Satire in Indian Higher Education: A Critical Study of the Select Poems

Abstract

The present article aims at the satire in select poems from Songs of Soul and soil. Instead of celebrating campuses as ideal spaces of learning, many poets expose their inner contradictions. This research article examines four poems Confession of a Principal, Intellectuals in Education, CAP (Central Assessment Programme), and My Favourite Teacher which portray the lived experience of Indian colleges through satire and confession. These poems reveal administrative incompetence, staff-room politics, unethical evaluation practices, and the decline of academic commitment. At the same time, My Favourite Teacher offers a positive counter-image of a devoted and principled educator. Using a qualitative textual method, this paper analysis’s themes, narrative voice, poetic techniques, and social implications. It argues that these poems function not only as literary works but also as cultural testimonies that question the moral foundations of higher education in India. The poet tries to expose the pompousness in modern education and how the education has become business.