Webinar - Organized by The British Council

          On 21^st September, there was a webinar organized by The British Council on “Improving Communication Skills through Blogs and Forums”.  

Here are the photographs: Click here

 

        It was an amazing experience of attending the Webinar, it has started at 7 p.m. and first the host has introduced three key points of the webinar.

1.    Explore various online language forums and how to use them

2.    Learned how to use blogs to improve your English skills

3.    Looked at tips for writing a blog yourself

         The webinar has started with questions and we have to reply in cha box given in right side. In the very first point the host Nenaaz has referred some the very useful websites like Language Clinic, Learn English of The British Council, and also shared links of it in chat box. 

          The second point was very well discussed with testing our language skills; she has presented two paragraphs from the comment box of one blog, and asked us to find our hedging phrases and agreement phrases. After this activity some more websites have been shared by them like, Dave’s ESL Cafe, Blog reading apps, Mind your language and Expresso English. 

  

       In the third and last point there were some tips to write a good blog and for this Naneez has introduced the structure “POWER” like this,

P – Plan

O – Organize

W – Write

E – Edit

R – Rewrite

    

        While surfing online and pursuing some courses from online connections, the important thing is to stay safe. The host has also introduced us with such tips to stay safe online.

       

        The webinar was for one hour and in first 30 minutes the have elaborated points, and the another part was for question answers. They have given priority to every member who was live on webinar; they have also answered the question asked by Vaidehi Hariyani from our department. It was very good question that, all the things which host has discussed was about online courses to learn, but how we can improve our communication skills without internet? And the answer was using newspaper cuttings and written documents to improve our vocabulary.

      The session was very interactive and all have participated with enthusiasm. I am very excited for the next webinar.

Movie review - " Pink" directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Pink

Director – Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Producers – Rashmi Sharma and Soojit Sircar

Writer – Ritesh Shah

      

  Starring – Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea tariang

        

        Before the film has released, there were so many posts on social media regarding the feministic elements in the movie but if you want to watch movie with that expectation you will be disappointed.

  

      Amitabh Bachchan is presented as the savior of three girls. Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang played a role ofvictims of power and patriarchy. The movie start with an incident where Minal(Taapsee Pannu) has hit a boy Rajveer(relative of a political  leader) with a wine bottle and escapes from Surajkund resort, a place where everything has happened.

     The courtroom drama is worth watching, where Amitabh has risen an important questions related the different point views towards girls and boys. It is also a truth of society that whenever a girl is with any boy and talking or laughing, she is considered as a characterless woman. If a boy is smoking in any mall or restaurant it is his style, and nobody takes it seriously but if a girl is smoking in any public place it becomes a huge issue of our so called “Sanskriti” or culture.

    The first thing that movie is suggests that never judge anyone from their cloths or reputation in society, there are people with black heart hidden in white skin. There is one dialogue by Amitabh Bachchan,

“Save boys, save sons”

And it is truth that first we have to change the perspective of boys towards girls then only we could hope better for our society. The freedom of girls is a big issue not because girls are behaving in such manner or wearing such clothes, but the fact is boy is looking girls as an object of entertainment, a boy allows her sister to wear such kind of clothes but if there is any other girl, he will tease her. The male mentality that women of our house are well mannered but other women are characterless is very well presented in movie. One of important act by Amitabh Bachchan is wearing mask, which suggests the pollution of Delhi.

     The movie also has shown the power of position versus the power of an old lawyer who wants to save those girls. Over all the movie is good and thought provoking without much drama. The interesting thing is that the incident which has happened with girls in resort is not revealed till the end of the movie, there are only statements of girls and boys, audience remains in confusion till the climax. The title may suggest that “Pink” is a colour of girl and whenever we listen a word ‘pink’, the girlish things pops up in our mind, even when you type "Pink" in google images you will images of girls with pink cloths or bikini. So the word is sarcastically used in one or the other way.

"Mariz" - by Shakil Kadri

      I have issued a Gujarati book "Mariz" from the central library of MKB university, the book has written by Shakil Kadri, and it contains the writing style of Mariz. “Mariz” is a very important figure in Gujarati literature especially in Gazal writing.

          

      Gazal is a form of poetry which is derived from Urdu language and there are so many Gazals written in Gujarati. Gazal is written in parts, two lines of each stanza can be read separately which is called sher and the combination of all shers creates Gazal.  Shunya Palanpuri and Amrut Ghayal were contemporary writers of Mariz. There are four Gujarati ages in which Gazals have been written and got fame. First is “Bal-Kalapi Yug” second is “Shayada Yug” , Mariz was writing in this period. Third is “Anushayada Yug” and fouth is “Swatantroyttar Yug”.

     

     The real name of Mariz was Abbas ‘Vasi’ and “Mariz” was his pen name as well as he was considered as a patient of an addiction of writing Gazals, so his fellow writers and readers used to call him “Mariz”. His writing was so effective, which touches the human soul, and that is why he was given a name “Gujarat’s Galib”. Galib was a very famous and prominent figure in writing Gazals in Urdu.

