Rain - Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastry / Ravi Sastry

Rain is a short story, originally written in Telegu by Rachakonda Viswanathasastry. The story deals with the plight of a young man, trapped by heavy rainfall in a roadside shack, who’s running late for his train to Calcutta.

The story begins with the young man, Purushottam, taking shelter from the pouring rain in a small roadside tea shack with an old man. Following a small conversation between the two about the rain, the author jumps back in time, and begins to describe the journey of the author up until the present point. Under pressure from family members to get married, the protagonist was sent to Adivipalem, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, to meet a prospective bride. After a day or two, Purushottam leaves the village, heading to the train station from which he intends to catch a train back to Kolkata. Smitten by her beauty however, the protagonist strongly wishes to return to the village and marry the lady. While travelling by ox-cart to the station, the protagonist finds himself trapped in a fierce gale. With that, the author returns to narrating the events presently unfolding.

Upon being told by the old man that the rain isn’t bound to stop any time soon, Purushottam feels agonized and distraught. He begins to rue his decision to venture to Adivipalem prior to completing his business in Calcutta. He summons to mind various instances of him blindly following his the instructions of his elders. An extract of which is shown below

_________________________________________________________________________________

This had been his [Purushottam’s] approach in every matter. “If you don’t know how to swim, don’t get into the water, be careful.” “Of Course I won’t”. … “Inequity and injustice; why bother about it, mind your own business, otherwise you’ll land yourself in serious trouble, so take care.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

The above examples are but two. More than 4 are given in the story in the same paragraph. Just as Purushottam seems to be on the verge of losing hope, the old man’s grandson, that the former had sent out to collect firewood prior to the start of the story, returns, surging through the pouring sheets of rain. The sight of a mere child defying such odds, fans the dying ember of hope inside of Purushottam. Inspired by the young boy’s courage and daring, Purushottam leaves the warmth and safety of the shack, braving the cold wet rains, and presses on towards his destination. Throughout the course of the story, Purushottam is depicted as an indecisive and relatively immature young man, blindly heeding the directives of his relatives, rather than making decisions for himself. He is not shown to be outgoing or outspoken, rather, keeping to himself the majority of the time.

Descriptive language and vivid settings are used often by the writer to emphasize the protagonist’s state of mind. For example, when Purushottam first sees his bride-to-be, the author paints a semi-surrealistic image of his surroundings, bathed in a warm positive light, in the reader’s mind. The heavy rainfall, the shack, and the looming clouds above, all come to symbolize the binding measures that have restrained his life, preventing him from unlocking his full potential. The conclusion of the story; the protagonist’s decision to leave the shack and venture into the rain, is particularly symbolic, as it is the first time, to our knowledge at least, that the man has committed himself to doing something of his own accord, and, by doing so, has indirectly dictated his own fate. The writer also presents a strong moral viewpoint through the story, to the reader, about the role of women in society. Despite the large role that the protagonist’s visit of his wife-to-be plays in the story, the aforementioned woman is hardly heard from at all, her silence, ironically innocuous.

The theme of obedience, be it filial, parental, or otherwise, is one that permeates this story from beginning to end. Almost all of the events in the story have been set into motion by the protagonist’s seeming inability to refuse the wishes and commands of his elders and relatives alike. Take, for example, his travelling to Adivipalem to meet a prospective bride. This only occurred because he, the protagonist, paid heed to the words of his maternal uncle. Prior to his stepping out of the shack, Purushottam lists various personal examples of obedience that he had once paid heed to. An example above, in the summary part, shows two such examples. By painting this picture, the author could be attempting to make a statement to the reader, of how over –protection, and our expectance of blind obedience from those younger than us, can, in the long term, have an extremely detrimental effect on both their mental as well as their physical wellbeing.

The Rat - Ashoka Mitran

                       The Rat is a short story, originally written in Tamil, by Ashokamitran, a prominent figure in the post-independence Tamil literature scene. The story, as summarized below, deals with a middle-aged and ordinary man’s attempt to capture a rat that frequently visits his house at night. Before I continue however, it is important to understand the mindset possessed by the writer while crafting this story.

