Mending Wall Robert Frost

Robert Frost is the greatest American poet. His poems are written in simple style. They contain profound truths, which are of universal appeal. ‘The Road not taken’, ‘Birches’, ‘Stopping by woods on a snowy Evening’, ‘Mending Wall’ are best examples. In Mending Wall, Frost exposes the stupidity of the primitive saying ‘Good fences make good neighbours’ and establishes the truth that Nature hates a wall. Now we need a world state where all live in peace and love. But at present we are all walled in and also walled out by thousands of ugly walls such as state, religion, caste, wealth, poverty, nationality etc. We don’t need these narrow minded selfish walls which will bring wars and destruction. This great message is given in Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”. His poems begin in delight and end in wisdom.

At the outset of the poem, Frost says that some supernatural power does not love a wall because wall is an evil thing, which destroys the brotherhood of man. It is very opposite to freedom. The poet’s farm is full of apple trees and his neighbour’s is all pine trees. So there is no need of a wall between them.But his neighbour insists that good fences make good neighbours. So there is a wall between the two neighbours. But every year at spring mending season, the wall is broken in many places. They believe that these gaps are made by hunters. They wanted to catch rabbits for their dogs. The ground is frozen in the winter season and there is swelling on the ground and the boulders are thrown out making gaps in the wall. But in fact no one has seen the hunters catching rabbits. However the wall is broken in many places in a strange manner. So the poet believes that some unknown power does not love a wall. That is why the wall is collapsed.

Every year at spring time the two neighbours choose a day to repair the wall. The narrator does not like this work of repairing the wall. His fingers are worn out handling the rough boulders. Even the Nature is against this wall for some boulders are ball shaped and others look like loaves. So it is hard time for the poet to put these boulders on top of another.  The narrator asks each stone and boulder to sit there for some time only to satisfy his neighbor.After a day’s hard work, somehow the gaps are filled with boulders and keep the wall between the two neighbours. The narrator tells his neighbour about the futility of this repairing of the wall every year. It is waste of time, money and energy. There is no need of a wall. But his neighbour believes in the old proverb:  “Good fences make good neighbours”. The poet asks him how good fences make good neighbours.

The neighbour lives in spiritual darkness. He cannot change his old ideas. He looked like a savage carrying huge boulders in his hands. They are his weapons. Such ‘neighbours’ never follow modern ideas. They never think, but blindly follow the old rotten ideas that they are taught by their elders.  They always stick on to the age-old, meaningless beliefs and customs and create all sorts of troubles in the world. We all know that there are thousands of such dangerous walls, which wall out some people and wall in some others. Religions and nationalities are the biggest walls, which separate man from man. If there is love between man and man all kinds of walls can be disappeared from the earth. All these walls lead to a lot of problems and waste of money and energy. Besides, there is no communication possible between man and man, which may lead to suspicion and treachery, intrigue and wars and killing. Every year huge amounts are spent for making weapons and increase military expenses. All these expenses can be avoided if all the boundary walls are abolished and the idea of a world nation is established. Thus, the poem Mending Wall ends in wisdom giving us a great message about our present world and ourselves.

Kjt/- 03-08-2013

JOOTHAN: A DALIT’S LIFE - Omprakash Valmiki

Omprakash Valmiki is a great poet and short story writer in Hindi Dalit Literature. “Joothan” is an autobiographical account of his miserable birth and life. Omprakash traces his lineage to Valmiki, the great author of ‘Ramayana’ and proves that even Valmiki belongs to the sweeper caste. Joothan literally means scraps of food left on a plate. It is related to the word jootha which means polluted. The sweeper caste (untouchables) has been forced to eat jootha for centuries. The word shows the pain, hurt, humiliation and poverty of the untouchables.

 Omprakash Valmiki’s family was in the colony of the village where the untouchables lived. Chuhra, Chamar and Jhinwar are the caste names of the untouchables. Tyagi, Taga are the upper caste people of both Hindus and Muslims. Valmiki’s home was in front of the stinking cowshed of an upper caste family. On the one side there was a pond and the other side there were high walls of the brick homes of the Tagas. In his family there were five brothers, one sister, two uncles and the elder brother of his father. All of them worked hard, yet they couldn’t get two decent meals a day. Most often they had no payment for their work. Instead they got only abuse from the upper caste people. They never thought of these untouchables as human beings. If one happened to touch a Chuhre (untouchables), the upper caste people got polluted. But if animals touched them, it was not pollution!

 The first teacher who came to Valmiki’s childhood days was Sewak Ram Masihi. He was a Christian who would sit with the children of the untouchables and taught them reading and writing. It was an open air school and Valmiki learned the alphabets. One day there was an argument with Valmiki’s father and Valmiki’s father took him to the Basic Primary School. As per Mahatma Gandhi’s advice, the government schools allowed the untouchables to study. Valmiki’s father begged the master of the school to teach his child and he would be forever in his debt. Master asked him to come the next day and Valmiki and his father kept going for several days and one day he was admitted to the school.

 Valmiki had to sit on the floor and there was not a mat even. Sometimes he had to sit near the door and he could not read the letters on the blackboard! The children of the upper caste used to tease him by calling him ‘Chuhre ka’. Sometime they would beat him without any reason. This tormented life made him introverted and irritable. If he was thirsty, he would run to the hand-pump to drink water. All the teachers belonged to the upper caste and they hated this untouchable boy and used to punish him. Both the students and teachers used all sorts of dirty tricks to force Valmiki run away from the school. They thought that he had no right to education and he must do the work of sweeper in the village. He had two classmates of the same caste.They were Ram Singh and Sukkhan. They were very good in their studies. But they were always insulted by both the teachers and students of the school. When they wore neat and clean clothes, other students teased them and their words were like poisoned arrows pierced their hearts. If the three boys dressed in old and shabby clothes, others would ask them to get out because they were stinking! They were humiliated whichever way they dressed.

 When Valmiki reached fourth class Kaliram became the Headmaster. He and his teachers tried their best to humiliate and punish Valmiki and his two companions. Almost every day Valmiki was cruelly beaten up in the class. One day the Headmaster asked Valmiki to climb the teak tree and break some twigs and make a broom. When the broom was made, the headmaster asked Valmiki to sweep the whole school. He also added that sweeping was his family occupation. When other students had been learning in class rooms, Valmiki alone swept all the class rooms and play grounds. His face and mouth were covered with dust. He was not allowed to drink even water. The second day also the headmaster asked Valmiki to do the same work. He swept the whole day.

 On the third day Valmiki tried to hide in a corner of the class room. But the headmaster found him out and asked him to sweep. The boy was terrified with fear and tears rolled through his cheeks. He began to sweep and other boys and teachers enjoyed watching it. Just then Valmiki’s father passed by the school and saw his son sweeping the ground. The father snatched the broom from his son and threw away and rushed to the headmaster and shouted at him. Kaliram threatened the old man but he was fearless and determined. He warned Kaliram that his son Valmiki would study there itself and many other students like him would follow him there. Pitaji took Valmiki’s hand and walked to the Tyagis of the village and begged them to let his son study in the school. The old man went door to door of each of the upper caste people and begged for the right of his son’s education. But they all opposed the idea of letting a sweeper’s son study in the school. In spite of all these insults, the old man was not disappointed. He sat up all night without food or drink and thought of many ways to get education for his youngest son Valmiki. At last he went to the house of the Pradhan of the village and begged him to let his son study in the school. Pradhan was kind hearted and allowed Valmiki to study in the same school.

Dear students: I have answered in this note all the questions given in your text page 44-45. Study the note well and prepare answers to all the questions in your own style. May God bless you!

Kjt/16-12-2013

Lycidas John Milton

 John Milton is certainly one of the greatest of the poets in English literature.  His major poems are Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. His pastoral elegy Lycidas is a fine example for his classical spirit. It is written to mourn the death of the poet’s friend and classmate Edward King, who drowned in a shipwreck in the Irish Sea in 1637. Pastoralism in literature is an attitude in which the poet looks at life from a shepherd’s angle.  Theocritus of Sicily and the Roman poet Virgil have developed this art form. Milton’s Lycidas is one of the greatest pastoral elegies in English literature

2. The poem starts with an invocation to the Muses. He compares himself to a shepherd plucking berries, laurels and myrtle before their mellowing time. The poet describes Lycidas and himself spending their time in the solitude of Nature writing poetry and singing them.  The undergraduates used to crowd around them and dance according to the tune of their music. They are compared to Satyrs and Fauns of Greek Mythology. The teachers are compared to old Damoetas who also appreciated the songs of Milton and Edward King.

3. The poet is very sad on the accidental death of his classmate. He wonders what the nymphs were doing when the waves of the sea closed on Lycidas. But even the Nymphs were helpless when facing Death because the great Muse Calliope could not save her dear son Orpheus the great divine musician from the mad women of Thrace.

4.  Milton now takes the liberty of making a digression, which is the most important part of the poem. But curiously enough the most remarkable part of the poem is made up of two digressions. The first digression is on Fame. The accidental death of Edward King makes Milton think about the purpose of life and his anxiety about future.  Milton knows that writing poetry is a hard work and in order to become a great poet he must work hard. Other poets write about the beauty of hair of the shepherdesses sitting on the shade of the trees and their poems are sold like hot cakes. Milton cannot follow such cheap popularity. He is a Puritan and he writes lofty rhymes. It is not easy but sheer hard work. But if his life is cut off by blind Fury, what is the value of this hard life? Milton is an honest Puritan and he doubts about the value of his Puritanism and ascetic life if death comes to him in the night. But his doubt is soon vanished when God speaks to him that he will get true reward in heaven, which is safer.

5. The second digression in the poem shows Milton’s true attitude to religion.  He introduces St. Peter into the mourners. St. Peter angrily speaks about the corrupt clergymen of his day. He laments the death of King Edward who was doing the subject of Theology in Christ College of Cambridge University. There are three types of corrupted clergies in the Church. They come to Church for “their bellies sake”.  “Some creep, and some intrude and some climb into the fold”.  Those who creep into the fold do not care for office or name. But they are cunning.  Those who intrude are lazy clergymen and those who climb are selfish, wicked and ambitious.  They wanted dignities and authorities. These clergymen had no spiritual vision and they were greedy for power, wealth and luxurious life. Clergymen competing for materials pleasures through corrupt practices are compared to the guests running after the sheep-shearing festival without taking part in the work of gathering wool. Their ignorance about the spiritual aspect of the church and the wrong doctrines they preach poison the spiritually starved people. So Milton calls them “Blind mouths”. Milton has predicted that God would punish these corrupted clergymen very soon.

7. After the second digression, again Milton comes back to his pastoral elegy. He invites the valleys to cast their flowers of different colour and fragrance on the dead body of Lycidas. But suddenly the poet realizes that the dead body has not been found.

8.  The poem ends with a note of joy and hope. This hope is based on the Christian belief that Lycidas has resurrected on the third day with the help of Jesus Christ who walked on the waves of the Sea. Lycidas rose up to heaven just as the sun rises up in the Eastern horizon.  Lycidas is welcomed in Heaven with “nuptial songs sung by angels and saints and his tears are wiped out by the angels”. So the poet asks the shepherds not to weep any more on the death of Lycidas because Lycidas has been resurrected and become the guardian angel of the shore. The guardian Angel will protect anyone who falls in the sea. The shepherd who sang this pastoral elegy goes to a new pasture because he cannot live in this place any longer where the memories of Lycidas haunt him day and night. They had been such intimate friends who composed songs and sang together, grazed sheep together and ate together and lived together.

9.  Lycidas is a pagan poem.  But Milton, the great Puritan could not help introducing Christian elements into it. Thus with its curious mixture of pagan loveliness and Christian theology, it becomes a great pastoral elegy. Milton speaks of woodland deities like Styrs and Fauns, sea deities like Neptune, Panope and Triton. Rivers like Alpheus and Arethusa are personified. Pagan superstitions like the ship not being sea worthy just because it was built during the eclipse are also mentioned.

Paragraph questions:

1.      Christian and pagan elements in Lycidas

2.      Milton’s Puritanism in Lycidas

Essay:

1.      Lycidas as a pastoral elegy.

2.      Comment on Milton’s attitude to the Church of England as reflected in Lycidas.

3.      Comment on the two digressions in Lycidas.

Request

My dear students,  please prepare your own answers on the above questions on the basis of this note. Study this note well and make your own notes. May God bless you!

Kjt/3-11-2012

The Laboratory: Ancien Regime Robert Browning

1.Answer the following questions in two or three sentences

Why does the speaker call the laboratory the ‘devil’s smithy’? What is the motive behind her visit to that place?   -The speaker of the dramatic monologue “The Laboratory: Ancien Regime” is a wicked woman who wants to kill her enemies with delicious poisonous drink or sweets. This poison is prepared in the laboratory by an old and experienced chemist. The chemist is misusing scientific knowledge in order to earn a lot of money. The chemist is greedy for wealth and he is ready to make very dangerous poison for the lady. This is why she calls the laboratory ‘the devil’s smithy’ and the devil is the old chemist. She visits the place to get the poison.

2. Why does she say that the poison in the phial is sure to taste sweetly? While the old chemist is preparing the poison in the phial, the speaker is watching it with great curiosity. The poison is bright blue and very attractive. So she is sure the poison tastes delicious and her rival will eat it greedily and will die.

3. How does the woman propose to kill Pauline and Elize?  -  The woman proposes to kill Pauline by giving her the poisoned sweet which looks like bright blue and she will be dead in thirty minutes. Similarly Elise will be given a poisoned pastille and lighted it. Elize will inhale the fumes, and fall dead.

4. “She’s not little, no minion like me!”  What makes the speaker pass such a comment on her rival? The speaker makes this comment on her rival shows that the rival is taller and healthier and more beautiful than the speaker. It also shows that her rival needs a big dose of poison to die.

5. What intentions must have prompted the chemist to prepare the poison according to the speaker’s wish?       -The old chemist in the laboratory must have been prompted by a huge amount offered by the speaker who is a wicked woman and the chemist has prepared the poison demanded by the woman. In addition to the amount, she also allowed him to kiss her on the mouth.

6. “Not that I bid you spare her the pain!

      Let death be felt and the proof remain;

      Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—

      He is sure to remember her dying face!”  - Explain

These lines are quoted from Robert Browning’s famous dramatic monologue “The Laboratory: Ancien Regime”. The speaker of the poem is a great danseuse at the king’s palace. But unfortunately she is a wicked woman who wants to kill her rival. The rival is in love with the woman’s lover. The speaker visits the old chemist’s laboratory to get poison in order to kill her rivals. While the old chemist is preparing the poison, the speaker is telling him that the poison should be painful to the victim and the man who betrayed the speaker and fell in love with the victim should notice the pain of death reflected on the face of the dying victim. The death of her rival should be a lesson for the man who betrayed the speaker. In these lines we get a clear picture of the wickedness of the speaker.

