Thinking Activity: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Hello Readers!

Welcome to my blog! In our syllabus we had a very Interesting and Complex novel 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'' written by Arundhati Roy.  Dilip Barad Very interestingly taught this novel. Click here to learn more about  characters of the novel and summary of the  novel. Thinking Activity Task on the Novel ''The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'' givan by Dr Dilip Barad. 

 👉Q : 1 Political Issues in the Novel 

The novel 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'engages in many political and social incidents that have occurred in India and other parts of the world at the backdrop of its story. It is full of allusions to many political figures, political issues, events, and incidents that have occurred in the past fewdecades in India and around the world. The present paper attempts to examine the political overtones implicit inthe novel by decoding and explaining a few significant allusions used in the novel.

👉Political Issues 

1. Anti- Corruption Movement of 2011 ( Anna Hazare Movement)

2. Bhopal Gas Tragedy 

3. 2002 Gujarat Riots

4. 2004 State elections in Gujrat and General Elections of India

5. Una Violence 

6. The Emergency of 1975

👉Characters with real life political figures

1. Lisping Poet Prime Minister - Atal Bihari Vajpayee

2. Gujarat's Beloved (Lalla)- Narendra Modi

3. Tubby Old Gandhian - Anna Hazare

4. Mr. Aggarwal - Arvind Kejriwal

5. Trapped Rabbit - Manmohan Singh

The novel is a political novel which questions the socio-political situation in India.  Anjum at the centre of various narratives in the novel, Roy has empathized with the sufferers of numerous incidents that happened in India, be it National Emergency, Godhra Kand, Cow Lynching or Bhopal Gas tragedy. Through this novel, Roy has also implicitly criticized the political atmosphere of India. The Narendra Modi Government is central to her criticism but the Manmohan Government is also not spared. An author always takes liberty in delineating the socio-political condition of a place about which s/he intends to write and in doing so s/he may either demean or overstate any issue. Arundhati Roy has done this at many places in her novel, where the harmony of India has been shown under threat under the rule of Modi government. In the capacity of a novelist, Arundhati Roy has the freedom to use allusion in her work and she has made wonderful allusions to political incidents and people in the present novel to serve her purpose. The allusions discussed and explained in this article will help a reader in understanding Roy’s novel in a better way.

👉Q : 2 Gender Concerns in the novel.

The naturalized binary gender classification is critiqued in the novel through the life story of Anjum born as Aftab. Aftab Suffered from hermaphrodite Identity. Aftab was born as the son of Jahanara Begum and Mulaqat Ali in Khwabgah. The sexual identity of the child terrifies the mother and she does not unravel it even to her husband for some time. Both expected a baby boy but quite contrary to their conventional expectations it was neither a boy nor a girl. Jahanara Begum thought, "In Urdu, the only language she knew, all things-carpets, clothes, books, pens, and musical instruments had a gender.

Is it possible for a mother to be terrified of her own baby? Jahanara Begum was. 

Her first reaction was to feel her heart constrict and her bones turn to ash. Her second reaction was to take another look to make sure she was not mistaken. Her third reaction was to recoil from what she had created while her bowels convulsed and a thin stream of shit ran down her legs. Her fourth reaction was to contemplate killing herself and her child. Her fifth reaction was to pick her baby up and hold him close while she fell through a crack between the world she knew and worlds she did not know existed. 

Everything was either masculine or feminine, man or woman. Everything except her baby" [5]. She considered this as quite contradictory to live separate with language or conventional notions of life. Fausto Sterling expresses a similar idea when she states "European and American culture is deeply devoted to the idea that there are only two sexes. 

Q : 3 Environmental Concerns in the novel/ Ecofeminist Studies. 

 Environmental issues raised by Roy in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Issues ranging from Indian vulture crises, deforestation, dismal condition of migrants and quarry workers, predicament of captivated zoo animals, deficient health facilities. scum-laden rivers, mushrooming slums, mounting poverty, speedily increasing dumping grounds,unplanned urbanization, unrestricted consumer indulgence, enslavement of Adivasi (tribal) girls and genetic modification have been comprehensively studied. She writes to inspire action and encourage her readers to participate in the process of nation-building and for creating a more sustainable planet.

At magic hour, when the sun has gone but the light has not, armies of flying foxes unhinge themselves from the Banyan trees in the old graveyard and drift across the city like smoke. When the bats leave, the crows come home. Not all the din of their homecoming fills the silence left by the sparrows that have gone missing, and the old white-backed vultures, custodians of the dead for more than a hundred million years, that have been wiped out. The vultures died of diclofenac poisoning. Diclofenac, cow-aspirin, given to cattle as a muscle relaxant, to ease pain and increase the production of milk, works – worked – like nerve gas on white-backed vultures. Each chemically relaxed, milk-producing cow or buffalo that died became poisoned vulture-bait. As cattle turned into better dairy machines, as the city ate more ice cream, butterscotch-crunch, nutty-buddy and chocolate-chip, as it drank more mango milkshake, vultures’ necks began to droop as though they were tired and simply couldn’t stay awake. Silver beards of saliva dripped from their beaks, and one by one they tumbled off their branches, dead. Not many noticed the passing of the friendly old birds. There was so much else to look forward to.

