Graduation Day - Maya Angelou

Graduation Day by Maya Angelou is an excerpt from her Auto biography. This excerpt narrates her 8^th Grade Graduation Ceremony. As a pattern following 3 main sections, flowing into Graduation from Pre-Graduation and concluding to a very satisfying end.

Considering the time constraint, I am going to link the summary here. Please do refer to the same before moving forward. http://entertainmentguide.local.com/summary-the-graduation-maya-angelou-3385.html

The distinction that is naturally created between the blacks and whites in this excerpt shows us that what has been written in history and the torment the slave south has endured is no joke. As this is just a reflection of the same in a post-traumatic era. Prevalent themes and motifs of lingering hope and racism exist. Racism is a very important theme as it is important to understand the difference in lifestyle and standards followed by the whites compared to the blacks.

Important extracts

1. 1.       Unlike the white high school, Lafayette County Training School distinguished itself by having neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis court, nor climbing ivy.
2. 2.       …bats and balls could be borrowed from the P.E. teacher if the borrower was qualified and if the diamond wasn’t occupied.
3. 3.       …our usual assembly pattern: The American National Anthem, the pledge of allegiance, then the song every black person I knew called the Negro National Anthem.
4. 4.       (Enter white people)The shorter one walked to the speaker’s platform, and the tall one moved to the centre seat and sat down. But that was our Principal’s seat and already occupied.
5. 5.       The Central School (naturally, the white school was central) had already been granted improvements that would be in use in the fall. A well-known artist was coming from Little Rock to teach art to them.
6. 6.       The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos, Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren’t even considered) would try to be Jesse Owens and Joe Louises.
7. 7.       Graduation, the hush-hush magic time of frills……had exposed us.
8. 8.       Donleavy was running for election … part of Arkansas
9. 9.       He finished, and since there was no need to give any… at the door
10. 10.   The ugliness they left was palpable… captain of my soul.
11. 11.   I thought about colours I hated : ecru, puce, lavender, beige and black

Line 1 and 2 show how well off the Central School was compared to the grammar school Maya Angelou was studying in. They weren’t even given proper facilities compared to the other school, considering they were in the same County.

Line 4 shows the arrogance of the shorter white person as he approached the seat of the Principal and his nonchalance dictated the importance they gave to the blacks.

Line 5 elucidates the fact that the white people in general are being provided with a lot compared to the blacks.

Line 6 employs racism to the job prospects the blacks have compared to the whites. Where whites excel in the academic areas and blacks in the athletic areas.

Para 7 After working so hard for the entire year and studying so much, it all seems to have gone to waste. Even after graduating as the topper of her class all this seemed very ambiguous as there is nothing for her to achieve as she knows that in the end she would be judged based on her colour and not her work. ‘We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we aspired to was a farcical and presumptuous.’

Line 9 narrates how Donleavy left without greeting but merely nodding to the people as he left with his unintroduced companion.

Para 10 Here, after the departure of the white gentlemen, recitations were in procession. Elouise, the daughter of the Baptist Minister recited the fabled poem, Invictus by William Ernest Henley. Beautiful poem (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/). The last line of the poem ‘I am the master of the fate, I am the captain of my soul’, contrasts the statement made by Angelou in Para 7. Thus, creating a sense of hopelessness that lingers throughout.

Line 11 is the skin colours of the black people. This is important as it shows us the blame she puts on her being black and cursing the very fact that her achievement did not depend on her hard work but her colour.

Towards the last two pages of the short story, as the Negro National Anthem(as mentioned in the text) is being sung, each and every word of the same, which Angelou had never put any effort in listening to before, made it all clear to her now. Liberation, hard work, sacrifices, and acceptance has now captured her senses. Accepting not that she is from the graduating class of 1940 but also that she is a part of the beautiful Negro Race.

The excerpt ends with the acceptance to the community that she embraces and also that she is a part of a family of poets, preachers, musicians and romanticists.

Passion in the Desert - Honore De Balzac

The story Passion in the Desert by Honore De Balzac is a short piece on a friendship shared between a man and a panther in the Egyptian desert. Its primary theme is that of the beauty and simultaneous callousness of nature, and also explores the emotions generated when love and distrust mingle.

