the persisting silence after silent spring

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I
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3
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4
VOL. 01 ISSUE. 01 DEC 2012
Contents
ANALYSIS
An Ecofeminist Approach to Sawako Ariroshi’s The River Ki
26
ANNIVERSARY
The Persisting Silence after Silent Spring
7
The Philosophical Revolutionary
9
CLASSICS
38
Madame Bovary
CURRENT
20
V.S. Naipaul: Controversially Yours
GAMES
Can you Identify Them?
18
Hallmarks of Indian Literature
57
Auden Crossword
29
Pair them Right
58
Vampire Quiz
37
Constitution Quiz
61
Theorists—Know ’em?
52
True or False
62
Who Wrote These?
54
How the Vernacular Affects Us
63
Identify these South Asian Writers
56
IMPRESSIONS
Nets at Dusk
32
Woman on the Cross
45
Madness—an Endless Battle
53
Pieta
60
MUSINGS
Is rationality, control, order, meaning necessary?
13
Was it a Dream?
51
POEMS
Go Back to Your Love
8
A runaway dream
39
A Simple Wish
14
Shadow of Fear
42
Out of God’s hands . . . so suffer
17
Passion Fruits
43
Handful of Love
17
Birth of an Oracle
46
Slip of Fingers
21
The Wildest One
47
The Frightening Promise
23
Hope
49
Clueless
25
Modern Haikus
51
A Scream
28
Sin
59
ion deficiency
32
5
Contents
REMINISCENCES
Romanticising the Library
12
Nostalgia
14
RESPONSES
Reading Edward Said’s Representations of the Intellectual
24
REVIEW
31 by Upendra Namburi
15
Mother of the Believers: History seen through Her eyes
16
The Thousand Faces of Night
18
Asura: Tale of the Vanquished
19
Roots & Flavours
22
Three Indian Novelists
47
Narcopolis
64
SNIPPETS
Language Tidbits
19
Contemporary Awards
34
Milestones in the Indian Constitution
44
Losses of 2012
50
STORY
A Myth
65
STUDY
The Political Novel as a Mirror of the Bizarre
25
Castles & Ghosts
43
TRAVEL
Musings in the Museum
30
TRANSLATION
Spirit Worship and a Folk Epic
41
Njorivu and Vadivu in Translation
46
TRIBUTE
Lifelong Commitment
48
WRITER
Mo Yan—The Man who Refuses to be Silent
33
The Novels of Hilary Mantel
36
Fearless Secularist
40
6
Anniversary
THE PERSISTING
SILENCE AFTER
SILENT SPRING
2012 is the 50th anniversary of the
publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Rajitha Venugopal re-assesses Carson and
her work.
A
dedicated scientist, an ardent nature lover and environmentalist, Rachel Carson (1907-1964) rose to popularity
with the publication of her seminal Silent Spring (1962) which is said to have kindled the earliest sparks of the
ongoing crusade against environment degradation. As the literary and the scientific world commemorates her
on the 50th anniversary of this renowned work that lamented the onset of a barren spring devoid of croons
and colours, and exhorted a smug society to be attentive to the disastrous onslaughts mindlessly unleashed on the
environment in the form of pesticides and other harmful chemicals like DDT, one realises the compelling importance
of Carson’s arguments, even half a century after its publication. Silent Spring was a polite reminder to the rapidly
progressing humanity, that we are but only a link in the wide and interconnected food chain that keeps the ecosystem
running. In simple, lucid and evocative prose, Carson rationally explained the obnoxious effects of using pesticides, never
giving in to emotional outburst, raising an alarm that proved apocalyptic in nature.
A contemplative and observant child
who loved reading Herman Melville,
Conrad and R.L. Stevenson, Carson,
at a very young age, was fascinated
by the oceans and had realised the
dire need for a harmonious balance
between human beings and nature.
What makes this scientist particularly
different is her style of writing, which
is never commandingly esoteric or
condescendingly scientific, but a
style that would appeal to a common
reader. One of her earliest success
stories, so to say, was a script for
a weekly educational programme
on the radio, “Romance under
the Waters,” which generated
unprecedented public interest in
biology. There was always a spark
of a writer in Carson, and more
prominently, the fire of a crusader for
environment conservation. Perhaps
that made her switch from literature
to biology in her college days.
Ranging from aerial spraying of DDT
and pesticides, use of cancer-causing
chemicals, the Great Cranberry
scandal, Carson’s long and eventful
campaign against various issues
“But man is a part of nature,
and his war against nature is
inevitably a war against himself.”
Rachel Carson
alerted the government and the public
on the rapid decline in bird population,
which she poetically referred to as
“silencing of the birds.” Meanwhile
she had also written, what came to
be known as the “Sea Trilogy” —
Under the Sea Wind, The Sea Around
Us, The Edge of the Sea — a saga
of romancing with the oceans, which
brought alive the life under the sea
in fable form. Silent Spring was the
result of a four year project, working
on several cases, gathering material
and proof by reading scientific
literature and interviewing scientists,
conducting massive field study of
individual cases of sickness due to
exposure to toxic chemicals etc.,
and thus Carson set the tragic tale
of the poisoned earth beginning with
the metaphorically titled chapter,
“A Fable for Tomorrow.” As much
romantic as scientific, one finds in
Carson a Keatsian vein of remorse
and lamentation, yet intermingled
with the fiery Shelleyian spirit
appealing for action. A humanist
who could touch and feel the soul
of nature, Carson writes, “In every
outthrust headland, in every curving
beach, in every grain of sand, there is
the story of the earth.”
Ironically enough, Carson’s attempts
to envisage a better, eco-friendly
7
scientific approach was met with
vicious vilification, caught in the
clutches of capitalist powers which
included the nexus among the
chemical industry, the business
lobbies, the government agricultural
department, and the fourth estate,
which supposedly owes to the public
an objective survey of affairs. Carson’s
claims were nullified as the insane
musings of a “spinster woman”
and a “communist.” Doesn’t it ring
a familiar bell that science perhaps
is a male-dominated field of study
and that women dare not delve
deep into research, especially if it
is something that goes against the
capitalists’ welfare, and more so,
being a spinster is an even greater
aberration? What does it convey
about the “rationalist progressive”
American nation in particular and by
extension, our society and our times,
in general? We are all, willy-nilly,
part of a system that directly and
indirectly gets involved in doing our
bit towards harming the environment.
Living in a society where we have
turned callous spectators of say,
the haunting pictures of children
disfigured by the indiscriminate
spraying of Endosulfan, or the
voluminous reports on relentless
struggle by natives of Kudankulam
against the monstrous nuclear
venture — perhaps we inhabit a time
and space which demands a deep
(re)consideration of Rachel Carson’s
arguments. The unfortunate fate
that Silent Spring met with soon
after its publication also makes one
attentive to the iniquitous attempts of
a patriarchal capitalist system driven
by lucrative motives, forgetting the
moral responsibility towards nature
— again a premonitory reminder of
8
s
em
Po
Go Back to Your Love
Go back to your love
Go back to the memories, live them
do not let death stalk you,
let not its coldness spread
into your heart like lichen,
keep the fire alive and
kindle it,
poke at it, blow at it
like an old housemaid,
bring alive a dying hearth,
poke till embers fly, and sparks spurt,
let the cities be warmed by your fire
let snow-turfs thaw and
then listen to your heart
slowly coming alive
with her music
follow her,
she will take your down to the
alleys of warmth
and your nightmares will end
Babitha Justin
our own times. We may be in the
eleventh hour; it is better late than
never that we poke ourselves from
this persisting silence, indifference
and inaction. A concerned and wary
Carson writes, “As crude a weapon
as the cave man’s club, the chemical
barrage has been hurled against the
fabric of life — a fabric on the one
hand delicate and destructible, on
the other miraculously tough and
resilient, and capable of striking
back in unexpected ways. These
extraordinary capacities of life have
been ignored by the practitioners of
chemical control who have brought
to their task no “high-minded
orientation,” no humility before
the vast forces with which they
tamper.” On the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of this profound, thoughtprovoking book, let us, at least
momentarily, remind ourselves of the
“vast forces” which are “capable of
striking back in unexpected ways”,
and, think of possible ways of
delaying our doom a little further.
Anniversary
THE PHILOSOPHICAL
REVOLUTIONARY
Excerpts from an essay on Frantz
Fanon, by eminent academic and
historian, Aijaz Ahmad (Frontline,
Nov. 16, 2012).
Why Fanon?
“2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Frantz Fanon, one of the indispensible figures of the 20th century and a
man of exemplary commitments to revolutionary action and human liberation. A thinker who offered original and lasting
insights of great complexity, he was also a physician and a psychiatrist who used his scientific knowledge not just for
professional purposes but as an instrument for healing victims of oppression and violence.
Born in Martinique and educated in
France, Fanon dedicated the closing
years of his life to the revolution
in Algeria. During the revolutionary
waves of the 1960s and early 70s, he
was read and revered by hundreds of
thousands across the globe.”
“Scholar-activists of today have
a duty to renew the visions, the
analyses and the warnings he offered
roughly half a century ago.”
His relation to
Marxism:
“Marxism was very much a part of
the air that Fanon breathed through
his formative years in Martinique in
the company of such people as Aime
Cesaire, the great poet; during his
years in France and his association
with people like Henri Jeanson
and Jean-Paul Sartre; and in those
particular circles of the Algerian
National Liberation Front (FLN)
Frantz Fanon
with which he was most closely
associated.”
“Philosophically,
his
brand
of
Marxism
was
suffused
with
Hegelian Dialectics, Merleau-Ponty’s
Phenomenology as well as the
existentialism of Heidegger and
Sartre, especially the latter. The
great philosophical eminence behind
his youthful book, Black Skin, White
Masks, is Hegel, not Marx. Secondly,
he levelled the same charge against
Marxism and communism that many
other writers of Afro-Caribbean and
Afro-American origins, notably his
friends Cesaire and Richard Wright,
had brought up. They had argued
that colonialism was constitutive
of the capitalist modern world, that
racism was the constitutive ideology
and practice of colonialism, and
that the philosophical and political
traditions descended from Marxism
did not take racism seriously
enough, as something intrinsic to
the social relations of capitalism
and imperialism on the global scale.
Fanon further asserted that in the
political context of colonialism, the
category of nation had primacy over
the category of class, and that in the
socio-economic structure of African /
Caribbean societies (he sometimes
said all colonial societies) the
9
peasantry and the lumpen proletariat
were more revolutionary than the
proletariat per se; in this view of the
lumpen proletariat in particular, he ran
counter to virtually every tendency
within Marxism.”
violence, about racial identities and
racial pathologies, and a host of
other issues. Otherwise, it would
appear that he is always contradicting
himself, saying one thing in one place
and its opposite elsewhere.”
[Summary: Contrary to Marxism,
Fanon believed that (i) racism should
be taken up as an important issue
in countering colonialism, and (ii)
the “lumpen proletariat” — the
lowest stratum of the industrial
working class, including also such
undesirables as tramps and criminals
— are more revolutionary than the
proletariat, or the working class.]
“Among all the revolutionary thinkers
actively involved in national liberation
movements, Fanon was the first and
the most lucid in grasping the fact that
nationalism itself was a two-edged
sword:
absolutely
indispensible
in uniting the whole people in the
fight to overthrow colonial rule and
creating a national solidarity out of
various religious, linguistic, regional
and ethnic groups inside the national
territory; but also an instrumentality
that could be used for a transfer of
power from the colonial masters not
to the colonized people but to the
newly emergent national ruling class,
whether that class was bourgeois or
merely bureaucratic.”
Fanon’s views on
nationalism:
Fanon “is first and foremost a
dialectician.
Greatly
simplifying
matters, this means two things. First,
that reality, conceived as a totality, is
comprised of internal contradictions,
so that in order to comprehend a
reality, one has to first grasp those
contradictions. Second, that things
— politics, society, history, the
human subject — are never static but
always in motion. To grasp a reality,
one has to grasp not only what it is
but also what it is in the process of
becoming.”
[Summary: Dialectics means (i) reality
includes contradictions, and (ii) reality
is always changing. And Fanon’s
views are based on dialectics.]
“These analytic principles are
fundamental to understanding what
Fanon says about national formation
and national consciousness, about
10
[Summary: Fanon realized that
nationalism is a necessary tool in
the attack on colonialism, but it
has its disadvantages too in that
nationalism would privilege only the
newly emergent ruling class in the
independent nation, and would keep
the colonized people still powerless.]
So, what is the
solution?
“Although Fanon scarcely used
Marxist
vocabulary
in
dealing
with such issues, he instinctively
proposed a classically Marxist
solution: extreme decentralization of
authority and construction of organs
of popular power right down to the
village level, during the revolution
itself and, even more so, immediately
after the revolution. In Marxist theory,
this is called “the withering away of
the state,” that is, the proposition
that the task of revolution is not to
replace the bourgeois state with
another kind of state but to distribute
the functions of the state among the
people as widely as possible…”
“The emancipation of the working
class can be accomplished only
by the working class itself,” Marx
had famously said. Thinking in the
context of largely non-industrialized
colonies, Fanon extended this
dictum to say that colonial rule may
be overthrown by a revolutionary
army and party but real national
liberation can be accomplished only
through the exercise of the power,
vision and work of the whole people,
the peasantry and the wageless
proletarianized mass in particular.”
[Summary: Like Marx, Fanon held that
the revolutions against colonization
should, at the same time, focus on
decentralization of authority and on
giving power to the people. While
Marx advocated empowering the
proletariat or working classes, Fanon
defines “people” as including those
people below the “proletariat,” i.e.,
the wageless lumpen proletariat.]
Fanon’s views
concerning violence:
“When The Wretched of the
Earth was first published, its initial
popularity, not only in France or
elsewhere in Europe but also in such
faraway places as Brazil, was owed
largely to Sartre’s preface, which
was notable for a virtual avalanche
of words, a hyperbolic tendency
Sartre was to acknowledge later,
and an almost exclusive focus on
the opening chapter of the book,
“Concerning Violence.” He thus
tended not only to greatly reduce the
range of arguments in the book as a
whole, but also to offer a somewhat
one-sided account of Fanon’s own
very complex argument on the
issue of violence, comparing him
favourably with Sorel and portraying
him as something of a prophet of
unremitting anti-colonial violence.”
But Aijaz Ahmad argues that Fanon’s
views on violence have not been
understood correctly.
“Fanon was misread twice over;
his Black Skin, White Masks was
regarded as an angry manifesto of
Afro-American racial identity — with
a Back-to-Africa cultural revivalist
message grafted on to it — while a
singular emphasis on the chapter
“On violence” was interpreted as
a licence to launch armed struggles
against the U.S. state in American
cities, with the mass of the ghettoized
black population seen as the true
revolutionary agent.”
“Decades later, the prevailing
context today is entirely different.
For Fanon, revolutionary violence
gains its legitimacy not from abstract
theoretical reflection but from the
actuality of the revolution itself. No
such actuality exists in our time,
even though the world has become
immensely more violent and in
even greater need of revolutionary
transformation. “
“What was at issue for him was not
violence in general but revolutionary
violence, as the opposite of — a
dialectical overcoming of — colonial
violence, and not only the colonial
violence of his own time but also the
accumulated violences of colonialism
throughout its history, which had
left a deeply mutilating imprint on
society, economy and psychology of
the colonized.”
“Two caveats have to be entered at
this point. First, although Fanon tends
to speak of colonialism in general,
what he actually says applies much
more to the extremities of settler
colonialism, from South Africa to
Palestine, and needs to be read, first
and foremost, in the Algerian context.
Second, it applies to revolutionary
movements for national liberation
where a complete overthrow of the
system is sought, as in Vietnam.”
Fanon does not romanticize the
colonized (“the colonized man is an
envious man”*), and except for a
couple of rhetorical flourishes, he
can hardly be accused of glorifying
revolutionary violence. . . . As a
revolutionary militant and as an expert
in psychopathology, Fanon knew
perfectly well that the colonized are
capable not only of revolutionary
violence against their oppressors but
also against themselves and each
other: repressed aggression, selfmutilation, “fraternal bloodbaths”
among groups and tribes, refuge
into religion and the occult, etc. The
answering, organized violence that
comes from the anti-colonial uprising
is described as simple historical
necessity, in almost regretful tones…”
[*Famous quotation from The
Wretched of the Earth: “The look
that the native turns on the settler’s
town is a look of lust, a look of envy; it
expresses his dreams of possession
— all manner of possession: to sit
at the settler’s table, to sleep in the
settler’s bed, with his wife if possible.
