Thinking Skills Workshop :

 This blog post is a response to the Sunday Reading task on' Thinking Skill' given by our Prof.Dr.Dilip Barad Sir.

In our department t13th and 14th August 2022 two-day workshop on Thinking Skills, conducted by Prof.Dr.Milan Pandya Sir. 

Milan Pandya is a teacher, trainer, and educator in the field of Thinking Skills i.e. Critical, Creative and Design Thinking, English Language Teaching & Communication Skills. With more than 12 years of teaching experience, Mr. Pandya has authored 02 books and presented and published a number of research papers in national and international conferences and journals. He has taught/trained in numerous Universities/Institutions training more than 30,000 people in Thinking Skills across the world.

Mr. Pandya has BA & MA in English Literature, M.Phil in English Language Teaching (ELT) & his Ph.D involves study in Online Teaching, Communicative Competence & Critical Thinking. He currently holds a position of Vice President of Advancement at Critical Thinking Solutions company in Ontario, Canada, and teaches at multiple colleges such as Conestoga and Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada.

Sir gave us definition of Thinking Skill-

"Thinking about thinking in order to improve thinking".

On 13th August is first day, sir talked with us doubtfully skeptical in the way of critical thinking. Also, Sir gave us three words: logical,rational and scientific, it is important in our life.

Logical,

Rational,

Scientific. 

 Sir says , "Thinking is the soul of the body" and " Context is everything in the thinking process".

Sir explains the various types of t.v. serial advertisement and popular icon. Sir gave us ideas about what is possible and plausible. He also gave us lots of conspiracy theories such as the corona pandemic and Sushantsingh Rajput. Then he says if something is true what else has to be true. 

  Sir also gave us "Your teacher might be wrong. Learn to think for yourself".

On the second day of the workshop 14th August sir came up with the one game in which we have to show our creativity and thinking power. sir said that critical thinking is always practiced because nobody was born a critical thinker.

This is a very interesting thinking Activity. We start with a simple question of how many categories we see in this image and then we find many categories and then connect the dots of our routine life and we find many engaging things like,Food, clothes, spots,Vegetables, religion, Money, electronic machines.

Thanking Prof.Dr.Dilip Barad sir for organizing the workshop.

Thank you!

Thinking Activity: Future of Postcolonial Studies

 Hello friends!

I am Bhavna Sosa, student of department of English MK Bhavnagar University. This blog Future of Postcolonial Studies ,Globalization and Environmentalism assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad.In this blog I am going to summarize two articles about postcolonial studies. I am going to discuss the summary of two articles. One is about Conclusion: Globalization and the future of postcolonial studies and another one is Conclusion: The future of postcolonial studies. 

Postcolonialism :-

According to “A Glossary of Literary Terms” by M.H.Abrams -

The critical analysis of the history,culture,literature and modes of discourse that are specific to the former colonies of England,Spain,France and other European imperial powers.These studies have focused especially on the Third World countries in Africa,Asia,the Caribbean Island and South America.Some scholars,however,extend the scope of such analyses also to the discourse and cultural productions of countries.

According to the dictionary-

Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a critical theory analysis of the history, culture, literature, and discourse of (usually European) imperial power.

Conclusion: Globalization and the future of postcolonial studies:- 

   Conclusion: Globalization and the future of postcolonial studies this article is taken from Ania Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism. This article is about the impact of postcolonialism in the 21st century.Article's beginning from the talking about the most terrible events of 11 September 2001, the so called global war on terror, and the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, it is harder than ever to see our world as simply postcolonial.

'In contrast to imperialism, Empire establishes no territorial.center of power and does not rely on fixed boundaries or barriers. It is a decen. tered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incor- porates the entire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers. Empire manages hybrid identities, flexible hierarchies, and plural exchanges through modulating networks of command. The distinct national colors of the imperial map of the world have merged and blended in the imperial global rainbow.'

(Hardt and Negri 2000: xiii-xii)

Article focuses on some important discussions   

Liberalization, 

Privatization and

 Globalization.

'Globalization is just another name for submission and domination’Nicanor Apaza, 46, an unemployed miner, said at a demonstration this week in which Indian women ... carried banners denouncing the International Monetary Fund and demanding the president's resigna- tion.'We've had to live with that here for 500 years, and now we want to be our own masters.'

Ania Loomba is questioning the definition as well as questions the interpretation and views the binary of language. It also sheds some light on the text further clarifies that literary text not simply reflect dominant ideological beliefs but takes into consideration the complexities and nuances within the colonial culture it also portrays how the other culture creates new genre literature is made of language and everything is a game of language. Loomba's text further sheds light on the environmental issues and concerns as a part of the discourse of Postcolonial Studies. Furthermore, globalization carries overwhelming connotations of cosmopolitanism, of the dissolution of national boundaries, of the free flow of capital, labour, and benefits across the confines of locally vested interests.

“Market fundamentalism destroys more human lives than any other simply because it cuts across all national, cultural, geographic, reli- gious and other boundaries.It's as much at home in Moscow as in Mumbai or Minnesota.A South Africa - whose advances in the early 1990s thrilled the world- moved swiftly from apartheid to neo-liberal- ism.It sits as easily in Hindu, Islamic or Christian societies.And it contributes angry, despairing recruits to the armies of all religious fundamentalisms. Based on the premise that the market is the solu- tion to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism.It has its own Gospel: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice…”

- P.Sainath.

conflicts

Man vs Market Fundamentalism (which is even more dangerous than Religious Fundamentalisms)

Man vs Nexus between Private Corporations and Democratically Elected Politicians

Man vs Private CompaniesMan vs

Multinational Companies (MNCs)

Main points in Article.... 

Michael Herdt and Antonio Negri’s 'Empire'.Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large: cultural dimension of Globalisation  Simon Gikandi’s "Globalisation and the claim of Postcoloniality"Samuel Huntington ‘s rhetoric of clashing civilization. Joseph E. Stiglitz’s phrase Market Fundamentalism.Nicanor Apaza’s  An Unemployment miner P. Sainath’s And then there was the market.Niall Ferguson NBA. ACTA : American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Examples of Movies :

1. Reluctant Fundamentalism  :-

This movie was Adapted from Moshin Hamid's novel on the same title,  the fortunes of a young Pakistani student, Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), son of an esteemed poet and intellectual, as he wanders into Western culture and, essentially, the awful universe of corporate capitalism. Business is battle and this is shown at its best yet Khan's sharp keenness and mental ability before long bring him rewards and, after graduation from Princeton, glory with Underwood Sampson, a worldwide valuation firm situated in New York.Reluctant Fundamentalism - the conflict between market fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism in the aftermath of 9/11.

