Perspectives 2015 - 2016 One World, Many Paradigms the Way We See It
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Perspectives 2015 - 2016 One World, Many Paradigms The way we see it A Collection of Book Reviews by Students of Social Sciences Contributors Sujitha Prabhakar Milonee Sanghavi Vidisha Mishra Annigeri Aishwarya Akanksha Sridhar Deepa Padmar Yogada Sandeep Joshi Anshu Pal Sanah Javed Anshu Pal Pranav S. Krishnan Aakanksha T. Supreetha Krishna Nishta Sinha Nirmal Bhansali Prajwal M. Lakshmi Karlekar Nikita Divekar Nikita Divekar Talin S. Animesh Bhandarkar Sheeba Jacintha Maithili Manoharan Nithin J Shuba S. Sujitha P Sanyuktaa Thakur Twinkle Sethia Ashwini Kailas Shreema Upadhyaya Amir Sohail Nidhi Srivatsa Ishika Saxena Nikita F Nikita F Shreya R Meera B Kaustubha Verma Editorial Committee Faculty in Charge Dr. K. Kanishka Student Editors Ishika Saxena, Lakshmi Karlekar Foreword Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. Reading, writing and articulating one’s thoughts has at all times and all ages been a great source of knowledge for mankind. The department of Social Sciences has created a wonderful opportunity for passionate readers and writers to excel in this realm. I am glad to mention that the students of Social Sciences have always been very special for their positive attitude and for their ability to excel in every opportunity given t o t hem. P erspectives “ A Collection of Book R eviews” i s one s uch opportunity given f or a ll t he s tudents t o r ead, w rite a nd s hare t heir pe rspectives. It i s heartening t o know t hat more t han 100 r eviews been registered, while 50 be st reviews are selected for publication. Reading is no doubt a s tupendous habit as it broadens vision. It can make an inactive and unproductive mind rich and cultivatable. It brings out the best in someone. Reading also helps one to see the present relations between the past and the future and thus develop a critical perspective. It is noteworthy to mention that students are provided wonderful experience and enriching exposure to reflect on issues portrayed by leading authors. As t he s eventh edition of P erspectives i s b eing successfully released, I appr eciate a ll the faculty members for motivating students to review books. Motivating and engaging students to read, analyze, w rite, and articulate t heir t houghts com es eas ily w hen they are cur ious, exploring a nd e ngaged. F aculties c an t ake advantage of s tudents’ innate t alents and inquisitiveness to develop language skills, while reading different concepts. At this magnificent outset, I congratulate and appreciate the students for taking the initiative of reviewing books and sharing their perspectives. I am sure this en riching experience has kindled their aptitude to read and share more in the days to come. I wish all the readers all the best. Rev. Fr. Sebastian Mathai Principal, Christ Junior College Preface “The aptitude to articulate eloquently is one of the greatest gift acquired by the chosen few” - - Dr. K Kanishka . Department of S ocial S ciences has al ways be en a special pl ace for t he budding s ocial s cientists w ho c an e xplore t he u nexplored know ledge, creativity, s kills e tc. Perspectives “A Book Review” is one such academic venture conceptualized to give impetus to the voracious readers and prolific writers to share their point of view on different books they have read. It is a platform created for all the students to read, analyze and share their perspectives. The crux of this initiative is to inculcate, strengthen and enhance the reading, analyzing, writing skills among the student fraternity. This endeavor kindles the students to go beyond the syllabus giving scope for exploring different horizons. As we release the seventh edition of Perspectives, we would like to express our gratitude to our Principal, Fr. Sebastian Mathai for his constant guidance and support. We also extend our appreciation a nd t hankfulness t o a ll t he f aculties of t he S ocial S ciences D epartment w ho mentored and monitored the process of book reviewing. We would like to thank the student editorial c ommittee f or the ir tir eless e fforts t aken in collecting, compiling a nd editing Perspectives. We would also like to thank Mr. Joy Vadakan for elegantly and aesthetically designing P erspectives. L ast a nd de finitely t he m ost i mportant s takeholders, t he s tudent reviewers need to be applauded for intellectual rigor and commitment. Machiavelli said, “Anyone can state a f act but it takes an artist to have an opinion.” As we release P erspectives, we hope th at our e fforts to r each out to all th e s tudents w ill be w ell received and we hop e t hat eve ryone w ho reads t hese r eviews w ill enj oy the pe rspectives shared by the reviewers. Dr. Kanishka.k Faculty, Department of Social Sciences INDEX Sl. No. SUBJECT Page No 1. Economics 02 - 15 2. Political Science 16 - 40 3. History 41 - 50 4. Psychology 51 - 80 5. Sociology 81 - 92 6. Research Paper 94 -104 1 | Page Perspectives - One World, Many Paradigms t he way we see it ECONOMICS CONTENTS Sl. No. Title and Author Reviewer 1. King Solomon’s Mines, H Rider Haggard Sujitha Prabhakar 2. English, August, Upamanyu Chatterjee Vidisha Mishra 3. