"Muliebrity" by Sujata Bhatt as a Celebration of Life Nemo Ali 11th Grade

“Beauty can come from the strangest of places, even the most disgusting of places.” – Alexander McQueen

Sujata Bhatt’s poem ‘Muliebrity’ celebrates beauty in its most exquisite and raw form – the beauty of everyday life. It captures with reverence and admiration the image of a young girl doing the menial task of picking up cow dung through strong imagery and olfactory.

The first line describes how the speaker has been unable to stop thinking about ‘the girl who gathered cow dung’. The memory is an inspiration – in fact, the choice of expression itself – poetry – depicts how inspiring the memory was. Poetry is used to relate deep feelings, feelings and emotions that touch an individual and make a profound impact on their psyche, on how they think, on how they view the world. Such moments are found in prayers, in acts of God, or – as for Bhatt – in life’s most simple actions. Bhatt does not write to entertain, but rather to hold on to a memory that touched her so significantly. It does not demand appreciation, or feelings that mirror the poet’s, rather, the poet seems disinterested in the readers’ take of what she says. The tone is not conversational, depicting how Bhatt is caught up in the memory, how she has lost touch with...