Q. 1.Discuss the role of translation in comparative studies in Indian Literature.Ans.

The importance of translation in the country like India is very crucial because of its
multilingual and multiculturalcharacteristic. The translation studies are now being
seen as the main shaping force of the Indian literary historicaltradition.The
evolution and development of translation studies has made itself and important and
essential priority for thestudy and of course development of comparative studies in
Indian literature. It is understood that with the help oftranslation studies it would not
be a possibility. Let us look at what Sujit Mukherjee has to say I this regard. He
says,that Practically every English language publisher of repute in Indian-and few
disreputable ones as well-is busy buildinga list of titles in translation as rapidly as
possible. Writers themselves are no less eager to get translated into English.Some
dont even try for translators, or cannot trust such intervention, and do the job
themselves. Other would like tobe translated by a foreigner. When none is available
they settle of Indian living in abroad in English-speaking countries.Only those who
are truly bereft of contact or resources have to make do with an Indian translator-a
friend or thatfriends wife, some hitherto unknown admirer, a faithful fan or
otherwise breezy devotee and so on. As was said forCleopatra, the variety is
endless and the number keeps growing.Translation in PracticeConsidering the
above remark by Mukherjee one can say that translation, in the comparative studies
of Indianliterature is of immense potential as a pedagogical and integrative force.
Some clear-cut sub-division can be made in thecorpus of translated literature.The
first is the translation done in English by the authors themselves. Some of the best
examples in this case are that of Tagore, who translated his work Geetanjali into
English himself, Raj Gill and K.S.Duggal in Punjabi, who notonly wrote his scripts in
mother lounge but also translated the script in English all by himself.The second is
the translation done in English by an Indian and Europeans, who must be other than
the author ofthe text. For example, Sanskra, written by U.R. Anantha Murthy in
Kannada and was translated into English by A.K.Ramanujan.Translation of Indian
Literature by Western ScholarsThe translation of Indian writings into English by the
European scholars started during the British rule in India. Onefamous example
which enables us to compare seven different translation of the same work is the
translation of Gita Govinda. The translation was done by William Jones, Edwin
Arnold, George Keats and also by Lakshami NarayanShastri, Duncan Greenlidge,
Monika Varma, and Barbra Stoler Miller.
Q. 2. Discuss the character of Praneshacharya.Ans. Initially at the beginning of the
novel we are told that Pranesacharya is a person who takes the asceticism tothe
extreme. He lives a household life only for the sake of living it. He married an invalid
woman and lived helping herlive in order to transcend the worldly life. He also is an
example of the distortion of value that takes place whenasceticism is taken beyond
the limit. This becomes clear after his sexual union with Chandri.He is a learned
man a complete genius of Vedanta Philosophy and has also earned many rewards
for his knowledge.But his knowledge does not come handy when acquainted with
the problem related to the cremation of Naranappa.Pranesacharya has been shown

