What were the challenges and difficulties the travellers faced during their pilgrimage in the poem Enterprise by Nissim Ezekiel?

Ans. - At the very onset of their pilgrimage, the travellers were all spirited and energetic. The apprehended difficulties appeared to them to be of little concern: "Exalting minds and making all/ The burdens light." But the sooner the second stage of their journey started, the more immediately the travellers began to feel the rigours of it (journey). The first thing that made them troubled was the blazing sun. The heat of the sun was intense and they began to feel most uneasy and uncomfortable because of it.

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Attemp a critical analysis of Nissim Ezekiel's Enterprise.

Ans. The poem Enterprise written by Nissim Ezekiel describes a journey of some enthusiastic people of which the poet is also a part. This journey - rather a metaphorical journey - can also be compared to the human condition on earth which is full of difficulties and failures. This pilgrimage is set to achieve a specific goal - to know the unknown and to see the unseen. But sadly enough, they reached 'The Waste Land', the land of unproductivity, and there they failed to taste Masefield's "merry yarn" or "sweet dream". The enterprise, though started in high spirit, faced some setbacks in the middle. Finally when they reached the destination they doubted the importance of that troublesome "long trick". They realized its futility and concluded: "Home is where we have to gather grace." It reminds us of those famous lines of Michael Madhusudan Dutta, “এ ভিখারী-দশা তবে কেন তোর আজি?/ যা ফিরি, অজ্ঞান তুই, যা রে ফিরি ঘরে।” Thus the narrative poem Enterprise delivers a great message. The poem is thematically didactic. It helps us to learn the significance and importance of the motto "United we stand, Divided we fall." The poem consists of six stanzas having five lines each. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ababa.

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Write a note on Blake's use of imagery and symbolism in The Tyger and The Lamb.

Ans. - William Blake is a mystic par excellence, and perhaps the greatest poet in English Literature who expresses his mystical thoughts through symbols. Like Shelley, he uses the objects of nature as symbols to suggest the spiritual reality that lies behind appearances. The Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience are apparently very simple but not always actually so. Moreover, often they have great depths and are capable of encouraging a number of interpretations. These songs are lyrics which deal with rural life, with childhood joys, with trees, flowers and birds, with lambs and shepherds. Blake's 'Introduction' indicates the origin of the collection: Piping down the valleys wild. Blake's poetry comprises different types of symbols, such as, innocence symbols, energy symbols, sexual symbols, corruption symbols, oppression symbols and so on.

In The Lamb and The Tyger, Blake tried to draw a picture of God's creation of meek and fierce creatures together. Blake believed in Transcendentalism which means God is present in all creatures. Both poems display Romanticism through the use of symbolism which glorifies the disparity of nature's aspects.

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Give a brief description about the season depicted in the Prologue to Kalidasa's Abhijnana Shakuntalam.

Ans. - Kalidasa has been called the poet of nature. The vitality, vibrancy and vividness have found magnificent expression in his writings, appearing in different dimensions and moods to create a deeply overwhelming influence on both the readers and the spectators. Its spirit both inspires the poet with its mystic spell and offers insights in various human situations and characters. Kalidasa uses natural motifs to obtain clarity of his deep love for and involvement with nature, and those motifs reflect everywhere in his finely chiselled verses and delightful descriptions.

Endowed with that keen observant vision which rarely gifted to a select few, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Guy de Maupassant, Alexander Pushkin being some of them, Kalidasa too demonstrates a unique sharp eye for the details and a talent for harmonizing them into enchanting compositions. He observed the phenomena of living nature most accurately, though his accuracy was, of course, of the poet, not that of a scientist.

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Analyse the social values of women as depicted by the great poet Kalidasa in Abhijnana Shakuntalam.

Ans. - The Abhijnana Shakuntalam is a marvelous work of the great poet and playwright Kalidasa, the brightest star in the firmament of Indian poetry and it is generally regarded as a masterpiece. It is a Nataka (play) in Seven Acts, based on the love-story of king Dushyanta and the maiden Shakuntala, Each Act of the play has some various social values of women which are more beneficial to human society and the present day world. These social values, i.e., emotions, behaviour, attitude, feelings and experiences, mental states, the degree of patience, the quality of forgiveness, reaction to social situations, modesty and decency etc. of women, are well-reflected throughout the play.

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Critically evaluate Sudraka's Mrichchakatika as a Prakarana play in the light of the guidelines laid down in Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra.

Ans. - Prakaraṇa refers to one of the “ten kinds of dramatic plays” (daśarūpa), according to the Bharat's Nāṭyaśāstra, Chapter 20. The list of ten types of plays is as follows: (i) Nataka, (ii) Prakarana, (iii) Samavakara, (iv) Ihamrga, (v) Dima, (vi) Vyayoga, (vii) Anka, (viii) Prahasana, (ix) Bhana and (x) Vithi. These different types of dramas are considerd to have originated from the various styles (vṛtti), which is discussed in Chapter 22 of the same work. The Prakaraṇa type of drama includes the following styles: Verbal (bhāratī), Grand (sāttvatī) and Energetic (ārabhaṭī).

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How far are the game of dicing and its sequel responsible for the war of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata?

Ans. - The game of dice is one of the major turning points of the epic Mahabharata and the incident which sows the seeds of the Kurukshetra war. It is an episode that changed the very course of the Mahabharata. Shakuni, the expert with his dice, also a master of illusion, got together with Duryodhana to hatch yet another plot to destroy the Pandavas. They invited them to a game of dice. Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, had a weakness for the game. He immediately agreed. Once there, Duryodhana said that his uncle would be casting the dice for him. Predictably, Yudhishthira kept losing each game, also losing his possessions with each wager. He lost his palaces, property, herds, army, servants and even his own brothers, one by one. He then lost his own identity and gave up his crown. Finally, he was asked to wager Draupadi. He did so and lost her too.

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Critically examine The Cilappatikaram as an epic with special reference to The Book of Vanci, Book - III.

Ans. The Cilappatikaram, the national epic, by Ilanko Atikal, is hailed as the masterpiece of Indian literature - a showcase of the virtues of a Tamil society during the Sangam period. The woeful tale of Kannaki, the eternally suffering chaste wife who bore her husband's unchaste behaviour, has emerged as the golden example of the powers that accrue to chaste Tamil women. Urged on by a patriarchal, hegemonic principle, the concept of chastity (Karpu) for Tamil women evolved as a form of learned self-denial of sexuality, tolerance, submissiveness and bashfulness that combined to form a benevolent power (sakthi).

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Examine the salient features of Shakuntala's character in Kalidasa's Abhijnana Shakuntalam.

Ans. - Words are inadequate to describe the noblest and the loveliest poetic creation of the sweet Shakuntala by the immortal bard Kalidasa in his immortal play Abhijnana Shakuntalam. Shakuntala "dominates the whole play. She is actually on the stage in five of acts, and her spirit pervades the other two, the second and the sixth."

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