Literature in English (0475) | Arun Kolatkar, ¡¥The Bus¡¦

IGCSE Literature (0475) Study Notes: Arun Kolatkar - 'The Bus'

Welcome, Literature students! Get ready to explore 'The Bus' by Arun Kolatkar. This poem takes something ordinary—a boring, dusty bus journey—and transforms it into a profound moment of observation. Learning how Kolatkar uses sharp detail to capture a vivid slice of life is key to mastering your poetry analysis!

1. Context and Overview of the Poem

Who is Arun Kolatkar?

Arun Kolatkar (1932–2004) was an important modern Indian poet. He wrote in both Marathi and English. His work is known for its simple, direct language, combining keen observation of everyday urban and rural life with deeper, often spiritual or philosophical reflections.

• Setting: The poem captures the feeling of a long, often uncomfortable bus journey, typical of travel in parts of India. It focuses on a brief moment when the bus is stopped, likely at dawn or late night.
• Key Concept: Kolatkar excels at making the mundane magical. He finds beauty and strangeness in the dirty windows, the sleeping passengers, and the dusty landscape.

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Quick Review: The poet is a modern Indian observer, focusing on ordinary scenes to find extraordinary details.

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2. Summary of Content (AO1: Knowledge)

The poem is structured as a continuous observation by the speaker, who is presumably a passenger waking up on the bus.

Stanza-by-Stanza Breakdown (What is happening?)

• The Setting (Lines 1-7): The speaker wakes up to find the bus has stopped. The air inside is thick and stale, contrasting sharply with the coldness outside. The atmosphere is oppressive.
  Quote Focus: "The bus seems to have been hijacked by sleep." (A vivid personification suggesting that everyone, even the driver, is deeply asleep).
• The View (Lines 8-15): The speaker looks out the window. The window is filthy, covered in grime and dust—a barrier between the passenger and the outside world. He tries to wipe a patch clear.
  Analogy: Imagine trying to look out a car window that hasn't been washed for weeks. You only get blurry, distorted views, which is what the speaker initially sees.
• The Surprise (Lines 16-End): As the speaker clears a space, a sudden, surreal encounter happens: the face of a cow appears immediately outside the window.
• The Climax: The cow, drawn by the dampness on the glass where the speaker has wiped, begins to lick the glass. This moment is startling, intimate, and slightly unsettling, connecting the closed-off world of the bus with the immediate natural world outside.

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Key Takeaway: The action moves from internal discomfort and blurred vision (inside the bus) to a moment of startling clarity and connection (the cow's face outside).

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3. Themes and Ideas (AO2: Understanding)

Kolatkar uses this short journey fragment to explore several universal human themes:

1. The Nature of the Journey vs. The Destination

• The poem is not about arriving; it is about the process of getting there. The journey is tedious, uncomfortable, and full of involuntary stops.
• Theme of Stagnation: The sleeping passengers and the stationary bus suggest time has paused. The discomfort is a shared experience—they are all stuck together, waiting.

2. Observation and Detail

• Kolatkar celebrates the ability of the poet (and the passenger) to notice small, often dirty, realities. The focus is on the texture of life: the "grimy glass," the "cold dust," the "thick sleep."
• This theme is crucial: the act of seeing clearly (wiping the glass) leads to a moment of revelation (the cow).

3. Connection with the Natural World

The abrupt appearance of the cow emphasizes the contrast between the artificial, cramped space of the bus and the organic world just outside.

• The cow’s lick is a primitive, physical action that momentarily breaks the barrier of the window, bringing the traveler face-to-face with nature.
• In Indian culture, the cow is often seen as sacred or highly symbolic. Its presence here is neither purely spiritual nor disrespectful; it is simply real—a natural encounter interrupting the human journey.

Did you know? Kolatkar often wrote poems about the temple town of Jejuri. While 'The Bus' might not explicitly mention it, the motif of travel and unexpected encounters on a pilgrimage route is common in his work.

4. Writer's Methods and Language (AO3: Methods)

Kolatkar achieves his effects through precise, sensory description and deliberate structural choices.

1. Imagery and Sensory Detail

The poem relies heavily on imagery that evokes discomfort and atmosphere.

• Visual Imagery: The description of the glass is highly visual: "a pane of glass/ half-covered with dust" and "a clean patch/ big enough/ for a face". This physical effort to see mirrors the effort required to understand the world.
• Tactile Imagery (Touch): The poet focuses on the coldness and dampness—the cow's tongue leaves a "wet flower" on the pane. This single wet detail cuts through all the surrounding dust and dryness.

2. Figurative Language

• Personification: The most striking example is the bus being hijacked by sleep. This suggests sleep is an active force, taking control of the passengers against their will.
• Simile/Metaphor: The cow's tongue is described as creating a "wet flower" on the glass. This beautiful, delicate metaphor transforms the simple act of licking into a moment of natural artistry or bloom.
  Common Mistake to Avoid: Don't just list techniques! Explain *why* the "wet flower" simile is effective (it contrasts the beautiful image with the dirty bus context).

3. Structure and Form

The poem is written in free verse (no strict rhyme scheme or meter).

• Line Breaks (Enjambment): Kolatkar uses short lines and frequent breaks (enjambment) which mimic the halting, stop-start nature of a bumpy bus ride, or the passenger's fragmented thoughts as they wake up.
• Movement: The structure also reflects the movement from interior (sleep/bus) to exterior (the cow/nature), building suspense towards the final image.

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5. Developing an Informed Personal Response (AO4)

The exam expects you to offer an informed personal response. For 'The Bus', consider how the specific details make you feel:

Responding to Discomfort and Atmosphere

How does the description of the bus make you feel?

• The heavy, "thick" sleep and the "stale air" evoke a strong sense of claustrophobia and exhaustion. You might comment on how Kolatkar makes the reader share the passenger's weary state.

Responding to the Climax

The encounter with the cow is the emotional highlight.

• Is the moment humorous? It’s slightly ridiculous—a sleeping bus is interrupted by a bovine tongue.
• Is it tender? The "wet flower" simile suggests a brief, delicate moment of shared existence between species.
• The personal response should acknowledge the surprise—the speaker achieves connection not through grand scenery, but through the mundane mechanism of the dirty window being licked clean.

Example Sentence Structure for AO4:

"The image of the cow leaving a 'wet flower' is particularly striking because it uses delicate language (flower) to describe a rough, animal act, suggesting that even moments of great weariness can contain unexpected beauty and natural grace."