IGNOU MEG-07 Solved Question Paper PDF Download

IGNOU MEG-07 Previous Year Solved Question Paper in Hindi

IGNOU MEG-07 Previous Year Solved Question Paper in English

Q1. Explain with reference to the context any four of the following passages in about 50 words each : 4×5=20 (a) “Well let me dive into the depths of time And bring from out the ages that have rolled. A few small fragments of those wrecks sublime, Which human eyes may never more behold.” (b) “Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay Unto thy honor, Tree beloved of those Who now in blessed sleep, for age, repose, Dearer than life to me, alas ! were they !” (c) The Indian landscape sears my eyes I have become a part of it To be observed by foreigners. (d) The golden light came down into my feet; My earth is now thy playfield and thy seat. (e) Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or better still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to choose a name, a role………. (f) Really what keeps us apart at the end of years is unshared childhood. You cannot, for instance, meet my father. He is some years dead. (g) On a hut a six-month-old child awakes And crawls across the dung-washed floor. Not asking where he goes.

Ans. (a) These lines are from Henry Derozio’s poem “To India – My Native Land” . The poet expresses his desire to resurrect India’s glorious past. He wishes to dive into history and recover the “sublime wrecks” or magnificent remnants of India’s past glory, which have been lost and forgotten over time. (b) These lines are from Toru Dutt’s poem “Our Casuarina Tree” . The poet wishes to consecrate a song (“lay”) in honour of the tree. The tree is dear to her because it is linked to the memories of her beloved siblings, who are now deceased. The tree stands as a living monument to their memory. (e) This excerpt is from Kamala Das’s poem “An Introduction” . Here, the poet reflects on her identity crisis and the various roles imposed upon her by a patriarchal society. The names “Amy,” “Kamala,” and “Madhavikutty” symbolize the different, often conflicting, identities she is forced to adopt, highlighting her struggle to find her authentic self. (f) This passage, often attributed to A. K. Ramanujan , reflects on the unbridgeable gap created by differing life experiences. The speaker posits that what truly separates people is an “unshared childhood.” The inability of the listener to meet the speaker’s long-dead father is a poignant metaphor for the incommunicable nature of past experiences that shape us.

Q2. Examine Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable as a novel about the political awakening of Bakha, the untouchable child. 20 Or “Gandhi’s project in Hind Swaraj is that he wants to disseminate among his readers the idea of cultural decolonization of Indians being of much more value than their mere political decolonisation.” Discuss. (500 words)

Ans. Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable as a Novel of Political Awakening Mulk Raj Anand’s novel, Untouchable , is more than just a starkly realistic account of a day in the life of an outcaste; it is a profound narrative of the political awakening of its protagonist, Bakha. The novel charts Bakha’s journey from a state of passive acceptance of his miserable condition to an emerging consciousness about his identity, the injustice of his situation, and the possibilities for change. Bakha’s awakening is triggered by a series of critical encounters and events throughout his day:

• The ‘Touch’ Incident: The pivotal moment occurs when Bakha accidentally touches a higher-caste man and is slapped and publicly humiliated. This traumatic event ignites the first spark of rebellion in his mind. For the first time, he seriously questions the injustice of his status, raging internally, “What have I done to them that they should treat me so?” This questioning marks the beginning of his critical consciousness.
• The Temple Incident: His anger and disillusionment deepen when he learns of the priest’s attempt to sexually molest his sister, Sohini, under the pretext of purity. This exposes the hypocrisy of the religious system that oppresses him. He sees that the supposed guardians of religion and morality are themselves corrupt, which further erodes his deference to the existing social order.
• The Three Offered Solutions: Towards the end of the novel, Bakha is presented with three potential paths to liberation, each representing a distinct political choice:
  1. The Christian Missionary: Colonel Hutchinson offers him equality through conversion to Christianity. However, Bakha finds the missionary’s explanations confusing and feels it would alienate him from his roots.
  2. Mahatma Gandhi’s Speech: Bakha then hears Gandhi speak, denouncing untouchability as a “sin” against Hinduism and referring to the outcastes as ‘Harijans’ (children of God). Gandhi’s words provide Bakha with immense emotional solace and a sense of dignity. This is a crucial political moment, as it represents an acknowledgment of his plight by a national leader.
  3. The Poet’s Argument for Technology: Finally, he overhears a poet, Iqbal, discussing the flush system, a technological innovation that could eliminate the need for manual scavenging altogether. This represents a modern, practical solution based on reason and technology, offering liberation from the very source of his “unclean” status.

