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FREEDOM

-Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore, (born May 7, 1861, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India—

died August 7, 1941, Calcutta), Bengali poet, short-story
writer, song composer, playwright, essayist, and painter who introduced new
prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali
literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on
classical Sanskrit. He is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist
of early 20th-century India. In 1913 he became the first non-European to
receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Theme of the poem

1. Sense of nation:

– Inaction arises from fear: people afraid of rebellion

– People lie in passive subjugation – no resistance against British

– Clouded judgment and insecurity – caused by fear

– Destiny that will bring it to ruin

2. National identity:

– Poet’s individual identity fused with that of the community’s greater

identity

– Desperation to bring forth change: cannot stand and watch injustices

– Nation annexed to another nation: sovereignty clashes

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In the poem “Freedom” Rabindranath Tagore an acclaimed Indian writer and the
winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 expresses his wishes and vision for
his motherland, India. He supported Indian independence from Britain and desired
the end of the British Raj, which is the subject of "Freedom."

The first wish he has for India is the wish of freedom from fear. He believes fear of
his countrymen is responsible for her plight of slavery. In the first two lines of the
poem, he refers to India as the "motherland" and states that he wants India to be
free from fear. His use of alliteration, or repetition of the "f" sound in the words
"freedom," "from," "fear," and "freedom" again in the first line, emphasizes the
urgency of his call for Indian independence. The word "freedom" is repeated
throughout the poem to express the poet's deep wish for his country to be
independent.

The second wish he has for his motherland is the freedom from the burden of
sense-less, illogical, and orthodox beliefs and traditions which don’t let her see the
future. In the third line, he builds on the image of India as an aging mother, and he
wants her to be free from the "burden of the ages," which refers to the yoke of
English control of India. The aged woman who represents India bends her head,
bends her back, and blinds her eyes under the burden of colonialism. These lines
also use alliteration with the repetition of the "b" sound. Tagore speaks of the way
in which India does not see the future or imagine a brighter future for herself by
blinding her eyes. Instead of looking forward, India sleeps with what Tagore calls
"shackles of slumber," or time spent not thinking of her future. Instead, India is
fastening herself "in night's stillness," meaning that the country is committed to the
past and to the current situation of colonialism. The country "mistrusts the star that
speaks of truth's adventurous paths," meaning that the country does not look

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around in its dark time (represented by night) and imagine a brighter future for
itself as independent.

His third wish for India is to break free of her fear of taking risks; he wants her
motherland to dare to walk on the adventurous path; he also wants her not to trust
so much in the uncertain destiny; nor allow the control of her forward movement in
the hands of narrow-minded and heartless people.

His last wish for her motherland is the freedom from humiliation of living as slave
in the hands of foreign invaders. When Tagore asks for "freedom from the anarchy
of destiny," he means that he doesn't want his country to just blindly and passively
follow the fate that has been given to it, and he compares this fate, or destiny, to a
sailboat that has to follow winds that are blowing in every direction and that is
captained by an uncaring hand. This is a metaphor in which his country is
compared to a sailboat following uncertain winds with an uncaring person at the
helm.

He wants her to stop living like a puppet whose each and every movement is
governed and controlled by the master of the show. He wishes for her motherland
to live freely, taking her own decisions and creating her own future. Then, Tagore
asks for freedom from India living in a "puppet's world," by which he means a
world in which India is controlled by other countries and forces as a puppet is
controlled by a puppeteer. The movements are orchestrated through "brainless
wires," meaning that England controls India without thinking and by following
"mindless habits," meaning customs that are followed without reason. In this
extended metaphor comparing India to a puppet show, figures, who are clearly
Indians, wait obediently just to follow the master of the show, meaning their
English rulers. Therefore, the Indians live "a mimicry of life," meaning an
inauthentic life controlled by others.

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A CUT ABOVE

- Meena Bindra

Indian ethnic apparels maker Meena Bindra was born in Delhi with a family of six
siblings. Despite being a late bloomer and with several factors working against her,
Bindra took the plunge and kept up a steady pace, giving wings to her business
stitch by stitch, client by client, and brick by brick. Meena’s father was a business
man and passed away when she was only nine years old However, he left behind a
lot of property which provided her mother a lot of aid to give them a normal
childhood. She was married at the age of nineteen years old when she completed
her BA. As she was married to naval officer she moved all over the country with
her husband and was busy looking after her home and family for the first twenty
years. She didn’t quite know how to sew a button on fabric until she was 38. Yet,
what she lacked in training and experience she made up through her self-learned
couture sensibilities, all of which prompted her to start a business from home in
1985.

