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Question
How does the poem capture the elusive nature of the peacock?
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Solution
The peacock, as the poet narrates, is not so easy to find. Its elusive nature makes one work really hard to get a glimpse of it. The poet says that she was told that one has to sit in the veranda and read a book, preferably a favourite one, with great concentration. The moment the person begins to live inside the book and forgets about the surroundings, the peacock descends casting a blue shadow over the person. The steady humming of the bees in the nearby bushes will stop, the cat will awaken and stretch. The attention will brake and then one has to look up in time else the peacock will disappear again somewhere for it is evanescent. Even when one gets to see it once, the peacock runs out of sight quickly gathering its tail.
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Fernando Sabino.
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- Laughter Yoga (Hasya yoga) is a practice involving prolonged voluntary laughter. It aims to get people laughing in groups. It is practiced in the early mornings in open-parks. It has been made popular as an exercise routine developed by Indian physician Madan Kataria, who writes about the practice in his 2002 book ‘Laugh for no reason'. Laughter Yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological as well as psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter.
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b. Which word in the text (para 2) means the same as ‘dedicated'?
c. Why do you think voluntary laughter provides the same physiological as well as psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter?
d. ‘Laughter is the best medicine’. Explain.
e. Given below is a set of activities. Which of these are followed in the ‘Laughter Yoga’ technique?
- sitting on the ground with legs crossed
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- clapping
- closed eyes
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- chanting
- stretching of arms and legs
- bending backwards
- running/jogging
- eye contact
f. ‘Laughter therapy also plays a crucial role in social bonding’. How?
