ಹೊಲಿಗೆ ಯಂತ್ರದ ಅಮ್ಮಿ (Holige Yantrada Ammi)
by ಅರೀಫ್ ರಾಜಾ (Arif Raja)
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This moving contemporary poem by Arif Raja, 'Mother at the Sewing Machine', is a tribute to the silent sacrifices and dignity of a working-class mother. The sewing machine symbolises her survival, resilience and role as the family's anchor. The poet paints his mother pushing the heavy pedal to earn an honest living and stitch together the torn lives of her children. The scissors symbolise life's harsh, divisive forces, while the needle and thread stand for the mother's love, patience and capacity to heal, elevating the humble act of tailoring into a heroic act of creation.
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Arif Raja's Holige Yantrada Ammi is a touching tribute to the working-class mothers who silently battle poverty for their children's future. The poet focuses on his mother, Ammi, at her old, heavy, rusted iron sewing machine: her feet push the heavy pedal in a rhythm the poet likens to the turning wheels of history, her hands guide torn pieces of cloth under the rapid needle, and her strained eyes follow the thread under a dim light.
The machine as the engine of survival
The sewing machine is not a mere machine but a living character, the engine of the family's survival. Every stitch is a stitch against hunger. The mother takes the discarded clothes of the wealthy and transforms them into neat garments, while her own life remains a patchwork of struggles.
Metaphors of scissors, needle and thread
The poet reads meaning into her tools: the scissors represent the harsh, divisive and painful forces of life, poverty, cruelty and division; the needle and thread represent the mother's immense love, unity, healing and patience. Even when her body aches, her back bends and her fingers grow calloused, Ammi works without complaint, her sweat mingling with the threads. Arif Raja thus elevates the humble act of tailoring into a spiritual, historic act of creation, showing his mother as the true, unsung heroine.