as compassionate man. And this becomes clear when we see his concern
forChandri. However, his concern for Naranappa is not only because of his
compassion, rather it is blend of his egotism,willfulness and compassion. When he
fails to find the solution of the problem he looks in to the books but fails there
aswell. Then goes to the Maruti temple to find a solution with the help of divine
grace but again this attempt proves to befutile.There is no doubt that Acharya is
highly introspective, both before and after his sexual union with Chandri. And inthis
introspection he tries to be honest as much as he can.The entire episode in which
we find him in a quest of his own identity is very painful and imbued with
uncertainty
and fear. He turns his back on his brahminical past and moves forward in the world
of ordinary men and women. Henow is ready accept his physical desire and hunger
and wants his share all the pleasurable things that world has to offer.He confronts
the violence and evils of the world and there comes a change in him and he decides
to act, to choose, toa decision. At the end we see him overcoming his fear and
deciding to go back to make confession to his fellowBrahmins and take
responsibility of cremating Naranappa.Q. 3. Comment on the subalterns in
Tamas.Ans. The novel not only highlights the part played by poor and deprived in
the communal riot but also theirsuffering during the communal violence.We have
already seen the role that Nathu played in form of killing the pig, which triggered
the riot. The author hasbrought the character of Nathu from the periphery to centre
of the novel. He can also be called the conscience of thenovel.Other characters who
are poor and suffered are Milkhi, Raghu Naths servant and Nanki, Lala Lakshmi
Narainsservant. Both are left behind to look for the properties. Lakshmi Narains
wife shows some concern for Nanki, whenhe was sending him out to seek help.In
the similar manner, while other people of Syedpur assembled in gurduwara, the
poor peon of the school wasasked to guard the school,which he did and died doing
it.Another instance that Sahni present is the conversation of collie who in response
to a Babu, who said that India isgoing to be free, says, Babuji, what is that to me? I
am carrying loads now and shall continue carrying them then. Ourlot is to carry
loads. This tells us that how events which we consider to be of greater importance
do not matter muchto poor as they do not see any change coming in their life.There
is no doubt that in any such emergency, which we see in the novel, the poor section
of the society is mostvulnerable and they die in greater number as compared to the
privileged section of the society. And that is why Dev
Datt asks Statistic Babu to add another category to the report he was collecting
how many of those killed were poorand how many were rich?The attempt of the
author is make us hear those voices which otherwise we have never heard.Q. 4.
How has Girish Karnard treated the theme of Power in Tuglaq?Ans. There is no doubt
that one of the most important and major theme of Karnads play is inveitable
power. Inhis book Power: A New Social Analysis Bertrand Russell says that power is
the capacity to achieve intended results.Karnads play is about the kingship and the

power that it gives. While reading the play it becomes clear that we aredealing with
two Tughlaqs, one is an idealist who wants to fulfil the desire of his people and the
other is a politician whohas based his considerations on something other than
morality and ideology
Tughlaq wants to be different from those kings who had ruled the throne of Delhi.
He says that he killed his fatherand brother for an ideal. This Tughlaq is a dreamer
who has a soul of a poet. He is imaginative and wants his people toconfide their
sorrows in him and share their joys with him.He wants to be a ruler who does not
distinguish between Hindu and Muslim, in short he wants to establish asecular
state.We are convinced, because of his self-reflexivity about power that he knows
about the responsibility of a ruler.And that is what we see in scene six when raises
question about the legitimacy of power.We see that beyond a doubt Tughlaq is
furious at Amirs. He is very well aware of need of legitimizing the power ofeven
hereditary ruler and he knows that the power can only be legitimized in real sense
by the commitment of people.Another Tughlaq we witness in the play is one who
looks at the power as a game of chess, which is about someonewinning and
someone losing. The whole idea is to stay in power and if opportunity comes to
enhance it. Following thisconcept the actions of Tughlaq are more practical than that
of moral or ideological. And we see him doing which rulershave always done.We see
that Tughlaq is not able to reconcile the two selves, the dream and the reality. And
thus we see himgradually moving towards the practical stance of view.There are
various reasons which combine together to make Tughlaq fail in his mission. The
first is his inability toreconcile the two faces of power in his mental makeup. He
starts thinking that he is the only one who is right,whichadds with his impatience
and make him intolerable towards criticism. His idea for shifting his capital, which
laterbecomes an idee fixe, is one of the reason that Shiahb rebels against him. Even
after the rebellion starts he goes on tocrush it, but does not bother to look for the
cause of rebellion. He is cruel and this can be witnessed in the scene whenhe
continues to stab Shiahb long after he is dead. He says to Barani when he tries to
cover the wounded dead body ofShihab, Dont cover him, Barani. I want my people
to see his wounds.Tughlaqs use of power in the latter half of the play is punitive
and both arbitrary and excessive. Barani in the
eighth scene says to Tughlaq that why he is indulging in so much bloodshed and
there was a time when he believed indeals, love and peace. But now he does not
allow people to pray and kill them on slightest of offence. He asks Tughlaqto stop it
and something better will come out of this. But Tughlaq is not able to turn back; in
fact, he cannot turn backbecause he is now addicted to power.Another face of
power, perhaps the third face, can be seen in the rise of Aziz. He starts from being a
Dhobi andthen becomes a respected guest of the state. Azizs aspiration of power
has two aspects. The first is that he hasgraduated from money to the power. And
the second is that he needs or desires power for self-indulgence. On the otherhand,
Tughlaq wants power to accomplish his dreams for the country and the people. Aziz

