Visit to an Art Gallery: Ajanta Exhibition

Hello Monk..

I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English. This blog is the Sunday reading task. On 26th September, 2021 Ajanta Exhibition held by Shree Khodidas Parmar Art Foundation from 24 to 26 September.IN this exhibition many artist displayed various paintings and art of the caves. Unfortunately, I am not able to visited physically this Art gallery. But some of my friends and professor were going for a visit and they shared the experience and photos of gallery visit ‘Ajanta Art Gallery at Bhavnagar. 

These are some photos and news cuttings on this Art Gallery and Shree Khodidas Parmar Art Foundation.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION ABOUT AJANTA CAVES :

Panoramic view of Ajanta Caves from the nearby hill

 Ajanta Caves, Buddhist rock-cut cave temples and monasteries, located near Ajanta village, north-central Maharashtra state, western India, that are celebrated for their wall paintings. The temples are hollowed out of granite cliffs on the inner side of a 70-foot (20-metre) ravine in the Wagurna River valley 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Aurangabad, at a site of great scenic beauty. The group of some 30 caves was excavated between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE and consists of two types, caityas (“sanctuaries”) and viharas (“monasteries”). Although the sculpture, particularly the rich ornamentation of the caitya pillars, is noteworthy, it is the fresco-type paintings that are the chief interest of Ajanta. These paintings depict colourful Buddhist legends and divinities with an exuberance and vitality that is unsurpassed in Indian art. The caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

(FOR MORE … WIKIPEDEA)

IN ART GALLERY :

Buddha-Yashodhara-Rahul painting in (Ajanta Cave 17)

At the far end of the cave, beside the sanctum sanctorum was a painting that depicted a poignant episode in the life of Buddha.

It is well-known fact that Prince Siddhartha deserted his wife Yashodhara and newborn son Rahul when he left home to meditate and achieve enlightenment. After Siddhartha came back to Kapilavastu on attaining enlightenment and becoming the Buddha, he came to meet his wife at her door. Yashodhara sent their son, young Rahul to Buddha for seeking his father’s inheritance and the little boy left with him to become a monk. This moment was beautifully visualized in the painting in this cave.

Painting of One of four frescos for the Mahajanaka Jataka tale: the king announces his abdication to become an ascetic 

In the upper left, King Mahājanaka sits with his wife and attendants. Immediately the right of this, there is a dance performance accompanied by various musical instruments. In the upper right, King Mahājanaka listens to an ascetic, perhaps Nārada. Beneath this, the king is seen leaving the palace gates on an elephant with soldiers.

Paintings of The Bodhisattva of compassion Padmapani with lotus 

Padmapani is a Bodhisattva or someone who is on the path of enlightenment or becoming a Buddha.  He is the epitome of compassion and is a popular character in Buddhist iconography. In Indian illustrations, he holds the Padma or the lotus flower thus being called Padmapani or the “One who holds a lotus in his hand”. The Sanskrit word “pani” means hand.

Painting of Vajrapani 

Vajrapani is a Bodhisattva who is known to be the protector.  He holds a thunderbolt or the Vajra in his right hand and is thus called Vajrapani or the “One who holds the thunder in his hand”. Padmapani, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Protection are frequently found flanking statues and images of the Buddha.

Manushi Buddhas painting in Cave 16 

The artworks of Cave 2 are known for their feminine focus, such as these two females

Hastin 

Baudh Bhikshu 

Chintan

Bhagavan Tathagat 

Padmsamput 

Aaschrya

King and Queen

THANK YOU........

The Home and The World

Hello Monks....

    I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English. When in lecture discussing "The Home and the World" our teacher had given us a group task on three major character of this novel. Me and my group had discussed about the character of Nikhil in detail. Before discuss that let’s see brief introduction about this novel.