In the very beginning of the novel Roy write about the Vultures who has died from dangerous diseases of Diclofenac. Roy also said that Vultures is a our old friend here she connected with mythical  story Ramayana. 

Q : 4 Narrative Pattern in the novel. 

''The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'' was a very complex novel. The narration of the novel divided into the for part. First parts was 'Jannat Graveyard'' Graveyard name given ''Jannat'' Jannat means paradise perpetual happiness. The Ministry of Graveyard. Book cover pages seems like Graveyard.

Second part was Khwabgah. Khwabgah means place of dream. In this novel 'Duniya' word used. Third part was a 'Jantar Mantar'. Many political movement happened in India was a mention in this part. Fourth part was a 'Kashmir'. The Narrative style in this part is first person narrative. The narration done by Biplab Das Gupta. Final part of the novel is a 'Guih Kyon'. 

In the concluding part of the novel Tilo had written the poem.

 How

          to

          tell

               a

  Shattered 

                    Story?

                               By

                                   Slowly 

                                              becoming 

   everyday 

                                    No.

                                    By slowly becoming everything. 

IMAGES CITATION 

GAUTAM, ROHIT. “Anti-Corruption Movement .” Be, www.behance.net/gallery/35981153/Anti-Corruption-Movement-in-India. 

GOYAL, SHIKHA. “Bhopal Gas Tragedy: All You Need to Know .” Jagran Josh, 3 Dec. 2019, m.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/amp/bhopal-gas-tragedy-1575289409-1. Accessed 3 Dec. 2019. 

JOURNAL CITATION 

Maurya, Prashant. Political Overtones and Allusions in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, vol. 10, no. 03, Sept. 2019, pp. 829–839., doi:10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00137.2.

Suleman, Danish. "Political and Gender Issues in Arundhati Roy’s "TheMinistry of Utmost Happiness"Masalah Politik dan Gender dalam Arundhati Roy "The Ministryof Utmost Happiness"." ReserchGate (2020): 8.

Book Citation: 

Roy, Arundhati. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. 2017.

Thank you...

Research and Dissertation Writing Workshop

 Hello Readers!

Welcome to my blog . 4th January, 2020 we had workshop on Research and Dissertation Writing. This workshop helps us in selecting our dissertation topic and how to write dissertation and what things will most important in dissertation. Our today's resource person were Dilip Barad sir and Ndoricimpa Clement sir. This workshop was helpful to us.

This are the objectives of  workshop :

👉Objective of the Workshop 

This workshop is intended to help us for Dissertation Writing. 

1. Understand what is involved in research 

2.Select an appropriate research topic 

3. Select and define a research problem. 

Select appropriate research method and design 

Organize and write a Dissertation and understand the style of argumentation 

1. Concept of Research. 

Research is an organized , scientific and systematic investigation of truth about a particular subject or about things no-one else knew(William, 2011). Research is also a scientific investigation to solve problems to test hypothess and develop new knowledge.  

👉Research is scientific 

Research is scientific because it use scientific method by making an interesting use of inductive- deductive reasoning. 

• Inductive- Deductive reasoning follows the process below 

1. Identification and clarification of the problem 

2. Developing hypothesis Inductively from observation. 

3. Charting is implications by deductions 

4. Practical and theoretical testing of the hypothesis 

5. Rejecting and redefining it in the light of the results. 

👉Research is systematic 

Research is systematic because is follows certain step that are logically connected. 

1. Understanding the nature of the problem to be studied and identifying the related areas of knowledge. 

2. Reviewing the  literature to understand how others have approached or dealt with the problems. 

3. Connecting Data in organized and control manner so as to arrive at valid decision.

4. Analyzing data appropriate to the problem 

5. Drawing conclusions and making generalization 

 2 . Selection of Topic 

It is recommended to select  a topic that is closely connected to your intellectual interests personal experiences and favourite research areas.

You have to answer the following questions before you undertake to do research. 

• Do have necessary skill to accomplish the study?
• Are research tools and participants accessible to complete this study?
• Am I financially capable to accomplish this work? Is the alloted time sufficient to finalize all the step for research?
• Do I have resources and documents necessary to obtain data?
• Is their availability  of professional in my research who are ready to advise and assist me in the course of research?

