ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts

THE INFLUENCE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION ON THE FEMALE CHARACTERS IN MANNU BHANDARI'S STORIES

Shweta Bajaj — 2024-07-31

Mannu Bhandari is held in high regard among female storytellers in Indian fiction who are considered to have untangled the innermost psyche of women. She has consistently created new characters. Her openness and openness regarding women's portrayals, along with questions of identity and liberation, have been integral to Mannu Bhandari's creative work. Mannu Bhandari has written numerous works using the domestic woman as a medium. She has explored various moral, social constraints, and limitations related to women's lives. Her fiction reflects a social consciousness. Through her works, she has revealed various layers of women's liberationist consciousness. Mannu Bhandari has given voice to the pain, struggle, and suffering of lower- and middle-class rural and urban women.

To what extent are Mannu Bhandari's female characters adopting Western styles? While steeped in their Indian culture, they are also assimilating into Western culture. They are moving forward, transcending their boundaries. But a woman crosses boundaries only when she is shaken. An Indian woman transgresses and challenges society only after being broken from within. We are all experienced and know that even an insect doesn't bite unless we disturb it. Similarly, when a woman goes astray, she takes everything away.
Yogita Yadav, speaking about the impact of Mannu Bhandari's writings, says, "Women of my time are so independent that they can make any decision for themselves. But your Bunty's Bunty holds my pallu and stops me. He inspires me to be more restrained, more patient. Because we have to save something for our next generation. Who else but Mannu ji could have said this?"
Yogita Yadav - In emotional tribute articles

CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND SHAREHOLDER WEALTH MAXIMIZATION IN INDIAN AUTOMOBILE COMPANIES: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Ayush Kansal — 2024-07-31

The automobile industry in India is one of the most capital-intensive sectors, making financing decisions crucial for sustaining growth and competitiveness. This study investigates the impact of capital structure on shareholder wealth maximization in Indian automobile companies over a ten-year period (2012–2022). Using data from 30 listed firms, the research applies descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression, ANOVA, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships between debt-equity ratios, cost of borrowing, profitability measures (ROA, ROE, EPS), dividend policy, and shareholder wealth indicators (market price, EPS, dividend per share). The results demonstrate that capital structure significantly affects shareholder wealth both directly and indirectly through profitability. Excessive leverage negatively impacts returns and market valuation, while moderate debt enhances value by balancing tax benefits and financial risk, consistent with trade-off theory. The study also finds that profitability is the strongest mediator linking financing choices to investor wealth, cost of borrowing exerts a detrimental effect, and dividend policy serves as a positive signal of financial stability. The findings contribute to the literature on corporate finance in emerging markets by providing sector-specific evidence from India’s automobile industry. Managerial and policy implications suggest that firms should maintain an optimal debt-equity mix, manage borrowing costs efficiently, and adopt stable dividend policies to maximize long-term shareholder wealth.

INDIA AND THAILAND RELATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

N. Surjitkumar — 2024-06-30

This study examines the dynamic and multifaceted relationship between India and Thailand, emphasizing their strategic, historical, cultural, and economic ties from 2000 to 2022. It explores key areas such as historical interactions, people-to-people contact, and the pivotal role of the Indian Diaspora in Thailand. The study highlights shared cultural heritage, collaborative regional frameworks like ASEAN and BIMSTEC, and connectivity initiatives including the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. Analyzing the influence of soft power and cultural diplomacy, the research underscores how both nations serve as crucial partners in linking South and Southeast Asia, fostering regional stability, development, and mutual understanding.

