Sunday Reading task : Arundhati Subramaniam : "When God is a Traveller

Hello friends, 

         Here  in this blog I am talking about the author who won the Sahitya akademi award 2021. The name of the author is Arundhati Subramaniam.  The work is "When God is a Traveller" got the Sahitya Akademi 2021 award in English Language.

      Whenever any award is given to anyone, we have curiosity to know which type of work is written by him or her. What is the theme and the subject matter of the author. Which type of metaphor is used by him or her. This blog is the answer to all curiosity.

The given below poem  is a titular poem from the collection.

When God Is a Traveller

Arundhati Subramaniam

 (wondering about Kartikeya/ Muruga/ Subramania, my namesake)

 Trust the god back from his travels, his voice wholegrain (and chamomile), 

his wisdom neem, his , sweaty-plumed, drowsing in the shadows.

 Trust him who sits wordless on park benches listening to the cries of children fading into the dusk, 

his gaze emptied of vagrancy, his heart of ownership.

Trust him who has seen enough— revolutions, promises, the desperate light of shopping malls, hospital rooms, manifestos, theologies, the iron taste of blood, the great craters in the middle of love. 

Trust him who no longer begrudges his brother his prize, his parents their partisanship. 

Trust him whose race is run, whose journey remains, who stands fluid-stemmed knowing he is the tree that bears fruit, festive with sun.

Trust him who recognizes you— auspiciousness, abundant, battle-scarred, alive— and knows from where you come. 

Trust the god ready to circle the world all over again this time for no reason at all other than to see it through your eyes.

So let's discuss the poem in detail… 

               If we want to talk about the title of the poem. Then Perhaps the title of the poetry collection " When God is a Traveller"   suggests the god kartikeya. Because in the first line of the poem we come to know that trust the god back from his travel. If we know about the journey of kartikeya then and then we come to know the context of the poem.  He was also known as Murugan, Subramania, Skanda and Kumara. He is the  Hindi god of war. He was the brother of the god Ganesha. And son of Shiva and Parvati.

          If we know the story of Ganesh and kartikeya then we can understand the Poem in a better way.  Because we listen to the very constructive story of Ganesha and kartikeya. Here it seems like the poet tried to give a prominent voice to the story of Kartikeya rather than the story of Ganesha. Here the poet might deconstruct the story of Ganesha and try to give a greater position to kartikeya. Simply the story is that once goddess Parvati had a divine fruit wanted by both her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. Lord Shiva decided that the one who circles the world three times and comes back first would get it as a prize. Kartikeya swiftly got on his peacock and embarked his voyage. Ganesha was well aware that his enormous form and his vehicle, the mouse, spoiled his chances of winning the race. After a little thinking, Ganesha started walking around his parents, Lord Shiva and Parvati. When they asked him why he was not circling the world, he answered My world is at my parent’s feet. He not only won the fruit but also earned the admiration of other gods.

        In the story we can say that Kartikeya proves himself, instead Ganesha circling his parents like it is an excuse. Because if we go by the rules then kartikeya was the winner. He fulfilled the condition of his parents. Here Ganesh plays with words like he used to say like my world is at the feet of my parents. Surprisingly parents were also impressed by him and his answer was not a work. It's a wrong decision of the parents isn't it ?  ( This is my way of looking, perhaps that is no so)

         The very beginning lines Trust the god back from his travels, and his voice is Chamomile. It represents 'may all your dreams and wishes be fulfilled. The plant represents humility. ... Chamomile plants are a symbol of relaxation and rest today. However, the flowers are also used to signify 'energy in adversity'. So this is how he was feeling after his journey of the world. 

            Moreover, what Subramaniam does is that she uses these figures but challenges the canonical religious stories through her representations. She tries to highlight the personal side of one’s religious beliefs.

              This poem is trying to praise the god kartikeya in various ways. She also mentioned that trusting him also has faith in him. 

Trust him who has seen enough— revolutions, promises, the desperate light of shopping malls, hospital rooms, manifestos, theologies, the iron taste of blood, the great craters in the middle of love. 

   Here in this line we come to know which kind of situation is seen by the god. But what is noticeable is that all the situations mentioned here are modern and  one. It is because the poet is a modern one and she included day to day life experience in her poem like the desperate light of shopping malls, hospital rooms, manifestos.

