Reading blog – experiences, pros & cons

After several weeks of working on Heat and Dust and posting my results in this blog, I finished it today. Keeping a reading blog/log is a very time-consuming act and sometimes I accursed it. But I want to begin with the pros of it.

First of all, the reading (b)log actually helps to improve your style of writing and your English. I think this is the most important and determining point. Being forced to work puplicly brings you to work decently and accurately as you don’t want to be characterized as not being able to write good English texts. As a result, you give more thoughts to well-fitting formulations and expressions. Furthermore, you start to do research etc. which will help you to improve your knockledge. Especially for this topic it’s important to get more background information concering India and its cultute for being able to understand everything.

Now, I come to the negative aspects of being forced to keep a reading (b)log. Of course, the most negative aspect is time. Blogging is VERY time-consuming and nerve-jangling. Concerning the improvement of your English the fact that you are working on the internet, being able to use leo/dict worsens the process of learing vocabs. It’s easier and faster to look up a word instead of thinking about it for a moment so that, during the “Klausur”, you have the problem that it takes longer to look up words in the dictionary. Furthermore, you don’t even learn a lot of new vocabs.

Another negative aspect is the pressure of working. All the time, someone is looking at your fingers so that you really have to go on working. Even the fact that the others are writing more and more brings you under pressure. As a result, I often lost the fun of doing research and writing a post because I always HAD TO do something. Sometimes I sat in front of my PC and just thought that I have to write something because someone else already did a lot of new posts although I did’t know what. This is very frustrating and a big contra!

On balance, I think that blogging , of course, has it’s good sides, especially concerning the improvement of writing but it’s too time-consuming and can result in loosing any fun of working on the internet.

Bad health care gone better?

I was really shocked about the very deficient health care in India in the 70′s. When the narrator brings Chid to the hospital they have to wait until an old man dies so that there will be a free bed for him. Furthermore, the hygiene and the general accommodation is absolutely unacceptable.

I wondered whether the situation today is gone better or whether nothing changed. So, I started some research and came to the following results:

Indian doctors rank among the best in the world, especially concerning transplantations but the Indian population doesn’t have a share of it. Still today the health care in India can’t be compared to the one in Europe. Especially in small cities and in the countryside there are huge technical, apparative and hygienic backlogs. Even the density of doctors per inhabitants amounts to 1 to 2460. Furthermore, there are even less registrated nurses than doctors resulting in not being able to take sufficiently care of their patients.

Consequence of the deficient health care in India is the extreme growth of HIV infections. If people get the chance to be medicated the women have to give priority to their men because they are seen to be more important than women.

 

Source: http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/intwep/zingel/india-so.htm 

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Laenderinformationen/Indien/Sicherheitshinweise.html

Hinduism

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and about 80 % of the Indian population follow its principles.

The most characteristic part of the hinduism is the believe in about 330 million different gods and goddesses considered to be like a human being having all sensations. The three main gods are Brahma, Vishu and Shiva, standing for creation, preservartion and destruction. They also have their own female counterparts, called Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati.

The Hindus believe in reincarnation resulting in a cycle of life called Samsra. How they are reborn depends on their former life and their carma including all their good and bad doings. It decides in which caste someone will be reborn. So, the whole caste system in India is justified.

          

Film review on Heat and Dust

After having finished the novel “Heat and Dust” in school we saw the same-named film during the last week.

On balance, I think the film shows a lot of aspects mentioned in the novel and most of the characters match with those from the novel although there are also some differences changing the comprehension and the meaning of the original story. I don’t know every detailed difference but I try to list those being most important and noticeable.  

The beginning of the film is very confusing as it starts with the elopement of Olivia and the arrival of Douglas at the hospital not finding Olivia. I think if you don’t know the novel so that you can class this scene it’s very difficult to understand what’s really going on and what this scene means for the whole story.

Concerning the different characters some of them are presented very well but there are others I would have imagined totally different and they don’t represent their importance and situation in the novel. I really had difficulties to recognize Harry as he is described as fat and unattractive in the novel and in a film he was small and rather normal. Even Marica, playing a more or less important role in Olivia’s life in the novel, was not really mentioned in the film. Furthermore I imagined Mrs. Saunders in a worse state just as the Saunders’ house being discribed as very slovenly and dusty in the novel. In the film she appeared quiet normal and not that desperate.

