This title story in Anita Desai's acclaimed collection Games at Twilight, and Other Stories (1978) deals with

a universal theme of children at play and their fantasies and disillusionment. Desai begins the story objectively from the third-person vantage, but as the action progresses and the tension mounts, she skillfully shifts the narrative focus to the consciousness of the central character, Ravi. The story is remarkable for its insights into child psychology, powerful evocation of atmosphere, vivid imagery, and symbolic use of setting. The story...

How would you analyse the interaction among the children in "Games at Twilight" from a social theory perspective?
I would want to answer this question by analysing the way in which power is demonstrated and established in this group of children. If we look at this story, we can see that the children are often showed to jostle for position with each other, and the stronger show their position of dominance by preying on the weaker. Consider, for example, what happens when the children argue over who will be "It" at the beginning of the tale: The shoves became harder. Some kicked out. The motherly Mira intervened. She pulled the boys roughly apart. There was a tearing sound of cloth, but it was lost in the heavy panting and angry grumbling, and no one paid attention to the small sleeve hanging loosely off a shoulder. Violence is the natural recourse of these children to settling disputes, and here we see Mira exerting her strength and position of dominance to sort out the group of children. We have another example in Raghu, who deliberately flaunts his strength and power as he searches for the children: "I know I have to, idiot," Raghu said, superciliously kicking him with his toe. "You're dead," he said with satisfaction, licking the beads of perspiration off his upper lip, and then stalked off in search of worthier prey, whistling spiritedly so that the hiders should hear and tremble. Raghu's interaction with others is dominated by his greater size and strength and this is something that he deliberately exploits, even going as far as to make his presence known as he looks for the other children so that they could "tremble." We are presented with a world in which the interactions of the children are governed by size, strength and fear.

How can we relate the main theme to the title of "Games at Twilight"?
Clearly the central theme of this story is the way in which we all go through a stage where, like Ravi, we realise our own insignificance and thus undergo a kind of death in terms of our innocence and our hopes which ends our childhood. This is of course highlighted by the funereal game that the other children are playing at the end of the story and in which Ravi

refuses to participate. Note how the story ends as Ravi struggles and grapples with what he has learnt from being ignored: The ignominy of being forgotten--how could he fact it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance. This is the true theme of this short story as it focuses on growing up and key moments that form a part of that process and teach us of our own "insignificance." The title is related to this theme through the association of the word "twilight," which we think of as being the death of the day. Likewise, "games" is a word that brings to mind competition and struggle and the need to learn the "rules" of life in order to live it successfully.

What is the suitable literary theory that can be used in analysing the story "Games at Twilight"?
Perhaps the most relevant critical theory to examine the story "Games at Twilight" would be Psychoanalytic. Based upon the fact that the work itself is deemed psychological, examining the text from a Psychoanalytic perspective would seem natural. Psychoanalytical criticism examines a text from the theologies applied by Freud and others involved in the field of psychology. This criticism is used to examine the unconscious desires and anxieties of the author. At the same time, the text is examined in regards to links made between the characters own mentalities and those of the author. Basically, how do the characters reflect the author himself/herself. Another criticism one could use would be Reader-Response Criticism. This criticism examines the reader's reaction to the text and determines how the reader's response is critical to understanding the text itself. In the Reader-Response method, reader's are still responsible for using a "lens" of another theory by which they read the text through. This method, in essence, use two criticisms to examine a text. I think using any theory based on psychology would be a good response to this question. There are of course many other possible theories that you could use to analyse this tremendous story, but, from my reading of it, its central message concerns the epiphany of a young boy who discovers a sense of his own meaninglessness and as a result grows up. Let us remember what happens to Ravi. Hiding himself away in an excellent hiding place, he imagines the glory he will receive when he wins the game. However, when he rushes out, notice how the children and the setting are described: Out on the lawn, the children stopped chanting. They all turned to stare at him in amazement. Their faces were pale and triangular in teh dusk. The trees and bushes around them stood inky and sepulchral, spilling long shadows across them. To Ravi, the children appear "dead," just as he has been forgotten by them. In addition, note that the children are now playing a funeral game and singing a song that is about nature's indifference to human death:

The grass is green, The rose is red; Remember me When I am dead, dead, dead, dead... All of this serves to highlight the epiphany of the final paragraph when Ravi is forced to confront the message of this incident: He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance. Ironically, although he rejects playing the funeral game, he does experience a kind of death: the death of his innocence and his hopes. Therefore, using a theory that focuses on the psychological development of Ravi would be important and productive in analysing this excellent story.

