Abstract
This paper discusses Satyajit Ray's popular movie, "The World of Apu." The writer describes in detail how this film portrays life in the slow lane of poverty, of family, and of personal sacrifice. Life knocks Apu down again and again, taking him on more than one emotional ride. But when he finally returns from his wanderings to see his son for the first time, the film is pervaded by a warm sense of humanity. The paper concludes that the starkness of the pictures, backed by the wonderful emotions provided by Ravi Shankar's musical score, make this a compelling and haunting story.

From the Paper
"The film has a story, an important story to tell, and it tells the story very well. But all the techniques the director Ray uses tell other stories along the way. It is like a newspaper story that has a sidebar story for every main theme and point in the plot. An argument between two close friends in the dark of the night - an argument about love - is not central to the story. But it depicts several things: one, neither of the friends knows much about love but that doesn't stop them from making their points in vain; two, what are friends for if not to debate once in awhile? And three, the point of the argument is related to an unpublished novel Apu has been working on, so argument or not, the fact that the friend is interested in what the other friend is doing brings some sense of warmth to the table."

Tags:idealistic unworldly frustration irony, cultural dynamics, juxtaposition

Abstract
The paper discusses how Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali who had a privileged upbringing in Britain, but who loved his native land. The paper relates that Tagore is primarily known as a multitalented artist - a novelist, essayist, philosopher, poet, Nobel Prize winner, song-writer and singer, playwright and actor. However, the paper notes that he was frequently distracted from artistic creativity due to his concerns about the realities and problems of life in India.

From the Paper
"Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali who had a privileged upbringing in Britain, but who loved his native land. Tagore is primarily known as a multitalented artist - a novelist, essayist, philosopher, poet, Nobel Prize winner, song-writer and singer, playwright and actor. However, he was frequently distracted from artistic creativity due to his concerns about the realities and problems of life in India. This essay will argue that to truly appreciate Tagore, it is necessary to go beyond his artistic oeuvre. Instead, it should be recognized that Tagore also made an important contribution in non-artistic ways. Indeed, although Tagore was..."

Tags:bengali, rabindranath, tagore

Abstract
"The Namesake" is Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel and was published in 2003 by Houghton Mifflin. Lahiri, a Bengali writer who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for her short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, presents a compelling theme in this novel centering around the challenges facing first and second generation immigrants in the United States. Through her theme, plot, and characterization, Lahiri emphasizes the importance of heritage, cultural traditions, and family, and enables her readers to experience the emotional and psychological trauma that ensues when immigrants feel they must choose between adapting to a new culture or clinging to the culture of the homeland they left behind.

From the Paper
The Namesake: A Book Review The Namesake is Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel and was published in 2003 by Houghton Mifflin. Lahiri, a Bengali writer who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for her short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, presents a compelling theme in this novel centering around the challenges facing first and second generation immigrants in the United States. Through her theme, plot, and characterization, Lahiri emphasizes the importance of heritage, cultural traditions, and family, and enables her readers to experience the emotional and psychological trauma that ensues when

Tags:the, namesake, review

Abstract
This essay is an analysis on the life of Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali who had a privileged upbringing in Britain, but who loved his native land. The essay describes Tagore as being primarily known as a multitalented artist - a novelist, essayist, philosopher, poet, Nobel Prize winner, song-writer and singer, playwright and actor. However, he was frequently distracted from artistic creativity due to his concerns about the realities and problems of life in India. This essay argues that to truly appreciate Tagore, it is necessary to go beyond his artistic oeuvre. Instead, it recognizes that Tagore also made an important contribution through his political message, and it argues that his anti-nationalism message is entirely relevant to important modern day problems.

