Toru Dutt was an Indian poet who wrote in English and French. She was born to father Govin Chunder Dutt and mother Kshetramoni of the Rambagan Dutt family.

2. About the author
 One of the famous Indo-Anglican poets.
 Most of the poems have an Indian theme and an
Indian background.
 Natural linguist.
 Two main novels- The young Spanish Maiden
(unfinished) and Le Journal de Mademoiselle
(published Posthumously).
 She died at a tender age of 21.
 After Toru’s death her father discovered some ancient
Ballads written by herself.

3. THE LOTUS
 Dutt presents the idea that the Indian lotus is the
most beautiful of all the flowers.
 For a long time Lily and Rose had been fighting for the
title Queen of Flowers.
 Each flowers with its own support from poets claimed
for the title.
 God of Love came to Goddess Flora asking for a flower
which would be the unchallenged queen of flowers .

4.  Some flowers told Rose was better than Lily.
 Others said that Lily is more beautiful than Rose and
compared it to beautiful Goddess Juno’s face.
 ‘Love ‘ wanted a flower which has a sweet smell like
that of a Rose and which is very grant looking like that
of a Lily.
 And he wanted a flower which has the colour of both
Lily and Rose i.e. Lily-white and the Rose-red.

5.  So Flora created a new flower called Lotus which have
the colour of rose red from morn to noon and which
had a lily white from afternoon till dusk.
 Rose stands for Passion, because of its colour
 Lily stands for Purity innocence and simplicity.

6.  It is a sonnet in the perarchan type.
 Divided into two- Octave and Sestet.
 Octave consists of eight lines outlines a problem or
expresses a desire.
 Sestet comments on the problem or suggests a
solution.
 Poem bears the features of the debate poem.
 Each flower has a better claim over the other.

7.  Lotus is seen as the most suitable candidate for the
position.
 Although the poem is titled The Lotus the flower is
mentioned only towards the end of the poem.

8. Comments
 Lotus is a flower of significant both to Indian and the
Hindu Religion.
 Dutt wanted to establish the superiority of Hindu
religion over the other religion in the world.
 She turned to Classical Mythology to establish her
stand.
 Dutt wanted to acknowledge her Indian background
for others to understand her love for India.

9.  Indian Tradition explains the Lotus Flower springs not
from the earth but from the surface of the water and
will remain pure and unblemished not matter the
impurity of the water.
 The purity of the lotus expresses the idea of
supernatural birth and the appearance of the first
created Entity from the ancient water of Chaos, thus
the Lotus is observed as the medium of Hindu Creator
Narayana and His Second Being God Brahma.

10.  The colour of the flowers calls to mind the privileged
position Europeans gave to people based on skin
colour.
 The word ‘power’ adds a sense of the dominant
position of the English assume in the world over all
things- poetry, beauty, people and land etc.
 Dutt unsettles and displaces that control.

11.  Lotus is a symbol of Hindu faith, Indian culture, and
Hindu Religion.
 It also symbolizes our Nation India.
 Toru uses the idea of Greek and Roman
Goddess(Goddess of Flora, Roman Goddess of Flower
or Spring and God of Love Cupid, Roman God of
Love.) to create a western understanding of
Hinduism.

12.  The Lotus also indicates a fusion between the East and
the West.
 Rose stands for Eastern race , the Native India because
of its reddish skin.
 Lily indicates Western race because of its white colour.
 The title ‘Bards’ harkens back to 12th century Britain as
the name given to poets.

13.  It was still used during Toru’s time as a title of respect
to great poets.
 Shakespeare and Milton were both referred to as
‘Bards’.
 Here Dutt calls attention to the ‘Traditional’ English
Poets who neglect to remember that there are other
Flowers or Beauties in the world.

14.  As in the Petrarchan sonnet which have a turn in the
logic of the subject at the line 9 (referred to as Volta)
this poem also presents a paradoxical twist- a
resolution .
 This twist comes when we are introduced into a new
flower called Lotus.
 Toru’s nature love is depicted in the this poem.

15.  There will be no end in the dispute between the Lily
and Rose unless a new flower came into existence,
because both the flowers have some positive qualities
of their own.
 If the Rose is romantic and delicious the Lily is very
regal and stately in stature.
 Toru Dutt beautifully uses the so called conflict
between those two flowers to comment upon the
excellence of the Lotus.

16.  So we can conclude that Toru’s love for Indian Flower
and Hindu Mythology is clearly visible in this simple
poem of 14 lines.

17. By
Suryamol K.R
St. Mary's College Mararcaud.

18. THANK YOU