"The Home and The World" by Rabindranath Tagore :

The Home and the World (in the original Bengali, Ghôre Baire)  is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhilesh, who is rational and opposes violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in his way from reaching his goals. These two opposing ideals are very important in understanding the history of the Bengal region and its contemporary problems. The novel was translated into English by the author's nephew, Surendranath Tagore, with input from the author, in 1919. The Home and the World was among the contenders in a 2014 list by The Telegraph of the 10 all-time greatest Asian novels. So, let’s discuss some of the questions of ‘The Home and the World.’ 

Analyze the growth of individual characters:

The novel ‘ The Home and the World’ focuses on the three major characters, Bimala, Sandip and Nikhilesh. One of the interesting things about the novel is the character's individual growth. Who is this character ? - Nikhilesh.Nikhil is seen and described as an educated and gentle man. He is from kulin aristocratic family of landlords, and his family prides themselves in beautiful women. However, Nikhil is different in that he married not only a poor woman, but also one who was not particularly attractive. He is also unpopular in the town because he has not joined them stating, "I am not running amuck crying Bande Mataram." In light of this, the police also suspect him of harbouring some "hidden protest." In reality, Nikhil considers himself to be more aware of his country's role in a broader sense, and refuses to take part in Swadeshi.Nikhil demonstrates these beliefs in marrying Bimala, a woman considered "unattractive" as a result of her dark skin color. In the novel, Nikhil talks about disliking an intensely patriotic nation,

 "Use force? But for what? Can force prevail against Truth?"

On the other hand, Sandip has contrasting views for the growth of the nation believing in power and force, 

"My country does not become mine simply because it is 

the country of my birth. It becomes mine on the day 

when I am able to win it by force". 

Nikhil’s narratives are less emotive, more theoretic, idealistic- and fully introspective. In these narratives is marked his approach to life and the world around him, and this seldom seems practical. He is found to speak out his heart, diagnoses his own pang and realizes his own error in understanding and judgment. His statement is quite frank and self-analytical: "Men, such as I, possessed with one idea, are, indeed, at one with those who can manage to agree with us; but those who do not, can only get with us by cheating us. It is our unyielding obstinacy, which drives even the simplest to tortuous ways. In torturing to manufacture a helpmate, we spoil a wife." Of course, his assessment of Sandip is definitely very sober and appropriate, and not sentimental like his Bimal a's: "His (Sandip's) intellect is keen, but his nature is coarse and so he glorifies his selfish lusts under high-sounding names." 

Here I am putting my group task presentation on "Nikhils' narration". So you can see that and examine this things also.

The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore from Riddhi Bhatt

Physiological growth of character in the novel :

The Novel ‘ The Home and the World’ has only three main or we can say major characters. Bimala, Nikhi and Sandip. Tagore very beautifully presented whole characters.  Nikhil epitomizes the unselfish, progressive husband who wishes to free his wife from the oppressiveness of a traditional Indian marriage. In contrast, Sandip is a man who thinks only of himself, and who reduces man-woman relationships to brazen sexuality; he is interested in..

 "blunt things, bluntly put, without any finicking niceness" 

Bimala is represented as an innocent who, at least initially, is completely subservient to her husband. But Bimala is also much more than this. She is referred to as Durga, the female goddess of creation and destruction, and as Shakli, the ultimate female principle underpinning reality. In being so described, she represents the beauty, vitality, and glory of Bengal.  Sandip represents himself as a realist, one who brutally confronts the world. He criticizes Nikhil for how "he delights in a misty vision of this world". Sandip describes those who share his views as "iconoclasts of metre" . 

He and his fellow iconoclasts are "the flesh-eaters of the world; we have teeth and nails; we pursue and grab and tear". For Sandip, the end justifies the means, and he argues that virtually any human action can be excused if the stakes are sufficiently high. This is the only fundamental principle of existence.Nikhil and Sandip for Bimala is, then, a battle for the future of Bengal, as they represent two opposing visions for Bengal. Nikhil is the enlightened humanist who asserts that truth cannot be imposed; freedom is necessary for choice, and is critical to individual growth and fulfillment. It is this freedom which he insists is necessary if he and Bimala are truly to know one another. While Nikhil, like Tagore himself, initially supports swadeshi, he recognizes the value of the "outside world," and he looks to serve a greater cause than mere national interest. 

