B.A.(Prog.)/B.Com.(Prog.

) Semester-I/II English

CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE
Unit 1-(c), 2, 3 & 5

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi

Department of English
 Under Graduate Course

CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE

CONTENTS

Unit 1 : UNDERSTANDING EVERYDAY TEXTS

C- Letters every parent every child should read on Children’s day
The Indian Express 10 November 2014
Unit 2 : UNDERSTANDING DRAMA
Crossing the River Dr. Neeta Gupta
Ambai

Unit 3 : UNDERSTANDING POETRY

1. Caged Bird
Maya Angelou P.K. Satapathy
2. Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.
Nissim Ezekiel Dr. V.P.Sharma
3. Once Upon a Time
Gabriel Okara S.K. Mukherjee
4. Last Lesson of the Afternoon
D.H. Lawrence Mary Samuel
Unit 5 : CREATING YOUR OWN VOICE
A- How Social Media Endangers Knowledge
Hossein Derakhshan Nalini Prabhakar
B- Lesson from Frida : Backbone Can Win
Over Broken Spine
Twinkle Khanna Nalini Prabhakar

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 UNDERSTANDING EVERYDAY TEXTS Unit 1-C

Letters Every Parent Every Child Should Read On

Children’s Day

The Indian Express 10 November 2014

INTRODUCTION
This lesson has various kinds of letters written under various circumstances and for
various occasions. You are expected to read these letters and use them as samples to
compose letters as and when necessary.
Sample Letter 1
From a Poet to his daughter ‘The capacity for accommodation is our strengthʼ
Dear Sabitha,
I am writing this letter to you not exactly from a prison as Jawaharlal Nehru did when he
wrote his letters on world history to his daughter, but from a country that threatens to turn
into a prison for the lovers of freedom and those committed to democratic openness and
cultural plurality. Amma and I have been proud of you not just as a brilliant student, a
much-loved teacher and now a Commonwealth scholar, but for having been socially
concerned and politically alert from your early days. There has hardly been any major
protest movement in Delhi of which you were not a part — whether it be against
atrocities on women or suppression of human rights. Your poetry reflects your concerns,
while your research looks at the colonial representations of India in the East India
Company paintings and related texts. These are what encourages me to write to you about
some of the anxieties that we both share.
Democracy, as you well know, must constantly expand its base, remove the curbs on
peopleʼs freedom and reduce the presence of the state in their everyday lives; but I fear
the opposite is happening with our democracy now. I know from your Facebook posts
and our conversations that you have watched its recent turn — elevating to power a
political outfit that has opposed a secular outlook, freedom of expression and cultural
diversity that was so dear to the founding fathers of our nation like Mahatma Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar — with shock and pain. This party has upheld the
idea of a highly reductive and standardised “Indian” culture which to them means only
their own mutilated and sanitised version of an imagined “Hindu” culture that ignores the
contributions of other modes of life and faith to our composite civilisation.

I need not tell you how India has always not just lived with, but been proud about the
multiplicity of her religions, world views, cultures, knowledge systems, landscapes,
languages and literatures, the very source of her cultural richness. How poor our culture
would have been without the Mughal miniatures and architecture best represented by the

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Taj Mahal, Sufi literature and music, Buddhist and Jain mythology and art, the Parsi ways
of thought and life, Guru Nanakʼs syncretism, the translations of the Holy Bible and the
churches in Roman and Gothic styles. How poor our philosophy would have been without
those beautiful conversations and arguments among the several systems including
Sankhya and Charvaka, Buddhist and Jain that had no place for the idea of God. And how
poor our literature would have been bereft of Shantideva and Ashwaghosha, Ghalib, Mir
and Bulle Shah and scores of writers who belong to different religious and non-religious
thought systems!

Our tribal cultures, that are genuinely native to India, with their immense variety of
languages, oral lore, music, dance, paintings and sculptures were never considered
“Hindu” until their “Sanskritisation” began recently. Our folk cultures, from which
emerged epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata and many collections of tales such as the
Kathasaritsagara, Brihatkatha and the Jataka, and the systematised forms of music and
dance that we tend to call classical, too, were seldom recognised as “Hindu”, an umbrella
term used by those who came from outside to qualify those who lived by the Indus river.

The champions of cultural Hindutva have manufactured an inauthentic and unified-

looking collage of a religion by choosing certain elements from our past to the exclusion
of so many others. Ours has been an inclusive culture with an infinite capacity for
absorption of and negotiation with cultures that had their origins outside the country. This
quality is evident in our clothing and cuisine and even within our languages that carry
words from so many tongues. Our mother tongue, Malayalam, for example, has many
words borrowed from Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Hebrew, Kannada, Persian,
Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil and then nativised so well that we do not even recognise
them as foreign. Some states in the North-east even have English as the state language.

This capacity for accommodation and absorption is not our weakness, but our strength.
And this is what is being sentenced to amnesia in the divisive practices of fundamentalists
and cultural nationalists. Now some of their spokespersons, who had earlier sent a great
artist like MF Hussain into exile, attacked the great Bhandarkar Institute, destroyed the
tomb of the poet Wali Dakhani and razed to ground Babri Masjid, are taking up cudgels
against the most eminent of our historians. They are striving to crush every voice of
dissent in their attempt to foist a monolithic culture on India.

The future of India is in the hands of freedom-loving, forward-thinking youth like you. I
am sure we will work towards this end together once you are back, and you will continue
my work even after I am gone.
With hugs and kisses,
Acha

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K Satchidanandan is a Malayalam poet and critic. Sabitha is a PhD student at the
University of London

Sample Letter 2

From a musician to her son ‘It is the search which will give you strengthʼ

Dearest Aarjan,

Writing to you in November with the fan whirring above my head. Sheetkaal kakhon
ashbe Suparna? When will winter come? A poet of this city had once asked his friend. I
think those who have grown up in this city crave its winter in a way that we who have
known other winters in other lands will not understand or feel. Winter in Calcutta for me
is a dry and dusty time — it is getting drier and dustier every year. And less and less cold.
I remember cold hands and feet under the red quilt in our Shillong home, and misty
windowpanes on which we wrote our names — our hands and feet were small then.
Indrani from my left/lost hill town of Shillong says they need fans now, even ACs. And
their summers are stony hot, because there is less rain in the hills. Yet, our childhood was
so full of the sound of rain on the tin roof. That is what happens, of course, when we
cover our hills with concrete and line our streets with cars.

In Calcutta, the winter birds do not come to the zoo any more. Iʼve read that in the papers.
I think, isnʼt that how it was meant to be? That news doesnʼt affect me as much because,
actually, there is little I expect from this city. You need to belong even to hate or feel
anger. (Gayatri Chakravorty) Spivak had talked once about simultaneously being at home
and being an outsider in the same place; the mark of belonging, she said, was the anger
you felt for the place. It worries me sometimes that as time goes, I feel less and less of
anything for this place.

But can it be that I feel nothing? Does that mean I donʼt belong? The students of Jadavpur
(University) were singing my songs. What are my songs if not a part of me?

I am glad you were following the news about the Jadavpur University studentsʼ
movement. Wish you were here at this time. You would have been able to connect, I
know. I saw your face in that crowd. Yours and your friendsʼ too. The day after the police
beat up the students in the dead of the night, I joined the protesters and met old friends
and new ones. I thought I recognised some; old faces mirrored new ones. Do you
remember the march against the war in Iraq in London in 2002? On the Tube, it had
seemed like the whole city was going to the march, young and old, children and parents
and grandparents. And at Regent Park — what a sea of humanity! We marched that day,
millions and millions across the world marched, and yet the war happened. What do we
do then? Practise the art of endurance or hone the spirit of resistance and find new ways
of subversion?

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You know, I have been thinking a lot about Ananyo of late. You used to like that song I
wrote so many years ago. “In the sameness of things, of ideas and slogans, in the banality
of words and the sameness of gestures, I look for you, Ananyo, you who are different and
you who dare to be different. But you are so hard to find.” Remember how I would
sometimes sing Aranyo, instead of Ananyo? Now tell me something: what is more
important? To search for someone or something special? To keep searching? Or to know
that however much you search, you will not find what you are looking for? To know that
nothing will change, that we are fighting a losing battle? But donʼt things change? Donʼt
they move even a little? Didnʼt they move on the day those 60,000 students walked on the
streets of Calcutta? Wasnʼt that moment of protest itself the moment of freedom they
were looking for? What is Ananyo if it was not embodied in that very moment?

Yes, Ananyo is probably only a dream, Ananyo might always delude. Yet, I think that for
someone like you, living between worlds, between languages and identities, it is the
khonja, the search, which will give you strength. Even if you know that you will not get
what you are looking for.

Mamma

Moushumi Bhowmik sings and writes and runs The Travelling Archive and Travelling
Archive Records, with sound recordist Sukanta Majumdar. Her son, Aranyo Aarjan, is
24. He has done his Masterʼs in media culture from University of Maastricht, and is
looking for himself in London now.

Sample Letter 3

Dear Hamir,

I write this letter to you in the hope that one day you shall grow up to know and love
India, this vast country we call home. Of the many interesting ways to do this, I suggest
we look at the land through a travellerʼs, rather than a touristʼs eyes. What is the
difference, you may ask. A tourist just gets to see what is prescribed on their tour, with
little opportunity or time to experience the “real” India. But your greatgrandparents and
grandparents were travellers. Their work enabled them to not only tour large parts of the
country, but also to meet people and discover it in unique ways.

My mother (Jennifer Kendal) would tell me that the one thing that fascinated her the most
was that every 25 km (and with Shakespeareana they travelled a great deal by road and
rail), everything would change — the culture, the landscape, the language, the food and
architecture, the places of worship, even the way men tied their dhotis and the women
their saris, or the way they wore their jewellery. The bullock carts and the bulls, too,
would look different. They would have different adornments on their horns to show their

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distinct species. This rich variety fascinated her. So it is with this rich bank of stories that
I grew up — the adventures and travails of a gypsy family!

But what I long to give you is the greatest gift I received from my parents: our time at our
second home in Goa. This was in 1970, long before Goa became the soulless tourist
destination it is now. I was three. We would spend at least three months every year for the
next 13 years here. It was called the Love House, because of the white heart painted on
the roof by former “hippie” residents.

It was a fishing village then. We pulled our water from a well and the local pigs helped
clean our sewage. Every night, my mother would read in bed with a torch, because the
power supply was weak. Our home was rudimentary, but warm and happy. What made it
happiest was the way the villagers embraced us into their fold. It was not easy; they took
a long while to accept us. They were proud people, who lived in a tight-knit community.
They reminded me of characters from Gabriel Garcia Marquezʼs books. I grew to
befriend the children, to learn Konkani, to accompany them to school, to learn their
games, to eat their food, to steal cashew nuts from the neighbourʼs tree, to sing their
Christmas carols and so much more. We celebrated our joys and mourned our miseries
together and forged deep friendships that still last.

What hurts me is that you and my friendsʼ children will never experience this magical
world, because it no longer exists. You will not know the thrill of hearing the whistle that
meant a big catch had been spotted off the shore. Within seconds, fishermen would run to
the beach to push the community fishing boat into the sea. An hour later, the net would be
hauled up onto the beach and we would help scoop up the fish with tiny nets. The
fishermen quenched their thirst with Feni shots and we all sang

Hai mala dumsa together. Today, all the schools of fish have been poached by trawlers,
who broke every rule in the book, fishing close to the shore and robbing the fishermen of
their livelihood.

I hope you will grow up to realise that every beautiful story has its share of horrors.

I am not being sentimental and romantic. I am heartbroken at the pace at which

“development” attacked the basic fibre of this village and uprooted the values it lived by.

As you grow up, I hope you find the Popular Photos values that bind its people together,
and allow them to celebrate this difference and embrace each otherʼs ways. This is what
is unique and wonderful about this country. I hope you can find enough examples of it
across this vast land. Love, light, peace,

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Mama

Sanjna Kapoor is co-founder and director, Junoon, a theatre and arts outreach
programme. Her son Hamir is 12 years old.

Sample Letter 4

From a cricketer to his children ‘You are my most valuable giftsʼ

Dear Sarvajit and Achinthya,

Iʼve chosen to be a little formal as I want to talk about life and its

challenges on this Childrenʼs Day. So, instead of typing on the computer, Iʼve picked up a
piece of paper and a pen to communicate. Hope this letter will stand you in good stead.

Education is your most valuable asset and itʼs important to make it wholesome. But while
academic success helps you progress in your career, to become a good human being and a
well-rounded individual, you must inculcate the right values. Whatever you achieve in
your careers, right values are needed to earn respect.

My parents were always my role models. While growing up, I learnt a lot from the way
they conducted themselves, the dedication they had for their professions. Itʼs very
important to have a role model and to find the right direction.

I donʼt want to turn too philosophical, but the beauty of life lies in its unpredictability.
When I was young, my life was full of different expectations and I enjoyed the topsy-
turvy nature of it. I was fortunate to play cricket at the highest level and represent my
country. And the game taught me a lot of things. It taught me discipline, the importance
of setting a goal and achieving it and the value of hard work. Most importantly, I learned
how to handle failures. This is very important, for success and failure are two sides of the
same coin. You must learn to put things in perspective and have a strong foundation to
take both the ups and the downs in your stride.

You must set your goals and then fix time frames to achieve them. Thereʼs no point
setting a goal without a time frame. It doesnʼt serve any purpose. There are provocations
aplenty these days. But if you have a goal and are passionate enough about achieving it,
you will stay focused. You are my most valuable gifts and I will create an environment
that helps you dream big. I will help you realise all your dreams.

Truly yours, Dad

VVS Laxman is a former India cricketer. His son VVS Sarvajit is seven years old and his
daughter VVS Achinthya is five.

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Sample Letter 5

Childrenʼs Day: A letter from a writer to her readers

My dear readers,

I have a confession to make. As a child, I was not a reader. Picking up a book for “fun”
was like hitting the pause button on life. Basically, it was something that had to be done
as part of our family time. Just before dinner, we all sat down and each of us read a book.
I couldnʼt wait for the hour to end so that I could start talking again.

But then, one day, something happened. I remember the exact moment, the exact feeling
even now, years and years later.

I had picked up a book called Born Free by Joy Adams. I was drawn into the book, much
like Alice down the rabbit hole. It was a book that I wanted to be in, to be part of. This
was the life I wanted to live, these were the people I wanted to be. The book is the first
part of a trilogy about a family who adopt a lion cub and then set her free. I laughed and
wept and fantasised. After Iʼd read the trilogy, I wanted — no — needed to read more.
And so I did. And I havenʼt stopped ever since.

What is it about reading that hooks people so much? You know the answer to that, youʼve
read it in a hundred posters in the library. But to me, it is the ability to achieve every
single dream and do every single thing, go to every single place that I want to, from the
comfort of my own home. But not in a hit-the-pause-button-on-life kind of way. More in
a get-into-the-skin-of-the-character, live-the-world-of-words kind of way.

Thatʼs what got me into writing, too. I wanted to be an actress, a big movie star with a
paparazzi tail. I also wanted to work with wild animals — it could be crocodiles and
snakes. Just something, anything, more interesting than the life I was leading. I tried
everything — did an acting course, spoke to the zoo director and wildlife rescue people.
But no one was giving me a job. I decided to try to write about the life I wanted. It turned
out to be quite a good story. While I was writing it, I realised that I was living it. And it
was a really thrilling experience. I believed myself, and when others read it, they believed
it, too. So I wrote some more. And more. I knew that this was what I was born to do.

And yes, I know what youʼre probably thinking. That youʼd rather live the adventure than
read about it. I get that, I think so as well.

So hereʼs the thing. Now that I am a writer with a capital W and I have, well, not a
paparazzi tail, but I have had a photo-shoot just this morning. And there is a young man
who is called Paro because he loved my books as a child. I am travelling the world now,
Iʼm off to Sweden to launch a book Iʼve written with a Swedish writer and Iʼve
performed stories with a Zulu writer and an Eskimo. Iʼm living the best possible life.

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When I look back, I realise that words got me here. Words I read, words I wrote and
words I dreamed of.

Words opened the world for me. I hope they will for you, too.

Happy Childrenʼs Day, my dear readers (and those I hope will read me soon), I wish the
best of words to you. Love and pyaar,

Paro Anand

Sample Letter 6

Childrenʼs Day: A letter from a property agent to his daughter

Dear Anjali,

Ever since you came into our life, our happiness has known no bounds. The day you were
born, we began dreaming of an education for you. But there was a shadow of fear. Our
parents didnʼt have the means to give us an education. Would we be able to give you one?

We kept our faith in God. When you were young, we sent you to a play school, vowing to
send you to a good school later. That was easier said than done. We filled in admission
forms in school after school. but were turned down because your mother and I were
uneducated, we couldnʼt speak English. I began to despair.

