• Understand the significance of the quill in the poem.
• Analyze the urgency in the poet's request for a new quill.
• Explore the emotional connection the poet has with her mother tongue, Dogri.
• Identify the use of personification in the poem and its effects.

Mother Tongue by Padma Sachdev

About the Poet

• Padma Sachdev (born 1940) writes in her mother tongue Dogri and in Hindi.
• She has received many awards for her poetry, including the Sahitya Academi Award for her first collection of Dogri poems at the age of thirty.

Understanding the Poem

1. Symbolism of the Quill: The quill is the central element in the poem. What does it symbolize?
2. Sense of Urgency: Notice the sense of urgency in the poet's request. What is the reason for this?
3. Emotional Attachment: How has the poet expressed her emotional attachment to her mother tongue?
4. Use of Personification: Personification attributes human qualities to inanimate things and abstract ideas. How has it been used in this poem?

Try This Out

1. Talk to five people from different spheres of society and ask them about the number of languages they know and use for various purposes. Gather information about their attitudes towards the different languages.
2. Dogri Language: Spoken in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. Its earliest mention is in Amir Khusro's list of Indian languages. It does not have a script of its own and is written in either the Devanagari or Persian script. Research other Indian languages that are spoken but do not have a script of their own.

Suggested Reading

• 'Hindi' by Raghuvir Sahay