Consider the ways in which women are presented in the poem

‘Muliebrity’ by Sujata Bhatt.

In the poem ‘Muliebrity’ by Sujata Bhatt, the poet explores the theme of femininity
through a recollection of her own memories about a young girl working a blue collar job.
Throughout the poem, the qualities of the girl are praised as Bhatt vividly conveys her
childhood memory.

The title Muliebrity is quite direct and clear because as readers, upon reading the
title, we are already informed about the main theme of the poem, which is in fact
womanhood. The poem may be interpreted as being an autobiographical one and the
girl is therefore someone that the writer has seen or met in the past. The initial lines “I
have thought so much about the girl” reinforces the idea that the poem is a flashback of
a past event. Moreover, the fact that a first person speaker (with the pronoun ‘I’) is used
for the narration might be a strategy used on the part of the poet to create a personal
connection with the readers. From the very first verse, we are introduced to the girl who
is the focal character of the poem and indeed, the anonymity of the latter creates a
sense of mystery in the poem.

The theme of memory is heavily explored in this poem as the poet recalls an
encounter with a girl “gathering cow-dung.” Though this can be interpreted as a
childhood memory of the writer, the latter still vividly remembers the scene and she
seems completely fixated and amazed by the girl. The anaphora “I have thought so
much” accentuates her fluid memory or perhaps her determination to remember.
Furthermore, the use of present tense in the poem is revealing as it conveys a sense of
immediacy; as if the scene is unfolding in front of the readers’ eyes. The syndetic listing
in the verse “….moved her hands and her waist and the smell of cow-dung and road
dust and wet canna lilies” again emphasizes her strong memory. Interestingly, the poem
has no stanza break which might allude to uninterrupted or fluid and clear memory. The
fact that the poem is in free verse might also indicate the overwhelming nature of
memory.

At several instances in this recollection of past events, Sujata Bhatt makes use of
olfactory imageries like “smell of cow-dung” and “smell of monkey breath.” This
technique allows the readers to perhaps feel more captivated and immersed in the
poem; as if we are experiencing the smells as well. The parallelism created by putting
side by side contrasting smells of “cow-dung” and that of “wet canna lilies” bring the
speaker’s memories to life. In addition, the smells were surrounding her “separately”
and “simultaneously” which suggests that the olfactory senses around her were distinct
and vivid but they were also able to blend together harmoniously. Besides, the sibilance
used in this verse “…these smells surrounding me separately and simultaneously”
creates a kind of swirling effect which represents the overwhelming smells. These
sensuous depictions create the environment of the story to the readers and in a sense,
we are able to visualize the recollection of memory that Bhatt is trying to convey to us.

The major theme of womanhood is highlighted through the Indian girl who
gathers cow-dung. Sujata Bhatt is completely fixated by her beauty and humility in the
task that she does. One can argue that as she is celebrating the anonymous girl’s
beauty and womanly traits, Bhatt is also celebrating women’s power and dignity in
general. The poet uses reverential jargon to describe her “greatness and power
glistening through her cheekbones.” The fact that the girl is doing a blue collar job;
something that many people might not find attractive, and she takes pride in doing it
fascinates the writer and she is even focused on “the way she moved her hands and
waist.” In a way, Sujata Bhatt wants to convey the message that we should reject
stereotypes of strength and beauty. Moreover, the fact that the act of the girl “gathering
cow-dung” is juxtaposed with the sanctified temples of “Radhavallabh” temple shows
the holiness in the girl’s task.

Bhatt also states that she is “unwilling to use her as a “metaphor” of femininity.
She does not want to reduce the girl to a symbol or to objectify her in any way; doing
that would mean to completely strip her of her identity. The writer firmly believes that the
girl does not need validation from others and that her beauty and grace speak for
themselves. However, ironically, by making her the main character of a poem about
muliebrity, the poet might end up objectifying her anyway. Throughout the poem, it is
clear that the speaker does not have control over this poem, it is in fact the girl who has
the real agency, again highlighting her “greatness and power.” The caesura at the end
of the poem “…promising mound of dung-” might be an indication that the girl keeps on
being on the mind of the speaker and that the latter’s memories of her are too
overwhelming.

Sujata Bhatt’s presentation of women or perhaps the girl in this poem is a way to
make people ponder on the fact that stereotypes that society created do not actually
define beauty and strength and that even something seemingly ordinary may be viewed
as beautiful and have an everlasting impact on someone’s psyche.