Punishment in Kindergarten is a poem written by Indian woman author, Kamala Das. The central theme of poem is wistfulness, joyfulness and sorrows in life.
Summary of Punishment in Kindergarten By Kamala Das
Punishment in Kindergarten By Kamala Das Summary
The story of poem begins with poet who says, today my world is mine only, no one can control it. I don’t need to remember the pain which my blue frocked teacher gave me. When I was in kindergarten, she used to throw her words on me like a pots and pants. Here poet mean to say, her teacher used to throw words on her in such a way people throw their things in anger. She did it to destroy my mental peace.
Once poet’s teacher said to her, “Why don’t you join the others, what a peculiar child you are! “. It means why you behave strangely in class, why you don’t play with others students. On the lawn, my schoolmates were sitting in group and eating sugarcane, when they saw teacher scolding me, they laugh and laughed on me. They doesn’t care how I was feeling, they just laugh on me.
The poet says children are funny things as they laugh in mirth at others tears. For children others tears is a way of entertainment. When my schoolmates were laughing at me, I hide my face in bushes to smell the flowers but I was in pain at that time. Here poet mean to say, I wasn’t feeling good when they were laughing at me, so to hide my tears I hide my face in bushes.
The poet says, voice of my teacher is muffled now, and schoolmates who laughed at me, their faces are blurred now. I don’t even remember now who used to yell or laugh at me as their faces are blur now. Those years have passed, and my mind has find a peace in adulthood. I don’t need to remember that picnic day when I was hiding myself in hedge and watching sun shining lonely in the sky.
Therefore, I don’t need to remember those things as I’m grown up now and my mind has accepted peace.
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