Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan

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Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan

• by Moniza Alvi

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Learning Objectives

• As we study this poem you will learn
• The story of the poem
• Cultural alienation
• More about the terms,
• Metaphor Tone Key Phrases Colour Imagery.
• You will also complete some mini tasks, a test
  and an assignment on the poem.

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Starter

• Write down what you know about Salwar Kameez.

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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi
But it was stolen from our car. The presents
were radiant in my wardrobe. My aunts requested
cardigans from Marks and
Spencers. My salwar kameez didn't
impress the schoolfriend who sat on my bed,
asked to see my weekend
clothes. But often I admired the
mirror-work, tried to glimpse myself
in the miniature glass circles, recall the
story how the three of us sailed to
England. Prickly heat had me screaming
on the way. I ended up in a cot in my English
grandmother's dining-room, found myself
alone, playing with a tin boat.
I pictured my birthplace from fifties'
photographs. When I was
older there was conflict, a fractured land
throbbing through newsprint.
Sometimes I saw Lahore -
my aunts in shaded rooms, screened from
male visitors, sorting presents,
wrapping them in tissue. Or there
were beggars, sweeper-girls and I was there -
of no fixed nationality, staring through
fretwork at the Shalimar
Gardens.
They sent me a salwar kameez
peacock-blue, and another
glistening like an orange split open,
embossed slippers, gold and black
points curling. Candy-striped glass
bangles snapped, drew blood
Like at school, fashions changed
in Pakistan - the salwar
bottoms were broad and stiff,
then narrow. My aunts chose
an apple-green sari, silver-bordered
for my teens. I tried each
satin-silken top - was alien in the
sitting-room. I could never be as lovely
as those clothes I longed
for denim and corduroy. My costume
clung to me and I was aflame, I couldn't
rise up out of its fire,
half-English, unlike Aunt Jamila. I wanted
my parents' camel-skin lamp - switching it
on in my bedroom, to consider the cruelty
and the transformation from camel to shade,
marvel at the colours like stained glass. My
mother cherished her jewellery - Indian
gold, dangling, filigree.
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Background To The Poem
Moniza Alvi was born in 1968 of mixed parentage,
her father being Pakistani and her mother
English. She was born in Pakistan but moved to
England at a young age. The poem 'Presents from
My Aunts in Pakistan' expresses her confusion in
her search for her identity. The traditional
clothes that her aunts sent her from Pakistan are
a symbol of a part of her, but only a part of
her, and one that she does not feel entirely
comfortable with..
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Mini Task 1

• Write down what you think is the story of the
  poem.

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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Story Of The Poem
A young girl of mixed race, half English,
half Pakistani, is sent vey colourful clothes as
presents for her birthday by her Aunts who still
live in Pakistan. Although she appreciates the
beauty of the clothes she does not feel she can
wear them. She wants to wear ordinary clothes
like her school-friends and feels embarrassed
when she has to wear her Pakistani clothes.
She is reminded of her birthplace, Lahore and her
journey from there to England where her family
had nowhere to stay but her English grandparents
once they arrived. She remembers a fractured
land , a reference to Bangladeshs war for
independence in 1971 when she was 3 years old.
At the end of the poem she is forced to conclude
that that she feels that she doesn't belong
anywhere and is of no fixed nationality.
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
We know who they are from the title of the
poem, but calling her Aunts they in this manner
is impolite and sets the tone for her negative
attitude towards the gifts she is sent.
peacock blue glistening orange are vibrant
colours and are the first examples of the use of
colour imagery in the poem. And colour imagery
dominates this stanza blue, orange, gold,
black, candy striped blood red. The bangles
drawing blood is a more sinister use of colour
imagery. But how did the bangles snap? I dont
think it happened accidently, I think she snapped
them and in doing so cut herself. If this is so
then the question is, why? Note the shape of
the poem. The poet has set it out on a sort of
spiral form, not left justified as most poems
are.
They sent me a salwar kameez peacock-blue,
and another glistening like an orange
split open,
embossed slippers, gold and black
points curling.
Candy-striped glass bangles snapped, drew
blood
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
This is the first reference to her everyday
life and the effect that fashion is having on her
and her cultural identity. Note the enjambment
on the two lines and the emphasis it places on
in Pakistan.. The poet then details the
changing fashions in Pakistan, ironically these
mirror the changing fashions in the UK. She
then describes the sari she got for her
thirteenth birthday, which may have been
appropriate for a teenager in Pakistan, but she
clearly feels it was not appropriate for her.
Like at school, fashions changed
in Pakistan -
the salwar bottoms were broad and stiff,
then narrow.
My aunts chose an apple-green sari,
silver-bordered for my
teens.
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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• alliteration
• irony
• metaphor
• alienation
• key phrases

