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Thematic Analysis of Short Stories of Khushwant Singh. In the story Karma i.e. fate the discomfiture (defeat) of the Anglicised Sir Mohan Lal is skillfully brought out .He is culturally enslaved by the British way of life; travels in first class; looks forward to converse with the English in the Oxford accent. Whereas his uneducated wife Lakshmi, who lives world apart , travels by interclass. Sir Mohan Lal occupies his first class reserve berth but too uncivilized British soldiers call him ‘nigger’ and throw him out of the compartment .The irony of the situation is skillfully presented and also the uncivilized way in which the British treated the Indians in pre-independent India. The title Karma is symbolical. It means you will get the fruits of yours deeds. The author ridicules the slavish imitation of English manners, which has led to snobbery in a class of people in our country. Kusum is a typical short story of Khushwant Singh. Kusum is a young, good-natured girl of eighteen who suffers from inferiority complex .The theme of love and sex also colours the story. The story revolves round the character of Kusum. She feels herself unattractive. She is not fashionable and does not apply any make-up. She is secluded from others. She has no friends. She is not interested in boys. One day, she is returning from final year degree exams, a hawker makes some indecent gestures towards her. Kusum gets the feeling of love. She starts looking at mirror and applies make-up. The change in the character of Kusum is interesting. The at that time uses foul language to the hawker but later her heart theme of love used in the story has an impact on the character of Kusum .The ending of story is effective. The Potrait of a Lady is a fine short story which portrays the picture of a lady who is none another than the author’s grandmother. He re his grandmother and narrates his memories. This story shows author’s art of characterization which is every excellent. The author describes the grandmother as a beautiful woman in youth. She was loving and caring. She had great love for animals and birds. She is religious and pious. The author has spent his childhood with her and hence, she has taught him a lot many things. She is a strong woman who does not weep when her grandson goes abroad for studies. She is bold enough to accept her death happily. Thus, in this story Singh shows his gentle manner which is free from usual themes like comedy, satire, irony and se Mark of Vishnu is one of the important stories of Khushwant Singh .The protagonist Gangaram is very religious Hindu Brahmin. He is a servant. He is illiterate. He paints a mark ‘V’ on his forehead as he worships Vishnu. Gangaram worships and gives milk to Kalanag i.e. cobra everyday. He has an irrational fear about Kalanag. He wants to protect his master’s family from the cobra. Hence, he goes on worshiping him. His master’s children go to school and they know the dangers of keeping a cobra in their house. So, they catch it

and take it to the school. Later, the Kalanag bites Gangaram on his forehead and he dies. The story has theme of superstition. It is both comic as well as serious. Manasi Kathe

Source: http://www.shvoong.com/books/novel-novella/1744554-thematic-analysis-shortstories-khuswant/#ixzz1tU0q4kOI

Character sketch of 'lachmi' in Karma by khushwant singh? lachmi was the wife of sir mohan lal.she was poor and illiterate . she was an ordinary middle class Indian woman.she usually talk her native language,Hindustani. she neither know English nor anglicised the words while talking.she wore a dirty saree and sits on a her suitcase.she fanned herself with a newspaper.she chews betel nuts, talks to the coolies and ate

from

her

tiffin

carrier

while

travelling.

she washed her hands in the public tap and dried it with the lose end of her saree. she usually

travels

in

the

zenana

compartment

while

travelling

in

train.

she spits her betel saliva out of the train. These factors point to the fact that she is an ordinary woman.

Karma is a Sanskrit word that means "action." Karma has commonly been considered a punishment for past bad actions, but karma is neither judge nor jury. Rather, it is simply the universal law of cause and effect that says every thought, word and act carries energy into the world and affects our present reality. Karma can also refer to the "work" we have ahead

of

us,

which

includes

lessons

from

both

our

past

and

present

lives.

Why Is Karma Important? Part of our life's work is to understand our individual relationship to the cosmos … to understand how the universe affects us. Based on the principle that individual behavior mirrors universal patterns, the tiniest act -- a thought, for example -- can have enormous impact. The energies our thoughts and actions produce can cover the entire planet, or even beyond, in the blink of an eye. An examination of karma offers clues about our intended life purpose, showing us the psychic imprint of past lives and mapping the way out of behaviors and thoughts that are no longer useful to us. Unfortunately, not all good actions have

immediate rewards. You might see the positive results of positive actions tomorrow, you might see them in your next lifetime or you might not see them at all. You might be thinking, "If I'm not going to benefit, what's the point?" There is one. Every positive action you take has a positive effect, whether you see it or not. You just need to trust in the universe.

If Bad Things Happen to Me, Does It Mean I Have Bad Karma? Not necessarily. Sometimes bad things happen, but they have positive effects later. Let's say you're super ambitious, always on the go and wildly successful. Then you get into an accident and are hospitalized for several months. It may seem like you ended up in the hospital because you were being punished for past bad deeds. What if that accident taught you to value your life, and slow down enough to actually enjoy it, instead of being so focused on the end goal? In that way, the accident would actually be a blessing, rather than a curse. Likewise, winning the lottery may seem like a reward, but what if you forgot about the value of intangible things, and focused only on acquiring material things? In that case, something good brought with it negative energy.

Can You Change Karma? Your soul is on a journey. Karmic situations in which you find yourself today are both your soul's mirror and travel guide. Karma can show you where you've been and where you might go to learn the lessons you've chosen for this lifetime. Through understanding your unique destiny, you can adjust your actions to either change an ongoing situation, or gain new perspective on a past situation so you can avoid making the same mistake twice. By understanding karma, you can unlock the patterns from past lives and show you how to use the laws of karma to consciously choose a better path for this life and the next.

Karma (story) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karma is a story written by Indian writer Khushwant Singh. It was originally published in 1989 in Singh's The Collected Stories. Karma is all about an aristocrat who tries to adopt English culture and lifestyle into his, and about his relation with his wife etc.

Contents [hide] 

1 Theme

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2 Plot

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3 Characters

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4 Tone and style of narration

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5 References [edit]Theme The story Karma illustrates the famous proverb "Pride Comes Before a Fall". It is the story of an arrogant person who feels bad about his culture, lifestyle etc. He is reluctant to his wife because she is an ordinary woman who is unable to impart foreign culture into her life. [edit]Plot Mohan Lal was a middle aged man who worked in the British Raj. He was ashamed to be an Indian and hence he tried to speak in English or in Anglicized Hindustani and to dress as if a high ranked British official. He used to fill the cross word puzzles of newspapers, which he did to show his immense knowledge in English. His wife Lachmi was a traditional Indian woman and due to this difference they were not having a sweet married life. The important event occurred on a journey of Mohan Lal and Lachmi in a train. Mohan Lal made her sit in the general compartment and arranged his seat in first class compartment, which was meant for British. There he saw two British soldiers who tried to abuse him. When the arrogant Mohan Lal tried to oppose, he was thrown out of the train. He could only look through the rails on the moving train. [edit]Characters 

Sir Mohan Lal - An arrogant middle aged man

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Lachmi - An ordinary Indian woman who happens to be the wife of Mohan Lal

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A bearer

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A porter

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Two British soldiers.

[edit]Tone and style of narration Karma presents a relevant topic in the typical humorous way of Khushwant Singh. The style of narration used by the author is third person which add to the beauty of the story.