Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.

-Nissim Ezekiel

The language of a land is often considered as the essence or the building block of its culture
and civilization. The poets and the authors along with the people of a region act as the
foundational pillars aiding in the evolution and building of the system of words. This hence
contributes primarily towards the choice of words which has a far reaching impact on the usage
and interpretation of a language.

In “Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.” a similar theme of adaption of a foreign language in a
multi linguistic land of India is highlighted. The English came with their tool of power of their
language, influencing the commons to look upon and imbibe. A foreign always remains foreign
in its essence, no matter how well you lay the basics, yet there will be some differences in its
adaptation. In the light of this, Nissim Ezekiel an Indo-Anglian writer inscribes what the language
of English has done to the post independent India in its form of adaptation and usage.

The Central idea of the poem is a parody of Indian English, satirically illustrating the dialectical
features of the English used by the Gujarati speakers. The poem highlights “a satiric self-
revelation of the speaker”, which is exemplified with the usage of the present continuous tense
in place of simple present, while delivering a farewell speech like when Ezekiel writes,
“Whatever I or anybody is asking/ She is always saying yes.” It also shows the long winded and
incoherent style of conversation. This circumlocution in the theme of the speech made at
farewell party is evident when the speaker in the midst abruptly talks about his stay in Surat and
about his Uncle’s friends there, which seems as an extraneous detail for the reader to know.

Also, the Indianness in this poem is inherent in the very title of the poem. The title contains the
initials of the name in the very end, which is again a peculiar Indian practice in both speech and
writing. Even the title ‘goodbye party’ seems to be an extended imitation of a ‘birthday party’! i

The poem by Ezekiel is in free verse as there is no evident pattern of rhyme scheme noted.

The poem is in a dramatic monologue where, the main character on which the piece is written,
i.e. Miss Pushpa (dramitis personae). Nowhere in the poem is her presence evident. The whole
verse, in the form of a farewell speech is addressed by only one character, which is the
speaker. The speaker is the only one talking and he somewhere side tracks the presence of
Miss Pushpa in the scene, as the presumed primary character does not speak a word. The
speech also reflects more about the speaker than about others present at the party.
The poet also uses the device of digression to side track the main purpose or theme of the
poem through the way in which the speaker wanders from his main subject of bidding a farewell
to Miss Pushpa without even bothering about it. This can be seen when the speaker starts
talking about his own visit in Surat, in the lines, “Once only I stayed in Surat with family
members of my uncle's very old friend -- His wife was cooking nicely . . .That was long time ago”

The poet uses the device of Lampoon where he mocks the typical usage of Indian English by
the speaker in the lines of “she is the most popular lady with men also and ladies also”, “we are
wishing her bon voyage”, where he actually intends of bidding her a farewell.

The poet also uses equivocation to subtly derogate the speaker of his usage of language and
also highlights the pun in the line “I am always appreciating good spirit” where he intends the
spirit of heart rather than any alcoholic item.

The poet uses denotation in the line “Miss Pushpa is coming from very high family” where he is
representing high family as a well to do family. He also uses connotation in the line “I don’t
mean only external sweetness but internal sweetness” by which the speaker actually means
that Miss Pushpa is a good natured person with a warm heart.

i Sing, Satyanarayana, “Ramanujan and Ezekiel”, Osmania Journal ofEnglish Studies, (1969)

Karnani, C. (1976). THE POETRY OF NISSIM EZEKIEL. Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 11, No. 3/4,
NISSIM EZEKIEL ISSUE, 223-228.

Critical Essays on Indian Writing in English (Dharwar: Karnatak University, 1968), p. 116.

"Indo-Anglian Poet -- Some Attitudes," in The Opinion Literary Quarterly