MINDSCAPE(A Multidisciplinary, Biannual, Research Journal)

Number 2Number 2Volume 1Volume 1 July - December 2013July - December 2013

ISSN : 2321 - 502XISSN : 2321 - 502X

CONTENTS

Sprouting of Flowers: Indian Women Poetry Now Dr. M. S. Nagarajan 5

Interpreting Human Maladies: Jhumpha Lahiri’s

Interpreter of Maladies Dr. D. Anusuya 13

Trauma in Childhood: Approaches of

D. H. Lawrence and Henry James Priya Sharon Thomas 18

An English Governor Made Indian God V. K. Saraswathi 25

From P&T to the BSNL Dr. S. Renukadevi 32

Satisfaction of Educational Loan Borrowers Dr. N. Lakshmi 42

in Udumalpet Taluk N. Kalaiarasi

m - Generalized Pre- Regular Closed Sets in A. R. Thilagavathi 52x

Minimal & Spaces A. Anis Fathima

Heuristics Approach for Dynamic Supply Chain N. Jeyanthi 65

Inventory Optimization

Book Reviewº¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ø ¦Àñ¸û - ´÷ ´ôÀ¡ö×

by Dr. P. Devaki

Reviewed by Dr. Chandra Krishnan.

Page No.

EDITORIAL

Research in India is Janus headed with one face pointing at progress and the

other its opposite. It is heartening to note its growth in nuclear and space research but at

the same time it is disheartening to watch the commercialization of research in

institutions of higher education. The main reason is that research is pursued for

monetary gains and for the purposes of promotion and not with any urge for finding out

something new and this in turn leads to ghost writing, plagiarism and corruption.

Research must be a mission, a commitment and a penance. Researchers must avidly

read and update new knowledge in their respective fields and must keep expressing their

thoughts on paper on and off. They must use every possible avenue to explore their

creative zeal.

Of the many platforms that foster research, the Journal is of primary importance

because it enables the researcher to consolidate his ideas, to express his thoughts

clearly and cogently and also helps him to crystallize his propositions and thesis

statement. Article Writing is not only an art but also a cultivable skill. Many find it easy

to write articles for Newspapers as it involves mere expression of ideas without any

documentation. But writing a Research article requires scholarship, clarity of thought,

a good command in language and a sound knowledge of the mechanics and

methodology of writing. Though most of the Indian scholars possess competence in their

concerned subjects they are not able to write quality articles for want of writing skills

and knowledge in the methodology of writing. Students of higher education in the post-

independence context lack exposure to writing in English. The teaching of English in

higher education Institutions has become more functional catering to the needs of

speaking and writing for functional purposes. As a result students are at a loss to write a

3

research paper. They are unable to evaluate the validity of the source material and

understand the contents in the proper perspective for want of linguistic competence of a

higher order. Besides they lack the compositional skill necessary to draft a research

paper. Most research students have developed a notion that merely quoting opinions of

other writers constitutes a research paper. They do not know to form a proposition and

argue their point logically. This requires a style and tenor. As they are not aware of this,

many scholars produce plagiaristic articles without knowing that they are committing

plagiarism. With the advent of the Internet, research students “cut and paste” matter

without documenting or acknowledging the source. Researchers can overcome this by

writing articles and also by reading extensively articles published in research journals.

Another advantage of the Journal is that the budding researchers can find out

from the reader's response whether they are proceeding in the right direction. The

purpose of Higher education is to cultivate a research attitude and the methodology to

probe into existing facts. The launch of a Research Journal by an institution is a sure

way of promoting research culture in the campus. In that sense our College is happy to

bring out the second issue of MINDSCAPE. The Editor places on record her

appreciation to the contributors from inside and outside the campus and congratulates

them for their excellent efforts. We welcome more and more articles from faculty

Professors of Colleges from every corner of Tamilnadu.

Editor

4

EDITORIAL

Dr. M. S. NAGARAJAN

Former Professor of English

University of Madras, Chennai.

There has been a genuine complaint lodged by women that criticism right from

the earliest times of Aristotle has consistently been unfair to them by excluding their

achievements. In fact, as we are aware, the Feminist Movement began by way of

redressing the balance by espousing the experiences of women which had been

marginalized for ages and ages. The main focus on their agenda was to create a whole

body of literature by women for which the American critic Elaine Showalter gave the

name ‘gynocriticism’. The focal elements of ‘gynocriticism’ are : to use the attributes in

women’s biological features, such as the bearing and rearing of children, as a motif in

writings with a view to celebrating them, to portray women as a source of immense

values in life as well as in art since there lie vast areas of delicate emotions and

perceptions of women that are specific to women’s experiences not available to men, to

create women’s language (WL) which will be distinctively feminine in style and

structure, and to reject notions of universal feminism by encouraging plurality and the

concept of the diaspora. Women’s writings have to accommodate several issues:

cultural, social, political and psychological. Its goal is to widen our understanding of

women’s experience of the world, and their value in the world.

In the Indian context women’s poetry in English is still a nascent field of study

and enquiry but emerging as a fertile area of critical evaluation. An Indian literary

historian says that there are more than one hundred and fifty women poets in India

writing in English. It would be a great job for someone to make an inventory or an

annotated bibliography of these poets. The critical scene of poets mudslinging against

one not to their liking is most disgusting. It is not uncommon in western tradition for a

writer to reject another writer or a school of writing with a view to initiating a newer

mode. Eliot had no use for Milton and he favoured the metaphysical school claiming that

it represented the mainstream of English poetry. Auden and Spender thrust away Eliot to

establish “New Country” poetic tradition, and Movement poets led by Philip Larking

revived Thomas Hardy. Virginia Woolf dismissed the ‘Materialists’ H. G. Wells, Arnold

Bennet, John Galsworthy to initiate the new experimental novel. That is how tradition

goes and grows. Vilas Sarang, for one, takes this affirmative stand in his Indian English

5

Poetry since 1950: an Anthology: “Indian English poetic culture is not mature. There

are, of course, some dissensions and grumblings; but these scarcely seem to rise above

the personal level to attain the stature of a theoretical or ideological stance. A poetic

culture needs groups and movements that determinedly attempt to work out an

aesthetic; it needs the fuel of rebellion, of opposition and reaction, and also of return to

some aspect of the tradition; it needs tensions, a continuous process of churning the

ocean” (4). Now cast a quick glance at our poets. Keki Daruwalla seems to have said, “I

have read only one poem each by Toru Dutt and Aurobinda Ghose, and I have no

intension of reading anymore. “Nissim Ezekiel thought that anyone who thinks highly

of Sri Aurobindo as a poet has no feelling for English poetry. Kamala Das said, “I have

not read either Toru Dutt or Aurobindo.” What sneering contempt, what arrogance,

what conceit! Eunice De Souza, though, is less harsh in her view, but plays the same

tune. She says, “Sarojini Naidu’s confidently mindless versifying has little to teach

contemporary poets, and Toru Dutt did not live long enough to outgrow sentimental

pastiche...” Where does such summary dismissal of the past lead one to? About the poets

included in her anthology of Nine Indian Women Poets, she says in her introduction,

quoting from Sudeep Sen: “ unafraid, motivated, clear-sighted, and they use English

with a sense of ease. Their language, style, rhythms and forms are inventive, original,

and contemporary” (6). She adds, there is in addition, a wide range of subjects–time,

history, social problems, religious search, the environment, painters, writers, language.

One cannot but agree with this balanced judgement, true apprasial.

One wonders why this cavil against sentimental attachment to the past.

Sentimentality and nostalgia have been part and parcel of the poetic tradition of any

country. The raison de tre of Wordsworth’s output, as he defines in most memorable

terms, “emotions recollected in tranquillity” is a reminiscence of his past associations.

What are the whole of Prelude and the oft-anthologised piece “Tintern Abbey” in

which he recalls his visit to the river bank of Wye with those haunting lines,

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral being,

If not a recollection of the past?

Examples on this time-hounoured theme of looking back on the past can be multiplied to

any number; Milton’s sonnets, Matthew Arnold’s “The Forsaken Merman”, D.H.

Lawrence’s “Piano”, Christina Rossetti’s sonnet “Remember” which opens

6

Remember me when I am gone away.

Gone far away into that silent land;

are some which readily come to one’s mind.

Drawing upon the western paradigms, the latter-day historians of Indian Writing

in English place Modernism between 1950 and 1980 and Postmodernism between 1980

beyond. Bruce King’s Modern Indian Poetry in English puts together the poets of this

period with detailed biographical sketches. In the West, the Modernist movement was a

result of far-reaching changes that took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

consequent on the growth of industries and big cities and horrors of World War I. Many

of these factors-political and social - shaped Modernism in the West. The Modernist

literary movement– with Ezra Pound’s clarion call ‘Make it new’ –was the outcome or

product of this features seen in its self-conscious break with traditional modes of

representation and in striking a new path. It rejected what Alvarez, the American critic,

would term the outmoded ‘genteel’ tradition of the Georgian ‘Sunday Picnic’ poetry.

Not just literature, but all forms of art came in for renewal/reinvention in the hands of

avant-garde artists. We in India never witnessed such social upheavals, cataclysmic

changes warranting a turn over to newer modes of representation. So terms such as

modernism or postmodernism applied in the Indian context are a ‘Swadesi’ brand. But

the modernist sensibility as such - influence of Eliot, Joyce, etc.–had a late start in India

at least by 20 years or so when movement had expired in the West giving room to or

absorbed in postmodernism. According to R. Parthasarathy Indian poetry in English

was strangely born after the Englishman left the Indian shores.

Modernism here in India had its own course, following closely on the model of

the literary modernism of the West. The major characteristics are clearly defined by

Markarand Paranjape in his Indian Poetry in English (1993). 1. Rejection of the past,

turning its back on tradition, 2. Opposition to the idealism, romanticism of the

predecessors–poetry in hard, everyday language, 3. Secular, turning away from religion

towards personal relationships, confessional, city, dirty environment, human sexuality,

and 4. Resorting to the ironic mode– ambivalence towards themselves and the world

(20).

Most of the contemporary Indian women’s poetry in English or English

translation can be read in the context of the above taxonomy. In the post-independence

decolonisation scenario the first wave of women poets could be placed between 1950s

and 1960s, and the second wave from the 1970s on. A time there was when it used to be

publicly stated that the problem for the Indian poet writing in English is how to convey a

7

sensibility that is one’s own in a language that is not one’s own. This no longer holds

water now. Poets now have become more and more aware of the everyday realities and

complexities drawn away from the halo of feminine mystique towards greater clarity

and understanding. They have become self-conscious now of their identity as women

writers. With English education and greater exposure to social problems, their poetry

has acquired incisiveness. They feel free; they are open and naked in revealing their

secrets and in their spontaneous response to the world and its people with determined

vitality.

Eunice De Souza published a short anthology of seventy-five “lyrical poems

with soft, sensuous and passionate lines” composed on different occasions spanning a

period of nearly three decades. She has had the singular advantage of having known her

contemporaries, poets who helped in shaping her poems, offering suggestions and

putting her on the right track. Nissim Ezekiel who is held as the pathfinder for many of

the younger generation brought her into contact with Gieve Patel, Kamala Das, Dom

Moraes and others. Arun Kolatkar and Adil Jussawalla too had their bit of role in

promoting her poems. More than all, the entire academic group she grew up in afforded a

lot of exposure to good and great poetry. In this sense, it is right and just to place her

among the group of academic poets of the post-indepence era.

Her early ‘Catholic’ poems from her collection Fix are autobiographical–if not

confessional–in nature, helping us gain a peep into the nature of her later poetry. The

beliefs and disbeliefs of the Goan Catholic community of Mumbaikars provide her

with enough material for a conducted tour , as it were, of the inner lives of this group

of people. The poem “Catholic Mother” provides four biting– if not scornful–

snapshots of her family. The father believes that God always provides for that big

family of seven young children. According to the Parish priest, he is the pillar of the

Church, and for Mother Superior it is a lovely Catholic family. The last line that her

mother “Says nothing” is ambivalent. Profoundly intimate, yet aesthetically distant, is

the poem an acceptance or a denial of father’s role and presence? The poet stands

outside in a distanced position from which she can apprehend the fallacies of both

positions. Institutionalised religious morality and subjective personal judgements can

both fall outside the domain of human life.

Eunice De Souza’s poems are narrative in style, simple and direct oftentimes but

the themes they explore are not as simple as all that. The poem “Mid Sentence” from her

collection of “Recent Poems” is illustrative of this mode. There is no wailing, no

8

sentimental cries. There is just the banal closing line: “It was thoughtless to vanish so

suddenly,” referring to the sudden passing away of someone (Finis. Kaput. Dead.)

whose identity is not revealed. There is a commingling of joyous life full of hope and

expectation with the sudden close with “neither harp no halo.” The lyric expands the

metaphor of the opening line, “You left mid-sentence...” Death looms large in the

anthology the title (A Necklace of Skulls) which seems deliberate. The necklace is

usually associated with pearls arousing in us romantic feelings of joy, love, thrill,

bliss, elation and ecstasy. The influence of William Blake on Eunice De Souza is

unmistakable: the two of her longest poems, “Songs of Survival” and “Songs of

Innocence” bear, not just a titular, but a clear echo of Blake. But unlike Blake who

portrays complementary and opposing views on the transcendent mystery of creation as

in “The Lamb” and “The Tyger ” these two companion pieces present related views

enquiring into the phenomenon of survival and innocence. Standing outside the two

perceptions, the poet explores the limitations of being ‘happy with him forever/in this

world and the next,’ (Innocence) and denouncing the self deprecating attitudes, extols

the philosophy of stoicism ad schopenhauerean virtues of the will to live (Survival).

The poems of De Souza are well-wrought lyrics, inflexible and firm, short in design. In

fact the very economy of utterances helps her in arriving at such a delicately finished

form. Full of understatements, avoiding any external aid in the form of conceits,

metaphors and symbols, Eunice De Souza’s poems linger in our memories long after

they are read.

Srilatha is one of the younger emerging voices in Indian poetry. Her

anthology Arrivng Shortly (2009) published by Writers Workshop is a collection of

short lyrics. The poem “Writer of Elegies” is a dramatic monologue in which the

protagonist pours out her anguish at the murder of her youngest son “stabbed through

the heart by the upper castes/on his way to school.” At the writers’ conference when

there was a war of words on small, private grief, she could not relate to the discussion

on pain and suffering. Her own loss had so much overweighed her ; She was rendered

mute and joyless. “Between us,/the silence /is empty of bird song.” The presence of the

short line ‘The silence’ followed by the deafening clutter of words, words, words during

the discussion of the writers’ conference adds to the grimness of the pathos. She is

unable to bear the sight of the newly hatched eggs, her thoughts would only settle on the

hollow shells soon to be left over. She would again have to confront sheer emptiness and

void. One, however, entertains a feeling that the reference to caste undercuts the subtlety

of pathos that the poem wishes to achieve. The ‘bird song’ in the second stanza and the

‘bird eggs’ in the last with the joy and rejuvenation is set against the pervading

9

atmosphere of gloominess so well captured in the expression “hoop of pain that rings

my body.” The poem “Kamalamma” evokes succinctly the ebb and flow, the rough

and tumble of life. Kamalamma, a hardworking woman who has borne eight children

for her husband with ‘muscular prowess’, works as a cook in the Union office, licking

postage stamps and posting a thousand letters a day. Ten years later when the Union is

wound up what is left is the drumstick tree in the corner of the backyard. The end-

stopped lines, “A loan of endless forgetfulness/breathing in partnership/scanty air from

windows overlooking/other despairs” enact the Friday ritual of love-making and the end

stopped lines “Busy men fight causes/Radicals abuse governments” reveal the

internecine quarrels among the members of the trade union. There is cessation of the

bustle, the commotion, and the goings-on. Procreation is or has to be over after eight

children, the trade union office is shut but life, goes on. The king is dead, long live the

king. The closing enjambment with life-force of the metaphor of the tree is the reminder

of relentless march of time, rejuvenation of life, “What has grown is Kamalamma’s

drumstick tree/Proving useful in a corner of the garden.” Coleridge famously

remarked that a poem is always incompletly understood. Srilatha has ten poems on

the art of writing poems and here is one that beautifully restates this home truth: “There

are Many Ways to Stop a Poem.” She writes “The most popular method, /I believe, / is

to explain it.” How true! Each interpretation we put on a poem will wear out in time and

will seem inadequate but the poem will remain exhausting all our attempts to tame or

contain it. Our mind would wish to hang around and prolong the experience of the poem

for as long as possible. Srilatha concludes, “Yet every now and then/a poem/will pop -/ a

sudden mole from a mole hill/by the side of a road.” “Family Tree” is a short lyric in

which the two connotations of the tree are juxtaposed: the first the real one and the

other the family genealogy. In the case of the real tree, when a branch is mutilated, it

grows in course of time leaving no mark whereas in a family the split widens never to

come together again. It is simple observation with a play on the word ‘tree’ but the ‘quick

healing’ in the former instance and the ‘fester and hurt ‘ in the latter, both related to the

wound caused the physical and the metaphysical– bring together the two occurrences

into a seamless unity.

Let us consider two poems, “The Mother” by Usha in Kannada and “Burn this

Sari” in Telugu by Jayaprabha, both translated by A.K Ramanujan. Both poems use the

metaphor of the sari, the main item in the traditional dress of the Indian woman. In the

poem”Mother” the daughter protests defiantly asking her mother not to imprison her

within the confines of her age-old conventionality. She is tired of listening to the

mother’s words of advice and remonstrance. She wants freedom from the stranglehold

10

of custom-ridden antiquated wisdom doled out from generation to generation. This is

conveyed most effectively in the image of the fury of uncontrollable water. “Breaking

out of the dam/you’ve built, swelling/in a thunderstorm, /roaring through the land, / let

me live, very different/from you Mother. Let go, make way.” The lines, “I am just

spreading my hood. / I will sink my fangs into someone/ and lose my venom. Let go,

make way” are suggestive of her resolve to break away from home and elope with

someone as a sign of revolt. Is the image of the serpent spreading its hood, sinking its

fangs into someone, in a sense, a re-enactment of Eve’s transgression against God’s

command? “Burn the Sari” is even more radical in its appeal. The Sari is the symbol of

ideal womanhood. The protagonist of the poem feels that it has a vice-like grip around

her. It expects, rather enforces her to be chaste which is just a myth for her. “It is the

blame/ generation have laid on me /the unseen patriarchal hand/ This sari is the white/

shroud on the corpse/that’s me in this culture /of loot and plunder.” This challenge to

chastity is so loud mouthed, anger-ridden and over-stated that one feels that the true

voice of feeling is lost amidst a cloud of rage. In the previous poem the sari, with its

attitude of possession and protection– “Mother, don’t, please don’t/ don’t cut off the

sunlight/you’re your sari spread across the sky/blanching life’s green leaves”--stunts

the growth and curtails the freedom of the daughter, while in the latter it arouses loathing

and revolt. The controlling myth of chastity in the Hindu ethos, Sita and Savithri,

safeguarding the home is exploded.

