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The trees inside are moving out into the forest,
the forest that was empty all these days
where no bird could sit
no insect hide
no sun bury its feet in shadow
the forest that was empty all these nights
will be full of trees by morning.

Pranjol, a youngster from Assam, is Rajvir’s classmate at school in Delhi. Pranjol’s father is the manager of a tea-garden in Upper Assam and Pranjol has invited Rajvir to visit his home during the summer vacation.

Coorg is coffee country, famous for its rainforests and spices.

This is a pen-portrait of a traditional Goan village baker who still has an important place in his society.

Every child feels that she or he is controlled and instructed not to do one thing or another.

Anneliese Marie ‘Anne’ Frank (12 June 1929 - February/March 1945) was a German born Jewish girl who wrote while in hiding with her family and four friends in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.

This humorous poem suggests some dangerous ways to identify (or ‘tell’) wild animals!

The moon was coming up in the east, behind me, and stars were shining in the clear sky above me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping countryside.

The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them.

The last Maurya emperor was assassinated around 185 BCE by his commander-in-chief Puṣhyamitra Śhunga. This led to a breakup of the empire - hardly half a century after Aśhoka.

This poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with the tiger in its natural habitat. The poem moves from the zoo to the jungle, and back again to the zoo.

In this extract from his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela speaks about a historic occasion, ‘the inauguration’.

Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

The house - the only one in the entire valley - sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest. The only thing the earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho - who knew his fields intimately - had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east.

The word ‘empire’ comes from the Latin ‘imperium’, which means ‘supreme power’. An empire is a collection of smaller kingdoms or territories over which a powerful ruler or group of rulers exert power, often after waging war against the smaller kingdoms.

In the early 2nd millennium BCE, the Harappan civilisation disintegrated. Some of its cities were abandoned and in others, some people continued living there, but reverting to a rural or village lifestyle.

Indian culture is several millenniums old. Like any ancient tree, it has many roots and many branches. The roots nurture a common trunk. And from the trunk emerge many branches, which are different manifestations of Indian culture, yet united by a common trunk.

Civilisation began at different times in different parts of the world. In the region known as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Syria), that happened about 6,000 years ago, and the civilisation in ancient Egypt followed a few centuries later.

Today, the India we know is a modern nation, with defined borders, defined states and a known population. However, it was very different 500 years ago, 2,000 years ago or even 5,000 years ago.

At present, the Gregorian calendar is commonly used worldwide. The conventional year for Jesus Christ’s birth has generally been taken to be the starting point for this calendar.

Nature is the totality of life and non-life forms that are part of our environment but have not been created by humans. When humans use these for their sustenance, or create new things from them for consumption, these elements of Nature become resources.

Weather is what we experience every hour or day. It might be raining, or there could be bright sunshine, a lot of wind, etc. The weather keeps changing. Climate is the pattern of weather an area or a region experiences over a long period of time - several decades at least. This pattern varies from region to region.

Weather is a state of the Earth’s atmosphere at a particular time and place. Atmosphere is the layer of gases (air) that surround the Earth.

India is the seventh-largest country in the world, and a part of Asia. Along with its neighbours - Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar - it forms the region known as the Indian Subcontinent.

Land has many forms and features. Its appearance changes a lot from one region to another. A landform is a physical feature on the surface of the planet Earth. Landforms take shape over millions of years and have a significant connection with the environment and life.

Almost three-fourths of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. The largest water bodies are called oceans. The land covers a little over one-fourth of the globe. A large body of land is called a landmass, and a large continuous expanse of land is called a continent.

A map is like a treasure guide. It shows you where things are and how to get to them.

Ray, an old and deaf owner of shop, was still working on a clock. He stopped up to close the shop. Suddenly, he saw two men, one in his twenties and the other closer to fifty, coming towards his shop. He understood that the men were not shoppers.

