1. You will probably agree that this story does not have breathless adventure and exciting action. Then what in your opinion makes it interesting?
Answer
It is true that though the story “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” has neither any breathless adventure nor any exciting action, yet it holds the interest of the readers. It begins in a mood of nostalgia and takes us back to the memories of our own childhood when the world was full of every imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream.
2. Did the boys return the horse because they were conscience-stricken or because they were afraid?
Answer
The boys returned the horse because they were conscience-stricken not because they were afraid. Mourad and Aram belonged to the Garoghlanian family which was famous for its integrity and honesty. Due to their passion for riding and fun once, they stole a beautiful white horse.
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4. The story revolves around characters who belong to a tribe in Armenia. Mourad and Aram are members of the Garoghlanian family. Now locate Armenia and Assyria on the atlas and prepare a write-up on the Garoghlanian tribes. You may write about people, their names, traits, geographical and economic features as suggested in the story.
Answer
The Garoghlanian family
Reading with Insight
1. ‘Have you come back?’ said the woman.’I thought that no one had come back.’ Does this statement give some clue about the story? If yes, what is it?
Answer
Yes, these words by Mrs Dorling to the narrator shows that she least expected such a visit. She had presumed that all of them were dead. This lead to the conclusion that the story is set against the tragic circumstances of a War in which families lost their lives and belongings. The statement tells us that the narrator and her family at one time lived in that area and secondly, the clue that the war has brought about a lot of destruction and it seems that Mrs. Dorling was not expecting anyone to return to her house to claim the belongings.
2. The story is divided into pre-war and post-war times. What hardships do you think the girl underwent during these times?
Answer
The story, “The Address” is divided into pre-war and post-war times. There are clear indications of the hardships which the narrator, a young girl, had to undergo during these times. The girl came from a rich family. The family had a lot of valuable belongings. Then the war broke out. Mrs. Dorling renewed her contact and started visiting their house. She took away all their possessions on the ground that she wanted to save all their nice things in case they had to leave the place. After the war was over. Things became almost normal. Now the girl was living all alone in a rented house. She wanted to meet Mrs. Dorling and ask for the valuables. When she went to meet Mrs. Dorling she found that Mrs. Dorling was using her mother’s things recklessly. Suddenly, she lost interest in the things that had belonged to a connection that no longer existed. She decided to leave it all behind and resolved to move on.
3. Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?
Answer
The narrator was disappointed and disillusioned when she was allowed to enter Mrs. Dorling’s house during her second visit. She realised the futility of feeling attached to her mother’s belongings that were kept so distastefully. She just left without taking anything back and felt like forgetting the address because she would only remember the past.
4. ‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment
Answer
The war creates many difficult and traumatic situations for human beings. Civilian life faces tremendous upheaval due to war. The human predicament that follows is amply illustrated through the experience of the narrator. The war had caused many physical difficulties as well as emotional sufferings to her. She had lost her dear mother. She went to 46, Marconi Street to see her mother’s valuable possessions. Mrs. Dorling was a true opportunist who had used the narrator’s mother’s belongings on the pretext of storing them for safekeeping. She refuses to recognize the narrator and does not even let her in. The narrator gets another chance to visit the house. The presence of her mother’s possessions in a strange atmosphere hurt her. Now these valuables had lost all their importance for her as they had been separated from her mother. She could get no solace or comfort from them. She resolved to forget the address. She wanted to leave the memories of her mother and the war behind. She decided to move on.
1. 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?
Answer
In today’s India and India of yesteryears, there is not much of a difference as far as the belief in astrology is concerned. People believed in astrologers then and now. What we do not understand is that no one can predict God’s design. The astrologers like Shastri, themselves, do not really know the correct calculations of the planets, but they pretend to do so. Most of these predictions are based upon the information supplied earlier by someone. In the story, ‘Ranga’s Marriage’, the Shastri is very well tutored by the narrator in advance. He tells Ranga exactly the same thing what the narrator asks him. He pretends to do all the calculations and moves his lips but these are all pretentions.
