Advantages and disadvantages to have a car Essay

Cars are today something useful for society. However there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages when owning a car. In my opinion and one of the advantages is that you can move around freely because you can decide the place you can visit and when to go. Furthermore you do not waste time waiting for buses or depending on timetables. Other advantage is that it does not take you so long to go to different places. On the other hand, they are polluting and they are dangerous because a lot of people are irresponsable when driving as they drink or drive dangerously or speed. Other disadvantage is that they are very expensive. Not only to buy them but also to keep them. Petrol is also expensive and the maintanance. In conclusion, cars are good invention but they are not toys and you have to be responsible when you drive and of course you must have money!!!. Advantages and disadvantages to have a car  Cars are today something useful for society. However there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages when owning a car. In my opinion and one of the advantages is that you can move around freely because you can decide the place you can visit and when to go. Furthermore you do not waste time waiting for buses or depending on timetables. Other advantage is that it does not take you so long to go to different places. On the other hand, they are polluting and they are dangerous because a lot of people are irresponsable when driving as they drink or drive dangerously or speed. Other disadvantage is that they are very expensive. Not only to buy them but also to keep them. Petrol is also expensive and the maintanance. In conclusion, cars are good invention but they are not toys and you have to be responsible when you drive and of course you must have money!

Marissa Mayer: How did She Succeed in Tech? Essay

From being Google’s first engineer to being the president and CEO of Yahoo!, Marissa Mayer has always been a woman to admire when it comes to the tech world. Despite any prejudice or stereotype established by society, she is woman who had succeeded in technology and considers herself a proud â€Å"Geek†. Anyone could think that as a woman with one of the most important jobs in the technology industry, she would be a proud feminist trying to give a lesson to everyone who has ever underestimated a woman, but she is not; she prefers to think of herself as a defender of humans equality. So if we talk about her as a human, and forget about every stereotype existing related with sex, there’s still the question of how did she succeed in tech?, because that is definitely something not easy for neither men nor women; beyond her great intelligence, it is possible to say that her success is because of the right decisions she have made in her life, which all have in common t wo things: she always choses to work with the smartest and most interesting people so she can learn from them, and she always decides to do something she doesn’t feel ready to do so she can push herself the most. Marissa Mayer is a woman who takes risks and that is why she is where she is. Her biggest risk was working on Google, which was also her biggest achievement. When she received an offer from Google, it wasn’t the great company it is nowadays, it was only a starting project, which Marissa gave a 2% chance of succeeding, but she thought it was the right decision to take the job (and it definitely was) so she turned into one of the company’s first twenty employees and its first female engineer. Google succeeded and so did Marissa Mayer: she learnt a lot from being part of the process of building a company and all the knowledge she acquired where only the starting of the path to becoming the youngest woman (she was only 33) to be part of Fortune magazine’s â€Å"Most powerful women† list. There’s nothing more needed to say to understand that Marissa Mayer is a woman to admire and to take as an example for everyone who is wanting to success. Her hard work and wisdom when it comes to taking decisions have been the keys of her success. It wasn’t easy for her, but neither was impossible.

Texting vs. Txting

Texting vs. Txting We live in a society where education and experience are some of the most valued characteristics to acquiring a well-paid job in the vast job market. We no longer live in the past where a high school degree was enough to land you a managerial position in a corporate company, and our expectations for education do not stop at an early accomplishment of an Associate’s Degree. We need, and presume for more. Starting out with a minute understanding of the world, we have evolved and grown to comprehend not only the physics of nature, but we are now capable of predicting what will happen next in our daily lives.Over the last centuries we have developed numerous languages and techniques to be able to thoroughly communicate and express our feeling to one another. Language is a method for communication and should not be taken for anything higher. Why can’t we simplify the language to our benefits to promote a more effective, and efficient system of communication ? Currently texting is defined as a â€Å"textese,† â€Å"slanguage,† or a â€Å"digital virus† (Crystal 335). Texting is a source of communication, promoting positive impacts on learning, time consumption, and social interactions.Texting consists of numbers, letters, and signs which allow us to condense long and challenging expressions into more efficiently read words on a keyboard. Texting is used to condense elongated words into simpler more easily typed words. The word â€Å"message† can be converted to simpler more efficient term â€Å"msg. † Before you break any rules of the English language, you first need to understand the linguistic rules of the correct language to be able to text appropriately.Texting helps the users to comprehend the language more than ever before as David Crystal states, â€Å"The latest studies ( from a team at Coventry University) have found strong positive links between the use of texting language and the skills und erlying success in standard English in pre-teenage children†(Crystal 345). In a sense the â€Å"art† of texting is beneficial not only to conserve time, but to expand on the knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical understanding of the English language.Time has become a very treasured and valuable aspect in our daily lives. We sleep less, walk faster, and work harder in order to complete more tasks and to be able to live our lives to the fullest. Texting is a part of that same scheme of things; shaving lost time spelling full words, and promoting efficiency in our daily lives. Although efficiency is a positive aspect on texting, some would say otherwise such as Lynne Truss states, â€Å"I have a ‘zero tolerance approach’ to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid. The use of texting must contain an appropriate time and place to be used, as this example explains that inappropriate uses of texting would cost you your job. An example of a way that textin g promotes efficiency is that of someone that works in an office environment, where employees can do desk work and still be able to speak to their acquaintances without having to take a break and walk outside to speak about their matter. Texting promotes a broader band of social interactions between family, friends, and co-workers.Texting is a source of communication that does not require your full attention as talking on the phone would. Texting also promotes a larger and wider range of conversations to be discussed with an array of outcomes and results to be conjured upon over time. This creative and complex method for communication allows for a longer and more interesting approach to communication versus speaking to someone face-to-face or on the phone. This strategy of messaging is an ultimately easier and more relaxed approach to communication on the go.Cellphone messaging can lead to more outcomes, as well as more ideas to be explored. Texting is a broad source for learning, e fficiency, and social exploration. Although texting has claimed a bad reputation over the years, such as texting and driving, we need to look past the bad and towards the future of texting. Texting is a skill and a privilege containing rules and expectations to be used while texting. Today, we have a new and preferred way to communicate for the young and the old, and the trend continues to grow.Texting is a new system of communication and we should not label it as a disruption, but rather call it a â€Å"language in evolution† (Crystal 345). Works Cited Crystal, David. â€Å"2b or Not 2b? †Ã‚  The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 July 2008. Web. 19 Feb, 2013. Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. New York: Gotham, 2004. Print. Wiens, Kyle. â€Å"HBR Blog Network. †Ã‚  Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing, 20 July 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Research Paper - Essay Example Our general way of living as per the American Dream can also be viewed in the play. It has shown as how one rejects the realities of life and tries to settle down with the dreams that he has regarding life. Every character in the story is trying to build up upon his/her American Dream. But all of them are rendered unsuccessful in the conclusion of the story. This research essay would further relate the concepts of the American Dream with the views that Tennessee has himself put into the play Glass Menagerie and would further present as to how the characters were being deviated because of their utopia. (Gwynn 2009 20-30). American Dream has been included in the Declaration of Independence which clearly states that every man has been endowed with rights when he is born into this world. By this it is meant that all inequalities and injustice is undesirable in the society and every individual should be provided with rights through which he can become successful and lead a life which everyone would have perceived. The view presented by American Dream clearly places education as the foremost factor which can influence the people to lead a life which they have perceived. The phenomenon of the survival of the fittest should be removed from the society and all the individuals should be provided with equal rights. But according to the American Dream the ones with gifted capabilities should be given an opportunity regardless of which class they belong to. The subject of all individuals regardless of their capabilities is not seen in the American Dream. Over the time it is seen that many citizens are enjoying t he American Dream as it was perceived but many citizens are also devoid of their rights to enjoy the American Dream. This can clearly be seen in the discrimination which is being practiced in the country against many races and ethnicities. Individuals who are of a greater potential are

Politica science - answer to questions Assignment

Politica science - answer to questions - Assignment Example Pluralism champions for the idea of diversity and acceptance of the same. This form of ideology in politics is what modern democracy is based on; while elitism, on one hand, is the attitude that people considered to be elite have a right to give views that count on governance of a country and so forth. Elitist parts of elitism in the election of the president happen in the nomination of the presidential candidates of political parties. This normally happens when the party delegates’ are assigned the task of identifying who among the party members vying for the top seat is fit to be given the party’s ticket in the final race for the top seat in the country. Delegates of a party are a select few in the party who are knowledgeable of the party policies, as well as the ability to forecast the battle ahead on the elections. Delegates share similar schools of thoughts on policies of the party and the way of doing things. Consequently, the pluralism parts of the elections of the president happen when the candidates from both parties are pitted against one another and the whole country; the registered voters countrywide are required to pick their preferred candidate to lead the country. Every party fields its presidential candidate and the voters vote for the person among the candidates whom they deem fit to lead them. Representative democracy, on the other hand, is the form of democracy in which officials are elected to represent the entire citizenry; and to vote on behalf of the populace on issues. This normally happens in Congress or parliaments. This case is somewhat similar to the system in the U.S. even though it is a republic. These were the articles which acted as the initial constitution for the United States of America. They were drafted in the year 1777 by the then Continental Congress, which had passed the Declaration of the

Marketing Blog Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Marketing Blog - Article Example Distribution is intended to avail a product to the consumer in the right form and at the right time. Therefore, the chain of distribution has major stakeholders including the producers, wholesalers, retailers and the final consumer. When the distribution chain is full with many middlemen, it is the final consumer who feels much pain since, many middlemen increases the final price of the product. Due to changes in technology and also the exploitation by several middlemen, there has emerged the new electronic form of distribution of products such as music pieces and books can be distributed through electronic medium. This has made it easier for people to receive music and books of their choices just through electronic shopping. Last week alone, I remember watching several videos of my favorite artistes through the online subscribed service where the videos are available. Again, most of my books I purchase through kindle, hence I enjoy the reduced gap in the distribution chain that has been created by the electronic

Language development& early literacy in multilingual context Essay

Language development& early literacy in multilingual context - Essay Example In multilingual contexts, the learning experience and process of the first language significantly affects the acquisition of the second and other additional languages (Robertson and Nunn 2006). Basing on this, this essay tries to highlight the role of an early childhood practitioner in the learning process. It highlights the appropriate planning and implementation of the learning process in such contexts. This essay explains the childhood language learning process, together with the factors affecting language development. It also discusses the current approaches in childhood language learning and gives ways that can be used to improve the process. Before writing this essay, a number of ethical issues and confidentiality have been taken into account. The first thing that has been taken into account is to provide information that has no bias. This essay tries to provide practices and theories that can be used all over the world to better the learning process in early childhood learning centers. In addition to this, this essay cites all the sources from which the information used has been obtained. This will help readers to read more about the topic in case they need more inf ormation (Wang 2011). Language development at an early age is an important process and needs keen concern and support. It forms the foundation on which future language learning and literacy acquisition is build. The degree and ease with which children learn a language can also be a great predictor of future academic success and has many long-term implications in the social and economic sectors. This affects the development and interactivity of individuals in a family and in the society. Many things in the society affect language learning at an early age. This is because, during the learning process, a child always interprets information from the environment and forms his or her own perceptions of what language is and of how to

Separation of church and state Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Separation of church and state - Essay Example The religious beliefs have however had a visible role in the national culture, as well as in the daily American lifestyle. Should the separation of religions and the state hold? If so why should the state and religion be separated? If no, why should there not be a wall between the state and the church? Thesis statement: There should be a wall between the church and the state. The freedom of religion, as in the constitution of the land bars the government from creating any laws that either proclaim any religion as the one of choice or forbid the existence of any. This brings in freedom to individual citizens to be able to be part of any religious organization or none at all. The freedom is translated to public schools where no school is supposed to base its education on a religious perspective. This serves to maintain respect of individual beliefs. In this regard, most schools totally avoid religious connotations to anything. The respect realized, due to the governments stand is there fore a vital stimulant to healthy cohabiting as people would not feel offended fro belonging to a certain religious wing or not belonging to one. Government’s stand on there being a wall between the church and the state is necessary in downplaying religious discriminations and interference, necessary for peaceful coexistence. Due to this prevailing freedom, government properties such as buildings or any other venues are not allowed to discriminate against any entities that would seek to use the facilities, based on their religious affiliations. The government, however, protects the citizens from individuals who would try breaking the law on religious grounds. The government, as well, ensures that religion is not used as a basis to deny others of the basic rights such as voting, tenancy etc. The freedom of religion prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of any religion or imposing of policies that can interfere with the running of the religions. With the a bove points in focus, the government’s delineation from religious activities is vital in creating room for citizens of many backgrounds to coexist peacefully. From a political stand, the establishment of the separation-of-the-church-from-the-state clause in the constitution was very essential maintaining sobriety in the use of state funds. The clause acts to bar any religious organization from using government resources for their interest or to push their agenda. In this regard, a religion, irrespective of the majority public backing cannot enforce their ideas to their benefit, through the use of government resources. The clause, therefore seeks to tame the more popular religions from exhibiting control or dominance over the less popular religions. The neutrality of the government, hence, allows people to freely exercise their beliefs. The clause prevents those who may wish to force a particular belief on others from doing so. Such cases are students being forced to pray in s chool irrespective of their affiliations, people who may wish to erect religious monuments in government property or sticking to various religious accords in public. The clause allows the government to support programs that might have religious affiliations, but have a public advantage. Such a program is the school voucher program that grants vouchers to students to attend private schools that are religious in nature. Such funding, though might seem to have religious backing by the government, is