Bindra started out without any grand plan or support except the ambition to remain
independent in life, although things kept falling in place for her and she gladly
accepted what came her way. She borrowed a loan of eight thousand rupees and
started her business and through trial and error, Meena put together 40 salwar suits
and the first sale resulted in a small profit of 3000. At the Bindra residence, she
managed all the affairs of the house, both before and after her foray into the
business arena. By the end of the year Meena had three tailors doing jobwork and
started getting enquiries from retailers like Benzer and Sheetal . Since the supplies
became more she decided on a name for the bill book called “BIBA”. After three
years into business Meena moved into a 1000sq. ft office at Kemp’s corner.
Around this time Meena’s elder son, Sanjay, completed his BCom and joined the
business. He took over the boring side of the business handling the labour, taking
orders, keeping accounts. For the next few years BIBA grew into a steady pace and

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gave rise to more outlets al over India. By 1993, BIBA had become one of India’s
largest ethnic-wear wholesalers, selling 1000-2000 pieces every month. The annual
turn at that time over was around two crores. Meanwhile by mid 90’s the advent of
India’s first multi-city department store shoppers stop approached BIBA for the
ladies ethnic wear and so in the process Meena was forced to become more
professional to stand by the commitments and deliver on time. Advance planning,
control systems and quality checks helped tailors become more efficient and there
was a measure of accountability. According to Meena working with limitations
and yet going beyond limits is the true test of any entrepreneur and so by the year
2000 production of BIBA had scaled up to 5000 pieces per month and was able to
manage cash flows without ban limits or overdrafts.
The turning point for BIBA came when her younger son Sanjay joined the
company. BIBA opened its first company owned in 2004 at In Orbit and CR2
malls in Mumbai that resulted in the annual income of 12-15 lakh per month, the
whole company was restructured and in 2006 Kishore Biyani bought a 10% stake
in BIBA for 110 crores. In March 2012, BIBA’S annual revenues stood at 300
crores with 90 company-owned outlets contributing 50% of sales. The company
continued to outsource manufacturing, but employs around 1000 people in
supervisory roles and or retail sales. With her sons Meena had a clear demarcation
of boundaries. Yet there was argument and friction. There were differences on how
to take the business forward and so they decided to work separately. In 2010
Sanjay sold his stake and started a new ethnic-wear label called ‘Seven East’.
Meena believes that energy is the force which moves mountains and working
mothers and woman can be a wife, a mother and an entrepreneur and so she
advises to live a dream and have it all. Today, at 71 years of age, Bindra is more
satisfied with life than she has ever been. Yet, she is brimming with the same level
of enthusiasm as when she started out 30 years ago. She has worn many hats in her
life so far. In a span of three decades, she went from being a housewife and mother
to selling Indian salwar-suits from home, from becoming a supplier to retailers to
setting up her own ethnic apparel retail chain brand BIBA, which is now a
household name.

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Charles Chaplin

(An excerpt from My Autobiography)

Charlie Chaplin, byname of Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, (born April 16,
1889, London, England—died December 25, 1977), A British comedian, producer,
writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist
of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture history. He
became renowned through his films like The Gold Rush, The Circus, The Little
Tramp, and after his first 11 movies, Chaplin began to manifest a desire to
direct. By his 13th film, he had shifted into the director's chair, and also
emerged as a writer. Chaplin's 35 movies at Keystone established him as a
major film comedian and afforded him the chance to adapt his stage routines to
the screen. In his career of 75 years he saw both adulation and controversy.

In his autobiography, Chaplin is most forthcoming when documenting his

heartbreaking childhood and gruelling adolescence in turn-of-the century London;
here lie the kind of brutal memories that may have stayed carefully guarded, if not
outright repressed secrets for others. Chaplin’s London boyhood in Victorian
England is being appropriately Dickensian: an alcoholic father, an unstable but
loving mother, half brothers, poverty, public institutions, and, despite the
privations, a will to excel. Chaplin brings out the most captivating account of his
childhood spent with his mother Hannah Chaplin and half-brother Sydney Chaplin.
Chaplin was born on 16th April 1889 in the East Lane, Walworth and the
circumstances then were moderately comfortable. Chaplin recollects the memories
of his mother who went to theatre every night and played a soubrette in variety
stage, she is described as a mignonne in her late twenties, with fair complexion,
violet-blue eyes and long light-brown hair that she could sit upon. She took pride

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in dressing up the brothers for Sunday excursions and every night after she came
from the theatre it was her custom to leave delicacies on table with the
understanding that they were not to make a noise in the morning as she as usually
slept late. Chaplin also gives a descriptive image of London where he spent the
initial years of his childhood, his moods and awakenings. He says that the London
was sedate in those, the horse drawn tram-cars, along the Westminster Bridge road
went at a sedate pace. He describes the atmosphere surrounding the Westminster
Bridge road which was gay and friendly with attractive shops, restaurants and
music halls and the fruit shops that was a galaxy of colour with different kinds of
fruits. Chaplin also remembers of riding with his mother on top of the horse-bus
trying to touch passing lilac trees of many coloured bus tickets that partly covered
the footpath where the trams and buses stopped. His senses was often affected
from the objects that were placed in the sitting room like the Mother’s life-size
painting of Nell Gwyn, the small round music box and the sixpenny toy chair that
takes a special mention as it gave him an inordinate sense of possession.

