HORNBILL

The Portrait of a Lady
(Khushwant Singh)

About The Lesson
Khushwant Singh family writes about his perceptions and interactions with places and people he has come in contact with.” The Portrait of a Lady” is autobiographical in nature as it describes the author’s association with his grandmother and changes that come about in their relationship. It is a loving tribute from a grandson to his grandmother where he reminisces about emotional bond he shared with her. On reading it, the readers are forced to evaluate their own relationships with their grandparents and to reflect on the reasons for the growing isolation of elders in families.

Summary

In ‘The Portrait of a Lady’, Khushwant Singh sketches a pen-picture of his grandmother. He talks about growing up in the village with her. He also talks about how their relationship changed after moving to the city. Finally, he mentions her burial, which is a moving scene.
Grandmother was a very old woman and she had wrinkled face. She was overweight, short and bent. She walked around the house with her rosary in her hand. She was always dressed in white. Her hair was white. Her lips were always moving in prayer. She would wake the author up and make him ready for school. She went to school with him. The school was attached to the temple. While the children learned the alphabet, she sat inside and read the holy texts.
They came back together after school. She gave the village dogs bread. After a while, they went to the city. The author was now at an English school. The grandmother was unable to assist him with his lessons. She wasn’t satisfied with what he learned there. She was told by the writer that he was taught music. The grandmother didn’t like it at all. She believed that music was meant for prostitutes. She was upset because there was no religious education at the school. There were no stray dogs there. She took the sparrows to feed.
After that, the author went to England to continue his education. She was not upset. She went to the station to bid him farewell. She kissed the author as they parted ways. When he returned after five years, she went to the station to receive him. She didn’t seem to have aged a day. She was already reciting her prayer. She did not pray throughout the evening. She carried a drum with her. She made a phone call to a group of women in her neighbourhood. She sang songs to commemorate her grandson’s return. She became sick the following morning. She prayed quietly in her bed. She passed away peacefully. And the sparrows were affected by her passing. They didn’t even chirp. They ignored the crumbs that were thrown at them.

The portrait of a Lady Explanation

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing-room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.

Word meaning

Wrinkled - having lines or folds
Portrait - painting or picture
Mantelpiece - a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.
the thought was almost revolting - it was very hard for the author to believe
Revolting – unpleasant
Absurd – Illogical
Undignified - disrespectful
Fables - fictitious stories with a moral teaching
Prophets - saints

Explanation :  The author talks about his grandmother. He had known her for the past twenty years and she had always been old and wrinkled. He was told that she was once young and pretty and had a husband. His grandfather’s portrait hung on the wall, in which he wore loose fitted clothes, a turban and had a long, white- coloured beard that reached his chest.
He also appeared very old and the author thought that he was someone who could have many grandchildren but not a wife or children. The author could never imagine that once his grandmother was young and pretty. He could not connect to this idea.
She used to tell him and his cousins about her childhood memories like the games she used to play as a child. They found these stories illogical and disrespectful because it was beyond their imagination to think that grandmother was once a child and played such games. 
They thought that her life’s stories were like the other moral stories which she used to tell them.

She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for twenty years. She could never have been pretty; but she was always beautiful. She hobbled about the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other telling the beads of her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. Yes, she was beautiful. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.

Word meaning

Criss- cross – a pattern of intersecting straight lines
Hobbled – walked in an awkward way.
Spotless white – she wore clean, white coloured dresses

Stoop – bend one’s body forward.
Rosary- a string of beads for keeping count of number of chants made of a religious prayer
Locks - hair
Scattered – disorganized
Untidily – not neat
Puckered – a face contract into wrinkles
Inaudible - unable to be heard
Serenity – the state of being peaceful and calm
an expanse of pure white serenity – refers to the calm, relaxed and peaceful character of the author’s grandmother
Contentment – a state of happiness and satisfaction.

Explanation : His grandmother was short, fat, slightly bent in posture and her face had lots of wrinkles. She seemed so old and she had been the same for the past twenty years. According to the author, she was beautiful but not pretty.
She walked around the house in an awkward way, wearing spotless white clothes with beads of the rosary hanging from one hand and the other hand rested on her back for support. She had silver-coloured hair which was not neatly combed and was disorganized. She was constantly chanting prayers. He compares her to the winter landscape in the mountains which has a peaceful and calm feel. She was a live example of a pure, white, peace – emitting entity.

