Professional Documents
Culture Documents
KALAHANDI
KALAHANDI
KALAHANDI
Q6.What
is
the
attitude
of
the
government
officials
and
the
press
towards
the
situation
in
Kalahandi?
Ans:
The
poet
says
that
at
one
time
Kalahandi
got
a
lot
of
attention.
This
was
because
the
then
PM,
Indira
Gandhi
flew
into
the
famine-struck
village
in
a
helicopter.
At
that
time,
such
situations
were
scarcely
reported.
It
became
a
news
item
and
as
the
PM
of
the
nation
headed
to
the
village,
so
did
thousands
of
others.
But
now,
the
poet
seems
to
suggest,
it
does
not
take
a
map
nor
the
leading
of
a
helicopter.
Kalahandi
has
become
a
metaphor
for
the
suffering
that
one
can
encounter
all
too
commonly,
for
hunger
and
famine
are
commonplace
in
many
a
village
in
India
.
Q7.What
kind
of
picture
of
the
village
does
the
poet
paint
in
Stanza
2?
Ans:
Stanza
2
gives
a
graphic
picture
of
the
village:
Das
puts
it
poetically-
he
says
the
rain-god
had
turned
his
face
away
from
this
dreary
disaster-prone
village.
Even
the
gods
chose
to
ignore
the
dire
need.
Everything
in
the
landscape
was
so
dry,
the
hungry
villagers
searched
in
desperation
for
one
green
leaf,
that
they
might
turn
it
into
a
meal;
but
they
found
none,
no,
not
even
one!
This
was
the
story
of
every
villager
so
that
the
village
itself
was
turned
into
a
grave-yard.
People
were
dying
everywhere.
The
land,
parched,
cracked
open
in
wide
fissures,
almost
as
if
it
were
opening
up
to
receive
its
own,
now
dead.
Where
once
a
rushing
river
flowed,
now
there
was
just
the
dry
sandy
river-bed.
Q8.According
to
t
he
poet,
what
does
poverty
look
like?
Ans:
If
one
wants
to
know
what
poverty
looks
like,
one
has
only
to
look
at
Kalahandi:
sunken
eyes,
walking
skeletons,
bits
and
pieces
of
rags,
barely
affording
a
covering
to
the
bony
frames
of
the
villagers.
The
little
that
they
owned-
household
items
like
utensils,
had
been
traded
in
for
food.
Their
huts
were
falling
apart,
the
roofs
caving
in,
affording
them
little
shade
by
day
or
protection
by
night.
In
the
abject
poverty
of
Kalahandi,
a
villager
who
owned
two
pots
would
be
considered
prosperous!
Q9.How
does
the
poet
turn
Kalahandi
into
a
metaphor?
Ans:
Das
sees
the
increasing
relevance
of
Kalahandi
as
a
metaphor.
A
metaphor
is
a
symbol,
it
is
a
word
picture,
where
a
word
begins
to
represent
something
much
larger
than
its
immediate
meaning
or
context.
Thus,
the
poet
sees
that
Kalahandi
has
spread
everywhere:
it
is
no
longer
confined
to
the
geographical
location
of
a
village
in
Orissa,
but
one
can
find
it
in
innumerable
other
places;
wherever
the
scenario
is
similar
to
Kalahandi.
Q10.What
are
the
distinguishing
features
of
a
Kalahandi-like
village?
Ans:
Kalahandi
is
where
there
are
hungry
crowds
in
desperate
need
of
some
food
to
assuage
the
hunger
that
is
eating
into
their
bowels,
as
they
crowd
around
kitchens
set
up
by
charitable
organization
distributing
food,
there
one
can
find
Kalahandi.
The
privation
of
the
villagers
is
visible
as
they
attempt
to
auction
of
their
children.
Living
in
the
relative
comfort
of
urban
India,
it
is
hard
to
imagine
such
penury,
such
dire
need,
that
people
would
be
constrained
to
sell
their
children!
Yet,
this
is
a
commonplace
reality-
children
are
sold
every
day
in
the
remote
and
not
so
remote
places
of
our
country
and
other
countries
of
the
world.
At
brothels,
young
girls
are
exchanged
for
much-needed
cash,
as
the
people
have
no
other
means
of
raising
money
to
meet
their
very
real
felt
needs.
Q11.Why
does
the
poet
ask
us,
the
readers,
to
take
a
closer
look
at
Kalahandi?
Ans:
The
poet
invites
us
to
take
a
closer
look
at
Kalahandi
because
he
feels
that
we
have
distanced
ourselves
from
the
real
pain
and
suffering
of
the
people
who
have
experienced
it.
We
have
looked
from
afar
and
not
allowed
our
hearts
to
be
touched,
therefore
we
have
remained
unaffected.
Or
our
over-exposure
to
such
scenes
in
the
media
have
made
our
hearts
calloused
and
hard.
When
we
see
the
suffering
of
the
people,
it
leaves
us
unmoved.
Q12.In
what
ways
do
different
people
exploit
the
people
of
Kalahandi?
Ans:
The
media
dwell
on
Kalahandi
to
increase
their
TRP
ratings,
the
channels
become
popular
as
they
seem
to
be
pulling
on
the
heart-strings
of
the
viewers.
Some
leaders
appear
on
TV,
they
visit
the
site
of
the
natural
disaster
and
shed
tears.
The
poet
calls
these
crocodile
tears.
Government
officials
make
false
promises
and
act
as
if
they
truly
sympathize
with
the
loss
of
the
villagers.
But
the
truth
is
that
they
are
only
interested
in
gaining
public
support
and
have
no
interest
in
the
destitute
denizens
of
Kalahandi.
The
sympathy
they
display
costs
them
nothing
because
there
is
no
loss
to
themselves.
Q13.What
is
meant
by
crocodile
tears?
Ans:
These
are
not
tears
of
genuine
sorrow.
An
ancient
anecdote
says
that
crocodiles
cry
in
order
to
lure
their
victims
to
themselves
or
they
cry
while
eating
them.
This
seems
an
apt
description
of
the
many
who
use
the
situation
to
further
their
own
ends:
hence
the
poet
describes
the
tears
of
the
leaders
and
politicians
as
crocodiles
tears.
Q14.What
effect
does
Kalahandi
have
upon
us
who
are
not
a
part
of
it?
Ans:
For
the
most
part,
those
of
us
who
do
not
live
under
the
shadow
of
poverty
and
famine,
are
left
untouched
by
the
tragedy
of
Kalahandi.
Q15.What
are
the
two
responses
of
people
to
situations
like
the
one
in
Kalahandi?
Ans:
The
two
response
of
people
to
Kalahandi
are:
They
feel
sad
for
a
short
while
and
then
they
forget
all
about
it.
Kalahandi
appears
to
them
in
their
nightmares,
reminding
people
that
their
less
fortunate
brothers
and
sisters
are
in
great
suffering
and
pain.
Q16.What
is
the
heart-cry
of
the
poet,
as
expressed
in
the
last
few
lines
of
the
poem?
Ans:
The
poet
strongly
urges
us
to
remember
the
people
of
poor,
struggling
villages.
He
says
that
India,
as
a
nation,
cannot
progress
while
sections
of
its
people
are
held
back
in
deprivation
and
extreme
poverty.