Still I can recall that day when it was raining cats and dogs. I was waiting under a tin shade of a shop, hoping that rain will stop soon. But alas! my hopes were washed out with a heavy downpour. I was not having umbrella with me. My friends went home early but I was waiting for the rain to stop. It was more than an hour I was standing there. I was thinking about my mother who might be worried about me. Next moment sound of a bell invaded my thoughts. I looked up to see and was astonished to see that it was the sohan papdiwala. He asked me, “where are your friends?” I replied that they had left early today. He asked me should he drop me to home. But I was afraid, my mother had instructed me never to take help from strangers. But he had an umbrella with him. “I have to reach home soon and the rain is also not stopping”. He said “I would drop you there tell me the way”. I took a deep breath and in the name of Almighty started my journey with him. In a few minutes we reached home. My mother was eagerly waiting for me in the verandah. At the sight of me she felt a sigh of relief. I thanked the sohan papdiwala for his help. That day he had already sold out his entire stock of sohan papdi so, he promised me that he would bring sohan papdi next day for me and for that I don’t have to give him metal plates. With time I moved out for my higher studies and in the course of few years I heard the sohan papdiwala passed away in a fatal road accident.

Twenty years have passed but I still remember those past events so vividly. Then I was a school boy now I am an Associate Professor. Then I was one among the crowd now I am an individuality of my own. I feel that small things do matter in life, that time I was not having even a single penny to buy sohan papdi now I have enough of that. I still recall that many times when my mother use to come late in the evening from work I had to depend on that sohan papdi for curbing my apetite. I was helpless, my parents had to go out for earning a living. I don’t wish to see my daughter helpless for anything. I will not let her face the hardships which I faced as a child.

When we reached the sweet shop, she hurried to the shop owner. She demanded to give her sohan papdi. I could not take my eyes off her, the way she was relishing her sohan papdi. She was contended and I could feel my hunger satiated by seeing her happy and contended. I was feeling the same satisfaction which my father always feels i.e watching me conversing in English fluently.

Key Words

# Sohan papdi- a famous sweet dish of India made of flour, sugar and milk.

# Sohan paadiwala – a person who sells sohan papdi

# Baba – Father in Bengali.

# Maa- Mother in Bengali.

# Gayatri mantra- Chanting of Sacred hymns of Vedas.

# Verandah- Space in front of main door of house.

N

murky and placid lay the deserted shore,

mushy wind brushing by,

chirping birds shiver and shy,

lazy dawns and sopped twilight,

memories envelop the endless nyts,

Never before was the rain so melodious ,

dripping, gushing, swaying careless,

animating abeyant lives,

soaking parched dreams,

drip by drip did she caress..

wrapped in her arms,

bosomed in the warmth,

ever again she proved her prowess…

Never before was the rain so immoral,

dallying and toying with virgin gaze,

spooning and mooning earth with delicate ace

draped in nimbus, she looked graced

lost in her rupture

like a child,

I was amazed!

I sat in front of her weighed down by the unjust, redundant ways of life,

It was unwanted, undesired but to control them was out of my scope,

And so did those big tears rolled down my eyes.

Surprisingly, she cried with me, understanding my fears and grief.

Unlike those hundreds who pass by mocking and laughing on those tears,

Without even asking for a brief.

Somehow I pulled my gears

And not wasting a moment more, poured out my heart.

Why in life do we live in bereft of “something” and “someone”, despite of the whole world as a kin?

Why in our moments of laughter and pleasure,

We have all sitting beside us but when we are overshadowed by gloom,

We feel insecure, hollow and aloof?

Why there are those special occasions we want to dedicate to somebody,

But when we turn around we encounter

Broken promises, fading words and a mere touch tell us “there never existed anybody”?

Why most of the time we are betrayed by the people

Whom we want to trust on and love the most?

And how at times a stranger holds our hand, lends a shoulder to cry and

Fill up the void and need of that missing “dost”?

I want to scream and yell and yet, politely ask

Is beauty defined by our looks?

Then why whole of the crowd has a word of praise

And soft corner for those fair complexioned and so called “smart” damsels?

Why do we have to make choices in life amongst our two most beloved possessions?

When one is our life and the other its driving force,

But one definitely we are forced to sacrifice.

Why at times sitting in well protected four walls, in the sooth of our blanket

We sense of premonitions and even in the warmth of our cocoon,

We feel the worst affected, unsafe and the victim of life’s unwanted calls?

Why do in this passage of life we meet people,

When they have to become the mere acquaintances?

And why do we get attached to them emotionally,

When they have to be given a back seat in the locks of memory lane?

