Nirma University

Institute of Management

ELT Individual Assignment

Topic of the Assignment: Imagery and visual appeal through small scale reflections of a great house

Class: SYBBA (A/B) A

Roll No. 157145
Name: PUNYAK SATISH
Date: 31ST JANUARY 2017

ABOUT THE POET

A.K.Ramanujan was born in Mysore, India on 16th March 1929 and spent almost half of his life in India. As a
scholar he worked effortlessly in Dravidian, comparative and general linguistics in the history of religions,
especially Hinduism. He was an active participant of the bhakti movement. Ramanujans status as the most
accomplished poet of the twentieth century was established by his works such as THE STRIDERS [1976],
SELECTED POEM [1976] and the SECOND SIGHT [1985]. His significance as a contemporary writer in
Kannada was due to HOKULALLI [1969] and MATTU ITTARA PADAGALI [1978] both of which were books of
poem. His one of the best works of translations includes THE SIBE and SANSKARA [1978].

Imagery and visual appeal

In the poem Small scale reflections of a great house the poet has tried to ridicule the orthodox beliefs and
traditions of the Indian culture. Be it about the lower status given to women in our society or the backwardness
of our community during that time, the poet has mocked every part of it. The main theme of the poem is social
criticism. According to me in this poem the great house can be imagined as a big ancestral house which was
resided by a joint family. In the fourth line of the poem the words loose themselves justify the fact that
everything that enters the house becomes a part of it and instead loses its true identity over a period of time.
The poet emphasizes on the unique virtue of the house that is of confining anything that enters its premises.
Throughout the poem the poet has given examples of both living as well as non-living things like the
unreturned books from the library, that later became a breeding ground for the insects or the utensils of the
neighbors that entered the house during festivals, to justify this fact.

In the preceding lines of the poem one can easily make out that the poet further emphasizes on the issue of
poverty and the slow growth in technology faced by the people of our country before the independence,
because of which the cotton bales were exported to Manchester [U.K] for spinning and weaving and returned
back in the form of processed cloth with bills attached to it. From the poem one can say that Ramanujan has
always been in support for westernization. In the later stage of the poem he refers the groom as idiot which
clearly states the poets opposition towards arranged marriages in India which used to prevail much during that
time. The poet tries to convey the fact that the boy to whom the girl got married, was later on found to be
incompatible to live with. Due to this, the daughters had to return back to their own house and thus the main
subject line of the poem that is sometimes I think that nothing that entered this house usually goes out is
clearly justified.
.
The poet has targeted the backwardness of the India during that time when he mentions about the letters
posted long ago which used to return home, as the address could not be found or the grandchildren who acted
as a source of entertainment by reciting Sanskrit verses for the visiting uncles. The poem ends on a tragic
note where the poet mentions about one of the nephews in the house who had lost his life while fighting on the
border for his country. The inference that can be drawn from this fact is that even though his dead body
reaches his home, the familys love and patriotism for their country doesnt stop. The parents of the deceased
nephew are willing to send their other son to join the army and thus serve the nation.

The message of the poem can be clearly understood through these lines; in our life our destiny may take us to
any place in the world but in the end the only satisfaction a person gets is when he is residing in his home with
his family. Material gains in life are temporary but the presence of family gives us eternal happiness.

Works Cited
Dharwadker, V. (1993). A.K. RAMANUJAN: AUTHOR, TRANSLATOR, SCHOLAR. World Literature
Day, Vol. 67(Issue 3), p685.< http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?
vid=5&sid=41375e5a-5312-4f29-a996-
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%3d#AN=9407292537&db=a9h>