                As quoted from an exclusive interview of Ashokamitran with the newspaper The Hindu:

_____________

Ashokamitran is suspicious of anything that has even a hint of the grandiose. Try spinning parallels between philosophical notions and the ordinary characters portrayed in his stories, and pat comes the reply: “Anda madari pretentions kadiyade (there aren't such pretentions here). I have written a story and it should be read and enjoyed as a story.”

_____________

                As can be gleaned from the above extract, as well as the story itself, Ashokamitran does not seek to write in the form of complex parables, as is the case with many other writers. Instead, he writes about the world he knows. His stories are set in cities, either Hyderabad or, in this case, Chennai. His characters are mostly middle-class people, dealing with the small and inevitable problems of everyday urban life. He often pays attention to, what is on the surface, an uneventful moment, and then slowly zooms in, giving the reader an up-close look at the inner workings of the human mind. This type of writing style is prominent in “The Rat”.

                The story begins with the main character, the narrator operating under the name of the man Ganesan, returning home after work one day. Finding that there is no vadai or udappam left in the house for him to bait the rat with, he finds himself irritated and goes to bed. Around ten-o’clock however, he hears a rustling in the kitchen, the sound of the rat knocking over the jars of oil. He rushes to the kitchen with his wife just as the rat scurries away. He then gets involved in a heated argument with his wife, as to why the latter doesn’t save any dosais or vadais for the rat. The argument ends with Ganesan hurling an onion at his wife, and storming out the front door in search of vadais. Unable to find any vendors selling vadais, he continues searching, walking further and further. Seeing a crowd of 40 odd people in the distance, he makes his way towards them. He observes a man speaking emphatically on political issues to the crowd. Nearby however, he sees a wala frying bajis on a cart nearby. After waiting for a while, the vendor fries a batch of vadais and Ganesan takes two, eating one himself and saving the other as bait. He returns home, sets the trap and sleeps. In the morning he finds that the rat has been caught.  Rather than killing it, Ganesan walks a fair distance and lets it loose. As the rat scurries away to freedom, a crow swoops down from the sky, snapping up the rat and carrying it away. A sense of dark irony is also created in the final lines by the fact that, even the next morning, the rat had not eaten the vadai placed in the trap.

                The story is quite a simple one, dealing primarily with the seemingly ordinary tale of a middle-class urban-dweller in which the writer details his night-out in search of bait for the rat trap. The rat has the last laugh, it gets caught in the trap, and there is devastating irony in it leaving the bait untouched. However, there does appear to be a glimmer of symbolism present throughout the tale. The end of the story, in which Ganesan frees the rat, only to see it killed, examines the complex relationship between man and animal. As is the case with many of Ashokamitran’s other stories, the concept of how humans are in a constant relationship with their surroundings, is reinforced gradually and continually by the narrative as the story progresses. The fight between a man and a rat that he is set to capture, is both physical and psychological in Ashokamitran's story ‘The Rat’. While the former wins the physical battle, the rat gets his moral victory over his captor.

                There also appears to be an unmistakable attempt by the author to draw parallels between humans and rats throughout the short story. Just as rats congregate and are entrapped by the irresistible allure of food, so are humans, as shown by the writer. In an attempt to buy bait with which to catch the rat, Ganesan ventures to a nearby opening, where a large number of people have gathered, listening to a man giving a speech, and swarms of them trying to buy food from the nearby vendor. The imagery and descriptive details used by the writer, serve to indicate the lack of difference between the two species, an example of which, is shown below.

