An Old Woman Poem Summary

Arun
Kolatkar, an Indian poet, wrote in both Marathi and English.  An exceptional graphic artist, he
is considered as the premiere Indian poet. 

Kaolatkar's poem "An Old
Woman" follows a formal structure in three-line stanzas or triplets. The lines are short
but always with a pattern of two stressed syllables. The final line of the poem varies with the
single stress decisively bringing  the poem to an abrupt stop.  Most of the words are
monosyllabic, giving the poem a staccato effect.  The narration is third person. The old woman
is referred to using third person personal pronouns, yet the poet uses second person to
reference to the tourist.  The "you" in the poem makes the reader feel as though he is
the tourist. The poet's word choice andare stark and realistic.

In the poem,
the reader is given a glimpse into a moment in time for the tourist visiting the ancient land of
India.  The scenario is unforgettable as is the character that is thurst upon him.  It is here
he is accosted by an old beggar woman on the deserted hills of Jejuri.

Impoverished, and repeatedly referred to as "old," she is helpless to do
anything other than what she does; however, she does not just beg.  She offers a service,  which
in this situation,  the tourist  does not need. The old woman will not let him go.  Eventually,
he tires of her hold on him, so he turns to stop this disgraceful scene.  When he actually looks
at her face and into her eyes, he is able to see through the woman and into the hills and they
become as one.   Finally he is able to understand the old woman's plight. 

And the hills crack,

And the Temple
cracks

And the sky falls.

Nothing can
change things for the old woman.

The poem is a meeting two cultures:  the new
world tourist and the ancient Indian woman. Symbolically,  the tourist's initial lack of
sympathy for the woman and her travails represents the world's view of the poverty stricken
countries of the world: If you cannot see it, it is not there. The tourist intends to make her
leave him alone but is reduced to small change in her hands when he see the hardships she has to
endure. 

Her eyes described as "bullet holes" suggest the struggles
that she and her country have endured.  They are synonymous.  The socio-economic status of
India, where even a fifty paise coin is precious to the old woman, seeps into the heart of the
tourist.  Then, he understands her disturbing statement;

What else can an old woman do?