Join in the Tree Walk...!

Are you a tree lover? If yes, then... Join the tree walk on Sunday, October 4, 2009, at the Birla Planetarium campus, organised by Nizhal, a trust that promotes concern for trees in the city. Besides learning how to identify trees, tree walkers can also learn interesting facts about each tree! The walk starts at 7 am.

To register, call 9445258328/ 9840744453

Are you a Member of atleast ONE GOOD LIBRARY?

"When I got [my] library card, that was when my life began,"

says Rita Mae Brown, prolific American writer and social activist.

"Your Library is your Portrait,"

says Holbrook Jackson.

"Books are the ever burning lamps of accumulated wisdom,"

says George William Curtis.
Indeed, this is the best time to check out some of the good libraries in the City, and a compendium of the same, numbering around 115, is available HERE.

Time for a Vision Check-up! Time for taking a Call!

So, what do you want to be when you grow up? That question may appear a little trite, but just think about it for a moment. Are you - right now - who you want to be, what you dreamed you'd be, doing what you always wanted to do? Be honest.

It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in the activity trap, in the “busyness” of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success, only to discover, upon reaching the top rung, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. Sometimes people find themselves achieving victories that are empty-successes that have come at the expense of things that were far more valuable to them. If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take gets you to the wrong place faster. How depressing is that?

Habit 2/7 – BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND - is based on imagination - the ability to envision, see the potential, create with your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes and conscience. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. First, there is a mental creation, and second, a physical creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It's about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill it.

To Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen.

One of the best ways to incorporate this habit into your life if to develop a Personal Mission Statement. It focuses on what you want to be and do. It is your plan for success. It reaffirms who you are, puts your goals in focus, and moves your ideas into the real world. Your mission statement makes you the leader of your own life. You create your own destiny and secure the future you envision.

CHECKING YOUR VISION
It’s time for a personal vision checkup. Take a minute and think about each question below. Write out your thoughts clearly in a separate piece of paper.

1. What am I doing right now with my life? Does it make me happy? Do I feel fulfilled?
2. What do I keep gravitating toward? Is it different from what I am currently doing?
3. What did I like to do as a child? Do those things still bring me satisfaction? Am I doing any of them?
4. What interests me most right now?
5. What fills my soul?
6. What can I do well? What are my unique traits and strengths?

A sample Mission Statement is given below: Use it as a point of reference for creating your own:

Be humble, considerate, honest, kind, loving, and most importantly forgiving, but wise.

Give unselfishly to the needy, but try to provide tools for success as well: i.e., offer a job and a handout.

Keep my word.

Find weaknesses in myself and situations and choose to improve them.

Other important values I must never forget: Learning, gaining knowledge and nurturing friendships.

Work and play where my integrity cannot be compromised.

Refrain from building walls - allow pessimism, criticism to come in, but I will choose to learn from them, not react or hide from them

Refrain from competing, but add to other's success.

Remember and thank those who have helped me. Return their kindness to others that need it.

Allow my values to guide me, not jealously or other peoples' values, competition or wealth.

Look at both sides of an issue before making a decision. Realize that each decision is an independent decision, not necessarily directly related to past or future decisions, and take the time to gather insight to make informed decisions.

Take time every day for reflection, to realize what I learned, what I should learn more about to say thank you, to give myself a pat on the back while looking into what I need to improve upon.

"Real success is success with self; it's not having things, but in having mastery, having victory over oneself"!

[This article is excerpted from Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People]

Part II English - Assignments - Reg:

Dear Students of I BSc Pb& Pbt /Zoology(Reg) and Students of II BA Tamil/Philosophy,

As part of your Assignment test, which forms part of your Internal Assessment Marks, you are asked to buy a brand new copy of the book Essential English Grammar by Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press (Rs.90/-)

[or]

a copy of the book Intermediate English Grammar by Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press (Rs. 95/-) and do the first sixty exercises to the right of the book. You can start work rightaway. All the best!

