Prose and Short Stories
Bipin Chandra Pal : Nation Building
Bipin Chandra Pal was a mighty prophet of nationalism. He was a lion of Bengal in the work of nation building. In this essay, he discusses vividly what the Indian nation builder has to keep in view constantly.
Every evolution is the evolution of an idea. This central idea in every organism regulates the whole course of its evolution. This constitutes the regulative idea of the organism. The archetype of the horse is the regulative idea in every colt that of a dog is the regulative idea in every puppy that of a man is the regulative idea in every human baby. These regulative ideas constitute the inner principle of differentiation.
Different races of men constitute different types of humanity. All evolution works upon two factors. One is heredity which is permanent and the other is environment which is subjected to change. The two essential elements in social evolution are race and environment. Environment may be social or physical. Modern sociology recognises both race element and environment as vital factors in social evolution.
The race characteristics are innate and prehistoric. They vary with various people. The changes that happen in life and civilization are mainly based on the original model. It is the original model that constitutes the real regulative idea in the evolution of every race. If the original model is completely ignored, it will result in decay and degeneration.
Our country has within it five great world cultures. Each one is having its own special characteristics. An Indian nation builder must view all these. It would be worse to obliterate them and reduce them to a colourless unanimity.
The work of nation building in India must be conducted along five main lines—Hindu, Parsee, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian. All must work together for the development of the country. Such a development will secure a rightful place for India among the nations of the world. No one can force one type of civilization to develop into another. If it happens, it will be unnatural and artificial. It is not isolation and exclusion, but federation and co-operation that will help for building India into a great and powerful nation.
Swami Vivekananda : Work and its Secret
Swami Vivekananda was a spiritual teacher of a rare type. He served the society with his preaching and service. In this prose, Work and its Secret, he talks about the secret of work and success.
The secret of success is to pay much attention to the means as to the end. It is the cause that produces the effect. An ideal must be chosen first. The realisation of the ideal is the effect. The means are the cause. Attention to the means is the great secret of life.
We take up something and put our whole energy into it. Even after failure we don't want to come out of it. That is a great cause of sorrow. We want to enjoy the pleasures of life and they eat into our vitals.
Another cause of misery is that we are attached too much to something. We are being caught. We must work hard. We need the power of love and the power of attachment. At the same thime, we should not be too much attached. We should have the power to detach ourselves, however, beloved and close. We should not be weak in that matter. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Strength is life whereas weakness is death. We have to detach outselves to earn joy. Men who detach themselves can escape most of the miseries of life.
We are all beggars and traders because we expect and want a return to whatever we do. We get misery because we expect something from others. Desire or want is the father of all misery. The secret of true success and true happiness is to be unselfish. Christ was crowned because he was unselfish. Ask nothing, want nothing in return. The more you give, the more will come to you.
We need super divine power. Super divine strength is the only way to pass through the difficulties, miseries and intricacies of life. We are trying to put the blame on others for everything. We want to set right other people and not our- selves.
"This is the first lesson to learn: be determined not to curse
anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside,...
lay the blame on yourself'
If we perfect the means, the end will take care of itself. If our lives are good and pure, then the world will become good and pure. It is an effect and we are the means. Therefore let us purify ourselves and make ourselves perfect.
Amarnatha Jha : The Teaching of English in India
Amarnatha Jha served as a Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University. Through his speech and writing, he has done a great service to teachers and students. In this essay, he discusses the difficulties and problems of teaching English in India today.
English has been taught in India for more than hundred years. Even then, there are many difficulties. So the teachers who teach English and others interested in English should ask certain questions: if all is well with the subject, if the teachers are competent, if it is necessary to keep it the medium of instruction and if a distinction is not needed between the teaching of the language and the literature.
PRIMARY STAGE:
Teaching: In the primary schools, English is generally badly taught. So the primary school boy becomes a victim of incomplete and half-hearted experiments.
Teachers: The junior-most and least qualified teachers are placed in primary classes or an old teacher on the verge of superannuation is in charge of the lower classes. This makes the teaching unsatisfactory—callous, experimental, unbaked and desultory.
Need: A declared policy of the educational mandarins regarding the system of training is needed. Properly trained teachers should be appointed to teach pri mary classes. The teachers must go through a course of training in phonetics. They should know something about education.
Primers and readers: Efforts should be taken to make the subjects relevant to the life of the students. The subject matter should be more in relation with the traditions and environments of Indian students. The students must be allowed to study and express their knowledge through their mother tongue.
Difficulties: An Indian student faces difficulties like inadequate physical nourishment, unsuitable school hours and economic pressure. The most important problem is the linguistic bondage. The teachers also must familiarize themselves with the technical terms of the language.
