Towers of Babel

One of the reasons why it is difficult to miss our Verbal class is our teacher. His aura of invincibility and his powers to keep inventing new things to make our class peppy never allows us to miss his classes. Following is the finesse produced by our team in a competition held in our coaching class.
Our team “pulled up all the stops” to make it success. Each participating student was supposed to contribute some words of English vocab in the skit.
(The following bulesque is based on one of the erstwhile theories which demonstrates the existence of large number of languages today)

Characters :

1. Garima : Common woman
2. Lokesh : Common man
3. Atul : Common man
4. Arnab : Minister
5. Mayank : King
6. Aakash : God

And finally when Kumar sir averred us to be the best team, the “guerdon” in the form of PVR tickets at any PVR and any timings for all six of us was nothing short of the “bolt from the blue”. Enjoy the vocab entwined with the literary plot that would “knock your socks off”!!!

Garima : Did you hear that sound? I think these strong blowing winds are admonishing(to warn) some catastrophe.

Lokesh : Look the waves have risen so high and the roaring winds have uprooted many trees.

Atul : Many a people have started leaving their homes. I think we will have to leave our place too.

Garima : It has been a fortnight since we have been walking and we’ve hardly had any food or water. These incessant(continous) rains are exacerbating(making worse) our sufferings.

Lokesh : It seems that somebody has sparked the fury of the otherwise magnanimous God.

Atul : I reckon that God is punishing us for some delinquencies(misdeeds). But I could not understand what could they be?

Garima :May God grant us amnesty(an official pardon of people convicted of political offences) for any sins. May his wrath be calmed.

Lokesh : Who knows how many of us will have to die to propitiate(appease) him.

Garima : But where are we heading? And how long will we have to bear with these hard times?

Atul : Hey look at that postern(a back or side entrance), I think we are near some establishment.

Arnab : Hey folks!! Who are you? What brings you to the city of Shinar, the city of the mightiest king Nimrod? Those who set foot on this territory with fiendish(extremely cruel or unpleasant) intentions will be punished beyond hellish tortures.

Lokesh : Pardon us for our intrusion(come into a place or situation where one is unwelcome or uninvited) we have no intention to act against your dogmas(principles). The great flood has devoured our homes and our land and we have been left with nothing.

Atul : The god has wrecked an enormous havoc upon us. Lot of our fellow brethren have been punished with the death. The apocalypse(extreme catastrophe) is showing no signs of extenuation(weakening). So millions of us are seeking refuge.

Arnab : He is no more merciful. Mercy for you now lies in the heart of our king. He, who is above all Gods, will provide you with food, shelter and protection from any other catastrophe.
Garima : What a palace? I have never such an ostentatious(decorated to impress) palace in my whole life; such a stupendously(of the highest quality) beautiful one?

Arnab : I pay my tribute to the greatest of all kings. Emissary(agent) of prosperity, nourishes the emaciated(very thin and malnourished) , who deserves encomium(high praise), enamored(in love) by beauty, who enervates his enemies, whose wit is an enigma for thinkers, a distinguished enophile, whose foes are ephemeral(temporary), an epicure(having discriminating taste for food and wine) of distinction, an erudite,a scholar in epistemology(study of nature of knowledge), the epitome(person representing something) of mankind , accepts difficulties with equanimity(coolness), eschews(abstain from) cowardice, espouses(adopt or support) justice, exonerates(officially absolve from blame) the innocent, the glory of whose fore-fathers is extant, whose seat lies in the empyrean(the highest heaven).
May his mercy be upon all.

May I have the permission to introduce these hapless(unlucky) souls. Misfortune has befallen upon them. They are now at the mercy of my lord.

Garima: My lord, god has been unjust to us. He has sent great floods to our lands. Everything we would have called ours has been swept away.

Atul : There has been a mass exodus(a mass departure of people). Devoid of exigencies(basic needs) we have been left to the mercy of our misfortunes.

Lokesh: We wish to arouse thy pity, that thee may grant us a dwelling in thy prosperous kingdom.