The colonized man is an envious
man.”]
And, finally:
“[I]n the famous closing pages of Black Skin, we encounter a final affirmation of human freedom — a retrievable
humanism — beyond exploitation, beyond race, and with an extraordinary orientation toward the future:
‘. . . I, as a man of colour, to the extent that it becomes possible for me to exist absolutely, do not have the right
to back myself into a world of retroactive reparations. I, a man of colour want only this: That the tool never
possess the man. That the enslavement of man by man ceases forever. . . . The Negro is not. Any more than
the White Man.’
11
Reminiscences
ROMANTICISING
THE LIBRARY
Salini Johnson shares her memories
of the British Library at Trivandrum.
A
s a twelve-year old, my experience with books was limited to textbooks, comics and the occasional bedtime
readings. To me, back then, libraries were strictly adults-only spaces that the serious-minded frequented
to engage in weighty matters. When I tagged along with my father on our visit to the British Council
Library (BCL), Trivandrum, to take a membership, I set my eyes on its top-notch settings for the first time.
Everything, from the dapper security guard to the impeccable interiors, impressed me exceedingly.
As soon as the glass doors opened
noiselessly, a sight of eerie perfection
greeted me. The cool waft of air that
caressed my face was throbbing
with a busy silence. Smartly attired
men and women with “May I help
you?” badges were walking about
majestically, their steps guided by
a sense of purpose. I saw young
men and women bending studiously
over gigantic books lying open on
the tables before them. There also
were grim-looking, aged men like
my grandfather who were either
perusing the airbrushed pages of
foreign journals or slumping with
their heads nodding.
My experience with the BCL was a
list of many firsts in my life. It was the
first time I got an identity card (school
ID cards came later) that I could
flaunt everywhere. The laminated
card, emblazoned with my name and
photo was a matter of great pride for
me. It was also the first time I was
addressed as “Madam.” My first
shock at having been addressed
thus by the Assistant Librarian was
so much so that my heart skipped
a beat with pleasure. It was the first
time that I was treated as an adult
and taken seriously which as an
experience, I must confess, is quite
unforgettable. It was the first time I
12
learned to use a catalogue and how
to find a book in a library. Needless to
say, it was the first time I realised that
so many varied books by very many
authors existed in this world. And it
was there I fell in love with the world
of books.
For someone who has been a slave
to dust allergy all her life, BCL was
a personal haven of comfort. There, I
didn’t have to fuss over forgetting to
take my kerchief or remember not to
disturb the dust, because there wasn’t
any. The exclusive corner room in the
library earmarked for kids was my
refuge at first. I was scared to go out
to the main library which looked like
a forbidden world out of my reach.
But finally I mustered the courage as
my curiosity dragged me to explore
the stacks of books beckoning me.
They all were very friendly. Some had
ambiguous drawings on their covers
or a mouthful of words alien to me.
Nonetheless, huge coffee table
books, encyclopaedias and picture
books were my best of friends, along
with all the usual fare of children’s
literature.
During the summer vacation, I would
be the first one to wake the books
and have them all for myself until
irksome kids start streaming in to
disturb our rendezvous. Sleep and
hunger would desert me when I am
with them. I vividly recall a copy of
the Arabian Nights with which I spent
many a blissful hour. It was not the
same as taking it home as relishing
it then and there in the solemn
atmosphere of the library. The alluring
smell of its fresh pages still lingers
in my memory. I would impatiently
turn its crisp pages to be transported
into the domain of fantasy, far away
from the pestering real world. There
were also dog-eared, worn-out pages
of the Harry Potter books that were
the closest to my heart. My name
would trail long book-reservation
lists for them. Finally when one of
the Potter books would be mine for
a fortnight, the triumph that would
course through me was inexplicable.
My victory would flourish with a
luxuriant whiff of its pages and that
would surely retain all the magic of
its writing.
Just as I was about to complete
two years of my membership at the
BCL, they shut it down, the exact
reason of which still eludes me.
Whatever it may be, the deprived
was me as were numerous kids and
other book lovers in the city. Those
were days of petitioning for a review
of this catastrophic decision, but
Musings
only futile articles and letters to the
editor appeared in the newspapers.
The British Library which I came to
consider my rightful property was
dismantled bit by bit and some took
away fragments of this legacy, as
souvenirs perhaps. The literati of
the city were devastated and bade
a tearful adieu to the inimitable
heritage of knowledge that was BCL.
And among the mourners was a little
girl whose heart too was scarred by
a loss whose magnitude she has
no inkling of. Only the memories of
their happy times together can she
preserve and narrate them over and
over to ensure its immortality.
?
IS RATIONALITY,
CONTROL, ORDER,
MEANING NECESSARY
L
Padmashree G. unveils a woman’s thoughts.
ife appears meaningless... it does not make sense. Sometimes we don’t know why we are sad. Our
thoughts wander in different ways and we lose ourselves. The word “Death” frightens all of us. But then
why do most of us think about it? Frustration, insecurity, psychological imbalance, loneliness, searching
for existence, finally nothing is left in us… Dreams make us afraid; till morning we dream and wake up
with the same thought. More affection, love, towards others makes us sometimes insecure. Unknowingly we
depend upon them. Without our knowledge they become our world. This happens in women more than men.
Because men are from Mars, women are from Venus; we are from different planets. They don’t understand
women easily; it happens only in some cases. So woman’s expectation, her love, care, irritates them. A woman
who depends on others feels insecure, her positivity changes into negativity. She never tolerates neglect. So she
feels that she is living in hell. She can’t make her life secure; she fails at every step. She can’t construct her own
dreams. She is sick of it. She feels good for nothing. When all her expectations are destroyed, she moves away
from all her relationships. She isolates herself. She loses her instinct. Without physical punishment she suffers
mental punishment. The inner mind whispers, “Death!” But how?
Woman is a fish who is unable to drown in water.
13
Reminiscences
NOSTALGIA
Arathy S. fondly recollects her
college life.
M
emories are always pearls in the caskets of our hearts. Those days at my alma maters — they are not just
old memories tumbling out of a dusty attic… Five long years in a “gynoworld” that moulded me; untold
secrets, unattended internals, fun during film festivals, silly pranks, hostel memories, laughing more than
we breathe, lunch shared with friends, yummy birthday treats, warm relationships, reassuring hearts,
surprise parties, and many more treasured moments …
Those tension-free days galloped off quickly … but we have carried away some madness in our lives, the best way to
keep our innocence alive.
With a heart full of love, gratitude, respect and admiration for my alma maters, Assumption College and Govt. College for
Women, and my friends, my journey continues.
s
em
Po
A Simple Wish
Is it the presence
or the absence
that bewilders me
I know not
But it is an awesome
feel — this magic
The presence in absence
And the absence in presence
I don’t see the white hand from above
But I see the hands in supplication below
So can the presence be negated
or the absence be attested?
The world moves
the gyre of the centuries gets unravel’d
But from where to where?
It runs its course
Reneesh Thomas
14
I wish the presence
over the absence
the presence is fearful
but the absence is horrible.
Review
31
BY UPENDRA
NAMBURI
Justin John presents a novel
that covers 31 days of March
— the most decisive days in
the life of corporates.
A
novel could be a narrative or chain of events, or a description of some moments, some feelings, some
experiences. It can also be a loose form of aesthetic registration of thoughts, feelings, impulses, emotions,
etc. The narrative technique could be arresting, vivid, exquisite and dramatic or for instance, could be ‘stream
of conscience-clashes’. In 31, Upendra Namburi tries to achieve all the above in a single stroke.
In 31, what we experience is a parade
of thoughts, events, and experiences
of some bank officials. Ravi Shastry,
the protagonist, is a Zonal Manager
in Imperial Bank. March marks the
culmination of all fiscal activities, and
naturally, like others, Ravi Shastry too,
expects a promotion since he has put
in a glorious year of bone-crunching
work. But the intrigue, the scheming,
manoeuvres
and
manipulations
among all the aspiring colleagues
create an inferno — a purgatory
where good work is hardly rewarded.
Sidelined by sex games, scheming
and cheating, Ravi struggles on with
his ordeal. In the protracted drama,
to prove each ones mettle, everyone
employs the most unethical and
unchaste methods to sabotage
others’ chances and advance himself.
Ravi, though he has put up better
performance, is left in the lurch due
to the manoeuvres and manipulations
of others. At last, though he is
accommodated within the system,
he throws the chances away due
to his sheer disgust at the turn of
events. Ravi Shastry also falls prey to
the sexual overtures of his colleague
Maithili, who outplays him and gets
a better deal. Ravi’s wife, Savitha,
who is employed in another firm, also
experiences the friction of the job
crisis, and at last loses her gamble.
She, due to her tension and pressure,
suffers an abortion as well.
In the novel, we come across a
pageant of individuals, all officers of
the bank, who play their new-found
tricks in the face of the cut-throat
competition of the globalised and
corporate banking sector. Alienated,
Ravi attempts to switch over to
another bank, where he thinks of
salvaging his team through better
employment. On the one hand, his
attempts are thwarted at the last
moment. 27 per cent of employees
are laid off. On the other, his ladylove-turned-rival, Maithili, plays up
her sexual charms to gain advantage
of the system. We can also see
similar rise and fall in the careers of
many of the employees in the bank.
Ravi wages a lonely battle. He faces
the financial crisis, a fraud allegation,
is almost accused of being a traitor
in the most trusted circles, faces a
very real chance of unemployment
and financial ruin, wife’s miscarriage,
an extramarital relationship, job
interviews which seem to lead to a
no-man’s-land, etc. One month sees
so much of action, in life as well as
in the virtual world. The world of
e-mails and cell-phones also thickens
the plot. The twists of fate, the most
fatal turns in life, the fast-paced
progression of the plot, etc. assure
the most epiphanic rendering of the
novel, as the happy ending leaves the
hero an enlightened-man.
15
Review
MOTHER OF THE BELIEVERS*:
‘HIS’TORY SEEN THROUGH
‘HER’ EYES
T
Arshad Ahammad A.
lauds the achievement
of Kamran Pasha in his
debut novel that tracks
the birth of Islam from
the eyes of Prophet
Muhammad’s wife
Aisha.
here are some people, mostly women, who lived a remarkable and fascinating life, but are brutally neglected in
history. Kamran Pasha’s Mother of the Believers is the story of such a woman. Crafting an epic novel on the early
history of Islam, Pasha unravels the veiled story of the journey of a woman’s mind. Lying on her deathbed, Aisha,
the most beloved wife of Prophet Muhammad, relates her glorious life to her nephew. Her narrative covers the
eventful but problematic history of the Arabian Peninsula. This historical novel illustrates the birth and the rise of Islam
from a few believers to a great Empire.
Mother of the Believers presents
Aisha as a great scholar, teacher, and
political leader and also as a warrior.
The book covers all the events in the
life of Aisha in detail. The readers
witness the birth of the daughter of
the first Caliph, her childhood as part
of the persecuted group of Muslims,
the Hijra (migration) to Medina, her
married life with the Prophet, the
political struggles and civil wars
in the community and many other
memorable incidents. Kamran Pasha
presents Aisha as the first child born
into the community of believers. The
Prophet who fall ill, dies in Aisha’s
arms. Her active role in politics and
involvement in the election of the
Caliphs are beautifully pictured. The
unnecessary grudge of Aisha against
Ali bin Abitalib heralds the future
split of Islam into Sunni and Shiite
streams. Her passive participation in
the Battle of the Camel becomes a
turning point in the history of Islam.
Kamran Pasha
The Mother’s last days and hours are
narrated by her listener Abdallah Ibn
al-Zubair in the Afterword.
Mother of the Believers dismantled
the traditional notions about the
Prophet of Islam, his early women
companions and their participation
in the religion, politics and history.
Here the Prophet stands as an
advocate of women’s liberation and
rights. Aisha’s life single-handedly
challenges the prevalent stereotype
of the suppressed and submissive
Muslim woman. Pasha said in an
interview: “A scholar, a poet, a
statesman, and a warrior, Aisha lived
a life that rivals those of the greatest
men in history. She was a passionate
and fiercely intelligent woman who
changed
the
course of human
civilization, yet has received almost
no attention in Western literature.”
By placing a woman at the core of a
so-called patriarchal religion, Pasha
proposes a rejuvenation of Muslim
womanhood of the present era.
There are four chapters in the novel
respectively titled ‘Birth of a Faith,’
‘Birth of a City,’ ‘Birth of a Nation’
and ‘Birth of an Empire.’ The novel
also has a prologue and an epilogue
named ‘The Beginning of the End’
and ‘The End of the Beginning’
respectively. In the prologue, Aisha
asks the meaning of ‘faith.’ In the
*The Holy Quran called the wives of Prophet Muhammad the ‘Mothers of the Believers.’ Thus Aisha became a
‘Mother of the Believers.’
16
epilogue she herself defines it
as the ‘memory of love.’ What is
narrated between the prologue and
the epilogue is the justification and
also explanation for her answer.
More obviously, her life history is the
definition of faith.
s
em
Po
Out of God’s hands...
so suffer!!!
[Kamran Pasha is a novelist and
Hollywood
scriptwriter.
Mother
of the Believers (2009) is his first
novel published by Washington
Square Press. Another historical
novel Shadow of the Swords was
published in 2011.
It is about
the Third Crusade between King
Richard the Lion-Heart and Saladin.
Pasha was the producer of highly
acclaimed television shows such as
Sleeper Cell and The Bionic Woman.
He was also a writer on NBC’s Kings,
a modern retelling of the Biblical
story of David.]
I was sleeping when Kant called me
He looked serious and complained about Foucault
I stared at him,
who was sitting in a corner and rubbing his bald head
I called him
And Foucault came out critiquing Kant !!
Suddenly Marx came running
With his economic manuscripts in hand
and ideologies in head.
I told him to keep quiet
His eyes turned blood red
But tears didn’t show any economy in coming
They visited like a downpour.
s
em
Po
Oh Marx, I felt sorry for him
And went to pat his shoulders
But like a raging lion, he called me bourgeois
and ran away.
Then came the French gentleman, Derrida
I detested him for reasons even I don’t know...
I kicked hard
And his structure and sign got deconstructed
But out of the blue came Freud
With his dreams and Oedipus complex
And I lost my senses and my innocent dreams.
I want a handful of Love
Can you tell me the price?
Apoorva Rao
Asha P.V.
I decided, I will change them
I made them pack their bags
And sent them on a pilgrimage
But there I saw Nietzsche,
Smiling at me, saying
‘Oh dear, God is dead !!!’.
17
Review
THE THOUSAND
FACES OF NIGHT
F
Irine Maria John is fascinated by
Githa Hariharan’s book.
eminist writings cover all aspects of writing for women, by women, and about women and the issues that
concern them. The Thousand Faces of Night presents how the female point of view is different from the male
discourse, by contrasting myths from the Mahabharata with stories from Sanskrit.
Through The Thousand Faces of
Night, the novelist very dexterously
mixes marriages, old traditional
values, stories and myths, passion
and loneliness in the lives of Indian
women in a compact fabric. In her
novel, Githa Hariharan has focused
on the inner life of three generations
of women — Devi, the daughter, her
mother Sita and Mayamma. Devi, the
central character returns to Madras
with an American degree only to
be sucked in by the 200 year–old
customs and traditions. Exasperated
with her pompous husband Mahesh,
she learns the vital duty of any Indian
wife is to pretend to be a good wife,
pretend to love entertaining your
husband’s family and friends, pretend
that you are not sick or angry. The
novel clearly gives the idea ‘A woman
meets her fate alone.’
better or less served than men’s
within the institution of marriage? Why
should a wife be subordinate to her
husband? Githa Hariharan attracts the
reader’s attention to show the general
subordinate role that a woman plays
compared with that of her husband.
Githa Hariharan exposes different
traumas faced by women within
the institutionalised relationships,
especially due to the existing
patriarchal system. However, it leaves
behind some questions unanswered.
For instance, are women’s interests
But the work ends with a hope of
change in the attitude of the society
through the challenging role of Devi.
With a lyrical, measured and teasing
language, Githa Hariharan has
created a profound novel highlighting
the plight of Indian women.
es
m
Ga
Can you identify them?
Chandrika Raju feels that these great authors have not got the recognition they deserved.
3. ______________
4. ______________
Anton Chekhov
2
Jorges Luis Borges
2. ______________
1
3
Emile Zola
4
1. ______________
Ezra Pound
ANSWERS
18
Review
ASURA:
TALE OF THE
VANQUISHED
Kalyani Vallath introduces
an interesting “history
from the margins.”
