baselius researcher-issn-0975-8658

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BASELIUS RESEARCHER-ISSN-0975-8658
A Biannual International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Research
A Biannual International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Research
BASELIUS RESEARCHER ISSN 0975-8658
Patron Saint
H.H. Moran Mar Baselius Geevarghese II
Guidelines for Authors
Baselius Researcher is a biannual journal published by the Principal,
Baselius College, Kottayam on behalf of Baselius Research Guidance Centre,
Baselius College, Kottayam. It aims at promoting research activities in the
sciences, arts and humanities. As a journal of interdisciplinary studies, it intends
to cater to the needs of all who are committed to the cause of higher learning.
Patrons
H.H. Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East &
His Grace Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan,
Manager, M.O.C. Colleges
Advisory Board
Rev. Dr. K.M. George
Dr. Alexander Karakkal
Dr. P.C. Ravindran
Dr. V. Mathew Kurian
Dr. K.P. Joy
Dr. A.P.Thomas
Prof. O.M. Mathew
Dr. M.S. Samuel
Dr. E.C. Raju
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
(India)
Dr. Mathew George Panicker
Dr. Babu Philip
Dr. Jacob Naduparambil
Dr. V. Alexander Raju
(UK)
(Australia)
(Germany)
(Libya)
Editorial Board
Prof. Jacob Kurian Onattu (Principal)
Editors
Dr. Susan Panicker, Associate Professor & HOD, Dept of
Zoology, Baselius College Kottayam 686001. Ph: 94473 66927
Dr. V. Maya Kuriakose, Associate Professor, Post Graduate
Dept. of English Baselius College, Kottayam 686001.
Ph: 9895549264
Dr. Joy Markose (Bursar)
Dr. Daisy Joseph (Treasurer)
Dr. Varghese Leena
Dr. Shyla Abraham
Dr. Annamma Kurian
Dr. Nibu A George
Dr. V.M. Mathew
Dr. Geetha Lakshmi K.
Dr. Annie Mathews
Dr. Annie Cherian
Dr. V.A. Philip
Dr. P.M. James
Dr. P.V. Viswanathan Nampoothiri
Fr. Dr. Thomson Roby
Dr. Suma Bino Thomas
Dr. Nirmala Joseph
Dr. Jalaja J. Malayan
Dr. Biju Thomas
Dr. Jancey Thomas
Dr. Sherly Kurian
Printed and Typeset at:
Dona Colour Graphs, Kottayam. Ph: 2562008
Manuscripts of articles offered for publication should be neatly typed in
double space on one side of the paper with a margin of at least one and a half
inches. References and bibliography should follow the current MLA stylesheet
or any other internationally accepted format.References should appear
alphabetically at the end of the paper. Follow the reference citation strictly in
accordance to the following examples.
Book: Alexander, G.K, A model for the commodity price system
analysis, Himalaya Publication, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 120-125
Journal Articles: Campbell, W.H. ‘Nitrate reductase and its role in
nitrate assimilation in plants’. Physiol plant, 1988, 74; 214-219
The soft copy together with its hardcounterpart should be sent to the Editor,
Baselius Researcher, Baselius College, Kottayam, Kerala - 686 001, India or
emailed to [email protected] or [email protected] or
[email protected] copyright agreement form duly signed by
all the authors (find the format in the Journal) Two Referees report
(Find the format in the Journal). Rs. 1000/- will be charged for each
article towards publication expenses. Kindly send publication fees in
Demand Draft / Cheque at par, in favour of Principal, Baselius College,
Kottayam-Publisher of Baselius Researcher.
Articles in this journal do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the
Principal / Baselius Research Guidance Centre, Baselius College, Kottayam.
The annual subscription of the Journal is Rs 1000/- Baselius Researcher is
published in January and July every year.
For further details, please contact,
The Editor, Baselius Researcher
The Editorial Office,
Baselius Research and Guidance Centre
Baselius College, Kottayam, Kerala - 686 001, India.
Telephone: 0091-481-2563918, 2565958, 2304408.
Fax: 0091-481-2565958
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Web : www.baselius.ac.in
CONTENTS
From the Principal’s Desk
Editorial
53. AKNISAKSHI : The Achievement of Full Being
Annie Margret
743
Sajeev P. P.
752
Raghul V. Rajan
759
Neethu Varghese
772
Preethy Mary George
778
Solvin Mathew
786
Mary Senterla P. S.
798
Sushan P. K.
809
61. Aadhaar - A Card For Development
Tissy Eruthickal
819
62. Applications of M-commerce
Berly Sebastian
826
63. A Glimpse Into The Web Mining Languages
Eldhose T. John
832
64. Nothing Becomes a Number : On the Origins of Zero
Sindhurani P. J.
847
65. Women Empowerment and Self Help Groups: An Overview
Sijo K. Manuel
855
66. Market Potential of Ayurveda in the International Scenario
Jomon Lonappan
864
Shibi K.P.S.
871
Sumi Mary Thomas
876
69. A Comparative Study of Dry Rubber Content in Natural Rubber Latex, Creamed Latex and
Centrifuged Latex.
Vidya Jose
880
70. _mey-Øns‚ Nn{Xo-I-cWw am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS IYm-tem-I-Øn¬
Shyla Abraham
887
71. Christianity and the state from the time of Constantine in Rome
Fr. Thomson Roby
895
72.
Sobhitha Sebastian
915
Meljo Jose
920
54. Social consciousness and femininity in the Novels of Jane Austen
55. Freudian Permutations and Combinations in Updike’s Terrorist.
56. Decentering of Myths and Its Role in Women’s Studies
57. Deconstruction of the Poem ‘Mirror’
58. China - Pak Nexus : India’s Emerging Templates of Smart Balancing
59. Conceptual Analysis of Human Rights Violations
60. Today’s Business Environment: A Strategic Management Approach
67. Struggle For Meaning – A Critical Analysis on Naguib Mahfouz
68. Rise of Islamic culture in Kerala
73. Rethinking Panel Culture: A Study of Comic Superhero MAYAVI
ACCREDITED BY INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATION
ISSN 0975 - 8658
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
A Biannual Journal of
Interdisciplinary Studies and Research
Volume XIII Number 2
July - December 2012
THIRTEENTH ISSUE
Published on Behalf of
Baselius Research Guidance Centre
Baselius College, Kottayam
Kerala, India - 686 001
BASELIUS COLLEGE, KOTTAYAM
Affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University
Kottayam, Kerala
NAAC REACCREDITED. @ B++ LEVEL
Accredited by
International Accreditation Organization
739
CROSS BORDER EDUCATION : PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS
People crossing national boundaries and going for higher education
in foreign lands is nothing new. Our great leaders like Gandhiji, Nehru
and Ambedkar had had their university education in famous British
universities almost a century ago. However, the term ‘cross border
education’ in the modern context of internationalization of higher education
means much more. In the new era of globalization and information
communication technology explosion, cross border education has
thoroughly revolutionized our higher education scenario.
Globalization has been defined as a process that is increasing “the
flow of people, cultures, ideas, values, knowledge, technology and
economy across borders, resulting in a more interconnected and
interdependent world”. Education is one major area which is greatly
influenced by globalization. ICT, especially internet connectivity, and
increased mobility facilities have greatly boosted the growth of cross –
border education which is also known today as ‘transnational education’
and ‘offshore education’.
A standard definition for cross border education is “the movement of
people, knowledge, programmes, providers and curriculum across national
or regional jurisdictional borders”. India has become a major market for
the advanced western countries to sell their educational expertise. Affluent
Indian parents today send their children to famous foreign universities
and institutions. Some foreign players come to India for opening branch
campuses, or arranging twinning programmes, franchise centres etc.
Like globalization, cross border education also has good and bad
consequences. No doubt, it brings in global standards and better quality.
But it also offers a system of education without reference to a nation’s
history, traditions, culture, values etc. Moreover, most cross border
education initiatives are profit–motivated. Education is not an ‘aid’ to
developing countries anymore, it is a ‘trade’. However, when even our
IITs cannot find a place for themselves in the list of the best academies in
the world, can we block the entry of foreign players or prevent our affluent
youngsters from crossing borders to get hold of quality education ?
Baselius College,
01/11/2012
740
Prof. Jacob Kurian Onattu
Principal
E-mail : [email protected],
[email protected]
BASELIUS RESEARCHER ISSN-0975-8658
Vol. XIII No 2
CONTENTS
Editorial
Annie Margret
54. Social consciousness and femininity in the Novels of Jane Austen
Sajeev P. P.
55. Freudian Permutations and Combinations in Updike’s Terrorist.
Raghul V. Rajan
Neethu Varghese
57. Deconstruction of the Poem ‘Mirror’
Preethy Mary George
58. China - Pak Nexus : India’s Emerging Templates of Smart Balancing
Solvin Mathew
Mary Senterla P. S.
60. Today’s Business Environment: A Strategic Management Approach
Sushan P. K.
61. Aadhaar - A Card For Development
Tissy Eruthickal
Berly Sebastian
Eldhose T. John
Sindhurani P. J.
Sijo K. Manuel
Jomon Lonappan
Shibi K.P.S.
Sumi Mary Thomas
69. A Comparative Study of Dry Rubber Content in Natural Rubber
Latex, Creamed Latex and Centrifuged Latex.
Vidya Jose
70. _mey-Øns‚ Nn{Xo-I-cWw am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS IYm-tem-I-Øn¬
Shyla Abraham
71. Christianity and the state from the time of Constantine in Rome
Fr. Thomson Roby
72.
Sobhitha Sebastian
743
752
759
772
778
786
798
809
819
826
832
847
855
864
871
876
880
887
895
915
73. Rethinking Panel Culture: A Study of Comic Superhero MAYAVI
920
Meljo Jose
741
Editorial
The world we live in has progressed beyond limits in all respects.
The sectors that have attained maximum success and glory give ample scope
for pride and satisfaction. Especially our Motherland India, will be emerging
soon as one of the World Powers with unprecedented economic growth and
strength that can vie with even the greatest and most outstanding countries.
Our achievements in the field of science, including nuclear experiments, Space
adventures etc are enviable. Technology, medicine and other branches of
education are all vigorously developing and almost all the nations are dotting
on India with awe and wonder. Even the recent summit on Emerging Kerala is
a good indication of this fact. The promising youngsters of our country are
embarking on many life saving and benefitting projects inside and outside,
which is highly gratifying. Many steps are being taken by the Central and State
Governments, for the holistic development of India.
The other side of the coin is bringing forth certain stark realities that
are not exactly glamorous. Inspite of our rich heritage of spirituality and divinity
that has been ordained by our saints and sanyasis, many incidents that take
place here, proclaim violence and intolerance. In this homeland of Gandhiji,
who equated truth with God, untruth is flourishing at the expense of human
beings, who defame each other. Corruption and malpractice are rampant. All
the sacred bondages such as parent-child relation, teacher-student relation
etc have lost their purity and an essential disintegration is creeping in. Almost
all concrete abodes and niches, man enjoyed, that provided confidence and
a certainty for him are crumbling down. He is in a fix as to choose between the
precious and the frivolous ………. between the covetable and the pugnacious
…………… the preferable and the loathsome.
At this juncture we have only one choice and that is, the one and only
path of real knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom will lead us to truth and truth can
lift us to Eternity and Spiritual Bliss. This is the only panacea for this baffling
state of indecisions, insincerity and inconsistency. Our Baselius Researcher
is putting in her humble contribution in this endeavour by providing space and
opportunity for informative articles in different subjects that can open the eyes
of our students, spur the enthusiasm of research scholars and add to the
fervour of the faculty inside and outside our institution. Let our venture ascend
the steps of success further!
Editors
Dr. Susan Panicker & Dr. V. Maya Kuriakose
Baselius College,
Kottayam
30/11/2012
742
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Research
Baselius College, Kottayam, Kerala, India
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 743-751
AKNISAKSHI :
The Achievement of Full Being
Annie Margret
Abstract
Malayalam is the language of the people of Kerala, a state at the
Southernmost end of the Indian subcontinent. The state has acquired
fame as the birth place of the famous Indian English novelist and
Booker Prize Winner Arundhati Roy. She has immortalized the place
in her novel The God of Small things. Malayalam literature is versatile
and marked by its rich tradition and dignified language and culture.
Agnisakshi lays bare the painful realities in the life of the high class
Nampoothiri Community with their tradition of ritualistic practices and
prohibitions that limit the freedon of its members and stunt the growth
of their identity. The novel revolves round the heroine, Thethikutty,
who plays different roles in her life to reach the true awareness of her
self. This is unfolded through the memories of her cousin-in-law
Mrs.Thankom Nair, who could grasp the fire burning within Thethi.
One after the other the false identities fall off and she comes to the
realization of her real self. She reaches her identity – an Indian woman’s
identity – which is closely linked to her motherhood. In shaping her
identity the special Indian religious, cultural and political environments
play their roles. The theories of the social psychologists Erik H. Erikson
and R.D Laing are employed as tools for the analysis of the heroine’s
identity quest.
743
Aknisakshi : The Achievement of Full Being
AGNISAKSHI : THE ACHIEVEMENT OF FULL BEING
Lalithambika Antharjanam’s Agnisakshi, the Malayalam novel that
bagged many prestigious awards, unravels through its pages the life of
the Nampoothiri Community of Kerala during one of its revolutionary and
epoch-making periods. But the main thrust of the novel is on the
experience of the heroine, Thethikutty whose search for a satisfying identity
drives her to play different roles leading in the end to a new awareness of
her true self. The story is unfolded through the reminiscences of her
cousin-in-law Mrs.Thankom Nair, whose accidental meeting with her longlost, long-wished-for childhood friend, Thethiyedathi ushers in a flood of
memories. Fully conscious of her social duty as a writer, the novelist uses
her pen to lash against the corrupt practices in her community.
Though Indian Constitution guarantees equal rights for women with
men, we notice that even after Independence, their status has not
improved much and they remain a disadvantaged group in many ways.
Many reasons can be attributed to this pitiable state. In the Indian Society
men have always controlled knowledge and even interpreted classical
texts. To the Indian woman, Sita of Ramayana, represents the epitome of
proper wife and the model to be emulated. Then it is not surprising that in
such a society women have lost the power of explaining and defining
themselves and the realities of their experience. Their ideals and images
are not born out of their own experiences. It is the man who decides
everything and who must be always obeyed.
The wifely role is one of subordination, devotion and dutifulness.
From childhood begins, a girl’s training how to be a good wife. She learns
that as womanly virtues she should have submission, and docility as well
as skill and grace in various household tasks. She observes periodical
‘bratas’ for the others in her family and not for herself. Her devotion to
her husband should extend to his family members also. It is strictly
instructed in the scriptures that even though the husband is destitute of
virtue, and seeks pleasure elsewhere he must be worshipped by a faithful
wife. So Indian wives are ‘pativratas’, subservient, and the Indian tradition
has always applauded their self-effacement and thus promoted their
subjection.
744
Baselius Researcher ISSN 0975 - 8658
The enlightened freedom fighters, social reformers and Christian
missionaries of the 19th and 20th centuries, worked towards the upliftment
of the women, especially for the abolition of Sati, female infanticide, and
education of women, and even supported widow remarriage. The
opportunity to acquire Western education, had critical implications on
Indian thought, morals and culture. This encouraged educated women to
reflect upon their own culture and reassess it. Mahatma Gandhi identified
‘sthreeshakti’ and urged women to come out of their cages to work for
their own and country’s freedom. These sparks of revolution reached
Kerala also where women even from the secluded Nampoothiri Community
also responded to Gandhiji’s Call. Agnisakshi is this story, the story
of Thethi’s experiments with different roles, in search of freedom and
fulfilment. She begins her adult life as a dutiful wife craving for the love
and recognition from her husband. Frustrated, she then assumes the
role of her community’s reformer from where she jumps into the fire of
freedom movement. Fed up with the corruptions in politics, she at last
seeks refuge in the garb of a sanyasini, away from the hold of the world.
But even here, the peace and fulfilment she was seeking so far, elude
her. Her true self which yearned for recognition, her so far suppressed
desire for motherhood, all break loose at the end in the presence of
Appu, Thankom’s son, her own symbolic son. A new reality, a new sense
of identity is born to her at that moment. She comes to the awareness
that her identity, an Indian woman’s identity is crowned in motherhood. An
Indian woman gets freedom from exploitation, after she becomes a mother,
especially the mother of a boy-child. She is raised to a better position of
honour. She becomes mature and conscious of her role of responsibility
in the family and society.
All through her life, the impulse to create an identity as a woman
free from the destructive hold of the family tradition and elders, was strong
in the heroine. She was brought up in a progressive Nampoothiri family,
where members were educated and had a passion for knowledge, new
ideas, and for a superstition – free life. The questions about her real role
in life pestered her all through.
In the mind of a person, other than the personal qualities inherited
from his parents, there operate the standards and tastes of the social
class to which he belongs and also its traditions and past. This past which
745
is a powerful reality to everyone stays with him forever as part of his
environment. Erikson has pointed out the relation between the individual
and his communal culture in the discovery of a person’s self. This longing
for self-awareness is present in every individual. Self realization and mutual
recognition result when he merges his individual identity in his community
who share the same cultural and racial identity. A feeling of self-sameness
rejuvenates the individual that it is followed by a sense of identity and
integration with his community. During this process he experiments with
various roles. They are accepted and then rejected for a better one. This
is what Erikson calls identity diffusion. The failure to reach a proper identity
makes him a split personality whose actions do not reveal his true self. In
the beginning of the novel, Thethi’s struggle to be a dutiful wife and also
to be an independent woman capable enough to exercise her individuality,
reveals her split self system.
Unlike the Western women, Indian women’s identity is deeply
embedded in her family, caste, class and community. Her identity as a
Hindu woman evolves out of several factors like her relationships as a
daughter in her parents’ family, as wife and daughter-in-law in her
husband’s family and out of the traditional ideas of womanhood nurtured
in her from childhood onwards by her community. All these together
provide her psycho-social matrix. So the presence of ideal feminine figures
like Sita and Savitri is necessary for overcoming the transitional problems
faced by her during her girlhood when she gets married. In spite of her
ideals she steps into her new house with a bundle of apprehensions and
nostalgia. In the social hierarchy of her new family, the bride usually
occupies one of the lowest positions. Obedience and compliance with the
wishes of the family elders are expected from her. A mistake on her part
may invite sarcastic reference to her family and upbringing. No deep
attachment is allowed to develop between the husband and wife as this
may affect his relations with his parents, brothers and sisters. They are
allowed to be together only for brief periods at night. In her isolation, the
bride may develop some form of friendship and attachment with certain
younger members of the family as seen in Agnisakshi between Thethi
and Thankom. In such a society, the women often turn their aggression
against themselves feeling their own worthlessness, inferiority and
powerlessness. Agnisakshi is a typical Malayalee Nampoothiri novel in
746
which the subjugation and struggle of the women folk of the community
are poignantly depicted.
The different names the heroine assumes during the different stages
of her life symbolize her experiments with different roles and their
subsequent rejection in favour of a better one. The inner struggles and
tensions borne by the women during the 19th and the first half of the 20th
century are given fictional presentation by the novelist with the clear
purpose of turning the attention of the society to the lot of this deprived
section of people. It is also an attempt on the part of the novelist to give
the women an awareness of their situation above which they have to rise.
The novel opens at the last part of the story where the narrator,
Mrs.Thankom Nair meets her sister-in-law Thethiyedathi after a gap of
many years on the banks of the holy river Ganges as Swamini
Sumitrananda. Thankom has come to this holy place to perform the last
rites for her dead brother Unniyettan, Thethi’s husband, though there is
also the unexpressed wish to search for and meet her Thethiyedathi. But
Swamini evades Thankom’s question about her identity with the reply
that a yogini has no poorvashrma and she is only Sumitrananda.
Thankom returns to her hotel, with her son Appu and grand
daughter, fully agitated and upset but sure about the identity of Thethi.
Soon memories flood her thought and once more she lives through her
past. She is again a girl of fourteen eagerly watching the grahasthasrma
rites of her Nampoothiri brother Unniyettan. But she has no place there
as she is not a Brahmin but only the daughter born to apphan Nampoothiri
to a Nair woman. A Nampoothiri male could have any number of wives
from the Nair caste, but the legal one for his tharavadu, had to be from
his own caste and the right of inheritance was due only to the children of
this union. The novelist herself a member of the high caste was always
conscious of the injustices inflicted on the lower caste wives and their
children by the Nampoothiri community. Their excommunication was so
severe that they were even prohibited from going near their father or his
relatives even for performing the last rites.
A strong friendship and love blossom between Thankom and Thethi
after the marriage, which runs through the entire length of the novel.
Unni, being the elder son has the responsibility of performing all the pujas
747
and bratas of his family that he finds no time to spend with his wife. He
has to wait for the auspicious occasion to step into his wife’s bedroom
and that only to beget children for his tharavadu. Thus even marriage is
a part of his religious duty and he observes all the rites associated with it
ceremoniously. According to him grihasthasrama is not for one’s pleasure
but for discharging duty, and marriage is only for sacrifice. Unni is thus
the ideal elder son of the family but fails miserably in his role as a husband.
Thethi is intelligent, active, ambitious and eager for a liberated social life.
But in her husband’s house she is pushed to the back part of the house
as was usual for the Nampoothiri women, who are allowed to touch only
Ramayana or Shiv Purana. So even Thankom feels the injustice inflicted
on poor Thethi and on one occasion she mentions this to Unni.
It is then no surprise that Thethi gets restless and sad as days
pass by. She becomes conscious of a conflict brewing inside her
conscience between the desire for freedom to assert her individuality
and the consciousness of her role as a Nampoothiri wife in an orthodox
family. Within her lean body a volcano is slowly erupting. Even her longing
for a child of her own–the yearning inbuilt in every woman, the essential
component of a woman’s identity–seems to be impossible. In the depth of
her anguish and despair, once she makes Thankom swear that the child
to be born to her will be Thethi’s also.
Thethi’s brother, a revolutionary reformer is arrested by the police
for his activities. This makes her a victim to more abuses and isolation in
the family. But the real crisis occurs when the news of her mother’s illness
reaches her. The family elders vehemently declare that she cannot be
sent to nurse her mother as that family has violated the norms of the
community and is excommunicated. Now Thethi decides to assert her
freedom and leaves the household fully conscious of leaving behind her
husband’s silent love.
From now onwards, we see a different face of Thethi ie, as Devaki
Manampalli, the energetic lady determined to reform her community. She
begins to experiment with this new role, in search of a better identity.
She claims to be the symbol of the women of her community, determined
to throw away their burden of suffering. She acts fully conscious of the
fact that it is possible to erect a better social structure by destroying the
748
decayed traditions and superstitions. In fact now Devaki Manampalli is an
institution. When her brother-in-law comes to take her back, she replies
that she is ready to retrace her steps to any extent for her husband but
he has to come forward a little for her sake. But this never happens and
they are never reunited.
In the next stage of her identity search, we see her with Mahatma
Gandhi, in the fire of the freedom struggle, as Devi Bahan. She is driven
to this by her newly found awareness that her community’s freedom is
inextricably connected with the country’s freedom. She gets the training
in self-discipline, purification and sacrifice from Mahatma Gandhi. In spite
of all these, we see her real self peeping out at times. Everyday holding
on to her mangalaya sutra, she prays for the welfare and long life of her
husband. This reveals her confusions and split self-systems which refuse
to yield to the restrictions imposed by her disciplined life. Her past
looms over her as a threat about to envelope her at any moment. But the
freedom of the country, when it comes at last generates only despair
and void in Devi Bahan. The corruption and lawlessness generated
after independence, prompt her to shed this role also. Even this life fails
to offer her the shanti, that she was seeking so far. Next she emerges as
the saviour of the oppressed classes in society. But an unexpected turn
of events in her asram drive her away from life altogether. She loses
confidence in the life around her that she seeks solace in God and
embraces the life of a sanyasini.
From now onwards, we witness the next and last phase of her search
for identity, in the role of a yogini, engaged in a life of self-denial, fasting,
sacrifice and pilgrimage to do penance for the sins of others and to do
service to the eternal brahma. At the outset of this new role, she writes a
letter to her husband revealing her inner struggles and confusions in
search of a satisfying identity. With the letter goes her mangalaya sutra,
the symbol of her karma bandham hoping vainly that the denial of this
last tie to the world will give her the shanti and freedom that she sought
so far. Thethi accepts the name Sumitrananda, begins the new life, but is
still a victim to her past. Everyday before food, she throws a part of the
alms that she gets from her devotees into fire, to satisfy her conscience
for having deserted her wifely duty.
749
But the accidental meeting with Thankom turns off all the screws of
her new life. Thankom identifies her Thethiyedathi behind the façade of
the yogini Sumitrananda. Her question upsets her equilibrium that she
runs back to her ashram, completely overwhelmed by emotions and
thoroughly upset. This confirms the truth that an individual cannot attain
fulfilment away from his people and community. All identities are related
to a set of other identities and no person can exist in a vacuum. Now her
past begins to oppress her conscience more than ever. The face of her
husband appears more insistently than before that she becomes aware
of the futility of trying to escape from the hold of traditions, law and even
love. With a strong will, to win over her desperate condition, Sumitrananda
embarks on a twelve day meditation with complete fasting.
On the last day of the meditation, Sumitrananda emerges fully
purified, peaceful and calm ready to bless her devotees. On this occasion,
the presence of Thankom ruffles her not in the least. Even her mangalaya
sutra on Thankom’s palm cannot create any reverberations in her mind.
But the mask of her false identity peels off when she finds Appu, her own
promised son at her feet. She stoops down forgetting all her inhibitions
and pretentions, embraces him, reaching the heights of motherhood, so
far suppressed in her. The fulfilment that envelopes Sumitrananda, signals
the birth of a new era, the birth of the real identity for Thethikutty of
Manampalli Illam. Thus the saga of her identity search is over reinforcing
the thesis that an Indian Woman’s identity is closely linked with motherhood,
which is her life’s mission.
Explanatory Notes
1. Apphan – In the Nampoothiri Community only the eldest son
marries from his own caste and only his children belong to and
inherit the family.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Ashram – The place where the Hindu religions community live.
Brahma – God
Bratas – Fasting and prayer.
Ganges – A holy river in India
Grahasthasrama – Marriage
Illam – A Nampoothiri house
8.
Karma bandham – Worldly ties
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Mangalya Sutra – A gold ornament worn by a married women as a
symbol of her loyalty to her husband.
Nampoothiri – The priestly caste of Kerala.
Pativrata – a woman who is loyal to her husband.
Poorvashrama – Past life.
Puja – Rites of worship
Ramayana, Mahabharata, Shiv Purana – holy books of Hindu
religion.
Sanyasini – a woman who has accepted the life of an ascetic.
Sati – A married woman jumping and killing herself in the funeral
pyre of her husband. A Hindu rite.
Savithri – A woman in Mahabharatha, who is the symbol of
faithfulness to husband.
Shanti – peace
Sita – A woman in Ramayana who is the symbol of wifely
submissiveness and virtue.
Sthreeshakti – Moral power of womanhood.
Swamini – A respectful term of addressing a sanyasini.
Tharavadu – The ancestral house.
Thethiyedathi – A respectful term for addressing one’s elder sister
used by Thankom.
Yogini – Sanyasini.
Selected Bibliography
1. Erikson, Erik H. Identity : Youth and Crisis New York : W.W. Norton
& Co., 1968. Print.
2. Laing, R.D. Self and Others, New York : Penguin Books, 1961.
Print.
3. ________ . The Divided Self : an Existential Study in Sanity and
Madness Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1965. Print.
4. Antharjanam, Lalithambika, Agnisakshi, Kottayam : Sahitya
Pravarthaka Co-operative Society, 1976. Print.
5. Ghadially, Rahana, Women in Indian Society New Delhi: Sage
Publications, 1988. Print.
About the Author
Dr. Annie Margret, Reader (Retd) Dept. of English, B.C.M. College, Kottayam, Kerala,
India
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Vol. XIII No.2
pp 752-758
Social consciousness and femininity in the
Novels of Jane Austen
Sajeev P. P.
Jane Austen, the greatest of the Victorians and most probably the
greatest of all English novelists, who wrote in the realist stream, was the
fountain stream of a rich novelistic tradition relished all over the world.
She has an acute and delightful way of perceiving and narrating human
experiences. The settings of her novels are largely rural , and the tone
and content are always ironic and comical in nature. She places matrimony
as the central theme of her novels. The pangs and overzealousness
shown by the elderly in the matter of marriage of their young ones are
akin to the well established Indian sentiments in the same matter. She
was a guiding light to many of the Indian writers like Vikram Seth,
R.K.Narayanan, Ashapurna Devi, Ruth Parwar Jhabwala et al.
As a practitioner of realism, she got the first comment from Sir Walter
Scott, who himself a romantic, acknowledged Austen’s novels as a correct
and striking representation of that which is daily taking place’.(Trivedi
12). Richard Whately said Austen gave fiction the greatest appearance
of reality (Trivedi 12). The nineteenth century critics were busy comparing
her with Shakespeare, in her richness of representation of English life.
Critics like G.H. Lewes considered her as a ‘Prose Shakespeare’. A. C.
Bradley in his 1911 lecture was also ardent in comparing her with
Shakespeare. Later day critics were equally enthusiastic in praising the
wit, irony, formal control and perfection and moralizing in Austen’s works.
Wayne C Booth considers Emma as her finest achievement, and in Lionel
Trilling’s view Mansfield Park is a problem novel at par with Shakespeare’s
problem plays. (Trivedi 17).
752
How real is Austen’s realism? Her depiction of ‘that which is daily
taking place’ has certain shortcomings. Austen’s England was witnessing
the after effects of Napoleonic wars. In Vanity fair Thackeray represented
with his own high seriousness, the pangs and vibrancy of English society
affected by the arduous and disastrous Anglo-French wars. Julia Prewitt
Brown argues; Austen’s femininity is responsible for her subdued response
to war. To a woman, war is not heroic, but a harbinger of distrust and
destruction. She is concentrating on what the war brought rather than
what the war did. In Persuasion she showed us how people got together
after the war and what finally the war was for. Her concentration on women
characters also was a result of war. Men were few in Austen’s England
because of their pre-occupation with Napoleonic wars. The feminine half
was left out of the purview of war (Trivedi 29). Instead of showing masculine
heroism in her novels, Austen turned to the everyday life of English women.
Her sinister outlook on war is evident in Mr.Shepherd’s enthusiasm about
the returning naval officers in Persuasion. “They will be all wanting a
home. Could not be a better time, Sir Walter, for having a choice of tenants,
very responsible tenants. Many a noble fortune has been made during
the war. If a rich Admiral were to come in our way, Sir Walter”(Austen
1153). Austen’s linking of war with domestic experience overshadowing
its political fallout is the result of her femininity.
Austen’s novels concentrate on the experience of marriage and
family life. She is mainly concerned about her domestic corner than the
larger canvas of the world. Though the out side world is brimming with
activity, her characters are thrilled with news and prospects of marriage.
In Pride and Prejudice Mrs. Philips sees an opportunity of marriage to her
visiting nieces, Catherine and Lydia, among the officers stationed at
Longbourn.”Theirs visits to Mrs. Philips were now productive of the most
interesting intelligence. Every day added something to their knowledge
In Emma Mrs. Weston, Emma Wodehouse’s governess is a case of
permissive-indulgent parents. Such parents place few demands or control
over their children. Children of these parents are very spoiled and
immature. They do not learn respect for others and have difficulty
controlling their behavour.
Another type of parenting that can be found in Austen is permissiveindifferent type. Parents of such types are largely uninvolved in their
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Social consciousness and femininity
children’s life. Mr. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice is a good example.
Except for Elizabeth he is indifferent to the rest of his children and lives in
his library, leaving them to their mother’s care and their own devices. He
proves himself as parent only in the emergency that was created during
the elopement of Lydia. Lydia’s lack of self control and her social
incompetency are a result of this permissive-indifferent parenting. Children
of such parents lack love and as a result they do not learn how to love.
Austen genuinely cultivated a feminine consciousness through out
her novels. The urge of her women characters for self assertion ,though
in a subdued manner, is an evidence of this . Women in Victorian society
are opposed to a larger extent and Austen’s characters are not an
exception. There are characters like Charlotte Lucas in her novels who
satisfies and adjusts herself with the status quo, but her heroines like
Elizabeth Bennet moves a little longer and deliberately raises rebellion in
her own dignified and determined manner and becomes successful
considerably to topple the oppressive social conventions and patriarchal
hegemony. In her first five novels Austen gives importance to matters
relating to social life, and morality that is viewed and defined by
generational differences. Her emphasis on inter dependence and
adaptability in social matters and human relationship are well established
in her first five novels.
Moralization of the older to the younger generation is common in
Austen’s novels. In Pride and Prejudice Mrs. Gardiner takes an interest
in Elizabeth Bennet and she welcomes the senior’s concern with relish.
Another instant is in Persuasion where there exists a pivotal relationship
between Anne Eliot and Lady Russell. (Trivedy 35). Lady Russell is
almost like a surrogate mother to Anne. Austen’s own identification with
her own sex and her likes with other women made her heroines perfect
feminist models in English novels.
Major drawback of Austen’s feminine concept is the absence of
sexual stereotypes in her novels. The nineteenth century novels
proliferated such stereotypes with the advent of feminists. As John Bayley
described (Trivedi 45), she created her female characters in a ‘plastic
way’ as did Shakespeare and Tolstoy. The era and class in which Austen
grew up is primarily responsible for this absence of stereotypes. Feminism
754
was at its infancy in Victorian England and stereotypes had yet to begin
to take hold of the novel genre. She viewed with indifference sexual
freedom and was pre occupied with masculine pursuits like guns and
dogs, The women of gentry have an equal role in hunting and they are
not so conscious about the real or imagined difference between male
and female.
Sharmila Bhatt observes, (Trivedy 103) that Pride and Prejudice
does present a picture of a woman who is sexually active in Lydia Bennet,
who is described as having “high animal spirits”. Elizabeth’s initial
captivation with Wickham too has a strong element of sexual attraction.
But Elizabeth’s sexual interest in Wickham is seen as the cause of her
blindness to truth, and Lydia’s relationship with Wickham is condemned
by its very mode of presentation, namely as an impudent match which,
since it is based only on a demand of sexual attraction, will lapse into
indifference.
Geographical adventurism that ignited the Victorian psyche and
paved the way for colonial establishments have its reflections in Austen’s
novels. Victorian society was too full of those stories and when Austen
was growing up, England’s economy was already tied up with the territories
overseas. In Persuasion Mrs. Musgrove and Mrs. Croft talk about such
territorial adventurism as a good example of Austen’s interest in the growing
territorial power of England.”What a great traveller you must have been,
ma’am!” said Mrs. Musgrove to Mrs. Crost. “Pretty well ma’am, in the
fifteen years of my marriage, though many women have done more. I
have crossed the Atlantic four times, and have been once to the East
Indies and back again.” (Austen 1184).
This orientalist interest shown by Austen in her novels is neither
scholarly nor genuine; observes Meenakshi Mukherji (Trivedi 52) .
Whatever relationships her characters acquire with the expanding outside
world is mainly through its contemporary relevance to Britain. History
was in its slumber in Austen’s novels. Winston Churchill writes of Pride
and Prejudice:
“ What calm lives they had, those people, no worries about the
French revolution or the crashing struggle of the Napoleonic wars”.(quoted
in Trivedi 96)
755
The historical events that changed Europe in the 18th century enter
in to her novels in a shy manner. Europe was witnessing Napoleonic
wars during the making of Pride and Prejudice . Though Austen is not
making any direct narratorial statements about war, several descriptions
of soldiers, regiments and troop encampments in Pride and Prejudice
stand proof of Austen’s knowledge and concern about the ongoing war.
She lacks the eyes of a social scientist to make in depth analysis of the
war and the great revolution the French people had witnessed. Her own
intimate society was a small brook that flowed uneventfully.
The rapid progress the eighteenth century England achieved in
mass transport impressed Austen and she never failed to record it in
Pride and Prejudice. In a conversation with Elizabeth about the distance
which separates Charlotte Lukas now in Kent from her family in
Hertfordshire, Darcy exclaims:
“And what is fifty miles of good road? Little more than half a day’s
journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance”(Trivedy 97).
In Elizabeth, however, we have the Wollstoncraftian woman, who
despite her lack of fortune is refusing two offers of marriage- one which
would have seen her comfortably secure, the other a positively lucrative
offer from a man who has at least £10,000 a year (Trivedy 100).
Wollstoncraftin her Vindication of the Rights of Women observed that
women if they are better educated would not then marry for support.
Elizabeth’s stand in declining the two marriages are an ideal case of such
women who do not look upon their male counterparts for their support.
The society in Jane Austen is very narrow. She focuses exclusively
on the upper-middle class in rural England. The narrative centered around
the neighborhood, consists of a few families of this class, and one or two
professional people such as clergymen or naval officers who visit the
villages on a regular basis. Different forms of behavior and social
interaction that became the norms of nineteenth century are rather absent
in 18th century Austenian England.
Nicholas Marsh analyses the social concern Emma possesses in a
delightful way. In Emma Miss. Woodehouse makes charitable visits to
the poor, taking Harriet Smith with her. Austen says Emma was ‘very
756
compassionate ,gave relief with as much intelligence as good will’ , and
this visit concerned ‘sickness and poverty together’. At the end of the
visit, Emma leaves the cottage, ’with such an impression of the scene’
that she remarks: ‘I feel now as if I should think of nothing but these poor
creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, who can say how soon it may all
vanish from my mind!’ Emma then twice says that the impression will stay
with her; and stops for a last look at the ‘outward wretchedness of the
place’ which helps her to recall ‘the still greater within’ (Marsh 94,95)
The comparison and concern Emma shows for the deprived are
not sustained by the author in the overall narrative body of the novel. No
more description of the poorer way of life is allowed in the novel. Her
mind is always preoccupied with courtship, marriage and the social
activities of her own class. “Jane Austen laughs at Emma’s temporary
social conscience-continues Marsh- but it is a firm rule that the novels do
not attempt to depict any other way of life outside that of the class to
which Jane Austen herself belonged”(Marsh 95). The poorest household
Austen describes in any of her novels is that of the Prices’ home in
Mansfield Park.
Austen is vociferous about the gentry in her novels. Though she is
apathetic to the poor, she elaborately describes the land owning class in
her novels. Sir Thomas Bertram in Mansfield Park, Lady Catherine de
Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice, and Sir Walter Eliot in Persuasion, are all
from the baronet level. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightly are large land owners
from well established families.
Nicholas Marsh establishes that “Jane Austen’s aim in her novels is
similar to that of a painter of miniatures. She is conscious of the smallness
of her subject, but works in close detail in order to produce a faithful
representation. (Marsh 96). She populates her novels by local land
owners, country clergymen, their wives, sisters and daughters, in the close
and familiar settings of their homes, villages and county towns, with
occasional visits to London, Bath and the seaside which are taken directly
from her own experience and observation. The context of her life- its
material scenes and background, its social encounters and relationshipsis vividly and dramatically rendered in the novels.