Why our human brain- the claimed intelligent creation of almighty,

Is at times invaded by the volley of questions?

It has the key to their answers,

It understands the logic behind them but

Still it wants somebody else to answer and explain us.

Phew!! My innumerable answerless questions,

But I admire her patience,

Without if’s and buts’ she listened, drowned in my emotions.

Forget all, but I implore

Tell me what I should do when I want a passionate hug?

When I want to lose myself in those arms and compassion of someone?

With this there was a momentary silence,

I could sense my breathe,

Pouring out my feelings I felt, had ended my heart’s turbulence.

I stood up, without waiting for her to answer anymore,

Suddenly feeling relaxed and confident.

An hour of introspection, a round of questions and answers I realized,

Had given me the lost mental strength.

I saw in front, I saw her,

My mirror reflection.

She was still with me smiling, smirking as if saying

“Come and hug me.

Let the world discard you,

But you will always be my only favorite,

You will always be my only love and affection”.

When I am gone, Oh Lord!
Let the rambling river run
And the trees meet as one
In the sweet smelling wind
Above the city’s din

When I am gone, Oh Lord!
Let my soul remain
In this Earth serene
Let it wander unknown
Among the ways so known

Milan is called Fashion capital of the world. It’s fuzzy how Milan’s spring, autumn fashion shows have an effect on hot Indian Palette. Devil wears Prada’s Meryl Streep character does explain how a cerulean (blue to non-fashionistas) gets actually selected by a high end designer house, which becomes a hot theme in many shows in a season before trickling down to high street fashion, hence no one can be immune to fashion according to her. As for Indian palette, we are dependent on the regional-wood industry led by Bollywood, which emulates Hollywood, infusing Indian spirit into it. Jean and tee of Hollywood morphed to jean with a kameez combo, and legging worn with barely covering tee in Hollywood is worn with kameez of varying length. The length of kameez being inversely proportional to cosmopolitan quotient, the more cosmopolitan one is the lower the length of the kameez is.

Fashion recycles itself every year with a twist here and a turn there. Hair bun which was a mandatory hair-do of my grandma’s school teacher days peep in every year with a variance. Arm length, kameez length keeps varying; shades of colors fade in and out. I wish there was some scientific formulae that could be applied to predict the duration of a fashion and cyclic gap before it reemerges later. This way I could at least save out-of-vogue dresses in storage units preserved with moth balls. Case in point is when I noticed Carrie Bradshaw sporting a deep orange designer dress with a violet purse (of course the colors would have more apt names in fashion world), in one of the SATC reruns. The exact color mix is in a silk saree my mom has till now in her collection of favorites from her early marriage years. The saree body is in violet, border and pallu in orange. I, being the self anointed fashion police of my family have ridiculed her for having such an out of vogue color in her possession and have discouraged her from wearing it to any ceremonies we went together.

Did the designers get inspired by Indian colors of early 80’s? Is fashion a natural phenomenon where colors and patterns splash across the globe in eureka moments of designer’s inspiration. Either way I am taking possession of my Mom’s precious saree for now. When bollywood slowly catches the color trend, in no time, I can take it to my tailor for a makeover.

Fashion policing is a favorite segment in many lifestyle magazines and shows. Reading such magazines train the eye to mock at fashion challenged. It is equivalent to getting a long distance education degree and a certificate to police around. Shopping mall is the best place to witness many fashion kills and some class. While fashionistas can be defined at various levels, fashion aspirers are meat for fashion literates like me. They are the daringly experimental or blissfully ignorant types who fuse the western fashion with Indian touch beyond the agreeable norms set by Lakme fashion week. One girl I noticed wore a body hugging tee, with jean, and adorned her long beautifully plaited hair with jasmine. Even as I passed my judgment on the girl’s ignorance, my friend snapped me reminding violet saree episode. It got me thinking, who could say, this could inspire some designer and it might make its way into the ramp show.

When did fashion become so complex and when did we Indians become fashion forward? Blessed were those days when a black sandal and a handbag matched all attires. Hair was oiled and plaited tight, no worry of a bad hair day. While trendiness invokes envy in our female peers, it does very little whatsoever with men. Finally after fixing my wardrobe for Monday and reminiscing on nostalgic past of simple fashion days I waited for my office transportation in the stop. I noticed a young college girl wearing a simple yet beautiful salwar kameez, accessorized with small golden earrings and bangles, powder applied face adorned with tiniest black bindi, nothing fashionable yet so pretty. I yearningly admired her simple beauty and she complimented me with an envious look.

