Raja Rao - Kanthapura - Bharat Ek Khoj

Raja Rao's Kanthapura - Televised by Shyam Benegal

Bharat Ek Khoj—The Discovery of India A Production of Doordarshan, the Government of India’s Public Service Broadcaster Episode 49: And Gandhi Came, Part I With Shabana Azmi as Rangamma, Om Puri as Patel Range Gowda, Ila Arun as Gangamma, Savita Bajaj as Venkamma, Pallavi Joshi as Ratna, Virendra Saxena as Rachanna, Piyush Mishra as Murthy, Irfan Khan as Bade Khan, Sudhir Kulkarni as Bhatt, and Bhavana Mukativala as Radhamma. Playback by Chandrakant Kale, Ranjana Joglekar, Jolly Mukherjee, Pankaj Mitra, Anand Kumar, and Shobha Joshi Excerpts from Kanthapura by Raja Rao. Nehru notes that when World War I started, politics in India was at a low ebb. This was chiefly because of the split in the Congress between two sections, the radicals and the moderates, and also because of wartime restrictions and regulations. And then Gandhi came. He was like a powerful current of fresh air that made Indians stretch themselves and take deep breaths. He seemed to emerge from the millions of India, speaking their language and incessantly drawing attention to their appalling condition. The sprawling photographs of Gandhi illustrate how he entered the Congress and made it a democratic, mass organisation. The peasants rolled in and the Congress assumed the look of a vast agrarian organ with a strong sprinkling of the middle class. Industrial workers too came in as individuals. The ensuing drama draws from the episodes of Raja Rao’s novel, Kanthapura, that is embedded in those traumatic times. Even the traditional Harikatha gatherings are redolent with the consciousness that Mahatma Gandhi has newly instilled. Gandhi is depicted as the new incarnation of Vishnu who has come to rid the British oppression. There is resistance to provide accommodation to the newly-posted village-official, symptomatic of the troubled times. The word spreads on the efficacy of spinning thread daily by the Charkha (spinning wheel) and the message of assimilating the Achhoots (the untouchables) is driven in against the prevailing notions of community discrimination. Like many a village in India, Kanthapura is agog with Gandhian spirit. The protagonists Kashinath and Murthy, and even the village women Rangamma and Ratna, are involved in lively debates on the socio-political issues, in the face of the police antagonism. Murthy, the staunch Gandhian, undertakes a 3-day fast for self-purification, barring a daily drink of three glasses of water. The villagers, including the Patel, commiserate with him, but Murthy, drawing his inspiration from Gandhi’s many fasts, is adamant. We hear Gandhi’s favourite Ramdhun for congregational singing: Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram… Gandhi’s ideas of truth, love, divinity and non-violence are animatedly discussed, alongside the need for daily spinning of cotton yarn as an act of self- reliance for weaving hand-spun clothes. Amidst the spreading ethos of Charkha distribution, Murthy is arrested. Commenting on such far-reaching impact of Gandhi on the village folks, Nehru avers that this astonishingly vital man, full of self-confidence and an unusual kind of power, standing for equality and freedom of each individual but measuring all this in terms of the poorest, fascinated the masses of India and attracted them like a magnet. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

