Soupçon MCQ Series 30

 1) The preface to "The Wretched of the Earth", one of the most moving critiques of colonialism, is written by a)Frantz Fanon b) Albert Camus c) Jean-Paul Sartre d) Ngugi wa Thiong'O e) Edward Said

The correct option is (c) whose preface is both, theoretically rich yet humane. Ngugi and Said, like the author Frantz Fanon, are major theoreticians/critics of colonialism. 

2) "O! Horror, horror, horror" is a quote from a)Hamlet b) Othello c) Macbeth d) King Lear. 

The correct option is (c). 

This famous repetition of "O! horror, horror, horror!" in Act 2, Scene 3 functions almost as if it is the structural and thematic epicenter of the play. Spoken by Macduff upon discovering King Duncan’s assassinated body, the threefold repetition, it is argued, highlights an existential dread so profound that it strips even a seasoned warrior of his expressive ability.

Joseph Conrad has used it brilliantly in his novel "Heart of Darkness". 

3) "Portrait of a lady" is a poem written by    a) Robert Browning b) T. S. Eliot c) Khushwant Singh d) Henry James. 

The correct option is (b). It is a 1915 poem. Browning's poem about a lady's portrait is "My last Duchess". Singh's is a short story, a tribute to his granny. The title of James' superb novel is "The portrait of a lady".

Pratima Agnihotri                                                    Pune 

Of a film yet again!

 Time was when my film reviews used to be quoted in local newspapers as part of the film advertisement. Like 'Pratima Agnihotri of the "Newstime" says...', and along with Subhash Jha's for another English biggie. Why, our coverage in the "New Indian Express" of the Children's Film Festival was noted by none other than the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu. 

Yes, I do love films, though, of course, not as much as books n reading/writing or music. It was hence a pleasure to watch online a less known but good film entitled "Rough Book", scripted and directed by Anant Mahadevan. This much awarded film is quite a linear narration about an idealist teacher, enacted by Tannishtha Chatterjee, who changes the very profile of her under-performing students. 

The plot, narrated through a few flashbacks and later through some montages, tells how she opposés the mercantile attitude to teaching which consists of an unholy 'college-tuition class' alliance. Nor is she ready for 'tests' that prepare students for the final exam so that the institute can manage cent per cent results. 

Instead, she believes in making students love studies, explore concepts hands-on, and thus in the process get good scores. She links education to their hobbies, sees to it that their basic fundas are perfect. Arrogant brats thus start getting immersed in studies so much so that they crack the IIT-JEE. 

She believes that education is a process of socialisation as well as studies, and thus is a catalyst in their personality development. The film, though not didactic, is a great critique of the demand-supply mode of education, of wily smarties using the system to their advantage. In a 2026 marred by all sorts of educational/exam-oriented scandals, it is a proper lesson that must be watched by parents and professors-n-principals alike. 

Despite the symbolism of the title and of the broken glass of her car, the narration of this optimistic movie is highly realistic. Properly paced, this film apparently based on a true story, is thankfully without any song n dance hoo-ha. 

Like the minimal background music, some 'arresting' shots suggestively show the angst of the lady and her students. Her personal tragedy is interwoven well with the growth of the students. Performances by the lead actress and those in the supporting roles, be it Aman Khan or Ran Kapoor, make the movie worth a watch. Basically, it is lovable for the message that idealism, however much hindered, changes lives for better! 

Pratima@ Sad is the fact that such a movie, which shows the subtle corruption, the real violence actually, in as central an institution as education, sinks without a trace in the mainstream media-ted wor(l)d! 

Quote of the day:                                                           Says Confucius, "education breeds confidence, confidence breeds hope, hope breeds peace" with self and the world. 

Word of the day: didactic                                           Didactic describes something intended to teach, instruct, or impart a moral lesson. While originally a neutral term for educational instruction, it is frequently used to describe any text that feels overly preachy, boring, or burdened by its determination to teach. 

Who is afraid of eating with fingers?

 It is quite fashionable in India, in fact, it is often considered chic, modern, and sophisticated, to eat with fork, knife and spoon, and drink (I mean, non-alcoholic stuff) from glassware, tea n coffee in mugs, water n juices in beer mugs, and so on.

Do not you believe me? Okay, let me give you an example. Remember that ad of some jewellery brand? Two families, obviously very rich, are fixing the engagement of the Gen Zee's. The bride's granny slurps from the saucer the tea that is served. Aghast looks everywhere! Then the bridegroom's  father slurps tea from a saucer, too. Voilà, all is hunky dory! 

Actually, very few items of the Indian culinary system are made or meant for the fork and knife types, especially if you are a pure vegetarian. Most Indians, however, are 'Macaulay putras and putris' in this context as well. Just as, unlike the traditional mode, we stand n cook in the modular kitchen, we eat at the table with spoons! 

