Toru Dutt (1956 -1877)

Our Casuarina Tree

LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round   In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!  
 The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars,    What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear        
 Up to its very summit near the stars,   Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?  
A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound   It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech,  
 No other tree could live. But gallantly         That haply to the unknown land may reach.  
The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung    
In crimson clusters all the boughs among,   Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!  
 Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee;    Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away        
And oft at nights the garden overflows    In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,  
With one sweet song that seems to have no close,           When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith  
Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.    And the waves gently kissed the classic shore  
  Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,  
When first my casement is wide open thrown   When earth lay trancèd in a dreamless swoon:      
 At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;    And every time the music rose,—before  
 Sometimes, and most in winter,—on its crest   Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,  
A gray baboon sits statue-like alone         Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime  
 Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs   I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.  
His puny offspring leap about and play;    
And far and near kokilas hail the day;   Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay        
 And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;    Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those  
And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast            Who now in blessed sleep for aye repose,—  
By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,   Dearer than life to me, alas, were they!  
The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.    Mayst thou be numbered when my days are done  
  With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,        
But not because of its magnificence   Under whose awful branches lingered pale  
 Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:    “Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,  
 Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,         And Time the shadow;” and though weak the verse  
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,   That would thy beauty fain, oh, fain rehearse,  
 For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.   May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.
Blent with your images, it shall arise  

The poem gives an objective description of the tree and the charm associated with poet's
childhood. It begins with an account of the giant tree with a creeper wrapped around it like a huge
python. It is the centre of busy life of birds and beasts. The tree is depicted as grand and charming. It
has become dear to the poet because of the memories that surround it - memories of a time when
happy children played under its shade. The thought brings out an intense yearning for the
playmates, who are now no more alive. (Here the poet reminisces about her past life, which she
spent in the company of her brother and sister) For their sake, the tree has become a symbol of their
memory. The last stanza unfolds a desire of the poet for the immortality of the tree - May Love
defends thee from Oblivion's curse. In the poem the poet celebrates the beauty and the majesty of
the tree. She uses the medium of the tree to receive her memories of the past. The poet attempts to
recapture the happy time of her childhood in the company of her siblings. She immortalizes those
glorious moments of happiness by recalling the memory of the tree. The emphasis goes beyond that
one tree. In this poem, the poet delicately recaptures the past and binds it to her present. The tree
has been made immortal by Toru Dutt.
The Lotus

Love came to Flora asking for a flower

That would of flowers be undisputed queen,
The lily and the rose, long long had been
Rivals for that high honour. Bards of power
Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower
Like the pale lily with her Juno mien" -
"But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between
Flower fractions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.
"Give me a flower delicious as the rose
And stately as the lily in her pride"-
"But of what colour?"- "Rose red," Love first chose,
Then prayed, - "No, lily-white, - or both provide";
And Flora gave the lotus, "rose red" dyed
And "lily white," queenliest flower that blows

In this poem, Toru Dutt presents the idea that the Indian Lotus is the most beautiful of all
flowers - “the queenliest flower that blows “. For a long time, Lily and Rose had been fighting for the
title 'Queen of flowers.' Each flower with its own support from poets, claimed for the title. At this
time, Goddess of Love came to Goddess Flora asking for a flower, which would be the unchallenged
queen of flowers. She wanted for a flower, which was stately as the Lily and as delicious as the Rose.
Goddess Flora gave God of Love the lotus flower and resolved the long standing quarrel between Lily
and Rose. Great poets supported the flowers according to their wish, and some poets even raised
the doubt if the lily was beautiful than the rose. Lotus combines the redness of the rose with the
paleness of the lily. Goddess Flora created Lotus, which was both rose red and lily white.

‘The Lotus’ is structurally, a Petrarchan sonnet. The poem might well be Toru Dutt’s own reflections
on the differences between Western and European concepts of beauty and the Indian ones. The
lotus is a flower of significance both to Indian and the Hindu religion. We can understand Toru Dutt's
affection for an Indian flower and also she wanted to establish the superiority of Hindu religion over
other religions in the world. As Toru Dutt was brought up and educated abroad, she always turned to
classical mythology to establish her stand.

Lakshman

Toru Dutt’s Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan, published posthumously in 1882,
contain narrative poems dealing with stories from ancient Indian epics. ‘Lakshman’ is one such poem
dealing with a well-known incident in the Ramayana. In a forest Lakshman is entrusted with the duty
of protecting Sita when Rama goes in search of the golden deer. But when Sita listens to Rama’s
voice in distress, she asked Lakshman to go and help his brother. The conversation that follows
between Sita and Lakshman is the theme of the poem.

When Sita listens to the false cry made by the golden deer in the voice of Rama she says to
Lakshman to go to his help. She even accuses him of impious delay. However Lakshman is calm. He is
sure that no force on the face of the earth could bring any harm to the mighty Rama. He continues
that he cannot move from there because he was entrused with the duty of protecting her. However
Sita is adamant and tells him that he should not make her well being a plea for lingering. She even
accuses him of selfish motives. In a highly dramatic manner, she says.
 What makes thee loth to leave this spot?
               Is there a motive thou wouldst hide?

           "He perishes — well, let him die!

               His wife henceforth shall be mine own!
           Can that thought deep imbedded lie
               Within thy heart's most secret zone!

Having listened to these cruel words from Sita, Lakshman decides to go, even though he
knows fully well that in doing so he is disregarding the orders of his brother.

 Sita appears here as ‘foolish and cruel and perverse, but Lakshman is wise and
gentle and understanding.
 Toru Dutt portrays a much humanized Sita with a women’s concern for her
apparently distressed husband.
 Sita’s words also show the insecurity of being left with a man who has all the power
and ability to harm her.
 It is a psychological portrayal of what fear can do to the human mind.

Sarojini Naidu [1879-1949]

The Queen's Rival

The poem The Queen's Rival is taken from The Golden Threshold, the first volume of verse by
Sarojini Naidu.

Queen Gulnaar sat on her ivory bed. Countless treasures were spread around her. The walls
in her chamber were inlaid lavishly with all kinds of precious stones. Her beauty was unparallel and
her apparel was quite suitable to her beauty. But she gazed in her mirror and sighed saying, "O King,
my heart is unsatisfied."

King Feroz bent down from his ebony seat saying, "Is your least desire not fulfilled, my sweet
heart?" He further requested her to express her desire, and he would spend all his life to fulfill her
desire by doing away with the circumstances leading to her dissatisfaction. The queen said, "I am
tired of my beauty; I am tired of my external beauty without substance and happiness. I have no rival
to envy nor there is anyone to dispute my claim of being most beautiful."

Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose, saying, "Give me a rival, King Feroz". King
Feroz spoke to his chief councillor and ordered him to be in the palace before dawn on the following
day. The King ordered him to send messengers over the sea to look for seven beautiful brides for the
former. The King said that the brides should be of glowing beauty and of royal bearing. They should
be fit to be seven ladies in attendance to the Persian Queen.

King Feroz led to Queen Gulnaar's hall seven most attractive beauties in the evening time.
The young Queen Gulnaar like a bright morning star, saw the seven beauties with suspicion. She
recalled the words of the King, "I bring thee a rival, O Queen Gulnaar". She was not satisfied; she
gazed in her mirror and sighed, "O King, my heart is still dissatisfied".
 However, around the Queen's ivory bed, stood seven queens with such stunning beauty that
they looked like a necklace of seven gems of pleasing colours on a silken thread. Furthermore, the
seven queens looked like seven beautiful lamps in a royal tower and seven bright petals of a most
beautiful flower. Yet, Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose and expressed her dissatisfaction,
saying, "King Feroz, where is my rival?"

The spring came. All the forest was aflame with bright coloured flowers. the bees began to
buzz with louder sound and the summer was already at hand. There was excitement in the peach
groves as the orioles began to sing. Against this background, Queen Gulnaar sat on her ivory bed
adorning her delicate hair with precious jewels. She gazed in the mirror and sighed, "O King, my
heart is still dissatisfied".

Queen Gulnaar's two year old daughter was adorned with blue robes with attractive borders
of tassels of gold. The child, like a fairy in a forest rushed to the Queen and snatched the mirror
away. Then the child quickly wore her mother's hair band with fringes of pearls on her own beautiful
curls. Suddenly, with a child-like move, she planted happily a kiss on the mirror. Queen Gulnaar
laughed like a quivering rose, saying, "O King Feroz, look, here is my rival".

To My Fairy Fancies
NAY, no longer I may hold you,
In my spirit's soft caresses,
Nor like lotus-leaves enfold you
In the tangles of my tresses.
Fairy fancies, fly away
To the white cloud-wildernesses,
Fly away!

Nay, no longer ye may linger

With your laughter-lighted faces,
Now I am a thought-worn singer
In life's high and lonely places.
Fairy fancies, fly away,
To bright wind-inwoven spaces,
Fly away!
In this poem, which is addressed to ‘fairy fancies’ the poet tells them that she no longer
holds them in her ‘spirit’s soft caresses”? Nor does she enfold them, like lotus-leaves in the tangles
of her tresses. She asks the fairy fancies to flyaway to the white cloud wilderness. There is no need
for the fairy fancies now to wait on her with their faces bright with laughter, because she had
already become a thought worn singer in life’s high and lonely places. It is time for the fairy fancies
to fly away to bright wind in woven spaces.
British Romantics influenced Sarojini Naidu’s early poetic career to a great extent. But her
poetic preoccupations changed soon. She was convinced that she could no longer be satisfied with
‘tulip buds’ and ‘oriole’s song’. As a freedom fighter, it was not appropriate for her to indulge in
mere fairy fancies. The poem in fact signifies the transition in her poetic career. As such, this is a
poem about her changing preoccupations in poetry and life.

The Pardah Nashin

HER life is a revolving dream
Of languid and sequestered ease;
Her girdles and her fillets gleam
Like changing fires on sunset seas;
Her raiment is like morning mist,
Shot opal, gold and amethyst.

From thieving light of eyes impure,

From coveting sun or wind's caress,
Her days are guarded and secure
 Behind her carven lattices,
Like jewels in a turbaned crest,
Like secrets in a lover's breast.

But though no hand unsanctioned dares

Unveil the mysteries of her grace,
Time lifts the curtain unawares,
And Sorrow looks into her face . . .
Who shall prevent the subtle years,
Or shield a woman's eyes from tears?
The Pardah Nashin (the veiled dancer) lives amidst the splendours of a royal palace. Her life
is a revolving dream of languid and sequestered ease. Her dress is exquisite. Her girdles and her
fillets shine like changing fires on sunset seas. Her dress is as soft as the morning mist and is as bright
as precious jewels. She lives behind caravan lattices and she is always guarded and secure from the
eyes of the strangers and even from natural phenomena like sunlight and wind. Her days spent
indoors are compared by the poet to jewels in a turbaned crest and to secrets in a lover’s breast.
In spite of the fact that nobody would dare unveil the mysteries of her grace, her mind has a
lingering sorrow. As time goes on, she is more and more discontented with her life of sequestered
ease. Sorrow looks right into her face. The poem ends with this rhetorical question: ‘Who shall
prevent the subtle years, or shield a woman’s eyes from tears?’
 The poem is set against the rich and opulent atmosphere of the Persian royal palace
 It gives an insight into the mysterious sorrow in the heart of the dancer
 It is a picture of a prisoner in a golden cage
 Even though the Pardah Nashin has all the material things, the heart remains
unsatisfied, and there is no warmth and emotion to touch the Pardah Nashin and
comfort her in her loneliness.
 The Pardah Nashin is pathetic and yet a true picture of isolated women

VILLAGE SONG
Full are my pitchers and far to carry
Lone is the way
Why, O why was I tempted to tarry
Lured by the boatmen’s song ?
Swiftly the Shadows of Night are falling
Hear, O hear, is the white crane calling,
Is it the wild owl’s cry ?
There are no tender moonbeams to light me,
If in the darkness a serpent should bite me.
or if an evil spirit should smite me,
Ram Re Ram I shall die.
My brother will murmur, ‘why doth she linger ?
My mother will wait and weep,
Saying, O safe may the great gods bring her,
The Jamna’s water rush by so quickly,
The shadows of evening gather so thickly,
Like blackbirds in the sky. . . . .
O! if the storm breaks, what will beside me ?
Safe from the lightening where shall I hide me ?
Unless Thou succor my foot steps and guide me,
Ram Re Ram! I shall die.
The poem is cast in the form of a song sung by a village maiden, who has gone to a
far-off place to fetch water. Attracted by the boatman’s song, she lingers longer in that
distant, lonely spot. Darkness is gathering fast. She is afraid of being harmed by a serpent or
an evil spirit, or getting trapped in a storm or struck by lightning. She also fears that her
brother and mother will be worrying themselves sick. She prays to Lord Ram to guide her
safely back to her home.
The poem is aptly titled ‘Village Song’ because of the mood it evokes and the music and metaphors it generates. In this simple
folk song, the poet cast into English language a picture of typically rural India. The possibilities of snakes hovering around in the swampy
dark area is very natural and commonplace in India and finally comes the superstitious belief of evil spirits which are likely to ‘smite’ a
young maiden in the twilight hours.
Milton’s grand style
An elevated style is a key characteristic of the epic poem, and in this respect, Milton certainly
doesn't allow himself to fall short of Homer or Vergil. Milton purposely writes with a ‘grand syle’.

