The Boarded Window - Ambrose Bierce

The Boarded Window is a short horror story written by Ambrose Bierce and is set in the early 1800’s. Rather than typing a full summary, I’ll provide a link to a page with an accurate and simple one:

http://murdertodissect.blogspot.in/2013/11/the-boarded-window-paragraph-by.html

The above page summarises the story paragraph by paragraph and explains practically everything required for direct questions. Strangely however, the page doesn’t make a single reference to magic realism.

Magic realism is, in simplest terms, any form of art that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, share in common an acceptance of magic in the rational world. An accurate example of a magic realism painting is included below.

http://amazingezone.com/img/2012/August/Setowski/Magic-Realism-Tomek-Setowski-Poland-05.jpg

The story, ‘The Boarded Window’, makes extensive use of the magic realism in its closing paragraphs – in which the man’s wife’s corpse is attacked by the panther. The all too elements of human fear and panic are expertly conveyed through the flashes of lightning-illuminated vision that the man gets. This comprehendible fear is contrasted in the final lines by the discovery of a piece of the animal’s ear between the wife's teeth. This contrast may give rise to magic realism. This is most certainly not the only way that magic realism can be found in the piece; it is however, the most easily noticeable.

The story is an open-ended one in the fact that the mystery of his wife is never resolved (Was she dead before? Is she a zombie? Was she possessed? Is she dead now?). This uncertainty, the intentional failure of the author to clear up such questions, is a crucial component of an open ended story. 

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 Deer at Providencia - Annie Dillard

The Deer at Providencia is a short story by Annie Dillard which deals primarily with our response to suffering.

The story goes as follows. The author along with 3 of her friends from North America, are on vacation in the Amazon jungle, eating lunch with a tribe. While they are eating, the narrator notices a wounded deer tied to a pole. Upon asking the villagers about it, she discovers that it was caught in the morning and will probably be prepared for the evening meal. After the meal, she overhears some of the other tourists talking about her and her apparent lack of sympathy for the wounded creature. They are certain that if any of their wives were in her stead, they would have cried or at least attempted to help the deer. From this point, the story takes an abrupt turn.

The author immediately, with a switchover of barely a line or two, begins to talk about a man she had read about in the newspaper who had been burned severely for the second time. She describes the torment and agony that such victims must go through day after day and the high suicide rates of burn survivors. The story concludes with her giving a pitying glance and a kind word to the deer, followed by the line, “I knew at the time it was a ridiculous thing to say.”

The primary theme throughout the piece is that of the mystery of suffering, of pain and sorrow, and of its universality. People from all walks of life must endure it, money has no weight in its hands.

The vivid contrast between a bunch of well off people pitying an injured deer and a hideously burned man in pain and with no reason to live on, provides rooting for the aforementioned concept of sorrow’s universality. The tone in which the first half is written is quite descriptive and realistic, on a relatively upbeat note. The second part of the story is written with vivid details of the man suffering, and by doing so, renders the seemingly insignificant suffering of the deer obsolete.

The only thing in common between these two almost entirely clashing themes is the concept of suffering and our inability to do anything about it. The narrator couldn’t help the deer with her kind words at the end, and neither could she help the burn victim with a consoling letter. The implied conclusion is to accept that suffering is present in the world, but also accept the fact that the vast majority of the time, there is little to nothing that we can do about it.

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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Riders to the Sea - John Millington Synge

‘Riders to the Sea’ is a one act tragedy, first performed in Dublin (Ireland) in 1904. The play is written by the Irish playwright John Millington Synge. The play focuses primarily on the plight of the poor rural folks in Ireland. Before I continue, I wish to state that this is far from an all-encompassing analysis of the play, but focuses more on the relatively prevalent themes throughout the piece. If you have not read the play yet, or do not have a copy, check out the following link:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/994/994-h/994-h.htm

