The Babus of Nayanjore PDF

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Short answers to question given, can use some more references...

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Elaborate on what is class conflict, and how is it an integral part of the short story "The Babus of Nayanjore" be it conflict between classes or the conflict between different generations. Class conflict, in simple words is a socio-economic competition between the rich and the poor. As long as societies have been around, class conflict has been relevant. We can see it from the relics found in the Harrapan civilisation to government made policies today. In most of us, there is this inherent quality to respect wealthy people, despite not knowing the source of their wealth. Rabindranath Tagore’s “The Babus of Nayanjore”, showcases another aspect of class conflict; it is between ancestral wealth and one that is self-made. Throughout the story we see the author’s feelings and disapproval of Kailas Babu and his immense pride over “his ancient Babu reputation”. In fact, this serves as the premise of the story itself. The author describes the Babus of Nayanjore having a “princely extravagance” and spending “thousands of rupees on weddings of kittens”. With the succeeding generation carrying forward their lordly habits , it seemed to him that the Babus, who were once landowners attempted to keep up their reputation with nothing but extravagant displays. This was in sharp contrast to the author’s family history. Despite being from a wealthy family himself, He says that his father worked for every penny he earned and “ never had any inclination to earn the title of Babu by extravagant display.” Because of this, he was able to make his own way into the world and thus become a self-made man. Continuing his father’s habits, he comments that he would rather have his crisp banknotes in the safe than on a family heirloom. There had never been any explicit animosity but it was this difference that made the author feel that Kailas Babu looked down upon him. Talking about conflict between generations, from the context we can gather that Kailas Babu was much older than the author. In my opinion, the criteria for ‘respect in society’ had changed quite a lot in the time period between Kailas babu and the author. Being from a strong wealthy family ensured a high reputation back then, just how we look at self made entrepreneurs with so much admiration today. Hence it was these kinds of conflicts which were highlighted in an understandable manner....