Maji being a very mysterious and important charcter in the novel is nearly faded into the backround in the film. Her relation towards the narrator doesn’t become clear and in the film it’s mentioned that the narrator went to see her because she’s a midwife after she got to know that she’s pregnant on her own. This doesn’t fit with the description in the novel.

What seems to be one of the most important aspects in the novel – the relationship between Indians and the British isn’t that much considered in the film, as well. I think this is very sad as the novel gives a very clear picture of this relationship also being very important for the plot. In the novel there are a lot of depictions concerning India, the relationship etc. which are totally left out in the film.

Of course, it’s impossible to show every scene mentioned in a novel in the corresponding film but I think that they left out some important scenes.   

Review

“This is a well-written book that explores Anglo-Indian relations through the power of romance. Set in two distinct eras, colonial India of the nineteen twenties, during the time of the Raj, and the independent, freewheeling India of the seventies, during the time when India was a mecca for disenfranchised youth, it tells the story of two women.

One story is that of Olivia, the wife of a minor district official in colonial India, who in 1923 caused great scandal by running off with the Nawab, a local Indian prince. Divorced by her husband, Douglas, for this scandalous transgression, Olivia remains in India, while Douglas remarries. The second story is that of the narrator, a descendant of Douglas and his second wife. During the nineteen seventies, fascinated by the story of the now deceased Olivia, she goes to India, visiting those locations where Olivia had lived and those that would have been a part of her existence at the time. As did Olivia, she falls under India’s spell. As did Olivia, she, too, has an Anglo-Indian love affair, and picks up where Olivia left off, giving the reader a powerful sense of de-ja vu.

The book is a beguiling story of two women from two different generations who come under the spell of India. The book is evocative of British colonial India, as well as of India of the nineteen seventies. During both eras, Anglo-Indian relations are pivotal to the budding romances. The book is evocative of the rhythms of Indian life in all its richness and tumultuousness, as well as its lingering poverty and superstitions. It is redolent of a time gone by and hopeful of what is to come. It is also an interesting dichotomy of the good and bad in both cultures, Anglo and Indian, and the influence that both cultures have on these two women, who are so different, yet so alike.

This is a book that whets the appetite, leaving the reader wanting more than the author is prepared to give. It is, nonetheless, a book well worth reading. The book was also made into a Merchant Ivory film starring Julie Christie and Greta Scacchi that is well worth watching.”

Source: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0671646575/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I really appreciate this reviw appearing on the amazon.com page. It shows the different aspects of the novel. On the one hand it reflects the different love stories at first and on the other hand it also points out the cultural aspects in these different times the story is taking place afterwards. It’s always good to give the plot of the story first before starting to interpret the contents.

I also like the depiction of the relationship between India and the two women described as the two beeing under a spell so that they stay there.

If you like lovestories and want to get to know something about the Indian culture and history I agree to the critic that you should reed this book.

Alternative ending

When Olivia left the hospital she felt relieved because now she can go back to Douglas without fearing that he’ll find out that she slept with the Nawab and that it probably was his baby she carried. After having heard what the Nawab said about the baby and his single intention of staying with Olivia and having the baby to score off the British officers, including Douglas, Olivia knew that she want to be used like this ending in her decision to live with Douglas. But being pregnant from the Nawab she can’t stay with him because by no later than the birth he’ll notice that he’s not the father. So he might leave her and then she won’t have anyone. That’s the reason why she wanted this abortion offering her the chance to be with Douglas for the rest of her life.

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*Happy end*

The end of the stories II

What do we know about the Nawab’s last years?

- had got very fat( fo fat that there was s.th. womanly about him p.160) and lazy –> had a sedan chair bringing him up to Olivia’s house in the mountains

- had financial troubles -> had to keep up the Palace and 3 establishments; many dependants in Kathm

- had been haggling with British aothorities for an increase in the income they had stipulated for him out of the state revenues:  –> had come to London in order to appeal directly to a higher authority

- had changed until Harry saw him again in London ( 15 years later)

- he no longer lived at Claridges but was quite hard up- lived with Harry for most of the time – not easy because of his appearance and behavior

- suffered from high blood pressure

-often stayed with Begum and her friends in their house in Bombay; sometimes even stayed with Sandy

- seemed to be softer and milder to Harry

- always laughed about the thought of dying; his gang of dacoits were prisoned and sentenced to death ->Nawab visited them in prison and accompanied them to tje place of execution and joined them in their last prayers; stayed till last moment

- died six years before Olivia -> because of aopplexy; aged 65 in NY in the Park Avenue apartment of the ancient Begum and in her arms

 

The end of the stories

Exercice: What do we know of Olivia’s life after her elopement?