Mayank: I see god has meted out misfortunes upon you. Those that have been unheard of in the history of mankind. My mercy shall be bestowed upon you and upon others who have suffered like you.

Lokesh: I thank thee for thy mercy. I solemnly swear that we will abide by your rules and would do anything to repay your debt. From today thou shall be our lord for thou have stood by us in our time of need.

Arnab: It is very unbecoming of god to have wreaked such havoc on these penurious(extremely poor) people.

Mayank : God is culpable(deserving blame) of reducing mankind to this abject state. We cannot sit idly and wait for another such catastrophe to happen. Through his pusillanimous(timid) acts he has provoked us to seek vengeance. Let us ascend into the heavens and wage warfare with Him;

Arnab : But to reach heavens, we shall have to ascend beyond the skies. How would we able to do it?

Mayank : We will do whatever it takes to wipe out his hegemony(dominance). We shall built towers to heaven and will then launch an attack. And for an endeavor of such a big magnitude I shall need your help and support and after our task has been effectuated(put into force or operation) there shall be beatitude(supreme blessedness) for us all.

Atul : We shall leave no stone unturned to accomplish this colossal task.

Mayank : Let this be the moment we declare our apostasy(abandonment of a belief) against God.

Unison :
Let us ascend into the heavens, and ruin them with our bows and spears.
Let us ascend into the heavens, set up thy idols, and pay worship unto thou.

Garima : Let us use these stones and start the construction with our fellow brethren.

Atul : The sooner we complete this colossal(extremely large) task, the sooner will our retribution(punishment inflicted as vengeance) be consummated(completed).

Arnab : Behold, you shall not touch the god made materials. We are building a monument to ourselves, to call attention to our own abilities and achievements, instead of giving glory to God. And we will use brick for stone, and slime for mortar.

Lokesh : Then let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly

Arnab : What have you done? Had it been you instead of the brick, I would not have been perturbed(disturbed). But you have dropped a brick. Now after having achieved such a great height it is an arduous(difficult) task to bring it back. It would take one full year to get that brick back to this height.

Take your positions. Aim towards the heaven. fire.

Lokesh : Look here the clouds are turning blood red.

Atul : It seems that we have slained all those who were in the heaven. With little more efforts we would consummate the expedition(journey) on which we embarked few years ago.

Aakash : { as GOD} :
Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. When people are unified in purpose they can accomplish impossible feats, both noble and ignoble(not honourable). Enough of our angels have been wounded by their arrows. We will have to act immediately to stop them from this destruction. See the wonders the language has done. It has enabled the people from far off lands to unite against me.

Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

(everyone prepare their own dialogues one or two in different-different language)

Mayank: Lo, behold what god has done he has given us different languages. now we can’t understand each other. How would we build the towers

“Do NOT” read Shoba De!!!

It has been a long time since I have written here and most you might have even stopped visiting. But I am back again but this time not something that would enlighten you (as the title and purpose of this blog goes) but to warn you about something that would do just the contrary.

It’s about “Snapshots” written by “Shoba De”. I really don’t understand the hype of Shoba De. What is she famous for? Her book “Snapshots”, the first and last I have read, is shallow of all that ought to be there in a novel. It’s the kind of a novel a 10th class student could write. In spite of her efforts to seduce the readers she has failed adversely. And comparing to the other literature that exist in the league she is an underdog.

An epitome of cheap voyeurism, it is devoid of actual feelings or sexual desires and contains nothing but plain sex. I know the comparisons can never be made but after reading the works of literature from D.H. Lawrence or even Sydney Sheldon, it becomes almost impossible to read Shoba De.

You can’t find good English, good grammar and her writings are nothing more than zilch, cipher, void, naught. But it reckons that to criticize something you should actually know about the thing and that was the only reason I read about it, without doing which I might have not been able to write about it.

So guys read if you have nothing else to do in this world.

 Cheers!!!

Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

This novelette is a work of one of the greatest names in the American literature, Mark Twain. Author has very successfully depicted the adventures that serve as a good entertainment. Not only does it depicts the adventures of a child protagonist but also brings forth the unchecked racial discrimination with the niggers in the West at the time as earlier as 1884. Though harsh treatment of niggers seems to be on author’s mind, his central theme appears to be the adventures of the little Huck Finn.