👉 Steps in the selection of Topic 

• Established your field and research work on it 
• Identify a practical problem or a Gap/deficiency in existing research 
• Define your proposed research and how it relates to the problem, gap or deficiency. 
• Consider and explain how your proposed research and its contributions to the field. 
• Structure a topic that is as informative and precise as possible. 

👉Characteristics of a  topic for research 

• A good topics should be:

Descriptive and informative: a good title  is well- constructed and concise so the each work carries meaning.  It informs readers about the variables you wants to examines and the adopted research methodology. 

3. Research Process 

• Define research problem.
• Formulate research objective/ questions hypothesis.
• Review concepts and theories and review previous feelings. 
• Research design including sampling techniques. 
• Collect Data. 
• Analyze data.
• Interpret and discuss the feelings. 
• Identify areas for further research. 

👉Defining Research Problem 

• A research problem is based on a question, curiosity, uncertainty, unresolved controversy in the mind of the research regarding some current issues. 

• for example why do some people in tribal communities prefer not to send their daughters to college? what do novelists, playwrights and poets say about it?
• A research problem is based on gap also existing knowledge. 
• There are different forms in which a research problem can be expressed to indicate the method of investigation. 
• One simple way to formulate a research problem is to take a question for example;
• Are school exam results a true test of student's intelligence?
• This question can be broken down into ; what constitutional intelligence?

👉Interpretation and discussion of the findings

• Interpretation and discussion the findings involve answering the research questions formulated for the study, explaining variations in the findings, comparing research findings to previous studies, explaining the findings on basis of some theories.
• Vocabulary often used these findings suggest that..this feelings concern with the finding in the study by x this feelings agree with the theory. 

4. Argumentation strategies in dissertation

• There are different argumentation strategies which can be employed in dissertation to convince other people that your conclusions have some validity, and that the new knowledge that have been created is soundly based.
• These argumentation strategies include referential strategies, predication strategies and legitimization strategies.

5.Writing a dissertation

👉 The structure of a dissertation

1️⃣Introduction

2️⃣Literature review

3️⃣Research methods/theoretical framework for literary studies.

4️⃣Interpretation and discussion of the findings

5️⃣Conclusion.

We have very confused about that how to write dissertation or how to select topic for dissertations. This workshop was much helpful to us for dissertations writing.  Selecting a topic is also difficult task ! Because you should select the topic in which you are interested. Curiosity is must important for writing. Finding Gap is most important in our dissertation. This workshop make things clear in our mind about our dissertation topic and how we are going to put questions in it and how we will give answer to these questions. Thanks to Dilip Barad sir for organizing this one day workshop on research writing & dissertation writing.

Thank you... Department of English for organized such a fruitful Workshop. 

Thinking Activity : Writing Draft

Hello Readers!

Welcome to my blog. I have written about the Writing Draft. This task given by Vaidehi ma'am. 

Writing a Draft

Writing is often challenging for many students because they are trying to do two things at once: putting ideas down on paper and writing in a more formal manner that they may not be familiar with.

If you already created an outline for your essay, it would be easier for you to further develop your ideas and include supporting information found from your research.

 In your first draft: 

• Print out a copy of your outline or have it opened on another screen, if it's helpful. 

• Focus on expressing the ideas roughly into the paper. 

• Don't worry too much about wording, grammar and spelling. You can revise and edit your essay once you have a rough draft.  

• Move on to another section or paragraph or take a break if you get stuck. Return to it later.  

• Review the thesis statement or purpose of your essay from time to time to help you stay focused in your writing.  

• Leave the re-organization of ideas after you complete the draft. It would be easier for you to see their logical sequence and relationships when you can review them from start to finish.  

• Add or remove an idea from your outline if needed. Remember that an outline is intended to provide guidance, not to restrict your thought processes and writing.  

• Include summaries, paraphrases and/or quotations from your research to support your arguments. Include an in-text citation for each information piece to help you keep track of the sources and create your reference list at the end.  

 The First Draft

Do not expect your first draft to be the finished product. The successful research paper is usually the culmination of a series of drafts. Habits, capacities, and practices of writers differ widely. Some indi- viduals write more slowly and come close to a final draft the first time through. Others prefer to work in stages and expect to undertake several drafts. In any case, review and rewriting are always necessary. Plan ahead and leave plenty of time for revision.

You might start off by trying to set down all your ideas in the order in which you want them to appear. Do not be concerned if the writing in the first draft is basty and fai rough. Attempt to stay focused by following your outline closely. Revise the outline, of course, whenever new ideas occur to you and it no longer works. After you complete a rough draft, read it over and try to refine it.

 Subsequent Drafts

In revising, you may add, eliminate, and rearrange material. If a section in the first draft seems unclear or sketchy, you may have to expand it by writing another sentence or two or even a new paragraph. Similarly, to improve the fluency and coherence of the paper, you may need to add transitions between sentences and paragraphs or to add fine connections or contrasts. Delete any material that is irrelevant, unimportant, repetitive, or dull and dispensable. If the presentation of ideas seems illogical or confusing, you may find that you can clarify by rearranging phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs.