It was during that time that we met a teacher from Springdales School who told us a
number of students are admitted to every school under the Economically Weaker Section
(EWS) quota. We filled in the form and you got admission. We were thrilled as we saw
our dream of educating our daughter inching closer to realisation.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/feelings/childrens-day-a-letter-from-a-property-
agent-to-his-daughter/ Page 1 of 2 Childrenʼs Day: A letter from a property agent to his
daughter | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express 15/06/19, 9)21 AM

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We started sending you to school but we worried about you facing discrimination in
class. Fortunately, that didnʼt happen and you became an active member of your class,
participating enthusiastically in all school functions. When you got an award for full
attendance, I was so happy. It showed that you had adjusted well and didnʼt have to resort
to making excuses to miss school, like children often do.

This year has been overwhelming. You have been chosen class representative, which
shows that you have won the love of not just your teachers but also your classmates. You
were also awarded a scholarship given to meritorious students. At the awards ceremony,

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as we took our seats, right behind the chief guest, my heart swelled with pride. I couldnʼt
blink back my tears. I had never imagined my child would one day achieve so much.

I hope you go far in life. And I hope the way you have received help in life, you too are
of help to others. Your father,

Yuvraj

Yuvraj Sharma is a property agent, who came to Delhi about 30 years ago. His daughter,
Anjali, is a class VIII student

Sample Letter 7

Childrenʼs Day: A letter from a construction worker to her daughter

Dearest Neha,

I still remember the day when you were born — not the exact date though — it was Ram
Navami. We have celebrated seven Ram Navamis since.

You are my fourth child but third daughter, and your grandparents didnʼt like it. They
wanted another grandson. But you proved to be a lucky charm for us. Soon after your
birth, your father and I moved to Pune to work at construction sites. After nearly 10 years
of marriage, I felt free. Free of being conscious of what the village folk would say if I
broke any norm, free to be the “woman” of the house, free of the need to relieve myself in
the fields after dark. Even today, every house in the village has cellphones, but no toilets.

I was orphaned early in life as my father died of alcoholism and my mother died in
childbirth. I grew up cooking and cleaning at my naniʼs house.I donʼt have great insights
about life as I am not educated, but I would like to share some things with you. You are
only eight years old and may not be able to grasp the meaning of many things just yet, but
I hope you are able to read this when you grow up.

Just as I do not remember the date when you were born, I donʼt remember Poojaʼs (the
eldest). She was born a year after I got married. I was about 16 then. Beta, the first thing
you should do when your children are born is write down their date of birth and get a
birth certificate made. These documents are necessary for things like school admission or
for availing government schemes.

I was extremely nervous when I was pregnant because I didnʼt want to suffer my
motherʼs fate. I am lucky to have survived but two of my childhood friends died in
childbirth; in fact, nearly every fifth woman in our village dies like that. The ayah, who
took Rs 300, advised me to go for regular blood tests during my future pregnancies too. It
helps beta, you should also do that when your time comes.

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I have six children, my body feels tired now. I couldnʼt muster the courage to tell your
father to allow a family planning operation. The larger the number of children, the more
difficult it gets to sustain a family. Today I wish to educate all of you and marry you off,
but I earn just Rs 300 a day. You should say a firm “no” after you have your second
child.

I donʼt know what the future holds for you. But I hope that you choose to live in the city.
Village life is difficult. I wore a pallu all the time I was in the village, here I am bindaas. I
can live the way I want to.

Whatever you do, always have the courage to say no, to express yourself. It is the only
thing I lack and I wish you and my other daughters donʼt.

Love.

Your mother,

Sarita

Sarita Thakur, who works at a construction site in Pune, is from Kulharia village, Dumka
district, Jharkhand. Thakur cannot read or write. She spoke to Alifiya Khan on what she
would like to write to her daughter Neha, who goes to a school run at the site
Sample Letter 8

A letter from an artist to her son

Dear darling Ahaan,

Youʼre turning nine in a few days. When I asked daddy if you would be too embarrassed
to receive this note from me, he told me to go ahead and write what I feel. You perhaps
know that you have brought us more happiness than we could have ever wished for. I
canʼt forget the joy beaming through my big smile, on first hearing the news about you,
nine months before you arrived. Weʼve loved watching you sing, seated in your yellow
stroller (at one year, few months), relishing the sound vibrations as the stroller sped over
cobbled streets; talking to the animals in various zoos; giving instructions in the bathtub.
We enjoyed recording your tantrums during the terrible twos, crying and howling when I
once bought you new clothes, throwing a fit because you loved the old ones more. After a
tiring search sometimes, weʼd laugh at the quirky things we would find tied hanging on
strings, linking door-knobs to shoes stuffed with water bottles, moisturisers and keys.

We were often bemused by those failed attempts at shoving bigger things into smaller
volumes that would frustrate you. From the days of delightful duckies to spooky sharks in
deep seas to hand-crafted cardboard space shuttles, weʼve seen your interests gravitate to
magnets, magic, maps and maths. You were wonderfully considerate throughout our

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travels, finding ways to entertain yourself, distributing the cards you drew at every sit-
down dinner in the company of adults. You joined us at art exhibitions in museums,
galleries, biennales, fairs, no matter where, whichever part of the world they might be and
never complained even after throwing up (due to your motion sickness). Iʼve always felt,
I could never do what I do without your co-operation. While you make us recognize our
strengths and help fight our fears, at times we fail when you decide to get stubborn.
Youʼve made us understand ourselves better, through watching you, putting us in touch
with things perhaps we otherwise wouldnʼt do, were it not for you.

There are many lessons to learn from the games you play; not just how to build, improve
and excel, but to cope with setbacks and failures too. While games challenge us, they also
get us to participate in solving problems and look for solutions. You cried bitterly when
you lost your way home in ‘ minecraftʼ, but itʼs helped you to know the pain, of what it
feels like losing all that youʼve created and while we cannot direct the winds, we can
however adjust the sails. Now, as you journey through new worlds in pursuit of higher
goals, letʼs remind ourselves that life is actually made up of little things. Continue to
appreciate and value them while looking out for the invisible patterns in lifeʼs situations ?
for in the uncertainty there is hidden wisdom at play? which only in time becomes visible.

Love,

Ma

Reena Kallat is a Mumbai-based artist

Sample Letter 9

Childrenʼs Day: A letter from a single mother to her daughter

My darling daughter,

I am glad for this moment when I can sit down to write to you. Life is moving so fast. It
was just a little over a decade ago. I was sad and alone, and I prayed for a blessing and
found you in my arms! I remember telling you this story earlier and you would tell me
that you were the angel looking down from heaven and chose me to be your mother.

I love how you are growing each day. I was wary of the teens but you have pleasantly
surprised me. I wish you stay blessed, always. Beautiful souls have crossed our path often
and helped us sail through, no matter how troubled the waters.

Now that you are getting wiser, I know you appreciate how work has been the one big
constant in my life and has healed me at every moment. I hope you discover happiness
and peace in your creative pursuits and know that this can be your greatest strength.

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Life is a mixed bag. It is up to us how we experience it. Anytime you feel low, turn to
something creative that makes you happy. I remember once when I was drawing and you
asked me, as an inquisitive two-year-old, why I was smiling as I drew. Celebrate the little
joys, dear one.

Never be afraid to work hard. Your grandfather would say credibility is everything. Work
hard and know you gave your best. While grades are not everything, you must aspire to
find your place under the sun. Follow your heart and make your dreams come true.

It took a lot of courage and conviction to bring you up like a princess. I know that
sometimes you are too mature or too bold for your peers. Stay as you are. I remember
being called to school by your Class II teacher because she said you were overconfident
for your age. I am happy you have an inner voice that does not let you stay quiet.
Challenge everything and use your values, knowledge and experience to guide you. Think
and reason for yourself… you have an independent mind. You are at a phase in life when
you will want to explore the unknown. Be adventurous and free-spirited but stay
grounded.

While you are blessed with well-meaning friends and family, there will be those who
differ. Respect the difference and choose to steer clear. I still remember how you have
bravely put up with heartless words over the years, how you take it all in your stride. I
have silently cried many nights, amazed at how nasty children can be, and I take great
pride in knowing how matter-of-factly you cut all that to size. There is nothing abnormal
about being raised by a single parent and you are a beautiful example of that.

Understand the dynamics of family, Popular Photos friends, community, country and the
world. If you canʼt be patient and understanding to your family, you wonʼt be able to do
anything for others. The joy of giving and sharing is a cumulative one, the more hearts
you touch, the more love comes right back at you.

Know that you are loved, no matter what. I love you, always,

Mom

Tina Rajan is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer. Her daughter Ria is 13 years old
and a Class VIII student at a Delhi school

12
 UNDERSTANDING DRAMA Unit 2

Crossing the River

Ambai
Dr. Neeta Gupta

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Crossing the River is a short play written by the noted Indian feminist writer C S
Lakshmi who writes under the pseudonym Ambai. She is one of the foremost women
writers on the Tamil literary scene and has numerous short stories, novels and plays to her
credit in addition to her critical writings. In all her writings Ambai raises women’s issues
with a passionate zeal forging new techniques and at times even a new language to do so.
Her women centered writings question the paradoxes of the suppressed existence of
women through the ages as well as in the contemporary landscape.

2.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After having read this Study Material you will be able to:
• identify different elements of drama
• understand how the visual presentation adds to the force of an argument
• learn how one’s voice and body is used to perform/enact a character
• know how speech is connected to the character
• understand issues related to gender
• understand point of view

3.0 A BRIEF NOTE ON DRAMA

Drama is an art form that goes back thousands of years and has very effectively portrayed
crucial issues on stage through actors who perform according to a given script. The
common elements of drama are:

• Theme
• Plot
• Character
• Dialogue
• Setting
• Performance
• Song/dance/music
• Stage effects/visual effects
In a drama/play a story is brought to life by its performance on stage through actors who
perform the roles of the various characters in the play and act out the events of the story
and use dialogue and actions as a means to communicate the same. It is a dynamic and
vibrant art form and a good play keeps the audience riveted to their seats. Being a visual
medium its impact is immediate and very effective.

13
The plot or the story of the play has characters through whom the story is played. It is the
responsibility of the actors to bring these characters to life when they enact their roles on
stage. The main character in the play is known as the protagonist and is crucial to the
theme of the play.
The central theme of the play is the main idea or the message that the play puts forward.
This message may be stated by one or more characters in the play or be borne out by their
actions or through the events being shown. It may even be implied and may emerge after
the entire performance is over and the audience have had time to ponder over the entire
experience of watching that particular play.
The setting of the play is also important because it tells us about the time and place in
which the events are happening. Music, songs, dance and other visual effects such as a
play of light and sound are often used to enhance the impact of the play and make it more
lively and interesting.
The final impact of the play depends on a coming together of all the elements discussed
above. A lot however depends on the performance of actors - The way they assay their
roles, emote on stage perform their actions or deliver their dialogues.

4.0 A NOTE ON THE PLAY

Crossing the River or Aatraik Kadaththal was originally written in Tamil in the year
2000. It is a play that is unconventional in more ways than one. It is a one act play and
therefore not divided into Acts. In fact it is not even divided into Scenes. The entire play
is one long Scene and there is just one actor on stage with a white screen in the
background. The only other input is in the form of voices that are heard and the shadows
that play on the screen.
There is dialogue in the play but not between two or more people. A single character
speaks on stage addressing the audience and at times addressing the voices that put
questions to her. The only movement or action that happens on stage is the movement of
this one character as she circles the stage while speaking or when she symbolically raises
her arms to shoulder level to form a cross. The entire play is in the form of an interior
monologue.
What are we to make of this play? How are we to understand it? Is there even a story in
the play? Is that story being told by one character only? Then how is it a play by
conventional definition? These and some other such questions come to mind when we
read the play Crossing the River.

4.1 SITA’S STORY

As mentioned above, Crossing the River is a short one-act play in which there is only one
character on stage and that is Sita. One can move safely with the assumption that any
Indian reader would be familiar with the story of Ramayana and also with Sita’s portrayal
in it. Generations of readers have seen her as the quintessential, ideal woman – daughter,
wife, mother. She is never seen without a man by her side. As a daughter she has her

14
father who she has to obey. As Rama’s wife she follows him wherever he goes not once
questioning him or even saying one word that would indicate what she desires. Later
when she is in Ravana’s captivity her sole aim becomes how to protect herself from him.
When the war is fought and won she gives the agni pareeksha with folded hands and a
bowed head. Once again not raising her voice at all. When Rama banishes her to the
forest for no fault of hers she goes uncomplainingly.
One wonders what goes on in Sita’s mind and heart. Why is it that she never raises her
voice against the injustice of it all? Was she ever critical of the way Rama treated her?
What would she have said had she spoken? There is absolutely no doubt that such
questions do come to our mind as readers. In a patriarchal narrative however there has
never been any place for such questions. The woman’s perspective was never given any
importance.
In modern and contemporary times however, narratives are constantly being read, re-
written and re-interpreted from a woman centric point of view. Such readings pose a
challenge to patriarchal hegemony which has determined the outcome of literary texts to
a large extent. For this reason, age old epics, myths and legends are being revisited and
reinterpreted by women writers to bring the woman’s viewpoint to the forefront. Crossing
the River is just such an attempt by Ambai to revisit the epic Ramayana and turn it into a
Sitayana by presenting and interpreting the events through the prism of Sita’s
consciousness. The entire play is one long anguished monologue by Sita which takes us
into her heart and soul and for the first time gives her a voice.
Through Sita, the play explores the predicament and the situation of all victims of
suppression irrespective of their gender. Therefore the play works not so much on the
literal plane as on the symbolic and metaphorical levels of interpretation.
Let us examine the play in some detail. For the sake of analysis Sita’s long monologue
has been divided into sections using the stage directions as breaks.

5.0 ANALYSIS

Section 1
The play begins with a set of stage directions which tell us how the stage is set. The stage
is bare. There is a white screen on the wall facing the audience. The light falls from above
on one woman who stands with her back to the audience. Rest of the stage is in darkness.
Her head is bent low and her hands also hang low. And then she speaks slowly.
Stage directions help readers of the play to imagine the setting of the scene and also the
movement or stance of character/s. They also act as guidelines for the actors who are
performing on stage. We do not know yet who the woman on stage is. Her bent head and
her hands hanging low, create an air of despondency around her. Light is being used
effectively to focus on this one character on stage.
When the woman speaks she speaks in the first person and talks of a river being before
her once again. The audience has to imagine that river and the white screen which the
woman is facing can be a projection of that river in its physical sense on stage.

15
Once again
There is a river before me
Cradling the moon’s rays and flowing slowly…
……………………………………………….
Hiding the fury that bursts
And destroys trees, plants, shelters, and lives.
A river that hides ……
Summary: The woman continues to describe that river, speaking slowly. It is a clear
river, revealing the sands beneath. An open river which reveals and hides at the same
time. She goes on to list some of the things that the river is hiding --- ‘the scratch of oars,
the flowers that have touched the dead bodies, hiding the fury that bursts and destroys
trees, plants, shelters, lives …’ It may be hiding many other things within it.
Comment: In the first section of the play itself the river has begun to acquire a
metaphorical meaning. In the traditional sense, it is a metaphor for life. In life too some
things are clear while others are hidden. The woman’s speech and the river’s flow are
going at the same slow pace. Just as the slow flowing river hides within it the fury that
wreaks havoc when it breaches its banks, so also the play will build up to unleash the fury
that lies buried and hidden inside any being who may appear to be calm on the outside
but may have buried within her/him the pain which comes from years of injustice and
oppression.
Check Your Progress
1. How does the play begin?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. How many characters are there on stage?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What does the white screen signify?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Is the river being used here as a metaphor? Explain.
………………………………………………………………………………………

16
 ………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Section 2
Another set of stage directions follow. There is some movement on stage. The woman
turns her head to the right showing one side of her face to the audience and then bends
her head back and lifts her face and walks backwards towards the audience taking two
steps before speaking again.
Comment: Movement and action on stage is important for any performance. A stage
cannot be static. It is a combination of action and dialogue that form the basis for
sustaining the interest of the audience in a performance. One has to read meaning into
every action that happens on stage. If the woman has shown one side of her face to the
audience it may signify that she is about to reveal who she is.
Which river is this?
Is it Sarayu?
Yamuna?
………………..
I have come a long way
Through forests
With leaves whispering in the wind;….
……………..
I came laughing
Laughing
Thinking
And then
Destroyed
I came.
Summary: She begins by asking which river it is that lies before her. Is it Sarayu?
Yamuna? Ganga? Kaveri? Godavari? Narmada? And then she faces the audience and
asks the most relevant of the questions. Does it matter which river it is? It is like any
other river stretched like a snake with banks on two sides showing the way to faraway
places like dense forests, mountain tops and waterfalls. She then walks to the front of the
stage and continues to speak telling the audience how she has come a long way through
forests with leaves whispering in the wind and the breeze caressing her face and touching
her hair. She was happy and came laughing, thinking and then destroyed.

