Page 1 of 7
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 01
January 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 550
Nostalgia and Belongingness in the poetry of Bhashabi Fraser
Aasif Rashid Wani
Research Scholar, Department of English,
Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies,
Barla-Raisen (M.P.)
Rayees Ahmad Bhat
Research Scholar, Department of English,
School of Comparative Languages & Culture
Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore. MP
Abstract
Diaspora is the most debatable topic in the present day world. The word has come from the
Greek word which means “Scatter” or “Spread out”. Thus the term refers to scattering out. The
term originally came from the Bible and refers to the Jews who migrated from their own land to
the other nations. The Bible in the book of Deuteronomy mentions:
The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out
one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed
into all the kingdoms of the earth. (28:25 KJV of Bible)
It is clearly mentioned that the word Diaspora originally belongs to the Jewish race and from her
it came into the existence. Diaspora with the small letter Diaspora refers to the refugee or the
immigration of the people from one place to the other. While the word with the capital letter
refers to the Israelites which bible has mentioned. There are two types of Diaspora: The
Voluntary Diaspora and the Forced Diaspora. The former refers to the immigrants who willingly
Page 2 of 7
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 01
January 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 551
or by their choice from one place to the other, whereas the later refers to the force, compulsion or
pressure from the people or the government to move from one place to another. Sometimes the
forced migration can be termed as “exile” or “Banishment”. The Diaspora in literature has
attracted the world wide attention in the modern and post modern world. The two great wars and
the race for the nuclear armament have created the much tension among the nations. The writers
from the third world nations after the post world war migrate to the European and other nations.
These writers in their works express the anguish and displacement and show the feeling of
homesickness and nostalgia in their oeuvre. The present paper will explore the Diaspora
sensibility which is being reflected from the poems of Bhashabi Fraser. It will explore that how
the poet far away from her home feels nostalgic and expresses the homesickness in her poems.
Introduction
Bhashabi Fraser is poet, author, translator and also a literary critic. She is born and brought up in
Kolkata, Darjeeling. Presently she lives in Edinburg England. Her publications include A
Meeting of Two Minds: The Geds Tagore Letters (2005). Bengal Partition Stories: An Unclosed
Chapter (2006:2008), From the Gang to the Tay (2009), Ragas & Reels (2012) Scots Beneath
the Banyan Tree: Stories from Bengal (2012). Bashabi has widely recognized as a poet. She won
many awards. Her poetry collection ‘Home Coming’ expresses the diasporic and nostalgic sense.
The poet longs for and feels absence for certain things which she imagines in the foreign land.
The cultural shift and displacement gets reflected from the poetry of Bhashabi.
Bhashabi’s poem Homing Bird is the reflection of the poet’s inner psyche which reveals the
author’s diasporic sense and nostalgia. The poem explicates the beauty of Kolkata and its
Page 3 of 7
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 01
January 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 552
memories attached with the poet. The poem is divided into two parts: Kolkata and Edinburg. The
two cities are related to the poet’s past and the present. The readers get the beautiful description
of both internally and externally.
The poem begins with the rhetorical question. He poet uses the apostrophe when she addresses
the city Kolkata as if it is in front of her and listening to her that when she is being remembered
by her or not? “Kolkata do you miss me?” The poet in the first section feels extreme anguish of
past. She recalls every bit of detail of the past and feels the remembrance of the things past. The
poet is thousands miles away from her motherland but she feels its presence and believes that the
avenues and the pavements have been missing my stroll. She remembers each and everything
which is attached to her. The kitchen, shop, factory, balconies etc. is the concrete imagery which
the poet creates in the minds of the readers. She addresses Kolkata. The poet make the city recall
that whether she remembers the past things? “Maiden mists”, “Victoria Memorial”, and “Saint
Cathedral”? The poet remembers the colorful kites, and “gigantic tenement” of her city. The poet
recalls when she used to play at St. James’ Park. Kolkata is the city where the poet’s parents find
their home; it is the city which became the permanent place for the poet’s parents. Her parents
after the girls’ forced marriage, it became their home. The word “home” indicates ones comfort
and stability. Kolkata witnesses all the poet’s experiences, joys and sorrows which she
experiences while she was there. So Kolkata is “a haven/ for the bereft and bereaved”. It is the
place which became “The city of migrants”. The city becomes the metaphor for the myriad of
things. The author recalls the different states of india and their cultural and social background
and the loss and displacement, “Bengali with the new experience/ Of displacement and loss,
encountering”. The author recounts each and everything which she remembers during her
