Indian Writing in English- Nissim Ezekiel Essay

Indian poetry has flourished over the last 4000 years. Today, it is composed and written in more than twenty Indian languages, including English. It has always echoed the voice of the times and revealed the pains and passions of the people. Its growth has also reflected our rich cultural heritage. The history of Indian poetry makes us aware of its glorious past in contrast to its present state. Today, as the world is shrinking and the communication network projecting man on the global scene much faster, the past values are getting lost in the struggle man is involved with. Issues confronting man have multiplied and so have his efforts for survival. Poetry today is facing the test of time. Poets need to be organized more vigorously than in the past to voice effectively their innermost thoughts and interact with each other more often. Giving away of awards to some of the few distinguished ones is not enough. Poets in India need to be encouraged in their creativity if we expect their contributions to transform our society. New life is to be given to old values which had stood us in good stead for so long. The poets should come to the forefront to undertake this job. As such, organized efforts need to be made to promote the production and publication of good Indian poetry. Poetry written in different parts of India needs to be collected, interpreted and propagated. Indian English literature (IEL) refers to the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language and whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. It is also associated with the works of members of the Indian diaspora, such as V. S. Naipaul, Kiran Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri and Salman Rushdie, who are of Indian descent. It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature. (Indo-Anglian is a specific term in the sole context of writing that should not be confused with the term Anglo-Indian). As a category, this production comes under the broader realm of postcolonial literature- the production from previously colonised countries such as India. A much over-looked category of Indian writing in English is poetry. As stated above, Rabindranath Tagore wrote in Bengali and English and was responsible for the translations of his own work into English. Other early notable poets in English include Derozio, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, and her brother Harindranath Chattopadhyay. A generation of exiles also sprang from the Indian diaspora. Among these are names like Agha Shahid Ali, Sujata Bhatt, Richard Crasta, Yuyutsu Sharma and Vikram Seth. In modern times, Indian poetry in English was typified by two very different poets. Dom Moraes, winner of the Hawthornden Prize at the age of 19 for his first book of poems A Beginning went on to occupy a pre-eminent position among Indian poets writing in English. Nissim Ezekiel, who came from India’s tiny Bene Israel Jewish community, created a voice and place for Indian poets writing in English and championed their work. A significant and torch bearer poet is Nissim Ezekiel. Recent Indian English poetry adds to, what O. P. Bhatnagar terms as, a process of collective discovery, affirming its richness, sensitivity and cultural complexity. If we examine the potential of the poery-making mind in English, we should now discover aspects of the essentially assimilative genius of the Indian people, snf a celebration of the vast chorus of voices that make Indian literature sing. These poets write with an awareness of their milieu and environment rather than British or American rhetoric or intellectual attitudes like alienation or exile. They share the central core of contemporary realities of Indian life. The Indo – Anglian poetry is said to be essentially Indian and everything else afterwards. It expresses the essence of Indian personality and is also very sensitive to the changes of its national climate and it voices the aspirations and the joys and sorrows of Indians. It has been opined, that the Indo – Anglian poets are of two factions. The neo-modernists and the neo-symbolists. The outlook of the former is coloured by humanism and irony and that of the latter is imbued with mysticism and sublimity, but a perfect blend is achieved by the two groups in the realms of beauty. A perfect example, of anlndo – Anglian poet, who was able to arrive at a synthesis between the two factions of poetry, is none other than Sarojini Naidu, for she took her stance in the neutral, middle ground, between the sacred and profane sphere of poetry she was at home in both the worlds and found them united in the realms of poetry. Nissim Ezekiel occupies an important place in post-Independence Indian English literature. He has wielded a great influence as a leading poet, editor and an occasional playwright. Besides, he is a well-known critic. Sometimes he also emerges as a politician in the guise of a fighter for cultural freedom in India. Ezekiel held many important positions. He was for many years a Professor of English in Bombay University. He is a noted name in the field of journalism. In this capacity he was editor of many journals including Poetry India (1966-67), Quest (1955-57) and Imprint (1961-70), He was an Associate Editor to the Indian P. E. N. , Bombay. Considered to be the Father of post independence Indian verse in English, Nissim Ezekiel was a prolific poet, playwright, critic, broadcaster and social commentator. He was born on December24, 1924 in a Jew family. His father was a professor of botany and mother was principal of her own school. Ezekiel was inclined to the poets such as T. S. Eliot. Yeats, Ezra Pound in his school days. The influence of all these literary personalities was apparent in his early works. His formal use of the English language was linked to colonialism and resulted in controversy. His first