The Curse or Karna

Hello Readers!
This blog is a response to a task given by Megha Ma'am as a part of our study Unit 'Curse or Karna' By T .P. Kailasam.

Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer Kailasam (Kannada: ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ಪರಮಶಿವ ಐಯ್ಯರ್ ಕೈಲಾಸಂ, 1884–1946), was an Indian playwright and prominent writer in the Kannada literature. Literary criticism in Kannada literature is said to have started for the first time by Kailasam in his works.

• The father of humorous plays and introduced simple and realistic sets for drama.Called "Kannadake obbane Kailasam" means "One and only Kailasam for Kannada". He was known for Wit and Satirical commentary on Society.

About the Text

The Karna Parva (Sanskrit: कर्ण पर्व), or the Book of Karna, is the eighth of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. Karna Parva traditionally has 96 chapters.The critical edition of Karna Parva has 69 chapters.

Karna Parva describes the appointment of Karna as the third commander-in-chief of the Kaurava alliance. The Parva recites how war begins to tire and frustrate everyone. This book describes how brutal war leads to horrifying behavior over the 16th and 17th day of the 18-day Kurukshetra War. Karna who is critically acclaimed as the hero of the Mahabharata is the greatest archers of all time equivalent to Parshurama and lord Rama himself.

Karna Parva includes a treatise by Aswatthama which focuses on the motive of the deeds of human life. The crowning incident of this Parva is the final confrontation between Karna and Arjuna, in which Karna is killed.

Curse or Karna is a text based on the life of a character named Karna from the great Epic Mahabharat

Written by Ved Vyas. It was published on 10th September, 1946 and re-published in 29th July, 1969.It had an impression of Sophocles in Five acts.It is based on a Tragic Character of Mahabharata."Even he used Classical themes, his purpose was Contemporary" - Dr. S Radhakrishnan, Vice President of India (1960).

Here are two questions and their answers according to my understanding 

6) Discuss the Various themes found in “The Curse”.

Beginning of Curse in Karna's life:  Kunti, the princess was given a boon by sage Durvasa that she could invoke a mantra and call any god and have a child. While still unmarried, she called Surya (sun god) and Karna was born.

Kunti, was ashamed of this “bastard” and didn’t know how to explain the birth. So she put the child in a basket on a river

One Chariot from Hastinapur got this floating child and he and his wife Radha accepted him as theire child and Karna grew up at their home.

Karna was brought up by a charioteer, a class much lower than the mighty Kshatriyas.

Three main Curse Karna got from his Tragic Fate:

1. Curse from his Guru, Parshuram as he learned archery from him by telling him that he is a Brahmin. Undaunted with a thirst for learning, he disguised himself as a brahmin to learn.

2. Curse of killing a cow by mistake:

Once when Karna was practicing his archery, he accidentally killed a cow. The cow belonged to a brahmin, who is enraged. He cursed Karna that he will also be killed by an arrow when he is the most helpless.

3. A Curse from mother Earth that he will die Because of Sand.

Once, a small girl was carrying a bowl of ghee to her mother and she accidentally spills it on the ground. She was very afraid that her mother would scold her for this. Karna decided to help her by invoking powerful incantations to squeeze ghee out of Earth itself.

This caused great pain to Mother Earth and she cursed Karna, that when he would be the most vulnerable, she would abandon him.

Thus, his chariot wheel could not be taken out of the mud it was stuck in.

• Karna got rejected by Draupadi as he was low born

 

• Karna got Cheated by Indra, father of Arjun as Indra begged Karna's Kavach and Kundals in disguise of a brahmin.

Karna was born with an impenetrable golden armor – a gift from his father – Surya. Indra – Arjuna’s father – knew that this armor would prevent Karna’s death, and so went in a disguise to ask for the armor.

The armor is not an armor that one puts on like clothes. The armor is attached to him and is a bodily part.

He nevertheless ripped out the armor and gave it away as we would rip out a chunk of flesh from our body.

• Kunti took Promise form Karna not to take her children and his brothers.

When the Kurukshetra war was almost at close, the Pandavas were reeling from the assault by Karna. Karna had defeated every Pandava brother except for Arjuna. One night after the battle, Kunti approached Karna and appealed to him to not kill any Pandavas. Karna agreed and said that Kunti will have all her 5 sons, and he said this in spite of knowing that Kunti is his mother. And this is in spite of Kunti knowing that Karna is her son. She would rather see the five brothers live rather than six.

