“which Language Should i speak
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🟧 Detailed Summary
In this poem, Arun Kamble presents a sharp, conflicted question of linguistic identity from
the perspective of a Dalit individual. He shows how he is torn between two forces:
1. His grandfather (symbol of tradition, rural roots, Dalit culture) commands him to speak in
the authentic, native tongue of his people.
2. His Brahmin teacher (symbol of upper-caste authority and education) scolds him for not
using “correct” language—i.e., the standardized, caste-sanctioned version.
Between these two extremes, the speaker is caught in a linguistic and cultural dilemma,
struggling to find a voice that represents truth, identity, and freedom. The poem ends with the
powerful question:
“Now I ask you, which language should I speak?”
This is not just a personal question, but a political challenge to the dominant culture.
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🟧 Line-by-Line Analysis
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Line 1: “Chewing totters in the badlands”
Explanation: “Totters” refers to cheap tobacco or betel nut; “badlands” suggests a dry, harsh
rural place.
Meaning: The speaker describes his grandfather as a rough, rooted figure, belonging to the
marginalized landscape of the Dalit rural world.
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Line 2: “My grandpa,”
Explanation: The figure of the grandfather represents ancestry, tradition, and cultural
heritage.
Tone: Respectful, yet conflicted.
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Line 3: “The permanent resident of my body,”
Explanation: His grandfather is not just a person from the past—he lives inside him
metaphorically. This shows how deeply his roots and cultural memory are embedded in him.
Theme: Heritage and identity.
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Line 4: “The household of tradition heaped on his back,”
Explanation: This line suggests the burden of caste traditions, poverty, and suffering passed
down through generations.
The grandfather is a carrier of oppressed histories.
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Line 5: “Hollers at me,”
Explanation: He doesn’t politely advise—he shouts, suggesting a clash or urgency.
Tone: Tense, commanding.
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Line 6: “‘You whore-son, talk like we do. Talk, I tell you!’”
Explanation: The language is harsh and colloquial, reflecting the raw, street-level speech of
the oppressed. The grandfather demands that the speaker reject upper-caste language and
speak in the Dalit dialect.
Contrast: Native tongue vs. imposed elite language.
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Line 7: “picking through the Vedas”
Explanation: The speaker now turns to the world of Brahminical knowledge. The Vedas
symbolize upper-caste scriptural authority.
Theme: Cultural alienation; Dalits were historically denied access to such texts.
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Line 8: “his top-knot well-oiled with ghee,”
Explanation: A reference to a Brahmin teacher, marked by traditional symbols like the
top-knot hairstyle and purity associated with ghee.
Shows the visual and symbolic contrast between the grandfather and the teacher.
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Line 9: “my Brahmin teacher tells me,”
Explanation: Now the voice of caste-based education enters. The teacher represents
oppressive literary norms and power.
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Line 10: “‘you idiot, use the language correctly!’”
Explanation: The teacher scolds the speaker, implying that his speech is impure, broken, or
unrefined.
This highlights linguistic discrimination and cultural policing.
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Line 11: “Now I ask you, which language should I speak?”
Explanation: This is the core question of the poem—filled with anger, pain, and challenge.
The speaker is trapped between his cultural heritage and the dominant system that demands
conformity.
Tone: Defiant and critical.
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🟩 Key Themes in the Poem
1. Caste and Language: The poem explores how language itself becomes a site of caste
oppression.
2. Cultural Conflict: The speaker is caught between the raw dialect of his roots and the
standardized Brahminical language of the elite.
3. Linguistic Alienation: Both sides claim authority over how he should speak, leaving him
feeling voiceless in his own body.
4. Resistance and Assertion: The poem ends with the speaker demanding an answer, showing
his refusal to be silenced or shaped by others.
🟦 Use of Contrast in the Poem “Which Language Should I Speak?” by Arun Kamble
Arun Kamble’s poem “Which Language Should I Speak?” powerfully employs contrast to
highlight the linguistic, cultural, and caste-based conflict faced by a Dalit speaker. The poem
presents the speaker caught between two opposing voices—his Dalit grandfather and his
Brahmin teacher—both demanding that he speak in their respective languages. This conflict
forms the emotional and political core of the poem.
Here’s how contrast operates in different layers of the poem:
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🔶 1. Dalit Language vs. Brahminical Language
The grandfather speaks in raw, rustic, abusive, and emotional terms:
"You whore-son, talk like we do."
His language represents authenticity, oral tradition, lived experience, and a sense of
resistance.
In contrast, the Brahmin teacher represents refined, grammatical, structured language:
"You idiot, use the language correctly!"
This reflects dominant caste power and intellectual elitism, rooted in Sanskritic purity and
textual authority.
🔸 Purpose: This contrast shows how language becomes a tool of oppression and identity.
The Dalit speaker’s voice is crushed between these two linguistic expectations.
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🔶 2. Rural Roots vs. Educated Authority
The grandfather lives in the “badlands” and is described as a “permanent resident of my
body.”
He embodies tradition, survival, and oral history, even if it’s considered uncivilized.
The teacher, with “top-knot well-oiled with ghee,” is the image of Sanskritised, upper-caste
authority.
He is tied to written knowledge, rules, and grammar.
🔸 Purpose: The contrast shows the internal tug-of-war within the speaker—between
inherited cultural memory and externally imposed systems of knowledge.
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🔶 3. Freedom of Expression vs. Linguistic Conformity
The grandfather demands the speaker to express himself freely, in the language of emotion
and experience.
The Brahmin teacher demands the speaker to follow linguistic rules, making him conform to
a system that excludes his identity.
🔸 Purpose: This contrast reflects the larger Dalit struggle to assert their truth in a language
and literary world not designed for them.
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🔶 4. Abuse vs. Discipline
The grandfather’s voice, though rough and filled with verbal abuse, is familiar and heartfelt.
The teacher’s tone is also insulting (“you idiot”), but cold and controlling.
🔸 Purpose: Kamble uses this contrast to blur moral lines. Even though both scold him, only
one offers him a sense of belonging. It asks the reader to rethink what is considered
‘civilized’ or ‘correct’.
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🔶 5. Physical Inheritance vs. Institutional Expectation
The grandfather is described as “the permanent resident of my body,” which shows how his
language and culture are inseparable from the speaker’s identity.
The Brahmin teacher, however, represents an external, forced authority.
🔸 Purpose: This contrast shows how Dalit identity is embodied and lived, while dominant
norms are externally imposed and alienating.
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🟨 Conclusion:
Arun Kamble’s use of contrast is central to the poem’s political message. It brings out the
tensions of a divided identity, the violence of cultural erasure, and the urgent need for
linguistic self-determination. The speaker’s final question,
“Now I ask you, which language should I speak?”,
is not just personal—it challenges society’s double standards and exposes how language itself
is caste-coded.
The poem’s brilliance lies in how these contrasts are woven into every line, image, and
voice—making it a bold expression of Dalit assertion and resistance.
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