Journal Literary Aesthetics

Archives Volume-6, Issue-1 & 2 (Combined Issue)

Paper Title:: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A GLANCE AT GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND POLICIES
Author Name:: Ritu Kumar, Sunita Sikri
Country:: India
Page No.:: 1-9

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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A GLANCE AT GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND POLICIES

Author: Ritu Kumar, Sunita Sikri

She, the river,
Said to him, the sea:
All my life
I’ve been dissolving myself
And flowing towards you
For your sake
In the end it was I
Who turned into the sea
A women’s gift
Is as large as the sky
But you went on
Worshipping yourself
You never thought
Of becoming a river
And merging with me
(Hira Bansode “Woman”)

Paper Title:: ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BRAVE NEW WORLD: A JOURNEY FROM FICTION TO FACTS
Author Name:: Sumita Kanwar
Country:: India
Page No.:: 10-15

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ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BRAVE NEW WORLD: A JOURNEY FROM FICTION TO FACTS

Author: Sumita Kanwar

Creative writers are essentially men by letters and learning whose legendry write-ups not only record the souls of their times but also give us a peep into eventualities and future possibilities shaping humanity and their lives. Huxley's Brave New World is one such successful work of art which executes skillfully the possibility of gauging the future of mankind and its urge to go beyond the physical world of surety and drudgery. What he perceived in theoretical perspective by creating an imaginary world of future has become the thrust area of science and technology these days. This lends universality to his 'Brave New World' which, when published in the year 1932, struck the intelligent readers as well as academic critics as a 'dystopia' recording an ironic vision of the times to come, comes before us as a factual representation of life in the western world in particular and the entire world in general. The miracle of 'fiction' transforming itself into 'fact' has materialized itself even sooner than Huxley had predicted. Hence the relevance of the present critical perusal of Brave New World as a journey from fiction to fact.

Paper Title:: ARGUING FOR THE INCLUSION OF THE THIRD GENDER: READING MAHESH DATTANI’S SEVEN STEPS AROUND THE FIRE
Author Name:: Ashoo Toor
Country:: India
Page No.:: 16-25

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ARGUING FOR THE INCLUSION OF THE THIRD GENDER: READING MAHESH DATTANI’S SEVEN STEPS AROUND THE FIRE

Author: Ashoo Toor

Mahesh Dattani, the most lauded contemporary Indian playwright in English, has been acknowledged for his ‘decolonizing theatre’ that sets out to talk effortlessly - within the bounds of the drawing room- about the mind boggling and complex issues of the urban Indian bourgeoisie in the twentieth century. He is credited for drawing naked truths out of long-shuttered closets, ferreting out themes beyond bedroom farces and historical romances. His theatrical voice is gender-sensitive that tears at the edge of consciousness, blurring social constructs, trying to speak of the wide separation between the third sexual orientation and the ‘typical’ sex. In his play, Seven Steps around the Fire, Dattani lends a voice to the third gender, viz. the eunuchs, who are pushed to a marginal existence by the dominant classes which define the social order. The paper aims to highlight the miserable plight of the hijras (eunuchs) whose identity remains unacknowledged under the hegemonic and authoritative voice of the so-called ‘masters of the society’. It further focuses on the hollowness of the modern society, which despite its claims of ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘acceptance’ of all genders, reveals its dark, shallow and menacing visage when confronted with uncomfortable situations. The paper also calls for a classless and egalitarian society, and proposes a radical denaturalization of the dominant understanding of sexual identity, where each one of us is expected to belong to ‘essential categories’.

Paper Title:: THE RACONTEUR: “TRUTH OF SUBSTANCE” IN THE STORIES OF KHUSHWANT SINGH
Author Name:: Samanpreet kaur
Country:: India
Page No.:: 26-36

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THE RACONTEUR: “TRUTH OF SUBSTANCE” IN THE STORIES OF KHUSHWANT SINGH

Author: Samanpreet kaur

The man who is known for his “acid wit”, tongue-in-cheek remarks, trenchant secularism, the one who brings a gleaming smile on everybody’s face and a man people love to hate and may even agree “not a nice man to know” or more so referred to as “a clumsy journalistic writer”-Khushwant Singh has been the symbol of knowledge, wisdom, determination, and wit for his worldwide readership. Singh is one of the best Indian English writers, among the other literary dignitaries like Mulk Raj Anand, R.K Narayan, Raja Rao, Shashi Deshpande etc. His writings are passionate and speak his mind and soul. His was an “honest pen” which took a toll on his personality as a writer. Singh had a versatile career and talents from being a diplomat, a scholar, a lawyer, a gossip columnist, a journalist to a widely read writer and as a story writer his art was quite abiding. Right from his youth even before becoming a writer people around him admired his skill of storytelling, this indicates story writing as an inherent quality in him which was showcased in his works.

