I Would Know You Anywhere

"I Would Know You Anywhere" is an Indian poem on the popular Hindu god Ganesha by the Indian English poet Revathy Gopal. The poem won Second Prize in the Ninth All India Poetry Competition conducted by The Poetry Society (India) in 2000. This was the second major literary award for Revathy, who had also won second prize in the eighth All India Poetry Competition.

Excerpts from the poem

I would know you anywhere

even as a line drawing,

with only a suggestion

of broken tusk.

A mischievous arc

of belly and trunk;

minimalist.

*****

I know you in stone

and wood. Terracotta

is fine; once in someone’s

living room,

I saw you made in jade

with the light trapped inside.

*****

In shops sometimes.

they seal you in plastic.

Even on a crowded, noisy street

you make

an area of stillness

around you.

*****

I stand in a trance

watching the dance.

One leg lifted high,

or in the indolence

after sleep,

balancing your elephantine

head in your hand.

Renegade, clown, purveyor of dreams,

Dispeller of darkness, arbiter of destinies.

You stand just beyond

my angle of vision,

untamed, unclaimed.

Comments and criticism

The poem has received rave reviews since its first publication in 2000 in the book Emerging Voices. The poem has been frequently quoted in scholarly analysis of contemporary Indian English Poetry. The poem has become very popular in Indian English literature and has been widely anthologised.

Online references

• Ninth National Poetry Competition 2000 - Award Winners
• Sacred Songs - I Would Know You Anywhere by Revathy Gopal
• Revathy Gopal in Memoriam
• India Writes - Contemporary Indian Poetry

See also

• Indian English Poetry
• The Poetry Society (India)