Changing of America and humanity’s responsibility to society

The challenges of the twenty-first century, whether economic or environmental, cultural or biological will require new methods of thinking and behaving at both the individual and social levels. There must be an emphasis on changing the perceptions, particularly in twenty-first century America, which many people have about the nature of personal responsibility and personal empowerment. While it seems obvious enough to say, as Barack Obama asserts that new generations of Americans are â€Å"waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised† (Obama, 42) the ramifications of such a politics of maturity and realism extend to many important areas of American society including economics, technology, and philosophy adn religion. What is necessary for America to meet the challenges of the future is a social cultural acceptance of the fact that responsibility, and not merely the pursuit of self-interests, is a path to personal empowerment. This last statement may seem contradictory to many Americans. A great number of people view themselves in purely materialistic terms and want what they can get out of society without taking any personal responsibility for the consequences. For some people, life holds no meaning outside of its material dimension and this loss of meaning in American culture has consequences beyond the immediately personal: The loss of meaning[†¦ ] is a product of modern thought. From Marx and Freud to neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, western thought has systematically undermined responsibility. We have no choice, we are constantly told, because of economic forces, our unconscious, or our genes. Yet, at the same time, we live in a world that presents us with endless choices. (Sardar) As strange as it sounds, the only way to break the cycle of endless anxiety over our limitless freedom is by accepting responsibility for the choices we make. This is a kind of paradox in American society, â€Å"We want to have it both ways, and so we end up confused and cynical. Our obsession with individuality and self-interest further erodes personal and collective responsibility† (Sardar) which means, the less one begins to value their own existence the less responsibility they will feel for their actions. To accept responsibility is, in itself, to accept that life is meaningful and to accept that life in meaningful is an act of self-empowerment. we must learn to understand that â€Å"Freedom is both a gift and a challenge. It has value only when we respect it and enhance it individually and collectively. And when we exercise it with responsibility. † (Sardar). In this way, a change in the basic philosophical vision present in American culture may help us to begin to make inroads against the challenges which face us in the new world. As Barack Obama points out, economics in the twenty-first century no longer function along the same models they had embodied for years. He writes that â€Å"In this more competitive global environment, the old corporate formula of steady profits and stodgy management no longer worked† (Obama, 156). What Obama is driving at with this statement can be considered an aspect of â€Å"humanizing† economics, a must-needed step for America in the twenty-first century. By accepting responsibility for our actions we will understand the connections between the injustices and disparities in society and the damages which have been inflicted upon the environment. Though some of our challenges may be economic and some may be based in moral and ethical issues, the unifying factor is always: human responsibility. We begin to understand ourselves much more clearly and understand our challenges more clearly when we admit that we live in a world which â€Å"desperately needs fixing and in which denial is seductively easy and cheap, at least for a time. We must acknowledge and seek to understand the connection between poverty, social injustice, and environmental degradation. † (Orr 89) Barack Obama's insistence that the new economics has paved a way clear of the old economics which stressed only self-interests and profits is a key to understanding the kind of view of business and corporate responsibility which will have to be embraced in American society as we move forward to accept our responsibilities and meet the challenges of the future. Instead of viewing purely money and material growth as the only forms of â€Å"profit† in business, corporations of the future will begin to realize that â€Å"business behavior and government policy toward business requires, more than ever, an appreciation of the firm’s human dimensions, the dimensions left out of the neoclassical theory† (Tomer 1). The future corporation will accept responsibility for its actions and view itself as shaped by not only â€Å"market forces but by societal ones† (Tomer 19) and in so recognizing other forms of â€Å"success† and â€Å"profit† namely, the maintaining of ethical and environmental standards which contribute to the overall growth and well-being of humanity may over-ride present-day obsession with self-interest and materialistic profit. If Barack Obama's writings in â€Å"The Audacity of Hope† are any real indication of the politician of the future — or the President of the future — it si clear that America still has the capacity to grown adn recognize leaders who can summon a bold-enough vision as well as present workable solutions to meet the challenges we have at least partially created for ourselves.