Teachers are very special for their students. The poet does not think that his teachers are ordinary people. The poet wonders where his teachers go after 4 o’clock. He keeps asking too many questions such as whether the teachers live in their houses, wash their socks like an ordinary person.

The poet says that everyone speaks to express his thought. She further says that one must not let his thoughts die if he does not know how to express them. English is a wonderful language and people can learn it to express their thoughts effectively.

The child was walking to his school in the morning. He saw a hawker, selling bangles in his lane. The hawker was not in a hurry and moved from one place to another at his own will. The hawker could take any road and return home when he wants. There was no restriction on him. The child wanted to be a hawker in order to be free and happy.

When we sleep our body and brain recovers from weariness caused by various activities during the day. We become attentive and active after a good sleep. We become ready for the usual activities of the day.

1. What kinds of cloth had a large market in Europe?

The kinds of cloth which had a large market in Europe were chintz, cossaes or khassa and bandana.

There was a time when elephants had no trunk. They only had a bulgy nose and it was difficult for them to pick things. They could only move it from side to side, but could not put it to any real use. A baby elephant, named Golu, had no trunk either.

The poem beautifully captures the movement of the much familiar and mundane objects around us, which in today’s time are a very essential part of our existence. The poem discusses the movement of a ceiling fan.

Mr Willy Wonka, the owner of the chocolate factory has decided to invent Wonka-Vite. This will make people younger, but it is too strong. After taking this, there is a rapid decrease in age, some people have disappeared because their age has reached in Minus!

An old man, named Abbu Khan, lived in Almora all by himself excepts for a few goats whom he kept as pets. He gave funny names to his goats and treated them like his children. During the day, he would take them out for grazing, while during the night he would tie a string around their neck.

The poem, ‘Garden Snake’ is a simplistic description of a harmless snake. The young child narrator encounters a snake in the garden and runs away from it out of fear.

One of the friend of the author suggested that the two should go for a bicycle ride the next day. The author reached the place half an hour before his friend and waiting for him in the garden.

Velu, an eleven year old boy, ran away from home. He kept wandering before getting on to a train to Chennai without a ticket. A porter shouted at Velu to get side; as Velu was getting lost in the crowd. He put his bundle down and sat on a bench not knowing where to go and what to do.

In the beginning when the world was new, the animals were beginning to do work for Man. There also lived a camel in the middle of the Howling desert. He did not work at all. He only ate sticks, thorns and prickles. Whenever somebody came to meet him, he would merely reply, “humph”.

After their school, every afternoon the children used to go to play in the giant’s garden. It was a large garden and lovely too. Over the soft green grass, could be seen innumerable beautiful flowers.

Hafeez Contractor shares with Bela Raja, his biggest nightmare. He tells Bela that till 4-5 years ago he used to get nightmares that he was appearing for a mathematics examination and he was not prepared for it. It is only now that he has settled in his professional life that he has got over these bad dreams.

The king of Siam had nine daughters, The Queen used to find it difficult to remember so many names, so the King named his daughters after the name of the months of the year. Therefore, the eldest was called January and the youngest was named September.

It was a moonless night in December. A cool breeze from the window disturbed Indrani Debi's sleep. She felt for the adjoining pillow, knowing already that her husband, Manoj Dutta, wouldn't be there.

As the meeting between James and Sir John gets over, James looks up to the star-studded sky and meditates upon the fact that somewhere among these stars would be Comet Dutta, heading for a collision with the Earth.

The present chapter is an extract from Vikram Seth’s ‘Heaven Lake’. Vikram Seth is a famous modern Indian writer who has written many novels, essays and travelogues.

The poem points out the difference between a house and a home. They differ in many ways. A house consists of rooms, a kitchen, a balcony, etc which are made up of bricks, stone, wood and glass.

A new kite looks very bright and beautiful in the clear blue sky. The kite jumps in the air and moves up in the blue sky. It shakes its tail with a noise caused by air. It soars high like a ship in the air with only one sail. It moves upward in the air as a ship rides in the strong wave of the sea.