Born to Umakanta Goswami and Ambika Devi on 14 November 1942 in Guwahati, she was named Indira by her father in memory of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. She was lovingly called Mamoni by her mother. Mamoni Raisom Goswami is her pen name by which she preferred to write.

Indira Goswami studied in Pine Mount School, Shillong in the early years and matriculated from Tarini Charan Girls’ High School, Guwahati. Her first collection of stories Chinaki Morom was published when she was thirteen years of age. She graduated in Assamese Literature from Cotton College, Guwahati and obtained her postgraduate degree from Gauhati University.

She met Madhaven Raisom Iyengar, an engineer from Karnataka, who was then working on the construction of Saraighat Bridge over the River Brahmaputra in Guwahati. After getting married, they moved to Gujarat and later to Jammu and Kashmir where Iyengar was posted.

But unfortunately, just after eighteen months of marriage, Madhaven Raisom Iyengar lost his life in a car accident in Kashmir. They had no children. After the premature death of her husband, Indira Goswami suffered from acute depression, got addicted to heavy doses of sleeping pills and even made attempts to end up her life.

At this stage, she devoted her time to writing and wrote only to live. Her sufferings and struggles in life are conveyed in her book An Unfinished Autobiography written in the style of a novel. It is prescribed as a text-book by the universities in Maharashtra.

Indira Goswami first started her career as a teacher at Sainik School, Goalpara in Assam. Her teacher Upendra Chandra Lekharu persuaded her to pursue research work for peace of mind. According to his advice, she went to Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and involved herself in the studies of Ramayani Literature.

She worked on her PhD thesis on the topic, a comparative analysis of Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas and Kotha Ramayan by Madhav Kandali. Later, her treatise was published as a book, Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra, for which she was honoured with ‘International Tulsi Award’ from Florida University.

Dr Goswami joined the Modern Indian Language Department of Delhi University and her magnificent phase in life started. She penned most of her works during this period and her books written in Assamese were later translated into English. She went on to become the Head of the Assamese Department and after retirement, she was honoured as Professor Emeritus by the University.

The first novel penned by Mamoni Raisom Goswami was The Chenab’s Current, which she started writing in 1964 and was published as a book in 1972. The story of the novel was based on her experience while she was in Kashmir with her husband. Her experiences in life are also reflected in her novels The Blue Necked Braja and Ahiran.

In 1982, Dr Goswami received the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ for her novel The Rusted Sword. Her novel The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker was later made into a film named Adajya which received much acclaim and awards. Her famous novels were Dasarathi’s Steps, The Man from Chinnamasta, Pages Stained with Blood, Udaybhanu, etc.

Several short stories were written by the acclaimed author and some of them were The Journey, The Offspring, To Break a Begging Bowl, Beasts, Parasu’s Well, Dwarka and His Gun, Sanskar, etc. Pain and Flesh is her poetry collection which includes her well-known poem Pakistan. Mahiyashi Kamala is her biography on Dr Kamala Ratnam.

She translated many books such as Premchandor Chuti Galpa, Jatak Katha Aru Kalam and Adhaghanta Samay. Her other works include The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar, Shadow of the Dark God, The Budha Sea, Hazy Geishas and Mohammad Mucha etc.

Dr Goswami received numerous awards in her lifetime for her literary contributions. She was honoured with ‘Jnanpith Award’, ‘International Tulsi Award’, ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’, ‘Bharat Nirman Award’, ‘Katha Rashtriya Puraskar’, ‘Kamal Kumari Foundation National Award’, ‘Asom Sahitya Sabha Award’, ‘Krishnakanta Handique Award’ and ‘Mahiyashi Jaymati Award’ with a citation in gold.

She also received literary awards from several states of India. She was honoured with D Litt Degree from three universities namely, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Rabindra Bharati University of West Bengal and Rajiv Gandhi University of Arunachal Pradesh. She was a recipient of ‘Sauhardya Award’ from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan.

Besides, she was conferred ‘Principal Prince Claus Laureate’ from Netherlands, ‘Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Gold Plate’ from Asiatic Society and ‘Ambassador for Peace’ from Inter Religious and International Federation for World Peace. But she refused ‘Padmashri’ awarded to her in 2002. A film named ‘Words from the mist’ was made on her life by the national award winning film-maker Jahnu Baruah.

Mamoni Baideo, as she was popularly known as, played the role of a mediator between the United Liberation Front of Assam and the Indian Government. She took the initiative of bringing the banned militant group for negotiation of peace talks. Her efforts laid to the formation of the People’s Consultative Group.

The noted litterateur passed away on 29 November 2011 at the age of 69 years. She suffered a stroke in the month of February last year and was taken to New Delhi for treatment. Later in July, she was brought back to Assam and was treated at Guwahati Medical College Hospital. There she breathed her last following a cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure.