Chaplin recollects an instance of one afternoon where in, his mother was out with a
lady friend returning home in a state of excitement and was sobbing with a
mention of man’s name called Armstrong which led the kid Chaplin cry so much
But a few years later Chaplin realised the importance of it by learning that his
mother had returned from the law courts where she had been suing his father for
the non-support of her children and the case had not one too well for her. Chaplin
was told that Armstrong was his father’s lawyer.

It is at this scenario that Chaplin introduces his father to the readers who never
lived with them. He was a vaudevillian, who was quite brooding man with dark
eyes and considered a fine artist, his earnings were never for the family rather his
addiction to drinking which was also a cause of their separation. He died of

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alcoholic excess at the age of thirty-seven. Chaplin talks about his mothers
struggle and conflicts that she underwent throughout her life, which reflected in her
eloping with middle aged African lord at eighteen and had a child who was his half
brother Sydney. Nevertheless she separated herself from that man, returned to
England and married his father. Chaplin points out that only when the ill fortune
befell her, she did seek relief and took legal steps against his father. It is at this
point of tie that Chaplin’s mother started having trouble with her voice that made
her theatrical engagements fall off until they were practically nil. It impaired her
health and made her a nervous wreck. This in turn led Chaplin to make his first
appearance on stage at the age of five as his mothers voice cracked and went into
whisper on stage. This becomes the last performance of his mother as she never
regained her voice. The circumstances turned from bad to worse, the savings,
jewellery, and all small possessions vanished in no time. Meanwhile they moved
from three comfortable rooms into two and then to one growing progressively poor
living in one dark room in the basement of Oakley street.

Chaplin introduces the readers to the utter poverty that the family suffered and the
socio-economic crisis that created a lot impact on his childhood. As they started
living in the lower strata and that his mother would grow moody when asked about
theatre, but she started doing needlework for the living and would console the boys
whenever they felt sad. Situations turned worse when the winter was approaching
and there were no clothes that would protect the boys, but Chaplin’s mother made
a coat for Sydney from her old velvet jacket which led to the humiliation in school.
The boys called him “Joseph and his coat of many colours, and Chaplin as ‘Sir
Francis Drake’ for wearing his mother’s red tights cut down as a pair of stockings.

During this period situations turn out to be unbearable as Chapin’s mother

develops migraine headaches and she was told to give up on needle work and was

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obliged to lie down in a dark room with tea-leaf bandages on her eyes. All these
instances made them survive on the charity based soup tickets and relief parcels
and Sydney selling newspapers between the school hours Nevertheless the crisis
comes to an end with Sydney accidentally finds a purse on the empty seat in the
bus. The purse was full of silver and copper coins and its inner pocket also had
some gold coins due to which Chaplin’s mother recovered within a week. In the
end Chaplin mentions about the hard times that pursued the family again and the
problems that mounted in the form of instalments and much more. The abrupt end
of his father’s aid, all these factors led his mother to approach the Lambeth
workhouse, a home or homeless, as she was burdened with two children and poor
health.

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ENDYMION

-John Keats

The first book of “Endymion” by John Keats consists of three stanzas which can be
split into smaller sections for a simpler analysis. The poem is constructed with a
consistent and ever-present rhyme scheme of aabbccddee… etc. This rhyme
scheme was chosen by Keats in order to sustain a sense of forward momentum in
the poem. The pattern carries the reader from one line to the next as they become
accustomed to what will come next.
“Endymion” is named for the Aeolian shepherd and king of Elis in Greek
mythology. He was said to rule at Olympia and is best known for the love he bares
Selene, the moon. This had led to many, including Pliny the Elder, to cast
Endymion as an astronomer or at least as one who is quite familiar with celestial
movements.
In the mythological account of the life of Endymion, he asks for, and is given
eternal life. This blessing, and curse, is only possible if he remains in a perpetual
sleep. In this state his lover, Selene, the Titan goddess of the moon, is able to visit
him forever. Together they bare 50 daughters.

The first book of “Endymion” by John Keats details the speaker’s beliefs regarding
the power of beauty and his intentions to tell the story of Endymion.
The poem begins with the speaker describing at length the power he believes that
beauty holds over human life. He sees it as being a guiding force that, when
accepted and appreciated, enters into one’s heart and helps to clear one’s path
through life. Once one fully knows beauty, it will never leave. It transforms the
onlooker into the beautiful object.

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Lines 1-9

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

In the first stanza of this piece the speaker is introducing the aspects of life and
beauty that he is going to be discussing in depth in the following stanzas and
books. One must keep in mind the story of Endymion, and the immortal sleep into
which he embarks. The first line of this piece is quite well-known and begins, “A
thing of beauty is a joy for ever.” This is clearly related to Endymion’s beautiful
immortality, but it has been taken down to a more human level. The speaker
believes that if something is beautiful, it gives off a “joy” that will exist throughout
time. There is no end to the “increase” of “loveliness” that will arise alongside the
beauty.
The sheer fact of the thing’s beauty will keep it from slipping into “nothingness.”
Beauty provides it with immortality but it does not alienate it from the human
world. It will still be there for those who need it, “keep[ing] / A bower quiet” and
ready. This place of rest will provide one with sweet dreams as well as health. It is
rejuvenating.
The final lines of this section speak on how the beauty will take one into the
“morrow” and when one awakens they will have made, through their sleep

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alongside beauty, a “band to bind us to the earth.” The more time one spends with
beautiful things, the closer one becomes to the earth. There is nothing that can stop
this from happening, no “despondence” or absence of “noble natures.” All of
humankind has access to beauty.

