UNIT – II
(POERTY)
Toru Dutt
LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars,
Up to its very summit near the stars,
A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound
No other tree could live. But gallantly
The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung
In crimson clusters all the boughs among,
Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee;
And oft at nights the garden overflows
With one sweet song that seems to have no close,
Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.
When first my casement is wide open thrown
At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;
Sometimes, and most in winter,—on its crest
A gray baboon sits statue-like alone
Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs
His puny offspring leap about and play;
And far and near kokilas hail the day;
And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;
And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast
By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,
The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.
But not because of its magnificence
Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,
For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.
Blent with your images, it shall arise
In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!
What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear
Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?
It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech,
That haply to the unknown land may reach.
Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!
Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away
In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,
When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith
And the waves gently kissed the classic shore
Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,
When earth lay trancèd in a dreamless swoon:
And every time the music rose,—before
Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,
Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime
I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.
Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay
Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those
Who now in blessed sleep for aye repose,—
Dearer than life to me, alas, were they!
Mayst thou be numbered when my days are done
With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,
Under whose awful branches lingered pale
“Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow;” and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh, fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.
Toru Dutt: Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Our
Casuarina Tree"
Summary
The poem "Our Casuarina
Tree" is from Dutt's Ancient Ballads and Legends of
Hindustan (1882). It is one of Dutt's most famous poems, and
it describes a tree near the speaker's home that she associates heavily with
memories of her childhood and her siblings that have since died, "Who now
in blessed sleep, for aye, repose." The word "our" in the title
hints at this significance—it is not just an ordinary tree for the poet, but
rather a part of her life and an integral part of her childhood that she shared
with her siblings.
The
poem's opening lines describe the grandeur of the Casuarina in minute detail,
standing erect and wearing the "scarf" of the "creeper"
that clutches it like "a huge python." The tree is a source of life,
filled with "bird[s] and bee[s]," though the children who used to
play under its branches are long gone. This liveliness that surrounds the tree
is further detailed in the second stanza, which tells of a "baboon,"
"kokilas," and "cows" in its vicinity.
Still,
in the third stanza, the speaker tells us explicitly that it is "not because
of its magnificence / [that] Dear is the Casuarina to my soul"—rather, it
is because of her memories of her departed siblings. At the thought of their
deaths and their past memories, even the tree seems to "lament" and
ushers forth "an eerie speech." In the fourth stanza, the speaker
recalls various foreign shores (namely, "France or Italy") where she
heard noise similar to the tree's mournful sighs, and recalled the tree and her
"own loved native clime."
As
the poem closes, the speaker meditates on the "deathless trees" in
"Borrowdale" that carry the same grim weight as those in William
Wordsworth's poem on yew-trees, which she quotes: "Fear, trembling Hope,
and Death, the skeleton, / And Time the shadow." By contrast, the speaker
tells us, she yearns to return to the Casuarina tree of her youth, which she
hopes will be saved "from Oblivion's curse.
Analysis
In
terms of its form, the poem consists of fifty-five lines, written in five
stanzas of eleven lines each. Each stanza consists of an octave of two
enclosed-rhyme quatrains, followed by a rhyming tercet (three lines which
rhyme). Its overall rhyme scheme is thus ABBACDDCEEE FGGFHIIHJJJ KLLKMNNMOOO
PQQPRSSRTTT UVVUWXXWYYY. The enclosed-rhyme octave of each stanza allows Dutt
to develop a new line of thought in each stanza, while the rhyming tercet at
the end of each stanza reinforces not only the constancy and finality of death,
but also—because they evoke previous stanzas in their repetition—the echoes of
the past that resurface through memory. Further, the fact that each stanza ends
with a rhyming tercet rather than a rhyming couplet (two lines) gives the
impression of overflow or transcendence, which mirrors the feelings that the
speaker imparts to the Casuarina tree at the center of the poem.
The
linkage of the speaker's personal life and emotional state to the natural world
is not limited, however, to the Casuarina tree. For example, the birds and bees
singing their "one sweet song" from the tree's branches provide
solace to the poet through the night "while men repose," which
suggests that the poet lies sleepless at night and can be soothed only by the
rhythms of the natural world. The "grey baboon" in stanza 2, which
sits "statue-like [and] alone" on top of the tree while
"watching the sunrise," also reinforces this idea, suggesting that
the poet too has watched in solitude as the sun rises the behind the Casuarina
tree.
In
the third stanza, the speaker makes this linkage explicit as she explains that
the tree's memory is "blent with [...] images" in her head of her
departed siblings. The shared mourning of the speaker and the tree, as conveyed
by the "dirge-like murmur" that resembles the waves breaking on a
pebble beach, continues to reinforce this connection. In the fourth stanza,
this image of the waves breaking carries us to foreign shores, where
"waves gently [kiss] the classic shore" but evoke similar mourning in
our speaker's mind. This is why, while the rest of the world "l[ies]
trancèd in a dreamless swoon," the speaker stays awake as the music of her
youth, the music of the tree, swims to her in her "inner vision."
In
the final stanza, the speaker's care to distinguish the trees of England from
the Casuarina tree of her youth further shows the way in which the speaker
associates nature at large with her various emotions. While the Casuarina tree
stands in for nostalgia, longing, and memory, the trees of England reflect
isolation and "verse" that is not true to her own experiences.
This
final moment in the poem is also particularly interesting because it implicates
the poet herself and the poem itself. The poet is hesitant about her gift of
writing poetry, and she feels that her own words are "weak," but she
appeals to "Love" in her plea for the tree to be protected from
time's ravages. This links the poem not only to Dutt's preoccupation with loss,
the natural world, and the complexity of family relationships, but also to her
interest in the nature of the poetic craft and how much of life's complexities
can be accurately captured in a poetic format. This moment also lends itself to
a larger interpretive discussion about how Dutt envisions the potency of one of
her major poetic projects—that is, her choice to use English verse forms like
those used by Wordsworth (who she simultaneously seems to respect and dismiss
in the poem) to describe Indian scenes like those of the tree and her youth.
Rise, brothers, rise; the wakening skies pray to the
morning light,
The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn like a child that has cried all
night.
Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free,
To capture the leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the kings of the sea!
No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull's call,
The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are our comrades
all.
What though we toss at the fall of the sun where the hand of the sea-god
drives?
He who holds the storm by the hair, will hide in his breast our lives.
Sweet is the shade of the cocoanut glade, and the scent of the mango grove,
And sweet are the sands at the full o' the moon with the sound of the voices we
love;
But sweeter, O brothers, the kiss of the spray and the dance of the wild foam's
glee;
Row, brothers, row to the edge of the verge, where the low sky mates with the
sea.
Analysis
The poem consists of three stanzas having four lines
each. The rhyme scheme of the poem is AABB.
Stanza 1
In stanza 1, the poet asks the fishermen to “Rise”
as the day is about to appear. She uses some symbols to tell this. First, she
says that the wakening skies pray to the morning light which means
that the sky which was sleeping in the night has woken up and is welcoming the
light. Here the poet uses personification by using wakening (a human
activity) for the sky (a non-living thing).
Next, she says The wind lies asleep in the arms
of the dawn like a child that has cried all night meaning that the
sea-wind that leads to the storm is now calm (as the tides rise in the night
because of moon’s gravitational pull) because of the morning which is about to
come.
Thus the wind is just like the child which kept crying
throughout the night and now he is quiet. Here the poet
uses Similie to compare now calm wind with a child. By uses these two
symbolic examples, she declares that the morning is near.
In the 3rd line, the poet asks the fishermen
to gather..nets from the shore and set catamarans (a kind of boat
used by fishermen) freein order to capture the leaping wealth of the
tide, for we are the kings o the sea.
According to the poet, the fishermen should collect
their nets from the sea-shores and take their boats because the tide is full of
wealth (fishes, sea-gulls etc) and they are the kings. They just need to go to
the sea to capture the wealth that is theirs. Hence they should hurry.
Stanza 2
In stanza 2, the poet asks the fishermen to do
everything fast. The gull’s call is a symbol used to depict that
morning is near. The poet calls sea as their mother,
cloud as brother and sea waves as
their comrades i.e. companions. Here again, the poet uses personification.
Sea is considered the mother because it feeds them
and helps them to sustain their life. Similarly, clouds are their brothers
because they guide the fishermen while the waves are companions because they
keep moving with them. The poet thus wants to say that they all are family and
help each.
She urges other not fear because even if they could
not return back by the sunset, the sea-god which according to
her, holds the sea-storm by the hair will save them (hide in his
breast our lives).
Stanza 3
In the final stanza, the poet says that the
shade of the coconut glade, the scent of mango groove and the sands
at the O’ the moon with the sound of the voices they love are
sweet and enjoyable but these joys are temporary.
Rather they should go for the kiss of the
spray (the water drops falling on the face while in the sea) and the
dance of the foam’s glee (the foam which forms by the up-down movement of
the tides) which according to the poet are sweeter and work-struggling.
In the last line, she asks the fishermen to depart
for the point in the sea where the sun meets the sky i.e. horizon. Symbolically
it refers to infinity or a place without end. In this perspective, she asks the
fishermen to dive into the infinite sea.
3.Night of the Scorpion
Nissim
Ezekiel
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood,
they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an
incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my children.
Summary of The Night of
the Scorpion
‘The Night of the Scorpion’ is the story of one night in which the mother of
the speaker is
stung by a poisonous scorpion. She suffers for twenty hours while peasants,
holy men, and her husband attempt to heal her. They try curses, blessings,
prayers, herbs, and all forms of ancient medicine that are not practiced in
most of the modern world. Their efforts are in vain. A sense of
otherworldliness is created by the beliefs and practices of these peasants
in comparison to the world in which the reader is existing, a barrier is put
up. This barrier is torn down as the poem concludes and the reader realizes how
similar they are to the characters in the poem, united by their common
humanity.
Analysis of Night of the Scorpion
This
poem begins at the beginning, with the speaker starting the story of how his
mother was stung by a scorpion. Ezekiel does not use unnecessary phrasing or
extra words, he gets right to the point. He describes how the scorpion had been
driven inside by “steady rain” and has decided to hide beneath a “sack of
rice.” This first stanza is only four lines, a choice Ezekiel makes to urge the
story forward. A quick succession of stanzas allows for the poem to flow
faster. The second stanza proceeds in the same way, but this time with only
three lines.
In
this stanza, Ezekiel’s speaker describes the actions of the scorpion. He
portrays the creature as being purposefully diabolical, a thought that will
directly relate to the beliefs and actions of those that attend the speaker’s
mother. The scorpion moves quickly before anyone can do anything, he “part[s]
with his poison…” and runs back outside, to risk the weather again.
Throughout
this piece Ezekiel makes a number of language choices that continue to
reference the movements and parts of different insects.These descriptors are
very prevalent in the third stanza.He describes the actions of the peasants as
being like swarms of flies, they “buzzed” God’s name in a hope to paralyze the
“Evil One.”
The
image that Ezekiel creates here is clear, the reader can easily visualize a
swarm of people coming down on the speaker’s mother, all with good intentions,
but perhaps so numerous that no one can do anything that would help. They are
all devoted to the same purpose, praying in the hope of saving the mother. They
believe that she has been inflicted by the Evil One, or the devil, and pray in
an effort to drive him out.
The peasants came like swarms
of flies
and buzzed the name of God a
hundred times
The
fourth stanza contains seven lines and describes the hunt that the peasants
embark on in an effort to find the scorpion. They search with both candles and
lanterns, which throw shadows on the wall in the shape of a scorpion. This
image of the scorpion still being in the room (only in the form of shadow)
helps set the scene for the next lines as the peasants struggle to help the
mother. The shadow is representative of their primitive fears, that something
Evil is lurking just where they cannot see it.
This fourth stanza continues, and the
search for the scorpion has failed, they do not know, as the reader does, that
the scorpion fled the house at the beginning of the poem. This puts the reader
in a position above those in the poem, he/she has a greater knowledge of the
situation than those experiencing it. A technique that, on stage, or within
drama, is known as dramatic irony.
The
peasants say that,
With
every movement that the scorpion made his / poison moved in Mother’s blood…
This
gives the reader the sense that they believe if they are able to capture and
kill the scorpion the mother will be cured. A simple, primitive belief, that
the reader would very well know to be unfounded. Once again elevating the
reader’s position above that of the peasants.
The
fifth paragraph, also seven lines, holds the poem’s momentum steady. The
peasants wish the scorpion to be stilled, but offer a bit of consolation for
the mother. They, deep in their superstitions, say to the mother that the
poison will burn away the sins of her previous birth, and decrease the
suffering of her next. This is a reference to the traditional Hindu belief of
reincarnation. Due to their lowly social status it was believed that the mother
must have committed some kind of grievous sin to be condemned to this life, and
that perhaps this suffering she is going through will improve her chances of
being reincarnated into a higher position in her next life.
This
stanza continues into the next in which the speaker continues relaying the
words of the peasants. They wish that the pain the mother is experiencing will
purify her flesh,
of
desire, and your spirit ambition,
The
peasants have given up their search for the scorpion and are now sitting around
the mother with her at the center of a circle. The speaker describes each
peasant as wearing a face that is peaceful with understanding. The next two
lines allow for quick progression of time. Ezekiel lists a number of
developments and additions to the story. All of the following are added to the
situation:
More
candles, more lanterns, more neighbors, / more insects, and the endless rain.
The
mother is “twisting” on the floor, “groaning” into the mat. It can be assumed
that quite a large crowd has gathered around the mother. Many there to help,
and probably some there just to observe. At this point in the story the father
is introduced into the poem. He is described as being a very sensible man,
rational, and a sceptic. Most likely doubtful of the beliefs of the peasants.
At this moment though he is desperate. Ezekiel’s speaker describes his father
as trying
every
curse and blessing, / powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
His
father has forgotten his reason and is trying everything he can think of in an effort
to save his wife. While the reader may have felt some distance from the
characters at this point, the father’s desperation feels real and acute. A man
hopeful beyond reason that a curse or blessing will save his wife. He even goes
so far as to burn paraffin on her toe. The speaker watches the flames it
creates “feeding” on his mother. Just as the poison is moving through her body,
so is the flame consuming her skin. The reader is then informed that all of
this has been going on twenty hours. A truly painful and horrific death.
Throughout
this poem a number of different remedies are tried in an attempt to save the
mother, from what the reader can infer, none of them help. Some of these
practices will surely seem absurd to a modern reader. These references to older
medicinal practices put distance between the reader and the speaker, especially
in the final line of the seventh stanza in which a
holy
man perform[s] his rites to tame the poison with an / incantation.
After
this distance is in place, Ezekiel swiftly breaks down the barrier to show how
truly similar the reader is, no matter where he/she is from, to the characters
in the poem. They are all human and are united by the final stanza.
My
mother only said / Thank God the scorpion picked on me / And spared my
children.
4.An
Introduction
Kamala
Das
I
don't know politics but I know the names
Of those in power, and can repeat them like
Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru.
I
amIndian, very brown, born inMalabar,
I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one.
Don't write in English, they said, English is
Not your mother-tongue. Why not leave
Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins,
Every one of you? Why not let me speak in
Any language I like? The language I speak,
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses
All mine, mine alone.
It is half English, halfIndian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,
It is as human as I am human, don't
You see? It voices my joys, my longings, my
Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing
Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it
Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is
Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and
Is aware. Not the deaf, blind speech
Of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the
Incoherent mutterings of the blazing
Funeral pyre. I was child, and later they
Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs
Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair.
WhenI asked for love, not knowing what else to ask
For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the
Bedroom and closed the door, He did not beat me
But my sad woman-body felt so beaten.
The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me.
I shrank Pitifully.
Then … I wore a shirt and my
Brother's trousers, cut my hair short and ignored
My womanliness. Dress in sarees, be girl
Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook,
Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh,
Belong, cried the categorizers. Don't sit
On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows.
Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better
Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to
Choose a name, a role. Don't play pretending games.
Don't play at schizophrenia or be a
Nympho. Don't cry embarrassingly loud when
Jilted in love … I met a man, loved him. Call
Him not by any name, he is every man
Who wants. a woman, just as I am every
Woman who seeks love. In him . . . the hungry haste
Of rivers, in me . . . the oceans' tireless
Waiting. Who are you, I ask each and everyone,
The answer is, it is I. Anywhere and,
Everywhere, I see the one who calls himself I
In this world, he is tightly packed like the
Sword in its sheath. It is I who drink lonely
Drinks at twelve, midnight, in hotels of strange towns,
It is I who laugh, it is I who make love
And then, feel shame, it is I who lie dying
With a rattle in my throat. I am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no
Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.
Introduction
The poem An Introduction is
an autobiographical verse of Kamala Das that throws light
on the life of a woman in the patriarchal society. This is a confessional poem.
I have divided the poem into five parts for better understanding.
I have tried to first give a brief explanation
of the lines and then provide a comprehensive analysis. I hope you will get
through the poem and understand its central idea.
Poem Summary
Men
as the Rulers of Country
I
don’t know politics but I know the names
Of those in power, and can repeat them like
Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru.
The poet starts explaining by saying that she
doesn’t know the politics yet she is well aware of the politicians of her
country from Nehru to the ones of her own times.
