MAKHDOOM MOHIUDDIN poem Darkness(Andhere)

SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar

Darkness(Andhere) poem by MAKHDOOM MOHIUDDIN

Satavahana /OU/KU/TU -Telangana State-

M.A. English Sem.1

(Paper-V.Modern Indian Literatures in Translation)

Makhdoom Mohiuddin, a romantic and revolutionary poet, was born in Anthole, Medak district of erstwhile Hyderabad state. He was the founder of the Progressive Writers Union in Hyderabad State. He fought against the tyranny of Nizam of Hyderabad as a communist party leader. This poem reflects the conditions that prevailed in the society of Hyderabad State during the peasant struggle. The state was in turmoil with the Telangana  peasant armed struggle during 1946-51.

The night has nothing but a begging bowl

The twinkling stars and shining moon

In borrowed robes, reflected glory

Their wedding gown,  in shroud

The night that unfolds,

The groans of dying bodies,

The ambuscade of the dogs of devil,

The scars of civilization.

Moats,

Barbed fence,

Entangled bodies in the fence,

Vultures perched on those bodies,

Crackling of skulls,

Bodies with chopped limbs,

Through one end of skeletons to the other

The Chilling wind

Wailing, crying, complaining

Sounds of sobbing infants and mothers

In the stillness of night

Silent mourning

Of the moon, the stars

A cluster of forlorn stars on the forehead of night

-only till the break of the dawn

The night has nothing but darkness

The night has nothing but darkness

DARKNESS

Author(s): Makhdoom Mohiuddin

Shiv k kumar English translation

Source: Indian Literature, Vol. 38, No. 6 (170), urdu writing today (Nov. - Dec. 1995), p. 58

Published by: Sahitya Akademi

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23335

Analysis

Darkness is a symbol of fear, danger, and evil. Evil forces venture out to hunt innocent people in the cover of darkness. The poet emphasises in the concluding couplet that night has nothing but darkness. The night is gloomy; it has nothing of its own. Even the twinkling of its stars and the shining of its moon are borrowed from the sun. The night is hiding its reality by covering itself with its shiny wedding gown. The night opens up with terror,moans of dying bodies, and the ambush of the devil's henchmen. The imagery reveals the atrocities on women and killings of communists by Jagirdars, Jamindars, and Razakars during peasant rebellion in Telangana.

Hungry vultures are sitting on the men's bodies, which have cut limbs and cracked skulls strewn all over the area. The poet hints at the horrifying civilization that prevailed during the time in Telangana. Feudal landlords enslaved the peasants and crushed the rebels with their henchmen. The chill wind blowing in the night symbolises harshness and impending danger. Children and mothers are wailing and crying, and their desperate plea to rescue them from the clutches of evil forces is going unheard. 

A group of hopeless stars at the forefront of the night are mute spectators, witnessing atrocities against women till the daybreak. The poet laments the state of his people under tyrannical rule and wishes to see a new dawn.

Andhere (Darkness) in  Urdu For Urdu poem 

Rekhta.org

Razakars= Private army( MIM) under the leadership of Qasim razvi, attacked and committed atrocities against Hindus during Nizam rule.

The Kitemaker by Ruskin Bond summary

 Osmania University Hyderabad-
Degree English sem-4

The Kitemaker by Ruskin Bond(born 19 May 1934,)

The Kitemaker is a short story written by well-known children's writer and Indian author of British descent Ruskin. He was born on 19th May 1934 and lives in Missouri. His first novel 'The Room on the Roof' was received well by the readers. Bond created a fictional character named Rusty. His literary output includes a wide range of genres, including autobiographical works, novels, short stories, non-fiction, and children's literature.

His popular books are Flight of Pigeons, The Blue Umbrella, Our trees still grow in Dehra. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for the novel ‘Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra’. 

Roads to Mussoorie and All Roads lead to Ganga are his popular memoirs.