Trust the god ready to circle the world all over again this time for no reason at all other than to see it through your eyes.

       In the last part of the poem we can see that the poet tries to say that trust on the god who is ready to circle the world. There is also no reason at all other than to see it through your eyes.

Central Theme of  the Poem :--

According to me in this poem the central theme is Faith in God or you can say religion. Through the description of the poem we come to know that the god is kartikeya. Here the poet tries to convey a message that keeps faith in the god.   There are lines like…

Trust the god back from his 

travels…

Trust him who sits wordless…...

Trust him who has seen enough……

Trust him who no longer begrudges…

Trust him whose race is run…..

Trust him who recognizes you….

Trust the god ready to circle the world….

       So in this way in the whole poem we come to know that she is trying to give a message One should trust in the god. Who has done great things like to circle the world.  Some of the lines give a glimpse of modern time also.

Through the eyes of Indian Poetics :--

        If we see through the lenses of the Indian Poetics. Then in the Indian Poetics we find the famous Bharatmuni and his Natyashashtra. Bharatmuni talks about  nine Stayibhava. In which one of the sthayi bhav is utsaha ( ઉત્સાહ), and that through the heroic (વીર ) rasa came.

       So here the whole poem is about one character and his praises. Here the poet tries to remind us of his great deeds. So I think it is a heroic poem.

Alex. (2020, April 27). All about Chamomile (MATRICARIA Recutita) – History, Meaning, Facts, care & more. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.littleflowerhut.com.sg/flower-guide/all-about-chamomile-matricaria-recutita-history-meaning-facts-care-more/

 Thank you ...

The Da Vinci Code : Thinking Activity

 Hello friends

      Welcome to my blog, here in this blog I am talking about  one of the famous texts by Dan Brown. That is The Da Vinci Code , published in 2003. This is a mystery thriller novel and it explores an alternative religious history whose central plot point is the bloodline of Jesus and Marry Magdalene. The Da Vinci also provokes an interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail.

This book is extensively denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Catholic Church, and consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies. The novel nonetheless became a massive worldwide bestseller that sold 80 million copies as of 2009 and has been translated into 44 languages.

Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."

             Here in this statement, Brown wants to say that he was not against the Christan realign at all but here he wasn't to say that he  wants to promote spiritual discussion and debate. If we are looking for the text in which also we get several clues that realize that this is not an anti Christian text.

Because Robert Langdon argues fiercely in favour of Catholic church with Leigh Teabing. Because Robert Langdon kneels at the Sarcophagus of Mary - and turns out to be yet another Secret Keeper rather than revealer. Because Robert Langdon decides not to destroy the faith.

But In a Way it is not a Christian text at all. Because in the text we can see the various lies there.

           There's a lot of debate going on about the text and its historical facts so here I would like to give a review of Marcia Ford. What he was telling ..

" Regardless  of whether you agree with Brown's conclusions, it's clear that his history is largely fanciful, which means he and his publisher have violated a long-held if unspoken agreement with the reader: Fiction that purports to present historical facts should be researched as carefully as a nonfiction book would be. "

- Marcia Ford.

 

      So the movie isn't a Christian or anti Christian movie. But we have to debate on all the aspects of the movie's portrayal. It should not be banned. We should accept it as a creative art. 

                  So the text is the Speculative fiction. What is Speculative fiction ? " Speculative fiction is a broad category of fiction encompassing genres with certain elements that are nonexistent in terms of reality, recorded history, or nature and the present universe, covering various themes in the context of the supernatural, futuristic, and many other imaginative topics." So the text is also like certain elements that are non-existent in terms of reality and recorded history.

 “Although it is obvious that much of what Brown presented in his novel as absolutely true and accurate is neither of those, some of that material is of course essential to the intrigue, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has retained the novel's core, the Grail-related material: the sacred feminine, Mary Magdalene's marriage, the Priory of Sion, certain aspects of Leonardo's art, and so on[1].” How far do you agree with this observation of Norris J. Lacy?

     I agree with the observation of Norris J. Lacy. Because whatever things we find in the movie  is not absolutely true and accurate. But here we can see that the screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has retained the novel's core, the Grail-related material: the sacred feminine, Mary Magdalene's marriage, the Priory of Sion, certain aspects of Leonardo's art, and so on. That all the things make interesting narratives.