And as the politics of India has always remained in
fewer hands (of males) she has memorized the names of all the politicians like
the days of the week or the names of the month.
The lines depict how the males have been ruling the
country without giving this right to the women. Moreover, the rulers are fewer
in numbers because democracy exists only in words. In reality, the rule of the
country remains in the hands of some people only who have assumed themselves to
be the permanent rulers.
Women are Individuals Too
I
am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar,
I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one.
Now the poet comes towards her own life experience.
She says that she is an Indian and brown in color (as compared to the British).
She is born in Malabar. She can speak three languages, write in two and dreams
in one of the dreams have a universal language. In these lines, she explains
her Indianness.
Like most of the citizens of India, she is also
capable of speaking three languages and writing in two probably the English and
her native language. She says that she dreams of one because the world of
dreams is common to all. In this world, every individual, male or female, uses
the same universal language.
In my opinion, these lines can be interpreted in
another way as well. The poet perhaps tries to show her ability in the
educational sphere which is no access to most of the women.
She says that she speaks three languages and is also
capable of writing in two. In addition, is also dreams of any man in the world.
She probably compares herself to the man of the world trying to show that she
is no lesser than him.
She possesses all those qualities and abilities that
make him superior. Hence, though she is a woman, she is no lesser than him in
terms of ability, passion, and creativeness. Moreover, in the world of
dreams, she is equally an individual as the man is and so she wants this status
in the real world as well.
Poet’s Struggle for Freedom
Don’t
write in English, they said, English is
Not your mother-tongue. Why not leave
Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins,
Every one of you? Why not let me speak in
Any language I like?
Being well familiar with the English she uses this
language in her writings. However, this habit of her is not liked by her
friends, relatives, and critics. They all condemn her for writing in English as
according to them, English is the language of the colonists. She asks them why
they criticize her. Why she is not given liberty to write in whatever language
she desires.
In these lines, she exposes the jealous nature of
her nears and dears who cannot endure her skills. This makes them criticize
her. Having no logical reason to put restrictions on her writing in English,
they try to tell her that the language she writes in, is the language of
Colonists and thus she should avoid using it.
However, she asks them how a language can be owned
by a particular community. It belongs to every person who uses it and thus she
should not be stopped from using it.
The
language I speak,
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses
All mine, mine alone.
It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,
It is as human as I am human, don’t
You see?
The language in which she writes is her own along
with all its imperfections and strangeness. The language is, though not fully
English yet she considers it to be honest because like her as her language is
also imperfect like her which a quite normal thing is.
In these lines, she shows her ownership of the
English and also the freedom of using it. She is imperfect but this makes her a
human. Thus she should not be scolded for her mistakes or shortcoming.
But she wonders why society ignores the mistakes or
even blunders of men and questions the mistakes of women although the fact is
that every person in the world is imperfect.
It
voices my joys, my longings, my
Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing
Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it
Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is
Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and
Is aware. Not the deaf, blind speech
Of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the
Incoherent mutterings of the blazing
Funeral pyre.
The language expresses her joys, grief, and hopes.
For he, it is like cawing is to crows and roaring is to lions i.e. it is an
integral part of her expression.
She further says that her speech (in English) is the
speech of humans that minds can understand and not strange and queer like the
sound of trees in the storms or of monsoon clouds or of rain or of dead as
these voices cannot be understood.
Her Miserable Married Life
I
was child, and later they
Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs
Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair.
When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask
For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the
Bedroom and closed the door
She moves towards her married life. She was a child
although the size of her body grew up i.e. she entered the stage of puberty yet
her soul was immature. As she was still a child (after marriage) she asked for
love.
However, her husband quenched his own lust on the bed.
The poet here not only describes her married life but tries to narrate the
story of every woman in her country. Her grieves and sorrows are the grieves
and sorrows of every woman of her country.
The young girls in her country are forced to marry
old men without having their consent. They are so young at the time of their
marriage that they cannot accept that they have grown up. However as their body
parts including the genitals grow up, they have to accept that they are mature
now and thus have bound into the nuptial alliance.
The girl after being married desires that her
husband should show compassion to her and love her. But instead, she is drawn
to the bed and made to endure the pains of sex that she is not willing to do.
He
did not beat me
But my sad woman-body felt so beaten.
The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me.
I shrank Pitifully.
She says that she was not beaten by him yet her
womanly body felt to be beaten and wounded and thus she got tired of it (her
body). His genitals seemed to her as some burden that have crushed
her. She started hating her female body because it is her body that has
given her so much pain.
Then
… I wore a shirt and my
Brother’s trousers, cut my hair short and ignored
My womanliness. Dress in sarees, be girl
Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook,
Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh,
Belong, cried the categorizers. Don’t sit
On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows.
Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better
Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to
Choose a name, a role. Don’t play pretending games.
Don’t play at schizophrenia or be a
Nympho. Don’t cry embarrassingly loud when
Jilted in love …
To avoid its load, she tried to become a tomboy by
adopting the attire of males. But it was not led by her in-laws. They started
taunting her. She was commanded to dress in sarees, be a girl, wife,
embroiderer, cook, quarreller with servants, etc. She was asked not to hide her
real self. Her in-laws even commanded to remain silent and endure her
unachieved love.
The lines expose the condition of a woman in the
house of her in-laws. She is forced to give up her frankness and attain the
nature of a daughter-in-law. She is forced to do everything that her in-laws
desire her to do.
She has to accomplish all the tasks though she is
not willing to do so. Still, she is taunted, scolded as well as abused. She is
even advised not to express her grief if she is troubled y her married life.
Her Struggle for the Status of ‘I’
I
met a man, loved him. Call
Him not by any name, he is every man
Who wants. a woman, just as I am every
Woman who seeks love. In him . . . the hungry haste
Of rivers, in me . . . the oceans’ tireless
Waiting. Who are you, I ask each and everyone,
The answer is, it is I. Anywhere and,
Everywhere, I see the one who calls himself I
In this world, he is tightly packed like the
Sword in its sheath. It is I who drink lonely
Drinks at twelve, midnight, in hotels of strange towns,
It is I who laugh, it is I who make love
And then, feel shame, it is I who lie dying
With a rattle in my throat.
She meets a man (whose name she does not mention).
The man is, according to her, the everyman who desires a woman (to quench his
lust) as a woman desires love from a man. When she asks him about his identity,
his answer is ‘I’.
This ‘I’ or the ‘male-ego’ gives him the liberty to
do whatever he likes. He can drink at midnight, laugh, and satisfy his lust.
However, he feels ashamed after losing a woman due to his own shortcomings and
also this ego of ‘I’ dies when the person dies and thus his end is no different
than the end of the woman.
I
am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no
Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.
Hence like him, she can also attribute the title of
‘I’ to herself. Like men, she is also sinner and saint, beloved and betrayed.
Her joys and pains are no different than those of men. Hence she emancipates
herself to the level of ‘I’.
5.The Bus
The tarpaulin flaps are buttoned down
on the windows of the state transport bus.
all the way up to jejuri.
a cold wind keeps whipping
and slapping a corner of tarpaulin at your elbow.
you look down to the roaring road.
you search for the signs of daybreak in what little light spills out of bus.
your own divided face in the pair of glasses
on an oldman`s nose
is all the countryside you get to see.
you seem to move continually forward.
toward a destination
just beyond the castemark beyond his eyebrows.
outside, the sun has risen quitely
it aims through an eyelet in the tarpaulin.
and shoots at the oldman`s glasses.
a sawed off sunbeam comes to rest gently against the driver`s right temple.
the bus seems to change direction.
at the end of bumpy ride with your own face on the either side
when you get off the bus.
you dont step inside the old man`s head.
About Arun Kolatkar
Arun Balkrishna Kolatkar is a Marathi
poet, who wrote with ease in Marathi and English. He was born on 1st November 1932 and died on 25th September 2004. During his lifetime, he has
influenced many Marathi poets by his works. He has received Sahitya Akademi
Award in 2005 and Commonwealth writers’ prize in 1977.
Summary of The Bus
‘The Bus’ by Arun Kolatkar is a poem
about a visitor’s travel experience to Jejuri. The tarpaulin flaps are
buttoned-down as the journey taken by the visitor is during a rainy night. It
is typical of Indian buses to have only tarpaulin flaps instead of
glass-shutters during 1976. The tarpaulin flaps beating at one’s elbow or even
face refers to the exasperating experience the visitor had to undergo. “Your
own divided face” talks of the imprisoned situation where one can see nothing
but his own reflections. There is no description of the onward movement present
in the poem, yet it felt through the reflection in the old man’s glasses.
The visitor embodies the modern skepticism of religious superstition, whereas
the caste mark symbolizes the
religious faith of the old generation.
The monotonous journey and the bumpy
ride, come to an end by the streaks of sunlight shooting into the bus. His
purpose of the visit has nothing to do with the old man traveled with him, so
the speakers warn the visitor not to entertain a conversation or get
his view of religion or about the place.
Theme and Setting of The Bus
The main theme of the poem ‘The Bus’ is about the visitor’s travel
experience. Inside this simple theme, the poet has woven the themes of
contrasting religious faith and opinion between old and young/modern
generation. In the last line, “you don’t step inside the old man’s head” the
poet talks of the inflexibility of the modern generation who has no patience to
listen to the stories or experiences of the old people.
The setting of the poem is the bus
itself. The whole poem is set on the bus along with various screenshots of
images at different times of the journey. The speaker is
addressing a visitor who is on his way to Jejuri along with fellow passengers.
Whether the speaker is present the bus or not is uncertain. Still, He talks of
what the visitor can expect in his journey. This could also be interpreted as
advice to a person who is intending to go on a pilgrimage to Jejuri.
Form and Structure of The Bus
‘The Bus’ is a free verse of 25
lines carelessly arranged to form the poem. The poem has no specific rhyme
scheme too. It is a simple descriptive poem about the journey to Jejuri.
He has captured the scenes outside and inside in the well-depicted images. With
his objective view and phrases like ‘you look down”, “your own divided face”,
“your elbow”, “you get off the bus” take the readers on a journey to Jejuri.
The poem’s loosely set structure and his choice of simple language help
to deal with his major theme, the journey in India. The poem is
conversational in tone,
for the poet keeps talking or giving guidance to the visitor about the
experience of traveling on a bus to Jejuri.
Analysis of The Bus
Lines 1 to 5
the
tarpaulin flaps are buttoned down
( . .
. )
and
slapping a corner of tarpaulin at your elbow.
The poem ‘The Bus’ opens
with the poet’s description of the bus which is on its way up to Jejuri. The
poem was written in 1976, so the windows of the state transport bus is covered
with tarpaulin flaps, instead of glass. As the bus keeps moving forward, the
cold wind blows heavily on the tarpaulin and tries to move it. Its constant
attempt is described as “whipping” and “slapping”, especially of the human
attributes of anger and displeasure. The wind blowing on the tarpaulin, ‘at
your elbow” presents the speaker/poet as an observer than the subject. And the use of
verbs like ‘slapping’ and ‘whipping’ is used to give life to the wind and so it
is the personification of wind.
Lines 6 and 10
you
look down to the roaring road.
( . . . )
is all the countryside you get to see.
As
the journey moves forward, in the lines from six to ten the poet talks about
the natural curiosity of a traveler to look outside. The tarpaulin is not
see-through and tied to the window, so, everything the visitor could see is the
“roaring road”. The poet further states, the visitor may vainly try to look for
daybreak in the limited light spilling out from the bus, for they are traveling
at night. Searching for the signs of daybreak indicates the restlessness of the
fellow traveler for the journey to end sooner or the eagerness to be in
“Jejuri”. However hard the traveler may try, all the scenes he gets to
see is of the divided self of himself in the “pair of glasses on an oldman`s
nose”.
The
“divided face” is of a retrospective in nature, for the person has to deal with
his divided self. In this context, the divided self depicts the poet’s
religious beliefs and modern skepticism.
Lines 11 to 16
you
seem to move continually forward.
( . . . )
and shoots at the oldman`s glasses.
Despite no description of moving
forward, the poet in ‘The Bus’ says the traveler
could know that he is moving forward towards the destination – to the ruins of
Jejuri. As he was observing the divided face on the old man’s spectacles, he
looks further at the “caste mark”, which depicts the religious belief. That
symbolic representation of the caste mark indicates the difference between the
old man’s religious faith and of the young traveler. By then, he notices the
sun’s rays seeping through the eyelet in the tarpaulin and reflecting at the
old man’s glasses. The verbs ‘shoots’ and ‘aims’ used in these lines personify
the sun.
Lines 17 to 20
a
sawed off sunbeam comes to rest gently against the driver`s right temple.
( . . . )
when you get off the bus.
Lines from 17 to 20 of the poem ‘The Bus,’ gives the picture of daybreak and its
view inside the bus. Outside the bus, the sun has risen. As the bus changes
direction, a “sawed off sunbeam” falls on the right temple of the driver. The
”Sawed-off sunbean” indicates the sharpness of the sun rays and serve as strong
visual imagery.
Since the poet is also an artist, bringing art into writing is never an issue
for the poet. This is personified by the poet as if the sunbeam coming to rest
gently on the temple of the driver, like a human being. Finally, they have
reached their destination at the end of the bumpy ride. “With your own face on
the either side” indicates the hard path one has to take to reach the
destination.
Line 21
you
dont step inside the old man`s head.
The single, last line of the
poem ‘The Bus,’ indicates the poet’s attitude towards
going to Jejuri. The “old man’s head” represents his belief. The poet does not
want to have a conversation with the old for, as the young generation of his
time, he is indifferent to the religious belief. He, also instruct the traveler
not to “step inside the old man’s head”. The old man is used to symbolize the
old generation and the traveler symbolizes the young generation in modern
society. While the former visits the religious monuments like Jejuri with
devotion, the later goes not with such belief.
6.The
Garden
Meena
Alexander (bio)
I
A
space without history—At the rim of the pond
Grandmother
loosens her sariSteps into water
Her
skin glistens, utterly naked.No one remembers this.
Lotus
petals flickerFloat to the axle-tree
Tree
of HeavenThey call it in the family.
By
its rootsGrandfather made a fire
Tossed
in her poemsPoor things, penned in black ink
She
had folded themInto finicky squares
Buried
themIn her jewel case
With
molten rubiesSlow sift of sapphire
Poems
of no climate,Words halting, quick with longing
For
a man whose name no one knew.She dreamt him up?
Who
can tell?Two whole months she took to her bed
Her
hands bent under herBroken winged
Refusing
what food she could.One night
Half
mad, she stumbled out,Ran her fingers
Over
scorched bark—Alstonia Scholaris—what was left of his body
Imagined
reliquaryBlushing like koi fed from her own hand.
II
Syntax
surrendersTo an axe biting into wood
And
hearing small shocks from my pastI know it's all over—the years of childhood
The
Innocence of Before and AfterSeasons of rain, fragrance of burnt blossoms
And
under the axle treeStars, musk scented, acutely unreal.
In
the shadow of that treeMirza Ghalib comes to me
Lambswool
cap askew,Flecked with blood—
I
tried to wash itIn your grandmother's pond.
He
took off his capI saw it was crowned
With
pale freckled eggs.He knelt beside a hole
Where
the tree once stood.I can see through this pit
To
the island cityWhere you've gone to live, he said.
In
the glory of the BelovedAll borders vanish.
I
saw her then in moonlight,A girl, my close familiar
Her
wrists were stumpsHer black hair
Blew
into resurrection waves,She could not comb it back.
She
was grandmotherAnd she was me,
She
strode up the invisibleStairs into the sky.
III
In
glowing heatIn blessed synchrony
I
saw what Ghalib saw—Houses with their eyes torn out
Books
knifed, goblets shatteredTownspeople, some in soiled dhotis
Twirling
from the lampposts.O lilies he wrote on his sleeve
Your
mouthsAre filled with syllables.
Love
draws us down into history.Men on horseback bearing myrrh and fine paper
All
the way from Mecca to ManhattanDream of a garden where
A
poet sips wineFrom the crook of your elbow—
O
girl with moonlit hairWhose wrists are stumps!
Then
whisperingSo I had to stoop to hear:
Beloved
my body is scarred with ageFit for burial
While
yours gleams,Rainbow colored.
In
the rain washed treesThere is nothing to see but nakedness.
7.The Frog And The Nightingale
Once upon a time a frog
Croaked away in Bingle Bog
Every night from dusk to dawn
He croaked awn and awn and awn
Other creatures loathed his voice,
But, alas, they had no choice,
And the crass cacophony
Blared out from the sumac tree
At whose foot the frog each night
Minstrelled on till morning night
Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks.
Insults or complaints or bricks
Stilled the frogs determination
To display his heart's elation.
But one night a nightingale
In the moonlight cold and pale
Perched upon the sumac tree
Casting forth her melody
Dumbstruck sat the gaping frog
And the whole admiring bog
Stared towards the sumac, rapt,
And, when she had ended, clapped,
Ducks had swum and herons waded
To her as she serenaded
And a solitary loon
Wept, beneath the summer moon.
Toads and teals and tiddlers, captured
By her voice, cheered on, enraptured:
"Bravo! " "Too divine! " "Encore! "
So the nightingale once more,
Quite unused to such applause,
Sang till dawn without a pause.
