Romeo and Juliet

Comprehension II

1.What similes does Romeo use to convey Juliet’s beauty?

OR
Romeo’s appreciation of Juliet’s beauty is expressed through images. Explain.

Romeo uses two similes to describe Juliet’s extraordinary beauty. The first
simile is deployed in the lines

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night

As a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear.

In these lines, the phrases ‘cheek of the night’ and ‘Ethiope’s ear’ apparently
refer to the darkness of the night personified as an African/Ethiopian lady. As
we know, an African lady is black in complexion. Juliet stands out
conspicuously amidst others in the dark night, lit up by torches in the room.
There is a stark contrast between the bright and shining complexion of Juliet
and the dark night.

The second simile is deployed in the lines:

So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows

As yonder lady o’er her fellow’s shows.

In these lines, the comparison is between the ‘snowy dove’ and the ‘crows’.
Obviously, Juliet is the snowy dove and the other ladies in the room are crows.
‘Dove’ is a symbol of ‘love’ and beauty; crows have always been considered
black and ugly. Naturally, for Romeo, Juliet is the personification of love and
beauty. It also implies that the other ladies including Rosaline, with whom he
had fallen in love, appear ugly and gross to him. That is why he uses the phrase
‘her fellows, to describe them. These two similes highlight how enchanted
Romeo is with her beauty.

2.How, according to Juliet, would Romeo be immortalised to the world?

OR
How does Juliet intend to make Romeo immortal?
OR
How does Juliet express her feelings about Romeo?
Answer:
In her invocation speech to ‘Night1 Juliet invokes night and along with ‘night’
her Romeo also. To her, Romeo is the ‘day’ in the night. It also implies that
Romeo is her life and so when the night falls, she imagines that he will come
gliding upon the wings of night. In these lines ‘night’ is personified as a raven
and Romeo is likened to ‘new snow’ on a raven’s back Juliet favours the arrival
of the night because it is in the night that Romeo has promised to come. That is
why Juliet praises night calling it ‘gentle night’ and ‘loving black-browed night’.

Love belongs to Juliet now that she is married, but she does not own it, and she
can’t own love until Romeo possesses her. Once she gets her Romeo she does
not fear death. Like all mortals, if she dies, Juliet begs fate to set him in heaven
with the stars. His presence will make the face of heaven so beautiful that the
world will fall in love with ‘night’, and the sun will no longer be worshipped. It
also implies that their love will end in their tragic death because of the enmity
that exists between the two families. Consequently, the world will come to
know about the tragic death of the two lovers and thus Romeo will be
immortalized.

Comprehension III

1.Comment on the contrasting imagery in the poem. What purpose does it serve
in highlighting the intensity of love?
OR
How did Romeo and Juliet express their romantic love feelings to each other?
OR
Both Romeo and Juliet employ contrasting images in their expression of
appreciation and admiration for each other. Elaborate.
Answer:
The two stanzas in the poem, one by Romeo and the other by Juliet, highlight
the intensity of love of the young lovers. This intensity of love is brought out by
using the contrasting imagery of night and day, black and white, bright jewel
and a dark surface, snowy dove, etc. Factually speaking, the words ‘bright’ and
‘night’ appear in Romeo’s praise of Juliet’s brightness when he sees her for the
first time in the feast hosted by Lord Capulet. Romeo uses the phrase ‘snowy
dove’ to refer to and to distinguish Juliet from other ladies in the room. Romeo
uses the word ‘crows’ to refer to the other ladies in the room.

Furthermore, Romeo compares Juliet’s brightness with ‘a rich jewel’ hanging

upon the cheek of an Ethiope’s ear. Romeo uses these words to highlight her
beauty. It also symbolizes the emotional intensity that he shows towards Juliet.

Similarly, Juliet uses the phrase ‘day in the night and ‘whiter than new snow on
a raven’s back’ to refer to Romeo. Secondly, she uses the words ‘stars in the
night sky’ to refer to Romeo. Literally speaking, both the meetings
between Romeo and Juliet take place at night. Secondly, their meeting has to
be a closely guarded secret because of the ‘hostility’ and the ‘enmity’ that exists
between the two rival families the Montagues and the Capulets.
When Romeo goes to the Capulet*s party, he goes wearing a mask at night.
Similarly, he promises to meet Juliet in her chamber on the wedding night, so
as not to be seen by anyone. That is why the word ‘night’ symbolically stands
for ‘secrecy’ and ‘caution’ that needs to be exercised in their love affair. Thus,
the playwright has used the word ‘black’ and ‘night’ to strengthen the
emotional situation. Thematically speaking, the words ‘day and night’, ‘black
and white’, ‘night’ and ‘raven’ are used to evoke the image of ‘death’ whereas
‘white dove’ is a symbol of purity, peace and ‘love’. A raven or a ‘black crow’ is
considered a bird of ill-omen.

Furthermore, ‘When I shall die’ and ‘cut him out in little stars’, and ‘heaven’ are
expressions that clearly refer to death and immortality. Thus, the playwright is
hinting that the secret love affair between the two rivals will culminate in the
tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. It can also be inferred that probably Juliet has
a premonition of their impending death because of the fatal attraction between
them and the enmity that exists between the two families. Thus, the
contrasting imagery serves to highlight the intensity of their love.

Question 2.
Between Romeo and Juliet, whose love, do you think, is more passionate and
intense?
Answer:
It is clear from their expressions that, of the two lovers, Juliet’s love is more
passionate and intense. It is well-known that when Romeo goes to the Capulet’s
party, it is with the intention of seeing Rosaline and not Juliet. When he sees
Juliet for the first time his exclamations are of one who is overwhelmed by the
sight of someone who is mesmerizingly (bewitchingly) beautiful and are not the
yearnings of someone deeply in love.

On the other hand, when Juliet gets to know Romeo after he had touched her
hand and kissed her, Juliet comes to understand what it means to be in love and
from then onwards starts feeling the pangs of love. Finally, she expresses her
love firmly, asking Romeo to marry her. Her love for Romeo goes on increasing
in intensity and finally in her ‘invocation tonight* we find someone yearning to
be possessed in love by her husband. She has a premonition of their tragic
death which finds expression in her request to ‘night to set up Romeo amidst
the stars in heaven after death so that their ‘love’ gets immortalized.

It is also true that, of the two, though Juliet is younger than Romeo, she is more
mature and passionate in deciding to get married to Romeo. She accepts Romeo
as her partner despite being fully aware of the enmity that exists between the
two families.

On the contrary, Romeo, though older than Juliet, is infatuated with Rosaline
and is disappointed that she does not reciprocate his love. Only when he meets
Juliet who reciprocates his love does he understand what it is to be really in
love. Therefore, it can be concluded that it is Juliet who is more passionate and
intense in love than Romeo.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words each:

1.How does Romeo glorify Juliet’s flawless beauty?

OR
How does Romeo describe Juliet?
OR
How does Romeo describe Juliet’s beauty?
OR
How is Romeo mesmerised by the beauty of Juliet?
OR
Juliet’s beauty was too rich for use. How does Romeo describe it?
Answer:
The moment Romeo catches sight of Juliet, he is enchanted with her flawless
beauty. Immediately he exclaims in wonder and says that she teaches the
torches (that have lit up the room) to bum bright. Then noticing her
conspicuous brightness in the night, he says that she appears like a precious
jewel hanging in the ears of an Ethiopian. Finally, seeing that she outshone
every other lady in the room, he says that she was like a snowy white dove
trooping with crows. He tells himself that he had never felt so much in love
because he had never seen anyone truly beautiful like Juliet until that night.

Question 2.
How does Juliet want people to forget the shining sun? Why?
Answer:
Juliet was eager to be with Romeo. So she invokes both the night and Romeo to
come along with it so that he comes to her unseen by others. She believes that
Romeo is ‘day in the night to her and hence his presence alone will make her
night bright to her. Then, once she is possessed by Romeo, her ‘love’ will have
been realized. Later, after her death, she wants the ‘night to set up Romeo
amongst the stars so that he will make the face of heaven beautiful and make
the people forget the shining sun. This way she wants their love to be
immortalized.

Question 3.
Does Romeo claim to have never seen true beauty till he saw Juliet How does he
justify this statement?
OR
Why does Romeo say he never saw true beauty till that night? Explain.
OR
How did Romeo express his love for Juliet?
OR
‘Forswear it, sight
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’. Why does Romeo feel so? Explain.
Answer:
Romeo and Juliet happen to see each other for the first time in the hall where
the dancers have gathered. The moment Romeo sets his eyes on Juliet, he is so
charmed by her beauty that he stands apart and rapturously praises her beauty.
It is night and the room is lit with torches. Romeo is overwhelmed by the
beauty of Juliet and so he exclaims and says that Juliet is brighter than the
blaze of the torches. Next, he compares Juliet to a jewelled earring hanging
against the cheek of an African. He then praises her beauty likening Juliet to a
white dove in the midst of a flock of crows.

He tells himself that he had never felt so much in love because he had never
seen anyone truly beautiful like Juliet until that night. Romeo is so
overwhelmed by her beauty that he tells himself that when that dance is over,
he will watch her where she stands and will touch her hand and make his
coarse hand blessed.

Question 4.
Why, according to Juliet, would all the world stop paying worship to the garish
sun? Explain.
Answer:
Juliet, who has married Romeo in secret, is waiting impatiently for the arrival
of night and along with it her love, Romeo, when their marriage will get
consummated. Now, Juliet is intensely in love with Romeo and feels passionate
for him to possess her so that she can own ‘love’. But the ‘day’ appears to be
moving very slowly and she apparently blames the sun for delaying her union
with Romeo. Secondly, her natural longing to be with Romeo makes her blame
the sun for being ‘lurid’ and obtrusively bright

Once the night arrives, and along with it Romeo, their love gets consummated.
After her death she expects Romeo to go to the heavens like a star. She believes
that her Romeo will make the face of heaven so fine that the whole world will
fall in love with night.

Question 5.
How is the intensity of love between Romeo and Juliet brought out in the
poem?
OR
Feelings of Romeo and Juliet for each other are expressed with intensity.
Discuss.
Answer:
The intensity of love between Romeo and Juliet is brought out in Juliet’s
soliloquy in which she addresses Romeo as ‘day in the night’. She imagines
night like a bird and believes that Romeo will come gliding on the wings of a
night like ‘new snow’ on a raven’s back. Then, addressing the ‘night’ as ‘gentle
night’ and ‘black-browed night, she implores it to bring her Romeo to her.

Next, she asks the night to set Romeo up in heaven as a star so that he will
make the face of heaven beautiful and charming. She hopes that when that
happens, ‘all the world will be in love with night and will not pay attention to
the overbright or lurid sun’. In short, love belongs to Juliet now that she is
married, but she does not own it, and she can’t own love until Romeo possesses
her. That is why there are so much longing and impatience in her request
tonight.

Question 6.
How does Juliet express her love for Romeo?
OR
How does Juliet express her feelings about Romeo?
Answer:
The intensity of love between Romeo and Juliet is brought out in Juliet’s
soliloquy in which she addresses Romeo as ‘day in night1. She imagines night
like a bird and believes that Romeo will come gliding on the wings of the night
like ‘new snow’ on a raven’s back. Then, addressing the ‘night1 as ‘gentle night7
and ‘black-browed night’, she implores it to bring her Romeo to her. Next, she
asks the night to set Romeo up in heaven as a star so that he will make the face
of heaven beautiful and charming. She hopes that when that happens, ‘all the
world will be in life with the night, and will not pay attention to the overbright
or lurid sun’.

Question 7.
Why does Juliet want Romeo to be cut out in little stars?
Answer:
Once Juliet gets her Romeo, she does not fear death. Like all mortals, if she
dies, Juliet begs fate to set him in heaven with the stars. His presence will make
the face of heaven so beautiful that the world will fall in love with ‘night7, and
the sun will no longer be worshipped. It also implies that their love will end in
their tragic death because of the enmity that exists between the two families.
Consequently, the world will come to know about the tragic death of the two
lovers and thus Romeo will be immortalized.

Question 8.
How does Juliet glorify her love for Romeo through her address tonight?
Answer:
Soon after her marriage to Romeo, Juliet comes home and waits anxiously for
the arrival of the night so that their love is consummated. She implores night to
come soon and along with it bring her Romeo. Once she gets her Romeo she
does not fear death. Like all mortals, if she dies, Juliet begs fate to set him in
heaven with the stars. His presence will make the face of heaven so beautiful
that the world will fall in love with ‘night’, and the sun will no longer be
worshipped. It also implies that their love will end in their tragic death because
of the enmity that exists between the two families. Consequently, the world
will come to know about the tragic death of the two lovers and thus Romeo will
be immortalized.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ provides an insight into the use of poetic devices in
expressing human feelings. Explain.
Answer:
In this lesson, there are two soliloquies, one by Romeo and the other by Juliet.
The first soliloquy is taken from Act I, Scene V and the second from Act III,
Scene II of Romeo and Juliet1, a romantic tragedy by William Shakespeare. The
language used by Shakespeare in these soliloquies is exceptionally creative and
provides an insight into his use of poetic devices in expressing human feelings.

In Act, I, Scene V, Romeo is attending a dance party in disguise, as it is hosted

by Old Lord Capulet. Romeo is seen gazing at some dancers on the dance floor.
When Romeo sees Juliet, he is so fascinated by her beauty that he asks a
servant who the lady is. When the servant tells him that he does not know who
she is, Romeo stands apart and rapturously praises her beauty.
In this soliloquy, one witness the ebullient outpourings of a dreamy, young
lover who has fallen in love with a beautiful, young lady, at first sight,
Shakespeare captures both the excitement and wonder the lovers feel on this
occasion, in an extraordinary language which abounds in poetic devices.

Line one is hyperbolic. The use of hyperbole is quite appropriate in this context
because it is the voice of a young lover who sees before him a beautiful girl who
symbolizes his aesthetic sense of what beauty ought to be like. Inline 2, Juliet is
likened to an earring, thus making it a simile. The earring hangs upon the
cheek of night. Here ‘night’ is personified as a black lady. Thus, we see the use
of personification as a device. The meaning is stretched further in the next line,
and thus in lines 2 and 3, we see the use of enjambment as a poetic device.
(‘Enjambment’ refers to the running over of the sense and grammatical
structure from one verse line or couplet to the next without a punctuated
pause.) The extended meaning is expected to further highlight the beauty of
Juliet using a sharp contrast in the description of the personified night as an
Ethiopian lady’s ear-ring.

We find another instance of enjambment in lines 5 and 6. Dove is a symbol of

love and a snowy dove is a symbol of peace. This highlights the pristine love of
the two young lovers. The snowy dove is trooping with ‘crows’ is again a sharp
contrast between the other ladies in the hall and the brightness of Juliet. This
contrast is to present a striking visual spectacle before the audience.
Thus, the whole stretch of this soliloquy is an extended metaphor expressing
the emotional intensity of a lover who has fallen in love at first sight. In the
next two lines, in the phrases ‘my rude hand’ and ‘my heart we find the use of
‘synecdoche’. The word ‘rude’ is tactile imagery. In the last line, the word
‘Beauty’, is a metaphor for Juliet. Finally, in the sentence ‘Did my heart love till
now?’ we find Romeo’s realization that his love for Rosaline was only
infatuation – a sensual feeling for a lady and devoid of all emotions, whereas
now he is in the throes of real love.

The next soliloquy is by Juliet (Act III Scene II). In this scene, Juliet is now
waiting for Romeo. In this beautiful speech, we begin to understand the
fullness of Juliet’s love.

In the first line, Juliet is addressing ‘night’ as an entity; night is personified.

Thus there are two poetic devices used here – an apostrophe and
personification. The poet wants to highlight Romeo’s brightness as seen by
Juliet when he comes to visit her at the night.

Inline 1, ‘come, night; come, thou day in the night there is a form of parallelism
called ‘asyndeton’. (It is a form of verbal compression which consists of the
omission of connecting words between clauses.) Next, Juliet calls Romeo’s day-
in-night’ which is a metaphor.

In the second line ‘night’ is personified as a bird. In the next line, the bird is
mentioned as a ‘raven’, and Romeo’s brightness or white complexion is
compared with new snow on the raven’s back. Here, there is a simile. In the
fourth line also ‘night* is personified. Juliet describes the night as having black
eyebrows, like a human being. Finally, in line 7, we see personification in the
phrase ‘face of heaven’. Inline 8, we see the use of ‘metonymy’ in the phrase ‘all
the world will be in love with the night’. It means to say that all the people in
the world will be in love with night

Thus Shakespeare uses emotive language to associate it with the theme of love
to demonstrate Romeo’s love/feelings for Juliet and to create drama. Thus one
can undoubtedly say that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ provides an insight into the use of
poetic devices.

Question 2.
Juliet’s love for Romeo finds an expression of exaggeration. Explain.
Answer:
It would be very unfair to Shakespeare’s mastery of poetic art and also to
Juliet’s characterization if we were to conclude that Juliet’s love for Romeo
finds expression in exaggeration. It is worth noting that both the actions –
Romeo meeting Juliet in the dance hall and Juliet waiting for Romeo, happen at
night Secondly, both the lovers are young, innocent, dreamy, and inexperienced
in love. Both of them have entered a new world and until their love for each
other is secured through consummation, the playwright cannot show them in
any other mood other than portraying their longing for each other in emotive
language. Moreover, both of them have fallen in love at first sight and
naturally, their emotional outpourings must contain a description of their
physical beauty.

Since it is a play, the playwright has to make his language overcharged with
emotion so as to dramatize the situation. Naturally, Juliet’s language is
hyperbolic. Though ‘hyperbole’ is generally defined as ‘exaggeration’, it is not
in the ordinary sense. Here ’hyperbole’ is a poetic device and it has been
appropriately used for enhancing the dramatic effect One must also remember
that plays are meant to be performed. Therefore, while reading a play one must
also visualize the action. Therefore, whatever Juliet says is not an exaggeration
but the emotional outpourings of a young lady who has met her lover for the
first time and that too only for a short time. In this context, her longing for
Romeo comes out in poetic language.

In Juliet’s soliloquy in Act III scene II, Juliet is now waiting for Romeo. From
this speech, we begin to understand the fullness of Juliet’s love. She desires the
act of love, not just for the physical pleasure, but because it represents for her
the pinnacle of marriage. Juliet has met a lover for the first time in her life and
this experience of nascent love in an innocent, virgin maiden finds its best
expression in this soliloquy.

In the first line, Juliet is addressing ‘night’ as an entity and night are
personified. Thus there are two poetic devices used here – an apostrophe and
personification. Here Shakespeare is using them for contrast and emphasis. The
poet wants to highlight Romeo’s brightness as seen by Juliet when he comes to
visit her at the night. Next, Juliet calls Romeo ‘day-in-night’ which is a
metaphor.

In the second line, ‘night is personified as a bird. In the next line, the bird is
mentioned as a ‘raven’, and Romeo’s brightness or white complexion is
compared with the new snow on the raven’s back. Here, there is a simile. In the
fourth line also ‘night’ is personified. Juliet describes the night as having black
eyebrows, like a human being. In line 7 we see ‘personification’ in the phrase
‘face of heaven’. We see the use of‘metonymy’ in the phrase ‘the world will be
in love with the night’, which means to say that all the people of the world will
be in love with night In view of the situation that is being presented,
exaggeration is quite appropriate.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare About the Poet:

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as

the greatest writer in the English language. He is often called England’s
national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire, in 1564. Very little is known about his life, but by 1592 he was j
in London working as an actor and a dramatist. Between about 1590 and 1613,
Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more.

Many of these plays were very successful both at court and in the public
playhouses. In 1613, Shakespeare retired from the theatre and returned to
Stratford-upon-Avon. He died and was buried there in 1616.

Shakespeare wrote plays and poems. His plays, 37 in number, were comedies,
histories, and tragedies. His 17 comedies include ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
and ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. Among his 10 history plays are ‘Henry V’
and ‘Richard III’. The most famous among his 10 tragedies are ‘Hamlet’,
‘Othello’, and ‘King Lear’. Shakespeare’s best-known poems are ‘Venus and
Adonis’, ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ and the Sonnets, 154 in all.

Background-I

‘Romeo and Juliet’ presents the tragic story of two young lovers Romeo and
Juliet, who belong to two powerful noble families of Verona, the Montagues,
and the Capulets. The two noble families harbour grudges against each other
and have been fighting each other as sworn enemies for a long time.

The action starts with a street brawl between the servants of the two rival
families, who are later joined by the heads of the families, the Montagues and
the Capulets, themselves. Prince Escalus, 5 who arrives on the scene,
admonishes them, restores order, and threatens death to any member of either
family found indulging in street fights, in the future. Then he leaves the place
taking Lord Capulet along with him.

Only Lord and Lady Montague and Benvolio, their nephew, remain there as the
others depart. Lord Montague tells Benvolio that Romeo has been in a bad mood
for quite a while, weeping and mooning, staying out all night but going into the
house as soon as the sun rises, locking himself in his room with the curtains
drawn as if to make ‘himself an artificial night’. Benvolio assures him that he
will attempt to find out what is bothering Romeo.

Next, we find Paris, a young relative of Prince Escalus, engaged in a

conversation with Lord Capulet. Paris wishes to marry 14-year-old Juliet, the
only daughter of the Capulets. Lord Capulet tells Paris that Juliet is yet too
young to marry, but tells Paris that he will not oppose the marriage if Paris can
win Juliet’s consent. Incidentally, Lord Capulet invites Paris to a feast to be held
at his house that evening.

Meanwhile, Benvolio meets Romeo and learns that Romeo is madly in love with
Rosaline, who does not love him and insists on remaining chaste.
Next, we learn that Lord Capulet has given his servant a list of guests whom he
has to see and ensure that they are invited to the Capulets’ party that evening.
But the servant cannot read the names in the list and hence asks two strangers
in the street to read. The two strangers are none other than Romeo and
Benvolio. Romeo reads out the names of the guests and incidentally learns that
fair Rosaline, with whom he is madly in love, is also one of the guests in the
party. Romeo and Benvolio decide to ‘crash’ the party. As planned, Romeo and
Benvolio gain entry into the party along with a retinue of masked entertainers
and torchbearers.

While the guests are engaged in dancing, Romeo happens to see Juliet dancing
with a gentleman. Romeo is awestruck by her beauty and tries to find out from
a servant, who she is. It is at this juncture that Romeo says these lines.
The lines spoken by Romeo are taken from Act I Scene V when Romeo happens
to see Juliet for the first time in the party hosted by the Capulets. Both Romeo
and Juliet do not know each other.

Summary – I Romeo’s Speech

Romeo stands apart and rapturously praises her beauty. His words appear to
come from someone who has not seen anyone so beautiful as Juliet before. It is
night and the room is lit with torches. Romeo exclaims and says that Juliet is
brighter than the blaze of the torches. It implies that her brightness outshines
the torches and has lit up the hall. In the next two lines again there is a
reference to the darkness of the night and the brightly shining lady. Romeo
compares Juliet to a jewelled earring hanging against the cheek of an African.

Here again, it implies that Juliet is conspicuously seen amidst others because of
her brightness. Romeo is so enchanted with her goddess-like beauty that he
declares that she is too beautiful for this world and too beautiful to die and be
buried. In the next line, he eulogizes her beauty saying that she outshines the
other women like a white dove in the middle of a flock of crows.

Romeo is so overwhelmed by her beauty that he tells himself that when that
dance is over, he will watch her where she stands and will touch her hand and
make his coarse hand (compared to Juliet’s) blessed. Then he asks himself a
question whether his heart loved anyone before that moment. Then he tells
himself that if it was true then he would renounce it because he had never felt
so much in love because he had never seen anyone truly beautiful like Juliet
until that night.

Background-II

(Having slipped away from his friends, Romeo lingers in Capulet s garden
under Juliet’s window, and overhears her confess to the stars that she loves
him. He reveals his presence to her, and in an ardent love scene, they resolve to
be married secretly. The next day, Juliet sends her nurse, of whom she has
made a confidante, to make final arrangements, and the wedding is performed
at the cell of Friar Laurence, Romeo’s friend. The two lovers depart hoping to
meet each other in Juliet’s chamber that night.

Returning from his wedding, Romeo comes upon his friends, Benvolio and
Mercutio, in an altercation with Tybalt, who has been seeking Romeo because
of his intrusion at the ball. Tybalt does his best to pick a fight, but Romeo,
remembering that now Tybalt is his kinsman, refuses to quarrel.

Mercutio, however, who do not understand Romeo’s softness, takes the quarrel
upon himself, and when Romeo and Benvolio try to beat down their weapons is
slain by Tybalt. Aroused by the death of his best friend, Romeo throws aside his
lenity, slays Tybalt, and flees as the angry citizens begin to gather.

Then we come to Act III Scene II, where we find Juliet waiting in her father’s
orchard for her husband, Romeo’s, arrival. Juliet, unaware of what has just
happened, waits out the passing of the day. She is more impatient than ever,
for, that night Romeo is to come to her as her husband. At the opening of the
scene, Juliet delivers an impassioned soliloquy, popularly known as ‘Juliet’s
invocation to the night’. In her soliloquy, Juliet urges the sun on to its setting in
the West, so that night may arrive sooner. She longs for the shelter of darkness
when Romeo can come to her unseen. The dark suits lovers, for love, is blind
and the beauty of lovers is enough light for them. There are 31 lines in this
soliloquy but only 9 lines (lines 17 to 25) are prescribed for your study.

Whereas Romeo’s speech highlights the mesmerising physical beauty of Juliet,

Juliet’s soliloquy highlights Juliet’s intensity of love for Romeo.

Summary-II Juliet’s soliloquy

In these nine lines, Juliet invokes both ‘night’ and ‘Romeo’ as well. She
addresses Romeo as ‘day in the night’ because his presence will shine out
against the darkness. She visualizes night like a bird j and believes that Romeo
will come gliding on the wings of the night like ‘new snow’ on a raven’s back.
She addresses the night appealingly calling it ‘gentle night’ and ‘black-browed
night’. She implores it to bring her Romeo to her. After that, when she dies, she
asks the night to take him and set him up in heaven with the stars so that he
will make the face of heaven beautiful and charming. She hopes that when that
happens ‘all the world will be in love with night, and it will not pay attention to
the overbright or lurid sun.

The soliloquy is based on the unifying images of night and light. Juliet courts
this night, which by its darkness will allow Romeo’s safe journey to her. The
only light she needs is Romeo himself, who is ‘day in the night’. The light of the
day and the ‘garish sun’ offer nothing to her; they are only ‘tedious’. It is a
night that is ‘loving’, for it blesses her love with its darkness and silence and
lets that love shine out. Even the stars, emblems of the fate she does not
recognize, seem to be good to her. Romeo will be made eternal by the stars.
Juliet’s speech is like singing in the face of death. Thus, Juliet hastens the
coming of her wedding night.

In short, love belongs to Juliet, now that she is married, but she does not own
it, and she can’t own love until Romeo possesses her. That is why she is waiting
now as impatiently as a child waits for a festival.

Glossary:

• Doth (archaic): does

• Ethiopia: an African
• Yonder: over there
• Measure dene: dance ended
• Thou (archaic): you
• Rude: roughly formed
• Garish: lurid, obtrusively bright
• too rich for use: too splendid for common wear
• my rude hand: my hand which will be guilty of profanity in venturing to
touch hers
• forswear it, sight: he appeals to his eyes to disclaim having ever before
seen real beauty

Chapter 2 Too Dear!

Too Dear! Comprehension I

Question 1.
Why was ‘Monaco’ called a ‘toy kingdom’?
Answer:
Monaco was called a toy kingdom because it had such a tiny landmass
that if all the land in the kingdom were divided, there would not be
even an acre for each of its seven thousand inhabitants.
Question 2.
Name the commodities that were taxed in Monaco.
Answer:
The commodities taxed in Monaco were tobacco, wine, and spirit The
people also paid a poll tax.

Question 3.
What was the source of the King’s special revenue? Who were its
beneficiaries?
OR
Name the special source of revenue in the kingdom of Monaco.
Answer:
The percentage of profit given by the gaming housekeeper to the
kinglet was the source of the king’s special revenue. The king, his
ministers, courtiers, his servants, a bishop, his generals, and his army
were its beneficiaries.

Question 4.
Why did the Germans stop gaming houses in their country and how did
it benefit Monaco?
Answer:
The Germans stopped gaming houses because those gaming houses did
much harm to people. If a man went to a gaming house to try his luck,
risking all he had and lost it, then he would even risk money that did
not belong to him. If he loses that also, he would be forced to commit
suicide by drowning or shooting himself in despair. It benefitted
Monaco as it was the only Kingdom that allowed a gaming house to
run.

Question 5.
What was the punishment given to the murderer?
Answer:
The murderer was sentenced to death.

Question 6.
The death sentence was converted into imprisonment for life because
a. Monaco had abolished the death penalty.
b. carrying out the death sentence was expensive.
c. Monaco wanted to show mercy to the criminal.
Answer:
(b) carrying out the death sentence was expensive.

Question 7.
How much did the king spend on the criminal annually?
Answer:
The king spent 600 francs on the criminal annually.

Question 8.
On what condition did the criminal agree to go away from the prison?
How was his demand fulfilled?
Answer:
The criminal agreed to go away on condition that he be paid 600
francs as pension for a year regularly until his death. His demand was
fulfilled because the prisoner refused to run away from the prison. If
he had remained there the king would have been forced to keep a
guard over him to watch and also feed him until his death. The
criminal left the prison and the king’s dominions as well, as soon as he
received one-third of his annuity in advance. He emigrated to another
country just across the frontier and settled there comfortably.

Comprehension II

Question 1.
Though gambling is a dirty business, why does the king of Monaco
resort to it?
Answer:
The king of Monaco resorted to letting the gaming house run in his
kingdom because the gaming housekeeper paid a large sum of money
out of his profits. This money helped the kinglet to live and enjoy his
life, holding court with all the ceremony of a real king.

Question 2.
Why did the king of Monaco keep changing his mind in dealing with
the criminal?
OR
What problems did the authorities of Monaco face in dealing with the
criminal? How did they resolve them?
OR
What made the king of Monaco alter his decisions in dealing with the
criminal?
Answer:
The king of Monaco kept changing his mind in dealing with the
criminal because, every time he took a decision, he faced a problem to
execute it. First, the king accepted the judge’s verdict and ordered the
execution of the criminal, but he cancelled it and changed the sentence
to ‘imprisonment for life’ because there was neither a guillotine
machine nor an executioner in his country. Moreover, if he had
decided to borrow one from the King of Italy, he would have been
forced to levy 2 francs per person as additional tax which he did not
like.

Secondly, after keeping the criminal in prison for one year, he realized
that he had to spend 600 francs on the maintenance of the criminal
until his death, which would have proved to be again a financial
burden to his people. Therefore, as advised by his council of ministers,
he dismissed the guard hoping that the prisoner would run away. But
the prisoner refused to run away because he had nowhere to go and he
had stopped the habit of working. Once again, the king faced a new
problem. Then, as suggested by his council of ministers, the king
ordered payment of 600 francs a year as pension and got rid of the
criminal.

Question 3.
Why was the criminal reluctant to go out of the prison?
Answer:
The prisoner was reluctant to go out of the prison because his
character had been ruined by the death sentence given to him and he
had nowhere to go. Secondly, by being imprisoned and given food in
his cell every day, he had given up working to earn his living. So he
had become lazy. Therefore, he felt helpless and so refused to go.

Question 4.
How did the criminal lead his life after his release?
Answer:
After his release from prison, the criminal emigrated to another
country and settled just across the frontier. With the money he had
received as an annuity in advance, he bought a bit of land, started
market-gardening and lived comfortably.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
“You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour.’ Justify with reference
to the story.
OR
“You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour”. How does the author
relate this statement to the actions of the king of Monaco?
Answer:
The King of Monaco levied taxes on tobacco, wine, and spirit. He also
levied a poll tax. This was the source of his income. But, with the
revenue collected this way, the king found it difficult to feed his
courtiers, his officials, and to meet his own expenses. Nobody could
live a king’s life with the meager income as the Prince of Monaco got
from his subjects. Therefore, to drive home the truth of this statement
he quotes the proverb, ‘You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour’.
It only means that if one wants to live beyond his means, honest
labour alone cannot fetch him enough money for his luxuries.

It implies that one has to take recourse to earn extra money by some
dishonest or unethical means. The King of Monaco also had a source of
additional or alternative revenue. He used to receive a large sum of
money regularly from a gaming housekeeper, who paid it out of his
profits earned from his gaming house.

The king knew that earning one’s living by running a gaming house
where people risked their money at the roulette table was a dirty
business. Yet, he had allowed it to run because he needed more money.
Also, he knew that collecting ‘tax’ on tobacco and ‘drink’ was also
unethical but, anyhow he had been doing it for a long time and so he
did not mind collecting additional revenue by this dirty business as
well.

Question 2.
Though the trial and imprisonment of the criminal is depicted in a
comic mode in this story, it does give rise to serious questions. What
are they?
Answer:
‘Too Dear!’ tells the story of Monaco, a small kingdom in Europe. The
author’s intention is to parody the efforts of the modern state to
violently restrain crime.

Monaco had a small population, a small army and was ruled by a

kinglet. Since it was a very small kingdom, it had meagre financial
resources. The people lived peacefully but somehow a murder was
committed. The criminal was tried as per the existing rules of the state
and was finally sentenced to death. But there was neither a guillotine
machine nor an executioner in the state.

Therefore, the king and the ministers made sincere attempts to borrow
them from their neighbours the French Government and the King of
Italy. After weighing the pros and cons of incurring a huge expenditure
the king gave up the idea of getting the criminal executed and changed
it to imprisonment for life. This cost the king 600 francs. When the
king reflected over the cost, it struck him that the cost would become a
big burden if the criminal lived another fifty years.

Again, the king and his ministers met discussed the issue and
dismissed the guard believing that the criminal would run away on his
own. But the criminal refused to go. Finally, the criminal was offered a
small pension and paid one-third of his annuity as advance. He left the
prison and emigrated to another country. Thus, there is a streak of
humour in the story throughout

The author’s intention is to prod the reader with the following serious
questions:

• Why should ‘violence’ be punished with violence only?

• What is the purpose of trying the criminal in a court of law and
decreeing punishment?
• Why are crimes committed and how can they be prevented?
• What is the role of the government in crime prevention?
• What guarantee is there that the ‘truth’ is revealed when the
criminal is tried in a court of law?
• How can the miscarriage of justice be prevented?
• How can the court ensure that the convicted criminal is given
punishment commensurate with the crime?
• What is the role of the government in ensuring that the family of
the criminal is not put to hardship after the execution of a
criminal?
• How much time should a country, like Monaco, whose resources
are limited, spend on trial and punishment of criminals?

Question 3.
Were there other ways of dealing with the criminal? Discuss in the
light of the story.
Answer:
Monaco was a very small kingdom, with a small population and a
small army. Also, its revenue was meagre. Yet, the king managed to
rule like any other king with courtiers, judges, and ministers enjoying
the luxuries and privileges of a king. The king managed to enjoy his
kingship, utilizing the additional revenue generated from
monopolizing the gambling business. It is highly condemnable that a
king should resort to doing a dirty business to enjoy royal comforts.
One can only say the king is too self-centered.

As regards the ‘murder’ committed by a criminal, the kingdom did not

have either a guillotine machine or an executioner. Secondly, the
government could not afford to spend even 12000 francs on borrowing
the same from the King of Italy. In such a situation it is quite
preposterous to put in place a system of inflicting violence to eliminate
violence.

One possible alternative punishment would have been sending the

criminal into exile. Another alternative punishment would have been
to condemn such criminals to hard, physical labour for life or for a
limited period until they reformed their behaviour. It would be far
more practical, economical, and humane to use the state’s resources to
reduce crimes, this way.

Additional Questions and Answers

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Where is the kingdom of Monaco situated?
Answer:
Near the borders of France and Italy.

Question 2.
How many inhabitants are there in the kingdom of Monaco?
OR
What is the population of the kingdom of Monaco?
Answer:
About seven thousand.
Question 3.
If the kingdom of Monaco were divided among its inhabitants, how
much land would each inhabitant get?
Answer:
Each inhabitant would get less than an acre.

Question 4.
How many men are there in the army of Monaco?
OR
How many soldiers were there in the kingdom of Monaco in ‘Too
Dear!’?
Answer:
There are only sixty men in the army of Monaco.

Question 5.
What are the items on which tax is levied in Monaco?
Answer:
The items on which tax is levied are tobacco, wine, and spirits. The
people of Monaco also pay poll-tax.

Question 6.
Name the special source of revenue in the kingdom of Monaco.
OR
Where does the special income mentioned in Too Dear!’ come from?
Answer:
The large sum of money paid by the gaming housekeeper, out of his
profits from the gaming house.

Question 7.
How did the king of Monaco supplement the kingdom’s revenue?
Answer:
By keeping to himself the monopoly of the gaming business.

Question 8.
Where was the only gambling establishment left in Europe located?
OR
Which was the only place of gambling in Europe as mentioned in ‘Too
Dear!’?
Answer:
Monaco.
Question 9.
What business does the Prince of Monaco monopolise?
Answer:
The Prince of Monaco monopolized the business of gaming at the
roulette table.

Question 10.
What unusual crime was committed in the kingdom of Monaco?
Answer:
Once, a murder was committed in the Prince’s domains.

Question 11.
What was the hitch in the execution of the criminal?
OR
Why couldn’t the murderer be executed?
OR
Mention one of the reasons for altering the death sentence to life
imprisonment in ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
The Kingdom of Monaco did not have either a guillotine machine ora
professional executioner.

Question 12.
To whom did the ministers of Monaco write first to help them with the
execution?
Answer:
The ministers of Monaco wrote a letter of inquiry to the French
Government to lend them a guillotine machine and the services of an
expert and also inform them of the cost of doing so.

Question 13.
How much did the French government expect for a guillotine machine
and an expert?
OR
How much would a guillotine and an executioner cost if supplied from
France?
Answer:
The French Government offered to lend a guillotine machine and an
expert for a price of 16000 francs.

Question 14.
Who, according to the Council, was a brother Monarch?
Answer:
The King of Italy.

Question 15.
How much did the Italian government demand to supply a guillotine
and an executioner?
Answer:
12000 francs.

Question 16.
What reason did the soldiers give for not accepting to execute the
criminal?
OR
Why couldn’t the soldiers undertake the job of killing the criminal?
Answer:
The soldiers said that they did not know how to do it and that was one
thing that they had not been taught.

Question 17.
Where was the criminal’s food fetched from in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
From the palace kitchen.

Question 18.
Who brought food from the palace kitchen for the prisoner?
OR
Who fetched the criminal’s food initially in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
The guard who was appointed to keep watch over the prisoner brought
food for him from the palace kitchen. ,

Question 19.
What was the new item of expenditure noticed by the Prince?
Answer:
The new item of expenditure was the money spent on keeping a guard
to watch the criminal and to feed the criminal.

Question 20.
What was the pension offered to the criminal?
Answer:
The king offered a pension of 600 francs to the criminal.

Question 21.
How much did the criminal receive as an advance of his annuity before
leaving Monaco?
Answer:
One-third of his annuity.

Question 22.
What work did the prisoner do after being released from prison?
OR
How did the criminal start a new life after he emigrated from Monaco?
OR
What did the criminal do to earn his living after his release?
Answer:
The prisoner bought a bit of land and started market-gardening.

Question 23.
What business does the King of Monaco monopolise?
Answer:
The King of Monaco monopolizes the business of gambling.

Question 24.
What was the initial punishment given to the criminal by the council?
Answer:
The council suggested that the criminal’s head be cut off as directed by
law.

Question 25.
“In war, they don’t mind killing people”. Here, the word ‘they’ refers
to
a) Council
b) Soldiers
c) Commission.
Answer:
(b) soldiers

Question 26.
Where did the criminal go to fetch his dinner in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
The Prince’s kitchen/ the palace kitchen.
Question 27.
The King’s special revenue in ‘Too Dear!’ came from
a) gaming house
b) poll tax
c) tax on tobacco.
Answer:
(a) gaming house.

Question 28.
The people of Monaco mentioned in ‘Too Dear!’ were
a) sociable
b) peaceable
c) fashionable.
Answer:
(b) peaceable.

Question 29.
Name the ‘Toy Kingdom’ mentioned in ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
Monaco is the ‘Toy Kingdom’ mentioned in ‘Too Dear!’.

Question 30.
Who is referred to as ‘a rascal’ by the king in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
The criminal who committed a murder in Monaco is referred to as ‘a
rascal’ by the king in ‘Too Dear!’.

Question 31.
Where did the criminal settle after emigrating in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
After emigrating, the criminal settled in a place just across the
frontiers, which could be reached by rail in only a quarter of an hour.

Question 32.
Which government is Republican and has no proper respect for the
King in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
In ‘Too Dear!’, the French government is Republican and has no
respect for the King.
Question 33.
How long was the criminal in the prison in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
The criminal remained in the prison watched by a guard for one year.
Then, the guard was dismissed so as to prompt him to run away. But
he remained there on his own, unguarded until he was promised a
pension.

Question 34.
What does the keeper of the gaming house pay the Prince in ‘Too
Dear!’?
Answer:
The keeper of the gaming house pays a large sum to the prince, out of
his profits from the gaming house.

Question 35.
Who gains more from the gaming house in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
In ‘Too Dear!’, the prince gains more from the gaming house.

Question 36.
What was unusual about the murder committed in Monaco in ‘Too
Dear!’?
Answer:
It was unusual for a murder to be committed in Monaco because the
people were peaceable and never had such a crime like ‘murder’
happened before.

Question 37.
The king had to find a special source of revenue because
a) the income from the taxes was insufficient
b) his people drank and smoked less.
c) the people of Monaco gambled a lot
Answer:
(a) the income from the taxes was insufficient.

Question 38.
The death sentence in ‘Too Dear!’ was altered because
a) the king wanted to show mercy to the criminal.
b) doing so would not be expensive.
c) no one was willing to execute the criminal.
Answer:
(b) doing so would not be expensive.

Question 39.
When the guard was dismissed, the criminal in ‘Too Dear!’
a) was happy and tried to run away.
b) worried about the guard’s family
c) did not show any sign of running away.
Answer:
(c) did not show any sign of running away.

Question 40.
The criminal in ‘Too Dear!’ agreed to go away from the prison after
a) he was offered a pension.
b) he was allowed to emigrate.
c) the guard was dismissed.
Answer:
(a) he was offered a pension.

Question 41.
Which kingdom in ‘Too Dear!’ monopolised the gaming business?
Answer:
In ‘Too Dear!’, a tiny little kingdom called Monaco monopolised the
gaming business.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of80-100 words

each:

Question 1.
Why was the murderer finally sentenced to imprisonment for life?
OR
Why was the death sentence of the murderer altered to imprisonment
for life?
Answer:
The king of Monaco sent two letters of inquiry to France and Italy so
as to borrow a guillotine machine and the services of an executioner to
execute the criminal. The French Government wrote to Monaco that it
would cost them 16000 francs. The King of Italy offered to do the work
for 12000 francs which included the travelling expenses also.
If the king had accepted the offer, he would have been forced to levy 2
francs per head on the whole population to collect 12000 francs. The
people would not have accepted such a financial burden and that
would have caused a riot. When the General of the Army also pleaded
his inability to get the criminal executed by the soldiers, the ministers
met again. They assembled a Commission, and a committee and a sub-
committee to explore other ways of punishing the criminal at a
cheaper price. They all came to the conclusion that altering the death
sentence to one of imprisonment for life was the best thing to do. They
also felt that such a step would enable the prince to show his mercy.
The king too felt that it was not worth spending so much money to
execute a criminal. Therefore, the king changed the death sentence to
one of imprisonment for life.

Question 2.
Why did the criminal refuse to run away/escape from the prison?
OR
What were the arguments put forth by the prisoner for not running
away from the prison?
OR
Why did the criminal refuse to escape from the prison in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
When the king realized that it was a serious matter to keep a criminal
imprisoned for life and it would cause his people a huge financial
burden, he summoned his ministers and asked them to find a cheaper
way of punishing the criminal. The ministers met and after several
deliberations suggested that they must dismiss the guard and 6ave
some money. The king agreed to their suggestion. Soon, the guard was
dismissed and they waited curiously to see what the criminal would
do. The criminal came out of his prison at dinner time, collected his
food from the palace kitchen, and returned to the prison, shut the door
on himself, and stayed inside.

Later, the Minister of Justice asked him why he had not run away, as
there was no guard to watch over him. They even told him that the
prince would not mind if he ran away. But the prisoner told them that
he had nowhere to go as his character had been ruined and people
would turn their backs on him. Moreover, he had forgotten the habit of
working and so if he ran away he would be forced to work for earning
his living. That is why the criminal refused to run away from prison.
Question 3.
Why did the Council decide to offer the criminal a pension?
OR
Why was the criminal finally offered a pension? How did this offer
benefit him?
Answer:
The Minister of Justice asked the prisoner why he did not run away as
there was no guard to watch over him. He also told him that the king
would not mind if he escaped. But the prisoner told him that he had
nowhere to go as his character had been ruined and the people would
turn their backs on him. Furthermore, as he had been given food in the
prison itself and by doing so he had been prevented from doing any
work to earn his living, he had become lazy. Therefore, he refused to
go away. He was also feeling bad that he had been treated badly. The
ministers met once more and discussed the matter seriously. It struck
them that the only way to get rid of him was to offer him a pension.

Not only would the criminal get some money to feed himself as long as
he was alive, but there would not also be any need to worry about him
anymore. That is why the council decided to offer the criminal a
pension. The criminal received one-third of his annuity in advance and
emigrated to another country just across the frontier. There he bought
a bit of land and started market-gardening. He visited the gaming
tables and staked two or three francs, sometimes winning and
sometimes losing. He lived comfortably and peaceably like the others.

Question 4.
Why did the authorities in Monaco fail to carry out the death
sentence?
Answer:
The authorities in Monaco failed to carry out the death sentence
because there was neither a guillotine for cutting heads off nor an
executioner. Though they tried to borrow a machine and an expert
from their neighbouring countries France and Italy, they realized that
it would cost the kingdom a huge sum of money and the king would be
forced to collect nearly two francs more per head on the taxes. Even if
they were to get the machine, none of the soldiers in the army was
ready to cut off the criminal’s head because they had not been taught
how to behead a criminal. Therefore, the authorities gave up the idea
of carrying out the death sentence.

Question 5.
How does the narrator describe the toy kingdom’?
OR
Describe the kingdom of Monaco with reference to ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
The tiny little kingdom called Monaco lies near the borders of France
and Italy. There are only about seven thousand inhabitants in it The
kingdom is so small that if all the land in the kingdom were divided
among its inhabitants, there would not be even an acre of land for
each inhabitant. But this toy kingdom has a real kinglet and like any
other real king, the kinglet lives in a palace with courtiers, ministers, a
bishop, generals, and a small army of only sixty men in all. The king
lives by collecting taxes from the people, on tobacco, wine, and spirits
and a poll tax. Besides, the king also received a large sum of money
from a gaming housekeeper.

Question 6.
Why was the criminal offered a pension finally? How did this offer
benefit him?
OR
The criminal led a comfortable life after his release. Explain.
OR
How did the criminal benefit from the pension he was offered?
Answer:
The king’s authorities could not get the criminal executed as per the
king’s orders because there was neither a guillotine for cutting heads
off nor an executioner in their kingdom. Then, they tried hiring a
guillotine and an executioner from their neighbouring countries. When
they realized that it would cost them a large sum of money which had
to be recovered from the people through additional taxation, they
decided to ask a soldier to cut off the criminal’s head. But, when they
failed to find a soldier who would be ready to cut off the criminal’s
head, they altered the death sentence to one of imprisonment for life.

However, when they found that the cost of maintaining a prisoner in

prison with a guard on duty cost the king dearly, they dismissed the
guard and asked the criminal to run away. But, when the criminal told
them that he had nowhere to go and no work to do, they offered him a
pension of 600 francs and sent him away. The criminal received one-
third of his annuity in advance and emigrated to another country just
across the frontier. There he bought a bit of land and started market-
gardening. He visited the gaming tables and staked two or three
francs, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. He lived
comfortably and peaceably like the others.

Question 7.
Describe the efforts of the ministers in carrying out the death sentence
in ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
Soon after receiving the judgment given by the court, the prince read
out the sentence, confirmed it, and ordered the execution of the
criminal. However, there was a problem in executing the king’s orders.
Monaco did not have either a guillotine or an executioner. The
ministers discussed the matter and sent a letter of inquiry to the
French Government asking whether they could lend them a machine
and an expert to execute the criminal and also inform the cost
involved. The French Government informed them that it would lend
them a machine and an expert as well and it would cost 16000 francs.

When the ministers informed the king about it, he thought over it and
felt that it would be too burdensome for his people to bear. Then a
similar inquiry was sent to the King of Italy. The Italian government
offered to lend a machine and an expert at a cost of 12000 francs
which included travelling expenses also. Though the price quoted by
the Italian government was lesser than that of the French government,
the king felt that the price was too much for a toy kingdom like theirs.

Therefore, the council met discussed the issue and asked the General
of the Army whether a soldier in the Army would be ready to cut off
the man’s head in a rough and homely fashion. When the General
discussed this issue with his soldiers, no soldier agreed to do it
because they had not been taught how to behead a criminal.

Question 8.
How did the criminal spend his life after he was given a pension in
‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
When the criminal told the ministers that he had nowhere to go and no
work to do, they offered him a pension of 600 francs and sent him
away. The criminal received one-third of his annuity in advance and
emigrated to another country just across the frontier. There he bought
a bit of land and started market-gardening. He visited the gaming
tables and staked two or three francs, sometimes winning and
sometimes losing. He lived comfortably and peaceably like the others.

Question 9.
Where was the criminal in ‘Too Dear!’ kept and what were the
arrangements made for him?
Answer:
In ‘Too Dear!’, as soon as the prince had agreed to alter the death
sentence to one of imprisonment for life, the ministers began making
arrangements for imprisoning the criminal. But, they did not find a
prison suitable for a criminal sentenced to life imprisonment. Finally,
they managed to find a place strong enough to keep the criminal in it.
They put the young criminal there and placed a guard over him. They
asked the guard to watch over the criminal and also to fetch his food
from the palace kitchen.

Question 10.
Why were a series of meetings held in Monaco in ‘Too Dear!’?
Answer:
In Monaco, a series of meetings were held to figure out the most
prudent or the least expensive way of executing the criminal. As there
was no guillotine or an executioner in Monaco, the council of ministers
discussed the issue and decided to request the French government to
lend them a machine and an expert to execute the criminal. The next
meeting was held between the king and the council of ministers to
inform the king that the French government had asked 16000 francs
as a rental for the machine and the expert and to seek the king’s
consent When the king asked them whether the job could not be done
at a lesser price, the ministers held another meeting and decided to
send a similar inquiry to the king of Italy.

When they learnt that the Italian government wanted 12000 francs for
the job, they held another meeting to explore other ways of doing the
job with less expense. Later, they consulted the Army General and
requested him to find a soldier who would do the execution. When
they came to know that none of the soldiers would do it, the
authorities assembled a commission, a committee, and a sub-
committee and finally came to the conclusion that the best way would
be to alter the death sentence to one of imprisonment for life.
Question 11.
How does the kinglet in ‘Too Dear!’ feed his courtiers and officials and
keep himself?
Answer:
Though it was a tiny little kingdom, Monaco had seven thousand
inhabitants. Its kinglet lived like a real king in a palace with courtiers,
ministers, a bishop, generals, and an army of sixty men. The king
managed his kingdom by collecting taxes from the people on tobacco,
wine, and spirits, and a poll tax. As the revenue so collected was
inadequate, he permitted a gaming house to function in his kingdom.
Its keeper paid a large sum to the kinglet. Since it was the only gaming
house in the continent, it fetched the King of Monaco enough revenue
to manage his kingdom. Thus he was able to feed himself and his
people with this revenue.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
Describe the various ways in which the Prince of Monaco tried to get
the criminal executed.
OR
Describe the attempts made by the ministers in solving the problem of
cutting off the criminal’s head.
Answer:
Soon after receiving the judgment given by the court, the prince read
out the sentence, confirmed it, and ordered the execution of the
criminal. However, there was a problem in executing the king’s orders.
Monaco did not have either a guillotine or an executioner. The
ministers discussed the matter and sent a letter of inquiry to the
French Government asking whether they could lend them a machine
and an expert to execute the criminal and also inform the cost
involved in it. The French Government informed them that it would
lend them a machine and an expert as well and it would cost 16000
francs.

When the ministers informed the king about it, he thought over it and
felt that it would be too burdensome for his people to bear. Then a
similar inquiry was sent to the King of Italy. The Italian government
offered to lend a machine and an expert at a cost of 12000 francs
which included travelling expenses also. Though the price quoted by
the Italian government was lesser than that of the French government,
the king felt that the price was too much for a toy kingdom like theirs.

Therefore, the council met discussed the issue and asked the General
of the Army whether a soldier in the Army would be ready to cut off
the man’s head in a rough and homely fashion. When the General
discussed this issue with his soldiers, no soldier agreed to do it
because they had not been taught how to behead a criminal.

Question 2.
Explain how and why the Council got rid of the prisoner.
OR
In spite of all their efforts, the king and his team failed in punishing
the criminal. How is it narrated in the story Too Dear!’?
Answer:
Soon after the king had ordered imprisonment for life as the
punishment, the ministers with great difficulty managed to find a
place to keep the criminal imprisoned. They put him in it and placed a
guard to watch over him. This way the criminal spent one year in
prison. This arrangement cost the king 600 francs a year. When the
king thought over it, it struck him that the criminal was young and
may live for another fifty years.

The king became apprehensive about the cost of keeping the criminal
imprisoned for life. Therefore, he summoned his ministers and asked
them to find a cheaper way of punishing the criminal. The ministers
met and discussed the issue and came to the conclusion that the only
way to save money was to dismiss the guard. They believed that the
criminal would run away and their problem would be solved. The king
agreed to their suggestion and the guard was dismissed accordingly.

However, they waited curiously to see what the criminal would do.
The criminal came out of his prison at dinner time, collected his food
from the palace kitchen, and returned to the prison, shut the door on
himself, and stayed inside. Later, the Minister of Justice asked him
why he had not run away, as there was no guard to watch over him.
They even assured him that the prince would not mind his running
away. But the prisoner told them that he had nowhere to go as his
character had been ruined and people would turn their backs on him.

Moreover, he had forgotten the habit of working and so if he ran away

he would be forced to work to earn his living. The ministers met once
more and discussed the matter seriously. It struck them that the only
way to get rid of him was to offer him a pension. The king gave his
consent and they finally got rid of him by offering a pension of 600
francs a year. The prisoner received one-third of his annuity in
advance and left the king’s dominions. Thus, in spite of all their
efforts, the king and his team failed in punishing the criminal.

Question 3.
The king of Monaco is a man without a decisive stand. Do you agree
with this? Substantiate your answer with reference to ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
No, I do not agree with the statement, “The King of Monaco is a man
without a decisive stand” because there is enough evidence to prove
that he had to act according to the needs of the situation.

The King of Monaco kept changing his mind in dealing with the
criminal because, every time he took a decision, he faced a problem to
execute it. First, the king accepted the judge’s verdict and ordered the
execution of the criminal, but he cancelled it and changed the sentence
to ‘imprisonment for life’ because there was neither a guillotine
machine nor an executioner in his country.

Moreover, if he had decided to borrow one from the King of Italy, he

would have been forced to levy 2 francs per person as additional tax
which he did not like. Secondly, after keeping the criminal in prison
for one year, he realized that he had to spend 600 francs on the
maintenance of the criminal until his death, which would have proved
to be again a financial burden to his people.

Therefore, as advised by his council of ministers, he dismissed the

guard hoping that the prisoner would run away. But the prisoner
refused to run away because he had nowhere to go and he had got out
of the habit of working. Once again the king faced a new problem.
Then, as suggested by his council of ministers, the king ordered
payment of 600 francs a year as pension and got rid of the criminal.

Question 4.
‘Too Dear!’ ridicules the foolishness of rulers. Discuss.
Answer:
The story ‘Too Dear!’ exposes the predicament of a ruler who is forced
to revise his own judgment not out of mercy but out of financial
compulsions. The narrator seems to ridicule the foolishness of rulers
who make rules unmindful of the real situation in which they are
placed.

The story is thus a parody of one of the modern systems of

governance. It ridicules the ways of bringing criminals to book and
dispensing justice in modern states. Though the story is narrated in a
matter of fact tone, there is an undercurrent of sarcasm.
Monaco is a tiny kingdom with only seven thousand inhabitants. It has
a real kinglet who lives in a palace with courtiers, ministers, a bishop,
generals, and an army of only sixty men in all. The king lives by
collecting taxes on tobacco, wine and spirits, and a poll tax. As the
revenue collected from the people is too meagre to feed himself and
his people, the king permits a gaming house where people play
roulette. From the profits of the gaming house, the king gets a large
sum of money.

This is the situation in which the king is placed. From this one can
infer that, based on the size of the population and the army, the king
can only be a toy king or a dummy who in reality cannot control the
behaviour of the people except through mutual understanding and
ethical principles.

The system of governance is only a make-believe system and it can

boomerang or collapse at any point in time. As long as life goes on
smoothly, there is no need for the king to prove to the people that he is
their ruler and they must obey him. But, it so happens that a crime is
committed, and the king being the moral authority has to exercise his
authority. Herein lies the crux of the whole story.

The king behaves like a king of a big kingdom in terms of both money
and muscle power and announces a death sentence, which cannot be
implemented and, instead of punishing the criminal, gives him a
pension. This ironic situation is created because of the foolishness of
the king. The king ought to have arrived at his final decision about the
criminal only after examining the ground reality.

Question 5.
‘It is a good thing that the criminal committed his crime in Monaco’.
Why does the narrator in ‘Too Dear!’ feel so? Explain.
Answer:
The story ‘Too Dear!’ exposes the predicament of a ruler who is forced
to revise his own judgment not out of mercy but out of financial
compulsions. The narrator seems to ridicule the foolishness of rulers
who make rules unmindful of the real situation in which they are
placed.

Monaco is a tiny kingdom with only seven thousand inhabitants. It has

a real kinglet who lives in a palace with courtiers, ministers, a bishop,
generals and an army of only sixty men. The king lives by collecting
taxes on tobacco, wine and spirits and a poll tax. As the revenue
collected from the people is too meagre to feed himself and his people,
the king permits a gaming house where people play roulette. From the
profits of the gaming house, the king gets a large sum of money.

It so happens that a crime is committed, and the king being the moral
authority has to exercise his authority. Herein lies the crux of the
whole story. The king behaves like a king of a big kingdom in terms of
both money and muscle power and issues a death sentence, which
cannot be implemented and instead of punishing the criminal, ends up
giving him a pension. This ironical situation is created because of the
foolishness of the king. The king ought to have arrived at the final
decision only after examining the ground reality.

That is why, the narrator says, “It is a good thing that the criminal
committed his crime in Monaco” to ridicule the king because despite
being the king he has no power to exercise his authority.

Too Dear! Vocabulary

Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings are
called homonyms. E.g. watch, watch.

Question 1A.
Look at the following sets of sentences. The possible meanings of the
homonyms used are given in brackets. Match them.
1. a. The valedictory address of the chief guest impressed everyone,
b. She made a mistake in the address while posting the letter (location,
speech)
2. a. The poor man’s mind was full of worry.
b. Do you mind passing the jam? (have an objection to, thoughts)
3. a. The soldier gave a complete account of the prisoner’s escape
b. The officer checked the ledger account (financial record,
description)
4. a. He went to the ATM to draw some money.
b. The teachers draw pictures on the blackboard.
c. Don’t draw hasty conclusions without ample proof.
d. The offer of free balloons draws children to the park. (attract,
sketch, infer, take out.)
Answer:
1. (a) speech, (b) location;
2. (a) thoughts, (b) have an objection to;
3. (a) description, (b) financial record;
4. (a) take out, (b) sketch, (c) infer, (d) attract

Question 1B.
Find the sentences in which the above homonyms have been used in
the story and identify the appropriate meanings.

1. The Ministers considered the matter and decided to address an

inquiry to the French Government.
2. You can go where you like, and the Prince will not mind.
3. But when a year had passed, the Kinglet, looking over the
account of his income and expenditure one day, noticed a new
item of expenditure.
4. He always goes at the proper time to draw his pension.

Answer:

1. address – to say something directly to somebody.

2. mind – have an objection to.
3. account – a financial record.
4. draw – take out.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
A few years ago a murder _____ (commit). The case _____ (try) in the
most judicial manner. The criminal _____ (sentence) to death.
Answer:
was committed; was tried; was sentenced.
Question 2.
A letter _____ (send) to the French government A prompt reply _____
(receive). It said that a machine and an expert ____ (could supply) but
the cost would be 16,000 francs.
Answer:
was sent; was received; could be supplied.

Question 3.
The general _____ (call). He _____ (ask) to find a soldier who would
cut the man’s head off. The general talked it over with the soldiers.
But the soldiers said, “It is not a thing we ______ (have, teach).
Answer:
was called; was asked; have been taught

Question 4.
The guard ______ (dismiss). It _____ (decide) to offer the criminal a
pension. The pension fixed was 600 francs. This _____ (announce) to
the prisoner.
Answer:
was dismissed; was decided; was announced.

Question 5.
The crime was reported to the Prince of Monaco. The Prince _____
(amaze), for a murder _____ (commit) in his toy kingdom. The
ministers _____ (summon) to discuss the matter.
Answer:
was amazed; had been committed; were summoned.

Question 6.
In the toy kingdom, a council _____ (call) to consider what _____
(could do). It _____ (decide) to send a letter to the king of Italy.
Answer:
was called; could be done; was decided.

Question 7.
The king of Italy was a brother monarch, and ______ (might, induce)
to do the thing cheaper. So the letter _____ (write), and a prompt
reply _____ (receive).
Answer:
might be induced; was written; was received.
Question 8.
The Council met again. The General _____ (summon) and he _____
(instruct) to ask his soldiers if they _____ (prepare) to cut the
criminal’s head off.
Answer:
was summoned; was instructed; were prepared.

Question 9.
The Prince agreed to this, and the matter ______ (arrange). There was
a small lock-up where people ____ (keep) temporarily. The young
fellow _____ (put) there.
Answer:
was arranged; were kept; was put

B. Report the following conversation:

Question 1.
Minister: Why do you not run away? There is no guard to keep you.
The Prince will not mind.
Criminal: I know it. But I have nowhere to go.
Answer:
The minister asked the criminal as to why he didn’t run away. He
added that there was no guard to keep him. He further added that the
prince would not mind. The criminal replied that he knew it, but he
had nowhere to go.

Question 2.
Minister: The cost of execution will be 16,000 francs.
Prince: The wretch is not worth the money. Can’t it be done, somehow
cheaper? 16,000 francs is more than two francs ahead on the whole
population. The people will not stand it.
Answer:
The minister informed the prince that the cost of execution would be
16,000 francs. The prince remarked that the wretch was not worth the
money. He asked the minister whether it couldn’t be somehow done
cheaper. He added that 16,000 francs were more than two francs
ahead on the whole population. He further said that people would not
stand it.

Question 3.
Prince: You must find some cheaper way of dealing with this rascal.
The present plan is too expensive.
First Minister: In my opinion, we must dismiss the guard.
Second Minister: Then the fellow will run away.
First Minister: Let him run away.
Answer:
The prince remarked to the ministers that they must find some
cheaper way of dealing with that rascal. He added that the plan they
had then was too expensive. The first minister stated that in his
opinion they must dismiss the guard. The second minister continued
saying that in such a situation the fellow would run away. The first
minister replied that they could let him run away.

C. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
The kinglet would _______ the account of his income and expenditure
at the end of every year. When he noticed new items of expenditure,
he would the cost of each item. (reckon up, gave up, look over)
Answer:
reckon up; look over.

Question 2.
The council suggested that the only way _______ the criminal was to
dismiss the guard. The guard was dismissed but the criminal did not
run away. So one of the ministers decided to tell him ______ to do so.
(straight out, to look over, to get rid of)
Answer:
to get rid of; straight out

Question 3.
The criminal was asked to run away. But the criminal said that people
would ______ on him if he did so. He also said that he had ______ of
working. (got out of the way, turn their backs, be hanged)
Answer:
turn their backs; got out of the way.

Question 4.
There were about 7000 inhabitants in Monaco. The taxes fetched
meagre income. Therefore the kinglet was _____ to feed his courtiers
and himself. But he found a new source of income by which he could
______ money and lead a luxurious life. (rake in, hard put to it,
straight out)
Answer:
hard put to it; rake in.

D. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
The special revenue came from a gaming house, _____ people played
roulette. Some of the little German Sovereigns used to keep gaming
houses of the same kind _____ some years ago they were forbidden to
do so. The reason they were stopped was ____ these gaming houses
did so much harm. A man would come and try his luck. _____ he would
risk all he had and lose it. (because, then, where, but)
Answer:
where; but; because; Then.

Question 2.
The criminal refused to go away _____ they had ruined his character
_____ people would turn their backs on him. ____ he had got out of the
way of working. He said they might do as they liked, ____ he would
not go away. (but, for, besides, and)
Answer:
for; and; Besides; but.

Question 3.
The criminal received one-third of his pension in advance ______ left
the kingdom. _____ crossing the frontier, he settled down on a bit of
land. ______ he started market gardening ______ fetched him good
profit and he lived peacefully and well. (and, later, after, which)
Answer:
and; After; Later; which.

Question 4.
The criminal remained in prison for a year. _____ when a year had
passed, the kinglet was shocked to see the amount spent for his keep.
_____ he summoned his council to consider the matter. The council
considered ____ reconsidered. _____ they decided to dismiss the guard
who watched over the criminal. (finally; but, therefore, and)
Answer:
But; Therefore; and; Finally.
Question 5.
The death sentence was altered to life imprisonment. This would
enable the Prince to show his mercy ______ it would come cheaper.
_____ there was no strong prison fit for permanent use. _____ they
managed to find a place ____ would serve the purpose. (but, and,
which, however)
Answer:
and; But; However; which.

Leo Tolstoy:

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910), also known as Leo

Tolstoy, is a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short
stories. Tolstoy is a master of realistic fiction and is widely considered
one of the world’s greatest novelists. He is best known for two long
novels, ‘War and Peace’ (1869) and ‘Anna Karenina’ (1877).

Tolstoy first achieved literary acclaim in his 20s for his ‘Sevastopol
Sketches’ (1855), based on his experiences in the Crimean War, and
followed by the publication of a semi-autobiographical trilogy of
novels, ‘Childhood’, ‘Boyhood’, and ‘Youth’ (1855-1858). His works
include two additional novels, dozens of short stories, and several
famous novellas, including ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’, ‘Family
Happiness’, and ‘Hadji Murad’.

The story ‘Too Dear!’ is based on an absurd situation in which a small

state finds it much too expensive to either hang a criminal or to keep
in prison for long. Finally, the criminal has to be rewarded with a
pension to save the kingdom some money!

‘Too Dear!’ is a fascinating short story by Count Leo Tolstoy, a famous

Russian writer. It is adapted from an episode in Guy de Maupassant’s
work ‘Sur L’eau’ in French (translated into English ‘Afloat’) and
translated from Russian by Louise Maud and Aylmer Maud.

The story is a parody of one of the modem systems of governance. It

ridicules ways of bringing criminals to book and dispensing justice in
modern states. The story is narrated in a matter of fact tone but with
an undercurrent of sarcasm.

The story begins with the description of a place, its people, and its
system of governance. There is a tiny little kingdom called Monaco
near the borders of France and Italy. There are only about seven
thousand inhabitants in Monaco. The kingdom is so small that if all the
land in the kingdom were divided among its inhabitants, there would
not be even an acre of land for each inhabitant. But this toy kingdom
has a real kinglet and like any other real king, he lives in a palace with
courtiers, ministers, a bishop, generals, and an army of only sixty men
in all.

The king lives by collecting taxes from the people. There are taxes on
tobacco, wine, and spirits and a poll tax too. However, the number of
people living in his kingdom being very small, the taxes the people pay
for their ‘drinking’ and ‘smoking’ are not adequate enough to feed the
king’s courtiers, and officials and to keep himself. Therefore the king
had hit upon a new source of revenue. It came from a gaming house,
where people play roulette. The keeper of the gaming house got a
percentage on the turnover irrespective of whether people lost or won.
Out of his profits, the gaming housekeeper paid a large sum to the
kinglet.

Incidentally, it is the only gaming house that is left untouched by the

rulers in Europe and hence the gambling housekeeper pays so much
money to the prince. There were many such gaming houses run by
German sovereigns but some years ago they were forbidden to do so.
The rulers stopped such gaming houses because they did a great deal
of harm to the people. Many a time, it so happened that a man would
come and try his luck, then he would risk all he had and lose it. He
would finally drown or shoot himself. However, there was no one to
stop the Prince of Monaco, and he remained with a monopoly of the
business. So now, whoever wants to gamble goes to Monaco and the
prince gains a lot of money this way. The Prince of Monaco knows that
earning revenue this way is a dirty business but he feels helpless
because he has to live.

Though the kinglet knows that collecting taxes on people’s ‘drinks’ and
‘tobacco’ is bad yet he is collecting taxes. In the same way, the Prince
is living on the revenue he gets from the gaming house. He lives,
reigns, rakes in the money, and holds his court with all the ceremony
of a real king. He has his coronation and his levees. He rewards,
sentences, and pardons. He also has his reviews, councils, laws, and
courts of justice just like other kings, but only on a smaller scale.
In the next part of the story, we see the moral conflict faced by the
Prince and his people. A murder was committed in the Prince of
Monaco’s domains. The people of Monaco were peaceable and such a
thing had not happened before. Like in other countries there was a
legal system in place in Monaco also. The criminal was tried according
to the procedures of law. The lawyers argued and the judges finally
decreed that the criminal be executed as directed by the law. The
prince read out the sentence, confirmed it, and ordered the execution
of the criminal.

The story now takes a serious and interesting turn. There arose a
problem in the execution of the king’s order. Monaco was a toy
kingdom and it did not have either a guillotine for cutting heads off or
an executioner, the man designated to carry out the execution. The
ministers sent a letter of inquiry to the French Government, asking
whether they could lend them a machine and an expert to cut off the
criminal’s head and also inform the cost involved in it. They received a
reply a week later informing them that the French Government would
lend them a machine and an expert as well, and it would cost 16000
francs. The king felt that sixteen thousand francs was a lot of money
and it was utterly a waste of money to spend so much on beheading a
wretched criminal.

The king felt that the people would not accept his decision and if he
forced them there might be a riot Therefore, the king called a council
and asked them their suggestion. It was decided to send a similar
inquiry to the King of Italy. They wrote to the king of Italy and they
received a prompt reply. The Italian government informed them that
they would supply both a machine and an expert at a cost of 12000
francs including travelling expenses. Though the price quoted by the
king of Italy was cheaper than that of the French government, still the
price was too much for a toy kingdom like theirs. Therefore, the
ministers called another council and discussed the matter.

The council asked the General of the army to find a soldier who would
be ready to cut off a man’s head. The members of the council believed
that the soldiers have been trained for such a job. The general
discussed the matter with his soldiers to see whether one of them
would agree to do that job. But the soldiers did not agree to do it
because they had not been taught how to behead a criminal.
The king and the ministers met again and discussed the matter
thoroughly. Finally, they came to the conclusion that the best thing to
do was to alter the death sentence to one of imprisonment for life.
This way it would enable the prince to show his mercy and it would
also be cheaper. The prince agreed to this and so the matter was
arranged accordingly. Though there was no suitable prison for a man
sentenced for life, they managed to find a place that would serve as a
prison and put the criminal in it. They also placed a guard over him.
The guard had to watch the criminal and had also to fetch his food
from the palace kitchen. This way, they kept the prisoner imprisoned
for more than a year. The whole arrangement of keeping a guard to
watch over the criminal and feeding the criminal cost more than 600
francs a year.

One day, while the kinglet was examining the account of his income
and expenditure, the new item of expenditure caught his eye. He got
worried and so he summoned his ministers and urged them to find
some cheaper way of dealing with the criminal. The ministers again
met and discussed ways of reducing the expenditure. Finally, they all
came to the conclusion that the guard could be dispensed with so that
the expenditure on his salary could be saved. They went to the extent
of saying “let the prisoner run away and be hanged”. The ministers
conveyed their decision to the kinglet and the kinglet gave his consent
to it.

Accordingly, the guard was dismissed; but they all waited to see how
the prisoner would react. At dinner time the criminal came out, and
not finding his guard, he went to the Prince’s kitchen to fetch his own
dinner. After collecting his dinner, he returned to the prison, shut the
door on himself, and stayed inside. He did not show any signs of
running away and this got the ministers worried. The criminal was
brought before the Minister of Justice. He suggested to the prisoner to
run away. He even told him that if he ran away, the prince would not
mind it The prisoner told the minister that he had nowhere to go and
accused them of ruining his character by sentencing him to death.

Secondly, he told them that having been confined to the prison, he had
given up his habit of working. He actually resented their action in not
executing him. He finally told them that he would not like to agree to
their proposal that he should run away and escape. The minister felt
helpless.
Once more the council was summoned and the criminal’s issue was
discussed again. They came to the conclusion that the only way they
could get rid of him was by offering him a pension. The ministers
decided to pay the prisoner a fixed sum of600 francs as a pension. On
receiving the news, the prisoner told them that he would go away on
that condition but they must undertake to pay it regularly.

Finally, the prisoner received one-third of his annuity in advance and

left the king’s dominions. He emigrated to another country just across
the frontier. He bought a bit of land, started market gardening, and
lived there comfortably.

The narrator comments jovially that it is a good thing that the prisoner
did not commit his crime in a country where they do not grudge
expense to cut a man’s head off, or to keep him in prison for life. The
author seems to question the very conviction of the rulers about the
system of law and governance instituted by the rulers of big nations.
The author seems to appreciate the courage and open-mindedness of
Monaco in acknowledging their limitations and letting free the
prisoner on humanitarian grounds. It is worth noting that the writer
puns on the words ‘Too Dear!’. It means either ‘too expensive’ or ‘of
great value’. The author leaves it to the reader to decide whether ‘Too
Dear!’ refers to executing a criminal or saving a criminal’s life.

Glossary:

• Roulette: a gambling game

• rakes: (colloquial) especially of money: to earn
• levees: an official reception of guests or visitors in the morning
• poll tax: a kind of tax levied on an individual
• Franc: unit of currency of France
• kinglet: the king of a very small country
• domain: land ruled by a king
• peaceable: not causing violence
• spirits: strong alcoholic drinks
• gaming house: a place for gambling
 • turnover (n): here, the total amount of money that passed hands
between different gamblers
• hitch: a problem that causes a short delay
• jurymen: persons who give decisions in a court or help the judge
make decisions
• barrister: lawyer (in higher law-courts)
• guillotine: a machine for beheading (criminals)
• dominions: territories (under the king)
• homely: simple and plain
• emigrate: go to another country to live there.
• stake: money used as a bet; money risked on gambling
• annuity: a fixed amount of money paid to somebody every year
• Frontier: the border between two countries
• grudge: do something unwillingly

Chapter 3 On Children

Comprehension I

Question 1.
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of
Children.” And he said: Here ‘he’ refers to
a. her child.
b. the Prophet
c. the poet
Answer:
(b) the Prophet.

Question 2.
‘Your children are not your children’ means
a. they do not belong to their parents only.
b. the children should have their own space.
c. parents should not be possessive of their children.
Answer:
(b) the children should have their own space.

Question 3.
‘They come through you, but are not from you’ means
a. though parents give birth to their children they do not own them.
b. children have independent personalities..
c. parents should be indifferent to their children.
Answer:
(a) though parents give birth to their children they do not own them.

Question 4.
According to the prophet, what may be given to the children?
OR
What can be given to the children by their parents, according to the
prophet?
Answer:
According to the prophet, the parents can give only their love and
affection to their children.

Question 5.
‘their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow’ means
a. children belong to the future.
b. parents cannot shape their children’s future.
c. children have a different vision of life.
Answer:
(a, c) children belong to the future/children have a different vision of
life.

Question 6.
‘The bows’ and ‘living arrows’ refer to ____ and _____
Answer:
parents and children.

Question 7.
‘For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow
that is stable.’ Discuss the contrast between the underlined words.
Answer:
In the last four lines of the poem, Gibran uses the metaphor of archer-
bow-and-arrows to explain the role of parents in bringing up children.
In this metaphor, God is the archer, the parents represent the bow,
and the children are the living arrows. Like an archer, God bends the
bows testing them for stability to aid the arrows as they try to reach
their destination. “It is the archer who decides the target, which is
marked upon the path of the infinite, and He bends the parents (bows)
with His might that His arrows may go swift and far”.

Children are life’s longing for itself and it is the parents who serve as a
passage for them to come to the earth. Once they are born, it is the
parents’ responsibility to see that the ‘living arrows’ (children) reach
the intended target which has been decided by the archer himself.
Each arrow is ready to fly but the bow must be able to withstand the
strain or pressure caused on it and remain stable or firm so as to
enable the arrow to reach its target. The arrows have to fly and the
bow has to be stable because the bow must be flexible enough to bend
according to the will of the archer. This contrast between the role of
the arrows and the role of the bow is brought out in the last line of the
poem in the word ‘flies’ which refers to the arrows and ‘stable’ which
refers to the bows.

Comprehension II

Question 1.
Why does the prophet categorically state “Your children are not your
children’?
OR
Tour children are not your children’. How is this statement relevant
with reference to ‘On Children’?Explain,
OR
Tour children are not your children’. Why? What does the prophet
mean by this?
Answer:
According to Kahlil Gibran, love occupies the most important place in
God’s creation. Love is not created by us but is sent from above and it
directs everything in our life as it sees fit. In this poem, Gibran
illustrates how love works in the intimate relationship of parenthood.
Gibran wants us to understand that our role as parents is only
’stewardship’ and nothing else.
In the line ‘Your children are not your children’ Gibran tells parents to
be aware that a child is not a thing to be possessed by us because we
have not created ‘life’.

A child is eternal life itself and is a gift from the abundance of

existence. As parents we may have brought them to the earth. This has
happened so because we have been chosen to be a vehicle and so we
are nothing else but a passage. It is life’s longing for itself that brings
children to earth, as sons and daughters. Since children are not lifeless
things we cannot possess them. That is why the prophet categorically
states that ‘Your children are not your children’.

Question 2.
What does the metaphor of bow and arrow signify with regard to the
parent-children relationship?
OR
What do the bow and arrow signify in the poem ‘On Children’?
OR
How is the parent-child relationship brought out using the metaphor
of bow and arrows?
OR
Bring out the significance of the metaphors ‘bows’, ‘arrows’and
‘archer’.
OR
“Parents are bows, children are arrows and God is the archer”. How
does the poem ‘On Children’ highlight these images?
OR
‘On Children’ refers to children as arrows and parents as bows.
Explain.
Answer:
In his sermon on children, in the first part, Gibran explains to parents
how they should take care of their children as ‘stewards’. In the last
part of the sermon, Gibran uses the metaphor of the bow and the
arrows to help parents visualize their role in bringing up children.

In this metaphor, God, or the supreme power, is the archer, parents

are the bows and the arrows are the children. The archer uses the bow
only as an instrument to send the arrows to their target. The archer
decides the trajectory and the target on the infinite path and pulls the
string with all his might. As he pulls the string, the bow has to bend
and yet withstand the strain and pressure caused in shooting the
arrow. The bow should not snap in two. From this metaphor, it
becomes clear that parents serve only as an instrument or as a vehicle
to help the arrow fly to its destination and parents cannot own them.

Question 3.
According to the prophet, what attitude should parents have towards
their children?
OR
How does the poet describe the responsibility of parents in the poem
‘On Children’?
Answer:
Kahlil Gibran tells the parents that they are not the owners of their
children. He argues that children have come to this earth as Life’s
longing for itself and are born as sons and daughters and they are not
created by parents. Hence, parents cannot possess them. Parents
should consider themselves as ‘stewards’ and their role is only
stewardship. Gibran wants parents not to look upon their children as
their puppets and so as not to impose their religion, politics, and ideas
on the innocent children. Parents may give their own love but not their
thoughts, because the children have their own souls. They have the
free will to do as they please and have a mind of their own. They are
free to think for themselves.

Parents merely act as ‘guiding lights’ for their children. They have the
will to act as who they are and lead their own life and not how their
parents want them to. The children have their own future, parents
belong to the yesterdays, but children belonging to the tomorrows. We
should only give as much love as we can and should let them grow
according to their own potential. We may strive to be like them but we
should never trust our past on them. We should resist the temptation
of making our child a carbon copy of ourselves.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
In this poem, ‘parents could’ stand as a metaphor for
(a) the older generation
(b) leaders
(c) religious heads
(d) teachers.
Having considered the above options, offer different readings of the
poem.
Answer:
(a) In the poem ‘On Children’ by Kahlil Gibran, ‘parents’ could stand as
a metaphor for the older generation. The poem could be taken as a
dialogue between Almustafa, the prophet, and the older generation. As
advised by the prophet, the older generation must understand that the
children of this generation are born as life’s longing for itself. They
have their own souls. Therefore, the older generation must only strive
to protect their bodies until they become adults so that they grow up
as mature individuals and fulfil god’s mission for which they have
come to this earth. The older generation should not indoctrinate the
younger generation to lead a life as their parents like because the souls
of the younger generation dwell in the house of tomorrow to which the
older generation cannot enter. However, their duty is to make the
younger generation realize that they have been sent to the earth by
God to fulfill his mission.

