January 2020

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH: LITERATURE, LANGUAGE & SKILLS Volume 8 Issue 4, January 2020 ISSN 2278-0742, www.ijells.com

January 2020

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Editor’s Note

Dear Readers & Contributors, Welcome to the January 2020 issue of IJELLS. We complete eight years of publishing.

We havenâ€&#x;t missed a deadline or an issue. We take pride in our commitment to our purpose while founding it, that, it will be a platform for publishing catering to many who have found publishing still a farfetched dream.

The journal will go through major changes as we enter the ninth year of Publishing.

We have some very interesting articles in this issue too. From the most experienced and accomplished contributors we close the other end of the range with young and innovative writers.

Spend some time, share it with your peers and come back to us with suggestions if any.

Happy Reading and Sharing!

Dr. Mrudula Lakkaraju Founding & Chief Editor

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Founding & Chief Editor Dr. Mrudula Lakkaraju, Department of English, Osmania University is trained from EFLU and a Doctorate from Osmania University. She prefers the designation of a trainer and a writer. She has presented several academic articles to international and national seminars, conferences, journals, and magazines. Casual and creative writing is also her forte. She is a prolific reader and writer. Her areas of interest are Post colonial Literature, Gender Studies, Film Studies, English Language Teaching, Contemporary Literature and Communication Skills.

Board of Editors

Dr. Thirunavukkarasu Karunakaran English Language Teaching Centre, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

Dr. Isam M Shihada Al Aqsa University, Gaza strip

Dr. Ravi Bhushan Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya Khanpur Kalan, Sonipat, Haryana

Dr. G. Venkata Ramana, BVRIT, Narsapur

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Contents Editor’s Note............................................................................................................................................................02 Editorial Board .......................................................................................................................................................03 Contents....................................................................................................................................................................04

English Creative/Casual Writing Section The Crammed-Up Emotions Chirantana Mathkari ..................................................................................................................................................06 Pavement Dwellers Emmadi Pullaiah.........................................................................................................................................................09 Love, you killed me!

Shashi Rekha Munireddy ...........................................................................................................................................10

English Literature Environmental Degradation in Kasauli : An Ecocritical Reading of Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain Anita Konwar .............................................................................................................................................................15 Morals and Values for Youngsters in the Stories of Sudha Murty Charuvilla Joseph Chacko & Jangam Sudhir .............................................................................................................19 Suffering and Oppression of Dalits in Bama’s Karukku P. Hiltrud Dave Eve ...................................................................................................................................................26 Existential crisis in Anita Desai’s Cry, the Peacock Mallavarapu Jhansi & Madupalli Suresh Kumar .......................................................................................................31 Feudalism and Opium Menace: A Postcolonial Reading Of The Moth Eaten Howdah Of The Tusker Mamta Mishra ............................................................................................................................................................36 Discovering Self: Horizons of Islam in the Non-Fiction of Malcolm X Munir ..........................................................................................................................................................................40 Khaled Hosseini and the Treatment of Childhood in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns Omaiha Walajahi.........................................................................................................................................................51 Journey from Disgrace to Reconciliation: A Tale of Coetzee’s Disgrace Mantha Padmabandhavi Prakashrao .........................................................................................................................59 Joyce Carol Oates: The Violent Vision in Bellefleur Mamta Upadhyay & Pooja Mittal ...............................................................................................................................63 The Aesthetics of Silence in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out and Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence Poonam Minocha ........................................................................................................................................................69 Crossing Patriarchal Boundaries: A Study of The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker Swati Chandorkar & Puneet Kumar Dubey ................................................................................................................75 Central Motifs in Kohbar Murals Santosh Kumar Singh.................................................................................................................................................80 Evelyn Waugh- The Satiric Vision in his Early Novels S. Santosh Smitha .......................................................................................................................................................92 Theme of Alienation in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim Soupraja R V ...............................................................................................................................................................95 Interrogating Swadeshi in Tagore’s The Home and the World Swatti Dhanwni ..........................................................................................................................................................98 Silence as an Omniscient Story Teller in Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men Tamanna P M ............................................................................................................................................................101

English Language Teaching Developing Effective Speaking and Listening Activities among Rural Learners Putnam Anand Kumar .............................................................................................................................................107 Integrating Technology into Teaching Learning Process through Flipped Classrooms P. Bharathi .................................................................................................................................................................113

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ESA methodology in ELT for Technical Education Geetha H ....................................................................................................................................................................119 Challenges and Potential of English as a Medium of Instruction at Tribhuvan University Purna Bahadur Kadel ................................................................................................................................................122 Teaching English Language through Literature Shiva Durga ..............................................................................................................................................................129

English and Communication Skills English for Empowering Science and Engineering Graduates Meena Malik ..............................................................................................................................................................132 English for Global Empowerment in Professional Achievements Vivek Mehrotra .........................................................................................................................................................139 Author Profiles……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………..…143

Pictures Courtesy      

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English Creative/Casual Writing Section The Crammed-Up Emotions Chirantana Mathkari

The car squeaked and rumbled as it went down the slopes of the tunnelling roads.

The skies were dark and the clouds roared, indicating the arrival of a storm. The plump 8-year-old sat cross legged, with her face half out of the window and her chin resting on the window base. Her curly brown hair was being ruffled by the wind and yet her glittery eyes kept scanning the roads for something that she very acutely longed for.

Her father looked at her through the rear-view mirror. He smiled and asked, “Did you pass a good motion this morning, kid?”

Why was this always a question! Yes, she had passed a nice firm motion. And there were so many other things which were more important than that! Irritated by the question, she cribbed, “All my friends have siblings! And I don‟t even have a dog to play with!” Her nose swelled up as she tried to hold her tears back and then her eyes finally gave in.

“We‟ll get you a dog once we get back home, honey. We can‟t buy a dog while on a trip.” her mother responded calmly.

“And why can‟t we?” came the swift reply.

“Because it‟s hard to carry a dog in a car for more than 500 miles, sweetie.” her mother turned around and said with a smile, as she dotingly brushed her hand over her daughter‟s cheek.

“But he can sit with me in the rear seat and I‟ll hold on to him tight and I‟ll feed him and we can always stop for pee breaks!” The little girl had learnt to not give up.

Her mother, let out a sigh, rested her head on the seat and closed her eyes.

“How do you know that it‟ll be a he?” her father tried to divert her attention.

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“Oh, it has to be a „he‟, Baba. My friend‟s dog is a dog and even grandpa‟s dog was a dog and my Math teacher‟s dog is also a dog.”

Her father chuckled at her naivety. His heart would always melt for his daughter.

After all, she was the only one he had.

“Okay. So, if you spot a puppy on the street and if it doesn‟t have a collar and if we can‟t find its mom, we‟ll pick it up, okay?” He didn‟t quite like seeing his daughter sullen, but he knew well that finding a puppy on the streets was next to impossible.

“Yay !” The wind wiped away her tears as those glittery eyes started scanning the streets once again.

The days passed by. They would set off to visit tourist spots each morning, her father would ask her if she had passed good motions each morning, she would reply with a flat “Yes.”, and she would continue to peep out of the car window and not give up.

Soon, the last day of the trip arrived. Her parents spotted her seated in the porch, cross-legged, with her two palms holding onto her heavy cheeks. Her monobrow contracted, her face wore a frown. It had been a week and she couldn‟t even spot a single puppy! „Why do they always hide from me? Do they not like me?‟, she wondered.

“We‟re going home, honey. Baba has spoken with a friend of his. We‟ll get you a puppy this weekend.” her mother consoled her.

But the kid wasn‟t convinced. Yes, they would get her a puppy once they get back.

But why couldn‟t she get one here? It was so nice here. There was no traffic. No running late to school. No friends who‟d tease her for being alone. Life was just so peaceful! So perfect!

She went and sat in the car without speaking a word.

They visited the remaining attractions, some of them being her favourite; but she just couldn‟t be happy. They drove towards the last spot now. She saw the fields run by and the road twirling and the lush grasses sway on the road side. She spotted a hare jump by, a cat meowed from the corner; but never did she see a puppy.

Suddenly, her father turned the car around. Bewildered, her mother asked him what was wrong.

“I didn‟t have a good motion this morning. I think I‟d better use the toilet before we go for the last spot, so that we can head home directly after that.”

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The mother, let out a sigh, rested her head on the seat and closed her eyes. The kid, too disheartened by her unaccomplished mission, did not even bother to react.

They reached the hotel, her father let out his crammed-up motions, kissed his daughter on her forehead and they were off again to the last attraction.

The kid saw the fields run past her, she saw the road twirling and the lush green grasses sway on the road side. She saw a bird chirp and she saw a puppy. Wait! Was that a puppy?

She let out a cry and her father slammed on the car brakes.

A couple of years later, the kid sat in her garden with her teenager dog (and it was a he!) and stroked him gently. She would always share with him everything that came to her mind. And as she went down her memory lane today, she let out a giggle. The dog looked up at her, as if eager to know the reason behind it. She looked at him, smiled and whispered in his ears: “Buzo, you know what buddy? You should never let your motions remain crammed-up!�

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Pavement Dwellers Emmadi Pullaiah

How grief-stricken and heart-broken Our lives are! Dwelling ever on the Pavements despite ferocious and whipping Whirlwinds and hurricanes, fierce and terrible Thunderbolts completely beset with despondency.

Ever changing is this wretched abode With the warnings frightful of high handed Hierarchy to drive away us with looks cynical.

Launched is our struggle at the break of dawn, Just for two square meals a day Of any mean sort, not for rainbow diet.

Elapsed is every day like walking on the Edge of a razor. Ever ready we are For sweat of brows when the sun is scorching And in chilly winter, but no work is in sight.

Starvation becomes a way of life. Tears roll down Our cheeks at the plight of our offspring, Ever suffering from the brunt of economic Woes with no ray of hope in near future.

Our humble appeals, eerie faces With wry smiles, add fuel to fire To our distress. Can we be ever away from This abysmal penury, bidding farewell to Our perennial problems?

An everlasting question it is.

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Love, you killed me!

Shashi Rekha Munireddy

I am not as superior as the bow of Shiva, which Sri Rama broke during Sita Swayamvara, or the bow of Vishnu, which was used, to level the pride of Parashurama. Yet, I am no inferior. I am the bow of Indra, emerged in the palace of Panchala as a boon to King Drupada. I have the subtle vitality of Indra‟s Vajrayudha. The string that connected my upper and lower limbs is Vasuki, the king of serpents. I looked at the arrow next to me. Vayu at its tip and Agni at the rear were ready to pierce through anything.

The commotion around shook me out of my thoughts. A group of maids and servants hurried around enhancing the beauty of the magnificent hundred pillars Panchala Court. The workers brought the ladders to tie the garlands of Jasmine and Lotus across the door frames and the balconies that overlooked the court hall. The doors were decorated with strings of Mango leaves folded in star shape, adorned with a chrysanthemum at the middle. The long windows had indigo silk screens lined with deep red frills, which were tied back with golden ribbons. The fragrance of sandal wood and saffron flower in the air was mesmerizingly seductive.

I noticed, the high-ranking ministers were standing at the entrance, welcoming the guests, along with beautiful girls, who held platters of pure panneeru sprinklers, and sandal wood paste and Jasmine flowers in golden bowls studded with rubies and emeralds. The ministers said, “Esteemed Kings, here are the beautiful ladies of Panchala, if you like any of these maidens for your service, please do not hesitate to choose.” I smiled, at the first-round elimination. For many princes, it appeared to be a tempting offer as the girls were undoubtedly beautiful but Princess Draupadi was more attractive and her beauty was incomparable. The invitees just filled their eyes with the beauty and trudged along reluctantly. Those who were not confident of winning the competition, decided to choose a belle from the lot, instead of returning empty handed.

Inside, at one end of the huge court hall was a pedestal of ten steps, on which was seated the king of Panchala, Drupada on his imperial throne. Next to him was Drishtadhyumna. On his right were his chief minister and the chief army commander. To his left, were seated the royal teacher and Drupada‟s daughter turned son Shikhandi. Following them were rows of seats which were occupied by the princes of Kuru, Bhoja, Vrishni, Andhaka, Sindhu, Salwa, Madra, Chedi and many others. Very close to Drishtadhyumna there stood the dark hero of Yadavas, Krishna. The royal women had assembled on the floor above in the balconies.

A little away from the royals were the ordinary people. The brahmins, vaishyas and shudras seated on the floor according to their ranks. I noticed Krishna‟s eyes scanning the crowd, as if searching for someone. The court hall overflowed with people, and those who had no place to sit stood outside the hall eager to see the worrier who could win the impossible competition and take the hand of Draupadi as his bride.

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On Drishtadhyumna’s signal the musicians started playing melodious music signaling the arrival of Draupadi. Draupadi wore a red silk Saree with golden leaf embroidery all over. Her face was covered with a transparent veil. It was difficult to tell whether she walked in sync to the music or the music synced to her steps. There was such elegance in her movement.

Her long hair braided in a single plait was dancing to the swaying of her hips, under the veil.

The moment she reached Drishtadhyumna, the music changed its tempo and became softer and it finally stopped. Draupadi bent down and bowed to teachers, Drupada and to the priests, elders and the court. She walked to Drishtadhyumna and stood next to him. Drupada stood up and addressed the gathering, “Kings and princes, this is my daughter, Draupadi, born out of fire. We need not emphasize how beautiful she is. We wish to give her hand in marriage to a befitting prince. In order to find a suitable groom for her, we have designed a test. My son, Prince Drishtadhyumna will explain the test”.

Drishtadhyumna came forward and showed the Matsya Yantra near me. It was a pool of water, in the middle of which stood a pillar as high as 100ft. At the apex of the pillar rotated a wheel with a fish. Drishtadhyumna pointed to me, “Using this bow and a single arrow, the archer, should shoot the eye of the fish in the Matsya Yantra, looking at its reflection in the water below.”

It was a challenging task. First, they had to lift me up, tie the string and then shoot the fish revolving on the pole in the sky, not directly, looking at its reflection. The contestants started discussing amongst themselves. “Drupada has kept such an impossible task to ridicule us” someone said. “If no one wins, we will ask him to get his daughter married to the one who defeats all others here” said another. „This doesn‟t work, let me wait for a right time and kidnap her‟ quietly resolved some other.

The first one to try was Salva prince Jayadratha. He got up proudly, stroked his moustache as if he would win the test in an instant. He walked to me proudly and inserted his four fingers of both the hands under my limbs. He could not even move me. Defeated he returned to his place. Sisupala, the prince of Chedi scoffed at Jayadratha’s defeat, walked to me. I waited to see what he would do. Reaching me, he did not get into action immediately. He started with a boasting warm up with wrestler‟s squats and bicep pump-up and exhibited his muscle power. The audience held their breath and observed his act. He came near me and tried to insert his little finger of one hand under me with conceit. When I did not move, he tried to insert his four fingers of one hand and then with both the hands. Then tried to lift my upper limb corner, then lower limb, he could not move me. Failing, he banged his right fist on his left palm and walked back to his seat with his head bent in disgrace. Following him, several princes tried their luck. Some were able to lift me, but not able to shoot the fish using a single arrow.

That is when, I noticed Karna. He was looking forward for a right moment in anticipation.

As I looked at him intently, I could read what was going on in Karna’s mind. Few years back, Karna was returning from the hermitage of Parashurama having been cursed by him before completing his education. He was passing through the Kingdom of Panchala. As he walked towards Jagadeeshwari temple, a palanquin passed by him and stopped half yojana away from the temple. The palanquin carriers and the guards cleared the space, especially of men.

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Karna was also pushed away by the guards. Everyone was running away. Karna caught hold of a man and asked, “Why are you running? Who is in the palanquin?”

“Don‟t you know? It is our princess Draupadi?”

Karna was curious. He hid behind a tree. When everyone was away an attendant announced, “Princess, it‟s safe to get down.”Karna intently observed. First came out the tender hands, pushed the screens away and then the feet draped in white silk Saree were placed on the ground one after the other. Then came out the face and he caught his breath. What a beauty she was! Her nose was slightly bigger to her face and projected down at the tip with wider eyes and a slender neck. She had a divine attraction and her movements were sensual. The way she walked, the way she talked, even her silence was hypnotic. Karna looked at her. Her long legs, shapely back and her long hair dancing like a snake were alluring. He could not take his eyes off. Karna realized that she was going away and did not want to lose her so quickly. He quietly walked to the back of the temple and within a short time he located a tunnel.

Karna walked through the tunnel, and it led to the step well inside the temple. When he reached the well, Draupadi was walking out of the well dripping wet, her white Saree, now translucent, stuck to her body, showing off her curves. Droplets of water at the end of hair strands drew pictures on the ground as she walked. She no longer had her face covered and she was free of jewelry. He hid at the tunnel‟s mouth and watched Draupadi go inside the temple. She walked unwaveringly as with her eyes focused on unknown point without blinking even once. Her long eye lashes appeared to take in everything. Karna’s eyes moved down to her slender neck which reminded him of a peacock. He felt like hugging and kissing her neck. His eyesight moved down and stopped at her breasts. It is not that he had not seen any woman in his life. Sudra women seldom cover their breasts. They consider it sin to cover their breasts which give nectar to the children. He had seen many sensual breasts, or he thought so. Now, such shapely, inviting bosom shook the dormant desires in him.

When everyone was in sanctum, he too went inside silently. The temple was vacant for Draupadi‟s visit. He walked to the sanctum and stood in a dark corner away from the royal crowd. His conscience was warning him, „It is not right. Get out from here!‟ But his mind was not in his control. „Only today, as long as Draupadi is here. After that I will not see her‟ he convinced himself.

The sound of drums indicated, it was time for Maha Mangalarati, which means Draupadi would leave in a short while. He walked fast, entered the step well and came to the entrance of the temple. By then Draupadi was already near the palanquin and her maids were moving, carrying the platters to the carriage. In his hurry to see Draupadi once more, Karna collided with one of Draupadi‟s maids. She dropped the platter in her hand and cursed him.

The huge noise made Draupadi peep out of her palanquin. Karna, who was helping the maid to pick up the platter, felt somebody was watching him. He turned to palanquin and saw Draupadi watching him through the small opening in the palanquin. He was enthralled by the magic in her look. He thought to himself „Draupadi might have similar feelings for me‟.

He turned to the palanquin once again in anticipation but saw the closed screens of the opening.

Draupadi closed the screens of the opening, as if closing down her heart but her heart was not with her. In that one glance she could remember the radiant young man with Kundalas in

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his ears and the bright armor. Something in him was enticing her. „Maa Jagadeeshwari, why am I having these feelings? Please help me out.‟ She prayed and slowly came to a decision. „I am born for a purpose. I will not let my life‟s purpose go astray. ‟With this decision her desire escaped as two droplets of tears. At that very moment someone in Dwaraka sighed in relief.

Karna followed the palanquin for a yojana but remembered his mission. He felt his mission was more important to him at this point than following Draupadi. „Moreover‟, He thought. „Shudras are not entertained even in Panchala. Let me earn a status for myself before meeting Draupadi.‟ Karna’s mission was to go to Hastinapur and attend the exhibition of Kuru Princes display the skills learnt from Guru Dronacharya. It was not the curiosity of witnessing the skills of princes, but the need to challenge Dronacharya, who had rejected to accept him as student since he was a Sutaputra, made him to be at the display of skill. He wanted to prove that he was better than Dronacharya’s best student Arjuna.

Karna walked towards Hastinapur thinking about Draupadi, keeping his feelings of love secret but alive. During the exhibition of skills, Duryodhana made him the king of Anga.

Karna was delighted that he was one step closer to Draupadi. He beamed that he would make her the queen of Anga. With the crown on his head, he imagined Draupadi to be next to him and explained to her how he became the king. He said, “Love, if you are with me, I will win the whole of Bharatawarsha and dedicate it at your feet.”

Karna‟s carried an imprint of Draupadi‟s face. He saw her everywhere, in front of him, next to him, behind him. He would see her with his eyes opened and when his eyes were closed.

Karna spent sleepless nights, spoke with her, ate with her, slept with her. He would smile within himself and forget the platter of food in front of him, filled with his own thoughts.

Karna‟s foster mother Radha was concerned, “Son, what has happened to you, shall we go to the forest temple and get the blessings?” Karna pitied and hugged her with a smile.

“Nothing mother, I am fine.”The moment his mother left he heard Draupadi continuing in his mind, „Darling will you please take me with you. How long is this pinning?‟ Now, when Karna saw Draupadi again in reality after so many years, his emotions danced out of his control. He looked at his friend Duryodhana to check his mind. He was sure Duryodhana would not attempt this test but definitely ask him to compete. He was right.

Duryodhana signaled Karna to carryon. Karna, although appeared to obey Duryodhana, was happy internally that he would win Draupadi.

“Dear friend, this test is a child‟s play for me. I have played many such things in Parashurama‟s hermitage. See how I shatter Drupada‟s Matsya Yantra” said aloud to Duryodhana. Practically he was following Duryodhana‟s command, secretly resolved, „After winning the competition, Draupadi belongs to me not to Duryodhana. I will refuse firmly and assert that Draupadi is for my own and will not be shared with anybody else.‟ Karna came to me. Easily he lifted me easily and started to tie the string to my upper and lower limbs. I intently listened to Draupadi. Krishna was signaling Draupadi to stop Karna.

Draupadi saw the Kundalas and remembered the young man near Jagadeeshwari temple.

Draupadi did not move, she opened her mouth, but no voice came or may be, she did not want to stop Karna. She wanted him to win the contest. Karna had already taken the arrow and was walking to the Matsya Yantra. Krishna now said, Draupadi, only you can stop Karna.

Remember the purpose of your birth. Draupadi’s body jolted as if she came to senses and saw

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Karna aiming the arrow upwards, started looking at the reflection of the fish in the water. He was about to release the arrow.

At that very moment …

“Stop … Stop!”

“I will not marry a Sutaputra!” Draupadi’s words were loud but clear.

Karna looked at her, as if to say, „Love, it is me your Karna’, but Draupadi, was not looking at him. Karna quietly kept me down and the arrow in its place and walked to his seat with his head bent down. He felt as if he was naked. He was silent but burning inside.

The kings who feared that a lower caste participant would win Draupadi were relieved and started laughing and ridiculing Karna.

“Draupadi taught a good lesson to Sutaputra.”

“Ha … ha … haa … having a free crown on his head, he behaves like an emperor,” “What Draupadi did was right”.

“Know your place Suta”. Somebody called out, “Get out Sutaputra; you are supposed to be outside.”

Duryodhana stood up, “Karna is my friend and he is the King of Anga. Those who oppose him should be ready to fight Kuru army. Drupada signaled, Drishtadhyumna requested, “Kings and Princes, please maintain the decorum of the Swayamwara and let it continue”.

Considering his plea everyone calmed down.

Duryodhana sat down and kept his hand on Karna‟s shoulder consoling him but Karna was not in a position to notice his affection. I heard him cursing grudgingly, „Hey, Draupadi, remember this day. The dishonor I faced. One day, I will make you stand in a court hall in humiliation and make you remember the pain I am going through and realize the meaning of pain.‟ I heard, Tatastu Gods saying, “So be it!”, “So be it!”

Author‟s Afterword The story is a Myth. Within the frame work of Mahabharata, the author has tried to imagine the love between Draupadi and Karna. In Palace of Illusion, Chitra Divakaruni subtly mentions Draupadi yearns to have Karna to be her sixth husband. Iravati Karve in Yuganta disregards the chances of love affair between the two. The story, ‗Love, you Killed me!‖ imagines a love story between Karna and Draupadi before her Swayamvara and signals its repercussions. Both Karna and Draupadi were attracted to each other but suppress their feelings for their aspirations and life purposes.

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English Literature Environmental Degradation in Kasauli: An Ecocritical Reading of Anita Desaiâ€&#x;s Fire on the Mountain Anita Konwar

Abstract: Literature can play a significant role in creating awareness among the common people regarding environmental degradation. Anita Desai is one of the best Indian novelists writing in English. In her novel, Fire on the Mountain, Desai shows her concern for nature through a touching story. Though the novel does not address the environmental issues directly, yet it raises some very pertinent questions regarding environmental degradation. Both man-made and natural factors are shown to be responsible for the environmental degradation in Kasauli.

The objective of the paper is to examine the environmental issues in the light of man‘s relation to nature in the novel Fire on the Mountain. The methodology applied in the paper is analytical method.

Key-Words: Environmental Degradation, Eco-System, Extinction, Wildlife, Awareness Introduction: Environmental Degradation is the deterioration of the environment through the depletion of resources such as air, water and soil, the destruction of eco-system and the extinction of wildlife. The process of environmental degradation is of two types- it can be natural or it can be caused or accelerated by human activities. Human beings and their activities are a major source of environmental degradation. Water and air pollution are the common causes of environmental degradation. Air, water and soil are all resources which are vulnerable to depletion through overuse, as are natural resources like minerals and oil deposits. The various factors like vehicle emissions, agricultural run-off, chemical release from factories and poorly managed harvesting of natural sources contribute to pollution. There are also natural causes like landslide, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane and wildfire that can completely decimate local plant and animal communities to the point where they can no longer function.

Environmental degradation is a very significant and serious issue, yet there are very few literary works that are mainly centred round environmental issues. Literature can play a significant role in creating awareness among the common people regarding environmental degradation. Anita Desai is one of the best Indian novelists writing in English. In her novel, Fire on the Mountain, Desai shows her concern for nature through a touching story. Though the novel does not address the environmental issues directly, yet it raises some very pertinent questions regarding environmental degradation. The novel shows how the serene atmosphere of Kasauli, a charming hill station in Himachal Pradesh has been disturbed by human activities. Excessive population and factories pollute the natural atmosphere of Kasauli and in a way poses a threat to the bio-diversity of the region. Both man-made and natural factors are shown to be responsible for the environmental degradation in Kasauli. The man-made factor is shown in the form of excessive population, the Army Billet, the Pasteur Institute and its

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experimental killing of animals. The natural factor of environmental degradation is shown in the form of wildfire on the mountain that destroys plants, animals and other valuable species.

Objective & Methodology: The objective of the paper is to examine the environmental issues in the light of man‘s relation to nature in the novel Fire on the Mountain. The methodology applied in the paper is analytical method.

Discussion: Ecocriticism originates in a bio-social context of unrestrained capitalism, excessive exploitation of nature, worrying definitions and shapes of ‗development‘ and environmental hazard. While it does not seek to alter the course of any of these very real factors, its task is to see how theoretically informed readings of cultural texts can contribute not only to consciousness raising but also look into the politics of development and the construction of ‗Nature‘. Ecocriticism not only highlights human attitude towards Nature but also provides sources for highlighting and rethinking contemporary ecological problems. It seeks to study and analyse nature-writing text, the role of place in literature, environmental awareness, the man-nature relationship, the capitalist attitude towards nature. It looks closely at the naturehuman culture interaction in texts. It assumes that nature and human culture are mutually influential. Texts that explore this mutual influence are supposed to embody an ecological consciousness.

Anita Desai‘s novel Fire on the Mountain deals with a pathetic story of three female characters in the background along with the underlying issues of environmental degradation.

Nanda Kaul, the protagonist of the novel retreats to Kasauli, a hill station in Himachal Pradesh in her old age. Man has a close relation with nature. Nature is associated with nurturer. Nature nurtures man but sometimes it also takes the form of a destroyer. Man‘s adverse activities have a negative impact on environment and in a way it falls back on man in the form of ‗boomerang‘. If man harms nature through his activities, man will also be affected in the process. Anita Desai has given a beautiful pen-picture of the natural atmosphere of Kasauli. The virginity of nature is gradually exploited by human beings. The picturesque view of Kasauli is presented in the novel: ―The hills were still sunlit, but the light was hazy, powdery. They seemed to be covered with a golden fuzz and melted into soft blues and violets in the distance.‖(Fire on the Mountain, p.27).

Raka, the great grand-daughter of Nanda Kaul comes to Kasauli. She is also enchanted by the beauty of Kasauli. She explores the place.

Looking down the length of the jagged ledge, Raka saw it lined with other back walls and servants‘ quarters, tin sheds and cook-houses. Around the bend, these grew in size, rose and billowed into the enormous concrete walls of what looked like a factory, for sharp chimneys thrust out cushions and scarves of smoke, black on the milky blue of the afternoon sky. Chutes emerging from its black wall seemed built to disgorge factory waste into the ravine and immediately below them were small, squat structures that looked like brick kilns amongst the spiked, curved blades of the giant agaves that were, besides the pines, the only vegetation of that blighted gorge. (p.42)

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Raka was very surprised to see the factory amidst the beauty of the Himalayan hill-station. ―To her, it seemed to dominate the landscape- a square dragon, boxed, bricked and stoked.‖(p.42) Ram Lal, the old attendant of Nanda Kaul tells Raka about the Pasteur Institute. In the Pasteur Institute the doctors make serum for injections. The boiling of serum emits smoke. Raka is worried by the incongruity and the oppressive threat of the Pasteur Institute. Ram Lal informs Raka about the chutes of the institute. The bones and ashes of dead animals are emptied down into the ravine. The human activities are responsible for the environmental degradation of Kasauli.

The refuse that the folds of the gorge held and slowly ate and digested was of interest too. There were splotches of blood, there were yellow stains oozing through paper, there were bones and the mealy ashes of bones. Tins of Tulip ham and Kissan jam. Broken china, burnt kettles, rubber tyres and bent wheels. (p.48) The natural atmosphere of Kasauli has been polluted by the refuses of the Pasteur Institute.

Though Raka is a little girl, yet she could apprehend the danger of the factory wastes.

She shaded her eyes to look up at the swords of the Pasteur Institute chimneys piercing the white sky, lashed about with black whips of smoke. Raka sniffed the air and smelt cinders, smelt serum boiling, smelt chloroform and spirit, smelt the smell of dogs‘ brains boiled in vats, of guinea pigs‘ guts, of rabbits secreting fear in cages packed with coiled snakes, watched by doctors in white. (p.49) The smoke emitted through the chimneys of the Pasteur Institute creates air pollution.

Through Raka, the novelist draws the attention of the readers to environmental degradation in Kasauli. Raka could smell cinders, boiling serum, chloroform and spirit. She is also aware of the killing of the innocent animals by the doctors. Human beings create environmental hazard in the name of industrial development. Nature is more exploited by human beings in the name of scientific progress. In the primitive age, there was a harmonious co-existence of man with nature. As man has become civilized and technologically developed, this harmonious coexistence has turned into a relation of master and slave. Man sets up factories by destroying the natural world. On one hand, the environmental degradation is enhanced by human activities. On the other hand, there are also certain natural causes that lead to environmental degradation. One such cause is forest fire. Ram Lal tells Raka about the ravages done by the forest fires. The forest fire destroys forest and even houses. Nanda Kaul tells Raka how forest fire destroyed the beautiful cottage of an old lady upon the hill. Sometimes villages are burnt in fire. Raka could feel the suffering of animals and birds burning in forest fire: Holding her ear to the cold pane closely, she thought she heard the cries of animals and birds burning in that fire. (p.75) Urbanization and population growth are significant factors of environmental degradation.

Kasauli, a peaceful hill-station is transformed into an urban area. The beauty of that place is gradually destroyed by the Pasteur Institute and the army billet. Raka and Nanda could feel the adverse effect of urbanization and population growth on the ecosystem of Kasauli. The most beautiful garden in Kasauli is used as an army billet. Raka tells Nanda Kaul, ―I see they‘re up that hill, too. What is that peculiar instrument on top? Frightening. Like an atomic reactor. Or some such scientific monstrosity. And so much barbed wire around. A shame.‖ 17 Volume 8 Issue 4

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(p.57) Nanda Kaul tells Raka that too many tourists and army have ruined the quiet place.

She says that it is very saddening ―One would have liked to keep it as it was, a –a haven‖ (p.57) Nanda came to Kasauli to have a peaceful life amidst nature to forget her troublesome past. She considered Kasauli to be a haven but now it is no longer a peaceful place as the tourists and the armies have spoiled the quiet place. Raka also finds solace amidst Nature.

Raka pines for ―the empty house on the charred hill, the empty summer-stricken view of the plains below, the ravine with its snakes, bones and smoking kilns- all silent, and a forest fire to wipe it all away, leaving ashes and silence.‖(p.120) She loves to spend her time by exploring Nature. She prefers Nature over human company. Both Raka and Nanda Kaul have tormented past. They look at nature as the nurturer that can heal up the wound of their troubled selves. Nanda Kaul had an unhappy married life and Raka, the great granddaughter of Nanda also witnessed a troublesome family life that had a negative impact on her growing personality. Both of them have lost trust on human beings. So they turn to Nature seeking peace and shelter. The inter-relation of man and nature is beautifully explored through these two characters.

Conclusion: Anita Desai has given a graphic presentation of nature in Fire on the Mountain. Nature has an actual presence in the text and not merely a façade, thus implies that human and the world of nature are integrated. The text shows humans as accountable to the environment and any actions they perform that damage the ecosystem. The novel highlights man‘s relation to nature through the three female characters- Nanda Kaul, Raka and Ila Das. At the same time it also highlights the negative aspect of human beings who destroy nature in the name of development and scientific progress. It also provides thought for rethinking ecological problems, thus arousing awareness regarding environmental degradation.

Works Cited:     

Barry, John. (1999), Environment and Social Theory. London: Routledge.

Desai, Anita. (1999), Fire on the Mountain.1977. London: Vintage.

Garrard, Greg. (2004), Ecocriticism. London: Routledge.

Guha, Ramachandra. (2000), Environmentalism: A Global History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Nayar, Pramod K. (2010), Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: From Structuralism to Ecocriticism. New Delhi: Pearson.

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Morals and Values for Youngsters in the Stories of Sudha Murty Charuvilla Joseph Chacko & Jangam Sudhir

Abstract Sudha Murty's books portray moral qualities; amid clashes and difficulties in life; these accounts re-establish values as per the evolving socio-culture. Her stories, identified with the country, its well-known identities, culture and connections in a family, have helped in moulding a person's dispositions towards self and towards the general public. These stories are viable in affecting the way youngsters and grown-ups carry on and think since most loved stories are frequently perused and re-read more than once, attributable to the significant impact felt. Sudha Murty is known for her huge commitment in the field of moving and motivational writing in India through her motivational short stories, accounts and books, which show us important lessons and bits of knowledge into life and human instinct.

Keywords: Morals, Values, Ethics, Uprightness, Didacticism

The ostensible objective of any art is to entertain as well as to edify thereby improving the lot of the human race. Literature of any kind does precisely that and more so the stories.

Narrating stories has been the best method for showing kids the dexterities of unpretentious living and critical thinking as these stories indicate how individuals confront life's difficulties and surmount impediments to accomplish their valued objectives. Stories, indeed, impact our conduct and shape our general public and culture.

Patriotism and Integrity There are several stories, which help us to remember the qualities like patriotism, and uprightness, which we have to a great extent overlooked. The story ―Forgetting Our Own History‖ delineates patriotism as an overlooked obligation. The prosperity of a nation lies in being united in spite of political contrasts. Individuals should offer significance to the solidarity, respectability and prosperity of the country. 21st-century children and have no idea of the war of independence or its million martyrs though they are ultra-modern. They know Dimash Kudaibergen, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift but not our past. They can sing Despacito or Selena Gomez‘s Bad Liar but not Vande Mataram. On one hand, we have extraordinary personalities like A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who has spelt a dream for India and her improvement in innovation, resistance and in the welfare of its abounding millions, while then again, we have the cutting edge youth of India who needs even essential information about India, and knows close to nothing or nothing about the nation's history. Changing India portrays the varying view of India from a poverty-wracked land parcel of snake charmers and pachyderms. The contribution of Indians globally has brought a change in the ideology of people.

Wedding Alliance and Material Affluence The story Alliances Invite demonstrates how individuals change in existence with the evolving conditions. It portrays marriage and its paraphernalia and the inclinations of the 19 Volume 8 Issue 4

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present age and youngsters' decision of atomic families as opposed to joint families even before they get hitched.

The story, Sorry the Line is Busy, is about material abundance ruining a typical life. It demonstrates how adolescents incline toward being snared onto the phone and the Internet, talking as opposed to paying benevolent visits to companions and neighbours. It demonstrates the overlooked estimation of regard and fondness for individuals. It likewise portrays how the present age tends to misuse innovation and devices.

Vices False Values and evils Man has restrained wild mammoths, has vanquished the seas and mountains and has landed on the moon. Genuine satisfaction and happiness can't be found until the point that man restrains and teaches himself. The absence of self-control prompts addictions and improvement of wrong propensities. Sudha Murty has expounded on the indecencies and wrongs in the public arena, making readers mindful and aware of the requirement for selfchange.

False claims to Prestige One of the more profound of every one of our needs is the want to be valued. While it is uncalled for to keep down gratefulness, some people remain determined to pick up appreciation. The story, Human Foibles is a disclosure of how individuals endeavour to get recognition through deception. It depicts the weaknesses of a man who wants to pick up fame by creating his example of overcoming adversity, which is sadly uncovered to be false.

A Man too Clever by Half likewise talks about misrepresentation. Sudha Murty talks about the author who tries to spook her into buying his books for the Infosys Foundation library.

Sudha Murty feels that a fair individual can be a superior author due to the feelings the individual conveys. The story Bad Help portrays the narrative of dissatisfaction with assistance from Sudha Murty by a postal employee‘s savvy child who acquires his training in Engineering at Pilani through the Infosys establishment. This monetary need-based grant transforms into a reason for disgrace for Satish. Sudha Murty says In the event that a man isn't happy with the assistance given to him, it turns into a long-lasting weight for him to carry. [1] Self-centeredness: Insensitivity towards Parents and Elders Want dwells stealthily in the faculties, the heart and the mind. At the point when rapaciousness overwhelms the astuteness, man moves toward becoming beguiled and begins to sin. In the portrayals In India, the Worst of Both Worlds the conceit of people is reflected through Sudha Murty's portrayal where a son dumps his seventy-year-old father in a seniority home without uncovering his personality and returns after the old man's demise to assert the cash abandoned. These stories show us not be unfeeling in life to our own folks and fill in as a startling disclosure as to where we are heading in this materialistic world. The story helps us to remember Mother Teresa's well known saying that one of the most exceedingly bad diseases is the feeling of being ‗unwanted‘. The present age neglects to understand the cruel truth that the old need love and sympathy instead of cash. Sudha Murty says

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In India, we have the most exceedingly awful of both the universes: youngsters disregard their parents, and people routinely leave their property to their kids.[2] Sudha Murty is pained by the idea of ‗Proportionality of grief to the usefulness of a person‘.

She depicts how death is ‗celebrated‘ as a welcome development when a stroke patient dies, in the story Death without Grief. She describes how grief has become proportionate to the usefulness of the loved one we have lost. She says that ‗death‘ solves the ‗problems‘ of maintaining dependent relatives!

The absence of Empathy and Sympathy: Insensitivity Index is a story that portrays the absence of compassion and sensitivity.

The story A Helping Hand delineates the absence of sympathy and the state of mind of individuals in a catastrophe. The story delineates how a rich man declines to let the trunks of help material of the Tsunami stricken to be kept on his plot, though a poor man gives a day's compensation of rupees hundred and sixty and takes care of the trunks. Sudha Murty says It is for individuals like these, who open their hearts and put their confidence in us. [3] Hundred Percent Free is another story that talks about the difficulty of a young man who sold dusters. Sudha Murty volunteers to pay him the cash earned by selling dusters if the kid studies and shows advancement. Her nice thought makes the kid dissatisfied while overlooking the need to work and win more. Sudha Murty understands that the individual who has the given help should pick up its acknowledgement.

Effects of Innovations on the Society: Stories like Living through Change and Changing India depict the social parts of programming, which Sudha Murty calls Software Sociology. The former story discusses the lessening esteems with innovative development where individuals circumvent being friendly notwithstanding during celebrations by leaving on an occasion instead of investing energy with their friends and family. The second one shows how Indians have made a name on the planet path not quite the same as their deep-rooted discoloured picture of earth and destitution. Sudha Murty says the technological improvements have made the young men qualified grooms previously their development while the young ladies have handed picky over life. Inhumanity Index demonstrates the debasing qualities of mechanical progress.

Similarly, Sticky Bottoms delineates individuals with headphones on the train journey looking for no opportunity to address co-travellers.

