EDITORIAL
In the 250th anniversary year of
the Declaration of Independence, curated by the founding fathers of American democracy and
adopted by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia on 4th July
1776, it may be worthwhile to remember how the Declaration set free the
thirteen English Colonies from the British rule under King George III and set
in motion the genesis of a nation that is recognised today as the most powerful
democracy in the world.
However, when we reflect on “life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness” enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we
cannot stop wondering at the irony of these democratic ideals being at variance
with ground reality of American society and polity. Besides the tragic
narrative of the “Trail of Tears” related to the fate of the native Indian
tribes who were driven away from their own land, it is significant to note that
slavery was a part and parcel of the thirteen Colonies when the said document
was signed. It is believed that a whole paragraph condemning slavery that had
been included in the initial draft of the Declaration by Thomas
Jefferson was cleverly omitted from the document before it was finalized to
avoid causing displeasure to influential slave owners, especially in the
Southern British Colonies. In this context it is relevant to recall the “What
to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech delivered by the self-educated
former slave Frederick Douglass on 5 July, 1852 wherein Douglass candidly
jolted the conscience of predominantly White America: “The rich inheritance of
justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is
shared by you, not by me…. I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that
the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on
this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the
professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and
revolting.”
The Black Power Movement, Affirmative Action,
Bills and Legislations outlawing segregation may have reduced the extent of the
Black/White divide in the U.S. but the recent Black Lives Matter movement has
again brought to the fore that discrimination on the basis of colour and race
remains a reality. In his American Book Award winning book, Between the
World and Me (2015), Ta-Nehisi Coates writes emphatically: “America
believes itself exceptional, the greatest and noblest nation ever to exist, a
lone champion standing before the white sky of democracy and the terrorists,
despots, barbarians, and other examples of civi-lization.”
Interestingly, the “pursuit of happiness” by
the U.S. as a nation is nowhere so visible as in the arena of war. The
Spanish-American war in 1898, dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, indiscriminate involvement in the Vietnam war, the “Operation
Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the ongoing operations
code-named Epic Fury and Roaring Lion against Iran,
offer glaring instances of the unabated longing of America to satisfy its urge
for expansionism and conquest.
Notwithstanding the above inconsistencies, it
cannot be denied that the U.S. holds a position of its own in numerous spheres
making it the first choice of all concerned across the globe who yearn for
value-based education, lucrative careers or quality of life. A country that can
boast of 430-plus Nobel Laureates and where even school and university dropouts
like August Wilson, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Oprah
Winfrey, Stephen Spielberg among others have displayed their potential to transform
the world with their innovative contributions to life, art and technology,
certainly deserves to be congratulated for the 250-years milestone. The
dictatorial antics of the present President in making a mockery of democratic
principles may be overlooked as comic relief with the Buddhist stance: ‘this
too shall pass.’
Intensive analytical discourses on
democracies and their dilemmas have always figured among the top priorities of
Re-Markings along with issues and concerns related to nation, culture,
religion, gender, race, caste, colour, class, technology, displacement,
migration, environmental crisis and human rights on global scale. It is not
surprising that the plight and predicament of women worldwide figure
prominently in this issue as in most previous volumes. It is doubtlessly one of
the most complex issues confronting mankind since the dawn of human civili-zation.
Be it democracy or dictatorship, the hope
lies in the belief that telling, sharing and writing stories of struggle and
resilience do awaken our conscience and make us look within and without rather
than turn our eyes away from facing reality. Four years ago, 22-year-old Mahsa
Amini died in police custody in Iran for not wearing her hijab ‘appropriately.’
Her sacrifice did not go in vain because out of her martyrdom arose the “Jin,
Jîyan, Azadî” (“Woman, Life, Freedom”) movement that took the world by
storm. In mid-June this year the Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi was sentenced
to 74 lashes for singing without a hijab in a concert. Her loaded response to
the punishment is inspirational indeed: “I am
Parastoo, a girl who cannot stay silent and refuses to stop singing for the
people she loves. This is my right, one I will never surrender… listen to my
voice in this imagined concert, and dream of a free and beautiful nation.” May
Parastoo’s tribe increase to carry forward the resistance and defiance by women
against patriarchal
and tyrannous societies and regimes.
Before concluding I would like to put on
record my grateful thanks to the contributors for their offerings to enrich our
celebratory volume and to the devoted and dedicated members of Re-Markings’
fraternity for their consistent motivation and encouragement. I also take this
opportunity to welcome and congratulate Dr. Satvir Singh on his induction into
the Editorial board.