T
“
he ancient Asura empire lay shattered into many warring petty kingdoms reeling under the heel of the Devas. In
desperation, the Asuras look up to a young saviour — Ravana. Believing that a better world awaits them under
Ravana, common men like Bhadra decide to follow the young leader. With a will of iron and fiery ambition to
succeed, Ravana leads his people from victory to victory and carves out a vast empire from the Devas. But even
when Ravana succeeds spectacularly, the poor Asuras find that nothing much has changed for them…”
I’ve just picked up this interesting book
that I would introduce to you: Asura:
Tale of the Vanquished. Published
by Platinum Press, an imprint of
Leadstart Publishing, in 2012 and
written by Anand Neelakantan, an
engineer born at Thripoonithura in
Kerala, working with the Indian Oil
Corporation in Bengaluru.
“History from the margins” — that
is what this book is. Yet another retelling of the story of Ramayana,
which beautifully interlaces two
voices — that of Ravana, the leader
and saviour of the Asuras, and that
of Bhadra, a common man who was
s
ct
Fa
inspired, led and later betrayed by
Ravana.
A story that has been cherished by
the outcastes of India for 3000 years.
Beginning from “The End,” when
Ravana lies in the battlefield, his body
eaten by the bandicoots and jackals,
waiting a slow and painful death.
Ending with “The Beginning,” when
Bhadra, the dhobi from Ramayana, in
a drunken stupor, beats his wife and
accuses her of being a whore like Sita
herself. This reaches Rama’s ears; he
cannot bear to let the people suspect
his wife’s chastity; and the rest is
“history.”
Just as Ramayana romanticizes
the victorious Rama, one feels that
Anand Neelakantan’s Ravanayana
romanticizes and glamorizes Ravana.
The style of the narration is rather
sentimental and protracted.
And
the characters do not look like
they are from Treta Yuga; they are
quite modern in their thoughts and
actions. But then, why should one
expect history to be told solemnly,
“authentically,” objectively from
its original context? I guess that is
precisely the appeal of this book.
Language Tidbits
Keerthy Sophiya Ponnachan shares these fascinating facts with us.
»» The shortest complete sentence in the English language consists of only one word and that is “go.”
»» The oldest word in the English language is “town.”
»» The word with most number of definitions in the English language is “set.”
»» There are no words that could rhyme with the words orange, purple, silver or month.
»» There is a seven-letter word in the English Language that contains 10 words without rearranging any of its letters
and that seven-letter word is “therein,” which contains: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.
»» The combination “ough” can be pronounced in 9 different ways. The following sentence contains them all:
“A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”
19
Current
V.S. NAIPAUL:
CONTROVERSIALLY YOURS
T
P.P. Ajayakumar
reflects on a
contemporary
controversy
over Naipaul.
he controversies triggered by the Mumbai Literary Festival gave rise to a series of discussions on V.S. Naipaul,
India, the colonial legacy and the very market economy of literary debates. It was Girish Karnad’s attack on V.S.
Naipaul that ensured media attention to the Literary Festival, which would otherwise have passed unnoticed
like any other literary event. Nobody could deny the fact that the debate helped make the festival the centre of
attraction, though it is debatable to conclude that the same was a properly planned drama. Amy Fernandes observes:
“None of us envisaged that fame that would surround the festival weeks after it had ended. If we were to apportion
credit for this windfall, 40 per cent would go to careful planning on the part of the committee, and 60 per cent to Girish
Karnad, whose attack on V.S. Naipaul ensured that news of the festival was beamed into millions of homes in the country
and abroad. No one had seen it coming — but then, if it had, would our reactions be any different?” Amy Fernandes was
concerned about the way the controversy contributed in providing publicity to the festival.
But beyond that, it is possible to
identify certain fundamental issues
related to our society and culture
being discussed as part of the
debate. But the Festival Director,
Anil Dharker’s comment is quite
disarming: “This is not what we
invited him to speak about. His tirade
was intemperate.” He added in a
lighter mood, “but we’re now going
to invite him every year and cut down
our publicity budget.” Dharker’s
comment refers to the two sides
of the issue. On the one side his ill
feeling on the “unwanted” attack
on Naipaul is visible, and the other
side the hidden mirth on the kind of
publicity that erupted out of it is clear.
It is true that Karnad was invited to
speak on his own body of work.
Moreover, there was no immediate
provocation from Naipaul inviting
reactions from Karnad or from
other Indian writers in English. But
there is every reason for Indian
writers in English to be provoked
while addressing the works of V.S.
20
Naipaul. Githa Hariharan, in her
article published in The Hindu refers
to Naipaul’s attack on Indian women
writers. According to him women
writers are banal and boring. Hariharan
refers to a particular incident:
“Naipaul cut off Nayantara Sahgal as
she spoke of post-colonialism, again
complaining of banality. Ruchir Joshi
made a sharp, timely intervention.
Naipaul was not just being rude; he
felt Sahgal had not gone back far
enough in identifying the colonisers of
India. “When did colonialism begin?”
he asked, implying that it began
with “the Muslims.” The attack on
women writers is part of Naipaul’s
perspective which is by and large
conditioned by the western colonial
attitude. This approach goes hand in
hand with his attack on Muslims.
Mushirul Hasan refers to Naipaul’s
indigestibility of Muslims in his article
published in The Hindu, “Sustaining
the Myth of Hostility”: “Naipaul
wholly subscribes to the views of
Samuel P. Huntington, a controversial
American political scientist who
earned his reputation by arguing that
the New World order is based on
patterns of conflict and cooperation
founded on cultural distinctions
and identification. He talked of ‘the
indigestibility of Muslims’ and their
propensity towards violent conflict,
which makes them threatening.”
Naipaul also shares the Orientalist
concept of “Islam as a threat to the
West.” He prefers to see Muslims
as a transnational monolithic group
that attempts to dethrone western
hegemony. His book An Area of
Darkness subscribes to this view.
Among the Believers: An Islamic
Journey
shares
the
western
prejudice that Islam sanctifies
rage — rage about faith, political
rage, and that Muslim societies are
rigid, authoritarian, uncreative, and
hostile to the West. He defended
the destruction of Babri Masjid
saying that it is “an act of historical
balancing.” He added “Ayodhya was
a sort of passion. . . Any passion has
to be encouraged. I always support
actions coming out of passion as
these reflect creativity.” What is
common in all these observations
is the typical Western colonial
perspective and a kind of veneration
for everything that is Western. It is
true that a writer, however great he
may be, is not a holy man/ woman
and his/ her opinions may not reveal
historical facts. Naipaul is such a
writer whose works are informed by
his understanding of history, politics
and the socio-economic contexts.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be
ahistorical and evidently biased.
issues of communalism, gender,
history and the need for anticolonial
perspective rather than the heat
and dust of personal rivalry and the
publicity gimmick for easy success.
The recent controversies should open
up serious discussions on the burning
s
m
e
Po
Slip of Fingers!
I live in my fingers
The fingers which deck my haughty eyes
The fingers which tickle my ears,
With the turning of the forbidden keys
I dart out to the forbidden space
To be ravished and chiselled by the rain
My anklets unquiet
Drenched and dripped
With the pattering piercing downpour
And when the convulsions of the intoxication writhe
I dexterously elude the repercussions
And brush off the silent judgments
With a foxy tag of “slip of fingers!”
I no longer drape the nudity of my ragged mind
I no longer pull the cloak over me
To curb the blizzard of brickbats
No longer shrivels my charmed naivety,
By the envy of the bliss of a crawling infant
For I am cauterized by the burning embers
Embers of the forlorn past!
And as these words are born
I would like you to tag this
As slip of mind
Wedded with slip of fingers!
Nasnin S.
21
Review
ROOTS & FLAVOURS
U
P.P. Ajayakumar
appraises a popular
Malayalam film.
stad Hotel revolves around a small beachside restaurant in Kozhikode. At the superficial level the story runs
through the life of a young man Faizi, his father Abdul Rasak and his grandfather Kareem Ikka. But the film
by and large hints at the convergence of cultures and the commoditization of life in the post liberalization era.
The location, Kozhikode beach, is strategic as it vaguely hints at the exposure that this land had with both
the Arab countries as well as with Europe. The hybrid structure of the title, though quite normal and acceptable in the
contemporary linguistic practice, needs be taken into consideration as it is a pointer to this cultural mixing that the Kerala
society is exposed to. The combination of the Arabic and the English in the title and its representation in Malayalam and
English alphabets provide sufficient reminder to the preoccupation of the film.
Ustad Hotel, run by Kareem Ikka, is
famous for the Kozhikkodan biriyani
that it serves. Derived from a Persian
word, ‘birian’ which means fried
before cooking, ‘biriyani’ could narrate
the story of the Persian influence as
well. Though a Muslim belonging
to Kozhikode, with little education,
Kareem has travelled widely, knows
many languages and is influenced by
the Sufi philosophy. He is a mixture
of many cultures. Quite naturally,
Kareem becomes a misfit in the
family as well as in the community.
But he is revered by many who visit
the Hotel regularly to taste biriyani
and his affection which is served
along with it. They consider him as an
‘Ustad.’ Ustad is an Arabized Persian
word which means master or teacher.
Kareem’s otherworldly nature and his
difference from the typical members
of his community are indicated
through his peculiar clothes. He
appears in shades of violet, light green
and brown instead of the white dress
commonly used by the rich orthodox
Muslims in that area.The light shades
used by Kareem are all combinations
of different colours and it is easy to
identify the harmony of colours in
22
to Gulf countries. Abdul Rasak’s son,
Faizi and his lady love Shahana, are
caught between these two worlds,
the old and the new; the world of
love, sacrifice and compassion and
that of selfish motives and endless
desire. The pangs of the convergence
of these two worlds are indicated in
several parts of the film.
Ustad Hotel
his dress as if it were a reflection of
his philosophy of life. Kareem often
refers to his philosophy of universal
love. As an answer to a question
on the ingredients of ‘sulaimani’
prepared by him, Kareem tells Faizi,
“A little bit of love (Mohabbat) should
be added to every ‘sulaimani.’” While
Kareem tried to internalize the values
of Sufism and love for the humanity,
Abdul Rasak, his son, is a typical
business-minded person who finds
happiness in amassing wealth. He has
succeeded in expanding his business
Faizi, with his Swiss degree in Hotel
Management, wants to pursue his
career in London. But he has to run
away from home as his father, who
wanted him to assist him in the hotel
industry, confiscated his passport
and credit cards. His association
with Kareem Ikka is rather accidental
and Faizi’s aversion for the ways of
Kareem Ikka is shown in more than
one scene, though he sincerely loves
his grandfather. Life in the Gulf and
education abroad keeps him more
attached to his father than to his
grandfather. Though Faizi associates
with his grandfather only because
he was forced to do so and helps
him to revive the Hotel when it was
at the brink of closure, his basic
perspective remains the same and
is deeply enamoured by prospects in
s
em
Po
The Frightening Promise
Europe. He cannot think otherwise,
even when Kareem is hospitalized.
His visit to Narayana Krishnan, a chefturned-social worker in Madurai is
supposed to transform his views in
favour of the native land. It is true that
Faizi continues to run the Hotel after
Kareem left the scene, but he seems
to have entered into a compromise
with his father and has become part
of the ideological space operated by
Abdul Rasak. The reference to the
branch of Ustad Hotel being operated
in Dubai reveals the complex cultural
convergence that has taken place
after the disappearance of Kareem.
Abdul Razak is all smiles in the
last scene, quite content with the
prospects of the ‘‘Ustad’’ brand and
its global appeal. Faizi shares the joy
and celebrates the “success” of his
venture. The transformation of ‘‘Ustad
Hotel” is made conspicuous through
the absence of Kareem Ikka. Thus
the film deftly portrays the cultural
transformation in the contemporary
Kerala society revealing the subtle
shades of invasion, compromise and
dissent.
Death is the promise He gave me
as I hesitated to come here…
I was happy there… in His abode...
He treated me like His favourite thing…
I was His pet… the most blessed kid
I never knew what is sadness and separation…
On that day He told me of a trip…
“I can never think of going away from You”
I told Him
“She is my best companion,
She wants to see you, and caress you as I do.
She’ll send you back soon…
We have two messengers—
Mine is birth and Hers is death
Death’ll unite us again dear…” He consoled me
Thus I’m here!
Early days made me forlorn and gloomy…
He came occasionally, when I thought of Him
My face lighted like a lamp then
Later He began to shrink into some proxies and symbols…
Now, I’m a child of this Beauty; I
love and embrace everyone with her celestial charm…
Lying in her lap I’m enjoying the nectar and honey of my life
Now, that promise frightens me…
I want to be here always… in this nest always… And I know
the greatest boon in life is
to be in the lap of the Earth…
Now I pray,
“let Him forget that horrible promise …
He gave me before…”
Krishnaja Mol
23
Response
READING
EDWARD SAID’S
REPRESENTATIONS OF
THE INTELLECTUAL
F
Drisya K. discusses
Edward Said’s 1993 Reith
Lectures which examine
the role of the Intellectual
in modern society.
or centuries, intellectuals have been responsible for epitomizing the lower strata and the advancement of many
social strategies that would favour the less privileged and the less advantaged. Even though many renowned
writers like Julian Benda, Gramsci, Bourdieu, Chomsky and Emerson deal with the same subject on the dogma
of intellectualism and define what an intellectual is, it is Edward Said, the father of post-colonial studies, who
has proposed a more political tone to the concept of the public intellectual in Representations of the Intellectual (1993),
a series of six Reith Lectures that he delivered over BBC Radio in 1993. Representations of the Intellectual is a reading
on Edward Said’s post-colonial concept of the intellectual politics and of his ideology of intellectualism. In this text, he
identifies the increasing responsibilities of the public intellectual and specifies what an intellectual shouldn’t represent
rather than what an intellectual should.
In Representations of the Intellectual,
Edward
Said
writes
about
“intellectuals as precisely those
figures whose public performances
can neither be predicted nor
compelled into some slogan, orthodox
party line, or fixed dogma.” Most
prominently, they are accountable
for unveiling the truth and raising
voice against the deceptions and
lies. The intellectual should be an
organic, secular individual who
stands as an exile, in permanent
opposition to the status quo, and
always speaks truth to the authority
by holding nations and traditions at
bay. Nationalism, in Said’s estimation,
is a God that always fails because
it reduces human experience and
lines of solidarity between people to
territories and borders that in reality
carve up the world in unproductive
and destructive ways.
Said opines that intellectuals must
take on the role of the warriors
of the pen, the rhetoricians, and
principally, the spokesmen of the
24
acclaim and earn accolades whereas
many of the secular intellectuals, who
constitute a minority including the
most gifted writers, artists, political
commentators, have been hounded
into silence or exile. In Said’s view,
if intellectuals criticize their societies
as they are meant to and “confront
orthodoxy and dogma,” then surely,
the Occidentalist trend in postcolonial nations will be changed.
Edward Said
people living in nations in crisis.
The secular intellectual stands up
against dominating powers and is
passionate about the social obligation
of intellectuals. One cannot be an
intellectual if one is endeavouring to
serve and please a god uncritically and
there is no universalism at all. Such
an intellectual goes in silence and
searches for new gods to serve when
the earlier patrons are driven away.
Such intellectuals achieve world-wide
Said’s politics is left-wing, liberationist,
and nationalitarian and it is always
unquestionably different from those
of most of the other post-colonialist
writers and interlocutors. Moreover,
he is one among the few critics
who practised what they advocate.
Besides this, in our contemporary
society, the so-called intellectuals
stand as a figure amenable to the
criticism of corrupt global, social and
political systems. In this context, the
significance of the study on the role
and function of an intellectual in a
society deserves much attention.
Study
THE POLITICAL NOVEL
AS A MIRROR OF THE
BIZARRE
Chitra V.R. traces the
genealogy and scope
of the political novel
genre.
P
olitical novel has become a major expressive mode of contemporary fiction as it offers a fascinating and
challenging read by providing insight into the nature of the political being and the society in which we live.
Developed from a strand of nineteenth century realism, it portrays characters dispassionately by employing
irrational, magical and fantastic elements and differs widely from the social novel’s customary perception of the
quotidian and the historical novel’s affinity for verifiable evidence.
