Dr. Saurav Kumar | Galgotias University (original) (raw)
Papers by Dr. Saurav Kumar
Transcultural Humanities in South Asia, 2022
The Palgrave handbook of Global Social Problems, 2022
In recent two decades, short film has emerged as a powerful medium for representing gerontologica... more In recent two decades, short film has emerged as a powerful medium for representing gerontological issues. In short films, short time and a sincere focus on a single issue combine with the audiovisual effect, and they together try to create a representation, highly impactful. In India, films like Kheer, The End, Rishton Ka Bojh, Purana Pyaar, and Teaspoon feature the lives of elder men in India. Pinni, Aaji, Maa Nahi Bhoolti, Dadi, and Nano So Phobia are short films that chiefly explore the experiences of Indian older women.
Pinni is the story of Sudha, a middle-class lonely Panjabi woman who has just entered third age and feels neglected by his family. Nano So Phobia is a short film about a Parsi older woman who lives alone in her apartment. Her married daughter lives in Boston and calls her occasionally for very brief talks. The older woman suffers from the fear of little people or midgets (in psychology, the condition is called nonosophobia). Aaji is about an older maid who is the sole bread-earner of her family. Due to physical aging, she fails to do her job properly and fast. Her employer plans to fire her and hire a new younger maid. Maa Nahi Bhoolti tells the story of a woman in fourth age. Her son admits her to an old age home with an assurance that he will keep visiting her. While the son “abandons” his mother, the mother keeps remembering the pleasant memories she shares with her son. Dadi is the story of a grandmother. “Dadi” is Hindi word for “grandmother.” The old woman’s son comes home with medicines for her and samosas for the rest of the family. Dadi desires to taste the delicious samosas. Her son scolds her for showing interest in samosas citing her health condition.
The present chapter is chiefly about representations of female aging in Pinni, Nano So Phobia, Aaji, Maa Nahi Bhoolti, and Dadi. This chapter has two purposes: (i) to explore short film as a genre of social change and (ii) to critically study five Hindi short films in order to contemplate the various problems and issues faced by Indian older women. Unlike Hindi feature length films which have mostly stereotyped or caricatured elders, the five Hindi short films aim at enlightening viewers with the fact that there can be diverse manifestations of female aging. Also, in these short films, the excessive medium, wherein the style exceeds the function of thematic interpretation and rather impacts the very materiality of the screen performance, and authentic slices of life collaborate to make possible bold (and many times, subversive) representations of the continued sociocultural marginalization of Indian older females.
Indian Journal of Gender Studies (SAGE), 2022
In 2013, Sharmila Tagore1 called Bollywood ‘[n]o country for old women’.1 Like all older women, a... more In 2013, Sharmila Tagore1 called Bollywood ‘[n]o country for old women’.1 Like all older women, aging female actors of Bollywood too have experienced what Susan Sontag calls ‘the double standard of aging’: at older ages women are viewed as being too old to play central figures unlike men who play lead roles for a longer time. Aging reduces women’s suitability as ‘heroines’ in the film industry. The article (a) provides a critical genealogy of female aging in the world of Indian cinema, which was born in the colonial era and (b) assesses the representation of older women in more recent Bollywood movies.
The Routledge Companion to Humanism and Literature, 2022
Transcultural Humanities in South Asia: Critical Essays on Literature and Culture (Routledge), 2022
The Gerontologist (Oxford University Press), 2022
Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), 2021
The Bed is an English translation of Priyamvad's short story, Palang. The story centres around th... more The Bed is an English translation of Priyamvad's short story, Palang. The story centres around the relation between an old woman and her unmarried son.
The Routledge Handbook of Vegan Studies, 2021
Almost half a decade into the vegan movement, there are clearly decipherable influences of vegani... more Almost half a decade into the vegan movement, there are clearly decipherable influences of veganism on various dimensions of Indian life and thought. A range of literatures focusing on Indian vegan recipes have played an important role in the rise of vegan foodways in India. Not only many food establishments have begun labeling their food items as “vegan” and “veganizable,” vegan e-commerce is also flourishing. Ahimsa, which has been an Indian concept central to the development of Vegan Studies, has left its impressions on Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In My Experiments with Truth, Mahatma Gandhi, a vocal advocate of ahimsa, vehemently criticizes the violence and suffering meted out to animals, emphasizing vegetarianism and abstinence from milk. Jainism is one Indian religion that closely reflects the beliefs of ethical veganism. Jainism considers entire nature to be alive: Jains believe that each and every component of nature, right from rocks and trees to gods, contains an immortal soul, or jiva. The vegan nature inherent in the asastriya vratas of Hinduism further consolidates the claim that the spirit of veganism exists in Indian cultural memory from the beginning, though in the form of small patches. This chapter has two purposes. First, it aims to critically analyze the geo-cultural development of veganism in India. Second, it contemplates how the emerging vegan theory and criticism can intervene in the discourses that constitute the present Indian culture.