A Time Travel with Mr. Swift: Restoring the Early 1800’s Society Essay

English satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Ireland of English parents. He was educated in Dublin but before he could fix on a career, the troubles that followed upon the subsequent invasion of Ireland drove Swift with the other Anglo-Irish to England. During these years, Swift read widely and discovered his astonishing gift as a satirist (Abrams 1976). For the rest of his life, Swift devoted his talents to politics and religion – not clearly separated at the time, and most of his works were written to further a specific cause (Abrams 1976). In 1714, he returned to Ireland, became identified with the Irish life, and through such brilliant pamphlets as Drapier Letters and A Modest Proposal (1729), became virtually a ‘national hero’ (Hornstein et al 504). Ireland suffered from a number of social, political and religious crises that time when Swift reached a clear sense of his genius; famine, over-population, Irish’ materialism to English goods, Protestant’s suppression of Catholics over estate ownership and the Irish government being filled by English appointees resulting to irresolution and inaction of the gripping condition. Swift who saw the Irish suffering for its cause collaborated with his contemporaries for whom he established a good friendship. In a letter to Alexander Pope, he declared himself a misanthrope; a hater of mankind.   He opposed to the prevailing definition of man as a rational animal and offered his new definition of man as simply an animal capable of reason (Abrams 1978). He antagonised the optimistic view of human nature being essentially good and proclaimed it to be deeply and permanently flawed unless humanity would learn to recognize its moral and intellectual limitation. ANALYSIS: The Misanthrope Mind Jonathan Swift intended his works to be an absolute savage attack upon man and his institutions. His most celebrated works Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal expressed that personal indignation with moments of comedy and light-heartedness, though both written as much to reform the readers and satirize issues. Swift was a man of the Age of Reason; however, he used his reasoning to oppose the   people’s overindulgence to reason so as to let it dictate all courses of   human life – thus advocating to the Restoration of the 18th century. In Gulliver’s Travels, he made fun of the English society by using satirical symbols that represent the crooked civility of the time. Gulliver observed the shrunken humanity through the Lilliputians who have shrunken concerns. For example, in Lilliput, candidates for public office go through their fantastic acrobatic rope and stick dances in order to obtain appointment and hold office. â€Å"Whoever jumps the highest succeeds while the chief ministers are commanded to show their skill to convince the Emperor that they have not lost their faculty† (Swift Part I Chapter IV p38). It must be noted though that the author’s â€Å"greatest disappointment was his failure to become a bishop in England† (Hornstein et al 504). The system of favoring those of nobler descent in appointing for office seat must have influenced the Lilliputians’ ridiculous and circus political system. On Part I Chapter 7, p 74-75, 77, after the court declared Gulliver’s cruel execution, he tells the readers of â€Å"his Majesty giving many marks of his great lenity and †¦.mercy for which he was so justly celebrated†. Swift was obviously satirizing the sweet words of those in power to cloak their evil deeds. An interesting angle could as well be derived from the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu. Both states were prosperous and have enough to supply the citizens’ needs. Yet they did not live in peace with each other. In fact, when Gulliver learned of the plan to accuse him of high treason, he made an escape to Blefuscu where he was received (his exile from England to Ireland satirized). In exact contrary to his travel to Lilliput was his voyage to Brobdingnag – the land of giants wherein all of human flaws are magnified. There he realized that a human characteristic, whether physical or by manner, becomes ‘ugly’ when put to scale. The King, who prided on his ability at arithmetic, was a calculating leader who objected the knowledge on navigation, music, military affairs, laws and politics. Yet, upon Gulliver’s account of his country, remarked a conclusion of Gulliver’s â€Å"natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth† (Swift Part II Chapter VI, p147). This is a serious, direct last to the English society. Then Gulliver led us to a meeting with the Houyhnhnms – a horse race of the most rational mind and ideals who employ the Yahoos – human brutes who are incapable of reason and are therefore employed as animals (Gale 370). The Houyhnhnms were considered to be the wisest of all creatures and taught Gulliver the notion on truth and falsehood. The Master Houyhnhnm argued that â€Å"the use of speech was to make us understand one another and to receive information of facts† (Swift Part IV Chapter IV p273). Lying then defeats the purpose of speech. Given this, Gulliver accounted the Houyhnhnms or horses in his country, being tamed and trained from young years through cruel beating, in order to make a good tamed horse for the Yahoos (humans). He as well described how the horses are castrated in order to ‘hinder them from propagating their kind’ (Swift Part IV Chapter IV p 275). This savagery appalled the Houyhnhnm saying that in their country; even the Yahoos were less cruelly treated. This intellectual interaction between Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms could be a parody between Swift and the Enlightenment proponents. With the transcendentalists being too logical and ideal, learned of their flaws through the principle of truth and logic. But Swift’s most savage satire came out in 1729 with the pamphlet – A Modest Proposal. After almost two decades of constant battle against the English oppression towards the Irish Catholics with futility, he resolved to side with the English in a proposal any reader will be caught unprepared; the English to devour Irish children. He was angry with the English absentee landowners who bleed the Irish of everything they have leaving the Catholic peasants of Ireland hungry and hopeless. He was angry with the Parliament and the English aristocrats who see these impoverished as eye-sores in the street. The proponent, who appears to be naà ¯ve yet logical and kind, devised a superb plan to lessen the filthy population of the Papists and increase economic gain. Swift pointed the following as causes of the Irish poverty; the inability of the parents to provide their children with their needs, the attitude of the English aristocrats towards these unfortunate people, the government’s failure of providing a substantial solution to these problems and the uncontrollable population of papists that tend to have the largest families. Yet, the savagery that Swift presented in the pamphlet established a more grave argument and thus, only made the whole proposition more compelling. This made Swift a hero to the Irish, the official defender of the oppressed Ireland. However, much to his skeletal chagrin, Gulliver’s Travels TODAY is read with delight by children who are enchanted by its imaginative tales about strange creatures rather than its satire for which it was written for. In fact, instead of an adult audience, today’s children know more about this satire because of the prolific distribution of its cartoon version. While A Modest Proposal will remain an isolated commodity for import, appreciated solely as the first and finest of the satire only a master like Jonathan Swift could deliver. CONCLUSION Jonathan Swift is an example of a writer that we cannot study in isolation from the social, political and religious events of his time. First, his only goal as a writer is to advance his social, political and religious ideologies. Second, he himself is a parody of his time. Like what Immanuel Kant observed that though his age was an Age of Enlightenment, it was not an enlightened age at all (Gay 53). Thus, Swift used his genius, not to support the ideology in vogue, but to challenge the lack or excess of logic in all of human activities. In his characters in Gulliver’s Travels, he implied that humans in whatever form, whether Lilliputian, giant, horse or brute – are all flawed. Lilliputians with their shrunken ways of doing things, the giants in their misplaced vanities, the horses’ superfluous rationality on everything and the brutes’ incapability to reason – all described humanity as essentially imperfect. After reading his works, a momentary analysis may let us believe we have penetrated the mind of the genius. But after some moments of careful thinking, it feels futile to even try.   Indeed, only after a repeated reading will a contemporary reader reaches maturity and learns to appreciate this greatest satire in literary history.