In later drafts you should concern yourself with the more mechanical kinds of revision. For example, strive for more precise and economical wording. Try, in addition, to vary your sentence patterns as well as your choice of words. Finally, correct all technical errors, using a standard writing guide to check punctuation, grammar, and use a standard dictionary for the spelling and meaning of words. Your last draft, carefully proofread and corrected, is the text of your research paper.

 Writing with a Word Processor

a. Techniques

If you do not own a computer, see whether your school or public library has personal computers available for student use With a word necessor, you can store a first draft-or just a portion of cne-and later retrieve and revise it. If you create a different file for each draft, you can return to a preceding draft whenever you wish.

Word processing allows for efficient transitions between the various activities related to the research paper. After developing an outline, for instance, you can copy it into a new file, where the outline can serve as the basis for your writing of the text. Or if you created a file of notes for each major topic in your outline (see 1.8.3), you can copy into the text file each topic file in sequence as you write. If your paper will be short and you have taken a few notes, you may choose to copy the entire note fille into the text file. Using this approach, you can scroll up and down the file and transfer what you want into the text of the paper. If your paper will be longer and you have created a separate file for each of numerous sources, you can readily transfer material (e.g., an effective quotation) from a note file to the text file. You might find it easier to print out all your notes before writing the paper and to decide in advance which ones you want to use in the text. In this way, when you retrieve note files, you will know exactly what parts you are seeking.

Another way to proceed is to use split windows or multiple windows to read note iles as you write the paper. When you have completed your final draft, you can simply add the file containing the works cited list to the end of the paper. With practice and planning, then, as you write your paper you can use a word processor strategically to draw on outline, note, and bibliography files that you created earlier in the project.

Most word processors have the following features, which you can use profitably in your writing:

• Global revision. This feature of word processing permits you to search for and automatically change text Thus, if you realize you misspelled the same word several times in your draft, you can correct all the misspellings with a single command.

• Special pasting. If in a word-processing document you paste text that you copied from another document, the pasted inxt may keep its original formatting. Most word processors provide the option of special pesting, in which the pasted text takes on the formatting of the new document.

•  Stared phrases. If you will need to type a complicated phrase 10 repeatedly, store the phrase and assign a shortcut to it. Whenever you type the shortcut, the phrase will be entered.

• Comparing documents. Compare two versions of the document and see how they differ.

• In each entry in the works-cited ast, the first i line is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented. The easiest way to achieve this formatting is to highlight the paragraphs that are for will be) entries and then choose hanging indention in the options for formatting paragraphs.

B. Limitations

Word processing has certain limitations. Since no more than a fixed number of lines of text are visible on a computer screen, you may find it difficult to get a sense of your whole project. Some writers like to print out text regularly to see better how the writing is developing from paragraph to paragraph and from page to page. Use spelling and usage checkers cautiously, for they are only as effective as the dictionaries they contain. On the one hand, a spelling checker will call your attention to wards  that are correctly spelled if they are not in its dictionary. On the other, it will not point out misspellings that match words in the dictionary-for example, their used for there or its for it's

Finally, in working on a computer file, you run the risk of losing it, through a technical mistake, equipment failure, or a power outage. Be sure to save your work frequently (after writing a page or so), not just when you finish it or leave the computer. It is also a good ideal to keep a paper copy of your writing and to create a backup file in case something happens to the file you are using to prepare the paper. Most important of all, love yourself ample time to cope with any technical problems that may arise.

The Final Draft and the Research Project Portfolio

All instructors require szimission of the final draft of the research paper. Some instructors ask students to prepare and submit a research project portfolio, which documents the evolution of the paper. The portfolio might contain such items as the approved thesis statement. the final outline, an early draft, an early draft the final draft.

SUMMING UP

Research papers are normally composed through a series of drafts. The first draft is usually rough, and subsequent drafts are increasingly refined revisions of the original version. A word processor is useful for writing research papers, although it has some limitations as well. The assignment concludes with the submission of the final draft or of a research project portfolio.

Translation Studies Workshop : Vishal Bhadani

Workshop on Translation Studies By Vishal Bhadani

On 3rd January 2022 we have attended workshop on translation study at the department of English M.K.BhavnagerUniversity. We have a paper in our syllabus of : Comparative Literature and Translation Studies so this workshop is helpful to us to understand more in this field. Our guest speaker Vishal Bhadani sir tells us about his love story with translationh. 

Vishal Bhadani 

Mr. Vishal Bhadani holds MA in English, M.Phil in Applied Linguistics. His area of interest is Translation Studies, Resistance Literature and ELT. He has published articles in the domains of Language, Translation, Drama, Film studies etc. As a translator, he has contributed in translating National Institute of Opening Schooling textbooks, Report on Best Education Practices, London University, Post 1970 Gujarati Plays on Social Change under UGC-SAP-DRS-II programme etc. He has been part of preparing training modules for RMSA, GSHEB, Gandhinagar and trained the teacher trainers. After teaching at the Department of English and Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Department of English, Faculty of Arts, The M S University of Baroda, Department of English, Indian Institute of Teacher Education (a state university), Gandhinagar, currently he is teaching Communication Skills and CPD at MEFGI, Rajkot.

Definition of Translation Studies

Translation Studies is the field of study that deals with the theory, description, and application of translation. Because it examines translation not only as interlingual transfer but also as intercultural communication, it can also be described as an interdiscipline which touches on other diverse fields of knowledge, including comparative literature, cultural studies, gender studies, computer science, history, linguistics, philosophy, rhetoric, and semiotics. Translation Studies is often paired with Interpreting, although the two are distinct fields.

Q  : 1  Can  write about translation in term of Metaphors?

Metaphor can be defined as an indirect comparison between two or more apparently unrelated things or subjects. The point of similarity ‘may be physical but often it is chosen for its connotations’ (Newmark, 1988, p.85).

Vishal Bhadani sir told that Love is one metaphor. He told about his most 7 favorite metaphors for translation Studies.

 

• 1 Metaphor of Ganesha's Head

Vishal sir told about the metaphor of Ganesha's Head. In this visual we can see that the shiva put the Head of Elephant on Ganesha's head so here the had of ganesha was not original but similar head of  elephant . If we can find original word or particular word we can use another similar word 

• Metaphor of Khevat 

We all are familiar with this scene in Ramayan. Rama was sitting and kevat was washed his leg. Here we can see this visual metaphor of translation Studies.  Rama is  a text and Khevat is translator and the lady is a dictionary.  So here dictionary is most important for translation Studies. 

• Metaphor of Nature 

Third metaphor is natur. We can seee the moon in this visual.  The moon's calmness is the translation of the sun's light. 

Q : 2 What according to yoy in the most difficult aspect of practical translation?

Translation of any work it's a very difficult. Vishal sir gave a worksheet to us and we have to translate it. Below the worksheet question which I have try to translate. 

👉 Practical Translation Worksheet 

Translation Task-A Translate in English

Q : ખાલીપો  

Ans : Solitude, 

Translation Task-B Translate in Gujarati 

Q : Eating is same as food - 

Ans :     જમવા અને ખોરાક એક છે.

Translation Task-C

Make most of it

 Ans : મહતમ 

Translation Task-D Translate in English 

આપ શ્રી દ્વારા ઉપરોક્ત પત્રમાં જે રજૂઆત કરવામાં આવી છે તે રજુઆત દેખીતી રીતે ગેરમાર્ગે દોરનારી છે અને અગમ્ય કારણોસર કોઈ ત્રાહિત વ્યક્તિના બદઈરાદાને સીધી રીતે મદદરૂપ કરનારી ફલિત થાય છે

Ans :  The Representation made by you in above latter are obviously misleading.  And resulted in directly helping third person's bad intentions for unknown reason. 

Translation Task-E Translate in English 

સુગ્રીવને સૂચના આપતાં વાનરરાજ બોલ્યા, "ભાઈ, તું આજ સ્થાને કોમી રહેજે એ દુષ્ટને સ્વધામ પહોંચાડી દઈ, હું હમણાં જ પાછો ફરે છે. મને પાછા ફરતાં પંદર દિવસ ઉપર વીતી જાય તો માની લેજે કે આ રાક્ષસ સાથેના સંગ્રામમાં રાક્ષસના ગલ્લે ખતમ થઇ ગયો છું. પણ પદર દિવસ સુધી તો અહીંથી એક તસુ પણ ઘોપાછો ન થતો

Ans : Instructing Sugriva, monkey King said , "Brother just stay here let the evil one go to savdham. I have just returned. If i will take a more time then two week then you considered  I lost both bettel and my life. Main while in those days don't move even a bit.

This was a good experience to me. Word to word we understood and arranged words and translate sentence.

Q : 3 Learning outcomes from workshop 

We learnt many things in this workshop. Vishal sir told that when he was fall in love with translation Studies. 

1 Luck of playfulness in machine translation. 

2  Community across linguistics zones

3. Translation are explolar 

4. Intertextuality

5. Use of visual 

One texts reference comes in another text it's called intertextuality. 

👉Why everyone should fall for translation. 

