Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
Comment on the influence of English – the language and the way of life – on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator's attitude to English?
Advertisements
उत्तर
When the English came to our land, they did not bring the industrialisation alone. They carried with themselves their culture, their religion and their language to our home. We, who had been ruled by the Slaves and the Moguls for centuries were now about to face yet another foreign dominance, which was to leave an impact on us that was to live for ever in the future. The biggest of all influences was the language English. Even after so many years of independence, we Indians are not able to pull ourselves out of this inferiority complex. They ruled our nation once and now even after so many decades, they rule our minds. We consider those inferior who do not know the English language. It is nothing but a language after all, why feel so proud about it when it is not even ours. Yes it is a global language and it is good to know foreign languages, however we must treat a language as language only and not as a status symbol.
This falsehood has been reflected very well in the story. The narrator, Shyama, showed how when Ranga returns from Bangalore, after completing his studies, the way people anticipated his return and the excitement on knowing that Ranga now knew English, “a priceless commodity”. They all wanted to see if there has been any change in Ranga after studying English in Bangalore. However, there was no change or little in Ranga's personality. He even did the traditional namaskar to Shyama by bowing down and touching his feet.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
How important was the presence of Miss Anne Sullivan in Helen’s life?
Discuss the following statement in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.
The methods of inquiry of history, science, and philosophy are similar.
Discuss the following statement in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.
The story is called ‘The Adventure’. Compare it with the adventure described in ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die...’
We 'draw up a deed'. Complete the following phrase with an appropriate word.
________one's will
How does Russell's definition of knowledge differ from what is commonly understood by the term?
Discuss in pairs or in small groups
What does a novel do?
No trees except the one which grows and seethes in one's dreams'– why is the phrase 'grows and seethes' used?
Answer in your own words.
What message does the poem convey to all of us?
Find evidence from the lesson and write in your own words.
Indians respect the freedom of others.
There are different types of short stories. Use a dictionary/internet and find out what each of the following types refers to.
- fable:
- anecdote:
- fairy tale:
- parable:
- tragedy:
- humorous story:
- detective story:
- myth:
Behrman was a hard-hearted person.
Think and answer in your own words.
Which line proves that in our busy lives we do not even have a fraction of a second to enjoy nature’s beauty?
Go through the poem and state whether the following statement is true or false.
The newly planned city looks modern and amazingly beautiful.
Read the description of the Kabaddi match and do the following:
Choose any one event and draw a diagram to show what happened.
What characteristics are needed to be a good player of Kabaddi? What should you do to develop each? Discuss this in groups of 5 and write a composition on it.
Wash your handkerchief clean. Hang it with a peg to dry in the wind. Watch how it flutters.
Explain the following statement with reference to the context.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Find two examples of the word made by using the following suffix.
-ness
What time is being described in the poem?
Read: ‘Last Chance to See’ by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine.
Read the following:
- Charging along like troops in a battle.
- Fly as thick as driving rain.
Using your imagination, write one or two comparisons each with -
- like ______
- as ______ as
Answer the following question and write in short, why the parody sounds funny.
Why does the crocodile work?
There are many popular lines like:-
- ‘Life is a gameplay it well’.
- ‘Life is a journey- keep going ahead’.
Discuss and write down a few such metaphorical lines about ‘life’. You can make them up yourselves.
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
Correct the following sentence and rewrite it.
Papa Panov saw the sweeper, the young mother, and the beggars he had helped only once in the morning.
Describe the following with the help of the (The Twelve Months) story.
Springtime
Imagine you are one of the three brothers. Write in short what you did with the rice.
What difficulties do the people in the play face in the morning?
List the characters in the play.
Birds and animals
What is used to make Rangoli designs?
Who were the inhabitants of the island?
How did the cops manage to enter the locked house?
Identify the speaker/character.
‘ It’s Somu’s thoughtless ways that reduce me to tears’
Hamid’s heart sank because the price of the tongs was______for him.
“Was it just the wind?”– What do you think Usha thought it was? Why?
Read the comic strip and answer the following question.
How do you behave in a virtual platform?
What are the disadvantages of speaking harshly?
