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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

DO YOU FAVOUR BABULI?

Read "Tribute" this way:

Babuli is highly sarcastic and critical of his wife and her plans of investment. Don't you think what his wife did is right? She is the one who runs the family, knows how to balance the expenditure for domestic as well as personal use. If she feels Babuli should buy a scooter, is it a big crime nowadays? She knows life and time are changing. The vicissitudes of economy is first felt in the kitchen. A woman knows it better than anyone else. I feel she is an ideal housewife.

She gives a very practical advice to her impractical and sentimental husband about selling the land in the village and investing that money in the bank. She knows the practical difficulty of looking after it staying away from the village. Isn't it a wise advice?

It is through Babuli's words we get a picture of his wife. His opinions are no doubt that of the male-dominated society's perception of women. He tries to make his wife appear cruel (remember he compares her to a butcher!!!see the extent of male ego?)and money-minded. Think what moral commitment and integrity Babuli has...and you will feel shocked. Remember him saying how a “stranger” all of sudden can influence his life than his brothers. He treats his wife like a stranger who has no right to advise him or check him. He blames his sisters-in-law for initiating the family feud underlining that women are responsible for domestic splits.

Now look at Babuli's second brother. Again it is through Babuli we know him. How can you call it immoral or cruel if his second brother asks for his property? Don't you see that he is ready to pay for the land he demands from Babuli? I hope you all would call it absolutely sensible to have a legal and practical approach in matters related to property. It makes relationships smoother and stronger even or specially between brothers/sisters. No wise or matured man would call it selfishness or greed.

Second brother is a very modern and practical person. He knows that the times ahead are not what used to be. One has to be straightforward and not merely emotional or sentimental. No joined family is going to last when private property and family welfare, good education, good facilities etc. become one's priority. Moreover, what is the point in having a joined family of suppressed wails and grouses compared to a nuclear family of less inteference, the optimum in relationships and better facilities for new generation?

How can we trust the narrator Babuli who holds others responsible for his family’s downfall? Imagine what would have been the story had it been written from the point of view of Babuli’s wife or second brother? Babuli’s narrative is prejudiced and he paints many dark out of his own guilt.

Think and see the change in your understanding of the text. No text is a finished product. It gets life and meaning only with the reader. Every text is a social and political conTEXT.

29 comments:

Unknown said...

yaa, i will not favour babuli

it`s really correct ..
thank u sir ,for ur information

from ..
k v rohit, X-A

saloni said...

yes sir i agree in a way Babuli was wrong bt u see his wife was also a bit greedy!She shouldn't have mentioned all those money matters right on the day when he got that letter...as he was a bit guilty n unhappy to hear the news of partition.And then she also didn't care about his emotions and went on with her buying selling stuff!and ya that was already written in the letter that some fued had cropped up between the 2 sisters in law and dey needed partition so he in a way didn't blame anyone for the partition it was a simple writer's choice I guess! anyways ur article is really gr8 and after reading it ofcourse no doubt we have to give another thought to the story and the characters as they have been presented..

saloni kulshrestha
X A

Unknown said...

yes,sir i will not favour babuli. Thank u sir for your information and it will help us

from
M.sagar
x-a

Sohini Mukherjee said...

ofcourse sir, in this way Babuli is not right. Nowadays the world has got more in to modern thoughts and most of them prefer to be away from village-land maintenance and all dat and i believe that its not wrong. i truly dont favor babuli...I NEVER DID!!!
thanx a lot for this post sir :)

Sohini Mukherjee, 10th A, 2010 batch :)

KGS said...

i really agree with you sir ,i donot favour babuli and thank you for the information

K.Gauri Sankar
11 A

Unknown said...

favour to mr. babuli is just an injustice to his wife. he was just idiotic fellow who don't wan6t his share from land...........

divyanshu pratikh singh
xi b
kv af stn yelahanka

parasaran said...

Yes Sir U Are Right .I Will Not Favour Babuli..
Thanks For Ur Article....

from...
PARASARAN
XI C
K.V AFS YELHANKA

parasaran said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

sir you are cent% right ,i fully agree with you. How can one favour babuli in these circumstances. This shows that babuli was a stuburn person. Thanks for your article sir.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I will also nt favour Babuli, he was such an idiotic fellow who doesnt know what to do with his part of land nd how to use it judiciously, his wife was correct with her advices, had he listened to her then their life would have been somewhat better.... From-SUMEET, XII-B KV AFS YELAHANKA

arijit said...