Academic
interest
in
political
novel dawned in 1924 with Morris
Speare’s seminal work The Political
Novel. As a specific genre, it was
introduced by Disraeli and developed
by subsequent authors like Anthony
Trollope, George Eliot, H.G. Wells,
Henry Adams and Leicester Ford. It
attained mellowness in the hands
of writers such as Garcia Marquez,
Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer,
Orhan Pamuk, Gunter Grass, Milan
Kundera, Salman Rushdie, Naguib
Mahfouz and many more thoughtful
writers of this century. However, the
boundaries of this genre are very hard
to delimit as political novels usually
deal with more than the intrigues of
cabinet ministers and young men
on the make. At the other extreme,
postmodern theorists like Fredric
Jameson in The Political Unconscious
(1981) insist that the genre has no
meaning, since “everything in the
last analysis” is “political.”
To the distinguished American critic
Irving Howe, any novel can be treated
as a political novel, though clearly
one would not wish to treat most
novels in that way. Characterized
by internal tensions between the
immediacy of human experience
and the general inclusiveness of
the underlying political ideology, the
political novel treats being itself as
problematic and projects it in a world
that has undergone changes or may
change further. The confrontation
between abstract ideology and the
rich diversity of human experience
and motive provides the polarity
and tension of the political novel.
The customary perception of order
and stability of a conventional novel
is often challenged by the political
novel as the former tries to furnish
standard resolutions to the conflicts
encountered in the narrative. Through
satire and drama, the political novel
can itself become a catalyst for social
change and can imaginatively engage
its readers in a robust reflection of
political culture. Interestingly, this
medium offers ample opportunities
to criticize or highlight farce, coercion
or corruption in politics in ways not
possible through other avenues.
s
m
e
Po
Clueless
I am clueless
As to how you
Let your hair down
In this stickiest of the sticky
Hottest of the hot
And sickliest of the sickly
weathers
Droplets trickling down
Your nape
Tinkling your spine
Sizzling your skin
Behind your curtain of black
What do you hide?
Just blisters and red rashes
Or something more hideous?
Salini Johnson
25
Analysis
AN ECOFEMINIST
APPROACH TO SAWAKO
ARIYOSHI’S THE RIVER KI
Manjusha Muraleedharan
discusses Sawako Ariyoshi’s
novel that employs the motif
of a river to thread together
the lives of three generations
of women.
O
ne of the universal themes in literature which influences us is the dominance of nature. Naturally,
ecofeminism has evolved into a powerful presence in literary theory. Here I present an analysis of The River
Ki by Sawako Ariyoshi which depicts the inevitable power of nature in creating and shaping an environment.
Sawako Ariyoshi (1931-1984), Japanese novelist, short-story writer and playwright, was born in Wakayama
City, Japan and brought up in an area south of Osaka noted for its old and venerable traditions. Ariyoshi often explores
the various discourses and power relationships of post-war Japan. She can be described a humanist who analyses
sociological issues. Ariyoshi has been prescient in forecasting trends in Japanese society. One of the most enchanting
works by Ariyoshi, The River Ki, gives insight into the lives of three generations of women in the river Ki region, through
the different eras of the Meiji, Taisho and Showa. The river mentioned, plays a substantial role in shaping the lives of the
characters. The women are projected by Ariyoshi with all the vitality of the river.
The
novel
opens
with
the
preparations of the marriage of the
daughter of the respectable Kimoto
household to the elder son of the
equally respectable Matani family.
Young Hana’s marriage has been
arranged by her grandmother, Toyono
— the matriarch of the Kimoto family.
Toyono believed that being a woman
was no excuse for being ignorant
and hence brought up Hana wisely
and well, ultimately endowing the
beautiful young Kimoto girl with
intelligence and an irreproachable
character. She has learnt from her
grandmother to form a special kinship
with the river Ki. The river Ki flows
from east to west. Hence brides
from families along the Ki must never
travel upstream and brides also must
not cross over to the opposite side
of the river because its waters are
supposed to keep people apart. The
people who lived on the banks of
the Ki had enough tragic incidents
to prove these beliefs right. Toyono
26
against nature is high. As a woman
and thus a creature of nature, Hana
relies on emotion rather than intellect,
on intuition rather than reason.
The River Ki
favoured Keisaku Matani’s marriage
to Hana on the grounds that in
travelling to the Matanis’ home, Hana
would, in accordance with nature,
be travelling downstream, with the
natural flow of the river. Shortly after
her marriage, Hana learns that a girl
who travelled up the river for her
wedding was drowned ten days later
when the Ki flooded. This made her
realize that the penalty paid for going
As we go deep into the story, we
realize that Ariyoshi likens woman
not only to the passively flowing
but powerful river Ki, but also to
the ivy plant. It is believed that the
ivy which grew around its central
stem symbolized positive feminine
characteristics. Ivy is at once
decorative and strong. It requires a
prop on which it climbs and which it
adorns. In the case of Hana, Keisaku
can be evidently assumed to be her
‘prop.’ Although Hana considers it her
wifely duty to be completely obedient
to her husband, she quickly assumes
a tacit dominance over him after the
birth of their first child — a son and
the all-important heir. Nature assists
her in this. Hana and Keisaku are
depicted as a typical old-fashioned
Japanese couple. Keisaku never
tells his wife anything of his business
affairs, nor does she ever expect him
to confide in her. Soon after their
marriage, Keisaku begins to frequent
the geisha quarters; while Hana is fully
conscious of his marital infidelity, she
never brings up the subject between
them. We find that Hana remains as
calm as the Ki in its gentle shade of
green.
On the birth of their second child
who is a girl, Keisaku cannot conceal
his disappointment. However, Hana
is determined that her children,
Seiichiro and Fumio, shall conform
to the traditional gender stereotypes.
She worries because Seiichiro is
delicate and lacks vitality. Fumio,
ironically, possesses the very qualities
her brother lacks. While Seiichiro
is undeniably highly intelligent,
gaining entry to the prestigious First
High School in Tokyo, he somehow
disappoints his parents. At every step,
Hana checks Fumio’s struggle for a life
independent of the pattern set for the
model Japanese woman and hence
there is a constant friction between
mother and daughter, for Fumio is
more like a boy than a girl. She is
bored by the traditional interests of
the Japanese women, which include
attention to personal appearance, a
desire for material possessions, and a
preoccupation with domestic chores.
Fumio rebels against the limitations
imposed on Japanese womanhood.
Fumio wonders whether her mother’s
rage at her stems ultimately from
frustration at being unable to dominate
her daughter. Hana is compared
to the river Ki whose blue waters,
flowing leisurely, appear tranquil and
gentle, but the river itself swallows up
all the weak rivers flowing in the same
direction.
Despite her desire to control Fumio,
Hana allows her daughter to attend
a university in Tokyo. She follows
the ancient Japanese custom that
everything should revolve around
the eldest son. Hana allows Seiichiro
as much money as he requests
and never questions him about his
student-life in Tokyo, but she is
hesitant to send Fumio funds and
often wishes she had never allowed
her rebellious daughter to leave
home. Hana’s scheme to dispose
of Fumio in an arranged marriage
is, however, shattered when her
daughter falls in love. Appropriately,
Eiji, Fumio’s chosen husband, is
also interested in the ‘modern’ and
particularly in all things foreign. Their
wedding is conducted in western
style, but Hana expresses her own
wishes for the couple by symbolically
choosing for the bride an ivy crest.
By doing so, Hana was indicating her
hope that her proud and independent
daughter would cling to her husband
like ivy, just like herself.
The thread of the river imagery which
runs throughout this novel appears
again shortly after Fumio’s marriage
when, symbolically, this modern
Japanese woman rejects the native
beauty of her mother’s favourite
river.
When Fumio accompanies
her husband to his place of work
in Shanghai, she cannot resist
taunting her religious mother, who
was reluctant to send her daughter
abroad, by saying that the beauty
of the Ki cannot be compared with
the many colours of the sea. But
tragedy befalls Ariyoshi’s characters
who reject nature. The rebellious
Kosaku loses his daughter to the Ki
and Fumio loses her second son.
This incident makes Fumio look into
her cultural heritage. Fumio decides
that she wants her next child to be
born in Japan and, overcoming a
lifetime’s rejection of what she once
condemned as Japanese superstition,
Fumio fashions a breast-charm, just
like her mother and grandmother, for
the baby she is expecting.
The river imagery dominates the
remainder of this book and often
serves as a kind of litmus test of
its characters. Hana is beautiful
and powerful not only because she
recognizes and acknowledges the
beauty and power of nature but also
because she sees the river Ki as a
beloved parent. Keisaku, despite his
‘manly’ insensitivity to the lovely Ki,
fully realizes that his considerable
political and financial successes have
been largely due to his possessing a
wife so attuned with nature. Half of
his life had been spent sailing down a
smooth river with an elegant wife at
his side who had always conducted
herself with dignity.
Fumio and
Kosaku, on the other hand, were
made aware of the need for a proper
appreciation of nature after the death
of their children. Hana is rewarded for
her steadfast observance of proper
values in life by being blessed with
Fumio’s daughter, Hanako, in whom
she succeeds to instill a love of her
nationality. Here we, the readers,
are made to acknowledge that fact
that Hanako, as she herself admits, is
linked to her grandmother by atavism
(the abiding natural element of
tradition ties them together despite all
the superficial differences separating
old and modern Japan). When
Hanako is first shown the river Ki by
her grandmother, she remarks on the
loveliness of its colour as she was
enchanted by the celadon green of
27
the river. Earlier Hana used to worry
that her grandchild saw Japan with
the eyes of a foreigner because her
parents took no interest in bringing
her close to the Japanese heritage.
However, being brought up in Java
did not change the roots of Hanako.
She was always fascinated by the
particular shade of green or blue
of the river Ki, and the blossoms of
cherry or peach. Hanako was closely
linked to their age-old traditions and
beliefs. This makes Hana proud of
herself as she was firm that she was
indeed a success just like her own
grandmother, Toyono, in keeping
their roots alive. The novel ends with
s
m
e
Po
Hanako gazing appreciatively at the
river Ki and realizes that its colour
remained the same — a lovely blend
of jade green and celadon — while the
mysterious ocean’s colour changes
as the sunlight played upon the
waves. Through this we understand
that she is an appropriate inheritor of
the spirit of Japan embodied in Hana.
Through her work Ariyoshi has
proved that man creates and shapes
his environment by the exercise of
reason and free will, guided by the
inevitable power of nature. She draws
a vivid portrait of the challenges facing
Japan’s women, which stem from
A Scream
Not that of Edvard Munch’s
But in essence it is.
Outside, the world runs;
The lines of progress wipe away
The flesh from the face,
Leaving one hollow.
I, too, ran through the length
and breadth of the azure land.
In the dark, many a star
Twinkled for me.
But poor Lass, for want of ‘L’
got vapourized in the air.
Be efficient, Be a story teller
Be brave, and leave,
Find a new niche...
Above all these voices
Strikes the scream with the sigh
To what end.
Renjini G.
28
Yes, I’m also from River Jordan
But unlike Galilee, a Dead Sea.
the country’s culture and traditions.
It is the power of nature that gives
them the greater mental strength
and courage than the men in their
lives. Sawako Ariyoshi’s The River Ki
makes us realize the truth in Diderot’s
words: “Nature is like a woman who
enjoys disguising herself, and whose
different disguises, revealing now
one part of her and now another,
permit those who study her to
assiduously hope that one day they
may know the whole of her person.”
Games
es
m
Ga
Auden Crossword
James Maliekal has given us this crossword on W.H. Auden.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Auden called his famous play a “pure verbal
opera”
8.
Auden’s book Secondary Worlds belongs to this genre
ANSWERS
6. Spender
10. The Sea and the Mirror, a series of dramatic monologues by Auden, was an adaptation of
7.
4. Macspaunday
This theatre collective performed Auden’s plays
We get glimpses of Auden’s powerful personality
in his autobiography
3. Isherwood
Auden encountered “pure evil” in this poet
9.
Auden collaborated with him in drama
1. USA
5.
3.
6.
2. Funeral Blues
Nickname of the group of which Auden was the leader
ACROSS:
4.
DOWN
1. Auden emigrated to this country
DOWN:
ACROSS
2. The satirical poem that Auden wrote for the play The Ascent of F6
29
7. Wilde
5. Yeats
8. Criticism
9. Group Theatre
10. The Tempest
Travel
AN APPROPRIATED
SEAT AND A CAGED BIKE
C.A. Lal shares some of
his travel experiences.
I
do not mind long flights, but the one from New Delhi to London was a bit irksome, largely because of the nice lady in
the seat next to mine! Throughout the flight I was irritated, not just at her but at myself too; for being a softie! I had
asked for a window seat when the tickets were booked, as it was my particular design to enjoy a ‘top-down’ view of
London landmarks when the plane made its final swoop towards the airport. This was my first flight to London since
I overcame my fear of flying! Now I could look out of an aircraft window at the vast fluffy beds of cloud, or at the great
expanses of land or ocean 40,000 feet below, and not go all cold! I was particularly pleased with my seat as it was not
above a wing and gave a good view from the window.
But then this nice huge lady with her
immense handbag stood at the aisle
looking at me as if I had been the
cause of some immediate distress to
her! Remaining poised in that position
for a while, she decidedly and heavily
eased herself down to the seat next
to mine. She looked like one of the
ladies in a Ruskin Bond story, who
might produce an emerald boa from
her handbag were I to offend her!
She had a plastic bag besides the
handbag, which she squeezed down
in the non-existent space between
her legs and the seat in front.
I sat wondering whether to start
reading the book I had with me or to
plan which movies to watch once the
screen before me came alive. As I
flipped through the pages of the flight
information book, a Middle-Easty
looking gentleman occupied the aisle
seat in my row. Now the lady looked
totally at a loss, and clung to her
handbag with greater determination.
I was tempted to offer help to stow
the bag in the space above, but
decided not to, both because of my
30
poor Hindi and lessons learnt from
unpleasant consequences of trying to
be too helpful during previous travels.
Passengers had mostly settled down,
when quite unexpectedly, a flight
attendant came by and most politely
asked for my boarding pass. During
my flights abroad I would always
keep the boarding pass and passport
in my shirt or jacket pocket, but on no
occasion did I need these documents
during the flight, and so this time
I had deposited them in my cabin
bag which I had kept in the luggage
compartment. I promptly squeezed
my way out to the aisle, past the lady,
her bags and the heavy shoes of the
Middle-Easty gentleman, and fished
the documents out of my bag.
The attendant having left convinced
that I was legally entitled to travel in
the flight, I was suddenly overcome
by the milk of human kindness racing
through my veins, and offered to keep
the lady’s bag in the compartment for
her. She immediately handed over the
plastic bag to me, which I crammed in
between the dozen other bags in the
compartment, and lingered wondering
if she would hand me the other bag
as well. Now the most unbelievable
thing happened! Out of a sense of
gratitude, I am sure, the lady, hugging
her precious handbag, rose from her
seat, and in a move unbelievable for
her girth, plonked herself on to my
dear seat at the window! I stood
frozen at the aisle, my hand still on
the bags, and in a while sheepishly
settled on the middle seat. I know I
should have asked her to move back.
But I did not, both because of the
milk in my veins, but also because
I did not have the language to do
that, in Hindi or Marathi or whatever
fantastic language she spoke. Tell me
who should be kicked hard, she or I?
Black thoughts on acts of vengeance
clouded my brain for a while, but
these were soon dissipated when
the flight attendants, in a markedly
post-recession mood, began to trudge
up and down the aisle, with various
intentions, but always looking very
very bored. I soon lost myself in the
movie about Jung, Sabina and Freud,
and after that in an audio book on the
adventures of Marco Polo, Columbus
and Captain Cook.
All this was the day before, when I
arrived and sleepily checked into
the YMCA Hostel at around 8 p.m.
in UK, but early into the next day for
my body. But travelling westward
and arriving late evening has an
advantage; a real long night’s sleep!
Now, I was inside the Imperial War
Museum on Lambeth Road, strolling
about as if I had all the time in the
world! Though I had just one day in
the city this time, I was determined to
be very leisurely in my explorations.
Earlier that day, at around 8.30 a.m.,
I had gone up to the Embankment
tube station and, it being bright and
pleasant, walked about gazing at
the pier, the Westminster Bridge,
the imposing Parliament buildings,
and the Elizabeth Tower with the
monumental clock on top, wondering
when the Big Ben would decide to go
gong, gong next. After that I had done
a thorough tour of the Westminster
Abbey, having finally decided to pay
the £16 entry fee. The previous times
I had been to the Abbey I was not
sure whether to do this at all! May be
it was good I had not, as on that day
with my resolve not to rush, I could
leisurely walk through the imposing
interiors of the Abbey which had
witnessed the coronations of all the
British monarchs straight from King
Harold in 1066, and the spaces where
so many legendary men and women
were interred, listening to the stories
on the audio guide. From the Abbey
I walked along the embankment
and took the Milbank road towards
the Tate Britain art gallery to take a
look at Millais’ Ophelia. It was after
wandering a while in the gallery
and then some refreshment at the
McDonald’s in the busy Victoria
Station that I had stepped out of the
Lambeth North station and walked to
the Imperial War Museum.
