Page 7 - DENG202_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_III

Elective English—III

Notes Gradually, Chatterjee’s heart established an intimate connection with poetry. “Perhaps the need
arises from vocalizing thoughts cooped up somewhere. A need to regurgitate and reach across!”
She says. She loves to speak about common people, usually overlooked or ignored by many
writers. She describes herself as nobody struggling to find an identity among the worthy. She
believes that someday she would add and etch the everyday chaos that life subjects her to,
because that is also an indivisible part of her.

Example: Casket of Love, The Imposter, The Bizarre Shadow Part 1 and 2, Mr. Barlow’s
Bungalow, I Wish I Could Be Your Beau, Mamonne and Amaresh are some of the short stories by
Geetashree Chatterjee.

Task Read Chatterjee’s blogs Panaecea and Speak Your Heart Out and write an analysis on
them.

1.2 The Linguist – Summary

The story is about two friends, their friendship, jealousy, freedom and happiness. Nalini and the
narrator are good friends and share common interest for literature. When the narrator is told
that Nalini is getting married to a linguist professor living in abroad, she was jealous. Soon that
day came when Nalini left the country to live with her intellectual husband abroad. Here the
narrator got busy with her job and several years passed. One day both friends meet at a get
together and the narrator becomes aware of Nalini’s troubled married life. The narrator is quite
amused to know that Nalini had to deal with the high expectations of being a linguist’s wife. She
realised may be Nalini’s life was not all rosy abroad. However, the story ends when the friends
meet accidently in CP, Delhi.

Notes The intrinsic theme of the story is driving pleasure out of the misfortune of others.
This character trait is present in almost every individual and spares no one. However, any
individual characterising this trait cannot help but feel guilty afterwards.

1.3 The Linguist – Story

Nalini looked radiant and she had every reason to be so. She was getting married. The exciting
news was conveyed in jubilant whispers as soon as Mrs. Kocchar, our lecturer, turned her back
towards us. She wrote something on the blackboard but we had little attention for her notes or
lecture.

Nalini and I were classmates post graduating in English literature – final year. We were not
bosom friends but shared a common love for the English language or for that matter, any
language. Much of our leisure (in between classes) was spent wrangling over the subtle nuances
of Dickens, Hardy, Bronte, Shelly, Tagore, Prem Chand, and others in the league – sometimes in
the empty lecture halls, sometimes in the crowded canteen and at other times while walking
down to the bus stop to catch our respective University Specials.
However, today, the classics were set aside. I eagerly waited for Mrs. Kochhar’s session to end so
that I could pounce on Nalini to extricate some more information about the imminent ceremony.
We were out on the compound as soon as the class was over.

2 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY