Identity Crisis in Hayavadana

Mahasweta Devi’s short story, “Giribala,” is about the life of Giribala, a girl of Talsana village located in India. Born into a caste in a time when it was still customary to pay a bride-price, Giri is sold to Aulchand by her father. From this point on, we see a series of unfortunate, tragic events that take place in Giri’s life as a result of the circumstances surrounding Giri’s life. There are many issues in Giri’s life in India that Devi highlights to readers. First, the economic instability of the village leads to an extremely poor quality of life for the lower, working classes. Next, the cruel role of women determined by men in society is to either satisfy the sexual desires of men or to reproduce offspring who can work or be sold off to marriages. There are also other social norms and beliefs which discriminate against women that will be discussed.

It is natural that he imbibed a good deal from these sacred and venerated writings, and the kind of cosmic vision, spiritual profundity and a sincere search for truth that we get in them may very well be associated with Tagore’s poetry. It is rightly pointed out to us that Tagore was influenced to a great extent by such philosophical poets as Chandidas, Nanak, Kabir and Meera, and there are positive traces of their influence in his poetry. Significant poets like Jaidev,Chandidas, Kabir, Tukaram and Surdas made lots of contribution to the growth and development of Bhakti or devotional poetry and Gitanjali is written in this tradition. Tagore is a humanistand his Gitanjali is steeped in humanism. No doubt, Gitanjali is a religious poem, but the greatness of this religious poem lies in its humanistic appeal. The present paper aims at finding out the elements of divinity and humanity in the songs of Gitanjali. As W.B. Yeats rightly observes, the lyrics of Gitanjali are “the work of a supreme culture, and they yet appear as much the growth of the common soil as the grass and the

A great part of the appeal of the dramatizations of Kalidasa is because of the considerable ladies

Indian literature written in English language has its base n the myth that has been passed on from generations. Like many Indian English writers writing in English Girish Karnad is of no exception. In his writings the mythological aspects echo throughout. His plays like ‘Hayavadana’, ‘The Fire and The Rplay hain’ and ‘Nagmandala’ are based on the myths but Karnad gives an approach to myth in a different way. His plays originate from the myths of Indian legends but in the course of the play hee insert some of the acts which make us rethink about depending on God, especially through the man-God encounter acts.

Indian theatre is one of the longest and amplest theatres in the world; it dated back to around 5000 years, as the other theatres in over the world Indian theatre emerged in the seasonal celebration and religious ritual. Bharata's Natya Shastra was regarded to many Indian writers as the oldest and most detailed in the dramaturgy context, where the origin of word drama in Sanskrit was derived from the word “dance”.? . The history of Indian theatre was existed in the excavations and historical records in the ancient time; in one of the excavations there were two enormous epics which are The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. So; the ancient tradition whether in the Western or Eastern world has the same picture of performance in theatre which represents tradition though the philosophy in Western world has the belief that there is no life after death whereas in Eastern world especially in India life has the continuity even after the death there is existence of life. Indian theatre illustrated idealistic view for life while the theatre in the West portrayed life as it is.

"A Philosophy of Theater « " East of Mina. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

Cultural Identity can affect the way that we see things around us because all of us come from different backgrounds and ways of learning. When people are introduced to a new way of living, they might be thrown off at first. There are several authors who have put the theme of finding their cultural identity as the main focus in their stories. These include An Indian Father’s Plea and Ethnic Hash. These stories show how different people have found and been affected by cultural identity. People should be wary that others might not always be familiar with the traditions of a culture because they might’ve been in one culture for a long time.

An individual’s identity is reflected in many aspects of their character. On of the aspects which affect a person’s identity is culture; culture plays a major role in the formation of an individual's character. It imposes customs which ultimately manifest through a person’s identity. The clear link between culture and identity suggests that conflict with one’s culture may affect a person’s sense of self. Jhumpa Lahiri explores this type of conflict in the novel The Namesake, in which Gogol Ganguli is stuck between two cultures the Bengali traditions of his parents and the American culture he grows up with. The novel explores Gogol’s conflict with both cultures and how it ultimately impacts the development of his identity.

