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Danny, The Champion of the World
Inside the caravan, I stood on a chair and lit the oil lamp in the ceiling. I had some weekend homework to do and this was as good a time as any to do it. I laid my books on the table and sat down. But I found it impossible to keep my mind on my work.
The clock showed half past seven. This was the twilight time. He would be there now. I pictured him in his old navy blue sweater and peaked cap, walking soft-footed up the track towards the wood. He told me he wore the sweater because navy-blue hardly showed up in the dark, black was even better, he said. The peaked cap was important too, he explained, because the peak casts a shadow over one's face. Just about now he would be wriggling through the hedge and entering the wood. Inside the wood, I could see him treading carefully over the leafy ground, stopping, listening, going on again and again and all the time searching and searching for the keeper who would be standing somewhere, as still as a post, behind a big tree with a gun under his arm. Keepers hardly move at all when they are in a wood watching for poachers, he had told me. They stand dead still right up against the trunk of a tree and its not easy to spot a motionless man in that position at twilight.
I closed my books. It was no good trying to work. I decided to go to bed instead. I left the lamp burning. Soon I fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes again, the oil-lamp was still glowing and the clock on the wall showed ten minutes past two.
I was out of my bunk and looked into the bunk above mine. It was empty. He promised he would be home by ten thirty at the latest and he never broke promises.
At that moment, a frightful sense of doom came over me. Something really had happened to him this time. I felt quite certain of it.
- Roald Dahl
On the basis of your reading the above passage, answer the following:
1. Who do you think is the narrator?
Suggested answer: The narrator seems to be a young boy.
2. Pick out a sentence from paragraph - 1 that indicates his smallness.
Suggested answer: The sentence is: I stood on a chair and lit the oil lamp in the ceiling.
3. Where was the young boy living?
Suggested answer: He was living in a caravan.
4. Did the narrator share a close relationship with 'he'? How can you tell?
Suggested answer: Yes, the narrator was fond of 'he'. He thinks about the person constantly, wondering what his next action could be. The whole tone in which he describes him is affectionate.
5. Who do you think 'he' is?
Suggested answer: 'He' could be the boy's father or an adult male with whom the boy shared a close relationship.
6. Where was 'he'?
Suggested answer: 'He' was in a dark wood.
7. Was 'he' trying to evade the keepers? How can you tell?
Suggested answer: 'He' was moving softly and stealthily through the wood. He was dressed to camouflage himself from the keepers. In addition, he seemed to be aware of the keepers' movements in the woods.
8. What do you think 'he' was trying to do in the woods?
Suggested answer: Perhaps 'he' was a wildlife photographer who wanted to take some candid shots or maybe, he was a poacher, in pursuit of birds and animals.
9. From the paragraph - 2, pick out words or phrases that suggest motion.
Suggested answer: Words or phrases that suggest motion are: Walking soft-footed, wriggling through, entering, treading carefully, stopping and going on.
Somebody should have taught him (retold by Jane Watkins)
I went to a birthday party
But I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink at all,
So I had a Sprite instead.
I felt proud of myself,
The way you said I would,
That I didn't choose to drink and drive,
Though some friends said I should.
I knew I made a healthy choice
And your advice to me was right
As the party finally ended
And the kids drove out of sight.
I got into my own car,
Sure to get home in one piece,
Never knowing what was coming, something I expected least.
Now I'm lying on the pavement.
I can hear the policeman say,
"The kid that caused this wreck was drunk".
His voice seems far away.
Now answer the following:
Q1. The poet went to a ____________and recalled her mother's ______. She had told her not to ________ so she had a _________ and felt proud of herself as she knew she had ____________.
Suggested answer:
The poet went to a birthday party and recalled her mother's advice. She had told her not to drink so she had a soft drink and felt proud of herself as she knew she had followed her mother's advice.
Q2. The poet is confident that she would reach home safe as ____________ but that did not happen. She is now __________. There is a ___________ near her. The person who caused the accident was ___________.
Suggested answer:
The poet is confident that she would reach home safe as she had listened to her mother's advice but that did not happen. She is now lying on the pavement. There is a policeman near her. The person who caused the accident was drunk.
Q3. Place the given events in order:
Drinks Sprite.
Gets into a car.
Dreams of reaching safe.
Invited to a party.
Drunken driver on road.
Party is over.
Remembers mother's advises.
Hits her vehicle.
Suggested answer:
Invited to a party.
Remembers mother's advises.
Drinks Sprite.
Party is over.
Gets into a car.
Dreams of reaching safe.
Drunken driver on road.
Hits her vehicle.
By Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
The Best advice I ever had came from on of the greatest souls the world has ever known - Mahatma Gandhi- on a sunny afternoon a decade ago. Most people pass through a period of anguish when their belief in humanity is at a low ebb. I was in such a period. My husband had recently died. My deep sorrow over his loss was followed by the humiliating realization that in the eyes of Indian Law I had no individual existence.
