The Minority Poem by Nissim Ezekiel

The Minority Poem is a poem written by Nissim Ezekiel, the foremost Indian poet who wrote in English after independence.

CONTEXT

In order to understand this poem, you must learn the background of the poet, i.e. Nissim Ezekiel. He belonged to a Jewish community known as the Bene Israel, who migrated to India from Israel centuries ago. He was born, lived and died in the city of Bombay and spent considerable time in the city. He suffered from identity crisis being a member of a minority community in India, but at heart, he was an Indian.

In India, Hinduism is the majority religion and people following Judaism accounts for a minuscule population, even much lesser than other "minority" religion such as Islam and Christianity. Ezekiel though accepted his identity to be Indian, he used to feel alien here. He used to observe Hindu people and their practices, which sometimes seemed peculiar to him.

SUMMARY

In his symbolic "room", the narrator is entertaining guests i.e. persons of Hindu religion, he tries to talk to them. They don't argue with him and wait until the narrator has exhausted his words. They, then leave with "inscrutable faces" i.e. which can't be understood/ deciphered.

In simple words, he refers to a common trait of Hindu people that they don't argue and they listen to what the speaker has to say and leave after he is exhausted. The reason they don't argue is that Hinduism is a liberal religion which doesn't oppose any other religion. Take, for example, Islam or Christianity, they believe that salvation can be attained by following what is written in their religious texts such as Quran and Bible respectively. They exclude other religions by calling them "pagan" and "kafir".

Hinduism never claims to have monopoly over the definition of truth. Although one may defeat a Hindu person in logical debates, it can not change the conviction of the Hindu. Because it believes that there are many paths and ways to attain truth or god.

He uses the phrase "invisible guests" to mean the notion that Hindu people don't reveal their religion explicitly. Also, it is not associated with a specific day activity, it is a way of life. Hinduism is inclusive of devout people, agnostic or even an atheist. Take Buddhism, for example, it originated in India. Hinduism assimilated it by claiming Lord Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu, a principal Hindu god.

The narrator refers to Hindus and says that he has no power to change their practices, he claims that he loves their myriad gods. The narrator is aware of the friendly nature of Hindu people and he knows that Hinduism has been a peaceful religion since ancient times and never it has ever attacked other nations. In fact, it has welcomed foreign religions like Islam, Christianity, etc. But its strength can't be denied as various foreigners attacked and conquered Indian subcontinent such as the Mughals, and then the Britishers, it never lost its followers, interestingly, the latter increased.

The narrator loves Hinduism. He points out that the similarity of practices can be found in two distant regions of the Indian subcontinent, it is only language that separates the people as India has numerous languages and dialects. Still, language can't be a barrier for people who can communicate with love. For instance, Mother Teresa had this ability to understand the pain of the poor and ill people who visited her. She was considered as a symbol of compassion.

He believes that in order to understand Hinduism, you don't need to understand only Indian mythology or marriage customs, it is not just a mystic religion but much more than that.

He noted that Hindu people have the usual tendency to act selflessly, they have a loving nature, they can ignore their own needs. So, one has to forget his own self to understand Hinduism.

People of other religions (especially Christianity) try to convert Hindu people by offering money or indoctrination but most of the Hindus can't understand the preacher, i.e. why Hindu "guests" leave "dissatisfied" and refuse to give up their mantras, "old or new". Ezekiel refers to the belief of Hindus who are tempted by preachers to convert. Indeed, these preachers target poor Hindus and offer material gifts to convert a few of them successfully.

He now talks to himself and calls himself an "orphan of their racial memories". Because he is a non-Hindu, living in the Hindu majoritarian country, he feels that he can't be part of the "racial memories" which has been passing in the Hindu bloodline for generations.

In his native city of Bombay that "burns" in passion, he has left only one thing to do. He can use his alien identity and hone his natural talent of observation to look at things from a different point of view.

REFERENCES

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 1

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 2

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 3

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 4

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 5

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 6

Minority Poem | Nissim Ezekiel || Dr. A. Raghu. Part 7