Theme and Critical Analysis of Khushwant Singh’s "Karma"



"For man's Karma travels with him, like his shadow. Indeed it is his shadow, for it has been said, 'Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it is dark.'"
Alan Watts (1915 - 1973)

Khushwant Singh, the renowned Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, made a scintillating impact on Indian English writing by his pungent social views and artistic presentations. His Karma which is a story from his book The collected Stories (published in 1989) has also a bold statement- introspection of our colonized society. The story devised its plot into several sub layers- Imitation of foreign culture, unhappy married life, contrast of culture and life-style, aristocracy and patriotism. Read More Short Stories

Karma, a religious term, literarily means deed or the work done.  In Hindu theological idea it means destiny. It is the doctrine that once present action continues to have affects in another incarnation. Read More Short Stories A good acts pays us handsomely while bad deeds make us suffer, it is similar to the Greek idea of ‘nemeses’. Justice is given to us in consideration of our Karma. Now we have to examine whether the story ‘Karma’ is entitled according to the theme or how karma affects the lives of the characters in the story.

"Karma" is a story of an aristocrat who tries to follow English culture and lifestyle. The central theme is the concept of false pride and the interconnectedness of actions and consequences of prejudices of the hero. He feels uneasy about his Indian culture, lifestyle, customs, etc. He has a wife who is an ordinary Indian woman. He dislikes her because she fails to impart foreign culture into her life.  As we have told, the story is about an Indian babu in British Raj and his wife Sir Mohan Lal and Lachmi.  The story explores how individual choices and actions have far-reaching implications that can shape one's life and determine their destiny. It delves into the notion that one's actions, good or bad, ultimately come back to them in some form or another.

Khushwant Singh
Sir Mohanlal is a native of India.  He is a middle-aged man, an aristocrat but arrogant. He is a barrister who works for the British; he was educated in Oxford and a follower of foreign culture and life-style. He spoke English fluently. He read the Times, wore Balliol tie, and drank whisky and smoke only English cigarettes. Read More Short Stories  He could never forget his glorious life in England but he hates everything in India. He is ashamed of his Indian origin and tries to speak English. He dresses like a high-ranked British official. He tries to show his sound knowledge in English through solving crossword puzzles of English newspapers.  India is a dirty place to him. He even dislikes his wife Lachmi and her relatives because they are poor and uneducated. So the pride and prejudice is heavy on him.

 One other hand, Lachmi, The wife of Mohan Lal, is purely a traditional Indian woman. She does not know English. Read More Indian English She wears an ordinary white saree with border. She can easily talk with poor railway coolies. She comfortably travels in the general class. She is simple hearted follower of Indian culture and life-style. She is unable to adopt English lifestyle which Mohan Lal aspires so boldly. As a result of this difference, Mohan Lal and Lachmi do not have a sweet married life.

Mohan Lal is very proud after boarding the first class compartment. The aristocracy of Mohan Lal gets a shock during a journey with his wife in a train. He books his seat in the first class compartment, which is reserved for the British, though he makes sitting arrangement for his wife in the general compartment. As the story develops we find that sir Mohan finds two English soldiers in his reserved compartment. He feels delighted at the thought of talking of an English man. But his pride does not last long. Two British soldiers start to abuse him in the compartment. They even called him a nigger!  The arrogant Mohan Lal tries to oppose. Consequently, they threw all his belongings out of the train and pushed him out of the compartment. Sir Mohanlal is now in identity crises. Who is he? Read More Short Stories Indian or English man. He is neither an Indian nor an English man. Thus he gets the result of his on karma. He rightly punished for belittling his own couture and custom. This is ironically hinted at the beginning of the essay: 
"Sir Mohan Lal looked at himself in the mirror of a first-class waiting room at the railway station. The mirror was obviously made in India." 
Truly thus his Indian mirror shows the true self reflections in this incident.

