Introduction to the Poem:
The poem entitled Small - Scale Reflections On A Great House is a nostalgic poem about a Great House that was the haunt of his childhood, as well as the people, things and events associated with it. It was first published in Ramanujan's second volume of Poems, entitled Relations. In this poem, the poet shows his rare skill for bringing to life the smallest details of his subject. In it, the poet recalls the peculiar family house, where things that came into the house never went out. The new things got completely lost into things that came earlier and, thus, the historic continuity was maintained. In the poem, the poet depicts the joint family system which was very popular in ancient days. It represents the feelings of love, brotherhood, neighbourhood and unity. In joint family system, true Indian culture is found. Social and moral values are given great importance. In the poem, the poet points out that Indian culture has forever accommodated whatever arrived at its threshold. It has incorporated all foreign elements into its internal structure.
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| Summary of the Poem Small-Scale Reflections on A Great House by A.K. Ramanujan |
Summary of the Poem:
The poet recalls an ancestral house which had been a true embodiment of old culture and tradition. It preserved its old social and ethical values. The cruel blows of time could not affect its surroundings. It always remained unaffected from the activities of outside. It considerably signified the Great Indian Culture. The house was said to possess an incorrigible property of letting anything into its confine without allowing it to go back. (The Indian Culture has forever accommodated whatever had arrived at its threshold. It has incorporated all foreign elements into its internal structure to form a homogenous whole). He remembers the things and creatures that entered the Great House and got lost there and never went out. Things came in daily, but they lost themselves among other things which had come previously long ago and which had been lost among other things which had come in even before that and had similarly been lost. (In fact, it projects the antiquity, rich heritage and innumerable elements the culture encompasses.) This house was a world where human beings were marginalized and the helpless creatures were accepted, given shelter and provided with identity (name); as with the intruding cow. Sometimes wandering cows came into the house and they became a part of it. The mute, helpless and suffering cows were given shelter by the elders of this house. The elders and other members of this house showed the sympathetic and generous attitude for the stray cows. The cows were given name. They (cows) were mated with a bull to be made pregnant. The sexual act between the cow and bull was arranged by the elders of the house. The sexual act took place in broad daylight without any secrecy. The elders did not want that their growing or grown - up daughters should see the bull performing the sexual act with a cow, but the young girls could not suppress their curiosity (which is natural and inevitable). They hid behind the windows which had holes in them, and through the holes they managed to look at what was going on.
The poet presents an unusual account of books in the library, which were brought in the house and were never read. The library books which were brought into the house , but were left to remain in the house instead of returning them ( the books ) to the library after two weeks , the period for which a borrower could keep them . If the library books are not read for more than two weeks , the silver fish would begin to lay a row of eggs in the ledgers for fines just like it does in the old man's office room where it breed dynasties of its old kind in the succulence in the Victorian parchment . The neighbours celebrated the wedding anniversary of some deity all night. Next day, they distributed oily sweets in the plates. The plates of sweets which were given to the inmates of the house, never returned to their real owners. The inmates of the house, even after consuming the sweet, never bothered to return the empty plates to their neighbours. The plates made the house their permanent residence. They (plates) stayed in the house like the servants, gramophones and diseases like epilepsy. The servants, who were once given employment in the house, never left the house. The gramophones which were brought in, continued to remain there. Diseases like epilepsy which ran in the family never left the house because there was always some member of the family or the other who became a sufferer of the disease. Epilepsy had become family disease.
Sons - in - law, who came to see their mothers - in - law or fathers - in - law, stayed in the house and never left the house. Even they forgot the affection of their own mothers. The atmosphere of this house fascinated them very much. They made this house their permanent abode. They were asked by their mothers - in - law to check the domestic accounts or by the fathers - in - law to check their office accounts. In other words, they were employed to perform the domestic and official duties. They had no dare to reject the proposal of their mothers and fathers - in - law. Or they were asked to stay on to teach arithmetic to the daughters of their brothers - in - law. In this way they got the job to serve the family of this house. Women, who came as wives of some of the male members of the family, never went back and remained in the house permanently. They were greatly absorbed in the atmosphere of this house. They never remembered their parents and the members of their family. They had become accustomed to witness the monsoons beating against the banana trees growing outside.