Among the light verses– there’s God’s plenty here– a Sindhi poem “Husband” written and translated by the poet Hiranandani comes off effectively. That the wife is nothing more than a doormat is shown in these lines: “You’re my children’s mother/that’s why you’re my wife. /If I give up my claim/to fatherhood, /you’ll lose your claim /to this motherhood. /You belong to me– /I own everything that’s yours. /With me/it’s different. /I’m your husband.” In a series of images that evoke the scene of the wife comfortably placed, according to the husband, the right of the man over the woman is driven home. The poem is predominantly in the male voice of authority and command, lacking gently feelings of kindness and sympathy. “This is my home. /I‘ve touched you, /kissed you,/smelt you, enjoyed you. /That’s why I keep you here.” The poem could have been quite successful if the feelings of the wife had been suggested, ever so slightly. The wife does not exist at all in the poem. She has no local habitation. Well, by way of compensation to fill up this lacuna let us have a look at a poem by Hira Bansode, a Marathi Dalit poet. Her poem “Woman” places ‘She’ , the generic woman and ‘he’, the generic man in the broader context of two of the elemental forces, the river and the sea. She gives her whole being to him, merging with him while he remains stay put unmindful of her total surrender. The binary opposition between “I” and “You”is shown

11

in clear contrast. Savithri Rajeevan’s poem “ A Pair of Glasses” translated by Ayyappa Panicker plays on the theme seeing, observing the world in a double sense, a double consciousness: through the spectacles worn for better sight or vision and in the other sense of looking through coloured glasses. These two visions alternate, interspersed between them is the childhood stage, that celebrated age of innocence when there was no need for blinkers of any sort. The poem opens and ends with the physical frame and carries us forward and back in a reverie: “Glasses for my day-dreams, /and for my cradle songs. /For my unspoken word/and my unsung song. /Glasses. /Glasses for me. Poems in regional language when translated into English by proven translators who have a feel of the two tongues do hold a clear edge over the ones composed in English in the matter of communicating a deeply felt experience. They possess, borrowing from Gerard Hopkins, “the achieve of , the mastery of the thing.”

Seminars such as these are essential factors of academic life. This one on Women English poets is most timely. It affords us opportunities for a revaluation of our past as well as to discuss and engage ourselves in “the common pursuit of true judgement” for mapping out avenues for “fresh woods and pastures anew.” Our women poets should imbibe the best of western liberal enlightenment. Unfortunately, there are not many channels of publication for young and aspiring poets. Teachers and academics should open up new paths by bringing out representative anthologies of their poems as it happens in the western countries. In the undergraduate and postgraduate courses their poems should be prescribed for study. We need a larger reading public for them. Indian drama and Indian poetry in English have not kept pace with Indian fiction. We do not have a lively receptive audience for them as we have for fiction. The critical and the creative forces should go hand in hand. Critical effort should constantly nourish the productive creative power. As Eliot would say in “East Coker” for our women poets, “There is only the fight to recover what has been lost/And found and lost again and again.”

Works CitedEunice De Souza. Nine Indian Women Poets. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997.

A Necklace of Pearls. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2009.

Markarand Paranjpe. Indian Poetry in English. Madras: Macmillan India Ltd., 1993

K. Srilatha. Arriving Shortly. Kolkata: Writers Workshop, 2011.

Vilas Sarang. Indian English Poetry. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1989.

Vinay Dharwadker and A. K. Ramanujan. The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry.

New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994.

12

An immigrant’s life in a foreign country is like walking a tightrope high above the ground without a net. Jhumpa Lahiri explores and examines the insecurity, anxiety and anguish of the immigrants in her collection of short stories entitled Interpreter of Maladies.

Out of the nine stories included in the collection two stories present Indian character exclusively against the Indian backdrop, locale, characters, supersitions and taboos; the other seven are based on the inner landscape and strifes of Indians who have settled-out of choice or compulsion-in Boston or beyond; “beyond” symbolizing the

1“emotional and spiritual reaching out”. Lahiri views herself as “an interpreter of

2emotional pain and affliction”. She boldly and brilliantly maps the shores of her protagonists’ inner worlds, often blurring the lines between the concepts of optimistm and pessimism, constantly underlying the fact that questions on which a meaningful happiness of life can be tackled in two ways-intellectually and existentially. Her characters intuitively understand that intellectual answers are superficial and lead to a banal existence, as the receptive and emotional absorption of experience is largely absent in such answers.

Six stories of this collection are based on the predicaments and inner turmoils of Indian immigrants in the United States. These characters have been uprooted from the secure life-mode, of a traditional set-up, and are struggling to cope with the new environment by learning new strategies and cope-up methods - but in order to provide an alternate life-mode. Such learning has to be lived and experienced at first hand . Sometimes the process of adaption is smooth, as in the case of the nameless narrator of “The Third and Final Continent,” while sometimes it shatters the innermost defences of an individual who had no option but to surrender meekly to the brutality of circumstances, as in the case of the woman protagonist of “Mrs. Sen’s”. The other three stories are set in Bengal, though broadly speaking , the thematic approach to questions related to the fundamental purpose of life remains the same. Boori Ma in “A Real Durwan” underscores the impossibility of communicating emotional pain and loneliness to others while “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” describes the trauma of a

13

Dr. D. ANUSUYA

Associate Professor in English

Sri G.V.G. Visalakshi College for Women, (Autonomous)

Udumalpet.

14

female victim of circumstances, who is trying desperately to carve out a breathing space for herself.

Lathiri’s stories do not present any intrigue, mystery or formal denouement in the traditional sense. Her stories are the statements of human despair, felt particularly within the institution of marriage. Rooted in the time and locale when the old settled way of life is being radically challenged and refashioned, her characters often display shattered minds and frayed nerves, beneath which the nervous whisper of morbid passions is clearly audible. In some stories, though, we come across an inner resolve and determination to overcome the emotional imbalance and indication that it is never too late to begin life afresh. The first story of the collection, “A Temporary Matter.” illustrates on the one hand the fact that in New England marriage can be treated as a temporary matter, and on the other the reassertion of the validity of a new beginning in life.

To the Indian psyche, marriage is not primarily a sexual partnership; it is, as Bertrand Russell puts it, an “undertaking to cooperate in the procreation and rearing

3 of children”. A child cements the bond of marriage -without a child, marriage is considered banal and incomplete. The loss of child turns Shoba into a mechanized automaton. The systematic care and affection with which she had created a home for the two of them, cooking chutneys on Sundays, “stirring boiling pots of tomatoes and

4prunes,” writing meticulous instructions on her cookbooks and dating the recipes, has now dried within her. Engrossed in her misery, she overlooks the fact that Shukumar, too, has to tread through his own private hell-still he tries to create a sembalance of home for Shoba by cooking food every evening almost religiously. Cooking is the only activity which links him to everyday normalcy and to Shoba, imparting him the satisfaction that he is doing something productive, because if “it weren’t for him, he knew, Shoba would eat a bowl of cereal for her dinner.”

By comparison, the second story of the collection, “When Mr. Prizada Came to Dine” is rather stale. The tragedy of Mr Prizada does not convey any authentic poignancy, it remains rather superficial. The narrator of the story Lilia is a young girl of impressionable age , who is only vaguely aware of her cultural roots. Mr. Pirzada, a resident of Dacca, is forced to live through Bangla Desh’s violent struggle for independence through the news bulletins, while working on a thesis in a distant land. He has no means to know the condition of his wife and seven daughters whom he had left behind in his native land. Perhaps for this reason, the child-narrator of the story becomes a special object of his affection, who though a bit startled by the

15

theatricality of his attentions, devoutly prays for the safety of Mr. Prizada’s family.

The title story “Interpreter of Maladies,” on the other hand, is a powerful sketch of the insurperable loneliness of human beings, done with superb strokes and without any maudin sentimentality. Lahiri herself writes about it, “When I was putting the collection together, I knew from the beginning that this had to be the title story, for I think it best expresses, thematically the predicament at the heart of the book-the dilemma, the difficulty , and often the impossibility of communicating the

5emotional pain and affliction to others, as well as expressing it to ourselves.” The title itself is suggestive of the need to communicate to others the pain of abnormal loneliness and imprisoned emotions. The thematic denouement is also clear. One has to interpret them and seek refuge within one’s own self.

The portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Das is a testimony to Lahiri’s maturity in handling the craft of fiction. Their alienation from their cultural roots and bondages to the conventions of the different society is presented with a strong undercurrent of irony. Their external glamour is contrasted with their inner claustrophobia and emptiness. This contrast, at times, becomes comic and the pathos of that comedy arise from their inability to grasp, in broader or profounder terms, what significantly constitutes freedom and happiness in life. This contrast also conveys the gravity of the static, haunted loneliness which Mrs. Das had endured half-consciously. She is depicted as a woman, who at the age of thirty has “already fallen out of love with life”(66). She had been living with the secret guilt that her second son was born out of a momentary and purely sexual relationship with her husband’s friend. Her lack of protest at the advances of the friend has to be understood in the context of her overwhelming tierdness and withdrawal.

Mrs. Das has shared this secret with Mr.Kapasi in the hope that he, being an interpreter of maladies, should be abe to suggest a remedy to her also . His inability to sympathize with her evokes, strangely, a confident reaction in her “She opened her mouth to say something, but as she glared at Mr. Kapasi some certin knowledge seemed to pass before her eyes, and she stopped. It crushed him, he knew at that moment that he was not even important enough to be properly insulted.”(66) Mrs. Das goes back to her children with a definite gesture which can be taken as a token of her new assertive self.

Another story which conveys similar atmosphere and often felt banality of human situation with equal emotional intensity and perfection of craft is

16

“Mrs. Sen’s.” The story beautifully brings out the lignin motif of the suppressed hostility between the world of the “Self” and the world of “them.” Mrs. Sen has been transported to the alien society of America by her marriage to a teacher of Mathematics. She finds herself totally misfit in that society- “home” for her means India . Externally she makes all the suitable gestures to get adjusted to her new surroundings- her driving lessons and baby sittings are half-hearted attempts to adapt herself to a new society.

In “This Blessed House” the ghosts from the past constantly in the from of figures, idols and posters evoke different responses in Twinkle and Sanjeev. Sanjeev fails to understand Twinkle’s obsession with the religious objects. Twinkle’s bubbling enthusiasm changes the fact of finding certain objects in a new house into a journey of anticipating pleasure which she successfully communicates to her guests, who join her to explore the attic. Sanjeev’s acquiescence gives us the message that one has to make adjustments in order to have a happy marriage.

“The Third and Final Continent” is the narration of the gradual adjustment of an anonymous male protagonist with an alien society. He is eager to learn and to adjust. The emotional side of his character is also beautifully sketched by Lahiri. He admires his 103 year old landlady Mrs. Croft for her pride in her country’s achievement of sending a man on the moon, and remembers the last days of his mother with agonizing clarity.

“Sexy” is based on the contemporary understanding of the term-love devoid of emotion, Love at a sheer physical level-which has replaced the sensitivity of yester years.

Laxmi and Miranda are drawn as polar opposites, or more specifically, representatives of two different cultures. Laxmi limits her world to the conventional morality of the east, while Miranda experimetns to fulfill her needs in the western tradition. Laxmi tries to solve the marital discord of her cousin, while Miranda is entangled with her unsuccessful relationship with Dev.

One of the charms of Lahiri’s narration lies in her ability to exploit fully minor happenings which are insignificant as exterior points of departure for the development of thematic motifs or as new perspectives on a milieu of the given setting. She holds to minor, unimpressive and random events and is able to suggest a deep structural meaning in almost all her stories. Various incongruities of situations and life itself are presented with a clarity of vision, and with an effortless sensitivity. To her readers she is able to communicate “the extraordinariness of experience, evoked by the ordinariness of

17

6expression”. Herein lies her success.

References:-

1. Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. New Delhi: Rupa, 1998, p.75.

2. O. P. Mathur. “Meaningful Whispers: The Short Stories of Jhumpa Lahiri,” Points of View, Vol. VII, No.2, Winter 2000, p.19.

3. Bertrand Russell. Marriage and Morals, USA: Bantam Books, 1968

4. Lavina Melwani. “Interpreting Exile,” The Hindustan Times Magazine, April 23, 2000,p. 1.

5. Ibid.p. 1

6. Gowri Ramnarayan. “Elegant Outsider,” The Hindu Literary Review, April 16, 2000, p.ix.

PRIYA SHARON THOMAS

HOD of English

Hindustan College of Arts and Science

Coimbatore.

18

Comparative studies is an academic venture in which literary works and

traditions of more than one nation or language are studied thus permitting a fuller

understanding of international movements and affiliations. It ranges freely across

frontiers in search of cross- cultural influences. The name Comparative Literature does

not necessitate comparison of different national literary traditions. Moreover it can deal

with the literature of two or more linguistic, cultural or national groups. It can be a study

of works in the same language even if the works originate from different nations or

cultures.

This paper seeks to compare two legendary writers of literature D. H. Lawrence

who was born in the United Kingdom and spent much of his life in America and Henry

James, the American novelist and short story writer who left America and ultimately

became an English citizen.

D.H. Lawrence was a modern writer of rare genius. He had the power to fuse his

own intensely personal vision into his novels and short stories. He has incorporated his

philosophy even into the microcosmic vision of the world. In Lawrence’s writings a

moral theme is generated from the story naturally, not extracted or depicted as a separate

entity. He created a new way of controversy by the modern themes he made use of.

While the range of Lawrence’s views of society became wide, his interest in human

beings and their relationship became intense and an example is his novel Sons and

Lovers. His finest achievement was in the realm of prose fiction.

The novel for James was a mirror in a roadway, reflecting not only the panorama

of existence but also the countenance of the artist experiencing the world around him. A

new aspect which he introduced into his writing was a use of psychological realism, an

example of which is seen in the novel What Maisie Knew.

This paper seeks to examine how children are emotionally impoverished for life

19

in the novels What Masie Knew (1897) by Henry James and Sons and Lovers (1913) by

D. H. Lawrence. The characters in both novels have a special meaning. They all seem to

be interwoven with one another portraying a new cycle in another character’s life. In

What Maisie Knew Mrs. Wix was introduced at a time when Maisie needed a mother

figure Sir Claude is introduced when Maisie needed a father figure, whereas in Sons and

Lovers there are not many new characters introduced, the ones that are introduced seem

to want to try to break the bond that Paul and his mother have.

What Maisie Knew is one of James’ profoundest works psychologically and

morally and has been acclaimed for its technique. The success of the book is due to the

use of the innocent and limited vision of young Maisie. According to Henry James

“Every event and every action of the novel is seen only by and through her immature

mind, every articulated thought in her even though she herself is not the narrator of the

story” (Bowden 84)

James utilized the reflector technique, a technical innovation extremely

effectively. Through the restricted point of view of the child Maisie, the world of the

adults around is presented. Maisie’s pretty nurse is employed by Ida Farange. In turn Ida

marries Sri Claude, a likeable gentleman. It is ironic that Sir Claude has a series of

affairs with other women, Maisie tries her best to bring her parents together. She soon

learns that her father has been lying to her and her mother plans to go to South Africa.

This saddens Maisie. Meanwhile Claude and Miss Overmore visit Maise and her new

governess Mrs Wix. The little girl has a feeling that there is something wrong. Claude

and Miss Overmore decide to marry as soon as a divorce is granted to her, and it was their

desire to adopt Maise. They ask her to accompany them to France. Maisie ponders over

the issue but later she decides to stay with Mrs Wix. What Maise comes to know is the

moral sense of seeing reality through appearences.

This novel concentrates on the theme of how young Maisie acquires fresh

impressions of her dubious moral surroundings, the behavior of her parents and the

motives behind them, through the guidance given to her by Mrs. Wix. Maisie’s mental

age in the novel is not clear but she is accepted as a Jamesian young child. Maisie is an

example of a child who was exposed to many things that children of her age were not

exposed to and most of what she absorbs she is unable to interpret due to her innocent

immature mind. Little Maisie was the one most affected by her parent’s divorce. They

decided to keep her themselves, but separately for the duration of six months. Her

feelings were not taken into account and she was treated as a material object. Both Ida

20

and Beale failed in their responsibilities as parents because they have not taken into

account what divorce would mean to the little child Maisie. She became a victim of

insecurity and lack of love. Her education was interrupted and her governesses were

changed. Miss Overmore made her feel that she was a burden. Beale showed his

irritation against Ida in the form of accusations and insults which she uttered in the

presence of Maisie. She began to see the different sides of her parent’s character in her

mother’s house; Maise had a new governess, an old lady dowdy in appearnece called

Mrs. Wix.

While Miss Overmore made a pretence of liking Maisie, she would “throw

herself upon the child and before Maisie could resist, had sunk with her upon the sofa,

possessed her, encircling her...(then) Maisie ‘s back became aware of a push that vented

resentment” (262 WMK). Mrs. Wix had lost her little daughter, so she saw a daughter

in Maisie.

Even though she was ugly poor Maisie felt safe in her company, and had a sense

of security. Both Maisie and Mrs. Wix suffered from neglect, Maisie being personally

neglected and Mrs.Wix being professionally neglected. The innocence of Maisie

consisted in her ignorance of the world’s ways. The emotional poverty that Maisie

experiences in her life is because of her parents’ extremely vicious hatred for each other.

They use her as a “Vessel for bitterness”(13 WMK) and to Beale and Ida, Maisie was

just a tool that they used to hurt the other person.

Eventually, Maisie figured out that they were using her to be the bearer of

brutally hateful messages. So she stopped doing so, which made her parents very angry

and they decided that she had grown incredibly dull. Thus Maisie realized that they had

wanted her not for any good they could do to her , but for the harm they could with her

unconscious aid, to each other.