 The first aspect of his grand style is the number of allusions and references to
classical myth, to history and literature, to biblical mythology and contemporary
literature, many of which seem obscure, along with the arcane and archaic vocabulary
 Milton’s style is also marked with extreme condensation and terseness of expression.
He packs his meanings into the fewest possible words.
 Besides the references and vocabulary, Milton also tends to use Latinate
constructions. His use of words in their original Latin sense, Latin constructions and
inversions is not pedantry or vulgar show of knowledge.
 Another aspect of Milton's style is the extended simile. The use of epic similes goes
back to Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, but Milton uses more similes and with more
detail. A Miltonic simile can easily become the subject of an essay, perhaps a book.
Milton intended to write in "a grand style." That style took the form of numerous
references and allusions, complex vocabulary, complicated grammatical constructions, and
extended similes and images. In consciously doing these things, Milton devised a means of
giving the written epic the grandeur of the original recited epic. In so doing, he created an
artificial style that very few writers could hope to emulate though many tried. As with the
unique styles of William Faulkner and James Joyce, Milton's style is inimitable also
inimitable

Summary

With Raphael’s departure for Heaven, the story no longer consists of conversations between
heavenly beings and humankind. Milton explains that he must now turn to Adam and Eve’s actual act
of disobedience. The poem must now turn tragic, and Milton asserts his intention to show that the fall
of humankind is more heroic than the tales of Virgil and Homer. He invokes Urania, the “Celestial
Patroness” (IX.21) and muse of Christian inspiration, and asks for her to visit him in his sleep and
inspire his words, because he fears he is too old and lacks the creative powers to accomplish the task
himself. He hopes not to get caught up in the description of unimportant items, as Virgil and Homer
did, and to remain focused on his ultimate and divine task.

Satan returns to the Garden of Eden the night after Raphael’s departure. Satan’s return comes
eight days after he was caught and banished by Gabriel. He sneaks in over the wall, avoiding Gabriel
and the other guards. After studying all the animals of the Garden, Satan considers what disguise he
should assume, and chooses to become a snake. Before he can continue, however, he again hesitates
—not because of doubt this time, but because of his grief at not being able to enjoy this wondrous
new world. He struggles to control his thoughts. He now believes that the Earth is more beautiful than
Heaven ever was, and becomes jealous of Adam and Eve and their chosen status to occupy and
maintain Paradise. He gripes that the excess beauty of Earth causes him to feel more torment and
anguish. Gathering his thoughts into action, he finds a sleeping serpent and enters its body.

The next morning, Adam and Eve prepare for their usual morning labors. Realizing that they
have much work to do, Eve suggests that they work separately, so that they might get more work
done. Adam is not keen on this idea. He fears that they will be more susceptible to Satan’s temptation
if they are alone. Eve, however, is eager to have her strength tested. After much resistance, Adam
concedes, as Eve promises Adam that she will return to their bower soon. They go off to do their
gardening independently.

Satan, in the form of the serpent, searches for the couple. He is delighted to find Eve alone.
Coiling up, he gets her attention, and begins flattering her beauty, grace, and godliness. Eve is amazed
to see a creature of the Garden speak. He tells her in enticing language that he gained the gifts of
speech and intellect by eating the savory fruit of one of the trees in the garden. He flatters Eve by
saying that eating the apple also made him seek her out in order to worship her beauty.

Eve is amazed by the power that this fruit supposedly gives the snake. Curious to know which
tree holds this fruit, Eve follows Satan until he brings her to the Tree of Knowledge. She recoils,
telling him that God has forbidden them to eat from this tree, but Satan persists, arguing that God
actually wants them to eat from the tree. Satan says that God forbids it only because he wants them to
show their independence. Eve is now seriously tempted. The flattery has made her desire to know
more. She reasons that God claimed that eating from this tree meant death, but the serpent ate (or so
he claims) and not only does he still live, but can speak and think. God would have no reason to
forbid the fruit unless it were powerful, Eve thinks, and seeing it right before her eyes makes all of the
warnings seem exaggerated. It looks so perfect to Eve. She reaches for an apple, plucks it from the
tree, and takes a bite. The Earth then feels wounded and nature sighs in woe, for with this act,
humankind has fallen.

Eve’s first fallen thought is to find Adam and to have him eat of the forbidden fruit too so that
they might be equal. She finds him nearby, and in hurried words tells him that she has eaten the fruit,
and that her eyes have been opened. Adam drops the wreath of flowers he made for her. He is
horrified because he knows that they are now doomed, but immediately decides that he cannot
possibly live without Eve. Eve does not want Adam to remain and have another woman; she wants
him to suffer the same fate as she. Adam realizes that if she is to be doomed, then he must follow. He
eats the fruit. He too feels invigorated at first. He turns a lustful eye on Eve, and they run off into the
woods for sexual play.

Adam and Eve fall asleep briefly, but upon awakening they see the world in a new way. They
recognize their sin, and realize that they have lost Paradise. At first, Adam and Eve both believe that
they will gain glorious amounts of knowledge, but the knowledge that they gained by eating the apple
was only of the good that they had lost and the evil that they had brought upon themselves. They now
see each other’s nakedness and are filled with shame. They cover themselves with leaves. Milton
explains that their appetite for knowledge has been fulfilled, and their hunger for God has been
quenched. Angry and confused, they continue to blame each other for committing the sin, while
neither will admit any fault. Their shameful and tearful argument continues for hours.

The Importance of Obedience to God

The first words of Paradise Lost state that the poem’s main theme will be “Man’s first
Disobedience.” Milton narrates the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, explains how and
why it happens, and places the story within the larger context of Satan’s rebellion and Jesus’
resurrection. Raphael tells Adam about Satan’s disobedience in an effort to give him a firm
grasp of the threat that Satan and humankind’s disobedience poses. In essence, Paradise Lost
presents two moral paths that one can take after disobedience: the downward spiral of
increasing sin and degradation, represented by Satan, and the road to redemption, represented
by Adam and Eve.