17
Comment: The identity or the name of the river does not matter according to the woman
who speaks. All rivers are the same. The actors movement on stage adds force to her
speech. When she faces the audience and asks ‘Does it matter which river it is’ she is
addressing them directly getting them involved in the performance and forcing them to
think. On the metaphorical level the identity of the woman also should not matter because
she speaks for all women down the ages till present times.
The movement of an actor is an important aspect of his/her performance. Speech and
movement together build up a character. The woman’s involvement with the audience
continues as she walks to the front of the stage telling them about a time when she was
happy. There was a time when she used to laugh, there was a time when she used to think
but then with a sudden twist she brings us to the present moment when she says
‘destroyed I came.’ This generates curiosity in the minds of the readers and audience
alike. What changed her from a carefree, happy person to the present dejected one? What
destroyed her happiness or took away her freedom? Notice also that she continues to
speak in the first person. The narrative is focused on just one person at this point in the
play.
Check Your Progress
1. Is there any action on stage? If yes then what does it signify?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. What pertinent question does the woman ask?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What does the woman tell us about herself?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Section 3
A set of stage directions intervene. We are told that shadows appear on the white screen
in the centre. Voices are heard – both male and female. One of the voices is similar to
hers. There is also the whistling sound of the wind. The woman stands frozen -facing the
audience.
Comment: The white screen is now being used to create an illusion of people
surrounding the woman on stage. The shadows and the voices imply that. An atmosphere

18
can be created on stage through the use of sound and light even when there are no
physical props. The sound of whistling wind creates an eerie atmosphere. The voices put
innumerable questions to the woman.
Who are you?
Who are you?
There is sadness in your eyes
Your body is tired
Your words come limping
………………………….
Where have we seen you?
What distances have you
Traversed?
Summary: In this section of the play there are only questions being put to the woman on
stage. ‘Who are you’ ask the voices. The question is reiterated and then the voices begin
to describe the woman. The first observation is that she looks tired and there is sadness in
her eyes. Her body is tired and her words come ‘limping’. Her voice is exhausted and
even though she looks familiar her identity is unknown. So once again the question is put
to her with an emphasis –‘ Who are you?’ This time however some guesses are made.
The voices say that she reminds them of a face in Ravi Varma’s paintings, or even a
statue in a temple. She even reminds them of the mother holding the holy child. The
voices are unable to place her and ask ‘Where have we seen you?’ They ask her about the
distances she has traversed to reach here.
Comment: The questions being voiced on the stage are also questions that are uppermost
in the minds of the audience and the readers. Till now the identity of the woman has not
been disclosed. We too want to know who she is. Her physical appearance however is
being constructed in these lines of the play. We come to know that she looks familiar and
reminds one of the faces in paintings or statues in the temples. What is more important is
the fact that she appears to be exhausted and the sadness in her eyes tells us that she has
been through much. Ambai makes a deft use of imagery here to create a character. She
personifies words and makes them limp to convey the woman’s exhaustion.
Up until now the readers/audience do not know the identity of the woman. By comparing
her to figures in religious paintings or the statues in temples the audience are being
enticed to make guesses and are drawn towards the play. Through these comparisons
Ambai however, is drawing attention towards objectification of women in society.
A curiosity regarding the woman’s identity is built up in the play. The audience have to
be involved and have to remain interested. The question about the woman’s identity does
provoke that interest in the audience and readers alike.
‘Where have we seen you? What distances have you traversed? ‘ ask the voices. Two
things are happening in these last two questions. The first question emphasizes once again

19
that there is an element of familiarity the woman. She is someone with whom the
audience feels a connection. They have seen her somewhere. The next question while
asking about the distances she has travelled to reach here also at the same time underlines
the fact that this distance is not physical distance. It is distance in the metaphorical sense.
It is distance through the ages. And that is why the familiarity. She is not someone who
was there in our life just yesterday or the day before. She appears to be someone who has
been there from time immemorial.
Check Your Progress
1. How does Ambai succeed in creating an illusion of people being present on stage?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. What questions are put to the woman?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What is it that strikes us most about this woman.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Is the woman’s identity revealed?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Explain the line ‘what distances have you traversed?’
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Section 4
The stage directions this time describe the woman circling the stage and speaking loudly
as though making an announcement. At first she walks fast to the left and then she starts
circling the stage looking at the white screen as she circles and speaking loudly at the
same time.
Comment: As mentioned before any performance on stage cannot be static. There has to
be movement on stage and in this particular section of the play, the woman who had been

20
simply standing on stage begins to move. Her movement is in circles for two reasons.
One is a requirement of the stage – she has to move but she cannot move out of vision.
She has to remain visible to the audience. Hence her movement in circles. Ambai has
however used this movement very skillfully to covey the strong agitation in the woman’s
heart. The image of her going round and round on stage also expresses the fact that she
feels trapped. She is not able to find a way to break her shackles and soar to freedom. She
finally reveals her name.
I am Sita
I am Sita
Who entered the forest
Got imprisoned
in the forest
and is now roaming
in the forest
because of love,
lust and
politics

She continues and speaks the most hard hitting lines …

I am Sita, the pawn

I am Sita, the cheated
I am Sita
Who has
Nothing.
Summary: The lines that follow reveal the identity of the woman. ‘I am Sita’, she says.
Sita who entered the forest, got imprisoned in the forest and is now roaming in the forest.’
So far so good. But the tenor changes drastically when she speaks further. She calls
herself the pawn, the cheated and says that she roams the forest because of ‘love, lust and
politics.’ She is Sita ‘who has nothing’.
Comment: We are in the realm of fantasy here. When the woman reveals her name to be
Sita, the Sita of Ramayana, we immediately know that we are straddling two worlds here
– one of reality and the other of fantasy; one of the past and the other of present. The Sita
of Ramayana has come into our contemporary world.
The woman discloses her name. Knowing that she is Sita we immediately understand
why there was this element of familiarity with her. Who doesn’t know about Sita or who
hasn’t heard of her, read about her? She has always been a part of our socio-cultural
consciousness. We are all familiar with her story and with her image of being an ideal

21
daughter, wife, mother. In the patriarchal narrative she is the epitome of womanhood. But
that is a narrative written by men. What if it was written by women? Her words in the
play throw a challenge to this hegemonic narrative that has sealed the fate of women from
time immemorial.
The image of the always silent Sita, the uncomplaining, docile Sita, the Sita who was
merely the shadow of Rama -- has been deeply ingrained in the Indian ethos. It is
obvious that Ambai is going to challenge this ethos and recreate and retell the story of
Sita from her point of view. In Crossing the River we get to see Sita’s story from a
different angle altogether. As against a male rendition we are given a woman centric
interpretation of events in this retelling of the age-old myth. The most striking difference
is that in her retelling of the myth, Ambai gives Sita a voice. Her centuries of silence is
broken! She speaks out against her victimization in a strident manner and recounts with
bitter irony the events that hurt and humiliated her.
If Sita never uttered a word does it mean she never felt the pain and the suffering that was
inflicted on her? Does her silence mean that she felt she deserved the treatment that she
received? Ambai’s play takes a glimpse inside her mind and her heart. We understand
now why her eyes are sad. She is emotionally wounded and she is angry too. She knows
she has been a victim -- as she puts it quite succinctly -- a victim of love, lust and
politics. The moment she utters these words she becomes every woman who has ever
suffered due to the love, lust and politics of men.
If we try to explain these lines in the context of Ramayana however, we can clearly make
the connection. At first she roamed the forest because of her love for Rama, whom she
followed unquestioningly when he was exiled. Next she was imprisoned in the forest
because of the lust of Ravana. Ultimately she was banished to the forest because of the
politics which demanded that Rama being a king, should renounce his wife, his queen
who is considered impure because she lived in the captivity of a man who was not her
husband. Was Sita ever asked what she felt or thought? No!. She was merely a pawn in
the hands of the powers that decided her fate. She felt cheated and humiliated. Ultimately
everything is taken from her. She is left with nothing.
Ambai’s portrayal of Sita is certainly radical! For the first time we are seeing her from
her own perspective, from a woman’s perspective. She never raised her voice against her
oppression, her subjugation, her victimization. But that does not mean that she did not
feel cheated and victimized. Ambai’s Sita however, is not a mute victim. She doesn’t lack
agency and is vocal. She chooses to express her angst.
Suddenly what had always been Rama’s story becomes Sita’s story in this short play.
Check Your Progress
1. How does Ambai convey the agitation that the woman on stage is feeling?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

22
2. What is our reaction when the woman reveals her identity?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Is Ambai’s Sita different from the socio-cultural image of Sita in the Indian ethos?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. From whose perspective is the story being told?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Section 5
A short two-line stage direction tells us that the woman stops speaking and raises her
arms. The shadows appear again on the screen and the voices speak.
Which Sita?
Which Sita are you?
Are you Kamban’s Sita?
………………………
Are you the Sita of people’s tales?
A different Sita, are you?
Summary: The voices now demand to know which Sita she is. Is she Kamban’s Sita or
Valmiki’s Sita? Is she the Sita of Tulsidas or is she the Maya Sita who was ‘created to
bear the pain and sorrow of the real Sita?’ Or is she the Sita who was made of gold to sit
beside Rama so that the rituals that needed the presence of the wife could be legitimized?
Then again, ask the voices, is she the Sita of the people’s tales or is she a Sita different
from all of the above?
Comment: In this section of the play we are reminded of all the different versions of Sita
that have come down to us through generations of writers readers. Kamban (who wrote
the Ramayana in Tamil), Valmiki and Tulsidas all have their own versions of the
Ramayana but Sita’s portrayal in all remains the same. The voices in the play refer to the
Maya Sita drawing attention to the story that in actual fact all the hardships that Sita
endured were borne by this Maya Sita and not the real Sita. The popular story that an
image of Sita was crafted in gold to fulfil the requirement of the presence of the wife to
legitimize rituals obliquely points to the fact that woman is important but can easily be

23
replaced with just an image/object to fulfil a formality. There are many tales about Sita
and the voices in the play who are asking these questions have sensed that here probably
we have a Sita who is different from any of the earlier versions.
Check Your Progress
1. List the different versions of Sita referred to in the play.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Do you think Ambai is raising here the question of identity of this woman with a
definite purpose in mind? What is that purpose?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
Section 6
A long set of stage directions project the woman replying to these questions and at the
same time moving her arms, raising them to her shoulder level as if they were wings. At
the end of her talk her arms remain raised to the shoulder level in the manner of a cross.
Comment: Once again movement on stage is brought through this one figure present on
it. Her actions however are symbolically indicative of her desire to be free –free as a bird
to fly to wherever she chooses to go. The woman is able to convey her aspiration as well
as her desire just by her physical actions. Her centuries of subjugation however, is
conveyed through the image of her being crucified at the altar of patriarchy. We have to
remember that in her play Ambai is constantly moving from past to present and for
contemporary readers and audience the symbolic associations of a cross are obvious. To
the woman on stage it makes no difference which Sita she is. The question of her identity
gets further complicated.
What difference does it make?
Which Sita I am
Which is the real Sita
And which
The false?
……………..
I am Sita
Made up with words
Bound in words
Imprisoned in words.

24
………………………
I am Sita
The state creates
…………………….
I am Sita of a kind,
Sita with many faces,
living through
many times
many spaces.
I am another Sita,
Another Sita.
Summary: Does it matter which Sita she is - she asks? There is no real or false Sita. All
are real and all false. In anguish she cries out that she is the Sita who was made up with
words, bound in words and imprisoned in words. She is the Sita whom authority creates
and dictates. She has always been told how to stand, sit or lie or think. She has been told
that her Ayodhya is where Rama is. She has to go with him to the forest if he wants it and
has to prove her purity through fire. She is the Sita who bears sons, she is the oppressed
Sita, Sita of a kind.
Comment: In this section of the play the play begins its movement from particular to the
general. Sita acquires the symbolic dimensions of being the representative of all the
oppressed and subjugated women who have been victims of patriarchal hegemony. She
chooses to speak for all of them. That is why she says ‘I am a Sita with many faces’ She
has lived in all those women who have been victims like her ‘living through many times,
many spaces.’ The mythical Sita is transposed to contemporary times. She becomes
everywoman who has had to live her life according to men’s prescriptive commands
‘made up in words, bound up in words, imprisoned in words’. Society has thrown up
many Sita’s but frustrated with the fate that society has confined women in, she lashes out
in anger saying ‘I am another Sita, another Sita.’ She declares she is different and in this
declaration is evident her resolve to forge her own way to challenge the hegemonic
system and move forward to realize her dreams and aspirations that have never ever been
acknowledged.
Check Your Progress
1. What is implied in the woman’s movement of arms?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. How does Sita assume symbolic proportions in the play? Who does she represent?

25
 ………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What does she mean when she says ‘I am a Sita with many faces’?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. What does she mean when she says ‘I am another Sita’.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
Section 7
Summary: Shadows cover the screen completely and come near her as if pushing her.
The shadows here signify society that wants to prevent her from speaking and exposing
an unfair system. Voices put questions to her again and demand to know who she is in
truth. Is she a story teller, they ask? Does she have an identity? Does she have a place or
other names?
Comment: The questions once again voice the ones that may be churning in the minds of
the readers and audience alike. The question of identity is a crucial question. Identity is
always linked with a name and a place. The mystery surrounding the woman’s identity
deepens. Along with the voices we too are curious to know who this woman is.
Section 8
Once again the woman begins to circle the stage. As she circles she talks.
I occupy several places
I have several names
I am also Thataka
…………………..
An authority called Rama
An arrogance called Rama
An ego called Rama
A politics called Rama
Humiliated me.

26
Summary: Addressing the voices she tells the that she occupies several places and has
several names. She is Thataka, born and brought up in a forest, a forest being but called a
demoness and killed in her own forest. Killed by an ‘authority called Rama, an arrogance
called Rama, An ego called Rama, A politics called Rama, who humiliated her.’ She
speaks the last words in anger and then folds her arms over her chest and stands at one
end of the screen facing the audience. The voices however don’t stop and demand to
know if she is Sita or is she Thataka. They even want to know if she is a woman or a man
or even human at all.
Comment: The woman’s movement on stage in circles once again depicts or signifies
her growing agitation. In these lines that she speaks she identifies with and assumes the
identity of another victim like her – Thataka who was killed by Rama simply because she
posed a potential disturbance to the sages performing yagna in the forest. As she
understands, the forest belonged to Thataka who was born there and brought up there but
Rama’s arrogance and authority turned Thataka into a demoness and killed her in her
own forest. While talking about Thataka, Sita or the woman on stage, uses the first person
pronoun and says that Rama ‘killed me in my own forest’. In other words she assumes the
identity of Thataka by empathizing with her and holds Rama responsible for the injustice
meted out to her. This clearly indicates that Sita is becoming a representative figure here
of all those women who have been victimized and punished at the hands of powerful and
egoistic patriarchs.
The fierce feminist in Ambai surfaces here in her strong critique of Rama through Sita.
As against the popular valorization of him being godlike, venerated by all alike, we have
here an alternative reading of the myth. In his treatment of Sita and in his authoritative
and arrogant actions against beings like Thataka he emerges as an egotistical figure who
has no compassion, is almost cruel and is very political.
Sita gives voice to the injustice of it all and her body language expresses her fury. When
the voices ask her who she really is and whether she is a woman or a man or even human,
their questions have metaphorical overtones. Sita has already identified herself with
Thataka who was another victim. By asking whether she is a woman or a man or even
human, the questions are opening the possibility of Sita becoming an ungendered being
here and stand as representative of all who were oppressed or victimized by the system.
The next section of the play carries this interpretation further.
Check Your Progress
1. How do we know that Sita becomes representative of all women victimized in
history?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

27
2. Comment on the depiction of Rama in this section of the play?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Who else does Sita identify herself with. What does it tell us about her?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Do any further layers get added to Sita’s identity here?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Section 9
The woman on stage slides slowly across the white screen and begins to speak.
I am a woman
I am a man
I am an object
I am the thing
Ferreted out by rulers
They roll me over
Push me aside
Crush me.
…………………..
I am the Sambuga
who gets destroyed
……………………….
I am the tree
Cut up in its wake.
…….
I am the girl child
That swallowed the poison
As soon as it was born.

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……………………………
A stone I am
A stone
A life turned into stone.