Evolution of Managment Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evolution of Managment - Research Paper Example While the subject is broad, it poses various limitations for those studying it. The dynamism of management was historically attributed to its varied functions and wide scope of applications. The same has been going to show until today; wherever we look, it is hard to imagine the permissibility of the various workings of different organizations without its operational framework -- management. Of interest also are the added factors to play in management’s dynamism. The most visible and overbearing presence is the organizational environment’s locomotion, which is invariably referred to as â€Å"change†. This change successfully goaded the existing management principles, theories, applications, or practices to differing and sometimes, conflicting directions. Moreover, it did not cease to break barriers and exploit uncharted waters, but inevitably reaped the organizational response through the management’s continuum of developments. Indeed, the future of the st udy of management is teeming with possibilities. However, it is essential in every study to achieve a retrospective understanding of the field, especially one as broad as management. Moreover, to effectively reflect this retrospective understanding, one may attempt to peek on the field’s personal application. ... In fact, it is noteworthy how these early management proponents tend to tie their management theory or principle to their specialization. The pattern is not hard to notice – the law adept (i.e., Max Weber) pushed his bureaucratic management; engineers and mathematicians preferred the scientific and quantitative schools while psychologists gave preference to the behavioral school. Though these thinkers’ background gave them the authority to speak and explain management according to their fields, they did not acknowledge the inherent limits of their fields and their consequent theories. Barnett (n.d.) stated the prevalent difference in assumptions governing the working people and their organizations. Though it may be relatively easy to pinpoint how these independent notions started, it is difficult to understand why the proponents saw no need to synthesize and integrate their findings to one, uniform school of thought. In fact, it is observable how a management theory tri es to either erase the validity of the preceding theory or give it an entirely different perspective. Though the ‘new’ theory seeks to improve its preceding one, it is stripped of the valid assumptions made by the preceding theory. In other words, the new theory entirely discredits the preceding one; it fails to make sense of the whole idea of improving the previous theory. The key to this pattern is the base assumptions of each school of management. These assumptions are the foundations of each theory or principle. Thus, pointing out the need for improvement in a theory’s foundation on which the whole theory is based is equivalent to a head-on disagreement. In perusing the evolution of management, one may conclude that the schools of thought

