WORKSHOP 5

INTRODUCTION
“God himself will protect those who walk in the path of God”
These are the words of wisdom by Narayan guru one of the
iconic cultural figures
Because talking more about culture figure let me first
introduce myself.
Good morning to all Respected ma’am and my dear
classmates I am Nandini Sharma I will come all add our
workshop organized by our college Delhi institute of rural
development on celebrating off an iconic cultural figure, a
person who is very successful and admired, Icons are people
who break social, political and other barriers because their
voice/image is so captivating. ... I believe an icon is someone
who uses their talent to introduce a new concept into their
field all while knowing how to display their image to the
public.

Ms. Suman Rana ma’am is conducting this workshop, she

told us about the great personalities of Meera bai, Sant Hasan
Manto and Narayan guru to know about their autobiography,
that how they achieve their goals in their life and how they
touch the milestone in life

I request my fellow student-teacher to tell us more about

iconic figures
Muskan singh will talk about Meerabai
Bhawna pal will introduce us to Sant Hasan Manto
Arti will tell us more about the Narayan Guru
 Meerabai
was born
in the
early 15th
century as
a royal
princess, the only child of Ratan Singh who was the
younger brother to the ruler of Merta, one of the
prosperous kingdoms of Rajasthan. Meera was only
3 years old, when a wandering saint came to her
house. On his arrival he
placed his statue of Lord Krishna in the
room that was given to him by his guru. When
Meera arrived into the room the first thing that
caught her attention was that statue. She sat in front
of statue of Lord Krishna, seemingly attracted to
Krishna. The saint was impressed by the welcome
and treatment he received from Meera’s family. In
return he asked Meera’s grandmother wish.
Meera
asked for
the statue
but she
broke into
tears when
she realized that saint is not in favour
to give her statue. Suddenly the Sage
had a change of heart, as if he was told by Krishna
himself, that this is where
the statue
belonged - to
Meera.
From that day
everything in little
Meera’s life
revolved around
her Krishna. She would speak with the statue for
hours, wouldn’t eat until she fed her Krishna and
dressed her idol all day long. On one occasion, when
Meera was still young, she saw a wedding procession
(Baraat) going down the
street. Turning to her mother, she
asked in innocence, “Who will be my husband?”.
Her mother replied casually “You already have your
husband, Sri Krishna.” Meera mother was supportive
of her daughter’s blossoming love for Krishna, but
she passed a way when Meera was 10 years of age.
At an early age, Meera’s father arranged for her to be
married to Prince
Bhoj Raj,
eldest son of
Rana Saga
of
Chittor.
Meera
was unwilling to get married as she had
already found her husband in Krishna. However
under the pressure of her family and for sake of their
reputation she agreed to marry.

She served her husband Bhoj Raj dutifully, but in the

evening, she spend her time in devotion and singing
to her beloved Sri Krishna. Her new family did not
appear of her love and devotion to
 Krishna. To make
things worse,
Meera refused to
worship their
family deity, Durga
Devi. Her family
became increasingly disproving of her actions, but
the fame and saintly reputation of
Meerabai spread
throughout theregion.
Meera’s
sister-in-law Udabai began spreading
false gossip to defame Meera. She said
Meera was entertaing men in her room
in the name of worshipping Krishna. Her husband,
believing these stories to be true, stormed into her
room with a sword in hand. However he saw Meera
only singing prayers all alone. Meerabai remained
unmoved by both criticism and praise of
the world.

Meera’s fame spread far and wide, and her

devotional bhjans were sung across
 northern India, that it also reached in
the
ears
if the

Mughal Emperor Akbar.

However Mughal and Rajput emperors were
enemies. But Akbar was determined to see the
Princess saint, Meerabai. Disguised in the clothes of
beggars, to meet her in person. Akbar was so
captivated by her soulful music and devotional
singing, that he placed a
priceless necklace at her feet before
leaving. Bhoj Raj was furious by knowing that a
muslim & his enemy had set eyes upon his wife. He
ordered Meerabai to commit suicide by drowning in
a river. Meerabai intended to honour her husband’s
command, but
as she was
entering
the river.
Sri Krishna
appeared to
her &
commanded her to leave for Vrindavan where she
could worship him in peace.
So, with a followers, Meerabai left for
Vrindavan.
After a while her husband became regretful, feeling
that his wife was indeed a real saint. So, he travelled
to Vrindavan to take her back but sjhe denied. Soon
after, Meerabai husband died fighting against the
Mughals. This made the situation even worse for
Meerabai. Her father in law, Rana Saga,
he commanded her to commit Sati.

But
Meerabai
said “Her
real
husband, Sri Krishna had not died”.
After this experience, her family continued to torture
her.
They make her life as miserable as possible. It is said
that twice her family tried to kill her, once through a
venomous snake & once through
poiso
nous
drink.