 _____________

With a long perforated ladle, sizzling hot snacks were being taken out of bubbling peanut oil and placed on a tray from which they were being sold off in bare seconds. Ganesan went and stood near the pushcart. Like submarines immersed in the ocean, 20 chillies doused in batter were frying in the oil. A man nearby kept saying, "Make vadais, ayya! Vadais" But the next time round it was chilli bajjis again. Ganesan, too, said "Make vadais, ayya! There seemed to be a great demand for chilli bajjis. One fellow got out of a car, ordered "Pack up eight bajjis," and went to urinate into the darkness…

An uneasy feeling came over Ganesan. There was a sizeable crowd around the cart. Everybody was waiting for their orders…

_____________

                Another interesting theme present throughout the text, is the plight of the lower middle class man. A sense of oddity with a hint of envy is evoked by the sentence:

_____________

Every night in those two rooms, in that little space where the ten of them could not sleep or eat at the same time, four or five rats cavorted and frisked about with the utmost freedom.

_____________

                It seems almost as if Ganesan is envious of the rats. While he is crammed into a far too small room with far too many people, the rats wander freely. Another comparison that could be gleaned from the passage would be the comparison of the middle class man to the rat of the story.

                The main character’s name is also particularly important.  In Hindu mythology, the god Ganesha is accompanied by his mouse. The story behind this is as follows:  (As taken from an online source)

______________

The below has been taken from an outer source

Once there was a demon called Gajamugasuran. He was a great devotee of Shiva and pleased with his presence, Shiva granted him some boons. Gajamugasuran became very proud and powerful and he started troubling the gods. Tired of his antics, the gods asked Shiva to save them from Gajamugasuran. Shiva sent Ganesha to help the gods. Ganesha went with several weapons such as bow and  arrow, sword, and even an axe to destroy Gajamugasuran. But the demon had been given boon that none of these weapons could cause him harm, so Ganesha's attempts to destroy the demon proved to be ineffective. Finally, Gajamugasuran took the form of a small mouse and rushed towards Ganesha. Ganesha was very clever and immediately sat on the little mouse.  Gajamugasuran was defeated and was forced to apologize for his deeds. Since then, Ganesha is always accompanied by a mouse as his vehicle.

______________

            There are undoubtedly similarities between the two stories. The antics of the rat in the story could be likened to the troubling nature of Gajamugasuran. As a result of Gajamugasuran’s antics, the Gods sent Ganesha to vanquish him. In the story, this could be likened to Ganesha setting out to the market, late at night, for the sole purpose of setting an effective trap for the rat.  The weapons of Ganesha, with which he originally intended to vanquish the beast (the bow, arrow, and sword) but proved useless, have been replaced in the story by Rasam, Uppuma, and a raw onion: Each failing to capture the rat plaguing Ganesan’s home. The final victory obtained by Ganesha over Gajamugasuran, has been incorporated into the story by Ganesan finally managing to capture the rat.

                

The Diameter of the Bomb - Yehuda Amichai

The poem, “The Diameter of the Bomb”, is a poem written by acclaimed Israeli author Yehuda Amichai. It explores the impact of war, and subsequently the ever-magnified effect that death has on humanity.

                Yehuda Amichai’s first encounter with war was at the young age of 15. Being a Jewish citizen dwelling in the depths of Berlin, he and his family narrowly managed to flee the country, escaping the Nazi driven holocaust of his people. Later on, near the end of the war, he joined the British army, serving in a Jewish brigade. Later on in his life, he served in the Israeli army many times during the Arab-Israeli struggles. As is apparent by his writing style, the sheer enormity of violence and bloodshed that he witnessed greatly influenced his work.

                The poet begins with a cold and rather calculative approach to the bomb’s explosion, reciting the bomb’s characteristics mechanically, and without as much as a speck of compassion. This tone is prominent throughout the first three lines.

_____________

The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters

And the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,

With four dead and eleven wounded.

_____________

                The method in which the bomb’s properties are described seems awfully cold and dehumanized.  The way in which it is presented brings to mind the bomb-maker, or the government official who sanctioned the attack, assessing the explosive capabilities of the weapon. The first two lines in particular, portray the bomb as a weapon holding limited capacity for damage, as shown by the statistical data presented. As a result of this, the bomb is depicted as being relatively ineffective, as the casualties that it may inflict are fairly insignificant as compared to the total fatalities in a war. Also, by beginning the poem with cold numerical facts, the poet gives the reader’s mind something concrete and objective to grasp, when trying to comprehend the enormity of the attack.

