Daruwalla ably uses various figures of speech, especially simile and metaphor to communicate his feelings and view point. In The Epileptic, the two children flew from the side of the woman falling in an epileptic fit "like severed wings". It is a befitting simile describing the flight of the two children. When she regains conscious the froth by "simmered round her lifes like foan-dregs left by a receding wave, "Bleached by the sun of her agony" is a fine example of metaphor. Some fine examples of simile and metaphor are found in Ruminations: Violence hovers "brooding, poised like a cobra" and her eyes "squirt a reptile hate". In Death of a Bird the monal wakes in the killer's hands "like embers in a shadow not." The violent wind "moaned aloud like a witch in the flue". The Hawk is described as "a speck of barbed passion" and "a rapist in the harem of the sky." Other birds flying high in the sky are "black drugs in the cup of his hate."
- Must also read: Satire and Irony in the Poems of Keki N. Daruwalla
Daruwalla's similes and metaphors are original, and the unexpectedness of these similes and metaphors is admirable.
Irony and Satire : Daruwalla deserves praise for "his bitter, satiric tone, which is rather exceptional in Indian verse in English." How ironical it is that man consciously tramples his conscience and goes on without any feeling of remorse:
“My conscience is a road—a childhood has been trampled hereconcretized and stamped overwith the feet of passing years.We crode each other, the road and Ineither giving way,I scrape the road's back as I walkmy heel is hornedCalloused and worn away." [Dialogues with a Third Voice]
Graft is a fine poem in which irony and satire have been used in an artistic manner. Graft has become so common in India that nobody feels any prick in conscience while accepting bribe—"And hands don't flame when they accept the bribe," and bribe takers life is not shortened by accepting bribe: "Palm lines are impervious to change" and "the life line extends to the elbow almost." Finally comes the ironical stroke: "nine notches denote nine children."
- Must also read: Poem The Unrest of Desire by Keki. N. Daruwalla
The servers falling into the Ganga in Varanasi arouse the poet's anger when he sarcastically comments:
“the sawer mouth trained like a cannonon the river's flank. It is as I feared;hygiene is a part of my conscience and I curse itand curse my upbringing which makes mequeazy here.”
The Ganga has become the living embodiment of countless miseries of the people of India. Mark the ironical twist in the following lines:
“Ganga flows through the landnot to lighten the miserybut to show it.” [Vignette-1]
and again in
“What plane of destiny have I arrived atWhere corpse-fires and cooking-firesburn side by side.” [Boat Ride Along the Ganga]
Littleness is the final destiny of human life. It cannot be averted. Satire and irony are effectively commingled to describe human destiny in the Tragedy Talk:
“Littleness is all:the fault, dear Brutuslies in the passage of the mother uterusthat we are so small.”
As a poetic craftsman Daruwalla occupies a very high place in modern Indian English poetry. He has expressed himself through his works using new idioms, new phrases and realistic images. Commenting on Daruwalla's contribution to Indian English poetry Nissim Ezekiel writes: By putting Daruwalla among his contemporaries one sees how he scores heavily over them. By depth of feeling, economy of language and originality of insight, Daruwalla commands respect.”
- Must also read: Themes in the Poetry of K.N. Daruwalla
- Must also read: Characteristics of K.N. Daruwalla's Poetry
