Formalistic Reading of Sudeep Sen’s “New York Times”

Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry

through the streets of New York, turn around the avenue, flee

past the red and white awning of the Jewish deli,

walk out with a bagel or croissant or spilled coffee

disappearing underground in a flurry,

speeding in a subway of mute faces, barely swallowed the bite,

barely unfolded The Times, barely awake.

                                   Before I realize, it’s lunch-time, and then,

            evening, late,

            being herded home with the flow of humankind,

up and down elevators, escalators, staircases, and ramps. I am

back on the streets again, late night,

                                   though early enough to glance headlines

            of next morning’s paper. In this city, I

            count the passage of time only by weekends

linked by five-day flashes I don’t

even remember. In this city where walking means

running, driving means speeding, there seem to exist

many days in one, an ironic and oblique

efficiency. But somewhere, somehow, time takes the toll,

malnourished, overburdened, and overutilised,

as the tunnels seeping under the river’s belly slowly cave

                        in, the girders lose their tension like old dentures, and

            the underground rattles with the passing of every train.

            After all, how long can one stretch time?

Illusions can lengthen, credit ratings strengthen,

Even Manhattan elongates with every land-fill,

                        but not time, it takes its own time

            the way it always has and always will,

            not a second more, not a second less.

                                                                         ( Sudeep Sen, New York Times)

                        Sudeep Sen’s “New York Times” basically deals with a strong sense of life in New York. This poem consists of thirty lines altogether in six stanzas, depicting a clear description of one’s every day life at a fast pace in the first four stanzas and gradually mellows down to a slower motion, where reflection manages to take place. From the first sentence itself, “Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry/” there is the sense of hurriedness and swiftness as if “I” is in a rat race. “Scurry” is normally associated with rats, always scamper and in a rush all the time.

                        Readers have a dramatic image of the fast events that are happening to the persona. This can be witnessed through the “spilled coffee” indicating the lack of time to even stop for a sip of drink or breakfast. In New York, time does not stand still. Since every moment passes in a fast manner, the persona doesn't even realise “it’s lunch time, and then,/ evening, late,/ being herded home …” mechanically as if he has lost control of his own life. Besides the dictions chosen, Sen uses less punctuation in each line of the first four stanzas to represent the quickness and the rapidity of the persona in the midst of New York City.

                        Sen also utilises the idea of illusion in his dictions to indicate the speed of the people in this city. This can be seen in line 17, “where walking means/ running, driving means speeding,/” and since time passes in a wink of an eye, persona couldn’t even remember the days in the weekend as Sen states in line 14 – 17, “In this city, I/ count the passage of time only by weekends/ linked by five-day flashes I don’t/ even remember.” Everybody seems to be “speeding in the subway of mute faces/”. Being busy in the city, has transformed people to be so automated, mechanical person with their “mute faces”, no one cares to say hi to each other or even to smile to the person sitting next to you.

                        However, in the last line of the fourth stanza, “But somewhere, somehow, times takes its toll,/” is seen as the turning point in this poem. This sentence is depicting the reflection as if the persona stops to think for a moment. From this line onwards, the tone has changed to illustrate the sense of slowness and from narration to reflection. This can be seen in the presence of more punctuation such as commas in line 20 and 21, to offer the fast motion in the first four stanzas to slow down and to be more laboured.

                        The existence of a question mark in line 25, “After all, how long can one stretch time?” is to specify there is something worth to ponder about. Apart from that, Sen uses words with more syllables as in line 21 and 22 (the fifth stanza) “malnourished, overburdened, and overutilised,/ as the tunnels seeping under the river’s belly slowly cave…/” to add more to the effect of a slower motion. The “tunnels seeping” gives the readers the feeling of slothfulness.

                        As a whole, Sen exploits a paradox of everyday experience in his poem to tell us that in order for us to gain a good life in the urban, you will lose your sense of humanity and kindness. Nevertheless, one must not forget that no matter how hectic and demanding your life can be as illustrated in line 1, “Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry”  time will always remain the same like he mentions in the last three lines of this poem. One needs to take some time to stop and think and make some reflections on one, instead of carried away in “the flow of humankind” in the urban life.