Lines 10-19

Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

Amongst the darkest days of life beauty will be there to lift away “unhealthy”
thoughts. It will be like a guide through one’s life that provides a way out of “dark
spirits” and shows on a brighter path as if guided by the sun.
Along the path that beauty makes there are, “Trees old and young” that create
“shady” spots for “sheep…and…daffodils” to live. The world is made lovely,
liveable, and worthwhile because of the beauty that inhabits it. The plants that
thrive on beauty are able to create “for themselves” a “cooling covert” that protects
them from the “hot season.”

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Lines 20-24

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

The powerful world that the speaker just described is now juxtaposed with the
world that “We have imagined for the mighty dead.” The world of the living is just
as impressive as that of the dead. They are similar in their elaborate complications
and grand landscapes.
The speaker continues on the describe the way that beauty is able to move through
life. One such way is through the “tales that we have heard or read.” These stories
are passed from person to person and their “lov[liness]” is maintained.

Analysis

The poet used the first stanza to introduce himself and his idea of nature’s beauty
and the role it played in his private life. He acknowledged that nature’s beauty
uplifts the human spirit and helps us to face our challenges. The stanza also defined
the writer’s inspiration to rewrite the Greek story of Endymion.

He affirmed that, despite our troubles, nature’s beauty always seems to intervene
and restore our joy, hopes and dreams.

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits.

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He then equated the earth’s beauty to good sleep and perfect health.

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

In the first stanza, the poet also traces the origins of the story on which the poem
Endymion is based.

All lovely tales that we have heard or read:

An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

The writer also showed that he treasured his life and hoped that he lived long
enough to complete his work.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

He explained his will to continue living and enjoying the earth’s beauty despite the
depressing days that he encountered

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

In summary, the first stanza serves as an introduction about the writer, his
inspiration for the poem and his personal description of earth's beauty which would
later relate to the story of Endymion.
Reorienting the text of the poem

Endymion, one of John Keats’smost substantial poetic works, advanced his goal of
creating a fully developed Romantic poetry that brought classical themes into his

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own times. In four books, each about 1,000 lines long, he combines description,
narrative, classical allusion, and emotional-intellectual analysis into the story of
one man’s quest and self-discovery. The luscious language, while it demonstrates
Keats’s mastery, is also well-suited to the themes. The story is framed by the real
environment of a terrestrial location, but at the end Endymion’s fulfillment it
removes him from this realm. In between, he must conquer many obstacles in
mysterious subterranean and subaquatic environments. Endymion, a shepherd high
in the Greek mountains, is a dreamy, melancholic sort of man. A simple existence
tending sheep is not very fulfilling and, after he sees an ideal woman in a vision,
his life is transformed. Nothing will satisfy him but to pursue this illusory woman,
whom he believes is his spiritual mate. This desire takes him away from home,
forcing him to take bold, decisive actions.

THE HAPPY PRINCE

-Oscar Wilde

About The Author:

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin
and Oxford. His mother, Jane Wilde, was a poet who wrote under the name
“Speranza,” or hope, and his father, Sir William Wilde, was an ear surgeon. Wilde
was baptized in a local Anglican church and remained dedicated to the Christian
faith throughout his lifetime, in spite of the eccentricities of other aspects of his
lifestyle. He was known for his dedication to the aesthetic movement, having
published papers on aesthetic morality as early as 1874—he lauded decadence and
the value of art for its own sake, a theme that recurred in his plays and fiction.
However, Wilde also identified as a socialist, and published an essay called “The
Soul of Man under Socialism” outlining his beliefs. Wilde married Constance
Lloyd in 1884, whose annual allowance helped fund his luxurious style of living.
The couple had two sons together, but their relationship was rocked by Wilde
beginning to undertake homosexual relationships with other men, beginning with
the journalist and art critic Robert Ross. Allusions, both subtle and explicit, to
homosexuality began to recur in Wilde’s works—whole sections of The Picture of
Dorian Gray were censored prior to publication, due to their scandalous content,

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and reviewers still described the finished book as excessively decadent and even
unclean. Ultimately, Wilde was put on trial in 1895 for gross indecency; after his
conviction, he served two years in prison before moving into exile in France,
where he ultimately passed away at the age of 46.