Examples :

 Sherni :-

The film deals with the subjects like human–wildlife conflict and wildlife conservation.The title of the film is a bit of a misnomer, as in Hindi sherni properly refers to a lioness, while the formal word for a tigress is baghin.Though the word sherni is also frequently used to refer to tigresses.

Conclusion:The Future of Postcolonial Studies :-

This article began with the one statement by Gaytri Chakravorty Spivak, that ' no longer has a postcolonial perspective. I think postcolonial is the day before yesterday'. In this article Loomba said that through Globalization we do more damage to the environment.In this conclusion she wants to briefly reflect on some of these challenges and what they might mean for a postcolonial critique.

Vandana Shiva :-

Vandana Shiva has exposed the connection between colonialism and the destruction of environmental diversity. She argues that the growth Capitalism, and now of trans-national corporations, exacerbated the dynamic begun under colonialism which has destroyed sustain-able local cultures; these cultures were also more women-friendly, partly because women’s work was so crucially tied to producing food and fodder. 

'one cannot talk about saving the environment while ignoring the needs of human lives and communities (Shiva 1988; Agarwal 1999).'

Other feminist environmentalists are more sceptical of such an assessment of pre-colonial cultures, which, they point out, were also stratified and patriarchal; however, they agree that questions of ecology and human culture are intricately linked.

Harvey :-

'All the features of primitive accumulation that Marx mentions have remained powerfully present with capitalism’s historical geography until now. Displacement of peasant populations and the formation of a landless proletariat has accelerated in countries such as Mexico and India in the last three decades, many formerly common property resources, such as water, have been privatized (often at World Bank insistence) … alternative (indigenous and even, in the case of the United States, petty commodity) forms of production and consumption have been suppressed. Nationalised industries have been privatised. Family farming has been taken over by agribusiness. And slavery has not disappeared (particularly in the sex trade).'

(Harvey 2005: 145–46)

In this conclusion, she have offered an invitably partial examination of such challenges, indicating some new directions post-colonial studies has either taken, or must take.

Climate concluding that-

'Climate change, refracted through global capital, will no doubt accentuate the logic of inequality that runs through the rule of capital; some people will no doubt gain temporarily at the expense of others. But the whole crisis cannot be reduced to a story of capitalism. Unlike in the crises of capitalism, there are no lifeboats here for the rich and the privileged (witness the drought in Australia or recent fires in the wealthy neighborhoods of California).'

(Chakrabarty 2009: 221)

Examples:-

Chardham yatra project :-

This project concerns the harm of the environment. So these all are points which concern postcolonial studies. Now we have to think about ecology. Human has only one house for live and that is earth.

Rang De Basanti : -

A nexus  between politician and businessman vs young college boys -one them has to murder his own father who was corrupt businessman before murdering the politician.

Chakravyuh :-

Chakravyuh is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language political action thriller film directed by Prakash Jha starring Arjun Rampal in the lead role with Abhay Deol, Esha Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee and Anjali Patil in supporting roles. Chakravyuh aims to be a social commentary on the issue of Naxalites.

Thank you!

SR : Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 Hello friends!

I am Bhavna Sosa from Department of English MK Bhavnagar University. This blog is Sunday Reading : Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad sir.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :-

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose works range from novels to short stories to nonfiction. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature",particularly in her second home, the United States. Adichie, a feminist, has written the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), and the book-length essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014).Her most recent books are Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017) and Notes on Grief (2021).In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant.

 She talk on 'The Dangers  of Single Story':- 

The first talk is about the danger of a single story. Adichie explains that if we only hear about a people, place or situation from one point of view, we risk accepting one experience as the whole truth. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story" Ted Talk, in July 2009, explores the negative influences that a “single story” can have and identifies the root of these stories. 

Here She also talked about that It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. There is a word, an Igbo word, that I think about whenever I think about the power structures of the world, and it is "nkali." It's a noun that loosely translates to "to be greater than another." Like our economic and political worlds, stories too are defined by the principle of nkali: How they are told, who tells them, when they're told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. 

Adichie shares two primary examples to discuss why generalizations are made. Reflecting on her everyday life, she recalls a time where her college roommate had a “default position” of “well-meaning pity” towards her due to the misconception that everyone from Africa comes from a poor, struggling background (04:49).

She said "Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, "secondly." Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story. "

Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. 

We Should all be Feminists and Havard Uni :-

Adichie's talk about that "feminist" isn't a bad word and that everyone should be feminist. She begins with a brief anecdote about her friend Okoloma. She said that she  decided to call myself "a happy feminist." Then an academic, a Nigerian woman told her that feminism was not our culture and that feminism wasn't African, and that she was calling herself a feminist because she had been corrupted by "Western books." Which amused her, because a lot of her early readings were decidedly unfeminist. she thinks she must have read every single Mills & Boon romance published before she was sixteen. And each time she tried to read those books called "the feminist classics," she'd get bored, and she really struggled to finish them. But anyway, since feminism was un-African, she decided that she would now call herself "a happy African feminist." At some point she was a happy African feminist who does not hate men and who likes lip gloss and who wears high heels for herself but not for men. 

Men have testosterone and are in general physically stronger than women. There's slightly more women than men in the world, about 52 percent of the world's population is female. But most of the positions of power and prestige are occupied by men. The late Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate, Wangari Maathai, put it simply and well when she said: "The higher you go, the fewer women there are." In the recent US elections we kept hearing of the Lilly Ledbetter law, and if we go beyond the nicely alliterative name of that law, it was really about a man and a woman doing the same job, being equally qualified, and the man being paid more because he's a man.So in the literal way, men rule the world, and this made sense a thousand years ago because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival. The physically stronger person was more likely to lead, and men, in general, are physically stronger. Of course there are many exceptions. 

A feminist is a man or a woman who says, "Yes, there's a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it. We must do better." The best feminist I know is my brother Kene. He's also a kind, good-looking, lovely man, and he's very masculine. 

Talk on Importance of Truth in Post Truth Era:-

Thinking Task: "The Final Solutions" by Mahesh Dattani

 Hello friends!

I am Bhavna Sosa from Department of English. We have done Movie screening of Final Solutotion by Mahesh Dattani. In this blog I am going to discuss some of the questions based on this particular movie screening.