(b) Similarly, ‘parents’ could also be taken as a metaphor for ‘leaders’.

As leaders, they can only protect their children physically, until they
come of age. They should not compel them to accept their ideologies
and live to fulfill their mission. On the contrary, the leaders must
understand that their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, and hence
the ideas of the older generation leaders will only take them
backward. But the leaders also are god’s children and have been
utilized by God as his instrument to send the children to the earth.
Therefore, they must see to it that they protect the younger generation
until they grow and become mature individuals. They must also be
made aware of god’s purpose in sending them to the earth.

(c) The word ‘parents’ could also be taken as a metaphor for religious
heads. The poem can be taken as a dialogue between the prophet and
the religious heads. The religious heads are also children of God. They
must realize that God wants them to protect their children when they
are young and lead them in such a way that the children should have
full freedom to obey the yearnings of their souls. The religious
teachers should not force their children to obey and accept their ideas
of God and his creation. They must only make them realize that as
children they have been sent by god to this earth to fulfil god’s
mission. Like his obedient children, they must be made aware that
they have to fulfill god’s mission on this earth.

(d) Similarly, the word ‘parents’ could be taken as a metaphor for

teachers and the poem could be taken as a dialogue between
Almustafa, the prophet, and the teachers. The teachers must
understand that they are expected to serve only as guardians and
protect their children until they grow up and mature into fully grown
adults. As teachers, they should only make them aware that they have
come down to fulfill god’s mission. Teachers should not think that they
should punish and make them do what he or she likes. On the other
hand, their only job is to see that they are taken care of physically and
are given complete freedom for their souls to grow and mature and
understand god’s mission in sending, them to this earth.

Question 2.
In light of the poem, think of different levels of freedom children must
have in shaping their lives.
Answer:
The parents must understand that God expects them to work as
guardians to protect their children physically until they grow up and
mature and realize god’s wishes. In their childhood, instead of getting
overly attached to them, the parents should treat them as guests in
their homes. They must love and respect them. They should help
create an environment conducive for their growth and see that they
grow and remain physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually
healthy. All-round development is important.

Care for their mental health is equally important. Parents can do this
by creating an environment allowing the inborn talent and goodness of
the children to blossom. Children are not born bad, the environment
makes them so. Therefore, it is necessary to create a healthy
environment for the children at home, in school, and in society.

Parents should not treat their children as their puppets but shower
their love as much as they can and take good care of them as we do to
someone who is given to our charge. Parents should take care of their
needs only and should not impose their thoughts and ideas on them.

The parents superimpose ideas, thoughts, and even their pride upon
their kids. Instead of imposing philosophies and thoughts on the
children, they should give them love and create an atmosphere for
their inner talents to flower.

As they grow into adults, the parents must exercise all the more
patience and give them the freedom to make their own decisions and
let them do what they like for a living. They must also strive to make
them aware of the pitfalls in their path if they choose the wrong path.
Finally, when they attain a marriageable age, parents should not
influence their decisions by highlighting their lineage or wealth or
caste. They must allow full freedom to love and marry a girl of their
choice.

Question 3.
The poem ‘On Children’ does not focus merely on the lives of children
but also talks about the responsibility of parents. Explain.
Answer:
The poem ‘On Children’ is a sermon on parents. It does not focus
merely on the lives of children but also talks about the responsibility
of parents. In the first part, Gibran argues that children take birth as
life’s longing for itself. Since we do not create children, we cannot
possess them. However, Gibran argues that parents do have a role in
the life of children. He says that we should give our children as much
love as we can but never our thoughts. The children must be let free to
think for themselves, and parents must not thrust their ideas on them.

Next, Gibran talks about the responsibility of parents. He states that

God is the archer, and his parents are his bows. The archer decides on
the target, bends the bow to suit his target, and shoots the arrows. The
arrows are the children. Thus the archer wants the parents to serve as
his instrument. If the bow remains rigid and inflexible, the arrows
may not reach the desired destination. Therefore, as parents, it is our
responsibility to be flexible enough to allow our children to live their
own lives.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Who does the word “bows’ refer to in the poem?
Answer:
To parents.

Question 2.
Who does ‘living arrows’ refer to in the poem?
Answer:
To children.

Question 3.
Who does ‘archer’ refer to in the poem?
Answer:
To God.

Question 4.
Who does God use as his instrument to send living arrows to the
earth?
Answer:
Parents.

Question 5.
Why does God bend the parents with all his might?
Answer:
God bends the parents with all his might to test them for stability and
strength so that the arrows (children) that they shoot travel far and
reach their destination.

Question 6.
What brings children to the earth?
Answer:
Life’s longing for itself.

Question 7.
Who dwells in the house of tomorrow?
Answer:
Children.

Question 8.
Who loves both the bow and the arrow?
OR
According to the speaker of ‘On Children’, the one who loves both the
arrow and the bow is
(a) the archer
(b) the parents
(c) the children.
Answer:
God, the archer.

Question 9.
What, according to the speaker, can parents not visit?
Answer:
The parents cannot visit the house/houses or the world in which their
children are going to live. They also can’t visit their houses even in
their dreams.

Question 10.
In ‘On Children’, you may give them your love but not your
(a) dreams
(b) thoughts
(c) gladness.
Answer:
(b) thoughts.

Question 11.
What does the phrase’the bow that is stable’ refer to?
Answer:
The phrase ‘the bow that is stable’ refers to parents who serve God’s
wishes without fail and with conviction.

Question 12.
In ‘On Children’, God loves the arrow that flies as well as the bow that
(a) does not bend
(b) breaks
(c) is stable.
Answer:
(c) is stable.

Question 13.
Who asked the Prophet to speak on children?
Answer:
A woman asked the prophet to speak about children.

Question 14.
Where, according to the speaker, do the souls of children dwell?
Answer:
According to the speaker, the souls of children dwell in the house of
tomorrow.

Question 15.
What should parents not give their children?
Answer:
Parents may give only their love for their children and should not give
their thoughts.
Question 16.
What does not go backward, according to the speaker, in ‘On
Children’?
Answer:
Life.

Question 17.
Why does the archer bend his bow?
Answer:
The archer bends his bow so that His arrows might go swift and far.

Question 18.
Whose sons and daughters are our children, according to the speaker,
in ‘On Children’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, our children are the sons
and daughters of life’s longing for itself.

Question 19.
Who, according to the speaker in ‘On Children’, have their own
thoughts?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, the sons and daughters of
life’s longing for itself have their own thoughts.

Question 20.
Who, according to the speaker in ‘On Children’, are sent forth as living
arrows?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, our children are sent forth
as living arrows.

Question 21.
Where, according to the speaker in ‘On Children’, does the archer see
the mark?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, the archer sees the mark
upon the path of the infinite.
Question 22.
Who, according to the speaker in “On Children’, sees the mark upon
the path of the infinite?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, the archer sees the mark
upon the path of the infinite.

Question 23.
According to the speaker in ’On Children’, life does not go ______
(a) swift
(b) backward
(c) forth.
Answer:
(b) backward.

Question 24.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for ______. The right word
from ‘On Children’ to fill in the blank is
(a) gladness
(b) longing
(c) striving.
Answer:
(a) gladness.

Question 25.
The house of tomorrow in ‘On Children’ cannot be visited even in
_______
(a) thoughts
(b) ideas
(c) dreams.
Answer:
(c) dreams.

Question 26.
The’archer’in’On Children’refers to
(a) child
(b) God
(c) Prophet.
Answer:
(b) God.
Question 27.
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, life does not tarry with
(a) today
(b) tomorrow
(c) yesterday.
Answer:
(c) yesterday.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:

Question 1.
How, according to the speaker, should parents look upon their
children?
Answer:
According to the prophet Almustafa, parents should never believe that
they own or possess their children. They should behave as though their
role is that of being guards and/or ‘stewards’. Parents should not treat
their children as their puppets but shower their love as much as they
can and take good care of them as we do to someone who is given to
our charge. Parents should not impose their thoughts and ideas on
them because our children belong to the future whereas we belong to
the past generation.

Question 2.
How should parents raise their children, according to the speaker?
OR
How should parents take care of their children, according to the
speaker in ‘On Children’?
Answer:
Almustafa tells parents that they can only act as ‘stewards’ and their
role is one of ‘stewardship’; parents should not treat their children as
their puppets but shower their love as much as they can and take good
care of them as we do to someone who is given to our charge. Parents
should take care of their needs only and should not impose their
thoughts and ideas on them. They should not do so because our
children belong to the future whereas we belong to the past
generation.

Question 3.
What are the views of the Prophet on parents and children in the poem
‘On Children’?
Answer:
According to the Prophet, a child is a gift from the abundance of
existence and it is eternal life itself. Children are born as sons and
daughters as ‘life’s longing for itself’. Parents do not create them and
hence cannot possess them. Parents serve as a ‘passage’ or vehicle to
bring the children to this world. Further, children have their own
thoughts because they have the free will to do as they please. Whereas
parents belong to the yesterdays, their children belong to the future.
The children will have their own scriptures and saints; hence parents
should only give them as much love as they can and not their thoughts.
Parents should not thrust their past as an inheritance on their children
but should let them grow according to their own potential.

Gibran uses the metaphor of archer-bow-and-arrows to explain the

role of parents in bringing up children. In this metaphor, God is the
archer, the parents represent the bow, and the children are the living
arrows. Like an archer, God bends the bows testing them for stability
to aid the arrows as they try to reach their destination. “It is the
archer who decides the target, which is marked upon the path of the
infinite, and He bends the parents (bows) with His might that His
arrows may go swift and far”.

Question 4.
How is the parent and children relationship brought out in Kahlil
Gibran’s poem ‘On Children’?
Answer:
In his sermon ‘On Children’, Gibran assumes the persona of Almustafa
and speaks to the people with the intention of enlightening them about
‘children’ and to guide them as to how they should bring up their
children.

First, he says that ‘children’ are born to fulfill the ‘longing’ of life
itself. They are a gift from the abundance of existence. God, the
supreme power, uses parents as a vehicle or passage to bring children
to this earth. Since parents do not create ‘life’, parents do not own
children. They may house their bodies but not their souls.

Secondly, children have their own souls and are not non-living things.
Therefore parents cannot possess them as puppets. Life’s longing for
itself brings forth children in the form of sons and daughters. Hence,
our sons and daughters do not belong to us though we have borne
them.

Thirdly, since parents bring children to this earth, they should also
take care of children as ‘stewards’ and protect them, take care of their
needs until they grow and mature and become fully developed
individuals. Parents should take care of their needs only and should
not impose their thoughts and ideas on them.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
“Your children are not your children’ How does the poet illustrate this
truth in the poem?
OR
How does the poem bring out the relationship between parents and
children?
Answer:
The poet firmly believes that life is a journey, and God is both the
‘starting point’ and the destination. This journey is an inner one, a
spiritual one and we are born to undertake this journey. The whole
poem serves to express this belief. The poet attempts to explain what
role the parents should play in bringing up their children.

The speaker says that a child is a gift from the abundance of existence
and it is eternal life itself. That is why the poet says that ‘your children
are not your children’. Then he makes our role clear. He tells the
parents that they have brought their children to this world because
they have been chosen to serve as a ‘passage’ or vehicle to bring them
to this world.

Further, he tells us that since children belong to the future they have
their own thoughts and the free will to do as they please. Then he tells
us that we have to take care of our children as ‘stewards’ and give
them ‘love’ and physical nourishment so that they grow up to serve
their role.

Since God is the creator and the final destination, God is the archer,
the parents his bow, and the children his arrows. We only serve to
send the arrows swift and far and help it reach its destination. God
loves both the bow and the arrows because God is the eternal creator
of nature’.
Question 2.
‘On Children’ offers new insights into the parent-children
relationships. Discuss.
OR
‘On Children’persuades parents to see their children in a new light
Elaborate.
Answer:
‘On Children’ is a sermon given by Almustafa to a woman holding a
babe against her bosom. The fourteen-line poem is in the form of an
imaginary conversation between a mother and the prophet Of the
fourteen lines, the first five lines are devoted to enlightening the
parents about who the children are and the remaining lines explain
the role of the parents in bringing up their children.

‘On Children’ offers new insight into the parent-children relationship,

and rejects our traditional, time-honoured, and conservative ideas of
bringing up children.

According to the speaker, a child is a gift from the abundance of

existence and it is eternal life itself. Children are born as sons and
daughters as life’s longing for itself. Life longs to reproduce itself, and
parents are its servants who execute that master plan. God uses
parents as his instrument to send living ‘arrows’ to the earth. God, or
the Supreme Being, is the archer, the parents are the bows and the
children are the living arrows. Parents do not create them and hence
they cannot possess them.

They are only the medium through which life expresses itself. Children
have their own thoughts because they have the free will to do as they
please. Parents can only act as ‘stewards’ and their role is one of
‘stewardship’. Parents should not treat their children as their puppets
but shower as much of their love as they can.

Parents should take care of their needs only and should not impose
their thoughts and ideas on them because our children belong to the
future, whereas the parents belong to the past generation. Therefore,
parents should also not burden their children with their dead past,
their scriptures, and their saints. Since life looks forward and does not
linger on, parents should let their children build their future, realize
their potential, and resist the temptation to force their children to be
like their carbon copy.

Question 3.
The poem, ‘On Children’rejects conservative upbringing of children.
Explain.
Answer:
‘On Children’ is a sermon given by Almustafa to a woman holding a
babe against her bosom. The fourteen-line poem is in the form of an
imaginary conversation between a mother and the prophet Of the
fourteen lines, the first five lines are devoted to enlightening the
parents about who the children are and the remaining lines explain
the role of the parents in bringing up their children.

‘On Children’ offers new insight into the parent-children relationship,

and rejects our traditional, time-honoured and conservative ideas of
bringing up children.

According to the speaker, a child is a gift from the abundance of

existence and it is eternal life itself. Children are born as sons and
daughters as life’s longing for itself. Life longs to reproduce itself, and
parents are its servants who execute that master plan. God uses
parents as his instrument to send living ‘arrows’ to the earth. God, or
the Supreme Being, is the archer, the parents are the bows and the
children are the living arrows. Parents do not create them and hence
they cannot possess them.

They are only the medium through which life expresses itself. Children
have their own thoughts because they have the free will to do as they
please. Parents can only act as ‘stewards’ and their role is one of
‘stewardship’. Parents should not treat their children as their puppets
but shower as much of their love as they can.

Parents should take care of their needs only and should not impose
their thoughts and ideas on them because our children belong to the
future, whereas the parents belong to the past generation. Therefore,
parents should also not burden their children with their dead past,
their scriptures and their saints. Since life looks forward and does not
linger on, parents should let their children build their future, realize
their potential and resist the temptation to force their children to be
like their carbon copy.
Question 4.
We cannot keep pace with our children’s lives and thoughts. How is
this elaborated in ‘On Children’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, a child is a gift from the
abundance of existence and it is eternal life itself. Children are born as
sons and daughters as ‘Life’s longing for itself’. Parents may have
brought them to this world because they have been chosen to serve as
‘passage’ or vehicle to bring the children into this world.

Children are closer to the very source of life than old people. Children
have their own thoughts because they have the free will to do as they
please. Parents should not impose their thoughts and ideas on them
because our children belong to the future, whereas parents belong to
the past generation.

As parents, our days are over. We may try to be like our children, but
our past acts like a barrier. Since parents belong to the yesterdays and
their children belong to the tomorrows, parents cannot conceive of
their future. The children will have their own scriptures and saints.
The present is not only a meeting point but also a point of departure.
Every day the gap between parents and their children will become
wider and wider.

The children have their own future and we should let them grow
according to their own potential. The children are closer to existence
than we are. Life looks forward and does not linger on. Hence parents
cannot keep pace with our children’s lives and thoughts. Parents
should let their children build their future, realize their potential and
resist the temptation to force their children to be like their carbon
copy.

Kahlil Gibran:

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) is a Lebanese-American artist and poet. His

poems are considered ‘poetic essays’, as they do not adhere to the
usual verification. ‘The Prophet’ is his best-known work and has been
translated into more than 25 languages including Kannada.
‘On Children’ is a selection from ‘The Prophet’, which offers a critique
of the usual expectations of parents about their children and urges
them to introspect.
Background:
‘On Children’ by Kahlil Gibran is an excerpt from ’The Prophet’, one of
his most popular works.
‘The Prophet’ occupies a unique place in world literature. It is a work
of remarkable compassion, insight, hope and inspiration, with a
timeless message that combines the dignity of the Christian Bible and
the wisdom of the Sufis of Islam, phrased with simplicity and
rhythmical quality that renders it accessible to a wider readership.

It represents an appeal for a return to and reconciliation with nature,

emphasizing the relationship that binds individuals to their
environment and their fellow creatures. They all become denizens of
one world bound together by life and death. The speaker in ‘The
Prophet’ speaks in the persona of ‘Almustafa’. Almustafa sets out his
own version of the golden rule common to all great religions that we
must do as we would be done by. What he voices is not some
unattainable ideal, but practical wisdom and simple moral and
spiritual values.

The keynote of ‘The Prophet’ is pantheism. Its central article of belief

is that God is latent within everyone as a Greater Self, and that, this is
attained through aspiration, or ‘yearning’, which is comparable to
prayer in religion, and also through successive reincarnations. Life is a
journey, and God is both ‘starting point’ and ‘destination’. The journey
represents the condition of full awareness when the soul has
embarked on the path leading to its desired union with God. The
journey is an inner one, a spiritual one, in contrast to the travels of the
twenty-first-century man or woman, which are all physical.

‘On Children’ is an excerpt from ‘The Prophet’, one of Kahlil Gibran’s

most popular works. ‘The Prophet1 includes twenty-six sermons on
varied topics like Love, Marriage, Children, Houses, Clothes, Laws,
Crime and Punishment, Buying and Selling, etc. The sermons are given
by Almustafa who speaks in the persona of the poet.

‘Almustafa’ means the ‘chosen one’. The name also implies that he
possesses spiritual knowledge and divine characteristics. Almustafa is
a man of inner purity and is believed to be the ‘Perfect man’ or the
universal man’.
In the opening sermon titled ‘The Coming of the Ship’, we learn that
Almustafa has waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for the ship
that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. The ship
has arrived and he is about to go onboard. Before he boards the ship
he is met by a woman named ‘Almitra’, who is a seeress. She prays to
him to speak to the people of Orphalese about all that he has been
shown about what lies between birth and death. Each of the 26
sermons is the reply given by Almustafa to all those who request him
to speak about a particular topic.

‘On Children’ is one such sermon given by Almustafa to a woman

holding a babe against her bosom, when she asks him to speak to the
people ‘Of Children’. Almustafa begins his sermon with the opening
line ‘Your children are not your children’.

In this imaginary conversation, there are fourteen lines of which five

lines are devoted to enlightening the parents about what / who the
children are and the remaining lines to explaining what role the
parents should play in bringing up their children.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
They have their own thoughts.

The speaker wants to make the parents aware that a child is a gift
from the abundance of existence and it is eternal life itself. Just as we
have seen eternal life flowing through mountains, through forests and
through plains, children are born as sons and daughters as Life’s
longing for itself. Life longs to reproduce itself, and we are its servants
who carry out that master plan.

Parents do not create them and hence parents cannot possess them.
Parents may have brought them to this world because they have been
chosen to serve as ‘passage’ or vehicle to bring the children to this
world. They are only the medium through which life expresses itself.
Children are closer to the very source of life than old people.
Furthermore, children have their own thoughts because they have the
free will to do as they please.
In the next few lines, the speaker educates parents as to how they
should treat their children.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts
You may house their bodies but not their souls
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

Almustafa tells parents that they can only act as ‘Stewards’ and their
role is one of stewardship’; parents should not treat their children as
their puppets but shower their love as much as they can and take good
care of them as we do to someone who is given to our charge. Parents
should take care of their needs only and should not impose their
thoughts and ideas on them. They should not do so because our
children belong to the future whereas we belong to the past
generation.

As parents, our days are over. Parents may try to be like their children
but their past acts like a barrier. On the contrary, children belong to
the future. Since parents belong to the yesterdays, and their children
belong to the tomorrows, parents cannot conceive of their future.
Hence they should not burden their children with their dead past, their
scriptures and their saints. The children will have their own scriptures
and saints, parents should only give them as much love as they can.
The present is a meeting point but also a point of departure. Every day
the gap between parents and their children will become bigger and
bigger.

And so, parents should not thrust their past as an inheritance on their
children. The children have their own future and we should let them
grow according to their own potential. The children are closer to
existence than we are. Since life looks forward and does not linger on,
parents should let their children build their future, realize their
potential and resist the temptation to force their children to be like
their carbon copy.
In the next few lines, Almustafa, the speaker, tries to give a visual
account of how we should play our role as parents and how we can
win God’s love:

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent
forth
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends
you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so also He loves the bow that
is stable.

Almustafa tells the parents that God uses parents as his instrument to
send ‘living arrows’ to the earth. God or the Supreme Being is the
archer, the parents are the bows and the children are his living
arrows. An arrow does not have its own power nor does it create its
own path of direction. Both these are provided by God. The archer is
God and the path is infinity. Just like the archer, God decides the mark
on the infinite path for each child as its destination and using the
parents as bows, shoots the arrows. Like an archer, God bends the
bows (which are the parents) testing them for stability. The bows
must help the arrows to reach their destination.

Existence wants parents to bend like a bow before their own children
because they have to travel far and they have to give them strength.
Parents should not despise the tests God provides in the image of
children, for these tests only make God love the parents more. The
speaker wishes us to know that existence loves both parents and
children because parents are also children of the same existence. God
loves not only parents who are stable, but he also loves children who
as arrows will be bows in the future and shoot their own arrows.

At the end of the sermon, the speaker says that while the archer loves
the arrows (the children), “He also loves the bow that is stable”, which
presents before the reader a paradox. As parents involved in the care
of children, Gibran appears to be asking us to be strong and bendable
at the same time.

This may seem like a contradictory idea, but if we examine the

metaphor of the bow, it begins to make sense. The bow has to be able
to withstand the force of its string being drawn back. To do this
without snapping in two, the bow also has to have strength. This
tensile strength allows the arrow being held on the string to be
released with optimal energy as it creates balance through resistance
and tension, not unlike the kind of discipline we try to adjudicate in
the making and breaking of boundaries for our children either at home
or in the classroom. Such discipline uses rules and regulations as
guides that will hopefully enhance a child’s sense of freedom by
engendering a balanced sense of responsibility within him or her as
well.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies.
So He loves also the bow that is stable.

These lines imply that God, the archer, loves parents who give their
children roots to grow in and the freedom to fly when their time has
come to do so. He loves those who slowly step back and set them free
as their children grow up, encouraging them to learn from their own
experiences and to dream their own dreams. He expects parents to do
all they can to help their children to fulfill their own highest potential.

The archer expects wise parents to tell the children in their care that
they are the children of God and that therefore each child is as
precious and unique as the other. Further, God expects parents to
respect their children because they know that even when a child is still
living in a smaller body than their own, it has nonetheless come into
their world as a frilly developed soul and spirit in its own right, who
may have a long history of evolution behind it that could have taken
more lifetimes than those of its parents.

God expects wise parents to tell their children that they have come
into this life to learn, evolve, and grow some more through their own
experiences. When their children go to school, wise parents point out
to them that they are learning for themselves and for life itself, not
only for this lifetime but for Eternity. He expects wise parents to
explain to their children the laws of the universe and that because of
this, whatever anyone sends out to life has to return to them. Finally,
God expects parents to teach children by their good example.
In conclusion, we may say that in this sermon (‘On Children’) Gibran
illustrates how love works in the intimate relationship of parenthood.

Glossary:

• hoyse (v): shelter, protect

• tarry (v): linger, stay at one place
• archer: one who uses bow and arrow (here God)

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest

1.Trace the childhood experiences that shaped the author’s interest in

ecology.
Vandana Shiva’s father was a conservator of forests in the Himalaya
region. This implies that she lived and was brought up in forest
surroundings. Hence she declares that whatever she knows about
ecology was learned from the Himalayan forests and eco-systems. Her
mother was a farmer and she used to compose songs and poems about
trees, forests and India’s forest civilizations. Thus, her parents and
their profession undoubtedly shaped the author’s interest in ecology.

2.How does the scarcity of water, fodder and fuel affect women?
The ruthless cutting down of trees results in floods, landslides,
scarcity of water, fodder for cattle and fuel. This affects the
womenfolk in particular because they have to walk long distances for
collecting water and firewood which is quite burdensome.

3.What features of the ‘Chipko’ movement does the author highlight?

The features of Chipko movement are that it was a nonviolent
response to the large scale deforestation like doing padayatras,
documenting the deforestation, and the work of the – forest activists,
hugging the trees to prevent them from being cut down. One such
Chipko action took place in the Himalayan village of Adwani in 1977. A
woman led the resistance against her own husband, who had obtained
a contract to cut trees. She protested with lighted lanterns in bright
daylight.

Question 5.
List the activities that Vandana undertook after her involvement with
the ‘Chipko’movement’.
Answer:

• She spent every vacation doing padayatras, documenting the

deforestation, and the work of the forest activists.
• She spread the message of the Chipko movement and created
awareness in the people about the value of forests.
• She put emphasis on organic farming.
• She set up 100 community seed banks.

7.Why is it important to change the fossil-fuel and chemical-based

monoculture?
It is important to change the fossil-fuel and chemical-based
monoculture because it impoverishes nature and culture.

8.What prompted the UN to initiate a discussion on the rights of

Mother Earth?
OR
Name one of the factors that prompted the U.N. to initiate a discussion
on the rights of Mother Earth.
The Constitution of Ecuador in which were recorded the rights of
nature and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth
initiated by Bolivia prompted the UN General Assembly to organize a
conference so as to initiate a discussion on the rights of Mother Earth.

10.What, according to the author, is eco-apartheid? Why is it necessary

to end this?
According to the author, eco-apartheid means holding the illusion in
our minds and lives that humans are separate from nature. It is
necessary to remove such an illusion from our minds and lives because
it leads to disharmony with nature and finally to violence against
nature and people. In short, human beings start exploiting nature and
perpetuate violence against themselves.

11.Which event in human history marked the beginning of the

separation of humans from nature?
The industrial revolution which was facilitated by the belief that Earth
was dead matter marked the beginning of the separation of humans
from nature.
12.How do Carolyn Merchant and Francis Bacon differ in their views?
Francis Bacon the father of modern science believed that science and
the inventions that result do not “merely exert a gentle guidance over
nature’s course, they have the power to conquer and subdue her, to
shake her to her foundation. But. Carolyn Merchant points out that due
to this over greed, nature has been destroyed by man to suit his
capitalism. But then, he realised the importance of nature, and instead
of destroying he slowly started to think about nature and nurturing
Earth by removing his blind superstitious cultural beliefs. At last, she
says “One does not readily slay a mother, dig into her entrails for gold,
or mutilate her body”.

13.What ideas of Tagore inspired Vandana Shiva to start Earth

University?

The author states that the Earth University located at Navdanya farm
was inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s ideas expressed in his essay
‘Tapovan’ (Forest of Purity). Tagore says that India’s best ideas have
come from the forests where the man was in communion with trees
and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. The peace of the forest
has helped the intellectual evolution of man and the culture of the
forest has fueled the culture of Indian society.

The culture that has arisen from the forest has been influenced by the
diverse processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the
forest, varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight
and sound and smell. The unifying principle of life in diversity, of
democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

14.How are unity and diversity related to each other?

Unity and diversity are related to each other. This unity in diversity
that is the basis of both ecological sustainability and democracy.
Diversity without unity becomes the source of conflict and contest.
Unity without diversity becomes the ground for external control. The
forest is a unity in its diversity and we are united with nature through
our relationship with the forest.

Comprehension II

1.How did the women led by Bachni Devi put up resistance to the
felling of trees? Do you think it was effective?
In 1977, in the Himalayan village of Adwani, a village woman named
Bachni Devi led the resistance against her own husband, who had
obtained a contract to cut trees. When officials arrived at the forest,
the women held up lighted lanterns in broad daylight. When the
forester asked them to explain their action, the women told him that
they had come there to teach them forestry.

When the forester retorted, calling them foolish women and asked
them whether they knew the real value of the forests and asked them
whether they knew what the forests bore, the women retorted and
sang in chorus saying that the forests bore soil, water, and pure air
which sustain the Earth and all she bears.

Their demonstration was very effective because, the menfolk including

the forester believed that the village women were naive and ignorant,
but on the contrary, they proved that they were quite knowledgeable
about the benefits of forestry.

2.Why is it important to promote biodiversity-intensive farming? How

did the author achieve it?

Bio-diversity promotes democratic pluralism where every species gets

opportunities to sustain itself in co-operation with others and no
species in a forest appropriates the share of another species. Since
failure to understand biodiversity and its many functions leads to an
impoverishment of nature and culture, it becomes imperative to
practice bio-diversity-intensive farming.

The author started Navdanya Farm in 1994 in the Doon Valley where
she practiced biodiversity-intensive farming. Initially, she started
saving seeds from farmers’ fields and today they are able to conserve
and grow 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat, and hundreds of
other species. She opines that bio-diversity-intensive farming
produces more food and nutrition per acre and hence bio-diversity is
the answer to the food and nutrition crisis.

4.What does the concept of the Earth University convey? How is this
different from that of the other universities?
OR
Write a note on Earth University mentioned in Vandana Shiva’s essay.
The Earth University located at Navdanya, a biodiversity farm in the
Doon Valley of the Himalaya, teaches Earth Democracy. It means
freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life, and the
freedom and responsibility of humans, as members of the Earth
family, to recognize, protect, and respect the rights of other species.
Earth University is different from other universities because it is eco-
centric, while the other universities are anthropocentric.

Eco-centrism refers to the system of thought where the focus is on

conserving the existing eco-systems that are needed to protect and
sustain the web of life on the Earth. On the contrary, the other
universities are anthropocentric. They focus on protecting and
sustaining the life of human beings only.

Comprehension III

1.“Tagore saw unity with nature as the highest stage of human

evolution.” Do you think consumerism and accumulation of wealth
come in the way of realizing Tagore’s vision of human evolution?

Yes. Undoubtedly consumerism and accumulation of wealth come in

the way of realizing Tagore’s vision of human evolution. Tagore firmly
believed that Indian civilization found its source of regeneration –
both material and intellectual – in the forest. Tagore was convinced
that India’s best ideas have come from the place where the man was in
communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds.
The peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man.
The culture that has arisen from the forest has been influenced by the
diverse processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the
forest, varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight,
sound and smell. Thus, the unifying principle of life in diversity, of
democratic pluralism, became the principle of Indian civilization. It is
this unity in diversity that supports ecological sustainability and
democracy.

On the contrary, consumerism and accumulation work against the idea

of unity in diversity and ecological sustainability, because both
consumerism and accumulation of wealth are external manifestations
of our vices like gluttony, greed, avarice, self-indulgence, self-
centeredness, domination and exploitation. These vices ultimately lead
to ruthless and barbaric exploitation of nature and cause
impoverishment of nature and culture.

2.“The conservation of biodiversity is the answer to the food and

nutrition crisis.” Do you agree?
OR
“Biodiversity-based intensive farming is the answer to the food and
nutrition crisis”. Discuss.
Yes. The conservation of biodiversity is the right step to help the
people overcome the nutrition crisis because bio-diversity works on
the paradigm of Earth Democracy and democratic pluralism wherein
there is freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life. As
members of the Earth family, it is the freedom and responsibility of
humans to recognize, protect and respect the rights of other species.
This way we bring into play the principle of equity. No species in such
an ecosystem appropriates the share of another species and every
species sustains itself in co-operation with others.

Secondly, bio-diversity sustains democratic pluralism because there

are diverse processes of renewal of life always at play in natural eco-
systems and they vary from species to species and from season to
season in sight, sound and smell. All the species live in perfect
harmony. Thus bio-diversity paves the way for enrichment of the web
of life leading to abundance.

3.“Conservation of biodiversity is crucial for the sustenance of both

nature and human society.” Discuss.
OR
Conservation of biodiversity sustains both nature and culture. Discuss
in the light of Vandana Shiva’s essay.
OR
Write a note on biodiversity.
The Earth houses millions of eco-systems and nurtures bio-diversity.
Bio-diversity ensures abundance, freedom, co-operation and mutual
giving. Tagore argues that the forests have served as sources of
material and intellectual regeneration since time immemorial and the
culture of the forest has fuelled the culture of Indian society. The
culture that has arisen from the forest is nurtured by the unifying
principle of life in diversity and of democratic pluralism. It is this
unity in diversity that is the basis of both ecological sustainability and
democracy. This is true of both nature and culture. We are united with
nature through our relationship with the forest. The forest teaches us
union, compassion and enoughness.

No species in a forest appropriates the share of another species and

every species sustains itself in co-operation with others. This unity in
diversity seen in the forest should serve as a model for human society,
otherwise, it will lead to conflict, greed, exploitation and finally to the
impoverishment of our culture. Therefore, the conservation of
diversity is crucial for the sustenance of both nature and human
society.

4.In light of this essay, how does one synthesize the wisdom of the
past with the modern knowledge systems?

The essay ‘Everything I need to know 1 Learned in the Forest’, by

Vandana Shiva, highlights the importance of sustaining biodiversity in
nature. However, the author does not dismiss scientific inventions and
discoveries as useless. Scientific inventions and discoveries have
proved successful in controlling infant mortality, increasing longevity.
But some of the discoveries and inventions have resulted in damaging
our eco-systems and are now threatening to wipe out life on this earth.
Secondly, some scientific practices might create a crisis in the food
chain itself.

Under such circumstances, we need to synthesize the wisdom of the

past with modern knowledge systems. This has several advantages.
For example, traditional knowledge is vital for the sustenance of
natural resources including forests, water and agro eco-systems across
landscape continuum, spanning from households through farms,
village and wilderness.

An expert by name Caval Canti (2002) notes that a limitation of

economic development is that it is pursued without any considerations
in practice as to its implications on ecosystems. The prevailing
economic theories treat the economic process from a purely
mechanistic standpoint. Different ways exist, however, to deal with
the choices that humans have to make with respect to the allocation of
resources, the distribution of the returns and the fulfilment of
purposes of material progress.

To understand how local people solve their economic problems in a

sustainable fashion is a serious challenge. A better grasp of this issue
could possibly be accomplished with the use of ethnos economics or
ethnos ecological economics. Application of scientific research and
local knowledge contributes both to the equity, opportunity, security,
and empowerment of local communities, as well as to the
sustainability of the natural resources. Local knowledge helps in
scenario analysis, data collection, management planning, designing of
the adaptive strategies to learn, and get feedback and institutional
support to put policies into practice.

Science, on the other hand, provides new technologies or helps in the

improvement of the existing ones. It also provides tools for
networking, storing, visualizing, and analysing information. Thus, by
developing sustainability science and ethnos economics, we can
synthesise the wisdom of the past with modern knowledge systems.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:

1.How has the Navdanya movement helped the farmers?

OR
Write a note on Navdanya Movement
The Navdanya movement is a movement for biodiversity conservation
and organic farming which was started in 1987. They have been able
to conserve and grow 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat, and
hundreds of other species. They have also worked with farmers to set
up more than 100 community seed banks across India. They have also
been able to save more than 3000 rice varieties. They also help
farmers make a transition from fossil-fuel and chemical-based
monocultures to bio-diverse ecological systems nourished by the sun
and the soil.

2.Explain the idea of separateness as perceived by Vandana Shiva.

The idea of separateness refers to the illusion that human beings and
nature are different entities. Secondly, the Earth/nature is dead
matter and human beings have the capacity to conquer nature, subdue
her, and shake her to her foundations. This idea was popularized by
Francis Bacon and other leaders of the scientific revolution. Further, it
triggered many scientific experiments which culminated in new
inventions and discoveries. These scientific inventions and discoveries
served as the basis for the industrial revolution. Cormac Cullinan, a
South African environmentalist, calls it ‘eco-apartheid’ and urges us to
overcome it just like the apartheid in South Africa.

3.How does Vandana Shiva bring out the importance of ‘The Earth
Democracy’?
OR
‘Earth University teaches Earth Democracy.’ Explain with reference to
Vandana Shiva’s essay ‘Everything I Need To Know I Learned In The
Forest’.

Vandana Shiva borrows the model of the Earth University from

Shantiniketan, the forest school, which later became a university. It
was established by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921. According to the
writer, Earth University teaches Earth Democracy, which ensures
freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life. It also confers
freedom and responsibility on humans, as members of the Earth
family, to recognize, protect, and respect the rights of other species.
Earth Democracy is a shift from anthropocentrism to eco-centrism.
Earth Democracy translates into human rights to food and water, to
freedom from hunger and thirst.

4.How does Rabindranath Tagore highlight the importance of forests,

according to Vandana Shiva?
OR
How, according to Vandana Shiva, has Tagore brought out the role of
forests in Indian civilisation?

Vandana Shiva opines that Rabindranath Tagore started Shantiniketan,

a forest school, with a view to getting inspiration from nature and to
create an Indian cultural renaissance. His views on the importance of
forests are expressed in his essay ‘Tapovan’ (Forest of Purity). Tagore
asserts that Indian civilization has been distinctive in locating its
source of regeneration – both material and intellectual – in the forest,
and not in the city. He states that India’s best ideas have come from
the place where the man was in communion with trees and rivers and
lakes, away from the crowd. He remarks that the peace of the forest
has helped the intellectual evolution of man.

Next, he states that the culture of the forest has fueled the culture of
Indian society. This forest culture has been influenced by the diverse
processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the forest,
varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight and
sound and smell. Finally, forest culture is a symbol of life in diversity.
This unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism,
thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

5.How does Vandana Shiva describe the Navdanya farm?

OR
Write a short note on the Navdanya farm.
OR
Explain Vandana Shiva’s efforts to conserve biodiversity in the
Navdanya farm.
OR
Write a note on the activities of the Navdanya farm.

Vandana Shiva describes ‘Navdanya’ as a movement for biodiversity

conservation and organic farming which she started in 1987. Later,
when she realized that they needed a farm for demonstration and
training, she set up the Navdanya Farm in 1994 in the Doon Valley in
the lower elevation Himalayan region of Uttarakhand province. She
states that they have conserved and grown 630 varieties of rice, 150
varieties of wheat and hundreds of other species. She also says that
they have set up more than 100 community seed banks across India.
She also claims to help farmers make a transition from fossil-fuel and
chemical-based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological systems
nourished by the sun and the soil.

6.Bring out the significance of the rights of nature as explained by

Vandana Shiva in her essay.

The United Nations General Assembly organised a conference on

harmony with nature as part of Earth Day celebrations in 2011. This
conference was inspired by the recognition given to ‘rights of nature’
by Ecuador in her Constitution. Much of the discussion in the
conference centred on ways to transform systems based on the
domination of people over nature, men over women, and rich over
poor into new systems based on partnership.
The U.N. Secretary-General issued a report titled ‘Harmony with
Nature’ in conjunction with the conference, in which he elaborated on
the importance of reconnecting with nature.

Vandana Shiva suggests that at a time of multiple crises intensified by

globalisation, we need to move to an ecological paradigm for which
the best teacher is nature herself. The earth teaches earth democracy
which means freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life
and the freedom and responsibility of humans, as members of the
Earth family to recognize, protect and respect the rights of other
species. Vandana Shiva argues that since we all depend on the Earth,
Earth Democracy translates into human rights to food and water, to
freedom from hunger and thirst. It can be inferred that all forms of life
existing on this Earth have the right to life and hence we should
protect the rights of nature so as to sustain our life on the Earth.

7.Write a note on Vandana Shiva’s involvement in the Chipko

movement
OR
Write a brief note on the Chipko movement that took place in the
Himalayan region.

Vandana Shiva’s involvement in the contemporary ecology movement

began with the Chipko movement which was a non-violent response to
the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in the Himalayan
region in the 1970s. During this period, the peasant women from the
Garhwal Himalaya, having realised that the forests were the real
source of springs and streams, fodder, and fuel, declared that they
would hug the trees, and the loggers would have to kill them before
cutting the trees.

In 1973, when Vandana Shiva went to the Himalaya to visit her

favourite forests and swim in her favourite stream, the forests were
not there and the stream had become a trickle. It was at this moment
that she decided to become a volunteer for the Chipko movement. She
spent every vacation doing padayatra, documenting the deforestation,
the work of the forest activists, and spreading the message of Chipko.

8.Trace Vandana Shiva’s childhood experiences that ted to her interest

in Ecology.
Vandana Shiva’s father was a conservator of forests in the Himalayan
region. Naturally, Vandana Shiva lived and was brought up in forest
surroundings. That is why she declares that whatever she knows about
ecology was learned from the Himalayan forests and eco-systems. Her
mother was a farmer and she used to compose songs and poems about
trees, forests, and India’s forest civilizations. Thus, her parents and
their profession undoubtedly shaped Vandana Shiva’s interest in
ecology.

9.What are Cormac Cullinan’s views on eco-apartheid mentioned by

Vandana Shiva in her essay?

Vandana Shiva opines that separation is indeed at the root of

disharmony with nature and violence against nature and people. She
mentions Cormac Cullinan’s views on eco-apartheid in this context.

Cormac Cullinan is a prominent South African environmentalist. He

points out that apartheid means separateness. He declares that the
world joined the anti-apartheid movement to end the violent
separation of people on the basis of colour and so they were able to
end apartheid in South Africa. Cullinan suggests that we need to
overcome the wider and deeper apartheid – an eco-apartheid based on
the illusion of separateness of humans from nature – in our minds and
lives.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

1.How does Tagore’s essay ‘Tapovan’bring out the influence of the

environment on the Indian civilisation?
OR
What makes Indian civilisation distinctive, according to Tagore?
Explain with reference to ‘Everything I need to know I learned in the
Forest’.
In his essay ‘Tapovan’, Tagore has expressed his understanding of the
Indian civilization. Tagore states that “Indian civilization has been
distinctive in locating its source of regeneration, material and
intellectual, in the forest, not the city.” Tagore asserts that India’s best
ideas have come from where the man was in communion with trees
and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. He adds that the peace of
the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man.

Furthermore, he says that the culture that has arisen from the forest
has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life and
these processes of renewal of life are always at play in the forest,
varying from season to season, in sight, sound and smell. This culture
of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian society. He concludes by
saying that the unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic
pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

2.How do the forests teach us the values of diversity, freedom, and co-
existence, according to Vandana Shiva?
OR
What inspires Vandana Shiva to say that biodiversity has been her
teacher of abundance and freedom, of cooperation and mutual giving?
OR
What are the basic lessons that are taught by the living world to
mankind? Discuss in the light of the essay.

In his essay ‘Tapovan’, Tagore asserts that India’s best ideas have
come from where the man was in communion with trees and rivers
and lakes, away from the crowds. He adds that the peace of the forest
has helped the intellectual evolution of man.

Furthermore, he says that the culture that has arisen from the forest
has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life and
these processes of renewal of life are always at play in the forest,
varying from season to season, in sight, sound and smell. This culture
of the forest has fuelled the culture of Indian society. He concludes by
saying that the unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic
pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

Vandana Shiva says that this unity in diversity is the basis of both
ecological sustainability and democracy. She asserts that “Diversity
without unity becomes the source of conflict and contest, and unity
without diversity becomes the ground for external control.” She adds
that this is true of both nature and culture. She concludes by saying
that the forest is unity in its diversity, and through our relationship
with the forest, we are united with nature.

Vandana Shiva says that the forest teaches us union and compassion. It
also teaches us ‘enoughness’. It means it teaches us the principle of
equity. It shows us how to enjoy the gifts of nature without
exploitation. Furthermore, she says that no species in a forest takes
away the share of another species and every species sustains itself in
co-operation with others.
3.What role does the forest play in Vandana Shiva’s life? Explain.

Vandana Shiva says that she learned her first lesson in ecology and
eco-system in the Himalayan forests which she later put to practice in
her farms. Her ideas about bio-diversity and bio-diversity- based living
economies prompted her to begin the Navdanya movement for
biodiversity conservation and organic farming which she started in
1987. Later, in 1994, she set up the Navdanya farm in the Doon Valley
where she claims to have conserved and grown 630 varieties of rice,
150 varieties of wheat, and hundreds of other species. Based on these
practices she tells the reader that the forests teach us union and
compassion, the principle of equity, and how to enjoy the gifts of
nature without exploitation and accumulation and mutual co-
operation.

4.“The forest teaches us union and compassion. It symbolises the

universe”. Discuss with reference to Tagore’s views in ‘Tapovan’.

Vandana Shiva makes a reference to the views of Rabindranath Tagore

about ‘Forest as a school’. In his essay titled ‘Tapovan’ (which means
Forest of Purity), Tagore highlights the unique features of Indian
civilization. He opines that Indian civilization originated in the forest
and the forest served as a source of material and intellectual
regeneration.

Further, he argues that the culture of the forest has fuelled the culture
of Indian society. Next, he offers a convincing explanation as to how
the culture of the forest could have helped the Indian civilization. He
opines that the culture of the forest has been influenced by the diverse
processes of renewal of life which are always at play in the forest. The
diverse processes of renewal of life vary from species to species, from
season to season, in sight and sound and smell. This unifying principle
of life in diversity, democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of
Indian civilization.

Vandana Shiva further elaborates on Tagore’s views about the culture

of the forest. She adds that in Tagore’s writings, “the forest was not
just the source of knowledge and freedom but was also the source of
beauty and joy, art and aesthetics, of harmony and perfection. She
concludes that the forest where we learn union and compassion
symbolizes the universe.
5.‘The end of consumerism and accumulation is the beginning of the
joy of living’. Discuss in the light of ‘Everything I Need To Know I
Learned In The Forest’.

Man has been calling the Earth ‘Terra Madre’ (Mother Earth) for
centuries. But a change came about in his attitude and action later.
The vibrant view of the Earth as mother nature receded and a man
started plundering the rich resources of the Earth for his luxurious
lifestyle. Now, Mother Earth is becoming Terra Nullius (empty land,
raw materials and dead matter) owing to his greed for accumulating
material wealth.

The greed for consuming the Earth’s resources was kindled by the
philosophy of Francis Bacon (a 17th-century scientist) who declared
that science and its inventions have the power to conquer ‘Nature’ and
to subdue her and to shake her to her foundations. It is this idea that
paved the way for the industrial revolution, capitalism and the current
global consumerism. Social thinkers, scientists, statesmen,
governments, and environmentalists have now come to realize that
human beings are an inseparable part of Nature and they cannot
damage Nature without severely damaging themselves.

To save themselves they need to change from anthropomorphism to

eco-centrism. Instead of altering Nature to suit his lifestyle man must
adapt himself to the demands of Nature. He must learn lessons from
our forests which serve as Earth University and teach us Earth
democracy. Forests teach us enoughness, union and compassion, and
the principle of equity. No species in a forest appropriates the share of
another species. Every species sustains itself in co-operation with
others. This principle of equity will put an end to consumerism and
accumulation which will usher in the joy of living.

6.‘The peace of the forest has helped the evolution of man’. How does
Tagore elaborate this statement in ‘Everything l Need To Know I
Learned In The Forest’?

Rabindranath Tagore started Shantiniketan, a forest school, with a

view to getting inspiration from nature and to create an Indian
cultural renaissance. His views on the importance of forests
are’expressed in his essay ‘Tapovan’ (Forest of Purity). Tagore asserts
that Indian civilization has been distinctive in locating its source of
regeneration – both material and intellectual – in the forest, and not in
the city. He states that India’s best ideas have come from the place
where the man was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes,
away from the crowd. He remarks that the peace of the forest has
helped the intellectual evolution of man.

Next, he states that the culture of the forest has fueled the culture of
Indian society. This forest culture has been influenced by the diverse
processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the forest,
varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight and
sound and smell. Finally, forest culture is a symbol of life in diversity.
This unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism,
thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

Vocabulary

A prefix is a word or a syllable added to the beginning of a root word,

to qualify or change the meaning of that word.

Question A.
When some prefixes like dis-, im-, non-, in-, de-, anti-are added, the
words get a negative connotation.
E.g.: disharmony, impossible, nonviolent, inseparable, deforestation,
antiapartheid.
Lookup a dictionary and find suitable prefixes for the following words:
responsible, human, practical, natural, active, material, civilized,
perfect.
Answer:
irresponsible, inhuman, impractical, unnatural, inactive, immaterial,
uncivilized, imperfect.
A suffix is a syllable or word added to the end of a root word to qualify
its meaning or form a new word.

Question B.
By adding suffixes like -al, -ism, -ion, -ment, -ship, etc., we can form
different words. Some are given below:
arrival, consumerism, movement, relationship.
Pick out more such words from the lesson.
Answer:
Ecological, partition, learned, involvement, scarcity, heavier, longer,
vacation, resistance, forestry, foolish, protection, failure,
demonstration, conservation, transition, constitution, declaration,
discussion, domination, partnership, environmentally, severely,
separatism, environmentalist, separateness, separation, deeper,
diversity, occupation, merely, guidance, philosopher, historian,
manipulable, capitalism, scientific, revolution, cultural, readily,
freedom, responsibility, globalisation, inspiration, cultural, purity,
distinctive, intellectual, evolution, diversity, democratic, pluralism,
sustainability, perfection, enoughness, exploitation, accumulation,
enjoyment, renunciation, possession, co-operation, consumerism,
accumulation.

Question C.
In Vandana Shiva’s essay, you have come across many unfamiliar
words such as eco-systems, eco-centrism, eco-apartheid, bio-diversity,
biodiversity-intensive, monoculture, fossil-fuel.

• Eco-systems: An ecosystem is a community of living organisms

(plants, animals and microbes) as well as the nonliving
components (air, water and mineral soil) of the environment,
interacting as a system.
• Eco-centrism: Eco-centrism (meaning values centred on ecology)
is a view that considers the whole environment or ecosphere as
being important without preference to organisms such as
animals and humans.
• Eco-apartheid: Eco-apartheid means holding the illusion in our
minds and lives that humans are separate from nature.
• Bio-diversity: The existence of a large number of different kinds
of animals and plants which make a balanced environment.
• Biodiversity-intensive (farming): It refers to growing of different
varieties of plants.
• Mono-culture: It is the agricultural practise of producing or
growing a single crop or plant species.
• Fossil-fuel: They are fuels formed by natural processes such as
the decomposition of buried dead organisms. Fossil fuels include
coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

1.Shantiniketan _____ (start) by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921. Today,

it _____ (consider) as one of the best learning centres in the world.
The Earth University ______ (inspire) by Rabindranath Tagore.
Answer:
was started; is considered; is inspired.

2.The war against the earth began with this idea of separateness. Its
contemporary seeds _____ (sow) when the living earth ____
(transform) into the dead matter to facilitate the industrial revolution.
Diversity ______ (replace) by monocultures.
Answer:
were sown; was transformed; was replaced.

3.Navdanya, the movement for biodiversity conservation and organic

farming _____ (start) in 1987. More than 3000 rice varieties ______
(save). Now bio-diversity intensive form of farming ______ (practice)
by many farmers across the country.
Answer:
was started; were saved; is practised or is being practised.

4.Forest plays an important role in shaping civilization. The culture of

Indian civilization _____ (fuel) by the culture of the forest. This
culture _____ (influence) by the diverse processes of renewal of life
which are at play in the forest. Besides, human beings _____ (teach)
union and compassion by it.
Answer:
was fuelled; was influenced; were taught.

5.The lessons learnt by Vandana Shiva about diversity ______

(transfer) to the protection of biodiversity. Thus Navdanya farm ____
(start) in the Doon Valley and it ______ (locate) in the lower elevation
Himalayan region.
Answer:
were transferred; was started; is located.

B. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

1.The women of Adwani resisted the felling of trees. Besides, they

decided to teach forestry to the forest officials. They ____ lighted
lanterns although it was ______ (broad daylight, held up, put behind)
Answer:
held up; broad daylight.

2.According to Cullinan, apartheid in South Africa was ______. But

nobody knew that a wider and deeper eco-apartheid would come in its
place and _____ a problem that would create another kind of
separatism. (at play, grow into, put behind)
Answer:
put behind; grow into.

C. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

1.Vandana Shiva started to save seeds from farmers’ fields. _____ she
realized that a farm was needed for demonstration and training. _____
Navdanya farm was started. _____ many varieties of seeds were
conserved in this farm ______ practise and promote a biodiversity-
intensive form of farming. (as a result, then, thus, in order to)
Answer:
Then; Thus; As a result; in order to.

2.The Earth University teaches Earth Democracy ______ is the

freedom for all species. _____ we all depend on the earth, it is our duty
to respect the rights of other species ______ these species have to
evolve within the web of life. ______ Earth Democracy is a shift from
anthropocentrism to ecocentrism. (as, which, moreover, since)
Answer:
which; As; since; Moreover.

3.Tagore started Shantiniketan in West Bengal ______ create an Indian

cultural renaissance. _____ this became a university _____ received
acclaim as the most famous centre of learning. Shantiniketan was
started as a forest school, amidst trees _____ forests were thought to
be a source of regeneration. (because, in order to, which, later on)
Answer:
in order to; Later on; which; because.

About the writer:

Born in India in 1952, Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned

environmental leader and thinker. Director of the Research Foundation
on Science, Technology, and Ecology, she is the author of many books,
including’Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development’,‘Soil Not
Oil: Climate Change, Peak Oil and Food Insecurity’, ‘Earth Democracy:
Justice, Sustainability, and Peace’, ‘Water Wars: Privatisation,
Pollution and Profit’, ‘Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and
Knowledge’, ‘Monocultures of the Mind’, and ‘The Violence of the
Green Revolution’.

Vandana Shiva is a leader in the International Forum on Globalization.

In 1993, she won the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (the Right
Livelihood Award). In 2010, she was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize
for her commitment to social justice. The founder of Navdanya (‘nine
seeds’), a movement promoting diversity and use of native seeds, she
also set up the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and
Ecology in her mother’s cowshed in 1997. Its studies have validated
the ecological value of traditional farming and been instrumental in
fighting destructive development projects in India.

Background:

This lesson is based on two articles written by Vandana Shiva. The

first part of the lesson titled, ‘Everything I need to know I learned in
the forest* was published in the winter issue of‘Yes!’ magazine 2012.
The title of the winter issue was ‘What Would Nature Do?’ The second
part titled, ‘Right of Nature on the Global Stage’, was adopted by the
author from her own article ‘Forest and Freedom’, which was
published in the May-June 2011 edition of‘Resurgence Magazine’.

The two parts are thematically interlinked and supplement each other.
In the first part, the author tells the reader how she learnt the basic
principles of environmentalism from the uneducated women of
Garhwal, Himalaya and how she became a proactive environmentalist.

In the second part, she presents a historical account of how the

concept of Earth as a living entity got transformed to Earth as dead
matter and its consequences.

The whole lesson talks about environmental concepts like bio-

diversity, Earth as a living organism, Earth Democracy, ecological
sustainability etc.

Summary
In the first part of the lesson, the writer narrates how she learnt the
basic principles of ecology. She says that her study of ecology started
in the forests of the Himalaya because her father was a forest
conservator. Hence, she declares that whatever she knows about
ecology was learned from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems.
Incidentally, her mother who was brought up in Lahore (which became
Pakistan later) settled in India after partition and became a farmer.

In the next few paragraphs, she narrates the history of the Chipko’
movement. It was a non-violent response to the large-scale
deforestation that was taking place in the Himalayan region in the
1970s. In this context, Vandana Shiva tells us that her involvement in
the contemporary ecology movement began with the Chipko
movement. During this period, the peasant women from the Garhwal
Himalaya had come out in defence of the forests protesting against the
ruthless cutting down of trees on a large scale for logging. This had
resulted in landslides and floods, scarcity of water, fodder and fuel.
Consequently, women had become the worst sufferers because they
were in charge of fulfilling the daily requirements for cooking,
washing and other household chores. They had to walk long distances
for collecting water and firewood which was a heavy burden.

Fortunately, the women had realized that the forests were the real
source of springs and streams, food for their cattle and fuel for their
hearths. Therefore, the women declared that they would hug the trees,
and the loggers would have to kill them before killing the trees. They
appealed to the loggers not to cut them and to keep those trees alive.

In 1973 she went to the Himalaya to visit her favourite forests and
swim in her favourite stream. She wanted to see these spots before
leaving for Canada to do her Ph.D., but the forests were not there and
the stream had become a trickle. It was at this moment that she
decided to become a volunteer for the Chipko movement. She spent
every vacation doing padayatra (walking pilgrimages), documenting
the deforestation, the work of the forest activists and spreading the
message of Chipko.

Next, the author narrates the Chipko action that took place in the
Himalayan village of Adwani in 1977. She recalls how a village woman
named Bachni Devi led a movement of resistance against her own
husband who had obtained a contract to cut trees. When the logging
officials arrived at the forest, the women held up lighted lanterns
although it was broad daylight. The forester admonished them saying
that they were foolish women and did not know the value of the forest.
He added that the forests produced a profit, resin and timber. The
women sang back in chorus replying that the forests bore soils, water
and pure air and also sustained the Earth and all that she bears.

In the next section titled ‘Beyond Monocultures’, Vandana Shiva tells

the readers that she learned about bio-diversity and bio-diversity-
based living economies, from the Chipko movement. Further, she
remarks that our failure to understand biodiversity and its many
functions is the root cause of the impoverishment of nature and
culture. Then she says that the lessons she learned about diversity in
the Himalayan forests she transferred to the protection of bio-
diversity on her farms. She started saving seeds from farmers’ fields
and incidentally realized that they needed a farm for demonstration
and training. This led to the establishment of Navdanya Farm.

She declares that now they conserve and grow 630 varieties of rice,
150 varieties of wheat, and hundreds of other species. She proudly
says that they practice and promote a bio-diversity intensive form of
farming that produces more food and nutrition per acre. Finally, she
observes that the conservation of biodiversity is, therefore, the answer
to the food and nutrition crisis being faced in our country.

The Navdanya organisation helps farmers make a transition from

fossil-fuel and chemical-based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological
systems nourished by the sun and the soil. She concludes saying that
bio-diversity has been her teacher of abundance and freedom, of co-
operation and mutual giving.

The second part of the lesson begins with the title ‘Rights of Nature on
the Global Stage’.
In the first section, she suggests that we accept nature as a teacher
and when we do so we co-create with her and also recognize her
agency and her rights. Incidentally, she says that Ecuador has
recognized the ‘Rights of Nature’ in its Constitution and calls it a
significant step. As a sequel, the United Nations General Assembly
organized a conference on harmony with nature as part of Earth Day
celebrations in April 2011. She makes a reference to the report of the
UN Secretary-General titled ‘Harmony with Nature’, that was issued in
conjunction with the conference. The report highlighted the
importance of reconnecting with nature.
Vandana Shiva opines that separatism is indeed at the root of
disharmony with nature and violence against nature and people. The
author supports her statement citing the opinion of Cormac Cullinan, a
prominent South African environmentalist. According to him,
“apartheid means separateness”. The author says that the whole world
joined the anti-apartheid movement in order to end the violent
separation of people on the basis of colour. Now that apartheid in
South Africa has been put behind us, we need to overcome the wider
and deeper apartheid – an eco-apartheid based on the illusion of
separateness of humans from nature in our minds and lives.

The author makes an attempt to trace the origin of the idea of

separateness. The author recalls our beliefs about the Earth in the pre-
industrial era when ‘Man’ believed that living beings were an
inseparable part of nature. But, later with the advent of scientific
thinking man came under the illusion that the living Earth was dead
matter and there was no connection between the living Earth and the
other living creatures. Vandana Shiva remarks that it was at this
moment in history that the war against the Earth began. She observes
that the seeds of separateness were sown when the living Earth was
considered as a dead matter to facilitate the industrial revolution.

She adds here that monocultures replaced diversity; ‘raw materials’

and ‘dead matter’ replaced vibrant earth. The Earth came to be termed
as Terra Nullius, which means ’empty land’, ready for occupation
regardless of the fact that the Mother Earth (Terra Madre) was home
to tens of thousands of indigenous peoples (people of different races,
tribes, ethnicities).

Vandana Shiva next mentions Carolyn Merchant, a philosopher and

historian, in her support and says that “this shift of perspective from
nature as a living, nurturing mother to inert, dead and manipulable
matter” was well suited to the activities that led to capitalism.
Furthermore, Vandana Shiva says that the images of domination of the
Earth by scientific methods, created by Francis Bacon and other
leaders of the scientific revolution replaced the idea that the Earth
nurtures life/living beings. They also successfully removed a cultural
constraint on the exploitation of nature. Until then, people did not
dare to “readily slay a mother, dig into her entrails for gold, or
mutilate her body” as observed by Merchant.
It is to be inferred here that once Francis Bacon popularized the idea
that the Earth can serve as a source of raw materials for scientific
experiments, many new scientific discoveries and inventions were
made which later led to the exploitation of iron, gold, copper, wood
and metals from the earth and heralded the industrial revolution,
modernization, growth of cities, increase in the number of rich people
and urban culture, displacing other cultures.

In the next section titled ‘What Nature Teaches’, Vandana Shiva tells
the reader what we need to do now. She says that we are facing
multiple crises and hence we need to move away from the paradigm of
nature as dead matter and move towards an ecological paradigm.
Vandana Shiva tells us that to understand what an ecological paradigm
means, we need to go to ‘nature’ herself and nature is the best teacher.

Vandana Shiva presents a model of the Earth University which she

says is located at ‘Navdanya’, a bio-diversity farm. She says that Earth
University teaches Earth democracy. The concept of Earth Democracy
symbolizes “freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life”. It
also refers to the freedom and responsibilities of humans as members
of the Earth family, to recognize, protect and respect the rights of
other species.

Vandana Shiva explains that the idea of ‘Earth Democracy’ is a shift

from anthropocentrism to eco-centrism. Anthropocentrism is a school
of thought which argues that humans are the central element of the
universe. Now we need to accept that ‘eco-systems’ are the main
elements of the universe and not Man, and the Earth nurtures diverse
eco-systems. It also means that it is man’s responsibility to preserve
these ecosystems. Since we all depend on the Earth for our survival,
Earth democracy gives every human being right to food and water, to
freedom from hunger and thirst.

Vandana Shiva mentions the activities at Navdanya. She says that it is

a bio-diversity farm where participants learn to work with living
seeds, living soil, and the web of life.

In the next section titled ‘The Poetry of the Forest’, Vandana Shiva
talks about the original source of the idea of ‘The Earth University’.
She states that the concept of Earth University originated from
Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan in West Bengal. Tagore started a
learning centre in Shantiniketan in West Bengal as a forest school. The
school became a university in 1921, growing into one of India’s most
famous centres of learning. Vandana takes this forest school as a
model and tells the readers that just as in Tagore’s time, we need to
turn to nature and the forest for lessons in freedom. Then she refers to
Tagore’s essay ‘Tapovan’ (Forest of Purity) in which Tagore has
expressed his understanding of the Indian civilization.

Tagore asserts that India’s best ideas have come from where the man
was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the
crowds. He adds that the peace of the forest has helped the intellectual
evolution of man. Furthermore, he says that the culture that has arisen
from the forest has been influenced by the diverse processes of
renewal of life and these processes of renewal of life are always at
play in the forest, varying from season to season, in sight, sound and
smell. This culture of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian
society.

Vandana Shiva says that unity in diversity is the basis of both

ecological sustainability and democracy. She adds that this is true of
both nature and culture, and through our relationship with the forest
we are united with nature.

Vandana Shiva further elaborates the features of the culture of the

forest. She refers to Tagore’s writings and says that in his writings the
forest was not just the source of knowledge and freedom, but was also
the source of beauty and joy, of art and aesthetics, of harmony and
perfection. It symbolized the universe. Vandana Shiva says that the
forest teaches us union and compassion. It also teaches us
‘enoughness’. It means, it teaches us the principle of equity. It shows
us how to enjoy the gifts of nature without exploitation. Furthermore,
she says that no species in a forest takes away the share of another
species and every species sustains itself in co-operation with others.
She concludes saying that the end of consumerism and accumulation is
the beginning of the joy of living.

Finally, Vandana rounds off her article saying that the conflict
between greed and compassion, conquest and co-operation, violence
and harmony continues even today and in this situation, it is the forest
that can show us the way beyond this conflict. Thus, Vandana Shiva
wants to assure us that the forests teach us the values of diversity,
freedom and co-existence.
Glossary:

• Ecology: the study of relationships of organisms with each other

and their surroundings.
• Bio-diversity: the variety of life in the world or in a particular
habitat or ecosystem.
• Monoculture: the cultivation of a single crop (on a farm or area
or country).
• Earth Democracy: the freedom for all species to evolve within
the web of life.
• Anthropocentrism: Regarding humans as the central element of
the universe.
• Organic farming: ಸಾವಯವ ಕೃಷಿ
• Pluralism: a condition or system in which two or more states,
groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.
• Equity: the quality of being fair and impartial.
• Renunciation: the formal rejection of a belief, claim, or a course
of action.
• Consumerism: the protection or promotion of the interests of
consumers
• logging: the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of
trees or logs onto trucks

A Sunny Morning

Comprehension I

1.Do you think Laura was a regular visitor to the park? What makes
you think so?

Yes. Laura was a regular visitor to the park. This is clear from her
questions to her maid Petra. She wonders whether somebody would
have occupied her seat and whether the pigeons know when to expect
her and eagerly come over to feed on the bread crumbs, which means
that she comes daily to the park.

2.Why are Don Gonzalo and Laura annoyed with each other?
Don Gonzalo was annoyed with Laura as she questioned why he had
used his handkerchief to brush his shoes and numerically asked
whether he would use a shoe brush as a kerchief. Moreover, when he
wished her she did not wish him back. Laura was annoyed with
Gonzalo because he had scared the pigeons fly away.

6.Do you think Laura is an effective narrator?

Yes. I think Dona Laura is an effective narrator because when Don
Gonzalo asks her what she wishes to tell him Dona Laura tells him
clearly that he had scared away the birds which were feeding on her
crumbs.

Comprehension II

1.Describe the situations wherein Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura

recognize each other as ‘the silver maiden’ and ‘the gallant young
man’.

Both Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo become friends soon after enjoying
a pinch of snuff offered by Don Gonzalo. While Don Gonzalo is reading
aloud, he comes across a famous quotation. Incidentally, he tells Dona
that it is from Campoamor. Then Dona Laura expresses her sympathy
for him for reading with all those glasses. This prompts Don to boast
about his talent to compose verses. Then, he tells her about
Espronceda, Zorrilla, and Becquer. Dona makes fun of him saying that
he must have gone with Columbus on one of his explorations.

At this moment, Don Gonzalo tells her that he was also a great friend
of Campoamor and he had met him in Valencia. Then he adds that he
was a native of Valencia. Dona Laura tells him that she had spent
several seasons in a villa called Maricela, which was not far from
Valencia. The name Maricela startles Don Gonzalo and he goes on to
tell her that he had seen the most beautiful woman there and her
name was Laura Llorente. Laura is startled to hear her name
mentioned and they look at each other intently. It is precisely at this
moment that they begin to recognize each other.
2.What were the circumstances that led Gonzalo to flee Valencia?
OR
What circumstances, according to Gonzalo, made his cousin flee
Valencia?

The young Laura Llorente and young Gonzalo loved each other very
dearly. Every day while passing by on horseback down the rose path
under the window of Laura, Gonzalo used to toss up to her balcony a
bouquet of flowers. Later in the afternoon, while the gallant young
man was returning by the same path, he would catch the bouquet of
flowers she would toss him. As days rolled by, Laura’s parents thought
of marrying her to a well-known merchant in their locality. One night,
while Gonzalo was waiting under her window to hear her sing, the
merchant came there unexpectedly and insulted him.

This led to a quarrel and later a duel. The duel went on the whole
night and at sunrise the next morning the merchant got badly
wounded in the duel. The merchant was a well-known gentleman in
Valencia. Since he had been badly wounded in the duel, Gonzalo
became apprehensive of fearful consequences and so fled Valencia and
went to Seville and then to Madrid.

3.Did Laura and Gonzalo pine for each other after they were separated
by circumstances? Who is more passionate? How do they react to each
other now?
OR
How do Laura and Gonzalo claim to have pined for each other after
their separation?

Soon after they were separated by circumstances the young lovers

Laura and Gonzalo pined for each other. After listening to Gonzalo’s
account of how he had fled Aravaca, then joined the army in Africa and
had met a glorious death in the war, Laura mutters to herself that it is
an atrocious lie. Then Dona pretends to sympathise with him saying he
must have been distressed by the calamity. Taking it as a strong point,
Gonzalo pretends to say that it was indeed a calamity, but also tries to
express his resentment complaining that on the contrary Laura had
soon forgotten Gonzalo and was chasing butterflies in the garden
without any regret. Dona Laura protests saying ‘no’ loudly and
Gonzalo comments that it is a woman’s way. Dona Laura, so as not to
be found fault with that way, offers her version of the story.
She tells him that the silver maiden awaited the news of Gonzalo for a
year. As she did not receive any letters from him, went to the sea after
sunset, wrote his name on the sand, sat on a rock and was finally
swept out to the sea by the rising tide. Don Gonzalo mutters to himself
that she was a worse liar than he was. Both of them openly express
their sympathies for each other. Dona mutters to herself that she will
not tell him that she got married two years later. Don Gonzalo mutters
to himself that he ran off with a ballet dancer to Paris in three months.
From their conversation and from their reactions to each other’s
partially concocted story, we can conclude that Laura is more
passionate.

4.What makes Dona Laura assume that Don Gonzalo is an ill-natured

man?
OR
How do Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura accuse each other at the
beginning of the play?

Soon after entering the park, Don Gonzalo looks for a vacant bench.
When he finds that the bench on which he used to sit is occupied by
three priests, Don Gonzalo gets irritated and he expresses his
annoyance remarking that the priests were idling their time away
instead of saying Mass in the church. Then Juanito suggests that he
could sit on the bench on which Dona Laura was sitting. But Don
Gonzalo tells him that he wants a bench to himself. Then after
expressing his anger against the three priests, he walks towards the
birds near Dona Laura’s bench, when she angrily asks him to a
lookout. On hearing her warning cry, Don Gonzalo asks her whether
she intended to speak to him.

Next, when Dona tells him that he had scared the birds away, he
retorts telling her that he does not care about the birds. Then she tells
him that she cared about the birds very much and hence she was
complaining about his behaviour. Don Gonzalo tries to snub her saying
that it was a public park. Intending to argue with him, Dona asks him
why then he was complaining about the priests taking his bench.
Instead of giving her a suitable, polite reply, he dismisses her rudely
telling her that they had not met before and he can’t imagine why she
was taking the liberty of addressing him. Naturally, Dona who had
listened to his comments about the priests and his replies to her
queries assumes that he was an ill-natured man.
Comprehension III

1.Trace how the irony is built in the play. Did you guess the character’s
past even before they did so?

(a) The term ‘irony’ means ‘hiding’ or dissembling what actually is the
case, not in order to deceive but to achieve special rhetorical or
artistic effects.

In the one-act play, ‘A Sunny Morning’ irony is cleverly built into the
play. After settling in her bench, Dona Laura sends away Petra, her
maidservant, to chat with the guard. Soon after that, she glances
towards the trees at right and says “Here they come; they know just
when to expect me”. Though the old lady is referring to the arrival of
the birds, it also hints at the entry of Don Gonzalo and Juanito, who
are needed for the action to move forward. Dona Laura throws three
handfuls of crumbs for the pigeons to eat and soon after that we see
Don Gonzalo and Juanito entering the scene.

(b) We come across the next instance of irony when Don Gonzalo
starts reading aloud statements supposedly from Campoamor’s work.
Don Gonzalo reads aloud the following:

• “All love is sad but sad as it is, it is the best thing that we know”.
• “Twenty years pass. He returns. And each, beholding the other,
exclaims can it be that this is he? Heavens, is it she?”
These lines can be taken as examples of ‘Dramatic irony’.

(c) There are two more instances of irony in the play. They are:

1. When Dona Laura tells Don Gonzalo that Laura Llorente was called
‘The Silver Maiden’ in » that locality, he tells her “I seem to see her as
if she were before me now, at that window with the red roses”.

2. He starts giving a description of her beauty, “She was ideal, fair as a

lily, jet black hair and black eyes…” and finally says “what forms of
sovereign beauty God models in human clay! She was a dream”.
On hearing Don Gonzalo say so, Dona Laura mutters to herself “if you
but knew that dream was now by your side, you would realize what
dreams come to”.
3. “Here are you and I, complete strangers, met by chance, discussing
the romance of old friends of long ago! We have been conversing as if
we were old friends”, Dona Laura tells Don Gonzalo after both of them
have told their made-up stories.

A careful reading of the play reveals that there is a relationship

between the old lady and the old gentleman. When I read the play a
second time paying attention to the story and the instances of irony
highlighted here, I was able to guess the characters’ past.

2.Why do Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo spin fictitious stories about
themselves?
OR
Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo spin fictitious stories about themselves
to cover their tracks. Discuss with reference to ‘A Sunny Morning’.

Once Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura realize that they are the same old,
young lovers of Maricela who were separated in life by fate, they
decide not to reveal their identity because they learn from each other
in what high esteem they held each other before they departed, they
also come to know that both of them had given up the other as lost
forever. While Dona Laura tells herself that she had married someone
else after waiting for him for one year, Don Gonzalo tells himself that
after fleeing from Valencia, then Seville and Madrid, he had run off to
Paris with a ballet dancer in about three months.

Therefore, they concoct fictitious stories so as to conceal their

identities completely and to make the other believe that he or she was
dead. Later, when they realize that they are alive, they do not want to
shatter their mutual images in the eyes of the other. Therefore, Don
Gonzalo tells himself that he will not reveal himself because he is
grotesque. He wishes that she had better recall the gallant horseman
who passed daily beneath her window tossing flowers. Similarly, Dona
Laura tells herself that “I am too sadly changed. It is better he should
remember me as the black-eyed girl tossing flowers as he passed
among the roses in the garden.”

3.Bring out the feelings of Laura and Gonzalo as they leave the park. Is
it different from what they felt about each other at the beginning of
the play?
When the scene opens, we find Dona Laura entering the park, leaning
upon the arm of her maid Petra. Soon, the old lady settles in her usual
seat in the park. Then the old lady sends away Petra to meet her
boyfriend, the guard. Later, when the pigeons arrive, Dona Laura
throws three handfuls of bread crumbs. Next, we see Don Gonzalo
coming in dragging his feet and leaning upon Juanito’s arm. Don
Gonzalo and Dona Laura have not seen each other before and hence we
cannot know about each other’s feelings until they meet.

However, their feelings towards each other become evident only when
Don Gonzalo walks towards Dona Laura’s bench, despite her warning
call ‘Lookout’. Therefore, when she finds her pigeons being scared
away, she is upset and tells him in a complaining tone that he has
scared away the birds who were feeding on her crumbs. In reply, Don
gives an arrogant reply which provokes her to make a personal
comment, ‘Why do you complain that the priests have taken your
bench?’ Once again, Don Gonzalo’s rude snubbing reply provokes Dona
Laura to say that he is an ill-natured old man and comments that when
people reach a certain age, they should not become so fussy and cross.
Later, Don comes and sits at the extreme end of Dona Laura’s bench
and looks at her indignantly. After a few heated exchanges between
them, Don Gonzalo mutters to himself ‘Senile old lady! She ought to be
at home knitting and counting her beads’.

But, by the end of the play, we find a total change in their attitude
towards each other. In the course of their conversation, they discover
that they were ‘lovers’ once in their youthful days. But neither of them
is ready to disclose their identity. However, the animosity that we
witness at the beginning of the play is no longer there when they are
ready to depart. Before taking leave of each other, they formally thank
each other for having met. Both of them ensure that they are coming
to the park the next day. Laura sees Don picking up the lilies dropped
by her. Both of them wave farewell. They leave the place as friends.

4.What do you think would have happened if they had revealed their
identity? Do you think they know who they are towards the end of the
play?
Once Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura realize that they are the same old
young lovers of Maricela who were separated in life by fate, they make
up fictitious stories and conceal their identity.

If they had revealed their identity, both of them would have been
utterly shocked and would have accused each other of deceiving the
other. They know that both of them had held the other in high esteem
and both of them had fallen deeply in love.

That is why, when they realize that they are the same old lovers of
Maricela, they are shocked to realize how much both of them had
changed. Dona Laura after listening to Don Gonzalo’s praise of her
beauty as The Silver Maiden’ now feels ashamed to confess that she is
the old silver maiden of Maricela because she too is sadly changed.

Similarly, Don Gonzalo knows that he is grotesque and so wishes her

to keep his image as a gallant horseman who tossed flowers to her
every day.

5.How is the title of the play A Sunny Morning’justifiable? Discuss.

OR
Bring out the instances from the play A Sunny Morning’ to justify it as
a blend of romance
and comedy.

‘A Sunny Morning’ is a refreshingly new romantic comedy. It tells the

story of Don Gonzalo^and Dona Laura who was ardent lovers in their
youth but was torn apart in life by fate. However, the two lovers meet
again when they are in their 70s, not as lovers but as total strangers
unexpectedly, in a park in Madrid. After a few initial heated exchanges
and repartees, they settle down, occupy the same bench in the park,
spend a good time together and depart as friends. By the time they are
ready to leave for the day, they recognize each other’s identity. They
do not disclose it but tell atrocious lies to conceal it. There are quite a
few lively moments of humor, sarcasm, and irony which entertain the
readers and audience. The title A Sunny Morning’ is quite appropriate
and aptly captures the spirit of the play. The play can be justifiably
called a romantic comedy because there are elements of both romance
and comedy in the play.

In its most general sense the word ‘romance’ suggests elements of

gallant love, chivalry, and adventure. The phrase ‘romantic comedy’
denotes a form of drama in which love is the main theme and love
leads to a happy ending. A love affair is one of the major themes of a
comedy. Keeping in view these points, ‘A Sunny Morning’ is a romantic
comedy in all respects. It tells the story of two young lovers Laura
Llorente and Don Gonzalo of Maricela in Valencia.

Laura Liorente was known in her locality as ‘The Silver Maiden’. She
was in love with Gonzalo, a gallant lover. He used to pass by her house
on horseback every morning through the rose garden and toss up a
bouquet of flowers to her balcony which she caught. On his way back
in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him. But Laura’s
parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked.

One day there ensued a quarrel, leading to a duel between Gonzalo and
the merchant, her suitor. The merchant was seriously injured. Fearing
serious consequences, Gonzalo fled from his house in the town to
Seville and then to Madrid. Even though he tried to communicate with
Laura through letters, his attempts failed and he gave her up as lost
forever and ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer. Meanwhile, Laura
waited for the news of Gonzalo, for one year and finally got married.

These two lovers meet unexpectedly, in a park. They are now in their
70s. Both of them have changed a lot physically but they still cherish
the memories of their youth. However, when they meet in the park,
they appear to be cynical, fussy, and ill-natured. The way they
repartee and express their resentment towards each other creates
opportunities for humour in the play. Finally, they become friends
after sharing a pinch of snuff. They gradually come to realize that they
are the very same lovers of yesteryears.

The title A Sunny Morning’ suggests a warm and bright sunny day.
Similarly, the play is also fresh in spirit, devoid of all cliches and
stereotypes of earlier, traditional courtly comedies because both the
characters and the situations are drawn from contemporary society.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:

1.How do Laura and Gonzalo conceal their identity?

While boasting about his keen eyesight, Don Gonzalo incidentally

mentions the names of some famous Spanish literary figures. Then he
states that he was a great friend of Campoamor in Valencia, and also
reveals that he was a native of Valencia. Laura’s interest being kindled
informs him that she had spent several seasons in a villa called
Maricela, in the city of Valencia. At this moment both of them
understand that they are the original lover’s Laura and Gonzalo who
had been separated by fate.

From then onwards, Gonzalo tells her that the gallant lover who was
in love with the silver maiden Laura Llorente was his cousin and
conceals his identity. Similarly, Laura tells Gonzalo that she came to
know about the story of Gonzalo from Laura Llorente, who was her
friend. Thus, Dona Laura also conceals her identity.

2.How effectively does Gonzalo account for the love his cousin had for
Laura’s friend?
OR
What account does Don Gonzalo give Dona Laura about his cousin’s life
after the duel?
OR
What story does Don Gonzalo narrate to Dona Laura regarding his
cousin?
OR
What fictitious story did Gonzalo spin about himself in the name of his
cousin?
OR
Describe how Don Gonzalo glorifies his cousin’s death.

While telling Laura about the duel between the merchant and the
gallant lover, Don tells her that the gallant lover was his cousin and he
was very fond of him. Don Gonzalo tells her that after the duel the
young man took refuge in his house being scared of the consequences
of a duel with a person highly regarded in that locality. Then he tells
her that from his home his cousin went to Seville and then came to
Madrid. Then he wrote Laura many letters which were intercepted by
her parents.

