scholarly journals The lost identity of Mother India: Rape, mutilation and a socio-political critique of Indian society

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-76
Author(s):  
Šarūnas Paunksnis
Keyword(s):  
Indian Society ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Political Critique ◽  
Deepa Mehta ◽  
Partition Of India ◽  
Traditional Understanding ◽  
Main Operating

Vytautas Magnus UniversityThe article discusses a film by Deepa Mehta, a filmmaker who is a part of the so-called Indian Parallel Cinema, and a critic of Indian culture and society. The main argument of the article is that in the landmark film Earth, Mehta portrays a character to personify the idea of Mother India. Mehta’s vision of Mother India is rendered psychoanalytically as being raped by her sons—something that had started during the partition of India and continues till our times. The article introduces and re-thinks categories of Indianness, rape, alienness, which are vital to our understanding of contemporary Indian culture and society. One of the main operating categories of the article is identity—what it means in our modern times, and what it means to lose it—something that happened in 1947 during the partition, and is still continuing. The article also stands in opposition to the traditional understanding of the Mother—in contemporary times, as it is argued, Mother is not cherished by her Sons, instead, she is raped and mutilated, as a consequence of ontological insecurity and desire for identity.

Shashi Deshpande’s Womenfolk and their Struggle of Existence

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-606
Author(s):  
Dr J. Ramakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationship ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
Indian Culture

The aim of writing this article is to highlight the theme of helplessness of woman in Indian society. Whether she is a mother, daughter, sister or wife, the society always desires that she should be docile, timid and submissive. Deshpane’s novels are trying to highlight the change towards which our society. Indian Women’s writings have been a delineation of inner life and understated interpersonal relationship. In Indian culture and heritage, individualism, quest for identity, protests are analised in the article.

Implementing Indian Culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-387
Author(s):  
Devdutt Pattanaik
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Far East ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
And Training

Mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik uses his deep domain knowledge and corporate experience to address the topic: Implementing Indian Culture. First, he reveals how changing corporate culture through workshops and training programmes is based on the idea of evangelism and religious conversion, which is alien to caste-based Indian society where aggregation of new ideas is preferred over replacement of old ideas. Then, using mythology as a toolkit, he elaborates what is common and what is different between Indian, Chinese and Western cultures. He argues that China and Japan’s success is not the result of ‘Westernisation’ but by their grounding in home-grown Confucian and Taoist myths. India’s progress needs a similar grounding in ideas that have originated, and continue to thrive, in India, hence the need to appreciate the Indian model of yagna (exchange), which is neither policy based and contractual, as in the West, nor authority based, as in the Far East. However, as it is relationship based, it demands maturity and empathy of the leader who functions as the head of the family business ( karta). It demands the karta’s personal transformation from self-indulgent to self-expansive as he gradually delegates and nurtures talent to create an ecosystem of success ( mangalya). Growth then is not just material (what you have) but also psychological/spiritual (who you are).

3. Colonial India: religious and caste divides

2017 ◽  
pp. 34-47
Author(s):  
Craig Jeffrey
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Natural Feature ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Partition Of India

India is often identified as a Hindu country, but there are many other religions in India including Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity. ‘Colonial India: religious and caste divides’ explains India’s religious diversity and the inequalities that are associated with the assumed ‘Hindu-ness’ of India. It also describes the Partition of India into three new nations in 1947 and the accompanying violence. A sharply hierarchical caste system is not necessarily a natural feature of Indian society. Caste is rather a social institution that has changed historically in response to economic and political forces. The imperial power introduced or exacerbated social contradictions that continue to mark the lives of low castes in modern India.

scholarly journals Mapping home: literary and filmic representations of multi-scalar dwelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Bida
Keyword(s):  
Social Practices ◽  
Graphic Novel ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Liquid Modernity ◽  
House Of Leaves ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
The Village ◽  
Traditional Understanding

In this dissertation, I investigate the overlapping individual, relational, and social scales of home in contemporary literary and cinematic texts, drawing on Martin Heidegger’s writing on dwelling (as the essence of being human), Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity (particularly the commitment avoidance that its “fluidity” fosters), and Jacques Derrida’s work on hospitality (both the welcoming and hostile social practices that this term encompasses). I explore these ideas and scales of home in international and multi-medial texts, which include Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (2000), Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (television series and novel 1996, graphic novel adaptation 2007), M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village (2004), Nicolas Dickner’s Nikolski (2005, trans. 2008), Lars von Trier’s Dogville (2003), and Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin! (2003). My corpus of texts demonstrates that a traditional understanding of home as a distinct location is incompatible with the realities of liquid modernity, and, moreover, sheds light on new modes of constructing home as a composite of locations and scales—a complex, multi-scalar, geocultural map of identity and belonging. Together, these texts show a dual pattern that makes visible the need to rethink the notion of home: an inclusive map of home on various scales helps home-makers to integrate the various places and people who populate their understanding of home, while the inability to conceive of home in this multifarious way nurtures social fissures, conceptual homelessness, and even psychoses. My main objectives are to challenge neutral, utilitarian conceptions of space, place, and home, and to demonstrate the possibility of what Heidegger calls “poetic dwelling” in liquid modern times and an increasingly inhospitable, market-driven social landscape

scholarly journals Reflection of Indian Culture in Shashi Deshpande’s A Matter of Time