II. Answer in a paragraph of not more than 100 words.

Comment on the character of the old chemist as the silent listener in the poem “The Laboratory”

Robert Browning’s poem “The Laboratory: Ancien Regime” is a dramatic monologue, a single character speaking throughout the poem. The poet does not interfere or speaking anything. The poem begins at a crucial point and therefore it is a dramatic monologue. Here the speaker is a woman who is a great danseuse at the king’s palace. But she is a wicked woman who wants to kill her rival with deadly poison. This is why she has come to the laboratory and the old chemist is offered a huge amount for making such a strong poison. While the old chemist is engaged in the preparation of the poison, the speaker is talking. The old chemist is a silent listener. However we get a clear picture of the character of the chemist from the talk of the woman. The old chemist is very skilful and experienced chemist. His chemical preparations have amazed the danseuse and she is highly satisfied and trusted him. But the chemist is a wicked man because he has misused scientific knowledge for killing innocent people in return for a huge amount. Although he is old, his greed for wealth is disgusting! In addition the speaker has allowed him to kiss her on her mouth. In spite of his scientific knowledge, his age and experience, he is not happy in his life. He knows well that he is doing devil’s work. When he looks gloomy, she tells him “be not morose”. She tells him that his laboratory is ‘devil’s smithy’. Therefore the old chemist is a devil.

III. Write an essay of 300 words.

Discuss how Browning performs a psychological dissection of the woman’s character through his dramatic monologue “The Laboratory”

Robert Browning’s poem “The Laboratory: Ancien Regime”performs a psychological dissection of the woman’s character. The speaker of the dramatic monologue is a woman. She is a great danseuse at the king’s palace and many important princesses and kings are her admirers. But she finds pleasure in killing her rivals. She is in love with a man but unfortunately he has betrayed her and falls in love with two women Pauline and Elise. So the jilted dancer has decided to kill both of them and she has come to the old chemist’s laboratory and offers him a huge amount for making very dangerous chemical poison in order to kill her rivals. Besides she offers the old chemist all her jewels as a reward for preparing the poison.

 While great people are waiting to enjoy her dance at the King’s palace, the speaker of the poem is sitting in the laboratory enjoying the preparations of the poison. She says that she gets more pleasure in the laboratory than at the king’s palace. Performing dance is a great gift of God. All good people enjoy seeing dance. But she gets more pleasure in killing her rivals! She says “Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures/ What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!” She advises the skilful chemist that he should prepare the poison in such a way that it should give great pain to the victim at the time of the rival’s death and it must be reflected on her face so that the man who betrayed her also suffer pain and sorrow. He can never forget the horrible face of the dying woman. It is a lesson for him because he has jilted the speaker and gone with other two women Pauline and Elise.

 The speaker of the poem is very angry with her rivals and also the lover who jilted her. Passions of hatred and jealousy so blinded the speaker that she has ignored her noble profession of palace dancer and the great personalities who are waiting at the King’s palace to enjoy her dance! Instead she is sitting at the ‘devil’s smithy’ watching the preparations of the poison by the old chemist. But the woman is very careful to take the necessary steps not to show any evidence of her crime. She wants the chemist to remove all the dust from her so that no one can prove that she has gone to the old chemist’s laboratory for the preparation of the poisons. The woman is very happy that the chemist has made all the poisons – a poisoned sweet, pastille and other poisonous eatings. They are bright blue, delicious and attractive. She has given the chemist all her jewels and asks him to brush the dust off her dress and finally she says that she is going to the king’s palace to perform her dance! 

BOSOM FRIEND                                                                                                 Hira Bansode

Hira Bansode is a well-known Marathi Dalit poet. The speaker of the poem “Bosom Friend” is a Dalit girl who speaks about her sufferings and insults at the hands of her bosom friend who is a rich upper caste girl. The Dalit girl invites her bosom friend to dinner. Although she came to the dinner, she found fault with everything in the dinner. Finally the Dalit girl tells her friend that people of high caste cannot forget the tradition of inequality for it is deep-rooted in their minds.

Answer the following questions in two or three sentences.

1.”But you came with a mind as large as the sky” – What makes the poet think like this? What is the irony?        The speaker of the poem is a poor Dalit girl who invites her high caste, rich friend for dinner. The girl accepts the offer and has come to dinner. It gives a pleasant surprise to the speaker and this is why she says that her friend is broad minded and full of love for her. But the irony is that the rich girl friend finds fault with every bit of the dinner. She blames her friend for not serving buttermilk or yoghurt for the last course of rice. She also blamed the Dalit community and said that they would never improve.

2. Did the visit of the ‘bosom friend” really bridge the chasm that had divided them? If not, what was the effect of the visit?    -           The visit of the bosom friend did not really bridge the chasm that had divided them. On the other hand, it further widened the chasm because the upper caste rich girl simply found fault with every silly things in the arrangement of the dinner. She further blamed the Dalit community and said that they would never improve. In truth it is the upper caste that never changed their outlook and tradition. So the speaker of the poem who is the Dalit girl burst out her anger and pain at the bosom friend for her humiliation and contemptuous outlook of the Dalit community.

3. How differently did the “naïve devotion” work in the lives of Shabari and the poet?

In the Ramayana, Shabari is a sincere devotee of Lord Rama and she is doing her best to please Rama. She has collected the best fruits available in Nature and tasted them to find out which are the sweetest fruits. She does not know that it is forbidden to taste them before they are offered to God. Yet Lord Rama is pleased with her innocent devotion, accepted her offerings and blessed her. Similarly the Dalit girl has arranged a party to her upper caste rich friend with great love and devotion. She has spent a lot of money, time and energy for making such a sumptuous dinner with yoghurt, buttermilk and other dishes. Yet the upper caste rich friend blames her and even humiliates her community saying that they will never improve.

4. “I was ashamed, really ashamed”.  What made the poet feel really ashamed?    -  The poet felt ashamed because she had arranged a dinner for her upper caste rich friend with great devotion and love and she spent a lot of money, energy and time for it. But the friend found fault with everything in the arrangement of the dinner. She blamed her and her community because they did not know how to serve food in the proper manner.

5. When did the last bit of courage fall away like a falling star from the poet?   -  The last bit of courage fell away like a falling star from the poet when the upper caste rich friend accused her that she does not know how to serve food and asked her whether she did not serve buttermilk or yoghurt with the last course of rice. The upper caste girl has a preconceived notion that the Dalit community people don’t know anything about the table manners and etiquette. This accusation of the rich friend drained away all the energy, enthusiasm and friendliness of the Dalit girl. It is disappeared like a ‘falling star’.

6. What was the food that the poet did not have in her childhood?    - The poet lived in utter poverty that she never had even milk in her childhood days.

7.  Why did the poet not know the proper arrangement of food on plates?   - The poet did not know the proper arrangement of food on plates, because she was a Dalit girl and born and brought up in utter poverty. She could not enjoy nourished food including milk in her childhood days.