"I am willing," he insists, "to serve my country, but my worship I reserve for Right which is far greater than my country. To worship my country as a god is to bring a curse upon it" .

Rabindranath Tagore's art of characterization :

Tagore set up a new trend in his treatment of characters in his novels. There is a considerable digression from the erstwhile novels of Bankim Chandra. This new trend in Tagore’s novels discarded the simple heroic recitals or petty romances which have been the theme in the earlier novels, by the previous Bengali writers or in general Indian writers. As Mulk Raj Anand puts, “while Bankim was a recitalist, preaching a moral, Tagore saw what the novel is, a Tolstoy had insisted a dramatic presentation through space and time of the inner change in the life a character”. 

Tagore characterization, though dependent on realistic psychological exploration, does not involve any existentialist choice, as it were, since he is content with lying bare such determinants as are capable of clarifying social relationship and responsibilities deriving from the character’s engagement with life. Tagore was not a committed experimentalist; but to deny him any formal expertise or to judge him solely on the basis of recent innovation in novelistic technique would be indeed far from it. The art of characterization in Tagore’s novels, suffer from a certain weakness of craftsmanship which results in a kind of diffuseness and looseness a ‘flabbiness’ of narrative. 

The undue reliance on chance and coincidence in some of the novels and the contrived ending of some other point towards impatience on the part of the novelist in working out a structure of ordered episodes. These drawbacks however do not greatly diminish the merit of his novels which revel dispositions of design which are new to the novel in India. As Bhabani Bhattacharya has noted: “Each novel grown in its own individual mould, different from what has proceeded it or comes afterward. Some are more traditional in manner, other a total departure.”

THANK YOU..

Digital Humanities

 Hello Monks.....
    I am Riddhi Bhatt, Student of English Department, MKBU. Today I came with some interesting blog writing. Yes, this is my thinking activity on Digital Humanities and assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU).As a part of the syllabus, students of the English department are learning the paper ‘Contemporary Western Theories and Film Studies (paper-204)’.
        Whenever I am writing this blog and also these things , I have one question in my mind that why this Sunday's reading task and thinking activity are all given by our professor. Answer is that this is not compulsory for every student but necessary for all literature students who studied for masters. This task gives us a new sense to see how the world is actually. Ok friends, now we talk about today's topic…
    First question is in our mind that What is Digital Humanities? and What is meaning of Digital Humanities? How is it helpful to us ? What's It Doing in English Departments? So let's find this answers and also talk about CLiC 's thematic activity.

Digital Humanities :

🔑 As Simple Term..

Digital humanities as " an academic field concerned with the application of computational tools and methods to traditional humanities disciplines such as literature, history, and philosophy." 
Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanities, as well as the analysis of their application. 
Digital Humanities can be defined as new ways of doing scholarship that involve collaborative, transdisciplinary, and computationally engaged research, teaching, and publishing.

🔑According to Matthew G. Kirschenbaum states in his article: “What Is Digital Humanities and What's It Doing in English Departments?” 

"The digital humanities, also known as humanities computing, is a field of study, research, teaching, and invention concerned with the intersection of computing and the disciplines of the humanities. It is methodological by nature and interdisciplinary in scope. It involves investigation, analysis, synthesis and presentation of information in electronic form. It studies how these media affect the disciplines in which they are used, and what these disciplines have to contribute to our knowledge of computing."

🔑 According to  "Glossary of the Digital Humanities" 
“DH values collaboration, plurality, investigation of human culture, and the disruption of and reflection on traditional practices and is concerned with not just the use of digital technology for humanities projects but how the use of digital technology for humanities projects changes the user’s experience.”

Let's take a loot at some videos that will further define the digital humanities....

The Digital Humanities in Oxford University

An Introduction to Digital Humanities - Bay Area DH

When I written this blog and search something about Digital Humanities'. I found one interesting thing that...(from Study.eu)

How is Digital Humanities different from traditional Humanities subjects?