Next night when the Nightingale
Shook her head and twitched her tail,
Closed an eye and fluffed a wing
And had cleared her throat to sing
She was startled by a croak.
"Sorry - was that you who spoke? "
She enquired when the frog
Hopped towards her from the bog.
"Yes," the frog replied. "You see,
I'm the frog who owns this tree
In this bog I've long been known
For my splendid baritone
And, of course, I wield my pen
For Bog Trumpet now and then"
"Did you… did you like my song? "
"Not too bad - but far too long.
The technique was fine of course,
But it lacked a certain force".
"Oh! " the nightingale confessed.
Greatly flattered and impressed
That a critic of such note
Had discussed her art and throat:
"I don't think the song's divine.
But - oh, well - at least it's mine".
"That's not much to boast about".
Said the heartless frog. "Without
Proper training such as I
- And few others can supply.
You'll remain a mere beginner.
But with me you'll be a winner"
"Dearest frog", the nightingale
Breathed: "This is a fairy tale -
And you are Mozart in disguise
Come to earth before my eyes".
"Well I charge a modest fee."
"Oh! " "But it won't hurt, you'll see"
Now the nightingale inspired,
Flushed with confidence, and fired
With both art and adoration,
Sang - and was a huge sensation.
Animals for miles around
Flocked towards the magic sound,
And the frog with great precision
Counted heads and charged admission.
Though next morning it was raining,
He began her vocal training.
"But I can't sing in this weather"
"Come my dear - we'll sing together.
Just put on your scarf and sash,
Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! "
So the frog and nightingale
Journeyed up and down the scale
For six hours, till she was shivering
and her voice was hoarse and quivering.
Though subdued and sleep deprived,
In the night her throat revived,
And the sumac tree was bowed,
With a breathless, titled crowd:
Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent,
Mallard and Milady Trent,
Martin Cardinal Mephisto,
And the Coot of Monte Cristo,
Ladies with tiaras glittering
In the interval sat twittering -
And the frog observed them glitter
With a joy both sweet and bitter.
Every day the frog who'd sold her
Songs for silver tried to scold her:
"You must practice even longer
Till your voice, like mine grows stronger.
In the second song last night
You got nervous in mid-flight.
And, my dear, lay on more trills:
Audiences enjoy such frills.
You must make your public happier:
Give them something sharper snappier.
We must aim for better billings.
You still owe me sixty shillings."
Day by day the nightingale
Grew more sorrowful and pale.
Night on night her tired song
Zipped and trilled and bounced along,
Till the birds and beasts grew tired
At a voice so uninspired
And the ticket office gross
Crashed, and she grew more morose -
For her ears were now addicted
To applause quite unrestricted,
And to sing into the night
All alone gave no delight.
Now the frog puffed up with rage.
"Brainless bird - you're on the stage -
Use your wits and follow fashion.
Puff your lungs out with your passion."
Trembling, terrified to fail,
Blind with tears, the nightingale
Heard him out in silence, tried,
Puffed up, burst a vein, and died.
Said the frog: "I tried to teach her,
But she was a stupid creature -
Far too nervous, far too tense.
Far too prone to influence.
Well, poor bird - she should have known
That your song must be your own.
That's why I sing with panache:
"Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! "
And the foghorn of the frog
Blared unrivalled through the bog.
The Frog and the
Nightingale: Summary and Analysis
Introduction
An
allegory written by the Indian poet and novelist Vikram Seth, “The frog and the
Nightingale” is a poem focused towards young readers with the view of educating
them to beware of exploitation and to trust in their own selves in the
recognition of their own strengths. The poem was originally composed in 1994
and published by the Evergreen Publications. Due to the poem’s rich moral
lesson, it has been adopted in several school textbooks.
The poem can be interpreted in many
ways: it can be perceived as a piece shedding light on the
exploitation of talent and genius; or it can be said to
be a lesson on the choice of company; a discourse on self-confidence,
or even a critique on trust. Beyond these fundamental
moral teachings, the poem also focuses on the nature of art and artist,
appreciation of genius and the struggle to maintain a set standard.
The Frog and The Nightingale: Poem Explanation
Stanza
1
Once upon a time a frog
Croaked away in Bingle Bog
Every night from dusk to dawn
He croaked awn and awn and awn
The
poem begins on a narrative with the classical stock phrase ‘Once upon a time’
to engage the audience in the fairytale of the poem from the very start. We are
introduced to a frog who is shown croaking in a Bingle Bog. A Bingle Bog is a
marshy and muddy place around the roots of a tree. The frog croaked without
stopping from evening to the morning, throughout the night. The poet says
that the creature croaked “awn and awn and awn”. On one hand it suggests the
croak of the frog, while on the other hand the poet might suggest the simple
relentlessness of the frog’s croaking with sounds similar to the words “on and
on and on”. This can be regarded as a clever word play.
Other creatures loathed his voice,
But, alas, they had no choice,
And the crass cacophony
Blared out from the sumac tree
At whose foot the frog each night
Minstrelled on till morning night
The
other creatures did not like the frog’s singing, though they had no choice but
to listen to him throughout the night. The frog’s ‘crass cacophony’, that is,
his rough unpleasant and crude mixture of sounds were heard by all the
inhabitants of the sumac tree. And so, the frog sang like a minstrel at the
foot of the sumac tree every night.
Stanza
2
Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks.
Insults or complaints or bricks
Stilled the frogs determination
To display his heart’s elation.
Nothing
could stop the frog from singing. Even when stones and sticks were thrown at
him he persisted. No pleading or insults or complaints had any effect on him.
The frog was full of determination and keen on displaying his feeling through
his voice and so he sang without the least care for the world. Although the
frog is the antagonist of the poem, a good quality we see here is the quality
of determination.
But one night a nightingale
In the moonlight cold and pale
Perched upon the sumac tree
Casting forth her melody
Dumbstruck sat the gaping frog
And the whole admiring bog
Stared towards the sumac, rapt,
One
night a nightingale perched on the sumac tree at whose foot the frog used to
sing night after night. In the moonlight, sitting on the tree, she started
singing in a melodious and dulcet voice. Nightingales are song-birds and their
voice is very melodious. This has inspired poets and writers since antiquity to
write songs and poem on the beauty of their voice. The frog, in this scenario,
sat gaping at the nightingale completely amazed and dumbstruck. Everyone in the
bog (marsh land) around the sumac tree were also likewise awed and they stared
at the nightingale in admiration.
Stanza
3
And, when she had ended, clapped,
Ducks had swum and herons waded
To her as she serenaded
And a solitary loon
Wept, beneath the summer moon.
When
the nightingale concluded her singing, everyone who had heard her clapped.
Ducks swam towards the nightingale enchanted by her music and herons walked towards
her as she sang. The song of the nightingale was so beautiful that it made a
loon weep sitting by himself in the moonlit sky. The nightingale’s voice is
glorified in the lines.
Toads and teals and tiddlers, captured
By her voice, cheered on, enraptured:
“Bravo! ” “Too divine! ” “Encore! ”
So the nightingale once more,
Quite unused to such applause,
Sang till dawn without a pause.
Even
the toads and teals (which are a kind of freshwater ducks with bright colours
on their necks) and tiddlers (which are fishes of salty water) were captured by
the divine melody of the nightingale. Ravished and enraptured by her song they
cheered for her with ‘Bravo!’ ‘Too divine!’ ‘Encore!’. The modest nightingale
was quite unused to such high praise. Seeing her art being appreciated she sang
on till the dawn.
Stanza
4:
Next
night when the Nightingale
Shook her head and twitched her tail,
Closed an eye and fluffed a wing
And had cleared her throat to sing
She was startled by a croak.
“Sorry – was that you who spoke? ”
She enquired when the frog
Hopped towards her from the bog.
“Yes,” the frog replied. “You see,
I’m the frog who owns this tree
In this bog I’ve long been known
For my splendid baritone
And, of course, I wield my pen
For Bog Trumpet now and then”
The
nightingale had received a lot of appreciation in the form of comments and
applause the preceding night and so she decided to sing the next night as well.
The next night she shook her head and twitched her tail to ready herself for
her audience. She closed an eye and fluffed a wing and was just about to sing
when she was startled by a croak.
It
was the frog who had interrupted her. She asked the frog if it was him who
spoke and the frog hopped towards her and replied that it was he. He introduced
himself to the nightingale as the owner of the tree. He said that he’d lived in
the bog for a long time and was himself renowned for his singing. The frog
further flaunted that he also wrote music for Bog Trumpet. “Bog Trumpet” can be
interpreted here as the name of a magazine or newspaper circulated throughout
the bog where animals are human-like. Here we see the frog clearly trying to
establish his dominance by boasting about himself.
Stanza
5:
“Did you… did you like my song? ”
“Not too bad – but far too long.
The technique was fine of course,
But it lacked a certain force”.
“Oh! ” the nightingale confessed.
Greatly flattered and impressed
That a critic of such note
Had discussed her art and throat:
“I don’t think the song’s divine.
But – oh, well – at least it’s mine”.
After
meeting the frog the nightingale is convinced that the frog is someone of
repute and has an acute understanding of her art. She asks the frog, rather
hesitantly, if he liked her song. To this the frog replied that it was not too
bad, but that it lacked a certain force. Here we see an individual who has no
knowledge of the art acting as a critic and a superior to the one who has
genuine talent. This happens quite often in the real world.
The
nightingale on the other hand was quite impressed and flattered. She even held
the frog’s baseless negative criticism with high esteem as she believes him to
be a noteworthy critic. She undermines herself by saying that she knows her
song is not divine. But that it is her own is enough satisfaction for her. We are
witness here to the nightingale’s complete lack of confidence in herself and
her art.
Stanza
6:
“That’s not much to boast about”.
Said the heartless frog. “Without
Proper training such as I
– And few others can supply.
You’ll remain a mere beginner.
But with me you’ll be a winner”
“Dearest frog”, the nightingale
Breathed: “This is a fairy tale –
And you are Mozart in disguise
Come to earth before my eyes”.
While
we already see the frog undervaluing the nightingale’s song from the previous
stanza, in this stanza the frog is seen to resort to open insult. He says in a
very rude and heartless manner to the nightingale that the fact that her song
is her own composition is not something to boast about. He goes a step further
and says that the nightingale lacks proper training and that without such a
training which only he and a few others can provide her with, she will remain a
mere beginner. Alternatively, if she were to train under him, she would be a
winner. Thus, the frog with his cunningness not only succeeds in undermining
the nightingale, but also convinces her that it is in her best interest to
train under him as she lacks proper training.
The
nightingale unaware of the guileful scheme is overwhelmed with joy that she
would have the chance to train under the frog. She further says that it is
quite like a fairy tale and she compares the talentless frog with Mozart and
says that he has arrived at the most opportune moment to her like a saviour.
Stanza
7:
“Well I charge a modest fee.”
“Oh! ” “But it won’t hurt, you’ll see”
Now the nightingale inspired,
Flushed with confidence, and fired
With both art and adoration,
Sang – and was a huge sensation.
Animals for miles around
Flocked towards the magic sound,
And the frog with great precision
Counted heads and charged admission.
The
frog is bent on taking advantage of the innocent and foolish nightingale. He
proposes that he is happy to teach the nightingale, but must have a modest fee
in exchange for his teaching. Suddenly the nightingale is sceptical about the
exchange with the fee involved. But the frog being a clever salesman full of
guile and cunningness assures that it won’t hurt and that he is demanding
nothing that the nightingale can’t afford. The Nightingale is inspired by this
and is flushed with confidence instilled in her by the frog. She is excited
with both art and adoration and thus sings and consequently is a huge
sensation. Animals not just from the bog but from far away gathered towards the
magical sound, and the frog with clever precision counted the present people
and charge them with admission fee.
Stanza 8:
Though next morning it was raining,
He began her vocal training.
“But I can’t sing in this weather”
“Come my dear – we’ll sing together.
Just put on your scarf and sash,
Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! ”
So the frog and nightingale
Journeyed up and down the scale
For six hours, till she was shivering
and her voice was hoarse and quivering.
The
next morning it was raining. The weather was unsuitable for the nightingale to
sing but the frog begin with her vocal training anyway. Nightingales sing in
the evening when the weather is clear whereas the frogs croak when it rains.
The Nightingale pleaded to the frog that she could not sing in the rain, but
the cunning frog pushed and persuaded her to sing regardless. He told her to
put on her scarf and sash and sing along with him. And so the frog and the
nightingale practiced singing for six hours straight in the adverse rainy
weather. The nightingale was shivering with cold by the time, her voice became
rough and she trembled when she spoke.
Stanza
9:
Though subdued and sleep deprived,
In the night her throat revived,
And the sumac tree was bowed,
With a breathless, titled crowd:
Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent,
Mallard and Milady Trent,
Martin Cardinal Mephisto,
And the Coot of Monte Cristo,
Ladies with tiaras glittering
In the interval sat twittering –
And the frog observed them glitter
With a joy both sweet and bitter.
Because
of the so called ‘vocal training’, the nightingale was sleep deprived and quite
tired. However, in the night she regained composure. Her throat revived and she
could sing in front of the bog. As always her audience was left overwhelmed and
breathless. Many a notable personalities from near and far had come to hear
her. The Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent, Mallard and Milady Trent, Martin
cardinal of Mephisto, and the coot of Monte Cristo were some of these figures.
We
see a clever characterisation by the poet in these lines. All the dignitaries
from the poet’s animal world are mentioned to draw our attention to the
widespread fame of the nightingale’s voice and to convincingly portray the
world. We see in the last two lines of the stanza that the frog sees this
audience composed of dignitaries with a bittersweet temperament. This is because
he is both happy to see such a turnout of people which will culminate in money
for him and sad with jealousy to know that people are there for the nightingale
and not him.
Stanza
10:
Every day the frog who’d sold her
Songs for silver tried to scold her:
“You must practice even longer
Till your voice, like mine grows stronger.
In the second song last night
You got nervous in mid-flight.
And, my dear, lay on more trills:
Audiences enjoy such frills.
You must make your public happier:
Give them something sharper snappier.
We must aim for better billings.
You still owe me sixty shillings.”
We
see that the frog has become abusive towards the nightingale. He is seen at his
most exploitative in the lines of this stanza. The frog collects the earnings
from the show every night and scolds the nightingale to practice harder. He
chides her saying she should practise longer for her voice to grow as strong as
his own and that it’s a shame that she got nervous in the middle of the second
song from the previous night’s performance. The frog suggests bizarre things
for her to do to impress the gathering. He says that they must aim for better
earnings as the nightingale still owes him sixty shillings for his lessons. We
see the evil and cunning nature of the frog who even when keeping the earnings
from the nightingale’s show and providing a misleading lesson wants to further
exploit her by demanding an undeserved fee.
Stanza
11:
Day by day the nightingale
Grew more sorrowful and pale.
Night on night her tired song
Zipped and trilled and bounced along,
Till the birds and beasts grew tired
At a voice so uninspired
And the ticket office gross
Crashed, and she grew more morose –
For her ears were now addicted
To applause quite unrestricted,
And to sing into the night
All alone gave no delight.
In
this manner, suffering at the hands of the cunning frog the nightingale grew
more sorrowful and pale day by day. Night after night, forced by the frog, she
kept on singing until she grew tired of it and lost all inspiration. This
weariness of hers started reflecting in her song and the quality of her
performance gradually started degrading. It worsened to such a point that her
audience once so eager to hear her sing reduced in number. The nightingale
consequently grew morose. She was by now quite habitual to see a horde of
listeners gathered to hear her sing. And so, now singing alone in the night
gave her no pleasure. She had grown used to others applauding at her song.
Stanza
12:
Now
the frog puffed up with rage.
“Brainless bird – you’re on the stage –
Use your wits and follow fashion.
Puff your lungs out with your passion.”
Trembling, terrified to fail,
Blind with tears, the nightingale
Heard him out in silence, tried,
Puffed up, burst a vein, and died.
Seeing
that the nightingale’s show now didn’t make him the money it used to, the cruel
frog puffed up with rage. We see here that the frog has absolutely no
compassion or sympathy towards the nightingale. He again scolds her, calling
her a brainless bird. He tells her to use her wits, to follow the trends with
changing times and to puff her lungs out to show her passion. The nightingale,
too afraid to fail in front of her audience and reduced to tears by the frog’s
insult, followed what he said. She puffed up causing a vein in her body to burst
and died. Thus, in this stanza, we see the nightingale following one last ill
advice from the frog and leading to a fatal outcome.
Stanza
13:
Said the frog: “I tried to teach her,
But she was a stupid creature –
Far too nervous, far too tense.
Far too prone to influence.
Well, poor bird – she should have known
That your song must be your own.
That’s why I sing with panache:
“Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! ”
And the foghorn of the frog
Blared unrivalled through the bog.
In
the final stanza of the poem, we are acquainted with the frog’s true nature and
objective in acquainting with the nightingale. He has not a shred of remorse
for what he has done. He declares that he tried to teach the nightingale, but
she was a stupid creature. She was too nervous and tense and could be easily
tricked. In the ending lines of the poem, we see the frog once again after
removing good competition in the nightingale, sing unrivalled through the bog.
Here we see the frog uttering perhaps
the two singularly most important lines in the entire poem. He says that the
nightingale should have known that ‘one’s song must be their own.’
