Symbolic significance of Imtiaz Dharker’s poem “Leaving Fingerprints”

Abstract

Imtiaz Dharker although spent diasporic life willingly but she never forgot her motherland and always lived in the memories of Indian culture. Her poems show that she was pulled by her motherland again and again. Her poems prove that she was not only emotionally but also physically alienated from her birth place, Pakistan, and adapted country India. This is the reason that she writers most of her poems both about subcontinent India i.e. present Pakistan or India. Her poetry proves that her heart was deeply rooted in Indian culture and society. It also proves that she faced a lot of identical problems in UK and that’s why she felt alienated. Keeping all these things in view, it is very essential to see how Dharker was alienated from great Indian culture, how she felt rootlessness in a foreign country and how she proved herself as a true daughter of subcontinent   India. Her consciousness about Indian society and culture brought her recognization all over the world. Therefore, it seems necessary to appraise her personality based on her poetry in this context.  The story of Dharker’s search for an identity is in agreement with modern culture and demands of modern life which is expressed by her well known book “Leaving Fingerprints (2001).  This book has deeper symbolic significance as is indicated from the title of the book. The title of this book works like a sign board which gives proper direction. So, the focus of this paper will be the about the deeper and symbolic significance of its very title i.e. “Leaving Fingerprints”.