Confy @ Sree Sankaracharya, Trivandrum

UGC Sponsored National Seminar

Organized by

DEPARTMENT OF MALAYALAM

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit

Th­iruvananthapuram Regional Centre

(First University in Kerala accredited with A Grade by NAAC in the First Cycle)

In association with

Kerala State Youth Commission

27 – 30 June 2017

Final Schedule of Events HERE 

'Bonding with Ruskin'

Madras Players

present

Bonding with Ruskin

23 June at 19:00 to 25 June at 21:30

at the

Museum Theatre, Egmore

The Play which has a feast of colour and sound, looks to recreate the innocence and irreverence of Ruskin Bond’s stories on stage. As it is with most retellings of famous writers’ on stage, Ruskin Bond himself plays a pivotal character in most of his stories. The greatest attribute of the stories threaded together as a play you will see, is the range of his writing – in terms of plot, landscapes, characters and genre. From his love for the quiet hills of Deoli to the haunted mansions in Dehra. From innocent tales of unrequited love to terrible stories of violence in marriage. We as an audience journey into each story as his characters journey through a train - and at each stop – a different tale awaits. The play attempts to weave together a variety of musical & story telling techniques with the text of bond providing a completely different yet honest perspective of the writer’s best stories.

Dear Students of II MA English,

Please find below, the link to the following texts that we intend to discuss in class, during the course of this semester.

'Structuralism and Literary Criticism,' by Gerard Genette, HERE.  

'Structuralism and Literary Criticism,' [Critical Summary], HERE

We shall start working on this seminal text from Monday, 03 July 2017 onwards.

'The Metaphysical Poets,' by T. S. Eliot, HERE.
&
Eliot's Notes for 'The Metaphysical Poets,' HERE. 

'Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences,' by Derrida, HERE

'The Study of Poetry,' by Matthew Arnold, [Text], [21 pages] HERE &

'The Study of Poetry,' [Critical Summary], [3 pages] HERE

Gear up! Let's get started!

Best wishes,

Dr. Rufus

Course Teacher

We must subject the canon to criticism!

There is a need to interrogate concepts such as 

‘nation’, ‘sovereignty’ and ‘culture’ 

to arrive at more pragmatic ways of living

In one of Buddhism’s canonical texts, Sangiti-suttanta, monk Sariputta offered an explanation on why the early Jainas failed to thrive unlike, presumably, he and fellow Buddhists. He claimed that a great schism had emerged among the Jainas and that they were bent on killing each other because their “doctrine and discipline were so ill-proclaimed”.

By ‘ill-proclaimed’, he meant that keeping the Buddhist sangha together required them to reiterate their adherence — via chanting and memorisation — to the Buddha’s originary discourses. In essence, according to Sariputta, an elaborate and intricate network of Buddhist lives could only thrive and survive if they collectively tied themselves to the mast of ritual and routine.

Sariputta’s diagnoses of what can drive groups to divisions — mishearing, misremembering, misunderstanding the originary discourse, infidelity to the primordial text — have emerged in various guises over time. Historically, those without any creedal affiliations to a text, even ostensibly strange ones, were often described away as ‘barbarians’. Who remembers the Visigoths now? But we are inundated with Roman history, even if the latter killed many times over.

Look them in the eye with confidence...

“The one minute that changed Constance’s dynamics with the world, her outlook and worldview, forever”

I met Constance, a 40-year-old adult literacy worker from Sierra Leone, at a leadership training conference in Singapore in 1996. We shared a room during the three weeks the conference lasted. She was chatty and fun to be with.

Dr. Usha  Paulraj

“When I was young,” said Constance during a chat, “I was very thin and small. At the street tap the big fat women always assumed right of way and made straight for the tap ignoring queues formed by puny ones like me. I used to envy them and thought, if I were fatter I could enjoy more freedom of speech.”

“But a day came,” continued Constance, “when I surprised myself with the power of my tongue. A big-built woman pushed me aside saying she needed water more than I did. I retorted, ‘Of course you do. I know you have many nappies to wash for you’ve been giving birth every year.’ The woman was shocked speechless. Then began a torrent of abuse. She yelled at me like mad. But I got more respect from her from that day.”

Constance’s newfound felicity with freedom of speech was short-lived. It had not grown with her years, obviously. Our conference schedule included a course in effective speaking. As part of the training we were called on to make one-minute speeches about ourselves.

