Book Review: Interior Monologue of A Diasporic Woman

Kashiana Singh바카라�s collection of poems Woman by the Door is the fruit of nine years바카라� labour.  She recapitulates in it her lived experience since her emigration from India to the United States in 2013. It explores her feelings, emotions and reminiscences of travel and homemaking from the perspective of a woman. Singh, the winner of 2020 Reuel International Poetry Award, lives in North Carolina. Being a management professional, she cherishes discipline in all activities, including poetry writing. 

The book under review is named after the title poem 바카라�Woman by the Door바카라� which represents the interior monologue of a diasporic woman who confesses, 바카라�I sit by the door today/ talk to myself/ my voice quivers/ as it reaches into the valley바카라� (Singh 97). The emphasis on her gender identity and her experience of being a part of the Indian diaspora in the US are key features of this collection.  A door is a liminal space between the home and the world. While a window which allows a view of the world outside mainly underscores the experience of confinement and domesticity, a door offers possibilities of mobility, agency and freedom from claustrophobia. The poems in this volume unfurl a woman바카라�s passage from the domestic space to the world at large, 바카라�door바카라� and 바카라�travel바카라� being the dominant metaphors in the recapitulation of the route and the landmarks. The image of a woman standing by the door conveys, on the one hand, the idea of waiting and, on the other, suggests her liminal position as an immigrant who stands, Janus-faced, on the threshold of various cultural conventions. The threshold enhances the symbolic significance of the doorway by evoking images of border and border crossing in her journey across geographical locations, cultures and time. 

Dedicated to her grandson Kabir, Woman by the Door is divided into three sections: 바카라�Apertures,바카라� 바카라�Portals바카라� and 바카라�Detours.바카라� The title of each section highlights a motif of travel. In the register of photography, the word 바카라�aperture바카라� refers to 바카라�the diaphragm of the lens that controls how much light passes through into the camera바카라� (Singh 1). The mood and clarity of the picture depend on the proportion of light passing into the device through the 바카라�aperture.바카라� The first section (바카라�Apertures바카라�) presents a series of poems that throw optimal light on the woman바카라�s recollection of the familiar picture of 바카라�home바카라� and 바카라�homeland.바카라� Each poem is like an old photograph in a family album. The minute details resuscitate nostalgia and personal history. References to the tree of lineage바카라�grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren바카라�in the poems such as 바카라�In My Nani바카라�s House, Curds and Whey Were a Religion,바카라� 바카라�Nanapapa,바카라� 바카라�In the Image of My Mother,바카라� 바카라�Orb바카라�For Kabir바카라�s Parents바카라� and 바카라�For Kabir바카라� not only construct a family archive but also fortify one바카라�s sense of being connected to one바카라�s clan. The spatio-temporal distance activates the mind바카라�s eye which, like a camera, hovers over the mindscape and recaptures the vivid home/land images with love and affection.

Moving out through the door does not mean that she has forgotten the kitchen space. In fact, she carries the memory of aroma all along the route of her journey. Whether it is an Indian fruit such as 바카라�mango바카라� or a homecooked dish such as the 바카라�bitter-gourd curry,바카라� food in Singh바카라�s volume exude homesickness of a diasporic woman. In poems such as 바카라�In My Nani바카라�s House, Curds and Whey Were a Religion,바카라� 바카라�For the Evil eye바카라� and 바카라�The Kitchen That is Also a Monastery바카라� food and the place of its production intersect and serve as sites of dialogue with the gradually fading ancestral conventions. She captures the essence and the pace of life of the bygone days: 

I have tried so much to do what Nani did but the
curd I make always looks like half fulfilled wishes.
As if it is telling me to have more patience, wants
me to breathe in, breathe out and stir the silence.  
(바카라�In My Nani바카라�s House, Curds and Whey Were a Religion바카라� 5)

The quality of patience that is embodied in the figure of Nani (grandmother) is lacking in the inhabitants of the fast-paced globalized world of today, and with the passing away of the old generations we lose much of the traditional cuisines and other cultural practices of the yester years. Singh mourns the loss of such cultural heritage. The course of her travel takes her away from the roots to other places and other cultures which lead to continuous reconfigurations of places and cultures. 

In the second section titled 바카라�Portals바카라� (바카라�doorways바카라� or 바카라�gates바카라�) the woman situates herself in the present time when healthy living is blighted by environmental hazards and Covid-19 pandemic. She associates these disasters with the loss of placidity in the Universe her ancestors had been familiar with. Poems such as 바카라�Portrait of a Mother in America,바카라� 바카라�Becoming Planets: After Greta Thunberg,바카라� 바카라�Happiness바카라�Refrigerator Magnets,바카라� 바카라�All in a Day, in 2020바카라� and 바카라�Empathy바카라� represent the transition of the world from a safe 바카라�dwelling place바카라� to an unsafe one. Although existence in such unhomely conditions is marked by anxiety, uncertainty and unnamed fear, the woman gropes for a doorway of hope in the darkness of death and disease. Thus, she proclaims, 바카라�The sun still rises and scenes still get created, recreated with babies and dogs on walks, with parents wearing N-95 masks. It is okay or will be soon, and everyone thinks it is charming to be alive, still바카라� (바카라�Happiness바카라�Refrigerator Magnets바카라� 42). 

The third section 바카라�Detours바카라� is about the 바카라�[a]lternate [alternative?] routes that deviate from the norm and help reshape our direction바카라� (Singh 67). It is about re-viewing the experience of travel for exploring relationships, rituals, the pandemic and loneliness. The woman navigates through the tangles of roots and routes by ruminating on the joys, the conflicts and the griefs that crossed her way at various phases of the journey. The bygones linger like fugitives in her thoughts (바카라�Begone바카라� 78-79). The detours show that the pull of the pristine past and the uncertain future can neither be discarded nor be deleted from the praxis of 바카라�being-in-the-world.바카라� She tries to cope with the present-day crises by re-collecting every bit of personal loss in a potli (desi word for a travel bag, a pouch) (바카라�Grief in a Potli바카라� 74).       

This volume has focused exclusively on a woman바카라�s diasporic experience. The immigrant woman바카라�s introspections on roots and routes open up the vista of a fast-changing way of cultural life. Desi images and references to household objects are abundant in her reflections and reminiscences.  Reading the poems is an enriching experience. Singh바카라�s book is indeed a valuable addition to the corpus of contemporary South Asian diasporic poetry.