Education: Indian and American - Anurag Mathur

The essay, “Education:Indian and American” is an extract from ‘The Inscrutable American’. It essays the journey of a small town boy Gopal to the United States in persuading of further studies.
In India, Gopal had been subjected to the traditional method of education where everything had been drilled into his mind by the rote system of learning and where questioning was considered heresy by the teachers. Gopal felt that in America, he had blossomed out and had learnt the art of logical thinking, deductive reasoning and most important of all, an all-encompassing thirst for knowledge. At the same time, he appreciated the strong foundation of the basics laid down during the formative years, which helped him in his quest for knowledge. In retrospect, teachers whom he had held in high esteem now seemed old bigoted people.
Through the character of Gopal, the author forays into the Indian psyche of malice and jealousy; two qualities he did not notice in his American counter parts. Thus, he finds the reasons as to why Indians felt more at home in America than in their homeland.
The author reminiscences, through the character of Gopal, his first encounter with snow. It is a brand new experience for the small town boy. In an alien culture, Gopal could easily give vent to his emotions; something he would not have dared to do back home.
The essay critically analyses the difference in the ethos between the two cultures and the easy adaptability to better working conditions by the expatriates.

The Night Train at Deoli - Rukin Bond (Additional English)

In this short story, Ruskin Bond narrates his experience during one of his train journeys to Dehra as an eighteen-year-old. He tells us that he used to spend his vacation every summer in his grandmother’s place in Dehra and had to pass a small lonely station, Deoli amidst the jungle on the way. This station appears strange to him as no one got on or off the train there & nothing seemed to happen there. He wonders why the train stopped there for ten minutes regularly without reason and feels sorry for the lonely little platform.
On one such journey, the author happens to see a pale-looking girl selling baskets. She appears to be poor, but with grace and dignity. Her shiny black hair and dark, troubled eyes attracts the author. The girl offers to sell baskets to him. He initially refuses to buy and later when she insists, happens to buy one with a little hesitation, daring not to touch her fingers in the melee. Both of them just look at each other for quite some time, just as it strikes a chord of affection between them. He longs to see her, her searching and eloquent eyes, again on his return journey. The meeting helps to break the monotony of his journey & brings in a sense of attachment & responsibility towards the girl.
The second time he sees her, both of them feel pleased to see each other, a smile on their faces reinforcing it, it seems like a meeting of old friends. Silence reigns and speaks more than words. He feels like taking her with him but does not do so. He tells her that he needs to go to Delhi and she replies saying she need not go anywhere, perhaps expressing her helplessness. Both of them separate unwillingly as the train leaves the station, with the hope of meeting again. The author spends the remainder of the journey and a long time later thinking about her.
The next summer, soon after his college term finishes, he rushes to go to Dehra, eager to meet the girl, his grandmother being an excuse. This time she is not to be seen at the Deoli station though he waits for a long time. This deeply disappoints him and a sense of foreboding overcomes him. On his way back to Delhi, he again waits anxiously to see her, but it ends in vain. On enquiry, he comes to know that the girl has stopped coming, & nobody knows about her whereabouts. Once again, he has to run for the train and invariably leave the station. He decides that once he would break the journey there, spend a day in the town, make enquiries and find the girl who had stolen his heart.
The following year in summer, he again walks up & down the platform hoping to see the girl, but somehow, cannot bring himself to break the journey to look for her. He seems to be afraid of discovering about her, dreading about anything unfortunate that could have befallen her and wants to retain his sweet memories of her & not allow it to be spoilt with unfortunate events. All the same, the author also suggests to his readers that he did not want to project himself like a hero of a movie where the hero would meet his sweetheart going through all hardships and win her over. He prefers to keep hoping and dreaming, waiting for the girl.
The author brings the readers to a realistic world rather than a fictitious, imaginary, unreal world, driving home the fact that life is not like a fiction novel or a movie; losing and gaining becomes part of life’s journey that needs to be taken in our stride. Life is a constant process, which cannot be stopped. We can only carry memories forward while life goes on.

Insensibility - Wilfred Owen (Additional English)