Betrayal of Loved Ones: The stories A Man Too Clever by Half, A Bond Betrayed on Rakhi Day, Sorry the Line is Busy and Is Life Fair delineate unfairness, treachery by friends and family, insubordination to seniors' recommendation and egotism. The story, Sticky Bottoms is a delicate direction towards individuals' protection which exhibits individuals to change themselves as opposed to forcing themselves on others as an 'irritation.' It understands the estimation of astuteness for others. The story, Two Faces of Poverty is a readdress of bravery and liberality of a poor lady Leela, who receives a tyke to share its duties in the devastating destitution of life 21 Volume 8 Issue 4

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keeping mankind alive. It likewise delineates the selfishness of Ramappa who utilizes the donations gathered through philanthropy to cure his child afflicted by disease as an opportunity to construct a house.

Abuse of Services: The story When Telegrams were Bad, The Red Rice Granary demonstrate the abuse of administrations. The story Bad Help delineates the mentality of a postmaster's child who gets assistance from the magnanimous trust of Infosys Foundation and overlooks the assistance rendered by separating himself from the trust toward the end of his course.

The acquisitive attitude of Teachers: The story Oh Teacher, I Salute Thee portrays the changing qualities where an educator turns materialistic and puts material increase above information. Foot in the Mouth portrays the teacher Savitri who trusts in tattling instead of doing some valuable work in the field of instruction.

Social Callousness: On Column Writing and True Shades of Nature show us about heartlessness and influence us to see how man is protected in his own reality, thus does not have time to feel or consider others because of covetousness and envy, yet then Sudha Murty dwells on these even as human characteristics. She wishes to unobtrusively advise us that the ability to do useful things for others exists dependably inside us. We have to create it by the best possible means.

Communal Evils: Sudha Murty has censured numerous social shades of malice in our nation. Her stories on these issues make mindfulness and rouse us to put a conclusion to these social ills.

Hundred Percent Free, A Life with Dignity, Unwed Mothers, and numerous other stories delineate various shades of social indecencies in the Indian culture. A significant number of these stories additionally portray the quality with which a man can transcend these disasters and annihilate these.

Women's Matters: Sudha Murty has touched upon issues related to the women of our country stories like Stove Bursts or Dowry Deaths, Price of Jealousy, Crisis of Confidence, and A Life with Dignity.

She feels that ladies are equipped people. They should be urged to act naturally dependent and certain. She feels that ladies, however, are ending up financially autonomous, a large number of them are fortified with the shackles of passion and social reliance.

Education and financial independence are tools that can help any woman face difficulties but confidence in the self is the one which helps the most. [4]

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Sudha Murty manages the social issue like destitution as a factor more intense than parenthood in the story A Mother's Love with the case of a mother who declines to part with her child in the wake of conceiving an offspring in desperate neediness.

She likewise incorporates the tale of Meera who was visually impaired and had been surrendered by her folks as a young lady as she was pronounced to develop blindness soon.

Destitution powers the guardians to desert Meera in the city advising one that neediness is more intense than parenthood, driving a man to extraordinary demonstrations of franticness and duplicity of affection.

The societal position of Women in India Through her story Unwed Mothers Sudha Murty communicates the view that the societal position of ladies in different nations is superior to that of women in India. Ladies there enjoy monetary, social and political flexibility, while India is overwhelmed by the men folk. It is amazing that Indian ladies have learnt to live and exceed expectations in such a situation. A story like The Perfect Life delineates an existence of falsification in the contemporary world, where Neeta the protagonist does not recognize her distresses with an internal quality. She delineates an untainted wonderful picture for others. Shraddha is a poignant story that depicts hope against age-old traditions to many Indian women. It bestows them with an ability to perform rituals after the death of a near one for the peace and salvation of the soul of the dead by a woman.

Recovery of Women A Life of Dignity and Light as Many Candles as Possible expected delineate the need to restore women grown in sexploitation, to help the penniless and the discouraged. Sudha Murty cites the case of the Head of Suttur Math of Mysore who comprehended the significance of sympathy. He gives a large portion of a crore worth of land, and another a large portion of a crore rupees for women's rehabilitation. Sudha Murty feels everybody should know his or her qualities and limits. She says Keep your feet to the ground and work around you as there is so much wretchedness and agony that it is smarter to light a flame than to stay in the gloom. [5] Dowry demons The wickedness of the evil of dowry, female foeticide, female infanticide, and greed for material wants, early marriages and illiteracy are dealt with in the story Stove Bursts or Dowry Deaths.

Penury and Misery Sudha Murty's stories Wretched of the Earth and Salaam Namaste additionally talk about the dehumanizing destitution. The story Wretched of the Earth is related to those influenced by infection; it shows a poor old woman lessened to bones with no garments on her body. Sudha Murty who is shaken feels that the uncouth necessities are uncommon in poor people. Sudha Murty says "seeing wretchedness and misery frequently pushes us without hesitation, regardless of whether it is only a motivation. Those of us who have a liberal offer of God's 23 Volume 8 Issue 4

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favours must do what we can, to help the poorest of poor people who are pitiable through no blame of theirs." [6] Damaging Evils like Gossiping and Subterfuges Cost of Jealousy talks about educated women who never acknowledge others but give an input that isn't helpful. The story Foot in the Mouth talks about the prattle in the workplace.

Savitri, a former colleague of the author Sudha Murty would never stop yapping and slandering others. Sudha Murty feels this sort of talk wrecks connections in a family. The Perfect Life is a disclosure that talks about the existence of misrepresentations in the workplace. Neeta has a troublesome time with her better half and in-laws, however, shows pretences to have the best family driving her to sadness for the absence of capacity in sharing her misery. The story teaches us the acknowledgement of issues and defeating troubles.

Sudha Murty says We can experience our lives in joy just when we recognize our troubles and disappointments and attempt to defeat them with our quality of character.[7] Shades of malice and Callousness The Business of Philanthropy talks about the conceit of the present generation of youngsters.

It exemplifies the callousness of the son who feels that the money donated by the father was a mistake and a waste of money, but Sudha Murty tells Hiralal Jain‘s son that business and philanthropy are two different things when he tries to combine philanthropy as a part of the business. The narrative of Yellamma and Madha an extremely poor couple outlines the one of a kind relationship in their marriage in the story Made in Heaven. The couple has confidence in sharing trust and bliss in their life loaded with hardships in a general public where marriage is dealt with as a safety effort and wedding functions as a get-together.

Indecencies of Rich Hospitality Affecting Health The story Sweet Hospitality conveys a critical message on nourishment and the restriction on eating. The story outlines the hero Suman going by India on a get-away. The neighbourliness of her companions, influencing Suman to eat desserts and sustenance in vast amounts disheartens her as friendliness is making a man agreeable, yet the abundance of nourishment constrained on her had turned similar nourishment lethal like a toxin.

Sudha Murty says Indians must not be only modern in clothing, but rather should be current in thought and deed. Napoleon Hill and W. Lenient Stone additionally opine that the joy we give is significantly more important than the satisfaction we get by saying, One of the surest approaches to discover a joy for yourself is to give your energies towards fulfilling another person." [8] When we read the lives of extraordinary men in any field, we find that they are known for their commitment, dedication and responsibility regarding their chosen mission. Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte were all not the same as each other in their scholarly and moral characteristics, yet they were

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all diligent workers, which helped them fill in as luminaries and leave a stamp in this world as awesome men.

Conclusion Sudha Murty's oeuvre causes us to strengthen human qualities with the goal that we as people who are portrayed to be the crown of God's creation can demonstrate our value over lesser living creatures by defining humanized objectives and accomplishing them through the correct means. We likewise capture the delights of nature and mankind that are in charge of the open doors in life to serve others through. Her works make one mindful of the way that each new day is a blessing, which is offered solely to us, with its boundless chances to work towards human bliss.

Every portrayal of Sudha Murty is much the same as valuable diamonds, which grant the light of knowledge and qualities. An author's identity and mentality can strengthen the qualities they teach: modesty, validity and spontaneity, mindfulness and sympathy, resilience and a soul to live. Our author's distinctiveness sparkles in her works moving us to benefit as much as possible from our lives through their motivational words.

Notes and References: 1. Murty Sudha (2012), The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk, Penguin Publishers, New Delhi, P.131 148 2. Murty Sudha (2002), Wise and Otherwise: A Salute to Life, Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, P. 36 3. Murty Sudha (2006), The Old Man and His God, Saurabh Printers Pvt. Ltd, Noida, P. 51 4. Murty Sudha (2002), Wise and Otherwise: A Salute to Life, Penguin Books India, New Delhi, P.140 5. Ibid P.126 6. Ibid P.99 7. Murty, Sudha (2006), The Old Man and His God, Penguin Books India, New Delhi, P. 96 8. Hill Napoleon, W Stone Clement (1985), Success Through Positive Mental Attitude, Pocket Books, New York, P. 246

Bibliography          

Adam, I. & Tiffin, H. (Ed.) Past the Last Post: Theorizing Post-Colonialism and PostModernism Paperback – December 1, 1990.

Abraham Francis M (2006), Contemporary Sociology: An Introduction to Concepts and Theory, Oxford University Press, Mumbai Abrahamson, Craig E (1998), Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education, Education 118, Boulder, Colorado.

Bai, K. Meera. Women‘s Voices; The Novels of Indian Women Writers. New Delhi, Prestige, 1996.

Bohlin Karen (2005), Teaching Character Education through Literature: Awakening the Moral, Taylor and Francis Books India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi Chaudhari, M. Feminism Sudha Murty in India, Zed. 2005.

Gulati Sushma Pant Daya (2012), Education for Values in Schools-A Framework, Pushpak Press Private Limited, New Delhi Kunjakkam, K. Feminist Sudha Murty and Indian realities. New Delhi, Mittal, 2002 Mukherjee, Meenakshi. Reality and Realism in Sudha Murty: The Novels and Society in India. New Delhi, OUP, 1985.

Patel, M. F.(ed.) Feminism in Contemporary Indian Women Writers. Jaipur, Avishaakar Publishers, 2011.

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Suffering and Oppression of Dalits in Bama‟s Karukku P. Hiltrud Dave Eve

Abstract: Dalit movement is the result of the constant apathy and hatred having been generated for centuries over the cruel, inhuman, even barbaric treatment of the so – called lower castes by the upper castes in India. Since Dalits were assigned the duties of serving the other three Varnas, they were deprived of even their basic rights. Dalit were prohibited to wear a decent dress or ornaments; they were treated as untouchables. Many atrocities were committed against them in the name of religion. This made Dalits rise and protest, their basic demand being for quality for people of different castes and sub-castes among the depressed classes who had been traditionally subjected to individual discriminations on grounds of untouchable. ―Karukku‖, the first autobiography, most Tamil authors, men and women use the convention of writing under a pseudonym. It is written by a wounded self, Karukku has been a means of relieving the pain of others who were wounded. It is an elegy to the Dalit community where Bama, the writer grew up. The paper delineates the problems faced by the people of downtrodden in the book ―Karukku‖.

Keywords: Dalit, oppression, untouchability, sufferings of low caste

Introduction: ―Karukku‖ means Palmyra leaves, which, with their serrated edges on both sides, are like double-edged swords. Bama says There are many congruities between the saw-edged Palmyra karukku and my own life‖ Not only did I pick up the scattered karukku in the days when I was sent out to gather firewood, scratching and tearing my skin as I played with them, but they also become the embryo and symbol that grew in to this book.

(Pg 15, Karukku) The social oppression Bama undergone during the early childhood made her to draw the theme of the Book ―Karukku‖ The driving forces that shaped this book are many events that occurred during many stages of life, cutting me like karukku and making me bleed; unjust social structures that plunged me into ignorance and left me trapped and suffocating; my own desperate urge to break, throw away, and destroy these bonds; and when the chains we shattered into fragments, the blood was splitall these taken together. (Pg 18, Karukku) Bama also narrates her own experiences in the down trodden community. She says There are other Dalits hears are like mine, with a passionate desire to create a new society made up of justice, equality and love. They, who have been

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oppressed, are now themselves like the double- edged karukku challenging the oppressors. (Pg 20, Karukku) Although the author of the Epistle of the Hebrews (New Testament) described the word of God as a two-edged sword, it is no longer stirs the hardened the hearts of many who have sought their happiness by enslaving and empowering others.

In order to change this state of affairs, all Dalits who have been deprived of their basic right must function as God‘s word, piercing to the very heart.

Instead of being more and more beaten down and blunted they must unite, think about their rights and battle for them. (Pg 22, Karukku) In this, Bama centers around the defenseless state of Dalit individuals and how they are casualties of conditions because of their poor monetary foundation. They stay landless horticultural workers who are strategically, feeble.

In "Sangathi", Bama centers numerous issues the Dalit ladies need to look in the public arena that is riven on the lines of station and sexual orientation. Bama's anecdotal scene is singed with the savagery on Dalit ladies, spouse beating, lewd behavior, forlornness, ladies relinquished by their husbands, obliviousness, and underestimation, forswearing of opportunity in homes.

In "Vanmam", Bama centers the issues of the Dalits from an alternate edge. Neediness is the principle issue for Dalit individuals. In spite of the fact that she centers the issues of the whole network, she doesn't neglect to uncover the issues that Dalit ladies face, for example, bad form, social uniformity, poor financial condition because of numbness, subordinate status in the family.

Bama's Karukku is a blood record of what life resembles the standard of Indian idea and capacity. It additionally mirrors the injuries and fights Bama looked in her genuine life.

Karukku moved Bama to pen down her own recollections.

The emotions I had felt during its writing rose up again, in a great flood. And I could not help but reflect upon many changes that have taken place since then‌ Each day brings new wounds, but also new understandings, new lessons that experience teaches, sufficient mental strength to rise up even from the edge of defeat. I have seen the brutal frenzied, and ugly face of society and been enraged by it, but at the same time, I have danced with joy because of the sweetness and simplicity of a life that is in touch with nature, even though I have walked hand in hand with anxieties, I have also recognized a strength and zest within myself, so there have been many healthy contradictions in my life.

(Pg 27, Karukku) The problem faced by the People: Bama one day saw a network senior strolling nearly multiplied and holding a little pocket of nourishment by its string, without contacting it, he went straight upto the Naicker, bowed as well, "measuring the hand that held the string with his other hand" and gave the pocket to the Naicker, who opened it and started to eat the vadais. Bama at that age doesn't comprehend the 27 Volume 8 Issue 4

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careful circumstance and clarified the episode in delight to his sibling. Be that as it may, his sibling was not diverted. He clarified Bama that they were untouchables; that "Naickers were upper rank, and along these lines must not contact parayas. In the event that they did, they would be contaminated. That is the reason he (the older man) needed to convey the bundle by its string".

Indeed, even the grandma worked for the Naicker family. Indeed, even the young man from Naicker's family gotten out her name and request her about, and she called the landowner's son ace. Bama thought that it was 'disgraceful'. It was a disgraceful condition when the workers were served water.

The Naicker women would pour out the water from a height of four feet, while Paatti and other received and drank it with cupped hands held to their mouths.

(Pg 28, Karukku) Bama's another Paatti worked in Naicker houses, clear out the cowshed, gather up the waste and earth, and afterward bring home the left over rice and curry from the past night.

And for some reason she would behave as if she had been handed ―the nectar of the gods‖.

She brought home the unwanted food that the Naicker‘s were ready to throw away.

She placed the vessel she had brought with her, by the side of the drain. The Naicker lady come out with her left overs, leaned out for some distance and tipped them into Patti‘s vessel, and went away her vessel, it seemed must not touch Paatti‘s; it would be polluted. (Pg 29, Karukku) Bama protested against this ―ugly‖ practice. Her grandmother told her These people are the Maharajas who feed us our rice, without them, how will we survive? Haven‘t they been upper caster from generation to generation and haven‘t we been lower caste? Can we change this? (Pg 29, Karukku) The untouchables are precluded from claiming education. The Naickers were enraged when they saw a few untouchables getting education. Bama's senior sibling who learned at a college, a Naicker was infurious to know him that he is a Paraya from the Cheri road. In the library, upper positions would take a gander at the Paraya chaps from Cheri Street "with certain hatred". At the point when he finished his degree (M.A) he was treated with deference. He disclosed it subsequently to Bama.

Because we are born into the Paraya Jati; we are never given any honour or dignity or respect. We are stripped of all that; but if we study and make progress, we can throw away all these indignities. So study with care, learn all you can. If you are always ahead in your lessons, people will come to you of their own accord and attach themselves to you. Work hard and learn.

(Pg 35, Karukku) The lower positions ladies were accused for everything that turned out badly in school. The lower station individuals were utilized for modest work for conveying water to the educator's home, for watering the plants and for all the modest errands in school. At the minister school where she considered, she met a similar mortification. The superintendent sister didn't represent the lower position youngsters. She used to admonish the kids with no explanation.

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These people get nothing to eat at home; they come here and grew fat…. Look at the Cheri Children! When they stay here, they eat their fill and look as round as potatoes. But look at the state in which they come back from homejust skin and bone. (Pg 35, Karukku) Even in bus, the upper caste women sits away from Bama because of pollution. When Bama joined in a convent she was shocked to see the divisions in the convent. People from wealthy family were given another job. The lower caste nuns were given menial jobs like sweeping the classroom, cleaning out the lavatories, swabbing. They were not treated as human beings.

Bama had so many questions in her mind.

Are Dalits not human beings? Do they not have common sense? Do they not have such attributes as a sense of honour and self-respect? Are they without any wisdom, beauty, dignity? (Pg 37, Karukku) Bama mourns that they were abused, embarrassed and misused for ages. She portrays a battle between the upper standing Chaaliyar and the lower station Pallas. In the brutal battle, the upper station defeatists influenced the police and the lower rank individuals were whipped and imprisoned. The poor Pallas doesn't have anything to pay off the police.

Bama's people group has a place with dedicated individuals. They need to buckle down so as to endure. Their work incorporates furrowing, manuring, watering, planting the seed, isolating the seedlings and planting, weeding, showering the composts, harvesting the grain, planting groundnuts and choosing coconuts. The individuals are consistent with their lords. A few times they need to work without nourishment. On the off chance that they were talking during work, they were pummeled by the Naickers. They were paid extremely less sum as wages. Bama's people group individuals used to try sincerely and life itself is a consistent battle for them. They need to work constantly to get the principal feast. Bama considers how the upper standings would make due without work, yet the lower position individuals work for them. The Dalits burrow the town graves, arrange off dead creatures, and evacuate human waste with their exposed hands. They were illegal to utilize the tumbler which was utilized by the privileged. On the off chance that they oppose this social request they will be treated with iron bar.

Conclusion: Karukku accomplished a particular personality having been composed by a Dalit-Christian lady. She introduces the inescapability of standing abuse – how it accentuates regular daily existence, yet is a necessary piece of it, even in the memory of network.

Ambedkar composes, ―caste is not just a division of labour, it is a division of labourers‖.

Bama's works tends to this announcement as she depicts the subjugation with which her relatives are bound to the upper-standing families they worked for, including the entreating submission they needed to show them. Bama likewise talks about the embarrassment she encountered in secondary school, being Dalit and more unfortunate than her schoolmates. She composes of the representative significance of apparel as a marker when she portrays a school party. Karukku universalizes the predicament of a Dalit Christian lady and others. The story isn't of the creator however of others.

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Bibliography   

Bama. Interview by Manoj Nair, 25 April, 2001, https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/recognition-for-the-language-of-mypeople-is-the-biggest-award-i-can-win/211431 Bama. Karukku. Trans. Laksmi Holmstrom. Chennai: Macmillan India, 2005. Print.

Batra, Shakti. Karukku - A Critical Study, Surjeet Publications, India, 2019. Print.

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Existential Crisis in Anita Desaiâ€&#x;s Cry, the Peacock Mallavarapu Jhansi & Madupalli Suresh Kumar

Abstract: Anita Desai is an exceptionally recognized and unambiguous woman author. In her fiction, Indian English fiction has procured a profundity, which it rarely had previously. Anita Desai's books move around woman characters for she has composed her tales all around women. She is increasingly concerned about the inward situation of her estranged protagonist in the current patriarchal society. In the male-centric culture, the individual clash of character of the Indian women increases a dimension in the hands of Anita Desai. In her novels, she has depicted the man-woman relationship and the untold sufferings of women out of the conjugal disharmony. Desai's novel Cry, the Peacock is considered the initial phase toward mental fiction in Indian writing in English. This paper talks about the conjugal disharmony between Maya and Gautama and its outcomes in Anita Desai's Cry, the Peacock.

Keywords: Conjugal Incompatibility, Feminine Sensibility, Feminine Cognizance

Anita Desai is an exceptionally recognized and unambiguous woman author. In her fiction, Indian English fiction has procured a profundity, which it rarely had previously. Anita Desai's books move around woman characters for she has composed her tales,all-around women.

Ann Lowry Weir looks at the feminine sensibility of the author and contends: Anita Desai gives her perusers significant bits of knowledge into the feminine cognizance through her vital protagonists. (Weir 154-155) Desai has declaimed all endeavours to order her as a women's activist author. Her outline of the woman mind isn't a development towards Feminism. A dominant part of her characters has a place with reasonable sex, for as a lady, she comprehends the issues of Indian women top to bottom. In a meeting with Atma Ram, Desai says, " I compose mostly about women, it is basically in light of the fact that I know and comprehend them best".

She exhibits a woman's reality from a woman's perspective. She investigates the bothered mind of the cutting edge Indian lady. Her female characters have achieved diverse stages throughout everyday life. Acting naturally, a popular woman author, Desai does equity with her female characters. Her novels are concerned with the emotive realm of women, illuminating an exceptional, imaginative cognizance of numerous, more profound forces at work and an insightful understanding of feminine sensibility.

Anita Desai's strong point is the investigation of ladylike sensibility. She stands for the welcome advent of the feminine sensibility. Being a lady, Desai has attempted to comprehend the sensibility of women more vehemently than the depiction of men. Different from other Indo – Anglian writers, Anita Desai's overwhelming concern isn't with issues or powers but the individual mind of woman‘s.

Desai's women characters are not idiotic people who are worried about nourishment, garments, and water while they endure strongly on account of their endeavour to discover freedom in a general public where women are not treated like men. Therefore, every novel of 31 Volume 8 Issue 4

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Desai focuses on women in pursuit of freedom. Rather than delineating social issues, for example, neediness and pangs, she portrays mental issues in her books, for example, women's journey for freedom from conventional i.e. conjugal and social subjugation.

Women are a necessary piece of human development. No general public can ever advance without a functioning investment of women yet the woman has never been viewed as the equivalent of man. In the times of yore, the disparityof genders was not known but rather down the ages, women have been consigned to a mediocre position in the social set-up.

In a man-centric culture, the lady should be a mother, a great homemaker and a perfect spouse. Administration, forfeiture and struggle are her required traits. Her situation isn't equivalent to man, Ernestine suitably says: Like a man, a woman comes automatically into reality; similar to him she has physical, mental and moral power. Like him, she was to pay the punishment for resisting nature's law, and for more noteworthy punishments, she needs to experience the ill effects of obliviousness. Like a man, she additionally endures and appreciates with her nation. However, she isn't perceived as his equal. (Ernestine) Since time immemorial, the woman has been a casualty of male control. Man has consistently looked down on her as his property. The Bible through St. Paul plainly tells the women: ―Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife‌". (Ephesians 5: 22-23) Savants, scholars and writers of any age have demonstrated that the subordinate position of the woman is willed in paradise. Rousseau puts forth very harming expressions about the lady: Women have or ought to have, but little liberty. (Wollstonecraft179) As to the training of women, Rousseau gives this remedy: The entire instruction of lady should be with respect to men. To satisfy them to be helpful to them, to make themselves cherished and regarded by them.

Indeed, even in India, women were doled out optional parts in male-commanded society. The old Hindu philosopher, Manu, whose theory and belief system involves a huge place in the Indian way of life, does express the inadequacy of women to men in his treatise. The dad takes care of her amid childhood, the spouse secures her in the midst of youth, and children deal with her when she gets old. The woman is never fit for freedom.

In a male-centric culture, a female kid is raised under the strict control of her folks, with the view that she is to be given to another master, her better half, who will decide whatever remains of her life. She must choose between limited options. The choice of her marriage is taken by her folks or families. Religiously, marriage should be the blessed association of two spirits and bodies yet in all actuality, women are subservient partners. Marriage does not mean fellowship or communion for her; legitimately it is a trap, which invalidates her rights to independence and self-determination. She is enslaved and minimized and regularly her position is no superior to anything more than the poor folks, the abused and racial minorities.

Truth be told, marriage is a civil death for a woman.

The self-directed informed women, who brush aside the male-commanded world as senseless and futile, have felt free to have raised their voices for their freedom and rights. An 32 Volume 8 Issue 4

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expanding consciousness of unfairness done to them gradually influenced women to raise their voice for freedom from customary and social bondage. Women have understood that their primal obligation isn't only to please and obey men but to lead an existence of poise and equity.

Anita Desai's protagonists are in the pursuit of existential freedom for they are aggravated with the conventional i.e. conjugal and social subjugation. They need to get freedom from a discriminative mentality of the general public. Women are not treated at par standard with men. Consequently, they long for freedom keeping in mind the end goal to get special treatment. The women leads of Desai are loaded with the familiarity with their womanliness, accordingly, these women battle to accomplish freedom from the inflexible shape. The women in Desai's fiction look for freedom through activities that are for the most part thought to be male rights. Shanta Krishnaswami calls attention to that in Desai's books: Being a woman is a problem. All the rules and restrictions against which little girls chafed and women grumbled about were designed only to block all routes to escape from the conventional mode of living, from ‗society that beastly tamer‘ (Krishnaswami 258) In her books, Desai appears to give a decent answer to the decree predominant in the public arena that the women ought to be taken care of as a chattel, not a subject. Women are not negligible toys in the hands of the society. Desai presents women's combat against the severe condition, which expects the type of male-centric mastery. Not ready to amalgamate themselves into the general public around, her characters embrace an internal voyage to declare existential freedom to find their own selves.

In Indian culture, women are not permitted to assume a functioning part in basic leadership, they are overlooked. In such a circumstance, Desai endeavours to centre on the plight of the women in the general public.

In Cry, the Peacock Anita Desai depicts Maya's mission for freedom from conjugal subjugation for there is conjugal disharmony between her and Gautama. Marriage is an association of two unique personalities; some modification will undoubtedly be there with respect to a couple. However, in the event that any partner falls short to change, conjugal disharmony happens. Having lived a carefree life under the indulgent attention of her loving father, Maya desires to have similar attention from her husband Gautama, a father surrogate.

When Gautama, a busy lawyer, too much absorbed in his own affairs, fails to meet her demands, she feels unloved and wretched.

Inconsistent contradiction amid Maya and Gautama denies Maya of conjugal ecstasy. Her better half Gautama endeavours to force his will on her. She believes that Gautama does not comprehend her and her passionate needs. At the point when Maya's pet Toto dies, Gautama, being a no-nonsense man takes this occasion as simple and makes a game plan for its internment and when the errand is finished, he reassures Maya in a dull way: "It is all finished, come and drink your tea and quit crying". (7) This reminds us of Home Burial by Robert Frost where the husband buries their child in the family grave.

Further, rather than reassuring her in her despondency, he abandons her to meet a guest and overlooks the dead canine. She feels tormented to imagine that he doesn't empathize. The universes of Maya and Gautama are pointedly differentiated in that both stand for the limits 33 Volume 8 Issue 4

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of womanly and manly standards. Despite the fact that living as a couple, they are outsiders to each other. They need an imperative element of an adoring relationship for their marriage has been settled through her dad's kinship with him. Their marriage is pretty much a marriage of accommodation as it can be said a marriage of customary bond.

Maya looks for freedom from her conjugal servitude for "he had not the faintest information of her". (114) Maya's marriage with Gautama was forced from outside in the light of the fact that in man-centric culture choice as far as woman's marriage is taken by her dad, sibling or mother. The absence of decision with respect to a woman concerning her life partner causes unstable befuddling for Maya's situation.

The confounding of demeanours turns into an inconceivable hindrance since it is bothered by Gautama's failure to regard Maya alike, an individual with the valuable ideal to think and carry on uniquely in contrast to him. Gautama's state of mind is an impact of the male supremacist belief system, which fills in as the bastion of male-centric social structures. The main contention of Simone de Beauvoir's fantastic work 'Le Deuxeeme Sexe' is that in man controlled society, women have been built as man's "other", denied the privilege to her own particular subjectivity: "She is the accidental, the inessential … He is the subject, he is the Absolute – she is the other". (Beauvoir 16) De Beauvoir contends that this inescapable malecentric state of mind has had an especially vitiating impact on hetero relations. Raised inside the custom of male-controlled society, Gautama forces his predominant male disposition on her. Gautama sees nothing in her to regard. Maya grieves the better plane he generally oversaw than lift himself onto. When she endeavoured to include him in her issues, he overlooked them for to him they were "adolescent, tedious and even tacky" (113). Maya considers her aimless marriage; it was disheartening to think about how much in our marriage depended on a honourability constrained upon us from outside, and along these lines neither genuine nor enduring.

Maya sees the likelihood of freedom from conjugal servitude through the demise of Gautama for her part as a spouse hinders her freedom. Full individual freedom for a lady comprises in her capacity to repudiate her false ladylike self for her actual self. Maya's aching for freedom from conventional subjugations moves toward becoming highlighted when she gets a letter from her sibling Arjuna, illuminating her of his having 'revolted' against their dad and custom that has guzzled the advancement of his flexibility and independence. Maya's longing for freedom appears to be satisfied by her neurotic venture to slaughter her husband and she succeeds in it. It is very disheartening to see her end up a husband killer and the story closes with Maya being carted away like a madwoman to her father‘s house.

Threatened by the outrageous choice of life or death, she resolves that it is Gautama who should die as he is indifferent to what makes life habitable. Therefore, Maya gathers enough audacity to slaughter her husband. When she shoves him off, she is not in her own. She is neurotic. The committing of the homicide does not solve her quandary; instead, it pushes her further into the murkier bend of mental illness, which results in her committing suicide later on.

References:  

Desai, Anita. Cry the Peacock. New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1980.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Ed.& Trans. Parshley, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.

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Ephesians 5: 2 , New Testament, The Holy Bible Ernestine, L. Rose. Second National Convention. Friends of Women Suffrage., 1851, History of Women Suffrage, 1881 Krishnaswami, Shantha, Women in Indian Fiction in English. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1984.

Ram, Atma. ―A View of Where Shall We Go This Summer‖, Essays on Indian English Literature. Aurangabad: Parimal Prakashan, 1984 Robert Frost, Collected Poems, Prose and Plays (Richard Poirier, ed.) (Library of America, 1995) ISBN 978-1-883011-06-2.

Weir, Ann Lowry. ―The Illusions of Maya‖, Perspectives on Anita Desai. Journal of South Asian Literature, 21, No.- 2, 1981.

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Feudalism and Opium Menace: A Postcolonial Reading of the Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker Mamta Mishra

Abstract: Indira Goswami belonged to a family with ancient lineage from South Kamrup in Assam. Her forefathers were the religious heads of a ‗Satra‘ which was a Vaishnavite monastery founded by the Vaishnava saints of Assam. Over a period of time these ‗Satras‘ became contaminated by massive onset of feudal decay and corrosive practises. Such practises blighted all promises of growth of the society and as a result the condition of women and children became pathetic.

The sexual abuse of women by the powerful males in a patriarchal setup is a recurrent theme in her works which highlights their secondary status in the society. The conditions of these institutions worsened even further due to the growing opium menace. The consumption of opium was on the rise which was responsible for rising crimes and growing anarchy in the society.

Key words: Satra, Feudalism, Patriarchy, Subjugation, Opium.

Indira Goswami who wrote under the pen name of Mamoni Raisom Goswami is a celebrated name in Assamese literature. Her writings underlie a rich diversity of character, situation and milieu. The characters in her works are invariably broken and crushed by life; lost and forlorn in their circumstances and drown trodden by the damning situation. Her stories are sagas of pain, struggle, failure and frustration. The grace of her compassionate imagination and maternal tenderness in the way she deals with the deep injuries and wounds inflicted on the psyche of her characters imparts a feel of pathos to her body of work. Imaginative vision, singular intensity of feeling, searching honesty, courage and extreme confidence of expression mark her writings. The unusual circumstances of her life stimulated her questioning mind which led her into unchartered regions of existence coupled with fascinating people in difficult conditions.

The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker is one of the most fascinating novels of Goswami which throws light on the now extinct religious monastic institution known as the Satra. She has described the degenerate life that flourished in them. Her father had inherited a Satra from his father where she spent a lot of her time during her childhood and observed that kind of life from close quarters. This is the reason for the authentic portrayal of the society of those times in her work. She has recreated the social, religious and economic conditions of the time with utmost finesse and sensitively portrays the pain and suffering of the poor marginalised farmers and women especially widows belonging to an orthodox feudal setup in South Kamrup in Assam.

The story is set in a remote Satra which used to be a feudal setup headed by a religious head known as the Satra Adhikar. The socio-economic equations in these institutions were tilted against the impoverished farmers and labourers who bore the brunt of the self-indulgent feudal lords on whose lands they lived and carried out agriculture. The Adhikars combined spiritual sanctity with social authority and commanded extensive feudal landed property.

They were regarded as minor Gods in human form. They did not cultivate their own lands but 36 Volume 8 Issue 4

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had tenant farmers who paid taxes in the form of agricultural produce to them in return of tilling and sowing the land. The farmers cultivated the land relentlessly for decades and still could not claim any ownership to it. With rising awareness and spread of education among the masses and the intervention of communists the system of land ownership was challenged.

The farmers remained extremely poor while the rich Adhikars held vast tracts of land which led to growing discontentment among the impoverished farmers. In such a volatile condition the farmers‘ rebellion was fanned by the growing wave of communism.

Gradually the scenario shifted from mute compliance to that of protest due to the awakening of the farmers by the communists and consequently they stopped paying taxes and started demanding their rightful share. This sudden outburst of the marginalised farmers is beautifully portrayed through the symbolic representation of the elephant Jagannath which goes mad and runs amok causing a lot of destruction. This alludes to the people who have been oppressed for ages but are now learning to stand up for themselves. They had not been allowed to speak up for ages but the changes in the political setup and the increasing wave of communism did much to educate them of their rights and they learnt to challenge the oppressive powers.

Poverty was not the only problem ailing the society of the times but Goswami has also highlighted the vice of opium which worsened the situation due to its large impact. It was believed that opium was introduced in Assam by the Mughals but its use was limited only to the rich of the times. It was considered a vice to consume opium. During the British rule opium was made available for universal consumption. People started growing opium on their own lands for their personal consumption. The reason behind the growing opium menace was that the East India Company wanted to maximise the revenue collection by making it a popular and easily available commodity. In the novel the protagonist, Indranath recalls that: After all, in the government budget, the revenue from opium held the second priority. Only a few years back had licences been given freely for opening opium shops at intervals of a mile or one and a half. It is said that the smuggled opium from Assam flooded even the Rangoon market in those days.

(Goswami, 04).

Opium is obtained from the sap of the poppy flower which is smeared on a strip of cloth and dried. It is usually consumed by frying it with betel leaves or directly smoked. It was taken by the common people as a relief for pain. The poor labourers would use it when they were tired with too much work. A poor worker pleads in the novel by saying, ―Have pity on us! We took opium only to relieve the pain in our backs, otherwise how could we work the tread-mill for husking rice or plant seedlings in the field‖ (Goswami, 215). Sometimes young girls would start taking opium ―to relieve the pain that usually accompanies the onset of puberty‖ (276).

Gradually the habit used to take hold of such people and they would become compulsive opium eaters. Earlier there were only sporadic instances of opium addiction in Assam but after there was a malaria epidemic a lot of common people got addicted to it after they took it to alleviate their pain. Slowly the opium menace took a strong hold on the people and the once respectable farmers and villagers became pitiable wretches who appeared as emaciated figures in the dead of the night and would beg the passer-by for some money. Indranath remembers that efforts were made to abolish the opium trade within the jurisdiction of the Assam Council. ―But the British Government was reluctant to lose its revenue from opium trade and had promoted and increased the opium sales considerably‖ (Goswami, 39). The British Government was worried about its revenue only and had no concern for the rising 37 Volume 8 Issue 4

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number of opium addicts in Assam. These people were bound inexorably to a frighteningly dark future but they were not concerned at all as they were lost in a state of drugged euphoria.

The number of opium addicts started increasing in the Satra which also resulted in the rise of criminal activities. Opium Prohibition Law which was passed in 1947 and had a provision for strict punishment for those who were found to be smuggling or illegally selling opium. There was a provision for two years rigorous imprisonment and fine. But this too did not deter the smugglers and the addicts from going ahead with their activities.

The grim situation resulted in setting up of rehabilitation camps in the school and other buildings for the treatment of the opium addicts. The addicts would be brought to the camps with the help of volunteers. They would be tossing and turning, groaning with pain and craving as their opium supply had been stopped completely. They would spend a few days in the camp and on their return would restart their indulgence with opium. Their economic condition would also worsen as they sold away their lands to satisfy their opium fixation and would be slowly driven to penury.

The coupling of patriarchal laws and religion often culminates into violence more specifically against women. Religious beliefs and ethics are derived as an essence of a particular religion.

For centuries this belief has been nurtured in people‘s minds that religion is the only sanctuary in which peace, truth and a sense of fairness truly prevails. Religion promises salvation to its followers on the ground that its laws are followed unquestioningly. As a result religious fanaticism is rarely questioned and silently followed. This was the reason for the unquestioned authority and limitless power of these religious heads. Religious institutions conceal their violence and justify the blind faith of their followers. Even a minor error in the matters of religious rites entails a violent punishment. They are made to do long penance for even a small mistake and also give away their hard-earned money to the priests so that they are atoned of their sins. To maintain their hold on the poor people of the Satra, the religious heads legitimise such violent practises.

Satras became places of wealth and culture and the life of the surrounding villages came to be regulated from the there. But gradually decadence set in to some of these Satras where the ‗Gosains‘ or heads of these institutions came to disregard all norms and became a law unto themselves. Though not violating moral regulations openly, they covertly violated all norms which did not remain hidden from the populace. (Bhagawati, 44) Goswami exposes this hypocrisy, deceit and selfishness of the feudal lords or the colonial rulers which masquerades as respectability, leadership and charity. The nostalgia of power and glory and its decadence is very well portrayed in the title itself. An elephant with tusks i.e. tusker suggests strength and might and its howdah signifies pomp and glory. But the howdah is now moth-eaten which speaks of the waning glory of the rich owner. This actually highlights the diminishing power of these institutions which could not keep up with the changing politico-economic conditions which ultimately resulted in their downfall. By this novel Goswami brings up the issues of the fall of an age old set up in the light of the oncoming irresistible socio-economic forces that sweep away the old and the decaying ones.

Thus we get a liberal and progressive message of moving on along with the changing times.

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Works Cited     

Goswami, Indira. The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker. New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2011.

Print.

Barua, DK. ―Mamoni Raisom Goswami: The Insistent Pattern.‖ Indian Women Novelists Vol-17. Ed. R K Dhawan. Prestige Books,1995. Print.

Baruah, Manjeet. Indira Goswami: A Compilation on Her Life, Works & Achievements.

New Delhi: BR Pub Corp, 2007 Borah, Violina. ―Post-Colonial Socio-Cultural Decadence in Assam: Reading of the Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker.‖ IJELLH Vol 7 Issue 8(Aug 2019): 191-200. Web. Khaund, Malaya. Ed. Indira Goswami (Mamoni Raisom): A Critical Study of her Writings. New Delhi: BR Pub Corp,1994.Print

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Discovering Self: Horizons of Islam in the Non-Fiction of Malcolm X Munir

Abstract An African American Muslim political activist, Malcolm X, like Ulysses, journeys his life following circuitous routes. The transformation of his personality undergoes change in the four phases of his life: as a prisoner, as a minister of the Nation of Islam; as a pilgrim to Mecca embracing Sunni traditional orthodox Islam, and finally as a Pan-African. The present paper deals with the third phase of Malcolm X‘s career, when he embraces traditional Sunni Islam. It was a phase of new golden horizon, the dawn of a new era, a phase of spiritual leap, and a phase of complete transformation from darkness to light. After his dissociation from the Nation of Islam in 1964, he submits himself whole-heartedly to the true spirit of traditional Islam. The paper investigates as to how Islam leaves an enormous influence on all walks of his life and broadens his vision of social, political, and racial ideology, bringing radical changes in his personality. In order to examine his reflections, the paper explores the relevant key-historical events, which radically change the course of his life, and he becomes a true Muslim. The paper offers certain conclusions that Islamic teachings make Malcolm X a strong rounded-personality—a serious, pure, responsible, and dignified citizen of America.