He says so because he knows for sure that she did not answer his
letters at all. Don then concludes the story saying that, in despair,
believing that he had lost his love forever he joined the army, then
went to Africa and there is a trench, met a glorious death grasping the
flag of Spain and whispering the name of his beloved Laura.

3.How does Dona Laura describe the story of her best friend’s death?
OR
Dona Laura tells Don Gonzalo that her friend had written to her that
she had awaited news of Gonzalo for nearly a year. Later one
afternoon, just at sunset, as the first stars were appearing she left her
house and went to the beach where her beloved had risked his life. She
wrote his name on the sand and then sat down upon a rock, her gaze
fixed upon the horizon. The waves murmured their eternal threnody
and slowly crept up to the rock where the maiden sat. The tide rose
with a boom and swept her out to sea.

4.When does Dona Laura realise that Don Gonzalo is her former lover?
After taking a pinch of snuff both Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura sneeze
three times alternately. Dona Laura mutters to herself that the snuff
has made peace between them. Then, Don Gonzalo starts reading
aloud. A little later, Dona Laura sympathises with him for reading with
all those glasses. Their conversation turns to Gonzalo’s ability to
compose verses. Incidentally, Gonzalo reveals that he was a great
friend of Espronceda, Zorilla, Becquer and others. Then while talking
about Campoamor, Don Gonzalo tells her that he had met Campoamor
in Valencia and he was a native of that city.

This provokes both of them to talk about their earlier identities. When
Dona tells him about the villa in Maricella, Gonzalo tells her about the
Silver Maiden and like a poet he describes her beauty. At that moment,
Dona Laura realizes that Don Gonzalo is her former lover.

5.What are the ‘atrocious’ lies that Laura and Gonzalo make up about
their lives after their separation?
OR
Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura outwit each other in weaving stories
about their own deaths. Elaborate.
OR
Narrate how, according to Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo, the sad love
affair of her friend and his cousin ended.

During the conversation with Dona Laura, Don Gonzalo gives a

romantic description of the silver maiden. Dona Laura realizes that the
old man is none other than her former lover Gonzalo. Then, both of
them together recount their romantic affair until they come to the end
of their story. Don Gonzalo rounds it off telling her that his cousin had
to hide for a few days and later to fly. At this point, Dona tells him that
he seems to know the story well. Don Gonzalo also tells her the same.
Dona Laura tells him that she heard the story from her friend.
Don Gonzalo picks up the same lie and tells her that he heard the story
from his cousin. Both of them are now convinced that they were the
former lovers of the romantic affair they had just reconstructed. Dona
Laura wants to probe further into the affair. Therefore she demands
an explanation about Gonzalo’s vanishing from Valencia.

In reply, Don Gonzalo tells her that after staying hidden indoors in
Valencia for some time, his cousin went to Seville and then came to
Madrid, where he wrote letters to Laura. But, since the letters were
intercepted by her parents, she did not get his letters at all and so she
did not write back to him. He tells her that Gonzalo, then in despair,
believing that he had lost his love forever, joined the army, went to
Africa and there is a trench met a glorious death grasping the flag of
Spain and whispering the name of his beloved Laura. Immediately,
Dona also concocts a story.

She tells him that after waiting for a year for Gonzalo, she went to the
beach after sunset one evening. She wrote his name on the sand and
then sat down on a rock, her gaze fixed upon the horizon. Then the
waves slowly crept up to the rock where the maiden was sitting and
the high rising tide rose with a boom and swept her out to sea. Thus
ended the sad love affair.

6.What fictitious story did Gonzalo spin about himself to hide his true
identity?
OR
How does Don Gonzalo try to hide his identity?
Answer: Don Gonzalo tells Dona Laura that his cousin took refuge in
his house fearful of the consequences of a duel with a person highly
regarded in that locality. From his home, he later went to Seville and
then to Madrid. Since his letters to Laura were intercepted by her
parents, Gonzalo did not get any reply from her. He became desperate.
In despair, believing that he had lost his love forever, he joined the
army.went to Africa, and met a glorious death in a trench, grasping the
flag of Spain and whispering the name of his beloved Laura.

7.Bring out a few instances wherein Dona Laura ridicules Don Gonzalo
in A Sunny Morning’.

In ‘A Sunny Morning’, there are two instances in which Dona Laura

ridicules Don Gonzalo.
Both the instances occur when Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo meet face-
to-face in the park as an old man and old woman and as total strangers
to each other.

Don Gonzalo, soon after entering the park, discovers that his usual
bench has been occupied by three priests. He gets irritated and says
aloud that the priests were idling away their time instead of saying
Mass in the church. Then, in a fit of anger, he rushes towards the
bench on which Dona Laura is sitting.

Dona Laura cries out aloud ‘Lookout’, indignantly, and admonishes

him for scaring away the birds. Don Gonzalo replies that he would not
care about the birds. When she replies that she cared for them, Don
Gonzalo tells her that it was a public park. In retaliation, she asks him
why he had complained that the priests had taken his bench. Don
Gonzalo, being cornered by his own remarks, snubs her, telling her
that even though she was a total stranger she was taking the liberty to
speak to him and walk away.’

Dona Laura comments that he was an ill-natured old man and people
ought not to get so fussy and cross when they reach a certain age.
Later, when she notices him losing another bench, says mockingly
“serves him right for scaring the birds”. “Poor man! He is wiping the
perspiration from his face”. Then, when she notices him walking back
towards her bench, says, “A carriage would not raise more dust than
his feet”.

7.Describe how the ‘gallant young man’ was separated from his lover
in ‘A Sunny Morning’.

Gonzalo and Laura, the two former lovers, had to separate from each
other. In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as
‘The Silver Maiden’. She was fair as a lily, with jet black hair and black
eyes. She was like a dream. She was in love with Gonzalo, the gallant
lover. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose
garden and toss flowers to her balcony which she would catch. On his
way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him. But
Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she
disliked.

One day there was a quarrel between Gonzalo and the merchant, the
suitor. The merchant was badly wounded in the duel and Gonzafo had
to conceal himself for a few days. Later he fled from his hometown to
Seville and then to Madrid. Even though he tried to communicate with
Laura through letters, all his attempts failed. He then joined the army
and went to Africa.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

1.Bring out the changes in Gonzalo’s attitude before and after

occupying the bench in the park.

As soon as Don Gonzalo enters the park along with Juanito, he

discovers that his usual seat has been occupied by three priests. He is
annoyed and comments rudely saying that the priests were idling their
time away when they should be saying mass in the church. Then, when
Juanito suggests that he should sit on the bench where Dona Laura was
sitting, Don Gonzalo tells Juanito that he wants a bench to himself.
Then Juanito informs him that there is no other bench vacant.

Don Gonzalo points at the bench that he usually sat on. When Juanito
tells him that there are three priests sitting on that bench, Don asks
him to send them away. Later, he comments bitterly saying that the
priests were sitting there as if they were glued to the seat. Then he
and his servant walk towards the place where the birds are feeding on
the bread crumbs.

When Dona Laura angrily asks him to look out, Don asks Laura
whether she was speaking to him. Then, when she complains that he
had scared the birds away, he answers rudely that he does not care
about the birds. But she tells him that she cared for the birds and
indirectly tries to make him feel guilty. But he tells her rudely that it is
a public park suggesting that she was not right in complaining about
him about birds being scared away in a public park. Dona tries to
counter him asking why he – had complained that the priests had
taken his seat.

Feeling discomfited, Don Gonzalo tries to snub her telling her that she
was a stranger and was not right in taking the liberty to address him.
A little later, Don Gonzalo sits at the extreme end of her bench and
prepares himself to read a book by wearing glasses and adjusting his
lenses. Dona sympathises with him for having to read with all those
glasses.
2.Trace the incidents where Laura and Gonzalo secretly guess about
each other’s identity.

Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo come face-to-face in a retired corner of a

park in Madrid on a Sunday morning. The strangers soon become
friends without knowing that they were lovers once. Then Gonzalo
happens to tell her that he had spent his youth in Valencia city. Laura’s
curiosity having been provoked, she tells Gonzalo that she also had
spent several seasons in Maricela, a villa near the sea in Valencia.

When Gonzalo is startled to hear the name ‘Maricela’, Dona Laura asks
him whether the name is familiar to him. Don Gonzalo tells her that he
had seen a beautiful woman Laura Llorente living there. On hearing
the name Laura Llorente mentioned, Dona Laura shows her surprise.
From that moment onwards, it becomes clear that both of them know
who they are and intentionally conceals their identity.

When Dona Laura tells him that Laura Llorente was her best friend
and she was called the ‘Silver Maiden’, Don Gonzalo endorses it and
tells her that ‘Silver Maiden’ was her popular name in the locality.
Further, he tells her that she used to stand at a particular window.
Then Dona Laura endorses his statement. Inadvertently, when Don
Gonzalo tells her that he spent many hours there during his youthful
days, Dona Laura gives a sigh and endorses his statement and says
“And in mine, too.”

Then Don Gonzalo gives a description of her beauty and expresses his
admiration calling her a dream. Then Dona Laura makes an aside
remark and tells Gonzalo that if he but knew that Laura was by his
side he would realize what dreams come to. This way, their
conversation goes on until the end, each speaking to the other in
disguise.

Though they appear to be concealing their identity, they know tacitly

that they are the true lover’s Laura and Gonzalo of their youthful days.
In the end, before leaving the park, Laura drops the violets, and when
Gonzalo stoops to pick up the flowers, Laura looks at him. Thus they
come to recognize each other.
Question 3.
‘A Sunny Morning’ portrays wit and humour through Don Gonzalo and
Dona Laura’s spontaneous reactions”. Explain.
OR
Give instances of humorous situations in the play in your own words.
Answer:
‘A Sunny Morning’ is a romantic comedy with only two main
characters Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who are in their seventies
now. Their chance meeting on a sunny morning in a park in Madrid
gives the characters an opportunity to relive the story of their love
affair when they were living in Marfcela. The whole story is built up
through witty, humorous, lively, and spontaneous interaction between
them.

When the play opens, we find Dona Laura happily speaking to the
pigeons which were feeding on the bread crumbs. When Don Gonzalo
comes there looking for a bench, Dona Laura accuses him of scaring
away her birds. In reply, Don Gonzalo tells her that it is a public park
and he doesn’t care about the birds. Dona Laura asks him why then did
he complain that the priests had taken his seat. Later, when Don
Gonzalo comes back to the same place to sit, she asks him why he was
seen there again. But, when he tries to put her off saying that they had
not met, she tells him that she was only responding to his gesture.

When he tells her that she ought to have only returned his greeting,
she remarks that he should have taken her permission to sit on that
bench. Finally, with her witty remarks, she makes him tongue-tied and
helpless. When he mutters to himself, saying that she was a senile old
lady and she ought to be at home knitting and counting her beads, she
asks him not to grumble anymore. When she finds him cleaning his
shoes with his handkerchief, she taunts him asking whether one uses a
handkerchief as a shoe brush. In reply, when Gonzalo asks her what
right she has to criticize his actions, she answers playfully that it was
her right as a neighbour.

When Gonzalo tries to put her off rudely saying that he does not care
to listen to nonsense, she once again teases him remarking that he was
very polite. When Gonzalo asks her apologetically not to interfere with
what does not concern her, she again tells him stubbornly that she
generally says what she thinks. From then on their spontaneous
exchange takes a positive direction and soon they become friends.
Question 4.
‘The ways of providence are strange’. How is this true in the case of
Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura?
Answer:
‘A Sunny Morning’ presents the story of two young lovers who were
once passionately attached to each other. Their love would have
culminated in their marriage but they were separated by a cruel blow
of fate. However, the ways of providence being strange, these
erstwhile lovers happened to meet each other some fifty years later in
a park in Madrid. Both of them are in their 70s and have changed a
great deal in their appearance. Hence, they fail to recognize each other
in the park initially. But as they get acquainted they recall their
youthful days.

Again, it is by a stroke of providence that Don Gonzalo happens to

reveal that he once lived in Valencia. When they discover that they
were lovers once in their youth, they relive their romantic meetings as
before and pretend not to recognize their earlier selves. Like young
people, they live in a dream world of their own and are reluctant to
come back to the world of reality. They tell atrocious lies to defend
their previous actions and exit with a promise to meet the next day.
The ways of providence are strange and it is undoubtedly true in the
case of Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo.

Question 5.
A Sunny Morning’ revolves around concealing and revealing Laura
and Gonzalo’s identity. Elaborate.
Answer:
The play ‘A Sunny Morning’ presents the story of two passionate lovers
who were separated by a cruel blow of fate before their love could
culminate in their marriage. However, this story is presented nearly
fifty years later when both Gonzalo and Laura are now in their old age.
They happen to meet, as if it was providential, in a retired comer of a
park in Madrid one sunny morning. The first part of the play seems an
exposition introducing Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura. After a few witty
exchanges between the two, the playwright reveals their love story
concealing and revealing their identity.

Initially, Don Gonzalo reveals his identity unwittingly in his

enthusiasm to tell her that he had met Campoamor in Valencia. Then
he adds that he spent his early youth in Valencia. This is a hint to Dona
Laura to reveal her identity. She reminds him of a villa named
Maricela near the sea. From then on both of them rebuild their story,
however concealing that they were the real actors in that love story.
On hearing the name Maricela mentioned, Don Gonzalo introduces
Laura Llorente. Then Dona Laura builds it further saying “Laura
Llorente was popularly called the Silver Maiden”.

Don Gonzalo recreates the scene for the readers mentioning the
window where she used to stand hours on end every day. Then Don
Gonzalo gives a description of her beautiful personality. Then both of
them reveal to the audience their identity by their (aside) remarks.

Now once they had revealed their identity, they try to conceal it by
replacing themselves in the story by a substitute. Dona Laura calls
Laura of the original story as her friend and Don Gonzalo calls the
Gonzalo of the original story as his cousin. Once again having
concealed their identity they narrate how their love affair ended. Both
of them tell lies to cover up what they did after Gonzalo had fled
Valencia. This goes on until the end when Laura sees Gonzalo picking
up the violets dropped by her. Thus the whole play ‘A Sunny Morning’
revolves around concealing and revealing Laura and Gonzalo’s
identity.

Question 6.
Bring out the instances where Laura and Gonzalo realize each other’s
identity.
Answer:
There are several instances in ‘A Sunny Morning’, in which both Laura
and Gonzalo recognize each others’ identity. Soon after their initial
outbursts of emotion, both Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo become
friends. Next, both of them enjoy a pinch of snuff and Don Gonzalo
begins to read aloud verses from Campoamor.

When Don Gonzalo mentions that he was a native of Valencia and had
met Campoamor there incidentally, Dona Laura tells him that she had
spent several seasons at Maricela. When Don Gonzalo tells her that he
had seen a beautiful woman by name Laura Llorente in Maricela, Dona
Laura tells him that Laura was known by the name ‘Silver Maiden’ in
that locality. When Don Gonzalo starts describing Laura Llorente,
Dona Laura makes an aside comment. We learn that Dona Laura has
recognized his identity.
Later, when Laura tells him that her friend had told her the story of
the two lovers, Don Gonzalo recognizes her identity. Then Dona Laura
makes an aside remark, “Why tell him? He does not suspect”.
Similarly, Don Gonzalo mutters to himself, “She is entirely innocent”.
Then when Don Gonzalo tells her how his cousin had met a glorious
death in Africa, Dona Laura mutters to herself that he was telling an
atrocious lie. Don Gonzalo tells himself that he could not have killed
himself more gloriously.

On hearing how Laura had died, Don Gonzalo tells himself, “she lies
worse than I do”. Then Dona Laura tells herself that she will not tell
him that she married two years later while Don Gonzalo mutters that
he had run off to Paris with a ballet dancer in three months. By then it
becomes clear that both of them have recognized each other’s identity.

Question 7.
How do Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo annoy each other initially in the
park?
Answer:
Soon after occupying her seat in the park, Dona Laura throws three
handfuls of bread crumbs to a flock of pigeons and sits watching them
feeding on the bread crumbs. Don Gonzalo and Juanito walk towards
the birds. Immediately, Dona Laura shouts ‘lookout’ so as to warn
them. Then she tells Don Gonzalo that he had scared away the birds.
Don Gonzalo brushes aside her remarks telling her that he does not
care about the birds as it was a public park. Dona Laura asks him why
then did he complain about the priests occupying his usual bench if it
was a public park.

Again, Don Gonzalo tries to put her off rudely telling her that since
they had not met before she should not take the liberty of addressing
him. Dona Laura retaliates saying that he is an ill-natured old man.
She wonders why a man like him should be so fussy and cross after
reaching a certain age. Later, she sees him moving about without
getting a seat on the other side of the park. She enjoys his predicament
saying that it serves him right for scaring the birds. Later, when Don
Gonzalo sits at the extreme end of Dona Laura’s bench and greets her,
she asks him annoyingly why he was there again. Again, there is an
angry exchange of words.

When he fails to find a convincing reply to her question, he tells her

that he has nothing more to say. Then he mutters to himself that she
was a senile old lady and she ought to be at home knitting and
counting her beads. Again, Dona Laura tells him rudely not to grumble
any more and she was not going to leave just to please him.

Question 8.
Although the romantic affair between Laura and Gonzalo lasts for a
brief period of time, the intensity of their love lingers forever.
Elaborate.
OR
Answer:
‘A Sunny Morning’ reveals the romantic side of both Dona Laura and
Don Gonzalo. Elucidate. Laura and Gonzalo met each other in Valencia
as gallant young lovers. They loved each other intensely. Gonzalo used
to toss a bouquet of flowers at Laura in the morning and he would
receive a bouquet of flowers from her while returning home.

Unfortunately, her parents wanted Laura to marry a merchant instead

of Gonzalo. Once, the merchant insulted Gonzalo and it ended up in a
duel between them. The merchant was seriously injured in the duel.
He was highly regarded in his place and, fearing action, Gonzalo hid in
several places. He wrote letters to Laura but they were intercepted by
her parents and Laura did not get a chance to read them.

Two years later, she married someone else and settled down in her
life. But, the brief romantic affair continued to linger in her heart of
hearts. In the same way, Gonzalo did not get any reply to his letters
from Laura. So three months later, he married a ballet dancer and
settled down in Paris. Here again, he could not completely forget the
beautiful ‘Silver Maiden’ that Laura was known as. When they met in
the park after a lapse of nearly 50 years, both of them were able to
recall the brief, but intense romantic affair in Valencia.

Question 9.
Everything is fair in love and war. How do you substantiate this
statement relating to the attitudes of Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo in
the play?
Answer:
‘A Sunny Morning’ presents the story of Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura,
who were ardent lovers in their youth, but were tom apart in life by
fate. They are now in their 70s. The very lovers meet as total strangers
unexpectedly in a park in Madrid. As the play begins, Dona Laura is
seen in the park feeding pigeons with bread crumbs. It is at that point
an old man enters with his attendant. The old man is none other than
Don Gonzalo, who is seen to be quite irritated as he finds no bench in
the park vacant. Quite grudgingly he comes near Laura and shares her
bench. Laura gets infuriated as the old man has scared the pigeons she
was feeding and calls him ‘an ill-natured man.’ With her witty
remarks, she makes him tongue-tied and helpless.

But, after a few moments of disagreement, both of them have a pinch

of snuff and reconcile with each other. Gonzalo says that he is from
Valencia and to his surprise, Laura reveals that she is from Maricela.
Gonzalo is startled by the revelation and he says that he knows a
woman named Laura Llorente who lived in a villa there, who was
perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Both Laura and
Gonzalo realize that they were the very same young lovers once. But
they pretend not to reveal their identities. Though both of them have
changed a lot physically, they still cherish the memories of their
adventurous youth.

Though initially, they appear to be cynical, fussy and ill-natured, soon

they become friends. When they discover that they were lovers once in
their youth, they relive their romantic meetings as before and pretend
not to recognize their earlier selves. Like young people, they live in a
dream world of their own and are reluctant to come back to the world
of reality. They tell atrocious lies to defend their previous actions and
exit with a promise to meet the next day.

Question 10.
A Sunny Morning’ is a comic presentation of a serious human
relationship. Explain.
Answer:
‘A Sunny Morning’ tells the past love story of two ardent lovers – Don
Gonzalo and Dona Laura in a comic way. It is a serious human
relationship but was torn apart in life by fate. However, the two lovers
meet again when they are in their 70s, not as lovers, but as total
strangers, unexpectedly in a parkin Madrid.

Laura Llorente was known in her locality as ‘The Silver Maiden’. She
was in love with Gonzalo, a gallant lover. He used to pass by her house
on horseback every morning through the rose garden and toss up a
bouquet of flowers to her balcony which she caught. On his way back
in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him. But Laura’s
parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked.

One day there ensued a quarrel, leading to a duel between Gonzalo and
the merchant, her suitor. The merchant was seriously injured. Fearing
serious consequences, Gonzalo fled from his house in the town to
Seville and then to Madrid. Even though he tried to communicate with
Laura through letters, his attempts failed and he gave her up as lost
forever and ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer. Meanwhile, Laura
waited for the news of Gonzalo, for one year and finally got married.

Both of them have changed a lot physically but they still cherish the
memories of their youth. However, When they meet in the park, they
appear to be cynical, fussy, and ill-natured. The way they repartee and
express their resentment towards each other creates opportunities for
humour in the play. Finally, they become friends after sharing a pinch
of snuff. They gradually come to realize that they are the very same
lovers of yesteryears.

Question 11.
Laura and Gonzalo recognize each other but conceal their identity.
How does A Sunny Morning’ present this?
Answer:
Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo come face-to-face in a retired corner of a
park in Madrid on a Sunday morning. The strangers soon become
friends without knowing that they were lovers once. Then Gonzalo
happens to tell her that he had spent his youth in Valencia city. Laura’s
curiosity having been provoked, she tells Gonzalo that she also had
spent several seasons in Maricela, a villa near the sea in Valencia.
When Gonzalo is startled to hear the name ‘Maricela’, Dona Laura asks
him whether the name is familiar to him. Don Gonzalo tells her that he
had seen a beautiful woman Laura Llorente living there.

On hearing the name Laura Llorente mentioned, Dona Laura shows her
surprise. From that moment onwards, it becomes clear that both of
them know who they are and intentionally conceals their identity.
When Dona Laura tells him that Laura Llorente was her best friend
and she was called the ‘Silver Maiden’, Don Gonzalo endorses it and
tells her that ‘Silver Maiden’ was her popular name in the locality.
Further, he tells her that she used to stand at a particular window.
Then Dona Laura endorses his statement. Inadvertently, when Don
Gonzalo tells her that he spent many hours there during his youthful
days, Dona Laura gives a sigh and endorses his statement and says
“And in mine, too.”

Then Don Gonzalo gives a description of her beauty and expresses his
admiration calling her a dream. Then Dona Laura makes an aside
remark and tells Gonzalo that if he but knew that Laura was by his
side he would realize what dreams come to. This way, their
conversation goes on until the end, each speaking to the other in
disguise. Though they appear to be concealing their identity, they
know tacitly that they are the true lover’s Laura and Gonzalo of their
youthful days. In the end, before leaving the park, Laura drops the
violets, and when Gonzalo stoops to pick up the flowers, Laura looks at
him. Thus they come to recognize each other.

Question 12.
A Sunny Morning’ presents a situation that is not so sunny for Laura
and Gonzalo. Do you agree? Give reasons.
Answer:
Yes. I totally agree with the statement. ‘A Sunny Morning’ presents a
situation that is not so sunny for Laura and Gonzalo because they are
the very same Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura of yesteryears, who were
ardent lovers in their youth, but are now in their 70s. Their romantic
relationship was torn apart in life by fate. It is a flashback scene,
ironically re-narrated by the very same lovers.

In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘The
Silver Maiden’. She was fair as the lily, with jet black hair and black
eyes. She was like a dream. She was in love with Gonzalo, the gallant
lover. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose
garden and toss up a bouquet of flowers to her balcony which she
caught. On his way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers
back to him. But Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a
merchant whom she disliked. One day there was a quarrel between
Gonzalo and the merchant, the suitor. After the duel the young man
fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid, being scared of
the consequences of a duel with a person highly regarded in that
locality. Even though he tried to communicate with Laura through
letters, all attempts failed.
Once Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura realize that they are the same old,
young lovers of Maricela who were separated in life by fate, they
decide not to reveal their identity because they learn from each other
in what high esteem they held each other before they departed. come
to know that both of them had given up the other as lost forever.
While Dona Laura techs herself that she had married someone else
after waiting for him for one year, Don Gonzalo tells himself that after
fleeing from Valencia, then Seville and Madrid, he had run off to Paris
with a ballet dancer in about three months. Therefore, they concoct
fictitious stories so as to conceal their identities completely and to
make the other believe that he or she was dead.

Later, when they realize that they are alive, they do not want to
shatter their mutual images in the eyes of the other. Therefore, Don
Gonzalo tells himself that he will not reveal himself because he is
grotesque. He wishes that she had better recall the gallant horseman
who passed daily beneath her window tossing flowers. Similarly, Dona
Laura tells herself that “I am too sadly changed. It is better he should
remember me as the black-eyed girl tossing flowers as he passed
among the roses in the garden.”

Thus one can conclude that though A Sunny Morning’ presents a

situation in which two old lovers are made to present a sunny
situation of their past life, which is no longer sunny for them.

Question 13.
“The one-act play, ‘A Sunny Morning’ ultimately proves that ail love is
sad.” Discuss.
Answer:
The inference, ‘all love is sad’, with reference to the one-act play, ‘A
Sunny Morning’ is an overgeneralization. The comment attempts to
universalize the concept of love. The word ‘all’ is an all-inclusive word
and ‘all love’ tends to put together all kinds of love like the love
between children and parents, love between teenagers, love between
friends, love between husband and wife, and love between human
beings and animals.

On the contrary, ‘all love is sad’ is a comment made with reference to

an imaginative love affair supposed to have taken place between two
lovers who were in their prime of youth and it gets re-enacted
dramatically as a flashback incident in the play during a conversation
that takes place in a retired corner of a park in Madrid on a Sunday
morning, between two old people an old lady named Dona Laura and
an old man named Don Gonzalo – who are now in their 70s. The
dramatic technique used in the play is unique in its approach. The
progression of events moves from the present to the past. The
flashback technique highlights the intensity of the love between Dona
Laura and Don Gonzalo which exists between them even ‘now’ after
the lapse of half a century.

Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo have zest in life. Dona Laura loves birds
and feeds them regularly. Gonzalo loves books and he promises to
feed the birds the next time. There is no bitterness or regret or
frustration about the past incident. Both of them seem to cherish those
romantic moments they spent together during that phase of their life.
It is this positive attitude even after 50 years of that incident that
gives this play its vigour. Thus, ‘The Sunny Morning’ is a charming re-
enactment of a romantic love affair and there is not even an ‘iota’ of
pessimism in it. Hence, the comment ‘all love is sad’ is not the correct
inference in the context of the play ‘A Sunny Morning’.

Collocations
A collocation is a combination of words that are commonly used
together; the simplest way of describing collocations is to say that they
‘just sound right’ to native English speakers.
Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
After the duel, the gallant lover fled Valencia. Many letters ______
(write) by him to his beloved. Since no reply ______ (receive), he
thought that they ______ (intercept) by her parents.
Answer:
were written; was received; had been intercepted.

Question 2.
When Gonzalo entered the park, his usual bench ______ (occupy) by
the priests. He _____ (annoy) and his servant, Juanito ______ (ask) to
rout them out.
Answer:
had been occupied; was annoyed; was asked.

Question 3.
One afternoon, just at sunset, as the first stars were appearing, the
silver maiden ______ (seen) leaving the house. She sat upon a rock and
her gaze ______ (fix) upon the horizon. The tide rose with a boom and
she ______ (sweep) out to sea.
Answer:
was seen; was fixed; was swept.
Question 4.
Laura got up to go home. She ______ (support) by her maid. She
turned her head and ______ (surprise) to see Gonzalo picking up the
violets which ______ (drop) on the ground.
Answer:
was supported; was surprised; had been dropped.

B. Report the following conversation:

Question 1.
Petra: I see him over there waiting for me.
Dona Laura: Do not remain for more than ten minutes.
Petra: I will be back soon.
Dona Laura: Wait a moment.
Petra: What does the senora wish?
Answer:
Petra said that she could see him there waiting for her. In response,
Dona Laura requested Petra not to remain for more than ten minutes.
Petra assured Dona Laura that she would be back soon. Dona Laura
requested Petra to wait a moment. Referring to Dona Laura as senora,
Petra asked her what she wished.

Question 2.
Don Gonzalo: I want a bench to myself.
Juanito: There is none.
Don Gonzalo: That one over there is mine.
Juanito: There are three priests sitting there.
Don Gonzalo: Rout them out.
Answer:
Don Gonzalo said in a demanding manner that he wanted a bench to
himself. Juanito replied that there was none. Don Gonzalo stated that
the one over there was his. Juanito pointed out that there were three
priests sitting there. Don Gonzalo ordered Juanito to rout them out.

Question 3.
Dona Laura: Do you use a shoe brush as a handkerchief?
Don Gonzalo: What right have you to criticize my actions?
Dona Laura: A neighbour’s right.
Don Gonzalo: I do not care to listen to nonsense.
Dona Laura: You are very polite.
Answer:
Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo whether he used a shoe brush as a
handkerchief. Don Gonzalo asked her what right she had to criticise
his actions. Dona Laura replied that she had a neighbour’s right. Don
Gonzalo replied rudely that he did not care to listen to nonsense. Don
Laura sarcastically replied that he was very polite.

Question 4.
Don Gonzalo: Do you mind my reading aloud?
Dona Laura: You can read as loud as you please.
Don Gonzalo: Can you read without glasses?
Dona Laura: I can.
Don Gonzalo: I envy your wonderful eyesight.
Answer:
Don Gonzalo asked Dona Laura whether she minded his reading aloud.
Dona Laura replied that he could read as loud as he pleased. Don
Gonzalo further asked Dona Laura whether she could read without
glasses. Dona replied in the positiye. Don Gonzalo remarked that he
envied her wonderful eyesight.

Question 5.
Dona Laura: Will you go to your bench tomorrow?
Don Gonzalo: I will come to your bench.
Dona Laura: Do bring something for the pigeons.
Don Gonzalo: I will surely bring the crumbs.
Dona Laura: Thank you.
Answer:
Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo whether he would go to his bench the
next day. Don Gonzalo replied that he would come to her bench. Dona
Laura reminded him to bring something for the pigeons. Don Gonzalo
assured her that he would surely bring the crumbs. Dona Laura
thanked him.

Question 6.
Dona Laura: Have you been in America?
Don Gonzalo: Several times.
Dona Laura: You must have gone with Columbus.
Don Gonzalo: I am old. But I did not know Ferdinand and Isabella.
Answer:
Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo whether he had been in America. Don
Gonzalo replied that he had been to America several times. Dona Laura
observed that he must have gone with Columbus. Don Gonzalo said
that he was old, but he hadn’t known Ferdinand and Isabella.

C. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
Three priests were sitting on Gonzalo’s usual bench in the park and
talking. Gonzalo said that they were _____ time. He could not tolerate
their sitting on his bench and _______ (resign himself, idling away,
take liberty)
Answer:
idling away; resigned himself.

Question 2.
Gonzalo and Laura were annoyed with each other in the beginning.
Gonzalo told Laura that she could not _____ and comment on his
actions. However, the pinch of snuff he offered her tried to ______
between them. (know by heart, take the liberty, Makepeace)
Answer:
take the liberty; make peace.

Question 3.
Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo fail to realize what dreams ______.
However, they try to impress each other. When Laura seems to read
without glasses, Gonzalo does not know that she knows every word
_____. (come to, by heart, take refuge)
Answer:
come to; by heart.

Question 4.
Both Gonzalo and Laura believe in destiny. They affirm that they were
separated from each other after the duel since destiny had decided to
_____ in their life. Laura’s parents kept a close watch on her and
Gonzalo had to flee and ______ in his cousin’s house. (Makepeace, take
refuge, play havoc)
Answer:
play havoc; take refuge.
 A Sunny Morning by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero About
the playwright:

Serafin (1871 – 1938) and Joaquin (1873 – 1944) Alvarez Quintero were
Spanish brothers, known as the ‘Golden Boys of Madrid Theatre’. They
were celebrated playwrights of the early twentieth century. Together
they wrote about 200 plays which depict the life, manners and speech
of the people of their native Andalusia in Southern Spain. Their
popular comedies, many of which have been translated into other
languages, contributed to the revival of Spanish theatre. ‘The Flowers,’
‘The Merry Heart,’ ‘One Hundred Years Ago,’ ‘The Galley Slave’ and
‘Apple of His Eye’ are some of their popular plays.

Characters:

Dona Laura
Petra – her maid
Don Gonzalo
Juanito – his servant

Story in brief:

‘A Sunny Morning’ revolves around Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who,
in their youth, were passionately attached to each other. A cruel blow
of fate separates the two forever. They do not recognize each other
when they meet in a park in Madrid on a sunny morning, after several
years. But as they begin to talk in earnest, they realize that they are
the protagonists of the original love story. But the usual reunion of the
long-lost lovers does not take place here as both of them are unwilling
to disclose their real identity since they are both sadly changed.

‘A Sunny Morning’ is a short, one-act play by Serafin and Joaquin

Alvarez Quintero, two renowned Spanish dramatists. It is a romantic
comedy which presents the story of Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who,
loved each other in their youth but were forced to separate in life.

On a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid,

Dona Laura, a handsome, white-haired lady of about seventy, refined
in appearance, is feeding pigeons in the park. Don Gonzalo, a
gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient, enters. Their servants
Petra, Dona Laura’s maid, and Juanito come and go nearby.
The conversation between the two seventy-year-olds begins
sarcastically, with each accusing the other of encroaching on their
private space. Don Gonzalo complains the priests have taken his bench
and says Dona Laura is a “Senile old lady! She ought to be at home
knitting and counting her beads.” She finds him “an ill-natured old
man!” He resigns himself to “sit on the bench with the old lady.”

A pinch of snuff helps to clear their heads, and they find something in
common with alternating sneezes of three times each. Dona Laura
confides to the audience, “the snuff has made peace between us.”

They begin to banter back and forth in a more friendly manner. Then
Don Gonzalo reads out loud from a book of poems. As they converse,
Gonzalo says that he is from Valencia and to his surprise, Laura
reveals that she is from Maricela where she lived in a villa. Gonzalo is
startled by the revelation and he says that he knows a woman named
Laura Llorente who lived in a villa there, who was perhaps the most
beautiful he had ever seen. Both Laura and Gonzalo realise each other
to be former lovers. But they pretend not to reveal their identities.

In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘The
Silver Maiden’. She was fair as the lily, with jet black hair and black
eyes. She was like a dream. She was in love with Gonzalo, the gallant
lover. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose
garden and toss up a bouquet of flowers to her balcony which she
caught On his way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers
back to him. But Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a
merchant whom she disliked. One day there was a quarrel between
Gonzalo and the merchant, the suitor. After the duel the young man
fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid, being scared of
the consequences of a duel with a person highly regarded in that
locality. Even though he tried to communicate with Laura through
letters, all attempts failed.

Now Laura and Gonzalo devise stories of their own deaths. The old
Gonzalo says that he is the cousin of the young man. According to him,
the young Gonzalo had to leave his place as he was involved in a fight
with a merchant, the suitor of Laura. Then he joined the army and
went to Africa where he met with a glorious death. The old Laura says
that she knows the woman named Laura, known as The Silver Maiden’
and that she was her friend during her young age. She also lies that
she knows the tragic story of her love affair with a gallant young man
named Gonzalo. The old woman reveals that not finding her lover, the
young and beautiful Laura committed suicide.

But, in reality, after three months Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a
ballet dancer and Laura, on the other hand, got married after two
years. Both realise that they are lying but pretend to be unaware.
When the play ends, they agree to meet at the park again, still not
acknowledging what they both know to be true.

Glossary:

• Don: sir
• Dona: Miss, Madam
• Handsome: (of man) good-looking, (of woman) striking and
imposing in good looks rather than conventionally pretty.
• Madrid: the capital and largest city of Spain.
Unimpaired: not damaged.
• Parasol: a colourful umbrella.
• Senora: the Spanish way of addressing a married woman similar
to madam or Mrs.
• Adios: adieu, farewell, goodbye.
• Spryest: most active and energetic.
• Gluttons: those who eat excessively.
• Threnody: song of lamentation
• Gouty: suffering from inflammation of the joints
• Aravaca: a neighbourhood of the city of Madrid
• Boudoir: a woman’s private room
• Valencia: the third-largest city in Spain
• Grotesque: distorted.
 • Duel: a formal fight between two people in which they use guns
or swords in order to settle a quarrel.
• Campoamor, Espronceda, Zorilla and Becquer: famous Spanish
writers of the 19th century
• refined: elegant and cultured in appearance and manner
• senile: displaying the weaknesses of old age; also suggests a loss
of mental faculties
• counting his beads: praying
• indignant: resentful and annoyed
• Campoamor: Ramon de Campoamor (1817-1901) was a Spanish
realist poet and philosopher
• Espronceda: Jose de Espronceda (1808-42), a Spanish romantic
poet
• Zorilla: Jose Zorilla (1817-93), a Spanish romantic poet and
dramatist
• Becquer: Gustavo Becquer (1836-70), a Spanish post-romanticist
poet
• Columbus: Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), an explorer and
coloniser
• Ferdinand and Isabella: the Catholic monarchs of Spain; they
patronised the explorations of Columbus
• Providence: God; the spiritual power that guides a believer
• refuge: shelter
• atrocious: extremely bad
• prostrated: here, greatly distressed, shocked, upset
• calamity: disaster
• threnody: a lament

Chapter 6 When You Are Old

Old Comprehension I

Question 1.
The speaker is addressing
a. a young woman he has loved
b. an old woman that he has met now
c. the woman that he has admired in his life.
Answer:
(a) a young woman he has loved.

Question 2.
Inline two, the word ‘book’ refers to
a. memories
b. book of poems
c. an album
d. diary.
Answer:
(a) memories.

Question 3.
The words ‘glad grace’ suggest
a. her physical beauty
b. her inner beauty
c. her goodness.
Answer:
(a) her physical beauty.

Question 4.
‘Pilgrim soul’ means the soul
a. which is immortal
b. that has gone on a pilgrimage
c. which is questing for true love.
Answer:
(c) which is questing for true love.

Question 5.
What does the phrase ‘your changing face’ suggest?
Answer:
It suggests that her youth and beauty will fade away. When she grows
old her face will get shrunk and will look different.

Question 6.
‘Love fled’ connotes
a. the death of the man who loved her
b. the fleeing of her lover to the mountains
c. the loss endured by her.
Answer:
(b) the fleeing of her lover to the mountains.

When You Are Old Comprehension II

Question 1.
How is the ‘one-man’ different from the many others who loved the
lady?
OR
How does the speaker distinguish/contrast his love from/with that of
the others?
Answer:
The narrator/speaker asks his lady love to presume that she has grown
old and grey and is sitting by the fire nodding. Then he asks her to
read from her book of memories and reminisce her past when she was
in her prime youth. While she is thus engaged in recalling her past, the
poet reminds her that though she undoubtedly had a great many
suitors who admired her beauty and elegance and professed ‘love’
which may be true or false, he alone loved her unconditionally.

He says that he loved her inner beauty and even the fading away of her
youth and beauty. The phrase ‘how many’ in the first line (second
stanza) stands in contrast to ‘But one man’, in the third line (second
stanza). While many suitors loved her beauty and elegance, he alone
loved her pilgrim soul as well as the sorrows of her changing face.

Question 2.
How does the poem bring out the transient nature of beauty as against
the permanence of love?
Answer:
Yes. The poem, while making an attempt to persuade the young lady
not to ignore him or his love, also incidentally highlights the transient
nature of beauty as against the permanence of love. In fact, the
speaker’s argument is that, whereas all her suitors are merely
attracted by her youthful beauty and elegance, he is attracted by her
pilgrim soul. Furthermore, he claims that the love exhibited by her
many suitors may not last long and might change as she grows old.

On the contrary, his love will remain constant and unconditional. He

would love her ‘pilgrim soul’ as well as the changes in her face which
appear as one grows old. Thus, the poet, using the phrase ‘your
moments of glad grace’ in the first line of the second stanza in contrast
with the phrase ‘sorrows of your changing face’ in the fourth line
suggests that ‘beauty’ is transient in nature whereas ‘love’ is
permanent.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
Comment on the usage of the time frame by the poet in ‘When You Are
Old’.
OR
‘The speaker addresses a young lady in her old age’. Comment on the
time sequence used by the poet.
OR
The speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ is not addressing an old lady.
Explain.
Answer:
‘When You Are Old’ is a short love poem in which the poet uses a time
frame in which the speaker addresses his lady love in the present,
takes her to an unreal condition in the future, and asks her to recall
her past memories. He does so, in order to persuade her or warn her
not to ignore him and make a wrong decision.

The poet’s point of view is the most compelling point of the poem. The
narrator is calling upon a woman that is not yet through with youth to,
once past her prime, recall the days he was in her life and very much
in love with her. Obviously, he wants her to remember him for his
unique and unconditional love for her, and how she is choosing to
ignore it in the present. By writing this poem in this fashion, the
woman, when the poet hopes that she grows old, will remember the
days when she was young with happiness but will grow regretful that
she did not take advantage of his love.

Alternatively, the woman, in the present will see what an opportunity

she is missing by ignoring his love for her and leaving him to fade into
the past. The speaker fears that his lady love will not act upon his love
for her and that she will only remember him in the book of memories.
He hopes that if, once old, she puts down the book of memories, she
will grow chilly and sorrowful that she did not foresee how steadfast
his love was but how foolish she was for taking no notice of it. He is
already fearful that she will grow old without him, and this can be
seen as he requests that she remember him a ‘little sadly’ and as a
missed chance to have a happy future.
It is the time frame that the poet has used in this poem that facilitates
the poet to write this sad and reminiscent poem which is not designed
primarily to make an old woman regretful, but to keep a young woman
from ignoring the narrator and making the wrong decision.

Question 2.
‘When You Are Old’ is a poem of contrasts. What purpose do they
serve?
Answer:
‘When You Are Old’ was written to show the true and unforgettable
love from the writer. The theme is a painful one of unrequited love,
which the poet manipulates in an interesting manner. Instead of
focusing upon the present or the past, Yeats looks to the future, a
future in which the two people in the poem are destined to be forever
apart. The poet visualizes an unreal condition that the woman he loved
became old and felt regret for refusing his true love.

To depict such a theme, the poet deploys elegant and quiet words and
builds pictures of contrasts:
In the first stanza, there is a contrast between her elegant youth and
her depressing old age. In the second stanza, there is a contrast
between her many suitors who professed superficial love and the
speaker or the lover who promises true love for her. In the third
stanza, there is a contrast between the fleeting or transient love
represented by her many suitors and the personified love of the poet.

There is a contrast between ‘the sorrows of your changing face’ in the

second stanza and ‘murmur a little sadly’ of the third stanza. ‘The
sorrows’ indicate passion or strong emotion is seen in young people
and ‘little sadly’ reflects the listlessness of old people. There is a
contrast between the ‘beauty and elegance’ sans her soul sought after
by the suitors and the ‘pilgrim soul’ in the same lady cherished by the
speaker. The many suitors who wanted to court her were attracted by
her superficial beauty whereas this lover/speaker was attracted by her
pilgrim soul, which symbolizes her inner self. These contrasts serve to
build a strong argument to persuade the young lady not to ignore him
now and regret later.

Additional Questions and Answers

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence
each:

Question 1.
To whom is the poem ‘When You Are Old’ addressed?
Answer:
To a young lady with whom the speaker is deeply in love.

Question 2.
What does the speaker want his beloved to do sitting by the fire?
OR
What does the speaker want his beloved to do when she is old?
Answer:
The speaker wants his beloved to sit by the fire and reminisce her
memories of the past

Question 3.
Where, according to the speaker, had love hidden his face?
Answer:
According to the speaker, ‘love’ had hidden his face amid a crowd of
stars.

Question 4.
Who, according to the speaker, will be‘nodding by the fire’?
Answer:
The speaker depicts his lady love as an old woman sitting beside the
fire, nodding her head.

Question 5.
What does the speaker suggest his beloved to dream of?
Answer:
When she is old and grey, the speaker wants his beloved to dream of
the soft look her eyes once had and the deep shadows they now have.

Question 6.
What does ‘the sorrows of your changing face’ refer to?
Answer:
The sorrows of your changing face’ refer to the changes seen in her
face as she grows older. Her face will have shrunk and wrinkles will
have appeared on her forehead and face depicting the difficulties and
sorrows faced by her over the years.
Question 7.
According to the speaker, in what way is his love for the lady different
from that of others?
Answer:
While many suitors loved her beauty and elegance, he alone loved her
pilgrim soul as well as the sorrows of her changing face.

Question 8.
Mention any one aspect that the speaker loved in his beloved.
Answer:
The speaker loved her ‘inner beauty’ and her ‘pilgrim soul’.

Question 9.
According to the speaker, what will the woman regret in her old age?
Answer:
The woman will regret that she had rejected the speaker’s, true love.

Question 10.
What is meant by’pilgrim soul’?
Answer:
The phrase ‘pilgrim soul’ means the soul which is in quest of ‘true
love’.

Question 11.
What look did the woman’s eyes have once in ’When You Are Old’?
Answer:
Soft look.

Question 12.
The speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ addresses
(a) a young lady
(b) an old lady
(c) a little girl.
Answer:
(a) a young lady.

Question 13.
When, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, will the lady be
‘grey and full of sleep’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, the lady will be grey
and full of sleep when she sits nodding by the fire.

Question 14.
According to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, what did many admire
the lady for?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, many suitors were
mesmerized by her beauty and elegance.

Question 15.
In the poem “When You Are Old’ many loved the lady’s
(a) huge wealth
(b) physical beauty
(c) pilgrim soul.
Answer:
(b) physical beauty.

Question 16.
Who, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, loved the
beloved’s pilgrim soul?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, it was he (the
speaker) who loved her pilgrim soul.

Question 17.
Whose pilgrim soul did the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ love?
Answer:
The speaker in ‘When You are Old’, loved the pilgrim soul of a young
lady whom he is addressing in the poem and whose beauty and
elegance mesmerized many suitors.

Question 18.
What did the speaker in “When You Are Old’ love besides the pilgrim
soul?
Answer:
The speaker in ‘When You are Old’, loved the pilgrim soul, as well as
the changes that appeared in her face as she grew older.
Question 19.
Who, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, fled and hid his
face?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, ‘Love’ (personified
‘love’] fled and hid his face.

Question 20.
Where, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, did love pace
upon?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, ‘Love’ paced upon the
mountains for a while and then disappeared.

Question 21.
What, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, did love hide
amid a crowd of stars?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, ‘Love’ (personified
love) hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Question 22.
The speaker loved the _____ of his beloved’s changing face in ‘When
You Are Old’.
(a) grace
(b) sorrows
(c) soft look.
Answer:
(b) sorrows.

Question 23.
In ‘When You Are Old’, the speaker suggests to his beloved to slowly
read his book when she is
(a) glad
(b) old
(c) proud.
Answer:
(b) old.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:
Question 1.
Why does the poet ask his beloved to reflect upon the bygone days and
the present moment?
OR
What does the speaker in When You Are Old’suggest to his beloved to
reflect upon?
Answer:
The poet asks his beloved to reflect upon the bygone days and the
present moment because he seems to be apprehensive that she will
continue to ignore him, her beauty will vanish soon and she will be
alone in her old age. That is why he is asking her to presume that she
has grown old and grey and try to foresee her predicament in the
future. He does so because he intends to persuade her to pay attention
to his ‘value’ as a lover before it is too late.

Question 2.
Examine the theme of opposing stability of true love and the fickleness
of false love in the light of the poem.
OR
How does the speaker express his longing for his beloved?
OR
Whose love in ‘When You Are Old’ is true and intense? Explain.
OR
How does the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ bring out his love for his
beloved against the changing circumstances and ravages of time?
Answer:
‘When You Are Old’ presents the moral dilemma faced by a sincere
lover. The speaker/narrator is the sincere lover and his lady love is the
one who is going to make a decision. The lady has attracted many
suitors including the speaker. The speaker believes that the other
suitors only love her physical charms, and not all of them are sincere
in their love towards her. He means to say that they are fickle-minded
and once she loses her charms they will desert her. On the other hand,
he believes that he loves her truly and according to him true love is the
love of the inner self and has a spiritual aspect in it. But, the lady has
not responded to his love.

He feels frustrated and as a last attempt, he tries to tell her the reality.
He wants her to realize that physical beauty is transient and love of
the fickle-minded will also be transient. He wants to assure her that
only his love will be stable and if she ignores him and makes a wrong
decision she will regret it later. Thus the speaker tries to persuade his
lover to make the right decision and receive his love, which is true and
intense.

Question 3.
How does the poet express his feelings for his love in the poem?
OR
How is love that is not reciprocated by the speaker’s beloved
expressed in the poem?
Answer:
The poet asks his love, who is still young, to imagine a time when she
is past her prime youth. She would then be an old woman with grey
hair and sleepy eyes. When she is in such a state, he wants her to read
a book of memories from her youth. As the woman sits beside the fire,
nodding her head and leaves through her memories, she would
recollect the ‘soft looks’ she once had and the sorrows she had suffered
until then. When she recalls her faded beauty she would also recall
how she was admired by many suitors who were infatuated with her
physical charms. At the same time, she would also recall how there
was one man who loved her unique soul which was in search of true
love. She would also realize that her true love has lingered on for a
while, disappeared from the earth and hid amidst a crowd of stars in
heaven.

Question 4.
The poem ’When You are Old’highlights the feelings of a true lover.
Explain.
OR
How is the speaker’s passionate love for his beloved brought out in the
poem?
Answer:
‘When You are Old’ highlights the writer’s true and unforgettable love
for a lady. It presents the concern of sincere love for the future
predicament of his lady love. Instead of focusing upon the present or
the past, the poet looks to the future, a future in which the two people
in the poem are destined to be forever apart. The poet imagines that
the woman he loved has become old and regrets her refusing his true
love.
The poem begins with the presumption that an old and grey lady is
sitting beside the fire nodding her head. When she recalls her
memories, she remembers the soft look that her eyes had once, and
the number of suitors who tried to court her, being charmed by her
elegance and beauty. While admitting that many suitors were attracted
by her youthful beauty, the speaker tries to tell her that he was the
only lover who loved the pilgrim soul in her.

He wants her to know that unlike others he was attracted by the

beauty of her inner self and his love would remain constant even in
her old age. He assures her that he loves even the sorrows of her
changing face. He wants her to understand that over a period of time
her beauty will have faded away and she will have grown old, with her
face having shrunk and her skin has been wrinkled, indicating that she
has passed through many difficulties and sorrows.

The speaker concludes visualizing that she is now bending down

beside the dying fire, and she tells herself in a whisper, in a regretful
tone that her true love has fled and is hiding his face amidst a crowd
of stars. Thus, the whole poem is the delineation of the intense
feelings of a true lover.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
The poem ‘When You Are Old’ conveys the message that true love is
indestructible and constant. Elucidate.
OR
The poem ‘When You Are Old’ brings out the feelings of eternal love.
Explain.
OR
‘True love is related to the soul but not to the physical beauty’. How is
this idea brought out in the poem ‘When You Are Old’?
OR
Whose love in ‘When You Are Old’ is immortal? How does the poem
present this?
Answer:
‘When You Are Old’ depicts the frustration and anxiety of a sincere
lover. At the same time, it also presents the concern of sincere love for
the future predicament of his lady love.
The lover’s frustration and anxiety for her future find expression only
because his love is genuine and constant. Though she has not
responded to his ‘love’, the lover does not want to give up his attempts
to persuade her. He tries to place before her a realistic, projected
picture of her future only because he knows that she will be old,
infirm, and companionless as years roll by. Furthermore, the poet
seems to understand that she is not a flirt and a worldly lady who
loves to indulge in the pleasures of life but one who has also been
looking for someone who really loves her inner self more than her
physical charms. Only someone who has a similar state of mind, and
beliefs, and who is also yearning for a spiritual union with his lady
love alone can write so.

From this, one can infer that true love is indestructible and constant.
Had the speaker been interested in her physical charms only he would
not have bothered to foresee his own future as well as the predicament
of his lady love some twenty years hence. Thus it can be argued that
the poem ‘When You Are Old’ conveys the message that true love is
indestructible and constant and is not influenced by the vicissitudes of
fortune.

Question 2.
“But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you”. How does the speaker
justify this?
OR
How does the poem distinguish the speaker’s love from that of others?
Answer:
‘When You are Old’ is a love poem in which the poet addresses his lady
love in the present, takes her to an unreal condition in the future, and
asks her to recall her past memories. He does so, in order to persuade
her or warn her not to ignore him and make a wrong decision. This
timeframe is the most compelling point of the poem because he wants
her to remember him for his unique and unconditional love for her.

The poet compares himself as a suitor with other suitors. He says, ‘but
one man loved the pilgrim soul in you’. He tries to distinguish himself
from all the other suitors who tried to woo her. He argues that all the
other suitors were only attracted by her physical and external beauty
and naturally they would be put off by her looks of old age and might
stop showing any interest in her. On the other hand, unlike other
suitors, he loved her not for her physical beauty but for her ‘pilgrim
soul’.

The word ‘pilgrim soul’ has a reference to the biblical belief that every
soul is a pilgrim on the way to salvation and redemption. The speaker,
by referring to this aspect of the beloved rather than to her beauty and
fame, seeks oneness with the inner spiritual self and not the external
self.

Question 3.
‘When You Are Old’ makes the ‘beloved’ look back on her youth.
Discuss.
Answer:
‘When You Are Old’ is a short love poem in which the poet uses a time
frame in which the speaker addresses his lady love in the present,
takes her to an unreal condition in the future, and asks her to recall
her past memories. He does so in order to persuade her or warn her
not to ignore him and make a wrong decision.

The poet’s point of view is the most compelling point of the poem. The
narrator is calling upon a woman who is not yet through with youth
to, once past her prime, recall the days he was in her life and very
much in love with her. Obviously, he wants her to remember him for
his unique and unconditional love for her, and how she is choosing to
ignore it in the present. By writing this poem in this fashion, the
woman, when the poet hopes that she grows old, will remember the
days when she was young with happiness but will grow regretful that
she did not take advantage of his love.

Alternatively, the woman, in the present will see what an opportunity

she is missing by ignoring his love for her and leaving him to fade into
the past. The speaker fears that his lady love will not act upon his love
for her and that she will only remember him in the book of memories.
He hopes that if, once old, she puts down the book of memories, she
will grow chilly and sorrowful that she did not foresee how steadfast
his love was but how foolish she was for taking no notice of it. He is
already fearful that she will grow old without him, and this can be
seen as he requests that she remember him a ‘little sadly’ and as a
missed chance to have a happy future.

It is the time frame that the poet has used in this poem that facilitates
the poet to write this sad and reminiscent poem which is not designed
primarily to make an old woman regretful, but to keep a young woman
from ignoring the narrator and making the wrong decision.

When You Are Old by W.B. Yeats About the Poet:

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) is an Irish poet and one of the
foremost figures of 20th-century literature. His early poetry is part of
the Celtic twilight or the Irish Literary Revival and it uses the history,
myths, and heroic figures of Ireland. Yeats wrote plays, was one of the
founders of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and was witness to the
revolutionary politics of Ireland. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1923. Later, under the influence of Ezra Pound, he began
to write modernist poetry. He is one of the great love poets of the
world.

In this love poem, the speaker (who is the lover) imagines his beloved
in the future when she is old and reading the book of poems he is now
writing. Reading the book she will remember the past, her youthful
beauty, and the many who admired her. While the others loved her
physical beauty and grace, only he loved her soul and her soul’s search
for something meaningful. However, she will also feel sad that that
love also vanished.
Note how love is personified in the last lines.

Background:

Most critics opine that this poem is a real description of the poet’s
love. In 1889 Yeats met his great love Maud Gonne, an actress, and
Irish revolutionary. However, she married Major John Macbride in
1903, and this episode inspired Yeats to write down this heart-stirring
poem. Many critics believe that the poem presents the resentment he
feels towards her for not reciprocating his love. The ambiguity of the
last stanza of the poem illustrates that the poem is not only about the
regret the woman feels when she becomes aware of what she has lost,
it also strengthens the argument that this work is actually about the
resentment he wants the woman to perceive.

‘When You Are Old’ was written to express the writer’s true and
unforgettable love. The theme is a painful one of unrequited love,
which the poet manipulates in an interesting manner. Instead of
focusing upon the present or the past, the poet looks to the future, a
future in which the two people in the poem are destined to be forever
apart. The poet imagines an unreal condition that the woman he loved
became old and felt regret for refusing his true love.

That is why the poem begins with the presumption that an old and
grey lady was sitting beside the fire nodding her head. She is imagined
to be reminiscing her memories when she recalls the soft look that her
eyes had once, and how many suitors tried to court her, being charmed
by her elegance and beauty.

While admitting that many suitors were attracted by her youthful

beauty, the speaker tries to tell her that he was the only lover who
loved the pilgrim soul in her. He wants her to know that he was
attracted by the beauty of her inner self and his love would remain
constant even after she grows old. He assures her that he loves even
the sorrows of her changing face. He means to say that over a period
of time her beauty will have faded away and she will have grown old
with her face having shrunk and skin having been wrinkled indicating
that she has passed through many difficulties and sorrows.

He concludes visualizing that she is now bending down beside the

dying fire, and tells herself in a whisper in a regretful tone that her
true love has fled and is hiding his face amid a crowd of stars.

Analysis of the Poem:

‘When You Are Old’ is a short, exquisite, love lyric of twelve lines. It is
a sad and introspective poem and is written in a melancholic tone.

The poem is in the form of a direct address by a lover to his lady love.
In the poem, there are three stanzas of four lines each with a constant
rhyme. The rhyme scheme hints that the speaker/ lover tries to tell
her that his love will remain constant even when she grows old.

The most important aspect of this poem is the point of view taken by
the narrator. The narrator is asking a woman, who is still young, to
imagine a time when she is past her prime youth.

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

The poet tries to put her mind in the future when she is an ‘old and
gray’ woman, ‘full of sleep’, to ‘slowly read’ a book of memories from
her youth. As the woman is ‘nodding by the fire’ she leafs through the
book (her memories) and recollects her days of’soft looks’ and
‘sorrows’ as she changed.

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you.
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

She remembers her faded beauty that was admired by many but then
recalls the only man, the narrator, who loved her for her unique soul.
He loved her even as she grew less beautiful and as her personality
changed in the fullness of time. The alliteration ‘glad grace’ expresses
that when she is young, beautiful and in her best moments of life many
will be interested in her, but their love for her will be just false or
superficial love. However, the narrator (speaker) will love her anyway
no matter what happens to her beauty.

The line “and loved the sorrows of your changing face” suggests that
when she gets old her face gets shrunk. So her face looks different but
he will just love her with the same love he always had. There is also a
contrast between ‘glad grace’ and ‘sorrows of your changing face’,
which suggests that while the others love her in her happy times, he
will love her every time, including the worst ones.

The phrase ‘pilgrim soul’ in the line, “but one man loved the pilgrim
soul in you,” refers to the long walk that her soul has had, searching
for real happiness, but really being alone. So, many lovers can love her
for how she looks but only he can love her for who she really is.
‘Pilgrim Soul’ has reference to the Biblical belief that every soul is a
pilgrim, on the way to salvation and redemption. The speaker, by
referring to this aspect of the beloved rather than to her beauty and
fame, evokes oneness with the inner and not the external self.
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

In this stanza, the speaker exhorts the loved one to remember him in
later years as she sits beside the fire and bends over the embers of the
fire. The onomatopoeic ‘murmur’ suggests a whisper that shows that
she has no passion or zest left. This adds to the imagery of age and
weariness. ‘A little sadly’ suggests that in later years, as she
remembers the speaker, she should feel regretful. The poet uses the
word ‘love’ in all the lines in the second stanza and in the third stanza,
second line, he capitalizes the word ‘Love’, giving it much intensity. He
personifies ‘Love’ in the second line. In the lines,

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars

‘pacing’ suggests that she was given a chance as ‘Love’ waited for her;
it also suggests the gradual diminishing of the love which may then
loiter over mountains for a while and then disappear. Being on the
‘mountains overhead’ suggests that ‘Love’ waited on a higher plain
than that which she inhabited. Capitalized ‘L’ for love suggests that it
is not just a person that she has lost but the ultimate, true, and
everlasting possibility of love. The phrase ‘how love fled’ refers to the
possibility that the speaker’s love would just fly far away because she
is not receptive to his love.

Glossary:

• The pilgrim soul: questing soul

• The glowing bars: the bars of the fire place full of glowing coal
(‘Bars’ refers to the bars of the iron grate in the fire-place)
• Nod: move one’s head up and down repeatedly
• Murmur: a softly spoken or almost inaudible utterance
• full of sleep: drowsy due to old age
• moments of glad grace: the days of youth when she was graceful
• nodding: feeling sleepy; a sign of sleepiness
 • pilgrim soul: a Biblical belief that every soul is a pilgrim, on the
way to salvation and redemption.

The Gardener

Comprehension I

Question 1.
What qualities of the old man impressed the narrator?
Answer:
The old man impressed the narrator by his eyes suffused with strange
memories and native intelligence. He had strong muscular arms, grey
hairs and a beak-like nose. He had a newspaper tucked under his arm
and a spade in his hands. The narrator felt the old man was a labourer,
overseer and philosopher all rolled into one – a multi-dimensional
personality.

Question 2.
Is it a significant factor that the old man came to the garden after
walking hundreds of miles?
Answer:
Yes. The narrator learns from the old man that he had come to that
garden after he had walked hundreds of miles. This fact becomes
significant because, when he left his place, his intention was to die but
once he came there the coconut grove and the place probably
convinced him that he could live there comfortably. Moreover, before
reaching this place he may have received the news of Basavaiah’s
death and must have realized that life or death had no meaning for
him. This transformation in his mindset may have prompted him to
settle there.

Question 3.
The owner of the garden became lethargic because
a. the income of the garden improved dramatically.
b. he had become dependent upon the gardener.
c. there was nothing much left for the owner to do.
Answer:
(c) there was nothing much left for the owner to do.
Question 4.
Why did the owner’s wife start worrying about the strange ways of her
husband?
Answer:
The owner of the coconut plantation was quite normal. He was
working hard to bring about improvement in his earnings. Probably he
had little expertise in managing agricultural workers. Therefore, he
was looking for someone who would help him. That is why, the
moment he spoke to the old man (Tamanna) he felt that he had got the
kind of man he wanted. His expectations proved right and the old man
helped him in every way and solved all his problems, which eventually
resulted in increase in his income.

Once his worries disappeared and he had hardly any work to engage
himself in, his personal attention went towards acquiring property and
social prestige. It is quite natural that with social prestige also follow
certain vices among which adultery was one. Adultery affects any
woman. All along, her husband had been faithful to her and once his
wife came to know that he was spending his money and time with
other women, she got seriously worried. She found it hard to decide
whether the arrival of the old man had done good or bad to her
husband.

Question 5.
When did the old man decide to narrate his story?
Answer:
The old man, who had settled there in the coconut plantation for good,
had watched the activities of the owner. Initially, the owner used to
show interest in improving his plantation. Once the old man had
solved all the problems, the owner had plenty of leisure and he became
lazy. Secondly, he had more money which led him to expand his
plantation. Then he had turned his gaze towards acquiring property
and social prestige. Then he cultivated certain vices among which
adultery was one.

One day, he saw the owner’s wife in the plantation. He saw her
looking worried. He guessed that her husband’s activities had given
her the worries. Therefore, when he saw her in the plantation he
thought he should narrate his own story and try to caution her about
her husband. He had understood the way we face ups and downs in
our life. By doing so, he probably believed that she might be able to
convince her husband about his mistakes and set his life right.

Question 6.
Tammanna considers his rival, Sangoji/Basavaiah, an important
possession because
a. competition helps in the development of an individual.
b. Sangoji/Basavaiah leads a more colourful life.
c. rivalry offers new possibilities of life for him.
Answer:
(c) rivalry offers new possibilities of life for him.

Question 7.
“No, his name was not Sangoji, but Basavaiah,” said the old man
because
a. he had really forgotten the name.
b. he wanted to keep the identity of his rival a secret
c. he was fictionalizing his past.
Answer:
(c) he was fictionalizing his past.

Question 8.
What unique strategy did Tammanna conceive to annihilate
Basavaiah?
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that Basavaiah had forcibly acquired
two hundred acres of his land, he could not tolerate this invasion.
Though his supporters explained to him all the means available to him,
he was not satisfied with them because he knew that sooner or later
Basavaiah would again try to outdo him by hook or by crook.
Tammanna did not want Basavaiah to trouble him again. So, he hit on
a unique plan. He took recourse to singing ballads and telling the
people through them about the cruelty and the meanness of Basavaiah.
This way he thought he could annihilate him completely.

Question 9.
Why does Basavaiah start inviting scholars and musicians to his place?
OR
How did Basavaiah try to overcome his humiliation?
Answer:
Once Tammanna started making mention of Basavaiah’s cruelty and
meanness in his songs, Tammanna became very popular among
scholars of folklore and critics. Basavaiah watched all this in
humiliation. Basavaiah tried to redress his humiliation by acquiring
material wealth. He bedecked himself with gold, diamonds and other
precious stones, and started living in a palatial mansion. But the
visitors to his house told him that his house looked dull and empty
because Tammanna’s books were not there. Basavaiah thought of
investing his home with meaning by inviting scholars, poets and
musicians to his place.

Question 10.
What was Basavaiah’s ray of hope in his attempts to outwit
Tammanna?
Answer:
When Basavaiah failed in all his attempts to outwit Tammanna, he
came to know that Tammanna had fallen ill. This news cheered up
Basavaiah’s spirits. This gave him a ray of hope that by keeping
himself healthy he could outwit Tammanna who was ill. Tammanna’s
disease became Basavaiah’s health.

Question 11.
Tammanna decides to give up everything and leave the place because
of
a. he sees no purpose in living there.
b. he wants to create an impression that he is dead.
c. he wants to put an end to the rivalry.
Answer:
(b) he wants to create an impression that he is dead.

Question 12.
Tammanna forgets his songs and ballads because
a. he finds them futile.
b. he doesn’t need them anymore.
c. he avenges himself.
Answer:
(b) he doesn’t need them anymore.

The Gardener Comprehension II

Question 1.
How did the owner’s lifestyle change after the arrival of the old man?
OR
“The old man’s stay on the farm led to many changes in the owner’s
lifestyle.” Illustrate with details from the short story to support this
statement.
Answer:
The owner had been working hard to improve his plantation, but there
were many problems which he had not been able to solve. However,
when the old man met him, he came to know that the old man was
well-versed in agriculture and had native intelligence. Therefore he
appointed him immediately. His expectations proved right. The old
man proved his worth in solving all the problems. Consequently, the
income from the garden improved dramatically. This caused a
perceptible change in the lifestyle of the owner. He expanded his
plantation.

However, he became lethargic and shied away from hard work. His
wealth and social prestige also increased. He acquired a number of
friends in the next town as well as in his own village. Even though he
had precious little to do, his life became crowded with colourful
events. He cultivated umpteen vices including adultery.

Question 2.
What advice did the supporters of Tammanna give for getting back his
land?
Answer:
When Basavaiah acquired Tammanna’s two hundred acres forcibly,
Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Tammanna’s supporters
advised him about the various methods available for getting back his
land. They told him that he could go to the court of law. He could also
take recourse to the police. If he did not want to do either, there were
any number of persons ready to attack Basavaiah and using force and
violence to wrest his land from him.

Question 3.
How did Tammanna react to Basavaiah’s encroachment of his land?
Answer:
When Tammanna-came to know that Basavaiah had forcibly taken
away two hundred acres of his land, he could not tolerate this
invasion. When his supporters advised him to either go to the court or
seek the help of the police or ask some persons to attack Basavaiah
and take back his land forcibly, Tammanna hit on a unique idea, of
annihilating Basavaiah. He thought of getting all his experiences
composed in the form of ballads and telling the people through them
about the cruelty and the meanness of Basavaiah.

Question 4.
How did Basavaiah try to overcome his humiliation?
Answer:
When Tammanna started singing ballads through which he told the
people about Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness, he became very
popular. Many scholars of folklore and literary critics translated his
songs and earned their share of the fame. All this made Basavaiah
shrink in humiliation. However, he tried to redress his humiliation by
acquiring more material wealth and luxuries. He got a palatial
mansion built for himself. He appointed a number of persons just to
praise him. He bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other
precious stones. He even started inviting scholars, poets and musicians
to his place with the intention of investing his home with meaning.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
The rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah keeps moving from the
visible domain to the invisible. Comment.
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between
Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his
rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to
outdo Tammanna’s ten friends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice
at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about
Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet. When he came to know
that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres of land, and he had only
eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna
asking him to sell two hundred acres to him. Tammanna did not agree.

On the contrary, he offered to buy all the land that belonged to

Basavaiah. Therefore, Basavaiah went along with his people and
acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly and got a
fence built around it. Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion.
Later, when his supporters suggested to him that he could go to the
court of law or the police or use his own people to attack him and
forcibly wrest his land from him, Tammanna did not accept their
suggestion. Tammanna probably thought that competing with
Basavaiah by physical means has no end to it because it depends on
who is able to muster more muscle power. Muscle power has its own
limitations. Secondly, muscle power needs the involvement of many
more people apart from Tammanna.

Moreover, as long as both of them were fighting by visible means

people will not know who was trying to compete with whom. Until
then, Basavaiah was the first one to show to the people he had more
land, more friends, more wealth, etc. Tammanna never did anything to
spite Basavaiah. Whatever Tammanna did, was on his natural
inclination and not to spite Basavaiah. Therefore, Tammanna realized
the limitations of competing with Basavaiah by physical means. That is
why he thought of putting an end to the unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah
by taking recourse to something invisible. He took recourse to singing
ballads and telling the people through them about the cruelty and the
meanness of Basavaiah.

Question 2.
How does Tammanna adopt a counter-strategy to challenge the
material wealth of Basavaiah?
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that the rivalry between him and
Basavaiah had reached a peak and that two hundred acres of his land
had been forcibly taken away from him and had been even fenced up,
Tammanna hit on a plan of annihilating Basavaiah completely. He got
all his bitter experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of
ballads and started singing them before the people, announcing to
everyone Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness. This way his
reputation as an artist started spreading fast and critics and scholars
of folklore thronged him and translated his songs.

Question 3.
Tammanna turns reflective in the course of his life. What does this tell
us about human nature?
Answer:
‘The Gardener’ is the story of Tammanna, an old man, now employed
in a coconut plantation. Though the story is initially narrated by the
author, Tammanna himself becomes the narrator later. Tammanna is
the protagonist in the story and he tells the story of the rivalry
between two farmers Tammanna and Basavaiah. Though Tammanna is
one of the characters in the story, the narrator does not disclose his
identity till the end. The second narrator tells us that Tammanna was
a farmer, had ten acres of land, a comfortable house and people too
ready to carry out his orders. Then he tells us about his rival
Basavaiah.

We learn from the narrator that Tammanna did not perceive Basavaiah
as his rival initially. Tammanna led a normal life and became
prosperous gradually and came to possess 1000 acres of land. Until
some point whatever Basavaiah did to keep himself on par with
Tammanna was seen as healthy competition.

But, one day, Basavaiah asks Tammanna to sell him his two hundred
acres of land and Tammanna refuses. Basavaiah takes the land
forcibly. Though there were various options available for getting his
land back, Tammanna searches for a method that could annihilate
Basavaiah completely. Instead of proving might is right or seeking
justice from the court of law, Tammanna uses a different strategy. He
composes and sings ballads about Basavaiah’s meanness and cruelty.
Very soon Tammanna becomes very popular and Basavaiah has no
answer to his brainy ideas.

Secondly, Tammanna having found meaningful engagement in ‘art’

forgets Basavaiah’s bad deeds. Just when Basavaiah is contemplating
what to do next to spite Tammanna, he comes to know that Tammanna
is ill. Basavaiah is pleased with the news. But their rivalry does not
end there. Tammanna decides to outbeat him by manipulating the
situation itself. He gives up everything and goes away to
Chennarayapatna so as to spread the news that Tammanna is dead.
Later Basavaiah dies a natural death. When Tammanna comes to know
about his death, he becomes reflective. Though there is no cause-effect
relationship between the rumour of Tammanna’s death and
Basavaiah’s real death, Tammanna is shaken out of his senses.

Until then both Basavaiah and Tammanna indulged in rivalry to satisfy

their ego. With the death of Basavaiah, Tammanna loses his identity
and he becomes a non-entity. This makes Tammanna reflect over
human nature and comes to the conclusion that man needs some issue
to fight for or cling on to. In this game, when the loser dies it is
natural for the winner to feel guilty. He suffers from a sense of guilt
that he was responsible for Basavaiah’s death. Naturally, when
Tammanna is accused by his own conscience, he becomes reflective.
When one becomes reflective, one tends to review one’s own actions
objectively. We do not normally attach emotions to our thinking and
then we discover what went wrong and where. Here, both Tammanna
and Basavaiah have not done anything ‘bad’ intentionally. They only
fought imaginary battles and lived in a dream world of their own.

Man is mortal and all the glory that man believes to enjoy is created by
our mind. Man is a dreamer and lives in a dream world of his own.
Since man’s life has its own limitations, man’s dream and reality
rarely go in unison. When reality overtakes man, the man comes to
realize that he is only a puppet in the scheme of things and man is in
reality ‘nothing’, but builds up his own image to boost his confidence
so that life becomes meaningful as long as he is alive.

Question 4.
How does the reference to Russia and America provide another
dimension to the story?
Answer:
‘The Gardener’ presents the story of two farmers who get actively
involved in rivalry and each one tries to overtake the other in
earnings, wealth and social prestige. But, at one point, Basavaiah takes
recourse to force and forcibly occupies a part of Tammanna’s
landholdings. Until now both of them had tried to upstage the other
using tangible means. But now Tammanna realizes the limitations of
muscle power and so uses his ‘intellect’ to unleash a strategy by which
he wishes to annihilate Basavaiah completely. He gets all his bitter
experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of ballads and songs
and sings them in public.

Thus, Tammanna tries to give a fitting reply to Basavaiah’s use of

physical force and so their fight takes a psychological dimension.
Basavaiah fails to match up to the manipulatory tactics of Tammanna
and shrinks in humiliation. However, he tries to console his wounded
pride by indulging in luxurious living. No matter what he does, he does
not succeed in upstaging Tammanna. It is at this stage higher forces
play their own role. Tammanna falls ill and Basavaiah enjoys
psychologically telling himself that Tammanna’s disease is Basavaiah’s
health. This way, Basavaiah gets the satisfaction of finding a reason to
keep himself happy. So, here the story has now passed from the
physical dimension to the psychological dimension.

At this stage, Tammanna comes out with another plan. He plans to use
something beyond man’s life. Tammanna thinks that as long as
Basavaiah knows that he is alive, Basavaiah will continue to take him
as his rival. So Tammanna hits on an idea which works at a level
higher than the physical and psychological level. His plan is to beat
Basavaiah on another plane, which is beyond man’s limits. He knows
for sure that if Basavaiah comes to think that Tammanna is dead,
Basavaiah will stop treating him as his rival. Tammanna goes away to
Chennarayapatna and spreads the news that Tammanna is dead. It is
sheer coincidence that Basavaiah dies a natural death. But Tammanna
comes to feel guilty that he was the cause of his death. This incident
brings him back to his senses and he reflects over his life.

Now, after the death of Basavaiah, Tammanna has become a non-

entity. When he reflects over their mutual game plans, Tammanna
realizes that man invents several reasons to make his life meaningful.
He also realizes that man can go on indulging in whims and fancies
until a certain age only. Later, when the man comes to confront
reality, he comes to see the truth. Then he becomes spiritual. That is
when a man realizes his limitations. Thus we see the plot taking
several dimensions from physical to psychological and then to
spiritual.

But, this story also takes another dimension. Earlier, stories that used
to focus on man’s vices like cruelty, meanness, greed, jealousy, rivalry,
etc., used to be portrayed on a smaller canvas and the stories used to
be confined to people living in towns, cities and kingdoms. We are now
in the post-modern society and the common man is now being
influenced by global forces. In traditional societies, solutions to man’s
mundane, existential problems used to be found locally. A king or a
Lord or a chieftain or a zamindar used to dispense justice. But this
story is situated in a post-modern society.

When Basavaiah acquires Tammanna’s land forcibly, Tammanna’s

followers offer three solutions – seek the help of the police; seek a
legal solution; or take recourse to use muscle power. The three
strategies suggested by Tammanna’s followers saturate this story in
the post-modern scenario. Their thinking exhibits a modern world
where police, law court and mafia exist. Even at the national and
international levels, big countries like Russia and America follow such
strategies.

The fact that Tammanna makes a reference to Russia and America, is

only a hint by the author that the problems of ‘man’ in the modern
society cannot be confined to the war between ‘virtues and vices’ of
the yesteryears but man’s problems are complex and are reflected at
the global level also.

Similarly, when Tammanna makes a reference to Russia’s declaration

to America that America is not their enemy and she will not wage a
war against America, it is only a strategy by the writer to suggest that
Tammanna and Basavaiah belong to post-modern society. One can also
infer that a literary artist in the modern world cannot be blind to
man’s problems in general and try to suggest solutions at the local
level. Man’s problems are deep-rooted and have implications at
different levels. Man’s problems go beyond a nation and though
problems of human society are the same, they assume different
dimensions as human society becomes more and more complex every
day.

Question 5.
Observe how the story employs multiple narratives. How does this
technique unveil the mystery of human relationships?
Answer:
In the short story ‘The Gardener’ by P. Lankesh, there is a story within
a story and there are two narrators.
In the first story, the author in the persona of the first-person narrator
introduces the protagonist Tammanna and the story of the owner of
the coconut plantation. Then, the first narrator makes way for the
second narrator to take over. Interestingly, in the story, the narrator is
the protagonist and tells his own story to the second owner’s wife.
However, the narrator employs the third-person narrative style and
distances himself from the story. Thus ‘The Gardener’ is an example of
the use of multiple narratives.

Multiple narratives describe a type of story that follows several

protagonists rather than focusing on one main character. In some
cases, writers choose this structure to show the individual
perspectives of characters in a larger ‘macro story’ and how they
relate to each other. ‘The Gardener’ is an example of the second type.
Tammanna is the protagonist in both stories.

In the first story, we learn how Tammanna uses his own biography to
indirectly give a message to the owner’s wife. He gives to the lady his
own perspective of human life and experience. The author has used
this technique of multiple narratives to reveal the mystery of human
relationships.

In his own life, Tammanna has learnt lessons of being proactive in a

rivalry with Basavaiah. He plays his game with Basavaiah, only until
he dies. Basavaiah’s death comes as a revelation to him about human
nature. Only then does he theorise saying ‘man does not live with the
intention of acquiring wealth, or education or art but for some kind of
unbearable vengefulness’. Until then, both Basavaiah and Tammanna
showed a keen interest in fighting and a zest for life. But once
Basavaiah dies, Tammanna loses all enthusiasm for life. He says he is
a non-entity now.

Now he has become philosophical. Therefore, when he finds the owner

of the coconut plantation cultivating all kinds of vices and the lady
getting desperate about her husband, the ‘guilt’ about Basavaiah’s
death that was pricking his conscience gets transformed into a virtue
or a positive force and that motivates him to tell his own story
objectively to the owner’s wife.

Had not the author used multiple narrative structures, Tammanna’s

story could not have come out as a story to educate the owner’s wife.
Thus, multiple narrative structures is able to unveil the mystery of
human relationships.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
When, according to the narrator, does man lose his name?
Answer:
After a particular age.

Question 2.
When did Tammanna forget all his songs and ballads?
OR
Whose death made Tammanna forget his songs and ballads in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
After the death of Basavaiah/ Death of Basavaiah.

Question 3.
Where was the coconut grove where the narrator met the old man?
Answer:
Near Chennarayapatna.

Question 4.
How big was the plantation when the old man took over?
Answer:
Ten acres.

Question 5.
What was the most important possession ofTammanna?
OR
Whom did Tammanna consider as the most important among all his
possessions?
Answer:
His rival Sangoji or Basavaiah.

Question 6.
Who was Tammanna’s rival?
Answer:
Basavaiah.

Question 7.
How much of Tammanna’s land did Basavaiah acquire forcibly at first?
OR
How many acres of land did Basavaiah encroach?
Answer:
Two hundred acres.

Question 8.
When did the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah move from
the visible to the abstract level?
Answer:
When Tammanna composed ballads mentioning Basavaiah’s cruelty
and his meanness and sang them, the rivalry between Tammanna and
Basavaiah moved from the visible to the abstract level.

Question 9.
Mention one of the ways suggested by Tammanna’s followers to get
back his encroached land.
Answer:
‘Going to the court of law seeking justice’ was one of the ways
suggested by Tammanna’s followers to get back his encroached land.

Question 10.
What was the theme of Tammanna’s songs?
OR
Whose cruelty and meanness did Tammanna’s songs make mention of?
Answer:
The theme of Tammanna’s songs was cruelty, meanness and the
injustice done to him by Basavaiah.

