Are we Haves and Give Nots?

Reading the late Arun Kolatkar’s poetry at its best is like reading Tukaram and W H Auden (2007 the centenary year of his birth) together.

“Jejuri” (1976) is arguably Arun Kolatkar’s finest work. I consider it a collection of the best poems written in English by an Indian author.

I have not been to Khanderaya’s Jejuri yet, but it is all around me! Its 'old woman' asks me: Where do you belong? ......... Haves, Have Nots, Gives, Give Nots

"An Old Woman

An old woman grabs
hold of your sleeve
and tags along.

She wants a fifty paise coin.
She says she will take you
to the horseshoe shrine

You've seen it already.
She hobbles along anyway
and tightens her grip on your shirt

She won't let you go.
You know how old women are.
They stick to you like a burr

You turn around and face her
with an air of finality.
You want to end the farce.

When you hear her say,
'What else can an old woman do
on hills as wretched as these?'

You look right at the sky.
Clear through the bullet holes
she has for her eyes.

And as you look on,
the cracks that begin around her eyes
spread beyond her skin.

And the hills crack.
And the temples crack.
And the sky falls

With a plate-glass clatter
Around the shatterproof crone
who stands alone

And you are reduced
to so much small change
in her hand."


Artist: Dana Fradon The New Yorker 17 Aug 1957