Digital Humanities is an extension of traditional humanities. While certainly all humanities courses use digital technologies in one way or another, Digital Humanities goes a step further than this.Digital Humanities is also made up of a broad community of practitioners, which includes both humanities academics and technology specialists. Offered mostly at Master’s level, you might find Digital Humanities courses are more geared towards learning practical skills that help you to gain access to specific careers than traditional humanities courses are. With Digital Humanities courses, information technology is a central part of the methodology for creating and processing data. The course makes more systemic use of specialized digital technologies, or may even focus specifically on digital aspects of human culture.

Harvard University edX Course

Here I want to talk about the learning outcome from this course. As a part of syllabus in "Digital Humanities" we had done this course. This course will show us how to develop skills in digital research and visualization techniques across subjects and fields within the humanities.

Harvard course "Introduction to Digital Humanities"  is divided into 5 different chapters. So let's discuss whatever I have learnt from each of them..

Introduction to the Library in the Digital Age

Acquiring and Managing Digital Resources

Role of Librarians in the Digital Age

Metadata and Searchability

Metadata as a Research Tool

Van Gogh's Three Pairs of Shoes

Collaboration in Digital Museum Scholarship

Harvard Art Museum and Open Access

A library is often the first place, or among the first places, that you might turn to when looking for data and other sources that you want to incorporate into your research. Libraries face many new and exciting challenges today as they grapple with how to help researchers produce digital scholarship, and how they will store and disseminate that digital scholarship when it's finished. 

Dino Daan by Rabindranath Tagore

 Hello Monks....

I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English, MKBU. This is the blog to the response of the task assigned by Heena ma’am.As a part of our syllabus we are studying Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry and today in this blog I am going to answer the question assigned by mam as a task.

There is no god in the temple

Said the royal attendant, “Despite entreaties, king,

The finest hermit, best among men, refuses shelter

In your temple of gold, he is singing to god

Beneath a tree by the road. The devout surround him

In numbers large, their overflowing tears of joy

Rinse the dust off the earth. The temple, though,

Is all but deserted; just as bees abandon

The gilded honeypot when maddened by the fragrance

Of the flower to swiftly spread their wings

And fly to the petals unfurling in the bush

To quench their eager thirst, so too are people,

Sparing not a glance for the palace of gold,

Thronging to where a flower in a devout heart

Spreads heaven’s incense. On the bejewelled platform

The god sits alone in the empty temple.”

At this,

The fretful king dismounted from his throne to go

Where the hermit sat beneath the tree. Bowing, he said,

“My lord, why have you forsaken god’s mighty abode,

The royal construction of gold that pierces the sky,

To sing paeans to the divine here on the streets?’

“There is no god in that temple,” said the hermit.

Furious,

The king said, “No god! You speak like a godless man,

Hermit. A bejewelled idol on a bejewelled throne,

You say it’s empty?”

“Not empty, it holds royal arrogance,

You have consecrated yourself, not the god of the world.”

Frowning, said the king, “You say the temple I made

With twenty lakh gold coins, reaching to the sky,

That I dedicated to the deity after due rituals,

This impeccable edifice – it has no room for god!”

Said the tranquil hermit, “The year when the fires

Raged and rendered twenty thousand subjects

Homeless, destitute; when they came to your door

With futile pleas for help, and sheltered in the woods,

In caves, in the shade of trees, in dilapidated temples,

When you constructed your gold-encrusted building

With twenty lakh gold coins for a deity, god said,

‘My eternal home is lit with countless lamps

In the blue, infinite sky; its everlasting foundations

Are truth, peace, compassion, love. This feeble miser

Who could not give homes to his homeless subjects

Expects to give me one!’ At that moment god left

To join the poor in their shelter beneath the trees.

As hollow as the froth and foam in the deep wide ocean

Is your temple, just as bereft beneath the universe,

A bubble of gold and pride.”

Flaring up in rage

The king said, “You false deceiver, leave my kingdom

This instant.”

Serenely the hermit said to him,

“You have exiled the one who loves the devout.

Now send the devout into the same exile, king.”

1) The poem was written 120 years (approx.). Can you find any resemblance between the poem and the pandemic time?