Question 11.
Tammanna’s disease was Basavaiah’s
(a) health
(b) weakness
(c) sorrow.
Answer:
(a) health.

Question 12.
When, according to Tammanna, did Basavaiah have no more reason to
live?
Answer:
According to Tammanna, the moment he left the town and disappeared
from Basavaiah’s sight, Basavaiah did not have any reason to live.

Question 13.
What became the main reason of Tammanna’s life?
Answer:
Punishing or annihilating Basavaiah for the injustice, cruelty, and
meanness showed by him was the main reason of Tammanna’s life.
Question 14.
Where did the narrator meet the old man by chance?
OR
Where did the author notice the old man standing with a spade in one
hand and a newspaper tucked under his arm?
Answer:
The author or the narrator noticed the man standing in a coconut
grove near Chennarayapatna.

Question 15.
What had the old man tucked under his arm when the narrator met
him?
Answer:
The old man had a newspaper tucked under his arm.

Question 16.
What came to an end after the old man’s arrival in the garden?
OR
When did the petty thefts come to an end?
Answer:
The petty thefts in the garden came to an end after the old man’s
arrival.

Question 17.
Who became apprehensive about the plantation owner’s vices?
Answer:
The owner’s wife became apprehensive about the owner’s adultery and
his umpteen other vices, cultivated lately.

Question 18.
How many acres of land did Tammanna finally have?
Answer:
Tammanna finally had only eight hundred acres of land.

Question 19.
What did Basavaiah do to counter Tammanna’s fame as a poet?
Answer:
To counter Tammanna’s fame as a poet, Basavaiah started inviting
scholars, poets and musicians to his place.

Question 20.
Who became lethargic after the arrival of the old man in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, the owner of the plantation in Chennarayapatna
became lethargic after the arrival of the old man.

Question 21.
Whose name is said to be Sangoji and later corrected as Basavaiah in
‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, it is Tammanna’s rival whose name is said to be
Sangoji and later corrected as Basavaiah.

Question 22.
Who hit upon the idea of composing and singing ballads in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, Tammanna hit upon the idea of composing and
singing ballads.

Question 23.
Who was felicitated as the best poet of his times in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, it was Tammanna who was felicitated as the best
poet of his times.

Question 24.
Who appointed a number of persons to praise him in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, it was Basavaiah who appointed a number of
persons to praise him.

Question 25.
Whose palatial mansion looked dull and empty without Tammanna’s
books in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, it was Basavaiah’s palatial mansion which looked
dull and empty without Tammanna’s books. ‘

Question 26.
When did Basavaiah find the means of surpassing Tammanna in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, it was only when Tammanna fell ill, did Basavaiah
find a means of surpassing Tammanna.

Question 27.
Whose disease was Basavaiah’s health, according to the narrator of
‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
According to the narrator of The Gardener’, Tammanna’s disease was
Basavaiah’s health.

Question 28.
When would Basavaiah go on offering stiff competition, according to
Tammanna, in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
According to Tammanna, in The Gardener’, Basavaiah would go on
offering stiff competition at the level of the body, until he died.

Question 29.
According to the old man, when did he conceive the story of
Tammanna and Basavaiah?
Answer:
According to the old man, he conceived the story of Tammanna and
Basavaiah, one day, when he found the wife of the plantation owner in
a fix, perturbed and confused.

Question 30.
Who thought his death alone could destroy Basavaiah, in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, Tammanna thought that his death alone could
destroy Basavaiah.

Question 31.
When did Basavaiah pass away, according to Tammanna, in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
According to Tammanna in The Gardener’, Basavaiah passed away
after Tammanna had left his village.
Question 32.
Who says he avenged himself by becoming a non-entity in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
In The Gardener’, Tammanna says that he avenged himself by
becoming a non-entity.

Question 33.
Who, according to Tammanna the old man, is not amenable to any
advice in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In ‘The Gardener’, according to Tammanna the old man, the owner of
the coconut grove (where he was a labourer), was not amenable to any
advice.

Question 34.
How long does a man go on living for some revenge, according to the
old man, in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
According to the old man in ‘The Gardener’, the man goes on living for
some revenge or the other till the day of his death.

Question 35.
Who paints well, according to the old man, in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
According to the old man in ‘The Gardener’, the young child of Lokya
paints well.

Question 36.
What happened to Basavaiah after Tammanna gave up everything and
went away?
Answer:
Basavaiah died a few days after Tammanna had left the town giving up
everything.

Question 37.
Who narrated his story to the wife of the plantation owner in
Gardener’?
Answer:
In ‘The Gardener’, Tammanna narrated his story to the wife of the p.
.tation owner.
Question 38.
What was the old man well versed in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
Agriculture.

Question 39.
When did Tammanna forget his songs and ballads?
Answer:
Tammanna forgot all his songs and ballads after Basavaiah’s death.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:

Question 1.
Why does Tammanna feel that human nature can be strange?
OR
‘Man goes on living for some revenge’. How is this presented in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
One afternoon, Tammanna finds the owner’s wife coming towards the
coconut grove. She looked worried and anxious. However, Tammanna
knew why she looked so. Then, he narrates the story of Tammanna
and Basavaiah and finally confesses that he was Tammanna,
Basavaiah’s rival, and how he had given up all his property and come
to Chennarayapatna. Before telling her that Basavaiah had died,
Tammanna tells her he had come to realize that human nature is very
strange. He offers an explanation of why he thinks so.

According to Tammanna, though man needs wealth, education, and

many more things, they do not give him a compelling reason to live. In
his opinion ‘Man lives for some kind of unbearable vengefulness’. He
arrives at this inference based on his own experience of life. As long as
he was staying in his village, Basavaiah had considered him his rival
and had gone on trying to out beat him in wealth, health, art, and so
on. The very fact that there was a rival to him and he had to strive to
compete with him in every aspect, gave him sufficient reason to live. It
is here that one finds human nature strange.

All through his life, though man struggles to earn wealth, education,
food, etc., he does not find real happiness in these things. But he
derives a kind of pleasure when he finds that there is someone
competing with him in these areas. Though it is the making of his own
imagination yet he finds pleasure accepting his imaginary rival as real
and fighting to out beat him. This gives him the real reason for his
existence.

Having come away from Basavaiah, to punish him with the news of his
death, Tammanna realizes that human nature is very strange. After the
death of Basavaiah, he realises that he had become a non-entity and
had lost his name and fame. He tells his own story along with the truth
that he had realized, only to convince the owner’s wife that she needs
to mend her husband.

Question 2.
What measures did Tammanna adopt to humiliate Basavaiah? Explain.
OR
Give an account of the strategies used by Tammanna to destroy
Basavaiah in ‘The Gardener’.
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that the rivalry between him and
Basavaiah had reached a peak and that two hundred acres of his land
had been forcibly taken away from him and had been even fenced up,
Tammanna hit on a plan of annihilating Basavaiah completely. He got
all his bitter experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of
ballads and started singing them before the people, announcing to
everyone Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness. This way his
reputation as an artist started spreading fast and critics and scholars
of folklore thronged him and translated his songs.

As days rolled by, Tammanna’s popularity increased, and Basavaiah

began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to
his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of
material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. Then he
bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones.
Then he started inviting scholars, poets, and musicians to his place
and tried to invest his home with meaning. However, one-day
Tammanna suddenly took ill. This news cheered up Basavaiah’s spirits.
Tammanna’s disease became Basavaiah’s health. Tammanna thought
of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah.

Tammanna thought Basavaiah could no longer compete with him if he

came to know that Tammanna had died. Therefore, Tammanna
avenged himself by leaving his town, abandoning all his property, and
walking away hundreds of miles. When Basavaiah came to know that
Tammanna was not there in the village, he had no more reason to live
and he passed away.

Question 2.
Why did the plantation owner’s wife find it hard to decide whether the
old man’s arrival was for the better or for the worse?
Answer:
Before the arrival of the old man, the owner had only ten acres of land.
Though the owner himself was in charge of the work in the plantation,
there used to be petty thefts and he could not prevent them. Secondly,
he was very busy and hard-working and hardly had any time to spend
with his friends. So, he had hardly any friends at all.

Once the old man was appointed as an overseer on the farm, the old
man being well-versed in agriculture, understood the problems of the
workers and solved all the problems. His efficient supervision resulted
in a dramatic increase in the earnings of the farm. Consequently, the
owner expanded his farm, became lethargic, and shied away from hard
work, leaving the plantation in charge of the old man.

Furthermore, the owner’s wealth and social prestige also increased.

Along with that, he acquired a number of friends in the next town as
well as in his own village. Even though he had precious little to do, his
life became crowded with colourful events. He also cultivated umpteen
vices including adultery. These changes in her husband’s lifestyle
made the wife wonder whether the old man’s arrival was for the
better or for the worse.

Question 3.
How did the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah move towards
an invisible, abstract domain?
OR
Trace the course of the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah that
moved from a visible domain to an abstract domain.
OR
Give an account of the strategies used by Tammanna to destroy
Basavaiah.
OR
Bring out the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah.
OR
The rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah started moving from
the visible to the invisible domain. Explain.
OR
Explain the methods adopted by Tammanna to humiliate Basavaiah.
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between
Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his
rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to
outdo Tammanna’s ten friends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice
at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about
Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet.

When he came to know that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres

of land, and he had only eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He
sent word to Tammanna asking him to sell two hundred acres to him.
Tammanna did not agree. On the contrary, he offered to buy all the
land that belonged to Basavaiah. Therefore, Basavaiah went along with
his people and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land
forcibly and got a fence built around it. Tammanna could not tolerate
this invasion. Later, when his supporters suggested to him that he
could go to the court of law or the police or use his own people to
attack him and forcibly wrest his land from him, Tammanna did not
accept their suggestion.

Tammanna probably thought that competing with Basavaiah by

physical means has no end to it because it depends on who is able to
muster more muscle power. Muscle power has its own limitations.
Secondly, muscle power needs the involvement of many more people
apart from Tammanna.

Moreover, as long as both of them were fighting by visible means

people will not know who was trying to compete with whom. Until
then, Basavaiah was the first one to show to the people he had more
land, more friends, more wealth, etc. Tammanna never did anything to
spite Basavaiah. Whatever Tammanna did, was on his natural
inclination and not to spite Basavaiah.

Therefore, Tammanna realized the limitations of competing with

Basavaiah by physical means. That is why he thought of putting an end
to the unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah by taking recourse to something
invisible. He took recourse to singing ballads and telling the people
through them about the cruelty and the meanness of Basavaiah.

Question 4.
How did Basavaiah try to surpass Tammanna? Why wasn’t he
successful?
OR
How did Basavaiah try to surpass his rival in ‘The Gardener’?
OR
How did Basavaiah react to Tammanna’s popularity?
OR
How did Basavaiah start filling his life with all kinds of material
wealth?
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that the rivalry between him and
Basavaiah had reached a peak and that two hundred acres of his land
had been forcibly taken away from him and had been even fenced up,
Tammanna hit on a plan of annihilating Basavaiah completely. He got
all his bitter experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of
ballads and started singing them before the people, announcing to
everyone Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness. This way his
reputation as an artist started spreading fast and critics and scholars
of folklore thronged him and translated his songs.

Basavaiah tried to surpass Tammanna’s fame by filling his life with all
kinds of material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself.
He appointed a number of persons just to praise him and bedecked
himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. But he was
not successful. We can conclude so because the visitors to his house
told him that without Basavaiah’s books his house looked dull and
empty.

Question 5.
How does Tammanna take revenge on Basavaiah through invisible
means?
OR
Explain the invisible means by which Tammanna decided to destroy
Basavaiah.
OR
What invisible means did Tammanna use to annihilate Basavaiah
completely? Explain.
Answer:
When his supporters advised him to either go to the court or seek the
help of the police or ask some persons to attack Basavaiah and take
back his land forcibly, Tammanna hit upon a unique idea of
annihilating Basavaiah through invisible means. He thought of getting
all his experiences composed in the form of ballads and singing them
before the public.

When Tammanna started singing ballads through which he told the

people about Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness, he became very
popular. Many scholars of folklore and literary critics translated his
songs and earned their share of fame. All this made Basavaiah shrink
in shame. This way, Tammanna took revenge on Basavaiah through
invisible means.

Question 6.
How did Tammanna and Basavaiah manage their rivalry in the
beginning in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between
Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his
rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to
outdo Tammanna’s penfriends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice
at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about
Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet. When he came to know
that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres of land, and he had only
eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna
asking him to sell two hundred acres to him. Tammanna did not agree.

On the contrary, he offered to buy all the land that belonged to

Basavaiah. Therefore, Basavaiah went along with his people and
acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly and got a
fence built around it Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Later,
when his supporters suggested to him that he could go to the court of
law or the police or use his own people to attack him and forcibly
wrest his land from him, Tammanna did not accept their suggestion.
Tammanna realized the limitations of competing with Basavaiah by
physical means. That is why he thought of putting an end to the
unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah by taking recourse to something
invisible.
Question 7.
What did Basavaiah do to invest his home with meaning in ‘The
Gardener’? Explain.
Answer:
As Tammanna’s popularity increased, Basavaiah began to shrink in
humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to his self-esteem by
showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of material wealth. He got
a palatial mansion built for himself. He appointed a number of persons
just to praise him. Then he bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and
other precious stones. Then he started inviting scholars, poets, and
musicians to his place and tried to invest his home with meaning.

Question 8.
Describe the circumstances that led Tammanna to become a non-entity
in ‘The Gardener’.
Answer:
Tammanna is the protagonist in the story and he tells the story of the
rivalry between himself and Basavaiah. Tammanna was a farmer, had
ten acres of land, a comfortable house, and people too ready to carry
out his orders. Besides, he also had a rival. It was Basavaiah.
Tammanna did not perceive Basavaiah as his rival initially. Tammanna
led a normal life and became prosperous gradually and came to
possess 1000 acres of land. Until some point whatever Basavaiah did
to keep himself on par with Tammanna was seen as healthy
competition.

But, one day, Basavaiah asks Tammanna to sell him two hundred acres
of his land and Tammanna refuses. Basavaiah takes the land forcibly.
Though there were various options available for getting his land back,
Tammanna searches for a method that could annihilate Basavaiah
completely. Instead of proving might is right or seeking justice from
the court of law, Tammanna uses a different strategy. He composes
and sings ballads about Basavaiah’s meanness and cruelty. Very soon
Tammanna becomes very popular and Basavaiah has no answer to his
brainy ideas.

Just when Basavaiah is contemplating what to do next to spite

Tammanna, he comes to know that Tammanna is ill. Basavaiah is
pleased with the news. But their rivalry does not end there.
Tammanna decides to out beat him by manipulating the situation
itself. He gives up everything and goes away to Chennarayapatna so as
to spread the news that Tammanna is dead. Later Basavaiah dies a
natural death. Though there is no cause-effect relationship between
the rumour of Tammanna’s death and Basavaiah’s real death,
Tammanna is shaken out of his senses. With the death of Basavaiah,
Tammanna loses his identity and he becomes a non-entity.

Question 9.
What circumstances led to the unhappiness of the owner’s wife in ‘The
Gardener’?
Answer:
The owner of the coconut plantation was quite a normal person. He
was working hard to bring about improvement in his earnings.
Probably he had little expertise in managing agricultural workers.
Therefore, he was looking for someone who would help him. That is
why the moment he spoke to the old man [Tammanna) he felt that he
had got the kind of man he wanted. His expectations proved right and
the old man helped him in every way and solved all his problems,
which eventually resulted in increasing his income.

Once his worries disappeared and he had hardly any work to engage
himself in, his personal attention went towards acquiring property and
social prestige. It is quite natural that with social prestige follow
certain vices among which adultery was one. Adultery affects any
woman.

All along, her husband had been faithful to her and once his wife came
to know that he was spending his money and time with other women,
she got seriously worried and was very unhappy. She found it hard to
decide whether the arrival of the old man had done good or bad for her
husband.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
How did Tammanna and Basavaiah try to outdo each other?
OR
Describe the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah.
OR
How did Tammanna avenge himself?
OR
How does Tammanna successfully outsmart his rival Basavaiah?
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between
Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his
rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to
outdo Tammanna’s ten friends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice
at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about
Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet. When he came to know
that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres of land, and he had only
eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna
asking him to sell his two hundred acres to him. Tammanna did not
agree. On the contrary, he offered to buy all the land that belonged to
Basavaiah.

Therefore, Basavaiah went along with his people and acquired two
hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly and got a fence built
around it. Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Later, when his
supporters suggested to him that he could go to the court of law or the
police or use his own people to attack him and forcibly wrest his land
from him, Tammanna did not accept their suggestion.

Moreover, as long as both of them were fighting by visible means

people will not know who was trying to compete with whom. Until
then, Basavaiah was the first one to show to the people he had more
land, more friends, more wealth, etc. Tammanna never did anything to
spite Basavaiah. Whatever Tammanna did, was on his natural
inclination and not to spite Basavaiah.

Therefore, Tammanna realized the limitations of competing with

Basavaiah by physical means. That is why he thought of putting an end
to the unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah by taking recourse to something
invisible. He took recourse to singing ballads and telling the people
through them about the cruelty and the meanness of Basavaiah.

As days rolled by, Tammanna’s popularity increased, and Basavaiah

began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to
his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of
material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. Then he
bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones.
Then he started inviting scholars, poets and musicians to his place and
tried to invest his home with meaning.
However, one-day Tammanna suddenly took ill. This news cheered up
Basavaiah’s spirits. Tammanna’s disease became Basavaiah’s health.
Tammanna thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah.
Tammanna thought Basavaiah could no longer compete with him if he
came to know that Tammanna had died. Therefore, Tammanna
avenged himself by leaving his town, abandoning all his property and
walking away hundreds of miles. When Basavaiah came to know that
Tammanna was not there in the village, he had no more reason to live
and he passed away.

Question 2.
‘Without vengefulness, there would be no reason for man’s existence’.
How does ‘The Gardener’ bring this out?
Answer:
Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as a rival at all. But, Basavaiah took
him as his rival seriously and tried to outdo Tammanna in everything.
Therefore, when Tammanna bought four more acres adjacent to his
land, Basavaiah also did the same. If Tammanna had ten friends,
Basavaiah would acquire fifteen admirers. Gradually, it rose to such a
pitch that there was no land left in the village for them to buy. All land
belonged to either Tammanna or Basavaiah. Tammanna owned one
thousand acres and Basavaiah eight hundred. Basavaiah could not
tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna asking him to sell two
hundred acres.

Tammanna did not agree. He was prepared to buy all the land that
belonged to Basavaiah. Basavaiah went mad with rage. He went along
with his people and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land
forcibly. A fence was built around that land. Tammanna could not
tolerate this invasion. Though his supporters explained to him all the
means available to him, he was not satisfied with them because he
knew that sooner or later Basavaiah would again try to outdo him by
hook or by crook. Tammanna did not want Basavaiah to trouble him
again.

As days rolled by, Tammanna’s popularity increased, and Basavaiah

began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to
his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of
material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. Then he
bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones.
Then he started inviting scholars, poets and musicians to his place and
tried to invest his home with meaning.

However, one-day Tammanna suddenly took ill. This news cheered up

Basavaiah’s spirits. Tammanna’s disease became Basavaiah’s health.
Tammanna thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah.
Tammanna thought Basavaiah could no longer compete with him if he
came to know that Tammanna had died. Therefore, Tammanna
avenged himself by leaving his town, abandoning all his property and
walking away hundreds of miles. When Basavaiah came to know that
Tammanna was not there in the village, he had no more reason to live
and he passed away.

Question 3.
The arrival of the old man to the garden caused both good and bad
things. How is this brought out in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
The owner of the coconut plantation was quite a normal person. He
was working hard to bring about improvement in his earnings.
Probably, as he did not have much experience and expertise in
managing agricultural work, he was not able to reap the benefits of his
hard work. Often, there used to be thefts and worker-related
problems. He also felt that he needed the assistance of a person well-
versed in dealing with such problems. Once he had spoken to the old
man for a few minutes, he was convinced that he had found the right
person and so hired him immediately. Thus the old man became an
employee in the coconut grove and stayed on.

The old man was so experienced in agriculture that he easily

understood the problems of workers. The petty thefts in the garden
came to an end, and naturally, the income from the garden increased
dramatically. Consequently, the increase in income brought a
perceptible change in the lifestyle of the owner. The plantation
expanded, but the owner became lazy and shied away from hard work.
Once his worries disappeared and he had hardly any work to engage
himself in, his personal attention went towards acquiring property,
and fame. His life became crowded with colourful events.

On account of his newly acquired clout, he cultivated umpteen other

vices including adultery. He became a source of worry to his wife. The
owner’s wife found it hard to decide whether the old man’s arrival was
for the better or for the worse. On the whole, one can conclude that
the arrival of the old man to the garden caused both good and bad.

Question 4.
Rivalry can make one both aggressive and reflective. How does
Tammanna’s narrative in The Gardener” prove this?
Answer:
Yes. “Rivalry can make one both aggressive and reflective”.
In ‘The Gardener*, Tammanna is both the protagonist as well as the
narrator. He narrates the story of the rivalry between two farmers
Tammanna and Basavaiah. From his narration, one can easily infer
how aggressively he has fought with Basavaiah for saving his self-
esteem.

In the beginning, he did not even imagine that he had a rival. But he
becomes aware of the rivalry between himself and Basavaiah when the
latter takes his land forcibly and he is made to feel helpless. He
becomes alert and starts planning strategies to out beat Basavaiah’s
moves. He composes and sings ballads and publicizes Basavaiah’s
meanness and cruelty. Very soon Tammanna gains popularity and
Basavaiah is made to feel that he has been defeated in his own game.
Soon after that, when Tammanna falls ill, Basavaiah is pleased with
the news. But their rivalry does not end there. Tammanna’s next move
shows how aggressive and vengeful he can be. He gives up everything
and goes away to Chennarayapatna so as to spread the news that
Tammanna is dead.

Later, Basavaiah dies a natural death. Though there is no cause-effect

relationship between the rumour of Tammanna’s death and
Basavaiah’s real death, Tammanna is shaken out of his senses. He
becomes reflective. He understands that with the death of Basavaiah,
he had lost his identity and had become a non-entity. Finally, he
realizes that both he and Basavaiah had indulged in rivalry only to
satisfy their ego.

The Gardener Vocabulary

An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to a given word.

Note the use of antonyms for the following words found in the lesson:
 1. Impoverish – enrich
2. Elaborate – concise
3. Petty – grand
4. Suffused – removed
5. Lethargic – active
6. Annihilate – preserve
7. Vengeful – benevolent
8. Agony – ecstasy
9. Flourish – languish
10. Wealth – poverty
11. Famous – obscure
12.Cruelty – kindness
13.Best – worst
14. Enemy – friend
15.Stiff – flexible

Question 1.
What do the following expressions from the lesson mean?

1. in a flash
2. flesh and blood
3. out of hand
4. vanish into thin air

Answer:

1. very suddenly or quickly.

2. the human body or nature.
3. out of control.
4. go away suddenly, unexpectedly and without a trace.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
Tammanna came to the plantation after walking hundreds of miles. He
_____ (appoint) to look after the garden. The workers were happy as
their problems _____ (solve). The income improved dramatically but a
change in the owner’s lifestyle _____ (notice) by his wife.
Answer:
was appointed; had been solved; was noticed.
Question 2.
Basavaiah had 200 acres less land than Tammanna. So Tammanna
_____ (ask) to sell his 200 acres to Basavaiah. This _____ (reject) by
Tammanna. Instead, a demand _____ (place) that Tammanna was
ready to buy all his land.
Answer:
was asked; was rejected; was placed.

Question 3.
Basavaiah tried to outshine Tammanna in his own way. A palatial
house _____ (build) by him. A number of persons ____ (appoint) just
to praise him. Scholars, poets and musicians _____ (invite) to his
place.
Answer:
was built; were appointed; were invited.

B. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
The quarrel between Tammanna and Basavaiah rose to such a pitch
that it started to ______ all their supporters. When Basavaiah forcibly
acquired Tammanna’s land, Tammanna was advised by his supporters
to ______ to the police. (take recourse, push in, suck in)
Answer:
suck in; take recourse.

Question 2.
Tammanna ______ everything and went to a far off place. Basavaiah
was left with no reason to live. After some time Basavaiah ______.
(gave up, chance upon, passed away)
Answer:
gave up; passed away.

Question 3.
‘Tammanna was ______ in agriculture. As a result, the owner of the
garden started to _____ from hard work. (shy away, well versed,
better at)
Answer:
well versed; shy away.
Question 4.
The narrator says he conceived the story The Gardener’ ______. The
old man he met in a coconut grove had come to the garden seeking
work. The owner needed a man exactly like him and asked the old man
to ______. (in a flash, stay on, vanish into thin air)
Answer:
in a flash; stay on.

Question 5.
Tammanna thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah. He
wanted to separate his songs from his own _____. He wanted his fame
to ______. Therefore he gave up everything and became a non-entity.
(flesh and blood, vanish into thin air, out of hand)
Answer:
flesh and blood; vanish into thin air.

C. Fill in the blanks with appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
The gardener started narrating the story of Tammanna and Basavaiah
to the owner’s wife. ______ proceeding with the story, he started
fumbling for words ______ he had made a mistake. The owner’s wife
was not interested in the story. She felt like going away ______ stayed
back ______ she did not want to hurt the old man. (but, after, as
though, as)
Answer:
After; as though; but; as.

Question 2.
The rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah looked like healthy
competition in the beginning. _____ it rose to such a pitch _____ they
started competing in buying each acre of land in the village. _____ no
land in the village was left for buying. Even then Basavaiah was not
happy ______ he had 200 acres less than Tammanna. (because, finally,
gradually, that)
Answer:
Gradually; that; Finally; because.

Question 3.
Basavaiah sent word that he was prepared to buy Tammanna’s 200
acres of land. This made Tammanna furious. _____ he said he was
prepared to buy all the land ______ belonged to Basavaiah. _______
Basavaiah forcibly acquired 200 acres of Tammanna’s land. ________
the enmity between them became fierce and sucked in all their
supporters. (as a result, in turn, which, instead)
Answer:
In turn; which; Instead; As a result.

The Gardener by P. Lankesh About the Writer:

P. Lankesh [1935-2000) is an Indian writer and journalist who wrote

in Kannada. After graduating with an honours degree in English from
Central College at Bangalore, he completed his Master of Arts degree
in English from Maharaja College, Mysore. P. Lankesh’s first work was
‘Kereya Neeranu Kerege Chelli’, a collection of short stories published
in 1963. This was followed by several collections of short stories and
poetry, three novels, critical essays, translations (including Charles
Baudelaire’s ‘Les Fleurs du Mai’, ‘Oedipus Rex’, and Sophocles’
‘Antigone’), as well as several plays and films. His 1976 film ’Pallavi’ –
a cinematic narration, told from the female protagonist’s point of view
and based on his novel ‘Biruku’ – won India’s national award for best
direction.

[This short story is the translated English version of ’Thotadavanu’,

taken from ‘When Stone Melts and Other Stories’, a collection of short
stories published by Sahitya Academi. It is translated into English by
H.S. Raghavendra Rao.]

It is said that in these short stories Lankesh shows his preoccupation

with human meanness and attempts to explore the evolution of a post-
Emergency political and cultural scenario. The title ‘When Stone Melts’
refers to the mystery at the heart of every transformation, the
invisible and inescapable play of history and location that engender
the process of change.

The narrator addresses the reader directly in the first person asking
for an apology for being brief. He says that the story was conceived in
a flash and hence if he elaborates it, the story will lose its vitality.
There are only four characters, besides the narrator: Tammanna,
Basavaiah or Sangoji, and the owner of the coconut grove and his wife.

There are two stories in this story. The first story is narrated by the
author in the first person and the second story is narrated by
Tammanna who is also the protagonist in the first story. In the second
story, the narrator/protagonist tells his own story to the lady
distancing himself from the main story.

The narrator says that this story originated in his chance encounter
with an old man who was standing in a coconut grove near
Chennarayapatna. The old man (who had been employed in the
coconut grove), was a labourer, overseer and philosopher, all rolled
into one.

One day the old man came to the coconut garden after walking
hundreds of miles. Since the owner of that plantation needed a person
of his qualifications, he hired him immediately after talking to him for
a few minutes. Thus the old man became an employee in the coconut
grove and stayed on. The old man did useful work. He was so well-
versed in agriculture that he easily understood the problems of
workers. The petty thefts in the garden came to an end, and naturally,
the income from the garden improved dramatically. Consequently, the
increase in income brought a perceptible change in the lifestyle of the
owner. The plantation expanded, but the owner became lazy and shied
away from hard work.

The owner’s wife found the owner’s behaviour strange and puzzling.
She found it hard to decide whether the old man’s arrival was for the
better or for the worse. Her husband’s wealth and social prestige had
risen higher, and he had acquired a great number of friends in his own
village and in the next town as well. Even though he did not do any
useful work, his life became crowded with colourful events. On
account of his newly acquired clout, he cultivated umpteen other vices
including adultery. Though their farm was initially merely ten acres, it
had grown beyond their imagination.

Therefore, the owner’s wife realized that financially they had been
doing well but her only source of worry was that along with financial
improvement, their life was also gradually getting out of hand. Thus,
one day when she was in a fix like this, the old man met her. He
smiled at her, brought down an offering offender coconuts from a
nearby tree, and sat on the embankment of the well. She had no
alternative and so she sat next to him. The old man now begins his
narrative and takes the action or plot to its climax.
The old man says that, in a far off place, once there lived a man called
Tammanna. He had everything: ten acres of land, a comfortable house,
and people too ready to carry out his orders or instructions. Besides
these possessions, he also had a rival and his name was Sangoji.
However, soon after uttering the name Sangoji, the old man started
fumbling for words as if he had committed a mistake. The coconut
grove owner’s wife, who was listening, felt that it was none of her
concern and felt like going away immediately. But, not wishing to hurt
the old man, she continued to sit there quietly.

The old man continued his story. He corrected himself once, saying his
name was not Sangoji but Basavaiah. [At this moment in the story, the
narrator gives a hint to the reader that the old man is telling a true
account of his own experience disguising it in the form of a story].

Both Tammanna and Basavaiah were rivals. If Tammanna bought four

more acres adjacent to his land, Basavaiah would also do the same. If
one of them had ten friends, the other would acquire ‘ fifteen
admirers. Though initially, all this looked like healthy competition, it
took a nasty turn later.

Their rivalry rose to such a pitch that there was no land left in the
village for them to buy. All land belonged to either Tammanna or
Basavaiah. Tammanna had one thousand acres and Basavaiah eight
hundred. Basavaiah could not tolerate this. His men asked Tammanna
to sell two hundred acres but Tammanna refused to do so. On the
other hand, Tammanna offered to buy all the land that belonged to
Basavaiah. Basavaiah became furious. He went along with his people
and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly, and got
it fenced up all around. Tammanna could not put up with this invasion.

Tammanna’s advisers told him that there were three ways by which
Tammanna could get back his land. He could go to the court of law or
he could also take recourse to the police. If he did not like to do, either
way, he could also use muscle power to get his land back. There was
any number of persons ready to attack Basavaiah and wrest his land
from him. But Tammanna was in search of a method that could
destroy Basavaiah completely. Tammanna got all his experiences
composed in the form of ballads and sang them in public. Their rivalry
moved away from the visible to the invisible.
Basavaiah could not do the same way. He tried to show his rivalry in
doing agricultural tasks more diligently, but that was also in vain.
Meanwhile, Tammanna’s reputation started spreading all around. His
songs started making mention of Basavaiah’s cruelty and his
meanness. Scholars and critics went after his songs and earned their
share of fame. Basavaiah became desperate and angry and retaliated
by encroaching on more and more of Tammanna’s land. But
Tammanna was ignorant of all this and blissfully enjoyed his singing.
Art had become the raison d’etre of his life. He was even felicitated as
the best poet of his times.

Basavaiah felt humiliated, which he tried to hide by acquiring all kinds

of luxuries. He got a palatial mansion built for himself; appointed a
number of people to praise him and bedecked himself with gold,
diamonds, and other precious stones. But his house looked dull and
empty because Tammanna’s books were not there. He attempted to fill
the lacuna by inviting scholars, poets, and musicians to his place. This
way, he tried to invest his home with meaning.

One day, Basavaiah came to know that Tammanna was ill. The news
made him happy. At that point, Basavaiah found the means of
surpassing Tammanna. Health is wealth. Tammanna’s disease was
Basavaiah’s health. But Tammanna thought differently. He had
thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah. Tammanna
contemplated ‘death’. As long as he continued his rivalry at the level of
the body, Basavaiah would go on offering stiff competition. But, if he
died, Basavaiah could do nothing to defeat him. The old man ends his
storytelling the coconut garden owner’s wife that wishing to destroy
Basavaiah completely, Tammanna gave up everything and ran off from
his village.

As long as Tammanna was there, Basavaiah had a reason to be alive,

but once Tammanna left the place Basavaiah passed away. The old
man tells the lady that Basavaiah died because he had no reason to
live. Then he confesses to her that he is Tammanna himself. After
Basavaiah’s death, Tammanna tells the lady that he forgot all his songs
and ballads, lost his fame, and became a non-entity. He concludes
telling her that, that way he avenged himself.

Tammanna tells the woman that the experiences of his life had made
him realize that human nature is very strange. He sums up his
experiences in one sentence. He tells her that though man works to
fulfill his many needs like wealth, education, art, and many more
things, yet those things do not give him the right, compelling reasons
to live. All through his life man lives for some kind of unbearable
vengefulness. It is in this vengefulness that he finds a reason for his
existence.

Finally, using his autobiographical account as an example, the old

man. tries to covertly give her a message. He tells her that her
husband was flourishing as a rich man and was not amenable to any
advice. Man is so complicated that till the day of his death, he goes on
living for some revenge or the other, confronting one challenge or the
other. He wants her to understand that she had better try to
understand why her husband is living like that.

Finally, he asks her to take the whole story as a dream and hot to take
his words seriously. We can infer here that he is saddened by the
coconut grove owner’s lifestyle and wants to put an end to it by
cautioning the lady about her husband and do something to find out
why her husband was doing so. As soon as the old man finishes his
story, the first narrator reappears and tells the reader that he had seen
all this in a dream and hence he is unable to elaborate.

Glossary:

• Perceptible: visible, noticeable

• Lethargic: lazy, sluggish
• Diligent: hard-working
• Raison d’etre (n) (French): reason, the reason for existence
• Annihilate: destroy

To the Foot from its Child

Comprehension I

Come find me on feet finder! I’m a newby foot gal and just uploaded
my first album.
Question 1.
What would the foot like to be?
OR
Mention one of the things that the child’s foot likes to be.
Answer:
The foot would like to be a butterfly or an apple.

Question 2.
‘The child’s foot is not yet aware it’s a foot’ (line 1 of the poem)
conveys
a. the immense possibilities of life
b. the unrestricted nature of a child’s imagination
c. the child’s ignorance of harsh realities.
Answer:
(b) and (c) the unrestricted nature of a child’s imagination/the child’s
ignorance of harsh realities.

Question 3.
What does time teach the child?
Answer:
Time teaches the foot that it cannot fly and also cannot be a fruit on
the branch of a tree.

Question 4.
The line ‘stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders and the paths in the
rough earth’
a. indicates hardships one has to face in life.
b. provides a mere description of a road.
c. suggests the good and bad experiences of growing up.
Answer:
(a) indicates hardships one has to face in life.

Question 5.
Why does the child’s foot feel defeated?
Answer:
The child’s foot feels defeated because it has to live like a prisoner,
condemned to live in a shoe, and it can never be free to escape from
the difficulties of life.
Question 6.
Mention the words that convey the real experiences of the foot.
Answer:
The words ‘stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders, and the paths in
the rough earth’ convey the real experiences of the child’s foot.

Question 7.
Identify the lines in the poem that suggest the transformation of the
foot.
Answer:
Lines 17 – 28 suggest the transformation of the foot.
“These soft nails
of quartz ………
…………………….
……………………
a coarsening hard to accept.”

Question 8.
“….. condemned to live in a shoe” suggests that the foot is
(a) a prisoner
(b) a criminal
(c) forced to give up its dreams.
Answer:
(a) and (c) a criminal/forced to give up its dreams.

Question 9.
What does the line ‘until the whole man chooses to stop’ mean?
OR
When does the foot stop to walk in Neruda’s poem?
Answer:
The line, ‘until the whole man chooses to stop’ means until the person
dies.
OR
The foot stops to walk when the person dies.

To the Foot from its Child Comprehension II

Question 1.
We think of a foot as a part of the human body, but Neruda says ‘To
the Foot From its Child’. Why?
Answer:
We think of a foot physically as belonging to a person but Neruda sees
in a philosophical way and says “To The Foot From Its Child”. Though
it belongs to a person physically, philosophically like the child who is
the symbol of innocence, the foot also does know about its future. But
in adulthood, it faces many challenges of life and gets an overall
experience and leads a meaningful life until the end. Finally, it is
attacked by diseases and surrendered to death.

Question 2.
Pick out the expressions that suggest the child’s imagination is fertile.
Answer:
The expressions, ‘to be a butterfly’, or ‘an apple’, ‘can not fly’, ‘cannot
be a fruit bulging on the branch’ suggest that the child’s imagination is
fertile.

Question 3.
What contrasting descriptions of the foot does the poem offer? Why?
Answer:
The poet Pablo Neruda presents a contrasting description of a child’s
foot and an adult’s foot so as to delineate the changes that are seen in
a person’s life as he or she changes from an infant into an adult, until
his death. Initially, the child or the infant’s foot has soft nails of quartz
and its toes are tiny, soft, and rounded at the tips like the petals of
some flowers.

As the child learns to walk and starts walking on stones, bits of glass,
streets, ladders and the rough surface of the earth, the child’s foot
becomes aware of its role. It learns that it is a foot and cannot become
a butterfly or a bulging fruit on a tree. Once it realizes that it is a foot,
it is defeated in realizing its aspirations and gets imprisoned in a shoe.
Inside the shoe, it tries to understand the world in its own way, alone,
like a blind man groping in the dark. During this period its soft nails of
quartz become opaque, are bunched together, and look like eyeless
reptiles with triangular heads, grow callused, and are covered with
faint volcanoes of death.

These changes happen because, once the child’s foot becomes an

adult’s foot, it walks as the foot of a man or woman and keeps walking
in the fields as a farmer, or as a grocer in the markets, or as a miner in
the mines or as a church minister or a government worker, until its
death. Thus, the foot experiences the hardships of life and loses its
‘soft’ and flowery petal-like form.

Question 4.
The poem begins with the idea that a child’s foot is not yet aware that
it is afoot; at the end, the foot is unaware that it had ceased to be
afoot. What is the poet trying to convey through these statements?
OR
Explain the similarity between the foot’s early life and its end as
depicted in ‘To the Foot From its Child’.
Answer:
In this poem, ‘foot’ is a metaphor for ‘life’. The poet Neruda using the
foot as a metaphor to explore ‘life’ through its various stages from
infancy through childhood until death.

When the poem begins, the ‘foot’ is the infant’s foot which suggests
man’s ‘childhood’. The child’s foot does not know that it is a foot. This
state refers to the innocence of childhood where ‘Man’ has many
dreams and aspirations. The child’s wish to become a butterfly or an
apple stands for man’s aspirations and dreams. Once the child’s foot
enters the real world, it starts walking over stones, bits of glass,
streets, ladders, and the rough surface of the earth.

Thus, as the child grows over a period of time, the child’s foot realizes
that it is only a ‘foot’ and cannot become fruit or a butterfly. Then,
since it has to serve its role as afoot, it is imprisoned in a shoe. Inside
the shoe, it tries to understand the world alone, in isolation. The
child’s foot, as it grows old, serves as the foot of a man or a woman
working in the fields, or market or mines or ministries and toils hard
day and night until it dies. When it dies, the foot loses its human
awareness and that is why when it is buried the foot again gets its
child-like innocence. It again dreams of becoming an apple or a
butterfly. It is this journey from childhood through adulthood and the
final death that the poem focuses on.

Pablo Neruda is saying that life and death are part of a continuous
cycle. Secondly, the poet wishes to say that the freedom of childhood is
lost when a person becomes an adult and faces a life of constant work
and struggle. Thus, life takes away people’s free spirits until they are
freed again by death.
Question 5.
How does Neruda describe the busy life of the individual as
represented by the foot?
Answer:
The ‘foot’ is used as a metaphor for life and the foot refers to the foot
of an individual. Once the child develops into an adult, the adult keeps
on walking without respite either as a man or as a woman. The
individual spends his life working either as a farmer in a field, or as a
miner in mines, or as a salesperson in the market or as a government
servant or as a church minister. This way the individual toils hard in
society until his death.

Question 6.
What does the last stanza of the poem mean? Can you think of
parallels in nature?
Answer:
In this poem, ‘foot’ is used as a metaphor for ‘life’. Life refers to the
life of a human being as seen from his infancy until his death. Pablo
Neruda gives his view of ‘life’ and ‘death’ in this poem. The poem does
not begin with the beginning of life in the womb of its mother but
from the time after it has taken birth on the earth. The poem covers
the period of its infancy to death and beyond. The ‘foot’ as portrayed
in the poem refers to the child’s foot. Since a child is not aware of its
limitations and lives in a dream world of imagination, the child’s foot
wishes to fly like a butterfly or become a bulging apple on the branch
of a tree. Over a period of time, it realizes that it is only a foot and its
role is only to serve as a foot.

The poet then refers to the ‘adult food’ after death or an individual
after death. Once a human being dies, he or she is normally buried. It
is this burial of the dead body of the individual that is expressed in the
line “it descended underground unaware, for there, everything was
dark”. Once the ‘foot’ or the individual dies, it loses its human
awareness and goes back to its child-like innocence. This is expressed
in the sentence ‘It never knew it had ceased to be a foot’. That is why,
like a child’s foot which is not aware that it is only a ‘foot’, it aspires
to become a butterfly and fly or become an apple.

One can find several parallels in nature. All living beings born on the
earth pass through the cycle of birth and death. A seed germinates to
give a seedling. The seedling grows into an adult plant, may become a
tree or a shrub, and die. Its seeds bring a similar plant to life again.
Similarly, the eggs of animals hatch and bring forth their young ones
which grow, mature, lay eggs and later die. Their eggs bring back
similar animals to life again.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
Examine how Neruda’s poem works out the contrast between colourful
dreams and the humdrum reality of life.
OR
The poem ‘To the Foot From its Child’ represents the conflict between
illusion and reality. Elaborate.
Answer:
The poem, ‘To the Foot from its Child’, presents a contrast between
colourful dreams and the humdrum reality of life. The poet conveys his
view of life through his description of a foot. The foot is a metaphor
for expressing the crushing of a child’s spirit through the challenges
and restrictions that life places upon him. One can undoubtedly infer
that the poem is basically a criticism of how people force children to
grow in society and forget all their dreams and imaginations.

With a view to delineating the forces that capture the child’s freedom
and aspirations, the poet begins the poem making a statement directly
that the child’s foot, which is not aware that it is a foot, would like to
be a butterfly or an apple. From this one can infer that man’s spirit
dreams of enjoying unlimited freedom in this world but it comes to
know that it cannot enjoy unlimited freedom and has to pass through
several obstacles before it matures into an adult.

But, in time, stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders, paths in the
rough earth go on teaching the foot that it cannot fly. As the infant is
growing and developing into a mature adult, he is exposed to the harsh
realities of life which are metaphorically expressed as stones, bits of
glass, ladder, street, etc. These are the problems and obstacles an
individual has to face. Thus, once the child becomes a boy, an
adolescent, and an adult, the problems of life teach the individual that
he is a ‘mortal’ and his powers are limited and can only serve the
society as a member like other human beings. This sense is expressed
in the line ‘that it cannot fly, cannot become a fruit and is defeated,
falls in the battle, is a prisoner condemned to live in a shoe’. Here, the
‘shoe’ can be taken to mean the human society that regulates his mind
and activities.

Wearing the shoe refers to the infant becoming a mature adult. Soon
after entering adulthood, the individual explores ‘life’ within the shoe.
He loses touch with the reality of the outside world but experiences
the world through the eyes of society. This again means that a lot of
restrictions are imposed on the individual. Now that he is an adult he
keeps on walking without respite through the fields, mines, markets,
and ministries. The line ‘this foot toils in its shoe, scarcely taking time
to bare itself in love or sleep’ expresses the fact that once he realizes
that he is a man destined to live in a society, he learns to face the
humdrum realities of life. He has no time to let his human spirit
indulge in ‘love’ and ‘sleep’. He is a prisoner and keeps on working
until he dies. Once he dies his spirit loses its human awareness and is
once again as free as the children.

Question 2.
Neruda’s poem is a salute to the ordinary human being, who continues
with life braving all odds. Do you agree? Give reasons.
Answer:
Yes. In this poem, Neruda tries to delineate the journey of human ‘life’
from its infancy to death and beyond. With a view to expressing the
changes that the ‘life spirit’ undergoes through its journey from an
infant to an adult and beyond death, Neruda uses ‘foot’ as a metaphor.
That is why he calls ‘life’ during infancy as the infant foot and the life
spirit of an adult as the adult foot.

The whole poem can be summed up as the ‘surrender’ of life force to

societal pressures. During infancy, the child’s spirit dreams of infinite
possibilities and hence dreams of becoming a fruit or a butterfly. Once
it starts growing in society the harsh realities of life expressed as
‘stones, bits of glass, ladder, and rough surface of the earth’, teach the
infant spirit that it is a ‘foot’ which means ‘you have a role’ to play in
the society and ‘you are an individual subservient to the whims and
fancies of the society’. Once the infant spirit gradually accepts its
defeat and tries to live in conformity with the norms of the society, it
becomes an adult. This is expressed metaphorically as the ‘foot being
imprisoned in a shoe’.

Once you become a member of the society you learn to live like others,
giving up your pleasures and gradually you get to know the realities of
life. You go on slogging throughout your life without indulging in ‘love
and sleep’ which symbolically represent your rights on this earth. You
forego your rights and live like an adult and serve the society until you
die and you get your freedom after your death. As long as your life
spirit is in your body you have human awareness and you are aware of
your limitations. Once you die you lose human awareness and your
spirit is free to enjoy its freedom.

In the poem, Neruda does not speak of the possibilities of the human
spirit ‘rebelling’. Nor does he say that human spirit is being crushed by
oppressive forces; the human spirit does not commit suicide. On the
contrary, he describes the journey of the human spirit as an infant’s
foot until it becomes an adult foot and after its death how it becomes
free again. From this, it can be argued that Neruda’s poem is a salute
to the human spirit for braving all odds and completing one’s cycle of
life and death peacefully, and not rebelliously.

Question 3.
Is Neruda criticizing how society crushes childhood dreams and forces
people into rigid moulds?
OR
“Society crushes dreams of individuals and condemns them to live in
captivity.” Explain with reference to ‘To the Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
Yes, to some extent. In this narrative-descriptive poem, Neruda has
attempted to delineate the predicament of man as a prisoner enslaved
by society. Using ‘foot’ as a metaphor for ‘life’, he narrates the journey
of life from that of an ‘infant foot’ to an ‘adult foot’ until its death and
after. In the first two lines itself, the poet declares the wish of
childhood. The infant’s foot is not aware that it is a ‘foot’ and hence
would like to be a butterfly or an apple. These two objects – ‘butterfly’
and ‘apple’ – together suggest that the infant’s foot thinks of complete
freedom to become whatever it wants. Being born a human being it
cannot aspire to become a butterfly or an apple.

From this, we can infer that there is some restriction imposed on us by

birth itself. This is expressed in the line ‘it is not aware that it is
afoot’. The infant food, once it starts growing, is exposed to the ways
and means of the world. We live in human society and nature, the
words ‘stones, bits of glass, streets, ladders, and the paths in the rough
earth’ refer to man’s ways of living. This exposure to man’s style of
living brings awareness in the child that it is a foot. The poet suggests
that the infant’s foot is engaged in a battle with the society and ‘adults’
crush the child’s playful spirit and imprison it in a shoe. This stage
refers to the way the child gets acclimatized to living in human
society.

Once it wears the ‘shoe’, which means, it accepts its identity as ‘man’,
a member of the human society, he starts exploring the human world
alone, groping in the dark like a blind man. There is a difference in the
way an adult explores the world. As a child, it thinks of infinite
possibilities; but, as an adult, it is aware of its limitations. This means
the society has been successful in crushing childhood dreams and
forcing the life spirit into the rigid moulds of society.

Since the whole poem only describes various changes undergone by

the human spirit, we cannot say that Neruda is criticizing society for
its stranglehold on the human spirit. Secondly, Neruda also says that
the child’s foot does not know that it is a foot. This means, even
Neruda knows that the child is born a human being and is going to live
in human society. Thirdly, nowhere in the poem does Neruda say
anything against societal forces. However, Neruda sympathises with
‘Man’ at one point. He says, ‘this foot toils in its shoe scarcely taking
time to bare itself in love or sleep’. These lines indicate that Neruda
only sympathises with man’s predicament and does not criticize
society.

Question 4.
‘Foot’ is a keyword in the poem. Comment on Neruda’s skillful use of
the word and its associations in terms of imagery to convey his ideas.
OR
Highlight the imagery used to bring out life’s hardships that deform
the child’s foot.
Answer:
In this poem, as the title ‘To the Foot from its Child’ suggests, ‘foot’ is
the keyword in the poem. The poet uses ‘foot’ as a metaphor for his
view of ‘life’. The poet personifies the ‘foot’ and focuses his attention
on the ‘life’ of man, using the ‘foot’ as the protagonist. ‘Life’ begins in
infancy and so even in the poem, ‘life’ begins as an infant’s foot.

It is natural that children, who are naive and innocent, do not know
that their foot is meant for walking and it has a function to discharge.
Through the use of the ‘foot’ as a metaphor, the poet cleverly brings
out the battle between harsh realities of life symbolically expressed as
stones, streets, ladder, bits of glass, etc. The child dreams of becoming
a butterfly or an apple. So naturally, the metaphor of foot helps the
poet to convey his meaning through an imaginary battle fought
between the child’s foot and the surfaces on which the child is likely to
walk.

The child’s foot is sure to be hurt when it walks on a street laden with
stones and bits of glass and paths in the rough earth and when it
climbs the ladder pressing his soft foot on the pointed edges of the
rungs of the ladder. Then it realizes that it is a ‘foot’. Here, the poet
wants the reader to know that the adult world fights against the spirit
of the child and makes him become aware of his role as an individual
in human society. At this stage, the foot is imprisoned in a shoe, which
means, the child’s consciousness reaches maturity and adulthood.

Adulthood is now represented as ‘adult foot’ enclosed in a shoe. The

adult foot gropes in the dark and learns about the harsh realities of life
like a blind man. Here, it means, unlike the child’s foot which had
more .freedom than the adult’s, the adult foot has to work in a rigid
mould given by the society. The ‘shoe’ represents this framework
given by society. Here again, the ‘foot’ as a metaphor comes to his
help. Therefore, the poet chooses ‘shoe’ as representing societal norms
and traditions.

The blind adult foot now walks and works without respite until he
dies. The different professions of men are mentioned. The adult foot
may be a man’s foot or a woman’s foot and keeps walking through
fields, markets, mines, and ministries, and finally toils hard scarcely
finding time to enjoy ‘love’ and ‘sleep’. Here also the metaphor of the
‘foot’ facilitates the expression in the line ‘scarcely taking time to bare
itself in love or sleep’. Finally, it ceases to be a ‘foot’ when a man
chooses to stop working. Thus, the ‘foot’ as a metaphor has been
skillfully used by the poet to evoke the right imagery to suit his
meaning.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:
Question 1.
What did the foot find when it descended underground?
Answer:
Everything to be dark (or darkness).

Question 2.
What would like to be a butterfly or an apple in the poem ‘To the Foot
from its Child’?
Answer:
Foot/Child’s foot.

Question 3.
What does the foot do throughout life?
OR
Mention any one of the places through which the foot walks, in ‘To the
Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
Throughout its life, the foot keeps walking without respite. It walks
through fields, mines, markets, and ministries until death.

Question 4.
What does the phrase ‘condemned to live in a shoe’ mean?
Answer:
The phrase ‘condemned to live in a shoe’ means it has to live like other
human beings, in human society.

Question 5.
Where did the foot descend after it ceased to be?
Answer:
It descended underground.

Question 6.
What did the foot find when it descended underground?
Answer:
When the foot descended underground, it found everything dark there.

Question 7.
What form do the detailed toes of a child take on as they grow?
OR
What form do the petal-like soft toes take inside the shoes?
Answer:
The petaied toes of a child grow bunched and out of trim, take on the
form of eyeless reptiles with triangular heads, like worms.

Question 8.
What do the soft nails of quartz change themselves into?
OR
How do the soft nails of the foot change as the child grows up?
Answer:
The ‘soft nails of quartz’ in the child’s foot gradually grow hard and
change themselves into an opaque substance ‘hard as horn’.

Question 9.
Where is the child’s foot condemned to live?
OR
Where is the defeated foot condemned to live?
Answer:
The child’s foot is condemned to live in a shoe.

Question 10.
What teaches the foot that it cannot fly?
Answer:
As the child’s foot grows in time and starts walking on stones and bits
of glass, streets, ladders, etc., it learns that it cannot fly.

Question 11.
Where did the foot descend?
Answer:
The foot descended underground after its death.

Question 12.
What does the foot not realize at the end of the poem?
Answer:
At the end of the poem, the foot does not realize that it is dead and has
ceased to be a foot.

Question 13.
What, according to the speaker, is the child’s foot not yet aware in ‘To
the Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the child’s foot is not yet aware that it
is a foot.

Question 14.
What is out of touch with its fellow in the poem, ‘To the Foot from its
Child’?
Answer:
In the poem, ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the child’s foot is out of touch
with its fellow.

Question 15.
Who feels out life like a blind man in the poem, ‘To the Foot from its
Child’?
Answer:
The child’s foot having been imprisoned in a shoe feels out life like a
blind man.

Question 16.
What are the toes of the child compared to, in ‘To the Foot from its
Child’?
Answer:
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the tiny toes are compared to the petals
of a flower.

Question 17.
What does the blind thing refer to, in ‘To the Foot from its Child’?
Answer:
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the blind thing refers to the child’s foot
imprisoned in a shoe.

Question 18.
Mention any one of the places through which the foot walks, in ‘To the
Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the foot walks through markets.

Question 19.
How long does the foot walk, in ‘To the Foot from its Child’?
Answer:
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the foot walks until the whole man
chooses to stop and descends underground.

Question 20.
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the foot scarcely takes time to bare
itself in
(a) rest or peace
(b) love or sleep
(c) death or dream.
Answer:
(b) love or sleep.

Question 21.
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, when descending underground, the foot
finds everything
(a) dark
(b) rough
(c) coarse.
Answer:
(a) dark.

Question 22.
In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the paths in the rough earth go on
teaching the foot that it cannot
(a) become a butterfly
(b) bunch together
(c) live in a shoe.
Answer:
(a) become a butterfly.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words

each:

Question 1.
Bring out the contrast between illusion and reality in ‘To the Foot from
its Child’.
Answer:
Pablo Neruda presents his view of ‘life’ using the ‘foot’ as a metaphor
for life. He explores life’s experiences as a traveller beginning as a
child’s foot until it grows into an adult foot and finally dies. During the
course of this journey from life to death as a cycle, the poet tries to
delineate man’s ‘dreams’ and how they get crushed in the world by
outside forces.

Initially, the infant’s foot is unaware that it is a ‘foot’ and is under the
illusion that it can fly like a butterfly or be an apple on a tree. The very
same infant’s foot then realizes that it can only serve as a ‘foot’ and it
cannot fly like a butterfly or be a fruit. This is the reality. The infant’s
foot thus, once it enters the society, is made aware of the reality and it
loses its illusions.

Question 2.
Why does the poet refer to the foot’ as being a blind man?
Answer:
The infant’s foot tries to combat reality and faces stones, streets, bits
of glass, ladder, paths in the rough earth, which teach the infant’s foot
that it is only a ‘foot’ and they take him ‘prisoner’. The foot gets
condemned to live inside a shoe. The shoe here stands for the society,
the outside forces which discipline the individual in conformity with
the norms and customs of the society. The poet refers to the ‘foot as
being a blind man’ because once he is put inside the shoe he loses
touch with its fellow and is not free to face reality as he »

Question 3.
Explain how the poet uses a foot as a metaphor for life.
OR
Describe how the foot represents an individual’s life, according to the
poem.
Answer:
In the poem, Neruda uses ‘foot’ as a metaphor for ‘life’. We see
different stages in life beginning with infancy or childhood, maturity,
adulthood, old age, and finally death. These stages have been
delineated in the poem using ‘foot’ as a metaphor. The poem begins
with the infant’s foot. Here, like all children, the infant’s foot does not
even know that it is only a foot. It has dream-like imagination and
aspirations. That is why it dreams of flying like a butterfly with
absolute freedom and enjoy the pleasures of life which are expressed
as a wish to become an apple.

However, once the child’s foot comes to face the external world, it
becomes aware that it is only a ‘foot’ and cannot become a butterfly.
Then it matures into an adult and from adulthood grows old and dies.
The poet describes how the child’s foot which has soft, petal-like toes
gets transformed into an adult foot which has toes which resemble
eyeless reptiles, and are covered with nails which are calloused and
bear faint volcanoes of death.

Finally, having become an adult, it slogs throughout life, relentlessly

working in fields, markets, mines and ministries without respite and
not enjoying the pleasures of life until it dies and is buried. Thus, the
‘foot’ as a metaphor serves the poet to express his view of life.

Question 4.
Why does the foot feel trapped and stifled inside the shoe?
OR
What happens to the foot when it is condemned to live in a shoe?
OR
Bring out the life of the foot in a shoe as presented in ‘To the Foot
from its Child’.
Answer:
The child’s foot is born with a great deal of zest for life and hence it
wishes to become an apple on a tree or fly like a bird. But, gradually,
as it starts growing, it realizes that it is a ‘foot’ only and cannot
become anything else. Then, its spirit loses its battle against the
world. It is taken prisoner and is condemned to live in a shoe. Now,
having been imprisoned in a shoe, it tries to understand the world, in
its own way. It is alone and cannot communicate with its counterpart
and gropes blindly in the dark like a blind man. Since it is not in the
open, it is not in touch with reality directly.

The society decides what it should understand about ‘life’ or the world
outside. Whatever ideas it forms about life have to be formed in the
confined space of the shoe. It is here that the child’s spirit becomes
aware of its limitations as a human being and understands its role as a
social being in human society. That is why it feels trapped and stifled
inside the shoe.

Question 5.
Explain the instances that make the child’s foot aware of the obstacles
and hardships.
Answer:
The poem narrates the journey of a child’s foot until it becomes an
adult foot and beyond until it dies. The journey of the child’s foot is
similar to the ‘journey of life’. The poet personifies ‘foot’ and focuses?
his attention on the ‘life’ of man, using the foot as the protagonist.
‘Life’ begins in infancy and so even in this poem, ‘life’ begins as an
infant’s foot. It is natural that children, who are naive and innocent,
do not know that their foot is meant for walking and it has a function
to discharge. But, in its innocence, the child dreams of becoming a
butterfly or an apple. Therefore, when the child starts walking on a
street laden with stones, and bits of glass and paths in the rough earth,
the child’s foot is naturally hurt.

Similarly, when it climbs the ladder pressing his soft foot on the
pointed edges of the rungs of the ladder, it is hurt and it realizes that
it is a foot. Thus, using the metaphor of ‘foot’, the poet conveys the
imaginary battle fought between the individual and the realities of life
one has to face in society. At this stage, the foot is imprisoned in a
’shoe’. The ‘shoe’ represents the societal norms and traditions. The
‘blind’ adult foot now walks and works without respite until it dies.
The different roles or professions have taken up by an individual in
society either as a man or woman are expressed metaphorically in the
line:

“up above, down below, through fields, mines, markets, and

ministries”.

The individual toils hard, scarcely finding time to enjoy ‘love and
sleep’. Here also the metaphor of the ‘foot’ enables the poet to express
his ideas as seen in the line:

“Scarcely taking time to bare itself in love or sleep”.

The impact of life’s hardships can be seen in the deformed toes of the
child’s foe.. The soft nails of quartz become opaque, are bunched
together, and look like eyeless reptiles wit1 triangular heads, grow
callused, and are covered with faint volcanoes of death.

Question 6.
How are the contrasting image of a child’s foot and foot confined to a
shoe brought out in the poem?
OR
Society crushes childhood dreams and confines them to society and its
norms. Explain with reference to the poem ’To the Foot from its Child’.
OR
Explain how the foot toils in its shoe until the whole man chooses to
stop in ‘To the Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
The child’s foot is naive, and innocent and not yet aware that it is only
a foot. That is why it wishes to be a butterfly or an apple. But, as the
foot grows, it starts walking and it trods on stones, bits of glass,
streets, ladders, and the paths in the rough earth. It soon realizes that
it is only a ‘foot’ and it cannot fly or cannot become a bulging apple on
a tree. It loses its state of innocence. Its spirit gets crushed and is
defeated in realizing its aspirations.

With this awareness and maturity, the child’s foot gets imprisoned in a
shoe and gradually attains adulthood. Unlike a child, an adult cannot
live as he/she likes. He/She has to live as a member of the society
which imposes its own rigid framework on the individual. The shoe
symbolizes societal norms and traditions. Inside the shoe, it tries to
understand the world alone in isolation. It serves as the foot of a man
or woman working in the fields, or market or mines or ministries and
toils hard day and night until it dies. The poet wishes to say that the
freedom of childhood is lost when a person becomes an adult and faces
a life of constant work and struggle.

The impact of this life of struggle and hardships is seen in the

differences one notices in a child’s foot and the foot of an adult. The
soft nails of quartz seen in an infant’s foot become opaque, are
bunched together, and look like eyeless reptiles with triangular heads,
grow callused, and are covered with faint volcanoes of death.

Question 7.
How does the poet describe the monotonous life of the individual
confined in a shoe?
OR
How does the poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’ bring out the plight of
a person dictated by
society?
It is natural that children, who are naive and innocent, do not know
that their foot is meant for walking and the ‘foot’ has a function to
discharge. Through the use of the ‘foot’ as a metaphor, the poet
cleverly brings out the battle between harsh realities of life
symbolically expressed as stones, streets, ladder, bits of glass, etc. The
child dreams of becoming a butterfly or an apple. So naturally, the
metaphor of foot helps the poet to convey his meaning through an
imaginary battle fought between the child’s foot and the surfaces on
which the child is likely to walk.

The child’s foot is sure to be hurt when it walks on a street laden with
stones and bits of glass and paths in the rough earth and when it
climbs the ladder pressing his soft foot on the pointed edges of the
rungs of the ladder. Then it realizes that it is a ‘foot’. Here, the poet
wants the reader to know that the adult world fights against the spirit
of the child and makes him become aware of his role as an individual
in human society.

At this stage, the foot is imprisoned in a shoe, which means, the child’s
consciousness reaches maturity and adulthood. Adulthood is now
represented as ‘adult foot’ enclosed in a shoe. The adult foot gropes in
the dark and learns about the harsh realities of life like a blind man.
Here, it means, unlike the child’s foot which had more freedom than
the adult’s, the adult foot has to work in a rigid mould given by the
society. The ‘shoe’ represents this framework given by society. Here
again, the ‘foot’ as a metaphor comes to his help. Therefore, the poet
chooses ‘shoe’ as representing societal norms and traditions.

The blind adult foot now walks and works without respite until he
dies. The different professions of men are mentioned. The adult foot
may be a man’s foot or a woman’s foot and keeps walking through
fields, markets, mines, and ministries, and finally toils hard scarcely
finding time to enjoy ‘love’ and ‘sleep’. Here also the metaphor of the
‘foot’ facilitates the expression in the line ‘scarcely taking time to bare
itself in love or sleep’. Finally, it ceases to be a ‘foot’ when a man
chooses to stop working. Thus, the ‘foot’ as a metaphor has been
skillfully used by the poet to evoke the right imagery to suit his
meaning.

Question 8.
Trace the stages of the foot’s transformation as portrayed in ‘To the
Foot from its Child’.
OR
Bring out the changes that the foot undergoes after being condemned
to live in a shoo-in ‘To the Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
‘To the Foot from its Child’ narrates the journey of a child’s foot until
it becomes an adult foot and beyond until it dies.

In the first stanza, there are only two lines which express the
innocence of the child and its wishes. The child wants to be a butterfly
or an apple, but society is harsh and forces the child to become a
responsible adult doing responsible adult things.

In the next stanza, the child’s foot walks in the real world and
experiences the harsh realities of life. The words, ‘stones, bits of glass,
streets, ladders, paths in the rough surface of the earth’ symbolize the
forces in society.

When the child’s foot encounters them in a battle, it learns that its role
is that of a foot only and it cannot become a butterfly or an apple. The
foot is now imprisoned in a shoe, where it grows into an adult. It gets
exposed to reality as filtered through the shoe. It suffers loneliness
and gradually learns the realities of life groping in the dark like a blind
man.

During this life inside the shoe, it loses all the beauty of a child’s foot.
Its soft, nice, petal-like toes lose their beauty, become hard, callused,
and look like eyeless reptiles.

The ‘foot’, now has grown into an adult foot, keeps on walking, works
without respite in fields, markets, mines, and ministries. It toils hard
giving up all its worldly pleasures and finally dies. It is then buried.
But, as it descends into the ground, it loses its human awareness and
does not know that it is not even a foot. So, in its spirit, it is like the
child’s foot and dreams of becoming a butterfly or an apple.

Thus, the poet depicts his view of life in the metaphor of a foot, with a
clear progression from infancy, to maturity, to adulthood, old age, and
finally death.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
The poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’ depicts the progression from
childhood through adulthood to old age and finally, death. Discuss.
OR
The poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’ is a comment on the journey of
human life. Elucidate.
OR
Trace the stages of the foot’s transformation as portrayed in ‘To the
Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
In the poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’, Pablo Neruda expresses his
view of life using the metaphor of ‘foot’. The poem begins with a
description of the child’s naivety. The child’s foot does not know that it
is a foot. It dreams of unlimited possibilities. It wants to become a
butterfly enjoying unbridled freedom and enjoying the pleasures of life
symbolized by the apple.

The poet expresses the experience of the child’s foot when it is

exposed to reality in the real world. It walks over stones, streets,
ladders, bits of glass, paths in the rough surface of the earth. All these
symbolically stand for obstacles, problems, difficulties, and hurdles
that one encounters in real life. When the child’s foot faces these
realities, it attempts to fight them, and it becomes aware that it was in
an illusory world and it does not have infinite possibilities in life but
has to serve as a foot only.

It is also convinced that it cannot become a butterfly or an apple. The

outside forces capture him and he is imprisoned in a shoe. Now, from
that of an infant’s foot, it has grown to be an adult and now the adult
has been forced to live like any human individual.

Then, we get a description of the changes that the child’s foot

undergoes inside the shoe. Its nice, soft, petal-like toes lose their
‘lustre’ and the nails become harder, the toes grow bunched and look
like eyeless reptiles, grow callused and are covered with faint
volcanoes of death. Inside the shoe, the adult foot is like a blind man
groping in the dark. This state depicts the helplessness of man when
he faces the harsh realities of life as a member of society.

He slogs without respite and keeps on walking, until his death. He

works in fields, markets, mines, and ministries either as a man’s or a
woman’s foot. He does not find time to enjoy his rightful pleasures of
life like ‘love’ and ‘sleep’. Finally, one day the foot ceases to walk when
the man dies.
When he is buried the foot goes underground. But now he does not
know that he is no longer a ‘foot’. In his consciousness, he is equal to
the child’s consciousness and hence he again dreams of becoming a
butterfly or an apple. Thus, the poet depicts his view of life, tracing its
characteristics through different stages like infancy, reaching
maturity, adulthood, old age, and finally death. Thus, the poem also
brings out a cyclical view of life – birth, infancy, maturity, adulthood,
old age, death, and rebirth.

Question 2.
Describe the various stages that the foot goes through and what the
foot learns and how it changes at each stage.
Answer:
In the poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’, Pablo Neruda expresses his
view of life using the metaphor of ‘foot’. The poem begins with a
description of the child’s naivety. The child’s foot does not know that it
is a foot. It dreams of unlimited possibilities. It wants to become a
butterfly enjoying unbridled freedom and enjoying the pleasures of life
symbolized by the apple.

The poet expresses the experience of the child’s foot when it is

exposed to reality in the real world. It walks over stones, streets,
ladders, bits of glass, paths in the rough surface of the earth. All these
symbolically stand for obstacles, problems, difficulties, and hurdles
that one encounters in real life. When the child’s foot faces these
realities, it attempts to fight them, and it becomes aware that it was in
an illusory world and it does not have infinite possibilities in life but
has to serve as a foot only. It is also convinced that it cannot become a
butterfly or an apple. The outside forces capture him and he is
imprisoned in a shoe. Now, from that of an infant’s foot, it has grown
to be an adult and now the adult has been forced to live like any
human individual.

Then, we get a description of the changes that the child’s foot

undergoes inside the shoe. Its nice, soft, petal-like toes lose their
‘lustre’ and the nails become harder, the toes grow bunched and look
like eyeless reptiles, grow callused and are covered with faint
volcanoes of death. Inside the shoe, the adult foot is like a blind man
groping in the dark. This state depicts the helplessness of man when
he faces the harsh realities of life as a member of society. He slogs
without respite and keeps on walking, until his death. He works in
fields, markets, mines, and ministries either as a man’s or a woman’s
foot. He does not find time to enjoy his rightful pleasures of life like
‘love’ and ‘sleep’. Finally, one day the foot ceases to walk when the
man dies.

When he is buried the foot goes underground. But now he does not
know that he is no longer a ‘foot’. In his consciousness, he is equal to
the child’s consciousness and hence he again dreams of becoming a
butterfly or an apple. Thus, the poet depicts his view of life, tracing its
characteristics through different stages like infancy, reaching
maturity, adulthood, old age, and finally death. Thus, the poem also
brings out a cyclical view of life – birth, infancy, maturity, adulthood,
old age, death, and rebirth.

Question 3.
Bring out the stages of hardships faced by the foot after being confined
in a shoe.
OR
Explain the various stages of hardships faced by the foot after being
confined in a shoe.
OR
Describe the different stages of transformation of the foot after it is
condemned to live in a shoe.
OR
The foot is forced to play various roles and shoulder many
responsibilities. Explain with reference to ‘To the Foot from its Child’.
Answer:
As the child learns to walk and starts walking on stones, bits of glass,
streets, ladders and the rough surface of the earth, the child’s foot
becomes aware of its role. It learns that it is a foot and cannot become
a butterfly or a bulging fruit on a tree. Once it realizes that it is a foot,
it is defeated in realizing its aspirations and gets imprisoned in a shoe.
Inside the shoe, it tries to understand the world in its own way, alone,
like a blind man groping in the dark. During this period its soft nails of
quartz become opaque, are bunched together, and look like eyeless
reptiles with triangular heads, grow callused, and are covered with
faint volcanoes of death.
These changes happen because, once the child’s foot becomes an
adult’s foot, it walks as the foot of a man or woman and keeps walking
in the fields as a farmer, or as a grocer in the markets, or as a miner in
the mines or as a church minister or a government worker, until its
death. Thus, the foot experiences the hardships of life and loses its
‘soft’ and flowery petal-like form.

Question 4.
“The norms of the social control a man just as the foot is enclosed in a
shoe”. How is this depicted in ‘To the Foot from its Child’?
Answer:
The poet Neruda uses the ‘foot’ as a metaphor and conveys his view of
life. Thus, by personifying the foot, the poet expects the readers to
compare the experience of the foot to the whole person’s hopes and
dreams as well as to the realities of everyday life. By and large, one
can say that the poem is basically a criticism of how people force
children to grow in society forgetting all their dreams and aspirations.
The child wants to be a butterfly or an apple, but society is harsh and
forces the child to become a responsible adult doing responsible adult
things.

As a child’s foot, it has relatively more freedom than the adult’s foot.
As the infant’s foot starts walking in the real world outside, it steps
over “stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders and the paths in the
rough earth’’. It realizes that its role is that of a foot and it cannot
become a butterfly or an apple. The moment it discovers that it is only
a foot, its spirit loses its battle against the world. It surrenders itself
to the dictates of the society. It is taken prisoner and is condemned to
live in a shoe.

It also means that the child’s spirit becomes aware of its limitations as
a human being and understands its roles, duties, and responsibilities
as a social being in human society. It is true that “the foot is a symbol
for the helplessness of an individual in the vice-like grip of an
insensitive system”. This meaning is captured in the phrase
‘condemned to live in a shoe’. Once it gets imprisoned, it has to slog
there until it dies. The society decides what it should understand about
‘life’ or the world outside. Gradually, the foot adapts itself to its world
and learns to cope with the harsh realities of life.

The adult foot gets trapped in the routines of everyday life or the
humdrum commonality of existence. It is now less capable of
enjoyment and finds life difficult in every walk of life. It slogs and
slogs either as a man’s foot or as a woman’s foot working in the field
or market or mines or ministries day and night, scarcely finding time
to enjoy the pleasure of love or sleep. It works without respite and
finally meets with death.

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) is the pen name and, later legal name of the
Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes
Basoalto. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Neruda became known as a poet while still a teenager. He wrote in a

variety of styles including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly
political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and erotically- charged
love poems such as the ones in his 1924 collection ‘Twenty Love Poems
and a Song of Despair’.

Neruda’s poetry is renowned for its fantastic imagery and surreal use
of language. The surrealists attempted to express in art and literature
the workings of the unconscious mind and to synthesize. these
workings with the conscious mind.

Neruda believes that our most intense experience of impermanence is

not death, but our own isolation among the living. It is probably this
idea that gets reflected in the poem ‘To the Foot from its Child’.
According to Neruda, “it was through metaphor, not rational analysis
and argument, that the mysteries of the world could be revealed”.

Background:

‘To the Foot from its Child’ is the translated English version of the
original poem ‘Al Pie Desde Su Nino’ written by Pablo Neruda and
translated into English by Alastair Reid. [The poem appears in the
collection of poems titled ‘Estravagaris’ published in 1958.
‘Extravagaris’ (Book of Vagaries) is the English title given by Reid].

‘To the Foot from its Child’ by Pablo Neruda is a narrative-descriptive

poem which narrates the journey of a child’s foot until it becomes an
adult foot and beyond until it dies. Besides narrating the experiences
of the adult foot until its death, the poem also describes the changes
that the child’s foot undergoes until it becomes an adult foot.
The journey of the child’s foot is similar to the ‘journey of life’. The
poet uses the ‘foot’ as a metaphor and conveys his view of life. This
metaphor helps the poet to convey the idea of how the child’s spirit
gets crushed through the challenges and restrictions that life places
upon him. Thus, by personifying the foot, the poet expects the reader
to compare the experience of the foot to the whole person’s hopes and
dreams as well as to the realities of everyday life. By and large one can
infer that the poem is basically a criticism of how people force
children to grow in society and forget all their dreams and aspirations.
The child wants to be a butterfly or an apple, but society is harsh and
forces the kid to become a responsible adult doing responsible adult
things.

The transition of the child’s foot into an adult foot and then until its
death can be studied under four stages conveniently. The four stages
are

1. Childhood
2. Experiencing Reality
3. Maturity and
4. Death and Rebirth.

A brief description of each stage is given below:

1. Childhood (Lines 1 – 2):

The first stanza describes the characteristic features of the child’s foot.
It is an infant’s foot and it does not know that it is a ‘foot’ at all. It
lacks awareness and hence it dreams of unlimited possibilities. It
would like to be a ‘butterfly’ or an ‘apple’. The foot has an optimistic
view of life.

2. Experiencing Reality (Lines 3 – 16):

Here the poet highlights the impact of time on the child. As the infant’s
foot starts growing in the outside world, it begins to experience the
harshness and pain of life while walking. When it steps over, “stones
and bits of glass, / streets, ladders / and the paths in the rough earth,
it learns that its role is that of a foot the same way people become
aware of their role in life. It realizes that it can neither fly like a
butterfly nor become a bulged apple on the branch of a tree. The
child’s foot has now discovered that it is only a ‘foot’, its spirit loses its
battle against the world, is taken prisoner, and is condemned to live in
a shoe. It also means that the child’s spirit becomes aware of its
limitations as a human being and understands its role as a social being
in human society.

Now, having been imprisoned in a shoe, it gradually tries to

understand the world, in its own way. It is alone and cannot
communicate with its counterpart, and gropes blindly in the dark like
a blind man. The ‘foot’ is not in the open and whatever ideas it forms
about life, are formed in the confined space of the shoe. Here, it
means, it is not in touch with reality directly. The society decides what
it should understand about ‘life’ or the world outside. Gradually, the
foot adapts itself to its world and learns to cope with the harsh
realities of life.

3. Maturity (Lines 17 – 46):

In this part of the poem the poet gives a graphic description of the
changes seen in the child’s foot during its transition from a child’s foot
to ‘adult foot’. The ‘soft nails of quartz’ in the child’s foot gradually
grow hard and change themselves into an ‘opaque’ substance ‘hard as
horn’. The ‘tiny petaled toes’ of the child’s foot ‘grow bunched and out
of trim’. The toes in the adult foot appear like ‘eyeless reptiles’. Later
they grow harder and become callused.

In this stanza, the poet attempts to let the reader know that as the
child grows into an adult it becomes less open to reality. It also means
that people grow harder both physically and emotionally. The phrase
‘faint volcanoes of death’ suggests that the foot comes to appreciate
‘mortality’. Thus, we find that the child’s foot has now been
transformed from a beautiful form into a warped and ugly one.

The poet then describes the journey of an adult foot until its death. It
is now like an eyeless reptile. Hence he calls it a ‘blind thing’. The
adult foot is now in the harsh world outside, suggesting that the adult
gets trapped in the routines of everyday life or the humdrum
commonality of existence. It is now less capable of enjoyment and
finds life difficult in every walk of life. It slogs and slogs either as a
man’s foot or as a woman’s foot working in the field or market or
mines or ministries. It toils in the shoe, day and night, scarcely finding
time to enjoy the pleasures of life or sleep. It works without respite
and finally meets with death.

4. Death and Rebirth (Lines 47 – 53):

Soon after the death, the adult foot gets buried. It goes down into the
underground. It finds everything dark there. It also does not know that
it is dead and has ceased to be a foot. When the foot dies and is buried,
its consciousness is childlike again. Therefore, the foot revisits the
possibilities of flying like a butterfly or becoming an apple. Here it
means that people consider the possibility of an after-life.

To sum up, the freedom of childhood is lost when a person becomes an

adult and is exposed to a life of constant work and struggle. Outside,
uncontrollable forces have the power to direct one’s life and thus ‘life’
in society takes away people’s free spirits until they are freed again by
death. The human promise is not fulfilled by those whom society
enslaves and mistreats.

The poet imagines that the naked foot of a boy, innocent still of the
habituations of social society does not know that it is a foot, or a
butterfly or an apple.

Only through a long process of denial of our embodied natures,

beginning with the simple act of wearing shoes and thus denying
contact with the earth does the boy become a man. However, upon
being buried, he still does not know if he will fly or become an apple.

Glossary:

• Quartz: a hard white colourless mineral consisting of silicon

dioxide
• Opaque: not transparent
• Petaled: like petals
• Callus: thickened and hardened part of the skin
• Respite: a short period of rest
I Believe that Books will Never Disappear

Comprehension I

Question 1.
‘I was educated more by my father’s library’ says Borges. He means
______
a. school or the university did not educate him.
b. he was educated in his father’s library too.
c. he learnt through private tuitions held in his father’s library.
Answer:
(b) he was educated in his father’s library too.

Question 2.
Why did Borges feel guilty about his mother?
Answer:
His mother’s dedication to nurturing him was immense. He had
misused her love as he had taken her for granted and never gave her
his love and affection in return.

Question 3.
According to Borges, blindness is ______
a. just a physical handicap
b. not a misfortune
c. actually a resource.
Answer:
(c) actually a resource.

Question 4.
Why does Borges prefer to believe that he is not blind?
Answer:
He believes in optimism than pessimism. If he were to believe that he
was blind, it would affect his future but if he takes it positively and
uses it as raw material, it helps his future. Hence he believes in
optimism.

Question 5.
Borges feels that when we read a book what matters is not the
author’s intention, but what sense we get out of it. (True/False.)
Answer:
True.

Question 6.
How, according to Borges, does the book go beyond the author’s
intention?
Answer:
According to Borges, in every book, there is a need for something
more, which is always mysterious. A book can be full of errors; we can
reject its author’s opinions; disagree with him or her, but the book
always retains something sacred, something mortal, and something
magical which brings happiness. Thus, the book goes beyond the
author’s intention.

Question 7.
When does the poetic act happen, according to Borges?
Answer:
According to Borges, the poetic act happens when the poet writes it
and the reader reads it.

Question 8.
What cannot be defined without oversimplifying it?
Answer:
Poetry is something so intimate and essential that it cannot be defined
without oversimplifying it.

Question 9.
Which is the most astounding invention of man?
Answer:
‘Book’ is undoubtedly the most astounding invention of man.