My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn it. Then she would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink-pot and a red pen, tie them all in a bundle and hand it to me.
After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti with a little butter and sugar spread on it, we went to school. She carried several stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.

Word meaning

Monotonous – dull and boring
Bothered - to be concerned
Fetch – go for and then bring back something for someone
Slate - a flat plate of slate formerly used for writing on in schools
Plastered - covered with a layer of plaster
Earthen - made of baked or fired clay
Stale -  no longer fresh and pleasant to eat; hard, musty, or dry.

Explanation : The author lived with her in the village. They were good friends. His parents left him with her to settle in the city. The author’s grandmother used to wake him up every morning and get him ready for school. She would recite her morning prayers while she bathed and dressed him up and he loved her voice but would not try to memorize a word of what she spoke. She would make his things ready like a wooden slate, a tiny earthen inkpot, and a red pen. He would eat a thick stale chapatti with butter and sugar spread on it. They both used to walk to school and his grandmother carried stale chapattis with her to feed the village dogs.

My grandmother always went to school with me because the school was attached to the temple. The priest taught us the alphabet and morning prayer. While the children sat in rows on either side of the verandah singing the alphabet or the prayer in a chorus, my grandmother sat inside reading the scriptures. When we had both finished, we would walk back together. This time the village dogs would meet us at the temple door. They followed us to our home growling and fighting with each other for the chapattis we threw to them. When my parents were comfortably settled in the city, they sent for us.
That was a turning-point in our friendship. Although we shared the same room, my grandmother no longer came to school with me. I used to go to an English school in a motor bus. There were no dogs in the streets and she took to feeding sparrows in the courtyard of our city house.

Word meaning

Scriptures – the sacred writings of a religion
Growling – making a low guttural sound in the throat
Courtyard - verandah

Explanation : His grandmother would accompany him to the school as the temple was attached to the school and she used to visit the temple daily. On one side, he would sit on the verandah with other children, would sing the alphabet and prayers in the chorus. On the other hand, she would sit in the temple to read the scriptures. After finishing, they would walk back home together.
The village dogs met them at the village door. They would follow them to their home, growling and fighting with each other for the stale chapatis that she fed them. When his parents got settled in the city, they called them. That was the turning point of his friendship with his grandmother. They shared the same room but she no longer would give him company to his school. He started going to an English medium school and a motor bus would come to pick and drop him. There were no dogs in the streets whom she could feed as she did in the village. So, she started feeding sparrows in the verandah of their house.

As the years rolled by we saw less of each other. For some time she continued to wake me up and get me ready for school. When I came back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me. I would tell her English words and little things of western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes’ Principle, the world being round, etc. This made her unhappy. She could not help me with my lessons. She did not believe in the things they taught at the English school and was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. One day I announced that we were being given music lessons. She was very disturbed. To her music had lewd associations. It was the monopoly of harlots and beggars and not meant for gentlefolk. She said nothing but her silence meant disapproval.
She rarely talked to me after that.

Word meaning

Years rolled by - time passed
Distressed – suffer from extremely sorrow, anxiety or pain
Lewd Association – Indecent or Obscene
Harlots – Prostitutes
Gentlefolk – People of noble birth

Explanation : As the years passed in the city, their interaction reduced. For some time, she continued to wake him up and would get him ready for school. She would ask him what he had learned in school that day. The scientific terminology and English words made her unhappy. As she didn’t know the language, she could not help him with the lessons. As his new school never taught him about God and religious scriptures, this made her sad. She did not approve of such an education. When she came to know that he was getting music lessons, it disturbed her. According to her, music was indecent and it was an art for the beggars and prostitutes, and not for those belonging to decent families. She didn’t like that he learned music, so, she stopped talking to him.

When I went up to University, I was given a room of my own. The common link of friendship was snapped. My grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to anyone. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirruping. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. It used to be the happiest half-hour of the day for her.