Analyse the interaction among the children from a social theory perspective..
Social theory, otherwise known as Sociological Perspective, systematically examines social behaviors and social groups. Originating during the enlightenment period, this theory examined the self regarding spiritual insight. This also examined how people interacted within a group. In regards to Anita Desai's story "Games at Twilight", one could examine the treatment of Ravi by his older siblings. The older siblings continuously tell Ravi that he is a baby. This tends to damage his own personal understanding, or lack of understanding, of who he is (enlightenment). Ravi feels inferior and lacks satisfaction with his life. Given his insecurities, one could justify that the story examines his life through a Sociological perspective's lens. Ravi's escape into the dark garage supports the fact that he does not feel as if he can be a true part of the group (examination of social groups within a society--Ravi's family). Given that, in the end, he removes himself from children's play all together, he admits that he has no place in the social group of his family. I would suggest that approaching this story from a psychological standpoint would be most appropriate. Although Anita Desai is an author whose fiction can be analysed from the viewpoint of postcolonialism, at the same time, I think this story lends itself more to a psychological approach, as the epiphany that Ravi experiences at the end of this story makes clear. Consider what Ravi learns about himself: He had wanted victory and triumph--not a funeral. But he had been forgotten, left out, and he would not join them now. The ignominy of being forgotten--how could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance.

Such a description reveals that the prime focus of this short story is Ravi's own psychological awareness of his own lack of significance. Note too the way that, ironically, Ravi refuses to play the funereal game yet he has experienced a kind of death that he becomes aware of--the death of his innocence. His personal concerns, although so important to him, are disregarded by everybody else. This is an important psychological stage that we all have to go through as humans.

Imagine you are Ravi at the end of "Games at Twilight." Write your thoughts.
This is a very good question! Obviously, to answer it well, you need to understand the ending of the story and what Desai is trying to suggest or say about human experience. The game of hide-and-seek that somehow turns into something a lot more significant and important causes Ravi to have a kind of epiphany or sudden realisation about himself and his place in the world. Let us examine the last paragraph: He would not follow them, he would not be included in this funereal game. He had wanted victory and triumph--not a funeral. But he had been forgotten, left out, and he would not join them now. The ignominy of being forgotten--how could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside of him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance. What Ravi experiences therefore is an ironic moment full of pathos. Having wanted so much to win, he has won, but only to find that the game has been long forgotten. Wanting glory and recognition, he is only ignored. He refuses to participate in the funeral game that the other children are now playing but he has suffered a death--the death of his innocence and hopes. In the face of our hopes and dreams, the world is often absolutely and colossally indifferent. Therefore any response that you write has to try and capture this sense of insignificance and how specifically Ravi is changed by the experiences of this short story. He will obviously be a very different boy after the story than when he started out. Good luck!
In "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai, explain the character of Raghu.

Raghu is just a minor character in this excellent short story, with the main focus being on Ravi and his sensitivity and development. However, we are given a number of indications about Raghu and his character. He is Ravi's elder brother, and seems to be presented as a typical boy. He is quick to fight and show his physical dominance over Ravi at the beginning as they argue about who is to be It in their game. He likewise protests when he is selected to be It by fair means. He clearly thinks a lot of himself and regards himself as being superior to others. Consider this quote after Raghu has captured his first victim, Manu. "I know I have to, idiot," Raghu said, superciliously kicking him with his toe. "You're dead," he said with satisfaction, licking the beads of perspiration off his upper lip, and then stalked off in search of worthier prey, whistling spiritedly so that the hiders should hear and tremble. Certainly Ravi himself is fearful of Raghu and his "long, hefty, hairy footballer legs." However, the above quote does show the sense of phsyical dominance that Raghu feels he possesses, and how he likes to be a bit of a bully and flaunt his strength in the face of the

weakness of the other characters. This of course would make Ravi's victory against Raghu all the more glorious.