Final Solution &  Mahesh Dattani :

The play Final Solutions, written by Mahesh K. Dattani discusses the theme of communal riots, hatred and bitterness of Hindus and Muslims against each other. The plot is set in Gujarat (after the 2002 Riots). The communal hatred is at peak. It can be seen when we find Hindu mob chasing Javed and Bobby after knowing that they are Muslims.

Next, we also come to know other complex stories like love affair of Smita (who is a Hindu) and Bobby, Javed’s story of adopting extremist way, Ramanik’s grabbing of Javed’s land (after burning his shop) etc.We find that Ramanik blames Javed and his community and vice versa. But deep inside, Ramanik’s conscience does not allow him to live in peace because of the sin which he committed in the past.There is another issue which is discussed in the play. It is the orthodoxy which is inherited among the believers of every religion. They consider people from other communities as untouchables. Aruna’s denying Bobby and Javed from spending night at their home depicts this.

Mahesh Dattani is the genuine eyewitness of society and he composes just what he sees and not what ought to be. All his plays are loaded with issue and way which he watches. Every last play of Dattani raises some unmistakable issues concerning the different diseases defiling the solid tissues of the general public and in doing as such he is never observed pedantic in his disposition. 

Dattani 's play Final Solutions is the genuine delegate play of his perceptions; it manages one of the consuming issues of mutual uproar. Dattani appears in the play how the seed of mob is sowed and some vested gatherings procure its organic product. He likewise talks about the part of lawmaker, police and open at the season of mutual mob. The average citizens who live respectively for quite a long time, right now of mob, all of a sudden stop to perceive each other and progress toward becoming adversary on the ground of religion. They never understand that they are failure, and lawmakers grab the chance to pick up control. The topic of Mahesh Dattani 's Final Solutions is social authority. Last Solutions breaks down how certain gatherings needed to endure on account of other dominant part gatherings.

Here we see that also Mahesh Dattani comes in the classification of scholars who champion the reason for genuine art– free from any hypothesis, general in taste and flavor, engaging all segments of society, never bound to any station, class and statement of faith.So, throughout the play, we find ample of problems and the playwright has not given any solution. Instead, he has let the audience to decide. Hence, the final solutions are, in real, no solutions to these communal problems. We people need to know what makes us hate others.

1.)What is the significance of the subtitle "The Final Solutions"?

The play Final Solutions, written by Mahesh K. Dattani discusses the theme of communal riots, hatred and bitterness of Hindus and Muslims against each other. The plot is set in Gujarat (after the 2002 Riots). The communal hatred is at peak. It can be seen when we find Hindu mob chasing Javed and Bobby after knowing that they are Muslims.

Next, we also come to know other complex stories like love affair of Smita (who is a Hindu) and Bobby, Javed’s story of adopting extremist way, Ramanik’s grabbing of Javed’s land (after burning his shop) etc.

We find that Ramanik blames Javed and his community and vice versa. But deep inside, Ramanik’s conscience does not allow him to live in peace because of the sin which he committed in the past.

There is another issue which is discussed in the play. It is the orthodoxy which is inherited among the believers of every religion. They consider people from other communities as untouchables. Aruna’s denying Bobby and Javed from spending night at their home depicts this.

So, throughout the play, we find ample of problems and the playwright has not given any solution. Instead, he has let the audience to decide. Hence, the final solutions are, in real, no solutions to these communal problems. We people need to know what makes us hate others.

2.)Do you think Mahesh Dattani’s “The Final Solutions” makes any significant changes in society?

Mahesh Dattani is a well-known English playwright, actor and director of India. He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for Final Solutions in 1998.

The theme of the play Final Solutions is to highlight human weaknesses, selfishness, avarice and opportunism. Woven into the play are the issues of class and communities and the clashes between traditional and modern life style and value systems. The problem of minorities is not confined to only Hindus and Muslims, it eats the peace of any minority community among the majority.

"Final Solutions" has a powerful contemporary resonance and it addresses as issue of utmost concern to our society, i.e. the issue of communalism. The play presents different shades of the communalist attitude prevalent among Hindus and Muslims in its attempt to underline the stereotypes and clichés influencing the collective sensibility of one community against another. What distinguishes this work from other plays written on the subject is that it is neither sentimental in its appeal nor simplified in its approach.

3.)How are the beginning and the end of the movie?  Do you feel the effect of communal disturbance in the movie?

The title makes audience members ask themselves, “Are there solutions to religious communalism?” (p 107) 

The communal virus has always played a mischievous role in this pluralistic society. In the beginning of the play we see Hardika opening her diary after four decades and writing a dozen pages more. Her words, “Yes, things have not changed that much” (Collected plays I, p 167) sound so philosophical and true. Communal virus has made this sub-continent to suffer quite often. Ram Ahuja in his sociological work ‘Social problems in India’ defines Communalism as follows:

Communalism is an ideology which states that society is divided into religious communities whose interests differ and are, at times, even opposed to each other. The antagonism practiced by the people of one community against the people of other community and religion can be termed ‘communalism’.” (p 120) 4

The play Final Solution is not a mere ‘one more addition’ to the literary works that deal with communal conflicts, but an honest attempt at sensitizing the public about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination based on one’s race, ethnicity and religion. Discrimination, per se, need not be absolutely bad. But it can be truly fatal if it’s based on deadly prejudice. The playwright has given a brilliant title, which indicates that there are solutions to seemingly irresolvable problems. However, the playwright, neither taking an escapist route nor presuming to offer ‘the final solution’, confronts the burning issue with an amazing neutrality and courage of conviction. Therefore, the play cannot be studied merely as a clash between Hindus and Muslims represented by Ramnik Gandhi, his family members and Hindu Mob/chorus and Bobby, Javed and Muslim Mob/ Chorus on the stage.

4.)The movie comes up with many different symbols and colors. Write about any two symbols which caught your attention. What does it signify?

Diary :-

Diary is an important device in this drama. Diary is a record with entries arranged by date reporting on what has been done in the past. It actually preserves a person’s undercurrent of thoughts which often get deluged in later future and the person can connect his present to his past via this diary. Therefore, it is reservoir of a man’s experiences, feelings. It is, therefore, supreme media of one’s memoir. It captures moment, and tries to give vent to the historical and societal background as well. In this drama diary illumines the two different stages of a woman’s character whose identities are separated only by 40 years. The technique is indeed post-modern. Through the diary two generation of time past and time present is heavily compared.