मीरा ने पिया पिष का प्याऱा

उसको भी अमतृ

कर डाऱा
On both occasions, it is said Meerabai,
protected by the grace of Sri Krishna, faced no harm.
Eventually upon the advice of leaned men & saint,
Meera slipped out of the palace & escape to the holy
city of Vrindavan, where she was free to worship
Krishna to her heart’s content. Where she stayed for
the rest of her life, in worshipping Lord Krishna.
Even learned
sadhu’s
would come to her
for inspiration.
 She wrote many poem, bhanjas, dhoes
of lord Krishna, and spended her entire life in
Vridavan itself.
“Yadi aap meri Kahanio ko Ganda mante hae toh aap jis samaj
mae rhete ha woh samaj hi ganda hae meri kahanio ke sath
mae sirf sach ka parda fash karta hu” this is a quote of famous
writer Sadat Hassan Manto

Hello everyone good morning mam my name is bhawna and

today I will tell you about Sadat Hassan Manto

INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOP

Why have I chosen this topic?

I have chosen Sadat Hassan Manto because of his stories and
his writing skills.
He is a great writer as well as a playwriter, and author.

 SAADAT HASAN MANTO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saadat Hasan Manto (11 May 1912 – 18
January 1955) was a Pakistani writer, playwright, and author
considered among the greatest writers of short stories in South
Asian history. He produced 22 collections of short stories, 1
novel, 5 series of radio plays, 3 collections of essays, 2
collections of personal sketches and his best short stories are
held in high esteem by writers and critics. Manto was tried for
obscenity six times; thrice before 1947 in British India, and
thrice after independence in 1947 in Pakistan, but never
convicted.
TOBA TEK SINGH" Toba Tek Singh" is a short story written by
Saadat Hasan Manto and published in 1955. It follows inmates
in a Lahore asylum, some of whom are to be transferred
to India following the independence of Pakistan in The story is a
"powerful satire" on the relation between India and Pakistan.

Theme and significance

The story describes the chaos created by the decision of the
governments of India and Pakistan to exchange the lunatics
lodged in their lunatic asylums. The madmen lodged in Lahore
mental asylum do not understand why they are being uprooted
without any fault of theirs. It creates communal tension among
the inmates. The protagonist of the story is a Sikh inmate
named Bishan Singh who, fifteen years earlier, had gone mad
and was committed by his family. Everyone in the asylum calls
him Toba Tek Singh, the name of his village. Almost bald, his
legs swollen because he seemed to be standing all the time, he
also has the habit of speaking this nonsensical phrase, “Upri gur
gur di annexe di be-dhiyana o di mung di daal of di lateen.”
Every reader at once realizes that it's a powerful satire, and also
a bitter indictment of the political processes and behaviour
patterns that produced Partition. But the author's brilliant
craftsmanship lies partly in the fact that there's not a single
word in the story that tells us so. The story presents itself as a
deadpan, factual, non-judgmental chronicle of the behaviour of
certain lunatics in an insane asylum in Lahore.
Whatever the reason, the narrator's carefulness in this respect
enables him to set up a wonderfully elegant, haunting,
ambiguous conclusion. After Bishan Singh gives a single loud
shriek and collapses, the narrator locates him in a no-man's-
land between the two new nations' barbed-wire borders. My
translation is entirely literal: "In between, on that piece of
ground that had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh." We know of
course that the person Bishan Singh lay there. But since the
narrator never calls this person by that name, he's able to force
us to the additional reading that the real location of the village
Toba Tek Singh is between the two new states' sharply
demarcated borders. But if the village is there, then in what
sense exactly, and in whose eyes? Is Bishan Singh sane or mad,
conscious or delirious, alive or dead? With wonderful subtlety
and literary restraint, the author allows us-- and thus also
forces us-- to invent our own ending.
 Good Morning ma’am my name is Arti and today I will
tell you about Narayana Guru.
“One Caste , One Religion , One God for All “
I have chosen Narayana Guru because He believed in
spiritualism social equality , freedom and brotherhood.

NARAYANA GURU
Born:20 Aug 1856 Died:20 sep 1928 [aged 72 ]
Narayana Guru was a philosopher , spiritual leader and social
reformer in India . He Led a reform movement against the
injustice in the caste – ridden society of Kerala in order to
promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality . He
believed in spiritualism social equality , freedom and
brotherhood . he dedicated his entire life to promoting spiritual
enlightenment . He is as a saint and guru for his profound vedic
knowledge , poetic excellence , and his teaching of tolerance
and non-violence , which impacted a large population in India
as well as abord.

REFORMS INTRODUCED BY SRI NARAYANA

GURU
 He led a reform movement in kerala , rejected casteism, and
promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality .
He believed that spiritual and social growth could be attained
by education and establishment of learning centers. Thus, he
built several temples, schools, and education centers for the
underprivileged. He even sanctified several non-traditional
objects like a slab with the inscriptions “ truth , Ethics ,
Compassion ,”a vegetarian shiva , a mirror and also a sculpture
made by an Italian artist .

ACHIEVEMENTS OF SREE NARAYANA GURU

1.He campaigned against caste system , untouchability ,
Brahmin dominance , Discrimination against the lower caste .
2. he constructed alternate Temple and propogated for one god
, one caste , one religion .
3. He opposed conversion to other religions as the way to
escape from suffering.