“A Beautiful Pain - LOVE” - By Deepshikha Patangay of BA Final Year

Picture Credit : Special Arrangement

Failed at every step of life,

But won everything with pain.

Made myself even stronger,

As I felt the pain deeply,

But failed to love me.

In the entire universe,

There goes a story always.

A woman who kept crying,

A woman who begged,

To be his wife forever.

Years passed away,

Listening to their sacrifices.

But we felt them when we achieved,

With freedom in life,

With the support of our loved ones.

Yet today standing on my own feet,

I fail to stand up for myself.

As I am the daughter of Eve,

Who has similar traits,

But no change as she wished for.

Even today I feel her in me,

As I repeat her story of a woman,

Who always bent down,

To get adjusted with Adam,

To run and cry for a man like Eve.

This was the curse she brought down,

This is the pain every daughter feels,

This is the story that repeats.

As we feel her in every moment,

As we feel ourselves in our journey,

Till we try to find love on Earth.

“The Midnight Sky” - By Srividya Chitta, BA I Year

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The starry night’s light shone across the terrace and both of them were lying beside each other, telling each other how their day at school was while they were staring at the sky. 

“Aarya look here!!”, he called suddenly, pointing at a star.

A star that was distinct from all others, shimmering like a crystal, as if radiating all the light towards them. She looked at it in awe.

He whispered, “You wanna know who it is?”

She nodded in response. 

“It’s you Aarya”, he replied and said, “You shine brighter than anyone else”. 

Aarya’s face lit up with a smile and, “That’s me!”, she repeated.

She kept repeating as thick black clouds covered the sky and it started raining. The droplets on the window were reflecting the city lights onto her wet tinted cheeks. 

The memories of that day, when she was told that she was the brightest star, were resonating in her head. With her hands trembling in fear, wrapped around her knees, she kept looking out of the window, gazing at the midnight sky. Her eyes filled with tears but too scared to cry out. At that moment she had the urge to be heard, to be told that it’s okay to lose your shine sometimes and that it’s okay to fail despite having all the resources. But unfortunately, she was too good at it, too good at holding back those drops of grief, pain, and guilt.

She closed her eyes when it felt like she was taming demons in her little mind like she didn’t belong there. That moment when she placed, that piece of broken glass from the locked window she was sitting by, on the vein of her left hand with her palms shivering, but holding the glass firmly and only just a drop of blood she could see before she heard, 

“Aarya, Aarya come here dear, look who has come for you”.

She could sense the excitement in her mother’s voice. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. The window was there, right beside her without a single crack. That star shined brightly as the rain stopped and the sky was again clear. She realized it was dawn. The sun was out with a new morning. Her mind was yet menacing but her tears were dry. She slowly washed her face and went outside. She couldn’t believe what she saw. Yes, it was him, after 5 years. That night they were on the terrace again. And this time they were no longer in school. And this time he showed the very same star and said,

“Aarya, you see that?, that star there, it’s you. But remember stars don’t glow in the mornings, but they still do exist, they patiently wait for their nights. So, hang on lil one”.

Caressing her head, he said, “You’ve got many wonders to do, just hang on and believe in time. You matter the most. Okay?”. 

She nodded in reply and looked at him with a slight smile. 

Yes, she was finally heard without the need for a conversation. She felt safe at that moment. Nevertheless, she hung on and let the time do its magic. She did it. She became that star, sparkling like a diamond, right up there, above all.

"Alright" - A Poem By Syeda Fatima of BA Final Year

Picture Credit : Special Arrangement

I want everything to be alright,

Alright in the sense, 

Where I can breathe in peace,

Where my dark thoughts can see lights,

Where I can see through the fog of my darkness,

The little love and light.

I want my soul to breathe,

I want the sound of my soul shattering to find peace.

Alright in the sense, 

Where every soul can find peace,

Where I want to tell every soul, 

To know it’s okay not to be okay.

I want my shy self and dark thoughts,

To feel okay to be down sometimes.

"Writer?" -  A Poem by N.Sahithi Reddy of B.Sc FNZC II Year

Picture Credit : Special Arrangement

Writer! No, a pity thinker,

Cursed with his own imagination,

Lost track in his forest,

Wandering places in search of words.

