ThAct: Shashi Tharoor and Dark era of inglorious Empire

 Thinking activity on Shashi Tharoor and dark era of inglorious Empire

Hello readers,

Here I'm gonna write this blog about some interesting points about Shashi Tharoor's speeches and ideas on An Era Of Darkness and I've to ponder upon the ideas and focus on the main aspects of the points given by him. And I got this task as my thinking activity by prof. Dilip Barad gave the responses to these speeches and ideas on An Era Of Darkness by Shashi Tharoor , so let's begin …

Introduction:

Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, writer and former international diplomat who has been serving as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009.  more

The very first point which I've to ponder upon is that

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

 

This is the video of an interview for the book "An Era Of Darkness" by Shashi Tharoor . In this video Tharoor talks about his book "An Era Of Darkness" and He says how Britishers attacked the Indian economy by increasing tax. People, who were unable to pay the tax, were whipped, tortured and harassed, treated very cruelly by the Britishers. India was rich in many industries also, such as steel, textile, hand loom etc. These colonizers made Indians weak enough that Indians lost the courage to strike back, and raise the voice. Britain transformed India from the richest country in the world to a poor country. Taxation, economy and many things were made weak. And by taking the advantage of this weakness, Britishers kept on looting and sucking the prosperity of India for 200 years.

Another video is about Shashi Tharoor's Stirring Speech at Oxford Union 

 

In this video Tharoor challenges the prime narrative and sets a postmodern outlook in his arguments. He says that ‘India was governed for the benefit of Britain’. In this video Shashi Tharoor ironically speaks against the master narrative and provides a detailed note with figures and sums regarding how the Indian Economy was severely affected by the colonialism imposed by Britain.  

Then one more video on it  , is about "Looking Back at the British Raj in India: The University of Edinburgh" 

 

In this video Tharoor talks about his PhD and most importantly about the academic rigor which is required for writing any thesis or paper. This was very related to the students of literature, especially those who are doing their graduation and post - graduation.  And he also talks about how Britishers and other colonizers looted India. All the colonizers came to this country and robbed all the useful things. India was capable enough to produce textile and steel, and in agriculture also India was producing many organic and nutritious crops. But the drawback for India was new machinery and technology was not easily accepted.  

Then the second point is that…

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

The Black Prince :

The Black Prince' is the tale of subjugation of the last Sikh king of Punjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh directed by Kavi Raaz. The dilemma in the entire film is over identity. The identity crises, the belongingness, the religious conflicts play a very vital role in shaping the future course of the black prince who has been given the throne at the age of five upon the death of the father and has been abducted by the British government at the age of fifteen.  

"What you seek is all gone now, my black Prince" 

This is a chronicle surrounded over the identity and the fate of the last king of Punjab who loosened the throne and was never allowed to return. It is surrounded around the kingdom exploring relations with Queen Victoria. It is about the story lost in history and the colonial rule has never narrated it. The postcolonial way of looking at the subjects is the narration of the film. It unveils the whole new chapter of Indian History - from the prince's lost kingdom to his journey of being converted to Christianity. Hence, the narrative highlights the things and oppressions which the British have done to the subjects.  

Victoria and Abdul :

Victoria & Abdul is a 2017 British biographical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim. It stars Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith (in his final film role), and Adeel Akhtar. The film had its world premiere at the 74th Venice Film Festival, and was theatrically released on 15 September 2017 in the United Kingdom. It has grossed over $65 million worldwide.

Abdul Karim, a young prison clerk from British India, is instructed to travel to Britain for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 to present her with a mohur, a gold coin that has been minted as a token of appreciation from British-ruled India. Abdul is from a Muslim, Urdu-speaking family in India. 

Thank you …

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