Thinking Activity :- Documentation: Preparing the List of Works cited

 Hello Everyone

I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Megha ma'am 

  Book Review of  Pride and Prejudice

The year is 18__. The army regiment camped in the English village of Meryton belongs to the ___shire Militia. A certain character is found living in ____ Street, London. And when the young gentlemen are out of sight of Miss Elizabeth Bennet, we neither know nor care what they are doing or discussing among themselves. My, what a lot Miss Austen leaves blank!

But that’s all right. For on the genteel country estate of Longbourn, where the Bennets live with their five eligible daughters, all that matters is what the young men do around the young ladies. Will Jane, the eldest Miss Bennet, catch Mr. Bingley of the nearby estate of Netherfield? Will Elizabeth, the second-eldest daughter, triumph over the haughty Mr. Darcy? What will become of the two youngest sisters, Kitty and Lydia, who are forever flirting with men in uniform? And will their parents — the idle, eccentric Mr. Bennet and the nervous, weak-minded Mrs. Bennet — help or hinder in the complex web of romantic schemes, rivalries, disappointments, and duels of wit that swirl around both couples, and others besides? 

Here is a classic novel that glows with warm humor, lampooning a variety of human weaknesses through one of English lit’s most colorful galleries of characters. In a rapid-fire series of social encounters, conversations, letters, pleasure trips, and sleepless nights full of disturbed thoughts and feelings, Jane Austen constructs a novel of awe-inspiring completeness. She brings off a balancing act of tone and pacing, realism and conceit with such success that you may not notice it at all. With its mild demeanor and cool outlook, Pride and Prejudice makes an unforgettable impression, and one of our language’s great authors proves that a book doesn’t have to be about the “larger issues.” After 200 years, it’s still great entertainment.

I had been toying with the idea of reading some Jane Austen since I read an analysis of one of my favorite authors, Patrick O’Brian, which compared him to her. I was putting off seeing a recent film based on this book until I had read it first. The final nudge, however, was the appearance of the irresistable spoof titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I knew I was going to enjoy the joke, but only if I read the book it was a joke on. So I screwed up my eyes, pinched my nose, and prepared to take my medicine… 

And, surprise! It wasn’t so awful after all. In fact, Pride and Prejudice is a delight to read. Even coming from a fan of Charles Dickens that’s saying a lot. For reading a Dickens novel often requires a certain effort, strength of concentration, and planning to ensure it is taken in regular 3- or 4-chapter doses, lest one’s interest should burn out. In comparison, Pride and Prejudice is surprisingly plain-spoken and direct, fast to read and certain to give pleasure.

It begins with a memorable premise: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Out of this decree unfolds a delicate romantic comedy of manners set in England around the turn of the 19th century. And it’s told from the point of view of a young, unmarried gentlewoman named Elizabeth Bennet, who is ready to be found and claimed by just such an eligible man. 

To some of us, reading a novel from such a point of view may seem like an exercise in ancient history — albeit a history with no politics, no battlefields, no great events. It is a moment in time viewed from the drawing room of a small manor house in Hertfordshire. The only things that seem to interest the males who pass through it are related to the concerns of the females sitting in it. Chief of these interests is the pairing-off of eligible gentlemen and ladies, as much for economic advantage as for reasons of the heart.

Today, perhaps, Austen’s book risks being condemned for presenting a “sexist” view of the different roles of men and women, a “classist” view of society (in which the servants are virtually invisible and “good breeding” is synonymous with “proper conduct”), and a strict morality of love and marriage that might seem strange today but was taken for granted then. But if our world’s moral and social values have changed since then, it is not for our age to judge Austen’s. The present state of the world bears witness that mankind has not yet found perfect enlightenment. 

But in reading a book like this, we can be enlightened about a world that was, at least in the eyes of a captivating character like Eliza Bennet. And lest we forget, a woman wrote this novel, from a woman’s sensibility, capturing a woman’s view of the world with a wit and a grace that continue to entertain two centuries later. Some have ventured to call it a perfect novel. In my opinion, they aren’t far from the truth. 

