Litscape- From 1800s to 011 July'22

FROM 1800S Photo Credit: Bhavana Ajit, Nida E Zahra Zaidi, Srijita Mukhopadhyay TO 011 Litscape By Ellipsis-The English and Cultural Studies Association, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus JULY 2022 ISSUE 1 | VOLUME 7

Litscape FROM 1800S TO 011 By Ellipsis-The English and Cultural Studies Association, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus JULY 2022 ISSUE 1| VOLUME 7

This is an electronic version of the Litscape magazine. All copyrights are reserved with the Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University ), Bannerghatta Road Campus. The document may not be copied, scanned or duplicated in whole or in part © CHRIST (Deemed to be University) , Bannerghatta Road Campus 3

Photo Credit: Tess Mariam JoseFOREWORD Photo Credit: Pinterest The first Litscape issue of this year is finally here! From medieval soaps to the 80s-related shows and books you binged, the theme for July encouraged readers to vent out the trauma of a historical tragedy and provided an opportunity to get transported into an era the person yearns to be a part of. This month, several Christite tributes submitted their works to be put up for assessment; the ones showcased in this volume are our personal favorites. This issue also unveils the much-awaited feature called “The Chai” by our very own team. - Litscape Heads Tess Mariam Jose & Arunima Sengupta 4

Photo Credit: Akanshya Dutta CONTENTS 01. SCRIBBLERS To Anne, From Across an Ocean of Shining Waters | Anushree Biswas No Place for me to Fall | Priyanka Elizabeth Prinu The Enduring Appeal of Pride and Prejudice | Jane Caryn Thomas Let me take you down ‘cause I’m going to The Beatles’ Rooftop Concert | Akshata Setlur 02. CLICK IT The Song of Achilles | Bhavana Ajit | Nida E Zahra Zaidi | Srijita Mukhopadhyay 03. ARTISANS Pirates of the Carribean | Meghna Manoj Eleven | Bhavana Ajit Thomas Shelby | Apoorv Agrawal Summer of '93 in Italy | Namitha Sayili Sinatra's Hand | Joel Titus David 04. THE CHAI 05. NEWSFLASH 5

SCRIBBLER SCRIBBLER 6 Photo Credit: Pinterest

TO ANNE, FROM ACROSS AN OCEAN OF SHINING WATERS Photo Credit: Netflix Anushree Biswas My dearest Anne, 2033142 5ENGH Today as I close my very dog-eared copy of the Sonnets by Shakespeare and look up at the sky, dotted with numerous I thank you for galaxies, I think about how soulfully true you were when you said being the anchor that everyone loves a poem that would give them a crinkly feeling to my frail and up and down their backs. A good love poem, in my case. I’ve feeble barge, always wondered who you’d write a love poem for, hadn’t there whenever I am been a Gilbert Blythe. I’ve always wanted to see the world faced with through your eyes as well, like a kaleidoscope of delightful ominous little sceneries that keep shifting with beautiful little shards of your shipwrecks heart rooted deep within each of them. throughout the course of my life. I hope you will pardon me for not being very orderly about how I put forward all my insignificant feelings on paper, but I wish it stirs your heart as you did mine. I perpetually found myself overwhelmed with admiration for all the pictures that you had painted in my empty mind palace that I’m afraid is made entirely out of looking glass (the kind that you’d name a river after when there isn’t a single wavering ripple on it) with your words alone. 7

I only hope you know dear Anne, that in my heart of hearts, I have travelled the entirety of Avonlea with you. I’ve felt the delicate, gossamer-like petals of the white cherry flowers when you ran your fingers through it to make sure they were good enough an offering to the Snow Queen. I’ve felt river water, cold as ice rush in, through my heavily mended socks while you stood on the damp earth that lingers by the Lake of Shining Waters. I’ve seen the prettiest satin whites, greens, and blues that Diana said would compliment your wonderful red hair one snowy morning while you walked to school with her, not realising that your feet had turned numb. I’d very much like you to know here too, that Diana Barry would be my very first love rival, if I were given a chance to walk the same green plains as you. With every second that flows into the river of time like an unending cascade, while I write this I think about the kind of flowers I’d press in with wax in the colour of molten gold to seal this letter if I had the chance to, and allow it to be a sign of the leftover words that stand unspoken. Maybe a violet, for the perseverance of lovers or a bluebell, for Enid Blyton (you and her would’ve made remarkably good friends) once told me of pixies that paint them blue before dawn and plant the little dew drops in them and I’ve always thought it incredibly alluring to think about. Sometimes I think about how glad I am living in a world of early Februaries with its incoming spring seasons. They’re as enchanting as Octobers, don’t you think? I occasionally wish upon numerous dandelion seeds, that float away into the distant world ahead that one day, I’d find you to make vows under cherry trees, to be kindred spirits till time and beyond. Just like the geese in the lake! Here, I shall end my ode to you. I dedicate to you, my pen, paper and every last bit of my fleeting imagination that runs haywire down the silver staircase that you crafted for it with pieces of your own. To my dear Anne with an E, I thank you for being the anchor to my frail and feeble barge, whenever I am faced with ominous little shipwrecks throughout the course of my life. Yours most lovingly, Anushree 8