Thinking Activity: Ecocriticism

 Hello Readers,

I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English. As a part of the syllabus, students of the English department are learning the paper ‘Contemporary Western Theories and Film Studies (paper-204)’. Today I am going with one most important theory that ECOCRITICIM. So let's start...…..

ECOCRITICISM :

If you found Marxist criticism challenging, you’ll likely find Ecocriticism much easier. Ecocriticism first became a major theoretical movement in the 1990s. It seeks to relate literature to the natural environment, with the hope that we can take action against climate change and the destruction of natural habitats. Ecocriticism thus has a strong ethical aspect, as the reading of literature should ideally inspire political activism and real change. Conversely, practical action must be driven and directed by sound ecological theory, and here too the study of literature can help.

"Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation."

According to M.H.Abraham...

Ecocriticism was a term coined in the late 1970s by combining “criticism” with a shortened form of “ecology”—the science that investigates the interrelations of all forms of plant and animal life with each other and with their physical habitats. 

“Ecocriticism” (or by alternative names, environmental criticism and green studies) designates the critical writings which explore the relations between literature and the biological and physical environment, conducted with an acute awareness of the damage being wrought on that environment by human activities."

Ecocriticism investigates the relation between humans and the natural world in literature. It deals with how environmental issues, cultural issues concerning the environment and attitudes towards nature are presented and analyzed. One of the main goals in ecocriticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react in relation to nature and ecological aspects. This form of criticism has gained a lot of attention during recent years due to higher social emphasis on environmental destruction and increased technology. It is hence a fresh way of analyzing and interpreting literary texts, which brings new dimensions to the field of literary and theoritical studies. Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including “green (cultural) studies”, “ecopoetics”, and “environmental literary criticism.

Major figures in the field:

1. Jonathan Bate (considered widely as the father of Ecocriticism in England)
2. Cheryll Glotfelty (father of Ecocriticism in the USA)
3. Laurence Coupe
4. Patrick D Murphy

The essential ideas and methods of ecocritics :

• Ecocritics believe that human culture is related to the physical world.
• Ecocriticism assumes that all life forms are interlinked. Ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere.
• Moreover, there is a definite link between nature and culture, where the literary treatment, representation and “thematisation” of land and nature influence actions on the land.
• William Rueckert is believed to have coined the term “ecocriticism” in 1978, which he defines as “the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature.”

(Literary Theory Today,Pramod K Nair)

What do eco-critics do ? 

1. Read or re-read the major as well as other works of literature with a viewfinder to trace the natural representation in the writing.
2. Praise the authors, poets and intellectuals who put nature on a higher pedestal than other themes.
3. Give importance to the writings with an eco-centric perspective, such as, travel memoirs, essays about places, intellectual writings containing visual landscape in text etc.
4. Not conform to the traditional notions of literary theory that suggests linguistic or the social build and thus walking through the classic lane of ‘world beyond ourselves’.

As rightly observed by Peter Barry:

“The ecocentric reading, by contrast, focuses outside, on the house and its environs, rather than the inside, on the owner and his psychology.”

Example 

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud 

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is one of William Wordsworth’s most famous poems. Like many of Wordsworth’s shorter poems, it is far more complex than it seems at first. Wordsworth was particularly good at interweaving several different temporal perspectives into a single poem, and since time and the changes it produces formed Wordsworth’s central poetic preoccupation, his interweaving in this poem is of central importance.

Wordsworth treats the daffodils like a photo on a postcard. Wordsworth doesn’t involve himself in nature. Instead, he looks at nature from afar (like a cloud), and leaves as soon as he has had his fill. In other words, Wordsworth acts like the tourist who comes by once and snaps a quick picture before moving on. In the end, Wordsworth seems more concerned about his own feelings than about nature

Thinking Activity:Marxist Criticism

 Hello Monks...…..

I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English. Today I am going to discuss about Marxist Criticism. So let's start..

What Is MARXISM?