After having misscarried Olivia, escaping from th hospital, went to the Nawab instead of to Douglas. The Nawab bought a house in the mountains in the town of X for her, which she probably never left because i.e. the Nawab always visited England and Harry on his own. Her activity might have consisted of playing piano which can still be found in the old house by the narrator. Furthermore she maintained her style of furnishing and living from Satipur.

As Nawab died six years before Olivia she might have lived very lonely until her death. She wished to be cremated on the Hindu cremation ground instead of on an British cemetery altough the ex-missionaries tried to raise objection because of her not having been converted to any Indian religion. But the cremation was done and her ashes maybe were scattered over the mountains(Guessed by narrator).    

Parallels in Heat and Dust

While reading Heat and Dust the reader becomes aware of a lot of parallels between the two plots. Probably you can even say that the narrator lives the same life Olivia lived about 50 years before. Following I’m going to list the MAIN parallels (there are too many to be written down in detail) between the two plots:

1. Characters:    Olivia    -      Narrator

                         Nawab    -     Inder Lal

                         Harry      -    Chid

2. Contents (until p. 143):

Both women come to India without knowing a lot about this country and its culture but contrary to most of the Britains being interested in it. After a while they get to know Inder Lal and the Nawab their future affairs both being married to a woman with mental illness whereas the Nawab is seperated from his wife. The narrator gets to know the former house of Olivia and Douglas, these of the other British families as well and the Saunder’s baby’s grave which affected both.

Baba Firdaus’ shrine plays an important role in both plots, too. At first Olivia visits it with the Nawab while they have a picnic there. The narrator comes to this place for the first time during the Husband’s Wedding Day with Inder Lal’s mother and some other Indian women.

When the hot summer arrives the British and Indian women leave to pass this time in the mountains because in the city it’s getting too hot. But Olivia and the narrator refuse to leave so that they are nearly alone with their men/affairs. Olivia spends most of the time at the palace while Douglas is working and Inder Lal and the narrator pass a lot of their time together. Both men are really interested in the Western culture and tradition which may be the main reason for their affection for the British women.

When the narrator finds Chid being very ill she takes him home and takes care of him. Even Olivia takes care of Harry who stayed in the heat as well and becomes ill because of it. The two women spend a lot of time with these two whereas the narrator doesn’t like Chid that much although they also have an affair contrary to Olivia who is on good terms with Harry.

The narrator becomes pregnant after having slept with Inder Lal at Baba Firdaus’ shrine just like Olivia after having done the same at the same place with the Nawab. Afterwards the two men even crack the same joke. But in contrast to Olivia telling Douglas and the Nawab about her pregnancy, the narrator doesn’t tell Inder Lal about it and even thinks about an abortion.   

At this point, their story drift apart and develop contrary. As Olivia decides to have an abortion after having heard about the Nawab’s intention after the birth of their baby, the narrator wants to keep the baby breaking off the abortion started by Maji.

After her miscarriage, Olivia returns to the Nawab and lives in a house in the mountains. The narrator also climbs up this mountain to visit Olivia’s former home and decides to stay up there until the birth of her baby. Concerning her further future she acts absolutely naively waiting for what will happen……

Pregnancy etc.

Task: Asses the reaction of Douglas and the Nawab to Olivia’s pregnancy.

The reaction of the both men are very similar to each other. When Olivia tells the Nawab about her pregnancy at first he doesn’t react the way he probably would like to because they’re standing in the middle of the palace surrounded by several servants and other people. So we don’t get to know about his feelings in that moment. It’s the same with Douglas because Olivia doesn’t mention anything except the fact that she told him about the pregnancy the following night.

But the next day both men are proud of becoming father and they even say the same things to her: ” You are not afraid? Really you will do this for me? Oh how brave you are.” (p. 141, ll. 12f. / p. 143, ll. 8f.) while stroking her slender hips and her small flat unmarked abdomen. Both don’t cast doubt on being the father of the child whereas Douglas doesn’t have a reason in doubting it because he doesn’t know about the affair between Olivia and the Nawab. Furthermore behave very attentively towards her and show their interest.

The Nawab even becomes very possessive about her and wants her to stay with him forever.

When Douglas and Olivia are at the graveyard again Douglas is very lovely and regardful towards her by leaving the Saunder’s angel as fast as possible. He even speculates about the sex of their child showing that he’s really happy and proud of becoming father.

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