PS: Students who are good at English, can opt for doing the exercises from the blue book - "Intermediate English Grammar"

HAVING A WORD FOR IT...:

Several languages cannot match the many words English has available to identify different sizes, types, and uses of vehicles - car, lorry, bus, tractor, taxi, moped, truck, and so on - and might have just one word for all of these.

There is in fact no single word in English for the driver of all kinds of motor vehicles - motorist being restricted to private cars, and driver being unacceptable for motorcycles - a lexical gap which greatly worried the British Automobile Association in 1961. It was felt that such a word would be useful, and they therefore asked for suggestions. Among the 500 they received were: autoist, roadist, chassimover, mobilist, wheelist, doice (Driver of Internal Combustion Engine), pupamotor (Person Using Power-Assisted Means of Travel on Roads), licentiat (Licensed Internal Combustion Engine Navigator Trained in Automobile Tactics). However, none of these ingenious ideas has survived.

Hence, this week's poll (to the left of the blog) gives you a chance to vote a name for the motorcycle rider - one among the seven that you think will be more appropriate - since we are, (according to David Crystal) yettt to find a suitable name to describe the motorcyclist!

Go ahead... Get your imagination working. All the best...!

[Excerpted from: Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. CUP, 1987]

Yet Another Laurel...!

[CLICK ON PIC TO ENLARGE]
Madras Christian College is the only college in the city to have a huge farm spread over one hundred acres of land. The plant in discussion, Nayantara, was cultivated on one acre of the farm, and is all set to fly to Europe.

The farm was set up in the year 1964 by Prof.Chandran Devanesan.

Image Courtesy: 'The Times of India,' pg.4, 26 September 2009

Medha Patkar @ MCC...:

Ms.Medha Patkar gave the key-note address at the Inaugural session of the National Conference on Human Rights organised by the Dept of Social Work, MCC. The grand old Anderson Hall of Madras Christian College was packed to capacity even well before Ms.Medha Patkar took to the dais. There was indeed a standing ovation when the speaker of the day arrived - to traditional trumpet-and-horn welcome - after which Prof.Mrs.Miriam Samuel, Head, Dept of Social Work, MCC, welcomed the gathering.

Our Principal Dr.Alexander Jesudasan welcomed and introduced the speaker of the session Ms.Medha Patkar. While talking about the glorious past of our country, he said that, some fifty years ago, our nation could boast of a Mahatma Gandhi, a Vallabhai Patel or a Sarojini Naidu - but today, do we have such great people? Indeed, as long as people like Ms.Medha Patkar and Thol.Thiruma(yesterday's speaker) are there, the fight is bound to continue against the various social injustices of today. He congratulated the Dept of Social Work for laying emphasis on praxis and drawing the attention of the international community. Praising Medha Patkar, he said that 'she is a person who 'listened' to the cries of the people and stood up for them - although imprisoned many times - she adopted 'satyagraha' in her fight against the oppressors - be it the corporate lords or the government policies.'

Excerpts from Ms.Medha Patkar's speech:

"Every living being has rights. Unless we talk about everyone's right to live, we cannot feel or belong to the community of human beings. Right to live is one of the very fundamental rights of a human being. Human rights, according to Patkar, are beyond constitutional rights because constitutional rights can keep changing - laws can keep changing - but human rights are the same always and at all places," she said.

Listing out the various aspects of human rights, Ms.Patkar said, "When we talk about human rights, we not only talk about sections of the society who are marginalised, but also those that are denied the right to education, right to shelter, right to services, right to live in one's own culture etc. 'Nobody has the monopoly to being called 'marginalised' any longer. Because, farmers are marginalised in the industrialised scenario, the rural population are being marginalised by the urbane populace and so on."

"Other types of marginalisation include social marginalisation, economic marginalisation, cultural marginalisation etc. Marginalisation cannot be taken care of, by reservations alone. We must also have a system wherein we recognize the rights of the marginalised. And, ironically, rights are not pattas to be distributed. They are inherent to every human being, whether or not they are recognized," she opined.