collection of poetry ‘Time To Change’ was published by Fortune Press (London) in 1952. His poetry has all the elements of love, loneliness, lust, and creativity. Nissim Ezekiel went on to join The Illustrated Weekly of India as an assistant editor in 1953. ‘Sixty Poems’ was his next book followed by ‘The Unfinished Man’. Nissim Ezekiel started writing in formal English but with the passage of time his writing underwent a metamorphosis. As the time passed he acknowledged that ‘the darkness has its own secrets which light does not know. His poem ‘The Night Of Scorpion’ is considered to be one of the best works in Indian English poetry and is used as a study material in India and British schools. Nissim Ezekiel worked as an advertising copywriter and general manager of a picture frame company . He was the art critic of The Times Of India (1964-66) and editor of The Poetry India(1966-67). He was also the co-founder of the literary monthly Imprint. Ezekiel was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1983. In 1988 he received another honor,Padma Shri, for his contribution to the Indian English writing.  He passed away on January 9, 2004, in Mumbai after a prolonged illness. As a man of letters Nissim Ezekiel is a ‘Protean’ figure. His achievements as a poet and playwright are considerable. K. Balachandran writes, â€Å"The post-Independence Indian poetry saw its new poetry in the fifties. Among the new poets A. K. Ramanujan, R. Parthasarathy, Shiv K. Kumar, Kamala Das, Monica Verma, O. P. Bhatnagar, Gauri Deshpande, Adil Jussawalla, Ezekiel occupies a prominent place. His versatile genius can be found in his poetry, plays, criticism, journalism and translation. Nissim Ezekiel has done a good work in Indian writing in English. He has written many volumes of poems—A Time to Change (1952), Sixty Poems (1953), The Third (1959), The Unfinished Man (1960), The Exact Name (1965) and others. His plays Nalini, Marriage Poem, The Sleep-Walkers, Songs of Deprivation and Who Needs No Introduction are already staged and published. He has also edited books Indian Writers in Conference (1964), Writing in India (1965), An Emerson Reader (1965), A M artin Luther King Reader (1965) and Arthur Miller’s All My Sons (1972). His literary essays published in magazines and papers are innumerable. The notable among them are ‘Ideas and Modern Poetry’ (1964), ‘The Knowledge of Dead Secrets’ (1965), ‘Poetry as Knowledge’ (1972), ‘Sri Aurobindo on Poetry’ (1972), ‘Should Poetry be Read to Audience? ‘ (1972), ‘K. N. Daruwalla’ (1972), ‘Poetry and Philosophy,’ ‘Hindu Society’ (1966). He has written essays on art criticism ‘Modern Art in India’ (1970), ‘How Good is Sabavala? ‘ (1973), and ‘Paintings of the Year 1973’ (1973). His e s s a y s o n social criticism Thoreau and Gandhi’ (1971), ‘Censorship and the Writer’ (1963), ‘How Normal is Normality’ (1972), ‘Tradition and All That a Case Against the Hippies’ (1973), ‘A Question of Sanity’ (1972) and ‘Our Academic Community’ (1968) are varied and auto telic of his wide interest. Ezekiel is an editor of several journals encouraging writing poetry, plays and criticisrm He also asked many writers for translation, affecting the theory and practice of the young poets. The writers like Rilke and W. B. Yeats influenced Ezekiel. Like Yeats, he treated poetry as the ‘record of the mind’s growth. ‘ His poetic bulk indicates his growth as a poet-critic and shows his personal importance. Chetan Karnani states, â€Å"At the centre was that sincere devoted mind that wanted to discover itself. In the process, he managed to forge a unique achievement of his own. † The poet Ezekiel has already published several volumes of poems. For him poetry-writing was a lofty vocation, a way of life. He treated life as a journey where poetry would be the main source of discovering and organising one’s own self. In a sense, poetry to Ezekiel became a way for self-realisation. He calls life a texture of poetry. He identifies himself with poetry. So all of his volumes of verse are well-knit and they are in the poet’s view, a continuation of each other. Ezekiel’s experiments in prose rhythms and his fine sense of structure and metrical ability. The verse rhythms of T. S. Eliot seem to haunt hi s mind. Ezekiel’s Si x t y Poems (1953), his second volume of poems was published in 1953. But these poems are loose in structure and they are less appealing. Night of the Scorpion’, in which Ezekiel recalls the behaviour of ‘the peasants’, his father, his mother and a holy man when his mother was poisoned by a scorpion’s sting. Here the aim is to find poetry in ordinary reality as observed, known, felt, experienced rather than as the intellect thinks it should be. While the peasants pray and speak of incarnations, his father, ‘sceptic, rationalist’, tries ‘every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid’ and a holy man performs a rite. After a day the poison is no longer felt and, in a final irony, his mother, in contrast to the previous feverish activity centred upon her, makes a typical motherly comment: My mother only said Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children. The ‘Thank God’ is doubly ironic as it is a commonplace expression of speech in contrast to all the previous religious and superstitious activity. Ezekiel’s purpose is not, however, an expression of scepticism but rather the exact notation of what he saw as a child. The aim is not to explain but to make real by naming, by saying ‘common things’. The poem is a new direction, a visionof ordinary reality, especially of Indian life, unmediated by cold intellect. The new purpose is seen in the poem’s style, unrhymed, with line lengths shaped by natural syntactical units and rhythm created by the cadences of the speaking voice into a long verse paragraph, rather than the stanzaic structure used in earlier poems. In his poetry there is the truth of acknowledging