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THE THEME OF THE ST
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Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
only deepened.Her brain became her weapan of defence. she topped among girls in the school leaving exams .press reporters came to intrview her and photographers clicked her pictures.But when she annoucd that she planned to study medicine. Her real parents order her to study at home learnt to cook so hse untill a suitable boy was found to he.Mini tried to argu in wain "suppose your son done well would youn ask him to stay at home ?"Radha's attitude was dismissive as usual " you are not my son".Mini persisted ,"i have a scholarship.You don't have to pay for anything.Mini's retort is the point;but i am not your daughter".Mothers feed and carew for their children when have you feed or care for me? The best thing for the parents is to late this girl,this impossible girl, do whatever she likes.
Mini proves to be a girl of substance a truly mordern girl.The son,the heir of the clan, the darling of the family,discovers the dubious pleasures of gambling,alcohol and women.He marries the best dowry he can find.The only condition of the deal is that he would go and stay in the brides home as her parents do not wants to late go off their only chil.The son and heir happily agrees,packs his bags,gets in to his sports car waves good bye and vanishes in a cloud of dust.
Radha and her husband watch helplessly.Mini now a full fledge a doctor would check radha's blood pressure when she fell sick,help the dark man,her biological father,with his financial dealings,run errands to the bank etc.In a way this unwanted unwelcome fourth-daughter abandened and abhorred by her own parents,her own people,proves to the only supporet in their old age.She almost takes on the roll of her brother providing support to her parents.
The end of the story marks a real home coming for Mini and her new born son-or her parents at last waiting at the door to wellcome her with open arms.Something they should have done many,many years ago .But...
"ALLS WELLS THAT ENDS WELL"
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The Fourth Daughter
Writer's name : "subhadra sen gupta"
Story: The Fourth Daughter
Subhadra sen gupta was born in 1952. she received a masterof arts in history.Her first collection of short stories titels "Good Girls Are Bad News" in1992.She also writes fiction for children.
1] Good times at islam gang[1982]
2] The Mussourie Mystery [1986]
3] Bishnu,the Dhobi Singer [1996]
4] Bishnu sings again [1998]
5] The Caurt Of The Mughal Emperor Akbar History Mystery Dal & Biryani [2000]
6] Devalya, Great Temples Of India [2000]
Date Of Published : "1992"
STORY: "THE FOURTH DAUGHTER"
"A mother refusing to feed her new born child.It was something Parvati Bai had never heard of before."
So much is said and maid of a mother's love for her children that no one can believe it, no one can imagine it happening under any circumstances.Well under certain circumstances it may happen.If it is a daughter if it is a fourth daughter.It does not matter that the parents and the grand-parents are afluent. They too need a son. Perhaps more than the common people. Because they need an heir to inherit and take care of their vast empire. The family mansion and the jewellery shop of Seth Bhagavan Das in this case. And the logic is simple.If there is no son tocarry on the line, their money would be scatter among relatives. Surely that's a thought no one could possibly bear.
But refusing to feed her own child?Rejecting the child because she is a daughter?Because she is a fourth daughter.The obsession with sons is deeply in grained in the indian psyche,particularly in the northern states.Thanks to rising consumerism and escalating dowry demands,nobody wants daughter.Even in the most prosperous houses the girl child has little value in comparison to her brother.Traditionally the bias towards son manifested itself in the neglect of girls during infancy and at times in infanticide by some smothering or poisoning new born girls.Today,modern diagnostic techniques enable selective abortion of female foetuses.Even after the ban on the amniocentesis test in 1994 by many state governments in the country,the situation has only worsened.
Test are now conducted clandestinely at ultrasound clinics. Ultrasound makes the detection of the sex of an unborn child easier than amniocantesis and at an earlier stage of pregnancy. Those baby girls who are not aborted have a difficult life ahead.
Mini, the fourth girl began her life by nearly dying. If there is a god,then he sent her into the world with every disadvantage he could think of.Her mother was fair and beautiful. But MINI was born with her father's dark skin and plain looks.If she had been a cuddly,pretty baby,may be her mother would have relented.But for the mother of four unwelcome daughters there was nothing to warm up to in the thin,dark squatting baby with huge accusing eyes.
MINI the unwelcome fourth daughter survived because Parvati, the maid and family driver's wife took her upto the room over the garage, carrying a bowl of milk from the kitchen, the teenage son went running to the market to get a feeding bottle.
MINI continued to live because Parvati, the maid, hunted through her trunk for her children old clothes and put them on her. MINI survived because whenever she felt ill Parvati's husband would rushed to get a doctor. MINI learnt to smile when he got her a rattle. And she learnt to love because parvati's son carried her around with him like a favourite and paced up and down with her in his arms when she cried at night.
MINI grew up in a misty place between the garage room and the big house. Her three sister tolerantly allowed her to play with them but at meal times she would sit beside in the kitchen to eat. And at night she would followed Parvati upto the room above the garage.
The mother who had given her birth, lived on the first floor in perfect comfort and luxury.Radha never felt anything for this child of hers, not even when Parvati told her one fine morning that Munia had said her first word and that it was 'MA'.She was being punished for being a daughter, for being a fourth daughter. Well this is the fate that awaits hundreds and thousands of girl children in our country. Unwanted. Unwelcome. Neglected. Spurned. Sweets are freely distributed on the birth of a son. Sweets and greeting and smiles. But tears and silence awaits the birth of a daughter.