 Part 2

Nehru notes that against the all-pervading fear amongst Indian people of the British Raj, Gandhi’s quiet and determined voice was raised, ‘Be not afraid’. Suddenly, the black pall of fear was lifted from the people’s shoulders. To the ordinary village folks, it made all the difference. The song picks up the refrain that the Congress would hereafter rule in the rural front and initiate Rama Raj by abolishing Ravana Raj of the aliens. While Murthy declines to appoint an advocate to plead for him, Rangamma’s visit to the town to look for a defence lawyer is in vain. She returns with the news that Murthy has been sentenced to a three-month imprisonment. Rangamma and Ratna now pick up the cudgel and begin organising the female front of volunteers after the model of Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. They resolve not to fight back, even if beaten. There are mild protestations from the ilk of Narayan not to allow their female folk go in for public demonstrations. News comes that Murthy is released, but the nightmare is not over. The tidings of the Dundee March and Salt Satyagraha trickle in to enthuse the villagers no end. People decide to observe Maun (silence) to strengthen the Congress. There is tumultuous singing of another favourite Bhajan of Gandhi, by Narsinh Mehta: Vaishnavajanato Tene Kahiye… Further news trickles in that the police has lathi-charged the corps of volunteers at Mahatma’s prayer meeting. This only steels the people’s resolve not to pay tax and offer passive resistance. A new phenomenon is women taking out processions and picketing in front of liquor-shops to stop their men folk from alcoholism. The tax-evasion campaign takes an ugly turn, with the police auctioning off the landed property of the defaulters in Kanthapura. Women, under the guidance of the hiding men, put up resistance, but the police open indiscriminate fire killing many and injuring several. There is chaos now from a failed resistance, with people leaving Kanthapura en masse for Kashipura near Mysore and leaders like Murthy, Rangamma and Ratna imprisoned for six months. There is also news trickling in that at the apex, Nehru and Gandhi do not quite agree on non-violence. Nehru observes that, by 1930, Gandhi seemed, to his countrymen, able to link the past with the future and to make the present appear as a stepping-stone to the future of life and hope. Thus he affected a vast psychological revolution not only among those who followed his lead, but also among his opponents and those neutrals who were still ambivalent. Producer Doordarshan Language Hindi Credits Uploaded by Public.Resource.Org Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India With Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru Om Puri as the Narrator Produced and Directed by Shyam Benegal Chief Assistant Director was Mandeep Kakkar Executive Producer Raj Plus Script by Shama Zaldi and Sunil Shanbag A production of Doordarshan

Digital Humanities: Introduction

Basic Introduction: Digital Humanities

The Dept. of English, KSKV Kutch University, Bhuj (Gujarat - India) organised one day symposium on the Future of English Studies (on 19th oct 2018). There were four talks on various topics like Comparative Literary studies (Prof. Kamal H Mehta), Literary Theory and Criticism (Prof. Sanjay Mukherjee), Interdisciplinarity and English Studies (Prof. Ravesinh B Zala) and Digital Humanities (Prof. Dilip P. Barad).

This audio track is raw recording of the talk on Digital Humanities.

In an elementary introduction to Digital Humanities, the speaker talks about:

1) Nomenclature of Digital Humanities

2) Function of Digital Humanities

3) Nature and Scope of DH

4) Necessities for the study of DH

5) Brief History

6) Research Questions which DH attempts to explore.

Shashi Tharoor and Dark Era of Inglorious Empire

Speech at Oxford Union:



Looking Back at the British Raj in India: The University of Edinburgh



Exclusive Interview By Karan Thapar On His Book 'An Era Of Darkness'





About British Colonialism In India In His New Book 'An Era Of Darkness'

The Black Prince 

is a 2017 international historical drama film directed by Kavi Raz and featuring the acting debut of Satinder Sartaaj. It tells the story of Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire and the Punjab area, and his relationship with Queen Victoria.

The story revolves around the young prince as he attempts both to regain his throne and reconcile himself with the two cultures of his Indian birth and British education. (Wikipedia)

Victoria & Abdul 

is a 2017 British biographical drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim. It stars Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith and Adeel Akhtar.

The postcolonial critique of the film

The arguments presented by Shashi Tharoor are based in real research and facts. They are not concocted from hearsay talks or tea-stall gossips.

Listen to Dr. Shidhanshu Trivedi. Even though he is doctorate degree holder in Mechanical Engineering, all his arguments are based on hearsay talks and not based on hard facts. This speech is one of the best example of misplaced postcolonial argument. One should be proud of one's cultural identity. However, our perception of our culture shall be based on real life lived experience. The difference in Shashi Tharoor's highly academic post colonial argument and that of Dr. Shidhanshu Trivedi's fake rhetorics is very clear.

