They poems and the song in this Unit allow you to see the range of ways in which individuals and communities express their opinions, their anger and their sorrow. Do the following two exercises:
(a) Bring to class a poem that discusses a social issue. Share this with your classmates. Work in small groups with two or more poems to discuss their meaning as well as what the poet is trying to communicate.
(b) Identify a marginalized community in your locality. Write a poem, or song, or draw a poster etc., to express you feeling as a member of this community.
Example for the above question:
Poem by Soyrabai: She herself belongs to the Mahar caste. From her esteemed poem, she questions about the idea or the criterion behind being called a pure person.
In this poem she argues that every person takes birth in the same way and is equal. She is unable to understand that what makes one body less or more pure than the other. According to her, pollution is a basic idea of caste that should not be used as the tool for discrimination or for separating or denying access to spaces. According to her, it does not occur through nature of work but through one’s clear ethnicity and beliefs.