Dr. B.R.

AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY, SRIKAKULAM

M A ENGLISH
SYLLABUS – IV Semester
Course No–403: INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH–II Faculty: DR. P. RAVI KUMAR
UNIT – I
R. Partha Sarathy (Ed) : TEN TWENTIETH CENTURY INDIAN POETS
Vilas Sarang (Ed) : INDIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH SINCE 1950

Kamala Das : THE FREAKS, GHANASHYAM, INTRODUCTION

A. K. Ramanujan : THE STRIDERS, CHICAGO ZEN,
SMALL REFLECTIONS ON A GREAT HOUSE
Jayanta Mahapatra : INDIAN SUMMER, DAWN AT PURI, HUNGER

UNIT – II
Vikram Seth : HEAVEN’S LAKE
Girish Karnad : THE FIRE AND THE RAIN

UNIT- III
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan : KALKI

UNIT –IV
Dr. B R. Ambedkar : BUDDHA AND HIS DHAMMA

UNIT - V
Shashi Deshpande : SMALL REMEDIES

Background Study: Counter – Discourse, Post – Colonialism, Decolonisation, Prose – Aesthetics, Non –
Fictional Prose, Novels of East-West Encounter, Present Day Tends, Nationalism, Orientalism
Suggested Reading:
M.K. Naik : Aspects of Indian Writing in English
(Macmillan, Madras, 1979)
Meenakshi Mukherjee : Considerations(Allied Publishers, Bombay, 1977)
3. Siva Rama Krishna : Indian Poetry in English: A Critical Assess-
Ment V.A.Shahane
4. M.K. Naid and
S. Mokashi Punekar : Perspectives on Indian Drama in English
(O.U.P, Madras 1977)
5. M.K. Naik : Prespcetives on Indian Fiction in English
(Abhinav Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
1985)
6. K.R. Srinivasa Lyenger : Indian Writing in English
(Sterling Pub. Ltd. New Delhi, 4th ed. 1984)
T. W. Clark : The Novel in India: Its Birth and Develoment
(George Alen & Unwin: London 1970)
M.K. Naik : Dimention of Indian English Literature
(Sterling Pub. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi 1985)
 INTRODUCTION ON ‘INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE’

The rise of the Indian Writing in English is, at the onset, to be located historically.
The first connection that we should be looking at is the introduction of the
English language as a medium of instruction in India and the introduction of
English literature as a subject in the Universities. Before Indians could write
poetry in English, two related preconditions had to be met. First, the English
language had to be sufficiently indianised to be able to express the reality of the
Indian situation. Secondly, Indians had to be sufficiently Anglicized to use the
English language to express themselves.

Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English

(IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language
and whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages
of India. ... It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature.

Broadly speaking, Indian English literature may be defined as literature written

originally in English by authors, Indian by birth, ancestry or nationality. ... But
even in their case, the Indian strain in them is bound to condition the nature of
both their artistic sensibility and their way of expression.

East – West conflict, multi – culturalism, social realism, gender issues, comic
aspect of human nature, ecological concerns, magic realism, diasporic writings
and the like became the themes of the post – Independent writers.

Indian writers do comment on the social issues like “Superstitions, casteism

poverty, illiteracy and many other social evils that were eating the vitals of
Indian society. India has seen noteworthy communicators who inspired the
everyday citizens for advancement by great informative means in different fields.
The main characteristics of Indian writing in English:
• Religion.
• Deeds.
• Human Values.
• Obedience.
• Bravery.
• Love.
• Morality.
• Poetic Form.
Kamala Das belongs to the Modern Indian English Poets who has brought
into English Poetry the concept of Confessional Poetry which we ordinarily do
not find among other Indian English poets particularly the woman poets.
In Kerala, her birthplace, she gained fame by her short stories
and autobiographies written in the local language (Malayalam) whereas, in
English Language, it is the poetry that has given her a significant place.

Her family has a considerable influence on her literary career. Her mother was a
writer and was no doubt her first role model in the world of literature.

However, it was her uncle and later her husband under whom she became a
prominent and renowned poet of English. In 2009, The Times called her “the
mother of Modern Indian English Poetry”
Being a woman and born in India, she was well aware of the fact that it is not so
easy for her to succeed in a literary career and hence once claimed: “poetry does
not sell in this country (India)”. However, she was quite wrong in her perception
as her poetry is considered to be one of its own kinds.
Kamala Das was born in a conservative Hindu family that had royal ancestry but
later on, in 1999 she embraced Islam after being influenced by her lover Sadiq
Ali. Whether being Hindu or Muslim, she showed stern faith in the Divine and
we find instances of Divine obsession in a large number of her writings.
The poetry of Kamala Das mostly represents a realistic and humanistic view of
the life of a woman in society. Being married at an early age to an old person and
having suffered a lot in her husband’s family, she was much frustrated by her
life and she would often pray to God for peace, equality, and justice in the society
regarding the women and sometimes she would even desire for death.
Being frank and truthful in her writings, she presents in plain words, all these
social, sexual, religious and household issues in her poetry which Tom Dick and
Harry can go through. One finds confessional instances in terms of love, sex,
relations, faith etc.
Thus she prays to divine to bring justice in the society where the people may
treat the woman as they treat the men, where they follow the just laws of nature
rather than the prejudiced norms of the society, where the woman may have the
freedom to express her sexual desires before the men and not remain dumb.

The poems cast a critical eye on Indian society, with its strong patriarchy and
notions about how a woman should conduct herself. Interestingly, while her
poetry is replete with feminist yearnings, there is a strong sense of spirituality
running through them.

Thus she becomes ‘the every woman’, who is silenced by the orthodox
principles of the Indian society and prays to God,

Poetry Collections by Kamala Das in English Translation

• The Sirens (1964)

• Summer in Calcutta (1965)
• The Descendants (1967)
• The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973)
• The Stranger Time (1977)
• Collected Poems (1984)
• The Anamalai Poems (1985)
• Only the Soul Knows How to Sing (1997)
• My Mother at Sixty-Six (1999)
• Yaa Allah (2001)

AN INTRODUCTION

Kamala Das’ poem ‘An Introduction’ appeared in her first collection of poems,
‘Summer in Calcutta.’ In her poem, she speaks in the voice of a child, rebelling
against the expectations and dictates of a patriarchal society that asks her to ‘fit
in’ and to ‘belong’ against her own desires. ‘Malabar;’ a southern Indian location,
covering a major part of Kerala, which also spreads to parts of Karnataka.

Her resistance against patriarchy is to protect her identity in a male-dominated

society. The poem begins with the assertion, ‘I don’t know politics, but I know
the names of those in power,’ which demonstrates her distaste for politics in a
world where politics is considered a man’s domain. Next comes her defiant
declaration of her right to publish in whatever language she wishes, in response
to demands that she should not ‘write in English.’ Her reaction to the critics is
reiteration of the (language) appropriation of the colonial language to serve native
needs. ‘Categorizers’; an allusion to those who perceive and group other people
in various systems or brackets: the word implies an inclination to stereotyping
people.

The poem moves from the subject of language politics to the issue of sexual
politics. During her pubescent years, the poet’s abrupt engagement and her first
sexual experience both leave her traumatized. On the heartbeat, she defies the
gender code and dresses up like a male by wearing a shirt and a trouser and ‘sits
on the wall. The guardians of morality compel the attire of a decent woman with
orders to step into a woman’s generally acceptable position as a ‘wife’ and
‘mother’. Madhavikutti; ‘the nickname that Kamala Das used in Malayalam when
writing.

Kamala Das, comparing herself with the world’s other oppressed women,
universalizes oppressed and finds liberation and love. The poem becomes a
declaration on gender inequalities and a step to overcome the limits put on
a woman by pursuing individual liberty, love that enables the body to deal with
its own desires and a self that is permitted to enjoy the true glory of love.

In the beginning of the poem “An Introduction” the poet says that she is not
interested in politics but she claims that she can name all the politician who
have been in power right from the time of Nehru. By stating that she can repeat
them as assuredly as days of week, or name of month. She secondarily states
the fact that politics in the country is a game of few chosen privileged who
paradoxically rule a democracy. And same people have been in power time and
again.
She says that she is an Indian, born in Malabar and she is very brown in colour.
She speaks three languages, two for writing and one for dreaming. People asked
her not to write in English since it’s not her mother tongue. English was colonial
language dominant as medium of communication during British time. She had
encountered many criticisms in her life from critic, friends and relatives.
She asks that why she can’t speak any language she likes it’s her choice to chose
any language. She highlights that the language she speaks becomes her own, all
the imperfections and queerness become her own. The language which she uses
is half-English and half-Hindi which seems funny but the point is that it’s honest
and the imperfection makes it more human, portrait it close to what is call
Natural. The language expresses her joys, grief and hopes. For her it’s like cawing
is to crows and roaring is to lion i.e. is an integral part of her expression.
She further says that her speech is the speech of humans that minds can
understand and not strange and queer like the sounds of trees in the storms or
of monsoon clouds or of rain or of dead as these voices cannot be understood.
She moves on telling her own story, she was a child and later people told her
that she is now a grown up as her body had started showing signs of puberty.
But she didn’t understand as her heart and mind was still of a child. When she
asked for love from her husband not knowing what to ask, he took the sixteen-
year-old girl to his bedroom. Here is a strong criticism of child marriage. She
says that she was not beaten by him yet her womanly body felt body felt to be
beaten and wound thus she got tired of her body. He genitals seemed to her as
some burden that has crushed her. She started hating her female body because
it is her body that given her so much of pain. Thus she tries to overcome such
humiliation by being tomboyish.
At the end of the poem, the poet describes her encounters with a man. She does
not take names for it is the symbolism in her relationship that she seeks to
convey. Hence like him, she can also attribute the title of ‘I’ to herself. Like men
she is also sinner and saint, beloved and betrayed. Her joys and pains are no
different than those of men. Hence she liberates herself to the level of ‘I’. Thus
“she” is “I” too.
 THE FREAKS

The poem written by Kamala Das, depicts the intimate moments of the narrator
shared with her husband. It is a personal poem of the poetess which also shows
the vacuum of emotional warmth between them, although the husband seems
to be unaware of absence of love. Like her another poem The Sunshine Cat, there
is a lack of chemistry between her husband and her.

She doesn't feel the love between them and only acts as a formality to engage in
sex to gratify her husband. Her husband's only contention is with his sexual
desire to be fulfilled and he has no other thought of knowing what she really
yearns. He may be deluded by the narrator acting as enjoying sex, she is aware
of his only contention with sex and she doesn't deny him. She doesn't associate
with her husband and calls him "man with Nimble finger-tips". She has no
expectations from him other than fulfilling her sexual needs but she wants
something else which she knows that he can never grant her, emotional support.

But in her heart, she feels heartbroken because he has failed in loving her. Her
heart is like a "An empty cistern". To fake the true emotions, she has to "fills
itself/ With coiling snakes of silence". She admits faking a high sexual drive to
hide her emotions from her indifferent husband.

Although the poem is personal but it also represents the condition of women in
a highly patriarchal society like India where women are bound to serve and
satisfy their husbands who don't feel the need to treat their wives at the par with
them. Male chauvinist are aware of the upcoming "problems" when both sex are
given equal rights. The poetess, Kamala Das had to face wrath of people who
criticized her frankness.

GHANASHYAM

In her poem Ghanashyam, she compares God with a Koel (a bird) who has built
her nest in the heart of the poet. Until now the heart or in a broader sense, her
life was solitary, gloomed and ruined jungle which has now been excited is back
into life by the sweet music of koel i.e. the Ghanashyam.

Ghanshyam here is a typical Kamala Dasian poem which is semi-

autobiographical, semi-religious and semi-classical in the sense that though she
has titled it Ghanshyam, addressed to Krishna, the Blue Boy of Brindaban, but
instead of it she transgresses into her personal and private spaces, maybe it that
she is saying the things of her heart to the Lord as has Mira, unmindful of what
the world says about or not, lost in Krishnabhakti and enjoying the company of
sadhus and saints, but the case of Kamala different from Mira as she keeps not
their company. The pains of Radha the world felt it not, the pains of Mira, the
world knew it not. So, what to say of Kamala Das? The pains of her heart she is
saying to Krishna, Lord Krishna. On the one hand, classical love poetry enthralls
us with its folklore while on the other the reality is far from golden dreams and
flight of imagery we can see the widows of Benares and Brindaban living a
miserable life, the plight of the women beyond description.

Addressing Krishna as Ghanshyam, the poetess says that the Lord has settled
in the arbour of her heart, taken it to be His place, just like the koel bird builds
a nest. What does it mean really? The Lord has chosen it to be His place of
dwelling. Krishnaprem is as such that it has coloured the poetess in its colour
and she is love-mad. Where to go and what to do? Which way to take to? Her life
which has been almost like a jungle is now a stir with music. But the path to
take does not come to the mind. The cuckoo is cooingly sweetly and the musical
notes are doing the rounds. It is not the bird, but just as a harbinger of His
melody it is striking the chords of the heart and it is stringing and she like love-
mad Mira and Radha is getting crazier. But whenever nearer to, the Lord turns
up not rather vanishes out of sight.

There is beauty and music in the lines when she says that Ghanashyam has
built a koel like nest into the harbour of her heart. Her life just like a jungle
oblivious of it all gets a charm when the koel starts cooing into the woodland.
Now the magic has done wonders and the things seem to be touched divinely in
spirit which is but the charm of His. Krishna-Kanhaiya knows it all how to steer
across the boat of life.

One who has no help has but Shyam, Ghanshyam by his or her side. This is but
a religious point of view as we have discussed in classical love poetry where there
is a point of surrender, total surrender to the Divine. Love for Krishna is good.
Something definitely gets purged out while offering to Him, praying to Him and
lighting the candle before Him. Such a thing it is in the placing of roses before
the altar, the sacred shrine or the tombstone of St. Valentine. To remember him
will also suffice to do. Who is the Lover of lovers may the other point of
deliberation. Sometimes it also has been seen that the devotee beloved finally
thinks of relinquishing the earthly connection for the Love Divine.

If we like to make a psycho-analytical analysis, we shall come to find various

things, as for the streaks of abnormal psychology studied and the matter
reverting back to psycho-neurotic issues. Sexual dissatisfaction, mismatch
marriage, age gap and so on will come out. There is definitely something of the
repression and suppression of sexual libido. Restricting and restraining the
sexual urges, we cannot channelize our energies towards Divinity. So, such a
thing one can study to some extent in Mira too as she was a royal widow. There
is something of perverted sexuality which but we cannot deny it.

The psychology of a young devotee is a factor. To read her mind is to know many
a thing. Can a beloved be not a worshipper of St. Valentine? But she will be in
the likewise manner. Sometimes one turns to spiritual love for consolation.
Broken hearts need to be nourished and embalmed. The candle burning before
the Cross can also give solace to the broken soul. The light burning before
Krishna can also can console the self.

Ghanshyam is no doubt a beautiful love poem written by Kamala Das and

nowhere can we find such a description so poetic and lyrical, so aesthetic and
amorous. Krishna, where is Krishna? Krishna is in heart, in our heart. Who can
know Him? One who feels Him as His own, considers Him as His own moves so
closer to. He will surely come to feel the melodies of His Divine Flute piping slowly
and the golden notes breaking, unfolding and unfolding and encompassing with
ruptures.

JAYANTA MAHAPATRA’S BIOGRAPHY

Jayanta Mahapatra is one of the best known Indian English poets. Perhaps any
discussion on Indian English Poetry is incomplete without reference to his
poetical works. Physicist, bilingual poet and essayist, Jayanta Mahapatra holds
the distinction of being the first Indian English poet to have received the Sahitya
Akademi Award (1981) for Relationship. In 2009 he was awarded by Government
of India with "Padmashree Award", country's most prestigious award for civilian
citizen for his outstanding contribution to the field of literature.
Jayanta Mahapatra, born on 22 October 1928 in Cuttack ( India ), belongs to a
lower middle-class family. He had his early education at Stewart school, Cuttack
. After a first class Master's Degree in Physics, he joined as a teacher in 1949
and served in different Government colleges of Orissa.

All his working life, he taught physics at different colleges in Orissa. He retired
in 1986. Mahapatra has authored 18 books of poems. He started writing poetry
at the age of thirty-eight, quite late by normal standards. Mahapatra's tryst with
the muse came rather late in life. He published his first poems in his early 40s.
The publication of his first book of poems, Svayamvara and Other Poems, in
1971 was followed by the publication of Close the Sky, Ten By Ten.

His collections of poems include A Rain of Rites, Life Signs and A Whiteness of
Bone. One of Mahapatra's better remembered works is the long poem
Relationship, for which he won the Sahitya Akademi award in 1981. He is the
first Indian English Poet to receive the honor. Besides being one of the most
popular Indian poets of his generation, Mahapatra was also part of the trio of
poets who laid the foundations of modern Indian English Poetry. He shared a
special bond with A. K. Ramanujan, one the finest poets in the IEP tradition.
Mahapatra is also different in not being a product of the Bombay school of poets.
Over time, he has managed to carve a quiet, tranquil poetic voice of his own--
distinctly different from those of his contemporaries. His wordy lyricism
combined with authentic Indian themes puts him in a league of his own.

His recent poetry volumes include Shadow Space, Bare Face and Random
Descent. Besides poetry, he has experimented widely with myriad forms of prose.
His lone published book of prose remains The Green Gardener, a collection of
short stories. A distinguished editor, Jayanta Mahapatra has been bringing out,
for many years, a literary magazine, Chandrabhaga, from Cuttack. The magazine
is named after Chandrabhaga, a prominent but dried-up river in Orissa.
Jayanta Mahapatra (born 22 October 1928) is a major Indian English poet. He
is the first Indian poet to win Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He is
the author of popular poems such as Indian Summer and Hunger, which are
regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature. Jayanta Mahapatra
was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009.
However, he returned the Padma award in 2015 to protest against the rising
intolerance in India.

Indian Poets Trio

Besides being one of the popular Indian poets of his generation, Mahapatra was
also part of the trio of poets who laid the foundations of Indian English Poetry.
He shared a special bond with A. K. Ramanujan, one of the finest poets in the
IEP tradition. Mahapatra is also different in not being a product of the Bombay
school of poets besides R. Parthasarathy. Over time, he has managed to carve
a quiet, tranquil poetic voice of his own—distinctly different from those of his
contemporaries. His wordy lyricism combined with Indian themes put him in a
league of his own. In one of his interviews, Mahapatra says, "Meeting with A D
Hope, especially in his warm home in Canberra, and with his charming wife,
Penelope, is an unforgettable happening in my life. The man's humility was
amazing, it humbled me. It was a lesson. I wrote a sort of editorial piece on him
in the magazine I was editing—Chandrabhaga, and I'd like you to read what I
had said. This appeared in the journal in 1979."

The Captive Air of Chandipur on Sea is a fine nature poem by Jayanta

Mahapatra. The poet stands at the seashore at Chandipur and he experiences
the sadness in the atmosphere. When he listens the mystic song of the sea, he
states that the sweet pleasant music of the sea is finished with the cries of
fishermen, who didn't returned from the sea. The poet mourns for the glory of
nature in the past.

