End Semester Examination

Armaan Agarwal (2223110) 1BBA H B

School of English and Cultural Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University)
LAN 121: Developing Fluency and Clarity in English for Business
Dr Yadukrishnan PT, Dr Abhishek Ghoshal
3rd December 2022

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QUESTION 1

This USHA advertisement from the 1980’s tries to capitalise on the traditional societal mindset
of people, of how gender roles are defined in the society. This advertisement is from a time
when female literacy rate in India was just 30% as compared to the 92% in 2022. During the
80s the common saying in every household in India was that the sole purpose of a women was
to know how to be a proper housewife and clearly, we can get this message from this
advertisement. Be it media or in real life whenever a woman after marriage was not able to do
any household chore properly was told “haven’t your mother taught you anything?”. This
advertisement explicitly tells that a woman needs to be a proper housewife and the training of
it should start when she is young. While we see in the advertisement that a mother teaching her
daughter how to use the sewing machine and that this plays an important role in the training of
her as an ideal housewife, there are many implicit ideas as well. Since our childhood we know
USHA as a proper household brand, in every household we can find USHA products be it fans
or utensils. This advertisement helps us to know that the main aim of USHA from the very start
has always been to become a household name. In the period from which this advertisement
belongs to, this Advertisement could have also been seen as empowering towards women as
this advertisement helped women to empower themselves and learn a very valuable skill of
sewing which in turn helped many women to open up sewing businesses from their homes
itself and as women didn’t have to go outside and could do this work from home, the traditional
households also didn’t have any problems. The skill sewing was also a thing of pride among
the elderly women in the house as they could boast about their daughter in law’s ability to sew.
But there is another aspect of this advertisement too, which is the message that it carries.
Advertisements like this further nourishes the mindset of people determining gender roles, what
activity must a man do and what a woman. Advertisement like these discourage young boys
from taking up sewing activity as these makes them to think it as a job made only for
housewives or woman and not for a man. Even today in most houses in one corner covered
with cloth we could still see one sewing machine lying all dusted and rusty and this is very well
because of advertisements like these. We should also keep in mind that this advertisement
belongs to a period when India was still 10 years away from opening its gates to the global
markets, which tells us that during that time people used to get their clothes mostly sewed by
tailors and not a lot of people preferred readymade clothes. So, an activity like sewing if learned
by the housewife would be extremely economical saving the family a lot a money and this is
also one of the explicit messages that we get through this advertisement. Overall, this
advertisement is clearly based on the patriarchal mentality that prevailed in society during the
70s and 80s and still prevails in many households across India except for the urban cities which
barely is 30% of the country.

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QUESTION 2

The water crisis in India has been a long ongoing discussion, especially in urban cities where
water has really proven its worth to the urban people. Groundwater levels are disturbingly low
in most of the urban cities, even one report in 2019 found that the groundwater level is going
to reach zero for about 21 urban cities in India by 2020. But this problem doesn’t limit itself to
groundwater level but to the level of contamination that is there in the groundwater.
Groundwater in India is highly contaminated in urban areas, be it Delhi or Bangalore, or
Mumbai everywhere water safety levels have been degrading continuously. Everyone knows
about the hardness of the water in Bangalore and the various health issues that it led to like hair
fall or skin issues. From time to time, we can see news related to the level of water issues faced
by lakhs of people in Delhi because the groundwater levels have reached almost zero for most
of the places and people can’t even get water out of tube wells. Even water filters can’t help
you to get good drinking water and most people in these urban centers have to depend upon
packaged drinking water for their day-to-day consumption. The problem of water scarcity is
huge, experts analyse that water scarcity could alone lead to a fall of about 6% in our country’s
GDP, which is alarming. This problem is huge but has got solutions too, the first step needs to
be taken by the government by spreading awareness about the issue because the water is scarce
but the rich find ways to get it but the poor and the future generations would have to suffer.
Proper awareness campaigns about how serious this problem is and how it would affect all of
us as a whole if not taken care of should be addressed in public places, school as well different
societies and colonies all over the country. The government should ensure that each and every
household has proper rainwater harvesting systems so that large amounts of water which would
have gone to waste can be stored and used. Awareness about importance of reusing water
should also be made as most urban places have got big societies and apartment complexes
=which use a huge amount of water daily. So, these builders can collaborate with water
treatment companies and set up water treatment systems in the complexes so that the water can
be reused and this could a huge amount of water. The water becomes dangerous to drink and
full of pathogens when basic sanitation isn't practiced. In order to prevent pollution, it is crucial
to measure and keep track of the quality of the water. Additionally, one more approach to stop
the worsening of the water crisis is to upgrade the sewage systems in specific locations. So,
water scarcity is a problem that is on the rise continuously and should be addressed
immediately, from cleaning our rivers to spreading proper education everything plays a crucial
role. It’s our responsibility as citizens of this nation to make this happen and missions like
swatch Bharat Abhiyan should also be adopted for water safety to make the dream of
sustainable water usage a truth.

