B.A. FIRST YEAR THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY CHAPTER- 12 THE HIGHWAY STRIPPER BY A K RAMANUJAN NOTES

A K RAMANUJAN

AK Ramanujan Was A Multi Talented Personality He Was A Scholar, Poet, Folklorist A Linguist And A Translator. He Was Born In Mysore On 16th March 1929 And Studied Literature At The University Of Mysore And Then Migrated To The United State In The Year Of 1959 To Pursue A Doctorate In Folklore And Linguistics From Indiana University.

Later He Began Teaching At The University Of Chicago In 1963 And Continued To Do So For The Next Three Decades Until His Sudden Death In 1993. He Was Awarded The Padma Shree In 1976 And The Mcarthur Fellowship In 1983 He Was Also Elected Member Of The American Academy Of Arts And Science In 1990.

Ramanujan Is Also Renowned For His Translation From Kannada And Tamil Speaking Of Shiva And Hymns Of The Drawing Are Two Of His Brilliant Translation

The Highway Stripper

One Of Ramanujan's Poetry Collections Is His Poem The Highway Stripper Which Was Published In 1986.The Poem Begins With The First Person Speaker Recounting An Experience He Had While Travelling On The Highway To Mexico. He Happened To Be Driving Behind The Battered Ones Blue Mustang Which Had A Lot Of Dust On Its Rear Window The Name Mustang Was Our Sturdy Car Named After Small Hardy Wild Horse Of The North American Plains.

As The Two Car Speed Along However All Of A Sudden The Speaker Sees A Woman's Hand Come Out Of The Side Of The Car In Front Of Him And Begins Throwing A Number Of Items Women's Clothing (like pink skirt,white bra, and a pair of red panties) One After Another Along With The Speaker We Too Are Shocked And Taken Aback. The Speaker Increase His Speed To Minimise The Distance Between His Car And The One In Front. The Speaker Is Too Excited And Curious To See The Stripper On The Highway.

His Imagination Runs Wild He Thinks That The Stripper By Now Is Probably Naked With Her Lover For More Than One Lover In The Car. Just Thinking About The Possibilities Of What Might Be Happening Inside The Moving Mustang Arouse All Erotic Desire In The Speaker And we Readers Stand Along Side Him All Keyed Up And Curious As Well. Frustrated By The Dusty Rear Window Of The Mustang The Speaker Steps On The Gas And Finally Over Take The Car To Take A Peep Inside With This Peep however, The Mystery About The Highway Stripper. There Is No Sign Of A Women Or Any Other Occupant In The Car Just A Lonely Fortyish Man Staring At The Road Ahead Listening To A Football Match On The Radio. That Man Who Has Been Throwing Those Clothes From The Car