I am The Daughter of The Land of Dravida
by Amrita Pritam
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Written by the legendary Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam, the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award, this poem is a powerful, feminist exploration of the historical suffering and resilience of Indian women. The speaker identifies herself as 'the daughter of the land of Dravida', representing the ancient, native roots of India, and outlines the dual, contradictory roles society forces upon women: she is Kama-kanya (the daughter of love, beauty and desire) and also Kal-kanya (the daughter of death, sacrifice and sorrow). She laments that she has passed through each of the four historical ages (Yugas), and in every age, instead of being treated as an equal human being with her own agency, she was systematically stripped of her rights and turned into a 'mere subject', property controlled by patriarchal structures. Despite this continuous oppression across centuries, she proudly asserts her enduring connection to her native land, maintaining her identity as the strong, resilient daughter of Dravida.
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Amrita Pritam (1919–2005), the legendary Punjabi writer and the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award, wrote this powerful feminist poem exploring the historical suffering and resilience of Indian women.
The dual identity of women
The speaker identifies herself as 'the daughter of the land of Dravida', representing the ancient, native roots of India. She outlines the dual, contradictory roles that society forces upon women.
She is Kama-kanya (the daughter of love, beauty and desire), and she is also Kal-kanya (the daughter of death, sacrifice and sorrow), two conflicting identities imposed on her by society.
Passing through the four ages
The speaker laments that she has passed through each of the four historical ages (Yugas) of human history. In each age, instead of being treated as an equal human being with her own agency, she was systematically stripped of her rights and turned into a 'mere subject' (property) controlled by patriarchal structures.
Despite this continuous oppression across centuries, she proudly asserts her enduring connection to her native land, maintaining her identity as the strong, resilient daughter of Dravida.