There was another category of things which went out but which always returned to the great house. For instance, the bales of cotton were shipped off to Manchester in the U.K. In the U.K. , there were cloth mills which were equipped with the modern machinery and where different types of cloth were manufactured . There, the cotton was converted into yarn and then it was woven into cloth. The bales of cotton returned as packages of cloth. The manufacturers of the cloth mills of Manchester attached the long bills of expenses with the packages of cloth. The family of the great house had to pay the length bills in the form of manufacturing charges. The male members of the family used the cloth in the packages as loin - cloth if it was coarse cloth and the fine and the smooth cloth was used by them as their night dresses. Letters which were posted by the members of the family found their way back to the house as they were not delivered or sent to their destination and were redirected to the house, with many red ink marks on them.
Not only the things, but even ideas left the house and came back to house in the form of rumours. During the conversation and gossip between the members of the family of the house and visitors, many matters on different subjects were discussed and the opinions of the people were put to be implemented. But the visitors, who also participated in the conversation with the members of the family of the house, carried out the things and ideas and communicated them to others. In this way the ideas discussed in the house took the form of rumours. The ideas of the family were revealed publicly. These rumours were then brought to the house by other visitors who did not that these rumours had got their existence in this house. What an uncle in the family living in this house might have said on a certain occasion, was repeated by some visitor. Perhaps the visitor had no idea that an uncle in this very family had made those remarks which he was now communicating to the family. The uncle might have said that the contents of some book written by Plotinus pertained to what some conqueror like Alexander the Great had looted from the territory which lay between two rivers and which was a breeding - place for mosquitoes causing malaria . A beggar once came in with a violin to play a prostitute song which their cook sang all the time in the backyard in his harsh voice. The song sung by the cook had no sweetness like that beggar. The cook was in the habit of reciting that song, but the beggar sang under the expectation of getting some money.
There was nothing which could remain far from this house for a long time. Whatever and whosoever left the house subsequently came back. The daughters of this house were married and sent to their husbands ' house but they could not live with their husbands for longer. Perhaps their marriage proved a compromise for them. Their marriage was a short termed marriage. They thought their husbands to be idiots and it was difficult for them to pass their life with those idiots who could not make the daughters of this house happy. When their life with them was unbearable, they left them (their husbands) and returned to the house. It was thought that either their husbands turned them out and sent back to their house or they willingly left the house of their husbands. Sons of the house who ran away, also subsequently came back with their own children because they married when they were away from their house and their wives gave birth to the boys. Their children (grandsons) performed various services for elders in the family. The little children made their elders happy by reciting the verses of Sanskrit. In this way they introduced the rich Indian culture. The elders felt proud to see their little children as a true embodiment of culture and moral values. The elders, especially the old men of the house were highly pleased in the children's company. They performed every duty whole heartedly whether it is religious or social. They showed the same reverence to the visiting uncles. They tried to please the family by bringing betel - nuts for the uncles. The visiting uncles had many anecdotes to tell the children about their fathers and ancestors. They entertained the children by telling them anecdotes. Sometime the visitors came to see the old man who was at the edge of death or was taking his last breath. They brought a vessel full of water from the river of Ganga some of which could be sprinkled upon some old man who was about to die in the house.
The poet mentions a very heart rending incident related to one of the sons and nephew of this house. He very skilfully mingles the comic and pathetic. He describes a son of this house who had run away from this house, but when he returned, he was not a living person, but a corpse. The corpse had been half - eaten in the Sahara (or the Arabian Desert) by the foxes or other wild animals of the desert. This worst incident happened in the year 1943. Many years later, a nephew of the family who left this house to join army. He participated in many battles fought on the border. Due to showing courage and bravery in war, he had won laurels. But on one occasion, he participated in a very fierceful battle fought on the border and during aggressive fight, he was killed while facing his enemies. He showed great courage, bravery and patriotism to defend his country and finally he sacrificed his life for the sake of country as a true patriot. He ultimately returned to the great house in the form of corpse. His corpse was brought in plane, train and military truck. In this way his return to house was very tragic. When his dead body arrived to house, it was a good afternoon which encouraged a chat or a conversation or idle gossip, but this afternoon was converted into a sorrowful noon. Every member of the family, instead of enjoying the good noon, drowned in sorrow, though before the arrival of his dead body, telegram had reached to the house.