Summary: She says she is a woman, she is a man she is an object a thing that is ferreted
out by rulers. Then she goes on to list all those beings and things that have faced
annihilation, victimization and destruction at the hands of the powerful. She is Ravana if
Rama so wishes,; she is Sambuga who gets destroyed; she is the horse who gets thrown
into the ritual fire; she is the frog who dies by Rama’s arrow; she is the tree that is cut, the
river that is bound, the girl child that swallowed poison as soon as it was born. She is also
the bride who died in the fire and she is the stone that is broken down in places of
worship because it has no hands, no mouth and simply rolls off. She compares herself to
stone. Her life has turned into stone.
She sounds tired and leans back before speaking again.
‘I am you, all of you,’ she says, ‘all of you asking questions. I am the body of your
questions.’
Comment: These lines dissolve all boundaries of gender and make Sita representative of
all who have been victims of oppression. Not only do the boundaries of male and female
disappear the ones between animal and human as also between animate and inanimate
dissolve as well. There is space here even for the horse, the frog, the tree, the river, the
stone all of which are seen as victims of destruction at the hands of the powerful and like
Sita all of these have no voice of their own.
Check Your Progress
1. List the people, animals and things that Sita identifies with.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Would it be correct to say that Sita becomes an ungendered being in this play?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Who does Sita represent in this play?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

29
 ………………………………………………………………………………………
Section 10
Summary: This time the woman lifts her head and looks up. The light falls on her face.
There is strength left still she says. She talks of crossing the river ‘to see a new world, to
assume a new form, to create a new Rajya.’
There is strength
Left still
I shall cross the river
I shall cross the river
To see the new world
To assume a new form
To create a new Rajya.
With confidence she faces the audience looking ahead.
Comment: In the beginning of the play the woman had appeared on stage with her head
bent low. Now at the end she is shown to be lifting her head. This is a symbolic gesture
signifying the woman’s resolve to fight the odds and to win against them. ‘I shall cross
the river’ she declares. She will break the shackles and emancipate herself. She will soar
to freedom. The society might have oppressed and subdued her will through the ages. But
there is strength left still in her. The river here becomes symbolic of her path to a new
world, a means to a new form, a possibility to create a new Rajya which in all probability
would not be Rama Rajya but a Sita Rajya – in other words a Women’s world, a world
where there would be no inhibitions, no prescriptions. Where women would find their
dignity, have aspirations and fulfil their dreams. Sita is resurrected here as the new
emancipated woman who has the courage to forge her own way
In the end the shadows disappear, the white screen glistens in the background and the
woman stands facing the audience with a bright face, looking ahead to freedom and to a
new identity.
Check Your Progress
1. Comment on the title of the play. What does ‘crossing the river’ signify?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Comment critically on Ambai’s retelling of the myth in this play.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

30
6.0 SUMMING UP

Ambai’s play Crossing the River is an attempt at a retelling of the age old myth of the
story of Sita but from Sita’s point of view. Retelling of myths or relooking at the classics
and rewriting them from the women’s point of view is an important aspect of feminist
studies today. The image of Sita in the Indian socio-cultural consciousness sees a
dramatic change here when Ambai gives her a strong questioning voice which strikes at
the base of the pedestal of the supremist like Rama and shake it to the core by exposing
and critiquing him.
The play revolves around the question of the identity of Sita which ultimately moves
beyond the epic figure of Ramayana to encompass all who have faced oppression and
subjugation.

7.0 NOTES AND GLOSSARY

1. Ravi Varma: Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter and artist, considered as one
of the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. Varma is known for his
amazing paintings, which revolve mainly around the Puranas and the great Indian
epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana.
2. Kamban: Kamban was a medieval Tamil Hindu poet and the author of the
Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the
epic Ramayana.
3. Valmiki: Valmiki is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The
epic Ramayana, dated variously from 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is
attributed to him, based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as Ādi
Kavi, the first poet, author of Ramayana, the first epic poem
4. Tulsidas: also known as Goswami Tulsidas, was a Hindu Vaishnava saint and
poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. Tulsidas wrote several popular
works in Sanskrit and Awadhi; he is best known as the author of the epic
Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana based on Rama's life in the
vernacular Awadhi dialect of Hindi.
5. Maya Sita: In some adaptations of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Maya Sita or Chaya
Sita is the illusionary duplicate of the goddess Sita, who is abducted by the
demon-king Ravana of Lanka instead of the real Sita.
6. Sita made of gold: Sita’s statue of gold made to take her place by Rama’s side
while performing the rituals of a yajna.
7. Thataka: Taraka or Tadaka or Thataka was a demoness in the epic Ramayana.
Along with her children, Maricha and Subahu, Taraka would harass and attack
rishis performing yajnas in the forest. They were ultimately slain by Rama and
Lakshmana on behest of their teacher, maharishi Vishvamitra.

31
8. Sambuga: Shambuka is, in Hindu mythology, a character in some versions of the
Ramayana. According to that version, Shambuka, a shudra ascetic, was slain by
Rama for attempting to perform penance in violation of dharma, the bad karma
resulting from which caused the death of a Brahmin's son.
9. The horse thrown into the ritual fire: the horse sacrifice in the ritual fire of the
Ashvamedha yajna.
10. The frog whom Ram’s arrows pierced: story of a frog killed accidentally by
Rama.
[Note: All textual references are from : Lakshmi CS ‘Ambai’ ‘Crossing the River’
Staging Resistance: Plays by Women in Translation edited by Tutun Mukherjee Oxford:
Oxford University Press 2005]

32
 UNDERSTANDING POETRY Unit 3

1. Caged Bird
Maya Angelou

P.K. Satapathy

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 About the author: This will be a brief introduction to Maya Angelou the person
and the writer/poet. The focus will be on some significant circumstances and
influences that shaped her as an individual and as an artist. Maya Angelou was
born on 4th April 1928 in St Louis, Missouri infamous for race riots, lynching,
racial segregation and the victims were mostly Afro-Americans. After the civil
war a large number of Afro-Americans migrated to Missouri from the American
deep south (states like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, etc.). It is but natural that
they would end up competing with the white working class people for jobs and
accommodation. They were not only considered racially inferior but also a threat
to white neighbourhoods. What followed was a systematic brutalisation of black
people. It is during a time like this that Maya Angelou was born and all these
things would leave a deep scar in her young mind.

On the personal and family front, things were no better. Her father abandoned her
and to make matters worse she was raped by her mother`s boyfriend Mr Freeman.
She testified against her rapist who was convicted but was let off. He was

33
subsequently found murdered, most probably by her uncles. But she believed that
it was her voice that killed him and did not speak to anyone except her brother
Bailey for more than 5 years. This inward turn drove her to reading and writing
that proved to be quite therapeutic. As a young woman, Maya Angelou worked
through various kinds of jobs. She married a South African freedom fighter and
spent some time in Cairo. But that was short lived and she returned to American
and joined up with Malcom X and Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights
Movement. Once again, she was devastated after the assassination of both
Malcom X and martin Luther king jr.
All these experiences, interestingly, did not make her bitter. It made her more
determined to rise above her hardships and teach us to love and to forgive. She
wrote, “The honorary duty of a human being is to love”. In 1969 she published
her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; there will be six more
in later years.

This was a collection of stories of her childhood and it became an instant hit. She
was a prolific writer who wrote about the many varied experiences of her life in a

34
 vivid and absorbing style. Sidonie Ann Smith describes her thus, “Her genius as a
writer is her ability to capture the texture of the way of life in the texture of its
idioms, its idiosyncratic vocabulary and especially in its process of image-
making”. She went on to win numerous awards and honorary doctorates in her
life. She passed away in her home on May 28, 2014.
1.1.2 Caged Bird: This poem, “Caged Bird” is from a volume of poetry titled Shaker
Why Don’t You Sing that Maya Angelou published in 1983.

This was her fourth volume of poetry. I am sure you must have noticed that her
first book was titled Ï Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The title of the book is
borrowed from a poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar called “Sympathy” published in
1896.
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and he would be free;”
There is deeper connection between the intensely personal experience of the poet
as a woman, the image of a cage, and the idea of singing. The early childhood
trauma made Mary Angelou turn inward preferring self-imposed silence over
speech but this silence was also a cage at the same time. She could easily relate
her own experience as a black woman in a deeply racial society with other

35
 similarly situated women. She saw herself as caged twice over, as a black Afro-
American and then as a woman. It was a cage within a cage. It was during this
period of self-imposed silence that her grandmother introduced her to Mrs Flower
and it is this lady, by her own admission, who set her free from her caged silence.
It is there that she learnt about the emancipatory power of singing. It is this idea of
singing as the path to freedom allows her to grow as an individual. The poem
“Caged Bird” revolves around this idea as do many of her other poems. She
firmly believed that black men and women can free themselves by finding their
voices, as she herself did, in songs of freedom.

Check Your Progress 1

1.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

1.2 Learning Objectives

After going through this lesson you should be able to:

➢ Describe in brief the life of the poet and the things that occupied her as a creative
writer.
➢ Understand the condition of the Afro-American people during the American Civil
Rights movement and the connection between the poem and the civil rights
movement.
➢ Identify and describe some of the literary devices used in the poem.
➢ Identify the main themes of the poem and critically engage with them.

1.3 Stanza 1

“A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dip his wings

36
 in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky”
The first stanza paints a picture of a free bird by using a few powerful images of
the very idea of freedom itself. We see a bird floating on the wind with extended
wings as the current takes him downstream. The bird’s wing tips catch the orange
rays of the setting sun. It seems that this little bird is bold enough to claim the sky
as its own. The words and images used in the opening stanza sets the tone of the
poem and that is the idea of freedom. The idea of exercising a choice is central to
the idea of freedom. The free bird occupies the subject position here. He leaps,
floats, dips its wings, and dares to claim the sky. He is the master of his actions.
The fact that the bird can ‘leap on the back of the wind’ whenever it wants is a
privilege though we often take for granted. We can only appreciate the value of
this privilege in the absence of freedom. Moreover the bird doesn’t really struggle
to fly. It ‘floats’ on the wind and is carried downstream. The experience of
freedom here is effortless. It dips its wings only when it becomes necessary. The
bird is in no hurry. It purveys the world from its position high in the sky and
moves wherever it wishes to. It can and it dares to ‘claim ’the sky because it is not
threatened. Because it is truly free. What this stanza is suggesting is that while
there are birds that are free and that to be free is a privilege, there are also birds
that are un-free. The bird here is a metaphor of freedom and perhaps refers to
those white people who enjoyed this privilege as against people of colour who
were un-free.
Check Your Progress 2
1. How does the first stanza evoke the idea of freedom?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What words and phrases indicate that the bird is the master of its action?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Do you think Maya Angelou uses the metaphor of the bird to reflect on inequality
in the society?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

37
1.4 Stanza 2

“But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing”
The second stanza comes as a sharp contrast to the first. We have a caged bird
here. And this bird is only able to stalk down its little cage. Its wings are clipped
and its feet tied. So, when he can do nothing else, he sings. The stanza begins with
a “but’’ that emphasizes the contrast between a free bird and a caged bird. The
caged bird can only stalk the narrow cage. The use of the word “stalk” is quite
interesting. The narrow cage has severely restricted the physical space that the
bird occupies it and forces it to stalk restlessly in the narrow confines of the cage.
The physical constraints of the cage are described as “bars of rage” the bars reflect
the rage within. The bird is helpless, angry at his own plight. He feels trapped and
sees no way out. This is one way in which the poet draws the reader’s attention to
the plight of the Black Americans who have faced discrimination and oppression
for a long time. At the same time juxtaposing the caged bird with the free bird, the
poet is able to bring into focus the deeply racial and unequal nature of American
society.
The bird’s wings are clipped and his feet are tied. These images, clipped wings
and tied feet bring out the nature of violent nature of oppression that keeps the
bird, and by implication the Black Americans, caged. However, these physical
restrictions haven’t completely enslaved the bird. The body is trapped but the soul
is not. Despite the hopelessness of its situation, the bird opens its throat to sing.
The bird’s response to the confinement is to push back against and resist its
enslavement through singing. And what would the bird sing of but freedom. The
bird sings against the denial of freedom to float on the wind, to dip its wings any
which way it likes and to claim the sky as its own. The juxtaposition of images of
freedom in stanza 1 with images of un-freedom of stanza 2 renders the poem
powerfully evocative.
Check Your Progress 3
1. What images are used in this stanza to bring out the condition of enslavement of
the bird?

38
 __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. How does the respond to its state of enslavement?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

1.5 Stanza 3

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The third stanza begins to describe the singing of the bird. The “caged bird” sings
with a ‘fearful trill’. ‘Trill’ refers to a series of quick and high pitched notes. So
the fearful trill of the caged bird would be repeated high pitched and nervous
singing. This is not the steady singing of a free bird. What is it that makes the
birds singing so uncertain and so high pitched? What is it fearful of? The bird is,
perhaps, fearful because it is unsure and nervous about its future. It has only
known oppression and enslavement. It is not sure if it will ever be free. The bird is
singing of ‘things unknown….but longed for’. The bird knows only its cage and
nothing of the outside world.Hence when it sings of freedom it is singing about
something that it has no knowledge of. Freedom is an unknown category for the
bird. It is assailed by anxiety. What does one do with freedom or the things
associated with that freedom itself become the cause of anxiety. Freedom from
confinement could lead to a fear of freedom as well. The trill of the bird, thus,
suggests uncertainty. The bird is unsure about ever achieving the freedom that is
so desires. And even if it does, will it ever be free of its own ‘bars of rage’? Even
if the bars disappear there is a likelihood of the rage lingering on. True freedom is
to be free at a physical, mental, and spiritual level. The bird is uncertain if it will
ever achieve freedom in its true sense. In this context the birds ‘fearful trill’ adds
poignancy and some urgency to the poem.
Though the bird is caged and its song is fearful, it has not been cowed down to
silence. The bird, even in the state of un-freedom, refuses to sit quietly. The
struggle goes on and this is symbolised by the birds singing. It establishes its

39
 existence and its power to act through its high pitched trill. It is telling the world
that it will not suffer the oppression quietly. This metaphor recalls the struggle of
the Black Americans for their civil rights and equality. Maya Angelou herself was
a part of the American Civil Rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. This
was a long struggle and we must remember that music and singing played a big
role in mobilising people and giving voice to their aspirations.The songs they sang
filled the people with hope and courage. Some of these were songs that were sung
by the slaves. The song “We shall overcome” became an unofficial anthem of the
Civil rights Movement. I am sure you have heard this song or at least the Hindi
version “Hum hongekamyab”.In this poem Maya Angelou uses the birds song as a
metaphor. She tells us that to hope and to act is to be alive and action is not
necessarily movement. Even if the caged bird cannot fly in the sky like the free
bird it can still assert its existence through its voice of hope and aspiration. To
speak is to exist. The voice of the bird is heard on distant hills and it resonates
because it is the voice of freedom, it is the voice of hope and courage.
Check Your Progress 4
1. Why is the caged bird singing with a fearful trill?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______
2. Why is singing important for the bird?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______

1.6 Stanza 4

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
The poet returns to the free bird in this stanza once again. The first two stanzas set
up the contrast between the birds and highlight the disparity in the physical space
that they occupy. In a similar vein stanza 4 and 5 highlight the different
psychological spaces that the birds inhabit. The mental makeup of the birds differs
from each other and this difference is the outcome of the differences in their
physical existence. By implication, we can say that the poem highlights the

40
 difference in the socio-economic condition of the Whites and the Black
Americans and also points to the fact that this socio-economic background shapes,
to a very large extent, the mental makeup of the people. Just like the birds, Man is
also a product of his circumstances.
This stanza paints a bright picture of the free bird`s world. This is a world of
possibilities and aspirations. After floating down the back of the wind the bird is
already thinking of another breeze and the trade winds blowing softly through the
trees. It also hears the sighs of the trees as the wind passes through them. The
image here is one of abundance and leisure and joy. The trade winds or easterlies
as they are popularly known are extremely important permanent wind systems
that cover both the eastern as well as the western hemispheres. They are called
trade winds because ships followed the direction of the wind to help them to
navigate the oceans. The free bird’s world is a world of plenty. The bird thinks of
the fat worms that it feeds on waiting for him on sun-drenched lawns. In this
world of plenty, food is indeed waiting for him and he doesn’t need to go scouting
for it. The free bird lives a privileged existence and this privilege of freedom
enables him to claim ownership of the sky.
Check Your Progress 5
1. What images are used in this stanza to convey the ease and abundance of the free
bird`s world?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________

1.7 Stanza 5/6

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
hiswings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom

41
 In sharp contrast to stanza 4 where the free bird is luxuriating in the world of
plenty, the caged bird in stanza 5 becomes ‘a’ caged bird that comes to represent
all the caged birds. And he is standing on the ‘grave of dreams’. The poet now
moves from the particular predicament of the caged bird to the general
predicament of caged birds. This predicament is highlighted by words like
‘grave’, ‘nightmare’, and ‘scream’. The death of dreams is a consequence of the
bird`s enslavement as well as a condition of his existence. The dream of a caged
bird ends up in the grave. That is the reality of its existence and yet at the same
time it exits because it is able to dream. The duality of the state of enslavement is
brought out poignantly in these lines. The nightmarish life that it leads makes
even its shadow fearful. The scream represents all the pent up emotions and
frustrations that spring from a life of confinement and deprivation. The last two
lines of the second stanza are used as a refrain here to emphasize this condition.
The bird, faced with impossible odds, sings.
The last stanza is a repetition of stanza 3. It is used as a refrain to assert the
importance of singing and thereby declaring to the world its intent to continue its
struggle for freedom in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. To reiterate
the point made about the importance of singing in section 1.5, it must be said that
if people keep singing of freedom it will protect them from despair and fill them
with hope. Singing asserts the essential humanity of the oppressed. The bird’s
song fills resonate all around it and gives everyone the hope that freedom will be
theirs sooner or later and that it is worth fighting for. The poet uses the contrasting
metaphor of a free bird and a caged bird to make the point that freedom is a
necessary condition for equality in society. In this poem, the poet sends out a
message of hope and humanity embedded within the bird’s song.
Check Your Progress 6

1. What do expressions like ‘grave of dreams’, ‘nightmare scream’ suggest?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Why is the third stanza repeated at the end?

