Dear Editor,
A few weeks ago, mention the name Mahadai Das locally and there might be the dullest flicker of recognition, if that. Suddenly, Mahadai’s name is everywhere. Those of us who have lamented her apparent erasure from our poetic canon might be tempted to celebrate. Except that it’s not her poetry in the limelight. It’s her life. I cannot presume to speak for Mahadai Das. No-one can. But, when we engage in public discourse, is it fair to reduce people (usually women) to one descriptor? When we label someone as mentally unstable, alcoholic or even as a rape victim, are we not in danger of diminishing all of the other aspects of their lives, all of their achievements? To quote the recently bereaved spouse of someone who died of alcoholism: ‘I do not want him to be reduced to a word too narrow to tell you what you need to know about him.’
After years of studied neglect of her poetry, we are in danger of diminishing Das. Into the void of her absence, and in an attempt to restore her agency, let us listen to the words she left:
‘Whilst the hammering arm
in rhythmic falter flags,
My finer steel will grow.’
Yours faithfully,
Isabelle de Caires
