Living Space Flashcards
Where is Dharker from?
Pakistan, she moved to Glasgow when she was 7.
Where is the poem set?
Mumbai slums.
What is the poem about?
People from the Mumbai slums migrating out of it in search for a better life.
What does the poem represent about human life?
The fragility of human life.
What perspective does Dharker use throughout her writing?
Her multicultural perspective.
Where does Dharker split her time in?
The UK and Mumbai, India.
What jobs does she have other than a poet, and why does she try to do using these jobs?
Artist and filmmaker - she tries to raise awareness of how people in other cultures live.
How many people live in the Mumbai slums?
Around 15 million, the actual population is unknown.
Where is Asia’s largest slum?
Mumbai.
What is there limited access to in the Mumbai slums?
Electricity, clean water, food and education.
Where do people in the Mumbai slums often get their drinking water from?
The sewers.
‘There are just ____ ______
______ _____. That
is ___ ________.’
‘There are just not enough
straight lines. That
is the problem.’
‘Nothing is ____
or ________.’
‘Nothing is flat
or parallel.’
‘______
______ crookedly on supports
thrust off the ______.’
‘Beams
balance crookedly on supports
thrust off the vertical.’
‘____ _____ at open seams.’
‘Nails clutch at open seams.’
‘The ____ structure _____ _________
towards the _________.’
‘The whole structure leans dangerously
towards the miraculous.’
‘Into this _____ _____,
______ has ______
a ______ _____’
‘Into this rough frame,
someone has squeezed
a living space’
‘and ____ _____ to place
these ____ in a wire basket,’
‘and even dared to place
these eggs in a wire basket,’
‘______ curves of white
____ out ____ the ____ _____
of a ______ ________,’
‘fragile curves of white
hung out over the dark edge
of a slanted universe’
‘gathering the _____
____ themselves,’
‘gathering the light
into themselves,’
‘as if they were
the _____, ____ walls of _____.’
‘as if they were
the bright, thin walls of faith.’