HIGH SCHOOL STAGE: At the school stage, the student is able to think for himself. Textbooks should be selected properly. Well written and pleasant books should be selected. Teachers should teach them as literature, living, warm and vivid. They should not alarm and frighten and students. Instead they must let them see the best models and live in their company.
UNIVERSITY STAGE: At this stage, the tutor should 'educate' to develop the young man's tastes and correct them. They must teach the higher qualities of style, the intellectual and emotional analysis, and vague thoughts. The student should familiarize himself with the best books. The teacher should teach the interesting and good passages to create interest in the students. Specialization can be done effectively after setting a comprehensive background.
Mulk Raj Anand : The Terrorist
Mulk Raj Anand was a prolific writer. He wrote many novels and short stories. Through his writings he protested against social injustice, superstitions and communal prejudice. The Terrorist describes the politial atmosphere of India during 1930s'.
Sardar Bir Singh and Vasu Dev were the terrorists who wanted to bomb the Legislative Assembly. Singh gave the slip to the English Inspector of police at the entrance of the Legislative Assembly buildings in New Delhi. Captain Beatty checked and allowed him inside the public gallery of the Legislative Assembly. He thought that his friend Vasu Dev also entered without any difficulty.
Singh's mind was filled with tension and anxiety. He tried his best to look unsuspicious and ordinary. He got a seat at the top edge of the gallery. He sat carefully so that the bomb could not explode. He wondered at the tempera paintings. He saw the picture of Buddha preaching to his disciples. Then the thought of death, struck in his mind. He felt that he was going to die for his mother land. It was a noble cause, 'a glorious death'
He had a great contempt for the Englishmen. He hated even the symbol of British crown. He looked at the distinguished visitors gallery. Not even a single Indians could be seen there. They were the representatives of Press of India, an English organisation.
Singh had a great hatred for the Britishers. He also had contempt for the members of the Swaraj party (who shook hands with Sir. James Ferguson, the Home Secretary). He blamed them as 'time servers', 'opportunists' and 'traitors'.
He had printed, "I die for my motherland. I become a sacrifice for it. I have tried to avenge Bharat Mata against the devilry of the British", on the leaflet. He kept that safely in his pocket. If he died, he hoped that his words would come in the next day newspapers.
The speaker entered the Assembly. There was silence. He took out his handkerchief to wave, as a signal to Vasu Dev, for throwing the bombs. The speaker struck the bell on the desk. At once, Singh threw the bomb. It fell at the feet of Sir Arthur Rank, the Finance Minister.
Suddenly Singh heard the cry of Vasu Dev. The boy was arrested with the live bomb. Singh's bomb did not explode. He was caught. All the visitors at once gathered round the terrorists. Captain Beatty struck him on his face. Singh smiled at the onlookers with a willed patriotism.
Thus, through the story, Mulk Raj Anand analyses the patriotic feelings and emotions found in the mind of the young terrorist who wants to avenge the Britishers.
Gopi Gauba : Green Parrots in a Cage
Gopi Gauba was a journalist and short story writer. The partition of India in 1947 and its traumatic impact on people who were forced to migrate, forms the background of her story Green Parrots in a cage. The story has won a BBC prize.
A parrot seller stood near the gate of the narrator. He had two parrots in a cage. He asked the narrator to buy his parrots. He also told her that he wanted money to get a ticket to go home. He was from Kutch. Like the parrot seller, many people needed money to leave the town. There were violent riots every- where in Hyderabad Sind because of the partition. Most of the Hindus, including the narrator had to leave for India.
The narrator did not want the parrots. But for the sake of her three year old son she got them. Moreover, she wanted to help the man. They brought the parrots inside their house. They fed them with green chilli and guava. The birds nipped the mother (narrator) in anger. So they decided to leave the bids in their orchard.
Their orchard was situated near the river PhuleliRarnai was the gardener. His special hobby was to look after the birds in the orchard. The narrator asked their coachman, Din Mohammed to take them to the orchard. He refused as it was too far away from the town. He also told them that it was not safe, He told them to give the parrots to the Maulana. But they did not want to leave the parrots to him.
Then, the narrator arranged the second coachman, Khana Sahib. They went to the orchard. It's gates were open. They called for Ramai. But there was utter silence everywhere. They left the cage opened on the lawn. They thought that the parrots would fly away happily. But the parrots did not fly immediately. After a long time, with much hesitation, one by one they flew away.
The narrator compared herself and her state to the state of the parrots, Like the parrots, the narrator and her family have to leave their home for a supposed home they do not know. That worried and upset her.
Suddenly, she got an instinct to run away from the place. The Orchard, was once a place of enjoyment and thing of beauty. But now it had become eerie and frightening.
The story has two strands, one the story of the parrots and the other, the anguish of the people who were forced to leave their homes. Thus, by presenting the two strands, she gives a wonderful description of the partition and its effects.
Arun Joshi : The Home Coming