1.8 What have we learnt so far

Some of the things that we have learnt in this lesson are:

➢ One needs to pay special attention to the language and literary devices used
in a poem to understand poems better.
➢ At a very basic level, apart from teaching us the subtle nuances of using
language, reading poetry connects us to a wider experience

42
 ➢ Maya Angelou is one of the foremost 20th century Afro American writers.
She was a writer, poet, activist, singer composer, actor, all at once.
➢ Maya Angelou`s poem ‘caged bird’ is about the Afro-American experience
of oppression and their historical struggle against it.
➢ The poem explores the world of the Afro-American people and their
struggle for civil rights and equality, through the metaphor of a caged bird.
➢ The caged bird suffers a level of deprivation that, apart from physically
enslaving it, damages its psyche as well. But the bird doesn’t disintegrate. It
fights back and sends out a note of hope and courage to others through its
song.

1.9. Glossary

Downstream: In the direction in which a stream or river flows

Stalks: Move silently or threateningly through (a place).
Seldom: Not often; rarely.
Rage: Violent uncontrollable anger.
Clipped: Cut off a thing or part of a thing with shears or scissors.
Trill: Produce a quavering or warbling sound.
Nightmare: A frightening or unpleasant dream.

43
 2. Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.
Nissim Ezekiel
Dr. V.P.Sharma

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Those of you who are familiar with Raja Rao’s novel Kanthapura will recall the remark
he makes in the Preface, “one has to convey in a language which is not one’s own the
spirit which is one’s own” The result was that in that novel the writer tried to project the
spirit of India through various devices including linguistic adaptations and the use of a
characteristic narrative technique. Apart from him there has been one other Indian
novelist G V. Desani, who in his novel All about H. Hatter has attempted to Indianize the
English language.
In Indo-Anglian verse no one has taken similar risks. The Indianness of these writers is
confined largely to the themes or settings, or to legend, myth, religion or ritual without
making any experiments with the language. There are, however, two poets who have
made use of the pidgin English in some of their poems mainly as a source of humour. The
first is Joseph Furtado (1872-1947) who has written some poems in pidgin or bazaar
English. The second is Nissim Ezekiel who has used Babu English in a number of his
well-known poems, viz., “A Very Indian Poem in Indian English”, “Goodbye Party for
Miss Pushpa T.S.”, “The Professor”, and “Irani Restaurant Instructions” However, their
use of the pidgin English does not go beyond parody or caricature and the purpose is to
create humour. The reason for this restricted use seems to be the belief that Indian
English as it occurs in such poems is actually used on too minor a scale to gain any
linguistic respectability. But things have undergone a sea change over the last few
decades Eminent scholars and linguists have argued that Indian English today is a distinct
variety of the many Englishes being used across the globe and has to be accepted in its
own right. Of course, Nissim Ezekiel, the impeccable Brown Sahib, brings together all
the monstrosities of Indian English—in syntax and in semantics—to draw a satiric
portrait of the speaker.
Ezekiel’s poems use the Gujarati Babu English though some of the nuances are common
to the whole of India. He tries to convey the characteristic Indian attitudes and manners as
reflected by the use of ‘Swadeshi Angrezi’. The most common feature of this type of
English is the use of present continuous in place of the simple present. Other features are
the use of literal translations of native phrases or idioms, and an un-English arrangement
of words, as in the following lines from “The Professor”:
If you are coming again this side by chance.
Visit please my humble residence also.

44
 I am living just on opposite house’s backside.
Note the erroneous placing of ‘by chance’, ‘please’, ‘also’, ‘backside’ and the translated
phrase ‘humble-residence’. Another feature which is well illustrated in “Goodbye Party
for Miss Pushpa T.S.” is the rambling nature of thought, and the characteristic Indian use
of English words (e.g. ‘foreign’).

1.2 THE POEM

The poem is a parody of the Indian English as used by some people in India on certain
occasions of social, commercial, or administrative importance. Here Miss Pushpa’s
farewell party is a social gathering and the poem is in the form of a speech made by a
relative or a friend on the occasion. And it seems he is the lead speaker here. Since the
poem is meant to be a source of humour, all that one can do is to enjoy it as such, and in
the process note the typical Indian nuances of expression, thought and manner which
result in amusing distortions of the language as used by the Indian Babus.
The feature of Indian English that the poem reveals are the frequent use of present
continuous in place of simple present tense, the literal translation of Indian idioms and
phrases, the rambling course of thought an un-English way of placing words (syntax), the
amusing connotations that the words receive and, above all, the craze for ‘foreign’ that
prevails all over India. In fact, the poem is an amiable satire on this widespread
xenophobia of the Indians. Thus the occasion to go abroad is a cherished landmark in the
career of an Indian, a veritable take-off stage for social and material advancement. The
friends and relatives on such occasions naturally tend to be rather too extravagant in their
praise of the person going abroad, and such extravagance of praise, like the excess of
sentiment is another typically Indian characteristic that the poem satirizes. In the notes
that follow we shall trace in detail all the points of parody in the poem.

1.3 STUDY NOTES

Dear sister : A typically Indian characteristic of a woman being addressed as a ‘sister’ by
a male of more or less her own age group. The word ‘sister’ is supposed to lend moral
respectability to his relationship with the woman. For an Indian any elderly woman is a
mother (Mataji) or an ‘aunt’, and an elderly man an ‘uncle’ even though no relationship
exists. The use of the word ‘dear’, the poet seems to imply, indicates excessive
sentimentalism. In fact, however, it merely translates a very formal expression of address
used all over India on such occasion when we are using any of our own Indian languages.
The amusing effect arises, here as elsewhere, out of the speaker’s attempt to impose on
words and expressions cultural connotations which do not belong to them. And, of
course, he is blissfully unaware of what he is doing. (Another example of a similar
‘misuse’ is the expression ‘your good name’).

45
Departing : This is the first example of the present continuous tense being used for the
simple present. In the whole poem you find numerous such examples of faulty grammar
that characterizes Babu English : other examples are ‘meeting’, ‘knowing’, ‘smiling’,
‘feeling’, ‘coming’, etc..
Foreign : The use of the word ‘foreign’ is among the most common errors of the Indian
English, the word often being pronounced as ‘phoren’.
Two three days : This is an example of literal translation of the Indian expression, ‘do
teen din’. The correct expression would be “...is going abroad in two or three days”.
Bon voyage : bon is a French word meaning ‘good’, and is used to wish her a happy
journey.
You are... is feeling : The lines are full of verbs used in present continuous in place of
simple present tense. ‘smiling’ indicates her external sweetness and ‘feeling’ her internal
sweetness.
Surat?...time ago : Here the speaker indulges in a characteristic though irrelevant
digression of thought, talking about his own experience of Surat and referring to the nice
cooking of his uncle’s very old friend’s wife. This way of referring to a distant relations
or remote acquaintances is also a typical Indian habit. Note also the amusing effect of the
intransitive use of ‘cook’ here.
Men also...also : An example of wrong placing of words and superfluous usage.
Just now only : faulty translation of Indian expression.
Improve her prospect : The journey abroad is regarded to be an important milestone in
the advancement of one’s career. He uses ‘prospect’ in place of ‘prospects’.
Summing up : Another faulty though funny expression. Miss Pushpa is supposed to
express her thanks, not do any ‘summing up’.

A Note on Indian English (I.E.) in Good Bye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.
In a country like India one must be prepared to encounter not just one kind of English but
several with different regional shades. But there indeed has developed a pan-Indian
variety of Indian English in the post Independence era. It has its two sub-varieties- the
standard Indian English (I.E.), the form of language used in newspapers, on TV, by
academicians and by those educated in reputed Public Schools; it is also the language of
government functions and medium of instruction; the non-standard variety is used by the
rest-salesmen, minor functionaries of Govt. and people from low income groups,
specially those who have studied English in Govt schools largely through Grammar-
Translation method. This group is comparable to speakers of ICE (Inner City English) in
USA with the difference that this group constitutes the majority in this country.

46
It is the non-standard variety of I.E. which is used more pervasively in non-formal
communication. Nissim Ezekiel, the poet, uses this variety to create amusing discourse
situations in Very Indian Poems. I should like to take up ‘Good Bye Party for Miss
Pushpa T.S.’ as an example, but I must warn that Ezekiel’s speaker is not by any means a
typical specimen of speakers of Indian English. Not all speakers of I.E. make all the
mistakes that Ezekiel’s speaker makes during the course of a single speech. And many of
his usages are examples of plain ungrammatical English unacceptable to most speakers of
I.E.
One peculiarity of his speech is the constant use of statives in progressive tense. Almost
every Indian character in his Very India Indian Poems uses it. But the fact is that this all-
pervasive progressive tense of Ezekiel’s is not so pervasive in Indian English. Ezekiel’s
speaker in the poem ‘Good Bye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. is an aggregation of all the
eccentricities/peculiarities of Indian English since Ezekiel is interested in giving us a
satiric portrait of a pompous, presumptuous man who is in love with his own voice. But
the poem does provide us with interesting material to study Indian English.
The speaker happens to be the lead speaker at a function to say good-bye to his colleague
(probably in an office) Miss T.S. Pushpa. He has evidently not come prepared with a
speech for this formal occasion. As he thinks and speaks, he is quite comfortable in the
knowledge that his colleagues who are listening are about as competent as he himself.
He begins with: Friends,
Our dear sister
is departing for foreign
in two three days.
Within the cultural matrix of social relationships in India ‘sister’ is the most appropriate
form of address for a woman you are not related to. However, if it is a male colleague you
are bidding farewell to you could not possibly call him ‘Brother’. He would be ‘dear
friend’ if he is a colleague and ‘Sahib’ if he is your boss or someone you respect. It is
only slightly odd that the speaker does not mention her name right that the beginning.
‘Friend’ somehow is an unacceptable form of address for a female colleague.
‘Foreign’ is now frequently used as a noun (to mean a foreign country) in non-standard
I.E; ‘two three days’ is a literal translation of the equivalent Hindi structure and is quite
common usage.
The speaker wishes her bon voyage but we can’t be sure if he pronounces the words
correctly.
You are all knowing friends, what sweetness is in Miss Pushpa....
Hindi does not distinguish between the two categories of verbs: those that can be used in
progressive tense and those that can’t be. Probably it is a difference of perception and

47
therefore it isn’t easy for an average Indian to distinguish between the two in English
either. All the same not every I.E. speaker of even the non-standard variety is as fond of
using every verb in progressive tense as the speaker in the poem is. In practice verbs that
you find being commonly used in Progressive tense (when they shouldn’t be) are: hear,
see, understand, have, believe, and very rarely know, remember.
What sweetness is in Miss Pushpa.
No double entendre here. ‘Sweetness’ is supposed to carry all the connotations of its
Hindi equivalent, amiableness, softness of tone, a soothing gentle manner in speech.
Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling
even for no reason
but simply because she is feeling.
The speaker wishes to say that Miss Pushpa has been smiling all this time. Well, probably
she cannot help smiling as the speaker refers to her ‘external’ and ‘internal sweetness’
whatever that means. She is possibly a standard I.E. speaker. The poem contains many
constructions that are unacceptable to most I.E. speakers. They are simply ungrammatical
like ‘smiling and smiling even for no reason’. But repetitions are often used in I.E.,
borrowed once again from mother tongue structures: ‘Slowly, slowly’ is quite familiar to
I.E. speakers: ‘Winter is coming slowly, slowly’—which means, slowly but steadily’.
Another frequent repetition is in ‘so-so’: The film was just soso. Which means ‘just
average’.
‘She is feeling’ and ‘his wife was cooking nicely’ in line 24 (stanza 3) are rather amusing
because of the intransitive use of ‘feel’ and ‘cook’. ‘His wife was cooking nicely’—well,
what or the food was cooking—the wife?
Miss Pushpa is coming from high family.
A literal translation of an equivalent Hindi construction but not very acceptable to I.E.
speakers except perhaps to the lower end of non-standard I.E. speakers.
You will notice the sparse use of artir1es in the poem: In fact when you try to count the
number of articles in the poem, you are surprised to find Just one and that too not very
correctly: ‘I am always appreciating the good spirit’ (Line 33). Articles and prepositions
have always been a bugbear for I.E. speakers. You will find speakers like the speaker in
Ezekiel’s poem skipping articles altogether or those who like to pepper their speech
rather liberally with articles: ‘The Indians believe in the democracy’, ‘the prices are going
up’.
The distinction between the singular and the plural and count nouns and uncount nouns is
ignored. For such speakers any noun is good enough for an article.

48
Stanza 3, line 21: once only I stayed in Surat: Its standard form ‘once only/only once did I
stay...’ is not very common in I.E. constructions like: (i) On Mon lays only the buses are
full.
(ii) Immediately after the floods the cholera epidemic came.
(iii) Only sometimes/sometimes only they visit us.
Another adverb which has often a different connotation in I.E., is ‘too’. In the following
sentences ‘too’ is not supposed to have a negative connotation:
(1) The shirt is too good.
(2) The question paper is too easy for all of you to do.
‘My uncle’s very old friend’ (st 3, line 23) is obviously ambiguous but points to another
typical usage in I.E. Constructions like a friend of mine a colleague of my father’s, two of
his most precious watches are not very common in English. Instead you simply have: my
friend, my father’s colleague, his two precious.
St 4, line 27: She is most popular lady with men also and ladies also.
While this is amusing it is not exactly acceptable I.E. But the next three lines reveal
another typical feature of I.E.
Whenever I asked her to do anything.
She was saying, ‘Just now only
I will do it.’
I.E. speakers of especially of non-standard variety, tend to avoid using Indirect form of
narration so that to an Indian audience such sentences would not be difficult to
comprehend:
(1) He asked her why are you so sad.
(2) I told him I will help you if you need my help.
The rest of the poem can be analyzed for idiosyncratic linguistic usage but does not offer
examples of typical I.E. usage. But here are some lines from another poem of Ezekiel that
offer an insight into I.E. syntax. The speaker this time is a retired professor, hopefully,
not of English.
If you are coming again this side by chance, visit please my humble residence also. I am
living just on opposite house” backside. And again,
You are going?
But you will visit again
Any time, any day
I am not believing in ceremony

49
 Always I am enjoying your company
—The Professor

The poem evokes not only Indian use of English but also Indian ethos in ‘humble
residence’, anytime, any day, believing in ceremony (formality). There are proprieties
that must always be observed whether you are speaking English or Hindi or any other
Indian language.

50
 3. Once Upon a Time
Gabriel Okara
S.K. Mukherjee

Contents:
 Introduction
 A Detailed Summary
 Study Notes
 Self-Check Questions

1.1 INTRODUCTION
The poem ‘Once Upon a Time’ by Gabriel Okara is written in the form of an address to
the poet’s young son. It is a touching portrayal of the artificial culture of the present day
society and the hypocrisy, insincerity and selfishness prevailing within the hearts of its
men and women.
What has gone wrong with the people of today? The poet recalls with anguish the good
old time when men were true and sincere. They were simple-minded and friendly. Their
laughter was natural and easy and came from the depth of their hearts. But the people
today have become mean and complex. Their behaviour has turned artificial and affected.
Their character is full of hypocrisy and duplicity, as a result their smiles are false and
artificial. The brightness of truth and sincerity or the warmth of genuine emotions have
vanished from their eyes. The hypocrites of today grin artificially. Their eyes are cold and
stony because they have forgotten love and fellow-feeling. Their minds are now filled
with pride and selfishness.
The poet gives further evidence of this degrading materialistic culture as reflected in the
behaviour of the present day men. Once upon a time, in the past, people greeted each
other with a warm handshake, which showed their mutual feelings of genuine love and
friendship. It brought them closer. But the handshake has now lost its earlier warmth and
cordiality. Today man shake hands not out of love and friendship but only for formality.
It has become an empty practice devoid of any genuine feelings of love and sincerity.
Men of the modem society shake hands to seek some gain through this false and artificial
show of friendship.
Why are the men of the present day society so callous and hypocritical in their
behaviour? This is because there is a change in the attitude of people. The values of love,
trust and honesty have vanished from the lives of people of the present times, who are
living in a society and culture which is highly materialistic and competitive. Men have
become greedy and selfish. They are self-centred. They hide their evil motives and put up
false pretences of politeness and courtesy. Social etiquettes and behaviour have become

