AKARA 2012 @ MCC

The Annual Literary Fiesta of The English Association, MCC - Akāra 2012 is round the corner! The theme this year is Children’s Literature. The event will host intercollegiate competitions on the first day and workshops and interactive sessions are scheduled for the second day.

Events on Day 1 (Monday, March 5)

9 am to 11 am: Prayer – Welcome address – Principal’s address – Keynote address by the Guest of Honour Ms. Sandhya Rao of Tulika Books (http://www.tulikabooks.com)

11 am to 1.30 pm: Competitions

1.30 pm to 2 pm: Lunch break

2 pm to 4 pm: Competitions

4 pm to 5 pm: Felicitation and Prize Distribution

Enterprise - Nissim Ezekiel Critical Appreciation

Enterprise – Nissim Ezekiel

Introduction:

Enterprise by Nissim Ezekiel is a satiric poem with a moral. It deals with pilgrimages which serve no useful purpose. The poet suggests that religious pilgrimages are a waste and snobbish. In ‘Enterprise’ which contains the two central metaphors of his poetry – pilgrimage and home – Ezekiel reveals his attitude of commitment. Besides, according to him, to please God one need not go on pilgrimages as He is within.

A Pilgrimage: Without Getting the Call:

The poem is in the form of a narrative. The narrator, the poet explains how he and some others started on a pilgrimage. The aim of the pilgrimage was to ennoble the minds and to make the burdens light. The pilgrimage had no hitch, to start with. While, at the second stage, they did not know whether they got a call at all. Obviously, they had started casually, and impulsively. It was very hot and they were unable to beat the heat. Thus they were physically unfit for the pilgrimage.

Mission Misunderstood by the Pilgrims:

The pilgrims visited various places of interest on the way and took down notes on the very humdrum aspects of life and on curiosities. Thus, ironically, the pilgrimage had started with a distraction. Obviously, the pilgrims had misunderstood their mission. Soon, differences arose among the members of the team over silly matters. The best intellectual among them left the team egotistically. This made the team gloomy.

Mist - M.T. Vasudevan Nair - Summary

Mist – M.T.Vasudevan Nair

The word anticipation would perhaps best describe the human condition today. The paramount anticipation for us is the next moment. What will that next moment bring? Will it bring pleasure or pain? Will it be perceived as good or bad, etc? Will it be filled with life or death? It is anticipation, the expectancy or the needing to know, needing to figure out, needing to understand, needing an answer that very simply is a root cause of all of our suffering.

When we anticipate something pleasurable, no matter what that is, be it a positive outcome, a positive relationship, we begin a prefabricated illusion that what we want and desire should happen to us.

The fragile mists of memories, emotions, and time weave through this haunting narrative, as the author takes us through the mindscape of the lead character of this novella – Vimala Devi. Vimala and Sudhir had once shared a passionate affair filled with promises. But nine years have passed as she continues to wait for a letter, a phone call, or a visit from him. Sharing her anticipation, is the boatman Buddhu, who is searching for his White father with the aid of only a faded photograph. Finally the story hovers around a sardarji, anticipating his death because of lung-cancer.

The Story in Brief:

Vimala Devi, was a 31 yr old Resident Tutor at a boarding school for Girls in the Kumaon Hill region of Uttar Pradesh.

It was April, and summer vacation had started in the boarding school and the boarders were leaving one by one in the last two days.

On the slope of the hill, beyond the boundaries of the boarding school was a cottage which was rented out to tourists. It was called “Golden Hook”. Just outside the “Golden Hook” was the meandering road on the slopes of the hill.

Signatures on the Sea Shore - C. Narayana Reddy

Poem Analysis

C. Narayana Reddy's tryst with words of wisdom is echoed beautifully in the first stanza of the poem. He tries to make a mark for himself in the whole ocean of universal art. In the process, he finds his imprints on sand being washed away by the white horse of waves with the hooves of the surf. The white horse symbolically refers to the incarnation of god himself, who helps him in the process of poetic creation. In short, the divine muse who inspires the poet is God himself manifested in the form of the white horse through the frothing waves of the ocean. The waves here symbolise unsettled emotions or emotional disturbances that prevent a thought from being born.

On entering the threshold of poetry, the poet is literally flabbergasted at the enormous waves that seek to rub against his signature.

In line 6, the poet draws sustenance for his poetry from the ocean which contains the elements of language needed to weave a fine piece of poem. It is language that comes from the soul, (not from the mind) that forms the body of his poetry, which is beautifully explicated in the lines “the anguish of my soul rises from the ocean”.

In his persistent attempt to win over the domain of the ocean of language, the poet deftly uses the image of the cavalry – (soldiers who fought mounted on horseback), and lays siege to the unnumbered melodies and thus gathers them together into a chant – a harmonious and rhythmical melody. The word “chant” indicates the divine nature of the inspiration, which the poet has obtained in his tryst with the universal art.

In line 14, the poet uses the knitting imagery, where he finds a harmonious knitting together of the waves in the ocean and the vapours of his heart. It speaks of the transcendental nature of the communion between man and nature that he has been able to create in his poems. The line “no, you can’t understand” speaks of the highly personal yet mystical nature of the experience of the poet which none else can fathom or try to understand.

In the penultimate stanza, the poet alludes to his inspiration and enthusiasm that he has got now, as a froth bubbling on and on, like the waves of the sea. Even though they are insignificant and very soft like the cotton, they are always there to give him the necessary spark and illumination to carve a fine piece of poem.

