Summary of the Poem:
A retired professor of geography, Mr. Seth, meets one of his former students. Recognizing his student, he asks if he remembers him. He reminds him that he is Professor Seth who was his geography teacher. Then he goes on to describe about himself and his family. He tells his former student that he has retired from his job, but he is enjoying good health, even in his old age. He becomes somewhat emotional while telling his student about his wife's death. Professor Seth feels satisfied to think that God has soothed his sorrowful feelings by blessing him through his children. He tells his former student that he is happy to think that his children are living in good circumstances. They (children) are well-settled. They have earned their social status and dignity by their own ability. He tells his student that one of his sons a sales manager and the other is a bank manager. While describing their prosperity, he tells him (his student) that each of them (sons) owns a car. Professor feels proud of his sons' having material possession. But suddenly while talking his student, he is filled with sorrow and regrets. With utter dejection and sorrow, he tells his student that there is always a black sheep in the family like his third son. Professor tells him that though he is doing well, he is not well off as his brothers. Further he talks his student about his daughter. Taking a sigh of relief, he tells him that his two daughters Sarala and Tarala are happily married with nice boys. His sons-in- law are perfectly suitable for his daughters. Professor Seth feels excessive happiness and proud of having such sons-in-law.
Professor Seth keeps up his conversation with his student and tells him that he is the most fortunate person for having eleven grandchildren. He asks his student about the number of children he has. The student tells him that he has three children. On learning this, he at once approves the idea of having small family. He thinks that small family is a happy family. He appreciates the process of family planning which is being followed by the new generation. (Indeed it is an irony that on one side, the old man shows his approval for having small family, but on the other side he feels proud on having large family). Professor agrees with that it is essential to bring change in thought and attitude with the passage of time. He accepts that the change is the only constant thing. He tells him (student) that a great change can be seen in the whole world. India is also keeping up with the change. The development is happening very fast in India, too. India is also progressing indifferent spheres. He talks his student about the change of values. With the material progress, old values are vanishing and the new values (progressive values) are taking place. It seems that the country is progressing rapidly.
Continuing his conversation, the professor tells his student that he occasionally goes out of his house because his old age does not allow. But wherever the question of his health rises, he does not have any complaint of his health. Sometimes he feels aches and pains in some parts of the body. He is entirely free from all those diseases which are very common in the old age. He has never suffered from diabetes, blood pressure or heart attack. For his sound health, he gives credit to his disciplined life and healthy habits, Then he asks his student how he is and replies himself in an affirmative. He says that he is happy to learn this. He further adds that he is sixty nine years old and wishes to live up to hundred years. The professor recalls how his student was as thin as a stick, but now he has grown fat and has also made his social status. The professor tells him that he has cracked a joke. He asks his student to visit his house next time if he happens to pass to that side. He tells his student that his house is at the back of the opposite house.
Critical Appreciation of the Poem:
Introduction:
In the poem entitled The Professor, the poet Nissim Ezekiel describes talkative nature of the old men. Indeed, talking too much is a peculiar quality of the old men. Since their bodies and limbs become weak and they have a lot of time on their hands, they tend to be talkative. In the poem, the poet has deftly sketched an old man’s attitude, his style of talking and giving details of his family matters, when then unasked. It is true life-like portrayal of many senior citizens who like to unburden their minds by talking about themselves to anyone who lends a patient ear. The poem points out to the typical Indian society, where men are supposed to have high-paying jobs to earn respect in society. The poem shows that in the case of girls, the end point is to get married to decent boys in a respectable family. The poem mocks at the Indian tradition of giving rhyming names to the siblings like Sarala and Tarala. The most important characteristic of Indian referred to in the poem is the practice of speaking English as a sign of great academic status even if vernacular-English usage sounds weird. The poem depicts the linguistic oddities of English used by the Indian speakers.
Thought-Content:
Professor Seth who is the narrator of the poem, once, taught geography, but now he has retired. After a long interval of time, he meets one of his former students. He tells him that though he has retired, he is enjoying sound health. He informs his student that his wife has passed away some years ago, but he is happy to think that by God's grace all his children are well-settled in life, one is a sales manager and other is bank manager, both having cars of their own. He tells his student about his two daughters, Sarala and Tarala who are happily married to nice boys. He also feels proud of having eleven grandchildren. He asks his student how many children he has, to which the latter replies that he has three children. He mentions that the trend of the age is family planning and approved it. The professor thinks that the whole world is progressing and India is keeping itself with it. He emphasises on the need of change. He talks about the change of the values. He tells his student that old values are being replaced by the new ones. He says that he rarely goes out because of old age, though he is in good health apart from usual aches and pains. He tells his student that he is in good health because of following good habits in his youth. Professor Seth wishes to live for hundred years. Then he recalls how thin as a stick his student was when he was a boy and now he has grown fat. Professor invites his student at his house.
Satirical Poem:
The poem is a satire on a retired professor. The conversation made by the professor is far away from the talk of an intellectual person. Instead of discussing on any matter or subject, he talks about his family. He boasts of the material status of his sons and the marriage of his daughters. The poet passes a satire on the Indian society which values the success of a man by his sons' managerial jobs and daughters' marriage in a well-to-do family. He passes a satire on the pretence of the Indians who claim that they are changing with the passage of time, but no change is seen in their thought process. Especially, the old men do not want to give up their orthodox attitude. They feel great difficulty in accepting the change in values and thoughts. They are not happy to see the change. Next, the poet passes satire on Indians' using the English language. Many Indians use the English language, making mistakes of grammar, syntax, tense and idiom. The poem is a satire on those urban Indians who think that if they speak in English, it will be the matter of their prestige. They feel shame at the use of their mother tongue.
Irony in the Poem:
The poet mocks Indianisms in English, and adaptation of the language to adopt to the native language structure. It highlights mother-tongue interference. It caricatures the geography professor, Mr. Seth, as he converses in English, with one of his former students. A professor is the one who teaches, and should be in proper command of the medium he utilizes. Therefore, it is indeed ironical. Far from pertaining to any academic subject, the professor showcases his family achievements. He is indeed boastful as he poses his sons as social trophies to be displayed, as he asserts:
Though he advocates family planning, he does not seem to adopt it.
Form, Style and Language:
The poet has employed a conversational form in colloquial style in his poem. The poem is in free verse without having a regular metrical form. The choice of words is quite humorous. It appears to be a direct translation of the native language, with the same structure and tone. At the same time the poem is stuffed with clichés and insipidity. The tone is serious, though subject is trivial as with the mock-heroic style. Indian English does have its stock usages as the speaker earlier asks: "No issues?" Their conversation does not even verge on academic topics. Though the poet uses a number of figures of speech, the language is ineffectual, ungrammatical and unidiomatic. The professor that he professes neither proves to be a good one academically, nor is a morally supportive one, as he is incorrigibly egocentric, obsessed with his own matters. The tendency of Indians to exaggerate (or use hyperbole) idiomatically for emphasis is also apparent:
—Now you are man of weight and consequence.
—Everything is happening with leaps and bounds.
—Our progress is progressing.
—This year I am sixty-nine.
—You were so thin, like stick.
The poet resorts to the Indian mania of comparing people to objects:
And of course, it is a good joke. Indians resort to vulgarisms unknowingly in their endeavour to sound sophisticated: