An Old Woman

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AN OLD WOMAN ARUN KOLATKAR INTRODUCTION The poem narrates a common experience. At every tourist place you will meet a self-appointed tourist guide like the old woman in the poem. They need money and will pester you. They even promise to give you some service in lieu of the money you give them. Generally tourists give them something to get rid of them. The poem begins with a commonplace experience, but ends in a revelation. The old woman is not an ordinary woman. She is the representative of the degradation of humanity. She has bullet holes for her eyes. When the narrator looks at her, he is shocked by her pitiable condition. It appears as if she is going to fall apart. SUMMARY A tourist visits a hill. There he comes across an old woman. She grabs his sleeve and wants fifty paisa. She promises to take him to the horseshoe shrine. But the tourist has already been there. He tells her to let him alone. She is persistent and keeps pestering him. The tourist, being fed up of her decides to be firm and turns round to scold her. He is shocked to look at her face. She has two bullet holes for her eyes. Her skin is wrinkled. Then the poet realises that her pitiable condition is the result of all-round decay. Our hills, temples and traditions have degraded. The old woman has no means to survive. Her family and society don’t seem to care for her. She can do nothing but beg. She gets small coins for alms which can hardly support her. The narrator felt ashamed. What a pity! An old woman is forced to go begging and no one is ashamed of it. The tourist feels he is insignificant and helpless before her. Paraphrase 1. An old woman gets hold of your sleeve and begs for a fifty-paisa coin. She is like a self-appointed guide. She promises to take you to the horseshoe shrine. You want to get rid of her, but she continues to pester you. She does not let go your sleeve so

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