Introduction to the Poem “Of Mothers Among Other Things”:
Poem “Of Mothers, Among Other Things” by A.K. Ramanujan revolves around the poet’s recollections of his mother and was first published in Relations. Through it, the poet shares his intimate reflections on his mother as she moved through different stages of life. While living in the United States, he is overwhelmed by memories of her and yearns deeply for her presence.
The poem unfolds as a series of vivid images drawn from the shadowy depths of memory. Though his recollections are tinged with sorrow, he recalls her tenderness and vitality during her youth. The poet’s profound anguish surfaces when he depicts her frailty—her inability even to lift a single grain of rice from the kitchen floor.
A.K. Ramanujan’s poem “Of Mothers, Among Other Things” is a poignant and deeply reflective piece that explores the themes of memory, motherhood, love, and loss. Written in Ramanujan’s characteristic blend of personal emotion and cultural imagery, the poem recalls the speaker’s mother with tenderness and sorrow, as he reflects on her aging and sacrifices.
Through vivid sensory details and symbolic contrasts—between past and present, vitality and decay, affection and regret—Ramanujan captures the essence of filial love and the inevitable passage of time. The poem exemplifies his ability to merge the personal with the universal, portraying the mother not only as an individual but also as a timeless symbol of nurturing endurance and quiet suffering.
Summary of the Poem “Of Mothers Among Other Things”:
The Poet’s Recollection of His Mother:
The poet summons a series of images of his mother from the shadowy depths of memory. Though these recollections bring him sorrow, he cannot help but remember her grace and liveliness. He reminisces about the blackbone tree, once radiant, cheerful, and full of life, but now aged and withered—much like his mother. The tree, once tenderly cared for by her hands, has lost the charm and vitality of its youth, its surface now coarse and weathered with time.
The Mother’s Youthful Beauty and Grace:
In her youth, the poet’s mother was a picture of beauty, grace, and refinement. Her charm was as soft and delicate as silk or the petal of a flower. But with the passage of time and the onset of age, that youthful glow, elegance, and fragility had faded. Once, she adorned herself in silk garments and appeared remarkably attractive. Her diamond-studded earrings sparkled brilliantly, sending out countless rays of light, as though they radiated their own inner glow.
The Mother’s Devotion and Maternal Love:
The poet fondly remembers the time when his mother was young, full of grace, and brimming with energy. She carried out every household task swiftly and effortlessly. Her love for her children was deep and tender—she could not bear to see them in distress. The poet recalls a vivid moment when his mother had left her little ones sleeping in their cradles in the courtyard beneath a tree while she attended to chores inside the house. Suddenly, it began to rain, and she rushed out in haste to rescue her babies from getting wet. Her only concern was to protect them from the rain. She never shied away from hard work or sacrifice when it came to her children.
The Symbolism of Rain and the Mother’s Courage:
He paints a vivid and beautiful image of the rain. The raindrops appear as if they are stitching together the torn spaces between the leaves. Falling one after another in quick succession, the drops resemble strands of broken thread. The gaps in the foliage are likened to the tattered pieces of old cloth. The droplets clinging to the tips of the leaves look like tiny tassels, glimmering brightly when touched by light. The rain stands as a symbol of life’s hardships, yet the mother confronts them with unwavering courage, strength, and resolve. She never lets these challenges obstruct her path or dampen her spirit.
The Incident of the Trap and the Mother’s Injury:
This episode of rain, during which the poet’s mother hurried toward her babies resting in their cradles, belongs to a much later stage of her life. As she ran through the rain, her hands became soaked, resembling the wet, wrinkled, and twisted claws of an eagle—one of which was badly injured. The injury had occurred earlier when her hand was caught in a garden trap she had set to catch a troublesome mouse. The persistent mouse had caused her much annoyance, prompting her to place a trap in the garden; however, while setting it, her hand was accidentally caught in its firm grip, leaving it severely damaged.
The Mother’s Enduring Spirit Despite Injury:
The wound caused by the trap never healed entirely and left a lasting scar on her hand. However, it did not lessen her ability to work. Despite suffering such a serious injury, her spirit remained undiminished—she stayed as energetic and determined as in her youth. The poet’s mother always faced difficulties with courage and never yielded or gave up in the face of hardship.
The Decline of Physical Strength with Age:
In her younger days, she often wore sarees. They suited her well, enhancing her grace and beauty as the fabric embraced her strong, sturdy frame. But with time, her vitality faded; her once-firm body had grown weak and the flesh had slackened. Now, the saree draped her loosely, like the limp wing of a bird—once whole and vigorous, now wounded and feeble.
The Poet’s Sorrow at His Mother’s Old Age:
Whenever the poet thinks of his mother, a deep pain overwhelms him. The mere image of her in her old age fills his mind with anguish and sorrow. He is especially distressed when he reflects on the frailty that age brought upon her. It feels to him as though his tongue were scraping against the rough bark of a tree — a vivid symbol of his inner torment. In her later years, his mother had become physically fragile; the vitality, strength, and energy that once defined her had completely faded away.
The Fading of Youth and Lingering Vitality:
All the signs of her youth had disappeared. She appeared in a pitiable physical state, yet her limbs still retained a trace of feeling, for her mind remained sound. The poet particularly sensed this vitality when he noticed her four fingers, which, even in old age, were intact and lively. Despite her frail body and lack of strength, she continued to perform her tasks with utmost dedication.