• Arjun killed Karna when he was not having his Shastras.

1. Karna’s chariot wheel was stuck.
2. And all the curses followed.
3. He forgot the incantations to divine weapons.
4. And Arjuna killed him when he was the most vulnerable.

5) Karna - The voice of Subaltern.

• Subaltern study in the text:

Subaltern, a term refers to the populations that are socially, politically and geographically outside of the colony and of colonial homeland. A subaltern is someone with a low ranking in a social, political, or other hierarchy. It can also mean someone who has been marginalized or oppressed.Karna is a Tragic character with the tragic fate, illegimate, abandoned and lowborn.Marginalized by Gurus, warriors, ling and princess Draupadi.He was just able to speak- " A Brahmin's Curse".HIs identity was of marginalized people, he deserved to be at Centre.

Conclusion : That is how Karna is Marginalized and Unsung hero of Mahabharata. However he was more deserving, capable and loyal than Everyone in the Epic; he met many struggles throughout his life including rejections, curses and got abused overtimes in the epic.

Thank You.

Final Solutions

Hello Readers!

This blog is a task given by Vaidehi Ma'am as we are having 'Final Solutions' in our syllabus of M.A, English at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji university, Bhavnagar.

• What is the significance of the title "Final Solutions" and what is the final solution of the play?

About the Writer: Mahesh Dattani 

Mahesh Dattani is an Indian director, actor, playwright and writer. He wrote such plays as Final Solutions, Dance Like a Man, Bravely Fought the Queen, On a Muggy Night in Mumbai, Tara, Thirty Days in September 2007 and The Big Fat City. He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award.

About the Final Solutions:

Mahesh Dattani writes about the society and surroundings in which he lives. His creativity is faithful and authentic expression of the first hand experience and knowledge of socio-cultural environment. He holds Amador to make reality visible to the audience. The play Final Solutions critically intervenes the post  Independence era which has a communally vitiated socio-political scenario. The main character, Daksha also known as Hardika in the play fuses past and present. The theme of communal tension is given historical depth through flashbacks featuring Hardika at the age of fifteen in 1948 and her experience in the aftermath of the partition returns to her memory at different points of the play. The play explores the theme of communalism .The play took Duttani over a year to research and Duttani consulted books such as Freedom at Midnight (1975) by Larry Collins and Dominque Lapiers and Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly magazine. He also conducted a number of interviews with survivors of communal riots in Gujarat and Karnataka. One of the riots that Duttani researched that particularly caught his attention was the 1985 Rath Yatra riot in Ahmedabad.

Introduction:

This would have had become his inspiration for the riot that brings Javed and Bobby to the Gandhi family in Final Solutions. The political climate of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement of the Hindu Right during which the play was written and produced adds a layer of significance to the play. During the early nineties the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) was supporting the demolition of Babri Masjid with religious processions known as Rath Yatras. The context of these Rath Yatras contributes to the play because they are the communal riots which form the background of the play. And in the play it is brought out by the disruption of a Rath Yatra while passing through a Muslim neighborhood.

Final Solutions was written and performed in 1993, a period of high tension and violence in urban India. The play grew in specific context as Duttani responded to the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. Duttani‟s social consciousness led him to address the contemporary social issue of religious communalism to advocate communal harmony. He tries to convey that there are no solutions to this problem except for that of acceptance and empathy for each other Final Solutions opens with the image of five masked individuals dressed in black. Dattani has named them as Mob/Chorus. Each member has two masks one is of Hindu and other of Muslim. They remain on the top of a large crescent shaped ramp for most of the time in the play. Below the ramp is the home of Gandhis, a middle class family, in present day, Amargaon, Gujarat. The Gandhi family comprises of the elderly surivivor of the partition of India and Pakistan, Hardika, who was earlier known as Daksha, her son Ramnik, her daughter in law, Aruna and her grand-daughter Smita. On another level of the stage is Daksha‟s room in 1948. Thus the play is into three spaces one, the mob, two, the Gandhi family and three, the memory of Dakhsha. At various points of time these three separate worlds interact and overlap with each other. The action of the play is set in motion by the recent destruction of the chariot and images of Hindu dieties of a Rath Yatra while travelling through a Muslim neighbourhood of the city. Riots had broken out in Amargaon and so curfew has been imposed in the city. The local Hindu and Muslim communitites, represnted by the Mob/Chorus are blowing each other for the riots. The communal violence between these groups brings back Hardika‟s memories of partiton and her life life as a new bride in 1948. Her memories are expressed through the character of Daksha who is shown reading from her diary. The Gandhi family is safe within their home and although Smita is worried about the safety of her Muslim friend, Tasneem. The family is having a peaceful evening but it is disrupted when Bobby and Javed two young Muslim men arrive at their doorstep begging to take them inside. The Mob/Chorus with Hindu masks are after Bobby and Javed and are threatening to kill them. Despite the objection of his mother Ramnik opens the door of his house to protect the two. An interaction occurs between the Gandhis and Bobby and Javed throughout the course of the night. Hardika still has resentment against Muslims due to the events that had happened in her life following the partition and thus she protests against Bobby and Javed's presence in her home. Through the character of Daksha the audience is slowly able to know the two factors that are the source of Hardika's animosity. The first was the murder of her father in hometown, Hussainabad, which became a part of Pakistan during the partition. The second reason was that the physical and mental abuse she had to endure when her husband Hari and her in laws found out about her friendship with her Muslim neighbor, Zarine. Her son Ramnik is a secular Hindu and much more hospitable to the boy. But Ramnik's kindness is partly driven by the guilt he feels over running the business his father established by cheating Zarin's family after partition. Ramnik's wife Aruna is a deeply devout woman who feels extremely uncomfortable with Muslims sitting in her home and drinking water from the same glasses. She believes that their touching is polluting. Smita, Ramnik's daughter is also very uncomfortable with Bobby and Javed's presence but for other reasons. Prior to the action of the play, Smita and Bobby had a brief romantic love affair with each other which they later decided not to pursue. Now Bobby is engaged to Javed's sister and Smita's friend Tasneem. Smita also struggles with her relationship with her mother, who she describes “stifling” her with religious rituals. Bobby whose real name is Babban is also a secular Muslim who tries to hide religious identity. Javed on the other hand is a Muslim Youth with a strong sense of identity. After becoming a victim of religious prejudice during his childhood, Javed had started working as a hired hoodlum, who is paid to start riots. He even reveals that he was the one who disrupted the Rath Yatra. Bobby has been trying to persuade Javed to give up his profession. The struggle of these six characters to spend one night under the same roof creates a tense situation. The play reaches its end in the early hours of the morning when Bobby enters the prayer room and picks up the idol of Krishna to Aruna's great distress. Bobby proclaims that he is touching god and nothing is happening to him. Upon seeing Aruna's horror he tells Aruna that if there is understanding and faith in each other nothing can be destroyed. He then turns to Hardika and claims that if she is willing to forget everything, he is willing to tolerate everything done to him on communal basis. Bobby and Javed leave. Ramnik tells Hardika that her husband and her father in law had destroyed her friend Zarine's family business. Hearing this Hardika realizes the real reason for why her in laws forbidden her to keep friendship with Zarine was not because Zarine was a Muslim but they were trying to hide their crime. Crushed Hardika asks Ramnik about why had not he told this to her before. Ramnik replies that he did not wanted her mother to live with guilt. The play ends with the image of Javed and Bobby standing among the Mob/Chorus.

Final Solutions is situated with a long history as it deals with religious communalism, which is also one of the the very important national concerns which have problematized the peace of nation for over a century. While India is well known for its rich history of theatre unfortunately the country is also known for its history of religious rigidity. The religious conflicts and its consequence such as hatred, animosity and anger are often referred to be as religious communalism. The religious communalism results due to the ideological differences between the members of different religions and in fact it emerges out of the political manipulation of social issues. The emphasis put on community would eventually lead to the political institutions that dominate such as vote-bank politics and India is a very clear example of such politics. The real problem underlies with the stereotyping, punishing and blaming the whole community for the deliberate mistakes and anti-social activities by some of them.