He completely liberates himself from the narrow fold of racism and thinks deeply and sanely in terms of entire down-trodden humanity on trans-national level irrespective of religion, color, and race. His fury against the whites and a call for the black separatism are gone during this period of his life. Since Malcolm is a man of political activism, he could not produce any other literary genre than non-fiction. Therefore, the paper primarily dwells upon the autobiography, biographies, letters, interviews, compiled writings, taped recordings, documentaries, and movies, capitalizing the secondary materials in the corpus of the article.

Key-Words: The Nation of Islam, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Black Nationalism, PanAfricanism, and Muslim Mosque Inc.

Malcolm X (1925-1965), an African American Muslim political activist, with his leonine anger, roars and thunders in his speeches to change the destiny and destination of the destitute blacks. Considering the white man ―devil‖ (Lomax67), his entire wrath converges on the white society in the early phase of his life. But with the maturity of his mind, many of his stereotyped notions undergo change. His entire life is a voyage of the tempest, caught in the whirlpool of adverse circumstances. Consequently, the transformation of his twisted and tainted personality undergoes change in the four phases of his life: as a prisoner; as a minister of the Nation of Islam; as a pilgrim to Mecca embracing Sunni traditional orthodox Islam, and finally as a Pan-African.

The present paper deals with the third phase of Malcolm‘s career, when he embraces traditional Sunni Islam. It was a phase of new golden horizon, the dawn of a new era, a phase of spiritual leap, and a phase of complete transformation from darkness to light. After his dissociation from the Nation of Islam in 1964, he submits himself whole-heartedly to the true spirit of traditional Islam. The paper investigates as to how Islam leaves an enormous influence on all walks of his life and broadens his vision of social, political, and racial

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ideology, bringing radical changes in his personality. In order to examine his reflections, the paper explores the relevant key-historical events, which radically change the course of his life, and he becomes a true Muslim. The paper offers certain conclusions that Islamic teachings make Malcolm X a strong rounded-personality—a serious, pure, responsible, and dignified citizen of America. He completely liberates himself from the narrow fold of racism and thinks deeply and sanely in terms of entire down-trodden humanity irrespective of religion, color, and race. Since Malcolm is a man of political activism, he could not produce any other literary genre than non-fiction. Therefore, the paper primarily dwells upon the autobiography, biographies, letters, interviews, compiled writings, taped recordings, documentaries, and movies, capitalizing the secondary materials in the corpus of the article.

Battling with perpetual controversies throughout his life, Malcolm X, in the early phase of his life, encounters a series of tragic tales of indiscrimination, inequality, injustice, and brutality.

With his harrowing childhood memories inflicted with haunting humiliation, drifting city to city like a picaresque hero, he is forced to indulge in immoral and illegal activities because of his adverse circumstances in his life. And finally, he is landed in jail for ten years for armed robbery in 1946. In this way, we get a record of the early phase of his life revolving around prison and his environment in the criminal world. He is tainted as a drug dealer, burglar, hustler, and racketeer—a protagonist with multiple identities rolled into one. With this complex and lacerated psyche stamped with crimes and infamy, he thunders with a blazing fury over and over in his speeches and letters and other writings holding the inhuman white society responsible for his chequered life.

Malcolm‘s imprisonment proves to be a great boon for him, because the period of one decade in the prison brings a tremendous transformation in his life, paving a new ground for his future. In jail, he makes deep study of religion, philosophy, history etc. Meanwhile, his brother introduced him to Elijah Muhammad, an inspiring black leader and the head of a religious organization, the Nation of Islam, formerly known as the Temple of Islam. Malcolm considers him a divine saint and serves him with reverence becoming his follower and member of this sect. It was the first, sudden and striking realization that dawns on him. He states the impact of the Nation of Islam in his Autobiography: Between Mr. Muhammad‘s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors…and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, I had never been so free in my life (Haley 199).

In his early life and upbringing, nicknamed as ―Satan,‖ Malcolm was very critical and hostile to all religions; he would curse out God and the Bible very much. He would believe that Christianity was the ―religion of the slave masters,‖ ―a white man‘s religion,‖ and the religion of oppressor.‖ He would not practice any religion prior to embracing the Nation of Islam.

Though with a powerful influence of Christianity on his youth, he was raised and reared by his father, a Baptist Minister, yet he finds racial solution in the Nation of Islam, which enhances his religious understanding. He holds that Islam is the ―natural religion of the Black‖ (Drimmer 461) and is closer to African roots and identity. He gives justification for becoming Muslim: I am a Muslim, because it‘s a religion that teaches you an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. It teaches you to respect everybody, treat everybody right. But it also teaches you if someone steps on your toe, chop off their foot. I carry my religious axe with me all the time.

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Before we should proceed further, we should shed a light on the Nation of Islam and Orthodox Islam to clarify their concepts. The Nation of Islam, a small Black Nationalist Islamic sect, borrowed some ideas from the Orthodox teachings of Islam, but at the same time some of the basic beliefs are against traditional Islam (Louis De Caro Jr. 24). The basic difference is that traditional Sunni Islam never believes that Elijah Mohammad is a messenger of God and Wallace Ford, the founder of the Nation of Islam, in the form of God. Contradicting these postulations, traditional Sunni Islam firmly believes that Allah never incarnates in human form, and secondly, that only Muhammad (pbuh) is the last messenger of God in the tradition of prophethood in Islam. The Nation of Islam was founded in the 1930s keeping in view that Christianity was white man‘s religion and it was forcibly imposed on the Africans during the slave experience. Therefore, the members of the Nation of Islam read the Quran, worship Allah as their God, and accept Elijah Muhammad as their main prophet, but along with these Islamic tenets, they incorporated the ideology of Black Pride and Black Nationalism. Followers of Fard were known as the Black Muslims. After his mysterious disappearance, the power of this movement came into the hands of Elijah Muhammad, who recognizes the genius of Malcolm X and made him the leading spokesman of the Nation of Islam.

Based on the strict the moral codes and personal conducts, modesty, mutual respect and discipline in dress and manner, the Nation of Islam prohibits from consuming pork, shellfish, liquor, drug, and tobacco. It is also very strict to premarital sex and abortion unless a mother‘s life is in danger. It teaches that sex is not a meant for recreation but only for procreation. Apart from religion, the nation of Islam offers the ideology of social, political, and economic independence for African Americans. It provides hope for many in the black community through giving assistance to people in prison, addicts, alcoholics, and many who had been down with the ravages of racism and capitalism. It also develops schools, provides jobs, and defends its communities from racist attacks from the police and the government.

The Nation of Islam can be compared with both Hezbollah and Hamas, the Islamic organizations, which play leading roles in the Lebanese and the Palestinian resistance movements respectively.

With his untiring industry, deep devotion, and tremendous zeal, Malcolm serves the Nation of Islam and shapes out the destiny of Black Muslims. Soon his expanding popularity and magnetic personality made him an iconic celebrity during the 1950s and 60s, which invites huge jealousy from different corners and proves the cause of his assassination and separation from the Nation of Islam. In 1964, the relationship between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad gets strained, as the former discovers the sexual misconducts of the latter, which were against the basic principles of the Nation of Islam. He finds corruptions, hypocrisies, and deceptions in the organization. As he comes to know the allegations of extra-marital relationship and some illegitimate children of Elijah Muhammad, it causes him to question his beliefs and his allegiance to the Nation of Islam. Muhammad admits to his actions and asks Malcolm to drop a veil over the matter, but Malcolm, a man of honesty, sincerity, and commitment to the cause of his people, listens to his own inner voice and tosses aside Muhammad‘s advice. A conscience-stricken man, Malcolm values self-criticism and exposes Elijah Muhammad.

In the later phase of his life, Malcolm X gets totally disillusioned and befuddled with the real picture of the Nation of Islam. He separates himself from this organization and its ideology, and becomes a Sunni Muslim and embraces traditional orthodox Islam. With deep agony and anguish, he makes a wide international travels to Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, the 42 Volume 8 Issue 4

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Middle East, extending his trip to North Africa, and his own continent particularly, Harlem and ghettos of New York and Detroit. With a new reawakening and renaissance in his life, he embarks on a spiritual journey to Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage to Mecca to accomplish the Hajj, which occasioned a huge transformation in his entire being—his body, his mind, and his soul. It was his deliberate mission to visit Mecca in quest of the true spirit of Islam (Ma‘atKa-Re Monges 310). Malcolm writes in his Autobiography: ―In my thirty-nine years on this earth the holy city of Mecca had been the first time I had ever stood before the creator of All and felt like a complete human being.‖ When Malcolm sees the true face of traditional Islam in Mecca, his mind gets filled with repentance and guilt-consciousness that he has been completely misguided and even taking his black community into a wrong direction. He nags himself how foolishly he has been in the clutch of Elijah Muhammad and dancing or behaving like a robot. Malcolm writes: For 12 long years I lived within the narrow minded confines of the straight jacket world created by my strong belief that Elijah Muhammad was a messenger direct from God… and my faith in what I see to be a pseudoreligious philosophy that he preaches …. I shall never rest until I have undone the harm I did to so many well-meaning, innocent Negroes who…now believe in him even before fanatically and more blindly than I did (Haley 191).

In a deep remorseful state, he regrets that he has committed great sin by accepting the ideology of the Nation of Islam. He makes caustic criticism against Elijah Muhammad, a selfappointed messenger of God, and directly declares him a fake. Now he believes in Muhammad (pbuh), the last prophet in Islam. According to the Quran: ―Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophet; and Allah is aware of all these things‖ (33:40). Though it is true that Malcolm could have not known traditional Islam without the Nation of Islam, yet he repents that he came to know traditional Islam very late. That is why, he was on the wrong path of ignorance and illusion, and was groping in the dark for more than one decade. For this he blames the Muslim of the East who could not show the real face of Islam to the west. He states in the Autobiography: I was to learn that Elijah Muhammad‘s tales, like the one of ―Yacub,‖ infuriated the Muslims of the East. While at Mecca, I remembered them that it was their fault, since they themselves hadn‘t done enough to make real Islam known in the west. Their silence left a vacuum into which any religious faker could step and mislead our people (Haley 171).

With this transformation, Malcolm now invokes many blacks to convert from the Nation of Islam. Rather, he invites all blacks to come to Black Muslim fold. He argues that people do not know the ‗right religion‘ because of the lack of historical knowledge. ―God put his religion here at the creation of the universe. In fact, God‘s religion is older than the universe.

He debunks Christianity because it is two thousand years old‖ (Haley29). He rejects Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Judaism, because these religions were named after particular personalities in history. He praised Islam because Islam is not connected with any name. Islam is independent of any name.

Islam is an act which means submit completely to God or obey to God. So to clarify this must you do? You must have knowledge of history…you‘ll run around calling yourself a Christian where you‘re serving God, now we who 43 Volume 8 Issue 4

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2278 0742 follow the honourable Elijah Muhammad we believe in Islam we don‘t believe in Muhammad (Haley 32).

He posed a threat to the existence of the Nation of Islam and incurred a huge wrath on himself by Elijah Muhammad, which he has already smelt. He is shot dead in 1965; and three members of the Nation of Islam are convicted and sentenced for assassination (Mayers197).

The major portion of the last speech of Malcolm is devoted to the analysis of Christianity, Christ, Chapters of the Bible and mocks at ―the blue-eyed blond-haired, pale shinned Jews.‖ He further asks whether these people are ―The seed of Abraham and why not the so called Negroes?‖ He condemns those who enslaved his people. He adds that ―the white man, knowing that all the Negro has done—I hate to say it but it‘s truth all you and I have done is build churches and let the white man build factories‖ (Haley 38). The argument continues and he interprets the prophecies of Abraham and Moses to include Negroes and condemns the white that they will be destroyed on the Day of Judgment.

On his way to pilgrimage, Malcolm X expresses his deep gratitude to Dr. Abd-Al-Rahman Azzam, a man of great power and influence in Saudi Arabia, who helps and allows Malcolm to stay in his hotel and facilitates his holy journey to Mecca. The act of kindness and love of that white Arab Muslim leaves so deep impression on the mind of Malcolm that he himself feels breaking the chains shackled around him. He gives a new shape and pattern to his belief to advance a higher understanding of a true society—a society without the hierarchal order of America: In America, ―white man‖ meant specific attitudes and actions towards the black man, and toward all other non-white men. But in the Muslim world, I had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been (Haley 340).

Malcolm rises himself above the racial order and deeply ponders in Mecca: ―The brotherhood! The people of all races…from all over the world coming together as one! It has proved to me the power of the one God‖ (Haley 345). He further reveals his illumination that ―I had been blessed by Allah with a new insight into the true religion of Islam, and a better understanding of America‘s entire racial dilemma‖ (Haley 345). This enlightenment shakes his entire being and out of ecstasy he writes a letter to his ―loyal assistants‖: Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro can never be blamed for his racial animosities—he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the young generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the wall and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth—the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to… (Haley 348).

In Mecca, during the Hajj, Malcolm got overwhelmed to see a sea of gathering of Muslims representing all races from all parts of the world—black, white, red, brown, and yellow— treating each other equally. They all were surcharged with warmth, friendliness, and hugging,

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embracing, and extending help. It was a new world quite contrary to the race-ridden America.

Malcolm writes an emotional letter to his wife: Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here [Mecca]… this pilgrimage… has forced me to re-arrange my thought patterns…and toss aside some of my previous conclusions…in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of ‗white‘ Muslim I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana (Haley 339-340).

To enter the state of ihram, like all the other pilgrims, Malcolm X takes off his traditional dress of black suit and tie and drapes his lower and upper body with two pieces of white garment. When a Hajji puts on ihram whether he is king, or peasant or slave or beggar, he becomes equal to everyone. Islam interprets that a pilgrim clad in ihram reflects the spirit of equality of man before God. None can make any distinction on the ground of beauty, power, wealth, colour, and status. It also reminds death that a day will come when every human being will be covered with white cloth and leave this world in this dress. Another Islamic interpretation of ihram reveals that man should adopt a saintly and austere approach to life i.e. the dispossession of mundane comfort, glory, and materialism. Thereafter, as Malcolm makes seven circuits of Ka‘aba, he gets wonder struck and numb, seeing the sacred site, the Great Mosque, the huge black stone housed in the middle of the mosque, thousands and thousands of praying pilgrims. The observances of the Hajj expand the scope of his thinking, unfold a spiritual insight, and make a new man with a new message, which startles not only black masses but also intellectuals of all races and colours. He makes a very frank confession: Since I learned the truth in Mecca, my dearest friends have come to include all kinds—some Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and even atheists! I have friends whom are called capitalists, Socialists, and Communists! Some of my friends moderates, conservatives, extremists—some are even Uncle Tom! My friends today are black, brown, red, yellow, and white!

Malcolm gets deeply impressed by the multi-ethnic nature of the Muslim worshippers he encountered during his pilgrimage. He felt speechless and spellbound to experience the generosity, hospitality, and graciousness in Saudi Arabia. Every moment, he was experiencing the presence of spiritual radiance and insight in Mecca—the ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad, and all the other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. He gets a feel of a new found philosophy, a new life—a life of unity, equality, and brotherhood. He becomes deeply inspired and enthusiastic that America suffering from an incurable cancer of racism can achieve enlightenment through the acceptance of the Islamic values. The oneness of God and Islamic monotheism affirms his belief in the oneness of man.

He lands in a world where the colour of the skin plays absolutely no factor in any aspect of life. In America, he never experienced this spectacle of harmony, unity, trust, coexistence, and mutual love and respect. He is invited by the white Arabian leader to stay not only in his grand palace but in his private room (Haley333). He has taken ―from the same plate, drunk from the same glass…while praying the same God with fellow Muslims, whose eyes are the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white‖ (Malcolm X tape II, 1:38:48). On the other hand, in America he has experienced and 45 Volume 8 Issue 4

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witnessed blacks intimidated, beaten, raped, attacked, looted, the houses burnt, and forced to live in the lowest depth of society by the white terrorists. He holds that the racial problems in America exist because of the white superiority complex right from the days of slavery.

Therefore, first of all, the white should, as Malcolm X holds, change his mindset or psychic condition, and then racial hatred and segregation can be abolished. In this respect, the Islamic principles can play a vital role in establishing love, peace, brotherhood, unity, and racial coexistence. He becomes extremely passionate and broods that America needs to understand Islam because this is one religion that erases the race problem from its society and does not release hungry dogs on the black protesters. Inspired by the vision of Islam, he gets ensured that it is the content of the character which is significant not the colour of the skin. It is the righteous deeds, honesty, justice, love for mankind that place a man on a high pedestal in the eyes of God, not the race, colour, and complexion. In this way, Malcolm X constantly grows and evolves throughout his life and belongs to three different worlds—the Muslim, the American, and the African—contributing to the positive transformation of his society.

Malcolm cherished a true spirit of Islam which made him largely responsible for the spread of Islam in the black community in America. He publicly declares that he has nothing to do with the Nation of Islam—a ―religious and political hybrid.‖ Steeped in the new faith of Islam, his political activism acquires quite a different outlook. His ideology shifted to a unified and coalition-oriented struggle for black advancement. He established two associations—one was the Muslim Masque Inc.—a purely religious organization, and the other purely political one called Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) to mobilize Muslims and non-Muslims alike to the cause of black equality. He wanted whites to join his organization to help it grow (DeCaro Jr. 249). He takes a much more positive and peaceful stance and states: ―I believe in human being, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.‖ He writes a series of letters to his followers revealing his strategies to ―heighten the political consciousness‖ (Handler: 1964). His experience of the Hajj proved to be the greatest turning point in his life, which liberated him from white prejudice, violence, and revenge, and separatism. Malcolm X saw and experienced many positive things. At this time, he changed his socio-political world-view as well as his religious tone saying things like ―Islam is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem‖. Generosity and openheartedness are the qualities of Islam which appealed to him immensely. He has a firsthand experience of brotherhood of different races in Mecca during the Hajj and this led him to disclaim racism and to say: ―I am not a racist.‖ What better testament can there be to the unifying power of Islam. This is only faith Malcolm believes that can eradicate the evils of racism from the world. Islam is a faith that rejects the ideas of inherent racial or nationalistic superiority and that acknowledges the nobility of all men as their birthright. This is the only religion whose message is powerful, and enlightening enough to capture the heart of Malcolm possessing an indomitable spirit, of resolute convictions and faith in the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe. The change of his name from Malcolm X to Arabic name El-Hajj Malik-El Shabazz symbolized his final stop on the journey from darkness of erroneous beliefs to the truth and the light of Islam.

The Glorious Quran not only restates the common origin of man, but also explains the division of humanity into nations, of race, and tribes. Its deeper meaning is that the object and purpose of this division was the ultimate unification of humanity. It points out to us the one and only criterion, the only standard by which man is judged by God, and thus by which we should also judge our fellowmen. As it is seen all the time, the criterion is neither his colour, nor his race, nor his social standing, nor caste nor even his skill and the degree of his 46 Volume 8 Issue 4

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intelligence. It is something which to achieve within reach of every human being, black or brown, white or yellow, rich or poor, if only he can make an effort to cultivate within himself.

Islam never permits intoxication of any types and always lays emphasis on the purity of body, purity of mind, and purity of soul, which can be obtained through controlling of senses, good deeds, and right conduct. In other words, a man has to undergo mortification, which means ―the process in which we make ourselves suffer for our guilt or sins. Mortification is selfinflicted punishment, self-sacrifice, or self-imposed denials and restrictions designed to slay characteristics, impulses, or aspect of self‖ (Foss, Foss& Trapp 1990: 197).This aspect of Islam appealed to Malcolm tremendously and he immediately gives up the eatables and activities, which are haram (not allowed by Islam).He discovers himself loaded with guilt and sin. Therefore, he eliminates bad habits such as smoking, drinking liquor, taking pork, tobacco, narcotics, drugs, and sleeping with women save his wife. Malcolm tries to attain a new state physically, psychologically, and spiritually by cleansing and purifying himself. He becomes a changed man with a rebirth. He himself states emphatically: ―I found Allah and the religion of Islam and it completely transformed my life‖ (Haley 153).

Malcolm‘s attitude towards love and marriage undergoes a deep change, as he reads the Islamic values. In 1958, he marries Sister Betty X. He had learned a new type of love, which furthered his transition towards mortification. Malcolm‘s prior encounters with women revolved round passion and physical attraction [i.e. Sophia]. However, he rearranges his vision of love, as it can be seen by a passage in the Autobiography: The Western ―love‖ concept, you take it apart, it really is lust. But love transcends just the physical. Love is disposition, behavior, attitude, thoughts, likes, dislikes—these things make a beautiful woman. This is a beauty that never fades. You find in your Western civilization that when a man‘s wife‘s physical beauty fails, she loses her attraction. But Islam teaches us to look into the woman, and teaches us to look into us (Haley237).

Malcolm‘s attitude towards women has evolutionary growth. When he joins the Nation of Islam, he does not form any opinion about the rights and social position of women. But after the break of the Nation of Islam, he holds that it is women who through their attitudes, modesty, femininity, dress, street manners, etc. reveal the power of morality and spirituality of any country: …immediately my attention was struck by the mannerisms and attire of the Lebanese women. In the Holy Land [Saudi Arabia] there had been the very modest, very feminine Arabian women—and there was this sudden contrast of the half-French and half-Arab Lebanese women who projected in their dress and street manners more liberty, more boldness. I saw clearly the obvious European influence upon the Lebanese culture. It showed me how any country‘s moral strength or its moral weakness, is quickly measurable by the street attire and attitude of its women—especially its young women. Wherever the spiritual values have been submerged, if not destroyed, by an emphasis upon the material things, invariably, the women reflect it. Witness the women, both young and old, in America—where scarcely any moral values are left.

(Haley 355).

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With his maturity of mind and social and political evolution, his views on women also acquire a broader perspective. Along with religious standard of modesty and sexual morality, he also gives importance to the social, political, and economic position of women because the progress of a country, as he thinks, depends on the progress of women. Therefore, they should be given full opportunity, freedom, and education to develop the society. In the beginning, Malcolm is against ‗interracial marriage,‘ but later he changes his mind and believes that all human beings are equal. Entire humanity is a family. Any human being can marry anyone. And thus he approves interracial marriage.

With a confluence of different thoughts and beliefs and absorbing the true spirit of Islam from the core of his heart, Malcolm X, heralding a new era in black society, changed the entire gamut of his thinking, philosophy, and treatment towards life and entire humanity. He is of the opinion that ―True Islam taught me that it takes all of religious, political, economic, psychological, racial, ingredients, or characteristics, to make the Human Family and the Human Society complete.‖ In his notable speech, ―Ballet or Bullet,‖ he reveals his further course of political activism and religious outlook, and gives warning to the US government that now the time has ripened that the long denied rights of African American cannot be ignored. With the new awakening, his advocacy for the oppressed becomes more inclusive and more compassionate. He gathers an enthusiastic support from the Socialist Workers Party, and adopted some of the class-struggle language and philosophy of socialism condemning the black bourgeoisie for turning their backs on their poorer brethren. He also accepted money from whites to promote a political philosophy of black self-determination, black pride, black humanism, and respect for the cultural heritage of African-Americans.

Changing his name from Malcolm X to Malik El-Shabazz, he cultivates a broader international and global vision based on authentic Islam of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, respect, unity, and self-esteem. He visualizes the world-wide struggle nothing but a struggle of the oppressor and the oppressed. The second epiphany is not only a spiritual but also a political turning point in his life, which he redefines his philosophy. He learns to place the American Civil Rights Movement within the context of global anti-colonial struggle, welcoming socialism and Pan-Africanism. He develops a social revolutionary theory and makes a cause with the Third World nations.

Understanding the true message of Islam as taught by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Malcolm now saw that the problems facing man were usually the direct result of the rejection of those beliefs and practices commanded by God from the earliest times. He also envisages that all men could live together as one when they accept the belief that the best of men are those who sincerely worship God and maintain the duties God has placed on men regarding their interaction and their relationship with one another. He states: ―When you become [a true] Muslim, you don‘t look at a man as being black, brown, red, yellow. You look at him as being a man‖ (qtd. in DeCaro Jr. 72).

Towards the end of his life, Malcolm‘s ideas were evolving in many directions. Politically, he gravitated leftward; faith wise began to embrace a non-racial mainstream Islam. His mind was becoming to accept new ideas and values known as ―pan-Africans.‖ He often spoke against the Vietnam War, attaching it a world view of oppression against people throughout the world. Manning Marable holds his view Malcolm‘s journey of reinvention was in many ways centered on him lifelong quest to discern the meaning and substance of faith. As a prisoner, he 48 Volume 8 Issue 4

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embraced an anti-white-quasi Islamic sect that nevertheless validated his fragmented sense of humanity and ethnic identity. But as he travelled across the world …Malcolm came to adopt true Islam‘s universalism, and its belief that all could find Allah‘s grace regardless of race (Marable 12).

Expanding African American problem from civil rights to human rights, Malcolm reveals his intention to discuss it on the international forum—the United Nations. He puts the struggle of African American in the same category as that of Africans in South Africa or Angola. ―Our contention is that, if one is for human rights in one area, one is for human rights in all areas.‖ In his speech ―Ballet or Bullet‖ published in The Guardian, he further urges black people to ―submerge their differences and realizes that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem—a problem that will make you catch hell whether you‘re a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist‖ (December 5, 1964). Exposing the real face of America, he draws an attention of the entire world that America is ―just a tricky, deceitful, hypocritical, racialist society,‖ which always tries to make the world believe that America is ―making honest steps forward.‖ He wants to tell the world that he is neither unAmerican nor anti-American as it has been the strategy of America to convince anyone with terrorism who demands his rights or rebels against his fraudulent design. It is very clearly evident in the Muslim countries. Malcolm considers himself every inch an American, because he is born and brought up over there; he simply wants his rights and share like other human beings with dignity. With his spiritual renaissance, his attitude towards other black leaders and organizations also undergoes a sea-change and decides to cooperate and strengthen them at every step, despite all differences. He meets Martin Luther King, a moderate in his political activism, to give his support and determine a new line of action for the cause of all African Americans in the U.S.A. (Curry 5).

To conclude, the best of Malcolm X blooms when he embraces traditional Islam and looks at every aspect of life from universal or trans-national human perspective. He shifts his focus from the domestic to the international for the first time in the public. He imbibes Islamic teachings of brotherhood, unity, charity, good conduct, righteous deeds, and justice, which widen his psychic landscape. Enthusiastically charged with these Islamic values and with his sheer moral force, he achieves clarity to liberate himself from the narrow approach of Black Nationalism, separatism, racial abhorrence against whites, violence, revolution, preconceived notions, ostentation, and pride and prejudices. With his absolute trust in the unity of God, he inculcates utter simplicity, self-effacement, fearlessness, and conviction in him, finally clearing his vision blurred with his blind devotion to Elijah Muhammad. Now a man of repentance and remorse, ashamed of his past life, he revaluates his past life, and redefines his ideologies. He is reborn into humanity as a man of pure devotion and commitment to the betterment of global social structures. But the white media has always imaged him as ―an imitator of violence,‖ ―a hate monger,‖ ―a black racist terrorist,‖ ―a Militant,‖ ―a problem man,‖ and ―a twisted man.‖ American media has the power to create image psychosis that will target against its people, particularly blacks. He was banned to organize meetings and gatherings. Therefore, he fails to enjoy the popularity of many of his civil rights contemporaries. In Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Amir Saeed remarks: ―If he had been alive today, he would have called a terrorist, and he would probably have been incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay…‖ (June 22, 2001). Unfortunately, most of the images of Malcolm linked to American media are repeatedly focused on the early period of his criminal life, and the transformation and enlightenment he underwent have been ignored unjustifiably.

The maturity of his mind in the later phase gives a completely different picture and more important message to the American people. His personal growth and radical change coloured 49 Volume 8 Issue 4

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with the spirit of world brotherhood offer hope that racist Americans can change, and specify that racism is rooted in western culture, not in America. Here is a man who went from being a street thug to being a world renowned scholar. This is how Islam changed Malcolm‘s life.

References                  

Curry, George E. ―The Last Days of Malcolm X,‖ In Emerge. Feb.1995:1-5.SIRS Research Article 49.

DeCaro, Jr. Louis. On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X. New York: New York City Press, 1996.

Drimmer, Melvin. Black History: A Reprisal. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968.

Dyson, Michael E. Making Malcolm X. New: York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Foss, Sonja K. Karen A. Foss, & Robert Trapp. Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric.

Waveland Pr Inc., 2nd edition, 1990.

Hailey, Alex and X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press Inc., 1968.

Handler, M. S. ―Malcolm X Splits with Muhammad,‖ In The New York Times, March9, 1964.

Lomax, Louis E. When the World is Given: A Report on Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X,and the Black Muslim World. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1963.

Ma‘at-Ka-Re Monges, Miriam. ―Malcolm X: A Study of the Power of Transformation.‖ In Malcolm X: A Historical Reader. Ed. James L. Conyers, Jr. and Andrew P. Smallwood, Durham, 2008.

Marable, Manning. Malcolm X. Viking Adult, 2011.

Myers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X: BY Any Means Necessary. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1993.

Perry, Bruce. Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America. New America: Station Hill Press Inc., 1991.

Quran, The. Sura 33, Verse No.48 Rosette, Bennett Jules. Black Paris. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998.

Saeed, Amir. ―Malcolm X and British Muslims: A Personal Reflection.‖ In Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, June 22, 2007.

Senghor, Leopold Seder. Prose and Poetry. Trans. John Reed and Clive Wake. London: Oxford University Press, 1965.

X, Malcolm. ―Ballet or Bullet.‖ In The Guardian. Saturday 5, December 1964.

--------------.Tape II 1:38:48.

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Khaled Hosseini and the Treatment of Childhood in Hosseini‟s The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns Omaiha Walajahi

Abstract In his two best-selling novels, Khaled Hosseini deals with the coming of age of his lead characters in a war-torn country. Amongst other similarities that we come across in the books, childhood plays a major role in them. In the midst of a political uproar in Afghanistan, we notice that Hosseini‘s way of dealing with childhood is characteristically unique. His characters, Amir from The Kite Runner and Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns show a pattern of how young children have been affected by not only war but also their personal grievances. Hosseini beautifully tackles the aftermath of war and the development of a child into an adult in a difficult situation. In an attempt to understand children from collectivist cultures, we have to also keep in mind the misogynistic system they live in. Both Amir and Mariam (and Laila) also realize this and this has changed their outlook. Using Erikson‘s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, I will attempt to trace the growth of the lead characters in a war-torn country. This will bring light into a deeper understanding of human development and the early onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in children and especially children in countries of war. , Key Words: Childhood, War-Development, Political Scenario, Misogyny, Afghanistan, Sacrifice, Death, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Religion, Psychosocial Development,

Introduction Khaled Hosseini was born in Afghanistan but moved to the United States in 1980 due to political uprising and the invasion of the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Hosseini then completed his high school in San Jose, California and then went ahead to become a doctor. It was during this time that he had started to write The Kite Runner. However, as a short story, it was rejected by The New Yorker and Esquire. He then expanded this into a novel and it was set to be published in 2003. Khaled Hosseini was named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He then later started his own non-profit organization called the Khaled Hosseini Foundation which helps refugees from Afghanistan.

Not a lot is known about his life from the author himself but The Kite Runner seems to be autobiographical in nature due to the Amir‘s experiences of being an immigrant. Hosseini writes about his homeland in a retrospective manner and The Kite Runner seems to be a reflection of this. Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner in 2003, while practicing medicine.

In his first book itself, the impact of Hosseini‘s writing was global. He sold out millions of copies and it was quickly the New York Times Best Seller. Floored by the success of The Kite Runner, he went back to Kabul where he got the idea for his next novel. He didn‘t know it at that time, but A Thousand Splendid Suns would go on to become one of the books that would shape this century. He brought to light the existing conditions of Afghanistan, a small country to the western front, and perhaps this is why Khaled Hosseini will remain timeless and essential to literature.

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Hosseini has a distinct feature in his books and that majorly revolves around childhood and how one redeems them after a war coupled with their internal struggles. The ongoing turmoil both internal and external for the children in the books shape their view of the world. How children deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the changes around them is very apparent in these novels.

I have chosen these two books because they are similar in themes and context. The changes in society that take place in a war-torn country are explored well in these two books and the treatment of childhood is too similar to go unnoticed. Two books could not have been more fitting for my research on childhood in third-world countries than The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I have read these novels more than once and have discovered new things every time. They are truly intense but it only gives us a small idea of what goes on in war-torn countries, and that is what makes them gut-wrenching. For too long, children of color have been ignored by the world. This paper attempts to highlight the struggles of being a war child and how it affects the development of children.

Context To understand the books, we need to understand the historical details of war. Although the war takes place in 1979, there was a lot of political unrest before that led to it. In 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown by his cousin, Daud Khan; thus, ending his forty -year reign in a bloodless military coup. Daud Khan established the Republic of Afghanistan and aimed to modernize the country. Daud Khan‘s presidency was unpopular among the non-Pashtun people and the People‘s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The PDPA was divided into two rival factions: The Kalq (Masses) and Parcham (Flag). The Daud regime repressed the two factions of the PDPA which resulted in opposition; coupled with the death of a prominent member of the party, Mir Akbar Khyber. His death resulted in several protests against the Daud government which led to more unrest in the country.

On the 27th of April, 1978, the Afghan Army overthrew and killed President Daud and his family members. And then, the General Secretary of the PDPA, Nur Mohammed Taraki became the President of the country. Once in power, Taraki changed a lot of things. He wanted to also modernize the country and challenged a lot of traditional values. He changed the flag of Afghanistan from a green color to almost a replica of the red Soviet Union Flag.

The Taraki Government prohibited usury completely and this affected the exploitative landowners. He cancelled farmer‘s debt and advocated for women‘s rights, rights for ethnic minorities and sought out for eradication of illiteracy.

In 1978, President Daud Khan initiated a military build-up to counter Pakistan's armed forces and Iranian military influence in Afghan politics. A final pre-war treaty, signed in December 1978, allowed the PDPA to call upon the Soviet Union for military support. In 1979, a rebellion took place in Herat, a town in Afghanistan. It was a mutiny of the Afghan Army against the Taraki government, one of the primary reasons was the agrarian reforms.

Taraki asked for "practical and technical assistance with men and armament" but was repeatedly denied assistance. At one meeting, he finally was successful in getting some Soviet support including the redeployment of two Soviet armed divisions at the SovietAfghan border, however, the Soviets were not pleased about the developments in Afghanistan.

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In September 1979, President Taraki was assassinated in a coup within the PDPA orchestrated by fellow Khalq member Hafizullah Amin, who assumed the presidency. The situation in the country deteriorated under Amin and thousands of people went missing. The Soviet Union was displeased with Amin's government and decided to intervene and invade the country on 27 December 1979, killing Amin that same day. Hence began the Soviet Intervention. Babrak Karmal became the president of the country and more soviet troops were deployed. This was the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War. The United States of America continued to support the Afghan Rebel group called the Mujahideen. The war lasted till 1989, in which millions of civilians were killed and more than six million people left the country.

Even after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union, the Mujahideen and PDPA conflict continued.

Najibullah became the president of the country and did not gain significant favor. In March 1991, the Soviet dissolved and the country was left without foreign aid. In 1992, Najibullah agreed to step down for a coalition with the Mujahideen. In late September 1996, the Taliban, in control of Kabul and most of Afghanistan, proclaimed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians.

With all the political unrest in the country, the social structures also changed. The society was very unstable during these two decades. As a collectivist and underdeveloped country, Afghanistan was far behind the western world. When President Daud took control, he tried to reform the country. He redistributed land and a lot of landowners lost their land and the agriculture suffered. But the literacy rate grew and women also got their rights. And in that 18-month period, the women‘s rights were encouraged and literacy rate grew. The society was undergoing some changes. And then when Amin came to power, the women and children suffered the most- having most of their rights snatched. Women and children were raped and really suffered through these inconsistencies and it only got worse when the Taliban came to power.

Women and children were treated as properties and assets for men to control. Women not only were sexually harassed but were also not allowed to own property and did not have the chance to study. No one was allowed to study and gain education or educate others. The civilians lost money and business which caused a lot of unrest in the public. The society became more regressive as the political situation became more unstable. The poor became poorer, and about 160,000 people were starved all the time. The rich also lost money and jobs. The universities were cleared and lecturers became beggars. People not only lost their jobs, but also lost their sense of identity. The economy suffered and basic necessities became unaffordable. Existing caste hierarchy worsened and ethnic minorities were killed without hesitation. This only deepened the caste system and ethnic minorities were at the receiving end of many discriminatory laws.

People in general suffered but men took this opportunity to suppress women more. They used religion as a way to oppress them, and justified rapes and murders using the same. And this was normalised by the society. In a war-torn country, children and women are more at risk of discrimination and harassment and this aspect was explained in these two novels. This gave rise to generations of children going through severe trauma and mental stress. To survive in those conditions became an internal war for them. Children who grew up in these war conditions suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and there was a sense of panic and fear in the atmosphere.

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Women and children became like kites, flying only at the mercy of the men who controlled them.

Theoretical Framework It is no secret that children think and respond differently than adults do in any given situation.

There is a branch of psychology dedicated to only children called Child Psychology. Children in war are a sub-category in this. Children in war grow up differently than children in a healthy environment do and that is why their development is not holistic.

Children compose a large part of the population affected by wars, data from the American Psychology Association show of the 95 percent of civilians killed in recent years‘ by modern armed conflicts, approximately 50 percent of them were children.

According to a United Nations study on children in war by Graca Machel, "The physical, sexual and emotional violence to which they [children] are exposed shatters their world. War undermines the very foundations of children's lives, destroying their homes, splintering their communities and breaking down their trust in adults."

Children in war usually grow up to be adults with anxiety and depression and more often than not, silently deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to relief agencies, in today's era of combat, 85 to 95 percent of those harmed or killed by modern armed conflict are civilians. Of those, about 50 percent are children.

During war times, children are usually orphaned and then taken as cheap labour. They are forced to work in factories and are not paid for their labour too. Children are exploited for basic resources like food and water and even that is scarce after long hours of gruesome work conditions. Children in ethnic minorities suffer more in terms of having to look for work.

When children assume responsibility in these situations, they go through extreme depression and anxiety.

Apart from this, children are also at the highest risk of harassment. Children are sexually harassed and raped ruthlessly and are forced into prostitution by powerful men. This normalises an entirely unhealthy lifestyle for children and treats them as objects which leads to them having a negative view of the world. They grow up to believe that they are disposable items whose self-worth is based on their bodies. Forced breeding, forced pregnancy are also very rampant in war countries for women as young as ten years of age.

Children also change physiologically. In two research studies, it was proven that war-exposed children respond to stress differently psychologically than normal children. For example, Feldman et al. found that war-exposed children had altered cortisol and salivary amylase response to stress.[4] The same study also found that children‘s baseline cortisol levels were independently related to maternal baseline cortisol, mother-child relationship, and maternal mental health.

Similarly, the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study described altered stress physiology in children who were separated from their parents for a period during WWII.[5]Two other studies on the same birth cohort found that separated girls had significantly earlier onset of menarche than non-separated girls.

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Children also deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after the war. Some of the common signs of those include avoiding situations that make them recall the traumatic event, experiencing nightmares or flashbacks about the trauma, acting impulsively, feeling nervous or anxious frequently and experiencing emotional numbness.

In conclusion, children who are exposed to war are deeply affected by it. They respond to stress differently and are thrown into horrible conditions at a young age. Ethnic Minorities‘ children suffer more in terms of finding work and are more at risk of being sexually harassed.

Most of the children, both male and female, are rampantly sexually harassed. This creates an unhealthy environment for children to grow up in and they are extremely slow in their holistic development.

Analysis With Erik Erikson‘s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, we will see the stages of development and how the lead characters in the two novels respond to it. The Eight Stages of development define the development of an individual. He has taken Freud‘s theory of psychosexual development and he says that for complete holistic development of a child, two conflicting ideas must be resolved successfully.

The first stage is called the trust vs. the mistrust stage which starts at birth and lasts for about a year. In this stage, adults should meet a child‘s basic needs for survival. Infants are dependent upon their caregivers, so caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their and their baby will see the world as a safe, predictable place. The second stage is called the Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt stage where begin to explore their world, they learn that they can control their actions and act on their environment to get results. They begin to show clear preferences for certain elements of the environment, such as food, toys, and clothing.

The third stage is called the Industry vs. the Inferiority stage which occurs between the ages of six and twelve. In this stage, children begin to compare themselves with their peers to see how they measure up. They feel proud of their accomplished or become insecure if they feel inferior to their peers. This is the stage Amir and Hassan are in. In The Kite Runner, Amir is twelve years old and Hassan is eleven years old during the Kite Flying competition. This stage is very essential in their development and also in the book.

