Sandals and I Summary

"Sandals and I" is a dalit poem written by a kannada poet, Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy and was translated by Rowena Hill. Through the poem, the poet outcries the bad practices that are prevalent in Indian temples. The poet has raised his voice against 'untouchability' and the deep-rooted prejudices through this poem. As the speaker says, whenever he goes to a temple he does not leave his sandals outside, but he himself stands outside.

 

The speaker being a cobbler, has faced many humiliations because of his profession which he considers to be his root if he were a plant. Standing outside the temple, he struggles to get a glimpse of the glittering and jewelled god inside, just like a crane that tries to drink water from a dried up pond. The speaker also notices the sacred lamp burning inside the temple when he himself is burning in the hot sun outside the temple. The people surge over him with little attention.

 

And then he finally expresses his deep devotion to God by saying that even though he isn't allowed inside the temple, he feels closer the god than those people who are standing next to the idol, but have left their souls with their sandals outside the temple.In India, some practices are coloured by caste beliefs. The opinion of the poet is that all the devotees must be treated equally, because all humans are children of God. Since people are not growing with egalitarian views, the poet advocates the virtues of logic, morality, and reasoning.