3. Indian society has moved a long way from the way the marriage is arranged in the story. Discuss.Answer
In the story ‘Ranga’s Marriage’, the entire process of choosing a bride for Ranga is based upon the system, which was followed long back in our country. Now the scenario has changed completely. Rarely, marriages happen at a young age. People have become conscious about the fact that if the marriage has to last, a certain sense of maturity is required and this maturity can be obtained through education only. When the boys and the girls decide to get married, they always make a conscious decision. Now-a-days in India, marriages take place after the girl and boy consent to do so. Sometimes, the parents and the society do not approve but the Indian law supports this decision. In the story, ‘Ranga’s Marriage’, the initiative for Ranga and Ratna’s wedding was taken by the narrator. However, these days, we see a lot of changes taking place as far as the marriage scenario is concerned in India.
4. What kind of a person do you think the narrator is?
Answer
Shyama, a person who is too attached to his soil and his village, is the narrator of Ranga’s Marriage. According to the story,he is a very simple and kind hearted person. He seems to have a lot of admiration for his village and knows the smallest tit-bits about his place.
The narrator seems to have a clever perception and is a good judge of people. He realises that Ranga is a good groom for Ratna. He, then wastes no time and does everything for their marriage to be solemnised. His efforts culminate in a happy ending, for which he earns a lot of respect. This is evident when Ratna and Ranga name their son after him.
3. How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation?Answer
Information gathering refers to collection of data and facts. It means knowledge of specific events or situations that has been gathered or received by communication. Insight formation, on the other hand, refers to the perception one has of things through his deep understanding of a subject. Insight refers to the capacity to discern the true nature of a situation. Thus, it might differ from person to person, depending on everyone’s ideas and concepts.
1.This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.
(i) What are the issues it raises?
(ii) 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?
Answer(i) Mother’s Day is a comical satire. The story is a simple one, yet it strongly condemns the position of women in society. Our mothers and wives work hard daily, turning our houses into homes. They receive no wages and have no weekends off and work all day long, round the clock. Little do we realise the hard work they put in to make it all perfect. We take them for granted and never appreciate them or stop by to drop a word of ‘thanks’. The story very clearly states that our mothers and wives have equal right to relax, enjoy their lives and deserve acknowledgement and appreciation. They sacrifice their whole lives building ours’. Husbands stay busy at work and kids are occupied in their own lives. Amidst all this women lose their self trying to contain our world.
(ii) The problems that play raises are serious. The treatment is of course comic. 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 24×7 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.
2. If you were to write about these issues today what are some of the incidents, examples and problems that you would think of as relevant?
Answer
No matter that time has changed and women in today’s society have become confident and aware about their rights. However, they still continue to be dominated in conservative societies like ours. Even in western world, one may find many such families, like Pearsons, where the lady of the house alone manages all for the rest of the members. They work round the clock, doing the house hold chores all by themselves without complaining and do not even receive appreciation. Our mothers take little liberty to enjoy or have their own leisure time. A woman is accepted only in the avtar of a home maker, we never can accept our mothers or wives going out with her friends. We all stereotype a woman as a lady who is going to cook food for us, iron our clothes, sit back at home all day cleaning our room and anxiously waiting for us to return in the evening. We behave as if she can not have a life and is liable for our our work. We must always keep it in mind that that woman in our house needs our attention and appreciation and we must be greatful to her.
1. Is drama a good medium for conveying a social message? Discuss.
Answer
Drama or theatre is a perfect media to deliver social messages to the society. Now that we are in the digital era, we have various kinds of media, print, electronic and cyber. However, in the times when there were no TVs, the only media was theatre. Media not just reflects the society but also revolutionises the society. Jean Genet has made it very clear from his plays that the society dwells on images. Hence, what we show affects the society largely. So, in Drama or Theatre, when the characters come alive and equivocally make their point in front of the whole society, they raise questions, very strong and vital issues are highlighted, which otherwise remain ignored. People heed to what is displayed and learn and not just relate and get emotional.