Ever since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, a communal tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities in India has been pervasive. Despite India‟s secular government and religious pluralism and tolerance there have been a number of violent communal conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, which are often products of politically motivated events. Not only the Hindus and Muslims were the victims of religious violence in India but in 1984 India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her two Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for her ordering the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar to capture Sikh terrorists taking refuge there. As a result thousands of Sikhs were murdered throughout India. In 2008 Christians living in Orissa were the targets of religious communalism instigated by Hindu nationalists. Approximately fourteen hundred homes were attacked, twenty five were killed and thirteen thousand were forced to flee to refugee camps. In the past thirty tens of thousands of Indians have been attacked, raped and murdered in the name of religion. Thus India has a long history of communal violence and Final Solutions is a kind plea for the end of the communal violence, with one of the worst examples that is Ayodhya dispute. Communalism like casteism involves stereotyping and prejudice which results into animosity, anger and hatred because of their cultural and religious variance. The past incidents and events like the partition in 1947, Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and Godhra incident in 2002 have created a huge gap between the Hindus and Muslims. The being in majority or minority also determines the thought process. There is always a consciousness about the religious difference among the people and they use terms „we‟ and „they‟ for themselves and for other community respectively. The same can be understood if we carefully speculate the action throughout the play Final Solutions. Dattani puts masks on the Mob/Chorus to make frequent change of identity to look natural. When the characters articulate inner feelings the chorus whisper or shout along. The plays opens when there has been curfew in the city because of the disturbance in the Rath Yatra resulting in communal violence. The play starts itself with a curfew in the city because of the communal conflicts. The central character Hardika had sorrowful past which had made herself averse to the religious sect of Muslims. Zarine's father came to her father in law in search of job but his entreaty was not accepted. This created a tension between those two families and it continued through Hardika. And same experiences might have been of number of families which multiplied the tension between each other resulting into split and hatred between the two sects. This can be observed from the lines: “Hardika : How could he let these people into my house? They killed his grandfather. They will hate us for protecting them. Asking for help makes them feel they are lower than us. I know! They don't want equality. They want to be superior.”(Act I, page 24) Hardika cannot forgive the people of that community who brutally killed her father even if the murderers did not have any relations with the boys who had come to their house to protect themselves. In most of the cases the matter of dispute is very simple but due to involvement of some anti-social elements it takes shape of communal riots which creates a huge difference in the psyche of endurers. There are spiritual losses. People not only lose their people and material but also their souls. The experiences change their perspectives and same was true for the two young Muslim men. Through their experiences their perspectives about the Indian society and for themselves change as Bobby reveals to Ramnik the reason of Javed's turning point from a common Muslim guy to a riot rouser or a hoodlum: “Bobby: A minor incident changed all that. We were playing cricket on our street with the younger boys. The postman delivered our neighbor's mail. He dropped one of the letters. He was in a hurry and asked Javed to hand the letter over to the owner. Javed took the letter and opened the gate. Immediately a voice boomed „what do you want?‟ I can still remember Javed holding out letter and mumbling something, his usual firmness vanishing in a second. "Leave it on the wall" the voice ordered. Javed backed away, really frightened. We all watched as the man came out with a cloth in his hand. He wiped the letter before picking it up, he then wiped the spot on the wall the letter was lying on and he wiped the gate! We all heard a prayer-bell, ringing continuously. Not loud. But distinct.” (Act III, page 41) Javed and Bobby felt equally angry about the man's behavior which created a deep and vast difference. Aruna is a character which responds in most staunch and devout ways. She even risks her own family members. She also forcibly tries to make her daughter to believe the same in what she does.