To understand ‘what is Marxist,’ it is essential that we know how other materialist philosophies eliminated the significance of having a logical explanation of things. Unlike these approaches, Marxist perspective does not only emphasize to understand the ideologies of the world but also focus on changing it.

In literary theory, a Marxist interpretation reads the text as an expression of contemporary class struggle. Literature is not simply a matter of personal expression or taste. It somehow relates to the social and political conditions of the time.

Marx called the economic conditions of life the base or infrastructure. The base includes everything from technology and raw materials to the social organization of the workplace. This economic base has a powerful effect on the superstructure, Marx’s term for society, culture, and the world of ideas

Marxism is a social, political, and economic philosophy named after Karl Marx. It examines the effect of capitalism on labor, productivity, and economic development and argues for a worker revolution to overturn capitalism in favor of communism. Marxism posits that the struggle between social classes—specifically between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and the proletariat, or workers—defines economic relations in a capitalist economy and will inevitably lead to revolutionary communism.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory originated by Karl Marx, which focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class.
• Marx wrote that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create class conflict.
• He believed that this conflict would ultimately lead to a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the capitalist class and seize control of the economy.

Class conflict and the demise of capitalism 

According to Marx, every society is divided among a number of social classes, whose members have more in common with one another than with members of other social classes. Marx’s class theory portrays capitalism as one step in the historical progression of economic systems that follow one another in a natural sequence. They are driven, he posited, by vast impersonal forces of history that play out through the behavior and conflict among social classes. 

Ultimately, the inherent inequalities and exploitative economic relations between these two classes will lead to a revolution in which the working class rebels against the bourgeoisie, seizes control of the means of production, and abolishes capitalism.

As a result of the revolution, Marx predicted that private ownership of the means of production would be replaced by collective ownership, first under socialism and then under communism. In the final stage of human development, social classes and class struggle would no longer exist.

Major figures in the field:

• Marx and Engels -The German Ideology,
• The Hungarian thinker Georg Lukács, 
• Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheime-. 
• Raymond Williams
• Terry Eagleton-A leading theorist of Marxist criticism in England
• Fredric Jameson- The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act (1981)

What Marxist critics do ?

 Marxism has a significant impact on the social institutions and analyzes how certain classes hegemonizes the working class and controls everything. The approach helped literary critics understand the cultural and ideological influence of the society a writer depicts in his writing.

Example :

Marxism in The Great Gatsby. Lets begin with Tom Buchanan, and other main consumers in the plot. Tom being the biggest consumer, is shown throughout his choices. This is mostly because he is so excessively wealthy he doesn't need to work and lives the high life with his very expensive purchases. In the text, stated just only on page six, "He'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that." The textual evidence proves the possibilities of Tom's wealth. Along with Tom, there is Daisy Buchanan(Tom's wife) that is a consumer along with Tom through the marriage. However, the marriage isn't very great, but that's for another lens.

A few other main consumers in the plot are Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Now Nick is labeled as the least wealthiest between Gatsby and Tom, but he can still shuck out some cash to the economy when he can. He is financially stable enough to do so. He is shown as being less wealthy by his suprising observations of other people's wealth. Considering he's renting a house and has enough money to get by, he's less in the eyes of economy.

Jay Gatsby has a different background compared to the other two. Gatsby goes from poverty to rich. He doesn't start rich like Tom. He shows the changing class by coming out of the lower and into the higher class of society. Gatsby is the art of the American Dream. He's perfecting his life by gaining his fulfilled dreams of wealth. However, throughout the story it becomes clear Gatsby may have taken part in crimes to reach his wealth. Which if this is true, Gatsby is a cancer to society. He's taking from the local economy when he steals. However, his crimes are more of a conspiracy theory to me. Crimes or no crimes, he is still a contribution to society. Mainly being a consumer because just like Tom the story states Gatsby does enjoy the finer things in life and isn't afraid to self indulge. He'll contribute to the economy with this wealth of his.