According to Patkar, we are all part of the agrarian economy. There are communities that are engaged in agriculture. For them it's a lifestyle - of living in proximity with nature - land - forests, surface and ground water etc. If you live a life of simplicity, then you can boldly say what the Mahatma once said - that every one of us has ample resources to fulfilling our needs and not our greed.

Elaborating on the same, she added that, in the whole hierarchy of our economy, it's only the priority of the main stream that dominates - and that's where exploitation comes in - even decisions at the national level, in the 'interests of the common man' are being taken by a high-level committee in Parliament without having any national debates, discussions on the same.

Remember, the lunch you are going to have after this session, is testimony to the hard work and the industrious activity of the country's poorest agricultural labourer, who might have even committed suicide due to poverty, even before you had had your meal today.

Ms.Patkar also made a scathing attack on the SEZ [Special Economic Zones] calling them as 'Special Exploitation Zones', wherein large areas of land are declared as foreign territory - (SEZ) by destroying, not just displacing communities who have been living there for generations. Killing of indegenous communities - call it neo-colonization - is the worst violation of human rights. First of all, who gives this right to trample upon their right to livelihood? Just becuase you get elected and become a governing politician, doesn't mean that you can trample upon the livelihood of indegenous peoples.

Taking a 'mineral water' bottle in her hand, she demonstrated how the mineral water symbolises the vulgar way in which we manage our resources. This water belongs to the community who live with it. We are living in the cities and drinking what is called 'mineralised water', which is a sheer exploitation of their natural resources, which is their inherent wealth.

In Kerala, thousands of people have been adversely affected by the Coca Cola plant. Being a social activist herself who is spearheading the protests, she said that apart from the fact that the soft drink is not healthy, the plant has also damaged the ground water resources. For the last six years, protests have been taking place against Coca Cola in this village. Even the company has admitted that without water it would have no business at all. Coca cola's operations rely on access to vast supplies of water as it takes almost three litres of water to make one litre of coca cola. Added to this is the irony that the company said it doesn't have to pay tax as they are not selling mineral water, but only packaged drinking water!!! Each factory extracts around five to 25 lakh litres of water per day. It's not mere extraction but sheer exploitation! The same happens to land exploitation too!

Today's 'corporatised ministers' for Social Justice, Minsiters of Poverty Alleviation, or Minister of Fisheries are not the only ones empowered to act in the 'interests' of the downtrodden, BPL, Fishing communities etc. Debates and discussions are needed with the masses who should be involved in the decision-making process, before passing any legislations to that effect in Parliament.

You cannot claim a 1 Re/- reduction in your kerosene cost, but Ambanis are getting 20,000 crores profit by exploiting the oil resources of the country, out of which 1,000 crores goes to the govt. Apart from setting up of SEZ which can take away your land and water resources, Tourism can also put a check on your land by grabbing them under the pretext of promoting tourism. Mining is another case in point. The sad fact is that, more than 21 tax concessions are being given on a platter to the SEZs with nil tax for the first five years!

Finally, Ms.Medha Patkar gave a call to the youth to stand up and fight injustice with sensitivity and sensibility for the downtrodden, marginalised etc.

Unless you fight, young friends,

Nothing will survive - not a piece of land will be saved!

Hence, the real dream is to steer the country towards equity and justice - two umbrella concepts upon which future society can be built by young India.

Our Deepest Condolences..:

"Other day I had a discussion with one of my friends and we felt that some people live because they are born, some think that what ever they do the end result will depend on the destiny. Some really think that there is a purpose for life itself."

The above lines form part of the last blogpost titled "Purpose of Life" by Roy J George, who was murdered by factory workers as a result of militant trade unionism in Coimbatore recently. Roy, who donned the role of a HR manager had to face the ire of the trade unions and became the scape goat of the management - trade unions imbroglio.

In him, we have lost not only a good blogger, but also a noble humanitarian, and a dynamic HR leader. May his soul rest in peace. You can check out this noble soul's blog HERE.