Babuli is am person who never tends to take a decision by himself for the family. He is always dependent on someone else to govern everything.From the very beginning of his life he was dependent on his elder brother for evrything.we can also say that his family has never involved him any family matter and thus he had never developed an idea of running a family.after marriage also he obeys inly the orders of his wife without any hesitation.Basically Babuli is a person who changes and adapts himself accoeding the person with whom he is living. thus it is very fair not to favour Babuli. ARIJIT - XI B , KV AFS , YELAHANKA

RAJAT RAJ said...

sir u r right abt babuli, its true that he thinks in a different manner.
He called his wife butcher,
blamed his 2nd bother.
It may be also true that his 2nd brod must have done smthng for him and he dint do anything in its return (he has mentioned that earlier his both sister in law and his nephews/nice come 2 him when he come home indictes good relation with 2nd brod and sister and law),inspite he blamed his 2nd sister in law.babuli even dint asked his wife abt the land which he gives 2 his brod
he should take his mother with him



but sir his wife must not be correct she should go with him
to the village durig partition to decide properly.
it may that he felt his 2nd brod had been more help ful 2 him so he give land 2 him

sir, i have seen lot of people givig his village to their brother (but they r very prosperous)

but i do agree with ur reasons

one of your student
rajat raj
class 11th c
kvs yelhanka

vivek said...

i to won't favour Babuli ,he is like a crap .He put blames on other people without thinking that what he was doing was correct,actually he dosn't have a brain of his own.
But on the other part he was correct,after being seperated for so many years from his home, he stills have the same emotions.So at last i would like to say that ,Sir what you told at last was correct,we can't see this story from one angle ,we need to rethink about this..........
VIVEK , XII-B,K.V. AFS YELAHANKA

Unknown said...

"NO"

fAvOUrInG bAbUlI iS jUsT "nO wOrDS".

IN tHiS mOdErN wOrLd oF aGe,nO 1 lIkES To wAstE hIs mOnEy.

ND CoMiNg tO bAbUlI,hE iS a bIt EmOtIoNaL bT THIs dOeSnT mEaN hE gIvE alL HiS lAnD tO hIs bRO......nD lEvInG nOtHiNg tO hIs wIfE.

pEpOlE sHoUlD bE sEnSiTiVE aBoUt tHeIr fAmIlIES...bUt nOt lIK lOOsInG tHeIr'S AnD gIvInG tO aLl...

sO i tOtAlLy aGrEE WiD u sIr....

K.ANUSHA RAO
XII 'B'
K.V A.F.S YELAHANKA B"LORE

Unknown said...

Dear Sir,
First of all, I was surprised that the person who has written this blog is none other than you!

Now getting directly to point, sir, with full respect, I DISAGREE with you.

Sir, man is a social animal. Life is not lived by following a set of rules all the time. Everyone knows what is right and what is wrong. But still the world is full of mistakes. Maybe that’s why there goes the saying – “To err is to human”

I think your views are too practical. I mean to say, sir, everyone knows that the life is not endless, still they cry when they lose their loved ones. In real life, the emotions of a man always surrounds him. And that’s perfectly fine also. Otherwise what’s the difference between a man and a robot?

Whatever Babuli expressed are his feelings. His love. His life’s adverse circumstances. Sir, we should just try to place ourselves in place of Babuli. If we live far from our family, then we could of course feel pain of alianation. And when we receive such a letter, then how much emotionally destroyed we would be...

To make it worse, the wife gives nonsense advices. At that moment, one may want to be with one’s soulmate who can console him rather than his lawyer who could give him financial benificial advises. The wife acted more like a lawyer.

I respectfully ask you, sir (please dont take it otherwise) - do you think Babuli, a settled and employed man, doesn’t know that a plot in village would do him no good and he might better sell it? Saying is far too easy, sir. That’s why I say we should close our eyes and place ourselves in the situation, and we should imagine our wife is saying all that.

I know it’s getting quite long, but allow me to say it all, sir. As far as I remember that story, the wife reminds Babuli of these financial benifits 3-4 times. But, does she say what a wife should say when husband is going through such situation (even once) ? Does she in the least felt her husbands grief? They say after marriage two souls become one. But, here two seperate souls are clearly visible. And, according to me, Babuli said it right when he calls her ‘a stranger’.

Next, coming to the middle brother. The story tells that when Babuli reached home, that man with his wife was standing away from family, discussing. Is this the way a brother treats another? He did not wished Babuli also in any way and appered a stranger in all senses. Now imagine, sir, the man with the same blood as that of poor Babuli, treated him in this way. And what for? For Money? I can not call him ‘practical’. ‘Selfish’ is correct word. He let a li’l money break the blood bond between him and Babuli.

