Draupadi’s Polyandry: A Study in Feminist Discourse Analysis

Draupadi serves as a crucial link between warring characters in the Mahabharata (an ancient Indian Sanskrit epic), particularly through her polyandry. Born of fire, personifying purity, yet bound by a matrimonial covenant, she is caught in a complex marital relationship with five husbands that completely changes her life and also theirs. In consonance with the aims of gyno- criticism, literary depictions of women seek not only to reconstruct but also to critique patriarchal conventions. Drawing on the perspective of feminist critical discourse analysis (Lazar, 2005), with its tools of speech acts, presupposition, vocabulary, and modality, this paper seeks to examine the varied representations of Draupadi in three translated texts of the Mahabharata by Buitenen, Ray, and Divakaruni. The aim of the paper is trifold: to study the construction of Draupadi through the events of her marriage and post-marital occurrences, to examine her power/powerlessness vis-à- vis others, and to explore the othering of her character against the notions of dharma (right conduct or action) in marriage. The analysis reveals that Buitenen’s translation emphasizes destiny and dharma, but it does not provide a voice to Draupadi and constructs her as an embodiment of ideal womanhood. In contrast, Ray and Divakaruni represent Draupadi as expressing emotions, opinions, and judgments of her own self and of others. She appears powerless and oppressed before patriarchal conventions yet reclaims power through her vivid articulations and her questioning of phallocentric norms. Thus, the women writers humanize Draupadi, lending her agency and critiquing misogyny

'See and Learn': intertextuality in the teaching of poetry

Although much research has been done on how to teach poetry, yet tutors at the school and/or college level broadly resort to the following methods: focussing on the meaning of the text, its inherent theme and symbolism; providing a general paraphrase for the verses; elaborating on the figures of speech employed by the poet and the imagery they evoke; the stanza form and rhyme scheme; and detailing the background of the poet and his times. Instructors are fearful about teaching poetry, which is often considered an ineffectual exercise (Linaberger, 2004). This is because interest in the reading and writing of poetry is synonymous with literary high culture (Benton, 1984),which demands a niche audience to appreciate and interpret it. Moreover, although the words "creative art", "imagination" and "vividness" are associated with poetry, there seems to be a discrepancy in the actual practice of its teaching, as the emphasis is mainly on conveying the meaning of the poem rather than teaching its appreciation to the learners. Likewise, owing to its special syntax and their explanations, the teaching of poetry can more often than not become a mere mechanical, meaning-decoding exercise. In my paper, I will attempt to revive imaginative interest in poetry teaching by arguing in favour of the use of visual art in teaching poems, as a supplementary pedagogical practice to the already established ones. I will support this claim through the analysis of Tennysons' poem "The Lotus Eaters" and the study of a painting depicting the poem

Cartoon shows: a tool to facilitate comprehension in young learners

This article employs the story grammar model to explore the role of televised cartoon serials in facilitating comprehension in school children of elementary grade. In India, research in English language teaching has not only addressed the methods and approaches of teaching English in a multilingual society, its cultural and psycho-social aspects and the dilemmas of curriculum and texts, but also has focused on how to teach the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing (henceforth LSRW) (Agnihotri & Khanna, 1997; Sheorey, 2006, Tickoo, 2003; Kudchedkar, 2002)

Opposition in discourse: the construction of oppositional meaning.