Unfortunately Maisie’s emotions were of no concern to either parent. As a result

she seldom received any meaningful affection from either of her parents. Whenever her

mother embraced her it was without any affection. Maisie’s father subjects her to

emotional neglect by reminding her that everyone had changed on her account, and the

implication was that she was a burden to him. Consequently Maise’s fate is sealed. She

will have to live with the pain of knowing that her parents did not want her. Her young

mind does not grasp the moral implications which leave the reader to interpret that

Maisie and her innocence become the yardstick which measures the value and judges

21

of the actions of others in the novel. James does not permit the reader to know all that

Maisie actually knew, nor do we know the exact time when all the events as they take

place.

D. H. Lawrence's Son and Lovers potrays the main character, as being

emotionally poor. Emotionally Paul is impoverished because of his feeling for his

mother. Mr and Mrs Morel were the parents of Paul Morel, whose life resembled the life

that Lawrence had known. The book’s autobiographical overtones are not emphasized,

as the author has been able to turn it into art. The attraction that had brought Walter

Morel and Gertrude Morel together faded into nothingness, with the passing of time. An

uneducated mine worker Walter did not understand his wife’s upbringing nor her

ladylike ways. Rough in speech and resorting to drink Walter would lose his temper over

minor matters after working at the mine all day. When the children were born Gertrude

comforted herself with care of them. William was her eldest son and was the joy of her

life. Paul, the second son began to be her sole joy. When William grew up to be a

handsome young man moved away and one day, died in an accident. Paul became his

mother’s sole companion and he reciprocated her feeling with joy. It was as if his

mother was his entire world.

Paul grew up to be a handsome young man, inheriting his mother’s love for

poetry, the beauty of nature and for all the marks of gracious living which she had

brought with her. His first encounter with young girls was for him a new experience.

“A new kind of lad and girl love began to grow between Paul and Miriam. They

began to realize that there was something in their relationship which gave them

happiness”(199)

His remarks about them revealing his growing interest made Gertrude unhappy

and apprehensive.

“Always he went with Miriam, and it grew rather late, he knew his mother was

fretting and angry about him- why, he could not understand”(210)

Mrs Morel could see Paul being drawn away by the girl. While he was away with

Miriam, Mrs Morel grew more and more worked up.

Paul realized that his mother did not like his friendship with Miriam. His

intimacy with the girl went on in utterly blanched and chaste fashion. He saw his

relationship with Miriam as Platonic friendship. Later Paul began to realise that Miriam,

the girl he admired did not reciprocate his feeling nor raise up to his expectations.

“And Paul hated her because, somehow she (his mother) spoiled his ease and

naturalness.”(230)

He withered himself with a feeling of humiliation. What he felt for Miriam was

doomed. At the age of twenty-three, they were estranged and went their separate

ways. Mrs Morel was relieved that the affair had ended.

Subsequently, Paul began to meet a divorcee called Clara Dawes, with whom a

new kind of relationship emerged. As he grew older Paul realized that his mother did not

approve, but he did not care. She was able to clam him when his deepest desires were

being thwarted by his mother’s disapproval. An element of mothering helped him to

recover from the loss of Miriam. Mrs. Moral contracted typhoid and died after many

days of suffering.

“Now she was gone and forever behind him was the gap in life, the tear in veil,

through which his life seemed to drift slowly, as if he were drawn towards death”(478

SAL).

Paul took some time to get over the feeling of nothingness that haunted him after

his mother’s death. The book ends when he decides to break his loneliness and walk to

the city, his head held high.

Paul’s inadequacies stemmed from his overwhelming feeling for his mother.

Unwittingly she had made him unfit for any natural feeling for another person.

Lawrence shows the young people caught in a web, not of their own making. He depicts

the unconscious developments in Paul’s life for which he could not find a solution, until

he left Bestwood for London.

Henry James and D. H. Lawrence were in the vanguard of the growth of science,

technology and the frontiers of the mind at the turn of the century. The victorian Age of

prosperity and stability resulted in complacency which according to Lawrence

deadened the mind and dulled the spirit. Lawrence attempted to revive the feelings and

emotions through his characters, breaking the age old restrictions on speaking of

personal relationships of man and woman, of emotional conflicts and such which

shocked the Victorian reader. Lawrence’s interest in ancient civilizations took him to

South America, to Mexico and to the heart to Aztec land, and he came back

disillusioned and dispirited. He drew inspiration from every encounter, resulting in

22

books, novels, prose and poetry. His output phenomenal in its variety destroyed the

shackles of Victorian complacency.

On the other hand Henry Jame’s imaginative world is so unique and his technical

triumph complete and his moral vision perfect that his readers have been amazed by his

virtuosity. His novels continue to receive praise for their form, point of view and

language. He is obsessed by the presence of evil and presents his moral vision to the

world in all his books.

Critics like T. S. Eliot have rightly pointed out that the example that Henry James

offered was not of a style to imitate, but of integrity so great and a vision so exacting that

it attempted exact expression. With World War II the disillusionment that followed, style

and expression in writing changed to a tense sparse style as in the work of Ernest

Hemingway. Henry James had influenced the art of fiction for all time. His thoughts on

the art of fiction is a critical statement every student of fiction should read, in his own

words.

“The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent

life” (The Art of Fiction).

In conclusion, the character of both the novels face emotional poverty caused

by their parents’ inability to recognize what they are doing in destroying their children

emotionally. Lawrence and James chose to write this way so that it reflected a moral

sense which was lacking as well as the fate of the moral sense in a corrupt and sinister

world. The moral sense is the consciousness which is reflected through Maisie and Paul

who seem to be full of unconditional love. For instance when Maisie’s parents abandon

her, she seems to get angry; however she also seems to be happy. Also Paul gets angry

with his mother for having such control over him, and at the same time he feels a deep

passionate love for her.

Thus James and Lawrence seem to be using similar themes with a variety of

surroundings and events, in order to get the readers drawn into their books and reach

their own conscious minds and its unfathomable depths. They present the psychological

influences in the lives of young children. While Paul Morel was unwittingly influenced

and had to leave his house to begin a new life, Maisie’s position as a young child was that

of being a victim of the nefarious acts of the elders around her. This is the contrast that

is easily seen in these authors.

23

REFERENCESPrimary sources

James, Henry .What Maize Knew 1908, rpt., London : Oxford Univ.Press.1966

Lawrence,D .H. Sons and Lovers 1913, rpt .,Cambridge Univ. Press.1992

Secondary sources

Andrews,W.T. ed., Critics on D.H. Lawrence: Readings in Literary Criticism. London: Wilmer Brothers Ltd., 1971.

Armstrong, Paul. The Phenomenology of Henry James, U.S.A. : Univ. of North Carlolina Press, 1983.

Beach, Joseph Warren. The Twentieth Century Novel. Ludhiana : Lyall Book Depot, 1969.

Blackmur R.P. The Art of the Novel . New York : Scribner.1934.

Bowden, Edwin T. The Themes of Henry James . New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. 1956.

Clair, John. The Ironic Dimensions in the Fiction of Henry James. Pittsburgh : Dequesne Univ. Press,1965 .

Ford, Boris.From James To Eliot : The Pelican Guide to English Literature. Vol. 7.1961;rpt.,England : Penguine Books Ltd., 1983.

Fraser, G.S. The Modern Writer and his World.1953 ; rpt., England:PenguinBooks Ltd., 1964 .

Gale, Robert L. Plots and Characters in the Fiction of Henry James. U.S.A. : The Shoe String Press, 1965 .

24

Mrs. V. K. SARASWATHI

Associate Professor in History

Sri G.V.G Visalakshi College for Women (Autonomous)

Udumalpet.

ABSTRACT

The writer was prompted to write this article on seeing a write up captioned ‘The

Unsung Hero’ in The Hindu (July 25,2010) which was about Sir Thomas Munroe. The

writer Mr. Srikant had highlighted the greatness of Munroe and was pained by the move

of the then Government to remove the equestrian statue of Munroe which, of course, did

not materialise. While absolutely agreeing with his sentiments , the writer wants to

show that Munroe was not an ‘Unsung hero’ but a deified governor. The love and

kindness he had shown to the then people of Madras was so much that they regarded

him as their God and had placed his photo in reverence on the wall of a temple in Andhra

Pradesh. In the post colonial, independent India, memories of the past have been

completely erazed. The image of the English as oppressors and suppressors have come

to stay. But there have been benign and fair English men who were genuinely interested

in the welfare of the Indians and among them SirThomas Munroe is the champion of the

downtrodden who used his power to protect the social and religious rights of the

Indians. Here are some interesting episodes for the benefit of the present youth of India

who are unaware of the towering personality of Sir Thomas Munroe.

The writer wishes to clarify that Munroe was not an ‘Unsung hero’ and Munroe

was a humanitarian and respected the fundamental liberty and freedom of the natives.

He not only evinced interest to know the religion and customs of the rural people of

Madras but also had a sympathetic understanding of their beliefs and faith.

The Madras government ordered him in 1800 to procure the entire income from

the Mantrayala Muth and the village. The Revenue officials could not comply with this

order. So Sir Thomas Munroe himself visited the Muth for investigation. It is believed

that when he went into the Muth, leaving his shoes and hat outside, he found an

apparition of Swami Raghavendra. When he came out later, he cancelled the order and

Mantralaya was exempted from the revenue collection. Soon Munroe was promoted as

25

the Governor and in that capacity he cancelled the order of the British Government to

annex the Mantralaya. No one knows what happened within the precincts of the temple .

On his promotion he received the Mantrakshata from the Mantralaya, as a blessing. He

accepted it with humility. This is quite an unusual and unheard of reaction, especially,

from a British Governor. The phrase ‘Unsung hero’ implies that Munro was not a

celebrated hero. But reality is different. The very existence of the equestrain statue in

Chennai is a proof that he was honoured by the then government. Probably the writer

might have meant that the people of Independent India, especially, the youth of

Chennai, are not familiar with the glory of Sri Thomas Munroe. Here the writer wants to

focus on the way people worshipped Munroe as their favourite deity.

Munroe was just and fair minded and he was not for unjust annexure of

territories. He was fearless in his opinion in this regard. Maharaja Martanda Varma of

Travencore died without a legal heir to the throne. His wife Rani Lakshmibai was made

the Regent. The Governor General of India asked Munroe, who was serving as Dewan of

Travencore, to name a successor. At that time the queen was pregnant. If she failed to

deliver a male child, the kingdom would go to the British government. Munro was not in

favour of the British Government annexing the kingdom of Travancore. Before the

queen could deliver, Munroe boldly sent a letter to the Governor General that Rani

Lakshmi Bai had delivered a male child. To his surprise, the queen gave birth to a boy. It

may be a coincidence, but it requires a strength of mind to tell a near lie to protect a

Hindu lineage. Sir Thomas Munroe became an ardent devotee of Lord Padmanabha and

personally undertook the temple administration.

The end of the 18th Century saw the end of an era in the politics of Tamilnadu. It

is indicated by the political event of the formation of the Madras Presidency in 1801. In

1801 the English East India company began to rule practically the whole of Tamilnadu

and some adjoining Telugu and Malabar districts, all of which together constituted the

Madras Presidency, the territory administered by the Governor in Council. No name in

any part of India, is so familiar or held in such veneration as that of Munro in the Madras

Presidency. In the city of Madras the celebrated statue serves as a landmark, ever 1

keeping the name of ‘Munro’ in the mouth of all.

Of all the Governors of Madras Presidency Sir Thomas Munro alone shines

almost like the North Star. He was born at Glasgow in 1761. A brilliant product of

Glasgow University, a gentleman of rare qualities, a skillful soldier, an astute 2

administrator, Munroe ranks as one of the greatest of the Company’s servants. He

served the English East India Company with steadfast loyalty and truthfulness for more

26

than four decades. He began his career in India as a soldier at Madras in 1780. By dint of

hard work he elevated himself to the position of the Governor of Madras.

Sir Thomas Munro’s life and work in India is divided into four periods. The first

from 1780 - 1792, was purely military, and during most of these twelve years he

was in active service in the wars with Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. In the second,

1792 - 1799 in the Baramahal,(present day Salem and its environs), in 1799 - 1780 in

Kanara and from 1800 to 1807 in the Districts still known as the Ceded Districts.

(Cuddappah, Kurnool and Bellary) The third period 1814 to 1818 after an interval of six

years in Europe, was spent partly in civil and partly in military duty. He was sent out by

the Court of Directors in 1814 as ‘Principal Commissioner for the revision of the

internal administration of the Madras territories - judicial and financial' and during 1817

and 1818 he was in command of a division of the army in the last Maratha War. The

fourth period, after a short visit to England in 1819, was that of his Governorship of

Madras from June 8,1820 until his death in July 6,1827, which position he held for seven

years and was honoured with a knighthood.

As the principal Collector of the Ceded Districts he became the Champion of the

downtrodden. When he took charge of his office there was no peace and order. The

region witnessed political turmoil created by plunderers. The society suffered from

insecurity and from desperate poverty. It was Munro who brought about “a measure of 3

peace, orderliness and security” to this place by suppressing the Polygars who proved to

be rapacious, with an iron hand.

Besides, the land revenue system was in a state of utter confusion, solely due to

the avaricious nature of the middle men viz. Karnams, Village Munsiffs and also the

Polygars. The poor farmers were totally ignorant of what portions of lands they

possessed, what amount of rent they were to pay and when it was to be paid. Moreover

they were not sure of getting the fruits of their labour. This sorry state of affairs rendered

them pitiable creatures of the god - forsaken society. As a champion of the downtrodden

Munro paid undivided attention to their problems. Consequently a pragmatic land

revenue settlement emerged, “Munro, by trial and error, devised a mechanism of survey

and settlement of land tenture in a manner advantageous to the ryot and also an assured 4

revenue to the Government”.

Though this system demanded an intimate knowledge of the local conditions on

the part of the Collector and his European Assistants, it involved enormous labour in

concluding annual settlements directly with thousands of individual cultivators. It

27

received many adverse comments, suffered initial reverses but it withstood the test of

time, due to the dynamic energy, hard work and commitment of Munro. The Home

Authorities were convinced of the utility of the Ryotwari system and therefore gave

instructions to the Government of Fort St. George to introduce it through the length and

breadth of the Madras Presidency.

Munro was a true friend of the poor and the distressed. He was remembered by

the people of the Ceded Districts six or seven decades after his pathetic demise. In 1891 -

92 a drought hit this part of the Presidency and the aggrieved agriculturists met at Gooty

with the object of petitioning the Government for a reduction of the land assessment. At

the concluding stage of the meeting an old ryot stood up and uttered in anguish, “Oh! for

Munro Sahib back again.” To that extent he had gone into the minds of the common folk.

In short he became a legend in his own life time. Rightfully the people of the then

Madras presidency perpetuated his memory by erecting an equestrian statue for him on

The Island at Madras in 1839 by means of subscription.

As the Principal Collector he proved beyond doubt that he was an astute and

pragmatic administrator. It was his firm conviction that the exclusion of Indians from

“all situations of trust” was nothing but impolitic. He therefore insisted on the necessity 5of Indianising the services. His administrative brilliance and statesman like wisdom,

his intellectual capacity, physical vigour, moral excellence and unalloyed goodness

made him truly great. He carved a niche in the hearts of the people of South India.

Therefore he was accorded the semi-divine ascription “Munrolappa”. It is rather curious

to note that in Tirumala, the earthly abode of Lord Venkateswara, one of the food 6offerings to the Deity is made daily in his name as ‘Munro Taligai’.

In Madras, Munro laid the foundation of a form of district administration that has

survived with some changes to this day. The Collector was made head of the district and

besides his fundamental responsibility of revenue, was also in charge of managing the

police and was vested with magisterial powers. Under him came a large retinue of

Tahsildars who apart from revenue collection, also had quasi-judicial powers in their

sub-districts. In time, Munro’s methods became an absolute success and were extended 7

all over South India.

As a mature democrat Munro emphasized in his Minute of 31, December 1824

that it was imperative on the part of the British to train the people of India in Self-8

Government. Astonishingly he foresaw the ultimate transfer of power to India by the

British even before the seed of nationalism germinated in the soil of India. He boldly

stated.

28

“We should look upon India not as a temporary possession, but as one which is to

be maintained permanently, until the natives shall in some future age have abandoned

most of their superstitions and prejudices, and became sufficiently entitled to frame a

regular Government for themselves. Whenever such a time shall arise, it will probably

be best for both countries that the British control over India should be gradually 9

withdrawn.”

Despite his imperialistic disposition, Munro’s love towards the Indians was

immeasurable. Being a genuine well-wisher of the natives he championed their cause at

all levels. No area of public life whether it was military or civil remained beyond his

scope. Generally he declined a job if he was not competent to do it. In short “there was 10not tinge of the careerist in his composition.” As a steadfast loyalist to the British

authorities he was against freedom of press. However he supported the promotion of

education among Indians. He had the honest opinion that it was one of the primary

functions of the Parliament to provide for “the moral and intellectual amelioration of the

people”. Hence his venture for an inquiry into the state of indigenous education in the

Madras Presidency which was fast deteriorating. As a follow-up action, an educational 11

survey was carried on.

To arrest this deteriorating state of affairs in the sphere of education Munro

suggested the establishment of a training school for teachers at the Presidency town and

of two principal schools in each district, one for the Hindus and the other for the

Muslims, where a scheme of study including English grammar, Arithmetic besides

vernacular languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Arabic and Sanskrit, was to be

implemented. In pursuance of this scheme a Teacher Training School at Madras was

established a few years after the sad demise of this benevolent Governor due to cholera

at Pattikonda(Kurnool District) in 1827. It is gratifying to note that this school later

became the nucleus of the Presidency College, Chennai which in course of time

blossomed into an institute of intellectual aristocracy. Today it stands on the Marina as a

monument of antiquity. It would have been memorable if this institution has been named

after Sir Thomas Munro just as the Presidency College of Bombay acquired the name

Mountstuart Elphinston.

Sir Thomas Munro was a rare phenomenon among the ordinary mortals. His

unflinching interests in the welfare of the Indians made him toil day in and day out. It is a

matter of surprise that Munro enjoyed neither pastime nor physical comfort. He often

went on extensive tours to know the people of the Madras Presidency, their character

29

and their needs intimately. Journey from one place to another was extraordinarily

tedious when there were no railways.