In the play, there are very few characters playing an important role; Maurya (The mother of the household), Michael (Her missing son), Cathleen and Nora (two of her daughters), and Bartley (Her only remaining son). The play opens with Maurya grieving over the loss of her son Michael, presumed dead at sea. Upon Maurya falling asleep, a young priest arrives at the cottage and gives Nora a parcel of clothes, recovered from a young man, washed up on the northern shore of the island for identification purposes (to see if they belong to Michael, thus confirming his death). Not wanting to further upset the already grieving mother, the daughters keep the parcel hidden, deciding to inspect the contents when the mother is not around. The remaining son Bartley is intent on going to the fair on the neighboring island to sell a horse, despite the pleading of his mother. Eventually, despite her beseeching, Bartley leaves, without taking her blessing.

Almost instantly feeling remorseful for not giving her son her blessing, Maurya, following the suggestion of her daughters, is persuaded to intercept him before he leaves to give her blessing, and a lunch prepared by the sisters. Upon Maurya’s departure, the girls open the parcel and confirm that the clothes are indeed Michael’s. Their only comfort lies in the knowledge that, owing to his being washed up in the north; he will be given a respectable Christian burial.

At this point the mother returns frightened, a result of a terrifying vision she had of Bartley’s soon coming death. The vision was of Michael (The deceased older son), riding a horse behind Bartley. This, combined with the fact that she had been unable to give Bartley her blessing, results in her certainty about Bartley’s death. Upon being told that Michael’s body has been found in the North, her only response is that at least the boards that the family had bought for Michael’s funeral could be employed for Bartley’s burial. At this point, men walk in the door of the hut, carrying the body of Bartley who had been knocked off the cliff onto the beach below by the horse he was riding. The play closes with the following chilling words of Maurya:

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“Michael has a clean burial in the far north, by the grace of the Almighty God. Bartley will have a fine coffin out of the white boards, and a deep grave surely. What more can we want than that? No man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied.”

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The usage of the word “must”, in the final line is indicative of not only her, but all humans’ helplessness in the face of calamities and accidents brought on by Mother Nature. Further reading into this line of thought gives rise to the Stoic philosophy present throughout the course of the play, a theme that will be dealt with later on in the analysis.

First and foremost, before attempting to analyze the script, we must take a closer look at the history of the Irish, a recurring presence throughout the piece.

From prehistoric times up until the 11^th century, Ireland consisted of a patchwork of numerous territories, each controlled by Kings or Chieftains. Occasionally, rare as it was, a powerful ruler was acknowledged as High King of Ireland. Thus, owing to the incredulously long time in which Ireland had little to no exposure to the outside world, Ireland developed an unbelievably rich history and culture. However in the early 1100’s, French warlords (Refered to here on as Normans), invaded England, overthrowing the local British warlords (Saxons), and establishing their own command. Under the Normans, large chunks of Ireland were distributed to warlords and governors. The king of England claimed sovereignty over this entire island, labeling the island as, “The Lordship of Ireland”. (Lordship, in this context, refers to a form of colony). Under the rule of Henry the Eighth in 1541 however, Ireland was changed from a Lordship to a full Kingdom, an extension of the British kingdom. However, due to the British’s attitude of haughty sovereignty and the way that they never treated the Irish as fellow beings resulted in loathing from the Irish and disdain, towards the Celts, from the British. 

As this play sympathizes extensively with the plight of the Irish, rather than merely mock them (as was the case with most British made plays at that time), it made a mark, gaining popularity with the lower class as well as the upper class Irish. Another important aspect of the play is the way that it portrays that, even in the face of overwhelming odds and seemingly unavoidable defeat, the Irish family in the script, manages to carry on with a sense of dignity; refuting the idea of Irish being sub-human and savage (as was the colonial view held by most British at that point of time).

Another important theme of the play is the ruthlessness of the sea in the dispatching of Maurya’s family members, primarily her husband and sons. As we can see by reading the play, the roles of Genders are rigid in the family depicted. Women tend to cooking and household chores, whereas men tend to fishing, trading and farming. The death of her last remaining son Bartley, ends the play on an incredulously depressing note, not just because of the bond of family and the grief of the survivors, but because there is little to no hope for the remaining family members: owing to the clear-cut gender roles in society, a family consisting fully of women would find it exceptionally hard to make a living.