The Official Publication of Association for English Studies of India, 2020
Yayati is Girish Karnad’s debut play. It was published in 1961. The play is centred on the person... more Yayati is Girish Karnad’s debut play. It was published in 1961. The play is centred on the personal crisis of the playwright which emerged because of his parents’ reluctance to send him abroad in order to pursue higher studies on Rhodes Scholarship. The parents feared that he might settle in Britain after completing higher studies there. To Karnad, such a mindset of parents might doom his illustrious future waiting in Britain. If one reads the dialogues of the text and delves into the psychological conflicts to be found in the interstices, one may conceive that the young author, in his attempt to showcase his own anxiety, has sidelined the need of the proper assessment of the ingenuity of the grievance of his parents.
Impression Publication, Patna, 2019
"Magahi's Search for Identity: A Diachronic Inquiry" is one of the chapters in a book titled, Dis... more "Magahi's Search for Identity: A Diachronic Inquiry" is one of the chapters in a book titled, Discerning Buddhism in Contemporary Scenario.
Muse India, 2019
Till the first half of twentieth century, the main thrust of gerontology was premised in the fiel... more Till the first half of twentieth century, the main thrust of gerontology was premised in the field of medicine. Even the scholars from social sciences relied on the principles and beliefs framed by medicine to begin working on old age. In the last quarter of twentieth century, scholars working on old age began to feel that something was missing in a purely scientific and quantitative gerontology: a fundamental question about old age-what does it mean to grow old?-was yet to be addressed (Cole and Ray 1). The cultural turn in the second half of the century gave birth to the trends of looking at old age culturally and thus led to the emergence of cultural gerontology. Cultural gerontology paved the way for an area of research focusing on different meanings of aging-humanistic gerontology. The cultural turn was basically the outcome of interactions between post-structuralism and newly emergent theoretical strands-feminism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, body studies and queer studies (Twigg and Martin 353). Humanistic gerontology covers interventions of humanities such as history, literature, philosophy, ethics and arts in studies on old age.
Conference Presentations by Dr. Saurav Kumar
The piece is the abstract of the paper presented in the international conference on "“Renaissance... more The piece is the abstract of the paper presented in the international conference on "“Renaissance Man”: Re-Appraisal and Re-Invention," organized at the department of English, Jadavpur University, Kollkata, India
Common Ground Research Network
Studies on aging and old age by literary scholars began in the west in the 1970s with the emergen... more Studies on aging and old age by literary scholars began in the west in the 1970s with the emergence of a theoretical approach that combined literary criticism with issues emerging in gerontology, an area of which scholars from biological sciences and social sciences were still sole custodians. In its early days, literary gerontology, as this new trend in modern gerontology was referred to, laid emphasis on the problems of attitudes of literary authors, towards becoming old and the stereotypes related to old age....
Papr by Dr. Saurav Kumar
Transcultural Humanities in South Asia, 2022
The Palgrave handbook of Global Social Problems, 2022
In recent two decades, short film has emerged as a powerful medium for representing gerontologica... more In recent two decades, short film has emerged as a powerful medium for representing gerontological issues. In short films, short time and a sincere focus on a single issue combine with the audiovisual effect, and they together try to create a representation, highly impactful. In India, films like Kheer, The End, Rishton Ka Bojh, Purana Pyaar, and Teaspoon feature the lives of elder men in India. Pinni, Aaji, Maa Nahi Bhoolti, Dadi, and Nano So Phobia are short films that chiefly explore the experiences of Indian older women.
Pinni is the story of Sudha, a middle-class lonely Panjabi woman who has just entered third age and feels neglected by his family. Nano So Phobia is a short film about a Parsi older woman who lives alone in her apartment. Her married daughter lives in Boston and calls her occasionally for very brief talks. The older woman suffers from the fear of little people or midgets (in psychology, the condition is called nonosophobia). Aaji is about an older maid who is the sole bread-earner of her family. Due to physical aging, she fails to do her job properly and fast. Her employer plans to fire her and hire a new younger maid. Maa Nahi Bhoolti tells the story of a woman in fourth age. Her son admits her to an old age home with an assurance that he will keep visiting her. While the son “abandons” his mother, the mother keeps remembering the pleasant memories she shares with her son. Dadi is the story of a grandmother. “Dadi” is Hindi word for “grandmother.” The old woman’s son comes home with medicines for her and samosas for the rest of the family. Dadi desires to taste the delicious samosas. Her son scolds her for showing interest in samosas citing her health condition.
The present chapter is chiefly about representations of female aging in Pinni, Nano So Phobia, Aaji, Maa Nahi Bhoolti, and Dadi. This chapter has two purposes: (i) to explore short film as a genre of social change and (ii) to critically study five Hindi short films in order to contemplate the various problems and issues faced by Indian older women. Unlike Hindi feature length films which have mostly stereotyped or caricatured elders, the five Hindi short films aim at enlightening viewers with the fact that there can be diverse manifestations of female aging. Also, in these short films, the excessive medium, wherein the style exceeds the function of thematic interpretation and rather impacts the very materiality of the screen performance, and authentic slices of life collaborate to make possible bold (and many times, subversive) representations of the continued sociocultural marginalization of Indian older females.
