Martyr's corner- R.K.Narayan : Extra question| Calcutta University

Q)  Discuss theme of the story 'Martyr's corner' .

Answer:-  The author R.K.Narayan has wonderfully portrayed the picture of his imaginative locale Malgudi in his story. The story is also from his collection, 'Malgudi Days' , where he has depicted the boons and banes  of town life. The telltale sign of this imaginative locale is prominent, still the author in his magical ways has included the day to day emotions of rural life in this story. Like the place itself which is universal, Rama,  the protagonist of the story, also represents the commoan who is put to untold suffering because of the faulty administrative setup in which he is placed. The author has beautifully woven the theme of deligance, dedication,hard work, compassion,poverty, struggle and resilience. In the story the uncertainty of life and rise and fall associated with it is also displayed.
     The first half of the the story talk about the success of the hard working , Rama , who sold eatables on a stall at corner near the cinema hall . He prepared the edibles from crack of the daen and then he sold them between eight to ten in the evening. He , through an investment of five rupees per day managed to earn a princely sum of three hundred a month. He didn't even bothered about understanding hygiene and sold near an open gutter. Still his customers clamoured for the food . All in all he had a good life.
        Rama, later in the story , on account of a violent uprising at the spot where he pitched the stall of eatables could no longer sell from the old spot. He was forced to move two hundred yards away out of the sight of his potential customers. This resulted in his business coming down so much that he had to windup his business. Later when his savings ran out he had to take the job as a waiter in Restaurant Kohinoor for rupees twenty a month . Thus this story justifies the rise and fall of life.

To the skylark- William Wordsworth: Summary and guide notes.

Summary:-

The poem of William Wordsworth, "To the Skylark" is a beautiful poem describing the activities of the Skylark in the sky. He puts a series of questions in front of the lark. He firstly asks the question whether he hates the ground below as the poet always finds the bird flying up in the sky. Or does his mind and eye still engrossed in the thought of home? The poet goes on to praise the bird for the sweet melody it produces, though he cannot drop in to his home freely at will.
        The skylark has been called a daring bird for the height at which it flies. He has a strong bonding with the home. The song he sings spread throughout the plain and fills it with the divine rapture of the timeless melody it produces.
        The speaker requests the skylark' to leave the dark forest to the nightingale as he has a glorious light to himself. The bird is wise because he still remain connected to the roots, the nest and remains true to both the sky and earth.

Q1) Briefly analyze the poem 'To the skylark' by William Wordsworth.

Answer:-  The speaker of the poem in the first stanza asks a question to the skylark' that whether he hates the ground while he begins by calling it an "ethereal minstrel", a divine singer and "pilgrim of the sky", a traveler of the sky. He says on earth 'care' thrives. ''Care'' here can be taken as something positive but going by the tone seems to be more of a suffering and unhappiness. Then the poet further goes onto ask the bird, does still his heart and eye in his home on the ''dewy ground'', even though his wings are keen to fly. He asks this because he always sees the bird high up in the sky singing and wandering. Although he has a nest which he cannot drop into at will but that music, the divine melody is constantly composed by his quivering wings and in spite of it the poet praises the song. The meaning of the last sentence could be found in the behaviour of the Skylark and this forms the reason for the poet's calling the bird ''he''. Skylark is a song bird and perching bird as well. But unlike the other perching bird the skylark, as it has s in its name, can sing only when it's in flight, flying high up in the sky. So, he ''cannot enter his home freely'' means that if the Skylark desires to sing then he cannot be at home. 
   Now the poet ventures on to describe the flight of the ''Ethereal minstrel''. It's flight to the "last point of vision and beyond" means that it cannot be seen and the poet calls it "daring" for the height it mounts to. "Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond" means that the bond between the Skylark and his home is very strong and unbreakable and this love for his home makes the song equally pleasant when on ground as well as in sky. Although he flies too high on air, it never forgets the home and so the poet calls here "might'st" and "proud privilege" because he sings independent of the leafy spring, independent of season of earth and he sings timeless.
  In the last stanza, Wordsworth asks the Skylark to leave the nightingale to the shady wood. Nightingale, which is a songbird, sing in forest unlike the Skylark which sing in the sky and the poet says that the Skylark posses the "privacy of glorious light" which is a little contradictory as how could the open sky provide privacy to the lark. But this not about whether someone sees it or not but because of the height where it sings .
The speaker then says that the lark fills the world with "flood of harmony". The bird has a great instinct as it is a bird that soars but never roams by which the poet means that however high the lark flies he would return to his home and this makes him wise, depicting that he is true to his roots,his lovely nest.
   Last the Skylark is "true to the kindred point of Heaven and Home" meaning that the Skylark is closely related to both heaven and home , i.e. sky and the ground.

