An Analysis of Indian Sensibility in
Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry

(On the basis of the analysis of Night of the Scorpion, The Patriot, The Professor and Jewish Wedding in Bombay)

Nissim Ezekiel is one of the most celebrated poets of the postcolonial Indian literary history. He has wielded great influence as a leading poet, editor and an occasional playwright. He’s applauded for his subtlety in exploring common mundane themes in a comic light. His poetry lacks the nationalistic fervor that was common to the poems released during that time. His poetry objectively analyses the Indian scenario without taking any political stance. He constantly ridicules the Indian sensibilities with hopes of bringing about a change through his words.

Ezekiel has strived to create authentic Indian flavor by using ‘Indian English’ in all his poems. He stresses on the common mistakes committed by Indians, such as the usage of the present continuous tense in place of simple present. This is evident in this little excerpt from his poem, The Professor,
“We are keeping up. Our progress is progressing.
Old values are going, new values are coming.
Everything is happening with leaps and bounds.”
He ridicules the irony that a professor lacks the command over the language he uses to teach his subject.

He also mocks the Indian habit of literal translation of the native language to English with the same structure and tone. This excerpt from “The Patriot” is clearly evident of the same,
“How one goonda fellow
Threw stone at Indirabehn.
Must be student unrest fellow, I am thinking.”

His poetry expresses the essence of Indian personality and is also very sensitive to the changes of its national climate. Many poets such as A.K.Ramanujan and Sarojini Naidu also adopted similar styles into their works.

There are constant recurrent images of western influence into the culture of the