Father Returning Home
by Dilip Chitre
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In this moving free-verse poem, Dilip Chitre draws a poignant portrait of an ageing suburban commuter father and his lonely, alienated life. The father travels home on the late evening train, standing among silent commuters in the yellow light, his clothes soggy, his black raincoat mud-stained, his bag of books falling apart and his eyes dimmed by age. He gets off the train 'like a word dropped from a long sentence', an image of insignificance, and hurries home through muddy lanes. There he drinks weak tea, eats a stale chapati, and goes into the toilet 'to contemplate man's estrangement from a man-made world'. His 'sullen children' refuse to share jokes and secrets with him, deepening his isolation. Finally he goes to sleep listening to radio static, dreaming of his ancestors and grandchildren and of 'nomads entering a subcontinent'. The poem powerfully conveys the loneliness, neglect and alienation of the modern man within his own family and world.
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'Father Returning Home' by Dilip Chitre, from his collection 'Travelling in a Cage', paints a deeply sympathetic portrait of an ageing father, a tired suburban commuter, and his lonely, alienated existence. It explores themes of isolation, neglect and man's estrangement in the modern, man-made world.
The weary journey home
The father travels on the late evening train, standing among 'silent commuters in the yellow light'. The suburbs 'slide past his unseeing eyes'; his shirt and pants are soggy, his black raincoat is 'stained with mud', his bag 'stuffed with books is falling apart', and his eyes are 'dimmed by age'. He fades homeward through the 'humid monsoon night', a picture of exhaustion and dreariness.
The poet sees him get off the train 'like a word dropped from a long sentence', a striking simile suggesting how small and insignificant he has become. He hurries across the grey platform, crosses the railway line and enters the lane, his chappals sticky with mud, yet he hurries onward.
A cheerless home
At home, the father drinks 'weak tea', eats 'a stale chapati' and reads a book, details that reveal how little comfort or care he receives. He goes into the toilet 'to contemplate man's estrangement from a man-made world', and trembles at the sink as cold water runs over his brown, ageing hands.
Isolation and dreams
The father's isolation is deepest within his own family: his 'sullen children have often refused to share jokes and secrets with him', pointing to a painful generation gap and lack of concern. Cut off and alone, he prepares to sleep 'listening to the static on the radio', unable even to entertain himself properly.
As he drifts off, he dreams 'of his ancestors and grandchildren' and of 'nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass'. This links him to a long human past and future, and to the image of the eternal wanderer, suggesting that the isolated modern man is himself a kind of lonely nomad.