An Astrologer's Day

 

An Astrologer's Day

This particular blog is a task given by Megha Ma'am. In this task I am going to deal with some questions mentioned in the teacher's (Megha Ma'am) blog. Here you can visit and read it.

An Astrologer's Day

"An Astrologer's Day" is a short story written by R.K. Narayan, an acclaimed Indian author known for his works in English literature. The story was first published in 1947 as part of his collection of short stories titled "Malgudi Days."

The plot revolves around an astrologer who sets up his stall by the side of a busy street in the fictional town of Malgudi, India. He attracts clients by making vague and general predictions based on their appearance and body language. One evening, a man named Guru Nayak approaches the astrologer for a consultation. To the astrologer's horror, Guru Nayak is revealed to be a person from his past whom he had attempted to murder years ago.

As the story unfolds, it is revealed that the astrologer had a dark and criminal past before adopting his current profession. He had assumed a new identity and moved to Malgudi to escape his past. However, the encounter with Guru Nayak now threatens to expose his true identity and dark secrets.

Throughout the narrative, Narayan weaves themes of deception, fate, and the consequences of one's actions. The story's climax is filled with suspense and serves as a powerful exploration of guilt, redemption, and the unpredictability of life. "An Astrologer's Day" is a beautifully crafted tale that highlights Narayan's skill in capturing the essence of human emotions and the complexities of human nature.

R K Narayan

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (RK Narayan) was a well-known Indian writer famous for his set of work and writing in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was one of the leading and famous authors of early Indian literature written in English along with two others, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.Narayan's greatest achievement was to make India accessible to the outside world through his writing and powerful words in his literature.

1. How Faithful is the movie to the original short story?

Movie is truly faithful to the original text, because the movie is based on the original text. Every particular scene, dialogues and minimalistic things are based on original text. 

2. After watching the movie, has your perception about the short story, character or structure changed?

After watching the movie, my perception about the short story, character and structure has not really changed, because there is a reason that this short film is based on original text, so there were not major changes of any character or structure, scene.

3. Do you feel aesthetic delight while watching the movie ? If yes, exactly when did it happen? If not, can you explain with the reasons?

Yes, basically when we read novels and when we watch movies there are huge differences. We usually enjoyed movies rather than reading novels, because in the movie there were scenes and music, characters, sound effects differently. Reading a novel is also a pleasure. While reading a novel, readers imagine scenes, characters in their mind and it takes much time to finish one book or novel. 

In this movie I felt aesthetic delight  when Guru Nayak appeared  and the Astrologer tried to read his past. Guru Nayak was searching for one man who had attacked him and tried to kill him. The Astrologer knew that he was that man. When at the first time Guru Nayak met Astrologer, he didn't have trust in him that he could read his past but when astrologer revealed about his past he fritten and went away.

4. Does screening of movie help you in better understanding of the short story?

Yes, the screening of the movie helps a lot to understand this short story, because the film could be understood in a better way than reading any text. Film has its vivid scenes, music, sound, and many visual effects, and by those things one can understand text in a better way.

5. Was there any particular scene or moment in the story that you think was perfect?

Yes, there were many scenes which is perfect that i think, in that scenes there were one scene when Guru Nayak appeared and get to know about his past and that person whom he searched for long time, and he get to know that that person had died. Astrologer knows that he was the person that Guru Nayak searches for but he convinces him that Guru Nayaks attacker has died.

6. If you are the director, what changes would you like to make in the remaking of the movie based on the short story "An Astrologer's Day" by R. K. Narayan?

If I were a director I would like to make many changes like in lighting and choose a proper set for shooting which has a more realistic background in the text. I also changed the music and sound effects to make it more dramatic.

Crime and Punishment by R.K.Narayan

 Crime and Punishment 

by

R.K.Narayan

This blog is a task assigned by Megha Ma'am from the Department of English M.K.B.U.  In this particular blog we used to write dynamic roles of teacher and student and try to give some suitable examples of movies, novels, short stories related to the major themes of this story.

R.k.Narayan

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was a well-known Indian writer famous for his set of work and writing in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was one of the leading and famous authors of early Indian literature written in English along with two others, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

R.K.Narayan's greatest achievement was to make India accessible to the outside world through his writing and powerful words in his literature. Narayan's biography is always centered on his friendship with Graham Greene. Because he was Narayan's mentor and close friend. He was actively involved in identifying and getting publishers for Narayan's first four books. 

