RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE NOVEL ‘THE SLAVE’ BY ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER

Written in the socio-political background of Polish- Cossack war and the Khemelnsky massacre, the novel The Slave unfolds many layers of religion, philosophy, vulnerabilities and guilt of man. The novel also portrays the critical or unbiased representation of the jew community. Isaac Bashevis Singer is a Jewish immigrant writer, and he is known for his unbiased representation of the Judaism. In this novel also Singer portrays this criticism of religion and Judaism and he questions the aim or meaning of the religion if it only serves for the separation of humans. The novel carries various religious allusions, symbols and philosophical truths.

The protagonist Jacob is a religious Jew, with extreme beliefs. He is described as ” he resembles the men in the holy pictures that hung in the chapel in the valley”. He upholds his Jewish identity. At the same time he is in a religious conflict and dilemma. Being an ardent believer , sexual relations and marriage with an “outsider” or non Jew is not allowed in Judaism. But his intense love for Wanda is in conflict with this. Here, a juxtaposition between free will and determinism is evident. The question that does God control his destiny or does Jacob controls his destiny is always in juxtaposition in his mind. In the relationship between Jacob and Wanda the novel questions the religion and the customs by giving the notion that, why do we follow certain rituals if it intends the seperatedness of individuals rather than their union. Apart from this internal dilemma, one external dilemma is there, that is the thought of discrimination or exclusion in the village. And this made him to tell that Wanda is deaf and mute to hide her ethnic Identity.

Another question of choice, righteousness comes in the instance where Teresa tries to seduce Jacob. But Jacob refuses and Teresa feels guilt and she laments.

There are several biblical allusions present in the novel. When Jacob changes Wanda’s name to Sarah, he is alluded to Abraham who changes his wife’s name to Sarah. The name of their son Benjamin also carry biblical allusion. And he takes him to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. Towards the end novelist presents the ultimate philosophy of life by the growing cemetery, which included the remains of Sarah, which was not accepted by the community because of Sarah not being a Jew. So here Singer portrays the ultimate philosophy and truth of life, the death. Death is the leveller, which is equal for everyone irrespective of race and religion. And everyone gets equality through death.

ELON MUSK:-

ELON Musk is one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world.He is ceo,founder and chief engineer in space X.His net worth is 29,700 crores.He is the richest man in the world currently.Musk was born to a Canadian mother and South African father, and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. He briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada at age 17 to avoid conscription.Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa.He is now 50 years old.He attended the University of Pretoria for five months Musk arrived in Canada in June 1989, and lived with a second-cousin in Saskatchewan for a year, working odd jobs at a farm and lumber-mill.In 1990, Musk entered Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.


In 2001, Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society. He was inspired by plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars and discussed funding the project himself.SpaceX attempted their first launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2006,[69] and although the rocket failed to reach Earth orbit, they were awarded a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program contract from NASA later that year.After two more failed attempts, which reportedly caused Musk so much stress.SpaceX received a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services program contract from NASA for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, replacing the Space Shuttle after its 2011 retirement. In 2012, the Dragon vehicle berthed with the ISS, a first for a private enterprise.Working towards its goal of reusable rockets, in 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of a Falcon 9. In 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of a Falcon 9. Landings were later achieved on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, an ocean-based recovery platform. In 2018, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy; the inaugural mission carried Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload. In 2017, SpaceX unveiled its next-generation launch vehicle and spacecraft system

COMPUTER AND IT’S TYPES:-

A computer is a programmable device that stores, retrieves, and processes data. … The term was later given to mechanical devices as they began replacing human computers. Today’s computers are electronic devices that accept data (input), process that data, produce output, and store storage the results.A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system, which uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, calculating algorithms, and displaying information.Computer has become very important nowadays because it is very much accurate, fast and can accomplish many tasks easily.

TYPES OF COMPUTER:-

* ANALOG COMPUTER.

* DIGITAL COMPUTER.

* MAINFRAME COMPUTER.

ANALOG COMPUTER:-

An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuously variable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved planimeters, nomograms, operational amplifiers, mechanical integrators, slide rules, tide pool predators, electric integrators are some examples for analog computers.

DIGITAL COMPUTER:-

Digital computer, any of a class of devices capable of solving problems by processing information in discrete form. It operates on data, including magnitudes, letters, and symbols, that are expressed in binary codes using only the two digits 0 and 1.smartphones, calculators, tablets, personal computer are some examples for Digital computers.

