Jack ma yun is a person who is born in 10th September 1964 in a small and poor family in Hangzhou China. He was weak in studies he did not able to pass in smaller studies itself but out of his hardwork he passed. One day the living place of jack ma was changed into a tourist place. Jack ma by seeing the tourist people who are visiting the place by seeing them he is trying to learn the language which the tourist people spoke. He turned himself as a guide and by that he got two new friends. As days goes by he had finished his studies he went for work no one accepted him as professor then he thought that we can do any work which the owner gives us. He was roaming for job he was going to every workshop and companies and offices but no one accepted him as a server too because of his face. Then the college in Hangzhou gave a job as an English professor in Hangzhou Institute of Electronics and Engineering (now Hangzhou Dianzi University). Then his intrest in English gave him during that time any of the people in china don’t know to speak or write in English. So he was appointed as a translator. Then he went to America because he was the translator that time he saw the people in America are using computer. His intrest in computer grew on that day so he studied it and told his friends and some people who have no work joined all decided to begin a company. In that all spent some money in it but it was at a failure because no people interested to buy things are invest in their company. Then slowly they understood the situation they tried change the people somehow they were devolped and Goldman Sachs and soft bank two companies invested 5 million and 20 million in Allibaba company. Much of Ma’s wealth is linked to Alibaba. He used to own an 11.7% stake with the largest controlling interest in the company and its subsidiaries, though he has been divesting his shares over time. The firm’s roots date back to 1995, when Ma and his wife started a site-creating company called China Yellow Pages. The name Allibaba came from the character Ali Baba from the Middle Eastern folk-tale collection One Thousand and One Nights because of its universal appeal. As Jack Ma, one of the founders, explained: One day I was in San Francisco in a coffee shop, and I was thinking of Alibaba so I kept this name. Jack Ma is primarily known as the founder of the e-commerce giant ‘Alibaba,’ which is one of the top e-commerce websites in the world. The firm, which is considered a rival of other famous websites, such as ‘eBay’, jack ma bought company was eBay then only the Goldman Sachs and Soft bank company gave money from that they run the company without getting any money from the people. This E bay has helped Jack Ma become the richest man in China. He is not bigger than Amazon but he is known as richest person around the world wide.

“WE ALL ARE HERE IN THE WORLD DUE TO MENSTRUAL BLOOD AND STILL IT IS CONSIDERED IMPURE”.

A MENSTRUAL TABOO is any SOCIAL TABOO concerned with MENSTRUATION. The word “MENSTRUATION” is etymologically related to “MOON”. The term “MENSTRUATION” and “MENSES” are derived from the LATIN Mendis(MONTH). MENSTRUATION is a phenomenon unique to girls. Also referred to as “monthly”,”date”,”problem”,”time”or,”monthly birthday” amongst others, is a natural biological process that all women regularly undergo during a major period of their lives. MENSTRUATION is the natural part of reproductive cycle in which blood from the UTERUS exists through the VAGINA. It is a natural process that first occurs in girls usually between the age of 11 and 14 years and is one of the indicators of onset of PUBERTY, among them. Despite, being a phenomenon unique to girls, this has always been surrounded by MYTHS, SECRECY, and TABOOS that exclude women from many aspects of SOCIO-CULTURAL life. All around the World, and throughout history WOMEN have been shamed, sequestered, and medicalised for bleeding regularly. Such TABOOS about MENSTRUATION present in many societies, impact on girl’s and women’s emotional state, mentality, lifestyle, and most importantly, health!

In INDIA, even mere mention of the TOPIC has been a taboo in the past and even to this date. Culturally, in many parts of INDIA, Menstruation is still considered to be IMPURE and DIRTY. The origin of this myth dates back to the VEDIC time,and is often been linked to INDRA’S SLAYING OF VRITRAS. Women in the HINDU FAITH, are prohibited from participating in normal life while MENSTRUATING. She must be purified before she is allowed to return to her family and her day to day chores of her life. Many girls and women are subject to restrictions in their daily lives while MENSTRUATING. Not entering the “PUJA ROOM” is one of the major restrictions on URBAN GIRLS and WOMEN whereas NOT ENTERING KITCHEN is among RURAL GIRLS while MENSTRUATING.

MENSTRUATING GIRLS and WOMEN are also restricted from offering PRAYERS and TOUCHING HOLY BOOKS. The underlying basis for this myth is also the CULTURAL BELIEFS of IMPURITY associated with MENSTRUATION. It is further believed that MENSTRUATING WOMEN are UNHYGIENIC and UNCLEAN and hence the food they prepare and handle are contaminated and no one else can have it. In some cultures, its believed that a women should avoid sleeping with her husband during MENSTRUATION. It may sound ridiculous as many modern women have also seen it following.

Interestingly, in ASIA, including INDIA such beliefs are still practiced. However, there seems to be no logical or scientific explanation behind this behaviour. In some parts of INDIA, some strict dietary restrictions are also followed during MENSTRUATION such as, sour food like curd, pickles, tamarind are usually avoided by MENSTRUATING GIRLS and WOMEN. It is believed that such food will disturb or stop the MENSTRUAL flow. In some parts of KARNATAKA and MAHARASHTRA, a prevalent practice is of MENSTRUATING WOMEN living in a different room amd restricting their daily activities. Where as in some parts, perceptions of HINDUISM centre on notions of purity and pollution. All women regardless of their Social Caste, incur pollution through the bodily process of MENSTRUATION. Such TABOOS about MENSTRUATION present in many societies impact on girl’s and women’s emotional state, mentality, lifestyle and most importantly health.

Its interesting that so much embarrassment, awkwardness, and shame surround a NATURAL BODILY FUNCTION Experienced by half the population at some point in their lives. On one hand, many SANITARY NAPKIN ADVERTISEMENTS encourage women to “touch the pickle” and continue pursuing their interests like playing BASKETBALL, FOOTBALL, DANCE, but on the other hand, our traditions and customs restrict these activities. This creates a confusion among ADOLESCENT GIRLS and if they try to question this, they don’t always receive an answer. We don’t hide toilet paper away, yet some women get flustered if a TAMPON or SANITARY NAPKIN drops out of their handbag. WOULDN’T YOU FIND THIS RIDICULOUS?

And yet, that’s what we do all the time with SANITARY PRODUCTS, as though the evidence that we have PERIODS, is something to be ashamed of!

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1.Vietnam
1 Indian Rupee = 314.01 Vietnamese Dong
Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country . It is home to a plethora of temples, shrines, pagodas, and religious sites. These enchanting structures range from Hindu shrines to Buddist monasteries. Visit these temples in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and others. It’s a great way to appreciate the nation’s history and culture.
2.Colombia
1 Indian Rupee = 49.32 Colombian Peso
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with territories in North America. It is famous for its arepas and specialty coffee, as well as the kindness of its people. It’s known for its culturally rich heritage where art, music and theater mix, and its diverse landscapes from deserts to snow-covered mountains.
3.Mongolia
1 Indian Rupee = 39.40 Mongolian Tugrik
Mongolia, a nation bordered by China and Russia, is known for vast, rugged expanses and nomadic culture.It is the world’s least populated country. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city, is officially the world’s coldest capital. The capital Ulaanbaatar means ‘red hero’. Mongolia boasts a wide range of birds, fish and mammals but is probably best known for the Siberian Ibex, Snow Leopard, Gobi Bear, Wild Bactrian Camel and Przewalski’s Horse.
4.Uzbekistan
1 Indian Rupee = 144.34 Uzbekistani Som
Uzbekistan is a Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic. It’s known for its mosques, mausoleums and other sites linked to the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean. Samarkand, a major city on the route, contains a landmark of Islamic architecture: the Registan, a plaza bordered by 3 ornate, mosaic-covered religious schools dating to the 15th and 17th centuries.
5.Indonesia
1 Indian Rupee = 193.89 Indonesian Rupiah
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over seventeen thousand islands.Indonesia sits on the Ring of Fire, an area with some of the most active volcanoes in the world.
6.Chile
1 Indian Rupee = 9.85 Chilean Peso
Chile is a long, narrow country stretching along South America’s western edge, with more than 6,000km of Pacific Ocean coastline.It is a paradise for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. Within the country, one can find a diverse variety of landscapes including vineyards, volcanoes, deserts, beaches, lakes, glaciers and forests. Nature, culture, food and people just are few of the reasons to visit Chile.
7.Sri Lanka
1 Indian Rupee = 2.71 Sri Lankan Rupee
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia.The tropical climate, beautiful beaches and incredible food of Sri Lanka are just some of the many reasons to include the South Asian country on your travel wish list.Sri Lanka is a great place to visit for water sport and wildlife enthusiasts and a haven for history buffs.
8.Hungary
1 Indian Rupee = 3.90 Hungarian Forint
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. For anyone looking for a budget destination with plenty to offer, Hungary is a great choice. Budapest itself is relatively cheap for a capital city, with affordable food, drink and attractions (many of the city’s famous sights are totally free to visit, such as the Fisherman’s Bastion and Chain Bridge).

Some people think Mahabharata is a religious text but actually, it is a part of our history. It’s not about religion it’s about stories because stories are the simplest means to learning. Mahabharat is the epic tale of the Kurukshetra War which was fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Krishna, the avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, guides the Pandavas to victory in this war.

Lesson 1: The real enemy of strength is pride

Today humans have become the most powerful creatures on the planet with the help of technology we have gone beyond the earth, all knowledge is available at one click, can extract oil from the depths of the seas and oceans but still, we have to bend to vagaries of nature. Bheema ( one of the ‘Pandavas’) was the strongest he wasn’t scared of anyone, but one day while Bheema was in exile, a monkey appeared in front of him in the forest. The monkey appeared weak, he was not able to get out of Bheema’s way. Bheema asked the monkey to move his tale as the monkey’s tail was in bheema’s way. The monkey said, “I am weak, I can’t move my tail”. Please move my tail and go your way, the monkey requested. This request angered Bheema. He tried to move the monkey’s tail with his feet, disrespectfully but the tail didn’t move an inch. He kept his mace aside and tried to move the tail with his hands but the tail did not move at all. He used all his strength but even then, the tail didn’t move. Bheema joined his hands in surrender. He realised that this was no ordinary monkey. He realised that this was Hanuman, the son of Vayu. Hanuman appeared in his true form and said to Bheema ” Many people have strength! Some are physically strong, some are financially and some are mentally strong but the moment we start taking pride in our abilities in that movement our pride becomes our downfall”. Some tasks can be achieved with humility not with strength. There is no shame in asking others for help. The tail was just a tool, Bheema’s real hurdle was his ego, his pride. If we cast aside our ego, our pride, our superiority we will be able to progress much faster.

Lesson 2: who is a real friend?

We expect our friends to support us in everything we do. We want their help to hide our mistakes and vices. Karna and Duryodhan (eldest of ‘Kauravas’) were friends too. When Karna’s brothers mocked him, made fun of him that time Duryodhana was the one who supported him. He gave Karna a place by his side and respected him. Karna had vowed that he would be loyal to Duryodhana no matter what. Karna is a very interesting character, we can learn a lot from Karna. So where did Karna go wrong? When Duryodhana burned the Panadav place Karna should have stopped him but he didn’t.

When Duryodhana disrobed Draupadi (wife of the Pandavas) in front of his court Karna should have stopped him but he didn’t. When Duryodhana under the influence of greed set out to kill the Pandavas Karna should have stopped him but he didn’t. Karna fulfilled his promise to support Duryodhana at all times. But this support helped or harmed Duryodhana? Karna as a friend failed, he didn’t fail once, he fAiled multiple times Because he never showed a mirror to Duryodhana. Being loyal in any relationship is a good thing but being blindly loyal can be fatal and ruins the true meaning of a relationship.

Lesson 3: who is the real hero?

Neither Pandavas nor Kauravas were perfect. Pandavas do have flaws and Kauravas also have qualities. But it wouldn’t seem right if the Kauravas won and Pandavas lost. So, why do we want Pandavas to win? There was one big difference between Kauravas and Pandavas, the Pandavas faced consequences of their mistakes, they accepted their mistakes. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost but they never ran away from their mistakes. On the other hand, Kauravas kept blaming others they never took responsibility for any of their actions. They became victims of their victimhood.

In Satyug, Good and Evil stayed in different worlds. In Tretayug, good and evil stay in the same world. In the Dwaparyug, Good and Evil stayed in the same family. Today in kaliyug, Good and Evil reside in the same person. The great war in Mahabharata is nowhere else but happening within our minds every single day. We are the ones, focused like Arjun, we are the ones, envious like Duryodhan, we are the ones who can also guide like Krishna and we are the ones who can deceive like shakuni ( uncle of Duryodhana).

Mahabharat tries to tell us something that we can have 100 different and damaging faults within us but even with 5 good qualities, we can overcome these faults. This lesson was, is and will always be relevant. There are probably 3000 lessons more to learn from Mahabharata. Mahabharata has been educating us for at least 3000 years, first passed down as oral culture and then through written form. The Mauryan empire maintained written records of Mahabharata 2300 years ago so that they could educate the people because they knew Mahabharata is ‘Panchamveda’. A Ved that can compress knowledge of the other 4 Vedas. Our ancient empires knew the power of stories and about the impact, they can make on society.

Day to day my life getting changed because everyday we get up we see many things like birds,animals and sparrow and pigeon everyday is not the same because every human being characteristics is getting changed everyday we learn new lessons and new things and new thoughts we came here with accomplishment with many things we learn to change our characters and living in this society others Characters to getting change by some fears which occurs to us by that many changes happen to us like wise understanding others doesn’t matter you have to understand others feelings and sorrow, pain,disturbance, hurting, try to solve others problems as my problem is the biggest understanding between your friendship when he is trouble doesn’t come with invitations it comes to anybody your trouble can be solved with speaking to others to share your thoughts with other does changes many things this is major problem faced by students facing online class street refers to students light refers to problem the refers to online basically its full form is online students problem is basically many youngsters are falling in the trap of love and marriage recently on tamilnadu many girls students facing trouble with online class tortured and physical and mentally andsexually problems are giving by their headmaster and students have completed the case to human child safety department taking care of investigate the case there are some guidelines which teachers have to follow while taking online classes which was given by education minister and given by education boards like UGC,PUC,all 1 to 10.classes guidelines is given by department of education and health all teachers should follow this guidelines all teachers are under the control of HOD,principal and Management is being controlled under and watched by cyber security police and education minister and education boards all are watching this 24/7 ×365 days day and night we all are being watched •••every due to online classes many students health gets affected to stop that central government have taken some regulation for online class for LKG and UKG minimum 1 hour is online class with their children they parents should stay with their children still the online class get over and 1 to 5th standards minimum 2 hours for online class parents should have a eye while online class is going on for 6 to puc class is for three hours they will be watched by teachers and Management control OF PUC board highest time for this online class is degree,diploma, and higher education is being watched by University and UGC board and by police officers and cyber security there will be 24/7 security for all the students in online classes the cyber security experts one things follow while attending online class is don’t click any unwanted website and don’t install unwanted files or anything relating to gift,money this all will be fake it is small link get the problem of hackers stay awake like this situation occurs call or complaint to cyber security relating your problem protect your privacy don’t give access to third person.. but always stay awake while attending online class you may get unwanted links to your mail,whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook, while online class stay awake don’t fall in to any trap or misusing the privacy STAY AWAKE WHILE ATTENDING ONLINE CLASS

           In Swami and Friends by R.K. Narayan we have the theme of disobedience, conflict, control, authority, power, rebellion and independence. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Narayan may be exploring the theme of disobedience.Jul 18, 2018

    The protagonist of the story is a 10-year-old boy. He is an unconstrained, indiscreet, wicked but then also an exceptionally honest child. His character is a kid in the fullest feeling of the world. How he grows up, his mischiefs which made his family irritated, his wonder, growing pains and innocence and many aspects are being portrayed in the novel. He lives in a universe of bossy grown-ups. He is a student at Albert Mission School. It is a British established school where importance is given to Christianity and English education.

     One of the most watershed moments in the novel is the time when Rajam joins the school and he becomes friend with Swami. That was a life-changing stage for him. But later he breaks his friendship due to some reasons.

      Everyone can relate R.K. Narayan’s account of childhood games and friendship. It’s an age where friendship is more important than family and more urgent than school. Also, holidays are heaven on earth during those days. The author effectively sketches those days through Swami and Friends.

The Innocence of Youth is the fundamental theme of Swami and Friends. Swaminathan and his friends are 10-years-old at the beginning of the book, and are prone to all the typical behaviors of young children: they are fascinated with toys; they daydream in class; they take their families for granted, and they disdain schoolwork. Rather than plotting or planning out their adventures with deliberate intention, these boys participate in the risk-taking and spontaneous mischief characteristic of young children. At their youthful age, they are not yet fully equipped to understand the world around them, the class differences that already work to inevitably divide them, or to understand the repercussions of their actions. For example, Swaminathan does not understand why an angry mob gathers after the arrest of the Indian politician Gauri Sankar in Chapter Twelve, and he cannot anticipate the consequences of shattering his headmaster’s windows with a rock. In running away, he does not understand that in doing so he might miss the M.C.C. match and irrevocably damage his friendship with Rajam. These are but a few cases that illustrate the central theme of Swami and Friends, where youthful innocence wrestles with increasing tension against worldly complexity and conflict..

This thesis entitled “Myth of Innocence and Purity of Childhood in R. K. Narayan’s novel Swami and Friends” examines how childhood not only embodies fun and laughter, purity and innocence but also equally self centeredness, snobbery, vanity, callousness, cruelty and jealousy that can be seen among adults. It also assesses the novel critically and brings the hidden realities of childhood days into light that children are also not free from vices. Narayan, with the skillful use of humour, tries to capture the world of children as reflected in the growing up of Swaminathan and his companions, and their adventure and misadventure in the mythical town of ‘Malgudi.’ By providing the realistic glimpse of childhood, Narayan shows that children also have contrary qualities and are not free from multiple human natures as can be found in grown up people. As Narayan he writes in his autobiography—My Days, those children are capable of performing greater cunning activities than grown up and he beautifully puts this belief in Swami and Friends.

The Political and the Personal Under British Colonial Rule                  

Set in a fictional town in south India circa 1930, Swami and Friends is defined by the pressures and complexities of British colonial rule over India. While the book’s events revolve around common childhood trials and tribulations, the personal experiences of the protagonist and his friends are colored by their political context, even when the characters themselves have little understanding of it. By examining British colonial rule through the lens of an ordinary boy’s relatable…

Education and Oppression

Difficulty within educational settings is one of Swami’s constant conflicts throughout the novel. Rather than simply depicting the ordinary childhood struggles of homework and unfair teachers, Narayan uses these familiar obstacles to enact a smaller version of the colonial oppression that suffuses the book. For Swami, school is a place of both growth and restriction, where rigid rules come into conflict with Swami’s nuanced inner life. Throughout, Narayan’s depictions of Swami’s school days add…

The Fluidity of Identity

            Although little more than a year passes over the course of Swami’s story, his identity and those of his friends change and develop many times throughout the novel. By demonstrating how malleable his characters’ essential traits and roles are, Narayan casts doubt on the idea of objectively “true” identity, instead seeming to argue that even core characteristics like goodness and badness can be changed and chosen according to the desires of individuals and groups…

Innocence, Family, and Growing Up

Just as Swami’s story reveals the somewhat illusory nature of personal identity, so too does it slowly strip away conventional notions of childhood innocence. While Swami seems at first to embody the quintessential idea of a carefree child, his growth over the course of the novel shows that even children of his young age are burdened by serious concerns and real-world threats. Narayan demonstrates this gradual loss of innocence in large part through his…

Just as Swami’s story reveals the somewhat illusory nature of personal identity, so too does it slowly strip away conventional notions of childhood innocence. While Swami seems at first to embody the quintessential idea of a carefree child, his growth over the course of the novel shows that even children of his young age are burdened by serious concerns and real-world threats. Narayan demonstrates this gradual loss of innocence in large part through his portrayal of Swami’s relationships with the members of his immediate family, which grow increasingly complicated and less protective over the course of the story.

At the start of the novel, Swami is almost wholly dependent on his family. He blithely takes them for granted while also calling on them to support his whims and desires, and their firm but kind presence grounds the seeming innocence that Swami enjoys in the early chapters. Swami’s mother and father, though strict at times, offer him safety and resources to pursue his academic and social goals. Even when Swami meets Rajam, whom he views as a role model, he still requires his father’s room and his mother’s cooking in order to host Swami at his home. Thanks to his parents’ help, the visit goes well, and Swami feels independent in his friendship with Rajam even as he relies on his family to support it. Swami’s Granny, whom he considers unsightly and senile but nevertheless loveable, also offers him unquestioning comfort. She affirms Swami’s stories even when they are implausible, and although she tells him stories from the family’s past, Swami dismisses her words as “old unnecessary stories.” Swami views his relationship with his grandmother as simply “snug and safe,” but Narayan makes clear that this perception relies on Swami’s ability to ignore the more complex, challenging stories that his grandmother wishes to tell. In describing the conflict between Swami and his headmaster at the mission school, Narayan hints again at the deeper reality that underlies Swami’s outwardly innocent reliance on his family. After Swami brings in his father’s letter complaining about Ebenezer’s treatment of Swami, the Mission School Headmaster scolds Ebenezer but then tells Swami that he was “foolish to go to [his] father about this matter.” The headmaster requests that Swami turn to him instead of his father about future problems, foreshadowing the novel’s later events in which Swami’s father is powerless to protect him.

