VOICE OF
THE UNWANTED GIRL
àSujata Bhatt
SULATA BHATT, a
graduate of the Writer’s Workshop University of lowa लोवा के राइटर्स
वर्कशॉप यूनिवर्सिटी से स्नातक सुलता भट्ट को, has been acclaimed as “one of the finest
poets alive today’. “आज जीवित बेहतरीन
कवियों में से एक” के रूप में प्रशंसित किया गया है। ‘Voice of the Unwanted Girl’ taken from her
anthology of poems My Mother’s Way of Wearing a Sari, ‘Voice
of the Unwanted Girl’ उनकी कविताओं My
Mother’s Way of Wearing a Sari से ली गई है, exhibits her rare sensitivity and social
concern. जो उनकी दुर्लभ
संवेदनशीलता और सामाजिक सरोकार को प्रदर्शित करती है।
The inhumanity and
horror of female foeticide is wonderfully articulated through a victim girl
child कन्या भ्रूण हत्या की
अमानवीयता और भयावहता को एक पीड़ित बालिका के माध्यम से आश्चर्यजनक रूप से व्यक्त
किया गया है। It is really a
stroke of genius to make an unborn victim, here a girl child, question
patriarchy and demand for a world in which gender discriminations are done away
with. एक अजन्मे बच्चे को, यहाँ एक लड़की को, पितृसत्ता पर सवाल खड़ा करना और एक ऐसी दुनिया की
माँग करना जिसमें लैंगिक भेदभाव को दूर किया जाए, यह वास्तव में प्रतिभा का प्रहार है। It lends pathos to the poem and makes reader
ponder over the prevalent social bias against a girl child. यह कविता के लिए मार्ग प्रशस्त करता है और पाठक को
एक बालिका के खिलाफ प्रचलित सामाजिक पूर्वाग्रह पर विचार करने के लिए मजबूर करता
है।
VOICE OF THE UNWANTED GIRL-I
Mother, I am the
one
You sent away
When the doctor told you
I would be
a girl – In the end they had to
give me an injection to kill me.
माँ, मैं ही हूँ
तुमने मुझे दूर कर दिया
जब डॉक्टर ने तुम्हें बताया
मैं एक लड़की हूँ .
अंत में उन्हें
मुझे मारने के लिए एक इंजेक्शन देना पड़ा।
Before I died I heard the traffic rushing
outside, the monsoon
slush, the wind sulking through
your beloved Mumbai-
I could have clutched the neon blue
मरने से पहले मैंने सुना
भागती हुई गाडियों की आवाज,
बारिश कि कीचड़, हवा के माध्यम से डूब रहा है
तुम्हारी प्यारी मुंबई
मैं नियॉन ब्लू को पकड़ सकती थी.
No one wanted –
No one wanted
To touch me – except later in the autopsy
room
when they knew my mouth would not search
for anything, and my head could be measured
and bent cut apart.
किसी ने चाहा, किसी ने नही चाहा
मुझे छूना – सिवाय शव परीक्षक के, बाद में शव परीक्षण कक्ष में
जब उन्हें पता चला कि मेरा चेहरा किसी भी बात के लिए खोजा नही जायेगा ,
मेरे सर को मापा गया और वक्राकार हिस्सों में काट कर अलग कर दिया गया
I looked like a
sliced pomegranate.
The fruit you never touched.
Mother, I am the one you sent away
When the doctor told you
I would be a girl – your second girl.
मैं एक कटे हुए अनार की तरह दिख रही थी ।
जिस फल को तुमने कभी नहीं छुआ।
माँ, मैं वही हूँ तुमने
मुझे दूर कर दिया
जब डॉक्टर ने तुम्हें बताया
मैं एक लड़की हूँ – तुम्हारी दूसरी लड़की।
Afterwards, as soon as you could
you put on your grass- green sari –
the orange stems of the parijatak blossoms
glistened in your hair –
इसके बाद , जितना जल्द कर सकती थी
तुमने घास के रंग वाली हरी साड़ी को डाल
ली
पारिजातक के नारंगी शरीर खिल उठते हैं
जो तुम्हारे बालों में चमकते हैं,
B.1.1 WRITE T FOR TRUE AND F FOR FALSE STATEMENT:
(a) Mother was taken to the autopsy room by
force. F
(b) The doctor was solely responsible for the
heinous crime. F
(c) The female foeticide (भ्रूण हत्या) took place in Bombay. T
(d) Everybody loved the speaker. F
(e) Mother loved pomegranate very much. F.
B1.2 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BRIEFLY:
1. Who is ‘I’ in the opening line?
Ans. 'I' is the unwanted girl in the
opening line.
2. Who does the speaker address to?
Ans. The speaker addressed to her mother.
3. What did the mother do to the speaker?
Ans. The mother asks the doctor to kill her
before she was born.
4. What happened to the speaker?
Ans. The mother entrusted the speaker to
the doctor to kill her by injection.
