A Village Girl (Part I)

(E-content developed by Dr. N. A. Jarandikar)

A Village Girl – Mohan Singh*

 A bundle of grass on the head

She came, hips swinging

Like wine pitchers,

She, my village belle,

Pataki and mustard flowers,

Like blue and yellow eyes,

Peep through the green grass

Hanging over her eyes

A net of grass dreams

Her face caught in it.

She lifts her skirt up to her knees

And holds my arm to cross the Suhan river

Ankle-deep water rises to her knees, to her waist,

Her legs disappear beneath the shimmering water,

And her skirt goes up like an upturned umbrella

The water goes down her thighs, her knees, her ankles

So does her skirt.

'Thank you, brother,' says she,

Like the koel cooing from a mango grove

And leaves my arm and goes away.

On the sandal-hill, her footprints

Gleam like a prisoner's chain,

She goes up the mound

Tall and slender like a sugarcane

And becomes a part of the green tree.

She did not look at me

I could not see her face caught in the green net

But I cannot shake off

The dust of her touch.

* The poem is taken from AECC English Compulsory textbook prescribed by Shivaji University, Kolhapur

·         Vocabulary:

·         hips: body part below the waist and above the legs

·         to swing:  move from one side to another side (हेलकावे देणे)

·         pitcher: a large size pot used to carry especially water (घागर)

·         belle: a beautiful girl

·         mustard: brown coloured seeds used in Indian kitchen (मोहरी)

·         shimmering: very clear (स्फटिकासारखे स्वच्छ/नितळ)

·         gleam: shine

·         mound: hill

·         shake off: get rid off (झटकणे)

·         ankle-deep water: घोट्याएवढे पाणी

·         mango grove: आमराई

·         sugarcane: ऊस

·         Suhan river: This river is presently in Pakistan.

 

·         Read the poem and think about these questions

1) Who is peeping through the grass?

2) Why does the village girl hold the speaker’s arm?

3) To whom she says, “Thank you, brother?”

4) Which river the village girl crosses?

5) In which connection, the word ‘umbrella’ is used in the poem?

 

·         About the poet

The poem “A Village Girl” is written by Mohan Singh. Mohan Singh is a Punjabi poet.

The poem “A Village Girl” is translated into English by Balwant Gargi.

 

·         Introduction

As the title suggests, the poem describes one village girl. The village girl is tall and beautiful. She is purely innocent and not corrupted by the evil ways of the world. The speaker in the poem helps the village girl to cross the river Suhan. The speaker had a glimpse of the village girl. But the speaker is very much attracted by the grace and beauty of the village girl. And so he announces her as “My village belle”.

 

·         Description of the village girl

Ø  The village girl is carrying a bundle of grass on her head.

Ø  The pataki and mustard flowers peep through the green grass bundle which is on her head.

Ø  Her voice is very sweet just like a koel.

Ø  She is tall and slender like sugarcane.

Ø  Her hips swing like wine pitchers.

Ø  There is “a net of grass dreams” on her face. As there is a bundle of grass on her head, some of the grass leaves cover her face. The poet describes these leaves as “a net of grass dreams”.

 

·         Discussion

There are certain instances in the poem which describe the innocence and purity of the village girl:

i) The pataki and mustard flowers peeping through the green grass on her head are like “blue and yellow eyes”. Thus the serene beauty of Nature and the beauty of the village girl are placed next to each other.

 

ii) While crossing the Suhan river she asks the help of the speaker. At that time, the speaker looks at her disappearing legs in the shimmering water. Thus beauty of water and beauty of the girl are placed next to each other once again.

 

iii) While crossing the river, she is unaware about the appearance of her clothes. She is concerned only with the bundle of grass on her head. When she crosses the river, very naively, she thanks the speaker saying, “Thank you, brother”.

 

iv) She crosses the sandal-hill, and becomes “a part of the green tree”. That means, the village girl was the part and parcel of Nature. She was the daughter of the Mother Nature, and so she was lovely, beautiful and innocent too.

 

·         The speaker is very much impressed by the simplicity, beauty and innocence of the village girl. That’s why he is unwilling to “shake off the dust of her touch”. He wants to keep the touch of the village girl on his clothes and mind too intact.

·         Through the beauty, simplicity and innocence of the village girl, the poet wants to admire the greatness and haunting effect of Nature.

 

·         Activity

1) There are different words used in the poem related to human body parts. Make a list of all these words.

2) The word ‘Like’ is used to compare two or more things. The technique is known as ‘simile’. Make a list of all these words used in the poem where the word ‘like’ is used.