Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Prakruti Medam, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is discussion on Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and his philosophy.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an Indian leader, philosopher, and statesman. He was the second President of India from 1962 to 1967, and before that, he was the first Vice President from 1952 to 1962. He also served as India’s ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952. Earlier, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948 and of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. Radhakrishnan is known as one of the most important scholars of religion and philosophy in the 20th century. He taught at the University of Calcutta and Oxford University, where he focused on Eastern religions and ethics.

Write a note on S. Radhakrishnan’s perspective on Hinduism:

In his book ‘The Hindu View of Life’(1962) Radhakrishnan has given his views regarding the Hinduism. It is a compilation of the various speeches that he has delivered at various places. According to Radhakrishnan, Hinduism is a view of life rather than a religion. During the Early 19th century the people of the world, especially the European world considered Hinduism to be a very conservative and superstitious religion. Radhakrishnan was an educationalist who had read the Vedas and the Upanishads thoroughly. He represents the ideas from that point of view that now the way Hinduism is generally seen by the world it is totally different from what it really is. 

Radhakrishnan represents the positive side of Hinduism to he western world and tries to rectify the image of Hinduism globally. He comes up with the concept of “Dharma”, in which he talks that in Hinduism the karma is the dharma, whatever we do in daily life is our dharma and then he gives this argument to the way of life. 

He comes up with the idea of the origin of the word Hindu that is related with the river Sindhu, where the whole community used to live. When western people called it Hindu, the word itself came into existence, otherwise there was no particular definition of Hinduism. He also argues that the term is related with geography rather than religiosity. 

In further argument he says that Hinduism is related with personal experience, rather than following any particular god. In which he argues that other religions have the singularity of God whereas in Hinduism there are so many Gods and Goddesses. He says that the religion is scientific, it does not belong to a blind faith and superstitions. He further argues that Hinduism has various sects that follow and worship various gods and goddesses. And the people give that liberty to the people that they can follow whatever sect of gods/goddesses. 

He also argues that there are two aspects of Hinduism, first is philosophical and second is practical. In practical terms the real world is considered that there are various aspects that we see outside that is a practical world. And another thing that falls under that is personal experience in which whatever we feel from within and understand yourself that is our philosophical aspect. He also talks about the four pillars of Hindu dharma that is 1.Dharma 2. Aretha 3. Kam and 4. Moksha. That according to this philosophy we should live our life. 

In the defense of the caste system he says that In the beginning of the caste system the intention was not to discriminate against the people but to organize the work in the society, to make people do their duties. It becomes rigid in the later part that what he wants to defend here. In the conclusion he says that there are certain aspects in Hinduism that are bad for the society and outdated but that should be removed from the world. 

Write a note on the contribution of S. Radhakrishnan in Indian Writing in English:

Radhakrishnan was an academician, philosopher and statesman. In providing the various aspects of Hinduism. During the early 19th century the image of Hinduism was not quite good. He had an in depth knowledge of Vedas and Upanishads, through which he tries to improve the image of Hinduism in the Western world. He has written various books related to the Hindu philosophy. ‘An Idealist View of Life’ [1932] and ‘The Hindu View of Life’(1962) are the groundbreaking works written by him. 

In the early 19th century very few Indian writers were expressing themselves in the English language. It gives the other the way to do the same. And he revisited the Vedas and Upanishad and made it famous during that time while the swadeshi movement was going on. He has given his views regarding these Indian ancient texts that have been forgotten during that time. He has written his understanding of Vedas and Upanishads to portray the new way for Hinduism. 

He was delivering lectures at foreign universities that are world famous. The lectures are compiled in his books that also give a good image of an Indian Academician who can articulate a high level of the English language in Hindu philosophy. He also contributed to The Radha Krishna Commission, a commission set up to look into the condition of Indian University Education and suggest improvements and extensions that may help in improving university education. 

According to Radhakrishnan, what is the function of philosophy?