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Akanksha Sridhar 4. The Bachelor of Arts, R.K.Narayan Yogada Sandeep Joshi 5. Making Globalization Work Sanah Javed 6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki Pranav S. Krishnan 7. Chanakya’s Chant,Ashwin Sanghi Supreetha Krishna Naked Economics – Undressing The Dismal 8. Nirmal Bhansali Science, Charles Wheelan 2 | Page Perspectives - One World, Many Paradigms t he way we see it TITLE AND AUTHOR: KING SOLOMON’S MINES, H RIDER HAGGARD REVIEWER: SUJITHA PRABHAKAR, II HEPP ‘N’ TEACHER IN CHARGE- MR XAVIER LOUIS DSOUZA ABOUT THE AUTHOR ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ is a popular novel authored by the famous English fabulist H Rider Haggard and published in the year 1885, which is of the Lost World literary genre. Sir H Rider Haggard was also involved in agricultural reforms throughout the whole of the British Empire along with being a writer of exotic adventure literature. Some of his other works are ‘She’, ‘Ayesha’, ‘Scramble for Africa’, etc. BOOK REVIEW ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, although officially of adventurous nature, deals with aspects ranging from British imperialism which aimed at opening new markets by using political devices to the consumer culture of the British, which in those times, was usually called the “finders keepers” attitude. “Wealth is good, and if it comes our way we will take it; but a gentleman does not sell himself for wealth,” says Sir H Rider Haggard in ‘King Solomon’s Mines’. In the beginning, the author clearly talks about the open market that they utilize in Cape Town to sell their ivory and diamonds. He talks about the wealth that he steadily earns through this thriving market in the British colony that adds up to his son having a luxurious and entertaining life as he studies for his medical degree. The plot, superficially, is quite simple, sort of like Treasure Island which the author has tried to imitate through this novel. It starts out with treasure maps, a mission to find somebody or something that is lost and an adventure in the waiting. In this case, Sir Henry Curtis, the narrator Allan Quatermain’s ally, along with Captain Good and the narrator set out on an adventure to find Sir Henry’s lost brother, George who went in search of the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon. Throughout their journey, they come across many natives from whom, through the act of deceit and taking advantage of their lack of awareness, they manage to either escape from holding up their end of the bargain, or simply robbing what they find most valuable. This story inevitably speaks about the increasing commoditization that seemed to take place in the lives of the westerners during those times. The moral question of whom the goods belong to in an imperialist economy when competition for the said goods increases, arises in 3 | Page Perspectives - One World, Many Paradigms t he way we see it this story. This shows the existence of a classical era of capitalist market where instead of firms dominating the economy, it was usually an individual. In the entire story, the Africans, natives to the region are portrayed as barbaric, violent and primitive in their thinking. Twala, the king of Kukuanaland is described as wearing a large uncut diamond on his forehead as a decorative piece which brings about the thought that it is alright to take the wealth native to that particular colony since the people there are most likely not aware of its value. The ‘get rich quick’ theme is spread throughout the length of this novel. Also, the protagonists in this story hold a mission to procure enhanced social status through the means of exploiting the wealth they need for the purpose. Since stories like ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, ‘Treasure Island’ and the like were mainly purposed to indoctrinate the young boys and men who lived in the colonizing nations during that period with imperialistic ideals, these books to a large extent served their purpose as most men grew up adopting its principles of making their own fortune which in turn inevitably benefitted the mother country’s economy. ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ although a fairly good read in its assigned genre, is a better one if one wishes to understand how literature largely influenced the aggressive turn imperialism took economically towards the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.