The aspect of the language difference is an important one throughout the play. In stark contrast to the other contemporary plays, ‘Riders to the Sea’, is written (and intended to be enacted in) the Gaelic English style. Gaelic (or Irish), the traditional language of Ireland is entirely different from English and is spoken even today in much of Non-UK Ireland. (Clip of an Irish TV reporter):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR5YS7k9eL8

Thus, many of the so called ‘Irish Slangs’, are no more than colloquial Irish phrases having lost a substantial amount of their essence in translation. As can be seen by even a quick glance at the play, the difference in the English used is prominent. By styling the characters’ language after the traditional Gaelic tongue, the writer seeks to comment on the richness and beauty of, not only the Irish tongue, but also the people; a beauty callously ignored by the British for much of their rule.

The aspect of the supernatural in the play could be interpreted in a number of ways. One argument is that it is merely a ploy through which the author comments on the complex blend of pagan, catholic, and protestant cultures and religions in colonized Ireland. The British attempted, without much success, to convert Ireland to Protestantism, while under the rule of Henry the Eighth who converted the Country’s official faith to such. Later on attempts were made to catholicize the island, leading to the formation of the Angelican (Irish Catholic) church. The blend, of Christianity with the pagan religions and accompanying superstitions of the Irish, is visible throughout the play: emphasized by the contrast between the family’s relief for their son’s (Michael’s) Christian burial, and the visions of a pagan nature seen, and quickly believed, by the mother.

Another means of interpreting the supernatural element is by interpreting them as naturalistic concurrences. Men fishing on the open sea in small boats lead dangerous lives, and many often died. In the case of Maurya, and the sheer number of loved one’s that she has seen die in her lifetime, the inescapable helplessness and unavoidability, could be the cause for religion and superstition in her life, giving reason and logic to the incomprehensible forces of nature.

Further interpretations of the supernatural aspect in the play are given on the following sites:

http://wenku.baidu.com/view/aa44002bbd64783e09122bed.html

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/relationship-natural-supernatural-eliments-j-m-291892

Finally, as mentioned in the beginning, Maurya’s acceptance of fate, without unnecessary mourning, is indicative of a Stoic philosophy. In brief, a Stoic philosophy is an acceptance of fate made possible by the logic that, “What must happen will happen”. The unimaginable suffering Maurya’s endured throughout her life, has not numbed her to the pain of losing a loved one, as one might think by shallowly reading the text. Rather, the pain is still there, its cry stronger than before; but muffled by the pervasive blanket of helplessness and inability to change the past, a wall through which no tears can seep.

               

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 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

Songs of the Ganga - Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Songs of the Ganga by Arvind Mehrotra personifies the Ganga into different things and also uses it as a symbol for life. The Ganga rises in the Western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal.(…)This river is precious as a religious entity and also acts as a lifeline for millions of people who use the water from Ganga. Considering this, the river Ganga is a very good symbol for life and the poem bring it out beautifully with vivid descriptions.

1.

I am Ganga Snow from the mountains. The keeper of water. 

I am the plains I am the foothills I carry wishes of my streams, to the sea.

I am both man and woman.

I am paper boats for children. I am habits for fishermen. I am a cloud for shaven monks. I reflect all movements.

I am the bridge. I am the fort and the archer taking aim. I am the great dissolver of men 

I give life and I take it back. 

·         The first line of the stanza is Ganga describing itself and its point of origin, i.e. the Ganga is formed from the snow of the Himalaya. By the keeper of water it says that it isn’t water but an entity which carries water, like the goddess Ganga.(…)

·         The second line suggests the path that the river treads, it travels the plains as well as the foothills after descending from a mountain. The wishes here mean the baths that people take to wash away their sins are taken from the streams to the Bay of Bengal. Desires of my streams can also mean the natural force of gravity which carves way for the river.