what is felt and experienced in its complexity, contradictions, pleasures, fears and disillusionments without preconceived ideas of what poetry should say about the poet and life. Nissim Ezekiel’s ‘Night of The Scorpion’ is much appreciated by the critics and it has found place in many anthologies for as excellence, Critics, commenting on its aesthetic beauty expressed different views. In their critical sweep, they brought everything from superstitious ritualism to modern rationalism. One can find that in the poem superstitious ritualism or sceptic rationalism or even the balance of the both with expression of Indian ethos through maternal love in the Indian way, is nothing but scratching the surface. The poem has something more gigantic than its face value, which as I find is the symbolic juxtaposition of the forces of darkness and light that is intrinsically centripetal in the poem. It is ‘Night’ of The Scorpion’ with the first word absorbing accent. It seems to have been implicitly contrived here that ‘Night should stand as a symbol of darkness with the ‘Scorpion’ as the symbol of evil. Such ingenuity in craftsmanship takes the poem to the higher level of understanding. Prof. Birje Patil is right in putting that in â€Å"Night of The Scorpion†, where evil is symbolized by the scorpion, The reader made to participate in the ritual as well as suffering through’ a vivid evocation of the poison moving in the mother’s blood’. And evil has always been associated with darkness, the seamy side of our life, in human psyche. It has always been the integral part of theology, in whatever form it has manifested that suffering helps in removing that darker patch in human mind, he patch that has been a besetting sin of man’s existence. May the sum of evil Balanced in this unreal world gainst the sum of good become diminished by your pain, they said These lines amply testify that the poem aims at achieving something higher than its narrative simplicity. The choric refrain ‘they said’ in the chain of reactions made by the village peasants is undoubtedly ironic, but the poet hasn’t as much to stress the concept of sin, redemption or rebirth ass he has to insinuate the indomitable force of darkness gripping the minds of the unenlightened. Going through the poem attentively more than once, it can’t fail catching our notice that modern rationalism is also equally shallow and perverse. It is also a road leading to confusion where through emerges scepticism, the other darker patch on our modernized existence. The image of the father in this poem speaks volumes for this capsizing modernism which sandwiches in its arm- space the primitive and the perverted. The â€Å"sceptic rationalist’ father trying ‘powder, mixture, herb and hybrid’ bears upon human primitivism and when he experiments with ‘a little paraffin upon a bitten toe and put a match to it he becomes a symbol of perversion in the modern man’s psyche. Christopher Wiseman puts it, â€Å"†¦ fascinating tension between personal crisis and mocking social observation†Ã¢â‚¬  ; neither there is any personal crisis. On the other hand there is spiritual compassion and an intense urge for getting rid of this psychological syndrome that the whole modern world ha s b e e n caught, the slow-moving poison of this syndromic scorpion into the very veins of creation, the image o f the mother in agony nullifying the clear vision of human thought and enveloping the whole of humanity In the darker shades of confusion more chaolic, troubles the poet as much sharply as the sting of the poisonous worm. There is crisis, but it is the crisis of human existence thaat needs lo be overcome. The poet, though a distant observer, doesn’t take a stance of detachment. On the exact opposite, he watches with curiosity â€Å"the flame feeding on my mother’, but being uncertain whether the paraffin flame would cleanse her of the ugony of the absorbing poison, he loses himself in a thoughtful trance. The whole poem abounds with these two symbols of darkness and light. In the very beginning the poet has ushered in this symbolic juxta position and then as the poem advanced, built upon it the whole structure of his fascinating architecture in the lines. Ten hours of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice parting with his poison – flash of diabolic tail in the dark room he risked the rain again. The incessant rain stands for the hope and regeneration where with is juxtaposed the destructive hurdles to fruitfy that hope. But the constructive, life giving rain continuoues and the evil, having fulfilled its parts, departs. Then afterwards other hurdels more preying than the first, come in. More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours more insects, and the endless rain My mother twisted through and through groaning on a mat. The symbols of light and darkness, candles lanterns, neighbours and insects and rain again are notworthy. But the force of light gains a width handover the evil force and life is restored once again in its joyous stride and this life long struggle between forces of darkness and light reaches a crescendo when – after twenty hours It lost its sting. Here, In the above lines, lies the beuaty of the poem, when the ascending steps of darkness, being chased by the force of following light are ripped down; when at last on the peak the chaser wins and the chased slips down. The man who has not understood what motherhood is. might be taken in by such expression of motherly love. But I convincingly feel that any woman would have exclaimed the same thing as the mother in this poem did. In my view, it would have been truly Indian had the mother in her tortures remembered her children and though helplessly, had she desired to protect them lest the scorpion might catch them unawres. Anyway, the beauty of the poem remains- unmarred by such revision. The poem is a thing of beauty par excellence.