Imagine yourself as Ravi in Games at Twilight and you are hiding in the shed. Write about your feelings and thoughts as you remain there.
It helps to try to put yourself into Ravi's shoes, to try to think about what he might be thinking and feeling. And, Anita Desai herself gives a really great description in the story-read through that too, and it will help. Here's what we know about Ravi and his situation, that will help us to put ourselves in his shoes. He is a little kid who is desparate to win the game of hide 'n' seek. He is afraid, rightly, of the bully Raghu, and of getting caught and tormented by him. He is super excited about having found such a genius hiding place, and is imagining his victory. At the same time, imagine being in a dark, unused storage shed--it's dusty, dirty, dank, dark, and filled with bugs and unknown critters. That can be pretty terrifying to a little boy. So, taking that information, we can conclude that his thoughts and feelings are going to be a strange combination of fear and giddiness--fear at the environment, giddiness at besting the bully Raghu. If you are writing from his perspective, start by describing the ickiness of the shed, and your fear at bugs and cobwebs. Use imagery, or the 5 senses, to help the reader feel like they are there in the shed with you. Be terrified but determined to stick it out, in order to win. Then, let your thoughts stray to what winning would be like, and in the process of thinking about this, you forget all about how scary the shed is. I hope that those thoughts help you to get started; good luck!

What is the theme in the short story "Games at Twilight"?

The main theme of "Games at Twilight" is two-fold. Desai has written "Games at Twilight" as a Fruedian exploration of a child's play and unconscious reality. Twilight symbolizes the unconscious mind where things aren't in the direct light of thought as they are in the conscious mind. In the midst of a child's game, a fantasy of mind, the connection or the difference between reality and fantasy are explored as Ravi switiches from an external, controlled fantasy (a game) to the inner, rampant fantasies of his mind. It turns out that, once liberated from his fear of his merciless older brother, Ravi fantasizes about having power and control over his life circumstances, including his older brother, Raghu. Then fantasy meets reality when he comes dashing out of hiding to claim his victory only to find that he has been utterly forgotten and overlooked by his family and no one is in the least interested in his presence or his victory in stumping the "finder" in hide and seek. Now is introduced the other arm of the theme and that is the alienation of the individual. Ravi suddenly perceives the undercurrent of the separateness--of alienation--of individuals who don't perform according to expectations. He discovers what he sees as his valulessness and powerlessness. Whether Ravi perceives this alienation, valuelessness and powerlessness to be universal is not readily apparent from his reactions.

What's an atmosphere of the story "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai?

The story takes place in India, where a bunch of children are playing inside a house. It is summertime, and the weather outside is so hot that everyone has crowded indoors to try to escape the heat; however, the kids get antsy and restless indoors. They want to go outside and play, and are feeling cooped up and fidgety. So, the physical location begins in a house, but soon the children are let outdoors and are giddy with the chance to play. The atmosphere of the story is created mainly through the mood of the children. At first, the atmosphere is defined by their stifled anxiety about being cooped in the house. Desai writes that being indoors "made them feel that their lungs were stuffed with cotton wool and their noses with dust and if they didnt burst out into the light and see the sun and feel the air, they would choke." So the story opens with this feeling of tense restlessness, of being oppressed and wanting to be elsewhere. But then, as the children are let out, the atmosphere changes to one of ecstatic giddiness; they run free, screaming and jumping, and the mood is one of excitement and joy. The total abandonment and freedom of childhood games is felt in the atmosphere. Then, the atmosphere becomes one of chaos as the kids try to decide what to do, what to play, and who is to be "it" in their game of hide 'n' seek. The, the tension increases again as they struggle to find good hiding places, and as Ravi perches in the garage, that tension increases until Raghu passes by. Throughout the story, the atmosphere changes moods as quickly as the children change moods, which is often. It reflects beautifully the transient and intense joys and miseries of childhood, chronicalling the moods of it well. I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

Please give some examples of foreshadowing in "Games at Twilight."

