Tales of Prison Life Sri Aurobindo-About the book

 🙏  🙏 Om  namo bagavathe sri aurovindaya 🙏

SRI AUROBINDO.

Tales of Prison Life-About the book

Dr. Sisir Kumar Ghosh translated this book from its original Karakahini publication in 1909–10 into English. The book includes three essays,a poem 'Invitation'  in English written in Alipore jail and a 'Uttarpara' speech in English, along with the main text.

 

I read this book twice, as it was very engrossing.

I gathered the courage  to write a few lines about the book. (I am not a high calibre person to write about Sri Aurobindo, a world renowned yogi and  an incarnation of Satchitananda.) .This book is an account of  his spiritual experiences in Alipore jail. On May 1, 1908, the British government  arrested him for conspiracy and released him after a year of solitary confinement. The cover photo depicts the Alipore prison room, where Sri Aurobindo found himself locked in seclusion.

" God took me to a prison and turned it into a place of meditation and His trysting ground"

"The only result of the wrath of the British Government was that I found God".

The prison life transformed the revolutionary nationalist Sri Aurobindo into a yogi. He expressed his displeasure over the British Raj prison administration and desired prison reforms. He spent his initial days in prison in great agitation, but doing yoga for an hour in the mornings and in the evenings brought peace to his mind. The police, by hook or crook, tried to  prove him guilty in the Muzaffarpur bomb blast case by collecting false evidence, but their efforts were all in vain. He mentioned sympathetic and good natured Britishers, Superintendent Emerson, and Doctor Daly in the book. They respected Indian nationalists, who were well educated, belonged to high class families.  In his Uttarpara speech,

 He revealed his tryst with Vasudeva. He sensed Lord Sri Krishna's presence in all living beings. During the trial in court, he even felt God's presence in Dacoits, Theives, and Magistrate and Prosecuting Counsel.

 

Along with this book, Bases of Yoga and The Mother books are helpful for beginners to understand Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. I strongly recommend this book to spiritual seekers.

🙏Om namo bagavathe sri aurovindaya 🙏

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1974,2018

Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department. Pondicherry 605002.

http://www.sadba.in

If You Forget Me poem by Pablo Neruda Summary

SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar

Satavahana University Karimnagar- Degree I year English Semester-1. Unit.3..Academic yr.2020-21onwards

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine 

if you Forget Me poem summary-Unit-3

Pablo Neruda was a popular Chilean poet. The poem is in free verse and it is an expression of the speaker's love for his beloved.

A few critics believe that the poem exposes Neruda's feelings for his wife, Matilda Urrutia. Neruda wrote the poem during his exile so,some critics say that the poem is  a reference to his country Chile.

The speaker who is living in a distant land pines for the love of his beloved. The crystal moon, the touch of ash near the fire, the burnt log reminds him his beloved.Every object appears to him like boats that could carry him to his lover.

The speaker warns his beloved that  love is mutual. If she decides to leave him at this side of the shore, he will not hesitate to move away to different place. But if she yearns for him, her true love will automatically kindle the fire of love back in him. Love is reciprocal.

The verses are unrhymed. Six stanzas are of different lengths. The images like 'crystal moon ','red branch,' 'slow autumn' magnify the intensity of love. The symbols used in the poem include crystal moon,red branch, impalpable ash.

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Annotations

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

Reference:- The poem "if You Forget Me' was written by Pablo Neruda, a popular Chilean poet.

 He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Context:- The poem is an expression of the speaker's love for his beloved.A few critics believe that the poem exposes Neruda's feelings for his wife, Matilda Urrutia. Neruda wrote the poem during his exile so,some critics say that the poem is  a reference to his country Chile.

Meaning:- The speaker warns his beloved that  love is mutual. If she decides to leave him at this side of the shore, he will not hesitate to move away to different place. But if she yearns for him, her true love will automatically kindle the fire of love back in him. Love is reciprocal.

G.Ramakrishna

SRR GDC Karimnagar

Be the Best of Whatever You Are. Poem by Douglas Malloch summary and annotations

Satavahana University Karimnagar- Degree I Year -Semester 2-English- 2020-21 onwards-Unit 6. 

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar Be The Best It you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley – but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill; Be a bush, if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of the grass, And some highway happier make; If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass- But the liveliest bass in the lake! We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew, There’s something for all of us here. There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to do And the task we must do is the near. If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail, If you can’t be the sun, be a star; It isn’t by size that you win or you fail- Be the best of whatever you are!

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Questions

1) what is the central theme of the poem?

2) Comment on the imagery used in the poem?