5. What did the doctor tell the mother? How did it
affect her?
Ans. The doctor told the mother that her
child would be a girl. This news affected the mother very badly. This second
child was an unwanted girl. So, she decided to kill her.
6. How did the mother dress up when she knew about
her second girl child?
Ans. She put on her grass-green sari. The
orange stems parijatak blossoms were glistering to her hair.
7. Do you find any evidence in the poem that shows
the mother's lack of concern for her girl child?
Ans. There is no evidence in the poem about
the mother's concern for her girl child. When the doctor told the pregnant
mother that her child would be a girl, she instructed the doctor to kill child
in the womb. This shows her lack of concern for her girl child.
VOICE OF THE UNWANTED GIRL-II
Afterwards
everyone smiled.
But now I ask you
to look for me, mother,
look for me because
I won’t come to you in your dreams.
इसके बाद सब खुश हुए.
लेकिन मैं आप से कहती हूँ मेरी ओर देखो, माँ,
क्योंकि मैं तुम्हें तुम्हारे सपने में भी नहीं आऊँगी,
Look for me, mother, look
because I won’t become a flower
I won’t turn into a butterfly
And I am not a part of anyone’s song.
मेरे लिए देखो, माँ, देखो
क्योकि अब न तो मैं फूल, न मैं तितली बनूँगी और न ही किसी के गीत का हिस्सा बनूँगी.
Look, mother,
look for the place where you have sent me.
Look for the unspeakable.
for the place that can never be described.
देखो माँ,
उस स्थान को देखों जहां तूने मुझे
भेजा है।
न बोलने वाले (शिशु) के लिए देखो ।
उस जगह के लिए, जिसका वर्णन कभी नहीं
किया जा सकता।
Look for me, mother, because
this is what you have done.
Look, for me, mother, because
This is not ‘God’s will’.
मेरे लिए देखो, माँ, क्योंकि
तुमने यह क्या किया है।
देखो, मेरे लिए, माँ, क्योंकि
यह ‘भगवान की इच्छा’ नहीं है।
Look for me, mother
because I smell of formaldehyde –
I smell of formaldehyde
and still, I wish you would look
for me, mother.
मेरे लिए देखो, माँ
क्योंकि मुझे फॉर्मलाडेहाइड की गंध आती है –
मुझे फॉर्मलाडेहाइड की गंध आती है
और फिर भी, मेरी इच्छा है कि तुम देखो,
मेरे लिए, माँ।
1. Who does 'everyone'
refer to in line 28th in the poem, 'Voice of the Unwanted Girl'? Why did
everyone smile?
Ans. It is the
doctor and his assistants. Everyone smiled at the sight of the unborn
girl-child.
2. How does the
'unwanted girl' in the poem, 'Voice of the Unwanted Girl' question her mother's
conscience?
Ans. She questions
her mother's conscience very humbly. The repetition of the word 'Look' used by
the killed unborn girl-child, gives a dramatic 3 look to the point as it points
to the brutal ruthlessness of the horror of female infanticide.
3. What does the killed
infant smell of in the poem, 'Voice of the 4 Unwanted Girl'?
Ans. She smells of
formaldehyde. It is a colourless and strong smelling gas which is used mixed up
with water to preserve things in the laboratory.
4. How many times has
the verb 'look' been repeated in the poem 'Voice of the Unwanted Girl'? What
effect does it have on you?
Ans. The verb
'look' has been used eleven times in the poem. It shows the great intensity of
the feelings of the killed unborn girl-child.
5. What does 'God's
will' mean in the line 44th in the poem, 'Voice of the Unwanted Girl'?
Ans. It means the
disposal and wishes of God.
6. What does the
speaker wish in the last two lines of the poem, 'Voice of the Unwanted Girl'?
Ans. She wishes to
be looked on by her mother. She means to make her mother
realise her crime.
SUMMARY:
A girl who is killed inside her
mother's womb questions her mother's conscience that why she did not object
female infanticide. When the doctor told the pregnant mother that a girl-child
would be born to her, she instructed the doctor to destroy the girl-child in
the womb. The infant was killed with the help of an injection. Before dying,
the infant, heard the traffic rushing outside, the monsoon slush and the wind
sulking through Mumbai. She could have clutched the neon blue but no one wanted
her. No one wanted to touch her except in the autopsy room. After postmortem
she looked like a sliced pomegranate, the fruit never touched by her mother.
She tells her mother again
that when the doctor told her that she would be her second girl-child, she got
her killed. She requests her mother to look for her because neither she would
not come in her dreams, nor she would become a flower, nor would turn into a
butterfly, nor would be a part of anyone's song. The place where she was sent
by her mother can never be described. She repeatedly asks her mother why she
acted against the will of God. She feels the smell of a colorless and bad
smelling gas-formaldehyde which is used mixed up with water to preserve things
in the laboratory. The girl still wishes to have a look on her. She again and
again tells her mother to realise her great mistake and great crime.