The society in The Great Gatsby all reach for the same goal. This goal being to make it big! Some are born with it (Tom), some are the changing class (Gatsby, Jordan, Myrtle, etc.) and the ones that don't seem to make it (Nick, George Wilson, Gatsby's family). Even with their different endings they all pursue the American dream of making it big and enjoying life. The few I stated showed the most attributions throughout the story to make a great point in the Marxism Lens.

Thinking Activity:Feminism

 Hello Everyone

Thinking Activity: Queer Theory

 Hello Monks................

“The Woman at Lahore G. P. O.”

 “The Woman at Lahore G. P. O.”

Alamgir Hashmi

His long scrawl in black—
­now he circles, now he draws
a craooked line, a horseshoe
language that he writes.
God, is there no way
to talk straight to people?
I am the third. Two others
will have to be written for
first; the one at front is
already pouring forth,
and he writes her letter
ready for post before she
has finished. They rage in their
passion, they whisper
and wail in loss. He calmly
sharpens his pencil meantime.
I wonder if that is all
they learn at school.
My husband is away and I
am lonely, but other women have
just said it—and every time he
has nodded his head.
He’s all eyes and no heart.
What will he put in that letter?
I cannot say it;
he does not understand.
I’d rather go home
and cook the carrots for dinner.

Screening of short film “An Astrologer’s Day” based on R.K.Narayan’s “An Astrologer’s Day”.

 Hello Monks...…

I am Riddhi Bhatt semester 3 student from Department of English. Here I am talking about blog. This blog responses to the task assigned by Vaidehi Ma’am.We had seen video about the short story `` An Astrologer’s Day by R.K.Narayan in one of the session based on this I am going to write my blog. So before giving the answer let us see the short summary of the story.

An Astrologer's Day :

The short story “An Astrologer’s Day” by R. K. Narayan (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami) follows a man posing as an astrologer meeting the man he once tried to kill. Originally published in Hindi, the piece, along with twenty-nine other short stories by Narayan, was first published in English in 1947. The short story contains strong themes that are apparent through Narayan’s creative work, including deception, revenge, and the ironies of life. “An Astrologer’s Day” combines suspense, realism, and thriller genres.

The narrator gives the backstory of the young astrologer. He left his small village because he did not want to be an overworked farmer like all of his male ancestors. It is also hinted that he is running away from one of his misdeeds. To escape his fate, he travels by foot to a city more than two hundred miles away. One day, the astrologer starts to pack up at the end of the day, because the neighboring nuts stand has turned off the green light for the day; the green light was a vital part of his act. Before he leaves, a stranger accosts him, saying that he is not a real astrologer. The astrologer says he only charges pennies per question. The man pulls out the equivalent of a dollar and says he has some questions for the astrologer; if he answers correctly, he can keep the dollar. The astrologer bargains for a higher price, and the dual begins.

The stranger smokes while the astrologer begins his process. The stranger is clearly aggressive and rude. The astrologer figures it has been a long day, and the challenge is not worth the money. He tells the stranger to come back another time, but the stranger physically restrains him, and tells the astrologer to answer yes or no: should the stranger continue with his current quest? The astrologer insists on a few incantations and thinks about the man’s situation. He then asks if the man has ever been left for dead; he has. The astrologer asks if it was a knife. The stranger, with increasing amazement, reveals a scar left on his chest by a blade.

The astrologer then says that the man was left for dead after being pushed into a well. This turns out to be true. The stranger, amazed, asks when he should get his revenge on the person who assaulted him. The astrologer then calls his name—Guru Nayak—and says that the man he seeks vengeance against died four months ago. Nayak is amazed—there is no way the astrologer could have known his name. The astrologer replies, simply, that he knows many things.

The astrologer warns Nayak to never journey south of this village. If he does so, he will surely be killed. But if he goes home, which is a forty-eight-hour train ride north, then Nayak can live well into old age. Nayak says that that will not be a problem. He only journeyed south to murder this individual. The only thing he regrets is that he could not have made the man’s death more gruesome. Fortunately, the astrologer says he was crushed under a bus—it was, in fact, a terrifying death. Nayak is pleased by this news.

