Jlamingo

Textbook for Class X

(Core Course)
 Flamingo
Textbook in English for Class XII
(Core Course)

epublish
CERI

20/4

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING

2019-20
 ISBN 81-7450-650-0
First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
January 2007 Pausa 1928
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2019-20
 FOREWORD

The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, recommends

that childrcn's lifc at school must be linked to thcir life outside
the school. This principle marks a deparlure lrom the legacy
of bookish learning which continues to shape our system and
causes a gap between the school, home and community. The
syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signity
an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to
discourage rote lcarning and the maintenance of sharp
boundaries belween dilferent subject areas. We hope these
measures will take us significantly further in the direction of
a child-centred system of education outlined in the National
Policy on Education (1986).
The success of this effort depends on the steps that school
principals and teachcrs will take to encourage children to rclect
on their own learning and to pursue imaginative aclivities and
questions. We must recognise that, given space, time and
freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with
the information pasSed on to them by adults. Treating the
prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of
the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are
ignored. Inculcaling crealivily and initialive is possible il we
perceive and treat children as participants in learming, not as
receivers of a fixed body of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school routiness
and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is
as necessary as rigour in implementing the annual calendar
so thal he required number ol Leaching days are aclually
devoted to teaching. The methods used for ieaching and
evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook
proves for making children's life at schol a happy experience,
rather than a source of stress or boredom. syllabus designerS
have tried to address the problem of curricular burden by
reslrucluring and reorienting knowledge al dillerent stages
with greater consideration for child psychology and the time
available for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance this
endeavour by giving higher priority and space to

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 opportunities for contemplation and wondering, discussion
in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.
The National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) appreciates the hard work done by the
Textbook Development Committee responsible for this book.
We wish lo thank ihe Chairperson of the advisory group in
Languages, Professor Namwar Singh and the Chief Advisor
for this book, Professor Amritavalli for guiding the work of
this committee. Several teachers contributed to the
developnment of this textbook; we are grateful to their
principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the
instilulions and organisalions which have generously
permitted us to draw upon their resources, material and
personnel. We are especialy grateful to the members of the
National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department
of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human
Resource Development under the Chairmanship of
Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande, for their
vaiable time and contribution. As an organisation committed
to systemic retorm and continuous improvement in the quality
of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and Suggestions
which will enable us to undertake further revision and
refinement.

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
20 November 2006 Research and Training

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 ABOUT THE BOOK

This textbook for Class XII English course has been developed
on the basis of the recommendations made in the Nalional
Curriculum Prammewvork 2005. It follows the design of the
Class XI textbook, Hornbill, published in 2006.
The prose sclections aim to providc exposure t0 a wide
variety of genres and themes, and writing from different parts
of the world. They take into account the interests of young
adults while making them aware of the socio-political issues
that they will confront as they step into the world outside
school. The tasks that follow the units provide opportunities
for the devclopmcnt of language skills.
Three short stories, representative of tiction from different
parts of the world French. Swedish and British, have been
-

included. Alphonse Daudet's The Last Lesson deals with

the theme of language imposition and language loyalty.
Selma Lagelerofs The Rattrap, captures the basic goodness
in a human bcing in the face of material temptations and
A.C. Barlon's Going Places explores lhe heme ol adolescenl
hero-worship and fantasising
Two of the non-fiction pieces are biographical and two
autobiographical. Of the two biographical pieces, ndigo, an
excerpt from Louis Pischer's Life of Mahatna Gandhi
portrays Gandhi in action, helping peasants secure legal
juslice and the excerpl lrom Anees Jung's Losi Spring is an
account of the lives of street children, a contemporary reality
that youngsters need to be made sensitive to.
The autobiographical piece by William Douglas, a lawyer
who was a close associate of Franklin Roosevelt, deals with
his personal expericncc of overcoming the fear of swimming
The second autobiographical accounl is by Asokamilran
writing in a humorous vein about his years in the Gemini
Studios.
The Introduction from The Penguin Book of nterviews
edited by Christopher Silvester has been included to
introduce pupils to the subjcct of mcdia writing. This is
accompanied by a recenl newspaper inlerview wilh Umberlo
Eco by Mukund Padmanabhan.
V

2019-20
 Each Unit is interspersed with Think as you read'
questions to check factual comprehension. This is followed
by end-of-unit global questions and text-related issues to
be taken up for discussion. Language work on vocabulary
and sentence patterns is followed by writing tasks. Useful
vocabulary is presented at ihe beginning of each unil for
learners to notice them in the text and understand their
meaning from the context. Annotations are added where
necessary. 'About the unit' highlights the points of focus in
the tasks section following each text.
The poetry section has sIX poEms. A short excerpt from
Keals' Endymion has been chosen lo give pupils a tasle ol
classical poetry, lines which have universal appeal and etermal
value. Robert Frost's A Roadside Stand is on the rural-urban
economic divide. The other four poems are by reputed
contemporary poets including two women, Kamala Das and
Adrienne Rich. While the theme of Das' poem, My Mother at
Sixty-six louches a personal chord of looking objeclively al a
close relative, Rich's poem, Aurnl Jennijer's Tigers, gives
expression to the voice of women stifled by the institution of
marriage. Stephen Spender's poem on An Elemeniary Schoot
Classroom in a Slum sensitively brings out the disparity
between the formal education system and the reality of the
lives of the poor. The poems are followed by 'noticing items
which indicate the elements that deserve special attention in
the classroom.
The tasks in the poetry section encourage pupils to enjoy
acsthetic writing and evoke subjcctive responscs to the
language of poetry.

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 TEXTBOOK DevELOPMENT CoMMITTEE

CHAIRPERSON, ADvISORY GROUP FOR TEXTBOOKS IN LANGUAGES

Namwar Singh, Professor and formerly Chairman, School of
Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
CHIEF ADVISOR
R. Amritavalli, Professor English and Foreign Languages
University (EFLU), Hyderabad
CHIEF CoORDINATOR
Ram Janma Sharma, Professor and Former Head, Department
of Education in Languages, NCERT, New Delhi
MEMBERs
Chaya Nautiyal, Deputy Director Secondary Education,
Directorate of Education, Allahabad
Gayatri Khanna, ELT Consultant, New Delhi
Indu Khetarpal, Prirncipal, Salwan Public School, Gurgaon
Kirti Kapur, Assistant Professor, NCERT, New Delhi
Malathy Krishnan, Professor, EFLU, Hyderabad
Nasiruddin Khan, Reader (Retd), NCERT, New Delhi
Pranjit Dev Sarmah. Teacher, Garigaon. Guwahati
Rajcndrasinh Jadeja, Director H. M. Patcl Insitute of English
Training and Research, Vallabh Vídyanagar, Gujaral
Saryug Yadav, Associate Professor, RIE, Ajmer
S.K. Shyamla, PGT, Demonstration Multi Purpose School,
RIE, Mysore

MEMBER-COORDINATOR
Meenakshi Khar. Assistant Professor, Department of
Education in Languages, NCERT, New Delhi

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Council of Educational Rescarch and Training

is grateful lo Prolessor Alok Rai and Prolessor Harish Trivedi
from Department of English, Delhi University and
VandanaR. Singh, Consultant Editor for going through the
manuscript and making valuable suggestions.
For permission to reproduce copyright material in this
book NCERT would like to thank the following: Penguin
Books Pvt Lid or Lost Spring by Anees Jung: and lor
Introduction by Christopher Sylvester; Harper Collins for
Indigo by Louis Fischer; The Editorial and Advertising office
of Resurgence (No. 233 November-December, 2005) for
Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda; Chatto and Windus Ltd. for
Endymion by John Kcats; Shri Asokmitran for Poets and
Pancakes by Asokmilran; Hulchinson & Co. Lld. lor Going
Places by A. R. Barton; Faber & Faber for An Elementary
School Classroom ín a shum by Stephen Spender.
The Council alsoacknowledges the services of
Sunanda Khanna and G.C,. Chandrakar, Copy Editors
Surender K Vats, Prooj Reader; Mohd. Harun and
Arvind Sharma DTP Operalors; Rajeev Kumar, Arlist and
Parash Ram Kaushik, Incharge, Computer station. The etforts
of the Publication Department, NCERT are also highly
appreciated.
It has not been possible to trace the copyright in all cases.
The publishers apologise for any omissions and would be
glad to hear from any such unacknowledged copyright
holder.

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 Contents
PROSE 1-88
1. THe LAST LESSON Aphonse Daudet
2. LosT SPRING Anees Jurg 3
3. DiEEPWarER Wliam Douglas 23
4. THE RATTRAD Selma Lagerlof 32
5. INDIG0 Louis Fischer 46
6. PoES AND PANCAKES Asokanitran 57
7. THe INTERVIEW
PARTI Christopher Silvester
PARTII An nierview with Umberto Eco 68
8. GoNG PLACES A. R. Barton 77

POETRY 89-1
1. My MOTHER AT SXTY-SIX Kamala Das
2. AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOI
CLASSROOM IN A SLUM Stephen Spender
3. KEEPING QUTET Pablo Neruda 95
4. ATHING OF BEAUTY John Keats
5. AROADSIDE SIAND Robert Frost 100
6. AUNT JENNIFER's TrGERS Adrienne Rich 103

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 THE CONSTITUTION OF
INDIA
PREAMBLE
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having
solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
ISOVEREIGN SoCIALIST SECULAR
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIOC] and to secure
to allits citizens
JUSTICE, social,economic and
political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief
faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity:
and to promote among thenm all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of
the individual and the lunity and
integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949 do
HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO
OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
1. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, Sec.2,
for "Sovereign Democratic Republic" (w.e.f. 3.1.1977)
2. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, Sec.2,
for "Unity of the Nation" (w.e.f. 3.1.1977

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 The Last Lesson
LL Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring
Anees Jung
Deep Water
Wiliam Douglas

The Rattrap
Selma Lagerlöf

Indigo
Louis Fischer

Poets and Pancakes

Asokamitran

The Interview
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco
Going Places
A. R, Barton

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 The Last Lesson 12074ch01

About the author

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist
and shorl-slory wriler. The Last Lesson is set in the
days of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) in which
France was defcated by Prussia lcd by Bismarck.
Prussia then cormsisted oI what now are the nations ot
Germany. Poland and parts of Austria. In this story the
French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed
into Prussian hands. Read the story to find out what
effect this had on life at school.

Notice these expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context
in great dread of inunison
COunted on a great bustle
thumbed at the edges reproach ourselves with

I
started lor school very late that morming and was in great
dread of a scolding. especially because M. Hamel had said
that he would question us on participles, and I did not
know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of
running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so
warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the
woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the
Prussian soldiers were drilling. Il was all much more
tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the
strength to resist, and hurried off to school
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in
front of the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our
bad news had come from there- the lost battles, the draft,
the orders of the commanding officer- and I thought to
myself, without stopping, "What can be the matter now?"

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 Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the
blacksmilh, Wachler, who was there, wilh his apprenice,
reading the bulletin, called after me, "Don't go so fast,
bub: you'll get to your school in plenty of time!"
I thought he was making fun of me, and reached
M. Hamel's little garden all out of breath.
Usually. when school began, there was a great bustle,
which c0uld be heard out in the street, the opening and
closing of desks, lessons repeated im unison, very loud, with
our hands over our ears to understand better, and the
Leacher's great ruler rapping on the table. But now it was
all so still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my
desk without being seen; but, of course, that day everything
had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the window
I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel
walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his
arm. I had to open the door and go in before everybody. You
can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I was.
But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said
very kindly, "Go lo your place quickly, litle Franz. We were
beginning without you.
I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not
till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see
that our teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled

The Last Lesson/3

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shirt, and the little black silk
cap, all embroidered, al he
ver wore except on
inspection and prize days.
Besides, the whole school
Seemed so strange and
solemn. But the thing that
Surprised me most was to
see, on the back benches that
were always empty, the village
people sitling quietly like
ourselves; old Hauser, with
his three-cornered hat, the
former mayor, the former
postmaster, and several others besides. Everybody looked
sad and Hauser had brought an old primer, thumbed at
the cdges, and he held it open on his knees with his great
spectacles lying across the pages.
While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted
his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he
had used to me, said, "My children, this is the last lesson
I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach
only German in the schools of Alsace amd Lorraine. The
new master comes tomorrow, This is your last Frech
lesson. I want you to be very attentive.
What a thunderclap these words were to me!
Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at
the town-hall!
My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to
write! I should never learn any more! I must stop there, then!
Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking
birds' eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had
SCcmed Such a nuisance a while ag0, So heavy to carry, my
grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now
that I couldnt give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idca that he
was going away, that I should never see him again, made me
forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
Poor man! Il was in honour of lhis last lesson thal he
had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood

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why the old men of the village were sitting there in the
back ol the room. IL was because they were sorry, loo, thal
they had not gone to school more. It was their way of
thanking our master for his lorty years ol laithlul service
and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs
no more.
While I was thinking of all this, I heard my name called.
It was my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be
able to say that dreadful rule for the participle all through,
very loud and clear, and without one mistake? But I got
mixed up on the irst words and stood there, holding on lo
my desk, my heart beating. and not daring to look up.
I heard M. Hamel say to me, "I won't scold you, little
Franz; you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Every day
we have said to oursclves, 'Bah! I've plenty of time. Ill
learn it tomorrow. And now you see where we've come out.
Ah, that's the great trouble with Alsace: she puts off
learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will
have the right t0 say to you, How is it: you pretend to be
Frenchmen, and yel you can neither speak nor wrile your
Own language" But you are not the worst, poor little Franz.
We've all a great deal to reproach ourselves with."
"Your parents were not anxious enough to have you
learn. They preterred to put you to work on a farm or at
the mills, so as to have a little more money. And T? Ive
been to blame also. Have I not often
sent you to water my flowers
instead of learning your
lessons? And when I
wanted to go fishing,
did I not just give
you a holiday?"
Then, from one
thing t0 another,
M. Hamel went on
to talk of the
French language,
saying hal il was
the most beautiful
The Lastt Lesson/5

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 UNTED
KINGDOM
BELGIUM

CHANNEL
ENGLISH GERMAN

ROUDN
LORRAINI
*OURG ALSAC
REST
PARIS STRASHOUN

RIENT
ORLEANSs

DLJON
NANTEs
FRANCE SWTZERIAND

BAY
OF LIMOG.
BISCAY YON

GRENOBLE
ITALY
HORDEAUX VALENCE

NICE
IAIKSELL
TOULOUSE TOULON

PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEAN
SPAAIN SEA

France
1870-71
Sketch nap not to scale

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 language in the world -
the
clearest, Lhe most logical; thal
we must guard it among us and
never forget it, because when a
people are enslaved, as long as
they hold fast to their language
it is as if they had the key to their
prison. Then he opened a
grammar and read us our lesson.
I was amazed to see how well I
understood it. All he said seemed
so easy, so easy! I think, too, that
I
had never listened so carefully,
and that he had never explained Think as you read
everything with so much patience.
1. What was Franz expected to
It seemed almost as if the poor be prepared with for school
man wanted to give us all he knew that da
before going away, and to put it 2. What did Franz notice that was
all into Our heads at one stroke. unusual about the school that
Afler the grammar, we had a day?
lesson in writing. That day M. 3. What had been put up on the
Hamel had new copies for us, buletin-board?

written in a beautiful round hand

- France, Alsace, France, Alsace, They looked like little
flags floating everywhere in the school-room, hung from
the rod at the top of our desks. You ought to have scen how
every one set to work, and how quiet it was! The only sound
was the scratching of the pens over the paper. Once some
beetles lew in; but nobody paid any allention to them, nol
even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their
fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the
pigeons cooed very low, andI thought to myself, "Will they
make them sing in German, even the pigeons?
Whenever I looked up from my writing I saw M. Hamel
sitting motionless in his chair and gazing first at one thing.
then at another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how
everything looked in that little school-room. Fancy! For
lorly years he had been there in the same place, wilh his
garden outside the window and his class in front of him,

The Last Lesson/7

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just like that. Only the desks and benches had been worn
smooth; the walnul-trees in the garden were laller, and
the hopvine that he had planted himself twined about the
windows to the roof. How it must have broken his heart to
leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in
the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave
the country next day.
But he had the courage to hear every lcsson to the
very last. Alter the wriling, we had a lesson in history,
and then the babies chanted their ba, be bi, bo, bu. Down
there at the back of the room old Hauser had pul on his
spectacles and, holding his primer in both hands, spelled
the letters with them. You could see that he, too0, was crying;
his voice trembled with emotion, and it was so funny to
hear him that we all wanted to laugh and cry. Ah, how
well I remember it, that last lesson
All at once the church-clock struck twelve. Then the
Angelus. At the same momentthe trumpets of the
Prussians, returning from drill, sounded under our
windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair.
I never saw him look so tall.
"My friends," said he. "-" But something choked
him. He could not go on.
Then he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk,
and, bearing on with all his
might, he wrote as large as he
could Think as you read
Vive La France!"
Then he slopped and leaned 1. What changes did the order

his head against the wall, and, from Berin cause in school
1atday?
without a word, he made a
2. Howdid Franz's feelings about
gesture to us with his hand
M.Hamel and school change?
"School is dismissed- youu
may go.

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Understanding the text
1. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their
language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this
happen?
2. Franz thinks, "Will they make them sing in German, even the
pigeons? What could this mean?
(There could be more than one ansuwer)

Talking about the text

1. "When a people are enslaved, as long as hey hold last to their
language it is as il they had the key to their prison.
Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people
had their language taken away from them or had a language
imposed on them?
2. What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you
think they can keep their language alive? For example

Punjabis in Bangalorc
Tamilians in Munmbai
Kannadiggas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata
3. Is il possible o carry pride in one's language Loo lar?