                Suddenly, the poet segues from the cold statistical facts to a humanistic and compassionate approach. This is portrayed in the following lines:

_____________

                And around these, in a larger circle

                Of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered

And one graveyard. But the young woman

Who was buried in the city she came from,

At a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,

Enlarges the circle considerably,

And the solitary man mourning her death

At the distant shores of a country far across the sea

Includes the entire world in the circle.

_____________

                The transition of the poet from harsh, technical facts to deep human emotions is facilitated by a personal sketch of one of the victims and her grieving lover. "The solitary man mourning her death / at the distant shores of a country far across the sea”, are two lines which poignantly epitomize the effect of the explosion on mankind.

                An image of a circle is effectively employed by the author as a means of pictorial representation of the gradual spread of hurt and pain, in the wake of the bomb’s explosion. The image of the ever-expanding circle, gradually growing, continuously, slowly enveloping the entire world, can be likened to the shockwaves of an explosion.

                All in all, the poem, in the above verses at least, depicts the growing effect of the explosion on humankind. The poet begins this section by speaking of, “…a larger circle”. The larger circle is a reference to the extended range of the blast. While the first section dealt with the cold technical capabilities of the bomb, the second section deals with the other capabilities of the bomb, primarily its emotionally-harming capabilities. The poet contemplates on how, in the aftermath of the bomb blast, two hospitals are affected, owing to the victims being admitted there. The one graveyard widens the circle further still. One young woman however, killed in the explosion, was buried in her home town, a couple hundred kilometers away. This extends the circle of people affected indirectly by the explosion a lot. This women’s lover, a man living on the other side of the world, is devastated by the news of his lover’s death, encompassing the entire world in the circle of devastation, all a result of a single explosion, one that was thought to possess only limited destructive capabilities, as reflected in the tone of the first section. The image of the circle expanding, one person at a time, infinitely, evokes a sense of disbelief in the reader, disbelief in the fact that such a relatively small explosion can affect so many people all over the world. To sum it up, the image induced in the reader’s mind by words like diameter, radius, and circle, is that of a lone bomb's detonation, one that technically should affect only a certain amount of people, ends up enveloping the entire world, indirectly, in its blast radius.

The next and final section of the poem, delves into the metaphysical and surrealistic effects of the bomb.

_____________

                And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans

                That reaches up to the throne of God and

                Beyond, making

                A circle with no end and no God.

_____________

                Throughout the poem, Amichai presents the facts in a conversational and somewhat detached tone. An example of this would be the first line of the third section, “And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans”. By use of such a tone, the poet greatly intensifies the horror of a sudden violent death and the raw emotional loss that accompanies it.

                During the course of this section, the author further pursues the image of the ever-expanding circle, the extent to which the bomb affects all of humanity. The crying orphans, doomed to sadness and misery by no fault of their own, are orphans presumably because one, or both, parents were killed in the explosion. The horrid fate that has befallen these children, leads one to question the existence of a God who would allow such terrorism. The crying orphans are used as an extremely jarring vivid image, induced in the reader’s mind. Previously in his description of the circle, the jumps, the paths through which the circle gradually grew larger and larger, dealt only with earth and its inhabitants. In the case of the crying orphans however, the crying, “Reaches up to the throne of god and beyond”. Perhaps the reason for this jump from the comprehensible to the metaphysical is the sheer injustice that has been meted out upon innocent children. There seems no justice, nothing in our power that could be done to help or right this wrong. Thus, God is introduced by the poet, an omnipotent symbol of eternal justice and righteousness, a personification, of sorts, of the very qualities lacking in the human race. The powerful final line, “…Creating a circle with no end and no God”, is the poets way of saying that the bomb indirectly affected everyone, all the way from those killed initially to God. The use of the phrase, “…no god”, is to raise doubt in the minds of the reader. Doubt as to how God, a divine, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient being, who exists as an embodiment of all that is good, could allow such a monstrosity to occur.  Images, those of mourning loved ones and crying orphans, aptly crafted by the poet, evoke strong senses of sympathy in the reader.

