“CLEAR LIGHT OF DAY”
Anita Desai is an Indian short story writer and novelist. She was born on June 24, 1937 in Mussoorie, India to German mother, Toni Nime and Bengali father, D.N. Mazumdar. She grew up speaking German at her residence and Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and English outside her home. At school, she first learned to read and write English resulting in her being attached to the language. Desai attended Queen Mary’s Higher Secondary in Delhi. In 1957, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi. She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and the Clare Hall, Cambridge. Anita Desai resides in the United States at present, where she is the John E. Buchard Professor of Writing at M.I.T. A few of her novels include “Fire on the Mountain” (1977), “In Custody” (1984), “Fasting, Feasting” (1999), “The Village by the Sea” (1982) and “Clear Light of Day” (1980). Desai’s nove, “Clear Light of Day” focuses on visual imagery and details. Her stories originate from rooted images thus the reason for Bim Das, the main character of “Clear Light of Day” frustration. She is an independent woman who is succumbed to her past memories. Her past is detailed in certain aspects of the family house in which she’s been living in for years. Bim’s sister, Tara recognizes the dullness and decay of their childhood when she pays Bim a visit. Tara feels as if everything she hated as a child has still been preserved in a metaphoric storeroom found in the household. During the book the sisters’ true feelings towards each other are revealed and they gain a better understanding of each other and an improved relationship. As Desia herself has said, her novels are not occupied by heroic characters of the traditional sense. She makes it of her utmost important that the characters reflect a sense of veracity.
PARTITION IN INDIA
Due to the various religious demographics in India, the creation of the partition of India on 14 August 1947 and 15 August 1947 resulted in the division of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the secular Union of India. The partition was decreed in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the formal ending of the British Indian Empire. The partition moved up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire which estimated in the loss of life from millions.
The separation of India included the geographical division of Bengal into East Pakistan and west Bengal and many other divisions of states. The deal of the partition also included the dividing of state assets, including the British Indian Army, The Indian Civil Service and other services, the central treasury and the Indian railways. Due to the aftermath of the Partition there became a question of choice as to whether Jammu or Kashmir would have India or Pakistan or to remain outside them. This resulted in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947.
THE VARIATION BETWEEN HINDU AND MUSLIM
HINDUISM
• Hinduism believes in body and soul. Your soul returns to your body after death. According to some, the cycle repeats seven times. This is known as Reincarnation.
• Cow is a sacred animal and a holy being for Hindus. They therefore cannot be killed or eaten in Hinduism.
• The Hindus’ perception of God is the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything whether it may be living or non-living, to be divine and sacred. A common Hindu would consider everything to be his/her God.
• The Hindus believe in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods and some to the extent of 330 million gods. Hindus who are versed in their scriptures insist that a Hindu should believe in one God.
MUSLIMS
• Muslims believe that each person has a body and soul. At death, your body is separated from your soul. Your actions and faith will determine your fate in the After Life. Judgement Day will come to everyone. All humans from Adam will be brought to a second life, rejoining body and soul. On that day God will put the respective persons in either Heaven or Hell based on theie beliefs and deeds of this life.
• Muslims eat all wholesome food including the meat of Cows and lambs, goats and chicken.
• Islam exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than the divinity of itself. Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. All that surrounds us is God’s Possession.
• In Islam, all humans are created equal. Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favouring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth , race or power. He created all human beings equally and therefore they must earn his favour through virtue and faithfulness only.
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
Mohandas Karamchad Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbander, Gujarat, India. He was the political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian Independence movement. He pioneered the resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience. He believed in dealing with this matter with no violence which resulted in India gaining its independence and influenced movements for instance civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi has been given names such as “Great Soul” and “Father”. Indians refer to him as Father of the Nation. As a practitioner of Ahima, Gandhi swore to speak the truth and encouraged others to do the dame. He lived a modest life in a self sufficient residential village, ate simple vegetarian dishes and undertook long fasts as a way of self purification and social protest. On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking to an area in which he was to address a prayer meeting. Gandhi’s ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services.