Introduction:

This story is about a Prince. When the prince was alive, he was very happy. After
his death, a big statue of his was erected on a pedestal. From there, the statue of
Prince could see the entire city and at that time he saw the miseries of the people.
He saw the poor people, the homeless, their hunger, and starvation. The Prince was
sad to see all these miseries, sadness of the people.
The statue of the prince has its jewels delivered to the poor via the swallow (now,
on top of the hill, the prince can see the poverty that had previously been shielded
from him). Eventually the statue loses all its material wealth; he is richer inside for
helping the needy, but no longer outside, and the swallow dies. The people remove
the prince statue, now that he is plain, and discuss the next statue that will replace
him, because material wealth is most important to them.

Summary:

Once, when the Prince was alive, he was filled with richness and opulence to the
point that, after his death, he was made into a statue of gold leaf and jewels. The
gilded statue of the Happy Prince stands on a pedestal overlooking a town.
Covered in gold leaf with sapphires for eyes and a ruby on his sword-hilt, the
statue receives admiration from all passers-by, including town councilors who
want to foster a reputation for artistic tastes.
A Swallow flies over the city on his way to Egypt. He had been delayed after
falling in love with a Reed, attracted to her slender waist and gracefulness. When
she wouldn’t accompany his travels, the Swallow left alone, but ended up stopping
under the statue of the Happy Prince to rest.
Surprised at what he takes to be rainfall on a clear night, the Swallow realizes that
the Happy Prince has been crying. They introduce themselves, and the Happy
Prince describes his childhood in a gated palace, when he lived in San Souci and
played in a walled garden—a time full of superficial pleasures when he was
ignorant of the suffering in his city. The Swallow is surprised to learn that the
Statue is not made of solid gold, but he agrees to help the Happy Prince after he
describes his pity for a seamstress sewing passion-flowers on the satin gown of a

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lady in waiting. She lives in the poor house and cannot care for her sick son, so the
Swallow agrees to deliver the ruby from the Prince’s sword hilt to her.
On the way to deliver the ruby, the Swallow sees “old Jews bargaining with each
other.” He delivers the ruby and stays in order to cool the feverish boy by flapping
his wings. After delivering the ruby, the Swallow returns and describes feeling
“quite warm” in spite of the cold, due to his good deed. He still intends to go
to Egypt and describes to the Happy Prince what marvels await him there, from the
river-horses to the God Memnon on his great granite throne. Nevertheless, the
Prince begs him to stay and help a young playwright freezing in his garret. The
man needs to finish a play for the theatre director but has become too cold. In the
end, the Swallow agrees to stay another night and plucks out one of the Prince’s
sapphire eyes to deliver to the young man.

The Swallow returns once more to bid farewell to the Happy Prince, who pleads
with him to deliver his other sapphire eye to a little match-girl who has dropped
her matches. Without any help, the child’s father will beat her. The Swallow agrees
and promises also to remain in the town by the Prince’s side forever, as he cannot
bear to leave him alone and blind on his pedestal.

The Swallow sits on the Prince’s shoulder and recounts tales of Egypt and faraway
lands. He tells of the red ibises on the Nile, the Sphinx, “who is as old as the world
itself,” and a great green snake who “has twenty priests to feed it with honey
cakes.” Though the Prince calls these stories “marvellous,” he asks for tales of the
suffering townspeople instead, as “there is no Mystery as great as Misery.”
The Swallow flies over the city and reports of the rich making merry while beggars
starve at their gates, including young boys trying to warm themselves under a
bridge while a passing Watchman tries to clear them out. Upon hearing these tales,
the Prince wishes to distribute the fine gold leaf gilding him, to alleviate some of
this misery. The Swallow agrees to help him and he delivers sheets of gold leaf to
the children. The Prince grows “dull and grey,” while the “children’s faces grew
rosier and they laughed and played games in the street.”
Winter finally arrives, and the Swallow grows far too cold. Knowing that only
limited time remains to him, he asks to kiss the Prince’s hand. Instead, the Prince
says, “you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.” The Swallow does so and falls
down dead at his feet, at which point the Prince’s leaden heart “snap[s] right in
two.”
The next morning, the Mayor spots the grey statue with the dead Swallow at its
feet and complains of its shabbiness. The Town Councillors agree, calling the
statue “little better than a beggar,” and they decide to have the Happy

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Prince melted down and recast into a new statue (though they fight as to whom he
should represent—the Mayor wishes a statue of himself, but each of the town
councillors think it should be of them instead). The Art Professor at the University
goes so far as to say, “As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful.”
The overseer of the workmen at the foundry melts down the statue but notes with
shock that the broken lead heart refuses to melt. Giving up, he tosses the heart
aside on a dust-heap along with the body of the Swallow. Soon after, God asks one
of his Angels to bring the “two most precious things in the city.” The Angel brings
the leaden heart and the dead bird, and God agrees that he had rightly chosen.
The Happy Prince and the Swallow would be rewarded eternally in Paradise for
their compassion and sacrifice.