The novel concludes not with Bakha choosing a solution, but with him contemplating these new ideas. This open ending signifies his incomplete but definitive political awakening. He is no longer a passive victim but an individual who is questioning his reality and considering the possibilities of transformation. Thus,

Untouchable

brilliantly transforms Bakha’s personal humiliation into a larger political and social question, dramatizing the rise of consciousness against caste-based oppression.

Q3. Examines Anita Desai’s novel, Clear Light of Day as a novel about the social and political impact of partition. (500 words) 20

Ans. The Social and Political Impact of Partition in Clear Light of Day Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day is not a novel of grand historical pronouncements or graphic depictions of the violence of the 1947 Partition of India. Instead, it is a subtle, yet profound, psychological exploration of the social and political impact of Partition on an individual family. Desai masterfully uses the disintegration of the Das family as a microcosm to reflect the fragmentation of the nation, showing how historical trauma seeps into the personal lives, memories, and relationships of ordinary people. The impact of Partition is woven into the fabric of the novel at several levels: 1. The End of a Syncretic Culture: The setting, an old, decaying house in Old Delhi, was once a symbol of the harmonious coexistence of Hindu and Muslim cultures. The Das family’s neighbours, the Hyder Ali family, represent this syncretic world of shared music, poetry, and friendship. Partition forces the Hyder Alis to flee to Hyderabad for their safety. Their departure is not just the loss of friends for Bimla; it symbolizes the death of an entire way of life, the end of a composite culture replaced by suspicion and division. 2. The Fragmentation of the Family: The Das family’s breakdown mirrors the division of the country.

• Raja , who deeply admired Hyder Ali and his Urdu culture, chooses to follow him to Hyderabad, marrying his daughter. His departure from Delhi is a rejection of the past and the stagnant world Bimla represents. He moves towards a new, more prosperous life, much like some who capitalized on the new opportunities post-Partition.
• Bimla remains in the old house in Delhi, surrounded by dust and decay, burdened by the past and her responsibilities. Her stasis symbolizes the inertia and trauma that Partition left in its wake for those who stayed behind.
• Tara escapes the traumatic past by marrying a diplomat and living abroad, representing an attempt to evade the painful history altogether.

The emotional distance and lack of communication between the siblings reflect the mistrust and alienation that Partition fostered between communities.

3. The Crisis of Identity and Memory:

The novel is deeply concerned with the themes of time and memory. The characters are haunted by the past, but their memories are fractured and subjective. Partition did not just redraw geographical borders; it shattered people’s sense of identity and their relationship with their past. The old house itself becomes a repository of memories, a “museum of the past,” bearing silent witness to a lost world.

4. From the Political to the Personal:

Desai’s great achievement is to show how large-scale political events like Partition have intensely personal consequences. The novel avoids the political rhetoric and focuses instead on the quiet tragedies: broken relationships, unspoken resentments, and emotional scars. The “clear light of day” of the title is the painful but necessary understanding the characters must reach about their shared past to find a way to reconnect in the present.

In conclusion,

Clear Light of Day

powerfully argues that the impact of Partition was not confined to a single historical moment of violence and displacement; it was a deep-seated social and psychological trauma that fractured families, destroyed cultures, and left a legacy of loss with which the characters—and by extension, the nation—continue to grapple decades later.

Q4. Critically analyse the dissolution of humane values in the world of the story, “A Trip into the Jungle”. 20 Or How does the title of Githa Hariharan’s story ‘Gajar Halwa’ reflect upon the theme and concerns of the story ? (500 words)

Ans. ‘Gajar Halwa’: The Title as a Reflection of Theme and Concerns In Githa Hariharan’s story, the title ‘Gajar Halwa’ functions as a powerful and multi-layered metaphor that encapsulates the story’s central themes and concerns. Gajar Halwa, a rich, celebratory, and delicious Indian dessert, is symbolic of luxury, comfort, and joy. However, in the context of the story, this sweet dish serves to highlight the harsh realities of class disparity, exploitation, and the unfulfilled desires of the protagonist, a young domestic help. The title reflects the story’s concerns in the following ways: 1. Class Divide and Social Inequality: The gajar halwa represents the world of the protagonist’s employers—a world of plenty, comfort, and indulgence. The protagonist spends hours labouring to create this delicacy: grating the carrots, simmering the milk, and adding the rich nuts. She creates it, but she is not meant to partake in it. This starkly illustrates the chasm between the rich and the poor. She labours to produce the luxury and happiness of others, while being systemically excluded from it herself. 2. Labour and Exploitation: The arduous and time-consuming process of making the halwa is a metaphor for the protagonist’s own monotonous and laborious life. Just as the carrots are grated and reduced to a pulp, losing their original form, the protagonist’s own identity and dreams are crushed under the weight of her thankless drudgery in the anonymous city. Her labour is invisible and unacknowledged, much as the diners who enjoy the halwa are unlikely to think of the sweat and effort of the person who made it. 3. Unfulfilled Desires and Aspirations: The sweet aroma and appealing look of the halwa represent the protagonist’s own desires and aspirations—a longing for a better life, for comfort, and for happiness. She can see and smell this world, but it remains tantalizingly out of reach. Watching her employer’s family enjoy the halwa is a cruel reminder of her own deprived state. The sweet dish makes the bitter reality of her life even more pronounced. 4. The Duality of the City: For the protagonist, the city (Delhi) is much like the gajar halwa—alluring and full of promise from a distance, but harsh and exploitative up close. The city offers the dream of opportunity, but in reality, it reduces her to an anonymous, faceless labourer. The sweetness of the halwa masks the bitter truth of the urban experience for migrants like her. In essence, the title ‘Gajar Halwa’ is not merely the name of a food item; it is a complex social commentary. It functions as a central metaphor that poignantly captures the themes of class division, exploitation, and the unfulfilled aspirations of a young migrant woman in urban India. It underscores the irony of a world where the hands that create sweetness are themselves denied a taste of it.