The story begins with a man talking to a woman who has just seen a man (M. Martin) working with a hyena. While she is convinced that M. Martin must have used some vile means to domesticate the creature to such an extent, the man insists that animals too, can be swayed by the same vices as men. In justification, the man begins to recount his first encounter with M. Martin. The first time they met, they went out to lunch where M. Martin recounted the story of when he was lost in the desert.

During the Nile war, a French soldier had been captured by an Arab regiment and made their prisoner. When provided with a suitable opportunity, the man escaped, only to find himself hopelessly lost in the scorching desert. He camps out near a well, where he finds a small cave in which to rest and shelter him from the sun’s rays. At night however, he wakes up to find that a giant Black Panther is sleeping beside him. Too afraid to move, the man sits, paralyzed in fear, waiting for the morning. In the morning, the panther wakes up, yet strangely makes no move to attack him, its appetite already sated by its meal from the other night.

For a while (the duration of time is not explicitly mentioned in the story) the man and panther live at peace together. They provide each other with a source of companionship. Despite the panther now allowing him to pet her, the soldier still acts warily around the panther. She eventually responds to his call, and he becomes passionately fond of her.

Eventually however, the distrust reaches a climax when, in a moment of fear, the man stabs the panther, owing to the latter biting his leg. He is found by soldiers of his regiment weeping over the lifeless panther.

The beauty of nature is dwelled on extensively in the piece as can be noted through the extremely descriptive language used by the author when speaking on the desert. He compares it to “An endless sea of black grains” and in the very end of the story, “God without mankind.”

The intensely clashing emotions of inexplicable love and logical mistrust are used to draw out the complex emotions that humans can feel only when love and distrust mingle. While such a concept could be likened to many surrealistic and interpretive notions (life, death, relationships, morality, etc.) it is wiser not to introduce any such comparisons as the story seems to be written to exist in a very realistic scope. The author was well known for being one of the first to introduce realism to the European literature scene. In his stories, the human characteristics of his characters serve to convey much more to the reader than a metaphorical analysis of their actions would.

The story is titled aptly as the passion of the relationship between the man and the panther is described accurately and in depth through the thoughts of the man and the actions of the panther. The idea of human insecurity is dealt with extensively in the story as the man continually suspects the panther of wanting to eat him, despite having only experienced love and warmth from the creature. The endless fear of what could happen and what logically should happen, eventually overpower the flickering beacon of optimism in the relationship of the man and the beast. This could be a means of the author implying that we should be less cynical in life, that we should enjoy things as they are, simple and beautiful, and not be overly suspicious, insecure, and distrustful of others.

The Cactus - Hasan Manzar

The Cactus is a short story by Hasan Manzar set in Hyderabad, Pakistan. In it the author speaks on the after-effects of the youth’s departure to other countries to work and eventually live. Such migration often leaves the parents feeling incredibly lonely and alienated.

                The story comprises of a man (the narrator) and his wife visiting a house that is for sale as prospective buyers. At the house, the couple is greeted by an elderly man and his wife, the owners of the house. They show the buyers around but the latter decide that it is too large, both for their needs and their budget. The elderly couple then sit down for coffee with the narrator and his wife during which the house owners begin to talk about their children. They have 3 daughters and 2 sons, all of which are abroad, in Kuwait, Dubai or America.

                The story is not all that hard to interpret, the primary theme being, as mentioned earlier, the ramifications of migration. A sense of loneliness and emptiness pervades the piece, primarily manifested through the fact that the parents seem almost abandoned by their children and thrown aside. This sense is amplified by the seemingly commonplace nature of the story; many children, especially those from upper middle class families, leave the country for a better education and job. The fact that the rooms of the children remain neat and well maintained long after they have left generates pity for the parents in the contrast in the mindsets of the elderly and the young. While one has carelessly abandoned the other, one still cherishes the other.

                If you look closely at the piece, you may notice that no character’s name has been mentioned. This is not an unintentional doing, rather it is literary device frequently employed by writers. The fact that no names are mentioned increases the chances of the reader empathizing more with the characters. In addition to this, the withholding of names can also be indicative of just how widespread the problem of migration is; it is not limited to one or two families but many.

