Everyone has an identity; your age, personality and gender make up who you are. Your native language and culture can affect how you see yourself and how others look at you. In "Search for my Tongue" it is the poets original language that is central to her identity, whereas in "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan", how she dresses and her family customs are the important ideas of identity.
The two poets structure their poems in very different ways to express their feelings about their different languages, cultures and what makes up their identity. "Search for my Tongue" uses three main stanzas to explain her problem. Lines 1-15 describe her being fluent in two languages, English and an Indian language, Gujarati. Sujata Bhatt uses the picture of having
"two tongues in your mouth"
to explain it accurately. The middle stanzas, (Lines 16-30) in Gujarati are when she is dreaming in her mother tongue. The final stanza, (Lines 31-end) is a translation of the Gujarati and describes her mother tongue growing back everytime she feels she has lost it. This structure shows the problem of her identity with the Gujarati in the middle, as it is her main problem. In contrast, "Presents from my Aunts…" has a very random structure with varied line lengths to reflect on the poet's confusion over her identity.
At the start of "Search for my Tongue" the poet uses a conversational tone like she is talking to the reader for example,
"you ask me what I mean… I ask you, what would you do"
whereas, in "Presents from my Aunts…" uses conflict at the beginning to describe how Pakistan and England contrast in every way possible. Like the bright colours of the salwar kameez, "peacock blue and another glistening like an orange split open" are very different from the mainly dulled colours of Western clothes she preferred to wear.
The middle stanza of "Search for my Tongue" in Gujarati is shown visually and emphasises a big difference from English. It is also spelled phonetically in English so we can read it and see its difference to English. Instead, "Presents from my Aunts…" uses the poet's lack of knowledge about Pakistan to create pain and uncertainty of where she belongs. Moniza Alvi feels uncomfortable when she tries on the Pakistani clothes and feels an "alien in the sitting room" making her feel out of place in England.
Both poems use metaphorical language to show their ideas on their identity and language. "Presents from my Aunts…" uses metaphors like
"there was a conflict, a fractured land"
to show her own feelings of not fitting in. The split in Pakistan is compared to the poet being split between England and Pakistan and not feeling welcome in either country. However, in "Search for my Tongue" she uses metaphorical language to describe her mother tongue growing back like a flower,
"Everytime I think I've forgotten… it blossoms out of my mouth'
Each poet uses different poetic techniques to add effect to their poem. In "Presents from my Aunts…" she uses the line "candy stripped glass bangles snapped, drew blood" to suggest how like the bangles broke so did her links with Pakistan. "My mother cherished her jewellery- Indian gold, dangling filigree. But it was stolen from our car". This could show how the theft of her mother's jewellery in England could be a metaphor for England stealing her Pakistani identity.
However "Search for my Tongue" uses many different techniques to add effect to the feelings within in the poem. The repetition of
"Rot, rot and die in your mouth" and spit it out, I thought I spit it out'
strengthens the unpleasant image of a tongue dieing inside you. The final stanza has many uses of plant imagery implying the two fighting tongues to be alive and growing stronger. The mother tongue is described as a growing plant where it says "grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins". Also the repetition of "grows" and the word "strong" makes the mother tongue sound healthy and well built. The repetition of "the bud opens- the bud opens in my mouth" shows suspense as the mother tongue trys to take over the other. The poet then shows the native tongue as part of nature with a strong life of its own with "it pushes the other tongue aside". The final line "it blossoms out of my mouth" is the plant metaphor completed with the image of the plant bursting out as a flower. "Search for my Tongue" is different from "Presents from my Aunts…" as it uses many poetic techniques to give it its effect and to make it believable. Whereas, "Presents from my Aunts…" uses mainly ideas of objects and people to compare England and Pakistan. Although they are both different in this way the way they use poetic techniques they still give a similar effect of feeling left out and different from people around them.
There are many similarities between how the two poets express their feelings. The woman in "Search for my tongue feels uncertain of her real identity and thinks that by living in another country she may lose her Indian culture and language. Similarly, the teenage girl in "Presents from my Aunts…' feels she does not know her "real" self and seems an
"alien in the sitting room".
Both poets also feel stuck between different cultures and out of place in their countries. The difference between the two poems is that in "Search for my Tongue" the woman's tongue returns to her when she thinks she has lost it,
"it blossoms out of my mouth".
However in "Presents from my Aunts…" the teenage girl never finds her "real" self and still longs
"for denim and corduroy"
.
I enjoyed both of these poems but I preferred "Presents from my Aunts…" as I felt I could relate to it better. This is because Moniza Alvi's description of the confusion of her identity can be understood by many of us, regardless of our background. Whereas, I feel "Search for my Tongue" is only easy to understand if you have your own experience of her problem.