While Adam and Eve are the first humans to disobey God, Satan is the first of all God’s
creation to disobey. His decision to rebel comes only from himself—he was not persuaded or
provoked by others. Also, his decision to continue to disobey God after his fall into Hell
ensures that God will not forgive him. Adam and Eve, on the other hand, decide to repent for
their sins and seek forgiveness. Unlike Satan, Adam and Eve understand that their
disobedience to God will be corrected through generations of toil on Earth. This path is
obviously the correct one to take: the visions in Books XI and XII demonstrate that obedience
to God, even after repeated falls, can lead to humankind’s salvation.

The Hierarchical Nature of the Universe

Paradise Lost is about hierarchy as much as it is about obedience. The layout of the
universe—with Heaven above, Hell below, and Earth in the middle—presents the universe as
a hierarchy based on proximity to God and his grace. This spatial hierarchy leads to a social
hierarchy of angels, humans, animals, and devils: the Son is closest to God, with the
archangels and cherubs behind him. Adam and Eve and Earth’s animals come next, with
Satan and the other fallen angels following last. To obey God is to respect this hierarchy.

Satan refuses to honor the Son as his superior, thereby questioning God’s hierarchy.
As the angels in Satan’s camp rebel, they hope to beat God and thereby dissolve what they
believe to be an unfair hierarchy in Heaven. When the Son and the good angels defeat the
rebel angels, the rebels are punished by being banished far away from Heaven. At least, Satan
argues later, they can make their own hierarchy in Hell, but they are nevertheless subject to
God’s overall hierarchy, in which they are ranked the lowest. Satan continues to disobey God
and his hierarchy as he seeks to corrupt mankind.

Likewise, humankind’s disobedience is a corruption of God’s hierarchy. Before the

fall, Adam and Eve treat the visiting angels with proper respect and acknowledgement of
their closeness to God, and Eve embraces the subservient role allotted to her in her marriage.
God and Raphael both instruct Adam that Eve is slightly farther removed from God’s grace
than Adam because she was created to serve both God and him. When Eve persuades Adam
to let her work alone, she challenges him, her superior, and he yields to her, his inferior.
Again, as Adam eats from the fruit, he knowingly defies God by obeying Eve and his inner
instinct instead of God and his reason. Adam’s visions in Books XI and XII show more
examples of this disobedience to God and the universe’s hierarchy, but also demonstrate that
with the Son’s sacrifice, this hierarchy will be restored once again.

The Fall as Partly Fortunate

After he sees the vision of Christ’s redemption of humankind in Book XII, Adam
refers to his own sin as a felix culpa or “happy fault,” suggesting that the fall of humankind,
while originally seeming an unmitigated catastrophe, does in fact bring good with it. Adam
and Eve’s disobedience allows God to show his mercy and temperance in their punishments
and his eternal providence toward humankind. This display of love and compassion, given
through the Son, is a gift to humankind. Humankind must now experience pain and death, but
humans can also experience mercy, salvation, and grace in ways they would not have been
able to had they not disobeyed. While humankind has fallen from grace, individuals can
redeem and save themselves through continued devotion and obedience to God. The salvation
of humankind, in the form of The Son’s sacrifice and resurrection, can begin to restore
humankind to its former state. In other words, good will come of sin and death, and
humankind will eventually be rewarded. This fortunate result justifies God’s reasoning and
explains his ultimate plan for humankind.
Main Characters
Satan -  Head of the rebellious angels who have just fallen from Heaven. As the
poem’s antagonist, Satan is the originator of sin—the first to be ungrateful for God
the Father’s blessings. He embarks on a mission to Earth that eventually leads to the
fall of Adam and Eve, but also worsens his eternal punishment. His character changes
throughout the poem. Satan often appears to speak rationally and persuasively, but
later in the poem we see the inconsistency and irrationality of his thoughts. He can
assume any form, adopting both glorious and humble shapes.

Adam -  The first human, the father of our race, and, along with his wife Eve, the
caretaker of the Garden of Eden. Adam is grateful and obedient to God, but falls
from grace when Eve convinces him to join her in the sin of eating from the Tree of
Knowledge.

Eve -  The first woman and the mother of mankind. Eve was made from a rib taken
from Adam’s side. Because she was made from Adam and for Adam, she is
subservient to him. She is also weaker than Adam, so Satan focuses his powers of
temptation on her. He succeeds in getting her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree
despite God’s command.

God the Father -  One part of the Christian Trinity. God the Father creates the world
by means of God the Son, creating Adam and Eve last. He foresees the fall of
mankind through them. He does not prevent their fall, in order to preserve their free
will, but he does allow his Son to atone for their sins.

God the Son -  Jesus Christ, the second part of the Trinity. He delivers the fatal blow
to Satan’s forces, sending them down into Hell, before the creation of Earth. When
the fall of man is predicted, He offers himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of
mankind, so that God the Father can be both just and merciful.

Devils, Inhabiting Hell

Beelzebub -  Satan’s second-in-command. Beelzebub discusses with Satan their
options after being cast into Hell, and at the debate suggests that they investigate
the newly created Earth. He and Satan embody perverted reason, since they are both
eloquent and rational but use their talents for wholly corrupt ends.

Belial -  One of the principal devils in Hell. Belial argues against further war with
Heaven, but he does so because he is an embodiment of sloth and inactivity, not for
any good reason. His eloquence and learning is great, and he is able to persuade
many of the devils with his faulty reasoning.
Mammon -  A devil known in the Bible as the epitome of wealth. Mammon always
walks hunched over, as if he is searching the ground for valuables. In the debate
among the devils, he argues against war, seeing no profit to be gained from it. He
believes Hell can be improved by mining the gems and minerals they find there.

Mulciber -  The devil who builds Pandemonium, Satan’s palace in Hell. Mulciber’s
character is based on a Greek mythological figure known for being a poor architect,
but in Milton’s poem he is one of the most productive and skilled devils in Hell.

Moloch -  A rash, irrational, and murderous devil. Moloch argues in Pandemonium

that the devils should engage in another full war against God and his servant angels.

Sin -  Satan’s daughter, who sprang full-formed from Satan’s head when he was still
in Heaven. Sin has the shape of a woman above the waist, that of a serpent below,
and her middle is ringed about with Hell Hounds, who periodically burrow into her
womb and gnaw her entrails. She guards the gates of Hell.