It was nearly 3 p.m. when I had done
fair justice to most of the exhibits in
the museum, including the special
holocaust exhibition, and thought it
was time to leave, as I had just enough
time to stroll back to the Lambeth
North tube station. Having finished
the last bits of exhibits I turned back
to find my way down the stairs when
in a niche like part of a wall I caught
glimpse of a bike. A trillion processes
in my brain within a millisecond
brought in flashes of old chum
Lawrence of Arabia and his bikes! To
my utmost goosebumpy delight, that
was indeed T.E. Lawrence’s seventh
Brough Superior SS100, the one he
called George VII, and the one he was
killed riding on. This was his seventh
bike in the series. The eighth was
pending delivery when he met with
his unexpected death at 46, already a
legend. I do not know how to explain
my emotions during moments like
that, but all I can say is that I saw the
same emotions that day on the face
of a woman of around my age who I
noticed, once the rapture wore out a
bit, standing near me looking at the
bike. “Never thought I would see
this,” I blurted out at her and she,
beaming at the bike in the glass cage
with a bright lit-up face, nodded in
absolute agreement. I shook myself
up and walked out, down the stairs
and through the immense gardens
surrounding the museum, to the tube
station.
31
Impressions
es
ag
Im
Nets at Dusk: P.P. Ajayakumar
s
em
Po
I tried to write a poem once
but it was not that easy. For that
first I looked into myself
and its barrenness stunned me.
then I looked outside
I could see no divine sights
I could hear no blissful sounds.
then I tried to ‘dig’ with my pen
but found it not that sharp,
and then I realized I am suffering from “-ion” deficiency
I lack all that “-ions”— imagination, intuition, inspiration, vision..........
“-ion” deficiency
Karthika V.P.
32
Writer
MO YAN — THE
MAN WHO REFUSES
TO BE SILENT
Vinita Teresa introduces Mo
Yan, the Chinese writer who
won the 2012 Nobel Prize for
Literature.
F
or a writer whose pen name “Mo Yan” means ‘do not speak’ in Chinese, Guan Moye, the 2012 Nobel Laureate
in Literature, sure does make his voice heard a lot. Post announcement of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature in
October, Mo Yan has become a familiar name among the literature aficionados in the Indian Subcontinent. He is
the first Chinese citizen to be awarded the Nobel Prize and his achievement has been much celebrated by the
Chinese media and government.
According to the Nobel Prize
committee, Mo Yan has been awarded
the prize for his writings which “with
hallucinatory realism merges folk
tales, history and the contemporary.”
Though Mo Yan writes only in
Chinese, his works have been widely
translated into English (mainly by
Howard Goldblatt) and enjoys critical
acclaim in the Western world. His
most notable work is the novel Red
Sorghum Clan (1987) which is set
in his birthplace Dalan Township in
Gaomi county and is fictionalised as
‘Northeast township’ in the novel. It
consists of five interwoven stories
and is narrated against the backdrop
of Japanese aggression and agrarian
crisis and deals with the fortunes of
the Shandong family. Most of his
novels detail the impact of social
and political upheavals in China
such as the Communist and Cultural
revolutions. Other major novels
include The Garlic Ballads (1995), The
Republic of Wine (2000), Big Breasts
and Wide Hips (2004), Life and Death
are Wearing Me Out (2008), etc.
Mo Yan’s novels are complex and
employ elements of magical realism,
epic, and black humour. Violent,
graphic images, merging of life and
Some interesting
facts about Mo Yan:
»» Guan Moye, aka Mo Yan, was a
member of People’s Liberation
Army of China and like several
other writers, started writing
during his early days as a soldier
»» Mo Yan is a prolific writer and
he completed his novel Life and
Death are Wearing Me Out in
merely 42 days. He wrote the
entire manuscript containing about
500,000 characters by hand, using
ink and a writing brush
»» Though Mo Yan is critical of the
Mo Yan
Chinese government in many of
his works, he is currently the vicechairman of the official Chinese
Writers’ Association and draws his
salary from the Culture Ministry
»» He adopted the pen name Mo
death, past and present are some of
the distinctive features of his works.
His is often touted as the Chinese
answer to Franz Kafka and Joseph
Heller. The bagging of the Nobel
Prize by Mo Yan is considered as a
symbol of the increasing international
acceptance of Chinese culture and
literature.
Yan which means ‘do not speak’
because his parents used to
advise him not to speak his mind
outside since it was dangerous
to do so in China’s tumultuous
political scenario
33
Snippets
CONTEMPORARY
AWARDS
Sreeranj Dinesen provides an
overview of contemporary
literary awards.
»» Nenstadt International Prize for Literature:
It is a biennial award sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World
Literature Today. It is awarded not for any one work, but for an entire body of work.
It is one of the very few international prizes for which poets, novelists, playwrights are equally eligible.
2012 winner: Rohinton Mistry
»» Franz Kafka Prize
International Literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka and co-sponsored by the Franz Kafka Society and the
city of Prague, Czech Republic.
A literary work is honoured with this award for its “humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national
language and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity and its ability to hand
over a testimony about our times.”
2012 winner: Daniela Hodrova
»» Man Booker Prize for Fiction
A literary prize awarded to the best novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth, the Republic of
Ireland or Zimbabwe.
2012 winner: Hilary Mantel, for Bring Up the Bodies
In 1993, to mark its 25th anniversary it was decided to choose “the best novel out of all the winners,” a Booker of
Bookers Prize – winner – Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (the 1981 winner).
In 2008 to celebrate its 40th anniversary – The Best of the Booker was awarded. Winner was again Midnight’s
Children.
»» International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
An International literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the Dublin City Council and the public
improvement company, IMPAC and administrated by Dublin City Public Libraries.
One of the richest literary prizes in the world. The prize is open to novels written in any language and by authors of
any nationality, provided the work has been published in English or has an English Translation 2 years prior to the year
the award is given.
2012 winner: Jon McGregor, for Even the Dogs
»» Dayton Literary Peace Prize
It is the only annual US Literary award “recognizing the poems of the written word to promote peace.” The award is
given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published within the immediate past year that has led people to a better
understanding of other peoples, cultures, religions and political views.
2012 winners: Fiction – Andrew Krivak, for The Sojourn
Non-Fiction – Adam Hochschild, for To End All Wars
There is also a Lifetime Achievement Award (now known as Richard C Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement
Award).
2012 winner: Tim O’Brien
34
»» Orange Prize for Fiction
Known from October 2012, as the Women’s Prize for Fiction, this is one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious
literary prizes annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original novel written in English and
publication in the U K in the preceding year.
Earlier funded by Orange, UK mobile network operator and internet service provider. Now sponsored by “private
benefactors“ led by Cherie Blair & writers Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Buchan.
2012 winner: Madeline Miller, for The Song of Achilles
»» Pulitzer Prize :
21 prizes given — 14 in Journalism and 7 in Letters, Drama and Music.
Pulitzer Prize for fiction is awarded to a work by an American author, preferably dealing with American Life. Prizes
are awarded for works published during the previous calendar year. Entries submitted by January 25. In 2012 no
prize was given in fiction because no book received a majority of the votes from the board members. The 3 novels
shortlisted were:
David Foster Wallace – The Pale King
Karen Russell – Swamplandial
Denis Johnson – Train Dreams
»» Saraswati Samman
Noted Tamil scholar Dr. A.A. Manavalan was conferred the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2011 on
September 19, 2012. The award recognizes his work Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalyum, a comparative study of the
epic Ramayana written in 48 languages.
»» Jnanpith Award
One of the most prestigious literary awards in India presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu
Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper. The 46th Jnanpith Award for 2010 was conferred on
the Kannada writer Chandrasekara Kambara.
»» Sahitya Akademi Award
An annual award given to outstanding writers in Indian literature. The 2012 award in English language literature went
to Jeet Thayil’s poetry collection, These Errors are Correct.
35
Writer
THE NOVELS OF
HILARY MANTEL
Hilary Mantel rocked the literary world by
winning another Booker. Madhumadhi
acquaints us with Mantel and her work.
T
he time-honoured novelist, Hilary Mantel is the first woman novelist to obtain the Man Booker Prize award
twice. Wolf Hall (2009) and its sequel Bring Up the Bodies (2012) bagged the Man Booker Prize award for
the years 2009 and 2012. Though she writes on all kinds of themes, she is best in historical fiction. Hilary
Mantel entered into the literary scene in 1985 with the publication of her first novel Every Day is Mother’s
Day. This novel set in the mid-1970s narrates the experiences of Isabel Field, a social worker, who is assigned to help
the Axons family. The novel flows to show the problems in Isabel Field’s life and how she manages to help the Evenly
Axon and her half-wit daughter. The novel has a hilarious end and a sequel called Vacant Possession. Eight Months on
Ghazzah Street (1988) is a novel which exhibits the novelist’s ability to present the clash of cultures, especially in the
Eastern countries. A crystal clear image of the struggles faced by the contrast in cultures is presented in this novel.
Hilary Mantel very keenly blends her experience in Saudi Arabia and the misunderstandings between the Arabs and
Westerners.
Hilary Mantel’s talent for historical
fiction is evident in her novel A
Place of Greater Safety (1992).
The novel ruminates on the French
Revolution and describes the lives
of many historical figures. Hilary
Mantel delves into the ambitions
of women in An Experiment in
Love (1996). The novel picturises
the lives of three girls who leave
their home town to study at the
University. The novel won her the
Hawthornden Prize. Her next work
is her memoir Giving Up the Ghost:
A Memoir. The shades of her life
and her expeditions through the
pains of life can be understood
through this piece of work. Hilary
Mantel handles the concept of life
and existence of life after death in
Beyond Black (2005) which explores
the mind of Alison Hart, a medium.
The novel penetrates the memories
of Alison, who is traumatized
by reminiscences and ghosts
from her childhood days. The life
of a medium, their world, their
36
Hilary Mantel
perspectives and claims is much
surveyed in this novel.
The Man Booker Prize winning
novel Wolf Hall (2009) is on the
life of Thomas Cromwell, Minster
to Henry VIII. This historical novel
was termed as one of the ten best
historical novels by The Observer.
The narrative of the novel portrays
the entire life of Cromwell and
shows his travel to the pinnacle
of power. An astonishing research
and a presentation from a much
different angle bring in the success
of this novel. The sequel to this
novel, published in 2012, called
Bring Up the Bodies also won
2012 Man Booker Prize. Hilary
Mantel is all set to a trilogy on
Thomas Cromwell. The narrativitiy
of her novels brings in more effect
and solidity to her themes, be it
her memoir or historical fiction.
Though her early novels share
life experiences from her own
life, they are claimed to be nonautobiographical. The historical
novels of Hilary Mantel share
the world history of power and
enlightenment. The completion of
the trilogy of Thomas Cromwell
will hopefully be another invaluable
contribution to world literature.
Games
es
m
Ga
Vampire Quiz
How well do you know Vampire literature? Prasara V.P. finds out.
1. Vampires in English Literature appeared for the first time in the _________________ era.
(Renaissance / Romantic)
2. ______________ is considered to be the home of the vampires. (Transylvania / Luxembourg)
3. One of the earliest examples of vampiric fiction in English, The Vampyre (1819) was written by
____________. It was inspired by the life and legends of Lord Byron.
(Heinrich Ossenfelder / John William Polidori)
4. Sheridan Le Fanu’s vampire fiction (1872) with lesbian overtones is titled _______________. Here, a
female vampire seduces the heroine, Laura. (The Bride of Corinth / Carmilla)
5. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was published in the year _________. (1857 / 1897)
6. In the movie Dracula made in 1931, Béla Lugosi stars as the suave, aristocratic, yet dangerous
vampire from Polidori’s novel, named ___________________. (Jonathan Harker / Lord Ruthven)
7. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is set in ___________. (Whitby / Wales)
8. Dracula was inspired by 15th century Prince of Romania ________________.
(Vlad Tepes / Janos Orszag)
9. The vampire hunter in “Dracula” is _______________. (Abraham Van Helsing / Jonathan Harker)
10._______________ is a famous 1922 German Expressionist vampire film, directed by F. W. Murnau,
starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlock. (Nosferatu / The Golem)
1. Romantic 2. Transylvania 3. John William Polidori 4. Carmilla
7. Whitby 8. Vlad Tepes 9. Abraham Van Helsing 10. Nosferatu
5. 1897
6. Lord Ruthven
Answers
Extra Vampire Facts
»» One of the first works of art to touch upon the subject of Vampire — the short German poem “The Vampire”
(1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder.
»» Goethe wrote a German poem on Vampire —“The Bride of Corinth” (1797)
»» First mention of Vampire in English Literature — Robert Southey’s poem — “ Thalaba the Destroyer” (1797)
»» First vampire story published by a woman — “The Skeleton Court or The Vampire Mistress” (1828) by
Elizabeth Caroline Grey
»» One of the best-known vampire fiction in recent years — Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame
— Smith
»» The most frequently portrayed character in horror films — Count Dracula (He has over 170 film
representations to date)
37
Classics
MADAME BOVARY
Kalyani Vallath familiarises
us with Flaubert’s classic
Type of work: Novel
Technique: Psychological realism
Setting: France in the mid-19th century
First published: 1857 in French (English translation: 1886)
C
harles Bovary, a young doctor, had married Héloise, a widow much older than himself. She made his life
miserable with nagging and baseless suspicions. A year later, Charles called on Monsieur Rouault, a farmer
with a broken leg. There he met the farmer’s beautiful daughter, Emma, whose education in a French convent
had given her a restless urge for broader experience.
Héloise died suddenly, and Emma
agreed to marry Charles, who was
deeply captivated by her. They set up
house at Tostes, where Charles had a
doctor’s practice. He was a simple,
quiet man who had never loved a
woman before, and now thought
the world of Emma. But Emma had
desired the perfumed, passionate
lovers of the romantic novels she
had read, and very soon tired of her
husband who reeked of medicines,
and whose conversation was as
humdrum as “a street pavement.”
It was then that the couple was
invited to a grand ball at Vaubyessard,
where Emma danced with a dozen
partners, drank champagne, and
received compliments on her
beauty. The memories of that ball
left a perpetual longing in her. Back
home, she soon lost interest in
her household duties, gave up her
hobbies, and languished all day in her
room. She became irritable, a dead
pallor came into her cheeks, and she
had bouts of depression.
Charles now had to take the difficult
decision of leaving Tostes for the sake
of his wife. They moved to the large
38
market town, Yonville. Emma was
pregnant and longed for a son, dark
and strong. But she gave birth to a
daughter, whom they called Berthe.
While Charles struggled to make
both ends meet, Emma’s attention
was turned to laces and ribbons for
the child, who was being cared for
by a wet nurse. Then she met Léon
Dupuis, a shy law clerk bored with
the town, and longing, like Emma, for
an exciting Parisian life. The two met
often and shared their interests, and
as their acquaintance ripened, the
people began to gossip. But Charles
Bovary was unperturbed.
Emma realized she is in love with
Léon and did nothing to prevent it.
She transformed into a new woman:
outwardly devoting herself entirely
to the house, her daughter and her
husband; inside, consumed with
rage and hatred towards Charles.
However, she never confessed her
love to Léon, who secretly desired
her. To him, her virtue seemed so
unassailable that he gave up hopes of
possessing her and went to Paris to
complete his studies.
In his absence, Léon seemed more
desirable to Emma. The sacrifice of
her love made her more indulgent
and extravagant; the grief of parting
made her very ill.
One day, Rudolf Boulanger, a
squire of the neighbouring estate,
brought a farm tenant to Charles for
bloodletting. Rudolf found Emma
attractive. He knew he could possess
her easily with his charms, but the
difficulty would be to get rid of her!
He began courting her and Emma
overcame her qualms of immorality
by rationally convincing herself that
nothing that is so beautiful as love
could be sinful. Emma succumbed
to Rudolf and they met regularly
in secret. She allowed herself to
be carried by the flood of passion.
However, when he was sure of
Emma’s love and commitment
towards him, Rudolf became openly
indifferent to her.