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QUESTION 3

INTRODUCTION

Caste-based reservation systems have been existing in India since independence. This system
was created in order to provide the people from the so-called ‘lower castes’ an opportunity to
lift themselves up from the situation put onto them by the oppression and discrimination of the
upper caste Hindus. This reservation system provides them with chances to get into schools
and colleges with much more ease than those from the general category by having reserved
seats and easy cut-offs for getting in. Yes, caste-based reservation systems are appropriate
because they really help people from the Lower castes to uplift themselves from their condition.
There are many arguments that would say that caste-based reservations are wrong and
discriminatory toward hardworking upper-caste students but I would disagree. In the essay
ahead we would come across many examples to shed light on why reservations are appropriate
and why they should continue. These reservations include people from SC, ST, OBC, and other
minority communities acting as a boon for them. Hence, caste-based reservation systems are
appropriate and truly right in all sense, acting as a boon for people from the lower castes
changing their lives and the society for the better.

BODY

Caste-based reservation system have always been the topic of discussion among people since
its inception. Many people state it to be wrong and discriminatory against general category
students, but isn’t the entire reason why these reservations exist in the first place is to undo the
discrimination that was being done towards the lower caste people in India since ages. These
people belonging to a certain caste or group of people have been suppressed and oppressed
since ages and never have been given any chance to rise from the situation of poverty and under
development. Generation upon generations they are forced to do the same work and cannot
upgrade themselves because of the trap they are stuck in. Reservations give them a chance to
get subsidised or free education in premier institutes of the country which help them to become
equals and earn some status. The rich can buy their way into any institute or position they
would like to but what about them. Many would also argue that they don’t need reservations
anymore and that caste was a thing of the past but do you really think that’s true? In the
documentary film “India Untouched: stories of the people apart”, we get a clear overview of
how people all across our country still have this social evil contained inside their minds and
practice untouchability to the fullest. The extent of oppression that these communities have
faced is so severe that generations upon generations have been affected and can’t help
themselves by their own. Yes, I can agree that the situation in the urban areas might be a little
different and the feelings and practice of casteism might have found a way out but the urban
areas barely make up 30% of our country whereas the rest of the areas is still the rural India
where this system is still very much prevalent. By not giving them reservations and not
providing them with any support these people will continue to live the same life without any
changes for future generations to come. Still in many households all over the country in urban

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areas as well as rural, utensils for the servants of the house are kept differently from the owners
which is a clear-cut example of how untouchability is still prevailing in the minds of the people.
No matter how much they deny it from outside deep within the roots of casteism still persist
even today. Reservations play a crucial role in the lives of people from the lower castes, no
matter how much one disagrees with this fact but it’s the truth that the people of the lower
castes still face discrimination, are unaware about their rights and still gullibly try to accept
everything as their fate.

CONCLUSION

Caste-based reservation systems are still the need of the hour and would still be required in the
coming future. It is a boon for people from the lower castes and provides them opportunities to
claim what was long taken away from them. People with opposing views may say that many
people from the lower caste communities who are better off now take undue advantage of these
reservations, but just because a few misuses this system, is taking away the opportunity to grow
and learn from millions of others right? Issues like these are being addressed and slowly but
surely the entire system would become more and more transparent but reservations need to
continue for the betterment of the people and the society as a whole.