1.
Literary and
Scientific reading
of poem
“Mohandas
Karamchand”
-Himanshi Parmar

2.
Date :14/4/2022
Day : Thursday
Time : 02 to 4:30
Name :- Himanshi parmar.
Roll number :- 8
Enrollment number :- 4069206420210025
Email id : himanshiparmar3004@gmail.com
Paper number :- 109
paper name :- Literary Theory and Criticism and Indian Aesthetics.
2

3.
Points to Ponder
1- Brief introduction of New Criticism.
2 - About the poem.
3 - About the poet, “Meena Kandasamy”.
4 - Literary and Scientific study of poem, “Mohandas
Karamchand”.
5 - Conclusion.

4.
“
In the first half of 20th century, term New Criticism came into light.
T. S. Eliot, are Considered as a Father of New Criticism.
New Critics focused on the variety and degree of certain literary devices, specifically metaphor, irony,
tension, and paradox.
The New Critics emphasized “close reading” as a way to engage with a text, Mainly a poetry, and paid
close attention to the interactions between form and meaning.
Some of the important new Critics are, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom,
Cleanth Brooks, William Empson, and F.R. Leavis.
New Critics believed the structure and meaning of the text were intimately connected and should not
be analyzed separately.
Concept of Scientific and Literary reading is taken from theory of New Criticism.
Practical criticism began in the 1920s with a series of experiments by the Cambridge critic I.A. Richards.
(Reference is taken from poetry foundation.)
1- Brief introduction of New Criticism and practical criticism.

5.
About the Poem click to read original poem
The poem, Mohandas Karamchand was written by Meena Kandasamy.
The poem was highly inspired by Sylvia Plath’s poem Daddy. Click to read the poem
Albert Einstein's quote are very much relatable to the poem, as he wrote :
“Generations to come will scarcely
believe that such a one as this walked
the earth in flesh and blood.”
The poem written on Gandhi, and Deconstruct the image of Gandhi, showing dark side of his character.
The poem is narrated by “Dalit Person”, Dalit is a Cast in India just like Brahmins, Kshatriya, Patel and a
hundreds other.
The poem talks about that how Gandhi gave a name ‘Harijans’ to a particular cast and that name, that casteism
troubling them now decades after Gandhi’s Death.
The title “Mohandas Karamchand” is also reflecting Disrespect of poetess towards Gandhi.

6.
3 - About the Poetess, “Meena Kandasamy”.
Meena Kandasamy is an award-winning novelist and poet, best known for her book When I Hit You.
She was born on 12 October 1984, in Chennai.
Much of her works written on the theme of dismantling Hindutva, the hard-line right-wing rule of the
Bharatiya Janta Party in India.
Her work is an active resistance against gender- and caste-based violence, and she describes her writing
process as taking things that "rattle her" and "smuggling them into English.”
Meena’s most famous works are,
Ms. Militancy (Poem)
TOUCH (Poem)
The Gypsy Goddess (Novel)
When I Hit You (Novel)
Click here to read more about her.

7.
4 - Literary and Scientific study of poem,
“Mohandas Karamchand”.
My First Impression when i read the title :-
I thought, might the poem sing song of Gandhi, and the poet wrote it to praise him, The general vision of
looking Gandhi like most people look.
But the very first line is this,
Who? Who? Who?
Mahatma. Sorry no.
Truth. Non-violence.
Stop it. Enough taboo.
The very beginning lines shows poet's frustration and hatred towards Gandhi, The Father of India.

8.
Continue…
That trash is long overdue.
You need a thorough review.
Your tax-free salt stimulated our wounds
We gonna sue you, the Congress shoe..
Second paragraph shows change of time. The trash is long over due is scientifically
not possible, but here if we read literary meaning, then the word “The Trash” used
in reference of Ioverdue deas of Gandhi.
In the theid line, we find historical reference, “Dandi March”. Read about it
In last line poet use the word “Congress shoe, human cannot be shoe scientifically,
but literary it is used to Humiliate Mohandas Karamchand.

9.
Gone half-cuckoo, you called us names,
You dubbed us pariahs—“Harijans”
goody-goody guys of a bigot god
Ram Ram Hey Ram—boo.
Scientifically Gone half - Cuckoo is not appropriate word for any human being.
But historical reference is used here. Read it here
Gandhi swear that,'In my life, henceforth, I will not utter falsehood’, but gone
half Cuckoo symbolizing the fall of his idea of truth.
Then the next three lines are about problematic social concept of cast and
suffering of people.

10.
Don’t ever act like a holy saint.
we can see through you, impure you.
Remember, how you dealt with your poor wife.
But, they wrote your books, they made your life.
First two lines showing Dark side of Gandhi's Character.
Psychological Concept of good and bad.
Saint is metaphor for pureness, showing people's mentality towards
religion and towards people related with religion.
Third line is carrying historical reference. Click to read.
Blind positive Approacher towards Gandhi.

11.
They stuffed you up, the imposter true.
And sew you up—filled you with virtue
and gave you all that glossy deeds
enough reason we still lick you.
You knew, you bloody well knew,
Caste won’t go, they wouldn’t let it go.
It haunts us now, the way you do
with a spooky stick, a eerie laugh or two.
The words like, stuffed you, Sew you, Licke you.. Are not appropriate while one can read it with
scientific approach, but literary approach says that, poet use it to show glory and unnecessary
respect given to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Main tone of poem is aggression and anger towards Gandhi. Also the Conservatism of society.
And class, and cast difference is also shown here.

12.
But they killed you, the naked you,
your blood with mud was gooey goo.
Sadist fool, you killed your body
many times before this too.
Bapu, bapu, you big fraud, we hate you.
Winston Churchill used the word, “naked fakir” for Gandhi. That reference is taken here.
Also the word Bapu directly indicating Gandhi.
The main emotion of poem, Aggression and anger reached it's extreme level here.
Thank you.

13.
Citation
Meena, Kandasamy. “Mohandas Karamchand.” Meena Kandasamy's Poetry, Meena Kandasamy, 11 June
2008, https://meenakandasamy.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/mohandas-karamchand/.
“New Criticism.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-
terms/new-criticism.
Patni, Suhasini. “The Poetry of Radical Female Fighters: Meena Kandasamy on Translating Women from
the Tamil Eelam.” Words Without Borders, 1 Nov. 2021,
https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/the-poetry-of-radical-female-fighters-meena-
kandasamy-on-translating-women.
Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy by Sylvia Plath.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48999/daddy-56d22aafa45b2.