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Ecology AK Ramanujan
Ecology AK Ramanujan
AK Ramanujan
The day after the first rain,
for years, I would home
in a rage,
The loving son therefore decides to cut down the tree, but he is prevented from doing so by his
mother who sees the positive side of the tree in her garden. She says that the tree is as old as her
and had been fertilized by the droppings of a passing bird by chance which is considered to be a
very good omen. The positive side of it is that the tree provides many basketful of flowers to be
offered to her gods and to „her daughters and daughter‟s daughters‟ every year, although the
tree would give a terrible migraine to one line of cousins as a legacy. The yellow pollen fog is
the yellow dust of pollen carried in the air which is thick and heavy like fog which covers the
earth.
This poem portrays Ramanujan‟s strong interest in the family as a very important theme of his
poetic craft. His memories of the past would inevitably bring pictures of his family, especially
his mother who is self-sacrificing. There is also a reference to his Hindu heritage as he mentions
the gods and the ancient beliefs in the poem. The sense of irony is indicated when the mother
very angrily protests the idea of cutting down the tree even though she is suffering very badly
from the migraine caused by it. She has a kind of emotional attachment to the tree, saying that it
is as old as her.
„Ecology is a poem which could be read as one single sentence. However, each stanza has one
particular idea. There is a casual connection between the ideas and they flow from one stanza to
the next. „Flash her temper‟; an instance of the use of irony because she is very angry at the idea
of having the tree cut down. The actual meaning of the word „Ecology‟ is not followed here but
the poet seems to convey the thought that a particular kind of tree may have both negative and
positive factors and therefore it need not be pulled down.