CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BANGALORE – 560 029

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND CULTURAL STUDIES

ADDITIONAL ENGLISH (AEN 121)

Mid-Semester Examination
October 2021
Marks: 50
Date: 05-10-2021

Name: NIKITHA MARIYA

Register No: 2130120
Semester/Program: 1 CEP A

SECTION – A
1) Draw a comparative analysis of the migratory experiences of the narrator in the
passage and the poem “Migration” by Keki N Daruwala. Substantiate your argument
with necessary examples from both the literary works.

Meena Alexander’s Fault Lines: A Memoir shows a very remarkable

resemblance to the book ‘The God of small things’ by Arudhati Roy. Both the authors have
used descriptive style of writing in order to describe the little things and the little pleasures of
life in the course of time leaving no stone unturned. When the former two beautiful pieces of
work shows similarity in the way of writing, the excerpt from Fault lines: A Memoir and the
poem Migrations by Keki N Daruwala share the same theme. Both the works throw light on
the authors’ experiences of migrations. The irony is that the reason that led to migrations in
both the cases are entirely different scenarios. While we read between the fault lines of the
memoir, we can understand that the author was fortunate to undergo migration and explore
different places because of her father who also loved to travel. Not all people receive this
luck and being able to find themselves in beautiful destinations whereas while we pomp
about the extravagance of travelling as described by Meena Alexander, the author Keki N
Daruwallah in his poem, Migrations throws light on the other side of the coin and portrays a
darker and emotional perspective of the cause and impact of migrations. In contrast to
Meena’s happy days of travelling and migrating to various places, the poet says migrations
are painful and difficult and the reasons may not be extravagant like Dad’s mandatory job
transfer and all but the desperate ones are left with no other option that to leave their
motherland even for political reasons. Meena found joy in the little things life throwed at her
like the bumpy ride in her Appa’s bicycle, the buzz of aircraft, her Kerala summers, serious
discussions with her Appa about Newtonian conceptions about the universe, sneak peek into
her old photographs, the divine bond with her Grandfather and many other nostalgic nuances
rippled her memory. On the contrary Daruwallah gives birth to the aspect of the pain in
migration of place as well as time. Recalling the frozen past will only arouse the memories of
sufferings in the minds of the migrants and a deep yearn and longing for the motherland. The
poet compares the melancholic and pensive mood of the migrants to the sky filled with
heavy, dark, monsoonal clouds that are ready to break into heavy downpour any time. Just
like Meena valued family relations and embraced her happy moments and memorable
experiences with her family members, the poet’s subconscious mind thinks of the fond
memories with his mother and grandmother and he is then worried and haunted by the
realization that as the time passes, he may not remember his own mother and his motherland
as he was uprooted from his native roots and strongly believes that he cannot do anything
about it as he specifies that time is set in stones and we are helpless of the frozen past.

Meena hold on to the past experiences and embrace them with joy and
happiness as all the happy moments rippled in her memory whereas past is the reason of grief
for the poet. The Memoir and The Migrations are the representation of the disparity in reality
and the emotional extremes indeed tugs a couple of heart strings.

3) Write a comparative analysis of how the narrators in “Babus of Nayanjore” and the
passage given here portray the people around them and themselves? What do you glean
about India as a colony and a newly independent nation from their portrayals?

The narrators in both ‘Babus of Nayanjore’ and ‘The memoir’ have inherited a
similar style in describing the characters. The readers are provided with a clear character
sketch and minute details about the behaviour of the people around them and themselves.
Their observational skills and concentration towards small details is very much evident in
both the works. The narrators have followed a specific pattern in portraying the characters by
providing an introduction followed by a description which includes their role in the
narratives’ life enabling the readers to look through the eyes of the narrator.

