A BOOK REVIEW OF FACES IN THE WATER BY THE DAMNED SOULS CLASS: X SECTION: A SUBMITTED TO: SHASANK KU. PRADHAN. A PROJECT FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF FA-1(ENGLISH). D.A.V. PUBLIC SCHOOL, POKHARIPUT.
Transcript
1. NAME ROLL NUMBER 1. Salony Das 2 2. Subhrajeet Praharaj 5 3.
Manoranjan Rath 7 4. Anshuman Pati 8 5. Astha Pattnaik 30 6.
Shibani Sahoo 39
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We the group members of The damned souls
convey our deep thanks to our English teacher Shasank sir for
providing his helping hand for bringing out this project
successfully. We would also like to thank our group members for
cooperation.
4. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. TITLE: Faces in the Water. 2. GENRE:
Fiction. 3. AUTHOR: Ranjit Lal. 4. PUBLISHER: Puffin or Penguin
Groups. 5. YEAR OF EDITION: 1 January 2010 6. PRICE: Rs. 250 7.
PAGE: 208 BACK TO CONTENT
5. INTRODUCTION This is a rather sensitive topic and one that
most writers would not like to write about. It is about families
wanting to have only boys. However, if by chance a female child is
born how the problem is sorted out forms the crux of the book. BACK
TO CONTENT
6. Ranjit Lal was born in Kolkata in 1955, and educated in
Mumbai, graduating in Economics and Sociology. As a freelance
writer and columnist, he has over a thousand articles, short
stories, features and photo- features published in over fifty
newspapers and magazines in India and abroad. He has special
interest in areas like natural history, photography, humour, satire
and automobiles, on which he writes for both adults and
children.
7. He is one of the few Indian journalists to write satire and
humour on a sustained basis. He has authored several books
including The Crow Chronicles,The Life and Times of Altu Faltu,
That Summer at Kalagarh, The Bossman Adventures, Enjoying Birds,
Birds of Delhi, Birds from My Window, The Caterpillar Who Went on a
Diet and Other Stories, When Banshee Kissed Bimbo and The Battle
for No.19. Ranjit Lal lives in Delhi. Ranjit Lal. BACK TO
CONTENT
8. FEMALE INFANTICIDE Female infanticide is the deliberate
killing of newborn female children. The main theme of the story is
female infanticide. All the girls of Diwanchand family are dumped
in the well of their ancestral house. But as the story progress
every one realises that it is wrong. At last every member of the
family accepts Sameera, Shanti &Aparna.
9. LOVE BETWEEN BROTHERS & SISTERS The story is a live
example of the love between the brothers and sisters. Love between
all the brothers and sisters is highly remarkable. The way in which
a fifteen year old boy jumps into the well to save the life of his
twin sisters justifies that. BACK TO CONTENT
10. SUMMARY The story began in the house of our protagonist,
Gurmeet Diwanchand. His mother told him to go to their ancestral
house because of renovation works of their house in Delhi. Gurmeet
was happy to go that house. This is because The Diwanchands were
proud of two things. First thing, only boys born in their family.
Second, they never fell sick. The credit for the above goes to the
water they drink from the well of their ancestral house(badikothi).
Thats why he was very happy to visit the badikothi. When he reaches
badikothi, he wanted to explore the area especially the well. At
last when he looked down the well he saw faces faces into the
water. Three girls looked up to Gurmeet with a placard Welcome
Gurmeet! Love- Mohini, Nandini, Baby.
11. SUMMARY At first, Gurmeet could not believe that there were
girls inside the well water. He realised them slowly. And they
became friends. Mohini told him that they were in the well because
they were girls . Gurmeet decided to ask this to his mother. He was
very angry with his parents. Mohini told him to relax and not to
say them anything because they were their parents. Then with the
help of Mohini s program they enjoyed a lot in the swimming pool.
Then he was introduced with Lovleen. Then they went to the lawn
playing French Cricket and they had a nice time together. Then
after a few days Varun, Arnav, Sushma, Balbir, Surinder (Arnav
& Varuns mom) came to the badikothi. Nandini made pranks on
Surinder but the blame went to Gurmeet.