I Believe that Books will Never Disappear Comprehension II

Question 1.
Why does Borges feel remorseful after his mother’s death regarding
his relationship with her? Can this experience be generalized?
OR
How does Borges describe his mother and his feelings for her in his
interview?
Answer:
During the course of his interview with Alifano, Borges tells him that
his mother was an extraordinary person who showed him a great deal
of kindness in his life. Then he confesses in a remorseful tone that he
could not make his mother happy because he himself was not a happy
man. He also confesses that he should have shown a better
understanding of his mother.

This experience can be generalized because what Borges says is true of

all children. It is not surprising to know, when their mothers die, most
children express that they had taken their mother for granted while
they were alive like they do with the moon or the sun or the seasons
and are guilty that they had abused their mothers.

Question 2.
How does Borges elaborate on Goethe’s words, ‘ail that is near
becomes far’?
Answer:
While giving his observations about ‘blindness’, Borges recalls an idea
he had expressed in one of his poems. He had said that humiliation,
misfortune, and discord were given to us so that we may transmute
them, and make from the miserable circumstance of our life ‘eternal
works’. At this juncture, Borges recalls to mind a statement made by
Goethe. It says, “All that is near becomes far”. In this statement,
Goethe refers not only to the sunset but also to life. Borges says that in
his case, the visible world has moved away from his eyes forever. He
feels that it is his duty to accept his misfortune and as far as possible
enjoy those things.

Question 3.
What, according to Borges, should one think of humiliations and
misfortunes?
Answer:
Borges says that all persons must think that whatever happens to him
or her is a resource. He adds that all things have been given to us for a
purpose, and therefore we should think of our humiliations,
misfortunes and embarrassments as raw material like clay so that we
may shape our art. He says that humiliation, misfortune and discord
were given to us so that we may transmute them, so that we may make
from the miserable circumstance of our life eternal works or works
that aspire to be so.
Question 4.
What are Borges’views on poetry and poem?
Answer:
Borges believes that poetry is something so intimate and so essential
that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it. Then he says that
poetry is not the poem and opines that a poem may be nothing more
than a series of symbols. Borges opines that poetry is the aesthetic act
that takes place when the poet writes it and when the reader reads it.
He believes that poetry is a magical, mysterious and unexplainable –
although not an incomprehensible – event. He believes that one should
feel the poetic event upon reading it otherwise the poet should be
deemed to have failed.

Question 5.
Why is it important for poetry to use language precisely? With what
example does Borges demonstrate this aspect of poetic language?
OR
Finding precise words is important in the art of poetry. How does
Borges justify this in his interview? ‘
OR
To what extent is finding the precise words important in the art of
poetry, according to Borges?
Answer:
Borges feels that poetry needs to use language precisely. He opines
that only precise words elicit the emotion. In order to prove his point,
he quotes a line from Emily Dickinson, ‘This quiet dust was gentlemen
and ladies’. He argues that though the idea is banal the poet is
referring to a place which had been visited by men and women in
‘summer’. These people are now dead and the dust she refers to is the
dust of death. Instead of saying ‘This quiet dust was gentlemen and
ladies’ if the poet had used ‘men and women’, the poem would have
failed as poetry. It would have sounded trivial.

Question 6.
In spite of modern modes of communication, Borges believes
that books will not disappear. Illustrate.
OR
Why does Borges say that books will never disappear?
OR
Answer:
‘The modem developments in communications will not replace books.’
Explain with reference to Jorge Luis Borges’ thoughts on this.
Answer:
According to Borges, among the many inventions of man, the book is
undoubtedly the most astounding of all. All others are extensions of
our bodies. The telephone is the extension of our voice, the telescope
and the microscope are extensions of our sight and the sword and the
plough are extensions of our arms. Only the book is an extension of
our imagination and memory. Modern modes in communications have
not developed anything to work as a substitute for our imagination
and memory.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
‘Poetry is magical, mysterious, and unexplainable’. How does Borges
explain the strange aspect of poetry?
OR
What are Borges’s views on poetry?
Answer:
According to Borges, poetry is an aesthetic act; and poetry is not the
poem. The poetic act takes place when the poet writes it and the
reader reads it and it always happens in a slightly different manner.
When the poetic act takes place, Borges believes that we become
aware of it. That is why he calls poetry as a magical, mysterious, and
unexplainable event. If one does not feel the poetic event upon reading
it, Borges opines that we need to conclude that the poet has failed.

Question 2.
How does Borges value literature? Why is it important for the future
of mankind?
Answer:
According to Borges, a book is only an extension of our imagination
and memory. We get access to literature through books. Literature is
a dream, a controlled dream. Borges believes that we owe literature
almost everything we are, what we have been, and what we will be.
Our past is nothing but a sequence of dreams. He believes that there is
no difference between dreaming and remembering the past. It
is books that serve as the repositories of great memories of all
centuries and nothing else can replace books. Therefore, if books
disappear, surely history would disappear and along with history man
would also disappear. Therefore, literature is very important for
preserving the future of mankind.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Mention any one of the things that Borges continued to do even after
becoming blind.
Answer:
Borges continued to buy books and went on filling his house with
books, even after becoming blind.

Question 2.
When, according to Borges, would history and man disappear?
Answer:
According to Borges, man and history would disappear
if books disappear.

Question 3.
Which was the first book that Borges read?
OR
Which was Borges’s first literary reading in an English version?
Answer:
Grimm’s ‘Fairy Tales’ in an English version.

Question 4.
Who is the writer of the verse ‘AUes Nahe Werd Fern’?
Answer:
Goethe (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe).

Question 5.
What does ‘Alles Nahe Werd Fern’ mean?
Answer:
‘All that is near becomes far’.

Question 6.
Which famous library does Borges visualise in his dream?
OR
Which library was said to be attacked by flames in the dream of Jorge
Luis Borges?
Answer:
The Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt.

Question 7.
When is a poet considered a failure?
Answer:
A poet is considered a failure if one does not feel the poetic event upon
reading it.

Question 8.
What elicits the emotion in a poem?
Answer:
Precise words.

Question 9.
Name the metaphors that Borges considers essential in literature.
OR
Mention the metaphors listed by Borges as essentials.
OR
Mention any one of the essential metaphors which, according to
Borges, is found in all literature.
Answer:
Borges considers

• Time and a river

• life and dreams
• death and sleep
• stars and eyes, and
• flowers and women as metaphors essential in literature.

Question 10.
What would happen if books disappear?
Answer:
If books disappear, surely history would disappear and along with
that men would disappear.

Question 11.
What strange dream did Borges have?
OR
What does Borges dream of one night?
Answer:
Borges dreamed of the burning of a great library.

Question 12.
What should a writer or an artist transmute in order to create eternal
works?
Answer:
According to Borges, we must transmute our humiliations, our
misfortunes, and our embarrassments, to create eternal works.

Question 13.
Which library does Borges visualize in his dream?
OR
Mention the name of the library which was attacked by countless
volumes of flames in the dream of Borges.
Answer:
The library of Alexandria in his dream.

Question 14.
According to Borges, the telescope is the extension of our
(a) sight
(b) voice
(c) arms.
Answer:
(a) sight.

Question 15.
How does Borges look upon blindness?
OR
Borges looks upon blindness as a
(a) way of life
(b) miserable circumstance
(c) major handicap.
Answer:
Borges looks upon blindness as a way of life.

Question 16.
Whom does Borges look upon as an intelligent and gracious woman?
Answer:
Borges looks upon Dona Leonor, his mother, as an intelligent and
gracious woman.

Question 17.
What was Borges’first literary reading?
Answer:
An English version of ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ was Borges’ first literary
reading.

Question 18.
Which is the most outstanding invention of man, according to Borges?
Answer:
According to Borges, ‘book’ is the most outstanding invention of man.

Question 19.
Where was Luis Borges educated?
Answer:
Luis Borges was educated in his father’s library.

Question 20.
According to Borges, in which language did, he read ‘Grimm’s Fairy
Tales’?
Answer:
According to Borges, he read Grimm’s Fairy tales in an English
version.

Question 21.
Where, according to Borges, was he educated more than by high school
or the university?
Answer:
According to Borges, he was educated by his father’s library more than
by high school or the university.

Question 22.
Who, according to Borges, was an extraordinary person?
Answer:
According to Borges, his mother was an extraordinary person.

Question 23.
Whom does Borges look upon as an intelligent and gracious woman?
Answer:
Borges looks upon his mother as an intelligent and gracious woman.

Question 24.
What, according to Borges, is blindness to him?
Answer:
According to Borges, blindness is a way of life that is not entirely
unhappy.

Question 25.
Borges says one must think that whatever happens to him or her is a
(a) resource.
(b) misfortune
(c) embarrassment
Answer:
(a) resource.

Question 26.
Name the book of Homer mentioned by Borges in his interview.
Answer:
In his interview, Borges mentions ‘The Odyssey’ written by Homer.

Question 27.
‘All that is near becomes far’. This line is from a poem by
(a) Homer
(b) Spengler
(c) Goethe.
Answer:
(c) Goethe.

Question 28.
What did Borges fill his house with when the visible world moved
away from his eyes?
Answer:
Borges filled his house with books when the visible world moved
away from his eyes.

Question 29.
What exactly did Borges visualize about the library in his dream?
Answer:
In his dream, Borges visualized the burning of a great library with its
countless volumes attacked by flames.
Question 30.
Name the book which, according to Borges, has remarkable comments
on books.
Answer:
According to Borges, Spengler’s book ‘Decline of the West’ has
remarkable comments on books.

Question 31.
Who, according to Borges, have predated his attempt to write a history
of the book?
Answer:
According to Borges, Spengler has predated his attempt to write a
history of the book.

Question 32.
Who, according to Borges, quoted that every book worth being re-read
has been written by the spirit?
Answer:
According to Borges, Bernard Shaw quoted that every book worth
being re-read has been written by the spirit.

Question 33.
What, according to Borges, is magical, mysterious, and unexplainable?
Answer:
According to Borges, poetry is magical, mysterious, and unexplainable.

Question 34.
Whose line in a poem does Borges remember always?
Answer:
Borges always remembers Emily Dickinson’s line in a poem.

Question 35.
Since when, according to Borges, do metaphors exist?
Answer:
According to Borges, metaphors exist since the beginning of time.

Question 36.
What, according to Borges, will never disappear?
Answer:
According to Borges, books will never disappear.
Question 37.
Borges says that the telescope and the microscope are the extensions
of our
(a) voice
(b) sight
(c) arms.
Answer:
(b) sight.

Question 38.
Which of the inventions of man is the extension of our voice, according
to Borges?
Answer:
According to Borges, of the many inventions of man, the telephone is
the extension of our voice.

Question 39.
According to Borges, which of the inventions of man is the extension of
our imagination and memory?
Answer:
According to Borges, of the many inventions of man, only the book is
an extension of our imagination and memory.

Question 40.
What, according to Borges, is a controlled dream?
Answer:
According to Borges, ‘Literature’ is a controlled dream.

Question 41.
According to Borges, our past is nothing but a sequence of _______
(a) dreams
(b) memories
(c) experiences.
Answer:
(a) dreams.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:
Question 1.
‘A poet’s task is to discover metaphors. How does Borges explain this
in ‘Books will never Disappear’?
OR
What are Borges’ views on metaphors?
Answer:
While giving his views about ‘poetry’, Borges calls poetry as the
aesthetic act. He opines that the poetic act takes place when the poet
writes it and when the reader reads it. At this point, Alifano says that
finding the precise words is very important in the art of poetry
because it is the precise words that elicit the emotion. Such precise
words exist naturally in the form of metaphors. According to Borges,
true metaphors have been in existence from the beginning of time.
Then he says that all the existing metaphors can be grouped under five
or six essential metaphors, like time and a river, life and dreams,
death and sleep, stars and eyes, and flowers and women. But it is the
poet who has to discover metaphors though they may already exist.

Question 2.
How does Borges reconcile with his blindness? Explain.
Answer:
According to Borges, people must think that whatever happens to a
person is a resource and such things have been given to us for a
purpose. He opines that all that happens to us, including humiliations,
misfortunes, and embarrassments are given to us as raw material like
clay, so that we may shape our art out of it. Therefore, he has taken
blindness as a way of life, which is not entirely unhappy. He believes
that it is his duty to accept it as far as possible and enjoy it. Therefore,
he still continues to pretend that he is not blind and buys books to fill
his house with.

Question 3.
Why does Borges define poetry as intimate and essential and that
which cannot be defined without oversimplifying?
Answer:
According to Borges, poetry is the aesthetic act that takes place when
the poet writes it, and when the reader reads it, which happens in a
slightly different manner. That is why he calls it something so
intimate, and so essential that it cannot be defined without
oversimplifying it. If we try to define it, it would be like attempting to
define the colour yellow or love or the fall of leaves in autumn.
Question 4.
Why does Borges say blindness is a way of life and a resource?
OR
How does Borges define ‘blindness’?
OR
How does Borges look upon his blindness? Explain.
OR
What are the views of Borges on blindness?
Answer:
Borges defines ‘blindness’ as a way of life that is not entirely unhappy.
He also calls it a resource because he believes that all things have been
given to us for a purpose and an artist must feel this more intensely.
He believes that all that happens to us including humiliations, our
misfortunes, and our embarrassments are given to us as raw material,
as clay so that we may shape our art, eternal work, or work that
aspires to be so. Therefore, he has taken blindness as a way of life,
which is not entirely unhappy. He believes that it is his duty to accept
it as far as possible and enjoy it.

Question 5.
How does Borges describe the happiness of re-reading books?
Answer:
Borges endorses the idea of Bernard Shaw expressed in the statement,
“Every book worth being re-read has been written by the spirit”. In
this context, Borges opines that a book goes beyond its author’s
intention. He opines that in ever ‘-ook there appears to be a need for
something more, which is mysterious. He then says that when we read
an ancient book we feel as though we are reading all time that has
passed from the day it was written to our present-day because the
book always retains something sacred, something mortal and
something magical which brings happiness.

Question 6.
What are Luis Borges’ views on books?
OR
What is the significance of the book in a man’s life, according to Jorge
Luis Borges? According to Borges, a book is only an extension of our
imagination and memory. We get access to literature through books.
Literature is a dream, a controlled dream. Borges believes that we owe
literature almost everything we are, what we have been and what we
will be. Our past is nothing but a sequence of dreams. He believes that
there is no difference between dreaming and remembering the past.

Books are undoubtedly the most astounding invention of man. It is

books that serve as the repositories of great memories of all centuries
and nothing else can replace books. Therefore, if books disappear,
surely history would disappear and along with history man would also
disappear. He says that books always retain something sacred, mortal
and magical which brings happiness. Therefore, literature is very
important for preserving the future of mankind.

Question 7.
What does Borges tell us about his mother in particular and all
mothers in general?
Answer:
Borges says that his mother was an extraordinary person who showed
him a great deal of kindness in his life. Then he confesses in a
remorseful tone that he could not make his mother happy because he
himself was not a happy man. He also confesses that he should have
shown a better understanding of his mother.

This experience can be generalized because what Borges says is true of

all children. It is not surprising to know, when their mothers die, most
children express that they had taken their mother for granted while
they were alive like they do with the moon or the sun or the seasons
and are guilty that they had abused their mothers.

Question 8.
How, according to Borges, does a book go beyond its author’s
intention?
Answer:
According to Borges, though a book is only an extension of our
imagination and memory, a book goes beyond its author’s intention.
He opines that the author’s intention is a meager thing – a fallible
thing. In every book, there is a need for something more, which is
always mysterious. When we read an ancient book we feel as though
we are reading all time that has passed from the day it was written to
our present-day because the book always retains something sacred,
something mortal and something magical which brings happiness.
That is why he endorses the opinion of Bernard Shaw, who made the
statement, “Every book worth being re-read has been written by the
spirit”.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
“If books disappear, surely history would disappear, and surely the
man would disappear”. Justify the statement with reference to the
interview of Borges on the significance of books.
OR
The function of books is irreplaceable. Explain with reference to ‘I
Believe Books Will Never Disappear’.
Answer:
Towards the end of the interview, Roberto Alifano asks Borges’
opinion on the comment that modern developments in
communications will replace books with something more dynamic
than reading. In reply, Borges asserts that books will never disappear
and it is impossible to replace books. He justifies his opinion saying
that ‘book’ is the most astounding invention of man. Whereas the
telephone can be considered as an extension of our voice, the
television and microscope as extensions of our sight, and the sword
and the plough as extensions of our arm, only the book is an extension
of our imagination and memory and nothing can replace books.

Books preserve the great memory of all centuries and their function is
irreplaceable. Naturally, if books disappear, history would disappear
and man would also surely disappear. He says that books always
retain something sacred, mortal and magical which brings happiness.

Question 2.
One’s experience is one’s resource. How does Borges expound his
views on this?
Answer:
While answering a question about his blindness, Borges says that
whatever happens to us in life should be considered a resource,
because he believes that all things have been given to us for a purpose
and an artist must feel this more intensely. He believes that all that
happens to us, including humiliations, misfortunes, and
embarrassments are given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we
say shape our art. He says that humiliation, misfortune and discord
are given to us so that we may transmute them, so that we may make
from the miserable circumstance of our life eternal works or works
that aspire to be so.

Question 3.
Poetry is unexplainable. Discuss in the light of Borges’s interview.
Answer:
Borges believes that poetry is something so intimate and so essential
that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it. Then he says that
poetry is not the poem and opines that a poem may be nothing more
than a series of symbols. According to Borges, poetry is an aesthetic
act; and poetry is not the poem. The poetic act takes place when the
poet writes it and the reader reads it and it always happens in a
slightly different manner. When the poetic act takes place, Borges
believes that we become aware of it. That is why he calls poetry as a
magical, mysterious and unexplainable event. If one does not feel the
poetic event upon reading it, Borges opines that we need to conclude
that the poet has failed.

I Believe that Books will Never Disappear Vocabulary

Word Pairs:
Non-reversible word pairs always appear in the same order, e.g., back
and forth. It would sound awkward if we read forth and back. The
following is a list of some common word pairs.

1. Trial and Error

2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Null and Void
4. Flora and Fauna
5. Whims and Fancies
6. High and Dry
7. Time and Again
8. Pick and Choose
9. Time and Tide
10. Tooth and Nail
11. Forgive and Forget
12.Pros and Cons
13.Hale and Hearty
14. Hue and cry

List of a few other word pairs:

• above and beyond
• alive and kicking
• hugs and kisses
• down and out
• back and forth
• bow and arrow
• cat and mouse
• eyes and ears
• fish and chips
• hale and hearty
• hammer and tongs
• high and mighty
• kith and kin
• ladies and gentlemen
• law and order
• loud and clear
• pure and simple
• short and sweet
• supply and demand
• tooth and nail
• track and field
• up and about
• better or worse
• dead or alive
• give or take
• clean and tidy
• heart and soul
• neat and tidy
• pick and choose
• bag and baggage
• bread and butter
• chalk and cheese
• forgive and forget
• mix and match
• pen and paper
• rock and roll
• rhyme or reason
• safe and sound
• high and dry
• hustle and bustle
• rough and tough
• wear and tear
• back to back
• side by side
• sick and tired
• alive and well
• once and for all
• apples and oranges
• beck and call
• by and large
• each and every
• far and wide
• flesh and blood
• hammer and sickle
• hard and fast
• home and dry
• knife and fork
• lakes and streams
• lo and behold
• nuts and bolts
• salt and pepper
• song and dance
• thunder and lightning
• touch and go
• trial and error
• ways and means
• big or small
• do or die
• by hook or by crook
• first and foremost
• leaps and bounds
• null and void
• plain and simple
• bold and beautiful
• cash and carry
• fast and furious
• kith and kin
• part and parcel
• pillar to post
• read and write
• rules and regulations
• spick and span
 • hither and thither
• near and dear
• time and tide
• wine and dine
• bit by bit
• apples and pears

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
Borges’ first literary reading was ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’. It _____ (find)
in his father’s library. It was an English version of the book that
______ (translate) from German. According to Borges he ____
(educate) by his father’s library more than by high school or the
university.
Answer:
was found; had been translated; was educated.

Question 2.
Borges opines that all things _____ (have, give) to us for a purpose. All
that happens to us _____ (must, see) as raw material. This material
_______ (transmute) into art and eternal works are made.
Answer:
have been given; must be seen; is transmuted.

Question 3.
Last night, I had a very strange dream. I dreamed of a great library
and it ______ (burn) down. Its countless volumes ____ (attack) by
flames. I _____ (disturb) by this dream.
Answer:
was being burnt; were attacked; was disturbed.

Question 4.
The visible world has moved away from my eyes. But it _____ (has,
replace) by other things. It _____ (accept) by me
positively. Books ______ (buy) even today with the same interest.
Answer:
has been replaced; is accepted/has been accepted; are bought.
Question 5.
It is an excellent idea that a history of book _____ (should, write).
‘Decline of the West’ _______ (remember) for ever because some
remarkable comments ______ (make) by Spengler on books.
Answer:
should be written; will be remembered; have been made/are made.

Question 6.
Poetry is something so intimate and essential, it _______ (cannot,
define) without oversimplifying it. Mere arrangement of words ____
(not call) poetry. Just as the fall of leaves in autumn ______ (cannot
explain), poetry is difficult to explain.
Answer:
cannot be defined; is not called; cannot be explained.

B. Report the following conversation:

Question 1.
Alifano: What is your first literary reading?
Borges: My first reading is Grimm’s Fairy Tales in an English version.
Alifano: Where did you read it?
Borges: I read it in my father’s library. It taught me more than any
high school.
Answer:
Alifano asked Borges what was his first literary reading. Borges
replied that his first reading was Grimm’s Fairy Tales in an English
version. Alifano further asked him where he had read it. Borges
replied that he had read it in his father’s library. He added that it
taught him more than any high school would.

Question 2.
Alifano: What is blindness to you?
Borges: It is a way of life. In my case, the visible world has moved
away from my eyes.
Alifano: Have you thought of writing a book on the history of
the book?
Borges: It is an excellent idea. I will keep it in my mind.
Answer:
Alifano asked Borges what was blindness to him. Borges replied that it
was a way of life. He added that in his case the visible world had
moved away from his eyes. Alifano again asked Borges whether he had
thought of writing a book on the history of the book. Borges said that
it was an excellent idea and that he would keep it in his mind.

C. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
Borges says that all children fail to give their mother her deserved
happiness because the mother is ______. However, it does not ______
them before her death. (dawn on, taken for granted, keep in wind)
Answer:
taken for granted; dawn on.

Question 2.
Borges says that it would be wonderful to write a history of the book.
He will _______. However, he says that an eighty-three-year-old man
cannot ______ of this kind for himself. (set a project, keep it in mind,
take for granted)
Answer:
keep it in mind; set a project.

D. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
Borges believes that metaphors, _____ they are truly metaphors, exist
from the beginning of time. ______ we express them differently, he
asserts. In his view, all metaphors can be reduced to five or six ______
seem to be essential metaphors. He says that the poet’s task is to
discover metaphors ______ they may already exist. (even though, if,
which, but)
Answer:
if; But; which; even though.

Question 2.
Literature is a dream. Our past is nothing ______ a sequence of
dreams. There is no difference between dreaming ______
remembering the past. Books are a great memory of all centuries.
_______ their function is irreplaceable. _______ books disappear,
surely history would disappear, and surely the man would disappear.
(If, but, therefore, and)
Answer:
but; and; Therefore; If.

Believe that Books will Never Disappear Interview with Jorge Luis
Borges About the Interviewee:

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) is an Argentine short-story writer,

essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. His work embraces
the “character of unreality in all literature”. His most famous books,
‘Ficciones’ (1944) and The Aleph’ (El Aleph, 1949) are compilations of
short stories interconnected by common themes, including dreams,
labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, infinity, fictional writers, philosophy,
religion and God.

Believe that Books will Never Disappear Interview with Jorge Luis
Borges About the Interviewer:

Roberto Alifano, Argentine poet, storyteller, essayist and journalist,

was born in the city of
General Pinto, province of Buenos Aires, in 1943. His books have been
translated into several languages. From 1974 to 1985 he worked with
Jorge Luis Borges.

Believe that Books will Never Disappear Summary in English

This lesson presents excerpts from a face-to-face interview between

Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Alifano. Jorge Luis Borges was an
Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, who
became partially blind at the age of 55.
In this interview, Borges shares his views on the importance of ‘books’
in the era of globalised electronic communication. Incidentally, Borges
shares his views/observations about a few other topics like poetry,
metaphors and literature as well, besides expressing his feelings about
his ‘mother’ and his ‘blindness’. Alifano, the interviewer, asks
questions about each of the topics mentioned above and Borges
expresses his views in response to them.

The interview begins with the first question, ‘What was your first
literary reading?’ In reply, Borges tells him that the first literary work
that he read was ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ in the English version. Then
Borges tells his interviewer that he learned more from his father’s
library than by high school or the university.

Alifano then asks Borges to speak about his mother Dona Leonor.
Borges tells him that his mother was an extraordinary person who
showed him a great deal of kindness in his life. Then he continues,
telling the interviewer in a confessional tone that he feels guilty for
not having been a happy man in order to have given his mother the
happiness she deserved. He also feels that he should have shown a
better understanding of his mother.

Then, he generalizes the issue stating that it is true of all children that
when their mothers die, children feel that they had taken them for
granted (while she was alive) like they do with the moon or the sun or
the seasons and feel that they have abused their mothers. However,
this truth does not dawn on such children before the death of their
mother. Then Borges adds that his mother was an intelligent and
gracious woman who had no enemies.

Then, Alifano asks Borges apologetically what blindness meant to him.

Borges, in reply, tells him that blindness is a way of life not entirely
unhappy. He adds that as a writer he generally believes that all
persons must think that whatever happens to him or to her is a
resource. He believes that all things have been given us for a purpose
and an artist must feel that more intensely. Borges is of the opinion
that all that happens to us, including humiliations, misfortunes, and
embarrassments are given to us as raw material as clay so that we
may shape our art.

Alifano endorses Borges’ idea quoting from Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’.

The lines quoted by Alifano are taken from this poem, in which the
poet tells the reader that it is the Gods who make man’s life tragic so
as to weave a song for future generations to sing. This idea is based on
the belief that men write songs in order to soothe the mind when they
recall their woes.

After listening to Alifano’s quote from ‘The Odyssey’, Borges adds a

little more to highlight the same idea of man’s life being troubled by
many undesirable events. Borges tells Alifano that in one of his poems
he has said that ‘humiliation’, ‘misfortune’, and ‘discord’ were given to
us that we may change them and using our miserable circumstances
create works which last forever. Then he quotes from Goethe, “All that
is near becomes far”. Here again, Borges is referring to the loss of his
eyesight.

In the line quoted here, Goethe is referring to the evening twilight

when the things closest to us seem to move away from our eyes.
Borges is quoting this line to tell Alifano that the visible world has
moved away from his eyes forever. Borges then adds that his eyesight
has been replaced by many other things. Then he tells Alifano that it is
his duty to accept blindness and still enjoy it as far as possible.
Therefore, he tells Alifano that he still continues to pretend that he is
not blind and buys books, to fill his house with.

Alifano, hearing him mention ‘Books’, asks Borges to speak about the
theme of books. In reply, Borges tells Alifano that he had a very
strange dream in which he had seen the library of Alexandria burning,
its countless volumes attacked by flames. Then he asks Alifano
whether he believes that his dream has any meaning. Alifano replies
that it may have some meaning, but then continues his interview
asking Borges whether he has ever thought of writing a book on the
history of the ‘book’.

Borges tells him that he won’t be able to write such a book though it is
an excellent idea. He wonders whether an eighty-three-year-old man
can set such a project for himself. Incidentally, Borges tells him that
he will keep it in his mind. Then Borges tells Alifano that Spengler has
already made an effort in this regard in his ‘Decline of the West’.

In this book, Spengler has made a remarkable comment on books.

Then Alifano refers to Borges’ comments (in one of his essays) about
the words of Bernard Shaw, in which he has declared
“Every book worth being re-read has been written by the spirit”.

Borges agrees with him and tells him that a book goes beyond its
author’s intention, which may not be right. Borges declares that in
every book there is a need for something more, which is not easy to
understand. Then he gives the example of an ancient book. He tells
Alifano that when one reads an ancient book one feels as though he or
she was reading about all the time that has passed from the day it was
written to his present day.
Borges concludes saying that a book always retains something sacred,
something mortal, something magical which brings happiness. Then,
Alifano asks Borges to define poetry. In reply, Borges says that poetry
is something so intimate, and so essential that it cannot be defined
without being oversimplified. If one attempts to define poetry it would
be like attempting to define the colour yellow, love, and the fall of the
leaves in autumn. Borges then states that poetry is not the poem but it
is the aesthetic act, the poetic act that takes place when the poet
writes it when the reader reads it and it always happens in a different
manner. Then he adds and says that when the poetic act takes place,
we become aware of it. He then concludes declaring that poetry is a
magical, mysterious, and unexplainable, although not an
incomprehensible, event.

He feels that the poet should be deemed to have failed if one does not
feel the poetic event upon reading it. Alifano then adds telling Borges
that the important thing in the art of poetry is finding the precise
words. Borges agrees with him. He then states that precise words
elicit the emotion. He quotes the line “This quiet dust was gentlemen
and ladies” from Emily Dickinson’s poem to illustrate his statement.

Alifano then asks Borges to explain the concept of metaphors. Borges

tells him in reply that true metaphors have been there in existence
since the beginning of time. Then he tells him that he has occasionally
thought of reducing all metaphors to five or six essential metaphors.

Borges is of the opinion that these essential metaphors are found in all
literature, apart from many others which are whimsical. Borges then
tells him that the poet has to discover metaphors, even though they
may already exist.

Finally, Alifano asks Borges to comment on the statement “modern

developments in communications will replace books with something
more dynamic that will require less time than reading”.

Borges tells him that books will never disappear. Then, he declares
that among the many inventions of man, the book is undoubtedly the
most astounding, and all the others are only extensions of our bodies.
He opines that the telephone is the extension of our voice; the
telescope and the microscope are extensions of our sight, and the
sword and the plough are extensions of our arms. He asserts that only
the book is an extension of our imagination and memory.

Then Alifano asks Borges his reactions to his own statement,

‘Literature is a dream’. Borges assertively tells him.that it is true. He
restates his statement ‘Literature is a dream’, and says that it is a
‘controlled dream’. Then he says that it is his belief that we owe
literature almost everything we are; what we have been, and also
what we will be and ends saying “Our past is nothing but a sequence of
dreams.” He concludes remarking that there can be no difference
between dreaming and remembering the past. Then he declares,
“Books are the great memory of all centuries and their function is
irreplaceable. If books disappear, history will disappear and surely
the man would disappear”.

Glossary:

• Dona: used as a courtesy title before the name of a woman in a

Spanish-speaking area
• Whimsical: fanciful
• Odyssey: Greek epic written by Homer
• Library of Alexandria: one of the largest libraries of the ancient
world which was burnt
• Spengler: Oswald Spengler (1880 – 1936), German historian and
philosopher.

Heaven, If you are not here on Earth

Comprehension I

Question 1.
According to the poet, ‘heaven’ is
(a) on earth
(b) within us
(c) elsewhere.
Answer:
(a) on earth.
Question 2.
The poet finds god in
(a) nature
(b) earth
(c) temple.
Answer:
(a) nature.

Question 3.
What does the line ‘Heaven lies all over’ suggest?
Answer:
Heaven is not elsewhere but within us and is all over the world. If we
are good, then that is heaven and if we are bad that is hell. Nature is
also a heaven as we can find heaven in objects like trees, moon, sands
of grains etc.

Question 4.
Who creates’heaven on earth’?
OR
Where does the poet create heaven?
Answer:
The poet creates heaven on earth.

Comprehension II

Question 1.
Describe the beauty in nature that makes the earth a heavenly place.
OR
How has the poet glorified heaven on earth?
Answer:
The poet Kuvempu argues that we do not need to seek heaven after
death. We can enjoy the heavenly bliss in looking at Nature on this
earth itself. The poet presents a beautiful description of nature’s
beauty. The poet emphatically states that the bliss that one
experiences while looking at the streams that are leaping down,
roaring from the top of the hills, the waves that come rolling across
the seas carrying surf at their edges, the tender rays of sunlight falling
on the sprawling green forests and the gentle sun warming up the
earth make this earth a heavenly place.
Question 2.
Why does the poet feel that earth is more beautiful than heaven?
Answer:
According to Kuvempu, there is no heaven in reality. Entities like
‘God’, ‘Heaven’, and the nymphs are merely figments of man’s
imagination. All the different forms of nature like the green forests,
the streams that leap down the hills, the waves that roll across the
seas, the moonlit night, and the splendour of harvest appear more
beautiful than the imaginary descriptions of the man.

Heaven, If you are not here on Earth Comprehension III

Question 1.
How does the poet explain the illusion of heaven in the poem?
OR
How does the poem ‘Heaven, if you are not here on Earth’ visualise
heaven?
Answer:
Kuvempu considers concepts like ‘God’, ‘nymphs’ and ‘heaven’ as
myths created by man. He opines that if at all ‘heaven’ exists it exists
only on this earth and nowhere else. In order to break the illusion of
heaven in man’s mind, he presents before us charming sights of nature
and argues that nothing can be more heavenly than these forms of
nature.

He makes a direct address to nature and declares that if heaven does

not exist on the earth where else can it be. He justifies his statement
referring to the streams, the waves, and the sunlight. He says that the
streams that leap down roaring from the top of the hills, the rolling
surf at the edge of the waves, the tender rays of sunlight falling on the
green forests, the gentle sun warming the earth all these make the
earth heaven.

Question 2.
How does the poem celebrate the power of the poet?
Answer:
Having argued categorically that if at all there exists an entity called
heaven, it exists only on this earth, the poet Kuvempu presents before
the readers’ beautiful sights of nature. In the last stanza, the poet
states that one sees chunks of heaven lying all over in the splendour of
harvest and of moonlight. He concludes the poem celebrating poetic
talent. He says that the poet enjoys looking at Nature, imbibes the
beauty of nature and spills the nectar of heaven, on the earth, through
his poetry.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Where can heaven be found, according to Kuvempu?
OR
Where, according to the poet, did he see heaven?
OR
Where does the poet create heaven in the poem ‘Heaven, If You Are
Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
On this earth itself.

Question 2.
Where does the tender sunshine lean?
Answer:
The tender sunshine leans on gardens green with grass or other rich
vegetation.

Question 3.
How does the poet create heaven on earth?
Answer:
The poet creates heaven on earth by imbibing the beauty of nature and
spilling the nectar of heaven, on the earth, through his poetry.

Question 4.
What, according to Kuvempu, are only figments of man’s imagination?
Answer:
‘Heaven’, ‘God’, and ‘nymphs’ are not tangible entities but are only
figments of man’s imagination.

Question 5.
When, according to the speaker, can there be no Gods?
Answer:
According to the speaker, if we ourselves cannot be gods, then there
can be no gods.
Question 6.
According to the speaker, heaven is
(a) on earth
(b) not on earth
(c) beyond earth.
Answer:
(a) on earth.

Question 7.
Who creates heaven on earth?
Answer:
The poet.

Question 8.
How does the poet imbibe and spill the ‘song of nectar’?
OR
What does the poet imbibe and spill to create heaven on earth?
Answer:
The poet absorbs the beauty of nature through his eyes and spills the
‘song of nectar’ through his poetry.

Question 9.
According to the poet makes this Earth heaven.
(a) heavenly nymphs
(b) gods
(c) gentle sun.
Answer:
(c) gentle sun.

Question 10.
What could not be anywhere else but on earth, according to the
speaker, in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in the poem ‘Heaven, if You are not Here on
Earth’ it is heaven. If heaven is not on the earth, it can be nowhere
else.

Question 11.
According to the speaker in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’, if
we ourselves cannot be gods, then there can be no
(a) gods
(b) nymphs
(c) humans.
Answer:
(a) gods.

Question 12.
When can there be no nymphs, according to the speaker, in ‘Heaven, If
You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in the poem, there can be no nymphs if we
ourselves are not heavenly nymphs.

Question 13.
According to the speaker in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’ if
we ourselves aren’t heavenly nymphs, the nymphs are not
(a) everywhere
(b) nowhere
(c) elsewhere.
Answer:
(c) elsewhere.

Question 14.
Who, according to the speaker, imbibes and spills the song of nectar in
‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in the poem, it is the poet who imbibes and
spills the song of nectar.

Question 15.
What does the poet create on earth, according to the speaker, in
‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in the poem, the poet creates heaven on
earth.

Question 16.
What quality of harvest causes heaven to lie all over in ’Heaven If you
are not here on Earth’?
Answer:
In ‘Heaven, if you are not Here on Earth’, the splendour of harvest
causes heaven to lie all over.
Question 17.
“In the splendour of harvest and of moonlight Heaven lies all over!”
The phrase refers to
(a) harvest and moonlight are no match to heaven
(b) splendour is only in heaven
(c) heaven can be seen in the harvest and moonlight
Answer:
(c) heaven can be seen in the harvest and moonlight.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:

Question 1.
Why does the speaker believe that heaven can be created only by
human effort in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
The speaker convincingly argues that we do not need to seek heaven in
the skies because this very earth is heaven-like in reality. He tries to
prove this point by describing a roaring stream and the sunlit verdant
garden. The poet emphatically states that the bliss that one
experiences while looking at the streams that are leaping down,
roaring from the top of the hills, the waves that come rolling across
the seas carrying surf at their edges, the tender rays of sunlight falling
on the sprawling green forests and the gentle sun warming up the
earth make this earth a heavenly place.

The poet presents two more pictures of heaven on earth. They are the
splendour of harvest and the beauty of the moonlit night. The poet
wishes that the reader brings to mind the harvest season when in
every bit of agricultural land do we see heaps of grains covering the
land. Then he mentions the moonlit night on which the whole earth
seems to be bathed in silvery light. Finally, the poet says that we (the
poets) who enjoy such heavenly sights, imbibe the beauty of nature
and spill the nectar of heaven through our poetry and thus create
heaven on earth.

Question 2.
What image of heaven does the poem, ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On
Earth’ create?
Answer:
According to the speaker, the poem creates a mesmerizing image of
heaven which is reflected in the description of pristine nature created
by the poet. There are roaring streams leaping down from the top of
the hills. The waves come rolling across the seas carrying surf at their
edges. The tender rays of sunlight falling on the vast expanse of green
forests and the gentle sun warming up the earth enhance the beauty of
the Earth, creating an image of Heaven on earth. The splendour of
harvest and the pleasant moonlight that bathes the earth makes it all
the more heavenly.

Question 3.
What are the requirements of heaven, according to ‘Heaven, If You Are
NotHere On Earth’?
Answer:
As expressed in the poem, Heaven is imagined to be the abode of gods
and heavenly nymphs. Besides, it must have roaring and leaping
streams, waves rolling with surf at their edge, the vast expanse of
green forests being clothed by the tender rays of the sunlight, warmed
by the gentle sun during the day and cooled and covered by moonlight
at night.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
‘Heaven is a creation of one’s own mind’. Explain with reference to
‘Heaven, if you are not here on earth’.
OR
Why does the speaker in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here on Earth’ say
that heaven is nowhere else but on earth?
Answer:
The very title of the poem suggests the intention of the poet. The poet
wishes to argue that concepts like ‘heaven’, ‘god’, nymphs, etc., are not
tangible entities but are only figments of man’s imagination. On the
other hand, all the imaginary comforts, pleasures, and bliss one
believes to enjoy in heaven, can be got in reality on this earth. The
poet presents a beautiful picture of the different forms of nature
which make this earth a heaven.

The poet claims that the roaring streams that tumble down fast from
the top of the hills, the rolling surf at the edge of the waves that come
rolling across oceans and seas, the tender rays of the sunbathing the
vast green forests, and the gentle sun warming up the earth make this
earth a heaven.

Question 2.
‘Heaven lies all over’. How is this brought out in ‘Heaven, if you are
not here on earth’?
OR
How does Kuvempu show that heaven is here on earth?
OR
How does the poet recreate and capture the beauty and splendour of
heaven on earth?
OR
Describe how the poem ‘Heaven, if you are not on earth’ visualizes
heaven in nature.
OR
Why does the speaker heaven, if you are not on earth’ say that heaven
is right here on earth?
OR
How, according to the speaker, does one find heaven on earth?
OR
“Heaven is not a separate entity but a part of the earth to be created
by human endeavour”. How does the poem ‘Heaven, if you are not here
on earth present this?
Answer:
Having convincingly argued that we do not need to seek heaven in the
skies, and this very earth is heavenly in reality, the poet presents the
splendour of harvest and the beauty of the moonlit night. The poet
calls these chunks of heaven. The poet wishes the reader to bring to
mind the harvest season when in every bit of agricultural land do we
see heaps of grains, covering the land.

He then presents a beautiful picture of the different forms of nature

which make this earth a heaven. The poet claims that the roaring
streams that tumble down fast from the top of the hills, the rolling
surf at the edge of the waves that come rolling across oceans and seas,
the tender rays of the sunbathing the vast green forests, and the gentle
sun warming up the earth make this earth a heaven.

Secondly, he mentions the moonlit night on which, the whole earth

seems to be bathed in silvery light. Finally, the poet tells the reader
that the poets who enjoy such heavenly sights imbibe the beauty of
nature and spill the nectar of heaven through their poetry. This way
the poet creates heaven on earth and celebrates the joys of heaven
through his poetry.

Question 3.
How, according to the speaker, can we create heaven on earth?
OR
Human effort alone can create heaven on earth. How is this brought
out in ‘Heaven, If you are not here on Earth’?
Answer:
The poet Kuvempu convincingly argues that we do not need to seek
heaven in the skies because this very earth is heaven-like in reality. He
tries to prove this point by describing a roaring stream and the sunlit
verdant garden. The poet emphatically states that the bliss that one
experiences while looking at the streams that are leaping down,
roaring from the top of the hills, the waves that come rolling across
the seas carrying surf at their edges, the tender rays of sunlight falling
on the sprawling green forests and the gentle sun warming up the
earth make this earth a heavenly place. The poet presents two more
pictures of heaven on earth. They are the splendour of harvest and the
beauty of the moonlit night.

The poet wishes that the reader brings to mind the harvest season
when in every bit of agricultural land do we see heaps of grains
covering the land. Then he mentions the moonlit night on which the
whole earth seems to be bathed in silvery light. Finally, the poet says
that we (the poets) who enjoy such heavenly sights, imbibe the beauty
of nature and spill the nectar of heaven through our poetry and thus
create heaven on earth.

Question 4.
Heaven is nothing but a replica of the best qualities of Earth. How
does the poem ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’justify this
statement?
Answer:
” The poem ‘Heaven, if You are not Here on Earth’, makes an attempt
to argue that there is no ‘Heaven’ in reality. Entities like ‘God’,
‘Heaven’, and the ‘Nymphs’ are merely figments of man’s imagination.
In response to the belief that ‘Heaven’ is mesmerizingly beautiful and
is the abode of ‘Gods’ and the ‘Nymphs’, the poem asserts that
‘Heaven’ is only a replica of the resplendent and pristine Nature. When
we are treated with kindness and compassion in times of distress and
helplessness, we attribute it to the divinity of God. This is only a
replica of ‘Man’ giving divine help to his fellow beings in times of
distress and saving them.

We believe that nymphs are lesser goddesses of Nature represented as

young girls living in trees, streams, mountains, etc. They are none
other than a replica of the beautiful and charming girls living in the
lap of nature of this earth.

Besides being the abode of the gods and nymphs, ‘Heaven’ is believed
to be an incredibly beautiful place. The poem argues that the idea or
concept of Heaven’s beauty is only an image of the beautiful earth
which abounds in roaring streams leaping down the mountains and
the rolling waves carrying surf at their edges. This enchanting beauty
of the earth is enhanced by the tender sunshine clothing the vast
expanse of green forests, and the warmth of the gentle sunbathing the
greenery. To top all this is the moonlight, which makes our nights
tranquil and pleasant.

On the whole, one can conclude that it is our human kindness and
compassion that comes to be termed as ‘divinity’ and the pristine
Nature that creates Heaven on earth.

Question 5.
‘It is not gods that make heaven but humans who attain divinity’. How
is this brought out in ‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Answer:
The idea that ‘it is not gods that make heaven but humans who attain
divinity’ is expressed in lines three and four:

“If we ourselves cannot be gods

Then there can be no gods!”

According to the poet, heaven is only a replica of the resplendent and

pristine nature. There is no distinct or substantial entity called ‘God’
and it is the man who makes the earth ‘Heaven’. When ‘man’ treats his
fellow beings with kindness and compassion in times of distress and
helplessness, he attains divinity. He is as divine as God. This is only a
replica of a man giving divine help to his fellow beings in times of
distress and saving them. It is such human beings with divine kindness
and compassion that make ‘Heaven’ on earth.

Question 6.
‘Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth’ tries to remove the traditional
picture of heaven. Discuss.
Answer:
” The poem ‘Heaven, if You are not Here on Earth’, makes an attempt
to argue that there is no ‘Heaven’ in reality. Entities like ‘God’,
‘Heaven’, and the ‘Nymphs’ are merely figments of man’s imagination.
In response to the belief that ‘Heaven’ is mesmerizingly beautiful and
is the abode of ‘Gods’ and the ‘Nymphs’, the poem asserts that
‘Heaven’ is only a replica of the resplendent and pristine Nature. When
we are treated with kindness and compassion in times of distress and
helplessness, we attribute it to the divinity of God. This is only a
replica of ‘Man’ giving divine help to his fellow beings in times of
distress and saving them.

We believe that nymphs are lesser goddesses of Nature represented as

young girls living in trees, streams, mountains, etc. They are none
other than a replica of the beautiful and charming girls living in the
lap of nature of this earth.

Besides being the abode of the gods and nymphs, ‘Heaven’ is believed
to be an incredibly beautiful place. The poem argues that the idea or
concept of Heaven’s beauty is only an image of the beautiful earth
which abounds in roaring streams leaping down the mountains and
the rolling waves carrying surf at their edges. This enchanting beauty
of the earth is enhanced by the tender sunshine clothing the vast
expanse of green forests, and the warmth of the gentle sunbathing the
greenery. To top all this is the moonlight, which makes our nights
tranquil and pleasant.

On the whole, one can conclude that it is our human kindness and
compassion that comes to be termed as ‘divinity’ and the pristine
Nature that creates Heaven on earth.

Question 7.
Both human nature and the natural world play a vital role in the
creation of heaven. Explain with reference to ‘Heaven, If You Are Not
Here On Earth’.
Answer:
” The poem ‘Heaven, if You are not Here on Earth’, makes an attempt
to argue that there is no ‘Heaven’ in reality. Entities like ‘God’,
‘Heaven’, and the ‘Nymphs’ are merely figments of man’s imagination.
In response to the belief that ‘Heaven’ is mesmerizingly beautiful and
is the abode of ‘Gods’ and the ‘Nymphs’, the poem asserts that
‘Heaven’ is only a replica of the resplendent and pristine Nature. When
we are treated with kindness and compassion in times of distress and
helplessness, we attribute it to the divinity of God. This is only a
replica of ‘Man’ giving divine help to his fellow beings in times of
distress and saving them.

We believe that nymphs are lesser goddesses of Nature represented as

young girls living in trees, streams, mountains, etc. They are none
other than a replica of the beautiful and charming girls living in the
lap of nature of this earth.

Besides being the abode of the gods and nymphs, ‘Heaven’ is believed
to be an incredibly beautiful place. The poem argues that the idea or
concept of Heaven’s beauty is only an image of the beautiful earth
which abounds in roaring streams leaping down the mountains and
the rolling waves carrying surf at their edges. This enchanting beauty
of the earth is enhanced by the tender sunshine clothing the vast
expanse of green forests, and the warmth of the gentle sunbathing the
greenery. To top all this is the moonlight, which makes our nights
tranquil and pleasant.

On the whole, one can conclude that it is our human kindness and
compassion that comes to be termed as ‘divinity’ and the pristine
Nature that creates Heaven on earth.

Heaven, If you are not here on Earth by Kuvempu About the Poet:

K.V. Puttappa (1904-1994) is widely known by the pen name Kuvempu.

He is acknowledged as the greatest poet of the 20th century Kannada
literature. He is the first among eight recipients of the Jnanpith Award
for Kannada.

He is the second – after M. Govinda Pai – among Kannada poets to be

revered as Rashtrakavi, a national poet. His work ‘Sri Ramayana
Darshanam’, the rewriting of the great ancient Indian epic ‘Ramayana’
in modern Kannada, is regarded as a revival of the era of Mahakavya
(Epic poetry) in a contemporary form and charm. He is immortalized
by some of his phrases, and in particular for his contribution to
Universal Humanism or in his own words ‘Vishwa Manavatha Vaada’.
He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.
He has penned the Karnataka State anthem ‘Jaya Bharata Jananiya
Tanujate’. The poem has been translated into English by Dr. C.
Naganna, a well-known poet, critic, and translator.

In this poem, Kuvempu urges us to take note of nature as a dynamic

entity. For him, heaven is not something beyond the boundaries of this
world, since the earth itself possesses all that the so-called heaven
promises. The poet’s decisive inference that heaven is here on earth
and nowhere else is seen from the beginning to the end. According to
him, the stream, the waves, the splendour of harvest, the sunshine, the
celestial eye, the moonlight – are all nothing but the reflection of that
unseen paradise called heaven.

This poem is the English version of’ Swargave, Bhoomiyoliradire

Neenu’, a poem in Kannada, written by Kuvempu, one of the most
revered poets of Karnataka.

The poem makes an attempt to give the reader a glimpse into the
rationalistic outlook of the poet. The poet has tried to argue that
concepts like ‘Heaven’, ‘God’, ‘Nymphs’ etc., are man’s creations.
Entities like ‘Heaven’ and ‘God’ exist only on the Earth and you cannot
find them anywhere else. The poet suggests that one should perceive
divinity and enjoy the heavenly bliss in the company of Nature itself.
The poet strongly believes that ‘Heavenliness and worldliness’ are not
distinct or two separate entities and argues that there is no difference
between worshipping or adoring Nature and worshipping or adoring
God.

In the first two lines the poet addresses ‘Heaven’ and declares
emphatically that if Heaven does not exist on the Earth where else can
it be. It only means that the reader needs not look for ‘Heaven’ in the
skies; if at all there is an entity called ‘Heaven’ one must find it on the
earth only and nowhere else.
The poet refers to our beliefs about ‘Gods’ and ‘heavenly nymphs’. The
poet expresses his conviction that there is no distinct or substantial
entity called ‘God’ and it is Man himself who is God. Similarly, there
exist no entities called ‘heavenly nymphs’. He firmly believes that we
ourselves are the nymphs, and the nymphs are to be found nowhere
else but on this earth only.

The poet wants to dispel the popular notion that gods and nymphs live
in heaven. The poet, who wants to dismiss such beliefs, tells the
reader that we ourselves should become gods and nymphs. The poet
wants us to give up our belief that we go to heaven after death where
we find gods and nymphs.

The poet tries to introduce us to the different forms or parts of heaven

that exist on the earth. He presents a mesmerizing picture of ‘Nature’
in its pristine form. The poet states that the ‘bliss’ that we experience
when we look at the streams that are leaping down, roaring, from the
top of the hills, the waves that come rolling across the seas carrying
surf at their edges, the tender rays of sunlight falling on the vast
expanse of green forests and the gentle sun warming up the earth
make this Earth, ‘Heaven’.

The poet refers to the beauty of the harvest season and the moonlit
night. He declares that one enjoys heavenly bliss when one watches
the splendour of harvest and the moonlit night. The poet ends the
poem saying that the poet who imbibes this heavenly bliss, spreads the
nectar of Heaven through his poetry on this earth.

A poet is endowed with a higher degree of imagination and sensibility.

With these qualities, the poet appreciates nature’s beauty and in turn,
the poet enables others to behold heaven on earth.

To sum up, the poet argues that we do not need to seek heaven after
death, but can enjoy heavenly bliss even when we are alive, if only we
have the ‘eyes’ to see ‘Heaven’ on this earth. ’Heaven’ exists only on
the earth and nowhere else. One is sure to enjoy the pleasures of
heaven when one looks at the splendour of Nature. The poet urges the
reader to perceive the tremendous energy that lies underneath the
physical beauty of Nature. This idea can be taken as the message of the
poem.
Glossary:

• nymph: damsel
• Froth: foam
• Verdant: green with grass or other rich vegetation
• Nectar: the drink of the Gods

Japan and Brazil through a Traveller’s Eye

Comprehension I

Question 1.
‘Exquisitely well-mannered people’ refers to
a. Indians
b. Japanese
c. Americans.
Answer:
(b) Japanese.

Question 2.
What behaviour substitutes privacy in Japan?
Answer:
The respect for one another’s privacy and showing courtesy are the
substitutes for privacy in Japan.

Question 3.
The reference to public telephone suggests:
a. how overcrowded Japan is
b. how the Japanese respect privacy
c. how busy the Japanese are.
Answer:
(b) how the Japanese respect privacy.
Question 4.
Hierarchy in bowing demands
a. youngsters bow to their elders.
b. wife bow to her husband.
c. sisters bow to their brothers.
Answer:
(b) and (c) wife bow to her husband/ sisters bow to their brothers.

Question 5.
How does one show appreciation while eating soup in Japan?
OR
What is the sign of appreciation when eating soup in Japan?
OR
Why do the Japanese make a fearful noise while eating soup?
Answer:
When a person is eating soup offered by a host or hostess, he must
make a fearful noise so as to show his sign of appreciation; otherwise,
the host or hostess will think that the guest is ill-mannered.

Question 6.
How are the pavements in Brazil decorated? What does it tell us about
the people there?
OR
Why do Brazilians decorate the pavements they walk on?
Answer:
The grey pavements in Brazil are often decorated with beautiful black
mosaics, a unique type of decoration. From this, we can infer that
these people are alive to beauty in their surroundings. Secondly, they
walk very slowly and meditatively and have a lot of time for
contemplation.

Question 7.
What happens when leisurely people in Brazil get a steering wheel in
their hands?
Answer:
When leisurely people get a steering wheel in their hands, they drive
their vehicles so fast that you would be inclined to believe that gaining
a tenth of a second is a matter of grave importance for them all the
time.

Question 8.
Who do the Brazilian drivers look out for when they are driving? Why?
Answer:
The drivers are supposed to look out for pedestrians. But in Brazil,
they do not care for people walking on the roads or people trying to
cross the roads. The deliberately accelerate and laugh at pedestrians
who run to survive. The drivers in Brazil treat pedestrians as fair prey
to hunt and mow down.

Question 9.
What remarkable attitude is seen in the war between drivers?
Answer:
The war between the drivers is murderous but good-tempered. They
cut in, overtake on both sides and force the other person to break
violently and commit all the most heinous crimes. But they smile at
the other person without any anger, hostility, or mad hooting.

Japan and Brazil through a Traveller’s Eye Comprehension II

Question 1.
Why is bowing in Japan a complicated process?
Answer:
‘Bowing’ in Japan is complicated because they follow a complicated
hierarchy in bowing which they have to follow as sacrosanct. The
Japanese know very clearly who should bow to whom, how deeply, and
for how long. For example, they follow certain basic rules inside the
family. They are: “the wife bows to her husband, the child bows to his
father, younger brothers to elder brothers, and the sister bows to all
brothers”. The Japanese reflect the smallest difference in rank,
standing, age, social position in their bowing style in that split second.

Question 2.
Why does bowing, a natural practice in Japanese culture, look so
quaint’ and puzzling to the author?
Answer:
‘Bowing’, a natural practice in Japanese culture, looks so ‘quaint’ and
puzzling to the author because when the Japanese bow, they bow
neither too deeply nor not deeply enough and bow to the right person
at the right time. They know who should bow to whom, how deeply,
and for how long. They manage it without difficulty and subtly reflect
even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social position.
Secondly, they bow with the ceremonious serenity of a courtier yet
with a great deal of natural and inimitable grace.
Question 3.
Do you think the author is finding fault with/making fun of the culture
of bowing in Japanese and speeding cars in Brazil?
Answer:
No. This article is a piece of travel writing. Travel writing is no longer
viewed as a product of some innocent curiosity. It is also not an
attempt to understand an alien culture objectively. Rather, this
narrative should be read as the author’s perspective on Japanese
culture. The author is certainly not finding fault with the Japanese way
of eating soup or their habit of bowing.

The author is only expressing his surprise when he looks at their

cultural habits as an outsider. The language might sometimes appear
to be used for a humorous effect. But, in a piece of creative writing,
such liberties in their style must be accepted as natural. If the writer
simply described objectively whatever he saw, the article will lose its
human interest.

Similarly, the author is expressing his surprise at the way the drivers
of four-wheelers move on the road in Brazil and the size of the fast-
moving traffic. The author is also expressing his appreciation for the
beautiful black mosaics seen on the pavements. He is also expressing
his annoyance for the sluggishness of the leisurely walking
pedestrians.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
‘Bowing in Japan is quainter; more formal, more oriental.’ Do you
agree?
OR
How does George Mikes describe bowing to be a quainter and
infectious trait of Japanese people?
Answer:
Yes. In this article, the author introduces the reader to one of the most
fascinating and conspicuous cultural habits of the Japanese people. He
tells the reader that as soon as you land in Japan, you perceive
immediately that the Japanese are exquisitely well-mannered. Very
soon, you will also discover that the Japanese are very courteous and
ensure that they do not violate a speaker’s privacy while talking to
someone over the phone. Then you come to be a witness to people
bowing to each other almost everywhere as if it is an obsession with
them.

However, the author records his appreciation for their skill and style
of bowing. He says that people bow to each other with the
ceremonious solemnity of a courtier and yet with a great deal of
natural and inimitable grace. Then he remarks that bowing is neither
less nor more silly than shaking hands or kissing the cheek, but it is
quainter, more formal, more oriental, and also infectious.

He says so because, while anyone can learn the art of shaking hands or
kissing the cheek perfectly well, it is extremely difficult for a European
to learn to do ‘bowing’ the way Japanese do because, in a split second,
the Japanese manage to subtly reflect all the nuances one needs to
follow while bowing. They successfully exhibit the smallest difference
in rank, standing, age, and social position. On the other hand, if
European attempts to bow to someone, he or she will bow too deeply
or not deeply enough; they bow to the wrong man at the wrong time
or they do not clasp their hands in front of them which is bad or they
do in a wrong way which is considered even worse.

Question 2.
Describe how traffic in Brazil leads to humorous observations.
OR
Give an account of the crawling traffic in Brazil as mentioned by
George Mikes.
OR
Write a note on traffic in Brazil.
Answer:
George Mikes makes humorous comments on the ‘traffic’ in
Copacabana and Avenida Presidente Vargas in particular and Brazil in
general. He opines that Brazilians are easy-going and leisurely
characters. But the very same people, the moment they get a steering
wheel in their hands, no speed „ is fast for them. They drive with such
speed that one would be inclined to believe that gaining a tenth of a
second is a matter of grave importance for all of them, all the time.
The writer talks about the increasing number of vehicles in Brazil and
says that the increase in the number of vehicles is making the
pedestrian’s life more hazardous every day. He then narrates an
interesting anecdote to give a clear idea of the number of vehicles
moving on the road at any given time in Avenida Presidente Vargas.

He asks the reader to imagine that he is standing on one side of the

road trying to cross the road. He will spend hours on end
contemplating a fascinating problem: How can crawling traffic
proceed at such a terrifying speed? He strengthens the same idea by
another example. He asks the reader to imagine that a man on his side
of the road suddenly catches sight of a friend of his on the other side
of the road and starts waving to him. Then he shouts at him asking
“How on earth did you get over there?” The other person will yell back
at him, “How? I was born on this side!” The author leaves it to the
readers to draw their own inferences.

Question 3.
What aspects of our social life, do you think, would appear quaint and
odd to a foreign tourist?
Answer:
India is a multi-ethnic, pluricultural, and multilingual country. People
of different cultural practices, customs, and traditions are spread
throughout the length and breadth of the country, thus making the
population heterogeneous in character.
But, foreign tourists who visit India, most often come from countries
where the population is homogeneous in character. Naturally, the
foreign tourists find quite a few aspects of our social life, quaint and
odd.

One of the commonest habits that might appear quaint to them is the
way our womenfolk create patterns on the floor in front of their
houses or gates, with chalk piece, coloured powder, or flower petals,
called Rangoli.

Similarly, the buntings of mango leaves and plantain tree stem that we
decorate our houses with special pooja days, auspicious occasions and
festivals, and lighting lamps during Deepavali appear odd to them.
Secondly, Indians’ love and respect for the holy cow and monkeys as a
symbol of god also appear quaint to them.

Another aspect that may appear quaint is the ritual of worshipping

vehicles which are commonly seen during Ayudha Pooja. Apart from
these, there are several habits which might make us bow our heads in
shame. They are urinating in public, spitting chewed betel nut residues
on the walls and roads,’ sneaking loudly over mobile phones in public
places, jumping at railway and bus ticket counters and at bus stops,
crossing roads where there are no pedestrian crossings, honking
unnecessarily, parking vehicles on the footpath, disobeying signal
lights, men staring at women walking on the street till she moves out
of sight, putting up pandals for private functions on the road and
blocking it for pedestrians and motorists, shoving garbage on the road,
pedestrians jaywalking on the road, etc. Talking to strangers on trains
and buses, enquiring them about their jobs and salaries, etc., are also
some of the social aspects of Indians which appear quaint to
foreigners.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
What does Mikes call, ‘A man’s castle’ in Japan?
Answer:
A man’s telephone receiver.

Question 2.
How long does it take in Japan to be convinced that you are among
exquisitely well-mannered people?
Answer:
Only a quarter of an hour.

Question 3.
Whom do the Japanese stores employ to welcome customers?
Answer:
Bowing girls.

Question 4.
Whatis the duty of the bowing girls in Japanese stores?
Answer:
The bowing girls have to bow deeply and deferentially to all and
sundry that visit the Japanese stores.

Question 5.
Which places does the Tokaido Line connect?
Answer:
Tokyo and Osaka.

Question 6.
Where did the writer Mikes meetadeerin Japan?
Answer:
The writer met a deer in one of the parts of Nara, which is a wild deer
park in Japan.

Question 7.
What are the pavements in the streets of Copacabana decorated with?
Answer:
With beautiful black mosaics.

Question 8.
What kind of people would take the trouble to decorate the pavements
they walk on?
OR
Who, according to the writer, would take the trouble to decorate the
pavements they walk on?
Answer:
Only a people alive to beauty in their surroundings and who have
plenty of time for contemplation during their meditative walking
would take the trouble to decorate the pavements they walk on.

Question 9.
Why are motor cars expensive in Brazil?
OR
What is extremely expensive in Brazil?
Answer:
Motor cars are extremely expensive in Brazil because import duties
are crippling and murderous.

Question 10.
Why is the pedestrian’s life in Brazil becoming more hazardous every
day?
Answer:
The pedestrian’s life in Brazil is becoming more hazardous every day
because the number of motor vehicles is growing by leaps and bounds.
Question 11.
Which place in Brazil does the writer consider as the worst for
pedestrians?
Answer:
The author considers Avenida Presidente Vargas as the worst place in
Brazil for pedestrians.

Question 12.
Which habit of the Japanese is referred to as mania by George Mikes?
OR
What does the Japanese mania refer to, according to Mikes?
Answer:
George Mikes refers to the Japanese habit of bowing’ as mania.

Question 13.
Which place in Brazil is the worst with regard to traffic, according to
George Mikes?
Answer:
Avenida Presidente Vargas, known for its terrifying speed of traffic on
the road, is the worst place of all in Brazil.

Question 14.
Whose life is becoming more hazardous in Brazil every day, according
to George Mikes?
Answer:
According to George Mikes, the pedestrian’s life is becoming more
hazardous in Brazil every day.

Question 15.
What, according to George Mikes, do the driver and pedestrian finally
do after the chase in Brazil?
Answer:
According to George Mikes, the pedestrian does not resent being
chased by the driver. Both of them smile amicably at each other.

Question 16.
What does the speaker compare Japanese bowing to?
Answer:
The speaker compares Japanese bowing to the ceremonious solemnity
of a courtier.
Question 17.
Who are the drivers in Brazil on the lookout for?
Answer:
The drivers in Brazil are on the lookout for any pedestrians stepping
off the pavement, who they regard as a fair game.

Question 18.
Which animal created the impression that it bowed to George Mikes in
Japan?
OR
Which animal bowed to the author at Nara?
Answer:
At Nara in Japan, a deer created the impression that it bowed to the
author.

Question 19.
What did the deer do after bowing to Mikes at Nara?
Answer:
After bowing to the author at Nara, the deer jumped at him and
snatched the little food-bag from his hand.

Question 20.
Mikes describes Japan as being
(a) overconfident
(b) overcrowded
(c) overjoyed.
Answer:
(b) overcrowded.

Question 21.
An hour in Japan convinced Mikes that he was among
(a) leisurely characters
(b) ill-mannered louts
(c) well-mannered people.
Answer:
(c) well-mannered people.

Question 22.
What do the people of Japan highly respect, according to Mikes?
Answer:
According to Mikes, the people of Japan highly respect one another’s
privacy.
Question 23.
As Mikes says, after a few hours in Japan, one starts _______
(a) thanking
(b) bowing
(c) kissing
Answer:
(b) bowing.

Question 24.
Who bows to all brothers in a Japanese family, according to Mikes?
Answer:
According to Mikes, the sister bows to all brothers in a Japanese
family.

Question 25.
What do mothers in Japan carry their babies in, according to Mikes?
Answer:
According to Mikes, mothers carry their babies in little saddles.

Question 26.
The Japanese stores employ ______ to greet customers.
(a) singing girls
(b) dancing girls
(c) bowing girls
Answer:
(c) bowing girls.

Question 27.
Who enters the carriage in a slightly theatrical scene as noticed by
Mikes in Japan?
Answer:
According to Mikes, two conductors enter the carriage in a slightly
theatrical scene.

Question 28.
Which animal bowed to Mikes in Japan?
Answer:
A deer bowed to Mikes in Japan.
Question 29.
Who is transformed into savages as soon as a bus arrives in Japan?
Answer:
As soon as a bus arrives in Japan, the bowing gentlemen are
transformed into savages.

Question 30.
George Mikes compares the act of two Japanese bowing to
(a) an early American traffic law
(b) page-boys turning revolving doors
(c) Tokaido line that connects Tokyo and Osaka.
Answer:
(a) an early American traffic law.

Question 31.
What did the deer snatch from Mikes’hand in Japan?
Answer:
The deer snatched the little food-bag from Mikes’ hand.

Question 32.
In Japan, as soon as the bus arrives, the bowing gentlemen are
transformed into
(a) savages
(b) slaves
(c) servants.
Answer:
(a) savages.

Question 33.
What must one do while eating soup in Japan, according to Mikes?
Answer:
According to Mikes, while eating soup one must make a fearful noise.

Question 34.
In Japan, eating soup by making a fearful noise is a sign of
(a) depreciation
(b) appreciation
(c) disregard.
Answer:
(b) appreciation.
Question 35.
Who enters the carriage on the Tokaido line in a slightly theatrical
scene in Japan?
Answer:
Two conductors enter the carriage on the Tokaido line, in a slightly
theatrical scene.

Question 36.
According to Mikes, bowing girls in Japan are equal to
(a) page-boys
(b) maidservants
(c) security guards.
Answer:
(a) page-boys.

Question 37.
The pavements in the streets of Copacabana in Brazil are often
decorated with
(a) pink granite slabs
(b) grey cobblestones
(c) beautiful black mosaics.
Answer:
(c) beautiful black mosaics.

Question 38.
As soon as a driver notices a pedestrian step off the pavement in
Brazil, he
(a) regards him as a fair game.
(b) greets him and smiles.
(c) ignores him and moves on.
Answer:
(a) regards him as a fair game.

Question 39.
‘The Avenida Presidents Vargas’ in Brazil is described by Mikes as
(a) a wonderful place.
(b) an auspicious place.
(c) the worst place.
Answer:
(c) the worst place.
Question 40.
When do the drivers of the motor cars in Brazil aim and accelerate?
Answer:
The moment a motor car driver in Brazil notices a pedestrian stepping
off the pavement, he regards the pedestrian as fair game, takes aim,
and accelerates his car.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:

Question 1.
What makes Mikes feel that the drivers in Brazil are on the lookout for
pedestrians
Answer:
George Mikes feels that the drivers in Brazil are on the lookout for
pedestrians because as soon as a driver notices a pedestrian step off
the pavement, he appears to regard him as a fair game and so he takes
aim and accelerates his vehicle. The pedestrian has to jump, leap, and
run for his/her dear life.

Question 2.
‘People respect each other’s privacy’. Explain with reference to Japan
in Mikes’ travel writing.
OR
Explain how the people of Japan respect each other’s privacy,
according to George Mikes.
Answer:
The people of Japan live on a hopelessly overcrowded island where
they have no privacy. However, the people are so well-mannered that
they are courteous enough not to overhear a conversation when they
find anyone talking to someone else over the telephone. The speaker
can consider the telephone receiver as his castle and conduct his most
confidential business transactions and intimate love-quarrels in
public, yet in perfect privacy without becoming apprehensive about
anyone overhearing his conversation.

Question 3.
How does the writer explain the complicated hierarchy in bowing?
OR
Why is bowing in Japan a complicated process?
OR
“The Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy in bowing.” Explain
with reference to ‘Japanese Manners’.
Answer:
The writer George Mikes remarks that for the Japanese people
‘bowing’ has become a mania. However, he also speaks in an
appreciative tone and says that the people bow to each other with the
solemnity of a courtier yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable
grace. Besides, he also says that the Japanese follow a complicated
hierarchy in bowing. This system decides who bows to whom, how
deeply, and for how long. Though it is a little complicated to us, the
Japanese manage it without difficulty and subtly and reflect in their
bowing even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social
position in a split second.

Question 4.
How, according to George Mikes, do the bowing gentlemen turn into
savages in Japan?
Answer:
The author George Mikes, having described in detail how ‘bowing’ is
followed so ritualistically in Japan, towards the end of the article
narrates an incident that happened in one of the parts in Nara, a deer
park in Japan. The author bought a pack of food for a deer. On seeing
the pack of food, the deer went up to him, looked into his eyes, and
bowed to him deeply. Then, almost immediately, it jumped at him and
snatched the little food-bag from his hand.

Using this incident as an analogy, George Mikes makes fun of the

Japanese people, for their ugly behaviour while boarding a bus. He
tells the reader in a sarcastic tone that we can often see the Japanese
bowing to each other with ceremonious serenity even at bus-stops.
Then he says, “as soon as the bus arrives, the bowing gentlemen are
transformed into savages, they push each other aside, tread on each
other’s toes and shove their elbows into each other’s stomachs”. The
reader, who had all along been encouraged to develop a kind of
admiration for the Japanese habit of respectful bowing, is shocked or
stunned by this revelation.

Question 5.
Give an account of the Japanese mania for bowing as described by
George Mikes.
OR
What is unique about bowing in Japan?
OR
What are the views of George Mikes about Japanese ‘mannerism of
bowing’?
Answer:
According to George Mikes, as soon as we land in Japan, the first thing
we notice is bowing is so ubiquitous in Japan. The writer comments
that it is the mania of the Japanese. He remarks that everyone keeps
bowing to everybody else with the ceremonious solemnity of a courtier
yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable grace. If two Japanese
bow, as a rule, neither is to straighten up before the other stands erect
in front of him. He states that bowing is quainter, more formal, and
more oriental and also infectious.

Besides, he also says that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy

in bowing. This system decides who bows to whom, how deeply, and
for how long. Though it is a little complicated to us, the Japanese
manage it without difficulty and subtly and reflect in their bowing
even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social position
in a split second.

Apart from saying that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy in

their bowing, the author says that the Japanese follow certain basic
rules inside the family. They are the wife bows to her husband, the
child bows to his father, younger brothers to elder brothers, and the
sister bows to all brothers of whatever age.

In Japanese stores, bowing girls stand at the top of escalators and their
only duty is to bow deeply and deferentially to all and sundry.

The ticket checking conductors on the fast Tokaido Line, march to the
middle of the coach and bow ceremoniously in both directions before
checking the tickets.

At Nara, a deer created the impression that it bowed to the author.

Question 6.
According to George Mikes, the people of Brazil are both leisurely and
speed-loving. Explain.
Answer:
According to George Mikes, the people of Brazil are both leisurely and
speed-loving. He remarks that however close by or far off their
destination may be, Brazilians do not seem to bother about the time it
might take for them to reach their destination. They do not hurry at
all; they do not mind even if they reach their destination either an
hour too soon or a day late or may not reach at all. But the very same
leisurely people, as soon as they get a steering wheel in their hands,
no speed is fast enough for them. If one looks at their driving speed,
one would be inclined to believe that gaining a tenth of a second is a
matter of grave importance for all of them all the time.

Question 7.
Why does George Mikes say that eating soup has more dangers for a
European?
Answer:
The author George Mikes concludes his observations with his
comments on the Japanese way of eating soup. He remarks that eating
soup has more dangers than almost anything else. He opines so
because eating soup in a Japanese house puts an outsider in a
dilemmatic situation. The Japanese host expects the ‘guest’ to make a
fearful noise to Show his sign of appreciation while eating soup. If the
guest is a European and if he or she does not make a fearful noise,
then the host will think that their guest is an ill-mannered lout. But,
having knowledge of this custom, if a European visitor makes a fearful
noise while eating soup to express his appreciation, then the host will
think that he must be an ill-mannered lout because the Japanese know
that no reasonably well brought up European makes such disgusting
noises when eating soup.

Question 8.
Bring out the culture of the Japanese as explained by George Mikes.
Answer:
In his travelogue, George Mikes narrates four anecdotes which will
help any foreign visitor to understand the cultural traits of the
Japanese people. The author first highlights how people’s courtesy
serves a double function in Japan. He assertively states that a couple,
with perfect confidence, can carry on even their intimate love quarrels
in public, in perfect privacy, without being apprehensive of any
passerby overhearing them. Next, he talks about the bowing mania of
the Japanese people and how the Japanese manage to show even the
slightest differences in their hierarchy with a great deal of natural and
inimitable grace.
Then, he narrates how, the very same people who, a few minutes ago
had bowed to each other with such ceremonious solemnity would
behave like savages, push each other aside, tread on each other’s toes
and elbow their way into the bus. Finally, he talks about soup-eating in
Japan. He says that, according to the Japanese, when eating soup one
must make a fearful noise so as to express his appreciation, otherwise
the guest will be considered an ill-mannered lout.

Question 9.
Why is a pedestrian’s life hazardous in Brazil, according to George
Mikes?
OR
Elaborate on the plight of a pedestrian in Brazil.
Answer:
According to George Mikes, the people of Brazil are both leisurely and
speed-loving. Then he says that the people love driving their cars at
such speed that as soon as the drivers get a steering wheel in their
hands, no speed is fast enough for them. They seem to believe that
gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of grave importance for them
all the time. The drivers usually lookout for pedestrians who step off
the pavement and regard such pedestrians as a fair game. They take
aim and accelerate their vehicle. The pedestrians have to jump, leap,
and run for their dear life. Naturally, on account of such speed-loving
people, a pedestrian’s life is hazardous in Brazil.

Question 10.
Explain how drivers in Brazil care about pedestrians, as mentioned by
George Mikes.
Answer:
According to George Mikes, the people of Brazil are both leisurely and
speed-loving. Then he says that the people love driving their cars at
such speed that as soon as the drivers get a steering wheel in their
hands, no speed is fast enough for them. They seem to believe that
gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of grave importance for them
all the time. The drivers usually lookout for pedestrians who step off
the pavement and regard such pedestrians as a fair game. They take
aim and accelerate their vehicle. The pedestrians have to jump, leap,
and run for their dear life. Naturally, on account of such speed-loving
people, a pedestrian’s life is hazardous in Brazil.
Question 11.
How do Mikes portray a view of Japanese culture through their act of
bowing?
Answer:
According to George Mikes, as soon as we land in Japan, the first thing
we notice is the mania of bowing, which is so ubiquitous in Japan. The
writer comments that it is the mania of the Japanese. He remarks that
everyone keeps bowing to everybody else with the ceremonious
solemnity of a courtier yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable
grace. If two Japanese bow, as a rule neither is to straighten up before
the other stands erect in front of him. He states that bowing is
quainter, more formal, and more oriental and also infectious.

Further, he says that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy in

bowing. This system decides who bows to whom, how deeply, and for
how long. Though it is a little complicated to us, the Japanese manage
it without difficulty and subtly and reflect in their bowing even the
smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social position in a split
second. Apart from saying that the Japanese follow a complicated
hierarchy in their bowing, the author says that the Japanese follow
certain basic rules inside the family. They are the wife bows to her
husband, the child bows to his father, younger brothers to elder
brothers, and the sister bows to all brothers of whatever age.

Question 12.
Why does George Mikes say that nobody hurries in Brazil? What
instances does he give to illustrate this?
Answer:
While recording his observations about the paradoxical behaviour of
the people in time management, George Mikes says that nobody
hurries in Brazil and does not seem to be worried whether they reach
their destination an hour too soon, a day late, or not at all. Though his
statement appears to be an exaggeration, George Mikes then tells us
the reason. His inference seems to be based on his imaginative
assessment of the probable time a pedestrian in Copacabana takes to
move from one end of a street to the next while walking on the
pavement, enjoying the beauty of the black mosaics on the pavements.
George Mikes says that the natives seem to relish such beautiful
decorations on the pavements and do not mind spending time
meditating on the beautiful mosaics while walking on the pavements.
He then cites another instance which highlights the incredible size of
the crawling traffic in Avenida Presidente Vargas. Imagining that a
pedestrian standing on one side of the street, asks his friend on the
other side, how he got there, his friend would reply that he was born
on that side and he did not go there crossing the street. This imaginary
incident would tell the reader about the size of the moving traffic in
Brazil.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
How does the writer bring out the dilemma of crossing the road in
Avenida Presidente Vargas?
OR
How does the writer bring out the humour in crossing the road in
Avenida Presidente
Vargas?
OR
Why is it difficult to cross a road in Brazil? How is this brought out in
‘Traffic in Brazil’?
OR
Describe the situation, one witness, while trying to cross the road in
Brazil, as mentioned by George Mikes.
Answer:
While recording his observations about the traffic in Brazil, the author
comments about the reckless driving style of the Brazilian people.
Then he expresses his surprise over the growing number of motor cars
in Brazil, despite the fact that import duties charged by the
government for importing cars are crippling and murderous, then he
gives the reader an anecdote to help him visualize to himself the
number of vehicles that are there and the way they move on the roads.

He tells the reader that one witness the worst traffic problems in
Avenida Presidente Vargas. If a pedestrian were to stand on one side of
the road, trying to cross the road and contemplating the truly
fascinating problem, ‘How can crawling traffic proceed at such
terrifying speed?’, he will be spending hour after hour without a ray of
hope of an auspicious crossing. Then he rounds up his anecdote telling
us that, the pedestrian will witness a scene in which a man standing
beside you, on your side of the Avenida Vargas, suddenly catches sight
of a friend of his on the other side and starts waving to him. Then he
will ask him, “How did you get there?” The other fellow being
surprised by this naive question will yell back, “How? I was born on
this side!” One can easily infer the author’s intention in giving us this
anecdote.

Question 2.
How does George Mikes bring out the humour in the Japanese
mannerism of bowing?
OR
Bowing in Japan is so infectious that it leads to a few comic situations.
How does Mikes bring this out?
Answer:
George Mikes narrates two very unique habits of the people noticed by
every tourist in Japan. One of them is their mannerism of bowing.
However, the author’s description is quite packed with humour as well
as admiration. He calls the bowing habit of the Japanese a ‘mania’ and
says “everybody keeps bowing to everyone else, with the ceremonious
solemnity of a courtier yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable
grace”. Interspersed in his description of their bowing, there are
certain statements which make the description sound humorous in a
subtle way. They are:

• After a few hours you start bowing yourself; you bow to the
wrong man at the wrong time; you do not clasp your hands in
front of you which is bad, or you do which is worse.
• If two Japanese bow, neither is to straighten up before the other
stands erect in front of him.
• saw babies carried in Japanese style on their mothers’ backs in
clever little saddles, and whenever the mother bowed, the baby
bowed too, somewhat condescendingly, from his majestic height.
• Bowing girls in Japanese stores stand at the top of escalators and
their only duty is to bow deeply and deferentially to all and
sundry.
• The ticket checking conductors on the fast Tokaido Line, march
to the middle of the coach and bow ceremoniously in both
directions before checking the tickets.
• About the deer in ‘Nara’, the author comments, “it is something
genetic and is in the blood of Japanese deer”.
• At the bus-stop, “the bowing gentlemen are transformed into
savages” as soon as a bus arrives.
Question 3.
Bowing in Japan is quainter, formal, and oriental. Why does George
Mikes say so? Discuss.
Answer:
According to George Mikes, bowing is so ubiquitous in Japan, it is the
mania of the Japanese.
Everyone keeps bowing to everybody else with the ceremonious
solemnity of a courtier yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable
grace. If two Japanese bow, as a rule, neither is to straighten up before
the other stands erect in front of him. He states that bowing is
quainter, more formal, and more oriental and also infectious.