Citation

Austen, Jane . "blog.mugglenet.com." https://blog.mugglenet.com/2013/01/book-review-pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen/. 1 Jan. 2013. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023. 

Austen, Jane. "thepeepertimes.com." https://thepeepertimes.com/books/book-review-pride-and-prejudice/. 21 June 2019. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023. 

Austen, Jane . "The Mistresses of Books ." https://www.themistressofbooks.com/reviews/review-pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen. 7 Oct. 2019. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023. 

Austen , Jane . "Sally Flint." https://www.sallyflint.com/blog/jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice. 29 Apr. 2022. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023. 

Austen, Jane. "Bookish Santa ." https://www.bookishsanta.com/blogs/booklings-world/pride-and-prejudice-book-review. 21 July 2022. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023.

Thinking Activity: The Mechanics writing

 Hello friends

I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Megha ma'am 

What is Mechanics writing ? 

In composition, writing mechanics are the conventions governing the technical aspects of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations. Getting your main points together can be a challenge, and one solution is to put together a draft of main ideas before writing. 

Video 1 

Academic writing 

Academic writing is a formal style of writing used in universities and scholarly publications. You'll encounter it in journal articles and books on academic topics, and you'll be expected to write your essays, research papers, and dissertation in academic style.

Non Academic writing

Non-Academic articles are written for the mass public. They are published quickly and can be written by anyone. Their language is informal, casual and may contain slang. The author may not be provided and will not have any credentials listed. There will be no reference list.

And also known as formal vocab and informal vocab. 

Video 2 

Academic writing The  Basics : Atanu Bhattacharya

Out line 

• What not to do 
• What can be done 
• Web tools 
• Case study  

Pro Atani Bhattacharya discussed many scales for helpful to understanding academic writing

The publication scale: not so harmless 

A Few takeaways 

• Writing has meterial effects 
• Avoid massive Jargonization 
• Research and publication ethics 
• Carefully choose the topic 

Writing it up : a few tips 

• Introduction last 
• Create an indexed literature review
• Be sure of the triangulated methods 

The three more suggestion given that are

1) Do not repeat the same arguments.

2) Use available digital tools

3) Follow the literature 

Some digital tools : reference management

For example : zetero mendeley 

Avoiding Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is the theft of someone else's ideas and work. It is the incorporation of facts ideas or specific language that are not common knowledge are taken from another source and are not properly cited  

Types : - 

1. Verbatim of rephrasing without acknowledgement.

2. Inappropriate collaboration.

3. Other assistance without acknowledgement.

4. Cheating (copying others’ work).

5. Duplication (submitting the same work for different courses/ programs/ degrees).

6. Research fabrication and falsification.

7. Using computer networks for false attribution 

Summing up 

Linguistics choices the pitching of the paper / dissertation/ thesis

Discourse choise how down organize it line of argument etc 

Topic choices availability/ non availability of meterial synchronic / diachronic

Ethical choices plagiarism etc  

Video 3 

Academic writing : The Mechanics : Atanu Bhattacharya  

Formulating Propositions/ Defining 

Formulating a proposition / Defining often takes the following link form 

Key term + Verb/ is / defined as / can be defined as / is often defined as + which / that / where / when + Defining features 

Thinking Activity : The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

 Hello friends

I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and this activity given by Dr Dilip Barad Sir 

Arundhati Roy 

Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things, which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes. 

1)The Reader’s Digest Book of English Grammar and Comprehension for Very Young Children by S. Tilottama. (Question - Answer)

1) THE OLD MAN & HIS SON

When Manzoor Ahmed Ganai became a militant, soldiers went to his home and picked uphis father, the handsome, always dapper Aziz Ganai. He was kept in the Haider BaigInterrogation Centre. Manzoor Ahmed Ganai worked as a militant for one and a half years.His father remained imprisoned for one and a half years.On the day Manzoor Ahmed Ganai was killed, smiling soldiers opened the door of hisfather’s cell. ‘Jenaab, you wanted Azadi? Mubarak ho aapko. Congratulations! Today yourwish has come true. Your freedom has come.’The people of the village cried more for the shambling wreck who came running throughthe orchard in rags with wild eyes and a beard and hair that hadn’t been cut in a year and ahalf than they did for the boy who had been murdered.The shambling wreck was just in time to be able to lift the shroud and kiss his son’s facebefore they buried him.