The Jnanpith winner was bid farewell by thousands of mourners at the crematorium. A gun salute of twenty-one shots was fired in the air as a mark of respect. Her niece lit the funeral pyre and her mortal remains were consigned to flames. She was laid to rest with full state honours and her last rites were performed with Vedic rituals.

Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami was appreciated and respected by all not only for her literary talents but for being a great humanist as well. She shall be remembered forever for her celebrated works and also for her charming personality.

Identity and Individuality

The novel is a fascinating tale of Gora (literally, ‘gora’ means a white man), set in Bengal- a land of the dark-skinned people of ‘the Indian subcontinent’. From the very beginning to the almost end in the novel, this pivotal character advocates the practices of Hinduism; but, his observance of rituals appears discordant because of his Irish lineage. Even he does not know that he is not a Brahmin by birth. His assertion of identity as a Brahmin stands questionable in the end of the novel, when he comes to know the truth about his descent. Throughout the novel, he seems to live in a virtual-real world that does not actually belong to him. The microcosm of his identity crisis can be viewed on the larger canvas of the native land, which is ‘the white man’s burden’ (Rudyard Kipling). Bengal (or, ‘the Indian subcontinent’) and the protagonist are the epitomes of Hybridity (Homi K. Bhabha) in the colonial era. Thus, the novel is a journey in search of identity at individual and national levels. First, it is about the unfolding of the true self of Gora. Secondly, it is an attempt to concretize the Indianness of the motherland, afflicted by the foreign rule.

Nation and Nationalism

In Gora, the idea of nation and nationalism swings between the two poles (apart ?) – Hinduism and the Brahmo Samaj in the colonial setting. Gora, once a follower of the Samaj, suddenly becomes a practicing Brahmin because he feels that the conventional attitude to the religion gives him a sense of belongingness to his land. Expressing his concern, he says, “You call these customs evil only because the English books you have read and memorized call them so. You know nothing about these customs on your own” (54). It reminds of Macaulay’s oft quoted statement- “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect” (Macaulay, 314). Perhaps, this is what Gora hates the most.

It is clear that the British colonization did not affect ‘the Indian subcontinent’ only economically, politically, and geographically, but culturally and psychologically also. In this regard, Dipankar Roy in his paper “Representation of the National Self- Novelistic Portrayal of a New Cultural Identity in Gora” writes,

“Colonization can never be merely viewed as the unleashing of processes of economic exploitation. It has cultural aggression as its necessary corollary. It destroys civilizations. It empties the colonized subjects of all their traditional belief systems, cultural practices, and ritualistic moorings. It undermines their very sense of self. The loss of ‘self’ under colonialism – when humanity reduced to a monologue- results in the colonization of minds.”

When Gora raises his voice against the misfortune of the villagers of Ghoshpara, Haran Babu, an active member of the Samaj, tells the British magistrate, “Most people are not yet able to absorb the best aspects of English education. And some are so ungrateful that they are not willing to concede that the British rule is a matter of divine dispensation. The sole reason for this is, they have learnt their lessons by heart while their moral training remains incomplete.” The magistrate remarks on it, “Their moral training will never be complete until they accept Christ” (180). In this case, Haran Babu is simply ‘mimicing’ (Homhi K. Bhabha) whereas the British magistrate is striking the lash of ‘hegemony’ (Antonio Gramsci). It also alludes to the teaching of English in India as a kind of politics for the construction and sustenance of the British colonies. Simultaneously, it deconstructs the original idea of Bharartvarsha, or, in other words, the contemporary condition makes the idea ‘hybrid’. Hinduism appears to be at stake because of Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s the Brahmo Samaj and the English Missionaries’ evangelization.

Interestingly, Gora converts to Hinduism only when he feels bad about the humiliation of ‘his’ land and its people by the British. This shift is noticeable for its motive- it is not religion itself but the idea of a united nation that motivates him to go for Hinduism. Thus, he finds traditional customs and rituals as a means of national unity. When “a British missionary wrote a newspaper article attacking the Hindu community and its ancient texts, and challenged Hindus to engage in debate with him, Gora flared up as soon as he read this. He himself was given to condemning the shastras and popular Hindu customs whenever he found an opportunity to do so. But when it came to a foreigner denigrating the Hindu community, Gora felt goaded to retaliate” (Tagore, 27).