Intellectual property project ( Business and Commercial law ) Assignment

Intellectual property project ( Business and Commercial law ) - Assignment Example This paper presents an example of a case in which the intellectual property legislation of the cell phone market has been breached. In the shop where I spotted this original HTC phone, it was selling at $120. However, according to what one of the shop attendants told me, the price was slightly negotiable. I guess it could sell as low as $110. The price of this product according to the shop, in which I spotted it, was $52. Comparing with the previous similar phone (real) that I had seen earlier, I got interested in why it was selling so cheap. At a glance, I could not notice any difference. However, after a close look at the phone, I noticed some differences from the original phone. The original HTC phones are manufactured by a company called HTC Corporation, with its headquarters in Xindian, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The company was formerly known as High-Tech Computer Corporation. State laws protect the intellectual properties. Any attempt use an intellectual property without authorization is considered infringement (Hg.org, 2015). The manufacturers of the fake hTC mobile phones violate the intellectual laws in a number of ways. The first and foremost, their product resembles the HTC corporation’s product by general look as well as the product name. The HTC label used on the phone is a trademark of HTC Corporation. Any other firm that sells products with a similar label violates the federal law No. 8 of 2002, as provided by the trade regulations in UAE. If the firm runs its businesses in United States, it would be a violation of the intellectual law, as provided in section 396(3A) of Act 1988 (Groves, 1997). The production of a product similar to those patented by another company is an offense. It violates the intellectual laws related to copyright, patent, design rights, just to mention a few. The manufacturer of the fake HTC mobile, in this case, violated the intellectual laws by manufacturing phone similar to the ones that existed

The Trial Film Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Trial Film Analysis Essay Brief Biographical Data of Orson Welles George Orson Welles or popularly known as simply Orson Welles, was a great American director, actor, writer, film, television, stage and radio producer. He also won in the prestigious Academy Awards. Welles became famous through his radio broadcast’s The War of the Worlds. It called a large number of avid listeners to panic. His works such as Macbeth and the contemporary figurative adaptation of Julius Caesar became legends. In 1941, Welles directed, co-wrote, starred and produced the critically acclaimed Citizen Kane. The film, according to polls of many film critics, was the greatest film ever made in film history. However, despite the unquestionable talents and several awards won, the rest of his career was usually hindered by incompetent studio interference, lack of funding and other unfortunate happenings. However, despite these difficulties, his film Othello won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. In addition, his Touch of Evil awarded top prize at the Brussels World fair. Anyhow, Welles considered his film Chimes at Midnight and The Trial to be his best works ever. The Trial The Trial is a film that is even more visually extravagant than Orson Welles’ previous films. He used several themes, symbols and filmic devices that had become his trademarks. Depth of field photography, low-angle shooting, elaborate frame composition, visibility of constructed ceilings in the frame, attention to sound editing, expressionistic lighting, gigantic statues, houses in ruins are just some on the themes and filming techniques that Welles employed. The movie opened with animated pin-screen illustration of the parable of the law of Alexander and Claire Parker. Welles dubbed the voice who also played as K.’s advocate. He also dubbed all the authority figures’ voices. The parable is about a man who seeks admission to the Law but rather denied by the guard and thus waited until he can enter. With the film opening with the parable, it positioned the audience in an opportunity position from which to judge the character’s actions since they are certainly refracted through and thus rendered meaningful illustrations of the parable. Kafka’s tale absurdity is somehow interceded by the visual explanation given in advance. The film also raised but did not explore too much the most radical implication of its premise, in which sin, guilt and responsibility are not forced on any man. Demonstrated by the opening parable, the admittance to the law is not closed rather it is man who prevents himself from entering because of the notion of sin, guilt and responsibility that conceived of closing the door. Use of Principles of Design The film opened with a parable and in this opening, Welles executed the used of the designs, such as the unity, repetition and balance very well. The simple illustration of the doors created unity that somehow gave a sense of harmony and unity that pulls the whole picture or story together. The principle of direction and emphasis was also used effectively because we can immediately see the focus of a certain scene that Welles wanted us to see first. I can say that what twined the different episodes is Welles’ vision of the different settings as interconnected through a series of secret dark passages, entrances, staircases and exits that disintegrate the distinction between the private and public spaces. Welles explained in his 1965 interview that his â€Å"original design was to have the number of realistic elements gradually diminish and the number of realistic elements gradually disappear until what remains open is the spaces and as though everything has dissolved.† If compared to the 1993 adaptation of The Trial directed by David Hugh Jones and starred by Kyle MacLachlan, in my opinion, was beautiful and a subtle exploration of Kafka’s masterpiece nuances but still, an ordinary adaptation of the old one. Nevertheless, when it comes to the principles of design, of course, Jones’ adaptation will top the score. Colors, of course add spice and life to the design. The principles of design applied were definitely new and more appealing than the old version of Welles. However, Welles’ The Trial, has its own character and seemed to stand the time and have an eternal presence in each scene. I can also say that it is indeed easier to do an independent film when art and designs are at stakes and better results when you are the one with full control. Despite the lack of funds because of the low commercial value, a film will be outstanding when it comes to the employment of designs, arts, and every element useful for a successful film. Welles’ baroques set design and intelligent use of the principles of design also enhanced the impression that the different settings served as a â€Å"symbolic, nightmarish manifestations of K.’s inner turmoil† and dissipate the absurdity of Kafkaesque, in which straddled the line between the illogical and logical, the unreal and real. I can say that the film, then, is more of an allegory than a novel. Therefore, I can say that Welles was indeed successful in using the principles of design, however limited his budgets and resources were. References: Charles Higham, The Films of Orson Welles, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1970. Albert Camus, â€Å"Hope and the Absurd in the Work of Franz Kafka†, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, trans. Justin O’Brien, Vintage Books, New York, 1955. Principles of Designs Tips. Life Tips, 2008. http://graphicdesign.lifetips.com/cat/55144/ principles-of-design/index.html. Retrieved, September 9, 2008.

