Tess Of The D'Urbervilles-- review from teenager's POV.

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES: A REVIEW 

 

I think that it is the best Victorian book ever written. It can be considered revolutionary for THAT era, but may seem conservative to most of the present day readers. It's a book that will make you ponder on so many worthy questions about love, life, freedom, personality, and what not. You'll find yourself digging up in the deep recesses of mind for the answers. You'll empathize with the protagonist, will accept her with all her faults, exaggerate her merits, downplay her demerits. You'll question whether what we have in OUR society is any better or not.

Let's first start with the plot. 

The story takes place in an area of England, to the southwest of London in the late 19th Century. This is mainly about a country girl bestowed with all the fine features that were supposed to make a girl beautiful in that Victorian Era- thick long tresses of hair, snowy white satin smooth skin, rosy lips, expressive and large eyes; in short, the Snow White of the era ( by the way, the character of Snow White is not a modern day contraption, in fact, it is an old European tale and was published by the Grimm Brothers in 1812 ). Her father got to know of their lineage with the D'Urbervilles- a powerful knightly family that had died out. He forced his daughter-Tess or Teresa to go work for Alec D'Urbervilles, and charm him into marrying her. But Tess did not fancy Alec, who was an impostor, by the way- his father got rich in business and bought the D'Urbervilles title. Alec got entranced by Tess' beauty and raped and impregnated her. When her parents got to know that she did not take up Alec on his offer of marrying her, they were furious, and her father refused to provide for her child and let it die of sickness. Tess went away from her birthplace to Talbothays, a dairy farm. Here she fell passionately in love with Angel Clare- the Parson's son who wanted to enter into farming. She tried to tell him about her past, but couldn't gather enough courage up until the night they got married. Angel was deeply hurt and abandoned her, leaving her with some money. Tess managed on her own, till Alec came back in her life. She pleaded with Angel to come back to her, but he was too late. Alec forced Tess to marry him by supporting her mother and her siblings when her father passed away. Angel returned and found Tess, only to know she married Alec. Tess, on the other hand, killed Alec because he blinded her with his cruel words about Angel and brainwashing her into marrying him. She and Angel ran away, spend some beautiful days together on the run, but finally got caught up at Stonehenge, where Tess was arrested. She was hanged, and Angel honored her last wish of marrying her sister.

MISTAKEN GIFT.

Chapter 1.

I'm so tired of this long day! Really! What are these people playing at? Seriously? We have to prepare a presentation on the whole giant topic of "Jane Austen's Life, Work and Love" in a week?! A paltry seven days' time to finish, polish and present a topic which has taken literary researchers decades, even centuries?! Well, I can't do anything. It's my senior year after all.  And I've to do it to get good grades. I've to get a good job, because apparently I -- Sanjana Suryavanshi commonly known as Sanju, am to damn poor to get along for even a couple of days without the support of my over-the top rich parents, who by the way, have withdrawn their oh-so helpful hands on learning that I was going to opt English Literature. Just pure awesome! Thankfully, I wasn't that stupid, so I got a scholarship to my college. But that won't help me at all if I don't manage to get a job, will it? So, I just gotta do it. No other option baby...

With a heavy heart, a salivating mouth and a grumbling tummy at the lost prospect of gupchup that evening, I set out to the nearby internet cafe, with a Rs.20 clutched in my hand. As expected, the cafe was full of guys downloading porn covertly. Hah! As if they can be so stealthy, with the constant looking over their shoulders, smacking their lips and making odd sounds. Really, guys had no control whatsoever. Here I am, walking down the narrow passage between the two rows of computers, with complete dedication etched on my sincere face, and here are these 'Fifty-Shades loving' desperate guys. What a stark difference between our personalities! Anyway, I finally find an engaged, moldy looking computer, just beside a guy hunched over a stack of papers typing furiously onto the keyboard. I'm kind of curious about this exception to the human male species. But, I've to get on with my work. I can't waste my time wondering about exceptions to all cases. 

After an hour's of religious searching, data collection and letting of my Rs.20, I finally walk towards my hostel. But I just can't help but notice Mr. Exception barreling towards me, like a charging bull. Before I can even utter a note of surprise, I'm shoved rather rudely and unceremoniously out of the way. Ouch! It really hurts when you fall on the hard ground, with a muscular ( though handsome) guy pinning you to the dirty road. i turned my head sideways and saw a bull charging through the place I'd just been standing in. What a surprise. I'll have to be careful with my similes from now on, as they tends to happen. 

