BALGOVIND'S EDUCATIONAL TOUR

Chapter 1 – The Lost Child Think about it Question 1. What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why does he lag behind? Answer: Following are the things that the child sees on his way to the fair: I. Shops of toys. II. A flowering mustard field that is stretched far away. III. A group of dragonflies, butterflies flying in search of sweetness from the flowers. IV. A huge crowd of people entering the fair V. Sweet shops selling gulab-jamun, rasagulla, burfi, jalebi etc. VI. A flower-seller hawking a garland of gulmohur VII. A man holding a pole with yellow, red, green and purple balloons flying from it. VIII. A snake charmer playing the flute and a roundabout swing with men and women sitting on it. He lags behind because he is fascinated by the things he sees on his way to the fair. Every time he stops at some shop and expresses his desire to buy something from there. His parents call him again and again so that he does not get lost in the fair Question 2. At the fa...

Thinking about the Text I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. Question 1. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house? Answer: Abdul Kalam’s house was on the Mosque Street in the island town of Rameswaram formerly known as Madras state. Question 2. What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a reason for your answer. Answer: I think Dinamani is the name of a newspaper because Kalam says that when his brother-in-law would tell him stories of the Second World War, he would later try to find them in the ‘headlines’ of Dinamani. This implies that Dinamani would have been a newspaper. Question 3. Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later become? Answer: Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan were Abdul Kalam’s school friends. Ramanadha Sastry became the priest of the Rameswaram temple in place of his father; Aravindan started the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for Southern Railways. Question...

Thinking about the Poem Question 1. (i) “Beneath all uniforms…” What uniforms do you think the poet is speaking about? (ii) How does the poet suggest that all people on earth are the same? Answer: (i) The poet is speaking about the different types of dresses that the people wear. (ii) The poet says that though they wear different types of dresses but there is a human body beneath those uniforms and we all walk on the same earth. All of us will also lie in the same earth when we die. Question 2. In stanza 1, find five ways in which we all are alike. Pick out the words. Answer: The poet points out five ways in which we are all alike. Here are the words from the poem: – no men are strange – no countries foreign – a single body breathes – the land our brothers walk upon –(Earth) in which we all shall lie Question 3. How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words. Answer: The common features which we can find in stanza 2 are as follows: aware of sun and air and water...

Thinking about the Poem I.Question 1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to? Answer: The “Northland” may refer to anyone of the countries among Greenland, Norway, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, etc. Question 2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction? Answer: Saint Peter asked the old lady for a piece of cake. She was very selfish, and so she made a very little cake so as to give him. But as she laid it for baking, it appeared her too large to give away. Thus she kept reducing the size of the cake and every time whenever she tried to give him, it appeared too large to give away. Question 3. How did he punish her? Answer: He punished her by changing her into a woodpecker for being so selfish. Question 4. How does the woodpecker get her food? Answer: The woodpecker gets her food by working very hard all day work in the hard, dry wood. Question 5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had...

The Pobble Who Has No Toes The poet says that the Pobble, who has no toes now, had once as many toes as we have. He dismisses the views of the people who say that he may lose his toes some day. His aunt, Jobiska, warns him about his toes, and so she gives him lavender water tinged with red. The poet says that the Pobble, who has no toes, once decided to swim across the Bristol channel. His aunt, Jobiska, told him that there would be no harm if he kept his nose warm; and so he wrapped his nose with a piece of red scarf before he set out to swim across the Bristol Channel. The pobble swam very fast and well; and when boats and ship came near him, he made some sound to make them aware of his effort. All the sailors and admirals cried when they saw him reaching near the other side. He went to swim across the Bristol Channel so that he could catch fish for his aunt Jobiska’s cat with red whiskers. In the third stanza, the poet says that a sea animal porpoise carried away his red scarf just...

Rain on the Roof In the first stanza, the poet says that when the dark clouds full of moisture float round the sky making the stars invisible, and it starts raining; it makes the poet sad, and it seems to him that the people are gently shedding tears from their eyes. But even in this situation he feels happy when he presses the pillow lying on his bed, and listen to the sound of the falling raindrops on the roof. In the second stanza, the poet says that every light ringing sound produced by the rain falling on the roof has an echo in the heart of the poet. This brings thousands of thoughts and imagination into his mind, and the past memories appear to him being woven in front of him as threads across the loom when he listens to the patter Of the rain upon the roof. In the third stanza, the poet’s mother comes into his mind. Here the poet says that his mother loved him a lot, and addressed him as darling. She loved him so much that she allowed him to sleep till sunrise. He exclaims w...

  Chapter 5 The Snake and the Mirror Thinking about the Text I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30–40 words). Question 1. “The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop? Answer: The doctor heard some familiar noise from above when he opened the door. He thought that it was the sound of rats. He heard it four times. “I heard a sound from above as I opened the door.” “Again I heard that sound from above.” “Again came that noise from above.” “Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground…” The sounds stopped when the snake landed on his shoulder. Question 2. What two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking into the mirror? Answer: The two important and earth-shaking decisions that the doctor took while he was looking into the mirror ar...

1. Write a letter to your sister in around 120 words encouraging her to develop a terrace garden using wet garbage from the kitchen. 45, Block Road, Rosera, Samastipur. 02 July 2005 My dear Mamta I hope this letter finds you in the best of spirits. The purpose of writing is to encourage you that you can use wet garbage of the kitchen to develop a terrace garden. What you need is to spread the wet garbage on the terrace, and then you can use it to grow flowers and vegetables by planting their seeds. This way your kitchen waste will be utilised, and it will also help to keep the nature clean and fresh. If this method is applied by everyone, we can reduce the land pollution to a great extent. You can also encourage your neighbours to do the same to maintain a balanced ecosystem in your locality. Pay my greeting to all at home Your affectionate brother,  Sumit Roy.