Constance was visibly uneasy as she prepared for her speech, and when the time came for her to address the class, her composure failed her totally. I was both shocked and amused to find her extremely nervous. Her feet shifted uneasily and her hands clutched her skirt at the sides. When she spoke her eyes vaguely fixed on something beyond the window and what she said went over our heads. She was rated poor by the instructor, who suggested she leave her skirt alone, steady her feet and look at the audience in the eye when she talked.

Confy @ IITM

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

 Indian Institute of Technology Madras

invites papers for the

International Seminar & Workshop on Anglo-Indian Studies

4, 5 August 2017

on

“Midnight’s Orphans”: Problematising the Postcolonial in the Telling of Anglo-Indian (Hi)stories

 

The compelling contrast between the ‘Midnight’s Children’ and the ‘Midnight’s Orphans’ has been used in multiple contexts to highlight what/who have been left behind/left out in the Postcolonial scenario. Pertinent questions in this regard have already been asked and continue to be asked in studies related to literature, culture, gender and society. This seminar cum workshop is an attempt to locate the scholarship on the Anglo-Indian community within the broad canvass of Postcolonial Studies thereby allowing an interdisciplinary and transnational approach towards the understanding of the Anglo-Indian in India and the diaspora.

Book Review Competition 2017 @ UCC

II MA English - Literary Criticism - Texts

Dear Students of II MA English,

Kindly have a personal copy of the following texts handled by me this current semester for the paper on Literary Criticism.

We shall begin the Literary Criticism class with Eliot’s essay on “The Metaphysical Poets.”

Arnold’s “Study of Poetry” [SR]

            T. S. Eliot’s “The Metaphysical Poets” [SR]

Harold Bloom’s “Preface and Prelude” from the Western Canon [SR]

Confy @ Amity University, Noida

Amity Law School, Amity University

invites you for an

Interdisciplinary National Conference

on

POSTCOLONIALISM:

INDIAN RESPONSE AND TRANSFORMATION

22, 23 August  2017

AMITY LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA

The objective of this Interdisciplinary two days National Conference on “Postcolonialism: Indian Response and Transformation” is to trace India’s specific responses to colonialism and to analyse the postcolonial understanding of the same. To landmark the intellectual developments of the Postcolonial Indian times and to critically analyse the different school of thoughts of the period of transformation which realised in current era. To trace the socio- political intricacies of contemporary Indian times and to identify the indigenous legal patterns and traits of society. To analyse the period of transformation and to look over the changing status of growth and to identify its impact on present juncture. To have a better understanding of India’s specific responses to colonialism and postcolonialism among researchers, students and the masses.

Proposed outcome of the conference -

Ø  To access the impact of colonialism.

Ø  To analyse the period of transformation.

Ø  To trace the intricacies of contemporary India.

Ø  To identify the indigenous traits of the Indian society.

Ø  To landmark the intellectual developments of the Postcolonial Indian times.

Ø  To develop better understanding of Postcolonialism among researchers, students and masses.

IMPORTANT DATES

Confy on Ageing @ Jadavpur University

A Two-Day National Conference

(under the CAS III programme)

on

Ageing, Ageism and Cultures

by

Department of English, Centre for Advanced Studies, Jadavpur University

Dates: 21, 22 September 2017

Concept Note

This conference seeks to address discourses of ageing and ageism, taking off from the definition of the term ‘ageism’ inaugurated by Robert N. Butler’s pioneering works on the subject. Ageism, as Butler observes, is non-normative, vis-à-vis youth, since society is largely structured on the assumption that the majority is not old. By the late 19th century, the ageing body had acquired a negative signification, when 19th century science, to quote J. A. Vincent (2006), “reconceptualized death as an internal phenomenon of the body”. Vincent roots his argument in Foucault (1973) who observes how the aged body was reduced to a degenerative state whereby the meanings of old age and the body's deterioration seemed condemned to signify each other.

The negative stereotyping of ageing is most apparent in social prescriptions regarding how one is supposed to age. Just as certain forms of gendered behaviour are regarded as unbecoming of men or women, the ageing individual, irrespective of gender, is expected to adhere to a set of performative codes in order not to violate norms of respectability. For instance, ageing is often associated with austerity, detachment from materialistic pursuits and renunciation, and any digression from this norm is often frowned upon. But, is ageing all about loss of power and agency? Although within discourses of ageism, elderly people are most often perceived as victims and ageing is seen as aberration with respect to the more ‘valued group’ of younger people, it is not always the younger generation that ‘others’ the elderly.