Meanwhile, Charles was urged by
the town chemist to perform an
experimental surgery on a local boy
with clubfoot. The surgery was an
utter failure and the boy’s leg had to
be amputated. Emma was ashamed
and disgusted with her husband,
and throwing all discretion to the
winds, she began to meet her lover
openly, lavishing expensive gifts on
him. Charles, whose practice was
considerably diminishing, was soon
deep in debt. Emma implored Rudolf
to take her away. He let Emma make
all the preparations, and on the eve
of their planned departure, he wrote
a letter to her calling off their plan and
hypocritically repenting their sins.
Emma tried to throw herself from the
window, but was saved by Charles;
then she became seriously ill with
brain fever. It was hell for Charles,
who had no money to pay the bills,
and who feared he would lose his
dear wife.
Emma did not die; she slowly
recovered, and one day, when
Charles took her to the opera house
at Rouen, she met Léon once again.
Léon had grown more confident from
his relationships with other women,
and was now determined to possess
her.
Emma met Léon several times in
Rouen, where Charles had naïvely
sent her, first to procure a lawyer’s
advice, and then to take music
lessons. At Rouen, she abandoned
herself into a debauched life of
extravagant spending and illegitimate
love. Her corruption was complete,
and she now realized that she
had brought her lover down to
her debased level. She no longer
respected Léon, and scorned him
when he could no longer give her the
money to pay her bills.
Emma’s name was posted publicly
for a debt of eight thousand francs.
She knew that the bailiffs would
now seize Charles’s property, and
his career would be ruined. She
desperately appealed first to the
usurer, then to Léon and Rudolf,
but no one helped her. She realized
that her only way out was to die a
heroine’s death, and she consumed
arsenic. Charles arrived just then, but
too late to save his wife from a slow
and painful death.
Charles was wild with grief and died
soon after, leaving a legacy of just
twelve francs to support his daughter.
This 19th century novel raised a storm
of appreciation as well as protest.
Never before had an author explored
the art of fiction so well, with superbly
realistic characterization, a fiercely
honest handling of an unconventional
plot, and an absolute lack of moral
commentary on the action. Madame
Bovary shocked the Victorian sense
of moral righteousness that was as
strong in France as in England at that
time. Flaubert was prosecuted for
producing such an indecent work that
inaugurated a new era in fiction.
s
em
Po
A runaway dream
Stretching her hands to the gushing winds,
She felt the dampness of the windowpane.
Hugging those winsome smiles around her,
She longed to make the moments linger.
But desires trickle down from her
In search of a better place to stay on.
Her bangles are about to tell her tale
When she steps into the rain
Just to walk down the memory lane
Filled with endless memories.
Hima J. Babu
39
Writer
FEARLESS
SECULARIST
F
Sreeranj Dinesen
introduces Orhan Pamuk.
erit Orhan Pamuk, the “new star” of the east as The New York Times would have it, gained international
recognition with the publication of The White Castle (Pub: 1985, which won him the 1990 Independent Award
for Foreign Fiction) and extended his reputation abroad. He was awarded the International IMPAC Dublin Literary
Award (2003) for My Name is Red, which was translated into 24 languages. Later he received the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 2006 and his works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success ever
since. All of his novels are originally written in Turkish and later translated into various other languages securing numerous
literary awards.
Pamuk was born on 7 June 1952
in Istanbul in a well-to-do family,
the experiences of which colours
his novels The Black Book, Cevdet
Bey and His Sons and his memoir
/ travelogue Istanbul — Memories
and the City. Pamuk tried his hand at
painting, architecture and journalism
while in college, but chose writing as
a career when he was 23. The White
Castle, The New Life, Snow and The
Museum of Innocence are some of
the other major works that brought
him fame and recognition, The Naive
and Sentimental Novelist being the
latest addition.
Pamuk’s conflict with the Govt. of
Turkey and the ultranationalists led
him to being put on trial in 2005 when
he made a statement regarding the
Armenian Genocide and mass killing
of Kurds in the Ottoman Empire. His
intention was to draw attention to the
issue of freedom of speech in Turkey,
which was taken up by the European
Parliament and some of the worldrenowned authors of the present day.
Pamuk describes himself as a
Cultural Muslim, identifying himself
with the cultural aspects of his nation
and religion while keeping aloof
from its binding ties and personal
40
After his early experimentations
with naturalism, Pamuk has moved
on to the contemporary postmodern
techniques as epitomized in My
Name is Red.
Orhan Pamuk
connection to God. His choice of the
issue of women wearing headscarf
as the central theme of Snow,
looking at the controversial topic
from different angles, reiterates
his plea towards a secular Turkey.
According to him, “the bloody
years of war and all the atrocities
in European history have taught
the Europeans that secular politics,
free of religious hatred is mainly a
question of peace.” He argues that
the same “concept is not anchored in
the same way in the consciousness
of Turks, which has to do with the
fact that the secular was forced upon
us by the army.” Not surprisingly,
the recurrent theme in Pamuk is
the conflict between Western and
Eastern values, served by an array
of complex plots and characters.
Pamuk’s books are characterized
by a confusion or loss of identity
brought on in part by the conflict
between western and eastern
values. His works are also redolent
with discussion of and fascination
with literature and painting. Pamuk’s
works often touches on the deep
rooted tensions between East and
West and Tradition and modernism /
secularism.
»» Pamuk’s books broke a record
and sold 200,000 copies after the
announcement of his winning the
Noble prize in literature and he
became Sweden’s best-selling
recipient of the prize.
»» Debut Novel — Mr Cevdet and his
sons (1982), won the Orhan kemal
Novel prize in 1983
»» His 4th novel New Life, published
in 1995 became the fastest selling
books in Turkish history
»» The New York Times listed Snow
as one of its 10 best books of
2004.
Translation
SPIRIT WORSHIP
AND A FOLK EPIC
Apoorva Rao throws light on the
culture of Tulunadu in Karnataka,
and offers a translation of a folk epic.
T
he Bhuta worship or the worship of the spirits is a characteristic feature of coastal Karnataka in which a highly
stylized variety of the ritual dance of the spirit impersonator can be seen. Bhutas are believed to be capable of
shaping the welfare of votaries. The performance always takes place at night, commencing at about 9 o’ clock.
An element of hierarchy among Bhutas can be found, which is a recent development. There is a close connection
between the structure of Bhuta worship and the social structure of Tulunadu. People belonging to a particular caste or
community develop a cultural identity which is reinforced by performances and rituals associated with the cycle of life
and seasons.
It also has a close relationship with
pardanas (prarthana) and is a major
oral epic of Tulunadu. The pardanas
that narrate the origin of Bhutas, their
adventures and diffusions, have the
characteristics of an oral epic. These
Tulu oral epics are longer than folk
songs. Many shorter narrative poems
fit into the category of ballads, but
some go beyond that framework.
Tragedy is a very convenient theme
employed by the Tulu folk poets to
uphold the moral values enshrined
in the tuluva society. In social
pardana, the tragedy results from the
exploitation of the downtrodden and
oppressed people by the feudal lords,
like the sexual assault on helpless
women under obligation; ill-treatment
meted out to newly married brides by
their mothers-in-law or sisters-in-law,
the contrivances of a jealous girl to
discredit the fiancée of a young man
etc.
The diction is very simple and we
find only short idioms and phrases.
During the Bhuta performance,
womenfolk render the pardanas.
Some of the Bhuta pardanas are
sung in the paddy fields by the
womenfolk.
In the case of certain Bhutas, spirits
of cultural heroes who met with tragic
death are also worshipped. One such
spirit is Kod’dabbu. Kod’dabbu was
born into a low caste family and
he is the cultural representative of
Mundala community of Tulunadu. In
spite of being powerful and highly
talented, he was marginalized due to
his lower caste status. The pardana
given below narrates his story. It has
been translated from Tulu language to
English and a small excerpt is given
here.
Kod’dabbu-Tannimaniga Paddana
Denna Dennana Denna Dennana Denna Dennanaye
Kodange Bannar was living in Kachur Village
Early in the morning Kodange Bannar
Goes to a shed to bring a spade
He takes the spade of Basrur
He keeps it on his right shoulder.
He sets himself off to water the fields
He reduces the level of water in the first field
Raises it in another field.
He closes the old channels and
Opens the new ones in the field.
41
From a far place
He listens to a cry and assumes it to be a child’s.
He keeps the spade on the ridge of the field and curiously
Goes to the courtyard of the hut
The door is locked.
A crying sound emerges from the room
Clear and sharp
That was an infant
Bannar breaks the door by kicking it with his legs.
Broke the door by kicking it with his legs.
The infant is crying, lying on its mother’s chest
The mother seems to be dead.
The mother is Yelyabari Kunduru
The father is Beera Bakuda
The father had died a long time ago
Now the mother is dead
He brought the infant
At the end of the spade
To the Kachuru Village Kavadooru Manor house
The great landlord
Brought the infant to the paddy pounding shed
His wife Sirigonde landlady
Wishes to look after the infant with a lot of love and care
In the paddy pounding hut,
They create a creeper cradle
They name the infant as Kachru Maldi
They nurtured the child by giving cow’s milk
When cows stopped giving milk
They gave wheat and nourished the child….
(Translated from Tulu by Apoorva Rao)
s
m
e
Po
Jyothsna T. V.
42
Shadow of Fear
I grew up under the shadow of fear
It frightens me at first…..
But it becomes my dolly, my ditty, my friend
Then why should I disgust him?
No… I love him, I admire him
He is… he is… he is my lover
He is mine, because I venerate death, the possessor of all dreads…..
Study
CASTLES & GHOSTS
T
Sreeja S. introduces the genre
of Gothic fiction.
o know more about Gothic literature, we must go back to the past, that is, to the Gothic Civilization. The
Goths were a set of people who originated in southern Sweden and they were divided into two sects. They
conquered many lands, including parts of Rome and Spain.
Gothic fiction took shape in the
United Kingdom and it falls within
the category of Romantic literature.
It is the reaction against the
Romantic form of literature. It starts
with The Castle of Otranto (1764)
by Horace Walpole. It evokes horror
and aims at emotionally affecting the
reader. Gothic heroes are archetypal
heroes, that is, there is a pattern
to their characterization. Most of
the protagonists are isolated, either
voluntarily or involuntarily. The
s
em
Po
Sandra Oommen
villain may have fallen from grace
due to pride. A divine punishment
may befall the protagonist of the
novel. The plot itself may represent
a ruined world. Terror, both physical
and psychological, mystery and the
supernatural, ghosts and haunted
houses, Gothic architecture, castles,
darkness, death, decay, doubles,
madness and so on are the features
of Gothic fiction. Other ideas of
the Gothic include anti-Catholicism,
depiction of a medieval past,
romanticism, melodrama and selfparody.
George Haggerty remarks,
“the Gothic novel is a liberating
phenomenon, which expands the
range of possibilities for novelistic
expression.” The resistance
potential of the Gothic has found
significance in feminist, postcolonial
and postmodern literatures.
Passion fruits
Those passionate fruits
fill my hungry heart,
as I look at the clusters of ripe passion fruits
across the fence, in the neighbour’s orchard.
My soul longs for the sweet and sour taste
from sunrise to sunrise.
My eyes clasp those boughs
together with the winding creepers.
A feast on the succulent bulbs,
that often fill my barren nights
with bursts of dawny delight.
Over the days and months,
I have become an addict,
to those balls that cling to my life
and lit my past I’ve never trodden before.
For sure, I’ll never get used to
living without those passionate fruits.
43
Snippets
s
ct
Fa
Milestones in the Indian Constitution
Chandrika Raju compiled this data on the Constitution of India.
1946
Dec. 9th, The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting.
1946 Dec. 11th, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.
1952 The first general election (1951-1952) to the Lok Sabha was held.
1953 The first linguistic state of Andhra Pradesh was created.
1962 First emergency declared.
1963 The first no confidence motion after independence was moved in the Lok Sabha.
1976 The Fundamental Duties of Indian citizens were incorporated in the Constitution.
1989 Reduction of voting age from 21 to 18 years for the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections.
1991 Creation of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
1992 Formation of present day Panchayati Raj.
2000 The creation of new states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal.
2002
Right to Education for Children made a Fundamental Right in the field of free and compulsory primary education for children.
Presidential appointments
The President of India appoints:
44
•
The Prime Minister, and on his advice, other ministers.
•
Attorney General of India.
•
Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
•
Chief Justices and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
•
Governors of States.
•
Lieutenant Governors and Commissioners of Union Territories.
•
Members of Finance Commission.
•
Members of the Union Public Service Commission.
•
Chief Election Commissioner and other members of the Election Commission.
•
Special officers for the Scheduled Castes and other Tribal areas.
Impressions
Woman on the Cross: Devi K.T.P.
45
Translation
NJORIVU AND VADIVU
IN TRANSLATION
Reji A.L. makes an interesting
point on translation.
T
ranslation from one language to another means introducing the culture of a language to another. We know plenty
of words that have minute meanings in one culture have no exact equivalent in another culture or language.
Hence all the translations are imperfect in the larger sense, but cannot be avoided, especially in a diverse society
like India.
Have you ever enjoyed “thayambaka”?
Sometimes, Bhimsen Joshi’s or
Balamuralikrishna’s rendering of
ragas raise tides of emotions in
our mind. Such an interlacing of
emotions to create a simple, natural
experience, or “njorivu,” is present in
all Indian art forms.
“Njorivu” does have a role to play
in translation too. A translator
should be able to create “njorivu”
in the meaning-making process, by
choosing the appropriate words,
images, metaphors etc., where
complexities ultimately blend into a
simple experience of the text.
“Kathakali” is an excellent example of
creating “njorivu” on the face. In India,
everything — from the conversations
of daily life and the gestures and
language of the body, to the traditional
dance forms and the Carnatic and
Hindustani forms of music — have the
beauty of “njorivu.”
When Sir William Jones translated the
Sanskrit play Abhijnana Shakuntalam
into English, a major departure he
made from the original was to stop
the tender lovelorn heroine from
breaking into sweat every now and
then. He would not have known
that to sweat is quite common and
s
em
Po
Babitha Justin
46
Birth of an Oracle
I tried to tease
love out like an olive
after draining out
every drop of lust,
it remained at the bottom
punctured and torn,
finally, when I tasted
the drupe
it was bitter-sour,
sharp on my palette
before I spat out the pit
which stung my
tongue like an epiphany!
traditionally appreciated in India and
is also a visible symptom of sexual
interest and arousal. In Jones’
translation Kalidasa’s “njorivu” is
ironed out to make “Vadivu.”
What happened to The Namesake,
the title itself, when it was translated
into Malayalam? “Ore Perukaran.”
Isn’t it a straight, word to word
translation? Here the translator
should have chosen the main theme
of the novel as its title.
Review
THREE INDIAN NOVELISTS
CREATIVE NEW LITERATURE SERIES 142
T
Chandrika Raju
reviews a book on
three prominent
figures in Indian
English fiction.
hree Indian Novelists integrates various critical articles on the novels of Githa Hariharan, Amitav Ghosh and
Aravind Adiga — three renowned writers of Indian English fiction who explore current problems and issues in
their works. Three Indian Novelists is published by Creative Books, New Delhi, and edited by P.D. Nimsarkar
and Dharmapal Fulzele. Dharmapal belongs to the TES family as a previous student and contributor to TES
publications.
Githa Hariharan is concerned with
women, their position and status
in
the
contemporary
modern
society, together with the problems
and hardships they encounter
while asserting their identity in a
patriarchal society. She also writes
on communalism and the plight of
the minorities. Her attempt is to
create a new culture and an ideal
world. The quest for identity is the
underlying theme in most of the
seven articles written about her. They
also discuss the feminist sensibility
and its onslaught on patriarchy,
the gender crisis and liberalism vs.
fundamentalism.
Aravind Adiga’s emphasis is on the
contemporary Indian society and
how it is losing its grip on the ageold Indian ethos, morals, values and
cultural heritage. His protagonists are
the downtrodden who are struggling
to find a space for existence. His
work also highlights the dark side
of the Indian democracy run by
beastly musclemen and upstarts.
The six articles on Adiga discuss
various facets of the Indian society
— caste system, power politics,
police, corruption and the deplorable
conditions of the poor.
Amitav Ghosh takes us back to
the beginning of the 19th century
when the British rule had spread
across the Indian subcontinent.
He explores the political and racial
underpinnings of British and Indian
relations during the Raj, exposing the
exploitative nature of British capitalist
imperialism. He skillfully combines
fact and fiction, chaos and order,
myth and burlesque to relate the love
story between Deeti, a high caste
widow and an untouchable, Kalua,
thereby revealing the underlying
caste discriminations. He also deftly
mixes different languages in order
to develop varieties of pidgin / ship
language / a hybridized form of
English in his novels — a practice
excelled in by Salman Rushdie and
Vikram Seth. The half a dozen essays
presented in this book center on the
colonizers, their opium trade and its
repercussions on the Indian people.
