“Which Language Should I Speak” by Arun Kamble - Summary and Analysis

Poet Arun Kumar paints a picture of a young dalit boy who is finding himself trapped in a paradox where he is made to choose between the tradition of his community and the norms of upper caste sociey. The poem explores the internal conflict of the speaker of whether to comply with the societal norm in order to find some amount of social acceptance or to continue with the age old tradition of his community.

The poem has only two stanzas and each of which is used to portray a picture of two contradictory set of ideas and personalities.

The first stanza is used to describe the speaker's grandfather. 

STANZA 1 : 

”Chewing totters in the badlands”

This opening line of the poem paints a fairly familiar picture of an old man who walking as if he would fall any moment (and is probably chewing something in his mouth). The word ”badlands” represents the locality of the speaker's grandfather. Which is harsh and demanding, and is perhaps devoid of even basic falicities. If we look at this line from a Dalit perspective, the description of his grandfather is not limited to an individual. It represents the whole of Dalit colonies where leading a life is an everyday struggle.

The following line, 

"The permanent resident of my body”

Explains how deeply his grandfather has influenced the speaker. In a larger context, it also talks about how our familial and societal environment plays a role in shaping our beliefs and identity. The tradition and ways of his grandfather are so ingrained in the mind of the speaker that, the values of his grandfather, and of his community have become a permanent resident of his body.

"The household tradition heaped on his back, 

Hollars at me,

This line in particular explains how values and tradition in any given culture are passed on to generation by generation. The speaker explains how his grandfather is bearing the weight of tradition of his community, which was passed to him by his forefathers and he (the grandfather) is naturally liable to pass on this tradition to the speaker.

The concluding lines of the first stanza use harsh language and profanity which further cements the compulsion to carry forward the tradition of his family;

"You Whore-son, talk like we do. Talk like I tell you!”

This address by the grandfather explains how he too has the pressure to make his grandson speak like he and his community does. The poet ofcourse, is not seen to reply to his grandfather which indicates the dominance of the grandfather over the speaker.

STANZA 2 : 

The second stanza begins with the description of the speaker's Brahmin teacher who is well versed in with the Vedas. (The Vedas which gave an exclusive access to only to the Brahmins and the people from lower stratas in Indian verna system never had the liberty to study Vedas)

"His top-knot well-oiled with ghee"

This line explains how the Brahmins for centuries have enjoyed a much better lifestyle compared to that of Dalits.

The Following line,

"My Brahmin teacher tells me,

‘You idiot, use the language correctly!'”

Explains how the Brahmin teacher wants the speaker to use an acceptable form of speech. The teacher's remarks aslo indicates the linguistic discrimination that the dalits are subjected to face. And in a larger context, it can be observed that how the Dalit students are forced to do-away their roots, their identity, language and dialects in order to find acceptance in schools, friend circles and the society in general.

The final two lines of the poem are especially powerful in depicting the paradoxical situation of the speaker, wherein he is asking the readers of what should he choose.

"Now I ask you which language should I speak?”

This question posed by the speaker is particularly difficult to answer as it is always difficult to choose between one's tradition and the demands of the surrounding environment to change, modify or at times completely disown your tradition, culture, the way you speak in order to feel included in a society which is governed by the rules of the people in power.