Strategic Management Used At General Motors Business Essay

Strategic Management Used At General Motors Business Essay Automotive legend of the last century, GM, is one of the biggest corporations in the world. Although GM had big turmoils in its business, it still operates successfully in all over the universe. The aim of this assignment is to determine the GMs business strategies with rises and falls by looking into their history, having the data of what and how did they do in their businesses and analysing their company activities. Being a leader and pioneer of the automobile industry since this sectors infancy times , General Motors Corporation still keeps its successful place in this competitive business. Since 1908, General Motors Corporation (GM) is one of the largest auto producer in the world as measured by global industry sales, whose headquarters is in United States of America. William C. Durant was the founder of General Motors Company with being an innovator in automobile technology. As being a multinational automobile manaufacturer General Motors employes about 280 million people all around the world with the total assets of 149 billion US Dollars. The company manufacturers the cars and the trucks in 55 different countries (exluding US and Canada). General Motors has sub-brands under its management. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Vauxhall, Holden, Saturn and Wuling are some one the names of General Motors brands. The General Motors Company placed into a global market throughout the 1920s. Meanwhile, the company built itself as a firm which provided prestige, power and the other options. As a competitor, Ford, that focused on lower costs and lower prices, reversely GM targeted customers who had likely money to spend on more featurative products. During the World War II, General Motors Company manufactured armament and military vehicles,both for Allied and Axis forces. GM had improved its business level and becomed the largest corporation in the United States after the world war II. During the 1950s, style, desing, and engineering innovations are applied into the companys production line. In 1960s, GM also focused on insurance, home appliances, financing, electronics, locomotives and banking etc. In request for the smaller cars of European producers , GM introduced Chevrolet Corvair, that was ciriticized for safety issues in following days. In the next decade, oil prices went up and as well as the oil costs , environmental problems are taken into consider at those times. Therefore, there were a shift from huge oil guzzling cars to smaller European cars increased with the first energy crisis. After that , second crisis followed quickly by rising the concern for pollution and controlling of over emission and safety problems resulted GM lose of its market share to more economical and smaller vehicles. Especially between 1980s and 1990s , the Japanese imports rocketed ( See Appendix 1) ,so that, that time of a period was a hardship for GM, which was plagued by high competition with Japanese companies. As a result of this, GM had chenged its strategies like redesingining and reengineering of its car models. However , because of the high production costs , GM had continioued its high losses in the market with huge numbers. In 1990s, General Motors Company had started to close many of its plants and also cut the jobs. With these turmoils among the company, GM followed different strategies ,like buying Saab and Daewoo, and a little portion of Subaru and Suzukis shares, that were sold later for increasing the money. As follows, GM merged with FIAT car company which lasted five years. In the late-1990s, General Motors Company seemed on the way to big recovery, with sales stabilizing and stock increasing. However, end of the 2001 September, the company started to have challenges, and the system was changed again. In the following next few years, General Motors became a survivor in the highly competitive automobile industry with the economic recession in 2008, therefore the company had bailed out by the government for avoiding bankruptcy. (bbc.co.uk, 2010) In the first quarter of 2009, the auto giant posted a 6 billion dollars loss and said that it burned through 10.2 billion dollars of cash in the first three months of the year as revenue plummeted by 20 billion dollars'(about.com, 2010). However, besides these hard circumstances, in the first half of 2010, the General Motors sold more vehicles in China than in the US. (Constantini,2010) 3. STRATEGÄ °C ANALYSÄ °S OF GENERAL MOTORS Analysing the companys internal and external environments, there are many different frameworks and models exist for companies. By having some strategies enables the firms to get better understanding of the critical factors for their future success. Some sof the strategic analysis methods are Dunnings Eclectic Paradigm (Cavusgil et al., 2008), Porters Diamond and Five forces, Directional Policy Matrix, Mintzbergs School of Thoughts (Mintzberg et al., 2003) Value Chain Analysis (Johnson et al., 2008), SWOT analysis (Kotler and Keller, 2009), etc. The suitable frameworks choosing is depends on what the company needs to address and in what circumstances it needs to do so (Johnson et al., 2008). This is because many firms today operate both on a national, regional and global basis and as such need appropriate strategy for each individual environment (Schlie and Yip, 2000). As being a multinational enterprise, GM operates in approximately 57 countries, including Canada and US, and they serve and operate in variety of services from improvement, marketing, manufacturing of cars, trucks to economy and insurance services (Datamonitor, 2009). A potent tool and a flexible framework that could assist in describing and assessing competitive pressures in an industry and industry attractiveness is the Porters five forces (FF) model (Niederhut-Bollmann and Theuvsen, 2008). The model helps a company to decide how and where to make strategic changes for gaining and sustaining competitive advantages over rival firms and thereby generating above-average return on investments (Niederhut-Bollmann and Theuvsen, 2008). Figure 1: Michael Porters Five Forces Source: Michael E. Porter The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, 2008 In addition, one the school of the Mintzberg Ten School of Thoughts, The Design School, gives us another highly essential analysis for the firms. According to Mintzberg, The Design School sees strategy formation as achieving the essential fit between internal and external aspects'(Mintzberg et al., 2003:p23). Meanwhile, strenghts and weaknesses are given as the internal capabilities, on the other hand, opportunities and threads are seen as the external possibilities. Figure 2: Mintzbergs Design School of Thought Source:http://blogtext.org/russelldavison/article/7281.html Therefore, in this assignment, the General Motors Company will be analysed through company strategies. Firstly competitive advantage and analysis will be done according to Michael Porters five forces. Secondly, internal and external analysis will be given according to Mintzbergs Design School by applying the SWOT analysis. Finally, in the last to secion Value Chain and BCG Matrix Analysis will be examined. 3.1. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ANALYSIS OF GM ACCORDING TO MICHAEL PORTERS FIVE FORCES The competitive analysis of a company is an essential element of identifying components which are a threat to reduce profitability. For assesing over the competitive problems , Michael Porters five forces analysis is the one of the most efficient way. Porter (2004) has brought the light of five such factors: (1) Rivalry between existing competitors, (2) Barriers to entry, (3) Pressure of price from Substitutes/Complementaries, (4) Bargaining power of buyers, (5) Bargaining power of suppliers. Therefore, General Motors Corporations competitive advantage analysis will be done according to Michael Porters five forces . 3.1.1. Rivalry Between Existing Competitors: Rivalry occurs, because one or more competitors either feels the pressure or sees the opportunity to improve position (Porter, 2004 :p.17). Additionally, The strategies pursued by one firm can be successful only to the extent that they provide competitive advantage over the strategies pursued by rival firms. ( David, 2011 :p.107-108). Therefore, if we look at the GM motors in this section, in the 1970s and 1980s, competition in the US automobile industry had become much more strong with the increase of foreign rivals such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan (See Appendix 2). Although GM was a leader of the automobile industry at that period of time, its rivals had started to compete with GM providing some different offers. For example, Toyota started to produce cars with lower price than GM cars , whereas the quality of cars were high. So that, the competitros of GM became well-known brands ,while GM had difficulties with competing with them. 3.1.2. Barriers To Entry: According to Porter, new capacity may be brought to an industry by new entrants. Furthermore, gaining the market share, and getting high proportion of resources can be achieved by new entries. Meanwhile, the presence of of new corporations in an any industry can push the prices down and may decrease the profitability. Although these entries may seem as a threat, those may protect the established companies. During the both world wars, GM made a high profit, and it enlarged its business. Being a leader of the sector and being a well-known brand placed the GMs competitors very difficult positon to entry the industry. Especially for the smaller firms, competing with the GM was very hard. In early 20s, GM invented self-starters by differentiating itself from Ford, later on , in 1970s, Japanese and European companies introduced their fuel-efficient models to the industry. 3.1.3 Pressure of Price From Substitutes/Complementaries : All of the companies are in the competition broadly with the industries manufacturing substitute and complementary products (Porter, 2004). In this highly competitive automobile industry, any change in the prices on complementaries such as gas, tires, could have a important effect on the demand for automobiles. If we look at the GM, recent rising gas prices are highly to get a bigger effect on GM. Because, generally GMs cars are energy inefficient. Therefore, this will have great impact on GM. 3.1.4. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers compete with the industry by forcing down prices, bargaining for higher quality and more services, and playing competitors against each other, all at the expense of industry profitability'(Porter, 2004 p:24). As a result of highly improved information technologies, and as well as with globalization, customers of the GM (like for the other companies) became more aware of the what were they buying and how much were they paying. Furthermore, getting the information the rivals of GM from the internet increased the bargaining power of dealers of GM. 3.1.5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Suppliers of an industry plays a significant role for their businesses. They may reduce the quality of the products, or may raise the prices up. For GM, raw materials and machine parts suppliers threat is very low, because there many suppliers for those sections (Nytimes, 2011). However, the powerful labour union, United Auto Workers (UAW), is a potential threat to GMs economical capability and endurance. For example, the liability of pension and health-care costs acquired an additional 1,400 to the cost of every vehicle comes from GM place compared with competitor products (The Economist, 2008). This is a magnificent amount and GM needs to search ways to cut this liability, therefore, GM may get more economical improvement and the growth of the company. Figure 3: Michael Porters Five Forces adopted to GM Source: Author 3.2. INTERNAL EXTERNAL ANALYSIS OF GM ACCORDING TO MINTZBERGS DESIGN SCHOOL Mintzberg explained The Design School as in the following: The Design School sees strategy formation as achieving the essential fit between internal and external aspects'(Mintzberg et al., 2003:p23). In this definition, internal factors are given as strenghts and weaknesses. Besides this, opportunities and threats are described as external factors. Therefore, for analysing the GENERAL MOTORS external and internal factors we should do a SWOT Analysis with the light of Mintzbergs Design School. 3.2.1. Strenghts: During the 20th century, GM has been the automotive leader in car industry. Although the company had some turmoils, its market share is still very much competitive in the sector. GM is well established not only in US but all around the world. Moreover, GM also have an rising share in the Chinese market (See Appendix 3). If GM takes the right decisions, there will be no reason for GM becoming a boss of the car industry again with. In addition, GM has wide range of brands such as Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Vauxhall. Company operates in more than hundred countries in the world with employing the approximately 250,000 people (gm.com, 2010) . Therefore, General Motors, with its global experience and its huge market share in the world, is still keeps the professional place in the automobile industry. General Motors Corporation uses OnStar Satellite Technology. This technology provides its customers security and safety facilities. For example, in the event of emergency , the system allows the driver to communicate with OnStar personnel just away a button immediately. GM has been controlling the costs by alliance and partnership with corporations like Shanhai Automobile Industry Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Daimler AG. So that, GM improved its cost reduction system by sharing the company costs. 3.2.2. Weaknesses: For analysing the GMs weaknesses, first, we should consider that, this company is an US firm. So that, from its early years until present times, it is still over dependent to US market. The company should take the benefit for expanding globally. According to an article issued by Associated Press (2010), GM had low credit ratio which is determined as junk-credit (BB-). On the other hand, another problem is downsizing. GM put on the market some of its brands and it closed them completely. Additionally, the inactive profitability is the other issue of GM. After the global economic recession in 2008 , companys profit margins and sales went down dramatically. Staying one step behind on alternative energy movement is the biggest weakness for General Motors Company. The competitors of GM like Honda, Toyota, are using fuel efficiently, and also that are producing more ecological and environment friendly vehicles. Therefore, this may led problems such as decrease of market share and loss in company profit. GMs organizational structure is designed vertically. This causes a lack of information between the levels in the company, from bottom to top. So that, many problems can be occur because of the operational and top managerial levels uncommunicative situation. 3.2.3. Opportunities: One of the lightly opportunities of GM is maintaining the Global Expansion . In the last few years, GM achieved a substantial rise in the Chinese market, that made the GM alarm to major on the foreign markets. The other advantage for GM to take is the catching up the hybrid technology cars. Although they had lagged behind the alternative energy, it is not late for the automotive giant becoming again once it was. Recently, GM started to operate Green-Manufacturing systems, such as water-borne technology, reduction goals for hazardous and non-hazardous waste at source ( See Appendix 4). Developing new vehicle models and designs is the big advantage for GM. Because, as we know, what is in today will be out tomorrow. Therefore, focusing on innovations should be the urgent mission through the GM company. 3.2.4. Threats: The threat of the increase in the supply costs is very common in automobile industry like as the other industries. This threat pushes the firms to reduce manufacturing and production costs as much as possible, without carrying away the product quality. For instance, the fluctuation in the steel prices between 2005 and 2010 had a negative impact on GMs production costs, especially as a result of the economic crisis , the rise in 2008, put a negative impcat on GM ( See Appendix 5). The other danger for GM is the increase in fuel prices (See Appendix 6). As same with the rising in the steel prices, after the economic recession in 2008, the sales have plummeted considerably. Therefore, soaring in fuel costs has played a magnificant role in enhancing the advantage for development of hybrid and more fuel efficient vehicles respectively. The increasing competition factor is the another big threat for General Motors. Because, GM is not a leader once it was, currently there are many different brands in the industry, which are working hard for competing with their rivals. Therefore, GM should always keep the innovation on top for competing in the industry. Figure 4: SWOT Analysis of General Motors Source: Author 3.3. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF GM Value Chain is called to add value to the product and remove excess waste of resource consumption, in other word, to maximize the value of work done by the systematic and asset management. Supplier of products and processes that increase the effectiveness of all stages up to final customers and to maintain, so used to gain competitive advantage. Value Chain   Management focuses on the destruction of waste inside the company and also focuses on the customers satisfaction inside the company . Value Chain assits to the companies to identify activities where it may well apply its presence potentials (Diez-Vial, 2009) and also identify which activities to outsource in order to decrease prices by getting opportunity of country-specific advatages. One of the compenent of manufacturing is outsourcing which is congress the features of GMs activities that needs a much more labour to the other countries where labour costs are cheaper, and this could relieve GM from employment responsibility . Additionally, recently GM could be able to resolve problems with United Automobile Workers. Michael Porter (2004) examined a set of interconnected generic activities common to a variety of companies. According to Porter, Value Chain Analysis is described as below: Figure 5: Value Chain Activities Table Source: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/value-chain/ GM, for instance, gives highly importance on its customer relationships. For the theory part, Service activities are the activities that continue and enhance the products value including customer support, repair services, etc. Meanwhile, for the GM strategy, they are using OnStar Technology which enables the customers get in touch with the call center of GM in an emergency situations. 3.4. BCG MATRIX ANALYSIS OF GM The BCG Matrix method is based on the product life cycle theory that can be used to determine what priorities should be given in the product portfolio of a business unit ( Lancaster and Reynolds, 2004) . To ensure long-term value creation, high-growth products and low-growth products should be undertaken by the companies in need of cash inputs and generate a lot of cash respectively. Figure 6: BCG Matrix adapted for GM Source: (LancasterReynolds, 2004) As I mentioned above, determining the factors of industry and as well as firms businesses is playing an essential role for gaining competitive advantage in the global market. Till before the two decades, oil prices had gone up with high percentages. So that, this and the environmental factors had oushed the automobile sector to the fuel efficiency vehicles. With the consideration of BCG Matrix applied to the GM, GM should pull off the brands like Pontiac, Hummer which are fuel-efficiency and oil-guzzling cars. Furthermore, more investment should put into producing smaller fuel-efficient vehicles, and also HEVs ( Hybrid Electric Vehicles). 4. CONCLUSION In conclusion, analysing the General Motors Corporation is done by using some strategical analysing methods, such as Porters FF, Value Chain, BCG Matrix, and Swot Analysis. Searching and applying the systems into the GM is quite broad because of the companys long time history which is more than a hundred years. In to the this content, the Company is analysed in detail according to factors of competitive advantage, internal and external. Therefore , I reached up a conclusion for GM. Of course, every single company and firm can make mistake in their business life cycle, however, minimizing those mistakes is one of the essential area for the firms. If we turn to GM, they had been really successful in the industry when there were no any other competitors. However, once GMs rivals entered to the business, GM started lose its market share globally. Because they overlooked at them, they didnt do many things until they lose their profits. After that , they changed some system, they started to struggled with their rivals. So that, with consideering all the analysed strategic forces above and the company, some recommendations should be done. For forthcoming improvements, first of all, General Motors should describe possible and suitable sector to serve. And also GM should concern about arrangement application and differentation strategy. For example, Focus strategy may assist GM to enable to reduce the costs as GM diverge from broad-line manufacturer to another varieties. By doing his, GM will be able to differntiate its product from the other rivals , because of focusing on a specific niche market that may perform much more better . The other one is to stay ready for even every hard and difficult circumstances, such as financial crisis. Although , generally it is an unexpected factor, companies, and also GM, should gain their SWOT analysis under the line of Threats. Staying in prepare positon always gives high competitive advantage with the other competitirs in the global industry. Last but not least is maintaining the speed of rivalry environment, GM should enhance and improve its product development. Alongside with the product development, environmental factors should be considered as well for gaining the high quality of business. 5. RECOMMENDATION In my opinion, General Motors should follow some strategies such as restructuring, product development, liquidation and market development. If GM does the product development, this would allow them to sustain the speed of rivalry environment. As a pratic example of this theory is Hybrid SUV vehicles, which matches the GM shape with continuing the portion of SUV, basically that allocate the company to keep on with trend models. My another recommendation for GM is reevaluation of the market. Global market is a market that which changes frequently. First GM vehicles had got tradition style, however, among the changing industry, they started to produce big cars, especially for the US market. One practical example for that case is to produce ultra-modern vehicles. If they manufacture that futuristic cars before the Honda or Toyota Company, they would gain an advantage in competitive industry. Lastly, liquidation is very essential for GM. The reason for that is, its assets are much more than its incomes. If General Motors can get the assests through the cash, therefore, GM could be more available finance. Moreover , when they achieving that process, GM wouldnt have to rely on US market, they could be independent in global industry. 6. APPENDIX Appendix 1 Imported Japanese Cars Develoopment: Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlshow=html Appendix 2 Auto Sales Monthly Change: Source: http://www.wstreet.com/investing/stocks/19359_gms_fire_sale_and_auto_sales_preview.html Appendix 3 -China Car Market Soars: Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/243737-outlook-2011-china-says-no-more-cars-down-goes-auto-industry Appendix 4 Green Manufacturing Processes: Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractshow=abstract Appendix 5 Steel Prices Between 2005 and 2010: Source: : http://www.ttiinc.com/object/ME_Materials_Steel Appendix 6 Rise in Fuel Prices Between 2009 and 2010: Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12098981 7. REFERENCES 1. Associated Press, 2010. General Motors Gets Junk Credit Rating From Fitch. Michigan Live LLC. [Internet] Available at: http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/10general_motors_gets_junk_credit.html [Accessed 28 January 2011] 2. BBC News, 2011. Petrol Duty and VAT Rises To Increase Price Of Fuel. Business. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12098981 [Accessed 28 January 2011] 3. Cavusgil, S. Knight, G., and Riesenberger, R., 2008. International Business, Strategy, Management, and the New Realities. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 4. Chu, D.L., 2010. China Says No More Cars, Down Goes Auto Industry. Outlook 2011. [Online] Available at: http://seekingalpha.com/article/243737-outlook-2011-china-says-no-more-cars-down-goes-auto-industry [Accessed 31 January 2011] 5. Constantini, F., 2010. General Motors. The New York Times. [internet] . Available at: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html [Accessed 10 February 2011] 6. Datamonitor, 2009. General Motors Corporation. Company Profile. [Online] Available at: www.datamonitor.com [Accessed 28 January 2011] 7. David, F.R., 2011. Strategic Management Concepts. 13th edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 8. Diez-Vial, S., 2009. Firm Size Effects on Vertical Boundaries, Journal of Small Business Management, 47 (2): 137-153. 9.Generals Motors, 2010. Company Profile. [Online] Available at: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/company.isp [ Accessed 10 February 2011] 10. Hamer, T. Hamer, M., 2010. General Motors-It Wasnt Always This Bad. Learn About Classics. [Online] Available at: http://classiccars.about.com/od/classiccarsaz/a/GM.htm [Accessed 10 February 2011] 11. Johnson, G. Scholes, K. and Whittington, R., 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th edn. London: Prentice Hall. 12. Kotler, P. Keller, K. L., 2009. Marketing Management, 13th edn. New Jersey: Pearson Education. 13. Mintzberg, et al., 2003. The Strategy Process: Concepts Cases. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 14. Niederhut-Bollmann, C. Theuvsen, L., 2008. Strategic Management in Turbulent Markets: The Case of the German and Croatia Brewing Industries. Journal for East European Management Studies, Vol. 13, No.1, pp. 63 88. 15. Nunes, B. Bennett, D., 2010. Green Operations Initiatives in the Automobile Industry: An Enviromental Reports Analysis and Benchmarking Study. An International Journal. [Online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863551show=abstractshow=abstract [Accessed 13 February 2011] 16. Nytimes, 2011. United Automobile Workers. Organizations. [Online] Available at: www.nytimes.com [Accessed 31 January 2011] 17. Porter, M.E., 2004. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Indystries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. 18. Seidenfuss, K. Kathawala, Y., 2005. Voluntary Export Restraint (VER) Without Market Restraints?: The Case Study of the Monitoring Agreement (1991-1999) Between the Japanese Car Manufacturers and the European Union. European Business Review. [Online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956HYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlHYPERLINK http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1501956show=htmlshow=html [Accessed 10 February 2011] 19. Silver, D., 2009. GMs Fire Sale Auto Sales Preview. Wall Street Strategies. [Online] Available at: http://www.wstreet.com/investing/stocks/19359_gms_fire_sale_and_auto_sales_preview.html [Accessed 8 February 2011] 20. Schlie, E. Yip, G., 2000. Regional Follows Global: Strategy Mixes in the World Automotive Industry. European Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 343-354. 21. The Economist, 2009. In Pieces. The American Car Industry. [Online] Available at: www.economist.com/node/13145718 [Accessed 8 February 2011]

