Where there is a wheel by P. Sainath

 WHERE THERE IS WHEEL                                                                                                          P.Sainath

                                                                    

1. Role of Arivoli Iyakkam:

The cycling movement was started by Arivoli. N.Kannammal one of the pioneer and central co-ordinator of the cycling movement. Pudukottai’s vigorous literacy drive led by Arivoli Iyakkam (light of knowledge Movement) created a good number of the neo-literates and neo-cyclist. N.Kannammal says cycling gave women confidence and reduced the dependence on men. This organisation conducted many camps to encourage rural women. Arivoli gave cycling a social sanction and contributed a lot to train the learners. A very large number of those who learnt cycling come to train the beginners. And this way they helped nearly 70,000 rural women to learn cycling. And they proudly displayed their new skill in public exhibitions.

2.In what different ways does the cycle empower rural women?

 Cycling is the way for development of the rural women. It enables them to be free and work for themselves without depending on men. Women need not walk long distances to fetch water and even they can take their children with them. They can take their product easily to the market, as they need not wait for public transport. They can go on with their bicycle and cover a wider distance. It also assures self-respect to women.

Cycling also empowers women economically, as it boosts income. Some rural women sell agricultural or other produce within a group of villages can have a great deal of time by going to such places on bicycles. It gives much more time to focus on selling their produce. Besides it enlarges their area they can hope to cover. And thus they can make use of their leisure time. These women can rush back home early and tend their children and perform other works. Finally cycling gives freedom to women.

3.Cycling Training Camp:

 Arivoli activist conducted training camps in Kilakuruchi village. Arivoli gave cycling a social sanction and thus conducted many training camps. The writer who visited the camps calls it an unusual experience. The leaner makes best use of Sunday’s to learn cycling. They developed a deep passion to learn cycling and they had to learn, as they wanted to give their answer to the criticism and filthy remarks. Cycling offered a different and unique way to move out of the enforced routines, which male-dominant society posed on women. The neo-cyclist sang songs produced by Arivoli to encourage bicycling.

III. “O, sister come learn cycling, move with the wheel of  time”                                                                                                                                                                                              

The essay, ‘Where there is a wheel “ is taken from  ‘Everybody loves the drought’ by P.Sainath. The essay talks about how cycle has changed the lives and livelihood of rural women of Pudukottai. Here women felt cycling is a symbol of freedom, independence and mobility.’ This humble vehicle has become a metaphor for freedom. It gave them confidence and reduced their dependency on men.

The author mentions Arivoli activists N.Kannammal , who pioneered cycling movement and this vigorous literary  drive broughtout   many neo-literates and neo-cyclists. It enabled the women to do their routine work in a new way. As she can travel a long distance to collect water, to bring provisions, to sell agricultural produce. It also boosts their income and could do their work more quickly and easily, as they need not wait for buses or not to depend on men.

Arivoli encouraged these women, who had passion to bring a chance in their own lives and in the society. They sang song produced by Arivoli to encourage women. Muthu Bhaskarn, a male Arivoli activist, wrote the famous cycling song to call upon the women folk to learn cycling.                                                                                 It says:“O, sister come learn cycling, move with the wheel of time”

It calls upon the woman to change herself and move out of the house, hammering the fetters that hold them. Here wheel refers to the progress of women. Thus the song suggests that the cycle is an instrument of social progress and it changes the lives of the Indian rural women by giving them better options

Water by C.S Rani

WATER

The poem water by CHALAPALLI Swaroopa Rani presents the struggle, humiliation, anguish and sufferings undergone by the dalits to obtain their rightful share of water. It describes problems faced in the rural areas of Andra Pradesh. Dalits were considered as untouchable by upper caste people. They had to face many difficulties as they were prohibited from the basic necessities of life, the water.