                The overall tone of the poem is an extremely somber one. Powerful themes such as those of violence, war, death, and loss pervade the poem. The poem is an effective juxtaposition of a dispassionate view of the physical capacity of the bomb with the much larger emotional and spiritual impact of such violence. The poem powerfully portrays the ‘ripple’ effect of violence that will, eventually, envelop all of humanity and beyond. 

               

Songs of the final meeting - Anna Akhmatova

“Song of the Final Meeting” is a poem by Anna Akhmatova, a famous Russian poet who lived most of her life in the early 20^th century. Owing primarily to the time into which she was born, a time in which many atrocities and horrific crimes were being perpetrated by the Communist government, she was a strong voice against Stalinism. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, provided her poems with a unique touch, one not present in the other contemporary poetry of that time.

The poem, “Song of the Final Meeting”, examines, with the usage of colorful imagery and numerous apt metaphors, the end of a relationship between two lovers, as narrated by the female party.

The poem begins with the following lines:

_____________

My breast grew helplessly cold,

But my steps were light.

I pulled the glove from my left hand

Mistakenly onto my right.

_____________

The first line itself establishes the tone and emotions associated with the poem. The first line in this stanza serves to evoke a sense of impending doom, a cold unshakable dread that fills one’s chest. The use of the word, “helplessly”, in this line, induces a melancholic sense of bleak inevitability in the reader, the knowledge that the final outcome cannot be changed, try as one might. The second line can be interpreted as the poet’s mental response to these emotions.  It suggests that, bleak as the future may be, there is nothing that she can do about it (linked to concept of inevitability on first line), and being such, there is no need to worry about it, thus, her steps are light.

In the 3^rd and 4^th lines of this stanza, the poet, citing an apt example of her putting on the wrong glove, conveys her absence of mind to the reader. The probable and logical cause for her being preoccupied, based on the previous lines, would be her anticipation, and simultaneous dread, for the meeting

The second stanza is as follows:

_____________

                It seemed there were so many steps,

                But I knew there were only 3!

                Amidst the maples an autumn whisper

                Pleaded: “Die with me!”

_____________

In this stanza, the first line can be interpreted as being indicative of the ever growing sense of anticipatory dread felt by the poet. Anticipation so much that one can hardly focus on their surroundings, is the general concept put forth. The second line shows, once again, the absent-mindedness of the poet at this stage, linking back to the same concept in the last two lines of the first stanza.

In the third line of the above stanza, an important aspect is introduced which, if interpreted on a physical level, serves to describe the environment. The short phrase used by the author, of the maple trees through which the poet walks, combined with the reference to autumn, induces a powerful image of her surroundings in the reader’s mind. The usage of maple trees, in particular, contributes greatly to this effect, seeing as how they possess their telltale bright orange leaves during autumn.

The use of the word ‘autumn’ in the third line, if interpreted symbolically, could be understood as a metaphor for unavoidable change. Autumn, the season in which leaves turn orange and fall from their branches, is the end of the spring and the beginning of the long, hard, cold winter. As it affects nature so drastically, reflected in the mass migrations of animals, and the telltale orange color taken on by leaves of trees in the North West, it is bound to, and does, evoke very strong emotions in one. In the words of Ernest Hemingway in ‘A Moveable Feast’,

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold wintery light…When the cold rains kept on and killed the products of spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”

The above quote quite aptly epitomizes the negative emotions induced in one during such a season. The writer, Anna Akhmatova, manages to link the above emotions related to autumn, with the emotions and feelings associated with the end of a relationship.