                At the end of the story, the author associates the story with a nest. This is owing to the fact that when birds grow old enough to fly, they tend to leave the nest and their parents and set out on their own life.

                Finally the image of the cactus seen by the buyers when they first enter the house bears a lot of significance. The cactus had grown so tall that it encountered the wooden shelf above. But rather than pruning the cactus, the family cut a hole in the overhanging shelf, allowing the cactus to grow freely. The cactus can be seen as a manifestation of the undying love that the parents hold for their children; they refuse to cut it even when it becomes a burden to do so. The properties of a cactus also come into play here, allowing us to link the title to even more. While cactuses are visually appealing with their bright green colours, they are enveloped in sharp vicious thorns that sting, embedding themselves in the flesh of the victim if touched. This could be compared to the love held by the parents for their children; painful to hold on to, yet too beautiful to let go of.

Communalism and Politics in India - Ashis Nandy

The essay starts off with the reallocation and correlation of communalism to the right examples of the related violence and affirmation that the problem is not impossible to solve.

Example 1: No. of people killed in Communal violence < No. of people killed in street crimes of the last 50 years in Detroit alone (Detroit being one of the most crime affected cities in the world).

Example 2: 2 million people killed in Partition Violence (Communal) < 5 million people killed during separatist movements in the country (non-communal)

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With an example of a family which tried to save their friend from communal violence gets to know that the son in the family was one of the soldiers working towards the main perpetration of the plan. The setting of this story is the communal riot(s) of 1992 caused because of demolition of the Babri masjid.

The main point of the essay comes out during this reading. Internal contradiction occurs which leads to a number of different facets telling us that communalism is a complex phenomenon and not so easy to deal with.

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Up until now we understand that Communalism can be extinguished but because of its complexity, each and every element has to be smartly distinguished and analysed to come up with a proper plan to exterminate communalism.

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Propositions of Communalism:-

1.       Communalism is from its roots is an urban phenomenon. Compared to the villagers there are more communal riots in cities and village city borders than in actual villages. This is something the city dwellers should learn from their “rustic, illiterate” counterparts of development.

2.       Secular issues are usually the issues due to which communal riots are caused. Due to this the non-secularism also seeps in (indirectly) giving rise to Religious issues giving rise to communal religious riots.

3.       Political parties, secretly also encourage communalism as it helps in the promotion of the individual parties and helps gain more individualised power to themselves.

4.       Some communal riots are fuelled by the fanaticism of political parties. As followers of a party get into an argument into followers of other party leading to discrimination and loose parallels.

5.       The Indian social system is traditionally community based and not individualised. So people are discriminated according to the community they are from and not their individuality.

6.       Self-hatred among Hindus is dominant and many of us might have seen such examples. Inclination to Islam or Christianity is commonly seen amongst many Hindus.

7.       Communalism fuels material based politics as the society doesn’t clearly understand (vs.) ideology based politics anymore. One must try and understand the ideas and the ideology which is trying to be established by the political party rather than just checking the growth in GDP that could be caused by them coming into power.

8.       The NRIs fuel this material based politics. This is the same situation as the Tamilians in India funding LTTE and American Jews donating Israelis if looked at properly.

9.       Communal politics seems like a way of secularizing politics.

10.   This gives rise to a new kind of political culture of flesh and not of the mind.

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Important Issues:-

·         Change in the hierarchy of castes in terms of wealth caused due to communal riots includes elevation of castes such as Kurmis, Jats, and Reddys.

·         Laws and legal matter are the only ones that can suppress communal riots.

·         Secularisation creates its own insecurities due to internal conflicts.

·         Secularisation gives rise to increased individualisation giving rise to gradual increase in absence of faith in individual communities.

·         Coalition politics or Allied politics is on the rise to secularise the country, but will it turn out to be conservationism? That is the end question.

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Transports of Delight - Manjula Padmanabhan

                  Transports of Delight by Manjula Padmanabhan is a satirical essay which discusses the Rickshaw culture in India. She narrates funny incidences which involve her travelling from place to place in an auto rickshaw. She also describes the different types of auto rickshaws. Almost all of these are over exaggerated in their descriptions and seem very unrealistic and obviously are.