Do you know what 'linguistic chauvinism means?

Working with words

1. English is a language that contains words from many other
languagCs. This incusivncss is onc of the rcasoms it is now a
World language, For example:

petite French

kindergarten German
capital Latin
democracy Greek
bazaar Ilindi

The Last Lesson/9

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 ind out the origins of the jollowing words.
tycoon barbccuc Zcro

tulip Vcranda ski

logo robot trek
bandicoot
2. Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the
option that best explains their meaning.
(a) "What a thunderclap thesc words wcre to mc
The words were
) loud and clear.
ii) startling and unexpected.
pleasant and welcome.
(b) "When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to
thcir languagc it is as if thcy had thc kcy to thcir prison"
It is as f they have the key to the prison as long as they
) do not lose their language
are attached to their language.
(ii)
i) quickly learn the conqueror's language.
(c) Don't go so fast. you wil get to your school in plenty of time.
You uwill get to your school
(i) very late.
(ii) too early.
(ii) early enough.
(d) I never saw him look so 1all.
M. Hamel (a) had grown physically laller
(b) seemed very confident
(c) stood on the chair

Noticing form
Read ihis senterce
M. Hamel had said thal he would question us on parliciples.
In the sentence above, the verb form "had said" in the lirst
part is uscd to indicate an "carlicr past". The wholc story is
arrated in the past.. M, Hamel's "saying" happened carlier

10/Flamingo

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 than the events in this story. This form of the verb is called the
past perfect.
Pick out five sentences from the story with this form of the verb
and say why this form has been used.

Writing
. Write a notice lor your school bulletin board. Your notice could
be an announcement of a forthcoming event, or a requirement
to be lullilled, or a rule lo be lollowed.
2. Write a paragraph of about 10 words arguing for or against
having lo sludy (hree languages al school.
3. Have you ever changed your opinion about someone or
something that you had earlier liked or disliked? Narrate what
led you to change your mind.

Things to do
1. Find out about the following (You may go to the internet, interview
people, consult reference books or visit a library.)
(a) Linguistic human rights
(b) Conslitutional guarantecs lor linguislic minoritics in India.
2. Given below is a survey lorm. Talk lo al least live ol your
classmates and ill in the inlormalion you gel. in the lorm.

S.No. Languages Home Neighbourhood City/Town School

you know language angiage_ language language
1.

ABoUT THEUNIT

THEME
The pain that is inflicted on the people of a territory by its
conquerors by taking away the righl to sludy or speak Lheir
OWn language.

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SUB-THEME
Student and teacher attitudes to learning and teaching.

READING COMPREHENSION
The comprchcnsion chcck at the end of cach scction in the
unit helps pupils make sure that they have understood the
facts before they move on to the next section. One session of
forty minutes is likely to be enough for one section of the unit,
Pupils can read each section silently and discuss the answers
in pairs.
The questions al the end of the unit are inlerential. These helP
pupils make sense of the writer's intention in focussing on a
local cpisode and to commcnt on an iSsuc of universal
significance. There could be a follow-up discussion on parts
for which students need explanation.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Topics to be discussed in small groups or pairs. This shall help
pupils think of issues that relate to the realities of the society
they live in. Gives scope lor developing speaking skills in the
English language on varied issues. Fluency development.

WORKING WITH WORDS

To make pupils aware ol

thefrom enrichment
the other
of the English
languages.
language through borrowings

idiomatic expressions and figurative use of language.

NoTICING FORM
To make pupils notice tense form and understand the context
of its usc.
WRITING
Practicc in a functional genrc, c.g.. bullctin.
Argumentative writing on a topic related to their life at schoo.
Narrating subjective experience discussing personal likes and
dislikes.

THINGS TO DO
Extension activity that will help pupils understand language
rights of citizens and the problems of linguistic minorities. Social
and political awareness.

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 2 Lost Spring
Stories of Stolen Childhood
About the author
Anees Jung (1964) was born in Rourkela and spent
her childhood and adolescence in Hyderabad. she
received her edu cation in Hyderabad and in the
United Slales ol America. Her parenls were bolh wrileTS,
Anees Jung begarn her career as a riler in lndia. She
has beem an editor and columnist for major newspapers
in India and abroad, and has authorcd scveral books.
The following is an excerpt from her book titled Lost
Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood. Here she analyses
the grinding poverty and traditions which condemn
these children t0 a life of exploitation.

Notice these expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
looking for perpetual state of poverty
slog their daylight hours dark hutments
roof over his head imposed the baggage on the child

'Sometimes Ifind a Rupee in the garbage'

"Why do you do this?" I ask Saheb whom I encounter every
morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my
ncighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst
the grecn fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant
memory. There were many storms that swept away their
fields and homes, his mother tells him. Tha's why they
left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.
"I have nothing else to do," he mutters, looking away.
"Go to school," I say glibly, realising immediately how
hollow the advice must sound.
There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they
build one, I will go."

2019-20
 "If I start a school, will you come?" I ask, half-joking
"Yes," he says, smiling broadly.
A few days later I see him running up o me. "Is your
school rcady?"
"It takes longerto build a school, say, embarrassed
al having made a promise thal was not meant. Bul promises
like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.
After months of knowing him, I ask him his name.
Saheb-e-Alam," he announces. He does not know what it
means. If he knew its meaning -
lord of the universe
he would have a hard time believing it. Unaware of what
his name represents, he roams the slreets with his Iriends,
an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds
and disappear at noon. Over the months, I have come to
recognise each of them.
"Why aren't you wearing chappals?" I ask one.
"My mother did not bring them down from the shelf,"
he answers simply.
"Even if she did he will throw them f." adds another
who is wearing shoes that do not match. When I comment on
it, he shuffles his feet and says nothing. "I want shoes," says
a third boy who has never owned a pair all his life. Travelling
across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in
cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition
to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder il this is only
an excuse to explain away a perpelual state of poverty.
I remember a story a man from Udipi once told me. As a
young boy he would go to school past an old temple, where
his father was a priest. He would stop briefly at the temple
and pray for a pair of shoes. Thirty years later I visited his
town and the temple, which was now drowned in an air of

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desolation. In the backyard, where lived the new priest, there
were red and white plastic chairs. A young boy dressed in a
grey uniform, wearing socks and shoes, arrived panting and
threw his school bag on a tolding bed. Looking at the boy, T
remembered the prayer another boy had made to the goddess
when he had linally got a pair of shoes, "Let me never lose
them." The goddess had granted his prayer. Young boys like
the son of the priest now wore shoes. But many others like
the ragpickers in my neighbourhood remain shoeless.
My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads
me lo Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yel miles
away from it, metaphorically. "Those who live here are
squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb's
family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It
still is, but it is no longer empty. In struclures of mud, with
rOofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or
running water, ive 10,000 ragpickers. They have lived here
for more than thirty years without an identity, without
permits but with ration cards that get their names on voters'
lists and enable them lo buy grain. Food is more imporlant
for survival than an identity. "If at the end of the day we
can feed our families and go to bed without an aching
stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that
gave us no grain," say a group ol women in tattered saris
when I ask them why they lelt their beautilul land of green
fields and rivers. Wherever they tind food, they pitch their
tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them,
becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri
means rag-picking. Through the years, il has acquired the
proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. lt is their
daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it iS a leaking
roof. But for a child it is even more.
I sometimes lind a rupee, even a ten-rupee note,"
Saheb says, his eyes lighting up. When you can lind a
silver coin in a heap of garbage, you dont stop scrounging,
for there is hope of finding more. It seems that for children,
garbage has a meaning different from what it means to
their parenis. For the children il is wrapped in wonder, lor
the elders it is a means of survival.
One winter morning I see Saheb standing by the fenced
gate of the neighbourhood club, watching two young men
dressed in white, playing tennis. "I like the game," he
hums, content tO watch it standing behind the ience. "T go
Lost spring/15

2019-20
 inside when no one is around," he admitsS.
The galekeeper lets me use the swing."
Saheb too is wearing tennis shoes
that look strange over his dliscoloured
Sshirt and shorts. "Someone gave them
to me," he says in the manner of an
explanation. The lact that they are
discarded shoes of some rich boy,
who perhaps refused to wear
them because of a hole in one
of them, does nol bother him.
For one who has walked
barefoot, even shoes with a
hole is a dream come truc. But
the game he is watching so
intently is out olf his reach.
This morning, Saheb is on
his way to the milk booth. In
his hand is a steel canister.
now work in a Lea slall down
the road, he says. pointing in
the distance. "I am paid 800 rupees and all my meals."
Does he like the job? I ask. His face, I sce, has lost the
carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the
plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder.
The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who
Owns the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his own master!
I want to drive a car"
Mukesh insists on being his own master. "I will be a motor
mechanic," he announces.
'Do you know anylhing aboul cars?" ask.1

to drive a car,"
"I will learn
Think as you read he answers, looking straight into
my eyes. His dream looms like a
1. What is Saheb looking for in the
mirage amidst the dust of streets
garbage dumps? Where is he
and where has he come from? that fill his town Firozabad,
2. What explanations does the
famous for its bangles. Every
author offer for the children not
other family in Firozabad is
weanng footwear? engaged in making bangles. It is
3. Is Saheb happy working at he the centre of India's glass-blowing
tea-stal? Explain. industry where families have

16/Plamingo

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spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass,
making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.
Mukesh's family is among them. None of them know
that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass
Surnaces with high lemperatures, in dingy cells without air
and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all
those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they
slog their daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their
eyes. Mukesh's eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home,
which he proudly says is being rebuilt. We walk down
stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain
hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows,
crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in
a primeval state. He stops at the door of one such house,
bangs a wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open.
We enter a half-built shack. In one part of it, thatched with
dead grass, is a firewood stove over which sits a large vessel
of sizzling spinach leaves. On the ground, in large aluminium
platters, are more chopped vegetables. A frail young woman
is cooking the evening meal for the whole family. Through
eyes filled with smoke she snmiles. She is the wife of Mukesh's
elder brother. Not much older in years, she has begun to
command respect as the bahu, the daughter-in-law of the
house, already im charge of three men -
her husband,
Mukesh and their father. When the older man enters, she
gently withdraws behind the broken wall and brings her
veil closer to her tace. As custom demands,. daughters-in-
law must veil their laces belore male elders. In this case
the elder is an impoverished bangle maker. Despite long
years ol hard labour, lirsl as a lailor, then a bangle maker,
he has failed to renovate a house, send his two sons to
school. All he has managed to do is teach them what he
knows the art of making bangles.
"It is his karam, his destiny," says Mukesh's
grandmother, who has walched her own husband go blind
with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. "Can a
god-given lineage ever be broken?" she implies. Born in
the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but
bangles-in the house, in the yard, in every other house,
every other yard, every street in Firozabad. Spirals of

Lost Spring/17

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bangles -sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink, purple,
every colour born oul of the seven colours of the
rainbow-lie in mounds in unkempt yards, are piled on
four-wheeled handcarts, pushed by young men along the
narrow lanes of the shanty town. And in dark hutments,
next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps, sit boys and
girls with their fathers and mothers, welding pieces of
coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more
adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why
they often end up losing their eyesight before they become
adulls.
Savita, a young girl in a drab pink dress, sits alongside
an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass. As her hands
move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if
she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make. It
symbolises an Indian womnan's suhaag, auspiciousness in
marriage. It will dawn on her suddenly one day when her
head is draped with a red veil, her hands dyed red with
henna, and red bangles rolled onto her wrists. She will
then become a bride. Like the old woman beside her who
became one many years ago. She sill has bangles on her
wrist, but no light in her eyes. "E waqt ser bhar khana bhi
nahin khaya," she says. in a voice drained of joy. She has
not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime
that's what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man
with a lowing beard, says, "1 know nohing except bangles.
All I have done is make a house for the family to live in."
Hearing hin, one wonders if he has achieved what many
have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head!
The cry of not having money to do anything except
carry on the business of making bangles, not even en0ugh
to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament
of their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in
Firozabad. Ycars of mind-numbing toil have killed all
initiative and the ability to dream.
"Why not organise yourselves into a cooperative?" I
ask a group of young men who have fallen into the vicious
circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and
forefathers. "Even if we get organised, we are the ones
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who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and
dragged to jail lor doing something illegal,"
they say. There is no leader among them,
no one who could help them see things
differently. Their fathers are as
tired as they are. They talk
endlessly in a spiral that
moves from poverty to
apathy to greed and to
injustice.
Listening to ihem, I
see two distinct worlds
one of the family., caught
in a web of poverty,
burdened by the
stugma of caste in
which they are
born; the other
a vicious circle
of the sahukars,
the middlemen,
the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and
the politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage
on the child that he cannot put down. Before he is aware,
he accepts it as naturally as his father. To do anything
clse would mean to dare. And daring is not part of his
growing up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am
cheered. I want to be a motor mechanic, he repeats. He
will go t0 a garage and learTI. Bul the garage is a long way
from his home. "I will walk," he
insists. "Do you also dream ol
flying a plane?" He is suddenly Think as you read
silent. "No," he says, staring at 1. What makes the city of
the ground. In his small murmur Firozabad famous!
there is an embarrassment that 2. Mention the hazards of working
has not yet turned into regret. in the glass bangles industry.
He is content to dream of cars 3. Howis Mukesh's attitude to his
hal he sees hurling down Lhe situation diferent from that of
streets of his towm. Few airplanes his family?

fly over Firozabad.

Lost Spring/19

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Understanding the text
1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people
from villagcs to citics?
2. Would you agrcc that promiscs made to poor childrcn arc rarcly
kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidenis narraled
m the text?
3. What lorces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle induslry
of Firozabad in poverty'?

Talking about the text

I. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Thinking about language

Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of
misery it transforms these situations with an almost poetical
prose into a literary experience, How does it do so? Here are
some litcrary deviccs:
Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes
something sound better or more exciting than it really is.
For example: Garbage to them is gold.
A Melaphor, as you may krnow, compares lwo things or ideas
that are not very similar, A metaphor describes a thing in
Lerms ol a single qualily or lealure ol some other thing: we
can say that a metaphor "transfers" a quality of one thing to
another. For examplc: Thc road was a ribbon of light.
Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing wilh
another using the words "like" or "as". For example: As white
as sno.
CarefullyY read the following phrases and sentences taken from the
text. Can you identifiy the literary device in each example?
1. Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly
in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.
2. DroWned in an air ol desolalion.
3. Sccmapuri, a placc on the pcriphcry of Dclhi yct milcs away
Irom it, melaphorically.
20/Flamingo

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 4. For the children it is wrapped in wonder: for the elders it is a
means of survival.
5. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine,
I
wonder il she knows Ihe sanclity ol the bangles she helps makc.
6. She still has bangles on her wrist, but not light in her eyes.
7. Few airplanes ly over Firozabad.
8. Web of poverty.
9. Scrounging for gold.
10. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the
ycars, it has acquired the proportions of a line art.
11. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would
carry so lightly over his shoulders.

Things to do
The beauly ol thc glass bangles ol Pirozabad conlrasts wilh
the misery of people who produce them.
This paradox is also found in some other situations, for
example, those who work in gold and diamond mines, or carpet
weaving factories, and the products of their labour, the lives of
construction workcrs, and the buildings they build.
Look around and lind examples ol such paradOxes.
Write a paragraph of about 200 to 250 words on any one of
them. You can start by making notcs.
Here is an example ol hOW one such paragraph may begi:
You never see the poor in this town. By day they toil, working
cranes and earthmovers, squirreling deep into the hot sand to
ay the joundations of chrome. By right they are banished to
bleak labour camps al the oulskiris of the cily...

ABoUT THE UNT

THEME
The plight of street children forced into labour carly in life and
denied the opportunity of schooling.

SUB-THEME
The callousness of society and the political class to the
sufferings of the poor.

Lost Spring/21

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COMPREHENSION
Factual understanding and responding with sensitivity.
Thinking on socio-economic issues as a take-olf from the text.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

.Fluency development
Social awareness
Discussion on
the dreams of the poor and the realily.
problems of child labour.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Focus on the use of figures of speech in writing.

THINGS TO DO

Observalion ol lhe paradoxes in the society we live in.

WRITING
Note-making and reporting.

Over 20 months lrom 2013 to 2015 more than 100 garbage collectors
and scrap buyers in Delhi were intervicwed. Their families lived in
poverty in homcs constructcd with bamboo and plastic shcts. Thcse
temporary structures were their shelters as well as place for sorting
scrap into about ten different categories. Once the garbage is sorted
into sacks it is gold to the buyers on the basis of its weight. Sadly,
the collectors usualy are not paid the total amount after buying the
sCrap. Inslead, small payments are made lor daily expenses, and
the rest is noted down as a deposit.
(As reported in THE CONVERSATION, June 27, 2017. Researcher
Dana Kornberg. PhD candidate in sociology University of Michigan.
As you have read, a large population
works in unorganized
sectors like garbage pickers, bangle makers, vegetable sellers, etc.
How do you lhink workers in unorganized seclors can lake advanlage
of digital infrastructure promoted through Digital ndia Programme?
Intervicw somc pcople working in unorganizcd scctor to collcct thcir
views and prepare a repor.,

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 3 Deep Water 20rcHU0s

About the author

William Douglas (1898-1980) was born in Maine,
Minnesota. After graduating with a Bachelors oI Arts
in English and Economics, he spent two years teaching
high school in Yakima. However, he got tired of this and
decided Lo pursue a legal career. He met Franklin D.
Rooscvclt at Yale and became an adviscr and fricnd to
Lhe President. Douglas was a lcading advocate ol
individual rights. He retired in 1975 with a term lasting
thirty-six years and remains the longest-serving Justice
in the history of the court. The following excerpt is taken
from Of Men and Mountains by Willianm 0. Douglas. It
reveals how as a young boy William Douglas nearly
drowned in a swimming pool In this essay he talks
about his ear of water and thercalter, how he linally
Overcame il. Nolice how 1he aulobiographical pari ol
the selection is used to support his discssion of fear.

