II BTech II SEMSTER : Morning Bells

Main ideas: 

 1.Rag pickers pick up rag and other waste material from the streets refuse heaps  for    a  livelihood. 

2.Chotu had run away from his home not able to take his beating. Ramu was driven away from by his step mother.Irfan and Munna did not know when they found themselves on the pavements. 

3.They were abandoned children and earning livelihood with small work. The old municipal sweeper was kind to them.

 4.Chotu discovered an infant inside the garbage bin. 

 5.Female infant had been treated as a burden by their parents. So it was left in a dustbin. 

6.They quickly wrapped it up in the old newspaper lying about. They emptied their sack and they put it in the bundle. 

7.They had walked past a small temple on their way to the shed in the old city.

 8.To wash off the accumulated sins at the feet of their gods or feeling sure that their prayers would be answered, or just feeling happy that their attendance for the day is duly recorded.

 9.The rules of beggars are if a beggar falls ill or is unable to make it for a day or two only his or her spouse or children take the place. No other beggar is allowed to usurp the place. The beggar doesn’t have a son. He bent onto adopt Ramu so that his place would not be occupied by other. 

10.Chotu bought few incense sticks and some flowers. 

11.Once they were inside the shed, they had chosen a corner in the shed and dig a small pit. They carried her gently wrapped in a big enough rage. They put her in the pit and filled it up, put the flowers on top and then lighted incense sticks.

 12.This story expounds the kind heartedness of poorboys, in contrast with some of the more prosperous members of the society. It sends message to the people that the true essence of religion is not in the ritualistic acts but in our true act.

Look at Language: Writing style.

1. He carefully separated the things around the object, standing on his toes, bending into the bin.(loose sentence)
2. Once they were inside the shed, Ramu unwrapped the newspaper(periodic sentence).

Looking at language: Writing style

1. Expression of Sympathy- ‘Take what you want but don’t scatter the garbage’- Old Muncipal sweeper.
2. Expression of Satire: They look satisfied with themselves after washing off the accumulated sins.
3. Expression of empathy: ‘All the four boys kneeled beside the pit. They put her in the pit and filled it up in the flowers.’

Looking at Language: Regional Flavour.

·   Intermix the local words and expressions in English stories and novels would bring out culture and tradition of the place.

·         It creates the sense of regionalism in readers mind.

·         it rises interest in reader as it is related to their surroundings.

·         As it is very easy to understand, the reader gets involve in the story and it is also easy to the writer to communicate with his readers.

Regional words that are used in an African story, titled ‘The Power of a Plate of Rice’ are- a pot of ogbono, yam, garri(west African dish made from cassava tubers), egusi (melon)

The above given are the reasons that made the writer intersperse Sanskrit /Hindi words with English.

Looking at language: Vocabulary by theme

1. unearthing.
2. drawn together, taking rest, dustbin, waste things.
3. fate.
4. dragging, gunny bags
5. swarm, well covered.

Literary concept: Theme

1.      The phrase morning Bells signifies the start of new life. Here it symbolize the empathetic feeling of the boys. They had choosen a corner in the shed and digged a pit which was deep enough.They put here in the pit and filled it up, put the flowers on the top and then lighted the incense sticks. They had taken her as their own. The phrase ‘ morning bells’ is a powerful symbol of something that is empathetic and deplorable.

2.      Food, cloth, shelter are the basic necessities for people. The centre characters of this story are Chotu, Ramu, Irfan and Munna are struggling for survival in this world. Their struggle for survival brought the boys together and made them to work together.

3.      A man who had been practicing female infanticide and who had given subordinate status to women would have abandoned the infant in the garbage bin. Female infanticides, Satisahagamanam were some of the regressive traditions that were practiced in India. The man who left the baby in garbage bin would have come under this regressive tradition.

4.      The empathetic nature of Chotu and Ramu prompted to take out the body of the infant out of the garbage bin and give it an honest burial in the shed.

5.      The beggars have their fixed territories . No new entrant is allowed in the precincts without the consent of the congregation.

6.      Ramu, Chotu, Irfan, and Munna had treated the abandoned infant as one of the members in the family and so they had choosen a corner in the shed to bury her and named her ‘Chutki’.

Culture Point: Female Infanticide.

  We need to recognize that there is something fundamentally wrong with a culture that assumes the superiority of males and that celebrates Indian women for being meek, submissive and sacrificial. The feeling of superiority which evolved from our culture proved to be a big evil in our society and also it is one of the important causes behind the heinous practice of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide. Women are given subordinate status in society. She is treated as a big burden to family. Her life is spared; parents often neglect her and expect her to work around the house serving her brothers and father. In rural areas, girls are rarely sent to school, and if they are, they are removed after a few years of education. They try to kill the baby by adopting various means strangling the baby, giving her poison, dumping her in a garbage bin.

Culture point: Hypocrisy

  

Hypocritical show of religion: People enter temple to wash of their accumulated sins at  the feet of their gods, or to feel sure that their prayers would be answered.

Example for the true essence of religion: Ramu, chotu, Irfan, and Munna are known for the true essence of relgion. Inspite of being poor and abandoned they tried to help a small one who was thrown in a garbage bin.

Culture Point: Economy

1. Economic activities that are promoted at a temple:  Flowers, incense sticks and the other things that the temple goers need to worship are sold near temple steps.
2. Many of the people show their gratitude by showering benevolence on the row of beggars seated outside the temple. The beggars have their own fixed territories outside the temple. The more aggressive ones occupy the place closer to the main entrance and get a large portion of the ‘total collection’.

Culture Point: Abandoned Children

1. True essence of religion is clearly pictured in the activity of four boys. They are poor and abandoned. They earn their lively with the waste materials that they collect from garbage bin.  One day, they found a small baby in a garbage bin. It eyes were closed as if it was sleeping peacefully in its mother’s gentle lap and not in the stinking bin.They quickly wrapped it up in the old newspaper and brought it to their shed. They chose a corner in the shed and dig a pit for her. They put her in the pit and filled it up with the flowers and incense sticks. They named her Chutky. They had given a place in their shed and treated her as one of the members in their family.

       This small activity of boys proves that the boys are nearer to God but not the temple goers who go to the temple to wash off their accumulated sins.

Reading Journal

       Chutky is a name of a small baby. Chutky was the name given by the four boys who found her in a garbage bin. She was picked up by the boys who were earning their lively hood with the waste materials that they collect from the garbage bin. They wrapped her carefully in a newspaper and carried her to their house. Usually the four boys return from their journey to the city dump yard with their sacks after the sun is up but that day they decided to turn up quickly to their shed. They walked past the temple teeming with well clad temple goers who gather their to wash off their accumulated sins at the feet of the gods. The four boys took their coins from their pockets and bought the flowers and incense sticks that were sold near the temple steps. They chose a corner in their own shed and buried it. They decorated the pit with flowers and lighted incense sticks. They prayed to the God for few minutes for that small baby.

        This  story is a clear example for the true essence of religion. The four boys who were poor and abandoned were very near to God. They had taken the responsibility of a small baby who was thrown in a garbage bin without the feeling of sympathy. This proves that the true essence of religion is not in hypocritical nature of temple goers but in the innocence of small children.