          Instead of ‘Auto rickshaw’, ‘TSR (Three Wheeled Scooter Rickshaw)’ has been used in the whole essay. This essay has a lot of dry humour which might make the reader bored after a bit of reading. She differentiates TSRs in different areas and different cities and also talks about the decorations on them. These decorations usually have symbolic meaning pertaining to religion or fictional characters or simply exist for cosmetic reasons.

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The following extracts would help you the grasp the main idea and help you get a clear understanding over this essay:-

(It would be helpful if you have the text side by side as you read these points)

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“In the jungle of urban traffic, it is the bumble bee.”

The Bumble Bee here refers to the TSR because of the similar black and yellow colour scheme. In the chaos that is the urban traffic the TSR moves with nonchalance like a bumblebee which would move past all obstacles to reach the destination.

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“Indian city streets is an example of the Survival of the Unfittest.”

Indian streets as we all know are not exactly commanded by the best drivers. On an average 14 traffic accidents happen in India per hour. Here, ‘Survival of the Unfittest’ crudely refers to the way Indian people drive. ‘Unfittest’ here, also refers to rickshaws considering they are the only ones who do not seem to get in many accidents compared to the other vehicles. And ironically they might as well be the least protected vehicles on the road.

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“A gas trap for poisonous fumes, unstable and flimsy…..as hammer blows to the passenger’s fragile sinews.”

This is a description of the TSR. It tells how dangerous TSRs are and how rashly the drivers drive the vehicle.

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“His chariot took a corner at Grand Prix Speeds.”

It’s called a chariot because of the regressive design and technology that goes into making a TSR. With all that it still manages to take sharp turns at high speeds.

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“In part, the secret of their success…….yet are fastidious enough to disdain the sweaty intimacies offered by a bus…….what they lack in volume.”

This excerpt says that, A TSR is an intermediate between a bus and a taxi. Money wise it is not as expensive as a taxi and not as cheap and crowded as a bus considering public transport.

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“Though we have reports from Outlook Magazine that women auto rickshaw drivers are flourishing in Kerala here in the wilds of the north it is hard to imagine such a development.”

Here we can see the clear distinction in culture and how the society in different places thinks about each gender and their line of work. In the south where gender discrimination is decreasing and the job diversity of women is slowly increasing, North India doesn’t seem to be progressing much in this sense.

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“Perhaps the reason they are generally very young is that…..warily, as if tensed for attack.”

This excerpt, in its satirical sense the writer tells us that many TSR drivers start their jobs at a young age which would be like 19 or 20 and don’t live long enough because of the danger to lives in their job.

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“The likelihood of finding a driver willing to travel….and desperation of one’s need.”

TSR drivers are very stubborn considering their cause many a times. Instead if the passenger being the boss, they act as the boss. This helps them extract more money out of the passengers and they are willing to pay more to get to their destination due to their yearning for shade and rest.

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“In Madras, TSR drivers consider it their privilege…..I’m a rascal I know it.”

Here the drivers have been shown in a bad light as it is told here that they always try and extort more money out of the passengers, relative to the meter. For this extra profit they charge unreasonable prices and then gradually come down to a not really reasonable but ok price point.

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“Some drivers swaddle the front and rear wheel guards with webs of metal tubes……of the latest film hits on request.”

The TSR drivers love decorating their rickshaws in the most unique way possible. But this differs from place to place as not all TSR drivers have enough money for decorations. Thus, the economic diversity can be seen from state to state delving into the cosmetic differences between these TSRs.

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“Delhi rickshaw owners seem to prefer verbal messages....…….’Love for Sale – 100% Discount.’”

The influence and the culture can be seen if one notices the different messages written on auto rickshaws around town. The traditionally influenced drivers with the Gazals quoted on the side skirts or the cheesy messages quoted on the influenced on the younger rickshaw walas all in relative from place to place.

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“There are standard ornaments in the form of 3D reliefs…….Mahavirs or Zoroasters, however!”

The different religious following can be seen through the hangings and the ornaments. The usual religious symbols of the Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims are seen. But for the others like Mahavir and Buddha are not seen. This tells us that the population following these religions are in a very tight minority which cannot be seen publicly like this.

