The Wicked design Behind Gorkhaland...!!!

A Clarion Call to every single Self Respecting Bengali to stand up to RESIST further partition of West Bengal. Rise up and Join hands to quell all conspiratorial policies against Bengalis by myopic Politicians and rapacious Outsiders...!!!

Join the  Akhanda Bangla Anushilon Samiti and salvage the fading glory of Bengal, our beloved Motherland...!!!

Remember, the idea behind the creation of Gorkhaland is not something of extending support in favour of Self Determination to the Gurkha people with a view to providing better life and opportunities but another conspiratorial plank to muffle the voice of Bengali people; A voice which is known all over the world for its progressive and revolutionary outlook. A voice that is synonymous and imperative with the right to Political Dissent, vital for any functioning Democracy.
The Idea is to cut Bengal to size, prune it into submission, culturally bombard its children away from its ethos, dilute its Spirituous dissident voice.

Unite Against any move to appease the Gurkhas.
Demolish all institutional construct symbolic of Gorkhaland.
Stage Vocal Protest against further partition of Bengal.

Akhanda Bangla Anushilon Samiti calls upon Public consensus on the following Socio-Political line vis-a-vis Gorkhaland Issue--

1. Dissipate the Entire Gurkha populace of North Bengal across small pockets in India.
2. Let all States in India Including West Bengal Shoulder the responsibility of their (Gurkhas') well being.
3. Provide them with OBC status and other concessions as per extant Policy of Govt. of India.
4. Create a non-political Gorkha Forum with a single seat Rajya Sabha representation to look into their     .
    grievances.
5. Complete monitoring of Indo-Nepal Border against infiltration by Nepalese and their subsequnt claim of
    being a Gorkha.
6. Identify and segregate foreigners (Nepalese) who identify themselves as Indian by Birth or Descent or
    by Naturalisation.
7. Studying Bengali as first Language or Second Language in School and College curriculum be made
    Mandatory across State aided schools in the entire Jalpaiguri District.

Futility--by Wilfred Owen 1893-1918, written in 1918

                                      Wilfred Owen 1893-1918
                           

Move him into the sun -
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds -
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved, - still warm, - too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?

                            Textual Analysis

1. Substance of the Poem ‘Futility’.

Wilfred Owens’s works revolve around war and the pity of war. The poem ‘Futility’ expresses the uselessness of creation of life on earth. The death of a young soldier portrayed in the poem comes to stand for the fruitlessness of war itself and the loss of lives caused by it.

Owen in this poem portrays a soldier who came of a peasant family. There at home he was woken up by his unsown field  that seemed to tell him of his responsibility to cultivate the land.

2. What can you say about the background of the dead soldier?

The soldier came of a peasant family in England. Being a peasant himself he showed traits customary of a peasant even in France where he fought and died.

3. How in the first two lines did the poet personify the sun in regard to the dead soldier?

The death of the young soldier was sudden and painful for the poet. He found it difficult to accept the reality of such a gruesome death of a fellow soldier. So he vainly imagined that the touch of the sun, which once gave him life, could revive him again; this, he knew wouldn’t happen.

4. What impression does the author suggest by ‘until this morning and snow...’?

Before being taken to war, the soldier was a farmer. So even in France where he was fighting, he showed the habits of a farmer. He always woke up in the morning until the day he was killed suddenly. There was a snowfall going at that time and he lay dead on the snow.

These two lines strongly suggest how alien the life of a soldier was to the boy and how deeply he loved his profession i.e. farming.

5. How have the two words—‘whispering’ and ‘woke’—been used?  What does it inform us regarding the soldier?

The poet has personified the field which the soldier once tilled. Its whispering signifies the dedication of the soldier to his profession i.e. farming to which he was always responsible.

So he woke up every morning to attend to his field. The boy was a simple villager who was growing up to his responsibilities as a farmer.

6.  What state of mind does the poet reflect from the last two lines of the first stanza?

By the last two lines of the first stanza, the poet has tried to emphasise upon the helplessness of man before death. He stressed that if there were a greater force like God other than the sun, HE would also fail at such a moment.

 He reflected in this way because there was no way out to bring the dead soldier back to life.

7. What do you mean by ‘the seeds’ and ‘the clays of a cold star’? What does the change of tense in the first two lines of the second stanza indicate?

‘The seeds’ simply signifies common seeds used to sow in fields.

‘The clays of the cold star’ indicates human being after the Bible that says God created man out of clay.  Since the earth is also a part of the sun, it has been called ‘cold star’ by the poet.

 The first present tense—‘wakes’ indicates continuous natural phenomenon. The past tense—‘woke’     indicates how the soldier was brought to life on earth, i.e. his birth.

 Sun being the ultimate source of life and energy has been personified as life giver.

8. Substantiate the phrase ‘limbs so dear achieved’.

'Limbs so dear achieved’ refers to the pride and fulfilment on the part of the soldier’s parents, who might have made many sacrifices for their son and painstakingly waited for the day to see him full-grown and robust.