A STUDY ON ISSUES AND FUTURE PROSPECTS IN MANGO FARMING AND MARKETING IN KRISHNAGIRI DISTRICT

R Venkatesh Kumar — 2024-06-30

India is a nation of farmers, and more than two thirds of Indians depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The foundation of the Indian economy is agriculture, and without the expansion of this sector, no plan for economic growth can be successful. India's economy is well recognised for being heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, and the country's climatic conditions are ideal for the cultivation of mangoes. Mango farming is one of the key components of our nation's horticultural industry. Mango farmers typically have lower socioeconomic statuses than the general population and struggle with issues like underemployment, a lack of financial resources, and the use of middlemen. Since mango growing is a seasonal activity, it is clear that they have been jobless for roughly six months out of the year. Even while India contributes significantly to the growth and production of fruit, it still has significant obstacles that are keeping it from reaching new heights, such as the fertiliser issue and a lack of knowledge about contemporary irrigation techniques. To inspire the farming community in the future, these difficulties must be deliberately addressed. Encouragement of research in this field is a very positive development because it will encourage young people and the next generation to use their brains to find solutions to the issues and the government to put those solutions into action. With middlemen involved, farmers are said to find it extremely difficult to market their own agricultural products (Krishnagiri District). The three main marketing situations are rivals, a lack of local markets, and inappropriate. Steps in the marketing cycle include making the product, sorting it, delivering it, setting a price, communicating with customers, and finally, receiving the product. Agricultural marketing encompasses not only the production of goods and commodities but also their transportation to and from the customer. Research for this project makes use of both primary and secondary sources. The study used a sample size of 603 mango producers to gather primary data. According to the study's findings, farmers need education and training in packing, processing, and preservation as well as financial and marketing support and forward and backward linkages. Farmers needed businesspeople to market their mangoes, cold storage, and better mango production and storage methods.

IMPACT OF YOGA ON QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG FEMALE IBS PATIENTS OF JAIPUR: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY

Shalini Mittal — 2024-06-30

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder, significantly impacts quality of life and mental well-being, particularly in women. Yoga, a holistic mind-body intervention, has gained recognition for its potential to alleviate both physical symptoms and associated psychological stress.
Objective: This randomized controlled study evaluates the impact of yoga on quality of life and anxiety levels among female IBS patients in Jaipur, India.
Methods: A total of 195 female IBS patients were recruited and randomly assigned to either a 12-week yoga intervention group (n = 97) or a control group (n = 98). The yoga program included asanas, pranayama, and mindfulness practices tailored to IBS management. Primary outcomes included IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QOL) scores and anxiety levels measured by Sinha’s Comprehensive Anxiety Test (SCAT). Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results: Significant improvements were observed in all eight dimensions of IBS-QOL in the yoga group compared to controls at week 12 (p < 0.001). Anxiety levels in the yoga group reduced by 65.59% from baseline (p < 0.001), while no significant changes were observed in the control group.
The study demonstrates that yoga significantly improves quality of life and reduces anxiety among female IBS patients. The findings suggest that yoga can serve as an effective, non-pharmacological adjunctive therapy for managing IBS symptoms and associated psychological distress.

PERCEPTION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE NEW ISSUE MARKET AMONG RETAIL INVESTORS- A THEMATIC REVIEW

Eti Agarwal — 2024-01-31

Higher participation of retail investors in the New Issue Market (NIM), specifically of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), has been causing concern regarding the extent of financial literacy and well-informed decision-making expected of them. The current review paper critically analyzes the financial literacy of retail investors in the context of the NIM, specifically their comprehension of benefits, risks, regulatory protection, and common myths. While IPOs are typically high-return investments, retail investors as a whole undergo the process without much knowledge of the processes involved, e.g., pricing mechanisms, allocation procedures, and disclosure mandates. Such surface-level knowledge will typically lead to unrealistic suppositions and a higher susceptibility to market speculative and hype situations.
The research also addresses popular misconceptions in IPO investment — that every IPO is profitable or that an oversubscription is a sign of quality — and examines the impact on the behavior of investors. The article also points out the useful role of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) towards investor education, bringing transparency, and practicing regulation through regulatory protective mandatory disclosures like the Red Herring Prospectus and warning investors against risk. Drawing on secondary data and thematic synthesis of the literature, the paper highlights the necessity for focused financial literacy interventions in bridging the gap between awareness and in-depth understanding of the NIM among retail investors.