II. Answer in a paragraph of not more than 100 words.

1.Describe the contrasting emotions of elation, frustration and shock as portrayed by Hira Bansode at the start of the poem “Bosom Friend”

The poem “Bosom Friend” is written by Hira Bansode, a well-known Marathi Dalit poet. The poem is a vehement critique of the hypocritical caste-ridden society. It speaks about the untold sufferings and insults of the Dalit at the hands of the upper castes for centuries. The narrator is a Dalit girl who has invited her upper caste rich friend to dinner. The speaker is so excited with joy unlimited because her bosom friend has come forgetting the age old untouchability and tradition of inequality. So the rich girl’s mind is as large as the sky because she is coming to the pocket size house of the narrator. The narrator is so elated with great expectation that her friend’s visit will certainly bridge the chasm of the caste system that divided them. So she has arranged the food with the great devotion of Shabari, the elderly woman ascetic in the Ramayana. The narrator thought that as the Lord Rama accepted the fruits of Shabari and blessed her, her upper caste friend would appreciate her devotion and love in arranging the food for her. But alas, the moment the friend looked at the plate, her face changed and began to blame the narrator. She accuses that the narrator does not know table manners and the proper arrangement of food on the plates. The friend blamed even her Dalit community and said that they would never improve. Rama was pleased although Shabari tasted every fruit before it was offered to Lord Rama because Rama was wise and full of love and mercy for Shabari. On the other hand the upper caste girl is foolish, arrogant and wicked. So the dinner party became an utter failure. The upper caste girl is so foolish that she judges human being by their artificial table manners and money power. She is also ruled by her preconceived ideas about the caste system. So the poor Dalit girl is frustrated at the behaviour of her friend.

2. How did the poet justify her ignorance of elite table etiquette? Who was responsible for that? Do you think the situation can be changed? How?                  - Hira Bansode’s poem “Bosom Friend” is a sad story of a Dalit woman’s sense of shame because poverty has never allowed her to know the variety of food such as buttermilk, yoghurt, halva, basundi etc., This sad situation arose out of age old poverty, lack of education and exploitation at the hands of the upper caste people who are rich and politically powerful. They always suppressed the lower caste people and enslaved them and made them work from dawn to dusk and the wages were not enough even for two decent meals a day. As a result the Dalit girl never enjoyed healthy, nourished food in her childhood days. The situation can be changed by giving free education for Dalit and financially backward classes and also make effective social awareness about equality and human dignity and brotherhood.

3. Write an appreciation of Hira Bansode’s poem “Bosom Friend” bringing out its poetic qualities

Hira Bansode’s poem “Bosom Friend” is remarkable for its poetic qualities. The title of the poem “Bosom Friend” itself is ironical because the upper caste rich girl is not at all bosom or intimate to the Dalit girl. She cruelly criticised her and her community for their ignorance of table manners or etiquette. In the first stanza of the poem we can see the effective use of irony. With the innocent devotion of Shabari, the Dalit girl carefully arranged the food on the plate for her friend. The whole poem is a vehement critique of the caste-ridden society. The mind of the upper caste girl is compared to the sky. The figure of speech is simile. There is also irony in it because her mind is actually narrow-minded and selfish. There is simile in the use of the phrase “pocket size house”. “The last bit of my courage fell away like a falling star” the figure of speech is metaphor.

Essay: 1, 2^nd and 3^rd paragraphs can be used for essay.                                          Kjt/21-02-2013

Karnabhara -- Bhasa

‘Karnabhara’ is a play written in Sanskrit by Bhasa. This play is based on the incidents of Mahabharata. The protagonist of the play is Karna. Bhasa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit. However, very little is known about him. Kalidasa in the introduction of his first play ‘Malavikagnimitram’ praises Bhasa as a great Sanskrit playwright. Although Bhasa has written many plays based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, his two plays have been very popular on account of their appeal to modern tastes. They are: ‘Uru Bhanga’ and ‘Karna-bhara’. Both plays are the tragic Sankrit plays in ancient India. The hero of ‘Uru Bhanga’ is Duryodhana of Mahabharata and Karanan is the hero of ‘Karnabhara’.

Bhasa is dated around 5^th century BC.  Bhasa does not follow the rules of the Natya Shastra. Bhasa allows scenes that contain signs of physical violence to be shown on stage in plays like ‘Uru bhanga’ The plays of Bhasa are short compared to later playwrights like Kalidasa. Most plays of Bhasa draw the theme from the Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. He always supports the heroes of the epic, Bhasa treats their opponents with great sympathy. Bhasa takes a lot of freedom and make many changes in his plays to achieve this sympathy. For example in his play ‘Karna-bhara’ Bhasa takes a lot of liberties and make many deviations from the original story in ‘Mahabharatha’.

 Deviations from the original story in Mahabharatha: In his play ‘Karna-bhara’, Bhasa wants to focus the personality of Karna to the core. So he highlights Karnan’s boundless and self-effacing generocity which ultimately leads to his own tragic end. The most significant deviation is the time and the manner in which Indra begs for the armour (Kavacha) and ear-rings (Kundala) and the manner in which Karna gives them away. In the original story of Mahabharatha, Indra comes to Karna and receives the gift of the armour (Kavacha) and ear-rings (Kundala) much earlier, when Pandavas were in the jungle in exile and Karna was offering daily prayer to the Sun (Surya) to attain more powers. But in the play ‘Karna-bhara’ the incident occurs very late, on the 17^th day of the Kurkshethara War, when Karna was on his way to meet Arjuana in a decisive battle with the determination to kill Arjuana or to be killed by him. This change of time is the artistic workmanship of the great classic playwright Bhasa! This change of time makes the gift of Karna more significant and enhances his reputation as a generous giver of gift! It further contributes to heighten the sublime tragedy of Karna.  Another important deviation is that in the original story ofMahabhara, Karna demands the Sakti from Indra in return for the gift of armour (Kavacha) and ear-rings (Kundala), but in the play of Bhasa, Karna refuses every offer of Indra in return for the gift of the armour and ear-rings. This change made by Bhasa shows the skill of a great dramatist as it enhances the glory and greatness of Karna.  Similarly, Bhasa avoids the original scene of the Sun (Surya) the father of Karna appears to him in a dream and warns him against Indra’s treachery. Therefore the arrival of Indra in the play Karnabharam has an element of surprise and the offer of various objects by the unsuspecting Karna has a thrilling dramatic effect. When Indra feels sorry for his treachery, he sends an angel to Karna with a Sakti is a welcome change as it shows the sterling character and personality of Karna and makes it a sublime tragedy.

 Another important deviation is in the character of Salya, the charioteer of Karna. In the original story of Mahabharatha, the Salya always criticises Karna, discourages him, and use harsh words and even quarrel with him. But we see a very different Salya in the play ‘Karnabharam’. Here Salya is a true friend and wellwisher of the protagonist. Salya warns Karna not to give away his Kavacha and Kundala to the Brahmin and feels sympathy for Karna when he has narrated his bitter experiences with Parasurama and his curse on Karna. This change in the character of Salya also enhances the beauty of the tragedy. Another significant innovation is in the frame of Karna’s mind. There is a black misery clouded the mind of the tragic hero. Karna tries to get rid of this black misery by many attempts like the test of the weapons and the arrival of Indra. All these innovations are made by Bhasa, the great classic dramatist in order to draw the cathartic element and thereby develop the tragic element more sublime and glorius. While going to Arjuna in the Kurukshethra war, Karna recalls the request of Kunthi not to kill any more of his brothers. It appears as if the request of Kunbthi is still fresh and green in the restless mind of Karna and his heart is moved by the factthatthe Pandavas are his own brothers. In spite of his great valour and generosity, Karna is taken towards his own tragic end, as he is like all human beings, a poor victim of fate on which has no control. But in the original story of Mahabharatha, Karna is not seen as disturbed by such black miseries.

