PERSONAL, SOCIAL, CULTURAL REALITIES AND CONFLICTS OF ADOLESCENCE
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Subcategory IV : SOCIAL IMAGERIES AND LIFEWORLDS IN THE BACKDROP OF RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
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Title : The New Beginning
Category : fiction
Author : Avisweta De
Author intro : Avisweta De is a student of class 8, in Delhi Public School, Siliguri. She loves to read detective storybooks specially the series of Feluda and Sherlock Holmes. Her favourite writers are Ruskin Bond, R.K. Narayan , Satyajit Ray and others. She wants to grow up into a good human being with good thoughts which leads her towards success.
Excerpt :
It was the month of December, the severe cold had set in, as had the season for joyful Christmas.
Most of them in the orphanage were busy decorating their rooms with Christmas trees, bells, and stars; others slept wrapped in cosy blankets.
Suddenly a voice called, “Rohan, Rohan, where are you?”
The voice did not get any answer. The landlord of the orphanage had ordered a maid to find Rohan and ask him to come for lunch. The maid had searched every room but it was starting to seem like a wild goose chase.
, the maid realized. She sat down beside him. He must be thinking of his parentsBut as she ran around the corridors, she heard someone weeping; it was Rohan, sitting on a bench in the garden.
“Rohan stop crying. It’s time for your lunch. Sir has been calling you for a long time.”
“Oh! Please don’t force me to eat, I am not feeling well.” Rohan said.
“You can do whatever you like, I don’t care. But go and meet sir. He is worried about you.”
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Title : Perfect Innocence
Category : fiction
Author : Krishna Agarwal
Author intro : Krishna Agarwal is 17 years old, studying in Delhi Public School, Siliguri. Her father gets transferred from one place to another and this provides her with an excellent opportunity to explore different people, places, cultures across India. She enjoys travelling to new places. She also likes reading books, autobiographies, quotes, writing, playing badminton, cycling etc. And she loves public speaking. She loves it when she holds the mike and stands on stage – it seems as if the whole world is hers. She firmly believes that everyone is unique and has some sort of hidden talents. She believes that people should look for each other’s good values instead of being pessimistic about each other’s shortcomings.
Excerpt :
On the day of Bijoya Dashami, a young boy named Imam, just eight years old, sat on his balcony, enjoying the view of colourful crackers bursting outside his house.
After a while, he was taken inside by his Abbu in his wheelchair to read the holy Quran. Both father and son prayed for the nation's prosperity. After worshipping, the small boy stared at his father with his sparkling and curious eyes. With all his innocence and negligible courage, he asked his Abbu, “How do you know that God exists? Do our wishes ever come true when we pray to God?”
After a little pause, he continued, “Are we Muslims bad? Everyone says that we are-!”
But before he could complete the sentence, his Ammi rushed ahead and slapped Imam.
Imam started crying. But his Abbu consoled him and assured that he would be glad to answer all his questions.
He invited him to come with him to the local city park.
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Title :Constraining Lifeworlds – a Sociological Inquiry Into Personal Angst
Category : Essay
Author : Bhawesh Pant
Author intro : Bhawesh Pant is pursuing his M.Phil from Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. For his M.Phil dissertation, he is trying to situate the Raji tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) at the mainstay of his research. He is trying to sense the extent of exclusion of the Raji Tribe using the Hermeneutic Phenomenology and the Capability Approach. At the initial stage of his academic journey, he is delving with issues pertaining to Social Exclusion, Governance, and Decolonial Theories. Another ambitious engagement he is in is with the exploration of ‘Vernacular’ modernity. This conception of ‘Vernacular’ modernity is largely influenced by Dussel’s conception of Transmodernity (Dussel). Bhawesh Pant is frequently writing on Caste Atrocities, contemporary Political Contestations, and Social Theorists. He also worked on a project funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) entitled “Imprisonment and Family: A Study of the Families of the Prisoners of Aligarh District Jail of Uttar Pradesh" as a Research Assistant. He obtained his B.A (2016) from Lucknow University and M.A (2018) from Aligarh Muslim University.
Abstract: This is n humble attempt to delineate the discourses latched to the stories penned by our young colleagues. In hand we have two narrations, where both protagonists are muddled in their personal afflictions. These afflictions provide a tableau of our larger social world. While squinting on the lifeworld of Rohan, the central figure of our first narration, one can sense the precarious situations of 'institution life' (Orphanage). The other protagonist i.e. Imam, reveals the grammar of anti-Muslim sentiment prevalent in India.
With the motive to unfold the sociological sensitivities (Ostrow) adhered to the stories, the author tries to substantiate it with few scholarly works. While engaging with the theme of 'institution life' one can find the observations from Weber, Goffman and other scholarly confections. The author also takes assistance from the works of Samuel Huntington, Jaffrelot and Sayyid, in order to comprehend the concern of experiences of otherness ( Tanyas) raised by Imam in the second narration.
With this attempt the author is visioning to outline the social imaginary (James) that portrays the ‘spirit of the times’ or Zeitgeist which our young writers are forwarding through their respective stories.
Excerpt :
Explicating pure themes from others’ utterances is a difficult task to accomplish, as these articulations contain varied layers, socio-biographical roots, and lived experiences. The curator of this attempt consciously keeps ‘authors function’ (Foucault) as the vantage point to construe this piece. In ‘What is an Author’ (Foucault), Foucault opines that in the cultural product (read, text) more preeminent to the authorship is author function. This function refers to the delineation of discourse(s) which surrounds both the author and body of work. This tract will try to sense the sensibilities of our young colleagues which they have forwarded through their narrations.
At the mainstay of this consideration, we have two thought-provoking narrations. Let us sketch out the stories in the condensed form at the outset then we will move on to further elucidations. Rohan, the protagonist of our first story ‘The New Beginning’ was still in the melancholic trance of his deceased parents. His stay in the orphanage was destined with pessimism and despair. Amidst this ordeal, Rohan was optimistic that the day would come when his parents would return to end his anguish. This wish was insurmountable, but destiny had merry intentions for Rohan. On Christmas eve, Rohan was least interested in the festivity, as he was occupied by the wistfulness for his parents. ‘Festivals crop hopes’ but what if you don’t have parental support to materialize these hopes into reality? Rohan was in a serious void. But this nothingness in Rohan's life was going to be suffused by new hopes.
A couple (Disha and Suresh) visits the orphanage; they also had their baggage of remembrance for their deceased son. At the first sight of Disha, Rohan genially hugged her as if she were his mother. It seems that the emotional yearning both at the couple and Rohan’s end was satiated. That hug was a wholesome solace for Rohan. Few affectionate moments were shared in order to develop a tender bond with Rohan. Christmas eve had blues for Rohan; but the outset of new year ahead was accessing the doors of ‘The New Beginning’ wide open for Rohan. What was missed all this while was found, the innocence and aspiration of Rohan was formally adopted by the caring and hopeful hearts of Disha and Suresh.
Imam, a curious and innocent boy, is our central figure of second narration (‘Perfect Innocence’. Imam with his queries, is portrayed as a potent mirror to society. “Are we Muslims bad? Everyone says that we are…!” this half-done question was very biting; a pertinent concern of Imam for one’s communitarian identity which is satiated by his Abbu (father). Imam’s father considerately receives his (Imam) inquiry and forwards an accommodating and inclusive response.
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