Name: Sarah Omar

M.phil: (English. Literature)

Instructor : Ms. Saman Saif

Term Paper

Breaking Stones (Poem)

Written by Nirala

BREAKING STONES The poem Breaking Stones is written by Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' who is considered one of the most significant poets of modern Hindi literature. Regarding his biography which is significant and influences his writings, Nirala was born on February 21st, 1896 in a Brahmin family of Midnapore in Bengal (originally from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh). He was a famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan.Even though being a student of Bengali, Nirala took keen interest in Sanskrit from the very beginning. In time, through his natural intelligence and acquired knowledge, he became an authority on various languages such as Bengali, English, Sanskrit, and Hindi. Besides the fact Nirala being a literary giant of the Hindu literature, he lived most of his in a Bohemian tradition. Since he was more or less a rebel, both in form and content, the society did not accept him easily. As a result, he was ridiculed and mocked at. Hence, all this must have played a role in making him a victim of schizophrenia in his later life.

On the literary front, Nirala pioneered the Chhayavaad movement along with Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant and MahadeviVarma , (Nirala's Parimal and Anaamika) are considered as the original Chhayavaadi Hindi literature. The world of Hindi literature is remarkable for its ideological and aesthetic divisions. But today, the same despised Nirala is one of the very few people in Hindi literature who are admired and respected by almost all, across all divisions. Nonetheless, Nirala died in Allahabad on 15th October 1961.

Nirala was unrecognized during his life time for his literary work. His style of poetry was revolutionary for his time, and was often unpublished due to its unconventional nature. He wrote strongly against social injustice and exploitation in the society. In fact, he voiced his protest against exploitation in the society through his verses. He initiated the use of blank verse in his poems. He amalgamated Vedanta, nationalism, mysticism, love for nature and progressive humanist ideals in his works. The sources of his themes include history, religion, nature, Puranas and contemporary social and political questions respectively. Moreover, he introduced aesthetic sense, love of nature, personal point of view and

the freedom of form and content in writing which went on to become the chief tenets of Chhayawad. Consequently, his thinking was influenced by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Swami Vivekananda and in the literary field by Michael Mudhusudan Dutt and Rabindranath Tagore which led him to produce masterpieces of Hindi literature. The poem, Breaking Stones was written from an incident that the poet experienced while walking through the lanes of Allahabad, in the summers of 1940s. The legendary Hindi poet Nirala observed a woman laboriously breaking stones under the hot sun. The poem, Breaking Stones is a poem which illustrated the scenario of a poet watching a young woman who is laboring on a road in Allahabad. Moreover the title of the poem is significant which metaphorically connotates towards the harsh realities of life can turn a woman into stone. On a deeper level, the title can be interpreted as focusing on the societys injustice on individuals especially the women who are taken for granted. Subsequently, the setting of the poem is harsh and unforgiving because in the lines mentioned in the poem, It was the hottest

season, the sun glaring, and the scorching wind rose, burning the earth like cotton, with the air full of dust and sparks depicts the toughest climate of the sub continent which contributes to their affliction or hardships. Moreover, the words such as , hottest, glaring , scorching , burning , spark these sensuous images create a powerful impact on the speaker as well as the readers respectively by creating the ambiance of the harsh climate of the subcontinent.

Subsequently, the poet aesthecizes the spectacle of the woman breaking stones, to figure the woman as a beautiful, fragile creature yet, accepts her circumstances .He contrasts the fragility of the woman with the stones which is depicted as the tough hardships a woman has to face. Such hardness of the stone metaphorically illustrates the harsh reality of the sub continental life the common people have to face. It can also be interpreted in another way that usually the men do the labor work, yet here a woman is doing a mans job for the sake of survival and plays a vital role in the development of the society. Another significant point which is notable is the woman wishes to be acknowledged of her presence in other words, her existence in society which is portrayed in these lines, I am a woman

breaking stones. Similarly, the same idea of acknowledging a womans existence is present in the poem, I am a Woman by Maya Angelou. Hence, the theme of feminity and sexuality prevails in both these poems respectively.

The poem gains the sympathy of its readers for the woman , and stresses on the themes of social inequalities and the revolutionary tone that is implied. Furthermore, the dashes and the commas represent the pauses in the poem like in the first line, a woman breaking stones-- These pauses are placed to emphasize on each and every word as well as to form a visual image in the readers mind. In comparison to the poem, Breaking Stones, the poem written by Kamla Daas Annette has the similar theme of feminism. In the poem, Annette the womans beauty is focused upon as mentioned in the lines, That wheat brown hair, Beauty. Moreover, in these lines the beauty is connected to womans feminity and sexuality that is highlighted in the poem. A significant point that is

also highlighted in both the poems is the post colonial element of the different labors that women performed to develop the society. In short, the poem, Breaking Stones the woman is fossilized and loses her feminity and sexuality due to the harsh climatic conditions of the subcontinent as well as the hardships and injustice that the society inflicts on the individuals of the society especially the women . Hence, the poem highlights and gains the empathy of the readers through highlighting the hardships and the victimization of women in the society.