challenges she faced while promoting women’s voices in a world where the field of writing was dominated by men. Her aim was to provide a platform to women writers, creative and academics which helped enhance their representation and give it a wider reach.

The most interesting part of the lecture for me, personally was the part where Urvashi recalled how in the 70’s, female deaths due to bursting of stoves in the kitchens had become very common and how none of their neighbours ever reported hearing their screams when an incident so unfortunate occurred in the locality. The reason, as explained by her was that the kitchens were always situated so deep inside the houses that even if the women screamed at the top of their lungs, no sound could come out and reach any ears. The way she drew a comparison to the unheard voices of women willing to speak up in the society then with this prevalent incident really appealed to my intellect.

She also talked about a book she published which was fraught with mentions of women’s bodies, sexuality and intercourse originally written by a group of 75 village women so as to educate people on topics such as sex which were primarily considered as a taboo. The book gained a multitude of recognition and featured the name of all the 75 village women who contributed to its creation on its back page.

Nearing the conclusion of the lecture, Urvashi talked about how the act of writing was an act of courage for women which set them apart from the rest of the society in the time when her publishing house started. The patriarchal society had always been reluctant to publish works by women and through Kali, women for the first time came across a publication house that was for them and their stories.

The lecture came to an end with the inevitable mention of the women on the streets in the India today; the brave women of Shaheen Bagh and protest cites country wide who are asserting their dissent and making their voices heard to ears which have been deaf to their sound since a very long time.

Urvashi Batulia’s lecture was not only informative and insightful but also posed intelligent questions for one to ponder over. Arundhati Roy once said, “There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” and Urvashi’s words echoed with the same spirit today.

Articles by Zainab Wahab

An Introduction to the Poetry of Kamala Das

Ariel: A Journey through the Stormy Seas of Sylvia’s Life

Gargi Sexual Harassment Incident – A Report

Recent Shooting Events in Delhi – A Report

6th Sarojini Naidu Annual Memorial Lecture, 2020 – A Report

An Introduction to the Poetry of Kamala Das

Ariel: A Journey through the Stormy Seas of Sylvia’s Life

Gargi Sexual Harassment Incident – A Report

Recent Shooting Events in Delhi – A Report

6th Sarojini Naidu Annual Memorial Lecture, 2020 – A Report