Chilli Peppers and the Southeast Asian Identity

Chilli Peppers and the Southeast Asian Identity Introduction Chilli peppers are an integral part of Southeast Asian cuisine today. Many people associate chilli so closely with Southeast Asian cuisines that some shops in Western countries selling Southeast Asian food have had to add excessive amounts of chilli to their food in order to cater to what foreigners think is Southeast Asian food. However, chilli peppers were actually introduced into Southeast Asia a little less than 500 years. Therefore, they are not an indigenous aspect of Southeast Asian cuisine but rather a product of globalisation. Yet today, Southeast Asian cuisines display a penchant for chillieswith almost every cuisine claiming a variation of a chilli condiment (Williams, 2010, p. 41). In this essay, the key issues will be to explore why chillies became so popular in Southeast Asian in the first place and how their importance has evolved over the years to make them an integral part of Southeast Asian identity through the means of cuisine. Firstly, we will look at the history of chilli peppers and how they were brought into the Southeast Asian region. Secondly, we will see what Southeast Asian cuisine was like before chilli peppers became such an integral part of it. Thirdly, we will explore why chilli peppers caught on so quickly as part of the indigenous cuisine. Lastly, I will argue that the role of chilli has evolved in Southeast Asian cuisine and today, its popularity transcends culinary trends to form an integral part of Southeast Asian identity. The History of Chilli The colonial powers and the prevalence of trade in the Southeast Asian region were the key factors in introducing chilli peppers to the cuisines of Southeast Asian. Chilli peppers were the indigenous plants of the Americas from 6000 BC. SEA Cuisine before Chilli Southeast Asian cuisine before the introduction of chilli already indicated a local preference for spicy food. In Thailand, people were seasoning their food with ginger and peppercorns. This preference for spicy food might be an indication of local conditions that made the region more susceptible or accommodating of spicy food. Unsurprisingly, when the Portuguese introduced chilli peppers to the regions in the 1500s, the Thai were the quickest to adapt them into their food. The Prevalence of Chilli in SEA Cuisine The prevalence of chilli in SEA cuisine after its introduction to the region less than 500 years ago is the result of a combination of factors that include sociological reasons, culinary reasons, scientific reasons and geographical reasons. It is hard to explain the popularity of chilli in the region due to biology. Recent studies have indicated that Asians 25% more likely than people of other races to be supertasters. Supertasters are more sensitive to certain tastes and Asians would therefore be more prone to experiencing the burn of capsaicin through chilli consumption. Yet despite this ethnic trait, the prevalence of chilli in SEA cuisine exceeds that of European or American cuisine. I argue that the popularity of chilli in the region can be explained by a confluence of factors exclusive to SEA countries. Firstly, rice is a staple food in all the SEA countries. SEA countries today are responsible for a larger than proportionate share of the global rice export market, with countries like Thailand and Vietnam being famous for rice planting. In the past, many people in SEA countries survived through subsistence farming and rice was a staple food because it was cheap and filling. Even when rice was not eaten, people substituted it with rice-based products like rice noodles. By making rice a staple part of the SEA diet, people could reduce their consumption of expensive meats and vegetables and therefore, lower the cost of their meals. With the introduction of chilli in the region, people began adding it into their meats and vegetables to give it extra spiciness. The extra spiciness of the meats and vegetables meant that the amount of meat and vegetables for meals could be further reduced since people ended up eating more rice to reduce the burn of the capsaicin from the chillies. By addin g a relatively cheap ingredient like chilli to their dishes, SEA people could therefore reduce their consumption of more expensive foodstuffs, thus explaining the prevalence of chilli in the cost-conscious SEA region. Secondly, chillies were adapted into a region which was already trying different methods to deal with food spoilage. In countries with landlocked areas and muddy rivers, it was not always easy to obtain the freshest of ingredients for the preparation of food. Vegetables grown in certain areas took on a weird taste and often contributed to what many people would consider unpalatable dishes in a meal. In a time with no refrigeration, it was not always possible to consume food before it started going bad in the hot and humid weather, which meant that rotting food was always a possibility during meals. To reduce food spoilage, fermentation of food (like shrimp paste) and sun drying ingredients (ie fish) had become a popular aspect of SEA cooking during this time. However, the resulting dried ingredients were more pungent and had a stronger taste than before and when added back into cooked food, could make it taste less palatable. With the introduction of chilli peppers into food cooked w ith dried ingredients, Southeast Asian cooks were able to Thirdly, recent studies have shown that chilli-based cuisine is popular because it promotes the release of endorphins. The capsaicin in chilli peppers have been found to promote endorphin release in the human brain in order to deal with the burn of spicy food, thus making a torturously spicy meal paradoxically pleasurable. In Britain, researchers were looking into the popularity of curry in the United Kingdom and they concluded that the reason curry had grown so popular was because the spice in the curry caused peoples hearts to beat faster after consumption, mimicking the after-effects of sex. Assuming that these findings of Western researchers can be applied to Southeast Asians, we can thus see that there is a scientific reason to explain the popularity of chilli-based cuisine in the region. Finally and most importantly, the popularity of chilli can be attributed to a self-perpetuating cycle of cultural transmission through immigration in a geographically connected area. Southeast Asian is a region of diverse cultures and religions and this regional trait expresses itself most clearly in the varied dietary restrictions among the different SEA countries. The Muslims abstain from pork, while the Hindus do not consume beef and the more religious Buddhists avoid meat altogether. However, chilli peppers are a plant-based cooking ingredient and do not violate any culinary restrictions of various SEA ethnic and religious populations. Being a geographically connected area that has long been involved in trade, SEA was exposed to the cultural transmission of chilli-based cuisines through local and foreign traders who eventually settled down in these lands as immigrants. As chillies became more widely used in local cuisines due to its culinary adaptability, more chillies were grown within the region itself and this resulted in a self-perpetuating cycle that cemented its place in Southeast Asian kitchens. A combination of these factors explains the prevalence of chilli in the Southeast Asian region and it also accounts for why Filipino and Northern Vietnamese cuisines incorporate less chilli in their food compared to their neighbours. For the Philippines, The Role of Chilli in Shaping SEA Identity Due to their popularity in Southeast Asian cuisines, chilli peppers have transcended culinary traditions and come to occupy an exalted role in shaping Southeast Asian identity today. Spicy food is now part of the identity of the region while the ability to tolerate and even relish chillies is now seen as an informal rite of passage among SEA communities today. Spicy food is now closely associated with the identity of the region in a globalised world. Southeast Asian cuisine seen in the eyes of non- Southeast Asian people is determined by the spiciness of the food and the excessive use of chillies in cooking. With the increasing influx of SE immigrants to Western countries, Westerners are exposed to Southeast Asian cuisine and because Southeast Asians use more spices and chillies as opposed to salt and pepper, Westerners have come to view chillies as a defining aspect of Southeast Asian cuisine. If you visit any hawker centre in Singapore today, an order of almost any dish will invariably be accompanied with chilli condiments ranging from chicken rice chilli to sambal goreng to the freshly cut chilli peppers soaked in soya sauce. Due to cultural perceptions of Southeast Asian food, more hawkers are inclined to include a chilli condiment with the kind of food they serve and this in turn exposes more people to chilli-based food that they come to see as normal or even synonymous with Southeast Asian cuisine. In many Southeast Asian communities, the ability to tolerate chilli-based food or even relish the taste of chilli peppers is the ultimate, albeit informal, rite of passage to adulthood. The irony of associating chillies with regional and personal SEA identity is that not all Southeast Asians embrace chilli as part of their diet. As mentioned earlier, Southeast Asians are supertasters and theoretically more sensitive to capsaicin. The absence of chilli in certain SEA based cuisines (Northern Vietnam Philippines)

The Controversial Theme of A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen Essay

The Controversial Theme of A Doll's House      Ã‚  Ã‚  In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and an influential setting to develop a controversial theme. The characters of this play help to support Ibsen's opinions. Nora's initial characteristics are that of a bubbly, child-like wife who is strictly dependent on her husband. This subordinate role from which Nora progresses emphasizes the need for change in society's view of women. For Nora, her inferior, doll-like nature is a facade for a deeper passion for individuality that begins to surface during the play and eventually fully emerges in the ending. An example of this deep yearning for independence is shown when Nora tells her friend, Kristina Linde about earning her own money by doing copying. Nora explains, "it was tremendous fun sitting [in her room] working and earning money. It was almost like being a man" (A Doll's House, 162). Mrs. Linde is an inspiration to Nora, because Kristina has experienced the independence that Nora longs for. Even though Nora seeks to be independent, she uses her role of subordination to her advant... ...ntroversial theme. Ibsen expresses to the audience his hope for the "miracle" of true equality, when neither men nor women abuse the power that society gives them. When Nora sheds her doll's dress and steps out into the real world, she opens up a new realm of possibilities for all women. Works Cited and Consulted: Agress, Lynne. The Feminine Irony: Women on Women in Early-Nineteenth-Century English Literature. London: Associated UP, 1978. Durbach, Errol. A Doll's House: Ibsen's Myth of Transformation. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Ibsen, Henrik. A League of Youth/ A Doll's House/ The Lady From the Sea. Trans. Peter Watts. England: Clays Ltd., 1965. Salomà ©, Lou. Ibsen's Heroines. Ed. and trans. Siegfried Mandel. Redding Ridge: Black Swan, 1985. Templeton, Joan. "The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen." PMLA (January 1989): 28-40.    The Controversial Theme of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Essay The Controversial Theme of A Doll's House      Ã‚  Ã‚  In his play, A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen depicts a female protagonist, Nora Helmer, who dares to defy her husband and forsake her "duty" as a wife and mother to seek out her individuality. A Doll's House challenges the patriarchal view held by most people at the time that a woman's place was in the home. Many women could relate to Nora's situation. Like Nora, they felt trapped by their husbands and their fathers; however, they believed that the rules of society prevented them from stepping out of the shadows of men. Through this play, Ibsen stresses the importance of women's individuality. A Doll's House combines realistic characters, fascinating imagery, explicit stage directions, and an influential setting to develop a controversial theme. The characters of this play help to support Ibsen's opinions. Nora's initial characteristics are that of a bubbly, child-like wife who is strictly dependent on her husband. This subordinate role from which Nora progresses emphasizes the need for change in society's view of women. For Nora, her inferior, doll-like nature is a facade for a deeper passion for individuality that begins to surface during the play and eventually fully emerges in the ending. An example of this deep yearning for independence is shown when Nora tells her friend, Kristina Linde about earning her own money by doing copying. Nora explains, "it was tremendous fun sitting [in her room] working and earning money. It was almost like being a man" (A Doll's House, 162). Mrs. Linde is an inspiration to Nora, because Kristina has experienced the independence that Nora longs for. Even though Nora seeks to be independent, she uses her role of subordination to her advant... ...ntroversial theme. Ibsen expresses to the audience his hope for the "miracle" of true equality, when neither men nor women abuse the power that society gives them. When Nora sheds her doll's dress and steps out into the real world, she opens up a new realm of possibilities for all women. Works Cited and Consulted: Agress, Lynne. The Feminine Irony: Women on Women in Early-Nineteenth-Century English Literature. London: Associated UP, 1978. Durbach, Errol. A Doll's House: Ibsen's Myth of Transformation. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Ibsen, Henrik. A League of Youth/ A Doll's House/ The Lady From the Sea. Trans. Peter Watts. England: Clays Ltd., 1965. Salomà ©, Lou. Ibsen's Heroines. Ed. and trans. Siegfried Mandel. Redding Ridge: Black Swan, 1985. Templeton, Joan. "The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen." PMLA (January 1989): 28-40.   

Whats in a Portrait? :: essays research papers fc

What’s in a Portrait?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What’s in a portrait? Is it simply just a photographic image of a person only done in oil paints, or is there much more to it? Is a portrait a way of peeling away the layers of a person and visually representing who they really are? Gericault’s Monomania: Portrait of an Excessively Jealous Woman and Cezanne’s Madame Cezanne in the Conservatory are both portraits of women. Even though these paintings are portraits of women they are completely different portraits. These are not just paintings depicting two different women. They show us who they really are, or what they meant to the artist. The artists paint them in a way that represents how history and time period affect the way and artists paints.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Gericault’s Monomania: Portrait of and Excessively Jealous Woman, the artist captures the pure emotion of a woman suffering from a debilitating mental disease. The composition is symmetrical for the most part and the subject is positioned in the center of the canvas, which emphasizes her more as a point of focus. The brushwork is visible, but disappears around her face where there is great detail to clearly show her emotional state. The rest of her contains very visible brushwork, and it’s very sketchy. Most of her body doesn’t even seem to be brushed, but more like the paint has been blocked in with a palette knife, thus making the details of the face stand out more. Contours have been completely eliminated in this painting; he uses direct tone and color instead to convey the painting. There seems to be no direct light source everything seems to be in the dark, perhaps hinting at the subject’s mental state of mind. The only thing th at seems remotely lit up is the women’s face drawing more attention to the expression on it. The colors are of a darker palette, and there is a slight sense of complimentary colors with the red and a very deep dark green. The repetition of the color red in her clothes and again in her eyes is a very strong emphasis in this painting. It helps draw more attention to her expression thus adding more emotional content to the painitng. Plus, the red in her eyes alludes to her instability. There is no sense of deep space. The women seems have been painted from straight on, although there is something to the right of the artist that is drawing her attention that way, quite possibly making her have her present expression.

A Poison Tree Poem by William Blake

Honors English IV December 11, 2009 The theme of â€Å"A Poison Tree† by William Blake is about wrath and anger. If one were angry with a friend, that wrath would eventually subside; if one were angry with a foe, however, and if left unchecked or left to simmer that anger would not subside and would grow. His poem offers insight into what anger does if one â€Å"watered it in fears, / Night and morning with [their] tears; / and sunned it with smiles, / and with soft deceitful wiles† (547 l. -10 Wood). The poem is appropriate for Songs of Experience and not Songs of Innocence because it portrays something that children do not do: seethe with anger for a long period of time. Children forgive and forget easily, adults do not. Adults tend to hold grudges and seethe with anger until something interrupts it or changes it, but children have simpler minds and thus simpler aspects of anger that may not last a long time.The themes and images of â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Br idge, September 3, 1802† by William Wordsworth classifies him as a typical Romantic poet of his time. Wordsworth shows only the beauty of London and uses simple language to get his point across. The major theme of the poem is nature, and he only shows the beauty of the landscape, not the destitution and filth that truly was London during the Industrial Revolution.Wordsworth transfigures the truth with his imagination, saying that everything was â€Å"all bright and glittering in the smokeless air† (560 l. 8 Wood) when really the city was ridden with pollution and smog. Wordsworth also shows and absolute sense of awe for the beauty of what he is seeing, and turns away everything that is â€Å"ugly† about it. Wordsworth sees only the beauty of looking from a bridge in the morning and turns away all the bad things related to the people of the area, a characteristic of a Romantic.

Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Balance in Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and Butterfield’s Verde

Since balance is a key design principle in art, it is important that the artist achieve it in one of two ways. A piece of art must be either symmetrical or asymmetrical to skeletal achieve balance and not create tension in the work. When a piece of art is symmetrical it is a mirror image. There are an equal number of items of equal size, colors, textures, and etc. Many times this is used in architecture to create a pleasing effect to the eye. Balance can also be attained through asymmetrical design.Equilibrium is still attainable through this technique. Asymmetrical means that several smaller items are balanced by a larger item, larger and smaller objects are arranged at different lengths away from the center, different textures are used, or brighter or darker colors contrasted by lighter or muted shades. The famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci, who lived in the fifteenth century, used the symmetrical technique in his famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man.In this drawing, it is mostly a mi rrored image of the man and his anatomy. This draws the viewer’s eye to the center of the page. However, there is a tiny portion of the work that is asymmetrical. There is slightly more color on one side that is balanced with both feet turning to the side with less color. Deborah Butterfield, a sculptor from the twentieth century to the present, used the asymmetrical technique for her sculpture of the horse, Verde.The back portion of the horse is bulky held on two skeletal legs while the front of the horse is opened and curvy with thin strips of metal for the neck and head. It parallels the way that a real horse would look and it is totally balanced. Works Cited Butterfield, D. (c. 1990). Verde. Da Vinci. L. (c. 1485). The Vitruvian Man. Skaalid, B. (1999). Classic Design Theory Principles of Design: Balance. Retrieved April 3, 2008 from http://www. usask. ca/education/coursework/skaalid/theory/cgdt/balance. htm

Lifestyle and Hobbies Essay

Barbara is a busy mother, who focuses much of her energy and attention on her children and financing their education. When she doesn’t work, she takes care of home and her focuses on cleaning, cooking and shopping for food and clothes for her family. Barbara doesn’t have enough time to watch much television and â€Å"doesn’t pay attention† to the few moments of commercial advertising that she is exposed to. However, she often listens to radio while working in her alternation shop. She often switches the radio channels looking for the classic music, broadcasts or news depending on her mood. Moreover, Barbara is too busy to look for a product; therefore, the anti aging cream should be easily accessible through home delivery or retailers, which Barbara visits relatively often like supermarkets or pharmacies. Proposition for P n G The findings imply that the most effective method of advertising P&G’s product for this target segment is by the means of radio advertising. P&G should consider advertising its products through radio channels between broadcasts listened by the target segment. According to Research from 2008 made by Commercial Radio Australia, 95% of Australians listen to the radio weekly, which makes this medium one of the most effective and at the same time an inexpensive alternative of targeting the consumers. Therefore, to target segment represented by Barbara, P&G has to establish anti-aging cream which is simple, price compatible and accessible through supermarkets such as Coles or Woolworth. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2007) Purchasing behaviour Opinion of the interviewer (Barbara) Barbara uses the elimination-by-aspects decision rule while shopping. She tends to assign the importance rank and cut-off points to the evaluative criteria of the products she purchases. She chooses the products which are closest to her criteria rank. The key factor in Barbara’s purchase decision making is price. She doesn’t pay much attention to packaging or brand of the product. She often shops in Coles and Paddies Market. Proposition for P n G P&Q can increase the likelihood of the product being chosen by offering free samples, special price discounts and promotional packages. This method is called operant/instrumental conditioning and is particularly effective while introducing a new product to the market (Appendix 1). If Barbara tries the product under those conditions and she likes it, she is likely to continue purchasing it in the future (Davis, 270). The promotional package containing anti-aging cream, moisturising body lotion or shower cream can be a perfect â€Å"excuse† for Barbara to purchase the products that will benefit not only her, but, also her entire family. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2007) Likes and dislikes Opinion of the interviewer (Barbara) Barbara travels to and from her workplace six times a week. She dislikes waiting for the trains and buses. Proposition for P n G This finding cares an implication for P&G marketing team to consider placing billboards of their product on bus stops and train stations. More cost efficient option to that, would be repetitively advertising through MX free daily newspaper distributed on railway stations, tram and bus stops in Australia (Wikipedia, 2008). Because Barbara is strongly focused on wellbeing of her family, it would be sensible to use iconic rote method by advertising a range of products (moisturiser, shower cream etc. ) with an association to happiness and wellbeing of a whole family. (Murray, 2006) References Kotler , P & Armstrong, G 2007. Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall; 12 edition. Murray , C 2006. The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time. Portfolio Hardcover.