Actually, eating with fingers is good every way. It changes the gastronomic experience in to a multi-sensory phenomenon. We understand the texture of the food item to be enjoyed. So do we understand the temperature. We can wait for the warm (up) feeling which makes the food tastier still.

Eating with fingers is cleaner as well. Most families still do not themselves wash their utensils. Nor do they have the dishwasher. Instead they prefer grumbling about the maidservants, about whom, most often, the less said the better it is. When you eat with fingers, you tend to pay more attention to cleanliness. An extreme example can be that of the traditional mortar-pestle which is always easily and better cleaned than a mixie!

Eating with fingers, moreover, keeps you connected with the tradition and culture of the motherland without which people often are neither here nor there, forever fretting in a limbo! 

Better, in brief, to be one's own self. Why be afraid of eating with fingers?

Pratima@Traditionally, people used to eat off the banana leaves which was environment consciousness itself, as it would every which way take care of human beings, flora and fauna. This custom continues in many South households even today.

Quote of the day:                                                           Healthy  food, wealthy mood!

Word of the day: grinding slab                                 Grinding Slabs are solid natural stone slabs paired with a cylindrical hand roller. They crush ingredients slowly, retaining natural oils and aromas that electric blenders often destroy.

Soupçon MCQ Series 29

 1) Who amongst the following authors of Indian origin did not get the Booker Prize? 

1) Kiran Desai 2)Arundhati Roy 3) Jeet Thayil 4) Salman Rushdie 5) Arvind Aduga 6)Anita Desai

The answer is 5) Anita Desai: She was thrice nominated for the Booker Prize. 3) Jeet Thayil: He was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. 

2) Which of the following writings by Virginia Woolf are not fiction? a) Mrs Dalloway b) A room of one's own c) To the Lighthouse d) Three Guineas e) The Waves 

The answer is (b) and (d). "A Room..." has the famous Judith Shakespeare reference to prove how patriarchy ruins women's undeniable talent. "Three Guineas" blasts  fascism and war-mongering in addition to her feminist critique.

3) Marginalia refers to a) maniculae in the margins of a text b) embellishments in the margins of a text c) annotations in the margins of a text d) an editing tool. Which of the options is wrong? 

The correct answer is (d). 'Marginalia' is not an editing tool. 

Pratima Agnihotri                                                      Pune 

Soupçon MCQ Series 28

 Now that the NET exam is looming large, let us have an assortment of all sorts of MCQ types. 

1)Complete this quotation:                                        "The year is at the spring/And day's at the morn;/ Morning's at seven;/ The hill-side's dew-pearled;//   ...../....../... All's right with the world!// "

The quote is from Robert Browning's "Pippa's Song", a reflection in a way on the self-satisfied smug feel of the Victorian era. The three missing lines are:

      "The lark's on the wing;/The snail's on the thorn;/God's in his heaven"  

and hence this famous stanza ends with "All's right with the world!" 

2) Who wrote the following lines? 

"And not by eastern windows only,/When daylight comes, comes in the light,/In front, the sun climbs slowly, /But, westward, look, the land is bright." 

The options are: a) Rudyard Kipling b) W. H. Davies c) Walter de la Mare d) A. C. Clough

The correct option is (d). Clough was a brilliant poet. Often quoted by Churchill during World War II, he was Matthew Arnold's close friend.

3) " And we are here as as on a darkling plain/swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,/Where ignorant armies clash by night." 

Thus ends Mathew Arnold's " Dover Beach." The figures of speech in these lines are: 1) simile 2) metaphor 3) imagery 4) symbolism

The choices are: a) 1 and 2 b) 1 and 4 c) 1 and 3 d) 2 and 3.

The correct option is (c). The lines are one of the best examples of simile, that is, two dissimilar notions obviously compared. The simile here is extensively stated as well, with traces thus of an "extended simile." There is also a clear indication of a visual-aural image. 

Pratima Agnihotri                                                       Pune 

When fiction becomes history

 Exactly twenty-five years ago, on June 15, 2001 came alive in a vibrant (hi)story the three major passions of the India then; namely, cricket, politics and cinema! The occasion was the release of "Lagaan", not merely a money minting blockbuster but also a unique way of looking at "entertainment, entertainment, entertainment." 

No longer was cinema mere fun or silly romance. Cinema attained the gravitas of a historical document. Surely, influenced heavily by "Naya Daur" and its defining race between a horse driven tonga (the emerging Indian 'i'dentity  post Independence) and a motor car (reflecting money minded  modernity), "Lagaan" used sports, specifically cricket, to comment on pre-Independence India and the colonial cruelty.