Free Essays on Selective Mutism in Children

Selective Mutism in Children Selective mutism is an acquired disorder, in which a child is capable of speaking, and does so in many instances, but fails to speak in select situations where communication will typically occur. (Book) Selective mutism implies that a child suffering from this disorder does not choose to be silent, but rather become mute in situations that cause him/her to be anxious. (4) One of the most important aspects of defining this disorder is that the failure to speak is not due to the child’s lack of knowledge of spoken language or a communication disorder, but rather the psychological aspects of socialization. (8) Tramer initially labeled the disorder â€Å"elective mutism† in 1934, a term that is still used outside of North America, and it was viewed as a defiant behavior to overprotective and/or controlling parent(s). (7) In 1994, American Psychiatric Association, renamed the disorder â€Å"Selective Mutism† since the title was more appropriate for emphasizing that a child becomes mute in select social situations and not when he/she chooses not to communicate.(7) When exposed to new situations or overcoming a traumatic episode children often go through a phase of adjustment, where they may not speak for some period of time. (Book) This will not be termed selective mutism because of its course of development and etiology is different and will be managed in another way. (Book) Studies are still being conducted to figure out the minimum amount of time that a child has to be silent before he/she is diagnosed with selective mutism. For instance in a study by Brown and Lloyd, in 1975, came out with statistics regarding the number of children in school during their first year of school. (Book) When 6,072 children, that began the school year in silence, were observed started speaking with in a 32-40 week period. After an eight week period 42 children were silent, after 32 weeks 4 children and after 64 weeks only o... Free Essays on Selective Mutism in Children Free Essays on Selective Mutism in Children Selective Mutism in Children Selective mutism is an acquired disorder, in which a child is capable of speaking, and does so in many instances, but fails to speak in select situations where communication will typically occur. (Book) Selective mutism implies that a child suffering from this disorder does not choose to be silent, but rather become mute in situations that cause him/her to be anxious. (4) One of the most important aspects of defining this disorder is that the failure to speak is not due to the child’s lack of knowledge of spoken language or a communication disorder, but rather the psychological aspects of socialization. (8) Tramer initially labeled the disorder â€Å"elective mutism† in 1934, a term that is still used outside of North America, and it was viewed as a defiant behavior to overprotective and/or controlling parent(s). (7) In 1994, American Psychiatric Association, renamed the disorder â€Å"Selective Mutism† since the title was more appropriate for emphasizing that a child becomes mute in select social situations and not when he/she chooses not to communicate.(7) When exposed to new situations or overcoming a traumatic episode children often go through a phase of adjustment, where they may not speak for some period of time. (Book) This will not be termed selective mutism because of its course of development and etiology is different and will be managed in another way. (Book) Studies are still being conducted to figure out the minimum amount of time that a child has to be silent before he/she is diagnosed with selective mutism. For instance in a study by Brown and Lloyd, in 1975, came out with statistics regarding the number of children in school during their first year of school. (Book) When 6,072 children, that began the school year in silence, were observed started speaking with in a 32-40 week period. After an eight week period 42 children were silent, after 32 weeks 4 children and after 64 weeks only o...