BRIDGING VOICES: SOCIAL VISION AND CULTURAL CRITIQUE IN THE WORKS OF RUSKIN BOND AND VIJAYDAN DETHA

Ravi Vaishnav — 2024-12-31

This research studies the works of notable indian authors Vijaydan Detha and Ruskin Bond. Despite writing in different languages and contexts their writing has similar qualities. Since Detha’s a local author, his works often appear to be an imitation of basic stories’s atmosphere with a modern twist to tell problems more fomalized that has national resemblance. His reimagination of folklore keeps it alive but makes it an area to fight back and rebuild. These two famous writers cite differant informations about where they feel the happiest at. His cut works make life seem less lifeless and human, some having a strong earthy twist. Bond is seen as a complex man who understands the fragility as well as the beauty of mountain life. The movie teaches how to live in the world, but inspires to raise above the world. When we have noble characteristics, we sometimes acquire other characteristics that we don’t want to desire having. The narrator connects ideas from postcolonial arguments and option studies with antropological information to show how authors get attached to damaged voices and omissions of reality through their writings. Detha’s folktales show people who are oppressed how to overcome their oppression. Similarly, Bond’s writings show humans can relate differently with nature. They create links that connect the local with the global, written word with the oral, and tradition with modernity. They make literary works which serve as a powerful moral force by creating a spectacular space in literature. Through this comparison, a greater understanding of India’s diverse cultures hopefully comes in future discussions. Most importantly, these texts reveal the power of fiction to act as always revealing our choices and behaviours.

ENERGY-EFFICIENT AND LOW-LATENCY ROUTING PROTOCOLS IN IOT NETWORKS: A COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hitesh Parmar — 2024-01-31

The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) networks has introduced significant challenges in the design of routing protocols, particularly in achieving a balance between energy efficiency and communication latency. This paper presents a thorough literature review of energy-efficient and low-latency routing protocols for IoT networks, examining more than 200 selected publications from 2020 to December 2023. We developed a systematic taxonomy that categorizes protocols into energy-efficient, latency-optimized, and balanced approaches, assesses their performance characteristics, and pinpoints critical research gaps. Our analysis indicates that while energy-efficient protocols can enhance the network lifetime by up to 60%, recent machine learning-driven methods show up to a 59% reduction in the busiest-node routing energy while maintaining over 99% reliability. Latency-optimized solutions have achieved up to a 35.5% reduction in end-to-end delays through opportunistic forwarding and deep reinforcement learning. However, significant challenges persist in terms of security integration, real-world validation, and standardization. We offer a comprehensive roadmap for future research directions, highlighting the integration of artificial intelligence, edge computing, and next-generation network technology. This review serves as a foundation for researchers and practitioners developing advanced IoT routing solutions.

TOWARDS AN AESTHETICS OF SILENCE AND SLOW TIME: TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL TRANSCENDENCE IN THE FILMS OF G. ARAVINDAN

Lalith. S — 2024-01-31

Cinema as many of the art forms is an intervention, a becoming, a creative enterprise which is godly in its adherence to the creative principle. It etches images and moments by possessing, inhabiting and filling up spaces and time which otherwise would have remained unarchived. It is this idea of intervention in time and space, and the creation of a parallel universe not controlled by the diktats of linearity and narrative, not at all catering to the demands of the market and the conventions of time that distinguishes G. Aravindan. In his films, Aravindan chooses a locale and time removed physically from his own but ever present as part of his consciousness of the human condition. His consciousness in that sense encompasses different terrains and manifold specks of time. He traverses different timescapes and presents them in his inimitable style. This research paper analyses the treatment of temporal and spatial aspects of the films directed by G. Aravindan, and attempts to establish that the characters in his films are ‘always our contemporary’, defying the constraints of time and space. The research paper attempts to place Aravindan in the context of the cinematic traditions that stretches from Ozu and Tarkovsky to the contemporary masters of slow cinema at the same time trying to establish how an Indian way of understanding time also informs his movies.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AS A CATALYST FOR HANDICRAFT BUSINESS SUCCESS IN DELHI/NCR

Archita Nandi — 2023-06-30

This research investigates how the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has influenced the marketing and sales of handicrafts in the Delhi/National Capital Region in the post-virus environment. Previous studies have highlighted the significant challenges faced by the handicraft sector due to reduced physical marketplaces and changing consumer behaviors during health crises, emphasizing the critical role of digital platforms such as e-commerce sites and social media in sustaining business operations. Building on these insights, this study employs a cross-sectional design with data collected from 234 artisans and enterprises using a standardized questionnaire. The focus is on understanding how the use of ICT tools—including digital marketing strategies, social media engagement, and online sales platforms—impacts sales performance. Analytical methods including reliability testing, descriptive statistics, and multiple regression analysis were applied to the data. The results demonstrate a strong positive relationship between ICT utilization and sales success, confirming that digital channels are vital for recovery and growth in the handicrafts industry post-virus. These findings provide valuable guidance for artisans, marketers, and policymakers on leveraging ICT effectively to enhance market reach and improve income, thereby supporting the resilience and advancement of traditional craft enterprises.