Unit-5- Arjun (Old syllabus)
Mahasweta Devi
“Arjun” is a thought-provoking short story written by Mahaswetha Devi, a human rights activist and a fiction writer. She worked for the upliftment of the tribes in Bengal and Bihar. Her famous works are “Mother of 1084”, “Aranyer Adhikar”, “Rudali “, etc. Her first book was “Jhansir Rani.” She got the Sahitya Academy Award in 1979 for her “Aranyer Adhikar”. She got the Padma Shiri and Padma Vibhushan award from the Govt. of India and the Ramon Magasaysay Award from the govt. of Philippines.“Arjun” is a short story in which Shabars, the tribes of Purulia, saved the arjun tree which they considered a manifestation of the divine. Ketu Shabar was a tribal youth from Purulia. He worked for Bishal Mahato, a landlord. Ketu was in and out of jail many times. His crime was clearing the jungles for the paddy crop of Bishal Mahato. Ram Haldar, the saw – mill owner, transported the trees. Mahato and Haldar belonged to different parties, but both exploited Ketu and others.
Ketu and his companions looked upon Mahato and Haldar as deities. They obeyed their orders. Ketu never questioned his predicament. He accepted it as his fate.
One day Bishal Mahato ordered Ketu to cut down the arjun tree .Ketu was startled and asked: “Why babu? ” Mahato replied:‘’ Just do what I say’’. [Mahato and Haldar hoisted different flags but they were like sugar in milk. Mahato himself compared cutting the tree to the death of a Mahapatra, a noble soul.]
Ketu thought it over. He discussed it with his friends Diga, Banarmali and Pitamatar for a solution. Diga was an educated person among them. Their predicament was strange. They would be sent to jail if they obeyed or disobeyed the orders,
Diga advised them to involve other tribals like Santhals, Khedia, Bhumij too. The tree was inextricably linked with their lives. It evoked past memories in their minds. [During festivals and weddings, they went round the arjun tree, beating their dhol, dhamsas. It was their goddess. It brought them good luck.They believed, it had medicinal properties. The tribals revered the arjun tree. It was the only relic of the Bandihi jungles. The tree stood at the intersection. It was the last mute symbol of their existence. It was there from time immemorial. They recalled stories about the arjun tree. They offered prayers to it before going on hunting expeditions. The full grown arjun tree was very grand. It had a shining bark and the top was touching the sky. During summer, it provided cool shade. That one tree was the entire jungle for them. They were the children of the forest. Till they built there huts, they lived under the arjun. When Halder burnt their shanties, Santhals came to the tree for shelter and consolation.]
Diga struck upon a plan. They assured Mahato that work would be done by the time he returned from the town. As Bishal Mahato neared the village, his head reeled to see the tree alive. All around the tree the sound of the dhol-dhamsa-damak and nagra boomed. A huge crowd had gathered around the arjun. The tree was covered with garlands. People from all the tribes had gathered to worship the tree.
Ram Haldar informed Bishal Mahato that the Gram Devata had made them do it. Diga had a dream; in that dream Bishal Mahato instructed them to build a concrete base around the trunk. A mela was going on Haldar and Mahato realized that the tribals made fools of them. A stupendous crowd was there. Ketu was dancing away like a maniac with his dholok. Bishal got scared. A strange fear gripped him.
On this happy note Mahaswetha Devi concludes the story. Thus, the tribes save the arjun tree from the clutches of the landlords with a clever plan. The story is very inspiring. It is very relevant too.
Unit-6- Woman
Ismat Chugtai
Introduction:- Ismat Chugtai was a famous Urdu writer and an expert in gender studies. She fought for women’s rights. Being an Indian Muslim writer of pre -independence days, she needed a lot of courage to speak frankly. She belonged to the Progressive Writers Association.“Woman” is a caustic attack launched by Ismat Chughtai on the illogical proclamations made by great thinkers of every age about women. Some emphasized her beauty. Some focused on her purity. Some lifted her up to the skies, some others flung her into the mud. Some called her angel. Others called her devil. These remarks baffled the author.
In this patriarchal society, men said man was cruel and women quietly became submissive. Men said that a woman was faint-hearted, and she got scared of a mouse. Men expected her to sacrifice and she sacrificed her life in a flash.
Very rightly Ismat Chugtai asks when a woman’s honour is ravaged, why can’t a man’s be? Does he have no honour to lose? A woman has an illegitimate child, but not a man. Why? Ismat Chugtai laughs at the ridiculous accusations made by men against women.
A widow’s bangles are shattered but a widower’s watch, spectacles or huqqah are not. A widow cannot wear colourful dress but a widower walks around suited and booted. Thus society treats widows very cruelly.