The eldest brother’s character is all clear from text. He readily agreed whatever mid bro demended. Was he greedy? And was the mid bro not?

Finally to conclude, sir, when Babuli looks around, he finds only his eldest brother acting as someone, whom he can call his ‘family member’. Insaan Pyar Ka Bhooka Hota Hai. Everybody needs it. Can’t do without it. Or Zahir Si Baat He, Use Jahan Pyar Milega, Wo Wahin Khincha Chala Jaega.

Whatever Babuli expressed or did (he gave his shares to eldest brother) is absolutely correct, sir.

That were my views.

I’M SORRY IN ADVANCE IF I SAID SOMETHING UNKNOWINGLY IN THIS TEXT WHICH HURT YOU, CAUSE THAT WAS NOT THE INTENSION.

I hope, sir, you would forgive me and help to correct me if I’m wrong in any way. Please sir, again, this was not to hurt anybody. I agree I was li’l bit agressive in contradicting. But, please, sir, I’m just like your son, and, yes, as you say.... your friend... :)

Your sincerely-

MAYANK MOHAN UPADHYAY

12th B

KV AFS YELAHANKA BANGLORE

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I CmPlEtElY "DISAGREE" WiD MaYaNk'S OpInIoN.....

eMoTiOns ShUd Be FavOuRed MoRe ThAn MoNeY.....Bt Liife Is Nt sMtHIng WiCh Is JsT Fr FaMiLy FaMiLy..........

OnE CnT MoVe AhEaD eVn A SiNgLe StEp WiDoUt MoNeY.....Bt Fam.....SmTiMes We LooSe Sm1 PrEsIoUs In OuR LYf,.........DoEs LiFe StOpS thEre???...........No........!!!

sO tHe "WiFe" GaVe AbSoLuTeLi GuD AdViCes Fr ThEiR FaMiLy......!!

Nd CaLlInG HeR StRaNgEr Is JsT MaKe No SeNsE****.....CoZ ShE Is ThE 1 WeLfArIng Fr Him n nT OnLi Fr HeR.....

"SHE MENTIONS EVN TO BUY A SCOOTER"

iS tHaT fOr hEr.....tO sIt Nd dRiVE.....NO.......!!!

tHeRfOrE i cOnTrAdIcT mAyAnK'SS oPiNIoN..........nD AgReE WiTh yOuR tExT sir...***

K.ANUSHA RAO
XII 'B'
K.V A.F.S YELAHANKA B"LORE

Vishal Antony said...

I don't agree with you sir. after all babuli is a human and can't witness the partition of all the assets that his parents had created in their lifetime. Its a bondage between the siblings and as Babuli is a son, he can't bear the partition of an asset which his created with their hardwork and money.....

Unknown said...

i agree 50 % wit u sir......
babuli must kno his priorities as a young man having a wife........
it is imperative that he behaves as a normal city fellow n acquire all the things atleast the ones he can afford
...... n nowe-days...
he must hav had the curtisy of asking his wife wt to do before he took any of the major decisions...


on the other hand........
he is in a way he is correct too...
coz.....
babuli's father had passed away and from then on... his elder brother had taken that place in Babuli's mind and practically tooo
...........
so it was babuli's way of expressing that gratitude......
it is just lik wen v earn our first salary.. v also giv that to our parents rit.......he gav the land to his elder brother......



K.S.Deepak.....
yours sincer student
sorry for the late reply

Unknown said...

Babuli is young boy who works in an office in the city. one day he receives a letter from his elder brother. By seeing the letter he realises his neglience towards his family. The letter tells about the partition of their parental property among the three brothers due to some feud in between the two sister-in-law and Babuli was called to the village for the same.

Babuli's brother had been of great help to Babuli in his both childhood and the days of his studies. He helped him by mortgaging his watch to send him Rs.150.00 for his interview in Delhi and also once he had given him his own blanket to Babuli in a shivering winter.

Finally Babuli reaches his village by the same rickety bus by which he used to travel. His elder brother was there to receive him. On reaching home, he found deathly silence prevailing all around. Only his mother was standing outside the home. On the day of partition, all the movables and immovables and every thing else present in the house was collected as a heap to be divided. After the partition, the elder brother takes Babuli to show him his share of land. In that land he could see the effort put upan by his elder brother.

But, Babuli refuses to take the land of his share and rather gives it to his elder brother as a tribute by writing in a slip of paper that he was the land from where he had harvested everything in his life and he did not want and thing else. And I am totaly disagree with him.

Divyanshu Pratikh Singh
XI B
K V AFS Yelahanka Bangalore

Unknown said...