Notice these words and expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
treacherous misadventure
Subdued my pride bob to the surtace like a cork
flailed at the surtace curtain of life fell
fishing for landlocked salmon back and forth across the pool

It had happened when I was ten or eleven years old. I had

decided to learn to swim. There was a pool at the Y.M.C.A
in Yakima that offered exactly the opportunity. The Yakima
River was ureacherous. Mother conlinually warned against
it, and kept fresh in my mind the details of each drowning
in the river. But the Y.M.C.A. pool was safe. It was only
two or three feet deep at the shallow end; and while it was
nine feet deep at the other, the drop was gradual. I got a
pair of water wings and went to the pool. I hated to walk

2019-20
 THE YAKIMA RIVER

KACHESSS
LAKE

CLE ELUM
LAKE

KEECHELUS CLE
LAKE LUMM
EASTON

YAKIMAURIVER

ELLENSBURG

NCER
repu
re
be
tto
MACHE
RIVER
YAKIMA

RIVER

TLETON

The Yakirnaa River is a lribulary

ofthe Columbia River in easterrn
Washington, U.S.A. The state is
TaTied ajter the indigenoUs
Yakama people.

Sketch map nol i SCcale

24/Flamingo

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naked into it and show my skinny legs. But 1 subdued my
pride and did i.
From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the
water when I was in it. This started when I was three or
four years old and father took me to the beach in California.
He and I stood together in the surt. I hung on to him, yet
the waves knocked me down and swept over me. I was
buried in water. My breath was gone. I was frightened.
Father aughed, but there was teTor in my heart at the
overpowering force of the waves.
My inuroduclion to the Y.M.CA. swimming pool revived
unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a
little while I gathered confidence. I paddled with my new
water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn
by aping them. I did this two or three times on dilfferent
days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water
when the misadventure happened.
I went to the pool when no one else was there. The place
was quiet. The water was still. and the tiled bottom was as
while and clean as a bathlub was limid about going in
alone, so I sat on the side of the p0ol to wait for others.
I had not been there long when in came a big bruiser
of a boy, probably eighteen years old. He had thick hair on
his chest. He was a beautiful physical specimen, with legs
and arms that showed rippling muscles. He yelled, "Hi,
Skinny! How'd you like to be ducked?
With that he picked me up and tossed me into the deep
end. I landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and
went at once to the bottomn. I was frightened, but not yet
frightened out of my wits. On the way down I planned:
When my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jumpP.
come to the surface, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of
the pool.
It seemed a long way down. Those nine feet were more
like nincty, and before I touched bottom my lungs were
ready to burst. But when my leet hit bottom I summoned
all my strength and made what I thought was a great spring
upwards. I imagined I would bob lo the surlace ike a cork.
Instead, I came up slowly. I opened my eyes and saw nothing

Deep Water/25

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but water- water that had a dirty yellow tinge to it. I
grew panicky. I reached up as il lo grab a rope and my
hands clutched only at water. I was sutfocating. tried to
yell but no sound came out. Then my eyes and nose canme
out of the water -but not my mouth.
I flailed at the surface of the water, swallowed and
choked. I tried to bring my legs up, but they hung as dead
weights, paralyscd and rigid. A great force was pulling me
under. I screamed, but only the water heard me. I had
started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.
I struck at the water as I went down, expending my
strength as one in a nightmare fights an irresistible force. I
had lost all my breath. My lungs ached, my head throbbed
I was getting dizzy. But I remembered the strategy-I
would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a
cork to the surface. I would lie flat on the water, strike out
with my arms, and thrash with my legs. Then I would get
to the edge of the pool and be sale
I went down, doWn, endlessly, Iopened my eyes. Nothing
but water with a yellow glowdark water thal one could
not see through.
And then sheer, stark terror seized me, terror that
knows no understanding, terror that knows no control,
terror that no one can understand who has not experienced
it. I was shrieking under water. I was paralysed under water
stiff, rigid with fear. Even the scrcams in my throat were
frozen. Only my heart, and the pounding in my head, said
that I was still alive.
And then in the midst of he terror came a louch of
reason. I must remember to jump when I hit the bottom. At
last I felt the tiles under me. My t0es reached out as if to
grab them. I jumped with everything I had.
But the jump made no diference. The water was still
around me. I looked for ropes, ladders, water wings. Nothing
but water. A mass of yellow water held me. Stark terror
took an even deeper hold on me, like a great charge of
electricity. I shook and trembled with fright. My arms
wouldn't move. My legs wouldn'l move. I lried to call lor
help, to call for mother. Nothing happened.
26/Flamingo

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 And then, strangely, there was light. I was coming out
ol the awlul yellow waler. At least my eyes were. My nose
was almost out too.
Then I started down a third time. I sucked for air and
got water. The yellowish light was going out.
Then all effort ceased, I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp;
and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it
wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quict
and peaceful. Nothing to be alraid of. This is nice... to be
drowsy.. to go to sleep... no need to jump... too tired to
jump.. its nice to be carried gently... lo Iloat along in space..
tender arms around me... tender arms like Mother's.. now
I
must go to sleep...
I crossed to oblivion, and the
curtain of life fell. Think as you read
The next I remember I was
1. What is the "misadventure" that
lying on my stomach beside the
Willam Douglas speaks about?
pool, vomiting. The chap that threw
2. What were the series of emotions
me in was saying. "But l was only and fears that Douglas
fooling." Someone said, "The kid experienced when he was thrown
nearly died. Be all right now. Lets into the pool? What plans did he
carry him to the locker room." make to come to the surface?
Several hours later, I walked 3. How did this experience atfect
home. was weak and trembling.
I him?
I shook and cried when I lay on
my bed. I couldn't cat that night. For days a haunting fear
was in my heart. The slightest exertion upset me, making
me wobbly in the knees and sick to my stomach.
I never went back lo the pool. I feared water. 1 avoided
it whenever I could.
A lew years later when I
came to know the waters of
the Cascades, I wanted to get into them. And whenever I
did- whether I was wading the Tieton or Bumping River
or bathing in Warm Lake of the Goat RockS- the terTOr
that had scized nme in the pool would come back. It would
take possession of me completely. My legs would become
paralysed. Icy horror would grab my heart.
This handicap slayed with me as the years rolled by.
In canoes on Maine lakes fishing for landlocked salmon,
Deep Water/27

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bass fishing in New Hampshire., trout fishing on the
Deschules and Melolius in Oregon, lishing lor Salmon on
the Columbia, at Bumping Lake in the Cascades5
wherever I went, the haunting fear of the water followed
me. It ruined my tishing trips; deprived me of the joy of
canoeing. boating. and swimming.
I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it
held me firmly in its grip. Finally, one October, I decided to
get an instructor and learn to swim. I went to a pool and
practiced five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor
put a belt around me. A rope atlached lo Uhe bell went
through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. He held on
to the end of the rope, and we went back and forth, back
and forth across the pool, hour after hour, day after day,
week after week. On each trip across the pool a bit of the
panic seized me. Each time the instructor relaxed his hold
on the rope and I went under, some of the old terror returned
and my legs froze. It was three months before the tension
began to slack. Then he taught me to put my face under
waler and exhale, and to raise my nose and inhale. I repealed
the exercise hundreds of times. Bit by bit I shed part of the
panic that seized me when my head went under water.
Next he held me at the side of the pool and had mne
kick with my legs. For weeks I did just that. At first my
legs refused to work. But they gradually relaxed; and finally
I could command them.
Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer. And when he
had perfected each piece, he put them together into an
integrated whole. In April he said, "Now you can swim. Dive
off and swim the length of the pool, crawl stroke."
I did. The instructor was finished.
But I
was not finished. I still wondered if I would be
terror-stricken when I was alone in the pool. I tried it. I
swam the length up and down. Tiny vestiges of the old
terror would return. But now I could frown and say to that
terror, "Trying to scare me, eh? Well, here's to you! Look!"
And off Td go for another length of the pool.
This wenl on until July. But I was still not salislied. I
was not sure that all the terror had left. So I went to Lake

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Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs
Island, and swam lwo miles across the lake to Stamp Acl
Island. I swam the crawl, breast stroke, side stroke, and
back stroke. Only once did the terror return. When I was
in the middle of the lake, 1 put my face under and saw
nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned
in miniature. I laughed and said, "Well, Mr Terror, what do
you think you can do to me?" It fled and I swam on.
Yet I had residual doubtS. At my lirst opportunity I
hurried west, went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up
the Conrad Creek Trail lo Meade Glacier, and camped in
the high meadow by the side of Warm Lake. The next
morningI stripped, dived into the lake, and swam across
to the other shore and back just as Doug Corpron used
-

I
to do. shouted with joy, and Gilbert Peak returned the
echo. I had conquered my fear of water.
The experience had a deep meaning for me, as only
those who have known stark terror and conquered it can
appreciate. In death there is peace. There is terror only in
he lear of dealh, as Roosevelt knew when he said, "All we
have to fear is fear itself." Because
Think as you read
I had experienced both the
sensation of dying and the terror
1. Why was Douglas determined to
that fear of it can produce, the get over his fear of water?
will to live somehow grew in 2. How did the instructor "build a
intensity. Swimmer out of Douglas?
At last I felt released- ree 3. How did Douglas make sure that
to walk the trails and climb the he conquered the old teror?
peaks and to brush aside fear.

Understandling the text

1. How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic
that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details
that have made the description vivid.
2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
3. Why does Douglas as an aduli Tecount a childhood expericrnce
of terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he
draw from this experience?
Deep Water/29

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Talking about the text
1. "All we have to fear is fear itself"'. Have you ever had a fear that
you have now overcomc? Sharc your cxpericnce with your
partner.
2. Find and narate other stories about conquest ol fear and what
people have said about courage. For example, you can recall Nelson
Mandela s slruggle lor Ireedom, his peTSCVeranec lo achieve his
mission, Lo liberale the oppressed and the oppressor as depicied
in his autobiography. The story We're Not Afraid To Die, which you
have read în Class Al, 1s an apt Cxamplc of how couragc and
optimism helped a family survive under the direst stress.

Thinking about language

Il someone else had narrated Douglas's experience, how would
it have differed from this account? Write out a sample
paragraph or paragraphs from this lext rom the point of vicw
ol a third person or observer, lo limd oul which slyle ol narralion
would you consider to be more effective? Why?

Writing
1. for example a sport, music, dance or
Doing well in any activity,
painting, a motorcyele or a car, involves a great deal ot
riding
struggle. Most of us are very nervous to begin with until
gradually we overcome our fears and perform well.
Write an essay of about five paragraphs rccounting such an
CXperience. Try lo TeCollect minule delails ol whal caused the
fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or
the criticism.
You couild begin with the last sentence of the essay you have
just. read- "AL. last I fell released lree lo walk the lrails and
climb the peaks and to brush aside lear."
2. Write a short letter t0 somconc you krnow about your having
learnt to do something new.

Things to do
Are there any water sports in India? Find out about the areas
or placcs which are knowm tor water sports.

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ABoUT THE UNm

THEME
A real-life personal accournt of experiencing fear and the steps
taken to Overcome it.
SUB-THEME
Psychological analysis of fear.
COMPREHENSION
Undcrstanding another pcrson's cxpcricncc.
Rclating subjectively to the discussion on fcar.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Sharing personal experiences.
Sharing accounts of acts ol courage.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Focus on tirst person narrative style.
WRITING
First person narration of personal experience.
Letter-Writing on pcrsonal learning achicvcment.
THINGS TO DO
Gathering information on water sports.

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4The Rattrap 12074CH

About the author

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish writer whose
stories have been iranslated into many languages. A
universal themc runs through all of them a bclicf
Lhal the essenlial goodness in a human bcing can be
awakened through understanding and love. This story
is set amidst the mines of Sweden, rich in iron ore,
which figure large in the history and legends of that
country. The story is told somewhat in the manner of a
fairy lale.

Notice these expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
keep body and soul together hunger gleamed in his eyes
plods along the road unwonted joy
Impenetrable prison nodded a haughty consent
eased his way fallen into a line of thought
things have gone dovwnhil

Once upon a time there was a man who went around selling
small rallraps of wire. He made them himself al odd
moments, from the material he got by begging in the stores
or at the big farms. But even so, the business was not
especially profitable, so he had to resort to both begging
and petty thievery to keep body and soul together. Even so,
his clothes were in rags, his cheeks were sunken, and
hunger glcamed in his eyes.
No one can inmagine how sad and monotonous lile can
appear to such a vagabond, who plods along the road, left
to his own meditalions. Bul one day this man had fallen
into a line of thought, which really seemed to him
entertaiming. He had naturally been thinking ot his rattraps
when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole

2019-20
world about him- the whole world with its lands and
Seas, ils cilies was nothing bul a big rallrap.
and villages-
It had never existed for any other purpose than to set baits
for people. It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat
and clothing, exactly as the rattrap offered cheese and
pork, and as soon as anyone let himselt be tempted to
touch the bait, it closed in on him, and then everything
came to an end.
The world had, of course, never been very kind to him,
so it gave him unwonted joy to think ill of it in this way. It
became a cherished pastime of his, during many dreary
ploddings, to think of people he knew who had let
themselves be caught in the dangerous snare, and of others
who were still circling around the bait.
One dark evening as he was trudging along the road
he caught sight of a little gray cottage by the roadside, and
he knocked on the door to ask shelter for the night. Nor
was he refused. Instead of the sour faces which ordinarily
met him, the owner, who was an old man without wife or
child, was happy lo gel someone to lalk to in his loneliness.
Immedliately he put the porridge pot on the fire and gave
him supper; then he carved off such a big slice from his
tobacco roll that it was enough both for the stranger's pipe
and his own. Finally he got out an old pack of cards and
played mjölis' with his guest until bedtime.
The old man was just as generous with his confidences
as with his porridge and tobacco. The guest was informed
at once that in his days of prosperity his host had been a
crofier al Ramsj Ironworks and had worked on the land.
Now that he was no longer able to do day labour, it was his
cow which supported him. Yes, that bossy was
extraordinary. She could give milk for the creamery every
day, and last month he had received all of thirty kronor in
payment.
The stranger must have scemed incredulous, for the
old man got up and went to the window, took down a leather
pouch which hung on a nail in the very window frame, and
picked out three wrinkled len-kronor bills. These he held
up before the eyes of his guest, nodding knowingly, and
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then stuffed them back into the TLt
pouch.
Think as you read
The next day both men got up 1. From where did the peddler get
in good season. The crofter was in the idea of the world beinga
a hurry to milk his cow, and the rattrap?
other man probably thought he 2. Why was he amused by this
should not stay in bed when the
hcad of the house had gotten up. 3. Did the peddler expect the kind
of hospitality that he received
They left the cottage at the same
from the crofter?
time. The crofter locked the door
4. Why was the crofter so talkative
and pui the key in his pocket. The and friendly with the peddler?
man with the rattraps said good 5. Why did he show the thirty
bye and thank you, and thereupon kroner to the peddler?
each went his oWn way. 6. Did the peddler respect the
But half an hour later the confidence reposed in him by
rattrap peddler stood again before the crofter?
the door. He did not try to get in,
however. He only went up to the window, smashed a pane,
stuck in his hand, and got hold of the pouch with the
hirty kronor. He ook the money and thrust il into his
OWn pocket. Then he hung the leather pouch very carefully
back in its place and went away.
As he walked along with the money in his pocket he
felt quite pleased with his smartness. He realised, of course,
that at first he dared not continue on tlhe public highway,
but must turn off the road, into the woods. During the
first hours this caused him no diiiculty. Later in the day
it became worse, for it was a big and confusing forest which
he had gollen into. He iried, to be sure. to walk in a definite
direction, but the paths twisted back and forth so strangely!
He walked and walked without coming to the end of the
wood, and finally he realised that he had only been walking
around in the same part of the forest. All at once he recalled
his thoughts about the world and the rattrap. Now his
own turn had come. He had let himself be fooled by a bait
and had been caught. The whole forest, with its trunks
and branches, its thickets and fallen logs, closed in upon
him like an impenetrable prison lrom which he could
never escape.
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 It was late in December. Darkness was already
descending oveT Lhe lorest. This increased the danger, and
increased also his gloom and despair. Finally he saw no
way out, and he sank down on the ground, ired to death,
thinking that his last moment had come. But just as he
laid his head on the ground, he heard a sound-a hard
regular thumping. There was no doubt as to what that
was. He raised himself. "Those are the hammer strokes
from an iron mill", he thought. "There must be people near
by". He summoned all his strength, got up, and staggered
in the direction of the sound.
The Ramsjö Ironworks, which are now closed down,
were, not so long ago, a large plant, with smelter, rolling
mill, and forge. In the summertime long lines of heavily
loaded barges and scows slid down the canal, which Jed to
a large inland lake, and in the wintertime the roads near
the mill were black from all the coal dust which sifted
down from the big charcoal crates.
During one of the long dark evenings just before
Christmas, the master smilh and his helper sal in the
dark forge near the furnace waiting for the pig iron, which
had been put in the fire, to be ready to put on the anvil.
Every now and then one of them got up to stir the glowing
mass with a long iron bar, returning in a iew moments,
dripping with perspiration, though, as was the custom, he
Wore nothing but a long shirt and a pair of wooden shoes.
All the time there were many sounds to be heard in
the forge. The big bellows groaned and the burning coal
cracked. The lire boy shovelled charcoal inlo the maw of
the furnace with a great deal of clatter. Outside roared the
waterfall. and a sharp north wind whiPped the rain against
the brick-tiled roof.
It was probably on account of all this noise that the
blacksmith did not notice that a man had opened the gate
and entcred the forge, until he stood closc up to the furnace.
Surely it was nothing unusual lor poor vagabonds
without any better shelter for the night to be attracted to
the forge by the glow of ighl which escaped through the
sooty panes, and to come in to warm themselves in front of
The Rattrap/35

2019-20
the fire. The blacksmiths glanced only casually and
indillerently at the intruder. He looked the way people ol
his type usually did, with a long beard, dirty, ragged, and
with a bunch of rattraps dangling on his chest.
He asked permission to stay, and the master blacksmith
nodded a haughty consent without honouring him with a
single word.
The tramp did not say anything, cither. He had not
come there to talk but only to warm himself and sleep.
In those days the Ramsjö iron mill was owned by a
very prominent ironmaster, whose grealest ambilion was
to ship out good iron to the market. He watched both night
and day to see that the work was done as well as possible,
and at this very moment he came into the forge on one of
his nightly rounds of inspection.
Naturally the first thing he saw was the tall ragamufin
who had eased his way so close to the furnace that steam
rose from his wet rags. The ironmaster did not follow the
example of the blacksmiths, who had hardly deigned to
look at he slranger. He walked close up lo him, looked
him over very carefully, then tore off his slouch hat to get
a better view of his face.
But of course it is you, Nils Olof!" he said. "How you1
do look!"
The man with the rattraps had never before seen the
ironmaster at Ramsjö and did not even know what his
name was. But it occurred to him that if the fine gentleman
thought he was an old acquaintance, he might perhaps
throw him a couple of kronor. Therelore he did not want to
undeceive him all at once.
"Yes, God knows things have gone downhill with me",
he said.
"You should not have resigned from the regiment", said
the ironmaster. "That was the mistake. If only I had still
been in the service at the tinme, it never would have happened.
Well, noW ol course you will come home with me."
To go along up to the manor house and be received by
the owner like an old regimental comrade -that, however,
did not please the tramp.

