Brief Account of V.S.Naipaul’s Description of India in His Book ”an Area of Darkness

As a first generation Indian-American, I am no stranger to being a part of a distinct community while observing two unique cultures. Traveling to India exposed me to a dynamic population with rich diversity comprising of numerous languages and differing religions. Though these individuals may have had differing customs from their neighbors, there were similar ambitions to conquer grinding poverty. This poverty can be clearly noticed by seeing citizens sleeping on floors of a railway station, or the lack of air conditioning in searing hot weather. The frailty and mortality of the human condition was starkly visible in India. As a fellow human, I was humbled not only by the lack of privilege and opportunity of many citizens, but also by their

“The Inconvenient Indian” speaks to a general audience and particularly to US and Canada. The book is organized into chapters and each chapter refers to a variety of themes. Some of these themes are history, culture, politics, and laws. By incorporating all these themes,

The British Raj, or the British rule over India, has long since passed; however, the remnants of the pro-colonization have lingered around and are seemingly even making a comeback. Salman Rushdie in his essay, Outside the Whale, notices this romanticisation of Britain’s colonial past in the resurgence of Raj fiction and films. Rushdie, in his criticisms, embraces theories from Edward Said, and hints at theories from Frantz Fanon. By emphasizing the influential language of Raj films and texts, analyzing Orwell’s theory institutional denial, and finally calling for a systematic upheaval of oppressive thinking, Salman Rushdie’s essay and criticism mirrors John McLeod’s theories and definitions of colonial discourse and recognizes that with the comeback of Raj fiction comes a resurgence of the pro-colonization colonial discourse that it originated with.

The purpose of this historical inquiry is to analyze to what extent did British Imperialism have an effect on shaping modern India? The main source that will be discussed in this paper is the seventh book of the Spotlight on History Series called The British Raj, which explains the reasons behind the conflicts between the British Empire and Indian nationalism and assess the achievements of a memorable relationship.

This is because so much of the visible aspects of Indian culture has diminished or disappeared and so much was borrowed from that we have lost sight of the origin; there is little wonder that awareness is lacking in some circles concerning the extent of "counteracculturation" upon the "numerically and politically dominant race."

Overall this book is a great for students of all ages. The book has a strong message that can be interpreted in multiple ways from each person. The main message of the story is how darkness turns into light. The story is about Arun Gandhi, the grandson of the inspirational Mahatma Gandhi who begins a journey into assimilating his cultural roots. The story begins with Arun travels with the rest of his family to Sevagram where his grandfather resides. At first, Arun had difficulty assimilating to this new environment. For example, in the city of Sevagram there was no electricity and language was a major barrier for Arun. In Sevagram they spoke Gujarati which Arun barely new how to speak thus leading his peers to tease him. As a result oftentimes Arun would become frustrated and

This French article discusses the current cultural and religious conflict in India. The author cites various individuals who argue that Muslims are purposely blamed for violence that affects both communities. As well, it stresses that the government is lacking actions in order to resolve the conflict. This article applies to psychology.

In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B Du Bois’ speaks of a ‘veil’ that has hindered his race from living their lives to the fullest potential. This veil has made it seemingly impossible to integrate into the white, mainstream society. Similarly, in “A Passage to India”, E.M Forster describes the story of Dr. Aziz, a native Indian, and his interactions with the imperial British society in his hometown of Chandrapore, India. Dr. Aziz attempts to become friendly with the British, but ends up bringing them on an excursion to the Marabar caves which quickly illuminates the inability of such a bonding experience. In both the Reconstruction Era of America, and in Imperial India, there is a veil that comes it two parts: a physical veil of color and and

There are many clues into how Indian society runs in this story. These cultural clues come from this story and they come from various aspects. There are cultural clues from Hinduism mythology and from first-hand accounts of Ms. Kralijevic’s journey to the Taj Mahal. The cultural context of India and its citizens that stems from Hindu mythology stem from how monkeys are perceived. ‘The monkey army commander

binary oppositions in V.S. Naipaul’s short story ‘The Flag on the Island’. This aim is achieved via using Derrida’s deconstruction and Bhabha’s definition of these terms. Considering culture as a means of domination to get possession of control over the instruments of ‘collective self-definition’ is considered as a very significant policy in the political and cultural conflict for emancipation. This article focuses on a tension between recently autonomous nation and former colonial beliefs which results in binarism between modern and traditional values that led to the denigration of non-Western cultures. Therefore, the writer attempts to show how the characters of this story make effort to abolish this idea and retrieve the local and native traditions that were destructed during colonialism. This study concentrates on all characters and examines their contradictions and their effort for consistency that can be discussed through a deconstructive analysis.

In this essay I hope to look at the issues of conflict in South Asia focusing on India and in particular the continuing Hindu-Muslim tensions, and look at possible reasons for the continuing conflict which appears to have escalated since the withdrawal of British Rule from India. Multiple events had shaped the Indian subcontinent with

The researcher understood the specific theme chosen and was a bit au-fait with the topic, because she had a keen interest in Gandhi and all his work. In an age where violence is on the increase Gandhi’s message of non-violence is needed. It is the researchers hope that this IA will reach a wide cross section of people and will effect a change. Gandhi’s views on issues like untouchability are deeply dealt with. Never anywhere Gandhi’s views about untouchability were effectively heard. But, in this book they were dealt in detail with lots of arguments and convincing proofs of why untouchability is sin. Even his co-living with the untouchables and the resistance he faced for that is discussed. His views on religion, nationality, his movements like civil-disobedience, are also clearly shown. Even his opinions on many religions were discussed in deep; a striking

The Parsis rose to prominence during the colonial period under the patronage of the British. They became the most westernized and Anglicized community in India. But after independence the Parsis lost the privileges they had enjoyed under the British and they are trying to understand their new role and position in Post-independence India. Firdaus Kanga’s novel Trying to Grow presents the struggle of the Parsis in Post-independence India. This article examines the response of the Parsi community to their lost glory and prominence in the Post-independence period from the perspective of a colonial elite which played the role of a middleman community under the British with reference to Firdaus Kanga’s novel Trying to Grow.

The map of India seems simple at first, but, upon learning more about it, the map becomes very complex as you learn that there are many different religion practices and cultural beliefs. India is a country where the citizens’ live strictly by religion and tradition, by following their castes. It is that, that keeps them strong and has helped them survived for hundreds of years. Correspondingly, in Aparna Sen’s Indian/English movie, “Mr. and Mrs. Iyer”, the main actor, Raja, survives the dangerous journey solely because he is associated to a “Tamilian Brahmin” caste. The film highlights the two main religions – Hinduism and Islam and is portrayed by two characters, Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sen) and Raja Chowdhury/Mr. Iyer (Rahul Bose). The movie revolves around violence due to religion conflicts and companionship between Meenakshi and Raja who have nothing in common. Through these two renowned actors, the viewer gains insight on the Indian religion and cultural beliefs. Precisely, the caste and religion differences are exposed in the film by the characters.

E.M. Forster’s classic novel “A Passage to India” tells the story of a young doctor, Dr. Aziz, and his interactions with the British citizens who are residing in India during the time of the British Raj. Throughout the novel, the reader gets many different viewpoints on the people and the culture of India during this point in history. The reader sees through the eyes of the Indian people primarily through the character of Dr. Aziz, and the perceptions of the British through the characters of Mr. Fielding, Adela Quested, and Mrs. Moore. Through the different characters, and their differing viewpoints, the reader can see that Forster was creating a work that expressed a criticism that he held of the behavior of the British towards their Indian subjects.