Besides, he also says that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy

in bowing. This system decides who bows to whom, how deeply, and
for how long. Though it is a little complicated to us, the Japanese
manage it without difficulty and subtly and reflect in their bowing
even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social position
in a split second.

Apart from saying that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy in

their bowing, the author says that the Japanese follow certain basic
rules inside the family. They are the wife bows to her husband, the
child bows to his father, younger brothers to elder brother stand the
sister bows to all brothers of whatever age.

Question 4.
A natural behaviour looks peculiar when seen from an outsider% eyes.
How does Mikes prove this with reference to Japanese bowing?
Answer:
The excerpt titled ‘Japanese Manners’ is a good specimen of travel
writing, by George Mikes, a Hungarian-born British travel writer. In
this excerpt, the author shares his experience of travelling in Japan
and tries to draw the readers’ attention to what is most striking about
the Japanese people as seen by a touring journalist.

Though bowing to their fellowmen in Japanese society is a normal trait

of Japanese behaviour, to an outsider like George Mikes, ‘bowing’
appears to be an obsession with the Japanese. That is why George
Mikes chooses to comment about the bowing patterns of the Japanese
in this piece of travel writing.
According to George Mikes, as soon as we land in Japan, the first thing
we notice is bowing is so ubiquitous in Japan. The writer comments
that it is the mania of the Japanese. He remarks that everyone keeps
bowing to everybody else with the ceremonious solemnity of a courtier
yet with a great deal of natural and inimitable grace. If two Japanese
bow, as a rule, neither is to straighten up before the other stands erect
in front of him. He states that bowing is quainter, more formal, and
more oriental and also infectious.

Besides, he also says that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy

in bowing. This system decides who bows to whom, how deeply, and
for how long. Though it is a little complicated to us, the Japanese
manage it without difficulty and subtly and reflect in their bowing
even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, and social position
in a split second.

Apart from saying that the Japanese follow a complicated hierarchy in

their bowing, the author says that the Japanese follow certain basic
rules inside the family. They are the wife bows to her husband, the
child bows to his father, younger brothers to elder brothers, and the
sister bows to all brothers of whatever age.

Question 5.
George Mikes brings out the contrast between leisurely characters and
dangerous drivers in Brazil. Explain.
Answer:
George Mikes is a keen observer of people’s behaviour, customs, and
traditions. In the excerpt titled Traffic in Brazil’, Mikes says very
casually that nobody hurries in Brazil and remarks that it does not
really matter whether you reach your destination an hour too soon, a
day late, or not at all. Next, probably with the intention of finding a
suitable explanation for the leisurely attitude of the people, he tells
the readers about the ‘grey pavements’ in the streets of Copacabana,
which are decorated with beautiful mosaics. Then he adds that ‘only a
people alive to beauty in their surroundings and who have plenty of
time for contemplations during their meditative, ambulatory exercises
would take the trouble to decorate the pavements they walk on.
Though Mikes is appreciating the people for their aesthetic sensibility,
he is also satirizing the lethargic walking style and attitude of the
people.
However, in the very next sentence, he makes fun of dangerous drivers
in Copacabana. Mikes remarks that the very same leisurely characters,
when they get behind a steering wheel, drive very fast and are
reckless. Having made a comment about their time consciousness,
now, he says, “gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of grave
importance for all of them all the time”. Thus, by juxtaposing two
different traits of these people, George Mikes brings out the contrast
between leisurely characters and dangerous drivers in Brazil.

Question 6.
People display contrasting patterns of behaviour. Substantiate in the
light of’Japan and Brazil Through A Traveller’s Eye’.
Answer:
In this lesson, there are two excerpts titled ‘Japanese Manners’ and
‘Traffic in Brazil’ chosen from George Mikes’ book titled ‘The Land of
the Rising Yen’ and ‘How to Tango’ respectively.

In the first excerpt, the writer gives his comments about the Japanese
habit of ‘bowing’ and how they manage to respect each others’ privacy
even though they are living in an overcrowded island.

In the second excerpt, the author tells us in a humorous vein about

their time consciousness and their craze for driving cars recklessly.

However, he makes his travelogue memorable by highlighting the

contrasting patterns of behaviour of the people of Japan as well as the
people of Copacabana in Brazil.

While describing the Japanese, George Mikes tells the reader that
within fifteen minutes after a tourist has landed in Japan, he or she
will come to the conclusion that the people of Japan are an exquisitely
well-mannered people, who live on a hopelessly overcrowded island.
Then, he justifies his opinion by telling the reader how the people
respect each others’ privacy by being courteous enough not to
overhear a telephone conversation even though they happen to pass by
a telephone booth or a counter. Next, he describes the ‘bowing’ mania
of the Japanese people. Though he describes their bowing patterns in
an appreciative tone, he concludes his write up highlighting a
contrasting behavioural trait of the Japanese.
In a humorous tone, he tells the reader that the Japanese people who
bow with such ceremonious serenity even at bus-stops, exhibit
flippant behaviour almost immediately. He tells the reader that as
soon as a bus arrives, the bowing gentlemen become savage-like, push
each other aside, tread on each other’s toes and shove their elbows
into each other’s stomachs to get into the bus.

Similarly, in his travel write up titled ‘Traffic in Brazil’, while

narrating his experiences as a tourist walking through the streets of
Copacabana, he comments about the time consciousness of the local
people. He says very casually, “Nobody hurries in Brazil”, then he adds
“it does not really matter whether you reach your destination an hour
too soon, a day late, or not at all”. Then he narrates how the people
decorate the grey pavements in the streets with beautiful black
mosaics. Then referring to their walking style he says, ‘Only a people
alive to beauty in their surroundings and who have plenty of time for
contemplation during their meditative, ambulatory exercises would
take the trouble to decorate the pavements they walk on.

We should note that though he appears to be appreciating the aesthetic

sense of the people, there is also a tone of satirising the sluggish
walking style, or the lethargic attitude of the people.

Almost immediately he juxtaposes a contrasting pattern of their

behaviour. He tells the reader that the very same leisurely characters
when they get behind a steering wheel, drive very fast, and are
reckless. He says, “gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of grave
importance for all of them all the time”. The reader cannot but infer
that the people of Copacabana are very lethargic only while walking
but are reckless while driving a motor car. Thus, in both the essays we
find George Mikes highlighting contrasting patterns of behaviour of
the people.

Japan and Brazil through a Traveller’s Eye Vocabulary

Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings.

Provide Synonyms for the following words from the lesson. You may
consult a dictionary:

1. Intimate – personal, private

2. Quaint – strange, unusual, odd
3. Majestic – royal, kingly, princely
 4. Deferential – respectful
5. Solemn – courtly, majestic, stately, dignified
6. Amicably – courteously, cordially
7. Mystify – puzzle
8. Murderous – brutal, fierce, cruel, inhuman
9. Auspicious – favourable
10. Hostility – bitterness, grudge
11. Expensive – costly, dear
12.Savages – uncivilized, barbarous
13.Accelerate – speed up, quicken
14. Import – bring in, ship in
15.Complicated – complex.

Question 1.
Note the use of the following expressions in the travelogue.

1. all and sundry

2. cut in
3. by leaps and bounds
4. listen in
5. fair game
6. get into
7. lookout
8. for dear life
9. be one’s castle
10. clear cut
11. easygoing.

The meaning of each expression is given below. Match the expression

with its meaning of looking at the context in which it is used
(a) definite to see or identify
(b) relaxed and happy to accept things
(c) everyone
(d) to move suddenly in front of another vehicle
(e) a place where one can be private and safe
(f) very quickly; in large amounts
(g) as hard or as fast as possible
(h) to listen to a conversation that you are not supposed to hear
(i) to develop a particular habit
(j) someone or something that should be allowed to be criticized
(k) to keep trying to find something or meet somebody.
Answer:
a – 10, b – 11, c – 1, d – 2, e – 9, f – 3, g – 8, h – 4, i – 6, j – 5, k – 7.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
Privacy had a double function in Japan. Mikes ______ (surprise) to
notice the Japanese attitude towards privacy. Though telephones
______ (situate) in the open, confidential business transactions ______
(conduct) with ease.
Answer:
was surprised; were situated; were conducted.

Question 2.
Bowing in Japan was closely observed by Mikes. Bowing ______ (do) in
an oriental and formal manner. One’s social rank and status ______
(reflect) when two persons bowed to each other. In many cases, there
were clearcut rules and they _____ (observe) without difficulty.
Answer:
was done; were reflected; were observed.

Question 3.
Mikes visited a Japanese house. He _____ (offer) a bowl of soup. While
eating soup it ______ (expect) that he should make a fearful noise. He
knew that if Europeans made sounds, they _____ (considered) to be ill-
mannered louts.
Answer:
was offered; was expected; were considered.

Question 4.
Drivers in Brazil were very dangerous. Once they ______ (seat) behind
the steering wheel, no speed was fast enough for them. If a pedestrian
stepping off the pavement ______ (notice), he _______ (regard) as fair
game.
Answer:
were seated; was noticed; was regarded.

B. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:
Question 1.
In Brazil, the number of motor vehicles is growing by _______, almost
as if cars were distributed free of charge to ______. (all and sundry,
turn a deaf ear, leaps, and bounds)
Answer:
leaps and bounds; all and sundry.

Question 2.
In Brazil, the pedestrians are, in fact, on the _____ for drivers. As soon
as a driver notices a pedestrian step off the pavement, he regards him
as ______. (fair game, to get into, lookout)
Answer:
lookout; fair game.

Question 3.
The deer looked into Mikes’s eyes and bowed deeply. It was no ______.
He thought that if they see people bowing all the time, they _______
the habit too. (get into, come up, chance gesture)
Answer:
chance gesture; get into.

Question 4.
The war between drivers is murderous but good-tempered. They
________, overtake on both sides and force you to brake violently.
Therefore a pedestrian, while crossing a road, has to jump, leap and
run for ______. (dear life, fair game, cut in)
Answer:
cut in; dear life.

C. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
Japanese who live on a hopelessly overcrowded island have to respect
one another’s privacy _____ rather, would have to _____ they had any
privacy. _____ they don’t. ______ courtesy has a double function in
Japan. (but, if, or, so)
Answer:
or; if; But; So.

Question 2.
Japanese are said to be well-mannered ______ they respect each
other’s privacy. You can conduct your most confidential business
transactions and love-quarrels in public ______ in perfect privacy.
Anybody could listen in _______ nobody does. _____ a telephone-
receiver is a man’s castle in Japan. (yet, therefore, but, because)
Answer:
because; yet; but; Therefore.

Question 3.
Nobody hurries in Brazil. The people of Brazil are leisurely ______
they seem to have all the time in the world ______ decorate the
pavements they walk on. ______, the drivers in Brazil drive so fast
_______ every tenth of a second is of grave importance. (in order to,
and, however, as though)
Answer:
and; in order to; However; as though.

Question 4.
Bowing in Japan is not only quainter but infectious. ______ spending
some time in Japan, one starts bowing ______ he or she has been there
forever. ______ when a person bows, it is too deep or not too deep
enough _____ the outsider is not familiar with the complexities of
bowing. (as though, after, however, because)
Answer:
After; as though; However; because.

Question 5.
Motor cars are extremely expensive in Brazil ______ of crippling and
murderous import duties. ______ almost everyone owns a car here.
______ the roads in Brazil have heavy traffic. ______ the pedestrian’s
life is becoming more hazardous every day. (thus, hence, yet, because)
Answer:
because; Yet; Thus; Hence.

George Mikes (1912 – 1987) was a Hungarian-born British artist,

author, publisher, illustrator, and journalist. He studied Law and
received his doctorate at Budapest University. He is best known for his
humorous commentaries on various countries.

His early books included ‘We Were There To Escape’ and ‘How to be an
Alien’. Subsequent books dealt with (among others) Japan (‘The Land
of the Rising Yen’), Israel (‘Milk and Honey, The Prophet Motive’), the
U.S. (‘How to Scrape Skies’), and the United Nations (‘How to Unite
Nations’), Australia (‘Boomerang’), the British again (‘How to be
Inimitable, How to be Decadent’), and South America (‘How to
Tango’). Other subjects include God (‘How to be God’), his cat (‘Tsi-
Tsa’), wealth (‘How to be Poor’), or philosophy (‘How to be a Guru’).
His autobiography was called ‘How to be Seventy’.

In this lesson, there are two excerpts titled ‘Japanese Manners’ and
‘Traffic in Brazil’, chosen from George Mikes’ book titled ‘The Land of
the Rising Yen’ and ‘How to Tango’, respectively. They are two
specimens of ‘Travel writing’. The writer is a travel journalist, who
presents his observations about the people of Japan and Brazil in these
two articles.

In the first excerpt titled ‘Japanese Manners,’ the writer gives his
comments about the Japanese habit of ‘bowing’ and how they manage
to respect each others’ privacy even though they are living in an
overcrowded island. The author shares his experience of travelling in
Japan and tries to draw the readers’ attention to what is most striking
about the Japanese people as seen by a touring journalist.

Japanese Manners

Within fifteen minutes after you have landed in Japan, you will learn
that the people of Japan are an exquisitely well-mannered people, who
live on a hopelessly overcrowded island. Consequently, their living
space is very limited and so they do not have any privacy, yet the
people respect people’s privacy in a different way. Their ‘courtesy’
serves a double function. They exhibit such polite behaviour that their
‘courtesy’ itself serves as a substitute for privacy. The writer supports
his opinion-with as an example.

For example, he says, one finds red telephones in the streets, shops,
halls of hotels, etc., and the instrument is placed on a table or a
counter. They do not have space to spare for telephone booths. But,
any person can conduct his most confidential business transactions,
even intimate love quarrels in public and in perfect privacy, without
being apprehensive about any passerby overhearing you. The author
emphatically says that the person’s telephone receiver is his castle.

The writer then gives his observations about the Japanese obsession
with ‘Bowing’. He calls it a ‘mania’ because everybody keeps bowing to
everybody else. He remarks that the people bow to each other with the
solemnity of a courtier with a great deal of natural and inimitable
grace. He comments that though ‘bowing’ is like shaking hands or
kissing the cheek, it is quainter, more formal, and more oriental but
also infectious. Then he states that bowing is so commonly seen
everywhere that even the onlookers start bowing though not the right
way as the Japanese do. We bow too deeply or not deeply enough or
we bow to the wrong man at the wrong time. Secondly, we do not
clasp our hands in front of us, which is considered a bad way, or we
may clasp the hands in a bad way which is considered even worse.

Next, the writer tells us that the Japanese have a complicated

hierarchy in bowing: who bows to whom, how deeply, and for how
long. Then the author cites an incident that happened in America. He
tells us that in one of the American states, there was a traffic law
which laid down that if two cars met at an intersection, neither was to
move before the other had gone. The author uses this incident to tell
us that, similarly in Japan, if two Japanese bows, neither are to
straighten up before the other stands erect in front of him. Though it
sounds a little complicated to us, the Japanese manage it without
difficulty and even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age,
social position will be subtly reflected in that split second; one man’s
bow will be shorter than the others. In many cases, there are clear-cut
differences in position and no difficulties.

According to the Japanese culture, the wife bows to her husband, the
child bows to his father, younger brother to elder brothers, the sister
bows to all brothers of whatever age. The author then recollects a
sight he had seen in Japan, that of Japanese mothers carrying their
babies on their backs in little saddles and whenever their mother
bowed, the babies bowed too. Then there are the bowing girls in
Japanese stores standing at the top of escalators, bowing deeply and
deferentially to everyone. Next, the writer narrates his experience on
a fast train (Tokaido Line), between Tokyo and Osaka. He tells us that
two conductors enter the carriage in a theatrical style, march to the
middle of the coach, bow ceremoniously in both directions, and then
start checking the tickets.

Later, he narrates how even an animal like the deer do ‘bowing’. He

tells the reader that in one of the parts of ‘Nara’ (Nara Park is a vast
wildlife park located in the city of Nara, Japan, at the foot of Mount
Wakakusa, where wild deer roam about freely), he bought a pack of
food for deer. The deer came up to him, looked into his eyes, and
bowed deeply. The author states that it was not a chance gesture but it
was a proper and courteous bow.

The author conjectures that the deer are more imitative, and having
seen the people bowing all the time, probably they also get into the
habit. Then he says it may be something genetic and is in the blood of
Japanese deer. Finally, he ends the incident, saying that the deer, after
bowing to him, jumped at him and snatched the little food-bag from
his hand.

In a humorous tone, he tells the reader that the Japanese people who
bow with such ceremonious serenity even at bus-stops, exhibit
flippant behaviour almost immediately. He tells the reader that as
soon as a bus arrives, the bowing gentlemen become savage-like, push
each other aside, tread on each other’s toes and shove their elbows
into each other’s stomachs to get into the bus.

He ends his travelogue on Japan with his humorous observations about

‘soup eating’ in Japan. According to the Japanese, when eating soup
you must make a fearful noise; only then will one be appreciated. If
the soup eater does not make a noise, his hostess will think that the
guest is an ill-mannered lout. On the other hand, if the guest makes
some noise while eating soup, she will think that he is not a
reasonably well brought up European because no reasonably well
brought up European makes such disgusting noises when eating up the
soup. The author tells jokingly that the hostess will conclude that he
must be an ill-mannered lout.

Traffic in Brazil

This excerpt is taken from ‘How to Tango’, a humorous commentary

on South America, by George Mikes. The author tells us in a humorous
vein how the people of Brazil drive their motor vehicles. He also
records his appreciation of the people’s talent for decorating their grey
pavements.

The author narrates his experiences while walking as a tourist through

the streets of Copacabana. The very first sentence is a comment about
their time consciousness. He says very casually, “Nobody hurries in
Brazil”; then he sarcastically adds, “it does not really matter whether
you reach your destination an hour soon, a day late, or not at all”.
Then he turns his attention towards the grey pavements in
Copacabana. He states that the grey pavements in the streets are often
decorated with beautiful black mosaics which he calls ‘a unique type of
decoration’. Then he gives the people of Brazil his compliments for
their talent for doing such decorations. He remarks, “Only a people
alive to beauty in their surroundings and who have plenty of time for
contemplation during their meditative, ambulatory exercises would
take the trouble to decorate the pavements they walk on”. He uses a
pompous term ‘ambulatory exercises’ to refer to their walking style.

One should also note that though here he is appreciating the people for
their aesthetic sense, he is also satirizing their sluggish walking style
or the lethargic attitude of the people. In the very next sentence, he
makes fun of their ‘driving style’. He tells the reader that the very
same leisurely characters when they get behind a steering wheel, they
drive very fast and are reckless. Having made a comment about their
time consciousness, now he says, “gaining a tenth of a second is a
matter of grave importance for all of them all the time”. The reader
cannot but infer that the people of Copacabana are very lethargic only
while walking and are reckless while driving vehicles.

The writer remarks that buying a motor car in Brazil is an extremely

expensive event because import duty for importing cars from other
countries is very high. In this context, he also compares Brazil with
other countries in South America and says, “Only a few other, poorer
South American states are in a worse position in this respect.” Then he
remarks that “complaints are universal; hardly anyone can afford a
car.” Having said this he proceeds to say that yet you find an
unimaginably large number of motor cars here. Then he makes a
satirical comment on the craze of the people for buying cars.

He says, “the number of motor vehicles is growing by leaps and

bounds as if they were distributed free of charge to all and
sundry.”The reader should be careful to note here that the author is
also expressing his doubt or surprise at the capacity of the people to
pay such huge import duties to buy a car.

Then he explains how reckless the people who drive motor vehicles
are. He remarks that “itis, not that drivers do not care about
pedestrians”; the trouble is “they are, in fact, on the lookout for them.
As soon as a driver notices a pedestrian step off the pavement, the
driver considers him as ‘fair game’, he takes aim and accelerates.” The
pedestrian has to jump, leap, and run for dear life. In these lines, the
author is trying to tell the reader how reckless the drivers are and how
they chase people as hunters do while hunting an animal.

However, in the next line, he compliments the people for their sweet
and sensible temperament. He tells the reader that the pedestrian does
not resent being targeted by the driver. He says, “driver and
pedestrian – hunter and prey smile amicably at each other, and they
appear to be saying “I win today you will tomorrow”.

In the next paragraph, the author talks about the rivalry between two
drivers. Though the war between two drivers appears to be
murderous, yet they are good-tempered. He describes the style of their
driving – they cut in, overtake on both sides, force you to brake
violently and commit all the most heinous crimes on the road twenty
times an hour”. Despite exhibiting such recklessness in their driving,
they smile at you and do not show any anger, no hostility, and no mad
hooting.

In the next paragraph, he recalls an incident he had probably

witnessed in a place called Avenida Presidente Vargas. He says it is the
worst place in Brazil known for its crowded and slow-moving’ traffic.
His statement is paradoxical. He says, on the one hand, that driver’s
drive recklessly; and here he calls the traffic ‘crawling traffic’. He says
even the onlookers will be contemplating the truly fascinating problem
“how can crawling traffic proceed at such terrifying speed”. One can
imagine the number of vehicles moving at such terrific speed and
probably it is the number of vehicles moving at a time together which
makes the reader call it ‘crawling traffic’. He comments about the
helplessness of the pedestrian who wishes to cross the road waiting
for hours on end.

Then, he concludes narrating a jovial anecdote. He tells the reader that

he might witness a situation in which a man standing beside you on
your side of the road, suddenly discovers a friend of his on the other
side and starts waving to him. He asks him, “How on earth did you
ever get there?” The other fellow yells back, “How? I was born on this
side”. The author narrates this anecdote probably to convince the
reader how difficult it is to cross a busy road in Avenida Vargas.
Glossary:

• Mania: obsession, a craze

• Condescend: stoop, humiliate
• Genetic: hereditary, inherited
• Subtly: delicate, cunning, elusive
• Tokaido, Osaka, and Tokyo: places in Japan
• Serenity: peacefulness, calmness
• Heinous: hateful, wicked
• Copacabana, Avenida, Presidente Vargas: places in Brazil

The Voter

Comprehension I

Question 1.
The roof was a popular young man because of he-
a. had not abandoned his village.2nd PUC English Textbook Answers
Springs Chapter 12 The Voter
b. wanted to guide his people.
c. was forced to return to his village.
Answer:
(a) had not abandoned his village.

Question 2.
Why was Marcus considered rich and powerful?
Answer:
Marcus had two long cars and had just built himself the biggest house
anyone had seen in these parts. He had entertained his people
slaughtering five bulls and countless goats to feed the people. Though
the village had no electricity, he had installed a private plant to supply
electricity to his new home. Secondly, his house was opened by the
Archbishop. Thirdly, he had been made a minister after he won the
election. That is why he was considered rich and powerful.
Question 3.
Marcus Ibe had earlier been
a. doctor
b. schoolteacher
c. politician.
Answer:
(b) school teacher.

Question 4.
The fact that Marcus Ibe left the good things of the capital and
returned to his village whenever he could, shows
a. his devotion to his people and love for the place
b. he enjoyed all the comforts of the city in his village.
c. he wanted to improve the amenities in his village.
Answer:
(b) he enjoyed all the comforts of the city in his village.

Question 5.
After the feasting, the villagers
a. praised Marcus’s faithfulness and generosity.
b. intended to demand more for their votes
c. realized Marcus’s wealth.
Answer:
(c) realized Marcus’s wealth.

Question 6.
The ‘whispering campaign’ is
a. secret campaigning at night
b. bargaining for votes.
c. clandestine distribution of money.
Answer:
(c) clandestine distribution of money.

Question 7.
The village eider Ezenwa tilted the lamp a little because
a. he could not see properly.
b. the place was too dark.
c. he wanted to confirm the amount paid to each.
Answer:
(c) he wanted to confirm the amount paid to each.
Question 8.
‘Firewood’ refers to
a. Roof taking advantage of the situation.
b. the advantages of being a voter.
c. the benefits the elders received.
Answer:
(c) the benefits the elders received.

Question 9.
Roof and the leader of the POP campaign team were
a. friends.
b. strangers.
c. acquaintances.
Answer:
(a, c) friends/acquaintances.

Question 10.
The roof was mesmerized by
a. the red notes on the floor.
b. the picture of the cocoa farmer.
c. the POP campaign leader.
Answer:
(a) the red notes on the floor.

Question 11.
Roof’s act of inserting the torn ballot papers in two boxes signifies
a. keeping his promise.
b. appeasing Iyi
c. absolving himself of his guilt
Answer:
(c) absolving himself of his guilt.

The Voter Comprehension II

Question 1.
Trace the change in the attitude of the villagers before the second
election. Give reasons.
OR
Why did the people decide not to cast their vote for free in the
forthcoming election?
OR
Explain the change that had come into the thinking of Umuofia in ‘The
Voter’.
OR
Trace the reasons behind the ‘radical change’ that had come into the
thinking ofUmuofia in ‘The Voter’.
Answer:
In this short story, Chinua Achebe makes an attempt to present before
the reader how ‘elections’ lose their sanctity and are misused by
greedy politicians for self-aggrandizement instead of bringing about
improvement in the life of the people.

The people of Umuofia vote en masse in favor of the People’s Alliance

Party and elect Marcus Ibe, a local teacher, as their leader. Once
getting elected, people see a great many changes in Marcus’ life. Their
elected representative becomes wealthy, is awarded chieftaincy titles
and doctorate degrees, besides many other honours. He also builds a
huge mansion in his native village and names it ‘Umuofia Mansions’.
He spends most of his time in the capital and comes back to stay in his
village mansion sometimes.

The villagers do not have running water and electricity, but he gets a
private plant installed in his village to supply electricity to his new
house. To top it all, his new house is opened by the Archbishop. On the
day the new house is opened, he hosts a grand dinner to all the people
of his village, slaughtering five bulls and countless goats. The common
people realize that winning an election can change an ordinary
mission school teacher into a wealthy and powerful man.

They also know that it is their ballot which has given him all those
benefits. They recall that they had given their votes free of charge five
years ago. They realize that they had underrated the power of the
ballot paper and should not do so again. That is why, in the second
election, they demand money for their votes.

Question 2.
What was the justification for the formation of the POP?
OR
What reasons are given for the formation of the POP?
Answer:
POP stands for Progressive Organisation Party. This party is formed by
the tribes down the coast to save themselves from ‘totally political,
cultural, social and religious annihilation’. The POP was a complete
non-entity in the first election. Once the organizers come to know that
there is no opposition party, some rich members of the tribes down
the coast, form this party. They want the people to know that they will
be paid pounds and not shillings if they listen to them and vote for
them. In the story, we do not get any hint about the objectives of the
PAP, but the organizers of the POP claim that they want to save the
people from political, religious, cultural annihilation, though they
appear to be no better.

From the situation described in the story, we can infer that the writer
intends to tell the reader that no political party is seriously interested
in improving the welfare of the people. They seem to know for sure
that by winning an election, they can take the government in their
hands and become rich. They seem to be unaware of their duties and
responsibilities.

Question 3.
The roof is an intelligent manipulator. Justify with reference to the
story,
OR
What is the role played by Roof in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
Roof Okeke is an energetic young man and has come back to his own
village Umuofia, after working as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice for
two years in Port Harcourt. It is true that he would have enjoyed a rich
life if he had stayed on in his job. But he comes back to the village and
tells the people that he wants to guide them in difficult times. Later he
becomes an ’election campaign manager’ for Marcus Ibe and over a
period of five years becomes an expert in election campaigning at all
levels.

In the story, we get to know more about Roof when he is on the job,
engaged in one of his whispering campaigns. He tells the elders that
Marcus Ibe, being a ‘son’ from their village, has been made a minister
and it should be considered a great honour. Then he tries to use his
rationalistic thinking with the people. He asks them, “Do you ever stop
to ask yourselves why we should be singled out for this honour?” He
himself answers his question. He tells them that they are favoured by
the PAP leaders. Here we see Roof as a manipulator at work. He knows
for sure that Marcus was perhaps the only man with some education.
Secondly, there was no opposition party. Basically, the village folk
were innocent and naive and hardly realized the meaning of an
election and the value of their mandate. Roof exploits this situation to
his advantage.

Moreover, when he comes to learn that people had understood the

benefits of entering politics and winning an election as seen in the
case of Marcus Ibe and are now planning not to give their vote free of
charge, he immediately informs Marcus and keeps him prepared to pay
some money to the people in exchange for their votes.

Finally, we get a clear picture of Roof as a manipulator when he

accepts five pounds from the election manager of POR He makes sure
that they will not disclose the news of his accepting the money. He
also tries to keep his conscience clear by telling them that he works for
Marcus; while putting his ballot paper into the box, he cleverly
manages to cast his vote for both Marcus and Maduka, without
attracting the wrath of ‘iyi’.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
The POP campaign leader’s meeting with Roof shows the misuse of
transparency in a democratic setup. Discuss.
Answer:
In this story, Achebe satirizes ‘politicians’ and makes an attempt to
show how even in a democratic setup election can become farcical.

Unlike in dictatorship or monarchy, in a democratic setup, people have

the freedom to elect a ‘person’ to work as their representative in the
government and work for their upliftment. One of the hallmarks of
democracy is its insistence on transparency. Every person is subject to
scrutiny by the public in the election process. A person is free to vote
for a person of his choice from among the contestants. ‘Transparency’
in this refers to Roof’s informing the POP campaign leader that he is
working for Marcus.

Secondly, whether Roof informs him or not, it is well known to

everyone that Roof is Marcus’ election campaign manager. The
candidates are permitted by law to make known to the people all such
appointments and maintain transparency in their dealings.
However, no candidate can strike a deal with the people and buy their
votes. But this is done clandestinely. The POP campaign leader knows
that Roof is working for Marcus. Therefore, they want to buy Roof’s
vote first so that they will let him know that the POP leaders will pay
in pounds and not in shillings. This is the message they want to put
across to the people through Roof. Probably, next time, Roof who has
made a name as an efficient election campaign manager for Marcus,
will be bold enough to demand ‘pounds’ instead of shillings from
Marcus and if he refuses to pay in pounds, he might go and work for
the POP leader. That way he will be able to motivate his people to vote
for POP instead of the circus. Thus, the POP campaign managers’
meeting with Roof is daring misuse of transparency in a democratic
setup.

Question 2.
To every human comes a time of reckoning. How does Roof’s dilemma
on the day of the election reflect this?
OR
Why did Roof face a dilemma while he was inside the voting booth?
How did he resolve it?
OR
“There comes a time in every man’s life to decide”. Explain with
reference to ‘The Voter’.
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, Roof is an energetic young man who has the reputation
of sacrificing a bright future for the sake of the people of his village.
The roof has worked in a city for two years and has experience in
dealing with both literates and illiterates. Based on this knowledge of
general human behaviour, Roof builds for himself a career as an
election campaign manager for Marcus Ibe.

When the story opens, we learn that Marcus Ibe is Chief the
Honourable Minister of Culture in the outgoing government and is
seeking people’s mandate for a second term. We also learn that Marcus
considers Roof a real expert in election campaigning at all levels. Roof
knows how politicians make money. He also knows that the people of
Umuofia have now decided to vote for Marcus for a price. Roof
conveys this news to Marcus and prepares him beforehand.

Like an efficient manager, he tries to highlight the strong points of

PAP and finally strike a bargain with the voters paying them four
shillings per vote. Everything is now going according to his plan and is
happy.

But, one evening, the leader of the POP campaign team comes to his
house to meet him. He tempts Roof to vote for Maduka paying him five
pounds. Roof’s greed tempts him to accept the offer. But, he also gets
trapped. The leader asks him to swear on the ‘Iyi’, that he would vote
for Maduka.

The roof cannot go back on his promise. So he swears to vote for

Maduka. Finally, on the day of the voting, Marcus wants to make sure
that every one of his people casts his vote without fail. Therefore, Roof
being his election manager, Marcus sends him to the booth first to
vote. Now, Roof is caught in a moral dilemma. All along he has worked
for Marcus and his conscience does not permit him to cheat Marcus.
Now, when Marcus asks him to cast his vote he is in two minds. He
feels that he cannot betray Marcus. For a moment, his mind tells him
that he should vote for Marcus and go back and return the money he
had received from the POP election manager.

Secondly, he remembers that he had sworn on that ‘lyi’. In a few

seconds, his mind hits on a new idea. He folds the ballot paper in the
middle and tears it into two halves at the crease. He drops the first
half into the box meant for Maduka and confirms his vote saying that
he votes for Maduka. Since he has not taken an oath to vote for
Marcus, there is no fear of ‘lyi’ in him but only his guilt. Since he has
worked as his manager for money and rewards, he drops the other half
into the box meant for Marcus. Thus, he ensures that he does not cheat
either. By tearing the ballot paper and casting his vote for both of
them he overcomes his moral dilemma.

Question 3.
What comment does the story offer on the electoral system? Is it
relevant?
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, Achebe tries to present a true picture of the drama that
is witnessed during an election held in a small town in Nigeria. There
are two main characters and two political parties in the story and the
voters are the villagers of Umuofia.

The roof is an energetic young man, who is now working as the

election campaign manager for Marcus Ibe, who was once a local
mission school teacher and was on the verge of dismissal from service
on the basis of a female teacher’s complaint.

Marcus Ibe joins the People’s Alliance Party, contests the election, and
gets elected. He becomes a minister and his government completes a
five-year term and he is now seeking re-election. During his term as a
minister, he amasses a lot of wealth, comes to own two big cars, builds
a huge mansion in his native village, and wins several chieftaincy
titles and doctorate degrees.

But his people remain the same – poor, illiterate, ignorant, and naive.
The situation in his village also does not show any improvement. The
same old problems of lack of running water and electricity continue to
plague the people and prevent them from improving economically and
politically. When the story opens, we learn that Marcus Ibe is seeking
a second term and everyone is sure that he is going to get a landslide
victory because there is no opposition party worth taking into
consideration.

But there is a change in the perception of the people. After feasting in

Marcus’ new house and noticing his wealth and power, the poor people
of Umuofia realize that ‘elections’ do have a meaning and their votes
which they had underrated before, are of high value. Therefore, they
demand some value for their votes and Roof manages to convince them
that they should vote for Marcus again by giving four shillings each.

Some tribes down the coast had set up a new political party called POP
with the objective of saving the people from ‘totally political, cultural,
social and religious annihilation’. Their campaign leader comes to
Roof’s house and offers to buy his vote for five pounds. Roof initially is
enamoured of the five-pound notes and agrees to vote.

But the POP leader cleverly gets him to swear on the ‘iyi’ that he will
vote for Maduka. Finally, on election day, his conscience pricks him to
a little extent and Roof feels like voting loyally for Marcus and
returning the money to the POP election manager. But the oath he has
taken before ‘iyi’ does not allow him to do so and there is a moral
dilemma. However, Roof cuts his ballot paper in two, drops one half
into the box meant for Maduka and drops the other half into the box
meant for Marcus, and saves his conscience and his life too. This is the
story in a nutshell.
There are lessons to learn from this story. We must note that merely
naming our government as ‘democracy’ and setting up all the things
needed for holding elections do not guarantee that people will be able
to exercise their true mandate and will elect competent members to
the government which will strive for the upliftment of the people
socially, educationally, economically and culturally. We cannot
guarantee democratic governance by merely holding elections
regularly. First, we must educate the people about their rights, duties,
and responsibilities in any election.

Secondly, we must ensure that people have the right to recall their
representatives if they do not strive to improve a lot of people.
Thirdly, elected representatives must be forced to account for their
earnings after joining the government. Finally, there should be an
authority which should oversee that sanctity of election procedures is
not tampered with.

Also, those who get elected are self-centered and exploit the people
and the situation to their benefit. On the whole, one can argue that by
merely holding elections regularly we cannot ensure that a democratic
government will come into place.

Secondly, the electoral system that is now in place in the story is not
foolproof. As regards the relevance of the story to our own situation,
one can argue that it is highly relevant even today. Even after nearly
seven decades of independence, we have not been able to ensure free
and fair elections, the main reason being the lack of education and
moral values. We are witness to every type of corrupt practice in
elections.

Question 4.
‘Democracy is more than holding elections regularly.’ Do you think the
story supports this statement?
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, Achebe tries to present a true picture of the drama that
is witnessed during an election held in a small town in Nigeria. There
are two main characters and two political parties in the story and the
voters are the villagers of Umuofia.
The roof is an energetic young man, who is now working as the
election campaign manager for Marcus Ibe, who was once a local
mission school teacher and was on the verge of dismissal from service
on the basis of a female teacher’s complaint.

Marcus Ibe joins the People’s Alliance Party, contests the election, and
gets elected. He becomes a minister and his government completes a
five-year term and he is now seeking re-election. During his term as a
minister, he amasses a lot of wealth, comes to own two big cars, builds
a huge mansion in his native village, and wins several chieftaincy
titles and doctorate degrees.

But his people remain the same – poor, illiterate, ignorant, and naive.
The situation in his village also does not show any improvement. The
same old problems of lack of running water and electricity continue
t<3. plague the people and prevents them from improving
economically and politically. When the story opens, we learn that
Marcus Ibe is seeking a second term and everyone is sure that he is
going to get a landslide victory because there is no opposition party
worth taking into consideration.

But there is a change in the perception of the people. After feasting in

Marcus’ new house and noticing his wealth and power, the poor people
of Umuofia realize that ‘elections’ do have a meaning and their votes
which they had underrated before, are of high value. Therefore, they
demand some value for their votes and Roof manages to convince them
that they should vote for Marcus again by giving four shillings each.

Some tribes down the coast had set up a new political party called POP
with the objective of saving the people from ‘totally political, cultural,
social and religious annihilation’. Their campaign leader comes to
Roof’s house and offers to buy his vote for five pounds. Roof initially is
enamoured of the five-pound notes and agrees to vote.

But the POP leader cleverly gets him to swear on the ‘iyi’ that he will
vote for Maduka. Finally, on election day, his conscience pricks him to
a little extent and Roof feels like voting loyally for Marcus and
returning the money to the POP election manager. But the oath he has
taken before ‘iyi’ does not allow him to do so and there is a moral
dilemma. However, Roof cuts his ballot paper in two, drops one half
into the box meant for Maduka and drops the other half into the box
meant for Marcus, and saves his conscience and his life too. This is the
story in a nutshell.
There are lessons to learn from this story. We must note that merely
naming our government as ‘democracy’ and setting up all the things
needed for holding elections do not guarantee that people will be able
to exercise their true mandate and will elect competent members to
the government which will strive for the upliftment of the people
socially, educationally, economically and culturally. We cannot
guarantee democratic governance by merely holding elections
regularly. First, we must educate the people about their rights, duties,
and responsibilities in any election.

Secondly, we must ensure that people have the right to recall their
representatives if they do not strive to improve a lot of people.
Thirdly, elected representatives must be forced to account for their
earnings after joining the government. Finally, there should be an
authority which should oversee that sanctity of election procedures is
not tampered with.

Also, those who get elected are self-centred and exploit the people and
the situation to their benefit. On the whole, one can argue that by
merely holding elections regularly we cannot ensure that a democratic
government will come into place. Secondly, the electoral system that is
now in place in the story is not foolproof.

As regards the relevance of the story to our own situation, one can
argue that it is highly relevant even today. Even after nearly seven
decades of independence, we have not been able to ensure free and
fair elections, the main reason being the lack of education and moral
values. We are witness to every type of corrupt practice in elections.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Where did Roof work as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice?
OR
What did Roof do in Port Harcourt?
Answer:
Roof worked as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice in Port Harcourt.

Question 2.
How long had Roof worked as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice?
Answer:
Roof worked as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice for two years.

Question 3.
The roof had given up being a bicycle repairer’s apprentice in order to
(a) contest elections
(b) guide his people
(c) campaign for Marcus.
Answer:
(b) and (c) guide his people/campaign for Marcus.

Question 4.
Who had formed the Progressive Organisation Party?
Answer:
The Progressive Organisation Party (POP) had been formed by the
tribes down the coast.

Question 5.
To which village did Roof belong?
Answer:
To Umuofia.

Question 6.
Who was supposed to be very popular in his village?
Answer:
Roof.

Question 7.
According to the villagers, what was Roof’s motivation for leaving a
promising career?
Answer:
The villagers believed that a strong desire to guide the people of
Umuofia in difficult times was the motivation behind Roof’s leaving a
promising career.

Question 8.
Which political party did the people of Umuofia support?
Answer:
People’s Alliance Party.

Question 9.
To which party did Marcus belong?
Answer:
To the People’s Alliance Party.

Question 10.
What was Marcus in the outgoing government?
Answer:
Minister of Culture.

Question 11.
Who did the Roof campaign for in the elections?
Answer:
For Marcus Ibe.

Question 12.
What was Marcus Ibe before he joined politics?
Answer:
A mission school teacher.

Question 13.
Why did Marcus Ibe face the threat of being dismissed from service as
a school teacher?
Answer:
A female teacher had complained against Marcus Ibe. Hence, his
dismissal was imminent.

Question 14.
What had Marcus named his new house?
Answer:
‘Umuofia Mansions’.

Question 15.
Who was the most trusted campaigner of Marcus?
Answer:
Roof.

Question 16.
How much salary had Marcus withdrawn in advance?
OR
How much had Marcus Ibe drawn in advance for the election?
Answer:
Five months’ salary.

Question 17.
How much did Marcus offer the people at first to vote for him?
Answer:
Two shillings to each voter.

Question 18.
How much did Marcus offer the people finally to vote for him?
OR
How many Shillings was finally accepted for the votes by the elders?
Answer:
Four shillings.

Question 19.
Who was the enemy Roof referred to when he spoke to the elders?
Answer:
The Progressive Organisation Party.

Question 20.
Who is the leader of the Progressive Organisation Party?
OR
Who had formed the POP?
Answer:
Maduka.

Question 21.
How much money did the POP offer Roof to vote for Maduka?
OR
How much does Roof get from the representatives of Maduka?
OR
How much did the POP campaign team offer Roof for his vote?
Answer:
Five pounds.

Question 22.
What was the election symbol of the People’s Alliance Party?
OR
What is the symbol used by Marcus in the election?
Answer:
A motor car.
Question 23.
What was the symbol of the Progressive Organisation Party?
Answer:
A man’s head.

Question 24.
What is ‘Umuofia Mansions’?
OR
Where did Marcus Ibe build his big mansion in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
‘Umuofia Mansions’ is the name of the biggest house in Umuofia, built
by Marcus Ibe.

Question 25.
Where, on the election morning, did Marcus Ibe sit shaking hands with
the villagers?
OR
Where was Marcus Ibe seated on the morning of the election?
Answer:
On the election morning, Marcus Ibe sat in the ‘owner’s corner’ of his
enormous green car, shaking hands with the villagers.

Question 26.
What was Rufus Okeke called as?
OR
Who was addressed as Roof, for short?
Answer:
Rufus Okeke was called Roof for short by the people of his village.

Question 27.
What had Marcus promised the voters if he was elected in the
forthcoming election?
OR
Mention the promise made by PAP if they were voted to power.
Answer:
Marcus had promised to give pipe-borne water to the village if he was
elected in the forthcoming election.

Question 28.
Who competed against Marcus in the elections?
Answer:
Maduka, the leader of the POP, competed against Marcus in the
elections.

Question 29.
What warning did Roof give Marcus about the coming elections?
Answer:
The roof had warned Marcus about the radical change that had come
into the thinking of Umuofia since the last national election.

Question 30.
Why did Marcus Ibe join politics?
Answer:
Marcus had wisely joined politics just in time to avoid imminent
dismissal arising from a female teacher’s complaint.

Question 31.
What does PAP stand for?
Answer:
PAP stands for the People’s Alliance Party.

Question 32.
What does POP stand for?
Answer:
POP stands for Progressive Organisation Party.

Question 33.
How much did Roof give the villagers to cast their votes for Marcus?
Answer:
The roof gave four shillings to each of the villagers to cast their votes
for Marcus.

Question 34.
What was Roof made to swear on to ensure his vote for Maduka?
OR
What was Roof asked to swear on by the POP team?
Answer:
The roof was made to swear on the Iyi of Mbanta to ensure his vote for
Maduka.

Question 35.
Who was PAP’s most illustrious son referred to in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
Marcus Ibe was PAP’s most illustrious son referred to in ‘The Voter’.

Question 36.
Who was the Minister of Culture in the outgoing government in ‘The
Voter’?
Answer:
Marcus Ibe was the Chief Honourable Minister of Culture in the
outgoing government mentioned in the voter.

Question 37.
Name the man of high traditional title in Umuofia mentioned in ‘The
Voter’.
Answer:
Ogbuefi Ezenwa is the man of high traditional title in Umuofia
mentioned in ‘The Voter’.

Question 38.
Mention one of the honours/benefits politics had brought to Marcus
Ibe in ‘The Voter’.
Answer:
Some of the honours/benefits politics had brought to Marcus Ibe were
wealth, chieftaincy titles, and doctorate degrees.

Question 39.
Opposition to Marcus Ibe in ‘The Voter’ was like
(a) a fly trying to move a dunghill.
(b) the bird challenging his personal spirit
(c) a mortar turning its back on the ground.
Answer:
(a) a fly trying to move a dunghill.

Question 40.
Who conducted the whispering campaign in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
Marcus Ibe’s stalwarts conducted the whispering campaign in ‘The
Voter’.

Question 41.
The roof offered _____ shillings initially to the elders for their votes in
‘The Voter’.
(a) four
(b) two
(c) five
Answer:
(b) two.

Question 42.
Where does the iyi come from, according to the POP campaigner, in
‘The Voter’?
Answer:
According to the POP campaigner in ‘The Voter’, the ‘iyi’ comes from
Manta.

Question 43.
Whose election symbol was ‘man’s head’ in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, ‘Man’s head’ was the election symbol of the Progressive
Organisation Party (POP).

Question 44.
What precaution did Roof take while inserting the ballot paper in ‘The
Voter’?
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, while inserting the ballot paper, Roof took the
precaution of putting the first half into Maduka’s box.

Question 45.
When did Marcus’s boys conduct whispering campaigns in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
In ‘The Voter’, Marcus’s boys conducted whispering campaigns at
night.

Question 46.
How many elders were there when Roof conducted the whispering
campaign in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
There were five elders besides Roof and his assistant when Roof
conducted the whispering campaign in ‘The Voter’.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:
Question 1.
The roof was a very popular man in his village. Give reasons.
Answer:
Roof Okeke was an energetic young man and had come back to his own
village Umuofia, after working as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice for
two years in Port Harcourt. It was true that he would have enjoyed a
rich life if he had stayed on in his job. But he came back to the village
and told the people that he wanted to guide them in difficult times.
Later he became an ‘election campaign manager’ for Marcus Ibe and
over a period of five years became an expert in election campaigning
at all levels. Hence he was a very popular man in his village.

Question 2.
How did the POP campaign team trap Roof?
OR
Describe the meeting held by the POP campaign team with Roof in ‘The
Voter’.
OR
Describe the meeting held by the POP campaign team with Roof in ‘The
Voter’.
Answer:
In the story ‘The Voter’, Roof is the election campaign manager for
Marcus Ibe, a candidate of the People’s Alliance Party. On the night
before the election, the leader of the POP campaign team visits Roof’s
house. He places five pounds on the floor and tells Roof that he wanted
his vote. Initially, Roof did not know what to say or do. But, when he
gets up from his chair, closes the door, and comes back, he gets
enough time to weigh the proposition. He craves to make such a huge
amount, his own.

However, his conscience pricks him and he tells in a feeble voice that
the other person knows that he works for Marcus and it will be very
bad on his part to accept a bribe, vote for Maduka, and deceive his own
master. But when the other person tells him that Marcus will not know
who he has voted for, Roof throws away his moral scruples to the wind
and asks him whether anyone will talk about him outside. When he
assures him that they are only interested in votes and not gossip,
Roof’s greed tempts him to accept the offer. But, he also gets trapped.
The leader asks him to swear on the Tyi’, that he would vote for
Maduka. The roof cannot go back on his promise. So he swears to vote
for Maduka.
Question 3.
Describe the last-minute election campaign in Umuofia.
OR
Give a picture of the activities on the election morning.
Answer:
On the day of the election, Chief the Honourable Marcus Ibe was doing
things in a grand style. He had hired a highlife band from Umuru and
stationed it at such a distance from the voting booths as just managed
to be lawful. Many villagers danced to the music, their ballot papers
held aloft, before proceeding to the booths. Marcus sat in the ‘owner’s
corner’ of his enormous green car and smiled and nodded. Some
villagers came up to the car, shook hands with the great man, and said
in advance ‘Congrats!’

Roof and the other organizers were prancing up and down, giving last-
minute advice to the voters and pouring with sweat. Roof tried to
guide illiterate women saying “Our sign is the motor-car”. Then he
told them, “Don’t look at the other with the man’s head: it is for those
whose heads are not correct”. Finally, he shouted, “Vote for the car
and you will ride in it!”

Question 4.
How is Roof’s dilemma brought out in ‘The Voter’?
OR
Roof’s dilemma on the day of the election is the result of his own
misdeeds. Do you agree? Give reasons.
Answer:
On the day of the election, we see Roof in a moral dilemma. For the
first time, his moral conscience pricks him not to betray Marcus. But it
is only a momentary impulse and vanishes almost immediately when
Roof recalls the picture of iyi and the cocoa farmer harvesting his
crop. Then he hits on an idea of deceiving both Marcus and Maduka.
He folds the ballot paper, tears it in two at the crease, and drops the
first half into the box meant for Maduka and the other half into the
box meant for Marcus. Thus, the writer successfully delineates how
‘money politics’ can corrupt people at all levels. It also reveals the
contagious nature of an immoral attitude as the villagers who feel they
“have climbed the iroko tree today and would be foolish not to take
down all the firewood needed” blatantly ask for bribes.
It is Roof who is responsible for this moral degradation. The fall of
Roof demonstrates the deepening level of corruption and the dimming
of moral principles. Although Roof overcomes his personal dilemma on
election day by tearing his ballot paper in two – one-piece for Maduka,
the opponent, and one for Chief Marcus Ibe, his own employer his act
illustrates the basic unreliability and political dishonesty of people
working for elections. The plot of the story hinging on this man who
bribes the electorate and who is bribed in turn drives home the
deviant tendency of the political scene.

Question 5.
What changes did politics bring in Marcus Ibe?
OR
Describe how Marcus Ibe in ‘The Voter’ had managed to become a
‘successful’ politician.
OR
Everyone is full of praise for Marcus Ibe. What qualities and
achievements attracted the people to praise him?
Answer:
Marcus Ibe was a not-too-successful mission school teacher. When he
was almost on the verge of dismissal on the basis of a female teacher’s
complaint, he joined politics, got elected as a representative of
Umuofia, and was made Minister of Culture. People referred to him as
Chief the Honourable Minister of Culture. In a period of five years
Marcus became very wealthy, was given many chieftaincy titles and
doctorate degrees and several other honours.

He got a huge mansion built in Umuofia and named it ‘Umuofia

Mansions’ and got it opened by the Archbishop. On the day of the
opening, he hosted a grand lunch to the people of his village
slaughtering five bulls and countless goats. After feasting in his house,
people were full of praise for him. They opined that he was a great
man and does his things like a great man. He also owned two big cars.

Question 6.
Account for Roof’s popularity in ‘The Voter’.
OR
The roof was a very popular man in his village. Give reasons.
Answer:
Rufus Okeke, called Roof for short, was a very popular man in his
village. His popularity was due to the fact that even after spending two
years as a bicycle apprentice in Port Harcourt, Roof had come back to
Umuofia of his own free will with the intention of guiding his people
in difficult times. If he had stayed on in his job he would have enjoyed
a rich life. By this gesture, he wins the gratitude and admiration of his
people.

Question 7.
What was the whispering campaign and how did Roof conduct it in
‘The Voter’?
Answer:
A ‘whispering campaign’ refers to secret meetings held between the
group of elders of a village and the election campaign manager of a
political party. The election manager goes to such campaigns armed
with money bags and woos the voters offering money for votes.

In ‘The Voter’, Roof, the most trusted campaigner of the PAP,

conducted a whispering campaign in the house of Ogbuefi Ezenwa, a
man of the high traditional title. Initially, Roof tried to kindle the pride
of the people telling them that the PAP had made Marcus Ibe, one of
their own sons, Honourable Minister of Culture in the outgoing
government, and offered them 2 shillings each initially. But, Ezenwa
rejected it saying that two shillings were shameful and Marcus was a
great man, who did his things like a great man. Later, when Roof
offered them 2 more shillings each, they accepted it and agreed to cast
their vote for Marcus Ibe. Thus, Roof conducted his whispering
campaign.

Question 8.
Why was Roof in a fix when putting in his ballot paper, in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
As soon as Roof went into the voting booth, he was confronted by the
‘car’ on one box and the ‘head’ on the other. He took out his ballot
paper from his pocket and looked at it. For a moment he found himself
caught in a moral dilemma. He could not decide whether he should
vote for Marcus Ibe of the PAP or Maduka of POP.

As the election campaign manager for Marcus Ibe, he had worked

enthusiastically urging the people to vote for PAP. He had also taken a
lot of money and other gifts for his service. But, now he had put
himself in a fix because he had accepted five pounds from the POP and
had sworn before the ‘iyi’ that he would vote for Maduka. So he did
not want to cheat, because his fear of ‘iyi’ from Mbanta troubled him
seriously. On the other hand, he felt guilty for betraying Marcus Ibe.
For a moment he felt like going back to the campaign manager and
returning his five pounds.

Finally, the moment he thought of the red notes, he visualized the

cocoa farmer busy at work and his swearing on that ‘iyi’. Therefore, he
folded the ballot paper, tore it into two along the crease, and put one
half in each box. He put the first half into Maduka’s box confirming his
action verbally, “1 vote for Maduka”.

Question 9.
Trace the behaviour of Roof on the day of voting.
Answer:
On the day of the election, Roof appears to be seriously interested in
ensuring that the voters know who to vote for and how to exercise
their choice. Along with others Roof prances up and down giving last-
minute advice to the voters. As soon as the first rush of voters is over,
Marcus promptly asks his campaign boys to go one at a time and put in
their ballot papers. He asks Roof to go first. Roof’s spirits fall, but he
lets no one see it. Roof dashes off in his springy fashion towards the
booth.

When Roof goes into the booth, he faces a moral dilemma. But he
overcomes his moral dilemma, cuts the vote into two, and drops the
two halves in the boxes, one half for Marcus and the other half for
Maduka. While coming out, he looks as happy as he was when he went
in. Thus, by putting on a happy face and walking with a lot of energy
in his gait while going into the booth as well as while coming out of
the booth, Roof is able to conceal his betrayal of Marcus in the
election.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
Do you think Roof is right in tearing the ballot paper into two?
Explain.
OR
Do you agree or disagree with how Roof resolves his dilemma
regarding how to cast his
vote?
OR
In the story, Roof has to make a difficult decision about how to cast his
vote. Do you agree with the way he resolves this dilemma? Why or
why not?
OR
Why does Roof tear the ballot paper into two?
Answer:
The main focus of Achebe in ‘The Voter’ is the satirisation of money
politics and the contagious nature of corruption. Roof, the protagonist
of the story, is an energetic young man of Umuofia, who has come
back to his village giving up a bright future in the city. People believe
that he has come back to guide them in difficult times and so hold him
in high esteem.

The village Umuofia already belonged en masse to the People’s

Alliance Party and had elected Chief the Honourable Marcus Ibe as
their representative in the previous election and nobody doubted his
re-election this time also. The man behind Marcus’ success is Roof. He
was his election campaign manager and had become a real expert in
election campaigning at all levels.

But towards the end of the story, we see that Roof is offered five
pounds by the leader of the election campaign for a POP on condition
that Roof votes for Maduka. A roof does not hesitate at all but tries to
tell them that he is working for Marcus. But they allay his fears telling
him that Marcus will not be there to watch him when he drops his vote
in the box. Roof accepts their offer and swears to vote for Maduka in
the presence of ‘iyi’.

On the day of the election, Marcus wants to make sure that every one
of his people votes for him. Therefore, he asks Roof to cast his vote
first. When Roof goes into the booth, he faces a moral dilemma. His
conscience tells him that he ought not to betray Marcus. There is an
impulse in him to run to the leader of the POP election campaign
manager and return his money. But, when he recalls that he had sworn
to vote for Maduka in the presence of ‘iyi’, he changes his decision in a
split second and folds the ballot paper in two. He tears it into two
halves and drops the first half into the box meant for Maduka and the
other half into Marcus’ box. He also confirms his vote for Maduka by
saying aloud, “I vote for Maduka”, and then goes out happily.
This act of Roof, of tearing the ballot in two, invalidates his vote.
When a person tears it in two, it is clear that he has not chosen any
person at all, though he may have dropped the two halves of the paper
into different boxes. When Roof tears the ballot paper in two it is only
to resolve the moral dilemma he is facing and not with the intention of
exercising his choice. If he puts two halves in two different boxes, it
does not mean that he has voted in favour of both. Actually it is an
invalid vote. This is against the spirit of elections and is condemnable.

Question 2.
How does Roof conceal his betrayal of Marcus in the election?
Elucidate.
Answer:
On the day of the election, Roof appears to be seriously interested in
ensuring that the voters know who to vote for and how to exercise
their choice. Along with others Roof prances up and down giving last-
minute advice to the voters and pouring with sweat. As soon as the
first rush of voters is over, Marcus promptly asks his campaign boys to
go one at a time and put in their ballot papers. He asks Roof to go first.
Roof’s spirits fall, but he lets no one see it. Roof dashes off in his
springy fashion towards the booths. When Roof goes into the booth, he
faces a moral dilemma.

But he overcomes his moral dilemma, cuts the vote into two, and drops
the two halves in the boxes, one half for Marcus and the other half for
Maduka. While coming out, he looks as happy as he was when he went
in. Thus, by putting on a happy face and walking with a lot of energy
in his gait while going into the booth as well as while coming out of
the booth, Roof is able to conceal his betrayal of Marcus in the
election.

Question 3.
Give an account of Roof’s role as an election campaigner.
OR
The roof is an expert election campaigner. Substantiate the statement.
Answer:
The roof is an energetic young man of Umuofia, who has come back to
his village giving up a bright future in the city. People believe that he
has come back to guide them in difficult times and hence hold him in
high esteem. When we read about the election, the writer tells us that
the village of Umuofia already belonged en masse to the People’s
Alliance Party and had elected Chief the Honourable Marcus Ibe as
their representative in the previous election and nobody doubted his
re-election this time also. The man behind Marcus’ success is Roof.

The roof was his election campaign manager and had become a real
expert in election campaigning at all levels. Having already seen a
change in Marcus’ status and wealth, Roof is able to gauge the people’s
mood and the change in people’s perception of Marcus Ibe and had
conveyed to his leader that a radical change had come in them. This
way he prepares Marcus to plan his strategy to woo the voters in the
coming elections.

After feasting in Marcus’ house on the day of the opening of his new
house, people had realized what good things politics had showered on
Marcus. They also regretted to a little extent that they had given their
vote to Marcus free of charge in the previous election. Therefore, this
time, they decided to demand a price for their vote. As expected, Roof,
being an expert in election campaigning, comes armed with money to
his whispering campaigns.

During his whispering campaigns, Roof uses a lot of political rhetoric

and tells the people convincingly that PAP favours the people of
Umuofia. He says, “What greater honour can a village have? Do you
ever stop to ask yourselves why we should be singled out for this
honour? Think of the pipe-borne water they have promised us …” This
way Roof manages to mesmerize the naive people into believing that
Marcus is a great man and is going to do great things for their village.

Besides, Roof satisfies their desire for a share of Marcus’ earnings by

giving them four shillings each. On the day of the election, Marcus
entertains the people hiring a highlife band from Umuru. He sits in an
enormous car and tries to impress the people with his wealth and
eminence. He coins catchy slogans like ‘Vote for the car, and you will
ride in it’. It is these strategies planned by Roof that ensure Marcus’
victory in the elections.

Question 4.
‘The Voter’ ridicules the power and selfishness of Marcus Ibe. Explain.
Answer:
‘The Voter’ highlights what kind of people become people’s leaders,
how politics bestows wealth and power on them, and because of such
people how elections become farcical. The two main characters in the
story are Marcus and Roof, and the voters are the people of Umuofia.
The whole focus of the plot is to ridicule greedy and selfish politicians
and to show how they manage to corrupt the society also.

Marcus was a not-too-successful mission school teacher. When he was

almost on the verge of dismissal on the basis of a female teacher’s
complaint, he joined politics, got elected as a representative of
Umuofja, and was made Minister of Culture. In about five years,
people see a great many changes in Marcus’ life. Their elected
representative becomes wealthy, is awarded chieftaincy titles and
doctorate degrees besides many other honours. He also builds a huge
mansion in his native village.

In a satirical tone, the writer says that Marcus had christened his new
house ‘Umuofia Mansions’ in honour of his village and had slaughtered
five bulls and countless goats to entertain the people on the day it was
opened by the Archbishop. Marcus believed that, by entertaining
people thus, people would respect him and would hold him in high
esteem.

But the people are not naive and ignorant. They know where his
‘power’ and money come from. The people know that he had acquired
all this only after they had elected him their representative giving
their votes free of charge five years ago. Even after five years, the
people and their village remained the same as before but Marcus had
changed completely.

When Roof tells Marcus that a radical change had come into the
thinking of Umuofia since the last election, like any other corrupt
politician Marcus prepares himself to bribe the people. The people
come prepared to demand their share of his wealth. Instead of
demanding developmental work for their village, the people tell Roof
that two shillings are too shameful and settle the deal for four
shillings each. It is Marcus and Roof who blatantly offer money, tacitly
admitting that they have used the public money selfishly for their own
development, that the voter ridicules them by demanding more money
for their vote, sending the message that real power to change the face
of a village, town or country is in the hands of the voter and not selfish
politicians like Marcus.
Question 5.
‘Roof was the most trusted of the whispering campaigners’. To what
extent is this true in ‘The Voter’?
OR
To what extent was Roof the most trusted of the whispering
campaigners in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
When the story opens, we learn that Marcus is seeking re-election as a
representative of Umuofia. Secondly, we also know that it was Roof
who had worked for his success in the previous election. As a trusted
whispering campaign manager of Marcus, he had been able to
convince the people of Umuofia that Marcus would work for the
welfare of the people and they would get many amenities like running
water and electricity. Then, he had worked hard to get Marcus elected
and had kindled the expectations of the people.

But, during the five years as people’s representative, Marcus proved to

everyone how joining politics can be lucrative. He had also given gifts
to Roof to retain him as his election campaigner for the coming
election also. However, Roof was clever enough to perceive a change in
the mood of the people and warned Marcus about it. That is why, in
the whispering campaign, he goes armed with money bags to woo the
voters.

Until the last day of the campaigning, Roof remains loyal and the most
trusted of Marcus’ whispering campaigners. But, the visitor from POP
cleverly lures Roof to promise his vote for Maduka offering a huge sum
of money. It is at this juncture that we see a dent in his loyalty
towards Marcus. Even though he knows that a half ballot paper is
invalid as a person’s mandate, he tears the vote in two and puts one
half into each box, thus resolving the moral dilemma in his mind. This
way he is only comforting his conscience and does not remain
functionally loyal to Marcus.

Question 6.
Do you think ‘the voter’ is right in demanding money to vote for
Marcus Ibe? Explain.
Answer:
The people of Umuofia give their mandate to Marcus and get him
elected as their representative believing that he would work for their
welfare and upliftment. However, as his term rolls by, they witness a
substantial change in Marcus’ status and wealth, while the people’s
status remains the same. People realize how politics can make
someone rich and powerful. They regret that they had underrated the
power of their mandate, and so decide to demand a share of his
earnings to cast their vote.

That is why, in the whispering campaign, when Roof offers each one of
the two shillings, they tell him that it was too shameful to accept just
two shillings from Marcus for their vote because Marcus was no longer
a poor man and was doing great things like a great man. Then they
agree to cast their vote taking four shillings each.

An election process in any democratic set up has high intrinsic value

because it symbolizes people’s mandate and the elected representative
becomes the voice of those people. Naturally, when the voters of
Umuofia demand money to vote for Marcus, it only means that their
real mandate has not given them what they needed and they remain in
abject poverty as before. They have lost faith in elections as a means
to achieve their welfare. The previous election may have failed them
but they ought not to become corrupted. That will pave the way for
further deterioration by building obstacles in the path to their own
development. They are not right in demanding money.

Question 7.
‘The Voter’ is a comment on the awareness of voters. Discuss.
Answer:
In the story ‘The Voter’, Chinua Achebe satirizes ‘politicians’ and
makes an attempt to show how even in a democratic setup election can
become farcical because of ignorance, illiteracy, and corruption. The
story also highlights how deep-rooted corruption in society can be.

Marcus Ibe, who was once a local mission school teacher, was now
Chief the Honourable Minister of Culture in the outgoing government.
During his term as a minister, he had amassed a lot of wealth. Thus,
‘politics’ had brought about a great change in the life of Marcus and
Roof as well. But, the people of Umuofia had remained the same –
poor, illiterate, ignorant, and naive – and their villages remained dry
and wretched without even the basic amenities.

Marcus, who is seeking a second term, is sure that he is going to get a

landslide victory because of the absence of any strong opposition party
worth taking into consideration. But, this time, there is a change in the
perception of the people. After feasting in Marcus’ new house and
noticing the increase in his wealth and power, the poor people of
Umuofia realize that elections do have a meaning and it is during
elections that their votes have value.

They also know that it is ‘politics’ that has brought wealth and power
to Marcus. They strike a bargain with Roof and agree to sell their vote
for four shillings each. This way, the people of Umuofia shed their
moral scruples and make up their minds to be satisfied with just a
little share of the thief’s booty. Eventually, it is this strain in the
people’s minds that helps a corrupt politician like Marcus to win
elections with the least resistance.

Like Marcus, Roof also realizes how people’s elected representatives

can become rich in a very short time. Having worked as his election
manager, Roof extracts enough money as well as other benefits from
Marcus during his first term. In the second term. Roof’s greed for
wealth is kindled by another political party – the POR They know that
it is Roof’s expertise in election campaigning that woos the voters of
Umuofia and Roof is amply compensated by Marcus for his efforts.

The POP, with a view to making a dent in Marcus’ electorate, lures

Roof with an offer of five pounds just to cast his vote for Maduka.
Their intention is only to win over Roof to their side with the’ promise
that he can make much more money from POP than from PAP. Once
Roof bites the bait, they ensure that he is in their clutches, by forcing
him to swear on the ‘iyi’. Though Roof is caught in a dilemma, he
solves the conflict in his mind by tearing the ballot paper into two and
casting his vote for both parties.

Thus, both the episodes prove how ‘corruption’ can ruin both the
literate and the illiterate, the educated and the uneducated, and make
democratic processes ineffective and farcical. The voters, who have
been given the power to elect a leader who can help them improve
their lives, use the very process of election to settle for a pittance and
build obstacles in the path to their own development. This way they
make a mockery of the electoral system.

Question 8.
Demanding money to vote for a particular person is not wrong. How is
this brought out in ‘The Voter’?
Answer:
‘The Voter’, a short story by Chinua Achebe, happens in a village called
Umuofia. It is a satirical and realistic portrayal of how corrupt
politicians deceive people in elections and what mediatory strategies
they use to woo the voters and subvert the power of the people’s
mandate in choosing a leader df their choice. Incidentally, the author
also seems to question the very basis of societal and ethical norms,
socio-economic conditions of the people, moral decadence, etc. The
corrupt and greedy political leader in the story is Marcus Ibe.

He is the Chief Honourable Minister of Culture in the outgoing

government and is seeking re-election as a candidate of the PAR Soon
after becoming the minister, Marcus had made use of his political
status for his self-aggrandizement. In a period of five years, he had
managed to amass a great deal of wealth, power, status, and public
adulation. He had two long cars and had just built himself the biggest
house in those parts. To top it all, on the day of the opening of his
mansion, Marcus Ibe held a grand banquet for the people of the village
slaughtering five bulls and countless goats. Thus, politics had made
him richer.

On the other hand, the status of the people remained the same. They
lived in abject poverty without even the basic amenities like electricity
and drinking water. Though they had been watching how politics had
brought wealth and power to Marcus, it had not dawned on them that
it was the power of their vote which had given him all the comforts.
After the feasting was over, the villagers told themselves that they had
underrated the power of the ballot paper before and should not do it
again. His election manager Roof was shrewd enough to understand
the change in the attitude of the people. Therefore, he went to the
whispering campaign armed with money and successfully bought their
vote paying four shillings each to the leaders.

The question that arises now, is, whether demanding money to vote
for a particular person is right? The author seems to argue that as long
as politicians in a democratic set up fulfill their promises to the people
and take care of their welfare, the question of buying votes does not
arise at all. When politicians themselves flout all democratic norms
and ideals and work only for their aggrandizement, there is nothing
wrong with people demanding some value for their votes. This is
brought out clearly in the story.
Ezenwa, the highest traditional title holder, says, “Marcus is a great
man and does his things like a great man. We did not ask him for
money yesterday; we shall not ask him tomorrow. But today is our
day; we have climbed the iroko tree today and would be foolish not to
take down all the firewood we need”. Thus, one can rightly conclude
that demanding money to vote for a particular person is not wrong.

Question 9.
‘The Voter’ presents the role of money and ridicules its power in an
election. Explain.
Answer:
‘The Voter’, a short story by Chinua Achebe, happens in a village called
Umuofia. It is a satirical and realistic portrayal of how corrupt
politicians deceive people in elections and what mediatory strategies
they use to woo the voters and subvert the power of the people’s
mandate in choosing a leader df their choice. Incidentally, the author
also seems to question the very basis of societal and ethical norms,
socio-economic conditions of the people, moral decadence, etc. The
corrupt and greedy political leader in the story is Marcus Ibe. He is the
Chief Honourable Minister of Culture in the outgoing government and
is seeking re-election as a candidate of the PAR Soon after becoming
the minister, Marcus had made use of his political status for his self-
aggrandizement.

In a period of five years, he had managed to amass a great deal of

wealth, power, status, and public adulation. He had two long cars and
had just built himself the biggest house in those parts. To top it all, on
the day of the opening of his mansion, Marcus Ibe held a grand
banquet for the people of the village slaughtering five bulls and
countless goats. Thus, politics had made him richer.

On the other hand, the status of the people remained the same. They
lived in abject poverty without even the basic amenities like electricity
and drinking water. Though they had been watching how politics had
brought wealth and power to Marcus, it had not dawned on them that
it was the power of their vote which had given him all the comforts.
After the feasting was over, the villagers told themselves that they had
underrated the power of the ballot paper before and should not do it
again. His election manager Roof was shrewd enough to understand
the change in the attitude of the people. Therefore, he went to the
whispering campaign armed with money and successfully bought their
vote paying four shillings each to the leaders.

The question that arises now, is, whether demanding money to vote
for a particular person is right? The author seems to argue that as long
as politicians in a democratic set up fulfill their promises to the people
and take care of their welfare, the question of buying votes does not
arise at all. When politicians themselves flout all democratic norms
and ideals and work only for their aggrandizement, there is nothing
wrong with people demanding some value for their votes.

This is brought out clearly in the story. Ezenwa, the highest traditional
title holder, says, “Marcus is a great man and does his things like a
great man. We did not ask him for money yesterday; we shall not ask
him tomorrow. But today is our day; we have climbed the iroko tree
today and would be foolish not to take down all the firewood we
need”. Thus, one can rightly conclude that demanding money to vote
for a particular person is not wrong.

The Voter Vocabulary

Use suitable prefixes to form antonyms:

A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it
to the beginning of one word changes it into another word.
Prefix – In-, Un-, Im-, Dis-

Question 1.

1. Gratitude
2. Certain
3. Install
4. Personal
5. Honour
6. Disputed
7. Correct
8. Mask
9. Lawful
10. Grateful
11. Wavering
12.Regard
 13.Perturbed
14. Tolerant.

Answer:

1. Ingratitude
2. Uncertain
3. Uninstall
4. Impersonal
5. Dishonour
6. Undisputed
7. Incorrect
8. Unmask
9. Unlawful
10. Ungrateful
11. Unwavering
12.Disregard
13.Unperturbed
14. Intolerant.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
The roof was a young man. He ______ (know) to everyone in Umuofia.
The POP campaigner met him at night. No words _____ (waste)
between them. Roof _____ (give) five pounds to vote for Maduka.
Answer:
was known; were wasted; was given.

Question 2.
Marcus Ibe was the PAP candidate. He ______ (warn) about the radical
change in the thinking of Umuofia. So five months’ salary _______
(draw) in advance. His campaign boys _____ (arm) with eloquent little
jute bags.
Answer:
was warned; was drawn; were armed.

Question 3.
Marcus Ibe was extremely generous to Roof. He ______ (ask) to lend
one of his many robes by Roof. When Marcus Ibe’s wife objected, she
______ (rebuke) publicly by him. Roof won a land case because he
_____ (drive) by a chauffeur to the disputed site.
Answer:
was asked; was rebuked; was driven.

Question 4.
The roof received a strange visit from the POP campaigner. Though the
campaigner and Roof ______ (know) to each other, his visit was cold
and business-like. No words _____ (exchange) between them. When
the visitor placed five pounds on the floor, Roof ______ (mesmerize)
by the picture of the cocoa farmer.
Answer:
were known; were exchanged; was mesmerized.

Question 5.
Marcus was doing things in a grand style. A high life band from Umuru
______ (hire) by him and it ______ (station) at a distance from the
voting booth. Marcus sat in his car when last-minute advice ______
(give) to voters by Roof and others.
Answer:
had been hired; was stationed; was given.

Question 6.
The man nudged his companion and he brought forward an object that
______ (cover) with a red cloth. It was a fearsome little affair. It _____
(keep) in a clay pot and feathers ______ (stick) into it.
Answer:
was covered; was kept; were stuck.

B. Report the following conversation:

Question 1.
Roof: I work for Marcus Ibe.
POP campaigner: We have plenty of work to do tonight Are you taking
this or not?
Roof: Will it not be heard outside this room?
POP campaigner: We are after votes, not gossip.
Answer:
Roof informed the POP campaigner that he worked for Marcus Ibe. The
POP campaigner remarked that they had plenty of work to do that
night. He further asked Roof whether he was taking that or not. Roof
asked cautiously whether it would be heard outside that room. The
POP campaigner stated that they were after votes and not gossip.

Question 2.
Roof: Do not forget. Our sign is the motor-car.
Woman: Is it like Marcus’s car?
Roof: It is the same car. Don’t look at the other with the man’s head.
Answer:
Roof implored the woman not to forget that their sign was the motor-
car. The woman wanted to know whether it was like Marcus’s car.
Roof replied that it was the same car. He also asked the woman not to
look at the other with the man’s head.

Question 3.
POP campaigner: The iyi comes from Mbanta. Swear on it.
Roof: I will cast my paper for Maduka. But Maduka has no chance
against Marcus.
POP campaigner: Maduka gives out pounds, not shillings.
Answer:
The POP campaigner informed Roof that the iyi came from Mbanta. He
asked him to swear on that. Roof told him that he would cast his paper
for Maduka. But he added that Maduka had no chance against Marcus.
In response, the POP campaigner remarked that Maduka gave out
pounds, and not shillings.

C. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
Marcus knew that he would win but didn’t want _______ a single vote.
So he asked his campaign boys to go one at a time and put in their
ballot papers. At this time Roof was weighed down by guilt but
pretended ______. (to be in high spirits, to throw away, pass by)
Answer:
to throw away; to be in high spirits.

Question 2.
The roof was ______ as he had sworn on iyi that he would vote for
Maduka. However, on the day of the election, he wanted to hide it.
Therefore he did not ______ his calm and confidence. (give up, face lit
up, in a fix)
Answer:
in a fix; give up.

Question 3.
In Umuofia, everyone was _____ for Marcus Ibe. He was not like the
mortar which as soon as food comes its way ____ on the ground.
(looks down at, turns it is back, full of praise)
Answer:
full of praise; turns its back.

Question 4.
It was the time of the election. The campaign in Umuofia was ____. All
knew that the honourable minister would have a _____. (in a soup,
landslide victory, in full swing)
Answer:
in full swing; landslide victory.

Question 5.
The roof was disturbed on the morning of the election. Suddenly a
thought _______ his mind and he _______ in his springy fashion
towards the booth. (leapt into, gave out, dashed off)
Answer:
leapt into; dashed off.

Question 6.
Roof’s heart nearly ______ when he saw the iyi. Indeed he knew the
fame of Mbanta in these things. What could a single vote cast in secret
for Maduka ______ from Marcus’s certain victory? (get a few, few out,
take away)
Answer:
flew out; take away.

D. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
The roof was a young and energetic man. He never left his village
_______ to seek work in the towns _____ decided to remain to guide
his people. _____ he was very popular. ______ he was an expert in
election campaigning. (moreover, but, in order to, so)
Answer:
in order to; but; So; Moreover.
Question 2.
Everything was moving according to the plan. ______ Roof had
received a strange visit from the leader of the POP campaign team.
______ he and Roof were well-known ______ might even be called
friends, the visit was business-like. He placed five pounds on the floor
before Roof. ______ Roof spoke, his eyes never left the red notes on
the floor. (and, although, then, as)
Answer:
Then; Although; and; As.

Question 3.
The roof was a very popular man in his village. ______ the villagers
did not explain it in so many words, Roof’s popularity was a measure
of their gratitude to an energetic young man ______ unlike most of his
fellows nowadays, had not abandoned the village _____ seek any work
in the towns. And Roof was not a village lout ______. (who, although,
either, in order to)
Answer:
Although; who; in order to; either.

Question 4.
Roof’s heart nearly flew out _____ he saw the iyi ______ he knew the
fame of Mbanta well. ____ he was certain that a single vote would not
defeat Marcus. _____ he agreed to swear on the iyi. (hence, when,
however, as)
Answer:
when; as; However; Hence.

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and

critic. Achebe’s novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect
of Christian influences, and the clash of Western and traditional
African values during and after the colonial era. His style relies heavily
on the Igbo oral tradition and combines straightforward narration
with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also
published a number of short stories, children’s books, and essay
collections. Some of his works are: ‘Things Fall Apart’, ‘Arrow Of God’,
‘No Longer At Ease’,’ Enemy Of The People’ and ‘Girls At War’.

In this short story, Achebe offers a satirical picture of how politics and
elections generally work in modern African countries like Nigeria.
The protagonist of the story is Rufus Okeke – Roof for short. The
majority of the Igbo people in the village are illiterate, backward, and
poor. Though the administration of the town is in the hands of a
democratic government comprising elected representatives of the
people, the people have not yet realized the value of their mandate and
are also not yet aware of their rights. It is election time now. The
ruling party PAP (People’s Alliance Party) is seeking re-election. There
is hardly any other party to obstruct or prevent the re-election of the
existing government. One important aspect of this election is the re-
election of Marcus Ibe, who is Minister of Culture in the outgoing
government. The only other party, which appears to be a non-entity
until now, is the POP – Progressive Organisation Party, and Maduka is
its representative. The POP is making a strong attempt to garner some
votes in its favour.

The focus of the author seems to be to capture the human drama in

which a poor, pathetically innocent and naive people make a brave
attempt to derive some monetary benefit during the election from a
prospective candidate using the mediatory strategies of a literate
young man of their town in when they have reposed a great deal of
trust.

However, the crux of the plot is how this very same trusted
representative of the people manages to strike a rich bargain with the
opposition party as well and yet remain loyal to both the parties.

When the story opens, we are introduced to Rufus Okeke. He is a very

popular man in the village. His popularity is due to the fact that unlike
people of his age, Roof has not abandoned his village seeking work in
the towns. Secondly, he is also not a village lout. People like him
because they believe that he has given up a bright future and come
back to their village on his own after spending two years as a bicycle
repairer’s apprentice in Port Harcourt with the intention of guiding
the people of the village.

In the next stage, the author tells us about the voters and the
government. We learn that the whole village had voted en masse in
favour of the People’s Alliance Party and elected Honourable Marcus
Ibe of their village, who had become Minister of Culture in the
outgoing government. The author tells us in a satirical tone that
Marcus Ibe was sure to be re-elected because there was hardly any
other opposition party worth considering. From this situation, the
reader can infer the predicament of the innocent people pitted against
greedy and power-thirsty politicians. In a tone veiled in mild satire,
the author says that Roof, the trusted representative of the people of
Umuofia, was working as the election campaign manager for the
Honourable Minister Marcus Ibe, who was seeking re-election from
Umuofia.

The roof was more intelligent and cleverer than the common people of
Umuofia. He had become a real expert in election campaigning at all
levels – village, local government or national, that is why he was able
to gauge the mood and temper of the electorate at any given time. This
time, he has been intelligent enough to warn Marcus Ibe that a radical
change has come into the thinking of the people in Umuofia since the
last election. Thus he kindles the interest of the reader.

The villagers had come to realize that in five years, politics had
brought wealth, chieftaincy titles, doctorate degrees and other
honours readily to the man whom they had given their votes free of
charge five years ago. It is also a paradox that the people who had
empowered a person to enjoy such benefits themselves remained poor
and ignorant. They did not even know that a doctorate degree holder is
not a medical doctor. Anyhow, the people were now ready to try the
value of their votes in a different way.

The author then narrates the expectations of the people in Umuofia.