The popular resistance of post colonial subject results in reply words, like tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.

Points to ponder:

• Write on key arguments in Shashi Tharoor's book - An Era of Darkness.
• Write critique on both the films with reference to postcolonial insights.
• Summarise Ngugi Wa Thiongo's views in 'Introduction: Towards the Universal Language of Struggle' - from 'Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'.  

Teachers Day 2018

Teacher's Day 2018

On 5th September, 2018, Home School / Ghar Shala Sanstha organised an evening talk  with the teachers of the group of schools. In this speech the speaker talks about the difference between academic guru and spiritual guru; Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the scholar teacher and plagiarism & Knighthood controversies; and role and significance of teachers in the era of Google Guru and Artificial Intelligence.

The Letter

 

The School Management offered this meaningful thanks-giving letter to all the teachers of the school:

Thank You Teachers..

Since Its inception in 1939,the Gharshala Sanstha has been nurturing students in its uniquely “GHAR” like environment. It happens only because this school gets teachers the way teachers should be.

Today happens to be “Teachers' Day”. Dr. Radhakrishan, the first vice presedent of India and the second president of India, happned to be a school teacher and his birthday is celebrated as  “Teacher’s Day”. It’s wonderful compliment to the teachers of the nation that our president was actually a school teacher.

In the Indian culture, we have always recognized a teacher as a very important part of one’s life to the extent we said: “ Acharya Devo Bhava” which means a teacher is like god.

In the making of an individual human being, or in the making of a society, or a nation or even in  the making of a world at large, a teacher has a significant role. In the process of enhancing abilities and developing interest in a particular subject-definitely a teacher has a big role. For many children, which teacher is teaching what subject determines whether they love that subject or hate it. The subject gets identified with that person. If the teacher is inspiring enough then the subject suddenly becomes interesting.

In current times  people tend to think that the significance of a teacher has come down, because everything that a teacher can say, the internet can say too. No, the significance of a teacher has gone up manifold. Now that the burden of delivering information is taken away, a teacher’s  job becomes mainly to inspire and enhance a student as a human being- which has always been the main task.

 

When you work with children who are that part of humanity which is still in the making, what you make of them is in your hands. It is one of the greatest  responsibilities and privileges that a human being can have: to actually shape another life is a tremendous privilege. So, when such a privilege is being vested in somebody’s hands, it’s very important that the highest calibre of minds, the highest integrity and inspiration goes into that.

Seeking  learning with love is the most innate longing with every student.

And Teacher has the ability to respond to this innate urge.

Happy Teaching.

Happy Teacher’s Day.

Thank You.

Photos of the Day:

Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie born on 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian novelist, writer of short stories, and nonfiction.^[3] She has written the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), and the book-length essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014).

In 2008, Adichie was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [who] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature".^[4] Her most recent book, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, was published in March 2017.^[5] (Wikipedia).

Read more about the author in Encyclopedia Britannica

Official Website of Chimamanda.

She is an excellent speaker.

Listening her is an amazing experience.

1) Talk on importance of Story / Literature

In this talk - Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

2) We Should All Be Feminist

3) Talk on importance of Truth in Post-Truth Era

Train in Train to Pakistan

When we look symbolically at 'train in India, Indian literature & films', we find train as a microcosm of Indian society. The class division in railway system is symbolic of caste division; the luxury salon / AC coaches and general / non AC coaches is symbolic of rich-poor divide; and the two parallel rail-roads on which the train moves on, and are never going to meet, is symbolic of fractures and fissures of Indian dividedness.
Train is Khushwant Singh's 'Train to Pakistan' can be read with deeper implications.
Click here to listen a brief talk on 'Train in 'Train to Pakistan''. (38 Minutes)