Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan

In this essay I will explore the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan in detail. I will split my essay into six area of studies; Content, Viewpoint, Ideas to Share, Style, Mood and Opinion. The breakdown of the poem will make my studies easier, which can be understood easier as well. The poem 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' is about a multi-culture originated teenage, who live in UK. The main character of the poem are troubled by the presents from her aunt, as it has made herself a person of no fixed nationality. The reasons behind the rapid breakdown of identity are what I will explore in this essay. Firstly, I shall explore the obvious fact that she is hybrid of half Pakistani and English. "Candy-Stripped glass bangles, snapped, drew blood". Stripped items typically include two or more colours that have a repeated pattern throughout the body. The poet is saying that the girl is of mixed colours/background, in one human body. "Snapped, drew blood" is the poet's way of saying the collapse of a society, tradition and family. The character has broken the delicate bond, which is fine as glass, of one's clan by being both white and black. The bloodline has been broken, drawing blood form the girl's heritage. The character most likely never thought of the idea of kin. Yet now she is confronting this issue, which is starting to hurt her emotionally, a wound that can never be healed. However, she hasn't entered the stage were identity becomes a problem. The character does not feel comfortable when she is wearing the salwar-kameez, which started her identity crisis. "Was alien in the sitting room" The character is not accustomed to wearing foreign clothes. She feels out of place, inappropriate, strange. She experiences the sense of humiliation, wearing clothes that is not designed for her western 'hour-glass' body shape', even though she is in her house, her kingdom, her safe-haven. The word "alien" put on the effect of shyness, leading to low self-esteem. The point is backed-up further by her thoughts. "I can never be as lovely as those clothes". There is a reason why I said it was her thought, and I will explore the answers later on, however, we must now concentrate investigating the quotation. She likes the clothes; its vibrant colours; the "look at me" robust shine, the overwhelming beauty. However, this may be the key to destroy herself/her identity, and here is why The girl has a mind nurtured in western society, and she has a figure of a western woman, therefore it is inevitable that she wouldn't fit clothes of another culture. But, the salwar-kameez sent by her aunts levelled the sureness. Her mind wants the clothes, "my salwar-kameez", she has taken ownership of it, yet her body utters the opposite; narrow and small when it where it "were broad and stiff", reversing and the other end. She is unsuited to the beautiful clothes. She is a teenager who's battling; experimenting for the correct decisions that will decide her fate, her culture, and her true identity. Her battle continues and it does not end. She pictures her birthplace in Pakistan, knowing only the positive, therefore

nearing towards the end of her experimentations. Yet, all are abolished at the end, when she finally visits her birthplace. So, even at the end of the poem, she is still of no fixed nationalitybecause of her struggle to find the balance between physical and psychological barriers. The poem is written in first person, suggesting that perhaps the character is the poet herself. The poet transfers her idea to the reader through the eyes of another, where the reader understands the character vies. "I" and "My" in the poem all show the fact it is the characters emotions that are battling, which relates very well to the identity crisis the character is confronting. By writing in first person, the poet shows us (the readers) a bigger picture. Where physical objects are not materials we should discover. Instead the family bonds, relationships and one's true self should be unearthed. The poet uses first person viewpoint to show the character's ownership/relationship to objects and places. "My salwar-kameez". My in that quotation is very strong, it is the character's expression of possession, an object that belongs to her and herself only. She tossed the fact that she did not fit the clothes out of the window, and attained her right to ownership. But this isnt the only time where the character is protecting something. She hasn't seen her birthplace, yet she still keeps safes her Pakistan from insults. "I pictured my birthplace". The character does not know what Pakistan looks like, presumably because of her immigration at an early age. Even though she's yet to witness Pakistan first hand, she protects it. She does not treat it like a dump, giving no hope of glory. No. She takes pride in taking Pakistan as her other home. "My birthplace", this is perhaps the first time when she reveals she treasures Pakistan, and that she is willing to return back there. Pakistan is her birthplace, meaning that she is originally from that culture, leading to a possible end of her personal "identity crisis". The poet also referred the character's feelings in terms of colours. "I was aflame". There are two was one can go about looking at the meaning. One, the character is very nervous. She is having a rush of blood that is fuelling her awareness of embarrassment, which leads to the possibility that the character is vulnerable to peer pressure attacks because of her low confidence. Second, she is wearing the orange salwar-kameez, and the only thing the poet can relate to, be the beauty of a naked orange flame. Either way, it reflects upon the characters feelings, one of embarrassment another describing her mindset towards the mightiness and power that the dress brings. The character now struggles to take the salwarkameez off, which in turn made her feel even more embarrassed. "I couldn't rise up out of its fire". The character feels emotionally embarrassed already, and now, she struggles to take the salwar-kameez off, making her a laughing stock. She is unable to calm herself, and take rationally ways to approach the problem. The struggle should continue until the salwar-kameez is either taken off, or torn off. But, this incident cost her identity search dearly. She has finally overcome all psychological barriers, only to find physical hurdles remain. What was another solution to her identity search became a dead end.