The people had now witnessed the ‘good’ things done by politics to
their own elected representative Marcus Ibe. Before getting elected, he
was only a fairly successful mission school teacher and was on the
verge of getting dismissed on the basis of a female teacher’s
complaint. Just at that moment, politics had come to their village and
at that opportune moment Marcus Ibe had wisely joined up. By doing
so he had escaped dismissal.

Secondly, he got elected and became ‘Chief the Honourable’ in the

government. Consequently, he got two long cars and had built himself
the biggest house in that village. But, he remained a devoted leader of
his people. In a satirical tone, the author says that whenever he could,
he left the good things of the capital and returned to his village which
had neither running water nor electricity, but he had lately installed a
private plant to supply electricity to his new house in the village. The
writer comments that Marcus knew the source of his good fortune
hinting that it is the people of Umuofia who are responsible for his
prosperity.

Marcus Ibe had christened his new house ‘Umuofia Mansions’ in

honour of his village and on the day the house was opened, he had
hosted a grand lunch to his people slaughtering five bulls and
countless goats. Moreover, the house was opened by the Archbishop.
Thus the writer gives a rosy picture of the eminence and prosperity of
Marcus which politics had bestowed on him.

The author describes the reactions of the people of Umuofia after they
had enjoyed Marcus’s hospitality. There is subtle irony in the
description. The people are full of praise for Marcus’ hospitality. But,
they also know that Marcus owes his riches to his getting elected and
joining the government. We can perceive a tone of regret when the
people conclude after the feasting was over that they had underrated
the power of the ballot paper earlier and that they should not do it
again. This is the radical change in people’s attitude towards casting
their ballot paper in an election free of charge without expecting any
benefits.

Since Roof had already warned Marcus Ibe about it, Marcus had also
taken suitable measures to meet the expectations of the people. “He
had drawn five months’ salary in advance and changed a few hundred
pounds into shining shillings and had armed his campaign boys with
eloquent little jute bags”. Having sensed that the people of Umuofia
will not cast their ballot paper in his favour, free of cost, Marcus had
sent money to bribe and persuade the voters to vote for him. The
contesting candidate would make his speeches in the morning and at
night his expert election managers would conduct their whispering
campaign.

Here ‘whispering campaign’ refers to the way election managers visit

voters’ houses in the evening after sunset and tell the voters about the
prospect of their candidate becoming minister. Thereby they appeal to
people’s self-esteem and the honour that is going to be bestowed on
their town and finally bribe them into casting their vote in favour of
their political party.
We see how the radical change in people brings about a change in the
nature of the election process and affects the sanctity of the people’s
mandate.

We witness a whispering campaign conducted by Roof in the house of

Ogbuefi Ezenwa, a man of the high traditional title. Roof addresses a
group of elders and tells them that his party PAP has made a man of
their village a minister in the outgoing government. Roof tries to argue
that it is a great honour for one of their sons to be singled out for this
honour. Then he tells them that PAP leaders look upon Umuofia with a
favourable attitude and whether they cast their vote in his favour or
not, PAP will form the government. He also tries to hint at the promise
made by PAP to the people of Umuofia that they will give pipe-borne
water to their village.

After Roof had finished talking, Ogbuefi Ezenwa spoke to Roof. He tells
him that they believe as true every word he has said and every one of
them would cast his vote for Marcus. He also promises to get their
wives’ votes too in his favour. But, he then tells him straightaway that
it is shameful to accept two shillings for their vote. He then says that if
Marcus were a poor man they would give their vote free as they had
done it before. Then the old leader argues that Marcus is a great man
and does his things like a great man. Then he tells Roof that they did
not demand money before and they will not ask him in future.

The writer also uses the same language to mock at Roof. He says that
Roof had also lately been taking down a ‘lot of firewood’ from Marcus.
The previous day, he had taken a rich robe from Marcus. Moreover,
Marcus himself had rebuked his wife when she objected to Roof taking
his fifth bottle of beer from the refrigerator. Furthermore, Roof had
been chauffeur-driven to the disputed site, about a land case which he
won. Having enjoyed all such benefits from Marcus, Roof understood
the demands of the elders. Therefore, he finally drops two more
shillings in front of each one of them and tells them in a tone of
finality that he is through with it, and pretends to be defiant. Then he
ends his campaign with the sentence, “Cast your paper for the enemy
if you like!” The elders quickly calm him down with a placatory speech
agreeing to vote for Marcus, and pick up the coins on the floor, with a
feeling that they have not lost their decorum and dignity in the
bargain.
The author has until now introduced the reader to the existing
situation. Now he is going to talk about the opposition party. The
author here satirises how opposition parties come into being and how
sincere they are in their objectives and in their fighting strategies.

In his ‘whispering campaign’, Roof had asked the elders, in the end, to
give their vote to the enemy. The enemy of PAP was a new party called
the Progressive Organisation Party (POP). It had been formed by the
tribes down the coast. The founders of the party claimed that they had
founded the party to save themselves from “totally political, cultural,
social and religious annihilation”. The party organizers (of POP) knew
that they had no chance of winning against the PAP, yet they had taken
the plunge for a straight fight with PAP. They had provided cars and
loudspeakers to a few rascals and thugs to go around and make a lot of
noise. The author hints that they had also spent a lot of money in
Umuofia. The writer comments that such money will only make the
local campaigners very rich.

The action now reaches the climax. The writer tells the reader that as
the election day was approaching nearer, for Roof “everything was
moving as planned”.

One evening the leader of the POP campaign team comes to visit Roof.
Although they were well known to each other, his visit is cold and
businesslike. He places five pounds on the floor before Roof and tells
him that they want his vote. Roof immediately gets up from his chair,
closes the outside door carefully and comes back to his chair. Within
that short time Roof has weighed the proposition. Roof tries to give a
reason to the other person for not accepting his proposition. Roof tells
him that he was working for Marcus and it would be very bad to
accept it. But the other person had come prepared for such an answer.
So he tells him that Marcus would not be there when Roof puts his
ballot paper in the box. Then, in a dismissive tone, he tells Roof that
they have plenty of work to do that night, and asks him whether he is
going to accept it or not.

Roof asks him whether anyone would talk about it outside. The other
man tells him categorically that they wanted votes and not gossip.
Roof accepts the money. Then they get Roof to swear that he would
vote for Maduka in front of a little object called ‘iyi’, which had been
brought from Mbanta. However, Roof does not hesitate but says aloud
that he would cast his vote for Maduka, failing which the ‘iyi’ will take
note. The other man is satisfied and leaves. Before he leaves Roof tells
him that Maduka has no chance of winning against Marcus. But the
other person tells him that it would be enough if he gets a few votes
that time, and he “would get more in the following election. All that
they wanted was to make the people know that Maduka will give
pounds and not shillings”.

The narrator describes the town and the mood of the people. We learn
that Chief the Honourable Marcus Ibe was doing things in grand style.
He hires a highlife band from Umuru and stations it at a distance
considered lawful. Many villagers dance to the music before
proceeding to the booths. Some people shake hands with the great man
‘Marcus’ and congratulate him in advance. Roof and his campaign boys
give last-minute advice to the people and try to win Marcus’
appreciation. The writer then tells us that Marcus was a stickler for
details. He wants to ensure that not a single vote goes to the other
party. Therefore, as soon as the first rush of voters is over, he
promptly asks his campaign boys to go one at a time and put in their
ballot papers. He asks Roof to go first.

Roof dashes off towards the booths without any hesitation. After the
electoral officer has explained to him about the two boxes, he goes in
and sees the two boxes one of which has the picture of the car and the
other, the head. Roof brings out his ballot paper and looks at it. He
does not like to betray Marcus even in secret. For a few seconds, he
feels like going back to the other man and returning his five pounds.
Then he realizes that it is impossible because he has sworn on that
‘iyi’. Then he recalls the red five-pound notes. Roof’s mind works quick
as lightning. He folds the paper, tears it in two along the crease and
puts one half in each box. He puts the first half into Maduka’s box and
says to himself aloud, “I vote for Maduka”, and comes out. The election
officials mark his thumb with indelible purple ink and he walks out of
the booth as jauntily as he has gone in.

Glossary:
• Port Harcourt: the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria.
• Umuofia: one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria,
inhabited by the Igbo people
• en masse: in one group or body; altogether
• ozo feast: highest and most important magico-religious festival
in the Igbo clan of Nigeria.
• iroko tree: is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of
tropical Africa; it is a tree which grows very high and which is
very difficult to climb but which yields very good quality timber;
Native deity; something with magical powers – anyone swearing
an oath on an iyi would be afraid to violate his oath because if he
did so he would be cursed and punished terribly
• landslide victory: a victory by a large margin; a very substantial
victory, particularly in an election
• mesmerize: to hold the complete attention bf; spellbind
• a village lout: a rude, young man (derogatory); a simpleton
• chieftaincy titles: titles given to important people in a village
• naivety: without the experience of social rules or behaviour
• eloquent: expressing or showing something very strongly
without words
• the host: the holy bread eaten in the Christian service of the
Communion
• deign: to lower oneself to do something one considers
unimportant
• decorum: behaviour/appearance showing proper respect for the
manners and customs of society
• annihilation: complete destruction
• Mbanta: the name of a place known for people who could
prepare very powerful iyis
• sidled: to move uncertainly or secretively as if ready to turn and
go the other way
• Abina pickinim de born?: Is he giving birth to a child?
• indelible: marks that cannot be rubbed out; permanent
• jauntily: confident and pleased with life
• lout: a clumsy, crude person
• complete non-entity: entirely unimportant person
• christened: named
• stickler: a person who absolutely insists on something
• muffled: deadened or suppressed
• non-entity: a person without much ability, character or
importance
 • Ozo feast: ‘Ozo’ is the name of a title conferred on a man for
meritorious deeds; Ozo feast is a grand feast during which such a
title is conferred on a man

Where there is a Wheel Comprehension I

Question 1.
What does cycling as a symbol of social mobility mean?
Answer:
Cycling through the word evokes minute meaning, it is broader when
it comes to society. Social mobility has two meanings literally. It
moves society from one place to another, which means the
transportation of people, and it also connotes the progress of society.
When women want to go for a market they do not want to wait for
men they could go on themselves.

Question 2.
When Jameela Bibi says, “It is my right. We can go anywhere”, she is
a. asserting her right to move freely.
b. suggesting mobility leading to liberation.
c. expressing her indifference to dirty remarks.
d. boasting about her cycling skill.
Answer:
(a) asserting her right to move freely.

Question 3.
What does bicycle represent for the rural women?
OR
Mention any one of the symbols which bicycling represents for the
women.
Answer:
For the rural women bicycle represents ‘freedom’.

Question 4.
What is common between neo-literates and neo-cyclists?
Answer:
Cycling as a social movement was first popularized by the neo-
literates. These neo-literates are the ones who became neo-cyclists.
Question 5.
‘Enforced routine’ and ‘male imposed barrier’ refer to
a. confining women to the kitchen.
b. subjecting women to drudgery.
c. status of women in a patriarchal society.
d. lack of freedom of movement
Answer:
(c) status of women in a patriarchal society.

Question 6.
How did the men react to women taking to cycling?
Answer:
Initially, women had to put up with vicious attacks on their character.
Some of the men made filthy remarks. But later, once it got social
sanction from the Arivoli organization, some menfolk became less
hostile and some of them even encouraged the women to learn cycling.

Question 7.
What do the phrases ‘flags on the handlebar’ and ‘bells ringing’
suggest?
Answer:
The phrases ‘flags on the handlebar’ and ‘bells ringing’ refer to the
women’s cycle rally organized on International Women’s Day in 1992
in which 1500 female cyclists took Pudukkottai by storm.

Question 8.
Why did UNICEF sanction mopeds to Arivoli women activists?
Answer:
The UNICEF sanctioned fifty mopeds to Arivoli women activists in
appreciation of their work of initiating more than 70000 women to
display their cycling skills at the public ‘exhibition-cum-contests’ in a
single week in 1992.

Question 9.
Why is the cycle called ‘the humble vehicle’?
Answer:
The word ‘humble’ means ‘poor’, the lowest in rank. The writer calls
the cycle a humble vehicle because it is the most common and
ubiquitous vehicle seen even in the most remote of places, a common
man’s vehicle.

Where there is a Wheel Comprehension II

Question 1.
What is the role of Arivoli Iyakkam in liberating women?
Answer:
In Pudukkottai district there is an organization called Arivoli Iyakkam
(Light of Knowledge Movement) which spearheaded the district’s
vigorous literacy drive. N. Kannammal is the central coordinator of
Arivoli. This literacy organization conducted literacy campaigns among
rural women and created a good number of neo-literates. Later, the
Arivoli literacy activists, led by N.

Kannammal pioneered the cycling learning movement and thus gave

cycling a social sanction. Later, at Kilakuruchi village, the Arivoli
activists conducted a cycling training camp for their neo-literates as
well as other women enthusiasts. A large number of those who learnt
cycling come to train new learners, as master trainers, and this way
they helped nearly 70000 rural women to learn cycling. Thus, by
teaching them to read and write along with ‘cycling’, the Arivoli
organization liberated a vast majority of the rural women in the
Pudukkottai District.

Question 2.
In what different ways has the cycle empowered rural women?
OR
Discuss how the cycling movement has empowered the rural women of
Pudukkottai.
Answer:
‘Cycling’ empowers women in many ways. It gives them ‘confidence’
which results from being self-dependent and free to carry out their
duties and responsibilities without depending on the menfolk. For
example, womenfolk can fetch water from even the remotest source
and cart provisions on their own. In this way, cycling emancipates
womenfolk psychologically. Cycling also empowers women
economically and politically. Cycling boosts their income. Some of the
women who sell agricultural or other products within a group of
villages can save a great deal of time by going to such places on their
bicycles.

Secondly, it gives them much more time to focus on selling their

produce. Thirdly, it enlarges the area they can hope to cover. Finally, if
they choose to enjoy their leisure, cycling gives them a lot of leisure
also. These women, besides performing these jobs, can also perform
other chores. Finally, to top it all, it gives them self-respect. They can
also participate in political work.

Question 3.
Why does the author describe the Arivoli ‘cycling training camp’s
unusual experience?
Answer:
One of the pioneers in encouraging ‘cycling’ and giving it a social
sanction was the Arivoli activists. These activists conducted a ‘cycling
training camp’ in Kilakuruchi village. The writer, who visited the
camp, calls it an unusual experience because, on that Sunday, all the
prospective learners had turned out in their Sunday best. The author
remarks that one could not help being struck by the sheer passion of
the pro-cycling movement. The learners exuded so much enthusiasm
and passion for learning cycling.

Question 4.
Do you think neo-literate women taking to cycling contributes to the
literacy movement?
Answer:
Yes. Women taking up cycling is as significant as their taking up
literacy because cycling gives them mobility, freedom, and
independence which together give the women confidence to stand on
their own legs. Initially, Sheela Rani Chunkath, a district collector, in
1991 intended to train female literacy activists so as to enable them to
spread literacy among women in the interior. Therefore, she included
mobility as a part of the literacy drive.

However, cycling played a much more significant role than literacy in

the lives of the womenfolk. It gave them confidence, freedom, and
independence to eke out an independent existence. Cycling helped
them stay attached to their children and family and yet be financially
independent. It also helped the women to share family responsibilities
with the menfolk.

Question 5.
How does Sheela Rani Chunkath, the district collector, promote the
empowerment of women?
OR
Bring out the role of Sheela Rani Chunkath in the empowerment of
women in Pudukkottai.
Answer:
In 1991, Sheela Rani Chunkath was the district collector of
Pudukkottai. As a part of the female literacy drive, she wanted to train
female literacy activists so that literacy would reach women in the
interior. She had realized that the lack of mobility among women
played a big role in undermining their confidence. Therefore, she
included ‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive. Naturally, literacy
activists learned cycling first. This inspired the neo-literates also to
learn cycling. This, in turn, inspired every woman in the village to
learn cycling.

The literates, having become neo-cyclists, encouraged every woman in

the district to learn cycling, by organizing ‘cycle training camps’. Thus,
Sheela Rani Chunkath became instrumental in ‘cycling’ becoming a
social movement in the Pudukkottai district. This way Sheela Rani
Chunkath should be commended for promoting ‘freedom’ of women by
including ‘cycling’ in her literacy project.

Question 6.
How did the women react to the shortage of ladies’ cycle?
Answer:
Once ‘cycling’ as a symbol of women’s liberation caught the
imagination of the womenfolk in the Pudukkottai district, every
woman in the district volunteered to learn cycling. Not surprisingly,
this led to a shortage of ‘ladies’ cycles. These women enthusiasts did
not hesitate. They volunteered to buy even ‘gents’ cycles and learned
cycling. Later on, many women started preferring the ‘gents’ cycle
because it has an additional bar from the seat to the handle and that
way it enabled them to go out along with a child also. Even to this day
thousands of women in Pudukkottai district ride ‘gents’ cycles. ‘

Where there is a Wheel Comprehension III

Question 1.
How does P. Sainath show that cycling brings about changes beyond
economic gains?
Answer:
P. Sainath presents an eye-witness report of ‘cycling’ becoming a
social movement. He tells us how tens of thousands of women in the
Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu got initiated to learn cycling.
The Arivoli activists led by N. Kannammal pioneered the ‘cycling’
movement. As a part of their vigorous literacy drive, these activists
learned cycling. Later, they organized ‘cycling training camps’ for
other women. Thus, it got social sanction. Once the movement became
a big force, every woman in Pudukkottai volunteered to learn cycling.
Towards the end of the article, Sainath says, besides giving women
freedom, mobility, and independence, it also has definite economic
implications.

It boosts their family income. Sainath reports that a section of the

women sells agricultural or other products within a group of villages.
For them, cycling cuts down on time wasted in waiting for buses.
Secondly, it gives them much more time to focus on selling their
produce. Thirdly, it enlarges the area they wish to cover. Lastly, it can
increase their leisure time.

In conclusion, he says, cycling brings about changes beyond economic

gains also. ‘Cycling’ gives them a sense of self-respect which is vital to
their sense of well-being. Thus, Sainath says that this humble vehicle
has become a metaphor for freedom for these women.

Question 2.
‘O sister come learn cycling, move with the wheel of time…’ How does
the song suggest that the cycle could be an instrument of social change
and progress?
Answer:
In the article titled ‘Where There is a Wheel’, Sainath, the writer,
reports an important social movement that took place during 1992-94
that stunned the people of the Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu.

There was an organization named ‘Arivoli lyakkam’ which led the

female literacy movement in Pudukkottai. These Arivoli activists
learned ‘cycling’ so as to enable themselves to spread the message of
literacy among rural women in the interior. Once the activists learned
cycling, they, in turn, taught their neo-literates cycling. These neo-
literates, neo-cyclists trained women in cycling, all over the district.
During this period Muthu Bhaskaran, an Arivoli activist, wrote a
famous song to encourage rural women to learn cycling. The song is
intended to call upon the womenfolk to learn cycling.
The song conveys a simple message and when it is sung in Tamil, the
mother tongue of these rural women, its meaning is easily understood.
It only calls upon the woman to set in motion her own wheel of life.
Until then, the woman could not move out of the house, because her
‘mobility’ depended on her being able to find money to go by bus.
Going by bus also depended on the permission of the menfolk. The
woman needed the help of her menfolk even to sell the agricultural
produce which grew on her land. This way the woman could not break
the male-imposed barriers. Once she learned cycling she got the
freedom to move to any place she wanted and the freedom to do any
work she wished to.

This song invites the woman to learn cycling and set in motion the
wheel of her life. Here, the ‘wheel’ refers to ‘progress’. So, it tells the
woman to learn cycling and be responsible for her own progress.

Where there is a Wheel Additional Questions and Answers

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Name the person who wrote the famous cycling song.
OR
Name the Arivoli activist who wrote/penned the famous cycling song.
Answer:
Muthu Bhaskaran.

Question 2.
In which district of Tamil Nadu, according to P. Sainath, has cycling
been a social movement?
OR
Where was cycling started as a social movement, according to P.
Sainath?
Answer:
Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu.

Question 3.
What is Fatima by profession?
Answer:
A secondary school teacher.
Question 4.
What is the literacy movement of Pudukkottai called?
Answer:
Arivoli Iyakkam.

Question 5.
What does Arivoli Iyakkam mean?
Answer:
Light of Knowledge movement.

Question 6.
What is Arivoli Iyakkam mentioned in ‘Where There is a Wheel’?
Answer:
Arivoli Iyakkam, which means, Light of Knowledge movement, is the
literacy movement of Pudukkottai.

Question 7.
Name one of the pioneers of the cycling movement in Pudukkottai.
Answer:
N. Kannammal, the Arivoli central coordinator.

Question 8.
Who is the central coordinator of Arivoli?
OR
Who was the central coordinator of the cycling movement in ‘Where
There is a Wheel’?
Answer:
N. Kannammal.

Question 9.
Who was the brain behind the cycling movement?
OR
Who is Sheela Rani Chunkath?
OR
Whose brainchild is the cycling movement, according to P. Sainath?
Answer:
Sheela Rani Chunkath, a former district collector, was the brain behind
the cycling movement.
Question 10.
When and why did Sheela Rani start the cycling movement?
Answer:
In 1991, Sheela Rani Chunkath started the cycling movement in the
Pudukkottai district with the intention of training female literacy
activists so that literacy would reach women in the interior.

Question 11.
What did Sheela Rani add as a part of the literacy drive?
Answer:
Sheela Rani added ‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive.

Question 12.
Why did Sheela Rani include mobility as a part of the literacy drive?
Answer:
Since lack of mobility among women played a big role in undermining
their confidence, Sheela Rani included mobility as a part of the literacy
drive.

Question 13.
In which year and on what occasion was the all-women’s cycle rally
held?
Answer:
The all-women’s cycle rally was held on International Women’s Day in
1992.

Question 14.
Who is the owner of Ram Cycles?
Answer:
S. Kannakarajan.

Question 15.
Who was the male Arivoli activist who encouraged the cycling
movement?
Answer:
Muthu Bhaskaran was the male Arivoli activist who encouraged the
cycling movement.

Question 16.
Who trains women in cycling in Kudimianmalai?
OR
Name the quarry worker and Arivoli volunteer who trains other
women.
OR
Name one of the women who has trained young women from their
community in the art of cycling.
Answer:
Manormani.

Question 17.
Who is Manormani?
Answer:
A quarry worker and an Arivoli volunteer.

Question 18.
Name the quarry worker and Arivoli volunteer who trains other
women to learn cycling.
Answer:
Manormani is the quarry worker and Arivoli volunteer who trains
other women to learn cycling.

Question 19.
Which movement helped the ‘neo-literates’ to become ‘neo-cyclists’?
Answer:
The literacy movement helped the ‘neo-literates’ to become ‘neo-
cyclists’.

Question 20.
Name the organization that sanctioned fifty mopeds for Arivoli women
activists.
Answer:
The UNICEF sanctioned fifty mopeds for Arivoli women activists.

Question 21.
What is the chosen medium for the rural women ofPudukkottai?
Answer:
Cycling is the chosen medium for the rural women of Pudukkottai.

Question 22.
Why did some women prefer to buy gents’ cycles?
Answer:
Some women preferred to buy gents’ cycles because there was not only
a shortage of ladies’ cycles, but they could also seat a child on the
additional bar.

Question 23.
Name the male Arivoli activist who wrote the famous cycling song.
Answer:
Muthu Bhaskaran, a male Arivoli activist, wrote the famous cycling
song.

Question 24.
What had stunned the inhabitants ofPudukkottai on International
Women’s Day?
Answer:
The all-women’s cycle rally in which 1500 female cyclists participated,
had stunned the inhabitants of Pudukkottai on International Women’s
Day.

Question 25.
Which vehicle is called ‘humble’ in ‘Where There is a Wheel’?
Answer:
The writer calls the bicycle a humble vehicle.

Question 26.
What is meant by ‘neo-cyclists’ mentioned in ‘Where There Is A
Wheel’?
Answer:
The term ‘neo-cyclists’ in the lesson ‘Where There is a Wheel’, refers
to all those rural women in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu,
who have taken to bicycling as a symbol of independence, freedom,
and mobility.

Question 27.
Name one of the three women who trained other women in cycling in
‘Where There Is A Wheel’.
Answer:
Jameela is one of the three women who trained other women in
cycling, in the lesson ‘Where There is a Wheel’.

Question 28.
Who has benefited the most by cycling, according to P. Sainath?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, the neo-literate rural women in the
Pudukkottai district have been benefited the most by cycling.

Question 29.
Who took to ‘cycling’ as a social movement in ‘Where There Is A
Wheel’?
Answer:
As stated in ‘Where There is a Wheel’, tens and thousands of neo-
literate rural women in the Pudukkottai district took to ‘cycling’ as a
social movement.

Question 30.
What, according to the speaker, has brought a change in the lifestyle of
the women of Pudukkottai?
Answer:
According to the speaker, learning to ride a bicycle has brought a
change in the lifestyle of the women of Pudukkottai.

Question 31.
In which official position was Sheela Rani Chunkath, according to P.
Sainath?
Answer:
According to Sainath, Sheela Chunkath was then the district collector.

Question 32.
Who was S. Kanakarajan mentioned in ‘Where There Is A Wheel’?
Answer:
As mentioned in ‘Where There is a Wheel’, S. Kanakarajan was the
owner of Ram Cycles, a shop in Pudukkottai which sold bicycles.

Question 33.
Mention one of the reasons for women buying gents’ cycles, according
to P. Sainath.
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, a shortage of ‘ladies’ cycles was one of the
reasons for women buying ‘Gents’ cycles.

Question 34.
What led to a shortage of ladies’ cycles in Pudukkottai, according to P.
Sainath?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, ‘cycling’ became a social movement for the
rural women in Pudukkottai district. The district’s literacy activists
learned cycling. Then, every one of the neo-literates became a neo-
cyclist. This encouraged ‘everywoman’ in the district to learn cycling.
Consequently, all the ‘ladies’ cycles stocked in the market got sold
resulting in a shortage of ‘ladies’ cycles.

Question 35.
Where did the rural women display their new cycling skills, according
to P. Sainath?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, the rural women displayed their new cycling
skills in an all women’s cycle rally held in Pudukkottai on
International Women’s Day in 1992.

Question 36.
What did banks provide the women of Pudukkottai with, according to
P. Sainath?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, banks provided loans to the women of
Pudukkottai for buying bicycles.

Question 37.
What, according to P. Sainath, played a big role in undermining
women’s confidence?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, lack of mobility among women played a big
role in undermining their confidence.

Question 38.
Who gave social sanction to cycling in ‘Where there is a Wheel’?
Answer:
According to P. Sainath, it was the Arivoli that gave social sanction to
cycling.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:

Question 1.
Bring out the nature of freedom gained in Pudukkottai with the
introduction of the cycle.
Answer:
The introduction of cycling has brought freedom, mobility, and
independence to more than 100000 rural women in the Pudukkottai
district. There were quite a few rural women who used to go by bus to
sell their agricultural products within a group of villages. Now, these
women have learnt cycling can go to such places on cycle, and cut
down on time, and also cover a larger area.

Secondly, these women needed the help of menfolk to reach even the
bus stop. Moreover, they had to rush back early to tend to the children
and perform other chores like fetching water. With the introduction of
cycling, they have become mobile and independent. They have a lot of
freedom to plan they’re occupational as well as their domestic duties
and enjoy leisure too.

Question 2.
How has the cycle transformed the lives of many women in
Pudukkottai?
OR
Comment on how cycling reduced women’s dependence on men with
reference to Sainath’s essay.
OR
What benefits, according to P. Sainath, has cycling brought into the
lives of rural women?
OR
How has a bicycle brought a total change in the lives of rural women?
OR
How did cycling transform the lives of women in the Pudukkottai
district and help them change with the times?
Answer:
The introduction of cycling in the Pudukkottai district has brought
about a tremendous change in the lives of rural women. Cycling has
offered a way out of enforced routines around male- imposed barriers.
The rural women, in particular, have gained a great deal of confidence
on account of their learning cycling. Earlier, they used to be burdened
with economic as well as social or familial obligations. Many young
mothers had to help the menfolk in earning the family income as well
as do domestic chores like tending to children and fetching water from
remote places. Even to sell their agricultural produce in nearby
villages, they had to carry their produce to the bus stop with the help
of their menfolk.

Secondly, they had to come back within a fixed time to tend to little
kids at home and to store or fetch water from remote places.
Naturally, though they were capable of doing all these duties on their
own, their ‘immobility’ created a big hurdle. They had to walk long
distances to fetch water and sell their produce. After learning cycling,
such women became free and independent. This gave them a lot of
confidence. Moreover, the ability to ride a bicycle gave them a lot of
self-respect.

Question 3.
Why does P. Sainath say that visiting an Arivoli cycling training camp
is an unusual experience?
Answer:
Sainath, the writer, says that visiting an Arivoli ‘cycling training camp’
is an unusual experience because one day when he went to Kilakuruchi
village to see the camp he was amazed to see all the prospective
learners turned out in their Sunday best. The writer tells us that one
cannot help being struck by the sheer passion of the pro-cycling
movement. There was a look of determination on their faces.

Question 4.
What role did Sheela Rani play in the cycling movement?
OR
How did Sheela Rani promote the cycling movement?
Answer:
Sheela Rani Chunkath was the district collector of Pudukkottai. In 1991
as a part of the female literacy drive, she wanted to train female
literacy activists so that literacy would reach women in the interior.
She had realized that the lack of mobility among women played a big
role in undermining their confidence. Therefore, she included
‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive.

Naturally, literacy activists learned cycling first. This inspired the neo-
literates also to learn cycling. This, in turn, inspired every woman in
the village to learn cycling. The literates, having become neo-cyclists,
encouraged every woman in the district to learn cycling, by organizing
‘cycle training camps’. Thus, Sheela Rani Chunkath became
instrumental in ‘cycling’ becoming a social movement in the
Pudukkottai district.

Question 5.
How does the author show that cycling is linked to the literacy
movement in the district?
OR
How did Sheela Rani Chunkath empower the women of Pudukkottai by
including cycling in the literacy drive?
Answer:
Sheela Rani Chunkath was the district collector of Pudukkottai in 1991.
As a part of the female literacy drive, she wanted to train female
literacy activists so that literacy would reach women in the interior.
She had realized that the lack of mobility among women played a big
role in undermining their confidence. Therefore, she included
‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive.

Naturally, literacy activists learned cycling first. This inspired the neo-
literates also to learn cycling. This, in turn, inspired every woman in
the village to learn cycling. The literates, having become neo-cyclists,
encouraged every woman in the district to learn cycling by organizing
‘cycle training camps’. Thus, cycling came to be linked to the literacy
movement in Pudukkottai.

Question 6.
What are the economic implications of cycling?
OR
Discuss how cycling has had definite economic implications on
women’s status.
Answer:
Cycling brought many benefits to rural women in Pudukkottai. Besides
instilling a lot of confidence in rural women, it also helped them
economically. A large section of the rural womenfolk were small
producers who used to wait for buses to carry their produce to sell in
other villages.

Even to carry their produce to the bus stop they had to depend on
fathers, brothers, husbands or sons.
Once these women learned cycling, they became mobile and
independent. Learning cycling enabled them to visit a number of
villages and sell their produce. Secondly, after learning cycling they
were able to combine different tasks with nonchalance. Consequently,
one can see many a young mother riding a cycle with a child on the bar
and the produce on the carrier. She could also be seen carrying two or
three pots of water hung across the back and cycling towards work or
home.

Question 7.
How has cycling swept across the district of Pudukkottai?
Answer:
It is not an exaggeration to say that cycling has swept across the
district of Pudukkottai. It is not surprising to see even rural
agricultural workers riding a bicycle carrying water, their products,
and also their children on the bicycle. In fact, cycle-riding women have
become ubiquitous in the Pudukkottai district.

Apart from women agricultural workers, quarry labourers, and village

health nurses have also taken to cycling. Joining the rush are balwadi
and Anganwadi workers, gem cutters and school teachers, and also
grama services and mid-day meal workers as well.

Ques 8.
Why was there a shortage of ladies’ cycles in the district of
Pudukkottai? How was the problem overcome?
OR
How did the women react to the shortage of ladies’ cycles?
OR
Why was there a shortage of ladies’ cycles in Pudukkottai? How did
the women react to it?
Answer:
Once the idea of learning cycling as a sign of women’s emancipation
caught on among the womenfolk of Pudukkottai, there was a huge
demand for ‘ladies’ cycles. Once the stocks of ladies cycles got
exhausted there was a shortage of ‘ladies’ cycles. Consequently,
women did not hesitate to buy ‘gents’ cycles as well. In fact, some
women even preferred ‘gents’ cycles because the gent’s cycles have an
additional bar from the seat to the handle. That way the women
realized that they could seat a child on the bar. Consequently, the
shortage of ladies cycles was solved by going in for gents cycles.

Question 9.
How has cycling inculcated a sense of self-respect in the women of
Pudukkottai?
Answer:
The writer says that it would be very wrong to emphasize only the
economic aspect of learning cycling. He says that learning cycling
brings a sense of self-respect to the individual. He quotes the opinion
of Fatima, a secondary school teacher. She opines that learning cycling
is not economic in her case at all. She cannot afford a bicycle, yet she
hires one every evening just to feel the goodness, that independence.
What she means to say is, when a woman learns to ride a bicycle, she
enjoys a sense of achievement.

Women do not need to depend on their husbands to help them

physically in carrying their produce to the market. Secondly, nothing
can bind them to their homes. They go out, fetch water and provisions,
and come back home to attend to their domestic duties and
responsibilities at the right time. This way they enjoy a lot of freedom.
It is this feeling that gives women a sense of self-respect.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
How has cycling become a metaphor for freedom in Pudukkottai?
OR
How does the speaker highlight the freedom and empowerment
accomplished due to cycling?
OR
In what different ways does the bicycle help rural women in ‘Where
There Is A Wheel’?
Answer:
The idea of empowering women giving them ‘mobility’ came from
Sheela Rani Chunkath, the District Collector of Pudukkottai in 1991.
She included ‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive so as to facilitate
female literacy activists to reach rural women in the interior. Once the
literacy activists learned cycling, they taught the neo-literates cycling.
Once the neo-literates learned cycling, every other woman in the
district volunteered to learn cycling. Later, the Arivoli activists
organized a ‘Cycling Training Camp’ and created ‘Master trainers’ who
in turn conducted several cycling training camps. This way, in a short
period of time, over 100,000 rural women in the Pudukkottai district
learned cycling.

The author opines that ‘cycling’ gave these women freedom, mobility,
and independence. Consequently, these women stopped depending on
the menfolk to transport their agricultural produce to bus stops. They
themselves carried the produce and sold them in the neighbouring
villages and this way covered a larger area. Secondly, they also took
care of the young ones at home and completed household chores in
time as a result of the proper utilization of time. They could also fetch
water from far off places and cart provisions on their bicycle. Thus,
‘cycling’ empowered rural women in many ways. Furthermore, the
ability to carry on all the duties and responsibilities on their own gave
the women a sense of achievement and self-respect. Thus, the author
who witnessed this silent revolution concludes that the humble vehicle
– the bicycle – has become a metaphor for freedom, in Pudukkottai.

Question 2.
How does the essay ‘Where There is a Wheel’speak about women and
empowerment?
OR
How is ‘wheel’ symbolic of a change in ‘Where there is a wheel’?
OR
A humble vehicle can be a tool for women’s empowerment. Discuss.
OR
A humble vehicle can work wonders in empowering rural women.
Explain with reference to ‘Where There Is A Wheel’.
Answer:
In this essay titled ‘Where There is a Wheel’, Sainath reports how
learning to ride a bicycle became a social movement and eventually
became a symbol of women empowerment in the Pudukkottai district
of Tamilnadu. Here, the ‘wheel’ of the cycle has become a symbol for
the empowerment of women. The introduction of cycling has brought
about tremendous change in the lives of rural women. Cycling has
offered a way out of enforced routines around male-imposed barriers.

The rural women, in particular, have gained a great deal of confidence

on account of their learning cycling. Earlier, they used to be burdened
with economic as well as social or familial obligations. Many young
mothers had to help the menfolk in earning the family income as well
as do domestic chores like tending to children and fetching water from
remote places. Even to sell their agricultural produce in nearby
villages, they had to carry their produce to the bus stop with the help
of their menfolk.
Secondly, they had to come back within a fixed time to tend to little
kids at home and to store or fetch water from remote places.
Naturally, though they were capable of doing all these duties on their
own, their ‘immobility’ created a big hurdle. They had to walk long
distances to fetch water and sell their produce. After learning cycling,
such women became free and independent. This gave them a lot of
confidence. Moreover, the ability to ride a bicycle gave them a lot of
self-respect.

Apart from women agricultural workers, quarry labourers, and village

health nurses have also taken to cycling. Joining the rush are balwadi
and Anganwadi workers, gem cutters, school teachers, grama services,
and mid-day meal workers as well.

It would be very wrong to emphasize only the economic aspect of

learning cycling. Learning cycling brings a sense of self-respect to the
individual. The writer quotes the opinion of Fatima, a secondary
school teacher. She opines that learning cycling is not economic in her
case at all. She cannot afford a bicycle, yet she hires one every evening
just to feel the goodness, that independence. What she means to say is,
when a woman learns to ride a bicycle, she enjoys a sense of
achievement. She feels that she does not need to depend on her
husband to help her physically in carrying her produce to the market.

Secondly, nothing can bind her to her home. She becomes mobile. She
goes out, fetches water and provisions, and comes back home to attend
to her domestic duties and responsibilities at the right time. This way
she enjoys a lot of freedom. It is this feeling that gives a woman a
sense of self-respect.

Question 3.
Justify the statement ‘Wheel brings progress’ with reference to ‘Where
There is a Wheel’.
Answer:
In ‘Where there is a Wheel’, P. Sainath, the writer, refers to the ‘wheel’
of the bicycle to document the spectacular progress achieved by rural
women in the Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu. The title symbolically
conveys the ‘progress’ achieved by rural women over a period of one
and a half years. ‘Wheel’ is a commonly accepted symbol for progress
or movement or mobility. ‘Wheel’ also means continuous progress or
movement. While stagnation indicates decay and deterioration,
mobility indicates dynamism.
The writer remarks that “people find curious ways of hitting out at
their backwardness, of expressing defiance, a hammering at the fetters
that hold them”. All these phrases make a reference to how the rural
women of Pudukkottai district defied the challenge of the male bastion
and broke the fetters that chained them to the confines of their homes
by learning to ride a bicycle. These rural women, which included
agricultural workers, quarry labourers, village health nurses, ballad is
and anganwadis, gem cutters, school teachers, mid-day meal workers,
and gram sevikas, had to depend on the male persons at-home –
brother, husband, father – to go to the market to sell their produce and
to go to their workplaces in addition to doing household chores like
carrying water from the village well, cooking, taking care of infants
and washing clothes and utensils.

Today, women can be seen doing many tasks on their bicycles. They
can be seen carrying water from the well along with their small kids
sitting on the bar of their cycle in the front. Many of them bicycle their
way to villages to sell agricultural products or to work in the quarries.

Question 4.
People find curious ways of hitting out at their backwardness. How is
this brought out in ‘Where There Is A Wheel’?
Answer:
P. Sainath, in his essay ‘Where There is a Wheel’, remarks that “people
find curious ways of hitting out at their backwardness, of expressing
defiance, a hammering at the fetters that hold them”. All these phrases
make a reference to how the rural women of Pudukkottai district
defied the challenge of the male bastion and broke the fetters that
chained them to the confines of their homes by learning to ride a
bicycle.

Sheela Rani Chunkath was the district collector of Pudukkottai. In 1991

as a part of the female literacy drive, she wanted to train female
literacy activists so that literacy would reach women in the interior.
She had realized that the lack of mobility among women played a big
role in undermining their confidence. Therefore, she included
‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive. Naturally, literacy activists
learned cycling first. This inspired the neo-literates also to learn
cycling. This, in turn, inspired every woman in the village to learn
cycling. The literates, having become neo-cyclists, encouraged every
woman in the district to learn cycling, by organizing ‘cycle training
camps’. Thus, Sheela Rani Chunkath became instrumental in ‘cycling’
becoming a social movement in the Pudukkottai district.

Cycling brought many benefits to rural women in Pudukkottai. Besides

instilling a lot of confidence in rural women, it also helped them
economically. A large section of the rural womenfolk were small
producers who used to wait for buses to carry their produce to sell in
other villages. Even to carry their produce to the bus stop they had to
depend on fathers, brothers, husbands, or sons. Once these women
learned cycling, they became mobile and independent. Learning
cycling enabled them to visit the number of villages and sell their
produce. Secondly, after learning cycling they were able to combine
different tasks with nonchalance.

Consequently, one can see many a young mother riding a cycle with a
child on the bar and the produce on the carrier. She could also be seen
carrying two or three pots of water hung across the back and cycling
towards work or home. Besides helping the women economically,
cycling brought a sense of self-respect to them. He quotes the opinion
of Fatima, a secondary school teacher.

She opines that learning cycling is not economic in her case at all. She
cannot afford a bicycle, yet she hires one every evening just to feel the
goodness, that independence. What she means to say is, when a
woman learns to ride a bicycle, she enjoys a sense of achievement.
Women do not need to depend on their husbands to help them
physically in carrying their produce to the market. Secondly, nothing
can bind them to their homes. They go out, fetch water and provisions,
and come back home to attend to their domestic duties and
responsibilities at the right time. This way they enjoy a lot of freedom.
It is this feeling that gives women a sense of self-respect.

A. Idioms and Phrases:

An idiom is the special use of language. Idioms do not give the literal
meaning of the individual words used in the idiom.
E.g. ‘a change of heart’ would literally mean a heart transplant.
However, idiomatically it would mean ‘a change in one’s attitude or
feelings’.
i. Look at the following pairs of idiomatic expressions. The meanings
of the first pair are given in brackets. Find out the missing ones.
Question 1.
a. to the day (exactly)
b. to this day (even now)

Question 2.
a. take by storm (capture by the sudden or violent attack)
b. the calm before the storm ( ______)
Answer:
A quiet period immediately before a period of great activity or trouble.

Question 3.
a. for all one knows (considering how little one knows)
b. before one knows where one is ( _______ )
Answer:
(or before one knows it) with baffling speed.

Question 4.
a. at/behind the wheel (in control of the situation)
b. put a spoke in somebody’s wheel ( _______ )
Answer:
spoil someone else’s plans and stop them from doing something

Question 5.
a. turn out in one’s best (be well-dressed)
b. as things turned out ( _______ )
Answer:
how something develops/ends.

ii. Identify the sentences in which these expressions have been used in
this lesson.

1. And to this day, thousands of women here ride ‘gents’ cycles.

2. Flags on the handlebars, bells ringing, over 1,500 female cyclists
took Pudukkottai by storm.
3. For all he knew, I was an undercover agent of the sales tax
department.
4. (Note: This usage is not found in the lesson.)
5. In Kilakuruchi village all the prospective learners had turned out
in their Sunday best.

B. Phrasal verbs are expressions which have a combination of a verb

and a preposition.
Some of the phrasal verbs used in this article are given below. With
the help of the teacher/ dictionary find out their meanings and use
them in sentences of your own.
Take to, give up, run into, hit out at, sweep across, put up with.

• Take to: to start doing something as a habit

• give up: stop doing something
• run into: to meet someone when you did not expect to
• hit out at: to fight something vigorously
• sweep across: to extend or spread in a wide range
• put up with: to accept unpleasant behaviour by someone or an
annoying situation without complaining, even though you do not
like it.

Additional Exercises

A. Passive Voice:

Question 1.
The rural women of Pudukkottai found a way of hitting out at their
backwardness. Cycling ____ (choose) as a medium in doing so. Cycling
______ (learn) by over one-fourth of all rural women. The new skill
_______ (display) by over 70,000 of these women.
Answer:
was chosen; was learnt; was displayed.

Question 2.
Arivoli played an important role in the cycling movement. A number of
training camps _____ (arrange) by Arivoli. In order to encourage
bicycling, songs _____ (sing) by neo-cyclists. The UNICEF ______
(impress) and sanctioned fifty mopeds for Arivoli women activists.
Answer:
were arranged; were sung; was impressed.

Question 3.
Cycling gained momentum gradually. Though dirty remarks _____
(make), women paid no attention. Scores of young women _____
(train) by Jameela and her friends. A direct link ______ (see) by a neo-
cyclist woman between cycling and her personal independence.
Answer:
were made; were trained; was seen.

Question 4.
Now we often see a woman doing a four-kilometre stretch on her
bicycle to collect water. Even carting provisions from other places
____ (do) on their own. But, when this began, filthy remarks ______
(make). Even then social sanction ______(give) to cycling by Arivoli.
Answer:
was done; were made; was given.

Question 5.
Gents’ cycles have certain advantages. These ______ (prefer) by some
women as these have an additional bar from the seat to the handle. A
child _____ (can, seat) on it. Carting provisions _____ (can, do) on
their own.
Answer:
are preferred; can be seated; can be done.

Question 6.
It was the occasion of International Women’s Day in 1992. Pudukkottai
_____ (take) by storm. The town’s inhabitants _____ (stun) by the all-
women’s cycle rally. However, it ______ (approve) by all males.
Answer:
was taken; were stunned; was approved.

Question 7.
In no time cycling became a way of life in Pudukkottai. It _____
(introduce) as a tool of social change. Mobility, facilitated by cycling
_____ (include) as a part of literacy drive. The idea ______ (propose)
by Sheela Rani Chunkath, the district collector.
Answer:
was introduced; was included; was proposed.

Question 8.
Cycling brought a mighty change in the life of women in Pudukkottai.
They started moving on their own. Dependence on men _____ (reduce)
to some extent. Provisions too _____ (cart) from one place to another
and a four-kilometre stretch ____ (cover) on their cycles to fetch
water.
Answer:
was reduced; were carted; was covered.
Question 9.
The District Collector’s main aim was to make literacy reach the
interior. So mobility _____ (include) as a part of literacy drive. Loans
_____ (provide) by banks for women to buy cycles. Specific duties
______ (allot) to each block to promote this drive.
Answer:
was included; were provided; were allotted.

B. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in

brackets:

Question 1.
Sheela Rani Chunkath included mobility ______ the literacy drive.
People made dirty remarks but the neo-cyclists _____ to these
remarks. (turned a deaf ear, to come off, as a part of)
Answer:
as a part of; turned a deaf ear.

Question 2.
A lot of women were unable to wait for ladies’ cycles. Therefore they
had to _____ men’s cycles. They knew that bicycles would ______ time
wasted in waiting for buses. (cut down on, put up with, go in for)
Answer:
go in for; cut down on.

Question 3.
Cycling has _____ Pudukkottai. It has become a movement. It was the
______ of Sheela Rani Chunkath who was the former District Collector.
(brainchild, swept across, go out)
Answer:
swept across; brainchild.

Question 4.
In the heart of rural Pudukkottai, young women _____ the roads on
their bicycles. Jameela Bibi, who has ______ cycling, told the reporter
that it was her right. (taken to, give up, zip along)
Answer:
zip along; taken to.
Question 5.
In Kilakuruchi village all the prospective learners had in ______ their
Sunday best. You can’t help ____ the sheer passion of the pro-cycling
movement. (a way out, being struck by, turned out)
Answer:
turned out; being struck by.

C. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate linkers:

Question 1.
Cycling made women independent _______ it reduced their
dependence on men. _____ it gave them a sense of freedom. _____ they
had to put up with vicious attacks on their character. _____ all women
in Pudukkottai learnt cycling. (moreover, as, even then, but)
Answer:
as; Moreover; But; Even then.

Question 2.
Cycling has had very definite economic implications. It boosts their
income. ______ for sellers it cuts down on time wasted in waiting for
buses. ______ it gives them much more time to focus on selling their
produce. _______ it enlarges the area they hope to cover. _____ it
increases their leisure time, too. (thus, first, furthermore, on top of
that)
Answer:
First; Furthermore; On top of that; Thus.

Where there is a Wheel by P. Sainath About the Writer:

Palagummi Sainath (born 1957) is an Indian journalist and

photojournalist focusing on social problems, rural affairs, poverty and
aftermath of globalization in India. He is the Rural Affairs Editor of
The Hindu. A regular contributor to The Telegraph in Kolkata, he also
writes for the fortnightly Frontline and the daily Business Line in
Chennai.

Sainath has received close to forty national and international

journalism awards and fellowships in thirty years as a journalist,
including the Ramon Magsaysay journalism award in 2007, the
European Commission’s Natali Prize in 1994, the Boerma journalism
Prize from the UN FAO in 2001, the Amnesty International global
award for human rights journalism in 2000, and the B.D. Goenka
Award for excellence in journalism in 2000. In June 2011, Sainath was
conferred an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree (DLitt) by the
University of Alberta, the university’s highest honour.

This lesson is an article taken from a book titled ‘Everybody Loves a

Good Drought’, by P. Sainath, a popular photo-journalist. Besides
giving a brief history of ‘cycling’ as a social movement in Pudukkottai,
he also reports how a group of women initiated the remaining women
in the village to learn ‘cycling’ so as to use it as a symbol of
independence, freedom and mobility. Finally, he also comments on the
general impact of this on women’s lives in the Pudukkottai district of
Tamil Nadu.

The author begins the article commenting that when people hear the
caption, “Cycling as a social movement”, it may sound far-fetched to
them, but it is true. Then the author remarks that “people find curious
ways of hitting out at their backwardness, of expressing defiance, a
hammering at the fetters that hold them”.

The author then quotes statistics to prove his point. He reports that
over the past eighteen months, 100000 rural women have taken to
bicycling as a symbol of independence, freedom and mobility, and
their number constitutes over one-fourth of all rural Women in
Pudukkottai. Among them over 70000 of them have taken part in
public exhibition-cum-contests to proudly display their skills, yet the
desire to learn ‘cycling’ and the ‘training camps’ continue.

The author then tells us how two of the participants Jameela Bibi, and
Fatima, a secondary school teacher, feel about their achievement in
cycling. The author quotes Jameela Bibi, who says, “It’s my right, we
can go anywhere. Now I don’t have to wait for a bus”. Similarly, he
quotes Fatima also. Fatima says, “There is freedom in cycling. We are
not dependent on anyone now. I can never give this up!” Jameela,
Fatima and their friend Avakanni, all in their early twenties, have
trained scores of other young women in the art of cycling.

The author remarks that “Cycling has swept across this district;
women agricultural workers, quarry labourers and village health
nurses are among its fans. They are now being followed by balwadi
and Anganwadi workers, gem cutters, school teachers, gramasevikas
and mid-day meal workers. The vast majority are those who have just
become literate”. The district’s vigorous literacy drive led by Arivoli
Iyakkam (Light of Knowledge Movement) has been quick to tap this
energy. The author has spoken to every one of these ‘neo-literate’,
‘neo-cyclist’ women and asserts that there is a direct link between
cycling and the neo-cyclists’ personal independence.

Then he reports the opinion of the coordinator who says that the
“cycling training has given confidence to women and it has reduced
their dependence on men”.

The author says that he often sees a woman doing a four-kilometre

stretch on her bicycle to collect water, sometimes with her children.
He opines that women can cart provisions from other places on their
own. Initially, these women had to put up with vicious attacks on their
character. Even filthy remarks used to be made by men. He praises the
‘Arivoli’ organisation for volunteering to give social sanction to
cycling.

Next, he mentions the ‘Cycle Training Camp’ that he had seen in

Kilakuruchi village. He says that it was an unusual experience to see
all the prospective learners who had turned out in their Sunday best.
They appeared to be determined to learn cycling. The Arivoli activists
produced songs for the neo-cyclists to encourage bicycling. The author
quotes a line which says, “O sisters, come learn cycling, move with the
wheel of time”.

Then, we learn that those who got trained in cycling came back in
large numbers to help new learners. They worked free of charge for
Arivoli as ‘master trainers’. Then, he comments that there is not only a
desire to learn but a widespread perception among them that ‘all
women ought to learn cycling’.

In the next part of the report, the writer gives a brief historical
background to cycling as a social movement. He reports that in 1991 a
former district collector by name Sheela Rani Chunkath hit on the idea
of training female literacy activists so as to reach women in interior
villages. She also included ‘mobility’ (for women) as a part of the
literacy drive, because lack of mobility among women played a big role
in weakening the confidence of women. It is reported that Chunkath
paid personal attention to this idea and motivated the banks to give
loans to women to buy cycles. Each block was assigned specific duties
in promoting the drive. The district collector met with great success in
her plan. Due to the initiative taken by her, the literacy activists
learned cycling.

This encouraged the neo-literates, and their example was followed by

every woman in the village to learn cycling. This led to a shortage of
‘ladies’ cycles. Then the women started using ‘gents’ cycles. In fact,
some women even preferred ‘gents’ cycles because it has an additional
bar from the seat to the handle. The author then says, even to this day
thousands of women here ride ‘gents’ cycles.

On the International Women’s Day in 1992, over 1500 female cyclists

with flags on the handlebars, bells ringing, took Pudukkottai by storm.
The towns’ inhabitants were stunned by this all women’s cycle rally.

The writer describes the reactions of the men to this social movement.
The author gives the opinion of S. Kanakarajan, owner of Ram Cycles.
The cycle dealer says that he had seen a rise of over 350 per cent in
the sales of ‘ladies’ cycles in one year. But the author believes that the
percentage of increase mentioned by the cycle agent is incorrect
because a lot of women have gone in for ‘gents’ cycles as they could
not wait for ‘ladies’ cycles. Then the writer remarks that not all males
were hostile and some men were even encouraging in their attitude.
For instance, Muthu Bhaskaran, a male Arivoli activist, wrote the
famous cycling song that has become their anthem.

The writer cites the example of Manormani to illustrate how learning

to ride a bicycle can help stone quarry workers also. The twenty-two-
year-old Manormani is a stone quarry worker and Arivoli volunteer.
She works in Kudimianmalai’s stone quarries. According to her, it is
vital for her co-workers to learn cycling because their working places
are a little cut off from the main road. Those who learn cycling can be
mobile (which means they can go home after work and come back the
next day, otherwise, they will have to stay there alone in a new place
facing a lot of problems or travel by bus every day). The writer says
that in 1992, more than 70000 women displayed their cycling skills at
the public ‘exhibition-cum-contests’ run by Arivoli. The UNICEF, who
were impressed with the achievement of these activists, sanctioned
fifty mopeds for Arivoli women activists.

The writer gives his views about cycling as a social movement. He says
that cycling boosts income. Some of the women sell agricultural or
other produce within a group of villages. For such people, cycling
saves time. Secondly, cycling gives you more time to focus on selling
your produce. Thirdly, it helps you to cover a larger area. Lastly, it can
increase your leisure time too. Earlier, small producers had to carry
their produce only by bus and had to depend on fathers, brothers,
husbands, or sons even to reach the bus stop. They could cover only a
limited number of villages to sell their produce as they had to do so on
foot.

Moreover, these women had to rush back early to tend to the children
and perform other chores like fetching water. Those who had bicycles
now combined these difficult tasks without any anxiety or tension.
Even now one can see along some remote road, a young mother, with a
child on the cycle bar and, produce on the carrier. She could also be
seen carrying two or even three pots of water hung across the back,
and cycling towards work or home.

Finally, the author opines that for these neo-literate/neo-cyclist

women, more than the economic aspect, the sense of self-respect it
brings is vital. The author admits in a confessing tone that never
before had he seen that humble vehicle (cycle) in that light – the
bicycle as a metaphor for freedom. Before concluding, the writer
quotes Kannammal who opines that for rural women it is a Himalayan
achievement like flying an aeroplane.

In the last paragraph, the author adds a postscript. He says that in

April 1995, when the author returned to Pudukkottai, the craze for
learning cycling was still on (three years later). Then he adds that a
large number of women were unable to afford bicycles which then cost
around Rs. 1400 each. He concludes saying that Pudukkottai remains
unique among Indian districts for the stunning proportion of women
who have taken to cycling and the enthusiasm for gaining the skill
among the rest.

Glossary:
 • neo-literates: new literates
• gramsevikas: women social workers in villages
• phenomenon: a fact or an event in nature or society
• brainchild: an idea or invention of one person
• non-chalance: indifference; unmoved

Water

Comprehension I

Question 1.
The expression ‘generations-old strife’ suggests
a. the bane of the caste system.
b. politics of revenge.
c. differences among humans.
Answer:
(a) the bane of the caste system.

Question 2.
“It also knows the sub-caste difference between leather and spool.”
‘leather and spool’ stands for
a. pure and impure.
b. higher and lower.
c. cobbler and weaver.
Answer:
(c) cobbler and weaver.

Question 3.
How is water a witness to the humiliation caused to the Dalits?
Answer:
In earlier times, when the varna system was in practice, the
‘panchamas’ or the untouchables were not allowed to touch or fill their
pots with water. Whenever a Wada girl went to collect water from a
pond or a tank, the people of other varnas used to pour water from a
higher level at a distance, into the pot of the Wada girl. Naturally, on
such occasions, some water would invariably fall on the body of the
girl. This would cause a lot of humiliation to the girl.
Question 4.
What does the speaker remember when she sees water?
Answer:
When the speaker sees water she would remember how people in her
Wada would thirst all day for a glass of water.
Secondly, when she sees water she is also reminded of how they would
eagerly welcome their weekly bath days as if it was a wondrous
festival and also remember how the entire village bathed luxuriously
twice a day.

The speaker also would recall her childhood when she would walk
miles on end to go to the big canal and carry back heavy pots with the
muscles and veins on her neck straining and bursting.

Finally, the sight of water would also make her recall how thatched
roofs in Malapalle were burnt to ashes for want of a pot of water to
douse the fire.

Question 5.
‘circus feat’ refers to
a. hardship to fetch water.
b. balancing the water pots on the head,
c. ’efforts to secure basic needs.
d. struggle surrounding water.
Answer:
(b) balancing the water pots on the head.

Question 6.
‘Water’ is a
a. a liquid called water.
b. a catalyst for a movement
c. witness to strife.
d. life-giver and destroyer,
e. mean to practice untouchability.
f. profit-making commodity.
Answer:
(c), (d), (e) and (f).

Comprehension II

Question 1.
Discuss the travails suffered by the Wada people to get water.
OR
How does the poet bring out the suffering and pain experienced on
account of water?
OR
Discuss the problems faced by Wada people while collecting water.
Answer:
In the poem ‘Water’, the speaker recalls the ‘role’ played by water as
an agent of social change. Incidentally, she uses the context of the
poem to highlight the travails and tribulations suffered by the people
in wadas, with particular reference to the practice of untouchability in
Andhra Pradesh in the pre- and post-independence periods.

It is an age-old practice that the Dalits or the untouchables live in

separate colonies situated farther away from other communities and
are called ‘wadas’. Whenever the Dalits needed water they used to
wait near the pond or tank until a shudra came there and gave them
some water. This caused a great deal of humiliation, pain, suffering
and anguish to the Dalits.

The speaker describes how an upper caste person poured water from a
distance at a higher level into the pot of a wada girl at a lower level
and how some water would fall on her body making her feel
humiliated.

The writer also narrates a heinous incident that happened in

Madigapalle in Karamchedu. It so happened that a Dalit boy tried to
prevent two upper castes (Kamma) youths from washing their dirty
buckets in their drinking water pond. The two upper caste youths tried
to attack the boy but a Dalit woman by name Suvartamma came to the
boy’s defence lifting her vessel to ward off their attack. Enraged by
this protest by a Dalit woman, the Kamma landlords attacked the Dalit
colony.

The speaker recalls how her wada people would thirst all day for a
glass of water and narrates how people in wadas eagerly look forward
to their weekly bathing day as if it was a wondrous festival while the
people in the entire village bathed luxuriously twice a day. She also
recalls painfully, how in her childhood she used to walk miles and
miles to collect water from the big canal and carry back home heavy
pots balanced on her head, with the muscles and veins on her necks
straining and bursting. Finally, the speaker mentions how several
thatched huts in Malapalle (a Dalit colony) were reduced to ashes for
want of a pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 2.
‘For us, water is not simply H2O’, suggests
a. it’s chemical significance.
b. it is a common resource available for all.
c. it is a symbol of struggle against discrimination.
Answer:
(c) it is a symbol of struggle against discrimination.

Question 3.
What does the contrast ‘some taking bath once a week and others
twice a day’ connote?
Answer:
‘Some taking bath once a week and others twice a day’ connotes that
the Dalits were able to take a bath only once in a week because they
had no free access to public water and only when they had stored
enough water for all of them to take a bath, would they take a bath on
that day. On the other hand, the village people had free access to water
and so they would take a bath twice a day.

Question 4.
Why does water become a matter of dispute?
Answer:
The available quality of water differs from area to area so it becomes a
matter of dispute, Some people get excess of water and some people do
not get water even to drink. Water is a necessity for all the basic needs
and for irrigation, for electricity, and for Industries. When the
required quantity of water is not available, people will have to get it
from elsewhere; When they go to other areas, the people from that
area protest and agitate, so wars happen. A similar fight occurred
between Karnataka and Tamilnadu. People of both states destroyed
each other’s property and destroyed and damaged buses just over the
question of sharing water. In this way, many quarrels have happened
for the sake of water.

Question 5.
Look at the expressions ‘many a circus feat’ and ‘dances its way into
the Pepsi man’s bottle.’ What contrast do you notice between the two?
Answer:
The phrase ‘many a circus feat’ refers to the Wada women walking
with heavy pots of water on their heads, miles, and miles, from a big
canal. This indicates the strain, the anguish, and the humiliation
suffered by Dalits to fetch water for their daily needs. On the contrary,
the phrase, ‘dances its way into the Pepsi man’s bottle’ refers to water
being sold as a multinational market commodity. Here the phrase
‘dances its way’ shows the ease and the surreptitious ways in which
‘water’ is sold for a price when it is known all over the country that
tens of thousands of poor people and Dalits even today, walk miles to
fetch drinking water. For the Dalits and the poor, water is a necessity
and ‘Pepsi’ is an item of luxury. This reflects how the poor become
victims of discrimination.

Comprehension III

Question 1.
How does the poem ‘Water’ demonstrate the disparity and
discrimination in our society using water as a symbol?
0R
Is water instrumental in social discrimination and disparity? Explain.
OR
Bring out the bitter instances recollected by the speaker in ‘Water’.
OR
The difference between race and agony of the panchama due to water
has been effectively brought
out in ‘Water’. Discuss.
OR
‘Water is a witness to centuries of social injustice.’ Explain with
reference to the poem ‘Water’.
Answer:
In the poem ‘Water’, the speaker recalls several instances taken from
the life of the Dalits to highlight the disparity between the Dalits and
the upper caste people in their lifestyles.

The speaker states that water is witness to the Panchama’s plight

when he goes to the pond or tank to collect water. Since he does not
have the right to draw a pot of water directly from a well, he waits all
day near the well until a shudra arrives there and fills his pot. Next,
the speaker mentions the humiliation of the Wada girl, when she
receives water poured from a distance. Some waterfalls on her body
and she felt humiliated.

Later, the speaker articulates the righteous indignation shown by

Karamchedu Suvartamma, when she raised her vessel to ward off an
attack by the Kamma youths against the Dalit boy who asked them not
to pollute their drinking water. These instances illustrate how the
Dalits were discriminated against using water from a public well.

The speaker recalls how people in the Wada would thirst all day for a
glass of water while the villagers had a lot of water to drink and bathe
as and when they wanted. On the other hand, the people in the village
enjoyed the bath twice a day, because they had plenty of water, and
the Dalits were made to forego water on the pretext of untouchability.
Next, the speaker narrates how in her childhood they walked miles
and miles to collect water from the big canal and walked back carrying
heavy pots of water on their heads, with the veins in their neck
straining and bursting.

Finally, the speaker recalls how several thatched huts in Malapalle

were reduced to ashes for want of a pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 2.
How are the poor affected by
a. lack of water.
b. denial of water.
c. the fury of nature?
Answer:
In the poem ‘Water’ the speaker highlights how ‘water’ becomes a
symbol of discrimination against the Dalits.

(a) Since the Dalits do not have free access to water, they cannot take
a bath as and when they like. They can take a bath only after they have
stored up adequate water for all the members of the family. Normally,
this used to happen only once a week in those, days.

(b) The Dalits were prohibited from fetching water from a pond or
tank in a village. Naturally, when they needed water they had to go to
the pond with their pot and wait until a shudra arrived and gave them
water. Secondly, when the village people gave them water, they used
to pour water from a distance into the pots carried by the Dalits and
some water would fall on their bodies. This caused a lot of anguish and
humiliation to the Dalits.

(c) The speaker speaks about ‘water’ as a natural social agent. Water
is essential for life. It can give life but also can devour lives. The water
that refused to quench parched throats became the killer tsunami
wave and swallowed village after village. This way ‘water’ worked as a
symbol of Nature and showed its fury against people who
discriminated against the Dalits.

Question 3.
Trace the journey of water from ancient times as a symbol of purity to
the age of the multinational market where it is a commodity.
OR
Water that ignites struggles and strife can also be a market
commodity. Examine the statement in light of ‘Water’.
Answer:
The Dalits’ age-old struggle for water has its origin in the people’s
perception of ‘water’ as a source of purity and the ‘Dalits’ as
‘untouchables’. Though all living creatures have a right to share it, the
upper caste society denies it to the Dalits for the only reason that they
are Dalits.

The poet makes an attempt to trace the journey of water which begins
as a symbol of purity in the life of the people and eventually ends up
becoming a multinational market commodity. It also questions the
wisdom of the people who deprived free access to water, an elixir of
life, to the Dalits biasedly and eventually made it a multinational
commodity and robbed them of their natural resources.

She presents a conflicting situation where Jesus, a Jew, asks for water
from a Samaria woman, who is considered a lower caste woman. She
also presents the instance of the Panchama, who is forced to wait with
his pot all day near the well until a shudra comes to serve him.

She then presents the case of the Dalit girl, who gets humiliated by
receiving water poured from above and getting her clothes drenched in
water.

Next, she expresses the rage of the Dalit woman Munnangi

Suvartamma, who goes to the rescue of the Dalit boy who objects to
the Kamma youths washing their dirty buckets in their drinking water
in Malapalle.

We learn how .the Dalits crave a glass of water to quench their thirst.
We also learn that the Dalits used to have a bath only once a week
whereas the other people in the village enjoyed bathing luxuriously
twice a day. We then learn how the Dalits had to walk miles and miles
to fetch water from the big canal and carried back home heavy pots
balanced on their heads with the muscles and veins in their neck
straining and bursting.

She then says that quite a few thatched huts caught fire in Malapalle
and were reduced to ashes, the only reason being the absence of a pot
of water to douse the fire. Then we learn how people in Mahad
municipality in Mumbai, asserted their right to public water under the
leadership of Dr Ambedkar. All these instances are given to trace the
journey of water from that of being a symbol to that of getting
asserted as a fundamental right.

The poem also narrates the journey of ‘water’ in the life of the people
in the last two decades. ‘Water’, which can save ‘lives’, can also devour
lives in the form of a tsunami. It can also turn villages into dry deserts
and inflict a lot of suffering on the people. At the same time, in some
places water can take a toll on the lives of people in many villages in
the form of floods.

In the last part of the poem, the speaker attempts to trace the journey
of water into bisleri bottles as ‘mineral water’, becoming a
multinational market commodity. Here again, such activity depletes
the groundwater and affects the poor Dalits.

I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase, or a sentence

each:

Question 1.
Name the village that was burnt for want of water.
Answer:
Malapalle.
Question 2.
Whohadnorighttodrawapotofwaterfromthewell?
OR
Whose agony for a pot of water is mentioned in Water’?
Answer:
The Panchamas.

Question 3.
Who opposed the Kamma landlords?
OR
Name the lady who opposed the Kamma landlords.
Answer:
Munnangi Suvartamma.

Question 4.
What, according to the speaker, is a witness to centuries of social
injustice?
Answer:
Water.

Question 5.
Where did the Mahad struggle take place?
Answer:
At the Chadar tank in Mumbai.

Question 6.
When is a wada girl humiliated?
OR
Mention any one of the types of humiliation met by the Wada girl.
Answer:
A wada girl is humiliated when waterfalls all over her and touches her
as it is poured from a distance into the pot.

Question 7.
What was welcomed as a wondrous festival, according to the speaker,
in ‘Water’?
Answer:
The weekly bath that the Dalits take.
Question 8.
Why does the poet say that water is not a simple thing?
Answer:
The poet says that water is not a simple thing because while it can give
life, it can also devour lives.

Question 9.
Who are the playthings in the vicious hands of water?
Answer:
The poor.

Question 10.
What, according to the speaker, can water ignite?
Answer:
Water can ignite struggles and strife between village and Wada,
between one state and another.

Question 11.
Where does water sit innocently?
Answer:
In a Bisleri bottle.

Question 12.
Under what new name is water sold now?
OR
What is the new name given to water?
Answer:
Water is now sold under a new name, Mineral water.

Question 13.
What does the poet mean by ‘Water contains the world’?
Answer:
It means water has no boundaries.

Question 14.
Why does the poet call the water ‘omniscient’?
Answer:
The poet calls water ‘omniscient’ because it knows everything.

Question 15.
Mention one of the things to which the water is a witness, according to
the speaker in ‘Water’.
Answer:
Water is a witness to centuries of social injustice.

Question 16.
What stands as a witness to the generations-old strife between the
village and the Wada?
Answer:
Water stands as a witness to the generations-old strife between the
village and the Wada.

Question 17.
What, according to the speaker, knows the ground’s incline in ‘Water’?
Answer:
According to the speaker, water knows the ground’s incline.

Question 18.
Generations-old-strife in ‘Water’ refers to the dispute between
(a) leather and spool.
(b) village and Wada.
(c) Samaria woman and Jesus.
Answer:
(b) village and Wada.

Question 19.
What, according to the speaker, never disappears, in ‘Water’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘Water’, untouchability never disappears.

Question 20.
Who is entitled to pour water into Panchami’s pot, as mentioned in
’Water’?
Answer:
As mentioned in ‘Water’, only a ‘shudra’ is entitled to pour water into
Panchami’s pot.

Question 21.
Whom did Karamchedu Suvartamma mentioned in ‘Water’ oppose?
Answer:
As mentioned in ‘Water’, Karamchedu Suvartamma opposed the
Kamma landlords.
Question 22.
According to the speaker in ‘Water’, water is witness to
(a) social injustice.
(b) pollution of the pond.
(c) ground’s incline.
Answer:
(a) social injustice.

Question 23.
What is the speaker in ‘Water’ reminded of when she sees water?
Answer:
The speaker in ‘Water’, when she sees water, is reminded of how her
Wada would thirst all day for a glass of water.

Question 24.
What would the speaker’s Wada mention in ‘Water’ thirst for all day?
Answer:
The speaker’s Wada mentioned in ‘Water’ would thirst for a glass of
water, all day.

Question 25.
According to the speaker in ‘Water1, they never managed to win even a
(a) glass of water
(b) pot of water
(c) puddle of water.
Answer:
(c) puddle of water.

Question 26.
When does the speaker remember her childhood in ‘Water’?
Answer:
The speaker in ‘Water’ would remember her childhood, when she sees
the water.

Question 27.
What was burnt to ashes for want of a pot of water, according to the
speaker, in ‘Water’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘Water’, the thatched roofs in Malapalle
were burnt to ashes for want of a pot of water.
Question 28.
_______ are playthings in the vicious hands of water, according to the
speaker, in ‘Water’?
(a) The MNCs
(b) The landlords
(c) The poor.
Answer:
(c) The poor.

Question 29.
Where does water finally become a commodity, according to the
speaker, in ‘Water’?
Answer:
According to the speaker in ‘Water’, water finally becomes a
commodity in the multinational market.

Question 30.
What is now a multinational market commodity mentioned in ‘Water’?
Answer:
‘Water’ is now a multinational market commodity as mentioned in
‘Water’.

Question 31.
Whose humiliation is mentioned by the speaker in ‘Water’?
Answer:
The speaker in ‘Water’ mentions the humiliation of the Wada girl.

Question 32.
Whom does the panchama wait for near the well in ‘Water’?
Answer:
In ‘Water’, the panchama waits near the well for a shudra to come and
give him water from the well.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words

each:

Question 1.
Give an account of the humiliation and craving felt in the poem
‘Water’.
OR
The difference between race and agony of the panchama due to water
has been effectively brought out in ‘Water’. Explain.
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ expresses the terrible humiliation and suffering
caused to the Dalits, or the untouchables owing to the social
restrictions imposed by the upper caste people. In India, in the pre-
independence period and in the early decades of the post-
independence period, the Dalits had to face the wrath of the upper
caste people over allowing the Dalits to collect water from the village
tanks or ponds.

Whenever these panchamas needed water they would come to the

village pond and wait there until a shudra came there and gave them
water. The reader can imagine the misery and the anguish suffered by
the Dalits at that time.

The speaker states that whenever a Wada girl comes to a village pond
to collect water, a member of the upper caste would draw water from
the well and pour it into the pot or vessel brought by the Dalit girl
from a distance and from a higher level. Naturally, some water would
fall on her. The speaker states that only ‘water’ knows the humiliation
suffered by the girl. The speaker wants the reader to reflect on the
cruelty shown to the Wada girl on such occasions.

On the 16th of July 1985, two Kamma youths were washing dirty
buckets in the drinking water tank meant for the Dalit community in
Madigapalle. This was objected to by a Dalit boy which angered the
Kamma youths. The Kamma youths became furious at being challenged
and tried to beat up the Dalit boy. Seeing this, a woman named
Munnangi Suvartamma, lifted her vessel and prevented the youths
from hurting the boy. This act resulted in a ghastly attack on the
Dalits.

The speaker states that only ‘water’ knows the righteous anger of the
Dalit woman. The speaker seems to be asking the reader whether this
is not known to the others and why they are keeping quiet.

The speaker states that when she sees water, she remembers how the
people in her Wada would thirst all day for a glass of water. She
recalls nostalgically how they eagerly awaited the weekly bath as if it
was a wondrous festival and also relives the misery when she recalls
that the entire village except them, bathed luxuriously twice a day.

Question 2.
How is the destructive nature of water brought out in the poem
’Water’?
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ attempts to depict the struggle, the anguish, the
suffering and the humiliation suffered by the Dalits to get their
rightful share of water. The speaker, having recollected all the
incidents related to their humiliations and their suffering, talks about
how water can be a source of retributive justice. The speaker declares
that water is not a simple thing; it can give life but can also devour
lives. She then declares in a vengeful tone that the water that could
not serve to quench the thirst of the parched throats (of Dalits)
became the killer tsunami wave and swallowed the whole village after
village.

The speaker declares that ‘water’ is so powerful that it treats the

‘poor’ as its playthings. Sometimes, many villages suffer from drought
and become dry deserts killing poor people. It may also come in the
form of floods and drown them. Thus, the poet depicts the destructive
nature of water.

Question 3.
How can water be a life-giver as well as life taker?
OR
Water can give life and can also devour lives. Examine the significance
of this statement in light of ’Water’.
Answer:
The speaker talks about how water can be a source of retributive
justice. The speaker declares that water is not a simple thing; it can
give life but can also devour lives. She then declares in a vengeful tone
that the water that could not serve to quench the thirst of the parched
throats (of Dalits) became the killer tsunami wave and swallowed the
whole village after village.

The speaker declares that ‘water’ is so powerful that it treats the

‘poor’ as its playthings. Sometimes, many villages suffer from drought
and become dry deserts killing poor people. It may also come in the
form of floods and drown them. Thus, the poet depicts the destructive
nature of water.
Water is the elixir of life and without water, no life can exist on this
earth. Naturally, water is a life-giver. When a panchama goes to a
village tank and is made to wait for a pot of water all day long, one can
imagine the misery and the hardships the Dalits have to suffer when
they are denied a rightful share of water.

Like the panchama, the Wada girl is also made to face humiliation by
being forced to collect the water dropped from above and getting
drenched in the process. One has to imagine their need for water and
the way it is given to them.

Similarly, water functions like a life-giver when we get to know that

the Dalits face quite a few days without water even to quench their
thirst. The speaker narrates one incident where water would have
been a life-giver. In Malapalle, several thatched huts would have been
saved if only there was one pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 4.
Why is water a mighty movement, according to the speaker in ‘Water’?
Answer:
According to the speaker, water is a mighty movement because the
denial of water to the Dalits became the cause of a historical struggle
in Mumbai. In the Mahad municipality in Mumbai, even though the
municipality had passed a resolution allowing the Dalit community
access to the public tank, the local upper caste people prevented them
from using the water. Subsequently, Dr Ambedkar went in a rally to
the tank, drank a handful of water from the tank and asserted the
right of the Dalits to use water from a public place like every other
person in society.

Question 5.
What personal memories does the speaker associate with water in the
poem ‘Water’?
Answer:
Whenever the speaker sees water, she says that she recalls the days
when they suffered from thirst as there was no water in the house to
quench, their parched throats. She also recalls the days with regret as
well as pleasure, how they eagerly looked forward to the day when
they would get their bath of the week while the entire village bathed
luxuriously twice a day.
When she sees water, the speaker recalls her childhood, when they
had to walk miles and miles to fetch water from the big canal and
carry back heavy pots with the muscles and veins in their necks
straining and bursting. She also remembers the day when several
thatched roofs in Malapalle got destroyed by fire, the only reason
being there was not even a pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 6.
How does the speaker in the poem ‘Water’ trace the journey of water
using it as a witness?
OR
How is water a witness to centuries of social injustice?
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ by Swaroopa Rani presents the struggle, the
humiliation, the anguish and the suffering undergone by the Dalits to
obtain their rightful share of water, which is a natural resource. The
speaker cites ‘water’ as the witness to the practice of untouchability.

Water has been a witness to the plight of the Dalits who have been
fighting for their right to their share of water. She declares that this
water has been witness to the age-old strife between the upper caste
people and the Dalits. The speaker expresses the agony of the
panchama who waits for water the whole day and the humiliation of
the Wada girl, who has to collect the water thrown at her from a
distance and in this act how she has to bear the humiliation caused by
the water that falls on her.
The speaker mentions an incident in which a Dalit woman comes to
the rescue of a Dalit boy who is about to be thrashed by Kamma
landlords.

The speaker also mentions how they craved for a glass of water with
parched throats. The speaker confesses regretfully and nostalgically
how they awaited the day of their bath in a week while the other
people in the village enjoyed the luxury of bathing twice a day.

Finally, the speaker recalls how several thatched huts in Malapalle got
reduced to ashes for want of a pot of water to douse a rising fire.

Question 7.
Water is also a commodity in the hands of multinational companies.
Explain with reference to ‘Water’.
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani highlights the
humiliation, anguish, agony and suffering caused to the Dalits by the
upper caste people denying them their rightful share of water.

Incidentally, the poet makes an attempt to trace the journey of water

which begins as a source of purity, available in ponds and tanks in
villages and towns. Though all living creatures have a right to share it,
the upper caste people deny it to the Dalits for the only reason that
they are ‘avarnas’ or Dalits, and thus impure.

In the last part of the poem, the speaker says that water, which began
as a symbol of purity, has become a commodity in Bisleri bottles as
mineral water, being sold in multinational markets. She mocks at the
wisdom of the people who biasedly denied Dalits free access to water,
an elixir of life.

Question 8.
What are the things that the water knows in the poem ‘Water’?
Answer:
In the poem ‘Water’, the speaker recalls the ‘role’ played by water as
an agent of social change. Incidentally, she uses the context of the
poem to highlight the travails and tribulations suffered by the people
in wadas, with particular reference to the practice of untouchability in
Andhra Pradesh.

In the first five stanzas, she mentions the various instances of the
practice of untouchability witnessed by ‘water’. She states that ‘water’
knows that ‘untouchability’ never disappears because the quarrel over
allowing the Dalits to collect water from a village tank or pond
between the upper caste people and the Dalits, has been smouldering
for several generations.

The speaker cites a biblical incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to a
Samaria woman, in a town called Sychar, and asks the woman for a
drink. The Samaria woman belongs to an inferior race and Jesus, the
Jew belongs to a superior race. Here the speaker intends to highlight
the fact that ‘water’ is essential to all, be it a Samaria woman or Jesus
the Jew. The idea is reiterated in the next two lines. Even among the
untouchables, there were sub-castes. ‘Leather’ refers to cobblers and
the ‘spool’ refers to weavers. The speaker means to say whether one is
a cobbler or a weaver both of them need water.

She next mentions the agony of the ‘Panchama’, considered an

untouchable and hence not allowed to draw water from a public well.
It is unfortunate that he has to wait near a well until a shudra arrives
to give him water.

The speaker mentions the case of a Wada girl (an untouchable) who
has to receive water poured by someone from a distance and from a
higher level. On such occasions, some water is bound to fall on the
body of the girl. The girl has to suffer this humiliating act for the sake
of water.

Lastly, the speaker mentions the courageous act of Karamchedu

Suvartamma who opposed the Kamma landlords when they were about
to beat up a Dalit boy for asking them not to wash dirty buckets in the
drinking water tank in Madigapalle. This act of lifting the vessel in
self-defence later resulted in a ghastly attack by the upper caste people
on the Dalits.