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Corporate finance - Essay Example Last, the third objective is to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 40%. The objective is suitable because it helps prevent agency problems and respond to the investors’ preference to certain earnings (dividends). The cash flow analysis indicates a strong financial position of the company. In addition, the financial plan takes into consideration the shareholders’ interest of wealth maximizing through payment of high dividends. Food for life, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom, operates locally. The company was established 25 years ago and since its establishment, it has been providing services to various customers such as schools, colleges, hospitals, businesses and retirement homes. The company faces strong competition from only one company, the Organic Foods. Its rival company is a much larger and has expanded into various international markets. The establishment of Food-For-Life was made by two young women who currently own 75% of shares, whereas, the other 25% of shares are owned by a venture capital firm. The end of the financial year 2014 is on the horizon and the customary board meeting is expected any time. Among the most critical issues to be discussed during the board meeting are the company’s objectives. The following are the three objectives to be reviewed during the meeting: first, the company wishes to maintain the company’s profit margin of around 24%. Second, the company seeks to uphold the current strong financial position. Last, in order to satisfy the interest of the shareholders, the company is planning to maintain the current dividend payout ratio of 40%. In addition, the company anticipates an increase in the sales levels to  £ 270 million in 2015,  £ 310 million in 2016 and  £ 350 million in 2017. However, the sales growth rate is expected to be zero for the subsequent years. Based on the company’s financial objectives and other

DP-3 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DP-3 - Coursework Example Intelligence includes positioning, time frame, the environment, and the suspect’s actions. Officers in a 1980 incident were aware that a suspect had a firearm but felt they could subdue him anyways without further incident. Unfortunately they did not know that he already had a gun in his pocket, aware of the gun in his jacket they were not prepared when he removed his hands from his pocket and opened fire. Incidences such as these have changed how Officers view possible suspects and hands must be visible at all times. In 2012 an Officer and suspect were both killed though the Officer acted on information known to him; he did not know the suspect had a knife and one witness never even saw a weapon. This article is actually very confusing as the suspect is described as, ‘running his mouth,’ and later on described as she, in the shooting of a second Officer. B. History of Similar Events- Seven Officers were killed in the line of duty on assignment considered traffic control conducting routine traffic stops in 2010, while eight were killed investigating suspicious persons or circumstances which is also the job of traffic Officers or traffic patrol. This information came from an FBI report released in 2011 Decline in the murder of Officers is attributable to a decline in the use of handguns since the early 1970’s, though between 1996 and 2005 18% were making traffic stops. As it is also frequently the job of traffic patrol to make arrests and investigate suspicious persons/circumstances in these traffic stops another 26% and 12% were killed in these circumstances. Reasons cited for Officers killed on the line of duty include a rise in the number of distracted drivers, making traffic detail much more dangerous. The article describes two Officers shot in a morning traffic stop though no further information was given. The number of Officers killed in traffic incidents rose from 51 in

The Success of Apples iTunes Download Service and the iPod Developing Literature review

The Success of Apples iTunes Download Service and the iPod Developing - Literature review Example The evolution of the Internet model has produced significant downturns in CD sales and the global recorded music market is in steep decline and the empirical data demonstrates a continued trend in falling physical CD sales in significant major markets. In contrast, the new digital business model has fuelled a sharp increase in digital sales, which whilst offsetting part of the decline in the physical CD sale market, has not managed to entirely redress the balance in stabilising sales. It is evident that the recorded music sales are in steep decline and rising digital sales are offsetting in part the physical market decline, which could potentially offset part of the physical market by the end of this year, with analysts estimating the figure to be around $23 billion. However, this is in stark contrast to the peak of $45 billion in 1997 and leading analysts Enders Analysis posit a negative forecast for global recorded music sales figure of 4.4% for the period of 2006-2012. Moreover, i t is submitted that the contemporary marketplace, the evolution of the internet business model has forced the music business in particular to rethink corporate marketing strategy and this is further highlighted by the proliferation of the multi-channel retailing paradigm as required retailers to â€Å"innovate† in order to maintain position in the marketplace. On the other side of the spectrum, the digital revolution has resulted in multiple distribution streams, challenging pre-existing methods of information dissemination.