In this stage, Amir always compares himself to others and especially to Hassan. Amir thinks that although he has all the riches in Kabul, he has never gained his father‘s favour. Amir knows that he is a Pathan and Hassan is a Hazara and that has stopped him from referring to Hassan as his friend. Amir is in the inferior stage, where he doesn‘t take his own decisions and always feels inferior to Hassan. He thinks that Hassan has his father‘s love and, in that way, he is more blessed than Amir. There are many times where he wishes that Hassan was the son of his Baba and not him so that his father would have been proud.

Amir is a writer and he doesn‘t get much encouragement from anyone except his father‘s friend, Rahim Khan. Amir wishes he was sporty enough and his prime motivation to win the Kite Flying tournament was to make his father proud. Because of his inferiority, as he grows up, Amir develops an inferior complexity.

The fourth stage is the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage. This stage starts at the age of twelve and ends at the age of eighteen. This is the stage where most adolescents start questioning 55 Volume 8 Issue 4

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their roles and identities. One of the most frequent questions asked is, ‗Who am I?‘ In this stage, adolescents are trying to figure out their roles and set goals. This is the stage where we find all the child protagonists.

In the Kite Runner, Amir and Hassan enter this stage when there is political uprising. This pushes them into a confused state of mind. When Amir is enters his teenage years, he is forced to leave the country and settles in the United States of America. Leaving one‘s roots and starting a life over again is extremely disturbing. There is a role confusion that leads to him growing up without a sense of self. He grows up to be a person with anxiety and confusion.

When Amir was forced to move to the United States, he was thrown from an environment of riches and safety to having to fend for himself and barely getting by. The immediate shift from rich to poor was difficult to cope with. The environment he was forced to live in was the opposite of what he used to live in. This dissonance was not easy and took a toll on his growing years. In an individualistic culture, he was forced to leave behind parts of his old culture.

Hassan also grows through the role confusion stage. He was sexually harassed and raped. He went and lived in the hills after that and he was a Hazara which means he also faced a lot of discrimination. His whole identity and sense of self was shattered and the stress that came with it was too much to bear for him. He too, most probably, never got his sense of self.

These two individuals grow up to be confused adults. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in wartorn countries leaves children with extremely inconsistent self-image and self-esteem.

Leaving their homes and being displaced is tough enough to deal with but both of them had to go through their regrets and PTSD without much help from the adults around them. This, coupled with political unrest, make it extremely difficult for a child to have a holistic sense of development.

However, in the other novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila go through the same stage. Mariam is a fifteen-year old girl who grows up in a very poor house and has a rich father. Even though Mariam was the daughter of a very rich man, she wasn‘t allowed to enter his house because she was poor and an illegitimate child. Her sense of self is divided between the rich and the poor and she struggles to find where she truly belongs. When her father refused to meet her, she accepted it with a heavy heart and regretted chasing after him.

Mariam had accepted the way of life very early on. When she is married off to a forty-year old man, she takes up the role and identity of a wife who has a controlling husband. Being Rashid‘s wife is now her identity.

When she was married to a man more than double her age, she accepted it. She was fifteen years old and has internally romanticized the oppression of women, claiming that men knew better and that it showed that men cared about women. She has lost any sense of self she had.

In a couple more years, she loses herself as she is incapable of being a mother. Being in an abusive household also does not help her case. She is completely shattered.

On the other hand, Laila is a strong young teenager. She knows what she wants and how she wants it. She wants to be educated and wants to educate children. She has had a supportive father who encouraged her to study. She knew her role and that is what is in contrast with the other protagonists. Even when she was married to Rashed at fifteen years of age, she did not let it stop her purpose. She fought through and through until she got out.

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In the fifth stage, which is the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage, we only see Amir‘s development.

He goes on to fall in love but also not having children makes him isolated and the self-doubt creeps in again.

Simultaneously with this, we see the onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Amir and Hassan very evidently. Hassan decides to leave the city altogether and Amir was constantly fidgety and anxious. They show different symptoms. This messes up with their development and especially at the age where adolescents are supposed to find themselves and their purpose in life, they are thrown back into their personal traumas and the war.

We see four different children and how they react to the different stages of Erik Erikson‘s theory. With PTSD and their internal conflicts, this leads to incomplete development of these protagonists. The political, social and economic factors weigh in heavily for the holistic development of a child. The three children had to go through some really tough and trying times. As children, it was a very unhealthy and a toxic environment to grow old in.

Conclusion The aim of the paper is to bring into light the onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children in war-torn countries that are in correspondence to the Erik Erikson‘s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development. In Hosseini‘s novels, we can clearly trace the developmental stages and the onset of PTSD in a small, war-zoned Afghanistan. Hosseini‘s treatment of childhood includes the fetishization of children and women along with the rapid growing up of children that force them to assume responsibilities to survive.

There are many similarities between the two books which is unnoticed by the readers. The way in which Hosseini very gently touches on issues like sexual abuse, domestic abuse and political scenarios in the books is heart-wrenching. In Afghanistan, we follow the lives of four children (in the two books- Amir and Hassan in The Kite Runner and Mariam and Laila in A Thousand Splendid Suns) and how regret, political scenarios, and a system built to feminize children affect the development of these characters. We watch them grow into adults with improper development (according to Erikson, which will be dealt later) and see the clear symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder too. The novels are also similar in terms of the redemption arcs for most of the characters who have come to terms with the either leaving the county (in Amir‘s case) or sealing their fate by making a decision (in Mariam‘s case).

Hosseini‘s other book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was an even bigger hit. The story is again set in Afghanistan and the tone is almost similar to his previous book. This book follows the stories of two women who are thrown into war conditions and share a husband. This traces the system of girls getting marries at the age of fifteen to men who are forty. Another harsh reality was brought to the forefront by Hosseini in a capturing manner.

When children experience war or are in a politically unstable environment, not only is their development incomplete but also these experiences stay with them for too long. War snatches away innocence and especially children are forced to grow up a lot quicker than their chronological age. Although war plays a huge role in the books, the readers must also notice the personal choices that each child makes and how that shapes their entire lives. What is even more saddening is that these children are forced to make choices even adults would not 57 Volume 8 Issue 4

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have to. The stories of these four young children is not just fiction, it is a harsh reality that has been brought to the forefront in the literary world by Khaled Hosseini. And that is why these books are successful. These are stories of real people in countries like Afghanistan.

References:      



 

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. Print.

- A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead Books, 2007.

Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I. B. Tauris. pp. 86–88.

Barfield, Thomas (2012). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton University Press.

"Refugee Admissions Program for Near East and South Asia". Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2013.

Feldman R, Vengrober A, Eidelman-Rothman M, Zagoory-Sharon O. Stress reactivity in war-exposed young children with and without posttraumatic stress disorder: relations to maternal stress hormones, parenting, and child emotionality and regulation. Dev Psychopathol. 2013; 25(4 Pt 1):943–55.

Pesonen AK, Raikkonen K, Feldt K, Heinonen K, Osmond C, Phillips DI, et al.

Childhood separation experience predicts HPA axis hormonal responses in late adulthood: a natural experiment of World War II. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010; 35 (5):758–67. pmid:19963324 Agnello, M., Todd, R., Olaniran, B. and Lucey, T. (2009), "Afghanistan and multiculturalism in Khaled Hosseini's novels: study of place and diversity", Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 96-111.

Patar, Ashishkumar V. Gender Discrimination in Khaled Hosseini‘s novels. Smart Moves Journal IJELLH

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Journey from Disgrace to Reconciliation: A Tale of Coetzee‟s Disgrace Mantha Padmabandhavi Prakashrao

Abstract: Human life is full of complexities. Whether man or woman, one has to undergo the trials and tribulations. If man‘s deeds are good, it contributes to lead his life happily and vice versa. It is evident that only through sufferings man understands the philosophy of life. It also advocates the way one should understand and follow the human values and ethics. Coetzee‘s Disgrace also highlights the tendency of human beings, their psychology and the after math effects of their deeds in one‘s life. Disgrace is a story of David Lurie, a professor in Communication,.

He teaches Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town. David Lurie is a middle-aged man and is divorced twice. He is a womanizer. He gets involved in the illicit relations with his students, the colored as well with the non-colored race. A man visiting prostitutes brings disrespect and disgrace to him. It is considered immoral and very unusual for a man living a respectable life. In the case of a professor, a man who is supposed to be a role model for the future and young generations must be pure and candid through characters.

Disgrace begins with the complaint of a youth about Mr. Lurie‘s fascination for a girl, tempts him to commit blunders. The day of reconciliation comes when Mr. Lurie experiences the trauma of his daughter‘s rape by three strangers, the blonde men. Ultimately, he serves the animals and ends up his journey in reconciliation.

Key words: Disgrace, Reconciliation, Apology, Moral Values, Trauma

Human life is full of complexities. Whether man or woman, one has to undergo the trials and tribulations. If man‘s deeds are good, it contributes to lead his life happily and vice versa. It is evident that only through sufferings man understands the philosophy of life. It also advocates the way one should understand and follow the human values and ethics. Coetzee‘s Disgrace also highlights the tendency of human beings, their psychology and the after math effects of their deeds in one‘s life. Throughout the world, humans are bound to follow ethics and morals, as they are the base of social and political life of any country. Every person, on personal level and in his social life must stick to these norms and on the violation of these norms; people are disrespected and dishonored in the society. It evinces that the moral conduct of man holds a crucial role in the society. People who violate moral codes and seek carnal pleasures out of marriage are stamped as notorious. Their illegitimate relations are disapproved. And India is considered unique for its moral values and ethics.

J.M. Coetzee‘s Disgrace is a story of David Lurie, a professor in Communication. He teaches Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town. David Lurie is a middle-aged man and is divorced twice. He is a womanizer. He gets involved in the illicit relations with his students, the colored as well with the non-colored race. Once his impulse affairs with a colored student sours and he suffers the after math effects of his deeds. Hence, Coetzee‘s Disgrace explores what a human is and what his manners, responsibilities and ethics should be in this Complex world with the racial discrimination. Coetzee‘s hero, Prof. David Lurie is middle aged man of 52, he is not so young enough to fall a victim to the temptations. At this point of age, he keeps involved in the Company of women. He frequently visits Soraya, a young girl fit to the age of his daughter. He finds in her a mate who seeks pleasure. ―Because he takes pleasure in her, because his pleasure is unfailing, affection has grown in him for her.

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To some degree, he believes, this affection is reciprocated. Affection may not be love, but it is at least its Cousin. Given their unpromising beginnings, they have been lucky, the two of them: he to have found her, she to have found him‖. (Coetzee 2) Having attained 52 years, the temperament of David Lurie has remained still arrogant and surly. He posses very fixed ideas about his life. ―He knows too much about himself to subject her to a morning after, when he will be cold, surly, impatient to be alone that is his temperament. His temperament is not going to change; he is too old for that. His temperament is fixed, set. The skull followed by the temperament; the two hardest parts of the body.‖ (Coetzee 2) Mr. Lurie believed in his own temperament. He made it a rule like St. Benedict. He is a scholar and still engages intermittently in his scholarly engagements. Apart from all the engagements, he doubts his happiness in life. ―He has not forgotten the last chorus of Oedipus: Call no man happy until he is dead.‖ (Coetzee 2)Lurie‘s temperament makes him very careless, egoistic and unethical. His illegitimate relations become indispensable to him.

Nevertheless, for the fear of losing respect, he prefers secret visits to his girlfriends.

The entire Universe is bound to abide by certain values. A man visiting prostitutes brings disrespect and disgrace to him. It is considered immorality and very unusual for a man living a respectable life in the society. In the case of a professor, a man who is supposed to be a role model for the future and young generations must be pure and candid through characters. It is said, ―If money is lost something is lost, if character is lost everything is lost.‖ Mr. Lurie, the professor of modern languages, but he enjoys the company of women rather than teaching.

Accordingly, he makes no impression on his students. Yet he continues to teach because it provides him with a livelihood. As a professor, Lurie is aware of the social restrictions under the name of morals and values. So he made secret visits to Soraya, a prostitute. He likes giving her presents. He even enjoys her pleasure, which is quite unaffected.‖ It surprises him that ninety of woman‘s company is enough to make him happy. Who used to think he needed a wife, a home, a marriage.‖ (Coetzee 5) Lurie‘s Kinship with Soraya is very formal. Very rarely, Lurie and Soraya have an informal talk. In fact Soraya doesn‘t even want to reveal her real name to anyone. She is known as Soraya except for the agency. She conceals her real name and wants to live a respectable life in the society, ―of her life, Windsor Mansions Soraya reveals nothing. Soraya is not her real name, which he is sure of. There are signs she has borne a child, or children. It may be she is not a professional at all. She may work for the agency only one or two afternoons a week, and for the rest live a respectable life in the suburbs, in Rylands or Athlone.‖ (Coetzee 3) The environment and the surroundings, in which children are brought up, contribute in shaping the minds of people. The cultural background also holds a key role in developing the psychology of man. Dr. Lurie‘s childhood was spent in a family of women. Mr. Lurie believes that company of women had made him a womanizer. ―As mother, aunts, sisters fell away, they were replaced in due course of time by mistresses, wives, a daughter. The company of women made him a lover of woman and to an extent, a womanizer‖. ( Coetzee 7) Moreover, Dr. Lurie‘s healthy and attractive physique also attracts women. ―With his weight, his good bones, his olive skin, his flowing hair, he could always count on a degree of magnetism. If he looked at a woman in a certain way, with certain intent, she would return his look, he could rely on that. That was how he lived; for years, for decades, that was the backbone of his life.‖ (Coetzee 7) 60 Volume 8 Issue 4

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Having enjoyed the company of women, Dr. Lurie proves himself a womanizer. He always found ways to meet women. When Soraya stops visiting him on account of her personal problems, he visits other women like Soraya. When he finds them unsatisfactory, he moves out again for Soraya. But he fails to get a positive response from her. He feels envy of Soraya‘s husband. ―A shadow of envy passes over him for the husband he has never seen.‖ (Coetzee 10) Life without a woman is desolate for him. ―Without the Thursday interludes the week is featureless as a desert. There are always when he does not know what to do with himself.‖ (Coetzee 11) Dr. Lurie‘s life takes a different turn, when he comes across Melanie Isaacs, one of his students, on his return to home through the old college gardens. His invitation for the drinks, enhance their intimacy. He lures her with his music, dance and with his interesting discussions on Byron. She then becomes a woman in his life. ―A week ago she was just a presence in his life, a breathing presence.‖ (Coetzee 23). Melanie‘s absence in the class disturbs him. He extracts Melanie Issaac‘s enrolment Card and copies down her personal details. He dials her but in vain. He even follows her to the auditorium. His frequent and forcible visits to Melanie and her passiveness make him realize that he is making a mistake, ―A mistake, a huge mistake. At this moment, he has no doubt, she, Melanie is trying to cleanse herself of it, of him.‖ (Coetzee 25) Melanie‘s unfortunate absence during the mid-term tests make him do another mistake to cover up his mistake, he fills in the register and ticks her off as present and enters a mark of seventy. He gives her a fake attendance to protect her from getting detained. Mr. Lurie‘s Disgrace begins with the complaint of a youth about Mr. Lurie‘s fascination for a girl, tempts him to commit blunders. He is forced to violate social norms which perpetuate troubles in his life. As revenge, the young man, Melanie‘s boyfriend vandalize Mr. Lurie‘s car. Moreover his interruption disturbs Mr. Lurie. Melanie‘s father abuses him in the office for his deeds. He reminds him of the responsibilities of a teacher towards students and society. Mr. Lurie receives a memorandum from the office of the vice-Rector of student affairs. It contains a copy of the code saying, ‗Article 3 deals with the victimization or harassment on grounds of race, ethnic group, religion, gender, sexual preference or physical disability. Article 3.1 addresses victimization or harassment of students by teachers.‖ (Coetzee 39) Mr. Lurie was asked to meet the enquiry committee for the charges against him. Mr. Lurie receives many accusations from staff, students and authorities. He could not walk his head held high.

Mr. Lurie‘s ex-wife Rosalind reminds him of his age and suggests that his deeds does not expect any sympathy from anyone as everyone‘s hand will be against him as a professor, Mr. Lurie.(53) on sex charge.‖(Coetzee 46) Mr. Lurie‘s career comes to an end after the enquiry.

He could only hope for the pension. Mr. Lurie finds himself in disgrace for his vulgar actions against college students. Ultimately, Mr. Lurie admits that he is guilty of the charges against him.

Having charged as guilty, Mr. Lurie makes up his mind to leave the place for the town of Salem in the Eastern Cape, his daughter Lucy‘s smallholding. She resides in an isolated place Grahamstown for farming. When desires rise up, Mr. Lucie decides to keep himself away from the company of women. ―He will have to mind his manners; he will have to be neat.‖ (Coetzee 65) Mr. Lurie realizes that he cannot expect a flood of sympathy from anyone, after proving himself guilty.

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The day of reconciliation comes when Mr. Lurie experiences the trauma of his daughter‘s rape by three strangers, the blonde men. One day three strangers rush into their home, kill the dogs, beat Mr. Lurie and lock him inside the toilet. Mr. Lurie is haunted by the incident and hears echo in his ears, the words of Lucy, and ―Come to me, save me.‖(Coetzee 103) Mr. Lurie is grieved, as Lucy doesn‘t show any sign of emerging. The events place him shock.

He feels weak and trembling. ―He has a sense that, inside him, a vital organ has been bruised, abused- perhaps even his heart. For the first time he has a taste of what it will be like to be an old man… without hopes, without desires, indifferent to the future.‖(Coetzee 107) He experiences Lucy‘s incident as another kind of disgrace for him.

Having troubled by his daughter‘s rape, Mr. Lurie decides to allege justice for his daughter.

He makes up his mind to stay by her side, help and take care of his daughter. Furthermore as atonement, and to come out of his disgrace, he often goes to Animal Welfare Clinic and takes care of the animals. Mr. Lurie, who was once apathetic and indifferent to animals, now turns to animal lover.

As an attempt of reparation and to come out of the disgrace, Lurie decides to visit Mr. Issaac, Melanie‘s father for apologies. Mr. Lurie‘s words to Mr. Issaac substantiate that Mr. Lurie is regretting for what he has done to Melanie. His daughter‘s incident wakes him up to the senses. He cries, ―I am punished for what happened between myself and your daughter…. I am sunk into state of disgrace from which it will not be easy to life myself. It is not a punishment I have refused. I do not murmur against it. On the contrary, I am living it out from day to day, trying to accept disgrace as my state of being.‖(Coetzee 172) Mr. Lurie re-enters his home town after expiation, but he doesn‘t feel like a homecoming. His guilt makes him feel like a criminal. He fails to face his old colleagues. He feels depressed when he realizes that his finances are in chaos and his credit is going to dry up. He loses his space in the University and in the Communication building. People with whom he was acquainted turn their backs on him. Ultimately, he returns to his daughter‘s farm, helps and supports her in her work. Besides, he serves the animals and ends up his journey in reconciliation.

In Disgrace, Coetzee becomes more philosophical and asserts that carnal desires are temporary, but brings in disgrace and restlessness and perpetuate worst effects for the life time. The writer thus, advocates the significance of morals and ethics in man‘s life, failing which life turns to be hell. He further emphasizes that the true life of a man lies in serving the people, animals and all the creatures on the Earth. The true happiness lies in taking care of the family and people around. He accentuates that sharing and caring should be the ultimate motto of man. He, eventually, brings out the idea that ethics and moral values contribute to a great extent in bringing honour, peace and happiness in man‘s life.

Works cited: Coetzee, J.M. Disgrace. Vintage Books, 1999.

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Joyce Carol Oates: The Violent Vision in Bellefleur Mamta Upadhyay & Pooja Mittal

Abstract Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most creative and versatile contemporary writers in America.

She is gifted with the ability to preserve her supreme completeness and absolute individuality in her works. Oates‘ themes are wide and universal. All around the world, her works have been scrutinized in the light of violent literature and they are not analyzed on account of its outstanding ideas. This research presents the idea that the result of violence can be a means of success in Oates‘ works. Oates‘ positive view towards violence and its positive effects in the lives of oppressed characters are presented in this paper. An attempt has been done to provide a clear and positive aftermath of violence and to highlight different sorts of violence in Oates‘ fiction, Bellefleur. Moreover Oates presents human‘s capability of adapting to new situations to create new identity to cope with difficulties.

Keywords: Violence, destruction, silent tragedy, social realism.

The American novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer Joyce Carol Oates has been praised by both critics and readers. Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most honored and respected contemporary American women authors. She also wrote under the pseudonym Rosamond Smith. She has received a number of prestigious prizes and awards for her works including National Book Award in 1970, Boston Book Review‘s Fisk Fiction Prize in 1996, National Institute of Arts and Letters and Rosenthal Award in 1968 and Heidemann Award for the one-act-plays in1990, Prix Femina Etranger in 2005 and Chicago Tribune Literary Prize in 2006.

Oates has artistically used various styles and genres to express her major interests. The horror, violence, brutality, terror and cruelty portrayed in Oates novels are not just examples of a weird imagination. Present day America is her setting and life is her theme. Human inter connection in the new American environment is the essence of her writing.

Oates is a pillar of American literature in the 20th century whose stirring words ―portrays the tumultuous moral and social conditions and the violent upheavals that define contemporary America‖ (Kort, P: 227).

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary, the common meaning of violence is ―actions or words are intended to hurt people‖ but this is not completely true about the violence portrayed by Oates in her fiction. Joyce Carol Oates depicts in her works that the violence can save one‘s life. This paper focuses on Oates‘ different attitude towards violence and power. According to Oates, they play a leading role in the lives of oppressed characters.

Oates' fictional world is violent filled with destruction, nightmare and uselessness with a list of horrors as incredibly real as the front pages of a cosmopolitan daily. Any understanding of Oates fiction is dependent upon an understanding of violence she has in her tragic vision. For Oates, life has come with the brutal struggle for survival against the world and against one's fellow human beings and for Oates life can only be conquered only through violence. The one option man has to take on is a sense of proclamation in the cheap and ostentatious

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wasteland of modern America. Often man‘s only direction to a sense of selfhood and integrity is that of violence.

In the novel, Bellefleur Oates explores the marital life of Leah and Gideon which depicts the relationships in modern America. The hurts and the tears of their lives form the source for the horrors in the novel. This kind of horror that accompanies a ruined marriage is more relevant to our modern existence.

When violence arises in Oates‘ fiction, it is not a practical resolution to every situation. The violence in her fiction is the very real depiction of societal conditions. Oates' creations of characters are too ordinary or simple to experience deeply or realize fully what is happening to them and to society. Oates portrays the characters whose lives are superficial and so they cannot be anything more than superficial.

Oates‘ novels are filled with violence and the hope for purgative effect is diminished, but the violence is not in the author's head instead the violence in her works is a reflection of the violence in today‘s society. Oates has a strong faith in the possibility of the transformation of the human soul. Most of her works serve to the desire that human spirit can redeem the time and she pays great attention to this theme. With faith in recovery, transformation and redemption there is also a departure and acceptance of life as it is in Oates‘ works. Oates believes that when it‘s impossible to change things, it is better to accept them.

In the novel Bellefleur, Leah and Gideon merely stand for insecure individuals, who have made a mess of their lives. They stand for pride, lust, possessiveness, ambition and violence.

They represent the modern couple in today's American world.

The systematic list of horrors Oates portrays is incredible. She comes up with life in terms of struggle and survival. Possibly certain issues are fought and conquered. The option that man adopts to achieve what he wants in the American context is through violence.

The characters like Gideon, Doan boy, Jedediah, Varrels, Mahalaleel (cat), Love (spider) all represent violence in Bellefluer. Every character, Oates portrays gets involved in a violent act. If he or she fails, they become victims of the violence; this is what life is according to Oates. Oates' principle may not be to portray violence in absolute terms instead of her novels search for the root of violence, in order to get rid of them. She rather wants to expose the violence where a sense of personal powerlessness becomes the root and its utter inability to affirm it. The person is unable to live fully as a human being if he chooses not to involve himself in violence. Oates in her works creates a totally fictional world which is filled with violence and so she leaves the readers exhausted since there are very few comic interludes.

As a result the tension builds up in the novel as it progresses, often culminating in riots, suicide or murder.

In Bellefleur, Gideon in a final assertion of hatred and opposition crashes his plane at the very centre of the Bellefleur castle, destroying the Bellefleur family. The odd, outmoded and the corrupt Bellefleurs are killed in one blow and the new generation of Bellefleur children, none of whom was in the castle when the plane crashes, goes out into the world to emerge as new people, uncontaminated by riches or the weight of the Bellefleur‘s honour and prestige.

Alfred Kazin points out that Oates views literature as a "silent tragedy". (Kazin, p-26) The society is an instrument for creating chaotic situations, and as a result violence becomes the 64 Volume 8 Issue 4

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integral part of it. The symbol of forces within the society acts as an indicator of the violence.

As long as the individual is confused or becomes unimportant and he is made a scapegoat or a victim and the social order is bound to change. As a result violence becomes a motivation and people start loving violence due to social constraints. At one stage violence and its fascination makes people to involve themselves in a sheer negative delight. A sense of personal disillusionment, powerlessness and chronic setbacks all become the central points of obsession to indulge in violence. Oates' characters are unconsciously drawn into violence and they are easily provoked because of their family environment and social obstacle. Violence is an appealing factor for any character; we come across in Oates' novels.

As an instrument violence is disintegrated between power and strength by virtue of its nature.

Another disgusting aspect of this is the empathy between violence and individual ego. Ego multiplies in an individual as strength so as to be involved in any action as it pleases whereas violence can destroy any order or power. Violence is misleading that it confers heroism to achieve temporary results. The result is that the horrifying truth becomes a fictional reality.

The love of violence and its ecstasy and fascination are recurrent themes in Oates‘ works.

The loss of social values, family disintegration, personal shortcomings, economic degradation and unethical practices within the family are all Oates' favorite themes for narration. By reading the works of Oates, one sees the real tragedy of so many Americans today. The drama of society was seen by an American in a society as the shifting line between the individual and the mass into which he was helplessly falling. That is Oates‘ concern is the prevailing struggle of the people for survival in a disordered society.

It is difficult to find a woman writer such as Oates, who is very much concerned with burning social problems. Oates describes the anxieties of men and women in general. In the context of violence the ultimate worst sufferers are women. We find in the contemporary American Society that in spite of all its progressive and libertarian thinking, the gender bias becomes worse, when it comes to the question of woman's right. In the present society being a woman is a symbol of suffering and marginalization, this is a general sketch we get from Oates‘ works.

In Bellefleur we find Leah, Yolande, Goldie and many women with whom Gideon has only physical relation are the women characters that represent the weaker section of the society.

They are exploited by men to fulfill their physical needs.

Oates wants to bring in a new panorama of a social canvas with empowered daughter, a loving son and a powerful and protective father and a forceful and a caring mother. If these characters, with the featured qualities becomes a reality then the new social order emerging in the American Society could not be a distant dream.

The women characters in Bellefleur do not weep and faint any more. One of the chief characters among Oates‘s creations is Leah. Leah is a woman of the present, who knows her mind and know what she wants and goes unerringly in its pursuit. Leah is a dynamic woman who is much truer to life and much more impressive.

Oates' portrayal of violence in her works is with the ultimate aim of bringing order through disorder. Oates‘ intensive plea is for a new enhanced society that should emerge where evils should be shunned by everyone in the society by both male and female. And it would ultimately pave the way for a peaceful society. Violence is not Oates‘ message instead it is 65 Volume 8 Issue 4

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only her thematic concern. Oates' major concern has been to focus upon the intense conflict between the individual and the society.

According to Christine Atkins, in Oates‘s female coming-of-age stories a violent fantasy, such as rape, functions as rite of passage for girls and women in the process of attaining growth and agency. It is Oates' optimism in a new humanism which will be devoid of all traces of indecency that compels her to project certain naked realities with gruesome violence that take the toll of the people. She articulates for a new social order. It is her vision (Atkins, p- 433–46).

Oates has employed a variety of creative approaches in her attempt to convey a certain unnatural and strange realities. Oates does not use violence in a horrifying manner or in a way that seeks to modify the audience or consciousness in general. She uses violence to present the modern American setting in which her characters find themselves because the realities into which her characters live are ones where violence is evident. The idea of an America where suicide, rape and murder are not separable to its narrative and this is what motivates Oates to depict a reality that others might find distasteful. In her own mind, Oates believes that the artist has a responsibility to depict whatever conditions in which their characters live and to limit this because of the claims of "violence" is tantamount to silencing the voice of the author. Oates feels quite passionate about this: When I point out that, in fact, my writing isn't usually explicitly violent, but deals, most of the time, with the phenomenon of violence and its aftermath, in ways not unlike those of the Greek dramatists. (qtd. in "Why is Your Writing So Violent?")

In spite of presenting the negative outcomes of violence, Oates has exposed the positive outcomes of violence mirrored in her fictional works. She depicts the characters that are not prejudiced about their beliefs and rules. Oates‘ characters are flexible and intelligent to use the violence to change the situation towards better.

"When people say there is too much violence in [my books], what they are saying is that there is too much reality in life." Joyce Carol Oates does not believe that her written works are particularly violent, but rather believes that her writing portrays reality in a way that doesn't sugar-coat anything. She finds it offensive that people (like me) jump to the conclusion that something must have happened in her lifetime to influence her to write about such topics. In her own essay, "Why is Your Writing So Violent?" she says, "it is always an insulting question; and it is always sexist;" a male writer would never be asked the same question.

Although a lot of critics believe that ―Joyce Carol Oates‘s stories are frequently sources of brutal violence‖. (Soukup p-30) Oates herself rejects these critics‘ ideas: ―she seldom writes about happy and satisfied people because people need help with pain, never with joy. She feels she should instruct readers concerning the direction to take, in order to achieve happiness‖ (Conversations p-54).

The first impression created by Joyce Carol Oates‘ stories is a terrifying feeling that is generated by exposing different forms of violence however; optimistic perspectives are also observed in them. Regardless of depiction of violence in her works, she also gives credit to positive outcomes of violence since it brings peace in one‘s disturbed life or causes sort of awakening in another one‘s life.

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Oates once said that ―I feel my own place is to dramatize the nightmares of my times and to show how some individuals find a way out – awake, come alive, on the future‖. (qtd. in Shantaram, p-2).

Oates portrays violence in many of her works but she believes that there is always a remedy hidden there to survive. Oates presents that too much violence against somebody can make him or her feel lucky. Oates believes that violence can be helpful and useful in many situations. Oates presents a new perspective on violence and that is violence can act as positive also. In this regard, Oates represented that violence has created new identities and new situations which have improved the life of a person. Oates asks her readers to change the point of view of violence as negative with a new one that violence can act as a life saver.

After presenting lot of violence in the novel Bellefleur, it ends on a positive note when the new generation is to replace the old. The old Bellefleurs are killed and the castle is destroyed.

All that is old, corrupt and complicated is also destroyed. Oates ends the novel with this replacement of the new for the old and the good for the evil. Order is established in the novel ultimately.

Joyce Carol Oates books deals with sexual obsession, insanity and violent death. Oates took an inspiration for many of her books from real events. Most of the time she was interested in countryside poverty, class contradictions, sexual harassment, women's childhood and youth, lust for power, and sometimes supernatural elements also. Oates believes that this is the only kind of fiction that is real. Regardless of how she creatively transforms the stories, they are always based on realities.

Oates is renowned and sometimes criticized but we admire writers who deal with violence because they attempt to challenge the chaos that surrounds us and yet disobey our comprehension or may be because they have the courage to pursue their own imaginings to final conclusions.

Many a times Joyce Carol Oates has been criticized for picturing more violent scenes in her works than love and romance. Oates is not concerned with the lighter side of life because she believes that society has to be changed in whatever manner possible. Oates‘ ambition is to make the American society a model for others because of her commitment to turn the society into noble one. At last we can say that Joyce Carol Oates is one of the living legends in the domain of literature of this era and her status continues to grow in the US as well as in the other parts of the world.

Thus Oates blend a realistic treatment of everyday life with horrific and even sensational depictions of violence in her book, Bellefleur and particularly her depictions of violence and evil in modern society are very effective.

Works Cited Primary Source:  Oates, Joyce Carol. Bellefleur. New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1980.

Secondary Sources:  Kazin, Alfred. Bright Book of Life. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1973. Print.  Oates, Joyce Carol. ―Why is your Writing so Violent‖, Quoted in New York Times Book Review, 1981 67 Volume 8 Issue 4

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Conversations with Joyce Carol Oates. Edited by Lee Milazzo. Jackson: U P of Mississippi, 1989.

Webliography:  Kort, Carol. A to Z of American Women Writers, Revised Edition. New York: Facts on File, Inc. An Imprint of Infobase Publishing, 2007. Pdf. http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2011/oatesianfiction.pdf.  Atkins, Christine E. ―‘This is What You Deserve‘: Rape as Rite of Passage in Joyce Carol Oates‘s ‗Naked‘.‖ Women‘s Studies 31.4. 2002. Pdf.  Soukup, Barbara. ―THEMA: ―The Premonition‖ by Joyce Carol Oates‖. Permission: 1998. Pdf.  Shantaram, R. S. ―Joyce Carol Oates – A Novelist with a Mission‖. The Indian Review of World Literature in English, 1, I. Jan, 2005. Pdf.

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The Aesthetics of Silence in Kate Chopin‟s The Awakening, Virginia Woolf‟s The Voyage Out and Shashi Deshpande‟s That Long Silence Poonam Minocha

Abstract This paper explores the employment of aesthetic and stylistic features in Kate Chopin's The Awakening(1899), Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out(1915), and Shashi Deshpande‘s That Long Silence(1988), particularly the manner in which the implicit interaction of metaphors, symbols and images contributes to working out the theme of voiceless and voiced silence.

Images of captivity and submission, as opposed to the images of freedom, render this dichotomy possible, the former corresponding to the voicelessness and the latter to the voicing and awakening of the protagonists. The images reinforce the thematic aspects of the novels, thus interweaving theme and technique. The employment of silence, both as a metaphor for the predicament of women in a patriarchal world, and as an authentic language of women is reinforced through the use of abstract and concrete images in the texts.

Key Words: Aesthetics, Metaphors, Symbols, Images, Silence, Articulation, Feminine, Feminist, Female, Gynocentric, Autonomy.

Introduction ―If I were a man and cared to know the world I lived in, I almost think it would make me a shade uneasy—the weight of that long silence of one-half the world.‖ This statement by Elizabeth Robins forms the epigraph of Shashi Deshpande‘s That Long Silence, initiating women, as it were, to come out of their shell of silence. This need is reflected in the three novels taken up for study here—Kate Chopin‘s The Awakening(1899), Virginia Woolf‘s The Voyage Out (1915) and Shashi Deshpande‘s That Long Silence(1988),which employ ‗silence‘ as a metaphor for the predicament for women and also to connote the language of women, incomprehensible to men. Despite their varied cultural backgrounds, the three novels can be considered ‗ kunstlerromane‘ or artist-novels as they represent the development of the female artist into a stage of maturity where she recognizes not only her artistic but also individual destiny.

The evolution of the women protagonists can find a correspondence to Elaine Showalter‘s three phases in the evolution of feminist writing as delineated in her book A Literature of their Own (1978), namely the feminine phase, the feminist phase and the female phase. The fiction of Chopin, Woolf and Deshpande is characteristic of the feminist phase in the depiction of the new woman who refuses to conform to the conventional feminine role, challenging the accepted ideals of marriage and maternity. It also reveals characteristics of the female phase in the movement towards a female aesthetics or ‗a literature of their own.‘ Their ability to create women who are able to perceive their authentic self by themselves aligns them with the female phase. New female experiences, mainly subjective, are objectivised in their fiction, resulting in the shift from an ‗androcentric‘ to a ‗gynocentric‘ vision. Although the three novels employ different narrative techniques—The Awakening is rendered in a fluent, flexible, lyrical prose; The Voyage Out is written in a simple, conventional, flowing way with rare hints of the radical innovations of Woolf's later novels; That Long Silence employs the stream of consciousness technique where the various events 69 Volume 8 Issue 4

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and characters are sifted through Jaya's consciousness—they carry the powerful psychological conviction that the newly acquired articulation of the woman protagonist coincides with the discovery of herself. ‗Silence‘ is employed in two different ways in feminist writing. First, it is used as a metaphor for the predicament of women in a patriarchal world. It is used to mark the inner repressed condition of the woman's psyche, denoting blankness, emptiness and helplessness. Secondly, on a deeper level, ‗silence‘ is used to connote the language of women, as distinct from the language of men, incomprehensible to men. This language, which is referred to in the opening chapter of The Awakening as ―a language which nobody understood‖, is the authentic language of women, understood only by women, what Mary Daly in Beyond God the Father calls ―the new sounds of silence.‖(Daly 1973: 153) Discussion This paper focuses on how the three women writers employ metaphors, symbols and images—both abstract and concrete—to reinforce and reiterate the muted or articulate condition of the characters. Striking similarities, in the use of imagery as an artistic tool, can be observed in Chopin, Woolf and Deshpande. The transition from the voiceless to the voiced condition is portrayed by the employment of apt images—the images of captivity and submission serve as comments on the inarticulate condition of the protagonists while the images of freedom are correlative to their newly-acquired articulation.

The employment of abstract images in the titles The Awakening, The Voyage Out and That Long Silence evoke the tone and the feel of the theme dealt with in the novels—a movement or shift from one order of reality to another. The use of the word ‗awakening‘ to describe a radical change in Edna and the sleep/waking metaphor to imply the emergence of the self into a new life pervade the novel. Edna‘s awakening is to the world within which brings about a change in perspective to the world without as she feels like ―some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known.‖(TA: 124). Similarly The Voyage Out is also a voyage in for Rachel as it entails a complete change of perspective and evolution of the self. According to Jean Guiget, ―the voyage is one that takes Rachel from a world of events and society to a world of essences and inner life.‖ (quoted in Kelley 1973:7) and it is in the realization of this essential self that Woolf‘s novel, despite its androgynous leanings, is also essentialist—it excavates an authentic, female nature in opposition to the inauthentic, feminine nature. The sea, ship and voyage are therefore images of freedom and facilitate her entry into a strange world analogous to the private self. The literal or spatial voyage out represents a psychological or spiritual voyage inward. That Long Silence employs the metaphor of silence as the leitmotif. Jaya‘s silence means different things at different junctures in the novel—conformity, inability to express, accusation, consent, indifference, surrender, blankness, and so on. The title emphasizes the silence that she wishes to break and explore her real self.

There is a prolific use of bird imagery in The Awakening and suggestions of it in That Long Silence which may have an underlying reference to the Philomela myth, a paradigm for the suppression of women and the articulation of a violent history of sexual oppression. The transformation of Philomela into a nightingale alludes to the conversion of ‗silence ‗to ‗voice‘ in the works of many feminist writers. The Awakening opens with the image of the parrot and the mocking-bird, both of which are ―caged-imitators, the one repeating its master‘s words, the other echoing the voice of other species.‖(Seyersted1969:159). The 70 Volume 8 Issue 4

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parrot speaks ―a language that nobody understood, unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door‖ (TA: 1), a hint that the silence of women not only means an absence or incapacity for speech, it can also mean a different kind of speech. The caged songbird represents the creative woman in her domestic sphere, but quite paradoxically, the image of the bird is evoked again to connote freedom. Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna‘s friend and confidante, tells her, ―the bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth‖ (TA: 89). At the end of the novel, Edna learns that a woman‘s wings are broken when she attempts a sexual/spiritual flight. Like the bird with the broken wing , it is in the sea that she seeks refuge. The bird image is further reinforced when Edna moves from the large mansion to the ‗pigeon-house‘ symbolizing freedom and autonomy. A parallel can be observed in That Long Silence where Jaya who tries to be a ‗mother-woman‘ is likened to the sparrow in the story who believed that she would be safe if she stayed at home, looked after the babies and kept out the rest of the world. Jaya‘s married life has been lived almost on the same lines as the sparrow‘s. She builds an edifice of security around her husband and children believing it to be a burrow into which she could crawl and feel safe.