The poet has induced many messages within the poem. There are messages that show the obvious, some shows comparisons. The poet shows how Pakistani families keep in touch even when one's overseas. "My aunts requested cardigans from Marks and Spencers". In return for presents from Pakistan, which teaches British born Pakistani some cultures, people send British presents to people in Pakistan. A way of educating foreign Pakistanis, and a way to educate Pakistan located Pakistanis. This "two-way traffic" is how people will remember those who are abroad, or whatever reasons, and those who are at home. The message applies to other cultures too. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian alike. That is a message that relates to identity. There are many in the poem, indicating the importance of "one", and "Wholeness". But the poet also showed us unitary isn't always possible. "There was conflict, a fractured land". This quotation is dramatically different to the other. This quotation leads to war, and separation. India and Pakistan were once together. There was no barrier between these two places, until the Empire changed that. The mighty British Empire invaded India, tearing one land into two, creating Pakistan. Dark times passed, and the dawn of a new country, with the familiarity of another. Shrink the event in scale, and the character's family becomes the same. Once a whole happy family, half migrated to another country. Unwillingly split, snapping the bonds of families, like the bangles. However, not every message in the poem is about identity. Some are messages that talk about the glory, beauty and fine culture of Pakistan, and it's noticeable difference between British clothing. "Embossed slippers, gold and black". Slippers that incarnate the spirit of ones culture are hard to find, in Britain anyway. In Pakistan, it's different! There are styled slippers, with expensive and royal colours showing off the richness and power of one's countryand that's what you wear at home! Who dares to imagine what people wear when they step out of the house, perhaps every one of them are as rich as Bill Gates! But not in Britain, it's always those coloursBlue, red, silver, pink, occasional greensdull. "There isn't any brilliance in the mind of Britons any more, it's just the same thing over, and over, and over again, unlike the mind of other cultures." The poet is secretly laughing at the uselessness of Britons minds, through layers and layers of deceptionto the point where no reader can see it, hence proving the poet's point. The mind isn't the only thing the poet humiliates about Britons, their bodies also! "My aunts choose an apple-green sari". The character's aunties chose the salwar-kameez splendidly, a dress of vibrant colours, giving those around the sense of freshness and nature, which, coincidentally contrast very well with the British famous "green-fields". However, when one looks at the apple-green from another prospective, they can see a dark and ugly secretand I mean ugly. Apple is a fruit. Fruits are healthy products which one is encouraged to consume on a daily basis. Those who do consume on a daily basis are usually physically healthy and fit. Which means, finally, they won't have any major problems such as obesity. As we all know, UK is the second fattest country in the world, and officially the fattest in EU. The poet is stating her point very clearly; East is full of fit and healthy women, unlike you 'Brits'. Also, the reason that the character

cannot take her salwar-kameez off is because she, being nurtured in Britain, became too fat. Which in turn, tells the reader (if they're from another country) that Britain is full of fat people, who's got no brains hence such a useless country. The poem isn't as innocent as it was first seen, now was it. The poem's style is both interesting and important; for reasons we will discuss in detail. The poem is written in a 'snake'-like fashion, where some lines are left justified, centre, and right justified. The style serves the poem many purposes, of which I will highlight. Lines which are left justified represents the character's and general feelings expressed in western society; centred lines represents the character's and (perhaps) the poet's neutral feelings; right justified lines represents the opinion and thought of the general public, also the characters, in the eastern society. This layout is very important for this particular poem, because the poem itself are highlighted thoughts gathered by the poet, for people (foreign or domestic), across the world, to understand other cultures. The poet's bias and neutral opinions are implanted into the poem's style. "To consider the cruelty". This quotation in the poem is left justified, for good reasons. People in the western society dare not to think of owning a camel skin lamp, because of the 'cruel' process. The poet summarised western societies opine using one line, and it's positioning. However, the poet also outlines the feelings of eastern society. "And he transformation". This quotation links directly to the previous one, only it is now right justified. The poet discreetly tells the reader a bigger picture. "Look beyond the initial process, look beyond the past, and there'll be a piece of art, transformed from a brutal modus operandi. Acknowledge other cultures, unify, and this will become a world of understand, leading to peace" Perhaps this is a lesson, a lesson which the poet shortened, yet still as powerful. The carefully positioned line also shows a pattern of fluctuation in the poem, a representative of the character's undeceived mind. Overall, the lines are balanced with regards of left, centre and right justified. But there are times where lines concentrate on the left, and vice versa. The poet constantly reminds the reader that the character have yet to decide her future, between the two cultures, through the variation of the line positions. The poet spent time on choosing prime words for EACH line; some will link to words in lines following; some might relate to words at the very beginning. The poets achieve this by using words, and giving them two meanings. "Satin-silken top". Satin is a man-made material that's; it has a glossy (shiny) surface hiding the dull back. Silk is an expensive, thin material that is harnessed from nature. A top made of this two material has good use in eastern countries, where it is hot, and there is plenty of sunlight. However, the material themselves can be a doorway to the character's mind; stain represents man-made - is her mind nurtured to suit western culture silk is natural - is her love for the Pakistani culture of genetic heritage? Using these two words, the poet symbolised the character's complication in finding her true self. The poet often prompt the readers memory by using lines acting like synonymies. "There was conflict, a fractured land" is linked to "Snapped, drew blood". They are both talking about break-ups, bonds