The Abandoned British Cemetery at Balasore is a fine poem by Jayanta

Mahapatra. Once he visited the British Cemetery at Balasore. During that visit
he was influenced due to ruins of stones and marbles. The poets anguish is
caused not by the sight of ancient graves of unknown people but by the morbid
thought of countless lives that continue to be needlessly lost in their prime. The
poem is full of beautiful and unusual images.

Dawn at Puri; is a fine poem by Jayanta Mahapatra. The poem depicts the
morning scene on the sea beach at Puri. The poet notices many things at the
sandy beach. First he notices the endless cawing of the crows. The another thing
that he notices is the human skull on the beach. The sight of the skull brings
him an idea of intense poverty in the people of Orissa. When he look into the
eyes of the women who come for the crematation he observes the expression
solemnity in their eyes. The last desire of the woman is she should be also
cremated here after her death. The whore house in a Calcutta Street is a realistic
poem by Jayanta Mahapatra. He tries to recreate a character in a typical Indian
situation.

Early Life And Education

Born into a prominent Odia Christian family, Mahapatra went to Stewart School
in Cuttack, Odisha. He completed his M. Sc. in Physics from Patna University,
Bihar, India. He began his teaching career as a lecturer in Physics in 1949.
During his professional life, he taught Physics at various government colleges in
Odisha including Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur, B.J.B College,
Bhubaneswar, Fakir Mohan College, Balasore and Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.
He superannuated at the Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (now Ravenshaw
University) and retired from his government job as the Reader in Physics in 1986.
He began his writing career very late already in the late sixties. His short stories
as well as poems were initially rejected by several publishers. Then his poems
got published in international literary journals such as Critical Inquiry, the
Sewanee Review, the Kenyan Review, and the New Yorker. His poems were also
published in other poetry magazines in India. He received many literary awards
for his published poems. He was invited to participate in the International
Writing Program (IWP) at Iowa among twenty two selected international poets.
This gave him an opportunity to go out of India and acquire international
exposure.

Literary Works

Mahapatra has authored 27 books of poems, of which seven are in Odia and the
rest in English. His poetry volumes include Relationship, Bare Face and Shadow
Space. Besides poetry, he has experimented widely with myriad forms of prose.
His published books of prose include Green Gardener, an anthology of short
stories and Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs. Mahapatra is also a distinguished
editor and has been bringing out, for many years, a literary magazine,
Chandrabhaga, from Cuttack. The magazine is named after Chandrabhaga, a
prominent river in Odisha. His poems appeared in many prestigious poetry
anthologies like The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from
India, published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada.

He began writing poems only when he was in his forties. The publication of his
first book of poems, Svayamvara and Other Poems, in 1971 was followed by the
publication of Close The Sky Ten By Ten. One of Mahapatra's better remembered
works is the long poem Relationship, for which he became the first Indian
English poet to win the Sahitya Akademi award in 1981.
Mahapatra has also translated from Odia into English simultaneously while he
was composing his original poems in English and Odia. He has translated poems
of senior as well as young writers of Odisha, of Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Some of his translations are published in the bi-monthly literary magazine titled
Indian Literature published by the Central Sahitya Akademi of India and some
are in his own magazine titled Chandrabhaga. Some anthologies of his
translations have been published by different publishers of India.

Awards, Recognition & Legacy

In 1981 Jayanta Mahapatra won Sahitya Akademi award for his book
"Relationships". He is also a recipient of the Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award
conferred by Poetry magazine, Chicago. He was also awarded the Allen Tate
Poetry Prize for 2009 from The Sewanee Review, Sewanee, United States. He
received the SAARC Literary Award, New Delhi, 2009. He was conferred with the
Padma Shri award in 2009 by the president of India and was awarded an
honorary doctorate by Ravenshaw University on 2 May 2009. He was also
awarded D. Lit. degree by Utkal University, Odisha in 2006.

Books By Jayanta Mahapatra: Poetry

1971: Close the Sky Ten by Ten, Calcutta: Dialogue Publications

1971: Svayamvara and Other Poems, Calcutta: Writers Workshop

1976: A Father's Hours, Delhi: United Writers

1976: A Rain of Rites, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press

1979: Waiting, Samkaleen Prakashan

1980: The False Start, Bombay: Clearing House

1980: Relationship, Greenfield, New York: Greenfield Review Press

Prose

1997: The Green Gardener, short stories, Hyderabad: Orient Longman

2006: Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs, New Delhi: Authrospress

2011: Bhor Moitra Kanaphula. In Oriya. Bhubaneswar, Paschima

Poetry in Odia

1993: Bali (The Victim), Cutack: Vidyapuri

1995: Kahibe Gotiye Katha (I'll Tell A Story), Arya Prakashan

1997: Baya Raja(The Mad Emperor), Cuttack: Vidyapuri

2004: Tikie Chhayee (A Little Shadow), Cuttack; Vidyapuri

2006: Chali (Walking), Cuttack: Vidyapuri

2008: Jadiba Gapatie (Even If It's A Story), Cuttack: Friends Publishers

2011: Smruti Pari Kichhiti (A Small Memory), Cuttack: Bijayini

Translations into English

1973: Countermeasures: Poems, Calcutta. Dialogue

1976: Wings of the Past: Poems, Calcutta. Rajasree

1981: Song of Kubja and Other Poems, New Delhi. Samkaleen

1994: I Can, But Why Should I Go: Poems, New Delhi. Sahitya Akademi

1996: Verticals of Life: Poems, New Delhi. Sahitya Akademi

1998: Tapaswini: a Poem, Bhubaneswar. Orissa Sahitya Akademi

2001: Discovery and other Poems, Kolkata. Writers Workshop

2003: A Time of Rising (Poems), New Delhi. Har-Anand

Awards

Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry - 2017 (Jaipur Literature Festival)
RL Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award for Poetry, 2013, Hyderabad.

Second Prize – International Who's Who in Poetry, London, 1970.

Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award – Poetry, Chicago, 1975.

Visiting Writer – International Writing Program, Iowa City 1976–77.

Cultural Award Visitor, Australia, 1978.

Japan Foundation – Visitor's Award, Japan, 1980.

Appearances In The Following Poetry Anthologies

A New Book of Indian Poems In English (2000) ed. by Gopi Kottoor and published
by Poetry Chain and Writers Workshop, Calcutta

Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (1976) ed. by R. Parthasarathy and

published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

INDIAN SUMMAR

The poem entitled Indian summer (A rain of Rites, 1976) illustrates the fact that
Mahapatra's vision is basically tragic, and his pessimism and sobre outlook
maybe accounted for his keen sense of the suffering of Indian masses. His
dominant concern is the vision of grief, lose, dejection and rejection.

“Summer” is a short poem written by Jayanta Mahapatra who looks at the world
from an objective point of view. The poem is filled with images and has a
significant meanings inside. It talks about the landscape of Hindu marriage and
society and there are many symbols in the poem which suggest the entire
thematic concerns in the poem. Critically the poem weaves the mixture of
certainty and uncertainty which is a heavy influence writing features from T.S
Eliot.

The influences of Eliot is seen in the opening of the poem. The mention of “Not
yet” shows the certainty that something has not happened but is yet to come and
the uncertainty is drawn with a rhetorical question “Who needs the future?”. It
could mean that the certainty of something that is yet to happen is resulted in
the future uncertainty implying that the future of the girl child is uncertain with
the coming certainty.

Mahapatra’s poem are filled with images and he tries to bridge meaning of life
through images. he highlights that there seem to be a fire under the mango tree
and there are only ashes left. The “mango tree” is in reference to the family of the
girl child and the “cold ash” is suggestive of abandonment or decayed of child’s
future . The “ash’ has been cold in the “deserted fire” where the “fire” symbolizes
the hidden inner desires or ambitions of a girl child which has been abandoned
and left by the family members.

He shows the imagery of a mother and her daughter of “ten-year-old ” who is

combing her “mother’s hair ” reflects womanhood. It reflects the relationship of
a mother and a love for her daughter. He also paints a picture of the “crows” who
seems to be a rivalry are ‘quietly nesting”. The “crows’ are always a symbol of evil
and looking at it from the Indian context, it could symbolize the old traditional
child marriage and the lines could suggest that the mother may not have
approved the early marriage while resulting in rivalry among the family members
but the dominance in Indian scenario is always a man and hence the image of
“quietly nesting” symbolizes the settlement of the issue where the girl is getting
married early. It throws insight into the realm of patriarchal society and
injustices faced by a woman and their silent oppression.

Lastly, he further adds that the girl child knew that her home will “never be hers”
symbolizing the patriarchal society and she knows in “corner of her mind” that
her ambitions in life will be abandoned and isolated in the society. It is clearly
portrayed in the lines “a living green mango/drops softly to earth” suggesting the
clear negating of girl child’s desires and profession.
2. Here, the poem offers some images that are not interconnected in any way,
but they are all supposed to be images of the phenomenon that should occur in
this country. First, the image of a mourning wind blows and produces moaning
sounds. Obviously, it is an audio-visual image.

Then come the picture of the priests singing louder than before and thus
indicating that it is the mouth of India that has opened and that is recited sacred
verse. We open the mouth of India, which suggests hunger and famine in India.
The third image offers an image in a single sentence. The crocodiles that are the
tropical creature feel tormented by the oppressive heat of the Indian summer,
they move into deeper waters to get relief.

In the following photo the sun of the Indian summer is already troublesome and
the piles of garbage have made the heat too intolerable to stand near them or go
through the garbage pile or refuse dirt and dust Which India sometimes knows.

The next picture is that of a good woman lying in bed with the protagonist. The
long hot summer afternoon of India has not exhausted her. She continues to live
in her dreams about the past and the future. This photo highlights the patient
and stoical nature of Indian women. This image also presents an Indian ritual in
the last lines in which the dead are burned and, during the summer, funerary
pyres burn with crackling sounds. Indian women take death stoically.

DAWN AT PURI

‘Dawn at Puri’ by Jayanta Mahapatra presents a picturesque description of the

seashore and the pilgrims visiting each day to visit the famous temple of
Jagannath. At the beach, there are numerous crows gathering here and there.
In this noisy ambiance, the poet observes a skull resembling poor and hungry
millions of our country. Thereafter the poet shifts his vision and looks at the
temple where “white-clad widowed Women” are waiting to enter the “Great
Temple”. The poet sees a deep religious yearning in their eyes.

In the next section of ‘Dawn at Puri’, Mahapatra shifts again to the seashore and
now he rather sees empty shells lying there instead of crows. It is actually an
instance of symbolism that will be discussed later in the analysis section. In the
landscape suddenly a heap of smoke seeks the attention of the poet. It is actually
coming out of a cremation pyre. The poem ends with the wish of the poet’s aging
mother. She wants to be cremated at her native place like the mentioned pyre on
the seashore.

Stanza 1: The poet is near a famous Hindu temple situated on the bank of a
river. He finds numerous crows making noise. It should be noted that the
crowing of the crows is not pleasant at all.

It indicates that there is a dead body that they want to eat. Hence the tone of the
poem is quite a sad right from the beginning. There is a skull in the holy sands.

The word Holy is ironical because during cremation nothing is left except the
ashes. However, the presence of the skull symbolizes the hollowness of rites and
rituals of his community and also the poverty which dominates the poet’s
country i.e. India.

Thus the town of Puri here symbolizes the whole country. And if the skull
remains intact after cremation in such a holy and sacred city, the poet wonders
what would be the condition in other cities that are not holy.

Stanza 2: In the second stanza, the poet takes his attention towards the white-
clad widowed Women. The women are white-clad because, in Hinduism, the
women have to wear white clothes till death after their husbands die.

The poet, rather than using “widows” calls them “Widowed women” which points
to the patriarchal norms of Indian society which make the woman widow after
the death of her husband. She has to wear white sarees, give up worldly desires
and sexual pleasures.

The women have past the centers of their lives. Centres here refer either to their
husbands or desires. Whatever may be the exact meaning, they are now without
something which was their center i.e. purpose of their lives.
If the center symbolizes the husband, the line again suggests patriarchial
dominance. An individual’s center is his/her own self. However, in a patriarchal
society, the case is different for women.

They have to become selfless and make their husbands the centers of their lives
and thus without them, they are without identity and purpose.

The women seem to be waiting to enter the Great Temple. The phrase Great
Temple is quite ironical because the poet suggests the hollowness of rituals in
the beginning. The women are perhaps made to believe that the temple is great
and they can find peace there only.

Stanza 3: The eyes of the widowed women are described as austere. Austere here
means without any desire for worldly pleasure and desire. The women after
losing their husbands have given up worldly lives.

The poet says that their austere eyes stare like those caught in a net i.e. being
desireless, they seem to have been caught in a net. Here net is the symbolic net
of the patriarchal society. Like a trapped bird, the women have lost the freedom
of their mind and body.

While standing there to enter the temple, they are hopeful for a peaceful life.
Entering the temple is the only desire left in them like seeing the morning light
is the only desire and hope of a trapped bird.

Stanza 4: Next, the poet describes leprous shells who are ruined and are leaning
against one another. Leprous shells here either refer to the beggars who are
always near the temple asking for money or the low cast people who are not
allowed to enter the temple.

Being in masses, and their faces crouched (i.e. upper area of the body bent
forward) they are without names or identity. Again we find discrimination against
the beggars who seek materialistic things in a spiritual and holy land or the low-
caste people who cannot go inside because of their cast.
Whatever the case may be, the lines suggest the hollow and discriminatory
nature of the rites and ritual of Indian society.

Stanza 5: Suddenly, the poet’s thoughtfulness is interrupted by the smoky blaze

of a sullen solitary pyre. The dead body is joyless and alone though being
cremated in Holy Land. The burning pyre reminds the poet of his old mother.

Stanza 6: The poet memorizes his mother’s last wish that was to be cremated
here. I think the second last line continues from the smoky blaze of a sullen
solitary pyre. The poet says that the smoke rising from the pyre is twisting
because of the air that comes from the river.

The air twists the pyre’s smoke that makes the poet wonder the certainty of the
dead person’s eternal peace because, in spite of being burnt in a holy place, the
smoke of the pyre which is perhaps his soul is affected by air. At the same time,
the light is falling which keeps shifting on the sand.

By comparing the light’s uncertain position to the pyre’s smoke, the poet
questions the very belief on which all the rites and rituals are formed and
performed. It is thus also uncertain.

Hence there is dawn not only the physical but also metaphorical i.e. poet’s
realization that his very belief is hollow which in spite of being uncertain has
trapped the women, discriminated against some people on the basis of cast and
made the people believe in the afterlife which is uncertain.

HUNGER

Jayanta Mahapatra's poem Hunger is a well-known poem written on a unique

theme. The poem speaks clearly of the need for food and the appetite for flesh
and sex, both animal desires. It reveals the plight of a fisherman who can't make
the two ends meet. We can feel the father's pain and anguish vividly.

Stanza 1: The poet begins with the words It was hard to believe the flesh was
heavy on my back. In the first reading, we may think that the poet has a heavy
load or luggage on his back. However, the phrase hard to believe refers to
something that is deep and profound.

The poet here says that he couldn’t believe that he had strong sexual desires at
that time and was striving for sex which he couldn’t believe. In the next line, we
come to know that he is on a boat with a fisherman who says to him, “Will you
have her”.

Her here refers to the daughter of the fisherman whom he offers to the poet to
have sex with her. It is quite strange and impossible as no father ever offers his
daughter to strangers for quenching their sexual thirst.

While asking, the fisherman seems to be carelessly trailing his nets. But he was
in no way careless. His nerves were stretch and white bone thrashing his eyes
meaning that he was quite curious for the poet to say yes as he and his daughter
have nothing to eat and are striving for food.

Thus he offers his daughter to the poet so that the latter may quench his sexual
hunger while the former two may quench their physical hunger. Note that his
daughter’s consent is not taken. It is not clear whether she wants to have sex or
not.

Stanza 2: The poet then followed him across the sprawling (spread) sands. His
mind was thumping in the flesh’s sling meaning that the poet’s mind was
throbbing and his skin was trying to support it like a sling or the bandage used
for supporting a broken arm.

The poet thought that his sin will be forgiven by burning the house that he lived
in. The line shows that the poet was feeling quite guilty because of what he was
going to do out of sexual desire.

Then the silence of the poet was grabbing him and it seemed that the silence has
gripped his sleeves. It was perhaps his nerves that were stretching. The
fisherman looked at his old nets which had caught nothing but the foam from
the sea.
This last phrase can be attributed to the poet as well if we go deeper into its
meaning. The poet imagines as if he had gathered nothing but sin by his sexual
desires.

Stanza 3: The reached the fisherman’s hut which was quite dark and opened
like a wound. This phrase depicts the worst condition of their hut because of
poverty.

The wind here symbolizes storm which was going into in the mind of the poet.
Days and Nights means that it was happening all the time without stopping.

While entering the hut, the leaves of the palm tree were scratching his skin. In
the metaphorical sense, they were stopping the poet from committing the sin.
Inside the roughly built hut, the oil lamp had confined and fastened the hours
to the wall.

It probably means that the time has been stopped in the hut. There is no day,
but only the night. The night is not only in physical terms but also in the
metaphorical sense because there is the darkness of sorrows over the fisherman
and his daughter.

The smoke coming from the lamp was filling his mind and he was feeling either
dreamy or helpless.

Stanza 4: The poet hears the fisherman says, “My daughter, she’s just turned
fifteen…Feel her. I’ll be back soon, your bus leaves at nine”. Fifteen is the age
when a girl is it her charm. Feel her means quench your sexual hunger by having
sex with her.

I‘ll back mean that the poet is now free to do with his daughter whatever he
desires. The poverty and extreme hunger make the fisherman pimp his own
daughter in exchange for some money or food.

The way fisherman persuades the poet to have sex with his own daughter makes
the poet feel as if the sky has fallen on him. The poet finds the girl who is young
but malnutritioned due to poverty. Seeing the poet, she opens her worm-like
legs(as she is very weak and young) for the poet to make her his sex slave.

At this stage, the poet knows for the first time about the other hunger that is
opposite of his sexual hunger and which comes from an empty stomach (fish
slithering, turning inside depicts the churning movement that happens inside
the stomach when we feel hungry).

A K RAMANUJAN’S BIOGRAPHY

Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan was an Indian poet and scholar of Indian

literature who wrote in both English and Kannada. Ramanujan was a poet,
scholar, professor, philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright. His
academic research ranged across five languages: English, Kannada, Tamil,
Telugu, and Sanskrit.

A.K. Ramanujan was born in Mysore in 1929. After a brief teaching career in
India he moved to U.S. in 1962 and settled down there. He was Professor of
Linguistics and Dravidian Studies in the University of Chicago till his death
on July 13, 1993.

The main themes of Ramanujan's poetry are family, love, despair and death.
They are full of irony, humour, paradox and sudden reversals. The poet feels a
streak of jealousy for not sharing his wife's part.

His first book of poems The Striders was published in 1966 by Oxford
University Press and his second volume of poems Relations was published again
by OUP in 1969. His poems have found a place in many anthologies of Indian
English poetry and Commonwealth poetry and he himself has been discussed in
a number of critical works on the two areas.

He is much more well-known as a translator and his The Interior Landscape is

a translation of the great Tamil classic Kurunthokai. While this book won a gold
medal from the Tamil Writers’ Association, his Speaking of Siva won the National
Book Award in 1974. Another well-known translation of his is Hymns for the
Drowning: Poems for Visnu by Nammalvar (1981). His latest work is Second
Sight (1986) which is a set of poems very different from the earlier poems both
in content and form.

