English Notes

Water Introduction Challapalli Swaroopa Rani is a prominent Dalit writer. Her mature poetry focuses mainly on the issues of gender and caste. Her translated piece “Water” by Uma Bhrugubanda is a metaphor that shows the plight of the untouchables in our society. Summary The poem is a heart rending account of a Dalit voice. It is a graphic portrayal of humiliation and insult suffered by the downtrodden. The evil practices of the century-old caste system is the theme of this poem. The poet gives us a first hand account of the agony and sorrow experienced by Dalits. Water is holy; it purges our sins according to our holy scriptures. It is our basic commodity. However, water becomes the symbol of revolt over equal rights. Water through the eyes of the speaker becomes omniscient that knows the age-old conflict between the village and the wada. According to the poet, water also knows very well that untouchability remains as long as discrimination prevails. The poet cites the instance of water...

Where There Is A Wheel - P Sainath Introduction The essay “Where There Is A Wheel” is taken from the book ‘Everybody loves a good drought’ written by P. Sainath, a noted Indian journalist who writes columns regularly in leading journals on social, rural problems, poverty and the after effects of globalization. Summary This essay is about a social movement through cycling in Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu where over 100,000 rural women have taken to bicycling. Most of them are neo-literates who use bicycling as a symbol of independence, freedom and mobility. Cycling has given new meaning and social identity to women as diverse as agricultural workers, quarry labourers and village health nurses. Even balwadi and anganwadi (babysitter) workers, gem cutters and school teachers have joined the bandwagon. There are also gram sevikas and mid-day meal workers who have joined the new movement. The Arivoli Iyakkam ( Light of Knowledge Movement ) that led the community literacy movement su...

Introduction Chinua Achebe is a renowned Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His works highlight the clash of Western and traditional African values. His style reflects Igbo oral tradition. The narration is peppered with folk stories, proverbs and oratory. Among his many works, ‘Things Fall Apart’, ‘Arrow of God’ are very popular. Summary “The Voter ''is a beautiful story symbolic of the entry of a new system of governance into the innocent settlements of native people in Africa. It shows how Igbo people fall prey to the lures of the western systems. The story also depicts how democratic exercise of the west introduced in Africa corrupts the innocent lgbo folks. Rufus Okeke, the protagonist is very popular in the village, Umuofia, for he chose to stay back in his village instead of a bright future to guide his people in difficult times. Thus, he had won their confidence. When the story opens, it is election time to choose the new government. Rufus Okeke worked fo...

Introduction George Mikes is a Hungarian artist, author, publisher, illustrator and journalist. These excerpts are from ‘The Land of the Rising Yen'’ and ‘How To Tango’. Here he writes about his travelling experiences from two different places of the world, Japan and Brazil. Travel writing is about writing one’s experiences of travelling and visiting alien places. Travel writing has become very popular as more people have begun to explore new places on the globe. Though much of the earth has been explored, and almost everything has been written about, the popularity of travel writing is still growing. There are exclusive channels on travel and the influence of new media has further increased its popularity. The travel narratives are telling comments on how a culture gets represented by another. Theme / Summary Japanese Manners / Courtesy - substitute privacy The writer observes that Japanese are well-mannered people. They respect one another’s privacy immensely. Courtesy has a ...

Heaven, If You Are Not Here on Earth Introduction Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth is written by K.V. Puttappa popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu. He is considered to be the greatest poet of 20th Century Kannada Literature. He is immortalized particularly for his contribution to Universal Humanism - Vishwa Maanavataa Vaada. Theme / Summary The poet here attempts to demystify the notion of heaven. It is the blissful state that makes the poet realise the heavenly experience in the company of Nature on earth. He shares his emotions with readers. He finds divine creation all pervasive that he can’t stop glorifying the beauties on earth. So, Kuvempu wonders in this state, if Heaven is not on earth, where else it can be! According to the poet, the experience of God is within us - just an extension of good qualities. If we fail to cultivate these virtues, there can be no Gods. The most beautiful heavenly maids are amidst us. If we can see such nymphs right around us, then they are ...

Introduction Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine short story writer, essayist, poet and translator. In this interview conducted by Roberto Alifano a poet, storyteller, essayist and journalist from the city of General Pinto, province of Buenos Aires Borges talks about his early years of reading, his family, his blindness, books, poetry, metaphors and literature. Summary First Reading / On his mother Asked about his first reading, Borges proudly says that he was educated at his father’s library where he first read Grimm’s Fairy Tales. His mother, according to him, was an extraordinary person but he regrets having not been understanding of her. He didn't give her happiness which makes him guilty. He says that all of us take our mother for granted. Accordingly, we should treat our mother better. He remembers his mother as an intelligent and gracious woman. On blindness Blindness to Borges is a way of life. He calls whatever happens to anyone is a resource and that all things have been ...

To the Foot from its Child - Summary Introduction Pablo Neruda is a Chilean poet, diplomat and politician. He has written in a variety of styles. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. His poem To the Foot from its Child is a translation in English by Alastair Reid who is one of Scotland's foremost literary figures well-known for his poetry, prose and translation. Theme / Summary To the Foot from Its Child is rich and deep in its meaning and message. The poem portrays the journey of a child or child's foot from its birth to death. Neruda begins the poem stating that the child's foot is not aware of the reality but dreams to be a butterfly or an apple. Then the passage of time exposes the foot to such hardships of life that they teach the foot that it cannot become a butterfly or an apple. It then loses the battle and remains condemned to live in the shoe. Here, the poet shows how an individual is controlled by society. The foot then starts to understand its limits a...

