Ah conspiracies amazing they are…..they simply show you how varied people are really.Why did i get into this…hmmm i ve always been fascinated by themwhy because i grew up on a famous conspiracy.Being a ICSE Student(now anyone from others like CBSE/STATE Syllabus must forgive me coz im i feel its the curriculum thats pretty varied….cbse is quite balanced i guess but well forget it..the state syllabus in southis a preparation for future engineers with their advanced rigor in mathematics.ICSE in fact had one book of lovely poetry ,one play Julius caesar , one novel which is a sweet one village by the sea by anita desai and one book of short stories called the’ treasury of short stories’ which is a real treasure i still treasure.No wonder ive turned out a literary engineer.the geography we had was so vast i knew australian cities as well as indian also helped by the fact that there was a world cup there then.)
when in school we had Julius Ceaser which we studied for 2 yrs so i remember it (esp antony’s speech)still though i do not instantly remember my office phone no or my last completed work at office.What is more memorable is the way we were encouraged to criticize and view it from different angles the whole of the play.the words that i love or think today are a byproduct of those days.the variety of people …Cynical cinna…anthony the master orator…..cassius the lean mean hungry look guysoothsayers.oh i guess i was lucky we happened to have such a complex play instead of some frivolous comedies which though enjoyable would not have lent much to classroom analysis.One of first ways to recognize hypocrisy was shown by my english teacher when he pointed outwhile brutus the honorable fellow would not take money like bribes he asks money from cassius who surely gets them by bribes.Flattery and flatterers i discovered it there.you can see the power of oratory skill how a mob who has no identity they are swayed from extreme support of brutus to antony(reminds you of the importance of oratory skill so precious for politicians to sway the fools who form masses and mobs with no individual thoughts.)it seems so funny when u remember the way the guys reacted to the only line in the whole playthey could giggle at …”Portia is brutus’ wife not his harlot”.there is so much drama and mental conflict in the whole play its lovely.the first of a whole collection of quotes from the play so fond that for all my dear friends autograph books i signed the same
“Forever, and forever, farewell,
If we do meet again, why, we will smile;
If not, it’s true that this parting was well made.”
but why i got into this.on a sunday evening when u are fed up and tired to even browse and TV is troubling you and suddenly you get on discovery and watch the last 20 mins of ‘who killed julius ceaser’.It brings out a fascinating discovery to a conspiracy that we wringed out in class for two years.Could caesar have engineeredhis assasination to make himself immortal and establish the Roman empire.quite enjoyed it and relived an era of life in a few hours.
Hi Yamini,
By any chance, do you still have the “treasury of short stories” with you? I am frantically searching for it, so if you can give me any details of the publisher and the editors and year of publication for the book I would be really greatful. I have not been able to find it anywhere as of yet 😦
Thanks,
Nandita.
i do have treasury of short stories but in a very delicate condition….i will get the details u asked for… wud u leave an email id or prefer that i put those details as a comment here. Gimme some time though have no net access these days.
Hi Yamini,
Can you help me with the name and author of the story in the ‘Treasury of Short Stories’ about the guy who used to imagine all sorts of things with the patterns on his wall? I guess the name was ‘Face on the wall’… don’t remember who the author was…
By the way, my name is Dipanjan Sengupta, I passed the ICSE in 1989 from Don Bosco Calcutta.
Dipanjan, That story was by E.V lucas.
you can read that story here.Enjoy
http://students.iiit.ac.in/~nirnimesh/Literature/The%20Face%20on%20the%20Wall.htm
Hi, I am also interested in buying the Treasury of short stories. Look for this book on popular online store but alas. My exclamation mark doesn’t seem to be working at the moment too. Managed to buy “The monkey’s paw”. In particular I wanted to read “The Sparrows”. Me too did exactly the same books as the person that wrote this initial blog. Please can you or anyone help. Want to buy The Treasury of short stories but don’t have all details, in particular where or where should I go to buy this book.
Hi Yamini,
Do you remember the story “remember the roses”? That was my favourite story from the collection and I can never ever forget it even after 16 years since I last read it (ICSE ’92).
I came across your blog as well as a site which seems to indicate that someone is making a feature film out of it –
http://www.remembertheroses.com/index.php
Best,
Praveen.
Oh wow what a coincidence…seriously.
I was thinking of that story itself for the last few days and was writing a post on it and i came across the same site.