From the Paper
"The non-literary achievements of Tagore may be seen as deriving primarily from his grasp of the poverty of the concept of nationalism. Quayum explains that Tagore perceived the poverty of the notion of nationalism, despite the fact that the notion attracts so many fervent followers. Crucially, Tagore saw that this notion grew out of 'the post-religious laboratory of industrial-capitalism' (Quayam 3), and its problems derive directly from this inauspicious origin. Reflecting this origin, nationalism is, in Tagore's words, an 'organization of politics and commerce' that brings 'harvests of wealth' due to the operation of greed, power and selfishness (Quayam 3). The problem is that nationalism on the one hand impoverishes our souls and cuts us off from our common humanity - and on the other hand, is the direct inspiration for much of the suffering in our world..."

Tags:politics, artist, India, Bengali, achievements, contributions

Abstract
This paper explains that Zadie Smith's novel "White Teeth" presents an optimistic vision of race relations in modern England by depicting how friendship and romance can transgress both religious and racial barriers, even though at times these barriers can create rifts between brothers and husbands and wives. The author points out that the younger and older generations in the novel negotiate the rocky terrain of a newly multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society through the long-standing friendship of the protagonists Samal Iqabal, a Bengali and Archie Jones, a white, living in North London. The paper relates that the ideological excesses of religious, class and other forms of identity that hem individuals in within modern Britain are overcome through human elemental desires to enjoy sensuality and to take delight in the beauty of the flesh.

From the Paper
"The friendship of Samal and Archie shows how the need for human companionship, to say nothing of sexual desire often transgresses racial intolerance and hatred within the world of the novel "White Teeth". For example, because he sees himself as ugly, Archie Jones proves willing to look outside of his own racial group for happiness in his marriage. Thus he marries a beautiful woman of Caribbean ancestry named Clara. Clara wishes to escape the limits of her own conservative religious upbringing, so she escapes into Archie's arms, despite her loveliness and her youth in comparison to Archie. Her own daughter with Archie, although not beautiful, has her father's soul, and similarly seeks out love and friendship with members of other religions, races, and classes."

Tags:bengali, friendship, romance, sensuality, bonding

Abstract
This paper examines the history and ethnicity of Bangladesh whose inhabitants are Bengalis, who are largely descended from Indo-Aryans who began to migrate into the country from the west thousands of years ago. In particular, it focuses on the art and literature of the region.

Outline
Current Bangladesh Ethnicity
Bangladesh History
Political Dynamics in Ancient Bengal (326 B.C. to 1204 A.D.)
Muslim Revolution in Medieval Bengal (1204-1757)
Imperial British Rule in Bangladesh (1757-1947)
The Road to Pakistan
Current Bengali Culture
Bengalese Culture and the Primacy of the Individual
Bengalese Language
Bengalese Writings as a Reflection of the National Character of Bangladesh
The National Temperament of Bangladesh as Typified Through its Legal Documents
Bangladesh National Character as Revealed Through its Literature
Bengali Poetry
Bengali Prose
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Ancient Bangladesh also witnessed the flowering of temple, stupa and monastic architecture as well as Buddhist art and sculpture. There was discernible influence of the Pala art of Bengal on Javanese art. There was a close affinity between the scripts used on certain Javanese sculptures and proto-Bengali alphabet. A group of temples in Burma were built on the model of Bangladeshi temples. The architecture and iconographic ideas of Bengal inspired architects, sculptors and artists in Cambodia and the Indonesian archipelago. The influence of Pala art in Bengal could be easily traced in Nepalese and Tibetan paintings, as well as in Tang Art of China."

Tags:temples, hinduism, islam, art, sculpture

Abstract
This paper asks and analyzes whether peace is possible between India and Pakistan. The paper explains that these two countries contain more than one sixth of the world's population, and their relationship constitutes a major geopolitical issue. The paper explores the history of the countries' interactions, which have been highly conflicted since the independence of India and its partition in two between the predominantly Muslim Pakistan and the predominantly Hindu India. The paper discusses the Kashmiri question, and related conflicts such as the Bengali War. The paper concedes that relations between India and Pakistan seem to be moving toward pacification, and war seems very unlikely as both countries wish for peaceful relations; however, several factors, such as the Kashmir issue, make it very difficult for both sides to achieve completely friendly relations.