The Character of Karna

Karna-bhara is the play in which the burden (bhara) is the central theme. Bhasa has shown great dramatic skill and psychological insight in portraying the character of Karna who is the king of Anga and took over the command of the Kaurava army on the sixteenth day of the Kurukshethra war, soon after the death of Dronacharya. Karna is the son of Surya (the sun) on Kunthi and as such the Pandavas are his younger brothers. But Karna does not know the secret of his birth and always associated with the Kauravas. The brightest warrior on the side of Yudhishthira was Arjuna and therefore Duryodhana wanted Arjuna to be killed first. Karna leaves his tent and marches towards the battlefield even before the messenger of Duryodhana goes to him. Karna is the bravest warrior on the Kaurava side just as Arjuna of the Pandava army. Karna asks Salya, his charioteer to take him to Arjuna and remarks that he will bring joy to Kauravas if only he meets Arjuna in the battle as no one whom he has met in the battle has gone alive. So going to battlefield is a matter of great joy and thrill to Karna.

 But now an unknown black misery haunts him and his mind is overburdened with heavy thoughts. This is the central point of the play Karna-bhara written by Bhasa. Karna exclaims sadly “How is it that in this very hour of battle, despair creeps into my heart?” His mind is filled with sad thoughts – the request of his mother Kunthi and the curse of his master Parasurama. He tries to unburden his mind by narrating the story of his learning about various weapons and missiles from the great sage Parasurama. Salya, his charioteer listens to the narration with great interest. Karna tells how some years ago he went to the teacher Parasurama and the teacher said that he would teach only Brahmins and not Kshatriyas, Karna said that he was a Brahmin and started learning the martial art. The Guru was pleased with the progress of the student and taught him all about weapons. One day  Parasurama was tired and took a nap placing his head on Karna’s lap. As ill-luck would have it, an insect called vajramukha crept through Karna’s thighs, but Karna bore the pain with fortitude lest his master’s sleep would be disturbed, but alas! the warm blood gushed from the thighs and the sleep was disturbed. Parasuram at once learned the truth that Karna was a Kshatriya and in his temper, Parasuram cursed Karna that the weapons would be useless in times of need! Salya feels sympathy for Karna and remarks that it was indeed very dreadful for the sage to utter such a curse. Karna now says that his weapons have lost their power and his horses and elephants appear helpless. Now Karna tells Salya not to be disappointed. Karna says,” If killed in battle, one reaches heaven and if one wins the battle, he gets fame and earthly glory. Both are good. So fighting is never fruitless”. Thus Karna tries to muster up courage and he further praises the excellent qualities of his horses that had never failed him in battle. Invoking the blessings of cows and Brahmins, he hopes to win the battle. Now Karna has regained his lost enthusiasm and vigour and asks Salya to drive him to Arjuna. Just then a Brahmin stops him and begs a big boon. This is India in disguise come with the only purpose to deprive Karna of his Kavacha and Kundala, by exploiting the generosity of Karna and thereby ensure the victory of Arjuna. Although Karna suspects that it might be a trick played by Krishna, Karna whole-heartedly gives away his Kavacha and Kundala to the Brahmin. Here Bhasa skilfully shows the glory of the greatest warrior of Kurukshethra that giving alms to the poor Brahmin is far greater than death in the battlefield. The character of Karna reaches sublime heights. Karna refuses to accept anything in return for his gifts. Karna accepts the Sakti only because of his respect for a poor Brahmin.

Now Indra is in an awkward situation. He cannot bless Karna saying “May you live long”. But he must say something as a blessing from a Brahmin. So Indra says, ”May your fame be eternal as the Sun, the Moon, the Himalayas and the Ocean”. Karna is shocked to hear such a strange blessing and asks the Brahmin why he would not say “May you live long” which is the usual manner of blessing. Now the Brahmin explains that one should strive only for virtues because they are eternal in the form of fame, when the body is killed and perished in the soil. At last Karna offers his unbreakable armour (Kavacha) and Kundala (ear-rings) which are born with him. With great joy, the Bahmin greedily asks, ‘give, give.” Now Karna suspects the foul play of Krishna. Salya warns Karna not to give the Kavacha and Kundala, but Karna says that alms (offerings) and sacrifices will last forever, while other things such as learning, wealth etc. are lost by lapse of time. When Indra goes away he mutters to himself, ”I’ve done what the Gods decreed as essential for the victory of Arjuna”. Salya does not tell Karna that he has been cheated by Indra, but Karna says that he has cheated Indra, because the Brahmin is a great scholar even propitiated by learned Brahmins in sacrifices has come to a Kshatriya like Karna and begged alms from him. So a giver of alms is always superior to a supplicant. Now an angel comes and offers an unfailing spear named ‘Vimala’ to Karna saying that Indra is sorry for taking away the armour(Kavacha) and ear-rings (Kundala) and he has sent this unfailing weapon to kill one of the Pandavas. Karna refuses to take anything return for his gifts to the Brahmin, but when told that it may be taken at a Brahmin’s biddings, Karna accepts it saying that he has never rejected a Brahmin’s bidding. When the angel is disappeared, Karna hears the sound of Arjuna’s conch and commands Salya to rush his chariot to the spot where Arjuna is standing. When Salya drives on, the play ends. Tragedy broods over Karna and we know that he is going to his death, but Karana is not afraid of death and he is optimistic and he continues to be the tragic hero of Kurukshethra. With great psychological insight, Bhasa has portrayed Karna’s mental worries (Bhara). He is worried about his mother Kunthi’s request that he should not kill her sons which means Karna’s younger brothers. But as the leader of the Kaurava army it is duty to kill Arjuna. His second worry is about Parasuram’s curse upon him. These worries (bhara) have actually robbed Karna of his courage and valour and his hold on life and that is perhaps the real tragedy of the greatest warrior of Kurukshethra.

 1. Describe briefly the deviations made by Bhasa in “Karna-bhara” from the original story in Mahabharatha. 2.Why did Karna become gloomy on the way to the battle of Kurukshethra?3. Give a character sketch of Karna in the play “Karnabhara”     4. Make a critical study of Bhasa’s “Karna-bhara”                                  kjt/02-03-2014

           General, your tank                                                                                 Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht is a German playwright and poet and he always wrote for the cause of the humiliated and the offended and always extolling the greatness of the ordinary man. His most famous plays are: Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, Mr.Puntila and his Man Mati, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Good Person of Szechwan. These plays were expressions of his resistance against the Nazi and Fascist movements.

 His poems are remarkable for their pithiness, variety and choice of themes. Simple and direct his poems bear testimony to his genius for language. ‘General, Your Tank’ is a part of his famous anti-war poem “From a German War Primer”.

 In this poem ‘General, Your Tank’ Bertolt Brecht expresses his strong and abiding faith in the greatness of mankind. The poem is a satire on war and military generals. The figure of speech in the poem is irony. In every war, it is the poor soldier who fights and gets killed bringing glory and praise to the lazy fatty Military Generals. The ordinary soldier is always forgotten and the General is raised to the status of a hero on winning the war. Bertolt Brecht skilfully uses irony and satire throughout the poem and convinces the reader of the foolishness of the Military Generals and also the futility of war. Bertolt Brecht’s poem is addressed to a Military General and tells him with contempt that his ‘tank is a powerful vehicle because it can destroy forests and kills hundreds of men. But alas! it has a defect. Without a man driving the vehicle, it becomes as useless as the General who is helpless without the soldiers fighting bravely under him.

 Again the poet tells the General that his bomber plane is very powerful because it flies faster than wind can carry heavy things but it is useless without a mechanic who is an ordinary soldier in the force. Brecht uses irony to show how dehumanized and made helpless man by machines.  Man has become a slave of machines. But machines are invented by man and machines are utterly useless without man. Yet it is a tragedy that machines use man as its slave because all skilful, creative and useful works are being done by machines! Finally, the poet tells the General that man is very useful for the General because the General uses soldiers and machines equally in the war and more importance is given to the machines! The soldiers can fly and kill people. But he also has one defect. The defect is that man can think. In Military, thinking is a defect! If the Generals have intelligence to think they will not fight and put an end to war by discussion!