Dear Students of II BA English,

For our next lecture on Wilde and his writing, kindly bring a copy of his famous short story 'The Nightingale and the Rose.' The e-version of the same is available HERE.

Regards,

Rufus

I CIA - I MA Marks - Reg..:

Dear Students of I MA English,

Your I CIA Marks for the Paper on 'The English Language' are being uploaded on our related academic blog HERE.

For a commentary and topical analysis of your answer sheets, along with your marks, CLICK HERE.

King Whitney once famously remarked that Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

So, for a change, and for once, your names have not found a place in the mark statement at all. It's up to you to identify your handwriting and thereby your marks. All the best.!

Regards,
Rufus

Book Launch...:

Penguin Books India and The Americn Consulate-General, Chennai host the launch of

Gurcharan Das' The Difficulty of Being Good - On the Sublte Art of Dharma.

There will also be a panel discussion based on the book.

Venue: Sheraton Park Hotel and Towers

Address: TTK Road, Alwarpet

Date: September 19

Time: 7 p.m

Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest 2009

Essay Contest for 12 standard and College / University Students

Ayn Rand in India initiative is encouraging students from India to participate in this global competition based on Ayn Rand's masterpiece "Atlas Shrugged". For the past many years, the Ayn Rand Institute has been hosting the Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest for 12th standard and college students.

Deadline: Sept 17, 2009

(Students from India may want to contact Essay@aynrand.in for more details about the contest)

Ayn Rand in India initiative is working to promote the essay contest in high schools and colleges in India. If you would like to be kept informed about this initiative, please contact info@aynrand.in

Please see HERE for topics, rules and regulations, and way of submitting the essay.

Our Deepest Condolences..:

We deeply condole the sudden demise of our student S.Michael John (MSW-HRM) who died in a tragic road accident. May his soul rest in peace. The bereaved family invites you to offer oblation of praise to God's goodness on the life of their dear son, for a thanksgiving meeting to be held at THE PENTECOSTAL MISSION, 162, Beracha road, Kellys, Chennai - 600 010. Please participate and kindly be a source of consolation.
RSVP: 9445297795/9444610618

REVISED SCHEDULE FOR Jun-Nov 2009

Dear Students, the following is the revised schedule for the current semester:

CA Test II - 14 Oct - 21 Oct 2009
Study Holidays begin on: 24 Oct 2009
End of Semester Exams begin on: 2 Nov 2009.
II/IV/VI Sem begin on: 23 Nov 2009.

Compensatory Working Days:
26 Sep 2009 - D.O - II
26 Oct 2009 - D.O - III
27 Oct 2009 - D.O - IV
28 Oct 2009 - D.O - V
29 Oct 2009 - D.O - VI
30 Oct 2009 - D.O - I
31 Oct 2009 - D.O - II

For the College Calendar, Click HERE

For more details and authentication, students are asked to verify the same with the College Notice Board(s).

Oratorical Contest..:

Union Bank of India conducts

Oratorical Contest for College students

at Madras Veterinary College in Vepery

on Saturday, September 05, 2009.

For more details, contact:

Mr.Karunanidhy, 139, Broadway, Chennai - 600108

College Closed..:

Dear Students,

In view of the H1N1 epidemic, our College remains closed from 17 August 2009 till 27 August 2009. Hence your I CIA Tests, scheduled for Monday remains postponed. For further details and clarification, verify the same with the College Notice Boards.

Regards,

Rufus

Spoken English Course:

Dear Students, Olive Institute of Technology conducts

Courses on Basic Communication Skills.

Course starts on Wednesday, 19 August 2009

at Olive Institute of Tech, E.Tambaram.

Morning Batch: 7.00 - 8.30 am

Evening Batch: 6.30 - 8.00 pm
Contact: 9500102310 for more details.