DEFINITIONS OF FEMINITY AND MASCULINITY

SUJATA SEN

The prescribed essay, “Definitions of Feminity and Masculinity”, is an extract

from the book, “Gender Studies”. The essay helps to understand the various social
processes enforce by the diverse social institutions to strengthen gendered
definitions of feminity and masculinity. To understand the concept of feminity and
masculinity, it is necessary to understand how various social processes enforce
them. The definitions of feminity and/or masculinity are fortified through the
following:

FAMILY

Social institutions, especially the family, strengthened definitions of feminity and

masculinity. Across the world, the profile of families in changing from ‘joint ’to
‘nuclear’ to ‘single-parent’ family mould. Attitude towards the (unpaid but very
necessary for family sustenance) domestic labour women had to traditionally
undertake is also changing, since more women are stepping out of the confines of
home and becoming economically independent. Gender differentiation does
emerge naturally from biological differences. Gender socialization starts with the
birth of an infant, when a baby is welcomed into the world with a declaration of
his/her maleness or femaleness (the announcement that the child is a girl/boy), and
the use of blue or pink blankets and dresses to indicate the sex of the infant. Family
members, books, cinema and television and toys given to children teach and

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reinforce gender expectations and influence the self-concepts of individuals: words

used in everyday parlance are also suggestive of gender. Newborn girl babies are
often described as ‘cute’, ‘tiny’, ‘soft’ and ‘delicate’, whereas boys are seen as
‘strong’ and ‘hardy’. In the process of growing up, children gender/stereotyped
characteristics: females are emotional, soft, can be easily convinced, patient,
nurturing and caring; males are strong, unemotional, rational and logical.

MEDIA

As important agent that had a major impact on the process of socialization and the
learning of gender identities, especially in today’s consumerist era, and has defined
femininity and masculinity in the media. The mass media include the audio-visual
media: the press, radio, television, films and the ubiquitous advertising. These
media are actually controlled by economic powers and constitute definitions of
women’s selves in a way that suit that the status quo. The feminist scholarship
believes that the mass media victimize women because they represent women in a
very patriarchal mould. Basically, media give women a body image that is highly
desirable. Slim actresses and slimmer models are the order of the day. In fact, the
media, it can be argued, reduced feminity into body parts. To be feminine (and
thereby be attractive to the male of the species), a woman’s body parts get defined
as models to be pursued while women into hankering after that ‘unattainable she’ a
typical woman can never be. Very rarely does mass media give women defined
roles. Media influences definition of masculinity as well. The typical media ‘hero’
presents an ideology of masculinity that is dominant, forceful and at times even
brutal. In fact, due to such representation, society is made to see women as caring
and nurturing.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

It has been argued that media help accentuate (and continue) social stratification.
Feminity, according to such representation, is for male entertainment and
possession. Women are considered to be male property and pushed into domestic
roles and family-oriented lives and selfhoods. The indirect fallout of all this ‘body
beautiful’ bravura is the implication that an active life of her own is not for a
middle-class and /or poor woman, or for her woman from the lower-caste groups.

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RELIGION

It is important understand the role religion assigns to women. Feminism argues that
most institutionalized modern religions are patriarchal. It has been pointed out that
God is usually a man, and the agents of his wisdom are often men. Women mostly
are passive carriers of this divine wisdom.

EDUCATION

In addition to religion, education is another process and social institution that

defines feminity and masculinity. It is clear that physically males and females are
different, through intellectual cognitive or behavioural differences between the
sexes are debatable. Males and females do behave differently, and to a certain
extent think differently, and some psychologist argue that that there are differences
in terms of fundamental cognitive processing.

WORK CULTURE

At the work place, aspects of gendering come to the fore. Experts maintain that
work growth can be lateral and/or horizontal. Lateral growth refers to growing
towards the top position within the same organization. Horizontal growth refers to
the movement across similar positions, without any significant change in the status
or power enjoyed by individuals.

SEX AND GENDER

Feminism points out to major differences between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. Simone de
Beauvoir maintained, ‘We must remember in this context that women are not born;
they are made.’ She implied that in the definition of women’s selves and roles,
their ‘gender’ matters. What is a gender? It is much more than the
physical/biological sexual differences between a woman and a man. Gender refers
to practices that society, culture and ideologies propagate because of sexual
differences. Right from birth via growth, individuals get a gendered personality
that defines their attitudes and behavior.

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THE SUNDERBANS

SUSIL MANDAL

Analysis

In the poem, the poet tries to draw the pensive sketches of Dalit life in the remotest
nooks of the marshlands. The dire necessity to access the dense, Sim penetrable
forests in search of honey and firewood and the resultant death in the cruel jaws of
the ferocious Royal Bengal Tiger, is the central theme of this poem. When Subal is
devoured by the blood-thirsty tiger, his wife had no other alternative but to commit
suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her ramshackle hut.