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 “Tweeters have peevishly squawking electric horns…….voiced adolescent boys.”

This line and the paragraph it lies in talks about the differences and that all of them cannot be related to each other considering the amount of decorations and the different canopies being black or yellow or any other colour. Many of them also have cheap audio systems and overtly decorated insides.

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“With so much invention and creativity on view………..adventurous auto designer”

This is the ending to the description and the viewpoint embraced by the author of the TSR. This also prompts the start to the description of autos encountered by the author which were adventurous in design.

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Different types of auto rickshaws:-

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Bikaneri Phut Phut:-

These are the usual Rajasthani kind of autos that have been described here and which have been over exaggerated in terms of description.

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Autorustic

The over exaggerated satirical outlook on the village autos which aren’t taken care of properly have been described by this auto.

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God’s Rocket

The well-kept auto with a really good engine and usually looks good and is seen as a new auto is the auto discussed over here. There are a lot of ornaments pertaining to the faith of the driver in this auto.

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Baroque-on-wheels

This auto is literally art on wheels. These autos in reality are literally decorated a lot. But the description given in the textbook is far too exaggerated (again).

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Hell’s trishaw

Only a fool would believe that these autos would ply even if there was an artist who would work on this auto, autos like these would be banned and wouldn’t be allowed to ply.

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Auto-Ethnotic

Some autos used for competitions which make you drive an auto with your team across India have such exotic designs. These do not ply on a usual basis as they are only available during such circumstances of stake.

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Strato-Darter

This auto is definitely a fake but might portray those autos which travel to the destinations really fast.

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Road Rani

Similar to the Strato-Darter this example portray the autos which command the business and are customer satisfactory.

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The Pianist (2002 movie)

The Pianist is a historically based film highlighting the plight of the polish Jews during the Second World War. The director of the film, Roman Polanski, is himself a holocaust survivor, who had witnessed the execution of several women at a young age; being a Polish-French director, he had personal ties to the topic of the film.

The film begins with the beginning of the war, the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. The suffering of the people in the Warsaw Ghetto is also highlighted extensively throughout the film. The concept of State sponsored genocide, and the mass murder of Jews, is shown for the ridiculous xenophobic ideal that it is in the movie.

The protagonist of the film, Wladylaw Szpilman, was a Polish musician of Jewish decent; the film is based on his memoirs. The gradual mental deterioration of his character is shown extensively in the film. Owing to the general style in which the film is made, Wladylaw Szpilman is the only sustained character, and the only one who’s developed throughout the course of the movie.

Hosenfeld, a sympathetic Nazi who spares Szpilman’s life and gives him clothing and food, is a perfect example of how not all Nazis are anti-Semitic. Also, by showing the Jewish ghetto police beating other Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, along with a scene of a Jewish man stealing from an old lady in the ghetto, the film further attempts to undo polarization; showing not all Nazis were evil, and not all Jews were victims. 

The degradation and dehumanization of the Jews is an important theme of the movie. They are stripped of all humanity and are treated as contaminated objects by their German superiors.

Strangely, the film is less about the holocaust as it is about the protagonist’s never ending fight for survival. The power of music is highlighted in the film by a scene in which beautiful music, played by the protagonist, changes the mind of a Nazi officer who proceeds to spare his life.

The color and lighting of the film play an important role in symbolizing the gradual erosion of the protagonist’s hope, as all begins to look bleak. The film begins in a bright summer, and concludes in a bleak cold winter.

The aspects of luck and chance are incredulously present throughout the film. Despite being from a relatively wealthy family, Szpilman has no say over the events  that unfold, as he too, ends up in the ghetto.

The protagonist of the film is portrayed as being detached, and indifferent to some extent. Rather than standing up strong, he accepts German injustice in order to survive. When his friends organize the famous Warsaw uprising, he does nothing more than watch, resulting in the aforementioned event being shown from a third person perspective in the film.

The subplot of Szpilman’s love for music underplays the magnitude of the situation. The climax occurs when the Nazi officer finds the protagonist. There is a resurgence of hope in the viewer once the music is played.