In ‘Babus of Nayanjore’ the narrator is an independent and self-made man who

was fortunate to receive the best education and has inherited his moral values of not spending
a penny more than was needed from his father who got his money from his own exertions
unlike the Babus of Nayanjore who were famous for their princely extravagance. In this way
the readers are provide with a basic portrayal of the narrator who in turn gains the readers’
attention because of his reserved and humble behaviour. On the other side of the coin, the
passage provided, ‘The Memoir’ is rich with the narrator’s memories and descriptions about
her loved ones and the good moments and shared experiences with them. Her fond memories
bring joyful tears in the eyes of the readers. In this passage, the narrator portrays her
innocence of childhood, how she found mindfulness and happiness in the little adventures of
life, her insecurities and what all things scared her as a little girl, how she valued her
relations, especially the divine bond with her grandfather and how she looked up to his father
as a Royalist at heart. Through this the readers get a picture of the narrator as a little girl who
lives in her fairyland of beautiful memories and embraces her precious experiences of life
with open arms.
In both the works, the narrator portrays the characters with significant
importance. It is very much evident that the impact of the people around had a great influence
in their lives and is reflected in the both the passages as well. In Babus of Nayanjore, the
narrator portrays Kailas Babu, the last relic of the extinct magnificence of the famous
landholders at Nayanjore who were noted for their princely extravagance, as an honourable
man. He has gained a respectful position in the society because of his gentle and kind acts of
courtesy. The narrator also introduces us with another significant character, Kusum, the grand
daughter of Kailas Babu. Kusum appears in the beginning of the story as an unworthy
marriage product, but in reality, the narrator realizes that ‘in the corner of the room, there was
a tender human heart beating’ which reminds of the quote, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.
In the passage, all the people around the narrator are associated with fond memories
especially how the narrator loved the bumpy ride with her father and how she loved travelling
with her mother reveals the joyful and pleasing character of her parents. She was very much
close with her grandfather Ilya with whom she shared a divine bond. This is how the
characters are portrayed.

What we can infer from about India from both ‘The Memoir’ and ‘ The Babus
of Nayanjore’ is that India is land of rich and varied diversities and cultures. Each place has a
different story to tell and the experience we will get from various places of India and the
cultures we get to know from groups of people in various regions are extremely different and
have a unique beauty. In addition, it is a matter of great importance that Colonialism
especially British Colonialism in India had a significant impact on Indian culture. The aspects
of class conflict and the conflict between different generations in both the works ironically
bring together the new and the old, the rich and the poor and the modern and the traditional
people of the colonial and newly independent India.

SECTION-B

4) Comment on the use of humour and paradox in the story “He Said it With Arsenic”.
How does the narrator use his wit to outsmart his uncle?
‘He said it with Arsenic’ by Ruskin Bond is an interesting detective story
whose plot keeps the readers at the edge of their seats. This murder story has been successful
in keeping the readers interested in it because of the various literary devices used by the
author. Ruskin Bond’s subtle use of paradox with an undertone of sarcasm and instances
replete with dark humour is able to challenge the traditional norms of relations between
parents, grandparents and children and even uncle-nephew relationship and ultimately
overhauls the conventional representation of family.
 The author begins the story itself with an element of sarcasm and paradox as in
William Jones is a ‘Born Murder’ unlike the most commonly used terms like born musicians,
born artists etc, so the first line itself catches the attention of the readers. The humour part
comes into play when William Jones, our Uncle Bill visits the narrator after a long gap of 15
years since his release from the jail. As the narrator was sceptic about the motive behind the
unwelcomed and sudden visit of his uncle and his intuitions made him conclude at the fact
that the reason behind his visit is to murder him and thereby conquering the assets of the
narrator as he has become a successful author. So one day when uncle Jones came with two
glasses of sherry, the narrator who sensed the poison in one of the glasses and said there was
custom there to revolve the tray as it would bring good luck and thus our narrator made uncle
drink from the poisoned glass. In this way the narrator used his wit to outsmart his uncle.

5) Describe Kamala Das’s “Forest Fire” as an autobiographical poem on the creative

fire that burns within a poet.

Kamala Das, Kerala’s very own Madhavikutty is famous for her deeply thoughtful
and insightful works which speaks beyond the realm of words and has a profound hidden
meaning and interpretation. Forest fire is not an exception. In this poem, she wants to convey
to the readers, and portray the constant mental pressure of an artist i.e. the poet’s urge for
creativity and sensory input which is synonymous to a the feeling of hunger which consumes
everything like a forest fire with greed. She has a longing fire inside her which is craving for
creativity and is all consuming. Through Forest Fire, Kamala Das expresses her own
experience of becoming a poet by transcending the barrier of emotional mood swings with a
raging fire of urge for creativity. It is evident and is obviously clear that Kamala used her
poem ‘Forest Fire’ as a liberation to her own sense of suffering of life through her medium of
confession. By comparing her with the forest fire which is all consuming, just like the forest
fire, brighter charm comes her way with each new experience that life throws. A microcosm
been created out of the macrocosm. The woman, who once found herself trapped in the snare
of marital life, constraining herself within the curbs of misogynistic society and almost
succumbed to the disheartening responses of the male-dominated society, now revives back
into life by rising from the ashes like a phoenix She is no more scared of this system; rather
she finds this system as a means to bring out the impulses which helps her in writing poems
and other works as well. She gathers this strength from the poems she writes as she in her
poems raises her voice to post her protest against the humiliation. As a confessional poet,
Kamala Das exposes her own self in some way or other in almost every poem. That is why
her poems often appear autobiographical and “Forest Fire” being one of her best
autobiographical poems on the creative fire that burns within a poet.

THANK YOU