51
hollow and artificial today. There is no warmth of sincere love or honest outlook in such
artificial smiles, handshakes and greetings. These mean, hypocritical and selfish men love
or respect no one but themselves. Their own interests and pride are supreme for these
self-centred men of the modern day society. No one is welcome at their homes. They
utter small courtesies like “feel at home”, or “come again”, but they do not mean them
because they have no business to be kind or considerate to anyone.
This sort of artificial culture has spread in the society. The poet was once natural, good
and innocent in his attitude but he too was infected with the dubious ways of the modern
world. Like the insincere and crafty men of the present society he has learnt to wear many
faces and pretend corresponding smiles for each occasion. Thus he has learnt to be
artificial and a pretender. Like all other hypocrites in the society he had learnt to use
“Good-bye” when he wants to say “good rid dance”, to say “glad to meet you” when he
hates the very sight of the person addressed. Thus, people who are bored with you say
with a counterfeit smile: “It has been nice talking to you”.
The artificial behaviour of the people is thus an indirect comment on their mean and
wrong mentality. Their behaviour is artificial, their conduct is hypocritical. They are
greedy and avaricious. They are trying to gain from one another and cheat others. We
have seen how they put up false exteriors and resort to hypocrisy and dishonest pretences.
There is no mutual trust and goodwill among them. They have forgotten to lead a free,
natural, and straight-forward life. The poet feels stifled in this all-pervasive atmosphere of
insincerity, dishonesty, hollow courtesies, and heartless talk. He yearns to go back to his
early years of boyhood when he was free and natural in his thinking and conduct, when
he was good and honest in his dealings with others, when he loved and trusted everyone.
He wants to unlearn all those soul-killing things which have destroyed the free, natural,
simple and happy life of man, and robbed him of the sterling human values of love,
kindness, friendship and fellow-feeling. Indirectly the poet sets down his disapproval of
these evil and reprehensible trends in the modern society.
1.2 A DETAILED SUMMARY
Lines 1 to 6
Once upon a time people were honest and sincere to one another. Their behaviour was
free and natural. They had genuine feelings of love, friendship and joy in them. The
honesty and true sincerity of their character were reflected in their laughter. People
laughed “with their hearts” and “with their eyes”. But the men of the present times have
become insincere and hypocritical. Their conduct is artificial and selfishly motivated.
They are double-tongued and play fraud with each other. They have forgotten to laugh
openly with feelings of real joy. Now they laugh only with their teeth. Previously the eyes
of men used to glow with the brightness and warmth of true and sincere emotions of love
and friendship, but now the yes of the men are dull and lifeless like those of a phantom or

52
a ghost. They are cold like ice-block. There is no life and warmth of genuine human
feelings of love and sincerity in them.
The smiles of modern man are not bright and natural as in the people of the olden days.
They (the smiles of the present day men) are sly and mean. They reflect the evil
intentions hidden in their hearts. The smiles show that they wish to make fun of people
and hurt them. Their cold and terrible eyes search behind the speaker’s shadow to find out
his weak points and hurt him through bitter and sly remarks and pungent laughter. The
poet reveals through these lines that today, the motives of men are dark and wicked. They
aim at demoralising and degrading others and causing harm to them.
Lines 7 to 12
The poet now describes the selfishness and hypocrisy of the present day men. In the olden
days people shook hands with each other with feelings of warm friendship and genuine
love. This dear handshake between two friends brought them closer. There was real love
and happiness in their handshake. In those days people “shook hands with their hearts”.
But now people shake hands without any warmth of real love, true friendship or sincerity.
A gesture of love and friendship has been reduced to an empty formality. It discloses the
hypocrisy and pretensions in the social conduct of the present day men. Human
relationship has became now dry and formal. Love and cordiality have vanished from this
relationship.
Why has such a change occurred in people’s attitude to others? This is because men have
become selfish and avaricious today. They are greedy. Their motive in friendship is some
monetary gain. This point is illustrated through a vivid picture. The friend of the poet
approaches him with love and friendship which are false and affected. Thus while he
shakes hands with the poet with his right hand, his left hand is busy searching in the
poet’s empty pockets for money. It means that the present day men are always scheming
to gain something from their friends or get their personal interest served through them.
The poet has few friends now even to shake hands with him with such selfish motives.
This is because he is poor, his pockets are empty.
Lines 13 to 18
The poet gives another instance of the insincere and artificial style of life today. The poet,
who was innocent and plain in his outlook and conduct, realized this at his own cost when
he found that the hypocritical people of the modern days do not mean what they say. For
example, when the poet goes to meet his friends at their place, they ask him to feel
comfortable or to come again. But in reality these words are false and meaningless. These
empty and false shows of outward courtesy have become the norm of the present day
society. Today men have become callous and indifferent to one another. They have
ceased to love or be sincere to others. Life has become very busy and artificial today.
People have become selfish, arrogant, and self-centred. The time is gone when people

53
invited their friends to their homes out of love, and felt happy in their company. The poet
who belonged to the olden times took these invitations of his friends as made in earnest
and visited them. He was too plain and sincere to realise that these invitations given by
his friends lacked in truth or eagerness. The insincerity and callousness of their nature
were revealed very soon. When the poet went to visit them a second time, he did not
receive a warm welcome. His visits were disliked and soon the doors of their houses were
closed for him. He realised that he was unwelcome there.
Lines 19 to 24
This sort of hypocrisy and insincerity in the outlook and behaviour of people has
influenced the attitude of the poet. He has found that there is no sincerity, honesty and
truth in people. There is a contradiction between their outward behaviour and their real
intentions –between what they feel and what they express. The poet too has learnt the
ways of this dishonest and artificial society. He has also adopted artificiality, affectation
and artfulness in his behaviour. For example, he meets this callous and hypocritical
world, wearing masks of different types of faces suited to different occasions. He
observes a particular situation and decides to pay a role that the occasion requires.
Artfully, he assumes a particular face and smile at home, a different type of face and
behaviour to deal with his colleagues and office staff. He takes to another mode of
wishing and greeting the people he meets on the street. As a host, he projects a special
expression on his face to welcome his guests. He models a distinct look and expression
when he throws open a drinks party. Thus the poet has learnt to produce various forms of
smile for every occasion, each according to the particular occasion. There is no life,
warmth or earnestness in such mechanical behaviour. In other words, all sincerity and
geniuses of emotion or honesty have disappeared from his life. He wears the mask of
fixed photographic smiles which he puts up suitably on different occasions.
Now, why do people of the modern times have to pretend such a lot and put up so
much of false show in their behaviour? The reason is that men in the present society are
no longer as simple and honest as they were in the past. Their minds have become
complicated. Their intentions are less than honest and cordial towards others. They are
scheming to gain power or wealth.
They pretend to be good and honest but their hidden feelings and intentions are quite the
opposite. As a result naturalness, sincerity and honesty have disappeared from their lives
and art and guile and craft have crept in their behaviour. The poet has adjusted himself to
this general social ethos consisting of artificiality, hypocrisy and hollow social etiquette,
by conducting himself in the same artificial way in the society.
Lines 25 to 32
Hence, in such an atmosphere in the society where duplicity and craft prevail in the social
behaviour of the people, the poet too has learnt to play false, and resort to craft and

54
artfulness in his dealings. He thus laughs artificially only with his teeth and shakes hands
without any warmth and cordiality. He uses nice and pleasant phrases, sweet and catchy
words, but these are artificial words without any genuine emotion or earnestness in them.
For example, he has learnt to bid a sweet and affectionate “good-bye” whereas in his
heart he means “good riddance”. Though he is not pleased to meet someone, he has learnt
to declare heartily “glad to meet you”. He feels bored while talking to someone, but he
conceals this and utters “It’s been nice talking to you”.
Lines 33 to 39
In these lines the poet out rightly condemns the culture of artificiality and hypocrisy of
the present day society. Once upon a time, in the past, in the prime of his youth, the poet
was easy and natural in his outlook and conduct. He was sincere and honest towards
others. He was good and true in his dealings with people. But the behaviour of men with
whom he has lived all this time has killed these sterling qualities in him. However the
poet wishes to go back to his former days when he was like his son. He wants to give up
this artificial life of false pretences, hypocrisy and selfishness and lead a free and natural
life full of goodness, love, honesty and kindness. Most of all, he wants to laugh freely and
naturally as he used to do in his childhood when he was a boy and live such a life that
brings this kind of a simple and pure smile and laughter.
Lines 40 to 43
The poet asks his son to show him how to laugh naturally and freely as he (the poet)
himself used to do when he was as young as his son. His son represents the poet’s past.
He is not corrupted by the modern ways of life. He is natural, sincere, true and
unaffected. Thus his son represents the poet’s natural and uncorrupted self. The poet
wants to save the young generation and the future from this modern vitiating culture. The
evils of the artificial culture of today, full of deceit, falsehood and selfish motives have
stifled the soul and mind of the poet. He seeks the help of his young son, (whom he loves
and who has a great deal of power and influence over him) to take him back to his young
days so that he can free himself from the evil influence of the present society and attain
the innocence and naturalness of his younger days. He wishes to laugh again freely and
frankly with real joy as he used to do in his youth, before the evil and corrupting
influence of the present-day society overpowered him.
1.3 STUDY NOTES
Stanza-I
Once upon a time: a long time ago in the past when people were free, natural and easy in
their behaviour and outlook.
Laugh with their hearts: the laughter was real and unaffected, the joy was genuine and
honest.

55
With their eyes: the true and real joy of their laughter spread even to their eyes.
With their teeth: now-a-days, men’s laughter is artificial and affected; it is only
outward.
Ice-block-cold eyes: cold and unfeeling eyes; no brightness of life or real joy in those
eyes. The eyes show lack of love, affection, and fellow feeling.
Search behind my shadow: they pass sly and bitter remarks to make fun of the poet. The
attitude of the men of the present day society is dark and crooked and not clear and
straight forward. This is what the image implies.
Stanza-II
Shake hands with their hearts: warm greeting between friends showing love and
affection.
That’s gone: no longer in existence.
Shake hands without heart: no genuine feelings of love and sincerity in people’s
handshake today; an artificial show of friendship merely, devoid of all feelings of
affection.
Left hands: because the right hand is busy in shaking hands with the poet.
Search my empty pockets: This is the mentality of friends today. They make use of their
friends to gain money, to exploit him, and serve their personal interest.
Empty: the poet is poor. Soon he will not have any friends. They will leave him because
they can gain nothing from him.
Stanza-III
“Feel” at home: The friends of the poet ask him to feel relaxed and comfortable, to feel
informal. But these words are just said for the sake of decorum and outward courtesy.
No thrice: He will not be welcome at their house the third time.
Finds the doors shut on me: His friends will not welcome him. The invitations given to
him earlier were false and outward.
Stanza-IV
Wear many faces: pretend false expressions of greeting and courtesies on his face as
required by the situation.
Home-face: The expression on his face at home. He is informal and kind at home, not so
artificial as with others outside.
Office-face: He has one way of behaving with his colleagues and office staff.
Street-face: He has another way of greeting and wishing people on the street.

56
Host face: As a host, when he is welcoming guests at his home, he puts up another
artificial type of expression on his face, suited to the occasion.
Cocktail face: another artificial way of behaviour when he is giving a drinks party.
Conforming smile: He smiles differently on each different occasion (as listed above)
according to the role he has to perform.
Like a fixed portrait smile: a smile that is without any warmth, liveliness or emotion,
the smiles that the poet puts up on different occasion are called forth mechanically.
Stanza-V
Laugh with only my teeth: the opposite of a free and hearty laughter; to laugh
artificially.
Good riddance: a feeling of relief and happiness when a person we do not like is gone.
Unlearn: to give up or forget the affectations, hypocrisies and duplicities that he has
learnt during his stay in the present society.
Relearn: he wants to be his old self again when he was young. He cannot keep on
suppressing his real emotions and artificially putting on different types of faces and
smiles and playing different roles. He wishes to be easy and natural, and laugh freely and
frankly with his heart.
Snake’s bare fangs: people grin showing only their teeth which look like the teeth of a
snake. Such artificial and suppressed smiles reveal the vicious and poisonous mind of the
person, filled with hypocrisy and evil intentions.
Stanza-VI
So show me, son: his son is young and innocent. He is still not infected with the modern
ways of life. He is natural, sincere, true and unaffected. He represents the poet’s past,
when he was like his son. Through his powerful influence, the poet can escape the ill-
effects of the modern vitiating culture and attain the natural and innocent sate of mind of
his youth when he was full of love, none sty, Sincerity and fellow-feeling.
1.4 SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS
1. Read the following extracts from the poem and answer the questions given below:
A. Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes;
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes

57
 search behind my shadow.
(a) What is meant by “laughing with their hearts” and “laughing with their eyes?”
(b) Explain “laughing with their teeth”, “ice-block-cold-eyes”, and “search behind my
shadow”.
(c) Describe the contrast in the above stanza.
B But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
(a) What is the poet’s wish in the above stanza?
(b) Explain “muting things”. Why does the poet want to “unlearn” them?
2. Describe how the poem “Once upon a time” is a satirical comment on the nature of
the present day society and its culture.
Or
Describe the various examples of the social behaviour and conduct of the people of
the present society, as given by the poet to expose its artificiality and hypocrisy.

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 4. Last Lesson of the Afternoon
D.H. Lawrence
Mary Samuel

Contents
 Introduction
 Pre-Reading Activity
 Analysis / Self-Check Questions
 Assignment
1.1 INTRODUCTION
D.H. Lawrence in his poem Last Lesson of the Afternoon expresses his personal view
point on modern school education through the attitude of the teacher and indifferent and
inattentive behaviour of students. Neither the teacher nor the students are clear about the
goal of this system of education. Do you agree with the poet’s views and feelings?
Study carefully the poem and give your own opinion.
1.2 PRE-READING ACTIVITY
What does the title of the poem suggest to you? Doesn’t it take you to a class room where
teaching has been going on since morning of the day?
Try to recollect your early school days. You can visualize the teacher and the students
having had enough interaction of teaching and learning scheduled from morning till
afternoon. What is the atmosphere generally seen in the class by the last lesson of the
day? What is the attitude of the teacher towards the students if they are inattentive in the
class? How do the students behave?
Now read the poem and see whether the attitude and expression of the teacher and also of
the students had any similarity with your own experiences in the school. Did the teacher
and students wait impatiently for the bell to ring so that they could put an end to the
process of teaching and learning? If yes, what could have been the reason for it?
Have a close look at the poem again and find out what the poet wants to convey to the
reader. It seems the teacher is not happy with the kind of education which he or she is
imparting to the students. Neither is he satisfied with the performance of his students nor
do they have any goal in their studies. It means there must be something wrong with this
system of education.

59
1.3 ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
Stanza-I
Note that the first line of the poem indicates that the speaker is disillusioned with the
system of school education which he is imparting to students. He is waiting impatiently
for the bell to ring so that he can put an end to this weary process of teaching for the time
being at least.
What about the students? They have been making violent efforts for a long time, rather
struggling with their leash to get themselves freed from the controlling rope. The teacher
describes them as ‘unruly hounds.’ Why? All that they are trained is to hunt the game of
knowledge. Now in this situation of ‘weariness’ and ‘goallessness’ the teacher feels that it
is not possible for him to pull them again and urge them to start the hunting game of
knowledge which they dislike particularly in this last class of the day. In other words,
under the present system of school education, teacher is compelled to load his students
with some knowledge without any particular goal. Note the words ‘when’, ‘end’,
‘weariness’, ‘tugged’, ‘strained’, ‘hate’, ‘unruly’. Do they suggest the hopelessness of the
situation and a mood of frustration on the part of the speaker?
Self-Check Questions:
1. Are these lines spoken by a teacher or a student? Give reasons to support your
answer.
2. Who are the ‘unruly hounds’? Why are they described in that way?
3. What is a metaphor? Explain the metaphor developed in stanza-I. Also point out
its relevance in this situation.
4. Explain ‘quarry of knowledge’.
Notes
Leash : a line or a rope for holding a hound; control by a leash or as
if by a leash.
Tug : to pull forcibly, to haul, to drag.
Tug of War : hard struggle.
Strained apart : to exert to the utmost to get released.
Unruly : ungovernable.
Hound : a dog of a kind used in hunting;
Quarry : (i) a hunted animal. Here this meaning is more
appropriate. The children are expected to hunt for
knowledge (just as dogs hunt their quarry) but it is a
hunt they hate.

60
 (ii) an open ‘excavation for building stone; a source of
building stone’.
(iii) a source from which information can be extracted.
Stanza-II
What is the mood of the teacher in these lines? Is he angry and unhappy at the same time?
The Teacher when he looks at the scores of exercise books lying on the desks meant for
correction, feels as if they sting him. They contain shoddy and careless work done
indifferently by the students. The teacher feels insulted at seeing such exercise books.
They are untidy and full of ink spread here and there. He is fed up with this kind of
teaching. He feels it has done no good to them or to him. The teacher is disillusioned with
this system of education.
It seems the kind of education that is imparted particularly at the primary level only aims
at loading children with knowledge which they are incapable of assimilating or relating
with practical life. In fact, nothing is done for the all round development of the child.
Notes
Endure the brunt of books : the sight of exercises books gives pain to the
teacher and he cannot bear this pain any more.
Scrawl : irregular, hasty or bad writing.
Slovenly work : careless or untidy work.
Insults : abuse, treatment with indignity or contempt,
making an attack.
Blotted : Smudged with ink.