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 No, I couldn't think of it!" he said, looking quite
alarmed.
He thought of the thirty kronor. To go up to the manor
house would be like throwing himself voluntarily into the
lion's den. He only wanted a chance to sleep here in the
forge and then sneak away as inconspicuously as possible.
The ironmaster assumed that he felt embarrassed
because of his miscrable clothing.
"Please don't think that I have such a fine home that
you cannot show yourself there", He said... "Elizabeth is
dead, as you may already have heard. My boys are abroad,
and there is no one at home except my oldest daughter
and myself. We were just saying that it was too bad we
didn't have any company for Christmas. Now come along
with me and help us make the Christmas food disappear a
little faster."
But the stranger said no, and
no, and again no, and the ironmaster Think as you read
Saw that he must give in. 1. What made the peddler think
"It looks as though Caplain that he had indeed fllen into a
von Stahle preferred to stay with rattrap?
you tonight, Stjernström", he said 2. Why did the ironmaster speak
to the master blacksmith, and kindly to the peddler and invite

turned on his heecl. him home'?

But he laughed to himself 3. Why did the peddler dedline the

invitation?
as he went away, and the blacksmith,
who kuew him, understoocd very well
that he had not said his last word.
It was not more than hall an hour belore they heard
the sound of carriage wheels outside the forge, and a new
guest came in, but this time it was not the ironmaster. He
had sent his daughter, apparently hoping that she would
have better powers of persuasion than he himsclf.
She entered, followed by a valet, carrying on his arm a
big fur coat. She was not at all pretty, but seemcd modest
and quite shy. n the forge everything was just as it had
been earlier in the evening. The master blacksmith and
his apprenlice slill sal on their bench, and iron and
charcoal still glowed in the furnace. The stranger had
The Rattrap/37

2019-20
stretched himself out on the floor and lay with a piece of
pig iron under his head and his hat pule down over his
eyes. As soon as the young girl caught sight of him, she
went up and lilted his hat. The man was evidently used to
sleeping with one eye open. He juimped upP abruptly and
seemed to be quite frightened.
"My namne is Edla Willmansson," said the young girl.
"My father came home and said that you wanted to sleep
here in the forge tonight, and then I asked permission to
come and bring you home to us. I am so sorry, Captain,
that you are having such a hard time."
She looked at him compassionately, with her heavy
eyes, and then she noticed that the man was afraid. "Either
he has stolen something or else he has escaped from, jail"
she thought, and added quickly, "You may be sure, Captain,
that you will be allowed to leave us just as reely as you
came. Only please stay with us over Christmas Eve."
She said this in such a friendly manner that the
rattrap peddler must have felt confidence in her.
"Il would never haye occurred to me that you would
bother with me yourself, miss," he said. I will come at
once."
He accepted the fur coat, which the valet handed him
with a deep bow, threw it over his rags, and followed thee
young lady out to the carriage, without granting the
astonished blacksmiths so much as a glance,
But while he was riding up to the manor house he had
evil forebodings.
"Why the devil did I lake that fellow's money?" he
thought. "Now I am sitting in the trap and will never get
out of it."
The next day was Christmas Eve, and when thne
ironmaster came into the dining room for breakfast he
probably thought with satisfaction of his old regimental
comrade whom he had run across so unexpectedly.
"First of all we must see to it that he gets a little flesh
on his bones." he said to his daughter. who was busy at
lhe table. "And then we must see that he gels something
else to do than to run around the country selling rattraps."

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 "It is queer that things have gone downhill with him
as badly as that," said Lhe daughter. "Last night I did not
think there was anything about him to show that he had
once been an educated man."
You must have patience, my little girl," said the father.
"As s0on as he gets clean and dressed up, you will see
something different. Last night he was naturally
embarrassed. The tramp manners will fall away from him
with the tramp clothes."
Just as he said this the door opened and the stranger
entered. Yes, now he was truly clean and well dressed.
The valet had bathed him, cut his hair, and shaved him.
Moreover he was dressed in a good-looking suit of clothes
which belonged to the ironmaster. He wore a white shirt
and a starched collar and whole shoes.
But although his guest was now so well groomed, the
ironmaster did not seem pleased. He looked at him with
puckered brow, and it was easy to understand that when
he had seen the strange fellow in the uncertain reflection
from the furnace he might have made a mistake, bul that
now, when he stood there in broad daylight, it was
impossible to mistake him for an old acquaintance.
What does this mean? he thundered.
The stranger made no attempt to dissimulate. He saw
at once that the splendour had come to an end.
"It is not my fault, sir," he said. "I never pretended to
be anything but a poor trader, and I pleaded and begged to
be allowed to stay in the forge. But no harm has been
done. AL worst I can put on my rags again and go away",
Well," said the ironmaster, hesitating a little, "it waas
not quite honest, either. You must admit that, and I should
not be surprised if the sheriff would like to have something
to say in the matter."
The tramp took a step forward and struck the table
with his fist.
"Now I am going to tell you, Mr Ironmaster, how things
are," he said. "This whole world is nothing but a big rattrap.
All the good things thal are oflered o you are nothing bul
cheese rinds and bits of pork. set out to drag a poor fellow
The Rattrap/39

2019-20
into trouble. And if the sheriff comes now and lockS me up
or this, Lhen you, Mr lronmasler, musl remembera thal
day may come when you yourself may want to get a big
piece of pork, and then you will get caught in the trap.
The ironmaster began to laugh.
"That was not so badly said, my good fellow. Perhaps
we should let the sheriff alone on Christmas Eve. But now
get out of here as fast as you can."
But just as the man was opening the door, the daughteer
said, "I think he ought to stay with us today. I don't want
him to go." And with that she went and closed the door.
What in the world are you doing?" said the father.
The daughter stood there quite embarrassed and hardly
knew what to answer. That morning she had felt so happy
when she thought how homelike and Christmassy she was
going to make things for the poor hungry wretch. She could
not get away from the idea all at once, and that was why
she had interceded for the vagabond
I am thinking of this stranger here," said the young
girl. "He walks and walks the whole year long. and there is
probably not a single place in the whole country where he
is welcome and can leel at home. Wherever he turns he is
chased away. Always he is afraid of being arrested and
cross-examined. I should like to have him enjoy a day of
peace with us here-just one in the whole year."
The ironmaster mumbled something in his beard. Hc
could not bring himself to oppose her.
"It was all a mistake, of course," she continued. "But
anyway I don't hink we ought to chase away a human
being whom we have asked to come here, and to whom we
have promised Christmas cheer."
"You do preach worse than a parson," said the
ironmaster. "I only hope you won't have to regret this."
The young girl took the stranger by the hand and led
him up to the table.
"Now sit down and eat," she said, for she could see
that her father had given in.
The man with the rallraps said nol a word; he only
sat down and helped himself to the food. Time after time
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he looked at the young girl who had interceded for him.
Why hads done il? Whal could the crazy idea be?
After that, Christmas Eve at Ramsjó passed just as it
always had. The stranger did not cause any trouble because
he did nothing but sleep. The whole forenoon he lay on the
sofa in one of the guest rooms and slept at one stretch. At
noon they woke him up so that he could have his share of
the good Christmas fare, but after that he slcpt again. It
seemed as though lor many years he had not beem able to
sleep as quietly and safely as here at Ramsjo.
In the evening, when the Chrisimas iree was lighted,
they woke him up again, and he stood for a while in the
drawing room, blinking as though the candlelight hurt him,
but after that he disappeared again. Two hours later he
was aroused once more. He then had to go down into the
dining room and eat the Christmas fish and porridge.
As soon as they got up from the table he went around
to each one present and said thank you and good night,
but when he came to the young
girl she gave him to understand Think as you read
that it was her father's intention
1. What made the pedler
that the suit which he wore was
accept Edla Wilmansson's
to be a Christmas present he
invitaton?
did not have to return it; and it 2. Whatdoubts did Edla have
he wanted to spend next about the pedler?
Christmas Eve in a place where 3. When did the ironmaster
he could rest in peace, and be realise his mistake!?
Sure that no evil would betall him, 4. What did the peddler say in
he would be welcomed back again. his defence when it was clear

The man with the rattraps that he was not the person the
Ironmaster had thought he
did not answer anything to this.
He only stared at the young girl was?
5. Why did Edla still entertain
in boundless amazement.
the peddler even after she
The next morning the knew the truith about him?
ironmaster and his daughter got
up in good season to go to the early Christmas service.
Their guest was still asleep, and they did not disturb him.
When, al about len o'clock, they drove back lrom the
church, the young girl sat and hung her head even more

The Rattrap/41

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dejectedly than usual. At church she had learned that one
ol the old crollers of the ironworks had been robbed by a
man wh0 went around selling rattraps.
"Yes, that was a fine fellow you let into the house,"
said her father. "I only wonder how many silver spoons are
left in the cupboard by this time."
The wagon had hardly stopped at the front steps when
the ironmaster asked the valet whether the stranger was
still there. He added that he had heard at chuurch that the
man was a thief. The valet answered that the fellow had
gone and that he had not taken anything wilh him at all.
On the contrary, he had left behind a little package which
Miss Willmansson was to be kind enough to accept as a
Christmas present.
The young girl opened the package, which was so badly
done up that the contents came into view at once. She
gave a little cry of joy. She found a small rattrap, and in it
lay three wrinkled ten kronor notes. But that was not all.
In the rattrap lay also a letter written in large. jagged
characters
"Honoured and noble Miss.
"Since you have been so nice to
me all day long. as if I was a Think as you read
captain, I want to be nice to you,
in return, as if, I was a real 1. Why was Edla happy to see

capfain-for do not want you

I the girt lert by the peddler?
to be embarrassed at this 2. why did the peddler sign
himself as Captain von Stahle?
Christmas season by a thief; but
you can give back the money to
the old man on the roadside, who has the money pouch
hanging on the window frame as a bait for p00r wanderers.
"The rattrap is a Christmas present from a rat wh0
would have been caught in this world's rattrap if he had
not been raised to captain, because in that way he got
power to clear himself.
"Wrillen with friendship
and high regard,
"Captain von Stahle."

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Understandling the text
1. How docs the peddler interpret the acts of kindness and
hospitality shown by thc crofter, the ironmaster and his
daughter?
2. Whal are the instances in the slory thal show that he characler
of the ironmaster is different from that of his daughter in many
ways?
3. The slory has many inslances ol unexpected reaclions lrom the
characters to others' behaviour. Pick out instances ol these
surprises.
4. What made the peddler finally change his ways?
5. How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the
human predicamenil?
6. Thc pcddler comcs out as a person with a subtlc scnsc of humouT
How does this serve in lightening the seriousness of the theme
of the story and also endear him to us?

Talking about the text

Discuss the Jolowing in groups of Jour. Each group can deal
Lwith one topic. Present the views of your group to the whole
class.
1. The reader's sympathy is with the peddler right from the
beginning ol the slory. Why is this so? Is the sympalhy juslificd?
2. The story also focuses on human loneliness and the ned to
bond with others.
3. Have you known/heard of an episode where a good deed or an
act of kindncss has changcd a person's vicw ot the world?
4. The story is both entertaining and philosophical.

Working with words

I. The man selling rallraps is relerred to by many lerms such as
peddler, stranger etc. Pick out all such relerences to him. What
docs cach of thesc labcls indicatc of the context or the attitudc
of the people around him.
2. You came across the words, plod, trudge, stagger in the story.
These words indicate movement accompanied by weariness. Find
live olher such words with a similar meaning

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Noticing form
1. He made them himself at odd moments.
2. He raised himself.
3. He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught.
4. a day may comc when you yourself may want to get a big
plcce ol pork.
Notice the way in which these rejlexivE pronouns have been used
prortour+ se}
. In and 4 the reflexive pronouns
1 "himself" and "yourself"
are uscd to convey emphasis.
In 2 and 3 the Tellexive pronioun is uscd in place of personal
pronoun to signal that il relers lo the same subject in the
sentence.
Pick out other examples of the use of retlexive pronouns from
the story and notice how they are used.

Thinking about language

I. Notice the words in bold in the Jollouwing sernlence
The fire boy shovelled charcoal into the maw of the furnace
with a great deal of clatter". This is a phrase that is used in the
specific context of an iron plant.
Pick oul olher such phrases and words Jrom the story thal are
peculiar Lo ihe lernirology q ironuorks.
2. Mjölis is a card game of Sweden.
Name a jew indoor games played in your region. "Chopar coulad be
an exampte.
3. A crofter is a person who rents or owns a small farm especially
in Scotland. Think of other uncommon termis for 'a small farmer
including those in your language.

ABOUT THE

THEME
The trap of material benefit that most human beings are prone
to fall into.
SUB-THEME
The human tendlency to redeem oneself irom dishonest ways.
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COMPREHENSION
Factual understanding of events.
Inferring motives for human actions.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Small group discussion on
the portrayal of characters in fiction.
human emotional needs and human behaviour.
rcal-lifc rccounting of similar inidents.
narrative stylc,
WORKING WITH WORDS
Choice of synonyms to reflect personal attitudes Noticing form'.
Focus on the uses of the retlexive pronoun.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Vocabulary specilic to a parlicular lield.
Culture-specilic games (especially indoor).
Region-specific synonyms.

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 5Indigo 12074CH05

About the author

Louis Fischer (1896-1970) was born in Philadelphia.
He served as a volunteer in the British Army between
1918 and 1920. Fischer made a career as a journalist
and wrole lor The Neuw York Tines, The Salurday Revieuw
and for European and Asian publications. He was also
a mcmbcr of the faculty at Princcton University. The
lollowing is an excerpt Irom his book- 1he Life of Mahaima
Gandhi The book has been reviewed as one of the best
books ever written on Gandhi by Times Educational
Supplement.