757
Bibliography
Austen, Jane.
Marsh, Nicholas.
Jane Austen, Complete and Unabridged. New Delhi:
Penguin Books India(p)Ltd, 2010.
Jane Austen. The Novels. London: Macmillan Press
Ltd, 1998.
Southam, B.C.(Ed). Jane Austen. A Case Book. London: Macmillan Press
Ltd, 1976.
Trivedi,Harish(Ed).
Jane Austen. An Anthology of Recent Criticism. New
Delhi: Pencraft International, 1996.
Newman, Annie.
Family Dynamics in Jane Austen’s Novels. 08 April.
2011.
<http://www.pemberley.com/papers/
famaust.htm>
About the Author :
Mr. Sajeev P. P. is working as Senior Assistant in Rubber Board Office, Thalassery
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ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 759-771
Freudian Permutations and Combinations in
Updike’s Terrorist.
Raghul V. Rajan
“If often he was wrong and at times, absurd,
to us he is no more a person
now but a whole climate of opinion
under whom we conduct our different lives…”
(Auden’s “In Memory of Sigmund Freud”)
Although there are many distorted understandings about Freudian
psychoanalysis, there is still much to be learned from his precepts. Being
one of the stalwarts of the preceding century he has laid the keystone of
contemporary psychoanalytic theories. Acknowledging the erudition and
the magnificence of Dr. Sigmund Freud the paper attempts a Freudian
analysis of John Updike’s Terrorist (2007) focusing on the vital concepts
of ‘Eros’ and ‘Thanatos’, Oedipus complex and internalization of the ‘Other’.
John Hoyer Updike is an American novelist, poet, short story writer, and
critic. Like Booth Tarkington and William Faulkner, Updike has won twice
the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. According to Martin Amis, he is
certainly one of the greatest American novelists of the 20th century, who
has written twenty six novels, more than a dozen short story collections,
poetry, art criticism, literary criticism and children’s books. The emphasis
on the concerns, passions and sufferings of average Americans, Christian
theology, sexuality and sensual details distinguishes his fiction from the
rest. According to Donald J. Greiner, “He became our literary Vermeer,
the writer with the keen eye and the always appropriate though often
unexpected word… In his hands, details were the giant’s strength” (177).
The twenty first century is a witness to many terrorist attacks starting
from the September 11 attacks to the recent Mumbai Hotel Siege. In the
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Freudian Permutations and Combinations
years since the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, it
has become unfeasible to discuss the terrorist discourse without placing
them in the context of the post 9/11 scenario, for its reverberations on the
geopolitical imagination of the nascent century are enormous. The
plethora of novels spring from the ashes of the disaster and commemorates
the collective struggle of the Americans to cope with the grim reality. Unlike
the other novels on the 9/11 imbroglio, Terrorist tackles the burning issue
from the vantage point of a terrorist. Updike grapples with the big
questions on the psychic reality of contemporary ‘mujahidins’. He
concedes the fact that the essential drama of terrorism occurs not on
busy streets or crowded subways, but in the psyche of the terrorist. It is
the cradle of horror, where intention becomes the initiative. The terrorists
who struck on 9/11 were neither eccentric zombies nor avatars of malice
incarnate, but rather men of sound education from well affluent families.
Through the novel, Updike endeavours a literary voyage to discover the
causes behind their perilous and risky accomplishment.
The novel provides a mesmerizing and meticulously exact portrait
of what it means to be alienated and powerless in the early years of the
twenty first century. Updike displays the psychic topography of his
homeland through depicting a lean, fastidious Muslim boy against the
backdrop of American obesity and decadence. Updike supports neither
the Muslim hero nor the American. This neutral position enables him to
capture all the varied dimensions of the contemporary American society.
Bob Batchelor opines, “The question at the heart of Updike’s novel is
how a potential home-grown terrorist of – whatever persuasion might
develop” (177). The protagonist of Terrorist, Ahmad is always oscillating
between many opposites. To know him more, one should conjure up the
instincts working in him. Freud says, “The first piece of work that fell to
psychoanalysis was to perform the discovery of the instincts that are
common to all men living today…” (qtd. in Gilman 31). He posited two
major drives in the working of human mind namely Eros and Thanatos or
libidinal drive and death drive. According to Robert Roland Smith Eros is,
“… [A] life energy, a reaching out in order to connect and bond with others,
which is life’s condition for generating more life” (7). On the other hand
Thanatos is its counterpart that coaxes the individual to death. Let us
take a look how they act upon Ahmad.
760
Throughout the novel Ahmad is a pleasure seeking guy, who
deliberately suppresses his libido for achieving the heavenly bliss. The
self elected religion of his father, Islam demands a repression of Eros
and so he abandons narcissism. For him, self love is a form of competition
with God and competition is what, “He cannot abide” (8). The two drives
competing with each other for usurping his psyche leaves him in tatters.
Though the Arabic name Ahmad means ‘the blessed one’, Updike’s Ahmad
is an incomplete arc in the sphere of life. He seems to be weary of the
buzz of the life around him amidst many devils and infidels. He finds
himself cast ignominiously to an alien universe. Teresa, his mother and
the only blood relation lives in a world of her own fancies. Ahmad neither
loves nor hates life and is in an in-between position. Even in the matter
of making friends one can discern his predicament. The diplomatic
strategy of Eros impels him to seek friends. He has no friends yet seeks
“attachments however unfortunate” (227). He does not know how to detest
the “Kafir friendliness” (51). His problem in making relationship is obvious
from the episode in the church with Joryleen Grant where his mere
presence would contaminate his spirit, but Eros drives him there. The
drive makes him find a reason to visit the church like, “I was curious… to
know the enemy” (68).
Ahmad’s enemy is not the non-Muslims around him, but his own
irreconcilable drives. He is much allured by the dazzling appeal of Eros
and the spell bounding beckoning of Thanatos. He forever and a day
introduce himself as a ‘Shahid’, “He that fights for Allah’s cause… and for
himself also” (228). His “love of god is unqualified, and who impatiently
thirsts for the glory of paradise” (234). Ahmad’s wish to become the
volunteer of God in Heaven is amalgamated by Eros and Thanatos. To
accomplish the heavenly bliss he should die and there comes the discreet
operation of Thanatos. Nevertheless, the gargantuan pleasures in the
offing there, is the sole attraction for him. Thus, the uneasy coexistence
of the two drives is evident in him.
Ahmad is concurrently attracted and repelled by his contrary namely
the ‘American Other’. He finds the American life as slumbering in insolence
and vulgarity and all American minds as savouring on eternal holidays.
Like any adolescent dreaming of a perfect world, Ahmad yearns for a
Utopia called the “Arab Never land” (219). He entertains a fallacious
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hope to elicit some solace from Islam and views jihad as the struggle to
become holy and closer to God. In this struggle the American Other is his
adversary and so finds the entire America as a distraction to his goal. Yet
at certain times he relishes in the American routine. In the very opening
leaves of the novel, Ahmad seems to be enjoying the flirting of his school
mates. When Jorlyeen bids him to attend her music choir programme at
the church, he enjoys her nude breast. Subsequently he broods over,
“Why do girls have to tell all the time? To make themselves important like
those fat-lettered graffiti for those who spray them on helpless walls” (17).
In the essay “On Narcissism” Freud declares, “… libidinal instinctual
impulses undergo the vicissitude of pathogenic repression if they come
into conflict with subject’s cultural and ethical ideas” (Literary Theory 15).
Ahmad’s Eros always suffers from such a pathogenic repression for it
comes into conflict with Islamic ideals. He ventures to ascertain an Islamic
identity and it ends at the mosque, which took him as a child of eleven
which, “let him be born again” (112). Thus, Ahmad is ‘born again’ as a
Shahid and is no more the son of a poor and fanciful nurse’s aide Teresa
Mulloy. Shaikh Rashid’s teachings at the mosque are ideological
indoctrinations. Every adolescent, curious to know the Truth, follows the
path immediately opened before him. Ahmad’s case is not an exception,
which chooses the slippery path of jihad that insisted the repression of
sexual urges.
Paradoxically this coercion is by offering the gift of sex with the
houris, the most pure virgins of the Heaven. The more he suppresses
his sexual instinct the higher is the risk. The usurpation of sexual contents
in the programmes compels him to turn off his television. When he looks
around he sees, “.... slaves to drugs, slaves to fads, slaves to television,
slaves to sports heroes that don’t know they exist, slaves to the unholy
meaningless opinion of others” (73). Drugs, fads and sports etc. are the
comforts of life. They endow men many pleasures but his chosen path
forbids them. The result is the high handedness of the still dormant
Thanatos. For Ahmad “... the world, in its American portion, emits a stench
of waste and greed, of sensuality and futility, of the despair and
lassitude...” (233). His wrath over the American life and the repression of
Eros simultaneously trigger the latent Thanatos. Smith advocates:
762
Death inhibits the heart of suggestions as an ever present possibility
or in slightly more political terms, ideology carries with it the threat of
death, offered as chance for self-sacrifice. In both cases, death is the
telos of seduction, there is a death drive of rhetoric, of the art of
persuasion, of the formation of words, of the fabrication of images and in
case of Macbeth, of the conjuring of fantasies – fair and foul, crown and
dagger – that hang in the air. (15)
It is true that there is a telos of seduction in death, which allures
Ahmad. He is ready to annihilate himself for his earnings are twofold that
is to say the explosion of the truck will sweep away the infidels and land
him in the ‘Arab Neverland’ in the jocund company of the houris. For a
Shahid, slaughter of many innocent men is not a mortal sin but an
opportunity to earn the heavenly bliss. Moreover for him infidels are not
guileless folk, but dirty devils. Ahmad thinks, “God says, in the Quran, Be
ruthless to unbelievers. Burn them, crush them because they have
forgotten God. They think to be themselves is sufficient. They love this
present life more than the next” (294). Death drive never comes all on a
sudden in Ahmad because it coexists with Eros and they mutually interact.
They are the two sides of the same coin.
Freud finds even in death an alluring charm and to enjoy the beauty
of death man should exterminate himself. Ironically he is always haunted
by death and lives in a painful ambivalence. He wants to live and die
simultaneously. There is an oscillation between the nodal points of life
and death in everyman and so is Ahmad. Ahmad fails to take decisions
or to be more precise, he never comes up to scratch for he is trapped in
the mêlée between the drives. Indeed he is a volunteer of jihad, which
etymologically denotes inner struggle. Terrorist renders the inner struggle
of “a lean boy of mixed parentage in white shirt and black jeans”, namely
Ahmad (150). Even in his attire there is the excruciating ambivalence of
white and black colours. Thus, his self becomes a sphere of tragic conflict
which makes him long for both depression and elation; again the painful
ambivalence comes to the fore. Under the influence of Thanatos, he
views the detonation as a, “pinprick, a little opening that admits God’s
power into the world” (305). During the moments of mammoth trepidation
at the end of the novel, Ahmad for the first time sees death wish in his
763
alter-ego, Levy, which sparks off his Eros. To safeguard his life, Eros
locates enough reasons from his own ideologies. Updike utters thus:
[Levy] wants to die, Ahmad thinks. He taunts me to do the deed for
him. In the fifty-sixth sura, the Prophet speaks of the moment when the
soul of a dying man shall come up to his throat. That moment is here.
The journey, the miraj. Buraq is ready, his shining white wings rustling
unfolding. Yet in the same sura, “The Event”, God asks, We created you:
will you not credit us? Behold the semen you discharge: did you create it,
or we? God does not want to destroy: it was he who made the world”.
(306).
Ahmad has no undue preoccupation with Thanatos for Eros shields
him from an obsession with death. An indefinite fixation with death will
pilot him to depression. Ahmad is not an ever more depressed individual,
but has temporal depressions, which emanates from his exasperation
over the American life. Ahmad delineates America as, “.... a nation of
nearly three hundred million-anarchic souls, their millions of daily irrational
impulses and self indulgent actions flitting out of just around the edge of
feasible surveillability” (44). In the very next moment elation comes in the
form of hope. He is confident after the explosion, “the seventy two virgins...
will minister” him “on the other side” (305). There comes the magic of
Eros. Like day and night make a date, Eros and Thanatos compile
Ahmad’s psyche. Freud finds all human beings as in the ceaseless pursuit
of pleasure and Ahmad is not an exception. Even death is a congenial
experience. It is the desire to reach the nodal point of nullity. Smith argues:
In the micro pursuit of pleasure, a macro force, a cosmology, casts
its shadow, and everything we want something, we are, to some minimal
or – perhaps maximal extent – driving at a zero-state that is the best
recapitulation we can manage of the lost era that preceded an era which
we had yet to exist. By nature phylogenetic, the death drive therefore
works its species-interests through the individual psyche and that is how
the notion of a drive begins to earn its appropriateness, it won’t be
controlled by the individual that might be its vehicle – the drive is the
driver. (5)
Interestingly the protagonist, Ahmad is a truck driver, who is the
exquisite ‘Madman’ of Charlie Chehab, his crewman. Once Chehab advises
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him, “Driving a truck means you got life and death in your hands” (211).
Actually the driver has both the drives inside his mind set. Ahmad has
not developed the twin instincts of life and death. Instead he has it in
birth as an individual and the civilization has nurtured it. Ahmad’s
suicidomania is the outcome of Thanatos in him. He views death as the
bottom-line, where even the prestigious American dollars come clattering
down.
Ahmad wants to expunge the corrupt world he lives in. He hankers
to amend it through his own obliteration and enfold the Truth. The rationale
behind the explosion is the accomplishment of the Truth. In his last
theoretical paper on psychoanalysis, “Analysis is Terminable and
Interminable” (1937), Freud notes down, “There can be no question of
an optimistic and a pessimistic theory of life: only the simultaneous working
together and against each other of both primordial drives of Eros and
death drive, can explain the colourfulness of life, never the one or the
other all by itself” (qtd. in Bettelheim 111). The whole lot in Ahmad’s life
can be glimpsed in the light of the scuffles between the twin drives. He is
a pleasure seeking adolescent, who loves life zealously. He is a true
seeker of the Truth, who finds death as the acme of his quest. He deems
it will be yet another birth. He wants to be in the natural cycle of life-death
and death-life. He puts on that repudiation of the America life will give
him an absolute life of everlasting pleasures in the Heaven. Smith
insinuates, “…the death drive is the instinct to come back to life, not to
die, but to haunt. Which suggests that life itself rather than living fully is
already a form of energetic haunting. Life and death work together in
this haunted, energetic loop in which each seeks to minimise the other…”
(19).
Ahmad is positioned in this energetic loop. Thanatos makes him
return to the inanimate order and at the moment of reaching it he recoils
to life. He retreats from the explosion not because of any magic of Jack
Levy. Instead the mechanism of the drives leads him to the Lincoln Tunnel
and the same makes him withdraw also. The exploration of the psyche of
Ahmad embarks upon the two drives and steps over to the process of
identification, which is a natural corollary of the sport of Eros and
Thanantos. The identification is with the father figure. The sexual instinct
in a boy leads to an attraction towards his mother in which he finds his
father as his sole enemy. Freud proclaims:
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Identification is known to psychoanalysis as the earliest expression
of an emotional tie with another person. It plays a part in the early history
of the Oedipus complex. A little boy will exhibit a special interest in his
father, he would like to grow up like him and be like him, and take his
place everywhere… he takes his father as his ideal. (Literary Theory
175)
Ahmad takes his father as his ideal and he becomes his exemplar.
The genuine reason for his drifting towards Islam is Omar Ashamwy. Omar
is a Muslim and so is his son. Ahmad has no predilection for his mother’s
religion, Lutheranism. He views Islam as a way to enjoin his father at
least in the Heaven. Ahmad, “thought he might find in this religion a trace
of handsome father who had receded at the moment his memories were
beginning” (99). Freud has coined the term Oedipus complex to describe
a welter of ideas, emotions and impulses all largely or entirely unconscious,
which focus on a child’s relation to his parents. He has traced the source
of human unhappiness to three things namely the degenerative character
of our body, the merciless forms of nature and human relations. An
individual’s immediate relations in the world are his parents. The problems
in the relation with them are the initial stages of our unhappiness. Omar
has gone astray and Terry is a flirting nurse’s aide. There lies the root
cause of Ahmad’s psychic turbulence. All human minds are the play
grounds of Eros and Thanatos. Ahmad’s becomes their favourite one for
he cannot square with the American Other. Freud’s concept of Oedipus
complex never meant merely that the child wishes to have sex with his
mother and slay his father. Defending the concepts of Freud, Henk De
Berg expiates:
... [Freud] uses the phrases sexual and sexuality to include every
kind of sensual pleasure… therefore does not imply that children secretly
long for sexual intercourse with their parents. What he says is that babies
and children naturally focuses their attempts to obtain pleasure from the
outside world first of all on those who are nearest and closest. That is,
the favourite object of the child’s pleasure seeking activities is after its
own body, its parents and especially its mother. In this sense every child’s
first love is its mother. (78)
Ahmad’s first love is his mother and societal taboos avert sex with
her. Thus, it is comprehensible why he wishes Terry should remain single.
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Terry time and again complains, “He always hated me having male friends”
(154). She is a typical American lady, who changed her lovers like
costumes. According to Ahmad, “At the age of forty she has parted from
a number of men and how many of them should she want back? With
each break, it seems to her in retrospect, she returned to her single life
with a fresh forthrightness and energy like facing a blank, taut, primed
canvas after some days away from the easel” (203).
While unveiling her heart to Jack Levy she declares Ahmad’s attitude
as, “To him I was a piece of meat–unclean meat” (166). He never tastes
that meat because of his religion. He abhors her bohemian life and finds
Terry flaunting her poverty and everyday failure to blend into the middle
class, as if such failure were intrinsic to the artistic life and the personal
freedom so precious to infidel Americans. She contrives with her bohemian
wealth of bangles and odd clothing such as the factory blotched jeans
and vest of purple-dyed leather. She wears clothes, “…to embarrass
Ahmad whenever they venture together into the public” (141). His hatred
for her is a construct and he is eager to find reasons to hide his incestuous
tendency. Ahmad often mulls over, “She may be your mother, but I fuck
her” (168). He rejects his mother as a kafir and views her as, “…a mistake
that his father made but that he never would” (170). Ahmad has an
indifference towards her for he oscillates between love and hatred. He
cogitates, “I am not yet quite grown enough to be my mother’s enemy, but
I am mature enough to be an object of indifference” (212-3).
Ahmad’s misogyny is the upshot of the Oedipal feelings in him,
which arises from his ambivalent and thwarted passion for Terry and it is
directed towards Joryleen too. During their school days he had an
infatuation towards her. After leaving Central High School, his love for her
remained dormant. She comes only twice in the novel: firstly during the
school days and secondly as a prostitute. Ahmad’s fascination for her
created frequent quarrels with Tylenol Jones, his own classmate. Other
than Terry, Joryleen is the only woman in his life. Whenever she comes
before him, he unbolts his heart. The first person who knows his wish to
become a Shahid is Joryleen. When Chehab arranged her to ‘devirginate’
him, he is shocked. He hauls over the coals of the American life for her
fall. Tylenol is using her as a bait to earn livelihood and her fall reinforces
his jihad. Once Terry discloses, “...all he needs from me is some food in
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the refrigerator” (207). From Joryleen, he never expects even that. Ahmad
confers with the Holy Quran for overcoming his misogyny, but it lands him
in a no man’s island. Updike inscribes:
He had consulted the Quran for sexual advice in vain. It talked of
uncleanness but only regarding women, their menstruation, their suckling
of infants. In the second sura, he found the mysterious words, your wives
are your fields: go in, therefore, to your field as ye will but do first some
act for your soul’s good: and fear ye God, know that ye must meet Him. In
the verse before that, he reads that women are pollution. (156-7)
Thus, Islam strengthens Ahmad’s misogyny. Nevertheless, using
the virgin whore dichotomy Shaikh Rashid’s teachings warps the image
of the female in his mind. Women are alluring him to accept the ‘Hellfire’.
He condemns Joryleen as “a woman of wicked streak” (71). Thus, the
two women in his life stand apart from him. Terry flirts with Ahmad’s
guidance counsellor Levy. In a private moment she tells him, “I resented
that Ahmad cared so much about a father who didn’t squat for him... But
I guess a boy needs a father, and if he doesn’t have one he will invent
one” (171). Ahmad invents a father figure. He cuddles Islam for embracing
his father. The sexual relation of Levy and Terry and Ahmad’s need of a
father situates Levy in Ahmad’s paternal position. Levy’s change from a
guidance counsellor to Ahmad’s pseudo-father is a gradual one. Like
every devoted teacher he wants to change Ahmad. The interest in Ahmad
circuitously leads him to Terry. Besides, Terry is waiting for another man
after her desertion by Leo. For her, sex is the panacea for the monotonous
loneliness in life.
Ahmad craves filial affection and Levy wants the love of his only
son, who always gets away from him. Levy articulates in sadness, “The
only child we had, his name is Mark, lives in Albuquerque and just wants
to forget us, and who can blame him. We were the same with our own
parents – get away from them, they don’t get it, they’re embarrassing”
(304). This reciprocated wanting holds Ahmad and Levy in an ambivalent
relation, that is painful and the same ambivalence colours his relationship
with Terry also. Ahmad fails to resolve his Oedipal feelings. Like Hamlet,
the starting point of Ahmad’s grievance is his mother’s licentiousness,
“… still under forty… she foolishly hoped to catch a man, to pluck a rich
doctor from the midst of his harem of comely young attendants…” (169).
768
Ahmad appears to be standing at an emotional crossroad. His
aggressiveness is due to Levy’s obstruction. Freud imparts, “Becoming
aware of our unconscious feelings – which make them no longer
unconscious but part of our conscious mind – is the best protection against
an Oedipal catastrophe” (qtd. in Berg 25). Unfortunately, Ahmad never
knows his unconscious feelings and so he is unsafe from the cataclysm.
Metaphorically the truck driven by Ahmad is a phallic symbol and the
tunnel a vaginal one. Through an explosion Ahmad fancies he can have
sexual intercourse with Terry.
Anthony Elliott finds the paternal position as symbolic and
prefigurative of social order and the intense identification of the boy with
his father resolves the Oedipus complex. Freudian thinkers of Hebrew
University of Jerusalem namely, Bennett Simon and Rachel B. Blass uphold,
“Through such identification, (a) the boy can in an indirect and sublimated
way have the mother, and (b) the ego ideal (precursor of the superego)
is formed. Hence, the father’s prohibitions and threats are internalized
and the incestuous wish is repressed” (166). Ahmad invents Levy as his
father for his biological father is no more. However, a pseudo father is not
a supplement for Omar. Elliott contends, “Identification is a process in
which the human subject introjects the attributes of other people and
transforms them through the unconscious imagination” (13). The father
is the primal site for introjecting a boy’s attitudes. Ahmad’s loss of his
father creates problems with the American Other. He makes certain abortive
attempts to internalize the attitudes of a Shahid, which is not a living person,
but an ideal. The superego forms through integrating the traits of many
men, with whom one comes into contact. Richard Osborne remarks:
The superego is the internalized version of external constraint. The
superego thus takes over the function, power and even methods of the
parental agency. The superego develops with the resolution of the
Oedipus complex. For example, if there is an incomplete resolution of
the Oedipus complex, we find that superego is stunted in its growth. (115)
Ahmad has a negative resolution of Oedipus complex and so his
superego becomes a diminutive one. It enhances the frequent fluctuations
of Eros and Thanatos, love and hatred etc. in him. Always being in a
mood of irritation, he never accommodates ideas and persons against
him. Simon and Blass preach us:
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The Oedipus complex lies at the heart of Freud’s dynamic
developmental theory. In the involvement of psychoanalytic theory, this
complex is associated with the entire range of feelings the child may
experience in relation to his parents and interactions he or she may have
with them. The love and hate of Oedipus complex, the conflict and the
way in which the complex is resolved became at certain points the basis
for the understanding of child development, trends and
psychopathology…. (161)
Thus, Oedipus complex becomes an ample gizmo to analyse the
psychopathology of Ahmad. Ahmad’s cultural and familial dynamics sounds
very strange. He leads the solitary life of a Shahid and his family is a
disintegrated one. Unhappiness in family life is the collective attribute of
all Americans. In Hermione’s, Levy’s sister-in-law parlance, “All [happiness]
gone. We can never be happy again, we, Americans” (132). America
pays a lot of dollars for maintaining national security, but still her citizens
are not safe as evidenced in the 9/11 attack. The failure of family life makes
them mentally insecure. Altogether, American citizens are physically and
mentally vulnerable. The protagonist of the novel is unable to endure
this insecurity which prompts him to seek the secure world of the houris.
Jennifer Church claims:
In attaining a sense of self… boundaries between myself and other
things must be drawn. Fixing the physical and the psychological
boundaries of a self, however, is a complicated and ongoing process.
Desire is possessive, seeking to incorporate things we like into ourselves
while disowning things we dislike, seeking to expel them from ourselves…
We tend to attribute desirable features to ourselves (we “introject” them)
while attributing undesirable features to things outside ourselves (we
“project” them). (213)
Ahmad ‘introjects’ the desirable features to him and projects the
undesirable ones to the American Other. Thus, he becomes a Shahid
and the men around him become devils. His sole intention is to destroy
the civilization which never accommodates him. Updike recounts, “Ahmad
hastens to deliver Hutama, the Crushing Fire: more precisely, Shaikh
Rashid once explained, Hutama means that which breaks to pieces” (287).
In a nutshell, Ahmad is a neurotic, suffering from severe psychopathological
770
disorders. Interestingly he is not a born neurotic, but becomes one. To
be precise, the American Other manipulates him as a lunatic of single
idea namely Islamic terrorism.
Works Cited
1. Auden, W.H. “In Memory of Sigmund Freud”. Collected Poems.
Ed. E. Mendelson. London: Faber, 1976. Print.
2. Batchelor, Bob. “Literary Lions Tackle 9/11: Updike and Delillo
Depicting History through the Novel”. Radical Review 111
(2011): 175-183. Print.
3. Berg, Henk De. Freud’s Theory and Its Use in Literary and Cultural
studies: An Introduction. Rochester: Camden, 2003. Print.
4. Bettelheim, Bruno. Freud and Man’s Soul. New York: Vintage,
1984. Print.
5. Church, Jennifer. “Morality and the Internalized Other.”
Neu 209-223.
6. Elliott, Anthony. Psychoanalytic Theory: An Introduction. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1994. Print.
7. Gilman, Sander. Freud, Race and Gender. Delhi: OUP, 1997.
Print.
8. Greiner, Donald J. “John Updike: The Literary Vermeer”. Critique
Studies in Contemporary Fiction 51.2 (2010): 177-84. Print.
9. Neu, Jerome. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Freud.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.
10. Osborne, Richard. Freud for Beginners. Chennai: Orient
Longman, 2000. Print.
11. Rivkin, Julie, and Michael Ryan. eds. Literary Theory: An
Anthology. New York: Blackwell, 1998. Print.
12. Simon, Bennett, and Rachael B. Blass. “The Development and
Vicissitudes of Freud’s Ideas on the Oedipus Complex.” Neu 161174.
13. Smith, Robert Roland. Death Drive: Freudian Hauntings in
Literature and Art. Edinburgh: Edinburg UP, 2010. Print
14. Updike, John. Terrorist. London: Penguin, 2007. Print.
About the Author :
Raghul V. Rajan
Research Scholar, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.
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Vol. XIII No.2
pp 772-777
Decentering of Myths and Its Role in
Women’s Studies
Neethu Varghese
Myths are constructed, sacrilized and disseminated for legitimizing
certain power filled practices, attitudes and ways of seeing. Often, they
are aimed at ‘naturalizing’ and even ‘divinizing’ a particular world view.
Like history, they are not easy to disown, even when they harm people.
For without them, one feels culturally impoverished, strangely weightless,
and yet, with them, one feels oppressed.
Decentering of myths has to have a central place in the agenda of
women’s studies .By allowing women to become the narrators of their
lives and by making them visible and active,the exercise not only lightens
their ‘mythic’ burden but also gives them confidence in themselves. By
shaking, disturbing and decentering them for this purpose, myths can be
made ‘friendly’ for women. Re-vision, is basically the act of viewing an old
text in a fresh angle, and in a new critical direction. Re-visionist myth
making is a technique by which women start revising the age-old,
traditional patriarchal myths.
The study of ancient myths has recently attracted the serious
attention of scholars belonging to several disciplines like anthropology
and psychology. Of late, it has profoundly influenced the field of literary
criticism by providing new forms for evaluating the works of literature and
helping critics to acquire fresh insights into the mystery of creative process.
The word ‘ myth’ comes from the Greek word, ‘mythos’, which means
‘ word’, ‘speech’, ‘tale’ or ‘story’. A myth may be a story that is narrated
orally, but usually it is given a written form. A myth may also be told through
painting, sculpture, music, and dance. The mythologist studies myths as
772
colourful pieces that together form the beautiful mosaic of a people’s
cosmology, which is the totality of the world in which they live, their cosmos.
The mythology of a people, that is the structured collection of their myths,
is the description of the world, the past and the future, as they see it.
In common parlance, a myth is a fiction- something which is
untrue.Mythologists attempt to distinguish “true myth” (myth proper) from
other varieties such as legend,saga and folktale.The newest edition of
Oxford English Dictionary distinguishes the meanings. Myths are classified
as sacred stories concerning the distant past, particularly the creation of
the world; generally focused on the Gods. Legends are stories about the
(usually more recent) past, which generally include, or are based on some
historical events; generally focused on human heroes. ‘Folktales’ or
‘Fairytales’ are stories which lack any definite historical settings and often
include animal characters. They are often tales of adventures, sometimes
peopled with fantastic beings. Rarely, if ever, do we find a pristine,
uncontaminated example of any one of these forms.
For Sigmund Freud, myth is a projection of psychology into the
external world. Freud’s infamous account of “Oedipus Complex” at the
core of psychic life is itself an example of how myth can frame the way we
understand an experience(Sellers 3). According to Carl Jung, myth is the
central informing power that gives archetypal significance to the ritual
and archetypal narrative to the oracle. Jung went beyond the mere
connection of myths and dreams to interpret myths as the projection of
what he called the “collective unconscious”, of the race, that is a revelation
of the continuing psychic tendencies of society. Thus myths, contain
images or “archetypes”, traditional expressions of collective dreams,
developed over thousands of years, of symbols upon which the society
as a whole has to come to depend.
Claude Levi-Strauss draws on structural linguistics to examine the
composition of myth. He sees myth as a mode of communication, like
language or music. In music, it is the sounds and the relationship of sounds
to other sounds that is important. Whereas in myth, it is the narrative and
the structure of the narrative, that invites attention, Strauss’s method is
rigorously analytical, breaking down each myth into its component parts
(Sellers 6).
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Decentering of Myths and Its Role
Earlier, myth theorists considered myth as “a narrative of events”,
that were assumed to be historical (Russel 134).Ricoeur and Frye invert
the old-fashioned assumption about the relationship between history and
literature. Novelists in the era of realism, Thackeray and Fielding, regarded
their fictions as histories.Henry James even got upset with Thackeray for
calling attention to the fictional status of his “history”. Literature,in those
days was treated seriously as were presented itself as history.The writers
are serious to the extent that they are realistic “in contrast to the
“romances”(Russel 134).
Erie Dardell considers myth as a “typical” story with immediate and
commendable effect. Roland Barthes opines in “Mythologies” that, “myth
is not defined by the object of its message but by the way in which it utters
a message” (Barthes 109).Barthes suggests that the way myth creates
its meaning,makes it difficult to counter its power.Once we have received
the myth, its impact cannot be erased by explanation or qualification.
Deconstruction or reading of myth to expose its manipulations and
suppressions is not enough;one must counter it with one’s own
mythopoeia, as Barthes describes the best weapon against myth, is to
mythify in turn.(Barthes 158)
Alicia Ostriker identifies myths “as the sanctuaries of languages
where our meetings for ‘male’ and ‘female’ are ‘stored” (Ostriker11).A myth
belongs to ‘high’ culture and is handed ‘down’ through ages by religious,
literary and educational authority. At the same time, myth is a
quintessentially intimate material like the stuff of dream life, forbidden
desire, inexplicable motivation of everything in the psyche that to rational
consciousness is unreal, or abominable (Ostriker11).
According to Simone de Beauvoir, “myth is a transcended idea that
escapes the mental grasp entirely” (Beauvoir 284).Beauvoir views myths
as a way to justify and to impose its laws and customs on individuals in a
picturesque and effective manner. Through such intermediaries as
religions,traditions,language, tales,songs,movies, the myths penetrate
even into such existence as are most harshly enslaved to material realities
(Beauvoir 284).
Hence, myths are constructed concepts,for legitimizing certain power
filled practices and attitudes. Myth –makers constitute myths in such a
774
way that they project a particular world view. They try to “naturalize” the
world view .Myths are so powerful, that they can very well influence the
mindset of generations and can shape their worldviews. Hence, women
writers felt the great need to revise and rewrite these power filled
structures.
Diane Purkiss, in her essay ‘Women’s re–writing of myth in
contemporary poetry’, identifies three recurring modes of rewriting:shifting
the focus from male to female character, transposing the terms so
that,what was negative becomes positive and allowing a minor character
to tell the tale.However, Purkiss argues that all the three modes tamper
with internal patterns, leaving the mythical discourse in which they are
embedded intact (Sellers 27).She stresses that the endeavour to retrieve
a buried or marginal voice has the paradoxical function of advocating the
original myth.
Mary Daly, in a series of works tried to create woman focused words,
images and tales, instead of taking up the patriarchal view. Feminist
rewriting can be thought of in two categories- as an act of demolition,
exposing and detonating the stories that have hampered woman and as
a task of construction- of bringing in alternatives.
In the essay, “Sorties”, Helene Cixous describes how a child, who
read Homer and Virgil, tries out the positions of the different male heroes.As
readers,we identify with characters, irrespective of sex, complicates
feminist critiques of myth (Sellers 33).
It is almost two decades, since Adrienne Rich, made that very
powerful pronouncement about women’s writing describing it as “Re-vision”.
In the words of Rich, ‘Revision’, “the act of looking back, of seeing with
fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction-is for us
(women) more than a chapter in critical history, it is an act of
survival”(Ostriker 235).This in fact has been prominent on women writers’
agenda, in the last decade and all the institutionssocial,political,cultural,economic and religious have come in for a critical
re-vision in women’s writing.
Feminist re- visions have become an effective contest to look for a
re- survey in literature. The private- public dichotomy is one that
contemporary women poets tend to resist. Revision is a literary technique
775
Decentering of Myths and Its Role
used by both male and female writers. Re- vision takes place in three
levels: such as re-visualizing, re –interpreting the myth and re-imaging of
the character (s).The repudiation of patriarchal paradigms is a persistent
theme of the mythic re-writings.
Revisionist myth making is one of the most effective strategies
employed by woman writers. It is a means of redefining both woman and
culture. Whenever a writer employs a figure or story previously accepted
and defined by a culture, the writer is using myth and the potential is
always present that the use will be re-visionist: the old vessel filled with
new wine, initially satisfying the thirst of the individual writer, but ultimately
making cultural change possible. Historic and quasi-historic figures like
Sappho are in this sense mythic, as are folktales, legends and scriptures,
in Alicia Ostriker’s view,
Old stories are changed, changed utterly by female knowledge of
female experience,so that they can no longer stand as foundations of
collective male fantasy or as the pillars sustaining phallocentric “high”
culture. Instead they are corrections; they are representations of what
women have collectively and historically suffered; in some cases, they
are instructions for survival (Ostriker 215).
Feminism has now come to mean “rethinking of thinking itself”. In
this programme, re-vision no longer remained simple, “looking back”, nor
did it entail a mere “act of survival”, but it gradually evolved into a revisionist remaking of the past and re-invention of a new tradition so much
so it turned into an act of creation, transcreation.
Bibliography
1.
Barthes,Roland.Mythologies.Trans
Lavers,London: Vintage, 2000.
2.
Bhatnagar, ManmohanK.ed. Feminist English Literature. New
Delhi: Atlantic Publishers.1999
3.
Cameron, Deborah.ed. The Feminist Critique of Language.
London: Routledge, 1998.
4.
Ganapathy,SahaMaitreyee. “Reinterpreting Myths:A Change of
Perspective”. The Hindu, 2 July 2006
776
and
ed.Annette
5.
Gilbert,Sandra M and Susan Gubar.The Mad Woman in the Attic:
The Woman Writers and theNineteenth Century Imagination.New
Haven:Yale University press,1979.
6.
Humm,Maggie. Feminist Criticism:Women as Contemporary
Critics, Britain: The Harvester Press, 1986.
7.
Ostriker, Alicia. Stealing the language: The Emergence of
Women’s Poetry in America, Boston: Beacon Press, 1991.
8.
Sangari, Kumkum and Uma Chakravarthi.eds.From Myths to
Markets: Essays on Gender. New Delhi: Manohar, 2001
9.
Sellers, Susan. Myth and Fairy Tale in contemporary Women’s
Fiction. New York: Palgrave, 2001.
About the Author :
Neethu Varghese
Assistant Professor, Department of English,
BCM College, Kottayam 686001
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Vol. XIII No.2
pp 778-785
Deconstruction of the Poem ‘Mirror’
Preethy Mary George
Abstract
This research paper shows that conflicting forces within the poem ‘Mirror’
dissipates the seeming definiteness of its structure and meanings into
an indefinite array of instabilities. Deconstruction doesn’t necessarily
mean to destruct the poem; but to show how the poet herself (Sylvia
Plath) has contradicted the poem within the poem. Overall the poem
deals with reflection but the reality is to reflect something more deep.
Locating and diagnosing the literary devises in this poem provides the
fundamental proof needed in poetry analysis and deconstruction. The
important tools used in deconstructing the poem here are the literary
devices such as metaphor, personification, allusions, and generally the
rules of the construction of the sonnet, limerick,and haiku. In short,
these are the rules necessary to follow while constructing a poem.
Kewords : Deconstruction, Metaphor, Personification, Allusions, Rules
of the Construction of the Sonnet; Limerik, Haiku.
Sylvia Plath was an American writer whose poems are noted for the
personal imagery and intense focus. Her literary reputation was due to
her carefully crafted pieces of poetry. Her posthumous Ariel (1965) became
one of the best-selling volumes of poetry because of its literariness.1 She
was a confessional poet. It is said that her personal life is almost depicted
in all poems. Some of Sylvia Plath’s better poems are ‘Daddy’, ‘The Moon
and the Yew Tree’ and ‘Lady Lazarus’. But she suffered psychological
problems which led to her death by suicide at the age of 31. She handled
very painful and intense subjects and opposed the patriarchal society.
778
The images combined with the structure of the verses draws the attention
of the people.