Portion for I CIA Test..:

Dear students of I BSc Pbt/Zoo(Reg),

You will be tested on the following:

Text-based: Poetry: 1.) Mending Wall, 2.) On the Move, 3.) Phenomenal Woman

Short Story: Tagore's The Postmaster

Language-based: From what has been taught in class (Writing, Vocabulary, Etymology etc.)

Newspaper: You are expected to bring the day's Newspaper (Times of India), as part of the Test.

Regards and all best wishes,

Rufus

PS: As you will be writing your I CA test, in case of any clarifications, write to me at rufusonline@gmail.com

Mending Wall – Robert Frost - Poem Summary

Introduction:

Mending Wall is one of the most widely quoted poems of Frost. It is a dramatic lyric or monologue. The speaker is a young man, presumably the poet himself, and the lyric is an expression of his views and attitudes. The other character is the poet’s neighbour. He does not speak even a single word, but we come to know of his views and attitudes, of his conservatism and orthodoxy, from what the speaker says about him.

Spring time Repairs: Attitude of the poet and the New England Farmer:

The speaker in the poem, the poet himself, and his neighbour get together every spring to repair the stone wall between their respective properties. The neighbour, an old England farmer, seems to have a deep-seated faith in the value of walls and fences. He declines to explain his belief and only reiterates his father’s saying, “Good fences make good neighbours.”

Enigmatic Attitude of the Speaker:

Yet, the speaker’s attitude is also enigmatic and in some respects primitive. He seems to be in sympathy with some elemental forces of nature which denies all boundaries. It is suggested that there is some supernatural power at work in Nature, that is against all fences and walls:
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen ground swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

Points of View portrayed in the Poem:

The poem portrays a clash between two points of view, and it may, therefore seem that its meaning is the solution. The poem leads one to ask, which of the two is right, the speaker or his Yankee neighbour? Should man tear down the barriers which isolate individuals from one another, or should he recognize that distinctions and limits are necessary for human life? Frost does not really provide an answer. He pictures it with an incident from rural life, and in order to reveal its complex nature he develops it through the conflict of two opposed points of view.

Paradox in the Poem:

The real strength and effectiveness of the poem arises from the contradiction and clash of opposites. The strength of the poem rests upon the contradiction expressed in its two famous lines:
The poem maintains that: Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.
But it also insists that: Good fences make good neighbours.

The contradiction is logical, for the opposing statements are uttered by two different types of people and both are right. Man cannot live without walls, boundaries. Limits and particularly self-limitations; yet, he resents all bounds and is happy at the downfall of any barrier.

Conclusion:

The poem represents two opposing attitudes towards life – one is the surrender to the natural forces which draws human beings together, and the other, - the conservatism which persists in keeping up the distinctions separating them. The poem reveals the characteristic features of Frost’s style – colloquial and dramatic, in presentation.

*****

Phenomenal Woman - Maya Angelou - Poem Summary

Introduction:

In this poem, Maya Angelou celebrates femininity by playing upon the two possible meanings that could be attached to the poem's title - Phenomenal Woman. As a liberated woman, the speaker in the poem proudly proclaims her individuality; she is an extraordinary person, and therefore phenomenal.

Phenomenal - from Angelou's Perspective:

Maya Angelou asks the reader to probe deeper into the whole question of what makes a woman attractive, worthwhile and valued. The "Phenomenal" in the ordinary sense of the term relates to all data that can be perceived by the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. However, Maya Angelou takes the reader into the specific and much higher qualities that are attributes of "Phenomenal" - they are: intangible qualities like a soul, a mind, and a temperament.

Women have spent hours making over their appearances for centuries. But phenomenal woman, by her very naturalness, is more alive and more sensual than her doll-like sisters. Men, however, are bewildered by her power to attract because they have forgotten what a real woman is like. Phenomenal Woman is breezy in flaunting her mystery. Unlike conventional "mysteriousness" which men assign to woman, the Phenomenal Woman does not depend on glamour, coquetry, tantrums, or capriciousness to intrigue men. Her mystery is profound and real, especially since men and women do not understand her extraordinary, natural vitality.