A cursory glance of the letter that he wrote to his mother on 17 May 1795 will

convince any reader that he functioned like a robot. “Where I am now, I have no choice

of study or society, amusement. I go from village, to village with my tent, setting rents of

the inhabitants, and this is so tedious and teasing a business, that it leaves room for 12

nothing else for I have no hour in the day that I can call my own.”

Because of the intimate contact that he established with common folk, he

realized the necessity of learning the vernacular language to involve them in the

administration of the country and therefore he insisted upon the British officials to 13

acquire a knowledge of the language of the place where they had to function. He

declared

“No man should get the charge of a district who does not understand the

language of the native for unless he has perseverance enough for this he will never have

enough for a Collector.”

He was of the view that the aid and co-operation of the Indian people was vital

for the British to conduct the administration of the country on efficient lines. In fact “he 14

was a Romantic who loved to preserve the indigenous tradition of administration.” In

fact Munro was one of the greatest administrators who added lustre to the pages of

Anglo-Indian history in the opening decades of the 19th century.

The statue of Munro on horseback sans stirrup and saddle, their absence being a

mystery till date, was sculpted by Francis Chantrey and has stood since then, looking

over the city with his “stern countenance and searching eye” that according to Monstuart

Elphinstone contrasted with his “delight in those things that in general have no effect but

on a youthful imagination. “Those near Tirupathi would vouch for the latter for it was

generally believed that Munro had a vision of the bangaru toranam, a golden garland

made by Hanuman for Venkateswara was visible to only the purest of souls.

Rather than removing Munro, the state administration could think of translating

his statements into Tamil and placing them around his statue. Successive generations

could then know of the requisites of good administration and also realize that all colonial

masters were not bad.

30

It would be surprising and even astonishing to know that the people of the

Madras Presidency had elevated him to the level of god. It appears that a group of

travellers had gone to a temple in Cuddapah. It was situated on a small hill on the way to

Cuddapah. There is a legend about this temple. Hanuman was in search of a place for the

royal couple Ram and Sita on their way back from Lanka to Ayodhya. He chose a cave

by the side of the river. To mark the spot he hung a golden rope across two hill tops, so

that from a distance that rope could be seen. Ram and Sita stayed there and Ram had

etched a picture of Hanuman on the stone walls of the cave. Centuries later Sir Thomas

Munroe, Collector of Cuddappa, was travelling through the hills, late at night. He saw a

gleaming rope of gold stretching from one hill top to another. “What is that”, he asked

his companions “Why is there a golden rope hanging from one hill top to another. No

one spoke. No one could see the rope that Muro was referring to . Finally an elderly man

spoke up. “He who can see the golden rope is blessed. But he will die in a few months”.

Munroe looked at his companions in dis belief. He did not attach much importance to the

story deeming it as superstition. He made a note of this in his diary. In a few months

Munroe contracted Cholera and died. The travellers walked to the temple and

worshipped Ram Sita and saw the carving of Hanuman by Ram.

Out in the main hall, high above on the walls were framed pictures of gods and

goddesses. In the Centre prominently displayed was one of Ram and Sita besmeared

with holy ash, haldi and kumkum. Right next to Ram and Sita was the framed picture of

Sir Thomas Munroe.His picture was also decorated with holy ash haldi and Kumkum.

Thus a British governor had been made an Indian God by people who loved

and worshipped him not as a master, not as a ruler but as a God who protected them and

loved them. Therefore we can say that Munroe is not an ‘Unsung hero’but a ‘deified

Governor'.

References

1. V. M. Reddi. “Munro in Ceded Districts”. Presidential address, South Indian History Congress, Madras 1987.2. Dr. P. Rajaraman, Chennai Through the Ages Poompozhil Publishers Chennai 1997, p.70 3. Ibid. p.71.4. V. M. Reddi. “Munro in Ceded Districts” Presidential address, South Indian History Congress, Madras 1987. p.25. Dr. P. Rajamman opcit p.80.6. S. Muthiah. Madras Discovered. Affliated East West Press, Madras, 1992. P. 1267. Ibid.8. The Hindu. July 25, 2010.9. Sathianathaier. A Political and Cultural History of India Vol.III, Madras 1964. p.324.10. Ibid.11. S. Muthiah. Madras Discovered. opcit .p.127.12. C. S. Srinivasachari, History of the city of Madras. p.222.13. Ibid.14. Rajaram. Chennai Through the Ages, opcit p P.125.

31

Dr. S. RENUKADEVI

Assistant Professor in History

Sri G.V.G Visalakshi College For Women (Autonomous)

Udumalpet.

32

ABSTRACT

This article traces the evolution of the BSNL. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is

internationally famous for its telecom operations. But only a very few people would

know its origin and growth, its environmental developments, and the ups and downs of

such a large Telecom Services which depends on huge man power. It makes a revealing

study to learn of the gradual flowering of the BSNL from Post and Telegraphs.

Introduction

The announcement of the death of the Telegram triggered nostalgic memories in

the writer. When a telegram came to my grandfather , the entire village gathered in front

of the house and began bewailing the death of whom they did not know. In fact they

started lamenting without even knowing the contents of the telegram. Telegram to them

meant ‘bad news’. The irony of it was that it was about the birth of my younger brother

at my grandfather’s place in Madras. So much was the impact of the telegram on the

uneducated. But today the scene has changed. Every third person, ranging from a

sweeper to the Village Officer , possesses a mobile phone. They confidently tap the

members and communicate with their near and dear. What a magnificent revolution! It

makes a revealing study about this phenomenal change from P&T to BSNL.

Definition of the Telecommunication

Like the ocean that is made of tiny drops, the Postal and Telegraph had a slow

and uneasy start and occupied a small corner of the Public Works Department. ‘Tele’

means far off, distant, or remote. Practically speaking, the word, ‘Telecommunication’

means communication by electrical or electromagnetic method. Electromagnetic

means, usually over a distance. ‘Telecommunication’ means communication by wire.

Although it appears accurate in many situations today, it is not complete because

telecommunications can also occur using optical fiber or radio waves.

33

Telecommunications was used in ancient times. Cave men used fire to

communicate simple message over a long distance. Similarly, drums and smoke

signal, were used by cultures long before electricity or magnetism was known. Human

beings have always had a need to communicate over distances and found ways to do it 1without sophisticated tools .

From Postal and Telegraph to Department of Telecommunication

The Postal, Telegraph and Telephone services were managed by the Posts and

Telegraphs Department till 31st December, 1984. In January 1985, two separate

Departments for the Posts and the Telecommunications were created. The accounts of

the department, initially, were maintained by the Accountant General of the P&T.

However in April 1972, the telecommunications accounts were separated.

Simultaneously the department also started preparing the balance sheet annually.

The Telecommunication Board consisted of the Secretary of

Telecommunications, (who was the Chairman) Member of Finance, Member of

Operations, Member of Development, Member of Personnel and Member of

Technology. The Telecommunication was constituted in 1989. The commission has the

DoT Secretary as its Chairman with Member of Services, Member of Technology and

Member of Finance, Secretary DoT, Secretary of Industries and Secretary of Planning

Commission as part time members of the commission. The Department in 1986

recognized the Telecommunication Circles with the Secondary switching Areas as

basic units. This was implemented in a phased manner. Bombay and Delhi Telephones 2

were separated to create the new entity called Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd .

Basic elements of Telecommunication system

A telecommunication system contains three basic elements - the sources,

medium and sinks. More common terms would be transmitter, medium and receiver.

Examples of each element in the system are abundant; voice box, air ear, telephone lines,

telephone or terminal, data circuit, computer, etc. There are many possible

combinations of each of the basic elements. The user immediately is referring to the

medium as the communication line. The line can be implemented in many physical

forms, such as copper wire or micro wave radio, but visualizing it as a copper wire is

convenient and not inaccurate.

34

Basic elements of a telecommunication system: Medium

Source Sink

Transmitter Medium Receiver

Telecommunication Information Network Architecture

Another architecture, specifically applied to service management is the

Telecommunications Information Network Architecture developed by a consortium of

service provider to vendors. The architecture, similar to CORBA and ODP focuses on

building distributed processing environment. The difference is that the focus in TINA is

for provisioning and developing global service in real time to meet the market demands.

The architecture is composed of 3 components: Computing architecture,

Network architecture, and Services architecture. The computing architecture describes

a distributed processing environment. The network architecture defines connection

management to control and manage the network resources. The service architecture

defines a platform for developing a wide range of services in a multi-supplier 3environment .

Importance of Telecommunications

Telecommunication is an important part of the data processing environment in

many companies. If an organization has more than one location, there is a high

potential for data communications. But even if the company has only one single

location, it is likely to have multiple personal computers that are candidates to be

inferred and be connected on a small, local network so that data and information can

be shared. The company has a mainframe computer; it is likely that data

communications is used to connect terminal located more than a few hundred feet from

the computer room. Data communications with or between computers is one of the

fastest-growing segments in the communication marketplace. Many companies have

realized that there are opportunities to improve their communication efficiency by

managing all of their voice and Data communication activities together.

Communication lines can be shared, costs can be managed, and new technology can be

assimilated in ways that provide more effective communication service to the 4employees of the company .

Businesses in the information age needs more information faster than ever

35

before. Some times, most companies are realizing that information is an increasingly

valuable asset that must be managed with the same care and attention as the company’s

finances, building, machines and people. Having the right information in the right

place at the right time can mean the difference between the profitability and

unpredictability of the business and ultimately can determine its success or failure. In

today’s competitive business world, information is power. Organisations whose

employees keep in touch with one another using electronic mail find that their

productivity increases dramatically. Telecommunication network dominate their

industry.

Allowing geographic dispersion of facilities for people

Telecommunication allows people in diverse locations to work together as if

they were in close proximity. Branch banking clerks, car rental agents and insurance

agents, can all share common information and have most of the same capabilities they

would have if they were located in the home office. At the same time, companies or

industries that are not required to have operations in widely separated geographic 5

regions have a relatively inexpensive opportunity and flexibility .

Direct use on the job

Telecommunication is becoming an integral part of the work. So

telecommunication is very useful to many different types of the job, including

automated teller machine at a bank, the supermarket, checkout scanner that reads bar

codes on food products, librarian to check books out of the public library, clerk at the

internal revenue services, to enter the income tax information into the computer and so

on. More and more people are using computer terminals connected to computers via

telecommunication lines.

Indirect Use on the Job

Knowledge of the subject and its vocabulary will help to communicate with

‘telecommunications workers’. It could help them to knew information or services

and understand the problems; they are suddenly thrust into a new job where they work 6directly with telecommunication terminals or equipments .

The Functions of the Telecommunications Department

The telecommunications organization reports that it has a certain set of

36

responsibilities and activities to perform. The parts of the telecommunications

organization are analogous to the major functions of the company, such as marketing,

engineering and production. The telecommunications is in need of knowledgeable

people to design, install, repair, maintain and operate the system. Thousands of people

work behind the scenes to sell, design and install telecommunications systems and keep 7

them operating reliably and properly . Network analyzers and designers want the

people to know about types of telecommunications hardware and services that are

available. So these people easily identify the communication requirements for a

company and then design a telecommunications solution that will provide their required

capabilities. Telecommunication is very helpful to the finance, accounting and

marketing also. Several universities offer degrees in the technical and management

aspects of telecommunications to help the people get the best possible preparation for a

career in this exciting field.

Death of DoT

There have been a slew of policy decisions in the telecom sector during the

second half of the year 2000. Following on from the National Telecom Policy in 1999,

the government has kept up the speed of reform in this sector. Part of this realization to

speed up reforms follows the noticeable slowing of foreign investment in this sector

during the past one year. The most significant change in the Indian telecom sector took

place on October 1999 when the Department of Telecom Operations, the operations

arm of the DoT, was turned into a corporation, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL).

With this, the operational and policy making arms of the DoT have been moved an

arm’s length distance away. The new corporation became a Fortune 500 company 8from inception with assets of Rs. 64,000 crore($14.25 billion) . The corporatisation was

preceeded by a long spell of strikes from the 400,000 strong-employees of the telecom

department, who wanted to retain the salary, pension and perks structure of a

government employee even after being transferred to the new corporate entity. The

strikers were not only from the various low-skilled employees’ unions but also from the

Civil Service cadres. The Indian Telecom Service Officers and the Indian Accounts

service officers working in the telecommunications department also went on strike to

ensure that the ITS cadre survived the corporation and were not replaced with IAS

officers. The strike, which crippled local, national, international voice services as well

as Internet access services nationwide was only called off after the communications

minister Ram Vilas Paswan agreed to meet all the demands of the employees, like

government-scale pensions, out of a consolidated government fund and turning 30,000

37

ad-hoc employees into permanent ones. However, as many commentators have pointed

out the rapid capitulation of the government in the face of striking telecom workers’

demands has effectively called into question the very basis of the move to corporatise

telecom services. According to The Statesman, “the political message is all too clear:

vital services will be saddled with extortionate baggage before they can be reformed,

because the government doesn’t have the courage to take strong disciplinary action”.

Other commentators have pointed out while the demand for pensions to be protected

was going to be accepted by the government, promises that coporatised entity will

guarantee jobs and never retrench workers and that the corporation would never turn

sick are absurd. It remains to be seen how much difference the arms length relationship

between the government policy makers and the government-owned telecom BSNL will

make in terms of a level playing field for all telecom service operators. However, the

initial signs are that corporatisation may be leading to a level playing field for all

telecom service providers. For instance, within a fortnight of the creation of BSNL, the

DoT asked it to pay Rs. 500 crore ($125 million) as spectrum charges for operating

various wireless services like microwave and satellite links. While as a government

department, it had no need to pay for scarce resources like the spectrum, as an

independent corporate entity(albeit 100 per cent owned by government) it has to follow 9the rules applicable to other players .

Origin and Development of BSNL

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has earmarked Rest.19,000 crore for

development plans during the current fiscal and borrowed Rest.4000-5000 crore from

the market for the development plans. Its chairman and Managing Director D. P. S. Seth

said the BSNL has earned Rest.20,354 crore in 2000-01 which is 12 percent more than

the previous years earnings. Further he started that the BSNL’s share including the

MTNL in the telecom sector was 99 percent while the private sector had only one

percent participation. To strengthen the marketing of the BSNL, a separate marketing

devision headed by a director was created. The world average of the tele-density

was 15 telephones per 1000 people while India has an average of 3.5 telephones per

100 people. The Chairman and Managing Director said 2,26,000 km optical fibre cable

had been laid in the country... year comparing to last years 55,000km. This fiscal, more

than 1000,000 km lines would be laid, he added about internet cafes, he said the BSNL

has covered 1980 blocks headquarters in the country so far while in Maharastra, all the

329 blocks have been provided with these cafes. In Rajasthan, 64 cyber cafes have been

opened by private operators and eight by the corporation, Seth said adding the remaining

38

165 of the 237 blocks could be offered in a few months provided line in rural areas and

25 percent rebate in charges to these opening internet café there, about the Wireless in

Local Loop(WLL) telecom services, the Chairman and Managing Director said the

BSNL had bought 56,000 lines for urban areas and 6,00,000 lines for rural region. The

tariff for the WLL services for rural area was being worked out and the service was

expected to be operational soon. On starting cellular services, Seth said in the first Phase

15,00,000 Connection would be issued in 1000 cities in the country including 32 in 10

Rajasthan and also on the highways .

BSNL Landline

BSNL is the largest telecom operator in India and is known to everybody for

Basic Telephony Services. Presently the Plain old, Countrywide telephone service is

being provided through 32,000 electronic exchanges, 326 Digital Trunk Automatic

Exchanges(TAX), Digitalized Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN) all

interlinked by over 2.4 lakh km of Optical Fiber Cable, with a host of Phone Plus value

additions to the valued Customers. BSNL’s telephony network expands throughout the

vast expanses of the country reaching to the remotest part of the country with a new

Prepaid Plan with 7 Year validity.

BSNL Service Plus

CellOne provides a number of Value Added Services. These services help

BSNL to serve people better and enhance the ease and quality of communication thus

bringing global connectivity at customer ’s doorstep

v Voice Mail Service

v Value Added Services SIM Based service SMS based Services

v Short Message Service(SMS)

v Group Messaging

v National & International roaming

v Call forwarding

v Corporate Virtual Private Network

v Call conferencing

v Friend and Family Talk

v Call waiting and Call holding facility

39

v Premium Rate Service - A great tool for professionals to sell priced I information

/ consultation on phone.

v Indian Telephone Card - A pre-paid facility for making local, STD or ISD calls

from any telephone.

v Virtual Private Network - Normal telephones programmed to work as cheaper and

flexible - nationwide - private network.

v Voice Virtual Private Network - The Voice VPN service enables the subscribers to

establish a private network using public network resources.

v Universal Number - A unique number nationwide.

v Universal Personal Number - A unique personal number nationwide.

v Tele voting - for conducting opinion polls and surveys using BSNL network.

v Account calling Card - For those who want to have a permanent account with

BSNL can make use of this service. This is similar to India Telephone Card.

Overview of the World Class services Offered by the BSNL

Basic Telephone Services

The Plain old, Countrywide telephone Service through 32,000 electronic

exchanges . Digitalized Public switched Telephone Network(PSTN) with a host of

Phone Plus value additions, BSNL launched DataOne broadband service in January

2005 which shall be extended to 198 cities very shortly. The service is being provided on

existing copper infrastructure on ADSL2 technology. The minimum speed offered

to the customer is 256 kbps at Rs.250/- per month only. Subsequently, other services

such as VPN, Multicasting, Video Conferencing, Video-on-Demand, Broadcast

application etc will be added. Keeping the global network of Networks networked, the

countrywide Internet Services of BSNL under the brand name includes Internet dial

up/Leased line access, CLI based access no account is required) and DIAS service, for

web browsing and E-mail applications. We can use the dialup sancharnet account from

any place in India using the same access no ‘172233’, the facility which no other ISP

has. BSNL has customer base of more than 1.7 million for sancharnet service. BSNL

also offers Web hosting and co-location services at very cheap rates. Integrated Service

Digital Network Service of BSNL utilizes a unique digital network providing high

speed and high speed and high quality voice, data and image transfer over the same line. 11It can also facilitate both desktop video and high quality video conferencing .