Draupadi by mahashweta devi Essay

â€Å"Draupadi† by Mahasveta Devi Translated with a Foreword by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Translator’s Foreword I translated this Bengali short story into English as much for the sake of its villain, Senanayak, as for its title character, Draupadi (or Dopdi). Because in Senanayak I find the closest approximation to the First- World scholar in search of the Third World, I shall speak of him first. On the level of the plot, Senanayak is the army officer who captures and degrades Draupadi. I will not go so far as to suggest that, in practice, the instruments of First-World life and investigation are complicit with such captures and such a degradation.’ The approximation I notice relates to the author’s careful presentation of Senanayak as a pluralist aesthete. In theory, Senanayak can identify with the enemy. But pluralist aesthetes of the First World are, willy-nilly, participants in the production of an exploitative society. Hence in practice, Senanayak must destroy the enemy, the menacing other. He follows the necessities and contingencies of what he sees as his historical moment. There is a convenient colloquial name for that as well: pragmatism. Thus his emotions at Dopdi’s capture are mixed: sorrow (theory) and joy (practice). Correspondingly, we grieve for our Third-World sisters; we grieve and rejoice that they must lose themselves and become as much like us as possible in order to be â€Å"free†; we congratulate ourselves on our specialists’ knowledge of them. Indeed, like ours, Senanayak’s project is interpretive: he 1. For elaborations upon such a suggestion, see Jean-Fran~oisL yotard, La Condition post-moderne: Rappod sur b sauoir (Paris, 1979). O 1981 by The Univenity of Chicago. 0093-189618110802-0009$01.00. All rights reserved. 382 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† looks to decipher Draupadi’s song. For both sides of the rift within himself, he finds analogies in Western literature: Hochhuth’s The Deputy, David Morrell’s First Blood. He will shed his guilt when the time comes. His self-image for that uncertain future is Prospero. I have suggested elsewhere that, when we wander out of our own academic and First-World enclosure, we share something like a relationship with Senanayak’s do~blethinkW.~h en we speak for ourselves, we urge with conviction: the personal is also political. For the rest of the world’s women, the sense of whose personal micrology is difficult (though not impossible) for us to acquire, we fall back on a colonialist theory of most efficient information retrieval. We will not be able to speak to the women out there if we depend completely on conferences and anthologies by Western-trained informants. As I see their photographs in women’s-studies journals or on book jackets-indeed, as I look in the glass-it is Senanayak with his anti-Fascist paperback that I behold. In inextricably mingling historico-political specificity with the sexual differential in a literary discourse, Mahasveta Devi invites us to begin effacing that image. My approach to the story has been influenced by â€Å"deconstructive practice.† I clearly share an unease that would declare avant-garde theories of interpretation too elitist to cope with revolutionary feminist material. How, then, has the practice of deconstruction been helpful in this context? The aspect of deconstructive practice that is best known in the United States is its tendency toward infinite regre~sionT.~h e aspect that interests me most is, however, the recognition, within deconstructive practice, of provisional and intractable starting points in any investigative effort; its disclosure of complicities where a will to knowledge would 2. See my â€Å"Three Feminist Readings: McCullers, Drabble, Habermas,† Union Seminu9 Quarterly Review 1-2 (Fall-Winter 197%80), and â€Å"French Feminism in an International Frame† (forthcoming in Yak French Studies). 3. I develop this argument in my review of Paul de Man’s Allegories ofReading: Figural Language in Rowseau, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Prowt (forthcoming in Studks in the Novel). Mahasveta Devi teaches English at Bijaygarh College in Jadavpur, India, an institution for working-class women. She has published over a dozen novels, most recently Chotti Munda ebang Tar Tir (â€Å"Chotti Munda and His Arrow†), and is a prolific journalist, writing on the struggle of the tribal peasant in West Bengal and Bihar. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. The translator of Derrida’s De la grammtologte, she has published essays on Marxist feminism, deconstructive practice, and contemporary literature and is currently completing a book on theory and practice in the humanities. Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 383 create oppositions; its insistence that in disclosing complicities the criticas- subject is herself complicit with the object of her critique; its emphasis upon â€Å"history† and upon the ethico-political as the â€Å"trace† of that complicity-the proof that we do not inhabit a clearly defined critical space free of such traces; and, finally, the acknowledgment that its own discourse can never be adequate to its e ~ amp l eT. ~hi s is clearly not the place to elaborate each item upon this list. I should, however, point out that in my introductory paragraphs I have already situated the figure of Senanayak in terms of our own patterns of complicity. In what follows, the relationship between the tribal and classical characters of Draupadi, the status of Draupadi at the end of the story, and the reading of Senanayak’s proper name might be seen as produced by the reading practice I have described. The complicity of law and transgression and the class deconstruction of the â€Å"gentlemen revolutionaries,† although seemingly minor points in the interpretation of the story as such, take on greater importance in a political context. I cannot take this discussion of deconstruction far enough to show how Dopdi’s song, incomprehensible yet trivial (it is in fact about beans of different colors), and ex-orbitant to the story, marks the place of that other that can be neither excluded nor re~uperated.~ â€Å"Draupadi† first appeared in Agnigarbha (â€Å"Womb of Fire†), a collection of loosely connected, short political narratives. As Mahasveta points out in her introduction to the collection, â€Å"Life is not mathematics and the human being is not made for the sake of politics. I want a change in the present social system and do not believe in mere party politic^.†^ Mahasveta is a middle-class Bengali leftist intellectual in her fifties. She has a master’s degree in English from Shantiniketan, the famous experimental university established by the bourgeois poet Rabindranath Tagore. Her reputation as a novelist was already well established when, in the late ’70s, she published Hajar Churashir Ma (â€Å"No. 1084’s Mother†). This novel, the only one to be imminently published in English translation, remains within the excessively sentimental idiom of the Bengali 4. This list represents a distillation of suggestions to be found in the work of Jacques Derrida: see, e.g., â€Å"The Exorbitant. Question of Method,† Of Grammatology, trans. Spivak (Baltimore, 1976); â€Å"Limited Inc abc,† trans. Samuel Weber, Glyph 2 (1977); â€Å"Ou commence et comment finit un corps enseignant,† in Politiques de laphilosophie, ed. Dominique Grisoni (Paris, 1976); and my â€Å"Revolutions That as Yet Have No Model: Derrida’s ‘Limited Inc,’ † Diacritics 10 (Dec. 1980), and â€Å"Sex and History in Wordsworth’s The Prelude (1805) IXXIII† (forthcoming in Tern Studies in Literature and Language). 5. It is a sign of E. M. Forster’s acute perception of India that A Pussage to India contains a glimpse of such an ex-orbitant tribal in the figure of the punkha puller in the courtroom. 6. Mahasveta, Agnigarbha (Calcutta, 1978), p. 8. 384 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† novel of the last twenty-odd years.7 Yet in Aranyer Adhikar (â€Å"The Rights [or, Occupation] of the Forest†), a serially published novel she was writing almost at the same time, a significant change is noticeable. It is a meticulously researched historical novel about the Munda Insurrection of 1899-1900. Here Mahasveta begins putting together a prose that is a collage of literary Bengali, street Bengali, bureaucratic Bengali, tribal Bengali, and the languages of the tribals. Since the Bengali script is illegible except to the approximately 25 literate percent of the about 90 million speakers of Bengali, a large number of whom live in Bangladesh rather than in West Bengal, one cannot speak of the â€Å"Indian† reception of Mahasveta’s work but only of its Bengali receptiom8 Briefly, that reception can be described as a general recognition of excellence; skepticism regarding the content on the part of the bourgeois readership; some accusations of extremism from the electoral Left; and admiration and a sense of solidarity on the part of the nonelectoral Left. Any extended reception study would consider that West Bengal has had a Left-Front government of the united electoral Communist parties since 1967. Here suffice it to say that Mahasveta is certainly one of the most important writers writing in India today. Any sense of Bengal as a â€Å"nation† is governed by the putative identity of the Bengali l a n g ~ a g e(.M~ eanwhile, Bengalis dispute if the purest Bengali is that of Nabadwip or South Calcutta, and many of the twenty-odd developed dialects are incomprehensible to the â€Å"general speaker.†) In 1947, on the eve of its departure from India, the British government divided Bengal into West Bengal, which remained a part of India, and East Pakistan. Punjab was similarly divided into East Punjab (India) and West Pakistan. The two parts of Pakistan did not share ethnic or linguistic ties and were separated by nearly eleven hundred miles. The division was made on the grounds of the concentration of Muslims in these two parts of the subcontinent. Yet the Punjabi Muslims felt themselves to be more â€Å"Arab† because they lived in the area where the first Muslim emperors of India had settled nearly seven hundred years ago and also because of their proximity to West Asia (the Middle 7.For a discussion of the relationship between academic degrees in English and the production of revolutionary literature, see my â€Å"A Vulgar Inquiry into the Relationship between Academic Criticism and Literary Production in West Bengal† (paper delivered at the Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association, Houston, 1980). 8. These figures are an average of the 1971 census in West Bengal and the projected figure for the 1974 census in Bangladesh. 9. See Dinesh Chandra Sen, History ofBengali Language and Literature (Calcutta, 191 1 ) . A sense of Bengali literary nationalism can be gained from the (doubtless apocryphal) report that, upon returning from his first investigative tour of India, Macaulay remarked: â€Å"The British Crown presides over two great literatures: the English and the Bengali.† Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 385 East). The Bengali Muslims-no doubt in a class-differentiated way-felt themselves constituted by the culture of Bengal. Bengal has had a strong presence of leftist intellectualism and struggle since the middle of the last century, before, in fact, the word â€Å"Left† entered our political shorthand.1 ° West Bengal is one of three Communist states in the Indian Union. As such, it is a source of considerable political irritation to the central government of India. (The individual state governments have a good deal more autonomy under the Indian Constitution than is the case in the U.S.) Although officially India is a Socialist state with a mixed economy, historically it has reflected a spectrum of the Right, from military dictatorship to nationalist class benevolence. The word â€Å"democracy† becomes highly interpretable in the context of a largely illiterate, multilingual, heterogeneous, and unpoliticized electorate. In the spring of 1967, there was a successful peasant rebellion in the Naxalbari area of the northern part of West Bengal. According to Marcus Franda, â€Å"unlike most other areas of West Bengal, where peasant movements are led almost solely by middle-class leadership from Calcutta, Naxalbari has spawned an indigenous agrarian reform leadership led by the lower classes† including tribal cultivator^.^^ This peculiar coalition of peasant and intellectual sparked off a number of Naxalbaris all over India.12 The target of these movements was the long-established oppression of the landless peasantry and itinerant farm worker, sustained through an unofficial government-landlord collusion that too easily circumvented the law. Indeed, one might say that legislation seemed to have an eye to its own future circumvention. It is worth remarking that this coalition of peasant and intellectual-with long histories of apprenticeship precisely on the side of the intellectual-has been recuperated in the West by both ends of the polarity that constitutes a â€Å"political spectrum.† Bernard-Henri Levy, the ex-Maoist French â€Å"New Philosopher,† has implicitly compared it to the May 1968 â€Å"revolution† in France, where the students joined the workers. 13 In France, however, the student identity of the movement had remained clear, and the student leadership had not brought with it sustained efforts to undo the privilege of the intellectual. On the other hand, â€Å"in much the same manner as many American college presidents 10. See Gautam Chattopadhyay, Communism and the Freedom Movement in Bengal (New Delhi, 1970). 11. Marcus F. Franda, RadicalPolitics in West Bengal (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), p. 153. Iam grateful to Michael Ryan for having located this accessible account of the Naxalbari movement. 12. See Samar Sen et al., eds., Naxalbari and After: A Frontier Anthology, 2 vols. (Calcutta, 1978). 13. See Bernard-Henri Levy, Bangla Desh: Nationalisme duns la rivolution (Paris, 1973). 386 Gayatm’ Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† have described the protest of American students, Indian political and social leaders have explained the Naxalites (supporters of Naxalbari) by referring to their sense of alienation and to the influence of writers like Marcuse and Sartre which has seemingly dominated the minds of young people throughout the world in the 1960s.†14 It is against such recuperations that I would submit what I have called the theme of class deconstruction with reference to the young gentlemen revolutionaries in â€Å"Draupadi.† Senanayak remains fixed within his class origins, which are similar to those of the gentlemen revolutionaries. Correspondingly, he is contained and judged fully within Mahasveta’s story; by contrast, the gentlemen revolutionaries remain latent, underground. Even their leader’s voice is only heard formulaically within Draupadi’s solitude. I should like to think that it is because they are so persistently engaged in undoing class containment and the opposition between reading (book learning) and doing-rather than keeping the two aesthetically forever separate-that they inhabit a world whose authority and outline no text-including Mahasveta’s-can encompass. In 1970, the implicit hostility between East and West Pakistan flamed into armed struggle. In 1971, at a crucial moment in the struggle, the armed forces of the government of India were deployed, seemingly because there were alliances between the Naxalites of West Bengal and the freedom fighters of East Bengal (now Bangladesh). â€Å"If a guerrillastyle insurgency had persisted, these forces would undoubtedly have come to dominate the politics of the movement. It was this trend that the Indian authorities were determined to pre-empt by intervention.† Taking advantage of the general atmosphere of jubilation at the defeat of West Pakistan, India’s â€Å"principal national rival in South Asia†15 (this was also the first time India had â€Å"won a war† in its millennia1 history), the Indian prime minister was able to crack down with exceptional severity on the Naxalites, destroying the rebellious sections of the rural population, most significantly the tribals , as well. The year 1971 is thus a point of reference in Senanayak’s career. This is the setting of â€Å"Draupadi.† The story is a moment caught between two deconstructive formulas: on the one hand, a law that is fabricated with a view to its own transgression, on the other, the undoing of the binary opposition between the intellectual and the rural struggles. In order to grasp the minutiae of their relationship and involvement, one must enter a historical micrology that no foreword can provide. 14. Franda, Radical Politics, pp. 163-64. See also p. 164 n.22. 15. Lawrence Lifschultz, ~a@ladesh: The unfinished Revolution (London, 1979),pp. 25, 26. Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 387 Draupadi is the name of the central character. She is introduced to the reader between two uniforms and between two versions of her name: Dopdi and Draupadi. It is either that as a tribal she cannot pronounce her own Sanskrit name (Draupadi), or the tribalized form, Dopdi, is the proper name of the ancient Draupadi. She is on a list of wanted persons, yet her name is not on the list of appropriate names for the tribal women. The ancient Draupadi is perhaps the most celebrated heroine of the Indian epic Mahabharata. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are the cultural credentials of the so-called Aryan civilization of India. The tribes predate the Aryan invasion. They have no right to heroic Sanskrit names. Neither the interdiction nor the significance of the name, however, must be taken too seriously. For this pious, domesticated Hindu name was given Dopdi at birth by her mistress, in the usual mood of benevolence felt by the oppressor’s wife toward the tribal bond servant. It is the killing of this mistress’ husband that sets going the events of the story. And yet on the level of the text, this elusive and fortuitous name does play a role. To speculate upon this role, we might consider the Mahabharata itself in its colonialist function in the interest of the so-called Aryan invaders of India. It is an accretive epic, where the â€Å"sacred† geography of an ancient battle is slowly expanded by succeeding generations of poets so that the secular geography of the expanding Aryan colony can present itself as identical with it and thus justify itself.16 The complexity of this vast and anonymous project makes it an incomparably more heterogeneous text than the Ramayana. Unlike the Ramayana, for example, the Mahabharata contains cases of various kinds of kinship structure and various styles of marriage. And in fact it is Draupadi who provides the only example of polyandry, not a common system of marriage in India. She is married to the five sons of the impotent Pandu. Within a patriarchal and patronymic context, she is exceptional, indeed â€Å"singular† in the sense of odd, unpaired, uncoupled.17 Her husbands, since they are husbands rather than lovers, are legitimately pluralized. No acknowledgment of paternity can secure the Name of the Father for the child of such a mother. Mahasveta’s story questions this â€Å"singularity† by placing Dopdi first in a comradely, activist, monogamous marriage and then in a situation of multiple rape. In the epic, Draupadi’s legitimized pluralization (as a wife among husbands) in singularity (as a possible mother or harlot) is used to demonstrate male glory. She provides the occasion for a violent transaction between men, the efficient cause of the crucial battle. Her eldest hus- 16. For my understanding of this aspect of the Mahabharata, I am indebted to Romila Thapar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 17. I borrow this sense of singularity from Jacques Lacan, â€Å"Seminar on ‘The Purloined Letter,’ † trans. Jeffrey Mehlman, Yak French Studies 48 (1972): 53, 59. 