TOPI
The story is about a man named Ramai who on losing his job is forced to look for an alternative job by his family members as well as the circumstances. In the meanwhile he starts to work in his friend's garage and one day he is supposed to clean and return the DSP's jeep. On his way he happens to wear the DSP's topi and suddenly something happens. A string of events unfolds and at the end he is beaten by the DSP to whom he says "I am not at fault, maalik! This to blame...this." I choose the story primarily because of the title as well as the last part of the story that elevated my curiosity in it. So, the writer of the story is Sanjay Sahay who is basically from Bihar and has included words that are frequently used in his part of the world. So, words like "Memsaab, Hujoor- log, Haraamzaade" were used in the story. Also, one of my teammates pointed out the 'Bengali connection' of the story as it is said in the beginning that when the protagonist looses his job he is given a uniform with the help of the union as a retrenchment benefit. So, this 'union' culture is very prevalent in West Bengal though i am not fully convinced with this statement as the culture of union can be found in any other state though not that prominent as in Bengal. My major focus was on the analysis of the story on the basis of 'elements of a story'. So, if i talk about the main character of the story then it was definitely Ramai and the DSP as the co- main antagonist character in the literal sense and topi at the metaphorical level. The reasons are that the story revolves around him (Ramai) but he is at the same time not a round character as he depends on the other characters to portray his personality traits. He is vulnerable most of the time and has a low self esteem (the incident where he describes how Baalo used to collect taxes and as a child he use to undergo all the humiliation). Also, on various occasions he is not able to take a stand on his own and has to rely on the circumstances to rescue him. The DSP too is an important character as he depicts certain strata of the society that has power and how within the story he has shown instances of it. His character is strong and dominant and at times more powerful then the main character. At the metaphorical level i would like to equate 'topi' as the main character because for me it is the symbol of power which becomes effective when it is used by a person. Also, in the story a lot of importance is given to it as it happens to be the aspiration of a common man as can be seen through Ramai in the story.
The theme of the story is a straightforward yet another human story at one level but if one is to see it through the lens of socio- cultural aspect then it explains the aspiration of a common man and the power play that makes a person so deprived of it at one time completely behaving differently while being in the power. Also, the plot was not complex in nature as it started with a background in the form of flashback, the peak of the story was when 'Baalo was abused by Ramai' and the event that led to the conclusion of the story was when 'Ramai went to the shopkeeper disguised as DSP and ask for a saree for his wife'.
Lastly the other aspect which is of great relevance is the literary criticism and the most appropriate one that fits in this context is the Sociocultural criticism which talks about 'whose perspective, values and norms are voiced and whose views are silenced'. It focuses more on power and authority so in the story too DSP gets respect from people just because of his position and status in the society. Also, it is interesting to see that Baloo too gets respect at least in some way even though he is not in power. His power represent the parallel structure (as against the legal structure) that is running in our society. So, in both the cases their voices were heard as they had power and authority but people like Ramai were not even considered.
The overall experience of the literacy circle was good as i got to know a lot of things from my teammates as well as the discussion helped me in clearing my own understanding of the story.
The story is about a man named Ramai who on losing his job is forced to look for an alternative job by his family members as well as the circumstances. In the meanwhile he starts to work in his friend's garage and one day he is supposed to clean and return the DSP's jeep. On his way he happens to wear the DSP's topi and suddenly something happens. A string of events unfolds and at the end he is beaten by the DSP to whom he says "I am not at fault, maalik! This to blame...this." I choose the story primarily because of the title as well as the last part of the story that elevated my curiosity in it. So, the writer of the story is Sanjay Sahay who is basically from Bihar and has included words that are frequently used in his part of the world. So, words like "Memsaab, Hujoor- log, Haraamzaade" were used in the story. Also, one of my teammates pointed out the 'Bengali connection' of the story as it is said in the beginning that when the protagonist looses his job he is given a uniform with the help of the union as a retrenchment benefit. So, this 'union' culture is very prevalent in West Bengal though i am not fully convinced with this statement as the culture of union can be found in any other state though not that prominent as in Bengal. My major focus was on the analysis of the story on the basis of 'elements of a story'. So, if i talk about the main character of the story then it was definitely Ramai and the DSP as the co- main antagonist character in the literal sense and topi at the metaphorical level. The reasons are that the story revolves around him (Ramai) but he is at the same time not a round character as he depends on the other characters to portray his personality traits. He is vulnerable most of the time and has a low self esteem (the incident where he describes how Baalo used to collect taxes and as a child he use to undergo all the humiliation). Also, on various occasions he is not able to take a stand on his own and has to rely on the circumstances to rescue him. The DSP too is an important character as he depicts certain strata of the society that has power and how within the story he has shown instances of it. His character is strong and dominant and at times more powerful then the main character. At the metaphorical level i would like to equate 'topi' as the main character because for me it is the symbol of power which becomes effective when it is used by a person. Also, in the story a lot of importance is given to it as it happens to be the aspiration of a common man as can be seen through Ramai in the story.
The theme of the story is a straightforward yet another human story at one level but if one is to see it through the lens of socio- cultural aspect then it explains the aspiration of a common man and the power play that makes a person so deprived of it at one time completely behaving differently while being in the power. Also, the plot was not complex in nature as it started with a background in the form of flashback, the peak of the story was when 'Baalo was abused by Ramai' and the event that led to the conclusion of the story was when 'Ramai went to the shopkeeper disguised as DSP and ask for a saree for his wife'.
Lastly the other aspect which is of great relevance is the literary criticism and the most appropriate one that fits in this context is the Sociocultural criticism which talks about 'whose perspective, values and norms are voiced and whose views are silenced'. It focuses more on power and authority so in the story too DSP gets respect from people just because of his position and status in the society. Also, it is interesting to see that Baloo too gets respect at least in some way even though he is not in power. His power represent the parallel structure (as against the legal structure) that is running in our society. So, in both the cases their voices were heard as they had power and authority but people like Ramai were not even considered.
The overall experience of the literacy circle was good as i got to know a lot of things from my teammates as well as the discussion helped me in clearing my own understanding of the story.
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