40

India s x.25 based packet Switched Public Data Network is operational in 104

cities of the country. It offers x.25 x.28 leased, x.28 Dial up (PSTN) connection) and

frame relay services. BSNL provides leased lines for voice and data communication for

various application on point to point basis. It offers a choice of high, medium and low

speed leased data circuits as well as dial-up lines. Bandwidth is available on demand in

most cities. Managed Leased Line Network (MLLN) offers flexibility of providing

circuits with speeds of nx64 kbps upto 2mbps, useful for Internet leased lines and

International Principle Leased Circuits(IPLCs). GSM cellular mobile service Cellone

has a customer base of over 5.2 million. BSNL Mobile provides all the services like

MMS, GPRS, Voice Mail, E-mail, Short Message Service(SMS) both national and

international, unified messaging service(send and receive e-mails)etc. BSNL Mobile is

used in over 160 countries worldwide and in 270 cellular networks and over 1000 and

State Highways and train routes. BSNL Mobile offers all India Roaming facility to both

pre-paid and post-paid customers (including Mumbai & Delhi). This is a

communication system that connects customers to the Public Switched Telephone

Network (PSTN) using radio frequency signals as a substitute for coventional wires for

all or part of the connection between the subscribers and the telephone exchange

Countrywide WLL is being offered in areas that are non-feasible for the normal

network.

Suggestions

This one and a half century old industry is now facing heavy competition from

other private telecommunication networks. If the BSNL has to thrive, it should reduce

SMS charges and outgoing roaming charges and introduce more attractive programmes.

Though there are facilities in the BSNL, they have not reached the rural people.So the

telecommunication department should take effective steps to market their network in a

better manner.The Billing System of BSNL should be changed. It should be common for

both urban and rural areas.

Conclusion

Today BSNL is one of the best Telecommunication Companies, the largest

public sector underaking of India with authorized share capital of $3600 million and net

worth of $13.85 billion. In the modern society for the communication purpose the

demand for BSNL land line and mobile connection service expand from year to year and

it has a network of ever 50 million lines covering more than 5000 towns with over 40

million telephone connections with digital technology. With the advent of the mobile, its

41

growth has become phenomenal.

References

1. Deb N. N. Telecommunication Engineering (Volume-1). New age international(p)

Limited, Publishers, New Delhi, 2002.

2. Fagen M.D.A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System. Volume 1,

Telephone Laboratories, 1975.

3. Partha Sarathi, Banerjee. Advanced Telecommunication in India. Har Anand

Publications, New Delhi, 1996.

4. Rein in BSNL, re-focus TRAL, Pradipta Bagchi, Business Standard. October

12,2000.

5. Tele-Crusader (Monthly Journal of BSNL Employees) November, 2003.

6. Fawless D. P. and Alexander D.C. Communication and Social Behaviour. A

symbolic interacting Perspective Addision Wesley Publishing Company, Utah,

U.S.A, 1978.

7. Genesteinberg John Stroud. American Online. Que Corporation Ltd, 1994.

8. Goel, S.K. Communication Tomorrow. Common wealth Publishers, New Delhi,

1999.

9. Uma Narola. Mass Communication Technology New Perspective, Har - Anand

Publication pvt ltd, India, 2001.

10. Sanjiv Singhar. Internet Banking: The Second wave. Tata Mc Graw - Hill -

Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 2003.

11. Fisher and Harms, The Right to Communicate, 1983.

42

Dr.N.LAKSHMI, Ph.D

Associate Professor in Commerce,

Miss.N.KALAIARASI, M.Com,

Researcher, Department of Commerce,Sri G.V.G.Visalakshi College for Women, Udumalpet.

E.Mail: natarajan.lakshmi@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT

Education in India is seen as one of the ways of upward social mobility. The

need for higher education is the main factor that motivates students to go for educational

loan. To increase students' enrollment ratio, Government of India introduced

Educational Loan Scheme in 1995. The present article attempts to identify borrowers'

satisfaction towards different aspects of educational loan for studies carried out in India.

The primary data collected from the respondents revealed that, loan processing charges,

rate of interest, time taken for sanctioning loan were the major factors influencing

satisfaction towards educational loan. Respondents were very much satisfied with

margin amount and behaviour of loan sanctioning authority and least satisfied with

service tax. 81% assigned future income for payment of installment. All the

respondents started to repay interest while one-fifth of the respondents started to repay

principal. Three-fourth of the respondents had difficulties with documentation work.

To improve efficiency of Educational Loan Scheme, banks could extend loans to

deserving students and maintain good relationship.

KEY WORDS: Educational Loans, Financial Support to Students, Borrowers'

satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION

People's desire to acquire and enhance knowledge results in getting education.

Education plays a significant role in the economic development of any economy. It is an

essential element of democracy paving the way to eradicate poverty. Education moulds

individuals into responsible and informed citizens. It enables development of abilities to

solve issues, create and improve productivity. Education is the key element to motivate

people to move up in the world, seek better jobs and ultimately contribute for the

upliftment of the society. Education forms the basis of lifelong learning and inspires

confidence in individuals to face challenges. It enables development of personality of

individuals, dispels ignorance and boosts moral values of people.

EDUCATIONAL LOAN IN INDIA

India is a fast emerging economy of the world. It has one of the largest pools of

talents with excellent educational background. Good education is a stepping stone for a

high flying career. Indian professionals are in great demand. Educational system in

India represents a great paradox. Even after 50 years of independence we have not

reached the goal of 100% literacy, though there has been a significant increase in the rate

of literacy. India has been taking adequate steps to make education more quality

oriented and made available to all irrespective of financial constraints. Introduction of

loan for education is the major step in the process of motivating students to pursue

higher education within and outside India irrespective of financial capabilities.

To motivate students to take up higher studies, Government of India has

introduced Educational Loan Scheme in 1995. The benefit of the scheme is available

for students undergoing schooling, diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, professional

courses within India and for professional education outside India. Loan upto Rs.4 lakhs

is sanctioned without security based on the co-obligation of parents. Loan amount

between Rs.4-Rs.7.50 lakhs is sanctioned based on the co-obligation of parents along

with collateral security. Loan amount above Rs.7.50 lakhs is sanctioned based on the

co-obligation of parents together with tangible collateral security. There is no margin

for loans upto Rs.4.00 lakhs. For loans above Rs.4.00 lakhs, 5% margin for studies

within India and 15% margin for studies abroad are maintained. Interest on educational

loan depends on the prevailing market rate, amount borrowed and security provided.

Pattern of interest may be fixed or floating. Borrower can choose to repay interest

during the study period or pay it along with the principal over a period of 5-7 years.

Course period plus one year after completion of the course is considered as moratorium

period. If the student gets employed within one year after completion of the course, the

repayment schedule starts immediately after the expiry of one month from the date of

employment.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Every study needs an insight into the previous work on related topics to develop

the problem or issue that has to be studied and analysed by the researcher. The following

previous research works related to the topic provided the base for the present research

work. Erik Cantona and Andreas Blom (2004) has identified that, students availing

43

financial support had 24% higher chance of continuation of higher studies and improved

academic performance by taking additional efforts in studies. One-third of the

educational loan borrowers were involved in part time employment. The researcher has

identified that, the level of education of parents of students availing educational loan

was higher than the level of education of parents of students who did not avail

educational loan. Maureen Woodhall (2004) has opined that, efficient management

system of selection of borrowers, disbursement of loans, record keeping, data storage,

data processing are the base for the success of loan schemes. The major problem was in

securing repayment of loan. The study recommends proper redesigning of the loan

programs to ensure effective and efficient revenue diversification in Africa. Arie

Maharshak and David Pundak (2005) conducted a study on the perceived attitude

towards study loan among Israel engineering students. The research findings show that,

academic achievement of students doing part time jobs to repay loan was affected.

Ballade (2005) has observed that government's participation in the provision of

education cannot bring equity to unequal societies simply through subsidies. It should

be financed through progressive taxation. The study shows that, the government

subsidy enjoyed by low-income group is less compared to the rich, resulting in the

acceleration of inequality in the society. Public financing of elementary education alone

will have a strong and positive effect on the distribution of income from rich to poor

families.

Elistina Abu Bakar, Jariah Masud and Zureni Md Jusoh (2006) found that,

non-repayment of the loan among university students after they have graduated

developed a major problem to the Government. Jesse Rothstein and Cecilia Elena

Rouse (2007) concluded that, the debt burden distorts graduate post-schooling decision.

The researcher also indicates that, changes in employment choices were large enough to

entirely offset the effect of student debt on after tax, after loan payment earnings in the

years immediately after graduation. Puttaswamaiah’s (2010) analyses of the pattern

of educational loan in India revealed that enrolment to higher education has increased

significantly particularly because of the active role of public sector banks. However,

education constitutes only 3.7% share of the total priority sector lending in the year

2009. Harsh Gandhar (2010) has identified that educational loan scheme is run on

commercial basis, provision for extending quantum of loans to needy groups was less,

terms and conditions concerning collateral security were very stringent and no

association between the institute of study and the bank advancing educational loan. Srinivasan. R and Debabratadas (2011)viewed that, students pursuing post-graduate

professional courses took educational loan than under-graduate students. Research

44

work revealed that, private banks do not prefer to sanction educational loan due to low interest rate. Shiva Reddy (2011) has identified that, private sector's role in financing

service has declined drastically resulting in unequal distribution of education.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Education is a driver for technological innovation and economic growth and it

is not just a component of social development but a means of securing people's future in

society. Getting education more specifically higher education is becoming complicated

due to its expensive nature and shortage of finance. Some students discontinue their

education due to lack of finance. The problem of finance prevailing among the students

is solved by the banking sector through educational loans.

In India, Educational loan came into existence through policy formulation at

government level and made available through banks. Streamlining of educational loans

through lead banks have become a source of support to pursue higher education and

materialize the dreams of future generations reducing imbalances. Educational loan is

one of the fastest growing retail banking products. Educational loans are term loans

offered to deserving students to pursue all employment generating courses. In this

context, a study is undertaken to identify the borrowers' satisfaction towards different

aspects of educational loan sanctioned for studies carried out in India with the following

objectives:

Ÿ To identify the level of awareness in the procedure for applying educational loan.

Ÿ To identify the factors influencing students to go for educational loan.

Ÿ To ascertain the difficulties faced by the students in getting educational loan.

Ÿ To ascertain the level of satisfaction among the educational loan borrowers.

HYPOTHESES

On the basis of the objectives framed the following hypotheses were

formulated:

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between the age of the respondents

and the level of satisfaction of educational loan borrowers.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between the monthly income of the

respondent's father and the level of satisfaction of educational loan borrowers.

45

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study brings to light the level of awareness on the procedure for applying

educational loan. The study covers the factors influencing educational loan borrowers

to pursue education in India. The present research work aims to study the extent of

satisfaction among the educational loan borrowers. The study is restricted to only

educational loan borrowers residing in the geographical location of Udumalpet Taluk.

The study also covers the problems faced by the borrowers in getting educational loan.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

Educational loan borrowers constitute the universe of the study. A sample of 85

educational loan borrowers residing in Udumalpet was selected adopting purposive

sampling technique. Data were collected from the unaided colleges at Udumalpet, as

students from government and aided colleges have not taken educational loan. Based

on the feedback obtained from experts and pilot study, questionnaire was revised and

restructured. After screening the collected questionnaires, 75 questionnaires were

selected for analysis. Statistical tools like percentage analysis, Likerts Five point

measurement of satisfaction, Chi-square test of significance have been used. However,

the present study is subject to the following limitations :

i. It is a micro level study; therefore the findings of the study are applicable only to

Udumalpet taluk.

ii. Since the study is based on the primary data collected through questionnaire, the

results of the study is subject to all the limitations of the primary data.

iii. The findings of the study are not applicable for the other category of loan

borrowers.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The primary data collected from 75 respondents covered under the study

revealed that, 40% of the respondents were from the age group of 18-20 years, 47%

represented 21-23 years and 13% were between 24-26 years. 57% were male

respondents while 43% were female respondents. 60% represented BC category, 19%

MBC category, 13% OC category, 8% ST and SC category. 28% were pursuing MCA

program, 27% Diploma, 23% MBA degree, 15% Teacher Training and 8% Catering

degree. 64% of the respondents took admission through Management quota while 36%

46

through counseling.

More than one-fourth of the respondent's father had completed under-

graduation. More than one-fourth of the respondent's mother had completed post-

graduation. More than one-fourth of the respondent's fathers were doing business.

More than one-third of the respondent's mothers were involved in agricultural activities.

More than one-fourth of the respondent's father had a monthly income between

Rs.15,001 and Rs.20,000. Nearly 50% of the respondent's mother had a monthly

income between Rs.5,000-Rs.10,000. More than 60% of the respondents had 3-4

members in the family. One-fourth of the respondents knew about the bank through

friends, relatives and bank staff. 49% availed loan from the bank nearest to the locality,

31% from the account holding bank, and 20% from the bank assigned by the lead bank.

61% took loan from public sector banks while 39% from private sector banks for the

reasons given in Table 1.

Table 1 : Reasons for availing Educational loan

All the respondents' submitted proof of income, proof of residence, proof of

identity, co-obligation of parent, admission letter and fee schedule from the institution to

avail educational loan as shown in the Table 2. More than half of the respondents raised

loan for an amount between Rs.50,001 and Rs.1,50,000 as shown in the Exhibit 1. Fee

payable by the students were covered by the bank for all the respondents as shown in

the Table 3. All the respondents provided co-obligation of parents as security, 63%

submitted insurance policy, 59% provided property documents, 57% surrendered bank

deposit certificate and 24% arranged for third party guarantee. For 73% of the

respondents, father was the co-obligator. 55% paid compound interest while 45%

paid simple interest. More than half of the respondents were charged interest on a

quarterly and monthly basis. More than half of the respondents opted to pay interest

along with the principal after moratorium period. 79% of the respondent's parent took

responsibility for interest payment. 60% of the respondents preferred floating rate of

Reason Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents Financial need 47 62.67

Avail loan facility 23 30.67

Enjoy Tax benefits 5 6.66

Total 75 100.00

47

Table 2: Documents submitted to avail Educational loan\

Exhibit 1: Amount of Loan borrowed

Type of Documents Number of Responses

Percentage of Responses

Proof of Income 75 100.00

No due Certificate 19 25.33

Photocopy of PAN card 38 50.67

Proof of Residence 75 100.00

Proof of Identity 75 100.00

Co-obligation of Parent 75 100.00

Admission Letter 75 100.00

Photocopies of mark sheet of previous studies 61 81.33

Income Tax Return 16 21.33

Fee schedule from the institution 75 100.00

Passport size photograph 62 82.67

48

interest while 40% opted for fixed rate of interest. Nearly sixty percent of the

respondents did not avail interest subsidy. Nearly seventy percent did not avail interest

rate concession. As shown in Table 4, only 28% availed concessional rate of interest.

Of the eligible borrowers, 86% availed interest rate concession as a girl student, 10%

enjoyed interest rate concession as ST category and 5% enjoyed as SC category.

Table 3: Items of Expenditure Covered

Table 4 : Eligibility for getting Interest Rate Concession

40% of the respondents were able to get loan sanctioned after 40 days, 33%

between 35-40 days, 16% had to wait for 31-35 days and 11% had to wait for 25-30 days

to get educational loan sanctioned. 91% made cash repayment while only 9% made

repayment using pre-issued cheque. More than one-fourth of the respondents paid EMI

between Rs.2,001 and Rs.2,500. All the respondents provided original fee receipt of

earlier semester as follow-up-requirements.

The level of satisfaction derived by the respondents towards various interest and

charges relating to educational loan revealed that respondents were very much satisfied

with loan processing charges and least satisfied with service tax on educational loan.

81% assigned their future income for payment of installment . All the respondents

started to repay interest while one-fifth of the respondents started to repay principal also.

Nearly 70% of the respondents repaid loan regularly. Respondents were very much

Items of Expenditure Number of Responses Percentage of Respondents Fee payable to the institution 75 100.00

Library fees 39 52.00

Laboratory fees 42 56.00

Insurance premium 46 61.33

Books 44 58.67

Project work 30 40.00

Equipment and Instruments 12 16.00

Uniforms 3 4.00

Computers/Laptops 30 40.00

Exam fees 52 69.33

Study tour 50 66.67

Building fund 17 22.67

Caution deposit 8 10.67

Reason Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents

Girl Student 18 85.71

Student belonging to SC 1 4.76

Student belonging to ST 5 9.53

Total 21 100.00

satisfied with margin and quantum of loan amount and were less satisfied with interest

rebate followed by interest subsidy. More than three-fourth of the respondents had

difficulties with documentation work. More than 60% of the respondents intend to

approach the same bank for future financial transactions. Nearly 60% of the

respondents were ready to suggest the lending bank to others.

CONCLUSION

The present study on the satisfaction of educational loan borrowers revealed that

the financial inadequacy for higher education is the major factor motivating students to

go for educational loan. The loan processing charges, rate of interest, time taken for

sanctioning loan were the factors influencing the level of satisfaction towards

educational loan. Respondents were very much satisfied with the margin and behaviour

of loan sanctioning authority. Three-fourth of the respondents faced difficulties in

providing documents. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Educational

Loan Scheme, banks could extend loans to financially deserving students with less

documentation work and maintain a good relationship with the borrower students by

way of non-financial support.

BIBLIOGRAPH

Ÿ YAdam Booij, Edwin Leuven and Hessel Oosterbeek, The role of information in

the take-up of student Loans, , 2013 February 12.

Ÿ Arie Maharshak and David Pundak, Student Loans: Stated versus Perceived

Attitudes in Israel, Southern Economists, Delhi, 2005, Vol.35, p.36.

Ÿ Ayyapan.S. Educational Loan with Specific Reference to Coimbatore District,

Southern Economist, Delhi, 2006, Vol.10, pp.45-47.

Ÿ Ballade, Financing Education Of Income Distribution And Financing Education,

Southern Economist, Delhi, 2005, Vol.15, pp.25-26.

Ÿ Bruce Johnstone and Pamela Marnaci, Making Student Loans Work In Low And

Middle Income Countries, Southern Economist, Delhi, Vol.46, pp.12-16..

www.skirec.com

50

Ÿ Elistina Abu Bakar, Jariah and Zureni Md Jusoh, Knowledge, Attitude and

Perceptions of University Students towards Educational Loans in Malaysia,

www.epi.org, 2013 April 1.

Ÿ Erik Cantona and Andreas Blom, Can Student Loans Improve Accessibility to

Higher Education and Student Performance: An Impact Study of the Case of

SOFES, , 2013 January 15.

