“India’s Northeast is a misshapen strip of land, linked to the rest of the country by a narrow corridor just twenty kilometres wide at its slimmest which is referred to as the Chicken’s Neck. The region has been the battleground for generations of subnational identities confronting insensitive nation states and their bureaucracies as well as of internecine strife. It is a battle that continues, of ideas and arms, new concepts and old traditions, of power, bitterness and compassion.” (Hazarika, 1994: xvi). Any interaction with the youths of the region appraises one of the general discontents that prevail in these states. The deep seated suspicion, distrust and bitterness will be disconcerting to anyone who may have been given to understand that all these where things of the past. They are definitely dissatisfied with the affairs of administration, especially in the field of employment and an alarming number of young man talks of glibly of entering into violent activities.
Political changes have been many. But political change does not mean political development. And Nagaland is a case in point. It has been and still seeing political changes aplenty. There is the great preoccupation with the established and maintenance of peace, there is the human problem of the men who are underground, again there are little bands flirting with Red China and Pakistan and the great problem of educating the thousands of little villages, not only in the conventional sense but also in the firm beliefs of oneness with the entire national unity among themselves and progress through peace. One thing is disappearing, the people’s initiative of governing, for what northeast needs is not sympathy but recognition. These manifold problem...
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...11, Narratives of lived experience- writing the Northeast by Preeti Gill, accessed on18/03/12
• Iralu Easterine, in ICORN International Cities of Refuge Network, Norway, Autumn 2006,accessed on 18/03/12
• Politics is Killing Our Stories’ Gaurav Jain From Tehelka Magazine, vol 6, Issue 36, Dated September 12, 2009, accessed on 21/11/11
• Reading the North-East, Utpal Borpujari ,accessed on 13/02/11
• Arunachalnews.com/negtiating-change-memory-interview-with-Mamang Dai.html accessed on 28/10/10 21
• Songs Of The Hills, Contemporary writers from the North-East are addressing issues more complex than middle-class angst, Anindita Ghosh, www.livemint.com on 05/11/09
• Speaking Truth to Power by Charlotte Simpson in The 2011 ENG PEN, Free the word! Festival 05/11/11
• From wikipedia. Categories: Northeast India/ Indian literature in English/Writers from Northeast India
While it may be easier to persuade yourself that Boo’s published stories are works of fiction, her writings of the slums that surround the luxury hotels of Mumbai’s airport are very, very real. Katherine Boo’s book “Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” does not attempt to solve problems or be an expert on social policy; instead, Boo provides the reader with an objective window into the battles between extremities of wealth and poverty. “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” then, exposes the paucity and corruption prevalent within India.
Glick, J, Schaffer, C. 1991. "The Indian Homeland." U.S. News and World Report. July 8, vol.111, n2, pg26 (6)
In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo tells the stories and struggles of families living in a slum adjacent to the Sahar Airport in Mumbai, India. Boo details the ways in which the residents of this slum, Annawadi, attempt to escape their poverty, but fail to do so. Despite numerous initiatives sponsored by the Central Government of India to improve the lives of the many individuals living in Annawadi, these programs are ultimately unable to do so due to deep-rooted corruption in the city of Mumbai. Regardless of this, the residents of Annawadi seem to accept corruption as a fact of life, and do little to fight it. As illustrated over the course of Boo’s narrative, this results from the fact that many Annawadians recognize the ways in which the laws of their society allow for the unfair treatment of certain groups of people, especially the poor and religious minorities, and are also cognizant of the fact that they have no real power to change a system that
Norton, James H.K. India and South Asia. 9th ed. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2010.