The Attitude of Men towards Phenomenal Woman:

Phenomenal woman has men behaving in ways pretty woman can only dream of - they mill around her like bees around a honeycomb. Men are bowled over by her charm. Her conquests are effortless. She is cool - a black English word to describe someone who is perfect, proud and in-charge of herself. Phenomenal woman's physical charm expresses a wholly different female temperament. The fire in her eyes is a marker of passion, the flash of her teeth is a symbol of primitive and even savage energy. The swing of her waist and the motions of her feet suggest the celebrating notes of a jungle dance.

Characteristics of a Phenomenal Woman:

The last stanza addresses the world. Phenomenal woman remains unconquered. She is not "subject" to anyone. She does not need to be agitationist, attention-seeking, or polemical. Shouting, jumping and protesting loudly are entirely unnecessary for her. Phenomenal woman simply is. Phenomenal woman is in complete control of herself unlike insecure women who worry constantly about their appearance.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Angelou states that, above all, phenomenal woman is self-defining. The key-phrase upon which the entire poem revolves is the one which repeats itself in every stanza: "I say." Because she articulated herself, and does not allow others to define or describe her, she exists.

*****

On the Move - Thom Gunn - Poem Summary

Introduction:

This poem, from Gunn's second collection, is his most famous piece, and among the best-known of all post-war poems. In it, the aimless, but threatening movement of a motorcycle gang becomes a metaphor for modern man's sense of alienation and lack of purpose. In On the Move, Gunn uses a series of connected metaphors, all deriving from the key image of movement.

A Sociological "footnote of the fifties":

The poem is a sociological footnote of the fifties. The young black-jacketed motor cyclists of the west become fitting symbols of restless energy and violent movement. The subtitle of the poem, "Man, you gotta go" denotes the unwillingness and inability to stand still. It is the epigraph to the poem.

In the first stanza, Gunn briefly introduces the general premise of the poem, that is, always to be on the move. The bird of the crow family, the blue jay, with its gay plumage, with its confused movements, is also always on the move, following some hidden purpose.

The aimlessness of the motor-cycle gang:

The depiction of "the boys" in the second stanza seems sympathetic (they are seen very much as they wish to be seen, bikes, goggles, leather jackets) yet Gunn also views them critically. Gunn uses the analogy (parallel) of the actions of the motorcyclists to show how modern man in general (in the poem, referred to as "one") lacks a clear sense of purpose and thus follows others, even if their activity too, is ultimately purposeless. They are unable and unwilling to keep still. They have replaced language with noise, and pursue their hidden purpose forward.

The statement that men "manufacture both machine and soul" is developed in the reference, later, to the "self-defined" and the "created will". It examines the idea that modern man invents or chooses, as a deliberate act of will, definitions of lifestyle and personality, to supply what nature has omitted.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Gunn shows how the bikers' activity, because it is only a "part solution" leaves the central existential problem still open, whether there is a solution or only a "part solution" to man's lack of purpose. Thus, for Gunn, man's life is a struggle in which, through action, kind of victory is won in defeat. The poem can be understood in three ways: as an example for the poet's heroic stance; as a sociological footnote of the fifties, and as a beautifully finished piece of imaginative writing.

*****

The Importance of Being Earnest - Lesson Summary

Introduction:

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comic play by Oscar Wilde, set in England during the late Victorian era. The play's humour derives in part from characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations. It is replete with witty dialogue and satirizes some of the foibles and hypocrisy of late Victorian society. It has proved to be Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

The major themes of this play are three: they are:
1). The triviality of the upper class. 2). The triviality of marriage and 3). The importance of wealth and leisure.

Jack visits London to meet Gwendolen:

Jack drops in unexpectedly on Algernon and announces that he intends to propose to Gwendolen. Algernon confronts him with the cigarette case and forces him to come clean, demanding to know who “Jack” and “Cecily” are. Jack confesses that his name isn’t really Ernest and that Cecily is his ward, a responsibility imposed on him by his adoptive father’s will. Jack also tells Algernon about his fictional brother.