Writing Style of Mariz:

1)  Autobiographical elements:

        

        If we read his Gazals and shers we may find deep pain and struggle of life, for example,

“છે તેથી મારી હરેક વાતમાં પરેશાની
પવિત્ર દિલ દીધું જીવન ખરાબ આપીને…”

     He had an addiction of alcohol and that’s why his family has suffered a lot, he has written “Sharabini Vasiyat” (will of an alcoholic) and in this Gazal he wrote to her wife that,

“રડો તો મારી આ પત્નીના હાલ પર રડજો,
એ બદનસીબ છે સંસારમાં સળગતી રહી,

મેં આગ જેટલી પીધી હતી સુરાલયમાં,
એ એની આંચમાં  અંગારમાં સળગતી રહી.”

2) Use of language:

     Mariz has left his studies after completed second standard, and it proves that he has not enough information about use of language but most of his contemporary writers and readers accepts that he has a connection of heart with his gazals, and that connection connects the readers. Mariz considers Gazal as the“Language of heart”...

‘એ તો બની ન શકતે જગતમાં કલા વિના
સમજાય જાય વાત અનુભવ થયાં વિના.’

     

       There are two types of ‘Art’, “Art for art’s sake” and “Art for life’s sake” and here is what Mariz thinks about this.

“જયારે કલા કલા નહી જીવન બની જશે,
મારું કવન જગતનું નિવેદન બની જશે.
જે કંઇ હું મેળવીશ હંમેશાં નહીં રહે
જે કંઇ  તું આપશે એ સનાતન બની જશે.”

           

        It suggests that Art should be not only art but it should be deeply connected with life, and whatever artist will gain, it will not remain immortal, but whatever the reader will gain from art is eternal.

3) Sufi Gazals:

      “Sufis” are those people who follow the rules of Quran which has emerged from the mysterious and miracle stories of Muhammad Paigambar. “Sufi” has not any boundries of religion. It’s all about leaving world and leading towards God, Khuda. here is one sher by Mariz,

“ન ધર્મ ભેદ છે એમાં, ન એની જાત 'મરીઝ
આ અલ્લાહ, અલ્લાહ ગઝલ છે કે રામ રામ ગઝલ.”

             

       There are varieties in the Gazals of Mariz, like poverty, love, division and Liquor.

Here is one sher by him aabout poverty,

“જાણે છે સૌ ગરીબ કે વસ્તુ ઘણી 'મરીઝ'
ઇશ્વરથી પણ વિશેષ નિરાકાર હોય છે.”

One more about his way of looking towards God,

“જો એ ખબર પડે તો કેટલી મજા પડે
ઇશ્વર જગતમાં કોનો તરફદાર હોય છે”

      This was just the writing style of Mariz,  but the collection of writings are available on web named “Samagra Mariz”  at last I would like to conclude with one of his sher about love,

“હા, સૌને પ્રેમ કરવા લીધોતો મેં જનમ... વચમાં તમે જરાક વધારે ગમી ગયા...”

"The Child" by Munshi Premchand

     On 14^th September India celebrates Hindi diwas, because on that day India has accepted “Hindi” as the official language of country.

     

      I have celebrated Hindi Diwas but in a different way, I have issued one book from our department’ library, named “Contemporary Indian Short Stories” and in that book I have found a short story “The Child” by Munshi Premchand (famous figure for his Hindi-Urdu literature) which was translated in English by Madan Gupta. This book contains English translation of fifteen short stories of different fifteen languages and writers like Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, Sindhi, Kannada, Malayalam and many more.

  

     Here I would like to share my views and observations of a short story.

“The Child”

      

      The story contains various issues of Indian society and psychological aspects of Indian mindset. The story starts with an introduction of an illiterate Brahmin servant “Gangu” who thinks he is the superior among all the servants because he is “Brahmin”. The owner of house is the narrator of the story and he could be Premchand himself. The rigid mentality of Gangu irritates his master again and again but he is not much affected with this kind of behaviour. One day Gangu confesses his love towards a widow named Gomti Devi, and he also marries Gomti, who has betrayed three husbands before her marriage with Gangu. Gomti gave birth to a child, a baby boy just after six months of her marriage with Gangu and Gangu accepted that child as if that was his own child.

      

     Premchand has used Indian-English words like syce – coachman, bhang – an herbal narcotic and intoxicant and mohalla – neighbourhood. The language is very simple which reflects emotions of innocence of Gangu and his relation with his master, here we can read the master - slave relationship, but Gangu was not slave anymore, there was a relationship of respect and honour on each side. Gangu has left the job because he did not want to spoil his master’s reputation because of his marriage with a widow. The another important observation is reference of Shakespeare in this short  story, when master tells Gangu that Gomti will betray you too by saying,

“Have you ever heard the old saying, ‘Frailty, thy name is woman’.”

         

     The interesting part of this story is change in the psychology of characters, first Gangu was a rigid Brahmin and was not allowing anyone to disrespect him but when he falls in love with Gomti, he forget everything and marry her. On the other side, the master who was not interested in caste system, he was against that marriage and he was happy when Gomti run away and left Gangu, even when Gangu has shown his child to him, he was taunting Gangu about his child’s birth just in six months. At the end, master has realized that what he was doing was not appropriate because he was an educated man and a writer but he learned a lot from an illiterate Gangu, and then he apologize Gangu and went to meet Gomti.

     This story contains Indian society and culture very minutely. We can read and observe that Gangu is an illiterate Brahmin but though he has proud upon his cast as Brahmin. Gomti is a widow and remarriage of widows was a general practice, and the afterlife of widow and exploitation is also mentioned in the story. Issue of poverty in Gangu’s life and his social life is also important in story. The Child is a symbol of love between Gomti and Gangu as well as a symbol of awareness on the part of a narrator.