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Moniza Alvi's poem 'An Unknown Girl' is about a young girl's visit to a bazaar where she has her hands decorated with henna.
An Unknown GirlIn the evening bazaarstudded with neon
an unknown girl
is hennaing my hand.
She squeezes a wet brown line
from a nozzle.
She is icing my hand
which she steadies with hers
on her satin-peach knee.
In the evening bazaar
studded with neon
an unknown girl
is hennaing my hand
As a little air catches
my shadow-stitched kameez
a peacock spreads its lines
across my palm.
Colours leave the street
float up in balloons.
Dummies in shop-fronts
tilt and stare
with their Western perms.
Banners for Miss India 1993.
for curtain cloth
and sofa cloth
canopy me.
I have new brown veins.
In the evening bazaar
very deftly
an unknown girl
is hennaing my hand.
I am clinging
to these firm peacock lines
like people who cling
to the sides of a train.
Now the furious streets
are hushed.
I'll scrape off
the dry brown lines
before I sleep.
reveal soft as a snail trail
the amber bird beneath.
It will fade in a week.
When India appears and reappears
I'll lean across a country
with my hands outstretched
longing for the unknown girl
in the neon bazaar.
NOTES
In addition to the images, thoughts and feelings this poem invokes, it is full of symbolism.
If you put yourself in the girl's place, you may be able to unveil the underling thoughts, sentiments and hopes that the girl (the writer?) is expressing through her poem.
If you find this difficult to do, there are a number of on-line resources that provide analyses of this fascinating poem.
See 'Related links' below for more information.
"An Unknown Girl" by Moniza Alvi is about a woman reconnecting with her roots and culture during a visit to India. The poem explores themes of identity, nostalgia, and the search for one's place in the world. It captures the experience of feeling simultaneously familiar and foreign when encountering a new environment.
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An unknown girl by moniza alvi?
The poem describes the poet's visit to India and the time she had her hand hennaed which is temporary colouring of the skin, by a girl in the market place. In An Unknown Girl, there are obvious associations between Western and Eastern culture. There is a sense of the purity of the 'unknown girl', perhaps representing the innocence of India, being invaded by the Western culture. It has proved to be an experience she has never forgotten. The title of the poem is "The Unknown Girl", though it may refer to the girl in the poem, it may be a pointer to the poetess herself as she is unknown to the roots, the unconscious culture and heritage ingrained in her.Alvi's theme in this poem is the cultural contrast and imagination.
How does the poem an unknown girl bring out the thoughts and feelings of an expatriete?
The poem "An Unknown Girl" by Moniza Alvi portrays the sense of longing, nostalgia, and displacement experienced by an expatriate. The speaker's encounter with a henna girl in India triggers memories of cultural heritage and a sense of connection to the homeland. Through vivid imagery and sensory details, the poem captures the complex emotions of being torn between two worlds and the search for identity in a foreign land.
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Moniza Avil wrote this poem about her background. She is half English and half Pakistan
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THIS WEBSITE IS WASTE OF TIME
Text -an unknown girl-moniza alvi?
I love this poem! I think the poem goes like this: A western girl is visiting India, and falls in love with the culture, and the place. The positive language, of India, such as "in the evening bazaar studded with neon" shows her fascination of it. "studded" is a word used for jewels, and for her to be describing the light like that to a market, well then the place must be really special to her. Then secondely, the "unknown girl" marks a special place in the speaker's heart. She is touched by her, and this is yet again seen through language like "she is icing my hand". "icing" is a baking metaphor so this is a quite intimite image showing care and attention. At the end of the poem, though she cannot really be Indian, and she can appreciate Indian culture, and the place, but she cannot however belong there. That is why her hennaid hand is going to be washed away, after a week. Her hanneid hand will fade away as her experience in India perhaps. India is symbolized by the tattoe. Her memories will fade away just as the temporalily tattoe will too. The poem ends with a yearning tone, the speaker's longing for a country she can lean on, but never be part of. i do however have a little interpretation of my own. The unknown girl could symbolize herself, she is searching for her identity, but she cannot however find it.
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I believe the author of this poem is unknown. Beautiful poem though!
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