The artistic poet that Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, originally Chitralekha Banerjee, born on 29 July 1956, in Calcutta, is an Indian-American author, poet, and speaker. She has written novels, poems, and prose that deal with contemporary American and Indian lifestyles, experiences and challenges faced by women, immigration, mythology, and retelling of mythology, and history. She has won numerous awards like the American Book Award, Light of India Award, Houston Literary Award, Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, and Premio Scanno to list a few. Chitra Banerjee is also an activist for education and domestic violence. She is part of many organizations which work for the benefit of the underprivileged and victims of abuse.

The majority of the poems written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni deal with patriarchy. She has painted patriarchy as a dominant force, property rights, controlled by the father then, husband, the urge for a son, and women’s efforts for the sake of the husband even at the cost of their own mental and physical well-being. She shows how women blindly follow patriarchal rules in the name of tradition. She shows how cruel both traditions and patriarchy are towards women, suppressing them with any means possible. Her poems portray the plight of women in Southeast Asian countries, how they’re treated unequally, given a secondary or even negligent status, and exploited ruthlessly.

One of her poems, The Gift, dives into the thoughts of a young woman, moments before her marriage to a man she has seen only in pictures. As she stands in front of the mirror, bedecked in bridal ornaments and silks, she thinks of how “The heavy red of bridal silks weighs me down”. This could be taken as a foreshadowing of how her marriage will tether her, taking away her freedom forever. How the couple walks around the holy fire represents the patriarchal expectation of how a woman must live her life — follow her husband always and obey his every order. The ones “knocking on the door” represent society waiting to judge and comment on the young woman who is represented by the “crushed jasmine’. They will thrust harsh responsibilities and ideals upon her. The “cries of the birds” could be her helplessness but she can’t disgrace her family by crying on her wedding day so she doesn't express her emotions. Also, throughout the poem, there is the singing of the ‘wedding song of the good woman’ by the other women in the house or community, perhaps. Some of the lines are

“A good woman is known by her silent, serving hands”

“A good woman regards her husband as her God”

“A good woman leaves her husband’s home only for the cremation grounds”

Through these lines, we see the ridiculous ideals thrust on a married woman and how hard she will have to strive for society to accept her. Moreover, the stanza where she reminisces about her mother’s “wet cheekbone night after night” and “Mornings she hid in the folds of her sari the blotches, yellow, purple, erupting under the eye” tells us that her mother is a victim of domestic abuse, but everyone around her accepts it as something normal and natural - a husband punishing his wife for her mistake. Here, the poet shows us how patriarchy normalizes abuse.

In another poem titled, “Burning Bride” which she has dedicated to the victims of dowry deaths in India, she illustrates the inhumane way in which in-laws treat a married woman if they find the dowry less. After she falls short of the desired dowry amount, they immediately shun her, making her break coal for the kitchen, in a windowless, small room. Eventually, she sees them bringing in the kerosene tins and knows her end is near and sure. Thinking about the night watchman’s wife who was burned to death, she wonders whether they held her down as she struggled and whether they silenced her cries for help simply by clamping her mouth shut. The room and the hand are metaphors for the oppressive patriarchy controlling and eventually destroying a woman’s life.

In a raw but exquisite way her poem, “The Living Goddess Speaks” depicts the life of girls who are chosen to be the “Living goddess”, a tradition practised even today in Kathmandu, Nepal. The girls are chosen to be ‘goddesses’ at a very young age and discarded at puberty. They live the remainder of their lives as outcasts since they are feared by the rest of society and hence avoided. Constantly, the girl in the poem, mentions how the Living Goddess must not speak. She has to be silent, indifferent ‘godly’. The poet confronts another patriarchal belief here — women are supposed to be silent. The girl in the poem is a symbolic representation of the helplessness of all women. Ironically, even as a goddess, she can’t speak up. Here, tradition and culture are used as a means to suppress women.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s poems are mostly anecdotes based on reality. In her poems, she displays the pitiable life led by women who are at the mercy of patriarchy. She shows us how both children and adults are victims, as long as they are born as women. The poetry is culturally rich, and infused with mentions of traditional beliefs, practices, and folklore. Her poetry is filled with vibrant, vivid imagery which leaves a lasting impact on the reader.

 

 

WORKS CITED

4)www.scribd.com/document/324686863/The-Gift-Analysis. Accessed 28 Nov.2023.

3)Joseph, Rositta. “Diaspora and Feminism in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Arranged Marriage.” Gitam, Sept. 2016, www.academia.edu/28455098/Diaspora_and_Feminism_in_Chitra_Banerjee_Divakarunis_Arranged_Marriage. Accessed 25 Nov.2023.

2)Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee – Postcolonial Studies. 10 June 2014, scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/10/divakaruni-chitra-banerjee. Accessed 25 Nov.2023.

1) Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. Black Candle: Poems About Women From India, Pakistan and, Bangladesh. Oregon, CALYX Books, 2000.