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  1. Kamala Das was a very sensitive child. So this particular memory from childhood is the pain which she felt while listening to the cruel words which a blue-frocked woman said to her. The peace of the day was gone due to that and she cried while other friends of her were laughing. Even then, she was sRead more

    Kamala Das was a very sensitive child. So this particular memory from childhood is the pain which she felt while listening to the cruel words which a blue-frocked woman said to her.

    The peace of the day was gone due to that and she cried while other friends of her were laughing. Even then, she was sensitive towards beauty so the punishment ended up in a mixture of the smells of flower and pain which she felt.

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  1. The central idea of the poem is the growth which happens to all of us beyond the naivety of childhood when our life depended upon the decisions of elders. Here, the poet deals with the punishing part of childhood and feels better because now she is in control of her own life. Read summary of this poRead more

    The central idea of the poem is the growth which happens to all of us beyond the naivety of childhood when our life depended upon the decisions of elders. Here, the poet deals with the punishing part of childhood and feels better because now she is in control of her own life.

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  1. Following are the main themes in the poem Punishment in Kindergarten. Acceptance- The poet here is reminiscing about her childhood. But, looking at her present state, she is very much inclined to accept herself for who she is alongside the nostalgia of her peculiar childhood. Childhood- The poem indRead more

    Following are the main themes in the poem Punishment in Kindergarten.

    1. Acceptance– The poet here is reminiscing about her childhood. But, looking at her present state, she is very much inclined to accept herself for who she is alongside the nostalgia of her peculiar childhood.
    2. Childhood– The poem indirectly deals with the effect of one’s childhood on one’s life for always. Her memory of that childhood is very unique in terms of difference from other children.

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  1. The whole poem deals with the nostalgia. The nostalgia originates from the house in which her grandmother lived. The books which she saw as a child are also an element of nostalgia. She is thinking of those windows as a metaphor now. The nostalgia is about the dead too, the loss of her grandmother.Read more

    The whole poem deals with the nostalgia. The nostalgia originates from the house in which her grandmother lived. The books which she saw as a child are also an element of nostalgia. She is thinking of those windows as a metaphor now. The nostalgia is about the dead too, the loss of her grandmother.

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  1. The central idea of the poem "my grandmother's house"is a longing for the past ,poets happy days with her grandmother. "my grandmother's house " is an expression for the poetess ,longing for the grandmother's house where she was proud and loved. So the central idea of the poem "my grandmother's housRead more

    The central idea of the poem “my grandmother’s house”is a longing for the past ,poets happy days with her grandmother. “my grandmother’s house ” is an expression for the poetess ,longing for the grandmother’s house where she was proud and loved. So the central idea of the poem “my grandmother’s house” is longing for love and the failure to achieve love runs throughout the poem.

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  1. Following are the main literary devices used in the poem My Grandmother's House. Simile- It is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds. i.e. My blood turned cold like the moon, lie behind my bedroom door like a brooding dog. Metaphor- it is figure of speechRead more

    Following are the main literary devices used in the poem My Grandmother’s House.

    1. Simile– It is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds. i.e. My blood turned cold like the moon, lie behind my bedroom door like a brooding dog.
    2. Metaphor– it is figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity. i.e. to peer through blind eyes of windows

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  1. As a confessional poem, it provides us a glimpse of her personal history. She is confessing us about her childhood by giving realistic description. We come to know how her grandmother’s place became desolated after her death. She confesses her present state which is disappointed with the calculatedRead more

    As a confessional poem, it provides us a glimpse of her personal history. She is confessing us about her childhood by giving realistic description. We come to know how her grandmother’s place became desolated after her death.

    She confesses her present state which is disappointed with the calculated love which she gets from strangers after begging for it.

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  1. Following are the main themes in the poem My Grandmother's House Recollection from past(nostalgia) – The major theme of the poem is reminiscing about one’s childhood. The poet is in disagreement with her present and is trying to console herself by looking back at her childhood when she was living wiRead more

    Following are the main themes in the poem My Grandmother’s House

    1. Recollection from past(nostalgia) – The major theme of the poem is reminiscing about one’s childhood. The poet is in disagreement with her present and is trying to console herself by looking back at her childhood when she was living with her grandmother.
    2. Need for love – The speaker here describes her time with grandmother as the time when she was loved and proud of it. A person’s constant need for love and its varying degree of disappointment is displayed here through a personal instant of the poet’s childhood.
    3. Despair – The speaker here is in despair because she feels like she has lost her way. Earlier, she must have been too certain of herself but now she begs for love at stranger’s door and they are not at all like her grandmother.

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  1. It is a feminist poem because it promotes the principles of feminism. Kamala Das ingeniously mixes it with many other concerns which are common to men too but mostly it is a feminist poem because it speaks for the assertion of womanliness, the betrayal of men regarding the equal respect, the conditiRead more

    It is a feminist poem because it promotes the principles of feminism. Kamala Das ingeniously mixes it with many other concerns which are common to men too but mostly it is a feminist poem because it speaks for the assertion of womanliness, the betrayal of men regarding the equal respect, the condition in which the society wants to keep a woman and contain her.

    The poem strictly speaks out against the whole nature of surrounding which constrains a woman in every aspect.

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  1. ‘An Introduction’ is a confessional poem because it is the poetry of the personal. It is the poetry of “I.” Reminding us of the poets like Sylvia Plath or Anne Sexton, this poem delves us into the multifarious aspects of being a woman. Kamala Das shares crucial details from her private history whichRead more

    ‘An Introduction’ is a confessional poem because it is the poetry of the personal. It is the poetry of “I.”

    Reminding us of the poets like Sylvia Plath or Anne Sexton, this poem delves us into the multifarious aspects of being a woman. Kamala Das shares crucial details from her private history which makes the poem confessional.

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