India (2): Language & the Working Class

“Flute Music,” “Annamalai”

and Salaam Bombay

Migrant populations flock to the outskirts of cities to find work. (source)

Outline

Background (1): Caste System Background (2): Language

Tagore: “Flute Music” R.K. Narayan: “Annamalai”

Background (3): Bombay & Bollywood Salaam Bombay

Background (1): Caste system The main castes:

Brahman (priest); Kshatriya (ruler, warrior, landowner); Vaishya (merchants); Shudra (artisans, agriculturalists); Harijan "outside" the caste system (once known as

"untouchables") (source: http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/spring98/india.htm )

* Musicians-- Harijans (god's children) which used to be known as untouchables.”

Caste system – Determined… by race? “In a verse from the first millennium epic, the

Mahabharata (摩訶婆羅多 ), Brigu, the sage explains: ‘The brahmins are fair, the kshatriyas are reddish, the vaishyas yellow and the sudras are black.’ [But] If different colours indicate different castes, then all castes are mixed castes.“

by work: The Hindus also believe that a man's varna is determined by his profession and deeds and not by his birth.

Multiple meanings: it changes its meaning according to the context it is used to denote “form, quality, class, category, race, merit or virtue.”

Practically, Varna (caste) came to signify an endogamic (同族通婚 ) group, its members linked by heredity, marriage, custom and profession (source)

Caste system -- Today Seen illegal since 1947; Two Indias: the rich and the poor, not

following the caste lines In some villages, some lower caste people are

still marginalized, and inter-caste marriage is still prohibited (e.g. The God of Small Things);

In 1998, “sixty people were killed by the Ranvir Sena, a self-styled armed militia of the upper-caste landed gentry, formed to crush the movements of Dalits (the untouchables) and

agricultural laborers.” (source)

Exceptions . . .? A Life Less Ordinary --Baby

Halder, as a maid to an anthropologist who encourages her to write.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail & Rubina Ali from Slumdog Millionaire Hollywood/Bollywood dream

Image course: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/books/02maid.html

Tagore: “Flute Music” –Description of Poverty1. State of poverty: A man in in small

room-- Miserable living conditions

The room (stanzas 1 5; “Decaying walls, windows crumbling to dust in places/Or strained with damp.” )

description of the alley (4th stanza) compared to a lizard

2. Influences of poverty – Staying out to save the cost of light (2nd

stanza) his girl -- (3rd and last stanza)

Monsoon darknesssticks in my damp roomLike an animal caught in a dead trap,Lifeless and numb.day and night I feel strapped bodilyOn to a half-dead world.

Monsoon darknesssticks in my damp roomLike an animal caught in a dead trap,Lifeless and numb.day and night I feel strapped bodilyOn to a half-dead world.

The influences of flute music Kantababu – one of the Harijans? Companion: The sound of it comes in gusts

On the foul breeze of the alley -Sometimes in the middle of the night,Sometimes in the early morning twilight,Sometimes in the afternoonWhen sun and shadows glitter.Suddenly this eveningHe starts to play runs in Sindhu-Baroya rag,And the whole sky ringsWith eternal pangs of separation.

Takes him back to his village.

Background (2): Language

“No matter that

my name is Greek

my surname Portuguese

my language alien.

There are ways of belonging.” (Eunice de Souza )

Language & English literature in India The Charter Act of 1813 – East India

Company's responsibility for native education;

1857 – the Indian university system After independence, English is no longer an

official language; Major languages: Hindi, Tamil, Marathi,

Malayalam and Urdu each has more than 10 million speakers.

Narayan’s decision to write in English “We have fostered the language for over a century. .

. And we are entitled to bring it in line with our own thought and idiom.”

Speaking as the English language, he puts:

“I will stay here, whatever may be the rank and status you may assign me—as the first language or the second language or the thousandth. You may banish me from the classrooms, but I can always find other places where I can stay. . . I am more Indian than you can ever be” (93.)

R. K. Narayan--biography

born in Madras in 1906 full name: Rasipuram

Krishnaswami Ayyar Naranayanaswami

-->1935 R.K. Narayan under his friend and mentor Graham Greene’s suggestion.

Lifelong correspondence with Greene

Narayan the Writer

V.s. Naipaul (1999): “He wrote about people in a small town in South India: small people, big talk, small doings. That was where he began; that was where he was fifty years later. To some extent that reflected Narayan’s own life. He never moved far from his origins.” (“The Writer in India”)

Narayan the Story-teller of village life “I’d be quite happy if no more is claimed from

me than being just a story-teller. Only the story matters, that is all. . . . But if a story is in tune completely with the truth of life, truth as I perceive it, then it will be automatically significant.”

“you see more concentrated life and you can see the types and forces of human relationships, activities, aspirations in greater details.” (97)

“Annamalai”—narrative perspective and plot

narrative time and technique: How does the story start? How does it end? Does the story follow a chronological order?

narrative point of view – Annamalai’s master letters within the story: What do they tell us?

“Annamalai”—narrative perspective & plot

Plot: beginning—reception of a letter Flashback – A with him for 15 years

about his habits About how he comes to help him move (122-) About his past and present conflicts

Ends with Annamalai’s departure narrative point of view – Annamalai’s master: cannot be sure of the letter communication (118),

not showing trust him in the beginning (126) or at the end.

shows enough respect for A; knows that he cannot change him, that they have two different value systems.

“Annamalai”--regional color and rustic people

How does Narayan characterize Annamalai and the peasant community in (southern) India ?

Can we call “Annamalai” a story of regional color?

Can you think of any example in Taiwanese literature that is similar to this story?