tells Aazam that he hasdiscovered a new world of politics, which is capable of

providing power, wealth and position. Aziz represents theugliest face of
power.Section BQ. 5. Write short notes on any four of the following:(i) The narrative
structure of BirthdayAns. Sturcture: The story is about the happenings in the life of
the author on the day of his birthday, and is in theform of dairy entries by hour. The
writer starts writing the story in the midnight and writes about what happened in
hislife during that particular day. He starts right from the moment when he got up in
the morning. He interrupts thenarration of the story on the second page to inform
the readers that he is writing in the midnight about the happeningsof the day in
form of diary entry,So what is the advantage of choosing this style of writing? The
story starts with an introduction and then goes intothe form of a dairy. The style of
the author is auto-biographical, which makes us think that whatever he is writing
isabout himself. According to the author, most of the story contains the
autobiographical elements, which helps in the distinction between fact and the
fiction, which otherwise is almost impossible.The NarrativeIn almost all of his stories
Bashir chooses the first person narrative, which makes him the speaker of the
text.Thus, the readers are invited to look and share the intellectual and emotion
world of the author. But still there lies a
difference. It is the same difference which is between an alive person and and a
portrait of an alive person. In thephotograph the outer features of a person is being
captured by the painter but it is nowhere near the real person wholives in every
moment. In the same way the story written on the psychological aspects of the
person need not be thesame as the persons personality. While writing the story a
lot of self-editing is done by the writer which also makes itdifferent from that of the
true personality of the writer. Therefore, it is important that we must consider the
first personnarrator of the story and the author himself as two different individuals.
(ii) Setting of BirdsAns. The setting of Story: The setting of the story has been
constructed by the author in such a way that itreflects the moods of the characters
in the story. There is no violent breakout of nature which would give us the hint
ofanger; rather we see that the author has depicted trees as discreet and
emotionally sympathetic. We hear the softmurmuring of trees, which is indeed very
soothing.The flow of water is also very gentle and soothing, which helps in the
enhancement of feminine aspect of setting.Another thing used by author is the
light. The description that we get of the light is that it is always filtered bysomething
or the other, which also gives a very soothing effect unlike the direct scorching light
of the sun.(iii) Irony in Tinys GrannyAns. Usually, the language used by Ismat
Chughtai is full of humour and irony, which make her prose interestingand
enjoyable. Through the use of irony she brings out the evil rampant if the society.
And behind the humour we cansense a sense of grim sorrow which makes the
character or the scene poignant. In Tinys Granny, a good deal ofhumour is created
at Grannys expense. Authors sympathetic treatment of Granny allows her to create
such a movingcharacter. Usually, the humor and irony are created because of the
play with the language, which becomes difficult toretain in the translation. But still

in the English translation of the story we can find some traces of it. The first
instance of the humour comes when the author describes, in the second paragraph
of the story, that what she means by oddjobs that Granny was subjected to do as
a child. Some touches of humour can sensed when Chughtai describesgrannys
craftiness as a liar, and talebearer. The authors description of her burkha and the
various ways it is used bygranny also evokes laughter.There are various instances
in the story wherein we can find the irony in the narrative. The first of these is the
rapeof Tiny by the most reputed member of the society, Deputy Saheb. Here we can
see hypocrisy of the social moralityof people. Another portrayal of irony is in the
complex relationship of Granny with the monkeys. The monkeys boregrudge against
her because she had to scramble and fight for scrap of food with monkeys. And she
is exposed in frontof public by monkeys, which ultimately becomes the reason of
her death.(iv) The character of TadpaAns.Tadpa is the central character of the story,
who we see with the group of official taking a journey into thejungles of Orissa. He is
not like as thought by the group of educated people. He is kind, generous, and
goodheartedhuman being. While introducing him the narrator gives a good account
about the culture, and beliefs of tribal people.One interesting thing which should be
noted is that his thoughts are presented to us by the narrators, unlike
othercharacters. One of the most important trait of his character comes out, which
in fact is the representative of all thetribals, when he throws the coins, given to him
by the officials on his demand. This incident suggests that for himmoney, which is
the hallmark of civilization, is nothing more than mere pebbles. Different characters
of the story interprets his action of asking coins in different ways, But since Tadpa is
acharacter, the protagonist and also the voice of the author, in a way, it is clear that
he asks for coin and later throws itonly to show that money, which is the hallmark of
our civilization, does not have any importance for them, the tribal
It is not more thanmere pebbles for him
Q. 6. Discuss with reference to the context of the following:(i) No need to move,to
open my eyes.My ears like twin-boatscarry the weight ofyour words
Ans. These lines have been taken from Konedpudi Nirmalas poetry, Mother
Serious.Context: An aged ailing mother is the speaker in the poem, originally written
in Telugu.Explain: The mother tells her son that she knows the truth. She knows that
everyone is waiting for the relief thather death will bring to them. She says she is no
more interested to live. Her ears have been line a couple of boatscarrying the
weight of words. May be she feels like this after listening to the taunts of her son
and others in the familyas they no more need her.(ii) A man with a broken heart
came todayAccompanied by his lady loveSprayed dreams and tears on the
stoneAnd went away rowing upstream.Ans. These lines have been taken from
Chandra Kanta Murasinghs poem, The Stone Speaks in the Forest.Context: The
poem is a complex retelling of ancient myths. It talks about the relationship
between animate and