NO PLACE FOR ME TO FALL Priyanka Elizabeth Prinu 2020356 5 BBA C With swooning eyes on my skin, I flinched as my heart shriveled deep within. I reminisced my fall from grace long before I set my pace, I smoldered, stone cold, at my jeerers of the world known and untold, The ramp, my firmament in the midst of quagmire, Revelers of my world unite, Read my poise before my demise. When the open face of heaven seemed to par me out of sights, So did the death of virtue push my limits out of trial. I pay my deepest homage to Gia Marie Carangi, the first supermodel through this poem. MOVIE – GIA 1998. I reminisced Photo Credit: HBO my fall from grace 9

THE ENDURING APPEAL OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Jane Caryn Thomas 2131368 3JPENG “It is a truth universally acknowledged “It is a truth universally that a single man in possession of a acknowledged that a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” single man in possession These are the captivating opening lines of a good fortune must of one of the most famous English be in want of a wife.” novels - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The novel was published anonymously in 1813 and has sold more than a million copies across the world since then. The book, along with its various adaptations, continues to be beloved by readers in the 21st Century. So, what is it that makes this 19th Century novel so endearing? Besides being a feminist classic, one of Photo Credit: Netflix the reasons for the popularity of the novel is the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet. She is headstrong, quick-witted and rational. Elizabeth wants to marry for love, not upward social mobility as is expected of her. She is also a bookworm, a quality readers can identify with. Additionally, Austen’s brand of humour makes the novel highly amusing. Consider the following line by Mr Bennet - ‘For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?’ 10

Pride and Prejudice may be set in the early 1800s, but the social issues itPhoto Credit: Pinterest highlights still prevail in the modern world. Jane Austen criticises sharp class divides and the inherent sexism against women in English society. One such example is when Mr Collins, Elizabeth’s cousin proposes to her and persists in getting an affirmative answer despite her rejecting him multiple times. Austen also criticises the unequal laws of England which were rooted in patriarchy. Above all, Pride and Prejudice is a story of unconditional love that permeates class barriers. The main characters, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, have to overcome their respective flaws that blind them in order to unite with each other. The popularity of the novel is manifested in its many adaptations, from the 1995 BBC series, the 2005 movie starring Kiera Knightley and the 2012 modern-day Youtube adaptation to name a few. The Youtube series best proves the timelessness of the novel. The series, titled ‘The Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ is filmed in the form of vlogs made by the protagonist. The show converts a marriage proposal into a job offer, gives the secondary characters more depth, and underlines various aspects of the modern-day middle-class struggle. It is indeed a testament to Austen’s ability to craft a female protagonist so endearing that audiences continue to identify with her for centuries. Elizabeth Bennet is a part of us in many ways. She encourages us to stand for what we believe, speak our minds, and even admit we were wrong once in a while. It seems that the present-day society isn’t that different from Georgian Era England after all - women are still taught to marry into convenience, uphold their family’s reputations, and face inequality in various spheres of life. These factors make the novel an uplifting and comforting read, with a message that stays with you. To quote Italo Calvino, ‘A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.’ 11

LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN ‘CAUSE I AM GOING TO THE BEATLES’ ROOFTOP CONCERT Akshata Setlur 2129115 3MAECS If you give me a time machine Sometimes, I wonder (preferably the TARDIS), I won’t pull a whether my love for Marty McFly and the band is not travel to the 1990s to meet my parents something that grows when they were dating. Unlike Holden from deep within my Caulfield, heart but has been I also would not want to call one of my planted there by neo- favourite writers on the phone (who colonial powers... But happens to be JD Salinger) from a booth there is ‘Something’ in New York in the 1940s. I would about the Beatles. probably set the dial to January 30th, 1969 and enter “London” as the location. That is the day when The Beatles gave their iconic Rooftop Concert (I do not know why I feel the need to treat the term as a proper noun). The Rooftop Concert marked their last public performance as a band. 12