As the novel progresses, Swami’s feeling of security with his family begins to erode, as both he and the reader discover evidence that his innocent trust in his own safety may have been an illusion all along. When Swami’s mother gives birth to an unnamed baby boy, Swami is initially indifferent to his new brother, calling him “hardly anything.” But as time passes, Swami realizes that the baby is now the center of the household. Although Swami soon comes to love his brother, he is also forced to admit that he is no longer the sole focus of his parents’ and grandmother’s love and attention. Around the same time, Swami notices that his father has changed to become “fussy and difficult.” His father begins to take a more active role in making Swami study for his exams, and Swami resents the realization that his father’s role is not only to protect him but also to pressure him toward growth. In the middle of the novel, Swami enters into a conflict with the son of a coachman who tricks Swami into giving him money. This episode in particular illustrates the tension between Swami’s youthful innocence and his dawning knowledge of the genuine danger of the world around him. The episode begins with Swami’s intense desire to get a hoop, a childish wish based only on a love for simple play. However, that innocent impulse soon transforms into a violent conflict with the coachman’s son; Mani beats Swami in an attempt to get the boy’s attention and then, when they confront him, his neighbors throw rocks and chase them off with dogs. Most significantly of all, Swami encounters the son again while visiting his father’s luxurious club, but finds that his father is oblivious to the danger. He decides to “seek protection” by telling his father, but quickly reverses his choice, deciding that “his father had better not know anything about the coachman’s son, however serious the situation might be.” As Swami moves away from his father’s protection, Narayan demonstrates more forcefully that Swami’s family is not truly the refuge that it initially appears to be.

By the novel’s conclusion, Swami has experienced the genuine danger of the world around him and, at the same time, come to realize the limitations of his family’s ability to comfort him and keep him safe. Through this process Narayan shows that Swami shares in the universal realities common to all coming-of-age stories, even within the unique sociopolitical context of India under English colonial rule.

After Swami and his friends form their cricket team, Swami discovers that his grandmother does not know what cricket is. Although he is upset by her “appalling ignorance,” he is nonetheless patient with her because he remembers his recent, irrational fear that “she was going to die in a few minutes” because he refused to bring her a lemon. Swami’s shift toward caring for his grandmother and her feelings marks a reversal of his previous belief that his family are the ones responsible for him. When Swami goes missing, a chapter from his father’s perspective reveals that he is completely powerless to find Swami and, given that Swami actually ran away, save him from himself. His father’s desolation and inability to alter the situation underscores the fact that Swami must now take responsibility for himself, rather than relying innocently on his family. When Swami is rescued by Mr. Nair, he is initially confused and calls the man Father. He is unable to understand his situation, thinking: “Who was this man? Was he Father? If he was not, why was he there? Even if he was, why was he there? Who was he?” This internal breakdown of Swami’s ability to comprehend his father’s role in his life represents a moment of profound growth in Swami’s self-efficacy and maturity. Later, he laments that he forgot to say goodbye to the Officer, hinting at the core truth that one cannot appreciate childhood simplicity until it is gone. Swami still lives with his family at the novel’s end, but he has lost the illusion that his life there is innocent or free of worry.

Swami’s Cap

Swami’s cap becomes important to the story as he begins to develop a political consciousness. Swami thinks little of his clothes until the night that he and Mani stumble on a protest against British oppression, and Swami realizes that some of his clothing may be made by British manufacturers at the expense of Indian craftspeople. When a bystander suggests that he is “wearing a foreign cap,” Swami is ashamed and throws the cap into the fire—his first act in support of Indian liberation. However, the cap also comes to symbolize Swami’s naivete about political matters. The next morning, Swami thinks not of his devotion to Indian independence, but of the anger his father will feel when he sees that the cap is missing. Then, even after his intense experience at the protest, Swami continues to view his fledging political activity through the narrow lens of his own self-interest, telling his father that the cap was burned by someone else in the crowd rather than owning up to his own actions. Finally, Swami’s father informs him that the cap was Indian-made all along, undermining Swami’s passionate destruction of what he believed to be a symbol of England. The cap thus underscores Narayan’s point that Swami’s actions are tied to a political context even when he is only able to engage with that context in a childish, haphazard way.

            Swami’s cap represents his good but misguided and uninformed intentions, which often lead him to trouble. He destroys his cap in a fit of anti-colonial anger, believing it to be English-made. His father later corrects him, revealing it was actually an Indian-made cap, leading to Swami getting in trouble with his father and later, with his school.

Cricket

The game of cricket is the story’s most potent symbol of the complex way that English colonization plays out in the lives of Swami and his friends. As a quintessentially English activity, cricket is closely tied to England’s presence in India, but instead of rejecting it for its oppressive associations, Swami and his friends—particularly team captain Rajam—embrace the game as a means of gaining self-determination, dominance over opponents, and interpersonal connection. This paradoxical pursuit demonstrates the ways in which colonized peoples like Swami and his friends must necessarily adapt to the influences of the colonizer, even embracing aspects of the oppressive culture and subverting them into mechanisms of liberation. However, the friends’ cricket team has both positive and negative effects in Swami’s life; it initially helps him put aside his political differences with Rajam, but it also tears apart their friendship when Swami misses the crucial match. Through this symbol, Narayan seems to recognize the unstable and sometimes dangerous role that even the appealing aspects of colonizing nations play in the lives of the colonized.

Not only is cricket a reminder of the colonial influence of Britain in India, it is also a symbol of competition, and on the cricket field is where Rajam and Swami actually come to a head. Rajam uses a threat against their friendship in order to control Swami’s behavior, but Swami cannot help but feel that it is wrong to skip school so that they can compete. The match represents Rajam’s emotionally desperate understanding of “victory” as an important goal. Cricket highlights the conflict between Rajam and Swami and heightens the stakes, ultimately leading to them breaking up.

     Cricket is a symbol of Swami’s friendships, especially with Rajam. Swami enjoys cricket and works hard at it, just as he enjoys his friendship with Rajam and works hard to maintain it, much in the way he devotes time to practice. When Swami misses the the first match, he and Rajam both take it as a personal slight, rather than one against the team as a whole.

The Book of Fairy Tales

Swami’s somewhat surprising choice of a book of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen as a going-away present for Rajam acts as a symbol for the crossroads of maturity at which the two boys find themselves. Swami has struggled to enjoy reading through the novel, while Rajam has excelled at it, so Swami’s sensitivity to the kind of present that Rajam would appreciate demonstrates the way that he has begun learning to think outside of himself and his own desires. However, the fact that the book includes fairy tales rather than true facts indicates that the boys’ reality is still largely shaped by fantasy. Even as Swami is forced to face the painful fact that Rajam is moving away without repairing his friendship with Swami, he relies on the power of a book of imagined realities to bridge the gap between them. Finally, Swami thinks that the book is too full of “unknown, unpronounceable English words” for him to ever understand it himself, again hinting that mysterious foreign influence is present in every corner of his life, even the parts that concern fantasy rather than reality.

Geography (Symbol)

Geography is one of the subjects that Swami and his classmates learn at school, and they spend a lot of time memorizing the capitals of foreign countries and copying maps. His friend Mani spends many hours copying maps of Europe, India, and Africa in preparation for their exams. Learning geography is an important part in their colonial education in orienting and knowing the world, with Europe at the center. The setting of the novel, the town of Malgudi, is fictional, however, and thus Narayan refuses to map the village.

The Protest (Symbol)

The protest can be argued to represent many things, but first and foremost, it symbolizes the frustration that exists in India because of the colonial presence of the British who dominate the nation as a second-class society. The British represent the broken forces that exist among closed-minded people with economic interests. Among the problems is that India has become chronically poor because its resources are drained by the British.

Escape 

        Escape is a motif that continually resurfaces as Swami escapes from the headmaster in the Albert Mission School and then later at the Board High School. Escape is Swami’s usual method of dealing with difficult or painful situations, but he often ends up getting lost, or in a worse situation than before.

The Cane (Symbol)

         When the headmaster of Swami’s school rejects his request to leave early for his cricket game, Swami becomes angry and throws his cane out of the window. This demonstration is a symbol because the action represents the value of the moment in Swami’s real life. The stick becomes a symbol of freedom because the stick goes where Swami wants to go—outside of the walls and hierarchal order of school.

Fire-Eyed

1. K. Narayan writes, “He shuddered at every thought of school: that dismal yellow building; the fire-eyed Vedanayagam, his class teacher” (3). The emblematic fire-eyedness renders the class teacher an uncompromising individual who will not bear disruptive behavior from his students. Accordingly, he arouses dread in his students due to the authoritarian persona which his eyes indicate.

Tail

Swami’s old friends, who feel like they have been abandoned by Swami, begin calling him “tail.” A “tail” is a long thing that attaches itself to an ass or a dog, as he learns in Chapter 4.

Broken Window Panes

The headmaster’s office window panes, and their shattering, are one of the more concrete symbols of the book. After Swaminathan destroys the window, his future is permanently changed though he does not know it at the time. The broken glass serves to represent that Swaminathan has defied the established order, causing a break that he cannot repair, and crossing a point of no return…

Swami’s younger brother represents his relationship to his family, without the distractions or impediments of school, class…

Swami

Swami is the ten-year-old protagonist of the novel. Swami is a schoolboy living in 1930, in the fictional town of Malgudi in the South of India under British colonial rule. At the start of the novel, Swami is a typical child who seems outwardly innocent, with only trivial concerns such as homework, impressing his classmates, and avoiding disappointing his father. Swami is considered average among his friends, neither especially clever nor stupid, brave nor cowardly. He is generally good-natured and gets along well with his peers and family, although he can be arrogant or deceitful at times, and is easily swept up in the plans and enthusiasms of others. As the novel progresses, Swami becomes more aware of his own identity and political consciousness and begins to define himself more in terms of his friendships and national identity than his family relationships. Swami is also a naturally good cricket bowler and prides himself on being nicknamed “Tate,” after a famous cricket player.

Swami is the central character of the plot. He is also the protagonist of the play. As a child, he goes to school where he does not like studies and gets bored easily. He is an honest boy of seven but, on the other hand, he also does not hesitate telling lies to his father. He loves his granny’s stories. He is good at cricket and is nicknamed “Tate.” He saw the revolution phase of Indian independence. Later in the course of the novel, he became bolder and socially prominent.

       The protagonist of the novel Swaminathan (Swami) is a school going boy. He belongs to a South Indian middle-class family. His family comprises of his grandmother, mother, father, and mother. In the initial trenches of the story, his younger brother was born. He epitomizes the innocence of a youth mischievousness that childhood necessitates.

            The plot of Swami and Friends revolves around Swaminathan, the central protagonist, who initially typifies the innocence of youth and all the mischievousness that childhood entails. He prefers cricket to school, takes his family for granted, and attempts to play out childhood fantasies in the often reckless games and stunts he pursues with his shifting group of friends. Initially coming across as passive and timid–more likely to follow than to lead the crowd (as we witness in the mob scene of Chapter 12)–and overshadowed amongst his peers by the more self-assured Mani and Rajam, Swaminathan, however, becomes bolder and more socially prominent over the course of the novel. The most vital player on the cricket team, it is ultimately, Swaminathan, and not Rajam or Mani that holds the key to M.C.C.’s victory. And though his rebellion against the headmaster results in childish flight, he openly and boldly defies the central authority figure of his school without waiting for Rajam’s support, and without the support of an angry mob to fuel his courage. While the novel centers on a brief period in Swaminathan’s life, in this brief journey, we witness the revolutionary change happening in India, and the subtle revolution of character and understanding that takes place within Swaminathan…

Rajam

Rajam is the son of the Police Superintendent and one of Swami’s closest friends. Rajam is new to Swami’s school at the start of the novel, and initially Swami and Mani view him as an enemy due to his quick wits, fine clothes, and fearless nature. However, Rajam quickly becomes friends with Rajam and Swami and acts as their ringleader for the remainder of the novel. Rajam does well in school and is liked by most of his classmates, and he draws confidence from his father’s prominent position (Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent), although it also causes him to oppose the political activity that his friends support. Rajam sometimes bullies his friends and acquaintances, but more often he unites them and urges them toward new goals, most notably the formation of a cricket team. Swami loves and admires Rajam but comes into conflict with him, first because Swami supports political action that opposes Rajam’s father, and later because he doesn’t live up to his promise on Rajam’s cricket team. Rajam is so angry at Swami for missing the cricket match that he stops speaking to him, and it is unclear at the novel’s end whether the two friends have reconciled.

Rajam is the new kid at the Albert Mission School and is Swami’s rival turned best friend. Rajam is good at studies, speaks English “like a European,” and is the son of the police superintendent, which gives him more attention and status at school. He is witty and fearless in nature and naturally assumes authority in social settings. It is his idea to start a cricket team. The character of Rajam: Rajam was the guy with an endearing personality. He is smarter and grown-up than Mani. He believes in self-respect. Rajam is very sincere in academics. He likes assisting or helping his friends in academics. Mani possesses a propensity for domination amongst every one of his age but Rajat didn’t feel that within him. In fact, Rajam tries to put forward a hand for friendship with Mani. He wanted to settle the enmity with Mani and this signify the nobility Rajam has got with him.

Mani

Known as “the Mighty Good-For-Nothing,” Mani is Swami’s other closest friend. Mani is a fearless troublemaker who never does his homework, sleeps in class, and frequently resorts to violence to solve his problems. However, he is also a loyal and affectionate friend, and Swami is proud to be allied with him. Mani often plays a supporting role in Swami and Rajam’s friendship, though at the end of the novel it is Mani, rather than Swami, who takes on the role of Rajam’s best friend. Mani lives with a frightening uncle, but little else is known about his family or background.

    Another close friend of Swami, Mani is described as the “Mighty Good-For-Nothing.” He is a bold and strong figure in his class. He is not good at studies and purposefully slacks off, but he likes fighting and no one dares to challenges him, even the teachers. Mani likes to dominate the whole class and also bully some of his classmates.

Swami’s Father

Swami’s father, W.T. Srinivasan, is an imposing figure who works at the courts and is usually strict with Swami. Swami sometimes feels afraid of his father, but at other times he turns to him for help and support. Swami’s father encourages Swami to study hard and helps him with homework and, notably, provides Swami with a study space within his own room. Late in the novel, Swami’s father reveals that his concern for Swami’s wellbeing outweighs his frustrations with his son, as shown when he searches for Swami all night and welcomes him home without punishment.

Swaminathan’s father is a lawyer by profession. He is stern and authoritarian, but caring. He worries about his son’s studies and encourages him to study hard. Sometimes he is overly strict, but later in the novel he also shows his concern for the well-being of his son.

Swami’s Mother

Swami’s mother appears in the novel only occasionally, usually in the context of providing Swami with something he wants or backing him up in an argument with his father. She is presented as a mild woman who is mostly concerned with her family and managing the household. She loves Swami deeply and also gives birth to a baby boy, Swami’s brother, who occupies her attention for much of the novel.

Swaminathan’s mother is in charge of the house and cares for Swami both materially and emotionally. She defends Swami in his arguments with his father. However, her appearances are occasional. She is the character that Swami misses the most when he runs away from the house.

Swami’s Grandmother / Granny Quotes in Swami and Friends

Swami’s paternal grandmother, whom he calls Granny, is an old woman who lives with Swami and his mother and father. Swami views Granny as ancient and sometimes embarrassing, but she is also a source of comfort and security during times of change, particularly when Swami’s brother is born. Granny sometimes tries to tell Swami stories about the family’s past, but he usually refuses to listen, indicating his preoccupation with his own present concerns. Swami grows more concerned with Granny’s needs over the course of the story, beginning to see himself as a caretaker for her and making more of an effort to meet her needs.

        Granny is described as a sweet and sleepy lady whom Swami will often go to and tell stories about his day. She is a religious woman. She tells Swami the stories of her past. Her relationship with Swami changes throughout the novel.

        Swami’s grandmother was a short and fat and a slightly bent woman. She was a notably a religious woman. She had inner beauty intact with her rather than physical. She was not an attractive woman as she herself says she wasn’t pretty. He lived with her in his childhood days. He describes her as a good friend of his. She used to wake him up during the school days and prepare breakfast for him. After the breakfast is being done his grandmother hand over the pen, wooden slate, and earthen ink-pot to him. While Swami attended school his grandmother would study the scriptures in the temple which his nearby his school

Swami’s Brother

Swami’s unnamed baby brother is born midway through the novel. While Swami at first thinks little of his brother, he soon grows fond of him and admires how quickly he learns and grows. Swami’s brother also presents a unique challenge to Swami, in that he occupies the family’s attention and makes it so that Swami is no longer the sole focus of his parents’ and grandmother’s affection.

            He is the only sibling to Swami. He is born midway through the novel. He captures the prime attention of his family. Swami too cares for his little brother. However, this character has no major role as he remains a child throughout the novel.

Rajam’s Father

Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent and acts as a powerful figure in the community. Swami and Mani are initially very excited to be associated with the Police Superintendent through their new friend Rajam, and Swami is impressed with the luxury of his household. Later, Rajam’s father becomes a symbol of political conflict when Swami witnesses him ordering the police force to violently break up the crowd of protesters. However, Rajam’s father remains kind in person to Rajam and his friends, and plays an important role in rescuing Swami at the novel’s conclusion.

Somu

Somu is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School. He is the class monitor and gets along well with everyone, students and teachers, although he does not excel academically. Swami thinks of Somu as the “uncle of the class.” When Somu treats Swami unkindly, the experience is one of the first times that Swami is forced to admit that the people around him are more complex than he might have guessed. Later in the novel, Somu disappears from the group of friends after failing an exam, and thus not being promoted to the next grade.

        Somu is Swami’s school friend from the Albert Mission School. He is the monitor of Swami’s class and carries himself with an easy and confident air. Swami calls him the “uncle of the class.”

Sankar

Sankar is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School, known as “the most brilliant boy of the class.” Swami admires Sankar’s intelligence and relies on him for guidance at school. Sankar eventually leaves Malgudi when his father is transferred to a new town, and although he writes to Rajam and his friends intend to reply, they fall out of touch after realizing that they don’t have Sankar’s new address.

     A classmate of Swami, Sankar is known as the “the most brilliant boy of the class.” Swami admires Sankar’s intellect and takes his guidance. Later, he leaves Malgudi as his father is transferred to another town.

Mission School Headmaster

The Mission School Headmaster is a primary antagonist for Swami in the novel’s early chapters. Although he confronts Ebenezar about his mistreatment of Swami, he also calls Swami foolish for telling his father what happened in scripture class and asks Swami to rely only on him in the future. Later, the headmaster’s intimidating interrogation of the students who participated in the protest goads Swami into renouncing the Mission School and ultimately transferring to the Board School. However, in comparison to the abhorrent Board School Headmaster, Swami eventually comes to think of the Mission School Headmaster as dignified and respectable.

Mr. Ebenezar

Mr. Ebenezar is the fanatical Christian scripture teacher at the Mission School. Although Swami and his friends sometimes finds his classes amusing, he uses his lectures to degrade Hinduism and argue for the superiority of Christianity. After Swami reports Ebenezar’s behavior, the Mission School Headmaster scolds the teacher, but ultimately it seems that Ebenezar is allowed to carry on teaching as before. Later, Ebenezar appears only as a benign figure in the school crowd, one who Swami even comes to view fondly after his troubles at the Board School.

         He is Swami’s scripture teacher at the Albert Mission School. He is a Christian fanatic and degrades Swami’s religion, Hinduism, and considers Christianity superior to other religions. Later, he is scolded by the headmaster of the school.

The Coachman

The unnamed coachman is an acquaintance of Swami’s who promises to help him acquire a toy hoop in exchange for money. He claims to be able to turn copper coins into silver, but it becomes clear that he is lying to Swami in order to get his coins. The coachman’s son also becomes a menacing presence to Swami after this episode. Swami’s experiences with the coachman are an early example of his increasing acquaintance with the evils and dangers of the world.

The Coachman’s Son

The coachman’s son is a young boy who begins to taunt and threaten Swami after his father successfully scams Swami out of his money. Rajam forms a plan in which Mani will kidnap the son with Swami’s help, but the plan goes awry when the son tricks Mani and runs away with his toy top. Soon thereafter, Swami discovers during a visit to his father’s club that the coachman’s son works at the club, and Swami is overcome with fear that the son will attack him. This episode is one of the first instances in which Swami feels that his father is not able to protect him from harm.

Karrupan

Karrupan is a young boy who is bullied by Rajam, Mani, and Swami while out driving his cart. The three friends harass Karrupan and pretend to be government agents, frightening the boy before sending him on his way. The behavior of Swami and his friends toward Karrupan demonstrates their internalization of the colonized state’s brutal power structures.

Samuel (or The Pea)

Also nicknamed “The Pea,” Samuel is Swami’s classmate and friend. Both Swami and the Pea are close friends until the Pea changes his school. Both remain friends as they both play cricket together. He is the only Christian friend of Swami.

Dr. Kesavan

Dr. Kesavan is a physician whom Swami goes to in an effort to get a medical certificate saying he can miss school drill practice in order to go to cricket. Dr. Kesavan laughs at Swami’s self-diagnosis of delirium and pronounces him healthy, but says that he will talk to the Board School Headmaster to get Swami excused from drill practice. However, Dr. Kesavan does not talk to the headmaster at all, which leads to Swami’s punishment and eventual departure from school. Swami curses Dr. Kesavan for lying, and this episode is another of Swami’s formative experiences of betrayal.

Ranga

Ranga is the cart man who finds Swami unconscious after his night wandering lost in the wilderness. He rescues Swami by bringing him to Mr. Nair, thinking himself too simple to know what to do. Ranga is one of few peasant characters in the novel, and notably, Swami knows little of his role in the rescue and does not think to thank him later.