As a comment on the muted condition of the woman protagonists before their awakening, animal imagery is skilfully employed in the three novels. In The Awakening, Edna is compared to a beautiful, sleek animal waking up in the sun after her affair with Arobin. As her passion for him does not include love, she is more an uncaged and vulnerable animal than an enlightened woman at this stage. In The Voyage Out, Rachel‘s feeling that she is ―like a fish at the bottom of the sea‖ (TVO: 168) and ―some restless amphibious creature‖ indicates her vagueness of perception and unclear thought. The imagery of the cow is used to describe the people who come to the religious service, indicating their tame acquiescence. Further, the grotesque face of sexuality or of physical life in general, is aggravated by the use of animal imagery. In Deshpande too, animal imagery is used to define marital relationships and as a severe indictment on institutions such as family and marriage. In Deshpande‘s Roots and Shadows, Indu envisages marriage as a tragic-comic picture of ―a cage with two animals glaring hatred at each other‖ (Deshpande1983: 67). In That Long Silence, Jaya is told that husband and wife are like ―two bullocks yoked together‖. The image of the ―trodden worm turning‖ (TLS:6) is used to indicate Jaya‘s desire to pay Mohan back for years of submission.

Pursuit of happiness, in the novel, is ―a meaningless, unending exercise, like a puppy chasing its tail.‖(TLS: 156) Images of captivity and submission, that is, images of imposed silence, recur in the three novels. In The Awakening, Edna‘s children are portrayed as antagonists ―who had overpowered her and sought to drag her into the soul‘s slavery for the rest of her days‖ (TA: 123). Edna‘s mansion at New Orleans connotes images of enclosure, captivity and claustrophobia. When she sails away with Robert across the bay, she feels as if she were being borne away from some anchorage which had held her fast, whose chains were loosening, and had snapped the night before. In The Voyage Out, Rachel‘s Richmond home is figured as some kind of prison which curbs her real self. In That Long Silence, the image of the husband as a ―sheltering tree‖ and the image of the ―two bullocks yoked together‖ connote passivity, submission and compromise.

In sharp contrast to these images of captivity is the image of the sea—the area of freedom.

The sea is an overwhelming presence in Chopin‘s and Woolf‘s novel—it is the place where there is no community, where the individual is free from both the evils and responsibilities of communal life; it is here therefore that decisive events, the moments of eternal choice occur.

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In The Awakening, the sea serves precisely this purpose, for it is in the Gulf that Edna experiences the crisis that determines her development through the rest of the novel. As Andrew Hook points out, ―The sea is experience, opportunity and danger: it is the world of adventure, and of sensual and sexual pleasure.‖(Hook1983:171). As Edna is about to enter a new world of which the ―whispering, clamouring, murmuring, inviting‖ sea is the symbol, she suddenly discovers that she can swim—she wants to swim far out, ―where no woman had swum before.‖(TA: 29). The mixed image of the sea and meadow also emphasizes the freedom imagery in The Awakening, as Edna visualises ―a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean‖(TA:17).The blending of the ocean and meadow imagery implies unlimited and unending freedom that is a consequence of Edna's voicing.

In Woolf's novel, Rachel comprehends the world within and around her while she is seaborne. In The Voyage Out, the sea is used as a symbol of mystery and release from conventional life. Both love and death in the novel are imaged through the sea, which functions in its inherently dual role; it is both destructive, life- denying and creative, lifeaffirming. It is an instrument of negation and yet that very negation is potentially positive.

Like Edna, Rachel too envisions the sea as an area of adventure and boundless freedom: ―the vision of her own personality, of herself as a real, everlasting thing, different from anything else, unmergeable, like the sea or wind flashed into Rachel's mind and she became profoundly excited at the thought of living (TVO:81). The juxtaposition of the images of sea and wind symbolising freedom, spontaneity and uninhibited movement is recurrent in Woolf's novel.

Deshpande too associates the sea with freedom. In That Long Silence Jaya evokes an image of herself walking into the sea after she destroys the woman called Suhasini within her: ―Suhasini was dead...she'd walked into the sea at last. No, the fact was that I'd finally done it.

I'd killed her.‖ (TLS: 121). The sea here, as in The Awakening and The Voyage Out, brings suggestions not only of freedom and infinity, but also of release from life through death. The concrete image of the sea is connected to the abstract image of death in the three novels.

The conversion of silence into music provides a motivation for the heroines of Chopin and Woolf to overcome their voicelessness. The music motif runs through The Awakening and The Voyage Out signifying self-expression through art. For Edna, music becomes associated with the awakening of her independent, emotional life. As she renounces imitation as a model of behaviour, she cherishes the non-representational art form of music. Listening to Mademoiselle Reisz‘s music, Edna remembers the time in Grand Isle ―when strange, new voices awoke in her.‖(TA: 69). In The Voyage Out, music is Rachel's tool towards articulation, towards truth. According to Rachel, the inadequacy of language is supplemented by music: ―It seems to say all that one can't say oneself.‖(TVO: 167) and ―music goes straight for things. It says all there is to say at once.‖ (TVO: 212).

In That Long Silence, there is a corresponding use of writing as a means of self-expression, where Jaya achieves articulation by penning her story. Through voicing her fears in her writing, she is purged of them. Her anger too gains articulation in her writing. Writing, therefore, becomes for her, the path to self-discovery as she gains access to herself and understands life better.

The use of dreams as a literary device allows Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf and Shashi Deshpande to describe in symbolic and artistic terms the reality about the lives of their 72 Volume 8 Issue 4

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heroines. The partial relaxation of the ego‘s control during sleep enables the dream-work to symbolically present the unconscious motivations of the dreamer. The repressed selves of the three protagonists struggle to gain articulation in dreams. The Awakening does not dismiss dreams as unreal, but indicates they may be truer revelations of the self. Once Edna begins to awaken, she spends a good deal of time sleeping and dreaming which affords her access to her buried desires and has a cathartic effect. In The Voyage Out, there is an emphasis on the dream and sleep metaphors .Sleep occurs as a kind of ‗mini-death' in Woolf's novel—it implies both the affirmation of self and individuality and the dissolution of the self. In That Long Silence, Jaya’s desolate helplessness comes poignantly alive in her nightmares and dreams. Jaya's first nightmare, coming at a crucial turning point in her neurotic reaction reveals many conflicting tendencies within her. It reveals how she wishes to get away from her present predicament but finds herself shackled by societal pressures.

The sudden awakening of the women in The Awakening and That Long Silence is described in terms of the image of a child suddenly discovering her potential. When Edna learns to swim, ―she is like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over-confidence.‖(TA: 29).

Similarly Jaya of That Long Silence says, And now I found myself looking at the picture of a girl, a child, wearing a dress with pockets for the first time, thrusting her hands in them, feeling heady with the excitement of finding unexpected resources within herself.‖(TLS: 187).

Conclusion The movement from voicelessness to articulation is aptly furnished and reinforced by the employment of corresponding imagery in The Awakening, The Voyage Out and That Long Silence. The images of muteness—caged birds and animals, and the images of captivity and submission—bullocks yoked together, chains, prison, houses—serve as comments on the silence of the women, their diffidence, submissiveness, lack of identity or freedom, while the images of freedom—voyage, ship, sea, river, free birds, music, writing, child—reiterate the fact that the voicing of the female protagonists is closely related to their freedom and sense of autonomy. Both the abstract images—awakening, sleep, silence, music, dreams , and the concrete ones—ship, sea, birds, animals—are skilfully woven into the text by the three novelists, forming an integral part and reinforcing the theme of silence and voicing.

Chopin, Woolf and Deshpande attempt to fictionally shape the experience of the awakening of the woman's consciousness through the conversion of silence into voice. Though the methods of delineation of this transformation vary in the three novels, though the use of the silence metaphor is explicit in That Long Silence while in The Awakening and The Voyage Out, the treatment is not very explicit but nonetheless profound; the basic female experience is the same. Edna, Rachel and Jaya emerge out of their silence, throwing off their legacy of humiliation, resignation and dependence, and through the medium of their voice reach out for a better understanding of their position in the world. Their voices, moreover, carry them further than they had expected: from surviving to protesting to recognizing their identity.

Their way out of enforced silence is not by dissolving into the mainstream, but by rendering their distinct voices.

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References Primary Sources   

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New American Library, New York, 1976.

Deshpande, Shashi. That Long Silence. Penguin Books (India) Ltd.,1988.

Woolf, Virginia. The Voyage Out. Triad Grafton, London, 1989.

Secondary Sources          

Daly, Mary. Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation.

Beacon Press, Boston, 1973.

Deshpande, Shashi. Roots and Shadows. Orient Longman, Bombay, 1983.

Gilbert, Sandra M. and Gubar, Susan. No Man's Land: The Place of the Woman Writer in the Twentieth Century. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1989.

Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. Harper and Row, New York, 1978.

Hook, Andrew. American Literature in Context III 1865-1900. Methuen, London & New York , 1983.

Kelley, Alice Van Buren. The Novels of Virginia Woolf: Fact and Fiction. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1973.

Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography .Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1969.

Showalter, Elaine. A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing, Virago, London, 1978.

Tong, Rosemarie. Feminist Thought: A Comprehensive Introduction. Unwin Hyman, London, 1989.

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. Hogarth Press, London, 1957.

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Crossing Patriarchal Boundaries: A Study of The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker Swati Chandorkar & Puneet Kumar Dubey

Abstract A relentless crusader for human values and social justice, Indira Goswami was the conspicuous women writer not only in the field of Assamese but also in Indian English literature. She was regarded as the brightest star of Indian traditional writer. The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker is based on genuine picture of the rituals, customs and cultures pursued by the inhabitants of that society of Amranga Satra arranging in South Kamrup. The main purpose of the novelist seems to oppose the male domination. The underestimation of a woman, her difficulties, and her struggles for her authority and the search for her identity are the main issues in focus in this paper. This paper also attempts the study of the Brahmin widows, especially Giribala who emerges as a new woman awakening and crossing the patriarchal boundaries.

Keywords: Crossing, Patriarchal, Boundaries, Domination, Struggling, Identity.

Indira Goswami a perceived Assamese novelist formed under the pen name of Mamoni Raisom Goswami. She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983, the Jnanpith Award in 2001 and Principal Prince Claus Laureate in 2008. Many of her works have been translated into English Language. This includes The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker, Pages Stained with Blood, An Unfinished Autobiography and The Man from Chinnamasta. She undeniably endeavored to acknowledge the social changes through her works. The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker addresses the individual disposition for circumstance in the lives of women.

The story of this novel focuses on a progress from the medieval arrangement to fair private enterprise. Here it develops a more extensive diagram of a wanton Indian medieval society. It happens to be a social book which reflects different economic and social states of a general public or a network.

It additionally portrays a Vaishnavite Satra or religious community. That is the political and financial power amasses in a predominant or the conventional head called the Adhikar or Gossain. The Gossain has the high social status and a broad medieval landed property.

Indranath, the Junior Gossain, is practically understood similar as a lord to the fundamentals and the individuals to the network. He is held in the most noteworthy regards by all people.

All things are considered as statements of faith. Different social indications as ceremonies, traditions, propensities and convictions have been managed by the writer in a story realistically and furthermore different contemporary social organizations are depicted in subtleties and the characters are drawn as she says from her felt encounters of her own Satra in Amranga in South Kamrup. The interesting intensity of Indira Goswami's portrayal makes practically every character in the novel alive and obvious.

The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker was translated into English in 2004. The title of this novel is extremely symbolic. It has reference to the strong ideas and yet the howdah of elephant is eaten by moth. It appears to mean that the women are overwhelmed and they are 75 Volume 8 Issue 4

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suppressed view under the guidelines of society. This novel accords with two similar stories.

Its section deals with the dilemma of the women and energetic revolt of widows like Giribala, Durga and Saru Gossainee against the old customs in the male hands to search for their freedom and identity which focuses the disintegrating of the medieval course of action of the post-independent period. On making a significant assessment of Indira Goswami's novels, readers see her genuine recognition with her lifestyle as a woman and her keenness in regards to female issues. Goswami will probably help women in doing to achieve character, pride and affirmation for their responsibility to society.

The sufferings of Giribala and her aunt Durga by virtue of social norms and conventions reflects the intolerance, the offensiveness, and the absence of care of the people in the overall population in Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker. Here, the novelist unquestionably shows out the flawed thought of the people who from one perspective are insightful towards women and on the other check the chance of the women. Regardless of the way that the novel is set in the view of the feudal society, the issues of problems looked by the widows and the conventions that widows are constrained to follow are universal. This is real even today in the postmodern time, where widows are enslaved to discrimination, humiliation, slight and are given below average status in openly way. Goswami questions how it is the woman of the town who make life miserable and terrible for Giribala. Taslima Nasreen points out towards the real position of women in their society: Whatever the women do in their entire life are all for the sake of men and the patriarchy society. Her chastity, her motherhood, polite character, everything is for serving men. Men must be able to use women as their own property and as slaves. (22) Giribala is left by her in-laws house as an unfortunate lady for their family after the death of her husband. She feels suffocation and unbalanced. Women become the adversaries of woman in patriarchal culture. Perseverance ends up hard for Giribala as she is treated as an outcaste in the presented women in society as a voice is heard, ―Don't touch her! You women with sindoor. She is a widow now (27)‖. Moreover, she is depended to satisfy the interest of the neighbors by outfitting them the perfect reaction and also face judgment.

All the women had come with the sole purpose of hearing the harrowing tales of woe from Giribala's own lips but she did not give them a chance. Like a streak of lightening she headed straight for the door of the room‌ opened it with a jerk, entered and bolted the door from inside with the crossbar. (30) The three noteworthy female characters address three unquestionable tempers. Durga, the most established widow acclimatizes show and submits to the structure. She offers no resistance and her offer up to the social forces is full scale. She ends her life mortifying herself with considerations of over the top dedication. Giribala, the most energetic young widow, hates traditions and its deceitful adulterations. She restricts and opposes the structure which subsequently crushes her with impartial seriousness. Saru Gossainee attempts to make some private space for herself in order to get by in the patriarchy system, regardless; she additionally gets harmed with trickery. She respects custom and endeavors to shape it to her needs. Consecutively put, these three women furthermore exhibit the pace of inevitable change making inroads into the so far impenetrable far off and unexposed social orders.

Durga shows the image of a customary, stereotyped widow, Sam Gossainee, a moderate,

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widow endeavors to change the speculation, and Giribala being fanciful, rejects the speculation.

Giribala is one of the leading characters who is the symbol of frustrated picture of marriage and marital wretchedness as for women in the Indian culture which extends the heartbreaking condition of women. Indira Goswami shows her suitable and respected place in the Gossain family. She acknowledges that women should have their own one of a kind space and spot in the family and society. She tries to give women real space in the man driven culture. As a critical widow Giribala who is young, brilliant and captivating. She is the primary woman character in the novel, which battles unequivocally and direct against the male dominated social status.

During the Shraddha ceremony, Giribala is very happy to see the delightful dishes because she has not eaten delicious food for many days. She has to live on a vegetarian diet of a widow that is selected harshly by patriarchy. She is overpowered by the allurement lastly swallows some wonderful meat curry. She has no benefit to eat as demonstrated by her wants. A widow needs to eat only that sustenance which is picked by the male driven culture.

If a woman breaks the incomprehensible made by men, she is severally rebuked for it. As a lustful of freedom minded lady when Giribala liberates herself from the old shackles of convention, she becomes a revolutionary character so she thinks women have many responsibilities not only for families but also for country and it is said that women have to fight and win liberty for community.

Regardless of the way that the patriarchy culture endeavors her harshly, she opposes the culture courageously and endeavors to set up her autonomy and self - character. On landing at pubescence, she is offered to Latu Goswami against her wills. A woman has no benefit to restrict the man driven decision. Because of their decision, she needs to marry a man who did not love her in any way shape or form. Her significant other was the pointless offspring of the Adhikar of Bangara who always dismissed and humiliated Giribala. She never found any sort of fulfillment in an astounding association. All the opinion and fulfillment of new marriage was out of the blue evaporated when Giribala heard that her significant other had individual association with a typical low position woman who used to sell opium.

You daughter of three Satras… as those poets say, you have a body like a young date palm! But since we are already married, you better know one thing. You will have to tolerate some of my habits. People say they are bad habits but you will have to accept them. (509) During this investigation, they have been pulled in towards each other. At whatever point Giribala is in a predicament, Mark Sahib reliably demonstrates emotions to her, yet she does not need to waste time with any sympathy as she needs love. Again the man centred culture comes as a hindrance in her life. She is a widow yet she covers her physical interest towards Mark, a Christian youth who comes to his research work on ―Satra‖ living in Giribala‘s house. She cannot love Mark. She needs to smother her sexual desire. The male centred society does not allow a widow to love any man even a man who belongs to other religion.

Regardless, Giribala, against the principles and taboos made by the male dominated society, starts to revere Mark fearlessly.

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Women are not wrong at all when they reject the rules of life that have been introduced into the world, in as much as it is the men who have made these without them. (15) Throughout the novel she neglects culture and endeavors to find her place in the man driven culture. She is reliably searching for character, respect and vanity. She hates such a life that overflows the humiliation. She fights with created demeanor against the male driven set up and pays the expense for it. Her downfall is resistance to a system made by male overpowered culture which enabled no chance to a widow.

Indranath is described as a careful person and cannot comprehend the distinction in the status of individuals. His reassurance to his aunt Durga and his mother to move out of the house and manage the land is decisive of the change he might want to acknowledge in the overall population. The seed of revolt is implanted in the cerebrum of Indranath at an early age. His confinement to the ordinary characteristics ends up evident when he incites his sister Giribala to help Mark Sahib on his work, a ‗firangi‘ (white foreigner) in collecting the chronicle evidence and manuscripts of the old Vaishnavite culture.

He did not care much for those old-fashioned ideas about widows. He had seen the intense suffering and object misery of some of these tragic women, made widows at too young an age by callous fate, who took root and died imprisoned within four walls. (17) Indranath knows about the commitment that he has for the people and the overall population so there is reliably the internal conflict and the mental anguish that he encounters in his undertaking to change society. His suicide symbolizes the dispute for the serious society that demolished his sister Giribala. It moreover reflects to the breakdown of a structure that was transcendent in India. It is the beginning of a change.

The idea of organized relationships advances toward getting to be devastated when Goswami shows the fate of Giribala and Durga, the two essential characters in her novel The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker. The relationships of Giribala and Durga are organized by society, addressed by the family members, who cautiously seek after the social gauges and conventions so it is social customs who declares that Giribala and Durga will marry and they should lead a genuine presence after the death of their husbands. This act of Giribala is unaccepted in the overall population so the women assume that Giribala is not impacted with the fiascos that pushed toward her. The irritability and dissatisfaction of the people especially of the pre- adult finds a voice as Giribala. The primary sign of revolt from her winds up clear when she shouts and yells at the women of the village in anger, ―You came here to see me, didn't you? You have seen me now. I am still alive! I will live on and have a better life than all of you (34)‖. This scene signifies the beginning of Giribala's revolutionary steps against male dominated evils and the ensuing mercilessness that is conveyed upon her for custom. It is pointed out the failure of arranged relationship fixed by the elders of the family reliant on organizing the horoscopes of the woman of great importance and the genuine article.

Giribala darted into the palanquin room and picked up the pot of mutton cooked with black beans. She forgot everything, religion and rituals, wisdom or restraint.

She started gulping it down in great haste. (144)

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Her last exhibition of revolt is the pinnacle of the story when she and Mark visit the wrecked space of a once prosperous Mahajan. Giribala talks sincerely of her love for Mark Sahib and her disdain for all of the supplications that a widow brings to the table to her dead life partner's wooden shoes. She concedes that she has no sentiment of offense. She accepts, ―I cannot just exist, just for the sake of remaining alive, like Aunt Durga and Saru Gossainee (198)‖.

Through the instance of Giribala, Indira Goswami has exemplified the Indian woman and has moreover approved the female bind. Her uneasiness for women is reflected in her novel. Her regard for social issues, especially of the office class women is clear. Essentially, her novel is an epitome of women's lifestyle which depicts the grave experiences of women and their social strain to live into the four dividers of the house, which is absolutely substantial for most women even today.

Work Cited:       

Baruah, D. K. Mamoni Raisom Goswami: The Insistent Pattern. Mamoni Raison Goswami and Her Fictional World- The Search for the Sea. Comp. By Kaikous Burjar Satarawala. New Delhi: BRPC Ltd., 2002. Print.

Beauvoir, De Simon. Extracts from the Second Sex. London: Vintage Books. 2019. Print.

Bhattacharya, Kumar Sankar. Caste as a Social Construct in Indira Goswami's The Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker and The Offspring. Journal of Post Colonial Cultures and Societies. JPCS. Vol. 3, No. 2, 2012.

Goswami, Indira. The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker. New Delhi: Rupa Co. 2004.

Print.

Goswami, Indira. An Unfinished Autobiography. Trans. By. P. Kotoky. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2002. Print.

Nath, Prasad, Debarshi. (2014). Indira Goswami's Under the Shadow of Kamakhya.

Muse India the literary ejournal, Vol.55. ISSN: 0975-1815. 2012.

Nasreen, Taslima. "No Country for Women". New Delhi: Vitasta Pub. 2013. Print.

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Central Motifs in Kohbar Murals Santosh Kumar Singh

Abstract This article venerates contextual meaning of the symbols portrayed during nuptial rituals in Mithila region. Although the portrait appears full of images, prominent among them provide contextually vivid meaning. This study captures native voice regarding the interpretation of those codes. It hovers around blissful conjugal life of the newly married couple as a blessing from their kith and kin who paint the mural just before the actual marriage takes place. But the core meaning lies very deep and finds their origin in Hindu scriptures. This author takes advantage of interviewing as a method while advancing this research. It does so to conspicuous Maithili scholars in the field, to grasp what really social gist those encryptions provide to the engrossed art lovers. Finally, this write up also delivers both reaction and response to those who view Mithila art work in the line of Freudian interpretation.

Key Words: Lotus, Fish, Tortoise, Snake, Scorpion

Introduction Central motifs here indicate the drawings at the centre of the wedding room‘s wall painting.

Basically, the central sketch portrays the lotus plant and its personified leaves (purain) with water deities, amid them stand a lotus flower with a beautiful face of lotus dwelling goddess Laxmi. While Kohbar means the chamber where marriage consummates at first and mural conveys a complete fresco with life time message for the newlyweds. However, these outlined creatures (fish, tortoise, snake and scorpion) grow in water; the primordial source of life and Maithili life depends vehemently on pond due to long summer in the region.

Essentially, geography and the qualities possessed by these aquatic beings shape the cultural meanings of the nuptial arts from the women‘s perspectives. In this regard, Brown asserts ―art as reflexive-an iconic tradition of a woman's understanding of herselfhood, in patriarchal society‖ (717). But women appear friendly and initiator in arts and culture and the goddesses perform central role in them. Marriage in Mithila points towards a social phenomenon where matrimony results into fertility keeping other activities (love, love making, quarrel, etc.) between the couple silence in the indoor.

Discussion/Analysis Maithili women write (likhiya) Kohbar murals to highlight social intentions of the wedding in the life of the duo. Likewise; this art seems the juxtaposition of secular and religious sentiment where the couple gets first co-education about their family life (Grihasth Aashram). Religious rituals all around the painting are for the blessing and witness of the marriage so that the couple would receive conjugal bliss but the central motifs focus on fertility, struggle, tolerance, resilience and merry-making. Hence, the artists meditate in the celebratory mode (singing and drawing) seeking blessing for the couple for prosperous marriage. They initiate sketching by placing a red dot at the centre either in the form of seed or the soul as we put tika; a sign of victory. This spot also points crawling of lotus stalk from its root to the flower.

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Lotus Embodies Wealth Significance of lotus resides in Hindu myth where it blooms from Vishnu‘s (Preserver) navel and unfolds the creator god Brahma on it. Hence, it is the divine seat from where the universe is created. This activity suggests the connection between the navel and the mind, hence, if we have sound stomach, there is sound mind in the body. Frankly speaking, one should have sufficient food for healthy performance of the mind. Therefore, lotus acts as the source of wealth in Mithila and is highly revered. Moreover, it is the most favourite flower to the divine couples like Saraswati-Brahma, Laxmi-Vishnu, and Parwati-Shiva. The trinity and their spouse are the principal deities in the Hindu religion and the devotees offer the lotus flowers to them in their temples, shrines and special chambers dedicated to them for their blessings.

Brahma and Laxmi are the two special God and Goddess who are specially linked to the lotus flower because of their association with potency and wealth. The creator god Brahma found lotus blooming in the cosmic pond when he was about to give life to the universe then he chose the flower as the mouth of the womb of the universe. In this way, universe was created through the lotus flower as a generative energy of the divine. While Laxmi is the Goddess of lotus who sprang from the hand of the preserver lord Vishnu the way Brahma emerged from his navel on the white lotus. Goddess Laxmi dwells in the red lotus which is the central motif in the Kohbar (nuptial chamber) painting of Mithila. She is also the patron of wealth and good fortune, sits on a fully bloomed red lotus as her divine seat and holds a lotus in her right hand. Similarly, the goddess of power, Durga, was adorned with a garland of lotus flowers by Varuna (lord of seas) before going to fight with the demons. But Yves Vequad challenges this sort of sublime interpretation of these nuptial chamber symbols and argues: ―The Kohbar’s basic design and composition is heavily charged with tantric symbolism and in its centre a lingam, the phallus, penetrates the circular beauty of a yoni, the symbol of the female genitals, often drawn as a fully-opened lotus‖ (17). Here the artists especially Maithili ladies who draw them to bestow blessing to the newly married couple cannot even think of sexually exposed activity instead fosters for future progeny for the husband patrilineality.

Fig. 1: Auspicious Marriage Diagram; Source: Exotic India. https://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/paintings/kohbar-auspicious-marriage-diagram-DF71/

In addition, Hindu scriptures state that the Atman (soul) dwells in the lotus within the heart and it looks like a brilliant light and deep inside it lays the self-god as the symbol of divinity within human body. Physically, the lotus flower rises above the muddy water in a calm lake 81 Volume 8 Issue 4

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or pond and blossoms into something pure and untouched by the mud. It simply opens and shows its beauty in spite of its surroundings. Therefore, it acts as a metaphor for the onlookers that despite the obstacles and sufferings one has to shine above their level and spread light for the entire human kind. Likewise the stem and the fibers inside are the family bond among the members that they support the person to stand high like the unstained blooming flower on the top. Besides root and stem, the open petals signify the discovering or unfolding of a soul‘s path to enlightenment. And the floating leaves mark the delicate support of plant life to the Mother Nature.

Similarly, Bhagawad Gita, a Sacred Hindu text, reveals; a man is adjured to be like the lotushe should work without attachment, dedicating his actions to God, untouched by sin like water on a lotus leaf and the beautiful flower standing high above the mud and water. In the postures of Hatha yoga, a major branch of yoga, the lotus position, ‗Padmasana’, helps the practitioner to reach the highest level of consciousness, which itself Hindu believes that the human soul resides in the shape of lotus flower in the human heart which triggers human beings for the love, fertility, prosperity, beauty, divinity and life.

Maithili women draw lotus flower as the central motif of kohbar art on the mud walls of wedding room and this theme represents bride in the form of Goddess Laxmi since she is also the goddess of lotus and is commonly called padmini-possessing lotus, padmesthita- standing on lotus, padmavarna –lotus coloured, padmasambhava-lotus born, padmakshi-eyes like lotus, padmanana-face like lotus, sarasijanilaya- dwells in lotus, padmapriya-fond of lotus and padmahasta-holds lotus in her hand. Although, ―a terrifying gap exists between understanding women in the society and in the arts and religion‖ (Gupto 45).Maithili people consider the newly married bride as the form of goddess Laxmi whose entry makes the family rich in all the dimensions either by offspring or by happiness as well as by wealth. Only Ahibati (married women whose husbands are living), neither widow nor unmarried girls, can draw those emblems and while doing so, they sing several well-wishing songs so that the portraits are infused with blessings, delights and prosperity for the couple. But Archer points out ―agricultural symbols like bamboo and lotus have strengthened the communicative pattern of Mithila art as well as they symbolize fertility where bamboo acts as phallus and lotus as female sex to fill the nature and life full of production‖ (qtd. in Brown 721).

However, Maithili women disagree and consider bamboo as sign of progeny and lotus as water deity.

The songs so sung during the marriage occasion and while writing (likhiya) begin with blessings and ends in fertility. Moreover, conjugal romance, love, sorrow, happiness all are expressed and portrayed so that marriage be a grand success for the couple and last long at least for seven lives. The leading woman begins the painting with a red mark (point) that further denotes the soul and elaborates it with several murals on the wall with the help of other assisting ladies and the entire team provokes richness of all kinds since antiquity.

Anuragi Devi Jha, a renowned Maithili artist, conveys; ―the art and songs act as altar and chanting mantras (hymns) respectively‖ (Personal Interview). The lotus flowers are delicately portrayed mixing various colours in round form supported by strong stem at the center mostly personified as ladies. However, Maithili artists do not only draw the colourful lotus flowers but also the purain (lotus leaves) floating on the water surface and supported by a stout stem the way infant is connected with mother‘s womb with umbilical cord. Lotus plant here indicates newly married bride with numerous children, the middle age belief of having many children by the woman are justified in these paintings.

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Although the red colour is prominent, black is also used because of the influence of Shakta cult in Mithila and both the colours are considered auspicious. In addition, Maithili scholar Rajendra Bimal compares the ―lotus stem with cosmic pillar‖ which supports the universe and has neither the beginning nor the ending as well as the Sumeru mountain which acts as a pillar while churning the cosmic ocean and is supported by tortoise (second incarnation of preserver God Vishnu) from the bottom and the creator God Brahma sitting on lotus flower at the top of the pillar (Personal Interview).

At the centre of drawing a pillar like structure seems to thrash the central concentric circle as if the male and female are meeting closely together for bodily union but Godavari Dutta, a prominent Maithili artist opines; ―the pillar is the stem of lotus flower which nourishes the leaves and flowers via the roots‖ (Personal Interview) and stands on a well-carved pedestal hold by the sun and moon depicted at the bottom of the stem. Because sun and moon are the cosmic sources of energy where sun generates light and heat and the moon provides nectar at night by supporting nature with full delight. Brahmin artists use vibrant red colours to depict the lotus flowers whereas Kayastha artists either mix the colours or depicts with black hues all around.

A renowned Maithili artist S.C. Suman has drawn various erotic postures from the Kamsutra (a book on sexuality) and says, ―Genuine activity by the couple in a honeymoon room‖ his art reveals the privacy the Hindus or Maithilese who have been hiding or protecting it since the ages; hence it is a new dimension in Mithila painting (Personal Interview). In addition, the flowers are equipped with all the possible geometrical shapes, sizes and forms that have made the entire design a striking figure to attract the attention of general visitors. A well-versed Maithili artist Madan-Kala Karn portrays her drawings with changing moods like a beautiful bride, or a red Goddess with bulging large eyes or a burning candle or sometimes twinkling stars both white and red colours. All these varieties are experimental and prove deft in this discourse. And she suggests the figure is ―water-deity whom we pray through the art for her primordial creative power‖ (Personal Interview). By this way she means fertility and protection from Jal-devi (water-deity) who provides water either in the form of rain for cultivation or generating water for drinking purpose and saving people from drowning in the pond or flooding river. Lotus plant as a whole suggests a lesson of struggle and despite the challenges one can overcome it if they adopt the values prescribed in the arts through the multiple symbols.

Fish Symbolizes Breeding Accessibility and ancient myth about this creature make it a striking figure in wedding panel.

As the goddess Laxmi dwells in lotus flower, god Vishnu incarnates in fish, tortoise and is directly related with snake because he sleeps on the thousand times coiled cobra (shesha-nag) attended by his spouse Laxmi. The classical texts provide sufficient grounds for this creature to be adopted in the folk narratives. Locally available Maithili fish has immense breeding potentiality that becomes relevant in the context of marriage. From holy trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) to divine couples Sita-Ram, Radha-Krishna and a pair of fish point out towards the conjugal bliss of the newlyweds through the Kohbar painting. The divine quality mentioned in the different Hindu Scriptures about the fish and Vishnu‘s first incarnation in the creature justifies its significance through the ages, therefore, common folk has adopted it in their ritual activities for their betterment. However, all these matters are solely original as LaDuke supports: ―The experience expressed in their work evolves from geographical isolation and both spiritual and functional needs as well as to stylistic limitations which have 83 Volume 8 Issue 4

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evolved over a long period of time‖ (17). Having less access to the outer community leaves natives pure while giving meaning to their works of art.

Drawing a pair of fish indicates bride and groom along with their togetherness for successful marriage. Mostly Maithili artists draw a pair of fish following the concept of Ardhanarishwar (Half man and half woman) i.e. bride and groom‘s intimacy makes a complete being beget.

Fish are drawn either in red, blue or black hues. Brahmin women prefer red colour while drawing whereas Kayastha ladies favour black colour and some other artists select blue to denote the surface outlook of water-tank. Basically, red and black both are the colours which represent Goddess Durga (deity of power) and Kali (goddess of destruction) respectively and both are the mother goddesses who protect their devotees with all their might and grant verve for life and living. Physically, fish are oval in shape, and both ends are sketched in V-shape.

The most striking point is that the fish appears reeling and denotes the idea of drive. There is a catchy balance between rest and speed in the movement of fish when we observe it carefully.

Furthermore, fish has transformative power and stabilizes environmental and ecological balance since it converts the mud into energy via food consumption and maintains the atmosphere wholesome and sanitary in the pond. It also proves to be the chief water economy in the region because it is highly favoured dish among the local folks. Nowadays, fish business is flourishing among the youths that have become compatible at the time of conservational crisis. According to Ramvaros Kapadi: ...the symbols used in the Kohbar tell the story of whole life cycle. Bamboogrove signifies male regenerative power, lotus-leaf indicates female sexual organ, clove means environmental freshness, vermilion symbolizes immortality to husband, betel-leaf and nut characterizes male and female sexual organs, fish is the symbol of fertility, tortoise for lovers' union, SunMoon for life generating energy, parrot signifies love affair, wisdom and progress.(105) Moreover, interpretation varies according to gender, ladies artists (Indrakala Niddhi, Sudhira Karn, and Manjula Thakur) from Women Development Centre, Janakpur suggest ―lotus as Laxmi, betel as beauty, fish and tortoise as God Vishnu, scorpion as environmental freshener‖ (Group Discussion).In this way, traditional Mithila art proves to be a successful feat in the provocation of raising awareness about ecological harmony. Numerous varieties of fish are found in the region and the artists depict them with full devotion.

Although Maithili Brahmin women prefer vegetarian food, they have been compulsorily drawing fish because of its religious significance as they are mentioned in several scriptures, its multiple breeding capacity as a blessing to the couple to have a desired number of children and to provide a lesson of love and harmony between them. On top of all, they draw art to quench their artistic thrust as the common heritage of the society. Drawing art traditionally is a group activity where the artists do not dare to alter the custom rather they take it as a ritual performance where tradition overcomes the individuality. Henceforth drawing fish in Kohbar painting is a classical custom rather than individual act.

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Tortoise Signifies Copulation Tortoise advanced a great help while churning the ocean to extract cosmic nectar. It provided a support from the bottom so that Mount Himawat (a pillar while churning) can move constantly on a fixed axis. The outer shell of the tortoise is strong enough to save its tender body during unfavourable condition. Maithili people highly owe its kind help, it has provided to the deities to maintain law and order in the world when it was completely uprooted by the demons‘ rule. Lord Vishnu incarnated himself into the form of tortoise to help deities to regain their strength to reestablish kingdom of happiness. And this gratefulness has been expressed through art since the time immemorial. The myth of distributing nectar only to the deities and avoiding the demons from it in the form of enchanting lady by God Vishnu is narrated in different Hindu scriptures. Artists compulsorily draw it in the Kohbar painting to pay tribute to its contribution in the preservation of human society.

Physically, tortoise suggests the newlyweds to equip yourself with such a quality that you can survive at any place with great ease. Tortoise is an amphibian and can live both in water and land according to its convenience and its hard shell and tender body represent tough mindfulness and kind heart respectfully while progressing in life. It has long-life because it survives for two hundred years, hence, the artists wish to have the long-life of couple by depicting it on the marriage wall. Longevity is related not with age but with all dimensions of life. Reflecting on incarnation and the physique of tortoise, we get that the preservation and spirituality are at the centre of its survival. Ramvaros Kapadi, in his article in the journal Mirmire, remarks: Mithila is always a male dominated society where talking about ‗sex awareness‘ is very difficult especially with women. Therefore, symbolic message about sexual power and its significance is given through the Kohbar drawing. Besides, parrot, tortoise, and fish are drawn representing love, longevity, and fertility respectively. (150) I disagree with the above writer when he argues ‗art icons convey erotic meaning‘ it is due to heavy influence of western education that all the developed tools of interpretation are linked with Western philosophy. Instead this author asserts; divinity intertwined with elements used in the painting. ‗Slow and steady wins the race‘ is the concluding remark of the story ‗Hare and Tortoise‘, which elaborates the continuous but slow speed of this creature that leads it to win the race despite the fast and discontinuous speed of hare. The newlyweds interpret this quality of tortoise in their new life and never get excited in advance rather they are supposed to adopt the above mentioned lesson in their conjugal life. It also represents conjugal bliss by increasing the stamina of the couple for being together for longer period of time.

Without tortoise Kohbar painting is incomplete. Artists draw it in oval shape having distinct head and tail with a disc shaped shell covering the body. The back and forth of head and tail denotes sensual activity between the male and female and the hard shell signifies the activity is hidden heavily from the outdoor. There is a projected eye which shows the singular vision of couple. And its four legs denote multiple offspring, four hands of God Vishnu (conch, disc, lotus and mace), and the four directions (love, yoga, meditation and music) the very foundation of Hindu life. However, its slow movement remarks the slow passage of time in the life of newlyweds so that their all wish could fulfill. On the one hand, its qualities are all 85 Volume 8 Issue 4

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divine while on the other hand, its abundance in the region also makes artists to draw it as a character of nature. This creature can also be counted and compared as a second ladder after the fish in the evolutionary theory of Darwin.

Furthermore, its amphibian nature indicates progress of animal from water to the land.

Moreover, frequent movement of tortoise head from outside to inside reveals outer and inner world in the human body and its balance is necessary to maintain peace and harmony in life.

Hence image of tortoise alone can lift a person from mediocre living to transcendental one where all desires take a conceding shape. The slow and steady movement of tortoise further teaches the couple to have complete association with the work in such a way that the doer and work must not have any gap rather they should be together for the perfect outcome. The upper hard shell represents male and the lower soft body as female to complete marriage in unison.

Snake Implies Protection The preserver God Vishnu rests on Ananta (a thousand times coiled and hooded serpent) and feels vibration in his navel and the creator God Brahma crawls upward on lotus flower and creates the world as per the command of lord Vishnu. Hence, the creation begins from the lap of cosmic snake Ananta. The snake acts as a link, between the primordial absolute water and the divine creator. This role of bridge begins from cosmic world and remains so to every creature via divine powers. Similarly, Vashuki nag (divine snake‘s king) becomes a rope while churning the cosmic milk of ocean where deities and demons pull it around the mount Mandara (act as pillar) to get nectar from the sea to be immortal. And there are nags (cobras all around the body of merger God Shiva) to destroy the world at the time of chaos only to maintain law and order. Here it works as a weapon at the hand of lord Shiva to destroy the evil spirits on Earth. Thus, it is related with the holy trinity for creation, preservation and destruction which is frequently mentioned in the Hindu scriptures since the early age to make the belief permanent in Hindu society.

Likewise, the overall propagation about the cosmic serpent through the ages projects its original quality, that is, fertility. From the beginning either directly or indirectly it has paved the way for creation, fertility and rainfall. The sacrifice the snake has performed in the form of cosmic seat, divine rope and merging bite has made it a divine being and Hindus worship it in their daily ritual. The coiled serpent is not only the divine seat but also the root of spiritual awakening in the human body that is the source of vigor and is realized only after the deep meditation on seven different energy centres. Paying full attention to the energy centres, our energy begins to flow upward through six different energy centres; first at the base of spine, second near the genital, third at the navel, fourth in the heart, fifth in the larynx, sixth between the eyebrows just above the nose and seventh at the top of the head where positive and negative energy meets to turn into divinity.