I was introduced to The Beatles by the characters in Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood in 2019. Back then, Iwas an angsty teenager reading angsty books (not to say that I have changed). Anyway, the characters in this book loved to listen to songs like “Norwegian Wood” and “Michelle.” They said things like, “Those guys [the Beatles] sure knew something about the sadness of life, and gentleness” (345). So, intrigued as I was, I started playing their songs on YouTube and I have not stopped since. Now, they signify home for me, and the word home has also become a signifier for them. Those who know that I suffer from mild to moderate episodes of Beatlemania, (yep, that’s a word, Google it) wonder why I love this obscure band from the past. Why do I love a band that is far removed from my context, both geographically and historically? Sometimes, I wonder whether my love for the band is not something that grows from deep within my heart but has been planted there by neo- colonial powers. Do I love the band because their lyrics and music tug at my heartstrings? Or is it because I have been conditioned by the Western powers to adore the meet-cutes in New York City rom-coms, sway my head to beats of “Blank Space”, and plough through the books of Charlotte Bronte with the help of a dictionary? These questions worry me. But there is ‘Something’ about the Beatles. “Something” by them soothes me when I am troubled by such questions: Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover Something in the way she woos me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe and how [...] You're asking me will my love grow I don't know, I don't know You stick around, now it may show I don't know, I don't know 13

George Harrison’s voice echoes inexplicable passion in this song. Neither Photo Credit: Noel Abraham Manoj does the speaker know whether their love will grow, nor do they care. They want to enjoy the feeling of living in love as long as it lasts. These lyrics also reminded me of what one of my lecturers said recently. She said that no matter how much we hate the fact that we love an artefact of popular culture, we are forever immersed in popular culture. There is no escaping our guilty pleasures. We are entitled to love what we love. She also said that it is better if we try to understand the socio-cultural standpoints from which we view our object of love. Such an engagement may provide fertile grounds for the sprouting of conflicts in our relationship with the artefact, but it will imbue the relationship with more meaning and value. Whether the music of The Beatles counts as popular culture or high 14

CLICK IT 15 Photo Credit: Tess Mariam Jose

THE SONG OF ACHILLES Perhaps it is the greatest grief, after all, to be left on earth, when another is gone BHAVANA AJIT NIDA E ZAHRA ZAIDI SRIJITA MUKHOPADHYAY 2134046 2134061 2134069 3EPH 3PH 3EPH 16

ARTISANS 17

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN NOT A PRINCESS BUT A KING MEGHNA MANOJ 2033161 3ENGH 18

ELEVEN SHE'S OUR FRIEND AND SHE'S CRAZY! BHAVANA AJIT 2134046 3EPH 19

THOMAS SHELBY ALREADY BROKEN APOORVA AGARWAL 2120290 3BBA B 20

SUMMER OF '93 IN ITALY P.O.V - IT IS THE BRIGHTEST DAY OF ALL THE SUMMERS YOU'VE EXPERIENCED IN ITALY...THIS NOSTALGIC VIEW REMINDS YOU OF ALL THE SUMMERS YOU'VE EXPERIENCED HERE AND CHERISH THEM, BOTH BITTER AND SWEET. 'ITALY DOES GIVE ONE MIXED EMOTIONS' YOU SAID TO YOURSELF. NAMITHA SAYILI 2110155 3BCOMA 21

SINATRA'S HAND SINATRA STOOD AS PROOF THAT TALENT SHOULD NEVER BE OVERLOOKED AND CREATED THE PERSONA OF A 'STAR' AS HE WAS ONE, IN EVERY SENSE. JOEL TITUS DAVID 222773 1MBAJ 22

RUNNING UP THE HILL SRIMOYEE ROY CHOWDHURY 2228519 1MBAG 23

vinland saga bridgerton the chai the concoction to cure all christite woes! padmaavat song of achilles peaky blinders stranger things little women 24

the rank the chosen ones This is the final ranking of Christites Favorite Period Drama pieces based on which era they would like to visit the most to the time period they would like to miss: 1 Peaky Blinders 22.5% 2 Stranger Things 20% 3 Bridgerton 20% Plenty of Anthony Briderton and Kathani Sharma simps! 4 Little Women 15% 5 Song of Achilles 10% 'Name one hero who was happy.\" 6 Padmaavat 5% 7 Vinland Saga 2.5% *The ranking of the shows was conducted through an 8 Queen's Gambit 2.5% online google form 9 Spencer 2.5% 10 The Hunger Games Looks like no one wants to volunteer as tribute, eh? 25

Why the students picked that period piece: 26

little women Little Women was my first classic novel, a book that 12-years-old me picked up from the shelf because it was the biggest book she had ever laid eyes on. The first novel that described everything within the definition of 'home,' the first novel to make me cry, my first fictional ship, the first novel that made me go, \"ooh, this is written well,\"; Little Women gave me the emotional damage and wholesome package. (Also, because I would take back medicine that could cure dear Beth? ಥ_ಥ And hide under a bush to watch the 'Heartbreak' chapter in real-life?? To see Laurie and Jo??? As you can see, I have my priorities sorted) Nirmita Bhattacharya Because I would die in Stranger Things, Hunger Games, The song of Achilles, and Padmawat ������ ������ . And no British regency era coz we don't support colonialism in this house. Choosing a little woman increases my chances of being a painter and then pursuing a rich man who owns a villa, and that means I won't have to work a day in my life, and I can just run around in dresses with flowers in my hair in lush gardens. Aashi Singh stranger things So that I can stop the story from moving to the fifth season:,). I'm tired of it. I'm sorry������ Aarcha Ann Lino I would only want to go back to the 80s to experience the emerging fashion trends and diverse music genres firsthand. Another reason I would like to visit the 80s is because of the absence of smartphones ������. t would be an excellent opportunity to read books and hang out at the arcade or the skating rink with my friends. Bhavana Ajit 27