Ÿ Harsh Gandhar , Educational Loan Scheme of Scheduled Commercial Banks in

India: An Assessment, Southern Economist, Delhi, 2010, Vol 1, p.35.

Ÿ Jesse Rothstein and Cecilia Elena Rouse, Constrains after College: Student Loans

and Early Career Occupational Choices, Delhi, 2007, Southern Economist,

Vol.50, p.50.

Ÿ Johnson and Jesse, Financing Practices and Problems of State Universities in

Kerala, , 2013 January 6.

Ÿ Maureen Woodhall, Student Loans: Potential, Problems And Lessons From

International Experience In Africa, , 2013 December 7.

Ÿ Puttaswamaiah.S, Financing Higher Education: A study on Educational loans,

Southern Economist, Delhi, 2010, Vol.30, pp.20-25.

Ÿ Shatrugna, Financing Higher Education, Southern Economists, Delhi, 2005,

Vol.18, p.45.

Ÿ Shiva Reddy, Financing of Higher Education and Health in India , Southern

Economist, Delhi 2011, Vol.46, pp.30-35.

Ÿ Srinivasan. R and Debabratadas, Analysis of educational loan: A case study of

National capital Territory of Delhi.org, www.epi.org, 2013 January 23.

www.econ.worldbank.org

www.cmdr.ac.in

www.stdebt.com

51

*A.R. THILAGAVATHI and **A. ANIS FATHIMA*Head, Department of Mathematics,**Head, Department of Mathematics(CA)

Sri G.V.G Visalakshi college for women (Autonomous),

Udumalpet

52

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to introduce and study the notions of m - X

generalized preregular closed sets, m -generalized pre regular open sets and m - gpr- X X

continuous functions in minimal spaces.

Keywords

m -structure, m -space, m -gpr -closed, m - gpr- open, m - gpr - continuous X X X

and m - gpr -irresolute. X

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 54C05, 54C08, 54C10.

1 Introduction

Topology has tremendous applications in computer Graphics, image

processing, digital pictures etc., In 1970, Levine[2] introduced the notion of

generalized closed sets in topological spaces. Popa and Noiri [5] introduced the

concept of minimal structure on a nonempty set. Also they introduced the notion of mX

-open set and m -closed set and characterize those sets using m -cl and m -int X X X

operators respectively. Further they introduced m -continuous functions and studied

some of its basic properties. T.Noiri [4] introduced the concept of mg - closed sets in

minimal structures which analogs to g -closed sets in topological space introduced by

Levine. In this paper, we have a certain kind of investigation of gpr - closed set in

minimal structure. We have used a collection of sets satisfying some minimal

conditions and introduce a new class of m -structure set called minimally generalized X

pre regular closed set called as m - gpr -closed set. Further we studied the properties of X

m - gpr -closed sets.X

2 Preliminaries

In this section, we begin by recalling some definitions and properties.

Let (X,t) be a topological space and A be a subset. The closure of A and

interior of A are denoted by cl(A) and int(A) respectively.

DEFINITION 2.1.

[3] Let X be a nonempty set and let m Í P (X ) , where P (X) denotes the set of X

power of X. m is an m -structure (or a minimal structure) on X, if f and X belong to X

m .X

The members of the minimal structure m are called m -open sets and the pair X X

(X, m ) is called an m -space. The complement of an m -open set is called m -X X X

closed. Given A Í X, m -interior of A abbreviate m -int(A) as È {W: WÎmX X X ,

W Í A} and the m -closure of A abbreviate m -cl(A) as Ç {F : A Í F, X - FÎ m }.X X X

LEMMA 2.2.

[2] Let (X, m ) be an m- space. For subsets A and B of X, the following X

properties hold:

(i) If (X - A) Î m , then m - cl(A) = A and if A Î m , then m - int(A) = A, X X X X

(ii) m - cl(? ) =? , m - cl(X ) = X , m - int(? ) =? , m - int(X ) = X ,X X X X

(iii) If A Ì B, then m - cl(A) Ì m - cl(B) and m - int(A) Ì m - int(B). X X X X

THEOREM 2.3.

[3] Let (X, m ) be an m -space and A be a subset of X. Then x Î m -cl(A) if X X

and only if

U Ç A ≠ ? for every U Î m containing x and satisfying the following X

properties:

(i) m - cl(m - cl(A)) = m - cl(A).X X X

(ii) m - int(m - int(A))= m - int(A). X X X

(iii) m - int(X \A) = X \ m - cl(A) . X X

53

(iv) m - cl(X \ A) = X \ m - int(A) .X X

(v) m - cl(A È B) Í m - cl(A) È m - cl(B) . X X X

(vi) A Í m - cl(A) and m - int(A) Í A .X X

DEFINITION 2.4.

[3] Let(X,m ) be an m-space. A subset A Í X is said to be m -semi open if X X

there exists U Î m such that U Í S Í m - cl(U). A is said to be m -semi closed if X X X

its complement is m -semi open.X

DEFINITION 2.5.

[3] Let (X, m ) be an m -space. A subset A Í X is said to be m - pre -open if X X

A Í m - int(m - cl(A)). Also a subset A is said to be m - pre -closed if X \A is m - pre -X X X X

open.

The collection of all m - pre -open (resp. m -preclosed) sets in (X, m ) is X X X

denoted by P O(X, m ) (resp. PC (X, m ) )X X

DEFINITION 2.6.

[3] Let (X, m ) be an m -space and m to have the property of Maki, if the X X

union of any family of elements of m is in m .X X

DEFINITION 2.7.

[3] Let (X, m ) be an m -space and B Í X. The m - pre closure of B X X

denoted by m - pcl(B) is defined to be the intersection of all m - pre -closed sets of X X

(X, m ) containing B.X

The m -preclosure of a subset A and B of X satisfies the following properties: X

(I) m - pcl(? ) =? .X

(ii) m - pcl(X) =XX

(iii) If A Í B, then m - pcl(A) Í m - pcl(B) . X X

54

(iv ) If ? ≠ B ≠ X . Then m - pcl(B) is not necessarily an m -pre X X

closed set.

(v) m - pcl(X \A) = X \m - pint(A) . X X

(vi) m - pint(X\A) = X \m - pcl(A) . X X

THEOREM 2.8.

[3] Let (X, m ) be an m -space and A Í X . If m satisfy the property of X X

Maki, then

(i) m - pcl(A) = A È m - cl(m - int(A)) . X X X

(ii) m - pint(A) = A Ç m - int(m - cl(A)) . X X X

DEFINITION 2.9.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space. A subset A Í X is called X

(i) m -regular open set [3] if A = m - int (m - cl(A)) , X X X

(ii) m -generalized pre closed set [3] if m - pcl (A) Í U whenever AÌ U X X

and U is m -open, X

(iii) m -regular generalized closed set [1] if m - cl(A) Ì U whenever X X

A Ì U and U is m -regular open. X

DEFINITION 2.10.

A map f : (X, m ) (Y, m ) is called X Y

-1(i) (m , m ) - continuous [4] if f (V ) is m -closed in X for all m - X Y X Y

closed set V of Y-1(ii) (m , m ) - rg -continuous [1] if f (V ) is m - rg -closed in X for X Y X

every m -closed set V of Y . Y

-1(iii) (m , m )-irresolute [4] if f (V ) is m -semiclosed in X for all X Y X

m - semiclosed set V of Y . Y

55

3 m - gpr -closed setX

DEFINITION 3.1.

A subset A of a space (X, m ) is said to be minimal generalized pre X

regular closed (briefly m - gpr -closed) if m - pcl(A) Ì U whenever A Ì U and X X

U is regular open in X .

PROPOSITION 3.2.

Every m - rg -closed set is m - gpr -closed set but not conversely.X X

PROOF.

Let A Ì U be m - rg -closed. Let A Ì U and U be m -regular open. X X

Then m - cl(A) Ì U since A is m - rg -closed. Since every m -closed set is mX X X X

-pre closed, m - pcl(A) Í m cl(A). Therefore m - pcl(A) Í U . Hence A is m - X X X X

gpr -closed.

EXAMPLE 3.3. Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = {a, b, c, d} and m ={? , X X

{a}, {b}, {a, b}, {a, c}, {b, c}, {a, b, c}, X}. Then A= {c} is m - gpr -closed but not X

m - rg -closed.X

PROPOSITION 3.4. Every m - gp -closed set is m - gpr -closed.X X

PROOF. Let A be m - gp -closed and A Ì U where U is regular m -open. Since X X

every regular m -open set is m -open and A is m - gp -closed, m - pcl(A) Ì X X X X

U . Hence A is m - gpr - closed. However, the converse need not be true as shown in X

the following example.

EXAMPLE 3.5.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = {a, b, c} and m = {? , {c}, X}. Then X X

A = {c} is m - gpr -closed but not m - gp -closed.X X

56

PROPOSITION 3.6.

If A is m -regular open and m - gpr -closed, then A is m -pre closed.X X X

PROOF. If A is m -regular open and m - gpr -closed, then m - pcl(A) Ì A . Hence X X X

A is m -pre closed.X

REMARK 3.7.

Intersection of any two m - gpr -closed sets need not be m -gpr -closed.X X

EXAMPLE 3.8.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = {a, b, c} and m = {? , {a}, {b}, X}. X X

Then A ={a, b} and B = {a, c} are m - gpr -closed sets but their intersection {a} is not X

a m - gpr -closed.X

REMARK 3.9.

Union of any two m - gpr -closed sets need not be m - gpr - closed.X X

EXAMPLE 3.10.

Let(X, m ) be an m -space such that X = {a, b, c, d, e}, m = {Æ, {a, b}, {c, d}, X X

{a, b, c, d}, X }. Then A = {a} and B = {b} are m - gpr - closed sets but their union X

{a, b} is not m - gpr -closed.X

THEOREM 3.11.

Let A be m - gpr -closed in (X,m ). Then m - pcl(A)-A does not X X X

contain any nonempty m -regular closed set.X

PROOF.

Let F be a m -regular -closed set such that F Ì m - pcl(A) –A. Then X X

F Ì X– A implies A Ì X-F. But A is m - gpr closed in X and X– F is m -regular X X

open. Therefore m - pcl(A) Ì X– F. That is F Ì X - m - pcl(A). Hence X X

57

FÌ (m - pcl(A)- A) Ç (X - m - pcl(A) ) =? . Hence F =? .X X

However, the converse of the above theorem need not be true as shown

in the following example.

EXAMPLE 3.12.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = {a, b, c, d},X

t= {? , {a}, {b}, {a, b}, {b, c}, X}. Consider the set A = {a}. Then

m - pcl(A) = {a, d}. m - pcl(A)- A = {d} which does not contain any nonempty X X

m -regular closed set. Also A is not m - gpr -closed.X X

PROPOSITION 3.13.

Let A be m - gpr -closed in (X, m ). Then A is m - pre -closed if and X X X

only if m - pcl(A) - A is m -regular close. X X

PROOF:

Let A be m - pre -closed. Then m - pcl(A) = A and so m -pcl(A) - A = X X X

? , which is m -regular closed.X

Conversely, suppose m - pcl(A) - A is m -regular closed. Since m - pcl(A) X X X

- A Ì m - pcl(A) - A and A is m - gpr -closed, m - pcl(A) - A =? . Hence m - pcl(A) X X X X

= A or A is m - pre -closed.X

THEOREM 3.14.

If A is m - gpr -closed and A Ì B Ì m - pcl(A), then B is m - gpr -closed.X X X

PROOF.

Let B Ì U, where U is m -regular open. Then A Ì B implies A Ì U. X

Since A is m - gpr -closed, m - pcl(A) Ì U. Now, B Ì m - pcl(A). ThereforeX X X

m - pcl(B) Ì m - pcl(A). Thus m - pcl(B)Ì U and so B is m - gpr -closed.X X X X

58

DEFINITION 3.15.

Let (X, m ) be an m-space, A Ì X and x Î X , x is said to be a m - pre - X

limitpoint of A if and only if every m - pre -open set containing x contains a point X

of A different from x .

4. m - gpr -open setx

DEFINITION 4.1.

A set AÌX is called m - gpr -open if and only if its complement is m - gpr -x X

closed.

EMMA 4.2.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space and AÌX . Then m - pcl(X- A) = X- m - pint(A).X X X

THEOREM 4.3.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space. A Ì X is m - gpr -open if and only if X X X

F Ì m - pint(A), whenever F is m -regular closed and F Ì A.X X

PROOF:

Let A be m - gpr -open. Let F be m -regular closed and F Ì A . Then X X

X - A Ì X- F, where X- F is m -regular open. m - gpr -closedness of X- A implies X X

m - pcl(X- A) Ì X-F. By Lemma 4.2, X - m - pint(A) Ì X-F. That is X X

F Ì m - pint(A).X

Conversely, suppose F is m -regular closed and F Ì A implies F Ì m - pint(A). X X

Let X- A Ì U, where U is m -regular open. Then X- U Ì A, where X- U is m -regular X X

closed. By hypothesis X- U Ì m - pint(A). That is X- m - pint(A) Ì U. By X X

Lemma 4.2, m - pcl(X- A) Ì U. This implies X- A is m - gpr -closed and A is X X

m - gpr -open.X

59

THEOREM 4.4.

If m - pint(A) Ì B Ì A and A is m - gpr -open, then B is m - gpr -open.X X X

PROOF:

Now, m - pint(A) Ì B Ì A implies X- A Ì X- B Ì X- m - pint(A). By Lemma X X

4.2, X - A Ì X- B Ì m - pcl(X - A) . Since X- A is m - gpr -closed, By Theorem X X

3.14, X- B is m - gpr -closed and hence B is m - gpr -open.X X

REMARK 4.5.

For any A Ì X, m - pint(m - pcl(A) -A) =? .X X

THEOREM 4.6.

If A Ì X is m - gpr -closed, then m - pcl(A) - A is m -gpr -open.X X X

PROOF:

Let A be m - gpr -closed. Then m - pcl(A) - A does not contain any nonempty X X

m -regular closed set. Let F be a m -regular closed set such that F Ì m - pcl(A)- A. X X X

?Then by Theorem 3.11, F = . So FÌ m - pint(m - pcl(A)- A). This shows that m - X X X

pcl(A) - A is m - gpr -open.X

The reverse implication does not hold.

EXAMPLE 4.7.

?Let X = {a, b, c}, m = { , {a}, {c}, {a, c}, X }. For the set A = {a}, m - pcl(A) X X

= {a, b} and m - pcl(A)- A = {b} which is m - gpr -open in X . But A is not m - gpr -X X X

closed in X .

5 ( m , m )- gpr -continuous maps and ( m , m )-gpr - irresolute mapsX Y X Y

DEFINITION 5.1.

-1 A map f : (X, m ) ® (Y,m ) is called ( m , m ) - gpr - continuous if f (V ) X Y X Y

is m - gpr -closed in X for every m -closed set V of Y .X Y

60

DEFINITION 5.2.

-1 A map f : (X, m )® (Y, m ) is called ( m , m )- gpr - irresolute if f (V ) is X Y X Y

m - gpr -closed in X for every m - gpr -closed set V of Y .X Y

REMARK 5.3.

Every ( m , m )- gpr -irresolute function is ( m , m )- gpr - continuous, X Y X Y

but not conversely.

EXAMPLE 5.4.

Let X = Y = {a, b, c}, m ={? , {a}, {c}, {a, c}, X} , m = {? , {b}, {b, c}, Y }. X Y

Define f : (X, m )® (Y, m ) by f (a) = b, f (b) = a and f (c) = c. Then f is m - gpr - X Y X

continuous but not m - gpr -irresolute.X

THEOREM 5.5.

Let f : (X, m )® (Y, m ) be ( m , m )- rg -continuous. Then f is X Y X Y

( m , m )- gpr -continuous.X Y

PROOF.

-1Let V be m - closed in Y . Then f (V ) is m - rg - closed in X as f is Y X

(m ,m )- rg -continuous. But every m - rg -closed set is m - gpr -closed. Hence X Y X X

-1 f (V ) is m - gpr -closed. Hence f is ( m ,m )- gpr -continuous. X X Y

However, the converse of the above theorem need not be true as shown in

the following example.

EXAMPLE 5.6.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = Y = {a, b, c, d, e}, m = m = X X Y

61

{? , {a, b}, {c, d}, {a, b, c ,d}, X } . Define f : (X, m )® (Y, m ) by f (a) = e, f (b) = X Y

d, f (c) = c, f (d) = a and f (e) = b . Here inverse image of every m -closed set in Y Y

is m - gpr -closed in X. Therefore f is ( m ,m ) - gpr - continuous. But it is not X X Y

(m ,m )- rg -continuous, since the inverse image of the m -closed set {e} is not X Y X

m - rg -closed in (X,m ).X X

THEOREM 5.7.

Let f: (X, m )® (Y, m ) be ( m ,m )-regular irresolute and preclosed. Then X Y X Y

for every m - gpr -closed set A of X , f (A) is m - gpr -closed in Y . X y

PROOF.

Let A be m - gpr -closed in X. Let f (A) Ì U, where U is m -regular X Y

-1open in (Y, m ). Then AÌ f (U ). Since f is ( m , m )- regular irresolute and A Y X Y

-1is m - gpr -closed, m pcl (A) Ì f (U ). That is, f ( m - pc l(A)) Ì U. Now X X X

m - pc l (f (A)) Ì m - pc l(A ) = f (m -pcl(A)) Ì U , since f is (m , m )- pre closed. Y Y X X Y

Hence f (A) is m - gpr -closed in (Y,m ).Y Y

The composition of two (m , m ) - gpr -continuous functions need not be X Y

(m , m ) - gpr -continuous.X Y

EXAMPLE 5.8.

Let (X, m ) be an m -space such that X = Y = Z = {a, b, c}, m = {? , {a}, {b}, X X

{a, b}, X } , m = {? , {c}, {b, c}, X } and m = {? , {b, c} X } . Define f : (X, m )® Y Z X

(Y, m ) by f (a) = b, f (b) = c, and f (c) = a , Define g : (Y, m )® (Z, m ) by g(a) = Y Y Z

b, g(b) = a, and g(c) = c . Then f and g are m - gpr -continuous. The set {a} is X

-1 -1 -1 -1m -closed in Z. (g o f ) ({a}) = f (g ({a})) = f ({b}) = {a} which is not m - gpr -Z X

closed in X . Hence g o f is not ( m m ) - gpr -continuous.X , Y

62

THEOREM 5.9.