Notice these expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
urge the departure harbour a man like me
contlict of duties Seek prop

When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in

Sevagram, in central India, he said, "I will tell you how it
happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British.
It was in 1917."
He had gone to the December 1916 annual convention
of the Indian National Congress party in Lucknow. There
were 2,301 delegates and many visilors. During the
proceedings, Gamdhi recounted, "a peasant came up to me
looking like any ther peasant in India, poor and emaciated,
and said, I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran,
and I want you to come to my district" Gandhi had never
heard of the place. It was in the foothills of the towering
Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal.
Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran
peasants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was one
of them. He was illilerale bul resolute. He had come to the

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Congress session to complain about the injustice of the
landlord syslem in Bihar, and somebody had probably said,
"Speak to Gandhi."
Gandhi told Shukla he had an appointment in
Cawnpore and was also committed to go to other parts of
India. Shukla accompanied him everywhere. Then Gandhi
returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Shukla followed
him to the ashram. For wecks he never left Gandhi's side.
"Fix a date, he begged.
Impressed by the sharecropper's tenacity and story
Gandhi said, "I have to be in Calcutua on such-and-such a
date. Come and meet me and take me from there."
Months passed. Shukla was
sitting on his haunches at the Think as you read
appointed spot in Calcutta when
Gandhi arived; he waited till Gandhi 1. Strike out what is not tue in
was free. Then the two of them the following
boarded a train lor the city of Patna a Rajkumar Shukla was
0) asharecropper.
in Bihar. There Shukla led him to
0) a politician.
the house ol a lawyer named
delegate.
Rajendra Prasad who later became (iv) a landlord.
President of the Congress party and .
Rakumar Shukia waS
of India. Rajendra Prasad was out poor.
of town, but the servants knew () physicaly strong.
Shukla as a poor yeoman who () literate.
pestered their master to help the 2. Why is Rajxumar Shukla
indigo sharecroppers. So they let described as being resclule?
him stay on the grounds with his 3. Why do you think tne
servants thought Gandhito be
companion, Gandhi, whom they Look
another peasant?
to be another peasant. But Gandhi
was not permitted to draw water
from the well lest some drops from his bucket pollute the entire
Source; how did they know that he was not an untouchable?
Gandhi decided to go first to Muzzafarpur, which was
en route to Champaran, to obtain more complete
information about conditions than Shukla was capable of
imparting. He accordingly sent a telegram to Professor
J.B. Kripalani, of the Arls College in Muzzalarpur, whonm
he had seen at Tagore's Shantiniketan school. The train

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arrived at midnight, 15 April 1917. Kripalani was waiting
al the slalion wilh a large body ol sludents. Gandhi slayed
there for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a
teacher in a government school.
"It waS an extraordinary
thing in those days," Gandhi
commented, "for a government
professor to harbour a man
like me". In smaller localities,
the Indians were afraid
to show sympalhy for
advocates of home-rule.
The news of Gandhi's
advent and of the nature of
his mission spread quickly
through Muzzafarpur and to
Champaran. Sharecroppers
from Champaran began
arriving on foot andby
Conveyance Lo see their
champion. Muzzafarpur awyers
called on Gandhi to brief him;
they frequently represented
peasant groups in court; they
told him about their cases and
reported the size of their fee.
Gandhi chided the lawyers for
collecting big fee from the
sharecroppers. He said, *"I have
come to the conclusion that we
should stop going to laW courts.
Taking such cases to the courts
does litte good. Where the peasants
are so crushed and fear-stricken,
law courts are uscless. The real relief
for them is to be free from fear."
Most of the arable land
in the Champaran dislrict
was divided into large

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estates owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants.
The chiel commercial crop was indigo. The landlords
compelled all tenants to plant three twentieths or 15 per
cent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire
indigo harvest as rent. This was done by long-term contract.
Presently, the landlords learned
that Germany had developea Think as you read
synthetic indigo. They, thereupon,
obtained agreements from the 1. List the places that Gandhi
sharecroppers to pay them visited between his frst
compensalion lor being released meeting with Shukla and his
amival at Champaran.
from the 15 per cent artangement.
2. What did the peasants pay the
The sharecropping arrangement
British landlords as rent? What
was irksome to the peasants, anda did the British now want
many signed willingly. Those who instead and why? What would
resisted, engaged lawyers; the be the impact of synthetic
landlords hired thugs. Meanwhile, indigo on the prices of natural
the information about synthetic indigo?
indigo reached the illiterate peasantss
who had signed, and hey wanled
their money back.
At this point Gandhi arrived in Champaran.
He began by trying to get the facts. First he visited the
SCcretary of the British landlord's aSsociation. The secretary
told him that they could give no information to an outsider.
Gandhi answered that he was no outsider.
Next, Gandhi called on the British official commissioner
of the Tirhut division in which the Champaran district
lay. "The commissioner," Gandhi reports, "proceeded to bully
me and advised me forthwith to leave Tirhut."
Gandhi did not leave. Instead he proceeded to Motihari,
the capital of Champaran. Several lawyers accompanied him.
At the railway station, a vast multitude greeted Gandhi. He
went to a house and, usng it as headquarters, continued his
investigations. A report came in that a peasant had been
maltreaed in a nearby vilage. Gandhi decided to go and see;
the next morning he started out on the back of an elephant.
He had nol proceeded lar when the police superinlendent's
messenger overtook him and ordered him to return to town
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in his carriage. Gandhi complied. The messenger drove
Gandhi home where he served him with an ollicial molice to
quit Champaran immediately. Gandhi signed a receipt for
the notice and wrote on it that he would disobey the order.
n consequence, Gandhi received a summons to appear
in court the next day.
All night Gandhi remained awake. He telegraphed
Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential
friends. He sent instructions to the ashram. He wired a
full report to the Viceroy.
Morning found the lown of Motihari black wilh peasants.
They did not know Gandhi's record in South Africa. They
had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them
was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous
demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was
the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British,
The officials felt powerless without Gandhi's
cooperation. He helped them regulate the crowd. He was
polite and friendly. He was giving them concrete proof that
their might, hilherto dreaded and unquestioned, could be
challenged by Indians.
The government was baftled. The prOsecutor requested
the judge to postpone the trial. Apparently. the authorities
wished to consult their superiors.
Gandhi protested against the delay. He read a statement
pleading guilty. He was involved, he told the court, in a
"conllict of duties"on the one hand, not to set a bad example
as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, to render the
"humaniarian and national service" for which he had come.
He disregarded the order to leave, "not for want of respect for
lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our
being. the voice of conscience". He asked the penalty due.
The magistrate announced that he would pronounce
sentence after a two-hour recess and asked Gandhi to
furnish bail for those 120 minutes. Gandhi refused. The
judge released hinm without bail.
When the court reconvened, the judge said he would
nol deliver the judgmenl lor several days. Meanwhile he
allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.

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 Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul
Huq and several other prominent lawyeS had arTived lrom
Bihar. They conferred with Gandhi. What would they do if
he was sentenced to prison, Gandhi asked. Why, the senior
lawyer replied, they had come to advise and help him; if
he went to jail there would be nobody to advise and they
would go home.
What about the injustice to the sharecroppers, Gandhi
demanded. The lawyers withdrew to consult. Rajendra
Prasad has recorded the upshot of their consultations
"They ihought, amongst themselves, that Gandhi was iotally
a stranger, and yet he was prepared to go to prison for the
sake of the peasants; if they, on the other hand. being not
only residents of the adjoining districts but also those who
claimcd to have served these peasants, should go homc, it
would be shameful desertion."
They accordingly went back
to Gandhi and told him they were
Think as you read
ready to follow him into jail. "The
ballle of Champaran is won," he 1. The events in this part of the
exclaimed. Then he took a piece textillustrate Gandhi's method
of paper and divided the group of working. Can you identify
into pairs and put down the order Some instances of this
in which each pair was to court method and link them to his

arrest. Ideas of satyagraha and

Several days later, Gandhi non-iolence

received a written commuication

from the magistrate informing
him that the Lieulenant-Governor of the province had
ordered the case to be dropped. Civil disobedience had
triumphed, the first time in modern India.
Gandhi and the lawyers now proceeded to conduct a
far-flung inquiry into the grievances of the farmers.
Depositions by about ten thousand peasants were written
down, and notes made on other evidence. Documents were
collected. The whole area throbbed with the activity of the
investigators and the vehement protests of the landlords.
In June, Gandhi was summoned lo Sir Edward
Gait, the Lieutenant-Governor. Before he went he met
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 leading associates and again
laid detailed plans for civil
disobedience if he should not
Telurn.
Gandhi had four protracted
interviews with the Lieutenant-
Governor who, as a result,
appointed an official commission
of inquiry into the indigo
sharecroppers situation.
The commission consisted of
landlords, government officials
and Gandhi as the sole
representative of the peasants.
Gandhi remained in Champaran for an initial
uninterrupted period of seven months and then again for
several shorter visits. The visit, undertaken casually on
the entreaty of an unlettered peasant in the expectation
that it would last a few days, occupied almost a year of
Gandhi's life.
The official inquiry assembled a crushing mountain of
evidence against the big planters, and when they saw this
they agreed, in principle, to make refunds to the peasants.
"But how much must we pay?" they asked Gandhi.
They thought he would demand repayment in full of
the money which they had illegally and deceitfully extorted
from the sharecroppers. He asked only 50 per cent. "There
he seemed adamant," writes Reverend J. Z. Hodge, a British
missionary in Champaran who observed the entire episode
at close range. "Thinking probably that he would not give
way, the representative of the planters offered to refund to
the extent of 25 per cent, and to his amazement Mr. Gandhi
took him at his word, thus breaking the deadlock."
This settlement was adopted unanimously by the
commission. Gandhi explained that the amount of the
refund was less important than the fact that the landlords
had been obliged to surrender part of the money and, with
il, part ol their preslige. Therelore, as lar as the peasais
were concerned, the planters had behaved as lords above

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the law. Now the peasant saw that he had rights and
delenders. He learned courage.
Events justified Gandhi's position. Within a few years
the British planters abandoned their estates, which
reverted to the peasants. Indigo sharecropping disappeared.
Gandhi never contented himself with large political or
economic solutions. He saw the cultural and social
backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to
do something about it immediately. He appealed for
teachers. Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two young
men who had just joined Gandhi as disciples, and their
wives, volunteered for the work. Several more came from
Bombay, Poona and other distant
parts of the land. Devadas, Think as you read
Gandhi's youngest son, arrived
1. Why did Gandhi agree to a
from the ashram and so did Mrs.
Gandhi. Primary schools were settlement of 25 per cent
refund to the farmers?
opened in six villages. Kasturbai
taught the ashram rules on 2 How did the episode change
the plight of the peasants?
personal cleanliness and
community saitation.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor
to volunteer his services
for six months. Three medicines
were available- castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment.
Anybody who showed a coated tongue was given a dose of
castor oil; anybody with malaria fever received quinine
plus castor oil; anybody with skin eruptions received
ointment plus castor oil.
Gandhi noticed the fillhy stale of women's clothes. He
asked Kasturbai to talk to them about it. One woman took
Kasturbai into her hut and said, "Look, there is no box or
cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the
only one I have."
During his long stay in Champaran, Gandhi kept a
long distance watch on the ashram. He scnt regular
instructions by mail and asked for linancial accounts. Once
he wrote to the residents that it was time to fill in the old
lalrine lrenches and dig new ones olherwise the old ones
would begin to smell bad.

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 The Champaran episode was a turning-point in
andhi's life. "What I did," he explained, "was a very
ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order
me about in my own country."
But Champaran did not begin as an act of defiance. It
grew out of an attempt to alleviate the distress of large
numbers of poor peasants. This was the typical Gandhi
pattern -
his politics were intertwined with the practical,
day-to-day problems of the millions. His was not a loyalty
lo abstractions; il was a loyally lo living, human beings.
In everyihing Gandhi did, moreover, he tried lo mould
a new ree Indian who could sland on his own leet and
thus make India free.
Early in the Champaran aclion, Charles Freer Andrews,
the English pacifisl who had become a devoled follower of
the Mahatma, came to bid Gandhi farewell before going on
a tour of duty to the Fiji Islands. Gandhi's lawyer friends
thought it would be a good idea for Andrews to stay in
Champaran and help them. Andrews was willing if Gandhi
agreed. But Gandhi was vehemently opposed. He said, "You
think that in this unequal fight it would be helpful if we
have an Englishman on our side. This shows the weakness
of your heart. The cause is just and you must rely upon
yourselves to win the battle. You should not seek a prop in
Mr. Andrews because he happens to be an Englishman
"He had read our minds correctly," Rajendra Prasad
comments, "and we had no reply... Gandhi in this way taught
us a lesson in self-reliance".
Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to
sharecroppers were all bound together.

Understanding the text

1. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode
to be a urming-point in his lile?
2. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.
3. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities
towards advocates of "home rule"'?
4. How do we know that ordinary people to0 contributed to the
reedom movement?

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Talking about the text
Discuss the follouwing.
1. "Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for
the poor."
Do you think that the poor of lndia arc frce rom fear after
Independence?
2. The qualitics of a good lcadcr.

Working with words

List the words used in the text that are related to legal
proccdures.
For example: deposition
List other words that you know that fall into this category.

Thinking about language

1. Notice the sentences in the text which are in 'direct speech'
Why does the author use quotations in his narration?
2. Notice the use or non-uSe of the comma ini the following sentences.
(a) When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in
Sevagram, he told me what happened in Champaran.
(b) He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent's
messenger overtook him.
(c) When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not
dcliver the judgment for scveral days.

Things to do
1. Choose an issue that has provoked a controversy like the Bhopal
Gas Tragedy or the Narmada Dam Project in which the lives of
the poor have been affected.
2. Find out the facts of the case.
. PreSent youT arguments.
4. Suggest a possible settlement.

ABOUT THEUNT

THEME
The lcadership shown by Mahalma Gandhi to sccure justice
lor oppressed people through convincing argumentalion and
negotiation.
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SUB-THEME
Contributions ade by anonymous Indians to the treedom
movemcnt.
READING COMPREHENSION
Intensive reading of factual writing to understand events and
lacls. The Ihink as you read questions al the end ol each seclion
help in understanding descriptions of people, consolidating
tacts and focusing on what is important to understand further
seclionsS.
Scanning for specitic instances in the text to support given
statemernls,
Inferential questions to reason out certain statements in the text.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Discussion as a takc-off from the text and making pupils think
about issucs such as Irecdom Irom lear as a prerequisile lor
justice. Understanding leadership qualities direct relevance
to pupils' prospects. Fluency development,
WORKING wITH WORDS
Making pupils notice the specialist vocabulary used in legal
parlanc.

NoTICING FORM
Usc of direct speech in narration. Pupils are already aware of
the form changes when spoken words are Teporled. They should
now be able to notice the choice of form in contexts of use to
strengthen the effectiveness of narration.
Use of the comma to separate subordinate clause fronm main
clausc if it prcccdcs it, and its omission if it comcs after thc
main clause.

THINGS To DO

ExlensiorI aclivily to help pupils undersland fhe melhod ol Gandhiarn

activism and relate it to current problems ol nationalimportance.
Investigation of facts
Presentation of arguments
Settlement

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 Pocts and Pancakes 12074CHO6

About the author

Asokamitran (1931), a Tamil writer, recounts his years
al Gemini Sludios in his book My Years wilh Boss which
talks of the intluence ol movies on every aspect of life in
India. Thc Geminí Studios, located in Chennai, was sct
up in 1940. It was one ol the most influenlial lilm-
producing organisations of India in the early days of
Indian film-makig. Its founder was S.S. Vasan. The
duty of Asokamitran in Gemini Studios was to cut out
newspaper clippings on a wide variety of subjects and
store them in files. Many of these had to be writlen out
by hand. Although he performed an insignificant
lunclion he was the most well-inlormcd ol all the
memberS of the Gemini lamily. The Tollowing is an
cxcerpt from his book My Years with Boss.

Notice these words and expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
blew over was struck dumb
catapulted into a coat of malil
played into their hands the favourite haunt
hearda bell ringing9

Pancake was the brand name of the make-up material that

Gemini Studios bought in truck-loads. Greta Garbo' must
have used it, Miss Gohar must have used it, Vyjayantimala*
must also have used it but Rati Agnihotri may not have
even heard ol it. The make-up deparlment ol the Gemini
Studios was in the upstairs of a building that was believed
to have been Robert Clive's stables. A dozen other buildings
1. A Suedish actress, in 1951 she received an Ilonorary Oscar for her unforgettable screen
performances. The Guirress Bok ofWortd Records named hier the most beaalijul uornarn
LUho eter lied. She uwas also uxoted Best Silent Actress of the
couniry.
2. An ndian actress whose perfomauce was uwidely appreciated in Binal Roy's Devdas. She
won lree Best Actress awards,jor her actrg. She is TiOw arn active politliciar.

2019-20
in the city are said to have been his residence. For his
briel lile and an even brieler slay in Madras, Robert Clive
seems to have done a lot of moving, besides fighting some
impossible battles in remote corners ol India and marTying
a maiden in St. Mary's Church in Fort St. George in
Madras.
The make-up room had the look ofa hair-cutting salon
with lights at all angles around half a dozen large mirrors.
They were all incandescent lights, so you can imagine the
fiery misery of those subjected to make-up. The make-up
department was lirst headed by a Bengali who became loo
big for a studio and left. He was succeeded by a
Maharashtrian who was assisted by a Dharwar Kannadiga,
an Andhra, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese
and the usual local Tamils. All this shows that there was a
great deal of national integration long before A.I.R. and
Doordarshan began broadcasting programmes on nafional
integration. This gang of nationally integrated make-up men
could turn any decent-looking person into a hideous crimson
hued monster with the help of truck-loads of pancake and a
number of other locally made potions and lotions. Those
were the days of mainly indoor shooting, and only five
per cent of the film was shot outdoors. I suppose the sets
and studio lights needed the girls and boys to be made to
look ugly in order to look presentable in the movie. A strict
hierarchy was maintained in the
make-up department. The chief
make-up man made the chief actors
and actresses ugly, his senior
PIRECTOR assistant the 'second' hero and
heroine, the junior assistant the
main comedian, and so forth. The
players who played the crowd were
the responsibility of the office boy.
(Even the make-up department of the
Gemini Studio had an 'office boy'!)
On the days when there was a crowd-
shooling you could see him mixing
his paint in a giant vessel and
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slapping it on the crowd players. The idea was to close every
pore on the surlace the lace in the process ol applying
make-up. He wasn't exactly a 'boy'; he was in his early forties,
having entered the studios years ago in the hope of becoming
a star actor or a top screen writer,
director or lyrics writer, He was a hink as you read
bit of a poet.
1. What does the writer mean by
In those days I worked in a
the fiery misery ofthose
cubicle, two whole sides of which subjected to make-up"
were French windows. (I didn't 2. Whatis the example of
know at that lime they were called national integration that the
French windows.) Seeing me author rerers 10
sitting at my desk tearing up 3. What wok did the 'office boy

newspapers day in and day out, do in the Gemini Studios? Why

most people thought I was doing did he join the studios? Why
was he disappointed?
next to nothing. It is likely that
4. Why did the author appear to
the Boss thought likewise too. So
be doingnott at
anyone who felt I should be given studios?
some occupation would barge into
my cubicle and deliver an exlended lecture. The "boy' in the
make-up department had decided I should be enlightened
on how great literary talent was being allowed to go waste
in a department fit only for barbers and perverts. Soon I
was praying for crowd-shooting all the time. Nothing short
of it could save me from his epics.
In all instances of frustration, you will always find
the anger directed towards a single person opemly or covertly
and this man of the make-up department was convinced
uhat all his woes, ignominy and neglect were due lo
Kothamangalam Subbu. Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini
Studios. He couldn't have had a more encouraging opening
in films than our grown-up make-up boy had. On the
contrary he must have had to face more uncertain and
difficult times, for when he began his career, there were
no firmly established film producing companies or studios.
Even in the mater of education, specially formal education,
Subbu couldn't have had an appreciable lead over our boy.
But by virlue ol being born a BTahmin -a
he must have had exposure to more afiluent situations
virlue, indeed!