In many pieces of classical literature, autumn is symbolic of the earth with respect to beginning and end, harvest, and the end of spring, the leaves falling from the branches. It is also commonly used to represent an end, in the literal sense; the end of summer is naught but the beginning of fall.  In poetry especially, spring is associated with youth and new, budding life. Summer is the pinnacle of life, when you are older, but still young enough to have family, success, etc. Autumn is often the time of retirement, but you have a sense of fulfillment, richness, wisdom, freedom. Winter is old age, illness, the death of loved ones and, ultimately your own death. The author has managed to take the above symbolism, and twist it, ever so slightly, so that, rather than the seasons being indicative of the course of one’s lifetime, they represent the inevitable stages of a relationship. The stage in which the author is currently, autumn, represents the inevitable and unstoppable transition of summer to winter, happiness to gloom, and joy to melancholy.

In the third line of this stanza, the autumn whisper could be interpreted as being the voice of change inevitable. The words which precede it, the reference to the maple tree, further strengthens this concept. The maple trees, whose leaves are green during spring, turn a bright signature orange-red color during autumn. This fact would strengthen the aforementioned interpretation of autumn representing an inevitable change, unavoidable, destined by time to occur. The fourth line, the pleading of autumn to the author, for the latter to die with the former, if interpreted with relation to the above metaphor (autumn representing change), could be likened to the end of a relationship. The ‘death’ of which autumn speaks, could be nothing more than the inevitable coming of change, the unavoidable transition from summer to winter through autumn. Just as autumn is but a temporary season, so is the life of the author’s relationship, bound to eventually draw to an end.

The second stanza, particularly the second half, deals primarily with the obstacles faced by the author (the symbolism of autumn, and the oncoming inevitable change the author is faced with, depicted through metaphors). The third stanza however, deals primarily with the author’s reaction to aforementioned events. The third stanza goes as follows:

_____________

I’m led astray by evil

Fate, so black and so untrue.

I answered: “I too dear one!”

“I too, will die with you…”

_____________

                The tone of the third stanza is quite dark. A sense of depression and treachery permeates the paragraph. The personification of evil in the first line, combined with the usage of the phrase, “Led Astray”, evokes a sense of betrayal in the reader. The second line, “Fate, so black and so untrue,” is reflective of the extremely bleak and seemingly desolate future faced by the poet.  The word ‘untrue’, links back to the concept of betrayal and misleading, as shown in the previous line.

                The third line of this stanza consists of the poet’s response to autumn’s whisper (concept introduced in the final two lines of the second stanza). She accepts the latter’s proposition, as stated in the next line. Her answer, her agreeing to die with autumn, is indicative of her acceptance of change, her indomitable will to move on. The ellipses, however, that is present at the end of the sentence, provides the image of doubt in the reader’s mind. Despite the poet’s attempt to accept the change, there is still a part of her that dares to hope for a brighter tomorrow.

                The fourth and final stanza, is the conclusion of the poem. It also descriptively portrays, for dramatic effect, the environment, the house, in which the poet is, presumably with her lover. It is as follows:

_____________

                This is a song of the final meeting.

                I glanced at the house’s dark frame.

                Only bedroom candles burning

                With an indifferent yellow flame.

_____________

                A dramatic effect is created by the iteration of the title in the first line of the stanza. It instills a sense of ending, a culmination of sorts, in the reader. The second line of the stanza gives the reader the first image of her current surroundings. The context in which the word ‘glanced’ is used in the second line could indicate a lack of interest of sorts, on the writer’s part. The usage of the word ‘dark’ to describe the house, is partially responsible for the gloomy and depressing atmosphere that permeates the final stanza.

                The third line, if interpreted on a physical level, completes the setting of the environment. The burning of the candles may also be simultaneously interpreted on a symbolic level. Just as the candle burns bright with a beautiful flame, it is this very flame which, over time, takes its toll on the candle, devouring more and more of it, until finally, the flame is extinguished. Many parallels can be drawn between this process and a relationship. The candle may represent the energy and efforts put forth by each respective party into the relationship, the flame, the fruits or products of aforementioned efforts, the flame of love. Over time however, the flame begins to dim, as the candle shortens. Eventually, there is no wick left in the candle, no more than has been can be given. At this final point, the flame of love is extinguished.