Mr. Nair

Mr. Nair is the District Forest Officer who helps Swami return home after being lost. Swami initially confuses him with his own father, indicating the sense of loss and disorientation that Swami undergoes as he matures. Later, Swami feels guilty for forgetting to say goodbye to Mr. Nair and worries that he did not show appropriate gratitude for his role, again drawing a parallel between Mr. Nair and Swami’s actual father. However, Mr. Nair also lies to Swami about the day of the week, presumably to keep him calm, and causes him not to realize he is missing the cricket match until it is already over.

The central theme of the novel is growing up of young Swami. He is a spontaneous, impulsive, mischievous and yet a very innocent child. His character is a child in the fullest sense of the world. Through Swami’s eyes the reader gets to peak in to the pre-independence days in South India. The life portrayed in the novel is accurate in its description of the colonial days – the uprisings, the rebellions, the contempt and the reverence the natives had for their subjugator, together with varied elements that have become one, such as cricket and education.

     Unlike many colonial and post-colonial writers Narayan does not directly attack or criticize the colonial system, although elements of gentle criticism and irony directed towards the colonial system, are scattered through out Swami and Friends and all his other novels. He has rather directed his creativity at depicting the life of the people at the time. It is almost as if he is charmed by these unsophisticated and simple, yet eccentric people and their lives. It is unclear if he refrained from an all out attack on the British colonial system out of choice or reverence. But it seems at this point in his career, (and during this particular point of India’s history), when he is starting out as an author, he would write to the English speaking audience in India and for the vast audience abroad. Hence it would be folly to attack the very system that would sustain him as a novelist, his career of choice. Asked about why he was unbothered about the prevailing political crisis and other happenings during the time, Narayan replied in an interview thus ” When art is used as a vehicle for political propaganda, the mood of comedy, the sensitivity to atmosphere, the probing of psychological factors, the crisis of the individual soul and its resolution and above all the detached observation which constitutes the stuff of fiction is forced into the background.” Beyond this, he also had tremendous regard for the English language and literature as an aesthetic past time, and was not blind to its value in that regard.

      The absence of criticism on the colonial system maybe also due to the fact that Narayan simply believed the colonizer and the colonized could live together in harmony, benefiting each other. Most Englishmen and the natives certainly seem to do so in his novels, such as Mr Retty (Swami and Friends) and Matheison (Waiting for the Mahatma). The rice mill owner Mr Retty was “the most Indianized of the ‘Europeans’….and was the mystery man of the place: nobody could say who he was or where he had come from: he swore at his boy and his customers in perfect Tamil and always moved about in shirt, shorts and sandaled feet.” Mr Matheison feels strongly for Indians and considers himself Indian. “You see, it is just possible I am as much attached to this country as you are.” Only Mr Brown seems to be the ‘black sheep’ in this regard. His Western mind is only capable of “classifying, labeling and departmentalizing…” And the gentle criticism and irony directed towards him was in the same way directed towards his fellow countrymen. In his mind British or Indian, they were all human beings with prejudices, follies, errors, kindness and goodness, each in varying degrees.

and Friends is an Indian book written in English published in 1935. The work was the first novel ever published by the famous Indian author R. K. Narayan. Narayan’s friend, Graham Greene, recommended his manuscript to a publisher, and it was finally published by Hamish Hamilton in 1935. The original title of Swami and Friends was Swami the Tate, but it was changed during the publishing process to Swami and Friends likely so that it could have more literary identification with Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co (1899) and thus appear more marketable as part of a sub-genre of English schoolboy fiction. The novel is the first of a trilogy of novels. The second is entitled The Bachelor of Arts and the third The English Teacher. The trilogy, which counts among his earlier fiction, focuses largely on problematic social practices, such as the institution of schooling and culture of punishme

Main thing is “Friendship” and how kids react differently to the different situations. I love the story. Swami is a little boy who has a good heart but little bit a coward. Think it’s same for all the kids in that age. Swami loves his friends and ready to anything for them but his cowardliness and bad temper made the trick every time. Anyway think the most important thing in that story is simpleness. Swami is a normal boy who can find in every country and every time. He doesn’t have anything special but I think the author should give him a chance. Though he is a good cricket player he hasn’t got a chance to show it to others and it seems the only special skill he has.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban What’s Up With the Title?

By J.K. Rowling

         Third Person (Limited)

    The third installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written from the point-of-view of 13 year-old Harry Potter. The title refers to convicted criminal, Sirius Black, who has escaped Azkaban, a wizard prison.

In the series, this was the first title that mentions a person rather than an object. This title also stands out for being the most misleading in the series thus far… which happens to be really fitting. Azkaban is largely a mystery story (with elements of fantasy and Bildungsroman – a fancy German word for a coming-of-age story). The title helps set up the mystery elements of the novel from the get go – who is this prisoner? What did he do, and what does he want now?

                               Of course, just when we, and Harry, think we have the whole thing figured out, the novel throws us for a loop and we learn that we were wrong about everything. The Prisoner of Azkaban (as in, the character, not the title) isn’t the real villain of the story at all. Consider our minds blown.

          This title also ties in two more of the book’s major themes – family and the past. As we learn more about the prisoner, one Sirius Black, we start to get an entire story-within-the-story – a history of the conflict with Voldemort, a crash course in the lives of James and Lilly Potter, and the strong family ties that Harry, one of the most famous orphan characters of all time, still has in the wizarding world. The Prisoner of Azkaban starts to work as a kind of metonym, which is a fancy way of saying a word or short phrase that stands for an entire concept or idea (try busting that one out on your next AP exam!). The Prisoner here stands for the entire first war with Voldemort and the ways in which Harry’s personal history is closely linked to that conflict.

              HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF   AZKABAN

1.Who is the protagonist in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

          Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived,” the savior of the wizarding world and the only living wizard to defeat Lord Voldemort, is the protagonist of J. K. Rowlings series of novels.Oct 5, 2020

2. What character traits does Harry Potter have?

Harry- Brave, Quick Thinking, Witty, Honourable, Self-Reliant, Confident, Instinctive and extremely stubborn/strong willed/determined. Harry is often at the front line and will protect who he loves. He fights for the good of the wizarding world and is determined to kill the man who killed his parents.

3. What is the Prisoner of Azkaban about?

          Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) third year at Hogwarts starts off badly when he learns deranged killer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from Azkaban prison and is bent on murdering the teenage wizard. While Hermione’s (Emma Watson) cat torments Ron’s (Rupert Grint) sickly rat, causing a rift among the trio, a swarm of nasty Dementors is sent to protect the school from Black. A mysterious new teacher helps Harry learn to defend himself, but what is his secret tie to Sirius Black?

4 Who is the bad guy in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

. After reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill him.

What is the main conflict in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

major conflict The major conflict is the search to catch Sirius Black, an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban, to protect Harry from him, and for Harry to come to terms with Black’s supposed role in his own parents’ death.

Why is the Prisoner of Azkaban the best?

Why was Prisoner of Azkaban widely considered the best of the Harry Potter films? POA was my favorite book, and when I watched the movie, I immediately loved it. The music and emotional scenes are awesome, as well as some awesome cinematography, such as showing the Whomping Willow while seasons changed.

Where is Hogwarts in Harry Potter?

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the British wizarding school, located in the Scottish Highlands. It accepted magical students from Great Britain and Ireland for enrolment.

What happens in Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban?

After reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill him. … Draco exaggerates his injury, and his father Lucius Malfoy later has Buckbeak sentenced to death.

What is the moral of Harry Potter?

One of the morals of the story is that you never know what you are capable of until you try. Harry was faced with extraordinary circumstances, and he was able to rise to the challenge. He found reserves of bravery within himself, as well as special abilities. Harry Potter had no idea that he was a wizard, of course.

How old was Emma Watson Prisoner of Azkaban?

When “Prisoner of Azkaban” bowed, Emma Watson was 14, Daniel Radcliffe was 13 and Rupert Grint was 15.Jun 4, 2014

What year is Prisoner of Azkaban set in?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

December 1993 – Harry receives the Marauders’ Map from Fred and George Weasley. June 1994 – Harry Potter discovers Sirius Black and finds out he’s innocent, rescues him but loses Peter Pettigrew.AprA 30, 2020

Why is Prisoner of Azkaban so different?

 

 Harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban seems a bit different because it was directed by another director. Chris Columbus directed the first two movies(philosopher’s stone and chamber of secrets) keeping the theme and direction as close as possible to the books. … So the first two movies and Goblet of Fire seems same.

• The Injustice of Legal Systems. This book makes several moral attacks on a legal system that is controlled by men like Lucius Malfoy who bully people until he gets his way. …

• The Duality of Life. …
• The Importance of Loyalty

.

Good vs. Evil

In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry begins to understand that the world is not divided into a simple binary of good versus evil or people who do only good things or only bad things. Harry and his friends are thirteen now, breaching adulthood, and the new cast of significant characters forces them to question their ideas of cut-and-dry, black-and-white morality.

A shining example of this new perspective is when Harry challenges Snape’s claims that his father, James Potter, was “exceedingly arrogant.” Harry tells Snape to shut up. He says, “I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for my dad!” (p. 284-285). But Snape has another side of the story. He says, “Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you—your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine” (p. 285). Harry has to account for this new information and consider the idea that his father, who died while Harry was still an infant, and who he only knew through photos and the stories told by those closest to him, might not be as perfect as he thought he was. His idealized vision of his father is suddenly challenged by a plausible story of someone who he loathes, Professor Snape.

Fear

   The feeling of fear assumes a physical form with the introduction of Dementors, creatures who feed on hope and happiness and instill fear in anyone they approach. Once Harry encounters a Dementor, they become his greatest fear (as demonstrated by the fact that the Boggart turns into a Dementor when Harry faces it). The fact that Harry’s greatest fear is a Dementor attack means that his greatest fear is that which instills fear—in other words, he fears “fear itself,” as the popular adage goes.

            The ominous and omnipresent Dementors are Rowling’s way of introducing a more tangible and adult version of the fear and trauma that Harry has endured in his life. Voldemort, though notably not present in the novel, looms in the distance; Harry, for the first time, must confront the night his parents died and the complex betrayals that led to the tragedy. At the same time, the Patronus charm is introduced as a way to physically combat the Dementors; Patronuses are inherently good, light things, battling fear and darkness and giving Harry a power he had not previously possessed. Since Patronuses can only be powered by the happiest of memories, it is easy to see what Rowling is saying, here: you won’t sink into despair or lose yourself in fear if you remember the happy, light things in your life that motivate you to keep fighting.

Friendship and Loyalty

       This third installment of the Harry Potter series introduces a major conflict between Ron and Hermione, which ignites before the school year even begins. Ron’s rat Scabbers has been ill, and Hermione decides to buy a pet cat after it attacks Ron in the pet store. Throughout the book, Hermione is forced to be the voice of reason, keeping Harry’s safety her top priority, while Ron and Harry would rather focus on having a good time, going to Hogsmeade, and flying on the best and fasted broom ever made. Hermione constantly reminds Harry that he shouldn’t be leaving the castle, threatens to tell McGonagall about the Marauder’s Map, and does tell McGonagall about the Firebolt sent to Harry without any indication of who sent it.

Harry and Ron shun Hermione for much of the novel, which increases her anxiety—already heightened by her inordinate workload. Hagrid calls the boys to his cabin for tea and reminds them that they should value their friend more than rats and broomsticks, and tells them that even with all her homework, Hermione made time to help him prepare for Buckbeak’s trial (something that Harry and Ron promised they would do, too, and forgot).

Friendship and Growing Up. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban introduces the reader to two generations of friendships: those between Harry and his friends in the present day, and those between Harry’s father, James, and James’s crew while they were students at Hogwarts.Feb 23, 2019

The Injustice of Legal Systems

   This book makes several moral attacks on a legal system that is controlled by men like Lucius Malfoy who bully people until he gets his way. Due to liability and general xenophobia, Buckbeak is sentenced to execution for harming Malfoy, when every reader saw that Malfoy deserved to be scratched. Furthermore, once Black is caught, only Dumbledore believes that he is innocent, since nobody else cares to listen to a story supported by no evidence other than the words of Hermione and Harry. Cornelius Fudge even says at one point how bad losing track of Black will look for the Ministry of Magic. None of these are fair choices; they are just easy ones. A third choice involving this injustice is the assumption that Crookshanks killed Scabbers. This assumption was supported by evidence. In the cases of this story, the big people are framed, and yet the system won’t bother to notice.

The Duality of Life

        As shown by Lupin, who spends much of his time as a respectable professor, and then another part as a man-eating werewolf, we understand that everything is capable of having two sides. We see this again when Black is innocent, Hermione begins breaking rules, and Buckbeak’s execution is reversed through a simple intrusion through time. Nothing in these stories is ever what it seems; everything stands in a position to surprise. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, every story has two sides, and in a world where time may change, we have to believe that both of them can be true.

The Importance of Loyalty

         The reason Harry feels such personal hatred toward Black is the thought that he betrayed his best friend, James Potter. When it turns out that Pettigrew had done it instead, Lupin and Black turn snarling on him. “YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” Black yells at him, “DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!” Harry finds himself facing Black in the first place because he went down the Whomping Willow to rescue Ron. One of the greatest and most repeated messages in this series is summed up by Hagrid’s sobering advice to Harry and Ron in chapter fourteen: “I thought you two’d value yer friend more’n broomsticks or rats.” Human relationships are the core of this book.

Friendship and Growing Up

            Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban introduces the reader to two generations of friendships: those between Harry and his friends in the present day, and those between Harry’s father, James, and James’s crew while they were students at Hogwarts. By exploring the contours of the different friendship generations and how the friendships evolve over time, the book positions how a person treats their friends as an indicator of maturity and selflessness—or as an indicator of a lack thereof.

            For much of the novel, Hermione finds herself at odds with Ron and Harry. Ron is understandably angry when Hermione chooses to adopt Crookshanks, an orange cat intent on murdering his rat, Scabbers, while both boys are beside themselves when Hermione tells Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt broom that Harry receives mysteriously at Christmas. For Hermione, particularly in the case of the Firebolt, her close friendships with Ron and Harry are worth sacrificing in order to keep the two safe and healthy (she suspects the Firebolt came from Sirius Black, whom they believe at that point is trying to kill Harry). This suggests that at times, being a good friend means going against a friend’s wishes with the understanding that, eventually, the angry friend will appreciate the gesture and concern. However, for most of the novel, this concept is lost on Harry and Ron. Instead, they blame Hermione for their misery and refuse to speak to her, which means that Hermione is alone and effectively friendless at a time in her life when, thanks to her use of the Time-Turner, she could really use camaraderie. Eventually, Hagrid takes it upon himself to talk to the boys about Hermione and their treatment of her. He disappointedly tells them that he’d hoped they’d know enough to prioritize friendships over objects, which is the kick that Harry and Ron need to make up with Hermione and move in the direction of a more mature view of friendships and relationships.

The novel explores these ideas in a slightly different way in the case of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, who are adults or deceased in the present but attended Hogwarts a generation before the trio. Lupin was allowed to attend Hogwarts in spite of the fact that he’s a werewolf–in the wizarding world, werewolves are shunned and experience discrimination, as they’re believed to be subhuman and dangerous. The Shrieking Shack and an accompanying tunnel, guarded by the Whomping Willow, were constructed so he had a safe place to transform every month, and Lupin’s true identity was kept secret from the student body. Lupin’s friends, however, became understandably curious about where and why he disappeared every month. When they learned the truth, rather than shunning him, they set out to figure out how to turn themselves into Animagi, humans who can transform into animals at will.

         Because of the dangers associated with turning oneself into an Animagus, Lupin sees this as the ultimate sacrifice on the part of his friends–they could’ve died or suffered permanent damage had things gone wrong, let alone the fact that attempting the transition without Ministry supervision is illegal. However, at the time, this also appeared to be the ultimate act of friendship. James, Sirius, and Peter weren’t in danger around the werewolf Lupin in their animal forms, which enabled them to turn Lupin’s horrifying monthly transformation into something exciting, fun, and, most importantly, something he didn’t have to go through alone. With friends, the experience became bearable.

It’s important to note that in the novel’s present, Lupin and Sirius acknowledge that what they did as teens was shockingly dangerous and immature of them–their gallivanting could have easily resulted in Lupin biting someone, while becoming Animagi in the first place represented a similarly dangerous lack of judgment. In the present, Harry and Ron’s choice to ignore and be mean to Hermione comes across as stubbornly immature to both the reader and the adults in the trio’s lives. By offering the adults’ mature perspective on their own teenage friendships, however, the novel offers the hope that Harry and Ron will one day recognize their immaturity at this point in time. In the same vein, the progress that the friends do make in this regard over the course of their third year acts as proof that they are well on their way to growing up, developing adult relationships, and acquiring increasingly more mature critical thinking skills.

This story by Edgar Allan Poe, is a psychological story. It is an ambiguous investigation of a man’s paranoia. The story shows how the narrator stalks his victim as if he was an intelligent animal. There are times when Poe shows us that his character is worse than a beast as when he tortures the old man and slowly kills him. What makes the story more shocking is that the narrator tries to justify his actions, until he is finally caught.

The story begins with the narrator admitting that he is a very nervous person, whose senses are sharpened as a result of this nervousness. He can hear the smallest sounds even from heaven, hell and earth that normal people cannot hear. It is this over sensitivity that plays an important role in the story. Though he suffers from paranoia, he tells us that he is not mad. His actions on the other hand, prove otherwise. For example- the reason for which he wishes to kill the old man itself is stupid- he wants to kill him because he has a ‘vulture-like blue eye’ that scares him. Although he loves the old man as a person, he is obsessed with his eye, and is always planning out ways to kill him.

This whole plan to murder someone because of an eye shows us, that he is indeed mad. But the narrator goes on to say that one must not call this obsession madness, but rather, they must look at how wisely, and cleverly he plans the whole deed. Every night at twelve o’clock for 7 days, he would slowly open the door gently, and quietly enter the room. Because he is so careful, he sometimes takes up to an hour to go in. After that he would slowly open the lantern and let the light fall on the man’s face. But so far, when the light fell on his face, the eye was closed. So he let him live and pretended to continue their friendship as if nothing had happened.

On the eighth night, however, there is a change. When the narrator opens the lantern, he makes a sound that wakes up the old man.  Because of the darkness, the old man cannot see anyone in the room. Though he sees that no one moves, he cannot go back to sleep. He has become like the narrator, paranoid, and seems to hear every little sound. As the old man lies awake, the narrator decides it is time to check once again, and so he comes out of the dark, and opens the lantern. The light falls on the man’s ‘vulture-eye’, and this makes him angry ad violent. In this state of madness he can hear the sound of a beating heart. It is here that we have our first ambiguity about ‘whose heart does he hear?’ It is a well known fact that in moments of stress and fear one’s own heartbeat increases so rapidly that we feel every beat. So, does the narrator hear his own heart beat or the old man’s?

As he waits, the heartbeat seems to become louder. Afraid that this sound will wake the neighbours the narrator drags the old man to the floor and suffocates him with the mattress. When he is dead, he narrator is happy that the eye will not torment him anymore. He cuts up the body into pieces and hides it under the floor boards of the room itself. As he does this he is very happy. He has succeeded.

But just as he finished his work the door bell rings at 4 A.M. The police were there to investigate some noises that the neighbours heard coming from the house. The narrator lets them in, completely sure that they cannot suspect him as he has not left any evidence. He even leads them to the old man’s room, in a fit of madness, and asks them to sit there and have a drink with him.

But all the time, the narrator can hear the beating sound of a heart, growing louder and louder in his ears. He wonders how the policemen cannot hear anything- and if they are only pretending they cannot hear it. He becomes more and more paranoid, and his common sense too leaves him. Eventually the guilt of what he had done, makes him shout out that he killed the old man and buried his body parts in the room.

The story is a study of character. But it is also a story of horror and suspense. The actions and the images used are scary and are meant to evoke horror. This kind of story is of the genre called Gothic, a style of writing that was very famous during the 18th and 19th centuries. Poe is one of the most famous Gothic story writers. Gothic writing is characterised by concepts like  darkness, death and dying, alienation and isolation, madness, violence, horror and inhumanity  in the behaviour of one person toward another or within an individual himself. In Tell Tale Heart, the narrator is the character whose actions are a representation of these concepts. ‘Darkness’ is both literal (the room is dark when the killing happens) and metaphorical ( his mind is full of darkness/evil). It is in darkness that the narrator kills the old man, using such violent means (suffocation) bringing into the story the concept of Death and Dying.

Alienation and isolation too have both literal and symbolic meanings – the two men are both alone in their home; they are separated from society because the man is old, and the narrator has mental issues. The most important element of the Gothic though, is the element of violence, horror and inhumanity. The narrator first plays with the old man (inhumanity), arouses his fear and paranoia, and only then kills him using the most violent of means – suffocation. To make matters worse, he laughs while cutting up the body and burying it in the same room. But, according to Poe, all these actions are the result of madness and psychotic behaviour. This behaviour makes the narrator dangerous as his thoughts and his actions are unpredictable and without sense.

Yet he is a character with a guilty conscience that shows itself in his hearing of the beating heart- not that of the old man, but his own, telling us that he feels excited to kill the old man, but is also guilty. It forces him to confess to betray his own actions to the police.

Leo Tolstoy is a Russian author, a master of realistic fiction and one of the world’s greatest novelists. He is best known for his two longest works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy is the embodiment of nature and pure vitality, others saw him as the incarnation of the world’s conscience, but for almost all who knew him or read his works, he was not just one of the greatest writers who ever lived but a living symbol of the search for life’s meaning.