Death -  Satan’s son by his daughter, Sin. Death in turn rapes his mother, begetting
the mass of beasts that torment her lower half. The relations between Death, Sin,
and Satan mimic horribly those of the Holy Trinity.

Angels, Inhabiting Heaven and Earth

Gabriel -  One of the archangels of Heaven, who acts as a guard at the Garden of
Eden. Gabriel confronts Satan after his angels find Satan whispering to Eve in the
Garden.

Raphael -  One of the archangels in Heaven, who acts as one of God’s messengers.
Raphael informs Adam of Satan’s plot to seduce them into sin, and also narrates the
story of the fallen angels, as well as the fall of Satan.

Uriel -  An angel who guards the planet earth. Uriel is the angel whom Satan tricks
when he is disguised as a cherub. Uriel, as a good angel and guardian, tries to correct
his error by making the other angels aware of Satan’s presence.

Abdiel -  An angel who at first considers joining Satan in rebellion but argues against
Satan and the rebel angels and returns to God. His character demonstrates the
power of repentance.

Michael -  The chief of the archangels, Michael leads the angelic forces against Satan
and his followers in the battle in Heaven, before the Son provides the decisive
advantage. Michael also stands guard at the Gate of Heaven, and narrates the future
of the world to Adam in Books XI and XII.
Nissim Ezekiel

The Enterprise
The ‘Enterprise’ of Nissim Ezekiel speaks of the initial enthusiasm associated with most
ambitious ventures, and then the gradual loss of interest. ‘Enterprise’ presents a moral quest
symbolically in the form of a difficult journey undertaken collectively by a group. Initially passion,
ardor, enthusiasm and purpose mark the quest. However as the journey proceeds, the group endures
hardship, division, loss of faith, hope and purpose. The goal is reached but those who reach the
destination are not the same persons who started.
Nissim Ezekiel’s poem "Enterprise" describes a metaphorical journey toward a specific goal.
The travelers on this journey begin in a real physical place, a desert, and argue about how to cross this
challenging landscape. One of the members of the group, who writes the most stylish prose, goes his
own way. The rest of the group is left on its own. Some quit the team. The group is attacked by
travelers, and over time become unmoved by anything they witness. Fatigue and the stresses of travel
have settled in and many of the members of the group cannot go on.
By the fifth stanza, the picture ahead is grim. The enthusiasm has faded and their burdens are
heavy. Their vision is clouded with the disintegration of the group and their exhaustion. The well-
focused goal presented in the first stanza is lost. The travelers are a disorganized group of aimless
wanderers unaware any longer of the original motivation for their expedition. Their observations at
this point in the poem are about trivial things.
In the last stanza, the travelers reach their destination; however, it is not quite home. Ezekiel
concludes that this type of expedition is not a worthy undertaking; living “at home” with inner
satisfaction is the greatest achievement of all. The travelers’ consider their journey and have moments
of introspection. They come to the conclusion that their expedition has been neither pioneering or
notable for any reason. They had thought their journey would make a mark in history. The only
problem is that others have made this journey before. It is nothing new.
The journey of “Enterprise” is a metaphor for life and our focus on the destination as the only
means for our goals. Some critics have noted that Ezekiel’s “Enterprise” is also his attempt to bring
together two “homes”: his place of birth and his journey to a European city. His exploration of the
idea of “home” is sophisticated enough to be compared to the same themes in the poetry of Robert
Frost, for example.

POET, LOVER, BIRD WATCHER

'Poet, Lover, Bird-watcher' displays Ezekiel's views on poet's problems. He thinks the best
poets wait for words, like ornithologists sitting in silence to see birds.
Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher is one of the better known poems of Ezekiel and has received
considerable critical attention. It epitomizes the poet's search for a poetics which would help him
redeem himself in his eyes and in the eyes of the god. Parallelism is drawn between the poet, the lover
and the Birdwatcher. All the three have to wait patiently in their respective pursuits, indeed their
'waiting' is a sort of strategy, a plan of action which bear fruit it persisted in and followed with
patience. It is patient waiting which crown the efforts of all the three with success.
Ezekiel attempts to define the poet in terms of a lover and the birdwatcher. There is a close
resemblance among them in their search for love, bird and word. All the three become one in spirit,
and Ezekiel expresses this in imagery noted for its precision and decorum:
The hunts is not an exercise of will
But patience love relaxing on a hill
To note the movement of a timid wing..
There is no action, no exercise of will in all the three cases, but 'Patient waiting' is itself
strategy., a kind of planned action to reach the goal. The patience of the birdwatcher is rewarded when
the timid bird is suddenly caught in the net; the patience of the lover is rewarded, when the woman
loved, risks surrendering. Similarly, if the poets wait still the moment of inspiration, he achieves some
noble utterance. "Bird - beloved - poem syndrome runs throughout the lyric".
The Second-stanza stresses the fact that slow movement is good. One has to go to remote
place just as one has to discover love in a remote place like the heart's dark floor. It is there, that
women look something more than their body, and that they appear like myths of light. And the poet,
in zigzag movements, yet with a sense of musical delight, manages to combine movements, yet with a
sense of musical delight, manages to combine sense and sound in such a way that 'deaf can hear, the
blind recover sight'. Highest poetry is remedial in its action, it cures human apathy and deadness of
spirit, activises human sense, and makes man see and hear much more than he would have otherwise
done.
At the end of this wait, the poetic word appears in the concrete and sensuous form of a
woman, who knows that she is loved and who surrenders to her lover at once. In this process, poetry
and love, word and woman become interwined. But this "slow movement" of love and poetry, which
shows no irritable haste to arrive at meaning, does not come by easily. In order to possess the vision
of the rarer birds of his psyche, the poet has to go through the "deserted lanes" of his solitary, private
life; he has to walk along the primal rivers of his consciousness in silence, or travel to a far off shore
which is like the heart's dark floor. The poet, then, gloats on the slow curving movements of the
women, both for the sake of their sensuousness and the insights they bring. He creates his poetry out
of these "myths of light" who essential darkness or mystery remains at the entire of creation itself. But
the poet finds the greatest sense or meaning in his own creativity which eventually liberates him from
"crooked restless flight" of those moments when struggles to find the poetic idiom. The poetry which
releases the poet from suffering is the medium through which the deaf can hear and the blind see. This
is a justly celebrated poem, containing a beautiful worked set of images moving as the title suggests,
on three interpenetrating levels.

NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

‘Night of the Scorpion', in which Ezekiel recalls the behaviour of 'the peasants', his father, his
mother and a holy man when his mother was poisoned by a scorpion's sting. Here the aim is to find
poetry in ordinary reality as observed, known, felt, experienced rather than as the intellect thinks it
should be. While the peasants pray and speak of incarnations, his father, 'sceptic, rationalist', tries
'every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid' and a holy man performs a rite. After a
day the poison is no longer felt and, in a final irony, his mother, in contrast to the previous feverish
activity centred upon her, makes a typical motherly comment:
My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
and spared my children.
The 'Thank God' is doubly ironic as it is a commonplace expression of speech in contrast to
all the previous religious and superstitious activity. Ezekiel's purpose is not, however, an expression
of scepticism but rather the exact notation of what he saw as a child. The aim is not to explain but to
make real by naming, by saying 'common things'. The poem is a new direction, a vision of ordinary
reality, especially of Indian life, unmediated by cold intellect.
One can find that in the poem superstitious ritualism or sceptic rationalism or even the balance of the
both with expression of Indian ethos through maternal love in the Indian way, is nothing but
scratching the surface.
The poem is set against the backdrop of Indian rural setting. The rural habit of Storing rice in
gunny bags is referred to in the phrase, " a sack of rice". The rural practice of building huts with mud
walks is captured in the phrase "mud backed walks". The absence of rural electrification in Indian
villages before independence is hinted at in a string of images, "dark room" and "Candles and linters".
"Darkness" has the extended meaning of Indian villages being steeped in ignorance.
The situation of a scoipion-stung mother is encountered in different ways of prayer,
incantation and science. Not one stays at home when the peasants hear of a mother bitten by a
scoipion. They rush buzzing the name of God times without number. With candles and lanterns, they
search for him. He is not found. They sit on the floor with the mother in the centre and try to comfort
her with words of philosophy. Their prayer brings out their genuine concern for the suffering mother.
The father, through a skeptic and a rationalist, does not differ in the least from the ignorant peasants.
He tries both medicine and "mantra" drugs and chants as seen in the phrase "trying every where and
blessing". A holy man is brought to tame the poison with an incantation.
 It is the belief of the village community that buzzing " the name of God a hundred times" will
bring about relief to the mother stung by the scorpion. The action of the rural folk brings out their firm
faith in God and in the efficiency of prayer. It is the belief of the rural community that the faster the
scorpion moves, the faster the poison in the mother's blood will move. In equating the movement of
the scorpion and that of the poison in the blood stream, the peasants betray their superstition.
The peasants sit around the mother groaning in pain and they try to console her offering
remedial advice of a strong ritualistic and faith - healing kind. Some peasants say that as she has
suffered now, in the rent birth she will experience fewer troubles. She will now be in a balanced state
whereby her body is ridden of device and her spirit of ambition. The incantatory utterances made by
the peasants smack of their belief in the Hindu law of "Karina", in the Hindu doctrine of rebirth and in
the 13 Hindu concept of the world as one of illusion and the physical suffering bringing about
spiritual rejuvenation. The poem is remembered particularly for its 'memorable close' - me last three
lines:
My Mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my childred.
The use of the restricted adverb 'only' distinguishes the mother from the peasants, the father
and the holy man. The, other does not blame God but she thanks God because the scorpion stung her
and spared her children. Her agony would have been greater if any of her children were bitten.
Ultimately, it assumes universal dimensions. The poet throws light on the selfless lore of the Indian
mother.

 Philosophy
 The Visitor
 Background Casually
 Good Bye Party for Miss Pushpa T S
 Poem of the Seperation

Kamala Das

 Freaks

My Grandmother’s House

The poem is a reminiscence of the poetess’ grandmother and their ancestral home in
Punnayurkulam in Kerala. Her memory of love she received from her grandmother is associated with
the image of her ancestral home. With the death of her grandmother the house withdrew into silence.
It became desolate and snakes crawled among books. Her blood became cold like the moon because
there was none to love her the way she wanted. Now, in another city, living another life, she longs to
go back. She understands that she cannot reclaim the past but she wants to go back home and bring a
handful of darkness to keep as a reminder of her past happiness. Now she is like a beggar going from
one door to another asking for love in small change. Her need for love and approval is not satisfied in
marriage and she goes after strangers for love at least in small quantity. Her pursuit of love has driven
her to the doors of strangers to receive love at least in the form of 'a tip'. Previously she was 'proud', as
she did not have to compromise on her self-respect. Now she has to move in the maze of male
monopolistic chauvinism, and beg for love in the form of change.The poem springs from her own
disillusionment with her expectation of unconditional love from the one she loves. In the poem, the
image of the ancestral home stands for the strong support and unconditional love she received from
her grandmother. The imagery is personal and beautifully articulates her plight in a loveless marriage.

A HOT NOON IN MALABAR

‘A Hot Noon In Malabar’ is one of her poems that she wrote when she was reminiscing her
memories back in Kerala. She compares Kolkata (where she is presently residing) to her hometown.
In this poem, she describes minute observations about her hometown. Things like heat, dust and
noise, that would annoy many a people, has impressed her.
The poetess talks about a hot noon in Malabar. She is in a nostalgic mood. She remembers the
streets of Malabar which were full of interesting people and pleasing sounds. She remembers the
beggars, who would, in whining tones beg for alms. She talks about the fortune tellers who pass by
her home carrying parrots in a cage and fortune cards which were stained with dust. The dark skinned
Kurava girls are a nomadic tribe with tired eyes. They read palms in sing song voices to impress their
customers. The poetess talks about the bangle sellers who spread there bright and colourful bangles on
the cool black floor. She says that the bangles are all covered with the dust of the roads. This
expression signifies that these people travel a long distances to make a fortune.
These strange people have devouring rough feet, that have cracks because the walk for miles
barefooted on the dusty rugged roads. So when they clamber onto the porch of the poetess’ house a
grating noise is heard. These strangers peep through the windows to take a look inside. But as they
have traveled so long under this sun they are unable to get a clear vision. Displeased by this they turn
yearningly at the brick-ledge well so as to quench their thirst.
The poetess says that this is the noon for strangers with lack of trust in their eyes. They are
dark, silent ones who rarely speak. If at all they speak theirs voices are wild, jungle like. The poetess
then uses alliteration by saying:
“A noon for wild men, wild thoughts, wild love.”
She feels that this noon is meant for men, more primitive in their thoughts and actions than anything
else.
The poetess, suddenly has a wild desire for love. She says that to be away from her hometown
is torturous. She feels homesick. She feels passionately about her hometown and years to return to
those childhood days when she was living this primitive life, on a hot afternoon in Malabar.

