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Resurgence of Buddhism in Indian and Chinese Diplomacy
Get PDFIn this globalized and information age, it requires to move ahead with the time and bring required changes in the methods of diplomacy. Both India and China are trying to make use of their status as ancient and rich civilizations for the revival of age-old linkages based on cultural and religious exchanges. Both the countries are preaching the lessons of Peace and Harmony in their foreign policy and trying to make use of the Buddhist wave as cultural diplomacy. The resurgence of Buddhism led to the use of Buddhism as a cultural bridge between countries and has become the need of the hour. Moreover, as Asia is a highly religious region both India and China are making their Buddhist links a tool of cultural diplomacy. This paper would analyze how India and China are making use of Buddhism as an instrument of cultural diplomacy in a competitive manner. As both the countries are planning to gain an upper hand in the region, keeping their advantages and constraints in mind, the paper would highlight their prospects and constraints in using Buddhism and Spiritual diplomacy as a soft power for their political end
A Comparative Study of Manoj Das’s Akasara Isara (Odia) and The Escapist (English)
Get PDFThere are very few bilingual writers of repute in the country and Manoj Das distinctly stands as a prolific writer who has carved a niche for himself in this arena. In fact, he is one of the greatest writers of the country, who has given a new direction to the bilingual writing and proved his brilliance through his great short stories and novels both in Odia and English languages with his creative genius. He is one of the widely acclaimed bilingual story tellers of the country whose writings have been accepted by the readers for their novelty of thoughts and flawless narration. Many prestigious literary awards like the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Padma Shri and the Saraswati Samman and many more have been bestowed upon him. He is in fact one of the towering literary personalities in the Indian English fictions arena who has been instrumental in establishing a native identity. His in-depth analysis of human emotions and their universal appeal is something that is amazingly brilliant in his writings. He has been widely acclaimed and appreciated for his literary genius and creative brilliance. The present research article attempts a comparative study of these two novels which are unique with their thematic treatment as well as the subtle realities combined with powerful philosophical messages. His novel Akasara Isara (1997) which originally appeared in Odia and later translated by the author himself in English as The Escapist (2001) describes the human tragedy against the backdrop of an all-pervading destiny. The article discusses such issues of translation and bilingual writing. It also focuses on the cultural aspects
Expectation vs Reality: A Dystopian Presentation of Bangladesh under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Neamat Imam’s The Black Coat
Get PDFThe Liberation War of Bangladesh is groundbreaking event in the history of South Asia. Under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the people of the then East Pakistan went into an uneven war against Pakistan. The aim was to build Bangladesh on the principles of equality and justice. Bangladesh would be a free corruption-less democratic country. But after independence all these principles were vanished and the leaders of the country became corrupted from head to the toe. They kept themselves busy to make their own fortune instead of providing a good governance to the citizen. The famine of 1974 is the worst manifestation of terrible administration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Millions of people died during that time due to the lack of responsibility of the government. But Sheikh Mujib never held him responsible, instead he admitted only 26000 deaths from starvation. Neamat Imam brings this sad truth of Sheikh Mujib’s administration through his artistic representation of the famine of 1974 in his novel The Black Coat. Rich with political statements this novel unfolds the rather darker side of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his sense of irresponsibly during the tough period of 1974 famine
Philosophical Musings over the Phenomenon of Death: A Thematic Study of Selected Poems of Shiv K Kumar’s Where Have the Dead Gone? And Other Poems
Get PDFThis research article makes an attempt to thematically study the philosophical musings of Shiv K Kumar over death in his selected poems of Where Have the Dead Gone? And Other Poems. Kumar’s first love is poetry and, therefore, he is called an intuitive and philosophical poet. In his scholarly collection of poems, he seriously cogitates on the occurrence of death and questions where man goes after he dies. He is quite certain that intellect and reason cannot explain the mystery of life while intuitions can make us comprehend what life is. Through his poems, the poet makes his readers understand that life is balanced between the two absolutely opposite points of birth and death. It is a universally known fact that where there is birth, there is death. Birth is glorified and death is treated as something dreadful and is, hence, mourned. Intertwined in the philosophical riddle of birth and death, man has been trying for ages to delve into the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth. The poet wants to remain calm and composed and takes the life as it comes to him. In his collected poems, it is clearly understood that he treats the death of human beings and animals equally. 