Colonialism and Nationalism are the two important aspects of the novel. All the characters except a few, who are the followers of the Brahmo Samaj, have the feelings of antagonism towards the British rulers. Only people like Pannubabu and Boroda Sundori are very fond of the English way of living and consider the British rule as a blessing of God. On the other hand, some people like Mohim and Karishandayal show a lot of respect to the English officials because of the petty selfish reasons. Simultaneously, one cannot deny that the novelist has also carved a soothing niche for the liberal attitude of the Western mind. The characters of Poresh Babu and Anandmoyi give testimony to it.

In general, Gurudev has portrayed the anti-British motion in Bengal under the veil of Hinduism. He shows that the Muslims also hate the British Rulers. Tagore’s famous song in Gitanjali- ‘Where the mind is without fear’ switches light on his ideal vision of India. In “The Religion of Man”, Tagore says, “Freedom in the mere sense of independence has no content and therefore no meaning”. He is of the view that “freedom would have no meaning, if one oppressive power was replaced by another, replicating the structures of hierarchy. The issues of caste and gender discrimination had to be tackled first, to promote social and religious harmony among the various sections of Indian society” (Aikant). The novelist points out the secular character of Bharatvarsha, who has the capacity to embrace all the people irrespective of their caste, color, and creed. The novel ends on a positive note. Gora’s ‘freedom’ helps him to see beyond the narrow vision of sectarianism or any kind of religious groupism. In the end, Gora says, “Today I am Bharatiya. Within me there is no conflict between communities, whether Hindu or Muslim or Krishtan. Today all the castes of Bharat are my castes” (Tagore, 475). And, this is ‘the truth’ (476) of the Creator.

Though Rabindranath Tagore was never actively involved in politics, he never detached himself from current events either. On the contrary, he was unique in his attitude towards nationalism. He inaugurated the meeting of the Congress party that took place in Kolkata in 1896 by singing “Vande Matram” to his own tune. Nevertheless, he does not favour nationalism in its narrow senseⁱⁱ; in fact, he has been cosmopolitan and universalistic in his approach towards humanism. He writes in Nationalism, “India has never had a real sense of nationalism. Even though from childhood I had been taught that idolatry of the nation is almost better than reverence for God and humanity, I believe I have outgrown that teaching, and it is my conviction that my countrymen will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity” (83). Satish C. Aikant remarks, “For Tagore, humanity is indivisible and societies such as India’s could redeem themselves by adopting the principles of ‘sarvadharma samabhava’ (deference to all religions) or the Upanishadic dictum of ‘vasudhev kutumbakam’ (the entire world as one family) which can be extended to political domain for a state of peaceful coexistence among all nations, and also within the national boundaries. It is in this spirit that he envisions a world “which has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls” (Tagore, Gitanjali 27). This is one lesson that India can teach the world: “If India can offer to the world her solution, it will be a contribution to humanity” (Tagore, Nationalism 78). Tagore is more interested in the demolition of internal social evils of the countryⁱⁱⁱ, and global unity. In spite of his patriotism and love of his race and people, he, for one moment, cannot forget to emphasise universal love and fraternity as essential to our growth.

Religious conflicts and Tagore’s humanism

Dr Mohammad Omar Farooq says, “In Tagore’s writing, there is no disrespect or denial of religion in general, but a profound protest against what people themselves often make out religions to be” (Farooq). In the novel, there are Hindu-Muslim, Hindu-Christian, and Muslim-Christian conflicts. The Christians in the novel have two faces; they are not only Christians but they are also the English colonizers. The setting of the novel pin points the disruptive time when the Bengali society in Kolkata was mainly divided into the traditional orthodox Hindus and the modernized, liberal thinking Brahmos instructed by the Brahmo Samaj. The Brahmos criticized Hindu orthodoxy, idol-worshipping, caste system etc. On the other hand, the Hindus denounced the Christian ways of the Samaj. About the interconnectivity of the Brahmo Samaj and Hinduism, Rabindranath said, ‘I was born in a Hindu family, but accepted Brahmo religion. … The religion we accepted is universal in nature; however, it is basically the religion of the Hindus. We accepted this universal religion with the heart of Hindus”^iv (Azad, Abul Kalam).

Some of the opportunistic characters like Mohim, Krishnadayal, Horimohini, and Pannu Babu compromise with the ideologies of their sect or religion for their personal benefits. They follow their religion/sect in a very mechanical way; they basically kill its foundation. Tagore criticizes this kind of ritualistic attitude, which shuns away the basic philosophy of any religion. Going against any kind of sectarianism, Tagore takes the side of humanism. Poresh Babu, his mouthpiece, remarks, “Sectarianism makes one forget the simple fact that human beings are human beings first. It sets up an entirely society-made distinction between Brahmo and Hindu and blows up the distinction into something larger than universal truth” (Tagore, 295). Undoubtedly, Tagore was religious. His concept of religion was spiritual and universal. Tagore, himself, had stated, “My religion is a poet’s religion…Its touch comes to me through the same unseen and trackless channel as does the inspiration of my songs” (Tagore, A Poet’s Religion 25). In his essay “Rajbhakti”(1906), he says, “O my nation…in front of your seat Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, are waiting for a long time, being attracted by the call of the Almighty” (Roy).