In Little Girls Wiser Than Men by Leo Tolstoy we have the theme of connection, friendship, fear, conflict, shame and control. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises from the beginning of the story that Tolstoy may be exploring the theme of connection. Both Akoulya and Malasha share a connection with each other something that Tolstoy may be highlighting through not only the fact that the girls are playing in the puddle together but also through how both girls are dressed. They are both wearing frocks that they do not wish to get dirty as they know that their mothers will scold them. It is also interesting that Malasha is afraid of how deep the puddle will be. Symbolically this may be important as the unknown depth of the puddle mirrors the unknown depths that Akoulya and Malasha’s parents will go to in order to resolve the dispute that occurs. Despite the incident of Malasha accidentally splashing Akoulya’s frock it would seem that the whole village is in uproar over something that seems to be very minor. This may be important as Tolstoy may be suggesting that at times people can get heated and hostile with others over minor or silly things. Which is very much the case in the story.

It may also be important that Tolstoy never names any of the parents as he could be suggesting that all parents have the ability to react as those in the story do. Regardless of what village, town, city or country they may live in. Parents will protect their own child and react negatively at times. Something that happens when Akoulya’s mother strikes Malasha on the neck. It is Akoulya’s mother’s reaction which escalates the situation and when the matter is not resolved by Akoulya and Malasha’s mothers their fathers intervene. While those in the village look on in amazement. If anything both sets of parents are acting more childish than Akoulya and Malasha. Yet at the time they do not recognise this due to the fact that they are angry over what has happened. Which again the reader must remember has been a minor incident that does not deserve the hostility the issue is being given. The fact that Akoulya’s mother strikes Malasha might also suggest that Akoulya’s mother has gone too far. She is basing her decision to hit Malasha on the fact that Akoulya has told her mother that what Malasha has done was done on purpose. When the reality is it was an accident.

The fact that tempers are heated throughout the story and the fact that the truth of what has happened is lost on everyone might also be important. As Tolstoy may be suggesting that people when angry can forget about the root cause of an argument. Rather than asking Malasha did she deliberately splash Akoulya’s frock everybody beings to argue and fight with one another. Believing one side of the story (Akoulya’s). It is also interesting that the only two people who seems to be practical in the story are Akoulya who cleans her frock and Akoulya’s grandmother by being the voice of reason. Everybody else is lost in an argument that does not need to happen. Nobody has been injured or hurt. All that has happened is that Akoulya’s frock has accidentally being dirtied by the water from the puddle. Throughout the story most of the characters are in conflict with one another and because they have lost control do not understand how minor the incident of the water on Akoulya’s frock is.

The end of the story is also interesting as both Akoulya and Malasha continue to play with each other despite the fact that everyone else is fighting with one another. Not only does this further suggest that both girls have a common bond or connection but it may also serve to highlight that the girls will not let the incident of the splashed water on Akoulya’s frock end their friendship. Despite everything they still remain friends. However the same can not necessarily be said for Akoulya and Malasha’s parents. It is only when Akoulya’s grandmother intervenes that both girls’ parents realise they are in the wrong. A petty argument between two friends has long been forgotten by the girls yet the men in the village very nearly came to blows over the incident. Tolstoy highlighting how quickly a minor incident can escalate into something more serious. It is also through the grandmother’s character that those who were about to physically fight each other realise that there is shame in what they are doing. Not only are they not setting a good example for their children but they are prepared to fight their neighbour. When the reality is that nobody has been hurt and there is no need to fight one another. Both sets of parents would do well to learn from Akoulya and Malasha. Just as they continue to remain as friends despite what has happened. So too should the parents. Rather than being quick to judge as Akoulya’s mother does Tolstoy might be suggesting it would be better for people to step back before they react.

Kamala Das is an Indian poet in English  well known  author in Malayalam from Kerala. She is  one of the most prominent feminist voices in the postcolonial era. On account of her extensive contribution to the poetry in our country, she earned the label ‘The Mother of Modern Indian English Poetry’. Some of her notable works in English are the novel Alphabet of Lust (1977), the collection of short stories Padmavati the Harlot and other stories (1992) and a compilation of her poetry Summer in Calcutta (1973).

Ammu, a small girl who talks of a village, which she visits during her summer vacation, is the narrator of the story ‘Summer Vacation’. It is her grandmother’s place. Ammu lost her mother. She is worried if her grandmother, Muthassi who is sixty-eight years old also would die and leave her. The story interweaves the bonding, affinity and affection between Ammu and Muthassi who belong to an upper class and the other mothers and their children who belong to the lower classes.

The various themes in the story are childhood, nostalgia, motherhood, fear of separation from loved ones and caste discrimination. The story opens with a description of a Nyaval tree. The narrator uses adjectives like “emaciated”, “bent” and “shrivelled up branches” to describe the tree, which work as foregrounding devices to show that Muthassi is growing old. The motherless Ammu looks at her ageing grandmother as a figure of her mother. She is worried if her grandmother would also die like her mother. Das thus brings out the fears, anxieties and insecurities in Ammu that come as filters between their close bonding. On the other hand, we see acceptance and matured outlook towards life and death in Muthassi.

Kamala Das draws out the theme of motherhood in different ways. She depicts the pride of the mother of simply owning a child through the words and actions of Bharati. The unruly, insensitive nature of the illiterate women is evident when a woman with greying hair takes pity on Ammu and says, ‘Poor Child! How can she know? Just think of her fate. So very sad” in response to Bharati when she says, “No one loves a child more than its own mother does.” In their house, Muthassi asks Ammu to have her snacks in the kitchen itself. When Ammu asks if she can have her milk with others in the ‘Tekkini’, she bluntly replies, “No, That’s the way I want it done. That’s all”. Thus, Muthassi turns out to be a protective mother who does not want the child to be hurt in anyway.

Another interesting woman character through whom we can see a different way of raising up a child is Nani Amma, a maid who belongs to the lower strata of the society. Das compares the various attitudes of women towards motherhood and gives a detailed account of their mother-daughter relationships. Nani Amma is a woman who pounds rice at homes for her living. She has a five-year old daughter Amini. Class discrimination is seen when Muthassi says that she can’t allow her to come and grind whenever she wants money. Ammu who is of the same age as Amini just observes how Nani Amma caresses her daughter, which she feels she lacks in her own life.

Social hierarchy in terms of economy is evident when Nani Amma says, “We are poor people child and you are rich” in a shaky voice when Ammu accuses her of stealing the tamarind.

When it is time for Ammu to leave the place, she feels even more distanced from her grandmother. Death is a recurring theme in the story. Ammu is worried about death and the fear lingers in her heart about Muthassi. Despite the differences in caste and status, the love of the mother for her child is undying. The theme of motherhood and fear of death of our loved ones are evident from these characters in the story.

Little Girls Wiser Than Men

Leo Tolstoy is a Russian author, a master of realistic fiction and one of the world’s greatest novelists. He is best known for his two longest works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy is the embodiment of nature and pure vitality, others saw him as the incarnation of the world’s conscience, but for almost all who knew him or read his works, he was not just one of the greatest writers who ever lived but a living symbol of the search for life’s meaning.

In Little Girls Wiser Than Men by Leo Tolstoy we have the theme of connection, friendship, fear, conflict, shame and control. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises from the beginning of the story that Tolstoy may be exploring the theme of connection. Both Akoulya and Malasha share a connection with each other something that Tolstoy may be highlighting through not only the fact that the girls are playing in the puddle together but also through how both girls are dressed. They are both wearing frocks that they do not wish to get dirty as they know that their mothers will scold them. It is also interesting that Malasha is afraid of how deep the puddle will be. Symbolically this may be important as the unknown depth of the puddle mirrors the unknown depths that Akoulya and Malasha’s parents will go to in order to resolve the dispute that occurs. Despite the incident of Malasha accidentally splashing Akoulya’s frock it would seem that the whole village is in uproar over something that seems to be very minor. This may be important as Tolstoy may be suggesting that at times people can get heated and hostile with others over minor or silly things. Which is very much the case in the story.

It may also be important that Tolstoy never names any of the parents as he could be suggesting that all parents have the ability to react as those in the story do. Regardless of what village, town, city or country they may live in. Parents will protect their own child and react negatively at times. Something that happens when Akoulya’s mother strikes Malasha on the neck. It is Akoulya’s mother’s reaction which escalates the situation and when the matter is not resolved by Akoulya and Malasha’s mothers their fathers intervene. While those in the village look on in amazement. If anything both sets of parents are acting more childish than Akoulya and Malasha. Yet at the time they do not recognise this due to the fact that they are angry over what has happened. Which again the reader must remember has been a minor incident that does not deserve the hostility the issue is being given. The fact that Akoulya’s mother strikes Malasha might also suggest that Akoulya’s mother has gone too far. She is basing her decision to hit Malasha on the fact that Akoulya has told her mother that what Malasha has done was done on purpose. When the reality is it was an accident.

The fact that tempers are heated throughout the story and the fact that the truth of what has happened is lost on everyone might also be important. As Tolstoy may be suggesting that people when angry can forget about the root cause of an argument. Rather than asking Malasha did she deliberately splash Akoulya’s frock everybody beings to argue and fight with one another. Believing one side of the story (Akoulya’s). It is also interesting that the only two people who seems to be practical in the story are Akoulya who cleans her frock and Akoulya’s grandmother by being the voice of reason. Everybody else is lost in an argument that does not need to happen. Nobody has been injured or hurt. All that has happened is that Akoulya’s frock has accidentally being dirtied by the water from the puddle. Throughout the story most of the characters are in conflict with one another and because they have lost control do not understand how minor the incident of the water on Akoulya’s frock is.

The end of the story is also interesting as both Akoulya and Malasha continue to play with each other despite the fact that everyone else is fighting with one another. Not only does this further suggest that both girls have a common bond or connection but it may also serve to highlight that the girls will not let the incident of the splashed water on Akoulya’s frock end their friendship. Despite everything they still remain friends. However the same can not necessarily be said for Akoulya and Malasha’s parents. It is only when Akoulya’s grandmother intervenes that both girls’ parents realise they are in the wrong. A petty argument between two friends has long been forgotten by the girls yet the men in the village very nearly came to blows over the incident. Tolstoy highlighting how quickly a minor incident can escalate into something more serious. It is also through the grandmother’s character that those who were about to physically fight each other realise that there is shame in what they are doing. Not only are they not setting a good example for their children but they are prepared to fight their neighbour. When the reality is that nobody has been hurt and there is no need to fight one another. Both sets of parents would do well to learn from Akoulya and Malasha. Just as they continue to remain as friends despite what has happened. So too should the parents. Rather than being quick to judge as Akoulya’s mother does Tolstoy might be suggesting it would be better for people to step back before they react.

Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace” was first published in the Paris newspaper “Le Gaulois” on February 17, 1884, and he was successfully incorporated into “Tales of Night,” his 1885 collection of short stories. “Like most Maupassant short fiction, it was an instantaneous achievement, and it has become his most widely read and anthologized story” Smith Christopher. TheDiamond Necklace describes Madame Loisel as beautiful and born into an average family. She is unsatisfied with her impoverished life and decides to borrow a diamond necklace from a former rich friend to fulfill her happiness. Maupassant presents the theme that one should be true to one’s self trough his use of situational irony by which he tells the story of Madame Loisel.

Maupassant describes Mathilde’s external conflicts in the story “The Necklace.” Though she is “pretty” and “charming”(1), she does not appreciate anything in life. She feels her life should have been blessed with wealth. Although her husband works at a ministry of education as a minor clerk, the money he is bringing to his wife is not enough for the kind of life Mathilde has always dreamed of. For instance, her vision is to “live in a mansion, dinning in famous restaurants, and dance among the riches” (1). She is embarrassed of her poor lifestyle, and decides not to invite any of her former friends who become rich to her home. Therefore, she suffers enormously because her whole life has been based on deficiency of luxury. The love of her husband Charles and the efforts he makes to keep his family healthy is not enough to please Mathilde. However, she happens to be a self-centered person who cares only about her appearance, instead of being thankful for the love of her husband. The author analyzes Mathilde’s internal conflicts in the story. She is unhappy and miserable. She is disappointed in herself because she thinks she deserves more than she has. Mathilde appears to be a round person; although she is attractive and pretty, she also seems depressed because of the lack of money. She is a dynamic person; she is not content with herself because her husband is not well off financially. Otherwise, she would be a cheerful person if her husband was wealthy.

Guy de Maupassant describes the characters’ verbal irony in the story; Monsieur Loisel makes an effort to invite his wife to a ball dance because he thinks she would be pleased to get out of the house. However, Mathilde chooses to reject her husband’s invitation by saying, “Give your invitation to some colleague whose wife has a more suitable gown than I”(2). She concerned more about her look and what others might think of her. Still, she convinces her husband to take money out of their life savings to buy a lovely dress for the occasion. Mathilde’s irony in the story is discontentment because she does not have anything to wear with the dress; she realizes she needs a jewel to look her best, so she will not appear as poor as she is among the women at the ministry. Furthermore, Mathilde goes to her former friend to borrow one of her diamond necklaces, which she loses unexpectedly. In the story “The Necklace,” the situational irony occurs when Mathilda sacrifices her life for years to work twice as hard to repay the loan they take to return the necklace. She loses her beauty; “she looks older, and there are traces of gray in her hair”(4). She ruins her husband and her life by not making a smart choice, and her selfishness causes her family’s pain. Nevertheless, the dramatic irony happens when she comes to learn the diamond necklace she loses is an imitation. The resolution of the story reveals that Mathilde realizes she made a fool of herself for not telling her friend exactly what had happened to the necklace. Therefore, she wastes her husband’s and her time for nothing to replace something that was not even real.

The writer points out the theme of the story as Malthilde cares only about her appearance, and her greed puts her through so much suffering in life. She should appreciate the sacrifice that her husband makes for her to buy the dress. Her attention is to “dance joyfully with everyone, intoxicates with pleasure, and to be on a cloud of happiness”(3). She does not worry too much about her husband’s feeling toward his happiness. However, she comes to discover the diamond necklace she borrows from Madame Forestier is missing, her husband Monsieur Loisel sympathetically helps her look for the necklace. Moreover, he sacrifices everything he can in his life to help his wife replace the necklace. She confidently lies to Madame Loisel about the necklace. Possibly, if she has told the truth, all the pain and misery could have been avoided. Besides all the pain she puts Monsieur Loisel through, Mathilde wishes she married a wealthy man, but she is “a poor girl with no dowry to offer” (2). Money and material things have stopped her to improve the living she desires. As a result, she loses her beauty and works harder to replace a necklace that is fake.

The short story, Test of True Love is a romantic story about a young lieutenant Blandford and lady, Hollis Meynell, who had fallen in love with each other. The author shows us the possibility of existence of a real strong relationships even though a great distances and the fact that two people can be very close to each other even having never seen each other. The young lieutenant Blandford would do anything just to win the love of Meynell and he serves during the war time, while once he faced some witty notes in the book he had been reading. They were made by a woman, whom he contacted later and who has had the power to reach inside of him through writing and renew his strength even from a far. They have been in touch during thirteen years. “YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I SHALL FEAR NO EVIL” This sentence strengthened Blandford and gave him courage whenever he feared. This time the woman, who was 30, supported the lieutenant and they both trusted their true inner feelings and instincts. Now the tall young lieutenant was waiting for this woman in Grand Central Station and worried a lot. They knew about each other only from their own words. The first woman he saw was a beautiful lady, wearing a green suit but she had no red rose on her jacket, as it was in their agreement to identify each other. Then he turned around and a woman well past forty appeared to be the one he had been waiting for. However, the lieutenant behaves like a real man and doesn’t escape from the place or pretense to be somebody else. She tells him the truth that the girl he was waiting for is the one he had seen some minutes ago. The message provided by the author is that the real love can exist even in incredible conditions. The fact that two people had been in touch for such a long time and who had never met before, but finally can share a mutual feeling and emotions can prove it. The writer accomplishes this message to the reader through the use of the setting, tone and each individual character in the story. Although the setting is used to describe the atmosphere, the tone is used effectively to communicate the complete and compelling feeling and emotion to the reader. The author uses a clear image of every character. The young lieutenant is shown from the very introduction of the story. The description of the Blandford’s states includes a mixture of emotions and feelings. By drawing all attention to the lieutenant, the reader is immediately given a clear image of Lieutenant Blandford, standing anxiously waiting to meet the woman who he has never seen but claims to love To better show us the emotions of lieutenant and the drama of the situation the author uses the value of time and place. Throughout the story, the author brings the reader out of the station to places that the lieutenant has recalled thinking of this woman. The author stretches the time by retrospect. Time plays a very important role throughout the story, to show how could the time stretch while waiting an important event in your life. The whole story is set on a time schedule as the author begins the story by saying, “Six minutes to six”, and the author creates a feeling of uncertainty for the lieutenant. The time lasts eternity. The figure of the lieutenant is the reflection of many common features which is common to a real man. He’s brave (he participates in battles and combats), here his remembrance of the fight should be mentioned when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of Zeros. He is honest as well, and responsible – he was on time at the place of the appointment. However, the lady, Hollis Meynell, quite cunning or even sly, because one can’t approve of her trick she played with a young lieutenant. It’s cruel to examine another person’s feeling in the way she did. But after her final test to Blandford she was sure, that he is a real man, noble, honest and responsible. The atmosphere of the story changes with every line from anxiety, uncertainty and uneasiness to the disappointment (for some seconds). The author accomplishes such instant change in the mood of the story by having the lieutenant meet a woman that he did not expect to meet. As soon as the author has the reader convinced that the mood has changed from excitement to sadness, he once again effectively changes the mood, changing the story head over heels. The author uses a suspenseful tone and it grips the reader’s attention throughout the whole story, the effect makes the reader waiting anxiously from the first line to the end. By doing this, the author creates a feeling of excitement as the reader realizes something exciting is about to happen and this is a real mastery.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling uses symbols in form of creatures presented in the story. For example, a large black dog which was the animagus form of Sirius Black. A dog is a symbol of loyalty, but the black dog was presented in the story as an omen of death.

• Hermione’s Time-Turner (Symbol) Hermione’s Time-Turner, which takes the form of a small hourglass on a golden necklace chain, symbolizes the precious value of time. …
• The Grim (symbol) …
• Mystery (Motif) …
• Dementors (Symbol) …
• The Rat (symbol)

What do dementors symbolize?

            When a Dementor From ‘Harry Potter’ Lives in Your Mind. I forget where I read it or heard it, but the dementors in “Harry Potter” are the embodiment of J.K. Rowling’s depression. A depression that makes you feel cold and numb and sucks all the happiness out of the world.

Dementors Are A Metaphor For Depression

       They’re hopeless, horrible creatures who literally suck the life out of their victims, leaving them as empty shells; they drain happiness from the atmosphere, and they’re completely immortal.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling uses symbols in form of creatures presented in the story. For example, a large black dog which was the animagus form of Sirius Black. A dog is a symbol of loyalty, but the black dog was presented in the story as an omen of death.

Names

              Almost all of the names in the Harry Potter series are significant. Sirius Black means, virtually, Black Dog; the name Remus Lupin has its origins in the Latin word wolf, and in a co-founder of Rome, Remus, who was suckled by a wolf. Take also, for example, Lucius Malfoy: the “mal” in numerous languages is rooted in the word “bad,” and his first name, Lucius, is similar to Lucifer. Other names, like Dumbledore, have actual definitions—in this case, bumblebee in old English. One can liken this to Dumbledore, who is an ancient, wise wizard who works well and hard to sustain his community, the “hive” of Hogwarts. Professor Trelawney’s first name is Sibyll, the ancient prophet of mythology. Furthermore, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs all are indicative of the animal they represent.

Quidditch as a social indicator

         The Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin represents each of the teams perfectly. The Slytherins attempt to injure Harry the week before the game, and when the day of the match arrives, they play a dirty game, knocking players from their broomsticks during the game, grabbing Gryffindor heads and broomsticks instead of simply the balls. The Slytherins fly poorly on very good broomsticks (bought by Malfoy’s father so that Malfoy could play on the team). Futhermore, the Slytherin team is not integrated at all: they have a team of only boys, unlike the Gryffindor team, compiled of seven highly skilled, well-practiced girls and boys, flying on a full array of differently-priced broomsticks. Gryffindor plays fairly but retaliates hard, and Harry beats Malfoy to the Snitch, despite Malfoy’s many efforts to halt Harry’s progress.

• Harry Potter
• James Potter
• Lily Potter
• Ron Weasley
• Hermione Granger
• Voldemort
• Remus Lupin
• Sirius Black
• Hagrid
• Peter Pettigrew
• Albus Dumbledore
• The Dursleys
• Sybill Trelawney
• Aunt Marg

Harry Potter

The hero and protagonist, Harry is a twelve-year-old boy with messy hair and glasses who became famous within the wizard community by surviving the curse of a powerful wizard. Harry frequently finds himself entangled in dangerous adventures but he always lives to tell the tale. Harry’s character represents good intentions, innocence, and the fantasies of childhood. Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived,” the savior of the wizarding world and the only living wizard to defeat Lord Voldemort, is the protagonist of J. K. Rowlings series of novels. In this third installment, Harry heads back to Hogwarts with the threat of an escaped convict, Sirius Black, who according to the Ministry of Magic wants nothing more than to add Harry to his long list of alleged murder victims.

Lily Potter

Harry’s mother who sacrificed herself to save Harry from Voldemort; Harry can hear her screams when Dementors are near.

James Potter

Harry’s father, also killed by Voldemort; his animagi stag becomes the shape of Harry’s patronus. One of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Ron Weasley

Ron is one of Harry’s best friends and is his partner in crime. Ron comes from a huge wizarding family, the Weasleys. What they lack in wealth, they make up for in love and kindness. Ron’s relationship with Harry is sometimes strained by the notion that he is merely a “sidekick,” and he falls short of his friend’s talent and athleticism on the quidditch field. But Ron is always loyal and courageous when he needs to be.

