Blessing

Imtiaz Dharker

Learning Intentions

Key Teaching Points:

• To read the poem

• To consider how the poem presents people and their way of life

Key Terms:• Metaphor• Image

The Poet

• Imtiaz Dharker was born in Lahore in 1954, grew up in Britain and now lives in India. She grew up in a Muslim family in Glasgow. She moved to Bombay where she married a Hindu, Anil Dharker, former editor of Debonair and well-known columnist. She says that she enjoys the transition from one culture and country to another. She described Bombay as a “city held up with string and sellotape.” She published a book of poems called ‘Postcards from God’. She describes this as being about “a very confused, human, god.”

Blessing • What can the word ‘Blessing’ mean?• A gift from God AND a prayer for a

special occasion.• Now read the poem.• What ‘blessing’ is being referred to?• The central metaphor of the poem is the

idea of water as a gift from God.• Look at stanzas 1 & 2 – what situation is

described?• Look at stanzas 3 & 4 – what events are

being described?

There are a number of different possible reactions to the scenario presented in this poem. The poet does not express any opinion directly but presents us with a series of images.

Think about the possible reactions. The reader could:

Be angry about the water shortage

Pity the people who have to live without a constant water supply

Blame these people for their own poverty

Share their excitement when the pipe bursts

See their excitement as pathetic

See life as fragile and easily damaged

See life as beautiful

Think their suffering is intense.

Blessing: the images

Images EffectThe skin cracks like a pod

The voice of a kindly god

The sudden rush/ of fortune

Silver crashes to the ground

A roar of tongues

Frantic hands

The liquid sun

Their highlights polished to perfection

What impact might each image have on the reader?

• A few hints:– ‘Pod’ – a disturbing image– ‘Drip/ kindly god’ – a contradiction? (if

the god is kindly why only a drip?– ‘Highlights polished’ – seems

inanimate– ‘small bones’ – weak? Is beauty

fragile?

Language and StructureNote:• The use of short and long sentences.

Where do they occur and why?• The list of objects – what sort are they?• The unequal stanza lengths – why might

this be?• The way the poem addresses the reader

directly with the word “Imagine . . ..”.• What is the effect of these features?

Comparing Poems for the Exam

For Homework:• Make comparisons with ‘Island

Man’ and ‘Two Scavengers’ in terms of:– How people are presented– The writers’ attitude to the people

they are writing about– The most significant features of the

ways the poems are written.