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Consolidated Life - Essay Example Trying to attempt the behavior of Jack was not a smart thing to do; Mike would have been better served to try to get Jack onside rather than making an enemy out of him. Although his plans would have had to of changed, at least with Jack as an ally Mike could have made the Supervisors Forum work better. If I was Mike then I would have sat down for an informal one-on-one meeting with Jack Greely right at the very start to deal with any problems that may exist between the pair. It is better to sort out differences before starting to work together, so this could have avoided crashing later on. It does not have to be Mike or Jack; in fact, it could be a win-win situation where both of them got what they wanted. Mike would describe the organizational culture at Consolidated Life very different to how he left it when he temporarily moved away. Before there is a carefree approach present in the workplace environment, but now with Jack Greely in charge there is much more structure and organization to the firm. Due to Mike laidback personality, he finds it difficult to thrive in an environment that appears to be so stifling to him. However, this is the way that Jack works so there is little point in complaining about it. Going to Rick to express some concerns would be a waste of time because it seems like Rick sees something in Jack that he likes. Mike needs to realize that the game has changed and he has to be the one to adapt and fit it; not the other way around. Every employee has a huge responsibility to read a firms culture and adjust to it. This is something that every employee should look to focus on when they first enter a workplace. Organizational success comes directly from the team culture that is established.  

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Reflection 03081 - Essay Example The presentation that we gave was about the first industrial revolution. The most important objective was to highlight the noteworthy inventions that were made in this period and what has happened since then. Tasks were assigned to individuals equally in order to ensure successful completion of the project. There was three group members, one was given the task to do the research and collect data, the second group member was reasonable for designing the presentation and I was give the task of writing the slide contents. The following sections will include the interpretation and outcome of our group efforts. As mentioned above, we were tasked with the preparation of a PowerPoint presentation regarding the first industrial revolution. We decided to conduct group meetings every alternative day in the week in order to discuss our individual progress regarding the overall presentation. The division of work was done very effectively as each of us go the work that we do best. However, one of the major drawbacks of our group was that no one was clearly defined as the leader. Although we were making individual progress there was no leader who would give proper direction to the flow of our work. Occasionally we have conflict of issues which deviate us from the actual path of the assignment’s objective. I decided to implement the ideas the Tuckman teamwork theory. It was extremely important for me to make sure that the team go through all the four phases of team development mentioned in this theory (forming, storming norming and performing). I witnessed that initially the group members were finding it difficult to gel in with each other. So I decided to clarify the overall objective of the team in order to make sure that group members work towards a unified goal. This helped me to establish coordination among the team members once they started to feel comfortable within the group (Riebe, et al.,

Advantages of Human Genetic Engineering Essay Example for Free

Advantages of Human Genetic Engineering Essay Genetic engineering in its present form has been around for approximately twenty five years. The dictionary defines human genetic engineering as the alteration of an individuals genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult. There are many social consequences that are associated with genetic engineering which has caused much debate from its beginning in 1970s. The benefits of human genetic engineering are endless, the most predominant advantages include curing genetic diseases, increasing human immunity, and the production of more effective pharmaceuticals. The most promising benefit of human genetic engineering is gene therapy. Gene therapy is the medical treatment of a disease by repairing or replacing defective genes or introducing therapeutic genes to fight the disease. 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Human genetic engineering can also be used as a disease preventative by increasing ones immunity. People infected with a serious illness may not show symptoms of the disease for long periods of time. These latent, or inactive, infections can develop into an active disease without warning and also can be passed on to others. This new approach focuses on controlling or stimulating the immune system to cure latent infections and prevent them from causing disease. This research in immunity has the potential to significantly reduce illness, death, and disease transmission. An example of this preventative application is the improvement in the treatment of HIV. The AIDS/HIV disease is a viral infection that destroys immune responses. The disease can be treated with drugs, however these drugs do not eliminate the virus from the body. Currently a patient must remain on these drugs for the remainder of their life. 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Ageing Experience And Psychological Well Being Social Work Essay

