Vasant Valley Today                                                                                             2

January 25, 2000

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AUSTRIALIAN DEBATE TEAM VISITS SHOOL

The Australian Debate Team, which is coached by Mrs. Andrea Cooper, visited school. The topic debated was - This House Fears China. It was a learning experience for the Debate Club

EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Sharad Bajaj and Megha Singh were awarded excellence awards for the outgoing class 12.

MATCHES:

CLASS XII Vs. REST OF SCHOOL

The outgoing class XII played matches with the rest of the school in Basketball and Soccer. In soccer, they lost 4-3, with Bharat Lal Seth scoring 2 goals. Siddhanth Aney and Mr. Shukla pitched in with a goal each. In Basketball too they lost 23-25. It was an extremely close match and the winning points were scored in the last few seconds. The school wishes Class XII best of luck and success and hope they’ll keep in touch.

EDITORS NOTE

The Editorial Board welcomes all suggestions and letter addressed to the editor and requests teachers, parents and students to contribute articles.

What the Body Remembers

Shauna Singh Baldwin

There are few books that make an impact on our outlook and What the Body Remembers is one of the same. The lines of this book are constantly reiterated in ones head long after it has been put down. Initially I found the style of writing quite heavy and dull but towards the middle it picks up and towards the end one cannot put it down.

What the Body Remembers is the story of Roop, a village girl born in the Punjab of 1937. The reader is taken through her childhood with great insight into what the social norms and conditions were back then. Roop is married off to a wealthy Sikh landowner who already has a wife, Satya, who has no children let alone any sons. It is with great complication that Roop and Satya maintain their relationship with their constant struggle for control and for the affection of their husband and the child born with Roops’ entrance into the family. In the background we learn of events brewing which eventually lead to the partition of India. These events are seen through Sikh eyes and the book concentrates on how the partition affected that particular community. What is even more unique about the book is that the whole book is seen through the eyes of Sikh women, which is rare in such narrations.

I learnt horrific tales about partition written as thought they were happening right before my eyes. The partition was probably the biggest travesty done unto Indians by the British and this book relives the pain and suffering many must have endured. In spite of how greatly depressing the book is, I am truly glad that I read it. It makes us appreciate the freedom we have a little more.

Aeshna Roy, 11 B

The Ice Candy Man

Bapsi Sidwa

Bapsi Sidwas Ice Candy Man is an intimate glimpse into events as they tear apart the world of Lenny, a young Parsee girl growing up in the pungent city of Lahore. As the historical disaster, the partition, overwhelms her world, Lenny wakes to both the pains and pleasure of grown ups. Fighting against Polio, the only place where she finds peace is in her Godmothers arms and she finds companionship in her eighteen year old Ayah and the ice candy man. The childs bond with her ayah grows and strengthens as she moves through the highs and lows of life. But towards the end she loses two good friends to the partition. Ayah returns to Amritsar and the ice candy man too disappears over the border.

What is exceptionally striking is that the book is a child’s narrative and yet the insights provided into the various characters in her life are extremely mature. Lenny’s character is one of great complexity. She is very young and is always in the company of her Ayah.She sees and recognises instantly the flirtations and sexual innuendos incorporated in Ayah’s various meetings with men. Her character is perhaps the strongest point of this work. 

One of the major plus points of Sidhwa’s work is that unlike most Indian authors she has kept her language simple and easy to read. Despite  this, the language used  keeps you enchanted as you flip through the pages. Bapsi Sidwa brings in humour and wit in the subtlest of ways.

"Few novels have caught the turmoil of the Indian subcontinent during the partition with such immediacy, such wit and tragic power."

- Meha Desai,11-B