There are certainly a number of very specific images in this rich, visual work of literature that suggest loss and death, which could be said to foreshadow the "death" of Ravi at the end of this excellent story about childhood. You might want to consider analysing any one of the following list of these images: the fading of the daylight, the response of the plants and the animals to the heat, Ravi's isolation in the tomblike shed, the discarded objects, the squashed spider, and the funereal song of the children's game. Clearly, all of these images are used to suggest isolation, disenchantment and emptiness, that relate to the central message of the story. Perhaps the most important image to focus on is the game at the end that the children are playing. Note what they are singing: "The grass is green, The rose is red;

Remember me When I am dead, dead, dead, dead..." Note how this song presents Nature as being completely indifferent to the death of the speaker. Nature continues to blossom and flower, but the speaker contemplates his own death in the face of that and feels marginalised and insignificant as a result. Of course this echoes the way that the children have forgotten Ravi and his own "death" of innocence that he experiences at the end of the tale.

Discuss the theme of childhood as presented in "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai.

In "Games at Twilight" Anita Desai has the ability to portray childhood in all of its excitement and exhilaration, innocence, vulnerability, and even heartached. The theme of childhood is one that encompasses all of those attributes, and is shown through the children themselves as they play a common and well-known game of hide 'n' go seek. Childhood is exciting--you can sense the children's excitement as they are freed from the confines of the hot house and let out into the air to play. Desai writes, "they burst out like seeds from a crackling, overripe pod into the veranda, with such wild, maniacal yells," excited to be outside and free to play. Excitement and exhilaration is also seen in Ravi as he finds an excellent spot to hide, and imagines his victory; he "shook, then shivered with delight, with self-congratulation" at his spot, and that the bully Raghu didn't find him. Childhood is filled with innocence and vulnerability also; note the poor child that gets caught by Raghu, who ends up in tears as Raghu kicks him. Note Ravi's happy innocent daydreaming in the garage as he awaits his triumph. And then at the end, we see that vulnerability as his hopes are crushed, and Desai also brings in the theme of childhood heartbreak as Ravi learns a valuable grown-up lesson about his own significance: "The ignominy of being forgottenhow could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance." Childhood is filled with exhilarating moments of joy and glee, moments of vulnerability and innocence, and heartbreaking moments of difficult lessons learned, and Desai reflects all of these in her story "Games at Twilight." I hope those thoughts helped; good luck!

An important idea in the story "Games at Twilight" is that the childish games are...?
"Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai is a touching and very well-written account of Ravi, who learns a profound life lesson while playing a classic child's game of Hide 'N' Seek. The story recounts, in detail, Ravi's excitement at having found an excellent hiding place, his giddy anticipation at emerging triumphant and all-glorious after beating out the bully Raghu, who was the seeker. Unfortunately, he daydreams a bit too long, and by the time he emerges, the

other children have moved on--they have completely forgotten about him. It is at this point that Desai inserts the profound and moving lesson that Ravi learns that day: "The ignominy of being forgottenhow could he face it?...He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance." So, to finish the sentence given above, there are several different possibilities. You could try "the childish games are actually training grounds for coping with disappointment in later life." This reflects how Ravi is being exposed to disappointment through a game, which will give him experience with it in future, real-life encounters. Another possibility is that "the childish games are a microcosm of real life, representing many aspects that children will enounter as adults." Consider Raghu, a representative for every mean, unfair bully that you might meet in the workplace or in everyday life. Consider Ravi's foolish and vain daydreaming, a symbol of the frailty and uselessness of vanity. Consider the crowd of children, who forgot him, symbolic of how most life moves on very quickly, even when you are upset. The entire game with its characters and events can correlate to real-life situations people enounter. Those are just a couple possibilities of ways to finish off that sentence, and I hope that they help to get your wheels turning. Good luck! "What fun if they were all found and caught- he alone left unconquered!" -Narrator - This quote shows that Ravi wanted to achieve something and be noticed for it and to have that satisfaction of having triumph. "Having disappeared from the scene, he had disappeared from their minds.Clean."- Narrator - His siblings wouldn't have care if he was gone and wouldn't have noticed anyways. Relevant Connections: Some kids are not noticed by other family members because of their shyness and self-consciousness. For example, my one year old baby sister is so quiet sometimes that we don't notice that she is there. Ravi is like Sucker (Richard) in Sucker by Carson McCullers. He wanted to be noticed by other member of his family as Sucker wanted to be noticed by Pete. Figurative Language: External Conflict- Ravi vs Darkness of the shed Ravi vs. Raghu