Finally, the futility of the Jewish plight is expertly portrayed in the film by the dining room discussion in the beginning of the movie. The family discusses the newly passed law, ordering Jews to wear armbands, allowing them to be identified as such, when in public. The family, the older brother in particular, vehemently disagrees with the proposition, and, as a result of this, the family secedes and agrees to not wear the armbands. From this, the scene abruptly cuts to a shot of one of the family members walking down a road with the armband on. Such a contrast symbolizes the futility, and lack of ability to change anything, that the Jews were forced to endure.

Tow Path - Imtiaz Dharker

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1.

Every step we take

Could have been a step

In another direction.

This time we choose

To go to the canal.

By the time we reach it

The day decides to stop

Following us around.

·         First Line. Here, we refers to women in general. Women of the Indian tradition and culture to be specific.

·         Second, Third Lines. These lines clearly suggest the lack of independence given to women considering the path they are allowed to follow. Even these paths they are allowed to choose from are laid down by the society.

·         Fourth, Fifth Lines. The women finally have to make a choice similar to the other choices given unto them by the society. Generalizing the kind of choices that are given to them, it becomes very clear that most of these are based on serving the men of the world and carrying out the traditional household duties. In this line the woman chooses the path to the canal to fetch water for the household.

·         Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Lines. It takes long for the women to bring back water from the canal. By the time they arrive its sundown already. And usually in villages women leave their homes in the morning and they have to travel by foot to reach the canal which is the closest source of drinkable water. By the time they reach there its afternoon and by the time they come back, its sunset. Much of the water either evaporates or spills as they carry it back to their homes.

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2.

While we are picking

Our way down, watching our feet

The parks pack up, the city

Moves a few miles away.

Children’s voices are balloons

Released to open sky.

Behind us footsteps fade,

Streets turn into water.

·         First, Second Lines. As the women are going back to their villages through the cities which they have to pass as they go back home, the look down in shame to the ground as they are looked down upon by the society. There is a fear which has evolved within the females as they have been brought up in a certain congested way giving rise to narrow-mindedness, discouragement to move forward in life.

·         Third- Eighth Lines. In these lines one can see as how everything is moving away from women. As they continue travelling on their pre-laden path, they experience a gradual increase in loneliness. Here, the city moves away from them as they don’t serve any purpose there. Children abandon them as they get married and move on with their lives. Footsteps here symbolise the history of the women which isn’t preserved in any form. Like footsteps on the beach their impressions in the sand are ignored and these impressions fade away.  The line ‘Streets turn to water’ suggests that all the roads they have travelled throughout their lives are as plain as water. They cannot be distinguished anymore like the Atlantic which sunk to the sea and no one can tell if such a feat was really accomplished or was it just a story.

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3.

Leaf by leaf, the day grows smaller.

Whoever we are now,

This has been bequeathed to us.

Every other claimant has stepped aside.

Our steps the only steps.

The last finger of light points out

Landmarks we do not recognise.

·         First Line. This line tells us that it is autumn and winter is close suggesting death and how is moving near to them.

·         Second, Third Lines. The will of women is not given to women by themselves. It’s a will of society forged by men under selfish circumstances. This will has become so common that women also feel that they should follow the tradition which has been bequeathed to them by the society without and prejudice or reasoning of any kind.

·         Fourth, Fifth Lines. Here claimant refers to man who accepts women for an arranged marriage. Widows here haven’t been accepted by any man for marriages. Unmarried women in India and women who cannot bear children are deemed as cursed women by the society. The line ‘Our steps the only steps’, tells us that these widows move along this beach of life alone without anyone beside them. When death strikes their existence seems much useless as they have no material existence nor are they remembered by anyone rendering their lives almost non-existent.

·         Sixth, Seventh Lines. In the end when women get hope and direction it is hard for them to understand how exactly they get on with their lives after living in such a monotonous and suppressive society. Here, ‘Finger of light’ symbolises direction which gives the women hope and ‘landmarks’ here show the destination of arrival where women might find a new life to start. But what is the use when one does not know how to use the boat when he/she has to travel by the river even if they have the boat of the best kind.

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4.

Still, between the cobbled banks,

Cradled by bare branches.

We know we will be safe.

Now, even the unknown path

Will tow us home.