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 112-122
Author(s):  
Prajesh Jena
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Indian Literature ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Indian Family ◽  
Shashi Deshpande ◽  
Indian Religion

Shashi Deshpande is a well-known name in the field of Indian literature and is a contemporary writer from Karnataka. She portrays in her novel "A Matter of Time" the truth of Indian society in Indian families. The importance of culture for Indian women is also discussed. Her novels are distinguished for their genuine depictions of the Indians and their history. She used Indian names and the role of Indian Middle Class Women in her novel A Matter of Time through the character Sumi. She talks about Indian Women, Indian Culture, Indian Religion, Indian Family, Religions and Beliefs, Family Traditions, and Emotions, among other topics. A Matter of Time is a multi-generational novel that moves around the plight and predicament of Indian women whose lives are deeply rooted in Indian beliefs, superstitions, conventions and traditions. Women have been living and breathing silently for thousands of years under the umbrella of patriarchy and with their "gazing." With the foundation of patriarchy, the disparity between man and woman, in its unwritten form, has developed through language, customs, rituals, myths and practises. Myths, rituals, and customs contribute to the evolution and establishment of human society. They are naturally developed, but are indeed societal buildings and help in developing patriarchal ideologies. They are believed to be natural. They are, therefore, essential to women's subjugation in our society.

scholarly journals NATURE IN HINDI LITERATURE

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9SE) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Asha Devi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Sanskrit Literature ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Love Story ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Hindi Literature ◽  
Human And Nature

The love of nature of Hindi writers is well known. Poetry has been composed on nature in all times during the ancient, medieval and modern times. The famous cinematic poet Jayashankar Prasadji writes-Let me forget my sailor slowly - where in the uninhabited deep-tinged love story in the ears of Sagar-Lahiri-Ambar - Avni of Taj BabelThe poet has here pointed out the peace of man. Humanity is not noisy, nor does he want such an earth. Nature has loved human as (wave of ocean) and (abar). This is what it is like, why is it, who is destroying the unbreakable relationship between human and nature. What are the conditions that are making the earth persist? A terrible environmental crisis is looming over us all. What should we do now .We all know that in Indian culture, nature is like a necklace in the bracelet, but when the great crisis is showing the destruction of this culture, then our values ​​of life, which teach us to love nature, should be cherished in Vedic era It is happening in the verses of the Vedas that we see the feeling of gratitude towards fire, sun, moon, air, water, earth, sky and clouds. Sanskrit literature is full of beautiful scenes of nature. There nature is companion, friend and its all. हिंदी साहित्यकारों का प्रकृति-प्रेम सर्वविदित है। आदिकाल , मध्यकाल और आधुनिककाल सभी कालों में प्रकृति पर काव्य-रचनाऐं होती रहीं । प्रसिद्ध छायावादी कवि जयशंकरप्रसादजी लिखते हैं-ले चल मुझे भुलावा देकर मेरे नाविक धीरे-धीरे-जहाँ निर्जन में सागर-लहरी-अंबर के कानों में गहरी-निच्छल प्रेमकथा कहती हो--तज कोलाहल की अवनि कवि ने यहाँ मानव की शांतिप्रियता को इंगित किया है ।मानव कोलाहलप्रिय नहीं है, और न ही वह ऐसी धरती चाहता है।( सागर की लहर) और (अबंर) के रूप में प्रकृति ने भी मानव से प्रेम ही किया है ।आज विचारणीय विषय यह है कि फिर ऐसा क्या है, क्यों है, कौन है जो मानव और प्रकृति के अटूट संबंधों को तहस-नहस कर रहा है । वे कौन सी परिस्थितियाँ लगातार बनती रही हैं जो धरती विदीर्ण कर रही हैं । एक भयावह पर्यावरणीय संकट हम सब पर मँडरा रहा है । अब हमें क्या करना चाहिए ।हम सभी जानते हैं कि भारतीय संस्कृति में प्रकृति कंगन में नग की भाँति जडी है पर जब बड़ा संकट इस संस्कृति के विनाश का दिखाई दे रहा है तो ऐंसे में वैदिककाल से सँजोए हमारे जीवन-मूल्य, जो हमें प्रकृति से प्रेम करना सिखाते हैं, समाप्त हो रहे हैं वेदों की ऋचाओं में हमें अग्नि,सूर्य, चंद्र, वायु, जल, पृथ्वी, आकाश और मेघों के प्रति कृतग्यता का भाव दिखाई देता है । संस्कृत-साहित्य तो प्रकृति के मनोहारी दृश्यों से भरा पड़ा है ।वहाँ प्रकृति मानव की सहचरी,सखी और उसका सर्वस्व है ।

scholarly journals The Formation of the Library System of India (19th - 20th centuries)