Q5. Can Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children be called a ‘magic reclist’ novel ? Give reasons for your answer. 20

Ans. Midnight’s Children as a Magic Realist Novel Yes, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is unequivocally a seminal work of Magic Realism (the term in the question, ‘magic reclist’, is a likely typo for ‘magic realist’). Magic Realism is a literary genre where magical or supernatural elements are presented in a realistic, everyday setting as if they were ordinary. Rushdie masterfully employs this technique to narrate the complex, chaotic, and often unbelievable history of modern India. There are several compelling reasons to classify the novel as a work of magic realism: 1. Supernatural Abilities: The protagonist, Saleem Sinai, and all the other children born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, are endowed with supernatural powers.

• Saleem’s Telepathy: Saleem can communicate telepathically with the other 1,001 “midnight’s children.” This “Midnight’s Children Conference” becomes a magical metaphor for India’s vast linguistic, religious, and cultural diversity, at once connected and fragmented.
• Saleem’s Sense of Smell: Later in the novel, Saleem develops an extraordinarily acute sense of smell, allowing him to ‘sniff out’ emotions and secrets. His nose becomes a barometer for the nation’s state, getting blocked, for instance, during the Emergency.
• Powers of Other Children: Other children possess magical abilities, such as Shiva’s destructive power and Parvati-the-witch’s command of sorcery.

2. The Merging of Personal and National History:

The novel’s most defining feature is the inextricable link between Saleem’s personal life and the national history of India. Saleem is born at the exact moment of India’s independence. His personal milestones and maladies run parallel to India’s political events—cracks on his face mirror the linguistic reorganization of states, and his illnesses coincide with wars. Rushdie uses this device to argue that an individual’s life is inseparable from the history of their nation. “I was the mirror of the nation,” Saleem declares.

3. Incredible Events in a Realistic Setting:

The narrative is filled with events that defy logic, such as switched babies at birth, prophecies, and the preservation of history in a pickle factory. Yet, all these magical elements are seamlessly woven into the verifiable historical backdrop of India—Partition, the Sino-Indian War, the creation of Pakistan, and the Emergency. Rushdie presents these incredible events in such a matter-of-fact, quotidian tone that the reader accepts them as the reality of the world he has created.

4. The Purpose of the Magic:

Rushdie does not use magic realism for mere fantasy. The technique allows him to capture the vast, pluralistic, and overwhelming experience of India. For him, the history of India is so extraordinary, dramatic, and at times illogical, that it cannot be adequately told through conventional realism alone. Magic becomes a lens through which the deeper, often irrational, truths of the subcontinent can be perceived and narrated.

Thus, the blend of the magical and the mundane in

Midnight’s Children

gives the story of India an epic, mythological dimension, making it a quintessential example of the magic realist genre.

Q6. Discuss Kanthapura as a Sthala-Purana. 20

Ans. Kanthapura as a Sthala-Purana Raja Rao’s novel Kanthapura is not merely a story of the Indian freedom struggle; it is deliberately structured and narrated as a Sthala-Purana . A ‘Sthala-Purana’ is a traditional Indian literary genre, literally meaning the ‘legendary history of a place’. It combines history, myth, and folklore to tell the story of a specific village, temple, or pilgrimage site, thereby consecrating that place and investing it with sacred significance. Raja Rao adopts this narrative form to make the modern, political Gandhian movement accessible and meaningful to the Indian consciousness. Several features establish Kanthapura as a Sthala-Purana: 1. The Narrator and Narrative Style: The story is narrated by Achakka , an old woman of the village, whose voice represents the collective voice of the community. She does not tell the story in a linear, chronological fashion but in a meandering, digressive, and repetitive style characteristic of the Puranas. She frequently deviates from the main narrative to talk about local deities, legends, and folklore, mirroring the oral storytelling tradition. 2. The Blending of Myth and History: Rao masterfully fuses the contemporary history of the national freedom movement with the timeless myths of Hinduism.