Its my favorite story and will be posting about it in a few hrs.
[…] here just a few hours ago by someone who also remembers it which just adds to the story anyways :). Caesarean Conspiracies seems to be my most visited post on the blog […]
I have the fondest of memories of the ICSE english syllabus. JC was a personal fav. but Remember the Roses was amazing too. The poetry text (Panorama?) was wonderful and it was fun reading ones that were outside the required syllabus. Horatious was my fav from within the syllabus and The Highwayman from outside.
wonderful reading the blog and the responses here – atleast I know I am not the only crazy person around 🙂
Hey Aloke,
Panorama is an awesome collection. The sentimental stuff and the humor stuff .
There was a poem called Nose. It was so funny.
Highwayman o god that poem –
That and She walks in beauty were there since Std VIII for us what a poem Highway man is – I still remember its description so effective it was .
“The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas”
i still recall
And then of course the rhyming Bess the Landlord’s daughter, the landlord’s black eyed daughter.
I always misread it as the red eyed daughter.
And yes these 2 posts give me great empathy else I always felt I had some overt nostalgic attachment or hangover of those days and books.
Hello Yamini and all the wonderful ppl who have posted here
I happened to bump into this blog perchance and I must say Iam overwhelmed. The treasury of short stories and Panorama in partICular was something very close to my heart. Of Sweet childhood memories and nostalgia.
I still remember a couple of lines from the poem – I forget the name (guess its aurnagazeb); interestingly remember the author hur chunder dutt.
aurangazeb lay upon his fathers bier
censers were burning low
as thru the lofty archesstreamed
the setting suns red glow
still held he in his hand the blade
whichw ell fought wars had won
and then I forget 🙂
and then Tiger tiger burning bright , in the forests of the night; how can one ever forget these unforgettabel poems; it was truly a classic collection
I am trying to get a hold of panorama. Could not trace it online. Anyone knows where to find. Iam from the batch of 92 and I must say that ICSE rocked during those years. I think they deleted panorama form the syllabus in the years after that
Hi Yamini,
After Google’ing for almost a month … I reached here … I’m really desperate to get a copy for “Selected Short Stories” … Cant forget … Sparrows, Letter, After Twenty Years, Face on the Wall and ofcourse A Day in the life of a Debt Collector. Wanna read them all over again .. n this time not to clear any exams 🙂 I just realized that almost 11 yrs have passed since i gave ICSE exam !!
Please could you let me know any link where i can find if of may be how can i get a copy of it from you ?? That would be really helpful …
Could you please give me you mail id .. it would be easier to communicate then …
Thanks in Advance.
—
Regards,
Sanjeev Rai | Senior Software Engineer
http://www.persistentsys.com
ohh i forgot to put my mail id 😦 its sanjeev.k.rai@gmail.com
Hi Sanjeev,
Unfortunately I think I am from a batch previous to you – 1992 ICSE. SO our set of stories were slightly different.
They are collected and listed in a comment on another of my posts
People of ICSE…….since you have already reached here it means i have your eyes…..if not ears!!!just wanted to share a thing about Pindarus…hope u remember that guy…Cassius’ slave and soldier who holds the dagger while Cassius runs into Pindarus and gets himself killed..when the battle is lost.then Pindarus says out of remorse,”I shall run to a place where no Roman shall ever see me again”.
this thing caught my imagination…a Xth grade mind does get entangled in these things at times.where did Pindarus go…and i imagined that he fled to India..led an inconspicuous life,took to buddhism(our history book said a lot of Buddha and Ashoka) and died an old man with eyes open—and it was for anyone to see that the eyes were looking far beyond…may be Rome-his Home.
you too have any inconscpicous character you often think of from that conspiracy play?
Thats a wild wild imagination Shekar. I m sure your teachers would ve had a ball of a time reading your essays.
I m probably the most fresh student on your blog having done tenth in 2005 . Feels good to read this thread, I was an ardent English fan….. Lochinvar, Highwayman, Aurangzeb at his fathers bier, Antony s speeches esp. the one in which he says….And as he plucked the cursed steel away mark how the blood of Caesar rushed out doors to acknowledge if it was Brutus who knocked or not, for Brutus you know……… Hey guys I miss my school days…….Hurrah to ICSE, its definitely equipped me very well to face life…
Thats a wild wild imagination Shekar. I m sure your teachers would ve had a ball of a time reading your essays.