Indian Journal of Gender Studies (SAGE), 2022
In 2013, Sharmila Tagore1 called Bollywood ‘[n]o country for old women’.1 Like all older women, a... more In 2013, Sharmila Tagore1 called Bollywood ‘[n]o country for old women’.1 Like all older women, aging female actors of Bollywood too have experienced what Susan Sontag calls ‘the double standard of aging’: at older ages women are viewed as being too old to play central figures unlike men who play lead roles for a longer time. Aging reduces women’s suitability as ‘heroines’ in the film industry. The article (a) provides a critical genealogy of female aging in the world of Indian cinema, which was born in the colonial era and (b) assesses the representation of older women in more recent Bollywood movies.
The Routledge Companion to Humanism and Literature, 2022
Transcultural Humanities in South Asia: Critical Essays on Literature and Culture (Routledge), 2022
The Gerontologist (Oxford University Press), 2022
Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), 2021
The Bed is an English translation of Priyamvad's short story, Palang. The story centres around th... more The Bed is an English translation of Priyamvad's short story, Palang. The story centres around the relation between an old woman and her unmarried son.
The Routledge Handbook of Vegan Studies, 2021
Almost half a decade into the vegan movement, there are clearly decipherable influences of vegani... more Almost half a decade into the vegan movement, there are clearly decipherable influences of veganism on various dimensions of Indian life and thought. A range of literatures focusing on Indian vegan recipes have played an important role in the rise of vegan foodways in India. Not only many food establishments have begun labeling their food items as “vegan” and “veganizable,” vegan e-commerce is also flourishing. Ahimsa, which has been an Indian concept central to the development of Vegan Studies, has left its impressions on Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In My Experiments with Truth, Mahatma Gandhi, a vocal advocate of ahimsa, vehemently criticizes the violence and suffering meted out to animals, emphasizing vegetarianism and abstinence from milk. Jainism is one Indian religion that closely reflects the beliefs of ethical veganism. Jainism considers entire nature to be alive: Jains believe that each and every component of nature, right from rocks and trees to gods, contains an immortal soul, or jiva. The vegan nature inherent in the asastriya vratas of Hinduism further consolidates the claim that the spirit of veganism exists in Indian cultural memory from the beginning, though in the form of small patches. This chapter has two purposes. First, it aims to critically analyze the geo-cultural development of veganism in India. Second, it contemplates how the emerging vegan theory and criticism can intervene in the discourses that constitute the present Indian culture.
The Official Publication of Association for English Studies of India, 2020
Yayati is Girish Karnad’s debut play. It was published in 1961. The play is centred on the person... more Yayati is Girish Karnad’s debut play. It was published in 1961. The play is centred on the personal crisis of the playwright which emerged because of his parents’ reluctance to send him abroad in order to pursue higher studies on Rhodes Scholarship. The parents feared that he might settle in Britain after completing higher studies there. To Karnad, such a mindset of parents might doom his illustrious future waiting in Britain. If one reads the dialogues of the text and delves into the psychological conflicts to be found in the interstices, one may conceive that the young author, in his attempt to showcase his own anxiety, has sidelined the need of the proper assessment of the ingenuity of the grievance of his parents.
Impression Publication, Patna, 2019
"Magahi's Search for Identity: A Diachronic Inquiry" is one of the chapters in a book titled, Dis... more "Magahi's Search for Identity: A Diachronic Inquiry" is one of the chapters in a book titled, Discerning Buddhism in Contemporary Scenario.
Muse India, 2019
Till the first half of twentieth century, the main thrust of gerontology was premised in the fiel... more Till the first half of twentieth century, the main thrust of gerontology was premised in the field of medicine. Even the scholars from social sciences relied on the principles and beliefs framed by medicine to begin working on old age. In the last quarter of twentieth century, scholars working on old age began to feel that something was missing in a purely scientific and quantitative gerontology: a fundamental question about old age-what does it mean to grow old?-was yet to be addressed (Cole and Ray 1). The cultural turn in the second half of the century gave birth to the trends of looking at old age culturally and thus led to the emergence of cultural gerontology. Cultural gerontology paved the way for an area of research focusing on different meanings of aging-humanistic gerontology. The cultural turn was basically the outcome of interactions between post-structuralism and newly emergent theoretical strands-feminism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, body studies and queer studies (Twigg and Martin 353). Humanistic gerontology covers interventions of humanities such as history, literature, philosophy, ethics and arts in studies on old age.
The piece is the abstract of the paper presented in the international conference on "“Renaissance... more The piece is the abstract of the paper presented in the international conference on "“Renaissance Man”: Re-Appraisal and Re-Invention," organized at the department of English, Jadavpur University, Kollkata, India
Common Ground Research Network
Studies on aging and old age by literary scholars began in the west in the 1970s with the emergen... more Studies on aging and old age by literary scholars began in the west in the 1970s with the emergence of a theoretical approach that combined literary criticism with issues emerging in gerontology, an area of which scholars from biological sciences and social sciences were still sole custodians. In its early days, literary gerontology, as this new trend in modern gerontology was referred to, laid emphasis on the problems of attitudes of literary authors, towards becoming old and the stereotypes related to old age....