Arrival of Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen:

Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell, arrive, which gives Jack an opportunity to propose to Gwendolen. Jack is delighted to discover that Gwendolen returns his affections, but he is alarmed to learn that Gwendolen is fixated on the name Ernest, which she says “inspires absolute confidence.” Gwendolen makes clear that she would not consider marrying a man who was not named Ernest.

Lady Bracknell Interviews Jack and subsequent Disapproval for their Marriage:

Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to determine his eligibility as a possible son-in-law, and during this interview she asks about his family background. When Jack explains that he has no idea who his parents were and that he was found, by the man who adopted him, in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station, Lady Bracknell is scandalized. She forbids the match between Jack and Gwendolen and sweeps out of the house.

Algernon visits Jack’s Country Estate to meet Cecily:

In Act II, Algernon shows up at Jack’s country estate posing as Jack’s brother Ernest. Meanwhile, Jack, having decided that Ernest has outlived his usefulness, arrives home in deep mourning, full of a story about Ernest having died suddenly in Paris. He is enraged to find Algernon there masquerading as Ernest but has to go along with the charade.

Algernon proposes to Cecily at Jack’s Country Estate:

While Jack changes out of his mourning clothes, Algernon, who has fallen hopelessly in love with Cecily, asks her to marry him. He is surprised to discover that Cecily already considers that they are engaged, and he is charmed when she reveals that her fascination with “Uncle Jack’s brother” led her to invent an elaborate romance between herself and him several months ago. Algernon is less enchanted to learn that part of Cecily’s interest in him derives from the name Ernest, which, unconsciously echoing Gwendolen, she says “inspires absolute confidence.”

Arrival of Gwendolen at Jack’s Country Estate: War between two girls:

Algernon goes off in search of Dr. Chasuble, the local rector, to see about getting himself christened Ernest. Meanwhile, Gwendolen arrives, having decided to pay Jack an unexpected visit. Cecily has no idea who Gwendolen is. Cecily explains that she is engaged to be married to Ernest Worthing. Gwendolen points out that this is impossible as she herself is engaged to Ernest Worthing. The tea party degenerates into a war of manners.

Jack and Algernon admit the truth:

The two women demand to know where Jack’s brother Ernest is, since both of them are engaged to be married to him. Jack is forced to admit that he has no brother and that Ernest is a complete fiction. Both women are shocked and furious, and they retire to the house arm in arm. However, when Jack and Algernon tell Gwendolen and Cecily that they have both made arrangements to be christened Ernest that afternoon, all is forgiven and the two pairs of lovers embrace. At this moment, Lady Bracknell’s arrival is announced.

Arrival of Lady Bracknell:

Lady Bracknell has followed Gwendolen from London, having bribed Gwendolen’s maid to reveal her destination. She demands to know what is going on. Gwendolen again informs Lady Bracknell of her engagement to Jack, and Lady Bracknell reiterates that a union between them is out of the question.

Jack informs Lady Bracknell that, as Cecily’s legal guardian, he refuses to give his consent to her union with Algernon. However, Lady Bracknell refuses to entertain the notion. She and Gwendolen are on the point of leaving when Dr. Chasuble arrives and happens to mention Cecily’s governess, Miss Prism. At this, Lady Bracknell starts and asks that Miss Prism be sent for.