She should have been confident in herself and her abilities. Even the
talentless frog knows this lesson. The moral of the poem “The Frog and the Nightingale” is expressed in these
lines and it can be summed up as the following — while each one of us are
gifted intrinsically with certain talents, each person differs from another,
and so one must have faith in one’s own strengths.
8.Narcissus
Easterine Kire
Easterine
Kire is a poet, writer, and
novelist from Nagaland. She is one of the finest story tellers from the region
and has written several books in English including three collections of poetry
and short stories. Her first novel, A
Naga Village Remembered, was the
first-ever Naga novel to be published. Easterine Kire has translated 200 oral
poems from her native language, Tenyidie, into English. She is also the
Founder-partner of the publishing house called Barkweaver, which publishes Naga
folktales, children’s stories, and real stirring stories of ordinary people.
She bagged the prestigious Hindu Prize for her novel, When the River Sleeps in 2015.
Last night the shadows
chased me
And the wintermoon screamed in my ears
Ah Calcutta, I could not sleep.
I watched
Your silent city weave
A tapestry of poems, songs, dead roses
And a pair of deep brown eyes.
I saw
A thousand gipsy summers
Ride down Midnight avenue
I travelled
National highway 37
And spoke to the wild geese at dawn
I heard
The paddy-birds in the rice-fields
Singing Ave Maria.
And when the thorn-bird brought me back
You did not hear my goodbye
Farewell Virgo
I leave you
Part of my eveningsong
And the dreams autumn borrowed last year
Take care
Of your solipsism
And give my love
To Dylan on the twelve thirty
He’ll be wearing an Arabian night.
Easterine Kire’s
“Narcissus” critical analysis
The poem “Narcissus” draws a
mythological symbol of self-centered and self- involved. It is written in free
verse and the poetical devices use are personification, metaphor, hyperbole ,
allusion, antithesis and transferred epithet. It deals with the narrator”s
failure to connect with her lover and shows the self- centered behaviour of her
lover.
She has represented
nature as an antithesis to show the interconnection between man and nature and
failure of communication with other human being. The antithesis shows a spark
contrast of physical communication and relationship between man and nature. She
depicts the connection between man and nature where she “spoke to the wild
geese at dawn” and heard the singing of the “The paddy-birds in the rice
fields”. In contrast to it, she mentions her lover who “did not hear my
goodbye” and urges him to take care of his “solipsism” which clearly reflects
the failure of communication between two human beings. However , there is a use
of transferred epithet where the “dreams of autumn borrowed last year”
semantically focuses on the narrator who had a past trouble sleeping in her
stay at “Calcutta” which shows the hallucination and illusion through the use
of nature.
The use of
personification shows the nightmarish and deeper dreams where the imagery of
“shadows” and “wintermoon” are personified to human like quality. The chasing
of “shadows” shows the deeper dream of the narrator and the screaming of the
“wintermoon” clearly delineates the nightmare the narrator had staying at
“Calcutta”. The metaphor is used to describe the city of Calcutta which seems
to be a “silent city” which embodies “ A tapestry of poems, songs, dead roses /
And a pair of deep brown eyes”. The lines are suggestive of detachment from the
reality and a focus on one’s own space and a room which represents the features
of “Narcissus”. The hyperbole is used to exaggerated where she saw “A thousand
gipsy summers” shows her long duration of stay in the city of Calcutta and she
describes the names of city streets which shows a complete lack of
communication. There is also a use of allusion to the “Arabian Night” which is
a medieval folktale. The allusion to the folktale could showcase the
self-centered behaviour of the male ego. As far as the story is concerned, the
king wanted her wife to finish the story as fast as possible but she completes
it at the morning dawn. One can observe the egoistical references that is made
in the poem.
Therefore , in conclusion the
poem Narcissus” shows kire’s exploration of new vitality of writing. Her
technical representation of the poems shows the command over the language. The
structure of her poems is well organized and the poetical devices in the poems
shows greater emphasis in decoding the meaning. Hence,the poem shows an embrace
towards the nature and highlights failure of communication in city life.
UNIT – II (PROSE)
1. India and
Greece & The Old Indian
Theatre
Ancient Greece is supposed to be the fountain-head of European civilization and much has been written about the fundamental difference
between the Orient and the Occident. I do not under-
stand this; a great deal of
it seems to me to
be vague and unscientific,
without much basis
in fact. Till recently
many European thinkers imagined
that
everything that was worth-
while had its origin in Greece or Rome. Sir Henry
Maine has said somewhere that except the
blind forces of nature,
nothing moves in this world which is not originally Greek. European
classical scholars, deeply
learned in Greek and Latin lore, knew very little
about India and China. Yet Professor
E. R. Dodds emphasizes the 'Oriental background against
which Greek cul-
ture ro e, and from which it was never completely isolated save in the
minds of classical scholars.'
Scholarship in Europe was
necessarily limited for
a long time
to Greek, Hebrew, and Latin,
and the picture of the
world that grew
out of it was of the Mediterranean
world. The basic idea
was not essentially different from
that of the old Romans,
though inevitably many changes and
adaptations had to
be made to it. That idea not only
governed the conceptions
of history and geopolitics
and the development of culture and
civilization, but
also came in the way of scientific
progress. Plato and Aristotle
dominated the mind. Even when some knowledge of what the peoples of
Asia had done in the past
soaked into the European
mind, it was not willingly accepted. There
was an unconscious resistance to it, an attempt
to fit it somehow into
the
previous picture. If
scholars believed so, much more so did the unread crowd
believe in some essential difference between the east and the west. The industrialization of Europe and the consequent
material progress impressed this difference still further on the popular mind, and by an odd process of rationalization ancient Greece became the father or mother of modern Europe and America. Additional knowledge of the past
of the
world shook these conclusions in the minds
of a few thinkers, but so far as the mass of the people
were
concerned, intellectuals and non-
intellectuals, the centuries-old
ideas continued, phantoms float-
ing about in the upper layer
of
their consciousness and fading
away into the landscape they had fashioned for themselves.
I do
not understand the use of the words Orient and Occi- dent,
except in the sense that
Europe and America are highly industrialized
and Asia is backward in this respect. This
indus- trialization is something
new in the world's history, and it has changed
and continues to change the
world more than anything else has done. There is
no organic connection between
Hellenic civilization and modern European and American
civilization. The modern notion
that the really important
thing is to be comfortable is entirely foreign
to the ideas underlying Greek
or any other ancient literature. Greeks and Indians and Chinese
and
Iranians were always seeking
a religion and a philosophy of life which
affected all their
activities and which were intended to produce an
equilibrium and a sense of harmony.
This
ideal emerges in every
aspect of life—in literature,
art, and institu- tions—and
it produces a sense of proportion
and completeness. Probably these
impressions are not wholly justified and the actual conditions
of life may have been very different. But even so, it is important to remember
how far removed are modern Europe and America from the whole approach and outlook of the Greeks, whom
they praise so much in their leisure moments, and
with whom they seek some distant contacts,
in order to satisfy some inner yearning of their hearts, or find some oasis in the harsh and
fiery deserts of modern existence.
Every country
and people in
the East and
the West has
had an individuality, a message, and
has attempted to solve life's
problems each in its own way. Greece is something
definite, superb in its own way; so is India,
so is China, so is Iran. Ancient
India and ancient Greece
were different from each other and yet they
were akin, just as ancient India
and ancient China had
kinship in thought, in spite of great differences. They all had the same broad, tolerant,
pagan outlook, joy in life and in the surprising
beauty and infinite variety
of nature, love of art, and the wisdom that comes from the accumulated experience of
an old race. Each of them developed in accordance with
its racial genius, influenced
by its natural environment, and emphasized some one aspect of
life more than others. This em- phasis varied.
The Greeks, as a
race, may have lived more in
the present and found joy and harmony in the beauty they saw around them
or which they themselves created.
The Indians found this joy and harmony also in the present, but, at the same time, their eyes were
turned towards deeper knowledge and their minds
trafficked with strange questions. The Chinese, fully aware of these questions
and their mystery,
in their wisdom
avoided entanglement with them. In their different ways each
tried to express the fullness and
beauty of life. History has shown that India
and
China had stronger foundations
and greater staying power; they have
thus
far survived, though they have been
badly shaken and have greatly deteriorated,
and the future
is obscure.
Old Greece, for all its brilliance, had a short life; it did not survive except
in its splendid achievements, its
influence on succeed- ing cultures, and
the memory of that short
bright day of abundant
life.
Perhaps because it was
too much engrossed
in the present, it became the past.
India is far nearer in spirit and outlook to the old
Greece than the nations of Europe are to-day, although they call themselves children of the Hellenic spirit. We are apt
to forget this
because we have inherited fixed concepts which prevent reasoned thought. India, it is said, is religious, philosophical,
speculative, metaphysical, unconcerned with this world, and
lost in dreams
of the beyond and the hereafter. So we are
told, and perhaps
those who tell
us so would like India to remain
plunged in thought
and entangled in speculation, so that they might possess this world and the fullness thereof,
unhindred by these thinkers,
and take their joy of it. Yes,
India has been all this but also much more than this. She has known the innocence
and insouciance of childhood, the passion
and abandon of youth, and
the
ripe wisdom of maturity that
comes from long experience of pain and pleasure;
and over and over again she has renewed her childhood
and youth and age. The tremendous inertia of age and size have
weighed her down, degrading
custom and evil practice have eaten
into her, many a parasite
has clung to her and sucked her blood, but
behind all this lie the strength of
ages and the sub-conscious
wisdom of an ancient race. For we are very old, and trackless centuries whisper
in our ears; yet we have
known how to regain our youth again and again, though the memory and dreams of
those past ages endure with us.
It is not some secret doctrine or esoteric
knowledge that has
kept India vital and going through these long ages, but a tender humanity,
a varied and tolerant culture,
and
a deep under- standing
of life and its mysterious
ways.
Her abundant vitality
flows out from age
to age in her magnificent
literature and art, though we have only
a small part of this with
us and much lies
hidden still or has been destroyed by nature or man' s
vandalism. The Trimurti,
in the Elephanta caves, might well be the many- faced
statue of India herself, powerful, with
compelling eyes, full of deep knowledge
and understanding, looking down upon
us. The Ajanta frescoes are
full of a tenderness and love of beauty
and life, and yet always
with a suspicion of something deeper, something beyond.
Geographically and climatically Greece is different from India.
There are no real rivers there, no forests, no big trees, which
abound in India. The sea with its immensity and changing moods affected the Greeks far more than it did the Indians,
except perhaps those who lived near India's coastline. India's life was more continental,
of vast plains and huge mountains,
of mighty rivers and great forests. There were some mountains in Greece also, and the Greeks chose Olympus as the abode of the gods, just as the Indians placed their gods and even their
sages on the Himalayan heights. Both developed a mythology
which was indivisibly
mixed up with history, and it was not possible to separate fact from fiction. The old Greeks are said to have been
neither pleasure-seekers nor ascetics; they did not avoid
pleasure as something evil and immoral, nor did they go out deliberately
to amuse themselves
as modern people are apt to do. Without
the inhibitions which afflict so many of us, they took life in their stride, applying themselves wholly to whatever they did, and thus somehow they appear to have been
more
alive than we are. Some such impression one gathers of
life in India also from our old literature. There was an ascetic
aspect
of life in India, as there was later in Greece, but it was confined to
a limited number of people and did not affect life generally. Tha t aspect was to grow more important
under the influence of Jainism
and Buddhism, but even so it did not change materi-
ally the background of life.
Life was accepted as it was and lived fully both in India and Greece; nevertheless, there
was a belief in the supremacy
of some
kind of inner life. This led to curiosity and speculation, but the
spirit of inquiry was
not so much directed towards objective experience as to logical reasoning fixed on certain concepts which
were accepted as obviously true. That indeed was the general
attitude everywhere before the advent of the scientific method. Probably this speculation was confined to a
small number of intellectuals, yet even the ordinary citizens were influenced
by it and discussed philosophical
problems, as they did everything
else, in their public meeting
places. Life was communal, as it
is even now in India,
especially in the rural
areas, where people
meet in the market place, in the enclosure of
the temple or mosque, at
the well-head, or at the panchayathar
or
common assembly house, where such exists, to discuss the news of the day and their common needs. Thus public
opinion was formed and found
expression. There was plenty
of leisure for these discussions.
And yet Hellenism has among
its many splendid achieve- ments one that is even more unique
than others, the early beginn-
ings of experimental science. This was developed far more in the Hellenic world of Alexandria
than in Greece itself, and the two centuries from 330 to 130 B.C. stand out in the record of scientific
development and mechanical invention.
There is nothing
to compare with this in India, or, for the matter of
that,
anywhere else till
science again took a big stride
from the seventeenth century onwards.
Even Rome for all its empire and the Pax Romana over
a considerable area, its close contacts
with Hellenic civilization, its opportunities
to draw upon the learning and
experiences of many peoples, made no significant
contribution to science, invention,
or mechanical development. After the collapse
of classical civiliza-
tion in Europe it was the Arabs
who kept the flame of scientific
knowledge alight through the
Middle Ages.
This burst of scientific activity and invention
in Alexandria was
no doubt the social product of the time, called forth by the needs of a growing
society and of seafaring, just as the advance in
arithmetic and algebraic methods,
the use of the zero sign and
the place-value system in India were
also due to social
needs, advancing trade
and more complex organization.
But it is doubtful how far the scientific spirit was present in the old Greeks as a whole and their life must have followed traditional
patterns,
based
on their old philosophic approach seeking an integration
and harmony in man and
with nature. It is that approach which is common to
old
Greece and India.
In Greece, as in India, the year was
divided up by popular festivals which heralded the
changing seasons and
kept man in tune with nature's moods. We have still
these festivals in India for
spring and harvest-time and deepavali,
the festival of light at the
end of autumn, and the holi
carnival in early summer, and
celebrations of the
heroes of epic tradition.
There is still singing and dancing at some of these festivals,
folk-songs and folk-dances
like the rasa-lila, the dance of Krishna
with the gopis (cowherdesses).
There is no seclusion of women in ancient India except to some extent among royalty and the nobility. Probably there was more segregation of the sexes
in Greece than in India then. Women
of note and learning are frequently
mentioned in the old Indian
books, and often they took
part in public debates.
Marriage, in Greece, was apparently wholly a contractual affair; but in India
it has always been considered a sacramental union, though other forms are mentioned.
Greek women were apparently especially welcome in India.
Often
the maids-in-waiting at royal
courts mentioned in the old plays are
Greek. Among the noted imports from
Greece into
India
at the port of Barygaza (Broach in Western India) were, it
is said, 'singing boys
and pretty maidens.' Megasthenes
des- cribing the
life of the Maurya king
Chandragupta, tells us: 'the king's food
was prepared by women
who also served him with
wine which is much used by
all Indians.' Some of the wine certainly came from Grecian lands or colonies, for an old Tamil- poet
refers to 'the cool and fragrant wine
brought by the Yavanas (Ionians
or Greeks) in their good ships.' A
Greek
account relates
that the king of Pataliputra
(probably Ashoka's father, Bindusara) wrote to Antiochus asking
him to buy and send him sweet wine, dried figs, and a
Sophist
philosopher. Antiochus replied: 'We shall
send you the figs and wine, but in Greece the
laws forbid a Sophist to be sold.'
It is clear from
Greek literature that
homosexual relations were not looked upon with disfavour. Indeed there was a romantic
approval of them. Possibly
this was due to the segregation
of the sexes in youth.
A similar attitude is
found in Iran, and Persian
literature is full of such
references. It appears to
have become an established literary form and convention to represent the beloved as
a male companion. There is no such
thing in Sanskrit literature and homosexuality
was evidently neither approved
nor
at all common in India.
Greece and India were in contact with each other from
the earliest recorded times, and in a later period there were close
contacts between India and Hellenized western
Asia. The great astronomical observatory at Ujjayini (now Ujjain) in central
India was linked with Alexandria in Egypt. During this long period
of contact there must have been many exchanges in the world of thought and culture between these two ancient
civili- zations. There
is a tradition recorded in some
Greek
book that
learned Indians visited Socrates
and put questions to him. Pythagoras was particularly influenced by Indian philosophy
and Professor H. G. Rawlinson remarks that 'almost all the
theories, religious, philosophical, and mathematical, taught
by the Pythagorians were known in India in the sixth century B.C.'
A European classical scholar, Urwick, has based his interpreta-
tion of the 'Republic' of Plato upon Indian thought.* Gnosti- cism
is supposed to be a
definite attempt to fuse together
Greek Platonic and Indian elements. The
philosopher, Apollonius of Tyana probably visited
the university of Taxila in north-west India
about the beginning of the Christian era.
The famous traveller and scholar, Alberuni, a Persian
born in Khorasan in Central Asia, came to India in the eleventh cen-
tury A.C. He had already
studied Greek philosophy
which was popular in the
early days of Islam in Baghdad. In India he took the trouble to learn Sanskrit
in order to study Indian philo- sophy.
He was struck by many common features and he has compared
the two in his book on India. He refers to Sanskrit books
dealing with Greek astronomy
and Roman astronomy.