THE STRIDERS

The Striders

And search

For certain thin

Stemmed, bubble- eyed water bugs.

See them perch

On dry capillary legs

Weightless

On the ripple skin

Of a stream

Not only prophets

Walk in water.

The bug sits

On a landslide of lights

And drowns eye

Deep Into its tiny strip Of sky.

“The Striders” is one of the finest poems by the poet which opens a scope for a
deconstructive analysis in relation to the poets of Indian sensibilities.

The Striders poems is one of the well-known poem by A.K Ramanujan that
gives the idea about deconstructive analysis of Indian sensibilities poets. This
poem explains about the human being who is very powerful in every aspect.
Strider is a small water insect which is a New England name for it.

Insect may be small but he explains it from different angle. In the first stanza of
the poem he gave the idea about his physical appearance and made it as source
of idea. Although the insect was stranger but he made it a point of study. Later
he described a water bug as bubbled eye which made it dynamic but not static.
Human ideas are also like the bubblers that are very short and come and go. He
explained about Indian tradition and linked the ancient time to present time and
described the energy of insect which was gained through yoga so that he could
walk on the water without sinking. Human being is very powerful because they
have not only conquered the light but also the sky.

“The Striders” is included in the very first collection of poems by A.K.

Ramanujan, the poem “The Striders” is one of the finest poems by the poet which
opens a scope for a deconstructive analysis in relation to the poets of Indian
sensibilities. The striders may be a small insect. But the poet delineates it from
different angles. It causes explosion of thoughts for the poet. The thoughts are
having no forms. Those do not remain in the framework of binary. In the poem
we find, the first stanza is all about its physical description. The poet makes it a
source of ideas. It is no doubt a strange insect. But the poet makes it a point of
exploration. The poem begins with the line ‘And search’, the conjunction ‘And’
refers to the multiplying ideas, some of which may be known and the rest may
be unknown. ‘Search’ itself stands for an exploration, not in any particular
direction, nor in any presumable form. The poet describes the water bug as
‘bubble- eyed’, thereby he makes it dynamic, not static. Hence, ideas are also
likes the bubbles, very much short – lived. Those come and go. The poet refers
to human ideas perching on ‘Capillary legs’. The poet may be referring to the
force of globalization, through the ‘ripple skin of a stream’. Again, at first reading
the poem seems to be written on the line of Imagist ideals. After the excellent
narration of the Water bug in scanty language, the poems seems to gain
momentum of meaning. For some critics, "Stream” is the symbol of Universal
change and of time, what is a very common idea in Indian philosophy. Water bug
is a symbol of permanence. Both the symbols refer to the myth of Bishnu, what
is again an Indian God. The Bishnu is a constant in a world of flux.

The second stanza also refers to Indian tradition. The poet links the ancient time
to the present time. The depth and the potentiality of the insect is heightened by
the poet through the reference to the ancient prophets, who with their energy,
accumulated through yoga, used to walk even on water without being sunk. It
creates an impression of the fact that the poet might be speaking about power of
human being,’ who sits on a landslide of light’, means he is even capable of going
deep into the mystery of light or universe. It has a touch of irony at the same
time . With the growth and development of science a nd technology , moral
strength of human being has not increased . It has rather gone down . Hence
‘the strider’ is not just a strange insect. Through it , the poet refers to the human-
being, who is very powerful in every respect. Human-being has not only
conquered light, but also the sky. For the poet the high sense of adventure of
human being is very significant. The poet never forgets the unbelievable power
of the yoga and the yogis, which is part of Indian life and tradition from the Vedic
days. But in present context the same yogic power has decline.

CHICAGO ZEN

In the first poem of this unit entitled Self-Portrait, Ramanujan probes into the
human identity. In the second poem, Chicago Zen, the persona in the poet
suggests the intuitive knowledge of Zen Buddhism as the solution to the
problems generated by a modern kind of life represented by American city,
Chicago.
In the poem Chicago Zen, the poet Ramanujan writes about his experiences and
the emotions that he was faced with when he went to Chicago. The poem is
mesmerized by the buildings and metropolis of the city of Chicago.

But, he is aware that all these buildings and other materials are just
distractions that takes us from our inner self, and the dies not wants to lose it.
Then, the poet abruptly compares the Lake Michigan to the Himalayas.

The element of water was brought in the poem to symbolize the Zen Buddhist
philosophy of life which sees life as water which is constantly flowing and it
says that whatever happens life goes on.

I
Now tidy your house,
dust especially your living room
and do not forget to name
all your children.
II
Watch your step. Sight may strike you
blind in unexpected places.
The traffic light turns orange
on 57th and Dorchester, and you stumble,
you fall into a vision of forest fires,
enter a frothing Himalayan river,
rapid, silent.
On the 14th floor,
Lake Michigan crawls and crawls
in the window. Your thumbnail
cracks a lobster louse on the windowpane
from your daughter’s hair
and you drown, eyes open,
towards the Indies, the antipodes.
And you, always so perfectly sane.
III
Now you know what you always knew:
the country cannot be reached
by jet. Nor by boat on jungle river,
hashish behind the Monkey-temple,
nor moonshot to the cratered Sea
of Tranquillity, slim circus girls
on a tightrope between tree and tree
with white parasols, or the one
and only blue guitar.
Nor by any
other means of transport,
migrating with a clean valid passport,
no, not even by transmigrating
without any passport at all,
but only by answering ordinary
black telephones, questions
walls and small children ask,
and answering all calls of nature.
IV
Watch your step, watch it, I say,
especially at the first high
threshold,
and the sudden low,
one near the end,
of the flight,
of stairs,
and watch,
for the last,
step that’s never there.
A.K.Ramanujan is one of the well known modernist poet. as a modern poet, he
often talks about transculuralism. even he talks about hybridity of human
beings in his many poem . what is more important about his poems is that they
are highly realistic and matter-of-fact.

The present poem “Chicago Zen” is the best example of hybridity,

transculuralism and transnationalism . in this poem Ramanujan tries to show
his feeling and experiences when he is in abroad or in Chicago USA. the
beginning of the poem is as below ;
“ Now tidy your house,

dust especially your living room

and do not forget to name

all your children”

The above lines has two different meanings. the first meaning is very simple it is
said that it is necessary to keep house clean where we live. it is even more
necessary to keep the living room clean, because who so ever will come to home
they first sit in living room. this is simple and superficial meaning of the first two
lines. while second meaning is philosophical one Ramanujan suggest the reader
that living room means ‘MIND’. it is necessary to keep your mind clean. he
further says that one should not fill one’s mind with much knowledge and
information. he believes that the more we learn , the more we get confused and
finally we lost in short he says that one must live with minimum burden of
knowledge and information.

While in second two lines Ramanujan highlights the importance of name and
surname when we are in country like USA. it is only because of our name we are
able to show our identity as Indian is Chicago, USA. Then in second stanza
Ramanujan says;

“Watch your step, slight may strike you ;

blind in unexpected places”

Here, Ramanujan says that when you are in places like Chicago, everything is
new for you, not only that but whatever you see, it is unexpected and totally
surprise for you. beginning from people, culture, atmosphere, things, food etc….
are new and unexpected for you. moreover, things are unexpected at such a level
that for a moment, you will be blind and mad. Here, the poet confesses the reality
as a living in foreign land.
After this, there is sudden change in the poem. He becomes confused and talks
about Himalaya river and lake Michigan of USA. he says that in USA traffic lights
took orange coloured the whole scene of traffic light looks like wild forest fires
after that he talks about Himalaya river of India and lack Michigan of USA. In
short, there is constant change in the thought of poet because confused between
Indian culture and American culture. However, in such confusing situations
Ramanujan finds out a way. He decides that whatever he sees, he should not
surprise just remain indifferent about new place Chicago for this he uses the
word “perfectly sane”. He says,

“And you, always so perfectly sane”

Here, Ramanujan says when you are in foreign country at that time you need to
feel that you are sane. sane means you are able to think and you have to accept
new world when you are outside your home or country. in short, one should not
surprise in foreign world but one should behave normally and simply.

After that, he talks about one serious problems of those Indian who live in
abroad. Ramanujan says that one cannot come Indian whenever one wants. the
reason is the foreign countries are very strict about Visa, passport and travelling.
everything regulation. Secondly, even its fare and tickets are very expensive
which Indian can’t afford so when one miss home, children, wife, village etc….
at that time he feels very bad and crying like because he cannot go to meet them
since family is seven-seas away it is not possible to frequently visit home
Ramanujan hopelessly says;

“……..the country cannot be reached by jet.

nor by bout on jungle river”

In short, when you miss home, neither jet, plane nor bout will help you because
due to the rules of passport and visa, you cannot travel home for some fixed
time.
However, even in such worst condition , Ramanujan suggest one way to go to
home in India. according to him , it is possible for a person to go to India at
home. there is one source. he says ;

“(one can go home) only by answering ordinary

black telephones, questions wall………..

and answering all calls of nature……”

The poet here says that one cam feel that one is at home by calling at home with
family members. he can be at home by talking with his children. he can be at
his village by remembering farm, river and other natural surroundings. in short,
among all immigrants the remembrance of home, children and natural
surrounding would take the person home.

Toward the conclusion of the poet warns those persons . who is new in Chicago,
USA. life in Chicago is very difficult so one must be careful. living in Chicago is
like climbing staircase. he says ;

“watch your step…..

and watch for

the last step

that’s never there”

Here, Ramanujan talks about ‘escalator’ . in escalator, person has to be careful

when he climbs, because it is constantly in motion. Moreover, in escalator there
is no last step or first step . it is like flowing river. here, Ramanujan compares
life with escalator and flowing river. according to him in all condition, life goes
on and one , life never stops for anyone every moments new and priceless. all
these ideas about life is taken from Zen Buddhist philosophy of life. Zen
Buddhist believes that;

“life is a continuous process”

Thus, Ramanujan talks about so many things together in his poem “Chicago
Zen”. it is best example of Zen Buddhist philosophy of life.

SMALL-SCALE REFLECTIONS ON A GREAT HOUSE

'Small-Scale Reflections on a Great House' is a ninety-one-line poem that is

divided into sets of three and four lines, as well as single, solitary lines of verse.
The poem is written in free verse. This means that there is no rhyme scheme or
metrical pattern to the lines.

Sometimes I think that nothing

that ever comes into this house
goes out. Things that come in everyday
to lose themselves among other things
lost long ago among
other things lost long ago;

lame wandering cows from nowhere

have been known to be tethered,
given a name, encouraged

to get pregnant in the broad daylight

of the street under the elders'
supervision, the girls hiding

behind windows with holes in them.

Unread library books

usually mature in two weeks
and begin to lay a row

of little eggs in the ledgers

for fines, as silverfish
in the old man's office room

breed dynasties among long legal words

in the succulence
of Victorian parchment.

Neighbours' dishes brought up

with the greasy sweets they made
all night the day before yesterday

for the wedding anniversary of a god,

never leave the house they enter,

like the servants, the phonographs,
the epilepsies in the blood,
sons-in-law who quite forget
their mothers, but stay to check
accounts or teach arithmetic to nieces,

or the women who come as wives

from houses open on one side
to rising suns, on another

to the setting, accustomed

to wait and to yield to monsoons
in the mountains' calendar

beating through the hanging banana leaves

And also anything that goes out
will come back, processed and often
with long bills attached,
like the hooped bales of cotton
shipped off to invisible Manchesters
and brought back milled and folded

for a price, cloth for our days'

middle-class loins, and muslin
for our richer nights. Letters mailed

have a way of finding their way back

with many re-directions to wrong
addresses and red ink-marks

earned in Tiruvalla and Sialkot.

And ideas behave like rumours,
once casually mentioned somewhere
they come back to the door as prodigies

born to prodigal fathers, with eyes

that vaguely look like our own,
like what Uncle said the other day:

that every Plotinus we read

is what some Alexander looted
between the malarial rivers.

A beggar once came with a violin

to croak out a prostitute song
that our voiceless cook sang
all the time in our backyard.

Nothing stays out: daughters

get married to short-lived idiots;
sons who run away come back

in grand children who recite Sanskrit

to approving old men, or bring
betel nuts for visiting uncles

who keep them gaping with

anecdotes of unseen fathers,
or to bring Ganges water
in a copper pot
for the last of the dying
ancestors' rattle in the throat.

And though many times from everywhere,

recently only twice:
once in nineteen-forty-three
from as far as the Sahara,

half -gnawed by desert foxes,

and lately from somewhere
in the north, a nephew with stripes

on his shoulder was called

an incident on the border
and was brought back in plane

and train and military truck

even before the telegrams reached,
on a perfectly good

The poem was first published in the collection The Relations. It is a long poem
with a consistent structure. The poem is divided into seven parts. Each part
consists of 13 lines which are divided into three lines in each stanza followed by
a single line. It brings forth a picture of an old Hindu house that is occupied by
several generations. Stanza after stanza the poet presents the vivid picture of its
household, the family members, their lifestyle and numerous events that take
place in that ‘great house’. He says:

Sometimes I think that nothing

that ever comes into this house
goes out. Things that come in everyday
to lose themselves among other things
lost long ago among
other things lost long ago;

The lines reveal the recapturing of the past time into memory. The house has
been accommodating for years and ages the numerous things like unread library
books, neighbours’ dishes, servants, phonographs etc. Like these non–living
things the house also gives shelter to servants, cows, sons-in-law, and
daughters-in-law. The poet ironically comments on the fact that if sometimes
things go out, they come back to the house once again. The letters return to the
house, which are redirected for many times to wrong addresses; cotton bales
return processed and often with ‘long bills attached’. Even the ideas like rumours
come back and stay in the house like prodigies. Daughters who are married to
short-lived idiots return, and sons, who had run away, also come back. In this
way, nothing that goes out of this great house stays out. The image that the
house is sustaining and preserving all things forever becomes darker at the end
where the poet mentions:

And though many times from everywhere,

recently only twice:
once in nineteen-forty-three
from as far as the Sahara,

half -gnawed by desert foxes,

and lately from somewhere
in the north, a nephew with stripes
on his shoulder was called
an incident on the border
and was brought back in plane

and train and military truck

even before the telegrams reached,
on a perfectly good

It refers to the death of a person who had gone at war frontier. The household
witness the moments of happiness and sorrow and keep preserving its traditional
and age-long identity of a great ancient house. After reading the poem along with
its subtle irony and witty expressions, we realize that the poem is not simply a
recollection of a house with its age-long tradition. Metaphorically, it refers to
‘India’ and its great but degrading tradition. At one level, it presents an ironic
picture of a large Hindu family of several generations. It portrays the myths,
customs, rituals or superstitions. It highlights the fate of its family members;
especially of those who can’t find their own identity and existence, and are
assimilated without complaint in this large household. Their children then serve
the elders. By providing a large number of concrete details the poem does not
simply resent any individual family saga but manifest the socio – economical
transition of India and its impact on the Indian people.

“Small-Scale Reflections on a Great House” may appear on the superficial level

as a poem about an ancestral house. Nevertheless, it signifies, considerably, the
Great Indian Culture. The house is said to possess an incorrigible property of
letting anything into its confine without allowing it to go back. The Indian culture
has forever accommodated whatever had arrived at its threshold. It has
incorporated all foreign elements into its internal structure to form a
homogenous whole. The adroit repetition of the phrase “lost long ago” points to
the loss of its true essence. The use of the present tense highlight the
‘presentness of the past, how the past and present are intricately linked to each
other.

Things that once found their way into the house lost themselves among other
things in the house that had also been lost long ago. Therefore this projects the
antiquity, rich heritage and innumerable elements the culture encompasses. In
a world, where human beings are marginalized, irrational creatures are accepted
and provided with an identity (name); as with the intruding cow. The poet also
mocks at the so-called tabooisms about natural things in Indian culture. For
instance, the mating of the cows that the girls of the house were carefully
shielded from. Library books once borrowed from libraries never found their way
back. Knowledge (books) that once entered into the heritage, formed a king of
amalgamation of information refusing to die away. The diversity of festivals and
the plurality of religion is referred to in phrases like ”the wedding anniversary of
some God.” Gramophones continued to remain there. Music was an inherent
part of Indian culture.

VIKRAM SETH’S BIOGRAPHY

Vikram Seth (born June 20, 1952, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India), is an Indian
novelist, poet, and travel writer, best known for his epic novel ‘A Suitably Boy’.
The son of a judge and a businessman, Seth was raised in London and India. He
has been in the field of writing for more than three decades and is regarded as
one of the most influential writers of the modern era. Vikram Seth was born in
Kolkata, India and studied at some of the best schools in the country before
going to England for higher studies. He graduated from Corpus Christi College,
Oxford and did his master's in economics from Stanford University, U.S.A. before
embarking on a literary career. His first book, a collection of poems, titled
‘Mappings’ did not get much attention but he came into attention with his second
book ‘From Heaven Lake’ which chronicled his journey from China to India. The
novel ‘The Golden Gate’ published in 1986 made him one of the most highly
acclaimed novelists of his time and the book won him plenty of accolade from
readers as well as critics. However, it was his novel ‘A Suitable Boy’ that really
catapulted him into the league of the most well known novelists of his time and
remains his most famous work. The novel is one of the longest novels written in
the English language and is regarded as a modern classic due to the range of
topics that it touched upon.

Childhood & Early Life

Vikram Seth was born to Prem Seth and his wife Leila Seth, on 20 June 1952,
in Calcutta (now renamed Kolkata) located in the state of West Bengal in India.
His father was an executive with Bata shoe company, while his mother was a
judge. He was the eldest among his parents’ three children.
He studied at the St. Michael’s School, Patna, St. Xavier’s School, Patna and
subsequently at The Doon School, Dehra Dun. Thereafter, he moved to England
and completed his A-Levels from the Tonbridge School.
After graduating from high school, he studied Philosophy, Politics and
Economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and graduated with a B. A. Degree
in 1975. From 1975 to 1986, he pursued his Ph.D. at Stanford University,
California, U.S.A.
Career
During his time at Stanford University in the United States, he had been a
Wallace Stegner Fellow in the field of creative writing and it was at this point that
he penned the poems that were published in his first published work, ‘Mappings’,
in 1980. The book did not get kind reviews from critics.
From 1980 to 1982, he was in China to his field research. He traveled extensively
across China gathering material for a doctoral dissertation that he never wrote..
While in China, he studied classical Chinese poetry and language at Nanjing
University. In 1983, his second book, 'From Heaven Lake', was published. It gave
an account of his hitchhiking journey from China to India. The book was
critically acclaimed and his work got noticed.In 1985, he came out with another
collection of his poems, titled, ‘The Humble Administrator’s Garden’.
In 1986, his novel ‘The Golden Gate’ was published which was unique since the
entire novel was written in verse and dealt with the lives of people in Silicon
Valley. The novel was inspired by Aleksandr Pushkin’s work Eugene Onegin. The
novel was successful and brought him plenty of accolades from the literary press.
In 1990, he published another book of poetry titled ‘All You Who Sleep Tonight’
and, in 1992, he came out with another collection of poems ‘Three Chinese
Poets’.
In 1992, Seth wrote a children’s book titled ‘Beastly Tales from Hera and There’
in which he penned ten stories, all of which were about animals.
In 1993, he produced his most famous work in the form of the epic novel ‘A
Suitable Boy’; the story deals with the complex familial structures in post-
independence India. The book contains 1349 pages and is one of the longest
novels ever published in a single volume in the English language.
He continued to write poems and came up with another collection ‘The Frog and
the Nightingale’ in 1994.
In 1999, his novel ‘Equal Music’ was published. The story revolves around
Michael, a professional violinist, and his love, Julia, a pianist. The novel was well
received by musical fans, and was appreciated for the accuracy of Vikram Seth's
descriptions of music.
In 2005, he came out with his second non-fiction work, 'Two Lives'. It is the story
of his great uncle, Shanti Behari Seth, and of his German Jewish great aunt,
Hennerle Gerda Caro.
He is currently working on the sequel to ‘A Suitable Boy’ titled ‘A Suitable Girl’
which could be released in 2016.
Major Works
His novel ‘A Suitable Boy’ is without doubt his most important work in his career
as a writer. It is one of the longest novels ever written in the English language
and deals with the national political issues in the period leading up to the first
post-Independence national election of India in 1952.
Awards & Achievements
In 1985, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award, an Indian literary honour, for his
book ‘The Golden Gate’.
In 2001, he was made an Order of the British Empire.
In 2007, he was bestowed with ‘Padma Shri’—India’s fourth highest civilian
honour.
Personal Life & Legacy
Vikram Seth is openly gay and was in a long term relationship with French
musician/violinist Philippe Honore.

