Reading "Rathrimazha": Presence of Divergent Streams in Sugathakumari's Poetry
Sarath Krishnan
Assistant Professor
Department of BA English
Don Bosco Arts and Science College
(Affiliated to Kannur University)
Abstract
The presence of divergent streams of thought can be identified in the poems of Sugathakumari, the prominent Malayalam poet. From the rich romantic tradition of poetry beginning with
Kumaran Asan, to feministic and modernist sentiments are very much present in her poetry. In this analysis, the objective is to foreground the romantic and feminist viewpoints.
Keywords: Romanticism, Feminism, Malayalam Loterature in Translation
Introduction
Daughter of eminent Malayalam poet Bodheswaran and Sanskrit scholar Karthiyayini Amma,
Sugathakumari is a prominent voice in the contemporary Malayalam literature. The people of
Kerala know her both as a poet and a fighter who involves in the struggles to save the environment and nature of Kerala. Her poems such as “Rathrimazha” (Rain-at-night) and “Krisha neeyenne ariyilla”(Krishna, you know me not) are very popular. The concerns of women and issues related to the degradation of nature are the two major concerns in her poetry.
"Rathrimazha" is a poem which addresses the emotional trauma experienced by women in the present society.
Romantic Poetic Tradition of Kerala
Sugathakumari belongs to the Romantic tradition of poetry which began with Kumaran Asan and flourished with Changambuzha Krisha Pillai. Kumaran Asan's poem "Veenapoovu"(The
Fallen Flower)inaugurated the romantic poetic tradition in Kerala. Later poets including
Changambuzha Krishna Pillai, Edappalli and other created a wave in Kerala. Though the poems such as "Ramanan" can be taken as direct influences of western romanticism, the romantic tradition in Kerala is not fully western oriented. The poetry of Kumaran Asan incorporates elements of spirituality and progressive thought as a result of the influence of Sri Narayana
Guru.
In the 1960s, the writers including ONV Kurup, Sugathakumari, MV Vishu Narayanan
Namboothiri etc wrote poems which have romantic tendencies. Though Sugathakumari’s poems can be seen as a continuation of the Romantic Poetry, she has equally raised social issues, and mythical themes in her poetry. Major poems include Rathrimazha, Ambalamani, and
Manalezhuth. The poem Rathrimazha (from the collection Rathrimazha) has been translated to English by her own sister and literary critic H. Hridayakumari as “Rain at Night”. The poem is written in six sections, but does not have a regular stanzaic form.
The speaker in the poem identifies herself with the rain at night. The shifting moods of the persona parallel with that of the rain at night. We can see different emotional states of the woman in the poem, youth, love, melancholy, mental agony, disease, loneliness and so on. The rain has been the companion of the woman in all these different emotional stages.
Feminist Concerns in "Rathrimazha"
The poem can be read in a feminist perspective as well. The speaker, obviously a woman, talks about her companion, the rain in the poem. (Sugathakumari, in a number of interviews, had talked about the situation of writing the poem. While sitting in a room, suddenly it rained and the author got sudden surge of emotion and started writing it.) Throughout the poem, the feelings of melancholy and loneliness predominate. Rain has been portrayed as the “…pensive daughter of the dusky night.”
The poet asks, A diseased part can be cut and removed
But what can be done to the poor heart
Deeply diseased? (Rathrimazha/ Rain at Night)
The “deeply diseased” poor heart maybe the individual who had to suffer because of the corrupted societal interventions.
Loneliness is a predominent theme in the poem.
When I toss and turn
On my sweltering bed of sickness
In the sleepless hours of the night And forgetting even to weep
Alone, slowly freeze into a stone. (Rathrimazha/ Rain at Night)
The image of the woman who is frozen into a stone, even forgetting to weep, and experiencing loneliness is a clear statement on the pathetic state of woman in a patriarchal society. She is devoid of her identity and made to suffer by a social system which cannot understand her.
And when it is dawn
Your wiping your face and facing a smile
Your hurry and your putting on an act (Rathrimazha/ Rain at Night)
The above lines may remind us of the routine life of a woman who has to put an act on the face while suppressing her tears as she does not have any other choice.
The poet discusses the plight of the woman by comparing it with the rain which comes at night.
By attributing her loneliness and alienation to a natural phenomenon, she is trying to find solace, at last here she has a companion to share her feelings. In conclusion, we can see that the poet has weaved together varying streams of thought such as feminism, and romanticism in her poem "Rathrimazha".
Reference
Surendran, K.V., Indian English Poetry: New Perspectives https://books.google.co.in/books?id=XhsxQqaTmIgC&pg=PA66&dq=rathrimazha+sugathakuma ri&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhzdHEt9flAhWENI8KHex1D- kQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=rathrimazha%20sugathakumari&f=false
Tharu, Susie J., and Ke Lalita, editors. Women Writing in India: The twentieth century https://books.google.co.in/books?id=OjZYf9Xf9bcC&pg=PA400&lpg=PA400&dq=pensive+daugh ter+of+the+dusky+night&source=bl&ots=3TN4ZQSkXk&sig=ACfU3U3akDyMitH1yV8Jda3qyBKKr uZAdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUrKejmtPlAhUBrY8KHYeZAdAQ6AEwAnoECAkQAQ#v=one page&q=pensive%20daughter%20of%20the%20dusky%20night&f=false