• Translated is closet reading of the text. - Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak 
• Translation is an epistemological  exercise. 
• Embanced analytical skills.
• Science of knowledge 

👉Idea of translation in India 

• Interpretation 
• Adaption 
• Translation 
• Train- Creation 
• Retelling
• અનુવાદ

👉Myths  Some myths about translation.

1 Untranslatability

• What is untranslatable for me is not Untranslatable for other
• What is Untranslatable now is not Untranslatable forever!

2. Translation is a small industry 

3. Most Translator Translate Books

Some of the largest, segments of the translation market are manufacturing, and financial services. 

4.Machine Translation is crushing the demand for human translation .

5. Translation is either beautiful or faithful. 

👉 Some tips as Professional Translator 

• Translate all kinds documents( legal, Religious, Journalistic , Literature, Technical docs).
• Never translate without dictnever 
• Never bluff
• Read- Re- Read after you translate. 
• Strat with your favorite genre.
• Read variety of books in English (fiction or non- fiction) from different authors.
• Mix all the methods of translation you know. 

 In this workshop on Translation Studies by Vishal Bhadani sir.  We have learned lots many things. Workshop such helpful for us.

Thank you...

Thinking Activity: Themes of the poem ''Piano and Drum''

 Hello Readers!

Welcome to my blog. I have written about the thematic study of the poem ''Piano and Drum''. We have group task about the wrote theme of the three or five poem. This task assigned to Yesha Ma'am. 

''Piano and Drum''

Gabriel Okara, the writer of "Piano and Drum" was born in Bayelsa state, Nigeria in 1921. A novelist and a poet; he was once a civil servant. His poem "Piano and Drums" was well beautified with imagery and symbolism.

The themes of the poem can be divided into three: (1) Childhood reminiscence and its effect (2) Complexity of the present and future (3) Dilemma.

THEMES OF THE POEM, PIANO AND THE DRUMS 

1. Nature

In stanza one, the way the poetic persona expresses the details of the jungle drum depicts his appreciation of the normal natural environment of things.  

2. Childhood Reminiscence and its Effect 

Since the poem is about the poet's experience with two different cultures or lifestyles, the poet used the experience of his village background to depict African culture which he grew up with, while comparing it to his present civilized way of living. The poem speaker was reminded of his/her "primal youth and the beginning" through the quietness of the early to morning river and the echoing forest. While at the riverside, the poem speaker could "hear jungle drums telegraphing/the mystic rhythm..." (Line 2 & 3) and other things like panther, leopard, hunters crouching with poised spears, etc added to his/her memory.

The poem speaker revealed in stanza 2, the effect such reminiscence brought to his/her memory of sitting "in my mother's lap a suckling", "walking simple paths with no innovations", and groping in green leaves with wild flowers in naked hurrying feet. 

3. The Theme of Culture / Conflict 

Culture in Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara In the poem “Piano and Drums” the poet Gabriel Okara depicts and contrasts two different cultures through symbolism of pianos and drums. The Poem is divided into four stanzas. The first two stanzas represent the “drum” culture and the second two stanzas show the “piano” culture. The description of the drums is in two stanzas, but is one sentence long. The first line of the first stanza: ‘When at break of day at a riverside’ Uses trochees to emphasize the deliberate broken rhythm. The stanza has savage words, “bleeding flesh,” “urgent raw,” “leopard snarling,” “spears poised,” to show that this is a primitive culture, one which has dependency on the environment, as is represented by the “hunters crouch with spears poised.” The environment in this culture is physically dangerous, surrounded by wild animals. Drums here are a way of communication, and “jungle drums telegraphing the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw…” shows the way of life in this culture. This is life which is simple, near the beginnings of man. The stanza ... ... middle of paper ... ...with one another, with Drums illustrating primitive behaviour, and a savage, dangerous culture. The connotations of the piano are complex and technical. The piano uses significantly different word sounds, showing that it is learnt, westernized and intricate compared to the drums which is instinctive and naturally acquired, and simple. The poem uses no set rhyme pattern which suits the poem as it has an undecided effect, emphasizing the confusion of the persona over his future. The Themes in Piano and Drums 

4. The Theme of Innocence 

The theme of innocence in the poem is explored in the poem is explored in the depiction of african culture, from the very first line of the poem where we are told that the events take place "at break of day", the idea of innocence is already implied. This is because the day is fresh and uncontaminated by other activities or sounds. The sound heard from the jungle drums are therefore pure and not corrupt, the poem also invokes the idea of innocence. The Themes in Piano and Drums 

5. Dilemma 

The poem speaker concluded that he found himself/herself in dilemma "wandering in the mystic rhythm/of jungle drums and the concerto."(line 28 & 29) because he didn't know which culture to totally embrace. He preferred the simple rural life but it was also impossible to let go of the civilisation he had got unto despite it was complex and confusing.