Accordingly, the difference in settings contrasts the mindset of Ashoke and Gogol, at times creating differences in opinions and actions. Moreover, Ashoke feels a heavy burden on his shoulders because his children do not get to grow up in an environment surrounded by family like he did. Contrary to Ashoke’s childhood, Gogol shares most of his memories with his immediate family and other Indian-American families. This difference between the Indian and American culture is made even more apparent when Ashoke’s coworker shares her life and few visits to see her grandchildren, “a life Ashoke’s mother would find humiliating” (Lahiri 48).

”xiii Indian society is no different when it came to what they expected of their women. In a song composed by a Buddhist nun Sumangalamata, the composer exclaims of her new freedom. She defines herself as “a woman well set free!” and explains that she is free “from kitchen drudgery” and free “from the harsh grip of hunger, from empty cooking pots, (and most importantly) free too of that unscrupulous man.

This semester in World Theatre we have covered different theatres from all over the world dating back to the beginnings of theatre to the present. We’ve studied how theatre is different everywhere in the world and the groups we’ve gone over the most are Western theatre, Asian theatre, and African theatre. We have learned about how theatre has changed over time, and that in some areas such as Asia it has stayed the same for thousands of years. Each theatre has its own style and each have set of elements that define what the theatre is truly about. In this paper I will be writing about what elements and pieces of each theatre that we have learned about that I believe together would form a type of theatre that would be a universal and would work in any given culture.

and Mrs. Das that is completely different from the life of Indian husband and wife. In India, we see that husband and wife don’t express their emotions for each other but in it doesn’t mean they don’t have the emotions or feelings. Though they don’t express themselves apparently, but they keep a strong intimacy, attachment for each other which is beyond the limitation. But in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Das, we see that they are quite frank, behave with their children like an elder brother and sister, not like parents. On the apparent level they have great intimacy but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that they lack the emotional attachment especially from the side of Mrs. Das as she is suffering from a guilt consciousness with which Mr. Das is completely unaware of. She even finds Mr. Kapasi as a suitable person to talk about her past instead of her husband. Interestingly enough, the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Das was not an arrange marriage, rather Mrs. Das had fallen in love with Mr. Das at a young age and later they got married with the permission of their respective families but it can’t be called a typical arranged marriage. Even Mrs. Das frankly talks to Mr. Kapasi about her sexual relation with Mr. Das. This was quite unusual for a person like Mr. Kapasi, who has never seen his wife naked. Even he does not approve the infidelity which Mrs. Das has committed though his own marriage was not a happy

In “The Story of an Hour” and “Sonny’s Blues,” Kate Chopin and James Baldwin demonstrate the struggle to maintain an identity through names in Mrs. Mallard and the unnamed narrator. Both stories forge a strong bond between a name and an identity. In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin introduces the protagonist as “Mrs. Mallard.” She is introduced into the story as a subsidiary of her husband, called only by her connection to her husband (Mrs.) and his last name (Mallard). Her identity is being blocked by her husbands. This stands in disparity next to Richards, Brently Mallard, and Josephine. All the other characters in the story are introduced by their first or full names. Mrs. Mallards identity is being blocked by

Boys act like boys; men act like men. From childhood through adulthood, children often wander through their own trials to find identity. It is through bitter experiences, life lessons, and fulfilling memories that a child matures and no longer acts like a child, but as an adult. In the Novel, The Namesake, Lahiri uses the character Gogol to portray the experiences one must endeavor to reach true identity. Lahiri’s manipulation of time illustrates that personal identity can only be achieved through life lessons learned throughout the passage to adulthood.

From Gita’s own words, “I am doing all that I can here, at the village level. I am trying to make this a better place!” Gita is an example of a civic-minded Indian citizen. Through these various characters, Swades encourages all Indians, be it local citizens or NRIs, to give back to their homeland in their own little ways. Overall, there are many instances where patriotic feeling is stirred and the Indian national identity is strengthened. Unlike other Bollywood films like “Mangal Pandey” or “Heroes” which illustrate patriotism through the stories of national heroes or army officers, this film is unique for looking at patriotism at the level of a common