Evaluating the Relevance and Significance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Indian Context
Get PDFHamlet has always been remembered as Shakespeare’s masterpiece creation. The play has enjoyed unmatched popularity among the audience of all ages. Since its first public performance, till date, the play has always remained relevant to the audience, in some way or the other. The history of Hamlet in India dates back to the colonial era. The play was first introduced by the troupes which performed it for the English traders. Later on, as a consequence of the colonial education, it became the part of the formal English education and travelled to the other groups of the society. Shakespeare was a big name even then, and the ever-praised elements of the play greatly influenced the local audience. With the development, translation and movie-adaptation also greatly helped in the wider circulation of the play, and it never went totally out of discussion. The present research paper focuses on some of the major elements which helped in this larger popularity of the play in a non-English-speaking country like India. It will try to analyse the relevance and significance of Hamlet to the audience in the Indian context. The focus will also be on the translation and the different kinds of adaptations of the play which have greatly helped in a wider circulation of Shakespeare’s creative genius. The paper begins with a general discussion of the play, mostly taking accounts from the English literary critics, and moves on to the analysis of the play in the Indian context
A Conceptual Framework of Indian Diaspora
Get PDFThe term Indian diaspora refers to the overseas Indians officially known as Non- Resident Indians (NRIs) or the Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) or the people of India by birth or descendants from Indian subcontinents, living outside of Indian Republic. Overseas Indians are concerned as the people of India or the ethnic groups of people associated with Indian sensibility, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship or having other co-relation of Indian life style abroad overseas. The conceptual analyses on migration have explained the social criteria of Indian diasporic sensibility just as assimilation and integration, the organized associations, cultural crisis, emergence of identity crisis, ethnicity and the globalization etc
A Study of Popular Culture and its Impact on Youth’s Cultural Identity
Get PDFWith the advent of technology and globalization, the level of interaction is very high, and people are close to each other, due to this the social communication and exchange of values, opinions, and cultures are at their peak. This certainly plays a very important role in the society to understand new culturism and allows people to interact and mix with people from other parts of the world, accept other cultures, and express them in a variety of ways in order to promote economic development and accelerate social and indigenous progress. Media globalization and social change accelerate the flow of information and mutual intrusions of all kinds of cultures, which results in the assimilation of culture and its values and beliefs. The majority of people in society accept mass culture under the banner of pop culture. Cultural identity is a concept that exists in today’s globalized world but may have drastic change in recent decades. Considering all these facts, youth and cultural identity are inextricably linked. In the present era, the youth represent the main idea of cultural identity as they are frequently accepting new values and cultural patterns. Modern culture is a component of social development, and the impact of globalization and the development of the information society have given social capital a new direction. The effect of changing faces of people, especially the youth, is well marked in their expression as a popular culture. Popular culture is a kind of popularized culture among the masses, which is an outcome of media and social interactions. The representation of high culture and mass culture gives a new style to the traditional concept and is represented as a popular culture in the present scenario. The youth are very prone to change and symbolize popular culture. This is largely accepted by the majority of society’s members. The current study looked at the impact of traditional and modern factors on the emergence of cultural identity in the younger generation. The current study examines the growth and development of a new culture in society based on experience and perception that strengthens the youth group’s identity. The methodology used in the study was primary.
 
Decoding Caste and Power-Structure in Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan
Get PDFSocial structure is a power-structure where every social category reflects the power relations with other in hierarchy. Caste is one of the decisive derivatives in India to measure human relations. It is something which has defined the social hierarchy based on the birth of an individual. Caste has become the most striking method of discrimination of people in India with its maligned and fabricated interpretations. Indeed, it has been originated for distribution of people on the basis of their work for proper functioning of society. Vijay Tendulkar, a Marathi playwright and one of the founding pillars of Modern Indian Drama along with Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar and Girish Karnad, has discussed the problems of caste discrimination and general perspectives about inter-caste marriages in India in his play Kanyadaan. Through this play Vijay Tendulkar also tries to reflect his thoughts on contradictory relationship between imaginary idealism and harsh realism; and also on texture of modernity and social change in India through the marriage of two people of different castes and backgrounds. The present paper is an effort to analyse Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan, originally written in Marathi and later on translated into English, as social documentary on relationship between caste and social structure based on power-relations, caste-based discrimination, inter-caste marriage and pseudo-idealism prevalent in the course of social and cultural progress. The present paper also deals with decoding of the phenomenon of ‘violence’ employed in caste-based power relations in the society
V. S. Naipaul’s Motiveless Malignity: A Study of Cultural and Emotional Past of his India Essays
Get PDFVidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, the Nobel Laureate, is a celebrated name in the world of literature. He is known for his precise and remarkable prose writings. He won numerous accolades for his precision in fiction and non-fiction. His works are replete with insight and acute observation of master craftsmanship. He was an Indian-origin Trinidadian-born British Citizen. During his upbringing, he got the Indian atmosphere at his home but he could never connect himself the way his ancestors did with the land and the people. He, himself, admits that he only knew his mother and father beyond that his ancestry is “blurred”. From his childhood, he heard so many stories about India that there developed a sort of fascination for the land. He decided to visit India and finally, he paid his first visit in the 60s. India has been a land of wonders for people around the world. Those, who never had been here read about the land and the people through the travelogues. He wrote three books on India which are known as The Indian Trilogy. Though they are controversial in nature, the minute observation of the author is laudable. Apart from the trilogy he wrote six essays between (1962 and 2006) namely – In the middle of the journey (1962), Jamshed into Jimmy (1963), A Second Visit (1967), The election in Ajmer (1971), Looking and not Seeing: the Indian way (2005-2006), India Again: the Mahatma and After (2005-2006). The paper is an endeavor to highlight his prejudices, his biased nature, and his malignity towards India and her people
Representation of Indian Religion in the Short Stories of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Get PDFIndia, with its plethora of religions and cultures, has been an enigmatic place for foreigners. Hinduism, a way of life more than being a religion (as proclaimed by the Supreme Court of India), has often been misunderstood by outsiders. Sometimes a biased attitude is reflected in the literature produced by these foreigners. A person like Thomas Babington Macaulay, who himself admitted that he had no knowledge of Sanskrit or Arabic, had the foolish courage of saying that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. In this paper we shall analyze the representation of religion in the short stories of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala