In the Bazaars of Hyderabad

About The Poetess:
-The poem In the Bazaars of Hyderabad was written by Sarojini Naidu. It was published in 1912 in her collection of poems The Bird of Time.
-Sarojini Naidu was a dreamer, born in a dreamless age and an ardent, versatile and dynamic genius.
-She was a political activist, feminist, poet, essayist and the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress and was the first woman governor of an Indian State. She is often called the Nightingale of India.
-She is an unsurpassable for her sweet and melodious songs which are superb in the entire range of Indian English poetry.
-Sarojini , was on born Feb. 13, 1879, Hyderabad and left this world on March 2, 1949, in Lucknow .
-She was the eldest daughter of Dr.Aghore Nath, an eminent scientist and a Bengali Brahman who was principal of the Nizams College, Hyderabad.. Her mother endowed with bird like quality song, was a pious lady.
-Her brother Harindra Nath Chattopadhyay was a poet, playwright and composer.
-She entered the University of Madras at the age of 12 and studied (189598) at Kings College, London, and later at Girton College, Cambridge.
-After some experience in the suffragist campaign in England, she was drawn to Indias Congress movement and to Mahatma Gandhis Noncooperation Movement. In 1924 she traveled in eastern Africa and South Africa in the interest of Indians there and the following year became the first Indian woman president of the National Congresshaving been preceded eight years earlier by the English feminist Annie Besant.
-She is a poet of Indian thought and culture and her poems described Indian flora and fauna, Indian customs and traditions, festivals, men and women, places legends of kings and queens etc.
-She inherited secular values from her family and it reflects in her poems Ode to H.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad, The Pardah Nashin, Wandering Beggars, The Prayer of Islam, The Old Woman and Imam Bara.
-In 1947 she became governor of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), a post she retained until her death.

Sarojini Naidu as a Poetess:
-Her first volume of poetry was The Golden Threshold (1905). It was followed by The Bird of Time (1912).
-Her collected poems, all of which she wrote in English, have been published under the titles The Sceptred Flute (1928) and The Feather of the Dawn (1961).
-Apart from poetry, she also penned articles and essays like Words of Freedom on her political beliefs and social issues like women empowerment.
-The golden period of her poetic composition spans the period 1898-1914. Her first volume of poem The Golden Threshold (1905) was dedicated to her mentor, Sir Edmund Gosse. On his advise only she began to write about the colourful and variegated life of India.
-In the introduction to The Bird of Time, he writes: it comes from the pen of an Indian of extreme sensibility, who had mastered not merely the language but the prosody of the West&.
-Her poems always remind of us the India of Palanquin bearers, corn-grinders, wandering beggars, Pardah Nashin, of meditation, love and solitude.

The common elements we find in her poetry:
-Men and women belonging to different ranks in society singing harvest hymn to invoke Lord of the Universe, Hymn to Indra, Lord of Rain, Maidens, Brides, mothers, widow, artisans, peasants, victors, scholars, priests, poets, dancers, weavers, bangle sellers, etc.
-The plurality of Indian culture
-Various Indian festivals as Raksha Bandhan, Vasant Panchami, Diwali and Nagpanchmi
-Various facets of Islam and muslim life in India have been depicted in the Prayer of Islam, The Old Woman, Pardah Nashin and Imam Bara Patriotic note is found.
-India is presented as a land of beauty and song of love and laughter and pathos, of mysticism and meditation, and not a nation striving for scientific, technological, industrial and economic progress.

The characteristics of her poetry:
-Sensuousness and picturesqueness
-Profusion of colour imagery and radiant diction.
-Love of nature and humanity
-Mysticism and vivid recreations of Indian ethos
-The Feather of Dawn was posthumously published in 1961.
-In 1914 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
-Her early poetry is imitative of English romantics and Pre-Raphaelites.

Stanza-wise Summary of the Poem:
-This poem is believed to be written as a part of the Swadeshi Movement, when the Indians decided to boycott European products and use the Indian goods instead.
-It seems that the poet wanted to convey the message that India is rich in tradition and need not buy the foreign products. So she reminds us of the magnificence, grandeur and richness of Indian markets.
-The entire poem is in the form of questions and answers. She asks the questions and the merchants answer them. This is the technique she used to make the picture of the bazaar visible to us.
-The poem contains five stanzas of six lines each.

1) What do you sell, O ye merchants?

Richly your wares are displayed.
Turbans of crimson and silver,
Tunics of purple brocade,
Mirror with panels of amber,
Daggers with handles of jade.
-The poetess is an onlooker in this poem. At the outset, she enquires the merchants what they are selling. She sees that the goods are displayed nicely to attract the buyers. The merchants reply that they are selling crimson (deep red) and silver coloured turbans, purple brocade tunics, mirrors with amber-frame and daggers with handles made of jade (a green stone). The merchants are rich men and what they are selling is also for the rich.

Glossary:
-O ye (p): a meaning you, archaic or dialect plural form of you
-wares (n): goods or products that are sold in the market
-richly (Adv): in a rich manner
-tunics (n): a loose garment, typically sleeveless and reaching to the knees,
-brocade (n): expensive thick cloth with a pattern woven into it
-vamber (n): a hard yellow-brown substance used for making jewellery
-dagger (n): a short knife with a pointed and edged blade
-jade (n): a precious stone used for making jewellery and art objects

2) What do you weigh, O ye vendors?