Ron is tall, red-haired, and from a respected but poor family. Ron is one of Harry’s two best friends at Hogwarts. He is loyal to Harry, and belligerent to their enemy, Malfoy. Ron uses experience and a process of trial-and-error to solve most mysteries. Ron’s character is often overshadowed by Harry’s, but Ron always manages to succeed.

Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger is Hogwarts’ cleverest pupil and Harry’s other best friend. She learns spells easily and is always the first to solve problems and crack mysteries. Hermione’s academic ambitions play a prominent role in this book, because she requires the use of a time-turner to take more classes than is possible in the normal constraints of time. Her time-turner serves a higher purpose at the end of the book when she and Harry go back in time to save innocent lives.

            Hermione is always the top student in her class. She is clever and well-read. Most spells come easily to her and remain in her encyclopedic mind.. However, she is in principle a rule-follower, and so in this story she often alienates Harry and Ron by reporting or threatening to report them to Professor McGonagall, in cases such as Harry’s gift of the Firebolt, or his possession and use of the Marauder’s map.

Voldemort

Once a student who attended Hogwarts fifty years prior to Harry’s time, Voldemort molded himself into the most powerful dark wizard the world has ever seen. Twelve years before, he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry, only to have his curse backfire and render him powerless. It is generally believed that Sirius Black turned Harry’s parents over to Voldemort, although in truth, Peter Pettigrew is guilty.

     Voldemort. Once a student who attended Hogwarts fifty years prior to Harry’s time, Voldemort molded himself into the most powerful dark wizard the world has ever seen. Twelve years before, he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry, only to have his curse backfire and render him powerless.

Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin is the newly appointed teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He quickly becomes a favorite teacher among students for his “hands-on” approach, teaching the students to cast spells instead of having them use their textbooks. Since he was a boy, Lupin has suffered from being a werewolf. He was best friends with Harry’s dad at Hogwarts, and together with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, created the Marauder’s Map.

Lupin is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he is very competent and likeable. He teaches Harry how to defend himself against Dementors, but he is forced to leave Hogwarts at the end of the year on account of his being a werewolf. He is one of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Sirius Black

Sirius Black is the titular prisoner of Azkaban who is wrongly accused and convicted of causing Peter Pettigrew’s death and the death of thirteen Muggles. Harry learns over the course of the novel that Sirius Black was his father’s childhood best friend, the best man at his parent’s wedding, and his own godfather. Sirius is also an Animagus and is able to transform into a black dog at will.

  Once James Potter’s best friend, now an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban, Black is suspected to be the cause of twelve Muggle deaths as well as the indirect cause of the deaths of Harry’s parents. He is a threat on the frontier of this story, one of the premier good wizards turned bad, although in the end he is revealed to be innocent in addition to being Harry’s godfather. Also, Black is able to transform himself at will into Padfoot, a large black dog that Harry mistakes for the Grim. One of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Hagrid

The gamekeeper at Hogwarts and a good friend of Harry’s, Hagrid is a giant, hairy man with an inimitable accent, and he has a great liking for strange and dangerous creatures. In this book, he is the defender of Buckbeak, a hippogriff that is placed on trial for injuring Draco Malfoy.

Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew was a childhood friend of James Potter, Lupin, and Sirius Black. He is an Animagus and can turn into a rat at will. The particular rat he turns into happened to fall into the hands of the Weasleys twelve years ago, after he framed Sirius for selling the Potters out to Voldemort and killing thirteen Muggles.

The fourth in the group of friends that included James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James, turning their whereabouts over the Voldemort, then blowing up a dozen Muggles, framing Black and turning himself into a rat so that he could escape. Another of the creators of the Marauder’s Map. Disguised as Scabbers, he has lived many years as Ron’s pet rat.

Albus Dumbledore

The impish, seemingly all-knowing Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore is beyond upset by the fact that Dementors are patrolling the grounds of his school, but he recognizes that they are a necessary evil to maintain the safety of his pupils.

Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is a wise, powerful, elderly man with a long silver beard, and he is one of the most impressive characters Harry has ever met. He has a calm, secretive demeanor and is extremely intuitive, tolerant, and trustworthy.

The Dursleys

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Harry’s cousin Dudley make up the Dursleys of Number 4 Privet Drive. The Dursleys are Harry’s only living relatives, and they are Muggles who hate everything having to do with magic and forbid Harry from talking about the wizarding world. Harry’s life with the Dursley’s is miserable, but he’s forced to live there every summer. Uncle Vernon is a beefy drill salesman, Aunt Petunia is a stay-at-home gossip, and Dudley is a spoiled, gluttonous teenager who enjoys nothing more than watching his dad verbally abuse Harry.

Sybill Trelawney

Trelawney is the professor of Divination at Hogwarts. She teaches students the imprecise art of seeing the future, reading palms and tea leaves, and gazing into crystal balls. The narration suggests strongly that Trelawney lacks the “inner eye” until the end, when she appears to have a real prophecy. The catch is that she doesn’t actually remember having the prophecy.

Aunt Marge

Vernon Dursley’s visiting sister; a loud, beefy, nasty-tempered Muggle woman who adores attack dogs and enjoys insulting Harry and his late parents.

A-five-year old girl from Rajasthan recently died from thirst. This headline was lost in the newspapers. The tragic event pushes us to think about water scarcity. Although this case got some attention in the sense that it found a corner in the newspaper, but there are many unreported cases. We are indeed blessed with many rivers and monsoon rains but India only has 4% of average global runoff and rivers which has to support 18% of the world’s population. In addition to this, due to sheer negligence of people, insensitivity towards the issue by the government at all levels and lax attitude of the administration, India suffers from water shortage. If the death of a child cannot be the reason behind the awakening of the government and the people then no one can know what will.
In 2019 one particular incident stole the spotlight. In Telangana school girls hair were cut to save water. The logic was that short hair will use less water during hair wash. The school was ordered by the administration. The students and their families were not informed about the plan and this led to a fuss. Was the bizarre experiment successful? There is no news. What we know is that this could have been avoided if water management was adopted. Water harvesting system and traditional ways of water conservation could have done a better job than resorting to haircuts. The problem is that the administration tries to solve a problem only when it hurts. The seasons when water is available in plenty are also the season when the administration is sleeping. This has to change.
It’s true that the government has taken many steps to generate awareness and incentivize people to save water but these actions are mere lip service if they do not fetch any result. Few measures in this regard include the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). It aims to reach the target of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through functional household tap connections (FHTC) by 2024. It envisions to creat a Jan Andolan by making water everyone’s priority. The initiative has operational guidelines at every level that is, national, state, district and village. Every village is expected to prepare a village action plan for water source maintenance, water supply and greywater management.
Since most of the water is utilised in agriculture water use efficiency is a part that should be emphasised in water management. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana was designed to cater to water management in agriculture. The components of the Yojana include Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Har Khet Ko Pani, Per Drop More crop and watershed development.
In the spirit of competitive federalism, NITI Aayog introduced a composite water management index. This will push states to work to avoid water shortage. Being the most important component of life to exist, no government in the world can take a chance. India can learn from other countries and transfer technologies used by them in the field of water conservation. India itself has a rich history of water conservation technologies. Mandu Fort, Baolis and other historical structures testify this fact.
In the sustainable development index, India’s Performance in SDG-6 has been progressive but it is snail-paced. To change the dismal situation of water shortage, we need to act fast as a country, as a society and as an individual facing the biggest threat.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban What’s Up With the Title?

By J.K. Rowling

         Third Person (Limited)

    The third installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written from the point-of-view of 13 year-old Harry Potter. The title refers to convicted criminal, Sirius Black, who has escaped Azkaban, a wizard prison.

In the series, this was the first title that mentions a person rather than an object. This title also stands out for being the most misleading in the series thus far… which happens to be really fitting. Azkaban is largely a mystery story (with elements of fantasy and Bildungsroman – a fancy German word for a coming-of-age story). The title helps set up the mystery elements of the novel from the get go – who is this prisoner? What did he do, and what does he want now?

                               Of course, just when we, and Harry, think we have the whole thing figured out, the novel throws us for a loop and we learn that we were wrong about everything. The Prisoner of Azkaban (as in, the character, not the title) isn’t the real villain of the story at all. Consider our minds blown.

          This title also ties in two more of the book’s major themes – family and the past. As we learn more about the prisoner, one Sirius Black, we start to get an entire story-within-the-story – a history of the conflict with Voldemort, a crash course in the lives of James and Lilly Potter, and the strong family ties that Harry, one of the most famous orphan characters of all time, still has in the wizarding world. The Prisoner of Azkaban starts to work as a kind of metonym, which is a fancy way of saying a word or short phrase that stands for an entire concept or idea (try busting that one out on your next AP exam!). The Prisoner here stands for the entire first war with Voldemort and the ways in which Harry’s personal history is closely linked to that conflict.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban What’s Up

with the Ending?

            Harry Potter books tend to follow a certain formula, which is cool to consider. They start off with Harry’s birthday. And they end with Harry returning to the Dursleys’ house for yet another summer. The ending of this book is no exception to this format. After yet another adventure, Harry and his BFFs journey home on the Hogwarts Express, and Harry manages to sneak in another “gotcha!” moment when he reunites with the Dursleys. This year it’s “Oh, did I forget to mention that my godfather is an escaped convict?” Good times, Harry.

                   However, this ending does stand out a bit from the previous two books in that Harry now has new family members in his life and a connection to his parents that he didn’t have before. Sirius’s letter to Harry at the end points to how things are going to be changing for Harry in the future – he’s connected not only to his past but to the entire wizarding world more fully now (through his knowledge and through his ties to Remus Lupin and Sirius). The ending of this novel fittingly sets the stage for the more adult novels to come in the series.

Piramal Foundation,

NITI Aayog unveil COVID home care drive

 

 

The Piramal Foundation in support of the NITI Aayog has announced plans to provide COVID home care to 20 lakh citizens staying in rural areas. The Foundation which has been working in 25 districts helping in COVID care to senior citizens since last year has now expanded its scope of work to 112 backward districts called “Aspirational Districts’.Both entities on Tuesday unveiled ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan’ which will be rolled out in these 112 districts to assist the district administrations in providing home-care support to patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.Most of these districts are in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra, foundation officials said.

Campaign to address emerging problems :

This campaign is under the special initiative the Aspirational Districts Collaborative in which local leaders, civil societies and volunteers will work with the district administrations to address emerging problems in a district across key focus areas.The campaign, initially for three months and can be extended as long as required, will be led by the Magistrates of these districts in partnership with over 1,000 local NGOs that will enlist and train over 1 lakh volunteers to connect with patients through inbound outbound calls. The Piramal Foundation, with over 750 people on the ground, will support the district administrations in the training of the NGOs and the volunteers.“The campaign is expected to play a key role in district preparedness for managing nearly 70% of COVID cases at home, reducing pressure on the health system, and stemming the spread of fear amongst the people,” said Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Group, in an interview.We aim to reach every affected person in these 112 districts. We call all stakeholders government, NGOs, communities, and others to join hands and offer their service in this initiative,” he said. The NGOs will mobilise local volunteers to provide home-care support to those affected, based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” he said adding the Foundation will deploy whatever resources required to support this programme.

Volunteers will be trained to support 20 affected families each by educating caretakers to follow protocols, provide psycho-social support and timely updates about patients to the administration.

Correct usage of oxygen concentrators :

The campaign will also undertake capacity building of citizens for correct usage of oxygen concentrators supplied to these districts.

In a statement, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan is a significant initiative that responds to immediate needs and will provide long-term support to India’s poorest communities in the Aspirational Districts by addressing the lasting impact of COVID-19.’

 

By : G Gnana Priya dharshini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving parents create loving children. Your relationship with your children and how attached you are to them indicates how the child is going to be in the future. Your children who grow with a secure and healthy attachment to their parents stand a better chance of developing happy and content relationships with others in their life. A child who has a secure relationship with parents learns to regulate emotions under stress and in difficult situations. It promotes the child’s mental, linguistic and emotional development. It helps the child exhibit optimistic and confident social behaviors. Healthy parent involvement and intervention in child’s day to day life lay the foundation for better social and academic skills. A secure attachment leads to a healthy social, emotional, cognitive , and motivational development. Children also gain strong problem solving skills when they have a positive relationship with their parents. The relationship between parents and children not only needs to be strong but also flexible because you can’t behave with a ten year old in the same way you behave with a three year old.

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP AT VARIOUS STAGES

Parenting is a full time job with perks and challenges that grow as the child grows. Here, we take a look at the parent child relationship at various stages :

1. TODDLERHOOD – When the child becomes a toddler, the focus is on shaping the child’s behavior by teaching, guiding, and nurturing them. Parents facilitate the socialization process subtly during the first two years and prepare the child to fit into a social group or the society at large.
2. SCHOOL AGE – When the child starts elementary school, there is a shift in the focus from parents to peers, but this does not change the dynamics of the parent child relationship. With the child’s increasing cognitive and social skills, they goes beyond the home setting. This is the time when the communication becomes two way. The child is a position to tell the parent what he wants, and express his likes and dislikes. Your parenting style will decide if the communication will be two way or a one way. Parenting styles remain the same as the child grows and the style used in the preschool age continues to affect even in the middle childhood age.
3. ADOLESCENCE – Teenage is a turbulent and vulnerable phase, which brings about physical and psychological changes in the child. Parents should acknowledge and understand their teen’s needs, support them, and give them the freedom they new without being overly controlling. Parents with love and acceptance by adopting a positive approach even during challenging times can be an effective way to guide teenagers.
4. ADULTHOOD – Adulthood is the time when stability starts setting in. The parent and the grown up child are now able to relate to each other. Adult children are sometimes torn between their personal and aged parents. It can be quite stressful to balance the two. However, most adults do maintain a healthy relationship with their parents. The requirement and priorities of one family are different from those of another. For instance, the bond you share with your child may not be the same as the one your friend shares with their child. This means that your type of parent child bond is different from that of your friend.

PRINCIPLES OF PARENT CHILD RELATIONSHIP –

1. SET SOME PARENTING GOALS- Whether you want to raise a healthy and disciplined child or have a healthy parent child relationship, identify your goals and understand what you need to do to achieve them.
2. BRING IN WARMTH AND STRUCTURE IN YOUR INTERACTIONS- Treat every interaction as an opportunity to connect with your child. Be a warm and receptive parent, who encourages interaction. structure your interaction by having rules, boundaries, and consequences in place and ensure that your children understand them.
3. GROUND RULES ARE A MUST- Ground rules tell your children how to and how to behave. Rules have to be set by discussing with the child, coming to a mid point between the parents’ and the child’s needs. You can firmly implement such rules which are comfortable and meaningful to both. But having too many rules is not a good idea.
4. ACKNOWLEDGE AND EMPATHIZE WITH YOUR CHILD- Whether it’s a happy or difficult situation, acknowledge your child’s feelings, understand them, and reassure them that they can depend on you to solve all their problems.
5. TAKE A PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH TO CONFLICTS- When your child has a problem, try to look for a solution instead of punishing your child. Punishments demoralize your child and they lose trust in you. But when you work with them to find a solution, they also learn.

ACTIVITIES THAT HELP IN PARENT CHILD BONDING –

1. POSITIVELY REINFORCE YOUR CHILDREN EVERY DAY- It can be by words “very good” or a physical gesture such as a part on the back or hug. The experience of early interpretation touch is linked with self esteem, life satisfaction, and social competence in the later years of the child. It also positively affects the child’s physical and psychological development.
2. PLAY WITH THEM- Become a child when you are playing with your kids. This allows them to cooperate with you. Indulge in activities such as building Lego sets or pretend-play with the little ones, or pair up for video games or a game of basketball or cricket.
3. LAUGH TOGETHER- Parenting doesn’t always have to be serious. Sharing a few lighter moments help in building some great memories.
4. HAVE ONE ON ONE INTERACTION- Take time out from your daily lives to interact with them about their needs and how they plan to meet them. Have some parent child time every day to express your love for them, play with them together and do something together.
5. LIVE THE MOMENT- From the moment your children wake up till the time you put them to bed enjoy the moments with them. Be present, enjoy, and live the moment. There can’t be anything more fulfilling than that.

Who couldn’t remember the grey cat, Thomas and the brown mouse, Jerry causing havoc in their “mysterious” mistress’ house? Tom and Jerry is so common among the children and adults equally. The series of the cartoon started as a short series of episodes in 1940 written by William Hanna and Joseph Barbara. No one would forget these names too because their name comes alongside the famous lion roar.

Tom is a house cat and as if to cause trouble on purpose, there is Jerry. Most of the time they are seen in hot pursuit of each other, mostly Tom chasing Jerry. Though bigger in size, Tom almost always fails to capture Jerry and finds himself in trouble. Jerry is always portrayed as the clever and cunning outwitting Tom in every situation possible.

There was some criticism about the violence per se, in the episodes. But since there were no bloodshed portrayed, it was soon dropped.

Sometimes we wonder whether we are Tom or Jerry. At least I do. There are some times when we become Tom, a victim of the situation. And sometimes, Jerry, the person in control of the situation. But we need to remember that, they are each other’s sworn enemies, but when there is a third party, no one can beat them when they are together. For example, the bull dog, Spike and his son, Tyke act as a tool for Jerry to make fun of Tom, but when he gets in real danger, it is Jerry himself saving Tom.

Another example would be the episode of the baby, where both of them together take care of the naughty baby of their owner. Maybe because they are together 24/7, they seem to know each other very well. It is almost like, when they have nothing better to do, they poke fun at each other. Isn’t that what best friends do?

When the small gray mouse, Nibbles comes to visit Jerry, there is another face of Jerry that is caring and responsible for the little one, almost a fatherly character. Nibbles being Nibbles is unaware of the consequences of his actions and steals milk from poor Tom. He also tries to follow Jerry’s instruction but fails miserably.

It has been 70 years since Tom and Jerry have been showering us with their daily antics and to honor them there has been movies made. The recent one being Tom and Jerry: The Movie pays homage to their 70 years of existence. But some may disagree that the recent animation of them, and are a still a huge fan of the old cartoon animation. Who would blame them because that is what they have grown up watching the old one, I am one of them.

There are many cartoons that have come and gone, but this particular duo forever have a place in our hearts which nothing can replace. We can learn so much from two characters who don’t even speak. Friendship, loyalty, trust, being spontaneous are among the many characteristics that we can learn from them. It is funny how an animated being can change and scar our lives forever and has the ability to take back to childhood at any given moment.

In 1940, an advertising executive named James Webb Young published a short guide titled, A Technique for Producing Ideas. In this guide, he made a simple, but profound statement about generating creative ideas.

According to Young, innovative ideas happen when you develop new combinations of old elements. In other words, creative thinking is not about generating something new from a blank slate, but rather about taking what is already present and combining those bits and pieces in a way that has not been done previously.

Most important, the ability to generate new combinations hinges upon your ability to see the relationships between concepts. If you can form a new link between two old ideas, you have done something creative.

Young believed this process of creative connection always occurred in five steps.

1. Gather new material. At first, you learn. During this stage you focus on 1) learning specific material directly related to your task and 2) learning general material by becoming fascinated with a wide range of concepts.
2. Thoroughly work over the materials in your mind. During this stage, you examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with fitting various ideas together.
3. Step away from the problem. Next, you put the problem completely out of your mind and go do something else that excites you and energizes you.
4. Let your idea return to you. At some point, but only after you have stopped thinking about it, your idea will come back to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy.
5. Shape and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to succeed, you must release it out into the world, submit it to criticism, and adapt it as needed.

In the 1870s, newspapers and printers faced a very specific and very costly problem. Photography was a new and exciting medium at the time. Readers wanted to see more pictures, but nobody could figure out how to print images quickly and cheaply.

For example, if a newspaper wanted to print an image in the 1870s, they had to commission an engraver to etch a copy of the photograph onto a steel plate by hand. These plates were used to press the image onto the page, but they often broke after just a few uses. This process of photoengraving, you can imagine, was remarkably time consuming and expensive.

The man who invented a solution to this problem was named Frederic Eugene Ives. He went on to become a trailblazer in the field of photography and held over 70 patents by the end of his career. His story of creativity and innovation, which I will share now, is a useful case study for understanding the 5 key steps of the creative process.

“Change comes with habit and perseverance.” Said my father through-out his whole existence. He always taught me the importance of “habits”. He emphasised how adapting to changes for your own good becomes easier when you start making it a part of your lifestyle. I was always given an example of our ancestors and how they lived a simple yet healthy life.

Bad habits can lead to serious diseases, often known as chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are defined as a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. In this article, we are going to talk about the various habits and how they can help in providing us a long and efficient life.