Poets and Pancakes/59

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and people. He had the ability to look cheerful at all times
even aller having had a hand in a llop lilm. He always had
work for somebody- he could never do things on his owm
-but his sense of loyalty made him identily himselt with
his principal completely and turn his entire creativity to
his principal's advantage. He was tailor-made for films.
Here was a man who could be inspired when commanded.
"The rat fights the tigress underwater and kills her but
takes pity on the cubs and tends them lovingly- I don't
know how to do the scene," the producer would say and
Subbu would come out wilh four ways ol the ral pouring
affection on its victim's offspring. "Good, but I am not sure
it is effective enough," the producer would say and in a
minute Subbu would come out with fourteen more
alternatives. Film-making must have been and was s0 casy
with a man like Subbu around and if ever there was a man
who gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during
its golden years, it was Subbu. Subbu had a separate
identity as a poet and though he was certainly capable of
more complex and higher forms. he deliberaely chose to
address his poetry to the masses. His success in films
overshadowed and dwarled his literary achievements- or
so his critics felt. He composed several truly original "story
poems' in folk refrain and diction and also wrote a sprawling
novel Thillana Mohanambal with dozens of very deftly etched
characters. He quite successfully recreated the mood and
manner of the Devadasis of the early 20th century. He
was an amazing actor- he never aspired to the lead roles
but whatever subsidiary role he played in any of the
films, he performed better than the supposed main players.
He had a genuine love for anyone he came across and his
house was a permanent residence for dozens of near and
far relations and acquaintances. It seemed against Subbu's
nature to be even conscious that he was feeding and
supporting so many of them. Such a charitable and
improvident man, and yet he had enemies! Was it because
he seemed so close and intimate with The Boss? Or was it
his general demeanour hal resembled a sycophanl's? Or
his readiness to say nice things about everything? In any

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case, there was this man in the make-up department who
would wish the direst things for Subbu.
You saw Subbu always with The Boss but in the
attendance rolls, he was grouped under a department called
the Story Department comprising a lawyer and an assembly
of writers and poets. The lawyer was also officially known
as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the
opposite. An extremely talented actress, who was also
extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While
everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on
the recording equipment. When the actress paused for
breath, the lawyer said to her, "One minute, please," and
played back the recording. There was nothing incriminating
or unmentionably foul about the actress's tirade against
the producer. But when she heard her voice again through
the sound equipment, she was struck dumb. A girl from
the countryside, she hadn't gone through all the stages of
worldly experience that generally precede a position of
importance and sophistication fhat she had found herself
catapulled into. She never quite recovered from the terror
she felt that day. That was the end of a brief and brilliant
acting career- the legal adviser,
who was also a member of the Think as you read
Story Department, had
unwittingly brought about that 1. Whywas the office boy
Sad end. While every other frustrated? Who did he show
nIis anger on ?
member of the Department wore
2. Who was Subbu's principal?
a kind of uniform-khadi dhoti
3. Subbuis cdescrbed as a
wilh a slightly oversized and many-Sided genius. List four of
clumsily tailored white khadi his special abilties.
shirt the legal adviser wore 4. Whywas the legal adviser
pants and a tie and sometimes a referred to as the opposite by
coat that looked like a coat of others?
mail. Otten he looked alone and 5. What made the lawyer stand
hclpless -a man of cold logic in out from the others at Gemini
a crowd of dreamers a neutral Studios?

man in an assembly of Gandhiites

and khadiiles. Like so many ol those who were close lo
The Boss, he was allowed to produce a film and though a
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lot of raw stock and pancake were used on it, not much
came ol he film. Then one day The Boss closed down the
Story Departmeni and this was perhaps the only instance
in all human hislory where a lawyer lost his job because
he poets were asked to go home.
Gemini Studios was the favourite haunt of poets like
S.D.S.Yogiar, Sangu Subramanyam, Krishna Sastry and
Harindranath Chattopadhyaya". lt had an excellent mess
which supplied good coffee at all times of the day and for
most part of the night. Those were the days when Congress
rule meant Prohibition and meeting over a cup of coffee
was rather satislying entertainment. Barrimg the olfice boys
and a couple of clerks, everybody else at the Studios
radiated leisure, a pre-requisite lor poetry. Most of them
wore khadi and worshipped Gandhiji but beyond that they
had not the faintest appreciation for political thought of
any kind. Naturally, they were all averse to the term
Communism. A Communist was a godless man- he had
no filial or conjugal love: he had no compunction about
killing his own parents or his children; he was always out
to cause and spread unrest and violence among innocent
and ignorant people. Such notions which prevailed
everywhere else in South India at that time also, naturaly,
floated about vaguely among the khadi-clad poets of Gemini
Studios. Evidence of it was s00n forthcoming.
When Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament army.
some two hundred strong. visited Madras sometime in 1952,
they could not have founda warmer host in India than the
Gemini Studios. Someone called the group an internatiónal
circus. They werent very good on the trapeze and their
acquaintance with animals was omly at the dinner table,
but they presented two plays in a most professional manner.
Their Jotham Valley' and The Forgotten Factor ran several
shows in Madras and along with the other citizens of the
city, the Gemini family of six hundred saw the plays over
and over again. The message of the plays were usually
plain and simple homilies, but the sets and costumes were
first-rate. Madras and thee Tamil drama community were
3. Afreedom fighier and a national poet.
4. A poet and a ptaywrgt.

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terribly impressed and for some years almost all Tamil
plays had a scene of sunrise and sunset in the manner of
Jotham Valley' wilh a bare slage, a while background
curtain and a tune played on the flute. It was some years
later that I learnt that the MRA was a kind of counter-
movement to international Communism and the big bosses
of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands. I
am not sure however, that this was indeed the case, for
the unchangeable aspects of these big bosses and
their enterprises remained the same, MRA or no MRA,
international Communism or no international Communism.
The stalT of Gemini Siudios had a nice time hosting two
hundred people of all hues and sizes of at least twenty
nationalities. It was such a change from the usual collection
of crowd players waiting to be slapped with thick layers of
make-up by the office-boy in the make-up department.
A few months later, the telephone lines of the big bosses
of Madras buzzed and once again we at Gemini Studios
cleared a whole shooting stage to welcome another visitor.
All they said was that he was a poet from England. The
only poets lrom England he simple Gemini slall knew or
heard of were Wordsworth and Tennyson; the more literate
ones knew of Keats, Shelley and Byron; and one or two
might have faintly come to know of someone by the name
Eliot. Who was the poet visiting the Gemini Studios now?
"He is not a poet. He is an editor. Tha's why The Bosss
is giving him a big reception." Vasan was also the editor of
the popular Tamil weekly Anarnda Vikalan.
He wasn't the editor of any of the known names of
Brilish publicalions in Madras, thal is, those known al
the Gemini Studios. Since the top men of The Hindu were
taking the initiative, the surmise was that the poet was
the editor of a daily- but not from The Manchester Guardian
or the London Times. That was all that even the most well-
informed among us knew.
At last, around four in the afternoon, the poet (or the
editor) arrived. He was a tall man, very English, very serious
and of course very unknown to all of us. Battling with half
a dozen pedestal lans on he shooting stage, The Boss read
Poets and Pancakes/63

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 out a long speech. It was obvious
Think as you read
Lhal he loo knew precious litule
1. Did the people at Gemini about the poet (or the editor). The
Studios have any paricular speech was all in the most general
political aftlitions? terms but here and there it was
2. Why was the Moral
peppered with words like 'freedomn'
RearmamentArmy welcomed
and 'democracy'. Then the poet
at the studioS?
3. Name one example to show
spoke. Hc couldn't have addressed a
that Gemini studios was
more dazed and silent audience -

influenced by the plays staged no one knew what he was talking

by MRA. about and his accent deleatecd any
4. Who was Ihe Boss of Gemini attempt to understand what he was
Studios? saying. The whole thing lasted about
5. What caused the lack of an hour; then the poet left and we
communication bebween the all dispersed in utter bafflement-
Englishman and the people at what are we doing? What is an
Gemini Studios?
English poet doing in a film studio
6. Why is the Englishman's visit
referred to asunexplained
which makes Tanmil films for the
nystery? simplest Sort of people? People whose
lives least alforded them the
possibility of cultivating a taste for English poetry? The poet
looked pretty bafled too, for he too must have felt the sheer
incongruity of his talk about the thrills and travails of an
English poet. His visit remained an unexplained mystery.
The great prose-wTiters of the world may not admit it,
but my convictiorn grows stronger day after day that prose
Writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius.
It is for the patient, persistent, persevering drudge with a
heart so shrunken that nothing can break it; rejection
slips don't mean a thing to him; he at once sets about
making a Iresh copy of the long prose piece and sends it on
to another editor enclosing postage for the return of the
manuscript. It was for such people that The Hindu had
published a tiny announcement in an insignificant corner
of an unimportant page- a short story contest organised
by a British periodical by the name The Encounter. Of course,
The Encounter wasn't a known commodity among the Gemini
lilerali. I wanted lo gel an idea of the periodical belore I
spent a considerable sum in postage sending a manuscript
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to England. In those days, the British Council Library had
an enlrance wilh no long winded signboards and nolices
to make you feel you were sneaking into a forbidden area.
And there were copies of The Encounter lying about in
various degrees of freshness, almost untouched by readers.
When I rcad the cditor's namc, I heard a bell ringing in my
shrunken heart. It was the poet who had visited the Gemini
Studios-I felt like I had found a long lost brother and
sang as sealed the envelope and wrote out his address. I
I
felt that he too would be singing the same song at the
same ime- long lost brothers of Indian films discover
each other by singing the same song in the first reel
and in the final reel of the film. Stephen Spenders.
Stephen- that was his name.
And years later, when I was out of Gemini Studios and
I had much time but not much nmoney, anything at a
reduced price attracted mny attention. On the footpath in
front of the Madras Mount Road Post Office, there was a
pile of brand new books for fifty paise each. Actually they
were copies of the same book, an elegant paperback of
American origin. "Special low-priced student edition, in
connection with the 50th Anniversary of the Russian
Revolution', I paid fifty paise and picked up a copy of the
book, The God That Failed. Six
eminent men of letters in six Think as you read
separate essays described "their
1. Who was the English visitor to
journeys Communism
into and
the studios?
their disillusioned return';: Andre
2. How did the author discover
Gide, Richard Wright"', lgnazio who the English visitor to the
Silone", Arthur Koestlers, Louis studios was?
Fischer and Stephen Spender 3. What does The God that
Stephen Spender! Suddenly the Failedrefer to0?
book assumed tremendous
,
5. An Erglish poet essayist who concenirated on themes of social injustice and class strnugle
6. A Prench writer humanist, moralist, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917.
7. An American Lwriter, knoun for his nouel Native Son and his autobiography Black Boy.
8. An lialiart urier, uho uxs tihe Jounder member o the lialiann.communist parity in 1921, ard
is krown for the book. The God That F'ailed, authored by him.
9. Alungarian born British novelist, known for his novel Darkness at Noon.
10. A wel krown American journalist ard a wrilerof Mahalra Gandhi's biography entitledd
The Lifc of Mahatma CGandhi. The Oscar uirring Jilm Garidhi is based orn thiís biographiccal
ccount.
Poets and Pancakes/65

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significance. Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited
Gemini ln a moment
Sudios! lell a dark chamber T
ol my
mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen
Spender at Gemini Sludios was no longer a mystery. The
Boss of the Gemini Studios may not have much to do with
Spender's poctry. But not with his god that failcd.

Understanding the text

1. The author has used gentle humour to point out human foibles.
Pick out instances of this to show how this serves to make thee
piece interesting.
2. Why was Kothamangalam Subbu considercd No. 2 in Gcmini
Studios?
3. How does the aulhor deseribe the incongruily ol an English poet
addressing the audience at Gemini Studios?
4. Wha do you undersland about lhe author's literary inclinations
rom the account?

Talking about the text

Discuss n small groups lakirng text.
of from poirts in the
1. Film-production today has come a long way from the early days
ol the Gemini Studios.
2. Poetry and films.
3. Humour and criticism.

Noticing transitions
This piece is an example
of a chatty. rambling style. One
thought to another which is then dwelt upon at length.
leads
Read the toxt again and mark the transitions from onc idca to
another. The first one ís indicated below.
Make-up deparlment Office-boy Subbu

Writing
You must have met some interesting characters in your
neighbourhood or among your relatives. Write a humourous
picce about their idiosyncrasics. Try to adopt the author's
rambling style, il you can.

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Things to do
Collect about twenty cartoons from newspapers and magazines
in any langauge to discuss how important people or evcnts
have been satirised. Comment on the interplay of the words
and the pictures used.

ABoUT THE UNT

THEME
An account oi the eventS and personalities in a film company
in the early days of lndian cinema.
SUB-THEME
Pocts and writers in a film company environment.
COMPREHENSION
Underslanding humour and salire.
Following a rambling, chatty style and making inferences.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Discuss
Today's film technology compared with that of the early days of
Indian einema (comparing and contrasting).
Poetry and films; eriticism and humour.
NoTICING TRANSITIONS
Focus on devices tor achieving hematic coherence.

WRITING
Practice writing in the humorous style.
THINGS TO DO
Extension activity on cartoons as a vchicle of satirical commcnt
on human foibles.

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 The Interview 12074CHO

From the Introduction to The Penguin Book of Interviews

edited by Christopher Slvester
About the Author
Christopher Silvester (1959) was a student of history
al Pelerhouse, Cambridge. He was ä reporler for Private
Eye for ten years and has wrilten features for Vanity
Fair Following is an cxcerpt taken from his introduction
to the Penguin Book of niervieus, An Arnihotogy Jrorn
1859 to the Present Day.

Part I
Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview
has become a commonplace of journalism. Today, almost
everybody who is literate will have read an intervicw at
some point in their lives, while from the other point of
view, several thousand celebrities have been interviewed
over the years, some ol them repeatedly. So il is hardly
surprising that opinions of the intervieW-of its functions
methods and meritsvary considerably. Some might make
quite extravagant claims for it as being, in its highest form,
a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art. Others,
usualy celebrities who see themselves as its victims, might
despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into
their lives, or leel that it somehow diminishes them, just
as in some primitive cultures it is believed that if one
lakes a pholographic porrail ol somebody then one is
stealing that person's soul. V. S. Naipaul' 'feels that some
people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of
themselves,' Lewis Carroll, the creator of Alice in
Wonderland, was said to have had 'a just horror of the
interviewer and he never consernted to be interviewed- It
1. Knouwn as a cosmopolitan writer In his trauel books and in his docunentary uorks he
presents hís impressionis of the country of his anicestors ihat is India. He receitved the Nobel
Prize in Literalure in 2001.

2019-20
was his horror of being lionized which made him thus repel
Would be acquainlances, inlerviewers, and the persistent
petitioners for his autograph and he would afterwards
relate the stories of his success in silencing all such people
with much satisfaction and amusement. Rudyard Kipling"
expressed an even more condemnatory attitude towards
the interviewer, His wife, Caroline, writes in her diary for
14 October 1892 that their day was 'wrecked by two reporters
from Boston'. She reports her husband as saying to the
reporters, "Why do I refuse to be interviewed? Because it
is immoral! [l is a crime, just as much of a crime as an
offence against my person, as an assault, and just as much
merits punishment. It is cowardly and vile. No respectable
man would ask it, much less give it," Yet Kipling had
himself perpetrated such an 'assault' on Mark Twain only
a few years before. H. G. Wells* in an interview in 1894
referred to 'the interviewing
ordeal', but was a fairly frequent
interviewee and forty years later Think as you read
found himselr interviewing 1. What are some of the positive
Joseph Stalin". Saul Bellow, who views on interviews?
has consented to be interviewed 2. Why do most celebrity writers
on several occasions, nevertheless despise being interviewed?
once described interviews as 3. What is the belief in some
being like thumbprints on his pimitive cultures about being
windpipe. Yet despite the pholographed?

drawbacks of the interview, it is 6. Whatdo you understand by the

expression "thumbprints on his
a supremely serviceable medium
windpipe ?
of communication. "These days, 5. Who, in today's world, is our
more than at any other time, chief source of infomation
Our most vivid impressions ol about personalides?
Our contemporaries are through
2. A proJtc uwriter uitio uusS kriou'ri as the poet af the corniionn soldier Kiplir1g SJunglc Hook
wich is a story Q KUrbal o iaraard ius aavenures ine nalayas iS COTISdered as
a crldren S classC alt over t/e worta.
3. An English novelist, jouurnalist, sociologist and historian he is known for his works of
scierice fictiorn. Wells best known books are The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and
The War of the Worlds.
4. Agreat Russian reolutionary carcd ant actue political organiser
5. A playwright as Uell as a novelist, Bellow's works were v/tuernced widely by World
War lI. Amorg this mosl.Jarnous characters are Augie Mcarch and Moses. He published short
stories traunslated jrom Yiddish. Ile won the Nobel Prize for Liferatiure in 1976.