This use of diary is a very important technique in revealing the psyche of the characters and at once presents the agitating moments of history finely. It also serves as the driving force behind revealing the mixing memory and desires of the characters. Memory is a kind of experience and it is associated with trauma studies. It is a privileged area through which nature of past events can be represented. The past events may be historical or public. In early editions of the Oxford English Dictionary the entry for trauma defines it as ‘a wound or external bodily injury in general’. Later the meaning has shifted from physical level to the psychological level. Here I shall discuss about the psychological impact of the communal tensions that has cropped up in course of time.

Thank you!..

(Words :1,528)

The Curse or Karna

 Hello friends!

I am Bhavna Sosa, student of department of English MK Bhavnagar University.   This blog 'Curse or Karna' is assigned by our Yesha Bhatt maam. 

Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer  Kailasam, 1884–1946, was a playwright and prominent writer of Kannada literature. His contribution to Kannada theatrical comedy earned him the title Prahasana Prapitamaha, "the father of humorous plays" and later he was also called "Kannadakke Obbane Kailasam" meaning "One and Only Kailasam for Kannada".

2) Is 'moral conflict' and 'Hamartia' there in Karna's character?

What is ‘Hamartia”?

Hamartia arose from the Greek verb hamartanein, meaning "to miss the mark" or "to err." Aristotle introduced the term in the Poetics to describe the error of judgment which ultimately brings about the tragic hero's downfall. As you can imagine, the word is most often found in literary criticism. However, media writers occasionally employ the word when discussing the unexplainable misfortune or missteps of celebrities regarded as immortal gods and goddesses before being felled by their own shortcomings.

Karna's role in moral context. Well there was nothing moral about karna. He was a great warrior but so was satyaki, bhagdatta, duryodhana and many other. If we read Mahabharata, we see that duryodhana has done many evil. Karna, he was involved in almost all of those evils and sometimes he was the instigator. We see that karna is known for his charity but he always boasted about his charity. He gave his kavach to Indra but received a weapon to kill Arjun so that was no charity it was a trade. Karna didn't even cared for duryodhana, all he wanted was a fight to death with Arjun. If karna was morally correct then he would stop duryodhana from doing evil things.

If we read about karna's past then we see that he was a demon named sahastrakawach in his previous birth. Guess destiny didn't want him to loss his demon nature.

3) Karna - The voice of  Subaltern :

It is said that whatever is not described in the Mahabharata does not exist, even the Ramayana and all the Puraanas are summarized in this epic. The greatest of all Puraanas, the Srimad Bhagavata Maha Puraana are present there in Mahabharata. There are so many characters in the great epic Mahabharata but Karna comes across as the most evocative one. One cannot but be awed by his towering personality and sheer strength of character, and at the same time help to identify oneself with the moments of frailty in his tragic life. It is the realistic mix of nuances that makes Karna such a credible and lifelike character. The intriguing story of a hero who despite being born to royalty was brought up lovingly by a lowly charioteer and his wife, his whole life was one great struggle against cruel destiny and all the odds placed in his way by the inequities of his  way by the inequities of his time. 

Once upon a time one of the ancestors of the Royal House was Shantanu who was married to Ganga. They had a son Devarata, who later came to be known as Bhishma because of the terribly difficult vow he took in order to establish father Shantanu to marry Satyavati the daughter of a fisherman as his second wife. She gave him two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Both died without any children Devarata had taken a vow of celibacy so that there could never be any child of his who could ever claim the throne. The magnitude of the sacrifice gave him the name Bhishma. Ironically Satyavati now was forced to ask him to beget children on the widow of Chitrangada and Vichitravirya but he refused in keeping with his earlier vow. Satyavati was then compelled to call upon her illegitimate son Vyasa, born before her marriage to Shantanu, through Parashar Rishi, to beget descendants of the two widow, Ambika, and Ambalika. Vyasa being very ugly, the widow of Vichitravirya closed her eyes at his approach and consequently gave birth to a blind son, Dhritarashtra. The widow of Chitrangada turned pale and gave birth to a male child, Pandu. A third child, Vidura, was born to Vyasa from a royal maid. He was the only one who was normal among the three children. The sons grew up and Bhishma arranged the marriage of his nephews, Dhritarashtra married Gandhari and begot a hundred sons, the eldest being Duryodhana. Pandu had two wives Kunti and Madri. Kunti already had an unacknowledged son Karna from Surya before marriage. He was brought up by Adhiratha, a charioteer and his wife Radha after Kunti abandoned him. He suffered ignominies all his life being branded a charioteer's son and hence a charioteer. Kunti gave Pandu three sons. Yudhishthira from Dharma, Bhima from Vayu and Arjuna from Indra. Madri had twins, Nakula and Sahdev from the Ashwins. Although Pandu was younger; he was made king because of his brother Dhritarashtra's blindness. However, he died prematurely and Dhritrashtra assumed royal power. The five Pandavas or the sons of Pandu were educated at the royal court of Hastinapura together with the hundred Kauravas, sons of Dhritarashtra; Ashvatthama, the son of Drona and Karna were the two other students taught by the two Brahmana gurus, Dronacharya and Kripacharya.

5) Interpretation of myths- deconstruction 

The imageries of the moment of death of all the four great warriors have frozen so deeply in the psyche and culture over the ages, that all our ‘proofs’ whatever they might be, despite their force of Truth are helpless before a common acceptance! The appeal of the imageries is conscious and subconscious as well, and therein lays their power! The imageries are very powerful allegories and commentaries on the life, living and deed of the great Four! They also have didactic value and archetypal appeal! Another reason for the power of the imageries is their appeal to the ‘martyr’-self in man! Man has a natural inclination for martyrdom - be it real achievement or rationalization of powerlessness! The four imageries provide four powerful archetypes of martyrdom! 

Bhisma lying on a bed of arrows penetrated by deadly Shafts is imagery dramatic in its irony, and ironic in its dramatic evocation of simultaneous symbolic meaning of sleep or rest and death (a Vyasa-Shakespeare connection?)! Wasn’t Bhisma sleeping while living? Wasn’t Bhisma dead while sleeping? Weren’t the harmful lots surrounding him throughout his life the penetrating and painful shafts? Having sacrificed his legal rights to the throne in the Yajna-fire of his father’s lust, could he sleep that night while Shantanu gamed with Satyavati? Could he sleep on the nights when Chitrangada and Bichitrabirya suspected him of having illicit relationship with Satyabati? Could he sleep on the nights of Chitrangada and Bichitrabirya’s death? Could he sleep on the nights when Vyasa entered his brother’s wives thereby ending the royal Puru-blood forever? Could he rest peacefully, having been marginalized from the policy-making bodies of Hastinapur owing to the machinations of the powerful Bharadwaja-Gautama ministers? He certainly felt like lying on a bed of arrows! Endless shafts penetrated him, as he stood static! Pandu’s renouncing the throne and death, the Kuru-Pandava rivalry, Jarasandha’s threat, the Panchala threat - the shafts came in endless numbers eating into his vitality! Bhisma’s life is so active yet passive! It is indeed ironical that arrows of death emancipated him from the arrows of life! Whom else does the ‘bed of arrow’ befit?