Q 1: Why did the villagers cry more for the shambling wreck? 

Ans :- The villagers cry more for the shambling wreck because came running throughthe orchard in rags with wild eyes and a beard and hair that hadn’t been cut in a year and ahalf than they did for the boy who had been murdered.

Q 2: Why did the wreck shamble? 

The wreck shamble because shroud and kiss his son’s facebefore they buried him.  

2 ) The Noble Prize Winner 

Manohar Mattoo was a Kashmiri Pandit who stayed on in the Valley even after all the other Hindus had gone. He was secretly tired of and deeply hurt by the barbs from his Muslim friends who said that all Hindus in Kashmir were actually, in one way or another, agents of the Indian Occupation Forces. Manohar had participated in all the anti-India protests, and had shouted Azadi! louder than everybody else. But nothing seemed to help. At one point he had even contemplated taking up arms and joining the Hizb, but eventually he decided against it. One day an old school friend of his, Aziz Mohammed, an intelligence officer,visited him at home to tell him that he was worried for him. He said that he had seen his(Mattoo’s) surveillance file. It suggested that he be put under watch because he displayed ‘anti-national tendencies’.When he heard the news Mattoo beamed and felt his chest swell with pride.

Q 1: Why was Mattoo shot?

(a) Because he was a Hindu

(b) Because he wanted Azadi

(c) Because he won the Nobel Prize

(d) None of the above

(e) All of the above.

Ans(a) Because he was a Hindu 

Q 2: Who could the unknown gunman have been?

(a) An Islamist militant who thought all kafirs should be killed

(b) An agent of the Occupation who wanted people to think that all

(c) Neither of the above

(d) Someone who wanted everyone to go crazy trying to figure it out.

Ans(a) Islamist militants thought that all kafirs should be killed 

3 )  THE CAREERIST 

The boy had always wanted to make something of himself. He invited four militants fordinner and slipped sleeping pills into their food. Once they had fallen asleep he called thearmy. They killed the militants and burned down the house. The army had promised the boytwo canals of land and one hundred and fifty thousand rupees. They gave him only fiftythousand and accommodated him in quarters just outside an army camp. They told him thatif he wanted a permanent job with them instead of being just a daily wage worker he wouldhave to get them two foreign militants. He managed to get them one ‘live’ Pakistani but washaving trouble finding another. ‘Unfortunately these days business is bad,’ he told PI.‘Things have become such that you cannot any longer just kill someone and pretend he’s aforeign militant. So my job cannot be made permanent.’PI asked him, if there was a referendum whom he would vote for, India or Pakistan?‘Pakistan of course.’‘Why?’‘Because it is our Mulk (country). But Pakistan militants can’t help us in this way. If I cankill them and get a good job it helps me.’He told PI that when Kashmir became a part of Pakistan, he (PI) would not be able tosurvive in it. But he (the boy) would. But that, he said, was just a theoretical matter. Becausehe would be killed shortly.

Q 1: Who did the boy expect to be killed by? 

(a) The army

(b) Militants

(c) Pakistanis

(d) Owners of the house that was burned. 

Ans :- (d)Owners of the house that was burned. 