After getting a lot of sorry from his side, and a few thank you from my side, we finally get to know each others names. This dark, handsome knight in Armour has an equally royal name--Anant Chandravanshi. We exchanged numbers, of course. But It's not like I like him, ok? It's plain gratitude. plus, he seemed a studious guy. Above all, he seemed to have a good nature, and that is mighty rare dude. Anyway, I think he'll be good friend. I'm so not gonna explain how he looks, it'll just undermine his rugged handsomeness. Just imagine a light dark rough expanse on a beautiful sunset. No delicate flowers swaying with the wind, no green grass covering the grounds. Just plain beauty, like Earth showing off its beauty, its strength. His dark eyes so deep, his hair so dark, his skin golden brown, lashes fanning his cheeks, eyebrows raised in question, sometimes crunched in worry... Well, don't think that I'm in love! I'm just brushing up my literary skills, see how poetic I've become! 

I've been thinking about him since I reached my room. Shall I call him? No. That'll seem foolish. But I don't seem to have much friends. Just one. And that too, she's going away forever in two days time. It's her marriage. Most of the Arts students are married by the time they reach their last year. Hence, my empty room. No, I won't call him. Let him do so. After all, he was the one who asked my number first. Well, I wait and wait and wait..finally I text him a joke. Let's see what happens...

Just an excerpt...

I feel frustrated! I feel stranded! I don't know why I am feeling like this. Am I still in love with him? My instant response is No, but I think it is just because I was dreading the answer. I 'm gonna try once again...do I love him? Yes. My first faint response is yes. Can I imagine a world without him? No. Can I live without him? No.
I still feel like crying whenever I hurt him -- physically or emotionally. I still get damn worried when he doesn't pick up my calls or answer my messages. But, I feel as if...as if I can't spend anymore time with him. I feel that my time with him is numbered--limited. I am afraid. I am afraid that I will not be here anymore. That I will be dragged away someplace far away..I am afraid that I'm not good enough. I am afraid that I will be lonely. I am afraid that he will at last see some sense..and will then leave me.
I think that the main reason that I am angry and unsure is that he wasn't there for me when I needed him acutely. Yes, that is the reason. I realized that I had become dependent on him...I had considered him to be my rock. But he wasn't there in two circumstances...one of them way bigger for me to handle all alone. It frightened me. It felt like deja-vu. It has happened before. And that time too I lost a loved one. I'm not angry at him...not disappointed...but I have this strange foreboding....something bad is going to happen to me. I am angry at myself..at my luck..or rather, my fate. I am angry at everyone.
I can't tell him...I know. He will either apologize or try to reassure me. I want neither..as I know..it is neither his fault nor his duty. I don't want to worry him. I really want our relationship to work. So. I can't ever tell him that we have got much less time together. It will break his heart. And, I won't be able to stand it...


Hey, friends!! Just an excerpt. Nothing else. I'm thinking of making a story out of it. That is, if you all like excerpt. Even if the story really does takes place...one chapter at a time....
Cheerio!!!!! 

Corrupt India Or Corrupt Indians?

Well, friends, so sorry for not posting for such a long time. No internet connection.
Today, I wanted to write about India's leading problem -- CORRUPTION

My dearest Indians,

We all cry and mope around about India's corruption. To use the specific word 'bhrusht hai Bharat'. We lay the blame on India's ministers and government officials. It surely is their fault as they do ask for bribes.  
 But, we often hear our elders saying that they had to bribe the government clerk to accept their application, or had to pay a big sum to a certain official to pass their file, etc. I want to ask all of them, what is had to in that particular situation? Of course, giving bribe speeds up your process, spares you the ticket if you break traffic rules, and lets you have  many other benefits.  But do the Indians think about India? What makes India corrupt is its citizens. A lowly peon asks for bribe so that he, in return can give a bribe to his higher authority for doing some favor for him. This cycle continues. But, what if the citizens, from whom the bribe is taken, refuse to bribe anybody? Sure, the government works and procedures will get slower than usual, but isn't that a small price to pay for the betterment of our country? We bribe so that the law is passed in our favor, but shouldn't we wait patiently and let the verdict be lawful? I know, it is very hard to accomplish this, as there is a vast economical difference between the rich and poor o the country. If a person committed a crime and he/she is rich, then he/she can get away easily by bribing. This is the ugly truth of India, and there is no point in keeping it all hushed up. Until and unless a crime is broadcast in the national news and a total mayhem is created by it, the law will be passed in its favor. This happens most of the time. Sure, there are some honest citizens left in the country who believe in justice, but they are suppressed by the all-powerful corrupts.
The most efficient way to eradicate corruption from the country is not to think about the proverb -- 'Tit for Tat' , and act on it. If there are a few people practicing unlawful ways and encouraging corruption, we -- the majority, should discourage it and try our utmost to not give in to the filthy shortcuts practiced by our foes. We really should stand firm on our ground and deny giving any kind of bribe to speed our works.   
India was never corrupt, it is us Indians who have turned this beautiful country so filthy and corrupt. We should strive to make India a better place. Depending upon the Government to solve this problem will never work. We, the Indians will have to pledge to eradicate corruption-- by not bribing or encourage bribing, from India.