Plath is immensely credited with advancing the genre of
confessional poetry. She is best known for her two published collections:
The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel. In 1982, Sylvia was the first
poet to win a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for The Collected Poems. Her
poems exhibit imageries that are personal and nature-based, depicting
featuring, for example, the moon, blood, hospitals, foetuses, and skulls.5
Her traumatic breakdowns and her emotional imbalances later had serious
impacts on her literary works and career in general. After 1960, her work
moved to more surreal landscape darkened by a sense of imprisonment
and looming death. Plath’s close friend Al Alvarez, who has written about
her extensively, said of her later work:
Plath’s case is complicated by the fact that, in her
mature work, she deliberately used the details of her
everyday life as raw material for her art. A casual visitor
or unexpected telephone call, a cut, a bruise, a kitchen
bowl, a candlestick- everything became usable, charged
with meaning, transformed. Her poems are full of
references and images that seem impenetrable at this
distance but which could mostly be explained in
footnotes by a scholar with full access to the details of
her life. Sylvia Plath was married to her close associate,
the famous poet Ted Hughes.
According to many of Plath’s critics, her poems mostly deal with
domestic surrealism in which she takes every day elements of life and
twists the images. Plath’s fellow confessional poet and friend Anne Sexton
commented:
We talked death with burned-up intensity, both of us
drawn to it like moths to an electric lightbulb, sucking
on it. She told the story of her first suicide in sweet and
loving detail, and her description in The Bell Jar is just
that same story.
Some of her notable poetry collections include: The Colossus and
Other Poems (1960, William Heinemann), Ariel (1961-1965), Three
779
Women: A monologue for Three Voices (1968), Crossing the Water (1971),
Winter Trees (1971), The Collected Poems (1981), Selected Poems (1985),
Plath: Poems (1998), Sylvia Plath Reads, Harper Audio (2000) (Audio);
and some of the collected prose and novels are: The Bell Jar: A novel
(1963), under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”, Letters Home:
Correspondence 1950-1963 (1975), Johnny Panic and the Bible of
Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts (1977), The Journals
of Sylvia Plath (1982), The Magic Mirror (published 1989), Plath’s Smith
College Senior Thesis, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, edited
by Karen V. Kukil (2000); and children’s books include, The Red Book
(1976), The It-Doesn’t-Matter-Suit (1996), Collected Children’s Stories
(UK, 2001), Mrs. Cherry’s Kitchen (2001).
Mirror
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful
The eye of the little god, four cornered
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.10
In the first stanza, the mirror defines itself, its functions and qualities
in general. It is god like in its objectivity and is incapable of emotional
response. It swallows everything and confronts without making judgements
that might blur, mist or distort. Most of the time it meditates on the opposite
wall.
780
In this poem, the mirror is the speaker. It states that it is silver and
exact and has no preconceptions. It is not influenced by love or dislike
and swallows everything immediately. The mirror says it is nonjudgemental
and reflects everything that it sees. Thus it is not cruel, but only truthful.
It seems that the mirror spent most of the time meditating on the wall,
opposite to it. Thus it considers the wall as a part of its heart. Only faces
and darkness can separate the mirror and the wall.
The mirror considers itself a lake where the reflection can be seen.
A woman bends over the lake like the mythological Narcissus. Unlike
Narcissus, the woman cannot fall in love with what she sees. Unhappy
with what she sees, the woman weeps. The terrifying act of aging is
rendered by the terrible fish. “A woman bends over me. Searching my
reaches for what she really is” that tells us the woman is not happy about
her appearance that is reflected by the mirror. She rewards the mirror
with tears and agitations. The mirror calls the candles and moon as liars.
They may represent people who lie to her, telling that she is beautiful and
good looking whereas in reality it is different. The woman does not want
to accept that she is not beautiful and also the fact that she is aging.
Every morning it is her face that separates the darkness. The woman
misses her youth and beauty. It is very difficult for the woman to go through
the aging process. The woman appears to be a terrible fish.
Sylvia Plath’s own life is rendered in this poem. She is not ready to
accept the traditional duties of woman. She resists against the patriarchal
society. The sorrows and agitations of a woman is depicted through the
mirror.
1.1 Defining Deconstruction
Deconstruction implies a theory and practice of reading which
questions and claims to ‘subvert’ or ‘undermine’ the assumption that the
system of language provides the coherence or unity and the determinate
meanings of a literary text. Deconstruction is introduced by French
philosopher Jacques Derrida in his book Of Grammatology. He applied
Martin Heidegger’s concept of Destruktion or Abbau to textual reading.
Heidegger’s term refers to ‘the process of exploring the categories and
concepts that tradition has imposed on a word, and the history behind
them.’ An effective deconstruction creates new concepts, not to synthesize
the terms in opposition, but to mark their difference and eternal interplay.
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In general, the first task of deconstruction is to overturn all the conceptual
oppositions of metaphysics.
An effective deconstruction of a literary work does necessarily need
to create new concepts, not to synthesize the terms in opposition, but to
mark their difference and eternal interplay. While deconstructing a work,
one approaches the text as constructed around elemental oppositions
which all speech has to articulate if it intends to make any sense
whatsoever. The final task of deconstruction therefore is to surpass all
oppositions as they are structurally necessary to produce sense. In
deconstruction, both logical and axiological are at work in all discourse
for it to be able to produce meaning and values. According to Derrida,
“deconstruction is not a method and can not be transformed into one. It is
true that in certain circles especially in the United States, the technical
and methodological “metaphor” that seems necessarily attached to the
very word “deconstruction” has been able to seduce or lead astray.”
According to Richard Beardsworth:
Derrida is careful to avoid this term (method) because
it carries connotations of a procedural form of
judgement. A thinker with a method has already decided
how to proceed and is unable to give him or herself up
to the matter of thought in hand, is a functionary of the
criteria which structure his or her conceptual gestures.
For Derrida, this is irresponsibility itself. Thus, to talk of
a method in relation to deconstruction, especially
regarding its ethno-political implications, would appear
to go directly against the current of Derrida’s
philosophical adventure.”
Beardsworth argues that to be responsible, a deconstruction must
carefully negotiate the empirical facticity of the text and hence respond to
it. Deconstruction in general is not a method and so not a set of rules that
can be applied to any text. Deconstruction, therefore “is not neatly
transcendental because it can not be considered separate from the
contingent empirical facticity of the particular texts that any deconstruction
must carefully negotiate.” Each deconstruction is necessarily different
(otherwise it achieves no work) and this is why Derrida states that
“deconstruction takes place, it is an event.”
782
Deconstruction can not be completely un-transcendental as this
would make it meaningless. Deconstruction, therefore in simple words “is
not a method in the traditional sense but is what Derrida terms “an
unclosed, un-enclosable, not wholly formalizable ensemble of rules for
reading, interpretation and writing.” According to Derrida, deconstruction
is not a critique in the Kantian sense. For him, it is not possible to escape
the dogmatic baggage of the language used in order to perform a pure
critique in the Kantian sense. He continues to argue that language is
inescapably metaphysical as it is only made up of signifiers that only
refer to that which transcends them- the signified.
Generally, this transcending of the empirical facticity of the signifier
by an ideally conceived signified is metaphysical. “It is metaphysical in
the sense that it mimics understanding in Aristotle’s metaphysics of an
ideally conceived being as that which transcends the existence of every
individually existing thing.” It can therefore be argued that for Derrida,
‘the concept of neutrality is suspect and dogmatism is therefore involved
in everything to a certain degree and it can therefore challenge any
particular dogmatism and hence sediment dogmatism in general.
Given below is an attempt to deconstruct the poem ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia
Plath, using the metaphysical tools and imageries mentioned above.
1.2 Deconstruction of the Poem
The title itself suggests that the poem is all about a mirror. The
poem starts with the mirror’s claim that it is fair, just and free from any
pre-conceptions. It is silver and exact. But the mirror as such doesn’t
serve any purpose unless someone or something stands or is placed
before it. It is silver which can corrode as time passes. Also the mirror
reflects something if it is placed in a certain position and also where there
is light. So the reflection depends on time, position, and light. So, the first
line is not appropriate. The binary opposition can be applied here. The
mirror says that it has no preconceptions. But in the last two lines, we can
find an incongruity to this statement. The mirror conceives that the young
girl has changed to an old woman like a terrible fish. The woman is aging
day by day and the mirror has stated this earlier. Also the mirror says that
“I think it is a part of my heart”. i.e, the wall on the opposite side is
preconceived by the mirror to be a part of its heart.
783
The mirror swallows everything immediately. ‘To swallow’ is a term
derived from cuisines. If we swallow food, it disintegrates into parts and is
digested in the stomach. But the mirror doesn’t swallow the opposite
wall. It meditates on that wall for a long time and still it continues. Also the
mirror states that it is not affected by love or dislike. But the mirror considers
the wall to be a part of its heart. Thus it implies that the mirror is in love
with the wall. The binary opposition love/dislike is presented here and
love is privileged.
The mirror states that it is truthful and not cruel. However, in the
point of view of an old woman, it appears to be cruel as it reflects her
aging. The mirror assumes the qualities of God,but at the same time it
states that it is not affected by love. But God is the supreme power in this
world and the embodiment of love. Thus it is incongruous that the mirror
assumes possession of God like qualities.
The poem reads as the wall flickers, but how can someone meditate
on an object if it flickers? Only if it appears to be still, one can concentrate
on it. The mirror thinks itself to be important to a woman. But it is not
important to an old aged woman as it expresses her age, beauty etc. The
mirror says “each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness”.
Actually in the morning the sunlight comes and darkness is not there. So
if there is no darkness, then how can the darkness can be removed from
the mirror by her face? The binary opposition of light and darkness is
implicitly stated here. The candles and moon are liars and only the true
one is the mirror. Binary opposition of truth and lie is implied and the
truth is dominant.
The mirror is rewarded with tears and agitation of hands. Nobody
considers the tears and agitation of hands as rewards. The mirror assumes
itself to be lake. But if there is floating or stagnant water, the reflection is
not possible. The woman is not ready to accept the reality that the mirror
depicts and she expresses it in tears. This shows the inferior nature of
woman, while the mirror is superior like God.
Usually the reality is privileged over reflection, but here the reflection
is privileged over reality. But reflection is not possible if there is no reality.
The woman is not at all satisfied with her reflection. However, she still
bends over the mirror to know what she really looks like.
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Conclusion
This paper, therefore is an attempt to show how the poet herself has
contradicted the poem within the poem. Scrutinizing again, we can find
several other connotations, but overall, the poem deals with reflections
of life and experiences. The poem has several covert themes and
reflections that are far from what is obviously conveyed.
References :
1.
Breadsworth, R. Derrida and the Political, London and New York:
Routeledge, 1996.
2.
Brian, Tracy, Dangerous Confessions: The Problem of Reading
Sylvia Plath Biographically, Modern Confessional Writing: New
Critical Essays. Ed. Jo Grill.
3.
Christodoulides, Nephie. Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking:
Motherhood in Sylvia Plath’s Work, Rodopi Ltd, 2005.
4.
Derrida, J. Genesis and Structure and Phenomenology, London &
New York: Routledge, 1978.
5.
Derrida, Jacques, Speech and Phenomena and Other Essays on
Husserl’s Theory of Signs, Evanston: Northwestern University Press,
1973.
6.
Hayman, Ronald. The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath, Secaucus,
NJ: Carol Publishing, 1991.
7.
Hughes, Ted. The Place Where Sylvia Plath Should Rest in Peace,
Guardian Article.
8.
Powell, James, Deconstruction for Beginners, Writers & Readers
Publishing, 2005.
9.
Royle, Nicholas, Deconstruction: A User’s Guide, Palgrave
Macmillan, 2000.
10.
Stevenson, Anne. Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath, Boston, MD:
Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
About the Author :
Preethy Mary George, MPhil Research Fellow, Department of English, Madras
Christian College, University of Madras, Her areas of specialization include Indian
Writing in English, Post-Colonial Study, Deconstruction, Indian Theatre, Dalit
Literature, Stylistics and English Language Teaching.
785
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 786-797
China - Pak Nexus:
India’s Emerging Templates of Smart Balancing
Solvin Mathew
Abstract
Many consider the 21st century as “The Asian Century” but seldom
recognise the complex geostrategic relations between actors including
Asia’s two rising giants - India and China, a common neighbour
Pakistan, and the Af-Pak corridor that has seen the rise of weaker
actors such as terror groups capable of balancing the dominant
hegemony. The United States, once a dominant player in the region, is
now militarily overstretched and its economy is badly weakened and
far from an immediate recovery; the US, nevertheless is still instrumental
in shaping events in the region. Adding to this dilemma is China’s
economic marvel and its enduring sturdy relations with Pakistan that
brings to the fore the new templates of power balance in the region.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency’s (ISI) proximity to
insurgent groups, China’s unwillingness to denounce Pakistan after
recent revelations on the Haqqani network and the capture of Osama
Bin Laden from Abbottabad in Pakistan have increased India’s concerns.
Adding to this, China’s recent announcement on the construction of its
first military base in the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles has added a
new dimension to the “China’s String of Pearls”2 theory. Growing U.S
strategic proximity towards India and whether the U.S is in a position to
letdown Pakistan and formally challenge China through regional
balancing with India as a partner and ally looks far from reality. The
main objective of this research paper is to asses Motivation, Intention,
Capability and Operationality (MICO) of China - Pak nexus and India’s
new templates of smart balancing.4
786
India’s Early Engagement
On the eve of India’s independence on 14 August 1947, Jawaharlal
Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India said: “peace is
indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this
world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.”1 This cooperative
yet cautious Nehruvian recourse served as the basis for India’s foreign
policy apparatus.
The Indian independence movement was unique in spirit and
essence in that the Gandhian ideals of truth and nonviolence showed an
alternative path and ended centuries-long imperialism. This complex
process of state formation and nuances of ‘balkanisation’, despite both
the sides sharing a common identity and culture, immensely influenced
New Delhi’s future political discourse in forming a secular form of
governance and framed early policy approach towards Pakistan. The
onset of a new set of problems and a new policy approach developed
with Pakistan’s involvement in Kashmir and concerns over emerging
dubious political and military cooperation with China.
Contrary to the nature of India-Pakistan relations, India’s
engagement with China is considerably more complex and historic. The
Silk Route, a historical network of interlinking trade across the AfroEurasian landmass that passed through ancient India and China, is
evidence of the consistent commerce and movement of people along the
borders. In addition to reducing cultural barriers, these trade links aided
the spread of Buddhism to East Asia and beyond. Nehru’s proposition for
a peaceful coexistence with China, and India’s timely intervention in the
Korean war showed signs of a positive relationship, while disagreements
on McMahon Line (agreed to by Great Britain and Tibet as part of the
Simla Accord) and the discrepancies between Indian and Chinese maps
over Aksai Chin and Tibet led to the Sino-Indian war of 1962. Following
these damaging encounters with China, Nehru and his government faced
strong condemnation for their misguided Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai approach
and the failure to read the political intentions of their Chinese partner
even while engaged in diplomatic cooperation. The major implications of
such events have lead to an estranged relationship between India and
China and Pakistan’s emergence as the strategic spring board in the
region.
787
China - Pak Nexus : India’s Emerging
India’s strategic and policy alternatives since 1947 have been
balanced between two lines of strategic discomfort, first the Line of Control
(LOC). The LOC is a mutually agreed defence line on India’s North-West,
separating Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani occupations
(Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Second, the Line of Actual Control
(LAC), a 4057-km long unsettled border on India’s North-Eastern front
with People’s Republic of China. The unsettled boundary issues and
complex ethnic and religious divisions at the time of state formation have
significantly complicated India’s neighbourhood policy. The ongoing
dissension on the India-Pakistan border can be explained by the
universally experienced ‘security dilemma’ of post colonial states. This
dilemma is a result of evolving state-making, intractable societal problems,
demographic challenges, ethnic and sectarian challenges, challenges of
economic development, and civic conflict.
India’s strategic outlook was initially neighbourhood-centric; it
therefore, gave considerable importance to common history and culture
shared with its neighbouring countries. Panchsheel, which is otherwise
known as the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, signed in the 1950s
with China, is one of New Delhi’s diplomatic initiatives to build a strong
partnership with neighbouring countries recognising these commonalities.
In this regard, Prime Minister Nehru is often criticised for not pursuing a
realistic and contemporary assessment of the global geo-political,
economic and military milieu, but engaging with everyone at the same
time without formally endorsing anyone. According to Dipankar Banerjee
of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi, “India’s strategic
culture of not looking beyond the immediate future precludes effective
long term planning. Delhi has always defined its strategic interests in
vague principles and ideological terms and not through practical
achievable time bound objectives.”2
China-Pak Relations: Yesterday and Today
Pakistani President Asif Ali Sardari who recently visited China,
commented on the China-Pakistan alliance by noting: “no relationship
between two sovereign states is as unique and durable as that between
Pakistan and China.”3 Descriptions of China-Pak relations as ‘deeper than
the ocean and taller than the Himalayas’4 and Pakistan’s attribution of
China as the ‘best and the most trusted friend’5 have raised concerns in
788
India. There are interrelated questions around the emerging China-Pak
relations and its implications for India. The primary questions addressed
in this section are: (1) Is there an emerging nexus between China and
Pakistan? (2) Does China perceive Pakistan as regional counterweight
to India? (3) Is China-Pak relations much more than a strategic confluence
of interest?
China-Pak relations have evolved since the 1950s, from neutrality
to a strategic partnership. Pakistan was the third non-communist country
to recognise the Peoples Republic of China when it was formed in 1950.
Following the 1962 Sino-Indian war, China and Pakistan established
stronger diplomatic and military partnerships, providing Pakistan with
substantial technical, economic and military assistance. China had taken
a consistent stand of supporting Pakistan in diplomatic affairs during this
period. This relationship was made stronger in 1963 when Pakistan ceded
the Trans-Karakoram Tract to China, thus ending all previously existing
border disputes with China.
A major milestone in the relationship was in 1972 when Pakistan
aided the visit of U.S. President Nixon to China which was a major strategic
turning point for China-United States relations. Additionally when China
supported Pakistan’s claims over Kashmir, Pakistan reinforced Chinese
sovereignty over Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet. Conversely, India’s soft stance
on Tibet and the fact that an exiled Tibetan government operates from
India, have damaged relationships between the two states. India’s stance
on Tibet has not been taken lightly by Beijing and sees this as an attempt
to destabilise Chinese growth and political stability.
China-Pak relations are a two-way street. Over the years, economic
cooperation has touched high-points, with substantial investment in
Pakistan from Beijing; and today China is Pakistan’s largest supplier of
arms and their third largest trading partner. Recently, China and Pakistan
partnered in the manufacturing of tanks, fighter jets, missiles as well as
cooperation in the development sector.
With the exit of Soviet forces in Afghanistan in 1994, the goepolitical
and strategic utility of Pakistan faded in the U.S- Western strategic matrix.
However, Pakistan enlarged its strategic space post-Soviet Afghanistan
by increasingly intertwining the Afghanistan-political economic discourse
789
with its own. This was done with a due to enlarge Pakistani domain in
Afghanistan in its competitive strategic rivalry with India. With the September
11, 2011 attacks on America, the locus of global terrorism shifted back to
the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) corridor, bringing in U.S led Western
engagement in the region. It brought in a fresh lease of U.S-Western
largesse of economic aid, massive military assistance to Pakistan in the
war against terror. Today the biggest challenge therefore is to fathom
whether China-Pak relations are much more than a strategic confluence
of interest or if there is more to it.
In the 1990s, following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and
the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the U.S continued to distance itself
from Pakistan while Pakistan moved closer to China for economic and
military cooperation. The Pressler Amendment was one such move by
the U.S to suspend military and economic assistance to Pakistan, unless
Pakistan withdrew its stance on nuclear weapons. The blue prints of the
nuclear bomb was handed over to Pakistan by China in the 1980s when
the latter was engaged in a peace accord with India. Adding to New Delhi’s
worry is the evolution of China-Pak defence cooperation. In other words
Stephen Cohen argues that: “China as pursuing a classic balance of
power by supporting pakistan in a relationship that mirrors the one between
the U.S and Israel.”6
In addition to aiding Pakistan militarily, China has assisted Pakistan
in constructing nuclear power plants, dams and naval ports, roads and
industrial estates. With increasing Chinese presence in the Bay of Bengal,
South China Sea, Malacca Straight, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
India debates on whether China is pursuing an aggressive policy of
encirclement of India or if they are purely commercial in nature. While it is
a legitimate right for China to extend its influence beyond it’s shores, it
has raised alarms in New Delhi. Currently, the debate surrounds whether
China’s presence in the Indian Ocean is part of China’s string of pearls
with intentions of encircling India militarily in the future or whether they
are China’s lifeline points to support its vital economic and industrial needs.
Adding to this, China’s recent announcement on the construction of its
first military base in the Indian Ocean on the island of Seychelles has
added a new dimension to the existing debate.
790
China is involved in the construction of naval frigates for the
Pakistani navy and both have signed numerous Naval agreements. The
two countries have cooperated in the production of Al-Khalid tanks; and
China helped Pakistan develop the 750-km range, solid-fuelled Shaheen1 ballistic missile. Apart from this, Beijing has helped Pakistan build a
ballistic missile manufacturing facility near Rawalpindi. In addition to this
China has helped build two nuclear reactors in Chasma, and has not
complied with the full scope safeguards implemented by the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG). Recently, there have been reports of China
building a deep-sea port at Gwadar in the Baloch province in Pakistan. In
addition to undermining New Delhi’s capability in the region, this move by
China is interpreted as one that is aimed at securing its oil and gas supplies
from Persian Gulf. India’s concerns are that Pakistan could eventually
turn these commercial ports into military bases.
Another milestone in India-China-Pakistan relations was the 2008
Mumbai terror attacks(also known as 26/11), a series of coordinated
attacks by terrorists from Pakistan. China’s hesitation to comment on
Pakistan’s involvement in the terror attack and the fact that terrorists
used Chinese made weapons- blue Type grenades manufactured by
China’s state-owned Norinco have added fuel to the already deteriorating
bilateral relations. Prior to this, India closely watched China’s repeated
blockade (in April and May 2006, May 2007 and August 2008) against
U.S sanctions on Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front, Jammat-ud-Dawa, the
terrorist organisations responsible for the Mumbai attacks and many such
attacks in India. China-Pakistan Defence and Security Talks were held
for the first time in March 2002 and this high-level meeting hailed the
relationship as a stabilising force. Adding to this, China has recently sold
Pakistan JF-17 aircrafts, JF-17 production facilities, K-8 jet trainers, T-85
Tanks, F-7 aircrafts, and F-22P frigates with helicopters.
China-Pak defence cooperation and joint projects have heightened
security concerns in the region, causing a chain reaction from New Delhi.
Earlier this year India proposed to sign a $20 billion defence deal with
France. In addition to this, India now remains the third largest buyer of
U.S arms. Many argue that China’s attempt to scuttle India-U.S Civil nuclear
deal at the 2008 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is ‘an attempt to prevent
India’s rise on the world stage’. In the words of P. Chidambaram, an Indian
791
minister, China’s position at NSG is best described as: “from time to time,
China takes unpredictable positions that raise a number questions about
its attitude toward the rise of India.”7
Today, in the context of a ‘withdrawing’ U.S presence in the region,
Pakistan maintains rough parity with India through increased military,
economic and bilateral trade-related cooperation with China. While
Pakistan’s stability is in India’s interest, the Chinese intentions of aiding
Pakistan remains unclear. Pakistan, which is dependent on China for its
economic and military strength certainly is an important factor for balancing
Chinese dominance in the region as the United States continues to be
more withdrawn. The recent NATO airstrike in November this year that
killed 24 Pakistani soldiers deployed near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
have contributed to U.S-Pakistan relations crashing to new lows with the
United States vacating Shamsi airbase in the south-western province of
Baluchistan in Pakistan.
According to C. Christine Fair, an expert on South Asian political
and military affairs at Georgetown University, “Beijing’s support of
Islamabad meant, in part, to tie up China’s longer-term regional rival,
India. What China really wants is to encourage security competition to
basically counter India’s rise” 8. Adding to this is China’s recent
announcement to set up a military (naval) base in the Indian Ocean island
of Seychelles to ‘seek supplies and recuperate facilities for it’s navy.’ This
is projected to create further tension in the region as China continues to
limit India’s global ambitions. Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist,
best known for his influential book The Art of War, aptly characterises
China’s intentions:
All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign
incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you
are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to
lure him, feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare
against him; where he is strong avoid him. Anger his general and confuse
him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. Keep him under
strain and wear him down. When he is united, divide him. Attack where he
is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you. These are the
strategist’s keys to victory. It is not possible to discuss them beforehand.
792
India’s Policy Alternatives
Ancient military strategist Chanakya, best known as the Indian
Machiavelli, in his treatise Arthashasthra, recommends seven grand
designs when dealing with neighbouring states. They are namely: “(1)
Sanman- appeasement/non-aggression pact (2) Danda- Strength/
punishment (3) Dana- Gift/bribery (4) Bheda- Divide/split/separating
opposition (5) Maya- Illusion/deceit (6) Upeksha- Ignoring the enemy,
and (7) Indrajala- Faking military strength”. Interestingly, many of these
realist approaches remain pertinent and unexplored even today as India
examines its varying templates of engagement regionally and beyond.
Although Pakistan’s long-term stability is in India’s interest, New Delhi
has been aware that as China’s hard power grows it will be impossible to
contain China’s ambitions with soft power alone and will increasingly
require an equal application of soft and hard power balancing. This
situation poses a serious security challenge and poses the following
questions: (1) Can India afford a conflict with China? (2) Can China afford
a military adventure with India?
The debate on India’s preparedness in the vent of an actual war
with either China or Pakistan has for long been discussed among the
military, academic and policy communities in India. According to John W.
Garver, “China-Pakistan partnership serves both Chinese and Pakistani
interests by presenting India with a potential two-front threat in the event
of war with either country”9. Although a military action is highly unlikely
considering of India’s military capability, the threat of aggression or minor
transgressions remains especially as China continues to venture into
Indian Ocean. While Beijing engages with Pakistan its approach has
remained cautious. The United States on the other hand remains
increasingly concerned about growing insurgency, radicalism and antiWesternism in Pakistan and no longer supports Pakistan’s military
ambitions.
Therefore, China-Pakistan relations and India’s policy alternatives
can not be discussed in isolation. The U.S presence has been a balancing
factor in a region that has seen the rise of India and China in addition to
growing tensions in the neighbouring Af-Pak region. The prospect of a
U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan and the future of U.S-Pakistan relations
have raised concerns on the future of power balancing in the region.
793
Whether the U.S would be in a position to sacrifice its relations with
Pakistan for a greater alliance with India looks far from a reality. However,
at the same time the U.S would like to see more Indian engagement within
the region and beyond. President Obama’s visit to India and his clarion
call for India to extend its ‘look East’ policy to actually ‘engage the East’
was an indication for India to engage with China and its aggressive designs
in Asia. According to C. Raja Mohan, a senior fellow at the Center for
Policy Research, in New Delhi, “once you [U.S] pull[s] out, and create the
capacity to alter the balance, you [U.S] will have a lot more options and
influence to affect outcomes- rather than being pushed around and
affected by everyone”10. The U.S recognises that this void can best be
addressed by keeping India onside as the rise of China continues
unbated.
Among the strategic and policy communities in India, it’s been widely
asked if India needs to be aggressive to overcome Chinese assertiveness
in the region. Recently, China has been apprehensive of India’s
movements in South China Sea. The fact that India, Vietnam and Japan
are moving closer to the U.S and the United States clearly showing interests
in Asia-Pacific are indications of a possible rift with China. China remains
worried of U.S interests in Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia,
Malyasia, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia. In this context, India has
policy options that wouldn’t require it to be aggressive but vigilant and
watchful. The question of whether New Delhi is prepared for a military
strike by China or vice versa does not at the moment seem to rise.
Therefore, India being vigilant and watchful does mean branching out its
policy options on Andaman and Nicobar island and Bay of Bengal- both
of which are important to China as they are to India. Recently, India has
deployed over 6000 troops in Andaman and Nicobar Islands-India’s
strategic spring board, a collection of 570 islands close to Indonesia,
East Asia and Malacca Straight. It is also striking that the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands is India’s first operational tri-services command, capable
of disrupting China’s sea-lanes of supply chain running through Malacca
straight. Another crucial player in this ‘Grand Game’ is Bhutan, a
neighbouring country having borders with both India and China.
Concomitantly, reversing India’s neighbourhood policy is necessary.
A reverse string of pearls strategy would require India to have greater
794
coordination and engagement with its immediate neighbours and employ
a proactive mutually benefitting approach as opposed to a reactive one,
threatened by Chinese presence. As far as Indian Ocean is concerned,
India has a strategic advantage- while China has to travel over 3000
miles, India’s strengths lie in its neighbourhood. However, for India to
emerge on the global stage, it is necessary to have a strong naval
presence, including a blue-water navy capable of distant operations. While
the Chinese navy receives close to 40% of China’s defence budget, the
Indian navy gets the lowest share among other defence wings.
Modernisation of India’s defence and security forces and joint partnerships
with countries like Russia will provide an edge against China-Pakistan
military build up.
Apart from this, economic, geopolitical and moral impacts of trade
and commerce on India-China relations remain least explored. It is
promising for a future bilateral relationship that both India along with China
are the only two major economies in the world that withered the recession
without a single negative quarter during the 2008 global financial crisis. A
closer relation with China, especially on economic front, while continuing
to have strong military and strategic ties with weak neighbouring states
could strengthen India’s position within the region. India’s rise to the global
stage would depend on looking beyond the region and engaging with
other powers like Australia, Japan, and Germany. India’s major strengths
in this regard are its internal dynamics. These internal strengths include,
greater domestic demand rather than foreign investment, India as an
excellent cost competitive supplier of services, highest working age
population by 2030 with low dependency ratio, strong democratic
consensus creating broad national consensus behind policies, and above
all, growing number of public-private-partnership. All these characteristics
of growth are conditional and much of it will certainly depend on India’s
neighbourhood policy.
Strategic thinking in New Delhi is changing. The current debate
brings to the fore India’s multifarious strategy or smart balancing to counter
China and a growing China-Pakistan nexus. Initially, India’s concerns
emerged from a collective perception of the China-Pak emerging nexus
as a cause for worry while the business and economic aspects of the
relationship remained disparaged. A military action from either side is
795
highly unlikely especially when neither side can afford it. The trade volume
is significant and both the parties can’t afford to let go of such a huge and
lucrative market. China’s huge forex reserves and manufacturing
dominance will continue to be India’s primary challenge, while Pakistan
factor in this regard remains secondary. China is aware and equally worried
about India’s exponential growth in the software industry and general
economic progress. India is a strong power in its own right. Therefore,
one viable option for India would be to assume the role of a middle power,
yet aligning with the major powers just as China begins to adjust with an
equally powerful India at its doorstep.
Conclusion
India’s future therefore lies in smart balancing. Its civilisation, history,
culture, cuisine, ever-growing middle class, strong democratic institutions,
military might, and above all its growing economy provides an option to
balance smartly as internationally power shifts from the old West to the
new East. Along with this shift comes responsibilities that provide India
with new opportunities to engage smartly with both China and Pakistan
with trade and commerce being central. India’s proven record of providing
an alternative world order is one of India’s greatest strengths and therefore,
in the words of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, “India will be a different
power” and that ‘differentness’ is drawn from an awareness of its limitations
while remaining positive, outward-looking and globally engaged. Closer
economic integration will create space for closer political engagement.
References :
1.
J. Nehru, ‘A Tryst with Destiny’ The Guardian (May 2007) available
online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/may/01/
greatspeeches (accessed 20 November 2011) This speech was
delivered to the Constituent Assembly of India in New Delhi on August
14, 1947.
2.
D. Banerjee, ‘India China Relations, Negotiating a Balance,’ Institute
of Peace and Conflict Studies (December 2010) available online:
http://www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/IB160-Banerjee-India-China.pdf
(accessed 29 November 2011)
3.
‘No relationship between two sovereign states is as unique & durable
as between Pakistan, China,’ Economic and Commercial
Counsellor’s Office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of
796
China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (February 23, 2011)
available online: http://pk2.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/chinanews/
200902/20090206061387.html (accessed 6 November 2011)
4.
‘Pakistan-china Relations: A Perspective on the all weather
friendship,’ Alajzeera Center for Studies (May 31, 2011) available
online:http://www.aljazeera.net/mritems/streams/2011/5/31/
1_1065241_1_51.pdf (accessed 3 November 2011)
5.
I. Tharoor, ‘Angry with the U.S., What Can Pakistan Get Out of
China?,’ Global Spin (May 12, 2011) available online: http://
globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/05/12/angry-with-the-u-s-what-canpakistan-get-out-of-china/ (accessed 16 October 2011)
6.
S. Cohen, India: Emerging Power (Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution, 2001) p. 259.
7.
‘Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture, 2008,’ Press
Information Bureau, Government of India (18 September, 2008)
available online: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=42889
(accessed 3 December 2011)
8.
I. Tharoor, ‘At Odds with U.S., Pakistan Deepens Ties with China,’
Time World (November 01, 2010) available online:http://
www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2028576,00.html (accessed
20 September 2011)
9.
J. Garver, Protracted Contest: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Twentieth
Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001), p.188.
10.
T. Friedman, ‘A long List of Suckers,’ The New York Times (November
1, 2011) available online: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/
opinion/friedman-a-long-list-of-suckers.html?_r=1 (accessed 20
November 2011)
11.
S. Menon, ‘India Will Be A Different Power,’ Outlook (December 8,
2011)
available
online:http://www.outlookindia.com/
article.aspx?279270 (accessed 09 December 2011)
About the Author :
Solvin Mathew
Research Scholar, Dept. of Politics, Madras Christian College, University
of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
797
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 798-808
Conceptual Analysis of Human Rights Violations
Mary Senterla P. S.
Abstract
Human rights are inherent and indigenous to every society. Innumerable
declarations, covenants and legislations have been initiated and entered
into, at national and international levels for the protection and promotion
of the human rights. In spite of these efforts human rights violations
continue increasingly day by day. One of the reasons for the almost
universal violation of human rights is the divergence in the concept of
human rights between the West, the Socialist and the Developing World.
Prescribing universal and homogenous standards for its protection and
promotion itself is a violation of human rights. This has given rise to an
intense debate over universalism and cultural relativism of human rights.
The divergence in the perception of human rights is a fundamental
issue to be solved. What is required is a consensus on human rights
between the ‘West’ and the ‘Rest’; and a deconstruction of the concept
of human rights towards its protection and promotion globally. The study
covers a conceptual analysis of liberal, socialist and third world view on
human rights and highlights the causes behind the human rights
violations .The contention that one of the major reasons for human
rights violations is the lack of a consented conceptual framework is
very valid. What is required is a new paradigm of human rights notion.
Introduction
Human beings are rational. They by virtue of their being human,
possess certain basic and inalienable rights which are commonly known
as human rights. Since these rights belong to them because of the very
798
existence, they become operative with their birth. Human rights, being
the birth rights, are, therefore, inherent in all the individuals irrespective
of their caste, creed, religion, sex and nationality. These rights are
essential for all the individuals as they are consonant with their freedom
and dignity and are conducive to physical, moral, social, and spiritual
welfare. They are also necessary as they provide suitable conditions for
the material and moral upliftment of the people. Because of their immense
significance to human beings, human rights are also sometimes referred
to as fundamental rights, basic rights, inherent rights, natural rights and
birth rights.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards
one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Human rights are based on the
principle of respect for the individual. Their fundamental assumption is
that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated
with dignity. They are called human rights because they are universal.
Whereas nations or specialized groups enjoy specific rights that apply
only to them, human rights are the rights to which everyone is entitled—
no matter who they are or where they live—simply because they are alive
.” Human rights could be commonly defined as those rights which are
inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings.
The underlying idea of such rights is fundamental principles which must
be respected in the treatment of all men, women and children and which
exist in some form in all cultures and societies.
The protection of human rights has now become one of the key
stones in the arch of place, democracy and development. Respect for
human rights makes freedom meaningful. These are the part and parcel
of life in society and they concern humanity. Human rights are sign and
symbol of society which depends upon human rights. In brief human rights
comprise rights of individual or group in a society in all spheres of life
from birth to death. Innumerable declarations, covenants and legislations
have been initiated and entered into, at national and international levels
for the protection and promotion of the human rights. In spite of these
efforts human rights violations continue to increase day by day. One of
the reasons for the almost universal violation of human rights is the
divergence in the concept of human rights among the West, the Socialist
799
Conceptual Analysis of Human rights violations
and the Developing World. The Western Capitalist countries inspired by
the liberal school of thought, give more importance to civil and political
rights than social and cultural rights. But the west , the under developed
, the developing and the socialist countries, influenced by Marxian ideas
give importance to social, economic, cultural and community or group
rights. Human rights are inherent and indigenous to every society.
Prescribing universal and homogenous standards for its protection and
promotion is a violation of human rights in itself. This has given rise to an
intense debate over universalism and cultural relativism of human rights.
The very propagators of human rights have no compunction in
perpetuating situations of poverty and illiteracy, authoritarian regimes and
cultural genocide across the World. The divergence in the perception of
human rights is a fundamental issue to be solved. What is required is a
consensus on human rights between the ‘West’ and the ‘Rest’; and a
deconstruction of the concept of human rights towards its protection and
promotion globally.
What is Human Right?
For ensuring the individual and collective well-being of the human
beings, realization of diverse values is essential. However, throughout
history there was deprivation of these values by social and natural forces.
The ultimate result was the emergence of certain undesirable practices
in society like exploitation, oppression and persecution. There was a view
that if basic and inalienable rights of human beings are identified this sort
of evil practices may be curtailed. Search in this direction resulted in the
emergence of the concept of human rights. Human Rights are those rights,
which are essential for human existence with dignity. These rights would
enable a man to live like a man. In other words, these rights would help a
man meet his basic needs of life, enjoy fundamental rights and lead a life
of dignity. These rights are given to all individuals irrespective of their
race, language, religion, sex, ethnicity and nationality. Human rights are
the minimum rights for being a member of human family. Every individual,
whether he lives in democracy or a dictatorship, in rich country or in a
poor country should have access to human rights. Human rights are thus
universal in scope; no country has the right to close the doors to these
rights. Human rights belong to individuals, not to countries. Human rights
have universal application and therefore are equally valuable and relevant
800
in all nations, in all societies, in all communities and in all cultures. Every
individual is entitled to have these rights. Human rights presuppose welfare
and betterment in the quality of life of every member of the society. Human
rights received the recognition of the international community on 10
December 1948 through a resolution of the General Assembly of the UN
known as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom allow individuals develop
fully and use their human qualities, intelligence, talents and conscience
and enables them to satisfy the spiritual and other needs. They are
based on mankind’s increasing demand for a life in which the inherent
dignity and worth of each human being will receive respect and protection.
Human Rights could be generally defined as those minimal rights which
every individual must have against state or other individuals or authorities
by virtue of his being a member of the human family, irrespective of other
considerations. Human rights are universal and apply to all persons
without discrimination. Respect for individual rights needs to be upheld
at all times, irrespective of circumstances or political systems. The rights
of any particular individual or group can be restricted only if they threaten
to curtail the human rights of others.