FROM HEAVEN LAKE

Vikram Seth’s From Heaven Lake, basically is Seth’s journey through cultural
paradigms to China, Tibet, Nepal and finally to his own country India. It was a
chance hitch hiking that leads him through the natural landscapes and amidst
a section of Chinese people, culture which he would never have come across
Nanging University. He learns about the people who live far away from the cities
leading a hard life. It was mere boredom that made him take the unnatural road
where he has to take the cheapest mode of transport to reach India, even bribe
officials with Bollywood songs to visit a place which otherwise was a dream for
many other as China put many restrictions to foreigners visiting Tibet.
Witnessing the after effects of Cultural Revolution was also an experience by
itself. Gathering alround information to the places he visits and relating them to
his country was the mainstay of his journey.

Vikram Seth’s From Heaven Lake is a journey undertaken when he was a student
at Nanjing University from 1980 to 1982. During the summer recess of 1981, he
returned home to Delhi via Nepal and Tibet. And on the way he took a hitchhiking
journey through land route in various trucks, originated in the oasis of northwest
China and to Himalayas crossing four Chinese provinces, Qinghai and Tibet. The
travelogue, he says, is based on the journal that he kept and the photographs
which he took on the journey. From Heaven Lake is Vikram Seth’s leisurely
journey account of his travels and traverses through the natural landscapes
which are pure descriptions of natural landscapes of Chinese people, culture
and traditions specially with those Chinese people with whom he struck
friendship. He did not take the usual routes, he followed the routes usually not
taken by tourists. As a result he came across people who are from the diversed
society, he stopped on those off routes, made friendships and learnt about their
lifestyles, feelings and urges. This is why the travelogue represents a large variety
of Chinese working class people including Hans, Uighurs, Kazakhs, Muslims,
Confucians, Buddhists, mothers ,young children, young men and women,
Christians, petty officials, shopkeepers, and truck-drivers. Its basically these
working class male people who dominate his travelogue. For this journey, he
used the cheapest mode of transport and as such stops here and there, joins
people in their local fervour and gaiety. The truck driver Sui with whom he travels
on his long journey introduces him to his many friends and relatives with whom
they spend nights and meal times. Some of Sui’s friends with whom he spends
time are, Norbu, the young Tibetan at Lhasa; Gyanseng, the Tibetan co-
passenger on the truck and Sui’s fifteen year old nephew Xiao San. The book is
set in a communal setting, and it describes people, conversations, food and
natural scenery with a great deal of affection.

Seth was a twenty-nine year old PhD student of Economics doing research in
Agriculture in Nanjing University in the early 1980s. Seth was in the batch of
foreign students allowed to study in China under Deng’s leadership. Seth’s
travelogue opens a window to China just after the Cultural Revolution, a decade
before the Tiananmen square massacre.

The curiosity regarding the hitchhiker among the Chinese people is genuinely
highlighted in their friendliness and their going out of way to help him. The fact
that Seth is an Indian gears up both their friendliness and curiosity and specially
since the Indo-China war was just a few years behind, a gathering curiosity
marked the young stranger amongst them, an apprehension rather laced up with
some suspicious though judgemental. From Heaven Lake has two sets of travel-
the first journey is the official tour of the foreign students to the deserts of
Turfan, Heaven lake and Xian organized by the Chinese government. Here, Seth’s
travels begin right in the middle of the desert. The second journey takes us
straight to a middle of a hot July morning into the Turfan desert. The travelogue
is Seth’s first prose but displays maturity, confidence, narration and description,
it is far ahead.

Seth gets tired of his group and leaves them to move freely and goes to Heaven
lake, Tian Chi, a mountain region of great natural beauty which he later gives
the book name . Seth has carried with him two books in his travel throughout
China- translation of Confucius’ Analects and the other is V S Naipaul’s India:
A Wounded Civilization. Seth is completely immersed in the beauty of the Heaven
Lake, he cannot but appreciate Confucius’ student in the Analects who gives the
following answer to his Master’s question as to what he would want to do to
prove his abilities to the world: ‟In late spring , after the spring clothes have been
newly made, I should like, together with five or six adults and six or seven boys,
to go bathing in the River Yi and enjoy the breeze on the Rain Altar and then go
home chanting poetry. The quotation sets the pace for the narration of
experiences and also enjoy the hospitality and warmth of the Chinese people. He
also learns about their ways and culture of life. His meetings with a young
Muslim scholar in a mosque at Xian makes him know the kind of life they led
during the Cultural Revolution. Again his meeting with Norbu and his family in
Lhasa makes him understand the horror of Chinese onslaught on the Tibetan
people. Seth has keen sensory flights as well as observance details. Xinjiang is a
desert province with the huge Tarim Basin at its centre and Turfan is basically
as oasis town in Xinjiang and the agriculture of this area mainly depends on
subterranean water-resources preserved and transported through an ancient
construction system. Study of this was one of the academic reasons for the tour.
Learning about the economical aspect of the area was largely a consideration for
the student group. Seth takes off his shoes, shirt and drops them into a karez,
a narrow underground tunnel that brings water from the mountains. Seth’s
kindled daringness was witnessed by the others in the group and the official tour
guide is horrified. But Seth has no problem in handling of the locals, he handles
them quite well.

It was the cultural event at the hotel in the evening which resulted in Seth’s visit
to Tibet, a country forbidden ‟autonomous region‟ to foreigners except by special
permission for official reasons. People had to pay exorbitant charges to visit these
places. Only Seth managed to visit this place without doing so. He managed the
permission by lucky chance. The Chinese people had great liking for Raj Kapoor
and Seth obliged the group in the hotel by singing a song from “Awara” which
led to the endorsement to Lhasa on his passport. Seth’s Awara song lends him
cheers, and finally on a morning walk he walks to the market and enters the
police station on an impulse to find an endorsement to Tibet charmed by the
Hindi song he sang. Nonetheless he was happy.
Seth’s second journey is after the official journey. After reaching Nanjing
University, Seth just has a day to prepare for the long and risky journey to Tibet.
He knows he has to take an overland journey and just had a month’s time for
the new route which was his new journey plan. Seth wrote to his parents about
the change of plans and told them he will return through an interesting route.
He takes him with the necessary documents to reach LIuyuan his final
destination by train. Seth hitchikes trucks to travel to travel to Lhasa and on the
way meets people and places.

The train journey to Livyuan is the beginning of his long trek to Lhasa and from
here on by road. It is a dusty streets and truck traffic route Lhasa is around
1800 kms far from Liuyuan . He travels by truck to Germu and to Qinghai and
finally Lhasa. As he gets off, Seth does not have the slightest idea how he would
travel. Seth’s travel pass and residence permit expire and he has to be in Delhi.
Seth with the help of a chance acquaintance arranges a hitchhike in a truck. His
companion in this journey to Lhasa is the thirty five years old driver Sui, his
fifteen year old nephew Xiao San and a Tibetan Gyanseng. Seth suddenly leads
to a haphazard lifestyle in Sui’s truck, uncomfortable in the cramped place. Sui
does everything as it fancies. Flood also proves an obstacle and they are slowed
by a couple of days. Seth has to face cold and headache at a high altitude of five
thousand metres above sea-level.

One hundred fifty kilometres from Lhasa, their truck is trapped in mushy earth.
Seth needs a specific exit permission to cross the Tibetan border into India and
the Lhasa – Kathmandu bridge has been damaged by floods. Seth almost gave
up, but took the advice of the Nepalese Consulate General Mr. Shah who
suggested him alternative route to go to Nilamu by truck and walk four days
through the hills, then cross the Tibetan border to Nepal on foot, Seth is filled
with joy.

In fact Seth completely absorbs in the new things that he comes to know-rituals,
history and religion. The details of the Cultural Revolution make the narrative
interesting. In fact, as Seth saunters of with a Nepalese guide, a Nepalese
customs officer tells him by crossing the stream, he has crossed the border and
reached India. The familiar landscape gives him a new strength.

Seth’s From Heaven Lake is an exotic journey- China to Tibet to Nepal then to
Delhi. The return home is distance cover more makes the journey very
enterprising. From Heaven Lake, a travelogue uncovers a real China which is
consuming the whole world. The travelogue tries to present the oriental cultures,
its exoticness purposively to wrest the civilized and western traveller. Seth’s
introduction as ‘I am Indian‟, he presents a liberal ideology and his reading of
Naipaul’s, “An Area of Darkness’ where the comparison of India‟ is from a
politicoeconomic framework frames this background.

Seth has been perceived as a cosmopolitan, liberal Western humanist. His

solitariness is painted as the tradition of European romantic traveller. His walks
and perpetuation in literature are seen as a gazer and discoverer of newer
perspectives.

Seth’s main intention is to decipher the real China from its veil of ideology trying
to discover the essences of the history in its real self as evident in the official as
evident in the Official histories. He does feel after what he uncovered that there
is really a Chinese way of thinking. Nandini Chander indirectly though accuses
Seth that being located in Metropolitan University, he seeks to separate himself
from the regular tourists and seek ‟to recover the pulse of the common people.‟
He senses the loss of the destroyed temples, mosques and the cultural life of the
people during Cultural Revolution and his distaste for totalitarianism ideologies
are seen as his attempts to discover the real China, that’s why he portrays the
common Chinese and Tibetan people.

Seth’s travel makes one transport to the place in a lived imagination. Seth‟s way
of dealing with the people in foreign lands and the compassion and respect he
partakes is about his cosmopolitan way of bringing up. Cosmopolitan is Seth’s
economic and social privilege and his way of making himself accept in that world.
Seth does not accry to anything but envisage his own country. He is a pure
humanist who softly enters the other world easily. From Heaven Lake has a
familiar surroundings of Seth’s world of humanism relating to the universal
bonding to enjoy the natural world. Again, the flute in the midst of Kathmandu
city lends a common musical universal. Seth feels, to hear any flute, is to be
drawn into the commonality of all mankind, to be moved by music closest in its
phrases and sentences to the human voice. Its motive force too is living breath,
where one needs to pause and breathe.

Conclusion: Seth reflects that if India and China were “amicable towards each
other, almost half the world would be at peace‟, yet he knows that, constrained
by geography, the heartlands of these two great cultures have had almost no
contact with each other in history. Seth was writing in the early 1980s and
sought patience and respect between the two nations. He feels to know and learn
another great culture is to enrich one’s life. The Indo-China War does have scars
left behind which slowly are being erased and new ways sought to venture into
each other’s world, because both are power in their own way, India edging out of
the English visage and formulating her own identity.

Seth has not developed nor is he trying to identify the Maoist ideology which
plays an important role in Chinese way of life. He condemns Cultural Revolution
for its destruction of Chinese historical and cultural legacy, he feels for which
China lost a huge wealth. It was hunger, destitution and economic disparity that
led to the rise of Mao and the Communist beliefs. A lot has changed since Seth’s
From Heaven Lake. 21st century has seen both India and China expanding
liberalization and globalization, both have become huge powers, underlining of
cold demeaneour is always there.

GIRISH KARNAD’S BIOGRAPHY

Girish Raghunath Karnad was born on May 19, 1938 at Matheran, Bombay
Presidency now in Maharashtra, India. He was an Indian playwright, author,
actor and film director whose movies and plays, written largely in Kannada,
explore the present by way of the past. He is the recipient of Jnanpith Award for
Kannada, the highest literary honour conferred in India. For four decades
Karnad has been composing plays, often using history and mythology to tackle
contemporary issues. He is also active in the world of Indian cinema working as
an actor, director and screenwriter, earning numerous awards along the way. He
was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the government of India.
Girish Karnad was born in Matheran, Maharashtra, into a Konkani-speaking
family. His initial schooling was in Marathi. As a youngster, Karnad was an
ardent admirer of Yakshagana and the theatre in his village.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Karnataka University, Dharwad in
1958. Upon graduation, Karnad went to England and studied at Lincoln and
Magdalen colleges in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning his Master of Arts
degree in philosophy, political science and economics. Karnad was a Visiting
Professor and Fulbright Scholar in Residence at the University of Chicago.
Literature: Karnad is most famous as a playwright. His plays, written in
Kannada, have been widely translated into English and all major Indian
languages. Karnad's plays are written neither in English, in which he dreamed
of earning international literary fame, nor in his mother tongue Konkani.
Instead they are composed in his adopted language Kannada. When Karnad
started writing plays, Kannada literature was highly influenced by the
renaissance in Western literature. Writers would choose a subject which looked
entirely alien to the manifestation of native soil. In a situation like that Karnad
found a new approach like drawing historical and mythological sources to tackle
contemporary themes. His first play, "Yayati" (1961) ridicules the ironies of life
through characters in Mahabharata and became an instant success,
immediately translated and staged in several other Indian languages.
"Tughlaq" (1964) his best loved play, established Karnad as one of the most
promising playwrights in the country. A large number of his Kannada plays have
been translated by Dr. Bhargavi P Rao.
Movies: His directorial debut came with the movie Vamsha Vriksh, based on a
Kannada novel by S.L. Bhairappa. The movie won several national and
international awards. Before this, Karnad acted in a movie called Samskara,
based on a novel by U.R. Ananthamurthy and directed by Pattabhirama Reddy.
That movie won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema.
Later, Karnad directed several movies in Kannada and Hindi. Some of his famous
Kannada movies include Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Ondanondu Kaaladalli,
Cheluvi and Kadu.
His Hindi movies include Utsav, Godhuliand the recent Pukar. A recently
acclaimed movie by Karnad is Kanooru Heggaditi, based on a novel by Kannada
writer Kuvempu. Karnad has also acted in several other movies and received
critical acclaim. He has been criticised by the eminent Kannada novelist S.L.
Bhairappa for being untrue to history.
Other Notable Works: He has played the role of Karadi, the sootradhar
(narrator), for several stories in the popular audiobook series for kids, Karadi
Tales. He has also been the voice of APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, in the
audiobook of Kalam's autobiography by Charkha Audiobooks Wings of Fire.
Death: Girish Karnad passed away on June 10th 2019. He was 81, and was
suffering from illness for the past few days.

In a kingdom stricken with drought, two rival priests, Yavakri and Parvasu, try
to appease the rain god, Indra. However, their efforts result in adultery, treachery
and bloodshed.

SUMMARY OF THE FIRE AND THE RAIN

The play The Fire and the Rain occurs in a small region of India long ago that has
experienced a lack of rain for ten years. The king proposed to propitiate the Gods
through fire sacrifice. So that God would be pleased and send rain to the parched
land. In this fire sacrifice Paravasu the son of a learned Brahmin Raibhya, was
appointed as the Chief Priest. And the play deals with this appointment and the
disappointments of certain other characters. One disappointment definitely with
reference to the father going by ancient Indian tradition, a lot of emphasis was put
on age seniority Girish Karnad has consummate command over English and he
has successfully and artistically nativized it for expressing Indian ethos and
sensibility. His diction is apt. His words are suggestive and reveal both character
and situation. Economy and precision, clarity, and lucidity charaterise his style.
For example, the following dialogue between Aravasu and Nittilai brings to light
the fundamental difference between the Brahminical and the Tribal social orders.

The play basically depicts the myth of Yavakri, Paravasu and Raibhya taken from
chapters 135-138 of the “Varna Parva” (Forest Canto) of the Mahabharata. It is
the story that the ascetic Lomasha narrated to the Pandavas who were in their
exile at that time. Karnad took the same for his play with some minor changes.
The myth is presented by Karnad in such a way that depicts the present scenario.
The play is of importance as it helps to understand the present society. This
sacrifice is the centre of all the actions in the play. There is drought for almost
ten years. This is the reason that the King has organized fire sacrifice to end the
drought by propitiating Indra, the God of rains. Paravasu, the elder son of
Raibhya, is selected as the Chief Priest for the sacrifice. The sacrifice is
continuing under his supervision. One day an Actor-Manager comes with a
courtier and requests the King and the Chief Priest to grant permission for
organizing a play. The Actor-Manager tells that fire sacrifice is not enough to
propitiate Indra. He says that a play must be acted to propitiate the God of rains.
The play begins and ends with the fire sacrifice. Even the main incidents of the
play are related to the fire sacrifice. Yavakri becomes jealous as Paravasu is
selected the Chief Priest of the fire sacrifice. This is the reason that Yavakri
seduces Visakha for taking revenge on Paravasu. Yavakri thinks that his father
Bharadwaj should be the right man for the post of the Chief Priest. But that goes
to Paravasu. So, fire sacrifice actually has implanted the seed of jealousy in the
mind of Yavakri. Yavakri himself says: “My father deserved to be invited as the
Chief Priest of the sacrifice. But that too went to Paravasu, your husband. Even
in the midst of my austerities I wept when I heard the news.” For this reason
Yavakri seduces Visakha and this decision has changed the entire plot.

Raibhya is jealous of Yavakri as he made an illicit relationship with his daughter-

in-law, Visakha (Paravasu’s wife). So, he kills Yavakri as part of revenge for
mating with his son’s wife. But this incident changes the life of Aravasu. Aravasu
has to meet the elders of the Nittilai’s village. He gets late as he has to cremate
the body of Yavakri. Indirectly Aravasu’s life is spoiled by the fire sacrifice.
Aravasu has to lose his love. On the other hand, Nittilai has to marry the man
she doesn’t love. Her life is also influenced by the fire sacrifice. The fire sacrifice
is in the centre of the plot. It influences every incident of the play. Raibhya is
jealous of his son Paravasu as he is selected the Chief Priest of the sacrifice.
Raibhya doesn’t want the sacrifice to be successful as he is not the Chief Priest
of the sacrifice. He kills Yavakri to disturb his son so that he cannot complete
the sacrifice. But, ultimately Paravasu kills his father. He even puts the blame
on Aravasu’s shoulder for killing their father. For which Aravasu is almost beaten
to death by the King‟s army. The entire bloodshed is the effect of the sacrifice.
Thus, Visakha once advices Aravasu to live his own life and forget about the
sacrifice: “Let it go to ruin. Does it matter? There has been enough bloodshed
already.” Finally Nittilai has to sacrifice herself to teach Aravasu the true
meaning of life. Paravasu realizes his guilt and sacrifices himself. So, rain comes
with the realization of the true sacrifice. So, fire sacrifice created the tension of
the play. And self sacrifice of Aravasu resolves everything.