Social Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Inequality - Essay Example Dan Croteau, a roman catholic, a widower and father of two daughters coming from a working class has met Cate Woolner, a Jew, a widow and mother of two sons coming from a rich aristocratic family and they decided to tie their relationship through a marriage after a long dating session. Both of them had failed marriages and hence they have taken extreme care in knowing each other well, before engage in a marriage relationship. (LEWIN) This paper analyses different perspectives of this marriage of two un-equals. Dan Croteau was a normal person coming from a working class family where as Cate Woolner was coming from an aristocratic family. The difference in wealth is a major factor which can make or break a marriage relationship. A male and female irrespective of their financial capabilities may fall in love due to infatuation. But after marriage, these financial differences often come into play. But in Croteau’s and Woolner’s case, both of them have taken extreme care in order to remove the bad influences of differences in financial capabilities in their married life. Ms Woolner has taken measures to raise the standard of living of Croteau. â€Å"Ms. Woolner gave him money to buy a new car and pay off some debts.† (LEWIN) Another difference between these two was the difference in their educational levels and earnings. In order to reduce the gap in education and also to increase the earning potential of Croteau, she agreed to pay for a $10,000 computer course that helped prepare him for his current job as a software analyst at the Cheshire Medical Center in Keene. (LEWIN) It was another wise move from the part of Ms. Woolner as it increased the earning potentials of Croteau which made him more comfortable in their life. Both Croteau and Woolner were coming from different religions; Christian and Jew respectively. But both of them were able to convince their family members about the strength of

Social Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Policy - Essay Example The welfare state, however, is in a state of crisis, such that the very forces, which initiated its rise after World War II are touted to bring the same challenges it is facing today (Pierson, 1998). Among these are the neo-liberalist ideas of capitalism and globalisation. As Deacon (1997) argues, globalisation sets welfare states against each other through competition, in a manner that can undermine social solidarity. Hence, encouraging welfare states to be more adept to minimise risks and maximise returns of policies. The New Labour’s ‘Third Way’ modernization project, in turn can be considered as a response to the factors that threaten solidarity by constructing a new ‘social democracy,’ which according to Fitzpatrick (2002) is but a simplification of the old concept of social democracy. Thus, the introduction of a neo-liberal capitalism ideologies, as well as globalization, questions the commitment of social policies towards welfare and social justice, in the context of risk management. Two policy areas that illustrates such is with regard to community care, evidenced by the recently passed Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003; and child welfare in the context of the Mental Health Bill 2004. First, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act, has been described as more concerned with giving authorities more administrative and enforcement powers to punish offenders, without due reference to rehabilitating them, especially with regard to youth offenders (Liberty, 2003; National Children’s Bureau, 2003).

Dumping of Unsafe Products Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 30

Dumping of Unsafe Products - Case Study Example After the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the painkiller dipyrone because it can cause a fatal blood disorder, Winthrop Products continued to sell dipyrone in Mexico City (Shaw et al., 2009, p.34). ‘Made in the USA: Dumped in Brazil, Africa, Ira’ seems to be the business philosophy followed by many of the American product manufacturers. In other words, Americans believe that they have the right to enjoy the benefits of the products they discovered or invented. At the same time, they believe that the harmful effects of these products should be suffered by the rest of the world rather than the Americans. The Holy Bible says that those who take the sword will be killed by the sword. However, Americans have changed this proverb as it is the duty of other innocent people to accept death even though the Americans have done the mistakes. It is ethically wrong to dump potentially hazardous products in third world countries. The producers of the hazardous products sh ould take the responsibility of dumping such products properly in their own country instead of cheating the innocent people in other countries. This paper briefly discusses the ethics or morality of dumping unsafe products in overseas countries by America. One of the reasons cited by Americans to justify the activity of dumping unsafe products in overseas countries is related to humanitarian considerations. â€Å"They say their motives are humanitarian. Because the rate of dying in childbirth is high in Third World countries, almost any birth control device is preferable to none† (Shaw et al., 2009, p.34). The above argument is totally unacceptable. The logic of providing dangerous items for saving the life of some people is indigestible, at least for non-Americans.

