Question

Which Indian poet wrote: “Why not let me speak in any language I like? The language I speak becomes mine, its distortions, its queerness All mine, mine alone ...”

• A. Margaret Chatterjee
• B. Kamala Das
• C. Eunice de Souza
• D. Monika Verma

Hint:

Kamala Das's An Introduction is famous for its bold assertion of personal, linguistic, and feminine identity.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1 : Understanding the Question:
This question asks us to identify the Indian poet who wrote these lines defending her choice to write in English and asserting ownership over her language.

Step 2 : Key Formulas and Approach:
The approach involves identifying the poem from which the lines are taken and matching its stylistic elements, such as its personal and assertive tone, with the profile of the correct Indian English confessional poet.

Step 3 : Detailed Explanation:

• The quoted lines are taken from the poem "An Introduction" by Kamala Das, which is one of her most famous and widely anthologized works.

• Published in her collection Summer in Calcutta (1965), "An Introduction" is a landmark confessional poem that addresses issues of female identity, patriarchy, and post-colonial language.

• In these lines, the speaker rejects the demands of relatives and critics who advise her to write only in her native tongue, asserting instead that her English, complete with its unique regional character, is entirely her own.

• The themes of self-definition, rejection of patriarchal control, and linguistic reclamation are central to Kamala Das's literary voice, distinguishing her from contemporaries like Margaret Chatterjee, Eunice de Souza, and Monika Verma.

Step 4 : Final Answer:
The poet who wrote these lines is Kamala Das.
The correct option is (B) Kamala Das.