The Fire and the Rain is a play by the reputed Indian playwright Girish Karnad.
The play is based on the myth of Raivya, Paravasu, Aravasu and Yavakri,
described in the Vanaparva of the Mahabharata, narrated by the sage Lomash.
Karnad however has subverted the original myth and created a thoroughly stage-
worthy version. Phoenix, the experimental theatre group, has adapted the play
in Bengali, and related it to the spiritual crises of The Wasteland .

Raibhya and Bharadwaj are the two great Brahmins who compete to become the
chief priest in the fire-sacrifice which is arranged by the king to invoke rain as
the country is going through long years of famine and drought. The king selects
Paravasu as the chief priest as he is young. Varadwaj dies of grief. Raibhya is
jealous of his son’s status. Varadwaja’s son Yavakri goes to the forest to attain
enlightment from Indra and is blessed with Brahmagnyan after ten years.
Yavakri returns to avenge the death of his father and uses his former lady-love
Vishakha, now the wife of Paravasu as a bait. In the absence of Paravasu,
Vishakha is sexually exploited by her father-in-law and easily succumbs to the
seduction of Yavakri. As Raivya is aware of this, he creates the Brahme-
Rakhshasha, Kritya to kill Yavakri. Vishakha comes to know that Yavakri has
deceived her and pours out the charmed water that could have saved Yavakri.
Yavakri is murdered by Kritya. Paravasu comes home secretly from the fire-
sacrifice and kills Raibhya. He plans to put the entire blame on his younger
brother Aravasu, innocent, bold and unorthodox, fiercely in love with a tribal girl
Nittilai, as vibrant and lively as Aravasu.

The blame of killing Raivya is cunningly put on Aravasu and the mob beats him
severely. Nittilai, who is married away to a boy of her own caste, leaves her
husband to nurse Aravasu. A local theatre manager offers Aravasu to take part
in his play. Aravasu has always wanted to act but had been barred from doing
so by Paravasu and the society as a Brahmin is not supposed to act in a play.
But now Aravasu is already convicted and denies all social rules. He plays the
part of Vritra in the myth of Indra, Vishwarup and Vritra. Indra, the king of
Heavens, is jealous of his brother Vishwarup and plans to murder him. Vritra
tries to protect Vishwarup but Indra drives him away and kills Vishwarup.
Paravasu reacts to watch the play within the play. The fire-sacrifice is looted by
the hungry mob. Nittilai is murdered by her husband. Paravasu enters the fire
and Aravasu decides to follow him when the voice of Indra is heard. Indra offers
a boon to Aravasu. Aravasu decides to ask for the life of Nittilai….. Kritya comes
and begs for his liberation from the state of limbo. Aravasu learns to be selfless
and asks Indra to liberate the soul of Kritya.

Rain comes at the end, at the exchange and realization of sacrifice and the land
becomes fertile. Phoenix, the experimental theatre group ends it with a rendition
and chanting of Datta, Damyata, Dayadhwam... Shantih, Shantih, Shantih.

The themes in The Fire and the Rain are as old as time- sacrificing for the
one you love, the search for God, the greed for power, and family betrayal.
At the center of the story are two innocents- the star crossed lovers Aravasu and
Nittilai. The Fire and the Rain is one such play where the idea of sacrifice is
recurrent. The play begins with fire sacrifice and ends with the self sacrifice of
Arvasu. The reference of human sacrifice is also seen in the play.

The titles of the plays of Girish Karnad are relevant and reveal the main theme.
The title of The Fire and the Rain is apt and brings to light the main theme
which is the performance of the fire sacrifice to propitiate Indra, the god of rain,
for bringing rain to the drought hit land.

Therefore, Karnad addresses several issues in the play The Fire and the Rain.
Karnad presents the true face of society and brings the reality on the surface in
the play. He explains the true meaning of sacrifice and also rituals. The play also
focuses on social aspects of the society life tribal community and the place of
woman.

The Fire and the Rain is the sense of fulfilment seems to be accompanied with
the sense of realization of the gilt. The world has been accepted by remaining
character without any want to change. And it appears that Karnad’s vision about
human relationship has been mellowed and broadened to accept the reality as
truth.

DR. RADHAKRISHNAN’S BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was one of the greatest philosophers of modern

times. He was born in Tiruttani now in Tamilnadu on 5th of September 1888.
Born in an orthodox Brahmin family, it was not very difficult for him to study
epics and puranas at an early age.

After his education at school where he was always a brilliant student, he did his
F.A. (Intermediate) at the Voorhees College, Vellore and degree at the Christian
College, Madras. While studying at the Christian College, he came under the
influence of the Bible. He analyses the truths in both the Hindu and the
Christian religions and was convinced that truth is the same in all religions.
In 1908 he wrote a paper, Moral Principles of Vedanta. After securing his Masters
degree in Philosophy he was appointed first as Assistant Professor and later as
Professor of Philosophy in the Presidency College, Madras (Now Chennai).
Radhakrishnan was a very great orator. He could critically analyses and explains
philosophical truths. Students liked his lectures and he was considered as an
ideal teacher. He often used to say teaching gave him satisfaction and peace of
mind.

He served as a Junior Professor in Government Training College, Rajahmundry

for some time. In 1918, he joined the Maharaja College, Mysore as a Professor of
Philosophy. He was a prolific writer. He wrote books, (1) Reason of Religion in
Contemporary Philosophy (2) India Philosophy (in two volumes). These books
made him world famous and he was a visiting Professor of Philosophy to many
Western Universities including Oxford University, England. He served as Vice
Chancellor of many universities notably, the Calcutta University, Andhra
University, and Banaras Hindu University. It is while serving at Banaras that he
came under the influence of Gandhiji.

He had an ‘exceptional style’ in delivering lectures which was his forte. After
Independence he served as an Ambassador of India in Moscow and he was the
first one to be received in person by the great leader Stalin. He served as Vice-
President of India and later succeeded Dr. Rajendra Prasad as President of India.

Dr. Radhakrishnan relinquished his office as President in 1967 and he died in

April 1975. He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna Award. His birthday is being
celebrated as Teacher’s Day throughout the nation every year on 5th of
September. That is the great honour and tribute being paid to this great
philosopher by the nation.

2. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was first Vice President of India and second

President of India. He was also a philosopher and introduced the thinking of
western idealist philosophers into Indian thought. He was a famous teacher and
his birthday is celebrated as Teacher's Day in India.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 at Tirutani, Madras
in a poor Brahmin family. As his father was poor Radhakrishnan supported most
of his education through scholarships. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had his
early education at Gowdie School, Tiruvallur and then went to the Lutheran
Mission School in Tirupati for his high school. He joined the Voorhee's College
in Vellore and later switched to the Madras Christian College. He chose
Philosophy as his major subject and did his B.A. and M.A. in it.

After completing his M.A., Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, accepted an Assistant

Lectureship at the Madras Presidency College in 1909. In college, he mastered
the classics of Hindu philosophy, namely the Upanishads, Bhagvad Gita,
Brahmasutra, and commentaries of Sankara, Ramunuja and Madhava. He also
acquainted himself with Buddhist and Jain philosophy and philosophies of
Western thinkers such as Plato, Plotinus, Kant, Bradley, and Bergson.

In 1918, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was selected as Professor of Philosophy by

the University of Mysore. In 1921, Radhakrishnan was nominated as Professor
of Philosophy at the Calcutta University, 1921. In 1923, Dr. Radhakrishnan's
book "Indian Philosophy" was published. The book was hailed as a "philosophical
classic and a literary masterpiece."

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was called to Oxford University, to deliver lectures on

Hindu philosophy. He used his lectures as a platform to further India's cause for
freedom. He also argued that Western philosophers, despite all claims to
objectivity, were biased by theological influences from their wider culture. He
showed that Indian philosophy, once translated into standard academic jargon,
is worthy of being called philosophy by Western standards. He thus placed
Indian Philosophy on world map.

In 1931, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was elected Vice Chancellor of the

Andhra University. In 1939, Radhakrishnan became the Vice Chancellor of the
Benaras Hindu University. In 1946, he was appointed as Ambassador to
UNESCO. After Independence Dr. Radhakrishnan was requested to Chair the
University Education Commission in 1948. The Radhakrishnan Committee's
suggestions helped mould the education system for India's needs.

In 1949, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was appointed ambassador to the Soviet

Union. He helped laid the foundation for a strong relationship with Soviet Union.
Radhakrishnan was elected first Vice-President of India in 1952. He was honored
with the Bharat Ratna in 1954. After serving two terms as Vice-President,
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was elected President of India in 1962. During his
tenure as President India fought wars with China and Pakistan. As President he
helped see India through those trying years safely. He retired as President in
1967 and settled in Madras.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan died on April 17, 1975.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a scholar, politician, philosopher, and statesman

from India. He served as India's first Vice President and second President.
Radhakrishnan spent his life and career as a writer attempting to describe,
defend, and propagate his faith, which he referred to variously as Hinduism,
Vedanta, and the religion of the Spirit. He wanted to show that his Hinduism
was philosophically sound as well as ethically viable. He often seems to be at
ease in both Indian and Western philosophical contexts, and he draws on both
Western and Indian sources in his prose. As a result, Radhakrishnan has been
hailed as a symbol of Hinduism to the West in academic circles.
In this biography of Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan, we will learn about his early life
and family, his education, his career as a teacher, his political life, and his death.
The Early Life of Sarvepalli RadhaKrishnan
In this section, we will learn about When was Radhakrishnan born, his parents,
and his family background.

• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's date of birth was 5th September 1888.

• He was born to a Telugu-speaking Niyogi Brahmin family in Tiruttani,
Madras Presidency, British India which is present-day Tamil Nadu, India.
 • His father’s name was Sarvepalli Veeraswami who was a subordinate
revenue official in the service of a local zamindar and his mother’s name
was Sarvepalli Sita.
• His family is from Sarvepalli village in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district.
He grew up in the towns of Thiruttani and Tirupati.
• Throughout his academic career, Radhakrishnan earned various
scholarships.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Education
• His primary education was at Thiruttani's K.V High School. In 1896, he
transferred to Tirupati's Hermannsburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission
School and Walajapet's Government High Secondary School.
• For his high school education, he enrolled at Vellore's Voorhees College.
At the age of 17, he enrolled in Madras Christian College after finishing his
First of Arts class. He earned his bachelor's degree and his master's degree
from the same institution in 1906.
• "The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions,"
Sarvepalli wrote for his bachelor's degree thesis. It was written in response
to the accusation that the Vedanta scheme had no place for ethics. Rev.
William Meston and Dr. Alfred George Hogg, two of Radhakrishnan's
professors, praised his dissertation. When Radhakrishnan was only
twenty years old, his thesis was published.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Family
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was married to Sivakamu at the age of 16.
• Sivakamu was Radha Krishnan’s distant cousin.
• Radhakrishnan and Sivakamu were happily married for over 51 years.
• Radhakrishnan had six children, five daughters, and one son.
• Sarvepalli Gopal, his son, was a well-known Indian historian. He authored
his father’s biography Radhakrishnan: A Biography and also Jawaharlal
Nehru: A Biography.
The Academic Career of Radha Krishnan
• Radhakrishnan was appointed to the Madras Presidency College's
Department of Philosophy in April 1909.
• He was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore in
1918, where he taught at the Maharaja's College in Mysore.
• He wrote several articles for prestigious journals such as The Quest,
Journal of Philosophy, and the International Journal of Ethics while at
Maharaja's College.
• He also finished his first novel, Rabindranath Tagore's Philosophy.
Tagore's philosophy, he claimed, was the "genuine expression of the Indian
spirit."
• In 1920, he published his second book, The Reign of Religion in
Contemporary Philosophy.
• In 1921, he was appointed as a professor of philosophy at the University
of Calcutta, where he held the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral
Science.
• In June 1926, he represented the University of Calcutta at the British
Empire Universities Congress, and in September 1926, he attended the
International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University.
• Another significant academic event during this period was his acceptance
of the Hibbert Lecture on the Ideals of Life, which he gave at Manchester
College, Oxford in 1929 and was later published as “An Idealist View of
Life” in book form.
• In 1929, Radhakrishnan was invited to Manchester College to fill the
vacancy left by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter. This gave him the
opportunity to give a Comparative Religion lecture to University of Oxford
students.
• In June 1931, George V knighted him for his services to education, and
the Governor-General of India, the Earl of Willingdon, formally invested
him with his honour in April 1932.
• After India's independence, he stopped using the title and instead used his
academic title of Doctor.
• From 1931 to 1936, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University.
 • Radhakrishnan was elected a Fellow of All Souls College and appointed
Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of
Oxford in 1936.
• He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1937. Nominations
for the award continued to pour in well into the 1960s.
• In 1939, he was invited to succeed Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya as Vice-
Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He was its Vice-Chancellor
from January 1948 to January 1949.
The Political Career of Radha Krishnan
In this section, we will discuss the political view and career of Radha Krishnan.
His tenure as Vice president and finally how he became Radhakrishnan
president.

• After a promising academic career, Radhakrishnan began his political

career later in life. His political career came after his foreign impact.
• He was one of the stalwarts who attended the Andhra Mahasabha in 1928,
where he advocated the idea of renaming the Ceded Districts division of
the Madras Presidency Rayalaseema.
• In 1931, he was appointed to the League of Nations Committee for
Intellectual Cooperation, where he became known as a Hindu expert on
Indian ideas and a convincing translator of the role of Eastern institutions
in contemporary society in Western eyes.
• Radhakrishnan's involvement in Indian politics, as well as foreign affairs,
grew in the years following India's independence.
• From 1946 to 1951, Radhakrishnan was a member of the newly formed
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization), sitting on its Executive Board and heading the Indian
delegation.
• Radhakrishnan was also a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly for
the two years following India's independence.
• The demands of the University Commission and his continuing
responsibilities as Spalding Professor at Oxford had to be balanced against
 Radhakrishnan's commitments to UNESCO and the Constituent
Assembly.
• When the Universities Commission's report was completed in 1949,
Radhakrishnan was appointed Indian Ambassador to Moscow by then-
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a position he held until 1952. With his
election to the Rajya Sabha, Radhakrishnan was able to bring his
philosophical and political beliefs into motion.
• In 1952, Radhakrishnan was elected as India's first Vice-President, and in
1962, he was elected as the country's second President.
• During his time in office, Radhakrishnan saw a growing need for world
peace and universal fellowship.
• The importance of this need was driven home to Radhakrishnan by what
he saw as global crises unfolding. The Korean War was already in full
swing when he assumed the role of Vice-President.
• Radhakrishnan's presidency was dominated by political conflicts with
China in the early 1960s, followed by hostilities between India and
Pakistan.
• Furthermore, the Cold War split East and West, leaving each on the
defensive and wary of the other.
• Radhakrishnan questioned what he saw as self-proclaimed international
organisations like the League of Nations' divisive ability and dominant
character.
• Instead, he advocated for the promotion of an innovative internationalism
focused on integral experience's metaphysical foundations. Only then will
mutual understanding and tolerance be encouraged between cultures and
nations.
Philosophical Thoughts by Radha Krishnan
• Radhakrishnan attempted to bring eastern and western ideas together,
defending Hinduism against uninformed Western criticism while also
integrating Western philosophical and religious ideas.
• Radhakrishnan was one of Neo-most Vedanta's influential spokesmen.
 • His metaphysics was based on Advaita Vedanta, but he reinterpreted it for
a modern audience.
• He recognised the truth and diversity of human nature, which he saw as
grounded in and endorsed by the absolute, or Brahman.
• Theology and creeds are intellectual formulations, as well as symbols of
religious experience or religious intuitions, for Radhakrishnan.
• Radhakrishnan graded the different religions according to their
interpretation of religious experience, with Advaita Vedanta holding the
highest spot.
• In comparison to the intellectually mediated conceptions of other religions,
Radhakrishnan saw Advaita Vedanta as the best representative of
Hinduism, as it was based on intuition.
• Vedanta, according to Radhakrishnan, is the highest type of religion
because it provides the most direct intuitive experience and inner
realisation.
• Despite his familiarity with western culture and philosophy,
Radhakrishnan was critical of it. He said that, despite their claims to
objectivity, Western philosophers were influenced by religious influences
from their own society.
Death of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
• Radha Krishnan’s Sivakamu died on 26 November 1956. He never
remarried and he was a widower till his death.
• In 1967, Radhakrishnan stepped down from public life.
• He spent the last eight years of his life in Mylapore, Madras, in the house
he designed.
• On April 17, 1975, Radhakrishnan passed away.
Awards and Honours of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
• Radhakrishnan was awarded Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of
India in 1954.
• He was knighted by King George V for his services to education in the year
1931.
 • He was honoured with the recipient of the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and
Arts in 1954 by Germany.
• He was honoured with the recipient of the Sash First Class of the Order of
the Aztec Eagle in the year 1954 by Mexico.
• He was honoured with the membership of the Order of Merit in 1963 by
the United Kingdom.
• He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for the record 27 times. 16 times in
literature and 11 times for the Nobel peace prize.
• In 1938 he was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.
• He was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1961.
• In the year 1968, he was the first person to be awarded the Sahitya
Akademi fellowship which is the highest honour conferred by the Sahitya
Akademi on a writer.
• Since 1962, India has celebrated Teacher's Day on 5 September,
Radhakrishnan's birthday, in recognition of Radhakrishnan's belief that
teachers should be the best minds in the world.
• In 1975, he received the Templeton Prize for promoting nonviolence and
conveying a common truth of God that included compassion and
knowledge for all people.
Literary works by Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan
• The first book authored by Radha Krishnan was a philosophy of
Rabindranath Tagore in the year 1918.
• His second book was published in 1923 named Indian Philosophy.
• The Hindu View of Life published in 1926 was Radha Krishnan's third
book which was related to Hindu philosophy and beliefs.
• An Idealist View of Life was published in 1929.
• Kalki or the Future of Civilization was published in 1929.
• He published his sixth book named Eastern Religions and Western
Thought in the year 1939.
• Religion and Society were published as the seventh book in 1947.
• In 1948 The Bhagavadgita: with an introductory essay, Sanskrit text,
English translation, and notes were published.
 • In 1950 his book The Dhammapada was published.
• His tenth book The Principal Upanishads was published in 1953.
• Recovery of Faith was published in 1956.
• The twelfth book was A Source Book in Indian Philosophy published in
1957.
• The Brahma Sutra: The Philosophy of Spiritual Life. was published in
1959.]
• His last book named Religion, Science & Culture was published in 1968.

