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DILIP CHITRE | FATHER RETURNING HOME | POEM

Father Returning Home

My father travels on the late evening train 

 

Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light

Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes

His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat 

 

Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books

Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age

Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.

Now I can see him getting off the train

Like a word dropped from a long sentence.

He hurries across the length of the grey platform,

Crosses the railway line, enters the lane, 

His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.

 

Home again, I see him drinking weak tea, 

 

Eating a stale chapati, reading a book. 

 

He goes into the toilet to contemplate 

 

Man's estrangement from a man-made world. 

 

Coming out he trembles at the sink, 

 

The cold water running over his brown hands, 

 

A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists. 

 

His sullen children have often refused to share 

 

Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to 

 

sleep Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming 

 

Ofhis ancestors and grandchildren, thinking 

 

Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass. 

Analysis of "Father Returning Home" by Dilip Chitre

Dilip Chitre’s "Father Returning Home" is a poignant portrayal of an elderly man’s daily commute in Mumbai, reflecting his profound isolation in a fast-paced urban world. Written in free verse, the poem’s lack of rhyme or meter mirrors the father’s unstructured, solitary existence, devoid of harmony or connection. This structural choice enhances the sense of alienation that permeates his life, both on the crowded train and within his own home.

The imagery is vivid and stark, painting a picture of weariness and neglect. Descriptions of the father’s "soggy" clothes and "mud-stained" raincoat evoke a physical and emotional toll, as he stands unnoticed amidst the bustle. Chitre’s unembellished language—words like "unseeing," "dimmed," and "dropping"—reinforces this decay, while the somber tone deepens the melancholic mood. These elements collectively highlight the father’s marginalization in a society that overlooks him.

Key themes include alienation, the generational gap, and the monotony of urban life. The father’s internal reflections—dreaming of ancestors and pondering "man’s estrangement from a man-made world"—contrast sharply with his external reality, where his children ignore him, unwilling to share "jokes and secrets." This emotional distance underscores the erosion of familial bonds in a modern context, a critique of how urbanization disrupts traditional values.

Conclusion

"Father Returning Home" is a powerful meditation on the loneliness endured by the elderly in contemporary society. Through striking imagery and simple yet evocative language, Chitre exposes the father’s isolation from both his environment and his family. The poem critiques the dehumanizing effects of urban life, where rootlessness and indifference prevail over empathy and connection. Its enduring relevance lies in its call to bridge the generational divide, urging readers to reconsider the value of those sidelined by modernity.