What is the summary/analysis of "An Old Woman" by Arun Kolatkar? I require an analysis on its theme or purpose for my class 12 examinations. (Thank...

In Arun
Kolatkar's poem, "An Old Woman," the main theme is about keeping what is important in
perspectivein this case, an old woman and her heritagethe land from which she comes.

Someone may be walking and a woman may grab ahold of his or her sleeve. For a price,
she will take what seems to be a sightseer to a nearby shrine. The man will not interested: he
has seen the shrine before. However, the woman will be insistent; the man may want to dismiss
her because she is an old woman, and they cling and won't let go.

The man will turn, about to end their association, to put her in her place and demand
that she leave, but she will look at him and explain that there is little else left for an old
woman to do in the hills where she abides: how can she live? she seems to imply.

The shock the man receives is looking at the sky, perhaps as blue as the woman's eyes:
but what stops him is the sense that her eyes are like bullet holesthis image is shocking and
riveting, as is, perhaps, his enlightened perception of this woman and her connection to this
old land.

The man will note that as he looks at the woman, and the cracks
around her eyes, the cracks will seem to spread to the landscape around her: to the hills, the
temples and even the sky. But he will see, as he watches, that even though the sky may fall and
shatter around her, she is untouched: "shatterproof."

In the midst
of the life that has reduced her to trying to earn some money as a guide for tourists, and seen
only an old woman to the touristsnot worth their time and barely worth
their noticeher resolve is strong. She is a part of the land, as old as it is: she is as
immovable. She lives, the man will see, with what is made available to her.

It would seem, that in the face of the man's realization, he will feel as if he has
been reduced to nothing more than his money, for he does not have that kind
of connection to his land or his heritage. And
perhaps, in light of the trials and tribulations of life, he is really the
unimportant onebeyond the small change in his pocketbut she stands,
unbreakable and strong.