2. Three points mentioned in the photo of board -work .

2) list of Characters

• Anjum / Aftab
• Tilo 
• Biplab Dasgupta
• Naga
• Musa
• Saddam Hussain
• Major Amrik Singh
• Ashfag Mir 
• Zainab
• Ustad Kulsoom Bi
• Imam Ziauddin
• Miss Jebeen
• Miss Udayan Jebeen 
• Gulrez
• Revathy
• D.D Gupta 
• Maryam 
• Aijaz
• Dr Azad Bhartiya 
• Jahanara 
• Mulaqut Ali 
• Ustad Hameed Khan 
• Zakir Main 
• Dr Bhagat 
• ACP Pinky
• Mr Aggarwal
• The Princess
• Showkat
• Saeeda 

Summary - plot 

Spanning the 1950s to the 2010s, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, a 2017 novel by Arundhati Roy, follows the interconnected lives of several characters against the backdrop of contemporary India. The novel skips backwards and forwards in time freely, often pauses for detours into the stories of minor characters and includes several texts within the main text (e.g., Bhartiya’s manifesto, or Tilo’s Kashmiri-English Alphabet). At heart, however, the novel consists of two main narrative threads, one of which is centered in Delhi, and the other in Kashmir.

The book has a remarkable narrative plot, with complex set of characters mostly drawn from the lower strata of the society. The terse prose style mingled with occasional aphorism and apt similes is used to dig deep into the Indian modern history to explore the socio-political themes. Roy, as a keen observer of the events -land reform that disowned poor farmers; Godhra train burning; and the insurgency in Kashmir, compels the reader to search facts in the debris of history. The book is replete with the themes of racism, gender in equality and religious fanatism. In fact, it is a compendium of alternatives – alternative structure of kinship, resistance and romance. It is a kind of novel, where we find, a perfect marriage of art and politics, history and fiction, reason and imagination. She, through her beautiful language, creativity and wide reading, exposes the grim and violent truths that would scare anybody of the prevailing socio-political condition of the nation. The hybrid language of the book with beautiful quotations from Urdu, and references to sacred scriptures expose myth with religion. This widens the critical horizons of the novel as a new innovation in the contemporary Indian English fiction. The book can be read from various theoretical approaches –feminist/ gender theories, cultural discourse, political per se and so on. 

Fact and Fiction 

Real life - social - political - event 

The novel also incorporates many social and political events occurred in India and other parts of the world against the backdrop of its story. Political discourse in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness can be seen deeply entwined with the nationalistic agenda. Kashmir conflict is in the center of the novel, discussing the attitude of the political power center in dealing with it. Instead of working for a solution for one of the biggest crises on humanitarian grounds, the politicians used and keep using Kashmir as repetitive rhetoric to keep them in power by gaining more votes. An example of the political slogan is given by the author, “‘doodh mangogey to kheer dengey! Kashmir mango gey to cheer dengey!’ Ask for milk, we’ll give you cream! Ask for Kashmir, we’ll rip you open seam to seam!” (103).India’s national and political agenda has developed its roots in the religious discourse. Despite maintaining a façade of democracy, the country is ruled by the people of RSS, which is a Hindu party essentially and believes in the superiority of only the Hindu people. The ruling party of India is the BJP, which is a branch of the extremist Hindu religious party of Hindutva. Religion, in the hands of these people, is used as a tool to keep their power positions maintained and keep the people of the other religions like Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis and lower-caste Hindus as well, at the periphery. Roy shows the plight of people who are slaughtered, raped and penalized because of their religion, caste or political differences. Thereaders see Anjum; the Hijra stuck in the massacre of Gujrat, Dayachand, the Dalit changing his identity to secure a lowest paying job, Tilo, the Syrian Christian woman travelling to Kashmir for Musa, the Muslimbound to be persecuted. All these threads tell storiesof plight under the fast-rising totalitarian system of India.  

3)Write about any one theme or character of the novel with the help of Chat OpenAI GPT. Ask to Chat GPT and put a screenshot as well as copy-paste the answer generated by this response generator.

Theme 

 3 ) Nature of Paradise 

The theme of a ministry of utmost happiness in the context of the nature of paradise refers to the idea that the purpose of a ministry is to help individuals achieve the ultimate state of happiness and peace associated with the concept of paradise. This can include spiritual guidance, counseling, and other practices that are intended to help individuals find inner peace and contentment. In religious contexts, it may also include teaching about the afterlife and the nature of paradise, as well as helping individuals to prepare for the journey to paradise after death. 

