Module: General Practice
Q31: Consider the following statements analyzing the symbolic transaction of the Phulkari at the story's climax:
1. The transaction represents a form of neo-colonialism, where the Western Boss extracts raw cultural capital (the Phulkari) from the native worker (the mother).
2. Mr. Shamnath acts as the complicit middleman, actively facilitating the exploitation of his own mother to gain proximity to Western corporate power.
3. The mother actively negotiates the terms of this transaction to finally secure her long-desired trip to Haridwar.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
2. Mr. Shamnath acts as the complicit middleman, actively facilitating the exploitation of his own mother to gain proximity to Western corporate power.
3. The mother actively negotiates the terms of this transaction to finally secure her long-desired trip to Haridwar.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: A
The correct combination is statements 1 and 2. This tests the advanced socio-economic allegory of the narrative.
Structurally, the dynamic mirrors colonial extraction: the Western figure (the Boss) desires an authentic, handmade artifact, and the native bourgeoisie (Shamnath) acts as the ruthless agent who extracts this labor from the most vulnerable, marginalized demographic (the rural mother) (Statements 1 and 2). Historically, this critiques the new Indian middle class, showing how they merely replaced colonial masters by exploiting their own people for corporate gain.
Statement 3 is definitively incorrect.
The mother never uses the Phulkari as leverage; she had previously begged to go to Haridwar, but Shamnath denied it.
She submits to making the Phulkari without any conditions, entirely sacrificing her own desires.
Structurally, the dynamic mirrors colonial extraction: the Western figure (the Boss) desires an authentic, handmade artifact, and the native bourgeoisie (Shamnath) acts as the ruthless agent who extracts this labor from the most vulnerable, marginalized demographic (the rural mother) (Statements 1 and 2). Historically, this critiques the new Indian middle class, showing how they merely replaced colonial masters by exploiting their own people for corporate gain.
Statement 3 is definitively incorrect.
The mother never uses the Phulkari as leverage; she had previously begged to go to Haridwar, but Shamnath denied it.
She submits to making the Phulkari without any conditions, entirely sacrificing her own desires.