Though inevitably influencing each other Greek and Indian civilizations were each strong enough
to hold their own and develop
on their distinctive
lines. In recent years
there has been a reaction from the old
tendency
to ascribe everything to Greece
and Rome, and Asia's,
and especially India's role has been
emphasized. 'Considered
broadly,' says
Professor Tarn, 'what
the Asiatic took from Greek was usually externals
only, matters of
form; he rarely took
the
substance—civic institutions may have been an exception—and never spirit. For in matters of spirit Asia
was quite confident that
she could outstay the Greeks, and
she did.' Again: 'Indian civilization
was strong enough
to hold its own against Greek civilization, but except in the religi-
ous sphere, was seemingly not strong enough to influence
it as Babylonia did; nevertheless,
we may find reason for thinking that
in
certain respects India was the dominant partner.' 'Ex-
cept for the Buddha statue the
history of India would in all essentials
have been precisely what it has been had the Greeks never existed.'
It is an interesting thought that image worship
came to India from Greece.
The Vedic religion
was opposed to all forms of idol
and
image worship.
There were not even any temples
for the gods. There
probably were some traces of image worship
in the older faiths in India, though this
was certainly not widely prevalent.
Early Buddhism was strongly opposed to it and
there was a special
prohibition against the making of images and statues of
the
Buddha. But Greek artistic influence
in Afghani-
stan and round about the frontier was strong and gradually
it had its way.
Even so, no statues of the Buddha were made to begin
with, but Apollo—rlike staues of the Bodhisattvas (sup-
posed to be the previous
incarnations of the Buddha) appeared. These
were followed by statues and images of the Buddha
himself. This
encouraged image-worship
in some
forms
of Hinduism
though not in the Vedic religion which continued
to be free of it. The word for an image or statue in Persian and in Hindustani still is But (like put)
derived from Buddha.
The human mind appears to have a passion for finding out some kind of unity in life, in nature and the universe. That
desire, whether it is justified or
not, must fulfil some essential
15 6
need of the mind. The old philosophers were ever seeking this, and even modern scientists are impelled
by this urge. All our
schemes and planning, our ideas of education and social and political organization, have at their back the search for
unity and harmony.
We are told now by some able thinkers and philosophers that
this basic conception is
false and there is no such thing as order
or unity in this accidental universe. That may be so, but there can
be little doubt that even this mistaken belief, if such it was, and the
search for unity in
India, Greece, and elsewhere, yielded positive results and produced
a harmony, a balance, and
a richness in life.
The Old Indian
Theatre
The
discovery by Europe of the old Indian drama led imme-
diately to suggestions that
it had its origin in, or had been greatly influenced
by, Greek drama. There was some plausibility in the
theory, for till then no other ancient drama had been known to exist, and after Alexander's raid
Hellenized states were esta- blished on the frontiers of
India. These states continued to function for several centuries and Greek theatrical
representations must have been known there. This question was closely scrutinized and debated by European scholars throughout the nineteenth century.
It is now generally admitted that the Indian theatre was entirely independent in its origins, in the ideas which
governed it, and in its
development. Its earliest beginnings can be traced back
to the hymns and dialogues
of the Rig Veda which have a certain dra- matic character.
There are references to Nataka or the drama
in
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It began to take shape in the song and music and dances of the Krishna legends. Panini, the
great grammarian of the sixth or seventh century B.C., men- tions some
dramatic forms.
A treatise
on
the Art of the Theatre—the Natya-Shftstra—is
said to
date
from the third century A.C. but this was evidently
based or previous books on the subject. Such a book could only be written
when the dramatic art was fully developed and pub- lic representations were common. A
considerable literature must
have
preceded it, and behind
it must lie many centuries of gradual progress. Recently an ancient playhouse,
dating from
the second century B.C., has been unearthed in the Ramgarh
Hills
in Chota Nagpur. It is significant
that this
playhouse
fits in with the general
description of theatres given in the Natya-
Shastra.
It is now believed that the regular Sanskrit drama was fully
established by the third century B.C., though some scholars take the date
back to the fifth century. In the
plays that we have,
mention is often made of earlier authors and plays which have not so far been found. One such lost author was Bhasa, highly praised by many
subsequent dramatists.
Early in this century a bunch of thirteen of his plays was discovered. Probably the earliest Sanskrit
plays so far discovered, are those of Ashvaghosa,
who
lived just before or after the beginning of the Christian era.
These are really fragments only of manuscripts
on palm leaves, and they were discovered,
strangely enough, at Turfan on
the
borders of the Gobi desert. Ashvaghosa was a
pious Buddhist and wrote also the Buddha Charita, a life of the Buddha,
which was well known and had long been popular in India and China
and Tibet. The Chinese translation, made in a
past
age, was by an Indian scholar.
These discoveries have given a new perspective to the history
of the old Indian drama and it may be that further discoveries and finds will throw
more light on
this fascinating
development of Indian culture.
For, as Sylvain Levi has written in his 'Le Theatre
Indien': 'Le theatre
est la plus haute expression
de la civilisation qui l'enfante. Qu'il traduise ou qu'il interprete
la vie reelle, il
est tenu de la resumer sous une forme frappante,
ddgagee des accessoires
insignificants, generalisee dans un symbole. L'originalite
de 1'Inde s'est exprimee tout
entir e dans son art dramatique;
elle y a combine et condense ses
dogmes, ses
doct-
rines, ses institutions. '
Europe first learned of the old Indian drama from Sir Wil- liam Jones's translation of Kalidasa's 'Shakuntala', published in 1789.
Something in the nature of a commotion was created among
European intellectuals
by this discovery and several edi- tions of the book followed. Translations also appeared
(made from Sir William Jones's
translation) in German,
French, Danish, and Italian.
Goethe was powerfully impressed and
he paid a magnificent tribute
to 'Shakuntala'. The idea of giving a
pro- logue to Faust is said to have originated from Kalidasa's pro- logue,
which was in accordance with
the usual tradition
of the Sanskrit
drama.*
* There is a
tendency on the part of Indian
writers, to which
1 have also partly
succumbed, to give selected
extracts and quotations from the
writings qf European
scholars in praise
of old Indian literature and philosophy.
It would be
equally easy, and
indeed much easier,
to give other
extracts giving an
exactly opposite viewpoint.
The discovery by
the European scho- lars of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries
of Indian thought
and philosophy led
to an outburst of
admiration and enthusiasm.
There was a feeling
that these filled
a need, some- thing
that European culture
had been unable
to do. Then
there was a
reaction away from this attitude and
criticism and scepticism
grew. This was
caused by a feeling
that the philo- sophy
was formless and diffuse
and a dislike
of the rigid
caste structure of
Indian society. Both these
reactions in favour and against,
were based on
very incomplete knowledge
of old Indian literature. Goethe
himself moved from one opinion
to the other,
and while he
acknow- ledged the tremendous
stimulus of Indian thought
on western civilization, he
refused to submit to its far reaching influence. This
dual and conflicting approach has been characteristic of
Kalidasa is acknowledged to be the greatest poet and dra- matist of Sanskrit literature. 'Le nom
de Kalidasa,' says
Professor Sylvain Levi, 'domine
la
po6sie indienne et la resume
brillam- ment. Le drame,
l'epopee savante. l'elegie attestent aujourd'hui encore la puissance et
la souplesse de
ce magnifique g6nie; seul entre les disciples de Sarasvati (the goddess of learning
and the arts), il a eu le bonheur de produire un
chef doe'uvre vraiment
classique, oil l 'Inde
s'admire et ou l'humanitd se re- connait.
Les applaudissements qui saluferent la naissance de Gakuntala k Ujjayini ont apr£s de long siecles
delate
d'un bout du monde a l'autre,
quand William Jones l'eut revels k
l'Occident. Kalidasa
a marque sa place
dans cette pleiade entincelante ou chaque nom resume une periode
de l'esprit humain. La serie de ces noms forme l'histoire,
ou plutot elle est l'histoire
meme.'
KalidSsa wrote other plays also and some long
poems. His date is uncertain but very probably he lived
towards the end of the fourth century A.c. at Ujjayini during the reign of Ghandragupta II, Vikramaditya of the Gupta
dynasty. Tradi- tion says that he was one of the nine gems of the court, and there is no doubt that his genius was appreciated and he met with full recognition during his life. He was among the fortunate whom life treated as a cherished son and
who experienced its beauty and tenderness more than its harsh and rough edges. His writings betray this love of life and a passion for
nature's beauty. One of Kalidasa's
long poems is the Meghaduta,
the Cloud Messenger.
A lover, made captive and separated from his beloved, asks a
cloud, during the rainy season,
to
carry his message
of desperate longing to her. To this poem and to Kalidasa, the American scholar, Ryder, has paid a splendid tribute. He refers to the two parts of the poem and says: 'The former
half is a description of external nature, yet interwoven with human feel- ing; the latter half is a picture of a
human
heart, yet the picture is framed
in natural beauty. So exquisitely is the thing done that none can say which half is superior. Of
those who read this perfect poem in the original
text, some are moved by the one, some by the other. Kalidasa understood in the fifth century what
Europe did not learn until the
nineteenth, and even now comprehends
only imperfectly, that the world was not made for man, that man reaches
his full stature only as he realizes
the dignity and worth
of life that is not human.
That Kalidasa seized
the European
mind in regard
to India. In
recent years that
great European and
typical product of the
best European culture,
Romain Rolland, made
a more synthetic
and very friendly approach
to the basic
foundations of Indian
tought: For him
East and West
represented different phases
of the eternal
struggle of the
human soul. On
this subject— Western reaction
to Indian thought—Mr.
Alex Aronson, of
Santiniketan University, has written with learning and ability.
this truth is a magnificent tribute to his intellectual power, a quality quite
as necessary to great poetry as perfection of form. Poetical fluency
is not rare; intellectual grasp is not very un-
common; but the combination of the two has
not been found perhaps more than a dozen times since the world began. Be-
cause he possessed this harmonious
combination, Kalidasa ranks not
with Anacreon and Horace and
Shelley, but with Sophocles, Virgil,
and Milton.'
Probably
long
before Kalidasa, another famous play was pro- duced—Shudraka's 'Mrichhkatika' or the Clay Cart, a
tender rather artificial play, and yet with a reality
which
moves us and gives
us a glimpse into the mind and civilization
of the day.
About 400 A.C.,
also during the
reign of Chandragupta II, yet another notable play was produced, Vishaka-datta's 'Mudra- Rakshasa' or the signet ring.
This is a purely political
play with no love motive
or
story from
mythology. It deals with the times of Chandragupta
Maurya, and his chief minister, Chanakya, the
author of the ArthashSstra, is the hero. In some ways it is a remarkably topical play to-day.
Harsha, the king, who established a new empire early in the seventh century
A.C., was also a
playwright and we have three plays written
by him. About 700 A.C.
there
lived Bhavabhuti,
another shining star in
Sanskrit literature.
He
does not yield
himself easily to translation
for his beauty is chiefly of language,
but he is very popular in India, and only Kalidasa has prece-
dence
over him. Wilson, who used to be professor of Sanskrit at
Oxford University, has said of
these two: 'It is impossible to conceive language so
beautifully musical,
or
so magnificently grand, as that of the verses
of Bhavabhuti
and Kalidasa.'
The stream of Sanskrit drama continued
to flow for
centuries, but after Murari, early in the ninth century, there is a
marked delcine in the quality. That decline, and a progressive decay
were becoming visible also in other forms of life's activities.
It has been suggested that
this
decline of
the drama may be partly due to the lack of
royal patronage during the Indo-Afghan
and Moghul periods and the
Islamic disapproval of the drama as
an art-form, chiefly because of its intimate association
with the national
religion. For this literary drama, apart from the popu-
lar aspects which continued, was
highbrow and sophisticated
and dependent on aristocratic patronage. But there is little substance
in
this argument though it is possible that political
changes
at the top had some indirect effect. As a matter of fact the decline
of the Sanskrit drama was obvious long before those political
changes took place.
And even those changes were con- fined for
some centuries to north India,
and if this drama had any vitality left
it could have continued
its creative career in
the south.
The record of the Indo-Afghan, Turkish, and Moghul rulers, apart from some brief puritanical periods, is one of definite encouragement of Indian culture, occasionally with variations and additions to it. Indian music was adopted as a whole and with enthusiasm by the
Moslem Courts and the nobility and some
of its greatest masters have
been Moslems. Literature and
poetry were also encouraged
and among the noted poets in Hindi are Moslems. Ibrahim Adil Shah, the
ruler of Bijapur, wrote
a treatise in Hindi on Indian music.
Both Indian poetry and music were full of references to the Hindu gods and goddesses and yet they were accepted and the old allegories and
metaphors continued.
It might be said
that except in regard to actual image-making no attempt was made by Moslem rulers, apart from a
few exceptions,
to suppress any art-form.
The
Sanskrit drama declined because much in India was declining
in those days and the creative spirit was lessening.
It declined
long before the Afghans and Turks established them- selves on
the throne of Delhi. Subsequently
Sanskrit had to com- pete to some extent
as the learned language of the nobility
with Persian. But one obvious reason
appears to have
been the ever- widening gap between the language of the Sanskrit drama and the
languages of day-to-day life.
By 1000 A.C. the popular spoken languages, out
of which our modern languages have grown,
were beginning to take literary
forms.
Yet, in spite of all this, it is astonishing how the Sanskrit
drama continued to be produced right through the medieval period and up to recent times. In 1892 appeared a Sanskrit adaptation
of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream.'
Manu- scripts of old
plays are continually being discovered.
A list of these prepared by Professor Sylvain Levi in 1890 contained 377
plays by 189 authors. A more recent
list contains 650 plays.
Th e
language of the old plays
(of Kalidasa and others)
is mixed—Sanskrit and one or more Prakrits, that is, popular variations of Sanskrit. In the same play educated people speak
in Sanskrit and ordinary uneducated folk, usually women,
though there are exceptions,
in Prakrit. The poetical and
lyrical passages, which
abound, are in Sanskrit. This
mixture probably brought the plays nearer
to the average audience- It was a com- promise
between the literary language and the demands of a popular art.
Yet, essentially, the old drama represents an aristocratic art meant for sophisticated audiences,
usually royal courts and
the like. Sylvain L6vi compares it, in some ways, to French
tragedy, which was cut off from the crowd by the choice of its
subjects and, turning away from real life, created a
conventional society.
But apart from this high-class literary theatre, there has
always been a popular theatre based on stories
from Indian mythology
and the epics, themes well
known to the audience, and concerned more
with display than with any dramatic element. This was in the language
of the people in each particular
area
and was
therefore confined to that area. Sanskrit
plays, on the other hand, being
in the all-India language of
the educated, had an all-India
vogue.
These Sanskrit plays were undoubtedly meant for
acting and elaborate stage-directions
are given, and rules for seating the audience. Unlike the practice in ancient Greece, actresses took part in the presentation. In both Greek and Sanskrit there is a sensitive awareness of nature and a feeling
of being a
part of that nature. There
is a
strong
lyric element and poetry seems
to be
an integral part of life, full of meaning and significance. It was frequently recited. Reading the Greek drama one comes across
many customs and ways of thought and life which sud- denly remind- one of old Indian customs. Nevertheless Greek drama is essentially different from the Sanskrit.
The essential basis of the Greek drama is tragedy,
the prob- lem of evil. Why does man suffer? Why is there evil in the
world? Th e
enigma
of religion, of God. What a
pitiful thing is man, child of a
day,
with his blind and aimless strivings against all-powerful
fate—'The Law that
abides and changes
not, ages long.... ' Man must
learn by suffering and,
if he
is fortunate, he will rise above
his striving:
Happy
be, on the weary sea
Who
hath fled, the tempest and won the haven.
Happy whoso
has risen, free, Above his striving. For strangely graven
Is
the art of life that one and another
In gold and power may outpass
his brother. And men in their millions
float and flow.
And seethe with a million hopes as
leaven;
And
they win their
Will, or they
miss their Will, And the hopes are dead or are pined for still;
But whoever can know, As
the long days go,
That to Live is happy, hath found
his Heaven!
Man learns by suffering, he learns how to face life, but he learns
also that the ultimate mystery remains and he cannot find an answer to his questions or solve the riddle of good and evil.
There be many shapes of
mystery; And many things God brings to
be,
Past hope or fear.
And
the end men looked for cometh not,
And
a path is there where no man thought.*
There is nothing comparable to the power and majesty of Greek tragedy in Sanskrit.
Indeed there is no tragedy at all for a tragic ending was not permitted. No such fundamental ques- tions are discussed for the commonly held patterns of religious
faith were accepted by
the dramatists. Among these were the doctrines of rebirth and cause and effect. Accident or evil with- out
cause was ruled out, for what happens now is the necessary result
of some previous happening in
a former life. There
is no intervention of blind forces against which man has to fight, though his struggles are of no avail. The philosophers and the thinkers were
not satisfied by these simple explanations and they
were
continually going behind them in their search for final causes and fuller explanations.
But life
was generally governed by
these beliefs and the dramatists
did not challenge them. The plays and Sanskrit
poetry in general were in
full accord with the Indian spirit and there are few traces of any rebellion against it.