It’s tempting! How I want to scribble,

Everything that I believe in,

One that I comprehend,

And one that I didn't.

Is it that, I got no voice?

Maybe I’ve forsaken my own.

Now I ask,

Will these words speak on my behalf?

I’m no writer, I got no wisdom,

I just want to scribble something,

Because like I said

I’m Cursed.

So before I lose my path,

I’m drafting, I’m marking these pages,

So they help get me back,

Am I really writing? Or …

Finding a way?

"Emma" - Book Review by Syeda Ayesha Amreen of BA Final Year 

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The Book "Emma" was written by Jane Austen, and it was published by John Murry in the year 1815.

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire on December 16, 1775, and grew up in a tight-knit family. Jane Austen is one of the most recognized names in English literature and also one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. She occupies a high place among female novelists in England. Her contribution to the English novel is noteworthy. She was a careful artist, who imparted realism to her novels. It is also a notable contribution, that she feminized the English novel. Jane Austen completed only six official works during her lifetime, two of which were published after her death. Austen also wrote two incomplete novels. A favorite of filmmakers, Austen's best-known novels Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Mansfield Park have been adapted into successful films and mini-series.

Emma, the fourth novel by Jane Austen, was published in three volumes in 1815, set in Highbury, England, in the early 19th century. The novel is dedicated to a young woman, who enthusiastically wraps her acquaintances and neighbors. Emma, a clever, pretty, and self-satisfied young woman, is the daughter, and mistress of the house of Mr. Woodhouse. She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate indulgent father, and had, in consequence of her sister’s marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct

remembrance of her caresses, and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection. 

Emma believes she is an excellent matchmaker. As she tells her father and her dear friend Mr. Knightley, that she practically arranged the recent marriage between her former governess, Miss Taylor, and the widower Mr. Weston. (She did, after all, introduce them.) After such a clear “success,” Emma is determined to make another match. This time, she has set her sights on the village vicar, Mr. Elton. Both Emma’s father and Mr. Knightley caution her against interfering, but they ultimately fail to dissuade her. Shortly thereafter, Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a 17-year-old student at a local boarding school. Harriet’s parentage is unknown; she is “the natural daughter of somebody”, who many years ago placed her in the care of the school’s headmistress, Mrs. Goddard. Despite the obscurity of her birth and her perceived inferior social status, Emma decides that Harriet is a perfect match for Mr. Elton. Emma sets about improving her friend, by discouraging her interest in Robert Martin, who is a young farmer and whose family is renting land from Mr. Knightley. Harriet has feelings for Robert (and Robert for her). Emma convinces her otherwise; she tells Harriet that Robert is beneath her.

When Robert writes a letter asking for her hand in marriage, Harriet, with Emma’s counsel, refuses him. When Mr. Knightley visits Emma, he excitedly tells her about Robert’s intent to marry Harriet. After Emma informs him that Harriet has already rejected Robert’s proposal (with her help), and Mr. Knightley is furious. He criticizes Emma for interfering, claiming Robert is a respectable man and a good match for

Harriet. Mr. Knightley storms out. He does not visit Emma again for some time. In his absence, Emma continues to push Harriet and Mr. Elton together. With Robert out of the way, and Harriet and Mr. Elton spending more and more time together, Emma begins to celebrate the success of her endeavor. All seems to be going well until Christmas Eve, when Mr. Elton reveals to Emma that he is in love with her, not Harriet, and has been spending time with Harriet only to please her. Humiliated by her attempt to pair him 

with Harriet, Mr. Elton resolves to retire to Bath. Emma is forced to tell Harriet about Mr. Elton and spends the next several days consoling her. Meanwhile, two new visitors arrive in Highbury: Jane Fairfax, the beautiful orphaned niece of Emma’s neighbor Miss Bates, and Frank Churchill, the dashing young son of Mr. Weston. Initially, Emma dislikes Jane. She condemns her for being too “cold” and too “cautious.” (The narrator suggests that Emma is jealous of Jane because Jane had previously met Frank, whom Emma has taken a liking to.) Mr. Knightley defends Jane, reminding Emma that, whereas she is privileged, Jane has no fortune and must soon leave to work as a governess. Mrs. Weston suspects that Mr. Knightley harbors some romantic feelings for Jane. Emma adamantly denies this.