A woman is repeatedly told to be a good mother, daughter, wife and daughter-in-law. Ismat Chugtai rightly questions whether women asked men any time to bear children or nurse them. This is because of man’s inferiority. Man is afraid of equality with woman.
Towards the end of the essay Ismat Chugtai talks about the positive side of the modern scenario. Differences are disappearing. Women are participating in every sector. Men are sharing domestic chores with women. If the wife makes the beds, the husband prepares the milk bottles. They prepare breakfast together, get ready their children and leave for work. Even the house wife does not merely gossip all the time. She washes and irons clothes, buys rations, does part – time job.
In conclusion, Ismat Chugtai offers a few wise suggestions to us.
In college or school women should be students and nothing else.
In offices, women should focus on work.
At the office, we are all humans, not weaker or stronger sex.
Last but not the least, marriage is not a person’s only goal.
Thus, in this essay, Ismat Chugtai raises many critical questions on gender discrimination and offers very useful suggestions to set right the situation.
Unit-7-Father Returning Home
Dilip Chitre
Dilip PUrushottam Chitre is a famous poet. He excelled in English as well as Marathi. His poetry collection is “As Is Where Is”. His writings reflect urban culture. Besides poetry, he excelled at painting and film-making.The poem presents the plight of an old man who lives in the city. The narrator is the son of the old man. The old man is returning home by the late evening train. He is a daily commuter. He is standing among silent commuters. He does not pay attention to the suburbs passing by. His shirt and pants are soggy. His raincoat is stained. His bag, full of books, is torn. His eyes are dim.
He gets off the train like a word dropped from a long sentence. It is a very apt simile. No one notices him. He hurries across the platform, crosses the railway line, enters the lane and walks onward with his dirty chappals.
At home, he drinks weak tea, eats a stale chapatti, and reads a book. He expresses his disgust upon man’s estrangement silently in the washroom. He trembles at the sink, when cold water touches his hands. His children don’t share their jokes or secrets with him. He goes to sleep listening to the radio and dreaming about ancestors and grandchildren. In his dreams, he sees nomads conquering the subcontinent.
The poem conveys the bleakness of the old man’s life. The poet uses certain words and imagery to create an atmosphere of desolation: silent, stale, yellow, grey, dimmed, fade, weak, narrow etc. His life is stale like the chapatti he eats. He is neglected by his family members. He is sandwiched between other commuters in the train. His dress is stained and he looks tired. His condition is pitiable.
Thus, the poem depicts the plight of old men in metros who must work to earn money. The poem sensitizes us to the issues of the old people. At the same time, we must agree that the scenario is fast changing. Nowadays, old people are asserting themselves by setting aside a sum of money for their comfortable retired life. They are leading an active and independent life.
Unit-8- Jatra
Arjun Deo CharanArjun Deo Charan is a poet, theatre director and playwright from Rajastan. He has been the Chairman of Rajastan Sangeet Natak Akademi since 2011. He received Sahitya Akademi Award for his Rajastani play “Dharam Judh”.
This play focuses on the erosion of human values in the present-day society. It makes us understand that those values are hard-earned by our ancestors and they are a guiding light to all the human beings. It requests us to follow those values to save the humanity.
This play begins with the interaction between Pathway and Shadows. Pathway symbolizes the right path one has to tread upon and shadows are manifestation of human values such as truth, morality, good-conduct, honesty, concern and love. The fire in the pitchers that are there on their heads represents the heritage of humans. When Shadows are ready to leave from this place as man has become a terrible beast and society is thoroughly corrupt, Pathway stops them and it is willing to accompany them to go to the police station for the protection of values.
At the police station, the Sepoy1 misunderstands them as dangerous and threatens them to leave the place at once. Shadows reach the temple and they overhear the plan of some masked men about terroristic activities. They go again into the police station to inform about it. The Sepoys and Inspector wrongly call Shadow as terrorist and arrest it. They produce it at the court.
At the court, Shadow comments on swearing on the Gita. It says that many are not telling truth even after swearing on the Gita. Therefore, the judge must be guilty of this abuse of the Gita. It also comments that the blindfold of the goddess of Justice must be removed on the premise that seeing justice is more important than mere hearing. Finally, the Judge pronounces life imprisonment to Shadow i.e. to humanism.
Shadow objects that while the hands and legs of the humanism are fastened with shackles, the people are dumbfounded. It says that people should not worry about death because all are journeying from the mother’s womb to the tomb. It also says that fighting injustice is not a crime and tolerating injustice as a passive witness is a crime. The play ends with Shadow’s waiting for a man to take the charge of the torch of humanism before it becomes extinct.
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