1. Presents From My Aunts in Pakistan
Moniza Alvi

2. Moniza Alvi
Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore in Pakistan, the daughter of a Pakistani father and an English mother. She moved to Hatfield in England when she was a few months old. She didn't revisit Pakistan until after the publication of her first book of poems - 'The Country over my Shoulder' - from which this poem comes.
The poet says: “Presents from My Aunts...was one of the first poems I wrote. When I wrote this poem, I hadn't actually been back to Pakistan. The girl in the poem would be me at about 13.

3. Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan
These words stand out
From the English words
Just as the presents do
From her English clothes
They sent me a salwar kameez
peacock-blue,
and another
glistening like an orange split open,
embossed slippers, gold and black
points curling.
Candy-striped glass bangles
snapped, drew blood.
Like at school, fashions changed
in Pakistan -
In contrast to the dull
colours she usually wears
Exotic fruit metaphor.
also the inside
makes it seem
irresistible
They broke – like her
links with Pakistan
Although a different culture
human nature is universal

4. the salwar bottoms were broad and stiff, then narrow.
My aunts chose an apple-green sari,
silver-bordered
for my teens.
I tried each satin-silken top –
was alien in the sitting-room.
I could never be as lovely
as those clothes –
In contrast to the dull
colours she usually wears
She’s more comfortable with the
Plainness of English clothes than
the bright colours of the salwar kameez
The presents make
her feel out of place
in England
She feels she can’t do the
clothes justice. Like her
clothes she feels plain

5. I couldn't rise up out of its fire, half-English, unlike Aunt Jamila.
Child-like desire for something
she can’t have
She’s more comfortable with the
Plainness of English clothes than
the bright colours of the salwar kameez
I longed
for denim and corduroy.
My costume clung to me
and I was aflame,
I couldn't rise up out of its fire,
half-English,
unlike Aunt Jamila.
Refers to the legend of
the phoenix rising
from the flames – but
she can’t recreate this
She is a mix of cultures.
Unlike her aunt or friends, she
doesn’t really know where she
belongs

6. I wanted my parents‘ camel-skin lamp - switching it on in my bedroom,
Child-like desire for something
she can’t have
I wanted my parents‘ camel-skin lamp -
switching it on in my bedroom,
to consider the cruelty
and the transformation
from camel to shade,
marvel at the colours
like stained glass.
The poet feels sorry for the
camel whose skin was used
to make the lamp. This
reflects her own negative
feelings about change
Beautiful colours and expensive

7. My mother cherished her jewellery – Indian gold, dangling, filigree,
The theft of her mother’s jewellery in England could
be a metaphor for England stealing her Pakistani
Identity.
My mother cherished her jewellery –
Indian gold, dangling, filigree,
But it was stolen from our car.
The presents were radiant in my wardrobe.
My aunts requested cardigans
from Marks and Spencers.
Humorous but regretful
as she never wore
them
Archetypal of England

8. didn't impress the schoolfriend who sat on my bed, asked to see
The school friend’s reaction to the
clothes contrasts with the poet’s –
so the poet doesn’t entirely fit in in
England either
My salwar kameez
didn't impress the schoolfriend
who sat on my bed, asked to see
my weekend clothes.
But often I admired the mirror-work,
tried to glimpse myself
in the miniature
glass circles, recall the story
Friend doesn’t
like anything
different
She likes the Pakistani
clothes but can’t feel
attached to them. She’s
also trying to see her
identity.

9. Prickly heat had me screaming on the way. I ended up in a cot
The real boat took
her away from her
homeland
She must have been
very young when
she left
how the three of us
sailed to England.
Prickly heat had me screaming on the way.
I ended up in a cot
In my English grandmother's dining-room,
found myself alone,
playing with a tin-boat.
Demonstrates her
mixed heritage

10. I pictured my birthplace from fifties' photographs. When I was older
This refers to the war when
East Pakistan split to become
Bangladesh
She can’t remember Pakistan
so she has to imagine it
The split is compared to
her confused identity –
split just like her culture
I pictured my birthplace
from fifties' photographs.
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.
Her knowledge is
based on what she
read and heard
Another contrast to
her own experiences
Brings the poem back
to the original theme

11. Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls
and I was there –
of no fixed nationality,
staring through fretwork
at the Shalimar Gardens.

12. Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls and I was there –
A less positive image
of Pakistan
Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls
and I was there –
of no fixed nationality,
staring through fretwork
at the Shalimar Gardens.
Sums up her feelings
of isolation and not
belonging
A beautiful and famous
place in Pakistan
There’s a barrier
stopping her from
being part of Pakistan