In this biography, we got to know Who was Dr. Radhakrishnan, his early life, his
education, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s date of birth, his teaching career, his
tenure as Vice president and president of India, his literary works, his awards
and achievements, and his death.
Importance of learning about Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Biography - Early
Life, Education, and Awards
The students get to learn a lot of things about Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan through
the Biography provided by Vedantu. They learn about the Early Life, Education,
and Awards which he was honoured during his lifetime. He has made India
proud and thus, Teacher’s day was dedicated in his remembrance. The birthday
of Dr. President and 1st Vice President of India is widely known as Teacher’s Day
everywhere in India.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an eminent teacher, innovative thinker, and
Hindu philosopher before being an honest politician. He worked as an educator
for nearly forty years of his life. He has not solely won the hearts of Indians
together with his lectures within the country’s famed universities however
additionally captivated individuals abroad with his lectures and out-of-the-box
ideas. Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan inspired the individuals of the society
attentively to the importance of teachers and therefore the contribution of
teachers in nation-building, in addition, has created tons of efforts to provide the
correct place to the teachers within the society.
Vedantu is here to tell you that Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan thought of the
complete world as a faculty. He believed that the human mind is employed in the
correct approach only and solely by education. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was
also a good scholar of philosophy, who through his good thoughts, writings and
speeches introduced the complete world to Indian philosophy, born into a Telugu
family in the year 1888 in the Thiruttani Madras Presidency of British India, son
to Mr. Sarvepalli Veeraswami and Mrs. Sitamma on 5th of September. His father
worked as a subordinate revenue official within the service of a neighbourhood
zamindar (landlord) and therefore the family was a modest one. He didn't wish
his son to receive an English education and wished him to become a priest.
However, life had different plans for the young boy. After receiving his education
from Kendriya Vidyalaya high school at Tiruttani, Radhakrishnan moved on to
the Hermannsburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission School in Tirupati in 1896.
A decent student, he earned several scholarships. He studied at Voorhees college
in Vellore and at Madras Christian College. He chose to study philosophy and
earned his master’s degree in the aforementioned subject in the year 1906. When
the students study about someone who has made such a difference in the lives
of people such as Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishanan, it inspires them in
innumerable ways. Their perspective towards every task whether small or big
changes accordingly, they have a more optimistic view about everything. Reading
the biography of such prominent figures also helps them to enhance their general
knowledge and therefore, helps them academically too. These biographies have
questions based on them which may appear every now and then in important
competitive examinations. It also helps them to know the importance of teachers,
teaching, and how this profession is underrated and should be appreciated more.
Therefore, by reading all the biography of Sarvepalli Radhakrishan ie., about his
early life, education, and awards, students gain more insight about things
academically and morally which helps them secure a brighter future.
Conclusion
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an academic, philosopher, and statesman who
was one of the most well-known and prominent Indian thinkers in academic
circles during the twentieth century. Radhakrishnan spent his life and career as
a writer attempting to describe, defend, and propagate his faith, which he
referred to variously as Hinduism, Vedanta, and the religion of the Spirit. Rather
than being known as Radhakrishnan president, he was famous for his academic
skills and as a teacher.

According to Radhakrishnan, there are three different ways of knowing: sense-

experience, discursive reasoning, and intuitive apprehension. The
youngsters should ask their teachers when they do not understand. It is not
possible for a single person to know everything in the world. “The World
Community” by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan is a plea to the great powers of the world
to unite under a single umbrella, namely, a world federal government. To achieve
this, he enumerates on the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and wars.

The term world community is used primarily in political and humanitarian

contexts to describe an international aggregate of nation states of widely varying
types. In most connotations, the term is used to convey meanings attached to
consensus or inclusion of all people in all lands and their governments.

DR B R AMBEDKAR’S BIOGRAPHY

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, and social reformer
who fought economic and social discrimination against the untouchables in
India's Hindu society, and who later renounced Hinduism and inspired the Dalit
Buddhist movement.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (born on 14 April 1891 and died on 6 December 1956)
was an Indian jurist, economist and social reformer who fought economic and
social discrimination against the untouchables in India's Hindu society, and who
later renounced Hinduism and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement.
Ambedkar served as chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution of
India, and Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru
from 1947 to 1951. He is also referred to by the honorific Babasaheb.

Ambedkar was a prolific student, earning doctorates in economics from both

Columbia University and the London School of Economics, gaining a reputation
as a scholar for his research in law, economics and political science. In his early
career, he was an economist, professor and lawyer. His later life was marked by
his political activities; he became involved in campaigning and negotiations for
India's independence, publishing journals, advocating political rights and social
freedom for Dalits, and contributing significantly to the establishment of the
state of India. In 1956, he converted to Buddhism, initiating mass conversions
of Dalits.

In 1990, the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, was posthumously
conferred on Ambedkar. The salutation Jai Bhim used by followers honours him.

Post-secondary education

In 1897, Ambedkar's family moved to Mumbai where Ambedkar became the only
untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School. In 1906, when he was about
15 years old, he married a nine-year-old girl, Ramabai. The match per the
customs prevailing at that time was arranged by the couple's parents.

Studies at the University of Bombay

Ambedkar as a student

In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and in the following year he

entered Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to the University of Bombay,
becoming, according to him, the first from his Mahar caste to do so. When he
passed his English fourth standard examinations, the people of his community
wanted to celebrate because they considered that he had reached "great heights"
which he says was "hardly an occasion compared to the state of education in
other communities". A public ceremony was evoked, to celebrate his success, by
the community, and it was at this occasion that he was presented with a
biography of the Buddha by Dada Keluskar, the author and a family friend.

By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay
University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state
government. His wife had just moved his young family and started work when
he had to quickly return to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2
February 1913.

Studies at Columbia University

In 1913, at the age of 22, Ambedkar moved to the United States. He had been
awarded a Baroda State Scholarship of £11.50 (Sterling) per month for three
years under a scheme established by Sayajirao Gaekwad III (Gaekwad of Baroda)
that was designed to provide opportunities for postgraduate education at
Columbia University in New York City. Soon after arriving there he settled in
rooms at Livingston Hall with Naval Bhathena, a Parsi who was to be a lifelong
friend. He passed his M.A. exam in June 1915, majoring in economics, and other
subjects of Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. He presented a
thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. Ambedkar was influenced by John Dewey and
his work on democracy.

In 1916 he completed his second thesis, National Dividend of India – A Historic

and Analytical Study, for another M.A. On 9 May, he presented the paper Castes
in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar
conducted by the anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser.

Studies at the London School of Economics

Ambedkar (In center line, first from right) with his professors and friends from
the London School of Economics.

In October 1916, he enrolled for the Bar course at Gray's Inn, and at the same
time enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started working on a
doctoral thesis. In June 1917, he returned to India because his scholarship from
Baroda ended. His book collection was dispatched on a different ship from the
one he was on, and that ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine.
He got permission to return to London to submit his thesis within four years. He
returned at the first opportunity, and completed a master's degree in 1921. His
thesis was on "The problem of the rupee: Its origin and its solution". In 1923, he
completed a D.Sc. in Economics which was awarded from University of London,
and the same year he was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn. His third and fourth
Doctorates (LL.D, Columbia, 1952 and D.Litt., Osmania, 1953) were conferred
honoris causa.

Opposition to untouchability

Ambedkar as a barrister in 1922

As Ambedkar was educated by the Princely State of Baroda, he was bound to

serve it. He was appointed Military Secretary to the Gaikwad but had to quit in
a short time. He described the incident in his autobiography, Waiting for a Visa.
Thereafter, he tried to find ways to make a living for his growing family. He
worked as a private tutor, as an accountant, and established an investment
consulting business, but it failed when his clients learned that he was an
untouchable. In 1918, he became Professor of Political Economy in the
Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai. Although he was
successful with the students, other professors objected to his sharing a drinking-
water jug with them.

Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which
was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar
argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for untouchables and
other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly
Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Shahu of Kolhapur,
that is, Shahu IV (1874–1922).

Ambedkar went on to work as a legal professional. In 1926, he successfully

defended three non-Brahmin leaders who had accused the Brahmin community
of ruining India and were then subsequently sued for libel. Dhananjay Keer notes
that "The victory was resounding, both socially and individually, for the clients
and the doctor".

While practising law in the Bombay High Court, he tried to promote education
to untouchables and uplift them. His first organised attempt was his
establishment of the central institution Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, intended
to promote education and socio-economic improvement, as well as the welfare of
"outcastes", at the time referred to as depressed classes. For the defence of Dalit
rights, he started many periodicals like Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, and
Equality Janta.

He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-
European Simon Commission in 1925. This commission had sparked great
protests across India, and while its report was ignored by most Indians,
Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for the future
Constitution of India.

By 1927, Ambedkar had decided to launch active movements against

untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to open up public
drinking water resources. He also began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu
temples. He led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable
community to draw water from the main water tank of the town. In a conference
in late 1927, Ambedkar publicly condemned the classic Hindu text, the
Manusmriti (Laws of Manu), for ideologically justifying caste discrimination and
"untouchability", and he ceremonially burned copies of the ancient text. On 25
December 1927, he led thousands of followers to burn copies of Manusmriti.
Thus annually 25 December is celebrated as Manusmriti Dahan Din
(Manusmriti Burning Day) by Ambedkarites and Dalits.

In 1930, Ambedkar launched the Kalaram Temple movement after three months
of preparation. About 15,000 volunteers assembled at Kalaram Temple
satygraha making one of the greatest processions of Nashik. The procession was
headed by a military band and a batch of scouts; women and men walked with
discipline, order and determination to see the god for the first time. When they
reached the gates, the gates were closed by Brahmin authorities.

Poona Pact

M.R. Jayakar, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Ambedkar at Yerwada jail, in Poona, on
24 September 1932, the day the Poona Pact was signed.
In 1932, the British colonial government announced the formation of a separate
electorate for "Depressed Classes" in the Communal Award. Mahatma Gandhi
fiercely opposed a separate electorate for untouchables, saying he feared that
such an arrangement would divide the Hindu community. Gandhi protested by
fasting while imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of Poona. Following the fast,
congressional politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and
Palwankar Baloo organised joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at
Yerwada. On 25 September 1932, the agreement, known as the Poona Pact was
signed between Ambedkar (on behalf of the depressed classes among Hindus)
and Madan Mohan Malaviya (on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement gave
reserved seats for the depressed classes in the Provisional legislatures within the
general electorate. Due to the pact the depressed class received 148 seats in the
legislature instead of the 71, as allocated in the Communal Award proposed
earlier by the colonial government under Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.
The text used the term "Depressed Classes" to denote Untouchables among
Hindus who were later called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the
India Act 1935, and the later Indian Constitution of 1950. In the Poona Pact, a
unified electorate was in principle formed, but primary and secondary elections
allowed Untouchables in practice to choose their own candidates.

Political career

Ambedkar with his family members at Rajgraha in February 1934. From left –
Yashwant (son), Ambedkar, Ramabai (wife), Laxmibai (wife of his elder brother,
Balaram), Mukund (nephew) and Ambedkar's favourite dog, Tobby.

In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College,

Bombay, a position he held for two years. He also served as the chairman of
Governing body of Ramjas College, University of Delhi, after the death of its
Founder Shri Rai Kedarnath. Settling in Bombay (today called Mumbai),
Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a house, and stocked his personal library
with more than 50,000 books. His wife Ramabai died after a long illness the same
year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur,
but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling her that he would create a new
Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's Pandharpur which treated them as
untouchables. At the Yeola Conversion Conference on 13 October in Nasik,
Ambedkar announced his intention to convert to a different religion and exhorted
his followers to leave Hinduism. He would repeat his message at many public
meetings across India.

In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which contested the
1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly for the 13 reserved
and 4 general seats, and secured 11 and 3 seats respectively.

Ambedkar published his book Annihilation of Caste on 15 May 1936. It strongly

criticised Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general, and
included "a rebuke of Gandhi" on the subject. Later, in a 1955 BBC interview,
he accused Gandhi of writing in opposition of the caste system in English
language papers while writing in support of it in Gujarati language papers.

During this time, Ambedkar also fought against the khoti system prevalent in
Konkan, where khots, or government revenue collectors, regularly exploited
farmers and tenants. In 1937, Ambedkar tabled a bill in the Bombay Legislative
Assembly aimed at abolishing the khoti system by creating a direct relationship
between government and farmers.

Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's

Executive Council as minister for labour. Before the Day of Deliverance events,
Ambedkar stated that he was interested in participating: "I read Mr. Jinnah's
statement and I felt ashamed to have allowed him to steal a march over me and
rob me of the language and the sentiment which I, more than Mr. Jinnah, was
entitled to use." He went on to suggest that the communities he worked with
were twenty times more oppressed by Congress policies than were Indian
Muslims; he clarified that he was criticizing Congress, and not all Hindus.
Jinnah and Ambedkar jointly addressed the heavily attended Day of Deliverance
event in Bhindi Bazaar, Bombay, where both expressed "fiery" criticisms of the
Congress party, and according to one observer, suggested that Islam and
Hinduism were irreconcilable.

After the Lahore resolution (1940) of the Muslim League demanding Pakistan,
Ambedkar wrote a 400-page tract titled Thoughts on Pakistan, which analysed
the concept of "Pakistan" in all its aspects. Ambedkar argued that the Hindus
should concede Pakistan to the Muslims. He proposed that the provincial
boundaries of Punjab and Bengal should be redrawn to separate the Muslim and
non-Muslim majority parts. He thought the Muslims could have no objection to
redrawing provincial boundaries. If they did, they did not quite "understand the
nature of their own demand". Scholar Venkat Dhulipala states that Thoughts on
Pakistan "rocked Indian politics for a decade". It determined the course of
dialogue between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress, paving
the way for the Partition of India.

In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar tried to explain the formation of
untouchables. He saw Shudras and Ati Shudras who form the lowest caste in
the ritual hierarchy of the caste system, as separate from Untouchables.
Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the Scheduled
Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the 1946 elections for
Constituent Assembly of India. Later he was elected into the constituent
assembly of Bengal where Muslim League was in power.

Ambedkar contested in the Bombay North first Indian General Election of 1952,
but lost to his former assistant and Congress Party candidate Narayan Kajrolkar.
Ambedkar became a member of Rajya Sabha, probably an appointed member.
He tried to enter Lok Sabha again in the by-election of 1954 from Bhandara, but
he placed third (the Congress Party won). By the time of the second general
election in 1957, Ambedkar had died.

Ambedkar also criticised Islamic practice in South Asia. While justifying the
Partition of India, he condemned child marriage and the mistreatment of women
in Muslim society.
The Buddha and his Dhamma offers an active and interesting account and
perspective on Buddha's life and teachings and establishes the fact that
religion should unite people, ameliorate the pain of the distressed, and liberate
them from their sufferings.

“INDEX”
BOOK ONE: SIDDHARTH GAUTAMA — HOW

A BODHISATTA BECAME THE BUDDHA

From Birth to Parivraja ..........................................23

Part II—Renunciation for Ever ...........................................63

Part III—In Search of New Light ........................................46

Part IV—Enlightenment and the Vision of a New Way...85

Part V—The Buddha and His Predecessors .......................91

Part VI—The Buddha and His Contemporaries ...............103

Part VII—Comparison and Contrast .................................106

BOOK TWO: CAMPAIGN OF CONVERSION

Part I — Buddha and His Vishad Yoga ............................109

Part II — The Conversion of the Parivrajakas .................113

Part III — Conversion of the High and the Holy……….127

Part IV — Call from Home ……………………………..150 P

art V — Campaign for Conversion Resumed.……........164

Part VI — Conversion of the Low and the Lowly ……...168

Part VII — Conversion of Women.....................................173

Part VIII — Conversion of the Fallen and the Criminals…180

BOOK THREE: WHAT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT

 Part I — His Place in His Dhamma.....................................188

Part II — Different Views of the Buddha's Dhamma........196

Part III — What is Dhamma................................................198

Part IV — What is Not Dhamma.........................................215

Part V — What is Saddhamma............................................245

BOOK FOUR: RELIGION AND DHAMMA

Part I — Religion and Dhamma...........................................272

Part II — How Similarities in Terminlogy Conceal Fundamental Difference

......................................................284

Part III — The Buddhist Way of Life...................................305

Part IV — His Sermons.........................................................323

BOOK FIVE: THE SANGH

Part I — The Sangh................................................................357

Part II — The Bhikkhu: the Buddha's Conception of Him.364

Part III — The Duties of the Bhikkhu ..................................374

Part IV — The Bhikkhu and the Laity ..................................383

Part V — Vinaya for the Laity...............................................388

BOOK SIX: HE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES

Part I — His Benefactors .......................................................397

Part II — His Enemies ...........................................................406

Part III — Critics of His Doctrines .......................................421

Part IV — Friends and Admirers ..........................................430

BOOK SEVEN: THE WANDERER'S LAST JOURNEY

Part I — The Meeting of those Near and Dear ..................441

Part II — Leaving Vaishali ...................................................447

 Part III — His End .................................................................451

BOOK EIGHT: THE MAN WHO WAS SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA

Part I — His Personality ......................................................466

Part II — His Humanity.......................................................470

Part III — His Likes and Dislikes.........................................480

EPILOGUE
:: 1. Tributes to the Buddha's Greatness. ::........................488

:: 2. A Vow to Spread His Dhamma. ::...............................492

:: 3. A Prayer for His Return to His Native Land. ::..........492

In response to the request by Buddhist here in India and elsewhere in the

Buddhist countries of the world and also by some philosophers and religious
leaders in other countries, we are now bringing out a second edition of "The
Buddha and His Dhamma". We had first published Dr. Ambedkar's "The
Buddha and His Dhamma" in 1957 almost within a year of his Nirvana. As this
new and consistent commentary of the Dhamma by Dr. Ambedkar became
almost the Bible of the Indian Buddhists, we later published a Hindi as well as
Marathi version of The Dhamma. These publications served a very useful
purpose to Indian Buddhist who treat this book as the New Testament for
studying The Dhamma singly or in groups in their localities and for devoting
some of their time every day to reflect on it. It is the way of the Buddha without
comparison that they find a substantial source of religious inspiration.

The book “Buddha And His Dhamma” by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was published
posthumously in 1957 by Siddhartha College Publications, Mumbai. On 15 July
2011, a critical edition by Aakash Singh Rathore and Ajay Verma was published
by Oxford Publications with the same name. This writing also found its place in
the Volume XI of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches by Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment Government of India first published in 1979
with a list of sources and an index.
In the introduction, Ambedkar sheds light on some aspects of Buddhism.
Ambedkar states that there has been a noticeable growth in the number of
Indians taking up the teachings of Buddha and argues that depending on the
Nikayas, it becomes an onus to present a clear and vivid statement on the life
and teachings of Buddha to someone who is a non-Buddhist. He then goes on to
discuss the problems of Buddhism. The first problem is related to the main event
in the Buddha’s life, which is Parivraja. Ambedkar claims that it was unbearable
for Buddha to see those three sights for the first time in his life, the sights which
made him take Parivraja at the age of 29. Ambedkar also says that it is not
reasonable for one to believe in such a claim that Buddha took Parivraja only
because of those three sights. There must be some other factors too which might
have been crucial to make up his mind to take Parivraja.

The second problem of Buddhism is caused by the Four Aryan Truths. Ambedkar
questions whether the Four Aryan Truths were originally a part of Buddha’s
teachings as they make the gospel of Buddhism, a gospel of pessimism; the Four
Aryan Truths implies that there is no escape from sorrow whatsoever. Ambedkar
doubts that the Four Aryan Truths might be a “later accretion by the monks.”

The third problem is a contextual one, related to soul and Karma. The Buddha
denied the existence of the soul but on the other hand, he also affirmed the
doctrine of Karma and rebirth. Ambedkar raises the question that how can there
be rebirth if there be no soul in the first place. This point is contradictory in itself
and should be addressed and thrown light on.