According to Radhakrishnan the function of philosophy is to make people take it to a higher extent. In his experiences he says that people have various experiences at personal level and philosophical level. He says that the experiences that we have are based on the basis of our intuition. Knowing the philosophy of intuition is very important to understand the higher level of self. The philosophy is also related to fundamental questions. The basic philosophy of life how we can 

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan saw philosophy as a way to understand the world in a deep and meaningful way. He believed that philosophy helps us make sense of the big questions about life, reality, and values. It’s not just about collecting facts but about seeing how everything connects and finding the underlying truths that we can't always see directly.

Philosophy also plays an important role in helping people grow intellectually and morally. By encouraging critical thinking and reflection, it guides us in making thoughtful decisions and living ethically. Essentially, Radhakrishnan viewed philosophy as a tool for both understanding the world better and improving ourselves.

Words: 1053

The Home and the World

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Megha madam, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is discussion on the novel 'The Home and the World'.

Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian artist who did many things: he was a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter. He was active during the Bengal Renaissance and played a big role in changing Bengali literature, music, and Indian art in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His famous book of poems, “Gitanjali”, was praised for its deep and beautiful poetry. In 1913, Tagore became the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His songs and poems were known for their spiritual and emotional depth and were loved by many in India.

“The Home and the World” is a novel written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1916. The story shows Tagore's inner struggle between two ideas: one is influenced by Western culture, and the other is about fighting against it. These ideas are represented by two main characters. Nikhilesh is calm and against violence, while Sandip is determined and will do anything to achieve his goals. These two different views help explain the history and issues of the Bengal region during that time.

Summary:

“The Home and the World” is a novel by Rabindranath Tagore about the clash between personal values and political beliefs. The story is set in Bengal during the time of the Indian independence movement. It revolves around three main characters: Nikhilesh, his wife Bimala, and his friend Sandip.

Nikhilesh is a kind and peaceful man who believes in non-violence and rational thinking. Sandip, on the other hand, is passionate about nationalism and will do anything to achieve his political goals, even if it means using violence. Bimala, who has always been devoted to her husband, gets attracted to Sandip's fiery personality and ideas. 

The novel explores how these different viewpoints affect the characters' relationships and lives, and it reflects the larger struggle in India between tradition, modernity, and the fight for freedom.

Critical Analysis:

In the novel the idea of nationalism is so prominent. The Sandip’s character in the novel represents the blind faith in nationalism. He comes with the slogan ‘Vande mataram’ and with the idea of using indigenous goods which are produced in India and that is called the Swadeshi movement. He is a good speaker who has the ability to mesmerise the listener. 

On this side there is Bimala who gets educated and wants to know the world, who wants to come out from the home. Nikhil also promotes the idea that Bimala should come out of the four walls of the home and know the world by her own understanding. 

Nikhil's is a Zamindar there and he is respected in the town a lot. There are a lot of markets that are under the control of Nikhil . He understands the concept of the Swadeshi movement but does not follow it blindly. He care s for the poor people who might not be able to buy and sell the products that are made in India. It might be costly and difficult there . Nikhil has sympathy for those people. 

The plot revolves around these three characters mostly.  Bimala who was following the conservative ideas that husband should be worshipped she also touches Nikhil's feet while waking up in the morning. But slowly and steadily she comes under the spell of Sandip and moves away from Nikhil. There we find that how both Nikhil and Sandip want Bimala to do something, they do not let her think what she should do. And at the end of the novel Bimala realises her mistakes and admits her mistakes. 

In the novel there is also reflection of the idea of Tagore himself because he also was against this swadeshi movement because he knew that on every level this idea could not be implemented. In earlier days Tagore also was supporting the idea of nationalism but in later years he saw the treaty and became the critique of the idea of nationalism. In this Tagore gives his views on the basis of Nikhil's character. 

In the character of Amulya we get to know how the youth of the village are manipulated by the words of the Sandip. Amulya and many other students leave their education for the movement of Swadeshi and Vande Mataram. Through the character of Amulya Bimala also gets to know that hoe Sandip is using other people in the name of nationalism. And then and then she was able to get out of the charm of Sandip and see his real face. 

One can also connect these ideas with the contemporary world also that in the name of nationalism the people are manipulated and how politicians use their language to misguide the mass of citizens. The idea of nationalism still is very commonly used by the people even after so many messages have happened in  the history of nationalism. But still we see the same flare in the ieyes of the people when they say the nation fries. 

