1. Talk to two workers (for example, construction workers, farm workers, factory workers, workers at any shop) to find out if they are receiving the minimum wages laid down by law?
Beauty gives pleasure to everyone and can be seen, heard and felt. Beauty can be noticed in the sunlight, the trees and the birds. It can also be seen in the people who work hard, cultivated their land and grow crops. The scene looks beautiful when people dance for their harvest.
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.
There are many kinds of people in the village. They speak many languages. Some pray in a temple and some in a mosque. The people went mad, burning temples and mosques. They fought with one another.
There is a shed at the bottom of the poet’s garden and the poet wishes to visit it one day. There is a spider’s web on the door of the shed and its hinges are rusty and creak when the wind blows.
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.
One morning, a cat got stuck in the tree. The narrator’s dad decided that he will easily be able to take care of it. Narrator’s father decided to climb the tree. His wife warned him that he might fall, but ignoring her warnings he climbed the ladder, slipped and fell.
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 meadow offers several surprises to the one who has an eager eye to look at the meadow. Walking on the soft velvety grass, the sound of the brook, a butterfly sipping nectar from the flowers, all such sights give immense pleasure. These sights are no less than the nature’s surprise gift.
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.
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”.
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.
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 has been less than a month living in Rajpur when Ranji discovers a pool. The summer was at its extreme and Ranji’s school hadn’t opened yet. He didn’t have any friends either. While wandering all by himself in the weather, he discovered the pool in the forest. On the day when Ranji discovered the pool, it was extremely hot and Ranji’s brown feet turned chalky with dust.
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 Road Not Taken’ is one of the finest poems by Robert Frost. This poem has a deep meaning. It deals with the problem of making a right choice. Many times in our life we face alternative choices.
This poem is a legend of an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed. The story goes like this. Long long ago, there lived an old lady in Northland. She was very selfish and greedy.
We have many ways of thinking of other people as different from us. They may belong to different countries or religions, follow a different lifestyle and speak a different language. But the poet reminds us of the many ways in which we are all the same for we are all humans.
It is not easy to kill a deep-rooted tree. It takes much time to kill it. A tree is too strong to be killed by a simple attack of a knife. It has grown slowly consuming the earth, feeding upon its crust, absorbing years of sunlight. The strength it has stored through a long period of hard work and patience, cannot be destroyed in one go.
Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world to have conquered Mount Everest twice. Born in a small village in Haryana, she was the sixth child in a family with five sons. Though her name ‘Santosh’ stood for contentment but she was never satisfied with her place in a traditional way of life.
Most of us think that snakes are always poisonous. They are fearsome and symbol of death. The poet does not find all the snakes fearsome and poisonous. He finds beauty in them. In this poem, the poet describes how a snake tries to escape from a stroke. He wishes that the snake does not get hurt and reaches his destination safely.
This eight-line poem is about the death of a loved one. The poet is grieved and troubled. But he realises the reality of life after her death. He feels a great peace. He is contented as the passing of time will no longer affect her.
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.
This is a melodrama written by Douglas James. In a very lucid, interesting and humorous way, he presents two characters of the same built. The playwright, Douglas James, sustains interest, arouses curiosity and maintains the suspense till the end. It is a sensational one-act play with a happy ending.
1. How did the poet feel before the ‘change of mood’? Why did he feel so?
The poet was in a very depressive and hopeless mood. The day offered no relief, comfort or happiness for the poet. He felt that the whole day had been wasted for nothing. Perhaps his dull and depressive mood led him to such a conclusion.
1. Will this world come to an end? What does the poet say in this regard?
Everything that has a beginning or origin does have an end. It is the eternal law of nature. The existing world will come to an end some day. The poet believes as many people believe that either 'fire' or 'ice' will be the cause of the end of the world.
1. “And no one buys a ball back. Money is external”. What does the poet imply by this expression?
Through this expression the poet implies that a lost ball cannot be bought back even with money. Money can only be used to buy valuable things but not to restore or compensate for a thing that is lost.
1. Do you think that Amanda doesn’t like to be controlled and instructed not to do one thing or the other? Give a reasoned answer.
Amanda loves her freedom. She doesn’t want it to be curtailed. She wants to lead her own kind of life. If she is asked what to do and what not, she feels that her freedom is curtailed. She doesn’t bother to answer her mother when she goes on instructing her what to do and what not.
1. Why are the tree moving out into the forest?
In the poem, the tree are presented as a metaphor for human beings. As humans value freedom, nature can’t be subdued and controlled by man. The trees have been brought to the artificial glasshouses.
1. How does the poet employ the double imagery of the fog and the cat?
The poetic device of metaphor is very effectively used in the poem. The fog is converted into a cat and the cat is morphed back into the fog. The silent arrival of the fog is like a little cat. The fog stays there sitting like a little cat on its haunches.
1. How does the tiger stalk in the cage?
The tiger is not in his natural habitat – the jungle. He is locked in a cage made up of a cement and concrete. He keeps on stalking inside his cage from one side to the other. He is walking quiet rage with his heels which are padded like velvet.
1. How would you recognise the Asian Lion?
He is found in the jungles of the eastern regions. He is a large and powerful animal. He is a large and powerful animal. He is yellow - brownish in colour. He roars so loudly that the very roar is enough to terrorise a person to death. If any animal has all these traits, he must be the Asian Lion.