With bitter irony Owen presents in this poem the dehumanizing influence of war on man. Ironically the poet observes that if there are people who could become insensible before they are killed, then they are to be considered really lucky. Very often in war people i.e. soldiers allow their felling to be deadened. War has actually blunted the sense of pity of the soldiers for their dead comrades. So they march in the battlefield, trampling in the dead bodies of their comrades quite unconcerned.
When soldiers in the front line are mowed down by the enemy artillery, their comrades have no compassion for them. Though most of them are the youth of the country, its finest flowers, the callous soldiers think that it is sentimental nonsense for the poets to lament their death. The hardened soldiers feel that there is no need to mourn the death of their comrades. The gaps in the ranks caused by their death will be filled by a fresh batch of soldiers. No one is bothered about the loss of so much human material.
Some soldiers have stopped feeling for themselves. Owen thinks that in one sense it is a blessing to be bereft of feeling; insensibility is the best defense against the horrors and uncertainties of the war. The incalculable element in war is less puzzling to the soldiers than the figures in their pay bills. Happy are the soldiers deprived of imagination as that would only add to burden of ammunition they have to carry.
The soldiers do not shrink with disgust from the sight of blood because it is too common in the battlefield. Their senses are burnt by the cautery (hot iron): here, it is the gun. Their sense feeling is so much seared that they can laugh at the sight of their comrades’ death. Happy is the soldier who comes home without any nation that every morning some men attack and many lives are lost. The war-worn veterans’ march silently knowing fully that death will seize them as certainly as night follows day.
Let us not be moved by the bloodshed in the battle fled. We shell learn to kook at through the eyes of the callous soldiers. A soldier is never known for finer feelings which make a man’s life rich. Hence when a soldier dies, nothing of any value departs from him. The soldier dies not know the difference between the tranquil end of a well-lived life and towards the hysterical end of his own contemptible life. The poet towards the end of the poem openly condemns the brutalized soldier who is not shocked even by the boom of the cannon.
The civilians are immune to pity. They are cursed who cannot feel. Their lack of feeling was deliberate. By choice the soldiers made themselves immune to pity, immune to death and immune to misfortune. It is but natural that man feels for others suffering. The quality of pity should always spring in the human bosom. It is regrettable that this spring is dried up in us.

For You - M.T.Vasudevan Nair

‘For you’ speaks about a child’s feelings with regard to the happenings at home, the whole story with a child’s perspective. Vasu remembers his step sister, Leela who gifted him with a toy owl that he beheld with pride among his classmates and felt himself becoming important.
The narrator (Vasu himself) tells about his parents who wanted to have a girl child after having three sons. They were disappointed on the birth of another son instead. This disappointment of the parents was vented out on Vasu in the form of negligence and resentment. This affects the child who is filled with fear about the mother and brothers since they always silenced him and beat him.
He misses having a sister when his friends express experiences with their sisters fondly- wrapping their books, their beautiful handwriting, the brother-in-law to boast of, the wedding, etc.
He always waits to see and longs to be with his father who is away in Ceylon, doing business. Once when he comes home, he brings a little girl with him who happens to be Leela, herself. There is a quarrel about her coming home as Vasu’s mother does not agree to the illicit relationship of her husband bringing forth this girl. Vasu is disturbed by this, as well as by the fact that the girl is closer to his father than himself. But at the same time, Vasu is pleased to have a sister. The toy-owl with Leela attracts him and he gently asks her for it, though he cannot directly communicate it to her as their mother tongues differ. She exhibits her affection and greatness by gifting the owl to Vasu while she leaves his house - A small girl parts with her favorite toy, when she herself could have retained it.
Vasu gets to have only a short association with Leela, and even though it is short, it leaves a treasure of memories with him to linger on although his life. The narration moves back and forth, taking the reader to what happened in the past and that of the present. All that he mentions is totally from a child’s point of view.

Tree - Joyce Kilmer (Additional English)

This poem is dedicated to Mrs. Henry Mill Alden, the poet’s mother-in-law, and a poet in her own rig. In the poem, the poet expresses his concern over the diminishing forest canopy and the disappearance of trees in our immediate neighborhood. He compares the ‘lively’ tree to a poem which is apparently a human creation. He feels that a tree is a better creation than a poem, more so because it has ‘life’. He personifies the tree, comparing it to a human being, endowing human qualities to it. Ex: ‘Hungry mouth is prest’, ’her leafy arms to pray’. Since it is easy for human beings to understand nature when compared to themselves, he uses this metaphor. Just as human beings decorate themselves with things like flowers, the tree seeks to decorate itself with a nest of robins. The tree lives intimately with other elements of nature like rain, snow, earth, etc. This speaks about the co-existence and co-operation existing in nature.
He calls himself a fool, due to the fact that though he happens to pen a few verses as a poet, he cannot compete with the creative ability of God who has created fantastic objects like trees and nature. When compared to God’s creation, his vain attempt at writing a poem seems to be foolish.
He also uses the figure of speech ‘enjambment’ to enhance the effect of his poem, in which an idea continues from one stanza to the other without a break or pause, thus bringing the poem to complete coherence
He expresses his fear of complete obliteration of trees on earth and indirectly provides us with the message of conservation of trees.

Bosom Friend - Hira Bansode (Additional English)

The poem “Bosom Friend” is a critical and a sarcastic remark against the hypocritical caste-ridden society. The poet here articulates the pain she has suffered at the hands of the upper class. The experience of constant subjugation, separation and marginalization are expressed in a tone which is both vehement and sarcastic.
The title of the poem has an ironic under tone since her guests do not in anyway live up to her expectations. The narrator in the poem plays the role of hostess to some upper-caste guests. Her treatment of the guests is unconditional and unpretentious. She appreciates her guests for their gesture of magnanimity since they have shed their feeling of cast superiority. She finds it surprising as the gap between low class and upper class was too large to be bridged. But the age old problem has been effortlessly remedied by her guests with the mind as large as the sky.
The devotion showed by the hostess has been compared to that of Shabari of the Ramayana. But unfortunately her devotion was short lived, when she started to serve. The feeling of caste- superiority suddenly found expression in her guests’ insolent remarks on the table etiquette of the hostess. One of them even says, “You folk will newer improve”.
The hostess is terribly offended and breaks in to a sense of nostalgia. She recalls her days of poverty and painfully expresses her impoverished circumstances when she had no access to milk or yoghurt. The expectations of the guests can not be fulfilled since the hostess has been brought up in utter poverty. Her only source of luxury was chutney on coarse bread. The hostess also says that shrikhand was not part of their language. The hostess who was so happy at the arrival of the guests now sounds like a liberated women and defends her ignorance of table etiquette since it was the society which made her.

