THE FOLLOWING POEM BY ZARIN VIRJI FROM MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA WON THE SECOND PRIZE OF FIFTY THOUSAND RUPEES IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2020
Zarin Virji writes about an incident that happens not only in India. An incident that happens everywhere but Zarin describes in the fields of India. She describes an evening chore that a female, unnamed, does in the rice fields. She collects the animal fodder, loaded on her head, walking back home with her quickend steps. As the evening breeze flew through her dupatta, four jeans-clad men saw her in the field. She calls them savage but also allows the user to call them whatever they want. She describes how these men cat-called her and made her their prey. She writes the gruesome heart-wrenching details of the rape and murder of the young female who was just on her daily evening chore. She was killed in the fields of her work. She resisted, she screamed and she bit but she was muffled by these beasts or savages and her limbs fell silent. She ends with a question, will the blood of these murders in the field feed and breed another crop of savage beasts?
The poem catches the attention due to its subtle yet strong and effective language and description of the incident. It allows the reader to imagine the scenario. Choice of words to describe the actions are not too graphic but enough to let the readers know what is happening. It highlights a very important issue in the country but also mentions that it is not limited to the borders. The safety of a woman is questioned in the poem. The savage behavior of certain men is being brought out in light.
An evening.
just another evening chore
collecting animal fodder by the ripening rice fields,
the woodsmoke from the distant dwellings winds its way up;
the sky darkened, the shadows lengthened, her steps quickened
while her plain cotton dupatta gathered the evening breeze.
The same evening.
just another evening out
for these four men, gelled and jeans-clad,
mounted on their diesel chariot, their eyes roved right and left,
settling on the girl whose head was heaped with hay;
just the tonic they needed, quite a prized quarry.
This gang of neighbourhood louts,
savages or beasts, call them what you will,
they circled, they hooted and dragging her further afield,
they looted, soiled and ravaged her clothes, her flesh, her innards.
The more she bit, the more she screamed, the more she dug
her nails into their muscled forearms, the more they squealed,
with deep grunts, guffaws and name-calling, they finished,
not forgetting to twist the dupatta around her neck;
their feudal swagger was heightened to bursting point,
after all, a vital lesson’s been taught to the girl and her kin.
Rag doll-like, her flailing limbs fell silent, bit by bit;
the rice stalks, crushed and dehusked,
lay waste beside her but the liquid, viscous red,
trickled and seeped into the soil in preparation for
the rabi crop - will it feed and breed yet another crop of savage beasts?
An incident.
Just another incident.
It happens. Not only in India.
Find out more about the winner Zarin and her inspiration to write the poem by reading her interview.
About the poet
Zarin Virji is the second prize winner of Wingword Poetry Prize 2020. She is a graduate of the creative writing programme from the University of Sheffield, UK. For over three decades she has played the role of a teacher, teacher trainer and head of school.
Teaching and writing are her twin passions. From 1996 to 2006, she served as the executive editor of the journal, ‘Classroom’, a safe space for all matters related to education. At present, she heads an international school called ‘The Universal School’ in Mumbai.