In the novel the importance of education is also well explained. In the case of Bimla we get to know that women's education is a must in the contemporary world. Tagore also points out that what is real education, it is not reading or writing or following ideals but it is to think and consider before taking any step. Otherwise there are lots of Sandipa moving even in the contemporary world that would lead by the people in the wrong direction.

In the Nikhil character we find what type of environment women should be given to in the home. Although he tries to educate her as he wants but still the liberty he gives in other matters to Bimala that are hard to find during that time in India, Tagore tries to give what type of relation should be there in married life. 

In feminist reading one can observe the character of Bimala. That does not have any standpoint, she follows what other people believe and say. She reads various things but she is not able to contemplate on that very  reading. She just  becomes the puppet of both male characters Nikhil and Sandip.

Examples:

In the movie ‘Laapataa Ladies’(2024) the character of Phul is the same as the character of Bimala. She also does not have an exposure to the outer world and suddenly she falls into the circumstances that she has to live on her own. But in the movie there is development of the character of Phul but in the novel Bimala is not able to develop herself at that level. 

In many Indian soap operas there is a description of docile women like Bimala. In ‘Saath Nibhana Saathiya’(2010 to 2017) there is a character of Gopi that has a similar characteristic to Bimala. 

Words: 1119

Midnight's Children

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Prof. Dilip Barad, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is discussion on the novel Midnight's Children.

Midnight's Children is a 1981 novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postcolonial, postmodern and magical realist story told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, set in the context of historical events. The style of preserving history with fictional accounts is self-reflexive.

1. Justification of the Title

The novel’s protagonist is Saleem, who was born on the date when India got its independence. On that very night Saleem was born and it was midnight. He also has a power that he can  summon the other children who were born on the same day at the same time as he was born. The plot of the novel revolves around the characters born on that day, that is why the name of the novel is Midnight’s Children. Another can metaphorically read that the people of India that were also born or India as a country also takes new birth on 15th August 1947. In the theme also we find that India and the other neighbour countries are the main focus in the novel.

2. Postcolonial Voices: Theoretical Lenses

Through this article I will try to define this point: Postcolonial Voices: Analysing Midnight's Children Through Theoretical Lenses

In the concept of Orientalism Edward Said talks about how western societies think that the East requires control and they are to be taught how to represent themselves. In the novel ‘Midnight Children’ Rushdie uses magical realism, linguistic hybridity, and the very Indian way of using English language. He also tells a story in a different narrative style that shows the Indian way of writing. He breaks the parameters that are set in English literature. 

Homi Bhabha gives the concept of hybridity, which is very much common in the novel. There were differences between the coloniser and colonised, that difference is not visible in the novel. IN the Saleem case he is a hybrid character, who belongs to so many communities and cultures. In Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak,s observations about Subaltern also reflect in the novel. The story ids about a minor character Saleem who faces the difficulty of a common man who is considered to be deprived in the societies. 

Frantz Fanon’s Decolonization and National Consciousness can be seen in the novel where India faces the difficulties of partition and Emergency. There is where we also find the trauma of post Independence India. In Saleeem’s case there we also find how he suffers in post-independent India. The poverty of India is also portrayed in the novel. Dipesh Chakrabarty argues that Europe writes history from the point of view of their side only. Eurocentric history can be seen western way of writing. Whereas in ‘Midnight's Children’ there is a view of India hoe it sees the world. Very indigenous way Rusdie tries to share his views in the novel.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o argues for decolonizing the mind that the author should use indigenous language that reflects the culture of that region. But in ‘Midnight's Children’ the language is used in such a way that it doesn't seem that it 8s colonisers language but it has its Indian version too. It seems like Indian have adopted the language and mastered it. Now it can be used by Indians as their own language. Aime Césaire gives his views on Negritude and Colonial Alienation. That colonized people might have gone away from their culture and heritage after the colonizer ruled over them. But in Midnight’s Children one can observe that Rushdie masterfully portrayed Indianness in his novel. (Postcolonial Voices)

3. The Role of 'English' in the Novel

In the novel ‘Midnight's Children’ Rushdie has used the very Indian way of explaining the things. The chutnification of the various aspects of Indian culture are integrated in the novel with the use of English language. Rusdie’s view regarding the English id that the language does not belong to the Britishers only now it has become the language of India. He uses “Hinglish” in his novel which is a mixture of English and Hindi. 