Critical Appreciation:
Kamal Das has expressed intense feeling of separation from her hometown, her primitive life
in the simple town of Malabar. She describes minute details about the passers by who can be
witnessed on such a hot afternoon. She has paid close attention to the stain on the cards of the fortune
tellers. She has also observed the Kurava girls to have light sing-song voices. She has noticed that
these little traders have hard heels with crack because of walking on the savage roads.
The poetess has noticed the pain in the eyes of these traders when they look into the windows
of her house. She mentions the smallest of the details such as that of the colours of the bangles. This
may also depict her age, which has been assumed to be her childhood.
The poetess feels that these primitive men have wild jungle like voices. She gets lost in
admiring the simplicity of their lives. This poem mainly revolves around the theme of unfulfilled
desires. She accepts the wilderness of her hometown and admires it. The poem is ended with a deep
repentance of being away from her hometown.n Malabar

 The Sunshine Cat

 The Invitation
 The Looking Glass

Tagore

Githanjali

Tagore’s ‘Githanjali’ taken as a whole is a prayer to God. As Dr. Radhakrishnan rightly says,
“ The poems of Githanjali’ are the offering of the finite to infinite”. It has a central theme which
consists in the assertion of the immanence of God, His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence.
‘Githanjali’ is also the poets yearning for the realization of God.
The God of Small Things Summary
The God of Small Things tells the story of one family in the town of Ayemenem in Kerala, India. Its
epigraph is a quotation from contemporary writer John Berger: "Never again will a single story be
told as though it's the only one." She uses this idea to establish her nonlinear, multi-perspective way
of storytelling, which gives value to points of view as "Big" as a human being's and as "Small" as a
cabbage-green butterfly's. In Roy's world, there is no definitive story, only many different stories that
fuse to form a kaleidoscopic impression of events.
The novel opens with Rahel's return to Ayemenem after hearing that her twin brother, Estha, has
come home. We switch to the funeral of Sophie Mol, when the twins are seven years old. Rahel
believes that Sophie is awake during her funeral and buried alive. The rest of the family refuses to
acknowledge the twins and Ammu. On the train ride back to Ayemenem, Ammu cannot speak except
to say "He's dead ... I've killed him." Rahel and Estha have not seen each other since Estha was sent
away as a child to live with Babu in Assam. Both twins have traveled somewhat aimlessly until
returning to their childhood home. Rahel looks out on the family's former factory, Paradise Pickles &
Preserves, and contemplates how all the strangeness in her family resolves around the incident of
Sophie Mol's death.
Next, we find the family traveling to Cochin to greet Sophie Mol and her mother, Margaret
Kochamma, upon their arrival from England. On their way, they see their servant, Velutha, marching
with a group of Communists. Back in the present, Rahel watches Estha undress in the moonlight,
neither of them saying a word.
The narrative returns to Cochin, where the family goes to see The Sound of Music in the cinema.
Inside the theater, Estha cannot stop singing, so he is sent out into the lobby, where the Orangedrink
Lemondrink man molests him. After he becomes nauseated, the family leaves the movie early. Rahel
senses that the Orangedrink Lemondrink man has wronged Estha and talks back to Ammu when she
praises the man. Ammu tells her that she loves Rahel a little less, a statement that haunts Rahel for a
long time.
Back in the present, Rahel runs into Comrade Pillai, and he shows her a photograph of the twins and
Sophie, taken shortly before Sophie died. In a flashback to Sophie's arrival at the Cochin airport,
Rahel cannot handle the nervousness surrounding her cousin's arrival, and she is scolded for hiding in
the window curtain. Everyone tries to impress Sophie and Margaret Kochamma with new clothing,
English sayings, and forced upbeat attitudes.
The narrative turns to Ammu's death at the age of thirty-one. After being banished from the
Ayemenem House, she dies while out of town on a job interview. Estha watches her body being
pushed into the cremation oven. No one writes to Estha to inform him of Ammu's death. Roy
introduces the refrain, "Things can change in a day."
Back at Sophie Mol's welcome ceremony, a crowd gathers to sing and eat cake. Rahel retreats to play
with Velutha. As Ammu watches her daughter and handyman together, she is attracted to Velutha for
the first time.
Rahel joins Estha, who is alone in the pickle factory. They plan to visit the History House, where the
Paravans live. They push an old, decrepit boat into the river and row to Velutha's side of the river.
There, he promises to fix the boat for them. Velutha is trying to suppress his growing love for Ammu
despite his constant association with her children. (Ammu dreams of a one-armed man making love to
her.)
Back in the present, Rahel watches fondly as Estha bathes in the moonlight. The twins meet by
coincidence at a temple, where they watch kathkali dancers act out a violent story of retribution all
night.
We turn to the story of Chacko's and Magaret Kochamma's marriage. It began happily but soon
crumbled because of a sense of disconnection. Margaret left Chacko for Joe, who later died in an
accident. After that, she took Sophie to Ayemenem as a distraction; she can never forgive herself for
leaving Sophie alone in Ayemenem the day she died.
We finally hear the story of Sophie Mol's death and the events surrounding it. Vellya Paapen comes to
Mammachi's door and offers to kill Velutha with his bare hands for having an affair with Ammu.
Baby Kochamma makes sure that Ammu is locked in her room and that the police think he raped
Ammu. Mammachi summons Velutha to her house and fires him, banishing him from the property on
pain of death. He goes to Comrade Pillai for help but to no avail. Roy begins to call Velutha "The God
of Loss" and "The God of Small Things." The telling of Sophie's actual death is short. She joins the
twins as they run away after Ammu insults them terribly. After their boat capsizes in the river, she
drowns. The twins fall asleep on the veranda of the History House, unaware that Velutha is sleeping
there. The next morning, the police come across the river to arrest Velutha. They beat him nearly to
death and take the twins to the station with them. There, Baby Kochamma pressures Estha into saying
Velutha is guilty of kidnapping him and Rahel. She tells him that doing so is the only way to save
Ammu and avoid a life in jail. Estha complies, thus saving Baby Kochamma from being arrested for
filing a false report about Velutha. After that, Baby Kochamma coerces Chacko into evicting Ammu
from the house and forcing Estha to go live with Babu. As Estha leaves on the train, Rahel cries as
though a part of her is being ripped out of her body.
Back in the present, Estha and Rahel finally share a fond moment in Ammu's former bedroom. They
make love out of "hideous grief" for the deaths of Ammu, Velutha, and Sophie Mol.
The final chapter describes the first night of Ammu's and Velutha's affair. They are both drawn to the
riverbank, where they meet and make love for the first time. After that, they continue to meet in secret
and share their admiration of "Small Things" such as the creatures of the riverbank. Each night as they
part, they say to one another: "Tomorrow? Tomorrow." On the last night they meet before Velutha's
death, Ammu is compelled to turn back and repeat one more time: "Tomorrow."

