L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Bold and ruthlessly honest

Kamala Das (“Womanhood in verse”, Spectrum, June 14) truly represented “the desires of those voiceless, restricted women, who are taken for granted, both within the household and outside”. The most distinctive feature of her poetry is the uninhibited frankness about sex.

Her persona nonetheless was not of a nymphomaniac. She was, on the contrary, “every woman who seeks love”, who is “the beloved” and the “betrayed”.

Her verse conveys endless “female hungers” and “the muted whispers at the core of womanhood”. She was the poetess who was the eternal Eve, proudly celebrating her basic and vital feminity. Her traumatic frustration in love and marriage, as revealed in her autobiography, My Story, made her to “run from one/Gossamer to another”. She sadly realised that love, for her, “became a swivel door/When one went out, another came in”.

Thus, her confessional poetry mulls and ruminates over love, sex and the “body’s wisdom”. In other words, she was a woman articulating her innermost feelings, her desires, her ambitions, and also expressing her anguish over the frustrations faced by her.

DEEPAK TANDON, Panchkula

Vanishing koel

“Call of the Koel” (Spectrum, June 14) was an absorbing piece of writing. I was under the impression that the coal-black koel was the female and the sombre brown one the male, but the piece added to my knowledge. Actually it is the coal-black koel which is often seen and heard, the other one is not seen that frequently. However, why the bird lays its eggs in a crow’s nest remains shrouded in mystery that has not been unravelled satisfactorily in the piece.

Many composers have been inspired by the koel. William Wordsworth, in his poem The Solitary Reaper, talks of cuckoo that welcomes the spring season. It freshens the weary travellers and removes their tiredness through its melodious voice. He compares its song with the song of the highland lass to drive home his point.

People recognise the call of the koel, which has inspired a number of tales and fables. It has created sayings, stories, proverbs, legends, maxims, byword and dictums everywhere. But alas! It is vanishing swiftly in Britain and Europe and may be in Asia too. It will be tragic if the cuckoo, the koel, will sing no more.n

TARSEM S. BUMRAH, Batala

The trial and death of Socrates “Socrates invited his death” (Saturday Extra, June 13) may attract some comments on some of the constructive criticism made by various scholars on some of the events they believe are correct. Socrates was held guilty on two counts, corrupting the youths and neglecting the gods whom the entire city worshiped. Socrates treated these charges with utmost contempt, taking a strong defence, justifying his teaching. When the prosecution had presented the case, Socrates rose to reply and his speeches and those of his friends are part of “Apology”. Despite the impressive and eloquent plea, the jurors found him guilty, though by a close vote, and death was decreed. What he spoke to his friends, contained in “Crito” and takes place sometime between the trial and death of Socrates. While he was being taken on his last journey, Socrates’ friends wept but he retained his calm and protested over the hue and cry. He told his friends that he had sent away the women mainly to ensure that they should not lament and come in the way of his dying in peace. As told by the jailor, Socrates continued to walk until his legs began to fail and then lay on his back according to the instructions of his executor. The man who gave him the poison looked at his feet hard and asked him if could feel the pressure. Socrates answered no; the jailor then informed him that when the poison reached the heart that would be the end. Soon Socrates began to grow cold. MULTAN SINGH PARIHAR, Hamirpur (HP)