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Punishment in Kindergarten Is A Poem Written by Kamala Das

The poem "Punishment in Kindergarten" by Kamala Das describes a painful experience the author had as a child in kindergarten. When her class went on a picnic, she kept to herself while the other children played together. The teacher scolded her for not joining the others and called her peculiar, which made her very sad. Years later, the author reflects that she has learned through life experiences that joy and sorrow are both natural parts of life.

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2K views2 pages

Punishment in Kindergarten Is A Poem Written by Kamala Das

The poem "Punishment in Kindergarten" by Kamala Das describes a painful experience the author had as a child in kindergarten. When her class went on a picnic, she kept to herself while the other children played together. The teacher scolded her for not joining the others and called her peculiar, which made her very sad. Years later, the author reflects that she has learned through life experiences that joy and sorrow are both natural parts of life.

Uploaded by

FemSam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Punishment in Kindergarten is a poem written by Kamala Das.

Kamala Das (1934-2009) is one of the foremost Indian writers writing in


English.

She has written both in English and her mother tongue Malayalam.

Her works include Summer in Calcutta, The Descendants, The Old Playhouse
and other poems and her autobiography ‘My Story’.

There is an autobiographical vein in most of the poems of kamala Das.

“Punishment in Kindergarten” appeared in Summer in Calcutta.

It is reminiscent of a day in Kamala’s childhood.

When the poetess was in the kindergarten, one day the children were taken on
a picnic. All her schoolmates were playing and making merry. 

On the lawn, they sat together sipping sugar cane chatting and laughing.

On the other hand, she alone kept herself away from the company of the
children. 

Their teacher, a blue-frocked woman, scolded her saying.

“Why don’t you join the others, what

A peculiar child you are!”

The teacher scolded Kamala by throwing negative words at her like “throwing
pots and pans”. 

She became sad at the words of the teacher. 

But the laughter of the children made her very sad. 

They laughed “in mirth at others’ tears”. Filled with sorrow and shame, she
buried her face in a hedge and wept. 
This was indeed a painful experience to a little child in the nursery school.

When she recollects this incident after many years, she feels that there is no
need for her to be perturbed about that bitter kindergarten experience. 

With her long experience in life, she has learnt that life is a mixture of joy
and sorrow.   

The passage of time has taught her many things. 

She is no more a lonely individual as she used to feel when she was a child.

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