Stanza by stanza explanation of nani by kamala das
Answers
Nani is a poem taken from the collection The Old Playhouse And other Poems by the prolific Malayalam woman writer Kamala Das. The poem speaks of the death of Nani, a pregnant maid who hanged herself in a privy. It took three hours for the police to come, and to the children it seemed that she was doing a dance. Afterward the privy was abandoned and overgrown, becoming sort of a shrine.
After a year or two the narrator asks her grandmother about Nani, and the grandmother doesn't remember, and asks "Nani... who is she?" The narrator explains that this question was the end of Nani. That each truth in life ends with such a question, and that we are lucky if we move on before the answers come.
Interpretation
The poem can be interpreted many ways, of course. To me, the author is saying that we block things out that we want to forget and actually forge reality for ourselves that way, without doubts and fears. We're lucky when people don't jog those hard memories back to the forefront... when we can have peace rather than facing our ghosts. It's a blessing that time heals us that way, but it also might not be the whole truth. :)
Other people interpret the poem a little bit differently, as the following: The poet ironically says that the privy becomes a shrine, and that everybody including the grandmother are dismissive of the very thought of Nani. They face every question regarding Nani with a "designated deafness," but, the poet, unable to join this indifferent crowd, delves into the the very mystery of Nani through her imagination. Finally, the poet identifies herself with the dead Nani, the symbol of indispensable womanhood. The poem is confessional in tone.