I m probably the most fresh student on your blog having done tenth in 2005 . Feels good to read this thread, I was an ardent English fan….. Lochinvar, Highwayman, Aurangzeb at his fathers bier, Antony s speeches esp. the one in which he says….And as he plucked the cursed steel away mark how the blood of Caesar rushed out doors to acknowledge if it was Brutus who knocked or not, for Brutus you know……… Hey guys I miss my school days…….Hurrah to ICSE, its definitely equipped me very well to face life……..
hi yashna
glad that my words had your eyes on them!!!but one thing..its not my blog…but yamini’s….i too am thankful to her that she started this thread which seemed trillions of light years away once but is visible at times now.
by the way,has ICSE reverted back to Julius Caesar again?
But I agree with yashna , shekhar that you mustve had quite a wild imagination and he’s probably right – your essays must have been the toast of the teachers room.
Our school teachers room used to be said was full of jokes where teachers read the answer papers of students with brilliant imaginations where ,forget literature they did not spare economics.
One of the most laughed at was the answer for ‘ Why is the productivity of Indian agriculture low’ – because Indian farmers drink and sleep in fields!!
I never quite thought about so many people being similarly nostalgic about ICSE when I started this post.Glad about it though.
Hi ! Interesting to read your posts ! I was an English teacher who taught ICSE for about 10 years. I have done some of the works that you’ve mentioned . I t takes me back to teaching days. Thanks guys.
hi all
i had no idea that there was a blog like this one.anyways glad to read all the posts.i passed out ICSE in 1988 and had merchant of venice,panorama and treasury of short stories as my english text books . i completely enjoyed these books. currently my daughter is preparing for her ICSE (2012).
Dear Y’all fans of ICSE English literature,
I just love those books too, and i treasure them still. Unfortunately lost some of the books to marraige, migration etc.
Anyways, is the book “Panorama: A Selecton of Poems still in Publication”
Would love to own that book again, just love those poems forever.
And I am hugely glad to have known you all (ICSE grads).
Love Fathima
hi Yamini! A very big thank you for this and other posts!.
if i remember right, the book was published by Oxfor university press like so many other ICSE books. and the antholog”ist” was J W Peterson . not very sure though. 🙂 been almost twenty years since I last read the book!
hsc
http://www.roadhogs.org.in/panorama?page=1
this blog has it all!!
Hi Yamini thanks a lot rekindling old memories. I felt nostalgic while going through your post. Village by the Sea, Panorama, Julius Caesar came back to my memory. I took my ICSE exam in 1990. One of my seniors had borrowed Panorama from me but unfortunately she misplaced it. Since then I am yearning for it. Now I want to read some of those poems to my son and hence franatically looking for a copy of the book. Hoping to get it soon
Guys! I accidentally stepped on this blog and found it quite nostalgic.
In these times of BPO style english,the beauty of language,what we call Queen’s English is almost fading away.The books like Panorama and some of the poems studied during our school days like “Skylark” almost puts our life in perspective.
Thank you all for helping me revive those simple memories of childhood.
Rgds,
Unmesh
Thanks a ton Yanmini for this nostalgic post! I literally have goosebumps and tears down my cheeks. The lines from JC are flashing like a hope of light in this world of native speakers…. when the only language I love to converse in is English… thanks to my ICSE school, JC, Panaroma and all.
‘Friends, romans countrymen lend me your ears!…. ‘ Nostalgic. When we as ICSE students come in the outside world we realize our upbringing is so broad and unique!!!!!!!!! 🙂
[…] I would have almost forgotten this blog but for the random comments on my most famous post I guess seen by all nostalgic ICSE students remembering-the-roses-and-its-yet-unanswered-question and Caesarean Conspiracies […]
Treasury of Short Stories —
Remember the roses
Face on the wall
The lost pearls
Case for the defence
Gift of the Magi
Half a rupee worth
Robin
Dusk
A fishy story
Three questions
The liar
did anyone find an online version of the book Panorama or in print? I went to the blog post above but was unavailable.
Its so true….ICSE has made our base unique…..recently only I told one of my friends about the poem ;”The Highwayman” and when she read it was hard to believe that this poem could be taught to students of 10th grade…its so tough…romantic….and lengthy…these were the comments. Well….i too reflected and found the confirmation of uniqueness yet once again.