and separation. However, one is at near the start, the other nearing the end. The mood of the poem varies from one to another. The poem should be categorised into three types of viewpoint; mood of the character, reader and poet. The character's mood is of direct influence of the poet, which then affects the mood of the reader. The mood of this particular poem is hard to summaries, because it has a set theme of identity. A person finds his/her identity through the journey of experiencing different mood, sadness and merriment alike. The poet's sense of confusion started with the feeling of embarrassment, reasons are disagreement between clothes, and body. Then the poem hit's everyone with the thoughts of sadness, her background filled with conflict, theft and blood. "Blood" is strong word, a forbidden word even; the word's message is sort vicious. It sends chills to my spine when I imagined the scene, a girl bleed dry, fine line of country, culture, broken. The gruesome word must have been a painful choice for the poet, placing the character in such hurtful position. However, the poem then continues with some vibrant colours such as 'apple-green' to bring us to our "safe zone", lifting our spirits by small amounts. The poet is preparing us for the harsh journey that's yet to come The character is accepting the clothes, also of Pakistan. Because she accepts the culture, she wishes to understand it better. However, the deeper she digs, the more terrific it becomes. "My mother cherished her jewelleries - Indian gold, dangling, filigree. But it was stolen from our car." Her mother is, presumably, from Pakistan, therefore the motherland is Pakistan for the poet. However, the mother was stolen, the treasures, the riches, stolen. A great sadness clouds the character's mind, when she knows the bitter history of Pakistan and India. Readers who are unknown of this "separation" cannot understand feelings of darkness mentioned in this poem; therefore one's knowledge of history plays a vital role when grasping the atmosphere. The delicacy, and the craftsmanship needed to make "Indian gold" are representative of the character's native identity, which is stolen by her fosters. "Filigree" represents the fuss needed to find selfhood; "dangling" illustrates ones' state, when they are searching for it. The character brought "hope" to her liking of the Pakistani culture, she related the beauty of "stained glass" to the fine mirror-like work on the salwar-kameez. The character did not take notice of the disappointment of her friend, another time where she showed the acceptance of Pakistani culture. The reasons are because to her liking is simple; se does not yet know the truth. Readers are placed in a very painful position at this point. We know of the terror, badnessenveloping Pakistan, yet we are unable to warn the character. We are powerless, waiting for the total destruction of the child/young adult who we get to know so well. The character-visited Pakistan, believing the beauty is as majestic as its clothes. The truth has been revealed, the character disappointed, the reader overwhelmed with guilt. "Or there were beggars, sweeper girls". She found the truth heart breaking, a scenario us readers knew at the time of her acceptance. Pakistan is not a place she initially thought, an important truth that we cannot

unfold for her. Girls aged close to the character are sweeping the floor, instead of receiving education. Some were on the street fighting for their survival by begging. A woman's privilege in Pakistan is not close to those in western society. "My aunts in shaded rooms, screened from male visitors" The character is shocked, she cannot even see the face of her aunts, the ones who persuaded her towards the acceptance of Pakistani culture. No doubt this will have severe impact upon the search for identity. Even the most cold-hearted readers must be sad; bearing not only the guilt of being powerless, now seeing the undignified reunion between the character and her family. Personally, the poem is very important to me, because of my situation and how it can be related to the characters. Most people are bound up on their opinion of immigrants, and how it has changed once they read the poem. However, it is different for me, because, in some way, I am the character. The poet concluded the search for identity with "no fixed-nationality, which is a bit scary for me. I am proud of my own culture; the achievement of my ancestors, the finesses of Chinese cuisine, and many more, but I know for a fact that China isn't as I remembered. That the Great Wall of China are mostly refurbished for tourist, that the governmental system is dark, and non-beneficial to Chinese citizens. I KNOW of the truths, causing great concern, as demonstrate by the poet, in the search for my own "identity". What's more, once I find love to Chinese culture, and are keen to return, will I be able to cope. Ways of living in China differs dramatically from Britain's, and in order to cope with the change, I must first change my standard of living. The more insight I have to the poem, the more I begin to relate to my own life. I am scared, sacred of becoming someone who has no identity, because of change of culture. Nevertheless, the poem has taught me a lot. It showed me that small amount of confusion, can lead to keen believe of goodness. It taught me that bonds and family are fragile, and when it shatters, our heritage and bloodline will be forever lost. It shown me that even at a level of apprehension, some facts are just too difficult understand. Overall, the lessons Ive learnt from the poem are important, and will be remembered every time I failed to understand other cultures, plus the reasons of my misconceptions.