The story begins with Huckleberry Finn, living at her aunt’s place. His inclination for adventures and tendency to set himself free from being under his father’s duress prompts him to run from his father’s place to the forests. He finds solace on the discovery of Jim, his aunt’s nigger. They both while trying to escape being caught again shares a good time in the forests. In spite of some untoward incidents like – being bitten by snake and on the brink of being landed in the trap of the people searching for them, they manage to escape and keep together. The way little Huck outdo the two acquaintances, claiming themselves to be the scions of older kind dynasty, is spectacular.

The efforts put in by Huck to protect his comrade Fin from being victim of nigger hunt are worth appreciation. But he could not help preventing Jim from being the prisoner at some southern village. The last adventure played by both Huckleberry Finn and his friend Tom Sawyer lends a captivating grace to the denouement.

The language seems controversial at some places but the author’s intentions have been best revealed the way he has written this tale. Some adventures in the story seems to be ordinary and does not live up to the reader’s expectations. But the author has been very true in the declaration in the beginning of it-

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted;

Persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished;

Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.”

It also puts to rest the controversies of racial plot being considered one of the author’s intentions in writing this book.

Great Expectations – by Charles Dickens

“Great Expectations” written by the renowned author – Charles Dickens in mid nineteenth century, is a tome of literature. Dickens stick to his theme of child protagonist through the character of Phillip Pirrip(Pip) who’s life is transformed from the poor village boy apprenticed to a blacksmith, to an educated middle class city lad.

In an event of fulfillment of his dream to be a gentleman, supported by his unknown benefactor/benefactress, he does not show any infliction of being parted away from his dearest friends Joe, Biddy and his sister who brings her up. He leaves the country with the memories of Estella, an adopted daughter of Miss Havisham.

Through the apparent financial help from Mr. Jaggers a well established person in London, he leads financially comfortable life in the beginning but soon runs into debt. In the wake of different life of city, he could not rest his thoughts about Estella. With the help of his friend Herbert and his guide Wemmick he unravels the hidden secrets about Estella’s parentage. In spite of all his efforts he does not succeed in saving his benefactor Mr. Magwitch from being granted death sentence by the law.

After marriage of his love Estella he leads a life of solitude and despondency when Joe reappears and takes Pip out of his troubles by paying his debts and curing him in his illness. Pip then truly realizes his mistakes and visits back his country to see Joe and Biddy. He then returns to the city, truly transformed and leads a life of hard work to stand upto his requirements.

Though author’s description of various scenes and characters is extremely vivacious and vibrant but number of scenes run parallel and it becomes difficult for the reader to bind them all in one common thread and it deviates reader from the main central theme of the story.

Author’s description of Estella as an epitome of beauty and rich use of words in describing the characters of Havisham, Joe, Biddy and others is highly appreciable. The volume is a classic illustration of English literature and one wonders the dexterous use of it to make everything look so real. The vibrant us of expressions binds reader in the feeling of characters and make him(reader) feel for the them(characters)

In the end, I would say that this is the best novel to get a feel of expanse and classic use of English language. Though it needs great concentration to juxtapose various scenes running in parallel into one common theme, it is a best read for lover of English language.

LOVE STORY – by Erich Segal

• Love Story is a delightful novel written by Erich Segal, one of the best authors of fiction. The wit and charm, the most important characteristics of this adept author, are clearly evident in this great masterpiece of him. The novel truly depicts the spiritual relationship between two lovers and the power of love that can turn lifeless figures into emotions.

• The whole story revolves around Mr. Barett, a sporty and intelligent student of Harvard University. In spite of being the son of an affluent person he never takes everything for granted and gives his best effort to be the jack of all trades. The meetings of Mr. Barett and Ms. Cavillery, whom he meets at Radcliffe, are very aptly described to keep reader guessing about the course of their love story. After there marriage, there comes a sharp emotional turn in the story when Mr. Barett gets to know that her wife is having countable days with him. The events transform Mr. Barett from stubborn to very sensitive person shouldering the burden of loss of her partner.