Q2) What is the central idea of the poem "To the skylark'' ?

Answer:- The poem by Wordsworth, "To the skylark'' is a beautiful description of the skylark's behaviour and a passionate praisal of the creation of Mother Nature and Almighty. The "flood of harmony" that the skylark showers onto the ground below from his "privacy of glorious light", gives it an effect as if God is showering his blessing on the earth. The skylark's bond with the home on the dewy ground and it's tendency to soar high up in the sky is what the poem seems about when first looked at but one can always take away something from poetry. Here in this poem readers can take away the wisdom of staying true to their roots , their home even when that reach high up in life . With the arrival of success, if we forget the origin or the roots to which we belong then we'll never be able to carry on and reach up to the higher levels. What we have to contribute, it must go two ways- one towards the elevated position to raise it to further heights while other to the home. Only then we can be truly wise. This is the central idea to always maintain a strong, never-failing bond with home even when we are far away. Incorporating these values in life as Wordsworth expects us to, helps us achieve a better position in life. Another idea which lies here is that of giving an ode to a skylark for its certain unique qualities.

Where the mind is without fear- Rabindranath Tagore: Guide notes.

What is the central theme of the poem "Where the mind is without fear" by Rabindranath Tagore?

Answer:- The poem "Where the mind is without fear" by Rabindranath Tagore was composed first in Bengali in 1900 when India still was under the British Imperialist control and people were eagerly waiting to get their freedom from British rule. Tagore's own concept of freedom has also been reflected through this poem,taken from the Nobel prize winning anthology 'Gitanjali' (Song offering) published by Indian Society, London in 1912. The poet wanted a country where people would be free from any kind of oppression and their head would be held high in dignity. There would be education and knowledge for everyone regardless of class or clan and children should learn freely from nature around them. He even puts emphasis on unity among people of the entire world without any division on caste,creed,colour, religion or baseless superstition. He says that there should not even be national boundaries which breaks unity among the global citizens. Tagore even wants a nation where people would be truthful and not superficial and words should come out from the depth of the heart. Everyone should work hard to reach their goals and neither should they be lazy and tired nor should ignore it,enabling them to reach perfection. The poet that he doesn't want the 'clear stream' of reason and logical thinking to lose its ways into the 'dreary deserts' of prejudice and superstition. He says that the mind should be 'led forward' to 'ever-widening thoughts and actions' by Almighty evading the narrowness of mind. And he finally ends by asking the God, the Father to awaken his country in such a 'heaven of freedom' where the above conditions prevail.
          Rabindranath Tagore in a way wanted to awaken the God in us to free our mind from shackles and bondage. He wants us not to get bonded by lines that society draws around us. He wants us to come out and break the established norms, principles, superstition,etc. that curb our  actual freedom- the freedom of minds, the freedom of thoughts. He urge his countrymen to come forward to convert the utopian world of holistic freedom free from the hackneyed principles and dogmas into the reality of the coming sunrise. Tagore's heartfelt prayers to God,the Almighty for true freedom for the country has taken the form of this poem.