MAINFRAME COMPUTER:-

A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and large-scale transaction processing. IBM zSeries, System z9 and System z10 servers are some examples for Mainframe computers.

ANALYSIS OF THE STYLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE NOVEL THE STONE ANGEL BY MARGARET LAURENCE

Margaret Laurence’s 1964 novel The Stone Angel depicts the story of Hagar Shipley, whose life was filled with chaos and sorrows. Hagar Shipley the protagonist of the novel is a ninety year old woman who outlived her husband and younger son John. Hagar is the daughter of a wealthy shop owner, Jason Currie. As a young woman she marries Brampton Shipley against the wishes of her parents. After marriage she gave birth to two sons Marvin and John, among which Hagar shows favoritism towards younger son John. Hagar and Brampton’s marriage become unsuccessful and they become separated. Hagar takes John along with her, but finally he returns to his father. Hagar visits her hometown Manawaka, after hearing the news of Brampton’s poor health, and he dies soon. Then John too dies soon in a car accident. Upon hearing the news of John’s death, Hagar doesn’t show any emotions. From these incidents she becomes a strong, emotionless person, the stone angel, as the title suggests. Then, she lives with her elder son Marvin and his wife Doris. Hagar runs off from them, when they planned to send her to nursing home, and wanders around at Shadow point. Towards the end Marvin and Doris takes her back home, brings to the hospital. Aware that she is dying Hagar finally apologizes to Marvin.
This life story of Hagar is presented in the first person point of view by the author. The narrator itself is Hagar, who presents the events in the form of fragmented memories and images. The novel is divided into ten chapters and they shifts back and forth between the present and the past. At the present Hagar is a ninety year old woman, whose physical breakdown made her dependent. As Hagar narrates her own story, the narrative arc goes back to her early ages, where the events are presented in a chronological order. But these memories and images of the past occur in a fragmented way, which represents the present, helpless, ill condition of Hagar. Margaret Laurence has incorporated the technique of stream of consciousness in the narration. This made the mental and emotional state of narrator transparent. And by this the readers will also be able to perceive the intensity of her feelings and experiences and they can feel with her. The shift from present state to past memories can also be analysed as the attempt of Hagar to
suppress her fear of mortality. The use of Hagar as narrator to tell her own story makes the work more special. Even though Hagar tells her past in the form of monologues, whose tragic flaw is excessive pride, they can also be considered as biased. By the structure it can also be considered as a kind of autobiography of Hagar. The shift from present to past somehow resembles the narrative part of Benjamin in the novel The Sound and the Fury. Margaret Laurence made the novel rich with various symbols and images which strengthens the narrative. The title itself, identifies with Hagar. The stone angel represents the rigid, unbending, proud self of Hagar. But at the same time she is not completely without emotions. Towards the end she feels guilt, sorrow and regret. So, the symbol of stone angel
clearly depicts Hagar. As an angel she considered herself as superior to others, whose tragic flaw was excessive pride. The symbol of eggs, used by author represents nurture and compassion for others, which lacks in Hagar. While analyzing the images used by the author, the biblical image is superior. The name Hagar, came from Bible, Abraham’s concubine and mother of Ishmael. As Hagar was banished from heaven, Hagar in the novel also left her home. The nursing home and hospital imagery can be related to death which Hagar fears. The narration, images and symbols makes the novel greatest Canadian novels ever written by Margaret Laurence. The two narrative arcs, narration through fragmented images and stream of consciousness technique, first person perspective etc make the structure and style of the novel different.

PROCRASTINATION AND PRODUCTIVITY


Since the global pandemic, covid 19 had made a lot of changes in our ways of life, we are facing a lot of problems also. Nowadays, as most people and students work and study from home, their procrastination also increased. The habit of procrastination was present in most people, but this change to work from home increased this habit to a certain level. Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead. The biggest challenge these procrastinators feel is the inability to start. The word procrastination originated from Latin “procrastinatus“, which itself evolved from the prefix “pro” meaning and “crastinus” which means “of tomorrow”. This can lead to make us feel guilty or ashamed and it leads to reduced productivity and makes a chance to not achieve our goals.