I thank my readers for bearing up with me. If you really consider yourself as a citizen of India, please, for God's Sake, stop Bribing!

WOMAN

(By- Protichi Chatterjee)

.I  should be tranquil, but I aspire to be active.

I should be docile, but I aspire to be wild.

I should be diligent, but I aspire to be impatient.

I should be inferior, but I aspire to be superior.

I wonder why I am so stereotyped.

I wonder why I am thus dominated.

Do I have no prominence?

Am I of no consequence?

Shouldn’t I have my own conviction?

Do I have to suffer such continuous interdiction?

Why should I not have equal rights?

Why can’t I reach to equal heights?

Man, why should I ask your permission?

Why should I pay heed to your silly prohibition?

I am a Woman, my dignity is paramount.

I am on equal footing with you.

You shan’t on me be so very dominant.

I have great pride in being a Woman, I do.

Let us all strive to be equal.

Let us have none of this man-woman sequel.

The World is made of both our equal contribution

We are both essential elements, we come to this conclusion.

A Twisted Fairy-Tale

Once upon a time, a girl came to live in small town named 'Hopeland'. She had previously resided in a cursed town named 'Despair-Land'. There, people couldn't fulfill their hopes and desires. The girl escaped from that dire place because she wanted a bit of hope.

The girl carried on with her life in Hopeland, but without any success of hope ever coming to her. The curse of Despair-land had taken a deep root inside her soul. Whatever she wished for came tauntingly close, and then disappeared, leaving her more broken than before. In this half destroyed condition, she met a boy in her locality. They fell in love instantly. The girl tried to resist the power of love very much, but to no avail. Love overpowered her better judgement, and she fell maddeningly and irrevocably in love with that boy. The boy too, loved her passionately. Days passed, months passed and their love and regard for each other kept on increasing. The boy taught the girl to hope -- hope for their futures together,  and the girl started nurturing that hope with great care within her. As a result of her care, her hope solidified, attaching itself to her very soul, near the place where the curse from her former home resided.  The hope she nurtured nourished itself by feeding on her life-essence. It became a part of her, and with time engulfed her heart, merging with it as one. 

But, the girl should have known better. She should have known that her greatest folly had been to hope again, to make herself susceptible to love.  The curse residing in her soul had only waited for the love and the hope to become a  major part of her heart. The moment this stage was attained, the curse showed its effect. The boy she loved so much, broke her heart and went away. The hope she nurtured broke her heart into pieces. She couldn't survive anymore with those broken pieces of her heart, unable to serve its purpose. She breathed her last breath with agony and then lay still forever. 

The curse triumphed. There was no happily ever after, just because the girl dared to hope, hope with her whole being. She was cursed. She should have learned to live with it. She should have learned not to hope.

Hope you like this new version of fairy-tale. I tried to do something out of the league. 

Dark Prince

(By- Protichi Chatterjee)

The day the sun set for forever

With the promise to rise never

Is the day I met the darkness

With its dark wings outstretched-

Ostentating its greatness.

I craved the scorching heat of the sun

But my prayers were heard by none.

Felt everything in this Earth was over

When the dark prince came riding his black beauty

Like a true lover.

He made the darkness look bright

And made my heart dance with delight.

I saw his handsome face, his mocking eyes

And it made me realize all my lies.

The truth was in front of me and I grasped it

And the darkness started inching away bit by bit.

I realized that the darkness was inside me

I grabbed the light of truth and kept it by me.

The darkness finally left the Earth

The sun again rose, laughing with all it was worth.

In the light of the truth and the sun-

I saw the prince and all that he had done.

His face glowed with love for me-

And I found my own capability to love again.

He came and planted a feather light kiss on me

And I tried to hug him, but all in vain.

He vaporized- gone to save another beauty

And all I was left with was rejection and self-pity.

But before going, he taught me-

Darkness is fought by light

The light found inside me

And whatever he did, he was right.

As I now know love in its true might.

