Search for My Tongue

Links

Listen to the poem being read

OR

Watch an amazing video of people reciting the poem

OR

See an interesting flash presentation of the poem.

You ask me what I mean
by saying I have lost my tongue.
I ask you, what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,
and could not really know the other,
the foreign tongue.
You could not use them both together
even if you thought that way.
And if you lived in a place you had to
speak a foreign tongue,
your mother tongue would rot,
rot and die in your mouth
until you had to spit it out.
I thought I spit it out
but overnight while I dream,

(munay hutoo kay aakhee jeebh aakhee bhasha)

(may thoonky nakhi chay)

(parantoo rattray svupnama mari bhasha pachi aavay chay)

(foolnee jaim mari bhasha nmari jeebh)

(modhama kheelay chay)

(fullnee jaim mari bhasha mari jeebh)

(modhama pakay chay)

it grows back, a stump of a shoot
grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins,
it ties the other tongue in knots,
the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth,
it pushes the other tongue aside.
Every time I think I've forgotten,
I think I've lost the mother tongue,
it blossoms out of my mouth.

Tongue (1) - the poet uses the word 'tongue' in a three different ways in the poem. Here she uses it in the sense of 'ability to speak' (in the same sense as the word 'tongue-tied').

Tongue (2) - the poet uses the word 'tongue' in a three different ways in the poem. Here she uses it in the concrete sense of the physical tongue in her mouth.

Tongue (3) - the poet uses the word 'tongue' in a three different ways in the poem. Here she is using the word 'tongue' in the sense of 'language' - the language spoken BY her tongue (in the same kind of sense as the phrase 'mother tongue').

Rot and die - here the poet speaks of her 'tongue' - her language - as a physical thing that, through lack of use, would wither ('what you don't use, you lose') - her 'mother tongue' is dying.. This pre-figures the metaphor of the plant in the second/third sections of the poem.

Spit it out - this image continues the idea of a language as physical thing in your mouth. When it has 'died', it will become unpleasant to you and you may have to reject it.

- in this second section of the poem, the poet writes in her mother tongue - Gujerati, an Indian language. English-speaking readers cannot understand this section, of course, but the poet translates these Gujerati words in the third section of the poem.

munay hutoo... - here the poet gives a phonetic transliteration of the Gujerati words. This is important, because it shows that she is explaining to the people of her new country (the USA) how she feels - she is NOT writing the poem for her Gujerati people in India.

It grows back - in this third section of the poem, the poet gives her American readers a rough translation of the Gujerati words she dreamed in her sleep.

NOTICE how this section of the poem takes up the image of her language as a plant, which was withering, but now grows back and flourishes.

Stump of a shoot - this phrase shows how near the poet had come to losing her mother tongue altogether - it had been reduced, not just to a mere 'shoot', but to the STUMP of a shoot.

Bud opens - this phrase continues the idea of language as a 'plant' in the poet's mouth. The image of 'the bud opening' carries the idea of the poet just beginning again to speak a few first words in her mother tongue.

Pushes the other tongue aside - the language here shows how tenacious and vigorous the poet's mother tongue always was, 'pushing out' the new language, and re-taking control over the poet's tongue.

Blossoms - this phrase continues the idea of language as a 'plant' in the poet's mouth. The image of 'the flower blossoming' not only tells us that the poet is now able again to speak fluently in her mother tongue, but it carries the idea of her native language as being very beautiful.