Drona sat on his chariot, his eyes closed, his weapons exhausted! He had a Brahmana body but Khsatriya mind! As Dhristadumna pointed out to him rightly, he never ever performed the six duties of Brahmanas - ‘assisting at sacrifices, teaching, giving away, performance of sacrifices, receiving of gifts, and study’. Drona in his illusions and delusions was as static in his life as he was at the time of his death! He had a static soul in the chariot of his body! He could not have high moral authority having used his disciples for his own selfish gains! He had no contribution to the Vedic culture! All through his life he had been sitting in a pretentious posture. In his case too, stasis at the time of death ends the stasis of his life!

It is said Karna’s chariot wheel stuck to the ground at the time of his death! Weren’t his wheels stuck in his life too? He was one whom even Bhisma certified (Section CXXIV of Bhisma Parva) - ‘equal to Phalguni himself or the high-souled Krishna ….. equal to a child of the celestials and certainly much superior to men’. But was his chariot ever on the right track? Could he realize his potential, or rather, allow himself his full potential? 

In the Rig-Veda, the chariot wheel is a symbol of the sun. The Sun rides a chariot driven by seven horses. Karna, the Sun, is both the chariot and the chariot wheel! The wheel stuck in earth is Karna-sun being eclipsed! Kunti’s other name ‘Pritha’ also means earth. The Karna-sun-wheel is stuck in Pritha-fate! Karna trying to lift the wheel is Karna trying to lift his own fate from the mud! His inherent goodness was of no good to do that!

Bhisma, Drona, and Karna share another common thing. The common blood! They have Bharadwaja-Angira blood and therefore Puru-blood running through their veins! We know Ashwathama and Kripa survived. If that indicates Bharadwaja-Gautama survival despite Vashishtha-Bhrigu-Kanva victory, the myths might well be the creation of Puru-vamshi affiliated poets! One evidence of this is the myth of Kripa’s (a gautama!) immortality! Kripa’s myth strains our imagination as he is said to have been the Acharya of even Janmejaya’s son! Another evidence is the myth of Ashwathama’s immortality and also his new avatar as the next Vyasa! The composition of Mahabharata was not always in Vashishtha or Bhrigu hand! If the composition period extends up to the Gupta period or even later, it is natural some powerful Bharadwaja-Gautama-Angira poets contributed to the corpus! The myths might also be a device of the Shaivites in their war with Vaishnavites! Or, as Bankim Chandra speculated, they might even be the creation of Krishna-devotees to drive home the point that Krishna being the supreme personality of Godhead is above human morality! Whatever the motive or motives, nothing but the literary motive is our chief concern here!

Thank you for visit my blog.

Thinking Activity: Unit-2 Foe

Hello friends! 

I am Bhavna Sosa,  student of department of English MK Bhavnagar University.  This task Foe by J.M.Coetzee. This blog assigned by Prof. Yesha Bhatt maam.

About Foe :-

Foe is a 1986 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee.  Woven around the existing plot of Robinson Crusoe, Foe is written from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who landed on the same island inhabited by "Cruso" and Friday as their adventures were already underway. Like Robinson Crusoe, it is a frame story, unfolded as Barton's narrative while in England attempting to convince the writer Daniel Foe to help transform her tale into popular fiction. Focused primarily on themes of language and power, the novel was the subject of criticism in South Africa, where it was regarded as politically irrelevant on its release. Coetzee revisited the composition of Robinson Crusoe in 2003 in his Noble Prizeacceptance speech.

1)How would you differentiate the

character of Cruso and Crusoe?

 "I would gladly now recount to you the history of the singular Cruso, as I heard it from his own lips. But the stories he told me were so various, and so hard to reconcile one with another… age and isolation had taken their toll on his memory, and he no longer knew for sure what was truth".

This quote from Coetzee’s Foe is the readers first introduction to any aspect of Cruso’s character in the book. The beginning of Foe is told from the first-person point of view of Susan Barton, and because of this, the reader is aware of Susan’s inner thoughts as she arrives on the island. When Susan first lands on the island she has her first encounter with Friday. Susan first refers to Friday as “the Negro”, but then just one page later she references, to the reader, that his name is Friday. Since Friday is mute, Susan cannot know of his name unless she had previous knowledge of who he is, or the author assumes the reader knows who Friday is. This is when I first begin viewing Foe as an adaptation of Robinson Crusoe.

While Friday retains the same name in Foe as in Robinson Crusoe, Robinson Crusoe’s name is changed to “Cruso” which marks the first in a series of differences between the character of Cruso(e) in Foe and Robinson Crusoe. The Cruso that Susan describes in the quote is one who is completely disconnected from reality and confused about his own past. When Susan questions Cruso about his history on the island the details in his stories vary wildly each time they are told. When asked if Friday was a child when he came to the island Cruso would sometimes exclaim, "Aye, a child, a mere child", but other times Cruso would say, “Friday was a cannibal whom he had saved from being roasted". This uncertainty about events could stem from the fact that in Foe, Cruso is very against keeping written documentation of his days on the island; proclaiming, "Nothing I have forgotten is worth remembering".

Cruso’s lack of journaling is a stark contrast to Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe is much less passive and senile in regards to his own development on the island. Crusoe kept a painfully detailed account of every action he does on the island in a journal he updates daily. In this journal, Crusoe meticulously records every step for all of the tools he crafts, and he writes about his own progress with his newly acquitted relationship with religion. This Robinson Crusoe is much more in tune with his own reality and interested in his own accomplishments than Foe’s Cruso. This is also evident in the number of tools and objects that Robinson Crusoe makes in comparison to Cruso. Robinson Crusoe fills his multiple homes with various types of pots, tables, chairs, fences, and even a canoe. All of these items Crusoe builds are to improve and aide in his growth on the island, and he must be mentally sharp in order to build these items. Cruso in Foe has not put any effort towards building tools, as he only has a bed when Susan arrives at the island, and from the quote, it seems like he may not have the mental capacity to build these tools. Although Cruso does builds many terraces, he exclaims that they are for the future generations and not himself.