(If)You have studied ‘Genesis’ (The Bible), ‘The Paradise Lost’ (John Milton) and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (Dan Brown). Which of the narrative/s seems to be truthful? Whose narrative is convincing to the contemporary young mind?

               Here would like to say that if we talk about the truthfulness of the narrative of  ‘Genesis’ (The Bible), ‘The Paradise Lost’ (John Milton) and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (Dan Brown), then no one narrative seems to be truthful. Because we can't be reliable on the one way of looking at the story. If we talk about which narrative is convincing to the contemporary young mind. As such any story is not convincing the young minds, because each and every story has blind Faith and lots of lying. But John Milton's Paradise Lost is more convincing than the other two.  Because John Milton gave a voice to the Minor characters like Eve ,Adam and Satan. Whether in the Bible they all discriminate by the character of the God. In the Da Vinci Code we find a situation like what to believe or what not to believe that is the big question. Because the lying also comes up with accurate figures and faulty evidence.

Milton gives a voice to Eve but that through he tries to say it should not be done. If women are speaking for herself then that will be a disaster for mankind.

             To some extent we can see that Milton's The Paradise Lost is a story of god's punishment to the women So it keeps people in fear while The Da Vinci code tries to prove Jesus as a man in a logical way. So probably the  Da Vinci code is more convincing in this era. Because it's tried to prove it's point, only not telling that this is this or that but instead of that in the Da Vinci Code tries to prove some of the process which leads us towards knowledge.

What harm has been done to humanity by the biblical narration or that of Milton’s in The Paradise Lose? What sort of damage does narrative like ‘The Vinci Code’ do to humanity?

              According to me, if I considered these three books as creative arts then there would be no problems. But stuck with the book for a very long period of time and following the rules and regulations bliendly then, that is the dangerous thing. Then that definitely does damage to society. In the majority it's damage to the identity of women. Because of this type of text women suffered a lot. 

       The Da Vinci Code is the religious narrative. So there are many of the complaints centered on the book's speculations and misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Catholic Church.

                   If we talk about Mary Magdalene being labeled a prostitute by the Church. But in other references we also come to know that Mary, who was considered a saint to whose honor churches were built. She is also respected as a witness to Christ's resurrection as written in the Gospels. So that is how it damages the mind of the people who are religious. Those who rational think they can understand in a better way.

          Let see what the Christian response to the novel is. Archbishop Angelo Amato, the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican curial department, specifically called for a boycott of the film version of The Da Vinci Code, characterizing the film as "full of calumnies, offenses, and historical and theological errors." The film was rated as "morally offensive" by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

(Paul Maier)

What difference do you see in the portrayal of 'Ophelia' (Kate Winslet) in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, 'Elizabeth' (Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or 'Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore) in Roland Joffé's The Scarlet Letter' or David Yates's 'Harmione Granger' (Emma Watson) in last four Harry Potter films - and 'Sophie Neuve' (Audrey Tautau) in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code? How would you justify your answer?

      Generally If we see the women Character in the movie then we come to know that they are treated women as an object. Camara is mostly focused on the women's body, more attention given to sensual body parts.

    So here I am comparing the character of 'Ophelia' (Kate Winslet) in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, 'Elizabeth' (Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or 'Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore) in Roland Joffé's The Scarlet Letter' or David Yates's 'Harmione Granger' (Emma Watson) in last four Harry Potter films - and 'Sophie Neuve' (Audrey Tautau) in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code. So the character of Ophelia is portrayed in a traditional manner. Like not to speak against anything or anyone else. Living for others or do whatever they Father and brother wants. In a way the director portrayed her in traditional sensual women.  In the movie we find the sexual scene of Ophelia Weather in the play Ophelia is not like that. Hester Prynne and Elizabeth also  in the same way as traditionally focused on the body. Whether in the character of Hermione Granger and Sophie Neveu portrayed as an intellectual and intelligent woman. In the character of Hermione we can sometimes see the camera rounding the body intentionally. But in the movie The Da Vinci Code we couldn't find any single shot where Sophie's body part shows intentionally. And she was looking more bold than other women characters. Her portrayal in the movie was very good and effective. 

Work cited :-

Ford, Marcia. "Da Vinci Debunkers: Spawns of Dan Brown's Bestseller". FaithfulReader. Archived from the original on May 27, 2004. Retrieved April 29, 2015.