Physical conditions-

• Atherosclerosis
• Heart disease and stroke
• Obesity
•  Type 2 diabetes
•  Hypertension
•   Colon cancer
• Premature mortality

Mental conditions-

• Depression
• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar affective disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

1. With the increase in the technological support in our lives, which has made life easier for some, the ill wind of the latter keeps on increasing day by day as well. While our adults keep on insisting on the fact that an organic and natural lifestyle is a healthy one, the introduction of covid-19 into this world last year has made it even more difficult for children to cut out this technology out of their lives since their entire work life is based off on it now. But excess usage of gadgets can lead to sleep deprivation which can become the ground for many serious diseases in the near future. Excess usage of mobile phones and keeping your phone near to yourself while sleeping gives a lot of bad radiations to your body leading to a weak immune system.  
2.  Apart from professionalism, somewhere, people are trying to replace human relations with gadgets and failing terribly to do so in the long run. They are making apps to kill loneliness but failing to recognize the walking apps i.e their friends and family in their lives. As a result, depression has now evolved to be included in the category of “chronic illnesses” and can lead to physical disabilities. Our society has been oblivious to discussions about mental health for so long that mental conditions are proving out to be more dangerous than the physical ones in these times.  But being on your phone all the time doesn’t solve it, in fact, it is the breeding ground of these mental conditions, a fact our generations fails to acknowledge. In this case, having more and more human interactions and exposure apart from technology is a crucial part of your life and can bring about a lot of changes in your mental as well as physical health.
3. Importance of a healthy diet- “You are what you eat.”  A healthy diet doesn’t only provide you with nutrition, it has a lot of other benefits as well. When you eat healthy, your mind generates a sensation of joy and pride in yourself. But don’t only go with the prescriptions of dieticians and health experts because everyone has a different body system. You have to figure out what keeps YOUR body healthy and happy individually. And even if you are eating unhealthy once in a while, make sure you are in control of your portion size.   
4. Meditation- Simply giving just 10 minutes of your day to meditation can give your body enough oxygen and reduction in stress and anxiety. Just make sure you meditate close to nature because going organic is the key. Even if you are at your home, you can go close to plants at your house or your terrace and even in your balcony!
5. Cleanliness- Practices like changing your pillow cover every week and sanitizing your phone every 2-3 days can provide you with a good hygiene and prevent you from getting many skin problems in life.
6. Sleep on time- Sleeping really late at night has also been linked to many skin related problems according to research. This generation has brought about a trend of being a night owl which can surely bombard them with health issues later in life.

Your body and mind are the only two things which will stay with you for eternity and if we fail to keep them both in check, we will fail as a human. But the journey of turning towards a better lifestyle is mainly about self-analysis and figuring out what suits you the best and what makes you happy! So keep spreading love and be your own reason to smile!

Month of June also known as pride month all across the world. Pride month was introduced to give our respect to all the LGBTQIA+ communities who are fighting to be treated like a human. Every person of different gender is first a human being, They should get proper treatment and respect without any discrimination because of the different gender . In the society we live, People who belongs to LGBTQIA+ community were considered to be different from a normal human being. They weren’t allowed to live on their terms. Their family members doesn’t even accept them being different from male and female.

It was considered to be a disease to being a guy or a lesbian. Families used to adopt different methods like black magic, superstition and taking them to priest only to make them feel horrible about who they are. The forms filled for the admission in school or colleges, Gender section used to have only two sex i.e., Male and Female. In several foreign countries, Gay or lesbian marriage is now considered to be legal. They don’t need to run away from their identities and can live happily and start a normal family .

Even in 21st century, India has not allowed gay or lesbian marriages. It is still considered to be illegal and will take more time to accept them with open hearts. It took a lot of time and efforts to make people realize about the importance of other genders who also deserves to get proper education, job and get married. Sexual preference of any individual should not be an issue , It should be personal choice .

Since long time , They have faced humiliation, discrimination and harsh words from the society. Now, It’s our time to make them feel comfortable and normal . Treat them with equal amount of respect and honor. LGBTQIA+ community deserves our support and love in order to accept them with their true identities rather than degrading them for their gender being different. Pride month is a great initiative to give them the equal position in our society. It also creates awareness about the delicacy of treating them with ill-behavior towards these communities.

Love can be between of any two people with different color, gender, age or with same gender , color or age. It is all about accepting ourself with a good motive and move forward with a kind heart.

Yes Bank crisis: On 6th March morning, PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam acknowledged that the outage was due to the RBI restrictions on Yes BankBusinessToday.In | New Delhi, Saturday, March 7, 2020 | 16:22 ISTphonepe_505_060320114152.jpg Yes Bank crisis: After banking partner Yes Bank was put under restriction by the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday evening, payments firm PhonePe suffered an outage. PhonePe users were unable to pay using the platform.

The platform acknowledged the outage and said that the services were temporarily unavailable but did not say that it was due to the restrictions on its banking partner. “We are temporarily unavailable. We are going through an unscheduled maintenance activity. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will be back soon,” it had stated late night on Thursday. On Friday morning, founder and CEO Sameer Nigam acknowledged that the outage was due to the RBI restrictions on Yes Bank. “Our partner bank (Yes Bank) was placed under moratorium by RBI. Entire team’s been working all night to get services back up asap,” it stated.PhonePe is a UPI-based payments system and digital wallet company based in Bengaluru. Founded in 2015, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in 2016 to build its payment business.On Thursday evening, RBI placed restrictions on cash withdrawal for Yes Bank customers. The apex bank capped withdrawals for depositors at Rs 50,000. RBI superseded the Yes Bank board and appointed Prashant Kumar as the administrator of the bank. The RBI stated that it is satisfied that it must issue certain directions to Yes Bank to protect the interest of the depositors.Yes Bank will also not be able to renew or grant a loan or make any investment or transfer any of its properties or assets. The apex bank also assured the depositors that their money would be fully protected. “The Reserve Bank will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank’s reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central Government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of thirty days ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time,” the RBI said.

In Swami and Friends by R.K. Narayan we have the theme of disobedience, conflict, control, authority, power, rebellion and independence. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Narayan may be exploring the theme of disobedience.Jul 18, 2018

The protagonist of the story is a 10-year-old boy. He is an unconstrained, indiscreet, wicked but then also an exceptionally honest child. His character is a kid in the fullest feeling of the world. How he grows up, his mischiefs which made his family irritated, his wonder, growing pains and innocence and many aspects are being portrayed in the novel. He lives in a universe of bossy grown-ups. He is a student at Albert Mission School. It is a British established school where importance is given to Christianity and English education.

One of the most watershed moments in the novel is the time when Rajam joins the school and he becomes friend with Swami. That was a life-changing stage for him. But later he breaks his friendship due to some reasons.

Everyone can relate R.K. Narayan’s account of childhood games and friendship. It’s an age where friendship is more important than family and more urgent than school. Also, holidays are heaven on earth during those days. The author effectively sketches those days through Swami and Friends.

 

The Innocence of Youth is the fundamental theme of Swami and Friends. Swaminathan and his friends are 10-years-old at the beginning of the book, and are prone to all the typical behaviors of young children: they are fascinated with toys; they daydream in class; they take their families for granted, and they disdain schoolwork. Rather than plotting or planning out their adventures with deliberate intention, these boys participate in the risk-taking and spontaneous mischief characteristic of young children. At their youthful age, they are not yet fully equipped to understand the world around them, the class differences that already work to inevitably divide them, or to understand the repercussions of their actions. For example, Swaminathan does not understand why an angry mob gathers after the arrest of the Indian politician Gauri Sankar in Chapter Twelve, and he cannot anticipate the consequences of shattering his headmaster’s windows with a rock. In running away, he does not understand that in doing so he might miss the M.C.C. match and irrevocably damage his friendship with Rajam. These are but a few cases that illustrate the central theme of Swami and Friends, where youthful innocence wrestles with increasing tension against worldly complexity and conflict..

 

 

This thesis entitled “Myth of Innocence and Purity of Childhood in R. K. Narayan’s novel Swami and Friends” examines how childhood not only embodies fun and laughter, purity and innocence but also equally self centeredness, snobbery, vanity, callousness, cruelty and jealousy that can be seen among adults. It also assesses the novel critically and brings the hidden realities of childhood days into light that children are also not free from vices. Narayan, with the skillful use of humour, tries to capture the world of children as reflected in the growing up of Swaminathan and his companions, and their adventure and misadventure in the mythical town of ‘Malgudi.’ By providing the realistic glimpse of childhood, Narayan shows that children also have contrary qualities and are not free from multiple human natures as can be found in grown up people. As Narayan he writes in his autobiography—My Days, those children are capable of performing greater cunning activities than grown up and he beautifully puts this belief in Swami and Friends.

The Political and the Personal Under British Colonial Rule                  

Set in a fictional town in south India circa 1930, Swami and Friends is defined by the pressures and complexities of British colonial rule over India. While the book’s events revolve around common childhood trials and tribulations, the personal experiences of the protagonist and his friends are colored by their political context, even when the characters themselves have little understanding of it. By examining British colonial rule through the lens of an ordinary boy’s relatable…

Education and Oppression

Difficulty within educational settings is one of Swami’s constant conflicts throughout the novel. Rather than simply depicting the ordinary childhood struggles of homework and unfair teachers, Narayan uses these familiar obstacles to enact a smaller version of the colonial oppression that suffuses the book. For Swami, school is a place of both growth and restriction, where rigid rules come into conflict with Swami’s nuanced inner life. Throughout, Narayan’s depictions of Swami’s school days add…

 The Fluidity of Identity

Although little more than a year passes over the course of Swami’s story, his identity and those of his friends change and develop many times throughout the novel. By demonstrating how malleable his characters’ essential traits and roles are, Narayan casts doubt on the idea of objectively “true” identity, instead seeming to argue that even core characteristics like goodness and badness can be changed and chosen according to the desires of individuals and groups…

Innocence, Family, and Growing Up

Just as Swami’s story reveals the somewhat illusory nature of personal identity, so too does it slowly strip away conventional notions of childhood innocence. While Swami seems at first to embody the quintessential idea of a carefree child, his growth over the course of the novel shows that even children of his young age are burdened by serious concerns and real-world threats. Narayan demonstrates this gradual loss of innocence in large part through his…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as Swami’s story reveals the somewhat illusory nature of personal identity, so too does it slowly strip away conventional notions of childhood innocence. While Swami seems at first to embody the quintessential idea of a carefree child, his growth over the course of the novel shows that even children of his young age are burdened by serious concerns and real-world threats. Narayan demonstrates this gradual loss of innocence in large part through his portrayal of Swami’s relationships with the members of his immediate family, which grow increasingly complicated and less protective over the course of the story.

At the start of the novel, Swami is almost wholly dependent on his family. He blithely takes them for granted while also calling on them to support his whims and desires, and their firm but kind presence grounds the seeming innocence that Swami enjoys in the early chapters. Swami’s mother and father, though strict at times, offer him safety and resources to pursue his academic and social goals. Even when Swami meets Rajam, whom he views as a role model, he still requires his father’s room and his mother’s cooking in order to host Swami at his home. Thanks to his parents’ help, the visit goes well, and Swami feels independent in his friendship with Rajam even as he relies on his family to support it. Swami’s Granny, whom he considers unsightly and senile but nevertheless loveable, also offers him unquestioning comfort. She affirms Swami’s stories even when they are implausible, and although she tells him stories from the family’s past, Swami dismisses her words as “old unnecessary stories.” Swami views his relationship with his grandmother as simply “snug and safe,” but Narayan makes clear that this perception relies on Swami’s ability to ignore the more complex, challenging stories that his grandmother wishes to tell. In describing the conflict between Swami and his headmaster at the mission school, Narayan hints again at the deeper reality that underlies Swami’s outwardly innocent reliance on his family. After Swami brings in his father’s letter complaining about Ebenezer’s treatment of Swami, the Mission School Headmaster scolds Ebenezer but then tells Swami that he was “foolish to go to [his] father about this matter.” The headmaster requests that Swami turn to him instead of his father about future problems, foreshadowing the novel’s later events in which Swami’s father is powerless to protect him.

As the novel progresses, Swami’s feeling of security with his family begins to erode, as both he and the reader discover evidence that his innocent trust in his own safety may have been an illusion all along. When Swami’s mother gives birth to an unnamed baby boy, Swami is initially indifferent to his new brother, calling him “hardly anything.” But as time passes, Swami realizes that the baby is now the center of the household. Although Swami soon comes to love his brother, he is also forced to admit that he is no longer the sole focus of his parents’ and grandmother’s love and attention. Around the same time, Swami notices that his father has changed to become “fussy and difficult.” His father begins to take a more active role in making Swami study for his exams, and Swami resents the realization that his father’s role is not only to protect him but also to pressure him toward growth. In the middle of the novel, Swami enters into a conflict with the son of a coachman who tricks Swami into giving him money. This episode in particular illustrates the tension between Swami’s youthful innocence and his dawning knowledge of the genuine danger of the world around him. The episode begins with Swami’s intense desire to get a hoop, a childish wish based only on a love for simple play. However, that innocent impulse soon transforms into a violent conflict with the coachman’s son; Mani beats Swami in an attempt to get the boy’s attention and then, when they confront him, his neighbors throw rocks and chase them off with dogs. Most significantly of all, Swami encounters the son again while visiting his father’s luxurious club, but finds that his father is oblivious to the danger. He decides to “seek protection” by telling his father, but quickly reverses his choice, deciding that “his father had better not know anything about the coachman’s son, however serious the situation might be.” As Swami moves away from his father’s protection, Narayan demonstrates more forcefully that Swami’s family is not truly the refuge that it initially appears to be.

By the novel’s conclusion, Swami has experienced the genuine danger of the world around him and, at the same time, come to realize the limitations of his family’s ability to comfort him and keep him safe. Through this process Narayan shows that Swami shares in the universal realities common to all coming-of-age stories, even within the unique sociopolitical context of India under English colonial rule.

After Swami and his friends form their cricket team, Swami discovers that his grandmother does not know what cricket is. Although he is upset by her “appalling ignorance,” he is nonetheless patient with her because he remembers his recent, irrational fear that “she was going to die in a few minutes” because he refused to bring her a lemon. Swami’s shift toward caring for his grandmother and her feelings marks a reversal of his previous belief that his family are the ones responsible for him. When Swami goes missing, a chapter from his father’s perspective reveals that he is completely powerless to find Swami and, given that Swami actually ran away, save him from himself. His father’s desolation and inability to alter the situation underscores the fact that Swami must now take responsibility for himself, rather than relying innocently on his family. When Swami is rescued by Mr. Nair, he is initially confused and calls the man Father. He is unable to understand his situation, thinking: “Who was this man? Was he Father? If he was not, why was he there? Even if he was, why was he there? Who was he?” This internal breakdown of Swami’s ability to comprehend his father’s role in his life represents a moment of profound growth in Swami’s self-efficacy and maturity. Later, he laments that he forgot to say goodbye to the Officer, hinting at the core truth that one cannot appreciate childhood simplicity until it is gone. Swami still lives with his family at the novel’s end, but he has lost the illusion that his life there is innocent or free of worry.

 

Swami’s Cap

Swami’s cap becomes important to the story as he begins to develop a political consciousness. Swami thinks little of his clothes until the night that he and Mani stumble on a protest against British oppression, and Swami realizes that some of his clothing may be made by British manufacturers at the expense of Indian craftspeople. When a bystander suggests that he is “wearing a foreign cap,” Swami is ashamed and throws the cap into the fire—his first act in support of Indian liberation. However, the cap also comes to symbolize Swami’s naivete about political matters. The next morning, Swami thinks not of his devotion to Indian independence, but of the anger his father will feel when he sees that the cap is missing. Then, even after his intense experience at the protest, Swami continues to view his fledging political activity through the narrow lens of his own self-interest, telling his father that the cap was burned by someone else in the crowd rather than owning up to his own actions. Finally, Swami’s father informs him that the cap was Indian-made all along, undermining Swami’s passionate destruction of what he believed to be a symbol of England. The cap thus underscores Narayan’s point that Swami’s actions are tied to a political context even when he is only able to engage with that context in a childish, haphazard way.

Swami’s cap represents his good but misguided and uninformed intentions, which often lead him to trouble. He destroys his cap in a fit of anti-colonial anger, believing it to be English-made. His father later corrects him, revealing it was actually an Indian-made cap, leading to Swami getting in trouble with his father and later, with his school.

 

Cricket

The game of cricket is the story’s most potent symbol of the complex way that English colonization plays out in the lives of Swami and his friends. As a quintessentially English activity, cricket is closely tied to England’s presence in India, but instead of rejecting it for its oppressive associations, Swami and his friends—particularly team captain Rajam—embrace the game as a means of gaining self-determination, dominance over opponents, and interpersonal connection. This paradoxical pursuit demonstrates the ways in which colonized peoples like Swami and his friends must necessarily adapt to the influences of the colonizer, even embracing aspects of the oppressive culture and subverting them into mechanisms of liberation. However, the friends’ cricket team has both positive and negative effects in Swami’s life; it initially helps him put aside his political differences with Rajam, but it also tears apart their friendship when Swami misses the crucial match. Through this symbol, Narayan seems to recognize the unstable and sometimes dangerous role that even the appealing aspects of colonizing nations play in the lives of the colonized.

 

Not only is cricket a reminder of the colonial influence of Britain in India, it is also a symbol of competition, and on the cricket field is where Rajam and Swami actually come to a head. Rajam uses a threat against their friendship in order to control Swami’s behavior, but Swami cannot help but feel that it is wrong to skip school so that they can compete. The match represents Rajam’s emotionally desperate understanding of “victory” as an important goal. Cricket highlights the conflict between Rajam and Swami and heightens the stakes, ultimately leading to them breaking up.

Cricket is a symbol of Swami’s friendships, especially with Rajam. Swami enjoys cricket and works hard at it, just as he enjoys his friendship with Rajam and works hard to maintain it, much in the way he devotes time to practice. When Swami misses the the first match, he and Rajam both take it as a personal slight, rather than one against the team as a whole.

 

The Book of Fairy Tales

Swami’s somewhat surprising choice of a book of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen as a going-away present for Rajam acts as a symbol for the crossroads of maturity at which the two boys find themselves. Swami has struggled to enjoy reading through the novel, while Rajam has excelled at it, so Swami’s sensitivity to the kind of present that Rajam would appreciate demonstrates the way that he has begun learning to think outside of himself and his own desires. However, the fact that the book includes fairy tales rather than true facts indicates that the boys’ reality is still largely shaped by fantasy. Even as Swami is forced to face the painful fact that Rajam is moving away without repairing his friendship with Swami, he relies on the power of a book of imagined realities to bridge the gap between them. Finally, Swami thinks that the book is too full of “unknown, unpronounceable English words” for him to ever understand it himself, again hinting that mysterious foreign influence is present in every corner of his life, even the parts that concern fantasy rather than reality.

Geography (Symbol)

Geography is one of the subjects that Swami and his classmates learn at school, and they spend a lot of time memorizing the capitals of foreign countries and copying maps. His friend Mani spends many hours copying maps of Europe, India, and Africa in preparation for their exams. Learning geography is an important part in their colonial education in orienting and knowing the world, with Europe at the center. The setting of the novel, the town of Malgudi, is fictional, however, and thus Narayan refuses to map the village.

The Protest (Symbol)

The protest can be argued to represent many things, but first and foremost, it symbolizes the frustration that exists in India because of the colonial presence of the British who dominate the nation as a second-class society. The British represent the broken forces that exist among closed-minded people with economic interests. Among the problems is that India has become chronically poor because its resources are drained by the British.

Escape

Escape is a motif that continually resurfaces as Swami escapes from the headmaster in the Albert Mission School and then later at the Board High School. Escape is Swami’s usual method of dealing with difficult or painful situations, but he often ends up getting lost, or in a worse situation than before.

The Cane (Symbol)

When the headmaster of Swami’s school rejects his request to leave early for his cricket game, Swami becomes angry and throws his cane out of the window. This demonstration is a symbol because the action represents the value of the moment in Swami’s real life. The stick becomes a symbol of freedom because the stick goes where Swami wants to go—outside of the walls and hierarchal order of school.

Fire-Eyed

1. K. Narayan writes, “He shuddered at every thought of school: that dismal yellow building; the fire-eyed Vedanayagam, his class teacher” (3). The emblematic fire-eyedness renders the class teacher an uncompromising individual who will not bear disruptive behavior from his students. Accordingly, he arouses dread in his students due to the authoritarian persona which his eyes indicate.

Tail

Swami’s old friends, who feel like they have been abandoned by Swami, begin calling him “tail.” A “tail” is a long thing that attaches itself to an ass or a dog, as he learns in Chapter 4.

 

Broken Window Panes

The headmaster’s office window panes, and their shattering, are one of the more concrete symbols of the book. After Swaminathan destroys the window, his future is permanently changed though he does not know it at the time. The broken glass serves to represent that Swaminathan has defied the established order, causing a break that he cannot repair, and crossing a point of no return…

 

Swami’s younger brother represents his relationship to his family, without the distractions or impediments of school, class…

 

Swami

Swami is the ten-year-old protagonist of the novel. Swami is a schoolboy living in 1930, in the fictional town of Malgudi in the South of India under British colonial rule. At the start of the novel, Swami is a typical child who seems outwardly innocent, with only trivial concerns such as homework, impressing his classmates, and avoiding disappointing his father. Swami is considered average among his friends, neither especially clever nor stupid, brave nor cowardly. He is generally good-natured and gets along well with his peers and family, although he can be arrogant or deceitful at times, and is easily swept up in the plans and enthusiasms of others. As the novel progresses, Swami becomes more aware of his own identity and political consciousness and begins to define himself more in terms of his friendships and national identity than his family relationships. Swami is also a naturally good cricket bowler and prides himself on being nicknamed “Tate,” after a famous cricket player.

          Swami is the central character of the plot. He is also the protagonist of the play. As a child, he goes to school where he does not like studies and gets bored easily. He is an honest boy of seven but, on the other hand, he also does not hesitate telling lies to his father. He loves his granny’s stories. He is good at cricket and is nicknamed “Tate.” He saw the revolution phase of Indian independence. Later in the course of the novel, he became bolder and socially prominent.

The protagonist of the novel Swaminathan (Swami) is a school going boy. He belongs to a South Indian middle-class family. His family comprises of his grandmother, mother, father, and mother. In the initial trenches of the story, his younger brother was born. He epitomizes the innocence of a youth mischievousness that childhood necessitates.

