Creation and Criticism

"Nissim Ezekiel was an eminent Indian poet, playwright, actor, editor, and art critic, widely regarded as a foundational figure in postcolonial Indian English literature. Born on 16 December 1924, he played a pioneering role in shaping Indian poetry in English with his modernist sensibility and innovative techniques. His poetry is noted for its subtle, restrained, and finely crafted diction, often engaging with ordinary, everyday themes. His works reveal a balance of cognitive depth and unsentimental realism, qualities that deeply influenced subsequent generations of Indian English poets. Ezekiel authored several significant works that enriched Indian English literature. His poetry collections include Time to Change (1952), Sixty Poems (1953), The Discovery of India (1956), The Third (1959), The Unfinished Man (1960), The Exact Name (1965), Snakeskin and Other Poems (1974), Hymns in Darkness (1976), Latter-Day Psalms (1982), and Collected Poems 1952–88 (1989). As a playwright, he contributed with The Three Plays (1969) and Do Not Call it Suicide (1993). He also wrote prose, with Selected Prose (1992) published by Oxford University Press. Through these works, Ezekiel demonstrated his versatility and established himself as a leading figure in modern Indian English writing. In 1983, Ezekiel was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection Latter-Day Psalms, a recognition of his literary contributions. Through his work, he expanded Indian English poetry beyond spiritual and orientalist preoccupations to embrace familial, personal, and societal concerns, including individual anxieties and critical social introspection. Nissim Ezekiel passed away on 9 January 2004, leaving behind a lasting literary legacy." — Abnish Singh Chauhan

1. Night of the Scorpion

I remember the night my mother

was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours

of steady rain had driven him

to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

Parting with his poison - flash

of diabolic tail in the dark room -

he risked the rain again.

The peasants came like swarms of flies

and buzzed the name of God a hundred times

to paralyse the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns

throwing giant scorpion shadows

on the mud-baked walls

they searched for him: he was not found.

They clicked their tongues.

With every movement

that the scorpion made his poison

moved in Mother's blood, they said.

May he sit still, they said

May the sins of your previous birth

be burned away tonight, they said.

May your suffering decrease

the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.

May the sum of all evil

balanced in this unreal world

against the sum of good

become diminished by your pain.

May the poison purify your flesh

of desire, and your spirit of ambition,

they said, and they sat around

on the floor with my mother in the centre,

the peace of understanding on each face.

More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,

more insects, and the endless rain.

My mother twisted through and through,

groaning on a mat.

My father, sceptic, rationalist,

trying every curse and blessing,

powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.

He even poured a little paraffin

upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.

I watched the flame feeding on my mother.

I watched the holy man perform his rites

to tame the poison with an incantation.

After twenty hours

it lost its sting.

My mother only said

Thank God the scorpion picked on me

And spared my children.

2. Island

Unsuitable for song as well as sense

the island flowers into slums

and skyscrapers, reflecting

precisely the growth of my mind.

I am here to find my way in it.

Sometimes I cry for help

But mostly keep my own counsel.

I hear distorted echoes

of my own ambiguous voice

and of dragons claiming to be human.

Bright and tempting breezes

Flow across the island,

Separating past from the future;

Then the air is still again

As I sleep the fragrance of ignorance.

How delight the soul with absolute

sense of salvation, how

hold to a single willed direction?

I cannot leave the island,

I was born here and belong.

Even now a host of miracles

hurries me a daily business,

minding the ways of the island

as a good native should,

taking calm and clamour in my stride.

3. The Patriot

I am standing for peace and non-violence.

Why world is fighting?

Why all people of world

Are not following Mahatma Gandhi,

I am simply not understanding.

Ancient Indian Wisdom is 100% correct,

I should say even 200% correct,

But modern generation is neglecting -

Too much going for fashion and foreign thing.

Other day I'm reading newspaper

(Every day I'm reading Times of India

To improve my English Language)

How one goonda fellow

Threw stone at Indirabehn.

Must be student unrest fellow, I am thinking.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, I am saying (to myself)

Lend me the ears.

Everything is coming -

Regeneration, Remuneration, Contraception.

Be patiently, brothers and sisters.

You want one glass lassi?

Very good for digestion.

With little salt, lovely drink,

Better than wine;

Not that I am ever tasting the wine.

I'm the total teetotaller, completely total,

But I say

Wine is for the drunkards only.

What you think of prospects of world peace?

Pakistan behaving like this,

China behaving like that,

It is making me really sad, I am telling you.

Really, most harassing me.

All men are brothers, no?

In India also

Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, Hindiwallahs

All brothers -

Though some are having funny habits.

Still, you tolerate me,

I tolerate you,

One day Ram Rajya is surely coming.

You are going?

But you will visit again

Any time, any day,

I am not believing in ceremony

Always I am enjoying your company.

4. Soap

Some people are not having manners,

this I am always observing,

For example other day I find

I am needing soap

For ordinary washing myself purposes.

So I'm going to one small shop

nearby in my lane and I'm asking

for well-known brand soap.

That shopman he's giving me soap

but I'm finding it defective version.

So I'm saying very politely — -

though in Hindi I'm saying it,

and my Hindi is not so good as my English,

Please to excuse me

but this is defective version of well-known brand soap.

That shopman is saying

and very rudely he is saying it,

What is wrong with soap?

Still I am keeping my temper

and repeating very smilingly

Please to note this defect in soap,

and still he is denying the truth.

So I'm getting very angry that time

and with loud voice I am saying

YOU ARE BLIND OR WHAT?

Now he is shouting

YOU ARE CALLING ME BLIND OR WHAT?

Come outside and I will show you

Then I am shouting

What you will show me

Which I haven't got already?

It is vulgar thing to say

but I am saying it.

Now small crowd is collecting

and shopman is much bigger than me,

and I am not caring so much

for small defect in well-known brand soap.

So I'm saying

Alright, OK, Alright, OK

this time I will take

but not next time.

5. The Professor

Remember me? I am Professor Sheth.

Once I taught you geography.

Now I am retired, though my health is good.

My wife died some years back.

By God's grace, all my children

Are well settled in life.

One is Sales Manager,

One is Bank Manager,

Both have cars.

Others also doing well, though not so well.

Every family must have black sheep.

Sarala and Tarala are married,

Their husbands are very nice boys.

You won't believe but I have eleven grandchildren.

How many issues you have? Three?

That is good. These are days of family planning.

I am not against.

We have to change with times.

Whole world is changing.

In India also

We are keeping up.

Our progress is progressing.

Old values are going, new values are coming.

Everything is happening with leaps and bounds.

I am going out rarely, now and then

Only, this is price of old age

But my health is O.K.

Usual aches and pains.

No diabetes, no blood pressure, no heart attack.

This is because of sound habits in youth.

How is your health keeping?

Nicely? I am happy for that.

This year I am sixty-nine

and hope to score a century.

You were so thin, like stick,

Now you are man of weight and consequence.

That is good joke.

If you are coming again this side by chance,

Visit, please, my humble residence also.

I am living just on opposite house's backside.