Questions

1.      Comment on the use of irony and satire in the poem

2.      Evaluate ‘General, Your Tank’ as an anti-war poem

3.      What, according to the poet, are the inherent weaknesses of apparently powerful machine?

     How Do I Love Thee                                 Elizabeth Barret Browning

Elizabeth Barret Browning is a great English poet and belongs to the Victorian age. She is the wife of the great English poet Robert Browning. The best poems of Barret Browning are the love poems she has written for Robert Browning. ‘How Do I Love Thee’ is one among them. She says, “poetry is the enthusiasm of the understanding, encompassing everything”.

 ‘How Do I Love Thee’ is a beautiful love poem in English literature. It is addressed to her lover.  This love poem is like a prayer a devotee offers to her god. To such a divine height the level of her love from her beloved is exalted.

 She asks him how she loves him. This question comes from her heart of intense love. She does not know the depth her love for him. It is so infinite and boundless like an ocean of love.  Now she counts the ways she can love him. Her love is deep, noble and eternal. Thus she proves that her love has three dimensional nature. Again her love is spiritual and she can attain her salvation only through her love. The very essence of her life is to attain this salvation through the union with her lover. She says that she loves to the level of the simple necessities of daily life such as day and night. Human life on the earth is virtually impossible without the sunlight and the sleep at night. She says that she loves him as men fight for their freedom which is the birth-right of every person and the freedom fighter knows it is his duty to fight for freedom.

 Again she tells her lover that she loves him as people put their heart and soul into the struggle they are doing and they don’t need any praise for their effort, because it is their duty. She further says that her love for him has the passion of her childhood sorrows and faith. Her love for him is as pure and holy as her love for her dead mother and brother in her childhood days. She also tells him that her love for him is so inevitable necessities of life such as her breath, smiles, tears and all her life. Finally while concluding the poem she tells him that if God allows her, she will continue to love him even after her death! She immortalizes her love for her beloved.

Questions

1.       “My soul can reach, when feeling out ofsight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace”  - Explain

2.      – and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death” – Who is the speaker and to whom the speech is delivered and why?

3.      “I love thee freely, as men stgrive for Right;

  I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise” - Explain

LONGING                                                                                       MATTHEW ARNOLD

Matthew Arnold is a great English poet, critic and essayist. His most famous critical works are ‘Essays in Criticism’ and ‘Culture and Anarchy’.  ‘Longing’ is a beautiful love poem written by Matthew Arnold.  It expresses the lover’s intense longing (desire) for the presence of his beloved. The narrator asks his lady love to come to him in his dreams so that all his worries and miseries he suffered during the day can be eliminated and he will be happy and cheerful.  He invites her to come to him as she had come to him a thousand times in his dreams in the past and she came to him like a messenger from heaven!

The narrator tells her that she is kind to others and therefore he wants the same kindness from her. He wants that she must show her kindness to him by visiting him in his dreams at night so that the hopelessness of the day can be compensated. Now the narrator tells her that her visit to him at night was only a dream and not real! So he wants her to prove that she is real. Therefore she should come to him at night and part or comb his hair and kiss his face and must say ‘My love why are you suffering?’ Only then the narrator can believe that she is not a mere dream but real one.  “And let me dream it truth” means the intensity of the narrator’s desire for the presence of his dear one.

Questions

1.      “Come to me in my dreams, and then

By day I shall be well again!    - Explain

2.      “Or, as thou never cam’st in sooth,

Come now, and let me dream it truth” – Who is the speaker and to who he is talking?

                                                            Why didn’t she come to him in the past?

When We Two Parted                                                            Lord Byron

‘When We Two Parted’ is a famous love poem written by Lord Byron, who is a great English poet and satirist. This love poem belongs to ‘break up’ or ‘missing you’ love poem. Lord Byron was one of the most representative of Romantic poets in English literature. In this poem ‘When We Two Parted’ the narrator tells us how he was jilted by the infidelity of his beloved.

The narrator of the poem is a man who loves his dear one in secret. But she has deceived him and the narrator suffers mental conflict of love and hatred for his lady love. The narrator still loves her in silence. He says that when they two parted in silence and tears. When she gave him the parting kiss, he felt her cheek pale and grew cold. It shows her guilty conscience. But the narrator did not understand. Later people talked to him about her and only then did he realize that she has betrayed him. It was like a death-knell for him. But she is still his darling and he cannot forget her love. Thus the narrator suffers severe mental pain because he is divided between his intense love and hate for her. In silence he grieves because she can easily forget her deception and he cannot. Still he loves her and he says that if he should meet her after long years, he will certainly greet her with silence and tears.

Questions 1.   “Truly that hour foretold

                        Sorrow to this! – That hour foretold what?  Why the speaker is sad?

             

                   2.  “In secret we met:

                      In silence I grieve”  Who is the speaker and what is the reason for his grief?

    3.”They name thee before me,

        A knell to mine year;” – Explain

Kjt/26-01-2014

FILMING INDIA Mrinal Sen

Mrinal Sen is one of India’s most politically active filmmakers. He is a Bengali by birth and Calcutta is the centre point of most of his films. His films have received several awards including the National Film Award four times. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan. In 2005 he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. “Always Being Born” is the name of his autobiography. In this interview with Ramin Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian philosopher and Gandhi scholar, Mrinal Sen speaks about his films. He gave a new sense of direction to the Indian cinema.  Contemporary issues, social conflicts, problems of bureaucracy, corruption, complexity of middleclass urban life are given importance in his films.

Mrinal Sen says that he is a filmmaker by accident. When he was young, he was not at all interested in cinema. He was interested in literature and was a voracious reader and used to visit the National Library in Calcutta. There he happened to read a book on the aesthetics and sociology of cinema. It was an accidental beginning and he fell in love with the aesthetics of cinema. In a few months he read a lot of books on cinema and thought of himself highly educated and started visiting the city theatres and also studied a lot of world famous cinemas through foreign consulates and Calcutta Film Society. Then he began to write on the aesthetics, philosophy and social relevance of cinema. Then he became interested in Soviet cinema and neo-realism of post-war Italian cinema. In 1956 he produced his first Bengali film “Raat Bhor”, but it was a failure.

 His second film is “Nil Akasher Niche”. It is about a Chinese hawker selling ‘cheena silk’. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India appreciated the film for its political content. It depicted our national struggle against colonial rule and also the democratic world’s fight against fascism.

 There was long debate between Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray, another great filmmaker of India on the technical aspect and the trappings of realism in Mrinal Sen’s film “Akash Kusum”. The debate appeared in the Statesman’ published from Kolkata. The debate went on for two months and finally it was nobody’s gain, nobody’s loss. The edited version of the controversy appeared in a special edition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The interviewer asks Mrinal Sen whether he is called “a Calcutta Filmmaker”. Mrinal Sen answers that he learned everything about cinema in the streets of Calcutta. Like any other Bengali, Mrinal Sen also dangerously in love with Calcutta and this great city has been the breeding ground of many of his films. He finds Calcutta buyont, creative, erratic, even hopelessly disengaged where, at times, life gets paralysed because of overpopulation, traffic jams, excess of monsoon or political passion.

 Mrinal Sen describes an Indian filmmaker for the subject matter and form of his films. By nationality he should be an Indian. Whether his films are made in India or abroad, will have plenty of features to familiarise the audience with. They are outfits, food habits, local customs, regional rituals, modes of expression, the language spoken, body language and so on. Only then the audience of India should familiarise with the film, fall in love with until a kind of respect is developed for the circumstances in which the characters live, love and grow or perish.