6. No place like home 

Although, this theme cannot be identified on a surface level in the poem, but, when the poetic persona laments over the confusion that emanates from the contact of the two instruments: piano and drum (African lifestyle and western lifestyle), he shows how comfortable one can be at home with the things and way of life that he is familiar with. There was no confuse when it was all African and their drums until civilization came.

7. Living a Double Standard Lifestyle

 By emphasizing the confusion that comes out from the marriage of the piano and drum sounds, the poetic persona tells us that living two contracting lives can only breed confusion and complexities.

8.Acculturation

The notion of acculturation is brought into the poem with the contact of the piano and the drums. Acculturation is when two distinct cultures meet and start to adopt and absorb each other’s norms. 

9.Complexity of the present and future

How complex, unstable and confusing the present and the upcoming future look were portrayed in the stanza 3 of the poem "Piano and Drums". As said before, Okara preferred his past life to the present that was why he symbolized his rural life with drum, a musical instrument which very easy to learn and operate while he symbolized his civilized modern lifestyle with piano and describe it as complex.

The poem speaker heard "a wailing piano" which symbolised a painful sound which "solo speaking of complex ways" (the confusing present and the unknown future) and such painful sound brought a silent cry which the poem referred to as "in tear-furrowed concerto". In spite of the pain, the poem speaker got "lost in the labyrinth of it complexities" which symbolised the confusing complexity of the future through rough(coaxing) mild(diminuendo) opposite-change(counterpoint) and tough(crescendo).

Citation 

• Tayor. “Piano and Drums Analysis, Themes, Setting, Summary, Symbolism, Subject Matter.” Piano And Drums Analysis, Themes, Setting, Summary, Symbolism, Subject Matter, 20 June 2021, https://www.emmanuel366.com/2021/06/piano-and-drums-analysis-subject-matter.html

• “Themes of Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara.” Themes of Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara ~, https://www.naijapoets.com.ng/2015/06/themes-of-piano-and-drums-by-gabriel.html

Feminism In Kamala Das's poem

 

Title :- Feminism In Kamala Das's poem

Abstract 

Kamala Das is regarded as a one of the remarkable Indo-Anglian women. She established herself as the forerunners of the feminist writers in India.  Her feminine sensibility is the motivating and governing force behind her poems. The idea of Feminism in her writing is derived from the Indian patriarchal society.  We can say that she is very frank and talks about her woman's body and female body. She talks about womanliness and how females are subjugated in society. The paper focuses on Das's complex emotion regarding the system controlling her life and the lives of countless suffering women. The paper  about the women who have pased through a period of frustration, depression, pain and torture. Her poetry strongly expresses feminine sensitivity. 

Keywords:-

Feminism, Gender Issues, Identity, Woomanhood, Women  and Man.

Introduction:-

Kamala Das was a major Indian English poet and literature and at the same time a leading Malayalam author from Kerala, India.  She is known as a Kamala Madhavikutty.Her open and honest treatment of female sexuality, free from any sense of guilt, infused her writing with power, but also marked her as an iconoclast in her generation. On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune, but has earned considerable respect in recent years. 

Feminism is belief in and advocacy of the  political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests. Mostly people thinks that the Feminism against man but feminism is not agaist man or but Feminism is about that man and women should have equal rights and opportunities. 

Feminism in Kamala Das's poem 

In the conversation between P.P.Raveendran and Kamala Das we can find some interesting questions asked by Raveendran and good answers given by Kamala Das.

P.P. Raveendran : In spite of the feminist concerns that can be read off or read into your stories and poems many of your statements are quite critical of feminism.

Kamala  Das : I'll tell you something, Feminism as the westerns see it is different from the feminism I sense within myself. Western feminism is an anti-male stance. I can never hate the male because I have loved my husband and I still love my children, who are sons. And I think from masculine company I have derived a lot of happiness. So I will never be able to hate them. Most of the feminists I met outside the country were lesbians-out and out lesbians. I do not think I'm lesbian. I tried to find out.  I experiment with everything.  I tried to find out our if I were a lesbian, if I could respond to a woman. I failed.  I must speak the truth. I believe that we must abandon a thing if it has no moral foundation whether it be a belief, a political system or a religious system. 

Feminism in poem 'An  Introduction'

Kamala Das's poetry, like the poetry of Shiv K. Kumar, begins in pain and anguish caused by her loss of freedom to live her life, the way she liked. Her best known poem, "An Introduction" sets the tone of her poetry and reveals her mind.

I was a child, and later they Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair. When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door. He did not beat me

But my sad woman-body felt so beaten.

The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me.

I shrank Pitifully.

The above quoted lines suggest the pain and anguish that crushed the poet. This line of An Introduction is interesting as she is placing her own body in one of the categories she rebelled against in the first stanza. It is due to this simplification of a woman as nothing more than a body that led her to marriage at sixteen. She also places blame on her own body for leading her to this place. Her distinctly female parts, “breasts and womb” are a crushing weight on her life. The pressure placed on her by her husband and by her family led to an emotional and mental shrinking. It was a “Pitiful” process. But it ended.