Thinking Activity :- Patels of Blood

 Hello friends

I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Yesha Mam 

About Author 

Ngugi wa Thiong'o 

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ;born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938 is a Kenyan writer and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright, is translated into 100 languages from around the world.Ngũgĩ has frequently been regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are the authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ. 

Introduction of Novel  

Petals of Blood is a novel written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and first published in 1977. Set in Kenya just after independence, the story follows four characters – Munira, Abdulla, Wanja, and Karega – whose lives are intertwined due to the Mau Mau rebellion. In order to escape city life, each retreats to the small, pastoral village of Ilmorog. As the novel progresses, the characters deal with the repercussions of the Mau Mau rebellion as well as with a new, rapidly westernizing Kenya.

The novel largely deals with the scepticism of change after Kenya's independence from colonial rule, questioning to what extent free Kenya merely emulates, and subsequently perpetuates, the oppression found during its time as a colony. Other themes include the challenges of capitalism, politics, and the effects of westernization. Education, schools, and the Mau Mau rebellion are also used to unite the characters, who share a common history with one another. 

1 ) write a note on the first chapter of the novel ( Interrogation of all characters)  

Petals of Blood starts with the arrest of the four main characters in the novel. Munira is the first to be arrested, and the two officers who come for him treat him respectfully, as he is the headmaster of Ilmorog School. There has been a triple murder in Ilmorog, they tell him, and Munira is wanted for routine questioning. The next person taken into custody is Abdulla, the one-legged bar and shop owner. He has just come from a night in the hospital, and his left hand is bandaged, although we don't yet know why. The officers try to arrest Wanja next, and are greeted by a doctor who tells them she is delirious and hallucinating. He tells them that in 10 days time, she would be recovered sufficiently for questioning. 

1. Munira had come from a vigil on the mountain when the police come for him, saying he is wanted at the Ilmorog police station for questioning about recent murders.

Munira is one of the four main characters of the text. He left his wife and wealthy, domineering father to come to Ilmorog for a new beginning teaching school, and did his best to ingratiate himself with the community, although he always remained somewhat of an outsider. He was obsessed with Wanja but she did not love him and this tormented him. He was not very interested in politics or the people's struggle, and he tried to stay out of such conversations. Because he was raised in a Christian home, he retained vestiges of guilt and despair over his own "sinful" behavior, which would, along with his thwarted desire for Wanja, lead him to become a religious fanatic. He desired recognition by his superiors even if they were European puppets; he was characterized by frequent bouts of selfishness, resentment of others, and petulance; with his religious convictions, he tried to "save" all of the wayward people who sinned and got caught up in this life instead of preparing for the afterlife.

2. Abdulla is also approached, and he is locked in a cell at the station.

Abdulla is another one of the main characters. He is a handicapped shopkeeper who lost his leg in the Mau Mau Rebellion, the revolution that gained Kenya its Independence He became friends with Wanja, Karega, and Munira after they all moved to Ilmorog, and helped each other carve out an existence in the village. He lived a small life with his adopted son Joseph and his donkey, though when the village traveled to Nairobi he became expansive in his storytelling; it was as if he were the heart and soul of the group. Intuitive and prone to cynicism and pessimism, he was uncomfortable with the reactions of the people in power they met in Nairobi as well as with all of the changes that came to Ilmorog in the journey's aftermath. The changes in Ilmorog, Karega's departure, and Wanja's move back into being a whore were deeply impactful for him, and he spent the year or so leading up to the murder living in near-squalor and despair. Only Joseph brought him happiness, at least until he and Wanja made love and created a child. 