 But his wife Lachmi does not face such humiliation. She is quite at easy in the general compartment and reaches home smoothly. Read More Indian English Now coming to the title Karma (Sanskrit for “action”), in Indian philosophy, is the sum total of one's actions, good or bad. Here Sir Mohanlal and Lachmi share their karma attached to the thought as it is determined by previous actions. Sir Mohanlal aspires to amass bad karma and finally after a good lesson in the train journey, strives for release from the process of it. He receives a good lesson. Relatively Lachmi is attuned good self and remains happy. It foresees in the justice that Mohanlal and Lachmi received at the end their own respective action. 

In a few words, Singh could portray a figure; in a few pages he could describe a fate. Some of his stories fired the imagination of short story readers. Singh’s name has become coupled with the “trick ending” in the short story tradition. People being different from society's approved behavior is a common theme in many of  Singh's books; normally he portrays such individualistic figures as gentle and sympathetic characters who are different either physically or emotionally, but who are trying to fit into the mainstream of society. In Karma the stakes of being different appear high. Read More Short Stories Those who dare to be different appear to have no responsibility toward others; in focusing on understanding themselves, the characters thoughtlessly hurt and confuse others around them. In the story, there are two types of characters: those who dare to be different and unconventional and those who seem dull and boring, yet comfortable. Read More Indian English Mohanlal seems like his wife Lachmi, yet he really is not; he and his wife appear to be cut from the same mold, yet they are very different. He is in love with English, yet drops her without an explanation or second thought in order to chase Indian culture. Again, although the theme of relationship is not central to Karma, it runs throughout the story as a tool to measure the characters' conscience and self-worth. Lachmi is the cautious, conservative one in the family. Mohanlal accepts Lachmi's simplity as just another way of being.

Notably, one of the prominent literary devices used in Khushwant Singh’s "Karma" is irony. The story presents situations where characters face unexpected outcomes as a result of their actions. For example, Sir Mohan Lal, a proud and wealthy bureaucrat pet of British Raj, loses all his pride at the hand of Englishmen, which serves as poetic justice for his misdeeds. Singh also employs the story as a platform to critique the social and political landscape of India. The use of symbolic elements can not be denied either. Mohan Lal represents karma itself.  Bill and Jim  are the symbolic racial attitude of Englishmen toward native. Thus Mohanlal's arguments and English accents 'sound like English, but it was too much of the King’s for them.' 

Mohanlal's character explores the complex nature of morality and the gray areas between good and evil. The characters in the story are not purely good or bad but are portrayed with shades of moral ambiguity who has the million possibility of redemption and personal transformation:
"Sir Mohan’s feet were glued to the earth and he lost his speech. He stared at the lighted windows of the train going past him in quickening tempo. The tail end of the train appeared with a red light and the guard, standing in the open doorway with flags in his hands." 
Most probably Mohan Lal will rethink his actions and introspect emphasizing the idea that every action has consequences, regardless of social status or background. He must read India anew. 

Overall, Khushwant Singh’s "Karma" explores deep philosophical, racial and moral questions through the interplay of its title character and his actions. It introspects into the complexities of human nature, the workings of pride, and the potential for redemption and transformation. Singh's storytelling technique, rich symbolism, and social critique make "Karma" a thought-provoking and impactful work of storytelling.


Ref:
1. Karma (short story) - Wikipedia. (2014, January 15). Karma (Short Story) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_(short_story)

Critical Analysis of R K Narayan's "Leela's Friend": Socio-economic Discrimination: Comparative Study with Rabindranath Tagore’s " Kabuliwala"



Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan’s Leela’s Friend included in Malgudi Days is a simple tale of Indian middle-class family. It covers wide range of themes like betrayal of trust, true friendship, poverty and exploitation, cruelty of masters etc. However, discriminatory  practices  in Indian middle class society got largely challenged in R. K. Narayan’s
Leela’s Friend. Leela issues an executive voice of innocence forbidding discrimination on her servant mate.                                      