In 1941, he founded his own publishing house and his works quickly found a permanent and favorite place in the bookshelves of almost all the Indian homes. When he was at the peak of his fame in his successful career, Narayan was then awarded a Padma Bhushan in 1964 and 36 years later, just a year before his death at 94, another prestigious Padma Vibhushan award in 2000. 

Best Works

Among the best works of RK Narayan among his 34 novels, The English Teacher (1945), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961), The Vendor of Sweets (1967), and A Tiger for Malgudi (1983) were the best.

Crime and Punishment

R. K. Narayan’s short story ‘Crime and Punishment’ is about a school master and his student. The school master commits a crime and the punishment he undergoes. This story is set in an Indian background. The teacher, purely out of monetary benefits, takes tuition, to a clever and naughty child, of rich and educated parents.

That rich parents want the boy to secure a double promotion but at the same time want him to be taught in their line of child psychology. They do not favor corporal punishment. They lecture to the teacher their views on infant psychology every evening. It seemed to the teacher that the boy was made of thin glass.

For the parents, the boy was a little angel, all dimples, smiles, and sweetness – only wings lacking. But the teacher was convinced that he was in charge of a little gorilla and what needed to make the youngster a normal citizen was not cajoling but an anna worth of cane.

One day the teacher slaps the boy in a fit of anger when he failed to answer a simple question, even after repeated correction. The teacher thought that the boy was trying to fool him. When the boy threatened to tell his parents about it, the teacher was horrified. He tries to pacify the boy. The boy takes the opportunity and blackmails the teacher. He makes the teacher close the lessons for the day, makes him the station master, tells him stories and at the end makes him run around the garden thrice.

R K Narayan mingles humor, sarcasm, irony and a serious undertone in his story. He portrays his characters, in a vivid and realistic manner, and they seem to spring up from the society around us. The hopes and dreams of the parents, the poverty of the school master which makes him take tuition class after six hours of working in the school, the mischievous nature of the boy, the silly mistakes that they commit, the dilemma the teacher faces, the predicament of the boy at the end, all are finely woven together.

The story highlights the truth that over caring and over parenting spoil the child. It proves the old saying, 

“spare the rod and spoil the child”.

   The Teacher

The role of the teacher in R K Narayan’s story “Crime and Punishment”, is a symbol of traditional teachers in the Indian States of South India. He does six hours of teaching in the school during the day but his poverty forced him to take tuition to a mischievous boy of rich parents for thirty rupees a month. He had to teach the boy three hours every evening and listen to the child's psychological theories of the parents and pretend that he agreed with them. In his heart he knew that he was in charge of a little gorilla and not the little angel in the opinion of the parents. He was prepared to advance the ana for buying the cane which was all that was needed to make the boy a normal citizen. The teacher commits a crime of slapping the boy and suffers the punishment of suffering the boy’s blackmailing. 

The Student

In this short story the student is the little boy, who is a child of rich parents. When the teacher commits the crime of slapping that little boy, the boy starts blackmailing him and takes the situation in hand and makes the teacher dance to his tune. At first the boy made him stop the lessons for the day and then made him the stationmaster. When the train stopped moving, he had to tell the boy stories. At the end the boy made him run around the garden thrice. However, he saves the boy from the parents and hopes that the boy would not betray him.

The relationship between student and teacher is one of the most beautiful relations in the world, every teacher inspires his or her student in its own way. Every time a teacher tries to do good for their student and always inspires them to work hard, work smart. Teacher always wants to find out the talent of the student and wants their student to be successful in their future. There were many bollywood movies which tell interesting stories of the relationship between student and Teacher. 

3 Idiots

The very first movie is 3 idiots, this movie is a comedy drama film directed by Rajkumar Hirani. In this movie the main character is Rancho- Ranchoddas shamaldas Chanchad, who is a talented student of engineering. In this movie Rancho is Amir khan, Farhan is R Madhavan and Raju is Sharman Joshi. 

They three form an unbreakable bond with each other and their unconventional teacher, Viru Sahastrabuddhe, famously known as "Virus" (Boman Irani). 

Throught the movie, Rancho emphasizes the importance of pursuing the importance of pursuing one's happiness and success. This message resonates with both students and teachers. Urging them to embrace their unique talents and follow their hearts. In this movie the relationship between teacher and student is inspiring. Rancho is the character who studied joyfully and smartly, and on the other side there were many students who were always under pressure. At the end when Rancho's teacher gets to know that his student is extraordinarily talented and sincere, their bond becomes stronger. 