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Fig. 2: Godawari Dutta’s Intertwined Snakes (Kachani); Source: Gul, Nazura Aur Ramchand Pakistani. http://arvinddas.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-spot_31.html

Basically, here also it acts as a bridge between physical and spiritual body that promotes an individual for sound body, mind and soul. On the other hand, it can survive both in water and on land that indicates its linking quality and the progress of aquatic creature towards terrestrial being. Therefore, it represents progress and blesses its devotees for their betterment, large number of children and deep love between the couple. Like cosmic rope, it inspires people for sacrifice for the good cause. But it also harms the evil spirits and seeks to maintain the cosmic harmony. People owe its contribution and revere it with full devotion throughout the year. On the occasion of Nagpanchami (Serpent –Day), devotees offer milk, fry paddy mixed in chanted soil and a drawing all around their house to appease for the rainfall, healthy crops and protect the family members from the possible snake bite.

Worshipping serpentine also pleases the holy trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) because snake god is in good harmony with them and has always proved useful for the overall welfare of the universal being. But, sometimes, it has also been represented as a devil being, for example, kaliya nag, black multihooded serpent in the Yamuna river where it used to spread poison to kill animals that used to drink water and a divine boy (Lord Krishna) controls and orders to go to a safe place so that common folks are not harmed. In a daily life, people die because of snake bite then also they revere it and locate its position among the active deities who have direct influence on common beings.

Locally, people destroy its habitat, therefore, they suffer their attack, hence, it preserves environment and reminds people for the significant role of nature for the age of mother Earth.

Gangawati portrays Naga-nagin and asserts: They are considered nature spirits and the protectors of springs, wells and rivers (‌) bring rain, and are worshipped with great reverence so that they bring fertility and prosperity to their venerators. (61) Destruction of forest and natural resources lead people for ecological imbalance, hence, the evil consequences. People generally are afraid of snakes and have accepted its upper hand as co-living creatures because it can appear anywhere and can cause death; therefore, common folks pray it not to harm them. Another domain of snake is that it can survive in all the three worlds; nether world (hole), land and on the tree. So, human beings have accepted its supremacy. Nether world people are supposed to be the offspring of snake deity and are protected by him at the time of adversity because the deity has power to cause draught if he is not worshiped properly. Nether world can be inferred as the inhabitants of low land people, for example, nagas (a tribe) in a Nagaland state of India.

Snakes sleep during hibernation and remain dormant during the winter season; however, it comes out in spring-summer and becomes very active during rainfall. Maithili life is based on

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agriculture and requires sufficient amount of rain for planting paddy. Therefore, they seek both protection and special favor for rainfall so that they have sufficient crops for the year to remain productive in their family life. Locally, snakes lay many eggs and remain productive in their private life so do they seek for their devotees so that they will have sufficient food offerings, hence, mutual benefit. Maithili culture portrays it as a divine being who promotes mutual love and care between the newlyweds, bless them with the desired number of children and provide them with the sufficient rainfall so that their life is full of happiness with conjugal bliss. The vivid intertwined serpent is the most striking sight in Maithili painting in general and its special love making posture in nuptial chamber murals. The intertwined snakes signify family‘s bond where the couple has to be together in all the dimensions for prosperity, promotion and power.

This sort of representation also reflects male and female energy in all the creatures, especially human beings for the complete awakening to manifest all the inherent potentialities.

However, a single snake is never drawn in Kohbar painting; a male and a female pair is the usual sight, some artists or the same artists at different drawings have changing sketch. For example, some artists draw coiled form of snakes whose mouths are facing each other whereas a pair is drawn beside the central motif. Both ‗a pair of coiled snakes‘ and ‗a pair of elongated snakes‘ whose eyes, forked tongues and distinct hoods are portrayed along with a pair of fish, tortoises and crabs. Generally the mixed colours are used on the scales of snakes and those colours may be red, black, brown and yellow.

On top of all, snake symbolizes spiritual rebirth. Krishna‘s (eighth incarnation of God Vishnu) brother Balram is the incarnation of serpent king Anant (endless) where preserver God Vishnu rests for cosmic sleep. It also blesses its devotees for regeneration where people gain resiliency to revitalize their physical, mental and spiritual condition. Snake regenerates itself by shedding off its skin and propagates this message to its followers to remain sensitive to their environment the way its skin subtly knows the vibration of earth and the study of amphibian like snake can help human to predict the possible dangers on the earth‘s crust.

Moreover, the message of renewal is universal and it guides its seekers to apply it everywhere whether it is a natural resource or private property that rebuilds the underlying strength once again that ultimately fosters for the longevity. Snake does not have distinct ear but its whole body acts as the ear and can easily feel the vibration of the earth. The serpent king Anant feels the same primordial vibration from where the creator God Brahma crawls from the preserver God Vishnu‘s navel. Lord Vishnu‘s cosmic sleep on the serpent feels the universal sound ohm the very cause of upbringing. The keen observation of the snakes on earth and minute study of herpetology can help human to predict about the earth and other celestial bodies. However, snake has got distinct eyes which help the creature even the subtle movement around and it acts accordingly for the safety, food and fertility.

Besides, its forked tongue which is very clear in the Maithili portrait denotes a treacherous person who cannot be believed because of his double standard, like the snake, despite his numerous useful quality can never be assured hundred percent since it can equally harm a person and even can take their life in a moment. The poisonous tongue with hissing sound warns an individual as well as its prey to be away from it because it cannot control itself at its basic instinctive level, for example, food to survive, safety to progress and laying eggs for fertility. Maithili women have been drawing this legless reptile because of its mythic significance, fertility, protection from the evil consequences and a loving symbolism.

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Scorpion Suggests Readiness Rig and Atharva Vedas (ancient Hindu scriptures) mention Vrischika (Scorpion) poisonous like snake and lying torpid in the earth during winter; the way God Vishnu sleeps calmly on Ananta for creation motive. Hence, characteristically, scorpion is related to preserver God Vishnu and Goddess Uma is represented by an emblem of scorpion who is the favourite Goddess for Maithili maidens who always worship her for the husband like Shiva who loves his wife very dearly. Likewise, scorpion is related with the preserver couple (Vishnu and Laxmi) as well as Shiva and Parvati because of its nature of hibernation and destruction. On the other hand, it also acts as a celestial protective creature to the innocent people and takes revenge with the evil spirits.

According to Greek mythology, the scorpion stands for a military-like readiness-first strike capacity. Ancient cultures from all around the world represents scorpion either with divinity or with fertility. In Babylonia, two seals representing ritual marriage that takes place during the New Year time show scorpions. The scorpion also symbolizes goddess Ishara, the goddess of love. Similarly, Sumerian culture has divine symbols including scorpion.

However, they also stand as guards in the temples. In Egypt, Selket, an old scorpion goddess, wears scorpion on her head and is the guardian of conjugal union who eases childbirth.

Western astrology believes that people born under scorpion are strong, lustful, jealous and vengeful. These same qualities can take on corresponding positive aspects such as the ability to love passionately, apply them with determination and have good memories. In Hindu yoga, there is a Vrischika Asana (scorpion posture) where its two hands act as clutches which symbolize holding bride by groom. Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India has beautiful temples with a lot of erotic sculptures where a voluptuous beauty is sculpted with a scorpion on her thigh which symbolizes lust and it also works as a pun because Sanskrit word for the animal is kharjura; the original name for the village was kharjura-vahaka, meaning ―scorpion bearer‖. Hindu charts contain constellation scorpio whose movement determines the fate of Vrischika people. Indus scorpion is one of the twelve zodiac signs and people‘s name is kept Vrischikan in Sanskrit.

Fig. 3: Godawari Dutta’s Intertwined Snakes (Kachani); Source: Gul, Nazura Aur Ramchand Pakistani. http://arvinddas.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-spot_31.html

Similarly, excavation work finds scorpion seal from valley where many youngsters are with their elders. A scorpion is usually drawn in a wedding mural in Mithila where it stands alone 89 Volume 8 Issue 4

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because it is an isolated animal. We don‘t find herds of scorpions roving the land munching flies together. Standing alone also indicates obtaining spiritual power that leads to high consciousness which ultimately guides people for complete liberation. There is a legend about scorpion where the first step begins with poisonous tail and continues to conquer its innate passions and tries to evolve into an eagle and finally turns into a dove, a peaceful bird.

A Maithili artist, Anuragi Devi Jha says; scorpion walks close to the earth and it facilitates worldly pleasure to the couple if it is pleased and has the capacity to survive even during a long drought, hence it blesses newlyweds to develop that sort of tenacity in their conjugal life. Brown is the favourite colour, it can be mixed also to paint it among the murals and its spotted back with a pair of distinct tentacles along with multiple pairs of legs are the beautiful sight. As a whole, its physicality signifies a couple union under a canopy (its back) which justifies Maithili marriage.

In addition, despite scorpion‘s rare description in Hindu scriptures, it‘s symbolic relation with the holy trimurti (trinity), astrological significance and its effect on human life, historical and cultural description at different corners of the world, its shield from Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilization its depiction in khajuraho sculpture and its vivid portrait in traditional Mithila painting justifies its auspiciousness on common folks since time immemorial. Not only this but also its survival during adverse time seems supportive to the surrounding environment bad quality, its minute observation can reveal a lot about surrounding flora and fauna because of its close movement around them, moreover, it is sketched in the kamaldaha (lotus-pond) painting but it is usually visible on the land rather than in water. In addition, it‘s all body-parts communicate something in relation to truth, welfare and beauty but its apparent eyes and multiple legs convey the visionary power and fertility respectively. Hence, overall picture about this celebrity creature inspires the couple for readiness to face challenges in family life.

Conclusion Finally, essential images of marriage painting disclose collective purpose of Maithili society where fertility appears the core message; it may be because of the high mortality rate due to the lack of awareness about health hazards, lack of sanitation and inaccessibility of the medicines. The pond seems to be the major water resource in the region during medieval period where Maithili life was hugely depended on due to long summer. Hence, Maithili women make the pond as the metaphor of life in their paintings and the aquatic creatures its characters to communicate the message strongly. Moreover, the gist of the canvas hovers around fecundity, union, security, survival and merry making. The mural seeks Maithili women‘s perspective while interpreting because of their sole contribution during its preparation. Therefore, the meaning juxtaposes worldly affairs with spiritual attainment and provides balancing attitude in all the situation of conjugal life. Geography further shapes the analysis because of its direct influence in common life of the natives. Thus the entire painting emerges as an offering to the deities for conjugal bliss.

Works Cited    

Bimal, Rajendra. Lotus Santosh Kumar Singh. Thursday May 2016.

Brown, Carolyn Henning. "Contested Meanings: Tantra and the Poetics of Mithila Art." American Ethnologist 23.4 (1996): 717-737.

Gangawati. Naga- nagin. ILAEN. Mithila Artists from Nepal. Kathmandu, 2014.

Gupto, Arun. Goddesses Of Kathmandu Valley. new delhi: routledge, 2016.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_turtles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_worship Jha, Anuragi Devi. Kohbar Art Santosh Kumar Singh. Monday February 2014.

Kapadi, Ramvaros. ―Mithila Lokchitrama Nepali Sanskritiko Chintan.‖Mirmire, Vol. 42. no. 320, 2013, pp. 147-152.

---. "Mithila Lok Kalama Kohbar Lekhan." Sayapatri (2010): 100-107.

LaDuke, Betty. ―Traditional Women Artists in Borneo, Indonesia and India.‖ Woman’s Art Journal, Vol. 2. no., Spring-Summer 1981, pp. 17-20. ―Lotus.‖ ReligionFacts.com. 27 Jan. 2017. Web. Accessed 23 May. 2017.

Indrakala Nidhi, Sudhira Karn, and Manjula Thakur. Kohbar Art Santosh Kumar Singh. Monday February 2017. petcaretips.net/turtles-tortoises-mythology-religion.html Vequaud, Yves. The Women Painters of Mithila: Ceremonial Paintings from an Ancient Kingdom. Thames and Hudson, 1977. www.hindu-blog.com/2009/05/lotus-flower-in-hinduism-significance.html www.hinduwebsite.com/buzz/symbolism-of-snakes-in-hinduism.asp www.indiaparenting.com › HinduRashi › HinduRashi Signs www.religionfacts.com/fish

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Evelyn Waugh- The Satiric Vision in his Early Novels S. Santosh Smitha

Abstract Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh is one of the major twentieth Century novelists. There has not been a full length study of Evelyn Waugh in our country. In his own country namely Britain, Waugh was for a long time a period writer whose novels reflected the moral confusion of his age .Reception of Waugh‘s Novels in India has been slow. Given his Inflexible Englishness and religious exclusiveness, he was not as famous as his contemporary writer Graham Greene, A handful of Dust in the recent times has generated such enormous interest in the public that Evelyn Waugh has been recognized as a superb stylist and are remarkable literary craftsman .Two valuable books exclusively on Waugh are- Evelyn Waugh – A reference guide and according to Waugh, the act of satire is slightly close to the comic , for what is involved in satire is is a comic struggle of two societies. One is normal and the other absurd, irrational and defiant of the moral law. Waugh was a satirist throughout his career, scathing in tone in the early novels and somewhat subdued in the later ones..Taking a high moral line, Waugh, exposes the futility, smugness of the people living in a world full of anomalies, injustice follies and crime.

Keywords- Moral Confusion, Absurd, Irrational, Futility, Smugness, Morality

Fiction whether in Prose or verse is an ordered restructuring of reality by means of which the multiplicity of life is reduced to an artistic integral unity. The movement of the creative process in fiction is from disorder to order, from the particular to the general and from matter to form. The fiction writer sets out to express his own vision of life and give us an imitation of reality. Engaged as he is in a constant struggle with the chaos of life, apparently meaningless, the novelist is always fighting through a fog to make his meaning clear, only a person with a special sensitivity for words can attempt at an aesthetic recreation of life.

Evelyn Waugh whose literary career spanned a little over three decades following the instantly popular Decline and Fall in 1928 was a writer with such imaginative and expressive gifts. Among his early influences were Ernest Hemingway, T.S Eliot and Ronald Firbank .Waugh was a satirist throughout his career , His satire has two essential things common to all that genre namely humor founded on a sense of grotesque or the absurd, Waugh in his novels exposes the futility and smugness of the people living in a world full of anomalies, injustices, follies and crime .Waugh‘s satires had a profounder moral and religious purpose .The fate of the characters in the early Waugh novels , is the fate of the men and women of an age which is redeeming from the collapse of traditional values and institutions ,The Fates of Paul Pennyfeather, Grimes and Prendergast in Decline And Fall, of Agatha Runcible who meets with violently raving death in Vile Bodies and Prudence, who is eaten by her lover at a cannibals feast in Black Mischief dramatize the spiritual deprivation of a whole generation.

His characters are victims not of the author‘s rage but rather of their own ignorance. In attacking what he sees as the corrupt and qualitative values, Waugh implies a set of values which have religious and moral orientations Despite his rare stylistic gifts however, Waugh was for a long time ignored, as Martin Stannard suggests as one of the foremost writers who was responsible for perfecting certain 92 Volume 8 Issue 4

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technical innovations of the English Novel. Decline and Fall was Evelyn Waughs first Novel.

It was an instant success and he has ever since been regarded as the author‘s major achievement and earned him the reputation of the greatest satirist of the modern society.

James W. Nichols calls him a ―modern satirist and wrote thus, ―Waugh‘s career as a social satirist began in 1928.‘ The institution of the Boarding School had been attempted, many times before but Willet claimed that ‗Evelyn Waugh was the very first Novelist who turned his attention to its submerged depths.‖There are not many durable characters in the English novel like Don Juans or Jeeves but Grimes is part of our heritage, his language and values, his reflections on the public schools and the honor of the regiment are marvelous glimpses of a suppressed rich underworld of English life. Waugh‘s Decline and Fall has been described by critics as the prose equivalent to T.S Eliot‘s The Waste Land. T, S Eliot was among Waugh‘s Favorites and Eliotean Echoes can be heard in many of Waugh‘s Fiction. The disillusionment and despair, the lack of spiritual and metaphysical dimension to modern man‘s life and its utter futility is seen in the context of Eliot‘s notions about the decay of western culture and the fundamental importance of tradition. The characters in Decline and Fall like the people in the Wasteland are exiles in the arid planes..In his Christian Perspective ,from which his art reflects, Waugh resembles T.S Eliot to whom he was drawn while young and to whom he retained admiration throughout his career ,Having identical moral concerns in their writings, Waugh and Eliot wondered whether the values of the world in which they lived could withstand the onslaught of Barbarism. The characters in Waugh‘s novels belonged to the wasteland. The recurrence of the quest motif in Waugh‘s novels in terms of the quest shows distinct stages of Waugh‘s imaginative vision and the rich diversity of his theme. An interpretation of Waugh‘s Novels in terms of the quest shows distinct stages of Waugh‘s own career as a novelist. An early period of Waste Land frustration resulting in a destructive satire from Decline and Fall through A Handful of Dust.

There is little doubt that Evelyn Waugh was influenced both in his technique and theme by T. S. Eliot .In the satiric world of Decline and Fall Vile Bodies and Black Mischief, the adventures of an anti- hero are brought to the forefront. The hero‘s adventures take the form of a voyage dealing with his triumphant return and a happy voyage. The picaresque pattern moves us to recognition of the chaos of the debased world by becoming aimless themselves.

The Dull canal in ―The Fire Sermon‖ the third section of Eliot‘s Poem, which offers little hope of Spiritual growth, makes its appearance in Waugh‘s Vile Bodies. A handful of Dust echoes the Quest for the Grail and Eliot‘s Wasteland. Waugh‘s protagonists progressively move close to a mysterious sense of blessedness.

Waugh did not consider his works as mere aesthetic achievement. Religion was the master sentiment at the root of his creative act and it definitely permeated his work. Jerome Meckier was of the view that ―The symbols are the key to Waugh‘s Art imparting as they do in the Reader‘s Mind; the essence of his vision does not come amiss.‖ An analysis of the symbols and imagery apart from establishing his moral seriousness and artistic commitment is bound to enhance our understanding and appreciation of his texts .To Waugh‘s mind, the church which had sternly wrestled with the facts of human Nature, has aided men in their selfish transcendence and perceived clearly how men through their supreme spiritual effort can move towards supreme happiness and how in the absence of such striving is doomed to the danger of spiritual sloth .An Interpretation of Waugh‘s Novels enables us to distinguish between the point of view of the author and that of his characters.

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The characters of Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies ,and Black mischief are caricatures whose quest for false idols betrays their immaturity .Waugh‘s Christian belief, far from being an impediment to his to an appreciation of his art aids us in perceiving the fundamental difference between the world of greed, violence and Waugh‘s own moral vision. Decline and Fall the first of his novels, portrays a world of false values in which any attempt at self discovery is bound to fail. Waugh‘s novels indicate that what matters for him is the redemptive grace of God in which resides the ultimate truth and meaning of existence. Grace endows the protagonists with intellectual humility which admits that all judgments by their nature are partial and clouded by fallen nature of humanity.

Works Cited   

Vinson James, ―Great Writers of English Language, Novelists and Prose Writers. ed Kames Vinson.( New York, Macmillan Press,), 1979, pg 126 W. Nichols. James, ―Romantic and Realistic, The Tone of Evelyn Waugh‘s Early Novels‖, College English,21 ( October 1962). pg 4 Meckier Jerome, ―Cycle Symbols and Parody in Evelyn Waugh‘s Decline and Fall.‖ Contemporary Literature, Vol, 20.Winter 1979. pg 120

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Theme of Alienation in Rudyard Kipling‟s Kim Soupraja R V

Abstract: The present research paper analyses the theme of alienation in Rudyard Kipling‘s Kim, who is psychologically alienated. Throughout the novel readers can realize that the sense of loneliness experienced by Kim. Kim‘s power derived precisely from his fluid identity and his ability to straddle cultures, that of the British over class and that of India. By the end of the novel the question ―What is Kim?‖ indicates the problem of sense of belonging. Not only Kim but the Lama also has a sense of alienation. Like Kim, the Lama also undergoes his own struggle though he is in a quest for enlightenment. The story has an uncanny knack of representing human minds, hearts, behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, understanding and sympathy on both sides, revealing the pain of the alienated souls.

Key Words: Alienation, Estrangement, Identity, Existence, Quest and Rootlessness.

Introduction: The strong motif of the Indo-Anglican novel and the pervasive sense of alienation dominates the modern novel. This led to the socio-psychological condition of any person which includes his estrangement from some instances of his social existence. The protagonist Kim finds himself an alien, a stranger in his own world, in his own life and also feels that he has lost his identity and roots. Critics like Patrick Williams regard Kipling‘s Kim ―as in some way central, special, even unique, not only within Kipling‘s oeuvre, but also within the entire range of colonial literature.‖ (Williams Chrisman, 480). Similarly Abdul Jan Mohamed says that ―a positive, detailed and non stereotypic portrait of the colonized that is unique in colonialist literature‖ (pg. 97).

Kimball O‘ Hara is an orphan, following the death of his father, an Irish soldier, and his Irish mother. Kim develops two interconnected threads of Kim‘s life from age thirteen to seventeen, his adventures as he traverses India both as the servant of Teshu Lama, a Tibetian monk and as a spy-in-training for the British government and eventually in saving British India from a Russian invasion: and his conflicted identities as both a ―Sahib‖ – a member of the white ruling class in India – and a child born and bred as an Easterner. The sense of displacement and identity loss comes to Kim when he is removed from the company of Indians whom he has known all his life and placed for three years in a western, catholic school where he masters the culture, academic knowledge and language of the British rulers.

Kim meets Mahbub Ali and does all odd jobs for him. His uncanny ability makes him a prime candidate for becoming a spy for the British government. Kim successfully steals the Russian intelligence and Mookerjee, Kim‘s superior befriends the Russians to keep them off the trail. Kim is trained as a spy. The Lama on the other hand finds the river he was searching for and feels satisfied that he has attained enlightenment. The adventures that Kim undergoes as a spy, his endearing relationship with the Lama and the skill and the craftsmanship of Kipling‘s writing, is a minor classic of historical English Literature.

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Discussion: The story Kim starts with the introduction of the characters along with suspense and secrets.

From the beginning itself, one can understand the way Kim is alienated from his parents as well as from society – he is psychologically alienated. Frank Johnson in his book Alienation: Concepts, Terms and Meaning discusses about ‗fractioned functions‘ and talks about our feeling of insignificance. Taviss speaks of ‗social alienation‘ and ‗self-alienation‘ which means a sense of estrangement as a result of the oppressiveness of the social system and loss of contact of the individual self resulting in incapability of controlling once actions. Kimbal O‘ Hara in Kim alienates from his own self which actually leads to rootlessness.

At the suggestion of Father Victor and Bennett, Kim enters St. Xavier‘s school where he sees most of the kids meeting their parents. Kim longs to meet people whom he could call his own, as his parents are no more and people around him only try to give him odd jobs and exploit him. Kim had to bear the pain of being isolated. He becomes violent because of the hatred he had towards society. Creighton feels bad on noticing changes in the character of Kim. He feels that, had Kim‘s parents been alive, Kim would not have faced such situations.

He is identified as a Sahib from the amulet that he owns and hence is sent to school but here also he is bullied by his classmates. Kim‘s companions are elderly people and so he questions to fix his identity, ―Who is Kim-Kim– Kim?‖ (pg. 233) The central point around which the narrative is woven is the strenuous West and the contemplative East, Desire and Deliverance, Kim the Sahib and Kim the Chela, Teshoo Lama the body and spirit, the peace and lust of the hills, the Wheel of Life, River of Life and River of the arrow, The Great Game, action and peace. Kim is praise worthy as it gives us the knowledge about native India and Indians. The protagonist Kim has been given a hybrid existence too. He becomes a native by following the mannerisms of that of native Indians.

Kim‘s relationship with the natives merely reminds the native people and the readers the difference between the colonizers and the colonized.

The power of Kim is evident from his fluid identity and his ability to straddle cultures, that of the British over class and of India. If he had been raised merely British, he would have been lacking in some of the skills – such as the ability to pass as Indian – that the British Spy Service needed to protect the country from the Russians. However the novel also shows that, had he been merely Indian, he would have been unable to resist the ―superstitions‖ and ―backwardness‖ of India, also making it difficult for him to provide what Britain needed. By the end of the novel the question ―who is Kim?‖ indicates the problem of sense of belonging.

The identity problem becomes less important than the sense of belonging. He is no more a boy as the author gives him adult capabilities. As the Lama‘s search comes to an end, Kim‘s tragedy becomes inevitable. Kim‘s journey with the Lama was a kind of shield covering the problem of sense of belonging. As the Lama‘s journey is finalized Kim faces the question: Where do I belong to? There is no specific evidence in the novel to give an answer to this question. At the end of the novel the Lama is spiritually satisfied but Kim is in the midst of nowhere.

Along with Kim, Lama also has a sense of alienation. He feels that only enlightenment can help him to reach his true abode. However like Kim he has to undergo his own struggle.

Though he is in a quest for enlightenment which requires him to be completely detached from the worldly relationships he struggles to get through it. He feels a sense of responsibility towards Kim and does the role of a guardian, and is concerned of his well being. During their 96 Volume 8 Issue 4

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visit to Shamlegh the Lama has a feel of home coming. He is reminded of where he once belonged to. However, it gives him pain too, as he senses how his heart and mind has been acting against his strong desire for enlightenment. He undergoes a sense of spiritual alienation. He is shaken at his inability to resist his passions and at his gross display of attachment to this artwork and to his emotions. The excitement and worry have made him ill.

In his illness he spends much time in meditation and after a few days, informs Kim that he has seen ―The Cause of Things‖: his desire to return to the hills caused him to abandon his search for the River but his thought to search for the Holy River does not diminish.

Conclusion: One can have the smell of India in Kim. It is a story of a small boy and a grown up author who have love for India. The story goes beyond a bird‘s eye view of India. Reading Kim critically would help the reader to read between the lines and get to know the stories of the British Raj. Kipling tries to succeed in showing the difference between his love for India and its inhabitants with their sensual mystic qualities. From the late nineteenth century Orientalist ideologists, Kipling derives his vision. Kim differs from the character of Mahbub Ali or the native Hurree Babu. He is distinct from the indigenous colonial population Kim‘s identity is situated between three competing discourses namely Irish, Indian and the Anglo-Indian.

Kipling himself his colonial writer and hence looks down upon the natives. As the author himself is alienated and belonged to the colonial period and so makes the child‘s situation also complicated. But Sean Sayer explains that alienation might result in fragmentation of people, their individuality, freedom etc., but all this leads to the one point and it is selfdevelopment and self-realization which actually the readers have to understand.

Work Cited:       

Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. New York : Penguin, 1901 Williams, Patrick, Chrisman, Laura. Colonial Discourse and Post – Colonial Theory.

New York : Colombia University Press, 1994 Jan Mohammed, Abdul. R. The Economy of Manichean Allegory. The Function of Racial Difference in Colonialist Literature. ”Race” Writing and Difference. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. (p. 78-106).

Johnson, Frank. Alienation: Concept Terms and Meaning. New York & London, 1973, p.46.

Sayers, Sean. Marx and Alienation: Essays on Hegelian Themes. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999.

Schaff, Adam. Alienation as a Social Phenomenon. New York : Pergamon Press Ltd., 1980 Bhattacharya, Bhabani, ―The Hybrid Indo – Anglican Novel‖. The Indian P.E.N. March.

1955.

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Interrogating Swadeshi in Tagore‟s The Home and the World Swatti Dhanwni

Abstract Social and literary movements have been significant in providing food for thought to the authors. The changes in the world outside are reflected in literature and literature in turn impacts individuals, masses and society. One such influential movement in the history of India was Swadeshi and Boycott. The movement was powerful especially in the state of Bengal. Tagore‘s ‗The Home and the World‘, set against the backdrop of Swadeshi and boycott movement remarkably captures the modern outlook of Nikhilesh towards the freedom movement. The aim of the paper is to examine the concept of Swadeshi as presented

by Tagore through the character of Nikhil and the repercussions the movement had on the masses and individuals.

Key Words: Social and Literary Movements, Swadeshi, Boycott, World, Home Tagore‘s novel The Home and the World is a translation of Ghaire Baire. It was first serialized in a periodical Sabuj Patra. The novel was translated in English by Surendranath Tagore in 1919. The plot of the novel centres around Bimala, wife of Nikhilesh or Nikhil who is attracted to the revolutionary Sandip, Nikhil‘s friend. Her journey from ‗home‘ to the ‗world‘ and back to home is a cautionary tale against the excesses of Swadeshi movement which was degenerating into a violent movement.

According to Jahanbegloo, Gandhi attempted to build a new civilisation in the country to combat the modern civilisation. He relied on Swaraj, Satyagraha and Swadeshi. The concept of Swadeshi was self-sufficiency, a method which could improve the economic conditions in the country through indigenous techniques and products. Gandhi believed that there was a significant connection between Swadeshi and Swaraj. His belief later on was supported by the Congressmen. The movement popularized a nationalist style (20-21). The followers of Swadeshi wore Khadi, slept on Khadi bed linens and decorated their homes with the cloth. In sometime, Khadi became popular and powerful political symbol of protest. Swadeshi movement disseminated in Bengal from 1903-08. The immediate cause for Swadeshi in Bengal was the partition of Bengal in 1905. The reason given by the British government behind partition was the largeness of the estate and the difficulty it posed in administration.

Gandhi defined Swadeshi movement as hand-spinning of Khadi which could make the people of India independent. Swadeshi became a way of protest against the British and British policies. The fire of Swadeshi and boycott of foreign goods propagated all over the country.

Bimala is a conventional Hindu wife who has deep reverence for her husband. Nikhil is a modern educated man of Bengal who loves his wife and hence gives her full freedom. He wants Bimala to know the world and therefore engages a tutor Miss Gilby to educate her. He also introduces her to the political developments happening around. Swadeshi movement forms a backdrop to the novel. Bimala while first listening to the speech of Sandip is totally mesmerized and identifies herself as the women of Bengal who must fight for the country.

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Nikhil invites Sandip for dinner where Bimala voices her love for the country.

I have anger. I would be angry for my country‘s sake. If necessary, I would smite and slay to avenge her insults.(39) Bimala‘s ideas resonate with Sandip who calls her ―Queen Bee‖ and identifies her as the image of Shakti and thus his inspiration. Bimala transforms herself from a traditional wife who attends to her domestic duties to being an active participant in the Swadeshi resistance.

Although, Sandip is Nikhil‘s friend yet both the characters have sharp ideological differences.

Sandip looks forward and even resorts to immoral and violent methods to achieve his goals while Nikhil who is the spokesperson of Tagore stresses that Swadeshi movement should be non-violent. Swadeshi agitators organized boycott of foreign goods, mainly cloth and also made bonfires of them. Nikhil questions the reason behind such methods which affect the minor groups. Tagore was strictly against idolatry or the worship of idols. The author also critiques the image of nation-state through the novel.

As Bimala becomes an active participant of Swadeshi she becomes estranged to Nikhil.

Nikhil who has immense trust and love for Bimala continues to watch how she crosses the threshold of the house to enter a new world. Sandip begins to have a strong influence on Bimala and in turn Bimala‘s fascination with Sandip disturbs her equation with Nikhil. She is confused about her love for Swadeshi and her love for Sandip. Kolijan, Kathleen in ―Durgafor whom I would redden the earth with sacrificial offerings: Mythology, Nationalism and patriarchal Ambivalence in The Home and the World‖ suggests that her decision to help Sandip by stealing money is her complete surrender to the destructive force of the movement (124). Her complete rejection of her role as Queen Bee and Sandip happens when she delivers the stolen money back and begins to pray. Her return to Nikhil is her rejection of Swadeshi as well as of Sandip. Throughout the course of the novel we find Nikhil vehemently opposing the methods of Swadeshi followers. Nikhil suggests: Very well, do not wear them for the rest of your life, then. But why this bonfire business?…You should not waste even a tenth part of your energies in this destructive excitement (24).

It is important to note that Nikhil supported Sandip for his travel, preaching and other activities. It was only that he did not proclaimed ‗Bande Matarm‘ as all the patriots were doing. Thus, through the novel Tagore cautions us about the dangers of such nationalist movements which were running across the country. People like Sandip were only influencing people in the name of Swadeshi with no real spirit of the term. The motive was to only make money.

Works Cited  

Jahanbegloo, Ramin. The Gandhian Moment. Harvard University Press, 2013. Print.

Kolijan, Kathleen in ―Durga- for whom I would redden the earth with sacrificial offerings: Mythology, Nationalism and patriarchal Ambivalence in The Home and the

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World‖ Rabindranath Tagore: Universality and Tradition. Ed. Cohn Hagan & Lalita Pandit. Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2003. Print.

Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Rupa Publications. New Delhi, 2002.Print.

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Silence as an Omniscient Story Teller in Coen Brothers‟ No Country for Old Men Tamanna P M

Abstract The cinematic experience is never been limited into certain aspects. It offers a wider space from where the audience can feel the alternative reality that it creates in parallel to one‘s own reality. Every art form leaves a gap for the viewer to fill that space in order to complete their viewing experience. This paper is a film analysis of Coen Brothers‘ No Country for Old Men, which is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy‘s novel published in 2005, with the same name.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of silence as a film technique that influence the viewer while in the process of meaning making. It contextualises the throughout presence of silence as an omniscient narrator and as a manipulative trope in the meaning making process.

The efficiency of intentionally crated silence over the sound that evokes several emotions to manipulate the audience is another aspect of filmic silence which is contemplated as the paper progresses.

Keywords: Mise-en-scene, Montage, Omniscient narrator, story teller, semiotics of silence, formalism

Introduction Over the last few decades, cinema has witnessed various technological advancements which evidently show its successful journey as an influential art form. Silent era from where it all evolved itself defines what cinema is. Even though the lack of sound created a sense of incompleteness, it never took away the essence of filmic experience from the audience.

Moreover it always succeeded in fascinating the audience with its limited availability of technological advancements. Lack of sound was never a barrier for the creator to convey the meaning or the viewers to perceive the alternative reality that a film portrays. The invention of sound definitely offered an entirely new outlook to experience this same reality. Cinema that depended solely upon the facial expression to covey different emotions till then utilised different sounds and music for the same purpose. Eventually sound became an inevitable element within the narrative of every film. Thus when the director decides to use silence over the sound intentionally, it opens many possibilities towards its semantic aspects. In this context the silence is not same as what one experienced in silent movies which merely represented a lack, but rather it becomes a powerful narrative tool that has the power and potential to manipulate the human minds. Thereby the motivation of this paper is to look at filmic silence which is often experienced unconsciously by the viewers, that holds the intensity and aggressiveness of the plot.

Taking silence as a medium to convey certain unvoiced meanings, this paper will look at the movie No Country for Old Men directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, released by paramount Vantage. It will look how this film utilizes the presence of silence as a mysterious narrator also as an evilly clever story teller. Coen brothers are known for their unique style of film making which captures the reality with all its essence and multitudes which is reflected through each and every minute elements of their film even if it is in terms of setting, plot, characterisation or narration. It is difficult to avoid the fact that the movie is an adaptation of 101 Volume 8 Issue 4

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a novel written by Cormac McCarthy published by Alfred A. Knopf. This film falls under the category of a not very successful novel being adapted into a successful film. Where is the power of transformation? Russian Formalism‘s concepts of Syuzhet and Fabula can be superimposed to understand, that the novel has a Fabula and construction of Syuzhet by the writer transforming it into a unique reading experience.

The formalist movement attempted to discriminate systematically between art and non-art.

Therefore its notions are organized in terms of polar oppositions. One of the most famous dichotomies introduced by the mechanistic formalists is a distinction between story and plot, or Fabula and Syuzhet. Story (Fabula) is a chronological sequence of events, whereas plot (Syuzhet) can unfold in non-chronological order. The events can be artistically arranged by means of such devices as repetition, parallelism, gradation, and retardation. (Wiki, Russian Formalism) The Fabula doesn‘t define the writer but the Syuzhet holds the possibility of accommodating the writers narrating talent. Can we interpret a movie as a Syuzhet of another level, incorporating the author‘s personal universe into his mode of storytelling? The same Fabula is interpreted as a Syuzhet by the novelist employing his devices and style into the narrative and so does the director of a film, who uses this Fabula into another unique viewing experience. The director then becomes the new author to his narrative propounding the French auteur theory.

The auteur theory is a way of critically analysing a film or corpus of films through viewing its director as the film‘s author and principal creative influence. First articulated in post-war France by film magazine Cahiers du cinéma, it viewed the director as the primary individual responsible for creating a valuable film. The auteur theory was further developed by structural film criticism and feminist film theory, but was challenged in several ways, particularly by a new wave of post-structural film critics at Cahiers du cinéma. Though it has met with much controversy since its initial formulation, it reverberates to the present day as a method of analysing films and their value through their directors. (Hartzheim, The Auteur Theory) This paper will focus on the use of a different language of sign that this film adapts to convey the same meaning and the context that the book carries. Moreover it will construct a theoretical framework to approach silence as a trope for meaning making within the mise-enscene and montage Analysis The transition from silent movie to sound movie was one of the greatest technological advancement that film as an art form witnessed. Edison‘s Kinescope and Lumière brothers‘ Cinematograph captured the motion pictures which depicted realities, but the lack of sound was essential to be fixed to give a complete viewing experience (A very short History of Cinema). Later Warner brothers invented the technique of incorporating the background music with the silent motion picture. With this development Warner Bros‘ The Jazz Singer (1927) became a huge commercial success by attaining the status of the first motion picture with synchronised sound (A very short History of Cinema). Thereby Silent era came to an end with the invention of sound technology by 1927.

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This is not only a mere technological advancement but the invention of sound technology addressed the incompleteness that film carried so far. It had the captivating power to transform the meaning in order to cater the emotional connections that the viewer holds with the visuals. In James Monaco‘s word ‗sound manipulates the image‘. Thus it becomes not only omnipresent in nature but Omni directional as well (235). Since it is the human tendency to associate different emotions with different kinds of music, sound plays an important role in the whole process of meaning making. Sound film introduced us to an acoustic environment, where the presence of every object, living creatures becomes meaningful (Balazs 1).

How does the absence of sound plays a role in the whole process of meaning making?

Cinematic silence is a deliberate attempt in the meaning making process and it is where the distinction of filmic silences should be drawn, where a lack is used intentionally to give different dimension to the visual narratives. Silence is a ‗dramatic acoustic effect‘ (Balazs 2) and thus no other art form can produce the silence that a sound movie creates. Even the silence that silent movie has created doesn‘t create the same impact, because it represents a lack. Thus the possibility to study silence only arises in terms of binary, which is the absence of sound.

The utilization of this lack in a very effective way can open multiple possibilities for the spectator to engage with the meaning making process with diverse perspective. In No Country for Old Men, silence is not just the absence of sounds but rather it evolves as a manipulative narrative trope. Raeymaekers, in his paper Filmic Silence says that the sudden lack of sound takes away the cinematic illusion from the viewers with the intrusion of the sounds in one‘s own surroundings to this complete silence. As far as No Country for Old Men is concerned there is no sound track thus no sudden absence of sound. At the same time it does not makes the real world evident, rather it construct an alternative reality with silence as its language and the viewing experience of the audience revolves around it. The mysterious and terrifying nature of the plot accompanied by the use of silence as a technique, reconstructs the notion of silence being peaceful. The variations of silences that the creator intentionally utilizes lead to the continuity within the montage which invokes different emotions in the audience. The throughout presence of silence or the absence of sound in the film might be evident but the variations of the same silence takes the role of manipulative story teller. And here exactly Coen brothers emerge as the ‗Auteur‘ of this piece of art.

In the movie there is no instances of complete absence of sound but definitely scenes which shows murder, holds a silence that seems to be a complete silence. In other scenes even though there is no background music, other diegetic sounds are very much evident. For example the sounds of cars, wind, crowd etc. which gives a sense of reality within one‘s day today life experience. When it turns to a scene that is before or after a murder, the diegetic sounds starts to fades and it focuses on any particular sound then the entire mood of the scene takes a turn. These sounds intensify the silence. For example if the focus is moving towards the sound of footstep, it highlights the silence in the background because it chooses to focus on one particular sound over all other possible diegetic sound that could be present in the montage.

All the crucial scenes in the movie are either followed or preceded by a silence which seems to be a complete silence but not a mute. It is a natural silence. It hints on danger that could possibly happen but the ambiguity within it never let the audience to get a clue about what will happen next. At 00:56:35 darkness around Moss intensifies the silence and there is a complete silence. The chasing scene just after this from 01:01:03, the sound of footsteps 103 Volume 8 Issue 4

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actually carries the suspense within the spectator in terms of what is going to happen after the presence of a terrifying silence in the background. And again the scene from 01:05:26 where Moss reaches the city side, other normal background sounds likes the sound wind, vehicle etc. are brought back. This is where the terrifying nature of silence blends with a silence which is natural, normal and relatable in the day to day life. This transition shows how the silence becomes both peaceful and violent in terms of it contextual significance.