Nibir K. Ghosh
Chief
Editor
CONTENTS
Views from California
- Jonah Raskin
The Toxicity of War: Mr. Nobody Against Putin - A
Movie Review Plus Commentary / 7, “Delhi Crime”: A Three-Part Netflix Series
Set in India Today / 8, Autobiography of a Romantic Revolutionary/ 12,
Mahasweta Devi:
The Mother Teresa of Indigeneity / 13
An Entire Star Has Left Us: Chinua Achebe, In Memoriam - Tijan M. Sallah / 18
The Poet Upendra Bhanja - Biswanath Kar (Tr. Manoranjan Behura) / 26
The Literary Genius of Satyajit Ray, The Last Renaissance Man of India - Rakesh Bhatia / 31
Not All That Strange: An Examination of Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude - Shernavaz Buhariwala / 35
Bhupen Hazarika: The ‘Bard of the Brahmaputra’ - Sukalpa Bhattacharjee / 43
Consciousness of Women in the Writings of Rabindranath Tagore - Sunita Rani Ghosh / 51
The Poetics of Peace: A Dialectical
Study of Wilfred Owen and Rabindranath Tagore - Shrikant Singh /
54
Symbiotic Ambience in the Folktales of Bihar - Bhavesh Chandra Pandey / 60
Feminism or
Femischism? - Deepa Chaturvedi / 66
Exploring the Life of a Forgotten Pioneer: A Postcolonial Reading of Deepta Roy Chakraverti’s Daktarin Jamini Sen - Lalita Sharma / 77
Killing Intelligence Digitally through Affection and Approval: A Personal View of the AI-saturated Future - R. P. Singh / 87
Afropolitanism and Identity in Selsai’s Ghana Must Go and Teju Cole’s Open City - Navleen Multani / 91
“I must say what I feel and think in some way”: Revolting the Rest Cure and Disen-chantment in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” - Shivika Mathur / 101
God as Nature: A Comparative Study of Avatar and the Bhagavadgita through Deep Ecology - Padm Nabh Trivedi & Smita Jha / 110
Flavours of Home:
Food, Memory and Cultural Identity in Selected Diasporic Writings - Shweta
Awasthi / 120
Technology and Human Beings in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go - Harneet Brar / 126
Space, Place and City: A Conceptual Analysis - Harpreet Kaur / 134
Dramatizing Nothingness/Chaos: Absurdist Aesthetics in Contemporary Feminist Theatre
- Anshul Malik & Tanya Mander /
141
Intersectionality in Trans Autobiographies: A Study of A. Revathi and Living Smile Vidya -Monika & Sunita Siroha / 152
Fragile Thread: Trauma, Redemption and Aesthetic Representation in The Kite Runner -Nidhi Mishra & Manjusha Kaushik / 160
Netaji, the Indian National Army and the Search for an Indian Identity - Monib Ahmad / 164
Entangled Margins: Intersectionality and Narratives of Oppression in Indian Literature - Zahra Ahmad / 171
Attentiveness and the River: Siddartha’s Journey Princepal Singh / 181
Trauma and Healing in Anuradha Roy’s Sleeping on Jupiter - Saloni / 188
Review Essay
Shaping Minds and Changing Lives: Review of Global Luminous Lives by Nibir K. Ghosh - Pallavi Sharma Goyal / 195
Heartiest congratulations on
the publication of the Silver Jubilee September 2026 issue. Reaching this
remarkable milestone of twenty-five years is indeed a moment of great pride and
celebration. It is a proof of your unwavering commitment, vision, and
dedication to sustaining a meaningful platform for literary and scholarly
publication. I feel privileged to be associated with this remarkable
publication and deeply appreciate the opportunity to be a part of its
continuing legacy.
Congratulations once again on this landmark achievement, and my warmest wishes for many more successful and enriching years ahead. - Dr. Satvir Singh, Assistant Editor Re-Markings
On a personal note, I deeply
admire your warm, inspiring, and profoundly scholarly personality. Your
exceptional intellectual contribution, unique perspective, and highly
analytical scholarship have been a great source of learning and inspiration.
Through your valuable work and guidance, countless teachers and scholars in
India and abroad are benefiting and enriching their academic pursuits.
You are truly one of the most
unique, insightful, and highly analytical scholars of our times. Your 25 years
of dedicated service to scholarship and publication are deeply commendable and
deserve the highest appreciation.
Thank you very much, dear and
respected Ghosh Sir, for your invaluable contribution, encouragement, and for
inspiring generations of teachers and scholars.
Warmest congratulations and heartfelt best wishes for many more glorious, fruitful, and inspiring years ahead. Thanking you dear sir. - Dr. Konda Nageswar, Osmania University, Hyderabad
Being part of the second edition
of the Silver Jubilee issue of Re-Markings has filled me with immense joy and
satisfaction. Ever since I have known you, you have always supported and
guided me. Your presence in my life as a mentor is inexplicable.
I would persistently pursue literature, as it has not only filled a void in my life but also enhanced my critical thinking and made me slightly more insightful. - Dr. Pallavi Sharma Goyal, Govt. College, Shivpuri, MP.
©
Re-Markings & Nibir K. Ghosh 2026
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