3. Wanja is at the hospital and a doctor says the police cannot see her because she is delirious.

Wanja is the granddaughter of Nyakinyua and is an intelligent, passionate, intuitive, and tenacious woman. As a young woman, she had to leave school because she had a relationship with, and became pregnant by, the wealthy businessman Kimeria. Her father wanted little to do with her, so she struck out on her own and ended up as a barmaid and prostitute. She grieved for the child she had borne and then left to die, always desiring to have a child of her own again. She came to Ilmorog to be near her grandmother, which is where she befriended Munira and Abdulla. She had sex with Munira once, hoping to conceive, but did not want to be in a relationship with him. She did have a relationship with Karega, but he left the village. Finally, she saw Abdulla as a true companion, and it is suggested that he is the father of the child that she is carrying at the end of the novel. It was Wanja who was a core figure in the New Ilmorog, helping Abdulla grow his business and then, after the businessmen shut them down, ran a successful whorehouse. She was tormented with the sense of colluding with evil, but her life philosophy was "eat or be eaten." 

4. Karega is asleep when the police come and bring him to the station. People gather outside, thinking he is in trouble for last night’s decision to strike, but the police say it is about murder.

Karega is a serious, motivated, impassioned young man dedicated to the people's struggle. He grew up on Munira's father's land with his mother, but he never knew his older brother Ndinguri, who was executed for being Mau Mau. For a time, he attended the elite school Siriana, but he was expelled for participating in a strike against the strict, oppressive, and neo-colonial school regime. He lost his great love, Mukami, Munira's sister, when she killed herself rather than choose between him and her father. He then came to Munira in Ilmorog hoping to seek advice from the older man. Settling there for a time, he was the one who conceived of the journey to Ilmorog. After the journey he became a teacher at the school but was discontented, thinking the children were not getting a real education in Kenya's past and the current forces at work that colluded to make their lives in Ilmorog difficult. He loved Wanja but left the village and went out into the country to further develop his communist, unionist, and people-centric views. Once he returned to Ilmorog he became a powerful union organizer and was thus targeted by people of power. 

5. The headline reads that Mzigo, Chui, and Kimeria, African directors of the Theng’eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd., were burnt to death last night, and murder is suspected.

Mzigo

In the early part of the novel, he oversaw the local schools as the Education Officer and was Munira's boss. He became a major investor in New Ilmorog and contributed to the failure of Abdulla and Wanja's bar.

Chui

A young man Munira knew from Siriana, famed among his classmates for his neatness and style and admired for his aptitude at everything he put his mind to. Chui was expelled for instigating a strike against the new headmaster, Fraudsham, and little but rumors were heard of him for a time. He was invited back as Siriana's headmaster, but he was not what the students expected: he was a "black replica of Fraudsham" (171), committed to the hierarchy and rules of the school. He eschewed the study of African writers and historians, and he called in the riot squad to disperse a student protest. He became a prominent investor in New Ilmorog.

Thinking Activity : Revolution 2020

Hello friends

I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir 

About Chetan Bhagat 

Chetan Bhagat is an Indian author and columnist. He was included in Time magazine's list of World's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Bhagat graduated in mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi and completed a PGP at IIM Ahmedabad.

       Chetan Bhagat has write many novels

Five of Chetan Bhagat's novels have been adapted into Bollywood films like Hello in 2008 (based on One Night @ the Call Center), 3 Idiots in 2009 (based on Five Point Someone), Kai Po Che! in 2013 (based on The 3 Mistakes of My Life); 2 States in 2014 (based on his novel of the same name) and Half Girlfriend in 2017 (based on his novel of the same name). Bhagat has also written the scripts for Bollywood films like Kick in 2014 and adapted his stories for the movies Kai Po Che! and Half Girlfriend.

Bhagat won the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for "Kai Po Che". At the 59th Filmfare Awards in 2014. He is also often found in controversies at twitter. His latest novel 400 Days which is based on a missing child and forbidden love was released on 8 October 2021. 

About novel 

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition is a 2011 novel by Chetan Bhagat. Its story is concerned with a love triangle, corruption and a journey of self-discovery. R2020 has addressed the issue of how private coaching institutions exploit aspiring engineering students and how parents put their lifetime's earnings on stake for these classes so that their children can crack engineering exams and change the fortune of the family. While a handful accomplish their dreams, others sink into disaster 

  The author stated that the novel is based on the "rampant corruption" apparent in the Indian educational system, with the choice of Varanasi as a setting emerging through "a special connection to the city" following his visit. He further said "it is one of our oldest cities, and people there now have modern aspirations. I thought the contrast would be interesting. The city also has a lot of character.  