                The final line of the poem is, by far, the most powerful, in terms of the emotions evoked in the reader, and, at the same time, the line most open to interpretation in the poem. Before I continue, let me elaborate on the rather small, yet still quite ironic concept, introduced in the last two lines of the final stanza.

                Candles, as a whole, are extremely linked to romantic settings and intimate environments. Just as people find the sight of the setting or rising sun romantic, so is the same with candles. The dim light of the flickering candle flame seems to hide one’s imperfections and bring one’s strengths and positive qualities to the forefront. For these reasons, candles are generally associated with romance and love. In this case however, candles illuminate the room of the lovers’ final meeting. The fact that a symbol for romance and love is present in such a depressing and melancholic atmosphere, evokes a sort of dark irony in the reader.

                The ‘yellow’ color of the flame mentioned in the final line, represents a good deal. The color yellow, in general, as it is the color of the sun, is associated with feelings of joy, happiness, and well being. As can be gleaned from the general tone of the poem, the above effect is far from the effect the writer was trying to convey. It can be noted however, that certain negative emotions and feelings are associated with this same color. Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness (owing to jaundice), and jealousy. As the phrase, “Yellow-Bellied coward”, indicates, yellow can also be associated to feelings of cowardice, unfaithfulness, and most importantly, betrayal. This concept of betrayal can be linked back to the sense of the same, generated in the first two lines of the third stanza.

                Finally, the indifference of the flame, of which the author speaks, has a great deal of symbolism. The candle seems unperturbed by the events unfolding around it. Be it on a romantic date or a tragic setting, such as the one painted verbally by the author, the candle still shines the same, not altered in the slightest by heavy-hearted tears or the laughter rife with mirth of those around it. While, in the minds of the once lovers, an indescribable amount has changed, the candle is not altered in the slightest, still flickering in the darkness, with its dim yellow flame.

                Also, the concept of nature, despite being one that is not directly referenced throughout the poem, still pervades the overall essence of the piece by providing a vivid image in the back of the reader’s mind of the poet’s surroundings, and, at the same time, being used symbolically and metaphorically by the poet. On a physical level, the usage of nature, primarily in the 3^rd line of the 2^nd stanza, provides a vibrant setting of the author’s environment for the reader. On a metaphorical level however, the use of nature in the poem is symbolic of change, unstoppable and inevitable, likened, by the author, to the changing of seasons. 

Casabianca - Ayyappa Paniker

Casabianca is a poem by renowned Malayalam poet Ayyappa Paniker. It deals with the aftermath of a situation similar to that depicted in the original poem Casabianca by Felicia Dorothea Hemans. The original poem deals primarily with the themes of patriotism, extreme filial behavior, and blind obedience. In it, a young boy, the son of the captain of a warship in the Battle of the Nile, maintains his post long after the ship has caught on fire and all others flee, eventually, resulting in his demise. He refuses to abandon ship with the others as his father, the captain, had instructed him to remain at the post until given further instructions. Unbeknownst to the boy, his father has perished in the ship below, and as a result of this, combined with the exemplary filial behavior displayed by the boy, the latter is burnt by the flames engulfing the boat, to the end, remaining at his post.

                This poem however, contains a small but incredulously important twist which manages to entirely change the theme of the poem. In Casabianca by Ayyappa Paniker, the boy turns out to be alive, having fled the ship when the fire came. By this minute change in the storyline, the author has managed to change the theme of the poem from that of blind obedience to that of rational thought and logical thinking.

                The poem begins with the father, apparently deeply anguished by his son’s passing, reciting the tragic tale of the fate that had befallen his son, to a team of reporters from the press.  It is important to note that the father seems to be displayed in multiple lights throughout the course of the poem. In the beginning, to a casual reader, it seems almost as if the father is exploiting the death of his son in order to gain publicity and fame. This concept is further reinforced by the following lines:

_____________

“The devil of a father… With tears of joy”,

“Empty tears in his eyes”,

“…Brought the brood of press reporters…to take a look at the ashes”,

“…You must publish these details in the paper”,     <spoken by the father>

“He did look more or less like me so… if you please, you can take a picture of mine”. The final line was the father’s response upon being asked if he had, in his possession, any pictures of his son.