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE : The Guide

The Guide’ is a very appropriate title for R.K Narayan’s saga about Railway Raju. The hero of the
story plays four different roles in his career and in all of them he functions as an interesting guide.
First’ Raju is interested in the passengers who alight at the Malgudi Railway Station where he has a
bookstall. In his readiness to help others, finds himself attending to their various requirements. It is in
a spirit of camaraderie that he finds for the new comers passengers, lodging and conveyance which
will suit their pockets. Then it dawns on him that this can as well be a way of living. He gathers
miscellaneous from second-hand books coming into his stall and with this knowledge he entertains
the tourists. He uses this newly gained information as his own original wisdom. For instance, if the
tourist desires to see the source of the Sarayu, He will arrange for the ramshackle taxi of his friend
Gaffer to take the tourist to the spot in the dense forest up the hill where the Sarayu starts as a trickle.
He emphasizes to his customer how only Gaffur’s taxi can negotiate the formidable mountain paths.
After seeing the location of the source of the river, Raju waxes eloquent to the next batch of tourists
about the awful beauty of the Sarayu at its source and makes it a ‘ must’ in their itinerary. Raju. is
shrewd and thereby he is able to divine after a minute’s conversation with, his customer how much
the latter is prepafed to spread on the four. He adjusts the programme accordingly choosing a Posh
Hotel or a chatra according to the convenience of the passenger. Every tourist is impressed by Raiu’s
services and recommends him to others. Soon Railway Raju becomes a by-word and every tourist
alighting at Malgudi Station first wants” to contact Railway Raju. The guiding of the tourists is such a
whole- time job for him that he entrusts the Railway stall to the care of a boy.

It is his profession as a tourist guide that brings him into contact with, Rosie. In Marco, Raju finds
him an eternal traveler. But it is the arrival of Rosie that gives an entirely new turn to his activities and
feelings. He falls for Rosie at first sight and when he finds Marco neglecting her, he cashes on it and
he is extra solicitous in his attention to Rosie’s needs. He takes her to see the dance of the cobra and is
delightfully surprised to see the dancer in her From thereon Rosie more and more dependent on him,
as her husband is impervious to her aspirations Raju has the gift of the gab and he has no difficulty in
showering fulsome praise on Rosie. She becomes his mistress, and when Marco finally rejects her,
having discovered her unfaithfulness, she comes to Raju as her only sympathiser. Raju now grows
from a mere lover into a guide in the cultivation of her art.

Rosie becomes a popular dancer because of her inborn talents and unrelenting perseverance. But
without Raju’s assistance, she might have been a lovely flower, born to blush unseen and waste its
sweetness on the desert air. Raju organizes Rosie’s programmes with the expertise he has gained as a
tourist guide. Again, he makes up for his ignorance of art by eliciting relevant information from Rosie
and those who come to visit her. Persently he can talk on Bharata Natyam like a professional and even
pretends to guide Rosie on the stage through appropriate glances from his seat in the front row. H i s
salesmanship is testified to by his changing Rosie’s name to ‘Nalini’. Just as he became a success as a
tourist guide he becomes a still greater success as Nalinl’s guide. He makes money hand over fist, but
this is his ruin He starts, leading an ostentatious life, complete with drink and gambling. Since he
forges.
Rosie’s signature he lands in jail for a couple of years. His two-year term in prison is a continuation of
his guiding career though on a minor key. He becomes quite friendly with all the prisoners in that
place and also he is highly serviceable to the warders and the Superintendent. He organises the
kitchen garden, and the brinjals and cabbages he grows are a treat_to_the eye. When the two years
come to a close he feels sad that he has to leave the prison. He proves to be flexible adjusting himself
to any situation in which destiny place him.

Raju’s last role as a guide is in the deserted temple on the river bank of the village at Mangala, very
soon he impresses the people as a Swami. The simple villager Velan comes to him with his domestic
problem about his sister who will not marry a groom of his choice. Raju,-because of his irrepressible
tendency to offer his services, asks for the girl to be brought to him. He has no solution to offer for the
tangle. But the girl is mesmerised by his shrewd glance and purpose words, ami agrees to her
brother’s choice of the groom. As a result, Raju, the ex-convict, gains the reputation of being miracle
worker Food and adoration come” to him unsought from the pious villagers and Raju finds he has no
choice but to assume the role thrust upon him by them.
Situations force him to be a Sadhu. Raju takes to his new role with his usual enthusiasm. The villagers
find him warm in his fellow-feeling_and always ready to help them. He organises classes for the
children and discourses for the grown-ups. He is in his element as he harangues them on all manner of
themes with attractive quotations and illustrations from the store of knowledge that he has acquired.

The people adore him as their patron saint. So when-the rains fail and when there is furnished &
pestilence all around they look to,-him as their saviour. A violent quarrel brewing between twp
factions in the village becomes the funding point. Raju does not want the price on the scene the scene.
So he sends word through a half-wit that .unless they stop fighting he will not take any food. The
moron reports to the villagers that the Swami is going without food because there are no rains. The
villagers hail the Swami as a Mahatma who is undertaking a twelve-day fast to them rain. It is a
fateful coincidence that in one of his discourses Raju had waxed eloquent on “Puranic examples of
rain being brought by a good man fasting for a couple of weeks. Raju finds his sales talk has
boomeranged. He tries to cut the Gordian knot by making a clean confession to Velan of his entire
career. But, strangely enough, Velan takes this as further proof of .the Swami’s humility. Raju has to
go through the twelve day ordeal amidst much publicity. He dies thus for a noble course. Raju works
as a tourist guide for money; he functions as an art -guide for love he firially makes a supreme
sacrifice as a spiritual guide.