Respected Sir,
Your article really is thought provoking.Sir,I feel that this story does not even deserve a place in a textbook because it is just a story about immature and inconsistent people who are caught in the frenzy of life.Let me tell you why I feel the characters are immature.

Babuli after settling at Bhubaneshwar kept quiet to prove that he was busy and preoccupied.He himself says that strands of complacency had coiled around him.In short after marriage Babuli forgets his mother and brothers and becomes busy with his family life.Such a person after returning to his village forgets his family, shirks his responsibilities as a husband and a father and suddenly transforms into another person.How fickle minded! He is unable to balance his responsibilities and starts blaming his wife.It shows how capricious a person he was!

Sir, I don't feel that his wife or his second brother are practical or realistic.I would also not say that they are materialistic or ambitious.Rather I would say that they are immature or childish.They failed to realise that relationships matter the most and that money is not the be-all and end-all of life.They were willing to sacrifice all their relations on the altar of Mammon because they forgot the truth that finally when we bid adieu to to this world we want our people to grieve for us.
Haritha Hariprasad
X B
KV AFS YNK B'lore-63

Unknown said...

Sir,
As Mayank said, Man is a social animal......and he is born and bound to make mistakes....and also learn from them. It is not about Babuli being right or wrong......It's how we percieve it and look at the story.......Yes it was wrong on Babuli's context to compare his own wife with a butcher, and also to think that his brother and wife along with their fueds with the ladies of the house started the whole drama of partiton.......But, it should also be noticed that he does so for a reason......He actually shows his true feeling towards the issue......his feeling towards his elder brother,...how he would take the pain on his behalf and wouldn't even complain.....Probably these may be some of the factors that influenced Babuli to say such things about his other family members........and as you always say sir.......If A Person Is BAD or Not Well Behaved, There May Be A Reason Behind It.......So, in the end I would like to conclude by saying that this story may never take a single side....as life is like a person's face...everyone here can have a different opinion like a different face for each person......And on my personal context, I both Agree AND Disagree with you.
Thanking You,
I Am,
Your first bencher boy,
Sayan Goswami
XII-'B'
KV AFS Yelahanka
Bangalore-63

Unknown said...

yes sir ... I totaly agree with you.

babuli should not have blamed his second brother for the partition....


from
Kunal Raj
XI C
KV AFS yelahanka

Unknown said...

I DON'T AGREE TO PUT MY LEGS INTO BABULI'S SHOES. I SUPPORT YOUR COMMENT.

ANIMESH
XI B

Unknown said...

sir,
very wonderfully explained....
i totally not but partially agree with it....
but sir the language you used is really convincing

pavan kashyap
X A
k v afs yelahanka

Unknown said...

Sir , i think the way you explained is very convincing.What babuli did to his ancestral property was his own decision. He did it because of his love for his brother. Anyone in his place would not have done what he did but that's the great thing about babuli. The modern life could not reduce his love for his brother. Money can be earned again but a relation can not be compared with money. Therefore, i think what he did was correct for him . What ever it may appear to others.
Alex Biswas
X-A
KV afs yelahanka

Hardik Bothra said...

Yes, I still favour babuli. Because, relationships matter more than the rest of the world, i understand that we need to be practical in today's world, but the sacrifices done by our loved ones are the smallest things they could do for us, but they stay in our heart as the biggest of the memories. So that land was no big deal for all the sacrifices, love and care of the big brother. so its a HATS OFF to Babuli for the love, although in form of the land, but still the love behind it is immeasurable. Coming to what Babuli said about his wife being a butcher, well we all are human beings, we all have had some times when we dont know what we are thinking and speaking, specially during the time we are tensed and distressed. Babuli was already so tensed about the partition and his wife started thinking of what they would do with the money, she did'nt even bother to turn her attention to Babuli and console him, but she didnt do it. And for the part, when he calls his wife a stranger, he means that, a girl who was once a stranger, now influences my life in so many things, life has changed. Now, coming to the 2nd brother, i agree that he is practical, but why do u want a partition? If he had not taken the issue of partition, his mother would have lived the life happily and died with a satisfaction that she is leaving her children in the same way she raised them. We talk about facilities, yeah we want them, I am sure we do. But what was the reason for the partition, maybe the 2nd brother could also have shifted to the city just like Babuli, because a house is not made with bricks and money, it's made from the love and the family members who hold it. Although all of them pretended as if they had no hard feelings but they had some bad feelings for each other, just like the way the elder brother fell when he had to take out his watch and keep it for the partition. I tell you, these things maybe practical but these things are harmful for the family and the love among the family members, that is what i want to say.
THANK YOU.

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