 In our society we can see that man wants the wife who is under him, who blindly follows him and whatever happens she doesn't speak against him, whatever happens she accepts it and doesn't raise her voice to fight against wrong things. Man thinks that they are superior. In married life men have the right to hit women but women speak against wrong things. Then she was hit by her husband and other women also told that She is not a good wife and many things they told her. So in our patriarchal society women were suffering a lot. 

Women Identity 

Kamala Das hates traditional sex roles assigned to women by the patriarchy. In the poem “Introduction” 

Then I wore a shirt and a black sarong, cut my hair short and ignored all of this womanliness.

Dress in sarees, be girl

Be a wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook,

Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh,

Belong, cried the categorizers. Don't sit

On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows.

Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better

Still, be Madhavikutty.

In the poem 'An Introduction' it becomes clear that the speaker is truly meant to be the poet herself. She wonders at her own identity.  Here in this line the speaker talked about women's identity, that women have to wear a saree and behave like a girl or a wife. They don't sit on the walls and they have to cook in the kitchen. But they don't be  like men. 

In the words of K. Satchidanandan, “The woman can not change her body; so the poet changes her dress and tries to imitate men. But the voices of the tradition would force her back into sarees, the saree becoming here a sign of convention. She is pushed back into her expected gender roles: wife, cook, embroiderer, quarreling with servants: the gender role also becomes a class role” (13).

Conversation between P.P.Raveendran and Kamala Das Raveendran asked interesting questions related to her identity. 

P.P.Raveendran : Let me relate this interesting discovery to another question concerning identity. This is about the two names "Kamala Das" and "Madhavikutty" that you used for your English and Malayalam writings respectively. Again there are fellow-bilingual writers like Isak Dinesen and Fernando Pessoa who adopt similar ploys to keep their language identities separate. How would you respond to this?

Kamala Das : I think I was compelled to choose a name because I didn't want to embarrass my conservative family. I knew that I was a misfit within my family. I think I practised writing as people practice a secret vice. Like boys going to the bathroom to smoke. Especially, I didn't want to hurt my grandmother who was my favourite human being. And I don't think she knew that I was Madhavikutty till she died.

Patriarchal Society 

'An Introduction' by Kamala Das womanthe poet's own mental and emotional state as she aged and pushed back against patriarchal society.Kamala Das's love poems are rooted in her defiance of the patriarchal tradition of our country and especially against male dominance. Her frankness in expressing the desire of a woman to fulfill her love makes her a feminist in the western sense of the word. 

The influence of patriarchy is found in all 

Shiv K. Kumar, the well known poet and critic, makes an apt observation in the following lines:

It seems that the past two decades or so have witnessed an unprecedented upsurge of longing for freedom in our women's outlook. They have not only claimed parity with men but have vehemently questioned certain age old social practises and prejudices. This is the predominant theme in Kamala Das's poetry which exposes male chauvinism, its persistent endeavour to play the role of the 'stronger' sex. No wonder, the contemporary woman writer is never tired of articulating her disgust for the insensitive, aggressive male. If there is, therefore, a recurring element of sex in her work, it is more to expose it as form I male dominance than to glorify it. All that Kamala Das is trying to do is to salvage the Indian woman from the sexual exploitation of man, her husband or lover. In one of her early poems, titled "The Freaks'', she portrays her lover as only someone who arouses 'the skin's lazy hungers'.

Conclusion 

Kamladas remarkable feminist poet. Her poems are most readable because she reveals her feelings of anxiety, alienation, meaninglessness, futility, acute sense of isolation, fragmentation and loss of identity. Women live in male dominated society where their individuality, identity and freedom are in question. We can see that women are constantly denied love and passionate satisfaction in their married life. It just fills a woman's life with dissatisfaction and embarrassments. Kamala Das's poetry is about women. She reflects on how women are suffering in male dominance society. 

Reference 

“An Introduction by Kamala Das - An Introduction Poem.” PoemHunter.com, 28 Mar. 2012.

Dr. K. V. Dominic. (2016, January 19). Kamala Das (madhavikutty) kamala suraiyya. Kamala Das (Madhavikkutty) Kamala Suraiyya. Retrieved December 24, 2021.

Kumar, N. Prasantha. Writing the Female: A Study of Kamala Das. Kochi: Bharatiya Sahitya Pratishthan,2018. Print.

Raveendran, P. P., and Kamala Das. “P.P. Raveendran in Conversation with Kamala Das.” Indian Literature, vol. 53, no. 3 (251), Sahitya Akademi, 2009, pp. 64–75.