Internal Conflict- Ravi vs. embarrassment and disgrace Suspense: When Ravi is trying to find a better place to hide as he sees Raghu's long legs coming his way. The dash to the shed. Foreshadowing: Ravi hears "i touched the den!" when one of his sibling gets caught by Raghu. That should have signaled for Ravi that he should touch the 'den' in order to win, but he was too preoccupied by his success in staying in the shed for so long.

Situational Irony: Even though Ravi was the one to win, he was too late and in the end he got a funeral instead of a celebration for his victory as he had predicted. The forgotten furniture in the shed represents Ravi being forgotten by his family members. "Having disappeared from the scene, he had disappeared from their minds. Clean."- Narrator.

Literary Theory: Psychological- Ravi wanted to be recognized by his family members - He wanted to fit in and belong. - It seems like his family wouldn't have cared if he had runaway and the sad part is him knowing that they forgotten him in an hour and took them a moment to actually recognize him. Marxist theory- there seems to be a family hierarchy: Mira- motherly Roghubully Manu and Ravi are in the same category of being the cry babies in the family, but at least Ravi is more braver than Manu. Roghu and Mira are the bigger kids and gets more accomplishments and attention. Roghu bullies them while Mira is motherly but bossy

Opinion: i liked the story and i felt sympathy for Ravi because they didn't acknowledge his victory like what he did wasn't worth celebrating but a funeral. "He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his faceint it, no longer crying, silenced by terrible sense of his insignificance. Historical: "Games at Twilight" is set in India during the 1940s which is shortly after India won its Independence from the British. Also at a time when air conditioning was unknown. In 1978 when the short story was published, Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minster, was arrested and put to jail for breach of contempt parliament and privilege for a week. Biographical: Anita was born in India to a Indian father and German mother. She learned German, Hindi, and Englisgh as a child. She published her first story at the age of nine. She is married with four kids Her stories often deal with relationships among family members.

What would you say is the main point of "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai?
Arguably, one of the central messages of this great short story is the way that we all go through a transition from innocence to experience, like Ravi does, that involves a recognition of our own insignificance as a human being and the world's utter indifference in that regard.

This loss of innocence represents a metaphorical death, which is of course the death of childhood. The title of the story, and the way that it is set in twilight, which is of course the death of day, support this theme. The word "games" likewise indicates the idea of struggle and competition and the way that we all need to learn the rules of life, just as we have to learn the rules of the games that we play as children. Let us examine this theme by looking at the epiphany that Ravi undergoes as he rushes out, believing that he is going to win the game and gain the glory and approval that he dreams of: He would not follow them, he would not be included in this funereal game. He had wanted victory and triumph--not a funeral. But he had been forgotten, left out, and he would not join them now. The ignominy of being forgotten--how could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance. Note the irony of this passage. Ravi has technically won the game and therefore should receive the glory that he dreams of gaining, however the game was abandoned long before he decides to come out. Instead of receiving honour, he is ignored. He refuses to play the "funereal" game that the rest of the children are playing, but nonetheless he experiences a kind of death himself--the death of his innocence and his own child-like sense of his own importance. He is left with nothing but the "terrible sense of his insignificance."

