Broken Images by Girish Karnad

 

Broken Images by Girish Karnad

  1. What is Manjula accused of?

Answer: Manjula is a Kannad writer. She has been writing in Kannad but suddenly she turns to write in a novel in English. It has made many people displeased and she is accused of writing for readers abroad.

  1. Which two questions are generally asked to an author?

Answer: The first question is ‘after having written in Kannad all your life why did you suddenly choose to write in English’ and the second question is about the book itself.

  1. Who is the realistic character in Manjula’s novel?

Answer: The realistic character in the story is the character of Malini whom Manjula nursed in her last days. The other character and the plot are entirely fictional.

  1. How did Manjula and Pramod meet?

Answer: Manjula shifted to Banglore after completion of her study to do a job. There she met Pramod.

  1. What does Malini suffer from? Explain.

Answer: She was physically challenged. Suffered from meningo myelocele the upper part of her body was perfectly normal; below the waist the nervous system was damaged, completely dysfunctional.

  1. Why did the image ask,”You have managed to upset a lot of people”?

Answer: Manjula had been a renowned author of Kannada. But when she wrote a novel in English, many people made displeased. She was accused of being greedy and even a traitor. Moreover, critics called it an effort to please readers abroad.

  1. Describe the happiest days of Manjula.

Answer: Due to Malini’s health issue Manjula was left to live with her grandparents. She used to miss the parental love and care. So when she shifted to Banglore to stay with her parents after the completion of her college, those were the happiest days for her.

  1. What trick did Pramod use to impress Manjula?

Answer: When Pramod met Manjula, he felt attracted towards her. When he could find no way to convey his feeling, so he used a strange trick. He wrote a letter to Manjula’s close friend Lucy talking about his feelings for Manjula and a letter to Manjula talking about Lucy. He mailed her letter in an envelope on Manjula’s address and vice versa. Thus Manjula got to know about Pramod’s love for her.

9.  Do you think we express ourselves best in our first language? Do you agree with Manjula’s statement

-“ English cannot express truth about India because we do not express ourselves in English”?

Answer: It is true that we express ourselves best in our language as we have been brought up in an environment surrounded by the people who use a common language. But we cannot deny the fact that there are people who are well-versed in more than one languages. They can write with equal authenticity in the languages they know.

Every language has a treasure of vocabulary and expression that is not available in other language/s. There are writers like Mulkraj Anand, R. K. Narayana and Girish Karnad who have written extra-ordinary novels and plays in English language depicting complex Indian society.  

10. Discuss the title of the play Broken Images in detail.

Answer: The playwright uses two images of the protagonist Manjula. When she talks on T.V.; she manipulates her thought so that she can hide certain truths of her life. Even she does not talk openly about her relationship with her husband and even her sister Malini whom she nursed in her last days.

After the TV telecast ends, an image appears on one of the TV screens. It seems the image appears to remind the protagonist what she has missed to speak or rather intentionally skipped to speak in her interview. The image puts some harsh questions to Manjula and that brings out an entirely contrary image of the protagonist. The audience or readers get a completely new image unfolding in front of their eyes.

So we can say that title is suitable and serves the purpose.

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