Question 9.
Describe the many things that the speaker remembers when she sees
water in ‘Water’.
Answer:
In the second half of the poem, the speaker narrates her personal
experiences. The speaker says that whenever she sees water, she
recalls how the people in her part of the village (Wada) would suffer
from severe thirst all day, not being able to get even a glass of water.
She recalls sadly how they (the Dalits) would look forward to their
weekly bath day, as if it was a wonderful festival day, while the upper
caste people in the entire village enjoyed bathing luxuriously twice a
day. Here the speaker intends to highlight the fact that while the
Dalits were ‘deprived’ of water and were given water only once a
week, the other people had so much water that they bathed
luxuriously twice a day.

The speaker recalls her childhood when they had to walk miles and
miles to fetch water from the big canal and carry back heavy pots with
the muscles and veins in their necks straining and bursting.
The speaker narrates a fire accident in Malapalle. It was a locality
where the Dalits lived in thatched huts. When their thatched roofs
caught fire, the huts were completely destroyed in the fire for want of
a pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 10.
Bring out the irony in ‘Water’ where the speaker remarks on the
innocence of water.
Answer:
‘Water’ is a reflective narrative poem, which is used in the poem as a
concrete witness to the practice of untouchability and as a metaphor
for social injustice and oppression. In the first five stanzas, The poet
mentions the instances in which water served as a witness for the
practice of untouchability. Then she presents her own experience of
the sufferings that she underwent to get ‘water’ for day-to-day needs.
Next, she cites the incident of the Tsunami wave which swallowed a
great number of villages. The poet vents her anger against the
destruction caused by ‘water’. She remarks that water, which has
ignited many struggles and quarrels between people of villages and
people of the ‘Wada’, can cause blood to run in streams.

However, the same water can also sit innocently in a Bisleri bottle
appearing very innocuous. Here, the poet tries to highlight the
situational irony in these lines. The very same water which has caused
centuries-old wars of attrition between people has now become a
marketable commodity, which anyone can buy. Thus, this marketable
commodity now seems to erase from people’s memory the practices of
untouchability, for which it had been a witness for centuries.

Question 11.
Why is water not simply H20 to the downtrodden? Give reasons with
reference to Water’.
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ attempts to depict the struggle, the anguish, the
suffering and humiliation suffered by the Dalits to get their rightful
share of water, which is an elixir of life, and a natural resource. The
poem incidentally throws light on the multiple facets of water. The
poem highlights instances when ‘water’ is used as the instrument of
discrimination, as a life-giver, a life taker and a multinational market
commodity also.
Water can be a source of retributive justice. It can not only give life
but can also devour life. The water that could not serve to quench the
thirst of parched throats became the killer tsunami wave which
swallowed the whole village after village.
Water is so powerful that it treats the ‘poor’ as its playthings.
Sometimes, many villages suffer from drought and become dry deserts
killing poor people. It may also come in the form of floods and drown
them.

Water is the elixir of life and without water, no life can exist on this
earth. Naturally, water is a life-giver. When a panchama goes to a
village tank and is made to wait all day for a pot of water, one can
imagine the misery and the hardships the Dalits have to suffer when
they are denied their rightful share of water.

Like the panchama, the Wada girl is also made to face humiliation by
being forced to collect the water dropped from above and getting
drenched in the process.

Water functions like a life-giver. The poem presents one incident

where water would have been a life-giver. In Malapalle, several
thatched huts would have been saved if only there was one pot of
water to douse the fire.
On the whole, one can infer that water is no mean matter but an
omniscient phenomenon, because it is now being sold as mineral
water in bisleri bottles all over the globe.

III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

Question 1.
How does the poem ‘Water’ bring out the sad plight of the Dalits?
OR
How does the poet show that water is a witness to centuries of social
injustice?
OR
‘Water is a witness to the generations of the struggle of Dalits.’
Explain.
OR
Water is a witness to many struggles. Explain with reference to the
poem ‘Water’.
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’ by Swaroopa Rani presents the struggle, the
humiliation, the anguish and the suffering undergone by the Dalits to
obtain their rightful share of water, which is a natural resource. The
speaker cites ‘water’ as the witness to the practice of untouchability.

Water has been witnessing the plight of the Dalits who have been
fighting for their rights to their share of water. She declares that this
water has been witness to the age-old strife between the upper caste
people and the Dalits. Later, the speaker expresses the agony of the
panchama who waits for water the whole day and the humiliation of
the Wada girl, who has to collect the water thrown at her from a
distance and in this act how she has to bear the humiliation caused by
the water that falls on her.

The speaker mentions an incident in which a Dalit woman comes to

the rescue of a Dalit boy who is about to be thrashed by Kamma
landlords.

The speaker also mentions how they craved for a glass of water with
parched throats.
The speaker confesses regretfully and nostalgically how they awaited
the day of their bath in a week while the other people in the village
enjoyed the luxury of bathing twice a day.

Finally, the speaker recalls how several thatched huts in Malapalle got
reduced to ashes for want of a pot of water to douse a rising fire.

Question 2.
Is water instrumental in social discrimination and disparity? Explain
with reference to the poem ‘Water’.
OR
The poem ‘Water’ demonstrates the disparity and discrimination of
society. Justify.
OR
Trace the sufferings of the people of Wada due to social
discrimination.
OR
Comment on the social discrimination associated with water as
presented in the poem, ‘Water’.
Answer:
‘Water’ is a reflective-narrative poem in which the speaker recalls
several instances taken from the life of the Dalits to highlight the
disparity seen in the lifestyle of the Dalits and that of the upper caste
people. Incidentally, the speaker also highlights how the Dalits are
discriminated against while using ‘water’ from a pond or a tank. The
speaker states that water is a witness to the Panchama’s plight when
he goes to the pond or tank to collect water. Since he does not have the
right to draw a pot of water directly from a well, he waits all day near
the well until a shudra arrives there and fills his pot.

The speaker mentions the humiliation of the Wada girl when she
receives water poured from a distance. Some waterfalls on her body
and she felt humiliated. The speaker articulates the righteous
indignation shown by Munnangi Suvartamma when she raised her
vessel to ward off an attack by the Kamma youths against the Dalit boy
who asked them not to pollute their drinking water. These instances
illustrate how the Dalits were discriminated against while using water
from a public well.

The speaker recalls how people in the Wada would thirst all day for a
glass of water while the villagers had a lot of water to drink and bathe
as and when they wanted. The speaker recalls how they would look
forward to that day in a week when they would get an occasion to take
a bath.

On the other hand, the people in the village enjoyed the bath twice a
day, because they had plenty of water, and the Dalits were made to
forego water on the pretext of untouchability. The speaker narrates
how, in her childhood, they walked miles and miles to collect water
from the big canal and walked back carrying heavy pots of water on
their heads, with the veins in their neck straining and bursting.
Finally, the speaker recalls how several thatched huts in Malapalle
were reduced to ashes for want of a pot of water to douse the fire.

Question 2.
The things that water knows imply humiliations, violence and
injustice. Explain with reference to ‘Water’.
Answer:
‘Water’, by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani, is a reflective-narrative poem.
The speaker, in the persona of a ‘Dalit’, reminisces and chronicles a
few typical but poignant situations which express the anguish and
helplessness of a Dalit when he or she goes to a public pond or tank to
collect water for their daily needs.

In the first five stanzas, the speaker cites ‘water’ as the witness to the
practice of untouchability.
The poet states in a casual, matter-of-fact tone that ‘water’, which
knows where the ground is inclined along which it has to flow, knows
that ‘untouchability’ never disappears, because the quarrel or conflict
over allowing the Dalits to collect water from a village tank or pond,
between the upper caste people and the Dalits, has been smouldering
for several generations.

The idea is reiterated citing another instance of untouchability. The

poet cites a Biblical incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to a Samaria
woman (in a town called Sychar) and asks the woman for water. The
Samaria woman belongs to an inferior race and Jesus, the Jew belongs
to a superior race. Here the speaker seems to say that ‘water’ is
essential to all, be it a Samaria woman or Jesus the Jew; similarly,
water is essential for both the upper caste people and the
untouchables. The same idea is reiterated in the next two lines. Even
among the untouchables, there were sub-castes. ‘Leather’ refers to
cobblers and the ‘spool’ refers to weavers. The speaker means to say
that whether one is a cobbler or a weaver both of them need water.
This fact is known to ‘water’, but why are people so cruel to give
access to water to one and deny access to the other. Here, the ‘other’
refers to the untouchables.

A Panchama does not have the right to draw water from a public well
because he is untouchable. It is cruel and unfortunate that he is made
to wait near the well until a Shudra arrives. Here again, it is ironical
that the ‘Panchama’, who does not belong to varna, has to wait for a
Shudra who is supposed to belong to the fourth rank in the social
hierarchy. A Shudra, according to the ‘varna’ scheme, is an unskilled
labourer and he does all the physical tasks as directed by the other
upper caste people.

Naturally, only when a Shudra comes to a pond to fetch water for an

upper caste person can he give some water to the Panchama. It also
means that the other upper caste people who normally do not fetch
water from a well will not be able to give water to a Panchama. The
speaker is once again referring to the cruelty of the ‘varna system’ and
the practices associated with untouchability.
The speaker cites another cruel instance of untouchability. Normally,
whenever a person belonging to one of the four varnas happens to give
some water to an ‘untouchable’ (here it is a girl], he/she takes care to
see that the giver and the receiver stand apart from each other and
pours water from a distance and from a higher level. On such
occasions, some water is bound to fall on the receiver. Here, the
receiver being a girl, waterfalls all over her. The speaker wants the
reader to imagine the humiliation of the girl when someone throws
water at her or on her. Here, the speaker is highlighting the cruel
practice of untouchability.

The speaker recalls a heinous incident that happened in a place called

Karamchedu. It is reported that, when two Kamma youths were
washing dirty buckets (that had been used to feed their buffaloes) in
the drinking water tank in Madigapalle, a Dalit boy objected to it,
which angered the youth. Consequently, when the youths were about
to beat up the boy, Munnangi Suvartamma, a Dalit woman, tried to
protect the boy from the attackers. She lifted the vessel that she was
carrying, to drive away from the attackers. This act of lifting the
vessel in self-defence later resulted in a ghastly attack by the upper
caste people on the Dalits.

Question 3.
The right to water is not given equally in our society. How does the
poem Water’ prove this?
Answer:
‘Water’, by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani, is a reflective-narrative poem.
The speaker, in the persona of a ‘Dalit’, reminisces and chronicles a
few typical but poignant situations which express the anguish and
helplessness of a Dalit when he or she goes to a public pond or tank to
collect water for their daily needs.

In the first five stanzas, the speaker cites ‘water’ as the witness to the
practice of untouchability.
The poet states in a casual, matter-of-fact tone that ‘water’, which
knows where the ground is inclined along which it has to flow, knows
that ‘untouchability’ never disappears, because the quarrel or conflict
over allowing the Dalits to collect water from a village tank or pond,
between the upper caste people and the Dalits, has been smouldering
for several generations.
The idea is reiterated citing another instance of untouchability. The
poet cites a Biblical incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to a Samaria
woman (in a town called Sychar) and asks the woman for water. The
Samaria woman belongs to an inferior race and Jesus, the Jew belongs
to a superior race. Here the speaker seems to say that ‘water’ is
essential to all, be it a Samaria woman or Jesus the Jew; similarly,
water is essential for both the upper caste people and the
untouchables. The same idea is reiterated in the next two lines. Even
among the untouchables, there were sub-castes. ‘Leather’ refers to
cobblers and the ‘spool’ refers to weavers. The speaker means to say
that whether one is a cobbler or a weaver both of them need water.
This fact is known to ‘water’, but why are people so cruel to give
access to water to one and deny access to the other. Here, the ‘other’
refers to the untouchables.

A Panchama does not have the right to draw water from a public well
because he is untouchable. It is cruel and unfortunate that he is made
to wait near the well until a Shudra arrives. Here again, it is ironical
that the ‘Panchama’, who does not belong to varna, has to wait for a
Shudra who is supposed to belong to the fourth rank in the social
hierarchy. A Shudra, according to the ‘varna’ scheme, is an unskilled
labourer and he does all the physical tasks as directed by the other
upper caste people. Naturally, only when a Shudra comes to a pond to
fetch water for an upper caste person can he give some water to the
Panchama. It also means that the other upper caste people who
normally do not fetch water from a well will not be able to give water
to a Panchama. The speaker is once again referring to the cruelty of
the ‘varna system’ and the practices associated with untouchability.

The speaker cites another cruel instance of untouchability. Normally,

whenever a person belonging to one of the four varnas happens to give
some water to an ‘untouchable’ (here it is a girl], he/she takes care to
see that the giver and the receiver stand apart from each other and
pours water from a distance and from a higher level. On such
occasions, some water is bound to fall on the receiver. Here, the
receiver being a girl, waterfalls all over her. The speaker wants the
reader to imagine the humiliation of the girl when someone throws
water at her or on her. Here, the speaker is highlighting the cruel
practice of untouchability.
The speaker recalls a heinous incident that happened in a place called
Karamchedu. It is reported that, when two Kamma youths were
washing dirty buckets (that had been used to feed their buffaloes) in
the drinking water tank in Madigapalle, a Dalit boy objected to it,
which angered the youth. Consequently, when the youths were about
to beat up the boy, Munnangi Suvartamma, a Dalit woman, tried to
protect the boy from the attackers. She lifted the vessel that she was
carrying, to drive away from the attackers. This act of lifting the
vessel in self-defense later resulted in a ghastly attack by the upper
caste people on the Dalits.

Question 3.
Water is a luxury for one class and a struggle for another in our
society. How does the poem Water’ present this contrast?
Answer:
The poem ‘Water’, besides chronicling a few typical and poignant
situations which portray the anguish, the humiliation, and the
helplessness of the Dalits in their struggle for procuring ‘water’ for
their everyday needs, also challenges the reader’s moral conscience
and rationality by highlighting the paradoxical and biased role played
by water in modern life. The speaker probably wishes to question the
wisdom of the upper caste people, who have now comfortably accepted
the role of water as a marketable commodity. Incidentally, the speaker
highlights the self-centeredness of the upper caste people for using
‘water’ as a source of comfort and luxury.

While the upper caste people of the entire village bathed luxuriously
twice a day all through the week, the Dalits who lived in wadas were
given water only once a week. Only on that day, the Dalits used to take
their weekly bath. Though water is the universal source of life and was
available in plenty, yet the Dalits were denied water on account of the
practice of untouchability. This is true even today. Thus one can argue
that water is a luxury for one class and a struggle for another in our
society.

Water by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani About the Poet:

Challapalli Swaroopa Rani (B 1968) obtained her doctorate at the

University of Hyderabad and is currently the Head of the Centre for
Buddhist Studies, Nagarjuna University, Guntur. A popular literary
critic and writer, she has received several awards for her literary
contributions. Several short stories and poems, essays on experiences
of Dalit women, child labour and village life have been translated and
published in Hindi, English and Malayalam. Her anthology of poems
‘Mankenapuwu’ has been awarded the Vimala Santhi Sahiti
Puraskaram in 2006.

Some of her main books include an edited volume titled

‘Padunekkinapata’, an anthology of poetry by different Dalit poets
published in 1995,-Mankenapuwu’ her first collection of poetry in
2005, ‘Neeli Meghalu’, ‘Chikkanavuthunna Pata’, a collection of essays
entitled ‘Asthithvagaanam’ in 2012. She was the founder editor to the
refereed Journal of Historical Research ‘Charitraka Parishodhana’. She
is the chief editor of the monthly journal on Dalit issues called
‘Bahujanakeratalu’ and a member of the editorial board of the monthly
journal ‘Samantara Voice’.

‘Water’, by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani, is a reflective-narrative poem.

The speaker in the persona of a ‘Dalit’ reminisces and chronicles a few
typical but poignant situations which express the anguish and
helplessness of a Dalit when he or she goes to a public pond or tank to
collect water for their daily needs.

In the first five stanzas, the speaker cites ‘water’ as the witness to the
practice of untouchability. The poet states in a casual, matter-of-fact
tone that ‘water’, which knows where the ground is inclined along
which it has to flow, knows that ‘untouchability’ never disappears,
because the quarrel or conflict over allowing the Dalits to collect water
from a village tank or pond, between the upper caste people and the
Dalits, has been smouldering for several generations. The poet draws
parallels between this situation and the dampness on the well’s edge
which never dries up. The writer uses this analogy to let the reader
know that ‘water’, being the ‘elixir of life’, every living creature needs
water, but it is so cruel of the upper caste people to deny such an
essential ‘element’ of life to the ‘Dalits’ in the name of untouchability.

The speaker seems to say that this has been happening every day for
several generations and it is ironical that only water knows it. The
poet is showing an accusing finger at all those people who deny access
to the Dalits to water in public places. The poet seems to ask the
reader, ‘Don’t you know this?’

The idea is reiterated citing another instance of untouchability. The

poet cites a Biblical incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to a Samaria
woman (in a town called Sychar) and asks the woman for a drink. The
Samaria woman belongs to an inferior race and Jesus, the Jew belongs
to a superior race. Here the speaker seems to say that ‘water’ is
essential to all, be it a Samaria woman or Jesus the Jew; similarly,
water is essential for both the upper caste people and the
untouchables. The same idea is reiterated in the next two lines. Even
among the untouchables, there were sub-castes. ‘Leather’ refers to
cobblers and the ‘spool’ refers to weavers. The speaker means to say
that whether one is a cobbler or a weaver both of them need water.
This fact is known to ‘water’, but why are people so cruel to give
access to water to one and deny access to the other. Here, the ‘other’
refers to the untouchables.

A Panchama does not have the right to draw water from a public well
because he is untouchable. It is cruel and unfortunate that he is made
to wait near the well until a Shudra arrives. Here again, it is ironical
that the ‘Panchama’, who does not belong to varna, has to wait for a
Shudra who is supposed to belong to the fourth rank in the social
hierarchy. A Shudra, according to the ‘varna’ scheme, is unskilled
labour and he does all the physical tasks as directed by the other upper
caste people. Naturally, only when a Shudra comes to a pond to fetch
water for an upper caste person can he give some water to the
Panchama. It also means that the other upper caste people who
normally do not fetch water from a well will not be able to give water
to a Panchama. The speaker is once again referring to the cruelty of
the ‘varna system’ and the practices associated with untouchability.

The speaker cites another cruel instance of untouchability. Normally,

whenever a person belonging to one of the four varnas happens to give
some water to an ‘untouchable’ (here it is a girl), he/she takes care to
see that the giver and the receiver stand apart from each other and
pours water from a distance, from a higher level to a lower level. On
such occasions, some water is bound to fall on the receiver. Here, the
receiver being a girl, waterfalls all over her. The speaker wants the
reader to imagine the humiliation of the girl when someone throws
water at her or on her. Here, the speaker is highlighting the cruel
practice of untouchability.

The speaker recalls a heinous incident that happened in a place called

Karamchedu. It is reported that on 16 July 1985, when two Kamma
youths were washing dirty buckets (that had been used to feed – their
buffaloes) in the drinking water tank in Madigapalle, a Dalit boy
objected to it, which angered the youth. Consequently, when the
youths were about to beat up the boy, Munnangi Suvartamma, a Dalit
woman, tried to protect the boy from the attack. She lifted the vessel
that she was carrying, to drive away from the attackers. This act of
lifting the vessel in self-defence later resulted in a ghastly attack by
the upper caste people on the Dalits.

However, the speaker states that ‘water’ knows the ’anger’ exhibited
by Suvartamma by lifting her vessel (water pot) against the Kamma
landlords, who asked her not to pollute the pond water. In the last two
lines, the speaker asserts that ‘water’ has been the witness to
centuries of social injustice.

The poet speaks in the first person and reminisces her painful
experiences. The speaker says that whenever she sees water, she
recalls that the people in her part of the village (Wada) would be
suffering from severe thirst all day, not being able to get even a glass
of water. She recalls sadly how they (the Dalits) would look forward to
their weekly bath day, as if it was a wonderful festival day, while the
upper caste people in the entire village enjoyed bathing luxuriously
twice a day. Here the speaker intends to highlight the fact that while
the Dalits were ‘deprived’ of water and were given water only once^a
week, the other people had so much water that they bathed
luxuriously twice a day.

The speaker recalls her childhood, when they had to walk miles and
miles to fetch water from the big canal and carried back heavy pots
with the muscles and veins in their necks straining and bursting.

The speaker narrates a fire accident in Malapalle. It was a locality

where the Dalits lived in thatched huts. When their thatched roofs
caught fire, the huts were completely destroyed in the fire for want of
a pot of water to douse the fire.
The speaker expresses her opinion about the role of water in the life of
the Dalits. She also expresses her view about how water is acting as an
agent of social change at the local as well as at the global level.

The speaker states that for them (Dalits) water is a mighty movement
itself and cites the instance of the Mahad struggle at the Chadar tank.
(Mahad was a town in Colaba district in the then Mumbai state.) The
Mahad municipality had passed a resolution to allow untouchables
full/free access to all village waterfronts. But the local upper-caste
population did not allow the Dalits to use the water and the resolution
remained only on paper. On 19 March 1927, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar
led a rally to the water reservoir at Mahad, drank water from that
tank, and asserted the rights of the Dalits.

The speaker states that, for the Dalits, a single drop of water stands
for tears shed by Dalits over several generations. She regretfully states
that the Dalits had fought many battles for water in which they had
shed their blood but had never succeeded in winning even a small
puddle of water.

The speaker seems to hint that ‘water’ can act as an agent of social
change and avenge the humiliation suffered by the Dalits. That is why
she says, water is not a simple thing. It can give life but it can also
devour lives. She categorically states that the water which should have
been given to the Dalits to quench their parched throats later became
the killer tsunami wave and swallowed village after village. In these
lines the speaker seems to suggest that ‘water’ itself has acted as an
agent of retribution, punishing the people for denying water to the
Dalits. The theme of water as a mighty force and an agent of social
change continues.

She recalls the suffering undergone by the poor people who get killed
whenever there is a flood. The speaker remarks that poor people
become playthings in the vicious hands of water and get killed in large
numbers, often turning villages into dry deserts. Having expressed the
harm caused by water to the untouchables, the speaker, in stanza
thirteen, says that ‘water’ can become an issue of conflict between the
village and the Wada, and between one State and another and be the
cause of a bloody battle where people kill or hurt each other making
the blood run in streams.
The speaker says that the very same water also can sit innocently in a
Bisleri bottle appearing so innocuous. The poet traces the new avatar
taken by water in the global market. She says that the very same ‘well
water’ which the Dalits used to draw up from a well and carry in pots
balancing them over their heads and hands now slowly and
clandestinely dances its way into the Pepsi man’s bottle. Subsequently,
it gets sold in its new name ‘mineral water’. The sale and origin of
mineral water are also being vehemently debated. It is well known
that Dalits depend on wells for their needs. But, owing to
globalisation, many entrepreneurs have set up bottling plants for
mineral water and other beverages. This has resulted in the depletion
of groundwater which affects the Dalits directly.

The speaker seems to ridicule all those people who prevented the
Dalits from polluting the water by their touch. She seems to make fun
of them saying, ‘‘What happened to your social restrictions now?”

The speaker concludes declaring that ‘water’ is not an insignificant or

trivial issue but is a multinational market commodity and it knows
everything (omniscient). It contains the world, meaning, water has no
boundaries. In the end, the speaker seems to challenge the oppressors
that they can no longer deprive the untouchables of their share of
water.

Glossary:

• Wada: locality where Dalits live

• Samaria/Samaritan woman: A benevolent woman of the town of
Sychar in Samaria, belonging to a caste lower than that of Jews
• Panchama: fifth category in the varna system

Note: Karamchedu is a village in Chirala taluk in Prakasham District.

On July 16, 1985, following a petty quarrel at a tank, members of the
dominant community killed six Dalits.
This is how Katti Padmarao, a prominent Dalit writer and activist,
describes the incident: Two youths were washing dirty buckets they
had used to feed their buffaloes in the drinking water tank in
Madigapalle. This was objected to by a Dalit boy which angered the
youth. They were about to beat up the boy when Munnangi
Suvartamma, a Dalit woman, who had come to the tank to collect
water, tried to protect the boy from the attack. She lifted the vessel
she was carrying to ward off the hunters. Her act of lifting the vessel
in self-defence became a pretext for the dominant community. This led
to a ghastly attack on Dalits.

4.EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN THE FOREST

CHARACTERS
1. Vandana Shiva: She started her ecology movement by volunteering with
the famous Chipko movement. She has been at the forefront of the fight
against the imposition of genetically modified seeds on Indian farmers by
global conglomerates.

2. Bachin Devi: The woman who led the Chipko Movement.

3. Cormac Cullinan: a practising environmental attorney and author based
in South Africa.
4. Carolyn Merchant: an environmental historian interested in the
relationships between humanity and nature
5. Francis Bacon: Popularized the idea that the Earth can serve as a source
of raw materials for scientific experiments.
6. Rabindranath Tagore: A great nature poet, he expresses a deep love for
Nature in his writings.
INTRODUCTION
The lesson is based on two articles written by Vandana Shiva. The first part of the lesson
titled, ‘Everything I need to know I learned in the forest’ was published in the winter issue
of ‘Yes!’ magazine 2012. The title of the winter issue was ‘What Would Nature Do?’ The
second part titled ‘Right of Nature on the Global Stage’, was adopted by the author from
her own article ‘Forest and Freedom’, which was published in the May-June 2011 edition
of ‘Resurgence Magazine’.
The two parts are thematically interlinked and supplement each other. In the first part,
the author tells the reader how she learned the basic principles of environmentalism from
the uneducated women of Garhwal, Himalaya and how she became a proactive
environmentalist. In the second part, she presents a historical account of how the concept
of Earth as a living entity got transformed to Earth as dead matter and its consequences.
Summary
Vandana’s beginning of her journey as an activist
The essay begins with the writer narrating how she learned the basic principles of
ecology. She learned the concept of ecology in the forests of the Himalayas because her
father was a forest conservator. Thus, whatever she knows about ecology was learned
from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems. Incidentally, her mother who was brought
up in Lahore (which became Pakistan later) settled in India after partition and became a
farmer.
She then narrates the history of the Chipko movement. It was a non-violent response to
the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in the Himalayan region in the 1970s.
Vandana Shiva describes that her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement
began with the Chipko movement. During that period, the local women from the Garhwal
Himalaya had come out to shield the forests by protesting against the ruthless cutting
down of trees on a large scale for logging.
This resulted in landslides and floods, scarcity of water, fodder, and fuel. Women had
become the victims because they were in charge of fulfilling the daily requirements for
cooking, washing, and other household chores. They had to walk long distances for
collecting water and firewood which was a heavy burden.
The local women’s unique way of revolting against deforestation
The women were aware that the forests were the real source of springs and streams, food
for their cattle, and fuel for their stove. Therefore, the women decided to hug the trees,
and the loggers would have to kill them before killing the trees. They appealed to the
loggers not to cut them and to keep those trees alive.
In 1973 Vandana went to the Himalayas to visit her favorite forests and swim in her
favorite stream to see these spots before leaving for Canada to do her Ph.D., but the
forests were not there and the stream had become a trickle. It was then she decided to
become a volunteer for the Chipko movement. She spent every vacation doing padayatra
(walking pilgrimages), documenting the deforestation, the work of the forest activists,
and spreading the message of Chipko.
The Unsung hero that led the Chipko movement
Next, the author narrates the Chipko action that took place in the Himalayan village of
Adwani in 1977. She tells about a village woman named Bachni Devi who led the
movement and fought against her husband who had obtained a contract to cut trees.
When the logging officials arrived at the forest, the women held up lighted lanterns even
when it was broad daylight.

The logger mocked them saying that they were foolish women and did not know the value
of the forest. He added that the forests produced resin and timber which would be very
profitable. The women sang back in chorus replying that the forests bore soils, water, and
pure air and also sustained the Earth and all that she bears.
In the next section titled ‘Beyond Monocultures’, Vandana Shiva tells the readers that she
learned about biodiversity and biodiversity-based living economies, from the Chipko
movement. Further, she remarks that we fail to understand biodiversity and its many
functions which is the root cause of the impoverishment of nature and culture.
Then she says that the lessons she learned about diversity in the Himalayan forests she
transferred to the protection of bio-diversity on her farms. She started saving seeds from
farmers’ fields and incidentally realized that they needed a farm for demonstration and
training. This led to the establishment of Navdanya Farm.

VANDANA’S SUCCESS IN BIO – DIVERSITY FARMING

She declares that now they conserve and grow 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of
wheat, and hundreds of other species. She proudly says that they practice and promote a
bio-diversity-intensive form of farming that produces more food and nutrition per acre.
Finally, she observes that the conservation of biodiversity is, therefore, the answer to the
food and nutrition crisis being faced in our country.
The Navdanya organization helps farmers make a transition from fossil-fuel and
chemical-based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological systems nourished by the sun and
the soil. She concludes by saying that bio-diversity has been her teacher of abundance
and freedom, of co-operation and mutual giving.
The Rights of Nature according to the UN
The second part of the lesson begins with the title ‘Rights of Nature on the Global Stage’.
She says that Ecuador has recognized the ‘Rights of Nature’ in its Constitution and calls it
a significant step. As a follow-up, the United Nations General Assembly organized a
conference on harmony with nature as part of Earth Day celebrations in April 2011. She
makes a reference to the report of the UN Secretary-General titled ‘Harmony with Nature’,
which was issued in combination with the conference. The report highlighted the
importance of reconnecting with nature.
Vandana Shiva puts forward that separatism is at the root of disharmony with nature and
violence against nature and people. The author supports her statement by citing the
opinion of Cormac Cullinan, a prominent South African environmentalist. According to
him, “apartheid means separateness”. The author says that the whole world joined the
anti-apartheid movement in order to end the violent separation of people on the basis of
color. Now that apartheid in South Africa has been put behind us, we need to overcome
the wider and deeper apartheid – an eco-apartheid based on the illusion of separateness
of humans from nature in our minds and lives.

THE IDEA OF SEPARATENESS

The author makes an attempt to trace the origin of the idea of separateness. The author
recalls our beliefs about the Earth in the pre-industrial era when ‘Man’ believed that living
beings were an inseparable part of nature. But, later with the advent of scientific thinking
man came under the illusion that the living Earth was the dead matter and there was no
connection between the living Earth and the other living creatures.
Vandana Shiva remarks that it was at this moment in history that the war against the
Earth began. She observes that the seeds of separateness were sown when the living
Earth was considered as a dead matter to facilitate the industrial revolution.
She adds here that monocultures replaced diversity; ‘raw materials’ and ‘dead matter’
replaced vibrant earth. The Earth came to be termed as Terra Nullius, which means
’empty land’, ready for occupation regardless of the fact that the Mother Earth (Terra
Madre) was home to tens of thousands of indigenous peoples (people of different races,
tribes, ethnicities).

DOMINATION OF EARTH BY SCIENTIFIC METHODS

Vandana Shiva next mentions Carolyn Merchant, a philosopher, and historian, in her
support and says that “this shift of perspective from nature as a living, nurturing mother
to inert, dead and manipulable matter” was well suited to the activities that led to
capitalism. Furthermore, Vandana Shiva says that the images of domination of the Earth
by scientific methods, created by Francis Bacon and other leaders of the scientific
revolution replaced the idea that the Earth nurtures life/living beings.
They also successfully removed a cultural constraint on the exploitation of nature. Until
then, people did not dare to “readily slay a mother, dig into her entrails for gold, or
mutilate her body” as observed by Merchant.
It is to be inferred here that once Francis Bacon popularized the idea that the Earth can
serve as a source of raw materials for scientific experiments, many new scientific
discoveries and inventions were made which later led to the exploitation of iron, gold,
copper, wood, and metals from the earth and heralded the industrial revolution,
modernization, growth of cities, increase in the number of rich people and urban culture,
displacing other cultures.

WHAT NATURE TEACHES MANKIND

In the next section titled ‘What Nature Teaches’, Vandana Shiva tells the reader what we
as humans must do. She says that we are facing multiple crises and hence we need to
move away from the paradigm of nature as dead matter and move towards an ecological
paradigm. Vandana Shiva tells us that to understand what an ecological paradigm means;
we need to go to ‘nature’ herself and nature is the best teacher.
Vandana Shiva presents a model of the Earth University which she says is located at
‘Navdanya’, a biodiversity farm. She says that Earth University teaches Earth democracy.
The concept of Earth Democracy symbolizes “freedom for all species to evolve within the
web of life”. It also refers to the freedom and responsibilities of humans as members of
the Earth family, to recognize, protect and respect the rights of other species.

Vandana Shiva explains that the idea of ‘Earth Democracy’ is a shift from
anthropocentrism to eco-centrism. Anthropocentrism is a school of thought which argues
that humans are the central element of the universe. Now we need to accept that
‘ecosystems’ are the main elements of the universe and not Man, and the Earth nurtures
diverse eco-systems. It also means that it is man’s responsibility to preserve these
ecosystems. Since we all depend on the Earth for our survival, Earth democracy gives
every human being right to food and water, to freedom from hunger and thirst.
The poetry of the Forest
The writer highlights the work and how Rabindranath Tagore was an inspiration to turn
to nature and forest in freedom. Tagore started a learning centre in Shanti Niketan in
West Bengal as a forest school which became a university in 1921 in his essay “Tapovan”
he mentions the importance of nature and forest and how forest helps the society.
In Tagore’s writings the forest was not just the source of knowledge but the source of
beauty and joy, of art and aesthetics, of harmony and perfection. Tagore also mentions
various other ways that nature teaches the human society to learn to live in humanity and
it is the forest that can show us the way beyond conflict.

CONCLUSION
The essay by Vandana Shiva offers insight, awareness about nature and pleads for the
integration of humans with nature. Vandana Shiva is an internationally renowned activist
for biodiversity and against corporate globalization. In the essay “Everything I need to
know I learned in the forest” she reveals to the readers about her early lessons in
environmentalism.
She further tells us how she learnt all the major ideals of a good life from the forests such
as diversity, freedom and co-existence. Vandana Shiva’s ecological journey started in the
forests of the Himalaya. Her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began
with “Chipko”.
 5.A SUNNY MORNING
CHARACTERS

Don Gonzalo: A gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient

Dona Laura: A pretty, white-haired old lady of about seventy

Petra: Dona Laura’s maid who accompanied her when she went to the park.
Juanito: Don Gonzalo’s servant
Laura Llorente: Dona Laura’s actual name.
Introduction
“A Sunny Morning” is a one-act play by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero, brothers
and celebrated Spanish playwrights of the early twentieth century. The story is centered
on two old lovers now in their 70s meeting at a park and trying to recall their romantic
past. The man is Don Gonzalo and the lady is Dona Laura. The play “A Sunny Morning” is
a comedy of Madrid in one act, by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero.
On a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Dona Laura, a graceful,
white-haired lady of about seventy, is feeding pigeons in the park. Don Gonzalo, a
gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient enters. Their servants Petra, Dona Laura’s
maid, and Juanito come and go nearby.
Summary
Dona Laura And Don Gonzalo meets in the park
On a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Dona Laura, a pretty,
white-haired lady of about seventy, refined in appearance, was feeding pigeons in the
park when Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient, enters. Their
servants Petra, Dona Laura’s maid, and Juanito come and go nearby.

The conversation between the two seventy-year-olds begins sarcastically, with each
accusing the other of encroaching on their private space. Don Gonzalo complains that the
priests have taken his bench and says Dona Laura is a “Senile old lady! She ought to be at
home knitting and counting her beads.” She finds him “an ill-natured old man!” He resigns
himself to “sit on the bench with the old lady.
A pinch of snuff helps to clear their heads, and they find something in common with
alternating sneezes of three times each. Dona Laura confides to the audience, “the snuff
has made peace between us.”
Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura become comfortable with each other
They begin to banter back and forth in a more friendly manner. Then Don Gonzalo reads
out loud from a book of poems. As they converse, Gonzalo says that he is from Valencia,
and to his surprise, Laura reveals that she is from Maricela where she lived in a villa.
Gonzalo is startled by the revelation and he says that he knows a woman named Laura
Llorente who lived in a villa there, who was perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen.
Both Laura and Gonzalo realize each other to be former lovers. But they pretend not to
reveal their identities.

In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘The Silver Maiden’. She
was fair as the lily, with jet black hair and black eyes. She was like a dream. She was in
love with Gonzalo, the gallant lover. He used to pass by on horseback every morning
through the rose garden and toss up a bouquet to her balcony which she caught on his
way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him.
But Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked. One day
there was a quarrel between Gonzalo and the merchant, the suitor. After the duel the
young man fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid, being scared of the
consequences of a duel with a person highly regarded in that locality. Even though he
tried to communicate with Laura through letters, all attempts failed.
Laura and Gonzalo lie about their pasts
Laura and Gonzalo devise stories of their deaths. The old Gonzalo says that he is the
cousin of the young man. According to him, the young Gonzalo had to leave his place as
he was involved in a fight with a merchant, the suitor of Laura. Then he joined the army
and went to Africa where he met with a glorious death.

The old Laura says that she knows the woman named Laura, known as The Silver Maiden’
and that she was her friend during her young age. She also lies that she knows the tragic
story of her love affair with a gallant young man named Gonzalo. The old woman reveals
that not finding her lover, the young and beautiful Laura committed suicide.
But, in reality, after three months Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer, and Laura,
on the other hand, got married after two years. Both realize that they are lying but
pretend to be unaware. When the play ends, they agree to meet at the park again, still not
acknowledging what they both know to be true.
Conclusion
“A Sunny Morning” is a humorous one-act play in which we see a blend of romance and
comedy. The senile old lady is Dona Laura. The ill-natured old man is Gonzalo. But they
loved each other but circumstances separated them. They used to be active, agile,
romantic, and lively which suits the atmosphere of the sunny morning but now they are
inactive, moody, and irritated. But the past experiences make them forget their age and
think that it is a sunny morning. Even in the end. The offering of flowers is romantic and
comic and many incidents in the story evoke laughter.
6.WHEN YOU ARE OLD
Introduction
“When You Are Old” is a beautiful love lyric. The lyric was composed in October 1891,
amid W.B. Yeats’s unverifiable association with Maud Gonne who was an Anglo-Irish
progressive, women activist, and on-screen character.
Stanza 1
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
The poet is writing this poem while his lover is still relatively young, but she should read
this again when she is an old woman. The speaker has very specific instructions for his
lover. Not only should she read the poem when she is “old and grey and full of sleep,” but
also when she is “nodding by the fire”. The speaker asks this person to picture herself as
an old woman, and then to “take down this book”. The book, the speaker refers to is likely
one of his writings to her.
The speaker tells his former beloved to “…dream of the soft look/ Your eyes had once,
and of their shadows deep…” In conjunction with re-reading the poem, the lover should
also remember the beauty she once possessed. Moreover, he tells her to read and to
dream. The poet ironically hints at the fact that beauty cannot keep the body’s gradual
erosion safe. Now, the speaker’s beloved has deep shadows around her eyes, symbolizing
pessimism and depression.
Stanza 2
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
The speaker is reminding his lover of how many people once loved her “moments of glad
grace.” The speaker refers directly to his muse’s beauty, writing. He references the fact
that many people loved the woman, but some of those people did not truly love her,
perhaps only valuing her for her physical beauty.
The speaker continues to ask the woman to think about herself when she is old and nods
off by the fire, but now he wants her to imagine herself old but thinking back upon her
earlier years. He asks her to think about the many people who “loved [her] moments of
glad grace”. The speaker then asks her to imagine herself as an old woman, thinking about
her past lovers who “loved [her] beauty with love false or true”.
The speaker then changes tracks, referring to the speaker who “loved the pilgrim soul in
you,” probably referencing himself. The speaker is accusing his former beloved of being
a restless, fickle person, but he may also be referring to the woman’s constant wonder
and intellect, or the fact that he was as devoted to her as a pilgrim is to the religion. He
makes a clear distinction between himself and all the others who have ever claimed to
love her. He loved her for more than her beauty and her fame.
He loved who she was deep inside. He then claims that he would have loved her even as
her beauty faded. He would have “loved the sorrows of [her] changing face”. He vows to
this woman that had she returned his love, he would have loved everything about her,
even the way her face would age and change with time.
Stanza 3
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
The speaker reminds the woman that she is imagining herself as an old woman. She is sad
because of “how love fled”. Moreover, the speaker returns to when his lover becomes an
old woman, telling her that she will be “…bending down beside the glowing bars,/
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled…” The old woman bending closer to the fire,
remembering—and regretting–how the love she once had from the speaker ran away.
Yeats seems to be telling his lover that while his love for her will always remain, she will
be unable to reach it, as one is unable to reach into the heavens and pluck out a star. The
speaker is proclaiming to the woman he loves that her rejection of him has sent him
running to the mountains. He claims that he has hidden his face. He wants this woman to
regret losing him when she is old and her beauty has faded. He believes that when she is
old, she will truly regret having lost the one person who loved her soul.
Thus, he is trying to get her to picture herself as an old woman before she gets there. If
she does, perhaps there is a chance that she may change her mind and decide to return
the love of the man who loves her soul and whose love will not fade as her beauty fades
with age.
Conclusion
The poet uses the time frames of past, present, and future very effectively. The poet sees
the future when he is already dead. He imagines that his lover had become an old woman,
full of grey hair and sleepy eyes, sitting in front of the fireplace. So, he asks her to take up
the book of poems he had written and read it slowly and dream of the soft look that her
eyes had once.
He asks her to remember the many men who loved her for her beauty and grace and also
to remember him, the poet because he was the only one who loved her with all his soul.
By the time the lady realizes that the poet is the only man who loved her truly, he would
have passed away into another world
7. THE GARDENER

Introduction
This was a short story. The author tells us human meanness, greed, human suffering,
human nature, complexity, and confusion. The story explains the strained relations of
rivals and human nature with their strength and weakness.
The old man becomes a gardener in the narrator’s plantation. His arrival brought changes
in the lifestyle of the owner. His wife was confused to decide whether the old man’s arrival
was for the better or for the worse. Her husband’s wealth and social prestige had risen
higher. The old man knew about her plight.

The narrator addresses the readers directly in the first person asking for an apology for
being brief. He says that the story was visualized in a flash and hence if he elaborates it,
the story will lose its spirit. There are only four characters, besides the narrator:
Tammanna, Basavaiah or Sangoji, and the owner of the coconut grove and his wife.
The narration is divided into two sections. The first story is narrated by the author in the
first person and the second story is narrated by Tammanna who is also the protagonist
in the first story. In the second story, the narrator/protagonist tells his own story to the
lady distancing himself from the main story.

Characters
1. Tammanna: An old man, now employed in a coconut plantation and also
the narrator.
2. Basavaiah: Rival of Tammanna
3. The Owner: He had become very lazy after the arrival of the old man.
4. Owner’s wife: She was confused with the old man’s arrival.
Summary
The narrator meets the owner of the coconut grove
The narrator says that this story originated in his chance encounter with an old man who
was standing in a coconut grove near Chennarayapatna. The old man was a labourer,
overseer, and philosopher, all rolled into one. The owner’s wife found the owner’s
behavior strange and puzzling. She found it hard to decide whether the old man’s arrival
was for the better or for the worse.
Her husband’s wealth and social prestige had risen higher, and he had acquired a great
number of friends in his own village and in the next town as well. Even though he did not
do any useful work, his life became crowded with colorful events. On account of his newly
acquired clout, he cultivated umpteen other vices including adultery. Though their farm
was initially merely ten acres, it had grown beyond their imagination.
Therefore, the owner’s wife realized that financially they had been doing well but her only
source of worry was that along with financial improvement, their life was also gradually
getting out of hand. Thus, one day when she was in a fix like this, the old man met her. He
smiled at her, brought down an offering offender coconut from a nearby tree, and sat on
the embankment of the well. She had no alternative and so she sat next to him. The old
man now begins his narrative and takes the action or plot to its climax.
The old man narrates his story to the wife of the owner
The old man says that, in a far-off place, once there lived a man called Tammanna. He had
everything: ten acres of land, a comfortable house, and people too ready to carry out his
orders or instructions. Besides these possessions, he also had a rival and his name was
Sangoji. However, soon after uttering the name Sangoji, the old man started fumbling for
words as if he had committed a mistake.
The coconut grove owner’s wife, who was listening, felt that it was none of her concern
and felt like going away immediately. But, not wishing to hurt the old man, she continued
to sit there quietly.
The old man continued his story. He corrected himself once, saying his name was not
Sangoji but Basavaiah. Both Tammanna and Basavaiah were rivals. If Tammanna bought
four more acres adjacent to his land, Basavaiah would also do the same. If one of them
had ten friends, the other would acquire fifteen admirers. Though initially, all this looked
like healthy competition, it took a nasty turn later.

The two most wealthy men of the village become rivalries

Their rivalry rose to such a pitch that there was no land left in the village for them to buy.
All land belonged to either Tammanna or Basavaiah. Tammanna had one thousand acres
and Basavaiah eight hundred. Basavaiah could not tolerate this. His men asked
Tammanna to sell two hundred acres but Tammanna refused to do so.
On the other hand, Tammanna offered to buy all the land that belonged to Basavaiah.
Basavaiah became furious. He went along with his people and acquired two hundred
acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly, and got it fenced up all around. Tammanna could not
put up with this invasion.
Tammanna’s advisers told him that there were three ways by which Tammanna could get
back his land. He could go to the court of law or he could also take recourse to the police.
If he did not like to do, either way, he could also use muscle power to get his land back.
There was any number of persons ready to attack Basavaiah and wrest his land from him.
But Tammanna was in search of a method that could destroy Basavaiah completely.
Tammanna got all his experiences composed in the form of ballads and sang them in
public. Their rivalry moved away from the visible to the invisible.
Basavaiah becomes cruel and mean
Basavaiah could not do the same way. He tried to show his rivalry in doing agricultural
tasks more diligently, but that was also in vain. Meanwhile, Tammanna’s reputation
started spreading all around. His songs started making mention of Basavaiah’s cruelty
and his meanness. Scholars and critics went after his songs and earned their share of
fame. Basavaiah became desperate and angry and retaliated by encroaching on more and
more of Tammanna’s land.
But Tammanna was ignorant of all this and blissfully enjoyed his singing. Art had become
the raison d’etre of his life. He was even felicitated as the best poet of his times. Basavaiah
felt humiliated, which he tried to hide by acquiring all kinds of luxuries. He got a palatial
mansion built for himself; appointed a number of people to praise him and bedecked
himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones.
But his house looked dull and empty because Tammanna’s books were not there. He
attempted to fill the lacuna by inviting scholars, poets, and musicians to his place. This
way, he tried to invest his home with meaning.
One day, Basavaiah came to know that Tammanna was ill. The news made him happy. At
that point, Basavaiah found the means of surpassing Tammanna. Health is wealth.
Tammanna’s disease was Basavaiah’s health. But Tammanna thought differently. He had
thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah.
Tammanna contemplated ‘death’, as long as he continued his rivalry at the level of the
body, Basavaiah would go on offering stiff competition. But, if he died, Basavaiah could
do nothing to defeat him. The old man ends his storytelling the coconut garden owner’s
wife that in order to destroy Basavaiah completely, Tammanna gave up everything and
ran off from his village.
Basavaiah dies after Tammanna leaves the village
As long as Tammanna was there, Basavaiah had a reason to be alive, but once Tammanna
left the place Basavaiah passed away. The old man tells the lady that Basavaiah died
because he had no reason to live. Then he confesses to her that he is Tammanna himself.
After Basavaiah’s death, Tammanna tells the lady that he forgot all his songs and ballads,
lost his fame, and became a nonentity. He concludes by telling her that, that way he
avenged himself.
Tammanna tells the woman that the experiences of his life had made him realize that
human nature is very strange. He sums up his experiences in one sentence. He tells her
that though man works to fulfill his many needs like wealth, education, art, and many
more things, those things do not give him the right, compelling reasons to live. All through
his life man lives for some kind of unbearable vengefulness. It is in this vengefulness that
he finds a reason for his existence.
The reason behind the narrator’s story
Finally, using his autobiographical account as an example, the old man. tries to covertly
give her a message. He tells her that her husband was flourishing as a rich man and was
not amenable to any advice. Man is so complicated that till the day of his death, he goes
on living for some revenge or the other, confronting one challenge or the other. He wants
her to understand that she had better try to understand why her husband is living like
that.
Finally, he asks her to take the whole story as a dream and not to take his words seriously.
We can infer here that he is saddened by the coconut grove owner’s lifestyle and wants
to put an end to it by cautioning the lady about her husband and doing something to find
out why her husband was doing so. As soon as the old man finishes his story, the first
narrator reappears and tells the reader that he had seen all this in a dream and hence he
is unable to elaborate.
Conclusion
In the short story Lankesh shows his preoccupation with human meanness and attempts
to explore the evolution of a post-Emergency political and cultural scenario. Man is
mortal and all glory that man believes to enjoy is created by our mind. Man is a dreamer
and lives in a dream world of his own. Since man’s life has its own limitations, man’s
dreams and reality rarely go in unison.
When reality overtakes man, the man comes to realize that he is only a puppet in the
scheme of things and man is in reality ‘nothing’, but builds up his own image to boost his
confidence so that life becomes meaningful as long as he is alive.
 8. TO THE FOOT FROM ITS CHILD

In this poem ‘To the foot from its child’ poet Pablo Neruda has used ‘foot’ as a metaphor
for the trials and tribulations of human life, his birth and his death, his dreams and
realities. The child ‘foot’ when it is born, does not have the awareness to be a Butterfly or
an Apple.
Central Idea
The poem is about a child’s foot that has various dreams when it is small but soon
understands that it cannot achieve any of them because it is condemned to live in a shoe
like a prisoner. Separated from its fellow, it slowly gets used to the dark world of the shoe,
and moves around life like a blind man.

Poetic Device
1. Anaphora: It means to use words at the beginning of the next clause such
as “without surrender, without stopping” and “without” here is shown as
an anaphora.
2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line
such as the sound of /o/ in “A child’s foot doesn’t know it’s a foot yet”, /a/
in “And it wants to be a butterfly or an apple” and the sound of /e/ in “Then
the child’s foot / was defeated, it fell.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the
same line such as the sound of /th/ and /s/ in “But then the rocks and
pieces of glass”, /k/ and /f/ in “keep teaching the foot that it can’t fly,” and
the sound of /l/ and /t/ in “Little by little without light.”
4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an
end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“Those smooth toe nails
of quartz in a bunch,
got harder, they changed into
an opaque substance, into hard horn
and the child’s little petals.”
• Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their
five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “But this blind
thing kept going”, “this foot worked with its shoes” and “because there
everything was dark.”
6. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made
between the objects that are different. The poem shows the beautiful
metaphor of the foot of a child and its lifecycle. Some other metaphors are
such as butterfly as the foot is compared to it.

7. Personification: The poet has also personified the foot, showing it has life
and emotions of its own.
8. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities,
giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings.
 The poem shows the use of the symbols such as rocks, pieces of glass, the
streets, and the stairways to show obstacles that a man encounters in life.
9. Simile: The poem shows the use of personification such as: exploring life
like a blind man.
Explanation
Stanza 1 (Line 1-2)
A child's foot is not yet aware it's a foot yet
And would like to be a butterfly or an apple
.
The first stanza describes the characteristic features of the child’s foot. It is an infant’s
foot and it does not know that it is a ‘foot’ at all. It lacks awareness and hence it dreams
of unlimited possibilities. It would like to be a ‘butterfly’ or an ‘apple’. The foot has an
optimistic view of life.

Stanza 2 (Line 3-7)

But in time, stones and bits of glass,
streets, ladders
and the paths in the rough earth
go on teaching the foot that it cannot fly,
cannot be a fruit bulging on the branch
.
Here the poet highlights the impact of time on the child. As the infant’s foot starts growing
in the outside world, it begins to experience the harshness and pain of life while walking.
When it steps over, “stones and bits of glass, / streets, ladders / and the paths in the rough
earth, it learns that its role is that of a foot the same way people become aware of their
role in life. It realizes that it can neither fly like a butterfly nor become a bulged apple on
the branch of a tree.

Stanza 3 (Line 8- 12)

Then the child's foot
is defeated, falls
in the battle,
is a prisoner,
condemned to live in a shoe
.
The child’s foot has now discovered that it is only a ‘foot’, its spirit loses its battle against
the world, is taken prisoner, and is condemned to live in a shoe. It also means that the
child’s spirit becomes aware of its limitations as a human being and understands its role
as a social being in human society. Now, having been imprisoned in a shoe, it gradually
tries to understand the world, in its way.
Stanza 4 (Line 13- 16)
Bit by bit, in the dark,
it grows to know the world in its own way
out of touch with its fellow, enclosed,
feeling out life like a blind man
.
It is alone and cannot communicate with its counterpart, and gropes blindly in the dark
like a blind man. The ‘foot’ is not in the open and whatever ideas it forms about life, are
formed in the confined space of the shoe. Here, it means, it is not in touch with reality
directly. Society decides what it should understand about ‘life’ or the world outside.
Gradually, the foot adapts itself to its world and learns to cope with the harsh realities of
life.

Stanza 5 (Line 17- 24)

Those soft nails
of quartz, bunched together,
got hard, they change themselves
an opaque substance, hard as horn
and the tiny, petaled toes of the child
grow bunched and out of trim,
took on the form of eyeless reptiles
with triangular heads, like worms
.
In this part of the poem the poet gives a graphic description of the changes seen in the
child’s foot during its transition from a child’s foot to ‘adult foot’. The ‘soft nails of quartz’
in the child’s foot gradually grow hard and change themselves into ‘opaque’ substance
‘hard as horn’. The ‘tiny petaled toes’ of the child’s foot ‘grow bunched and out of trim’.
The toes in the adult foot appear like ‘eyeless reptiles’.
It slogs and slogs either as a man’s foot or as a woman’s foot working in the field or market
or mines or ministries. It toils in the shoe, day and night, scarcely finding time to enjoy
the pleasures of life or sleep. It works without respite and finally meets with death.
Stanza 6 (Line 25- 28)
Later, they grow callused,
And are covered
with the faint volcanoes of death,
a coarsening hard to accept
.
Later they grow harder and become callused. In this stanza, the poet attempts to let the
reader know that as the child grows into an adult it becomes less open to reality. It also
means that people grow harder both physically and emotionally. The phrase ‘faint
volcanoes of death’ suggests that the foot comes to appreciate ‘mortality’. Thus, we find
that the child’s foot has now been transformed from a beautiful form into a warped and
ugly one.
Stanza 7 (Line 29- 31)
But this blind thing walks
without respite, never stopping
for hour after hour
.
The poet then describes the journey of an adult foot until its death. It is now like an
eyeless reptile. Hence, he calls it a ‘blind thing’. The adult foot is now in the harsh world
outside, suggesting that the adult gets trapped in the routines of everyday life or the
humdrum commonality of existence. It is now less capable of enjoyment and finds life
difficult in every walk of life.
Stanza 8 (Line 32- 46)
The one foot, the other,
now the man’s,
now the woman’s,
up above,
down below,
through fields, mines,
markets, and ministries,
backward,
far afield, inward,
forward,
this foot toils in its shoes,
scarcely taking time
to bare itself in love or sleep
it walks, they walk,
until the whole man chooses to stop
.
It slogs and slogs either as a man’s foot or as a woman’s foot working in the field or market
or mines or ministries. It toils in the shoe, day and night, scarcely finding time to enjoy
the pleasures of life or sleep. It works without respite and finally meets with death.
Stanza 9 (Line 47- 53)
And then it descended
Underground, unaware,
for there, everything, everything was dark.
it never knew it had ceased to be a foot
or if they were burying it so that it could fly
or so it could become
an apple
.
Soon after the death, the adult foot gets buried. It goes down into the underground. It
finds everything dark there. It also does not know that it is dead and has ceased to be a
foot. When the foot dies and is buried, its consciousness is childlike again. Therefore, the
foot revisits the possibilities of flying like a butterfly or becoming an apple. Here it means
that people consider the possibility of an after-life.

Conclusion
The freedom of childhood is lost when a person becomes an adult and is exposed to a life
of constant work and struggle. Outside, uncontrollable forces have the power to direct
one’s life and thus ‘life’ in society takes away people’s free spirits until they are freed
again by death. The human promise is not fulfilled by those whom society enslaves and
mistreats.
The poet imagines that the naked foot of a boy, innocent still of the habituations of social
society does not know that it is a foot, or a butterfly or an apple. Only through a long
process of denial of our embodied natures, beginning with the simple act of wearing shoes
and thus denying contact with the earth does the boy become a man. However, upon
being buried, he still does not know if he will fly or become an apple.
Neruda criticizes society for burdening the children with marks and awards. Instead of
spending its childhood happily, the child works very hard to get good marks to shape its
future. Society does not leave the child according to its will and wish but ties the bonds of
society and makes it move along a path according to society’s wish

10.HEAVEN IF YOU ARE NOT HERE ON EARTH

Heaven, If You Are Not On Earth
Introduction
“Heaven, If You Are Not Here On Earth” is written by K.V. Puttappa popularly known by
his pen name Kuvempu. He is considered to be the greatest poet of the 20th Century
Kannada Literature. He is immortalized particularly for his contribution to Universal
Humanism – Vishwa Maanavataa Vaada.
This poem is a translation of the Kannada poem Swargave, Bhoomiyoliradire Neenu. It
reveals the rationalistic outlook of the poet who sees God in Nature. There is no other god
for him since he has not been able to see any god nor has anyone else.

Explanation
Stanza 1
Heaven, if you are not here on earth
Where else could you be!
The poet addresses ‘Heaven’ and declares emphatically that if Heaven does not exist on
the Earth where else can it be. It only means that the reader need not look for ‘Heaven’ in
the skies; if at all there is an entity called ‘Heaven’ one must find it on the earth only and
nowhere else.
Stanza 2
If we ourselves cannot be gods
Then there can be no gods!
If we ourselves aren’t heavenly nymphs
The nymphs are not elsewhere!
The poet refers to our beliefs about ‘Gods’ and ‘heavenly nymphs’. The poet expresses his
conviction that there is no distinct or substantial entity called ‘God’ and it is Man himself
who is God. Similarly, there exist no entities called ‘heavenly nymphs’. He firmly believes
that we ourselves are the nymphs, and the nymphs are to be found nowhere else but, on
this earth, only.

Stanza 3
While this roaring stream rushes fast
Rolling surf at the edge of waves
The tender sunshine leans on Verdant gardens
And then the gentle Sun – make the earth, heaven!
The poet tries to introduce us to the different forms or parts of heaven that exist on the
earth. He presents a mesmerizing picture of ‘Nature’ in its pristine form. The poet states
that the ‘bliss’ that we experience when we look at the streams that are leaping down,
roaring, from the top of the hills, the waves that come rolling across the seas carrying surf
at their edges, the tender rays of sunlight falling on the vast expanse of green forests and
the gentle sun warming up the earth make this Earth, ‘Heaven’.
Stanza 4
In the splendour of harvest and of moonlight
Heaven lies all over!
Imbibing and spilling the song of nectar
The poet does create heaven on earth
!
The poet refers to the beauty of the harvest season and the moonlit night. He declares
that one enjoys heavenly bliss when one watches the splendour of harvest and the
moonlit night. The poet ends the poem by saying that the poet who imbibes this heavenly
bliss, spreads the nectar of Heaven through his poetry on this earth. A poet is endowed
with a higher degree of imagination and sensibility. With these qualities, the poet
appreciates nature’s beauty and in turn, the poet enables others to behold heaven on
earth.
Conclusion
The poet, being a rationalist, believes that heaven is on earth. In order to prove his claim
that heaven is only on this earth and not anywhere else, the poet gives many examples.
He points to the roaring, rushing stream with crystal-clear water, the rolling milky-white
surf at the edge of waves, the tender sunshine shining through the lush green leaves on
verdant gardens, the gentle sun warming the earth, the golden splendour of harvest, and
the cool, divine moonlight — and says that all these make the earth a heavenly place.
There cannot be anything more beautiful than all these.

Thus, there cannot be another place called heaven. Common people who are not very
observant or articulate, miss the beauties of nature and carry on their mundane lives
passively. The poet, being more sensitive and observant than others, imbibes and spills
the song of nectar, pointing out the wonders of nature to everyone. In this manner, he
creates heaven on earth through his poetry and invites everyone to experience the joy of
being amidst bountiful nature. He says it is the poet who makes the earth appears
heavenly.

11JAPAN AND BRAZIL THROUGH A TRAVELLER’S EYE

Introduction
‘Japan and Brazil through a Traveller’s Eye’ is a travelogue written by ‘George Mikes’. In
these passages, the writer has, unintentionally, brought out the culture and mannerisms
of the people of Japan and Brazil in a funny way.
He decidedly comments that within fifteen minutes after one land in Japan, they will be
convinced that the Japanese are highly refined in their social manners; Even though Japan
has a very large population and its cities are overcrowded, every Japanese respect each
other’s privacy. The author opines that the Japanese conduct their confidential
businesses and matters of love and quarrel in perfect privacy.
At a public telephone booth, because of the other Japanese, if they listen to his
conversation prefer to ignore it, respecting his privacy. In the excerpt ‘Traffic in Brazil,’
the writer brings out the hustle and bustle of Brazil, chaotic traffic. Even though Brazilians
are easy-going people, they transform into speed devils as soon as they get behind the
wheels of a car. Even though motor cars are costly in Brazil and most people can’t afford
a car, the number of cars on Brazilian roads has increased by leaps and bounds.
Summary
Manners in Japan
This is a tongue-in-cheek account of the writer’s travel; in Japan and Brazil. The excerpts
talk about some practices unique to these two countries. First, in the excerpt titled
‘Manners’, the writer talks about his visit to Japan. Upon arriving there, he is impressed
by, the extremely well-mannered people.

He also notices that, since the country is a very small one in terms of area, the people
there have no privacy, even to talk on the phone. But people respect others’ privacy by
not listening to their private talks they compensate for their lack of privacy by showing
courtesy.
Next, the writer comments on the habit of the Japanese to bow to everyone. This act of
bowing is very dignified but the writer finds it difficult to learn the right manner He bows
either too low or does not bow at all. He learns that there is a hierarchy in bowing: who
bows to whom, how deeply and for how long. If two Japanese bow, neither is to straighten
up before the other stands erect in front of him.
The Japanese are very serious about their manners
The Japanese manage this without difficulty and even the smallest difference in rank,
standing, age, social position will be subtly reflected in that split second one man’s bow
is shorter than the others. There are clear-cut rules in the family too, as to who should
bow to whom. There are bowing girls who bow to all and sundry; coach conductors before
they check the tickets; and the writer mentions that even a deer bowed to him before it
snatched the food-bag from his hand.
Even at the bus stops, people bowed to each other in dignity, but the moment the bus
arrived, all dignity was thrown to the winds and people pushed one other in their hurry
to board the bus. With regard to eating soup, the writer says that noise has to be made
while eating the soup in order to show appreciation. However, when a foreigner does
make noise, the Japanese hostess might look at him with contempt.
The crowd of Brazil
In the next excerpt ‘Traffic in Brazil’, talking about footpaths in Brazil, the writer says that
they are very beautiful, well-decorated places, reflecting the sense of the beauty of the
citizens. The Brazilians do not hurry about at all, as long as they are walking. They amble
around leisurely. But the same citizens, when they are behind a steering wheel, are
entirely different people.
They drive murderously fast, and target pedestrians who dare to step off the pavement.
They compete bitterly with their fellow drivers, cutting in, from both sides and forcing
them to commit many crimes. But there is no hostility or ill will between the drivers or
between them and the pedestrians. They smile at one another, just like they smile at the
pedestrian they forced to run for his life.
The writer says that the main roads in Brazil are so crowded that the traffic that
pedestrians find it impossible to cross from one side of the road to the other. He narrates
a humorous occasion where a person, on seeing his friend on the other side of the road,
asks with surprise how he managed to cross over, and the friend replies that he could be
there only because he was born on that side.
Conclusion
George Mikes explained that the culture of the Japanese as universal and superior to the
others. Japanese are exquisitely well-mannered people. They respect and believe in
perfect privacy. Courtesy has a double function namely it is courtesy and substitute
privacy. Everybody keeps bowing to everybody else with the ceremonious solemnity.
Bowing is a mark of respect, the Japanese have a complicated hierarchy in bowing, and
social position will be subtly reflected in split second. Japanese stores employ bowing
whose only duty is to bow deeply and deferentially to all.
The deer as a true Japanese bow to the visitors and then jump and snatch the food bag
from hand. The two conductors in the famous and fast Tokaido line between Tokyo and
Osaka March to the middle of the coach and how ceremoniously in both directions and
then start checking the tickets.
They make a fearful noise a sign of appreciation while eating soup. On the other hand,
George Mikes says that nobody hurries in Brazil. Reaching the destination an hour early,
a day late, or not at all does not matter. The grey pavements in the streets are decorated
with beautiful black mosaics. People who have plenty of time could do so during their
meditative, ambulatory exercises.

These leisure people love speed when driving. Gaining a tenth of a second is a matter of
grave importance for all of them all the time. The number of motor vehicles in Brazil is
growing rapidly and thus the pedestrian’s life is becoming risky; he has to jump, leap and
run for dear life.
Driver and pedestrian vice versa smile at each other. The drivers cut in and overtake on
both sides and commit crime twenty times every hour but still, there is no anger, no
hostility, nothing except they smile. The truly fascinating problem is the mystery of
crossing on crawling traffic proceed in at a terrifying speed.
12.THE VOTER

Introduction
Chinua Achebe is a renowned Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His works
highlight the clash of Western and traditional African values. His style reflects Igbo oral
tradition. The narration is peppered with folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. Among his
many works, ‘Things Fall Apart’, ‘Arrow of God’ is very popular. His works highlight the
clash of Western and traditional African values. Here in the story “The Voter” we see how
the democratic exercise of the west corrupts the innocent Igbo people. Marcus Ibe was a
Mission school teacher.
He plunged into politics and won the election. The people of Umuofia elected him without
any monetary demands. He became the Minister of Culture in the PAP government.
Politics had changed his life phenomenally: he gained wealth, titles, and honours. On the
opening ceremony of his new house, he had arranged a great feast for his villagers. The
people realized the magic of politics. They did not want to vote for him in the next election
for free. Roof was a loyal follower of Marcus Ibe and very popular in his village. He
understood the pulse of the people very well. He vehemently campaigned for Marcus even
striking a bargain of 4 shilling with the villagers.
However, on the night of the election, the leader of the POP campaign team met Roof and
offered him 5 pounds to vote for Maduka. He accepted the offer swearing on Iyi hoping
that his one vote would not make any difference. On the voting day, he was in a dilemma.
He came up with an idea. He tore the ballot paper into two pieces and put one half in each
box and came out as happily as ever.
Summary
Roof returns to his village to help the illiterate people
Roof (Rufus Okeke) is an educated person who returns to his village in order to help the
illiterate people in his own way. He had worked as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice in Port
Harcourt but out of a free will, he gave up his brighter future and returned to the village
to help his people. However, their village Umuofia had already produced a minister of
Culture Chief the honourable Marcus Ibe in the outgoing government and was now
running for another election with his party ‘People’s Alliance Party’ (PAP).

It was at the time of the elections that he involved himself completely both to meet his
selfish needs and a bit of social concern. Roof was the perfect adviser for Hon. Marcus
during the elections as he required a person of Roof’s nature to act as the Campaign
manager. We are further told that;
The villagers had had five years in which to see how quickly and plentifully politics
brought wealth, chieftaincy titles, doctorate degrees, and other honours. They kept
wondering how politics makes people very rich in a short time because Marcus had been
a mission school teacher before he joined the politics that came to their village. In a short
time, he had become Chief the Honourable with two big cars, and had built himself the
biggest house ever in that area and christened it “Umuofia Mansion” in honour of his
village. However, he is credited that despite his success he was still devoted to his people.
At times he left the good things of the city and returned to his village which had neither
running water nor electricity. He had just installed a private plant to supply the electricity
in his new house.
Marcus throws a feast for the villagers
On the day it was opened by the archbishop, he had slaughtered five bulls and countless
goats to entertain the village people. They all praise him but after the feasting, they
become aware of how they had underrated the power of the ballot paper. Marcus was
prepared for satisfying his voters this time around. He had drawn five months’ worth of
salary in advance and changed a few hundred pounds into shillings and gave the money
to his campaign boys so that he could meet the expenditures. Roof we are told was the
most trusted of these campaigners.
The hectic day right before the voting day was when Roof met five elders from the village
in the house of Ogbuefi Ezenwa and gave them 2 shillings each hoping that it would make
them support Marcus. He reminds them that Marcus is a son from their own village and
his part that is in power has promised them pipe-borne water. They inform him that it is
true what he tells them but it would be shameful to take two shillings from Marcus
because he is no longer poor. He is now rich and does his things like a great man. They
give him a proverb that
“But today is our day; we have climbed the iroko tree today and would be foolish not to
take down all the firewood we need”
Roof bribe the villagers to support Marcus
He understood what they meant by “firewood” because he too has been benefiting from
the firewood from Marcus. So, he added one shilling for each but they still objected and
finally, he gave each man another shilling. He said if they don’t like then they may go and
vote for the enemy, referring to the Progressive Organisation Party (POP). This was
formed by the tribes down the coast to save themselves from total political, cultural,
social, and religious annihilation. It was said that the party had let loose so much money
in Umuofia just for buying votes.
On that same night, Marcus received a strange visit. A few of the POP campaign boys
entered Roof’s house and tempted him with five ponds and ask him to vote for Maduka.
He takes the money then they ask him to swear by the local deity “Iyi” from Mbata. He
was left with no other alternative but to obey.
Roof split his vote into two
On the day of the election, Roof watched the reaction of Marcus quite often because he
did not want Marcus to suspect him. Marcus sat in his car shaking hands of the people
who came to congratulate him in advance. Roof and other organizers gave the last-minute
instructions to the voters. He tells them that if they vote for the car they will one day ride
in it. Although he was expected to win Marcus never wanted to lose any vote after all had
cast their votes, he asked his campaign boys to go for voting starting with Roof. When
Roof was asked to cast his vote, he did not know what to do. He did not want to betray
Marcus even in secret. He thought of returning the five pounds but it was too much money
to turn down just like that.
All of a sudden, a grand idea struck him. Without a second thought, he tore the ballot
paper into two halves and put the first half into Maduka’s box, and verbally proclaimed
that he has first voted for Maduka and put another half in Marcus’s box and moved out.
Conclusion
The story gives the message to most African countries and people who do not conduct
free and fair elections. In most African countries, politicians bribe the voters so that they
can win. The author, therefore, intends to correct these vices and injustices done by the
political leaders during campaigns, elections, and when they are in power. “The Voter ”is
a beautiful story symbolic of the entry of a new system of governance into the innocent
settlements of native people in Africa. It shows how Igbo people fall prey to the snares of
the western systems. The story also depicts how the democratic exercise of the west
introduced in Africa corrupts the innocent Igbo folks.

14.WATER

Introduction

Challapalli Swaroopa Rani is a prominent Dalit writer. Her mature poetry focuses mainly
on the issues of gender and caste, though she began writing about her experiences. Her
translated piece “Water” by Uma Bhrugubanda is a metaphor that shows the plight of the
untouchables in our society. Panchamas are not allowed to draw water from the wells.
They suffer humiliation at the hands of Kamma landlords. Water in this poem does not
merely act as a substance but it turns out to be a symbol of revolt.
Stanza 1
Just as the water knows
The ground’s incline,
It knows the generations-old strife
Between the village and the wada.
Like the dampness on the well’s edge that never dies
The poet states in a casual tone that ‘water’, which knows where the ground is inclined
along which it has to flow, knows that ‘untouchability’ never disappears, because the
quarrel or conflict over allowing the Dalits to collect water from a village tank or pond,
between the upper caste people and the Dalits, has been smouldering for several
generations.

The poet draws parallels between this situation and the dampness on the well’s edge
which never dries up. The writer uses this analogy to let the reader know that ‘water’,
being the ‘elixir of life’, every living creature needs water, but it is so cruel of the upper
caste people to deny such an essential ‘element’ of life to the ‘Dalits’ in the name of
untouchability.
Stanza 2
The water knows everything.
It knows the difference of race
Between the Samaria woman and Jesus the Jew.
It also knows the sub-caste difference
Between leather and spool
The speaker seems to say that this has been happening every day for several generations
and it is ironic that only water knows it. The poet is showing an accusing finger at all those
people who deny access to the Dalits to water in public places. The poet cites a Biblical
incident in which Jesus, the Jew, goes to a Samaria woman and asks the woman for a drink.
The Samaria woman belongs to an inferior race and Jesus, the Jew belongs to a superior
race. Here the speaker seems to say that ‘water’ is essential to all, be it a Samaria woman
or Jesus the Jew; similarly, water is essential for both the upper caste people and the
untouchables. The same idea is reiterated in the next two lines. Even among the
untouchables, there were sub-castes. ‘Leather’ refers to cobblers and the ‘spool’ refers to
weavers. The speaker means to say that whether one is a cobbler or a weaver both of
them need water. This fact is known as ‘water’, but why are people so cruel to give access
to water to one and deny access to the other. Here, the ‘other’ refers to the untouchables.

Stanza 3
It knows the agony of the Panchama,
Who, not having the right to draw a pot of water,
Waits all day near well
With his empty pot
Until a shudra arrives
A Panchama does not have the right to draw water from a public well because he is
untouchable. It is cruel and unfortunate that he is made to wait near the well until a
Shudra arrives. Here again, it is ironic that the ‘Panchama’, who does not belong to varna,
has to wait for a Shudra who is supposed to belong to the fourth rank in the social
hierarchy. A Shudra, according to the ‘varna’ scheme, is unskilled labour and he does all
the physical tasks as directed by the other upper caste people. Naturally, only when a
Shudra comes to a pond to fetch water for an upper caste person can he give some water
to the Panchama. It also means that the other upper caste people who normally do not
fetch water from a well will not be able to give water to a Panchama.
Stanza 4
It knows the humiliation
Of the wada girl
When he who poured the water from a distance,
falls all over and touches her
The speaker is once again referring to the cruelty of the ‘varna system’ and the practices
associated with untouchability. The speaker cites another cruel instance of
untouchability. Normally, whenever a person belonging to one of the four varnas happens
to give some water to an ‘untouchable’ (here it is a girl), he/she takes care to see that the
giver and the receiver stand apart from each other and pours water from a distance, from
a higher level to a lower level. On such occasions, some water is bound to fall on the
receiver. Here, the receiver being a girl, waterfalls all over her. The speaker wants the
reader to imagine the humiliation of the girl when someone throws water at her or on
her. Here, the speaker is highlighting the cruel practice of untouchability.
Stanza 5
It knows the righteous rage
Of Karamchedu Suvarthamma
Who opposed the kamma landlords
With her water pot
When they asked her not to pollute the pond water.
The water is witness
To centuries of social injustice
.
The speaker recalls a heinous incident that happened in a place called Karamchedu. It is
reported that on 16 July 1985, when two Kamma youths were washing dirty buckets (that
had been used to feed – their buffaloes) in the drinking water tank in Madigapalle, a Dalit
boy objected to it, which angered the youth. Consequently, when the youths were about
to beat up the boy, Munnangi Suvartamma, a Dalit woman, tried to protect the boy from
the attack. She lifted the vessel that she was carrying, to drive away from the attackers.
This act of lifting the vessel in self-defense later resulted in a ghastly attack by the upper
caste people on the Dalits. However, the speaker states that ‘water’ knows the ’anger’
exhibited by Suvartamma by lifting her vessel (water pot) against the Kamma landlords,
who asked her not to pollute the pond water. In the last two lines, the speaker asserts
that ‘water’ has been the witness to centuries of social injustice.
Stanza 6
When I see water
I remember
How my wada which would thirst all day
For a glass of water
The poet speaks in the first person and reminisces her painful experiences. The speaker
says that whenever she sees water, she recalls that the people in her part of the village
(Wada) would be suffering from severe thirst all day, not being able to get even a glass of
water.
Stanza 7
For us, water is not simply H2O,
For us, water is a mighty movement.
It is the Mahad struggle at the Chadar tank.
A single drop of water embodies
Tears shed over several generations.
In the many battles we fought
For a single drop of water,
Our blood flowed like streams.
But we never managed to win
Even a small puddle of water

The speaker states that for them (Dalits) water is a mighty movement itself and cites the
instance of the Mahad struggle at the Chadar tank. (Mahad was a town in Colaba district
in the then Mumbai state.) The Mahad municipality had passed a resolution to allow
untouchables full/free access to all village waterfronts. But the local upper-caste
population did not allow the Dalits to use the water and the resolution remained only on
paper. On 19 March 1927, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar led a rally to the water reservoir at
Mahad, drank water from that tank, and asserted the rights of the Dalits. The speaker
states that, for the Dalits, a single drop of water stands for tears shed by Dalits over
several generations. She regretfully states that the Dalits had fought many battles for
water in which they had shed their blood but had never succeeded in winning even a
small puddle of water.

Stanza 8
When I see water,
I remember
How we welcomed our weekly bath
As if it was a wondrous festival!
While the entire village bathed luxuriously-
Twice a day
She recalls sadly how they (the Dalits) would look forward to their weekly bath day, as if
it was a wonderful festival day, while the upper caste people in the entire village enjoyed
bathing luxuriously twice a day. Here the speaker intends to highlight the fact that while
the Dalits were ‘deprived’ of water and were given water only once a week, the other
people had so much water that they bathed luxuriously twice a day.
Stanza 9
When I see water,
I remember
My childhood,
When we walked miles
To reach the big canal
And carried back heavy pots,
The speaker recalls her childhood when they had to walk miles and miles to fetch water
from the big canal and carried back heavy pots with the muscles and veins in their necks
straining and bursting.
Stanza 10
I remember,
Its thatched roofs aflame,
The Malapalle burning ashes
For want of a pot of water
.

The speaker narrates a fire accident in Malapalle. It was a locality where the Dalits lived
in thatched huts. When their thatched roofs caught fire, the huts were destroyed in the
fire for want of a pot of water to douse the fire.

Stanza 11
Water is not a simple thing!
It can give life
But it can also devour lives.
The water that refused to quench parched throats
Became the killer tsunami wave,
That swallowed whole
Village after village
.
The speaker expresses her opinion about the role of water in the life of the Dalits. She also
expresses her view about how water is acting as an agent of social change at the local as
well as at the global level. The speaker seems to hint that ‘water’ can act as an agent of
social change and avenge the humiliation suffered by the Dalits. That is why she says,
water is not a simple thing. It can give life but it can also devour lives. She categorically
states that the water which should have been given to the Dalits to quench their parched
throats later became the killer tsunami wave and swallowed village after village. In these
lines the speaker seems to suggest that ‘water’ itself has acted as an agent of retribution,
punishing the people for denying water to the Dalits. The theme of water as a mighty force
and an agent of social change continues. She recalls the suffering undergone by the poor
people who get killed whenever there is a flood.
Stanza 12
The poor are but playthings
In its vicious hands.
Often, it turns village into dry deserts
And sometimes it drowns them in flood
.
The speaker remarks that poor people become playthings in the vicious hands of water
and get killed in large numbers, often turning villages into dry deserts and sometimes it
drowns them into floods.

Stanza 13
Between the village and the wada
Between one state and another,
This water can ignite many struggles and strife.
It can make blood run in streams.
But it can also sit innocently
In a Bisleri bottle
Having expressed the harm caused by water to the untouchables, the speaker, in stanza
thirteen, says that ‘water’ can become an issue of conflict between the village and the
Wada, and between one State and another and be the cause of a bloody battle where
people kill or hurt each other making the blood run in streams. The speaker says that the
very same water also can sit innocently in a Bisleri bottle appearing so innocuous.
Stanza 14
This water from our village well
That forces us to do many a circus feat,
Now slowly, surreptitiously,
Dances its way into the Pepsi man’s bottle.
With its new name ‘mineral water’
It takes to skies,
It raises a storm.
The poet traces the new avatar taken by water in the global market. She says that the very
same ‘well water’ which the Dalits used to draw up from a well and carry in pots balancing
them over their heads and hands now slowly and clandestinely dances its way into the
Pepsi man’s bottle. Subsequently, it gets sold in its new name ‘mineral water’. The sale
and origin of mineral water are also being vehemently debated. It is well known that
Dalits depend on wells for their needs. But, owing to globalisation, many entrepreneurs
have set up bottling plants for mineral water and other beverages. This has resulted in
the depletion of groundwater which affects the Dalits directly.
Stanza 15 and 16
Now
Water is no mean matter.
It’s a multinational market commodity.

As they say
Water is omniscient.
It contains the world
The speaker seems to ridicule all those people who prevented the Dalits from polluting
the water with their touch. She seems to make fun of them saying, ‘‘What happened to
your social restrictions now?” The speaker concludes declaring that ‘water’ is not an
insignificant or trivial issue but is a multinational market commodity and it knows
everything (omniscient). It contains the world, meaning, water has no boundaries. In the
end, the speaker seems to challenge the oppressors that they can no longer deprive the
untouchables of their share of water.

Conclusion

The poem ‘Water’ expresses the terrible humiliation and suffering caused to the Dalits, or
the untouchables owing to the social restrictions imposed by the upper caste people. In
India, in the pre-independence period and the early decades of the post-independence
period, the Dalits had to face the wrath of the upper caste people over allowing the Dalits
to collect water from the village tanks or ponds.