ANCIENT PROMISES

                                    - Jaishree Misra

   

Jaishree Mishra was born in 1961 and grow up in India, moving to England in 1993. She has worked in the field of special needs in India and in the Department of social services in Buckinghamshire, England. She worked as a Broadcast journalist with the BBC. Ancient Promises is her first novel. It is a semi autobiographical book, which is very interesting to read.

 The novel begins with a sorrowful note, saying

                   "My marriage ended today without the lighting

                   of oil lamps and the beating of temple drums,

                   but in a cramped little divorce court.

 In the next chapter, the novelist has given the past of the heroine. Janaki, her school life and wedding.

 Janaki, shortly called Janu, was a Malayali girl,

WHERE THERE IS A WILL

                 - Mahesh Dattani

Mahesh Dattani is a philosopher among the playwrights of India. He never imitates anybody. He always thinks for himself and thinks about the well being of the humanity around him. This humanity is Indian, and its problems are not the problems known to the western world. His approach to the problems are original. Dattani used drama as the means oftenengaging in existential spirit with the actual problems of life. Dattani is a realistic dramatist. In his dramas male characters are not as important as women characters. He is a Gujarathi. One finds Gujarathi characters in his plays especially all characters in Where There is a Will.

 Where there is a will was first performed by Dattani's theatre group, Playpen at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore on Sept. 23, 1988 as part of Deccan Herald Theatre Festival. The play is set in Mumbai. All the characters are Gujarathi.

 Hasmukh Mehta is one of the richest persons in Mumbai. He is a garment manufacturer and has established Mehta Group of companies. He introduces the members of his family. His active role is limited in the play, for soon he dies. But he is present spiritually throughout the play. His wife is Sonal. Sonal means Gold, She was as good as gold when they were married. But soon he found the she is good for nothing. Ajit is their only son. He is married to Preeti. The play begins with Hasmukh's grumbling against his son. He thinks that his son is good for nothing. He doesn't want to make him the Chief Managing Director (CMD) of his company. He regrets:

GREEN PARROTS IN A CAGE

              -Gopi Gauba

Gopi Gauba was a journalist and short story writer. The partition of India in 1947 and its traumatic impact on people who were forced to migrate, forms the background of her story Green Parrots in a cage. The story has won a BBC prize.

A parrot seller stood near the gate of the narrator. He had two parrots in a cage. He asked the narrator to buy his parrots. He also told her that he wanted money to get a ticket to go home. He was from Kutch. Like the parrot seller, many people needed money to leave the town. There were violent riots every- where in Hyderabad Sind because of the partition. Most of the Hindus, including the narrator had to leave for India.

The narrator did not want the parrots. But for the sake of her three year old son she got them. Moreover, she wanted to help the man. They brought the parrots inside their house. They fed them with green chilli and guava. The birds nipped the mother (narrator) in anger. So they decided to leave the bids in their orchard.

Their orchard was situated near the river PhuleliRarnai was the gardener. His special hobby was to look after the birds in the orchard. The narrator asked their coachman, Din Mohammed to take them to the orchard. He refused as it was too far away from the town. He also told them that it was not safe, He told them to give the parrots to the Maulana. But they did not want to leave the parrots to him.

 Then, the narrator arranged the second coachman, Khana Sahib. They went to the orchard. It's gates were open. They called for Ramai. But there was utter silence everywhere. They left the cage opened on the lawn. They thought that the parrots would fly away happily. But the parrots did not fly immediately. After a long time, with much hesitation, one by one they flew away.

 The narrator compared herself and her state to the state of the parrots, Like the parrots, the narrator and her family have to leave their home for a supposed home they do not know. That worried and upset her.

Suddenly, she got an instinct to run away from the place. The Orchard, was once a place of enjoyment and thing of beauty. But now it had become eerie and frightening.

The story has two strands, one the story of the parrots and the other, the anguish of the people who were forced to leave their homes. Thus, by presenting the two strands, she gives a wonderful description of the partition and its effects. 

THE TERRORIST

            -Mulk Raj Anand

Mulk Raj Anand was a prolific writer. He wrote many novels and short stories. Through his writings he protested against social injustice, superstitions and communal prejudice. The Terrorist describes the politial atmosphere of India during 1930s'.

Sardar Bir Singh and Vasu Dev were the terrorists who wanted to bomb the Legislative Assembly. Singh gave the slip to the English Inspector of police at the entrance of the Legislative Assembly buildings in New Delhi. Captain Beatty checked and allowed him inside the public gallery of the Legislative Assembly. He thought that his friend Vasu Dev also entered without any difficulty.

