“Hunger” by Namdev Dhasal - Summary and Analysis

INTRODUCTION: 

Namdev Dhasal was a celebrated Marathi poet, writer and a Dalit activist. He was born on 1949 in Poona, Bombay residency in Mahar community i.e. Untouchable Dalit community. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and a life time Achievement Award from the Sahitya Akademi in 2004. 

The major inspiration behind his poem “Hunger” was Namdeo’s own personal experiences since he lived in dire poverty surrounded by world of pimps, smugglers & women who worked in brothels. 

Dhasal's poem questions the fundamental need of humans to survive, the hunger itself. Needless to say that the phenomenon of hunger here can be interpreted in various ways in which dalits are made to struggle to meet even the basic necessities of a human being. 

WHAT DOES THE TITLE SIGNIFY : 

The title "Hunger" in the poem does not merely represent the physical crave to have food but also anything and everything that is used or plays a role in the exploitation of Dalits by tangible or intangible means. Hunger largely indicates the evils of Indian society which treats the Dalits as if they are worthless beings who are not entitled to enjoy even the basic facilities.

PART 1 :

In the opening part of the poem, Dhasal is asking : 

"Will hunger–fires forge a poem?

Will music die in the fire of hunger?"

Here, Dhasal questions whether hunger can be fruitful in any way. But, more specifically the poet is asking whether hunger can promote creative endeavours? He asks whether a man/woman can produce poetry or music with an empty stomach?

He further adds, it is unimaginably difficult for a person to create music when he cannot even listen to his own pulse as he has become weak to that extent because of hunger.

And it may seem an exotic experience to sing songs of hunger while starving, but Dhasal says it is not so. Hunger is a fruitless thing which can be of no good and cannot create anything constructive.

The speaker says, it hardly matters how hard you work and how sincerely you put your efforts because reward is only STONES. -- Even these stones earned as rewards are of no use. One cannot build a house of these stones which the Dalits can use to live in. 

Towards the concluding lines in the first part of the poem, Dhasal compares hunger to a mouse, cat and a lion and he places the Dalits as mere humans who are not at all equipped to fight or face the monster called hunger.

The poet asks hunger that what kind of a game, a trap it has set up in which the Dalits cannot escape.

PART 2 :

In the second part of the poem the poet compares hunger to a life sentence for the Dalits whose only crime is being born into an untouchable community which was not the least in their control. The poet expresses his helplessness by saying even if he cuts into the sky it will still be blue. Signifying how deep rooted and structured the oppression of the Dalits is. That no matter how hard they(Dalits) try things will remain the same. The poet asserts that there is no place for the Dalits to hide and to find acceptance.

Here again, the poet asks the hunger to reveal what its strategy is? What kind of game is it playing with the Dalits? And here, for the first time in the poem the poet asks the Dalit community to gather enough strength to fight the hunger to the very end. The poet further expresses his anger in protest saying he will not crawl on his stomach before the hunger in a helpless state anymore. He declares that it's been too long that he (the dalit community) has suffered the years of discrimination and asks the hunger for how many more generations of people will need to be exploited by you (Hunger).

The poet demands, if an iron bridge cannot bring the Dalits and hunger closer to each other then the dalits be let to fly free like birds-- by saying this the poet is signifying that if the hunger cannot accept, embrace the Dalits it should at least let them be by themselves, it should set them free. 

The poet asks to be let free in the sky because as the poet explains, the land of the hunger is full of thorns, thorns which pierces through our (Dalits) brains, till the brain freezes.

"Hunger your every blood drop is cold

Your every blood drop is mute" 

The above two lines in the second part of the poem signify the cruel nature of hunger. The hunger is portrayed here as cold blooded --- meaning the hunger is purposefully exploiting the dalits. And when the poet says every blood drop of hunger is mute-- it signifies the mute suffering of the people and also how carefully the hunger plays its game, under the shadows of the law and doesn't even let anyone raise a voice against it.

Towards the end of the second part of the poem, the poet is pleading to hunger to show some mercy. It is pleading the hunger to say yes to the dreams of the Dalits.

The poet compares the hunger to a giant sea and the dalits to the weak huts built at the seashore. The poet pleads to hunger to let these huts be at peace for now.

PART 3 : 

In the third part, the poet is asking can they(the dalits) even grow out of their misery? The poet again pleads to hunger to let them grow. The poet says maybe the sun and the river have forgotten them- they wanted more from the sun than just sunlight but even the light has turned false. This indicates how nothing is going their way. And how even rivers and natural resources are divided in the societal structure where the downtrodden are always kept devoid of any kind of welfare.

"How much can we excite pain

How much can we burn

How much can we catch the fire that burns forever?"

In the above lines taken from the third part of the poem, the poet is asking how much pain they can bear, and to what extent are they supposed to burn in the fire that lasts forever. 

This forever lasting fire signifies the ever lasting suffering that the dalits have to bear.

The poet says that the words of the Dalits find no expression -- this refers to the systematically built structures in the hindu society where the Dalits are supposed to be illiterate and hence, they do not have the means to speak up of their misery. The only option left to them is to accept defeat and salute the hunger in hopelessness.

PART 4 : 

In the opening lines of the fourth part of the poem, The poet says there's not even a single grain in his house today and there's not even a single clever brain in his house- this line though is seemingly straightforward but it does have larger implications : because of the socially constructed environment the dalits are not given enough opportunities to earn for themselves and because of their inability to have education they are devoid of the knowledge that would take them to have a better life. The poet says that hunger has its unique style which is exclusive to itself.

Later, the poet uses strong language to express his plight and curses the hunger and finally challenges it for a fight to see who wins. The poet says it has their whole manhood at stake before the hunger for the battle.

PART 5 : 

In the final part of the poem, the poet asks an open ended question to hunger: 

"which came first, seed or tree?"

In the concluding lines of the poem the poet uses explicit and strong language while saying : 

"we will screw

Seventeen generations of you

Hunger, you and your mother.."

The poem ends with a revolt from the speaker - symbolic of centuries of oppression and the justice which is yet to be given to them. The speaker at the end can be seen to have made up his mind to fight hunger and is confident of himself to fight against ”Hunger” (Hunger here, as explained in the introduction does not merely represent the physical crave for food)

CONCLUSION : 

In conclusion, "Hunger" is a revolutionary poem by Namdev Dhasal, which provides a powerful portrayal of dalit lives and their misery which is deep rooted and systematically constructed to keep them subservient and as secondary beings. Dhasal's vivid imagary used throughout in the poem gives the reader a gateway to have a glimpse of the sufferings of the community.