Liberal View on Human Rights
According to Western liberal thought, man by nature is isolated
and autonomous, possessing certain inherent and inalienable rights with
the establishment of a civil and political society instituted through a social
contract among individuals. Man gave up some of his natural rights
whereas others remained inalienable. And it is the duty of the state to
protect individual safety, security, rights and property in pursuance of a
just and orderly society. In addition to this autonomy of human nature,
further elaborations were made in the context of this private property.
Private property caused competition and conflict with other individuals.
Thus, private property became the pivot of a free enterprise economic
system and subsequently became fundamental human right, thereby
making the approach to rights Politico - materialistic in nature. A
competitive economic system and a liberal state system thus provided
the institutional framework for the defence of private property and the
free exercise of rights which reflected in the nature of developing
801
Capitalism in the West. In this context, inalienable, individual civil and
political rights became the base of the new society
The genesis of the concept of human rights can be traced back to
the emergence of classical liberalism. Classical liberalism made passionate
defence of the principles like competitive individualism, private property,
market ethics and individual autonomy. John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and
J.S. Mill are the main supporters of this view of human rights. They favoured
an economic system based on free enterprise and free competition.
The liberal democratic theory by the second half of the 20th century
has come to mean defence of the rights of human being against abuse of
power committed by the organs of state with the help of institutionalised
means. Its main contention could be stated as follows. First, the validity of
human rights is established by specific legislation – and fictionalised with
the help of judiciary and executive. Second, human rights have
constitutional and international extensions. Third, human rights are vested
in all individuals and only in individuals, not in professional groups, social
groups, communities, tribes, race, classes, castes, nations and other
entities. Fourth, human rights concept remains immutably valid wherever
human beings lead a collective life. Liberal tradition emphasised a concept
of civil and political rights.
Socialist view on Human Rights
The liberal democratic theory of human rights has not been accepted
by both the socialist and developing countries. The socialists, whose roots
are essentially traced back to Marx and early socialists, have argued
against the individualism of human rights theory. Marx, arguing from a
scientific basis, claimed that the alleged law of nature was both idealistic
and historical, and as such claim by liberal bourgeois revolutionaries to
the effect that rights were both inalienable and imprescriptible was
unsustainable and indefensible.
Rights, Marx argued, were simply bourgeois concepts and a product
of bourgeois capitalist society, designed to maintain and reinforce the
pre- eminent position of ruling class. Every notion of rights is linked to the
competitive struggle that is the hallmark of the bourgeois society and is
based on the vision of the society and the individual as inherently separate
and antagonistic units.
802
In Marxist theory, the essence of an individual is that of a social
being who uses his or her abilities to satisfy needs in a social context. In
bourgeois society, man is stripped of this essence as a social being. In
the process of bourgeois exploitation and competition man is alienated
from man. In capitalism, where means of production are controlled by the
ruling class, an individual cannot satisfy his basic needs and it results in
the alienation of the working class. In Marxist doctrine, the true potential
of human beings can only be realised if they are enabled to return to
their true nature as social being. This is possible only in communist society.
Thus an important contribution of communists is their efforts to return
individuals to their status as social beings.
The net result was the spread of socialist and Marxist ideas and
the growing awareness of the importance of economic and social justice.
It caused a reconsideration of the narrowness of the liberal tradition of
rights. Human rights came to include group of economic rights, such as,
right to food, right to work and right to adequate standard of living. Rather
than the rights held against the state, these sets of rights look to the
government for fulfilment. Socialist tradition emphasised the concept of
economic social and cultural rights.
Third World View on Human Rights
Human Rights are universal since it is given to all people of the
world. There is no discrimination on the ground of religion, caste, sex,
creed, nationality, ethnicity, language, birth, etc. in the enjoyment of these
rights. But third world countries do not recognise the concept of
‘universality’ of human rights. To them, universality of human rights is a
Western imposition, on countries with different moral standards and social
traditions. A majority of the third world countries feel that, Western countries
use human rights as an instrument for protecting their political and
ideological hegemony.
Developed countries of the West have attained progress in socioeconomic and political sphere. These countries also have a sound
economy, improved social life and matured political culture. So these
countries have no problem in giving maximum freedom and rights to the
people. But the situation is just the opposite in Third World countries.
Lack of democratic government, instability of government, poverty,
803
unemployment, riots, epidemics etc. are the regular features of third world
countries. So these countries give prime importance to socio-economic
progress. To achieve social progress and eliminate economic inequalities,
the governments of these countries are being compelled to impose certain
restrictions and limitations upon individual freedom and rights. So the
third world countries may not be able to guarantee the same extent of
individual freedom and rights as the West. Third world countries emphasize
the interest of the community whereas the Western countries stress the
rights of individuals. So in the realm of universality of human rights related
concepts have been divergent.
Many Asian, African and Latin American countries (Third world
countries) do not recognize the ‘universality’ of human rights. To them
‘universality of human rights’ is a Western imposition on countries with
different moral standards and social traditions - ‘an act of moral and cultural
imperialism’. Majority of third world countries even though parties to the
U.N. charter and signatories to the universal declaration, see that Western
countries are using human rights as an instrument for their political and
ideological hegemony. They consider western interpretation of human
rights as nothing but a strategy for establishing cultural, political and
economic domination over them. Thus the Third World countries view the
western posture on human rights with strong scepticism.
International Declarations and Conventions
The notion of human rights arose with the advent of democracy –
especially after the Second World War. Subsequently, the war-lords and
autocrats came to their senses. The importance of fundamental rights
and freedom of man began to be realised. These two points were given
primary importance when the U.N charter was drafted – the U.N Declaration
of Human Right. This became universal in its outlook and coverage. The
liberty- equality, individualist- collectivist debate over the legitimacy and
priorities of claimed human rights is writ large on various UN declarations
and conventions starting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR). The UDHR adopts 10th December 1948 was a compromise of
civil and political rights with economic and cultural rights. Nevertheless,
the tension between the two approaches required a separation into twin
treaties – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
804
(ICESCR) as it proved impossible to secure agreement between the
member states of the UN on drafting of legally binding movement embracing
all the rights contained in the declarations.
The cold war antagonism continued their ideological cleavages as
to what the UN should do to ensure respect for the International Bill of
Rights. Each side accused the other of human rights violations, but both
seemed to avoid concrete action. This divergence in approach was a
serious blow to the practical implication of human rights in different parts
of the world. There is a very poor record of ratification of many of the
covenants on human rights as the United States; a major advocate of
human rights has not signed many of these. Those who have signed are
not sincere in implementing it.
Rights from the inception of the concept of human rights there were
differences of opinion regarding its nature, meaning and conception. In
1948 the socialists and liberalists clashed over the meaning of UDHR.
The debate was taken to a new level when contested and critical discourses
were held on liberty and equality centred themes. In the whole process
conceptual differences were supplemented by retaliatory politics which
reinforced human rights violations. Economic, social, cultural and other
community rights were conveniently used by autocratic regimes for
legitimacy and in the course suppressed civil and political rights. Similarly,
over emphasis on civil and political rights deprived many sections of people
of basic necessities of life mainly under the auspices of the neo- liberal
capitalist forces. Underdevelopment, poverty, illiteracy and associated
basic form of human rights violations are derivatives of this phenomenon.
The Universalist- cultural relativist debate is also a reflection of the
difference over the fundamental construct of human rights.
Conclusion
The contention that one of the major reasons for human rights
violations is the lack of a consented conceptual framework is very valid.
What is required is a new paradigm of human rights notion. A synthesis of
fundamental shared elements of all human rights doctrines incorporating
community rights, individual autonomy, cultural diversities, which will take
into account the social and economic transformation is to be effected.
The understanding of human rights reflects that aspirations such as
805
“building a just peace”, “building a culture of human rights” or “establishing
the rule of law” go beyond legislation, policies, institutions and the state.
Such aspirations embody the desire that rights become a living reality for
all in society. This involves matters of governance, law and institutional
reform, as well as the internalisation of rights norms, values and principles
so that these guide people’s behaviour, attitudes and belief systems in
relation to self, others and the state. In other words, the absence of
genuine consensus of human rights necessitates rethinking and search
for new foundations for the construction of a reconstructed human rights
theory.
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About the Author :
Dr. Mary Senterla P. S.
Associate Professor & HOD, P.G.Dept. of Political Science,
Alphonsa College, Pala, Kerala,
e.mail: [email protected]
808
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 809-818
Today’s Business Environment: A Strategic
Management Approach
Sushan P. K.
Abstract
This paper focuses on the application of self leadership and strategic
management concepts to help make sense of the current global
financial crisis and its critical connection with our future business
professionals’ perceptions of ethical behaviour. The author explores
the ideas that lead to the strengthening of business students’ self
perceptions in dealing with ethics at the personal and professional
levels in business. A micro and macro perspective of the business
environment will be necessary to link the self to the environment.
Consequently, the strategic management process and its concepts
will serve as the core and rich foundation of the paper.
Keywords : Self leadership, business environment, strategy
Introduction
Today’s business students are facing an extremely confusing
business environment. With the current unemployment rate being so
high in the global workforce, business students just starting their careers
are experiencing the fallout from the world financial crisis, creating a so
called, “Lost generation.” Many believe that the current generation of
business students operates with a sense of entitlement, needs handholding, and expects to have a work-life balance with good pay. It is thought
that there will be a “scarring” of these potential employees, who will lose
their motivation and be deprived of work experience. When they finally
get a job, it is thought that they will be put into lower paying positions they
do not want or like.
809
Today’s Business Environment
The current business environment is similarly filled with stories
related to major business failures and scandals shattering business
reputations. Business students need the fortitude to enter and engage
in this type of business environment. How can a future business person
adequately develop, manage, or operate in an organization in such a
confusing business environment if he/she does not first understand his/
her own core values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours and how to
use them for personal and professional success? Business
students, who continuously develop their ethical self leadership skills,
using a strategic management approach, will be able to increase their
self confidence in the business world by strategically managing themselves
for future personal and professional career success.
Business environment has created increased challenges to the
workload and its pace, emphasizing, in many cases, a crisis-driven
style of operation. Executives and managers are delivering to higher
expectations for performance in shorter time periods with fewer resources,
following confusing corporate directives and reacting more to demanding
situations outside of their companies, in the best interests of their
companies, rather than to the existing, internal companies’ missions and
strategies. This has created huge disconnects inside these organizations,
impacting and reducing their potential.
Many companies are demanding fast thinking rather than deep
thinking. They are also asking their employees to work on multiple and
overlapping tasks, which is resulting in “even smart people
underperforming.” Organizations are forcing employees to do much more
with much less.
This is said to be inducing and exacerbating
“Attention Deficit Trait” in the workplace, which is leading to such
problems as: increasing clutter, cutting corners, making careless mistakes,
higher employee illness and turnover, and lower productivity.
With the problems associated with an increased workload, workplace
incivility is prevalent. Employees who are the targets are likely to
experience stress, distraction, and negative emotions, as well as
lower job satisfaction, and sometimes even reduced creativity. Ignoring
or minimizing the causes of workplace incivility can lead to lower job
satisfaction and performance which increases business expenses.
Furthermore, as expenses grow, the workplace is demanding that workers
810
take more control over their own destinies, since many companies cannot
afford to be very concerned with their employee’s careers.
Knowledge workers, living longer in an increasingly service-oriented
economy, have to be responsible for their own direction, when to change
their course, and how to keep engaged and productive, to achieve their
greatest satisfaction and to make their greatest contributions. Current
trends impacting workers include; the lack of creation of new growth jobs,
increased choices and risks in employment security, health care, training,
career, and retirement; increased stresses between work and family life,
mismatches between skills and business needs, the changing nature of
careers; a reduction in workplace community and commitment; and
revolutionary changes in the structures and processes of many
large corporations .
Developing Self Leadership
Self awareness enables people to know what holds them back and
what attitude they need to move forward. If business students do not
develop a sense of self awareness and become responsible for their own
actions, they should realize that they will empower other people and
circumstances to take over their lives by default. It is especially important
to know the authentic self during challenging and difficult times. In a
confusing business environment with globalization pressures, deception
traps and surprises, it becomes important to have and maintain good
morale, which supports resilience; and to avoid such attitudes as; self
doubt, anxiety, victimization, and frustration, which lessens self ideal.
Thinking about what personal motives support goal setting, to achieve
purpose and passion can enable people to achieve self satisfaction and
peak performance.
Self leadership comes from social cognitive theory which recognizes
that we influence and are influenced by the world we live in. A self leader
is able to learn and experience tasks/events through observation and
imagination. Understanding self and others’ perceptions is also important
in understanding personal effectiveness or the potential to be effective.
With self leadership, people are more likely to figure out where they fit in
the workplace. Increasing productivity and having better responses to
challenging circumstances, based on having good self esteem and a
positive attitude, is also what successful companies look for.
811
In fact, having the right employees with emotional intelligence and
engagement in the workplace helps businesses to adapt to changes in
the downward economy more easily and efficiently, so that they can
sustain productivity. Dissatisfied employees who do not practice self
leadership, appear incompetent, lower company productivity, increase
stress and anxiety among the rest of the employees, and even damage
the best companies’ brand images and positions. Interestingly, despite
the vision and values a company holds, the real test is in the attitudes
and actions of its managers and employees.
People can check their self awareness by encountering information
about themselves that is inconsistent with their self concept or when they
encounter pressure to change their behaviour. The more discrepant the
information or serious the implications are for self concept, the more rigid,
risk averse, and defensive they become, in order to maintain the self
concept. If the information is accurate and requested, the feedback is
more likely to be understood and accepted. This can lead to increased
self knowledge and personal change.
Ethical Self Leadership
Think about the kind of person that you want to do business with
and then be that person. People are born with a moral sense. Our
conscience tells us what is right and wrong and we also have feelings of
sympathy. These natural senses are supposed to ensure that human
beings are able to live and work together in an orderly way.
Abraham
Lincoln said that “people are just as happy as they make up their minds
to be.” It is said that unhappiness and immorality comes from selfmanufactured thinking and having habitual attitudes towards situations.
This process relies on fear and worry and it dissipates motivation and
energy. Yet, because it is thought that the individual can self cultivate his/
her feelings, he/she has the power to create his/her own happiness,
morality, and proactiveness through practising positive thinking. Success
and happiness is known to come from having such “universally-shared
values” as skill, courage, integrity, decency, commitment, and generosity.
Finding a greater purpose in life, besides accumulating wealth, is often
the result.
812
A strategic self leadership
Developing a sense of ethical self leadership is not sufficient by
itself. There is a sense of urgency to purposely and continuously
manage it for a successful, long-term effect in the business
environment. If business students can learn to understand how they
shape their own attitudes/behaviours, they should be able to develop the
ability to modify their thinking to better fit themselves into the future global
workplace. The strategic management process, used by successful
learning organizations to achieve and sustain a competitive edge, is
an idea that can enable business students to avoid complacency,
through practising self examination and experimentation in a confusing
business environment. This is a systematic and dynamic process which
is composed of the following steps, not necessarily taken as a step-bystep approach:
1) Environmental scanning
2) Strategy formulation
3) Strategy Implementation
4) Evaluation and Control.
When combined with ethics and moral scrutiny, the process
highlights what one “should do” strategically, not just what one can do to
enhance future personal and professional success. In the following
section, each step will be referred to in a step-by-step fashion below, in
order to enhance understanding of its connection with ethical self
leadership ideas.
Environmental Scanning
Becoming aware of experiences, learning from these experiences,
and the perceptions others have, can influence a person’s feelings of
self worth and how he/she spends his/her time. Recognizing that these
influences may or may not be in his/her best interests enables a business
student to determine what is important to consider or not consider in
shaping the direction that he/she wants to pursue and where he/she really
fits. It is at this stage that one also considers the opportunities and threats
from the external environment that are facing him/her and matches them
to his/her authentic strengths and weaknesses, in order to get a realistic
assessment of his/her standing in the global business environment.
813
Strategy Formulation
Choosing what to experience and what to accomplish based on
self efficacy acknowledging that the attitude and behavioural choices that
are made by an individual, will lead to getting a grip over certain mental
and physical tendencies that tells a business student what he/she will/will
not experience and what he/she will/will not accomplish. Self efficacy
comes into play here, as one considers how the external and internal
environments offer a conscientious assessment of what he/she should
and should not be doing to achieve a sense of purpose and self
satisfaction. Contingency planning can also be helpful in reducing the
stress associated with sticking to a single direction.
Strategy Implementation
People always act on their personal choices, despite facing
challenges, having to make sacrifices, take on unattractive tasks, etc…as
long as they achieve their desires. Business students who recognize
that they are always self-starters, no matter what they want, are able to
consider choices that are beneficial to their values and to others in the
long term. They are also able to control their attitudes/behaviours and to
use self rewards to sustain these ethical choices.
Evaluation and Control
At this point, sensitive business students who consider the
consequences of their choices and the impacts of their choices, on their
ethical values and others, are able to improve and sustain the most
productive attitudes and behaviours, and to work on the elimination of
the least productive attitudes and behaviours, since this element acts as
a learning device to help adjust the ideas in the previous elements. In
fact, business students can initially start their self assessment at this stage,
by examining their existing self leadership tendencies and their
consequences, before engaging in environmental scanning stage. The
astuteness of a business student can improve, if he/she gets into the
habit of using the strategic management process as a systematic and
dynamic approach to face the global workplace and business environment.
Responsible Business Students
Business students can be exposed to ethical self leadership
concepts and learn how to strategically manage themselves in the
classroom. They can conscientiously commit to becoming their own self
814
leaders, in order to increase resilience in the business environment, and
to avoid having future attitudes such as; self doubt apathy, passive
resistance, and pessimism in the workplace. This attitude requires
building, into daily life, certain strategies that reinforce strategically
managing the self. For example, persuading business students to analyze
and know their own competencies and work on areas of self-improvement
is a good place to start. Self efficacy can also be improved by having
business students set personal goals and consciously model their actions
to achieve these goals after successful friends, mentors, or business
leaders.
Deliberately engaging business students’ emotions in the strategic
management process and making them gain practice in the fields in which
they are planning to go into can lead to business students having a better
chance of experiencing self satisfaction and higher performance outside
of the classroom. In order to enhance self leadership performance,
business students can learn to manage themselves more carefully by
observing themselves and giving themselves self rewards to continue
the attitudes and behaviours that seem to maximize their personal and
professional success for themselves and others.
Responsible Business Educators
The changing nature of the business environment requires
improved approaches in the business classroom. It has been
recommended by experts that business degree programs become “more
flexible, integrated, and experiential,” mandatorily exposing students to
actual business practices, earlier in the learning process than ever before.
It is important that business students are taught to be self sufficient,
creative, curious, and courageous in facing the business environment.
Developing and implementing student-centred curricula that values,
not just tolerates, ethical and moral outcomes in business is recommended.
A global, humanistic versus organization-centred approach, that places
ethics and social responsibility at the core is also beneficial. Incorporating
exposure through international study and experiences with both business
and non-business instructors increases the business students’ exposure
to a global perspective. Infusing every aspect of coursework with ethics,
helps business students to be able to realize the implications of the ethical
and unethical decisions they can make.
815
Reading books and articles about ethical problems and dilemmas,
having role playing and simulation opportunities for decision making
practice, and listening to personal testimonies about being in sticky
situations, can touch students’ emotions. New business leader role models
must be found and other role models outside of the business world can
also serve as examples.
Offering internship opportunities that business students perceive
as having significant to real world problem solving, and having supportive
supervisors who give valuable feedback throughout the process is
paramount to success. Business educators can also incorporate work
experiences into their courses, visit students at work, and ask students to
relate their experiences to course material and classmates. Business and
non-business representatives can be invited as guest speakers, panel
discussants, and reviewers of business curricula.
Instead of portraying the future as doom and gloom, business
educators need to provide an inspirational message of the future with
business students seeing themselves creating it. Concern for the
community, quality of life, and resolving social problems must be
emphasized. Balancing financial success and power with an important
agenda for well-being becomes the message for making business
decisions with good judgment. More discussion about ecologically
sustainable organizations and making financial decisions that support
them can also help. Developing skill sets, becoming more comfortable
with the intricacies of business, and advancing the well-being of mankind
must become the major focus of the curricula.
Encouraging business students to initiate and take responsibility
for their own education and futures, while providing structure and support
along the way, can help to limit the passive regurgitation of classroom
information, and increase business students’ feelings of purpose and
relevance in the business environment.
Finally, educators, themselves, need to be mindful that they, too,
need to continuously update their professional development in the current
business environment. Sabbaticals and other professional development
activities, like participation in local business practitioner associations,
enable business educators to incorporate practical knowledge regarding
816
ethical business situations into their lectures, assignments, and class
discussions. Opportunities, such as these, can go a long way in helping
business students to appreciate the knowledge of how to have a sense
of personal control and purpose in a confusing business environment.
Conclusion
A confident business student is one who questions current business
practices that are seen as confusing and destructive, and works hard to
achieve his/her own internal set of productive goals, despite the odds, in
the global business environment. Although they will experience
interdependence with their future workplaces and business
environment, business students must recognize, with the help of business
educators’ actions and practitioners’ examples, that they can still become
independent thinkers and take responsibility for their own actions, through
developing ethical self leadership skills and following a strategic
management approach. Pursuing a satisfying life and making beneficial
contributions to the global business environment is not impossible.
Ultimately, a critical mass of business students realizing the benefits of
these ideas, in their daily attitudes and actions, could dramatically improve
the future global business environment.
References
1.
Arnn, L.P. 2009, “Education, economics, and self-government,”
Imprimis, Volume 38: 12, 1-5.
2.
Drucker, P. F. 1999. “The best of HBR: Managing oneself,” Harvard
Business Review, January 2005: 100.
3.
Fairfield, K.D. 2010, “Growing up and growing out: Emerging adults
learn management through service-learning,” Journal of
Management Education, 34: 1, 113-141.
4.
Robinson, D.F., Sherwood, A.L. & DePaolo, C.A. 2010, “Servicelearning by doing: How a student-run consulting company finds
relevance and purpose in a business strategy capstone course,”
Journal of Management Education, 34: 1, 88-112.
5.
Thomas, T., Schermerhorn, J.R., Dienhart, J.W., Bartles, D.L. 2004,
“Strategic leadership of ethical behaviour in business,” The
Academy of Management Executive, May, 18:2, 56- 69.
817
6.
Veckshin, A. & Kopecki, D. 2010, “Not so radical reform,” Bloomberg
Businessweek, January 11, 24-29.
7.
White, J.B. 2009 “Strategic management and business policy,”
Imprimis, Volume 38: 2, 1-7.
About the Author :
Sushan P. K., Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Baselios
Poulose II Catholicos College, Piravom.
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BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 819-825
Aadhaar - A Card For Development
Tissy Eruthickal
Abstract
The UID can play a critical role in enabling access to formal financial
mechanisms, by helping the poor to easily authenticate their identity to
financial institutions. This in turn, can significantly improve the
effectiveness of existing financial inclusion strategies, and address the
last-mile challenges residents now face in accessing financial services.
The Government of India (GoI) has embarked upon an ambitious
initiative to Provide a Unique Identification, Aadhaar, to every resident
of India and has constituted the Unique Identification Authority of
India(UIDAI) for this purpose.
If a country’s growth is to be truly transformational, it must come
with economic access for the poor. However, enabling access for poor
residents-to the economy, its infrastructure, and its institutions—has been
a challenge in India, especially in rural areas. The lack of one form of
access in particular, access to finance, has deeply constrained India’s
poor residents. The timing of this initiative coincides with the increased
focus of the GoI on social inclusion and development through massive
investments in various social sector programs and transformation in public
services delivery through e-Governance programs. The scale of the
Aadhaar initiative is unprecedented and its implementation will involve
active participation of Central, State, and Local Governments, as well as
public and private sector agencies across the country.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), an agency of
government of India and a part of planning commission of India,
819
Aadhaar : A Card for Development
implemented a unique identification project called Aadhaar established
in Feb 2009.A 12 digit unique identification number communicates the
fundamental role of the number as a universal identity infrastructure, a
foundation over which Government, public and private agencies can build
services and applications that benefit residents across India. The mission
of the Authority is to issue a unique identification number that can be
verified and authenticated in an online, cost-effective manner, which is
robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities .The number will
store in a centralized database and linked to the basic demographics
and biometric information –photograph, tenfingerprints and iris of each
individual. The number is devoid of any classification based on caste,
creed, religion and geography. The logo for Aadhaar is a sun in red and
yellow, with a fingerprint traced across its centre. The logo effectively
communicates the vision for Aadhaar as a new dawn of equal opportunity
for each individual. Unique Identification of India (UIDAI) will build
partnerships with various Registrars across the country to enroll residents
for the number. Such Registrars may include state governments, state
Public Sector Units (PSUs), banks, telecom companies, etc. These
Registrars may in turn partner with enrolling agencies to enroll residents
into Aadhaar.
The National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 was enacted
by Parliament in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India to provide for
the establishment of the National Identification Authority of India for the
purpose of issuing identification numbers to individuals residing in India
and to certain other classes of individuals and manner of authentication
of such individuals to facilitate access to benefits and services to such
individuals to which they are entitled and for matters connected therewith
or incidental thereto.
Enrollment
Aadhaar program was launched in the tribal village, Tembhli, in
Shahada, Nandurbar, Maharashtra on 29 September 2010. The program
was inaugurated by Prime Minister; Manmohan Singh The first resident
to receive an AADHAAR was Rajana Sonawane of Tembhli village. The
total number of AADHAARs issued as on 04-August-2012 is 18.8 crores
(188 million).This is over 15.5% of the total population of India. Andhra
820
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh leads in
terms of the numbers of Aadhaars issued
Benefits of Aadhaar
z
Aadhaar is an application store for development by providing three
sets of application such as Enterprise application, Government
application and Consumer application
z
Aadhaars guarantee uniqueness and centralized, online identity
verification for building multiple services, applications, and facilitating
for greater connectivity to markets
z
Aadhaar would give any resident the ability to access the services
and resources, anytime, anywhere in the country
z
Aadhaar, provide the identity infrastructure for ensuring financial
inclusion across the country-by linking the unique number to bank
account for delivering social sector schemes and subsidies
z
Aadhaar would also be a foundation for the effective enforcement of
individual rights. A clear registration and recognition of the individual’s
identity with the state to implement their rights –to employment,
education, food, etc.
z
Aadhaar could build GIS compatible health information system and
establish nationwide surveillance and diagnosis facilities for services
and research on infectious diseases.
z
Aadhaar eliminates the need for carrying multiple cards and
passwords
Key features of Aadhaar-enabled micropayments
1.
UIDAI Know Your Residence (KYR) sufficient for Know Your
Customer (KYC):
Banks in India are required to follow customer identification
procedures while opening new accounts, to reduce the risk of fraud and
money laundering. The strong authentication that the UIDAI will offer,
combined with its KYR standards, can remove the need for such individual
KYC by banks for basic, no-frills accounts. It will thus vastly reduce the
documentation the poor are required to produce for a bank account, and
significantly bring down KYC costs for banks.
821
2.
Ubiquitous BC network and BC choice:
The UIDAI’s clear authentication and verification processes will allow
banks to network with village-based BC’s such as self-help groups and
kirana stores. Customers will be able to withdraw money and make
deposits at the local BC. Multiple BC’s at the local level will also give
customers a choice of BC’s. This will make customers, particularly in
villages, less vulnerable to local power structures, and lower the risk of
being exploited by BC’s.
3. A high-volume, low-cost revenue approach:
The UIDAI will mitigate the high customer acquisition costs, high
transaction costs and fixed IT costs that which are face in bringing bank
accounts to the poor.
4. Electronic transactions:
The UIDAI’s authentication processes will allow banks to verify poor
residents both in person and remotely. Rural residents will be able to
transact electronically with each other as well as with individuals and firms
outside the village. This will reduce their dependence on cash, and lower
costs for transactions. Once a general purpose Aadhaar-enabled
micropayments system is in place, a variety of other financial instruments
such as micro-credit, micro-insurance, micro-pensions, and micro-mutual
funds can be implemented on top of this payments system.
Uses of Aadhaar
Aadhaar can be used in the delivery of the following programs:
z
Food & Nutrition – Public Distribution System, Food Security, Mid
Day Meals, Integrated Child Development Scheme.
z
Employment – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Indira
Awaaz Yojana, Prime Minister’s Employment Guarantee Program
z
Education – Sarva Shikhsha Abhiyaan, Right to Education
z
Inclusion & Social Security – Janani Suraksha Yojana, Development
of Primitive Tribe Groups, Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension
Scheme
822
z
Healthcare – Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, Janashri Bima Yojana,
Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana
z
Other miscellaneous purposes including Property Transactions,
VoterID, PAN Card etc
Biometric systems Aadhaar dependent on biometrics which is
reliable enough to guarantee that there is a one-to-one correspondence
between real people and electronic identities on the CIDR (central ID
repository) has the following features
1.
Combining both 10 Finger Prints and 2 Iris has greatly improved
accuracy of de-duplication. The multi-modal ‘Fusion’ approach of
biometrics has been validated.
2.
The multi-ABIS solution architecture (three biometric service providers)
has contributed to lowering costs, increasing throughput and finetuning accuracy.
3.
The combining of demographic and biometric de-duplication has
further helped in eliminating trivial duplicates and increasing accuracy.
4.
The highly scalable architecture based on open components and
commodity hardware has made this ramp-up possible.
Organization Structure
UIDAI was set up as an attached office of the Planning Commission
is headquartered in Delhi with Shri Nandan Nilekani as the Chairman and
Shri R.S. Sharma as the Director General and Mission Director. DG, DDG
and ADGare in the Headquarter. The DG is to be assisted by seven Deputy
Director Generals, officers of the level of Joint Secretary, who are in charge
of various Wings. The DDGs would be supported by 21 ADGs, 15 Deputy
Directors, 15 Section Officers and 15 Assistants .A Technology Centre
has been set up in Bangalore. The Regional Offices is headed by a Deputy
Director General (DDG). The support structure below comprises 4 ADGs,
3 Deputy Directors, and 3 Section Officers, 1 Senior Accounts Officer
and 1 Accountant and personal staff. It has 8 Regional Offices in
Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Lucknow, Mumbai
and Ranchi with their jurisdiction covering specific states across the
country.
823
UID in Kerala
The Information Technology Department has been designated as
Nodal Department for the UID project and Kerala State IT Mission as the
Nodal Agency. The Kerala UID project inaugurated by the Hon. Chief
Minister Sri. V.S. Achuthanandan on 24th February 2011 at
Thiruvananthapuram. The Government of Kerala would like to enhance
efficiency in the delivery of government benefits and services through
accurate identification of beneficiaries and to have uniform standards
and processes for verification and identification of beneficiaries. The
AADHAARs issued upto 04-August-2012 in Kerala is 22.41% of the
population.
Risks and criticism
Financial Exclusion
The failure to enroll aadhaar numbers is a reality for the marginalized
sections due to lack of statistical data.
Dependency on Private Players
The UID project depends on private players such as L1 Identity
solutions and Accenture reduces the privacy and security
Relationship with National Population Registry
UIDAI is using data collected by the Census authorities which is not
an exclusive database of Indian Citizens and it contains data on all
residents of the country including foreigners. Therefore, issuing UIDs
based on the data in the NPR would help illegal migrants get these IDs
and would allow them access the government services and programs.
Economic risks
The projected costs of the Aadhaar project have been quoted
between US$6 billion and US$30.42 billion. These costs may not be
covered by future revenue produced from the project, which is
estimated at US$1.32 billion.
Scope Of Aadhaar
The widespread implementation of the Aadhaar project provides a
one of its kind opportunity for financial service providers to ride on the
platform and reach the masses at minimal cost. As part of Aadhaar
enrolment process, UIDAI will be collecting the resident’s demographic
824
and biometric information which can also be used for opening bank account
for every resident. UIDAI is at an advanced stage of talks with RBI and
Ministry of Finance for modifying the KYC regulation to include Aadhaar
authentication and / or documentation in the list of acceptable KYC. This
can enable UIDAI to electronically pass on the resident’s consent along
with the demographic information to banks for opening the bank account.
In addition, residents could also use Aadhaar to open accounts individually
at bank branches. In this context, UIDAI plans to partner with banks across
the country to facilitate opening of bank accounts for the residents during
the Aadhaar enrolment process. This discussion paper provides detail
on the proposed approach and is intended to invite comments from various
stakeholders on this proposal.
Conclusion
Aadhaar has been envisioned as a means for residents to easily
and effectively establish their identity, to any agency, anywhere in the
country, without having to repeatedly produce identity documentation to
agencies. Aadhaar would thus ensure that residents across India –
including the poorest and the most marginalized – can access the benefits
and services that are meant for them. Aadhaar would thus be critical to
the government in achieving its goals of social justice and inclusion over
the next decade.
Reference
Journal articles: Shweta Punj. ‘A number of changes’ business today,
2012; 48-54
www.uidai.govt.in
www.wikipieda.org
About the Author :
Tissy Eruthickal, Assistant Professor, P. G. Department of Commerce, Baselius
College, Kottayam
825
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 826-831
Applications of M-Commerce
Berly Sebastian
Abstract
The need for mobility is the primary driving force behind mobile
commerce. With the rapid increase in smartphone penetration across
the globe, mobile phone has gained increased acceptance amongst
both users and retailers. Currently, m-commerce is being driven by
large number of mobile phone users, a developing “cell phone culture”
among youth, demands from customers, vendor marketing, declining
prices, a mobile workforce, high performance mobile devices and
increasing data transfer speed. In the business organisations, mcommerce has entered finance, services, retails, telecommunication
and information technology services.
What is M-Commerce?
“Mobile commerce (also known as m-commerce) is the use of
information technologies and communication technologies for the purpose
of mobile integration of different value chains and business processes
and for the purpose of management of business relationships”. Using mcommerce, users can do any sort of transaction including buying and
selling of goods, asking for services, transferring the ownership of rights,
transacting and transferring the money by accessing wireless internet
service on mobile devices.
Mobile Devices
The Mobile Phone becomes the dominant means for accessing
communications primarily because deploying mobile network is not only
more cost-efficient but also it provides greater flexibility and convenience
826
to its subscribers than landline telephone. Mobile devices or wireless
medium includes:
z Mobile Phone
z Smart Phone
z PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
z Laptop
z Earpiece (as part of personal area network)
M-Commerce Applications
In the current commercial industry, m-commerce has entered into
finance, services, retail, telecommunications and information technology
services/sectors. It can help a business improve its value proposition to
customers by utilizing its unique attributes: ubiquity (it is available
everywhere at all times), convenience, interactivity, personalization and
localization. The general m-commerce applications are the following:
1. Mobile Banking
Banks throughout the world are enabling their customers to use
mobile devices to check balances, monitor transactions, obtain account
information, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and pay bills. Some
companies are enabling their customers or clients to initiate or confirm
payment transactions via their cell devices. These transactions are of
two types:
z Mobile proximity payments (where a cell phone is outfitted with a
special chip that allows the user to swipe their phone near a payment
device just like a credit card)
z Mobile remote payments (where mobile handset is used to make
person to person, business to person and business to business
payments just like they can be used to do mobile banking)
2. Mobile Shopping
Mobile shopping allows customers to shop online at any time in any
location. The customers can make comparison regarding the price, quality
and the features of the product online. Customers can browse and order
products using various electronic payment systems like credit card, debit
card, e-cash, e-cheque, e-purse, smart card and the like. Retailers can
send customers a list of products that a customer would be interested in
827
directly to their mobile devices. They can also keep track of customers at
all times and notify them of discounts at local stores.
3. Mobile Brokerage
Stock market services offered via mobile devices is known as mobile
brokerage. Regardless of physical location, the customer can transact
and keep updated regarding stock market developments and reading
through mobile brokerage. Real-time stock quotes, ability to place trades
(buy/sell/puts/calls etc), alert on stock transactions, portfolio management
service, customer education, ability to reach personal broker/banker can
all be done through mobile brokerage.
4. Mobile Marketing and Advertising
For promoting sales, enhancing brand loyalty and building customer
databases, companies are using m-commerce as their new promotional
tool. The innovation in this field is Location Based Service (detecting the
area the user is connecting from and sending marketing messages from
businesses in that area). Marketers send user specific advertising
messages to wireless devices. Advertisements can target people with
particular hobbies or interests or they can even focus on customers in a
specific country or state.
5. Mobile Workforce Support
For most organizations, the greatest short term benefit from mcommerce is from intra-business applications aimed at supporting the
mobile workforce who spend a substantial part of their workday away
from corporate premises. These individuals need access to the same
office and work applications and data as their non-mobile counterparts.
Mobile workers can be divided into three segments - mobile professionals
(such as senior executives and consultants), mobile field force (such as
field sales and service technicians) and mobile speciality workers (such
as delivery personnel and construction workers).
6. Mobile Information Services
Customers can access information regarding traffic reporting, news
services, sports scores, stock quotes, local weather, local maps, people
tracking and monitoring through their cell phones. In recent years, Quick
Response or QR codes have become common in consumer advertising.
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can contain any alpha-
828
numeric text or web URLs through which users can access more
information about the product or service by scanning the code using an
application installed in his mobile device.
7. Mobile Auctions
The customers can participate in virtual auction sites. Online
auctions open up new sales channels for new products and offer buyers
favourable purchasing conditions. The highest bidder gets the product.
Over the past few years, Mobile Reverse Auctions have gained popularity.
Here the buyer sets prices, submits to multiple sellers and then the buyer
buys from the seller who quotes the lowest bid upon reaching the time
limit.
8. Mobile Ticketing
Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of
technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately by
presenting their phones at the venue. Tickets can be booked and cancelled
on mobile phones whether it is for travelling (air tickets, railway tickets
and bus tickets) or entertainment (film shows, music programmes and
sports).
9. Mobile Vouchers, Coupons and Loyalty Cards
Mobile ticketing technology can be used for distribution of vouchers,
coupons and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token
that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting a mobile phone
with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits
as if they had the traditional physical token.
10. Mobile Entertainment
Any type of leisure activity that utilizes wireless telecommunication
networks, interacts with service providers and incurs a cost upon usage
is called mobile entertainment. The major types of mobile entertainment
include music and video, mobile gaming and mobile gambling. Music tracks
and videos, ringtones, wallpapers and games can be downloaded into
mobile phones. Mobile gambling includes sports betting, casino games
and lotteries.
Payment Methods
The main payment methods used to enable mobile commerce are:
829
z premium-rate calling numbers
z charging to the mobile telephone user’s bill
z deducting from their calling credit
z registration of a credit card that is linked to a sim card
z micropayment services
z stored-value cards
Global M-commerce growth
In many places in the world, mobile devices are the only way to get
online. Mobile web adoption is growing 8 times faster than the internet
did through the dot-com boom years of late 1990s and early 2000s. The
mobile browser vendor Opera recently found that 56% of their users
access the internet exclusively via their mobile devices. The top four
countries in this category:
China - 76 %, India - 75 %, Korea - 56 %, Japan - 47 %.