Page characters Bobby, Ramnik and Smita despite the outer layers of secularism remain acutely aware of the roots of religious identity they all are trying hard to suppress through their own identities. Javed then confesses about the riots which broke-out because of the disturbance in the Rath Yatra was initiated by him, as he threw stone on the idol of deity in the procession. And in Act III the conversation between Ramnik and Javed speaks his heart out and inflicts the attack on community which appears antagonistic to him: “ Ramnik : Why do you distrust us? Javed : Do you trust us? Ramnik : I don't go about throwing stones! Javed : But you do something more violent. You provoke! You make me throw stones! Every time I look at you my bile rises!” (Act III, page 39) From here too one can find the animosity and hatred of Javed towards the Hindus is not for some particular individual or a group but for the community as whole. Finally when Bobby and Javed are about to leave, Bobby breaks all norms by lifting the tiny image of Lord Krishna from Aruna's prayer room and declaring in front of all : “Bobby: See! See! I am touching God! Your God! My flesh is holding Him! Look, Javed! And he does not mind! He does not burn me to ashes! He does not cry out from the heavens saying He has been contaminated! Look how he rests in my hands! He knows I cannot harm Him but He believes in me. He smiles! He smiles at our trivial pride and our trivial shame. He feels me and welcomes it! I told Him who is sacred to them, but I do not commit sacrilege. [To Aruna] You can bathe Him day and night, you can splash holy waters on Him but you cannot remove my smell with the sandal paste and attars and fragrant flowers because it belongs to a human being who believes and tolerates, and respects what other human being who believe. That is the strongest fragrance in the world!” (Act III, pages 62-63) Aruna screams against the sacrilege while Bobby rejoins: “Bobby: The tragedy is that there is too much that is sacred. But if we understand and believe in one another, nothing can be destroyed.”( Act III, page 63) Through Bobby, Dattani voices out the solution to get rid of such problems in the society. The words of Bobby are enough to explain that it is the society and ones living in it have created such havoc because of some events in their lives. If people genuinely trust each other and accepts the diversity amongst them it will be simpler to live than the present situations. Through Bobby Dattani conveys that if the two communities understand and believe in each other then nothing can be destroyed. But probably the only suggestion is that it needs practice and immediate implementation of brotherhood forgetting the past and the stereotyped notions of each other. When the young men leave Ramnik confesses to her mother Hardika: “Ramnik: It's the same burnt-up shop we bought from them at half its value and we burnt it. Your husband. My father. And his father. They had burnt it in the name of communal hatred.”(Act III, page 64) It suggests that the causes of the communal riots are not only due to disbelief, anger, hatred and influence of politicians but it is also related to economy. There are infinite such instances and dialogues in the play that can be analyzed to highlight communal hatred and stereotyping. The playwright through such dialogues attempts to suggest that such type of arrogant remarks must be stopped in the society that spread hatred and bitterness. And through these dialogues Dattani clearly depicts the split between these two big groups of the country. Also as Mossafar Hossain in his Essay “Mahesh Dattani's "Final Solutions": A Quest for Communal Problems in India” observes: “Mahesh Dattani successfully shows a ray of hope by rousing the conscience up from slumber, through curing the ailment of communal hatred, causing momentary rage, culminating into violence. Final solutions by Mahesh Dattani is an answer to a long-pestering issue, without an iota of doubt.” Thus his primary purpose through this play is to maintain a workable unity and co-operation so that India remains no more a mere laughing stock as a fragmented sub-continent soon after its independence and partition.  

Conclusion:

From an in-depth study and analysis of the dramatic text Final Solutions one comprehends three things. Firstly, theatre always has directly or indirectly presented the utter truth of life through language which is destined to survive, move and rule man's mind and heart forever. Whether it is social or political issues, creative playwrights have always tried to portray contemporary social conflicts and reality through their plays. Secondly, although it portrays reality, theatre has brought hope, courage, awareness and understanding to man about what he is and what he should do to stand against anything with a vision towards a better future to come and determination to fight against all the social evils and odds. And finally, theatre is a key educational device which informs and demonstrates the perception of class, religion, caste and ethnicity prevailing in the society by conceptualizing the identities. Its main purpose is to delight with instruction which will be helpful to the society by enlightening the audience and readers especially the youth which will become an important part in the upliftment and betterment of society. In Final Solutions Dattani expresses his humanistic concerns. He deals with the theme of communalism. In this play Dattani applies the religion consciousness and the prejudices towards different religions. He presents communalist attitudes and stereotypes prevalent in the society which influence to have a sensibility of hatred of one community against another. Through the method of reflection of contemporary socio-political issue in the play Dattani tries to explain that if discursive boundaries are ignored in the effort to understand the complexity of communalism, solutions might not be really so far away.

Thank You!

Cultural Studies Introductory Details

Hello Readers! 

This blog is a response to the task given by Prof. Dilip Barad as an introductory part of Cultural studies where we are supposed to give answers of asked questions in the context of Power, and Education in extreme reality.

1. My understanding of Power in Cultural studies

Michel Foucault (1926 - 1984): French philosopher, social theorist, historian and literary critic. In his work he researches power and its workings, how it influenced knowledge and how it is used as a form of social control. He is best known for his critical studies of social institutions such as psychiatry, social anthropology, the prison system and the history of human sexuality. One of his major works is "The Birth of the Prison, Discipline and Punish" (Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison) on changes in the criminal model of punishing the body (corporal punishment) to punish the spirit.