The plot of Swami and Friends revolves around Swaminathan, the central protagonist, who initially typifies the innocence of youth and all the mischievousness that childhood entails. He prefers cricket to school, takes his family for granted, and attempts to play out childhood fantasies in the often reckless games and stunts he pursues with his shifting group of friends. Initially coming across as passive and timid–more likely to follow than to lead the crowd (as we witness in the mob scene of Chapter 12)–and overshadowed amongst his peers by the more self-assured Mani and Rajam, Swaminathan, however, becomes bolder and more socially prominent over the course of the novel. The most vital player on the cricket team, it is ultimately, Swaminathan, and not Rajam or Mani that holds the key to M.C.C.’s victory. And though his rebellion against the headmaster results in childish flight, he openly and boldly defies the central authority figure of his school without waiting for Rajam’s support, and without the support of an angry mob to fuel his courage. While the novel centers on a brief period in Swaminathan’s life, in this brief journey, we witness the revolutionary change happening in India, and the subtle revolution of character and understanding that takes place within Swaminathan…

 

Rajam

Rajam is the son of the Police Superintendent and one of Swami’s closest friends. Rajam is new to Swami’s school at the start of the novel, and initially Swami and Mani view him as an enemy due to his quick wits, fine clothes, and fearless nature. However, Rajam quickly becomes friends with Rajam and Swami and acts as their ringleader for the remainder of the novel. Rajam does well in school and is liked by most of his classmates, and he draws confidence from his father’s prominent position (Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent), although it also causes him to oppose the political activity that his friends support. Rajam sometimes bullies his friends and acquaintances, but more often he unites them and urges them toward new goals, most notably the formation of a cricket team. Swami loves and admires Rajam but comes into conflict with him, first because Swami supports political action that opposes Rajam’s father, and later because he doesn’t live up to his promise on Rajam’s cricket team. Rajam is so angry at Swami for missing the cricket match that he stops speaking to him, and it is unclear at the novel’s end whether the two friends have reconciled.

 

 

Rajam is the new kid at the Albert Mission School and is Swami’s rival turned best friend. Rajam is good at studies, speaks English “like a European,” and is the son of the police superintendent, which gives him more attention and status at school. He is witty and fearless in nature and naturally assumes authority in social settings. It is his idea to start a cricket team. The character of Rajam: Rajam was the guy with an endearing personality. He is smarter and grown-up than Mani. He believes in self-respect. Rajam is very sincere in academics. He likes assisting or helping his friends in academics. Mani possesses a propensity for domination amongst every one of his age but Rajat didn’t feel that within him. In fact, Rajam tries to put forward a hand for friendship with Mani. He wanted to settle the enmity with Mani and this signify the nobility Rajam has got with him.

 

 

Mani

Known as “the Mighty Good-For-Nothing,” Mani is Swami’s other closest friend. Mani is a fearless troublemaker who never does his homework, sleeps in class, and frequently resorts to violence to solve his problems. However, he is also a loyal and affectionate friend, and Swami is proud to be allied with him. Mani often plays a supporting role in Swami and Rajam’s friendship, though at the end of the novel it is Mani, rather than Swami, who takes on the role of Rajam’s best friend. Mani lives with a frightening uncle, but little else is known about his family or background.

Another close friend of Swami, Mani is described as the “Mighty Good-For-Nothing.” He is a bold and strong figure in his class. He is not good at studies and purposefully slacks off, but he likes fighting and no one dares to challenges him, even the teachers. Mani likes to dominate the whole class and also bully some of his classmates.

 

Swami’s Father

Swami’s father, W.T. Srinivasan, is an imposing figure who works at the courts and is usually strict with Swami. Swami sometimes feels afraid of his father, but at other times he turns to him for help and support. Swami’s father encourages Swami to study hard and helps him with homework and, notably, provides Swami with a study space within his own room. Late in the novel, Swami’s father reveals that his concern for Swami’s wellbeing outweighs his frustrations with his son, as shown when he searches for Swami all night and welcomes him home without punishment.

Swaminathan’s father is a lawyer by profession. He is stern and authoritarian, but caring. He worries about his son’s studies and encourages him to study hard. Sometimes he is overly strict, but later in the novel he also shows his concern for the well-being of his son.

Swami’s Mother

Swami’s mother appears in the novel only occasionally, usually in the context of providing Swami with something he wants or backing him up in an argument with his father. She is presented as a mild woman who is mostly concerned with her family and managing the household. She loves Swami deeply and also gives birth to a baby boy, Swami’s brother, who occupies her attention for much of the novel.

Swaminathan’s mother is in charge of the house and cares for Swami both materially and emotionally. She defends Swami in his arguments with his father. However, her appearances are occasional. She is the character that Swami misses the most when he runs away from the house.

 

Swami’s Grandmother / Granny Quotes in Swami and Friends

Swami’s paternal grandmother, whom he calls Granny, is an old woman who lives with Swami and his mother and father. Swami views Granny as ancient and sometimes embarrassing, but she is also a source of comfort and security during times of change, particularly when Swami’s brother is born. Granny sometimes tries to tell Swami stories about the family’s past, but he usually refuses to listen, indicating his preoccupation with his own present concerns. Swami grows more concerned with Granny’s needs over the course of the story, beginning to see himself as a caretaker for her and making more of an effort to meet her needs.

Granny is described as a sweet and sleepy lady whom Swami will often go to and tell stories about his day. She is a religious woman. She tells Swami the stories of her past. Her relationship with Swami changes throughout the novel.

Swami’s grandmother was a short and fat and a slightly bent woman. She was a notably a religious woman. She had inner beauty intact with her rather than physical. She was not an attractive woman as she herself says she wasn’t pretty. He lived with her in his childhood days. He describes her as a good friend of his. She used to wake him up during the school days and prepare breakfast for him. After the breakfast is being done his grandmother hand over the pen, wooden slate, and earthen ink-pot to him. While Swami attended school his grandmother would study the scriptures in the temple which his nearby his school

Swami’s Brother

Swami’s unnamed baby brother is born midway through the novel. While Swami at first thinks little of his brother, he soon grows fond of him and admires how quickly he learns and grows. Swami’s brother also presents a unique challenge to Swami, in that he occupies the family’s attention and makes it so that Swami is no longer the sole focus of his parents’ and grandmother’s affection.

He is the only sibling to Swami. He is born midway through the novel. He captures the prime attention of his family. Swami too cares for his little brother. However, this character has no major role as he remains a child throughout the novel.

Rajam’s Father

Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent and acts as a powerful figure in the community. Swami and Mani are initially very excited to be associated with the Police Superintendent through their new friend Rajam, and Swami is impressed with the luxury of his household. Later, Rajam’s father becomes a symbol of political conflict when Swami witnesses him ordering the police force to violently break up the crowd of protesters. However, Rajam’s father remains kind in person to Rajam and his friends, and plays an important role in rescuing Swami at the novel’s conclusion.

Somu

Somu is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School. He is the class monitor and gets along well with everyone, students and teachers, although he does not excel academically. Swami thinks of Somu as the “uncle of the class.” When Somu treats Swami unkindly, the experience is one of the first times that Swami is forced to admit that the people around him are more complex than he might have guessed. Later in the novel, Somu disappears from the group of friends after failing an exam, and thus not being promoted to the next grade.

Somu is Swami’s school friend from the Albert Mission School. He is the monitor of Swami’s class and carries himself with an easy and confident air. Swami calls him the “uncle of the class.”

Sankar

Sankar is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School, known as “the most brilliant boy of the class.” Swami admires Sankar’s intelligence and relies on him for guidance at school. Sankar eventually leaves Malgudi when his father is transferred to a new town, and although he writes to Rajam and his friends intend to reply, they fall out of touch after realizing that they don’t have Sankar’s new address.

A classmate of Swami, Sankar is known as the “the most brilliant boy of the class.” Swami admires Sankar’s intellect and takes his guidance. Later, he leaves Malgudi as his father is transferred to another town.

Mission School Headmaster

The Mission School Headmaster is a primary antagonist for Swami in the novel’s early chapters. Although he confronts Ebenezar about his mistreatment of Swami, he also calls Swami foolish for telling his father what happened in scripture class and asks Swami to rely only on him in the future. Later, the headmaster’s intimidating interrogation of the students who participated in the protest goads Swami into renouncing the Mission School and ultimately transferring to the Board School. However, in comparison to the abhorrent Board School Headmaster, Swami eventually comes to think of the Mission School Headmaster as dignified and respectable.

Mr. Ebenezar

Mr. Ebenezar is the fanatical Christian scripture teacher at the Mission School. Although Swami and his friends sometimes finds his classes amusing, he uses his lectures to degrade Hinduism and argue for the superiority of Christianity. After Swami reports Ebenezar’s behavior, the Mission School Headmaster scolds the teacher, but ultimately it seems that Ebenezar is allowed to carry on teaching as before. Later, Ebenezar appears only as a benign figure in the school crowd, one who Swami even comes to view fondly after his troubles at the Board School.

 

He is Swami’s scripture teacher at the Albert Mission School. He is a Christian fanatic and degrades Swami’s religion, Hinduism, and considers Christianity superior to other religions. Later, he is scolded by the headmaster of the school.

 

 

The Coachman

The unnamed coachman is an acquaintance of Swami’s who promises to help him acquire a toy hoop in exchange for money. He claims to be able to turn copper coins into silver, but it becomes clear that he is lying to Swami in order to get his coins. The coachman’s son also becomes a menacing presence to Swami after this episode. Swami’s experiences with the coachman are an early example of his increasing acquaintance with the evils and dangers of the world.

The Coachman’s Son

The coachman’s son is a young boy who begins to taunt and threaten Swami after his father successfully scams Swami out of his money. Rajam forms a plan in which Mani will kidnap the son with Swami’s help, but the plan goes awry when the son tricks Mani and runs away with his toy top. Soon thereafter, Swami discovers during a visit to his father’s club that the coachman’s son works at the club, and Swami is overcome with fear that the son will attack him. This episode is one of the first instances in which Swami feels that his father is not able to protect him from harm.

Karrupan

Karrupan is a young boy who is bullied by Rajam, Mani, and Swami while out driving his cart. The three friends harass Karrupan and pretend to be government agents, frightening the boy before sending him on his way. The behavior of Swami and his friends toward Karrupan demonstrates their internalization of the colonized state’s brutal power structures.

 

Samuel (or The Pea)

 

Also nicknamed “The Pea,” Samuel is Swami’s classmate and friend. Both Swami and the Pea are close friends until the Pea changes his school. Both remain friends as they both play cricket together. He is the only Christian friend of Swami.

Dr. Kesavan

Dr. Kesavan is a physician whom Swami goes to in an effort to get a medical certificate saying he can miss school drill practice in order to go to cricket. Dr. Kesavan laughs at Swami’s self-diagnosis of delirium and pronounces him healthy, but says that he will talk to the Board School Headmaster to get Swami excused from drill practice. However, Dr. Kesavan does not talk to the headmaster at all, which leads to Swami’s punishment and eventual departure from school. Swami curses Dr. Kesavan for lying, and this episode is another of Swami’s formative experiences of betrayal.

Ranga

Ranga is the cart man who finds Swami unconscious after his night wandering lost in the wilderness. He rescues Swami by bringing him to Mr. Nair, thinking himself too simple to know what to do. Ranga is one of few peasant characters in the novel, and notably, Swami knows little of his role in the rescue and does not think to thank him later.

Mr. Nair

Mr. Nair is the District Forest Officer who helps Swami return home after being lost. Swami initially confuses him with his own father, indicating the sense of loss and disorientation that Swami undergoes as he matures. Later, Swami feels guilty for forgetting to say goodbye to Mr. Nair and worries that he did not show appropriate gratitude for his role, again drawing a parallel between Mr. Nair and Swami’s actual father. However, Mr. Nair also lies to Swami about the day of the week, presumably to keep him calm, and causes him not to realize he is missing the cricket match until it is already over.

 

The central theme of the novel is growing up of young Swami. He is a spontaneous, impulsive, mischievous and yet a very innocent child. His character is a child in the fullest sense of the world. Through Swami’s eyes the reader gets to peak in to the pre-independence days in South India. The life portrayed in the novel is accurate in its description of the colonial days – the uprisings, the rebellions, the contempt and the reverence the natives had for their subjugator, together with varied elements that have become one, such as cricket and education.

Unlike many colonial and post-colonial writers Narayan does not directly attack or criticize the colonial system, although elements of gentle criticism and irony directed towards the colonial system, are scattered through out Swami and Friends and all his other novels. He has rather directed his creativity at depicting the life of the people at the time. It is almost as if he is charmed by these unsophisticated and simple, yet eccentric people and their lives. It is unclear if he refrained from an all out attack on the British colonial system out of choice or reverence. But it seems at this point in his career, (and during this particular point of India’s history), when he is starting out as an author, he would write to the English speaking audience in India and for the vast audience abroad. Hence it would be folly to attack the very system that would sustain him as a novelist, his career of choice. Asked about why he was unbothered about the prevailing political crisis and other happenings during the time, Narayan replied in an interview thus ” When art is used as a vehicle for political propaganda, the mood of comedy, the sensitivity to atmosphere, the probing of psychological factors, the crisis of the individual soul and its resolution and above all the detached observation which constitutes the stuff of fiction is forced into the background.” Beyond this, he also had tremendous regard for the English language and literature as an aesthetic past time, and was not blind to its value in that regard.

The absence of criticism on the colonial system maybe also due to the fact that Narayan simply believed the colonizer and the colonized could live together in harmony, benefiting each other. Most Englishmen and the natives certainly seem to do so in his novels, such as Mr Retty (Swami and Friends) and Matheison (Waiting for the Mahatma). The rice mill owner Mr Retty was “the most Indianized of the ‘Europeans’….and was the mystery man of the place: nobody could say who he was or where he had come from: he swore at his boy and his customers in perfect Tamil and always moved about in shirt, shorts and sandaled feet.” Mr Matheison feels strongly for Indians and considers himself Indian. “You see, it is just possible I am as much attached to this country as you are.” Only Mr Brown seems to be the ‘black sheep’ in this regard. His Western mind is only capable of “classifying, labeling and departmentalizing…” And the gentle criticism and irony directed towards him was in the same way directed towards his fellow countrymen. In his mind British or Indian, they were all human beings with prejudices, follies, errors, kindness and goodness, each in varying degrees.

and Friends is an Indian book written in English published in 1935. The work was the first novel ever published by the famous Indian author R. K. Narayan. Narayan’s friend, Graham Greene, recommended his manuscript to a publisher, and it was finally published by Hamish Hamilton in 1935. The original title of Swami and Friends was Swami the Tate, but it was changed during the publishing process to Swami and Friends likely so that it could have more literary identification with Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co (1899) and thus appear more marketable as part of a sub-genre of English schoolboy fiction. The novel is the first of a trilogy of novels. The second is entitled The Bachelor of Arts and the third The English Teacher. The trilogy, which counts among his earlier fiction, focuses largely on problematic social practices, such as the institution of schooling and culture of punishme

Main thing is “Friendship” and how kids react differently to the different situations. I love the story. Swami is a little boy who has a good heart but little bit a coward. Think it’s same for all the kids in that age. Swami loves his friends and ready to anything for them but his cowardliness and bad temper made the trick every time. Anyway think the most important thing in that story is simpleness. Swami is a normal boy who can find in every country and every time. He doesn’t have anything special but I think the author should give him a chance. Though he is a good cricket player he hasn’t got a chance to show it to others and it seems the only special skill he has.

 

 

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF   AZKABAN

 

1.Who is the protagonist in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

 

Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived,” the savior of the wizarding world and the only living wizard to defeat Lord Voldemort, is the protagonist of J. K. Rowlings series of novels.Oct 5, 2020

2. What character traits does Harry Potter have?

 

Harry- Brave, Quick Thinking, Witty, Honourable, Self-Reliant, Confident, Instinctive and extremely stubborn/strong willed/determined. Harry is often at the front line and will protect who he loves. He fights for the good of the wizarding world and is determined to kill the man who killed his parents.

3. What is the Prisoner of Azkaban about?

 

Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) third year at Hogwarts starts off badly when he learns deranged killer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from Azkaban prison and is bent on murdering the teenage wizard. While Hermione’s (Emma Watson) cat torments Ron’s (Rupert Grint) sickly rat, causing a rift among the trio, a swarm of nasty Dementors is sent to protect the school from Black. A mysterious new teacher helps Harry learn to defend himself, but what is his secret tie to Sirius Black?

4 Who is the bad guy in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

. After reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill him.

 

 

 

What is the main conflict in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

major conflict The major conflict is the search to catch Sirius Black, an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban, to protect Harry from him, and for Harry to come to terms with Black’s supposed role in his own parents’ death.

 

Why is the Prisoner of Azkaban the best?

Why was Prisoner of Azkaban widely considered the best of the Harry Potter films? POA was my favorite book, and when I watched the movie, I immediately loved it. The music and emotional scenes are awesome, as well as some awesome cinematography, such as showing the Whomping Willow while seasons changed.

 

Where is Hogwarts in Harry Potter?

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the British wizarding school, located in the Scottish Highlands. It accepted magical students from Great Britain and Ireland for enrolment.

 

What happens in Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban?

After reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill him. … Draco exaggerates his injury, and his father Lucius Malfoy later has Buckbeak sentenced to death.

 

What is the moral of Harry Potter?

One of the morals of the story is that you never know what you are capable of until you try. Harry was faced with extraordinary circumstances, and he was able to rise to the challenge. He found reserves of bravery within himself, as well as special abilities. Harry Potter had no idea that he was a wizard, of course.

 

How old was Emma Watson Prisoner of Azkaban?

When “Prisoner of Azkaban” bowed, Emma Watson was 14, Daniel Radcliffe was 13 and Rupert Grint was 15.Jun 4, 2014

 

What year is Prisoner of Azkaban set in?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

December 1993 – Harry receives the Marauders’ Map from Fred and George Weasley. June 1994 – Harry Potter discovers Sirius Black and finds out he’s innocent, rescues him but loses Peter Pettigrew.AprA 30, 2020

Why is Prisoner of Azkaban so different?

 

Harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban seems a bit different because it was directed by another director. Chris Columbus directed the first two movies(philosopher’s stone and chamber of secrets) keeping the theme and direction as close as possible to the books. … So the first two movies and Goblet of Fire seems same.

 

 

• The Injustice of Legal Systems. This book makes several moral attacks on a legal system that is controlled by men like Lucius Malfoy who bully people until he gets his way. …

• The Duality of Life. …
• The Importance of Loyalty

.

Good vs. Evil

In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry begins to understand that the world is not divided into a simple binary of good versus evil or people who do only good things or only bad things. Harry and his friends are thirteen now, breaching adulthood, and the new cast of significant characters forces them to question their ideas of cut-and-dry, black-and-white morality.

A shining example of this new perspective is when Harry challenges Snape’s claims that his father, James Potter, was “exceedingly arrogant.” Harry tells Snape to shut up. He says, “I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for my dad!” (p. 284-285). But Snape has another side of the story. He says, “Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you—your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine” (p. 285). Harry has to account for this new information and consider the idea that his father, who died while Harry was still an infant, and who he only knew through photos and the stories told by those closest to him, might not be as perfect as he thought he was. His idealized vision of his father is suddenly challenged by a plausible story of someone who he loathes, Professor Snape.

Fear

The feeling of fear assumes a physical form with the introduction of Dementors, creatures who feed on hope and happiness and instill fear in anyone they approach. Once Harry encounters a Dementor, they become his greatest fear (as demonstrated by the fact that the Boggart turns into a Dementor when Harry faces it). The fact that Harry’s greatest fear is a Dementor attack means that his greatest fear is that which instills fear—in other words, he fears “fear itself,” as the popular adage goes.

The ominous and omnipresent Dementors are Rowling’s way of introducing a more tangible and adult version of the fear and trauma that Harry has endured in his life. Voldemort, though notably not present in the novel, looms in the distance; Harry, for the first time, must confront the night his parents died and the complex betrayals that led to the tragedy. At the same time, the Patronus charm is introduced as a way to physically combat the Dementors; Patronuses are inherently good, light things, battling fear and darkness and giving Harry a power he had not previously possessed. Since Patronuses can only be powered by the happiest of memories, it is easy to see what Rowling is saying, here: you won’t sink into despair or lose yourself in fear if you remember the happy, light things in your life that motivate you to keep fighting.

 

Friendship and Loyalty

This third installment of the Harry Potter series introduces a major conflict between Ron and Hermione, which ignites before the school year even begins. Ron’s rat Scabbers has been ill, and Hermione decides to buy a pet cat after it attacks Ron in the pet store. Throughout the book, Hermione is forced to be the voice of reason, keeping Harry’s safety her top priority, while Ron and Harry would rather focus on having a good time, going to Hogsmeade, and flying on the best and fasted broom ever made. Hermione constantly reminds Harry that he shouldn’t be leaving the castle, threatens to tell McGonagall about the Marauder’s Map, and does tell McGonagall about the Firebolt sent to Harry without any indication of who sent it.

Harry and Ron shun Hermione for much of the novel, which increases her anxiety—already heightened by her inordinate workload. Hagrid calls the boys to his cabin for tea and reminds them that they should value their friend more than rats and broomsticks, and tells them that even with all her homework, Hermione made time to help him prepare for Buckbeak’s trial (something that Harry and Ron promised they would do, too, and forgot).