Saffron and lentil and rice
What do you grind, O ye maidens?
Sandalwood, henna, and spice.
What do you call,, O ye peddlers?
Chessman and ivory dice.
-In the second stanza, the poetess visits the vendors, the maidens and the peddlers. She asks the vendors what they are weighing for sale. It shows that in Indian women also take part in the activities of the market. The vendors reply that they are weighing saffron, lentil and rice. The poet then asks the maiden girls what they are grinding and their reply is that they are grinding sandalwood, henna and spices. Now the peddlers are asked what they are calling for. They say that They are selling chessmen and dice which is made from ivory.

Glossary:
-vendor (s): a person offering something for sale.
-peddler (s): someone who goes from one place to another selling things
-ivory (n): the yellowish white bone that an elephants tusk is made of
-dice (n): a small block with six sides marked with spots

3) What do you make, O ye goldsmiths?

Wristlets and anklets and ring,
Bells for the feet of blue pigeons
Frail as a dragonflys wing,
Girdles of gold for dancers,
Scabbards of gold for the king.
-In this stanza, the poetess asks the goldsmiths what they are making. They say that they are making wristlet, anklet and ring to be adorn and bells to be tied to the feet of blue pigeons. And the bells are as thin and lightweight as the wings of a dragonfly (The poetess used a Simile to make this comparison). They say that they are also making golden girdles for the dancers and golden scabbards for keeping the kings swords. The jewelry made by the goldsmiths shows the richness that Indian culture represents. They make luxury items like bells for the feet of the pigeons.

Glossary:

-frail (v): thin and delicate
-girdles (n): a belt or cord worn round the waist, here its for dancers
-scabbards (n): a cover for the blade of a sword or dagger

4) What do you cry, O ye fruitmen?

Citron, pomegranate, and plum.
What do you play, 0 musicians?
Cithar, sarangi and drum.
What do you play, O ye magicians?
Spells for aeons to come.
-In the fourth stanza, the poetess asks the fruit sellers what type of fruits are being sold by them. They reply that there are citron, pomegranate and plum. When the poetess asks the musicians what instruments they are playing, they reply that they are playing the sitar, the sarangi and the drum. Then the magicians are asked what they are chanting. The reply comes that they are chanting the spells to bring in aeons that would help him perform his magical tricks. In this stanza, it is clear that a market is not only a place for selling and buying and also the place of entertainment where people gather.

Glossary:
-aeon (n): an extremely long period of time
-spell (v): to speak a word or form of words that have magic power

5) What do you weave, O ye flowergirls With tassels of azure and red?

Crowns for the brow of a bridegroom,
Chaplets to garland his bed,
Sheets of white blossoms new-garnered
To perfume the sleep of the dead.
-This is the last stanza of the poem. In this stanza, the poetess asks the flower girls what they are weaving with the azure (bright blue) and red tassels (strands of flower). The flower girls say that are making garlands for the bride as well as the groom and also to adorn their bed for the wedding night. They are also making sheets of newly brought white flowers for use on the dead mans grave for fragrance. She says that flowers are used both in pleasures and in pains of life.

Glossary:
-tassels (n): a group of strings tied together at one end and fastened to clothing or objects for decoration
-azure (n): bright blue
-new-garnered: gathered something (here, white flowers) with effort
-chaplets (n): a circle of flowers and leaves that you wear on your head
-Its a lyric poem that consists of five stanzas of six lines each with the rhyme scheme ABCBCB.
-T he theme of the poem is the description of the beauty, magnificence and majesty of the rich traditional Indian bazaars.

Figures of Speech:
1.Simile: Bells for the feet of blue pigeons Frail as a dragonflys wing,
-Its an example for simile. The bells made for the feet of the pigeons are compared to the delicate wings of a dragon-fly.
2. Consonance: i. Wristlets and anklets,
ii. What do you grind, O ye maidens?
iii. Girdles of gold for dancers,
3. Assonance: i. Turbans of crimson and silver
4. Repetition: The poetess has repeatedly used the words What do you&.? and also O ye to ask questions at the beginning of every stanza. This is an example for Repetition.
5. Images: The poetess used the five senses of the human body in order to portray the magnificence and richness of bazaars.
-The use of lively colours- silver, crimson, purple, amber, blue, azure, red and white appeals the eyes. (Visual imagery.)
-The use of the fragrances- sandalwood, henna and the smell of flowers appeals the nose. (Olfactory senses)
-The music played by the sitar, the sarangi, the drums and the magical spells create Auditory imagery.
-The sense of taste created through the portrayal of the fruits – lemons, pomegranates and plums, staple Indian food lentils and rice creates gustatory imagery.
-The sense of touch produced by the bells made for the pigeons creates tactile imagery.

Practice Questions
1.Which of the following is not sold in the bazaars of Hyderabad? (2)
1. Scabbards 2. Anklets 3. Spice 4. Sarangi

2. &&&&&&is the posthumous work of Sarojini Naidu. (3)
1. The Golden Threshold
2. The Bird of Time
3. The Feather of Dawn
4. The Sceptred Flute

3. What do you &&.., O ye fruitmen? Fill in this blank with appropriate word. (3)
1. sell 2. Weigh
3. Cry 4. Call

4. Sarojini Naidus Words of Freedom is a&&&&&&& (2)
1. collection of poems
2. Collection of essays and speeches
3. collection of short stories 4. All the above

5. Which of the following is not correct? (3)
1. the flower girls are weaving crowns for the bridegroom
2. the musicians are chanting the spells for aeons to come.
3. the maidens are weaving sheets of flowers to perfume the dead.
4. the goldsmiths are making the bells for the feet of blue
pigeons.

6. The handles of daggers are made with&…… (2)
1. amber 2. Jade 3. Gold 4. crimson

7. What do you grind, O ye maidens? the figure of speech used in this line is&……(3)
1. alliteration 2. Assonance
3. Consonance 4. pun