The rules laid down for
dramatic writing were strict and it
was not easy to break them. Yet there is
no meek submission to fate; the
hero is always a
man
of courage who faces all hazards.
'The ignorant rely on Providence',
says Chanakya contemptuously in the 'Mudra-Rakshasa,'
they look to the stars
for help instead of relying
on themselves. Some artificiality creeps in: the hero is always the hero, the villain
almost
always acts villainously;
there are few intermediate shades.
Yet there are powerful
dramatic situations and moving
scenes and a background
of
life which seems like
a picture in a
dream, real and
yet unreal, all woven together
by a poet's fancy in magnificent language. It almost seems, though it may not have been so, that
life in India was more peaceful, more stable then; as if it had
discovered its roots and found answer to its questions. t flows along serenely
and even strong winds and passing
storms
ruffle its surface
only. There is nothing like the fierce
tempests f Greek tragedy.
But it is very human
and
there is an aesthetic armony and a logical unity about it. The Nataka, the Indian rama, says Sylvain L6vi, still remains
the happiest invention
f the Indian genius.
Professor A. Berriedale
Keithf says also that 'The Sanskrit
•
These
two quotations are
from Professor Gilbert
Murray's translations from
Euripides. first one is from
'The Bacchae,' and the second from 'Alcestis.'
t/ have
frequently consulted Sylvain
Livi's 'Le Theatre
Indien' (Paris, 1890),
and A. '••'ale Keith's,
'Sanskrit Drama' (Oxford,
1924), and some
quotations have been
taken these two books.
drama may legitimately be regarded as the highest product of Indian poetry, and as summing up in itself the final conception of literary art achieved
by the
very self-conscious creators of Indian literature... .The Brahmin,
in fact, much abused as he has been in this as in other matters, was the source of the intellectual distinction of India. As he produced Indian philo sophy, so by another effort of his intellect he evolved the subtle
and effective form of the drama.'
An English translation of Shudraka's 'Mrichhkatika' was staged in New York in 1924. Mr. Joseph Wood Krutch, the dramatic critic of the Nation, wrote of it as follows: 'Here, if anywhere, the spectator will be able to see a genuine example of that pure art theatre of which theorists talk, and here, too he will be
led to meditate upon that real wisdom of the East which
lies not in esoteric doctrine but in a tenderness far deepe
and truer than that of the traditional Christianity which has been
so thoroughly corrupted by the hard righteousness of Hebraism.. .
A play wholly artificial yet profoundly
moving because it is not realistic but
real... . Whoever the author
may have been, and whether he lived
in the fourth century or the eighth, he
was a man gcod and wise with the goodness and wisdom which
come not from the
lips
or the smoothly flowing
pen of the moralist but from the heart. An exquisite sympathy with the fresh beauty
of
youth and love tempered his serenity,
and
he was old enough to
understand that a light-hearted
story of ingenious complication
could be made the
vehicle of tender humanity and
confident goodness.... Such a play can be produced only by a
civilization which has reached stability; when a
civilization
has thought its way through all the problems it faces, it must come to rest upon
something calm and naive like
this. Macbeth and Othello however
great and stirring they
might be, are barbarous heroes because
the passionate tumult of Shakespeare is the tumult pro
duced by the conflict between a newly awakened sensibility and a
series of ethical concept? inherited from
the savage age. The realistic drama of our own time is a product of a like confusion
but when problems are settled, and when passions are
reconciled with the decisions of
an intellect, then
form alone remains. .
. Nowhere in our European past do we find, this side the classics, a work more completely civilized.'
2. The Secret of work
By Swami Vivekananda
The secret of work is written by Swami Vivekananda. It
is taken from “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol. II” Swami
Vivekananda was one of the greatest Indian philosophers. He was also a preacher
and a writer. This essay is about the importance of spiritual help. According
to Vivekananda a person can help others by different ways. According to that
there are mainly three types of help. 1) Physical help 2) Intellectual help 3)
Spiritual help He describes these three types of help in detail and comes to
the conclusion that spiritual help is the greatest help. He is of the view that
physical help can remove physical needs of the human beings but human needs are
endless. So there is no end to the suffering of the humanity. Hence most
important thing in human life is to put an end to the needs in life. This can
be done with the help of spiritual knowledge only. Swami Vivekananda thinks
that a spiritually strong person can only be satisfied. He also talks about the
importance of intellectual help. According to him giving intellectual help
through knowledge can remove ignorance from human life. He also thinks that
“Ignorance is the mother of evil and of all the misery’’. Knowledge removes
ignorance and in that way removes all the miseries in human life. In this way
according to Vivekananda spiritual help is the greatest help that can be given
to others. Next to the spiritual help is the intellectual help that is giving
knowledge to others to destroy ignorance. He also talks about the physical
help. In this way helping others in different ways is the secret of work
according to Swami Vivekananda. Ignorance is the mother of evil end of all the
misery we see. Reference: This sentences if from the essay “The Secret of
Work”. It is written by Swami Vivekananda. This essay is from “The Complete
Works of Swami Vivekananda”. Compulsory English Semester I BA/BCom/BSc I Karuna
Deshmukh In this essay Vivekananda talks about three types of help: first is
physical help, second - intellectual help, and the third is spiritual help.
Context: According to Vivekananda the greatest help that can be given is the
spiritual help because the spiritual knowledge only can give permanent
satisfaction to the human beings. Next important help for the author is the
intellectual help because giving knowledge with the help of reason or the
intellectual help is important to remove ignorance from human life. According
to Vivekananda ignorance is the root cause of evil as well as all the miseries
in the world. So he says that “Ignorance is the mother of evil and of all the
misery we see.” In this way “The Secret of Work” explains the importance of
spiritual and intellectual help.
3.
RELIGION
IN A CHANGING WORLD: DR.RADHAKRISHNAN
Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan was an erudite scholar, philosopher and statesman from India. He
was the first Vice-President and the second President of India. In his work he
has compared the traditions of east and west showing their similarities and
comparing them. He has done extensive work on comparative religion. Through his
works in English he was able to bring the Indian philosophy to the west.
In
this book Dr. Radhakrishnan compares a wide variety of themes that affect the
changing world. The book titled “Religion in a changing world” does not just
talk about religion. It talks about themes from humanity to disarmament. He has
written the book as an academician comparing all religion. He takes a neutral
stand and does not pose either as a devotee or an atheist. His writing is
polished and professional. His experience in a changing India and as a
statesman has influenced the writing very much.
The
world is changing fast and the effect of globalisation is on us. Science and
its inventions have changed our very way of life. Our life does not resemble
anything that our grandparents lived. In this context of scientific influence
religion has got many sceptics all over the world. The new generation is
dissatisfied with the organized religion. The world is searching for a religion
which will answer all questions and one which will explain the unknown. There
is no more devout Christian or Hindu. People want answers and explanation which
will satisfy everything that a religion says. In this book Dr. Radhakrishnan
with his knowledge on comparative religion tries to give a positive outlook to
religion. He has explained the very purpose of religion in the changing world
and in the future. He has also compared religions of the east and the west and
explained how every religion in its basic tenets are almost the same and they
stood for the basic good of humanity.
With
industrialisation the basic social setup of every society changed. The system
of family, religion all had to cope with an urban mind. With the new age reason
has found the front seat. It makes men question the traditional systems of
philosophy and religion. Dr. Radhakrishnan believes that “all humans on some
level have religious instincts but the plane of reason makes them reject it”.
In the chapter “the emerging world society” he describes how our narrow visions
of different world are changing. With new research we are proving that all men
originated from our ancestors in Africa. After years of evolution now we are in
a world where the difference is so less. The connectivity is so high and
interconnectedness of economy has made the world a “global village”. He is
critical of the recent military development and the feeling of nationalism. He
calls “nationalism as collective selfishness”. This chapter bring out his
excellent knowledge in connecting various fields from anthropology to modern
economics.
In
the book he describes human nature as inherently good but when in a group we
tend to justify things which otherwise might be immoral. The feeling of
nationalism has led to war in the history and following it now will lead to
human peril. He speaks as an idealist when he describes how men should go from
a “national man” to “universal man”. He highly believes in global organisations
like United Nations to solve all human problems from hunger to diseases.
Science
and religion has been in differences in the recent years. According to the
author religion which does not let free inquiry will not survive. He condemns
religion of today’s world as it does not stop violence. He has a negative and
pessimistic view of the world. He is against the leaders who are materialistic
and do not follow what they preach. In the next chapter he brings in the
negativities of various religions in the present context. He is very sceptical
about the future of religion if they continue in the present way. He also
describes the work of religion in the changing world, how they can help about
bring peace, equality. Being an expert in contemporary religion he well
compares various religion and explains how every religions basic tenet is the
same.
Dr
Radhakrishnan in the chapter “faith and reason” talks about the evil nature of
human beings and it gives us an impression of his theism. He does not insist on
the presence of one god or one religion. He talks of God as a supreme being or
a power compared to nature. He describes human progress from cannibalism to a
peaceful coexisting society. He is very optimistic when he describes the world
as a place for development of humans as mature moral beings. Later in the book
he goes into philosophical mode where he describes religion as the door to know
the reality. For him religion is not about knowledge of scriptures or
performing rituals but it is about understanding self.
His
knowledge of various religions is well brought to light when he compares all
the religion and explains how they might have a common ancestry. He comes out
of negativity when he compares the present day religion to that out religion in
the past centuries. Religion of the recent times is more open to discussions
with other religious scriptures. People look beyond the veils of one’s
religion. He talks of religion of the future where all religions are integrated
and there is a real unity.
In
the continuation of the book Dr. Radhakrishnan shifts from religion to humanity
and in it he describes the importance of Democracy. According to him the
dignity of an individual lays when he lives a life free from oppression. He
praises communism as it promised to bring an end to colonialism and bring about
equality of all men. He is against the arms race. Though the cold war days are
over still the world has not stopped increasing its share of destructive
weapons. According to the author religions of the world has a duty to bring
about unity of men removing differences. It has to reduce the evil in men and bring
about importance of selfless concern for humanity. This will reduce the
necessity for war. The money spent in war and purchasing weapons can be used to
make the standard of living of every man better and everyone can live a happy
satisfies life. The duty of Sovereign states to bring an oneness of human race.
At
the end of the book one understands the influence of Hinduism in his writing.
Being an Indian the influence of Gandhi is felt throughout his writing. His
writing will appeal to young and the old alike. At times he is either too
pessimistic talking about the end of mankind or sometimes the other extreme
talking about the goodness of human kind. One feels that the book is highly
idealistic as he talks about selfless humans always working towards the unity
and happiness of all. A war free world and a world in which countries do not
buy or produce weapons are unthinkable in the present society. The book can be
taken as a collection of writings giving directions towards a peaceful society.
The way he has tried to bridge religions and give them moral authority for
bringing about a peaceful society is encouraging. It is a good writing with
proper evidence. It can be used around the world to reduce differences among
religions.
UNIT – III (DRAMA)
Dance Like a Man
Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani’s play “Dance Like a Man” is one of the best plays
written by an Indian in English. He is one of the finest and most prominent
playwrights in India. He is the first playwright in English to have won the ‘Sahitya
Akademi Award’.
He choses topics which are
usually never being spoken about in society. Such topics are always debated in
society and are usually seen discussed in his plays and exhibited on the stage
in a very good manner.
The stage has all the
technicalities which take the play to a different level. Mahesh likes to play
with lights and this has different connotations attached to it, which when one
reads finds it difficult to imagine. There is a difference in the book and the
play that is performed on stage or theater.
The characters are usually
Indian and have some problem which are not socially unacceptable. Dattani comes
here and shows how the society and the idiosyncrasy of individuals work.
“Dance Like a Man” the title
itself suggests that a man is supposed to do the work which suits the man and
not pursue their career in anything else which makes them less of a man. Here,
literally the title means to say that the protagonist’s father doesn’t want his
son to become or behave like a woman and that he should not pursue his career
in dance.
Dance Like a Man is a two-act
stage play. The story revolves around three generations, their personal
ambition, their sacrifices, their struggle and compromises, internal conflict
and the way they cope up with life and dance being the major topic of
discussion in the house as it is a topic of debate between the father and his
son and daughter in-law.
Dattani in the very start of the
play puts a question on a man’s identity and his sexuality. The title itself
suggests so. The play deals with the self and the significance of others in a
manner of gender specific roles assigned by the society and how if you deviate
from it, you are being sidelined by the people and the society.
Character list-
1. Jairaj (husband)
2. Ratna (wife)
3. Amritlal (father)
4. Lata (daughter)
5. Vishwas (son-in-law)
Plot and Analysis-
The story revolves around three
generations. Jairaj and Ratna want to develop their career as a dancer. Dance
for them is not only their passion but also their life and soul. They want to
develop their careers in this field. The stereotypes of gender roles are set in
the society and in spite of that Jairaj goes on to pursue his career as a
dancer. This is the twist that the playwright gives to the stereotypes
associated with ‘gender’ issues that view solely a woman at the receiving end
of the oppressive power structures of the society. The play flips open in the
opposite gender’s point of view and shows that even men can be a part or a
victim to such circumstances by being oppressed, and suppressed by the opposite
gender and society.
Jairaj and and Ratna have to
live within the domain of the ‘patriarch’ Amritlal, father of Jairaj. Dance for
Amritlal is a profession of a prostitute and which is why he cannot accept his
daughter-in-law learning it and is unimaginable for his son to learn it and
make career out of it. Mostly this is also because he was a reformist and
people would laugh at him for Jairaj’s actions and his reputation would be
sacrificed.
He cannot tolerate the sound of
dancing bells in his home and his son roaming around with the tinkling of bells
in his leg during the practise session. His father also hates the effeminate
guru that comes to their house and also the long hair that he and his son both
have kept. So Ratna goes onto learn the dance from a lady who lives in a
brothel. Amritlal thinks that the temples have slowly turned to brothels as
they practise dance there. He forbids Ratna to visit the old devdasi who
teaches her the old forms and techniques of ‘Bharatnatyam’ which were slowly
extinguishing.
Here there are subtle signs that
learning dance and having a guru like that would definitely make his an
effeminate man which suggests the idea of homosexuality though it is not
explicitly mentioned anywhere in the text.
As he cannot accept his son
pursuing his career as a dancer, he tries all the possible means to stop him
from seeking his ambition. He removes them/ disowns them from his house and his
property, not giving them a single penny to survive.
Jairaj, leaves and take Ratna
along with him. But the results are disastrous. They stay at Ratna’s uncle’s
house and he tries to take advantage of her and so they leave the house only to
return.
The quote said by Amritlal to
Jairaj to restrict him from dancing,
“A woman is man’s world is
considered progressive,
but a man is a woman’s world is
considered pathetic.”
He then later makes a deal with
Ratna. He says that he will allow her career to take off only if she helps him
pull Jairaj out of his passion and make him a more ‘manly’ man.
The character of Ratna can be
called as that of a selfish one because she agrees to her father-in-law’s
demands and also considers that there would be one less person to compete with.
She constantly misguides him and plays with his emotions in spite of being his
partner. Though Jairaj was a male member, he never forced his opinions on
anybody and istead of that Ratn would always dominate and take decisions for
herself, for him and now their daughter as well.
She wanted her own career to
proper and so she is willing to sacrifice her husband’s career in the process.
She was blinded by her passion so much so that she joined hands with Amritlal.
This subtly displays the relationship she herself shared with Jairaj which was
more for her own personal motive than anything else. She married him because
Jairaj himself was a dancer and he would never stop her from dancing even after
getting married. Had it been that she would have married another man, there was
a possibility that she would be deprived of her career and her passion and she
would be helpless.
When Jairaj possibly knew about
her motives, the purpose was already achieved, that he was a failed dancer and
that he did not make much out of his life. He had become an alcoholic. She
constantly took advantage of Jairaj’s love for her and being his wife. She
pushed him into the world of dance and also knew that he was not a great dancer
himself, to reach the amongst the top dancers, that he was just a mediocre one.
She was responsible for Jairaj’s undoing as a character as well as a dancer.
Ratna here did not stop but went
on to make her daughter Lata, also a Traditional dancer. She used her daughter
too, to earn fame and money all over the world. She schemes and manipulates and
uses all her contacts to put her daughter’s career on the right track right
from the start. She also uses the contacts to get appreciative reviews for her
daughter’s performance. Lata here is seen as the younger Ratna who succeeds
with the help of her mother.
Later, in the play Jairaj blames
his wife for their son’s death as she wanted to be successful and she had left
him home along with a nanny. The nanny had given him a sleeping dose so that he
would stop crying and that she could also sleep peacefully but unfortunately,
she gave it too much in quantity which ultimately led to his death. Jairaj
blames her for his unsuccessful career.
Dattani uses the technique of
Traditional Dance as a medium to portray the conflict of gender issues in the
play. Hence his plays are relevant and will be relevant even for years to come.
Amritlal would never accept his son becoming a dancer, Ratna misguided him,
Jairaj was blamed to be not being a man enough to earn and support his family.
All these things led to the circumstances that show how gender stereotype works
in the Indian society.