Lesley Jeffries looks at a hitherto underresearched but over-used phenomenon, namely, the creation of opposites in language. Unlike works that begin with a theoretical exposition, Jeffries begins with a few examples from different genres, setting the tone and thematic concern of the book. The first example, taken from the British political elections, draws on the opposition between being British and being Black. Jeffries states that opposites are manufactured in a discourse with an ideological agenda while the subsequent example from poetry emphasizes that opposites are often used by poets as a structural device

Infrastructure-less Vehicular Communication System Using Li-Fi Technology

This paper introduces vehicle to vehicle (v2v) communication system using Li-Fi technology. The lightning quick transfer of information between vehicles becomes mandatory when danger is imminent as it can instantly diffuse a potentially hazardous situation. Connected cars will help cities and states cut down on congestion and improve safety. On the road, cars will communicate with each other, automatically transmitting data such as speed, position, and direction, and send alerts to each other if a crash seems imminent. We consider the several scenarios: 1) communication between car and RSU 2) inter vehicular communication 3) communication based network system. The reach ability, delay in transmission and percentage collisions are evaluated with respect to the average distance between cars using pixel oriented visualization. With the help of LEDs fitted in the car, we can transmit data seamlessly using rapid pulse of light over VANET (Vehicular Ad-hoc network) for high speed communications

IN SILICO INVESTIGATION OF PHYTOCONSTITUENTS FROM VARIOUS PLANTS AGAINST NEUROINFLAMMATORY MARKERS AS POTENT THERAPEUTIC TARGETS

Abstract Objective: Neuroinflammation is inflammation of the brain and brain tissue. Activation of glial cells (Microgila and astrocytes) takes place during neuroinflammation, due to which a number of inflammatory mediator release in the brain. The objective of the current study is to investigate the anti-neuroinflammatory activity of the phytoconstituents against various inflammatory mediators.Methods: The preliminary screening of plants was done by Lipinski's rule of five. Inflammatory mediators (COX-1, COX-2, TNF-a, IL-1b, iNOS and   nNOS) protein sequence was retrieved from STRING database and modeling of it through SWISS MODEL. And ligands ID was retrieved from ZINC database and its MOL2 format was downloaded for further processing. Docking study of phytoconstituents with ligands were performed by iGEMDOCK. By using ADMET, Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity properties were predicted.Results: Sissotrin out of the various phytocomponents is the most active component having high binding affinity with all the genes.Conclusion: Sissotrin may be a good inhibitor for neuroinflammatory disorders

Multiple shocks after upgrade of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator to a cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator device

Inappropriate shocks from implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) may occur for many reasons. Inappropriate shocks are not simply painful inconveniences for patients; they also may result in the need for further operative procedures, and sometimes even death. Herein, we report the case of a patient who after upgrade of an ICD to a cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator device (CRT-D), returned with multiple shocks due to altered sensing and defibrillation polarities that resulted from actual physical reversal of the distal (–) and proximal (+) lead terminals in the header of the device

Correlation of mitotic activity and Ki 67 with BR score and molecular classification in carcinoma breast

Background: To determine if mitotic activity played a role in classifying breast cancer in terms of its biological behaviour. We investigated the prospect of identifying a more meaningful cell proliferation marker for categorising treatment-naive breast cancer. Methods: The 150 cases diagnosed as invasive breast carcinoma in the histopathology section were systematically studied for the clinical, gross, and microscopic features. Results: the 50% patients were grade 2 (75), 41% were grade 3 (71) and 9% (14) were grade 1 in present study. The distribution of intrinsic subtypes was luminal A 25% (38), luminal B 59% (88), HER2 enriched 10% (15), basal 6% (9). Out of 150 cases, 29% (43) cases were T1, T2 were 65% (97), T3 were 2% (4), T4 were 4% (6). Mean Ki 67 was 15.6±8.8 in grade 1, 23.3±15.4 and 38.2± in grade 3. There was significant difference between I and III, and II and III (p<0.05). Mean mitotic count in grade 1 was 5.4±2.7, in grade 2 it was 9.7±13.5, in grade 3 it was 16.1±6.9. There was significant difference between grade 1 and 2, grade 2 and 3, grade 1 and 3 (p<0.05). There was significant difference between T stages (p<0.05). Conclusions: Ki 67 showed a more significant statistical correlation with prognostic factors as compared to mitotic count; we feel Ki 67 is more superior to mitotic count as a prognostic factor.