Paper Title:: SHADOWS OF MEMORIES IN THE SHADOW LINES BY AMITAV GHOSH
Author Name:: Shrriya Thukral
Country:: India
Page No.:: 37-45

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SHADOWS OF MEMORIES IN THE SHADOW LINES BY AMITAV GHOSH

Author: Shrriya Thukral

In the evolution of novels written in English as a literary genre in India, the first generation writers generally show a great concern about the national and social problems. The novels of 1960s had a private tone focusing on individual’s life and are introspective in structure. The novels from 1980 onwards, however, have created a watershed in the history of Indian English Fiction as they have brought a significant change in the world view, expression and the form. Distinctly, Amitav Ghosh through his writings throws a challenge against the age-old way of thinking in which reason and logic hardly find place.

Paper Title:: THE PHILOSOPHY OF ‘KARMA’ IN R.K.NARAYAN’S
Author Name:: Gurarpan Kaur
Country:: India
Page No.:: 46-51

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF ‘KARMA’ IN R.K.NARAYAN’S

Author: Gurarpan Kaur

“To be a good writer anywhere, you must have roots – both in religion and family. I have these things." Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan (1906-2001), one of the founding pillars of Indian Writing in English, is an institution in himself. Born and brought up in a traditional South Indian family, Narayan is a true Indian both in spirit and thought. Much has been said about Narayan as an outstanding and unassailable storyteller. He is often applauded as a painter of a vivid ‘Malgudi', a microcosm of Indian social milieu.

Paper Title:: AUTUMN MUSE THROUGH MELBOURNE’S ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS
Author Name:: Kendry Hinton
Country:: India
Page No.:: 52-54

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AUTUMN MUSE THROUGH MELBOURNE’S ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Author: Kendry Hinton

Late afternoon, with the sun dappling the leaves in the trees, I take a stroll on my own through the Botanic Gardens, stopping to photograph the autumn shower of colour . . .
There are people of all description, generation, and ethnicity: a shy fidgeting exquisitely groomed Asian bridegroom about to declare life-changing promises; an older couple linked in arms and memories. He, now, leaning on her for his slow, walking-stick-assisted steps. I watch small children, like confetti, dancing through the fresh mown lawns or out of parents reach, hiding in the upper branches of a small rough-barked tee tree and a learning-to-take-her-first-steps infant, over-padded with nappy, tottering, to her parents delight - with the discovery of a dry golden autumn leaf . . .

Paper Title:: THE MAGIC WEAPON IN THIS WORLD
Author Name:: Kendry Hinton
Country:: India
Page No.:: 55-57

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THE MAGIC WEAPON IN THIS WORLD

Author: Kendry Hinton

“I am sure that if all the mothers of various nations met, there would be no more wars.”
Not just a sentimental observation. EM Forster has hinted at a real truth.
My Dad used to say of my Mum, with laughing tenderness:
“She is like a lioness protecting her cubs.”
And years, decades on . . . my mother is still protecting her overgrown offspring. Some with ‘cubs’ of their own now.
“You see”, she explains, when she asks me every day – Have you got your mask? –
“You never stop being a mother.”

Paper Title:: THEY ALSO SERVE WHO STAND AND WAIT !!
Author Name:: Ritu Kumar
Country:: India
Page No.:: 58-59

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THEY ALSO SERVE WHO STAND AND WAIT !!

Author: Ritu Kumar

Ready
To meet the faces
Never wanted to meet.
Ready
To go to the places
Never wanted to visit.
Ready
To forgive the people
Never wanted to be part of my memories.

Paper Title:: MEMORIES FROM HILLS
Author Name:: Ritu Kumar
Country:: India
Page No.:: 60-61

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MEMORIES FROM HILLS

Author: Ritu Kumar

Tall Twiggy trees, huge high hills
Huts bent with flowering eaves
Sitting lively and lazily at ease
I write stories with my quill.

Valleys deep in profound sleep
Chirpy, cheerful birds fly in heaps
melodious songs and koel's beep
Fill mind with pleasure and peace.

Paper Title:: GLORIFYING SORROW
Author Name:: Alka Thakur
Country:: India
Page No.:: 62-63

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GLORIFYING SORROW

Author: Alka Thakur

Sorrow makes one Sublime
Sorrow prevents one from crime
Of ridiculing even enemy’s bad time.

Sorrow gives beautiful rhythm and rhyme
To enigmatic life line,
Sorrow makes one thoughtful
And weave beautifully the life’s wool.

Sorrow has its own kind of cool
Makes sensibility emerge out of even a fool.
Happiness is precious because of sorrow
Keeps one waiting for happy tomorrow.
In this way a life’s show
Comes to an end in a row.

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