One can ponder upon the
following themes seen in the play -
1. Gender discrimination
2. Ambition — for woman or man?
3. Men dancing — inacceptable
4. Sufferings
5. Suppression
6. Social construct
7. Stereotypical attitude
8. Misleading for one’s own benefits
Conclusion-
The play “Dance Like a Man”
poses serious questions on the reader’s mind. It makes one think and rethink
about how our actions are shaped according to the society and how one accepts
them without questioning. This conditioning which is done right from the
childhood and it is nobody’s fault. The rules were made according to the
society then and it is impossible to stay put on them even now especially when
the society is constantly evolving. Personally, I feel that the rules should be
mended according to the situations and time period. The characters are shaped
in such a manner that one cannot term them as a proper white or a proper black
character. It displays shades of gray.
UNIT
–IV ( Short Story )
1. Under the Banyan Tree by R.K. Narayan
In Under the Banyan Tree by R.K. Narayan we have the
theme of story-telling, isolation, hardship, escape, fear, failure, loyalty and
selfishness. Taken from his An Astrologer’s Day and Other Stories collection
the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the
beginning of the story the reader realises that Narayan may be exploring the
theme of isolation. Somal is isolated from the world around it. The nearest bus
stop is ten miles away and the town is sparsely populated with less than three
hundred people. The fact that the population of Somal is so small may be
important as Narayan may be suggesting that the village is a difficult place to
live in. With no real amenities at hand. If anything the centre of attention is
Nambi and his ability to tell stories. Nambi’s ability to tell a story is
interesting as it may be a case that the people in Somal listen to Nambi’s
stories in order to escape from the hardships that surround them. It is easier
for them to listen to Nambi telling his stories than it is to face the
realities of living in Somal. It is also possible that Narayan is exploring the
theme of fear and failure. When Nambi loses the ability to tell a story he
begins to get afraid. Blaming his age on the fact that he is unable to tell a
story.
However the reality may be very different for Nambi.
As with writers who go through a period without being able to write (writer’s
block) Nambi too may be going through a period of being unable to tell a story.
However rather than persevering or giving himself time. Nambi chooses to remain
silent and stop telling stories altogether. It is as though his well has
finally run dry. It is also interesting that many of the people in the village
lack the patience to wait for Nambi to return to telling stories. When he
continually stumbles in a story many of the people in the village decide to
walk away. It is as though their means of escape is no longer. It is also
interesting that only Mari shows Nambi any type of loyalty. He is the only
person in the village who shows not only loyalty to Nambi but patience too.
Everybody else in the village walks away from Nambi. It is as though he is no
longer of any use to anybody in the village because he can’t tell a story like
he used to be able to do.
It is also possible that Narayan is suggesting that
everybody has a purpose and for Nambi his purpose was to tell stories. However
when he lost the ability to tell stories he was no longer useful to people.
Which may suggest a certain selfishness in society (or in Somal). When a person
is no longer useful they are forgotten about. Even Mari’s polite words to Nambi
cannot hide the fact that Nambi is no longer of any use to people in Somal. He
has served his purpose and old age has gotten the better of Nambi with his
inability to remember a story. It might also be significant that Nambi is not
the only one who is suffering. The people of Somal no longer have an avenue of
escape now that Nambi is silent. The hardships that they incur daily will be
even more real for them. Which may be the point that Narayan is attempting to
make. He may be suggesting that everybody, regardless of who they may be, is
reliant on each other. Just as Nambi needs an audience to tell his stories to
so too do the people in Somal have a need to hear the stories that Nambi tells
them.
It might also be a case that Narayan is focusing on
the art of story-telling. When Nambi told a story he never used the same
character twice. It is possible that Narayan is highlighting just how difficult
the art of story-telling really is and how frustrated a story-teller may get
when they lose the ability to tell a story. Not only does the story-teller fear
never being able to tell a story again but they also fear failure. Which is the
case with Nambi. It is as though story-telling was Nambi’s life and now that he
is unable to tell a story he has decided to remain silent. Which some critics
may suggest is an extreme measure. Rather than giving himself time Nambi gives
up on story-telling believing that it is the will of the great Mother. Whether
the reader believes this is another thing as each individual reader will
interpret the story differently. Some will suggest that Nambi gave up
story-telling too soon and should have been a little more patient. While others
will agree with Nambi and suggest that the reason Nambi is unable to tell a
story is because of the will of the great Mother.
2 :The Night Train at Deoli
Ruskin Bond
Introduction:
“The Night
Train at Deoli” is a short story by Ruskin Bond. It narrates the
story of a short meeting that takes place between an eighteen year old college
student travelling by train and a young girl selling baskets on a railway
platform. He meets the girl only twice during his
travels. He understands that the girl had stolen his heart.
The first
meeting :
An eighteen
year old college student travels from the plains to his hometown
of Dehradun every summer. He prefers to travel by the overnight
train. Early in the morning the train stops in the small village of
Deoli. The student does not understand why the train had to stop there as
no one either got on or off the train at that station.On one such trip, the
student notices a pale girl selling cane baskets on the platform. She appears
to be poor, but moves with grace and dignity. Her shiny black hair and dark,
troubled eyes attracts the author. The girl offers to sell baskets to him. He
initially refuses to buy and later when she insists, happens to buy one with a
little hesitation, daring not to touch her fingers. Both of them just look at
each other for quite some time without speaking a word. It seems to form a bond
between them. As the train moves away he asks her whether she would
be there on his return journey. Though she says something, he is unable to hear
it because of the train's noise.
The second
meeting:
On his return
journey he looks for her and finds her. They are happy to see each other like
long lost friends. Though they do not speak a word, their silence speaks
more than words. He feels like taking her with him but does not do so. He tells
her that he needs to go to Delhi and she replies saying she need not go
anywhere, perhaps expressing her helplessness. Both of them separate
unwillingly as the train leaves the station, with the hope of meeting again.
The meeting helps to break the monotony of his journey. It gives a sense
of attachment and responsibility towards the girl. Both
during his journey and for a long time later on, he keeps thinking of the girl
he met at the station at Deoli.
The narrator's
disappointment:
The next
summer, soon after his college term finishes, he hurriedly leaves for Dehra.
His visit to see his grandmother is just an excuse . He is eager to meet the
girl once again. This time she is not to be seen at the Deoli station though he
waits for a long time. This deeply disappoints him and a sense of foreboding
overcomes him. On his way back to Delhi, he again waits anxiously to see her,
but it ends in vain. On enquiry, he comes to know that the girl has stopped
coming to the station to sell her cane baskets and nobody
knows about her . Once again, he has to run to catch his train. He
makes up his mind that he would definitely break journey there, spend a day in
the town, make enquiries and find the girl who had stolen his heart.
The narrator's
subsequent visit:
The following
year in summer, he again walks up and down the platform hoping to see
the girl, but somehow, he cannot bring himself to break the journey to look for
her. He seems to be afraid of discovering the truth about her. He is afraid
that he might find out something unpleasant about her which is not acceptable
to him. He just wants to retain his sweet memories of her. But he suggests to
his readers that he did not want to project himself like a hero of a movie
where the hero would meet his beloved after undergoing all hardships and
finally win her over. He prefers to keep hoping and dreaming,
waiting for the girl.
Conclusion:
We know very
little of the young man's family or circumstances, we can see ourselves in him.
We all remember moments of fantasy-like love; feelings of strong attraction
toward a person we barely know. We know what it is like to build someone
up in our imagination. The narrator never moves beyond that place. He never
acts, and he is filled with remorse because of it. Because Bond's narrator is a
kind of "every man," it is easy for readers to empathize with
him.
3.Unaccustomed Earth
Jhumpa Lahiri.
OVERVIEW
Unaccustomed Earth is a 2008 story
collection by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. Part 1 contains four
stories with distinct characters and plotlines, while Part 2 follows the story
of Hema and Kaushik through three
different stories. Each story chronicles an important phase or event within the
lives of the characters it addresses, and most of the protagonists are Bengali
or Bengali-American individuals. Most of the storylines seem take place in the
1980s or 1990s, with the characters viewing their experiences in
hindsight.
Plot Summary
In “Unaccustomed Earth,” Ruma, a 38-year-old Bengali-American
woman, has just relocated to Seattle by way of Brooklyn with her husband, Adam,
and their 3-year-old son, Akash. Adam’s generous salary at his new job has
allowed for the purchase of a large, beautiful home, and for Ruma to stay home
to care for Akash. Ruma is also pregnant with their second child. Shortly
before the family’s move, Ruma’s mother dies unexpectedly. Ruma’s father has
begun a romantic affair with a woman named Mrs. Bagchi, which he keeps secret
from Ruma. He composes a postcard to Mrs. Bagchi in Bengali, which Ruma cannot
read. Ruma eventually broaches the topic of her father moving in with her, but
he declines the offer. He continues to keep his relationship with the woman a
secret from Ruma. Ruma’s father begins a garden in Ruma’s backyard, and is
happy to entertain Akash. When Ruma’s father departs for the airport, he
realizes he does not have the postcard he composed to Mrs. Bagchi. Ruma soon
discovers the postcard in Akash’s mock garden plot. Although she cannot read
it, she surmises its significance. At the end of the story, she affixes a stamp
to the postcard and sends it off to its destination.
In “Hell-Heaven,” Usha, a Bengali-American woman,
recounts a stretch of her childhood during which a man named Pranab, whom she
calls Pranab Kaku, was an important figure in her life. Pranab recognized Usha’s
mother on the street in Cambridge one day, and was quickly adopted by the
family as a friend and pseudo-uncle. Usha’s mother, who married her father
through an arranged marriage, left her home in Calcutta with her new husband,
who relocated to America to pursue his studies. Usha’s mother is unhappy and
emotionally isolated within the family, and falls in love with Pranab, although
nothing romantic or sexual transpires between the two of them. Instead, they
enjoy only a friendship, which is intimate because they share the same
hometown. Pranab is a charming, perennially youthful character. He eventually
marries a white American woman named Deborah, much to the chagrin of Usha’s
mother. Usha idolizes Deborah. Although Usha’s mother predicts a quick end to
Pranab’s marriage, the union persists for many years, during which Pranab and
Deborah move farther away from Usha’s family and have two daughters. The two
families lose touch for a long while, until they invite Usha’s family—along
with others that they were close to during their time in Cambridge—for a
Thanksgiving dinner. Following the dinner, Deborah allows Usha to borrow some
of her clothes, and Usha is happy to change out of the stiff, traditional
formalwear that her mother has insisted she wear for the occasion. Pranab later
cheats on Deborah with a Bengali woman, resulting in a divorce. At the story’s
end, Usha’s mother reveals that shortly after Pranab’s marriage, she doused
herself in lighter fluid and nearly set herself on fire in the family backyard.
In the third story, “A Choice of Accommodations,” Amit, an Indian-American man, is
married to a white American woman named Megan. They have decided to take a
vacation and are traveling to Langford Academy, a private, boys-only boarding
high school that is Amit’s alma mater. The occasion is the marriage of Pam, the
daughter of Langford’s headmaster. Instead of staying in a dormitory room on
campus for a small fee, Amit and Megan have opted to stay at the Chadwick Inn
nearby, in the hopes of having a private, romantic weekend. All of the boys,
including Amit, were in love with Pam during Amit’s school days. Amit and Pam
also both attended Columbia, and were close friends during their time there.
Amit’s love for Pam also persisted during those years—a fact that he has never
revealed to Megan. During the wedding dinner, Amit remarks to the stranger
sitting next to him, named Felicia, that his marriage ended when his second
child was born. When Amit cannot get cell phone service following the wedding
ceremony, he leaves the reception party for the hotel room. However, upon his
arrival, he cannot remember the phone number for Megan’s parents. Inebriated,
he accidentally falls asleep. He awakens the next morning to find an enraged
Megan, who was driven home in the early morning by Felicia and Felicia’s
fiancée after the grounds were searched for Amit and the hotel front desk was
called in order to ascertain Amit’s whereabouts. Amit fears that Felicia has
told Megan about his remarks at dinner. Megan wishes to cut the vacation short
and return to their home; Amit agrees. However, they stop on campus beforehand
to try to partake in the wedding brunch. Finding that the brunch has already
ended, Amit and Megan find their way to a dorm room. Amit begs Megan for
forgiveness, and the two have sex in the dorm room.
In “Only Goodness,” Sudha is a Bengali-American woman
in her early 30s. At the beginning of the story, she reveals that she was the
one who introduced her younger brother, Rahul, to alcohol while she was home
from college one holiday. They also began a ritual of hiding the alcohol from
their parents in their rooms during those years. Rahul is more
academically-gifted than Sudha during their youth, and begins his undergraduate
education at Cornell. However, he soon becomes increasingly depressed and
withdrawn, his alcohol abuse grows, and he is ultimately dismissed from
Cornell. Sudha continues to earn academic degrees and accolades, and takes over
her brother’s role as the family’s golden child. Sudha travels to London for
graduate school and meets a Indian–British man named Roger at the National
Gallery. The two of them wed in London and have a reception in Usha’s hometown
of Wayland. Sudha and Rahul lose touch for many years after Rahul, who had been
living with his parents, steals all of his mother’s gold jewelry and absconds,
then later relocates to New York with a woman and her daughter. He eventually
writes to Sudha after Sudha has given birth to her first son, Neel. Rahul
states that he has reformed and gone to rehab; Sudha invites him to London to
meet her son and stay with her family. During his visit, Rahul strikes up a
warm, intimate rapport with Neel, and convinces Roger and Sudha to let him
watch Neel so that Roger and Sudha can enjoy a movie together. Sudha agrees.
When she returns, she finds Neel unattended in the bathtub, and Rahul passed
out—he has found the stash of alcohol that Sudha has hidden and had a relapse.
In “Nobody’s Business,” the final story of Part 1, Sang, a Bengali-American woman has
recently dropped out of a doctoral program at Harvard and is working at a
bookstore in Harvard Square. She lives with two white American roommates, Paul
and Heather. Paul has a sexual and romantic fascination with Sang, and begins
to keep close track of her movements, and of her 3-year-long romantic
relationship with an Egyptian man named Farouk. Sang also periodically receives
cold calls from strange Bengali men who have heard of her through the
Bengali-American network that Sang and her family belong to. When Sang goes to
London to visit her sister and new nephew, a woman named Deirdre begins calling
the house. During her first call, Deirdre asks Paul to ask Sang to call her
back; in the ensuing days, Paul and Deirdre end up having several
conversations, during which Deirdre reveals that she and Farouk have been
engaged in a serious relationship for the past year. Farouk soon feeds Sang the
false story that Deirdre is an old college friend who was reaching out to Farouk
in order to invite him to her wedding. Paul finds Deirdre’s name in the phone
book and calls her. She promises that she will call back that night. During the
call, Paul gets Deirdre to reveal the extent of her relationship with Farouk,
while also omitting the details of the lengthy conversation that she also had
with Paul. Sang, greatly distressed, then asks Paul to drive her to Farouk’s
apartment. When Farouk opens the door and discovers both Paul and Sang there, a
physical altercation ensues between Paul and Farouk. Paul eventually pins
Farouk to the ground, but then lets up. Farouk and Sang enter the apartment,
closing the door on Paul. A loud commotion and confrontation ensues, and the
neighbors call the police. When the super arrives to unlock the door, Sang has
broken a vase and beaten herself with flowers. The police arrive and Sang tells
them that Farouk did not assault her. However, she must be physically removed
from the apartment, as she has become hysterical. Sang quickly departs for
England and does not return. Paul passes his doctoral oral exam, and is taken
to a fancy hotel by his professors afterward. After sharing drinks, he makes
his way to the street, where he sees Farouk with a woman. The woman is revealed
to be Deirdre.
Part 2 of the collection, titled “Hema and Kaushik,”
begins with the story “Once in a Lifetime.” Hema recounts a stretch of her
childhood. She writes in the first and second person, addressing Kaushik
Chaudhuri as “you” throughout the story. The story recalls the time in her life
when the Chaudhuris lodged with her family, when Hema was 13. The Chaudhuris
were close to her family some years before, while both of the families lived in
Cambridge. However, the Chaudhuris relocated to Bombay when Kaushik was a small
child, and are now returning to America, which is why they are lodging with
Hema’s family. Hema finds Kaushik, now 16, extremely intriguing and attractive,
although Kaushik does not give her the time of day. Parul, Kaushik’s mother,
treats Hema with engaging kindness. Parul is also much more Americanized and
cosmopolitan than Hema’s mother.
One day, Parul shares a fitting room with Hema and
encourages Hema to try on her first training bras. Hema also glimpses Parul’s
breasts. In the fitting room, Parul tells Hema that she will be very beautiful
one day. Later, Kaushik and Hema find themselves in the woods behind her house.
Kaushik shows Hema a set of graves he’s discovered there. He then tells Hema
the true reason for his family’s relocation to America: Parul has been
diagnosed with terminal, metastatic breast cancer, and she wishes to die in America.
This is also the reason that Kaushik’s father, Dr. Chaudhuri, has been bending
over backwards to meet Parul’s every request and to buy the home that meets
with her exacting standards. Hema feels devastated by the proximity to death
that Parul’s presence in her home has created. However, she doesn’t reveal this
information to her parents, who eventually find out about Parul’s illness. Even
with this knowledge, Hema’s parents still find quarter to complain about not
being invited to the Chaudhuri’s new home.
In “Year’s End,” Kaushik narrates in the first person,
occasionally addressing Hema as “you.” He tells the story of his father’s
remarriage to a woman named Chitra, which occurs during his sophomore year at
Swarthmore. Parul died during the summer before his freshman year. Kaushik
comes to visit his father, Chitra, and her two daughters, Rupa and Piu, that
Christmas. Chitra and her daughters have moved into the modernist home that was
purchased for Parul before her death. Rupa and Piu are staying in Kaushik’s old
room. Chitra, who is from a conservative Indian background, does not like the
modernist home, and feels that it is isolated. She is openly afraid of many
aspects of American life. During his visit, Kaushik realizes that he harbors a
deep hatred for Chitra, and a resentment that she is alive, while his mother is
not. He also notices that his father has summarily removed all the traces of
his mother’s existence from the house. However, one night, he finds Rupa and
Piu rifling through a shoebox full of photographs of his mother, which Dr.
Chaudhuri has stashed in Kaushik’s old closet. Flying into a rage, Kaushik
tells his stepsisters that their own mother, married off to his father in order
to be his servant, will never compare to his beautiful and glamorous mother.
Kaushik abandons the home in order to drive the coast all the way to Canada. On
a mountaintop near the Canadian border, he buries the shoebox full of
photographs of his mother. Rupa and Piu never reveal the extent of Kaushik’s
cruelty to either Dr. Chaudhuri or Chitra, and retreat into polite remoteness,
their relationship with Kaushik having been permanently damaged.
In the final narrative, “Going Ashore,” Hema and
Kaushik’s story is written in the third-person, and focuses on Hema, who is in
her late 30s. She is in Rome, taking a small vacation from her teaching duties
at Wellesley. She has recently ended a relationship with a married man named
Julian, who has strung her along for 10 years while promising to leave his
wife. Hema, feeling unable to enter her forties unmarried and childless, is
betrothed to a man named Navin through arranged marriage proceedings. By
chance, Kaushik and Hema reunite at the dinner of a man named Edo, who is a
common acquaintance. They begin a passionate sexual affair. Kaushik has become
a newspaper photographer, and leads a largely rootless existence. He is now
headed to a desk editorial job in Hong Kong, and plans to stop in Thailand
before relocating. On the eve of his departure, he asks Hema to come away with
him, instead of marrying Navin. Hema, aware that Kaushik’s proposition does not
include a marriage, and that it does entail her leaving her entire life behind,
refuses. Kaushik retreats into cold resentment, and the two part: Hema for
Calcutta, to meet with Navin and be married, and Kaushik for Thailand. Kaushik
is soon seized by regret, knowing that Hema is the only woman who can
intimately know him, because she witnessed his mother’s death. Hema, too, finds
herself foolishly looking for Kaushik’s face among the crowds in Calcutta. A
tsunami strikes Thailand and Kaushik is killed. Hema, freshly married and also
pregnant, does not need official word to know that Kaushik has left the earth.
She retreats to her bed, where she feels fevered by both the new life growing
inside of her and her grief for Kaushik.
Kanthapura
Raja Rao
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Kanthapura recounts the rise of a Gandhian nationalist
movement in a small South Indian village of the same name. The story is
narrated by Achakka, an elder brahmin woman
with an encyclopedic knowledge about everyone in her village; she tells the
story in the meandering, nonlinear style of a sthala-purana, a traditional “legendary history” of a village, its
people, and its gods.
Achakka begins her tale by situating Kanthapura in its immediate
landscape, the Western Ghats mountain range in southwest India that has
recently become a center of the British colonial spice trade. The village’s
patron deity is the goddess Kenchamma, who fought a demon on the Kenchamma Hill above Kanthapura ages ago and has protected the
villagers ever since. Achakka introduces the village’s numerous residents of
all caste. She introduces the educated and
well-off brahmins, including the wealthy orphan Dorè, who proclaims to be a Gandhian after attending a
term of university in the city, and the much more beloved Moorthy, who refuses to marry into one wealthy family after
another. Then she introduces the potters and weavers, who are largely turning
to agriculture, and finally the pariahs,
who live in decrepit huts at the edge of town. But caste does not always
translate to wealth. The loincloth-wearing brahmin Bhatta and the shrewd but honest patel and sudra Rangè
Gowda are the village’s two most powerful figures.
One day, Moorthy finds a linga (small
idol depicting the Lord Siva)
in Ahakka’s backyard and the brahmins begins convening prayers for it; soon
thereafter, Moorthy begins collecting money from everyone in the village to
have a Harikatha-man named Jayaramachar perform his religious discourse about Mahatma Gandhi’s promise to save India from
foreign domination. This creates a commotion, especially as Moorthy begins to
convert other villagers to Gandhi’s cause and a Muslim policeman named Badè Khan moves into town. Patel Rangè Gowda
will not give Khan a place to stay, so he goes to the nearby Skeffington Coffee
Estate, where the presiding Sahib offers him a hut among the workers. Meanwhile,
Moorthy convinces various villagers to start spinning their own wool and
weaving their own khadi cloth,
since Gandhi believes that foreign goods impoverish India and sees weaving as a
form of spiritual practice.
But Bhatta despises Gandhism, for his business runs on high-interest
loans to small farmers who sell their rice to city-people. He decries the
modernization of India and the erosion of the caste system, so he proposes
establishing a brahmin party to fight Moorthy’s spreading Gandhism and wins the
support of many villagers, most notably the rambling Waterfall Venkamma, the priest Temple Rangappa and his wife Lakshamma, Moorthy’s own mother Narsamma, and his own wife Chinnamma. Moorthy, who has a vision of Gandhi giving a
discourse and decides to dedicate his life to the Mahatma’s work, wins over the
wealthy widow Rangamma, at whose large house he stockpiles spinning-wheels
and books about nonviolent resistance. The powerful Swami in Mysore promises to excommunicate anyone who
“pollutes” the traditional system by interacting with people from different
castes, and when Narsamma finds out that her son Moorthy will likely be first,
she is distraught and refuses to associate with him. But he does not budge and,
when the Swami excommunicates his entire family after Moorthy is seen carrying
a corpse, Narsamma dies on the banks of the nearby River Himavathy and Moorthy moves into Rangamma’s house.
The narrative cuts to the Skeffington Estate, where the maistri convinces coolie workers
from impoverished villages around India to come do backbreaking work in
horrible conditions at the estate. Their wages are low and the Sahib finds
every available means to keep them indentured at the Estate for life, from
beating them to raising the prices on daily goods to stealing their wages to,
most insidiously, encouraging them to spend their money drinking at the
nearby toddy stand.
Nobody has managed to leave for ten years, even as a new Sahib has taken over who is kinder than the first
(except to the women, Achakka notes, whom he systematically raped until he
became embroiled in a legal battle for murdering a father who refused to give
up his daughter). But Moorthy’s Gandhians, with the help of the brahmin
clerk Vasudev, begin teaching the coolies to read and write and
recruiting them to join the protest movement. Badè Khan breaks up one of these
lessons, which only strengthens Moorthy’s resolve, and soon a coolie
named Rachanna moves off the estate and into Kanthapura. During
the commotion some of the coolie women grabbed the Khan’s beard, and Moorthy
takes personal responsibility for this attack, which runs counter to the
Mahatma’s doctrine of nonviolence. He fasts for three days, meditating
continuously in the village temple and receiving visions of Siva and Hari as
Rangamma, the wise elder brahmin Ramakrishnayya, and
the widowed pariah girl Ratna care for him. He grows stronger, responding to
threats from Waterfall Venkamma and Bhatta with love and resolving to launch
what he calls the “don’t-touch-the-Government campaign.”
Moorthy approaches Patel Rangè Gowda with his plan, and the powerful
town representative and landowner quickly resolves to follow the Mahatma. Together,
they convene a Village Congress, which promises to serve as a local branch of
Gandhi’s Congress of All India. Moorthy visits the house of the former coolie
Rachanna, who is now living as a pariah in the village, but finds himself
anxious at the thought of going inside or drinking the milk Rachanna’s
wife Rachi offers him, since he grew up as a brahmin and
has never actually been so close to a pariah. He does so nonetheless and soon
convinces a congregation of confused pariah women to spin cloth and join the
movement. But when he returns home, Rangamma makes him enter through the back
and drink Ganges water to purify himself.
Bhatta soon realizes that he can lead Venkamma to “set fire where we
want” if he can find her daughter a husband, so he arranges a marriage with his
favorite lawyer, the middle-aged widow Advocate Seenappa. Shortly thereafter, during the holy festival
of Kartik,
the police come to Rangamma’s house and arrest Moorthy. Rachanna cries out,
“Mahatma Gandhi ki jai!” (or, “Glory to Mahatma Gandhi!”), a battle cry that
the Gandhians employ when the police attack them through the rest of the book.
The police begin beating and arresting the rest of the villagers, taking 17 in
total and releasing all but Moorthy.
In jail, Moorthy refuses the help of lawyers and spiritual leaders
until Advocate Sankar, the Congress
Committee Secretary in nearby Karwar city, tells him that the national movement
needs him released. Moorthy falls at Sankar’s feet and the lawyer holds an
enormous meeting for his benefit, although a nameless old man (whom the Swami
has paid off) speaks in defense of the British government and the “Beloved
Sovereign” Queen Victoria. The Police Inspector comes to the meeting and arrests another of its
leaders, Advocate Ranganna, and news spreads fast in Kanthapura by means of a
newspaper Rangamma has begun to publish. The villagers read it voraciously,
with even the illiterate insisting that others read it to them, and they debate
when and whether Moorthy will be released.
Rangamma and the Gandhian Nanjamma go to Karwar to visit Advocate Sankar, who is
notorious for being an honest and socially-conscious man. Rangamma decides to
stay for awhile, and meanwhile the colonial government fires Rangè Gowda,
installing another patel for the village in his place. Moorthy is sentenced to
three months’ imprisonment, and the wise elder Ramakrishnayya dies after
stumbling into a pillar during heavy rains the following day. During his
cremation, the Himavathy River overflows and swallows his ashes.
The villagers decide that the widowed girl Ratna should replace
Ramakrishnayya to lead the village’s readings from Hindu scriptures, and after
Rangamma’s return she begins to interpret the texts Ratna reads as calls for
the end of British rule in India. The women resolve to form their own Volunteer
group, and Rangamma begins to lead them in group meditation and drills to
practice nonviolent resistance to beatings from the police. On an auspicious
day soon thereafter, the villagers perform a ceremony honoring the Goddess
Kenchamma before planting their fields, and Venkamma decides to move her
daughter’s wedding to the same day as Moorthy’s homecoming from prison so that
villagers will be forced to choose their allegiance. On the day he is supposed
to arrive, the villagers wait to receive him but he does not come, until they
realize that the police have secretly escorted him back into Rangamma’s house
and go there to greet him, shouting Gandhian slogans and nearly starting
another clash with the police.
Moorthy again takes the helm of the village’s Gandhian movement,
reminding the others about their obligation to speak Truth, reject caste
hierarchy, and spin wool each morning. The villagers follow the news of
Gandhi’s protest of the British salt tax, in which he marches to the sea and
makes his own salt, and they bathe in the holy Himavathy River at the precise
moment Gandhi reaches the ocean and the police start arresting his
followers en masse. Moorthy and Rangamma continue
to lead the others in practice drills, waiting for orders from the national
Gandhian Congress, but soon discover that the Mahatma has been arrested and
decide to officially launch the “don’t-touch-the-Government campaign” by
protesting toddy stands, refusing to pay taxes or abide by the colonial
government’s orders, and setting up a “parallel government” for their village
that keeps Rangè Gowda as Patel.
Two days later, 139 Kanthapura villagers march to the toddy grove near
the Skeffington Coffee Estate and Moorthy refuses to honor the Police
Inspector’s orders to back down. The Gandhians climb into the grove and begin
tearing branches off the trees as the police beat them down with lathis and
arrest three villagers: the pariah Rachanna and the potters Lingayya and Siddayya. They
corral the rest of the protestors into trucks, which drive them off in
different directions and drop them by the side of the road in various parts of
the Western Ghats. The protestors march back toward Kanthapura, encountering
cart-men who support Gandhi’s movement and offer to take them home for free as
well as people in the nearby village of Santhapura who decide to join
their Satyagraha movement.
The next week, the villagers repeat their protest, encountering various
people from the region who proclaim their oppression under British rule and ask
Moorthy to help them. When they reach the toddy grove, the Police Inspector
marches the coolies off the Skeffington Estate to Boranna’s toddy stand, but the Gandhians convince the
coolies to join the protest instead of drinking. The police are more violent
this time, and they seriously injure Rangamma, Ratna, and Moorthy before
dumping the rest on the side of the road, as before. But when they return to
Kanthapura, the Gandhians discover that many of the coolies and Gandhi
sympathizers from the region have decided to join them, and their movement
continues to grow as they launch various other protests, get 24 toddy stands in
the area to shut down, and closely follow the accelerating national protest
movement.
Besides the few brahmins who still oppose the Gandhi movement, the
villagers refuse to cooperate with the government, which infuriates the police
and leads them to more and more aggressive tactics. The police barricade every
exit out of town, secretly arrest numerous protestors (including the movement’s
two main leaders, Moorthy and Rangamma) in the middle of the night, and begin
assaulting female villagers. One officer nearly rapes Ratna, but Achakka and
some of the other women Volunteers find her just in time and decide that she
will be the new leader of the protest movement. This group of women, whose perspective
the narrative follows closely from this point onward, hide out in the temple
and watch Bhatta’s house burn down. But a policeman sees them and locks them
inside overnight, until the pariah Rachi lets them out.
Three days later, the villagers undertake their fourth and most
consequential protest against the police. Rich Europeans come to Kanthapura as
the government begins auctioning off the villagers’ land, and they bring
coolies from the city to begin working the fields. Gandhians from around the region,
including Advocate Sankar, flood into the town to help the protest effort.
Achakka and the other women begin questioning their loyalty to Gandhi,
wondering whether nonviolent resistance will truly save their livelihoods, but
soon the march is underway and the police are more vicious than ever before.
One of the protestors raises the Gandhian revolutionary flag and the police
begin firing against the protestors, massacring them even as they proclaim
their commitment to nonviolence. The women hide out in sugarcane fields as they
watch their neighbors and party-members get slaughtered, and as they begin to
flee Kanthapura, Rachi decides to burn the village down.
Rachi makes a bonfire and sets the village alight before all the women
continue marching as far as they can from Kanthapura, across the mountains and
into the jungle, where people honor them as “pilgrims of the Mahatma” and offer
them a new home in the village of Kashipura. In the year since Kanthapura’s
destruction, Achakka explains, the villagers have scattered and moved on with
their lives, and Moorthy has been released from prison, although he gave up on
Gandhi, who started to compromise with the British, and decided to join
Jawaharlal Nehru’s movement for the equal distribution of wealth. Rangamma is
still in jail, and the only person who has returned to Kanthapura is Rangè
Gowda, who tells Achakka that the village has been sold away to city-people
from Bombay.
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Kanthapura
Themes |
Oral Tradition, Writing, and Political Power |
Themes
and Colors
Oral Tradition, Writing, and Political Power
The village of Kanthapura is a traditional society
based in oral culture: few of its inhabitants can read or write, and
storytelling ceremonies are a crucial aspect of the town’s collective life.
Oral tradition is a source of power in the village, for it allows Kanthapura’s
residents to shape their understanding of history, consolidate their identity as
a community around shared religious values, and organize politically against
the repressive British colonial government. But Kanthapura’s oral…
Gandhism and the Erosion of Caste
The conflict between the traditional caste
hierarchy and the Gandhian ideal of equality lies at the heart of the
first half of Kanthapura. Many of Kanthapura’s residents initially
fear Moorthy’s campaign of Gandhian nonviolent resistance, believing
that he is “polluting” the village by overturning holy caste divisions, but
most ultimately join the rebellion when they see that it promises to liberate
them from the hierarchies of colonial governance and caste. By the end of…
Nationalism and Colonialism
The second half of Kanthapura stages a
different conflict: the Gandhian nationalist villagers, who have largely ceased
worrying about caste, nonviolently resist the British colonial government in
the name of the Indian nation. Gandhism inspires Kanthapura’s residents to
fight against the oppression of the British colonial government in the name of
India, a mythical nation to come, out of a sense of loyalty to a leader and
population that they have never encountered and likely…
Kanthapura is as much about a people displaced
as about a place that loses its people. As the legendary history of a village,
the book emphasizes the topography of Kanthapura’s region as people actually
experience it and suggests an inherent link between the villagers and their
land. But this sense of belonging unravels throughout the book as the
villagers’ national identity surpasses their local one, the coolies (indentured
laborers at the Skeffington Coffee Estate) move…
Labor, Exploitation, and Economic Independence
Besides the military assaults that eventually
repress Kanthapura’s dissent, the colonial system’s primary means of oppressing
Indians is economic: it makes them work while Europeans profit, deprives them
of their land through unfair property agreements, and forces indentured
servants into lifelong slavery by saddling them with increasing levels of debt. Moorthy’s Gandhism
is primarily focused on redressing this systematic economic exploitation.
Because Gandhi recognizes that depriving the British Empire of its
profits is the best…
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