Shashi Tharoor's various interpretation & Critique on two film's with reference to Postcolonial insights....

Here is my answer according to this below thinking activity....
Click here..


Shashi Tharoor (born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician, writer and a former career international diplomat  who is currently serving as Member of Parliament, Loksabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He also serves as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and All India Professionals Congress.

He talks about various aspects and give his interpretations in his speech.

● His speeches videos are :- 

1. Speech at Oxford Union.
2. Looking back at the British Raj in India: The University of  Edinburgh.
3. Exclusive interview by Karan Thapar On His book  "An Era of Darkness."
4. About British Colonialism in India in His New Book ' An Era of Darkness'.

1. Write on key arguments in Shashi Tharoor's book - " An Era of Darkness".

   This book " An Era of Darkness " which is by Shashi Tharoor and it contains 333 pages. In this book Tharoor talks about British Colonial rule in India. That what Britishers did in prior. This book essentially eliminates from the Oxford Speech is the very popular & widely viral Oxford Speech.
 
   This book depicts atrocities and wrongdoing things which is done by the British Empire.

◆ He give two types of recently writing:- 

1. One is the contemporary scholarship on the field because he said he was not by professional historian that they had been doing...so, he had read Academic journals, books which shows the states of the thinking today by historian, sociologist and others of this issue.

2. Also read upon the lots of contemporary apologies for empire.

● Tharoor further adds that .... people like Lawrence James and more -  the bunch about the British writers who actually acquired a fair amount of visibility & even has a best sellers in which they had conducted self justifying, excersises, glorifying empire or of the very least portray through Rose Tincture recipe. 

   And in this book he wanted to be able to take their claims which had dangerously gone without reputation for some years and conform that had on which is Shashi Tharoor try to do in this book. 

● Then another point he talks upon that ....he himself not agtag or imppsimpos to prove that ..." British had never come to India, then India would be the affluent country. 

● He further added that ...he demonstrated in this book that 3 Industries of India which doing very well.

These are:-

1. Textiles
2. Steal
3. Shipbuilding.

And these 3 are systematically and deliberately targeted and destroyed by the British. Its very natural to happen this because ...

For Example:- { Shipbuilding }

So, our (India) ships used to last minimum 20 to 24 years & British - European ships have average maximum 7 years. So , obviously they were delighted to use Indian ships for craftsmanship & wood.

● Then he talks about British who highly regressive loss that continue even today. Low that seduce and deals with Homosexuality also.

● Then he talks about that India got 377, now the irony is the party of Hindutva is betraying is all the instead of Hindu tradition for tolerance of sexualities.

● He made a very important point about the British who being guilty of creating this massive divisions between Hindus and Muslims which continue till even today. British systematically wanted to creating division and played a very deliberate game.

● He write about Nationalism  and difference between nationalism and patriotism then and now also.
   Tharoor says that in Nationalism in that day is an inclusive Nationalism. It embrassesed in everybody's country in any background, religion, language, cast...
   Today's Nationalism is narrow minded one.

2. Write critique on both the films with reference to Postcolonial insights.

1. The Black Prince:-

'The Black Prince' successfully makes an aware of some determinant historical events of the past.

 The Black Prince is a 2017 international historical drama film directed by Kavi Raz and featuring the acting debut of Satinder Sartaj. It tells the story of Duldeep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire and the Punjab area, and his relationship with Queen Victoria.

In this movie , we can see the Postcolonialism through the main character of Duldeep Singh. In this movie we can see that the condition of Duldeep Singh that he find himself with the two different cultures of his India birth and British education.

After the death of his father Maharajah Ranjit Singh who was the previous ruler of the Sikh Empire. And after his death , Duldeep Singh placed on the throne at the very early of five age.  After the time passed Britishers who colonized Punjab and they take Duldeep with them and separated from his mother.

So, Duldeep consider himself as  a Britisher but it is not actually that. After the few years he meet his mother and his mother told him the story about Britishers that what they did with him in the prior. Then after the death of his mother , he came to know that who is he and which country he is actually belong. He want to go at India but Britishers who deny him to go there.

So in a way, he found himself in dilemma that what should he do?

So, in a Postcolonial perspective .... Duldeep Singh himself free to live with Britishers but he is colonized by his mind. That he didn't do anything according to his mind. He always colonized by that british people who always wants to kept him with under their rules.

3. Summarise Ngugi Wa Thiongo's views :-

Ngugi Wa Thiongo who was an African Writer & Professor of English Literature and language in Africa.
" Decolonizing the Mind" the book by Kenyan novelist and Postcolonial theorist Ngugi Wa Thiongo. It is the collection of essay about language & its constructive role in national culture, history and identity.

In this book he talks about..." What language played the role in African Literature?"

So in the Postcolonialism , Resistance is very important , Resistance is the main buzz word in post colonial. So he said that the another form of to resist language is to
  own it or discard the language totally.

So ,in a way  African Literature resist a lot in this idea.

Thank you.