At last! Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture in Literature!!!

When I first received this Nobel Prize for Literature, I got to wondering exactly how my songs related to literature. I wanted to reflect on it and see where the connection was. I'm going to try to articulate that to you. And most likely it will go in a roundabout way, but I hope what I say will be worthwhile and purposeful.

If I was to go back to the dawning of it all, I guess I'd have to start with Buddy Holly. Buddy died when I was about eighteen and he was twenty-two. From the moment I first heard him, I felt akin. I felt related, like he was an older brother. I even thought I resembled him. Buddy played the music that I loved – the music I grew up on: country western, rock ‘n' roll, and rhythm and blues. Three separate strands of music that he intertwined and infused into one genre. One brand. And Buddy wrote songs – songs that had beautiful melodies and imaginative verses. And he sang great – sang in more than a few voices. He was the archetype. Everything I wasn't and wanted to be. I saw him only but once, and that was a few days before he was gone. I had to travel a hundred miles to get to see him play, and I wasn't disappointed... ...

Read Bob Dylan's complete speech at the Official Website HERE

The YouTube version of Bob's lecture, recorded on 04 June 2017, can also be accessed, HERE.

Course in Husserl's Phenomenology @ Pondicherry

Centre for Phenomenological Studies

Invites you for a

One-month’s

Foundation Course in Husserl's Phenomenology

in the Gurukula System of Education

for

students and research scholars in philosophy and allied disciplines 

from 

01 October to 31 October 2017

at

Sri Aurobindo Center for Advanced Research, Pondicherry

The course aims to provide a comprehensive training in phenomenological themes focusing on the works of Edmund Husserl. The course will impart necessary skills and knowledge in phenomenology to undertake research in the area of existentialism, critical theory, postmodernism, consciousness studies, philosophy of mind and other contemporary schools of thought including phenomenology of religion, theology and the like.

ELTAI Confy at Ernakulam welcomes you!

ELTAI welcomes you to attend the

12th International

&

48th Annual Conference

at

St. Teresa's College

Park Avenue Road, Ernakulam (Cochin), Kerala

29th, 30th June to 1st July 2017

(Thursday, Friday & Saturday)

On

English Language Acquisition: Western Theories and Eastern Practices

Several significant and informative events are organised:

Plenaries

 Tete-a-tete with Professionals

Workshops

My Experiments

'Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob'

Writing a good novel about the Internet is almost as difficult as shooting a good film about the effects of drugs. You may try all the available fireworks, and you’ll still fail. Blurred images, out-of-focus edges, tweaked sitar sounds, ridiculous echoes, and still you’ll get nothing close to representing the experience.

So far, defining the Internet with the language of literature has been as hard as explaining consciousness. Attempts to subsume the Internet into contemporary literature have been embarrassing. How can the instrument of knowledge understand itself? How can our own mind, slowly melting into a server where we store our photographs, memories, comments, emotions, chats, bank details, dreams and aspirations, understand its own technological nature? More importantly, how can a powerful instrument of meaning like literature be used to understand what seems to be its nemesis, the constantly distracting need for useless and disconnected novelties—the Internet of social networks?

One writer has succeeded in this mission, and in such a creative manner that, although everything indicated he would miss the mark, he triumphed. First of all, he wrote it on a computer. And he sees the contradiction: “Now writers used computers, which were the by-products of global capitalism’s uncanny ability to run the surplus population into perpetual servants. All of the world’s computers were built by slaves in China.”

Jarett Kobek, the author of I Hate the internet knows what he’s doing. And he tells you. In detail. It’s beyond meta-literature. It’s pure brilliance.

Writing “a bad novel”

It’s hard to write about the Internet because it is so ephemeral. Harder still is it to have the guts to self-publish a novel built with the hyperbolic language of online interaction. And then to market it as “a bad novel” that promises to mimic the Internet “in its irrelevant and jagged presentation of content.”

Kobek delivers on the promise, because his style is a mix between a troll’s rant against Silicon Valley’s tech barons and the language of Wikipedia entries, which is actually inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5.