Ageing Experience And Psychological Well Being Social Work Essay There are two potential determinates that might influence quality of life and psychological well-being of elderly people. Firstly there are the objective factors that are income, health, status and age and intuitively, usually having more of these things means greater quality of life. However, in various research based on happiness of the elderly people, objective factors are less powerful than one might expect as Lyubomirsky et al; cited in the research article titled Psychological Acceptance and quality Of Life in the Elderly,'(2007). The research suggested that objective factors account for about 8 to 15 % of the difference in happiness. So, Do people get less happy as they get older? and their well- being while ageing has been discussed by various researchers in order to define the concept of successful ageing but there is still a lack of consensus on what defines a successful ageing. The various researches on the relationship between old age and well-being have been at many time s assessed through life satisfaction, happiness and morale. 2.2 Theories of ageing In attempting to explain the ageing process and moreover the elderly experience with family support in this particular study, the theories of ageing, which describes the ageing process and what it implies will be taken into account. 2.2.1 Activity theory, developed by Havighurst and associates in 1953, asserts that remaining active and engaged with society is primordial to satisfaction in old age. The theory asserts that positive relationships in the aged individuals level of participation in social activity leads to life satisfaction as active aging equals successful aging. Activity can be physical or intellectual in nature so as to replace those interests and relationships that have been diminished or lost over time. This theory proposes that elderly people need to remain active in a variety of social spheres as for instance with family or friends because activity is preferable to inactivity as it facilitates well-being on multiple levels that is assuming that activity is vital to well-being. Activity theory proposes that social activity and involvement with others results in an increased ability to cope with aging, improved self-concept, and enhanced emotional adjustment to the aging process (Lee, 1985). 2.2.2 Disengagement theory was proposed by Cumming and Henry (1961). This theory states that aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement; resulting in decreased interaction between the ageing person and others in the social system he belongs to (Cumming and Henry, 1961, p.2). Disengagement theory thus assumes that social involvement decreases with aging and that successful ageing is best achieved through abandoning social roles and relationships and by the individual reducing both activities and involvement. Proponents of this theory maintain that this separation is desired by society and older adults, and serves as such to maintain social equilibrium. While high morale is evident at the completion of the process, the transition is characterized by low morale. However, this theory has been strongly criticized by researchers who found a lack of evidence from older people disengaging from their surroundings. Whereas older people social relationships change and that they possibly have fewer ties, it was found that these relationships were often deeper and more significant. 2.2.3 The Continuity theory states that as elderly adults adapt to changes associated with the normal ageing process, they will attempt to rely on existing resources and comfortable coping strategies. This theory of aging states that older adults will actually maintain the same activities, behaviours, and relationships as they usually did in their earlier years of life. As older adults try to maintain this continuity of lifestyle by adapting strategies that are linked to their past experiences, decisions and behaviours will form the foundation for their present behaviour. Continuity of self which occurs in two domains: internal and external is thus important. Whereas internal continuity occurs when one wants to preserve some aspects of oneself from the past so that the past is sustaining and supporting ones new self, external continuity involves maintaining social relationships, roles and environments such that internal and external continuity are maintained, life satisfaction is hig h. 2.2.4 R.Weiss (1974) put forward a theory about provision of support from close relatives and relationships.  According to Weiss, these provisions reflect what we receive from relationships with other people. He maintains that the elderly require six main social provisions to maintain well-being and avoid loneliness. They are the assistance-related that is reliable person and guidance as well as non- assistance related one namely social integration, reassurance or worth, nurturance and attachment. These components provided by close relationships mainly provide and guarantee support to people as those people who lack the social support experience negative effects. He argues that individuals must maintain a number of relationships in order to maintain psychological well-being. Weiss holds that multiple needs must be satisfied by an individuals support network. In that respect, social provisions may be provided by friends but more often are provided by family members who are usually t he primary source of support in old age. 2.2.5 One of the first theoretical frameworks to focus on interpersonal relationships was proposed by Kahn and Antonucci (1980): the convoys of social relationships. They stated that social support is primordial to the individual in describing it to include attachment, roles and social support. Social support is viewed as interpersonal relationships that include these following components: affect affirmation and aid. Their basic idea is to view social connections and social support as a lifetime and ongoing set of relationships which generally serves to enrich, fortify and reassure people. The convoy model assumes that all people need social relations and that it is important because they have favourable effects on health and well-being. Despite being dynamic and lifelong in nature, Kahn and Antonucci suggest that losses and gains in convoys could have a variety of causes. It was hypothesized that social relations were more psychological than physical, and therefore, would affect psy chological or mental health, that is, depression, life satisfaction or happiness rather than physical health. (Antonucci, Fuhrer Dartigues, 1997; Fratiglioni, Wang, Ericsson, MAytan, Winblad, 2000) 2.3 Social Support My family has always been an essential part of my life, but the older you get; the more you feel how much you need each other. As long as you are together, it is like a growing tree the longer the tree is there, the stronger the branches become and the more you are knit into one. So, the more you are together, the more you realize how important it is to be together and stay together. -66 year old married father of two. (Cited in Family ties and ageing, Connidis, 2007, p3) Worldwide the family is the primary caregiver to the elderly. This reality transcends culture, politics and economic circumstances in spite of a wide variation in the way care is provided in different societies. However, almost everywhere round the world, support often flows in only one direction. Many older people receive financial help from their adult children but what about their help in terms of the social support in order to