Rupi Kaur’s milk and honey (2015) & Panna Naik’s The Astrologer’s Sparrow (2018) – Diasporic Proclamation of Woman’s Heart

Abstract

Rupi Kaur (b. 1992), a contemporary young Canadian poetess has become extremely popular by her
Instagram posts and publication of her collection of poems entitled milk and honey in 2015 and the
sun and her flowers in 2017. As a diasporic writer, her poems are based on “her desire to express”
herself. According to Rupi Kaur, “milk and honey is a collection of poetry about survival… it is
about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss and femininity.” Panna Naik (b. 1933), the most
distinguished postmodern & post-colonial Gujarati diasporic writer residing in US, has to her credit
several volumes of unconventional poetry voicing the subtle feminine emotions. Her distinct voice
proclaiming the essence of womanhood and imparting dignity to women makes her poems
fascinating and close to women’s hearts. The present paper focusses on the diasporic experiences
revealed in the poetic collections of Rupi Kaur’s milk and honey (2015) and Panna Naik’s The
Astrologer’s Sparrow (2018) The paper reveals their courageous stance as poets in fathoming the
unfathomed and imparting a bold voice to the inner desires of woman.