The speaker ironically asks the visitor by whom he was sent to Kolkata. He says
that the tourist come to have glance of tiger not the inhabitants of these jungles.
They witness crocodile, Hental, Sundari trees, the mangrove and the pen pottery on
the colorful leaves. He reflects that their lives always remain untouched by ink and
remained unnoticed by people as well as the government. They struggle with the
orange-peels thrown by the visitors. The poet comments on the fascinating feelings
of people when they witness tiger, The Royal Tiger. But no one knows about the
people who became victim of this tiger like Haripada, Subal, Fateh Ali and so on.
Subal’s wife hanged herself last year couldn’t bear the fangs of hunger. They
waited for the minister and the minister promised ‘The Sundarbans will transform!’
The speaker pleads, “Our stomachs are full with the brine-water from flood”.

Hayavadana Act 1
-Girish Karnad
About the Playwright:
Girish Karnad was born to a Brahmin family and from an early age took an interest
in travelling theatre troupes. He majored in mathematics and statistics at Karnatak
Arts College, graduating in 1958. After graduating he travelled to England and
studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where
he wrote his first play, Yayati. After working for the Oxford University Press for
seven years, he began to write full time for both theatre and film. For four decades
he has continued to write plays, often using history and mythology to address
contemporary themes. For his contributions to theatre, he was awarded the
Padmashri, one of India’s top civilian honours, in 1974. In 1992 the Indian

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government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, another of its highest honours, for
his contributions to the arts. He also received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest
literary honour, in 1999.

Summary:

At the beginning of the performance, a mask of Ganesha (a Hindu god with the
head of an elephant and the body of a boy) is brought onstage and placed onto a
chair in front of the audience, and a puja is done. The Bhagavata(In Hinduism a
Bhagavata is a worshipper or devotee. In this play, the Bhagavata serves as the
narrator. He presents and interprets the action of the play’s main storyline, the
story of Devadatta, Kapila, and Padmini. …) asks that Ganesha, who is the
“destroyer of obstacles,” bless the performance and give it success. He comments
that Ganesha may seem to be an imperfect being because of his hybrid state, but
that his completeness is simply unknowable to mortal beings.
The Bhagavatathen sets up the action of the play. He first introduces the setting,
the kingdom of Dharmapura. He then introduces the two
heroes, Devadatta and Kapila. Devadatta, who is fair and handsome, is the son of
a Brahmin and who is a highly intellectual poet. The Bhagavata describes how he
outdoes the best poets and pundits in the kingdom “in debates on logic and love.”
Kapila, on the other hand, is the son of an iron smith and is darker and “plain to
look at.” Kapila excels in “deeds which require drive and daring,” including
dancing and feats of strength. The Bhagavata describes how the world is in awe of
their friendship, and sings that they are two friends of “one mind, one heart.”
At that moment, an actor screams in terror, running onstage. The Bhagavata tries to
calm him, saying that there’s nothing to be afraid of on the stage. Only the
musicians and audience are there. The actor explains that he was hurrying on his
way to perform when he had to go to the bathroom. With nowhere to go, he sat by
the side of the road, when a voice told him not to do that. He looked around and
didn’t see anybody. He attempted to go again, but the voice once again chastised
him. He looked up to find a talking horse in front of him.
The Bhagavata does not believe the actor and tells him to get into costume and
makeup. The actor shows the Bhagavata his shaking hands, saying that he is too
terrified to perform or fight with a sword. The Bhagavata has no choice but to send
him back to make sure that there was no talking horse. The actor reluctantly goes.

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The Bhagavata once again tries to return to his story, but the actor rushes back on,
crying that the creature is coming. The Bhagavata reasons that if the actor is so
frightened, they should try to hide the creature from the audience. Accordingly,
two stage hands hold up a curtain. At that moment, the creature (Hayavadana)
enters and stands behind the curtain. The audience hears the sound of someone
sobbing. The Bhagavata orders the stage hands to lower the curtain. Each time the
curtain is lowered just enough to show Hayavadana’s head, he ducks behind it.
Eventually, Hayavadana is revealed in his full form: half-horse, half-man.
The Bhagavata remains in disbelief and chides Hayavadana for trying to scare
people with a mask. He asks Hayavadana to take off his mask, but when
Hayavadana does not reply, he tries to pull off Hayavadana’s head with the help of
the actor. Eventually, however, he concedes that it must be Hayavadana’s real
head.
The Bhagavata asks Hayavadana who he is, and what brought him to this place.
Hayavadana answers that all his life he has been trying to get rid of his horse’s
head, and he thought the Bhagavata might be able to help him. He explains that his
mother was a princess, and when she came of age she was meant to choose her
own husband. Many princes came for her hand in marriage, but she didn’t like any
of them. When the prince of Araby arrived on his great white stallion, she fainted.
Her father decided that this was the man to marry her, but when the princess woke
up; she insisted she would only marry the horse.
Hayavadana continues his story, saying that no one could dissuade his mother from
her decision, and so she and the horse had fifteen years of happy marriage. One
morning, the horse turned into a Celestial Being. He had been cursed to be born a
horse by another god, on the condition that after fifteen years of human love he
could regain his divine form. He asked the princess to join him in his “Heavenly
Abode,” but the princess would only go with him if he returned to horse form.
Thus, he cursed her to become a horse herself. She ran away happily, and
Hayavadana was left behind as a product of their marriage.Hayavadana asks the
Bhagavata how he can get rid of his head, but the Bhagavata replies that “what’s
written on our foreheads cannot be altered.” Hayavadana says that he had tried to
become a complete man by taking an interest in “the social life of the Nation,” but
that he was unable to find his society. He wonders how he can become a complete
man without a complete society.