What does the poet mean by ‘Festival of flowers’?
When are we in a state of trance?
He woke up very late in the morning.
Read the line and answer the question.
I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky
Where does the poet want to go?
Neerja passed on the warning in a code to the pilots because she______.
Read the lines and answer the question given below.
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by
- ‘In the wink of an eye’ means very quickly. Explain ‘painted stations whistle by’.
Identify the speaker/character.
"Don't let us down now, Gulliver; we need your help."
Find example of alliteration and write them in the blank.
to muddy roads
monsoons and mangoes
It ploughs soil before _________.
How do we see the earthworm often?
How did the second daughter use the grain?
Where is Jaswantgarh located?
Why did the bird catcher need fire?
What did the archer want to show to the crowd?
Write the rhyming word.
one
Divide the following word.
butter
Match the rhyming words.
| 1. share | dare |
| 2. bread | rest |
| 3. care | needs |
| 4. deeds | ahead |
| 5. zest | bear |
Leafcutter ants drink______.
Fill in the blank with rhyming word.
tunnels- ______
Jana saw a _______ behind her.
What did Bala teach Nithin?
How does she move the brush?
Choose the right word.
Tansen was a famous ______.
Now, read the following biographical extract on Sujatha Rangarajan, a Sciencefiction writer, and answer the questions that follow.
- Sujatha is the allonym of the Tamil author S. Rangarajan and it is this name that is recognised at once by the Tamil SciFi reading community. You might have seen the Tamil movie ‘Endiran’ where the robot Chitti exhibits extraordinary talents in an incredible manner. The robot could excel a human being in any act, beyond one’s imagination. Jeeno, a robotic dog which appeared in Sujatha’s science fiction novel “En Iniya Iyandhira” (My Dear Robot) formed the basis of Chitti’s character. Like Chitti, Jeeno was an allrounder who could cook, clean and fight. High-tech computer technology terms are used in the story. Jeeno, a pet robot, plays an important role throughout the story. As the story proceeds, it behaves and starts to think on its own like a human and instructs Nila, a human being, on how to proceed further in her crises.
- In the preface of ‘En Iniya Iyandhira’, the writer states the reason for his attraction to the genre: “Science gives us the wonderful freedom to analyse thousands and thousands of alternative possibilities. While using it, and while playing with its new games, a writer needs to be cautious only about one thing. The story should draw some parallels or association from the emotions and desires of the present humankind. Only then it becomes interesting. Jeeno, the robot dog, was intelligent. But the character became popular only because of the robot’s frequently displayed human tendencies.” It is no wonder that all his works echo these words and will remain etched in the minds of the readers who enjoy reading his novels to have a wonderful lifetime experience.
- It was Sujatha, who set the trend for sci-fi stories. He had tracked the origin from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to his short stories. He has written 50 sci-fi short stories and these were published in various Tamil magazines. His stories have inspired many readers to extend their reading to English sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov. The themes were bold, even if there was a dependence on a very well-established characterization of English fiction. Sujatha opened up a new world to us with his writings on holograms, computers and works like ‘En Iniya Iyanthira’ inspire many to study computer science.
- He has been one of the greatest writers for more than four decades. He combined reasoning and science in his writings. Being a multifaceted hi-fi and sci-fi humanistic author, he expressed his views distinctively. He was the one who took Tamil novels to the next level. As an MIT alumnus and an engineer at BHEL, he was very good at technology. He could narrate sci-fi stories impressively. His readers always enjoyed reading all his detective and sci-fi novels which featured the most famous duo ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Vasanth’.
- Sujatha has played a crucial role as a playwright for various Tamil movies which have fascinated movie lovers. Hence, it is fathomable that the writer’s perspective of future India enthuses every reader and paves a new way to reading sci-fi stories in English.
A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.
- How was Jeeno different from other robots?
- What precaution should one take while writing Science fiction stories?
- What inspired Sujatha’s themes?
- Why were Sujatha’s sci-fi stories impressive?
B. Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following.
- difficult to believe (para 1)
- a style or category of art, music or literature (para 2)
- having many sides (para 4)
- capable of being understood (para 5)