Asians have been using their phones for transactions of various
kinds for a long time, while the Europeans and to an even greater degree
the Americans are only just beginning to catch up. A survey by eBay India
highlighted that shopping is the third most popular category among mobile
internet users after e-mail and social networking.
Conclusion
Mobile phone usage is growing in India with more than 800 million
subscribers across the country. The advancement in terms of adoption
of smart phones with 3G enabled services is happening at a rapid pace.
Mobile Commerce, or m-commerce is about the explosion of applications
and services that are becoming accessible from internet enabled mobile
devices. The improved technology, greater security of mobile transactions
and the availability of m-commerce sites have all contributed to the rise in
m-commerce. The high penetration of mobile communication in India has
enhanced business opportunities while parallelly providing substantial
convenience to consumers. Regulators in India like Reserve Bank of
India, several banks, mobile service providers and handset manufacturers
have come together to leverage m-commerce.
As the internet finds its way to our purses or pockets, the devices
we use to access it are becoming more personal too. Today, mobile phones
830
know the phone numbers of our friends and colleagues. They are starting
to track our location. Tomorrow, they will replace our wallets and credit
cards. They may very well turn into intelligent assistants capable of
anticipating many of our wishes and needs such as automatically arranging
for taxis to come and pick us up after business meetings or providing us
with summaries of relevant news and messages left by colleagues.
Bibliography
1.
Efraim Turban, David King, Jae Lee, Ting-Peng Liang, Deborrah
Turban, Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective,
Pearson, 2010
2.
Joseph P T, E-Commerce, An Indian Perspective, PHI Learning
Private Limited, New Delhi, 2009
3.
Moez Ltifi and Jamel Eddine, E-satisfaction and E-loyalty of
consumers shopping online, Journal of Internet Banking &
Commerce, April 2012.
4.
Norman M Sadeh, M-Commerce Technologies, Services and
Business Models, John Wiley & Sons, 2002
5.
Paul May, Opportunities, Applications and Technologies of
Wireless Business, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
6.
Rathijit Badwar and Poonam Khemka, Shifting Trends in MCommerce 2002 and After, Dominant Publishers and Distributors,
2002
7.
Rilendra Goel, E-Commerce, New Age International Publications,
Kolkata,2011
8.
Various issues of ‘Journal of Electronic Commerce Research’,
Quarterly journal published by Information Systems Department,
College of Business Administration, California State University.
9.
www.emarketingdictionary.com
10. www.mobilecommercedaily.com
11. www.mobileinfo.com
12. www.wikipedia.org
About the Author :
Berly Sebastian is Assistant Professor in the Post Graduate Department of
Commerce, Baselius College, Kottayam, Kerala.
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BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 832-846
A Glimpse Into The Web Mining Languages
Eldhose T. John
Abstract
Retrieval of information from world wide web is a fertile research
area. There are many techniques in the retrieval of information using
search engines. Current search engines are keyword-driven, and the
answers presented are lists of presumably relevant documents. The
VWV and WebML allow us to apprehend and solve the resource
discovery issues by presenting lists of relevant documents to users, the
knowledge discovery power of WebML is unique. It helps to find
interesting high level information about the global information base.
It provides users with a high-level view of the database, statistical
information relevant to the answer set, and other associative and
summary information at different layers. WebLog and We- bOQL, and
available networked agents, such as Ahoy!, to retrieve pertinent
descriptors from web documents and build the first layer of the MLDB
structure. It is observed that WebML as a programming language for
Web mining, to be embedded in other traditional programming
languages, more than an interactive query language, much like
SQL of today. Experiments run locally on a collection of on-line
documents were very promising. In this paper a glimpse on the web
mining languages is given.
832
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A Glimpse in to Web Mining Languages
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836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
About the Author :
Eldhose T. John is working as an Assistant Professor in Department of Computer
Application of BPC College, Piravom.
846
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 847-854
Nothing Becomes a Number :
On the Origins of Zero
Sindhurani P. J.
Abstract
This paper introduces the origin of the mathematical zero in terms of
the assignment of special meanings to Sanskrit terms such as lopa,
sunya or bindu and to propose a link of the mathematical zero with the
linguistic zero, which were invented by the great grammarian Panini.
Further this paper gives an account of the Hindu recognition of zero as
a number, a key for unlocking the door of algebra and discusses how
the use of zero transformed the theory of equations.
Introduction
Zero is a strange number and one of the great paradoxes of human
thought. It means both nothing, and everything. Initially, zero was not
considered as a number.There was the idea of empty space, which many
thought conceptually similar to zero. The history of zero, placeholders in
positional notation is further complicated by the fact that the concept
appeared independently well before the days of Columbus, in the western
as well as in the eastern hemisphere. The Mayas of Yucatan in their
representation of time intervals between dates in their calendar used a
place value system. Mayas indicated missing positions through the use
of a symbol, appearing in variant forms, some what resembling a half
open eye.
Babylonians around 700 B.C. started using their end-of-sentence
symbol (we will use a dot) to show that a place was being skipped. Thus
zero began its life as “place holder”, a symbol for something skipped.
Almost during the same time, Greek mathematicians made some unique
847
Nothing Becomes a Number
contributions to Mathematics. Euclid wrote a book on number theory
named Elements but that was completely based on geometry and no
concept of zero was mentioned.
Ancient India reverberated with zeroes, zero entities and zero events
long before the geometry of Sulva Sutras which are post-Buddhist. The
pre-history of zero was expressed in early Vedic by kha which refers to
cavities of various sorts and occurs in the Upanisads in the sense of
“space”. The Srauta Sutras, late Vedic but pre-Buddhist, used lopa to
refer to omissions, disappearances and things that are lost. It is here that
the origins of the mathematical concepts of zero seem to lie. In view of the
above observations the present paper has been prepared with the
following aims.
i)
to explain the origin of the mathematical zero in terms of the
assignment of special meanings to Sanskrit terms such as lopa, sunya
or bindu .
ii) to propose a link of the mathematical zero with the linguistic zero.
iii) to present the recognition of 0 as a number by the Indians.
iv) to discuss how the use of zero transformed the theory of equations.
Indic Origins
Inscriptions of Indus civilization exhibit occurrences and sequences
of circles that resembles the numerals that have expressed zeroes in
more recent times. Other civilizations contemporary with the urban
complexes of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa used circles also but they did
not refer to zeroes. In Vedic mathematics we find a rudimentary decimal
system for counting. It did not include negative numbers, but addition,
subtraction and multiplication of whole numbers. The Rig-Veda distinguish
between ordinal and cardinal numbers. In all these cases, we are dealing
with numbers, not with numerals. Vedas are the Oral Tradition since there
was no writing on the subcontinent prior to the Buddhist Emperor Asoka
who reigned from 268 to 231 BCE. But “zero” did not only lack a symbol.
There was no term for it in the Oral Tradition. The word kha, which Indian
mathematicians used later to denote zero occurs in Vedic tradition only in
the sense of ‘hole” “opening”, “Vacancy” or “space”.
The usual view is that the circular symbol for zero, derived directly from
India, first appears on the Bhojadeva inscriptions at Gwalior dated 876
848
AD.1 The insxription concerns the town of Gwalior, 400 km south of Delhi
where they planted a garden 187 by 2070 hastas which would produce
enough flowers to allow 50 garlands per day to be given to a local temple.
Both of the numbers 270 and 50 are denoted almost as they appear
today although the 0 is smaller and slightly raised.
Origin of Zero from Sanskrit terms
1. Sunya
Sunya appears as a symbol in Pingala’s Chandah-Sutra (300BC).
In chapter VIII, while enunciating an algorithm for evaluating any positive
integral power of 2 in terms of an optimal number of squaring and
multiplication operation, sunya is used as a marker.
Rigveda employs Sunya for “lack, absence, emptiness”. One of the
earliest examples is “lack of sons” in RV. 7.1.11. Later Vedic has Sunya in
the meaning “hollow, deserted”.
David Ruegg wrote a brief article entitled “Mathematical and
Linguistic Models in Indian Thought”. The case of zero and Sunyata was
published in 1978. In the article he wrote Sunyata refers as is well known
to the Buddhist concept of emptiness. It is a characteristic feature of the
Madhyamaka school and was foreshadowed by a certain Bhadanta
Vasumitra who might have lived at the end of the first or beginning of the
second century CE. Its context is the theory of dharmas, which does not
refer to Buddhist dharma or ‘doctrine’, but to elements or factors, each
of which is considered to bear its own specific characteristic that
determines it.2
2. Bindu
Bindu which means “dot” is another term for zero. ‘Vasavadatta’, a
literary work of the 6th century by Subandhu uses Sunyabindu to denote
the symbol for zero. ‘Yavanajataka’ of ‘sphujidhvaja’, composed in 149/
150 AD, used the term bindu in the earliest reference known to the decimal
place-value system with a symbol for zero in India.3
3. Lopa
Almost all Indian mathematicians wrote in Sanskrit, the classical
language of science that unites the subcontinent. Many of the classics of
Indian mathematics were composed in concise and sometimes elegant
849
Sanskrit verse. Like other scholars, many mathematicians are likely to
have studied the earliest and most famous Sanskrit grammar : that of
Panini of the fifth/fourth century BC. Panini had a technical term for zero:
lopa. He defined it as “something that does not appear” (adarsanam lopah).
Some interpretters have translated Panini’s adarsanam as ‘unseen’, since
the verbal root drs- certainly means “to see”.4 According to Renou’s
dictionary of grammatical terms in Sanskrit adarsana means amuissement
a technical term in French which expresses that phoneme is dropped in
pronunciation. Renou refers to Katyayana, grammarian who commented
on Panini and lived some two or three centuries later, probably during the
reign of Asoka. According to Katyayana, adarsana means not seen, not
heard, not pronounced not perceived, absence or disappearance. In the
present context we may conclude that drs does not only mean “to see
with one’s eyes”, that adasanam does not only mean “unseen” and that
‘something that does not appear” is the best translation-for the time being.5
Sanskrit does not use an explicit pronoun like English. The verbal
form khadati does not mean: “eats” but “he eats”. That “he” disappears
when there is a subject as in ramo khadati which means “Rama eats” but
not “Rama he eats” Sanskrit distinguishes like English between the stem
and suffix or ending of a verb. From the stem khad - (“eat”) and the
ending -ti (“-s”) it forms:
khad - a - ti “(he) eat - s”
(1)
Here a is something in between which we may call an infix. This infix
we only find in Sanskrit.
There are various classes of verbs in Sanskrit. One of them has a
verb with the same meaning but lacks the infix:
ad - ti “(he) eat - s”
(2)
Which becomes atti which is due to what is sometime called
“assimilation” (2) is now expressed as
ad - 0 - ti “(he) eats”
(3)
The symbol “0” which indicates absence of the infix is the lopa defined
as “something that does not appear”. Here we meet the grammatical or
linguistic zero. It occurs not only in verbs but also in nouns and it should
be obvious that there are many of them.6
850
4. Zeroes in the Srauta Ritual
Vedic Srauta Ritual belongs to the pre-history of zero as well as
that of Sanskrit Grammar. Vedic ritual is, therefore, a parent as well as a
grandparent of zero. Vedic ritual became a science or theory in one of its
later forms which developed between roughly the tenth and seventh
centuries BC and became known as the Srauta ritual. It was an oral
tradition. Basic to any ritual performance are space and the four directions.
Some of the most important Srauta ceremonies are performed in a small
space at the center that is called the Sadas. The Sadas looks as follows
with the north on top.
RIGVEDA > < YAJURVEDA
Vedas are recited in the four directions which the reciters themselves
must also face. The above sketch makes use of two directions that are
indicated in the figure by symbols we have used before but that now
have a meaning > means “facing east” and < means “facing west”. These
directions raise a host of technical and theoretical problems. The first is
concerned with the directions only. The second combines directions with
the verbal root from which lopa derives.
The first case is illustrated by the sketch. It does not involve the
Rigveda which is recited inside the Sadas by an official, who is already
sitting there, facing and reciting east. The Yagurveda is recited by a priest,
say Y, but he has come from outside the Sadas and cannot easily enter.
He has made several turns already and will eventually face west and face
R: the auspicious result that is depicted here. Earlier, the two officiants
did not only fail to face each other but Y sat with his back to R-a situation
that is to be avoided at all costs. The entire episode illustrates how the
rivalry between different factions may be resolved and overcome.
The stage is now set for the second case. A dialogue unfolds which
is initiated by R who recites a proposal.
“Let us both recite” (Somsavo)
851
Y responds from outside the Sadas with a touch of flattery. His
verse consists of two halves.
“Let us both recite, divine one” (Somsavo daiva)
“Recite! Let us both rejoice!”(Samsa Madeva)
Suppose Y were to omit the second half-verse. The problem is
addressed by the Yajurveda: “if the response after the half-verse were
omitted (lupyeta) it would be like someone being left behind by others
who are running ahead” (Taittiriya Samhita). Here we have an instance
of the verbal root lup -from which lopa is derived. The general meaning
of the verb is “disappear” or “get lost”.8
Zero becomes a Number
Around AD 650, the use of zero as a number came into Indian
mathematics. The Indians used a place value system and zero was used
to denote an empty place. In fact there is evidence of an empty placeholder
in positional numbers from as early as AD 200 in India. Around AD 500
Aryabhata devised a number system, which had no zero, as a positional
system, but used to denote empty space. There is evidence that a dot
had heen used in earlier Indian manuscripts to denote an empty place in
positional notation. For example to represent 1000 it would be three dots
after 1.
The Brahmasphuta-Siddhanta (628 AD) of Brahmagupta seems to
be the first available text that discussed the mathematics of zero. Sunya
- Parikarma or the six operations with zero are discussed in the chapter
XVIII on algebra, Kuttakadhyaya is the same six verses in which the six
operations with positive and negatives are also discussed.9 His rules for
addition, subtraction and multiplication involving zero are correct. But to
divide by zero, he gave some rules that were not correct. However, it was
an excellent system to visualize the number system in the light of negative
numbers, zero and positive numbers.
In A.D. 830, another Indian mathematician Mahavira wrote Ganita
Sara Samgraha which was designed as an update of Brahmagupta’s book.
He also gave correct rules for multiplication and subtraction, but again
gave incorrect rule for division by zero.10
852
Bhaskara II tried to solve the problem of division by stating that
any number divided by zero is infinity. It is still incorrect, but conceptually
right. Bhaskara II correctly states other properties of zero such as square
of zero is zero and square root of zero is also zero.
It is therefore clear that the Indian mathematicians developed the
concept of zero and stated different mathematical operations involved
with zero. The recognition of zero as a number by Indian mathematicians
was a key for unlocking the door of algebra.
Zero in Theory of Equations
In the seventeenth century Thomas Harriot (1560-1621) (Harriot’s
principle) proposed a simple technique for solving algebraic equations.
Move all the terms of the equation to one side of the equal sign, so that
the equation takes the form (some polynomial ) =0
This procedure was popularized in his book on analytic geometry.
It is a common part of elementary algebra today but it was a truly
revolutionary step forward at that time. Consider the example: To find a
number x for which x2 + 12 = 7x.
rewrite it as x2 - 7x + 12 = 0.
The left side can be factored into (x-3) (x-4) =0. Now, for the product
of two numbers to equal 0, at least one of them must be equal to zero.
(This is another property of zero that makes it unique among numbers).
Therefore the roots, can be found by solving the easier equations x-1 = 0
and x-2 = 0, that is the two roots in the original equation are 1 and 2.
We choose this example because it factors easily, but a lot was
known about factoring polynomials, so this principle was a major advance
in the theory of equations.
Conclusion
The ancient India reverberated with zeroes, zero entities and zero
events long before the geometry of the Sulva Sutras. By the 18th century,
the status of zero had grown from place holder to number to algebraic
tool. As the 19th century mathematicians generalized the structure of the
number systems to form the rings and fields of modern algebra, zero
became the prototype for a special element. However zero is everywhere
and it is one of the significant discoveries of mankind.
853
References
1.
David Eugene Smith. History of Mathematics. Dover Publications,
New York, 1958.
2.
David Ruegg: Mathematical and Linguistic models in Indian
Thought: The case of Zero and Sunyata, Wienere Zeitschrift fur
die kunde sudasiens, 1978.
3.
David Pingree The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja Edited, Translated
and commended on Vols I-II, Harvard University Press, 1978.
4.
Allen, W. S. Zero and Panini, Indian Linguistics, 1995.
5.
Louis Renou, Termonologie gramaticale du Sanskrit. Paris
Champion 1957.
6.
Frits Staal, on the Origins of Zero, Studies in the History of Indian
Mathematics. Hindustan Book Agency (India), 2010.
7.
Caland W. and Henry V., Agnistoma Description complete de la
forme normale du sacrifice de soma dans le vulte vedique vols. I II Paris Ernest Leroux.
8.
Frits Staal, Ritual and Mantras: Rules without meaning. Delhi, Motilal
Banasrsidass, 1996.
9.
Sudhakara Dvivedi (Ed) Brahmasphuta Siddhanta, Benaras, 1902.
10.
Muralidhara Jha, Bijaganita of Bhaskaracarya (Ed) Benaras, 1927.
About the Author :
Sindhurani P. J., MPhil Research Scholar, CUSAT. Presently working as HSST
(Mathematics) in St. John NHSS, Kozhuvanal.
854
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 855-863
Women Empowerment and Self Help Groups:
An Overview
Sijo K. Manuel
Abstract
Empowerment of women has become a subject of great concern to the
development planners and policy makers all over the world. The
declaration of the ‘International Women’s Year’ (1975) and the ‘Decade
of Women’ (1976 – 1985) by the UN led to the globalization of women’s
issues. Consequently, the problems faced by women and the need for
empowering women got worldwide attention. ‘National Policy for
Empowerment of Women’ was declared by the government of India in
2001, and a gender perspective was added to the development policies
and projects at all levels. There are a number of ways for empowering
the women folk. Self Help Groups (SHGs) are one way for empowering
the women. This paper discusses the different angles of empowerment
and the role of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for empowering women in a
positive manner.
Introduction
The Government of India had ushered in the new millennium by
declaring the year 2001 as ‘Women’s Empowerment Year’ to focus on a
vision ‘where women are equal partners like men’. The most common
explanation of ‘women’s empowerment’ is the ability to exercise full control
over one’s actions. The last decades have witnessed some basic changes
in the status and role of women in our society. There has been shift in
policy approaches from the concept of ‘welfare’ in the seventies to
‘development’ in the eighties and now to ‘empowerment’ in the nineties.
This process has been further accelerated with some sections of women
855
becoming increasingly self-conscious of their discrimination in several
areas of family and public life. They are also in a position to mobilize
themselves on issues that can affect their overall position.
The word ‘women empowerment’ essentially means that the women
have the power or capacity to regulate their day- to- day lives in the
social, political and economic terms - a power which enables them to
move from the periphery to the centre stage. The principle of gender
equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its preamble, fundamental
rights, fundamental duties and directive principles. The Constitution not
only grants equality to women but also empowers the state to adopt
measures, a position; indiscrimination in favour of women. Within the
framework of democratic polity, our laws, developmental policies, plans
and programmes are aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres.
India has also ratified various international conventions to secure rights
of women.
A review of government’s various programmes for women
empowerment such as Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Streeshakti, Balika
Samrudhi Yojana and another two thousand projects reveal that little has
been done or achieved through these programmes. The discrepancy in
the ideology and practice of the empowerment policy of women in India
constitutes its continued social, economic and social backwardness.
Women make up 52% of our country’s population. Hence there can be
no progress unless their needs and interests are fully met. Empowerment
would not hold any meaning unless they are made strong, alert and aware
of their equal status in the society. Policies should be framed to bring
them into the mainstream of society. It is important to educate the women.
The need of the hour is to improve female literacy as education holds the
key to development. SHG is one of the techniques for empowering women
in India.
What is Empowerment?
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or
economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the
empowered developing confidence in their own capacities. The Oxford
English dictionary explains ‘to empower’ as ‘to invest legally or formally
with power, to enable or to permit’. Its central meaning is, to enable people
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to do things that they would otherwise be unable to do. It means, to remove
the restrictions – artificial or otherwise – that prevent people from doing
the things that is within their ability to achieve. According to Nancy Foy,
“every meaningful model for change includes the basic elements of
empowerment: performance, teams, leadership and communication”.
Marginalized people who have no opportunities for self-sufficiency
become dependent on charity or welfare. They lose their self-confidence
because they cannot be fully self-supporting. The opportunities denied
them also deprive them of the pride of accomplishment which others, who
have those opportunities, can develop for themselves. This in turn can
lead to psychological, social and even mental health problems.
Empowerment is then the process of obtaining these basic
opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by those people, or
through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access
to these opportunities. Empowerment also includes encouraging, and
developing the skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the
future need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group. This
process can be difficult to start and to implement effectively, but there are
many examples of empowerment projects which have succeeded.
Empowerment includes the following capabilities:z The ability to make decisions about personal/collective
circumstances
z The ability to access information and resources for decision-
making
z Ability to consider a range of options from which to choose (not
just yes/no, either/or.)
z Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making
z Having positive-thinking about the ability to make change
z Ability to learn and access skills for improving personal/collective
circumstance.
z Ability to inform others’ perceptions through exchange, education
and engagement.
z Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending
and self-initiated
857
z Increasing one’s positive self-image and overcoming stigma
z Increasing one’s ability in discreet thinking to sort out right and
wrong
Empowerment is not essentially political alone; it is a process having
personal, economic, social and political dimensions with personal
empowerment being the core of the empowerment process. In fact political
empowerment will not succeed in the absence of economic empowerment.
The Scheme of Micro-financing through SHGs create empowerment
promoting conditions for women to move from positions of marginalisation
within household decision making process and exclusion within community,
to one of greater centrality, inclusion of voice.
Need for Empowerment of Women
Even after sixty years of independence, great inequalities exist
between men and women in employment opportunities, remuneration,
recognition of women’s economic participation and rights. Some of the
manifestations of inequalities are listed below:
z Women have fewer job opportunities than men and are mostly
found in low paid and less prestigious occupations.
z Women scarcely hold management positions and high
government posts.
z Women who work outside their homes are still bound to carry
out the domestic work of the household, and thus bear a double
work burden which is an obstacle both to better employment
opportunities, and participation in social and political ventures.
z Women’s unpaid household work is usually not considered to
be a contribution to the economy.
z Lack of income reduces women’s decision making power in the
household and their ability to participate in social and political
activities.
z The inequalities women face in economic participation have an
adverse effect on women’s self esteem and their status in
society.
Because of these reasons women empowerment is needed. There
are several positive and conscious methods and steps for empowering
858
the women. Women empowerment also includes encouraging, and
developing the skills for self-sufficiency. SHGs help women in this venture.
Concept of SHG:
The primary focus of self-help groups is to provide emotional and
practical support and an exchange of information. Such groups use
participatory processes to provide opportunities for people to share
knowledge, common experiences, and problems. Through their
participation, members help themselves and others by gaining knowledge
and information, and by obtaining and providing emotional and practical
support. These groups have been particularly useful in helping people
with chronic health conditions and physical and mental disabilities.
Traumatic life events such as death and divorce are also the basis for
groups. Self-help groups are voluntary, and they are mostly led by
members. Generally, groups meet on a regular basis, are open to new
members, and do not cost money to join. Traditionally, self-help groups
are nonprofessional organizations formed by people with a common
problem or situation, for the purpose of pooling resources, gathering
information, and offering mutual support, services, or care.
Self – Help Group (SHG) is a small voluntary association of poor
people, preferably from the same socioeconomic background. They come
together for the purpose of solving their common problems through selfhelp and mutual help. The SHG promotes small savings among its
members. The savings are kept with a bank. This common fund is in the
name of the SHG. Usually, the members in one SHG do not exceed twenty.
The concept of SHG is based on the following principles:
z Self-help supplemented with mutual help can be a powerful
vehicle for the poor in their socioeconomic development;
z
Participative financial services management is more responsive
and efficient;
z
Poor need not only credit support, but also savings and other
services;
z
Poor can save and are bankable and SHGs as clients, result in
wider out reach, lower transaction cost and much lower risk costs
for the banks;
859
z Creation of a common fund by contributing small savings on a
regular basis;
z
z
Flexible democratic system of working;
Loaning is done mainly on trust with a bare documentation and
without any security;
z Amounts loaned are small, frequent and for short duration;
z Defaults are rare mainly due to group pressure; and
z Periodic meetings, non-traditional savings.
Working of SHGs
SHGs are working in democratic manner. The upper limit of members
in a group is restricted to 20. Among them a member is selected as an
‘animator’ and two members are selected as the representatives. The
animator is selected for the period of two years. The group members
meet every week. They discuss the group savings, rotation of sangha
funds, bank loan, repayment of loan, social and community action
programmes. Following are the eligibility for membership in SHGs:
z Belonging to poor family
z Residing in same village
z The age limit for women is between 16-60 yrs
z Annual income for the family should not exceed above Rs.12000
per year.
z First preference is given to handicapped, widows and women
abandoned by husbands.
Functions of SH.Gs
z Create a common fund by the members through their regular
savings.
z Flexible working system and resources pooling in a democratic
way.
z Periodical meeting. The decision making through group meeting.
z The loan amount is small and reasonables, so that it is easy to
repay in time.
z The rate of interest is affordable, varying group to group and
loan to loan. However it is little higher than the banks but lower
than the money lenders.
860
Objectives
Following are the major objectives of SHGs:
z To sensitize women of target area for the need of SHG and its
relevance in their empowerment process.
z To create group feeling among women.
z To enhance the confidence and capabilities of women.
z To develop collective decision making among women.
z To encourage habit of saving among women and facilitate the
accumulation of their own capital resource base.
z To motivate women taking up social responsibilities particularly
related to women development.
Goals
Self-help groups are started by non-profit organizations (NGOs)
that generally have broad anti-poverty agendas. Self-help groups are
seen as instruments for a variety of goals including empowering women,
developing leadership abilities among poor people, increasing school
enrolments, and improving nutrition and the use of birth control. Financial
intermediation is generally seen more as an entry point to these other
goals, rather than as a primary objective. This can hinder their development
as sources of village capital, as well as their efforts to aggregate locally
controlled pools of capital through federation, as was historically
accomplished by credit unions.
SHGs and Women Empowerment
It has been realized in many parts of India that an effective way to
tackle poverty and to enable communities to improve the quality of life is
through social mobilization of disadvantaged people, especially Self Help
Groups (SHGs). The concept of Self Help Groups is based on the idea of
community participation, as sustainable community development requires
the active participation of the entire community. Popular participation
ensures that the benefits of development are equitably distributed. To
further this, proposals are made for the decentralization of the authority
so as to ensure redistribution of wealth, improved access to education
and other social services. Consequently the focus of self-help groups is
to develop the capacity of the disadvantaged, particularly women, and to
861
organize them, so that they can deal with socio-political and socioeconomic issues that affect their lives.
Self Help Groups have been formed in almost all the villages. The
women have been mobilized to form small groups for savings & credit for
improving the economic conditions of the individual women. Micro-capital
assistance has raised their hopes for starting small enterprises for
generating more money thus improving their overall economic condition.
So SHGs give more emphasis on the economic aspect of empowerment
of women. Other aspects like spiritual, political, personal and social are
given less importance. Nevertheless the self-help group model has been
identified as a potential pathway to alleviating poverty and empowering
women. SHGs lay the foundation for self- reliance through building up of
institutions, which have the capacity to generate employment opportunities
for the rural poor, and the poorest, and lead to job-led economic growth.
Conclusion
An empowered woman will gain stronger abilities to educate and
care for her children. It helps more to help women to help themselves,
due to the fact that women are more likely to use their new abilities and
capacities to help those around them. By ensuring women access to
property, employment and equal wages, and by granting them access to
positions with political power and to education, governments can no longer
ignore women and their necessities. Ending violence and discrimination
against women in all its forms is an integral part in the process of
empowering women in general. For attaining such empowerment of women
SHGs are identified as one way. SHGs movement in India has been working
in the right direction in empowering women and eradicating poverty in the
rural and urban areas.
The self-help group model has been identified as a potential pathway
to alleviating poverty. The number of poor women enrolling in SHGs all
over rural India has been increasing remarkably. They are not only active
in thrift and credit management but are also taking up other activities,
such as natural resource management and development work, literacy,
knowledge management, nutritional security etc. SHGs lay the foundation
for self- reliance through building up of institutions, which have the capacity
to generate employment opportunities for the rural poor, and the poorest,
862
and lead to job-led economic growth. However, women are still not
empowered as per the expectation. There are a number of reasons behind
it. Nevertheless, SHGs are more or less considered, a successful means
to develop women empowerment in rural and urban areas of India.
References
1.
Kamala Bhasin, Understanding Gender, Kali Primaries, New Delhi,
2000.
2.
Barbara Bagilhole, Women: Work and Equal opportunity, Avebury
Ashgate Publishing Ltd., England, 1994.
3.
Abhilasha Kumari and Sabina Kidwai, Women Empowerment,
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi, 1996.
4.
Marilee Karl. Women Empowerment: Participation and Decision
Making, London, Zed Books, 1995.
5.
Bidyut Mohanty, Women and Political Empowerment, Institute of
Social Sciences, New Delhi, 1997.
6.
Sakuntala Narasimhan, Empowering Women, Sage Publications,
Delhi, 1999.
7.
Sangeetha Purushothaman, The Empowerment of Women in
India, Sage Publication, Delhi, 1998.
8.
Dr. Sr. Rosa K.D., Empowerment of Women: The Impact of
Employment, Abhijeet Publications, Delhi, 2010
9.
P.B. Rathod, An Introduction to Women’s Studies, ADB Publishers,
New Delhi, 2010.
10.
http://wcd.nic.in/empwomen.htm
11.
h t t p : / / w w w. u n d p . o r g / c o n t e n t / u n d p / e n / h o m e / o u r w o r k /
womenempowerment/overview.html
12.
h t t p : / / w w w. t h i n k c h a n g e i n d i a . o r g / 2 0 1 0 / 0 3 / 2 5 / w o m e n empowerment-in-india/
13.
http://www.publishyourarticles.net/knowledge-hub/essay/anessay-on-the-empowerment-of-women-in-india.html
About the Author :
Sijo K. Manuel, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science, St. Thomas
College, Pala, Kottayam, Kerala. - 686574, e-mail : [email protected]
863
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 864-870
Market Potential of Ayurveda in the
International Scenario
Jomon Lonappan
Abstract
Ayurveda is one of the most ancient systems of life, health & care, that
flourished through 5000 years with an unbroken tradition of practice.
The study aims at analyzing the globalization effects, the trend of a
paradigm shift and the resurgence of ayurveda not only in India or
Srilanka but also in other parts of the world. The present study reviews
into the current infrastructure and the market potential of Ayurveda in
the International Scenario. The study also gives a focus to Ayurveda
based Wellness Tourism in the International Level
Introduction
Globalization of Ayurveda will help India to enter the 70 billion
international market of natural products as there are immense resources
within the country. A significant economic benefit will be the global inputs
for its development; particularly funding from Global organizations like
W.H.O and UNESCO for scientific research. Globalisation of Ayurveda
will also create employment opportunities for institutionally trained
Ayurveda professionals abroad.
Origin of Ayurveda
According to Indian mythological concept, Ayurveda originated from
Brahma, the God of creation. Hindumyth says that, Brahmawants to ease
the sufferings of his creation by transferring the knowledge of Ayurveda
to deities..Dhanavanthri was one of those deities, who then transferred
this knowledge of science to modern world.Dhanavanthri is considered
864
as ‘Father of ayurveda’The roots of ayurveda are generally traced to the
Atharvaveda [Circa 1500 B.C],which has numerous hymns relating to
practical and scientific information on various subjects beneficial to the
humanity [Valiathan ,2009]. During vedic period ,Ayurveda was merely a
religious medical practice, in which Brahmans who perform religious rituals
were considered as Vaidyas. The magical and religious aspect of medicine
in Vedas was gradually supplemented by observations based on scientific
thinking.During this age appellation of ayurveda took place in a systematic
approach without the neglection of its roots in atharvaveda
[subbarayappa,2001]. An important development in the vedic medicinal
practice was the use of herbal formulations for treatment. Thus ayurveda
developed as a classic medical system from faith based to reason based
practice.
Objectives & Methodology
The present study reviews into the current infrastructure and the
market potential of Ayurveda in the International Scenario. The study
also gives a focus to Ayurveda based Wellness Tourism in the International
Level.
Evaluation of Total Economic Value Ayurveda medicine
Ayurveda is one of the oldest medical systems in the world. Health
is a state of equilibrium of Physical, Psychological and Spiritual
components. This equilibrium is maintained between internal & external
environment which is known as Loka Purusa Samya. Ayurvedic
Therapeutics uses herbs & minerals extracted from environment to
maintain the well being of human being. Universally this unique feature
ensured sustainable utilization of both environmental and Ayurvedic
principles in providing Health care. Recently, man’s attitude towards the
evironment has changed with new concepts such as sustainable
development, cleaner production technology, environmental valuation
techniques etc; Increased Knowledge & awareness of environmental
goods and services, global attention are oriented towards Ayurvedic
medicine.
Alternative Medicine
As in other fields of applied sciences, modern medical science also
has failed to resist the onslaught of Corruption, Consumerism and
865
Market Potential of Ayurveda
utilitarian motives, the deterioration in medical ethics coupled with the
limitations of modern scientific medicine in curing many diseases; has
prompted many Westerners to find alternative in the Eastern traditional
methods of the therapeutics. While Globalization of economy, easy
exchange of scientific knowledge, and a big leap in information technology
have helped the spread of scientific medicine, it is equally true that Eastern
ideas and culture have also made their impact on certain sections of
Western Community. Thus, alternative medicine, chiefly various ayurvedic
therapies and Chinese techniques are becoming increasingly popular
both in the land of their origin and Western Societies.
Influence of Ayurveda in the Western Culture
Ayurveda is one such cultural exchange, which the Westerners feel
might provide them with a holistic approach to their health problems.
Ayurveda appears to profess more humane approach towards the illness,
which the modern medical practitioners appear to lack. Many a patients
feel that modern medical science has become too commercial, almost to
the point being labelled as unethical. The opinion is now afloat that, in
addition to the sophisticated gadgetory the patients need tender loving
care as well. Ayurveda practitioners may not have remedy for every illness,
but their approach towards the patient is more kind & natural. The
treatments prescribed also bring the patients in touch with the nature by
way of herbs & plant medicines, seasonal Dos & Donts, Diet & Exercises
and desirable emphasis on lifestyle modification. In addition recent surge
in the interest in science of Spirituality-Vedanta & Yoga- has also
contributed to the revival of Ayurveda in the East & West.
Ayurveda as a Medical System
The eminent Ayurveda practitioners in India have lots of case studies
documented with them. European and US patent authorities have accepted
for example one of the formulations by Vaidya Balendu Prakash, an
eminent Ayurveda practitioner from Dehradun, India, for Leukemia
patients. Data are available for certain forms of cancer with more clinical
data on acute leukemia. Some other diseases that are successfully treated
in Ayurveda are Chronic inflammatory disorders like Pancreatitis, hepatitis,
bronchitis, colitis, cystitis, dermatitis, gastritis, duodenitis, rheumatoid
arthritis, sinusitis, metabolic disorders like chronic headache, childhood
866
asthma, urticaria, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, backache and
anaemia.
In Ayurveda two types of preparations are in use:
• Classical or ethical products
• Patent and propriety drugs
Classical or ethical products are based on various Ayurveda
classical texts as are listed in Indian drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940. These
books date back from 1st Century BC to 20th Century AD.
Influence in India & China
Traditional Chinese & Indian system of medicine overcome
restrictions of their respective national boundaries. Modern & Global
Ayurveda provides an overview of the relatively recent history of Ayurveda
in its modern & Globalized forms. One of the traditional medical systems
originating on the Indian subcontinent, Ayurveda is fast becoming a
Transnational Phenomenon. The wide range of perspectives include the
Philosophical, Anthropological, Socio-political, Economic, Bio-medical and
pharmacological issues such as ideological clashes between “Classical”
and “modernized” ayurveda, the export of ayurvedic medicines to Western
countries and the possible re-import of its adapted & re-interpreted
contents. All these prove particularly relevant to contemporary discussion
on the integration of complementary & alternative healthcare.
Perceptions and Profile of Medical Tourists
International patients seeking medical services across borders
globally look at more than just cost comparisons in their search for the
right physician and right facility to address specific needs. The top priorities
include
1.
Credentials - recognized international accreditations &
certifications.
2.
Experience - board certified doctors’, training and years of
experience.
3.
Patient References - patient testimonials, before & after
advertising pictures.
4.
Specific Treatment Methods - uniqueness of centre &
procedure offered.
867
5.
Comprehensive Solution - provide complete solution to an
illness.
6.
Reputation - locally as well as internationally e.g., publications,
research papers.
7.
Language - effectively communicate in patient’s preferred
language.
8.
Geographic Location - local conveniences, transportation
services, attractions.
9.
Cost - clear price list, services included in the package, pricing
options.
10.
Bench Mark Data -any comparative information that will
convince patients
Benefit Transfer Method
In general, original environmental valuation studies are expensive
and time consuming, and, in majority of cases, resources in terms of
Time & Money are barely available. The latter has resulted in adopting
the use of Benefit Transfer Method (BTM) which refers to the application
of results obtained from a particular case to another area. The site of
original research is usually called “study site”, while the site to which the
benefit estimate is transferred is called “policy site”. This process is a
cost effective way to evaluate the environmental effects of projects when
original research is not possible- due to budget constraints and/or time
limitations. However when primary research cannot be carried out, BTM
provides useful information for decision making, especially in cases where
a high degree of precision is not critical. Several necessary conditions
should be met to perform effective & efficient BTMs : studies transferred
must be based on adequate data, sound economic methods and correct
empirical techniques and the environmental resource and the change in
quality reflected in policy should be similar to the study sites. Several
factors may also affect the reliability and the validity of this method
including the quality of the original study, the different research methods
that may have been used for data collection , the different statistical
methods that may have been applied for estimating models and the issue
of temporality or stability of data overtime, since the existing studies
occurred at different points in time.
868
Conclusion
Ayurvedic experts, as well as decision makers involved in issues
related to Ayurveda, should always bear in mind that Ayurveda is an
environmental good and service when valuing Ayurvedic assets. Studies
related to Total Economic value of Ayurveda are timely needed. A recent
trend has shown that people from developed countries are seeking
treatment from the health professionals from developing countries. The
destination in Wellness Tourism is often an alternative space in which
one can engage in self analysis without the stresses and distractions of
home as well as work place.
References
1.
Corbin, Pangrazi, & Franks, (2000), “Definitions: Health fitness and
physical activities”, Presidents council on physical fitness and sports
research digest,3(9), 1-8
2.
Cooper, K. (1982). The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being. New
York: Bantam.
3.
De Botton, A. (2002). The Art of Travel. London. Penguin
4.
Hu Clark, (1996), “Diverse developments in travel and tourism
marketing: a thematic approach”, International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management 8/7 p. 33–43.