"New novel from Dan Brown due this fall". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.

Maier, Paul L. "THE DA VINCI CODE: TOOL FOR EVANGELISM?". Christian Research Institute. Retrieved July 31, 2011.

Wyat, Edward (November 4, 2005). "'Da Vinci Code' Losing Best-Seller Status" Archived October 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times.

The White Tiger : Thinking Activity

 Hello friends

        Here in this blog I am talking about the most famous novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. As we know it's a very useful novel to see the realistic picture of India. The White Tiger is an epistolary novel that begins with the protagonist Balram writing a letter to the Chinese Premier Jiabao because Balram, the protagonist of the novel, hears that Jiabao is coming to Bangalore. Balram Halwai narrates his life in a letter, written in seven consecutive nights, explaining how he, the son of a rickshaw puller, escaped a life of servitude to become a successful businessman, describing himself as an entrepreneur.

Representation of India in The novel The White Tiger :-

       Whenever we see that portrayal of anything in a novel, we think that it is appropriate or not. One of the most important questions pop up in our mind is that How far do we agree with the representation of India in the novel the White Tiger.

        So let's see how the representation of India was done by Arvind Adiga. 

        The White Tiger is a reflection upon contemporary India. It shows a real picture of India . As in the novel we finds dialogue that: 

 There is two type of India one is light and India of darkness.

Darkness suggests the corrupted Indian people. Corruption is also one of the cruel realities of the india.

" I will say it was worthwhile to know, just for a day, just for an hour , just for a minute, what it means not to be a servant ." (321) 

     Here we can see the Master and servants relationship in India. Balram has not a right to punish his corrupted master.  In rural India we find ruthless landlords exploit the poor in one or other cases like Balram they take revenge on their masters. Indian government does little for such poor people. They die unknowingly, their children do not have proper education. Their school does not have basic facilities. Thai is the situation of India in these shining days also. Though this isn't a situation I'm all over India but , there are some of the places where that is happening.

   " the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?? Losing weight and looking like the poor."

       From this quote we come to know the mental condition of the people. And almost that's the true picture of the Indian life. 

" in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat—or get eaten up.” ( p- 38 )

This is also one of the cruel  realities of the Indian society. There is no space for poor people. There is also a caste system alive. But what is the main thing which divides people most is the richness of the people. That is also well said by Adiga that there are only two destinies to eat or to be eaten up.

        So what I was thinking is that Arvind Adiga portrayal of India is almost a reality of the Indian life and people.

Do we believe that Balram's story is the archetype for all stories of "rags to riches" ?

          Here in this question I don't have a particular answer like ' yes ' or 'No'. But what we can do is that we can predict things. It is possible that Balram was the archetype for all the people from rags to riches. But the question is that...

          Is this the business model of India ?? Does Balram stand for all the successful businessmen of India?

          It's not possible because each and every person is not ready to slot down anybody's throat for personal success. But some of them are like Balram Halwai. To become a successful businessman is a good idea but to kill somebody and live a life like a rich man it's quite showing for me. 

           Each and every person has their own ways to become rich and successful in their life. Is it not only the way that Balram is doing?  If we say that Balram was the archetype for all rags to riches. Then it means we are telling that all the humans who get success in their life they all are murderers. Is it so ? And also it Should not happen.

Is it possible to do deconstructive reading of The White Tiger ? How ?

Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108).

      As we know Derrida talking about Binary opposition. Here in the novel  the binary oppositions of Darkness versus Light, Master versus Servant and High versus Low castes are posited.  In deconstruction we have to question the text and it's meaning itself. So here we can see Balram telling a story of himself. So to what extent we can believe in his story that is the question. And also..

Balram himself says, "It is an Autobiography of a Half- baked Indian".

 So what was the meaning of the word 'Half-baked' . So the meaning is poorly developed or carried out, lacking adequate planning or forethought, lacking in judgment, intelligence, or common sense.

 

             So the person who doesn't have enough common sense and who is telling the story of his life, then We can’t rely on his narrative that whatever spoken by him is true. This single line can falsify the entire narratives.

• Write a review of the film adaption of The White Tiger :----

       

            The White Tiger is a 2021 India based American drama film directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film stars Adarsh Gourav in his first leading role, along with Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao. The film was produced by Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani, and executive produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, Ava DuVernay. A rich Indian family's ambitious driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top as an entrepreneur.