I want to see what haircut they will bestow upon me. Akanshya Dutta bridgerton To get some tea (pun intended) and not worry about dying like I would if I traveled elsewhere Ashritha V vinland saga Just because I'd love to join the fierce adventure of Thorfinn and witness his battle with Askeladd, the setting of that era was too natural, more of flora and fauna, a hunt for food. It much more takes us to the early men's way of living. So, that would be some of my reasons to be in that era. Piyush Raj song of achilles I want to reenact Faust and see what ancient Greek beauty standards are. Also, maybe accidentally misplace mister Invulnerable's Armor. Not like he's going to need it. Perhaps I'll gift him some good work boots. Aakash Kumar peaky blinders Gangster violence and socialism set in a dangerous city? YES PLEASE! Sidharth M 28

padmaavat Considering I am just going to be a Time Traveler and observe people from a distance, this era would be the most interesting. This \"most\" is made up of multiple narratives that I believe in my mind. Maybe I would want to visit these times for my wild illusions to coincide and clash with the stark realities. Let the mind be delusional than disillusioned. The fictional storyline depicted in the movie did have some validity to it. For example, the Mongolian invasion that Khilji prevented. I want to be in the war rooms of Khilji when he planned his defense and, ultimately, his victory. Mongols are known for many things, but one of the most important was their tolerance in their army. I want to see the Great Mongolian Horde and their fabled arrow shooting technique that they practiced on horses. This similar tolerance and diversity made Khilji's army stand toe-to-toe with the Mongols. I want to visit these barracks where Urdu is being born, where languages coincide much like swords. Discourses are made with a sip of Turkish tea and a bite of a Ghevar. I would also want to visit the Rajputs. Their discipline, strong will, and selective patriotism sound legendary in our times. As an observer, I want to see what kind of ruckus a foreign power presented to the Rajputs. I have a sadistic desire as well. I want to be in the room where Raani (Queen) Padmaavati offered herself to the God of Fire, Agni. I mean, the movie spared no expense in showing the practice. There is music, fire, and the devourer male figure approaching. The audience is lulled into feeling sympathy for the fallen Queen. But I want to see if it was as glamorous as it was presented. Maybe the Queen cried for help. Perhaps she cursed patriarchy, where the only escape is to burn yourself to death. Maybe she cursed the God of Fire. This desire that I have is very human. I want to know if she belonged to herself and not to a ruler, a chronicler, a director, or the audience. Bilal Khan 29

REPORTING LIVE The advent of the new semester was heralded by a change in the skill development sessions. The clubs under Ellipsis were usually exclusive to the members and they were responsible for conducting the sessions. But with the involvement of all students under the English and Cultural Studies, the sessions became more interactive and led to various insights being shared. Shared Shelf, the club dedicated to discussions revolving around books and analysis began their series of presentations with an introduction to creating characters. Various popular characters were criticized and dissected to a state that would have put ex science students to shame! The attendees were tasked with making their own characters describing what motivated them. The Gender Studies Forum session began with a proposition to expand their already long title to include marginalized identities and to promote intersectionality. The club decided to explore the fascinating history of zines and design their own. Several members discovered their artistic talent and several more discovered the lack of. Following in the footsteps of diversity, the Film Club engaged their members in a talk about Indian adaptations and the cultural nuances depicted in them. The new and refreshing wave of ideas really energized the students on a drowsy weekend and is just the beginning of Ellipsis’ innovative ideas for the year. 30

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, we thank our mentor and guide Nivea K Thomas for providing us with her guidance throughout the process. We also thank our Organizing Committee members, Vrinda Bharti, Bhavana Ajit, Akanshya Dutta, Anushka Amrute, Patrick Gawande, Isha Vashista, Sunaina Ulla, Srijita Mukhopadhyay, Aarcha Ann Lino, Sameeksha Sudhindra, Harrshita V, Meghna Manoj, Annu Clair Joseph, Throvnica C and Shreshtha Ranjan for lending us their skills and aid in bringing this magazine to you. Last but not the least, we are grateful to all the contributors who shared their creative and wonderful pieces of work with us, without which this magazine would not have been possible. 31