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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• alliteration

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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• irony

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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• metaphor

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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• key phrases

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Mini Task 2

• I tried each satin-silken top
• was alien in the sitting-room.
• I could never be as lovely
• as those clothes
• I longed
• for denim and corduroy.
• My costume clung to me
• and I was aflame,
• I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
• half-English,
• unlike Aunt Jamila.

• In this stanza spot examples of
• alienation

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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
I tried each satin-silken top -
She tries on the clothes she is sent more out
of duty than because she wants to wear them.
.because they make her feel alien. They dont
belong in the English life she is now living and
consequently she doesn't belong in them.
Ironically she does recognize their beauty but
does not feel that she is beautiful enough to
wear them. What she wants is the dull blue,
black or brown clothes that ordinary English
people wear. She describes the clothes she
has been sent as a costume, like something she
wears when he has to act being Pakistani. They
embarrass her so much she feels like she is on
fire when she wears them and she feels she cannot
escape from this metaphorical literal torment.
Interestingly she feels half-English not
half- Pakistani. Again enjambment draws attention
to this line, giving it importance. Note the
rhyme/alliteration on satin-silken costume
clung and the fire metaphor.
was alien in the sitting-room.
I could never be as lovely as those
clothes
I longed for denim and corduroy.
My costume clung to me and I was
aflame, I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
half-English, unlike Aunt
Jamila.
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Mini Task 3
Write down what you think the metaphor of the
Came Skin Lamp is.

• I wanted my parents' camel-skin lamp -
• switching it on in my bedroom,
• to consider the cruelty
• and the transformation
• from camel to shade,
• marvel at the colours

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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
Decorated camel skin lamps are a traditional
handicraft item given as a gift in Pakistan.
Presumably her parents would have brought this
with them when they left Pakistan so it must be
valuable or have some sentimental value. In
the same way as she is attracted to and
simultaneously repelled by the clothes her aunts
send her, she responds in a similar way to her
parents camel skin lamp she recognizes its
beauty, but is appalled by the cruelty involved
in its creation. The importance of these
lines to the poem is they are a metaphor for her
own experience and the cruelty of her own
transformation from an English schoolgirl to
Pakistani maiden. Also there is a sense here that
the skin belongs on the camel so making a lamp
out of it is wrong in the same way she belongs
in hr English clothes not transformed by those he
aunts send her.
I wanted my parents' camel-skin lamp -
switching it on in my bedroom, to
consider the cruelty
and the transformationfrom
camel to shade, marvel at the colours
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
Her mother was English but seems at home with
her dual nationality as she cherishes her Indian
jewellery. and does not reject it, or the culture
it represents, unlike her daughter..
Ironically the jewellery is stolen, perhaps this
a metaphor for cultural identity being stolen, it
is also a reminder of the reality of life in
England. Another reference to the colour and
the beauty of the clothes her Aunts send
her.. ..yet ironically it is boring, dull MS
cardis they want in return!
My mother cherished her jewellery -
Indian gold, dangling, filigree.
But it was stolen from our car..
The presents were radiant in my wardrobe.

My aunts requested cardigans from Marks
and Spencers
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Mini Task 4
Write down what you think the metaphor the poet
uses here is.

