Text of the Poem
Your
typewriter has been found
in a tangle of seaweed
clacking over
the waves of the Arabian Sea
in sand-grit staccato
for sixty odd years
churning the same speech
first in the
key
of partition
trains rattling
with the dead
then the
massacre of ’71
the
“hunter-killer”
MQ-nines
The sea
smooth as
carbon paper
clones a
speech with every wave:
Unity, Faith, Discipline
What was
spilled
came back as
hardened coral:
Each time a
still-birth
Your
typewriter keeps time
with the
beggar-women
sobbing
by the shore
Main idea
The poem, Jinnah’ Typewriter is written by Shadab Zeest Hashmi. She is an American poetess who hails from Peshawar, Pakistan. The poetess is feeling sad about the Pakistani nation’s lame way of acting and neglecting the sagacious advice of our leader, Quaid e Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
It is quite hurting and pinching for the poetess while
discussing the partition of 1947 or the separation of East and West Pakistan in
1971 and also alarming us if we want to avoid any type of event like we should
not ignore the golden rules of our Quaid. The famous words of our leader,
Unity, Faith, and Discipline’ have been blotted out by us. The poem revolves
around the unfortunate attitude of the nation towards its heartfelt leader.
Summary
The poetess is directly addressing the soul of
a great leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who founded Pakistan back in 1947, telling
him that your typewriter has been found entangled among the algae in the sea.
The typewriter is sailing with the sea sand on the waves of the Arabian Sea.
Moreover, while banging with the waves it is creating a disjointed rhythm.
The mechanical sound coming out of the
typewriter is, in fact, reminding us of our leader’s words once he spoke i.e.
‘Unity, Faith, and Discipline’. These words are more vocal and needed in the
time of not only during partition but in the time of separation of East
Pakistan and West Pakistan in 1971, and also in modern times of drone attacks.
The whole sea is acting like carbon paper
thereby making more and more copies of the Quaid’s saying not only propagating
but also spreading as its waves stretch out towards the shore. But our nation
has forgotten and ignored these quotes turned into hard hollow shells that
perished under water cementing reefs.
Quaid’s sayings are facing the destination of a
stillbirth. These waves carrying pearls of wisdom are dying before they reach
the shore or to their point of disembarkation.
In the last lines, the poetess again addresses
Quaid e Azam, that his typewriter is facing the same cold attitude from his
nation, the way people pay no heed to a weeping bagger sitting beside a
seashore or a road collar.
Tone
The tone of the poem is gloomy, dejected, and
disappointing when one sees the people of Pakistan who have forgotten the teachings
and tribulations taken by their Quaid to get them a separate homeland.
Structure
This beautifully structured poem consists of three halves. The first one contains an introduction. The second one comprises painful historical events and the last one ends with a hopeless note. The poem is in a descriptive style. It is in free verse.
Diction
The diction of the poem is not as simple. The
poetess uses words other than the English language. Moreover, most words are
taken from the sea world like ‘seaweed’ and ‘hardened coral’.
The word ‘Staccato’ is taken from the Italian language, showing the poetess’ knowledge about languages besides English.
Imagery
The title of the poem in fact stands
symbolically for the struggle against colonial powers to bring Pakistan
into reality. The typing of the keys is a small step taken in the way to
achieving Pakistan. The sound of the clicking of the keys of the typewriter
signifies the painful voice of people who suffered during the partition. The
word,’ sand -grit is used to describe the valuelessness and worthlessness of
the typewriter. The Sea or ocean carries multiple symbolic meanings. Starting
from mystery, hope, and calmness to formlessness, chaos, and unfathomable.
The alliteration of, ‘t’ in, “of partition trains rattling” epitomizes the scene of the barbaric assassination of the innocent passengers in the trains.
The juxtaposition of, ”sixty-odd years” is used very beautifully. Although sixty is an even number the poetess used this to create stress in her argument and to deal with the ordeal she wants to depict in her poem.
The use of imagery of,’ Carbon paper’ for a sea is to emphasize the need for Quaid’s words in modern times. As seawater is making copies of these words shows how important it is for a nation to follow his long-forgotten speeches
‘Hardened coral’ symbolizes society’s hard
attitude towards Quaid’s dictums for success.
‘Stillbirth is rightly used to symbolize
people’s heedless attitudes.
In the end, the ‘sobbing bagger woman’
personifies on one hand the wretched position of Quaid’s speeches at the hands
of his nation, and on the other hand, it encapsulates the cold behavior of his
people.
Critical analysis
Once in his statement, Quaid e Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah said, “I alone with the help of my Secretary and my typewriter won
Pakistan for Muslims” has compelled Shadab Zeest Hashmi to speak out or protest
against the Pakistani nation’s demeanor towards their Quaid’s guidelines to
become a successful nation. Quaid e Azam throughout his struggle set the
directions of his nation but after his death, we throw his principles into the
sea as that typewriter is found in ‘The Arabian Sea’.
The poetess in her true goodness reminds us of the two dreadful events we already faced and at the same time warns us of modern warfare but still can’t encompass failures and are unable to fulfill our leader’s dreams thereby making Pakistan an invincible country with an unflinching defense line. This is only possible if we follow the rules written by our Quaid through his typewriter.
Although the historical events discussed in
the poem are related to Pakistan only if we talk from a larger perspective, the
poetess is discussing the war zones, the massacres done during wartime have been
changed from conventional killings to modern-day killings through drone attacks.
The nations always learn from their history but we Pakistanis are ignoring and
disregarding our great leader.
The pathetic situations increase manifold when the poetess synchronizes Quaid’s maxims with bagger women’s sobbing. No one bothers the bagger woman and her sobbing the same way the nation is inert towards Quaid’s sayings.
The poem
is interpreted by Farrukh Anjum, one of the permanent writers at the School of Literature.