THE FIRST MEETING -SUJATA BHATT

THE FIRST MEETING

-SUJATA BHATT

When I run past the uncounted trees,

groves of mango, eucalyptus –

how the grass slips beneath my feet,

how the wind circles up my legs,

(invisible snake I can’t escape)                                        5

How the kingfisher-blue sky grows

Sunnier each second as I run

Up the hill almost blinded,

Run down the other side, my tongue dry,

To the lake where the sky is trapped, tamed blue.            10

But closer, it is clear water. As I drink

Green snakes swim up to the surface,

I recoil amazed, run back faster, faster.

When I get home

he’s there: King Cobra

tightlty curled up in a corner.

He looks tired.                                                                              15

‘Come inside, close the door,

Don’t run away,’ he seems to smile.

‘I live in your garden                                                                20

I chose it because of the huge purple-golden dahlias.

I’ve never seen such tall stalks,

Such plump flowers, and the mice!’

‘What do you want?’ I ask afraid

His sunken hood will expand.                                                       25

‘Oh you needn’t worry, you needn’t worship me

as all the rest do. Please don’t change.

Everywhere I go people pester me

with their prayers,

their hundred bowls of milk a day.                                                         30

There’s only so much milk I can drink.

I won’t be cought

and have my teeth pulled out.

I won’t be stuffed in a basket

and commanded to rise, wave after wave,

to ripple around the straw rim.                                                      35

As if their baskets could move me.

Oh I am sooo tired …’ he sighs.

‘What do you want?’ I ask.                                                           40

‘I want to live in your garden,

to visit you, especially those nights you sing,

let me join you,

And once in a while, let me lie around your neck

and share a bowl of milk.’

summary

In this poem Sujatha Bhatt, celebrates a rare experience of kinship that the poet happens to have with a snake. The poem describe the gradual acquaintance of the poet and the snake.

In the first stanza the poet describes the exuberance of her youth. sensual imagery is put to use and the poets rapport with nature is also pictured. The girl keep running us she is excited and unstoppable. The image of the breeze circling up her legs actually show her first meeting with cobra. Though the poet is first scared to see the green snake swim up to the surface, the snake later tries her best to keep the poet comfortable at home.

The poet later feels sympathy for the snake as she get to know about it grievances and sufferings.here in the poem the snake can stand for any element of nature. We try to distance ourselves from nature, for our safety, while we fail to realize we are a part of itself.

The snake can also symbolise  our fears, which but awaits to be conquered by us. Its all within us,like how the girl find the snake in her own house.

Snake as the dicted in the Indian culture can also be a symbolisation of sexuality here.Our physical needs,sexuality and bodily changes all come from within us. T he poet is trying to tell us that their is no running away from it, as it is a part of every life.

Thus there are a lot of dimensions to the poem THE FIRST MEETING, and the above stated are only a few.