388 Gayatm’ Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† band is about to lose her by default in a game of dice. He had staked all he owned, and â€Å"Draupadi belongs within that all† (Mahabharata 65:32). Her strange civil status seems to offer grounds for her predicament as well: â€Å"The Scriptures prescribed one husband for a woman; Draupadi is dependent on many husbands; therefore she can be designated a prostitute. There is nothing improper in bringing her, clothed or unclothed, into the assembly† (65:35-36). The enemy chief begins to pull at Draupadi’s sum’. Draupadi silently prays to the incarnate Krishna. The Idea of Sustaining Law (Dharma) materializes itself as clothing, and as the king pulls and pulls at her sum’, there seems to be more and more of it. Draupadi is infinitely clothed and cannot be publicly stripped. It is one of Krishna’s miracles. Mahasveta’s story rewrites this episode. The men easily succeed in stripping Dopdi-in the narrative it is the culmination of her political punishment by the representatives of the law. She remains publicly naked at her own insistence. Rather than save her modesty through the implicit intervention of a benign and divine (in this case it would have been godlike) comrade, the story insists that this is the place where male leadership stops. It would be a mistake, I think, to read the modern story as a refutation of the ancient. Dopdi is (as heroic as) Draupadi. She is also what Draupadi-written into the patriarchal and authoritative sacred text as proof of male power-ould not be. Dopdi is at once a palimpsest and a contradiction. There is nothing â€Å"historically implausible† about Dopdi’s attitudes. When we first see her, she is thinking about washing her hair. She loves her husband and keeps political faith as an act of faith toward him. She adores her forefathers because they protected their women’s honor. (It should be recalled that this is thought in the context of American soldiers breeding bastards.) It is when she crosses the sexual differential into the field of what could only happen to a woman that she emerges as the most powerful â€Å"subject,† who, still using the language of sexual â€Å"honor,† can derisively call herself â€Å"the object of your search,† whom the author can describe as a terrifying superobject-â€Å"an unarmed target.† As a tribal, Dopdi is not romanticized by Mahasveta. The decision makers among the revolutionaries are, again, â€Å"realistically,† bourgeois young men and women who have oriented their book learning to the land and thus begun the long process of undoing the opposition between book (theory or â€Å"outside†) and spontaneity (practice or â€Å"inside†). Such fighters are the hardest to beat, for they are neither tribal nor gentlemen. A Bengali reader would pick them out by name among the characters: the one with the aliases who bit off his tongue; the ones who helped the couple escape the army cordon; the ones who neither smoke nor drink tea; and, above all, Arijit. His is a fashionable first name, tinsel Sanskrit, with no allusive paleonymy and a meaning that fits the story a bit too well: victorious over enemies. Yet it is his voice that gives Dopdi the courage to save not herself but her comrades. Of course, this voice of male authority also fades. Once Dopdi enters, in the final section of the story, the postscript area of lunar flux and sexual difference, she is in a place where she will finally actfor herself in not â€Å"acting,† in challenging the man to (en)counter her as unrecorded or misrecorded objective historical monument. The army officer is shown as unable to ask the authoritative ontological question, What is this? In fact, in the sentence describing Dopdi’s final summons to the sahib’s tent, the agent is missing. I can be forgiven if I find in this an allegory of the woman’s struggle within the revolution in a shifting historical moment. As Mahasveta points out in an aside, the tribe in question is the Santal, not to be confused with the at least nine other Munda tribes that inhabit India. They are also not to be confused with the so-called untouchables, who, unlike the tribals, are Hindu, though probably of remote â€Å"non-Aryan† origin. In giving the name Harijan (â€Å"God’s people†) to the untouchables, Mahatma Gandhi had tried to concoct the sort of pride and sense of unity that the tribes seem to possess. Mahasveta has followed the Bengali practice of calling each so-called untouchable caste by the name of its menial and unclean task within the rigid structural functionalism of institutionalized Hinduism.18 I have been unable to reproduce this in my translation. Mahasveta uses another differentiation, almost on the level of caricature: the Sikh and the Bengali. (Sikhism was founded as a reformed religion by Guru Nanak in the late fifteenth century. Today the roughly 9 million Sikhs of India live chiefly in East Punjab, at the other end of the vast Indo-Gangetic Plain from Bengal. The tall, muscular, turbanned, and bearded Sikh, so unlike the slight and supposedly intellectual Bengali, is the stereotyped butt of jokes in the same way as the Polish community in North America or the Belgian in France.) Arjan Singh, the diabetic Sikh captain who falls back on the Granth-sahib (the Sikh sacred book-I have translated it â€Å"Scripture†) and the â€Å"five Ks† of the Sikh religion, is presented as all brawn and no brains; and the wily, imaginative, corrupt Bengali Senanayak is of course the army officer full of a Keatsian negative capability.lg The entire energy of the story seems, in one reading, directed toward breaking the apparently clean gap between theory and practice in 18. As a result of the imposition of the capitalist mode of production and the Imperial Civil Service, and massive conversions of the lowest castes to Christianity, the invariable identity of caste and trade no longer holds. Here, too, there is the possibility of a taxonomy micrologically deconstructive of the caste-class opposition, functioning heterogeneously in terms of the social hierarchy. 19. If indeed the model for this character is Ranjit Gupta, the notorious inspector general of police of West Bengal, the delicate textuality, in the interest of a political position, of Senanayak’s delineation in the story takes us far beyond the limits of a referencea clef: I am grateful to Michael Ryan for suggesting the possibility of such a reference. 390 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† Senanayak. Such a clean break is not possible, of course. The theoretical production of negative capability is a practice; the practice of mowing down Naxalites brings with it a theory of the historical moment. The assumption of such a clean break in fact depends upon the assumption that the individual subject who theorizes and practices is in full control. At least in the history of the Indo-European tradition in general, such a sovereign subject is also the legal or legitimate subject, who is identical with his stable p a t r o n ymi ~ .I~t ~m ight therefore be interesting that Senanayak is not given the differentiation of a first name and surname. His patronymic is identical with his function (not of course by the law of caste): the common noun means â€Å"army chief.† In fact, there is the least hint of a doubt if it is a proper name or a common appellation. This may be a critique of the man’s apparently self-adequate identity, which sustains his theory-practice juggling act. If so, it goes with what I see as the project of the story: to break this bonded identity with the wedge of an unreasonable fear. If our certitude of the efficient-information-retrieval and talk-to-the-accessible approach toward Third-World women can be broken by the wedge of an unreasonable uncertainty, a feeling that what we deem gain might spell loss and that our practice should be forged accordingly, then we would share the textual effect of â€Å"Draupadi† with Senanayak. The italicized words in the translation are in English in the original. It is to be noticed that the fighting words on both sides are in English. Nation-state politics combined with multinational economies produce war. The language of war–offense and defense-is international. English is standing in here for that nameless and heterogeneous world language. The peculiarities of usage belong to being obliged to cope with English under political and social pressure for a few centuries. Where, indeed, is there a â€Å"pure† language? Given the nature of the struggle, there is nothing bizarre in â€Å"Comrade D~ p d i . † ~Itl i s part of the undoing of opposites-intellectual-rural, tribalist-internationalist-that is the wavering constitution of â€Å"the underground,† â€Å"the wrong side† of the law. On the right side of the law, such deconstructions, breaking down national distinctions, are operated through the encroachment of kingemperor or capital. 20. The relationship between phallocentrism, the patriarchy, and clean binary oppositions is a pervasive theme in Derrida’s critique of the metaphysics of presence. See my â€Å"Unmaking and Making in To the Lighthouse,† in Women and Language in Literature and Society, ed. Sally McConnell-Ginet, Ruth Borker, and Nelly Furman (New York, 1980). 21. â€Å"My dearest Sati, Through the walls and the miles that separate us I can hear you saying, ‘In Sawan it will be two years since Comrade left us.’ The other women will nod. It is you who have taught them the meaning of Comrade† (Mary Tyler, â€Å"Letter to a Former Cell-Mate,† in Naxalban and After, 1 :307; see also Tyler, My Years in an Indian Prison [Harmondsworth, 19771). Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 391 The only exception is the word â€Å"sahib.† An Urdu word meaning â€Å"friend,† it came to mean, almost exclusively in Bengali, â€Å"white man.† It is a colonial word and is used today to mean â€Å"boss.† I thought of Kipling as I wrote â€Å"Burra Sahib† for Senanayak. In the matter of â€Å"translation† between Bengali and English, it is again Dopdi who occupies a curious middle space. She is the only one who uses the word â€Å"counter† (the â€Å"n† is no more than a nasalization of the diphthong â€Å"ou†). As Mahasveta explains, it is an abbreviation for â€Å"killed by police in an encounter,† the code description for death by police torture. Dopdi does not understand English, but she understands this formula and the word. In her use of it at the end, it comes mysteriously close to the â€Å"proper† English usage. It is the menacing appeal of the objectified subject to its politico-sexual enemy-the provisionally silenced master of the subject-object dialectic-to encounter- â€Å"counter†-her. What is it to â€Å"use† a language â€Å"correctly† without â€Å"knowing† it? We cannot answer because we, with Senanayak, are in the opposite situation. Although we are told of specialists, the meaning of Dopdi’s song remains undisclosed in the text. The educated Bengali does not know the languages of the tribes, and no political coercion obliges him to â€Å"know† it. What one might falsely think of as a political â€Å"privilege†- knowing English properly-stands in the way of a deconstructive practice of language-using it â€Å"correctly† through a political displacement, or operating the language of the other side. It follows that I have had the usual â€Å"translator’s problems† only with the peculiar Bengali spoken by the tribals. In general we educated Bengalis have the same racist attitude toward it as the late Peter Sellers had toward our English. It would have been embarrassing to have used some version of the language of D. H. Lawrence’s â€Å"common people† or Faulkner’s blacks. Again, the specificity is micrological. I have used â€Å"straight English,† whatever that may be. Rather than encumber the story with footnotes, in conclusion I shall list a few items of information: Page 393: The â€Å"five Ks† are Kes (â€Å"unshorn hair†); kachh (â€Å"drawers down to the knee†); karha (â€Å"iron bangle†); kirpan (â€Å"dagger†); kanga (â€Å"comb†; to be worn by every Sikh, hence a mark of identity). Page 396: â€Å"Bibidha Bharati† is a popular radio program, on which listeners can hear music of their choice. The Hindi film industry is prolific in producing pulp movies for consumption in India and in all parts of the world where there is an Indian, Pakistani, and West Indian labor force. Many of the films are adaptations from the epics. Sanjeev Kumar is an idolized actor. Since it was Krishna who rescued Draupadi from her predicament in the epic, and, in the film the soldiers watch, Sanjeev Kumar encounters Krishna, there might be a touch of textual irony here. 392 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† Page 397: â€Å"Panchayat† is a supposedly elected body of village selfgovernment. Page 399: â€Å"Champabhumi† and â€Å"Radhabhumi† are archaic names for certain areas of Bengal. â€Å"Bhumi† is simply â€Å"land.† All of Bengal is thus â€Å"Bangabhumi.† Page 399: The jackal following the tiger is a common image. Page 400: Modern Bengali does not distinguish between â€Å"her† and â€Å"his.† The â€Å"her† in the sentence beginning â€Å"No comrade will . . .† can therefore be considered an interpretati~n.~~ Page 401: A sari conjures up the long, many-pleated piece of cloth, complete with blouse and underclothes, that â€Å"proper† Indian women wear. Dopdi wears a much-abbreviated version, without blouse or underclothes. It is referred to simply as â€Å"the cloth.† Draupadi Name Dopdi Mejhen, age twenty-seven, husband Dulna Majhi (deceased), domicile Cherakhan, Bankrajharh, information whether dead or alive and/or assistance in arrest, one hundred rupees. . . An exchange between two liveried uniforms. FIRSTL IVERYW: hat’s this, a tribal called Dopdi? The list of names I brought has nothing like it! How can anyone have an unlisted name? SECONDD:raupadi Mejhen. Born the year her mother threshed rice at Surja Sahu (killed)’~a t Bakuli. Surja Sahu’s wife gave her the name. FIRST: These officers like nothing better than to write as much as they can in English. What’s all this stuff about her? SECONDM:ost notorious female. Long wanted in many. . . Dossier: Dulna and Dopdi worked at harvests, rotating between Birbhum, Burdwan, Murshidabad, and Bankura. In 1971, in the famous Operation Bakuli, when three villages were cordonned off and machine gunned, they too lay on the ground, faking dead. In fact, they were the main culprits. Murdering Surja Sahu and his son, occupying upper-caste wells and tubewells during the drought, not surrendering those three young men to the police. In all this they were the chief instigators. In the morning, at the time of the body count, the couple could not be found. The blood-sugar level of Captain Arjan Singh, the architect of Bakuli, rose at once and proved yet again that diabetes can be a result of anxiety and depression. Diabetes has twelve husbands-among them anxiety. Dulna and Dopdi went underground for a long time in a Neanderthal darkness. The Special Forces, attempting to pierce that dark by an armed search, compelled quite a few Santals in the various districts of West Bengal to meet their Maker against their will. By the Indian Con- 22. I am grateful to Soumya Chakravarti for his help in solving occasional problems of English synonyms and archival research. stitution, all human beings, regardless of caste or creed, are sacred. Still, accidents like this do happen. Two sorts of reasons: (I), the underground couple’s skill in self-concealment; ( 2 ) ,not merely the Santals but all tribals of the Austro-Asiatic Munda tribes appear the same to the Special Forces. In fact, all around the ill-famed forest of Jharkhani, which is under the jurisdiction of the police station at Bankrajharh (in this India of ours, even a worm is under a certain police station), even in the southeast and southwest corners, one comes across hair-raising details in the eyewitness records put together on the people who are suspected of attacking police stations, stealing guns (since the snatchers are not invariably well educated, they sometimes say â€Å"give up your chambers† rather than give up your gun), killing grain brokers, landlords, moneylenders, law officers, and bureaucrats. A black-skinned couple ululated like police sirens before the episode. They sang jubilantly in a savage tongue, incomprehensible even to the Santals. Such as: Samaray hijulenako mar goekope and. Hende rambra keche keche Pundi rambra keche keche This proves conclusively that they are the cause of Captain Arjan Singh’s diabetes. Government procedure being as incomprehensible as the Male Principle in Sankhya philosophy or Antonioni’s early films, it was Arjan Singh who was sent once again on Operation Forest Jharkhani. Learning from Intelligence that the above-mentioned ululating and dancing couple was the escaped corpses, Arjan Singh fell for a bit into a zombielike state and finally acquired so irrational a dread of black-skinned people that whenever he saw a black person in a ballbag, he swooned, saying â€Å"they’re killing me,† and drank and passed a lot of water. Neither uniform nor Scriptures could relieve that depression. At long last, under the shadow of apremuture and forced retirement, it was possible to present him at the desk of Mr. Senanayak, the elderly Bengali specialist in combat and extreme-left politics. Senanayak knows the activities and capacities of the opposition better than they themselves do. First, therefore, he presents an encomium on the military genius of the Sikhs. Then he explains further: Is it only the opposition that should find power at the end of the barrel of a gun? Arjan Singh’s power also explodes out of the male organ of a gun. Without a gun even the â€Å"five Ks† come to nothing in this day and age. These speeches he delivers to all and sundry. As a result, the fighting forces regain their confidence in the Army Handbook. It is not a book for everyone. It says that the most despicable and repulsive style of fighting is 394 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† guerrilla warfare with primitive weapons. Annihilation at sight of any and all practitioners of such warfare is the sacred duty of every soldier. Dopdi and Dulna belong to the category of such fighters, for they too kill by means of hatchet and scythe, bow and arrow, etc. In fact, their fighting power is greater than the gentlemen’s. Not all gentlemen become experts in the explosion of â€Å"chambers†; they think the power will come out on its own if the gun is held. But since Dulna and Dopdi are illiterate, their kind have practiced the use of weapons generation after generation. I should mention here that, although the other side make little of him, Senanayak is not to be trifled with. Whatever hispractice, in theory he respects the opposition. Respects them because they could be neither understood nor demolished if they were treated with the attitude, â€Å"It’s nothing but a bit of impertinent game-playing with guns.