 Singh's mind was filled with tension and anxiety. He tried his best to look unsuspicious and ordinary. He got a seat at the top edge of the gallery. He sat carefully so that the bomb could not explode. He wondered at the tempera paintings. He saw the picture of Buddha preaching to his disciples. Then the thought of death, struck in his mind. He felt that he was going to die for his mother land. It was a noble cause, 'a glorious death'

He had a great contempt for the Englishmen. He hated even the symbol of British crown. He looked at the distinguished visitors gallery. Not even a single Indians could be seen there. They were the representatives of Press of India, an English organisation.

 Singh had a great hatred for the Britishers. He also had contempt for the members of the Swaraj party (who shook hands with Sir. James Ferguson, the Home Secretary). He blamed them as 'time servers', 'opportunists' and 'traitors'.

 He had printed, "I die for my motherland. I become a sacrifice for it. I have tried to avenge Bharat Mata against the devilry of the British", on the leaflet. He kept that safely in his pocket. If he died, he hoped that his words would come in the next day newspapers.

The speaker entered the Assembly. There was silence. He took out his handkerchief to wave, as a signal to Vasu Dev, for throwing the bombs. The speaker struck the bell on the desk. At once, Singh threw the bomb. It fell at the feet of Sir Arthur Rank, the Finance Minister.

Suddenly Singh heard the cry of Vasu Dev. The boy was arrested with the live bomb. Singh's bomb did not explode. He was caught. All the visitors at once gathered round the terrorists. Captain Beatty struck him on his face. Singh smiled at the onlookers with a willed patriotism.

Thus, through the story, Mulk Raj Anand analyses the patriotic feelings and emotions found in the mind of the young terrorist who wants to avenge the Britishers. 

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN INDIA

 -Amarnatha Jha

Amarnatha Jha served as a Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University. Through his speech and writing, he has done a great service to teachers and students. In this essay, he discusses the difficulties and problems of teaching English in India today.

English has been taught in India for more than hundred years. Even then, there are many difficulties. So the teachers who teach English and others interested in English should ask certain questions: if all is well with the subject, if the teachers are competent, if it is necessary to keep it the medium of instruction and if a distinction is not needed between the teaching of the language and the literature.

PRIMARY STAGE:

Teaching: In the primary schools, English is generally badly taught. So the primary school boy becomes a victim of incomplete and half-hearted experiments.

Teachers: The junior-most and least qualified teachers are placed in primary classes or an old teacher on the verge of superannuation is in charge of the lower classes. This makes the teaching unsatisfactory—callous, experimental, unbaked and desultory.

Need: A declared policy of the educational mandarins regarding the system of training is needed. Properly trained teachers should be appointed to teach primary classes. The teachers must go through a course of training in phonetics. They should know something about education.

Primers and readers: Efforts should be taken to make the subjects relevant to the life of the students. The subject matter should be more in relation with the traditions and environments of Indian students. The students must be allowed to study and express their knowledge through their mother tongue.

Difficulties: An Indian student faces difficulties like inadequate physical nourishment, unsuitable school hours and economic pressure. The most important problem is the linguistic bondage. The teachers also must familiarize themselves with the technical terms of the language.

HIGH SCHOOL STAGE: At the school stage, the student is able to think for himself. Textbooks should be selected properly. Well written and pleasant books should be selected. Teachers should teach them as literature, living, warm and vivid. They should not alarm and frighten and students. Instead they must let them see the best models and live in their company.

UNIVERSITY STAGE: At this stage, the tutor should 'educate' to develop the young man's tastes and correct them. They must teach the higher qualities of style, the intellectual and emotional analysis, and vague thoughts. The student should familiarize himself with the best books. The teacher should teach the interesting and good passages to create interest in the students. Specialization can be done effectively after setting a comprehensive background. 

WORK AND ITS SECRET

       - Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was a spiritual teacher of a rare type. He served the society with his preaching and service. In this prose, Work and its Secret, he talks about the secret of work and success.

The secret of success is to pay much attention to the means as to the end. It is the cause that produces the effect. An ideal must be chosen first. The realisation of the ideal is the effect. The means are the cause. Attention to the means is the great secret of life.

We take up something and put our whole energy into it. Even after failure we don't want to come out of it. That is a great cause of sorrow. We want to enjoy the pleasures of life and they eat into our vitals.