ensure healthy psychological ageing? Social support is defined as the individual belief that one is cared for and loved, esteemed and valued, and belongs to a network of communication and mutual obligations. (Cobb, 1976). Some experts suggest that social support provides a sense of connectedness to ones social group, which results in feelings of well being (Ryan. 1995). As people become old, social relationships often change and that they sometimes have fewer social ties, it was found that these relationships are often deeper and more meaningful to them, (Helmuth 2003). Maintaining relationships with their families and their friends is important to the vast majority of elderly persons. Rosenmayr (1968) found that, though they may not want to live with them, they do maintain contact with their children. Shanas (1967) found, in a study of elderly persons in three societies, that they generally live near at least one of their children. These relations seem to be at a large extent important, if not vital, to the elderly as the experience of ageing often requires them relationships and families support to evolve and adapt or cope with the challenges of the transition. Observers and various researches have showed that the loss of important relationships leads to feelings of emptiness and depression (Freud, 1917/1957; Bowlby, 1980). The interplay between relationships and various domains of life is complex as older adults reporting a greater number of social ties have been shown to have lower mortality risks, and both social integration and social support have been associated with mental and physical health outcomes (reviewed in Berkman 1995; Cohen Herbert 1996; Seeman 1996). Social support provided to the elderly parents by family members is thus proven to have positive consequences on the elderly in many ways. Moreover, a considerable number of researches show that social support is the key determinant of successful ageing (Rowe Kahn1998; Leviatan 1999; Unger et al, 1999; Seeman et al, 2001b). Persons involved with positive relationships are often less affected by everyday problems, are said to be more effective, and to act with greater sense of control or independence. Those without relationships often become isolated, cynical, mistrusting and depressed whereas those caught in poor relationships tend to dev elop and maintain negative perceptions of self, find life less satisfying. The usefulness of social support for dealing with illness has also been repeatedly shown, suggesting that a positive social environment encourages health and well- being whether or not stress is present. Social support is thus an important factor that may buffer the ill effects of stress on mental and physical health. 2.4 Lack of social support According to many researchers, the absence of social support is linked to various illness and poor quality of life in old age. Depression and loneliness are the most common in the elderly. Findings of depression and lack of social support are often interrelated due to the often inseparable nature of the two variables. There is also a clear link between chronic disease and depression, with those in nursing homes showing higher rates than those living in their own house. Depression as well as loneliness has been discussed by researchers and it was found that elderly people mostly suffer from these two major problems besides physical problems. The most firmly establishes link between of elderly parents and their psychological well-being in old age is that they basically suffer from loneliness and depression. Some research has shown that elderly individuals who have not maintained contact with family members are at a higher risk of developing depression, personality disorders and other c ognitive or behavioural issues. The physical as well as psychological state of the elderly parent is put at risk when he or she is not in contact with other individuals and especially the family. It is observed that if communication is done on a daily basis with family members, there is a better maintenance of the elderly psychological well-being as friends and family become often the sole support system for the elderly. According to American Geriatrics Society, depression can affect 40% of nursing homes residents in a given year which is often undiagnosed and untreated or treated as a normal component of ageing. A growing number of studies and articles have been published in that respect and shows how social support is beneficial to the elderly. For instance, there is a published thesis submitted in 2010 in Canada, titled Social support, loneliness and depression in the elderly. In this study, the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms was explored in 54 elderly residents living in both nursing and retirement homes out of 62 interviewed. The findings demonstrate that loneliness remained a significant risk factor for depressive symptoms, even after controlling other demographic variables such as age, gender, length of stay, time of interview and institution. This finding is consistent with a qualitative study by Barg et al. (2006), which suggests that loneliness in older adults is closely tied to depression. In this particular study, the author found that loneliness is easily mapped onto standard assessments of depression and hopelessness in the population, thus showing strong correlation between loneliness and depression. The Evaluation of depression in elderly people living in nursing homes, involving 35 people by Aribi L et al; publishes in October 2010 in Tunisia had for main aim to determine the prevalence of depression in old people living in a nursing home and to evaluate the degree of their autonomy. A descriptive and analytical survey was carried out on 35 old people at a nursing home in Sfax, Tunisia. The study was evaluated by using two scales specific to the geriatric practice: The scale of depression: GDS (geriatric depression Scale) applied to 30 items and the scale of autonomy: IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living). Results were as such the examined population was composed of 35 people aged from 65 to 9, 51.4% of the residents were in a state of depression. Depression was more frequent in female subjects however (58.8% of women compared to 44.4% of men and it was concluded that depression in the elderly is related to several depressive factors particularly for patients living in institution. Anxiety and depression are thus very common in elderly living in nursing homes. Studies have shown a relatively low prevalence of anxiety disorders in older individuals but that among elderly, anxiety disorders occur two to seven times more often than depression problems. The rate