Sujata Bhatt A Different History

STANZA 1

- ANALYSIS

Indian culture/religion life in India is or should be free but there is constant

pressure ________________in other ways of life (example of this are __________)

Line 1-3: _______________: the ancient Greek god of nature (part man, part goat); allying Greek
culture with Indias perhaps suggesting that western society has formed more developed
religions; India = still basic ________________
Line 4-5: highlights the difference between other cultures and India; here Gods
are_______________________________, all around
Line 7-18 persuasive writing which creates Irony Hindus made to look after books and revere them but
not for knowledge, but because they are made out of gods (trees) = satirical/mocking tone
___________:It is a sin = powerful connotations, a crime for offending the gods
___________: you must, __________: without , ___________: Sarasvati (= the Hindu goddess of
art) emphasises that there are many pedantic Hindu rules that must be obeyed which are criticised by
the author in a ______________tone
Despite being Indian the author is being very _____________ of Indian culture/religion/belief
STANZA 2 : idea of foreign invaders, language and generation
Line 19-20: _____________ more philosophical, makes us think about _______________in general,
different from the previous mocking tone, which language is original?
Line 21-22: rhetorical question double meaning = English not to kill people but to _____________ Indias
culture/traditions; question tries to understand the aims of the oppressor
Line 23-27: _________________________/thread of diction/semantic field: torture, soul has been
cropped, scythe swooping out all relate to ________________ (British culture on Indian
ground ) = developing/changing/forcing Indias culture to change or assimilate and English
language is seen as being representative of all that
Growing imagery of violent invasion
visualization of the language as a literal tongue but symbolising a powerful ______________
Line 28-29: Bhatt is one of these unborn grandchildren, no question mark so it is more of a
_______________ (fact or certainty)

STRUCTURE
2 stanzas are representative of Bhatts ______________________ (British and Indian)
She is critical of both Indian _______________________ and British ____________/colonialism

PHILOSOPHICAL POINTS (subjects of the poem) forgetting past, human nature, generation, dual identity
- We know from her Bio that Bhatt fears that her natural identity, as manifested by her Indian tongue, may rot and
die If she fears this why is she appearing to be critical of India?
The contradictory idea is that while Hinduism and being Indian are the deepest layer of her identity, she
is not the fnod of them. She is critical of it. She also deefnds coonlial English invaders. Both these beliefs are
counter iiinuttve; you would expect her to defend her deepest layer of identity Indian, and slate English, but she
does the opposite.
This makes her identity complex and this is the strength of the poem. Readers are initurged by this unusual tactic.
How does it happen that she has ignored her cultural roots for many of her early years?
Choose the appropriate words from the box below to fill in the gaps!

cultivating

religious ideology

physical manifestations

assimilate

extended metaphorical language

question

statement

allusion (x2)

to conform

repetition(x2)

language

religious conformity

dual identity

books

Imperative
critical

rhetorical