The Mother’s Perseverance in Old Age:
Even in her old age, she never thought of taking rest; she stayed constantly engaged in household chores. The poet reminisces about the moment when his mother bent down slowly to pick up a single grain of rice that had dropped on the kitchen floor. While describing the four fingers she used in her work, the poet brings to mind a significant event from her life. Her fifth finger, he tells us, had been crippled after it was caught in a trap set in the garden to capture a troublesome rat.
Critical Appreciation of the Poem “Of Mothers Among Other Things”:
Introduction:
In the poem Of Mothers, Among Other Things, the poet reflects tenderly on his mother, weaving his memories of her into a deeply personal lyric. Published in Relations, the poem stands out for its intimate portrayal of maternal love and the poet’s profound emotional bond with his mother. Through vivid and suggestive imagery, he captures her presence across different phases of her life. Though writing from distant America, the poet’s thoughts return to his mother with affection and longing, revealing a connection that is both heartfelt and enduring.
Thought – Content:
The poet envisions his mother at different stages of her life. He first remembers her youthful days, when she dressed in silk and adorned herself with diamond-studded earrings that sparkled brilliantly, as if radiating their own light. His thoughts then turn to the image of his mother hurrying back through the rain toward the cradles where her babies lay crying, upset by her brief absence. The rain into which she had stepped seemed to gather and scatter light filtering through a cluster of drooping leaves. Her hands, soaked by the rain, appeared like the wet, wrinkled talons of an eagle—one claw twisted and injured from being caught in a trap meant for a mouse.
With time, the poet recalls, his mother’s vitality faded, and her once firm body grew frail and loose. These memories fill him with deep sorrow and anguish; he feels as though his tongue were scraping against the rough bark of a tree. This sensation becomes strongest when he pictures her four still-capable fingers slowly bending to pick up stray grains of rice scattered on the kitchen floor.
Personal and Autobiographical Elements:
The poem is profoundly nostalgic and intensely personal. In it, the poet tenderly reminisces about his mother at different stages of her life—her youth, her middle age, and her old age. With wistful affection, he remembers her youthful grace adorned with diamond earrings, her middle years when she would rush in from the rain to comfort her crying infants, and her later years when she stooped to gather scattered grains of rice from the kitchen floor with four careful fingers, the fifth left useless by an accident.
Blending of Pathos and Joy:
It is a deeply moving poem that also carries a touch of joy. The opening lines, with their mention of silk and the white petal symbolising the woman’s youthful days, convey a sense of delight and celebration. This joyous mood is further reflected in the image of her three diamonds gleaming with radiant light.
“……. the silk and white
petal of my mother’s youth.
From her – rings three diamonds
splash a handful of needles. “
The remainder of the poem is marked by a deep sense of pathos, as it evokes images of weeping infants, a crippled claw and finger, and the mother’s flesh growing slack.
“And I see my mother ran back
from the rain to the crying cradles. ”
“But her hands are a wet eagle’s
two black pink – crinkled feet,
one talon crippled in a garden
trap set for a mouse. Her sarees
do not cling: they hang, loose
feather of a one time wing. ”
The poet feels great pain and sorrow when he recalls his mother’s pathetic condition and her helplessness in old age.
“My cold parchment tongue licks bark
in the mouth when I see her four
still sensible fingers slowly flex
to pick a grain of rice from the kitchen floor. “
The Use of Images:
The poet creates a vivid picture of his mother in this poem using images and words that evoke the senses and contrasts her youth with her present state. The first section of the poem portrays her in her youth. The second section deals with her middle age and the final section describes her old age.
The twisted blackbone tree evokes, in the poet, olfactory images of his mother when she young. The word ‘twisted’ suggests that the tree is now old like his mother and was probably tended by her when it was a young tree. Her youth is compared to ‘silk’ and a ‘white petal’, both of which are soft and tender and exactly opposite of the old and rough twisted blackbone tree. The sparkle of the diamond studded in her rings is compared to the needles being splashed.
The metaphor pictures mother as beautiful, bright and lively like the splashes of light of the diamonds. He can recall his mother full of energy running from the rain, probably engaged in some work, to the cradles to tend to her children. The rain is pictured as sewing loosely with its lengthy drops the tasseled blackbone tree. The rain symbolises difficulties in life that try to stitch in and contain one’s energy and enthusiasm in life. Yet his mother faced them resolutely.
This is indicated by the comparison of her dexterous hands to an eagle’s black pink – crinkled feet with talons that are effective and precise. The second section continues with the comparison but introduces a shift in mother’s abilities. One of her fingers (talon) has been crippled by a rat trap, a handicap indicating lessening of efficiency as she got older. The next lines show that the vagaries of life and motherhood have had their effect on her as middle – aged woman.
This is pointed out by the statement that her saris do not cling to her. Instead, they hang loose. The final stanza begins with the poet stating that the experiences of gut level, raw feeling / taste (‘tongue licks bark in the mouth’) of the incomprehensible ‘motherness’ of his mother even in her old age when he sees her slowing moving her four still sensible fingers to pick a grain of rice from the kitchen floor .
Style and Language:
The stanzas of this poem are really difficult to interpret and understand. There is a lack of clarity in this poem which is, in fact, marked by obscurity. However, the imagery in the last stanza is fairly coherent and even precise. The metaphors in the first two lines of the last stanza emphasise the futility of the poet’s language to express the rough, bitter taste of the memory, and the concluding two lines of this stanza provide an irresistible objective correlative of the emotions.
The mother’s existence is impaired , the poem suggests , by patriarchy, her hardships conveyed through words like ‘ twisted’, ‘crying’, ‘broken’, ‘rags’, ‘black’, ‘crippled’, ‘trap’, ‘cold’. The poem affirms her effective significance and centrality for the family, and the way she exceeds aesthetic and familial containment.