En Body

Meera Nair’s poetry belongs squarely to the tradition of contemporary Indian women’s poetry pioneered by the likes of Kamala Das and Eunice D'Souza and yet has its own distinct identity that comes partly from her confrontation with mythological and historical figures and situations and partly from the experiences of the different generation to which she belongs. The anguish of desire, the battle with the changing patterns and forms of patriarchy ranging from rape to indifference, the self-flagellation that Indian women are often forced into, the profound irony of being worshipped and spat at at the same time, the inhibitions and prohibitions that make her life a burning inferno: all these lend great intensity to these outpourings of a ravished yet indefatigable heart. K. SATCHIDANANDAN