• Though Mr. Barett is presented as a stubborn and emotionless person in the beginning, his sporty and intellectual attitude is indeed very impressive. The wit and charm of character he shows in his meetings with Ms. Cavillery wins him reader’s appreciation. The loss of her love makes one feel for him. Through this character the author has highlighted the love, being highly spiritual feeling.

• On the whole story is very interesting and one admires the use of words and expressions which are very fitting to the circumstances. The rich use of language and exciting story makes the reading a memorable experience for all especially the young generation.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

• The story of Animal Farm written by George Orwill is very well written story of various animals and birds living together in a single farm. The novel depicts the existence of pedagogy not only in humans but also in animals. It is a very unorthodox story with different animals occupying the centre stage highlighting the fact that lack of harmony does not exists amongst humans only but is also there in animals. It also presents the importance of literacy amongst all species. Not only humans but animals also needs to be literate and aware of one’s surroundings to prevent themselves from being coaxed and exploited.

• The story begins with the Manor Farm owned by Mr. Jones who exploits animals of the farm for monetary gains and in return gives them starvation and slavery. The way animals hold clandestine meetings against the human whip keeps the reader’s anticipation high about the spate of imminent events. Unlike expected, that the things will improve with the successful win of animals over Mr. Jones, the farm goes more disarrayed, thanks to the clever and “literate” pigs. The writer has clearly depicted the politics being involved even amongst animals through the pigs who enjoy all the comforts without any hard work unlike their fellow animals, by exploiting the natural tendency inherit in all animals to set themselves free from human atrocities.

• Author has also highlighted a strong quality of loyalty in animals through a very strong and lively character of Boxer, a horse strongest of all animals in the farm. The way he fight battles with the humans to prevent his farm, and the loyalty he carries for his master makes him earn the tag of being best of all animals of the farm. But the event in which their pig master Napoleon sends him to the horse slaughterer, after being old and incapable of working for him, is indeed very emotional and touching. And the Napoleon enjoys all his powers and control over the animal farm.

• But finally the intentions of corrupt Napolean are exposed when he celebrates with humans in charge of other neighboring farms. All the animals know the politics their leader played with them in the name of providing them with liberty from starvation and slavery of humans.

• It’s one of the most interesting but at the same time a sarcastic book. The language is very simple and lucid but also very apt and substantive. It is a good reading for people of all age group and will be very appealing because of it’s analogy with modern world politics that exist at every level.

Amitav Ghosh’s latest release

Description:

The first in Amitav Ghosh’s new trilogy of novels, “Sea of Poppies” is a stunningly vibrant and intensely human work that confirms his reputation as a master storyteller. At the heart of this epic saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean to the Mauritius Islands. As to the people on board, they are a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval in the mid nineteenth century, fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed village-woman, from a mulatto American freedman to a free-spirited European orphan. As they sail down the Hooghly and into the sea, their old family ties are washed away, and they view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship-brothers, who will build whole new lives for themselves in the remote islands where they are being taken. It is the beginning of an unlikely dynasty.

The sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields by the Ganga, the rolling high seas, and the exotic backstreets of China at the time of the Opium Wars. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, which makes “Sea of Poppies” so breathtakingly alive-a masterpiece from one of the world’s finest novelists.

Author Profile:

Amitav Ghosh is one of India’s best-known writers. His books include “The Circle of Reason”, “The Shadow Lines”, “In An Antique Land”, “Dancing in Cambodia”, “The Calcutta Chromosome”, “The Glass Palace” and “The Hungry Tide”.

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He studied in Dehra Dun, New Delhi, Alexandria and Oxford. His first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi.

“The Circle of Reason” won the Prix Medicis Etranger, one of France’s top literary awards and “The Calcutta Chromosome” won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997 and “The Glass Palace” won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001. In 2007 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Turin, Italy. Amitav Ghosh has written for many publications, including the Hindu, The New Yorker and Granta.

He is married to the writer, Deborah Baker, and has two children. He divides his time between Kolkata, Goa and Brooklyn.