The Interview/69

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interviews," Denis Brian has written. "Almost everything
Ol momenl reaches us Uhrough one man asking queslions
of another. Because of this, the interviewer holds a position
of unprecedented power and influence."
Part II
am a professor who writes novels on Sundays" - Umberto Eco
The following is an extract from an interview of Umberto
Eco. The intervicwer is Mukund Padmanabhan from
The Hindu. Umberto Eco, a professor at the University
of Bologna in Italy had already acquired a formidable
reputation as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics (the
study of signs), literary iterpretation, and medieval
aesthetics before he turned to writing fiction. Literary
fiction, academic lexts, essays, children's books,
newspaper articles-his written output is staggeringly
large and wide-ranging, In 1980, he acquired the
equivalent of intellectual superstardom with the |
publication of The Name of the Rose, which sold more
than 10 million copies.
Mukund: The English novelist and academic David Lodge
once remarked, "I can't understand how one man
can do all the things he [Eco] does."
Umberto Eco: Maybe I give the impression of doing many
things. But in the end, I am convinced I am always
doing the same thing.
Mukund: Which is?
Umberto Eco: Aah, now that is more dillicult to explain.
I have some philosophical interests and I pursue
them through my academic work and my novels.
Even my books for children are about non-violence
and peace...you see, the same bunch of ethical,
philosophical interests.
And then I have a secret. Did you know what will
happen if you eliminate the empty spaces from the
universe, elimimate the empty spaces in all thee
atoms? The universe will become as big as my fist.

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 Similarly, we have a lot of empty spaces in our
lives. I call them interstices. Say you are coming
over to my place. You are in an elevator and while
you are coming up, I am waiting for you. This is an
interstice, an empty space. I work in empty spaces.
While waiting for your elevator to come up from
the first to the third floor, have already written
an arlicle! (Laughs).
Mukund: Not everyone can do that of course. Your
non-fictional wriling, your scholarly work has a
certain playful and personal quality about it. It is
a marked departure from a regular academic
style which is invariably depersonalised and
often dry and boring. Have you consciously adopted
an infomal approach or is it something that just
came naturally to you?
Umberto Eco: When I presented my first Doctoral
dissertation in Italy, one of the Professors said,
Scholars learn a lot of a certain subject, then they
make a lot of false hypotheses, then they correct them
and al the end, they put the conclusions. You, on the
contrary. told the story of your research. Even including
your trials and errors." At the same time, he recognised
was right and went on to publish my dissertation as
a book, which meant he appreciatd it,
At that point, at the age of 22, I understood
scholarly books should be Written the way I had
done by telling the story of the research. This is
why my essays always have a narrative aspect.
And this is why probably I started writing narratives
novels so late at the age of 50, more or less.
Iremember that my dear friend Roland Barthes
was always frustrated that he was an essayist and
not a novelist. He wanted to do crealive wriling
one day or another but he died before he could do
so. I never felt this kind of frustration. I started

writing novels by accident. I had nothing to do one

The Interview/71

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 day and so I started. Novels probably satislied my
taste for narration.
Mukund: Talking about novels, from being a famous
academic you went on to becoming spectacularly
famous aller the publication of The Name of' the
Rose. You' ve written five novels against many more
scholarly works of non-fiction, at least more than
20 of them..
Umberto Eco: Over 40
Mukund: Over 40! Among them a seminal piece of work
on semiotics. But ask most people about Umberto
Eco and they will say, "Oh, he's the novelist." Does
that bother you?
Umberto Eco: Yes. Because I consider myself a
university professor who writes novels on Sundays.
It's not a joke. I participate in academic conferences
and not meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. I
identify myself with the academic community.
But okay, if they Imost people] have read only the
novels.. (laughs and shrugs). I know that by writing
novels, I reach a larger audience. I cannot expect
to have one million readers with stuull on semiotics. |
Mukund: Which brings me to my next question. 1he
Name q the Rose is a very serious novel. It's a
detective yarn at one level but it also delves into
metaphysics, theology, and medieval history. Yet
it enjoyed a huge mass audience. Were you puzzled
at all by this?
Umberto Eco: No. Journalists are puzzled. And
sometimes publishers. And this is becausee
journalists and publishers believe that people like
trash and don't like difficult reading experiences.
Consider there are six billion people on this planet.
The Nane of the Rose sold between 10 and 155
million copies. So in a way I reached only a small

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 percentage of readers. But it is exactly these kinds
of readers who don't want easy experiences. Or at
least don't always want this. myself, at 9 pm after
I

dinner, watch television and want to see either

"Miami Vice' or Emergency Room. I enjoy ilt and
need it. But not all day.
Mukund: Could the huge success of the novel have
anything to do with the fact that it dealt with a
period of medieval history that..
Umberto Eco: That's possible. But let me tell you
another story, because I often tell stories like a
Chinese wise man. My American publisher said
while she loved my book, she didn't expect to scll
more than 3,00O copies in a counlry where nobody
has seen a cathedral or studies Latin. So I was
given an advance for 3,000 copies, but in he end
it sold two or three million in the U.S.
A lot of books have been written about the medieval
past far before mine. I think the success of the
book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. I think if
I had written The Name of the Rose ten years earlier
or ten years later. it wouldn't have been the same.
Why it worked at that time is a mystery.

Understanding the text

1. Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons
for your opinion.
2. How does Eco find the time to write so much?
3. What was dislinctive ab0ut Pco's academic writing slyle?
4. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic
scholar?
5. What is the reason lor the huge success of the novel, The Name
of the Rose?

The Interview/78

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Talking about the text
Discuss in pairs or smal groupps.
1. Talk about any inlerview that you have walched on television or
read in a newspaper. How did it add to your understanding of
the cclcbrity. the intervicwcr and the ficld of the cclcbrity?
2. The mcdium you likc best for an intervicw, print, radio, or television.
3. Every famous person has a right to his or her privacy.
Interviewers sometimes embarrass celebrities with very personal
questions.

Noticing discourse linkers and signallers

LINKERS

Noticc how the uttcrancCS of thc intervicwcr and the intcrvicwcc

are linked to onc another. The linkers have been italiciscd for
you.
Linking is done either through the use of reference pronouns,
like "that, "this', 'which etc. It can also be done through a
Tepelition ol words.

am convinced I am always doing the same thing.

Which is?
Aah, now that is more difficult to explain.

While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the
third floor, I have already written an article! (Laughs).

Not everyone can do that of course.

Novels probably salislied my lasle lor narralion.

Talking about novels,

maum ms
********am

at least more than 20 of them..

Over 40.

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 Over 40.
***********************************************""****

cannot expect to have one million readers with stult on

semiolics.
Which brings me to my next question.
****==*.

Were you puzzled at all by this?

No. Jourmalists are puzzled
********************************

Could the huge success of the novel have anything to do

with the fact that it dealt with a period of medieval history
that.. ..
That's possible
****************************************************************************

The use of linkers is important in all continuous stretches of

text. It is very important in conversation, especially a structured
conversation like an interview.

SIGNALLERS

When there are shifts in the topic the speaker usually indicates
them through phrases that prepare the listener for the shift.
Notice these two examples taken from the interview:
"Which brings me to another qucstion ..
"But let me tell you another story..."
Without these preparatory signallers the flow of ideas in a
Conversation will not be smooth and continuous.

Writing
If the interviewer Mukund Padmanabhan had not got the space
in the newspaper lo reproduce the interview verbatim, he may
have been askecd to produce a short report of the interview
with thc salicnt points.
Writc this rcport for him.
The teacher should be able to help the pupils in what to include
arnd whal can be ormilled. We could also provide a short report of
arn inlerview as a sampie.f

The Interview/75

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Things to do
Interview a person whom you admire either in school or your
ncighbourhood and rccord it in writing.

ABoUT THE UNT

THEME
The interview as a communication genree

SUB-THEME
An excerpt from an interview with an author.

COMPREHENSION
Undcrstanding pcrsonal opinion.
UndeTSlanding conversalion and the interview pallern.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Expressing personal opinion on the interview gernre.
Comparing different media of communication.
NOTICING DISCOURSE LINKERS AND SIGNALLERS
Focus on cohesion and coherence features of discourse.

WRITING
Transfer of information from one genre to another, e.g.. intervieu
to report.

THINGS TO DO
xternsion activily giving practice in interviewing pcople and
personalities.
9uestioning and information gathering techniques.

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 8 Going Places 12074CHO8

About the Author

A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich
and wriies in English. In the slory Going Places, Barlon
explores the theme ol adolescent lantasising and hero
worship.

Notice these expressions in the text.

Infer their meaning from the context.
incongruily arcade
prodigy amber glow
chuiied wharf
solitary el pangs of doubt

"When I leave," Sophic said, coming home from school,

Tm going to have a boutique.
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked
doublul.
Takes money, Soaf, something like that."
Tl find it," Sophie said, staring far down the street.
"Take you a long time to save that much."
"Well I'l be a manager ycs, of course- to begin
then-
with. Til Ive got enough. But anyway, I know just how it's
all going to look."
They wouldn't make you manager straight off, Soaf."
"Tl be like Mary Quant," Sophie said. "TIl be a natural.
They'll see il lrom the slart. Tl have the most amazing
shop this city's ever seen.
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the
biscuit factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie
wouldn't say these things.
When they reached Sophie's street Jansie said, "It's
only a few months away now, Soaf, you really should be

2019-20
 sensible. They don't pay well for shop work, you know that,
your dad would never allow it."
"Or an actress. Now there's real money in that. Yes,
and I could maybe have the boutique on the side. Actresses
don't work full time, do they? Anyway. that or a fashion
designer, you know-something a bit sophisticated".
And she turned in through the open street door leaving
Jansic standing in the rain.
"If ever I come into money Tl buy a boutique."
"Huh - if you ever come into money... if you ever come
into money you'll buy us a blessed decent house to live in,
thank you very much."
Sophie's father was scooping shepherd's pie into his
mouth as hard as he could go, his plump face still grimy
and sweat- marked from the day.
She thinks money grows on trees, don't she, Dad?
said little Derek, hanging on the back of his father's chair.
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and
wondered at the incongruily of the delicale bow which
fastened her apron strings. The delicate-seeming bow and
the crooked back. The evening had already blacked in the
windowS and the small room was steamy from the stove
and cluttered with the heavy-breathing man in his vest at
the table and the dirty washing piled up in the corner.
Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for
her brother Geoff.
He was kneeling on the floor in the next roOm tinkering
wilh a parl of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread
on the carpet. He was three years out of school, an
apprentice mechanic, travelling to his work each day to the
far side of the city. He was almost grown up now, and she
suspected areas of his life about which she knew nothing,
about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever,
voluntarily. Words had to be prized out of him like stones
out of the ground. And she was jealous of his silence. When
he wasn't speaking it was as though he was away
somewhere, oul there in the world in those places she had
never been. Whether they were only the outlying districts

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of the city, or places beyond in the surrounding countryy
who knew? ey allained a special lascinalion simply
because they were unknown to her and remained out of
her reach.
Perhaps there were also people, exotic, interesting
people ot whom he never spoke- it was possible, though
he was quiet and didn't make new friends easily. She
longed to know them. She wished she could be admitted
more deeply into her brother's
affections and that someday he
Think as you read
might lake her with him. Though
their father forbade it and Geoff 1. Where was it most likely that
had never expressed an opinion, the two girls wOuld find work
she knew he thought bher too alrer school?
young. And she was impatient. 2. What were the options that
She was conscious of a vast world Sophie was dreaming of? Why
out there waiting for her and she does Jansie discourage her
from having such dreams?
knew instinctively that she would
feel as at home there as in the
cily which had always been her home. It expectanly awaited
her arrival. She saw herself riding there behind Geoff. He
wore new, shining black leathers and she a yellow dress
with a kind of cape that flew out behind. There was the
SOund of applause as the world rosc to greet them.
He sat frowning at the oily component he cradled in
his hands, as though it were a small dumb animal and he
was willing it to speak.
"I met Danny Casey." Sophie said.
He looked around abruptly. "Where?"
"In the arcade- funnily enough."
"It's never true."
"Idid too."
"You told Dad?"
She shook her head, chastened at his unawareness
that he was always the first to share her secrets.
don't believe it."
"I
There I was looking at the clothes in Royce's window
when someone came and stood beside me, and l looked
around and who should it be but Danny Casey."

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 All right, whal does he look like?"
"Oh come on, you know what he looks like."
"Close t0, I meam.
"Well eyes. And he's not
he has green eyes. Gentle
so tall as you'd think.." She wondered if she should say
about his teeth, but decided against it.
Their father had washed when he came in and his
face and arms were shiny and pink and he smelled of soap.
He switched on the television, tossed one of little Derek's
shoes from his chair onto the sofa, and sat down with a
grunt.
"Sophie met Danny Casey," Geoff said.
Sophie wriggled where she was sitting at the table.
Her lather turned his head on his thick neck to look at
her. His expression was one of disdain.
"It's true," Geoff said.
I once kinew a man who had known Tom Finney." his
father said reverently to the television. "But thal was a
long time ago."
You told us," Geoff said.
"Casey might be that good some day."
"Better than that even. He's the best"
"If he kecps his head on his shoulders. If they look
after him properly. A lot of distractions for a youngster in
the game these days."
"He'll be all right. He's with the best team in the
Country."
"He s very young yel.
"He's older than am." I

"Too young really for the first team."

You can't argue with that sort of ability."
"He's going to buy a shop," Sophie said from the table.
Her father grimaced, "Where'd you hear that?"
"He told me so."
He muilered somelhing inaudible and dragged himself
round in his chair. "This another of your wild stories?"
"She met him in the arcade," Geoff said, and told him
how it had been.
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 "One of these days you're going to talk yourself into a
load of trouble," her father said aggressively.
"Geoff knows it's true, don't you Geoff?"
"He don't believe you-though he'd like to."
* *

The table lamp cast an amber glow across her brother's

bedroom wall, and across the large poster of United's first
team squad and the row of coloured photographs beneath,
three of them of the young Irish prodigy, Casey.
"Promise you'll tell no-one?" Sophie said.
"Nothing to tell is there?"
"Promise, Geoff- Dad'd murder me."
"Only if he thoughi il was lrue."
Please, Geoff."
Christ, Sophie, you're still at school. Casey must have
strings of girls."
"No he doesn't."
How could you know that?" he jeered.
"He told me, that's how."
"As if anyone would tell a girl something like that."
Yes he did. He isn't like that, He's... quiet.
"Not as quiet as all that apparenlly."
"It was nothing like that, Geoff it was me spoke
first. When saw who it was, said, "Excuse me, but aren't
I I

you Danny Casey?" And he looked

sort of surprised. And he said, Thinkas you read
"Yes, that's right." And I knew it
1. Why did Sophie wriggle when
must be him because he had the
Geofftold her father that she
accent, you know, like when they
had met Danny Casey?
interviewed him on the television.
2. Does Geoff believe what
So I asked him lor an aulograph Sophie says about her meeting9
for little Derek, but neither of us with Danny Casey?
had any paper or a pen. So then 3. Does her father believe her
we just talked a bit. About the story?
clothes in Royce's window. He 4. How does Sophie include her
seemed lonely. After all, it's a long brother Geoffin her fantasy of
way from the west of Ireland. And rfuture?
5. Which country cid Danny
then, just as he was going, he
Casey play for?
said, itI would care to meet him
Going Places/81

2019-20
 next week he would give me an auitograph then. Of course,
I said I would."
As if he'd ever show up."
"You do believe me now, don't you?"
He dragged his jacket, which was shiny and shapeless,
from the back of the chair and pushed his arms into it. She
wished he paid more attention to his appearance. Wished
he cared more about clothes. He was tall with a strong
dark face. Handsome, she thought.
"It's the unlikeliest thing I ever heard," he said.

On Saturday they made their weekly pilgrimage to

watch United. Sophie and her falher and litle Derek went
down near the goal- Geoff, asS always, went with his
mates higher up. United won two-nil and Casey drove in
the second goal, a blend of innocence and Irish genius,
going round the two big defenders on the edge of the penalty
area, with her father screaming for him to pass, and beating
the hesitant goalkeeper from a dozen yards. Sophie glowed
with pride. Alterwards Geoff was ecstatic.
I wish he was an Englishman," someone said on the bus.
"Ireland'l win the World Cup," litlle Derek told his
mother when Sophie brought him home. Her father was
gone to the pub to celebrate.
"Whats this you ve been telling?" Jansie said, next
week.
"About what?"
"Your Geoff told our Frank you met Danny Casey."
This wasn't an inquisition, just Jansie being nosey.
But Sophie was startled.
"Oh. that."
Jansie frowned, sensing she was covering. "Yes- that.
"Well-yes, did." I
You never did?" Jansic exclaimcd.
Sophie glared at the ground. Damn that Geoff, this
was a Geoff thing not a Jansie thing. It was meant to be
Something special just belween Lhem. Something secrel.
It wasn't a Jansie kind of thing at all. Tell gawky Jansie

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something like that and the whole neighbourhood would
gel to know itl. Damn thal Geoll, was nothing sacred?
It's a secret- meant to be."
"Tll keep a secret, Soaf, you know that."
"I wasn't going to tell anyone. There'll be a right old
row if my dad gets to hear about it,"
Jansie blinked. "A row? Id have thought he'd be chuffed
as anything."
She realised then that Jansie didn't know about the
date bit -Geoff hadn't told about that. She breathed more
easily. So Geoff hadn't let her down aller all. He believed
in her after all. After all some things might be sacred.
It was just a little thing really. I asked him for an
autograph, but we hadn't any paper or a pen so it was no
good." How much had Geoff said?
"Jesus, I wish d have been there."
"Of course, my dad didn't want to believe it. You know
what a nisery he is. But the last thing I need is queues of
people rOund our house asking him, "What's all this about
Danny Casey?" He'd murder me. And you know how my
mum gets when there's a row.
Jansie said, hushed,You can trust me, Soal, you know
that.

