Dusty Distance (Suniti Namjoshi)

 Introduction: “The Blue Donkey” by Suniti Namjoshi consists of more than seventy small fables and poems. All these prose and poetic pieces are satires which criticise the contemporary society. Written in comic tone, the prose and poetic pieces have animals and birds as their characters but in reality, they are human beings who behave like animals. The title character, “Blue Donkey” was gay and happy when it was young but later it turned into grey like other donkeys, because it experienced cut throat competitions in the world for its survival. In the short fable, “Dusty Distance” the Blue Donkey goes from one place to another to find its fortune as a poet. But she realizes that it is not easy to make career as a poet and so it settles down for a part-time job for half a carrot.

Blue Donkey’s First Encounter: When the Blue Donkey is young, she likes to become a poet. So, she sets off on a long dusty road to make her fortune. Soon she meets a woman who offers her job for a carrot. But the Blue Donkey who she strongly believes that her life lies on her poet career denies the woman’s offer and travels further to find her poetic career.

The Blue Donkey’s Second Encounter:

The Blue Donkey then accidently meets a wayfarer. In curiosity, she asks the man about his profession. He says that he has no profession but he is interested in encountering ‘life’. So, the Blue Donkey asks him what he will do, if he finds ‘life’. He answers that if he finds ‘life’, he will grapple her, tie her hands and feet and then take her to his home. Hearing the man’s account the Blue Donkey is enthralled. So, she further asks him about his plan with ‘life’ and the man answers that he will chop up, grin down and put her into delicate mince pies and sell them in the market. Understanding his intention from his answer, the Blue Donkey escapes from him by saying that she is only a poet and not a ‘life’.

The Blue Donkey’s Third Encounter:

The Blue Donkey travels further and then enters into a countryside which is full of greenery. There, the Blue Donkey meets a Beautiful Lady who gracefully reclines on a tree. She asks the lady what she is doing and the lady answers that she is reading poetry because she is fond of poems, for they blow fresh air into life. Hence the Blue Donkey is very much pleased to introduce herself as a ‘poet’ to the lady. She also asks the lady to read some of the poems from the book. But the lady says that she knows only French and German and not the language of “Blue Donkese”. The answer of the lady has a lot of implication in it. The Blue Donkey understands that its language is alien to human beings. So, she goes back to the lady whom she first encountered to accept the job for just half a carrot. Like this, being a diasporic Indian, in the western country, Suniti Namjoshi finds it difficult to promote her writing. Like Namjoshi, the Third World writers find it difficult to establish their career as writers in the First World. In the First World, the postcolonial writers are treated as “others” due to the racial differences.

Conclusion:

Like the Blue Donkey, many of the writers from the Third World countries experience unwelcoming reception in the First World countries. Hence it is difficult for them to establish themselves as writers and like the Blue Donkey, they are ready accept any odd job for their survival.