Another cause of misery is that we are attached too much to something. We are being caught. We must work hard. We need the power of love and the power of attachment. At the same thime, we should not be too much attached. We should have the power to detach ourselves, however, beloved and close. We should not be weak in that matter. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Strength is life whereas weakness is death. We have to detach outselves to earn joy. Men who detach themselves can escape most of the miseries of life.

We are all beggars and traders because we expect and want a return to whatever we do. We get misery because we expect something from others. Desire or want is the father of all misery. The secret of true success and true happiness is to be unselfish. Christ was crowned because he was unselfish. Ask nothing, want nothing in return. The more you give, the more will come to you.

We need super divine power. Super divine strength is the only way to pass through the difficulties, miseries and intricacies of life. We are trying to put the blame on others for everything. We want to set right Other people and not our- selves.

         "This is the first lesson to learn: be determined not to curse

         anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside,...

         lay the blame on yourself'

If we perfect the means, the end will take care of itself. If our lives are good and pure, then the world will become good and pure. It is an effect and we are the means. Therefore let us purify ourselves and make ourselves perfect

NATION BUILDING

            -Bipin Chandra Pal

Bipin Chandra Pal was a mighty prophet of nationalism. He was a lion of Bengal in the work of nation building. In this essay, he discusses vividly what the Indian nation builder has to keep in view constantly.

Every evolution is the evolution of an idea. This central idea in every organism regulates the whole course of its evolution. This constitutes the regulative idea of the organism. The archetype of the horse is the regulative idea in every colt that of a dog is the regulative idea in every puppy that of a man is the regulative idea in every human baby. These regulative ideas constitute the inner principle of differentiation.

Different races of men constitute different types of humanity. All evolution works upon two factors. One is heredity which is permanent and the other is environment which is subjected to change. The two essential elements in social evolution are race and environment. Environment may be social or physical. Modern sociology recognises both race element and environment as vital factors in social evolution.

The race characteristics are innate and prehistoric. They vary with various people. The changes that happen in life and civilization are mainly based on the original model. It is the original model that constitutes the real regulative idea in the evolution of every race. If the original model is completely ignored, it will result in decay and degeneration.

Our country has within it five great world cultures. Each one is having its own special characteristics. An Indian nation builder must view all these. It would be worse to obliterate them and reduce them to a colourless unanimity.

 The work of nation building in India must be conducted along five main lines—Hindu, Parsee, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian. All must work together for the development of the country. Such a development will secure a rightful place for India among the nations of the world. No one can force one type of civilization to develop into another. If it happens, it will be unnatural and artificial. It is not isolation and exclusion, but federation and co-operation that will help for building India into a great and powerful nation. 

DANCE OF THE EUNUCHS

               - Kamala Das

   

Kamala Das is India's poet laureate The Dance of the Eunuch is found in the collection Summer in Calcutta (1965). The poem is an eloquent expression of barrenness of Kamala Das' loveless life.

The poetess begins with a line: -

           'It was not, so hot, before the eunuchs came to dance".

 The climate changes when they came to dance. It is not a matter of concern for them. They dance to the sound of the cymbals and their anklets jingle and jingle without any rhythm. All this happens under the gulmohur tree.

 The Eunuchs were having green tattoos on their cheeks and jasmines in their hair Some of them were dark and some were fair. Their songs were harsh due to their coarse voice. They sing of 'lovers dying' and 'children left unborn' because marriage and getting children are remote possibilities for them.

 They make long loved cries and dance by twisting their body in 'vacant ecstasy'. There is no real happiness in their life. Their life is empty and hollow without any purpose. Their limbs were not evenly shaped. They are like half- burnt logs from funeral pyres. Their life is full of drought and rottenness. They have no work to do in the society.

 Even the crows watch their dance silently. Children are afraid of their dance:

                 "All were watching these poor creature convulsions'.

 Their dance is far from being rhythmic. The eunuchs are termed as 'poor creatures'. Everything ends when rain came. Bad smell also came along with the rain.

 Thus, the poem reflects the sad plight of the eunuchs in the society. It ends without any ray of hope. 

IN THE ZOO

                                                      

            -A.K. Ramanujan

 AK. Ramanujan is the first contemporary Indian English poet to have achieved a remarkable break through in cross-fertilising English with native literary traditions. In the Zoo (a tour with comments) is a satirical poem with a humorous tinge.

 Ironically, the poem, In the Zoo, speaks only of storks. The storks are described as scavenger birds. They are fit symbols for Calcutta or Madras, which are filled with filth. The storks, according to Ramanujam, stand erect on their long legs and look dignified. They look slightly vulgar. They come in three shades: i) faded black like the Madras lawyers; ii) grey and iii) dirty white like grandmother's curd.

The storks are noisy and heavy when they take off. It reminds the poet of his father. The noise that comes from the flapping of wings is compared to the sound that comes from the father's broken umbrella. Three ribs of the umbrella were broken by his sons on a fencing match and three other ribs were broken by the previous year wind.

The storks circle quietly in the sky with motionless wings. It fills the trans- parent sky with its slow, sleepy movements. It reminds the poet of the father's magic carpet story told on a rainy day. That was a rainy day. Water leaked through the roof into the kitchen. The mother was ill and children walked round the kitchen noisily with pattering feet. As they could not sleep the father told the magic carpet story.

 The poem satirizes the filth of Calcutta and Madras. It makes fun of Madras lawyers. It also highlights the poverty and poor health of the family, may be the poet considers his family, a zoo.

The poem abounds with effective Indian words, phrases and comparison. He is truly an Indian poet who represents Indian culture and tradition. 

THE TIGER AND THE DEER

 - Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo is one of the supreme masters in Indian English Literature. His poetry may be divided into two broad groups, i.e., poetry of action and poetry of meditation. He is not only a poet but also a philosopher, short story writer and dramatist. He gives charming descriptions of nature in his writings. Savitri is the epic written by Aurobindo. It marks the culmination of his poetic career.

Aurobindo's short poem 'The Tiger and the Deer' is a didactic poem. It is a contrast between good and evil, innocence and experience, and life and death.

The poem begins with a description of the tiger. The tiger crouches and slouches brilliantly though the green forest. It has gleaming eyes, mighty chest and soft soundless paws.

"Brilliant, crouching, slouching, what crept

 through the green heart of the forest,

 Gleaming eyes and mighty chest and soft

 soundless paws of grandeur or murder?"

Generally, people are afraid of the tiger. They hate it because it is rough and dangerous. In the poem, the world of tiger stands for death, darkness and arrogance.

The innocent deer drinks water from the great pool in the forest. It is unaware of the tiger's plan of attack. The tiger crouches slowly to attack the deer:

“...... the great beast crouched and crept, and crept

and crouched a last time, noiseless, fatal".

Then the fierce tiger  has leaped up over the deer and torn it to pieces. The deer died pathetically thinking about its mate.

 "Destroyed, the mild harmless beauty by

  the strong cruel beauty in Nature"

The deer in the poem suggests innocence, softness and love. The killing of the deer by the tiger suggests the death and destruction of healthy values of life by the cruelty of modern civilization.

The poet closes the poem with a note of optimism. He says that in spite of the various blows of death and darkness, life is a thing to be enjoyed. Sufferings are not eternal. He teaches the lesson that those who harm others will be destroyed like the mammoth. The mammoth shook the plains of Asia once upon a time. But it is extinct now. Since the tiger kills and harms other animals, the same fate of mammoth would come to it. But then the deer would drink without any fear in the cool ponds of the forest. The poet beautifully tells,

"The mighty perish in their might The slam survive the slayer".

Thus, the poem expresses the poet's longing for a peaceful and harmless world. 

GITANJALI--SILENT STEPS

 -Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore is a man of versatile genius and achievement. He is a poet par excellence. He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for his English Gitanjali in 1913. Gitanjali is an immortal work of art. It is a prayer to God. It consists of poems which are 'offerings of the finite to the infinite'. It's central theme is the soul's voyage to eternity.

Silent Steps in Gitanjali reveals the immanence of God. God is imminent. We may not feel his all pervasive influence but he is present at all places and at all times. All changes that take place in nature are His manifestation. God lives with his people all the time: 

Every moment and every age, every day and every night,

He comes, comes ever comes,"

God is ageless and deathless. He is all powerful. The poet has sung many songs in all kinds of mood. He has proclaimed the truth that God has been coming since time immemorial.

God comes through the dangerous forest path in the form of sweet fragrance in the sunny month of April. He comes in the form of thunder in the dark nights of July. He comes along with his people in danger and darkness.

The poet felt the presence of God in sorrow and happiness. God did not allow him to endure pain and sufferings alone. Instead, He lives and dwells with him

 "In sorrow after sorrow, it is His steps that press upon my heart and

  it is the golden touch of His face that makes my joy to shine".

Thus, the poem tells the truth that God is omnipresent. All things in nature reveal His presence. We can also feel his divine touch silently in our everyday life. 