After dark she walked by the canal, along a sheltered

path lighted only by the glare of the lamps from the wharf
across the water, and the unceasing drone of the city was
muffled and distant. It was a place she had often played in
when she was a child. There was a wooden bench beneath
a solitary elm where lovers sometimes came. She sat down
Lo wail. It was the perlecl place, she had always thought
so, for a meeting of this kind. For those who wished not to
be observed. She knew he would approve.
For some while, waiting, she imagined his coming. She
watched along the canal, seeing him come out of the
shadows, imagining her oWn consequent excitement. Not
until some time had clapscd did she begin balancing against
this the idea of his not coming.

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 Here I sit, she said to herself, wishing Danny would
come, wishing he would come and sensing the lime passing.
I feel the pangs of doubt stirring inside me. I watch for him
but sill there is no sign of him. I remember Geofl saying
he would never come, and how none of them believed me
when I told them, I wonder what will I do, what can I tell
them now if he doesn't come? But we know how it was,
Danny and methat's the main thing. HoW can you help
what people choose to believe? But all the same, it makes
me despondent, this knowing rIl never be able to show
hem they're wrong lo doubt me.
She waited, measuring in this way the changes taking
place in her. Resignation was no sudden thingg
Now I have become sad, she thought. And it is a hard
burden to carry, this sadness, Sitting here waiting and
knowing he will not come I can see the future and how I
will have to live with this burden. They of course will doubt
me, as they always doubted me, butI will have to hold up
my head remembering how it was. Already I envisage the
slow walk home, and Geoffs disappointed face when lell
him, "He didn't come, that Danny." And then he'll fly out
and slam the door. "But we know how it was," Ishall tell
myself, "Danny and me." It is a hard thing, this sadness.
She climbed the crumbling steps to the street. Outside
the pub she passed her father's bicycle propped against
the wall, and wasglad. He would not be there when she got
home.
"Excuse me, but aren't you Danny Casey?"
Coming through the arcade she pictured him again
outside Royce's.
He turns, reddening slighly. "Yes, that's right."
"I watch you every week, with my dad and my brothers.
We think you're grcat."
"Oh, well now-that's very nice."
I wonder- would you mind signing an autograph?"
His eyes are on the same level as your own. His nose is
freckled and turns upwards slightly, and when he smiles
he does so shyly, exposing leeth wilh gaps beween. His
eyes are green, and when he looks straight at you they
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seem to shimmer. They seem gentle, almost afraid. Like a
gazelle's. And you look away. You
let his eyes run over you a little. Think as you read
And then you come back to find
them, slightly breathless. 1. Why didn't Sophie want Jansie

And he says, "I don't seem to to know about her story with

have a pen at a.
You realise you havent either.
Danny?
2. Did Sophie really meet Danny
Casey?
My brothers will be very
3. Which was the only oCcasion
sorry," you say. Wnen sne gOI tO See Lanny
And alfterwards you wait Casey in perSon?
there alone in the arcade for a
long while, standing where he
stood, remembering the soft melodious voice, the shimmer
of green cyes. No taller than you. No bolder than you. The
prodigy. The innocent genius. The great Danny Casey.
And she saw it all again, last Saturday-saw him
ghost past the lumbering defenders, heard the fifty
thousand catch their breath as he hovered momentarily
over the ball, and hen the explosion of sound as he siruck
it crisply into the goal, the sudden thunderous eruption of
exultant approbation.

Understanding the text

1. Sophie and Jansie were class-mates and friends. What were
the difterences between them that show up in the story?
2. How would you describe the character and temperament of
Sophie's father?
3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other
person? From her perspective, what did he symbolise?
4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What
are the indicators of her tamily's financial status?

Talking about the text

Discuss in pairs.
1. Sophie's dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.

Going Places/85

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 2. It is natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams. What
would you say are the benefits and disadvantages of such
lantasising?

Working with words

Notice the following expressions. The highlighted words are
not used in a literal sense. Explain what they mean.
Words had to be prized out of him likc stoncs out of a
ground.
Sophie Iclt a tightening in her throat.
If he keeps his head on his shoulders.
On Saturday they made their weekly pilgrimage to the
Uniled.
She saw.. him ghost past the lumbering detenders.

Noticing form
Notice the highlighted words in the follouwing sentences.
1, "When I 1eave,' Sophic said, coming homc from school, "Im going
to have a boutique."
2. Jansic, linking armms with her along the sreet, looked doublul,
3. "TI find it," Sophic said, staring lar down the sircet.
4. Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit
laclory, became melancholy
5. And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie
standing in the rain.
-
When we add "ing" to a verb we get the present participle form.
The present participle form is generaly used along with iorms
of "be, (is. Was, are, were, am) to indicate the present continuous
Lense as inn "Sophie was coming home lrom school."
We can use the present participle by itself without the helping
verb, when we wish to indicate that an action is happening
at the same time as anotner.
In example 1, Sophie "said" something. "Said", here, is the
main action.
-
What Sophie was doing while she was "saying" is indicated
by "coming home from school". So we get the information of
two actions happening at the same time. We convey the
intormation in one sentence instead ol two.

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 Analyse the other examples in the same way.
Pick out five other scntenccs from the story in which prescnt
participles are used in this sense.

Thinking about language

Notice these words in the story.
"chuled", meaning delighted or very pieased
"nosey. meaning inquisiüive
gawky", meaning auwkward, ungainly.
These are words that are used in an informal way in colloquial
Speech.
Make a list of ten other words of this kind.

Writing
Think of a person who you would ike to have as your role-
model.
Write down the points to be discussed or questions to be
asked, if you were asked to interview that person on a
television show.

Things to do
Look lor other slories oT movies where this theme ol hero
worship and fantasising about film or sporls icons linds a place.

ABouT THE UNIT

THEME
Adolcsccnt hcro-worship and fantasising.

SUB-THEME
Relalionships-family, friends.
COMPREHENSION
Inlerential comprehension.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Discussion on a subject of immediate relevance to the life of
school-leavers.
Going Places/87

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 WORKING WITH WORDS
Metaphorical expressions.
NoTICING FORM
Focus on the use of present participles to indicate simultaneity
of action.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Colloquial expresSsions, teenage slang.
THINGS TO DO
Extension activity: Relating to other stories or films (any
language).

republish
oNCERT
CERI

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 My Mother at Sixty-six
Kamala Das

An Elementary School
Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda

A Thing of BeautyY
John Keats

LL A Roadside Stand
Robert Frost
Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
Adrienne Rich

2019-20
 My Mother at Sixty-six 12074chu

About the poet

Kamala Das (1934-2009) was born in Malabar, Kerala.

She is recognised as one ol India's loremost poets. Her
works arc knowim ior thcir originality, versatility and
Lhe indigenous lavour ot the soil. Kämala Das has
published many novels and short stories in English and
Malayalam under the name "Madhavikutty'. Some of
her works in English include the novel Alphabet of Lust
(1977). a collection of short stories Padmavati the Harlot
and Other Stories (1992), in addition to five books of
poetry. She is a sensitive writer who captures the
complex sublelies ol human relalionships in lyrical
idiom, Miy Molher al Sixly-six is an example.

Before you read

Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our elderly
parerls expect from us?

Driving from my parent's

home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain

TITTTT that she was as old as

looked but soon
put that thought away,
looked oul at Young
she

and

Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes, but after the airport's
security check, standing a few yardss

2019-20
 away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale
as a late winter's moon and felt that
old
familiar ache, my childhood's fear,
but all I said was, sce you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
Ssmile..

sprinting: short fast race, running

wan: colourless

Think it out
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
2. Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting?
3. Why has the poct brought in thc image of the merry children
spilling out of their homes"
4, Why has the molher been compared lo the lale winler's moon'?
5. What do the parting words of the poct and her smilc signily?

Notice that the whole poem is in a single sentence, punctuated

by commas.
It indicates a single thread of thought interspersed with
observations of the Teal world around and thc way these are
connected to the main idea.

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 2 An Elementary School 12074CHT

Classroom in a Slum
About the poet
Stephen Spender (1909-1995) was an English poet and
an essayist. He left University College. Oxford without
taking a degrce and went to Berlin in 1930. Spender
took a keen interest in politics and declared himself to
be a socialist and pacifist. Books by Spender include
Poems qf Dedication, The Edge of Being. The Creative
Element, The Struggle of the Modern and an
autobiography, World Wiühin World. In, An Elemeniary
School Classroom in a slium, he has concentrated on
thcmes of social injustice and class incqualitics.

Before you read

Have you ever visited or seen an elementary schoot in a sium?
What does it look like?

Far far from gusty waves these children's faces.

Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-
seeming boy, with rat's eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of Lwisted bones, reciling a lather's gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
of squirre's game, in tree room, other than this.
On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare's head,
Cloudless at dawn., civilized dome riding all cities.
Bclled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future's painted with a fog,

2019-20
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far lar lrom rivers, capes, and slars ol words.
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
Wilh ships and sun and love lempling them to sleal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.
Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into b0oks the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Tyrolese valey: pertaining to the Tyrol, an Austrlan Alpine province

catacombs a long underground gallery with excavations in its sides for
tombs. The name catacombs, before the seventeenth
century was applied to the Subterranean cemeteries, near
Rome

Think it out
1. Tick the item which best answers the following.
(a) The tall girl with her head weighed down means
The girl
() is ill and exhausted

An Elementary School Classroom in a slum/93

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 has her head bent with shame
(1i)
(Gii)has untidy hair
(b) The paper-seeming boy with rat's eyes means
The boy is
(i)
sly and secelive
i) thin, hungry and weak

(c)
i unpleasant
The stunted,
loking
unlucky heir of twisted bones means
The boy
has an inherited disability
(1)

was short and bony

(ii)
(d) lis cycs livc in a drcam, A squirrel's gamc, in the trcc
room other than this means
The boy iis
() full of hope in the future
i) mentally ill
(iii) distracted from the lesson
(e) The children's laces are compared to 'roolless weeds
This means they
i) are insecure
arc ill-fed
(i)
(ii are wasters
What do you think is the colour of 'sour cream? Why do you
think the poet has used this expression to describe the
classroom walls?
. The walls of the classroom arc decorated with the picturcs of
Shakespeare, 'buildings with domes', 'world maps' and
beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these
childre
What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How
can their ves be made to ehange ?

Notice how the poet picturises the condition of the

slum children.
Notice the contrasting images in the poem-for example,
A rnarrouw street sealed in uih a lead sky
Par Jar jrom rivers, capes, and stars of words.

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3Keeping Quiet
About the poet
Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) is the pen name of Neftali
Ricardo Reyes Basoallo who was bom in the lown olT
Parral in Chile. Nerudas poems are lull ol easily
understo0od imagcs which makc them no less beautifiul.
He won the Nobcl Prize lor Literature in thec year 197l,
In this poem Neruda talks about the necessity of quiet
introspection and creating a feeling of mutual
understanding among human beings.

Before you read

What does the tille Qf the poerrm suGgest to you? Whal do you think
the poem is about?

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the Earth

let's not speak in any language,
let's stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,
we would all be togelher
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea

would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

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 hose who prepare green wars
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their
brothers
in the shade, doing nothing

What I want should not be

confused
wilh lotal inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not s single-nminded

about keeping our lives moving
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and ol hrealening ourselves with
death.

Perhaps the Earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I'll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.

to have no truck with: to refuse to associate or deal with, to refuse to

tolerate something

Think it out
1. What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
2. Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
3. Whal is the 'sadness' ihal lhe poel relers lo in the poem?
4. Whal. symbol lrom Nalure does lhe poel invoke to say lhat there
can be life under apparent stillness?
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Try this out
Choose a quiet corner and keep still physically and mentally
for about five mimutes. Do you fecl any change in your state of
mind?

Notice the differing linc lengths of the stanzas and

Lhe shilt in thought lrom slanza i0 slanza.

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4A Thing of Beauty 20/4cHl

About the poet

John Keats (1795-1821) was a British Romantic poet.
Although trained to be a surgeon. Keats decided to
devote himself wholly to poetry. Keats' secret, his powver
Lo sway and delight the readers, lies primarily in his
gilt lor perceiving the world and living his m0ods and
aspirations in terms of language. The following is an
excerpt Irom his poem "ridymion: A Poetic Romarnce.
The poem is based on a Greek legend, in which
Endymion. a beautiul young shepherd and poet who
lived on Mount Latmos, had a vision of Cynthia, the
Moon Goddess. The enchanted youth resolved to seek
her out and so wandered away through the forest and
down under the sea.

Before you read

What pleasure does a beautifiul thing give us? Are beautifiul
things uworth treasuring?

A hing ol beauly is a joy lorever

Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of swcet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathin
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unheallhy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trecs old, and young. sprouting a shady boon

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 For simple sheep: and such are daffodils
Wilh the green world they live in; and clea ril 1s
That for themselves a cooling covert nmake
Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose bloomns;
And such too is the grandcur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink. .

rills small streams

brake: a thick mass of ferns

Think it out
. List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
2. List the things cause suffering and pain.
that
3. What does the line, "Thercfore are we wreathing a flowery band
to bind us to earth suggest to you?
4. What makcs human beings love life in spite of troubles and
sufferings?
5. Why is 'grandeur' associaled with the 'mighty dead'?
6. Do we experience things ol beauly only for short moments or do
Lhey make a lasling impression on us?
7. Whal image does the poet use lo describe the beaulilul bounty
of the earth?

Notice the consistency in rhyme scheme and line length. Also

notice the balance in each sentence of the poem, as in,
Of noble natures. of the gloomy days,
Qf all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened iwayss
Made for our searching: yes in spite of all,

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A Roadside Stand 20L

About the poet

Robert Frost [l874-1963) is a highly acclaimed
American poet ol the lwentielh cenlury. Roberl Frost
wrote about characters, people and landscapes. His
pocms arc conccmcd with human tragcdics and fcaTS,
his reaclion to the complexitics of life and his ultimate
acceptance of his burdens. Stopping by the Woods on a
Snowy Evening, Birches, Mending walls are a few of
his well-known poems. In the poem A Roadside Stand,
Frost presents the lives of poor deprived people
with pitiless clarity and with the deepest sympathy
and humanity.

Before you read

Have you ever stopped al aroadside starnd? Whal have you
observed there?

The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the tralic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
It would not be fair to say lor a dole ol bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.
The polished traftic passed with a mind ahead.
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
Olfered lor sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauly rest in a beaulilul mounlain scene,
You have the money, but if you want to be mean,
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
The hurt to the scenery wouldn't be my complaint

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 So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:
Here far from the city we make Our roadside stand
And ask for some city money to leel in hand
To try if il will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving-pictures promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.
It is in the news that all these piliful kin
Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won't have to think for themselves anymore,
While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.
Sometimes feel myself I can hardly bear
I
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squcal of brakes. the sound of a stopping car,
Of all the thousand sclfish cars that pass,
Just one to inquire what a larmers prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;
And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas
They couldn't (this crossly): they had none, didn't it see?
No, in country money, the country scale of gain,
The requisite lilt of spirit has never been lound,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
I can't help owning the great relief it would be
To put hese people al one stroke oul of their pain.
And hen nexl day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.

quarts: bottles or containers

squash: a kind of vegelable (gourd)
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Think it out
1. The city folk who drove through the countryside hardly paid
any hccd to the roadside stand or to the peoplc who ran it. Ii at
all they dlid, it was to complain. Which lines bring this out? What
was their complaint about?
2. What was the plea of the tolk who had put up the roadside stand?
3. The government and other social service agencies appear lo help
the poor rural people, but actualy do them no good. Pick out the
words and phrascs that the poct uscs to show their double
standards.
4. What is the 'childish longing that the poct refers to? Why is it
vain'"
5. Which lines tell us about the insuflerable pain that the poet
feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor?

Talk about it
Discuss in small groups.
The economic well-being of a country depends on a balanced
cdcvelopment of the villages and the citics.

Try this out

You could stop at a dhaba or a roadside eatery on the outskirts of
your LowTI or cily Lo see
I. how many travellers stop there to eat?
2. how many travellers stop for other reasons?
3. how he shopkeepers are ireated?
4. the kind of business the shopkeeperS do.
5. the kind of life they lead.

Notice the rhyme scheme. Isit consistent or is there an

OCcasional variance? Does it indicate thought predominating
over sound pattern?
Notice the stanza divisions. Do you find a shift to a new idea
in successive slanzas?

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 GAunt Jennifer's Tigers
, 20r

About the poet

Adrienne Rich (1929) was born in Baltimore. Maryland,
USA. She is widely knowrm for her involvement in
contemporary womens movement as a poet and
thcorist.She has published ninetcen volumes of poctry,
three collections ol essays and other Writings. A slrong
resistance to racism and militarism echoes through her
work. The poem Aunt Jennifer's T igers addresses the
constraints ot married life a woman experiences.

Before you read

What does the lille of the poem suggest to you? Are you
reminded of other poems or Ligers?

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,

Bright lopaz denizens ol a world ol green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jenniler's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her lerriied hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

denizen: a person, an animal or a plant that lives, grows

or is often found in a particular place.
sleek :
elegant

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 Think it out
1. How do 'denizens' and chivalric add to our understanding of
the tiger's attitudes?
2. Why do you think Aunt Jcnnifcr's hands arc luttering through
her wool' in the second stanza? Why is she finding the necdle so
hard to pull?
3. What is suggested by the image 'massive weight of Uncle's
wedding band'?
4. Of what or of whom is Aunt Jennifer terrilied with in the thirdd
stanza?
5. What are the 'ordeals' Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by, why is it
signilicant thal he poet uscs the word 'ringed? Whal are the
meanings ol the word 'ringed' in the poem?
6. Why do you 1hink Aut Jenniler crealed animals ihat are so
diflerent lrom her own character? What might the poet be
suggcsting. through this differcCncc?
7. Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
8. Do you sympathise with Aunt Jennifer. What is the attitude of
the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer?

Noticc the colours suggested in the pocmn.

Notice thc repetitive usc of certain sounds in the poem.

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Notes

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re
obe
to

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 t Notes

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106/Flamingo

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