Reading with Insight
1. What impressions of Shahid do you gather from the piece?
Answer
Shahid Ali was a multi faceted personalityand appears to be sensitive soul. He was born in Srinagar and had studied in Delhi. Later, he migrated to America and served in various colleges and universities. Shahid was a fine scholar and and brilliant teacher. His students loved and respected him. Sahid was a profund lover of good poetry, music, clothes and food. He always thought of Kashmir and was hurt by the mounting violence in the valley. Though he was not a political poet his finest work relates to writing about Kashmir. Shahid outlook was ecumenical. He did not believe in mixing of politics and religion. He never lost the courage in the face of misfortune. Even dreadful disease of cancer colud not break his spirit. He refused to take the help of the wheelchair in the hospital.
Answer
3. Look up the dictionary for the meaning of the word ‘diaspora’. What do you understand of the Indian diaspora from this piece?
Answer
The word ‘diaspora’ means a dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture. With reference to the context, Indian diaspora becomes more prominent in Ghosh’s writings.
Answer
There lies a great difference between text book medicine and the world of practising physician. Text book medicine is purely a Science whereas treating a patient is an art. The world of practising physician requires a different set of skills and knowledge. Text book medicine no doubt provides the conceptual framework for treatment but no doctor can treat a patient without the use of his or her intuitive practices. In the story Birth the way Andrew brings back life in the still born child is a testimony to this fact. The nurse at first dumps the child thinking it to be dead. But Andrews takes a chance and the miracle happens. He in the beginning applies his text book knowledge but the child does not recover. He doesn’t lose heart. He applies his own method and the miracle then happened. Treatment is Science and beyond. It is both a science and an art. The story Birth is a realistic fiction. In other words, the elements of the story has been taken from real life experiences and woven in the fabric of fiction.
Answer
‘The Tale of Melon City’ runs like a folk tale. The city is called Melon City because its ruler is a melon. There is a curious tale about it. Once a fair and easygoing king ruled over a state. He got an arch built across the thoroughfare. As he passed under the low arch it struck his head and he lost his crown. He thought it a disgrace and ordered the chief of builders to be hanged. The chief lay the blame on the workmen. The workmen were surprised. They said that the bricks were made of wrong size. So the masons were thought guilty. The masons shifted the blame on the architect. The architect put the blame at the king’s door as he amended his original plan. The king sought a wise man’s counsel. He held the arch guilty and ordered it to be hanged. A councillor objected to it as it had touched the king’s head. The people became restless. They wanted to see someone hanging. Only the king’s head could fit the noose. So he was hanged. It was now announced that the next man who passed. The city gate would choose the king. An idiot happened to pass the City Gate. He suggested ‘A Melon’. The ministers crowned a melon and placed their Melon King reverently at the throne.
Answer
A state where the king was Just and placid enjoyed peace, liberty and justice. The king was titular and symbolic. The citizens enjoyed freedom of all kinds. The real governance of the country was in the hands of the citizens. In the poem ‘The Tale of a Melon City’ the king had to be hanged as the citizens ultimately wanted someone to be hung. The king could not defend himself. Even though the wisest man gave the verdict that the arch was the real culprit but the citizens wanted someone to be hanged. Ultimately, the king was hanged. This shows that in such a state where the king was just and placid the citizens influenced the fate of a king.
3. How, according to you, can peace and liberty be maintained in a state?
Answer
(Answers vary with person own opinion.) Peace and liberty can be maintained in a state by good governance. Whatever is well administered is most fruitful for the citizens as well as rulers. There should be a happy balance between state interference and citizens rights. Narrow consideration based on religion, region caste etc. should be discouraged becuase these are potent threat to internal security. Only then one can expect peace and liberty to be maintained in a state.
The poem is full of humour and irony. The decision of the king to hang the chief of the builders for constructing a low arch when his crown struck against it evokes laughter among the readers. It is an example of humour. The way the king got convinced that actually the labourers who constructed the arch were responsible is also humourous. The king wanted to hang the labourers but the labourers were able to defend themselves. This situation is humorous as it evokes laughter among the readers and ironic as the readers find that the labourers are able to shift the responsibility to the architect. Ironically, the architect is able to shift the responsibility to the king himself. The selection of the wisest man who would give the verdict as to who was the real culprit evokes laughter and is, therefore, humorous. The old man ultimately blamed the arch and declared that the arch must be hanged. Ironically, one of the ministers pointed out that the gathering wanted a man to be hanged. As the noose fitted the king’s neck, so, he was hanged.’