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Question
This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.
Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?
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Solution
A model answer has been provided for students' reference.
It is strongly recommended that students prepare the answer on their own.
The issues that the story raises are genuine and we must heed them. In the story the major complaint of Mrs. Pearson is that her family does not spend time with her. The author has tried to highlight the fact that how lonely can a woman feel when all the members of her family leave early morning to work and then return in the evening just to get the supper and then leave again to socialise outside home. They pay her no time or attention. She selflessly makes the home and asks nothing in return. However, little do we realise that they also yearn for company and wish to spend time with their loved ones.
In the play, Mrs. Fitzgerald, a determined lady who lives in the neighbourhood and a fortune teller, helped Mrs. Pearson by exchanging body with her and dealt with Mrs. Pearson's family. She made the Pearsons understand that Mrs. Pearson is a human after all and that even after working 24x7 she receives no acknowledgement and appreciation from her family members. She did not prepare the supper and did not iron the clothes and made George, Doris and Cyril realise that how dependent they are actually on Mrs. Pearson. She is the sole pillar who keeps their lives in place and keeps everything ready for them before even they have asked for it. Finally when the three receive such harsh treatment and see Annie sitting back and not doing household chores, they feel helpless and find it all difficult to manage on their own. They realise that their lives are absolutely incomplete without Mrs. Pearson.
The resolution was perfect and very well decided. The Pearsons needed the harsh treatment after all else they would have never realised the blunder they were going on committing. After what all happened and when Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pearson exchanged the bodies back to the original ones, Annie tells George, Doris and Cyril to stay back and play cards with her and proposed that kids would do cooking while she could sit back and relax while talking to her husband, to which the three approved merrily.
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I start with my greatest guru-my mother. I was born in a very poor family and my father died when I was six. We moved to Mumbai and my mother did menial work to bring me up. Two meals a day was a tough challenge. I studied under street lights and I walked barefoot until, I think, I was twelve. I remember when I passed the seventh standard and I wanted to go into the eighth standard, our poverty was such that even to secure 21 rupees for secondary school admission became a big challenge. We had to borrow from a lady, who was a housemaid in Chaupati in Mumbai. That was the tough life I had.
In fact, I remember, my passing the SSC Examination-i.e. 11th standard. Those days it used to be not 10th standard or 12th standard but 11th standard. I stood 11th among 1,35,000 but I was about to leave higher education and find a job. What helped me was the scholarship by Sir Dorab Tata Trust. It was just 60 rupees per month and would you believe that 60 rupees per month from Tatas added so much value to my life that I have been able to stand here today before you to speak to you.
I am on the Board of Tatas now and it is very interesting that the same Bombay House where I used to go to collect that 60 rupees per month now one goes and sits there like a Director on the Board of Tata Motors. The turn that these 40 years have taken is very interesting. It has all been possible because of the chance I got to do higher studies at the insistence of my mother. She gave me the values of my life. She was one of the noblest parents I have met in my life.
So, my greatest guru was my mother. My second guru was Principal Bhave, about whom I made a mention earlier. He taught us Physics. Because it was a poor school, I remember, it had to innovate to convey to the young students the message of Science.
A2 Complete:
Complete the following sentences and write:
(i) Mashelkar was inspired by his greatest guru _______
(ii) Mashelkar studied under _______
(iii) Principal Bhave taught _______
(iv) The scholarship by _______ Trust helped him in higher education.
A3 Find the meaning:
Choose the appropriate meaning of the underlined words from the given alternatives:
(i) We moved to Mumbai and my mother did menial work.
(a) skilled
(b) hard
(c) unskilled
(d) of low status
(ii) Because it was a poor school, it had to innovate to convey to the young students the message of science.
(a) do a cheap experiment
(b) introduce new things
(c) avoid
(d) try hard
(iii) I got to do higher studies at the insistence of my mother.
(a) firm saying
(b) being inspired
(c) being inspected
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(iv) That was the tough life I had.
(a) difficult
(b) soft
(c) cheap
(d) simple
A4 Match:
Match the following sentences with their tags:
| 'A' | 'B' | ||
| (i) | I stood 11th among 1,35,000 |
(a) | aren’t I? |
| (ii) | I am on the Board of Tatas | (b) | didn’t we? |
| (iii) | It was a poor school | (c) | didn’t I? |
| (iv) | We moved to Mumbai | (d) | wasn’t it? |
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(i) The farmer shares the corn.
(ii) The farmer doesn’t share the corn.
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(ii) lost x _______
(iii) improve x _______
(iv) inconstantly x _______
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(ii) The wind picks up pollen from ripening corn and swirls it field to field. (Use “not only…….. but also” and rewrite)
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