Entertainment Nissim Ezekiel

 

Entertainment

Nissim Ezekiel

 

The monkey –show is on-

Patient girl on haunches holds the strings,

A baby in her arms.

Two tiny monkeys in red and purple pantaloons

Prepare to dance.

Crowd collects, forms a circle.

Naked to the waist,

The master of ceremonies drums frenzy,

Cracks whip, calls the tricks

To earn applause and copper coins,

The circle thickens as the plot thickens,

Children laugh, the untouchable women

Smooth their hair.  A coolie

Grins at me, his white teeth

Gleam in the sunlight.

Only the monkeys are sad,

And suddenly

The baby begins to cry.

Anticipating time for payment,

The crowd dissolves,

Some, in the shame part

With the smallest coin they have,

The show moves on.

 

 

Nissim Ezekiel

 

 Nissim Ezekiel was born on 16^th December 1924.  He was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and critic.  The Ezekiels belonged to Mumbai’s Marathi speaking Jewish speaking community.\in 1947, he completed his B.A in literature.  1947 – 48 he published literary articles.  He studied philosophy.  He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his work “Later Day Psalms”

Nissim Ezekiel has been appreciated for his well-crafted work dealing with common and simple subjects.  He enriched the Indian English Literature with his Modern Techniques.  His service to Indian English Literature helped immensely to move beyond spiritual themes.  In his works he included various emotions such as anger, disappointments, familial events and social interest.  He has been described as the “Father of Post-Independence Indian Verse in English” his very popular woks are “The Night of the Scorpion, and the “The Patriot.  They are enjoyed till now.  After a prolonged struggle with Alzheimer’s disease Nissim died in Mumbai on 9^th January 2004 at the age of 79.

 Summary of the poem

The poem is about a street monkey show and the reaction of the people watching it.

 

Detail study

The monkey –show is on-

Patient girl on haunches holds the strings,

A baby in her arms.

Two tiny monkeys in red and purple pantaloons

Prepare to dance.

Crowd collects, forms a circle.

Naked to the waist,

The master of ceremonies drums frenzy,

Cracks whip, calls the tricks

To earn applause and copper coins,

The circle thickens as the plot thickens,

Children laugh, the untouchable women

Smooth their hair.

 

The poet describes the street monkey show by a poor girl. She sits with great patience, holding the strings to make the monkey dance.  She has a bay in her arms.  The situation of the poor girl is very pathetic. It shows the sufferings of the poor girl.  She has another mouth to feed.  The small child in her arms too suffer with her without knowing the situation.  The life is a struggle for the poor girl and the child.  The monkeys are wearing a tiny red and purple pantaloons and

getting ready to dance.  The crowd gather and standing in a circle. The master of the performance cracks a whip more crowd gather to applause the show.  Then they offer few coins.  The children laugh and enjoy the show even the untouchable woman adjust her uncombed hair and enjoy the show.  The word untouchable woman is a serious word which brings out the cultural background of India.  The traditional approach of the people who differentiate the society in the name of caste and profession well expressed here. 

 

A coolie

Grins at me, his white teeth

Gleam in the sunlight.

Only the monkeys are sad,

And suddenly

The baby begins to cry.

Anticipating time for payment,

The crowd dissolves,

Some, in the shame part

With the smallest coin they have,

The show moves on.

 

 A coolie smiles and enjoy the show.  He shows his white teeth which shine in the sunlight.  But the monkeys are sad.  Suddenly the baby cries.  It is the time for the collection.  The time has come to the crowd to disperse from there as they are not interested to pay for the show. But few offer few coins and the show moves with the expectation of more.  There is no change in the situation of the monkey show as well as the crowd.  They show continues and the people peep on and off. 

Reactions of the crowd are different.  Part of the crowd dissolves, the other part departs in shame offering few coins.   But the show continues else the monkey and master would starve.  It is a usual scene in the rural road side of India.   The poet brings out the darkness of the Indian society which cannot be justified as everyone has their needs and wants and obviously India is thickly populated country where daily struggle for survival is a question mark.