| Description | Track 1: silence 0.13 mins
Interview with a male student from Calcutta. He talks about his education at St Xavier's missionary school and at college, and discusses being taught through the medium of English, with a weak emphasis on Bengali, which he had to learn in more depth later on. He realises that there was a cultural hiatus between the English textbooks he and his fellow students used at school, because they dealt with English life and temperaments which seemed bizarre. He discusses the dedication of his teachers and thinks that his training at St Xaviers has equipped him with a sense of discipline and a good command of English. He talks about the attitude of his Jesuit teachers at school to the social and economic problems in India, and their opposition to Marxism, and considers that he was only able to free himself from doctrine and dogma, and develop his political awareness when he left school and went to college and met people from different social backgrounds and different places. He explains his belief that all literature can be subjected to class analysis, and talks about the political philosophy that informs novels and poetry and the reluctance of most of his teachers to address these themes. He thinks that young lecturers are more aware of the problems of the student community but that there needs to be revolutionary change. He discusses his own political ideology and his support for Indian Communist parties, his possible future career, his views about the struggle for Indian Independence and the differences between his views of Gandhi and his father's views. He thinks that most young people are critical of the contribution of Gandhi and Nehru to India, and considers his opinion about the continued infuence of the British in India. He goes on to give his impressions of Britain which he thinks is a country on the wane, and American involvement in Vietnam, and talks about his interest in poetry and literature. He recites one of his poems and discusses some of the poets he admires (tracks 2-13).
Track 14: silence 5.07 mins
Total: 32.48 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF565D0876280 |