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Bhatt expresses the difficulties that she faces while learning a foreign language by contrasting the Gujarati language to the English language.This is shown by when she was forced to make her “tongue rot and die in her mouth until you had to spit out “. The word spit literally means to forcefully remove waste. So she thinks that her language is waste due to her moving to the U.S and no one speaks Gujarati so she thinks that her language is not wasteful and she ‘spits’ it . Also, she shows her Gujarati identity. For example, “munay Hutoo Kay Akhe”. She also embeds the Gujarati language in the middle of of the poem, which would indicate it is in the heart of the poem, and this would represent how her language is her heart and her identity, Also, her language would seem foreign to us and while reading this , we would be confused and isolated.

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Bhatt explores the theme of identity in the poem by placing the Gujarati section in the middle of the poem. She has placed it in the heart of the poem, which shows that her culture and heritage mean a lot to her. During the Gujarati section, she isolates the reader, as the reader can not read the language. She has done this so that the reader can empathise with her.

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Bhatt expresses the difficulties that she faces while learning a foreign language by contrasting the Gujarati language to the English language.This is shown by when she was forced to make her “tongue rot and die in her mouth until you had to spit out “. The word spit literally means to forcefully remove waste. So she thinks that her language is waste due to her moving to the U.S and no one speaks Gujarati so she thinks that her language is not wasteful and she ‘spits’ it . Also, she shows her Gujarati identity. For example, “munay Hutoo Kay Akhe”. She also embeds the lan

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Bhatt uses different methods to express the theme of identity. Bhatt emphasizes that her mother tongue has “rot and died” in her mouth. This suggests that her mother tongue has decayed and has been forced and erased out of her memory.This illustrates that she has forgotten her language forever. Bhatt places the Gujarati paragraph in the middle of the poem. This conveys that the Gujarati language is central to who she is as a person and her identity.This also portrays how important the language is to her as it’s in the heart of the poem. This is also used to show how significant the language is and shows contrast between the two languages. This section of the poem makes us feel isolated , lonely and frustrated.

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Throughout the poem, Bhatt is struggling with her identity. An example in the poem is “If you had to speak a foreign tongue.” This suggests that she is forced to learn another language. This also suggests that she feels isolated, as she slowly loses her culture and heritage. She makes the reader empathise with her. Another example in the poem is “ Lost my tongue.” This suggests she thinks that she has forgotten her mother tongue, which is a huge part of her identity and she is struggling to be bilingual.

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Bhatt uses descriptive vocabulary and unique methods to present the theme of identity. In the first section of the poem she mentions how her “mother tongue would rot, rot and die in” her mouth until she “had to spit it out”. The repitition of the word “rot” emphasizes her disgust and anger and portrays the loss of her culture and identity; she then dreams in Gujarati which suggests she surprisingly hadn’t lost it and that is is still ingrained within her. The placement of the Gujarati in the center of the poem, implying that it’s central to her, it’s also the heart of the poem, just like the heart of a human is in the middle, and is the most essential part of the human body

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Bhatt shows how difficult it can be when being bilingual by presenting her loss of her identity. Bhatt uses repitition on the word “rot” to describe her frustration. Rot is associated with words such as death, loss. Bhatt repeats the word rot to emphasise the fact that she was forced to forget her mother tongue and to experess her frustration that her mother tongue was forgotten and is “decomposed” and dead to her. The poet also used the quote “it blossoms out of my mouth” to extend the metaphor of the language being a plant throughout the poem.

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The theme of identity is explored in the poem from Bhatt’s word choices and section layout. Throughout the poem, Bhatt refers to her mother tongue as a flower which is “rotting and dying in [her] mouth”. This is shown in the first section as she portrays her negativity to show the reader how isolated and frustrated she feels, also highlighting the theme of the first section, which is isolation and loneliness.
Bhatt places the Gujarati text in the middle to represent that her culture is at the centre of her heart and the poem. Furthermore, she writes one third of the poem in Gujarati like “munay hutoo kay” to make the reader empathise with her and her struggles of being forced to learn a foreign language.

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The theme of identity is explored in the poem ‘Search for my tongue’ by comparing her mother tongue to a plant throughout the poem. This is shown by saying that her mother tongue will ‘rot and die’ which means that she is forgetting her language which also suggest the loss of her identity. The literary used is a extended metaphor which continues thoughout the whole poem as she compares her tongue to a plant. ‘Rot and die’ shows that it is slowly disappearing as the forgein language is overtaking her mother tongue. She also shows the return of her identity by continuously repeating ‘grows’ in the second part of the poem. This shows the excitement Bhatt is feeling as her identity grows back and the repetitin of ‘grows’ symblized the slow process of its growth.

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Bhatt is struggling with her identity in the poem. This is shown by her saying “if you had two tongues in your mouth, and lost the first one, the mother tongue, and could not really know the other” in the poem. This indicates that she has forgotten to speak her mother tongue and her mother tongue language has decomposed over time. Besides, she mentions this in a negative way to express her feelings so the reader can emphasize. Bhatt also states “thought i had to spit it” in the poem. This suggests that she had to forcefully remove her mother tongue which makes her feel fruststrated and irritated.

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The theme of identity is explored in the poem ‘search for my tongue’ by comparing her mother tongue ( Gujarati ) to a plant throughout the poem. This is saying that her mother tongue is going to ‘rot and die’ which symbolizes the loss of her identity as she is forgetting herculture and traditions through the loss of her language. This is an extended metaphor as it is continued throughout the hole poem and it is repeated over and over again. The words ‘rot and die’ suggest that it is going away and fading from her. But in the end of the poem, when she gets her mother toungur back, the use of the extended metaphor is saying that the mother tongue is growing and blossoming. The theme of identity is also explored during the poem because the Gujarati section is in the centre

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Bhatt expresses the feeling of losing and regaining her mother tongue.through the poem Bhatt expresses that she’s has "Lost my tongue” . The meaning of the word “lost” defines into something missing, in this’s context bhatt is trying to look for/ find her mother tongue, The word “my” in “lost my tongue” suggests that she is looking for her mother tongue that she lost. The word “my” means something that is personal to yourself. This makes the reader feel curious as the poet has not explained what about the tongue she had lost; which makes the reader feel curious and would naturally want to understand or to know what about the tongue Bhatt.
On the next section Bhatt had written the entire section in Gujarati. The reason why she placed it in the middle is becasue it represents her culture and identity. This section is made to make readers who can’t read Gujarati feel isolated. The reason why Bhatt wanted to make the reader feel isolated is to express how she felt when she was isloated (when Bhatt arrived in the U.S she had to learn a foreign language which ended up into her losing her mother tongue).
In conclusion Bhatt expresses the feeling of losing and regaining of her mother tongue by; expressing the feeling of being isolated when she had lost her mother tongue and that how when she lost her mother tongue she felt like she lost her culture and identity.