How does Desai deal with the theme of oppression in "Games at Twilght"?
That is an interesting question, because oppression isn't a super-obvious theme that I would have come up with for that story. There isn't any blatant cruelty or horrific acts of oppression going on; instead, there are instances of childhood cruelty that results in the ostracization, and I suppose, oppression of childhood spirits. Ravi is the victim of oppression in this story. He starts off the story as an excited, hopeful, involved child, and in the end we see his spirit crushed and oppressed by "his terrible sense of insignificance." Where before this moment he had been in the old shed, imagining defeating Raghu, a moment he felt would be "thrilling beyond all imagination." He was excited, anticipating the defeat of the bully Raghu, and in the throes of full, unabashed childhood imagination and happiness. But then, as he exits the shed too late to be the winner of the game, and realizes that they all had not even noticed his absence, his spirit is oppressed. We see him lose a bit of that childhood freedom and become weighed down and oppressed by the rather grown-up and maturing knowledge that he might not matter as much as he thinks he does. The other mentionable aspect of oppression in the story is the character of Raghu, who, with his bullying, whining and random viciousness, strikes a bit of fear into the hearts of his playmates. Their sense of elation and freedom is oppressed by his mere presence. I hope that those thoughts help a bit; it's an interesting question. Good luck!

In "Games at Twilight" do you think that Ravi's "sense of insignificance" at the end of the story will remain strong?
Children are amazingly resilient, and tend to bounce back from situations pretty quickly. Anita Desai did a good job of capturing the despair that Ravi felt; such dramatic tragedy felt by the small child captures the intensity of those childhood emotions where it feels like the entire world is crumbling around you. Even though that moment that Ravi felt left out, and "crushed" by his own "sense of insignificance" was truly horrible for him, I believe that he will recover. As soon as one of the other children notices him, and says hello, or asks him to join in, he will be over it. However, your question asks if that lesson, that he isn't as important as he thought he was, will remain strong. I don't know if that lesson will remain strong , but I definitely think that he will remember it. How else do we grow up, but through life teaching us valuable lessons about ourselves and our place in the world? This lesson is one that Ravi will keep in the back of his mind, and add it to his overall knowledge about himself, which will in turn aid in his maturity. Slowly, children lose their naivety and innocence, through experiences just like this one. So, even though it might not "remain strong" with him, it will stay with him, and add to the other experiences that will eventually turn him from a child into an adult. I hope that those thoughts help to you get you thinking. Good luck!

Choose any character from "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai, and say how you feel sympathy for him/her.
My favorite character is the main character, Ravi. He is such a vulnerable, imaginative, and hopeful little kid, and I can't help but relate to him. Desai goes into such depth to describe his emotional landscapes that it is hard not to feel like you understand him, and to feel a connection with him. A good way to feel sympathy for Ravi is to think back to when you were a child, playing hide 'n' go seek, and remember all of the excitement, nervousness, anxiousness, adrenaline, fear, joy and anticpation that went with the entire game. Did you ever cram into a spot and get super nervous as whoever was "it" got closer and closer? Did you feel the burst of speed and adrenaline as you raced as fast as you could to the home base? Did you ever hide in your spot and imagine the victorious triumph you would have if you weren't found and ended up winning? And if not, have you ever felt ostracized and left out by friends? If so, then it is easy to feel for Ravi. He experiences all of these emotions, and then at the end, as he is super excited to have been the winner, and realizes no one cares, he is devastated. Desai describes his feelings very well: "The ignominy of being forgottenhow could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance." How can you not be moved by his despair? He realizes, as we all have at some point in our lives, that he is pretty insignificant, and not nearly as important as he thought he was to his friends. Even if you haven't played hide 'n' go seek, it is easy to relate to a time when you

have felt alone, left out, ostracized and forgotten by friends or family. So, because there are so many ways in which I can feel for Ravi, he is my favorite character.

Explain the charater of Raghu in Games at Twilight by Anita Desai.