The story Leela’s Friend is a simple anecdote of a sweet –naughty relationship between the servant and the master’s little girl. Read More Indian English It reminds us of Rabindranath Tagore’s famous short story, Kabuliwala, the story of Rahmat , a middle-aged fruit seller from Afghanistan, comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise who befriends a small Bengali girl called Mini . Here the story focuses on Sidda, a boy simple and honest but illiterate. He had some dark history. But now he is reformed but becomes a sad victim of master's cruelty despite of being a faithful playmate of his daughter, Leela. However, Leela’s Friend is different from Kabuliwala, but the intention and message are very close thematically.

In Leela’s house there was no servant. Her parents worried about it. One day when Mr. Sivasankar was brooding about the problem someone reached their home uncalled. He was in need of a job. Read More Indian English Seeing Mr. Sivasankar in front of him he sought a job in Sivasankar’s house. But it was none easy. Mr. Sivasankar examined carefully with his quick eyes. He found that the man looked tidy and thought he could employ him as a servant. But before that he asked him some questions. He comes to know that the man was Sidda and that he has been working in a doctor’s banglo. He had to lose his job as the doctor had changed his address and left the town. But Mr. Sivasankar could not decide whether he would appoint Sidda or not. He wanted to know the opinion of his wife. She was called and she comes. Read More Short Stories She looked at Sidda. She found him acceptable. She presumes that the man was at least not worse than the others they had earlier in their house. Both of them were in favour of appointing Sidda.

Just at that momment their five year old daughter Leela comes out. She saw Sidda and liked him at once. She requested her parents earnestly to appoint Sidda in their house. Her recommendation worked and Sidda was employed. He got the job. At last, the words of the daughter triumphs over all odds. The Sivasankar family appoints him for household work.

 Sidda is a simple natured boy who arrests everybody's attention in a few months. He becomes a good friend with Leela, the daughter of Sivasankar. Sidda and Leela come to a close relationship through playing together. Sidda was a constant source of joy to Leela. His company made Leela immensely happy. When even Leela called him, Sidda had to run of her and obey her orders. Leela stood in front of the garden with a red ball in her hand. Read More Short Stories She flung the ball at him and flung back to her. Commanded by her, Sidda also threw the ball high up. Read More Indian English When the ball comes down he told her a little bit of moon sticking to the ball. He also told her that he could touch the moon if he climb the top of the coconut tree. He convinced her that the moon knew him well and also listen whatever he says.

Usually after dinner Leela ran to bed. Sidda sat down on the floor and told her incomparable stories of magicians who could create golden castles and fill them with princesses and their pets. Leela was with Sidda when he was working the garden or chopping wood and accompanied him when he was sent on errands. This is how Sidda’s company made Leela supremely happy. Rahamat too fancy stories for Mini and they both shares a happy world of innocence. But there is no such affectionate father figure in Sidda in physical appearance, whereas in Rahamat the Afghan little girl and her imaginary presence can be felt in Tagore's story.


Leela is careless about her things, bossy, hopeful and honest about Sidda. There is such fun in their relationship. At dusk when Sidda carried her inside the house, Leela held a class for him. It gave her immense pleasure to play the teacher to Sidda. Read More Indian English She had a box fill with catalogues; illustrate book and stumps on pencil. She made him sit on the floor with a pencil between his finger and a catalogue in front of him. She herself held another pencil and catalogue. She them commended him to write. Sidda had to try and copy whatever she wrote in the pages of her catalogue. 


