Kalahandi (poem) - Allusions and Symbolism

Allusions and Symbolism

The poem depicts the scenes of squalor, poverty, starvation and economic exploitation poor illiterate people in Kalahandi symbolically through the suffering of a woman being forced into prostitution due to starvation. The poem is notable for its skillful use of stark imagery, symbols and onomatopoeia. For example, the rhythm in the words smell of hooch, of sweat, of flesh, the Man's... is suggestive of the sounds produced during an act of sexual intercourse. The repetition of the words "the dark" at the end of the second and third lines of the second stanza has an allusion to the idea of "darkness" suggested by the word Kalahandi, which in Oriya literally means a "black pot". The imagery is at its best when the dark cleavage of a woman's dry breasts is juxtaposed with the gaping cleavages of paddy fields throwing a mocking sneer. The noted Oriya writer Sashibhusan Rath comments that the stark symbolism in this poem sets it apart from other similar poems, including Kalahandi : Then and Now published by Kumar Hasan in 1980.