Hershey chocolate Essay Example for Free

Hershey chocolate Essay Go the Hershey website to learn how to make Hershey chocolate. (There is also a print friendly version of the chocolate making process at the end of the video.) Review the process and take a look at some of the videos. Pay particular attention to the process steps of milling and pressing, mixing the ingredients, and refining. In at least one paragraph, describe the costing system that you would recommend Hershey use to account for its cost of goods sold and why. Include a few product costs you think would be traceable, which costs should be allocated and how Hershey should account and apply the manufacturing overhead costs. After reviewing the production videos on the Hershey’s website, it seems likely the company would use process costing versus job costing techniques to track the costs associated with producing the various chocolate bars. Both techniques will identify the costs associated with producing the candy bars, the difference is the process costing technique allocates the total cost of production across all units of output. This usually entails accumulation of costs for each stage (or department) of production and assigning those costs to all output from that stage. I feel that the process technique best matches the production process Hershey utilizes. Even on their website videos, Hershey breaks the production of the candy bars into seven separate functions, each with the end goal of developing the finest chocolate bars possible but with unique and separate processes. Just as Hershey has multiple processes, they will also have multiple product costs. A few traceable product costs that come to mind are associated with the seven website videos. The first film shows the production of the raw cocoa beans. The company will determine the costs associated with the purchase of raw materials such as the beans, sugar, and milk. This cost would be variable costs, as the production is increased, the volume of raw materials would also increase. The second stage of roasting and breaking the beans may also have variable inventory costs, and possibly a combination fuel costs to heat the roasters. Hershey will always have the fuel costs, but the amounts will vary depending on the amount of beans being roasted. The third stage of milling and pressing the beans will also have a combination of fuel cost to run the machinery. The process of blending and mixing of the chocolate looks to have a lot of direct labor and once again fuel costs to run mixers, heaters and dryers in addition to the various  employees creating direct labor costs. The refining process runs many heavy granite rollers and mixers to develop the chocolate into a smooth texture and will also generate additional fuel and power costs. Finally, the wrapping and packaging stages will have variable costs for the materials to wrap and package the candy in preparation for transportation to the consumer. In each of the categories, fuels and power costs are utilized in the preparation of the chocolate bars. This is one cost that one that could be allocated to each department. In addition, the facility costs, square footage and non direct labor may be allocated to the various departments. I feel Hershey should debit factory overhead for the actual costs incurred and credit Factory Overhead as these costs are allocated to Work in Process, which eventually gets transferred to expense as Cost of Goods Sold as shown via the preceding entries.