The astrologer picks up his things and heads home. He is late, and his wife is angry at his tardiness. But then he hands her the large bag of coins that he procured from Nayak. She is thrilled by the good fortune. After a nice dinner, the astrologer confesses to his wife that long ago, when he was a teenager, he was the one who pushed Nayak down the well and left him to die. The two had been gambling and drinking; they got into a huge fight at the end, and in a fit of rage, the astrologer stuck a knife into Nayak and threw him down a well. But now that he knows Nayak did not die, the astrology feels that he can sleep with a light heart now.

1) How faithful is the movie to the original short story?

 If we see the film adaption, so we can easily get the what actually happened in the text.The movie adaptation is quite relevant to the story. But also some changes in story and video.There are many scene in the video that are not in the original story.If i talk about the character of the astrologer’s daughter. Then her character is missing in the original story while in film her character is very significant. 

2) After watching the movie, has your perception about the short story, characters or situations changed?

The story of the movie and original are same.Character and situations are also same except the scene of his daughter.My perception is changed towards the character of astrologer’s wife.Because in the original story she is quite silent.so This was about  my  perception, which I have observed from the both of the things.

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

While watching I'm very much aware of the relationship between the astrologer and Gurunanak.At the beginning of the film I didn’t aware about what kind of relationship between an Astrologer and Gurunanak.I also feel aesthetic delight when the scene of the argument between astrologer and his wife.At that time his daughter is listening everything but she didn’t ask her parents.So the uestion may arise that, Is the character of his daughter significant or not?

4) Does screening of movies help you in better understanding of the short story?

yes, Definitely helps a lot because there is one panel that if you can look any things that things easily captures in your mind.this video was quite appropriate to the main plot.

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

Yes, the scene of Gurunayak coming to an astrologer is quite perfect and appropriate. Also I loved to watch the last seen that the while Gurunayak met to an astrologer when he realize that the The Gurunayak is still alive so this realization of that character is more important in our life that's the reason of that he is main protagonist character of the film.

6) If you are a 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?

As a director of the movie I would like to change some shots of the movie there are……The idea of Gurunayak can easily trust on the Astrologer if Gurunayak might have a Educated person so The might be end will different of the story.Here I am doing something and also add something. Also  I will change the character of his wife. Because she is quite silent in the movie..

THANK YOU..............

Film Studies

 

Hello Monks........
I am Riddhi Bhatt from Department of English,Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavanagar University.Today I am going to discuss about Film Studies.

An Introduction by Kamala Das

Hello Dear Monks... 😍

    Wishing you to all😊HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY😊.I am Riddhi Bhatt from the Department of English M.K.Bhavnagar University.

    As we know that 5th September we are celebrating Teacher's Day remembering Dr. Radhakrishnan Sarvapali. Department of English, M K Bhavnagar University under the guidance of Dr. Dilip Barad Sir is celebrating this Teacher's Day in a novel and unique way. 

✨In pursuit of making this awkward academic year to an artistic academic year....! ✨

    I am also participated in Teacher's Day and I have tried to make a short video lecture on the poem An Introduction by Kamala Das So here , I am sharing my premiere video link with you. My video will be live today at 03:15 PM on my YouTube channel. So don't forget to watch my video.
After watching the video you will be able to appear in an online quiz based on this lecture. You will get an  auto-generated certificate after successful submission of the quiz.\

AN INTRODUCTION BY KAMALA DAS 

 👉*Link for quiz plz appear online quiz.....
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScWjPHEjx_pZ1MBl1TOUCXzI45hnko0xXICCdJXed-1rYnzlg/viewform?usp=sf_link

And yes..If you like my video don't forget to subscribe my youtube channel.Give your response and suggestion in the comment section.
So Guys please at least WATCH my video LIKE my video and SUBSCRIBE my channel for more informative  ideas and information. Kindly need your support for all this things so plz do it...And Yes....I am waiting for your responses...… 😊and I know also that anyone who has read this MSG needs this to work  

💐💐Happy Teacher's Day 💐💐

THANK YOU 😊

Your Dear Friend..

-Riddhi Bhatt 

(Department of English,MKBU)