Michel Foucault, a French philosopher and social theorist, had a complex and influential understanding of power. He argued that power is not simply a top-down force imposed by governments or authorities but a multifaceted, pervasive aspect of society. Here are key aspects of Foucault's perspective on power:

1. Power as Everywhere : Foucault believed that power is not localized or held by a single entity but is dispersed throughout society. It exists in various forms and operates at multiple levels, from the state and institutions to interpersonal relationships.

2. Power/Knowledge : Foucault introduced the concept of "power/knowledge" to emphasize that power and knowledge are interconnected. Knowledge is not neutral but is shaped by power dynamics. Those in power control what counts as knowledge and shape the narratives that define reality.

3. Discourse and Institutions : Foucault explored how power operates through discourse, or systems of knowledge and language. Institutions, such as schools, prisons, and hospitals, are sites where power is exercised through the regulation of knowledge and behavior.

4. Panopticism: Foucault famously discussed the concept of the "panopticon," a prison design where inmates are constantly under surveillance. He used this metaphor to illustrate how power can be internalized, leading individuals to self-regulate their behavior in anticipation of being watched.

5. Biopower and Governmentality : Foucault also examined the role of power in regulating populations and managing life. He coined the term "biopower" to describe how states and institutions control people's bodies and health. He also discussed "governmentality," the techniques and strategies used by governments to govern individuals and populations.

6. Resistance : Foucault recognized that power is not solely repressive but can also lead to resistance and counter-discourses. People can challenge dominant power structures and create alternative forms of knowledge and resistance.

 Michel Foucault's understanding of power is characterized by its complexity, its dispersed nature, and its role in shaping knowledge, institutions, and social norms. His work has had a profound influence on fields such as sociology, philosophy, and political science.

2. Why Media study is so important in our digital culture?

Media study is very important and relevant to study in this post truth era as everyone is having all updates in their fingers via internet and cloud services.

Who is in a position to make the decisions that determine the way the society functions?

Noam Chomsky (1928): linguist, historian, philosopher, critic and political activist. As the "father of modern linguistics" (linguistics), he focused on the issue of innate vs.. the learned. In his later career has evolved as a major critic of foreign policy of the United States (from Vietnam to South America to the Middle East) and propaganda in the modern media with one of his major works. Mass Media".

Decisions over investment and production and distribution are in the hands of a relatively concentrated network of major corporations and conglomerates.

Deeply indoctrinated

Usually there are two groups of people according to ½

20 percent - Educated and pays attention to the civil affairs.

80 percent- not even taking interest in civil affairs, whose main function is following orders, not thinking and the other ones are usually paying the cost.

Here are always political leaders serving the interest of elite groups and those are the one who owns and controls the media houses and 

Selection of topics

Distribution of concerns

Emphasis,

Framing of issues,

Filtering of information,

Bounding of Debate.

They determine, select, shape, control, and restrict all the news or information coming to the way of people.

Serve the interests of dominant elite groups.

Post truth (click here to visit my blog on Post truth era)

3. Who can be considered as truly educated person?

The core principal and requirement of a fulfilled human being is the ability to inquire and create constructively, independently without external controls.

Discover on the basis of the resources available to you which you have come to appreciate and understand to know where to look to know how to formulate serious questions to find your own way in order to deal with the challenges that the world presents to you and that you develop in the course of yourself.

The one who is aware always to question in this post truth era is truly able to get considered as an educated person.

Teacher's blog(click here to visit Teacher's blog for further details).

Thank you for visiting.

Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore

 

Hello Readers! 

This blog is a response to a task given given by Megha ma'am as we are having Home and the World in our syllabus.

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became in 1913 the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. He is sometimes referred to as "the Bard of Bengal".

Tagore's writings "reveal his deep understanding of human psychology and his profound sympathy for the oppressed". His novels, stories, poems, plays, and songs address a wide range of political and social issues, including nationalism, colonialism, religious tolerance, and caste discrimination.

Tagore was also a prolific painter and essayist. He founded the Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal, which he described as "an institution where the human spirit is free to realize itself in a creative harmony of the Orient and the Occident".