Word meaning

Snapped -  break suddenly and completely
Seclusion – the state of being private and away from the people
accepted her seclusion with resignation - the grandmother accepted a lonely life as she accepted the separation from her grandson without objection
Spinning-wheel  – a household machine with a wheel attached to it for spinning yarn
A veritable bedlam of chirruping – refers to the noise and confusion caused by the chirruping of the sparrows
Veritable – use to describe something which is very interesting or unusual
Bedlam – confusion
Chirruping – the noise of a small bird
Perched – alight or rest on something
Shooed – make a person or animal go away by shouting or saying ‘shoo’

Explanation : As the author went to university, he had a room of his own. The common link of his friendship with his grandmother that they had when they shared the same room, was changed now and thus, his friendship with her ended. She became more private and spent her whole day spinning wheel. From sunrise to sunset, she would sit and silently recite her prayers. In the afternoon, she used to feed sparrows in the verandah. Breaking the bread into small pieces, she would feed hundreds of birds. The birds would gather around her, some sat near her, some on her legs, some on her shoulders and few on her head. She never shooed them, but always smiled. She was the happiest in that half an hour during the whole day.

When I decided to go abroad for further studies, I was sure my grandmother would be upset. I would be away for five years, and at her age one could never tell. But my grandmother could. She was not even sentimental. She came to leave me at the railway station but did not talk or show any emotion. Her lips moved in prayer, her mind was lost in prayer. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary. Silently she kissed my forehead, and when I left I cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between us. But that was not so. After five years I came back home and was met by her at the station. She did not look a day older. She still had no time for words, and while she clasped me in her arms I could hear her reciting her prayers. Even on the first day of my arrival, her happiest moments were with her sparrows whom she fed longer and with frivolous rebukes.

Word meaning 

Sentimental – a feeling of nostalgia, sadness or tenderness; an emotional feeling
Beads – a small piece of glass or stone threaded with others to make a rosary or necklace
Cherished – hold something dear
Moist - wet
Imprint – impression or stamp
Clasped – hold tightly
Frivolous – not having any serious purpose, light-hearted
Rebuke – disapproval of something or someone
frivolous rebukes – light hearted scolding

Explanation : When the author decided to go abroad for further studies, he believed it would be the last time he would see her as he would be gone for five long years. As they all reached the station, she held him tightly and kissed his forehead. He thought it was the last physical contact with her. The wet impression of her hand was dear to him. She was not sentimental at all. When he came back after five years, she came to meet him at the station. She looked just the way she did five years ago, not a day older. She held him again in her arms and was still reciting her prayers.
He noticed on the first day of his arrival that only sparrows would make her happy.

In the evening a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray. The next morning she was taken ill. It was a mild fever and the doctor told us that it would go. But my grandmother thought differently. She told us that her end was near. She said that, since only a few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life she had omitted to pray, she was not going to waste any more time talking to us.

Word meaning

Thumped - hit
Sagging – sinking downwards
Dilapidated – in a state of despair or ruin
the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum - The loose surface of the worn out drum
Persuade – to talk someone into doing something
Overstraining - overdoing something
Omitted – leave out or exclude something

Explanation : An evening, she didn’t follow her regular routine of praying. She collected a few women from the neighbourhood, got a drum and started singing with them. She thumped the ruined part of the drum and sang along. The whole family persuaded her to stop as she might get ill due to exhaustion. The next morning, she fell ill. It was a mild fever. The doctors told them that it would go away but she took it differently. According to her, she would die soon as her end was near. She started chanting prayers as she didn’t want to waste her last hours in talking to anyone.

We protested. But she ignored our protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. Even before we could suspect, her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful pallor spread on her face and we knew that she was dead.

Word meaning 

Protested – express an objection against something or someone
Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance

Explanation : The family protested, tried to stop her but she lay peacefully on her bed, chanting prayers and doing her beads. Suddenly, she stopped and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A calm, pale appearance spread on her face and she was dead.