One explanation for the difference in mindset and mental stability in the two Robinson Crusoe’s may be that in Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe felt that his island life had more value than Cruso did. Before becoming stranded on the island, religion wasn’t a focus in Robinson Crusoe’s life, and he frequently sinned; such as when he disobeyed his father. After becoming stranded on the island, Crusoe began to read the bible and incorporate God into his daily thoughts and actions. Crusoe expressed deep regret for his sinful past, and often attributed hardships to a lesson from God. This newfound life style gave significant meaning to Crusoe’s daily actions as they represented growth in his faith, and a positive change in character. For Cruso, the island did not lead him to make any significant changes in his character or ideals. Therefore, his daily actions had less significance to him, and when his reality and sense of self began to slip away from him he was not concerned.

2)Friday’s characteristics and persona in

Foe and in Robinson Crusoe.

Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression "Man Friday", used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. Current usage also includes "Girl Friday".

3) Is Susan reflecting the white

mentality of Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe)?

Susan Barton, the narrator in Foe, finds herself shipwrecked on a desolate island with a man named Robinson Cruso. It does not take long for Barton to recognize her status on the island after she tells Cruso her story of being washed ashore. She says, “I presented myself to Cruso, in the days when he still ruled over the island, and became his second subject, the first being his manservant Friday” (Coetzee 11). Throughout the novel, even long after Cruso’s death, she describes the island as “Cruso’s island.” She finds herself as the mere female companion to the king and his manservant, Friday. Barton rationalizes Cruso’s role of king as she sees him “on the Bluff, with the sun behind him all red and purple, staring out to see…I thought: He is a truly kingly figure; he is the true king of the island” (37). Coetzee makes Barton the woman behind the man, defining her as a “free and autonomous being like all human creatures that finds herself living in a world where men compel her to assume the status of the Other” (Dragunoiu 15). Barton is quick to assume the submissive role on the island as the assertive character of Robinson Cruso takes the lead on the island and in her story.

Barton’s role as a submissive supporting character to Cruso displays Coetzee’s formulation of Susan as a man’s woman. Susan is a sensual woman, and as the only female character in both Defoe’s novel as well as Coetzee’s novel, she is represented through her sexuality. Susan’s sexuality is first displayed in the beginning of the novel, when she is on the island and Cruso is alive. As she falls asleep one night, Cruso begins to make advances toward her. She describes the event by saying, “I pushed his hand away and made to rise, but he held me. No doubt I might have freed myself, for I was stronger than he” (30). Although she realizes she is stronger than him, she decides not to leave but to “let him do as he wished” (30). Barton’s reaction to Cruso’s unwarranted actions towards her identifies her as a character of meek subservience—she is easily overpowered by the male character of Cruso. She even rationalizes his unprovoked advances towards her by saying, “he has not known a woman for fifteen years, why should he not have his desires?” (30). The fact that she excuses his actions of degradation to an impulse of desire solidifies her role as an accessory in the novel; she not only lets Cruso use her, but excuses it as a right of his male desires.

Susan Barton also views her sexuality as therapy for Cruso at the end of his life when he suffers from a raging fever. She spends many nights with him while they are on board the ship that rescued them, holding him and using her body to cure him. She describes:

I lie against Cruso; with the tip of my tongue I follow the hairy whorl of his ear. I rub my cheeks against his harsh whiskers, I spread myself over him, I stoke his body with my thighs. “I am swimming in you, my Cruso.” 

She uses every part of her body that defines her as a woman—tongue, cheeks, and thighs—in an attempt to alleviate Cruso of his sickness. She is not sexually or emotionally interested in Cruso, but still offers herself up to him. It is as if she is begging for him to survive by seducing him through senses. Her efforts fail because shortly thereafter, Cruso dies.

Susan Barton’s voice is projected through the words of the male author who created her. Using the text as evidence, it seems as though Coetzee purposefully creates a female character of weakness. She goes through a myriad of roles throughout the novel—each of which clearly point to her as a minor character in a book that is supposed to be about “the female castaway” (67). On “Cruso’s island” she is merely the “woman washed ashore,” and in England she is haunted with the question, “What life do I live but that of Cruso’s widow?” (99). In England, she searches to define her role, but ends up defining it through her gender; as Dana Dragunoiu notes, “she thinks of herself as Friday’s mistress, Foe’s housekeeper and muse, and after the journey to Bristol, even as a gypsy and stroller” (Dragunoiu 17). Barton’s inability to define her feminine nature leads her to broad conclusions about herself. She is unable to define herself as a singular unit and seems to most commonly view herself as a part to someone else—Cruso’s widow, Foe’s muse, and Friday’s companion.

Susan Barton is a man’s woman whose story is told through the words of a male author both from outside the text and inside the text. She is created by one man, J.M. Coetzee, as a woman of confusion and subtlety. Foe is not a story about her life, but seems to be a device to describe her male counterparts instead. The novel is a reflection of a man’s adaptation of a woman’s life, as Susan Barton implores Foe to write her story for her. She says to him, “Do you think of me, Mr. Foe, as Mrs. Cruso or as a bold adventuress? Think what you may, it was I who shared Cruso’s bed, closed Cruso’s eyes” (45). Ultimately, she believes that it is her responsibility to tell the “story of his island” (45). Susan has answered the question for herself, presenting herself as Cruso’s widow by describing her life through her interaction with Cruso. The subject matter of the book describes more of the adventures of Robinson Cruso than of the adventures of Susan Barton. The only questions Foe asks of her while she tells him her story are directed towards the mysterious Robinson Cruso. She notes that Foe “asked how it was that Cruso did not save a single musket from the wreck” and “asked also about Cruso’s apeskin clothes” (55). Similar to the concerns of J.M. Coetzee, Foe seems to be more interested in Robinson Cruso. Susan Barton serves as a tool to achieve a better insight on the deceased adventurer, Robinson Cruso.

Thinking Activity; Selected Poem

 Hello friends! 

I am Bhavna Sosa,  student of department of English MK Bhavnagar University.  This blog Kamala Das's poem 'An Introduction' given by our Yesha Bhatt maam. 

About Kamala Das :-

Kamala Das (1934 – 2009), the renowned Indian writer, wrote poetry and prose both in her mother tongue, Malayalam, and in English. Here, we’ll explore a sampling of poems by Kamala Das, who became known as a confessional poet.

Born Kamala Surayya, she was also known by her pen name, Madhavikutty, though her widest recognition was achieved as Kamala Das, her married name. She was known in her home state of Kerala for her short stories and autobiography, and in the rest of India, for her English poetry.

