Syed Amanuddin । poem analysis of poem Don't call me Indo-Anglian

 Don’t call me Indo-Anglian

Syed Amanuddin 

no, i don’t want to be

a hotchpotch of culture 

a confusion of language 

a nullity of imagination

an abortive affair between an indo and an anglo 

Explanation: The poet starts the poem addressing the reader like he is commanding the reader that he doesn’t want to be called as a person who is mixture of culture (hotchpotch here mean mixture of different things; culture = here culture of India and America as poet is an indo-anglian). Going further, poet says that don’t call me indo-anglian because he does not want himself to limit in a zone of language. He wants to be free in his poetry’s rhyming scheme, its style, he does not want to confine his poem to only one language where his ideas gets insignificant because of indo-anglian poet. An unsuccessful approach between an Indian and English.

In the first stanza, he clearly says that he doesn’t want to be confined himself because of his religion, caste, culture and language.

i hate hyphens

the artificial bridges 

between artificial values 

in the name of race religion n language 

Explanation: I hate hyphens which separate me between two culture. (Hyphen-a punctuation mark used to join words.) Continuing, I hate hyphens which are more like artificial bridges between artificial values of indo and anglian. People uses hyphens in the name of race, religion and language. That is what I hate about the people to use hyphen to describe me as indo-anglian. 

i damn all hyphenated minds 

prejudiced offsprings of unenlightened souls

i denounce all labels and labelmakers 

i refuse to be a moonrock specimen 

To be analysed labelled n stored 

for a curious gloomy fellow 

to reanalyze reclassify me 

for shelving me again 

Explanation: The poet hate all the personality whose minds are hyphenated meaning who are always hyphened, they always separate the values on the basis of race, religion and language. The poet hates prejudiced offspring means the people who is enlightened by hyphenated unenlightened people/souls. (offspring =children) 

The poet says that he refuses to be just a moonrock specimen who is firstly analysed and then labelled or given a specific name and then kept stored in a shelf for reanalyzing by a curious gloomy (   dark   ) fellow and to reclassify me and again keeping me in a shelf. The poet says that he doesn’t want that to be only. 

i don't know what they mean 

cauvery flows in my veins 

chamundi hills rise in my mind with stars afloat 

eyes of the goddess smiling on the slain demon 

brindavan fountains sing in my soul 

Explanation: The poet says that he is not confined to his childhood scene which means that his ideas is not only limited to his country India where he was born. Syed Amanuddin says that people call him Ind0-Anglian but he does not know what they mean by this. He belongs to the South India and the Cauvery river flows into his veins. The line 'rise in my mind with stars afloat' means that his mind is full of those happy associations of South India. Chamundi Hills rise in his mind. The Bright eyes of Maa Durga (Chamundi) are smiling on the Demon Mahishasur, which was killed by her. The colorful bright Brindavan Garden fountains of Mysore fill the poet's soul with music. 

but i am not tied down to my childhood scene 

i have led languages by their ears

i have twisted creeds to force the truth out

i have burned candles in the caves of prejudice

i have surged in the oceans of being

i have flown across the universe on the wings of my thought

Explanation: But the poet is not limited by being tied to his childhood scenes. He has mastered languages, he has twisted the system of beliefs or opinions, specially religious beliefs to know the real truth. He has become enlightened by burning candles in the narrow caves of prejudice. 

He has moved freely like the waves in the oceans of being. His thought is free as he has traversed the universe on the wings of his thought.

They call me indo-anglian 

The mistaken misinformed folk 

N class me with a small group of writers 

Cloistering me 

Crippling me 

I would rather roam with kalidasa n kabir 

Or go on a spiritual journey with dante 

Meditate with Khayyam on the mathematics of existence

Or sing with ghalib the anguish of love 

Or drown with li po kissing the moon’s reflection in the river

Explanation: They (reference is explained already above) call me indo-anglian. They are mistaken and misinformed group of people who classify me with a small group of writers which poet is saying not to call him as indo-anglian.he doesn’t want to be counted on fingers or difficult to be traced out. This indo-anglian is a small group of writers which people (they) are denoting to poet. These people cloistering him mean that they are secluding him, isolating him or confining poet. crippling meaning a situation where a person gets severe and disabling damage to any body part; here crippling him means that those people disabling him to only one language that is indo-anglian. Instead poet would like to go with Kalidasa and Kabir where no one is secluded on the basis of caste, religion, race or language. he would like to go on a spiritual journey with Dante or would like to meditate with Khayyam on the mathematics of existence (Khayyam was a poet as well as a mathematician) or sing with Ghalib who was known for his singing which is filled with pain. Or drown with Li Po who kissed the moon’s reflection in the river. 

(Note: It is also a fact the Indian English verse has remained in circulation as cyclostyled, lithographed, typed and photo stated small booklets of poesy which the classic-read teachers of English used to frown upon and see with disdain as most of the verses were below the standard, poor, weaker in construction and meaningless and the practitioners of such a sort were but the minor writers of Indian verse in English. When they started to write they in a short time turned into the poets of India and their first poems made entries into the anthologies as the ones from established poets.)

they call me indo-anglian 

it's true i write in english 

dream in the language of shakespeare n keats 

but I am not an anglo my friend 

i am a POET 

i have lived forty centuries under various names 

i am now amanuddin

Explanation: They call me indo-anglian. Yes, it’s true that I write in English my ideas, my words, my thoughts somewhat inspired by the language of Shakespeare and Keats but I am not an anglo, my writing language is only English but I am POET who lived his 40 years of his age under various names like indo-anglian but he is not only indo-anglian he is a POET and now he is Amanuddin. ‘POET’ is his identity neither his name amanuddin nor indo-anglian his identity.

Poem analysis: 

This poem presents the lack of belongingness and identity crisis of a poet who thinks he is Indian but is not accepted there as he has migrated to another country and on the other hand that country does not accept him as he is a migrant. He seeks his belongingness and the search becomes a frustration. This poem becomes an outlet of the aggression he holds against this non-acceptability.