9. Explain the irony in the line—‘full nerved, still warm...too hard to stir?’

Here the poet, Owen, disappointingly wonders at the sudden death of the soldier against his parents` painstaking anticipation and care in bringing him up to a young and robust man.

He is agonised and tormented by the thought that what it takes so long a time to create and nurture is so fragile before death.

10. Explain the sense of Futility as reflected from the last three lines.

 The poet out of shock and disappointment at the useless carnage was filled with a sense of futility in

             regard to all that is living. At one side he underlined the slow process of life waking up to a

             full-fledged civilisation whereas at the other he was equally pained at the fragility of human life

             in the hands of man itself.   

 He is appalled at the attitude of man in regard to life and survival.

11. Explain the attitude of the poet towards war. / The title of the Poem.

Poet, Wilfred Owen, though volunteered in the First World War, rejected the accepted romanticism

wars have always been associated with.

The subject of his poetry is war and the pity of war. Though he fought bravely and died for a cause—what  he thought sublime—he left for mankind a lesson of immense agony and indignation of human life in the name of patriotism and sacrifice.

             He is embittered at this foolish bloodshed that brings nothing but death, deprivation and suffering.

12. How has the personification of the sun helped the poet to evoke the sense of futility?

Wilfred Owens’s works revolve around war and the pity of war. The poem ‘Futility’ expresses the uselessness of creation of life on earth. The death of a young soldier portrayed in the poem comes to stand for the fruitlessness of war itself and the loss of lives caused by it.

With the personification of sun, the poet has tried to emphasise upon the helplessness of man before death. He stressed that if there were a greater force like God other than the sun, HE would also fail at such a moment.

Please feel free to ask for any help related to this Poem. Leave your comment and I will catch up with you and try to attend as early as possible.

 
                

The Hero--by Siegfried Sassoon 1886-1967, written in 1917

'Jack fell as he'd have wished,' the mother said,
And folded up the letter that she'd read.
'The Colonel writes so nicely.' Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. 'We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers.' Then her face was bowed.

Quietly the Brother Officer went out.
He'd told the poor old dear some gallant lies
That she would nourish all her days, no doubt
For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes
Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,
Because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.

He thought how 'Jack', cold-footed, useless swine,
Had panicked down the trench that night the mine
Went up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried
To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,
Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair.

                                                             Textual Analysis

1. What did the colonel write?

The colonel in his letter praised Jack as a daring and dauntless soldier. He had also cited a remark Jack always said to have uttered in the battle that he wished to die the death of a soldier.

The colonel had written the eulogy in the form of a letter to Jack’s mother. The letter as intended embalmed the agonised mother and helped her bear the pain of her son’s untimely death.

2. How can you say that the colonel was successful in his attempt to soothe a bereaved mother? Why did her voice quaver to a choke?

From the poem one can notice that the mother didn’t break into a fit of sobs. Instead, she softly admired the colonel for his selection of words. The words had a magical effect on the mother because it held her up from breaking into despair.

Her voice quavered to a choke because she had come to know about her son’s painful death. Being a mother, it was difficult not to react at such a fateful misfortune that suddenly befell her / overhung her.

3. Why did the mother say ‘We, mother, are so proud of our dead soldier’?

Going by the practice in the army, when a soldier dies his family is informed about his death and his glorious service and sacrifice. It is a common practice during war intended to give the family a respite of sort.

In this poem it is seen that Jack’s mother received similar information with a note on his exemplary courage. Such notes made the mothers a little bit proud of their sons who, they supposed, laid down their lives for a noble cause.

4. Who was Brother Officer? Why did he tell gallant lies?

The Brother Officer was the immediate superior under whose command Jack was enlisted.

He was entrusted to carry the news of Jack’s death to his mother. The note that he carried and the words of admiration that he uttered in regard to Jack were blatant lies.

Being a soldier endowed with natural human qualities, it demanded a great deal of courage to speak a string of lies to an old bereaved mother. Perhaps it was too much for his conscience to act against his will. So the poet used the transferred epithet ‘gallant lies’. 

5. Who is The Hero in this poem? Why did the poet use the term Hero as a title?

‘The Hero’ is a certain Jack who served in the army during the First World War and eventually died.

Sassoon has used the title ‘Hero’ to heighten the sense of bitter irony and to convey the intensity of hypocrisy which glorify otherwise an ignominious death, thus making mockery of human life and dignity.

6. Why did Brother Officer’ mumble and coughed’ while speaking?

The officer was entrusted to carry the news of Jack’s death to his mother. The colonel had a note of admiration extolling Jack’s exemplary courage and eventual death. The Officer was also expected to add some of his own adulations that would testify the colonel’s letter.

However, when the officer faced the old and helpless mother, the lies he uttered hung too heavy on his soldier heart. He was acting against his conscience and so faltered.

 Please feel free to Write to me, should you need further help in any way related to this Poem.