 Mrinal Sen depicted the complexity of middle class urban life in his three films namely “Ek Din Pratidin, “Kharij” and “Ekdin Achanak”. Ekdin Prithidin tells the story of a decent but poor family in Calcutta. One of the daughters is the only bread winner of the family goes to work daily and comes late deadly tired. One night she does not return home. All the members are anxious, searched every- where but useless. She never returns. The story ends here. The film was a tremendous success. But many working women mobbed Sen and asked him what happened to the girl? Has anything wrong happened to her?. They liked the film, they loved it, and yet they had the question. One evening an elderly, respectable man asked in an angry tone in English “ Mr Sen, it is important that we know.  what happened to the woman”. Sen replied him politely in Bengali “My dear sir, I made this film for you. For you to watch and suffer”. Sen told him that if the gentleman asked Sen again, he too did not know himself and he did not want to. Sen wanted people of Calcutta should suffer the pain of that poor, decent family in the film “Ek din Pratidin” and only then laws will be made by government to prevent such social evils like kidnapping poor working girls by mafias and rowdies in the city.

 In the year 1996 Mrinal Sen made his film “Genesis” within the limitations of a simple parable, which has only four characters. “Wretched are the poor and the meek because they shall not inherit the Earth” is the parable. It is the story of the growth, development, and decay of a civilization. Jean Claude Carriere, the great French screen writer and actor made an interpretation of the film which is very interesting. “Two birds are flying with a fatty worm. A hunter follows them. Someone asks why he doesn’t kill them. The hunter answers that he is waiting for them to fight.” This is the true nature of the exploiter and the rest is history repeating.

Mrinal Sen says that the task of the non-conformists among the film makers is to break the man-made walls of religion, caste, economy classes that the conservatives have preserved through their films like Ek din Pratidin, Calcutta-71 and Bhuvan Shome. Our society is a conformist society full of conservatives and they encourage only conformist film makers who depict popular films with conformist ideas. So the films of non-conformist film makers are utter failures because they question, fight and confront with the social evils.

Mrinal Sen’s Culcutta Trilogy is a political statement and a critical analysis of the contradictions and paradoxes of Indian society. The three films are “Interview”, Calcutta-71 and “Padatik (the foot-soldier)”. Through the film “interview” Mrinal Sen shows us the colonial attitudes and norms that exist in Indian society which are preventing the growth and development. A young Bengali borrows a suit to attend an interview for a job in a company. He doesn’t like wearing the European dress and he prefers Bengali dress. But he is forced to wear a suit. There is a cleaner’s strike but he somehow gets the suit cleaned and goes home. On the way he lost the suit in a massive street demonstration. Finally he goes to the interview but he doesn’t get the job as he was not in suit. In ‘Calcutta-71’, shows a set of different stories on poverty and exploitation. Mrinal Sen shows the dirty fearful face of poverty in this film. Mrinal Sen says that other film makers have always tried to make poverty respectable and dignified. But the real picture of poverty is painful, dirty and horrible. Padatik (the foot-soldier) is the story of a young extremist who escapes from police custody and is sheltered by the party. But he questions the party leadership. He is very loyal to the spirit of the movement and learns that in many situations party leaders make mistakes.

Kjt/24-11-2012

FILMING INDIA Mrinal Sen

Mrinal Sen is one of India’s most politically active filmmakers. He is a Bengali by birth and Calcutta is the centre point of most of his films. His films have received several awards including the National Film Award four times. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan. In 2005 he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. “Always Being Born” is the name of his autobiography. In this interview with Ramin Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian philosopher and Gandhi scholar, Mrinal Sen speaks about his films. He gave a new sense of direction to the Indian cinema.  Contemporary issues, social conflicts, problems of bureaucracy, corruption, complexity of middleclass urban life are given importance in his films.

Mrinal Sen says that he is a filmmaker by accident. When he was young, he was not at all interested in cinema. He was interested in literature and was a voracious reader and used to visit the National Library in Calcutta. There he happened to read a book on the aesthetics and sociology of cinema. It was an accidental beginning and he fell in love with the aesthetics of cinema. In a few months he read a lot of books on cinema and thought of himself highly educated and started visiting the city theatres and also studied a lot of world famous cinemas through foreign consulates and Calcutta Film Society. Then he began to write on the aesthetics, philosophy and social relevance of cinema. Then he became interested in Soviet cinema and neo-realism of post-war Italian cinema. In 1956 he produced his first Bengali film “Raat Bhor”, but it was a failure.

 His second film is “Nil Akasher Niche”. It is about a Chinese hawker selling ‘cheena silk’. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India appreciated the film for its political content. It depicted our national struggle against colonial rule and also the democratic world’s fight against fascism.

 There was long debate between Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray, another great filmmaker of India on the technical aspect and the trappings of realism in Mrinal Sen’s film “Akash Kusum”. The debate appeared in the Statesman’ published from Kolkata. The debate went on for two months and finally it was nobody’s gain, nobody’s loss. The edited version of the controversy appeared in a special edition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The interviewer asks Mrinal Sen whether he is called “a Calcutta Filmmaker”. Mrinal Sen answers that he learned everything about cinema in the streets of Calcutta. Like any other Bengali, Mrinal Sen also dangerously in love with Calcutta and this great city has been the breeding ground of many of his films. He finds Calcutta buyont, creative, erratic, even hopelessly disengaged where, at times, life gets paralysed because of overpopulation, traffic jams, excess of monsoon or political passion.

 Mrinal Sen describes an Indian filmmaker for the subject matter and form of his films. By nationality he should be an Indian. Whether his films are made in India or abroad, will have plenty of features to familiarise the audience with. They are outfits, food habits, local customs, regional rituals, modes of expression, the language spoken, body language and so on. Only then the audience of India should familiarise with the film, fall in love with until a kind of respect is developed for the circumstances in which the characters live, love and grow or perish.

 Mrinal Sen depicted the complexity of middle class urban life in his three films namely “Ek Din Pratidin, “Kharij” and “Ekdin Achanak”. Ekdin Prithidin tells the story of a decent but poor family in Calcutta. One of the daughters is the only bread winner of the family goes to work daily and comes late deadly tired. One night she does not return home. All the members are anxious, searched every- where but useless. She never returns. The story ends here. The film was a tremendous success. But many working women mobbed Sen and asked him what happened to the girl? Has anything wrong happened to her?. They liked the film, they loved it, and yet they had the question. One evening an elderly, respectable man asked in an angry tone in English “ Mr Sen, it is important that we know.  what happened to the woman”. Sen replied him politely in Bengali “My dear sir, I made this film for you. For you to watch and suffer”. Sen told him that if the gentleman asked Sen again, he too did not know himself and he did not want to. Sen wanted people of Calcutta should suffer the pain of that poor, decent family in the film “Ek din Pratidin” and only then laws will be made by government to prevent such social evils like kidnapping poor working girls by mafias and rowdies in the city.

 In the year 1996 Mrinal Sen made his film “Genesis” within the limitations of a simple parable, which has only four characters. “Wretched are the poor and the meek because they shall not inherit the Earth” is the parable. It is the story of the growth, development, and decay of a civilization. Jean Claude Carriere, the great French screen writer and actor made an interpretation of the film which is very interesting. “Two birds are flying with a fatty worm. A hunter follows them. Someone asks why he doesn’t kill them. The hunter answers that he is waiting for them to fight.” This is the true nature of the exploiter and the rest is history repeating.