The essays featured in this edition
contextualize Githa Hariharan, Aravind
Adiga and Amitav Ghosh’s novels with
various critical perspectives, equipping
the reader with multiple points of view
in the study and appreciation of these
works, quite invaluable for those
researching on these three stalwarts.
s
em
Po
The Wildest One
She
Grew up
Dreaming to be
The brightest flower, amidst
The thorny rough bushes
Thanks! to everyone
She became
The wildest
One!
Sheena K.P.
47
Tribute
LIFELONG
COMMITMENT
Suhana Sathar and Vinita Teresa
commemorate the contributions
of Eric Hobsbawm
T
he Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012), a masterly writer of muscular, readable prose, and a scholar
whose intellectual curiosity and range had few if any equals, was one of the last of an extraordinary generation
of British intellectuals moulded by the Depression, the struggle against fascism, the faltering of the Empire and
the hopes inspired by Labour coming to power after the war.
He wrote more than 30 books over
a sixty-year career. Some of his bestknown works, The Age of Revolution,
The Age of Extremes and The Age
of Empire, focused on the ‘long 19th
century’ from 1789 to 1914 and were
followed by a famous sequel The Age
of Extremes, about the 20th century.
Fellow historian Niall Ferguson called
the quartet “the best starting point
I know for anyone who wishes to
begin studying modern history.”
His autobiography Interesting Times
devotes much attention to the most
controversial thing about him, his
lifelong commitment to not merely
socialist transformation but the
tradition of the Communist Party, the
great passion of his youth.
He was born in Egypt, the son of
an English Jewish family, and lived
in Austria and Berlin before moving
to London in 1933, the year Hitler
assumed power. Hobsbawm studied
at Cambridge before becoming a
lecturer at Birkbeck College, London
in 1947. Hobsbawm was a member
of the British Communist Party from
1936 until it collapsed in 1989. He
controversially stayed in the party
even after the Soviet invasion of
Hungary in 1956, which prompted a
huge number of members to leave in
disgust.
48
pseudonym Francis Newton for ten
years. He was also the president of
the Hay literary festival, at which he
appeared regularly in his last years.
Eric Hobsbawm
His writing on the future of the
labour movement in Britain and
his contribution to debates on the
prospect of the Labour party made
him a hero to most of the party. As an
iconoclast, his ideas helped forge the
spirit of change within the party that
led to the formation of New Labour –
though he was a fierce critic of Tony
Blair’s government.
Hobsbawm became a committed jazz
fan after hearing the Duke Ellington
band in London in the 1930s and in
1956 became the jazz critic of the
New Statesman, writing under the
Hobsbawm continued to be an active
writer despite his old age: his final
book is set for release sometime
in 2013. Aged 90, he published
Globalism, Democracy and Terrorism
and last year he published How to
Change the World, an argument for
Marx’s continuing relevance in the
aftermath of the banking collapse of
2008-10. Though many on the right do
not endorse or agree with his politics,
he is universally admired as a good
historian, particularly for his “great
works” on the 19th century. There are
few who can hope to do the same.
Bandits: a rare and
interesting book by
Hobsbawm
What is common to Mario Puzo’s
Godfather, Walter Scott’s Rob Roy,
and Robin Hood ballads? The answer
can be found in the eminent British
Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm’s
path-breaking book Bandits. This
book is an elaboration of th e social
phenomenon termed ‘social banditry’
which was first introduced by Eric
Hobsbawm (and since then, it has
evolved into a separate branch of
historical
research
altogether).
In the wake of the death of the
nonagenarian historian on 1 October
2012, readers and intellectuals have
evinced renewed interest in Bandits
which analyses the culture of banditry
in different parts of the world.
regions ranging from South America
to Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh). The
author draws on ballads, biographies,
first-hand interviews, and other
research papers to put together a
convincing and persuasive argument
regarding the cultural and socioeconomic significance of banditry.
Bandits are not mere thieves or
robbers; they often exist to serve a
larger social purpose and the tales
and legends of bandits and outlaws
have dominated the world’s literary
imagination for several centuries.
Interestingly, it is possible to trace
a common thread running through
these narratives. And this is what has
motivated Hobsbawm to delve into
the history surrounding the complex
and highly romanticised incidents of
banditry and cull out observations.
The book is at once academic and
speculative as the author surveys
As is expected of a scholar, Eric
Hobsbawm peppers his work with
facts and references to provincial
history and bandits and draws
concise conclusions. The book is
divided into different sections with
each section exploring a significant
aspect of banditry. The uneasy
power relationship between bandits
and state power, the influence of
banditry on socialist and revolutionary
movements, the socio-economic and
administrative conditions that give
momentum to banditry, etc., are some
of the topics discussed in the book.
s
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Po
Also, (almost as an afterthought) the
author has included a small section
on banditry and women where the
role of women as either the bandit’s
lover or victim is dealt with. The
author admits that there are very few
‘female bandits’ in the real sense of
the term and mentions the names of
a couple of women who were closely
associated with banditry.
Eric Hobsbawm is responsible for
single-handedly elevating bandits and
banditry to the status of a dynamic
research area. His works have
inspired several other historians to
take up research on bandits who have
spawned a whole gamut of literature
and art ranging from the medieval
ballads about Robin Hood to twentieth
century gangster movies.
Hope
Veiling my physical light
I found an eternal bright
Tender short dew of dawn
Before the seven horse chariot was born.
Sincere as a newborn smile
Blossomed as perpetual love without guile
In no steps proved wrong
Dipped in age-old passions long
Shrinking from the echoes of sighs and sorrows
And weaving feathers from the threads of tomorrows
Plunged desires twinkle those salty drops
Reflecting tagged outcast in red silken clothes.
Dhanya R.
Topped with fragments,
Questing for the union of fractions,
Shall I name you Hope
And sometimes God?
49
Snippets
LOSSES OF 2012
Chandrika Raju lists personalities
who passed away in 2012
Date
Name
Country
3 Jan
Charles W. Bailey (Seven Days in May) journalist and novelist.
America
4 Jan
Carmen Navanjo, novelist, poet and essayist
Costa Rica
12 Jan
Reginald Hill, Crime Writer (Dalziel and Pascoe)
Britain
1 Feb
Wislawa Szymborska, poet (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1996)
Poland
11 Feb
Whitney Houston, recording artist, songwriter, actress, producer and model
USA
27 Mar
Adrienne Rich, feminist, poet and essayist
USA
15 May
Carlos Fuentes, novelist
Mexico (born Panama)
7 Jun
Robert L. Washington, comic book writer, co-creator of Static
USA
5 Jun
Ray Bradbury, Science fiction and fantasy author (Fahrenheit 451,
Something Wicked This Way Comes)
USA
22 Jul
Miguel Arteche poet & novelist
Chile
31 Jul
Gore Vidal, playwright, novelist, political commentator and actor (Gattaca)
USA
19 Aug
Edmund Skellings, poet
USA
18 Aug
Shulamith Firestone, American feminist writer (The Dialectic of Sex)
Canada
29 Aug
Dan O’Keefe, author and editor (Reader’s Digest) Inventor of Festivus.
USA
6 Sept
Horacio Vazquez Rial, novelist
Spain (born Argentina)
9 Sept
Dr. Verghese Kurian, engineer and social entrepreneur — the man behind
India’s White Revolution / Operation Flood — the world’s biggest agricultural
development programme — AMUL (Anand Milk Union Ltd.)
India
2 Oct
T. Samuel, cartoonist and the pioneer of pocket cartoons
India
22 Oct
Arthur Jensen, psychologist, educator and author
USA
23 Oct
Sunil Gangopadhyay, “the modern conscience of Bengal,” writer and poet
India
24 Oct
Janet Berliner, science fiction author
America (born South
Africa)
27 Oct
Jacques Dupin, poet and critic
France
29 Oct
Warsame Shire Awale, poet and writer
Somalia
2 Nov
Han Suyin, Chinese- Belgian British writer (Love is a Many Splendoured
Thing) one of the most powerful voices serving as a bridge between China
and the West in the 20th century.
UK
50
Musings
WAS IT A DREAM?
Straight eyebrows and plain eyes
once fascinated Saji Krishna
Y
our straight eyebrows and plain eyes somehow appeared differently to me. I never thought that they would make
such an impact. They were quite harmless then; vague and remote. As time passed, something sparkled in your
eyes. I couldn’t figure it out then. But those sparkles transfused into my eyes; slowly, steadily, miraculously.
How did the bond between us develop? The messages that you sent through your eyes lay scattered before my
heart. They lay there for a while and then I took them to my heart and locked them in.
The thin stream of exchanges
became a deluge. I had to clean up
my heart to make room for you.
Do you remember those nights?
Those were sleepless nights. The
sun rose in my heart, refusing to set,
and you were the horizon. Now I do
not sleep and my sun has become
a black hole; is your heart now dead
that it has stopped showering me
with light?
How many nights have passed since
you asked that nonsensical question
over the phone. I answered “a lot.”
My words floated over the midnight
clouds and tenderly reached your
ears. The moon might have laughed
then; the stars might have blinked
their eyes. We were like two feathers
in the sky, floating forever together
among flowers, valleys, meadows,
under the starry sky. My love was
tender than a rose, but harder than
steel.
Another night you called me and
asked, “Shall we live together?” It
was drizzling outside and a sweeping
wind slapped the window panes. A
drum was beating furiously. “Shall
we live together?” your feeble voice
repeated. I didn’t say anything and
put the phone down. As I gazed into
the night, the rain stopped. I found
your hair spread across the sky. Your
lips turned blue and you implored me
with the countless eyes in the sky.
How could I answer you?
Do you remember that day when you
sat before me? I wanted to touch
your fingers. I observed your eyes,
weak, sleepless and intoxicated. The
light had gone down. I insisted you
leave, but you sat there paying no
heed. “If I leave will you be sad?” I
didn’t answer. I smiled. You turned
your vacant eyes away. Then you left.
You left, with a “good bye” soaked
in blood. I have begun to bury you
in the grave of my memory. Can I? I
dig up the remains sometimes. And
wonder if you ever existed; were you
real, or just a shadow?
s
em
Po
Modern Haikus
Spring’s Sunshine,
a worm digs slowly,
into the sweet strawberry.
Taste of sweat
Salty salty salty
Yet sweet
Look to your left
Look to your right
Remember you are alone for the battle.
I stood
In front of the mirror
And saw someone else.
Keerthy Sophiya Ponnachan
51
Games
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Ga
Theorists—Know ’em?
Anna M. John has devised a game of matching theorists with the respective theories.
Theorist
Description
Pansophism
(Universal Knowledge)
The idea that learning, emotional and spiritual growth
are interwoven. Proposed teaching through stimulation
of the senses, not merely through memorization.
Considered the “Father of Modern Education.”
2. ________________
Levels of consciousness
The mind operates at different levels: conscious
versus unconscious. He further subdivided the mind
into Id (primitive motivations), ego (logical portion of
the mind which acts to satisfy the id – when possible)
and the super-ego (the conscience)
3. ________________
Tabula Rasa
The idea that individuals are “blank slates” on which
teachers could “write” knowledge. A forerunner of
behaviourism.
1. ________________
4. ________________
Hierarchy of Needs
5. ________________
Information Processing Theory
6. ________________
7. ________________
52
EDUCATION
Theory
Classical Conditioning
(Behaviorism)
Genetic Epistemology
Humans naturally strive to satisfy needs. The five
levels of needs, from lowest to higher are :
physiological, safety, love, esteem, self-actualization.
Lower level needs must be satisfied before the
individual can move on to satisfy higher level needs.
Short term memory can only hold 5-9 “chunks” of
information at a time. A chunk can be any meaningful
idea like a word, an identifiable image, or a digit.
The association of new responses with existing
stimulus–response pairs. Classic example is pairing
the ringing of a bell with presentation of food to dogs.
After repeated pairing, the dogs will salivate upon
hearing the bell (even if food is not presented). Original
stimulus (S) response(R) pair is food-salivate. Now S-R
pair is bell-salivate.
Developmental stages of child development.
0-2 years: “sensorimotor” – motor development.
3-7 years : “preoperation” – intuitive
8-11 years: “concrete – operational” – logical, but nonabstract.
12-15 years : “Formal operations” – abstract thinking
Learning is the result of changes in behaviour. As
stimulus–response cycles are reinforced, individuals
are “conditioned” to respond. Distinguished from
connectionism because individuals can initiate
responses, not merely respond to stimuli.
8. ________________
Operant Conditioning
(Behaviourism)
9. ________________
Connectionism (Behaviourism)
10. ________________ Social Development Theory
and ZPD
Learners form associations or connections between
a stimulus and a response. Through trial and error,
rewarded responses would be strengthened.
Social interaction is critical for cognitive
development. Related to this is the idea of a “Zone
of Proximal development” (ZPD). Some skills an
individual can perform independently. Other skills
can be performed if the individual has assistance.
Skills that can be performed with assistance are
said to be within an individual’s ZPD. The ZPD
is the theoretical basis for scaffolding (support
given during learning process to meet the goals of
students).
Answers:
1. John Amos Comenius
6. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
2. Sigmund Freud
7. Jean Piaget
3. John Locke
8. B.F. Skinner
4. Abraham Maslow
9. Edward Thorndike
5. George A. Miller
10. Lev Vygotsky
es
ag
Im
Madness—an Endless
Battle: Saji Krishna
53
Games
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Ga
Who wrote these?
Drisya K. made this matching game of some contemporary trilogies and fiction series.
Identify the authors of these Trilogies / Fiction Series from the following box. Some have written more than one
trilogy / fiction series.
Austin Clarke
Amitav Ghosh
Pat Barker
William S. Burroughs
Douglas Adams
Isaac Asimov
Christopher Paolini
James T. Farrell
John Dos Passos
Hilary Mantel
Robertson Davies
George R.R. Martin
Nuruddin Farrah
Paul Auster
Mervyn Peake
Ken Follett
Trilogy / Series
1. Thomas Cromwell Trilogy
◊ Wolf Hall; Bring Up Bodies; The Mirror and the Light (yet to be published)
2. Salterton Trilogy
◊ Tempest-Tost; Leaven of Malice; A Mixture of Frailties
3. Deptford Trilogy
◊ Fifth Business; The Manticore; World of Wonders
4. Cornish Trilogy
◊ The Rebel Angels; What’s Bred in the Bone; The Lyre of Orpheus
5. Toronto Trilogy
◊ The Meeting Point; Storm of Fortune; The Bigger Light
6. Ibis Trilogy
◊ Sea of Poppies; River of Smoke; third volume not published yet
7. Regeneration Trilogy
◊ Regeneration; The Eye in the Door; The Ghost Road
8. Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship Trilogy
◊ Sweet and Sour Milk; Sardines; Close Sesame
9. Blood in the Sun Trilogy
◊ Maps; Gifts; Secrets
54
10.New York Trilogy
◊ City of Glass; Ghosts; The Locked Room
11.Nova Trilogy / Cut-Up Trilogy
◊ The Soft Machine; The Ticket that Exploded; Nova Express
12.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (a trilogy in five parts; a sixth added after the author’s death)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe
and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; Mostly Harmless; And Another Thing...
13.The Foundation Series
◊ Foundation; Foundation and Empire; Second Foundation
14.Gormenghast series
◊ Titus Groan; Gormenghast; Titus Alone
15.A Song of Ice and Fire
◊ A Game of Thrones; A Clash of Kings; A Storm of Swords; A Feast for Crows; A Dance with
Dragons; The Winds of Winter; A Dream of Spring
16.Inheritance Cycle
◊ Eragon; Eldest; Brisingr; Inheritance
17.The Studs Lonigan Trilogy
◊ Young Lonigan; The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan; Judgment Day
18.Danny O’Neill pentalogy
◊ A World I Never Made; No Star Is Lost; Father and Son; My Days of Anger; The Face of Time
19.U.S.A. Trilogy
◊ The 42nd Parallel; 1919; The Big Money
20.Century Trilogy
◊ Fall of Giants; Winter of the World; third not yet published
15.George R.R. Martin
10.Paul Auster
5. Austin Clarke
19.John Dos Passos
14.Mervyn Peake
9. Nuruddin Farrah
4. Robertson Davies
18.James T. Farrell
13.Isaac Asimov
8. Nuruddin Farrah
3. Robertson Davies
17.James T. Farrell
12.Douglas Adams
7. Pat Barker
2. Robertson Davies
16.Christopher Paolini
11.William S. Burroughs
6. Amitav Ghosh
1. Hilary Mantel
Answers
55
Games
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Ga
Identify these South Asian Women Writers
Find the authors from the following clues provided by Deepa KP and Padmashree G.