inanimate things, and nature and man.Explain: Here, the poet presents the scene of
a man in love using the stone in the forest to display his emotion andpassion for his
lady love. The poet describes him as broken heart because he may have faced
some obstacles in hislove, or he may have faced oppositions from his family and
from his beloveds family. He expresses his love for hisbeloved on the stone. He left
the forest with a hope to live an undisturbed life. Rowing upstream conveys a
hope fora better future. Home in the deep forest conveys the idea of an
undisturbed life. Nobody will be there to opposetheir love.(iii) Why do your
peopleget away when they meet your peopleas if they are not your people ?Do you
prefer whites to blacks ?Ans. These lines have been taken from Namdeo Dhasals A
Notebook of Poems.Content: Here the poet tells us the Kabirs attitude towards the
people around.Explain: He is standing in the middle of a crowded bazaar, but still he
is aloof. He is neither a friend nor a foe tothe people around him. The poet has used
irony and asked questions and even used the words whites and blacksto give a
contrast.(iv) How can I write the alphabets ofconstellations on the old paper ?Ans.
These lines have been taken from Namdeo Dhasals A Notebook of Poems.Context:
These are opening lines of the poem. The poet says he has reached the destination
and talking in acomplaining tone as someone is not opening the door.Explain: The
complaint is directed towards the social system and that someone is the system
itself. He has
reached at the peak of his creativity, but he is still an outcaste as the system not
allowing him to enter. He finds himunable to write the alphabets of constellation on
the same old paper. Here, the constellation means the bright ideasforetelling a
bright future and the old paper refers to the poet's worn out medium of expression
forward, foreshadowing, and narrative perspective/point of view.There are many
literary techniques.Common techniques relevant to plot, which is the sequence of
events thatmake up a narrative, include backstory, flashback, flash-forward, and
foreshadowing.Common techniques relevant tonarrative perspective, or who is
telling the story, include first person, second person, third person, and thirdpersonomniscient.(c) BiographyAns. A biography or simply bio is a detailed
description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic factslike education,
work, relationships, and death, but also portrays a subject's experience of these life
events. Unlike aprofile or curriculum vitae, a biography presents a subject's life
story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life,including intimate details of
experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.At first,
biographical writings were regarded merely as a subsection of history with a focus
on a particular individualof historical importance. The independent genre of
biography as distinct from general history writing, began to emergein the 18th
century and reached its contemporary form at the turn of the 20th century.(d)
Narrative proseAns. Narrative prose is a form of writing in which the work is written
in prose, rather than in poetry, and tells adefinite story through actions. Many
written works are written in this form, including a great deal of literary work

andmost modern pieces of fiction. The narrative aspect of this style comes from the
fact that events occur and are narratedwithin the work, rather than having events
occur outside of the framework of the story. Narrative prose also meansthat the
story is told in a prose format, which is basic language, rather than a poetic format
that may deal with meterand rhyme. Perhaps one of the simplest types of writing to
understand, narrative prose typically consists of a narrativestory written in a fairly
clear prose format.