Similar transition can also be found at 00:20:50. In the first shot a shop in the Texas is shown and there are several sounds in the background like the horn of vehicle, the sound of wind which establishes a normal environment. When Chigurh enters to the shop one could hear natural sounds that are present in the background like sound of old man in the shop writing in a paper and Chigurh eating peanuts etc. Even though there is a silence in the background it is not terrifying as it is there in the murder scenes. The tone of the same silence starts to change when their conversation takes different turn. This eventually causes the fading of background sounds that were there before and focusing on their exchange of dialogue. The silence in the background can be identified as terrifying when Chigurh puts the toffee cover in the table.

Suddenly the old man‘s attention goes to that cover. Here the sound of mere cover of candy becomes the focus. This sound wouldn‘t have created any impact if it is a normal background with all other natural sounds in it. There it will become a mere sound among other sounds.

The same tension occurs in the mind of audience when suddenly the sound of coin toss becomes evident. The silence in the background makes these sounds a little bit disturbing to the audience in order capture the mood of the scenes. The intentional use of silence makes this minute sound becomes very significant within the context.

At 01:21:35, the complete silence in the background which focuses upon the exchange of dialogue between Carson and Chigurh is shattered with the intrusion of the sound of phone ringing. For a moment audience comes out of the terrific atmosphere that the silence has created and identify oneself with the sounds in the surrounding. At the very next moment when Chigurh shoots Carson, spectator who came out of the terrifying atmosphere of the silence for a second again goes back to the shock which is unexpected. In 01:25:13, it is actually silence that connects both Chigurh and Moss in two different locations talking over the phone. The possible background sound is removed from the place where Moss is standing and it is similar to the silence in room where Chigurh is sitting. It is not actually possible to create a complete silence in the background of Moss thus it is a silence by negation, where the spectator tends to ignore the sound to perceive it as silence and thereby it creates a sense of terror. (Raeymaekers 13) This hints the overarching presence of silence as an important essence of this film.

Presence of silence in this movie is an element which cannot be taken away or substituted with any other technical advancement. The Omni-directional nature of silence construct its presence as a storyteller; a third person omniscient narrator. The silence is everywhere. It travels with Chigurh, it follows Moss, it can also intrude into their mind to show the mental conflicts within every characters lives. Throughout the movie Coen brother makes a deliberate and conscious attempt to use silence as a narrative tool which shades its presence over each and every minute signs within the film. The choice of Chigurh silencer gun can considered as directors‘ brilliance. This is an unexpected experience for the audience who is aware of the normal gun sound from the mainstream movies. This is definitely contributes to the narrative style of the film.

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The ambiguity that the silence carries as a narrative tool is different from the narrative style that the book has. Both platforms are different and have it limitations. While reading the book, the sound perception of reader need not be mute. It has more possibilities with one‘s own imagination. The film adaptations are the visual abridgement of the book. It may not be as specific as a book because it limits its possibility to the mise-en-scene with the signs and symbols that the creators prescribed to portray. The film adaptations need not to carry all those minute aspects. In the film No country for old men, silence speaks what visuals and sound couldn‘t and tries to recreate what exactly there in the novel or sometimes the silence speaks something more than the novel. For example the character traits of Carla Jean are different in the movie when compared to the book. In the movie she is portrayed as a strong character that fearlessly faces Chigurh or in other word facing death without any fears.

Whereas in the book she is pleading for her life and Chigurh holds the authority there.

Compared to book, in movie there is only few dialogues exchange between Carla Jean and Chigurh. The absolute silence in the background speaks all those emotions that are there in both Carla and Chigurh‘s mind and captures the terror of the moment. In this instance the role of Coen brother as the creators of this film as text can be examined.

The book doesn‘t give any actual space for the audience to interpret the possible endings of this particular section of the plot, because it ends with the answer; ―Then he shot her‖ (McCarthy, 260). It limits the views of audience at this point itself but in the movie it left without any answer and the spectator who is evolved in the silence within the mise-en-scene is expected to come up with their own possible interpretations for it. Presence of silence thus promises a very active participation of the audience while watching the movie. Silence as a language conveys the meanings of emotions. Thus if linguistic difference differentiate the audience, silence as a language holds everyone by conveying meaning that is accessible and understandable for everyone. Here the movie becomes a Syuzhet were the same Fabula is reinterpreted and represented by the directors who use silence as narrative tool that holds the mystery of the story. This transition from Fabula to Syuzhet offers a unique viewing experience for the audience. Thus the role of directors as the ‗Auteur‘ or the authors of the film is felt with their unique use of silence as an omniscient story teller.

Conclusion Unlike music and sound which can be re-developed into different style that it requires, silence has uniformity but the one‘s experience with silence varies with the perception of those who deals with it or based on the contexts in which it is presented. The meaning varies from person to person, and context to context. It need not be symbolising the peace or the stillness before the danger every time. This movie No Country for Old Men directed by Coen brothers tries to distort and redefine all the existing notions related to the presence of silence with their unique style of storytelling. this movie revolves around a silence which is not a mute, where all the sounds are removed rather it chose a silence which seems to be absolute silence but turning the attention and the consciousness of the spectator to every minute aspects of other diegetic sounds within the mise-en-scene and Montage, which creates a sense of mysterious thrill during the process of watching. Silence takes the role of an omniscient narrator who can see everything and who is everywhere similar to Anton Chigurh, the villain.

His silent presence is always felt with the terror of death. Thus in the process of watching and meaning making the stillness that silence holds becomes similar to the stillness and calmness that death often associated to. Eventually the audience are manipulated by the presence of death which itself reflects the omnipresent throughout the plot.

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Coen brothers are conscious in using the same silence with slight variation that carried the intensity and ferocity of different scene to its maximum. In every murder scenes the gradual fading of diegetic sounds turns the focuses to any one particular sound in the background.

This significant presence of one sounds over all the possible sound in manifest the presence of silence. At this point the focus of the psyche of the viewer automatically focuses towards the highlighted sound within the screen. The audience are caught up within the fear that arouses when a particular diegetic sound being significant that one forget the role of silence in it. Thus from the beginning to the end the silence as an evilly clever story teller keeps the terror and mystery of the plot within the plot and the same silence chases them same as Chigurh chasing the people to the death. Book has the possibilities to broadly describe these minute aspects where it is given to the imagination of the readers. Whereas in the film same terror that books created with its style narration is retold by the creators of the film through silence. Thereby silence becomes a language itself which creates an alternative reality.

Compared to music silence is more of realistic in nature, because everyone experiences silence in their day to day life. The ways one perceives silence depends on one‘s own engagement with in the day to day experiences. Music can pacify an aggressive situation making the viewer realizing the fact that it a cinematic reality constructed by the film, but it adds an artificiality since it is not there in the real life contexts. Thus it can take alternative reality and its essence from the audience. Unlike music silence doesn‘t calm the conciliating psyche of the audience rather it holds them in the verge of suspense and terror till the end.

Cinema doesn‘t give definite answer. It entrust the viewer with the responsibility to incorporate their personal experience to extract the meanings within it. It is continuous process. Thus the possibilities to read a film same as text deals with varied ranges of scope where the role of directors as the creators and spectator as the meaning receptionist as well as the constructors can be asserted. Similarly silence is also ambiguous in nature it does not give specific meaning but it gives space from where the meaning van be interpreted. Thus it deals with a platform where the active participation of spectators, who deles with the gaps that every film leaves intentionally for the further possible development from the meaning that it has already constructed.

References   

    

―A very short History of Cinema.‖ National Science and Media Museum, 7 Jan.2011,https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/very-short-history-of-cinema/.

Balazs, Bela. Theory of the Film: Growth of a New Art. Edited by Herbert Marshall, London, 1930.

Hartzheim, Bryan Hikari. "Auteur Theory, The." The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. Taylor and Francis, 2016. Date Accessed 9 Dec. 2019 https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/auteur-theory-the. doi:10.4324/9781135000356REM304-1 McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men. London, Picador, 2007.

Monaco,James. How to Read a Film.4th ed., Oxford UP, 2009.

No Country for Old Men. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, performances by Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kelly Macdonald, Paramount Vantage, 2007.

Raeymaekers, Sven. Filmic Silence: An analytic framework. Utrecht University, 2014, MA Dissertation.

Wikipedia contributors."Russian formalism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Sep. 2019. Web. 9 Dec. 2019.

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English Language Teaching Developing Effective Speaking and Listening Activities among Rural Learners Putnam Anand Kumar

Abstract The objective of paper is to evaluate the suitability/feasibility of English language effective listening and speaking skills in the agency area of Khammam district. The study further aims to evaluate the availability of relevant environment for the successful implementation of these effective speaking and listening skills in rural area, the prospects of these effective speaking skills and their influence in improving the standards of ELT. Inter alia the study proposes to assess the adaptability of the teachers to these new strategies, the suitability of the present infrastructure for these strategies and the extent of training required to teaching English language effective listening and speaking skills in rural area.

The study is confined to a two selected government junior colleges from different Mandals‘ in agency area of Khammam district, Telangana State that has been identified by the Board of Intermediate Education, Government of Telangana, in rural tribal agency areas of Khammam district. Further the study is confined to learners of intermediate second year level rural learners Speaking and Listening skills by adopting effective speaking and listening activities, The research aims at not just the study of the prospects of introducing newer methods of ELT, but would also attempt to evaluate the suitability/feasibility of English Language effective listening and speaking activities teaching in the intermediate colleges.

Key words: Scaffolding, Effective Speaking and Listening Activities (Collaborative), SocioCultural Theories.

Introduction: Basic principle of any language is to communicate effectively and no communication is possible unless one gets a chance to communicate. As the whole world has become the global village the demand for communication is high in the changed scenario. It is natural that the demand for communication is high in this ever-changing world. Language plays a vital role in communication and English is no doubt the foremost and most important tool of communication all over the world. Individually every man should strive hard to acquire good communication skills which are the foremost important prerequisites to excel in one‘s career.

Since the global economy and the global marketing asks people to have sensitivity of diverse culture, learning a second language helps people have better communication with others.

Also it increases the opportunity for job prospects. As an English language learner, I also know the importance of learning another language. Stewart (2012) presents: In today‘s globalized economy, where much economic growth is increasingly outside the United States, there is a growing need for workers with knowledge of foreign languages and cultures to market products to customers around the world and to work effectively with foreign employees and partners in other countries. This means there are more interactions with diverse cultures and languages. (p. 3) this is the main reason for the huge numbers of students learning a second language. This study hopes to help students in learning a second language

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when they do not have a lot of opportunities to practice speaking and listening outside of their classroom environment. In addition we can help teachers to create more appropriate learning activities for their students to speak and listen in the target language. This How to Improve Language Learners‘ Listening and Speaking Skills can also develop cooperation between the students and teachers and this will improve their language learning.

Most of the intermediate colleges (Junior Colleges as they are known in Telangana) are affiliated to the Board of intermediate Education (BIE), Telangana. The Board has prescribed an English syllabus for 100 marks comprising some portions of Communicative English, vocabulary, grammar, essays, poems, short stories etc. for reading practice and for acquisition of the four basic language skills. The Communicative English course which claims to equip intermediate students with the four language skills (listening, speaking reading and writing) does not achieve the targeted goals as the evaluation is done only on listening and speaking skills.

In effect, the course is not much different from that of secondary schools. Both teachers and students tend to neglect the other language skills. As per students‘ own submission, they refer to Guidebooks and Key books widely available in the market, and manage to clear the examination. Moreover, the teachers who handle the intermediate syllabus of BIE are not properly trained to teach Communicative English as most of them are postgraduates in English literature. Very few of them have the ELT background essential to teach the Communicative English syllabus.

The Need for the Study An analysis of the methods of English Language Teaching in rural tribal agency area of Khammam district reveals their backwardness. This backwardness has prompted the attempt to study the prospects of introducing newer methods of ELT in the district. The ways and means of transforming the traditional mode of chalkboards for dissemination of knowledge to integrated modern methods effective listening and speaking activities curriculum warrant the need for the study.

Scope and Objective of the Study The study is confined to a two selected government junior colleges from different Mandals‘ in agency area of Khammam district, Telangana State that has been identified by the Board of Intermediate Government of Telangana, in rural tribal agency area of Khammam district.

Further the study is confined to learners of intermediate second year level rural learners Speaking and Listening skills by adopting effective listening and speaking activities, The research aims at not just the study of the prospects of introducing newer methods of ELT, but would also attempt to: 1. Evaluate the suitability/feasibility of English Language effective listening and speaking activities teaching in the intermediate colleges 2. Evaluate the necessary environment for successful implementation of this strategy 3. Assess the factors that hinder the prospects of these listening and speaking skills 4. the influence of these strategies in improving the standards of ELT and the teachers‘ attitude towards these effective listening and speaking skills teaching to the rural learners 108 Volume 8 Issue 4

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5. The factors contributing to their successful implementation Statement of the Problem The study proposes to evaluate the suitability/feasibility of English language effective listening and speaking skills in the agency area of Khammam district. The study further aims to evaluate the availability of relevant environment for the successful implementation of these effective listening and speaking skills in rural area, the prospects of these effective speaking skills and their influence in improving the standards of ELT. Inter alia the study proposes to assess the adaptability of the teachers to these new strategies, the suitability of the present infrastructure for these strategies and the extent of training required to teaching English language effective listening and speaking skills in rural area.

The Problem Majority of the students who are admitted into the junior college have no ample opportunity to study English Language, except those who are admitted to study English and related subjects such as linguistics and literature in English. Though, all students admitted into the junior colleges are encouraged to take few courses in the use of English, the content of these English courses are grossly inadequate for the students to acquire requisite skills in effective use of language for communication and for the give and take of social experience. In order to study English as a second language and be successful at it, the student must be helped by the teacher to acquire skills in all the four language arts skills, namely: Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

Written and Spoken English are obviously very different things. While writing consists of marks on paper, speaking consists of organised sounds, taken in by the ear. Language, for any human being, starts with the ear. Spoken language comes first in the history of any individual. Even in the history of any civilisation, spoken form of language originated first. Only much later, written form, which is merely the symbolical representation of the spoken words and sounds, came into existence. The need of the hour, therefore, is to assign primacy to Spoken English and train the students to face the world of advance communication.

Teaching Speaking Skills Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13) Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997). Speaking is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching. Despite its importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English language teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues. However, today's world requires that the goal of teaching speaking Should improve students' communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance. Therefore, recent pedagogical research on teaching students conversation has provided some parameters for developing objectives and techniques.

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Teaching Listening Skills Listening plays an important role in communication as it is said that, of the total time spent on communicating, the need for competence in listening in EFL English language learners is increasing, so that listening teaching has attracted considerable attention. Unfortunately, the teaching of listening skills is still neglected in the English language teaching process. EFL learners have serious problems in English listening comprehension due to the fact that pay more attention to English grammar, reading and vocabulary. Speaking and listening skills are not important parts of many course books or curricula and teachers do not seem to pay attention to these skills while designing their lessons. EFL English language learners have limited listening comprehension. Listening levels of learners are different from each other, because listening is affected by crucial factors.

The most important factors that should be emphasized are: the significance of listening, the study of listening teaching theory and use of the most advanced listening teaching methods.

In many English language classes, grammar-translation method is used for teaching. This method has been found inadequate to the demands for producing efficient English speakers and listeners. So a new teaching method should be used to meet the needs of students. This new method is called communicative approach. English must be taught as a tool for communication. It is now widely accepted that students‘ listening ability must be at the core of teaching practice, and it is the area in which teachers need to concentrate their own efforts to improve their teaching. This is a significant challenge for English teachers; however, it is crucial in the development of English language communicative competence. The purpose of this approach is to improve the students‘ English overall linguistic capability and oral and aural competence. The researchers attempt to discuss the importance of listening skill. This study will be beneficial to intermediate rural learners to improve their English language listening comprehension ability.

Socio Cultural Theory through Scaffolding One of the techniques used in the English language learning class rooms is Scaffolding.

Wood, Bruner & Ross, were the first ones to use the term Scaffolding in their examination of parent-child talk in the early years which according to them led the learners towards better language learning (Gibbons, 2002). Scaffolding, fundamentally is a ―process of ‗setting up‘ the situation to make the child‘s entry easy and successful and then gradually pulling back and handing the role to the child as he becomes skilled enough to manage it‖ (Bruner, 1983,p. 60).

Teaching Effective Speaking and Listening Activities Using a variety of class activities and technology use make a dynamic language classroom. This is an environment where students are speaking and listening consistently in the target language.

My teaching partner explained, ―What I find most effective is to surround the students with the language at all times‖ (personal communication, February, 2018). The teacher explained in order to improve students‘ listening skills the teacher suggests using normal speech pace and word choice that is not too simple when talking with students. This is a good strategy to improve students‘ listening skills. This also supports students in acquiring their academic vocabulary and knows how to use them the language in context.

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Multiple learning styles engagement Kinesthetic activities This is a very useful tool for students, especially for intermediate students. When I use these physical activities it will allow my students to activate the learning using their whole body. I will encourage them to move as part of their process of speaking and listening in the target language. I will create activities that let them physically touch and smell some materials. I know this is an extremely effective tool to engage students‘ attention, especially the early grades where lectures are hard to keep their attention. These kinds of activities are fun and will make my students at ease. When students are focused on the class content then they are motivated to speak and listen.

Visual Technology plays an important role that we can use for teaching and learning. I noticed that all the students love the videos. Majority of my students are digital natives. They are growing up with hand-held devices and other tools that make them very engaged with screen technology and learning. I will keep doing research on the age appropriate videos. When students struggle understanding target language, videos will be the best resource to use. It will help students have a better understanding on target language. When they understand what they learned and then they can speak.

Audio Grouping is a great and necessary strategy for speaking and listening practice. I will make group discussion to provide students a relaxed and comfortable environment for them to talk to their classmates. Also I will have small group lessons and assessments because they are a naturalistic communication strategy that promotes students speaking to one another. If any of the students cannot completely understand the class content after teaching, they can get help from their group members.

Conclusion The naturalistic peers are the best resource to motivate students to speak and listen. Colleges are playing a very important role in students‘ learning lives. If they can support what teacher decide it will really helpful. If the schools and the teachers all acknowledge the importance of speaking and listening skills, students can get better support from teachers and college. Since the students build a solid foundation on speaking and listening, they have more comfortable to learn.

References   

Brown, D. H. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.

Burns, A. and Joyce, H. (1997) Focus on Speaking. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Bruner, J. S. (1983) Child's Talk: Learning to Use Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Chickering, A. W. and Gamson, Z.F.1987 Seven principles for good practice. AAHE Bulletin.

Chaney, A.L., and T.L. Burk. 1998. Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8.

Boston: Allyn & Bacon Gibbons, P. (2002) Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Stewart V. (2012) Why language immersion? Why not? Chinese language learning in the early grades: A Handbook of resources and best practice for Mandarin immersion. (Pp.34).

Wood, D., Bruner, J.S., Ross, G., 1976. The role of tutoring in problem solving. J. Child Psychol. Psych. All. Discipl., 17, 69-100.

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Integrating Technology into Teaching Learning Process through Flipped Classrooms P. Bharathi

Abstract The massive impact of technology and student centered learning practices in higher education scenario today are remarkable. Digital technologies have introduced the concepts like LMS, Online resources and Lecture capture systems in the HEIs replacing conventional teaching methods with flexible, active and collaborative modes to enhance student learning. The emergence of the ‗Flipped Classrooms‘ has transformed the teaching learning process by involving Learning Management Systems like MOODLE and EDMODO. Flipped classrooms can make the 21st century learners acquire interest in lifelong learning, This paper aims to provide an understanding of what the components of a flipped classroom are, its advantages and disadvantages. The implementation of this system through EDMODO is discussed using a sample lesson taken from a prescribed textbook.

Key Words: Collaborative learning, LMS, Flipped Classrooms.

Introduction In higher education students assume the responsibility of their own learning. So the concept of flipped learning gains importance in this context where teachers play the role of a facilitator and guide students in self learning. Teachers provide materials and tools to make lessons easy and interesting for the students. In recent times EDMODO and MOODLE are used as platforms to accentuate interaction and discussion among groups of students. Access to learning resources has created many opportunities for the learners to progress at their own pace. Due to various predicaments class time may not be utilized completely for the teaching learning process. To overcome these impediments, flipped classrooms have emerged.

The term flipped classroom was popularized by teachers Aaron Sams and Jon Bergman in 2007. In flipped learning, instead of spending class time for delivering a lecture, it can be used to gain knowledge and provide feedback to students‘ response. Here students gain knowledge by participating in various activities. There is no scope for recall of information.

The learning resources provided by the teacher are studied at home and reinforced in the classroom through discussion and review by the teacher.

Theoretical Support Constructivism proposes that learning is an active process. So knowledge is not gained by mere transmission but by the active process of construction of concepts in relevant contexts.

Personal experiences and exposure to different situations facilitate this process. Felder (2012) supported this argument of self directed learning augmented by constructivism.

According to Bloom‘s revised taxonomy (2001), in traditional classrooms students can only work on the lower levels of cognition, i.e., remember and understand . But if they learn some concepts outside of class, they can focus on the other cognition levels, like application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation) in class, with the support of their peers and teacher. So 113 Volume 8 Issue 4

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this kind of reversal of the process of learning is termed as ‗Flipped classroom‘. Since selflearning is promoted in higher education flipped classrooms go a long way in strengthening this concept.

What is a Flipped Classroom?

As Bergmann and Sams (2012) have described that the flipped or inverted classroom is an instructional model in which the traditional lecture is a student's homework and in-class time is spent on collaborative, inquiry-based learning. The routine of the conventional classroom where students do homework after listening to a lecture is reversed. Teacher shares resource materials and videos pertaining to a lesson through LMS (EDMODO). Students go through the materials at home by and discuss the topics with their classmates through EDMODO and come to the class with queries. In the classroom teacher and students review the lesson once again and clarify the doubts and complete the tasks. This promotes inquiry based learning.

Use of technology especially LMS and videos are the critical components in technology based flipped learning.

In a flipped classroom content should be relevant and appropriate in consideration with the learner‘s prior knowledge. After conducting formative assessment of the students teacher can design or adapt tasks. Students should be motivated and trained to understand and follow the system of self-learning in flipped classrooms. Teachers serve primarily as guides and facilitators of learning, but not as instructors. Familiar tools like YouTube, Ever note, Google Drive, and blogging platforms can be used.

EDMODO EDMODO is one of the most commonly used education tools in the world .It enables loading content and assignments for your students to access, and allowing students to share discussions and comments etc . With everything on one platform, EDMODO reinforces and enhances what a teacher is already doing in the classroom. It is designed to give a teacher complete control over his/her digital classroom. Teacher can determine who can join groups, ensure they remain private, and monitor member activity, safety is built right in. EDMODO gives students new ways to engage, participate, and express themselves. A teacher can post discussion topics, conduct assignments, quizzes and polls, award badges etc. and students can access everything loaded to EDMODO on mobile devices as well as desktops, so they can do their learning wherever works best for them.

How to use EDMODO? Login to: https://www.edmodo.com

1.

2.

3.

4.

You have to access the page through your e-mail.

Select the tab of your choice.

Select options about giving quiz , assignments Settings tab has the necessary options.

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MOODLE MOODLE (acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) allows for extending and tailoring learning environments. Developed on pedagogical principles, it is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other e-learning projects. MOODLE has the functionality to serve as the platform for a flipped classroom.

Teachers can load resources, including any relevant ones they find shared by other teachers in MOODLE, to create the assignments and curriculum for each class. All the content related to each module can be loaded and divided according to topics .A variety of content formats can be used.

Advantages In flipped classroom, students have the freedom to learn concepts at their own pace. This also promotes mastery learning. They can repeatedly view the video lessons or review the reading materials. Since they are connected with their peers through EDMODO they can interact share their ideas and clarify doubts with their teachers. Students absent to the regular class due to various reasons can access the materials and participate in the discussion at their convenience. This motivates them continue to learn with renewed interest. Since parents have access to EDMODO, they can track the progress of their children. Students also feel accountable to their parents and teachers. Parents can gauze the level and standard of the instruction provided to their children and make suggestions.

Disadvantages Access to the digital resources and familiarity with them is the key to the success of the flipped classroom. Any breakdown may hamper the functioning of this system. Sometimes teachers and students also may need training to use this system effectively. Student motivation and participation are vital to the success of this system. Teachers should ensure that students follow the instructions and procedures properly and watch the video lectures at home regularly. Teachers may need to upgrade their skills in creating video lectures or uploading them. Designing tasks and worksheets is also necessary to conduct interesting activities in the classroom to augment student learning. Though technology enhanced learning is the new trend, over dependence is inimical to the process of teaching learning.

Face to face interaction with peers and teacher may be curtailed as students get fewer opportunities for this. Learning of social and life skills may be at stake.

Sample Lesson Plan: Level: B.Tech I year “Technology with a Human Face” by E.F. Schumacher (Lesson taken from the text book - ―Fluency in English‖ Prescribed by JNTUH, Orient Blackswan, 2016, Hyderabad) Objective: The learner will explore different aspects of how uncontrolled growth of technology effects human life and gain a deeper understanding of how it creates crisis leading to disastrous consequences.

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Brief description of Activities: Reading Quiz At home: Students will read the lesson and note down the points. A link to the study material provided by the teacher will be posted on the EDMODO classroom. Students are required to complete the vocabulary tasks and answer survey questions (this should be completed before coming to class). They can discuss the questions with their classmates through EDMODO. Worksheet During class: Teacher will verify completion of homework by checking the vocabulary tasks and reviewing the survey questions. Students will then be placed into cooperative learning groups to answer comprehension questions. The teacher will review the questions with the students to for a better understanding of the lesson. Teacher will give a technology related problem for discussion.

Students will be:     

Creating—Creating a dialogue / role-play on ―Impact of Technology on human life : Mobile Phone‖ Evaluating—Through the use of reading material, students will find answers to questions Analyzing—Students will analyze why the term human face was used.

Applying—Students will need to apply their experience in real life to find solutions to the tasks Understanding—Students will interact in groups to gain a deeper understanding of the concept

Materials needed for the study of the lesson at home: - Computer, Internet access - Link to the teacher created EDMODO and Study material - Printer or Microsoft Word (or equivalent) Materials needed for in-class work: - Teacher provided study material - Computer, Internet access - EDMODO link Formative Check: Teacher will check for completion of homework i.e., vocabulary chart and survey questions.

Teacher will check for understanding of the lesson by reviewing the reading material. If students have difficulty in understanding the lesson, teacher will re-teach the lesson.

Evaluation: Teacher will evaluate understanding of the lesson by students through class discussion and review of the survey questions. Teacher will also check the role-plays/ dialogues written by students to make sure that they understand the meaning of ‗Human face of Technology‘.

Closure: Students will present their dialogues/ role-plays to the class.

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Assessment: Teacher can use the pre-designed parameters to evaluate the performance of students.

In Conclusion Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of a flipped classroom ,the challenge of conducting it successfully needs perseverance and resilience on the part of the teachers.

Teachers and students should mould and adapt their style of teaching/ learning to meet the requirements of a flipped classroom. But many teachers have tried it and experienced success. So it is worthwhile to experiment with flipping a lesson or two to see what happens in the classroom. It is suitable for guided learning in higher education institutions. So it‘s worth giving a try.

Tasks Survey Questions 1. How much do you rely on technology to complete your daily tasks?

2. Ask an elderly member in your family about the tasks for which they employed technology when they were young?

3. Is technology useful to enhance creativity or not? Give examples.

4. Do you think technology is taking away the pleasure of achievement or satisfaction of accomplishing a task?

5. Is technology anti-nature? Justify your answer.

6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of technology?

7. Do you agree with the statement that ―Nature is self-balancing, self-adjusting and selfcleansing where as technology is not‖?

8. Modern technology does not enrich man but empties him. Do you agree?

Vocabulary Tasks I. List out at least five tools of technology available in 1973 and compare them with the tools available now in 2019.

S. No

Technology available and its uses -1973 Technological tool Uses

Technology available and its uses -2019 Technological tool Uses

1 2 3 4 5 II. Watch the video links posted on EDMODO to understand the theories proposed by these famous leaders.

1. How relevant is Mahatma Gandhi's theory of Economics.

2. Marx's Theory of Economic Crisis Uploaded by Cliff Bowman 3. Things Thomas Aquinas Can Teach Today's Economists watch Uploaded by Educating for Liberty

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III. List out five important words each from the reference of the following famous personalities as mentioned in the lesson and videos.

Karl Marx

Thomas Aquinas

Gandhiji

References:     

         

Jalal Nouri, The flipped classroom: for active, effective and increased learning International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education2016 13:33,https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-016-0032Beekes, W. (2006). The ―millionaire‖ method for encouraging anticipation. Active Learning in Higher Education, 7(1), 25–36.View Article Google Scholar Jacqueline O'Flaherty, Craig Phillips, Sophia Karanicolas, Catherine Snelling, Tracey Winning ―The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review‖ [The Internet and Higher Education 25 (2015) 85–95] Ziling Xu , Yeli Shi , 2018, ‗ Application of Constructivist Theory in Flipped Classroom — Take College English Teaching as a Case Study‘,Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 8, No. 7, pp. 880-887, July 2018, , ISSN 1799-2591.

Louisa Tomas, Neus (Snowy) Evans, Tanya Doyle & Keith Skamp,2019, „Are first year students ready for a flipped classroom? A case for a flipped learning continuum‟ International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume 16, Article number: 5 Emine Cabi, 2018, ‗The Impact of the Flipped Classroom Model on Students' Academic Achievement‘, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Volume 19, Number 3, July - 2018 Masha Smallhorn, 2017, The flipped classroom: A learning model to increase student engagement not academic achievement ,Student Success Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 43-53 July 2017 ISSN: 2205-0795 Uzunboylu, H., & Karagozlu, D. (2015). Flipped classroom: A review of recent literature. World Journal on Educational Technology. 7(2), 142-147. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18844/wjet.v7i2.46 The Teacher‘s guide to Flipped Classrooms, edudemic.com www.uq.edu.au/teach/flipped-classroom/what-is-fc.html https://www.teachthought.com › Learning https://www.brookings.edu › education-plus-development › 2018/06/11 The Internet and Higher Education, 2015 – Elsevier kjtenglishnotes.blogspot.com › 2014/05 › technology-with-human-face-e-f Gabriel Weimann - 2000 - Social Science

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ESA methodology in ELT for Technical Education Geetha H

Abstract: As English cements its position as the world‘s lingua franca, many of our students are now learning English to oil the wheels of communication in order to survive and succeed in the worlds of business, trade, education, and tourism. As far as the students who are pursuing engineering and other technical related courses are concerned, having good Communication skills is very important as it plays a pivotal role during their academics, to get placed in reputed organizations and also to fast track their career growth. Because, today no job is individual oriented and especially engineers have to work in groups. And while working as a part of a team, coordination amongst the team members and also with the superiors determines the quality and outcome of the work and having effective communication skills is crucial for the same. Through various researches and experiments Academicians, Psychologists and Sociologists together have come up with many innovative methods of teaching. Few of the methods that have been proved quite effective and that are in vogue are: Suggestopedia, Induction -interaction Learning community, Digital platforms, The IWB (Interactive White Board), The Silent Way, Task-based language learning, The Natural Approach, ESA methodology so on and so forth. These informal approaches are being used by language teachers to create interest in the students and also to make them to understand the language concepts better. In this paper I would like to discuss the popular methodology that is ESA methodology, which is being widely used by the teachers for teaching English language at the intermediate and the advanced level.

Key words: ESA methodology, English Language Teaching, Intermediate Level, Advanced Level, Technical Education

Introduction: ESA methodology is accredited to Jeremy Harper from his practice of ELT book. The ESA methodology has three phases that is, E stands for Engage phase, S for study phase and A for activate phase. This method of teaching gives teachers free hand to plan the lessons and conduct the class that is convenient and beneficial from the student‘s perspective, so that they can make the students understand the basic and advanced concepts better. ESA methodology is considered more effective and suitable in comparison with other innovative methods that are being used to teach English communication, because this method is able to create interest amongst the students and also it creates friendly environment to learn.

As the name suggests there are three phases in this method: The Engage Phase, the study phase and the activate phase.

The Engage phase: ESA methodology suggests that each class should always start with engage phase. As it is the first phase, here teacher should encourage the students to interact freely, without any hesitation with the teacher. For engaging the students teacher can show pictures, video clips, make students listen to audio clips, telling anecdotes etc. These activities aim at engaging all 119 Volume 8 Issue 4

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the students in the discussion. The main intention of this is to make students‘ share their knowledge on the topic of discussion in English. Teachers should prompt the students to answer by asking open ended questions. There are number of activities that teachers can do to ensure the involvement of everyone in the class. The most popular activity that is being used in this phase is Fizz buzz activity which can be improvised depending on the level and the students‘ requirements. The objective of this phase is to prompt the students to talk in English on the given topic that will be discussed in the class. Here the teacher has to plan the activities in such a way that wherein all the students get a chance to participate and the teachers need to ensure everyone has said something by the end of this phase. This phase sets the stage for learning the lesson planned for that class.

The Study Phase: The purpose of the study phase is to cover the actual teaching of the lessons and also to check the understanding of that material. Typically this phase will have two parts; the first part covers the actual teaching component in what is known as the board work. This part is used to elicit, to gain information from the students about the teaching point and this is very different from the normal didactic way of teaching, where the teacher stands at the front and explains the information. In ESA method wherever possible the teacher tries to draw the information out from the students. This process is known as elicitation. Once the information has been generated on the board what the teacher can do is, cover any gaps in knowledge that they are unable to elicit from students, the teaching point then being complete. The second part of the study phase is to check students‘ understanding of this information. For this the teacher can ask targeted specific questions about the teaching point. This will ensure whether the students have understood the concepts. This can be done by making use of various activities such as practicing dialogues through role plays, reading the text aloud, filling the blanks, working on the jumbled sentences so on and so forth. In this phase any mistakes can be identified and corrected and discussed. Through all these, the students‘ understanding of the concepts that are taught will definitely be better and students will master the intricacies‘ of the language at much ease.

The Activate Phase: The last stage is activate phase, it is suggested that the teacher should wrap up each class with this phase. In this phase too the teacher should plan for such activities wherein the whole class should participate. For this the teacher can divide the entire class into small groups so that the students can discuss amongst their group members first and then present their views accordingly. In this phase the students actually discuss what they have learnt and understood during the second phase. In this phase the teacher will understand whether the students are able to grasp the concepts that are taught during the study phase clearly. By activating the students, the teacher will know how well they have understood the material that was discussed in the class. In the ESA methodology, it is mandatory to follow the order, which is the engage phase first, study phase next and finally the activate phase.

Benefits of Using the ESA Method: In conclusion, it can be said that this method will help teachers to stay on top of things in an organized manner and it will equip them to be more effective as teachers and thereby making successful students. This method will ensure that the leaning is fun and at the same it ensures learning in a prolific way. The first phase sets the ground for learning the lessons in an 120 Volume 8 Issue 4

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interesting and innovative way, the second phase is where the students actually learn and in the third phase the teachers will understand whether the students have been able to grasp the concepts clearly through various methods.

The best part of the ESA method is that it can be planned and controlled in any which way so that the approach becomes student centric and adopt the approach that is best for the students.

Even though, there are various versions of ESA methodology, the Straight arrow method that is beginning with engage phase and concluding with activate phase has been proven the most effective version. Teachers can also make use of the other versions of ESA that is Boomerang structure which is being used mostly at pre intermediate level or Patchwork structure that can be tried to teach students of advanced level, wherein many variations are possible. All that matters is the method and versions should be aimed to benefit the students at large and to make them understand the concepts to the fullest.

References:  

Harmer, Jeremy. ESA Teaching Model. Pearson Education Limited, 2007.

Teaching Ideas By Linda Dunsmore

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Challenges and Potential of English as a Medium of Instruction at Tribhuvan University Purna Bahadur Kadel

Abstract Tribhuvan University has not enforced the policy of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in B. Ed and M. Ed. in English to meet the issues of globalization, internationalization, and competitiveness in every domain of life in the world. The students of M. Ed have to study fourteen specialization subjects and seven compulsory subjects. The main objective of this study was to explore the challenges and benefits of implementing EMI in M. Ed in English. It is a qualitative research with narrative inquiry research design with seven respondents as sampling. The findings of this study were: there are obstacles to implement English as a medium of instruction in M. Ed in English department, such as lack of teaching material in English, low level of proficiency in English of the participants, and time consuming of using EMI; the use of EMI brings a number of benefits at the university, such as increase of foreign students at English department; pass outs of TU can get opportunity of jobs and further study in the foreign esteemed universities; EMI brings a lot of chances of earning foreign currency.

Key words: EMI, Globalization, Internationalization, Specialization, Challenges, Opportunities

Background of the Study The first university of Nepal, Tribhuvan University was established in 1959. It is the oldest and largest university in the country which produces a large number of graduate and postgraduate pre-service English, Mathematics, Science, Social study etc. teachers through 25 constituent education colleges and approximately more than 847 affiliated education colleges running smoothly BEd and MEd across the country. It is also regarded as only one federal university at present scenario of Nepal. However, there is no policy of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in bachelor and post-graduate levels except in English education under the faculty of Education at Tribhuvan University. There is a rapidly growing tendency for English to be adopted as the medium of instructions even when a majority of the population speaks a local language (Burns & Vu, 2014). One of the main reasons of implementing EMI policy by the most of outer and expanding circle countries in the world is that English language has become a lingua-franca in every walk of life in the society. Furthermore, it has become the most popular means of correspondence in the domain of commerce, business, education, politics, mass media, science and technology, as well as academic domain (Bhattarai, 2007).

To implement EMI at university is inevitable due to the globalization, internationalization and competitiveness in every domain of life (British Council, 2014). Mobility of Teaching and non-teaching staff and students exchange programs among the universities are one of the major causes of implementing EMI at university (Coleman, 2006). The EMI policy in the higher education and technical and science universities has a number of benefits of transforming local colleges into international institution where the faculty members and students can interact and communicate with one another. EMI implementation has raised 122 Volume 8 Issue 4

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debates and skepticisms in the most of the countries. There are a number of obstacles to implement EMI, such as lack of competent teachers, and learners' inadequate resources and supportive contents etc.

There are 13 departments under the Central department of Education viz. English, Mathematics, Nepali, Science, ICT, Economics, Health, Political Science, Geography, Physical Health, Education Planning Management (EPM), Special Needs Education (SNE) and Foundation of Education. Faculty of Education of Tribhuvan University undertakes to produce competent and proficient teachers from their respective subjects. There is no concrete practice of implementation of EMI in bachelor and master levels in the Faculty of Education at Tribhuvan University. The department of English education is one of the vibrant and populous departments of central department of Education in which even the EMI policy has been implemented partially.

The students who have enrolled in MEd in English have to study totally 21 subjects including compulsory and major subjects in four semesters. They must study 14major/specialization subjects in English and 7 compulsory subjects in four semesters according to the curriculum of MEd in English Education. Approximately, half of compulsory subjects are learnt and taught through non-EMI mode of instruction in the class which is not justifiable and judicious practices. EMI teachers ought to deal with different issues, such as teaching students of diverse English proficiency levels using innovative teaching techniques to overcome language barriers collaboratively with language teachers identifying effective assessment tools and strategies.

According to Macaro (2015), there are seven key controversial points with regards to EMI which are as follows:  

    

Is EMI only for the elite? Traditionally EMI programs are more common in private universities and now more state universities are switching to EMI due to increasing demands.

Who decide to introduce and promote EMI? It is worth noting that the majority of courses appear to have been imposed by university managers rather than volunteered by a university teacher that is EMI is often an institutional response to challenges from outside the campus.

Which English in EMI? The option include Standard English (British/American English), Euro English or English as a lingua franca and world Englishes.

Does EMI improve English proficiency? Teacher online survey indicated 80% agreement.

Does EMI (at least) maintain standards in academic subject? Teacher online survey indicated 50 agreement, 45% disagreement, and 25% to some extent.

Does the home language and culture suffer? So far there is no evidence that the home language and culture are negatively affected.

What is the role of EFL teachers who are taking place in different formats in the world?

China and Japan have implemented EMI programmes at schools and universities (Dearden, 2015). However, Indonesia has reversed the trends toward EMI in order to preserve the country's ideals of "one nation one language." Some scholars regard themselves as against the EMI for the reasons as follows:

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Reduced ability to understand concepts.

Low level of knowledge about the subject studied.