Let f : (X, m )® (Y, m ) and g : (Y, m )® (Z, m ) be any two functions. ThenX Y Y Z

(i) g o f is ( m , m )- gpr -continuous, if g is ( m , m ) -continuous and f isX Y Y Z

( m ,m )- gpr -continuous.X Y

(ii) g o f is ( m , m )- gpr -irresolute, if g is ( m , m )- gpr -irresolute and f X Z Y Z

is ( m ,m )-gpr -irresolute.X Y

- 1PROOF OF (i). Let V be m -closed in Z . Then g (V) is m -closed in Y, Z Y

-1 -1 since g is (m m ) -continuous. Since f is (m m ) - gpr -continuous, f (g (V )) is Y , Z X , Y

-1m - gpr -closed in X . That is (g o f ) (V ) is m - gpr -closed in X . Hence g o f is X X

(m m ) gpr - continuous.X, Y

PROOF OF (ii). Let V be m -gpr -closed in Z. Since g is ( m m ) - gpr - Z Y, Z

-1irresolute, g (V ) is m - gpr -closed in Y. As f is ( m m ) - gpr - irresolute, Y X , Y

-1 -1 -1f (g (V )) = (g o f ) (V ) is m - gpr -closed in X. Therefore g o f is m -gpr -X X

irresolute.

References

[1] R.G. Balamurugan, S. Vijaya and O. Ravi, M-Continuity and its

Decompositions, International Journal of Mathematical Archive, 3(2)

(2012), 595-602.

[2] N. Levine, Generalized closed sets in topology, Rendiconti del Circolo

Matematico di Palermo (2), 19( 1970), 89-96.

[3] H. Maki, K.C. Rao, A. Nagoor Gani , On generalized semi-open and preopen

sets, Pure and applied Mathematical Sciences, 49(1999), 17-29.

[4] T. Noiri, A unified theory for modifications of g-closed sets, Rendiconti del

Circolo Matematico di Palermo, Series II, Tomo LVI(2007), 171-184.

[5] V. Popa, T. Noiri, On M-continuous functions, analele Universitatii “ Dunarea de

Jos” Galati, Seria Mathematica Fizica Mecanica Teoretica (2),

18(23)(2000),31-41.

63

[6] E. Rosas, N. Rajesh and C. Carpintero, Some new types of open and closed sets

in Minimal Structures-II, International Mathematical Forum, 44(4) (2009),

2169-2184.

[7] E. Rosas, N. Rajesh and C. Carpintero, Some new types of open and closed sets

in Minimal Structures-I, International Mathematical Forum, 44(4)(2009),

2185-2198.

64

Prof. N. JEYANTHI

Associate Professor in Mathematics

Sri G.V.G. Visalakshi College for Women (Autonomous),

Udumalpet.

ABSTRACT

Efficient and effective management of inventory throughout the supply chain

significantly improves the ultimate service provided to the customer. Efficient

inventory management is a complex process which entails the management of the

inventory in the entire supply chain and getting the final solution as optimal leading to

minimum total supply chain cost. The dynamic nature of the excess stock level and

shortage level over all the periods is a serious issue when implementation is considered.

In addition, the complexity of the problem increases when more number of distribution

centers and agents are involved. Moreover, the supply chain cost increases because of

the influence of lead times for supplying the stocks . A better optimization methodology

would consider all these factors in the prediction of the optimal stock levels to be

maintained in order to minimize the total supply chain cost. In this paper, an

optimization methodology is proposed that utilizes the Particle Swarm Optimization

algorithm, one of the best optimization algorithms to overcome the impasse in

maintaining the optimal stock levels in each member of the supply chain.

key words:

Supply chain management, supply chain cost, Inventory optimization, Particle

swarm optimization (PSO)

1.INTRODUCTION

Dynamic changes of demand patterns, global competition, shorter product life

cycles, and product varieties and environmental standards cause remarkable changes in

the market environment forcing the manufacturing enterprises to deliver their best in

order to strive [1]. Decrease in lead times and expenses, enrichment of customer service

levels and advanced product quality are the characteristics that determine the

competitiveness of a company in the contemporary market place [2]. The above

mentioned factors have made the business enterprises to contemplate more along their

65

supply chains for gaining competitive advantage.

The effective management of the supply chain has become unavoidable these

days due to the firm increase in customer service levels [3]. The supply chain cost was

immensely influenced by the overload or shortage of inventories. Thus inventory

optimization has transpired into one of the most recent topics as far as supply chain

management is considered [4], [5], [6].

The supply chain cost can be minimized by maintaining optimal stock levels in

each supply chain member. In our paper, a methodology is developed for prediction

analysis using Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm, so that the analysis paves the

way for minimizing the supply chain cost.

2. PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION

In 1995, Kennedy and Eberhartin, inspired by the choreography of a bird flock,

first proposed the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). In comparison with the

evolutionary algorithm, PSO, relatively recently devised population-based stochastic

global optimization algorithm has many similarities and the robust performance of the

proposed method over a variety of difficult optimization problems has been proved [9].

In accordance with PSO, either the best local or the best global individual affects the

behavior of each individual in order to help it fly through a hyperspace [7].

In PSO, the potential solutions, called particles follow the current optimum

particles to fly through the problem space. Every particle represents a candidate solution

to the optimization problem. The best position visited by the particle and the position of

the best particle in the particle's neighborhood influence its position.

Particles would retain part of their previous state using their memory. The

particles still remember the best positions they ever had even as there are no restrictions

for particles to know the positions of other particles in the multidimensional spaces. An

initial random velocity and two randomly weighted influences: individuality (the

tendency to return to the particle's best previous position), and sociality (the tendency to

move towards the neighborhood's best previous position) form each particle's

movement .PSO uses individual and group experiences to search the optimal solutions.

Nevertheless, previous solutions may not provide the solution of the optimization

problem. The optimal solution is deformed by adjusting certain parameters and putting

random variables. The ability of the particles to remember the best position that they

66

have seen is an advantage of PSO. An evaluation function that is to be optimized

evaluates the fitness values of all the particles [8].

3. PREDICTION ANALYSIS BASED ON PARTICLE SWARM

OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

Supply chain model is broadly divided into four stages in which the optimization

is going to be done. The supply chain model is illustrated in the figure 1.

Fig. 1: 3 stage-7 member supply chain

As illustrated in figure 1, a factory is the parent of the chain and it is having two

distribution centers Distribution center 1 and Distribution center 2. Distribution center 1

is having 2 agents Agent1 and Agent2 and Distribution center 2 is having Agent 3 and

Agent 4 . The products manufactured by the factory would be supplied to the

distribution centers. From the distribution centers, the stocks will be moved to the

corresponding agents.

The factory is manufacturing two types of product. The database holds the

information about the stock levels of the product in each of the supply chain member,

lead time of products in each supply chain member . For members from factory to end-

level-Agents, there are lead times for a particular product and these times are

collected from the past records. Each and every dataset recorded in the database is

indexed by a Transportation Identification (TID). For periods, the TID will be

. This TID will be used as an index in mining the lead time information.

Then each individual is queried into the database for obtaining the details regarding the

TID and frequency of the individual. This obtained TID is queried into the database

having the lead time of a particular product to a particular supply chain member. After all

these queries, we have obtained the lead time of stocks as follows

l

l-l

p

},,,,{ 321 pTTTT L

] [ 1,2,1, -= lqqqs tttT L

67

Now, the particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is utilized to predict the optimal stock

levels to be maintained in the future to minimize the supply chain cost. The procedures

involved in determining the optimal stock levels are illustrated in figure 2

Fig. 2: Particle swarm optimization in optimizing the Base stock levels and the

methodology is outlined below.

The individuals of the population including searching points, velocities, P best

and g are initialized randomly but within the lower and upper bounds of the stock best

levels for all supply chain members, which have to be specified in advance.

3.1 Determination of Evaluation function

f(i)=w . ,1

is the number of occurrences of the particle i in the record set

is the total number of records that have been collected from the past or total number

of data present in the record set.

÷÷ø

öççè

æ-

tot

occ

n

in )(1log ).log( 2 stocktw+ ni ,,3,2,1 L=

)(inocc

totn

68

n is the total number of particles for which the fitness function is calculated.

w and w are the weightings of the factors, stock levels, lead time of stocks in 1 2

optimization, respectively and they are determined as

R and R are the priority levels of influence of stock levels and lead time of 1 2

stocks in optimization respectively. Increasing the priority level of a factor increases the

influence of the corresponding factor in the evaluation function. Hence this R and R 1 2

decide the amount of influence of the factors. The lead time of the stocks t is stock

determined as follows

For every individual, a comparison is made between its evaluation value and its

p The g indicates the most excellent evaluation value among the p This nothing best. best best.

but an index that points the best individual we have generated so far.

Subsequently the adjustment of the velocity of each particle a is as follows:

where,

Here,v (a) represents current velocity of the particle, v (a, b) represents new velocity cnt new

of a particular parameter of a particle, r and r are arbitrary numbers in the interval[1,0], 1 2

c and c are acceleration constants (often chosen as 2.0), w is the inertia weight that is 1 2

given as

21

11

RR

Rw

+=

21

22

RR

Rw

+=

åå-

=

=1

1,

l

i qiqstock tt

pNa ,,2,1 LL=db ,,2,1 LL=

iteriter

wwww ´--=

max

minmaxmax

69

v (a,b) = w v (a) + c r [p (a,b) - I (a,b)]new cnt 1 1 best cnt

+ c r [g (b) - I (a,b)]2 2 best cnt

where,

w and w are the maximum and minimum inertia weight factors respectively that max min

are chosen randomly in the interval [0,1]

iter is the maximum number of iterations max

iter is the current number of iteration

Such newly obtained particle should not exceed the limits. This would be checked and

corrected before proceeding further as follows,

If , then

if , then

Then, as per the newly obtained velocity, the parameters of each particle is

changed as follows

Then the parameter of each particle is also verified whether it is beyond the

lower bound and upper bound limits. If the parameter is lower than the corresponding

lower bound limit then replace the new parameter by the lower bound value. If the

parameter is higher than the corresponding upper bound value, then replace the new

parameter by the upper bound value. For instance,

If , then

Similarly, if , then

This is to be done for the other parameters also.

This process will be repeated again and again until the evaluation function value

is stabilizing and the algorithm has converged towards optimal solution. The latest g best

pointing the individual is the best individual which is having the stock levels that are to

be considered and by taking necessary steps to eliminate the identified emerging

excesses/ shortages at different members of the supply chain, near optimal inventory

levels can be maintained and the supply chain cost can be minimized to that extent.

4. IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS

We have implemented the analysis based on PSO for optimal inventory control

)(),( max bvbavnew > )(),( max bvbavnew =

)(),( min bvbavnew < )(),( min bvbavnew =

),(),(),( bavbaIbaI newcntnew +=

BLk PP .< ..BLk PP =

BUk PP .>..BUk PP =

70

in the platform of MATLAB. As stated, we have the detailed information about the

excess and the shortage stock levels in each supply chain member, the lead times of

product stock levels to replenish each supply chain member as well as raw material lead

time. The sample data having this information is given in the Table 1.

Table 1: A sample data set along with its stock levels in each member of the supply chain

The Table 1 is having the product ID, the Transportation ID, the stock levels which are in

excess or in shortage at each supply chain member. Negative values represent shortage

of stock levels and positive values represent the excess of stock levels. The

transportation ID mentioned in table is working as an index in extracting the lead times

for stocks and raw material lead times. Table2 depicts the sample data which is having

the transportation ID and the lead times for stocks. For seven member supply chain, six

lead times can be obtained.

Table 2: Sample data from Database which is having lead times for stocks

Table 2 depicts the sample data which is having the transportation ID and the lead times

for stocks. For seven member supply chain, six lead times can be obtained.

T1 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from F to D1;

TI PI F D1 D2 A1 A2 A3 A4

1 1 232 424 247 -298 -115 365 561

2 2 -415 488 -912 979 -492 -722 205

3 1 369 -686 -468 -807 183 -386 -228

4

2 459

289

-522

-316

130

-854 468

5

1

-663 944

856

451

-763

657 484

6 2 -768 -937 -768 242 369 -890 289

TI PI T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

1 1 18 22 9 19 18 17

2 2 26 33 16 14 24 15

3 1 28 38 10 17 10 18

4 2 20 22 9 21 21 13

5

1

38

40

25

21 16

11

6 2 33 41 17 13 21 19

71

T2 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from F to D2;

T3 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from D1 to A1;

T4 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from D1 to A2;

T5 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from D2 to A3;

T6 is the lead time involved for movements of the product from D2 to A4;

As initialization step of the PSO process, the random individuals and their

corresponding velocities are generated.

Table 3: Initial random individuals

For PSO based analysis, we have to generate random individuals having eight numbers

of particles representing product ID and seven supply chain members. Table 3 describes

two random individuals.

Similarly, Table 4 represents random velocities which correspond to each particle of the

individual.

Table 4: Initial Random velocities corresponding to each particle of the individual

The simulation run on a huge database of 5000 past records showing evaluation

function improvement at different levels of iteration is as follows:

4.1 Simulation Result showing evaluation function improvement with w1 = 0.6250;

w2= 0.375

For iteration 50: evaluation function = 5.6845;

For iteration 60; evaluation function = 5.5450; Improvement: 2%

For iteration 70; evaluation function = 5.4749; Improvement: 5%

For iteration 100; evaluation function = 4.7220; Improvement: 10%

PI F D1 D2 A1 A2 A3 A41 255 61 215 463 24 75 -4572 354 -154 145 -241 -215 415 645

PI F D1 D2 A1 A2 A3 A41 0.1298 0.1298 0.1298 0.1298 0.1298 0.1298 0.12982 0.0376 0.0376 0.0376 0.0376 0.0376 0.0376 0.0376

72

As for deciding the total number of iterations required, the criteria followed is

that as long as minimization of the Evaluation function is still possible, then the

iteration continues till such a time that no improvement in the Evaluation function value

is noticeable. After a certain number of iterations, if the evaluation function value is not

improving from the previous iterations, then this is an indication that the evaluation

function value is stabilizing and the algorithm has converged towards optimal solution.

For greater accuracy, the number of iterations should be sufficiently increased and run

on the most frequently updated large database of past records.

The final individual obtained after satisfying the above mentioned convergence

criteria is given in Table 5.

Table 5: database format of Final Individual

The final individual thus obtained represents a product ID and excess or shortage

stock levels at each of the seven members providing essential information for supply

chain inventory optimization.

5. CONCLUSION

Inventory management is an important component of supply chain

management. As the lead time plays vital role in the increase of supply chain cost, the

complexity in predicting the optimal stock levels increases. We have proposed an

innovative and efficient approach based on Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm

using MATLAB that is aimed at reducing the total supply chain cost by predicting the

most probable surplus stock level and shortage level in each member of the supply chain

for the forthcoming period.

6. REFERENCES

[1] Sarmiento, A. Rabelo, L. Lakkoju, R. Moraga, R., Stability analysis of the

supply chain by using neural networks and genetic algorithms , Proceedings of the

winter Simulation Conference, pp: 1968-1976 , 2007

[2] Mileff, Peter, Nehez, Karoly, A new inventory control method for supply chain

management, in Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Machine

Design and Production , 2006

PI F D1 D2 A1 A2 A3 A4

1 -202 -280 -321 198 282 64 -125

73

[3] Beamon BM, Supply chain design and analysis: models and method,

International Journal of Production Economics, Vol: 55, No. 3, page:

281–294,1998

[4] Joines J.A., & Thoney, K, Kay M.G, Supply chain multi-objective simulation

optimization, Proceedings of the 4th International Industrial Simulation

Conference. , Palermo, pp. 125- 132 , 2008

[5] C.M. Adams, Inventory optimization techniques, system vs. item level inventory

analysis, 2004 Annual Symposium RAMS - Reliability and Maintainability,

pp: 55 - 60, 26-29 ,2004

[6] Optimization Engine for Inventory Control, white paper published from Golden

Embryo Technologies pvt. ltd., Maharashtra, India, 2004

[7] H. Lu, "Dynamic Population Strategy Assisted Particle Swarm Optimization in

Multi objective Evolutionary Algorithm design," IEEE Neural Network Society,

IEEE NNS Student Research Grants 2002, Final reports 2003.

[8] Ling-Feng Hsieh, Chao-Jung Huang and Chien-Lin Huang, "Applying Particle

Swarm Optimization to Schedule order picking Routes in a Distribution Center, in

proceedings of Asian Journal on Management and Humanity Sciences, vol. 1,

no.4, pp: 558- 576, 2007.

[9] Alberto Moraglio, Cecilia Di Chio,Julian Togelius and Riccardo Poli, "Geometric

Particle Swarm Optimization", in proceedings of Journal on Artificial

Evolution and Applications, vol. 2008, Article ID: 143624, 2008, Doi:

10.1155/2008/143624.

[10] P.Radhakrishnan and N.Jeyanthi, " Optimizing Multi product Inventory using

Genetic Algorithm for efficient Supply Chain Management involving Lead

Time", IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network security,

Vol. 10 No. 5 pp. 231-239, May. 2010. ISSN:1738-7906

[11] P.Radhakrishnan, N. Jeyanthi “Genetic Algorithm Model for Multi-factory

Supply Chain Inventory Optimization involving Lead Time” in IJCEM

International Journal of Computational Engineering & Management, Vol. 14,

pp.147-155, October 2011.ISSN:2230-7893

74

c|\ç驼Ãâç¦ p ÷.s.÷ sÄVéVâE \ï¹ú ï_Ùöl_ >tµÝmçÅÝ >çék«Vï© ÃèAö¥D xçªkú. ØÃ. ¼>kþ ¶kúï¹[ ±_ Ekĺïö, kVÄÍ] åVk_ï¹_ ØÃõï^ {ú {©ÃVF¡ ̈[Ã>VzD.