1 ) Social realism in the novel 

The present paper is an honest attempt to understand the concept of social realism in literature. Realism, broadly speaking, is the faithful or truthful representation of the events in a matter of fact way avoiding any kind of embellishment or glorification. In literature, the term ‘realism’ is associated with a number of prefixes that varies its trends of presentation. There may be philosophical realism, magic realism, surrealism, hallucinatory realism, social realism and many more. Social realism is a literary technique that presents a true picture of society. It also mirrors the life as it is and offers social commentary. The novelists who use the technique of social realism often present the social evils, social injustice and social issues that affect the life of middle class particularly. Chetan Bhagat is the well known author of six novels and all these novels are about the youth, their aspirations and problems, their struggle, success and failures. According to Chetan Bhagat, the young generation of India is on the verge of destruction. They are indulged in drinking, smoking, sex and illegal business. Gopal, the narrator-cum-protagonist of Bhagat’s fifth novel Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition (2010) symbolically stands for the young generation of India who are walking on the wrong path. Aarti, the only female character in the novel enjoys Gopal’s company for drinking and develops sexual relations with him though she loves Raghav. Thus, by introducing these two characters, Chetan Bhagat succeeds in presenting degradation of moral and ethical values in Indian society. Gopal, Aarti and Raghav are three young aspirants in the novel who aspire for being successful person in their life. Gopal, because of his father’s wish wants to be an engineer but couldn’t make it. Aarti wants to be an airhostess but fails and Raghav has great ambition of eradicating corruption. These three characters have faced severe problems while achieving their target. Through these characters, the novelists tried to depict the problems of youth such as unemployability, poverty and failure and malpractices in the society, etc. 

2 ) Significance of the title revolution 2020

 R2020 as the book title says is the brain child of one of the characters in the story- Raghav Kashyap. He has a vision to bring a revolution in India by the year 2020. It's the name of the newspaper or rather newsletter which he feels will bring a change in the country. He uses various sting operations to expose the corrupt practices in the society through the newsletter. Needless to say, some political goons will ransack it and the newsletter will be razed off. However the idea will still remain and ignite the revolution.  

3) Do you think that an opportunity of a good novel is wasted because the story is told from Gopals perspective ? Can it be better if narrated from Raghav or Aarti 's perspective ? How would it be better if it was narrated from Raghav or Aarti perspective ? 

As the title suggests, ‘Revolution 2020 - Love, Corruption, Ambition’, this book is composed of all of these elements in substantial amounts. The story is set in the aesthetic ghats of Varanasi, where beginning and end collide into one. There are three protagonists in the tale, Aarti, Gopal, and Raghav. The story is narrated through Gopal’s perspective who is a middle-class boy with eyes full of dreams. There is a love triangle in the story. Both of them love the same girl, Aarti. And then starts the scuffle between Gopal and Raghav. Gopal’s story is tainted with corruption, while Raghav flourishes through his staunch ambitions.

Now, the storyline is pretty cliche, but what made this book worth reading was the pool of emotions floating in the storyline. ‘Revolution’ was not a soul uplifting metaphor. It was rather a political ideology that ran in the Ganges of Varanasi. The book is gripping and one can pull an all-nighter while reading it. It is impressive and would make you feel a splurge of sentiments in your heart. The destinies of all the characters are intertwined and as it is said, all of them meet at the same point.

There is a stark contrast in the character development of Raghav and Gopal. Gopal seeks refuge in the political system and enters the cobweb of corruption. He weaves his own world under the hands of a highly corrupt MLA. He is a classic example of rags to riches. He wanted to raise the bar of his living standards and being rich was his only motive through life. On the contrary, Raghav is focused on uplifting society and wants to make this world a better place to live. He enters the realm of journalism and strives to make a change, for good. 

Aarti’s dilemma is acceptable as she was dealing with two different entities. She always tried to make a balance between the two but failed miserably.