Regina Monteavaro

5/4/2014
Period 4
Pre-Aice English
A Different History
y !"#ata $hatt
A Different History is a %oe& that disc"sses the gloali'ation of (estern c"lt"re and ho( it
affects traditional eastern c"lt"re and religion as (ell as disc"sses the c"sto&s and religio"s eliefs of
the a"thor) !"#ata $hatt* +he %oe&s str"ct"re is se%arated into seven sections) each section is divided
y a (ord that egins (ith a ca%ital letter* +he first fo"r %arts analy'e the ,ndian c"lt"re and their
eliefs) es%ecially their gods) the last three analy'e the effects of (esterni'ation and ho( the a"thor still
has ho%e that they can %reserve their eliefs* !"#ata (as orn in ,ndia and e&igrated (ith her fa&ily
(hen she (as 12) &ost of her %oe&s and literary (or-s are -no(n for their e&%hasis on racis& and
c"lt"ral interaction* +he %oe&.s the&e is centered the &ove&ent and %reservation of c"lt"re) religion
and (orshi%) and (esterni'ation*
+here is an a"ndant "se of i&agery) sy&olis&) and &eta%hors thro"gho"t the %oe&* ,n the
first three lines the a"thor states that the /0reat Pan is not dead1) a gree- god) and that /he si&%ly
e&igrated to ,ndia1) s"ggesting that ,ndia had a etter (ilderness* +he ne2t five lines are ao"t the
divinity of nat"re) and her tone is reverential to(ards her gods and nat"re* /Here) the gods roa& freely)
disg"ised as sna-es or &on-eys1 is a %arado2) eca"se if they (ere free they (o"ldn.t have to disg"ise
the&selves) &eaning that they are only free if they ada%t to the environ&ent* +he follo(ing three lines
in the %oe& assert that every tree is sacred) trees have roots and don.t &ove on or e&igrate) they
sy&oli'e the roots yo" lay do(n in yo"r ho&e land) and it is a sin to e r"de to a oo- eca"se it is an
ins"lt to the trees that sacrificed the&selves to create a oo- and (e sho"ld e gratef"l and a%%reciate
that sacrifice* +he str"ct"re of the ne2t si2 lines is a list of sins and ho( to %erfor& that sin* +he a"thor
&a-es it clear that any &istreat&ent of oo-s and their -no(ledge is sacrilege so she lists (hat not to
do rather than a list of (hat yo" sho"ld do to e&%hasi'e ho( disres%ectf"l it (o"ld e to the trees and
the gods the&selves* ,n the ne2t section) the god !arasvati ties in (ith the %revio"sly &entioned gree-
god Pan) they are oth gods of nat"re "t in contrast !arasvati is a Hind" goddess and is also the
goddess of -no(ledge) &"sic and the arts* /3o" &"st learn ho( to t"rn the %ages gently***(itho"t
dist"ring***(itho"t offending***1 the a"thors res%ect to her deities is dee%ly ingrained and in these lines
she is giving the readers instr"ctions on ho( not to offend the& and teaching the readers ho( to
(orshi% and res%ect the& li-e she (as raised to* 4ines nineteen thro"gh t(enty-t(o are t(o rhetorical
5"estions ro-en do(n into fo"r lines that oth egin (ith the sa&e t(o (ords* +he 5"estions center
aro"nd lang"age or &ore s%ecifically) different c"lt"res* $oth 5"estions &a-e the sa&e arg"&ent "t
(ith different %ersonification) the first 5"estion sates that every c"lt"re or co"ntry has at so&e %oint
een an o%%ressor and has een o%%ressed so yo" can.t lael the& as one or the other* +he second
5"estion is &ore %hiloso%hical than the first and %rovo-es f"rther 5"estions) it rings to light that no
one c"lt"re as a (hole is evil or har&f"l) and that the e2ce%tion is not the r"le* +he last seven lines are
a contin"ation of her onsla"ght of 5"estions e2ce%t it lac-s a 5"estion &ar-) eca"se even tho"gh she is
as-ing the 5"estion) dee% do(n she doesn.t re5"ire an ans(er* +he last 5"estion she %oses as-s ho(
does it ha%%en that after invaders coloni'e and /c"t the so"l o"t1 or re&ove the native c"lt"re) the ne(
generation that is orn fro& that coloni'ation ada%t to the ne( c"lt"re and call it their o(n) (hile
forgetting the lang"age of their ancestors and disres%ecting their gods and ho&e land*
+he fact that the entire %oe& (as originally (ritten in english is %"r%osely hy%ocritical eca"se
she is (riting this %oe& as a call to action for %eo%le to hold on to their heritage even (hen she is not
and it reveals to the reader that even !"#ata has let go of so&e of her ,ndian roots and has ada%ted to
her (estern s"rro"ndings* $eca"se of her lending of different c"lt"res she has roots in all of the& "t
her tone is still %ro"d and reverential to(ards her ho&e co"ntry* +he &ood of the %oe& is very ho%ef"l
that (e can all still %reserve o"r heritage even a&idst the (esterni'ation*
+he novel /6ervo"s 7onditions1 y +sitsi Dangare&ga relates to the %oe& and disc"sses
&any of the sa&e the&es) s"ch as coloni'ation and the %reservation of c"lt"re* $oth (or-s of literat"re
have sy&olis& and i&agery that hel% the reader "nderstand ho( (esterni'ation "%roots yo"r heritage
and changes yo"r (ay of life* 8estern ideas don.t foc"s on res%ect or reverence to(ards deities or
ancestors) the c"lt"re is centrali'ed on eing free and inde%endent) in contrast to %laces li-e Africa and
Asia (here it is re5"ired to loo- "% to yo"r s"%eriors) and to e de%endent of the&* +he a"thors
the&selves have very si&ilar ac-gro"nds and even tho"gh they co&e fro& different continents they
oth had to "%root the&selves and learn to ad#"st to a ne( and foreign (estern c"lt"re as (ell as held
on to their eliefs and c"sto&s*
+he %oe& itself has no overall %attern or clear rhy&e sche&e) (ith the e2ce%tion of having
so&e lines started y a ca%ital letter* ,t has a freestyle str"ct"re eca"se the a"thor herself finds it
diffic"lt to confor& to one s%ecific %attern as a reflection or her inaility of confor&ing to one c"lt"re)
the %oe& itself has a ac-gro"nd of "niversality* +he s"#ect eing disc"ssed it divided into t(o %arts*
+he first eighteen lines e2%lore the c"sto&s of ,ndian c"lt"re and dis%lay !"#ata $hatt.s roots and
heritage as (ell as her reverence for her deities and res%ect to(ards nat"re and her ho&e* +he last
eleven lines &ainly foc"s on (esterni'ation and ho( (e sho"ld all do o"r %art in %reserving o"r
c"lt"re* +he a"thor (as ho%ef"l and enco"rages the readers to acce%t the inevitale coloni'ation "t to
also gras% onto their heritage and eliefs so they can %ass the& on to their children and -ee% the
heritage itself alive) %artic"larly the lang"age of res%ect and sacredness*