Unit 7 Keki N.

Daruwalla : “Wolf”

UNIT 7: KEKI N. DARUWALLA: “WOLF”

UNIT STRUCTURE
7.1 Learning Objectives
7.2 Introduction
7.3 Keki N. Daruwalla: The Poet
7.3.1 His Life
7.3.2 His Works
7.4 The Text of the Poem
7.4.1 The Explanation of the Poem
7.5 Major Themes
7.6 Style and Language
7.7 Let us Sum up
7.8 Further Reading
7.9 Answers to Check Your Progress
7.10 Model Questions

7.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit you will be able to:

• gain a brief idea on the life and works of the Indian poet Keki Daruwalla
• explain both the content and context of the poem “Wolf”
• explore the relevant themes pertaining to the text of the poem
• grasp the style and language employed in the poem
• appreciate the poem from a child’s perspective

7.2 INTRODUCTION

Nature and its changing elements find a strong expression in the works of
the Indian poet Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla. While reading his poems, one
feels instantly drawn into the world of nature enraptured in its mysterious
elements and driven by its powerful forces as also reflected in his works. In
particular, his nature poetry leads the reader into the depths of the unknown
wilderness and directs one’s sensibility into probing the significant aspects
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and realities mirrored in his poetical landscapes. In the present unit, we

shall first gain a brief insight into the life and works of the poet and explore
one of his selected poems titled “Wolf” which contains a touch of sadness
and wonder in the imagination of a little child.

7.3 KEKI N. DARUWALLA: THE POET

Let us begin by reading a little about the life and works of the poet keki
Daruwalla, who is also considered one of the major Indian English poets.

7.3.1 His Life

Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla was born in the year 1937 to a Parsi family in
Lahore. His family had moved to Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh and then to
Rampur, well before the Partition. As a child he had to change several
schools and much of his childhood was spent in India where he received
his early education and also completed his higher studies. Daruwalla had
completed his post graduation in English Literature from Government
College, Ludhiana. Prior to starting out as a poet and a writer, he had begun
his career in the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1958. In addition to this, he
had also served as the special Assistant to the Prime Minister on International
Affairs and had retired as the Cabinet Secretariat.

7.3.2 His Works

To his credit, Daruwalla has written over twelve books that comprise both
anthologies of poetry and short stories. His first poetical work to be published
by the Writers Workshop was titled Under Orion in the year 1970. This was
shortly followed by his second anthology of poems titled Apparition in April
in the year 1971 for which he had also won the Uttar Pradesh State Award
in 1972. Some of his other notable works are: In Morning Dew, Crossing of
Rivers (1976), Winter Poems (1980), The Keeper of the Dead (1982),
Landscapes (1987), A Summer of Tigers: Poems (1995), Night River Poems
(2000), The Scarecrow and the Ghost (2004), A House in Ranikhet (2003)
and For Pepper and Christ (2009). The anthologies of his short stories are

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Unit 7 Keki N. Daruwalla : “Wolf”

titled Swords and Abyss (1979) and The Minister for Permanent Unrest
and Other Stories (1996). The recurrent themes in his writings include
portrayals of Indian life, nature, wild life, rivers, landscapes, birds and animals
evoked through striking and powerful imagery.
Throughout his challenging career as a police officer, Daruwalla continued
to pursue his interest in writing. Today, he is one of the leading Indian English
poets also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984 for his anthology of
poems titled The Keeper of the Dead, and also the Commonwealth Poetry
Prize for Asia in the year 1987. Daruwalla was honoured with the
Padmashree in 2014 and has held the post of President of The Poetry
Society (India). As noted in the Twelve Modern Indian Poets (2007) and
extracted from the poet’s work Two Decades of Indian Poetry: 1960-1980,
the poet opines thus,
“…but I feel even in poetry content is more important than form. For me
poetry is first personal-exploratory, at times therapeutic…At the same time
it has to be a social gesture, because on occasions I feel external reality
bearing down on me from all sides with a pressure strong enough to tear
the ear-drums. My poems are rooted in landscape…[It] is not merely there
to set the scene but to lead to an illumination. It should be the eye of the
spiral… For me a riot-stricken town is landscape.” (page)

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1. How did Daruwalla begin his career before
starting out as a poet?
Q2. Name the work for which Daruwalla had
received the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Q3. When was Daruwalla honoured with the Padmashree?