 

Friendship and Growing Up. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban introduces the reader to two generations of friendships: those between Harry and his friends in the present day, and those between Harry’s father, James, and James’s crew while they were students at Hogwarts.Feb 23, 2019

The Injustice of Legal Systems

This book makes several moral attacks on a legal system that is controlled by men like Lucius Malfoy who bully people until he gets his way. Due to liability and general xenophobia, Buckbeak is sentenced to execution for harming Malfoy, when every reader saw that Malfoy deserved to be scratched. Furthermore, once Black is caught, only Dumbledore believes that he is innocent, since nobody else cares to listen to a story supported by no evidence other than the words of Hermione and Harry. Cornelius Fudge even says at one point how bad losing track of Black will look for the Ministry of Magic. None of these are fair choices; they are just easy ones. A third choice involving this injustice is the assumption that Crookshanks killed Scabbers. This assumption was supported by evidence. In the cases of this story, the big people are framed, and yet the system won’t bother to notice.

The Duality of Life

As shown by Lupin, who spends much of his time as a respectable professor, and then another part as a man-eating werewolf, we understand that everything is capable of having two sides. We see this again when Black is innocent, Hermione begins breaking rules, and Buckbeak’s execution is reversed through a simple intrusion through time. Nothing in these stories is ever what it seems; everything stands in a position to surprise. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, every story has two sides, and in a world where time may change, we have to believe that both of them can be true.

 

The Importance of Loyalty

The reason Harry feels such personal hatred toward Black is the thought that he betrayed his best friend, James Potter. When it turns out that Pettigrew had done it instead, Lupin and Black turn snarling on him. “YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” Black yells at him, “DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!” Harry finds himself facing Black in the first place because he went down the Whomping Willow to rescue Ron. One of the greatest and most repeated messages in this series is summed up by Hagrid’s sobering advice to Harry and Ron in chapter fourteen: “I thought you two’d value yer friend more’n broomsticks or rats.” Human relationships are the core of this book.

Friendship and Growing Up

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban introduces the reader to two generations of friendships: those between Harry and his friends in the present day, and those between Harry’s father, James, and James’s crew while they were students at Hogwarts. By exploring the contours of the different friendship generations and how the friendships evolve over time, the book positions how a person treats their friends as an indicator of maturity and selflessness—or as an indicator of a lack thereof.

For much of the novel, Hermione finds herself at odds with Ron and Harry. Ron is understandably angry when Hermione chooses to adopt Crookshanks, an orange cat intent on murdering his rat, Scabbers, while both boys are beside themselves when Hermione tells Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt broom that Harry receives mysteriously at Christmas. For Hermione, particularly in the case of the Firebolt, her close friendships with Ron and Harry are worth sacrificing in order to keep the two safe and healthy (she suspects the Firebolt came from Sirius Black, whom they believe at that point is trying to kill Harry). This suggests that at times, being a good friend means going against a friend’s wishes with the understanding that, eventually, the angry friend will appreciate the gesture and concern. However, for most of the novel, this concept is lost on Harry and Ron. Instead, they blame Hermione for their misery and refuse to speak to her, which means that Hermione is alone and effectively friendless at a time in her life when, thanks to her use of the Time-Turner, she could really use camaraderie. Eventually, Hagrid takes it upon himself to talk to the boys about Hermione and their treatment of her. He disappointedly tells them that he’d hoped they’d know enough to prioritize friendships over objects, which is the kick that Harry and Ron need to make up with Hermione and move in the direction of a more mature view of friendships and relationships.

 

The novel explores these ideas in a slightly different way in the case of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, who are adults or deceased in the present but attended Hogwarts a generation before the trio. Lupin was allowed to attend Hogwarts in spite of the fact that he’s a werewolf–in the wizarding world, werewolves are shunned and experience discrimination, as they’re believed to be subhuman and dangerous. The Shrieking Shack and an accompanying tunnel, guarded by the Whomping Willow, were constructed so he had a safe place to transform every month, and Lupin’s true identity was kept secret from the student body. Lupin’s friends, however, became understandably curious about where and why he disappeared every month. When they learned the truth, rather than shunning him, they set out to figure out how to turn themselves into Animagi, humans who can transform into animals at will.

 

Because of the dangers associated with turning oneself into an Animagus, Lupin sees this as the ultimate sacrifice on the part of his friends–they could’ve died or suffered permanent damage had things gone wrong, let alone the fact that attempting the transition without Ministry supervision is illegal. However, at the time, this also appeared to be the ultimate act of friendship. James, Sirius, and Peter weren’t in danger around the werewolf Lupin in their animal forms, which enabled them to turn Lupin’s horrifying monthly transformation into something exciting, fun, and, most importantly, something he didn’t have to go through alone. With friends, the experience became bearable.

It’s important to note that in the novel’s present, Lupin and Sirius acknowledge that what they did as teens was shockingly dangerous and immature of them–their gallivanting could have easily resulted in Lupin biting someone, while becoming Animagi in the first place represented a similarly dangerous lack of judgment. In the present, Harry and Ron’s choice to ignore and be mean to Hermione comes across as stubbornly immature to both the reader and the adults in the trio’s lives. By offering the adults’ mature perspective on their own teenage friendships, however, the novel offers the hope that Harry and Ron will one day recognize their immaturity at this point in time. In the same vein, the progress that the friends do make in this regard over the course of their third year acts as proof that they are well on their way to growing up, developing adult relationships, and acquiring increasingly more mature critical thinking skills.

 

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling uses symbols in form of creatures presented in the story. For example, a large black dog which was the animagus form of Sirius Black. A dog is a symbol of loyalty, but the black dog was presented in the story as an omen of death.

• Hermione’s Time-Turner (Symbol) Hermione’s Time-Turner, which takes the form of a small hourglass on a golden necklace chain, symbolizes the precious value of time. …
• The Grim (symbol) …
• Mystery (Motif) …
• Dementors (Symbol) …
• The Rat (symbol)

What do dementors symbolize?

When a Dementor From ‘Harry Potter’ Lives in Your Mind. I forget where I read it or heard it, but the dementors in “Harry Potter” are the embodiment of J.K. Rowling’s depression. A depression that makes you feel cold and numb and sucks all the happiness out of the world.

Dementors Are A Metaphor For Depression

They’re hopeless, horrible creatures who literally suck the life out of their victims, leaving them as empty shells; they drain happiness from the atmosphere, and they’re completely immortal.

 

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling uses symbols in form of creatures presented in the story. For example, a large black dog which was the animagus form of Sirius Black. A dog is a symbol of loyalty, but the black dog was presented in the story as an omen of death.

 

Names

Almost all of the names in the Harry Potter series are significant. Sirius Black means, virtually, Black Dog; the name Remus Lupin has its origins in the Latin word wolf, and in a co-founder of Rome, Remus, who was suckled by a wolf. Take also, for example, Lucius Malfoy: the “mal” in numerous languages is rooted in the word “bad,” and his first name, Lucius, is similar to Lucifer. Other names, like Dumbledore, have actual definitions—in this case, bumblebee in old English. One can liken this to Dumbledore, who is an ancient, wise wizard who works well and hard to sustain his community, the “hive” of Hogwarts. Professor Trelawney’s first name is Sibyll, the ancient prophet of mythology. Furthermore, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs all are indicative of the animal they represent.

Quidditch as a social indicator

 

The Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin represents each of the teams perfectly. The Slytherins attempt to injure Harry the week before the game, and when the day of the match arrives, they play a dirty game, knocking players from their broomsticks during the game, grabbing Gryffindor heads and broomsticks instead of simply the balls. The Slytherins fly poorly on very good broomsticks (bought by Malfoy’s father so that Malfoy could play on the team). Futhermore, the Slytherin team is not integrated at all: they have a team of only boys, unlike the Gryffindor team, compiled of seven highly skilled, well-practiced girls and boys, flying on a full array of differently-priced broomsticks. Gryffindor plays fairly but retaliates hard, and Harry beats Malfoy to the Snitch, despite Malfoy’s many efforts to halt Harry’s progress.

 

• Harry Potter

• James Potter

• Lily Potter

• Ron Weasley

• Hermione Granger

• Voldemort

• Remus Lupin

• Sirius Black

• Hagrid

• Peter Pettigrew

• Albus Dumbledore

• The Dursleys

• Sybill Trelawney

• Aunt Marg

 

Harry Potter

The hero and protagonist, Harry is a twelve-year-old boy with messy hair and glasses who became famous within the wizard community by surviving the curse of a powerful wizard. Harry frequently finds himself entangled in dangerous adventures but he always lives to tell the tale. Harry’s character represents good intentions, innocence, and the fantasies of childhood. Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived,” the savior of the wizarding world and the only living wizard to defeat Lord Voldemort, is the protagonist of J. K. Rowlings series of novels. In this third installment, Harry heads back to Hogwarts with the threat of an escaped convict, Sirius Black, who according to the Ministry of Magic wants nothing more than to add Harry to his long list of alleged murder victims.

Lily Potter

Harry’s mother who sacrificed herself to save Harry from Voldemort; Harry can hear her screams when Dementors are near.

James Potter

Harry’s father, also killed by Voldemort; his animagi stag becomes the shape of Harry’s patronus. One of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Ron Weasley

Ron is one of Harry’s best friends and is his partner in crime. Ron comes from a huge wizarding family, the Weasleys. What they lack in wealth, they make up for in love and kindness. Ron’s relationship with Harry is sometimes strained by the notion that he is merely a “sidekick,” and he falls short of his friend’s talent and athleticism on the quidditch field. But Ron is always loyal and courageous when he needs to be.

Ron is tall, red-haired, and from a respected but poor family. Ron is one of Harry’s two best friends at Hogwarts. He is loyal to Harry, and belligerent to their enemy, Malfoy. Ron uses experience and a process of trial-and-error to solve most mysteries. Ron’s character is often overshadowed by Harry’s, but Ron always manages to succeed.

Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger is Hogwarts’ cleverest pupil and Harry’s other best friend. She learns spells easily and is always the first to solve problems and crack mysteries. Hermione’s academic ambitions play a prominent role in this book, because she requires the use of a time-turner to take more classes than is possible in the normal constraints of time. Her time-turner serves a higher purpose at the end of the book when she and Harry go back in time to save innocent lives.

Hermione is always the top student in her class. She is clever and well-read. Most spells come easily to her and remain in her encyclopedic mind.. However, she is in principle a rule-follower, and so in this story she often alienates Harry and Ron by reporting or threatening to report them to Professor McGonagall, in cases such as Harry’s gift of the Firebolt, or his possession and use of the Marauder’s map.

Voldemort

Once a student who attended Hogwarts fifty years prior to Harry’s time, Voldemort molded himself into the most powerful dark wizard the world has ever seen. Twelve years before, he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry, only to have his curse backfire and render him powerless. It is generally believed that Sirius Black turned Harry’s parents over to Voldemort, although in truth, Peter Pettigrew is guilty.

Voldemort. Once a student who attended Hogwarts fifty years prior to Harry’s time, Voldemort molded himself into the most powerful dark wizard the world has ever seen. Twelve years before, he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry, only to have his curse backfire and render him powerless.

Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin is the newly appointed teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He quickly becomes a favorite teacher among students for his “hands-on” approach, teaching the students to cast spells instead of having them use their textbooks. Since he was a boy, Lupin has suffered from being a werewolf. He was best friends with Harry’s dad at Hogwarts, and together with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, created the Marauder’s Map.

Lupin is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he is very competent and likeable. He teaches Harry how to defend himself against Dementors, but he is forced to leave Hogwarts at the end of the year on account of his being a werewolf. He is one of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Sirius Black

Sirius Black is the titular prisoner of Azkaban who is wrongly accused and convicted of causing Peter Pettigrew’s death and the death of thirteen Muggles. Harry learns over the course of the novel that Sirius Black was his father’s childhood best friend, the best man at his parent’s wedding, and his own godfather. Sirius is also an Animagus and is able to transform into a black dog at will.

Once James Potter’s best friend, now an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban, Black is suspected to be the cause of twelve Muggle deaths as well as the indirect cause of the deaths of Harry’s parents. He is a threat on the frontier of this story, one of the premier good wizards turned bad, although in the end he is revealed to be innocent in addition to being Harry’s godfather. Also, Black is able to transform himself at will into Padfoot, a large black dog that Harry mistakes for the Grim. One of the creators of the Marauder’s Map.

Hagrid

The gamekeeper at Hogwarts and a good friend of Harry’s, Hagrid is a giant, hairy man with an inimitable accent, and he has a great liking for strange and dangerous creatures. In this book, he is the defender of Buckbeak, a hippogriff that is placed on trial for injuring Draco Malfoy.

Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew was a childhood friend of James Potter, Lupin, and Sirius Black. He is an Animagus and can turn into a rat at will. The particular rat he turns into happened to fall into the hands of the Weasleys twelve years ago, after he framed Sirius for selling the Potters out to Voldemort and killing thirteen Muggles.

The fourth in the group of friends that included James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James, turning their whereabouts over the Voldemort, then blowing up a dozen Muggles, framing Black and turning himself into a rat so that he could escape. Another of the creators of the Marauder’s Map. Disguised as Scabbers, he has lived many years as Ron’s pet rat.

Albus Dumbledore

The impish, seemingly all-knowing Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore is beyond upset by the fact that Dementors are patrolling the grounds of his school, but he recognizes that they are a necessary evil to maintain the safety of his pupils.

Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is a wise, powerful, elderly man with a long silver beard, and he is one of the most impressive characters Harry has ever met. He has a calm, secretive demeanor and is extremely intuitive, tolerant, and trustworthy.

The Dursleys

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Harry’s cousin Dudley make up the Dursleys of Number 4 Privet Drive. The Dursleys are Harry’s only living relatives, and they are Muggles who hate everything having to do with magic and forbid Harry from talking about the wizarding world. Harry’s life with the Dursley’s is miserable, but he’s forced to live there every summer. Uncle Vernon is a beefy drill salesman, Aunt Petunia is a stay-at-home gossip, and Dudley is a spoiled, gluttonous teenager who enjoys nothing more than watching his dad verbally abuse Harry.

Sybill Trelawney

Trelawney is the professor of Divination at Hogwarts. She teaches students the imprecise art of seeing the future, reading palms and tea leaves, and gazing into crystal balls. The narration suggests strongly that Trelawney lacks the “inner eye” until the end, when she appears to have a real prophecy. The catch is that she doesn’t actually remember having the prophecy.

Aunt Marge

Vernon Dursley’s visiting sister; a loud, beefy, nasty-tempered Muggle woman who adores attack dogs and enjoys insulting Harry and his late parents.

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban What’s Up With the Title?

By J.K. Rowling

         Third Person (Limited)

The third installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written from the point-of-view of 13 year-old Harry Potter. The title refers to convicted criminal, Sirius Black, who has escaped Azkaban, a wizard prison.

In the series, this was the first title that mentions a person rather than an object. This title also stands out for being the most misleading in the series thus far… which happens to be really fitting. Azkaban is largely a mystery story (with elements of fantasy and Bildungsroman – a fancy German word for a coming-of-age story). The title helps set up the mystery elements of the novel from the get go – who is this prisoner? What did he do, and what does he want now?

Of course, just when we, and Harry, think we have the whole thing figured out, the novel throws us for a loop and we learn that we were wrong about everything. The Prisoner of Azkaban (as in, the character, not the title) isn’t the real villain of the story at all. Consider our minds blown.

This title also ties in two more of the book’s major themes – family and the past. As we learn more about the prisoner, one Sirius Black, we start to get an entire story-within-the-story – a history of the conflict with Voldemort, a crash course in the lives of James and Lilly Potter, and the strong family ties that Harry, one of the most famous orphan characters of all time, still has in the wizarding world. The Prisoner of Azkaban starts to work as a kind of metonym, which is a fancy way of saying a word or short phrase that stands for an entire concept or idea (try busting that one out on your next AP exam!). The Prisoner here stands for the entire first war with Voldemort and the ways in which Harry’s personal history is closely linked to that conflict.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban What’s Up

with the Ending?

 

Harry Potter books tend to follow a certain formula, which is cool to consider. They start off with Harry’s birthday. And they end with Harry returning to the Dursleys’ house for yet another summer. The ending of this book is no exception to this format. After yet another adventure, Harry and his BFFs journey home on the Hogwarts Express, and Harry manages to sneak in another “gotcha!” moment when he reunites with the Dursleys. This year it’s “Oh, did I forget to mention that my godfather is an escaped convict?” Good times, Harry.

However, this ending does stand out a bit from the previous two books in that Harry now has new family members in his life and a connection to his parents that he didn’t have before. Sirius’s letter to Harry at the end points to how things are going to be changing for Harry in the future – he’s connected not only to his past but to the entire wizarding world more fully now (through his knowledge and through his ties to Remus Lupin and Sirius). The ending of this novel fittingly sets the stage for the more adult novels to come in the series.

 

“SMALLPOX; CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, AND PREVENTION”

Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by the two variants of the virus, namely Variola major and Variola minor. It was capable of spreading from one person to another. Smallpox was proven fatal for about every third person in ten patients.

The people who survived this disease have remained with permanent scars on their bodies. It had no known origin, but it spread over all the globe through trade and travel.

This disease had several stages as it tends to increase. Every stage showed its own salient features. The first stage included the time period of no visible symptoms. In this stage, the virus resided the body without causing any harm. This stage was known as the Incubation period. This usually lasted seven to nineteen days.

Once the virus started invading the body, initial symptoms started to appear which included high fever, body aches, and occasional nausea, sometimes vomiting. This phase was partially considered contagious.

The early rash phase started as the rashes started to appear as red spots on the tongue and mouth. These spots tend to spread the virus into the whole body through mouth accompanied by fever. After these spots break and burst into the mouth, these spots start appearing on the whole body.

Gradually the spots started filling with an opaque fluid forming a dent in the center. The skin sores were changed into bumps. This stage was considered highly contagious. As the days passed, the sores changed into the pustules which were solid and firm to touch and appeared like pus under the skin.

The pustules then transformed into the scabs that then fallen off in the next stage, leaving a mark behind on the skin. Till here, the disease was observed as contagious. In the last stage of being non-contagious, all the scabs left the body.

The infection is spread through direct and indirect contact with sick people. It was also capable of advancing through the airborne medium. The survey shows that the disease escalated through the infected fluid of an infected person. Direct contact through physical means, the droplets from their nose and mouth as a result of sneezing or coughing.

The scabs or pustules which were filled with fluids contained a variola virus that contaminated not only the patient’s body but also the objects held by the infected person. When a healthy person touched the contaminated belongings of the ill person, the chances of being infected increased. Scientists researched that smallpox tended to be spread through the air medium only.

The only prevention to avoid the disease was to get vaccinated, but when the smallpox outbreak occurred, there was no vaccine to get cured that resulted in an extensive death toll rate. The naturally occurring case was reported back in 1977. After which no other case has been turned up till now.

” THE FIGHT BEGINS AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES”

”  Infectious diseases introduced with Europeans, like smallpox and measles, spread from one Indian tribe to another, far in advance of Europeans themselves, and killed an estimated 95% of the New World’s Indian population”

– JERISHA. S

“TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH WHILE WORKING FROM HOME”

 

In the era of COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are struggling to open and more people continue working from home.

While many lost their jobs, modern technology through advancements created many new. Technology brings ease in our daily life as we can collaborate with team members and can share business documents safely and securely.

 

However, the combination of quarantine and constantly staying online has some negative impacts on mental health.

 

Before the pandemic, 81 percent of the remote workers expressed that they feel exhaustion, mental suffocation under longer working hours and 19 percent online workers revealed they feel loneliness.

 

Pandemic just brought more anxiety, fear of having an infection and social isolation in the community.

In order to fight against loneliness, anxiety, exhaustion and keeping the mental health in check during working from home, one must bring a balance in their lives and here is how;

 

1 – SEPARATE YOUR WORKSPACE:

 

In normal life when you leave the office you basically distance yourself from work. But in the pandemic, if you are having a meeting on the couch or opening your email in the living room and sticky notes floating as you sit in the lounge will always give you a feel that you are in the office and it will not be possible to distance yourself from work.

 

In this situation, experts advise to build a separate workspace in your house and do all of your work-related activities in that particular area.

 

No matter how much you decorate your working table to make it less depressing if it’s right in front of you every time you feel depressed.

 

To improve your mental health it’s very necessary to withdraw from the workspace at the end of the day.

 

2 – HAVE DEDICATED COMMUNICATION TIME SLOTS:

 

Emails, messages, and notification are the ones that can easily deviate your focus from work. These tiny distractions are a barrier to being productive. In order to avoid being distracted, you need to schedule a time slot in which you are going to reply to all the messages, notifications and can check emails.

 

Choose the time slot which is least productive. There are some people who like to work in the morning and then there are those who are productive in the nighttime. So if you are a morning person choose a slot that does not disturb your efficiency.

 

3 – CREATE A ROUTINE:

 

There is a lack of routine structure for the remote workers in the coronavirus pandemic as they need to take care of their kids, spouse, parents, and daily routine household activities.

 

To balance family life, you need to create a routine and follow it strictly. Make a timetable of your daily tasks and improve your mental health and deal with both the house and work-related activities accordingly.

 

4 – MARK YOUR BOUNDARIES:

 

Whether you are a freelancer dealing with challenging clients or employed as an office worker following your supervisor, it is necessary to express your limit.

 

The pressure of being available 24/7, responding to customers even after the office hours or handling one more task at the end of the day you feel pressure and anxiety. In order to make secure your mental health, you need to first safeguard your personal time.

 

All you have to do is express your concern to your supervisor regarding your availability of office hours and clarify what qualifies as an emergency. By doing that it will spark a light of positivity.

 

Finding an equilibrium while work from home is a difficult task but by making effort you will succeed eventually.

 

” THINK POSITIVE”

– MEREZJA F