·         In this stanza, ‘home’ refers to the old life that they followed. This stanza tells us that, whatever path these women take, in the end, they would always end up going home. Change is something that is very uncommon and they do not expect it to happen anytime soon suggesting that they have lost hope in hope itself.

·         The word ‘Tow’ over here has been used very intelligently. This can be taken in a very aggressive sense as ‘tow’ is a strong word. The poetess is trying to tell us that whatever happens in the lives of these women, in the end they are dragged back to their normal lives of service and solidarity.

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Core themes:-

.Freedom

.Gender politics

.Communal Conflict

.Violence, Oppression

.Injustice

.Feminism

.Journeys

The Election - Sitakant Mahapatra

The Election by Sidakant Mahapatra (a notable Indian poet and literary critic in Oriya as well as English) narrates a recurring episode which takes place at the time of every election. In short this episode is about the rally men of a certain politician who come to villages bearing gifts in exchange for votes. The morality and the ethical aspect of this movement fuelled by poverty and hunger are discussed in this poem.

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1.

Our jeep crawls to your village

Seeking strange melodies

From the roaring sun:

‘The common will’

From the criss-cross geometry

Of private agonies.

·         The first line here describes the arrival of the rally men or the promoters working under the politician.

·         Second, Third, Fourth Lines. Here the strange melodies are the chants roared by the supporters in the blasting heat of the sun. This suggests that it might be summer or it might be a drought hit village as at one point in time the government identified 10,000 drought hit villages in Orissa. Here, ‘the common will’ is nothing but necessities for the villages like food and water and other things.

·         Fifth, Sixth Lines. The fifth line suggests the plan (town-plan) of the village as a criss-cross geometry. The sixth line tells us about the lives of the people in the village. As the line suggests these lives of theirs are in agony and in the form of criss-cross geometries which also suggests that they are very confused and do not know what to do with their lives.

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2.

Our dark longings don’t ouch you,

Nor our trappings

Of posters, symbols, speeches, handbills,

For your grief outlives empires.

·         First Line. Here, ‘our’ refers to the rally men.  Dark longings here describe the time period for which the rallies do not take place. They are dark considering the situation of hunger and poverty the farmers in the villages live in. ‘Don’t ouch you’, quite simply means that they don’t hurt you. It doesn’t hurt them as whenever the rally men come bearing gifts in volumes and volumes that they last villages for months together.

·         Second, Third Lines. Trappings of advertisements here do not affect the villagers as that is the least they care about considering their state of rust in the village.

·         Fourth line. This line, strongly puts forward the condition of the villagers. As this line is narrated by the rally men, the poet is also trying to tell us that all the politicians know the state of villages in India right now and how they are exploited.

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3.

The cold grandchildren awaken in your heart

As you discern muted allegories

On our ashen faces.

·         First, Second, Third Lines. The dead grandchildren who died out of hunger are remembered by the villagers, as they understand the hidden purposes of these men from their faces.

·         This extract suggests the understanding of the villagers in what the rally men are really doing. Waiting for the rally men to come with food have costed the lives of grandchildren to these villagers. The ashen faces suggests the dark faces of the rally men which look like faces covered in ashes, suggesting that they brought death to all the innocent people there.

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4.

Here the great persuaders are little things and not so hidden:

Cheap plastic, cheaper nylon,

Dark glasses to blot out the Sun.

·         First, Second Lines. The poet tries to tell us that humans in general find happiness in small things. Here, the villagers are entranced at the sight of plastic and nylon utensils.

·         Third line. These glasses might have been worn by the rally men. Relating this line to the second point in the first stanza, these rally men are shown as being protected by ‘the common will’ suggesting that they are being paid handsomely for this task.

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5.

With one foot in hunger

And the other in the soul,

You make your decision:

The anguish of choice.

·         First, Second, Third Line. The villager here has too choices, to do what is needed or to do what is right. These decisions are contrasting considering the livelihood of the family opposing the right vote to be given to the right person which might lead to the death of the particular family.

·         Fourth line. The anguish of choice being doing what is needed instead of doing what is right so as to support the family. This anguish is brought upon as it is fairly understood that one must do what is right instead of what is needed as it is only human to do so.