Of Hidden Taxes - Marge Piercy (Additional English)

The poem ‘Of Hidden Taxes’ can be considered as a critique of American Globalization from the perspective of an insider. Marge Piercy highlights the adverse effects of urbanization, industrialization and privatization. Secondly it also highlights the hegemonic military control exercised by America over developing countries.
The poet focuses on the helplessness of the people and in the process also highlights the indifference of the government towards the suffering of the people. The whole poem is said in a satiric tone.

I Stanza

Marge Piercy in the first stanza emphasizes the manner in which the corporate world representing the sociological institutions of the government functions. The lines ‘Suppose those corporation spooks had to speak frankly:’ highlights the world of hypocrisy. The corporate executive claim that they pay a handsome to the labourers and also claim that they give them incentives, they boast that they provide them with better amenities. Little do they pay attention to the occupational hazards which could cripple them for life. The executives seem to be insensitive to the sufferings of common folk. She also brings out how the people are going to be rendered jobless in future by a process of further automation, which would further perpetuate unemployment, poverty and also widen the gap between the rich and the poor, concentration of wealth in a few hands and the exploitation of the common people.

II Stanza

This stanza focuses on the adverse effects of urbanization and also industrialization, which is explicit in the line ‘we’ll dump arsenic in your water’. She says that the industries are being established in towns and thereby leading to industrialization and urbanization. The industries would channel their waste into streams and rivers indicating ecological degradation. Secondly, she enunciates that agricultural land will become fallow rendering the farmers jobless. The farmlands are converted into tract houses as the farmers would be forced to take up jobs in the industries and nobody would be left for farming. Thirdly, she also talks about the burden meted out to the common folks in the form of tax, in order to fulfill the demands of the executives and their expensive life style. Finally it also highlights the manner in which the global market functions. The goods that would be produced in America would be shipped out to (rather dumped into) Taiwan and other countries.

III Stanza

The third stanza highlights the destructive nature of industries and industrialization. She talks about the unfavorable situation caused by industries -perpetuating unemployment and environmental degradation. It seems that the ‘corporation spooks’ are insensitive towards the harm caused by them as a result of over exploitation. Although these people are aware of the damage (spills) caused to the nature they are least bothered. The pollution caused as a result of oil drilling does not affect just the aquatic life; it goes beyond that, it also affects vegetation and human life.

IV Stanza
The poet satirizes the functioning of the Government, the President(the head of the state) and also militarization. She says that the head of the state claims that in order to strengthen the military force, they conduct trial wars over various frontiers which results in expenditure. In the process of strengthening the military force the President claims that they are creating employment opportunities. But where does the government get this money from? It’s quite obvious that the common man would be taxed, he’s burdened with it to which the government seems to be quite insensitive. The stanza end’s with a rhetorical question ‘Who do you think was buying all those bombers?’ which hints towards common man buys all those arms and ammunition. Ironically the common man has ‘no say’ in the proceedings of the government and also not aware of he being taxed to pay off the debt resultant of war. Secondly it also highlights about illegal means of hoarding money (‘cocaine to the economy’)

V Stanza
Here the poet talks about inhuman militarization. The lines ‘we grow you to fit uniform’ and ‘get no depreciation value’ highlight the inhuman nature of the statesmen. The statesmen force all the youngsters into military. Any harm caused to these youngsters due to war which would cripple them for life is not considered. Instead of sympathizing with such individuals who sacrifice their life and dedicate their life for the state, the statesmen feel that they incur loss for they feel that they would have invested a lot of money in the training of these individuals and in the course of war if these individuals loose their limbs or any vital part of their body they would no longer be fit to perform. This clearly indicates inhuman commodification of human beings in the name of strengthening the military force.

It also highlights the hegemonic control of America over other countries. The state, inorder to prove its hegemony and power would wage war on other countries and in the name of war demolishes them. She also talks about indiscriminate killing of people which they camouflage by saying ‘population control’.
Towards the end of the poem the poet says ‘back home baby farming’ sums up the whole poem. In the previous stanzas she highlights overexploitation of nature and human beings, which affects and has affected the whole generation and the consequence of it is borne by the contemporaries and it does not stop with them, it further affects the forthcoming generations for several centuries. The forthcoming generations would have to strive hard to thrive with nothing left to survive upon.