So it is important to stop the habit or reduce the habit of procrastination for achieving our goals. The first step to reduce procrastination is to realize that one is procrastinating. This understanding is important to tackle to this. If one is doing low priority tasks instead of high priority ones, and waiting for “right time”are the signs of procrastination. So realizing that you are procrastinating is necessary. The next step to tackle this habit is to understand why you are procrastinating. Lack of organization can sometimes lead to procrastination. The use of to – do lists to schedule tasks, can reduce this problem to a certain extend. Even a to do list user can still procrastinate. The fear of failure and poor decision making can lead to procrastination. So, after understanding that one is a procrastinator, and why you are procrastinating the final step is to adopt procrastination strategies. Various anti procrastination strategies are making to do list, organized tasks, prioritizing tasks, write down the tasks etc. Promising a reward after completing a task is also another method to avoid procrastination. Minimizing distractions like turning off social media notifications and television are another method to avoid procrastination. There are various mobile applications for users to avoid procrastination, and to stay focused for doing tasks. So by following these steps one can avoid the habit of procrastination and achieve their goals.

WOMEN SAFETY

Top 100 Motivational Quotes on Women Safety in 2021

India is a country known for its rich beautiful culture and tradition. Women are given the place of goddess Lakshmi in the Indian culture.Women in India have been given equal rights as men; however, people do not follow this rule. They contribute to the growth and development of our country; still, they are living in fear. Women are now on respected positions in the country, but if we take a look behind the curtains, we see even then they are being exploited. Each day we read about horrific crimes being committed against women in our country like it’s a norm.

CRIMES

The list of crimes against women is quite long, to say the least. Acid attack is becoming very normal is various parts of the country. The criminal throws acid on the face of the victim to destroy their lives completely. Nonetheless, India has a lot of strong acid attack survivors who are battling for their lives and trying to lead their lives independently.

Domestic violence  and honor killings are very common. The wife stays in an abusive relationship because of the fear of society. The family kills their daughters in the name of honor to keep up with the reputation of their family. Similarly, female foeticide is yet another common crime. Due to the regressive thinking, people kill daughters before they are born.

In India domestic abuse, sexual assault and murder are common forms of violence against women. Dowry death is an ultimate form of murder. Indians are still with the psychology that dowry is tradition and girls’ father loses everything to pay it. Domestic violence or domestic abuse is done by one partner with the other partner in a relationship. The rate of domestic violence is increasing in India. 70% of women are victims of domestic violence. It leads to depression and suicides. It’s not a direct murder but it is a cause of murder for sure. Moreover, girls are forced into marriage at a young age. This child bride is not even mature enough to understand her responsibility. Acid throwing is a form of violent assault which ruins the beautiful girl’s life. ‘Cheat in a relationship’ is the other commonly found crime against women. A man easily breaks up with his wife and starts a new life with another bride. 

The list continues as crimes against women are on the rise. Other crimes also include child marriages, child abuse, rape, trafficking and many more.

WAY TO ENSURE WOMAN SAFETY

Quotes about Protect Women (59 quotes)

Although the list of crimes is very long, we can take measures to ensure women’s safety in our country. Firstly, the government must make stringent laws that ensure the punishment of criminals immediately. Fast track courts must be set so the victim gets justice instantly. This will serve as a great example for other men to not commit crimes against women.

Most importantly, men must be taught to respect women from an early age. They must consider women as equals so they don’t even think of harming them. When you consider someone inferior, you tend to oppress them. If this thinking goes away, half of the crimes will automatically end.

In short, crimes against women are stopping the growth of our country. We must not put the blame on women and ask them to be extra careful. Instead, we must ask the men to change their thinking and work to make the world a safer place for women.

FIGHT BACK ! BE ALERT!

INTERNET

The Internet is a vast network that connects computers all over the world. Through the Internet, people can share information and communicate from anywhere with an Internet connection.In the present world without internet nothing will happen.INTERNET is a short form of Interconnected Network of all the Web Servers Worldwide. It is also called the World Wide Web or simply the Web.The Internet is used for many things, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web. The most used service on the Internet is the World Wide Web.Internet is a system that interconnects the different computer systems across the world. … The Internet system carries an extensive range of information resources and services including World Wide Web (WWW), telephony, electronic mail, etc. It uses standard internet protocols, such as TCP/IP and HTTP, etc.

Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the world with each other and to the World Wide Web. It uses standard internet protocol suite to connect billions of computer users worldwide. It is set up by using cables such as optical fibers and other wireless and networking technologies. At present, internet is the fastest mean of sending or exchanging information and data between computers across the world.

Advantages of the Internet:


Instant Messaging: You can send messages or communicate to anyone using internet, such as email, voice chat, video conferencing, etc.


Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost every place in a city, country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any other service near your location.


Online Shopping: It allows you to shop online such as you can be clothes, shoes, book movie tickets, railway tickets, flight tickets, and more.


Pay Bills: You can pay your bills online, such as electricity bills, gas bills, college fees, etc.


Online Banking: It allows you to use internet banking in which you can check your balance, receive or transfer money, get a statement, request cheque-book, etc.


Online Selling: You can sell your products or services online. It helps you reach more customers and thus increases your sales and profit.


Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it using a system with internet access. Today, many companies allow their employees to work from home.


Entertainment: You can listen to online music, watch videos or movies, play online games.


Cloud computing: It enables you to connect your computers and internet-enabled devices to cloud services such as cloud storage, cloud computing, etc.


Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and send you CV through email if required.

Types of internet connections include:-

* DSL (digital subscriber line).


* cable broadband.


* fibre optic broadband.


* wireless or Wi-Fi broadband.


* satellite and mobile broadband.
dedicated leased line.

Disadvantages of the Internet:-

* Addiction, time-waster, and cause distraction.


* Bullying, trolls, stalkers, and crime.


* Spam and advertising.


* Pornographic and violent images.


* Never being able to disconnect from work.


* Identity theft, hacking, viruses, and cheating.


* Affects focus and patience.

PANCHAYAT – A REVIEW

The 2020 comedy – drama, Hindi web series Panchayat is a social commentary on the prevailing system in most part of rural India. As the title, the plot revolves around a Pnnchayat office in a remote village called Phulera. Abhishek Tripathi is a fresh engineering graduate who didn’t got placement in his final year. As he got this job opportunity as the panchayat secretary, he decides to give an attempt, as there are no other options left after his graduation. The series opens with his arrival at Phulera and meets former village Sarpanch who is the husband of current village Sarpanch, the deputy sarpanch and his assistant. Through a series of funny episodes, the director shows the present condition of the panchayat office, the people and the ruling system. Jitendra is working to crack CAT so that he can switch his job. The first season of Panchayt consists of eight episodes named “Gram Panchayat Phulera”, “Bhootha ped”, “Chakke wali Kursi”, “Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho?”, “Computer Nahi Monitor”, “Bahot Hua Samman”, “Ladka Tez Hai Lekin”, and “Jab Jago Tabhi Seva”. Each episodes carry sarcastic portrayal of the Panchayat, such as the issue of solar plantation and the revolving chair. Sarpanch feels diminished in the eyes of villageres, because of not possessing a revolving chair like that of the secretary. A poorly phrased slogan for the family planning leads to a chain of events later.

The script, actors, characters and situations are well connected. The system of village politics, the low level corruption, simple lifestyle, the role of women in politics, kindheartedness of villagers are presented in a realistic manner. The present woman Panchayat secretary is the perfect example for the role of women in Indian politics. Even though she is a representative , as part of women reservation, the power is still in the hands of her husband. The performance of Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav and other artists made the series more realistic and gained many critical acclamation.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND IT’S ROLE IN SOCIETY

Social media plays vital role in present society.It become one of the daily necessary activity.Social media is typically used for social interaction and access to news and information, and decision making. It is a valuable communication tool with locally and worldwide, as well as to share, create, and spread information.Social media enables its users to stay in contact by making communication easier. Sharing pictures, videos, expressing thoughts, ideas, and documents are just one click away. Exchanging messages and data from one corner of world to other is made easiest with the help of social media.The term social media refers to a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through virtual networks and communities. Social media is internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content, such as personal information, documents, videos, and photos.

The negative effects of mass media on society can lead people towards poverty, crime, nudity, violence, bad mental and physical health disorders and others as such severe outcomes. For example mob hitting innocents by getting carried away from the rumors spread on the internet has been common.Social media, or more specifically news media- plays an important role in democratic societies because they allow for participation among citizens.when it comes to healthy democratic networks, it is crucial that that news remains true so it doesn’t affect citizens levels of trust.Eighty-six percent (86%) of people use social media at least once per day, including 72% who use it multiple times per day. Social media is so popular because it allows people to manage and accomplish their everyday activities. Social media is a great way to connect with people who you may not see all the time. It’s also great for making friends. Social media helps you build connections with kids who have the same interests. It is a quick way for people to get to know each other, even if they’re living across the world from one another.

“Don’t use social media to impress people use it to impact people”.