7.4 THE TEXT OF THE POEM

Let us begin with a reading of the prescribed poem before exploring its
content, themes and relevant context. The poem captures the image of a
frightened wolf out in the darkness of the night with searching eyes for a
hiding place.
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“Wolf”
Fire lit
half silhouette and half myth
the wolf circles my past
Silhouette: the dark
treading the leaves into a bed
shape and outline of
till he sleeps, black snout someone or something
seen against a lighter
on extended paws.
background
Myth: an imaginary
being
Black snout on sulphur body Treading: walk in a
he nudged his way specified way
Extended: hold out a
into my consciousness. part of one’s body
Prowler, wind-sniffer, throat-catcher, Snout: the projecting
nose and mouth of an
his cries drew a ring animal
around my night; Nudged: touch or push
gently
a child’s night in a village Consciousness: the
on the forest edge. state of being
conscious, one’s
awareness of
My mother said something
Prowler: an animal
his ears stand up moving in a restless or
at the fall of dew a stealthy way
Wind-sniffer: detecting
he can sense a shadow smell carried in the wind
move across a hedge particularly by animals
Dew: tiny drops of
on a dark night moisture that form on
he can sniff out cool surfaces at night
Hedge: a hedge formed
your approaching dreams; by closely growing
there is nothing bushes
Slaughtered: kill
that won’t be lit up (people) in a cruel or
by the dark touch of his eyes. violent way
Barrels: a tube forming
part of a gun
The wolves have been slaughtered now
A hedge of smoking gun-barrels
rings my daughter’s dreams.

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Unit 7 Keki N. Daruwalla : “Wolf”

7.4.1 The Explanation of the Poem

The poem begins with a vague image of a form, a figure or silhouette lurking
in the dark, in the wilderness as though it were hiding under the cover of
darkness. This form is that of a wolf that haunted the imagination and
thoughts of the poet as a child. Thus, the imagined presence of a wolf
occupied the poet’s mind as a child as wolves were known to be hunted
down at night by men. This imaginary wolf prowls in the dark with careful
and calculated movements out in the dark and falls asleep on a bed of
leaves, by resting its snout on its paws. The presence of the wolf (whether
it is in the dark outside the poet’s home or in the poet’s imagination) happens
to stir up an amazing sense of wonder and bewilderment in him. The poet
describes the radiating presence of the wolf to a lit fire and to an unknown
or unknowable myth.
The mysterious form of a wolf (in trouble) captures the mind of the
child in a very powerful way that it seeps (‘nudges’) into the consciousness
of the child. You may very well imagine how certain mysterious aspects
create a deep impression and reside in the crater of the mind in little children
for a very long time. In the same way, the poet reminisces how as a child,
he had been haunted by the ringing cries of wolves at night. These cries
were probably not the usual howling of wolves but the painful ones when
they were hunted down. It might have confused the child on how such a
splendid animal as a wolf who had the freedom of prowling around its territory
and hunting its own food (“wind-sniffer, throat-catcher”) was now a victim
of the human world suffering the fate of the ‘hunted’. Earlier, wolves were
hunted not as much for game as for human security in the villages. The
poet’s village home was at the edge of a forest and perhaps, for this reason
the cries of the wolves were clearly audible to him as a child.
In the days of his childhood, his mother would often narrate to him
bed-time stories of wolves, describing how the sensitive ears of the wolves
would pick up signals or any movements in its territory at midnight, out in
the cold when dewdrops fell in the silence of the forest. You may perhaps
know how animals are gifted with the sense of smell whether for their food