A study of girish karnads yayati

A study of girish karnads yayati As a reader of Karnads plays, one has to pay attention to their sources. Almost every text has a source in that the plot is derived from somewhere. The common sources of his plays include myth, folk tale, Puranas, historical chronicles, epics etc. He seems to have inspired from Shakespeare who follows the same tendency of adapting recognized plots. The modern dramatists tend to use original plots, or any well known historical or political event, or adapt a popular Greek myth. There is nothing wrong with the practice of adapting any known or unknown text since it may provide you with the new insight into the source text. Some critics even say that every literature is based on another literature as it carries the echoes of its procreator. For Peter Allen, literary texts are built from systems, codes, and traditions established by previous works of literature (2000: 1). The exercise of finding how the original texts are adapted and the new meaning generated in the process is worth attem pting; it offers us with a new perspective on the subject, event, plot etc. The adaptation is normally a process of putting a source text into another genre, a kind of switch over. Many fictions have been transformed into successful plays or films and vice versa: Jhumph Lahiris Namesake, for instance, is made into a film. In the West, it is a popular practice to dramatize a prose narrative or fiction. Sometimes, the adapted text provides a kind of commentary on a source text (Sanders: 18). It offers a new perspective, a viewpoint which is not realized or focused in the source text. It tries to simplify a difficult or unintelligible text to the new readership. Modern Shakespeare is a very good example of such practice. It is a kind of reinterpretation of the canonical texts either by moulding them into a different genre or relocating their cultural context. Besides, the more the adaptation deviates from the source text, the more creative and original it becomes. The question of fidelity towards the source text is irrelevant as it undermines the creativity and innovativeness of the adapted text. The recent success of adaptations is a clear rejection of all those who term these acts as imitations, copying or plagiarism, or repetition. This is because they sustain or prolong our pleasure of the source text. As John Ellis puts it, Adaptation into another medium becomes a means of prolonging the pleasure of the original presentation, and repeating the production of a memory (1982: 4-5). Adaptation is a never ending process; as long as the source text sustains its relevance, a need to adapt it would be felt. Adaptation of a popular story is a profitable enterprise for many reasons. It has already attracted the attention of readers. It has reached a large section of people, and its properties- title, author, characters-may be a franchise in or of themselves already (wikipedia). All these reasons prompt writers to attempt adaptations regularly thereby to be assured of the success of their works. Though adaptation into a stage play is a common activity, it has its own limitations due to the spacio-temporal restrictions of the stage. A playwright has to work within these restrictions by adopting various techniques such as ellipsis, interpolation, narrative etc. Karnad engages himself in what Genette calls transgeneric practice i.e. adapting mythic narratives, folk narratives and historical chronicles into drama. He takes plots from these sources and delivers them in new dramatic forms. In that sense all his plays are transpositions in which the original narratives are adapted with the aesthetic conventions of an entirely different generic process (Sanders: 20). Moulded into a new form these texts offer a new perspective of life which is relevant in the present context. Karnad derives plots from these sources because he feels that they are relevant and enable him to reflect on the contemporary social and political life in a more subtle and systematic way. There are many taboos and forbidden things in the world which can not be discussed overtly. Otherwise you would invite the irk of society unnecessarily. Sources such as myth, folk or historical events/lives of historical figures offer him with a safety valve which enables the expression of the unacceptable or forbidden ideas in an acceptable manner. To put it simply, one can camouflage ones comment on the present social and political conditions with these adaptations. Take the example of Tughlaq which is considered to be a critique of Post-Nehru era in Indian politics. Tughlaq helps Karnad in expressing the disillusionment after the death of Pandit Nehru effectively. The play that started Girish Karnads successful career as a playwright was Yayati. It was penned over a few weeks in 1960 when Karnad was planning to leave India for Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar for three years against the wishes of his parents. Hence, the play had its relevance that older generation demand sacrifices on the part of younger generation. Unlike his other play, it was Priya Adarkar who first translated the play. It served the purpose until Girish Karnad himself felt the need to translate it in 2008. Actually he was reluctant to touch the play, a work of his juvenilia (written when he was only twenty two.) The present translation of the play by Karnad is, therefore, modified and enriched with the suggestions from Satyadev Dubey, Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, and C. R. Simha. On the suggestion of Kurtkoti, Karnad, in Yayati, tried to reinterpret the myth psychoanalytically like Eugene ONeill. Karnad was very much influenced by ONeills Mourning Becomes Electra and wanted to achieve the same kind of intensity. Karnad found the myth of Yayati-Devayani-Sharmishtha rich in possibilities for the expression of psychological and physiological needs of human beings and social obligations. It was moulded on John Anouilhs plays as he was influenced by Alkazi (who had tremendous influence of Anouilh). He experienced Anouilh through Alkazi and wrote his first play Yayati which was inspired from Anitigone. The myth of Yayati-Devayani-Sharmishtha has been continuously adapted in Indian literature. It has been turned into many plays and novels. There are films based on the myth. In Marathi literature, the two Jnanapith Awardees Khandekar and Shiravadkar (Kusumagraj) adapted the myth into a novel and a stage play respectively. Indian writers fascination with the myth of Yayati still