• My salwar kameez
• didn't impress the schoolfriend
• who sat on my bed, asked to see
• my weekend clothes.
• But often I admired the mirror-work,
• tried to glimpse myself
• in the miniature
• glass circles, recall the story

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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
Another reason for her to reject her cultural
roots her Pakistani clothes do not impress
her English friends and peer acceptance is very
important at this age as teenagers try to
establish their own, unique identity. In the
week she would presumably wear school uniform but
at the weekend she is free to wear what she
wants and what she wants is to be a normal
English girl, not some freak decked out in
multi coloured saris. Once again she finds
something to admire in the clothes she has been
given. This time it is the tiny mirrors that are
sown into some of these garments. But her
reflection would not be whole, it would be
fractured as she would not be able to see all of
herself in anyone of these mirrors. This notion
also reflects her own view of herself and her
cultural identity.
My salwar kameez didn't impress
the schoolfriend
who sat on my bed, asked to see
my weekend clothes
But often I admired the mirror-work,
tried to glimpse myself
in the miniature glass circles,
recall the story
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
glass circles, recall the story how the three of
us sailed to England..
Looking at her fractured reflection reminds
her of her early childhood and the journey to
England by boat (not by air). This is the first
hint that they left, or were evacuated from
Pakistan in a rush. She remembers the physical
pain the journey caused her, but the emotional
pain has probably been much greater. She ends
up in a cot in her grandmothers dining room.
More evidence that the journey had been rushed
and unplanned because her parents hadnt even had
time to find somewhere to live before they
arrived. She finds herself alone, but this is
just the beginning of what will be her cultural
isolation. This is quite a strong image to end
the stanza.
Prickly heat had me screaming on the way.
I ended up in a cotin my English grandmother's
dining-room
found myself alone,
playing with a tin boat
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
She is left imagining her identity through old
photographs her parents took of her birthplace.
She is then reminded of the Pakistan/ Bangladesh
war in 1971 when she was 3 years old. It was this
conflict that probably forced her parents to
leave Pakistan when she was so young. The
reference to 'a fractured land', also helps
reinforce the feeling she creates in the poem of
her own fractured identity Lahore is the
capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and
the second largest city in Pakistan. The poet
sees Lahore in her memory (not the photographs)
and is remembers her Aunts wrapping presents,
like the ones they sent her. The screening
would imply that she comes from a Muslim family,
perhaps another source of conflict for her.
I pictured my birthplace from fifties'
photographs.
When I was olderthere was conflict, a fractured
land throbbing through newsprint.
Sometimes I saw Lahore - my aunts in shaded
rooms, screened from male visitors,
sorting presents, wrapping them in
tissue
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Mini Task 5

• Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls
• and I was there -
• of no fixed nationality
• staring through fretwork
• at the Shalimar Gardens

Write down what you think is the Key Phrase in
this final stanza. Explain why you think it is
the key phrase.
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviThe Poem Structure Meaning
Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls.
An interesting contrast is introduced on this
line. Her family is obviously fairly well off,
rich enough at least to send her all these
fabulous clothes but as well as remembering her
Aunts, she also remembers the beggars, a symbol
of the poverty of her birthplace. of no
fixed nationality. Is probably the most
important line in the poem and sums up what the
poet has been trying to say in the rest of the
poem. She knows where she was born and
remembers her life and the culture there, but she
feels her cultural ties to her past also prevent
her feeling completely at home in England so she
feels she belongs to neither country or culture.
However interestingly her final thought is of a
beautiful part of Pakistan, not of England.
and I was there -
of no fixed nationality,
staring through fretwork at the
Shalimar Gardens
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Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza
AlviWhat The Poet Says About The Poem
Presents from My Aunts...was one of the first
poems I wrote. When I wrote this poem, I hadn't
actually been back to Pakistan. The girl in the
poem would be me at about 13. The clothes seem to
stick to her in an uncomfortable way, a bit like
a kind of false skin, and she thinks things
aren't straightforward for her. I found it was
important to write the Pakistan poems because I
was getting in touch with my background. And
maybe there's a bit of a message behind the poems
about something I went through, that I want to
maybe open a few doors if possible.