Excessive consumption of time Feelings of alienation and separation The least amount of participation proficiency in English (Wachter & Maiworm, 2008; Mauranen, 2010; Basibek, et al, 2014 as cited in Coleman, 2006, p.832).

There are a number of benefits and potentialities of reinforcing EMI at the bachelor and postgraduate levels. (Dearden, 2015, p 19).Li and Wu (2017) argue EMI programme will be an effective strategy to attract more international students and thus help the university to create an internationalized campus. Moreover, it is believed that domestic students will take benefit from taking these EMI courses in terms of enhancing their overall English proficiencies and consequently improve their international mobility after they enter the job market (p.24).

EMI as a new teaching approach, it involves authentic language learning materials in the classroom and often utilizes multilingual communicative strategies to perform various tasks in order to achieve learning goals (Chen, 2017).

Statement of Problem The students who have enrolled in MEd in English Education are taught compulsory subjects in Nepali medium from semester I to semester IV. There are seven compulsory subjects in M.Ed. which are learnt and taught through non-EMI mode of instruction. Moreover, the learning materials and contents of these compulsory subjects are not available written in English medium. As a result, the proficiency in four skills, aspects and vocabulary of the students of English is not satisfactory due to the non-EMI of instruction in compulsory subjects which carry 21 credits in four semesters. If the English students are taught through EMI including the compulsory subjects, they would have good command over proficiency in English particularly in four skills, aspects and vocabulary items.

Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study were as follows: • To explore the challenges of implementing the EMI policy in MEd. in English at Tribhuvan University • To find out the potentialities and benefits of reinforcing EMI in M.Ed. in English at Tribhuvan University Research Questions • What are the challenges of implementing EMI policy in MEd. in English at Tribhuvan University?

• What are the benefits of implementing EMI policy in Master Levels in English at Tribhuvan University.?

• What are the potentialities of implementing the policy of EMI in MEd in English at Tribhuvan University?

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Significance of the study The study on Challenges and potentialities of implementing EMI policy atTribhuvan University will be very beneficial for policy makers, university authorities, scholars, students, curriculum developers, and scholars.

Methodology The study was conducted through narrative inquiry research design. Qualitative research approach was employed to analyze and interpret the raw data in this study.

There were seven respondents as sample of this study.

Altogether, three teachers and four students were selected as sample of this study.

One student from each semester and three teachers who have been teaching compulsory subjects in MEd in English were selected through purposive non-random sampling procedure. I have used in-depth interview as a tool to assemble the required data to address the objectives of this study.

Results and Discussion The data were collected from 4 students and 3 faculty members regarding the issue of implementing EMI in compulsory subjects in English Education.

Obstacles of EMI in M.Ed. in English There are some difficulties of enforcing EMI strictly in M.Ed. in English particularly in compulsory subjects, such as lack of books in English, low proficiency in English of Students and faculties.

The R1 argues that the faculties who have been assigned to teach compulsory subjects cannot deliver the lectures in English properly. Due to thepoor proficient faculties in foundation of Education department, it is very difficult to implement EMI strictly.

One of the major obstacles of implementing EMI policy in English education department is that the core subjects are taught by the faculties from foundation of Education department whereas major subjects are only taught by faculties from Department of English Education. If the core subjects are also managed to be taught by teachers from English education department, there will be possible chances of implementing EMI successfully in M. Ed in central department of education. One of the respondents states that excessive consumption of time is one of the barriers of EMI in compulsory subjects. Both the faculties and participants have low proficiency in English causes a great difficulty to employ EMI. Benefits of EMI in M.Ed. in English The government of Nepal has recently implemented EMI at basic level to increase the exposure of English language in the class; however it cannot be implemented effectively due to the low proficiency of teachers at basic level. More importantly, the government should implement EMI from bachelor and master levels of all subjects strictly.

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The R3 states that the compulsory subjects even in BEd and MEd are taught through Nepali medium. Other subjects are like Mathematics, Science, social subjects etc. are taught and learnt in Nepali medium. If the EMI is employed in MEd, pre-service teachers will get more exposure of English. They will have higher chances of pursuing further degree in foreign university and job opportunities in the international market.

The pass-outs from TU specifically in MEd would pursue their MPhil and PhD from esteemed university in the world and they could get attractive jobs with handsome salary in international markets if they are proficient in English. Most of the pass-outs from the department of English education have low proficiency in English due to the instruction of compulsory subjects through Nepali. The knowledge of each compulsory subject can be expanded if they are taught through English medium.

Increase of Foreign Students There are hardly any foreign students in MEd in English department due to Nepali mode of instruction. Nepal lies between the two giant countries India and China with the largest population in the world. If Tribhuvan University implements EMI policy particularly in English Education, there might be enrolment of foreign students, particularly, Indian and Chinese students in English Education department.

The R4 argues that there will be more Chinese and Indian students in border colleges near the border areas and colleges in the capital, if EMI policy is employed strictly.

University could increase the reliable source of economical income through foreign students if EMI and quality of education of MEd in English education have been improved. The implementation of EMI helps to increase the enrolment of foreign students in faculty of education particularly in M. Ed in English education.

Professional Development of Faculties If the policy of EMI implements strictly, the teachers of compulsory subjects read the materials particularly authentic prescribed books, journals, theses, and research reports which are published in professional journal, books, and newspaper. The faculties of compulsory subjects would prepare the slides, notes, and other instructional materials in English; as a result they will be professionally sound in terms of communicative skills in English language.

The R5 asserts that the provision of EMI trigger the faculties to be competent in content and language. Their delivery skills can be enhanced and proficiency in English will be developed automatically.

The provision of EMI could help the faculties to be smart professionally in terms of contents and academic language. University faculties should be competent in their subject matter and academic language that they use in the class.

Development of Proficiency in English The policy of EMI in the university can help the faculties of Foundation of education to improve their English as a result they could be recognized globally. The teachers of 126 Volume 8 Issue 4

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compulsory subjects in MEd in English can have advanced level of proficiency in English if EMI policy is employed strictly by the university.

R7 argues that most of the students fail and get low grade in compulsory subjects in the semester end examination because of the questions of compulsory subjects which are set in English but taught in Nepali.

The respondents state that the proficiency of the students in English will be enhanced with the policy of EMI in MEd in English.

EMI as a New Provision in Med Tribhuvan University has not implemented EMI in bachelor and master levels in English education at present time. It would be the new provision if the university implements the EMI in MEd in English.

Mismatching between Mode of Instruction and Examination Due to the mismatching between the modes of the instruction and the language, the students are confused and felt difficulty to understand the questions that has been set in English in the examination.

R6 argues that the teachers teach the compulsory subjects in Nepali and the questions have barely asked in English in the exam so there is mismatching in this regard.

There should be uniformity of use of language in the classroom and question paper in the examination. The teachers use Nepali in the classroom and questions of same subject are set in English.

Conclusion It is found that there are obstacles to implement English as a medium of instruction of compulsory subjects in MEd in English department such as lack of teaching material in English, low level proficiency in English of the participants, time consuming of using EMI etc. More importantly, the use of EMI brings a number of benefits at the university such as increase of foreign students at English department; pass outs of TU can get opportunity of jobs and enrolment in the further study in the foreign universities. In addition, EMI brings a lot of chances of earning foreign currency at Tribhuvan University.

References    

Bhattarai, G. (2007). The proposed ELT survey: Redefining status and role of English in Nepal. Journal of NELTA, 12(1-2), 32-25.

British Council (2014).English as a medium of instruction—a growing global phenomenon by Julie Dearden.

Burns, A & Vu, N. T.T. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lectures. Journal of Asia, TEFL. Vol. 11(3)1-31.

Chen, F. (2017).Instructional language use in environmental Science classroom. In Wenli Tsou and Shin-Mei Kao (Eds.) English as a medium of instruction in higher education; Implementation and classroom practices in Taiwan. Tainan: Springer.

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Coleman, J. A. (2006). English medium teaching in European higher education.

Language Teaching, 39 (1), 1-14, DOI 10m 1017/5026144480600220 X. Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction: A growing global phenomena.

Oxford: British Council.

Li, M & Wu. T. (2017).Creating an EMI program in international Finance and Business management. In Wenli Tsou and Shin-Mei Kao (Eds.) English as a medium of instruction in higher education; Implementation and classroom practices in Taiwan.

Tainan: Springer.

Macaro, E. (2015).Going global 2015, English medium instruction: Seven key points of controversy. Retrieved from http:/www slide.share.net/British council/going-global, on 27 July, 2019.

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Teaching English Language through Literature Shiva Durga

Abstract Mastery over four skills like listening, speaking, reading and writing are necessary for English or any language for good communication skill. Literature stimulates the language learners to acquire not only the four skills of learning any language but also the grammar and vocabulary. Stories, songs, plays, dialogues, speeches activate a person to take interest in learning a language comfortably. The real life values are exposed to the learners through literature and they acquire language proficiency. The literature depicts the culture of the society and the world as a whole. Diverse strategies are used to teach language through literature. The language classes become enriched with power packed resources when varieties of authentic, cultural texts are used to create interest and the personal involvement of students. Rhymes, fairy tales and bed time stories are very interesting to children when their minds are like clean slate. English is learnt through Literature with interest by beginners.

Adults can also learn languages by having extensive reading. Language discussions are generated in English class through literature as it provides regional dialects, sociolinguistic competence, euphemism, Jargon etc. So Language through Literature is a great source with which anyone can learn a language meaningfully.

Key words: Communication, Symbolic, Diverse Strategies, Sociolinguistic Competence, Spontaneity, Comprehension

Learning a language is very interesting and it needs mastery over four skills. The passive skills like listening and reading and the active skills like speaking and writing play a vital role in the communication skill of students when they learn a language through literature. The rubrics of learning English speaking is practiced through nursery rhymes, songs, and stories, dialogues, speech and role play. Children spontaneously sing along with the music media while learning the language through literature. They mimic new sounds and pick up the pronunciation without any embarrassment unconsciously. For learning a language the adage ―Catch them young‖ works wonders. Bigger children and adult learners learn English through text books that are grammar based. They do learn it consciously through comparative study with their vernacular. Acquiring language ability is a motor skill and so the scientists believe that it is genetic. In various stages this ability is acquired as different people reach different stages at different times with the help of different literature. The English teachers can make their teaching more exciting to activate the students to come out with active communication so that the teachers can judge their language learning abilities and provide them with more exercises from selected Literature.

Literature stimulates the language learners to acquire not only the four skills of learning any language but also the grammar and vocabulary. Languages are symbolic and collective art of expression. Language through Literature is an integrated language programme from the small grade to higher level of learning. Students learn the required skills for each grade level through real literature. Book reading gives great pleasure to the students that can slowly stimulates them to cultivate a taste for learning grammar thereby mastering the four skills of learning. The real goal of learning a language should equip them for a lifetime of communication. To create prospect for communication the literature for Children are 129 Volume 8 Issue 4

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developed through the four skills and their activities. The real life values are exposed to the learners through literature and they acquire language proficiency. The literature depicts the culture of the society and the world as a whole. Diverse strategies are used to teach language through literature.

Literature for extensive reading really stimulates the learner with interest. To facilitate language learning to the students through literature interactive and collaborative tasks are to be given. Stages of learners differ as the young ones are interested in fairy tales and imaginary stories. They enjoy having picture books with fantasy literature. An adult learner wants facts as he is inclined towards professionalism. They may use the Web as a resource of learning. They want to have motivational experience along with enjoyment of learning English. English Language classes whether it is primary or secondary or higher level should have literary techniques of using texts so that the classes will have positive active learning.

The literariness emanates from the teaching learning process in the language classes.

Many teachers opine that the use of literature in language teaching is a worthy concern.

Literature studies should be graded according to the age group because the taste and temperament of each age group differs. Fairy tales and animal stories attract the young ones as they are very imaginative. Facts and the reality attract the bigger ones as they are practical.

So the correct selection of literature is a tool for teaching English language. In translation courses, students translate poetry, short stories, drama and novels into their regional languages from English by carefully paying attention to the grammar, vocabulary, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, syntactic, and stylistic knowledge that they have acquired.

The language classes become enriched with power packed resources when varieties of authentic, cultural texts are used to create interest and personal involvement of students. They have to be familiar with many forms of linguistics and they have to be communicative after understanding the morphology and functions of lexical words by reading the literary texts.

They will be able to follow correctly by using time tables, advertisements, newspaper, filling official forms etc. They are recently administered course materials.

In school level whether text books or supplementary readers many of us have read multiple books that have shaped us. ‘Hansel and Gretel‘, ‗To Kill a Mockingbird‘, ‗A Farewell to Arms‘, ‗I know why the caged Bird sings‘ etc are some of the books which made us understand love and hatred, kindness and cruelty, appreciation and depreciation, right and wrong, loneliness and company etc For the cultural enrichment novels, short stories and drama play a great part in understanding the communication, the regional background, social parameters, characterization etc and give a clear picture about that particular society to the students. It depicts the feelings, thoughts, behavior, tradition, semiotics and movements of the particular society in a colorful world of a foreign country. Literature improves the cultural understanding of the origin of the language.

They improve their own communication skills by using the syntax, structures and connecting ideas through language they learn through the texts. The student feels one with the character and emotionally attach with the character.

Language discussions are generated in English class through literature as it provides regional dialects, sociolinguistic competence, euphemism, Jargon etc. In the work of literature as an art the readers enjoy the pleasure of understanding the feelings of the characters. It creates interest and feelings which appeal to the reader. The four language skills- listening, speaking, 130 Volume 8 Issue 4

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reading and writing are taught in an integrated way in a language class. In a controlled and guided way writing skill is improved by practicing the grammatical structures by using paraphrase, summary, précis writing, comprehension, translation, rewrite a first person passage into a third person passage etc. Composition can be arranged by giving assignments based on theme, plot, climax, characters, setting, and the flow of language. Oral reading, roleplaying, pantomiming, enactment, discussion, and group activities can be arranged on a work of literature. With the scripted materials dramatization can be organized in a class room. The Novel ‗The Pilgrim's Progress‘ by John Bunyan depicts the spiritual taste of people and comes under religious literature. ‗Robinson Crusoe‘ by Daniel Defoe is read by many people.

The rhymes, poems, essays, novels, plays, letters, reports, passages, dialogues, monologues, articles etc from renowned writers certainly make our English language classes rich with materials that can help our students to learn the language enthusiastically.

Reference:      

Lang, Andrew, ed. "Hansel and Gretel." The Blue Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1965.

Lee. Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lippincott.1960.

Hemingway, Ernest, Farewell to Arms. Charles Scribner's Sons.1929.

Maya Angelou. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York City : Random House, 1969 Alexander M. Witherspoon ―Introduction‖, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress. New York: Pocket Books. 1957.

Paul Wilson and Michael Eck. "The Primitive Crusoe, 1719–1780". Picturing the First Castaway: the Illustrations of Robinson Crusoe - Retrieved 25 June 2012.

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English and Communication Skills

English for Empowering Science and Engineering Graduates Meena Malik

Abstract: Science and technology thrives when scientists and engineers communicate more effectively.

Communication in English and soft skills are very important competencies needed for career success in the 21st Century. Scientists and engineers give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety of stakeholders, and also engage themselves in educating others.

Strong and effective communication helps make science and technology more diverse and inclusive. It helps build up a broad base to scientific endeavours, fosters collaboration and innovation, enhances their ability to secure funding or brightens their career prospects, allows them to be better teachers and mentors for next-generation scientists and technocrats and encourages more informed decision-making at all levels. In Institutions of higher learning, the register to science and technology is mostly perceived as shortcuts, bullet points, technical terms and phrases, and formulaic expressions. This is more of information processing rather than the knowledge sharing. Effective communication depends a lot on our linguistic empowerment, which in turn, enhances our critical thinking and leads to cognitive empowerment. For this, the budding scientists and technocrats need be trained not only in their core subjects, but also in communication proficiency along with other life /employability /soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, strong work ethics, positive attitude, self-motivation, time management, flexibility/adaptability and working well in a team.

Key Words: English for Empowering, Engineering Graduates, Communication Proficiency, Life Skills, Employability Skills, Soft Skills.

Communicating science is part and parcel of any professional‘s daily life. Scientists and engineers give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety of stakeholders, and also engage themselves in educating others. Thus, they need to communicate effectively regardless of their specialization. In other words, to be a successful scientist or engineer, one must be an effective communicator too. Increasingly, effective communication skills are becoming part of the core professional skills every science student and professional should have.

English has become the lingua franca, international language of the world as many people are using this language apart from the native speakers. English is the language almost everyone uses cross-culturally to communicate with each other. This is the world's most widely spoken language and is used in business and trade all over the world. English language proficiency is being seen as a life skill today. Gone are the days when this language was spoken or used by the select few. Less than three decades ago only the finest, most cultured, highly educated people in India spoke English. English is no more the language of this so called ‗high class‘ - the rarefied elite group. With the onset of cable TV, mobile phones, you tube, social media and opening of more and more English medium schools, English has turned out to be just another common language in India and has acquired the status of second

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language after the native language or the mother tongue. This platform language for business, corporate, tourism, law and research has assumed greater importance along with other employability skills for success in any profession.

Diverse Range of Stakeholders Scientists and Engineers have to interact with a diverse range of stakeholders in terms of their profile, needs and expectations. Though many of the concepts scientists and engineers deal with on a daily basis are technical in nature, yet these are often the basis of policies that affect the population at large. Broadly, they have to meet the expectations of the following divergent categories of people:       

Peers Donors Policy makers End-users Industry Farming Community General Public

In fact any enterprise thrives when the professionals and the stakeholders communicate more effectively. Science or for that matter any enterprise is increasingly becoming interdependent and the ability to communicate fosters collaboration and innovation.

Effective communication of scientists‘ ideas and innovations can enhance their ability to secure funding. It allows them to put forth their new ideas better and acts as a catalyst for close interaction and group dynamics. It also allows them to convince their stakeholders in order to sell their product or service to their utmost satisfaction.

Effective communication enables scientists to reach out to broad and diverse categories of stakeholders. It helps build up a broad base to their innovative endeavours, and encourages more informed decision-making at all levels. Strong and effective communication helps bridge the gap between them and the stakeholders and makes new developments and innovations accessible to the target group that traditionally remains excluded from the process of science. Thus, it can help make science more diverse and inclusive.

Understanding Communication Communication is a process involving transferring of information and sharing of ideas from one person to the other. ―Communication" is a word with a rich history. It has been derived from the Latin word communicare, meaning - to impart, share, or make common. This word entered the English language in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Besides the core competence and knowledge in one‘s specialized field, communication skills contribute a lot to the success of an individual in any organization. These skills form an integral part of leadership and managerial skills, one of the essential elements required for developing competence needed for career success in the 21st Century. This is the Only Completely Portable Skill, used in every relationship and required regardless of any career path. In other words, effective communication means transmitting the message clearly and concisely so that it is understood.

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Communicating Science Science education is screaming for transformation. Research scholars and scientists need to be trained not only in their subjects, but also in terms of their soft skills and other life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication proficiency. In Institutions of higher learning, the scientific communication is mostly perceived as short cuts, bullet points, technical terms, scientific equations and formulas. This is more of information processing rather than the knowledge sharing. There is no place for creativity or criticism. To move from information to knowledge, from experimental facts to rationale understanding of facts, we need language to express. Incomplete sentences only reflect inadequate learning and incomplete interpretation/ representation of facts. For creating new knowledge in science, we need to lay emphasis on the art of scientific communication. Effective communication depends a lot on our linguistic empowerment, which in turn, enhances our critical thinking and leads to cognitive empowerment.

Effective communication means transmitting the message clearly and concisely so that it is understood. Communicating science is as important to the scientific process as designing, conducting and analyzing the experiment itself. A scientific experiment, irrespective of its spectacular results, is not completed until the results are communicated. In fact, the foundation of science is based on the premise that original research must be communicated.

This is the only way by which new scientific knowledge can be authenticated and then added to the existing data base that we call science. Any branch of knowledge requiring a systematic study involves the use of scientific communication for the purpose of recording and reporting information. Science writing is different from creative writing as it deals with scientific facts and does not present an imaginary view of reality. Scientific reporting is objective in content and systematic in form. It is always precise, exact, and to the point so that it may have the desired effect on the reader and lead to the required action.

Oral Communication Skills Effective communication skills are one of the important core professional skills for every science professional. The goal should be to communicate clearly through oral and non-verbal communication. First step towards effective oral communication is to connect and be aware of how others feel when they are around us or are talking with us. 

Making eye contact and acknowledging someone else's presence by looking at them in the eye is very important. Constant focused attention is must to help connect with the target audience.



Effective communication is the combined harmony of verbal and nonverbal actions.

Body movements, mostly facial expressions, volume of voice, intonation and rhythm do play an important part in oral communication. It does not matter so much what we say. It matters a lot how we say it. A set of various behaviours and methods of relaying information also has a great impact on our lives.



Developing communication skills also demands constant practice on all the four fundamental skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Volunteering to give presentations within smaller groups initially helps improving both conversational speaking and public speaking.

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What makes a Scientist an Effective Communicator?

Besides being good at his core competence, a good scientist needs to be an amalgam of the following attributes:  An Active Listener  An Effective Presenter  A Quick Thinker  Win-Win Negotiator Platforms for Written Communication In the field of education and research, journals publish technical material on specialized fields and are circulated amongst the scientists and scholars. There are several platforms for scientific written communications as listed below:                   

Research papers in journals Review papers Research report Research notes Letters to journals Books and book chapters Book reviews Scientific magazines Special publications Annual reports Newsletters Consultancy reports Newspaper articles Conference abstracts Proceedings Conference posters Extension literature Writing for web Writing for social media

All these writings must conform to the rules of scientific and technical reporting so that they are properly understood and appreciated. All types of articles such as Technical Articles; Semi-technical Articles; Popular Articles; Research Papers; Dissertations and Theses, and Technical Bulletins are covered under the ambit of Scientific Writing.

The nature of the subject, the purpose of the scientific reporting and the reader for whom the report is meant determine the form and structure of the communication. Every written communication has a specific purpose and a specific audience. It should be carefully planned and constructed to fit both. Every scientific communication has one certain clear purpose: to convey information and ideas accurately and efficiently. The objective requires that the communication be: (1) as clear as possible; (2) as brief as possible; and (3) as easy to understood as possible.

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Scientific communication, if it is to be effective and efficient, must be designed for the needs and the understanding of a specific reader or group of readers. One must have adequate knowledge of the educational and professional background of the readers. The language and style of the communication depends, to a great extent, on the academic and professional background of its readers. We need to have an idea of what the reader expects from the report and his level of understanding. Writing should be aimed at the average reader, but should also cater to those at either extreme of the range. It should interest the more knowledgeable reader and be intelligible to the reader who is less familiar with the subject.

There is no precise formula for the organization of scientific presentations and reports. The material in any report should be presented in an order that leads logically towards a conclusion. The various sections of the report are organized so that each of them has its logical conclusions. Almost every scientific communication should have three functional elements. This does not mean that it should be divided by boundaries into three distinct parts.

But functionally it should have a beginning, middle and an end.

Tips on Effective Communication for Aspiring Professionals The ability to produce a clear, concise and professionally presented report or oral presentation is a skill that one is required to develop to be successful both at the research/academic institution and the workplace alike. A clear, concise and well written communication saves a lot of time of the users, be it researchers, students, teachers, managers or the clients. In other words, the value of accuracy and precision is not only important for researchers in scientific education and research but also for professionals in all sorts of work situations.

If you're ready to enter the world of science, here are a few important tips to keep in mind.  

  



Be an active listener: Remember that what someone says and what we hear can be amazingly different: Keep your communication simple a. Obscuring the message is not desirable b. Don‘t use tough language c. Avoid technical jargons d. Avoid complex words Keep in mind the audience level Give Feedback: Repeat back or summarize to ensure that you understand Use Non-verbal Communication: Non-verbal communication is a significant determiner of your personality such as: a. Appearance; Of course physical is a genetic construct but grooming is what we can control b. Small smile c. Simple handshake d. Give neutral expression. e. Posture showing confidence and control. f. Make proper eye contact, looking into the listener‘s eyes and moving to the others gradually.

Don‟t Rush: Rushing the speech is too common a mistake. a. Give meaningful pauses. b. Control the pace of speech.

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c. It should not be a monotone without intonation or changing the pitch. d. Avoid non-linguistic fillers like unh, en, haan… e. Speak clearly and slowly. f. Each syllable (unit of speech) gets less time if we speak rapidly. g. All languages are organized in syllables. h. If we speak rapidly, the space between the syllables is contracted i. Each unit of speech has a time slot. j. Rapid speech is not considered polite. k. Ideally speaking-5 words per second. l. Slow speaker can choose appropriate thoughts and words. m. Slow speaker can anticipate audience reaction.  Assertive communication: Communicating with respect and understanding each other; finding a solution to the problem. a. Protecting our own rights without violating the rights of others. b. Eye contact is maintained. c. Confident and strong; also flexible. d. Objective and unemotional. e. All parties are respected. f. Easier problem-solving. g. No one is hurt in any way and WIN-WIN situation for both the parties.

Common Soft Skills Besides good communication skills, these are a few soft skills, which one must to have to be a successful professional. The following soft skills must essentially be practiced by the science and Engineering graduates:    



 

Strong work ethics o Complete dedication and motivation to get the job done o Being a conscientious worker and doing the best work under all circumstances Positive attitude o Optimistic and upbeat o Generating good energy and good will Time management abilities o Prioritizing tasks and work on a number of different projects at once. o Using time on the job wisely Problem-solving skills o Being resourceful and be able to creatively solve problems that will inevitably arise. o Taking ownership of problems or not leaving them for someone else.

Acting as a team player o Working well in groups and teams o Taking a leadership role when appropriate. o Being Happy and Comfortable o Cooperation and mutual respect in a team is liked by most of the employers Self-confidence and Working well under pressure o Self-belief and self-confidence in your capabilities. o Projecting a sense of calm and inspire confidence in others.

Ability to accept and learn from criticism o Knowing as to how to handle criticism.

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o Being open to learning and growing as a person and a professional.

Flexibility/adaptability o Being able to adapt to new situations and challenges. o Ready to embrace change and be open to a new idea

Conclusion Scientific communication enables scientists to reach out to broad and diverse categories of stakeholders. It helps build up a broad base to their innovative endeavours, group dynamics and encourages more informed decision-making at all levels. To help make science more diverse and inclusive, we need to lay emphasis on imparting skills in communicating science as well. Research scholars and scientists need be trained not only in their subjects, but also in soft skills and other life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication proficiency. In this context, the role of an English teacher becomes all the more critical. He or she has to ensure that all classroom instruction must be "contextualized". Employability skills must be integrated in our curriculum from the beginning so that from the earliest levels of instruction, participants develop their educational skills within job-related and life-skill related contexts.

References         

CBE Style Manual: A Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers (1983). 5th ed. Council of Biological Editors, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Chicago Manual of Style (1996). 14th ed. Prentice Hall of India.

Day, R. A. (1998). How to Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. Oryx Press, Westport, Connecticut.

Gordon, H. M. and Walter J. A. (1970) Technical Writing. 3rd ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Joseph, G. (2000) MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th Ed. Affiliated East-West Press. New Delhi.

Leggett, G., Mead, C. D., Charvat, W. and Beal, R. S. (1982) Handbook for Writers. 8th ed. Prentice- Hall, USA. Richard, W.S. (1969) Technical Writing. Barnes & Noble, New York.

Sewak, S. N. and Batra, R. K. (2008). Scientific and Technical Writing: A Practical Approach. 3rd ed., Kala Sanchar, Ludhiana.

Troyka, L. Q. (1987). Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey.

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English for Global Empowerment in Professional Achievements Vivek Mehrotra

Abstract: Being a dominating language of the world, English has its influence on all fields. English has achieved a great role in the world. It is spoken everywhere in the world; especially in the business world. To enter into a global connection with business communication, it is very important to know English. It is an easy language to learn as the vocabulary is simple and the grammar is quite understandable. As it is flexible, many countries have learnt this language with their own accent. For example the people of Singapore love English and they call their English lovingly as ‗Singlish‘. Everyday new vocabularies are introduced in English and get their value of the lexicon. In social media it is easy for the people to coin new words in their daily life. English continues to be changed according to the wish of the masses.

Key words: Dominating, Flexible, Social Media, Captivating Influence, E-Marketing, Exotic Provenances, Linguistic Variations

As the most dominating language of the world, English is having its influence on all fields.

There is no doubt that English has a great role in the world that no one can ignore it. It is spoken everywhere in the world; especially in the business world to enter into a global connection with business communication, it is important to know English. English is an easy language to learn as the vocabulary is simple and the grammar is understandable. The history of English has captivating influences around the world having German, Roman and Latin rudiments, invasions, battles and wars. In Europe English is the principal language in the Educational field and the essential part of curriculum in schools and colleges in China, Japan and Korea. UK captured many countries and wherever their kingdom was there English had become the ruling language. It happened in India as well. As this language is flexible, many countries have learnt this language with their own accent. For example the people of Singapore love English and they call their English lovingly as ‗Singlish‘. Everyday new vocabularies are introduced in English and get their value of the lexicon. In social media it is easy for the people to coin new words in their daily life. English continues to change according to the wish of the masses.

Dominating language English is dominating over other languages as 950 million people speak English worldwide.

Out of one in seventh of the world‘s population knows English. The imperialism of the British induced global spread of English language. The next one is the neo-imperialism due to the cultural and political background of the USA helped in the spread of English language.

The British colonization paved way for the forceful learning of English as the colonized countries aimed for the financial and academic advancement to achieve independence.

Hence English has become official and national language of many colonized countries. So English has become a sole dominating language in many parts of the world quickly.

English belongs to everyone Does English language belong to the one who speaks? Yes it could be possible. The right of ownership, of native English speakers has been forfeited by a global context. Now English belongs to ―everyone or to no-one‖ (Wardhaugh, 1987).

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English for business communication Communicating with new people and maintaining good relations with people in your net work for business purpose is very necessary now a days. To connect with people small talks in English help us in conversation to create interest among each other and pave way to have business contracts. By revealing about yourself, showing your interest in the other person and sticking to the topics which are common in both sides you can win the hearts of others. The friendship leads you to have business contracts through the little talks. The language takes a great part in the movement of flourishing business. Once the ice is broken the small talks move to bigger talks. The language skills in English to express your suggestions with polite talks will certainly boost your contact with others thereby achieving big goals. Questioning techniques in English clears the doubts. The first skill, ‗listening‘ leads one to ask questions.

That is the primary action to be an active listener to understand and engage in people‘s ideas.

Negotiations in the conversation in English need careful approach to accept or reject ideas diplomatically. Effective delegation is required in the conversation. Thus we have come to know how to start a conversation, how to ask questions, how to negotiate, how to delegate how to reject ideas and how to be diplomatic.

Controlled language It requires simple vocabulary and understandable grammar which is recommended by Charles Kay Ogden as an ‗international auxiliary language‘ when it is used as a second language. (―Ogden‘s book Basic English: A General introduction with Rules and Grammar‖.

(1930) Simplified English attained great publicity after the World War II. Technical English is designed to write Technical manuals.

Magnetic influences around the world English is the most commonly spoken language in the world. UK and USA are the head quarter of the financial hubs. Now- a- days it has become necessary for the global market to speak in English as cross border business transaction is conducted in English. Learning of English certainly can change one‘s life. English is a key to enter a global workplace. With a fascinating history, English language comprised of Germanic, Roman, Latin and other languages which make it a hybrid language. It is a principal language in the educational field and the essential part of curriculum in schools. Singaporeans are fond of English and they call their English lovingly as ‗Singlish‘, Mushroom growth of the language Everyday new words are added to English vocabulary. With the popularity of social media it is easy for the people to coin new words in their daily life and English is growing with more coinages. Blogs and e-marketing sites are flourishing. The Global language monitor reports that every year five thousand words are created in English.

It‘s generally agreed that the most prolific minter of words was John Milton, who gave us 630 coinages, including lovelorn, fragrance and pandemonium. Geoffrey Chaucer (universe, approach), Ben Jonson (rant, petulant), John Donne (self-preservation, valediction) and Sir Thomas More (atonement, anticipate) lag behind. It should come as no great surprise that writers are behind many of our lexical innovations. Derivation plays a great part in coining new words. The commonest method of creating a new word is to add a prefix or suffix to an existing one. Hence realization (1610s), democratize (1798), detonator (1822), preteen (1926), hyperlink (1987) and monogamous (2011).

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The inversion of Back formation creates a new root word by removing a phantom affix: from ‗sleaze to ―sleazy‖. The turning of affix into a word is back formation. Compounding words are the juxtaposition of two existing words. Eg: daydream, awe-inspiring. Repurposing is taking a word from one context and applying it to another. For example the lifting machine is called crane as it has a long-neck like the bird crane. The computer mouse is named as it looks like a mouse with a long tail. Conversion is taking a word from one word class and transplanting to another. The word friend was a noun for a long time. Now people are using it as a verb through social media- Why don‘t you friend me? Eponyms are the words named after a person or place. You may recognize Alzheimer‘s.

Abbreviation is an increasingly popular method. There are three main subtypes: clippings, acronyms and initialisms like pram (perambulator), taxi/cab (both from taximeter cabriolet), goodbye (God be with you), rifle (rifled pistol), van (caravan), wig (periwig), laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) etc. English has borrowed words from at least 350 languages. Most words are borrowed from French, Latin and Greek; some of the more exotic provenances are Flemish (hunk), Romany (cushty), Portuguese (fetish), Nahuatl (tomato – via Spanish), Tahitian (tattoo), Russian (mammoth), Mayan (shark), Gaelic (slogan), Japanese (tycoon), West Turkic (horde), Walloon (rabbit) and Polynesian (taboo).

Calques (flea market, brainwashing, loan word) are translations of borrowings.

Onomatopoeia is the creation of a word by imitation of the sound it is supposed to make Plop, cuckoo, bump etc originated this way. Reduplication is the repetition, or nearrepetition, of a word or sound. Some of the words are: flip-flop, hanky-panky, goody-goody, helter-skelter, picnic, claptrap, hurly-burly, tom-tom, hip hop etc.

Portmanteaus is compounding with a twist. Take one word, remove an arbitrary portion of it, then put in its place either a whole word, or a similarly clipped one. Thus were born words such as ‗sitcom‘, ‗paratroops‘, ‗internet‘, ‗gazunder‘ and ‗sexting‘‖ by Lewis Carroll. English keeps changing according to the wish of the masses: English keeps changing to the way the users use it. It is a living and a dynamic language. The most populated China is the largest English speaking country in the world. Of course the dialect differs from nation to nation as Australian English, Indian English, American English etc. Linguistic variations prevail with new dialects and slang words.

In conclusion I would like to state that English is dominating today and it keeps growing.

Every year 5000 words are included in the dictionary of English according to the more usage of words through social media.

References:  

Wardhaugh. Ronald, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Blackwell Publishing. 1987.

Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Peterborough, Ont. Broadview Press, 2000.

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Author Profiles Chirantana Mathkari is a US based veterinarian turned animal behaviourist. Her love for animals is altruistic and is often reflected in her writings. Literature caught her fancy at an early age and she loves intertwining her profession with her passion, offering the reader a brief, lucid and yet a delightful tale!

Dr Emmadi Pullaiah has the educational qualifications of MA, MPhil, PhD He has a teaching experience of 33 years at Government Degree College handling UG and PG classes. He has published 14 poems in Triveni Literary and Cultural Journal and one poem published in IJELLS. Dr Shashi Rekha M is a Montessorian, author and Montessori teacher trainer. Her books on learning English, Kannada and Hindi following Montessori method are highly appreciated by both Montessori and non-Montessori schools.

Dr. Anita Konwar is an Assistant Professor in the department of English, Sonari College, Charaideo, Assam. Dr. Konwar achieved her degrees of Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in English from Dibrugarh University, Assam. She has contributed research papers and articles in different academic and research journals at state, national and international level. Her research interests include Women Studies, Indian English Fiction and Commonwealth Literature & North-East India Studies.

Charuvilla Joseph Chacko is a Ph. D. Scholar at Nagarjuna University, Guntur. He also works as a Principal of Samadh Higher Secondary School Trichy P. Hiltrud Dave Eve, has been an active practitioner in English Language Teaching for more than 11 years and has interacted with more than 4,000 adult learners of English in the Indian higher education. At present she is working in As-Salam College of Engineering and Technology, Auduthurai, in South India.

Mallavarapu Jhansi is a teacher at the Government High School, Rajahmundry and Dr M Suresh Kumar is Professor of English at Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur.

Mamta Mishra is a research scholar in the Department of English in D.A-V College, Kanpur University. She holds a master’s degree in English from Kanpur University and is working as a Lecturer (English) in Government Girls Inter College in Unnao. She resides in Lucknow with her family. She is an avid reader and loves gardening.

Dr Munir is currently Associate Professor and Head in the Dept. of English, Shibli National College, Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, Jaunpur, India. In 1989, he obtained the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English from Banaras Hindi University, Varanasi, India. His special area is Modernism, Postmodernism, Feminism, Literary Theory, Literary Criticism, and English Language Teaching.

Omaiha Azeem Walajahi is a Literature and Psychology Graduate from Nizam College (Osmania University). Her areas of interest include Post-Colonial and Minority Literature and culture. She hopes to continue to contribute in the field of research.

Dr. Mantha Padmabandhavi Prakashrao is qualified as M.A.,(English) Ph.D in English from Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded and at present she is serving as Assistant Professor at Swami Vivekanand Mahavidhyalaya, Shirurtajband, Dist. Latur , Mahatrashtra. Her area of interest is Indian writing in English and Feminist writings.

Pooja Mittal is a Research Scholar at Department of English at R.G.P.G. College, CCS University, Meerut under the guidance of Dr. Mamta Upadhyay. She has published and presented many research papers in seminars and Journal.

Dr Poonam Minocha, Professor of English at Aurora’s Technological and Research Institute, Hyderabad, has a PhD from Pondicherry University. A gold medallist in MA and MPhil from Pondicherry University, she has around 22 years of teaching experience.

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Puneet Kumar Dubey is a Research Scholar at RDVV, Jabalpur, MP, under the supervision of Dr Swati Chandorkar who is a Professor and Head, Dept of English Govt. SSNM. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Narsinghpur.

Dr. Santosh Kumar Singh works as a Lecturer at Khowpa College in Bhaktapur, Nepal. He specializes in Social Semiotics &Mithila Painting.

Dr. S. Santosh Smitha has an Educational Qualification Of M.A, BEd, PhD And Is An Assistant Professor for 12 Yrs In The Department Of English at Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College For Women, Chennai.

Ms. R. V. Soupraja works as an Asst. Professor in the Department of English, Anna Adarsh College for Women, Chennai. Her area of specialization is Children’s Literature.

Ms Swatti Dhanwni is working as Assistant Professor, Dept of English with Kanoria PG Mahila Mahavidyalaya for the past 7 years teaching UG and PG classes. Her areas of interest include women's writing, children's literature, partition literature, American literature and postcolonial literature.

Tamanna P.M. is currently pursuing her Masters in English from Osmania University. She has completed her BA Honours in English from Christ (Deemed to be University) Bengaluru in 2019.

P Anand Kumar is a PhD research scholar at Osmania University. He is presently working as a Contract Lecturer in English Government Polytechnic Vaddepally.

Dr. P. Bharathi is a Professor of English at ATRI, Uppal and has twenty three years of experience in teaching. Her areas of interest include Teacher training, Mentoring and Curriculum development.

Geetha H has been working as Assistant Professor in English at Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore since 2014 and she teaches communication skills for first and second year Engineering students. Her interest lies in writing short stories and reading novels.

Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel is an associate professor of English at Tribhuvan University. Dr. Kadel has earned PhD in English education from The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India. His interested areas of the study are development of language through literature, teacher development, linguistics in application and research methodology.

Dr. Shiva Durga has published 22 research papers in various International Journals of repute and presented research papers in 29 conferences. She is the National coordinator for SWAYAM MOOC, MHRD and AICTE –UGC Programme for Nature of language and conducted Nationwide On line course in 2019.

Dr. Meena Malik is a Professor in English at NDRI Deemed University, Karnal. A graduate with Honours in English, she obtained M.A., M. Phil and Doctorate in English from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK). Her area of specialization is ‘Feminist Issues’.

Dr. Vivek Mehrotra has published 10 research papers in various International Journals of repute and presented research papers in 12 conferences. He is the Programme Coordinator for the department of English. He is the Head of Ninad Music Club and Natraj Dance Club in the university.

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