Self-Check Questions:
1. Why are ‘blotted pages’ called insults?
2. Use the phrase ‘endure the brunt’ in sentences of your own.
Stanza-III
Under the circumstance, the teacher debates in his mind whether he should put an
end to this miserable situation or not? But how? There are conflicting thoughts about it.
The teacher asks himself whether he should use up the last drop of his energy (or of his
life) and combine it with the strength of his soul to stir up or ignite his will to a flame
(here used as metaphor for purification and cleansing) that shall destroy he impurities of
their indifferent work. In other words, the teacher wonders whether he should use his
energy and conscience to teach them to distinguish between good and bad, to enable them

61
to develop their personality to grow mentally and spiritually and punish them when them
do wrong in order to purify and cleanse them so that their character also can be developed
and moulded in the right way. The sad thing is that this kind of teaching is not given
importance in the modern system of school education and so, finally the teacher decides
against taking such a step. Try to answer the following:
Self-Check Questions:
1. What similes and metaphors are used in this stanza? Explain them.
2. What does the poet mean when he compares his life to ‘fuel’?
3. When the teacher kindles his will to a flame how does it affect his students?
Notes
Dross : waste matter; worthless
Fuel : material for fire.
Toll : tax for the liberty of using a bridge or road
or market etc.
Toll of their insults in punishment : Punishment for careless and untidy work.
Stanza-IV
The teacher affirms that he is not going to waste his strength to mend the ways of his
students under this faulty system of education. His teaching seems to have done no good
to them. For the teacher, there is no satisfaction for the work done. Students too have not
gained anything. Teacher is not going to bother about what students have missed or done
wrongly. It is like fighting a losing battle where neither side gains anything. In other
words, this type of teaching and this type of learning does no good to anyone. Both
ultimately go down the same bottomless pit where no light penetrates. It is all useless the
efforts of the teacher go waste. In short, this system of modern school education without
any clear goal is a waste both to the teacher and the taught.
Notes
Do amiss : do wrongly.
Abyss : bottomless pit.
Self-Check Question:
1. Why does the teacher feel that this teaching and this learning is a waste?
Stanzas-V & VI
The teacher is being sarcastic about the students’ knowing only the routine thing writing
a description of a dog or any other animal. He feels even if he does not know this exercise
of writing a description it does not matter. Why? To both the parties, it is meaningless

62
and equally irrelevant. However, knowing all these discrepancies in the modern school
education, the teacher is supposed to put a pretence of caring to teach with heart and soul
in spite of the indifference and careless work of the students.
The teacher gives expression to his realisation in the last class of the afternoon that he
will not go on with this pretension any longer. He says that he does not care and will not
care. Students will not listen to him and do not listen to him and that is all.
It is with a sense of finality that the poet teacher expresses his point of view. The neatly
balanced lines (25-26) show the poet’s firm resolve to follow a certain course of action.
So, in conclusion the teacher says things will go-as they are with indifference on both
sides, of teaching and learning. No need for the teacher or student to waste energy and
muster all resources under this faulty system of education. There is no use of fighting
against the wall of indifference, mistrust, unconcern, callousness etc. It is better to wait
for the bell to ring in the last class of the afternoon as it will be a release from the
‘weariness’ and ‘indifference’ of teaching and learning.
Do you agree with the teacher’s attitude? If so, give reasons for your answer?
Assignment:
1. What are your observations about the ideas expressed in the poem? Do you
agree with them?
2. Give your views on the present system of school education in India and suggest
improvements in the system of education.
3. Has D.H. Lawrence made his views on education clear in this poem? What
should be the goal of education according to you?

63
 CREATING YOUR OWN VOICE Unit 5

Nalini Prabhakar
General Introduction: This unit is about creating one's own voice. What does it mean to
have one's own voice? It could mean a variety of things depending on the context. But
here, creating your own voice would mean; a) finding your own response to things
around you, free from all outside influences and b) finding an appropriate and effective
form to communicate this to the world. But this is easier said than done. Whenever we
say something or create some content, we believe that we are doing so on our own and
that it is indeed our own voice. But is that the case? If we step back and analyse how we
form our opinions, we will realise that our opinions, ideas, and the justifications that we
present for the positions we take, come from a variety of sources that influence us. Our
environment, the people we interact with, the information that we receive and various
other things influence us in very subtle ways and often in ways that we are unaware of.

If what we say is often, knowingly or unknowingly, borrowed from others then how do
we find our own voice. To find one's own voice we need to start at the beginning; having
the courage to be true to our own inner promptings. It takes courage to say things that we
feel in our hearts to be true. But before we do that we need to filter information, research
sources, identify and separate hard facts from falsehoods, avoid over-generalisations, and
test everything with reason and common sense. Once we have done that, we need to listen
to our own voice and acknowledge it.

The next thing that we need to do is to find a form (blogs, essays, research paper) that
suits our purpose best. It is important to select a form depending on the kind of audience
we have in mind. We must also keep in mind the fact that it is important to fine tune or
even modify the information or a point of view that we wish to communicate depending
on the kind of audience we are addressing. A few things that we must keep in mind when
we create our own voice; a) have the courage to stand alone if necessary, b) be honest
with yourself, and c) cut your own path. Once we have done that, we are ready to create
our own voice. In this unit, you will study two very different pieces of writing that give
us insights into finding our own voice. The first lesson (Unit 5-A), is a journal article by
Hossein Derakhshan about how social media is anti-knowledge and the second lesson
(Unit 5-B), is a newspaper column/blog by Twinkle Khanna about the experience of
visiting an exhibition. Let us now proceed to the lessons.

64
 Unit 5-A

How Social Media Endangers Knowledge

Hossein Derakhshan

Nalini Prabhakar

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 About the author: Hossein Derakhshan is an Iranian-Canadian media

personality. He was born in 1975. He studied Sociology at University of Tehran and
University of Toronto. Subsequently he went on to do an M.A in Film and Media Studies
from SOAS, University of London. He started his career as a journalist and his area of
interest was the internet and the emerging digital culture. However, it was not easy for
Derakhshan to continue being a progressive journalist in a socially conservative Tehran
and he moved to Toronto, Canada in December, 2000. He started a weblog in Persian in
2001 and subsequently prepared a useful guide, in Persian, for other aspiring bloggers in
Iran. It is for these reasons that he is often considered as the father of Persian blogging by
many.

But his blogging activities as well as his attempt to initiate some kind of peace effort
between Iran and Israel made him a suspect in the eyes of the ruling dispensation in Iran.
He was arrested without charges at his family home in Tehran in 2008; some say on
charges of spying and others suggest on charges of insulting religion. He was finally
released from prison in 2014 following a pardon granted by the Supreme Leader of Iran
Ali Khamenei. By the time Hossein was released the World Wide Web had not only
become all pervasive but had also gone through drastic transformations. Social media had
become the dominant mode of information dissemination. Hossein was deeply sceptical
of these developments and saw them as a threat to society. He was especially worried
about the new phenomena of “Fake News’ and co-wrote a report on the subject titled
“Information Disorder” in 2017. This particular essay dealing with the threat of social
media to knowledge was also published in 2017 in an online magazine www.Wired.com

1.2 Social Media: Social media refers to web-based communication tools or

applications that allow the users to share ideas, thoughts, information and almost anything
under the sun with others. They are used for connecting with people, create communities,
marketing, political campaigns, education, shopping, and a whole lot of other things. I am
sure most of you are familiar with social media tools and use them in your everyday lives.

Social media has had an enormous impact on the way we live and interact with people
today. Most of us belong to online communities on Facebook, WhatsApp, or other such
social networking sites. Parents often worry about the amount of time children spend on
these sites at the expense of, what they consider, more productive use of time. Managers
in offices and other work places also worry about employees spending inordinately long

65
time on social media. People have started investing more time on virtual communities and
virtual relationships than on real world family and real world relationships. However,
social media does have its uses. It helps in sharing ideas instantly over the web. It is
extremely useful in providing instant information on demand. One can keep in touch in
real time with friends, family and communities over great distances. It can be used for
educational, marketing,and other purposes. However, it also has a tendency to make us
lazy and makes us consumers of content prepared by others or in other words it makes us
passive consumers. Since the content carried over the web is created elsewhere and
supposedly by experts, whose credentials appear strong, we assume that they are
authentic and need not be questioned. But, at the same time, we know that acquiring
knowledge is an active and interactive process. Knowledge is produced through a process
of constant seeking and questioning. But social media, largely, produces passive
consumers and does not encourage interrogation. And thus it becomes a threat to
knowledge.
Check Your Progress 1
1. What are the dangers of Social Media?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. How is knowledge produced?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

After going through this lesson you should be able to:

• Understand the problem of authenticity in web content

• Understand the growth of encyclopaedias
• Understand a concept like rationality and its relationship with knowledge as used
in this essay
• Identify the fundamental character of Television
• Describe how television is antithetical to knowledge
• Understand social media
• Describe how social media has become a challenge to knowledge
• Be able to develop web content independently

66
3.0 HOW DID ENCYCLOPAEDIAS COME ABOUT? (Para 1-4):

3.1 The Crisis in Wikipedia: Hossein Derakhshan begins the essay by pointing out,
in paragraph 1 and 2, a crisis in the open source web resource page Wikipedia. This
crisis, as the author points out, had very little to do with money and everything to do with
the rise of social media as a tool for political campaign. The American liberals considered
the rise of Donald Trump as a threat to the foundational values of the country that were
based on Enlightenment ideals of equality, individual rights, liberty, opportunity and
democracy. Now the threats to these values were coming from circulation of contrary
ideas and values, mostly in the form of emotional and irrational content, in social
media.(Most of you must be familiar with the huge amount of “fake news and fake videos
and images” being circulated in Face Book and WhatsApp groups in India now)
Consequently the liberals invested lot of money into Wikipedia hoping that this open web
resource would help in producing authentic and rational content as against the emotional
and irrational content being disseminated on social media. But then the problem was not a
lack of money but the lack of participation of people in creation of knowledge for
Wikipedia. In the absence of contributors and editors the character of Wikipedia has
taken a turn towards the worse. There are more entries now about entertainment rather
than knowledge.

3.2 Encyclopaedias: In paragraph 3 and 4 Derakhshan discusses the idea that

underpins the creation of Wikipedia. He points out that like all encyclopaedias that came
before Wikipedia the idea was to create one comprehensive source for all human
knowledge that could be accessed by anyone on the web irrespective of time or place. He
traces the beginning of this attempt, to collect all possible knowledge, to the “Islamic
Golden Age”. The scholars were inspired by Prophet Muhammad`s call, “Seek
knowledge, even from China”. And they set about their task by collecting knowledge
from diverse sources such as Greek, Syrian, Persian, and Indian and translated them into
Arabic. He lists two encyclopaedias that were compiled in the 9th and 10th century; 1.The
first one was compiled by a scholar named Qutaybah. It had 10 books on subjects as
diverse as war to food and women. 2. The second one was compiled by al-Khwarizmi and
he claimed that it covered what he referred to as, indigenous knowledge.

Derakhshan points out that the Chinese already had their encyclopaedia by the 7th
century. But the quest for a modern encyclopaedia in Europe began only with the
Enlightenment in the 18th century. Enlightenment refers to an intellectual movement of
the late 17th and early 18th century Europe. Its basic premise, in very simple terms, was
that human civilization can only evolve through reason and individualism. It laid great
emphasis on knowledge and scientific temper. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant
coined the motto for this movement “Dare to know”. The Enlightenment was essentially
secular in nature and advocated an attitude of scepticism towards religion. It is but

67
obvious that the religious ruling class were not happy but the rising secular middle class
found these ideas attractive. Thus there was a ready made market for ready made
knowledge. Encyclopaedias began to be compiled all over Europe and the first
encyclopaedia was published in 1751. Philosophers like Francis Bacon and Diderot took
the lead in compiling and philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu put
considerable effort in editing the works and some of them even ended up in prison. The
impact of these encyclopaedias can be imagined from the fact that the French Revolution
happened only 17 years after the publication of the last volume in 1772. Those of you
who are familiar with French Revolution would know that this was the revolution that
gave us the famous slogan, “Liberty Equality Fraternity”. Thus we can see that the push
for knowledge was also a push towards democratisation. Knowledge by its very nature is
empowering and sets people free and must be protected at all costs. But where is the
challenge to knowledge coming from? We will find the answer in the next section.

Check Your Progress 2

1. What was the crisis at Wikipedia?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What is an Encyclopaedia?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. When did compilation of encyclopaedias begin in Europe and did it have any
impact on European history?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3.3 The advent of Television: From rationality to emotion. (Para 5-6): Derakhshan
makes two very significant points in paragraph 5 and 6; 1. The coming of television
marked a shift from an essentially typographic culture to a photographic one and, 2.
Television altered our experience of the world by making many aspects of modern life
sensational and commercial.

68
3.4 Shift from typographic to photographic: In paragraph 5 Derakhshan observes
that the threat to knowledge first came from Television, long before the internet became a
reality. He cites Neil Postman`s book Amusing Ourselves to Death, published in 1985 to
prove his point. In this book, Postman points out that Television marks a move away
from rationality and exposition towards emotion and entertainment. But how does it do
that? You must have noticed that we are affected more by things happening around us in
real time rather than by things happening at faraway places and at different times. For
instance an accident happening in front of us affects us more than an accident that
happened at a faraway place and at a different time. Television, being primarily a visual
medium, reduces this distance and brings things happening at faraway places closer. Our
experiences confirm the fact that our first response to a visual is more emotional than
rational. This is what Postman pointed out in his book. He believed that a medium that is
dominated by images is more likely to evoke emotions and entertain rather than produce
contemplation and analysis in its viewers. He also believed that it is not possible to think
with images and hence rationality takes a back seat. Since rationality formed the bedrock
of knowledge, Television posed a challenge to knowledge.

3.5 Modern life as sensational and commercial: The second important observation
in paragraph 6 pertains to modern life. The author observes that with the coming of
Television, some very fundamental changes happened in the way we understand and
interact with the world around us. The television technology made it possible to
manipulate and present events, products, politics, and other things in way that would
make them look either attractive and desirable or ugly and repulsive. Or in other words
the images could be manipulated to suit ones purpose. Thus, the focus shifted from truth
to presentation. Another factor, that also influenced the way images were circulated, was
commerce. In television the commercial factor was paramount because it was an
expensive medium. Consequently it was necessary to create consumers out of television
viewers. And, as we all know, the sensational sells the best. So the television presented
sensational images that would primarily entertain and to be able to do that, it made the
viewer a passive consumer. This is, again, a road block for knowledge because it
discouraged active rational thinking and questioning. As Postman had pointed out in his
book, it is the written text and not images that allows us to “uncover lies, confusions and
over-generalizations, to detect abuses of logic and common sense. It also means to weigh
ideas, to compare and contrast assertions, to connect one generalization to another.”
Postman goes on to describe the complete transformation of the American society after
Television.

Check Your Progress 3

1. What are the two important points Derakhshan makes in paragraph 5 and 6?
__________________________________________________________________

69
 __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Why did Television pose a challenge to knowledge?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. How did Television change modern life?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3.6 The Internet pushes back. (Para 7-8): It is against this backdrop that Internet
emerged in the late 80`s as a text based medium. The author points out that this medium
was seen as suitable to pursue knowledge. This was developed in a scientific research
centre in Switzerland. Since it was not a medium of entertainment or commerce it was
used in a big way by Universities around the world. It was used primarily for academic
purposes; i) Discussion groups, ii) Blogs, iii) Electronic Magazines, iv) Mailing Lists and
Forums.

It is within this environment that web tools like Wikipedia, Google search and
other such tools developed. The author points out that these new tools provided an
alternative to television. The users became active participants in contributing to the
growth of knowledge as against passive consumers of images. In this sense the internet
was democratic. Since a large number of people, without being a part of any institutional
set up like universities or research institutions, could contribute to the growth of
knowledge, it soon became a threat to the dominance of television in society. But this
would not last very long.

Check Your Progress 4

1. Where was the internet primarily used for in its initial years?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

70
2. How did the internet democratise the production of knowledge?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3.7 Social Media: The World of appearances. (Para 9-10) In the early part of 21st
Century Social media like FaceBook and Instagram came to dominate the web space. I
am sure most of you use these social media tools in your everyday life. WhatsApp and
Twitter have now become the primary medium of communication in our social as well as
political life because they happen in real time. But have you ever wondered about the
principles that underpin these tools. Twitter restricts the user to 140 characters. So,
obviously, it is not meant to explain anything. You can only Tweet your opinion/feeling
on a particular subject. Facebook and WhatsApp are tools which can be used to share
texts, images, videos and every other thing. But they are mostly used to share
photographs, videos and sometimes political messages. As the author pointed out earlier,
the visual medium, being immediate, dominates these. Another drawback of these tools is
that there is no way to check the authenticity of information put out by millions of users.
But people carry the impression that whatever appears on the net must be true because the
internet, in its initial years, had built up a reputation for being authentic. This reputation is
carried over, unfortunately, to social media posts as well because they are also web based.

So what we see is that Social media has come to dominate the web space but with
a value system that is more in tune with television than internet as it developed in its
initial years. Why does the author think that Social media carries the value system of
television? He thinks so because of the following reasons: a) focus on videos and images,
b) provision to express emotions rather than reason (emoticons), c) provides for approval
rather than analysis (like buttons), d) converts users from knowledge seekers to approval
seekers (users trying to gather as many likes as possible), e) focussed more on
appearances (we judge people by their appearance and we try to appear in ways that will
be appreciated by our audience), f) reduces curiosity as well as decision making by
providing results based on our likes and past search history.