of anxiety disorders may be even higher among elderly living at institutional settings. Another study which support that view is that of study Anxiety and Loneliness in Lone Elderly done by T.T.A Rahman which evaluated the prevalence of anxiety and depression in lone elderly living at their own homes and those going to geriatric clubs regularly or living at geriatric home. There was 164 lone elderly participants from geriatric clubs named group I and 168 lone elderly participants from geriatric homes, group II were included in this study. Hamilton Anxiety Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were used for detection of anxiety depression respectively. Results were as follow: The co-occurrence of anxie ty and depression is 34.1% 57.1% in group I and group II respectively, while depression is actually 22.0% 23.8% and anxiety is 2.4% 1.2% in group I group II respectively. Living at geriatric homes and age group 60 to 70 are independent risk factors for anxiety, depression or mixed anxiety and depression. It was concluded that lone elderly, living at institutional settings such as geriatric homes is an independent risk factor for anxiety, depression or mixed anxiety and depression. Mixed anxiety and depression is more prevalent than anxiety or depression per se. Another survey conducted by Agewell Research Advocacy Centre released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information recently, found that about one in four (26 per cent) seniors living in a residential care facility, such as a nursing home or long-term care home, had been diagnosed with depression. A further 18 per cent had symptoms of depression but had not been diagnosed. Many of these residents dealt with persistent anger, tearfulness and repetitive anxiety, yet had not received a diagnosis. The problem is a serious one because, as the researchers note, depression can have serious effects on a seniors medical condition, their emotional state and general quality of life as seniors with symptoms of depression are more likely to display aggressive behaviour and may be three times more likely to have sleep disturbances while having difficulty to communicate. Different factors can contribute to the development of a depressive disorder that may include feelings of hopelessness, self- blame and loneliness, possibly accompanied by physical symptoms such as poor sleep, decreased appetite and lack of energy, often leading to social withdrawal. The researchers note that there is a perception that depression is a natural part of aging. Thats because a number of factors associated with late-life, depression is common among older people, such as: illness, loss of family, friends, social support or independence. But they note that depression can shorten lives. In studies of the effects of depression on seniors, the odds of dying were 1.5 to 2 times greater in elderly people with depression compared to those without. According to  Himanshu Rath, Founder Chairman of Agewell Foundation,  Depression is quite common among many of the people, particularly in old age. It is a major social challenge that cannot and should not be ignored. However, to fight Depression in Old Age, both the suffering older persons and the family members need to join hands and work together to bring back the golden happy times, from a Survey on Depression in old age published in September 18, 2010. 2.4 Rationale of the study There are many researches as such that have examined the importance of single, close, personal relationship related to elderly people which put forward that family support acts as a buffer against psychological illness. Family support promotes higher morale and lower levels of loneliness and social isolation in old age. Older people who lack confidants report more psychological distress and higher rates of depression (Hays et al. 1998). It is thus true on one hand that relationship and especially with family is important for older adults as social isolation may be devastating especially in old age but on the other hand can social relationships have negative impacts on people? Although a great deal of research have focussed on the positive effects that social support can have on adults, recently researchers have urged greater attention to the negative side of informal relationships. Since Rook (1984) demonstrated that social relationships can adversely influence the psychological well -being of older adults, several investigators have examined the effects of both positive and negative social ties in later life. (Ingersoll-Dayton, Morgan Antonucci, 1997; Okun Keith, 1998). Furthermore, in considering that the closeness and mutually supportive relationships that many adult children and elderly parents share may make the latter happier than those who do not have children, research on this issue has consistently demonstrated that individuals who are childless are as happy and well-adjusted as are parents, even in the later years. As people who are sixty-five or older and do not have children are more likely to report advantages than disadvantages of childlessness. Individuals who have remained childless have been found to develop social networks that compensate for the absence of support from adult children in terms of friends as some studies suggest that friends are more important than family to morale and well-being of the elderly (OConner, 1995). A realatively p opular research topic has been the well-being and resources of childless elderly. It seems safe to conclude that these people are at least as happy as older parents, andthat they are able to find alternate sources of emotional and instrumental support for their need (Beckman Houser, 1882; Johnson Catalano, 1981; Keit, 1983; Kivett Learner, 1980). The research put forward that instead of presence or absence of children, factors such as marital status, health and economic well-being are more strongly linked to the morale and life satisfaction of the older people. As Hoff and Tesch- Romer ( 2007: 77) has described: the relative importance of family relations and family support in contemporary societies may have diminished, but as empirical findings of many studies into the subject have shown, family relations have remained a reliable and stable source of support. For the majority of elderly people, ties with their children represent the most important component of their family network and social support. Since ageing is becoming an important aspect in the Mauritian context and that many studies relating to old age and relationships have not been conducted at the local level, it deems to be important to infer about the contributions of family support to the older persons psychological well-being.