Emma’s initial interest in Frank does not last. After a while, she begins to imagine him as a potential match for Harriet, and when Harriet confesses her love for a man of a higher social status, Emma assumes she means Frank. As it turns out, Harriet is in love with Mr. Knightley, who, at a recent village ball, saved her from the embarrassment of being snubbed by Mr. Elton and his new wife. Suddenly, Emma realizes that she too loves Mr. Knightley. She realizes that if she had let Harriet marry Robert, she might have avoided this whole mess. And thus the denouement begins. Not long after Harriet’s confession, Frank makes a hasty departure from Highbury. As he later explains in a letter to Emma, he and Jane have secretly been engaged all along. His flirtation with Emma was just a ruse—a way to buy time until his relatives agreed to his marriage with Jane. Emma and Mr. Knightley discuss this surprise turn of events. To Mr. Knightley’s surprise, Emma confesses that she never loved Frank. Mr. Knightley, in response, confesses his love for Emma. She is overjoyed, and they implicitly agree to get married. Emma briefly worries about Harriet and how she will receive the news of their engagement. Emma is pleased to

learn that Harriet has decided to marry Robert after all this. The novel thus concludes with three marriages: Jane and Frank, Harriet and Robert, and Emma and Mr. Knightley.

In my opinion, I feel that I prefer "Emma" to all the other Jane Austen books except Pride & Prejudice, which I love just as well. Emma has this unique sense of carefree freedom and happiness. The characters in the book are so very close to life. Also, I feel that this theme of "Hooking Up" people is very real to most teenagers. So I guess I understand what Emma thinks and feels throughout the novel. On the whole, this book is full of fun and blunders and turns out to be a wonderful romance.

"In the Country of Deceit" - Book Review by Deepshikha Patangay of BA Final Year

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The book "In The Country Of Deceit" is written by Shashi Deshpande. The book was published by Penguin Groups in the year 2008.

Shashi Deshpande is an Indian novelist. She is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri Award in 1990 and 2009 respectively. She is the daughter of Kannada dramatist and writer Adya Rangacharya. She has written novels like “The Dark Holds No Terror”, “That Long Silence” and so on. She emphasizes more about the problems of Indian women and the stories of their dark struggles through her writings. 

“In the Country of Deceit” narrates the doomed love affair between an unmarried woman, Devayani, and a married police officer, Ashok Chinappa. In the novel, Deshpande touches upon the themes of desire, guilt, deceit, adult love, and physical relationship outside marriage.
Devayani, a young 27-year-old woman was an English teacher. She moved to Rajnur after the death of her father. She had an elder sister, who is more like her best friend Savitri. Savitri was a married woman who had children.

The novel starts with the description of Savi’s housewarming ceremony. Devayani describes the love, bond, and affection that she has towards her sister. As her elder sister was married and had kids, her uncle and aunt also wanted Devayani to get married. Through the letters, her aunt Sindhu talks about the marriage proposals for Devayani. As she is living alone she is under constant pressure to get married. But according to her, she feels that she is settled. She questions in her heart, that what more is required to fill the word “settled” as she had a job and her own house. She rejects the marriage proposals that her aunt had sent her.

Later, Devayani happens to interact with Rani, whose real name is Priya. She was a former actress, married to the Ranjur’s District Superintendent of Police Mr. Ashok Chinappa, and had children. Eventually, Rani and Devayani become good friends. When Rani was busy in the film industry looking for many opportunities, her husband Ashok approached Devayani.
Devayani and Ashok would spend time together, as they started dating. When Devayani shared her darkest secret which is, “Dating A Married Man!” with her sister Savi, Savi was very upset. Despite Savi explaining that it was wrong Devayani did not care and started to spend more time with Ashok. For the first time, besides all her life problems, including the family property dealings, Devayani felt good with Ashok. She was falling in love with him. Whenever Rani was not in town, Ashok and Devayani would meet secretly. It was the darkest secret of them as they had a physical relationship. For her, it was love as no one approached her the way Ashok had approached her.