The fourth one is related to the objective of Buddha to create a Bhikku.

Ambedkar questions whether the object of the Buddha behind the creation of
Bhikku was to create a perfect man or to create a social servant. If a Bhikku is
a perfect man, then he is of no use to the propagation of Buddhism as he is a
selfish man whatsoever. The future of Buddhism depends on this question and
must be addressed. Ambedkar also talks about the mundane and insipid nature
of the Journal of the Mahabodhi society. Ambedkar says, “the dullness is due to
the fact that it seems to fall upon a passive set of readers”. The journal is not
interactive and thus a normal reader would probably have a hard time reading
from it.

The volume Buddha and His Dhamma is divided into 8 books. The Book I
discusses the journey of the Buddha, the remarkable journey of Bodhisattva
becoming the Buddha. The first book gives a clear, vivid, and detailed account
of the early life of the Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama was born to Suddhodhana
and Mahamaya in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal. At the age of eight, the Buddha
started his education. He mastered all the prevailing philosophic systems in his
day under the guidance of Sabbamita. Apart from this, the Buddha learned the
science of concentration and meditation from a Bharadwaj, who had his ashram
at Kapilavatsu. At the age of sixteen, Siddhartha got married to Yashodhara and
had a son named Rahula, after a long term in married life.

The first part of the book tells intriguing tales of the life of Siddhartha- from the
myth of sage Asit who heard the Gods over the space of the sky in Himalayas
shout the word “Buddha” to prophecies of Asita and the contest of archery to win
the hands of Yeshodhara for marriage and the account of his initiation into the
Sakya Sangh and Parivraja. From the second to the sixth part of the book I,
Ambedkar provides a clear description of Siddharth’s life after Parivraja, starting
from his rediscovery of meditation to his discovery of a New Dhamma. It also
depicts how Gautama became a Buddha after the Sambodhi. The seventh part
of the book is a crucial one as it offers an elaborate survey by Ambedkar on what
the Buddha accepted, modified, and rejected in his religion.

The first part of the second book (which has 8 parts) opens with a vivid account
of the Buddha’s scheme of conversion. In the Buddha’s scheme of things,
conversion has two meanings- Conversion to the order of Bhikkus called Sangh,
which involves a ceremony called Upasameda, and conversion of a householder
which involves no ceremony. The second part of the book tells a vivid account of
his life after Parivraja, starting from his arrival at Sarnath to his historical First
Sermon. The second part also accounts for the response of the five Parivrajaks.
Buddha admitted the five parivrajaks by uttering the mantra “Ethi Bhikkave”
(come in Bhikkus). They came to be known as Panchavargiya Bhikkus. The rest
of the parts provides descriptions of conversions of various hierarchical orders
of the society – High and Highly, Low and Lowly, Women and Fallen, and
Criminals.

The tales behind the conversion of women are interesting ones. Although Buddha
was initially reluctant of admitting women into the Sangh, it was under the
persuasion and request of the Venerable Ananda that agreed to admit women
into the Sangh. Mahaprajapati Gautami was given the task to enforce the Eight
Chief Rules which initiated her life as a Bhikkuni. The second tale tells the story
of Prakrati, a Chandalika, and how she was enlightened by the Buddha and later
admitted into the Bhikkuni Sangh.

The third book offers a thorough and detailed image of the teachings of the
Buddha. Buddha, unlike any other religious promulgator, did not claim a place
for himself in his own Dhamma. Christ claimed he was the Son of God,
Mohammad said he was a Prophet sent by God and Krishna claimed to be the
God himself and that Gita was his word. But no such claim was made by the
Buddha. While most religions are described as revelation, Buddhism stood out
as an exception. As Ambedkar puts it, “A revealed religion is so-called because
it is a message of God to His creatures to worship their maker (i.e., God) and to
save their souls.” Buddha repudiated such descriptions of Prophet or Messenger
of God. He was no ‘Messiah’ to offer the humankind Salvation. The Buddha called
himself ‘Marga Data’, the one who shows the way to salvation. Instead, according
to the Buddha, salvation must be attained by one’s efforts.

In the third and the fourth part of the third book, Ambedkar thoroughly
elucidates what is Dhamma and what is not Dhamma according to The Buddha.
The Buddha said

a) To maintain purity is Dhamma

b) To reach Perfection in life is Dhamma

c) To live in Nirvana is Dhamma

d) To give up Craving is Dhamma

e) To believe that all compound things are impermanent is Dhamma

f) To accept that Karma is the instrument of Moral Order is Dhamma

Buddha also laid down what is not Dhamma-

a) Belief in the supernatural is Not Dhamma

b) Belief in Ishwara (God) is not essentially part of Dhamma

c) Dhamma based on Union with Bramha is a false Dhamma

d) Belief in Soul is not Dhamma

e) Belief in sacrifices is not Dhamma

f) Reading books about Dhamma is not Dhamma

g) Belief in the infallibility of Books of Dhamma is not Dhamma

The fourth book offers an elaborate treatise on how Dhamma differs from
Religion, the purposes of religion, and Dhamma, the place of morality in them.
The fourth book is probably the most important of all in my opinion because it
draws the line between religion and Dhamma. Ambedkar skillfully draws these
important contradistinctions. As someone who has never been exposed to the
ideas and teachings of the Buddha, it is natural to question the difference
between religion and Dhamma. And the book succeeds in answering probably
all of the possible queries that arise in the mind of the reader while grasping the
ideas.

The fifth book lays down important guidelines for the Sangh, the duties of the
Bhikkus, and the Buddha’s conception of the Bhikkhu.

The sixth book discusses about Buddha’s contemporaries - his benefactors, his
enemies, his critics, and his friends and admirers. The book provides an
interesting account of how Buddha was charged with conversion of glamour and
charged with being a parasite by some. He was also falsely charged with murder
by the Jains. And not to mention, Buddha faced a perpetual resistance from
Brahmins too. The third part of the sixth book contains some criticism of
Buddhism. It talks about critics who opposed open admission to the Sangh, rules
of vows, Ahimsa and preaching virtue. It also sheds light on the much-debated
topic of pessimism in Buddhism.

The seventh book gives an account of the last days of Buddha. Buddha died in
Kushinagar of Malla Republic at around the age of 80. There was a quarrel over
his ashes, which was later settled peacefully and amicably. The eighth and the
last book talks about Buddha- his physical appearance, his capacity to lead, his
likes and dislikes, his humanity, and also, testimonies of eye-witnesses.
Ambedkar concludes the book with a tribute to Buddha’s quoting eminent
personalities across the globe. The epilogue also has two prayers namely ‘A vow
to spread His Dhamma’ and ‘A Prayer for His Return to His Native Land’.

Ambedkar’s The Buddha and His Dhamma is no doubt an indispensable guide

to anyone who wants to educate themselves on the life and teachings of Buddha.
Ambedkar’s works on Buddhism gave impetus to the modern Buddhist
Renaissance in India. His works have led thousands of Dalits to take up
Buddhism for their own social and personal betterment. His works have paved
the way for the formation of ‘Dalit Panthers’ and other such groups in the 1970s.
The Buddha and his Dhamma offers an active and interesting account and
perspective on Buddha’s life and teachings and establishes the fact that religion
should unite people, ameliorate the pain of the distressed, and liberate them
from their sufferings. It brings together the life and teachings of the Buddha in
a single consistent work. Although the Dhamma is envisaged to be an explication
of the teachings of Buddha, it is Ambedkar's political vocalization that imbues
the text and establishes its historical importance.

SHASHI DESHPANDE’S BIOGRAPHY

Shashi Deshpande is a well known name in the field of Indian literature. She
was born in Dharwad in Karnataka as the daughter of the renowned Kannada
dramatist as well as a great Sanskrit scholar Sriranga. She pursued her
education in Dharwad, Bombay and Bangalore. In this paper, we give the
description about her life and also her working.

Shashi Deshpande is an Indian novelist. She is a recipient of the Sahitya

Akademi Award. She published her first collection of short stories in 1978, and
her first novel, 'The Dark Holds No Terror', in 1980. She won the Sahitya
Akademi Award for the novel That Long Silence in 1990 and the Padma Shri
award in 2009. Her novel Shadow Play was shortlisted for The Hindu Literary
Prize in 2014.

Shashi Deshpande Shashi Deshpande was born in the year 1938 in Dharwad,
Karnataka, India as the daughter of the renowned Kannada dramatist as well as
a great Sanskrit scholar Sriranga. Shashi Deshpande received an English
education at a protestant mission school in Karnataka. As a schoolgirl, she read
the great British classical novels in English, and particularly liked the works of
Jane Austen. She received her graduation in Economics from Elphinstone
College, Bombay and in Law from the Government Law College, Bangalore. Much
later, she took a post–graduate degree in English from the Mysore University.
She married Dr. Deshpande, a neuro- pathologist (now Professor of Pathology)
in 1962. The initial years of her marriage were largely given over to bringing up
her two sons. Shashi Deshpande had a very sharp mind. In fact, she was a gold
medalist. Shashi Deshapande, the living dynamic woman writer in Indian
English Literature occupies a prominent position. She has treated the typical
Indian themes very sensitively and has pictured the contemporary middle-class
women with rare competence. After getting married, she shifted to Bombay (now
Mumbai). During her stay in Mumbai, she decided to pursue a course in
Journalism. So, she got herself enrolled in the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Thereafter, she took up a job as a journalist in the magazine "Onlooker". She
worked there for a couple of months. Shashi Desh pande is an award-winning
Indian novelist. She has been actively involved in writing books for children.
Shashi Deshapande lives in Bangalore with her husband who is a Pathologist.
Her father‘s ideas and beliefs, the intellectual freedom he provided, his rational
logical thinking, his love for Gandhism - all formed part of her childhood. From
her father, Shashi Deshpande must have acquired an intellectual bent of mind
and love for reading and scholarship, which have won for her degrees in three
various subjects and a diploma. Shashi Deshpande believes that she began
writing most casually and without any intention of settling down to a career in
writing. She had accompanied her husband, a commonwealth scholar, to
England and lived there for a year. Her husband encouraged her to put her
experiences down on paper. In order not to forget them, she began writing them
down. Her father sent this write-up to the Deccan Herald, a southern Indian
newspaper. Much to her surprise, her articles were found 36 worthy of being
published. This encouraged her to try a career in journalism. A stint at Onlooker,
further encouraged her to try her hand at short stories and in a sudden burst of
creativity; she wrote several short stories which were published in reputed
magazines. Thus began her writing career.

Her Works

The Dark Holds No Terrors, Penguin Books India (1980), ISBN 0-14-014598-2

If I Die Today (1982)

Come Up and Be Dead (1983)

Roots and Shadows (1983)

That Long Silence, Penguin (paperback 1989), ISBN 0-14-012723-2

The Intrusion and Other Stories (1993)

A Matter of Time, The Feminist Press at CUNY (1996), ISBN 1-55861-264-5

The Binding Vine, The Feminist Press at CUNY (2002), ISBN 1-55861-402-8

Small Remedies, Penguin India (2000), ISBN 978-0-14-029487-3

Moving On, Penguin Books India (2004), ISBN 978-0-670-05781-8

In the Country of Deceit, Penguin/Viking (2008), ISBN 978-0-670-08198-1

Shadow Play, Aleph (2013), ISBN 978-9-382-27719-4

Strangers to Ourselves, HarperCollins (2015), ISBN 978-9-351-77634-5

Short Stories

The Legacy and Other Stories. Calcutta, Writers Workshop, 1978.

It Was Dark. Calcutta, Writers Workshop, 1986.

The Miracle and Other Stories. Calcutta, Writers Workshop, 1986.

It Was the Nightingale. Calcutta, Writers Workshop, 1986.

The Intrusion and Other Stories. New Delhi, Penguin India, 1994.

Play

Drishte, 1990.

Children's books

A Summer Adventure

The Hidden Treasure

The Only Witness

The Narayanpur Incident

Memoir

Shashi Deshpande, the living dynamic woman writer in English Literature

occupies a prominent position in the galaxy of contemporary Indian writers
writing in English. As themes, she has treated the everyday common and
ordinary experiences through which a middle class woman is going. A middle-
class working woman is her protagonist of every novel. Deshpande’s protagonists
of novels are stronger for they attempt to resolve their problems by a process of
temporary withdrawal from their traditional assigned role. Small Remedies is a
path breaking novel by Shashi Deshpande, which belongs to the later phase of
her career in writing. This novel holds a mirror before the women of society.
Madhu, Savitribai, and Leela are the three ambitious and courageous women
who prove their strength by sacrificing everything for their goal. These women
do not become victims of their so-called feminine weakness. Instead they aspire
to masculine power and respect. Writing, music and politics are the fields these
women want to establish their identity. Because of their gender, sometimes, they
are sidelined in their career, like politics so called male bastion. Deshpande
reveals the understanding of woman psyche particularly educated, middle-class
urban women aspiring for self assertion and independence.

The novel, Small Remedies explores the lives of three women, one is obsessed
with music, second one a passionate believer in communism and the third one
with writing. These three women take up their fight alone. Savitribai Indorekar’s
rebellious act to break away from her family for her love of music is not an
isolated, whimsical, individual decision. It transcends personal borders and
becomes a part of the key social and political agendas undertaken by the late
nineteenth century women such as Pandita Ramabai, Anandibai Joshi, Kashibai
Kanetkar, Tarabai Shinde etc. who had the courage to stand up against the
oppressive social regime. The protagonist-biographer Madhu exercises her
choices, rejects her husband’s essentialist’s approach and reconstructs her ‘self’.
Like Bai, Leela, another major woman character too goes beyond the acceptable
boundaries set for women, though less spectacularly. Shashi Deshpande has
considerable success in portraying woman as protagonist in plots centered
round issues such as female marginalization, marital discord, sexual
suppression, alienation and the search for self. For centuries, Indian traditions,
social norms, cultures and customs have been leading men to feel that they are
superior and different and forcing women to think that they are inferior human
beings who are not expected to play any role other than the traditional ones of
each being a wife to her husband, mother to her children and a caretaker of the
house. The patriarchal system flourishing in India is always inclined to a
magnification of the roles and goals of men and to a minimization of the
importance and ambitions of women in all the spheres of life.
Contemporary Indian women writers have focused a women’s self image and
their attitude to their bodies, enabling them to transcend narrow confines
defined by patriarchy. Novelists like Shashi Deshpande and Githa Hariharan
together represent the half century since 1947 and the changing concerns of
feminist thought. They created powerful female characters which break the
shackles of docility and compliance.

Shashi Deshpande explores and exposes the prominent patriarchal premises

and prejudices embedded in Indian culture and lifestyle. In a variety of ways she
challenges the ideology of gender which justifies and neutralizes the inequitable
division between male and female. She raises her voice against the patriarchy in
which talent and emotions of women are suppressed and the self is subdued by
the age-old customs and traditions. Deshpande tries to present the new image
of woman to be needed in the society.

All the protagonists of her novels are in the search of their ‘self’. Deshpande
makes us to ponder over how male supremacy damages female egos and leads
women to a state of intellectual slavery. Educational and professional
opportunities enable women to function outside the family domain to prove their
efficiency. But there is a discrepancy between their aspiration and achievement.

Indian woman is considered to a blind emotional dependence on men and in a

sense the whole purpose and meaning of woman’s life is to win and retain a
man’s love in her life. Even though the middle class Indian women want to stand
against the patriarchal social set-up of family and achieve the self-fulfillment in
their endeavours, they fear that their rebellion attitude could affect their
relationships. And they become the slaves of their own emotions as they do not
want to have any emotional as well as economical independence at the cost of
their relationships in the family. Shashi Deshpande’s protagonists Jaya, Indu
Saru are the representatives of this attitude. They are sufferers of their inner
conflict and domineering male ego of their counterparts.

Shashi Deshpande in her novel “Small Remedies” subverts the traditional image
of domineering and demanding husbands by portraying Lata’s husband Hari
who enjoys cooking and household chores instead of depending on his wife and
Leela’s husband Joe who encourages her in social work by establishing medical
clinic for TB patients. This kind of subversion is relevant and praiseworthy as
most of the wives and mothers of India spend their whole day in the house. Their
lives are incredibly overloaded within the patriarchal social set-up of the family
without any expectation of reward or recognition.

Indian women desire to have intellectual and spiritual companionship with their
male counterpart which should culminate in their total surrender of minds and
bodies for each other. But very few are lucky enough to get such type of
egalitarian relation with men. So they lead life suppressing their dreams, desires,
visions, goals and ideals in mind. Woman realizes that the only way to relate her
male counterpart is by offering body and mind to him unconditionally. She
becomes puppet in hands of her husband. She knows that otherwise there will
be discord in her marriage, a secure and safe institution for woman as per social
norms. Being aware of this humiliating and self denying experience of woman in
the family, Deshpande, in her novels dealt with this issue.

In Small Remedies, Shashi Deshpande portrays a strong character of women.

This novel presents the changing role of women who do not believe in the inferior
status of woman in the family as well in the society. Instead of being passive and
submissive they fight against all odds of customs prevailed in the society in order
to explore and safeguard their individuality and identity. The main characters of
this novel Madhu, Savitribai, Munni and Leela, along with their feminine
qualities exercise their independence, courage, intellectual energy, rationality
and ambition. They do not compromise with their dignity while solving their
problems rationally. They boost their moral and emotional strength to withstand
in this male dominated society. They do not allow them to get victimized of
anxieties, indoctrination, social conditioning and oppression. They are aware of
the injustices heaped upon them; they display a determination to face the
challenges of life boldly.
Madhu, a protagonist was brought up in a liberal atmosphere by her father. Her
father is so lavish in his love and affection that she never feels the need of her
mother. But her father’s death when she was only fifteen years old shatters her
and she lives with her guardian aunt Leela. In her aunt’s family, she could not
feel comfortable with aunt’s husband Joe and their two children Paula and Tony.
She completes her graduation on the money that has been left by her father.
Madhu refuses to pursue her study when the money finishes, though Leela and
Joe were ready to provide money for her education. On the contrary she asserts
her self determination “I am determined. I will start working. I will earn my own
money, become independent.”

These words reflect her strong determination for economic independence and
courage to face the basic challenges of life. Fortunately, Hamid Bhai, Joe’s friend
offers her job of writing and editing his magazine City Views. Madhu does not
lose this golden opportunity as it was her first step towards her assertion of
independence. This opportunity comes in her life along with another problem
that is residential problem. This problem too is resolved by Hamid Bhai. He offers
her a small room on rent where she experiences a sense of independence and
fulfilment.

In her happy world of independence, Tony introduces Som and Chandru to

Madhu. Her friendship with Som results into marriage and they become parents
of their only son Aditya. Being a concerned mother, her life revolves around
Aditya. To take care of him, even she gives up her job and adopts a new identity
as a devoted mother. Madhu’s love for Som cannot allow her to stomach the
secret of her past life that she had one night experience of sex with her father’s
friend Dalvi. And it becomes a reason for losing a peace of mind and happiness
in her married life. There is a beginning of violent quarrels and arguments
between Madhu and Som. He becomes suspicious of her character. Madhu
wants to exclude that incident from her life involves a fait accompli, a sexual
encounter that she had with Dalvi, in the immediate aftermath of her father’s
death, long before she met Som. Adit and Som are intertwind with this story of
an unarticulated violence. Som thinks it was an act of betrayal and is tormented
by the thought of his wife’s sexuality.