    It is the story of Mehmood, an old man, expert in kite-making. Mehmood feels nostalgic about his past. The writer compares Mehmood's past happy kite making life to his present unhappy retired life. The story's themes include tradition, modern materialistic life, and patronage of the arts. The story begins with Ali, the grandchild of Mehmood, running to his grandfather as his kite is stuck in a banyan tree at an abandoned mosque in Gali Ram Nath. Grandfather makes another kite for Ali. Ali promises him that he will not lose the kite again. The old man thinks of his bygone days.  Not many children are buying kites. They prefer to spend money on movies. Though he sold his kite shop premises, he still makes kites for his own pleasure and for his grandson, Ali. 

In those days kite playing was a favourite pass time to kings and grown men. There were great kite battles till others kites string was cut. Mehmood made a special kind of kite, Dragon kite for Nawab. The dragon kite was launched in the presence of Nawab and a large gathering in ground. He presented a musical kite to Nawab which makes a violin sound while flying in the sky. Once kite makers also had patrons like poets but now no one knew Mehmood. Neighbours used to enquire about his health. Now he laments that there are not enough open spaces for flying kites. Modern men are busy with their routine, living a materialistic life, struggling for a living. Now men don't have time to fly kites and his neighbourhood don't show concern for the old man, Mehmood.

At present, he is content with his grandson Ali's kite playing, and he now makes kites only for his grandson 

The writer notices the similarities between men and trees.Bond compares Mehmood to a Banyan tree as his hands are twisted like banyan roots and Ali to a young Mimosa plant(అత్తిపత్తి).

The Banyan tree represents old and traditional, just as Mehmood represents memories and experiences of his kite making craft.

    Mehmood dreams of a beautiful and powerful kite, which resembles Garuda bird, Lord Vishnu's vehicle. He has nothing else to give Ali as an heirloom. Only thing he can handover to Ali, is a new kite. 

Ali calls Mehmood repeatedly but he doesn't get any response from the old man. Since Ali hears a faint sound, runs outside of the house to call his mother. The butterfly leaves the old man 's beard and flies to the Mimosa tree. A strong wind carries the torn kite into the blue sky. The writer symbolically represents the death of the old man.

Symbols used in the story are Banyan tree, Mimosa tree, butterfly and torn kite. 

For complete story click the link below.

https://xpressenglish.com/our-stories/kitemaker/

S.Rajesh kumar

Poetry as a personal discourse:- essay

 Poetry as a personal discourse:_

Poetry is one of the ancient modes of literature. It has been in vouge since Chaucer age . Poetry has given prominence in romantic period as a discourse. It has several forms for example, epic,satire,pastoral,elegiac, sonnet and lyrical forms.

In Wordsworth view poetry is ' a spontaneous overflow of feelings'.  prose is realistic whereas poetry is an anti realistic in nature.  poetry may be subjective with expressions like" I' or objective. poetry is expression of depiction of poets creative and imaginative  ideas . poetry has not only personal on the other hand it also has social aim. It's social aim is to correct people's frivolities and follies of society. So it is didactic .

If we consider poetry as  a  personal discourse, poets express their feelings towards love ,nature ,art and beauty. Their personal feelings find place in the poetry. for instance, For Keats, poetry is an escape from the reality. He expresses  melancholic note and his wish to escape from the physical world in the poem Ode to nightingale. Poetry gives pleasure as they love nature and its beauty.
"nature never did betray
the heart that loved her'

In the eighteenth century period of Dryden and Pope, poetry was used for personal benefits and to attack political rivals and rival poets. Pope satirized his rivals mercilessly . Dryden vented his anger and strong feelings on king's rivals in the poem Abslom and Achitophel'.
For some, Herbert's poetry is religious , Donne's poetry is spritual.
Plato banished poets from his republic.He called poetry immoral,poets liars. Homer says that the   poetry should not be included in the school curriculum as it corrupts  society . Aristotle defended  poetry.
As a  coin the poetry has two sides , on one hand it works as  social discourse, on the other hand it is  a  personal
discousre.Both are crucial in the history of literature.