“She (Padma) attempts to cajole me from my desk : "Eat, na, food is spoiling." I remained stubbornly hunched on paper . . . . Padma snorts. Wrist smacks across forehead. "Okay, starve, starve, who cares two pieces." (Rushdie)

He uses this type of english to portray the character who does not know the English language. While Saleem is well educated he uses quite a good English but in his tone also sometimes we find Indianness too. 

4. Portrayal of the Emergency (1975-77)

In the novel Midnight's Children Rushdie has portrayed Indira Gandhi as a widow and sometimes Mrs. Gandhi. Rusdie believed that through literature history must be preserved and whatever has gone wrong future generations must know about that. In the novel Rushdie with the original name accussis Indira Gandhi that in Emergency she has played a vital role. Gandhi has also filed the case against Rusdie but the information was true so no actions were taken against Rusdie. He also portrayed how the episode of emergency affected the common people and how they suffered during that time. 

He also mentioned the widespread censorship, political imprisonment, forced sterilisation, and other abuses of power.  Katherine Frank’s book on Indira Gandhi in the chapter Mr.Rushdie and Mr. Gandhi talks about Indian Festival in London, there Margaret Thatcher has invited Mrs.Gandhi and Mr. Rushdie for having lunch together. But Thatcher was unaware that what was written in the novel here was a harsh criticism on the indira Gandhi and even she read few pages from the novel in front of Mrs. Gandhi. After that Indira Gandhi even filed a case against Mr. Rushdie and the publisher Jonathan Cape for the book Midnight’s Children. Kathereine also tried to find the similarities between Russia and Gandhi. They both were well educated from Oxford university, and belonged to liberal religious families, so there is a rare possibility that their point of views are different not because of different culture, cat or gender but in ideology and way of seeing they differ. 

5. Metaphor of Bulldozer:

In ‘’Midnight's Children’’, the word "bulldozer" is used for the government's harsh power during Indira Gandhi's time, especially the Emergency. It shows how the state destroyed communities and people's identities to push its own plans, not for the good of the people. The reference of bulldozer comes so many times that shows the destruction of the physical as well and the destruction of morality and innocence. In one of the references there is a discussion of the little girl who dies in the bulldozer discussion. Through that Rusdie shows how the oppression on the poor people was done in the name of ‘beautification’. That shows that during that time when people oppressed by the powerful structures try to destroy the poovery by reducing them in numbers. 

In contemporary times when we hear the word we can also connect with Uttar Pradesh in which the destruction happens on the houses of the criminals. The Supreme court also criticizes the idea that destroying the homes of criminals is justified, there are other people who belong to that house and the other family members of their criminals. (Erasure and Oppression)

Words: 1202

References:

Barad, Dilip. “Erasure and Oppression: The Bulldozer as a Toolof Authoritarianism in Midnight's Children.” Research Gate, August 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16493.19689. Accessed 9 September 2024.

Barad, Dilip. “Postcolonial Voices: Analyzing Midnight's Children Through Theoretical Lenses.” Research Gate, August 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16493.19689. Accessed 14 September 2024.

Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. Vintage, 2013. 

Virtual Teacher's day 2024

This blog is made for the collective memory of the Teacher's Day Celebration. On Teacher's Day, the Department of English (MKBU) organized a virtual celebration. As part of the celebration, I presented a video on the poem 'The Target' by Ivor Gurney. The video includes an analysis of the poem and its theme, as well as a description of the author's background. Here is a video. 

I have also created a lesson on TED-Ed using the same video. You can visit that lesson by following this link.

TED-ED Lesson

I have also prepared a 10 marks quiz related too the video. You can appear in that quiz by clicking following link.

Quiz

With help of this ppt I have discussed the poem.