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The Bhagavata suggests that Hayavadana go to various temples and try to make a
vow to a god. Hayavadana says that he has tried everything, but the Bhagavata
thinks of one more temples he might try: that of the goddess Kali. He says that
thousands of people used to flock to her temple, but people stopped going because
they discovered that she granted anything anyone asked. Hayavadana and
the actor set off for the temple.

Conclusion:
The universal predicament of the gap between expectations and realities is
wonderfully drawn by Girish karnad through the first act. It raises profound
questions of what constitute identity and beauty—supreme intellectual or raw
physical prowess; brain or brawn. It also harkens to the conflict being played out
within each of us to achieve completeness and further recounts how, often, one
fails to get there. The ply therefore deals with different aspects of human
challenges and its limitations. It illustrates that the drama of incompleteness is
eternally being played out. Furthermore, the play underlines the quest and struggle
for locating and moulding identities to fill the gaps are inevitable,
incomprehensible and eternal.

Analysis:
Right away, it is established that the play will be unique in several ways. Because
Karnad wrote the play partly as a reaction against Western theatrical conventions,
he begins by placing the audience directly within the Indian culture and religion
that permeate the play. By beginning the play with an actual religious ritual (the
puja), Karnad establishes that there will be different “layers” to the play, not just a
single, fictional plot line.
The Bhagavata introduces a main theme within the play: hybridity. Ganesha is the
first of many beings with a mismatched head and body to appear in the play. In the
case of the play’s human characters, hybridity is associated with a state of
incompleteness, but the Bhagavata argues here that divine beings do not have that
same deficiency; their perfection is incomprehensible to mortals.
As the Bhagavata introduces the two primary characters of the story, his
descriptions set up what will be their primary conflict. Devadatta’s descriptions
centre almost exclusively on his intellect, whereas Kapila’s descriptions centre

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almost exclusively on his physical strength and attributes. Therefore, from thevery
outset, the characters become symbolic of “the head” (associated with the intellect
and logic) and “the body” (associated with emotion and sexuality).When the actor
interrupts the Bhagavata’s story, it is implied that Hayavadana’s storyline is on the
same plane of reality as the audience (i.e., the audience is supposed to believe that
what is happening is real, even though it is of course still within the play that
Karnad has written). This interruption adds to the play’s humour. The story of the
actor trying to go to the bathroom on the side of the road removes the audience
from the seriousness of the religious ritual and the Bhagavata’s speech, and
demonstrates how the play calls attention to the fact that it is a play for comic
effect.

The fear that the actor feels towards the taking horse reinforces the idea that the
Bhagavata had introduced with the ritual: that hybrid beings are beyond the
comprehension of mere mortals. Thus, the Bhagavata sends the actor back to make
sure that no such hybrid beings actually exist.

The appearance of Hayavadana makes use of a technique traditionally used in

Indian yakshagana theatre. The curtain is usually employed in this way to build
anticipation and excitement about a new character’s entrance before they are
revealed in all their glory. Here, however, the technique is used for comedic effect,
as Hayavadana does not wish to be seen and his head keeps popping out of the
curtain. This is a prime example of Karnad using regional theatrical traditions but
giving them a modern update.
With Hayavadana’s entrance, the play’s use of masks is introduced. The masks not
only signal hybrid creatures, but call the audience’s attention to the artifice of
theatre, thus also highlighting storytelling as one of the play’s main themes.
Hayavadana’s origin story introduces the play’s theme of searching for fulfilment
and completion. Rather than accept his horse’s head as a part of who he is,
Hayavadana works to rid himself of the feeling of incompleteness, building on the
Bhagavata’s earlier remark that humans do not understand the divine completeness
that can be found in hybrid beings.
The story of the princess keeps with the play’s theme of mind vs. body, as the
princess allowed her desire for the horse overcome any sense of logic or reason.
The conflict between her mind and body finds parallel in the conflict between
Hayavadana’s head and body. The story also brings in religious elements of Indian

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culture, but as Hayavadana will explain shortly, culture does not always equate
with finding one’s society.
The Bhagavata here foreshadows that in each of the plot lines, the head wins out
over the body, though not always with satisfactory results. Additionally,
Hayavadana’s search for a unified society serves as a metaphor for India’s status as
a nation, as it is also made up of a variety of diverse traditions. Kali’s temple
becomes one of the ways in which the various plot lines of the play intersect and
eventually become tied together, as Padmini, Devadatta, and
Kapila also go to kali’s temple. The Bhagavata’s comment that people stopped
going to her because she granted anything anyone asked also foreshadows that
simply asking the gods does not necessarily lead to a sense of completeness in
one’s identity, as will be the case with all the characters who visit Kali’s temple.

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