5.
Kaspar, C. (1996), Institute for Tourism, St.Gallen 1996, p. 53-61.
6.
Mullholland,C,(2005), Depression and Suicide in Men. http://
www.netdoctor.co.uk. Accessed on 20 September 2005.
7.
Saracci, R. (1997). The World Health Organization Needs to
Reconsider its Definition of Health. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com.
8.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy
people 2010 : Understanding and improving health, Washington,
DC: Government Printing Office.
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World Health Organization. (1947). “Constitution of the World Health
Organization”. Chronicle of the World Health Organization 1, 29-43
10.
Aneesh T.P., M.H., Sonal Sekhar M.,Manjusree Madhu, Deepa T.V.,
2009. International market scenario of traditional Indian herbal drugs
- Indiadeclining.
869
11.
International Journal of GreenPharmacy, p. 184-190.Ankit Gupta,
M.J., Galib, B.J. Patgiri, P.K.Prajapati, 2009. “Quality Control
inAyurved and Its Interpretation”. Indian Journal of Ancient Medicine
and Yoga, 2(1): 39-52.
12.
Anwarul Hassan Gilani, A.U.R., 2005. “Trends in
ethnopharmacology”. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 100: 43–49.
13.
Aschwanden, C., 2001. Herbs for health, but how safe are they?
Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79 (7): 691-692.
14.
Bala Manyam, P.K., 2005. Ayurvedic Medicine: An Introduction.
NationalInstitutes of Health, U.S. Department ofHealth and Human
Services.
15.
Bandaranayake, W.M., 2006. Quality Control,Screening, Toxicity,
and Regulation of Herbal Drugs. Modern Phytomedicine,p. 25-57.
About the Author :
Dr. Jomon Lonappan, Assistant Professor, S.D.M P.G. Centre for Management
Studies & Research, Managalore. Karnataka State.
870
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 871-875
Struggle For Meaning – A Critical Analysis on
Naguib Mahfouz
Shibi K.P.S.
The term ‘Arab’ is used in a wide sense to all the Arab speaking
peoples, and the writers who used Arabic as their Cultural Medium
,regardless of their racial origins. From early times, the Arabs were noted
for their literary excellence. Poetry and Oratory were the chosen forms of
their artistic expression. As early as the second half of the sixth century
A.D, when Arabic poetry was in its flowering period ,some rudimentary
forms of practical criticism could be observed. These were preserved by
narrators, and later recorded by the early authors of the general studies
of the Arabic language and literature. By the end of the seventh century
Arabic culture had spread outside Arabia in various directions with the
spread of Islam. The mind of the new Muslim community was getting ready
for a general awakening. The first to reap the benefit of those efforts
were the religious fields on one side and the linguistics and the literary on
the other. Some scholars busied themselves with the explanation of Quran
and the understanding of its challenge of miraculous literary excellence.
Others concentrated on tracing pure linguistic usages of pre-Islamic poetry
and preserving it against loss.
My attempt in this paper is to focus on Naguib Mahfouz an Egyptian
writer who won the 1988 Nobel prize for Literature. He is regarded as
one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq
el- Hakim,to explore themes of existentialism. Born to a lower middle class
Muslim family in the Gamaleyya quarter of Cairo, Mahfouz was named
after Professor Naguib Pasha Mahfouz,the renowned Coptic Physician
who delivered him. The Mahfouz family were devout Muslims and he had
strictly Islamic upbringing. In an interview, he elaborated on the stern
871
Struggle for Meaning
religious climate at home during his childhood years. He stated ‘’You would
never have thought that an artist would emerge from that family.1 ’’The
Egyptian Revolution of 1919 had a strong effect on Mahfouz, although
he was at the time only seven years old. From the window he often saw
British soldiers firing at the demonstrators, men and women. He says,
‘’You could say……that the one thing which most shook the security of
my childhood was the 1919 revolution’’.2 The major Egyptian influence on
Mahfouz’s thoughts of science and socialism in the 1930s was Salama
Moussa, the Fabian intellectual.
Most of Mahfouz’s early work were set in el-Gamaleyya. ‘Abath AlAqdar (Mockery of the Fates)(1939), Rhadopis, Kifah Tibah (The Struggle
of Thebes) were historical novels, written in part of a larger unfulfilled
project of 30 novels. Inspired by Walter Scott, Mahfouz planned to cover
the whole history of Egypt in a series of books. However following the
third volume , Mahfouz shifted his interest to the present, the psychological
impact of the social change on ordinary people. His central work in the
1950s was the ‘Cairo Trilogy’, an immense monumental work ,which the
author completed before the July revolution.The novels were titled with
the street names ‘Palace Walk’,’ Palace of Desire’, and ‘Sugar Street’. He
sets the story in the parts of Cairo where he grew up. They depict the life
of the Patriarch el- Sayyed Ahammed Abdel Gawad and his family over
three generations, from World War I to the 1950s,when King Farouk First
was overthrown. Mahfouz’s prose is characterised by the blunt expression
of his ideas. His written works covered a broad range of topics, including
socialism, homosexuality, and God. Writing about some of these subjects
was prohibited in Egypt.
In the 1960s and 1970s Mahfouz began to construct his novels
more freely and to use interior monologues. In ‘Miramar’(1967) he
developed a form of multiple first person narration. Mahfouz described
the development of his country in the 20th century. He combined intellectual
and cultural influence from East and West – his own exposure to the
literature of non – Egyptian culture began in his youth with the enthusiastic
consumption of Western detective stories, Russian classics, and such
modernist writers as Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka and James Joyce.
Mahfouz’s stories are almost always set in the heavily populated urban
872
quarters of Cairo,where his characters are mostly ordinary people, who
try to cope with the modernization of society and the temptations of Western
values. Most of his writings mainly dealt with politics, a fact he
acknowledged : He says ‘’ In all my writings, you will find politics. You may
find a story which ignores love or any other subjects, but not politics ; it is
the very axis of our thinking’’.3
He espoused Egyptian Nationalism in many of his works and
maintained an International outlook to Egyptian Nationalism by expressing
matured sympathies for the Post-World-War era. He was also attracted
to socialist and democratic ideals early on in his youth. The influence of
socialist ideals is strongly reflected in his first two novels, ‘Al –Khalili’ and
‘New Cairo’, and also in many of his latter works. Parallel to his sympathy
for socialism and democracy was his antipathy towards Islamic extremism
as expressed by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He strongly criticized
radical Islam in his works and contrasted between the merits of socialism
and the demerits of Islam extremism in his first two novels. He perceived
Islamism as critically delineated and rejected it as unsuitable for all times.
In his memoirs, he purportedly stated that of all the forces active in
Egyptian politics during his youth, he most despised the Muslim
Brotherhood.
His book labeled “Ahlam Fatret El Nakaha” or “dreams of the
Rehabilitation Period”, owned Nobel Prize for literature in which he imagined
that he was sleeping and dream5. These group of short stories had a
different and new style, they are not short stories but pulses of ideas and
thinking. He is distinguished for his philosophy and wisdom, after long
years of thinking and writing he had a deep experience of the life. These
stories are short but contains large views of the places. Each story starts
and ends without specified meaning, they are ambiguous and vague. So
one enjoys with revealing these mysteries to be near the correct meaning
that the writer intended. A sample of these dreams selected from “Dreams
of the Rehabilitation Period” is as follows.
Dream 65 : How beautiful the absurd !
“the school year passed and announced the day of the exam. We
didn’t open a book and did not keep thinking about what sentence had
to be done, there is a lack of reserves was still a little respect for what is
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Struggle for Meaning
reasonable So I decided to refrain from attending the exam, either the
other was fond of manipulating the absurd, I get the opportunity and
decided to attend the exam , In the exam day’s morning we stood in rows
and wear masks the seriousness and attention, It was a great surprise
that the president of the Commission said in a loud voice that he will
distribute on us two sheets, one containing the questions and the other
containing the correct answers ! We did not really think that there exist
between our professors one who exceeds us in love with absurd and the
absurd”.4
“Between Heaven and Earth”, is a film directed by Frank Van del
Engel and Masja Novikova. Many of his novels are adapted in to film
language, and “Between Heaven and Earth”is set in Uzbekistan. In
Uzbekistan , the circus is a long standing tradition , highly regarded as an
important part of Uzbekistani society. The film takes a glimpse at the lives
of two circus families, with two very distinct positions on life. The heads of
the families ,Achat and Tursun Ali, have been good friends for years.
Tursun Ali actually trained with Achat to become a ‘strong man’. These
men have a very high opinion of each other, and understand what each
has gone through in their tumultuous lives. Both men were the members
of the ERK party, which was in direct opposition to the government in
power at that time. And both men suffered due to their affiliation with the
party and Achat could find out how his freedom of expression was silenced
and he was sent to jail for two years , while Ali saw how his son unexpectedly
drowned, an incident many believed involved foul play. After the death of
his son, Tursun Ali leaves the party , but his relationship does not become
strained with Achat. Self reflexivity of some autobiographical elements is
quite obvious here. Mahfouz himself was disillusioned with the 1952
revolution and by Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 Six Day War. He supported
the principles of the revolution but became disillusioned, saying that the
practices failed to live up to them.
In his works fate played as a supernatural power that has only a
limited role to play and it works through only reasonable means namely
individual temperament and to a lesser extent the social problems. What
is at issue here is the question of social justice, death may be a
supernatural evil, but social injustice is entirely man made and therefore
curable, it is a form of fate that can be fought and vanquished.
874
Like many Egyptian writers and intellectuals , Mahfouz was on an
Islamic fundamentalist “death list”. He defended Salman Rushdie, but
criticized his ‘Satanic Verses’ as insulting to Islam. Mahfouz believed in
freedom of expression and although he did not personally agree with
Rushdie’s works, he did not believe that there should be a fatwa
condemning him to death for it. Mahfouz declared that “no blasphemy
harms Islam and muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer”.5
Prior to his death, Mahfouz was the oldest living Nobel literature laureate
and the third oldest of all time, trailing only Bertrand Russell and Halldor
Laxness.
Works Cited
1.
Critical perspectives on Naquib Mahfouz (ed.). Trevor Le Gassick,
Washington, DC: Three continents press, 1991.
2.
Naquib Mahfouz : From Regional fame to Glor Recognition (ed.).
Michael Beard and Adnan Haydar, Syracuse, N.Y : Syracuse
University press,1993.
3.
Naquib Mahfouz : The pursuit of Meaning- London; Routledge 1993.
4.
Palace of desire / translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Lorne
M. Kenny, Olive E. Kenny- London : Doubleday, 1991.
5.
The Cairo Trilogy / Translated by William Maynard Hutchins, New
York: Knopf, 2001.
About the Author :
Shibi K.P.S., Guest Lecturer Dept. of English, Vivekananda College,
Kunnamkulam. Thrissur Dist. Kerala
875
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 876-879
Rise of Islamic culture in Kerala
Sumi Mary Thomas
Abstract
The Mappila Muslims of Kerala and Mappila culture did not experience
any bad fate in Kerala. They penetrated into the social life of Malabar
without any hindrances and peace and security prevailed always due
to the co-operation of the people and so their culture did not fade
away, vanish or disappear.
Muslims did not enter Kerala as conquerors and so there was not much
misunderstanding with other communities. Muslim art forms of Kerala
were connected with different stages of human life. It contains social,
materialistic and spiritual aspects of Muslim society. In these art forms
one can notice the continuation of an ancient tradition due to the
presence of purely Kerala codes of life. A new cultural tradition evolved
out in Kerala as the result of the influence of Islam, which is a synthesis
of old and new periods.
Introduction
Kerala’s contact with outside world dates back to pre-historic times.
Archeology on Kerala indicates that Kerala had become the home of
man as early as 4000 B.C. The similarity of microliths found near Calicut
and Cochin suggests that man must have entered Kerala by the Aramboli
route. This land had export relations with Egypt and Jerusalem from time
immemorial. Kerala teak of about B.C. 2600 has been found at the
Sumerian capital. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean ‘Sea’
describes the different types of ships and boats made in Kerala.
876
For a long time Kodungallur in Kerala was the Centre of Commerce. Recent
excavations and findings around Kodungallur is a strong evidence to prove
these relations. In the middle ages, merchants and travellers from other
parts of the world visited Kerala constantly. Their contribution in the field
of socio-cultural and political economic history of Kerala is great. In the
accounts of Al-Beruni, Al-Kazviri, Marco-polo, Ibn-Batuta, Barbosa etc.,
we can trace stage by stage the progressive expansion of Kerala’s sea
borne trade and its consequences.
Through the intercourse of people from Western countries, who
were highly developed culturally, Islam spread in Kerala. Islam had a very
strong influence in the social, political and cultural life of Kerala.
The evidences prove that the Persians and the Arabs had
commercial contact with Kerala even before. Prophet Mohammed perfected
the religion of Islam. The author of ‘Periplus of the Erythrean Sea’ mentions
Arab settlements in the Malabar Coast. The author of this work might
have lived in the first century of Christian era. The Arabs were the
intermediaries who carried out the commerce between East and West.
Muslim Arabs and their settlements in Malabar were numerous in the latter
half of 7th Century. It is an open fact that long before the Muslims settled
in Northern India, there were colonies in Southern India1. There were
evidences to show that many Arab Muslims might have permanently made
Malabar their home because Malabar ports were the centres of Arab
commercial activities. Many recorded evidences have brought to light to
show their antiquity. Coins bearing the dates Hijra 31 &161 issued by
Arackal Royal family and inscriptions dating Hijra 38, 56, 61 and 87 traced
out from the ‘Meezan tombs’ from Malabar proved that the religion of
Islam was introduced quite early in Kerala. The unquestionable influence
of Islam in Kerala society might be affirmed through the popular Cheraman
Perumal legend.
1
S.S.Nadvi, “ The Muslim colonies in India before the Muslim Conquests”,
Islamic Culture, VIII(1934) P.478
Roland E.Miller, ‘Mappila Muslims of Kerala- A study in Islamic Trends’, OrientLongman Publications, New Delhi 1976, P.39
877
Rise of Islamic culture in Kerala
From earliest time onwards, Kerala had been in contact with the Arab
coast. Traders used to visit Malabar ports from 12th century A.D. The
Zamorin’s relations with Arab traders became intimate and gradually the
Muslims monopolized the external trade of the coast. With this, the social
structure of Kerala underwent some changes. Under the patronage of
Zamorin’s the Muslims constructed mosques all over Malabar and spread
their religious thoughts. These relations provided the opportunity to the
Arab community to come closer with the people of Kerala. When the trade
passed into the hands of Arabs, they brought the Arabic language to
Kerala. Malayalam accepted several terms for trade and commerce directly
from Arabic. Thus in Malayalam, we can see several words of Arabic origin
unlike other parts of India.
The Arab merchants in Malabar took a great interest in the religious
and cultural life of their community. It is certain that the religion of Islam
that spread in the Malabar Coast through the agency of Arab merchants,
was not the result of any forceful attempt. Moreover, there are references
about the encouragements extended by the rulers to the people to become
Mussalmans. The spread of Islam in Kerala in the early phase was exactly
like the freedom enjoyed by the people of India to embrace Buddhism,
Jainism, Ajivikaism or any other form of religion. Moreover in Kerala, Islam
as a new way of life got Royal patronage, sometimes the very first in the
case of an alien religion in the history of world religions.
The new Muslims of Malabar, even though within the walls of a new
religion, followed a lot of ancient traditions, customs, manners, beliefs
and superstitions. Many are still prevailing in the Kerala Muslim Society
especially in the marriage customs, property inheritance and to a large
scale in the Mappila Art forms of Kerala.
The Mappilas are Malayali Mussalmans and Kerala is their home.
They were treated as citizens in the state. They are a distinct community
within Kerala society2. Culturally, politically, economically and religiously
their own life is subject to many influences prevailing in the complex society.
They are both receivers and givers in the process of development.
2
Roland E.Miller, ‘Mappila Muslims of Kerala- A study in Islamic Trends’, OrientLongman Publications, New Delhi 1976, p.35,36
878
Another expectation stems from the Mappila situation in Kerala society. It
is said that what happens in Kerala today will happen in India as a whole
within ten years. Set within the context of a restless and prophetic society
the Mappilas themselves, it may be anticipated to some extent share both
its restlessness and its prophetic calling with respect to the larger Muslim
community in the nation.
References
1.
Balakrishnan Vallikkunnu, Mappilappattu Oramukha Padanam (m),
Poonkavanam Publications, Calicut, 1999
2.
Dr. Ibrahim Kunju A.P, Mappila Muslims of Kerala, Sandhya
Publications, Trivandrum, 1989
3.
Karuvarakundu O.M, Mappilakalal (m), Vikas Bookstall, Manjeri,
1995
4.
Roland E.Miller, Mappila Muslims of Kerala - A study in Islamic trends,
Orient Longman Publications, New Delhi, 1976, p.39
5.
Sreedhara Menon A., Cultural Heritage of Kerala, S.Viswanathan
Publications, Madras, 1978
6.
Sreedhara Menon A., A survey of Kerala History, DC Books,
Kottayam, 1967
7.
William Logan, Malabar Vol-2, Government Press, Kerala, 1951
About the author :
Sumi Mary Thomas is a Research Scholar, Dept of History, C M S College,
Kottayam , Kerala.
879
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 880-886
A Comparative Study of Dry Rubber Content in
Natural Rubber Latex , Creamed Latex and
Centrifuged Latex
Vidya Jose
Abstract
Natural rubber latex is widely used in industries. Concentrated natural
rubber latex is used for making balloons, gloves, finger caps,
threads, foams etc.Latex is a white milky liquid which is the main crop
from Hevea brasiliensis. The study concludes that the DRC of field
natural rubber latex is 33.24 percentage, in creamed natural rubber
latex DRC percentage is 54.4 and in centrifuged natural rubber latex
DRC percentage is 55.9 and DRC of field latex increases from 33.24 to
54.4 percentage by creaming.
Introduction
Natural rubber is nature’s most versatile vegetable product. This
material has multifarious uses and there is hardly any segment of life which
does not make use of rubber based materials. Natural rubber latex is milky
liquid which consists of extremely small particles of rubber suspended or
dispersed in an aqueous medium. Hevea brasiliensis is the most important
source of natural rubber. Latex is a white milky liquid which is the main crop
from Hevea brasiliensis. The polymer present in the latex is cis-poly isoprene
- (C5 H5)n.
880
Objective and Scope of the Research Article
Natural rubber latex is widely used in industries. Concentrated
natural rubber latex is used for making balloons, gloves, finger caps,
threads, foams etc. The objective of the present work is to compare
the Dry Rubber Component (DRC) of natural rubber latex obtained
from the field creamed latex prepared from the field latex and
centrifuged latex obtained from the latex centrifuging factory.
Composition of natural rubber latex
Latex is a white or slightly yellowish opaque liquid with a specific
gravity in the range of 0.96 to 0.98. Field latex is a negatively charged
colloidal dispersion of rubber particles suspended in an aqueous serum.
The size of the rubber particles ranges from 0.025 to 0.3 microns (1
micron=10 4cm). These rubber particles are surrounded by a layer of
proteins and phospholipids. Latex contains a variety of non-rubber
constituents also.Rubber-30-40%
Rubber
-
30-40%
Protein
-
1-1.5%
Resin
-
1-2.5%
Sugar
-
1%
Ash
-
<1%
Water
-
55-60%
Anticoagulants
Anticoagulants are chemicals added to latex to prevent precoagulation.
For preparation of preserved latex, ammonia is used as the anticoagulant.
The use of anticoagulants is mostly required during rainy seasons as the
tapping panel and coconut shells are contaminated with rain water which
leads to more bacterial attack of latex and eventual precoagulation of
it. For preparation of stock solution, dissolve 1 Kg of ammonia gas into 100
litres of water or dilute 50ml of 20% ammonia solution to 1 litre with water.
For every 10 Kg of latex, use 100 ml of the stock solution. A few drops of
anticoagulants are previously added into the coconut shells during tapping
and the rest amount is added into the collection buckets when it is half full.
Anticoagulants should never be added to empty buckets.
881
A Comparative Study of Dry Rubber
Preservation of Latex
Natural rubber latex contains many non-rubber constituents like
proteins, carbohydrates etc. So it is a suitable medium for the growth of
micro-organisms. As a result of the activity of micro-organisms, organic acids
are produced and it decreases the stability of latex. Then an unpleasant
smell is developed and finally coagulates. This is spontaneous coagulation.
Field latex is preserved using suitable preservative for long term storage.
The processing of preserved field latex consists essentially of adding the
preservative (usually NH3, minimum 1%). Field latex can also be preserved
with LATZ (Low NH3-TMTD-Zinc Oxide) system. In LATZ 0.025% ZnO and
0.025% TMTD are added to latex on weight basis along with 0.2%
ammonia. This preservative system has become very popular in
Malaysian processing factories.
Creamed Latex
Principles of creaming
Rubber latex is a dispersion of rubber particles in an aqueous
serum. In any dispersion, the dispersed particles cream or sediment
under the influence of gravity. Rubber particles being lighter than serum
tend to cream up. The velocity of creaming depends upon a number
of factors and it can be mathematically stated as:
2g(Ds-Dr)r 2
V = ——————
9η
V
g
Ds
Dr
r
η
=
=
=
=
=
=
Velocity with which the rubber particles rise (cm/sec)
gravitational force (cm/sec2)
Density of serum (gm/ml)
Density of rubber particles
effective radius of the rubber particles
viscosity of the serum (Poise)
From the above expression, it is clear that the velocity of creaming
is increased by increasing the gravitational force, the particle size or the
difference between the densities of the particles and serum or by
decreasing the viscosity of the serum.
882
Procedure
Materials used for study : Tamarind seed powder & Soap solution
Allow the tamarind seed powder to swell in water for some time
and then boil for 1 hour. Filter the liquid mass through a wool cloth
to remove material and dilute to a concentration of 3% by weight.
Prepare 10 % soap solution. Ammoniate field latex to 1 to 1.2% by weight
and keep for a few days for ageing. Transfer preserved latex to the
creaming tank and add creaming agent solution. Add soap solution to
concentration of 0.05 parts for 100 parts by weight of latex. Stir the
latex thoroughly and allow to remain undisturbed for 48 hrs to get
desired level of creaming. Remove the serum from the bottom of the
tank. Determine the DRC of creamed and field latex and calculate the
creaming efficiency. The given latex sample is concentrated to 60%
DRC by creaming.
Centrifuged Latex
Concentration by centrifugation was first discovered by Biffin in
1898. He subjected Hevea latex to centrifugal action in an ordinary milk
separator and a latex cream. The theory of centrifugal separations is
basically the same as that of creaming. Here gravitational forces are
replaced by centrifugal force. The latex is subjected to strong centrifugal
force in a bowl rotating at a high speed, thereby the individual rubber
particles tend to separate into a concentrated fraction of about 60%
dry rubber and a small fraction of low rubber content. Each layer is
removed through annular opening from the axis of rotation. The
efficiency of centrifuging process is defined as that fraction of total
rubber entering the machine which is obtained in the form of
concentrate.
Dry Rubber Content
Determination of Dry Rubber Content (DRC)
The given latex is diluted to around 20 percent rubber content and
then coagulated with acetic acid then the thickness of the coagulum is
reduced, dried and weighed.
Reagents used: (i)Acetic acid – 2 percent, (ii) Rectified spirit.
Procedure: Thoroughly shake the given latex sample and transfer around
30 – 40 ml to a clean and dry 250 ml conical flask and close with a rubber
883
cork, weigh the flask with latex (W1). Transfer around 15 to 20 ml latex
from the conical flask into a 250 ml beaker, if the latex is preserved field
latex (PFL) or 10 to 12 ml if it is concentrated latex. Reweigh the conical
flask with water (W2). Dilute the latex in the beaker to around 20 % DRC
with clear water. Then add up to 3 ml 2 % acetic acid per gram of sample
if it is PFL or upto 5 ml per gram if it is concentrated latex. Add acetic acid
slowly along the sides while mixing with a glass rod. Stop the addition of
acid when the PFL thickens or till a clear serum is obtained in the
concentrated latex. Filter through a filter paper. Rub the main coagulum
on the inside of the beaker and then press on the filter paper to collect all
the adhered rubber particles and then press in to a thin sheet. Wash the
sheet in cold water and dry overnight in the oven at 70 + 20C . Keep the
dried sample in dessicator and weigh (W3).
Dry rubber content (DRC) =
W3
X 100
W1 − W 2
Where, W1 = Initial weight of the conical flask with latex
W2 = Final weight of conical flask with latex
W3 = Weight of dry film.
Results and Discussion
1. DRC of Natural Rubber Latex
Dry Rubber Content (DRC) =
W3
X 100
W1 − W 2
Initial weight of conical flask with latex, W1 = 110.4 g
Final weight of conical flask with latex, W2 = 91.3 g
Weight of Dry coagulum W3 = 6.35 g
Dry rubber content of the latex, DRC =
W3
X 100
W1 − W 2
= 6.35 X 100 = 33.24%
19.1
884
2. Creamed Natural Rubber Latex1
Initial weight of conical flask with latex, W1= 140.74 g
Final weight of conical flask with latex, W2 = 112.620g
Weight of dry coagulum, W3 = 15.3g
W3
X 100
W1 − W 2
15.3
=
X 100 = 54.4 %.
140.74 − 112.62
3.Centrifuged Natural Rubber Latex
Dry Rubber Content (DRC) =
W3
X 100
W1 − W 2
Initial weight of conical flask with latex, W1= 140.74 g
Final weight of conical flask with latex,, W2 = 112.620g
Weight of watch glass = 31.740
Weight of watch glass + dry coagulum = 47.48g
Weight of dry coagulum, W3 = 47.48 – 31.740 = 15.74g
15.74
X 100 = 55.9 %.
140.74-112.62
Conclusion
The above study is concluding with the following conclusions. The
DRC of field natural rubber latex 33.24 percentage, in creamed natural
rubber latex DRC percentage is 54.4 and in centrifuged natural rubber
latex DRC percentage is 55.9. From this study it was found that DRC of
field latex increased from 33.24 to 54.4percentage by creaming.
References
1.
A.K. Bhowmick, M.M Hall, H.A. Benarcy; Rubber Products
Manufacturing Technology , Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, 1994.
2.
A. Whelan and K.S. Lee; Developments in Rubber Technology-3,
Applied Science Publishers, London, 1979
885
3.
J.A. Brydon; Rubber Chemistry, Applied Science Publishers,
London, 1978.
4.
C.M. Blow and C. Hepburn; Rubber Technology Handbook, Hanser
Publishers, New York, 1980.
5.
W. Hofmann; Rubber Technology Handbook, Handser Publishers,
New York, 1980.
6.
F.R. Eirich; Science and Technology of Rubber, Academic Press,
New York, 1978.
7.
C.W. Evans; Practical Rubber Compounding and Processing;
Applied Science Publishers, London, 1981.
8.
Hand Book of Natural Rubber Production in India, Rubber
Research Institute of India, 1980.
9.
D.C. Blackley; High Polymer Lattices: Their Science and
Technology, Volume I, II&III, Apllied Science Publishers, London.
10.
N.M. Mathew, Leelamma Varghese, R Kothandaraman and E.V.
Thomas; “Preservation of Concentrated Natural Rubber Latex with
Methylamine”, Rubber Board Bulletin.
About the Author :
Vidya Jose, Guest Lecturer, Dept. of Chemistry, Deva Matha College,
Kuravilangad, Kottayam Dist. - 686 633
886
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 887-894
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khn-ti-j-ambpw IpSpw-_-hy-h-ÿ-bn¬ {]I-S-am-hp∂ Im]-Sy-ß-sfbpw Akz-ÿI-sfbpw _mey-Øns‚ \njvI-f-¶-amb ho£-W-tIm-Wn-eqsS Bhn-jvI-cn-°p∂
i‡n-bn-emWv Hcp hn`mKw IY-Iƒ hnPbw t\Sp-∂-Xv. as‰mcp hn`m-K-am-hs´ _meyØns‚ ]›m- Ø - e - Ø n¬ k¶o¿Æ- a mb Adn- h p- I - s fbpw A\p- ` - h - ß - s fbpw
Dƒs°m-≠p-sIm≠v hnjm-Z-Øns‚ Xo{h-`mhw shfn-s∏-Sp-Øn-Ø-cp-∂-h-bm-Wv. Cu
c≠p-hn-[-Øn-ep≈ Ah-X-c-W-Ønepw Xms\-Xn¿°p∂ B[p-\nI temI-Øns‚
Im]-Sy-Øn-\p≈ Hcp {]Xn-hn[n F∂ \ne-bn-emWv _mey-Øns‚ \njvI-f-¶X
{]I-S-am-hp-∂Xv F∂Xp {it≤-b-am-Wv.
IpSpw-_-Po-hn-X-Ønse ssiYn-ey-ß-sfbpw B[p-\n-I-Po-hn-X-co-Xn-bn¬ kΩm\n-°p∂ Akz-ÿ-I-sfbpw {]I-S-am-°p∂ IY-I-fmWv am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS _meI-Y-I-fn¬ Gsd-bpw. CXn¬Øs∂ Gdnb ]¶pw GIm-In-Xbpw Ac-£nX-Xzhpw
A\p-`-hn®p ho¿∏p-ap-´p∂ _mey-ß-fpsS Nn{Xo-I-c-W-ß-fm-Wv. ]e-t∏mgpw amXm]n-Xm-°-fpsS Im]-SysØ \nin-Xamw hn[w CXv Xpd-∂p-Im-´p-∂p-ap-≠v. Cu Ime-L´-Ønse as‰-gp-Øp-Im-cpsS IY-I-fn-se-t∏mse Zmcn-{Zytam A—-\-Ω-am-cpsS ac-Wtam
888
A√ am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS _meysØ Zpc-¥-am-°p-∂Xv a\p-jys‚ kmwkvIm-cnI PohnX-Øns‚ s]m≈-bmb Pohn-X-ho-£Ww Xs∂-bm-Wv. A—-\-Ω-am-cpsS IqsS kº∂-X-bn¬ Ign-bp-tºmgpw Ch¿ ZpxJn-X-cm-Wv. ]e-t∏mgpw AXn-\p≈ ]cn-lm-c-ambn
Ah¿ Is≠-Øp-∂Xv A]-cn-jvIrXcpw {]mIr-Xn-Iamb Pohn-X-coXn kzoI-cn-®hcpw Bb IYm-]m-{X-ß-sf-bm-Wv. H∏w Ah¿°p XpW-bm-hp-∂Xv hm¿≤-IyØns‚ XW-ep-am-Wv. ""Aem-hp-±os‚ IY-''bn¬ \mbn-I-bmb _menI Xs‚ GIm¥-X-bn¬ \n∂p c£-s]-Sp-∂Xv {]mIr-X-\mb Aem-hp-±o-t\m-sSm∏w bm{X sNbvXpsIm-≠m-Wv. ]pd-tØbv°p t]mbn-cn-°p∂ A—-\-Ω-am¿ Xma-knt® aSßq F∂hƒ°-dn-bmw. kplr-Øp-°-fpsS hoń¬ \n∂v ]n∂oSv kn\n-abpw It≠ Ah¿
aSßq F∂-hƒ ]d-bp-∂p-≠v. h¿Ø-am\ kml-N-cy-Ønse Xs‚ Ac-£n-Xm-hÿ-bn¬ apØ-»n-bpsS IqsS-°-gn™ \√ \mfp-Isf Ahƒ Hm¿Øp-t]m-hp-∂p.
""apØ»n AΩ- s b- t ∏m- s e- b - √ , kn¬°p- k m- c n- I ƒ DSp- ° p- I tbm Cw•o- j n¬
Ft∏mgpw kwkm-cn-°p-Itbm sNøn-√. Ft∏mgpw Ah-fpsS H∂n-®p-≠m-hpw.
Ft∏mgpw Ah-tfmSp kwkm-cn-®p-sIm-≠n-cn-°pw. Ipf-Øn¬ XpWn-Iƒ Xncp-ºm\n-ń-cn-°p∂ henb I√ns‚ apI-fn¬ Ahsf Ib-‰n-\n¿Øn apØ»n FÆ tX®p
Ipfn-∏n-°pw................................ Ah-fpsS ASp-Øp-In-S\v cm{Xn Dd-ßpw. Ccpń¬ DW¿∂p-sh-¶n¬Øs∂ Ahƒ°p t]Sn-°m-s\m-∂p-ap-≠m-bn-cp-∂n-√. ssI
\oń-bm¬ apØ-»n-bpsS ta¬X-´pw. sXm´m-ep-Ss\ apØ»n DWcpw F∂n´v ]pdØv
CS-\m-gn-bn¬ Xncn XmgvØn h®n-cn-°p∂ dm¥¬hn-f°v FSp-Øp-sIm-≠p-hcpw.
Cu ku`m-Ky-ßƒ°p t\¿hn-]-co-X-amb Ah-ÿ-bn-emWv A—-\-Ω-am-tcm-sSmØp≈ Ah-fpsS Pohn-Xw. ""Ct∏m-sgms° cm{Xn DW¿∂m¬ t]Sn-®p-hn-d-®p-sIm≠v
]pX-∏n¬ Xe-aqSn InS-°p-Itb \nhr-Øn-bp-≈q. Iptd Zqsc hmXn-en-∂-SpØv Bb
InS-∂p-d-ßp-∂p-≠m-hpw. B kv{Xo h√msX Iq¿°w hen-°p-sa-¶n¬°qSn Ipd®p-IqSn ASpØp InS-∂n-cp-s∂-¶n¬ F{X \∂m-bn-cp-∂p-sh∂v Ahƒ°p tXm∂mdp-≠v. Hcn-°¬ Ahƒ \n¿∫-‘n-®-t∏mƒ Bb Ah-fpsS ASpØv Iń-en¬ Ibdn-°n-S-∂p. AXv A—-\-dn-™-t∏mƒ h√mØ el-f-bp-≠mbn-. 1Ipń-bpsS ho£-WØn-ep≈ \√ amXm-]n-Xm-°ƒ Xßƒ B{K-ln-°p-∂-sX√mw \nd-th-‰m≥ Xøm-dp≈-hcpw Ah-cpsS hnfn-∏p-d-Øp-≈-h-cp-am-bn-cn-°pw. Cu Bhiyw a\- n-em-°m≥
amXm-]n-Xm-°ƒ ]cm-P-b-s∏-Sp-∂-tXmsS Ah-cn¬\n∂v Ipń AI-em≥ XpS-ßp∂p'
F∂ a\x-»m-kv{X-XXzw2 am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS Cu _men-I-bn¬ km¿∞-I-am-hp-∂p.
A—-\-Ω-am-cpsS H∏w Pohn-°p-tºm-gp≈ ]cn-jvIm-cn-b-√mØ Aem-hp-±o-t\m-Sp≈
ASp∏w \mK- c n- I - a mb hyh- ÿ - I - t fm- S p≈ AI¬® IqSn- b m- W v . Abmsf
]d™phnS-W-sa∂ A—s‚ Xocp-am-\-a-dn™p s]mń-°-c-bp∂ Ahƒ Bizmkw
tXSp-∂Xv Xs‚ kz]v\-tem-I-Øn-tebv°p tNt°-dn-bm-Wv. kwkvIm-c-a-l-Xz-ap≈
A—s‚ kvt\l-cm-ln-Xyhpw {]mIr-X-\mb Aem-hp-±os‚ kvt\lm-[n-Iyhpw ChnsS
Xmc-Xayw sNø-s∏-Sp-∂p. AΩ-bpsS ]cn-jvIm-chpw apØ-»n-bpsS AIr-{Xn-ab kz`m889
h-hpw AtX-t]mse Xs∂ hna¿i-\-hn-t[-b-am-hp-∂Xv _mey-Øns‚ \njvI-f-¶-amb
ho£-W-Øn-eq-sS-bmWv.
kam-\-amb Ah-ÿ-X-s∂-bmWv 'tKmkm-bn-Ø¥' F∂ IY-bnse _menIbpw A\p-`-hn-°p-∂-Xv. tKmkmbn A{]-Xy-£-\m-b-t∏mƒ AΩ ]d-bp-∂p. ""t__nbpsS Nßm-Xn-bm-bn-cp∂p. Ahƒ°p h¿Ø-am\w ]d-bm≥ Bfn-√m-sX-bm-bn''.
A—≥ Ah-fpsS Xe-ap-Sn-®p-cp-fp-Iƒ sas√ sXm´p-sIm≠v ]d-™p. ""Ahƒ°v
F¥n\m tKmkmbn? Ahƒ°p kwkm-cn-°m\pw IY ]d-™p-sIm-Sp-°m\pw
Rm\nt√?''. '']t£ A—≥ Hcn-°epw tKmkm-bn-Ø-¥-sb-t∏mse Xt∂m-S-Sp-°ns√∂p t__n°p tXm∂n. A—-≥ hfsc A]q¿Δ-amtb Ah-tfmSp kwkm-cn-°mdp-≈p. kwkm-cn-°p-tºmƒ Ah-fpsS kvIqfn-s\-∏-‰nbpw ]Tn-°p-∂-Xn-s\-∏-‰nbpw
am{Xta A—≥ ]d-™n-cp-∂p-≈q. tKmkm-bn-Ø¥ sNbvXn-cp-∂-Xp-t]mse AhfpsS Np‰pw \rØw-h®v ]´ Xn∂p∂ hen-bm-\-sb-∏‰n ]mSp-Itbm Cuiz-c-s\-∏‰n
]d-™p-sIm-Sp-°p-Itbm H∂pw Hcn-°epw sNøn-√. A—≥ tKmkm-bn-Ø-¥-b√'-.
A—≥ Xs∂ kt¥m-jn-∏n-°p-∂-bm-f√ F∂ A¿∞-Øn-tebv°p kw{I-an-°p-Ibm-Wv. Cu A¥y-hmIyw Chn-sSbpw kmwkvIm-cn-Iu-∂-XyØns‚ kvt\l-cm-lnXysØ {]mIr-Xn-IX sIm≠p t\cn-Sp-I-bmWv am[-hn-°p-ń.
kl-Xm-]hpw Zbbpw am{Xw A\p-`-hn-®p-h-f¿∂ inh-{]-km-ZmWv "Zb F∂
hnImc'Ønse \mbI IYm-]m-{Xw. hmXn¬∏Snta¬ Nph∂ tNm°p-sIm≠v '{]thi-an√' Fs∂-gp-Xn-h® apdn-bmWv Ahs‚ kz¿§w. kvt\lhpw hm’-eyhpw kulrZ-hp-sams° Xnßn-\n¬°p∂ h¿§o-kns‚ IpSpw-_m-¥-co-£-Øn-tebv°v Ah≥
BI¿jn-°-s∏-Sp-∂p. Fhn-tS-bvs°-¶nepw ]pd-s∏-Sp-Itbm FhnsS \ns∂-¶nepw
aS-ßp-Itbm sNøp-I, Xm≥ ]pd-Øp-t]m-hp-tºmƒ tkh-I¿°p \n¿t±-i-ßƒ
\¬IpI F∂n-h-sbms° sNøp∂ Hcp kv{Xocq]w am{X-amWv Ahs‚ a\- n¬
AΩ-bp-tS-Xv. Xs‚ kvss{XW-Xbpw kzm[o-\-an-√mØ Imep-Ifpw Ahs\ IqSpX¬ ZpxJn-X-\m-°p-∂p. ""Rm≥ shdp-°p-∂p, CsX√mw shdp-°p-∂p, Rm≥ Cu
PohnXw Xs∂ shdp-°p∂p'' F∂ Bh¿Øn-°p∂ {]kvXm-h-\-Iƒ Ahs‚
A¥x- w-L¿Øns‚ Af-hp-tIm-em-Wv. Chn-sSbpw A¥- p≈ Ahs‚ IpSpw_-tØ-°mƒ kt¥m-j-`-cn-X-ambn Zcn-{Z-\mb h¿§o-kns‚ IpSpw_w amdp-∂Xv am[hn-°pń Nn{Xo-I-cn-°p-∂Xv {i≤n-t°-≠-Xp-≠v.