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Rabindranath Tagore (1861- 1941) is to India what Shakespeare is to English. He composed the national anthem of our country. He founded the Visva –Bharati University in 1921. His best known works are Gitanjali (Song Offerings),Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare- Baire (The Home and the World). His “elegant prose and magical poetry” remain largely unknown outside Bengal. His mastery as a mystic poet can be seen here in this poem.

THE HEAVEN OF FREEDOM  

 (Where The Mind Is Without Fear)

        Heaven of Freedom is taken from Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a collection of 103 English poems. This poem is more like a prayer. It was written towards the early part of the 20th century when the struggle for political Independence was going on in India.

   This poem is like an offering to God, a prayer where the poet prays for a country which is a heaven of freedom. He prays for an atmosphere of fearlessness, a place where people can walk without the fear of being arrested.

                     “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
                      Where knowledge is free”

   In India people had lost their freedom in all spheres under the British rule. They had no self respect. They were divided on the basis of religion so that the British colonisers could rule over Indians for a longer period of time. The poet is referring to a nation where the people can hold their head high and will have dignity and self respect.

   According to him knowledge should be free to all. There should be no division among the people on the basis of caste or creed and no monopoly in providing education.

  Tagore wants the people to work with their hearts which is possible only if their minds are free. Further he goes on to pray for a world which is not fragmented or broken in the name of religious, cultural, economic or political issues. He longs for an undivided world where there is tolerance among the people, a world where people have the courage to speak truth and hold truth at any cost

            ” Where the mind is led forward by thee
               Into ever-widening thought and action
               Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”.

  Tagore addresses God as the Father of the Universe and humbly requests him to awaken our country to such a heaven of freedom where thought is not limited by the age old customs and superstitious beliefs.

INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH

Contemporary Indo English Literature: An Approach                         .                                                                                            - Amritijit Singh

                                                                           

                                                     .           
Indo-English literature received the attention of scholars and critics for the past twenty years. The critical issues regarding Indo-English writing are many. Most of them are centered on the writers choice of English for creative expression. These writers cannot be called as English writers because the writings of Americans and Australians are not considered as English literature. At the same time they cannot be called as Indian literature through English lived in India for more than one fifty years.

Indo English literature can possibly be divided into four distinct categories:

1.      As part of English literature.

2.      As part of common wealth or third world literature.

3.      As part of Indian literature.

4.      As a representative of Indian literature.

1.  As part of English literature:

         The habit of treating Indo-English literature as an extension of English literature has died a natural death. The library of congress Classification Rules has transferred Indo- English literature from ‘English literature – India’ to ‘Indian literature – English’.

2. As part of Common Wealth Literature:

Today, Indo-English is being studied as part of Common Wealth Literature. It covers literatures of nations with different backgrounds and experiences. Though it encourages comparative studies, its thematic implications are quite limited and confused. 

3. As part of Indian Literature:

Most valuable criticism on Indo-English literature looks upon it as part of Indian literature. P.Lal, in the Writers Workshop credo that prefaced his huge anthology, Modern Indian Poetry in English (1969), emphasized that most of the poets (except Sasthi Bratha) included in his anthology, regard themselves as Indians. They see nothing unindian or alien in their use of English for creative expression. As K.D. Katrak says, ‘A poet is not the present of an ethnic stud’.

4.As a representative of Indian Literature.

Indo-English literature has created its own vested interest as the most significant. Indian literature as it is only one which is not tied down to a particular Indian state or region. It is widely accessible to the audiences in India and abroad. This asserts the representativeness of Indo-English literature and highlights its capacity to pull together the various strands of linguistic and cultural tradition in the country.

The banishment of English in India is impossible. Macaulay introduced English in Indian Education in 1835 to establish the ‘Imperishable Empire’ of ideas. Since that time English has transformed the syntax and expression of Indian language. It has multiplies the ‘registers’ available to a literature speaker of any Indian language and expanded the areas of creativity in literature and related linguistic expression.

Therefore, the Indo-English writers choice of English is a natural one in the multilingual Indian situation. In India, English occupies an inevitable place in the preservation of different cultures and traditions. It is the latest addition to our linguistic-culture spectrum. It may not be strictly called an Indian language. At the same time, it cannot be dismissed as an alien language.

English in India is largely responsible for the deep inroads the west has made our awareness. It has come to occupy a permanent place in India. The Indo-English writer therefore turns his situation to a great advantage by drawing more actively from the rich reservoir of Indian Language and literatures. English helps him to razor out the rust around him and sharpens his use of English.

Thus, Indo-English writers have an immense potential that unfortunately remains unexploited in actual practise.