3) Write a summary of the poem' Be the best of whatever You Are'?

Douglas Malloch was an American short story writer and a poet. He was known as a 'Lumberman's poet'.(lumberman(especially in North America) a person who fells trees, cuts them into logs, or transports them to a sawmill.)His famous poems are 'Echoes', 'Good Timber',  'It's Fine Today'

This is a 16 line  poem contains of four quatrain stanzas(four lines in each stanza)  the rhyme scheme is 'abab. 'The end word in the first line 'hill' rhymes with 'rill' in the third line.  be' in second line rhymes with 'tree' on fourth line.The same rhyme scheme repeats in all stanzas

Imagery used in the poem.

Vivid plant visual imagery is used.l

If you can't be a pine ....

Be a scrub...

Be a bush..

bit of the grass,

Fish imagery.

can't be a muskie.(a large freshwater gamefish of the pike family.)

But the loveliest bass in the lake.(bony fish)

The imagery is appealing to our senses. Pine is a tall tree that grows on hills whereas Scrub is small in size.The poet takes these big and small plants as subject of his poem  to convey that nothing on the planet is less important.Use of conditional 'if' in every stanza emphasize that we have choices in life to be the best.

The poem is didactic in nature.the poet's aim is to inspire us to lead optimistic life.The theme of the poem is that everyone has their own  importance whether small or big. whatever work we do,we need to do it in the best way. The Poet wants to say that every living being has its own role to play in this  world.So he suggests us not to worry and try to be in number one position in our field. We should respect and love our job irrespective of position . He gives an example of a ship's captain and crew to say No job is less important in the world."we can't all be captains but we've got to be crew" . The ship needs not only a captain it also needs an efficient crew to sail smoothly in the waters.Everyone has something lesser or bigger work to do in the world. Douglas draws his ideas from the nature to give a beautiful message to the world. The Poet gives examples of contrast things from nature such as pine - scrub, bush-grass,muskie-bass, highway- trail, captain-crew, sun- star.

The Poet motivates us to be the best whatever we do in our life.

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Annotations.

1)It isn't by size that you win or fail-Be the best of whatever you are!

Reference:- These lines are taken from the poem Be the Best of Whatever You are' written by Douglas Malloch. He was an American short story writer and a poet. He was known as a 'Lumberman's poet'.. His famous poems are 'Echoes', 'Good Timber',  'It's Fine Today'

This is a 16 line  poem contains of four quatrain stanzas(four lines in each stanza)  the rhyme scheme is 'abab. 'The end word in first line 'hill' rhymes with 'rill' in third line.  be' in second line rhymes with 'tree' on fourth line.The same rhyme scheme repeats in all stanzas

Context:-It is an inspirational poem. The poet advises us to be the best in life.If you are unable to be like the sun, you can be like a star. Every living being has its own value in the world whether small or big. the World is with full of opportunities. 

Meaning:-Your size does not decide your  success but attitude matters the most. The poet 's intention is that whatever you are Be the best.

S.Rajesh kumar

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

All Roads lead to Ganga Ruskin Bond - review

All Roads lead to Ganga review

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

" All Roads lead to Ganga" is a fascinating nostalgic travel memoir.  Ruskin Bond records his travel experiences enroute from Dehra to Ganga, depicting rivers,rivulets ,temples and pens the beauty in the smallest things in a vivid manner. Breathtaking description of landscape,  mist filled hills, crops and culture in the Garwhal HImalyan region are seen in this book. We hear

local folk songs, little birds chirping, red headed parakeets singing, cheerful bulbuls,quarrelsome mynas, brain  fever bird nagging cry, mouse-hare sounds and see plants such as pine,deodar(deva daru) rhododendron forests, walnut, oak, jack fruit peepal  found in Garwahal region.

The writer draws our attention to history of Dehradun rulers and how Gun hill in musoorie got its name.
 Prominent place in the book is given for early plant collectors,who were prepared to risk their health and lives in the pursuit of knowledge, especially about Mr. Jacquemont.

I  enjoyed reading 'The Writer on the Hill' and 'Bird Song in the Hills' chapters as they describe Bond's love and  association  with the mountains, flora and fauna unique to Himalayan region.
Reading this book gave me an immense pleasure and it transported me to the beautiful hills of Garwahal . Bond's  lucid writing keeps us hook to the book. 
For Bond, living in hills is  laying on mother's lap.He would not have written wonderful stories, if he had lived in noisy metro cities.
" who goes to hills. goes to his mother" - Rudyard Kipling.

"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her." -William Wordsworth

Published by Rupa publication india Pvt .Ltd.New Delhi.1992

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Rajesh kumar