We lifted her off the bed and, as is customary, laid her on the ground and covered her with a red shroud. After a few hours of mourning we left her alone to make arrangements for her funeral. In the evening we went to her room with a crude stretcher to take her to be cremated. The sun was setting and had lit her room and verandah with a blaze of golden light. We stopped half-way in the courtyard.
All over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead and stiff wrapped in the red shroud, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. There was no chirruping. We felt sorry for the birds and my mother fetched some bread for them. She broke it into little crumbs, the way my grandmother used to, and threw it to them. The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When we carried my grandmother’s corpse off, they flew away quietly. Next morning the sweeper swept the bread crumbs into the dustbin.

Word meaning 

Customary – traditional
Crude – in a natural state, roughly made
Cremated – dispose of or burn a body after it is dead
Blaze – a very large burning fire
Shroud – a piece of cloth used to wrap a dead person
Corpse - dead body

Explanation : The family lifted her from the bed, laid her on the ground and wrapped her with a red- coloured cloth. Thousands of sparrows sat silently near her. The author’s mother fetched some bread for the birds but they didn’t eat any. They flew away later as the family carried the dead body. The sweeper removed the crumbs the next morning. The birds were so sensitive. They did not want to eat bread but were mourning the death of the one who had fed them for so many days.
 

We’re Not afraid to Die…..
If we can All Be Together
(Gordon cook And Alan East)

About the lesson

“We're Not Afraid to Die … If We can All Be Together”, as the title suggests adventurous ordeal at sea. It is an account of the narrator's grit and courage to face adversities , especially when one enjoys the faith and support of kith and kin. The lesson is a heart-rending account of how the family of the narrator - his wife Mary, his son Jonathan, aged 6 and daughter Suzanne,aged 7 had a close encounter with death during their voyage. After crossing Cape Town their boat ‘Wavewalker’ was caught in rough Seas and was badly damaged by a gigantic wave. The family was badly bruised, still they kept their courage for they found their strength in their togetherness . The lesson is a treatise on courage and valour. If one keeps one’s calm in times of adversities  and maintains faith and conviction in one's own strength, even got seems to stand by the side of such valiant and brave people.

Summary
The narrator and his wife plan a voyage around the world just like famous Captain James Cook. They have been preparing and perfecting their seafaring skills for the past 16 years. They get a ship which is 23 meters long and weighs 30 tons wooden-hulled, named Wave Walker. They test it in the rough weather for months.
In July 1976, they all start their journey from Plymouth, England. They sail from Africa to Cape Town which was quite a pleasant journey. Before heading East, the narrator hired two crewmen, Larry Vigil, and Herb Seigler, to help them tackle one of the roughest sea – the Southern Indian Ocean.
They encounter strong and alarming waves during the second day. By December 25, they all manage to reach 35,000 kilometres east of Cape Town. The family, somehow, manages to surpass the bad weather and celebrates Christmas together.
The weather changes for the worse and on January 2, the big waves hit them. They try to slow the ship down by dropping storm jib and hit a heavy mooring rope in a loop across a stern but it doesn’t help much. They carry their life-raft drill, attach lifelines, don life jackets and oilskins.
Later, in the evening, a vertical and huge wave strikes the ship and the narrator is thrown off from the ship. He accepts his ‘approaching death’ and starts losing consciousness. When the ship is about to overturn, a huge wave hit again and turns it right back. He suffers injuries in ribs and mouth. He grabs the guard rail and sails into the ship’s main boom.
He instructs his wife Mary to guard the wheel as he realizes that the ship has water in the lower parts. His crewman starts pumping out the water. The narrator goes to his children’s cabin and checks on them. His daughter, Sue, informs him about a bump on her head which he ignores because his major concern is to save the ship.
The narrator does water-proofing on the gaping holes. This makes water to deviate on the right side. The hand pump gets blocked due to debris and electric-pump gets short-circuited. However, he later finds a spare electric pump and connects it to drain the water. They all keep pumping the water all night long. Their Mayday calls are not answered as they are in the remotest corner of the world.
Sue, on the other hand, has now a swollen black eye and a deep cut in her arm. On being asked by her father about her injuries, she tells him she didn’t want him to worry as he was trying to save them. After 15 hours the situation gets under control. The narrator decides to work in rotation and rests. The water levels are controlled but the leaks were still there, below the waterline.
The ship is in bad shape now. It is not in a condition to reach Australia, and so, they decide to reach the nearest island, lle Amsterdam, a French Scientific base. As their supporting engines were also damaged, the chances of the ship to reach the destination are low.
After pumping the water out continuously for 36 hours, they took a sigh of relief. Only a few centimetres of water was left to be pumped out of the boat. They hoisted the storm jib as the mainmast was destroyed. They ate their first meal in two days, some corned beef and crackers. The weather soon started changing and again the black clouds took over by the morning of January 5. His son, Jonathan, told him that he didn’t fear death as long as they were all together. This filled him with determination to fight the sea.
The struggle continued and the narrator tried his best to protect the weakened starboard side. The same evening, the narrator and his wife sat together holding hands, thinking that their end was near. His children continuously supported him which gave him moral support to keep going.
The Wavewalker sailed through the storm and made it. The narrator then calculated their exact position by working on the wind speed. While he was brainstorming, Sue, gave him a card that she had made expressing her love and gratitude towards the family.
He instructed Larry to steer the course to 185 degrees. He said that if they were lucky, they could hope to find an island by 5 pm. He dozed off and suddenly got up around 6 pm. He believed that they didn’t make it and was disappointed. His son came and informed him about how they reached the lle Amsterdam Island and he called him ‘best daddy’ and ‘best captain’.
They reached the island with little struggle and with the help of inhabitants. The whole team, the family and two crew members, never stopped trying. Their struggle and hard work finally saved them.