12. SUMMARY Later on, Gurmeet asked Mohini whether she had any
software in her laptop such that they could live with them in
badikothi. Mohini replied in affirmative. Then they began to live
in the badikothi. Sushma & Balbir, Gurmeets parents felt their
presence but they couldnt see any of them. In this particular time
they realised that they had done mistakes by murdering the girls.
But, Gurmeet, Arnav, Varun and the other girls were busy in playing
with each other. One day they had a race in between themselves in
which Donny(Bhuinder & Varshas Son) won. After a few day they
celebrated rakhi in which all the girls tied the knot in Gurmeets
hand and he gave them Gifts.
13. After next few days, Surinder and Lajwati (Surinders
assistant) came to the badikothi. It was the time to deliver the
baby of Sushma. Gurmeet was not allowed to see those. But somehow,
he saw everything. The babies were twin girls. Surinder and Lajwati
threw them into the well. But Gurmeet saved them and made his
parents realise they were wrong. Later on, his parents accepted the
girls. From that day onwards Girls were accepted by the
Diwanchands. So, it was all a HAPPY ENDING. BACK TO CONTENT
16. HI Friendz!! Meet me. I am Gurmeet Diwanchand. You can call
me Gurmi. I am fifteen year old boy. I am brilliant student and
expert in computers. I am the protagonist of the novel. I am very
honest and caring. I am a lovely brother. I talk to my sisters
brings gifts for them. I am the real hero of this book.
17. Hi!!! I am the eldest sister of protagonist, Gurmi. I am
very fair. I am an intelligent as I stood first in my 12th board
exam scoring 99.7%. According to Gurmeet, I will look like his
mother when I will grow old. My computer programs has helped us to
go back to past and spend time together.
18. Hi!! Let me Introduce myself I am Nandini. You can call me
Nanni. I have curly hair and a round face. I am very naughty and
would tease the protagonist, Gurmeet. I am somewhat like a
tomboyish character. I am fond of racing cars and SUVs. I always
make fun of Surinderji and blame Gurmi for the same.
19. Hey guyz Meet me.. I am the most beautiful girl among them.
I am pale and very fair. I have shiny light brown hair. I am the
only one who was busy with mirror all the time. I am the eldest
daughter of Surinder Diwanchand.
20. Hey. Meet me. I am the villain. I am the antagonist of the
novel. I am Balvinders wife and a gynecologist by profession.
Author repeatedly calls me as a warthog. I used to do all sort of
work of pregnant women for my family. I throw the girl child into
the well in the ancestral house. Lajwati is my assistant.
21. I am Sushma Diwanchand and mother of your protagonist,
Gurmeet. I am fair good looking lady but little obese. I realise
the fact that I have done mistake by throwing the girls in the well
when I came to Badi kothi.
22. I am Balbir Diwanchand and the father of Gurmeet. I am
heavily built man and six feet one inch tall. Like Sushma, when I
came to Badi kothi, I realised the mistake and at last I accepted
my twin daughters- Sameera & Shanti. BACK TO CONTENT
23. The setting of the story is not mentioned in the novel.
Since the book is published in 2010 and the story deals with racing
cars, SUVs, it seems that the time is late 20th century or 21st
century. The place where the novel and all the incidents took place
is Delhi. Gurmeets house is located in Delhi. It takes one hour and
twenty minutes to reach Ancestral house from Gurmeets house.
Ancestral house is located near the Aravali hill ranges. BACK TO
CONTENT
24. The main conflict of the novel is female infanticide.
Diwanchand family used to throw their girl kids in the just after
they were born. Protagonist, Gurmeet, works very hard on this
topic. He was helped by all her sisters to make the family realise
that they are wrong. At the end he successfully does it. The family
then, accepts Shanti, Sameera & Aparna as their daughters. BACK
TO CONTENT
25. Although it is an adult topic, it is written in such a
manner which makes it appropriate for children as well. The author
has put lots of funny incidents related to magic, cyber world and
lots of charm. There is a bit of twist in the end of this story.
The description of the girls, their innocence, their expressions
are narrated very beautifully and it made us laughed at sometimes
as well as bought some tears in our eyes many times. There are a
few plot holes, for instance, if the women were pregnant so often,
surely the neighbours remarked on how the women turned up without a
child at the end of it. BACK TO CONTENT