Leela too enjoyed the playing the teacher to Sidda at dusk. His school hour would end only when Sidda find her that her mother was calling her for dinner. Leela knows two or three letters of the alphabet and would draw a kind of cat and crow. Sidda could copy none of these, but he tried his best. Leela expressed her dissatisfaction when Sidda failed in his efforts. She felt sorry for Sidda but she did not give up hope. Read More Short Stories She tried to teach him with renewed energy, but Sidda was totally incapable of using the pencil. It looked as if Leela would keep him pinned to his seat still his stiff wrist cracked. Sidda would then end tell her that her mother would calling for dinner. Leela would run up to the room and the school hour would end. Rahamat in  Kabuliwala also met an affectionate little nymph, Mini who taught him all whimsical fun and frolics. Rahamat didn't complain, neither this Sidda. Thus, in it's truest sense both are somewhere a father figure in rendering the burden of emotions.


A twist comes to the story, like that of  Kabuliwala, when Leela's necklace is found missing one day. The family thought that Sidda must be behind it. Read More Indian English Leela's mother accuses him of stealing the necklace. Her belief is so sound that she calls in the police. Sidda is arrested. She is charged with theft, though there is no proof against him. Leela is very sad. Sidda is still innocent to her. The loss of her necklace is not as pathetic as the loss of a friend to her. She longs for her friend to play with him. After a few days, Leela finds her necklace suddenly hidden in a pot. When she tells her family about it, they realize Sidda's honesty. It becomes clear that Sidda is not a thief. Sidda is released from the police custody, but he does not receive any apology from the family. Unlike the story of  Rehmat,  Leela's father gives Sidda no sympathy.


Even though the story of Sidda looks like a simple story of apathy and domestic mistrust, it also treats the subject of economic discrimination. By and large, economic discrimination by the Sivasankar family as well as society as a whole remains a free-enterprise system. R. K. Narayan’s Leela’s Friend can be read a silent protest to discriminate in emotion between masters and sellers, of labours, of like grade and quality unless prohibited by common-moral law rules or statutes. Read More Short Stories Like R. K. Narayan, we too espouse the innocence of Leelas to stop the suffering of discriminating Siddas.


Critical Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson's Poem "The Vagabond"


(Note: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist, essayist, and poet, contributed several classic works to children's literature. His popularity is based primarily on the exciting subject matter of his adventure novels and fantasy stories. In fact, Stevenson wrote skillfully in a variety of genres. A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), containing some of Stevenson's best-known poems, is regarded by many as one of the finest collections of poetry for children. His other verse collections include Underwoods (1887) and Ballads (1890).  Read More Poetry)

Robert Louis Stevenson's  poem The Vagabond ( Collected from Songs of Travel and Other Verses) celebrates the glorious freedom and independence of a tramp's life. All the four stanzas of  The Vagabond repeatedly emphasize the unrestrained joys of an independent life in the outdoors free from all its hassles. The Vagabond  is written in a first-person narrative, with the speaker presenting his perspective on the life of a wanderer. Read More Victorian Period  

Stevenson starts the poem by asking to be given the life that he loves. Then he describes the life on the road, sleeping outside and swimming in the river. Stevenson, as a poet, appeals and desires to have the kind of lifestyle that he loves, to let the lave: to wash; to bathe, to flow along or against as if washing. Read More Victorian Period He desires only the jolly heaven above and the dry bread where he can dip it in the waters of the river to eat whenever hungry. For there is a life for a man like him and there is the life forever:

“Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.”

Critical Analysis of William Blake's "O Rose Thou art Sick" or "The Sick Rose "


Blake's readers  are more open to the influence of big ideas. Blake’s poetry can store  with bits of philosophy on life, which will act as safeguards long after Blake are forgotten.  O Rose thou art sick or The Sick Rose has many valuable ideas to contemplate.


 In fact, in 1794 Blake published a companion to the Songs of Innocence called the Songs of Experience, which contains The Sick Rose. The Songs of Experience were never published without their counterpart, and the entire volume was called the Songs of Innocence and Experience: Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. The title couldn't be more descriptive. In general, the Songs of Innocence tend to be, well, more innocent, benign, and childish, whereas the Songs of Experience explore darker, more sinister themes associated with the Industrial Revolution, religion, and education. 



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