Outline:
Strong antagonisms between India and Pakistan make the idea of peace unlikely
The Kashmiri Issue
The Religious Question
Strong Interests in Normalized Relations
Two Nuclear Countries: Source of Tension or Stability?
Dialogues Towards Peace
Strong Interests in Normalized Relations
A "Composite Dialogue"
Progresses
An Ugly Stability
Paralyzing Issues
The Persistence of a Mistrust
Emerging Competition Over Natural Resources
CCL
References

From the Paper
"The rise of Hindus and Muslims fundamentalisms contributes to exacerbate extremisms in each country and rivalry between the two countries. In India, the 6th december 1992, the mosque of Ayodhya was destroyed by activists from the VHP, Shiv Sena and BJP, and provoked the greatest confrontations between Hindus and Muslims since the partition, with more than 2,000 victims.
"Even though Pakistan is not a religious state, the question of the place of religion in the state is very important, and has been used by politicians to unify the nation. Since the beginning of the 70s, there has been an Islamization of Pakistan, with Ali Bhutto who instituted prohibition, and then with General Zia Ul Aq between 1977 and 1988."

Tags:Kashmir, Taliban, Hindu, Muslim

Abstract
The paper discusses how the short story "The Third and Final Continent" by Jhumpa Lahiri defines the changing nature of an identity from a Bengali citizen to an America citizen. The paper shows how by living in the fast paced society of American commerce, Lahiri creates a character that is open to the American Dream and the opportunities it offers for a foreign immigrant. The paper describes how as time progresses in the story, the narrator is able to gain greater access to financial security, and is even able to eventually own a home.

Tags:lahiri, india, immigrant

Abstract
This paper reviews the novel "Brick Lane" by Monica Ali. This is the story of a Bengali woman who grows up surrounded by superstition and the belief in fate. The paper describes her development as she raises her own family in London and attempts to shed her superstitious belief system.

From the Paper
"Learning from her sister that their mother chose suicide, Nazneen becomes able to embrace her strength. In her new found freedom, Nazneen has defied fate and made her own choices, and has not been punished or met death over it. Living in London has expanded her thinking, and her perspectives shift as she sheds her superstitious upbringing It has become clear to her that when a person depends solely on Fate, she possesses no power of her own to change anything. Her husband, as a highly educated man, could not make a happy life for himself where so much autonomy of choice keeps him confused and angry. In India, where there was not as much freedom and wealth, people are forced to rely on fate and their religious beliefs to be able to handle the rough parts of their lives. We can assume Nazneen's children will decide their own fates as they grow up, following their mother's example. Nazneen overcomes incredibly deep programming to make this major shift in her life, but she is happy, and dances in her autonomy."

Tags:Monica, Ali, Brick, Lane

Abstract
The paper looks at the movie "Devdas", a movie about love and the hardships it brings that is based on a much-loved Bengali novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The paper explains that the movie is about a couple which falls in love but which cannot be together and two of Indian's favorite actors/stars Shahrukh Khan as Devdas, Aishwarya Rai as Paro play the main roles. The paper relates that in the classic Indian movie tradition, this is a period piece with lots of music, dance and wonderful costumes.

From the Paper
"The movie "Devdas" is a movie about love and the hardships it brings. This 2002 remake (of which have been several since 1928) is based on a much-loved Bengali novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The movie is about a couple which falls in love but which cannot be together and two of Indian's favorite actors/stars Shahrukh Khan as Devdas, Aishwarya Rai as Paro play the main roles. In the classic Indian movie tradition, this is a period piece with lots of music, dance and wonderful costumes. This film is an expensive Bollywood epic full of glitz and glamour that some viewers may even find somewhat tacky particularly since it is a relatively simple..."

Tags:devdas, review, bollywood