Water acts as a silent spectator for the ‘Generations- old strife.’ 
It knows that untouchability will never disappear like the dampness on the well’s edge. Dalits live outside the village and their colony is called ‘Wada’. They had no right to draw water from the well because water becomes impure. The poet cites biblical incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to Samarian woman and asks her for water, who belongs to an inferior race. The speaker says whether one is a cobbler or a weaver, water is essential to all. The speaker presents the instances of panchama who is forced to wait with a pot all day long, until a shudra comes to serve him.

The speaker mentions the humiliation of wada girl, when the water is poured on her instead of pot. Water has lead many quarrels between upper caste and lower caste. When the upper caste boys were washing dirty buckets, which was questioned by a lower caste boy, who was beaten up and this act was opposed by a woman, Suvarthamma, who had come to draw the water, raised her pot in self defense. Thereon there was a communal clash between upper caste and lower caste .The poetess also recalls how the thatched roof in Malapalle were reduced to ashes as there was not a pot pot of water to extinguish it. This led to a wide spread water movement to gain, ‘Right to water’, by dalits.

The poetess reminiscences how her wada was in thirst for a glass of water, and how they eagerly waited to take bath onces a week, as a wonderous festival, whereas the village bathed twice a day. Water is not just H2O, But a mighty movement. She expresses her views how water gave a way to mighty revolution. She cites the Mahad struggle at Chaddar tank led by                  Dr.B.R.Amebedkar. Dalits were denied the access to public tank, inspite of the resolution sent by the municipality that to allow the untouchables to access water, so he led the to the reservoir and drank the water asserting the right of dalits. Even now we can find the fights between people states, Karnataka and Tamil nadu, causing a huge loss on the property and lives too, over the question of sharing water.

Later she remembers how she would walk a long way, balancing heavy pots on their heads. And when the thatched root fire they did not have a drop of water to dampen the fire. The water that failed to fulfill the needs of the lower caste became the heinous murderer as the Tsunami swallowed the whole village after village.

People are the toys in the hands of water. It’s not a simple thing. It can turn a village into a dry desert as well can drown them in flood. The water for which many lives were lost, wars were fought has become an international commodity. It has got a new name, ‘Mineral water, Pepsi and sold in market places. Thus water can sit silently in a bottle and witness the strife, of the life of the lower caste.

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Japan and Brazil through the traveler's Eye.

JAPAN AND BRAZIL THROUGH A TRAVELER’S EYE

Introduction: Travel writing is about writing ones experience of travelling and visiting alien places. The writer, George Mikes, writes about his travelling experiences of Japan and Brazil in his work ‘The Rising of the Yen’ and ‘How To Tango’.

Japanese Manner: The writer is impressed by exquisitely well – mannered people of Japan. Though they live in a small over crowded Island, they respect others’ privacy. They don’t over hear the others conversation. So courtesy has a double function as it is courtesy and it is substitute for privacy. They conduct their confidential business transactions, intimate love quarrels in public in perfect privacy. A man’s telephone – receiver is his castle.


Bowing: Japanese bow to each other with a ceremonious and dignified way, yet with a great deal of natural grace. Bowing is a mania. Bowing is quainter, formal and oriental and infectious too. Japanese have a complicated hierarchy in bowing: who bows to whom, how deeply and for how long. The most complicated is if two Japanese bow, neither has to straighten up before the other stands erect in front of him. In some cases there are clear-cut differences in position. For e.g.: The basic rules inside the family like wife bows to her husband, the child bows to his father and so on. Even, when the mother carrier the babies in a little saddles, bows from the majestic height when mother bows.
Japanese stores employ bowing girls whose only duty is to bow to each and everyone.
The writer pen down the incidents of Nara, where he met a deer, which bowed ceremoniously but jumped at him and snatched the little bag of food. He compares then to Japanese, despite of their courteous bow they act like savage when they see the bus.

Eating soup: Has more dangers than anything else. One must make a fearful noise while eating soup as it is the sign of appreciation. If one makes a disgusting noise then its considered as ill-mannered lout.


Traffic Brazil: Brazilians are leisurely characters. They spend their time in decorating pavements with mosaic. If they get a steering wheel in their hands no speed is fast enough. Though the motor cars are extremely expensive in Brazil, motor vehicles are growing by leaps and bounds. Thus the life of pedestrians is hazardous.
The drivers are on the lookout for pedestrian, as they notice a pedestrian step off the pavement they take it as a game; aim at him and accelerates. He jumps, leas and runs for dear life. The war between the driver and pedestrian are compared to hunter and prey. They smile at each other with a notion “I win today you will win tomorrow”. Though the war between drivers are murderous but good tempered. They commit all heinous crime of the road, with no hostility or anger.
The worst place of Brazil is Avenida Presidents vargas. One cannot cross the road and need to contemplate for hours, without a ray of hope of an auspicious crossing. He exemplifiers it, as one man suddenly catches the sight of a friend on the other side and starts waving with a mystified look: “How on earth did you get over there?’ where the other yells, ‘How? I was born on this side?”

Audio link  :https://youtube.com/@momtokidsbymom544

I believe that Books will never disappear

I BELIEVE THAT BOOKS WILL NEVER DISAPPEAR

Mother:
Jorge Luis Borgers mother was an extra – ordinary and kind person. He feels guilty for not having been a happy man in order to have given her a deserved happiness. He generally his experience and says that children take their mother for granted, one realises the fact when she dies. They feel they have taken her for granted as we do with the moon the sun and the seasons. He believes that she had no enemies and was very kind to him.

All that is ear becomes far/can humiliation and misfortune be transmuted?
Borges, while speaking about blindness, says that Blindness has become a way of life. All persons must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose like humiliations, misfortunes and our embarrassments given to us as raw material as clay so that we may shape our art. We must transmute them, so that we may make from the miserable circumstances of our life to produce eternal work.
As Goethe says, ‘All that is near becomes far’, it refers not only to sunset but also to life. In Borges case visible world fortunately replaced by other things. So his duty is to accept and enjoy things.

A Book goes beyond author’s intention.
A book goes beyond author’s intention. In every there is a need for something more, which is always mysterious. Borges exemplify, when we read an ancient book we feel as though we were reading all time that has passed from the day it was written to our present day.
A book can be full of errors, we can reject its author’s opinions, disagree with him or her but the book always retains something sacred, something mortal and something magical which brings happiness. Borges quotes Bernard Shaw, ‘Every book worth being re – read has been written by spirit’. Thus he feels that when we read a book, what matters is not the author’s intention but what sense a reader get out of it.

Poetry:
According to Borges poetry is something so intimate and essential that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it. It would be like attempting to define colour yellow, love and the fall of leaves in the autumn. Borges believes poetry is the aesthetic act. It takes place when the poet writes it and reader reads it. When the poetic act takes place we become aware of it. Poetry is a magical, mysterious and unexplainable although not incomprehensible event. If one doesn’t feel the poetic event upon reading it, the poet has failed.

The art of poetry is finding the precise words.
Borges believes that precise words elicit the emotions. It is important in the art of poetry, to find precise word. To exemplify this, he quotes the line of Emily Dickinson, “This quiet dust was gentlemen and ladies”. The phrase gentlemen and ladies gives magic and poetic quality, than ‘men and women’. He says that it is important to have metaphors in poetry to be effective. He had reduced all metaphors to five or six; time and river, life and dream, death and sleep, stars and eyes, flowers and women.

Books will not disappear:
Borges believes that books will never disappear. Though the people assert that modern developments in communications will replace book with more dynamic that takes less time than reading. According to Borges, Book is the astounding invention of man. All others are extensions of our bodies. The telephone, is the extension of our voice, the telescope and the microscope are extensions of our sight, the plough and the sword are the extension of our arms. Only the book is an extension of our imagination and memory. Books are the great memory of our past. So its function is irreplaceable. Thus if books disappear, then history and man would disappear.