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Toba Tek Singh - Sadat Hasan Manto

“Toba Tek Singh” was written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, by Sadat Hasan Manto, a Kashmiri who left his home in the month January 1948 and moved to Karachi, Pakistan’s capital. The story recounts the effects of partition on a very particular portion of the population.

The protagonist of the story is a Sikh inmate named Bishan Singh who, fifteen years earlier, had gone mad and was committed by his family. Everyone in the asylum calls him Toba Tek Singh, the name of his village. Almost bald, his legs swollen because he seemed to be standing all the time, he also has the habit of speaking this nonsensical phrase, “Upri gur gur di annexe di be-dhiyana o di mung di daal of di lalteen.”

Family members, who used to visit him, now no longer come. He repeatedly asks his fellow inmates whether Toba Tek Singh, his old town, is in India or Pakistan, but nobody seems to know. One day Fazaludin, an old Muslim friend from his village, visits Bishan Singh, who doesn’t recognize the man. Fazaudin brings word that Singh’s family has safely gone to India. Fazaludin speaks of the water buffalos left behind and the calves they have produced. Singh asks him, “Where is Toba Tek Singh?” To which his old friend replies, “In India … no, in Pakistan.”

The transfer of inmates takes place on a cold winter evening. Hindu and Sikh lunatics are placed on buses and taken to the border. When Bishan Singh steps from the bus and is asked to register, he asks the official, “Where is Toba Tek Singh? In India or Pakistan?” The official tells him it is in Pakistan, the place Singh is leaving. “Bishan Singh tried to run, but was overpowered by the Pakistani guards who tried to push him across the dividing line towards India. However, he wouldn’t move.”

The story concludes as follows:

                “After fifteen years on his feet, he was lying face down on the ground. India was on one side behind a barbed wire fence. Pakistan was another side behind another barbed fence. Toba tek Singh lay in the middle, on a piece of land that had no name.”

In the story there were five lunatic types which stood out:

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1.

“There was one Muslim lunatic who had read the fire eating Newspaper…”

When asked where Pakistan was, he said “It’s a place in India where they make cut throat razors.” This is a pretty stereotypical Pakistani description considering it’s taken as a place which makes blades. Here ‘cut throat’ is used carefully suggesting murder, and shedding light on death. This can be interpreted as the way the people already saw Pakistan as a place where they would make equipment of murder.

2.

                “One lunatic got so involved in this India/Pakistan question …..Told him to come down, he climbed higher.”

               

                This lunatic here symbolizes the wish the people had during this partition. Many people didn’t want the partition to happen and during the partition the society was so tensed that they would feel not like being part of any country and just sit on a tree for the rest of the life.

3.

                “One man held an MS Degree and had been a radio engineer. He kept apart from…. All over the grounds”

               

                This lunatic is a symbol mirroring all the educated people who are brilliant and have received really good education and are still insane. Their acts are disapproved at time but they are left to their own demise as they are considered educated and the know all.

4.

                “In the European Ward there were two Anglo Indian lunatics… Indian chapattis instead of bread? “

               

                This paragraph recites to us the condition of the English lunatics in the ward. They were worried to hear that the English had granted independence and left the country, now they would have to eat bloody Indian chapattis. This tells us that the English people in India hated the country and the food here. Just like the probable disappearance of the European ward, it was thought that India would now have no ties with the Britain anymore after all this. Contrasting that India is still part of the common wealth.

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The theme of lunatics in this story is a predominant one. How everyone else but the lunatics are insane is pointed out here. During this partition process almost no one seems to have an idea of where India is and where Pakistan is. The lunatics being lunatic know that this shouldn’t have happened and opposed this even if they had selfish reasons of not moving to some other place. The story portrays lunatics as psychological elements in human minds. Even after the lunatic transfer it has been shown that nothing has changed and everything is still the same. Humans who are supposed to be sane are acting up against each other like lunatics. The lunatics seemed to have a better idea of what is going on and if we were to follow the lunatics instead of the ‘sane’ humans the product would have been different of course, even slightly better.

The last line of the story brings out the essence of the partition within.

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References:
http://www.choices.edu/resources/documents/Partition_literature.pdf