Mrinal Sen says that the task of the non-conformists among the film makers is to break the man-made walls of religion, caste, economy classes that the conservatives have preserved through their films like Ek din Pratidin, Calcutta-71 and Bhuvan Shome. Our society is a conformist society full of conservatives and they encourage only conformist film makers who depict popular films with conformist ideas. So the films of non-conformist film makers are utter failures because they question, fight and confront with the social evils.

Mrinal Sen’s Culcutta Trilogy is a political statement and a critical analysis of the contradictions and paradoxes of Indian society. The three films are “Interview”, Calcutta-71 and “Padatik (the foot-soldier)”. Through the film “interview” Mrinal Sen shows us the colonial attitudes and norms that exist in Indian society which are preventing the growth and development. A young Bengali borrows a suit to attend an interview for a job in a company. He doesn’t like wearing the European dress and he prefers Bengali dress. But he is forced to wear a suit. There is a cleaner’s strike but he somehow gets the suit cleaned and goes home. On the way he lost the suit in a massive street demonstration. Finally he goes to the interview but he doesn’t get the job as he was not in suit. In ‘Calcutta-71’, shows a set of different stories on poverty and exploitation. Mrinal Sen shows the dirty fearful face of poverty in this film. Mrinal Sen says that other film makers have always tried to make poverty respectable and dignified. But the real picture of poverty is painful, dirty and horrible. Padatik (the foot-soldier) is the story of a young extremist who escapes from police custody and is sheltered by the party. But he questions the party leadership. He is very loyal to the spirit of the movement and learns that in many situations party leaders make mistakes.

Kjt/24-11-2012

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE DANIEL GOLEMAN

Daniel Goleman is an author, psychologist and science journalist. His most famous book titled “Emotional Intelligence” was published in the year 1995.  He is the founder of SEL movement (Social and Emotional Learning) which aims at developing life skills in children by imparting emotional literacy. His next book titled “Working with Emotional Intelligence” was published in 1998. His latest book is titled “Ecological Intelligence”.  Times magazine lists “Ecological Intelligence” as one of the 10 ideas changing the world right now.

Daniel Goleman says that two great scientists Paul Ekman and Seymour Epstein have introduced a scientific model of the emotional mind. Paul Ekman is the head of the Human Incisco and Seymour Epstein, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts in the US. They say that most of our words and deeds have been emotionally driven. In our day to day life we are reasonable at one moment and very irrational next moment. The scientific model of the emotional mind explains that most of our works are being done emotionally.

The emotional mind differs from the rational mind in various ways. The emotional mind is far quicker than the rational mind. The emotional mind comes from the heart and jumps into action so quickly that there is no time for thinking. The great advantage of an emotional mind is that it can understand an emotional reality in brain time. On the other hand rational mind is slow to act because it takes time to think and analyse the situation properly. Thus the hall mark of emotional mind is its speed or quickness. This quality of emotional mind to observe dangers around him in a split of second (brain time) makes man superior to all other creatures in the universe. Thus the emotional mind is our radar for danger. This is why our forefathers survived the dangers in old times.

There is also a second kind of emotional reaction, slower than the quick response. This is called the second pathway. It comes from the brain whereas the first quick emotion comes from the heart. This second pathway of emotions is very slow, rational and there is thought-cognition play.  And a fitting emotional response follows. Ex. “That taxi driver is cheating me”, “This baby is adorable” etc. This is the attitude of the rational mind which is slow but thoughts-cognition play is the most important element of it.

Daniel Goleman says that there is a third kind of emotional reaction which is called “bidden emotions”. These types of emotions are used by actors. They use “intentionally manipulated feelings”. This is the stock-in-trade of actors, like tears that come when sad memories are intentionally made for their effect on the stage. Feeling through thinking (thoughts-cognition play).This is also called rational mind.  Actors can easily make reflections of various emotions on their faces and actions as they liked, but we cannot bring such emotions so easily because we think and response accordingly. We cannot act. Rational mind usually does not decide what emotions we should reflect on our face and actions. Instead our feelings come to us without our consent. The feelings are naturally appeared even without our knowledge. But actors can bring various feelings at their will.  This is the difference between intentionally manipulated feeling and slow paths to emotions.

Daniel Goleman says that emotional intelligence can be used for the benefit of individual and society. EI can be used as social skill. It is called “emotional judo”. It is our ability to calm distressing emotions in others such as anger, sorrow, disappointment etc. We should be able to distract the angry person, empathize with his feelings and take him to an alternative focus that enables him a more positive range of feeling. To be successful in life, one requires the effective awareness, control and management of one’s own emotions and those of other people. Emotional intelligence includes four types of abilities. They are (a) perceiving emotions in faces, pictures and voices. (b) Using emotions to various cognitive activities such as thinking and problem solving. (c) Understanding emotions or emotion language in complicated relationships and (d) managing emotions in both ourselves and in others. Emotional intelligence is connected with concepts of love and spirituality, bringing compassion and humanity to work.

Aikido is a kind of martial art just like “Karate”, Kalarippayattu etc. Aikido is originated in Japan. All kinds of martial arts are used only for self- defence. It should not be misused for attacking others. Aikido is the art of reconciliation.  This martial art should not be misused for taking revenge upon others. These are principles behind the use of the martial art Aikido.

Daniel Goleman the great psychologist and science journalist narrates an anecdote as an example for the emotional brilliance- how an old Japanese skilfully handled a drunkard using the fine art of emotional intelligence which is called “emotional judo”.  Terry Dobson went to Tokyo to learn the martial art Aikido. One day while he was returning home on a train, a drunken labourer was very violent and began to disturb the passengers. Terry was ready to fell the drunk in a moment if he made violence. An old Japanese man showed emotional brilliance. He talked to the drunkard, showed sympathy to him and empathised with his feelings and asked him to sit beside him. The drunken labourer was at first surprised and shouted back to the old man angrily. But the old man continued to speak to him cheerfully and told him that every evening he and his wife drank “sake” in the garden. They sat under the persimmon tree in his backyard. Slowly the drunk’s face began to soften as he listened to the old man and said that he also loved persimmon tree. The old man replied in a sprightly voice “ and I am sure you have a wonderful wife”. This time the labourer said that his wife died and he began to tell him his sad story and sobbed. The old man comforted him. They continued to talk and finally the drunk rested his head in the old man’s lap when Terry Dobson got down at his stop. The fine art of emotional intelligence is far greater a weapon in emergency than any type of martial arts and physical strength!

Paul Ekman has made great contributions to the understanding of emotions. He has developed a scientific model of the emotional mind and this system explains that most of human actions are emotionally driven. Sometimes man is highly reasonable in his words and deeds and the next moment he is very irrational.  He says that the emotional mind is quicker than rational mind and even without our knowledge the emotions are developed into action and they can read an emotional reality in brain time and they are highly adapted to the emotional situation. Paul Ekman has developed a system for detecting emotions from minute changes in facial expressions. Using this system he can track micro-emotions such as anger, fear, threat etc. that flash across the face in less than half second. Similarly the physiological changes of a given emotion also take only fractions of a second. He says that the full heat of an emotion is very brief, lasting just seconds because it is very dangerous for the human health to last an emotion for more than a second. If the intense emotion is continued for a long time, our feelings would be poor guides to action. By developing our emotional intelligence, we can be more productive and successful and help others to be more productive and successful in life.

My dear student, Study this note well. I have answered all the questions in your text page 60-61. Prepare your own answers and I wish you all success in this exam and also in your life. May God bless you and your family members! Kjt/16-03-2013