Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi The Poem ~ Structure & Meaning
{"Image DocumentName": "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi The Poem ~ Structure & Meaning", "Image ImageDescription": "I pictured my birthplace from fifties photographs. She is left imagining her identity through old photographs her parents took of her birthplace. She is then reminded of the Pakistan/ Bangladesh war in 1971 when she was 3 years old. It was this conflict that probably forced her parents to leave Pakistan when she was so young. The reference to a fractured land , also helps reinforce the feeling she creates in the poem of her own fractured identity. Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan. The poet sees Lahore in her memory (not the photographs) and is remembers her Aunts wrapping presents, like the ones they sent her. The screening would imply that she comes from a Muslim family, perhaps another source of conflict for her. When I was older there was conflict, a fractured land throbbing through newsprint. Sometimes I saw Lahore - my aunts in shaded rooms, screened from male visitors, sorting presents, wrapping them in tissue.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}