In order to raise awareness of the staggering injustices, oppression and mass poverty that plague many Indian informal settlements (referred to as slum), Katherine Boo’s novel, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, unveils stories of typical life in a Mumbai slum. Discussing topics surrounding gender relations, environmental issues, and corruption, religion and class hierarchies as well as demonstrating India’s level of socioeconomic development. Encompassing this, the following paper will argue that Boo’s novel successfully depicts the mass social inequality within India. With cities amongst the fastest growing economies in South Eastern Asia, it is difficult to see advances in the individual well-being of the vast majority of the nation. With high
Owing to India’s diversity, these identities are determined by caste, ancestry, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation and geographic location, and play an important role in determining the social position of an individual (Anne, Callahan & Kang, 2011). Within this diversity, certain identities are privileged over others, due to social hierarchies and inequalities, whose roots are more than a thousand years old. These inequalities have marginalized groups and communities which is evident from their meagre participation in politics, access to health and education services and
The corruption in hospitals, where “doctors can keep their government salary and work in private hospitals”, sees people like Balram’s father die of horrible deaths every day. Dismayed by the lack of respect of the government for its dying citizens, Balram is corrupted by the fact that in the “darkness”, there is no service, not even in death. Balram also claims that “the schoolteacher had stolen our lunch money”, which was for a government funded lunch program. However, Balram doesn’t blame him, which justifies that Balram, from such a young age gives into the idea of corruption saying that “...you can’t expect a man in a dung heap to smell sweet”. In addition to his father and the school teacher, Balram is corrupted by his childhood hero Vijay. Growing up, Balram idolises Vijay for having escaped “the darkness”. However what he is ignorant of is that even though Vijay is in “the light” he is still corrupted by “the darkness”. Balram explains that “Vijay and a policemen beat another men to death”, yet he doesn’t see it as a problem, because he understand that one cannot become successful in such a corrupt system without becoming as corrupt as the system itself. It is here that Adiga asks the question of how are impoverished Indians are expected to refuse to engage in corruption when they live in such poor conditions. Thus, the reader is able to sympathize with Balram’s corruption,
Since its independence in 1947, political stability has been a key factor which has ensured that India is the largest democracy in the world today. In spite ...
Pandey, T.N., 2014. Lecture 1/14/14: Cultures of India: Hierarchy Structure in India. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz.
India is the center of a very serious problem in the world today. It’s a very diverse place with people from many different religious backgrounds, who speak many different languages and come from many different regions. They are also separated economically. Two of the country’s religious sects, Muslims and Hindus, have been in conflict for hundreds of years. Their feelings of mistrust and hatred for each other are embedded in all those years and will not leave easily. What’s most disturbing is that there seems to be no plan for reconciliation available. There are numerous reasons for this conflict.
During the Cold War, many regional conflicts occurred and were noted as the significant battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts were India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947, India was released under Great Britain’s control and gained its independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, which share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted a separation of these two establishments. Since these two ethnic groups disagreed, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were racing to the border in order to get to their nation state which led to killing 500,000 people due to rioting. Although, Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian National Congressman, wanted to obtain peace between these two religions. Pakistan refused the H...
India is well known as a nation of contrasts, and the nation itself is a paradox. It is one of the world’s oldest known civilizations, yet it has only existed as the nation the world now know sit for 67 years. Similarly, it has produced some of the most important contributions to mathematics, science, philosophy, and trade, yet it is still considered to be a developing nation. The country’s history is a long, winding journey that has led it to its current state – the world’s largest democracy featuring both the same technological advancements enjoyed by the first world and the same challenges and problems faced by the rest of the developing world.
This elusive term is the core of Gandhi’s argument against embracing the English life of ‘civilized’ convenience and luxury, and marks a note worthy distinction between Gandhi’s version of Indian society and that of the West. For Gandhi, swaraj means individual discipline, restraint from passion and indulgence and acceptance of responsibility. He does not simply seek to apply swaraj on an individual level; he means for the concept to be accepted by India as a nation. In solidifying this point, he describes modern civilization of the West as corrupt; it is without strength, for no outdoor labor is performed, without order for her Parliament is weak and ineffectual, and without spirit, for bodily welfare is the object of the English civilized life. Therefore, Gandhi declares, England should not be accepted as a model of government or life style, but be replaced by pride in Indian tradition and spirit.
... Pakistan to surrender during the Indo-Pakistani War helped the Bengalis establish a sovereign state for themselves. The distribution of the racist pamphlets against the minorities showed Shiv Sena's chauvinistic and fascist regime. Indira Gandhi's corrupt government, socialist regime and her controversial scandals such as giving her son's company government money and the 1971 Nagarwala scandal were also revealed. All of these political events influenced the background of the novel and the characters’ everyday lives. .
This total idea of challenging and creating a new identity may seem quite a utopian concept, but it is not so impossible. The present paper will illustrate the writings of Mridula Garg and Arundhati Roy. The characters in their work are not extraordinary and utopian, but ordinary people like us whom we can come across in our day to day life. Here for the purpose of analysis, Garg’s three short stories have been chosen. They are: Hari Bindi, Sath Saal, Ki Aurat and Wo Dusri.