At least mini was lucky to have parvti and her husband for amma and babuji . parvtis son was her beloved bhaiya. The irony is that her parents and grandparents were rich enough to afford a large family, to afford the educatoin and upkeep of for daughter, to afford even thire dowry insted they choose to abandon this forth daughter. Three are bad enough . And parvati, the maid, without means , without money, desides to bring the child up as her own. parvti's primry concern is mini;s education. she cannot let this girl be denied what is her due. mini is not her own daughter not her kith and kin .mini ;s futher to ratha her real mother nothing. mini;s futuer everthing to parvti ;her foster mother . mini foster father , the family driver convince her that mini is their best daughter . mini is so beautiful dispite her dark complxion. she has a brain . unfortunetly ,those who gave her birth failed to see her bright futur. mini's sister go to a local government school in a rickshaw but thir ' only brother go to a convent shcool in the car . most of the girl wait to get married. mini look for her studies. her brain become her weapon of defians
Story: The Fourth Daughter
Subhadra sen gupta was born in 1952. she received a masterof arts in history.Her first collection of short stories titels "Good Girls Are Bad News" in1992.She also writes fiction for children.
1] Good times at islam gang[1982]
2] The Mussourie Mystery [1986]
3] Bishnu,the Dhobi Singer [1996]
4] Bishnu sings again [1998]
5] The Caurt Of The Mughal Emperor Akbar History Mystery Dal & Biryani [2000]
6] Devalya, Great Temples Of India [2000]
Date Of Published : "1992"
STORY: "THE FOURTH DAUGHTER"
"A mother refusing to feed her new born child.It was something Parvati Bai had never heard of before."
So much is said and maid of a mother's love for her children that no one can believe it, no one can imagine it happening under any circumstances.Well under certain circumstances it may happen.If it is a daughter if it is a fourth daughter.It does not matter that the parents and the grand-parents are afluent. They too need a son. Perhaps more than the common people. Because they need an heir to inherit and take care of their vast empire. The family mansion and the jewellery shop of Seth Bhagavan Das in this case. And the logic is simple.If there is no son tocarry on the line, their money would be scatter among relatives. Surely that's a thought no one could possibly bear.
But refusing to feed her own child?Rejecting the child because she is a daughter?Because she is a fourth daughter.The obsession with sons is deeply in grained in the indian psyche,particularly in the northern states.Thanks to rising consumerism and escalating dowry demands,nobody wants daughter.Even in the most prosperous houses the girl child has little value in comparison to her brother.Traditionally the bias towards son manifested itself in the neglect of girls during infancy and at times in infanticide by some smothering or poisoning new born girls.Today,modern diagnostic techniques enable selective abortion of female foetuses.Even after the ban on the amniocentesis test in 1994 by many state governments in the country,the situation has only worsened.
Test are now conducted clandestinely at ultrasound clinics. Ultrasound makes the detection of the sex of an unborn child easier than amniocantesis and at an earlier stage of pregnancy. Those baby girls who are not aborted have a difficult life ahead.
Mini, the fourth girl began her life by nearly dying. If there is a god,then he sent her into the world with every disadvantage he could think of.Her mother was fair and beautiful. But MINI was born with her father's dark skin and plain looks.If she had been a cuddly,pretty baby,may be her mother would have relented.But for the mother of four unwelcome daughters there was nothing to warm up to in the thin,dark squatting baby with huge accusing eyes.
MINI the unwelcome fourth daughter survived because Parvati, the maid and family driver's wife took her upto the room over the garage, carrying a bowl of milk from the kitchen, the teenage son went running to the market to get a feeding bottle.
MINI continued to live because Parvati, the maid, hunted through her trunk for her children old clothes and put them on her. MINI survived because whenever she felt ill Parvati's husband would rushed to get a doctor. MINI learnt to smile when he got her a rattle. And she learnt to love because parvati's son carried her around with him like a favourite and paced up and down with her in his arms when she cried at night.
MINI grew up in a misty place between the garage room and the big house. Her three sister tolerantly allowed her to play with them but at meal times she would sit beside in the kitchen to eat. And at night she would followed Parvati upto the room above the garage.
The mother who had given her birth, lived on the first floor in perfect comfort and luxury.Radha never felt anything for this child of hers, not even when Parvati told her one fine morning that Munia had said her first word and that it was 'MA'.She was being punished for being a daughter, for being a fourth daughter. Well this is the fate that awaits hundreds and thousands of girl children in our country. Unwanted. Unwelcome. Neglected. Spurned. Sweets are freely distributed on the birth of a son. Sweets and greeting and smiles. But tears and silence awaits the birth of a daughter.
At least mini was lucky to have parvti and her husband for amma and babuji . parvtis son was her beloved bhaiya. The irony is that her parents and grandparents were rich enough to afford a large family, to afford the educatoin and upkeep of for daughter, to afford even thire dowry insted they choose to abandon this forth daughter. Three are bad enough . And parvati, the maid, without means , without money, desides to bring the child up as her own. parvti's primry concern is mini;s education. she cannot let this girl be denied what is her due. mini is not her own daughter not her kith and kin .mini ;s futher to ratha her real mother nothing. mini;s futuer everthing to parvti ;her foster mother . mini foster father , the family driver convince her that mini is their best daughter . mini is so beautiful dispite her dark complxion. she has a brain . unfortunetly ,those who gave her birth failed to see her bright futur. mini's sister go to a local government school in a rickshaw but thir ' only brother go to a convent shcool in the car . most of the girl wait to get married. mini look for her studies. her brain become her weapon of defians
Friday, December 19, 2008
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