"ÖéÂþBÝç> ïVéD ïVâ|D ïõðV½' ̈[® z¤©̧ |kú Ö[çÅB ÖéÂþB káúßEl_ ÄJï åVk_ï^ ÄJïÝ]_ \V¤kòD ¼ÃVÂçï© Ã]¡ ØÄF¥D tïß EÅÍ> gkðºïáVïÝ ]ïµþ[Ū. ¶Ëkçïl_ Ekĺïö, kVÄÍ] gþB ÖòkòD Ä\ïVé ØÃõ ̈¿Ý>VáúïáVïÝ ]ïµþ[Ūú. >VD kVµÍm ØïVõ½òÂzD ïVéÝ]_ c^á ØÃõï¹[ cá, c¦_ ÄVúÍ> ÄJïß EÂï_ïçáÝ Ø>ösÂzD kçïl_ Öòk«m Ã禩AÂïÓD ¶ç\Ím^áª. ÖkuçÅÝ >\m gF¡© ØÃVòáVï ØïVõ| ¼>kþ ¶kúï^ >\m gFsçªß æöB xçÅl_ ¼\uØïVõ|^áVú.

x[Ðç«, åVkKD ÃVÝ]«© Ã禩AD, \«A ka©Ã⼦Vú, \«A ]̈ú©ÃVá, ÄJï ¼\DÃVâ| cðúkVáúï^, >[ ¶ç¦BVáD, ¼>|¼kVú, ØÃõ Ã禩ÃVáúï^ ¼åVÂþ_ gõ ÃVÝ]«ºï^, x½¡ç« ̈[ÐD Î[Ãm Ãz©AÂï¹_ >\m gFs窩 ÃzÝ>VFÍm^áVú xçªkú ¼>kþ.

x[Ðç«l_ gF¡© ØÃVò^, ¼åVÂïD, ïòm¼ïV^, ̈ _çé, Øå¤xçÅï^, >«¡ï^, gF¡ x[¼ª V½ï^, gF¡© Ãz©A ̈ [ê sáÂï©Ãâ|^áª. "åVkKD ÃÝ]«© Ã禩AD' ̈[ÐD Ö«õ¦Vkm ÖBo_ åVk_ ÖéÂþBD ̈ËkV® ¶ç\>_ ¼kõ|D, ç\B í®ï^ ̈çk, ØÃõï^ Ã禩̧ _ ØÃõï^ ̈ËkV® ]ïµþ[Ūú. \«A, \«A \VuÅD ̈[Å Wçél_ ØÃõ ÃVÝ]«ºï¹ cá© ¼ÃV«V⦺ï^, ØÃõï^ Ã禩̧ _ gõ ÃVÝ]«ºï^ [̈ÐD ØÄF]ïçá sáÂþ¥^áVú ±éVEöBú.

\«A ka©Ã⼦Vú ̈[Ãm J[ÅVkm ÖB_. ÖËsBo_ "\«A' z¤Ý> ÄV[¼ÅVúï¹[ sáÂïºï^ ·â¦©Ãâ|^áª. \«A kaÃ⦠Wçél_ c^á ØÃõï^ \«A ÄVúÍ>kúïáVï ‡ \«A \VuÅD sçw¼kVúïáVï ‡ *õ|D \«A WçéçB °uÃkúïáVï ¶ç\km sáÂï©Ãâ|^ám.

75

º¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ø ¦Àñ¸û

-

Sri G.V.G. Visalakshi College for Women (Autonomous), Udumalpet - 642 128.

{ú ΩÃVF¡ Dr. P. Devaki, Head of the Department of Tamil,

Reviewed by Dr. Chandra Krishnan.Asst.Professor, Dept.of Tamil, Govt. Arts College, Coimbatore.

º¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ ¬¸¢Â þÕÅÃÐ ¿¡Åø¸? ?Öõ ÌÆó¨¾ Á½Óõ, ¨¸õ¨Á ¿¢¨ÄÔõ À¾¢× ¦ºöÂôÀðÎûÇÉ. ¨¸õ¨Áì §¸¡Äò¨¾ ±¾¢÷ôÀÅ÷¸Ç¡¸×õ, ÁÚÁ½ò¨¾ ÅçÅü¸¢ýÈ ÁÃÒ Á¡üÈõ Å¢¨ÆÀÅ÷¸Ç¡¸×õ þ¨Ç ¾¨ÄӨȢÉ÷ º¢ò¾Ã¢ì¸ô Àθ¢ýÈÉ÷. ¬½¡¾¢ì¸î ÝÆø, ¦Àñ¸Ç¢ý ¾ýÉõÀ¢ì¨¸, ¾É¢ò¾ý¨Á, ¾ýÉ¢î¨ºÂ¡É §À¡ìÌ ±ýÈ ¸¡Ã½í¸Ç¡ø ¦Àñ¸û ÁÃÒ ±¾¢÷ôÀ¡Ç÷¸Ç¡¸ò ¾¢¸úŨ¾ º¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ý ÅÆ¢ ¦¾Ç¢×ÀÎò¾¢ì ¸¡ðθ¢È¡÷ Ó¨ÉÅ÷ §¾Å¸¢, ¦À¡ÕÇ¡¾¡Ã ;ó¾¢Ãõ ¾¡ý ´Õ ¦ÀñÏìÌî ºã¸ò¾¢ø Á¾¢ô¨ÀÔõ Á⡨¾¨ÂÔõ ¾Õõ ±ýÀ¨¾ ¿¡ÅÄ¢ý ÅÆ¢ ÀÄ þ¼í¸Ç¢ø À¾¢× ¦ºöÐ ¸¡ðÎõ ¬öÅ¡Ç÷ «¾üÌ «ÊôÀ¨¼Â¡¸ «¨ÁÅÐ ¸øÅ¢ ±ýÀ¨¾Ôõ Íð¼ ÁÈì¸Å¢ø¨Ä.

ºã¸ §ÁõÀ¡ðν÷ר¼Â ¦Àñ À¡ò¾¢Ãí¸û ±ýÀÐ ³ó¾¡ÅÐ þÂø þùÅ¢ÂÄ¢ø ¾¡ý, ¾ý ÌÎõÀõ ±ýÈ ÌÚ¸¢Â Åð¼ò¾¢üÌû

ÍÕì¸¢ì ¦¸¡ñÎ ¾É측¸ ÁðÎõ Å¡Æ¡Áø ¦À¡Ð ¿Äõ §Àbõ ºã¸

¿¢¨ÄìÌò ¾ýÛ½÷׸¨Ç ¯Â÷ò¾¢ì ¦¸¡ûÀÅ÷¸û ºã¸ º ¢ ó ¾ ¨ É Â ¡ Ç ÷ ¸ Ç ¡ ¸ ¯ Õ ¦ Å Î ì ¸ ¢ È ¡ ÷ ¸ û . º ¢ Å º í ¸ à ¢ «ìÉ¢(Awakened Group Of National Integration) ±ýÈ «¨Áô¨À

¿¼ò¾¢ÂÅ÷ ‘þó¾¢Â¡ Χ¼’ Àò¾¢Ã¢¨¸Â¢ý ¾Á¢úôÀ¾¢ôÀ¢ý Ó¾ý¨Áô ÀÊÅ «º¢Ã¢ÂḢ šºó¾¢ ¦Àñ º¢Í즸¡¨Ä ÀüÈ¢Ôõ ¦Àñ À£Êò¦¾¡Æ¢Ä¡Ç÷ ÀüÈ¢Ôõ ¬ö× ¦ºö¾Å÷. ±É§Å þÅ÷¸û þÕÅ÷¾õ À¨¼ôÒì¸Ç¢Öõ À¨¼ì¸ôÀð¼ ¦Àñ¸û º¢Èó¾ ºã¸ º¢ó¾É¡Å¡¾¢¸Ç¡¸ô À¨¼ì¸ô¦ÀüÚûÇÉ.

¾ý «¨¼Â¡Çõ §¾Î§Å¡÷ ±ýÀÐ ¬È¡ÅÐ þÂÄ¡Ìõ. ÁÃÒ ÅÆ¢ò ¾¡ì¸ò¾¢ý Á¢Ìó¾ ¿¢¨Ä¢ø ¦Àñ¨Á ¾¢Â¡¸ò¾¢ý º¢ýÉÁ¡¸ «¨¼Â¡Çõ ̧ ¡½ôÀð¼Ð. þÃñ¼¡õ ¿¢¨Ä¢ø ¾ü;ó¾¢Ãõ Å¢¨ÆÔõ ¦Àñ¸¨Çì ¸¡½Óʸ ¢ýÈÐ . ¦ÀñÏì¸¡É ¾É ¢ò¾ «¨¼Â¡Çí¸¨Ç þÉõ ¸¡Ïõ ÓÂüº¢ ãýÈ¡ÅÐ ¿¢¨Ä¢ø ¸¡½ì¸¢¨¼ì¸¢ýÈÐ.

¦Àñ¸¨Ç ¬ÏìÌâ ¯¨¼¨Áô ¦À¡Õû ±ýÈ ¿¢¨Ä¢ø þÕó¾ ¸¡Äò¨¾ ¦ÅÚìÌõ ¿¢¨Ä¢ø ¾ü¸¡Äô ¦Àñ¸û ¾¢¸úŨ¾ì ¸¡ðθ¢È¡÷ Å¡ºó¾¢.

¸üÒ ÌÈ¢òÐ ¸¡Ä¡í¸¡ÄÁ¡¸ò ¾¢¸Øõ º¢ó¾¨É¸¨Çô À¾¢× ¦ºö¾ ¬º¢Ã¢Â÷ ¸üÒ ±ýÀÐ ¯Çõ ÌÈ¢ò¾§¾ ±ýÚ þÕ À¨¼ôÀ¡Ç÷¸Ùõ ÜÚŨ¾ ±ÎòШÃ츢ýÈ¡÷. ¬ýÁ£¸ò §¾¼ø þ Õ À ¨ ¼ ô À ¡ Ç ÷ ¸ Ç ¢ ý ¦ À ñ ¸ Ù ì Ì õ Å ¡ ú ì ¨ ¸ ô §À¡Ã¡ð¼ò¾¢Ä¢ÕóРŢÎÀ¼ ÅƢŨ¸ ¦ºöž¡¸ «¨Á¸¢ýÈÐ.

76

¦ÀñÀ¨¼ôÀ¡Ç÷¸û §¿¡ì¸¢ø ¬ñ À¡ò¾¢Ãí¸û ±ýÀÐ ²Æ¡ÅÐ þÂÄ¡Ìõ. þùÅ¢ÂÄ¢ø º¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ þÕÅÕõ ÍðÎõ ¬¼Å÷¸¨Çî ÍðÊì ¸¡ðÊ áÄ¡º¢Ã¢Â÷ ¿¢¨ÄÂüÈ ÁÉõ, ¯¼Ä¢î¨º, ̄ ¨ÆôÒî ÍÃñ¼ø ¦¸¡ñ¼ Á¢¾Á¡É ¬¾¢ì¸î º¢ó¾¨É ¯¨¼ÂÅ÷¸Ç¡¸ º¢Åºí¸Ã¢Â¢ý À¨¼ôÀ¢ø ÅÕõ ¬¼Å÷¸û ¾¢¸úŨ¾î Íðθ¢È¡÷. ¦Àñ¸Ç¢ý ¾É¢òÐÅõ, ¾¢È¨Á þÅü¨È þ¸úÀÅ÷¸Ç¡¸×õ, ¦Àñ¸¨Çô §À¡¸ô ¦À¡Õû ¯¨¼¨Áô ¦À¡Õû ±ýÚ ¿¢¨ÉôÀÅ÷¸Ç¡¸×õ ¬¼Å÷¸¨Çô À¨¼òÐì ̧ ¡ðθ¢È¡÷.

ºã¸ Å¡ú쨸¢ø ´ÕÅ÷ ºó¾¢ì¸ìÜÊ ÀÄ Å¨¸Â¡É º¢ó¾¨Éô §À¡ì̸¨Çì ¦¸¡ñ¼ ¦Àñ¸¨ÇÔõ º¢Åºí¸Ã¢, Å¡ºó¾¢ þÕÅÕõ ¾õ ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ø À¾¢× ¦ºöÐûÇÉ÷. º¢Åºí¸Ã¢-Å¡ºó¾¢ ¬¸¢Â þÕÅÕõ «ó¾½ þÉò¨¾î º¡ó¾Å÷¸û. º¢Åºí¸Ã¢ 8

¿¡Åø¸Ç¢Kõ, Å¡ºó¾¢ 15 ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢Öõ «ó¾½ þÉô À¢ýɽ¢Â¢ø ¦Àñ¸Ç¢ý §À¡Ã¡ð¼í¸¨Çî º¢ò¾Ã¢ì¸¢ýÈÉ÷. º¢Åºí¸Ã¢Â¢ý 23 ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ø ţ𨼠ŢðÎ ¦ÅÇ¢§ÂÚ¸¢ýÈ ¦Àñ¸û 9 §ÀḠ«¨Á¸¢ýÈÉ÷. Å¡ºó¾¢Â¢ý 21 ¿¡Åø¸Ùû 13 §À÷ Ţ𨼠ŢðÎ ¦ÅÇ¢§ÂÚ¸¢ýÈÉ÷. º¢Åºí¸Ã¢ ¿¡Åø¸Ç¢ø ´Õò¾¢ Á½Å¢ÄìÌ §¸¡Ã Å¡ºó¾¢ ±ØÅ÷ Á½Å¢ÄìÌ §¸¡Õž¡¸ À¾¢× ¦ºö¸¢ýÈÃ÷.

ÓÊרâø ÓýÉ÷ ÜȢ þÂø¸Ç¢ý ¦ºö¾¢¸û ¦¾¡ÌòÐì ÜÈôÀðÎûÇÉ. §ÁÉ¡ðÎì ¸Ä¡îº¡Ãò¾¢ý ¾¡ì¸ò¾¢ý ¸¡Ã½Á¡¸×õ ¦ÀÕ¸¢ ÅÕ¸¢ýÈ «Âø¿¡ðÎô À½¢ Å¡öôÒì¸Ùõ, þó¾¢Âì ÌÎõÀí¸Ç¢ø ²üÀÎò¾¢ÔûÇ ¾¡ì¸ò¨¾ þó¿¡Åø¸û º¢ò¾Ã¢ì¸¢ýÈÉ. ãò¾ ¾¨ÄӨȢÉ÷ ¨¸õ¨Áì §¸¡Äò¨¾ ÁÃÒ ÅÆ¢ôÀðΠŢÕõÀ¢ ²üÀÅ÷¸Ç¡¸×õ, ¾¡ý À𼠧ž¨É¨Âô À¢È ¦Àñ¸û ²üÀ¨¾ Å¢ÕõÀ¡Áø ÁÃÒ ±¾¢÷ôÀ¡Ç÷¸Ç¡¸ò ¾¢¸úž¨¾ þÅ÷¾õ ¿¡Åø¸û À¨¼òÐì ¸¡ðθ¢ýÈÉ. ÅÕí¸¡Ä ¬öÅ¢ü¸¡É ¸Çí¸Ùõ Íð¼ô ¦ÀÚ¸¢ýÈÉ. þùÅ¡ö× áø ºÁ¸¡Ä þÕ ¦Àñ À¨¼ôÀ¡Ç÷ À¨¼ôÀ¢ý ÅÆ¢ «È¢ÂÄ¡Ìõ ºã¸î º¢ì¸ø¸¨ÇÔõ ÁÃÒ Á¡üÈí¸¨ÇÔõ ÍðΞ¡¸ «¨Á¸¢ýÈÐ.

ºÁ¸¡Ä þÕ ¦Àñ À¨¼ôÀ¡Ç÷ Ò¾¢Éí¸¨Ç ‘¸øÅ¢ ¸üÚ’ ÁÃÒ º¡÷óÐ Å¡úóÐ ¾ý¨É ¯Â÷ò¾¢ ¾ý¨Éî º¡ó¾Å÷¸¨ÇÔõ ¯Â÷òÐõ ¯Çõ ¦¸¡ñ¼ ¾Á¢úòШÈò ¾¨ÄÅ÷ ¬öÅÐ º¡Äô ¦À¡ÕóÐõ.

²¦ÉÉ¢ø þÕ ¿¡ÅÄ¡º¢Ã¢Â÷¸Ùõ ¦Àñ¸Ç¢ý «ÊôÀ¨¼ò §¾¨Å¡¸î ÍðÊ¢ÕôÀÐ ¦À¡ÕÇ¡¾¡Ãò ¾ýÉ¢¨È¨ÅÔõ «¾¨É «Ç¢ìÌõ ̧ øÅ¢¨ÂÔõ ÁðΧÁ.

77

78

Sir/Madam,‘I / We wish to subscribe to MINDSCAPE (A Multidisciplinary, Biannual, Research Journal) for one year. A bank draft bearing no .___________________dated ______________________for Rs.____________drawn in favour of “ The Principal, Sri G.V.G Visalakshi College Research Journal, Payable at Uduamalpet” towards subscription is enclosed.

Name

Organisation & Institution

Designation & Address

City Pin

Country Mobile

Telephone Telefax

Email

SUBSCRIPTION RATES (Per year)INDIAIndividual : Rs. 300Student : Rs. 200Institution : Rs. 1000

Date: Signature:

MINDSCAPE(A Multidisciplinar, Biannual, Research Journal)

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

Rs. 25 to be added for outstation Bank drafts towards collection charges. * For student subscription,an identity proof either from the Head of the Department/Institution may be

enclosed along with the subscription form. (This subscription form can be photocopied for use)

The subscribtion from along with bank draft/ cheque may be sent to:The Editor - Mindscape, Research Cell

Sri G.V.G Visalakshi College for Women(Autonomous)Udumalpet - 642 128, Tamilnadu, India.

79

Very Good Good Average PoorSprouting of Flowers: Indian Women Poetry NowDr. M. S. Nagarajan

Interpreting Human Maladies:Jhumpha Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies Dr. D. Anusuya

Trauma in Childhood: Approaches ofD. H. Lawrence and Henry JamesPriya Sharon Thomas

An English Governor Made Indian GodV. K. Saraswathi

From P&T to the BSNLDr. S. Renukadevi

Satisfaction Of Educational LoanBorrowers In Udumalpet TalukDr. N. Lakshmi & N. Kalaiarasi

m Generalized Pre- Regular Closed x -

Sets in Minimal SpacesA. R. Thilagavathi & A. Anis Fathima

Heuristics Approach for DynamicSupply Chain Inventory OptimizationN. Jeyanthi

Book ReviewDr. Chandra KrishnanWe would appreciate your comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the journal

MINDSCAPE (A Multidisciplinar, Bianual, Research Journal)

FEEDBACK FORMKindly fill in this form and send your feedback on the articles

Name: Prof./ Dr. / Mr. / Ms. _____________________________________________________

Designation____________________________Address______________________________

_______________________________________________Phone______________________

MobileNo.___________________________Email Id________________________________

80