I Hate the internet—A Useful Novel Against Men, Money, and the Filth of instagram, as the full title explains, has become an immediate sensation after an enthusiastic review in The New York Times. But it is a text that most publishing companies couldn’t print because of its candid attack on so much that Western society stands for. Including publishing companies. Funnily enough, success arrived thanks to the Internet. Kobek used his enemy’s weakness for the first successful pushback against the culture of Silicon Valley’s smiling billionaires—the perfect Judo move.

NET Preparatory Classes in English

Openings @ IndiaFilings for Customer Support

IndiaFilings @ Chennai, is India's largest online business services platform dedicated to helping people easily start and grow their business, at an affordable cost.

My students (past and present) can use my name for academic reference. 

Career Call...!

Confy @ Digboi, Assam

UGC Sponsored National Seminar

On

Violence Against Women in India:

Issues, Prospects and Challenges

28, 29 June 2017

@

DIGBOI MAHILA MAHAVIDYALAYA

Digboi – 786 171

Tinsukia, Assam

Last date for submission of abstracts: 22 June 2017

For more details, click on the brochure below.

Confy @ SSUS, Trivandrum

UGC Sponsored National Seminar

hosted by

Department of Malayalam

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit

Thiruvananthapuram Regional Centre

27 June 2017 to 30 June 2017

Meet up with the Waterman of India @ Chennai!

The Chennai Water Forum invites you for an extraordinary opportunity to meet Dr. Rajendra Singh, Waterman of India who was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2001 and the Stockholm Water Prize in 2015 for his outstanding work. Dr. Singh will present his ideas of what to do against the drought situation in TN followed by a discussion on what could be done by the civil society - a vital contribution to the current situation prevailing.

These are grim times in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The state is facing unprecedented drought, with water reservoirs running dry and drinking water supplies to last only a few more days. Tough times lie ahead - for farmers, cattle, office establishments, industries and homes - and water tankers will become a common sight.

And yet in contradiction the situation was the reverse barely a year and a half ago, when rain was in abundance and many Tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water simply flooded our homes or drained into the sea. It is indeed ironic that we are confronted with two disasters - one of flooding, and the other of drought within a span of just two years! The solution clearly lies in Integrated Water Management - where all of us recognize the life-force WATER is, and take unequivocal steps to harvest, protect, preserve and nurture it.

A Wonderful Anthology of Sorts!

It was a memorable gift – a precious gift that I received in a long time, from a wonderful brother!

A lovely book! 

And an anthology of poetry at that! 

Professor Muthu and Professor Sebu, are two energetic, dynamic youngsters with an enthusiasm that is contagious, and a passion that is fiery!

What, do you think, could happen when such dedicated professors set out to write and publish an anthology of poetry? 

You wonder! 

Well, history is written! Or should I say, ‘RE-WRITTEN!!!’

The title of this wonderful anthology is highly symbolic too!

LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD

An anthology that comes out from the passionate heartbeats of five dynamic young poets who have many things in common – all of them studied Tamil at Madras Christian College, all are first generation graduates, and all of them are co-founders of Thudi, a youth movement dedicated to challenging oppressive social structures.

Bharathi Prabhu is currently carrying on doctoral studies on Tamil Culture and Buddhism at Madras Christian College. The others teach Tamil. Dumma Francis at Tagore College of Arts and Science, Parthiban at A. M. Jain’s, Muthu Kandhan and Sebulon Prabudurai at the Madras Christian College.

The translator of the book, Glen Frieden graduated from the Middlebury College, Vermont, USA, specializing in Russian and History. His interests include poetry, literature, music and organic farming.

The book is dedicated to Mrs. Anne Meredith Dayanandan.

The legendary Dr. P. Dayanandan (who needs no introduction to MCC-ians worldwide) has written the introduction to this wonderful anthology. In his thought-provoking introduction, Dr. Daya says that, “Had they [the five young poets] been in college a hundred years ago, one of them might have become a President of India! Bankers, industrialists, judges, bar-at-laws, election commissioners, advisors to Prime Ministers, Principals and Vice-Chancellors – options were many. As first generation readers after 2000 years of denial of education the ‘wounded psyche’ perceives a society still cursed with discrimination and injustice running wild. The poets are naturally sad and angry; they tease and mock; and they expect no sympathy from anybody, even if it exists. The poems are relevant because they record contemporary realities in and around the modern metropolis of Chennai.

