This page features a video of the poem “The Grass is Really Like Me”, prescribed under the Karnataka State Syllabus for 9th Standard English First Language. Along with its summary in three languages and transliterated songs. It serves as a valuable learning resource for students and parents, with each song accompanied by its respective lyrics for easy sing-along. The synchronized lyrics help learners follow and recite the song as it progresses, making memorization and learning by heart easier, more effective, and enjoyable.
Lyrics
English
The grass is also like me
it has to unfurl underfoot to fulfil itself
but what does its wetness manifest:
a scorching sense of shame
or the heat of emotion?
The grass is also like me
As soon as it can raise its head
the lawnmower
obsessed with flattening it into velvet,
mows it down again.
How you strive and endeavour
to level woman down too!
But neither the earth’s nor woman’s
desire to manifest life dies.
Take my advice: the idea of making a footpath was a good one.
Those who cannot bear the scorching defeat of their courage
are grafted on to the earth.
That’s how they make way for the mighty
but they are merely straw not grass
The grass is really like me.
it has to unfurl underfoot to fulfil itself
but what does its wetness manifest:
a scorching sense of shame
or the heat of emotion?
The grass is also like me
As soon as it can raise its head
the lawnmower
obsessed with flattening it into velvet,
mows it down again.
How you strive and endeavour
to level woman down too!
But neither the earth’s nor woman’s
desire to manifest life dies.
Take my advice: the idea of making a footpath was a good one.
Those who cannot bear the scorching defeat of their courage
are grafted on to the earth.
That’s how they make way for the mighty
but they are merely straw not grass
The grass is really like me.
Summary
The poem compares grass with the speaker's life and with the lives of women. Grass tries to rise and express its natural existence, but the lawnmower repeatedly cuts it down and levels it. In the same way, women are often forced to suppress their desire to live freely and express themselves. Yet the poem insists that the desire of both the earth and women to manifest life cannot be destroyed. It celebrates resilience and suggests that those who are oppressed continue to struggle for courage, dignity, and freedom.
Author
Kishwar Naheed