One day, Devayani fainted and was admitted to the hospital. She started to think from her sister’s point of view and started to feel guilty for falling for a man who was her friend’s husband. She was guilty of cheating on her friend but at the same time, she was in love with her husband. This made her feel stressed and she fainted. At the hospital, Ashok confessed that he was deeply in love with Devayani and wanted to marry her. Though he had other women in his life, he told that he never felt the way he felt towards Devayani. She was upset and she wanted to ignore him, at that moment, Ashok proposed to her and told her that he could leave his children and wife for her. This made Devayani feel that Ashok was her true love.

After days, when she was spending time with Rani, she got to know that they were shifting from Rajnur. Ashok had not told her about it, and Devayani felt insecure. He constantly spoke that he would leave his wife and children for her but, when the day came, when they had to shift to another town, Ashok left her. He told her that he has a family and he can’t leave his children and left without any contact. Devayani felt as if her world had collapsed. The desire to love a married man has torn her heart into pieces.
During her tough times, her family did not leave her side. Her sister and aunt took care of her and advised her to move on. Devayani left her past behind in her mind, but carried the guilt in her heart and tried to move on.

In my opinion, I feel this is one of the finest works of Shashi Deshpande who fabulously narrated the story. The desire and the guilt that Deshpande brings up with the situations by addressing the bold choice of Devayani speaks of how open-minded Devayani was. But her bold choice of loving a married man had made her life miserable. Even today, in our society this is one of the darkest secrets of the majority of girls. Deshpande brings out the reality of society in her novel. To find love, it doesn’t mean that women must find single men, until and unless it is in India. Her bold choice makes us understand that to love and to receive love from the same person is enough to live a happy life. But as Ashok cheated, most of the partners cheat to fulfill their nasty desires. Surprisingly India has more ‘Partner- Cheating’ cases but hardly there are people who love their partners. Love is a fancy feast that has its challenges in life. And sometimes love brings us into a situation where we have to choose “Do or Die”. “A Fancy Feast That’s What Love Is!”

"Emma" - Book Review by Rafath Begum of BA Final Year

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The book “EMMA” was written by “Jane Austen” and published by “John Murray” in the year 1815. Jane Austen was an English novelist. She wrote many books of romantic fiction about the landed gentry. Her works made her one of the most famous and beloved writers in English literature. She is one of the great masters of the English novel and her style of writing is a mix of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Austen created a transition into Romanticism, which encouraged passion and imagination in writings, instead of a strict and a stale writing style. Mixing these two styles, was one of the strongest talents of Austen, which gave her an edge in the literary world. Austen’s writings stand out for their comedy, self-awareness, and realistic detailed portrayals of characters and their relationships.

Emma is one of the best books of Austen and at the same time her last published book too. Emma is the central character of the story. She is indeed beautiful, wealthy, and smart, who was nearly twenty years old. Although she is convinced that she will never marry, but still believes that she is an excellent matchmaker. As she tells her father and her dear friend Mr. Knightley, that recently she had arranged the marriage of her former governess, Miss Taylor, and the widower Mr. Weston, and after such a clear success, Emma is determined to make another match. Mr. Knightley, who is also the brother-in-law of Emma's elder sister, is another important character and also the love interest of Emma. The story proceeds fascinatingly, as there are a lot of misunderstandings being aroused between the characters. In the story, the central character goes through a lot in her life and changes her thought about not getting married, and realizes her love for Knightley.

The story ends with a beautiful climax, Emma gets married to her love Mr.Knightley. The wishes, the hopes, the confidence, and the predictions, of the elegant bond of the true friends, who witnessed the ceremony, were fully assured of the perfect happiness of the union.

To conclude, I would just say that, Emma is one of the best writings of Jane Austen. I enjoyed the process of reading the book, and also I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the central character Emma, who had several misunderstandings. And according to my visualization, the story focuses on three themes love, attraction, and misunderstanding. Moreover, I got to know, how people used to live and think in the past. I loved the way how the characters developed for a good reason and of course, the writing style of Jane Austen attracts the reader to read the novel.