Woman Question

The portrayal of women characters reflects Tagore’s idea of woman as a complete

being. He was aware that, “We see Bharat only as a country of men. We don’t see the

women at all” (Tagore, 106).

The heroines in the novel- Sucharita and Lolita are the liberated young women with a strong mind of their own. Lolita even approves Gora’s refusal of any legal help as a protest against the British magistrate (187). Perhaps, it is the fault of characterization that these two girls appear elder and mature for their age. Anandmoyi has been viewed as the symbolic representation of Mother India. Gora, full of emotions, finds Bharatvarsha within his foster mother- “Ma, you are my only mother. The mother for whom I have looked everywhere all this time she was sitting in my house. You have no caste, you do not discriminate against people, you do not hate- you are the image of benediction. You are my Bharatvarsha…. (477).” Tagore glorifies her belief that people are above religion or caste.

Justifying the Muslims

Rabindranath himself described his Bengali family as the product of “a confluence of three cultures, Hindu, Mohammedan, and British. Rabindranath’s grandfather, Dwarkanath, was well known for his command of Arabic and Persian influences, and Rabindranath grew up in a family atmosphere in which a deep knowledge of Sanskrit and ancient Hindu texts was combined with an understanding of Islamic traditions as well as Persian literature” (Sen, Amartya)^v. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons for Tagore’s universalistic attitude. His deep understanding of the Muslim religion is appreciative. The novel breaks the myth that Tagore was indifferent to the Muslims. Gora reminds the old Muslim man, who has been whipped in face by a British, of the prophet’s message- “Because he who submits to injustice is also guilty- he causes wrong-doing to grow. You may not understand but take it from me, being meek and tolerant is no dharma. It only encourages the wrong doer. Your prophet Muhammad knew this; therefore he didn’t go about in the guise of a meek person to preach his religion” (103). Gora praised the Prophet of Islam for his vehement fight against injustice. Tagore also shows that there is unity among the Muslims because they do not have caste system like the Hindus.

The Auto Rickshaw guy was the first person we met in Trivandrum (who could barely speak English). He was a lovely guy who kept smiling all the way through just that he charged us a little extra. Even though my hair might have the same number of curls as a Malyali guy but it was the accent that was hard to match. We entered the cultural complex known as Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhawan which was the venue for the Literary Festival. It made me fall in love with the natural and the architectural aspect of the place. Why would someone want to move out from this place, I was thinking? Maybe, someone has to. I eventually had to (Humor intended).

So, finally the morning, hours before the event just had to be kick started. I had been feeling the fresh air for about an hour now. The air certainly felt relaxing and the tinge of ‘nip’ was refreshing. Breakfast, I expected some idli but it was Idiyappam with egg curry something new for me but an experience and taste worth remembering. Also it was a good beginning and sign of things to come. People started coming in, I sat nearby and started observing the people coming in. I did not know anyone apart from the Chief Editors of Indian Ruminations so it was a good time to exchange pleasantries with people you don’t know and hope to know them better. So everyone just eventually entered the ‘Koothambalam’. It’s a theatre hall for staging ancient forms of Kerela. It is considered sacred as temples as I was told. To say the least, It was beautiful. With everyone (almost) grabbing a seat, all eyes were set on the stage finding a prolific Indian English writer- Anita Nair. Mrs. Sandhya welcomed everyone and explained the motive and aim behind this festival. Presidential address by Sri. Jayakumar was a perfect beginning to the event. He was a class act with his words, paid lot of attention on translation and how it has to be developed as a separate career and a more important one at that. Obviously, there is nothing such as a ‘bad translation’ or something that disturbs the core or theme. Then I remember him talking about democracy of publishing now-a days, with blogging and Internet coming into the scene. This was soon followed by the inaugural addressing by Ms. Anita Nair. She talked about the fact that there are very few readers in our country although we may be accepted elsewhere around the globe. She described different kinds of views or perceptions regarding Indian writing in English. I would have to say that Mr. Jayakumar stole the show with his words and their right use.