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or for their sense of security. The poet remembers how his mother would
tell him of wolves sniffing into his dreams and leaving in him a sense of
emptiness as she tries to put him to sleep. Those were the days of the
poet’s childhood but now there were no more wolves left in those forests
as they were all killed by ruthless men. There was no more of those haunted
presence of wolves or their tearing cries, all that was left was their ‘absence’
alone. The dark bodies with lit eyes and radiating presence were long gone
with their radiating presence. All that remained were images of smoking gun-
barrels that stood for violence and bloodshed of innocent animals. The poet
as a father now to a little girl is only left wondering how there were no more
wolves to capture her imagination or dreams as there were in his time.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q4.What does the imaginary wolf do in the dark?
Q5. What did the poet’s mother narrate to him in
the days of his childhood?

7.5 MAJOR THEMES

Some of the major themes that emerge from the poem “Wolf” are as
discussed below:
Fragmented Memories
The narrative voice of the poet reverts back to a time when he knew of
wolves that lived and prowled around their neighbourhood. The poet
reminisces how his mother would put him to bed at night, when he did not
want to sleep. She would simply make him believe that if he did not fall
asleep, the wolves with their sharp sense of smell would find and reach
him easily. You may have noticed this common bed-time trick that all mothers
try on their little children just so that they become obedient and sleep on
time. The poet vividly recalls the memories of hearing wolves cry at night in
the nearby forests that bordered their village home. Perhaps, this is why
the poet had always felt that the wolf or the pack of wolves were never far
away from him as a child.

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Unit 7 Keki N. Daruwalla : “Wolf”

In fact, through the wonderful description of the poet, anyone reading the
poem would feel as though a curious wolf was hiding from the reader
somewhere nearby. The haunting quality of memories that remain ever
fresh in the mindscape even with the passage of time is beautifully captured
in the words of the poem. Although, the poem only represents the poet’s
‘imagination’ of the living wolf or wolves in the form of fragmented memories,
we receive a complete picture of what it must have been like in the past,
when we put all of these images together. Memories have a surprising way
of approaching our thoughts and leaving us emotionally charged. Sometimes
they come to us in a rush and appear unexpectedly and at other times, they
come in flashes and in fragmented forms. We may not always remember
or recall certain memories but memories have a way of making themselves
felt, just as the memory of the wolf does in the mind of the poet.
Animals in Danger
The wolf in the poem occupies the mind of the poet, long after its kind
ceases to exist in their vicinity. The existence of the wolf or wolves in that
area almost turns into a myth which saddens the poet. If the ‘presence’ of
wolves had haunted the mind of the poet as a child, it is now their ‘absence’
that disturbs him. The poem thus expresses the alarming concerns of
animal killing and the everyday threat to their existence. Further, it points
towards the dangers of the widespread ‘man and animal conflict’. For an
instance, closer home you may have heard or read news reports on the
burning issues of ‘rhino poaching’ even within the protected areas of Assam’s
National parks. If such inhumane and illegal practices go unnoticed then,
perhaps the day is not far when the future generations will find these
vulnerable animals in the list of extinct species. The poet leaves an
impression of a similar concern, while wondering how the wolves are now
unheard of in the forests bordering his village. This is a special fragment of
memory or feeling that the poet’s daughter shall never know of, as he did in
his childhood.
Animals are often seen as insentient beings but in truth they are more
sensitive than most of their human counterparts, who instead of living in
harmony with the natural world, turn into destructive forces. The poem
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contains a hidden message that if animals are wiped out so mercilessly,

the future generations will never know the value of animal life to mankind. It
is necessary for us to respect the natural world first and to ensure that the
children of the future learn to respect the invaluable gifts of nature in the
form of animal life. Nothing can really justify the killing or slaughtering of
animals.