Miss.Prism’s Confession: The Climax:

When the governess Miss.Prism arrives and catches sight of Lady Bracknell, she begins to look guilty and furtive. Lady Bracknell accuses her of having left her sister’s house twenty-eight years before with a baby and never returned. She demands to know where the baby is. Miss Prism confesses she doesn’t know, explaining that she lost the baby, having absentmindedly placed it in a handbag in which she had meant to place the manuscript for a novel she had written. Jack asks what happened to the bag, and Miss Prism says she left it in the cloakroom of a railway station. Jack presses her for further details and goes racing offstage, returning a few moments later with a large handbag. When Miss Prism confirms that the bag is hers, Jack’s identity is established. He is the legitimate child of Lady Bracknell’s sister and, therefore, Algernon’s older brother. Furthermore, Jack had been originally christened “Ernest John.” All these years Jack has unwittingly been telling the truth: Ernest is his name, as is Jack, and he does have an unprincipled younger brother—Algernon. Again the couples embrace, Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble follow suit, and Jack acknowledges that he now understands “the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”

Conclusion:

The mood of The Importance of Being Ernest is largely satirical. This is because Wilde is seeking to mock the triviality of the upper class society of London. Wilde’s satire is characterized by wit and is, throughout, lighthearted. Wilde is also writing from an aesthetic perspective, a movement in literature that celebrated art for art’s sake, and did not concern itself with the political issues of the outside world.

[With due acknowledgements and thanks to 'booknotes/wikipedia/sparknotes'.]

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WHAT IS LIFE? - JBS Haldane

Introduction:

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was one of the founders of population genetics. In this essay, Haldane attempts to analyze the essence of life and the composition of life by means of scientific logic and practical philosophy.

Where does ‘life’ belong?

In normal conditions, a thing must correspond to a noun. For example, bricks, water, coal-gas etc are things. At the same time, there are others like a wave, a tune etc which have less claim to be called a thing. In this kind of a classification, where does ‘life’ belong? Does death mean a loss of something, or merely a change of state like a disarrangement of patterns?

Early people thought that life was breath. But breath consists of gas, which can be made into a solid or liquid. Also, many living things do not breathe at all. Hence life is not a kind of matter. When a man or an animal dies, he does not lose or gain weight.

According to our ancestors, anything which moved was alive. That was a good definition before the age of machines. But a machine such as a motor-car moves itself, and so does a steam-ship. Now, people asked, “Is man a machine?”

According to the philosopher Descartes, both men and animals were machines, but that the human machine was controlled partly by the soul whereas animals had no soul. So some scientists think that life is just a very complicated mechanism.

Machines vs Individuals:

A machine is a system capable of performing some function, made up of replaceable parts. For example, if any part of a motor-car is broken, a new one can be got to take its place; and an engineer could tell a great deal about the car’s behaviour. The opposite to a machine is an individual – which cannot be taken to pieces and out together again. Each part depends on the other to keep it alive.

Animals: Perfect Self-regulating Machines:

An animal is only a very perfect self-regulating machine. Many of the bones act like levers. The eye is like a photographic camera. A good example of self-regulation is that of human temperature – which is so steady that a small rise or fall is a danger signal. The most obvious example of self-repair is the continual renewing of the skin, and the healing of wounds, and the most remarkable of all, is reproduction.

Machines vs Minds:

According to Haldane, the machine theory also fails when we consider our minds. The mind has a unity of its own. Somehow the most varied sensations and emotions are held together. Yet, the mind depends on the body. If you cut off the blood supply from parts of the brain, the most intelligent man becomes a hopeless idiot.

Life – A Synthesis of Opposites - Mechanism and Individuality:

Life then is a synthesis of opposites – of mechanism and individuality. A man is a machine and at the same time an individual. We find the same union of opposites everywhere. Wood is both hard and soft. If it were not hard, we could not use it for furniture. If it were not soft, we could not cut it. Thus we find that there is generally a progress from mechanism to individuality in the life of an individual.

Conclusion:

To conclude, life, according to Haldane, is essentially a pattern of chemical happenings, and so to say that life does not consist of chemical processes is, according to Haldane, as futile and untrue as to say that poetry does not consist of words. And life is something between mechanism and individuality – but seems to strive towards greater individuality or oneness.

THE POSTMASTER - Rabindranath Tagore

For an interesting analysis of "The Postmaster" by one of our alumna @ MCC, (an ex-student) Samyuktha, CLICK on her blog HERE. Hope that solves your notes anxiety for Tagore's "The Postmaster" :-)