In next was the award distribution and book releasing ceremony. Sri.Vinaychandran displayed his wonderful set of emotion filled poetry which I could not understand but feel. He has been a great Malayalam poet for thirty years now and has been recognized for his contribution to literature as I was told. Mr. Premji followed taking out his prepared speech making way for the panel discussion on the topic ‘Exploring Indian alternatives in Reading and Writing’. Smt. Indira took everyone by her charm. The session went on to become very interactive with good support from everyone. Many questions were answered but whole of the talk was heading towards something ‘generic’. We no more had a topic. I felt we talked on a lot of issues some may be outside the topic one would say but more importantly it was a great to hear and watch such cultural mix and conventions.

Moving onto the Lunch, It was ok. I ate a lot of things which was I never used to so it tasted a bit different not so bad though. What did surprise me was the hot (and pink) water in such sticky weather. I could never drink that. Someone told me they put in something to remove thirst, thus the pink color. Yes, I never asked for water after that so it works, No? Heading straight to the venue again, Introduction of poets and poetry reading was the next session. I must admit that I could not connect thoroughly (with everyone, of course) in this session. No, doubt they were such wonderful people, but poetry, I believe is not to be listened but felt. In such a short span of time, I felt, I did connect with some of them. It would seem to go beautifully and then I could not connect or loose the plot. Nevertheless, there were some words and lines which clanged like anything. Soon I did find myself not that attentive as well, my mistake. Just when I was having tea, Mrs. Sakhya bid us goodbye for she was leaving, I could certainly feel from her eyes that she so wanted to stay but she had to go to see his just recovered brother. Ashish come here called Sandhya Mam, The Evening Session (best of lot).I was asked to introduce myself and my views on the motive of the festival. Just as I peeked at Sandhya mam, she was smiling. No better moment to start, I thought? Turning into an informal yet valued talk, the session was going great guns half way through and all of us did come to know about each other. I was coming in terms with everything now. At the end of the session, I had a feeling that I cannot put into words. Just like an exuberant child who did win something. Actually I was feeling on the top of the world striking such conversations with such souls, such great souls. I very well knew that it was for real. I just wanted to stay, stay forever.

Earlier the day before, I had gone to roam around Trivandrum. I am never used to such simplicity yet grace and poise here in north. I don’t care what anyone says but I found the place more at peace (comparing it with north). Meeting R.k Das , Premji and many others for the last time on the day was amazing. Just when I was expecting some traditional art form in the cultural program, It turned out to be a magic show. I don’t know how good it was because simply I was not interested. With a smile on my face, I had dinner. I did not sleep early and me and my friend talked and talked about our experiences till about 1 in the morning.

Next day started with a wonderful with a wonderful panel discussion: Future of Literary publishing in India: Print and Web. I could more connect with the Web aspect of it, being a computer science graduate watching the powerful WEB come along. More so the young generation, taking everything for granted. Strange world, A world of tablets. Just as I can read from a book, I am so more used to read it on my laptop.

Looking at books gives me inspiration, will laptops do the same? A person asked me. Can a conversation go that lame, I thought. It’s time that we move ahead and build marketing strategies through Web now, enable the mobile version of our site; enter this whole new world of blogosphere. Because at the end of the day, It has always been the content and will always be. By the way Inspiron Dell laptops do provide some inspiration, I have heard. Anyone?

Again, there came the poetry reading again. Only do remember the Yo-Yo by Annie George and one small poem by Premji (He can define what is ‘small’ just for you). After that I just went out and found Mr. Das sitting in the verandah. We both had to rush in though when we came to know that Mrs. Sandhya was speaking. Knowing her so well, the hard work she had put in (along with the whole team) was commendable. She was speaking everything with so much of ease remembering how they started and how the event has been quite successful. Thinking about the whole process broke me. It was organized so much from the heart. Exceptional!

Evening session on the first day, again it was the best but it should have been longer or may be twice. I also felt at time it was all about poetry, not any other form of writing. Many times conversation staggered mainly around poetry but not on other forms, may be because poetry does not sell as someone said. Adding to that there was no concentration on readers, they are as important.

There must be a system, how do I buy an Indian book? I should be satisfied. Otherwise I may not buy a book again. How can I try every Indian book? How can I promote every Indian English writer? Let the system bring them up the ranks, let’s build it. I was thinking on those lines. We have to evaluate them at some point of time. We have to judge them at some point of time. I had some questions un-answered and I wanted to answer them myself pretty quickly.

The best thing about the festival was the motive, aim and the right kind of peoples the right time as one would say. The event was successful in taking a giant step in this regard. Some Alarmed souls, Some Enormous minds, some beautiful girls, colossal poetry, what delicious food and still that peace. It sums up our visit to the literary festival.