Glen Frieden, after finishing college in the US, was here in Tambaram in 2010. Talented and brilliant, Glen knows his English and Russian languages and literature as well as his music. Like many of his friends, he dreams and believes in change and other possible worlds. 20 years before Glen was born, his father’s elder brother, Ray Frieden, was on the cover of the April 1969 Life Magazine as a student protester when anti-Vietnam War demonstrations erupted at Harvard University. Thirst for justice and freedom seems to run in some families! Friendship comes easily and naturally at this age of sensitivity and mutual seeking of each other’s worlds.

These are just excerpts from a profound preface. The Translator’s preface by Glen is also noteworthy. The book has a vibrant cover design with highly symbolic cartoons adorning almost every alternate page. It is worth a read for at least a hundred times! Such is the impact, the impression and the imprint it leaves on your minds and hearts!

Copies of the book can be had from the Department of Tamil, Madras Christian College and from the authors themselves, as well!

Fifty poems – fifty heartprints at that! – and the last one is a passionate signing off by Dr. Daya himself.

LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD – fills you with energizing strength for today and provides a bright hope for tomorrow!

[Dr. Dayanandan's picture courtesy: Sincere thanks to Mr. Suresh Muthukrishnan]

Congrats Esme Robina!

Congratulations to Esme Robina, our illustrious alumna for coming out with her updated anthology of poetry titled Upbeat Vista: An Enigmatic Portal.

The first edition of the book was released by renowned novelist Anita Nair at MCC just over a year ago. Esme is also an avid blogger.

We wish her the best in her tryst with writing, and many many more laurels in the years to come.

For all ye bibliophiles who would like to grab a copy of her book online, here’s your chance at Amazon India & Amazon US.

Confy @ JNU, New Delhi

International Conference

on

Arts, Culture, Literature, Languages, Gender Studies,

Sexuality, Humanities and Philosophy

for Sustainable Societal Development

at

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Organizer cordially invites abstracts and full length research papers for oral/poster presentation from all over the World to participate in the International Conference on Arts, Culture, Literature, Languages, Gender Studies/Sexuality, Humanities and Philosophy for Sustainable Societal Development which is a premier forum for the presentation, discussion and publication. International Conference aims to bring together researchers, scientists, academia, educators, practitioners and scholar students to exchange and share their experiences, new ideas and research results about all aspects of Arts, Culture, Literature, Languages, Gender Studies/Sexuality, Humanities and Philosophy for Sustainable Societal Development.

Abstract Submission: Abstracts not exceeding 300 words on any of the aforesaid themes should be sent to the Organizing Secretary through email at info.worldcongress@gmail.com on or before 3rd June, 2017.

Noble thoughts result in Noble actions!

Dr. Abdul Kalam says, “Dream, Dream, Dream. Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.”

He also adds to say that, "for noble actions, you must have noble thoughts!"

Well, this past week, I was witness to two such noble actions!

One noble action is from an illustrious teacher with CSI Bains School, Chennai,

And the next noble action is from an illustrious professor with The American College, Madurai.

Mrs. Beulah Alfred, a dynamic and illustrious teacher with CSI Bains, passed away on 30 April 2017. Her last wish was that, her eyes should be harvested to help the visually challenged! Hence, quite promptly, her family called up Rajan Eye Hospital, who, wasting no time – arrived at the quickest possible time, and harvested both the eyes! While leaving the house, the doctor profusely thanked the family and said that, the eyes are perfectly in good condition and that they can be used to give sight to the needy!

What a noble thought resulting in a noble action!

It was indeed a great joy to witness yet another noble action today! Prof.Ravi from American College, Madurai called up this evening, - all excitement in his voice – saying that he has planted tree saplings in and around his street. I was sooo happy to hear this wonderful news!

Nobility that comes from teachers - who are venerated as the noblest of the lot!

Indeed, as an aside, I should add that, Prof. Ravi is one person, who has a wonderful interconnected living with the flora and fauna around him. A professional photographer, he sounded disconsolate as he narrated how a coconut tree climber destroyed a rare bird’s eggs laid on the stiff lower ribs of the coconut fronds!

He has a rare knack for attracting squirrels, kittens, dogs, deers and hens by the number!

Every time you visit his house, in Kadachanenthal, deep down Alagarkoil Road, Madurai, do take a peek into his kitchen and you are sure to find a family of cute little squirrels hip hopping their way to the food that’s kept exclusively for them in a corner of the room.

For the past two years, Professor is also giving shelter to a rare variety of hen, which is a great companion to him on all evenings!