exists and works based on the myth pour in every year. However, Karnads adaptation holds an important place in these outnumbering adaptations. He challenges the very authority of parents by inventing the character of Chitralekha who questions the moral authority of Yayati in taking over her husbands youth on the very first night of their marriage. According to Devdutta Pattaniak (2006 article: Myth Theory), in Hindu mythology there is a famous Yayati Complex, that is, parents expecting sacrifices on the part of their children to fulfill their selfish motives. He termed it as reverse Oedipus Complex. In Greek mythology, there are numerous tales depicting a son responsible for the death of his father. For example, the famous tale of Oedipus Rex. However, in Hindu mythology we have the reverse situation i.e. a father destroys his son to fulfill his ambitions. Whether it is Bhisma, Rama or Pooru, they have to sacrifice for the sake of their fathers. The Yayati Complex indicates the moral obligations in Indian family which even Karnad had to abide by when he decided to go to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar for three years. Hence, Karnad employed the myth to show the intricacies of Indian family structure and challenge its moral authority which makes sons like Pooru to sacrifice their prime and precious things to keep it intact. He write s, While I was writing the play, I saw it only as an escape from my stressful situation. But looking back, I am amazed at how precisely the myth reflected my anxieties at that moment, my resentment with all those who seemed to demand that I sacrifice my future. By the time I had finished working on Yayati-during the three weeks it took the ship to reach England and in the lonely cloisters of the university the myth had enabled me to articulate to myself a set of values that I had been unable to arrive at rationally. Whether to return home finally seemed the most minor of issues; the myth had nailed me to the past (2008: 74). Karnad sticks to the original story as far as the past of the characters is concerned. The prenuptial conflicting relation of Devayani and Sharmishtha, Yayatis encounter with Devayani whom he found in a well after her quarrel with Sharmishtha, and his marriage with Devayani form the part of exposition which is spread through the play. In the play, Yayatis liaison with Sharmishtha and willingness to marry her angers Devayani. She makes her father Shukracharya curse Yayati for his transgression to become decrepitude. In the original story, Devayani learns about the marriage between Sharmishtha and Yayati from their sons. Interpolation is a common feature in adaptations. Karnad too invents the character of Chitralekha as a wife of Pooru. Her function is to questions the moral authority of Yayati in taking her husbands youth for his sensuous pleasure. She suggests Yayati to take over the role of husband. Chitralekha: I did not know Prince Pooru when I married him. I married him for his youth. For his potential to plant the seed of the Bharatas in my womb. He has lost that potency now. He doesnt possess any of the qualities for which I married him. But you do. Yayati (flabbergast): Chitralekha! Chitralekha: You have taken over your sons youth. It follows that you should accept everything that comes attached to it. Yayati: Whore! Are you inviting me to fornification? (2008:65-66) The suggestion of Chitralekha makes Yayati realize his mistake and her suicide forces him to return Poorus youth. Swarnalatas character like that of Chitralekha is invented and runs parallel to the disenchantment experienced by the latter. She has also lost her husband and thinks that death brings peace, the deliverance from uncertainty (2008: 60). However, she repents her proposition when she finds Chitralekha, taking cue from her speech, commits suicide. Just as Swarnalatas husband deserted her when he learned about her relationship with her teacher, Devayani too deserts Yayati after he makes love to Sharmishtha. Swarnalatas married life is Karnads addition to the original tale. Tranpositional practices form the core of adaptation activity as genre-switch is mostly what is expected of it. Karnad takes the story from one genre i.e. mythic story as it appeared in Mahabharata and delivers it to new audiences by means of the aesthetic conventions of an entirely different generic process, a stage play. Yayatis story which happened over many years is shown to be happening in a very limited span of time in Karnads Yayati. He has to cut or shorten many action units to focus on the core part of the myth i.e. transplantation of age. Most of the events are merely narrated and conveyed or suggested by characters the past of Devayani and Sharmishtha, Shukracharya cursing Yayati, Poorus marriage and many other events. The identity of Poorus mother is not revealed until the third and fourth Act. In the first Act, there is an impression that Devayani is Poorus mother unlike in the original tale. However, it becomes clear from the third Act that it is Sharmishtha not Devayani who is the mother of Pooru. The revelation of Sharmishtha as Poorus mother makes us understand that Yayati has been in love with her for a long time keeping Devayani in ignorance. It is only in the second Act that she becomes witness to their transgression and decides to leave the palace. That means Sharmishtha is not shown married to Yayati as in the original tale. And it is more than mere vengeance on the part of Sharmishtha in the play. She remains firm behind Yayati and tries to prevent him from exchanging his decrepitude with anyone including Pooru. She wants him to accept his fate and lead a life of an ascetic. Overall Karnad has been faithful to the source text of Yayati. However, he has made few changes to intensify the theme of social obligations and ripeness is all. As Karnad says: †¦old age brings no knowledge, no self realization, only the senselessness of a punishment meted out for an act in which he (Pooru) had not even participated (2008: 73). The play shows that mere old age (i.e.Yayati) should not be revered but the maturity of a youth (i.e. Pooru). The adaptation of the myth of Yayati by Karnad has its relevance not only at the time it was written but also to the present time when children have to sacrifice their wishes to the whims of their parents who are competing with other parents. However, some children are also forcing their loved ones to bend to their wishes. So it is very clear that adaptations provide us with new perspectives and points of view.