Her controversial autobiography, My Story, originally written in Malayalam, gained her much fame and notoriety. Later, it was translated into English. PoemHunter.org observes of her work: “Her open and honest treatment of female sexuality, free from any sense of guilt, infused her writing with power, but also marked her as an iconoclast in her generation.”

Professor Santanu Saha of Saltora Netaji Centenary College, West Bengal, summarizes the poetic work of Kamala Das as follows:

“Kamala Das has neither written innumerable numbers of poems nor are these poems varied in themes … She has not applied any complex poetic technique and the mode of expression is very colloquial in manner. Her English is the ultimate form of ‘Indianization of English Language.’

And consciously she is never worried for experimentation in the poems. In spite of these limitations she is very much popular in the Indian subcontinent as well as in abroad. And this is due to her ‘honest’ declaration of self which establishes her as a ‘confessional’ poet. Among her contemporaries she is much debated, disputed and criticized poet. But undoubtedly Kamala Das is accepted as a universal poet whose lived experiences are beautifully portrayed in her poems.”

About  'An Introduction ' :- 

This poem "An Introduction" is highly anthologised poem . This poem is also known as autobiographical confessional poem. Every confessional poem must be autobiography but every autobiography should not be confessional.

The poem An Introduction is an autobiographical verse of Kamala Das that throws light on the life of a woman in the patriarchal society. This is a confessional poem. I have divided the poem into five parts for better understanding.

I have tried to first give a brief explanation of the lines and then provide a comprehensive analysis. I hope you will get through the poem and understand its central idea.

Image of The Poem "An Introduction"

Kamala Das's poetry is characterized by the presence of Stark images that challenge many conventions generally considered to be part of "Indian life".Then she contrasts the speech with the deaf and blind speech of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the incoherent mutterings of the blazing funeral pyre here she gives a number of images and they are all incoherent. The images are also taken from nature .To Kamala Das that much of nature is incoherent but hard language is not like that Her language is coherent.

 One of our few significant poets writing in English today, kamala das made and instant appeal with her very first collection Summer in Calcutta (1965 ). Kamala Das's poem An Introduction is highly anthologised poem and taken from the collection called Summer in Calcutta (1965).  

Thinking Activity: Midnight's Children

Hello friends ! I am Bhavna Sosa.This blog is about Thinking Activity on Midnight's Children. This task is assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir. So, let’s start making this blog task.

About author and novel  :-

Salman Rushdie, in full Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie,Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humour, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style. His treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects made him a controversial figure.His work, combining magical realism with historical fiction, is primarily concerned with the many connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, with much of his fiction being set on the Indian subcontinent. His second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.Here we talk about 'Midnight's Children', Saleem Sinai, the narrator of Midnight’s Children, opens the novel by explaining that he was born on midnight, August 15, 1947, at the exact moment India gained its independence from British rule. Now nearing his thirty-first birthday, Saleem believes that his body is beginning to crack and fall apart. Fearing that his death is imminent, he grows anxious to tell his life story. Padma, his loyal and loving companion, serves as his patient, often skeptical audience. Midnight's Children is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment when India became an independent country. He was born with telepathic powers, as well as an enormous and constantly dripping nose with an extremely sensitive sense of smell. The novel is divided into three books.

1.Narrative technique (changes made in film adaptation for eg. absence of Padma, the Nati, the listener, the commenter,what is your interpretation interpretation?)

In the movie ‘ Midnight’s Children’ so many changes had been made by the director which were not described in the novel. In 'Midnight's Children' Salman Rushdie uses the first person narrative through Saleem Sinai, the protagonist of the novel. Rushdie also makes good use of the device of Magic Realism in Midnight'sChildren. Further Rushdie's use of cinematic elements can clearly be seen in the novel. All this shows Bombay Cinema's influence on Rushdie and Rushdie's Use of Indianized English is his biggest achievement. In the original text the story is told by the protagonist himself and the story is listened to by Padma.

Salman Rushdie uses the lots of narrative technique in Midnight’s Children. 

Russian Dolls  :-

We seeRussian Dollst  are doll within the doll and in novel and film of the  story within the story.

Chinese Boxes:-

In literature a Chinese box structure refers to a frame narrative, a novel or drama that is told in the form of a narrative inside a narrative, giving views from different perspectives. Examples like Mary Shalley's Frankenstein and Heart of Darkness.

Indian Oral Narratological methods Panchatantra:-

In the Panchatantra, there are the stories of animals (Fables) to teach the princes of the King Sudarshan and Amarshakti like three sons named Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Shakti.

Vishnu Sharma (Brahmin) is there to teach them the morals and lessons to helping them to build up the ability of ruling because they were the dumb by their early childhood. Here the story is told in the frame and within the frame. 

Kathasaritasagar: -

In the Kathasaritasagar, there is story also multiple layers of story within a story.

Baital - Pachisi:-

Twenty-five stories are there. These are the stories of legends within the frame story, from India. Basically, this is the story of Vikram Aditya promising a sorcerer that he will capture Vetala. Then the story starts with one frame. 

There is also the story of Sihasan Battisi and in that also many stories exist. As all thirty-two dolls tell the stories.

AlifLaila-Arabiand Nights:-

In this story we find references of Arebian nights, which is a story about the one thousand one hundred stories in that book. Here we can find many examples and connect it with our narrative because here the speaker Shahrazad is telling the stories to the listener Shahryar, same like in Midnight’s Children, the speaker Saleem and the listener Padma.

Ramayana and Mahabharata:-

Valmiki is the narrator of Ramayana and Ved Vyasa is the narrator of Mahabharata. We find that Ramayana and Mahabharata both are books related to story within a story .

In the movie ‘ Midnight’s Children’ so many changes had been made by the director. So many characters are not included and there is also a slight change in narrative technique also. In the original text the story is told by the protagonist himself and the story is listened to by Padma. This technique is connected with Bharatmuni’s ‘ Natya Shastra. It means here Saleem is Nat and Padma is Nati. In film adaptation this method is changed and here Saleem tells the story but the audience plays the role of nati. This is a narrative technique of midnight's Children.

2. Characters (how many included, how many left out - Why? What is your interpretation?)

Here are the Characters in the movie...