We’re Not Afraid to Die ….If We Can All Be Together Explanation

IN July 1976, my wife Mary, son Jonathan, 6, daughter Suzanne, 7, and I set sail from Plymouth, England, to duplicate the round-the-world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James Cook. For the longest time, Mary and I — a 37-year-old businessman — had dreamt of sailing in the wake of the famous explorer, and for the past 16 years, we had spent all our leisure time honing our seafaring skills in British waters. Our boat Wavewalker, a 23 meter, 30-ton wooden-hulled beauty, had been professionally built, and we had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the roughest weather we could find.

Word meaning

Voyage – a long journey by sea or space
Leisure – free time
Honing – sharpen, improving
Seafaring – regularly traveling by sea
Honing our seafaring skills – improving the skills required to travel by sea
Wooden-hulled – a watertight body of a ship

Explanation : The narrator, 37-year-old businessman, along with his wife Mary and two children – Jonathan (age 6) and Suzanne (age 7) went on a voyage on their ship in July 1976. They started from Plymouth, England. They wanted to complete the sea trip around the world just like the one that had been completed 200 years ago by the famous Captain James Cook. The narrator and his wife spent 16 years improving their seafaring skills. They got a ship built professionally, a 23 meter long, 30 ton heavy wooden-hulled called ‘Wavewalker’. They took several months to test it in the roughest of weathers.

The first leg of our planned three-year, 105,000 kilometre journey passed pleasantly as we sailed down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. There, before heading east, we took on two crewmen — American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler — to help us tackle one of the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean.
On our second day out of Cape Town, we began to encounter strong gales. For the next few weeks, they blew continuously. Gales did not worry me; but the size of the waves was alarming — up to 15 metres, as high as our main mast.

Word meaning

Gales – A very strong wind
Mast – a tall upright structure on a boat or ship

Explanation : The initial phase of the three-year long journey of 105,000 kilometre passed pleasantly. They sailed down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. The narrator hired two crewmen before heading towards the east to tackle the roughest sea- the southern Indian Ocean. Their names were Larry Vigil, an American and Herb Seigler, a Swiss. On the second day in Cape Town, they encountered a strong wind which continued for several weeks. A strong wind was not a problem but 15 metres high waves, which were the height of the mast, worried the narrator.

December 25 found us 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. Despite atrocious weather, we had a wonderful holiday complete with a Christmas tree. New Year’s Day saw no improvement in the weather, but we reasoned that it had to change soon. And it did change — for the worse.
At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave we could see endless enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed everything, went through our life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets — and waited.