Text messaging has become a universal phenomenon. In India, mobiles have become an indispensible part of the present generations’ lifestyle. The younger generation would even live without food but not without mobiles. Text messaging is the most sought after mode of communication as it serves the typical Indian bashful attitude of the younger generation. Generation Y also comprises learners of English language who could also be first generation learners in some parts of rural India. Let us consider them as the target learners for whom English is a second language. Text messages that are sent through their mobiles are basically in English as most mobiles are manufactured in other countries. The user manuals given for instructions are also printed in a common language understood by many users. The learners, though they use the mobiles with ease, do not righteously follow the instructions given to them. But the gadget friendly generation uses this short message service to a large extent which is evident from the introduction of numerous booster packs by various service providers.

As texting or text messaging is the concern here the focus is made on the impact of it on the language used by the learners. The languages commonly used by the younger generation in Tamil Nadu are English and Tamil. Recently, Tamil has been introduced in some mobiles. The language part of the English text messages that are being sent by the learners of this generation is the area of analysis. The spellings of the words used in such texts are faulty. The short message service has been misconstrued as short forms of words by the users. There are some problems that arise out of such text messaging. They are fallacious functionally, grammatically and syntactically. They lead to confusions like wrong spellings, grammatically wrong sentence structures, transliterations, and language hybridization. Let us take each problem separately and analyze the cause and effect of it.

First let us consider the confusion caused by the use short forms of words. There are many commonly used short forms by many text message senders in common. The following is a list of abbreviations used in English text messages. (Source: Crystal, David (2008). Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Oxford University Press)

@	At
2	To, too , two
2b	To be
2day	Today / two days
2moro	Tomorrow
2nite	Tonight
4	For, four
8	Eight/ as part of words
Aam	As a matter of fact/ in Hindi aam – mango
Atm	At the moment / automated teller machine
B4	Before
Btr	Better
Btw	By the way/ but why
C	See
C u	See you
Cos, cuz	Because/ cosine θ
D	The/ dinner
D8	Date
Doin	Doing
Hwru	How are you?
Hv/ hve	Have
Msg	Message
N	And/ no
Ny	Anything
R	Are
Rgds	Regards
Sme1	Someone
Thnx, tx	Thanks
txt	Text
u	You
wen	When
wk	Weak/week

The list is extensive. The words that are commonly used by the message senders are more confusing in nature. It hinders their language learning capacity. The learners, belonging to the rural set up might not clarify their doubts with other learned people because of their shyness. This results in learning the wrong spellings.

This is the same with sentence patterns too. The senders tend to leave out the vowels in order to be short and faster in sending their messages. The syntactic pattern of English language is also missing in writing nowadays. Thanks to the impact of text messaging.

The language of the region, in this case, Tamil, is mixed up with English as a result we have hybridization of languages. Some such words which are neither English nor Tamil are seen in the text messages.

To name some:

‘collegula’ – in college, ‘nameukku’- in your name, cellukku- for your cell etc to name few.

These hybrid words too are typed without the vowels so that more number of words could be sent.

The next prominent issue is the transliteration of spoken words. For example, the Tamil words are as it is typed in English language. To quote a thoughtful message:

‘Erumbu ninacha yar kalai venumnalum kadikalam.

Ana yar ninachalum erumbu kalai kadikka mudiyadhu’

The message meant as a spoof on serious maxims is a transliteration. But it needs a thorough knowledge of the native language to comprehend the real essence of the message. There are confusions in it too since the stress pattern in Tamil language is totally different from English words.These confusions that occur while text messaging cause an obvious impediment for the learners. The younger generation who already struggle to learn English would be misguided by such practices and would start following those erroneous spellings if left unchecked.

The role of a teacher is very crucial in correcting such mistakes found among the Generation Y. This could be done effectively in the classroom itself by introducing new methodology. The problem has become so crucial that the teachers of late could observe words being misspelled in exam scripts too by the learners. This could lead to language incompetency on the learner’s part. It is a challenging situation for the Generation Y, which is otherwise street smart and mobile friendly – techno savvy.

To wean off such practices the teachers should encourage the learners to learn the correct spellings of the words. They could use the dictionary mode in their mobiles to get the correct spellings. The teacher could make the learners write a minimum of five lines a day with the use of dictionary and correct them. They could be given some home assignments which could include listening to news headlines and writing down them in the order. The problem areas could be identified and later rectified by following the traditional method of dictation tests also. This paper tries to identify some problematic zones in the seemingly innocuous practice and to bring about some solutions to the problems thus resulting from such a detrimental practice by the Generation Y.