Initial release: 13 January 2021

Director: Ramin Bahrani

Screenplay: Ramin Bahrani

Producers: Priyanka Chopra, Ramin Bahrani, Mukul Deora, Ava DuVernay

Languages: Hindi, English

          When we talk about movie adaption from the book.  Then we have to look at various aspects. Is this movie faithful to the novel or not ? What extent is the movie faithful ? 

• Have you identified any difference between the movie adaption and the novel ? Does it make any significant difference in the overall texture and the tone of the novel ?

      Yes  I have identified many differences between the movie adaption and the novel. First of all we can see the beginning of the movie and the beginning of the book. First of all let's see the beginning of the movie.

             

The movie begins with the scene of the statue of Gandhi and his followers at the night in Delhi when Balram is in Maharaja’s costumes. He sets back in the car and drunken Pinky madam drives the car, which leads to her striking and killing a small child.

But the novel we can see that how it was begins. You can also read the first page of the novel, which I have uploaded here. But  what I am thinking is that this change does not affect the texture and the tone of the novel.

      What are the most important things in the novel or that are not in the movie. That is about religion. Arvind Adiga brutally criticise the mythical characters like Hanuman, Krishna.

 " you will find an image of a saffron-colored creature, half man half monkey: this is Hanuman, everyone's favorite god in the Darkness. Do you know about Hanuman, sir? He was the faithful servant of the god Rama, and we worship him in our temples because he is a shining example of how to serve your masters with absolute fidelity, love, and devotion."

"One  evening I went to the market and bought two dozen of the cheapest idols of Hanuman and 

Ram "

" It  was a scene to put you in mind 

of that passage in the Bhagavad Gita, when our Lord Krishna—another of history's famous 

chauffeurs—stops the chariot he is driving and gives his passenger some excellent advice on life 

and death. Like Krishna I philosophized—I joked—I even sang a song—all to make Mr. Ashok 

feel better. "

So this is the dialogue from the novel the white Tiger where we find the references of Indian mythical heroes in a derogatory way. But in the movie that is not there. We don't find any single references of Lord Hanuman and Krishna. 

         So That's the question why Ramin Behrani's hasn't portrayed these things in the movies.

So That's the question why Ramin Behrani's hasn't portrayed these things in the movies. So If we talk about the current scenario of the Cancel Culture or Call out culture. Then we can say that this is not a time to talk about any god publically. So to talk about negative aspects or critical points definitely should not be done. I think  because of the climate of fear film makers don't talk about the god in that sense which Adiga was telling in the novel. But what I was thinking about is that there should be a healthy debut around religion.

There is a single difference that the poetry line " You were looking for a key for years but the door was always open "  by Iqbal, which is in novel speak by Muslim shopkeeper.  In the movie pinky madam speaks this dialogue. Is there any reason behind that ? If the shopkeeper spoke this sentence then what was the effect ? Is there any politics ?🤔

        Yes , there is politics because these lines make notable changes in Balram's life. So this credit goes to Muslim poet which Adiga gives in his novel. But in the movie producer  Priyanka chopara Jonas (Pinky madam ) speaks these lines. And it seems like that because of her words Balram awakened. But it's not true.

      If In the movie Muslim shopkeeper spoke this lines then their is a new scope of thinking and new discourse happened. Then the beauty of Islamic language and tradition of aesthetics may be known to everybody in a different discourse.

• David Ehrlich in his review wrote this " Ramin Behrani's Netflix thriller brutal corrective to Slumdog millionaire Why is it a corrective ? What was the error in Slumdog Millionaire that it was corrected ?

          In a way the movie Slumdog millionaire is a good movie. The effect of the movie is very strong. So people don't think about the negative aspects or what is left in this movie. So what David Ehrlich is talking about is  how this movie the white Tiger is corrective to the movie " Slumdog millionaire". 

        So the movie The White Tiger  is more realistic then the movie Slumdog Millionaire.  There is sudden change behaviour of the character. The character is protagonist Jamal's brother. At last who has changed completely and gave cellphone and car keys to Latika. And sacrifice his own life for the two lovers. It's not a believable thing. But Ramin Behrani's Netflix thriller is not needed to be correct because it is realistic.

Citation :-

 Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. HarperCollins, 2008.

“Half-baked.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-baked. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.

Thank you......