Journal to the East: Development of Countries During Colonization - Essay Example

JOURNAL TO THE EAST Edward Said in his conical text, Orientalism, challenges the concept of the difference between the west and east. The difference in cultural practices between the two constitutes what he describes as Orientalism. With the beginning of colonization, Europeans came into contact with the countries in the east which were less developed. This led them to start a study of the people living in these countries. The Europeans saw these people’s culture and civilization as exotic. In Said’s argument, the Europeans brought about division of the world into two parts; the west and the east. This was on the concept of what they consider ours against theirs (Dyer 67). Using this idea, I will explore two issues about India. One of these is culture, which I will explore using Chasing the Monsoons by Alexander Frater and Jeff inn Venice, Death in Varanasi. In Chasing the Monsoon, Frater begins by detailing how he developed an interest in weather aspects. He grew up in New Hebrides with his missionary father. New Hebrides is a cluster of several islands located in the South Pacific. Some time back, the United Kingdom and France held the administration jointly. His father was always fascinated about the monsoon of India, and always talked about it. Likewise, Frater developed a fascination in it and decided to visit India and explore this phenomenon in 1987. Before detailing his own discoveries, he starts by taking us through a historical study of the monsoon. He cites famous researchers before him including Sir. John Eliot and H.F. Blandford. Frater starts his pilgrimage in Cape Comorin, the southernmost tip of the European continent. This is the place where the monsoon starts. It then makes sits way to the west coast via Calicut, Bombay, Trivandrum, and Goa. It then jets to Delhi (Frater 60). He then follows the monsoon in the eastern arm in Calcutta. He also follows the monsoon in the western arm in Shillong, Bangladesh and finally Cherrapunji. The latter is well known for receiving the most rain in the world. At the peak of the monsoon around July, the spot receives as much as 76 feet of rain. Occasionally, it receives rain in the range of 30 to 40 inches in a single day. Although Frater gives a few details about the science of the monsoon, his main focus is the effect the monsoon had on the local community. Especially so on the cultural effect, which I will look at. The onset of the monsoon rains in India is usually eagerly awaited and eagerly anticipated. Its arrival is celebrated with song, art, and poetry. Frater visited several famous palaces, pavilions, and gardens where the rich often sought recreation. One of the most powerful prayers of India is Prana. The prayer is directly compared to the monsoon. It is recited during the monsoon and is believed to be the reason behind the rich agriculture of India (Dyer 781). During the rainy season, the country receives enough rainfall to fertilize the orchards and farms. The prayer was composed in the Vedic era and refers to rain as the promoter of quality health, long lives, and human welfare. “May the rains come on time; may the earth bend with the weight of food grains”. History of India shows that the Monsoon have been since time immemorial been the central theme of almost all cultural practices. India has three religions; Baud Dharam, Sanatan Dharam, and Jain Dharam. They all express the concept of Monsoon in their art, dance, literature, and sculpture. First, there are numerous heritage monuments built by the followers of these religions. All of them bear animals, which are well fed, sensually endowed women, strong men, and lively birds. The gods and celestial beings are shown as wearing beautiful ornaments and of long hair. The sculptures portrayed in all temples dating many years back reflect this. Sculptures and images of the Buddha are never shown without hair or emaciated (Frater 90). This is also similar to the gods and goddesses of the Hindu. Animals are also portrayed as being fully fed and healthy. Paintings also show the land full of flowers and fruits. An example is the reference to the Peepal tree in early scriptures and literature. The tree is considered as a symbol of rain and to some extent associated with the creation of the universe. Krishna, the child of Hindu creation, is portrayed in images as floating on a Peepal leaf. This is because rain received during Monsoon is closely linked with prosperity in the culture of India. The monsoon has also been linked with sentiments of love, beauty, and lust. Even today, there are several sports and festivals of love held during monsoon. The mythologies of Hindu refer to Krishna and Radha as the most celebrated lovers. Their portrayal shows an intensely erotic scene which is directly adapted from the monsoon. Krishna is also portrayed in some paintings as the initiator of romance. His appearance is symbolized by rain, through which he shows his love to the world. Besides love, the monsoon is believed to bring good fortune, riches, hope, fertility, and happiness (Dyer 81). Although the rains were celebrated in most parts of India, Frater notes that they were not welcome to everyone. He starts by noting the great difficulty with which officials in Calcutta handled the floods during the monsoon. He also hints to the same problem in Bangladesh but does not go into details about it. He also describes how anglers could not work in the presence of the cyclones and high seas at the peak of the monsoon. He shows the extent of the problem by describing how earlier on, people committed suicide, became depressed or turned to alcohol during the monsoon. This was a common occurrence when India was a colony of Britain. Indian poetry also notes this problem. He refers to how some people looked at the clouds and saw hope while others only saw despair. For instance, a certain type of poetry in north India associated difficult times with the monsoon. They termed it as ‘torrential’. Most affected were the white settlers who could not associate good fortune with the rains. Instead, they looked at the rain as a spoiler of their fun at home. Many writings by westerners echo this aspect by associating the monsoon with misery or disaster. This shows the difference in culture between the native Indians and the colonizers. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi is divided into two sections and explores to different cultures. In the first half of the novel, we are introduced to Jeff Atman. Jeff Atman means true self or soul in Hindu. He is a British journalist who is sent to Venice to report about Biennale, which is a cultural event. He is also required to write something about the e-girlfriend of a famous artist. He dyes his hair for the first time in his life before departing. He also looks at himself in the mirror to see if he looked too old for the young girls (Frater 59). Jeff has a deeper interest to explore the Italian city and all its hidden pleasures. Luckily, he meets a young lady, Laura Freeman. She works for an art gallery in Los Angeles. The two immediately jump into a relationship that sees them traverse the waterways of Venice. Jeff is introduced to cocaine and unending parties. They also engage in lots of sex with Laura, and these encounters are described in the book. Jeff is exceedingly pleased with this encounter as Dyer writes, “He swaggered through Venice as if he owned the place, as if it had been created entirely for his benefit. Life!” Unfortunately, just as quickly as the relationship started it ends in a similar manner. After three days of unexplainable experience, Laura leaves Venice for Los Angeles. Even though they exchange contacts, it is without doubt that they will never meet again (Dyer 78). The second part of the novel has a similar character to Jeff. It is almost safe to conclude that it is the same character, only that the story is told by a narrator. The setting is the city of Varanasi, often considered the holy city of India. The protagonist is on a similar mission as Jeff above, he is here to write a magazine. After finishing his project, he decides to stay for a while since there was nothing to make him return to London. “I’d come to Varanasi because there was noting to keep me in London, and I stayed for the same reason: there was nothing to go home for”. In his stay in Varanasi, he interacts with the culture of India, which transforms him spiritually. He begins by shaving off his head, and donning a dhoti. This is a common practice in India which has been adopted from the early culture. Here, we see how the Indian culture is different from his British culture and how he adopts it. The scene then changes reflecting Varanasi as a city where death lurks rather than a beautiful city with many parties. The same character as in the above (which means we can assume is Jeff) is sent to Varanasi by a London paper (Frater 123). He is supposed to write a piece on the early anarchy where breakthrough and breakdown are hard to differentiate. He starts getting visions where he sees himself playing video games called “Varanasi Death Trips”. He also listens to the Lonely Planet Rhythm, which is about bhang. This is a culture not familiar to him. For a keen reader, one will notice that the death described in the book is about the desire to know oneself better. While in Venice, Jeff had a dream about his hand being devoured by a dog, this becomes real when a corpse in Varanasi has the same fate falling on him. Looking at the two texts, we can clearly see the idea of orientalism. In Chasing the Monsoon, we see Frater exploring the monsoon in India. He explores cultural effect of the monsoon on the native Indians. In their part, the Indians associate the monsoon with prosperity and goodly things. For instance, we see the native Indians portraying the monsoon with healthy animals and people. They also portray the land as being full of fruits and flowers. On the other hand, we see the white settlers who had come to colonize India experiencing a different culture. Unlike the pomp and dance that the Indians have with the onset of the monsoon, they view the monsoon as bringing misery and disaster. They do not rejoice with the Indians and remain confined in their home. Orientalism as defined involves experiencing a new culture, different from yours, and at times one has to adopt it. In a similar manner, Frater experiences the entire culture of India when he visits the palaces, gardens, and pavilions (Dyer 34). In the story, Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi the same concept of orientalism is portrayed. First, we find Jeff shaving his head so as not to look to old to the young girls in Venice. He is lucky enough to meet Laura Freeman an American journalist. Together they explore the life of Italy where they explore the nightlife of Venice. They also use cocaine, which is particularly new to them. This is an entirely new experience for Laura and Jeff. They have been influenced by the everyday life of Venice. In a similar way, the character in the second part of the book decides to remain in Varanasi. During this time, he adopts the spiritual life of India. He even goes ahead to shave his head and don himself with a dhoti. This is a different culture from his British culture. Eventually, we see a different Side of Varanasi. This time the city is portrayed as being a city where death lurks. While we can see the difference in culture experienced by all the characters above, we can still not draw a perfect conclusion on the extent of how orientalism has been employed. This paper thus serves as a foundation for further research into the idea. Ideas to build or criticize the truth it holds are thus welcome to all. Work Cited Dyer, Geoff. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi. London. Text Publishing Company, 2009. Print. Frater, Alexander. Chasing The Monsoon. Pan Macmillan, 2011. Print. Read More