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Pratam Pratishruti is a novel about an uncommon woman, Satyavatie, who dared to breakthe so-called rules made to control the lives of the Bengali women in her days. The novel depicts the endless suering and the liberation of women in Bengal. In fact it is the story of women everywhere in India.

 Ashapurna Debi, the novelist, created a space of her own in the world of creative literature, and Gender Studies. She once said, “Slowly and steadily a completely new world was getting created within my mind. It was a world of comprehension, of feeling. It was a world with a never- ending ow of feelings.” Most of her writings marked a firm protest against the inequality and injustice rooted in gender discrimination. 

Pratama Pratishruti inspires young minds to create an enlightened world free of segregation. It was published by Ananda Publishers, first in 1964. Other notable works of the writer are Subarnolata and Bakui Katha. 

A good book blurb should have the following qualities:

• An opening with a catchy statement. 
• It appeals to the interest of the readers.
• It urges the reader to buy/read the book. 
• It gives some information about the author, publisher and year of publication. 
• It should be short and dramatic. 
• It describes in a simple direct language where the story begins, what the circumstances are, its socio-cultural relevance and its message

Nomita’s Mother : I’m sorry Nomita that this happened because of my letter. How was I to know that he opens your letters? 

Nomita : At least now you know. So please do not write such letters again. 

Mother : What shall I do then? There is nobody to help me.

Nomita : If you need money so badly, phone me. This is my number. 

Mother : From now on, I will do that. I know it is hard on you to help your mother as you do not earn any money. But you must consider my helplessness. 

Nomita : It’s okay, Mom. I will do what I can. But call me only when you are in real need of money. You know it is not easy to get money from Ajit. When I get the call from you I shall nd some way of sending you help. 

Mother : Thank you, Nomita! You are a sweet girl. Glad that you have not forgotten your poor mother! 

Nomita : It is okay, Mom.

People can react in different ways when they face problems. Nomita reacted by quarrelling with her husband and even setting re to her sari. She could have used some other ways to show her displeasure and to mend the ways of her husband.

Tell him how impolite and rude the habit of reading letters addressed to others is. Reading letters addressed to other is uncivilized behaviour.

She could have explained to him the helpless condition of her mother and the need to help her without complaining.

She could have stopped talking to him for some time so that he can realize that she is offended and this might help him in changing his bad habit.

From the talk of Nomita one can easily guess that she is a hot-tempered woman. Here she is challenging her husband saying that if he thinks she can’t do certain things, he is mistaken. She can do some things which he thinks she can’t. She is challenging him and telling him whether he is prepared to see what she is capable of doing. It is by talking like this, she puts a burning match stick to her sari which catches fire. The conversation shows Nomita is not a dependable woman and she can act quite rashly in an unthinking manner. 

But Ratna is quite a different woman. She is a middle- aged senior clerk and she is always smiling. Every day after lunch she sits with some person and listens to her/him. She is listening to people’s problems. Even by listening to them, she can help them. A big problem the modem world faces is that people have no time to listen to the problems of others! God has given us two ears to listen. A person with a problem feels relieved even when somebody sympathetically listens to him or her. Between the two women, Ratna is by far the better one.

Let’s review what we have discussed today. On the whole, it has turned out to be a fruitful venture. We saw how Indian women are not given their rightful places in the society. There are 1.2 billion Indians, nearly half of which are women. India had only one woman President and one woman PM so far. Look at our Parliament. How many women MPs are there? Look at the Kerala Government. How many women Ministers are there? Is it not shame that although we got our independence in 1947, our women are still left behind when it comes to education, employment and leadership?

Dr. Ammini Jacob had some good suggestions regarding the effect of the media on a woman’s self-image. She showed that how healthy women make a healthy nation. Dr. Ranbir Kaur emphasized the need for cultivating mental strength and mental toughness in women. She spoke of the need for a productive and harmonious work environment for women. She said that educated women should act as mentors and guides to other women and girls. Dr. Geeta Agarwal was greatly concerned with the other marginalized sections of the society. She showed how women played a pivotal role in the past, quoting the examples of Rani Laxmi Bai and Sarojini Naidu. Women should come forward to take up leadership positions. She asked the women not to wait patiently for their rights but grab them.

I would like to thank the panellists for giving us great ideas. I also thank the audience for being so disciplined and well-behaved. I am sure they have benefited immensely from the discussion. Together, let’s make a better tomorrow!

Thank you all!

Wrong – Right 

george oiwell’s – George Orwell’s 

was – were orginal – originals 

create – creates

They are compared to matchboxes because like matchboxes they too contain enough gun powder to make a hundred Lankas burn. But they sit around meek and innocent in the kitchen, in the pantry, in the bedroom, in fact in any place.

The poisoned knife is the anger Nomita has shown. She calls him a common, vulgar man.