This leads the author to conclude that new media/ social media has become all
about appearances. It has nothing to do with truth and knowledge. One must appear
happy, rich, cool, etc., even if one is not, to an audience. Derakhshan quotes Guy Debord,
the French philosopher, where he says that if pre-capitalism was about ‘being”
(concerned with existence) and capitalism was about “having” (concerned with
accumulation of wealth) then post-capitalism is about “appearing” (appearing to be
something that one is not) to close this section.

71
Check Your Progress 5

1. How is social media similar to television?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. How do social media encourage emotion and not reason?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Social media makes us passive consumers of content. Do you agree? And why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3.8 The new challenge. (Para 11-12) Finally, after discussing the nature of internet
and social media, the author paraphrases the challenge that faces us today. What are these
challenges then? The main challenges are; a) How to wean people away from social
media (new television) towards knowledge, and b) How to retain the integrity of
Wikipedia and make it a vehicle for knowledge creation rather than entertainment as is
seen from the increasing number of entries on television series and their cast.

Wikipedia, the author seems to think, has the potential to lead us towards
knowledge generation if we can save it from becoming a tool for furthering our
entertainment or commercial needs. And for that to happen we need to understand the
larger Civilizational shift that is happening around us.

Check Your Progress 6

1. What challenges do we face now in knowledge generation?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

72
4.0 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT SO FAR:

Some of the things that we have learnt in this lesson are;

(a) Rationality and curiosity are at the core of knowledge production and
Wikipedia represents the possibility of democratising knowledge
production in 21st century.
(b) The danger to knowledge production on the web comes from a shift in the
way we deal with the world and interact with each other. This is a shift
towards emotions and appearances as reflected in social media.
(c) The focus on entertainment, commerce, and appearance is preventing
people from using reason to “uncover lies, confusions and over-
generalizations, to detect abuses of logic and common sense”. This has led
to a situation where authenticity of any information is under question.
(d) There is a need to safeguard Wikipedia against this invasion of emotion
and entertainment and make it a democratic vehicle for authentic
knowledge production.

5.0 GLOSSARY

Asceticism: Severe self-discipline.

Advent: The arrival of a notable person or thing.

Alchemy: A seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.

Celebrity: A famous person, especially in entertainment or sport.

Diagnosis: the identification of the nature of an illness or other problem by examination

of the symptoms.

Discourse: Written or spoken communication or debate.

Eloquence: Fluent or persuasive speaking or writing.

Endanger: Put (someone or something) at risk or in danger.

Existential: Relating to existence.

Exposition: A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.

Indigenous: Originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.

Ironic: Happening in a way contrary to what is expected, and typically causing wry
amusement because of this.

73
Panicky: Feeling or characterized by uncontrollable fear or anxiety.

Profile: A short article giving a description of a person or organization.

Prosody: The patterns of stress and intonation in a language.

Quest: A long or arduous search for something.

Secular: Not connected with religious or spiritual matters.

Sensationalism: The presentation of stories in a way that is intended to provoke public

interest or excitement, at the expense of accuracy.

Stabilize: Make or become unlikely to change, fail, or decline.

Typography: The style and appearance of printed matter.

Zest: Great enthusiasm and energy.

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 Unit 5-B

Lesson from Frida : Backbone Can Win Over Broken Spine

Twinkle Khanna
Nalini Prabhakar

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 About the author: Twinkle Khanna needs very little introduction for those of you
who are film enthusiasts. She was born on 29 December 1974 in Mumbai. She is the elder
daughter of yesteryear’s superstar Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. She started her
career as an actor in 1995 and continued in the profession till 2001. She switched over to
Interior Designing in 2001 and subsequently established a film production company. The
film Pad Man was produced by her company. Though she continues to practice interior
designing and producing films with reasonable degree of success, it is as a writer and a
columnist that she achieved much success. Her book Mrs. Funnybones published in 2015
became a best seller. Mrs Funnybones grew out of a newspaper column/blog that was
marked by satire, wit, and humour. This was followed by the Legend of Laxmi Prasad in
2016 and Pyjamas are Forgiving, her debut novel in 2018.

Though she has achieved much success as a writer, she came to writing fairly late in her
life. By her own admission, in an interview given to LiveMint in 2018, she wrote nothing
for 20 years after writing ‘half a book’ in her early twenties. And then she took to writing
in her early forties by writing a column/blog, Mrs Funnybones, for Daily News &
Analysis (DNA) and subsequently for The Times of India (TOI). There has been no
looking back ever since.

1.1.2 Writing a Newspaper Column/Blog: Writing a newspaper column or a blog

involves some familiarity with the specific forms. Though blogs are of recent origin they
are quite similar to columns in newspapers: 1) Both, blogs and newspaper columns, have
a voice, a point of view, specific topics (topics could be anything from politics to food
and travel). 2) Effective columns as well as blogs establish a relationship with the reader
and try to be as interactive as possible. 3) They maintain a casual conversational tone
though columns can sometimes be a little formal. 4) Both are similar in terms of length;
neither too long nor too short. 5) Both invite the readers to comment and provide
feedback.

However, they also have subtle differences. Unlike blogs, columns may have strict
deadlines and the restrictions on length for columns are more pronounced. While columns
are mostly text based, blogs can be photos or videos or a mix of both. Unlike blogs which
can be on anything under the sun and may just convey an experience or just sketch a
scene, columns must narrate a story and must have a larger point. In that sense columns

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are more focussed and have a structure. But that is not to say that blogs do not have a
structure. Unlike blogs that are diverse in all respects, the diversity of columns has mostly
to do with writing styles and tone rather than format. These similarities and differences
are not fixed differences and may not apply to many blogs and columns that you might
come across. But blogs as well as columns would generally follow a simple pattern of
having a beginning (to establish the context and establish a rapport with the reader), a
middle ( the main body of the topic chosen), and an end ( the specific message from the
blog/column).

Check Your Progress 1

1. Name the books authored by Twinkle Khanna.

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2. What are the similarities between a blog and a newspaper column?
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1.2 Learning Objectives: After going through this lesson you should be able to:
✓ Understand the similarities and differences between a column and a blog
✓ Understand Twinkle Khanna’s blog on her visit to V&A museum
✓ Find similarities between the life of Frida Kahlo and Twinkle Khanna
✓ Understand the relationship between personal suffering and creative art
✓ Describe how Frida Kahlo and Twinkle Khanna transformed their pain and
suffering into art
✓ Understand the structure of a blog
✓ Write a blog of your own
1.3 Twinkle Khanna`s Blog: If you look up Twinkle Khanna`s blog in Times of
India you will see that it is listed under lifestyle blog. The way it appears in the paper is
given below.
Lesson from Frida: Backbone can win over broken spine
September 16, 2018, 2:00 AM IST Twinkle Khanna in Mrs Funnybones | Lifestyle |
TOI)
The blog also appears with a description of the author and the blog and that is given
below;
Twinkle Khanna

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Twinkle Khanna aka Mrs Funnybones crafts satirical stories and funny fables when she is
not running a design business, selling candles or running in circles around her small but
rather odd family. She narrowly escaped a gruesome tragedy when Bollywood tried to
bludgeon her brain to the size of a pea, but she ducked at the right moment and escaped
miraculously unharmed; she is now a popular columnist as well and is currently in the
process of creating lame jokes like ' Why do all Hindu boys worship their mother?
Because their religion tells them to worship the cow.' She firmly believes that nothing in
life is sacred except laughter. (Not even her name, which she is secretly trying to change
to Chetali Bhagat so that her columns get made into movies.)
Now if you read the description, you will note that it is Twinkle Khanna who is the real
“Mrs. Funnybones” of the blog. This achieves two objectives; a) the author is able to
establish a direct relationship with the readers by revealing her true identity and, b) she
also indicates the nature and tone of the blog (funny and satirical) to her prospective
readers. The name Mrs. Funnybones also indicates a person who has a great sense of
humour.
1.4 Frida Kahlo Exhibition (Para 1-4): This particular blog on a visit to a Frida
Kahlo exhibition at V&A (Victoria and Albert) museum in London, unlike other blog
posts, is not going to either funny or humorous. This is a blog that is more personal and
more reflective than other blogs at Mrs. Funnybones. This blog grows out of a deeply
personal experience of visiting an exhibition dedicated to an extraordinary woman artist.
Twinkle Khanna gives us background filler to this exhibition in the first four paragraphs.
The first paragraph, short and crisp, gives us information about the retrospective and the
circumstances under which the author was able to visit it. A last minute cancellation, a
chance so to say, enables her to visit V&A. It points out the importance of this exhibition
and the popularity of this artist. It also gives us a first impression of the artist.

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 The description, if you look at the picture above, is apt. The description also
points out the androgynous (partly male and partly female) nature of the artist, not just in
appearance but also in spirit.

The author gives us glimpse into the early suffering of Frida Kahlo in the third
paragraph. She tells us that Frida became a great artist by making her suffering the spring
board of her artistic journey. Frida Kahlo suffered not just from polio but also from an
accident that almost made her a cripple all her life. And yet, from all that was broken
inside her, she found the inspiration and the courage to transform the bed that was her
prison into a studio from where she created her immortal paintings and is now regarded
as one of the “most influential” artists of the 20th century. It was, obviously, a journey of
finding a medium to express not just her pain but also to overcome it. She found love in
another painter named Diego Rivera but this relation turned out to be as volatile as her
life and one could see that in the possessions that were on display at the V&A museum.
Her story then is a story of grit, determination, and courage.

Check Your Progress 1

1. What did the author find remarkable about Frida Kahlo?
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 __________________________________________________________________

2. How did Frida Kahlo deal with her pain?

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1.5 A Shared Pain (Para 5-10): In the next five short paragraphs Twinkle Khanna
establishes a parallel between Frida Kahlo`s suffering as well as her own. As she moves
into the chamber where Kahlo`s orthopaedic (back braces, corsets, metal buckles, a
prosthetic leg, etc.) devices, that Kahlo herself decorated, are displayed, the author is
reminded of her own struggles. The display seems to the author, a display of a lifetime of
pain that the artist had to deal with.

Twinkle Khanna recounts her struggles that started with a simple fall from a first
floor window when she was only eight years old. She also has her own collection of
straps and crutches and walking boots. Though she admits that her own suffering counts
for nothing when compared with that of Kahlo`s, nevertheless it helps her understand the
experience of being confined to a bed for a long time. While Frida Kahlo found a way out
of her prison like bed through her painting, Twinkle Khanna found a love for words and
read endlessly which ultimately defined her life as well ( she found fulfilment and fame
as an author). She would, at the best, limp her way to the bathroom. But with a book in
her hand, she found enormous strength and joy that set her mind free.

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 The visit to this chamber makes the author reflects on the meaning of true
freedom. She recollects Kahlo`s words “Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to
fly” and says that she understood the meaning of those words better than others because
she herself experienced it. When our physical movement is constrained, the mind turns
inwards and our imagination takes us places. Kahlo and Twinkle Khanna, when they
were tied down physically, found wings of imagination to fly and create.
Check Your Progress 2
1. Why was Frida Kahlo in pain?
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2. How did Kahlo transform her suffering?
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3. What did Twinkle Khanna have in common with Kahlo?
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1.6 Transforming pain into Art. (Para 11-14): The focus now shifts from suffering
in life to transforming that suffering into art. We also get to see another side of Kahlo that
is the Mexican side of her personality. Twinkle Khanna finds Frida’s cosmetics on
display as well as a self-portrait with a Resplandor (a colourful headdress). These are
things that tell us about Frida’s love for life and paints a picture of a normal woman who
was fond of dressing up. The headdress also places the artist in a specific geography and
that is Southern Mexico.

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 What, however, catches the attention of Twinkle Khanna is a self-portrait with a
dead foetus. You can see the portrait by doing a simple Google search. Losing a child is a
traumatic experience for most women and it was more so for Frida Kahlo because of her
special circumstances. And, once again, she takes this pain and paints it on a canvas. That
was Frida`s way of coming to terms with her loss and giving expression to her grief.
Many of Frida Kahlo`s paintings depict her own suffering, both physical and otherwise.
Twinkle Khanna also lets the reader in on her own experience of losing a child. She
expressed that pain by handing it over to the protagonist of her book. Though one can
creatively engage with one’s loss and pain in art the memory of the loss still remains.
In paragraph 13 the author tries to put the exhibition in perspective against
criticism in some papers that called the exhibition ‘a shrine’ to Frida`s pain. Twinkle
Khanna disagrees with this description and considers the exhibition as a testimony to
Frida`s indomitable courage and triumph. Twinkle Khanna regards this triumph as the
triumph of ‘indomitable backbone’ (courage of spirit) over a’ broken spine’ (a physically
damaged spinal cord). This is where the title of the blog comes from.
And appropriately, the largest exhibit and the focal point of the retrospective is
not her orthopaedic devices but her closet (tall cupboard for dresses) that is a riot of
colours and a strong testimony to her Mexican identity.

Her closet actually reveals a completely different side of her character. Frida was a
woman who was deeply conscious of her Mexican identity and lived in a world of her
own making. Her world was not dreary and dark as one would expect of a woman in her

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situation. She had transformed her world into a vibrant and colourful place. The colourful
clothes were not just a cloak to hide the corsets and braces underneath but grew out,
almost organically, from them. This was, perhaps, the truth of Frida Kahlo.
Check Your Progress 3
1. Twinkle Khanna finds the portrait with a dead foetus evocative. Why?
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2. Why did the papers criticise the exhibition?

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3. What does Twinkle Khanna think of the exhibition?

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1.7 Reflecting on the exhibition. (Para 15-17): The last two paragraphs are a kind of
take away from the exhibition and reflect a sombre mood. The exhibition was quite
overwhelming for the author and now she reflects on what she experienced at the
retrospective. The one thing that stands out, for the author, is that it is pain and
conquering pain alone that gives a meaningful structure to our lives. People spend their
lives chasing things that give them joy and collect those memories to give them the

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feeling of a life well lived. But the question is what is it that holds all our experiences
together and makes it meaningful and leaves a mark behind?
Just like day becomes meaningful because of night (if there was no night then
there would be no importance of day), joy also becomes meaningful because of suffering.
What makes a life significant and memorable is not how much joy or how much suffering
we have in our lives but how well we deal with our suffering and overcome it and create
something beautiful in life. The pain and suffering in our lives and our struggle to
overcome it is what holds all our experiences together and makes our lives meaningful for
us and at the same time it becomes an inspiration to others. That, for the author, is then a
life well lived.
Check Your Progress 4
1. What, according to the author, is a life well lived?
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1.8 What have we learnt so far: Some of the things that we have learnt in this lesson
are:
➢ How Twinkle Khanna became a columnist
➢ What is a column and a blog and the similarities and differences between
them
➢ Frida Kahlo`s life and suffering
➢ How Frida Kahlo overcame her suffering and transformed it into art
➢ What experiences Twinkle Khanna shares with Frida Kahlo and how it
shaped her as a writer.
➢ What Twinkle Khanna considers a life well lived

2.0 GLOSSARY

Ailments: An illness, typically a minor Miniscule: Extremely small; tiny.

one. Mono-brow: A pair of eyebrows that meet
Androgynous: Partly male and partly above the nose, giving the appearance of a
female in appearance of indeterminate single eyebrow.
gender. Muralist: A painter of murals
Awe: A feeling of reverential respect Paint flecked: Covered with patches of
mixed with fear or wonder. paint
Braces: A device fitted to something, in Peer: Look with difficulty or
particular a weak or injured part of the concentration at someone or something
body, to give support. Propped: Supported by
Braid: A length of hair made up of three Prosthetic: Denoting an artificial body

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or more interlaced strands
Clasp: A device with interlocking parts
used for fastening things together.
Dreary: Depressingly dull and bleak or
repetitive
Encased: Enclose or cover in a case or
close-fitting surround.
Erratic: Not even or regular in pattern or
movement; unpredictable
Fraught: Causing or affected by anxiety
or stress
Fatal: Leading to failure or disaster
Gaggle: A disorderly group of people.
Gingerly: In a careful or cautious manner.
Grieve: Feel intense sorrow
Indomitable: Impossible to subdue or
defeat.
Irrevocably: In a way that cannot be
changed, reversed, or recovered
Lax ankle: (of the limbs or muscles)
Relaxed(not strong) ankle
Limp: Walk with difficulty, typically
because of a damaged or stiff leg or foot.
Mannequin: A dummy used to display
clothes in a shop window
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part, such as a limb, a heart, or a breast
implant.
Protagonist: The leading character or one
of the major characters in a play, film,
novel, etc.
Quintessential: Representing the most
perfect or typical example of a quality or
class
Recuperating: Recover from illness or
exertion.
Riot of colours: Something with many
different bright colours
Retrospective: Looking back on or
dealing with past events or situations.
Sartorial: Relating to tailoring, clothes, or
style of dress.
Shrine: A place regarded as holy because
of its associations with a divinity or a
sacred person or relic, marked by a
building or other construction.
Shrivelled: To become smaller, shrink in
size due to dryness
Tenacity: The quality of being very
determined
Testament: Something that is an evidence
of a fact or a quality
Vivid: Producing powerful feelings in the
mind
Voluminous: A very loose piece of
clothing