Please Come, Oh Flood by Ashalatha: Summary & Themes

Please come, Oh flood


Come, let’s sit in the shade of the boat.

Pareekutty invited.


Karuthamma maintained her posture,

looking down, just like in the film poster.

The pot to carry water remained in her hand.

She wore a polka dot blouse, cleavage showing

biting her lower lip seductively.


As it is said in the theories on gaze, the

male gaze relentlessly travelled down.

Pareekutty’s fish-hooking eyes became

Marcus Burtley’s camera that kept executing

tilt-ups and tilt-downs.


Precisely at that moment, the Old Man from

Panopticon turned his observation camera

towards the seashore.


Such wanton gaze on women, you s-o-b!

God growled within and unleashed a northern

wind and southern wind and then the

westerly and easterly winds.


That woman! She is also a hussy!

Thus. all mountainous waves were sent forth

to lash the seashore.

It was thus that everything was drowned

in a flood and the shore was carved away by the sea.


Unlike what these novelists say!


Summary

The poem is a creative re-imagining of the story from Chemmeen, a celebrated novel by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, and its film adaptation directed by Marcus Bartley. The poem revisits the iconic scene where Pareekutty invites Karuthamma to sit in the shade of a boat, imbuing it with complex layers of meaning drawn from literary and cinematic theory.

At its core, the poem critiques the male gaze, a concept from feminist theory that describes how women are often objectified in visual media through a lens that reflects a male perspective. This gaze is portrayed through Pareekutty’s "fish-hooking eyes," which are likened to the movements of Bartley’s camera in the film adaptation, executing "tilt-ups and tilt-downs" to emphasize Karuthamma’s physical appearance. The poem draws attention to how Karuthamma, depicted in a seductive pose with a polka-dot blouse, is rendered as an object of desire under this scrutinizing gaze. The imagery of her "biting her lower lip seductively" reinforces the idea that she is being presented in a way that caters to male fantasies.

The reference to the "Old Man from Panopticon" introduces the Foucauldian concept of the Panopticon, a metaphor for surveillance and control where individuals are constantly being watched and disciplined. In this context, Karuthamma's every move is monitored and judged, highlighting the oppressive nature of this gaze. The poem suggests that the male gaze is not just a passive act of looking but an active form of control and domination, one that holds power over the woman being observed.

The poem then takes a dramatic turn, with divine intervention symbolized by God’s wrath. The "northern wind and southern wind and then the westerly and easterly winds" are unleashed, representing a natural force that reacts against the objectification and exploitation of women. This leads to the creation of "mountainous waves" that lash the seashore, ultimately resulting in a flood that drowns everything and reshapes the shoreline. This imagery conveys a sense of cleansing and destruction, as if nature itself rises up to challenge and obliterate the unjust, voyeuristic gaze imposed upon women.

In the final lines, the poem explicitly rejects the narratives put forth by traditional novelists, suggesting that they fail to capture the truth of women’s experiences, particularly in the face of such pervasive objectification. The flood becomes a metaphor for a much-needed erasure of these old stories and the creation of a new reality where women are not merely objects for the male gaze but complex, autonomous individuals.

Overall, the poem serves as a powerful commentary on the dynamics of gaze, control, and the objectification of women in literature and cinema. By reinterpreting the story of Chemmeen, it challenges the traditional portrayals of women and calls for a re-imagining of their roles in both fictional narratives and societal structures.

Themes

  • Male gaze and objectification
  • Surveillance and control
  • Nature's response to injustice
  • gender and power dynamics
  • destruction and renewal
  • divine judgement and morality

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