Hey friends. This poem is a tribute to the people who have passed away in the Nepal tragedy or have lost family members in that horrifying and sorrowful earthquake.
All I request for is that at least show remorse for those who have lost their family, pray for the ones who are alive and have to suffer the lose of their loved ones, for the dead who have lost so much of their precious life.

DEAD ASPIRATIONS

(By- Protichi Chatterjee)

A night yet again passed by

With my child craving for a tricycle.

My beloved coveting to confront her ailing mamma with a sigh

And I postponing as usual, my character so typical.

The building shook, my bones within rattling

The Earth seemed to dislodge itself from the universe.

I grabbed my family with the terror within me rising

Just as the world came apart at its seams.

Voices first reached my desensitized ears

Then I felt the still bodies of my existence pressed about me.

Comprehension dawned on me with an intensity fierce

And I felt my life ebbing away from me.

Rescue had arrived, and maybe I would survive,

But all those dead aspirations cut me like sharpened knives.

If I would but give up profit-making businesses for a day,

My family would have died all merry and gay.

How to respond to the calls of the rescuers

When I desired to accompany my family in their tours?

My life wanted to come to a stand-still

All I craved for was the fulfillment of my loved ones’ will.

Burden of Lies

(By- Protichi Chatterjee.)

Cold winds blew past me and swept

Every trace of the numerous tears I wept.

Hardened my warm soul

Into nothing less than ice

And made me shudder with the gravity of my own lies.

I aimed to my right

And threw the weight of the gravity with all my might.

It only increased its power on me

And I could neither endure nor flee.

So supreme was its burden

That I was buried underneath it.

My life giving element forbidden

I was losing myself bit by bit.

I spoke aloud and thrashed for help

Maybe a one or two dog- like yelp.

No one came and rescued me

Or gave a second glance at the suffering of thee.

I confessed, thinking this was the end of me

When suddenly the burden lifted and I was able to breathe.

The heavens opened up for me to see

The showers of blessings and memories sweet.

( picture obtained from-pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com)

Woes of Small-Town Students

Friends, are you living in a small-town, B-Grade city of India? Are you thinking of choosing your subjects for Class XI?  If yes, then what options is your school offering?  Plain old Maths, Biology and Commerce? Is Arts/Humanities included in your options? What extra subject are you going to opt? Students, do you know the magnitude of optional subjects that are offered by CBSE? 

The optional subjects offered by CBSE are ---

1. Sanskrit
2. Psychology
3. Geography
4. Sociology
5. Political Science
6. History
7. Economics
8. Hindi
9. Business Studies
10. Urdu
11. Heritage Crafts
12. Graphics Design
13. Computers and Communication Technology
14. Fine Art
15. Astronomy
16. Entrepreneurship
17. Fashion Studies
18. Engineering Graphics
19. Philosophy
20. Physical Education
21. And a huge array of Languages

The full options can be viewed at the sites--

1. http://cbseacademic.in/publication_sqps.html
2. http://cbseacademic.in/supportmaterial.html

The options are so many that it is becoming cumbersome for me to mention them all! But how many of these numerous options have been made available to you? I too, am a student. I know the that the options available to me are so scanty that I am forced to take up the subject which I thoroughly dislike. For me, as well as many of you, the selection of your optional subjects is between the one you dislike more and the one you dislike less. Is this the way our RIGHT to choose our own subjects are being exercised?  We are being denied of our rights, and no one is protesting. Getting the freedom to choose our stream is not sufficient. We should also be given enough options by the schools for our extra subject to choose from.

 I personally think that even if a  single student wishes to take up these seemingly out of the way subjects, the Government should hold examinations and provide correspondence materials to that student.

Incorporating these subjects in the small cities and towns, and ensuring that the students get the benefits of the various extra subjects devised by CBSE is a crucial step towards identifying the Students' rights in India.

We, as students should raise our voices against this denial of our rights, and should strife to make our futures brighter with the choices we make. I already, have started doing so. This is an effort from my side to rouse those who are ignorant and are following the tunes of the Bagpiper to their own downfall. So, wake-up , my friends and demand for what is rightfully yours.

Cheers! 

DUAL PERSONALITY

I slept, afraid of what may come

The nightmares or whom I may become.

I was quivering with fear

I dreaded of what may happen to the ones who were near.

The night came, and I became a beast

Again inside someone whom no one recognized.

I met no one, and no one cared a least

I shut myself up, and never again socialized.

The beast ate up my soul

And all that was left of me was flesh and bone.

I was afraid--frightened of what I could do

And I asked my soul if I hated myself too.

The answer was--NO, I don't

I just have a problem of identity.

I don't hate myself--I won't!

After all, I can have my own dual personality.