Suniti Namjoshi
Ruth Vanita
Meena Alexander
Taslima Nasrin
Jhumpa Lahiri
Monica Ali
Sikeena Karmali
Namita Gokhale
Bapsi Sidhwa
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
1. Name the American book award winning personality who has been the president since 1991 of
Maithri, a South Asian women’s service which she helped found in the San Francisco area.
2. Identify this versatile personality, one of the founders of Manushi: a journal about women and
society, who was a faculty in Miranda House and the English Department, Delhi University.
3. Name the famous author who was on the advisory committee to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
on Women’s Development, and has been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s national honour in
the arts. She says from age eleven she “did nothing but read books, starting with Little Women.”
4. All the copies of her Bengali work titled “Amar Meyebela” (My Childhood Days) published in the
year 1999 were seized in Calcutta. Name this author who is a citizen of Sweden.
5. Name this Bombay-born Canadian citizen who has written fiction and works as an officer in the
Indian Administrative Service. She promotes writers, particularly women, to use the World Wide
Web as a means of broadcasting and interacting with other writers and readers of poetry.
6. Her autobiographical cycle of poems reflects the surrealism of life, and is shot through with the
frissons of pleasure and pain, of beauty and tension, that mark a truly global identity. Name this
writer who is particularly interested in the “fault lines” of memory.
7. Her work reflects the trauma of self-transformation through immigration, which can result in a
series of broken identities. The stories she has written show the diasporic struggle to keep hold of
culture as characters create new lives in foreign cultures, especially America. Identify the author.
8. Her debut novel is about a young woman’s quest to reconcile her nomadic spirit with an inner
longing for a home. She is a Kenyan born Indian and the present director of a human rights
agency in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Identify the author and the work.
9. She is the author of six novels including Paro: Dreams of Passion, The Book of Shadows, and The
Book of Shiva. She is also a publisher and has contributed immensely to the founding of literary
events such as the famous International Festival of Indian Literature, Neemrana 2002, The Africa
Asia Literary Conference, 2006, the Jaipur Literature Festival which started in 2006, etc. Who is
she?
56
Games
10.The first novel of this Bangladeshi-British writer was published by Doubleday in the summer of
2003 and was a great success. The film made from this novel caused controversy among numbers
of the Bangladeshi community in London. Who is the author?
10.Monica Ali, Brick Lane
5. Suniti Namjoshi
9. Namita Gokhale
4. Taslima Nasrin
8. Sikeena Karmali, A House By the Sea
3. Bapsi Sidhwa
7. Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
2. Ruth Vanita
6. Meena Alexander, Raw Silk
1. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Answers
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Hallmarks of Indian Literature
Sambhaji Manoorkar has devised a game on major novels by Indian writers in English
Arrange these novels chronologically
»» The Moor’s Last Sigh; The Glass Palace; An Equal Music; The Great Indian Novel; English, August
»» Rich Like Us; Nectar in a Sieve; Heat and Dust; Cry, the Peacock; Small Remedies
»» The Inheritance of Loss; The God of Small Things; The White Tiger; River of Smoke; Red Earth and Pouring
Rain
White Tiger (2008); River of Smoke (2011)
»» Red Earth and Pouring Rain (1995); The God of Small Things (1997); The Inheritance of Loss (2006); The
Remedies (2000)
»» Nectar in a Sieve (1945); Cry, the Peacock (1963); Heat and Dust (1975); Rich Like Us (1985); Small
(1999); An Equal Music (2000)
»» English, August (1988); The Great Indian Novel (1989); The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995); The Glass Palace
Answers
57
Games
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Pair them Right
Namitha V.S. and Anju Mary George made this game on relationships.
Identify the relationship between the terms in the first pair and fill in the blanks:
1. Pathetic Fallacy : John Ruskin :: Ideology : _____________________
2. Elizabethan Age : 1558-1603 :: Victorian Age : ____________________
3. Mo Yan : 2012 :: Orhan Pamuk : ________________________
4. Paradise Lost : Blank Verse :: Epithalamion : _______________________
5. O Henry : William Sydney Porter :: Kingsley Amis : _________________________
6. “Sunday Morning”: Wallace Stevens :: “Sunday Afternoon”: ____________________
7. Clarissa : The History of a Young Lady :: Waverley : _________________________
8. Bristol Trilogy : Angela Carter :: USA Trilogy : ______________________
9. Mario Vargas Llosa : Peru :: Gloria Anzaldua : ___________________
10.Pequod : Moby Dick :: Walter Scott : ____________________
11.abab cdcd efef gg: Shakespearean Sonnet :: abab bcbc cdcd ee: ____________________
12.D.H. Lawrence : Rainbow :: George Eliot : ________________________
13. Midnight’s Children : Saleem Sinai :: The Moor’s Last Sigh : _______________________
14.Prioress : Eglantyne :: Wife of Bath : _____________________
15. Gravity’s Rainbow : Second World War :: For Whom the Bell Tolls : _________________
16.“Adonais” : Shelley :: “In Memory of Sigmund Freud” : ____________________
17. The Picture of Dorian Gray : Oscar Wilde :: The Last Puritan : _______________________
18.“Venus and Adonis” : Earl of Southampton :: “Lapis Lazuli” : ________________________
19.Nottinghamshire : Sons and Lovers :: Highbury : _____________________
20. The Sound and the Fury : Shakespeare :: A Raisin in the Sun : _______________
21. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley : 18 poems :: Sonnets from the Portuguese: ________________
22.Stanley Kowalski : A Streetcar Named Desire :: Clay : _______________________
23. Englishman : Richard Steele :: Watchman : ______________________
24. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian : Nirad C. Chaudhuri :: My Dateless Diary :___________
25.Paul de Man : Yale School :: Jurgen Habermas : ________________
58
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Destutt de Tracy
1837-1901
2006
Canzone
Robert Markham
Philip Levine
Tis Sixty years Since
John Dos Passos
Mexico
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Spenserian sonnet
Adam Bede
Moraes Zogoiby
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Alison
Spanish Civil War
W.H. Auden
George Santayana
Harry Clifton
Emma
Langston Hughes
44 poems
Dutchman
Coleridge
R.K. Narayan
Frankfurt School
Answers
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Sin
The stones that hit me were
Less hurting than the eyes that
Attacked me in the nights,
Like a prey I curled with fear—
At night pelt their sweltering bodies,
Now stones!
A long way have I gone, again I run,
At my back the monsters, they never stop…
I fell, the red wet wounds embraced my sweat
I turned for a helping hand
Found gnarling teeth and blazing eyes,
My fragile body squirmed in vain
Then came larger stones, I screamed in pain,
Then I saw Him, the God, my Saviour;
He looked not at me, but when
His eyes turned away, showered
A cascade of Love
That transforms.
He judged truly,
“The one who is free from sin can throw the first stone.”
Vineetha Anna Thomas
Yes, I have sinned, but never more
Not because of the stones hurled at me
But because He forgave me.
59
Impressions
Pieta: Anna M. John
60
Games
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m
Constitution Quiz
Chandrika Raju composed this game on the Constitution of India.
Fill in the blanks
1. The first Vice-President of the Indian Union was ________________.
2. ____________set forth the main objectives of the Constituent Assembly in the form of the Objective Resolution.
3. There are _________________ schedules in the Indian Constitution.
4. At the time of formation of the Indian Constitution there were 395 Articles. At present there are ________________ Articles.
5. _______________ Fundamental Rights have been guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
6. As citizens of India ________________ Fundamental Duties have been assigned to us.
7. The President of India is elected by ____________________.
8. The total number of members in the Lok Sabha is ____________________.
9. The number of elected members in the Lok Sabha is ____________________.
10. __________ members constitute the Rajya Sabha.
11. The Supreme Court constitutes of ________________ judges.
12. “Freedom of the Press” is guaranteed under Article ________________.
13. Under the 8th Schedule ___________ languages have been recognized by the Constitution of India.
14. ________________ is the highest legal adviser to the Government of India.
15. The Article which was described as the “heart and soul” of the constitution by Dr. Ambedkar was __________________ .
(1) Dr. Radhakrishnan (2) Jawaharlal Nehru (3) 12 (4) 444 Articles (5) Six (6) Ten (7) By Electoral
College (8) 552 (9) 530 (10) 250 (11) 26 Judges (12) 19 (1) (13) 22 (14) Attorney General of India
(15) Article 32
Answers
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61
Games
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True or False?
Chandrika Raju composed this game on the Constitution of India.
1. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949.
2. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
3. The Constituted Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946.
4. The Constituent Assembly ceased to exist on 26 November 1949.
5. The Constitution of India is divided into 22 parts.
6. Articles 5 to 11 of the Indian Constitution relate to Citizenship in India.
7. Articles 12 to 35 deal with Fundamental Rights available to Indian citizens.
8. Seventh Schedule contains the Union list, State list and the Concurrent list.
9. Article 343 specifies Hindi as the official language of India.
10.President’s rule in a state is imposed under the provisions of Article 356.
11.Article 356 provides for a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
12.Directive Principles are stated in Article 51 A of the Indian Constitution.
13.The National Integration Council is chaired by the President.
14.The time gap between two sessions of the Parliament should not exceed six months.
15.The voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 in India in 1989.
(1) True (2) False (3) True (4) False (5) True (6) True (7) True (8) True (9) True (10) True
(11) False (12) False (13) False (14) True (15) True
Answers
62
Games
es
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How the Vernacular Affects Us!
Common mistakes made under the influence of the vernacular—that is what Chandrika Raju presents in
the following table and game.
No:
What we say
It’s better to say
1
The student gave his exam.
The student took his exam.
2
I haven’t seen him today morning.
I haven’t seen him this morning.
3
The Principal will arrive just now.
The Principal will arrive soon.
4
His uncle is presently in London.
His uncle is in London at present.
5
Stand in the middle of the circle.
Stand in the center of the circle.
6
That grocer has plenty of clients.
That grocer has plenty of customers.
7
That lawyer has plenty of customers.
That lawyer has plenty of clients.
8
Is there place for me on the bus?
Is there room for me on the bus?
What’s wrong with these sentences?
1. When I sleep I take out my shoes.
2. He works in the office since five years.
3. How you are going with your piano lessons?
4. It’s two years now since she left from
England.
5. Myself and my sister will not be present.
6. He got down from his bicycle and spoke me.
7. The two first pages of my book has been
lost.
8. When I went to home I found that the
money was disappeared.
9. I and he intend to leave to England after two
weeks.
10.When he will return back, I shall say him
everything.
6. He got off his bicycle and spoke to me.
5. My sister and I will not be present.
4. It has been two years since she left England.
3. How are you getting on with your piano
lessons?
10.When he returns, I will tell him everything.
9. He and I intend to leave for England in two
weeks.
8. When I went home I found that the money
had disappeared.
2. He has worked in this office for five years.
7. The first two pages of my book are lost.
1. When I go to bed, I take off my shoes.
Answers
63
Review
NARCOPOLIS
Gigy J. Alex highlights the artistry of the
2012 Sahitya Akademi Award winner
J
eet Thayil is best known as a performance poet and musician. The poetic vigour and metaphors he employs in his
verse pieces are mirrored in his début novel also. Having worked as a journalist in Mumbai, Bangalore and New
York, Thayil is familiar with all sorts of people and their lives. It might have helped him in giving a real picture of the
city, its secrets and history. Narcopolis, shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 2012, is based on his life and experiences
in Mumbai city.
This novel, which attacks, shocks and
subverts conventional perceptions, is
the realistic portrayal of a metropolis
caught in the tentacles of narcotics,
crime, lust and murder. The story of
Mumbai metropolis is paralleled with
that of eunuchs and sex workers. A
eunuch--Zeenat aka Dimple--bridges
the narcotics sale and the polis. One
of the most interesting features
about Narcopolis is that the heroine in
the novel is a eunuch. She witnesses
the pain, agony and mental anguish
involved in the drug business and in
her own body as a result of hormonal
changes, and ultimately becomes an
opium addict.
Shuklaji Street becomes a major
persona in the novel. It is the
microcosm of the Mumbai metro
where
we
encounter
people
from all parts of the world, giving
it a cosmopolitan aura. In this
cosmopolitan
world,
sojourners
from various places, such as Xavier
Newton and Mr. Lee, visit and vanish
without leaving behind their marks on
the city.
The novel is a bundle of stories,
dreams and histories, and moves
cyclically,
reminiscent
of
the
gyrations of a narcotic experience. 64
Narcopolis
Beginning with the narrator’s (Dom
Ullis) autobiographical account of
the intellectual side of Mumbai, it
portrays the painters, writers, poets
and philosophers of the city who
re-write and re-read the religious
scriptures and epics, and moves
back again to conclude the story of
the metropolis. In the introductory
chapter, Thayil presents an equation,
memory=pain=being human, and
the whole story revolves around this
theme.
Narcopolis is divided into four books:
Book One, “The City of O,” Book
Two, “The Story of the Pipe,” Book
Three, “The Intoxicated” and Book
Four, “Some Uses of Reincarnation.”
It begins with an epilogue taken
from the Holy Koran (78-6-9), which
speaks about the creation of man and
woman. The novel that deals with the
deadly opium, death and destruction,
celebrates life towards the end when
Dimple says, “I knew what a lucky
life I was given and I understood
everything: the exact meaning of
the sun in the infinite sky and the
trees trembling around us and the
people hungry of affection… .”
Thayil concludes his novel by paying
homage to the pipe (drug), “This is
the story the pipe told to me. All I did
was write it down, one word after the
other, beginning and ending with the
same one, Bombay. ”
Story
A MYTH
A short story from Ashish Joe’s
collection, The Love Letter*
T
he lecture went on and on... Sitting in the back row, I
was conveniently ‘hibernating’.
An ecology class after a good lunch can never be
interesting. As the frequency of my nodding peaked, a foreign
object hit my temple. My sleep was disrupted.
It was nothing but a chalk piece. Prof. Sharma is a sharp
shooter.
“You lazy fellow, stand up.”
I had no choice but to obey.
“Come on, now, say, what is an ecosystem?”
“Sir... eh... ecosystem is something which has living and non-living
beings and eh...” my words dragged like a heavy log.
“Is this what I have been teaching you for the past half an
hour?”
“Are you dreaming…? Which angel was in your dream…?
You lazy idiot… now get lost from my sight,” The professor
thundered.
“I won’t, sir…”
“What…?”
“I… am… not… willing… to… go… out!!! I know the answer.” My voice was steady, hard and loud.
Sharma was baffled at the sudden shift in my confidence level.
“Ok, then, go on… but if you go wrong even slightly, then, mark my words, you won’t sit in my class for the rest of
the semester.”
“I do agree, sir.”
The challenge was tough, but I was ready to take it up.
65
It is said, “As the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”
I started…
“An ecosystem is an ecological unit consisting of both the biotic (living)
and the abiotic (non-living) factors of the environment. The organisms and
environment are separable and interactive in their nature.”
I went on and on.
“Animals which are holozoic cannot synthesize their food and hence
depend upon plants either directly or indirectly. The plants, on the other
hand, are holophytic and are capable of synthesizing their own food but are
absolutely dependent upon the abiotic environment for the procurement of
raw materials like water, light, carbondioxide and mineral salts essential for
the preparation of food.”
My eyes inspected each and every face; the entire class was absolutely
glued to my scholarly discourse. Confidence surged as a warm current in
my nerves.
The next twenty minutes were the most memorable moments of my college life. When I stopped my little speech, I
saw a wave of awe sweep across the faces that gaped at me. Prof. Sharma stood up in admiration, a huge burst of
applause followed.
I was speechless… tears poured down my cheeks. I had done it. The overwhelming joy was driving me crazy. I
laughed. My laughter became a frantic, lunatic outcry. I felt my nerves tighten up, on the brink of an explosion.
Tchak!
Something hit my head. The laughter faded, nerves loosened. I stared in wonder at Prof. Sharma.
“You crazy fellow… stand up!” The professor thundered.
“Have you gone mad…? What is so funny that you laugh…? Do I look like a clown?”
I stood dumb like a lamb led to the slaughterhouse.
“Now, answer me, what is an ecosystem?”
“Sir… eh… ecosystem is… eh…” I stumbled.
Nothing of the little speech in my dream returned. All that came up was darkness.
* The Love Letter, published by Paridhi Publications, Thiruvananthapuram, in 2012.
66
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