Nomita frightens Ajit by picking up a matchbox lying near and lighting a matchstick and touching it to her sari. The sari ares up.

Ajit’s habit of reading letters addressed to her makes her furious. Sometimes he does not even show her the letters. She tried many things to stop him from that habit. She showed anger, took offence, tried to shame him and used sarcasm. Nothing worked. He just laughs it away.

The habit of Ajit opening and reading the letters addressed to Nomita is called the ugly habit. He says that he does it because he wanted to make sure that someone does not send her love letters. She tried many things to stop him from this habit. But nothing worked.

I don’t think there is a set pattern for exhibiting a woman’s emotions. They express their emotions in different patterns. I don’t think she is always emotionally under stress. We wee how Nomita tries to burn herself one moment; the next moment we see her teasing her sister-in-law and soon we nd her settling down to peel potatoes. She even tells lies about the burning of her sari.

The suspicion in Nomita’s mid is that Ajit does not give her all the letters that are addressed to her.

Nomita is the wife of Ajit. They live in a joint family. Altogether there are 26 members in that family. Nomita comes from a very poor family. But she is very beautiful and that is how she gets married into a rich family. Her mother, who is a widow, was the one who managed to nd a rich boy for her daughter. Nomita has no brothers or sisters. She is referred to as ‘queen’ by her mother.

Her mother frequently writes to Nomita requesting her for money. She used to write in postcards which could be read by anyone. Nomita is ashamed that her mother is always begging for money. To prevent others from reading, Nomita asks her mother to write letters in an envelope. The requests are so frequent that Ajit says that there is no need for reading the letter, but send some money to her. Nomita also secretly helps her mother. It seems her mother is very demanding and shameless as she goes on begging. 

One day while collecting the soiled clothes forgiving to the washer-man, Nomita sees a letter in the pocket of Ajit. It is torn and crumpled. It is addressed to her and from the postmark, it is obvious that Ajit got it some 3 days earlier. But he had not told anything about it. Nomita is unhappy because Ajit reads the letters addressed to her. She had told him many times not to do it. He says he is checking to see if any love letter is sent to her by somebody. At this point Nomita gets angry and tells him that he is a common, vulgar man. This enrages Ajit and he says she is a dung-picker’s daughter. He will do what he wants to do and what can she about it?

Nomita, flaming with anger, picks a matchbox and lights a stick and puts it on her sari which instantly catches re. Ajit rushes and with his bare hands he puts out the re telling her that she loses her common sense when she is angry. Nomita can be very sarcastic and can make faces effectively. She can easily tell lies as she calmly says her sari got burned as she was taking down a hot pot from the stove.

Nomita is good at making retorts. When her sister-in-law accuses her of rushing to Ajit at every small opportunity, she asks herto come and peek into her room to see what is happening there. Nomita can forget things fast. Soon after the burning of the sari, she is ready to peel potatoes. Even while peeling potatoes she is thinking how she can help her mother by sending her some money. 

Nomita seems to be a snob. She has forgotten that she came from a poor family. She calls Ajit a ‘common’ and vulgar man, forgetting that she is a common girl gifted with some beauty. People who forget their past are not good people. She seems to have forgotten her roots.

Her plight is bad. He often fights with her husband Ajit. Her other sisters-in-laws tease her for spending too much time with her husband, instead of helping them in the household chores.

Nomita’s mother needs money from Nomita and Ajit. In her letters she complains of the problems in her house. In the last letter she wrote that the ceiling of her room is cracked and the rainwater falls in. If this is not remedied she may die as the roof comes crashing down. She does not mind death. Her daughter is a queen and her son-in-law is high minded and large-hearted. In short she wanted money to get the ceiling repaired.

The author has used a very good metaphor in calling the joint family where Nomita and Ajit live as a forest of people. There are 26 members in that family. The writer has said Ajit gets the key to the letter box through the gaps among 52 hands! In a forest, some trees grow very tall but some get choked! There is no sufficient space for everyone to grow properly.

He has only contempt for her. How can a woman go on asking for help from her son-in-law? She always asks for money and then says her daughter is a queen. Ajit says Nomita’s mother  a dung-picker. He says whenever letters come from her, there is no need to read them, but just go to the post office and ll in the money-order form!

It is a ne simile. Nomita is very angry with Ajit for not showing her letter to her. She calls him a liar when he says he was planning to give it to her later. A snake hisses when it is very angry and when it is about to strike. Here Nomita hisses the word ‘liar’ as if a snake was hissing.

When Nomita asked Ajit why her letter was not given to her, he says he had just forgotten it. This makes Nomita call him a liar. Her action is justifiable. Nobody has a right to read the letter addressed to another person without his/her knowledge. Here Ajit not only reads the letters addressed to Nomita, he does not even give her the letters.