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-204
Author(s):  
Ekaterina A. Barysheva
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Library System ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Intellectual Level ◽  
The 19Th Century

This article is devoted to the formation and development of system of public libraries in India and their place in the educational, social, cultural and informational space of the country. The formation of the library system in India occurred during the complex colonial and post-colonial periods of its history. It took place in the conditions of underdevelopment, the uneven social, political and cultural development of the regions, ethnolinguistic disunity, and mass illiteracy of the population, dominating in the society of caste, religious and gender prejudices. The article demonstrates that public libraries in India, beginning with their appearance in the first half of the 19th century, had a special mission. They were considered not only as repositories of books, but, first of all, as centers of education, aimed to spread the knowledge, fight with ignorance by introducing to the reading, to raise the cultural and intellectual level of Indian society, thereby contributing to its prosperity. The article describes the main stages and directions of state policy of India in the field of librarianship from the early nineteenth to the late twentieth century, recounts the history of the founding of the National library, emphasized the role of Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation. In separate section there is considered the contribution to the library and information science of S.R. Ranganathan, the outstanding leader of Indian culture.

scholarly journals Analyzing Indian Socio-Political Thoughts, Hunger and Freedom in Bhabhani Bhattacharya’s Novel “So Many Hungers”

IJOHMN ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Hassan Bin Zubair ◽  
Dr. Saba Sadia
Keyword(s):  
Indian Society ◽  
Rural India ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Political Transitions ◽  
Freedom Struggle ◽  
Economic Exploitation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Culture Tradition

This paper focuses on the Indian cultural background having the themes like hunger, poverty, famine, war, politics, freedom, imperialism, economic exploitation, class consciousness in the Indo-Anglian English fiction writer Bhabani Bhattacharya’s novel So Many Hungers!, related to the socio-political and economic situations of Bengali’s society. The theme of the novel is mainly the existing pressing problems of India especially the rural India before and after the Independence. Realism is one of the most remarkable features of Bhabani Bhattacharya’s fiction. His novel shows a passionate awareness of life in India, the social awakening and protest, the utter poverty of peasants, the Indian freedom struggle and its various dimensions, the tragedy of partition of the country, the social and political transitions, the mental as well as the physical agony of the poor peasants and labor class people of the Indian society, especially that of Bengal and other adjoining states. Bhattacharya believes that an artist should inevitably be concerned with truth and reality, his portrayal of the life and society is never a photographic one nor a journalistic record. One can very well find the reflection of Indian culture, tradition and struggle in it.

A Semiotic Approach Through Print Advertisements

2018 ◽  
pp. 146-170
Author(s):  
Neha Chirag Patel ◽  
Supriya Rahul Bhutiani
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Roland Barthes ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Print Advertisements ◽  
Multimodal Discourse Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Changing Society

The advent of globalization has brought about innumerable changes in the Indian society. Advertisements reflect the changing society. In the said context, the authors have studied the print advertisements related to male grooming products in India over a twenty-five-year period by using the Multimodal Discourse Analysis and the framework of Roland Barthes semiotics study. The current study encompassed two prime purposes – the first being that of identifying and understanding the important codes of visual image in the male grooming sector; and the second being to discern the changes (if any) hitherto in the Indian culture. The findings from the present study reinforced the view that advertisements do mirror the changes in the society and hence the emergence of the Indian metrosexual men.

Leadership and Individuality in South Asia: The Case of the South Indian Big-man

1990 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattison Mines ◽  
Vijayalakshmi Gourishankar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South India ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
The South ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Perceptions Of Leadership ◽  
The Individual

Although there has been great interest in how properly to conceptualize the person in Indian culture, few have explored Indian perceptions of leadership, achievement, and agency as valued features of individuality (Singer 1972; Mines 1988; Fox 1989). Indeed, since Dumont (1970a,b) forcefully argued that the values of equality and liberty that support the Western notion of the individual were absent from Indian society, the important roles that personal uniqueness, volition, and achievement play in Indian history have been largely overlooked or understated. This paper reconsiders an Indian sense of these roles by examining the south Indian concept of the “big-man” (periyar, periyavar), a notion of individuality and instrumentality that is central to the politics of south India and crucial to an understanding of the dynamic relationship that exists between action and organization in Indian society (cf., Fox 1989).

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