Hichki

Rani Mukerji's 2018 release was a classic example of how teachers selflessly try to look out for their students and what's best for them. We saw Rani play the role of a teacher who is living with Tourette's syndrome and that doesn't stop her from wanting to be a teacher. When she gets a chance to teach a bunch of misfits, she makes the best of this opportunity and disciplines them.

Black

For a teacher, there's no challenge, all they want is to see their student excel and no other film showed this more beautifully and realistically like Black. The film starring Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan has been one of the most loved Sanjay Leela Bhansali films for portraying a beautiful student-teacher relationship between Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji's characters.

Conclusion

To conclude, R. K. Narayan's short story "crime and punishment '' showcases how over parenting and over caring of a child spoils the child who is our future generation and because of that child the teacher suffers a lot. 

Derrida and Deconstruction: Flipped Learning

 

Derrida and Deconstruction: Flipped Learning

1.1. Why is it difficult to define Deconstruction?

First Derrida refuses to define Deconstruction because he thinks that it is not once and for all finally defined.

1.2. Is Deconstruction a negative term?

The term "deconstruction" is not  negative or positive and It is not something breaking down but it is inquiring about the foundation.

1.3. How does Deconstruction happen on its own?

Deconstruction happens on its own when people start questioning and challenging the meanings of texts.

2.1. The influence of Heidegger on Derrida

Derrida was influenced by Martin Heidegger' concept of "deconstruction". Heidegger and his philosophy deals with some important themes which Derrida continues, which is the questioning of deconstruction. Here western philosophy refuses the mode of existence and the mode of their being , and Heidegger wants to destroy this western philosophy, and that's how he wants to transform the way western people think. Like Heidegger Derrida wants to rethink.

2.2 Derridean rethinking of the foundations of Western philosophy

Because he wanted to deconstruct the traditional binary oppositions, and challenging the idea of fixed meanings.

3.1. Ferdinand de Saussureian concept of language (that meaning is arbitrary, relational, constitutive)

Ferdinand de Saussure's concept of language posits that meaning in language is arbitrary, meaning of words do not inherently have a direct connection to the objects they represent.

3.2. How does Derrida deconstruct the idea of arbitrariness?

Derrida deconstructs the idea of arbitrariness by questioning the traditional understanding of language as purely arbitrary, he said that any word can be used to talk about anything and meaning of any word is nothing but another word. He further emphasized that how meaning is dependent on the differences between words, and how these differences are not stable but constantly shifting.

3.3. Concept of metaphysics of presence

The concept of the "metaphysics of presence" is a term used by Jacques Derrida to critique the traditional Western philosophical view that meaning and truth are based on the direct presence of things or ideas. We are connected being with its present and in language we use present tense for any object to signify that it exists like "the table is".

4.1. Derridean concept of DifferEnce

The Derridean concept of DifferAnce refers to the idea that meaning is not fixed or stable but meaning is something that is constituted through the differences between signs and words. Words do not have only one meaning but they have lots of meaning like when we opened a dictionary and wanted to find the meaning of interest. We get lots of meaning from that particular word, and the ultimate meaning is always postponed.

4.2. Infinite play of meaning

Infinite play of meaning refers to the continual interplay of meanings within language, where meaning is never fixed or final but is constantly shifting and evolving through various contexts and interpretations.

4.3. DIfferAnce = to differ + to defer

This highlights the dual meaning of both "difference" and "deferral."

5.1. Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences

In this influential work, Derrida discusses the important thing which is interplay between structure and meaning in the human sciences.

5.2. Explain: "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique."

The statement "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique" suggests that language contains inherent limitations, ambiguities, and biases that require critical examination.

6.1. The Yale School: the hub of the practitioners of Deconstruction in the literary theories

The Yale School playing a significant role in popularizing and advancing the deconstructive approach to literature and language analysis. Because of Yale Deconstruction becoming a school of literary criticism.

6.2. The characteristics of the Yale School of Deconstruction

The Yale School of Deconstruction emphasized the instability of language,  and the idea that texts have multiple interpretations, and also challenged traditional views of fixed meanings in literature.

7.1. How other schools like New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Marxism and Postcolonial theorists used Deconstruction?

Other schools like New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Marxism, and Postcolonial theorists have utilized and use Deconstruction as a critical tool, because they wanted to examine many things like social constructs, and historical contexts within literature.