Now as a widow without a son, I was not entitled to any share of the family property, nor were my two daughters. I resented this galling position. I was bitter towards those members of my family who supported this antiquated law. At this time I went to pay my respects to Gandhiji and say good bye before leaving for America to take part in a conference. After our talk he asked "Have you made your peace with your relatives?"
I was amazed that he would take sides against me. "I have not quarrelled with anyone", I replied, "but I refuse to have anything to do with those who take advantage of an outworn law to create a difficult and humiliating situation for me."
Gandhiji looked out of the window for a moment. Then he turned to me and smiled and said, "You will go and say good-bye because courtesy and decency demand this. In India, we still attach importance to these things."
"No," I declared, "not even to please you will I go to those who wish to harm me."
"No one can harm you except yourself," he said, still smiling." I see enough bitterness in your heart to cause you injury unless you check it." I remained silent, and he continued: "You are going to a new country because you are unhappy and want to escape. Can you escape from yourself? will you find happiness outside when there is bitterness in your heart? Think it over. Be a little humble. You have lost a loved one- that is sorrow enough. Must you inflict further injury on yourself because you lack courage to cleanse your own heart?"
His words would not leave me. They gave me no peace. After some days of severe struggle with myself, I finally telephoned my brother- in- law. I would like to see him and the family, I said, before leaving.
I hadn't been with them five minutes before I sensed that my visit had brought a feeling of relief to every one. I told them of my plans and asked for their good wishes before starting on this new stage of my life. The effect on me was miraculous. I felt as if a great burden had been lifted and was free to be myself.
This small gesture was the beginning of a significant change in me.
Recently something happened to me. My guests of honour, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Lady Eden, could hardly have been more important to me, High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom. I had planned everything meticulously, from the menu to the colour scheme of the flowers and the candles. When the guests had arrived and drinks had been passed twice, I signaled the butler to announce dinner. But still we waited. When for the third time drinks came round I excused myself and ran downstairs to the kitchen.
It presented a shocking sight. In one corner stood a frightened little kitchen maid, in another the housekeeper. At the table sat my cook, waving a ladle and singing, beating time with his foot. His eyes were glazed and he was far away if some other sphere. The table was littered with pieces of chicken.
My knees felt too weak to support me, but I asked in as normal a voice as I could command: "Why isn't the dinner ready?"
"But it is ready, Madame," my cook chanted. "All ready. Every body sit down, sit down........"
I was furious. It was on the tip of my tongue to say. "Get out. You're dismissed!" when I thought of the counsel that had calmed me so many times. If I lost control, I would only hurt myself.
I pulled myself together. Let's get something on the table," I said. Everyone pitched in. the food served wasn't quite what the menu described, but when I told my guests what had happened there was chorus of surprise. "If this is what your cook gives you when he's drunk," someone exclaimed
"what must he provide when sober!"
The relief in my laughter must have sounded a little hysterical. My perspective restored, I realized that a dinner party, however important, is not the pivot of existence.
To retain a sense of proportion is as important as being able to keep ones heart free from hatred. For all of us, no matter what our work, the advice Gandhiji gave me is meaningful, 'No one can harm you but yourself."
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, one of Jawaharlal Nehru's sisters, wrote this article for the Digest in 1955 when she was High Commissioner for India in the UK. She died in 1990
I. Read the passage above and answer the following questions
- Why was Vijalaxmi Pandit in anguish? Answer in two to three sentences.
- What was Mahatma Gandhi's advice to Vijalaxmi Pandit ?
- How did Vijalaxmi Pandi feel when she contacted her brother-in- law's family?
- What went wrong with the dinner she hosted for the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Lady Eden?
- How did Gandhiji's advice help her to manage the dinner crisis?
II. Find words in the passage which meant the same.
- to grow weaker, wane, a point of decline
- that has grown old but not valued old- fashioned
- the effect of the distance of events upon the mind
- extremely or excessively careful about small details
- annoying, irritating.
Answer:
I
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Vijayalaxmi Pandit had lost her husband and as a window without a son she was not entitled to any share of family property, nor were her two daughters. She did not like this and was angry with her in laws
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Gandhi's advice was that bitterness in the heart could hurt oneself. He said that one could harm her except herself. He told her to visit her brother-in-law and his family and make peace with them.
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She heeded Mahatma Gandhi's advice and contacted her brother-in- law. She felt a sense of relief and as if a great burden had been lifted and she was free to be herself.
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Though Vijalaxmi singalled for dinner to her butler it was still not served. She went into the kitchen and realized her cook was drunk and was busy singing away. Her housekeeper and her kitchen maid were too frightened to help.
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Vijayalaxmi Pandhi was upset to see her cook drunk and inner not ready. It was almost on the tip of her tongue to dismiss the cook but she remembered Mahatma Gandhi's words of advice in time. So she pulled herself and did what she could to fix and serve dinner. She realized that a dinner party, however important, is not the pivot of existence.
II
- ebb
- antiquated
- perspective
- meticulously
- galling
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