Tagore's legacy is vast and enduring. He is considered one of the greatest writers and thinkers of modern India. His work has been translated into over 100 languages and continues to be read and enjoyed by people all over the world.

Here are some of Tagore's most famous works:

• Gitanjali (Song Offerings)
• Gora
• Ghare-Baire (Home and the World)
• Shesher Kobita (The Last Poem)
• Chokher Bali (A Grain of Sand)
• Kabuliwala
• Rakhibandhan
• Jana Gana Mana (national anthem of India)
• Amar Sonar Bangla (national anthem of Bangladesh)

Introduction of the Text :  Home and the World (Ghare-Baire in Bengali) is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore, set in Bengal during the British colonial era. It tells the story of a young couple, Nikhilesh and Bimala, whose marriage is tested when Nikhilesh's friend Sandip, a charismatic nationalist leader, enters their lives.

This book is a Nationalist response to the Act of Partition, engineered by the British colonial administration, at a time when “Bande Mataram” (a song composed by Tagore’s senior contemporary in Bengali literature, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) had become a much used rallying cry among the nationalists. The Home and the World challenges the notion of India as an exclusive Hindu nation. It questions the validity of a nationalism that focuses on emotion rather than on economic selfsufficiency and social justice. It takes exception to the aggressive masculinity of the nationalist project.

A Detailed Concept( click here for a detailed concept).

Indian nationalist projects in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century revolved around the issue of “Home” versus “World,” tradition versus modernity, culture (humanities) versus technology. Prior to 1885, Indian intellectuals thought that the imitation of British ideas about society and culture should lead to a better, more correct India. After 1885, resistance grew against colonial involvements in the cultural dynamics of India, and more than that, the

Home – Indian culture – was thought to obsovereign from the “the West” and should keep a distance from Western control. Nineteenth century in India. The novel’s main female character, Bimala, performs the role as a conveyor of such a project. She judges Nikhil’s ideas of the position of the woman in the outside world as being ideologically false:The voice of Bimala seems to be a mixture of individuality (“I felt”) and collectivity (mandatory “ought to” and plural “men”). However, in a closer reading it is obvious that she does not speak for herself; the mixture does not

present her introspective conflicts of values5 and her sentences run like a machine, recycling late nineteenth century nationalist discourses about the

virtue of women – the Home – in British India and other colonies. It is easy to find voices of nineteenth century nationalists about “women’s respectability”

(Reed 200) in Bimala’s words, terms and arguments of the Indian nationalist projects that are abundantly repeated in the quoted paragraph: “the outside,”

“these matters,” “womanly guidance,” “what the household stand for.” Even Bimala’s speech is the repetition of the nationalist rhetoric: “leaving everything in the hands of the enemy – nothing short of owing defeat.” It is also easy to find in Bimila’s narrative the imitation of nationalist projects of womanly virtues in the way she decorates her domestic services with light flowers, supreme powers and feeling of happiness, for instance: I know from my childhood’s experience, how devotion is beauty itself, in its inner aspect. When my mother… gently waved her fan to dry away the flies while my father sat down to his meals, her service would lose itself in a beauty which passed beyond outward forms. Even in my infancy, I would feel its power. It transcends all debates, or doubts, or calculation: it was pure music. I would autiously and silently get up and take the dust of my usband’s feet without walking him, how at such moments I could feel the vermilion mark upon my forehead shining out like the morning star. 

Rabindranath Tagore explores a number of complex themes in this text, including:

The conflict between individual freedom and social responsibility: Nikhilesh believes that individuals have a responsibility to their families and communities, while Sandip believes that individuals should be free to pursue their own goals, even if it means sacrificing their personal relationships. Bimala is caught in the middle of these two conflicting ideologies, and she must ultimately decide where her own loyalties lie.

The relationship between tradition and modernity: Nikhilesh and Bimala represent traditional values, while Sandip represents modernity. The novel explores the challenges and opportunities that come with the clash of these two cultures.

The role of women in society: Bimala is a strong and independent woman, but she is also bound by the traditional expectations of her society. The novel explores the ways in which women can navigate these conflicting demands.

The nature of love, patriotism, and sacrifice: Nikhilesh and Bimala's love is tested by Sandip's arrival. Bimala must also choose between her love for her husband and her commitment to the nationalist cause. The novel explores the complex relationship between these three concepts.

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