† In order to destroy the enemy, become one. Thus he understood them by (theoretically) becoming one of them. He hopes to write on all this in the future. He has also decided that in his written work he will demolish the gentlemen and highlight the message of the harvest workers. These mental processes might seem complicated, but actually he is a simple man and is as pleased as his third great-uncle after a meal of turtle meat. In fact, he knows that, as in the old popular song, turn by turn the world will change. And in every world he must have the credentials to survive with honor. If necessary he will show the future to what extent he alone understands the matter in its proper perspective. He knows very well that what he is doing today the future will forget, but he also knows that if he can change color from world to world, he can represent the particular world in question. Today he is getting rid of the young by means of â€Å"apprehension and elimination,† but he knows people will soon forget the memory and lesson of blood. And at the same time, he, like Shakespeare, believes in delivering the world’s legacy into youth’s hands. He is Prospero as well. At any rate, information is received that many young men and women, batch by batch and on jeeps, have attacked police station after police station, terrified and elated the region, and disappeared into the forest of Jharkhani. Since after escaping from Bakuli, Dopdi and Dulna have worked at the house of virtually every landowner, they can efficiently inform the killers about their targets and announce proudly that they too are soldiers, rank and$le.Finally the impenetrable forest of Jharkhani is surrounded by real soldiers, the army enters and splits the battlefield. Soldiers in hiding guard the falls and springs that are the only source of drinking water; they are still guarding, still looking. On one such search, army informant Dukhiram Gharari saw a young Santal man lying on his stomach on a flat stone, dipping his face to drink water. The soldiers shot him as he lay. As the .303 threw him off spread-eagled and brought a bloody foam to his mouth, he roared â€Å"Ma-ho† and then went limp. They realized later that it was the redoubtable Dulna Majhi. What does â€Å"Ma-ho† mean? Is this a violent slogan in the tribal language? Even after much thought, the Department of Defense could not be sure. Two tribal-specialist types are flown in from Calcutta, and they sweat over the dictionaries put together by worthies such as Hoffmann-Jeffer and Golden-Palmer. Finally the omniscent Senanayak summons Chamru, the water carrier of the camp. He giggles when he sees the two specialists, scratches his ear with his â€Å"bidi,† and says, The Santals of Maldah did say that when they began fighting at the time of King Gandhi! It’s a battle cry. Who said â€Å"Ma-ho† here? Did someone come from Maldah? The problem is thus solved. Then, leaving Dulna’s body on the stone, the soldiers climb the trees in green camouflage. They embrace the leafy boughs like so many great god Pans and wait as the large red ants bite their private parts. To see if anyone comes to take away the body. This is the hunter’s way, not the soldier’s. But Senanayak knows that these brutes cannot be dispatched by the approved method. So he asks his men to draw the prey with a corpse as bait. All will come clear, he says. I have almost deciphered Dopdi’s song. The soldiers get going at his command. But no one comes to claim Dulna’s corpse. At night the soldiers shoot at a scuffle and, descending, discover that they have killed two hedgehogs copulating on dry leaves. Improvidently enough, the soldiers’ jungle scout Dukhiram gets a knife in the neck before he can claim the reward for Dulna’s capture. Bearing Dulna’s corpse, the soldiers suffer shooting pains as the ants, interrupted in their feast, begin to bite them. When Senanayak hears that no one has come to take the corpse, he slaps his anti-Fascist paperback copy of The Deputy and shouts, â€Å"What?† Immediately one of the tribal specialists runs in with a joy as naked and transparent as Archimedes’ and says, â€Å"Get up, sir! I have discovered the meaning of that ‘hende rambra’ stuff. It’s Mundari language.† Thus the search for Dopdi continues. In the forest belt of Jharkhani, the Operation continues-will continue. It is a carbuncle on the government’s backside. Not to be cured by the tested ointment, not to burst with the appropriate herb. In the first phase, the fugitives, ignorant of the forest’s topography, are caught easily, and by the law of confrontation they are shot at the taxpayer’s expense. By the law of confrontation, their eyeballs, intestines, stomachs, hearts, genitals, and so on become the food of fox, vulture, hyena, wildcat, ant, and worm, and the untouchables go off happily to sell their bare skeletons. They do not allow themselves to be captured in open combat in the next phase. Now it seems that they have found a trustworthy courier. Ten to one it’s Dopdi. Dopdi loved Dulna more than her blood. No doubt it is she who is saving the fugitives now. â€Å"They† is also a hypothesis. Why? 396 Gayatri Chakravorty Spiuak â€Å"Draupadi† How many went origznally? The answer is silence. About that there are many tales, many books in press. Best not to believe everything. How many killed in six years’ confrontation? The answer is silence. Why after confrontations are the skeletons discovered with arms broken or severed? Could armless men have fought? Why do the collarbones shake, why are legs and ribs crushed? Two kinds of answer. Silence. Hurt rebuke in the eyes. Shame on you! Why bring this up? What will be will be. . . . How many left in the forest? The answer is silence. A legzon? Is itjustzjiable to maintain a large battalion in that wild area at the taxpayer’s expense? Answer: Objection. â€Å"Wild area† is incorrect. The battalion is provided with supervised nutrition, arrangements to worship according to religion, opportunity to listen to â€Å"Bibidha Bharati† and to see Sanjeev Kumar and the Lord Krishna face-to-face in the movie This Is Life. No. The area is not wild. How many are left? The answer is silence. How many are left? Is there anyone at all? The answer is long. Item: Well, action still goes on. Moneylenders, landlords, grain brokers, anonymous brothel keepers, ex-informants are still terrified. The hungry and naked are still defiant and irrepressible. In some pockets the harvest workers are getting a better wage. Villages sympathetic to the fugitives are still silent and hostile. These events cause one to think. . . . Where in this picture does Dopdi Mejhen fit? She must have connections with the fugitives. The cause for fear is elsewhere. The ones who remain have lived a long time in the primitive world of the forest. They keep company with the poor harvest workers and the tribals. They must have forgotten book learning. Perhaps they are orienting their book learning to the soil they live on and learning new combat and survival techniques. One can shoot and get rid of the ones whose only recourse is extrinsic book learning and sincere intrinsic enthusiasm. Those who are working practically will not be exterminated so easily. Therefore Operation Jharkhani Forest cannot stop. Reason: the words of warning in the Army Handbook. Catch Dopdi Mejhen. She will lead us to the others. Dopdi was proceeding slowly, with some rice knotted into her belt. Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 397 Mushai Tudu’s wife had cooked her some. She does so occasionally. When the rice is cold, Dopdi knots it into her waistcloth and walks slowly. As she walked, she picked out and killed the lice in her hair. If she had some Kerosene, she’d rub it into her scalp and get rid of the lice. Then she could wash her hair with bakingsoda. But the bastards put traps at every bend of the falls. If they smell kerosene in the water, they will follow the scent. Dopdi! She doesn’t respond. She never responds when she hears her own name. She has seen in the Panchayat office just today the notice for the reward in her name. Mushai Tudu’s wife had said, â€Å"What are you looking at? Who is Dopdi Mejhen! Money if you give her up!† â€Å"How much?† â€Å"Two-hundred!† Oh God! Mushai’s wife said outside the office: â€Å"A lot of preparation this time. A-1 1 new policemen.† Hm. Don’t come again. Why? Mushai’s wife looked down. Tudu says that Sahib has come again. If they catch you, the village, our huts . . . They’ll burn again. Yes. And about Dukhiram . . . The Sahib knows? Shomai and Budhna betrayed us. Where are they? Ran away by train. Dopdi thought of something. Then said, Go home. I don’t know what will happen, if they catch me don’t know me. Can’t you run away? No. Tell me, how many times can I run away? What will they do if they catch me? They will counter me. Let them. Mushai’s wife said, We have nowhere else to go. Dopdi said softly, I won’t tell anyone’s name. Dopdi knows, has learned by hearing so often and so long, how one can come to terms with torture. If mind and body give way under torture, Dopdi will bite off her tongue. That boy did it. They countered him. When they counter you, your hands are tied behind you. All your bones are crushed, your sex is a terrible wound. Killed by police in an encounter. . .unknown male . . . age twenty-two . . . As she walked thinking these thoughts, Dopdi heard someone calling, Dopdi! She didn’t respond. She doesn’t respond if called by her own name. Here her name is Upi Mejhen. But who calls? 398 Gayatri Chakravo~S pivak â€Å"Draupadi† Spines of suspicion are always furled in her mind. Hearing â€Å"Dopdi† they stiffen like a hedgehog’s. Walking, she unrolls the$lm of known faces in her mind. Who? Not Shomra, Shomra is on the run. Shomai and Budhna are also on the run, for other reasons. Not Golok, he is in Bakuli. Is it someone from Bakuli? After Bakuli, her and Dulna’s names were Upi Mejhen, Matang Majhi. Here no one but Mushai and his wife knows their real names. Among the young gentlemen, not all of the previous batches knew. That was a troubled time. Dopdi is confused when she thinks about it. Operation Bakuli in Bakuli. Surja Sahu arranged with Biddibabu to dig two tubewells and three wells within the compound of his two houses. No water anywhere, drought in Birbhum. Unlimited water at Surja Sahu’s house, as clear as a crow’s eye. Get your water with canal tax, everything is burning. What’s my profit in increasing cultivation with tax money? Everything’s on fire. Get out of here. I don’t accept your Panchayat nonsense. Increase cultivation with water. You want half the paddy for sharecropping. Everyone is happy with free paddy. Then give me paddy at home, give me money, I’ve learned my lesson trying to do you good. What good did you do? Have I not given water to the village? You’ve given it to your kin Bhagunal. Don’t you get water? No. The untouchables don’t get water. The quarrel began there. In the drought, human patience catches easily. Satish and Jugal from the village and that young gentleman, was Rana his name?, said a landowning moneylender won’t give a thing, put him down. Surja Sahu’s house was surrounded at night. Surja Sahu had brought out his gun. Surja was tied up with cow rope. His whitish eyeballs turned and turned, he was incontinent again and again. Dulna had said, I’ll have the first blow, brothers. My greatgrandfather took a bit of paddy from him, and I still give him free labor to repay that debt. Dopdi had said, His mouth watered when he looked at me. I’ll pull out his eyes. Surja Sahu. Then a telegraphic message from Shiuri. Special train. Army. The jeep didn’t come up to Bakuli. March-march-march. The crunch-crunch-crunch of gravel under hobnailed boots. Cordon up. Commands on the mike. Jugal Mandal; Satish Mandal, Rana alias Prabir alias Dipak, Dulna Majhi-Dopdi Mejhen surrender surrender surrender. No surrender surrender. Mow-mowmow down the village. Putt-putt putt-puttcordite in the air-putt-putt-round the clock-putt-putt. Flame thrower. Bakuli is burning. More men and women, children . . .jre-jire. Close canal Critical Inquiry Winter 1981 399 approach. Over-over-over by nightfall. Dopdi and Dulna had crawled on their stomachs to safety. They could not have reached Paltakuri after Bakuli. Bhupati and Tapa took them. Then it was decided that Dopdi and Dulna would work around the Jharkhani belt. Dulna had explained to Dopdi, Dear, this is best! We won’t get family and children this way. But who knows? Landowner and moneylender and policemen might one day be wiped out! Who called her from the back today? Dopdi kept walking. Villages and fields, bush and rock-Public Works Department markers-sound of running steps in back. Only one person running. Jharkhani Forest still about two miles away. Now she thinks of nothing but entering the forest. She must let them know that the police have set up notices for her again. Must tell them that that bastard Sahib has appeared again. Must change hideouts. Also, the plan to do to Lakkhi Bera and Naran Bera what they did to Surja Sahu on account of the trouble over paying the field hands in Sandara must be cancelled. Shomai and Budhna knew everything. There was the urgency of great danger under Dopdi’s ribs. Now she thought there was no shame as a Santal in Shomai and Budhna’s treachery. Dopdi’s blood was the pure unadulterated black blood of Champabhumi. From Champa to Bakuli the rise and set of a million moons. Their blood could have been contaminated; Dopdi felt proud of her forefathers. They stood guard over their women’s blood in black armor. Shomai and Budhna are halfbreeds. The fruits of the war. Contributions to Radhabhumi by the American soldiers stationed at Shiandanga. Otherwise, crow would eat crow’s flesh before Santal would betray Santal.Footsteps at her back. The steps keep a distance. Rice in her belt, tobacco leaves tucked at her waist. Arijit, Malini, Shamu, Mantu-none of them smokes or even drinks tea. Tobacco leaves and limestone powder. Best medicine for scorpion bite. Nothing must be given away. Dopdi turned left. This way is the camp. Two miles. This is not the way to the forest. But Dopdi will not enter the forest with a cop at her back. I swear by my life. By my life Dulna, by my life. Nothing must be told. The footsteps turn left. Dopdi touches her waist. In her palm the comfort of a half-moon. A baby scythe. The smiths at Jharkhani are fine artisans. Such an edge we’ll put on it Upi, a hundred Dukhiram* Thank God Dopdi is not a gentleman. Actually, perhaps they have understood scythe, hatchet, and knife best. They do their work in silence. The lights of the camp at a distance. Why is Dopdi going this way? Stop a bit, it turns again. Huh! I can tell where I am if I wander all night with my eyes shut. I won’t go in the forest, I won’t lose him that way. I won’t outrun him. You fucking jackal of a cop, deadly afraid of death, 400 Gayatri Ch a k r a u o ~Sp iuak â€Å"Draupadi† you can’t run around in the forest. I’d run you out of breath, throw you in a ditch, and finish you off. Not a word must be said. Dopdi has seen the new camp, she has sat in the bus station, passed the time of day, smoked a â€Å"bidi† and found out how many police convoys had arrived, how many radio vans. Squash four, onions seven, peppers fifty, a straightforward account. This information cannot now be passed on. They will understand Dopdi Mejhen has been countered. Then they’ll run. Arijit’s voice. If anyone is caught, the others must catch the timing and change their hideout. If Comrade Dopdi arrives late, we will not remain. There will be a sign of where we’ve gone. No comrade will let the others be destroyed for her own sake. Arijit’s voice. The gurgle of water. The direction of the next hideout will be indicated by the tip of the wooden arrowhead under the stone. Dopdi likes and understands this. Dulna died, but, let me tell you, he didn’t lose anyone else’s life. Because this was not in our heads to begin with, one was countered for the other’s trouble. Now a much harsher rule, easy and clear. Dopdi returns-good; doesn’t return–bad. Change hideout. The clue will be such that the opposition won’t see it, won’t understand even if they do. Footsteps at her back. Dopdi turns again. These 3% miles of land and rocky ground are the best way to enter the forest. Dopdi has left that way behind. A little level ground ahead. Then rocks again. The anny could not have struck camp on such rocky terrain. This area is quiet enough. It’s like a maze, every hump looks like every other. That’s fine. Dopdi will lead the cop to the burning â€Å"ghat.† Patitpaban of Saranda had been sacrificed in the name of Kali of the Burning Ghats. APehend! A lump of rock stands up. Another. Yet another. The elderly Senanayak was at once triumphant and despondent. Ifyou want to destroy the enemy, become one. He had done so. As long as six years ago he could anticipate their every move. He still can. Therefore he is elated. Since he has kept up with the literature, he has read First Blood and seen approval of his thought and work. Dopdi couldn’t trick him, he is unhappy about that. Two sorts of reasons. Six years ago he published an article about information storage in brain cells. He demonstrated in that piece that he supported this struggle from the point of view of the field hands. Dopdi is a field hand. Veteran3ghter. Search and destroy. Dopdi Mejhefi is about to be apprehended. Will be destroyed. Regret. Halt! Dopdi stops short. The steps behind come around to the front. Under Dopdi’s ribs the canal dam breaks. No hope. Surja Sahu’s brother Rotoni Sahu. The two lumps of rock come forward. Shomai and Budhna. They had not escaped by train. Arijit’s voice. Just as you must know when you’ve won, you must also acknowledge defeat and start the activities of the next stage. Now Dopdi spreads her arms, raises her face to the sky, turns toward the forest, and ululates with the force of her entire being. Once, twice, three times. At the third burst the birds in the trees at the outskirts of the forest awake and flap their wings. The echo of the call travels far. Draupadi Mejhen was apprehended at 6:53P.M. It took an hour to get her to camp. Questioning took another hour exactly. No one touched her, and she was allowed to sit on a canvas camp stool. At 8:57 Senanayak’s dinner hour approached, and saying, â€Å"Make her. Do the needful,† he disappeared. Then a billion moons pass. A billion lunar years. Opening her eyes after a million light years, Draupadi, strangely enough, sees sky and moon. Slowly the bloodied nailheads shift from her brain. Trying to move, she feels her arms and legs still tied to four posts. Something sticky under her ass and waist. Her own blood. Only the gag has been removed. Incredible thirst. In case she says â€Å"water† she catches her lower lip in her teeth. She senses that her vagina is bleeding. How many came to make her? Shaming her, a tear trickles out of the corner of her eye. In the muddy moonlight she lowers her lightless eye, sees her breasts, and understands that, indeed, she’s been made up right. Her breasts are bitten raw, the nipples torn. How many? Four-five-six-seven-then Draupadi had passed out. She turns her eyes and sees something white. Her own cloth. Nothing else. Suddenly she hopes against hope. Perhaps they have abandoned her. For the foxes to devour. But she hears the scrape of feet. She turns her head, the guard leans on his bayonet and leers at her. Draupadi closes her eyes. She doesn’t have to wait long. Again the process of making her begins. Goes on. The moon vomits a bit of light and goes to sleep. Only the dark remains. A compelled spread-eagled still body. Active pistons of flesh rise and fall, rise and fall over it. Then morning comes. Then Draupadi Mejhen is brought to the tent and thrown on the straw. Her piece of cloth is thrown over her body. Then, after breakfast, after reading the newspaper and sending the radio message â€Å"Draupadi Mejhen apprehended,† etc., Draupadi Mejhen is ordered brought in. Suddenly there is trouble. Draupadi sits up as soon as she hears â€Å"Move!† and asks, Where do you want me to go? To the Burra Sahib’s tent. 402 Gayatm’ Chakravorty Spivak â€Å"Draupadi† Where is the tent? Over there. Draupadi fixes her red eyes on the tent. Says, Come, I’ll go. The guard pushes the water pot forward. Draupadi stands up. She pours the water down on the ground. Tears her piece of cloth with her teeth. Seeing such strange behavior, the guard says, She’s gone crazy, and runs for orders. He can lead the prisoner out but doesn’t know what to do if the prisoner behaves incomprehensibly. So he goes to ask his superior. The commotion is as if the alarm had sounded in a prison. Senanayak walks out surprised and sees Draupadi, naked, walking toward him in the bright sunlight with her head high. The nervous guards trail behind. What is this? He is about to cry, but stops. Draupadi stands before him, naked. Thigh and pubic hair matted with dry blood. Two breasts, two wounds. What is this? He is about to bark. Draupadi comes closer. Stands with her hand on her hip, laughs and says, The object of your search, Dopdi Mejhen. You asked them to make me up, don’t you want to see how they made me? Where are her clothes? Won’t put them on, sir. Tearing them. Draupadi’s black body comes even closer. Draupadi shakes with an indomitable laughter that Senanayak simply cannot understand. Her ravaged lips bleed as she begins laughing. Draupadi wipes the blood on her palm and says in a voice that is as terrifying, sky splitting, and sharp as her ululation, What’s the use of clothes? You can strip me, but how can you clothe me again? Are you a man? She looks around and chooses the front of Senanayak’s white bush shirt to spit a bloody gob at and says, There isn’t a man here that I should be ashamed. I will not let you put my cloth on me. What more can you do? Come on, counter me-come on, counter me-? Draupadi pushes Senanayak with her two mangled breasts, and for the first time Senanayak is afraid to stand before an unarmed target, terribly afraid.