"Raat Rani" modern love mumbai - discussion on independence

"Raat Rani" modern love mumbai - discussion on independence 

This blog is a task assigned by Vaidehi ma'am from the Department of English M.K.B.U. In this particular blog I am going to illustrate some of the important questions mentioned in the task and give my point of view in the answers. For more information on this task you can visit Vaidehi Ma'am's blog.

Click here.

"Raat Rani" modern love mumbai

"Rat Rani" is the first episode of the show named modern love mumbai, which is directed by Shonali Bose. In this episode the female character Lali is a cook, and her husband Lutfi a security guard, in an upscale apartment in Mumbai, far from their native Kashmir. Long days end with ice cream, until suddenly he dumps her, breaking her heart and shattering her dreams.

After that break down she came out with all those things and she learned to be happy and to love herself. First she struggled to ride the old cycle but as the story progresses, Lali eventually learns how to get control over the cycle and climbs up a flyover as well, That  indicates that she has also moved on from the emotional turmoil and is now ready to live a life. She Worked day and night as she said " me dinko suraj aur raat ko chand banke". With each progression, Lali also starts decorating the cycle in vivid colors and jasmine (Raat rani) flowers that won't ever dim her light for anyone ever as she did for her husband. The short ends with Lali breaking all the rules she could and doing all that she  feels  more liberated than ever. She like her character  that she mentioned- 

"Log maante hain ke raat rani ke khushboo se saanp bahar aate hain isiliye uske bagal me din ka raja laga te the. Magar raat rani apni khushboo kisi ke liye kam thodi karegi."

To know more about this episode one can also watch its trailer, here i embed the link. Go through, watch it and learn.

1) List down the contradictory symbols you observed in the episode "Rat Rani".

Here is the first frame where Lali is pulling her husband's ear. This is a contradictory thing here.  When her husband threatened her that he would leave her on the road and went away, she started to quarrel with him and  pulled his ears. In rural areas this type of thing is not normal, but this is a big city, where people from different states are living together. 

This second frame is one example of contradictory things. Men usually went at night to make money but women didn't. Here Lali went at night with her cycle to sell kadha and people liked to drink it. So here she became more free and she can do whatever she wants. 

2) Which is your favorite symbol from "Rat Rani"? Why?

In this episode my favorite symbol is the painting of a lying woman on the ceiling. When one looks at that painting one can see a "Raat Rani" flower in her hair and her hand is in the water of the river, where there is one small boat. That painting speaks lots of things and it symbolizes the dreams and freedom of women. That picture of the little boat is valuable for Lali and that painting is like a dream and courage for her.

Another symbol is the flower of "Rat Rani", because that flower has its unique smell, which smell is never fed off by any other plant. So here Lali has her own dreams and her own shine, that she realized and she shining by her own way.

3) Which is your favorite frame from the episode ?why?

My favorite frame from this episode is the last fram where Lali  eventually rides across the famed bridge, where She finally climbs over the metaphorical wall of hostility. She knows that she has defeated the city, an act foregrounded by her dancing in front of the CCTV, the eyes of authority that control the city. It fills her with immense happiness and pride. Her eyes twinkle brighter as she declares, "Maine flyover cross kar liya".  While crossing she deliver this dialogue-

4) Compare and write a note on all the women characters from "Rat Rani".

The main character or protagonist of this particular episode is Lali. She knows what is good for her, when the story starts one can notice that she is a normal middle class woman. She knows how to handle her husband but when her husband compliments her that he doesn't enjoy his life with her and he leaves her,  she cried and tried to jump from the bridge but her kurta stuck in cycle. She realized her freedom and started living by her own way. 

There are three women, who were fitting with one man, one is  loyal and one is his wife, his wife fitting for her own freedom and her authority. That women inspire Lali to live with freedom and independence.

5) "Courage is Contagious" Give an example for this from the episode.

Here in this episode every woman inspires  each other by their courage. Courage is something that every human being needs. Without it no one can live. First Lali inspires the courage of those three women and further that women are inspired by the courage of Lali that she is selling "Kadha" on the footpath, and she wants to live her life in her own way.

6) Sharing a picture of yours with a woman is your source of courage. Give a creative title to it.

Here is the picture of my mother, she is my source of courage. Whenever I feel low and sad about anything she inspires me and supports me. I'm the person who gets tensed and frustrated over minor things, and my mummy always helps me to get over my faults and mistakes. She gives me strength and courage whenever I need it.

Thank You.