Annamalai—a migrant worker who returned home illiterate, concealing his last name– (121), name not

as a label for identification (close-knit society) Leaving home for work (125), while maintaining a

strong but practical link with his family (one letter a month) (131--postcard)

A’s past – migrant worker collecting dung in the forest working in a tea garden (135-) drafted and sent to Penang, its rubber

plantation (136)

Annamalai—his knowledge, logic and ignorance Good at gardening but uneasy in the master’s study.

(122) Stubborn about his work (126 -129) following his

own principles, logic or whims. (133) Keeping himself updated on world news. (Kannady –

glass 130) (trunk call 132)

“Annamalai”—his dignity and value the lady’s bird stolen as a revenge his self-

defense (134-35) the sheep + lamb episode (136-) the tailor episode (who owes him money 138-39)

–insists on renewing the bond leaves for the family, insists on not being a thief

(144)

“Annamalai”—language

language and class linguistic hegemony: English vs Tamil (p. 119) Means of communication: letter, telephone

Mira Nair and Salaam Bombay

Outline Bombay & Bollywood Mira Nair & the history of the production of

Salaam Bombay. Major Theme 1: Migrants in the city Major Theme 2: comradeship and betrayal Major Theme 3: Other Social factors

(Language Differences and Illiteracy;

slums in Bombay, government inefficiency;

Colonialism/tourism -- in the background)

Salaam Bombay vs. Born into Brothels vs. Slumdog Millionaire

Next Time

Introduction to Mira Nair

Born in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa in 1957 (middle class family)

Attended the University of New Delhi (Sociology and Theater)

Went to Harvard in 1976 (Sociology) (source)

Films by Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay (1988) Mississippi Masala (1991) –Indian immigrants

in relations to Afro-Americans Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1997) based on

an Indian classic Monsoon Wedding (2001) Indians and

immigrants [Vanity Fair (2004) ] The Namesake (2006) Indian immigrants

Salaam Bombay! History of Production

1. Interviews of street kids in Bombay.2. Out of these interviews emerged a screenplay

that was a composite of several lives. 3. “Then many of the children were enlisted for

weeks in a daily workshop, not to teach them "acting" (for that they already knew from hundreds of overacted Indian film melodramas), but to teach them how to behave naturally in front of the camera.” (source)

What happened to the children?

1. "Our whole attitude was to meet them halfway and help them realize their own self-worth and dignity," said Nair in a recent interview with The Christian Science Monitor (12 Oct 1988, p.19). "[We] wanted to help them create opportunities they want for themselves." Responding to this respectful approach, some children entered school, some returned home to their villages, some got jobs, and some have stayed on the streets.

2. Nair uses proceeds from the film to open learning centers for street children in both Bombay and Delhi. (source)

3. The film’s interviews

Salaam Bombay!

Awards: the New Director's Award at the Cannes

Film Festival in 1988 an Academy Award nomination for best foreign film in 1989

Neo-Realism; A departure from Bollywood Musical.

Salaam Bombay!: Questions How does Krishna go to Bombay? What is

his first experience of it? (clip 1) Why is he away from home? Why does he

go to Bombay and what does he want to do there? (clip 7;11//chap 8, 11—41:00 )

How does he relate to the people he meets in Bombay? (e.g. Manju, Sweet 16, Manju’s mother, Chillum, & the other street kids.) e.g. Why does Krishna fall in love with Sweet Sixteen?

Are there any traces of Bollywood musical influence in the film?

Major Themes in Salaam Bombay Migratory identity: people drifted to

the metropolis, lost in the crowd, e.g. shots of the train station

-- Chaipau: his name (Krishna); no home address

-- Chillum: completely lost

hybrid culture and identity (e.g. Chillum, Manju’s dance—clip 3; Ms. Hawaii in the movie clip 6/chap 4, 6 21:00 )

Salaam Bombay: survival

How do Krishna and the other kids survive? Skin chicken, clean chicken coops; rob an old man, serve in a rich man’s wedding party

Major Themes in Salaam BombayDesire for home

e.g. Krishna

-- tries to write home

-- needs 500 rupees so that he can go home

-- forms a “family” in Bombay (Chillum, the other children).

What about Manju’s family?

Salaam Bombay: The migrants in a city (2)

Manju’s family— Baba – child-abuser and pimp (chaps

12, 15 ) Mother –loving but cannot help Manju– lonely and in desperate need

of love. (e.g. clips 8, 9, 12, 14//chap 13, 14)

Salaam Bombay: a series of betrays

Chillum

Baba His wife & Manju

Krishna

The Sweet Sixteen The circus

boss

The other street kids

Major Themes (2)

Comradeship, betrayal and rebellion/survival-- Pattern of Repetition:

Drug-dealing: the death of the previous drug dealer, Chillum and then another Chillum.

Cheating: Manju’s mother cheated, The Sweet SixteenSome are self-destructive and some, surviving Chillum – has no friend; cheats Krishna with his “bank.” Krishna’s setting fire as a way of rebellion against his

brother, and then against the whorehouse

Major Themes 3: Social Factors

Why are Baba and his wife not named? Why do people call Krishna Chaipau? What roles do Krishna God play in this

film? And the “Chiller room”? (clip 20, 22) Who sends the two kids to Chiller room? How is the chiller room presented?

Salaam Bombay: social factors

State intervention: Chiller Room drug, prostitution and Bollywood traces of collonial influence:

cricket, tourists, statues, movies Religion: helpless. E.g. Ganesh (ending)

Salaam Bombay and the other two films What do you think about the ending of

Salaam Bombay? Is there any hope for the street children? What does the spinning top mean?

The ending of Slumdog Millionaire Born into Brothels – Suchitra(27) Avijit

(34:16)

References:

Roger Elbert. SALAAM BOMBAY!

Next week: stories of 3 girls and a young woman During the time of partition -- in Earth; Over the issue of marriage in “Gainda”