·         The third line says that it is middle way, neither man nor woman. This suggests that the Ganga doesn’t differentiate between man and woman. And there is also a Hindu concept having to do with seeing through or resolving opposites.

·         The fourth line basically says that it contains everything that a human may need. May it be fun, fish, inspiration etc. (respectively).

·         The fifth line. I am the bridge is a symbolic element here suggesting the bridge between life and death, from material existence to spiritual existence, as the ashes of most dead Hindus are given back to the Ganga as it is said to be the source of life. The Ganga has enough power to guard an area (fort) with its tides and still enough power to destroy it too (archer). It dissolves the ashes of the dead (Great dissolver).

·         The sixth line. As Ganga is the bridge connecting material existence and spiritual existence it says that it gives life and takes it back. Putting it in a rational context this could mean that the water from the Ganga helps millions of people to survive, and when the Ganga gets flooded it could take all the life back.

2. 

I go out into the world, I am the world, I am nations, cities, people I am the pages of an unbound book.

My room is the air around me.

I am dressed in water, I am naked as water, I am clarity.

A friend comes along offers me a flag and says a government has toppled.

I’m going to catch rain, I say and spread out a net .

I am poison.

·         The first line here shows how Ganga spans along a wide area and is a part of people’s life. It is an unbound book as there is no telling how the Ganga may grow what would happen next with the Ganga, will it flood? Would it not? Etc.

·         The second line just says that the only thing that’s around Ganga is the air around it. This line is kind of important as air is seen as a free element of nature, but thinking about it closely, so is water. Water is just more disciplined than air and is also very free.

·         The third line. The waters of the Ganga are clean and clear. You could see through them. By clarity it means that it can give you the answer to all questions. This is religious symbolism considering all travellers in search for enlightenment visit the Ganga River at least once in their lives.

·         The fourth line. This line suggests independence and the fall of the British Government.

·         The fifth line. As it is going to rain, the river Ganga spreads out a net and increases in volume.

·         The sixth line in relationship with the fifth line can be used to trace out an aspect of death. This suggests that the fifth line could mean that the Ganga is going to flood now.

3. 

Billy goats, come down from the mountain. Without finding solitude, camels return from the desert. 

I make two lines in the sand, and say they are unbreakable walls. 

I make the four directions one, I know the secret of walking. 

I am the death of fire.

·         The first line. Goats come down from the mountains to quench their thirsts and camels return from the desert for the same.

·         The second line. A small stream of water can turn into a canyon over years of erosion forming structures similar to huge unbreakable walls.

·         The third line. The Ganga washes away four directions and makes it one. Contrasting this statement the secret of walking states that the Ganga understands all kinds of movements. The arrogance in the last statement is balanced with the humility of this one.

·         The fourth line. This line is self-explanatory.

4. 

From smoke I learn disappearance from the ocean unprejudiced 

From birds How to find a rest-house in the storm 

From the leopard How to cover the sun with spots 

In summer I tend watermelons and in flood I stay near the postman’s house 

I am a beggar I am a clown and I am shadow less.

·         The first line talks about the evaporation of sea water and romanticizes with the subject. The ocean is unprejudiced as it does not distinguish between man and animal and devours them both at point.(Life of Pi Reference)

·         The second and the third line tells us about the things that the Ganga has learned from the animals. (More romanticization.)

·         The fourth line. In summer watermelons which grow in the waters of the Ganga are eaten by us, hinting us that in one way or other the Ganga has given water to us all. The postman’s house is usually located in the most suitable location which is easily accessible.

·         The fifth line. Here beggar, and clown are used in a very random sense suggesting that the Ganga can be anything and is everything. I am shadow less means that, the Ganga does not have an end nor do people know where it properly starts (until recently).

This stanza tells us of the experiences the river Ganga has had. And how instead of us learning from it al the time it learns from us too. Us meaning everyone else other than itself as it is non prejudiced it takes humans and animals and birds as one.

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References:

https://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpMeWithThePoemGanga/wcch/post.htm