7.6 STYLE AND LANGUAGE

The poetry of Daruwalla contains striking imagery that easily captures

the imagination of the reader. In the poem “Wolf”, the opening lines creates
a ‘hypnotic’ effect on the reader’s mind with the revelation of the mysterious
presence of a wolf in the poet’s memory as expressed in the opening lines:
“Fire lit/ half silhouette and half myth/ the wolf circles my past.” In the words
of the poet, the wolf almost ‘nudges’ into our ‘consciousness’ the moment
we read through the poem. Thus, the central image in the poem is the
silent ‘wolf’ and this is emphasised through short repetitive phrases such
as “half silhouette”/ “half myth,” “black snout on extended paws”/ “black
snout on sulphur body.” Moreover, the poet recreates the haunted midnight
memories of his village home at the end of the forest just he remembers
wolves prowling “around [his] night/ a child’s night” of the bygone years.
The learner will note that the poem has a dream-like quality as the wolf
literally exists in the realm of the poet’s imagination. The poet is almost
drawn back in time, almost lost in his dream-like memories of those old
nights when even his mother would scare him saying wolves would sniff
out his approaching dreams if he did not fall asleep. He is reminded of the
same on seeing his daughter lost in her own dreams. And thus, the play of
memory, the to and fro into the then and now is skillfully presented in the
poem. Also, one can almost feel the silent and measured movements of
the wolf in the dark forest followed by its piercing cry that ruptures the tranquil
of those old nights. There is a silent restlessness in the recreation of the
imaginary wolf outside the poet’s childhood home, the memory of his own
restlessness as a child and the restlessness thinking about the slaughtered
wolves.
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Thus, in a few vivid images the poem leaves a deep impression on

one’s mind and we imagine the wolf, true to the memory of the poet who
describes the wolf as “prowler, wind surfer, throat catcher.” Also, one finds
that the image of the wolf is not only dream-like but is also received in
fragments where the reader is gradually introduced to the fire lit presence
of the wolf with its black snout, extended paws, sulphur body, standing
ears, sharp sense of movement, quick nose and dark gleam of his eyes.
The poem is easy to comprehend as it is written in simple language but the
fine style of writing and expression is unique to Keki N. Daruwalla.

7.7 LET US SUM UP

After having gone through the unit, you will be able to discuss the life and
works of Keki N. Daruwalla. A thorough reading of the unit will enable you to
further explain the content, context and the relevant themes pertaining to
the text of the poem “Wolf”. Also, you will be able to grasp the poetic
techniques employed in the prescribed poem. The study of the unit shall
enable you to explore and enrich your knowledge on the other interesting
works by the poet.

7.8 FURTHER READING

1) www.poemhunter.com
2) www.poemhunter.com/keki-daruwalla/biography

7.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No1: Prior to starting out as a poet and a writer, he had begun his
career in the Indian Police Service
Ans to Q No 2: He had received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984 for his
anthology of poems titled The Keeper of the Dead.

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Ans to Q No 3: Daruwalla was honoured with the Padmashree in 2014.

Ans to Q No 4: This imaginary wolf prowls in the dark with careful and
calculated movements out in the dark and falling asleep on a bed of leaves,
by resting its snout on its paws.
Ans to Q No 5: In the days of his childhood, his mother would often narrate
to him bed time stories of wolves, describing how the sensitive ears of the
wolves would pick up signals or any movements in its territory at midnight,
out in the cold when dewdrops fell in the silence of the forest.

7.10 MODEL QUESTIONS

Q.1. Discuss the life and works of the Indian English poet Keki Daruwalla.
Q.2. Give a detailed explanation of the poem “Wolf” in your own words.
Q.3. What are the main issues or themes highlighted in the poem “Wolf”?
Q4. Analyse the style and language employed in the poem “Wolf”
Q.5. Explain with reference to context:
a) “Prowler, wind-sniffer,
throat-catcher
his cries drew a ring
around my night”
b) “a child’s night in a village
on the forest edge.
My mother said
his ears stand up
at the fall of dew”
**********

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