Madhu makes an imaginary conversation with her son. In a confessional mode

she says,

What do I tell you, Adit? That I slept with a man when I was a girl, a child really,
and your father can’t take it? That your father is tearing himself, apart, and me
too, because of something that happened--- and only once--- years ago? (258)

Madhu’s memories of herself cannot exclude memories that she does not
consider important. She wants the scars of her past erased. But Som wants to
see them in their original form. By revisiting the original site, he wants to cure
himself in the process of curing his wife. So he says: “Tell me the truth… tell me
the truth, tell me the truth”. (257-58)

Madhu says: “But what does he mean by the truth? Does he mean revealing
everything?” (259) The realization is both frightening and irritating. “I know what
the truth is that Som wants from me: that it has not been happened, that I was
a virgin when he married me. I begin to understand … that I had been raped,
forced into the act that I was a victim, not a participant.”

Madhu had not expected Som’s hostile reaction to her revelation, so many years
after their marriage, that she had not been the “chaste, virginal bride” of his
expectation. She expects understanding and acceptance from her husband. She
is devastated by his violent reaction. She does not have any active memory of her
single sexual experience at the age of fifteen in a peculiarly vulnerable state of
mind. In her self-image she remains a ‘chaste’ woman. Instead, Madhu recollects
that she had felt pleasure. But quarrels and arguments between Madhu and
Som affect the tender mind of Aditya. Som’s suspicious attitude and thinking of
parting, she gets angry but remains silent only because of her son. The
oppressive atmosphere which stems from this, drives Adit from home to meet
death in a bombed bus. One day he leaves home in disgust after a noisy scene
between his parents. Unfortunately, Adit is killed in bus blast. Her pain is
unimaginable. Madhu cannot maintain stony silence on the loss of her son, she
lays blame on the male ego of her husband that traumatized the boy and sent
him away. She has to find her own strength lies within to stand firm and that
strength sustains her through grief and pain, anguish and agony. Madhu’s
attitude registers a much stronger assertion of female sexuality.

To come out of grief, Madhu accepts the offer of writing biography of Savitribai
Indorekar. She wants to get away from her Bombay flat and her husband not
only from agonizing memories of Adit’s death but also from the bitterness seeping
into her marriage. So Madhu moves to Bhavanipur and stays there with Hari
and Lata. There she recounts chronological story of Bai’s life and experiences for
her biography. Madhu does not yield to the urges of Tony and Rekha to come
back. Even Som pleads her through letter but she remains adamant and
determined in her decision saying that, “I turned my back on them. Nothing can
help”(113). It is Lata’s and Hari’s affection towards her helps overcome grief and
pains. Soon she gets involved with her new family world. Bai’s stroke and Hari’s
accident forces her to confront her own grief. She lets herself open up to other
people’s grief and pains. Kisa Gotami’s tale is just like a healing medicine for her.
Gradually she accepts the truth of her Adit’s death.

Through the character of Madhu, Sahshi Deshpande reveals before us an image

of a courageous woman who displays a rare courage and confidence in leading
the life which is full of difficulties, humiliations and frustration.

Another two strong women, portrayed by the novelist are Savitribai and Leela.
They are the rebels of their own time. They showed their courage to dream and
to achieve freedom. Transgressing the social barriers was not an easy
proposition, but they surmounted the hurdles and achieved what they wanted
to the freedom to affirm ‘self’. Madhu is impressed by the inner strength of both
Savitribai and Leela, who are the victims of gender discrimination. They had
dreams and both learnt how to realize those dreams despite social barriers.

Savitribai is the pampered daughter of a wealthy Brahmin family. She inherits

exceptional musical talent from her mother who encourages and teaches her. As
music is at the core of heart, Savitribai wanted to become a professional singer.
Where Bai’s grandmother stops her from singing at family function under the
same roof Savitribai’s father was enjoying unconventional ways of life that he
would observe no rituals or religious rites and would openly indulge in drink.
Savitribai tells Madhu how she was hurt when her grandmother asked her to
stop singing immediately. Married of as a young girl into a rich, joint family, she
is enabled to indulge her love for music by the generosity of a music-loving,
liberal-minded father-in-law, whom she dares to approach to plead her case in
the first instance of the transgression of boundaries that is to mark her life. She
is dissatisfied with the “mundane domestic life she was leading.” In Madhu’s
imagination Bai is far from trendy heroines, she is a young woman who had lived
a sheltered life of the daughter-in-law of an affluent family.(38)

A woman with this sort of background eloped with Station Director Ghulam Saab
to pursue her goal of famous classical singer. She had to live in a strange town
with strange people. To learn music from Guruji Kashinath Buwa, she had to
travel by the local shuttle train to reach to Guruji’s place, with a two-mile walk
through the fields at the end of it. Initially Guruji was not ready to accept her as
a student since he felt was no profession for a respectably married woman.
Finally he agrees to accept her as his student on some conditions. But her craze
for music was uncontrollable. So she accepted each and every condition to
quench her thirst for music. The place where Bai lived in was a ramshackle
arrangement of two rooms with an outside toilet shared by others and no
electricity. It is not an easy going for any one from a well to do family. But Bai
had taken that risk. Being a woman she was not allowed to stay at Guruji’s place.
Suffering and humiliation do not swerve her from her resolve to gain acceptance
as a disciple of the guru of her choice.

Bai is unknown of Madhu’s childhood friendship with Munni, her daughter. Bai
creates her story in such a way that Madhu finds no mention of Munni and her
association with Bai’s life. Madhu who is aware of Savitribai’s past and her
daughter Munni, is unable to accept her indifference to her daughter, more,
because Madhu herself is a doting mother, grieving over the death of her son. So
Madhu realizes that there was no need to remind her: “I am Munni’s friend
Madhu. Remember me?” (29).

Though, Savitribai was a successful singer, she was not accepted by the people
of Neemgaon. There were some derogatory remarks about her as she was eloped
with Muslim table player Gulam Saab. Madhu comes to know that there are
different laws for men and women in this tradition bound and male-dominated
society. Bai’s father, a liberal having unconventional attitude and father-in-law
who had mistress, a well-known Thumri singer, was accepted by this society. He
had regular visits to her and was known to everyone. Through the character of
Bai, we have a woman who gives preference to her own individuality, aspirations
and rejects the traditional role of an ideal wife and care taker of children. The
erasure of her daughter is seen in terms of a rejection of the traditional concepts
of feminine which enjoins sacrifice and selflessness on the part of a mother. Bai
is an advocated artist, the woman in the search of her genius, of her destiny.
Amrita Bhalla in her book says, “Bai’s story speaks of commitment and
dedication to her art, of the courage to step across the threshold and break out
of the restrictions of upper caste patriarchal society in search of a dream.”

The novelist has introduced us the second major character, Leela, a care taker
of Madhu after her father’s death. Leela, an iron-willed woman, is a
contemporary of Savitribai and Madhu, the narrator’s aunt. She is simple poorly
educated woman who has spent a lifetime working closely with the factory
workers of Mumbai, an association formed through her first marriage to a factory
employee. Though a deglamorised figure, belonging to a much lower stratum of
society than Savitribai, the two are alike in their non-conformity. Her desire to
find her position other than wife is not looked upon by society as normal. Like
Bai, it is through her self-realization that Leela attains her freedom. While writing
about Bai, Madhu reminds Leela, who was her mother’s eldest sister and was
also the eldest sister of Hari’s grandmother. Madhu sees similarities between
these two women. “Leela breaking out of the conventions of widowhood, looking
for justice for the weak, my mother was running in her bare feet, using her body
as an instrument for speed—yes, they are in it together. But they paid the price
for their attempts to break out.” (284)

Leela is a rebel in a wholly conventional, tradition-bound family. Like Savitribai,

she makes a cross-caste alliance in her remarriage to Joe, a prosperous doctor
and a caring husband. Theirs is a union forged on understanding, despite
differences of religion, language and interests. Leela, however, retains her
identity as an individual which is evident in her retention and return to her
Maruti Chawl home after Joe’s death. She had refused to return to her parental
home had chosen, instead to carve a career for herself by connecting with the
workers and their problems. Leela is a strong minded who did not care for the
convictions of the society. When her first husband Vasant died she took up a job
and educated her brothers-in-law.

Leela was an active member of the Communist Party and opposed the Gandhian
principles of Ahimsa and Satyagraha. She feels that being beaten up and abused
goes against human nature. She was in India’s freedom movement. Although she
had a strong belief in the communist ideology that boasts of making no difference
between men and women and declares equal rights and opportunities for both
alike, she finds party is a victim of male chauvinism which ignores merits of
woman activist on gender ground. Even there was a price on her head, she had
narrow escapes and avoided getting caught. She is an uncommon woman who
devoted her whole life for the betterment of the factory workers and women. Leela
was a victim of gender politics. Madhu remembers how Leela resisted gender
prejudices in the party she was working for. She never reached the hierarchical
top because of her gender. Like Bai, Leela goes beyond the acceptable boundaries
set for women. While writing biography of Savitribai, Madhu recalls Leela and
realizes that “both were courageous women, that both were women who worked
for and got the measure of freedom they needed, that both were ready to accept
wholly the consequences of their actions” .(284)

Munni alias Meenakshi Indorekar, is the illegitimate daughter of Savitribai from

Ghulam Saab. Bai gave the child the name Indorekar--- the name she adopted
as a singer--- not comprising either her maiden name or her married one. Madhu
recalls how children used to tease her by calling the Station Director her mama,
a euphemism for mother’s lover. So Munni realized that she is misfit in the
society as her mother, a Brahmin married woman, staying with a Muslim man.
Munni decides to discard this identity as a daughter of Savitribai. She assumes
a new identity and becomes Shailaja Joshi. She tries to leave no trace of her past
identity. Munni concocts a new story that her father is a successful lawyer in
Pune. She makes attempts to show that she too belongs to a respectable family.
Her denial of Gulam Saab was so strong that “she tried hard to cover her exact
resemblance to him by deliberately cultivating a bedraggled ragamuffin look, far
removed from his tidy elegance… but her eyes, her light grey eyes…
unmistakably linked her to the man she so strenuously disclaimed as
father”.(75)

In the journey of search for identity, Bai rejects everything i.e. respectable family,
comforts, even her own daughter Munni, and achieves name and fame as a
doyenne of Hindustani classical singer. On the other hand Munni, denies her
fondness for music and her imposed identity as a negate daughter of famous
singer, Savitribai. She wants to become a middle class housewife. For this
purpose she denies her vocal talent and ability. She rejects all that are associated
with her mother, music, name and fame. Through her self-earned new identity
as Shailaja Joshi, Munni sought the safe comfort of conventionality.

CONCLUSION: Thus in Small Remedies, Shashi Deshpande delineates the major

women characters in their subversion of their traditional roles. We have glimpses
of their shattered lives but they fight their own battles in different arena of the
society. In their own way, they tried to establish their individuality instead of
getting compromised to their principles. Bai, Madhu and Leela are the victims of
the gross gender discrimination but their self-realization helps them in
discovering their identity and ‘self’. They went on with the dying desire towards
their achievements facing the hardships while life threw upon them. They never
looked back. Passing through the alienation, rebellion and aggression if
necessary, they achieved their dream of being a ‘new’ woman. They have their
own dreams and they learn how to realize those dreams despite social barriers.
They suffer a lot in their desire for the “unfeminine” right to freedom. Women,
though talented, gifted with courage, are sidelined as they are women.

BACKGROUND STUDY
Counter discourse in Indian literature
The writers of India, Africa and the Caribbean countries came up with a narrative
of their own whereby they resisted the socio-political, economical and cultural
aggression of the colonizer. This marks the rise of a postcolonial discourse
whereby the colonized writers revived their identity, history, culture and myth.
A counter discourse in this context is a form of deep resistance that speaks
through creativity, words, and actions, deliberately negating the dominant
discourse of colonialism. A counter-discourse is a re-inscription, rewriting and
re-presenting in order.
Post-colonial counter- discursive strategies involve a mapping of the dominant
discourse, a reading and exposing of its underlying assumptions, and the
dismantling of these assumptions from the cross-cultural standpoint of the
imperially subjectified 'local'.
Post – Colonialism
The Postcolonial Indian English Literature gave enormous scope for the women
writers. The women writers who received universal recognition are Nayantara
Sehgal , Anita Desai, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri and so on.
Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized
countries. It addresses the role of literature in perpetuating and challenging
what postcolonial critic Edward Said refers to as cultural imperialism.
Many scholars believe that this event marks the beginning of postcolonialism or
third-world studies, a term coined by the French demographer Alfred Sauvy.
When India received her independence, the former British colony was divided
into two nations, the India Union and Pakistan.
To tell a Postcolonial writer who was raised with learning English that they need
to go back and write solely in "their own language" acts as another form of
silencing voice. Therefore, these writers use English as a way to deconstruct
the English.
Postcolonial has many common motifs and themes like 'cultural dominance,'
'racism,' 'quest for identity,' 'inequality' along with some peculiar
presentation styles. Most of the postcolonial writers reflected and demonstrated
many thematic concepts which are quite connected with both 'colonizer' and
'colonized'.
Decolonization
Decolonization is the process of revealing and dismantling colonialist power
in all its forms. This includes dismantling the hidden aspects of those
institutional and cultural forces that had maintained the colonialist power and
that remain even after political independence is achieved.
The campaigns of civil disobedience led by Gandhi in India during the interwar
years had exasperated Great Britain. In February 1947, the British decided to
evacuate the country, and on 15 August 1947 it was partitioned into two
independent states: India, with a Hindu majority, and Pakistan, with a Muslim
majority.
These three periods of decolonization are: 1) Rediscovery and Recovery, 2)
Mourning, 3) Dreaming, 4) Commitment, and 5) Action. Each phase can be
experienced at the same time or in various combinations. Like the steps of
colonization, these phases of decolonization do not have clear demarcations
between each other.
According to Fanon, more recently, “Decolonization” has come to take on a
related meaning, that is critical appraisal of Western culture and its
institutions in order to remove the legacies of hierarchical, racialized
thinking towards minorities and other cultures.
Prose – Aesthetics
Indian aesthetics is Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special
spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them
symbolically. taste and mind. Rasas are created by bhavas. They are described
by Bharata Muni in the Nātyasāstra, an ancient work of dramatic theory.
Modern scholars has established following schools and theories ( 1) The Rasa
theory, (2) The Alamkara theory, (3) The Dhvani theory, (4) The vakrokti theory,
(5) The Riti theory, (6) The Aucitya theory, (7) The anumana theory.
Indian aesthetics is a unique philosophical and spiritual point of view on art,
architecture and literature. ... 'juice' or 'essence') denotes an essential mental
state and is the dominant emotional theme of a work of art or the primary feeling
that is evoked in the person that views, reads or hears such a work.
Aesthetics, in literature, is the inclusion of references to artistic elements or
expressions within a textual work. It's a method used to promote or educate
readers about important artistic expression in society.
Non –Fictional Prose
The non-fictional body of prose-works, consisting of letters, diaries, political
manifesto, articles, speeches, philosophical works etc. in Indian English
literature of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century, is rich and varied.
Nonfictional prose, any literary work that is based mainly on fact, even
though it may contain fictional elements. ... This type of literature differs from
bald statements of fact, such as those recorded in an old chronicle or inserted in
a business letter or in an impersonal message of mere information.
Fiction refers to the structure, settings, and characters created from
imagination, while Non-Fiction refers to real-life stories centered on real events
and people.
Nissim Ezekiel may be justifiably called the father of post-independence and
modern poetry of India and, through the influence of Indian literature on the
entire subcontinent, the father of the postcolonial South Asian English poetry as
well.
Novels of East-West Encounter
The natives due to the education or job migrates in the foreign country and faces
the trauma of identity. The connection between east and west begins with
migration. The east west encounters primly focus on the culture, tradition,
politics and the social changes in the life of the people.
 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) wrote Rajmohan's Wife and
published it in 1864; it is the first Indian novel written in English.
Gems of Indian English Literature
1. Mahatma Gandhi – The Story Of My Experiments With The Truth. ...
2. R.K. Narayan – The Man Eater of Malgudi
3. Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance. ...
4. Salman Rushdie – Midnight's Children. ...
5. Jhumpa Lahiri – The Interpreter Of Maladies. ...
6. Vikram Seth – A Suitable Boy. ...
7. Arundhati Roy – God of Small Things.

Present Day Tends

Creativity, translation, transcreation, Dalit Literature, Diasporic writing,

postcolonial writing, postmodern and feministic writings are emerging speedily
in Indian English Fiction. Today, we can find a lot of technocrats, management
professionals especially from abroad making bestsellers in India.

New trends are replacing the linear, solitary and closed reading with the
internet, e-book and social media causing a transformation in the way literature
is written, perceived and read. Current trends like '6-word novel', blogs and
hypertext are also discussed.

East – West conflict, multi – culturalism, social realism, gender issues,

comic aspect of human nature, ecological concerns, magic realism, diasporic
writings and the like became the themes of the post – Independent writers.

Modern Novel in English Characteristics

• Realism.
• Love for Romance.
• Frank in Sexual Matters.
• Stream of Consciousness Technique.
• Novel of Ideas.
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English
(IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English
language and whose native or co-native language could be one of the
numerous languages of India.

Nationalism

Nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion, or allegiance

to a nation or nation-state and holds that such obligations outweigh other
individual or group interests.

It resisted the injustice and cruelty of the colonizers and manifested what
we often referred as the literary renaissance. So from a sapling to a strong rooted
banyan tree with multiple new branches, Indian Literature in English now has
emerged as a major voice of the nation.

Bankim proclaimed that the idea of western nationalism reinforced the spiritual
values of Indian nationalism. His novel, Anandamath (The Abbey of Bliss 1882)
is set in the late 18th century and portrays the Sanyasi Rebellion. This novel
stirs many people to sacrifice their lives for the struggle of Independence.

“Oral history and the telling of stories are important to all cultures, all people. In
times of uncertainty, literature has helped us make sense of the world and bring
communities together”. De Neefe also emphasizes that literature is a very
powerful tool to awaken the national spirit.

The new literature that had developed reflected the current of the new ideas
thoughts and feelings and helped to spread them in the country and the
consciousness of the society. The result was that the Indian mind was
awakened to a new mental process essential for reception of modern values.

Orientalism
In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or
depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done
by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world.
Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and
epistemological distinction made between 'the Orient' and 'the Occident' in
which an essentialized image of a typical Oriental is represented as culturally
and, ultimately, biologically inferior.

The main function of the Orientalist frames is to maintain the asymmetry in

the power relationship between the West and the Orient as well as the
seemingly unavoidable incompatibility of the respective cultures and
civilizations.

Orientalism constructs cultural, spatial, and visual mythologies and

stereotypes that are often connected to the geopolitical ideologies of
governments and institutions. The influence of these mythologies has impacted
the formation of knowledge and the process of knowledge production.

ALL THE VERY BEST !

By your dear sir ---- DR. RAVI KUMAR PYLA

M.A Litt, B.Ed, M.Phil, Ph.D

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

DR B R AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY

ETCHERLA, SRIKAKULAM –AP.