Satya Bhabha as Saleem Sinai

Shriya Saran as Parvati

Siddharth Narayan as Shiva

Darsheel Safary as Saleem Sinai (as a child)

Anupam Kher as Ghani

Shabana Azmi as Naseem

Neha Mahajan as Young Naseem

Seema Biswas as Mary

Charles Dance as William Methwold

Samrat Chakrabarti as Wee Willie Winkie

Rajat Kapoor as Aadam Aziz

Soha Ali Khan as Jamila

Rahul Bose as Zulfikar

Anita Majumdar as Emerald

Shahana Goswami as Amina

Chandan Roy Sanyal as Joseph D'Costa

Ronit Roy as Ahmed Sinai

Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Picture Singh

Shikha Talsania as Alia

Zaib Shaikh as Nadir Khan

Sarita Choudhury as Indira Gandhi

Vinay Pathak as Hardy

Kapila Jeyawardena as Governor

Ranvir Shorey as Laurel

Suresh Menon as Field Marshal

G.R Perera as Astrologer

Salman Rushdie, Narrator.

 The list of character from the novel who didn't appear in the film.

Padma

 Sonny Ibrahim

Commander Sabarmati

Lila Sabarmati

Homy Carrack

Alice Pereira

Nalikar Women

Ramram Sheth

3. Themes and Symbols (if film adaptation able to capture themes and symbols?)

Themes :-

1) British Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Born at exactly midnight on the eve of India’s independence from British colonialism, Saleem Sinai is the first free native citizen born on Indian soil in nearly a hundred years. After a century of British rule, in addition to a century of unofficial imperialism before that, Saleem’s birth marks the end of a two-hundred-year British presence in India. Using their considerable power and influence, the British impose their Western culture and customs onto the Indian…

2) Truth and Storytelling

Self-proclaimed writer and pickle-factory manager Saleem Sinai is dying—cracking and crumbling under the stress of a mysterious illness—but before he does, he is determined to tell his story. With the “grand hope of the pickling of time,” Saleem feverishly pens his autobiography, preserving his stories like jars of chutney, searching for truth and meaning within them. Born at the precise moment of India’s independence and endowed with magical powers Saleem’s remarkable story begins long.

3) Sex and Gender

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is a harsh critique of the gender-related power struggles of postcolonial Indian society. After generations of purdah—the belief that Muslim and Hindu women should live separately from society, behind a curtain or veil, to stay out of the sight of men—postcolonial women are encouraged to become “modern Indian women” and remove their veils. Countless years in the domestic sphere has branded them as weak, demure, and dependent on men.

4) Identity and Nationality

From the moment Saleem Sinai is born on the eve of India’s independence from Great Britain, he becomes the living embodiment of his country. Saleem is India, and his identity metaphorically represents the identity of an entire nation; however, Saleem’s identity is complicated and conflicted. A nation, generally understood as the same people living in the same place, only loosely applies to India’s diverse population. Instead, multiple religions, languages, and political beliefs divide postcolonial India.

5) Fragments and Partitioning

Following their 1947 independence from British rule, India begins to break up in a process known as partitioning. British India splits along religious lines, forming the Muslim nation of Pakistan and the secular, but mostly Hindu, nation of India. India continues to fracture even further, dividing itself based on language and class. Meanwhile, Saleem Sinai, the living embodiment of India, is also cracking- and dying. Saleem, 

6) Religion

Religion is at the forefront of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, and it drives most of the narrative throughout the entire novel. Saleem Sinai, the narrator-protagonist, is born Muslim but lives most of his life in the Hindu-steeped culture of Bombay. His lifelong ayah, Mary Pereira, is a devout Catholic, and his sister, the Brass Monkey, ultimately joins a nunnery. In the religiously pluralistic backdrop of postcolonial India, Rushdie references several

Symbol :-

1) Pickles

Pickles are repeatedly mentioned in Midnight’s Children, and while they are often viewed as a phallic symbol, they are generally representative of the power of preservation within Rushdie’s novel. Saleem is the manager of a pickle factory, and he preserves pickles and chutneys each day. He also attempts to preserve his own life story like the pickles in his factory. Saleem largely manages to preserve his life through storytelling, offering a bit of immortality to a dying man, and he also labels and stores each chapter he writes in a pickle jar, so that they may be read later, by his son for example. This connection between pickles and the preservation of stories endures until the very end of the book, when Saleem ceremoniously labels his very last pickle jar as a way of closing out his story and his life as a whole.

2) Spittoons

In Midnight’s Children, spittoons initially represent Old India but grow to also symbolize Saleem’s identity, which is intimately linked to his country given that he is one of the children of midnight. Rani gives Mumtaz and Nadir a silver spittoon when they are married, and they frequently play hit-the-spittoon, an old-fashioned game in which they try to spit tobacco juice into a spittoon from various distances, similar to the old men in the town of Agra. After Saleem’s family is killed during the Indo-Pakistani war, he is hit in the head with the exact same silver spittoon, and he instantly forgets his name and his entire identity. However, even with amnesia, Saleem knows that the spittoon is important, and he carries it with him throughout the war. To Saleem, the spittoon represents his identity, and he carries it with him until it is lost in Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.

3) Noses

Saleem Sinai’s large, bulbous nose is a symbol of his power as the leader of the Midnight Children’s Conference, which is comprised of all children born on the moment of India’s independence from British rule. His nose makes his power of telepathy possible, and this is how he communicates with the other children of midnight (who all have varied powers of their own). Saleem inherits his rather large, and perpetually congested, nose from his grandfather, Aadam Aziz, who also uses his nose to sniff out trouble. Saleem’s nasal powers begin after an accident in his mother’s washing-chest, in which he sniffs a rogue pajama string up his nose, resulting in a deafening sneeze and the instant arrival of the voices in his head. Saleem’s power of telepathy remains until a sinus surgery clears out his nose “goo.” After his surgery, Saleem is unable to further commune with the other children. Ironically, after Saleem’s nasal congestion is gone, he gains the ability to smell emotions, and he spends much time categorizing all the smells he frequently encounters.

4. The texture of the novel (What is the texture of the novel? Well, it is the interconnectedness of narrative technique with the theme. Is it well captured?)

The film is not told in chronological order, but it is told in flashback. When Salim remembered something he told the audience and listener. And then come back to real life from that flashback. Whole story is told by Salim. And he described the things that he felt. This is my interpretation of the novel and film adaptation. 

5)What is your aesthetic experience after watching the screening? 

 In my aesthetic experience after watching this movie is wonderful, as there are so many various  scene in this movie. This movie  in protagonist  Saleem  hearimg lots of voices. This movie in the speaking out against politics was a big challenge. Emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi at that time.  Midnight’s Children  movie and novel both try to describe  politicians. This movie adaptation  such a wonderful.

Thank you