Ipń-I-fn-tebv°p h∂p tNcp∂ ]pXnb ]pXnb Adn-hp-Iƒ _mey-Øns‚
kuμcyw \jvS-s∏-Sp-Øn-°-f-bp∂p Fs∂mcp \nco-£Ww IqSn am[-hn-°pń Cu
IY-I-fpsS \n¿Ωm-W-Øn¬ a\- n¬ hbv°p-∂p-≠v.
kv{Xo]p-cp-j-_-‘-sØ-∏‰n icn-bmb [mc-W-I-fn-√mØ Ime-L-´-amWv _meyw.
Cu Ah-ÿ-bn¬ Adnt™m Adn-bm-sXtbm Ah-cn-te-bvs°-Øp∂ cXn-bpsS
k¶- e v ] - ß ƒ Hc- º - c - ∏ mtbm Hcp sshIm- c n- I m- L m- X - a mtbm BWv Ah- c n¬
890
\ndbp∂Xv. CØcw kw{`-a-ßƒ Ah-cpsS Pohn-X-Øns‚ kuμ-cysØ \nl-\n®pIfbp∂p.
_mey-Øns‚ \njvI-f-¶-Xsb k¶o¿Æ-`m-h-ß-fp-ambn tIm¿Øn-W°n
Akm-[m-cW inev]-ssh-ZKv≤yw {]I-S-am-°nb A\ym-Zr-i-am-sbmcp cN-\-bmWv '\pWIƒ'. AΩ-bn-√mØ ka-bØv hoń-seØn A—-\p-ambn cl-ky-_-‘-Øn-te¿s∏Sp∂ sÃ√-sb-°p-dn®v Ipń AΩ h∂-t∏mƒ hntijw ]d-bm-s\m-cp-ßp-I-bm-Wv.
Cu kXysØ \pW-bm-°m-\mWv A—s‚ {iaw. AXn-\p≈ Abm-fpsS {iaw IYmImcn shfn-s∏-Sp-Øp-∂Xv Abm-fpsS _mly-tN-jvS-I-fpsS hni-Zo-I-c-W-Øn-eq-sSbm-Wv. knK-c‰v hmbn¬ \ns∂-SpØv Np≠p-Iƒ Iq¿∏n®v Ahs\ t\m°n ]pI-hnSp∂ Abmƒ Ahs\ \n m-c-\m-°m\pw Ahs‚ kXy-Øn-\p-ta¬ ]pI-a-d-bn-Sm\p-amWv {ian-°p-∂-Xv. Ah≥ \pW ]d-bp-I-bm-sW∂p hoi-Zo-I-cn-°m≥ Xp\nbp∂ Abmƒ°v AΩ-bpsS 'Ah≥ sNdnb Ipń-bt√' F∂ km¥z\w aXn-bm-hp∂n-√. Ah≥ kXyw {Kln-°m-dmbn F∂-dn-bp-∂-Xnse Akz-ÿ-Xbpw ]cn-{`-ahpw
Abm-fpsS XpS¿®-bmb {Inb-I-fn¬ Is≠-Ømw. IS-emkv Xmsg-bn-Sp-∂Xpw IØns°m-≠n-cn-°p∂ knK-c‰v Np≠n-se-cn-bp-∂Xpw shfn-s∏-SpØp-∂Xv B am\-kn-I`m-h-am-Wv. sÃ√sb Ipń hni-Zo-I-cn-°p-∂n-SØv Abmƒ Akz-ÿ-\mbn knK-c-‰pIp‰n Nmb-°-∏ns‚ Xń¬ IpØn-s°-Sp-Øp-∂Xv Xs‚ A\p-Nn-X-amb {]hr-Ønsb
Hm¿Øp≈ kw{àw \ap°p shfn-s∏-Sp-Øn-Ø-cp∂p. Dd-s°-bp≈ A\m-h-iy-amb
Nncn-bn¬ Abmƒ Ahs‚ kXysØ ad-®p-I-f-bm≥ hoin-s°-Sp-Øp-Ibpw sNøp∂p. Nmb-°-∏n¬ hnc¬ ap°n-s°m-≠p≈ Ipń-bpsS Btem-N\ kXysØ Ah≥
ad-∂n-ń-s√∂v Abmsf Hm¿Ωn-∏n-°p-∂p. AXns‚ {]Xn-I-c-W-amWv knc-K-‰p-Ip‰n
\ne-Øn´p Nhn-ń-s°-Sp-Øp-Ibpw "C\n Cu hI \pW-Iƒ D≠m-°n-∏-d-™m¬
Rm≥' F∂p òj-Wn-s∏-Sp-Øp-Ibpw sNøp-∂-Xv. sÃ√-sb-∏‰n F∂-Xp-t]mse
Xm≥ kz]v\-Øn¬°≠ IpXn-c-sb-∏-‰nbpw ]d-™p-IqtS F∂v AΩ-tbmSv Ipń
kwi-b-ap-∂-bn-°p-∂n-SØv B a\- ns‚ Bi-¶-Ifpw ]cn-{`-a-ßfpw shfn-s∏-Sp∂p. ''BcmWv \pW ]d-bp-∂-Xv, A—t\m Aht\m? IpXn-c-∏p-dØp Ib-dn-bXpw
sÃ√ h∂-Xp-sams° kz]v\w I≠-XmtWm? _me-a-\- nse Cu hn{`-a-ßƒ IYmIm-cn-bpsS BJym-\-Øn¬ AIr-{Xn-aX \nd-bv°p-∂p. kXy-Øn-s‚bpw anYy-bp-sSbpw
AXn¿h-c-ºp-Iƒ Xń-°-f™v Ahs‚ \njvI-f-¶-X-bn-tebv°v hnjw Ie¿Øp∂
A—s‚ sNbvXn-Isf {]Xo-I-h-Xv°-cn-°p-∂p ]men¬ \ndw Ie¿Øm≥ th≠n
tN¿°p∂ Im∏n. A—-s‚bpw sÃ√-bp-sSbpw _‘-Øn-eqsS Ipń-bpsS a\- nte°p h∂p tNcp∂ ssewKn-I-Xsb°pdn-®p≈ [mc-W-bmWv Ah≥ kz]v\Øn¬°m-Wp∂ IpXn-c. t{^mbn-Un-b≥ ssewKnI {]Xo-I-am-Wt√m IpXn-c.
"Nph∂ ]mhm-S', "tKmkm-bn-Ø¥', "{]`mXw' XpS-ßnb IY-I-fnepw _meyØn-tebv°p h∂p tNcp∂ cXn-k-¶-ev]-ßƒ Ah-cn¬ Akz-ÿX \nd-bv°p∂Xv am[-hn-°pń Nn{Xo-Ic- n-°p-∂p-≠v. "Nph∂ ]mhm-S'- bn¬ Xs‚ bP-am-\\p Xt∂m891
Sp≈ bYm¿∞`mhw bP-am-\-Øn-bpsS km∂n≤yw sIm≠mWv shfn-s∏-Sm-ØXv F∂
Nn¥bpw 'Nph∂ ]mhmS' F∂ {]Xo-I-Øn-eqsS hy‡-am-hp∂ a\- nse cXn-`mhhpw Xs‚ ico-c-sØ-°p-dn®v Ahƒ t_m[-h-Xn-bm-Ip-∂-Xp-sams° Nn{Xo-I-cn°p-tºmgpw \njvIf- ¶
- X
- b
- psS BÀm-ZsØ CsX√mw l\n-®p-If- b
- p∂p F∂ tXm∂emWv \Ω-fn¬ \nd-bp-∂-Xv. "tKmkm-bn-Ø-¥-bnse' sh∏p-Im-c\pw the-°m-cnbpw
XΩn-ep≈ Ie-lhpw ]n∂o-Sp≈ Nncnbpw AXnse _men-I-bpsS a\- n¬ AkzÿX \nd-bv°p-∂p. "{]`mX'-Ønse cma≥\m-bcpw e£vanbpw XΩn-ep≈ ASp∏hpw _mey-Øns‚ \njvI-f-¶-X-bn-te°p h∂p tNcp∂ Hcp `mc-am-Wv.
ac-W-Øn\p t\sc-bp≈ _me-a-\- ns‚ {]Xn-I-c-W-ß-fmWv th\-ens‚
Hgnhv, s\bv]m-bkw XpS-ßnb IY-I-fn¬ Is≠-Øm-hp-∂-Xv. ac-WsØ A\n-hmcyhpw k¶o¿Æhpw òXn-Z-hp-ambn a‰p IY-I-fn¬ Nn{Xo-I-cn-®n-´p≈ am[-hn-°pń
_me-tem-I-tØbv°v IS-°p-tºmƒ Xs‚ kao-]\w hyXy-kvX-am-°p-∂-Xns‚
HuNnXyw {it≤-b-am-Wv. ""X∂n¬ \n∂pw hn´-I-ep∂ hkvXp-°-fp-ambn Xmc-X-ay-s∏Sp-Øn-bmWv Ipń-Iƒ ac-WsØ ImWp-∂-Xv. AXn-\m¬ ac-W-Øns‚ BXy-¥n-IXsb Ah¿°v Xncn-®-dn-bm≥ Ign-bn√''3 F∂ a\:»mkv{X-X-Xz-amWv IYm-Im-cnsb
\bn-°p-∂-Xv. \njvI-f-¶-amb Cu ho£Ww ""th\-ens‚ Hgnhv ' F∂ IY-bn¬
{]Xy-£-s∏-Sp-∂Xv t\m°p-I. apØ-»n-bpsS Igp-Øn¬ ssIøn´v apJw Ah-cpsS
Ihn-f-Ø-a¿Øn-s°m≠v _menI Dds° bmNn-°p-∂p. ""acn-°n-√ym∂v ]d-tøm,
apØ»n acn-°n-√m∂v ]d-tøm, Ft∂mSp kXyw sNøq acn-°n-√ym∂v ''. apØ-»nbpw
A—\pw sNbvX kXyw Xoh-≠n-®-{I-ß-fpw G‰p ]d-bp-∂-Xmbn Ipń°p tXm∂p∂p. Cu kXyw {]IrXn AwKo-I-cn-s®∂ tXm∂-em-W-hƒ°v.
_me-a-\- p-I-fpsS \njvI-f-¶-amb {]Xn-I-c-W-ß-fpsS ]›m-Ø-e-Øn¬
acWw Hcp h√mØ BLm-X-ambn \Ωn-te-bv°m-gv∂n-d-ßp∂ A¥-co-£-amWv
"s\bv]m-bkw' F∂ IY-bn-ep-≈-Xv. ae-bmf sNdp-I-Y-I-fn¬ \n∂p sXc-s™-Sp°m-hp∂ DØa-I-Y-I-fn¬ {][m-\-s∏´ HcnSw Cu IY-bv°p-≠v. ]Øp-h-b- n¬
Xmsg-bp≈ aq∂p Ipń-I-fpsS kvt\l-h-Xn-bmb AΩ lrZ-b-kvXw-`-\-Øm¬
s]s´∂v acn-®p-t]m-hp-∂p. AΩ-bpsS PUw adhp sNbvXp-h-cp∂ A—≥ \n lm-b\pw Zp:JnX-\p-am-Wv. AΩ-bpsS ac-W-hn-h-c-a-dn-bmØ Ipń-Iƒ `£Ww Ign°m-\n-cp-∂p. A—≥ tNmZn-°p∂p "tNmdp tht≠ DÆo?' "th≠ ]mbkw aXn \√
kzmZv≠v ' DÆn ]d-™p. cmP≥ Nncn-®p-sIm≠v ]d-™p. ""icnbm AΩ A ev
s\bv]m-b-kam D≠m-tIyXv ''. Xs‚ IÆo¿ ad-bv°m-\mbn Abm-ƒ AhnsS \n∂p
s]mbv°-f-bp-∂p. AΩ acn®p InS-°p∂ hoń-tebv°v FØn-t®-cp∂ Abmsf
FXn-tc-ev°p-∂Xv sSen-hn-j-\n¬ ]¥p-Ifn ImWp∂ DÆn-bpsS D’mlw \nd™
hm°p-I-fm-Wv ""^Ãv ¢m v tjm´v ''. \njvI-f-¶-amb D√mkw \nd™ Cu A¥-co£- Ø n\p kam- ¥ - c - a mbn ac- W - Ø ns‚ òI- c X Nn{Xo- I - c n- ° p- ∂ n- S - Ø mWv
"s\bv]mbkw' H∂mwXcw IY-bm-hp-∂-Xv.
892
kmº-Øn-Ihpw kmaq-ln-I-hp-amb hyXy-kvX-X-Iƒ a\p-jy-Po-hn-X-Øn-ep-≠m°p∂ A¥cw am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS IYm-tem-IsØ Ipń-Iƒ Aº-c-t∏mSpw IuXpI-tØmSpw IqSn Dƒs°m-≈p-∂p. CØcw kmaq-lym-h-t_m-[-ßƒ Nne-t∏m-sgms°
Ahsc Ipg-∏n-°p-∂p-≠v. "{]`mXw', "th\-ens‚ Hgnhv ' F∂o IY-Iƒ CØcw
Adn-hp-I-fpsS km£y-]-{X-ß-fm-Wv.
"{]`m-X'-Ønse \mbn-I-bmb _menI [\n-I-Ip-Spw-_-Ønse AwKhpw apØ»n-bpsS kvt\l-hm-’-ey-ß-fpsS kpc-£n-X-Xz-Øn¬ Ign-bp-∂-h-fp-am-Wv. Ab¬]°sØ amXp-hΩ Hcp Zcn-{Z-Ip-Spw-_-Øns‚ Zpcn-X-ßƒ t]dp-∂p-≠v. Iptd IpńI-fp≈ Xs‚ aIƒ ho≠pw {]k-hn-s®∂ hm¿Ø-bp-am-bn-´mWv Ah¿ Ahn-sSsb-Øp-∂Xv. amXp-h-Ω-tbmSv hnti-j-ßƒ Xnc-°p∂ Ipń apØ-»n-bpsS IÆpsh-ń®v B IpSpw-_-Øn-se-Øp-∂p. Ahn-SsØ Pohn-X-bm-Ym¿∞y-ßƒ Xncn-®dn™ Ipńsb XncnsI sIm≠p-hn-Sm≥ \ntbm-Kn-°-s∏-´Xv amXp-h-Ω-bpsS sNdp-aI-\mb {]`m-I-c-\m-Wv. {]`m-I-cs‚ kw`m-jWw ]cp-jhpw {Iuc-hp-ambn Ipń-°\p-`-h-s∏-Sp-∂p. \h-Pm-X-in-ip-hns\ Igp-Øp-sR-cn®p sIm∂p-I-f-bm-\p≈ Ahs‚
B{K-lhpw _men-I-bpsS AΩsb Np´p-I-f™p F∂ ]cm-a¿i-hp-sams°
h√mØ ZpxJ-amWp Ipń-bn¬ \nd-bv°p-∂-Xv. ùXnIkml-N-cy-ß-fpsS kpÿnXn
A\p-`-hn-°p∂ akr-W-amb _me-`mhw Ac-£n-X-amb _mey-Øns‚ ]cp-j-`m-hß-sf-°p-dn-®p≈ Adnhv G‰p-hmßn Akz-ÿ-X-s∏-Sp-I-bm-Wn-hn-sS.
"th\-ens‚ Hgnhv ' F∂ IY-bnse _men-Ibpw kmº-Øn-I-amb Ak-a-Xzß-fpsS Ah-t_m[w Dƒs°m-≈p-I-bm-Wv. CXv Ah-fpsS aqey-t_m-[-sØ-t∏mepw
Xncp-Øn-°p-dn-°m≥ am{Xw i‡-am-hp-∂Xp IYm-Imcn Imń-Ø-cp-∂p. Xs‚ hoń¬
\n∂pw apØ»n sImSpØ km[-\-ßƒ \nd® sIm´ Zcn-{Z-bmb \mWn-b-Ω-bpsS
Iøn¬ \n∂pw sXdn-®p-ho-gp-∂Xv Ipń ImWp-∂p. apØ»n ImWmsX Ah¿ FSpØ
]pfn-ß-bp-ap≠v Ip´-bn¬. _men-I-bpsS aqey-t_m[w Cu If-hns\ Ip‰-s∏-SpØp∂p ""I°m≥ ]mSn-√, C\n Cu hońev hc-cvXv. \mWn-b-tΩ, \nßfv Hcp I≈\mWv- ''. \mWn-bΩ s]s´∂p \n∂p. F∂n´v Xs‚ sIm´ Ipń-bpsS t\¿°v \ońs°m≠v ]d-™p ""FSp-tØmtfm \nß-fpsS Acow ]pfntßw. bv°v H∂pw th≠m''.
Hcp ac-∏mh t]mse sIm´ hmßnb _men-I-tbmSv Ah¿ Hcp {]tXyI kzcØn¬ ]d-™p. ""Rßfv ]mh-ßfm Iptý. \nß-sfms° kzØvImcm-. Cu {]XnI-cWw Ipńsb Ipg-°p-∂p. \ymb-\ym-b-ß-sf-°p-dn-®p≈ Ah-fpsS ap≥[m-c-WIƒ Xncp-Ø-s∏-tS-≠-Xm-sW∂pw Ahƒ a\- n-em-°p-∂p. CX-hsf h√msX ZpxJn∏n-°p-∂p. ""F\n°v Dds° Ic-b-W-sa∂p tXm∂n. BZy-ambn Rms\mcp ]m]w
sNbvXp Ign-™p-sh∂v F\n°p tXm∂n.''
_mey-Øns‚ ]cn-ip-≤nbpw AXp a\p-jy-\p \¬Ip∂ AIr-{Xn-Xbpw BWv
Pohn-XsØ kz—-am-°p-∂Xv. ]t£ kwkvIr-Xnbpw ]cn-jvIm-chpw Cu `mh-ßsf
893
ad-®p-I-f-bp-∂p. ]cn-jvSXn aqe-ap≈ Pohn-X-Øns‚ Aim-¥n-sbbpw ]cn-jvSXn
L´-Øn¬ \n∂v ]nt∂m°w ]mbm≥ B{K-ln-°p-tºmgpw AXp km[n-°n-s√-∂-dnbp∂ \n -lm-b-X-bn¬ ho≠pw A`n-\bw XpS-cp∂ \mbnIm \mb-I-∑m¿ am[-hn°p-ń-bpsS IYm-tem-I-Øp-≠v. Cu IY-Iƒ \mw N¿® sNbvX _me-I-Y-I-fpsS
ktμiw ]n≥Xp-S-cp-∂p. "aqSn-s°-ńb kmbm”w' F∂ IY-bnse kpIp-am-c-tat\m\pw "\cn-®o-dp-Iƒ ]d-°p-tºmƒ' F∂ IY-bnse an nkv tat\m-\p-sams°
Pohn-X-Øn¬ A`n-\bw aSpØv bYm¿∞ kzXzw shfn-s∏-Sp-Øm-\m-{K-ln-°p-∂-hcm-Wv. ]t£ kwkvIm-c-Øns‚ IhNw _e-ambn _‘n-°-s∏-ń-cn-°p-∂Xp sIm≠v
Ah¿°Xp km[n-°p-∂n-√. {]mIr-Xn-I-X-bpsS Pohn-X-coXn _mey-Øns‚ ]cn-ip≤n-tbm-SS- pØp \n¬°p-∂Xv Cu [mc-Wb
- psS shfn-s∏-Sp-Øe
- p-If- mbn thWw kzoIcn-°m≥. sNcn-∏n-SmsX aÆn-eqsS \S-°m-\p≈ B{K-lhpw "A—\v F∂mWv sNhn
tIƒ°m-\m-hpI?' F∂ Nn¥-bp-sams° A]-cn-jvIrX`mh-tØm-Sp≈ _mey-Øns‚
Bcm-[-\-bmbn thWw \nco-£n-°m≥.
_mey-Øns‚ ss\k¿§n-Ihpw ip≤-hp-amb `mhsØ Bhn-jvIc- n-°p-tºmgpw
Cu EPpX IYm-Im-cnsb \bn-°p-∂p-≠v. efn-Xhpw A\m¿`m-S-hp-amb ssien, h{IX-bn-√mØ `mjm-coXn F∂n-hbpw {i≤n-t°-≠-Xm-Wv. CØ-c-samcp BJym-\-co-Xnbn¬ Akm-[m-cW anX-Xz-tØmsS km{μo-I-cn-°-s∏´ _meym-\p-`-h-ßsf AXnkq-£va-ambn Bhn-jvI-cn-°p-I-bmWv am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS _meIY-Iƒ. ""hnIm-cØns‚ Aan-X-Xz-a-√, \nin-X-Xz-amWv B IY-I-fpsS {]tXy-I-X. hnIm-c-ß-fpsS
apJ-Ø-Wn-bn-°-s∏-Sp∂ BZ¿i-h-Xv°-c-W-Øns‚ i_-f-amb Bh-cWw ]n®n-®o¥n-sb-dn-bp-∂-Xn¬ \njvTq-c-sa∂p hnti-jn-∏n-°m-hp∂ Hcm-fl-kw-Xr]vXn Ah¿
""Is≠-Øp∂p''4 F∂ am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS IY-Isf°pdn-®p≈ \nK-a\w Cu _meI-Y-Iƒ°pw {]k-‡-amWv.
Ipdn-∏p-Iƒ
1.
am[-hn-°p-ń-bp-am-bp≈ A`n-apJw; k¿§-k-ao-£. AIv_¿ I°m-ń¬,
Un.-kn. _pIvkv, tIm´bw. 1993. ]pdw 245
Hurlock Elizabeth B. Developmental Psychology - A life span approach.
2.
1981. P. 139
3.
Hurlock Elizabeth B. Developmental Psychology - A life span approach.
1981. P. 131
4.
_©-an≥ Un. ]mc-º-cyhpw XpS¿®bpw ae-bmf sNdp-I-Y-bn¬ : `mjmkmlnXn 1986. ]pdw 66, 67
About the Author :
Dr. Shyla Abraham, Department of Malayalam, Baselius College, Kottayam
894
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 895-914
Christianity and the state from the time of
Constantine (313-518) in Rome
Fr. Thomson Roby
The expression “Church and State” refers to the relationship
between two sets of authority structures that have shaped human
existence. The concern of the state is temporal whereas the church’s
concern is spiritual life.1 The cultural and religious crisis through which
the Roman Empire was passing in the fourth century is one of the most
significant events in the history of the world. It was not until Christianity
became a state religion in the 4th century that the scholars began to grapple
with a clearer definition of the relationship between church and state.
The old pagan culture came into collision with Christianity, which received
official recognition during the reign of Constantine at the beginning of the
fourth century and was declared the dominant State religion by Theodosius
the Great at the end of that same century. Momentous changes occured
both in the church and state during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. This
paper is an attempt to bring out the relation between Christianity (church)
and the state from the time of Constantine, and its merits and demerits.
1. Constantine (312-337).
The reign of Constantine the Great inaugurated a new age in a
much fuller sense than the reign of Augustus, the founder of the Empire.
The anarchy of the third century, had displayed the defects of the irregular
and heterogeneous system of government which Augustus had
established to administer his immense dominion. His successors had
introduced modifications and improvements for a more centralized and
uniform, system of govt. in the empire. Constantine developed and
completed the work of Diocletian by measures which were more radical
1
St. Mathew 22:21 Jesus taught that the two structures are separate.
895
Christianity and the state from the
and more far-reaching. The person who was chiefly responsible for the
many changes in the empire was Constantine the Great. From this time
onwards the old pagan empire gradually changed into a Christian empire.
The foundation of Constantinople as a second Rome inaugurated a
permanent division between the Eastern and Western, the Greek and
the Latin and affected decisively the whole subsequent history of Europe.
Still more evidently and notoriously did Constantine mould the future by
accepting Christianity as the State religion.2
Constantine who was born in 280 in Nis (present day Yugoslavia),
the son of the tolerant emperor Constantius Chlorus, and Helena,3 a
Christian, espoused Christianity in 312.4 Constantine belonged probably
to an Illyrian family. In 305, after Diocletian, and Maximian had renounced
their imperial rank. Galerius became the Augustus in the East, and
Constantius, father of Constantine, assumed the title of Augustus in the
West. In the following year Constantius died in Britain, and his legions
proclaimed his son Constantine Augustus.
A period of civil war followed, during which both Maximian and
Galerius died. Constantine then formed an alliance with Licinius, and
defeated Maxentius in a decisive battle near Rome in 312. The two
victorious emperors, Constantine and Licinius, met at Milan, where, they
proclaimed the famous Edict of Milan on 13th June 313; which gave
unrestricted liberty in all religious matters to all his subjects.5 The peaceful
relations between the two emperors did not last very long, however. A
struggle soon broke out between them, which ended in a complete victory
for Constantine. Licinius was killed in 324 AD, and Constantine became
the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. We may take this date as the real
starting point of the ‘Christian Empire.’6
2
3
4
5
6
7
Jean Comby, How to Read Church History, Vol.I, (Great Britain, SCM press, 1984), p.68
She made a pilgrimage to Palestine where, according to tradition, she found the true
cross on which Christ was crucified.
Ibid.
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries,( Mysore, The
Christian Literature Society, 1952).p.117.
Jean Comby, How to Read Church History, p.68.
Tim Dowley, The History of Christianity, (Britain, Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), p.130.
896
1.1
The Conversion of Constantine
Historians and theologians have been primarily interested in the
causes of Constantine’s conversion. The conversion of Constantine,
generally connected with his victory over Maxentius in 312, 7 but other
historians says that it should not be considered as his real conversion to
Christianity; he actually adopted the religion in the year he died (he was
baptized on his death bed in 337).8 The conversion of Constantine is
usually connected with the famous story of the appearance of a luminous
cross in the sky during the struggle between Constantine and Maxentius;
an element of miracle is thus introduced as one of the causes of the
conversion. It is quite possible that his acceptance of the Christian faith
was prompted by mixed motives. Christians were to be found in large
numbers in all parts of the empire. He understood that in the future,
Christianity would be the main unifying element among the races of the
Empire. Therefore he wanted to strengthen the unity of the Empire through
a unity of the Church. Some historians have contended that Constantine
adopted Christianity only for his political reasons and never became a
genuine Christian.9
1.2
The Edict of Milan
During the reign of Constantine the Great, Christianity received
official permission to exist and develop. The first decree favoring
Christianity was issued in 311 by Galerius, earlier who had been one of
its most ferocious persecutors, when he was dying in great pain. This
decree gave pardon to the Christians for their former stubborn resistance
to government orders and announced their legal right to exist. It declared:
Christians may exist again, and may establish their meetings, yet so that
they do nothing contrary to good order he now grants them toleration
and the right of assembly in return for which they are begged to pray for
his health and for the defence of the state. 10 Two years later, after his
victory over Maxentius and agreement with Licinius, Constantine met
Licinius in Milan, where they issued document called the Edict of Milan.
According to this document the Christians and people of other religions
8
Jean Comby, How to Read Church History, p.68
9
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, (USA, Abingdon Press, 1996), p.198.
10
Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, (Britain, penguin books, 1978), p.122.
897
were given full freedom to follow whatever faith they chose.11 These two
edicts were called the Magna Charta of Christianity and are among the
most important documents in the history of mankind.
All measures directed against the Christians were declared null and
void. On the basis of this edict, Constantine and Licinius gave Christianity
the same rights enjoyed by other faiths, including paganism. To
Constantine, Christianity seemed compatible with paganism. The great
significance of his act is that he not only allowed Christianity to exist but
actually placed it under the protection of the government. This was an
extremely significant moment in the history of early Christianity.
1.3
Christianity and state under Constantine
What has the Emperor to do with the Church? Most of the conflict
between church and the state during the 4th century relates to this question.
From the very beginning of Constantine’s reign, most Christians agreed
with the Emperor that he had a great deal to do with the church. In A.D.313
as a mark of gratitude to God he made liberal grants of money to all the
clergy of North Africa and appointed Christians to important posts in the
civil service. He went to enumerate measures he enacted to redress
injuries to Christians: release of exiles; return of confiscated property;
freeing of Christians deported to the islands and those forced into
servitude; granting of property of martyrs to their next kin or if there were
none, to the churches.12 Constantine did more than merely grant equal
rights to Christianity as a definite religious doctrine. In 314, he forbade
the infliction of capital punishment; In 316, the Christian clergy were given
all the privileges granted to the pagan priests. They were exempted from
state taxation and duties as well as from the office holding which might
divert them from the performance of their religious obligations (the right
of immunity).13 In 321 he ordered the observance of Sunday ‘the venerable
day of the sun, as a holiday, and work on that day was forbidden in all
cities throughout the Empire.14 In the same year the right to receive
legacies was granted to the church. Any man could bequeath his property
11
Ibid.
12
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.201
13
Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, (USA, Oxford University Press,
1963), p.17
14
Ibid, p.18-19
898
to the Church, which thereby acquired the right of inheritance. In order to
settle the dispute of Arianism, heretical teaching concerning doctrine, the
emperor summoned the first general council of Nicaea in 325. Shortly
after the Council of Nicaea, the emperor issued a severe edict against
heresies and schisms in the east. Thus with the declaration of religious
freedom, the Christian communities were recognized as legal juridical
entities; from a legal point of view, Christianity was placed in an entirely
new position.
Very important privileges were given to Episcopal courts. Any man
had the right, if his opponent agreed, to carry a civil suit to the Episcopal
court, even after proceedings in that suit had already been started in the
civil court. Christians could not be forced to participate in pagan festivals.
At the same time Christian influence brought about some mitigation in the
punishment of criminals. Crucifixion was abolished. Constantine’s name
is connected with the erection of many churches in all parts of his immense
empire. The Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of the Lateran in Rome
are ascribed to him. He was particularly interested in Palestine, where his
mother, Helena, supposedly found the true cross. In Jerusalem, in the
place where Christ was buried, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was
erected; on the Mount of Olives Constantine built the Church of the
Ascension and at Bethlehem the Church of the Nativity. Many churches
were being constructed in other places during Constantine’s reign, at
Antioch, Nicomedia, and North Africa.15 The churches built during this
period in the three centers stood as symbols of the triumph of the Christian
church on earth. This church soon became the state church.
By his timely transfer of the world-capital to Constantinople he saved
the ancient culture and created a favorable setting for the spread of
Christianity. On May 17,330 Constantine dedicated his new capital, thus
giving his Christian Empire one centre free from any touch of paganism,
calling it as “the second Rome”16. After the reign of Constantine three
important Christian centers developed: Rome in Italy, Constantinople, and
Jerusalem.
15
16
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.202.
Ibid, p.204.
899
Constantine the Great died at Pentecost in 337 A.D. He was buried in
Constantinople in the church of the Apostles; the Roman Senate honored
him by deification.
2.
Constantine’s Sons and the Church (337- 361).
After the death of Constantine in 337, his three sons, Constantine,
Constantius, and Constans, all assumed the title of Augustus and divided
among themselves the rule of the Empire. A struggle soon broke out
among the three rulers, during which two of the brothers were killed,
Constantine II in the year 340 and Constans ten years later. In 341,
Constans issued a law decreeing the cessation of all sacrifices. In 356,
Constanius ordered the closing of temples and the cessation of sacrifices
under penalty of death. He extended the privileges of the clergy, exempting
them from all supplementary taxes and from requisition of animals for
postal service. He relaxed some rules of Constantine preventing ordination
of men of curial family only if they surrendered their fortunes.17
Constantius became the sole master of the Empire and ruled until
the year 361. As an ardent adherent of Arianism, Constantius carried out
a persistent Arian policy against paganism. One of the decrees of
Constantius ordered that the pagan temples should be closed, forbade
entrance to them, and prohibited the offering of sacrifices in all localities
and cities of the Empire under the threat of death and confiscation of
property. Another edict stated that the penalty of death would be incurred
by anyone who offered sacrifices or worshipped the gods.18 Under
Constantius the immunities of the clergy were broadened; bishops were
exempted from civil trial. In spite of the harsh measures directed against
paganism, it not only continued to exist side by side with Christianity. The
pagans rejoiced because the throne was to be occupied by Julian, an
open adherent of paganism. Constantius died in 361.
3.
Julian the Apostate (361-363)
He was born at Constantinople on 6th November 331. Julian lost his
parents at a very early age: his mother died a few months after his birth,
his father died when he was only six years old. The early years of Julian’s
life were spent in great fear and anxiety. He proved himself a brave soldier,
17
Ibid, p.209
18
Tim Dowley, The History of Christianity,p.137.
900
skillful administrator and born leader of men’.19 He received a very good
education and became well acquainted with the Bible and the Gospels
under the guidance of Mardonius. Later Constantius transferred Julian
first to Constantinople and then to Nicomedia, where he continued his
studies under the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia and who was largely
responsible for Julian’s contempt and hatred of the Christian faith.20 Julian
was baptized in his early youth.
In 355 Constantius appointed Julian to the position of Caesar and
sent him as head of the army to Gaul to aid in the long and arduous
campaign against the advancing Germans. Julian was successful in driving
the Germans across the Rhine. Among his soldiers Julian inspired great
love and admiration. In A.D 360 the army in Paris mutinied and proclaimed
Julian as Augustus in the West. Constantius died in 361. In the year 361
Julian was recognized as sole Emperor throughout the Empire and entered
Constantinople in triumph.
Julian for a long time had been an enthusiastic adherent of
paganism, but he was forced to hide his religious convictions until the
death of Constantius. The name of Julian is closely connected with the
last attempt to restore paganism in the Empire.21 He published an edict
granting religious liberty to all, and in order to promote dissension among
the Christians recalled all the bishops who had been exiled by
Constantius,22 and returned to them their confiscated property. 23 He
stopped all persecution of the Donatists and other schismatics.
3.1.
Attempt to overthrow Christianity.
Although seemingly he granted religious freedom to all, Julian felt
that the disunited Christian church could not be a serious menace to
paganism. Every day he did his utmost to encourage sectarian quarrels
and controversies amongst the Christians, hoping in this way to bring the
19
WHC Frend, The Early Church, (USA, Fortress Press, 1985), p.158.
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, p.146.
21
The writings of Julian himself, which have been preserved, give abundant material for
judging his philosophy and actions. Upon becoming the full master of the Empire, he set out
to realize his sacred dream of restoring his favorite religion. ‘On his accession to the thrown
he publicly declared himself a pagan and announced his determination to restore paganism
and called upon the peoples of the empire to worship the gods rightly and justly in the
manner transmitted to us from the most ancient times’.
22
among them being Athanasius also included.
23
Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, p.19.
20
901
Christian Faith into disrepute. He then proceeded to take all the civic
honours and privileges of the bishops and clergy, and removed all
Christians from the imperial household, and as far as possible from all
government employ.24
He encouraged all philosophers to produce anti-Christian writings,
and in A.D 362 prohibited Christians from acting as teachers in schools
or in any learned profession. The most painful blow was Julian’s school
reform. The first edict concerned the appointment of professors in the
leading cities of the Empire. The candidates were to be elected by the
cities, but each choice was to be submitted to the Emperor for approval.
The latter could thus refuse to sanction the election of any professor he
disliked.
Julian forbade the Christian masters of rhetorical grammar to teach
unless they became pagans. Julian issued a second decree forbidding
Christians not only to teach but even to study in the public schools. But
the text of the second decree has not been preserved. After the publication
of the teaching edict the Christians could send their children only to
grammar and rhetorical schools with pagan teaching, and from that the
majority of Christians abstained because they feared that within one or
two generations of pagan instruction Christian youth might return to
paganism. An overwhelmingly large majority of the Christian rhetoricians
and grammarians preferred to abandon their profession rather than turn
back to paganism.25
He showed great favour to the Jews and attempted to rebuild for
them the temple in Jerusalem, but failed in this, as a disastrous fire
frightened away the entire workmen. He openly expressed his desire that
all Christian churches should be demolished. Some of the Christian leaders
suffered martyrdom. Complete anarchy menaced the Empire. He at once
ordered that the name of Caesarea should be removed from the official
list of cities, imposed heavy fines on all Christians, compelled the clergy
to serve as police, and executed two young men of high rank who had
helped to throw down the temple. He then demanded from Basil of
24
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, p.147.
25
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.212
902
Caesarea one thousand pounds of gold for his campaign against
Persians, and in fault of payment threatened to destroy the city.26
3.2. Attempt to revive paganism.
To restore pagan cults materially, Julian undertook a thoroughgoing
reform. Having done his utmost to undermine the Christian Faith, he then
tried to paganism as the state religion. At the time of Julian’s accession
there was not a single pagan temple in Constantinople itself, and since it
was impossible to erect temples in a short period of time, it is very likely
that Julian performed his solemn offering of sacrifices in the main basilica.
In the intensity of his hatred, he seized every opportunity to ruin the church.
He deprived it of its property, votive offerings and sacred vassals and
condemned those who had demolished temples during the reign of
Constantine and Constantius to rebuild them or to defray the expense of
re-erection.27
In proposing to revive paganism Julian decided to borrow many
elements from the Christian organization. He organized the pagan
priesthood along the principles of the hierarchy of the Christian church;
the interiors of pagan temples were arranged according to the examples
set by Christian temples; the pagans were to conduct discourses and
read about the mysteries of Hellenic wisdom (this compared with the
Christian sermons); singing was introduced into pagan services; an
irreproachable mode of living was demanded of priests; orders were
threatened with excommunication and penance. He restored to the temple
guardians the provisions which had been abolished.
He then attempted to introduce a form of sun-worship. The number
of beasts sacrificed on the altars of the gods. This apparent triumph of
paganism was bound to affect strongly the position of the Christians in
the Empire. Meanwhile, Christians were being gradually removed from
civil and military posts and their places were being taken by pagans and
the shining crosses on the soldiers shields were replaced with pagan
emblems. 28
26
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, p.147
27
Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History, New York, 1913, p.331.
28
Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, Britain, p.156.