The Gardener - Summary Introduction P Lankesh is an Indian writer who has written in Kannada language. His story “The Gardener” is a narrative of human competition that turns into rivalry as a result of greed. The writer has adopted the frame narrative style: the writer sets the tone while the character, Tammanna narrates the main story. It's a story within a story. Theme / Summary The author conceived this story in a flash when he met an old man accidently at a coconut farm. The old man takes up work on a coconut farm near Chennarayapatna after walking several hundreds of miles. He was a labourer, overseer and philosopher, all rolled into one. This well-versed farmhand was very useful whose work made the income from the garden improve dramatically. While he worked hard, the owner became lethargic and changed his lifestyle. He became crowded with colourful events in the company of new friends. When the landlady was in a fix, the gardener narrated a story to make her understand the...

When You Are Old - Summary Introduction William Butler Yeats is an Irish poet and one of the greatest poets in the English Language in the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923. He is one among the great love poets of the world. Summary/ Theme ''When You Are Old'' is a love poem addressed to the poet’s beloved who was the most beautiful young lady of his time. She is believed to be the inspiration behind this poem. The tone of the poem is one of melancholy. W.B. Yeats imagines her future years and his true love in future. He repents over her divergent attitude who fails to understand his spiritual love. The poet begins the first stanza addressing her to imagine herself to be in her old age. The lady then will be very old approaching her peaceful years. When she opens the book of poems penned by the poet to read slowly, she will be taken back in time to recollect her past when she had innocent looks in her eyes and sadness hidden in her...

A Sunny Morning Summary Introduction “A Sunny Morning” is a one act play by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero, brothers and celebrated Spanish playwrights of the early twentieth Century. The story is centred on two old lovers now in their 70s meeting at a park and trying to recall their romantic past. The man is Don Gonzalo and the lady is Dona Laura. Meeting of Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura - Background - Setting The Autumn season in the background presents the baldness of life coinciding with the entry of two key characters in the play Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who have also lost their prime youth and attraction. They meet at the park as strangers. Don Gonzalo annoys Dona Laura as he scares away the birds she was feeding. Laura picks up verbal combat attacking him with a barrage of words. He retorts though, gives up soon and offers her a pinch of snuff and reconciles with her. Flashback - The past When Don Gonzalo reads from Campoamor’s ‘Twenty years pass. He returns’, both are t...

Everything I Need to Know - Vandana Shiva Introduction Vandana Shiva is an internationally renowned activist for biodiversity and against corporate globalization. In the essay “Everything I Need To Know” she tells the readers about her early lessons of environmentalism. She also tells us how she learnt all the major ideals of a good life from the forests such as diversity, freedom and co-existence. Summary Vandana Shiva’s ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. Her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with “Chipko”. Chipko Movement It was a nonviolent response to the large-scale deforestation in the Himalaya region. In the 1970s peasant women in the Garhwal, Himalaya had come out in defence of the forests. Vandana Shiva noticed a steady loss of forests in this region. She decided to become a volunteer for the movement. Biodiversity - Navdanya Farm / Navdanya Movement The Chipko Movement taught Vandana Shiva about biodiversity. She realized the impor...

On Children Introduction Kahlil Gibran is a Lebanese-American poet who brings out the high philosophy of life in his simple and beautiful poetic essays. His “On Children” is a critique of the usual expectations of parents about their children. Through this poem he offers to guide parents on the essence of parenting with love much against the usual ways. Summary / Theme In this poem, a young mother approaches the Prophet to know about his wisdom on children. He captures the attention in his shocking declaration, “Your children are not your children”. He beautifully brings up the concept of Life’s creations and its aspirations. Contrary to the accepted notion of parents making claims about their children, the prophet says that they are just biological means in creation and the children do not belong to them. Children live with their parents but they do not belong to them. Parents may give their love to their children and they should never force their ideas on their children. Children ha...

Too Dear Summary A short Introduction Too Dear! is a story written by Count Leo Tolstoy, a famous Russian writer, master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the world’s greatest novelists. Summary The king of Monaco ruled a tiny kingdom with a small population of about seven thousand. In that kingdom he was a real kinglet. He had a palace, courtiers, ministers, a bishop, generals and an army too. However, he had very limited sources of income to run his kingdom: a tax on tobacco, wine and spirits and a poll-tax. These sources were insufficient. So, he found a new source of special income; a gaming house where people played roulette. Whether they would win or lose, the Prince gained by it. He knew that gambling was a dirty business. But, he had to resort to it for the sustenance of his kingdom. Once a man commits a murder. The king had never had to deal with the murder. The judges tried the case and awarded the death sentence to the criminal. However, the King run...

Romeo and Juliet - A summary William Shakespeare is an English playwright and poet, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English Language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is well-known to the world through his timeless characters that are universal in their appeal. The themes that he deals with also touch human lives across the globe. The extracts from William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet “express the implicit feelings of Romeo and Juliet for each other. These verses are known for their rich imagery laced with powerful emotions. Romeo's soliloquy Romeo, though uninvited, makes his presence at the Grand Supper hosted by Old Lord Capulet, just to meet Rosline. He finds Juliet so attractive on the dance floor that he is overwhelmed with strong emotions. He exclaims that her beauty teaches the torches to burn bright. He makes two lovely comparisons: Juliet’s beauty is compared to that of a jewel that shines bright in an Ethiope’s ear which is divine and very ...