• The Deification of Gandhi: In the novel, Mahatma Gandhi is elevated to the status of a deity. He is seen as a great avatar, like Rama or Krishna, who has come to vanquish evil (the British Raj) and establish righteousness (Swaraj).
• Moorthy as an Avatar: The village hero, Moorthy, is his local ‘incarnation’ or disciple. He brings Gandhi’s message to the village and leads the people, much like a mythological hero.
• The Mythologizing of the Struggle: The British government and its Indian collaborators (like the moneylender Bhatta) are depicted as demons or ‘asuras’. The freedom struggle is presented as an epic battle between the gods and the demons.

3. The Consecration of the Village:

Just as a Sthala-Purana sanctifies a place, this novel transforms the village of Kanthapura into a sacred land. It ceases to be just a geographical location and becomes a pilgrimage site of the Gandhian movement. The village goddess, Kenchamma, is seen as a protector of the movement, linking local faith with the national struggle. In the end, even though the village is physically destroyed, its story becomes an immortal legend, a ‘purana’ that will inspire future generations.

4. The Influence of Oral Tradition:

The language and rhythm of the novel are heavily influenced by the ‘Harikatha’ and other oral storytelling traditions. The long, winding sentences and the continuous, breathless style create the feeling of a story being told rather than written.

By structuring

Kanthapura

as a Sthala-Purana, Raja Rao situates a modern political movement within an eternal, spiritual, and cultural framework. This elevates the novel from being a mere political document to a deeply resonant and enduring narrative for the Indian psyche.

Q7. Discuss the interplay of gendered identities in the play Tara. 20

Ans. The Interplay of Gendered Identities in Tara Mahesh Dattani’s play Tara is a poignant and powerful exploration of deep-seated gender bias in Indian society and the complex interplay of gendered identities . Through the story of the conjoined twins, Tara and Chandan, the play reveals how social and familial expectations can override biological reality, shaping, distorting, and ultimately destroying identities. The interplay of gendered identities can be analyzed through the following points: 1. The Primacy of the Male Child: The central conflict of the play revolves around the decision made during the twins’ surgical separation. Medically, the shared third leg was more naturally a part of Tara’s body and should have been given to her. However, the family patriarch, Patel (the grandfather), in collusion with his wife Bharati, bribed the doctors to have the leg attached to the boy, Chandan. This cruel decision is a stark symbol of the societal preference for the male child , where a girl’s life and health are sacrificed for the ‘completeness’ of a boy’s future. 2. Imposed Gender Roles and Guilt:

• Bharati (the mother): Bharati’s character is trapped between guilt and overcompensation. Having been complicit in the horrific decision, she tries to atone by showering Tara with excessive affection and attention. She raises Tara as a delicate, fragile girl, which, ironically, further limits Tara’s independence. Her actions show how a woman can internalize and perpetuate patriarchal pressures.
• Tara: Despite being physically crippled, Tara is mentally sharp, witty, and full of life. She constantly grapples with her ‘incompleteness’ and the limitations placed on her for being a girl. She loves her brother but has a deep, visceral sense of the injustice done to her. Her identity is tragically defined by her fragmented body and the betrayal she suffered.

3. The Merging and Transference of Identity:

The most poignant aspect of the play is Chandan’s struggle with his own identity. He is physically ‘whole’ but emotionally and psychologically incomplete, knowing his body is built on a foundation of injustice.

• At the end of the play, after Tara’s death, Chandan almost completely merges his identity with hers. He becomes a writer and renames himself ‘Tara’ in order to tell her story to the world.
• This transference of identity is Chandan’s way of dealing with his guilt and atoning for the past. He attempts to give Tara the life and voice that were stolen from her. This shows how fluid and interdependent gendered identities can be, especially when bound by a traumatic history.

4. The Body and Identity:

Dattani raises the question of what constitutes our identity—our body or our mind? Tara and Chandan were once one body, and even after separation, they remain psychologically connected. Chandan’s act of becoming Tara reinforces the idea that identity is not merely physical gender but is also constructed through memory, guilt, and love.

In short,

Tara

is a powerful play that demonstrates how gender-based discrimination can destroy lives and permanently alter identities. It is not just a story of a girl and a boy, but a searing critique of a social system that values one life over another based purely on gender.