Raghu is a minor character in this short story, featured briefly at the beginning. The story is about a group of children that are allowed outside to play hide and go seek. Raghu, since he is the oldest, is nominated to be "It", to which he protests, starting a scuffle. A mother has to intervene and they play a game to determine who is It, and Raghu ends up being It anyway. When he is forced into being It, he whines, "You cheatedMira cheatedAnu cheated," weedling off assorted reasons as to why it wasn't fair that he was it. Then, in a fit of petulance, he insists that everyone stay on "the porchMa saidMa said to stay in the porch!" He wants to make his job at seeking easier, and falls back on the "Mom told us to" argument to try to get his way. Later, when he is finished counting and sees the small and frightened Manu, he "charged after him with such a bloodcurdling yell" that Manu trips and weeps at being caught, to which Raghu just kicks him. The last telling description is when he goes off to hunt other kids, "whistling spiritedly so that the hiders should hear and tremble. " So, all being said, Raghu is a pretty unlikable kid. He whines, starts fights, picks on the little kids, and enjoys striking fear into the hearts of people. Raghu is a bit of a bully, and a whiney, petulant one at that. He complains when he doesn't get his way, physically assaults those smaller and weaker than him, enjoys making people feel afraid, and under all of his macho bravado, is a bit of a snivelling mama's boy. :) I hope that those descriptions help; good luck!

In "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai, explain the character of Ravi.

Ravi is a typical little boy, who likes to play games with his friends, and dreams of coming out triumphant in a game of hide 'n' seek. He displays a lot of typical little boy attributes: he loves playing games, he is excited, he braves the scary and dark garage in order to show his bravery and increase his odds of winning, he has a good nose-picking while hiding and thinking, and also gets distracted with daydreaming, like many little boys do. Then, at the end, when he realizes that they have all moved on with their games and completely forgotten him, he shows a very dramatic reaction: "He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance." This reaction has traits of typical childlike behavior: it is dramatic, a bit overly emotional, and centered on a limited perspective based on their ideas of the world. However, Ravi displays an unusual sensitivity and introversion here. Instead of lashing out and bragging

about his potential conquest in the garage, he quietly lies down and lets the weight of his own insignificance crush him. He bears the brunt alone, mourning quietly, on his own. He turns the pain inward, and abandons himself to it completely. So, Ravi is also a very inward and sensitive boy, with a tendency to feel emotions heavily and fully. I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good luck! Ravi is the character who, as the story progresses, we see more and more of the action from his point of view. When we start he is just one of many children eager to go outside and play. He seems to be unhappy with his size and age, as he fights with his elder brother, Raghu, over who should be "It" in the game they are to play. He likewise recognises the advantages of age, as he reflects on Raghu's stronger legs for running compared to his own legs. We can understand therefore why Raghu is so fixated on winning the game. When he finds his hiding place, although he is initally afraid fo whatis in the shed, he swiftly begins to imagine the kind of status and glory he will attain by winning the game: What fun if they were all found and caught--he alone left unconquered! He had never known that sensation. Nothing more wonderful had ever happened to him than being taken out by an uncle and bought a whole slab of chocolate all to himself, or being flung into the soda man's pony cart and driven up to the gate by the friendly driver with the red beard and pointed ears. To defeat Raghu--that hirsute, hoarse-voiced football champion--and to be the winner in a circle of older, bigger, luckier children--that would be thrilling beyond imagination. He hugged his knees together and smiled to himself almost shyly at the thought of so much victory, such laurels. This obsession with the idea of the glory he will achieve of course only serves to increase the irony of the ending of the story, when Ravi does win the game, but only to find that he and the game has been forgotten. Instead of glory, he is ignored, and he experiences a terrible sense of his own insignificance

In the story "Games at Twilight," how does Desai describe the children's behavior?
As the kids are cooped up in the house, and are finally let out, "they burst out like seeds from a crackling, overripe pod into the veranda, with such wild, maniacal yells." Her simile comparing them to bursting seeds, and "wild, maniacal yells" really brings a great image to mind. But then, they fight over who is going to be It in hide-n-go-seek, and "the shoves became harder. Some kicked out." Her insights into childhood behavior are right on; the fighting for top position in games is a common one. Her commentary even extends into the more quirky childhood habits. One child "picked his nose in a panic, trying to find comfort by burrowing the finger deepdeep into that soft tunnel." This is such a funny-and true-description of childhood behavior. As Ravi realizes that he forgot to touch base, he ran,"crying heartily by the time he reached the veranda so that when he flung himself at the white pillar and bawled, Den! Den! Den! his voice broke with rage and pity at the disgrace of it all, and he felt himself flooded with tears and misery." This is a beautiful description, and to end it on such a note is perfect, because childhood is filled with these catastrophic realizations and pains.