_____________

This is, however, merely one image of the father. Another image of him, one portraying him as a kind and caring father, one deeply saddened by the imagined passing of his son, is reinforced in the following lines:

_____________

“Empty tears in his eyes”. In this context, the presence of the word ‘empty’ to describe the father’s tears, could be indicative of his remorse and simultaneously, his acceptance of his inability to do anything to change that which had already happened.

“These days you won’t find, in all the three worlds a son like mine”,

“Why should I turn this example into mere poetry”,

“For the third time did the father now shed his tears – this time, for the son alive”.

_____________

The sole aspect of the father that is not open to interpretation in either case is the fact that, in the very end of the poem, upon his son’s return, his joy is genuine.  The twist of the poem occurs in the 5^th stanza, when the boy comes running towards the father. Up until this point, the reader has been under the impression that the son had lost his life in the fire. Upon his return however, the son speaks on the concept of blind obedience and logical reasoning, and how the former should make way for the latter. This is the twist in the poem. Up until this point, the poem had been following the theme of the original Casabianca, the placing of filial love and blind obedience above all else being the prominent theme. The son speaks of rational thinking and indirectly, of the value of human life. He speaks of how, the tale (which is still being taught in schools), should be altered so as to place wisdom and logic ahead of blind obedience. This could be subliminally symbolic of the teaching of religion in schools, the doing so of which, is actively stunting the logical and reasoning capabilities of future generations. This parallel can be drawn from the following facts:

_____________

The son speaks of the “…old tale…still being taught in schools”. The ‘old tale’ in this interpretation at least, could be symbolic of religion.

The concepts of filial love and blind obedience are incredulously abundant in most religious texts. The story of Abraham, for example, blindly obeying God by being prepared to sacrifice his own son Isaac, is reflective of the concept of placing blind obedience ahead of rational thought. The lack of resistance put up by Isaac in the moments before he was to be sacrificed, is perfectly indicative of dangerously extreme filial love and the unquestionable status of the father in a household. This is not a singular example. The bible, as well as most other religious texts, are rife with such incidents. For example, God commands children to obey their parents, regardless of what the later instruct them to do (Ephesians 6:1-3). Under the law of the old testament, one of the main texts followed actively by the Jewish community, the breaking of the above law was seen as so grave an offense that God declared that the death penalty should be applied on disobedient and disrespectful children (Exodus 21:17). Such is the extent to which parental respect and filial love is present in religious scripts.

To sum it up, the son’s statement, “The old tale continues to be taught at school. We must change the tale…”, could be interpreted to be a small statement on the part of the author, encouraging rational thought, logical reasoning, and a scientific temper as such, in the youth, rather than filling their heads with folk tales that could be harmful to them in the long run

_____________

Throughout the course of the poem, the image of both the father as well as the son, becomes more and more tangible, and less open to interpretation. The father, for one, is depicted as kind and loving figure, one who feels deep remorse for the role he played in the supposed demise of his son. Whether or not he was exploiting the death of his son, is perpetually open to interpretation. What is not open to debate however, is the love that he, as a father, held for his son, as is masterly depicted in the final stanza of the poem.

The son, on the other hand, is something of a personification of the modern generation, one that places logic and self-value ahead of traditions, unnecessary respect, and outdated customs. He is unafraid to disobey his father, but does so only because he is absolutely sure that his father would rather that he disobeyed the latter and lived, than obeyed the latter and died.

“I saw the fire coming, I reached the shore. I thought I could explain it when Papa came”, is the line spoken by the son upon his return that reflects such sentiments.  The son is an embodiment of the unspoken logic that all deem correct, but few dare to implement.