Russell's Relevance Today: "Education and Discipline" - A Critique

Call it sheer coincidence, or what you may, but, today, even as i was preparing for this essay by Bertrand Russell on Education and Discipline, given in 1935, little did i realise that it would have such a huge relevance to today’s academic environment. Even as chennaiites woke up this morning to the gory news of a teacher stabbed to death by a 15-year old boy who was upset because of the written remarks on his poor performance, The Hindu came out with an article that screamed “It’s time that school managements learnt a lesson!”.

The question is, who should teach the lesson? And at whose expense?

Well, let's have a peek into the great social critic Russell’s views on Education, which is part of my lesson plan for my II year Part II class.

According to Russell, the purpose of education is to civilize the individual, which is partly individual and partly social.

Apart from imparting general knowledge, technical skill etc which are intellectual qualities, and

Impartiality, kindliness, and self-control which are moral qualities, students should also be imparted the physiological quality of zest and joy of life.

Civil Services/NET/SLET Coaching

The UGC Sponsored Coaching Classes for Civil Services/NET/SLET exams have been a huge hit with students, going by preliminary attendance statistics. Indeed, it is a powerful indicator of the commitment latent within students, coupled with their zeal to excel, when provided with a chance. Compared to the strength in the first class, we thought, the strength would dwindle in the coming days. But, that wasn't the case to be. Rather, it has been growing from strength to strength over the days... Kudos to the students and the organisers.

Hope the enthusiasm remains...

National Seminar @ MCC

UGC Sponsored NATIONAL SEMINAR on Monday, 12 March 2012

in Post-Independence Indian Writing in English: Theory and Praxis

Organized by PG & Research Department of English
MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE (Autonomous)

CHENNAI – 600059, TAMIL NADU

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

One among the oldest departments in the country, the Department of English offers wide range of specializations under the credit based system. The syllabus under the credit system has integrated the conventional approach of exposing the student to period/genre based texts, literature of contemporary relevance and career based papers. The special papers offered at UG and PG levels are Women's Writing, Literary Theory and Criticism, Myth and Literature, Indian Theatre, Shakespearean Criticism, European Classics in Translation, ELT and Eco-literature.

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL

We are happy to announce the publication of the second issue of our literary journal, Eclectic Representations in February 2012. [In Print]. Eclectic Representations ISSN 2231 - 430 X is a peer-reviewed biannual journal, which covers English literature from the time of Chaucer to the present day. It features scholarly essays on diverse literatures like British, American, and Indian

Happy Birthday to a Legend

Image courtesy: SeattlePi

Born in 1812, today is Charles Dickens' 200th birthday. No other writer with the exception of Shakespeare could have marshalled such a host of dramatis personae, as does Charles Dickens in his marvellous fictional creations. Indeed, every fictional character in Dickens has a marked individuality that is at once distinct and engaging, revealing the richness of his prolific creative genius. Indeed, Michael Slater, in his profound study entitled Dickens and Women describes Charles Dickens as the greatest creative genius in English literature of the last three hundred years. In short, he is called the greatest inventor of character after Shakespeare. In 1833, he began writing a series of sketches under the pseudonym of Boz. Soon, he started work on Pickwick Papers and a host of other unforgettable novels.  As much read, admired and loved as always, Dickens remains unrivalled in his style and diction, and will remain so in the years to come.

Happy Birthday Charles Dickens..!

I stumbled upon Claire Tomalin's beautiful letter to the master story-teller on his bicentennial celebrations, today, in The Guardian. btw, Tomalin is Dickens' biographer.

My dear Mr Dickens,

Happy 200th birthday! You yourself were not much given to celebrating anniversaries, but you did go to Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1864, with Robert Browning, Wilkie Collins and John

Commemoration Day Service

The Commemoration day thanksgiving service to commemorate the 175th year celebrations of the College, got off to a grand start with the audience rising to the song "O God Our Help in Ages Past.." The Principal welcomed the host of luminaries who adorned the Anderson Hall, which included past Principals, distinguished members of the alumni and Chairman of the MCC Association Dr.Besant C Raj.

In his commemoration address that followed, Dr.Besant Raj stressed the need for helping students to think on their own rather than to disseminate information from text books. Citing the example of Harvard Business School, his alma mater, he said that, at Harvard, not even a single lecture is delivered. The whole programme is taught only through the case method, where a real business situation is brought to the classroom in the form of a case study and the students have to play the role of managers and solve the problem. Each day a student solves three such business problems. The thrust is on developing analytical skills in their students to solve business problems than to provide them a lot of information on theories of business, he added.

India's institutions including IITs and IIMs do not find a place in the list of 200 top institutions of higher learning in the world, because of the fact that most Indian institutions of higher learning see themselves as disseminators of knowledge - from text books and lecture notes. 

He also stressed on the challenge from e-education, and wanted MCC to develop courseware in e-education in several disciplines. 

Going back to the time when he was a student at MCC, he spoke of his association with Dr.Alexander Boyd, then, the principal of the College. While a student, a resident of Selaiyur Hall, he was stricken with measles, a highly contagious disease. Hence the warden moved him to the isolation ward. While even his best friends would not visit him for fear of catching the disease, Dr.Boyd would come to the isolation ward - where he was the lone occupant, every morning without fail. He would sit on a stool beside his bed and chat for at least ten minutes before leaving for his day's work. This happened on all the  20 days in which he was in isolation. This action by Dr.Boyd deeply touched him and inspired him, he said.