True, the story of the film, a cricket match against the British to avoid heavy taxation, is fiction. Yet the film effectively captures the ambience of the India of the late nineteenth century, the stupid, self-indulgent local kings, the arrogant and the exploiting British, the constant famines, and the oppressed lives of the common man, the farm labourer and/or small time farmer. 

Yet the plot that the script-writer Ashutosh Govarikar spins around the definitive match is also a story of Indians of all varieties joining hands to fight the British. Just as it is a story of the unity, unmistakable are the tributes to Indian cricket greats such as the spin master Chandrashekhar, for instance. 

The film comes alive on the celluloid because of Nitin Desai's superb art direction. True, Aamir Khan's visibly invisible hand unmistakably dominated direction, cinematography and editing. Remarkable is the acting by the minor most character, with Aamir Khan towering tall as the rebellious, principled, determined good guy Bhuvan. 

Superb is A.R. Rahman's background score which captures subtly yet most effectively  the local Champaran soundscape. The songs, penned by Javed Akhtar, jell well within the narrative.

A masterpiece, in brief, in which Gracy Singh debutted as the simple but sensitive and sincere Gauri, the only lacuna in this realistic film is Elizabeth's infatuation. I am personally of the opinion that instead of a trite n impossible love triangle, a British mother figure helping the natives would have taken the film to greater heights! Well, Aamir Khan, surely his loss, does not know me, one of his hardcore fans till he declared India unfit to live!

In brief, a la the title song of  Amitabh's "Amar, Akbar, Anthony", " unhoni ko honi kar de/when come together three Indian passions/cricket, politics and cinema"! 

Pratima@ I think, given the success of "Lagaan", the (hi)story as cinema genre dominated the Bollywood for quite some time, Aamir's own "Mangal Pandey" being an example. 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Cinema is a mirror by which we often see ourselves." You said it, Alejandro G. Iñárritu! 

Word of the day: historical realism                          Historical realism refers to an artistic style or a creative subgenre that embeds characters and narratives into verifiable historical events and settings. It aims for high historical accuracy and plausibility, depicting past eras honestly and without romanticized ideals, making both the setting and the human experience feel authentic.

Mesmerising Music

 Truly the zenith of the glory of Indian classical music was the finale of the first-ever-in-Pune Swar Samrat Festival, organised by Shreeranjani Trust, in association with Mitra Foundation, and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The first half of this evening, dedicated to the best and the unique in the classical music world, was devoted to a tabla jugalbandi. The way Yogesh Samsiji and the young maestro, Yashwant Vaishnavji, presented this percussion instrument, often associated as a mere accompaniment, was genuinely incredible. 

Both of them proved that a jugalbandi is a communion. They were together exploring the subtle artistry of the different 'taals' whose very 'bols' would be tough to the uninitiated. Both of them presented the 'bols' as a 'duo-logue.' Honestly, at times, the perfect rhythm was so soulfully intense that one could unmistakably hear a melody blooming out of the 'bols', and beyond the lyrical lehra that Yashwant Thittejj's harmonium adroitly offered.

If Samsiji  and Vaishnavji were 'tabla tapasvi' devoted to their art without even a single beat playing to the gallery, Padma Vibhushan Parveen Sultanaji, who performed in the second half, had the grandeur and elegance of a crown jeweller proudly displaying the priceless pearls and incomparable diamonds, the exclusive heirlooms royalty alone could own.

Unbelievable it was that a lady in her mid-seventies could present in an hour or so such a peak performance which consisted of  an assortment of evening raag's, a bhajan, a bhav geet (in Marathi!), a thumri and a bhairavi. So young was her voice in its 'firat', its taan's, its 'layakari' that her masterful artistry effortlessly defeated ageism. 

Equally interesting was her youthful attitude, a mix of nostalgia and endearing naughtiness, as if she was chatting through 'notes' with long lost friends. What a wonderful tribute the enrapt three hours were to classical music in the present times of rappers rupturing sense, beats, rhythm and harmony every possible way! The Puneites would surely look forward annually to such tremendous tributes by the sarod maestro, Padmashree Tejinder Narayan Majumdar to his guru, Padma Vibhushan Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

Pratima@ The audience, too, was an asset to the mehfil. In an auditorium packed to capacity, mobiles mostly were out to film the priceless performances. Quite some tribute to the power of these masterful performers! 

Quote of the day:                                                        "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent," insists Victor Hugo.

Word of the day: ageism                                           Ageism is a type of discrimination based on one's age, generally used to refer to age-based discrimination against the elderly. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe this discrimination, building on different types of "-isms." 

Pratima Agnihotri                                                      Pune