903
But his schemes for reviving paganism ended in complete failure;
he himself became an object of ridicule; his priests hopelessly failed to
attain the standard Julian demanded of them, and at the end of his short
reign he had to confess defeat ,and it was generally believed that he
owned to this when he exclaimed, ‘Galilean, thou hast conquered’.29 During
his reign a number of Christians suffered torture, and some were put to
death at Gaza and Alexandria, but his open hostility united the Christians
against the Arian controversies.
Fortunately for Christians, Julian did not live long enough to
implement his plan to supplant Christianity with a revived decided
syncretistic religion of the state. In the spring of 363 Julian left Antioch
and started out on his Persian campaign, during which he was mortally
wounded by a spear. He died at midnight, on June 26, in the year 363, at
the age of thirty-two. The famous rhetorician Libanius compared the death
of Julian to the death of Socrates. The army proclaimed as emperor the
head of the court guards, Jovian, a Christian of the Nicene Creed.
4. Julian to Theodosius I (361-81).
Jovian (363-64): Julian was followed by a number of Christian
Emperors who accorded an honorable toleration to the pagan cults, but
would not allow magical sacrifices to be offered to the Gods. During the
reign of Julian’s successor, Jovian (363-64), a devoted follower of the
Nicene Creed, Christianity was restored to its former position. This did
not involve new persecutions of the pagans, however, whose fears on
this account at the time of Jovian’s succession proved to be unfounded.
Jovian intended to establish throughout the empire the order which had
existed before Julian. He proclaimed complete religious toleration. He
allowed the pagans to reopen their temples and continue the offering of
sacrifices. In spite of his adherence to the Nicene doctrines, he undertook
no compulsory legislation against the other ecclesiastical parties. Christian
exiles of different sects returned from banishment. 30The labarum appeared
again in the army. Jovian reigned only a few months, but his activity in the
realm of ecclesiastical affairs made a strong impression on his
contemporaries. The Emperor Jovian restored the churches to their
29
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, p.148
30
Ibid.p.148.
904
original uses, and set them free from all the vexatious persecutions inflicted
on them, by the Apostate. Jovian died suddenly in February, 364.
Valentinian I (364-75) and Valens (364-78): He was succeeded
by two brothers, Valentinian I (364-75) and Valens (364-78), who divided
the rule of the Empire: Valentinian (followed the Nicene Creed) a Catholic,
who took the West and Valens, an Arian, who ruled the East. This was the
final division of the Empire, for East West were never again united into
one whole, except for a very short period in the reign of Justinian. 31 The
brothers differed greatly in their religious outlook.
The Nicene allegiance of Valentinian did not make him intolerant of
other creeds and during his reign religious freedom was more secure
and complete than before. At the beginning of his rule he issued a decree
granting each man the freedom of worshiping whatever his conscience
dictated to him. Paganism was freely tolerated. Yet Valentinian showed
that he was a Christian emperor by a number of measures; one of them
restored all the privileges granted the clergy by Constantine the Great.
Valentinian of the west died in A.D.375.
Valens followed an entirely different policy. Upon declaring himself
a follower of Arianism, he became intolerant of all other Christian doctrines,
and though his persecutions were neither severe nor systematic, people
in the eastern part of the Empire did go through a period of great fear
and anxiety during his reign. At Antioch many Catholics were drowned by
his orders and some eighty were burned to death at Nicomedia.32 Valens
died prematurely during his campaign with the Goths in A.D.378.
Gratian (375-83): Valentinian was succeeded in the West by his
sons, Gratian (375-83) and the child Valentinian II (375-92). After the
death of Valens (378), Gratian appointed Theodosius (an experienced
general) as Augustus of the East and Illyricum. Disregarding the young
and irresolute Valentinian II, an Arian adherent, who played no important
role in the internal policies of the Empire, the government under Gratian
(west) and Theodosius (east) quite definitely forsook the policy of religious
toleration and manifested a decided inclination toward the Nicene Creed.
Gratian at first tolerated other religions as well as orthodox Christianity.
31
Ibid, p.149.
32
Ibid, p.149; E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.214.
905
He soon changed his mind under Ambrose’s influence and began to
suppress pagans and heretics. He once again removed the altar of victory
from the Senate House in Rome, confiscated the revenue of the Vestal
Virgins and refused the title of Pontifix Maximus (High Priest), which
previous Christian emperors had taken.33
During the reign of Gratian the paganism was slowly dying
throughout the empire. In A.D.380 they published an edict that ‘all
Christians should hold the faith the apostle Peter gave to Romans,’ this
edict was another heavy blow to the Arian party.34 Of particular significance
in this respect was the policy of the eastern ruler, Theodosius, surnamed
The Great (379-95), whose name is always associated with the triumph
of Christianity.
5. Theodosius the Great (379-95)
The family of Theodosius came into the foreground as a result of
the efforts of the father of the Emperor, who was one of the brilliant army
generals in the West during the reign of Valentinian I. Before his
appointment to the high rank of Augustus, Theodosius was only slightly
interested in Christian ideas; but in the year following his appointment he
was baptized in Thessalonica by the bishop of the city, Ascholius, a
Nicaean. Theodosius has to face two difficult problems: (1) the
establishment of unity within the Empire and (2) the defense of the Empire
against the steady advance of the German barbarians, the Goths, who at
the time of Theodosius threatened the very existence of the Empire.
Theodosius had openly declared himself a follower of the Nicene
Creed; he began his long and obstinate struggle with the pagans and
heretics, inflicting upon them penalties. All the churches in Constantinople
were turned over to the Nicaeans. Theodosius was confronted with the
questions of regulating his relations with the heretics and pagans. By the
decree of 380 A.D. only those who believed in the Trinity of Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, as preached by the apostolic writings and the Gospels,
were considered Catholic Christians.35 During the reign of Theodosius
the distinction between a Catholic and a heretic was definitely established
33
Tim Dowley, The History of Christianity, p.140.
Ibid.p.150.
35
Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, p.22
34
906
by law: a Catholic was an adherent of the Nicene Creed and followers of
other religious tendencies were heretics.
Theodosius was anxious to establish peace and harmony in the
Christian church. Gregory of Nazianzus had won many converts from the
Arians in Constantinople, and Theodosius at once came under his
influence. For settle the controversies which had been distracting the
church, he convoked a general council in A.D.381, 150 bishops met
together at Constantinople. All the bishops were of the Eastern Church;
not one was present from the West. This council is known as the Second
Ecumenical Council.
The first business on the agenda was the election of a Patriarch for
Constantinople. The council also established the rank of patriarch of
Constantinople in relation to the bishop of Rome, the third canon of the
council declares: The bishop of Constantinople shall rank next to the
bishop of Rome, because Constantinople is New Rome, because of the
political pre-eminence of the city as the capital of the Empire. The see of
Constantinople occupied by Gregory of Nazianzus was unable to manage
the numerous dissenting parties represented at the council and was later
forced to withdraw from his see, leave the council, and depart from
Constantinople. Nectarius became president of the council, which in the
summer of the year 381 closed its sessions. 36
The chief religious question discussed at the Second Ecumenical
Council was the heresy of Macedonius, a semi-Arian who attempted to
prove that the Holy Spirit was created. The council condemned the heresy
of Macedonius, as well as a number of other heresies based upon
Arianism; confirmed the declaration of the Nicene symbol about the Father
and Son, adding to it the part about the procession of the Holy Spirit from
the Father; and adopted the teaching that the Holy Spirit is of one essence
with the Father and the Son.37
36
W.P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, pp.150-151
37
Ibid.pp.151-52. Some scholars have affirmed that this new creed was not and could not be
the work of the second council, that it was apocryphal; others have tried to prove that this
symbol was composed either before or after the second council. The majority of scholars
agree that the creed of Constantinople was actually framed by the Fathers of the second
council. For a while it was not even recognized as an ecumenical council; only in the year
451, at the Council of Chalcedon, was it officially sanctioned as such.
907
Theodosius was very generous towards the bishops and clergy. He
took care, however, that all these privileges should not interfere with the
interests of the government. Theodosius aimed to be the sole arbiter of
the church affairs of the Empire, and on the whole he succeeded in this
aim. One incident happened during his reign, that is Theodosius came
into serious conflict with the bishop of Milan. Theodosius and Ambrose
held diametrically opposed views on the relation between the church and
the state: the former stood for the supremacy of the state over the church;
the latter assumed that the church could not be subject to the temporal
power. The conflict focussed on the massacres which took place in
Thessalonica. The city population provoked by the German outrages,
finally revolted and killed the commanding officers as well as many
soldiers. The infuriated Theodosius gave orders to execute the Germans.
The horrible deed was not allowed to pass unpunished. Ambrose
excommunicated. Theodosius, who, in spite of his power, was forced
publicly to acknowledge his own guilt and then to observe humbly the
penance imposed by Ambrose. For a whole year, he put on sackcloth
and ashes and went through the process to be restored. Many viewed it
as a victory of church over state, priest over king. Obviously, the emperor
wanted to be convincingly Catholic.38
During the merciless struggle with the heretics, Theodosius took
decisive steps also against the pagans. By 383, laws against heresy
reached a peak, as he summoned a synod to deal with all heresies. He
was evidently not hostile to paganism from the beginning of his reign. On
June 391, he signaled the beginning of a new era by the application of
his decree of 380 against sacrifices. Several decrees prohibited the
offering of sacrifices, the divinations by the entrails of animals, and the
visiting of the temples. In effect this amounted to the closing of many
pagan temples. The destruction of the famous temple of the God Serapis,
the Serapeum, which still remained the center of pagan worship in the
city of Alexandria, is particularly significant. The last decree against the
pagans was issued by Theodosius in the year 392. It prohibited completely
the offering of sacrifices, burning of incense, hanging of garlands, libations,
divinations, and so forth. It also declared all who disobeyed these orders
guilty of offense against the Emperor and religion and liable therefore to
38
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.216.
908
severe penalties. This decree referred to the old religion as a pagan
superstition. One historian called this edict of 392 the funeral song of
paganism. It was the last step taken by Theodosius in his war upon
paganism in the East.39
Theodosius died on January 17, 395, at the height of success.
During his sixteen year career, he brought closer to completion the
Christianization process inaugurated by Constantine. The religious policy
of Theodosius, therefore, differed greatly from that of his predecessors,
followed to some extent a policy of toleration toward other religious groups.
But by designating the Nicene Creed as the only legal creed, Theodosius
laid an absolute veto upon all other tendencies in the Christian fold, as
well as upon paganism. Theodosius was one of those emperors who
believed that their authority should encompass the church and the religious
life of their subjects. The aim of his life was to create a single Nicene
church; but in spite of his efforts he did not succeed. Over paganism
Theodosius attained a complete triumph.
6. Rulers of Roman Empire - After Theodosius to the Early Sixth
Century
From this time the imperial prestige sank to low ebb, owing to the
incursions of the Barbarians in the West and the East. After the death of
Theodosius his sons Arcadius and Honorius divided the rule of the Empire;
Arcadius ruled in the east and Honorius in the west. As in previous
instances in the fourth century under the joint rule of Valens and
Valentinian I, or of Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian II, when the
division of power did not destroy the unity of the Empire, so under Arcadius
and Honorius that unity was maintained: there were two rulers of one
state.
Among the emperors who reigned in the eastern part of the Empire
during the period 395-518, the first were from the lineage of Theodosius
the Great: his son Arcadius rules from and (395-408), and his son,
Theodosius the Younger (II) ruled him (408-50). After the death of
Theodosius II his sister Pulcheria married Marcian of Thrace, who became
emperor (450-57). Thus in 450 A.D. ended the male line of the Spanish
39
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church, p.216..
909
dynasty of Theodosius. Following Marcian’s death Leo I (457-74), a
military tribune, was chosen emperor. Ariadne, the daughter of Leo I, who
was married to the Isaurian Zeno, had a son Leo, who, after the death of
his grandfather, became emperor (474) at the age of six. He died a few
months later, after he had succeeded in appointing as co-emperor his
father, Zeno, of the wild tribe of Isaurians, dwellers of the Taurus Mountains
in Asia Minor. This Leo is known in history as Leo II the Younger. His
father, Zeno, reigned from 474 to 491. When Zeno died his wife, Ariadne,
married a silentiary, the aged Anastasius, originally from Dyrrachium. He
was proclaimed emperor in 491 and ruled as Anastasius I until 518.40
This list of emperors indicates that from the death of Constantine
the Great until 518 A.D. the throne at Constantinople was occupied first
by the Dardanian dynasty of Constantine. During this entire period the
throne was never occupied by a Greek. From the time of Theodosius I,
the Roman empire gradually grew weaker and weaker and the first half of
the 5th century showed its complete collapse and overthrow. The empire
had grown weak because of the incompetency of its rulers, excessive
taxation had crushed the middle classes, and the armies were largely
recruited from the Barbarian tribes, who now threatened the very life of
the empire. In 7th century, the barbarians had over run the whole empire,
but the Christian church eventually received them all into her fold.
7. Christianity and State – Merits and Demerits
This term-church and state- implies a new kind of relationship
between church and society; the church was integrated into state which
considered itself Christian. Development began before Constantine and
continued long afterwards. Christianity did not become state religion until
the time of Theodosius (380). Some of the important effects of this
development are the following.
Merits - Good Effects
The history of the church in this periods deals primarily with three
lines of development-1.The relation of the church to the Empire. 2. The
development of Christian doctrine. 3. The development of church
organization and cults. Christianity was established as the authorized
religion of the Empire, while heathenism and heresy were prohibited by
40
J.G.Davies, The Early Christian Church, (London, Waidenfeld and Nicolson, 1965), p.162
910
laws. From the beginning of second century, Christianity suffered a lot by
the heretical teachings. Since Christianity was considered the chief unifying
factor in the empire, great efforts were made to the unifying doctrine of
the church. These attempts led the attention to the formation of creed; to
the five general councils and to the illustrious Christian writers of the
period.41 Effects were made to unify the church in organization and practice.
The New Testament canon was formed by Athanasius in 369. Early in the
5th century St.Jerome translated the whole Bible into Latin from the original
language, “The Vulgate”.
The church exists not for herself but for the world. By the recognition
of Christianity society was benefited. Under Christian influence marriage
became more permanent and concubine age was abolished in the empire.
Infanticide and abortion which had been frequent practices were made
criminal offences. The cruel games of the Amphitheatre were abolished.
Hospitals and institutions were multiplied. Slavery was rapidly abolished.42
The general transformation was naturally reflected in the public worship,
life, general discipline and manners. Christianity brings economic justice
and the reign of brotherhood and peace. Paganism and Heathenism had
collapsed.
The church enjoyed peace and popularity under the state. The
belief that church and state as divine institutions were two terms of the
same divine government on earth. The new status of the church in the
Roman Empire naturally resulted in great changes in the Christian life.
Development of church into an organizational form came into existence,
in which single presbyter was deputed by the bishop. Soon this delegation
became permanent and the presbyter became parish priest. Later it paved
the way for centralized administration under the diocese by the control of
Bishop.
The development of Papacy: To begin with organization, one of the
notable changes at this period was the emergence of the five patriarchateRome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Constantinople.43 The Bishop
41
Lars P. Qualben, History of the Christian Church, (New York, Homas Nelson and Sons,
1942), p.116.
42
M.E.Gibbs, From Jerusalem to New Delhi, p.45.
43
Ibid, p.49.
911
of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople became leading rivals for church
supremacy. In this conflict, Roman bishop laid the basis for the world
leadership of the Roman See. Rome as the geographical centre of the
world gave the Roman Bishop a unique prestige. Constantine elevated
the bishop of Constantinople to a position equal to that of the Bishop of
Rome. A secular ruler had become the nominal head of the church.
It provided the theological base for an egalitarian society:
Egalitarian society arises form a theological foundation and must have a
theological frame work to spread and endure. Man will live and die for
what they know is the will of god for what is an eternal truth. Christianity
provides the perfect base for the emerging masses of the world. Indeed
the only place where the common people have even dared hope for justice
has been Christendom. The Christian faith as it spreads throughout the
Rome by true theological base for that new world of the common man.44
Demerits-Bad Effects:
The Empire weakened while the church grew strong, gradually taking
over the power of the state. After the destruction of the western empire,
the church was for several centuries the sole link with the past. Secularity
and corruption prevailed in the church.
Many deteriorating influences were operating in the church. From
the 4 centuries onwards, the commemoration of the saints, and their
story of their doings and sufferings tended to get mixed in peoples mind
with the stories of legendary God’s and heros and with ideas and practices
connected with their worship.
th
The church government centered increasingly around the clergy;
worship became ritualistic and external. The whole of the Christian life
was lowered and the church was flooded with large numbers of rather
nominal Christians. The bishopric became the centre of wealth, honour,
and worldly influence, which might well be the object of the wrong kind of
ambition and a new type of courtier bishop came into existence, though
there never ceased to be saintly bishops as well.45.
44
Donald A. Magavran, Understanding Church Growth, (Michigan, Eerdmans Publishing, 1970),
p.293.
45
912
When Christianity became a mass movement many accepted the
Christian faith without any real spirit. Riches and prosperity attracted
worldly minded men to church offices and avarice became one of the
besetting sins of the clergy. The many doctrinal disputes entered certain
groups from the church. The adaptation of a double standard of morals,
one for the clergy and one for the laity and extreme asceticism were
signs of a deteriorating spiritual life. The church and other existing
institutions were getting ready for that long and gloomy period “dark
ages’.46
The recognition was the greatest disaster to the Christian church.
Constantine, having taken the church into partnership wished to profit by
the transaction; and in the next two centuries the church tended to be
very much the junior partner. When the emperor became the recognized
head of the head of the church, he also involved himself in its affairs to
the point of calling church councils and setting disputes of doctrines.
Freedom from persecution might seen only to have plunged the church
into a worse kind of bondage to the state. 47
Conclusion
Momentous changes occurred both in the church and state during
th
the 4 , 5th and 6th centuries. This term-church and state- implies a new
kind of relationship between church and society. In the period extending
from the accession of Constantine to the death of Theodosius the Great
(395), the characteristic features of the church’s organization took definite
form, and its relations to the secular authorities and the social order of
the empire were defined. As the church of the empire, it was under the
control of the patronage of the State; all other forms of religion whether
pagan or Christian, schismaticl or heretical, were severely repressed.
The Christianity, however, endeavored to raise the moral tone and other
ideals and to work effectively in society and empire by care for the poor
and other work of benevolence and the general councils try to settle the
heretical teachings and develop the fundamental doctrines of the church.
The important merits of this state and church relations are - the
development of Christian doctrine, the development of church organization,
46
Lars P. Qualben, History of the Christian Church, p.135.
47
913
the development of Papacy, social transformation, provide the theological
base for an egalitarian society etc. The most important demerits arewrong practices connected with Christian worship, worldly influence of
the bishops and clergy, doctrinal disputes, worse kind of bondage to the
state etc. The Edict of Milan ended an era of persecution and began an
era of partnership between the church and the Roman Empire which lasted
about 1500 years and the consequences of which remain to this day.
Bibliography
•
Ayer, Joseph Cullen. A Source Book for Ancient Church History,
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1913.
•
Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church, USA: Oxford
University Press, 1963.
•
Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church, Britain: penguin books,
1978.
•
Comby, Jean. How to Read Church History, Vol.I, Great Britain:
SCM press, 1984.
•
Davies, J.G. The Early Christian Church, London: Waidenfeld and
Nicolson, 1965.
•
Dowley, Tim. The History of Christianity, Britain: Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1977.
•
Frend, WHC. The Early Church, USA: Fortress Press, 1985.
•
Gibbs, M.E. From Jerusalem to New Delhi, CLS,
•
Hares, W.P. A History of the Christian Church of the First Six
Centuries, Mysore: CLS, 1952.
•
Hinson, Glenn E. The Early Church, USA: Abingdon Press, 1996.
•
Magavran, Donald A. Understanding Church Growth, Michigan:
Eerdmans Publishing, 1970.
•
Qualben, Lars P. History of the Christian Church, New York:
Homas Nelson and Sons, 1942.
About the Author :
Fr. Dr.Thomson Roby is the Asst.Professor & HOD, Dept. of History, Baselius
College, Kottayam
914
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 915-919
Sobhitha Sebastian
915
916
917
918
About the Author :
Dr. Sobhitha Sebastian, Guest Lecturer, Dept. of Hindi, B.V.M. Holy Cross College,
Cherpunkal.
919
BASELIUS RESEARCHER
ISSN 0975 - 8658
Vol. XIII No.2
pp 920-925
Rethinking Panel Culture: A Study of Comic
Superhero MAYAVI
Meljo Jose
Children’s literature, mainly authored by adults for children has
some serious social implications, especially in the psychological
development of children. However, its multiple forms like fables, fairy tales
and comics function as moral treatises or in Foucauldian sense,
‘disciplinary discourses.’ This paper is focused on super hero comics,
one of the most popular subgenres of children’s literature. It is further
narrowed down to the making of superheroes, particularly in the East.
It is an undeniable fact that comic superheroes like Superman,
Spiderman, Batman, Mandrake, Phantom, etc... have appealed to a great
number of readers irrespective of age and nationality. However, it is
interesting to observe that those characters were the creations of the
West and obviously sufficient number of studies on them is already
available now. In the Indian context. We have modelled so many
superheroes like Sakhtiman, based on their counterparts in the West.
When I reflected on the area further, it seemed relevant to analyse some
of them in the Indian context, particularly in Kerala context. Hence a study
on the topic Mayavi, a comic superhero being serialised in the children’s
magazine Balarama since 1984 is attempted in this paper.
The central thesis of the paper “Rethinking Panel Culture: A Study
of comic Superhero Mayavi ” shall be the psychological and ideological
implications of the comic superhero Mayavi on young generations in
Kerala society. However, the text raises so many interesting and crucial
issues and some of them are:
920
Saviour Complex
Super hero is an agent who satisfies our age-old, unfulfilled,
subconscious longing for an all-powerful ‘saviour’ who can rescue us from
all our present troubles and predicaments. In the comic Mayavi, whenever
the children Raju and Radha face danger, they seek the help of their
saviour Mayavi by chanting a mantra and immediately he comes and
saves them. It is the same with all our super heroes who come to help
their people in their need. Raju and Radha are the alter egos of readers,
who in their deepest level longs for such a super human force, which may
be residing beyond this universe. Instead of superhero, adults use a rather
matured and metaphysical term god or ultimate power. Even before
beginning the reading of comic books, this belief in super force is there
within our collective unconscious which is culturally transmitted. Therefore
I would argue that reading super hero comics only reinstate this belief in
super force and the image of superhero is deep-seated in a child’s
psychological development
There are also negative impacts on children which cannot be
covered up. We have come across many news reports that some children
irrationally imitated their superheroes and committed dangerous mistakes.
The reason for such blind imitation is the inability of children to differentiate
between fantasy and reality. In fact, fantasy is presented in a convincing
manner in superhero comics. There is an extreme manifestation of natural
endowments in superheroes. Quick decision- making power, rationality,
speed, force, intelligence, selfishness and bravery everything is in its
maximum which each one of us desire for. Even the Malayalam movie
Mayavi projects its hero Mayavi as a protector. Thus the film problematises
the same concept. Super heroes act as protectors. Mayavi and other
super heroes protect society from perils. Mayavi here becomes an icon
or a metaphor that satisfies the inner cravings in the minds of children.
Good V/s Evil
The battle between good and evil is a recurring pattern in all
superhero comics. The superhero Mayavi represents goodness, order,
justice, virtue and other positive values whereas the villains – Kuttoosan,
Dagini and Luttapy represent evil force in the society. Mayavi is the
messianic figure who saves the world. He cannot die and must remain
unchanging for all time. The message children get from Mayavi is that the
921
Rethinking Panel Culture : A study of
eternal fight between good and evil is going on and in the conflict superhero
is rewarded and the evil persons meet their well deserved fate, thus
satisfying the child’s deepest need for justice. Therefore children are
supposed to do what is good for society. Thus Mayavi the super comic
hero moulds thousands of young minds in the right manner.
Magic, knowledge, power V/s Witchcraft
Knowledge is power, here magic becomes knowledge therefore
magic is power. Mayavi knows magic, naturally he becomes the powerful.
Mayavi is asserting his power over the black magicians – Kuttoosan, Dagini,
Luttapy etc. who challenge the hegemony of Mayavi. So whenever
Mayavi’s hegemonic rule is under threat by the counter hegemony of evil
powers Mayavi intervenes and re-establishes justice and social order.
The attempts of antisocial, thieves, burglars, frauds etc. are thwarted in
the hegemonic control of superhero. Prospero in The Tempest is a fine
instance, who acquires knowledge from his magic books and consequently
becomes powerful. He usurps the island of Sycorax and subjugates
Caliban. There are always resistances in society from the part of the
suppressed. Here the villains are the suppressed who are considered to
be a threat to the social order. Mayavi’s magical power wins over the
inferior black magic of villains.
Gender issues
Mayavi is considered to be a male and he is chaste. Almost all
superheroes practise sexual abstinence; they act as custodians of morality.
They are without female counterparts. Usually male is presented as the
powerful protector both in the East and West alike as the global society is
essentially patriarchal. This may be the reason for the origin of many
superheroes. The super heroes create a mental outlook in the children.
In family they identify super man with their father figure. This idea is very
clearly depicted in the Malayalam film Daddy cool. “Aadi” (son of the
protagonist) in Daddy Cool finds joy and pride in the heroic image of his
father. On the other hand the child visualises his mother as a little jealous
of his father’s fame and also as a puppet at his beck and call. We must
also remember that girl children are also readers of this comic. They at
their very young age receive the notion that male is the protector and
female is the protected one. This ideology goes very deep into their
feminine self and they are conditioned to a so-called irrational, emotional,
922
weak womanhood. Though this kind of ideological conditioning may not
be a deliberate attempt, it rather happens unconsciously due to the
influence of ideology.
Though Mayavi and Luttapy do not have female counterparts,
Kuttoosan and Raju have female counterparts. Kuttoosan and Dagini,
the arch villains are in the side of evil. The only elder woman figure thus
becomes a witch. This again may impart a negative notion about females
in the young minds. Naturally a boy thinks female as more fallible and
males are to correct them, to rule them and thus assume a superior
position. I think in almost all houses wherever there are boy and girl
children the boy gets superior position or commanding power because of
the ideologically transmitted wrong gender notions. Again Mayavi is an
exception for the machismo cult of superheroes. Superman, Saktiman
etc. have got a strong masculine body. The adolescent finds satisfaction
in the muscular body of the superhero for which they aspire. This fulfilment
does not happen to the male readers of Mayavi. So Mayavi does not fulfil
the adolescent longing for a muscular male body.
In the beginning of superhero comics, there were only males with
super powers but in the West we come across super heroines such as
Wonder woman etc. But this trend has not come into our culture. We still
lack powerful super heroines. Changes in the West may take time to
penetrate through Indian culture. Though such children’s comics may
seem to be innocent it is sexually politicised. The cover page of Wonder
Woman (1995) shows her profile, with the focus entirely on breasts and
thighs. Both genders that is the muscular body of superhero and sexy
body of super heroines are fantasies for young male readers; the woman
representing sex fantasies of adolescent boys who have little or no
experience with woman. Here the altered woman’s body is purveying to
the male voyeur. Admittedly there is no sex in the comic and the over
drawn sexiness of bodies is a kind of sublimated image for the actual act.
Mayavi is exempted from the commercialisation of sex and conforms to
Kerala culture.
Fantasy
In all superhero comics there is a blend of realism and fantasy.
There is an element of the magical, the fantastical and the miraculous in
923
Rethinking Panel Culture : A study of
all comic books. They descend from above like gods and angels.
Superhero can cross borders, occupy different positions and are
determinately ageographical. In Mayavi the characters do not grow
physically. After twenty seven years Raju and Radha are at the same
age. It is the case with all other characters also; they are timeless and
ageless. Ideas are timeless and ageless. The characters are mere vehicles
to carry the relevant ideas across ages.
Superhero and society
Mayavi is not a human being. He comes from an alien world. He is
simultaneously an insider and outsider. That is he is part of society and
at the same time above the society. The society is conditioned by
superhero and at the same time superhero is also conditioned by society.
Superhero helps to maintain the social order. Mayavi does not violate the
laws of the land but rather conforms to them. He traps Vikraman and
Muthu cleverly, and leads them into the hands of law. He may be able to
kill his enemies but he does not do that and rather respects the law. This
is a powerful message Mayavi imparts to its readers. So Mayavi also
promotes patriotism and loyalty to the state.
Identity formation
Identity formation is a gradual process. Apart from many other
aspects the comic books also contribute a major share in forming one’s
identity, especially those of children. The characters, their moral stands
and invisible ideologies conveyed through comic books certainly influence
their identity formation. Comics can be described as an alternative art
form, one in which our familiarity with the characters over the years gives
us a sense of considerable familiarity with them. As in the words of Arthur
Asa Berger:
The characters in comics may not be our first heroes and heroines
(I would give that position to the characters in fairy tales), but they are
among our first heroes and heroines and they are the ones we grow up
with, reading about them daily, and following them for many years of our
lives. Some comic strip characters, through merchandise spin-offs (dolls,
sheets, towels, blankets, plates), actually have a presence in our lives
that is much stronger than the one they have in the news papers. These
characters not only amuse us but in many cases they have become part
of our lives (108).
924
Considering all these things we come to the conclusion that writing
for children is not an innocent activity; it has got a lasting impact on the
development of child psychology. So superhero comic books could be
read as disciplinary discourses which condition its readers.
Works Cited
Berger, A.A. Narratives in Popular Culture. New York: Sage.1997. Print.
Select Bibliography
1.
Nayar, Promod K. Reading Culture. New Delhi: Sage, 2006. Print
2.
Fingeroth, Danny. Superman on the Couch. New York: Continuum
International, 2004. Print.
3.
Grenby, M.O. Children’s Literature. Edinburgh: University Press,
2008. Print.
4.
Gresh, Lois H and Weinberg Robert. New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons, 2002. Print.
5.
Hunt Peter, Understanding Children’s Literature. New York: Taylor
& Francis, 2006. Print.
6.
Kakar, Sudhir. The Inner World. New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
2001. Print.
7.
MacCann, Donnare, White Supremacy in Children’s Literature.
London: Taylor & Francis, 2002. Print.
925
BASELIUS RESEARCHER ISSN - 0975 - 8658
Volume XIII No. 1 & 2
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
PAGES
34. Comparison of Moulting And Pterylographic Studies in Captive Saker Falcon 568-574
Falco cherrug And Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus in UAE.
Dr. M. Zubair, Dept. of Zoology, University of Calicut, Thenjippalam, Kerala
35. Council of Chalcedon and its Consequences
575-587
Fr. Dr. Thomson Roby, Baselius College, Kottayam
588-591
36. Reverberating notes in Chirst Literature
Dr. Maya Kuriakose, Baselius College, Kottayam
37. Government Expenditure on Higher Education in India: An Overview 592-600
P. J. Sabulayan and Dr. K. V. Raju
S.H. College Thevera, Cochin
38. MGNREGS – A Paradigm Shift in Wage – Employment Schemes 601-609
Dr. P. M. James and Manoj Narayanan K. S.
39. Information Technology in Language Teaching
610-617
Sindu Jones, Baselius College, Kottayam.
618-630
40. Empowerment of Women Through Political Participation
Dr. Sheeja Kuriyakose, Baselius College, Kottayam.
41. Reinforcing Patriarchy: An Analysis of Hero’s language in select 631-635
Mohanlal Films Dr. Jyothimol P., Baselius College, Kottayam.
42. Absolute Relativity of gravitation grand unfield fields.
636-651
Thomson P.Mani & Dr. V.M. Mathew*, Baselius College,Kottayam.
43. Comparative Study of selected physical fitness components 652-659
between Kerala and Pondicherry State Junior Volleyball Players
Sunil Thomas, St. George HSS Aruvithura Kottayam and
Sathees Thomas, Devamatha College, Kuravilangad , KTM
44. Role of Self Help Groups organized by Kudumbashree units in 660-671
proper utilization of Micro Credit and for empowerment of poor
women
Divya George, St. Thomas’ College, Thrissur
45. Effect of Isolated and Combined Sport Loading and Plyometric 672-679
Training on Strength endurance among Higher secondary level
male sprinters
Biju Sukumar and Dr. S. Chitra
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar - 608 002, Tamilnadu.
926
46. Subaltern Resistance in a Male Domain with Specific Reference 680-688
to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Alice Walker’or Purple.
Elizabeth Zachariah, Govt. VHSS, Pala
689-695
47. Importance of Azospirillum species in agriculture
Nisha S. Babu & Dr. Susan Panicker, Baselius College, Kottayam
48. For Your Remembrance 20-9-1954
696-704
Dr. Verghese Leena,Baselius College, Kottayam
49. Book Review : India In Turmoil, Jammu and Kashmir, Ved Marwah, 705-708
North east and left extremism, 2009, New Delhi, Rupa. Co ISBN
978-81-291-1476-1
Sheeja Kuriyakose, Baselius College, Kottayam
50. Dalit Empowerment and Hindi Novels
709-721
Dr. Georgekutty Vattoth, St. Thomas College, Pala
51. Introduction of Periphytons in Ornamental Fish Farming Using 722-727
Coconut Leaf Rachis as Substrate
Dr. Jeeja Tharakan, St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, Thrissur
and Dr. Honey Sebastian, Vimala College, Thrissur
52. Human cataract prevalence in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala 728-738
state
Dr. Aleyamma Kuruvilla, St. Thomas College, Ranni and
Dr. Issac Thomas, St. Berchman’s College, Changanacherry
743-751
Dr. Annie Margret, B.C.M. College, Kottayam
54. Social consciousness and femininity in the Novels of Jane Austen 752-758
Sajeev P. P., Rubber Board, Thalassery
55. Freudian Permutations and Combinations in Updike’s Terrorist. 759-771
Raghul V. Rajan,
Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.
772-777
Neethu Varghese, BCM College, Kottayam
57. Deconstruction of the Poem “Mirror”
778-785
Preethy Mary George, M.Phil Student, Madras Chiristian
58. China - Pak Nexus : India’s Emerging Templates of Smart 786-797
Balancing
Solvin Mathew, Research Scholar, Madras
Christian College, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
798-808
Dr. Mary Senterla P. S., Alphonsa College, Pala, Kerala,
927
60. Today’s Business Environment: A Strategic Management Approach 809-818
Sushan P K,
Baselios Poulose II Catholicos College, Piravom.
61. Aadhaar - A Card for Development .
819-825
Tissy Eruthickal, Baselius College, Kottayam
826-831
Berly Sebastian, Baselius College, Kottayam, Kerala.
832-846
Eldhose T. John, B.P.C. College, Piravom.
847-854
Sindhurani P. J., Research Scholar, CUSAT
855-863
Sijo K. Manuel, St. Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam
864-870
Jomon Lonappan, Managalore. Karnataka State.
871-875
Shibi K.P.S., Kunnamkulam. Thrissur Dist. Kerala
876-879
Sumi Mary Thomas, C M S College, Kottayam , Kerala.
69. A Comparative Study of Dry Rubber Content in Natural Rubber 880-886
Latex, Creamed Latex and Centrifuged Latex.
Vidya Jose,Guest Lecturer, Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad
70. _mey-Øns‚ Nn{Xo-Ic
- Ww am[-hn-°p-ń-bpsS IYm-tem-IØ
- n¬
887-894
Dr. Shyla Abraham, Baselius College, Kottayam
71. Christianity and the state from the time of Constantine in Rome 895-914
Dr. Fr. Thomson Roby, Baselius College, Kottayam
915-919
72.
Dr. Sobhitha Sebastian, St. Thomas College, Pala
73. Rethinking Panel Culture: A Study of Comic Superhero ‘MAYAVI’ 920-925
Meljo Jose, Baselius College, Kottayam
928
BASELIUS RESEARCH GUIDANCE CENTRE
RESEARCH GUIDANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Prof. Jacob Kurian Onattu (Principal)
Dr. Susan Panicker* (Microbiology & Zoology) & Dr. V. Maya Kuriakose (English) (Conveners)
Dr. Daisy Joseph* (Chemistry)
Dr. Verghese Leena* (English)
Dr. V.M. Mathew* (Physics)
Dr. P.V. Viswanathan Nampoothiri* (Sanskrit)
Dr. Annie Margaret*, Dr. Alexander Raju* (Retd.) (English)
Dr. Annamma Kurian
Dr. P.M. James
Dr. Jalaja J. Malayan
Dr. Shyla Abraham
Dr. V.A. Philip
Dr. Jyothimol P.
Dr. Suma Bino Thomas
Dr. Jancey Thomas
Dr. Nirmala Joseph
Dr. Nibu A. George
Fr. Dr. Thomson Roby
Dr. Geetha Lakshmi K.
Dr. Sherly Kurian
Dr. Annie Cherian
Dr. Annie Mathews
Dr. Biju Thomas
Research Guides of Mahatma Gandhi University*
RESEARCH NEWS
• Centre for research - Dept. of English
• Research Guides - Five faculty members of the college
• Research Projects (Ongoing major research project UGC-P.I.Dr.P.V.Viswanathan Nampoothiri HOD of
Sanskrit) . Ongoing minor research projects UGC by six faculty member.
• Research paper publications. International - 6, National - 86 by the faculty during the past four years.
• Editor of Journals, Dr. Susan Panicker, Journal of Zoological Society of Kerala, ISSN0971-197X
• Research Journal - Baselius Researcher ISSN 0975-8658 Vol XIII No. 1 & 2, 2012 issues published.
Ph.D DEGREE AWARDED
Dr. Annie Mathews - Dept. of Chemistry (2008)
Dr. Annie Cherian - Dept. of Statistics (2008)
Dr. Razia S. Ebrahim (Microbiology) 2008, Dr. Sangeetha S. (Microbiology) 2009, Dr. Elizabeth Basil
(Microbiology) 2010 under the guidance of Dr. Susan Panicker, Dept. of Zoology.
Dr. Sideeque M.A. (Malayalam) 2008 under the guidance of Dr. A.M. Unnnikrishnan.
Dr. Shyla Abraham - Dept. of Malayalam (2009)
Dr. P.M. James - Dept. of Commerce (2009)
Dr. Suma Bino Thomas - Dept. of Chemistry (2009)
Dr. Nirmala Joseph - Dept. of Physics (2010)
Dr. Susan Varghese (2010), Dr. Renju D. (2010), Dr. Amstrong Philip (2010), Dr. Bijimol Thomas (2011)
under the guidance of Dr. Annie Margaret (Retd.), Research Guide of the Centre for Research in English,
Baselius College, Kottayam.
Dr. Laly Mathew (2010), Dr. Jyothimol P. (2012) under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Raju (Retd.),
Research Guide of the Centre for Research in English, Baselius College, Kottayam.
Dr. M.N. Prasanna Antharjanam (2011), Dr. K.N. Harikrishna Sharma (2012) under the guidance of Dr.
P.V. Viswanathan Nampoothiri, Dept. of Sanskrit.
Smt. Trisina M. Alappatt (English) under the guidance of Dr.Verghese Leena, Fr. Jyothis Kuruvilla (English)
under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Raju, submitted Ph.D. thesis.
929
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930
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Onattu
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932

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