Word meaning

Atrocious – bad; of a very poor quality
Gigantic – huge; of a big size
Jib – a triangular staysail set forward the mast in a ship
Knots – a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, used especially of ships, aircraft, or winds
Enormous – a very large size
Lashed – to hit with a lot of force
Mooring – the ropes, chains, or anchors by or to which a boat, ship, or buoy is moored
Loop – a shape produced that bends round and crosses; bent
Stern – the back part of a ship or a boat
Donned – put on, wore
Oilskins – heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with oil

Explanation : On December 25, they had travelled 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. They celebrated Christmas together, despite the bad weather. The weather remained the same till New Year’s Day but they hoped for it to change soon. The weather conditions worsened. On the early morning of January 2, the waves were very huge. They were sailing with a small storm jib, at a speed of eight knots. When the ship was sailing with the huge waves, they could see the huge sea in front of them. The noise of the waves and strong winds was painful for the ears. They dropped the storm jib to slow down the ship and hit a heavy mooring rope across the back part of the ship in a loop. They lashed everything with double force. They put on their oilskins and life jackets, attached lifelines and went through the life raft drills and waited.

The first indication of impending disaster came at about 6 p.m., with an ominous silence. The wind dropped, and the sky immediately grew dark. Then came a growing roar, and an enormous cloud towered aft of the ship. With horror, I realised that it was not a cloud, but a wave like no other I had ever seen. It appeared perfectly vertical and almost twice the height of the other waves, with a frightful breaking crest.

Word meaning

Impending – about to happen
Ominous silence – unpleasant or threatening silence
Aft – near the stern of the ship
Frightful – very unpleasant or shocking
Crest – reach the top of a wave

Explanation : Around 6 pm, an unpleasant silence rolled over, it was an indication of a disaster which was about to happen. The wind suddenly dropped and the sky was darker with heavy clouds. A huge cloud was coming towards the stern of the ship but later the narrator realized it was a huge wave. The wave was perfectly vertical and it was twice the height of the previous waves they saw with the top of the wave looking unpleasant due to its height.

The roar increased to a thunder as the stern moved up the face of the wave, and for a moment I thought we might ride over it. But then a tremendous explosion shook the deck. A torrent of green and white water broke over the ship, my head smashed into the wheel and I was aware of flying overboard and sinking below the waves. I accepted my approaching death, and as I was losing consciousness, I felt quite peaceful.

Word meaning

Tremendous – very great in amount
Shook – past tense of shake (vibrate)
Deck – a floor of a ship
Torrent – a fast moving stream of water
Smashed – shattered or violently broken

Explanation : The thunder increased and the waved moved the stern up. They thought that it would not do any damage but a huge explosion vibrated the deck. A strong moving stream of green and white water broke over the ship. The narrator’s head smashed in the wheel of the ship, he flew overboard and sank below the waves. He accepted that his death was approaching and started losing consciousness. He felt quite peaceful.

Unexpectedly, my head popped out of the water. A few metres away, Wavewalker was near capsizing, her masts almost horizontal. Then a wave hurled her upright, my lifeline jerked taut, I grabbed the guard rails and sailed through the air into Wavewalker’s main boom. Subsequent waves tossed me around the deck like a rag doll. My left ribs cracked; my mouth filled with blood and broken teeth. Somehow, I found the wheel, lined up the stern for the next wave and hung on.
Water, Water, Everywhere. I could feel that the ship had water below, but I dared not abandon the wheel to investigate. Suddenly, the front hatch was thrown open and Mary appeared. “We’re sinking!” she screamed. “The decks are smashed; we’re full of water.” “Take the wheel”, I shouted as I scrambled for the hatch.

Word meaning

Capsizing – be overturned in the water
Hurled – throw with a great force
Taut – stretched or pulled tightly
Boom – pole that controls the angle and shape of the sail
Scrambled – climb; claw one’s way
Hatch – door

Explanation : The narrator’s head popped out of water. The ship was about to overturn but a wave turned her upright. His lifeline jacket was stretched, he grabbed the guard rails and sailed to the ship’s main pole. The waves tossed him around the deck. He was injured as his left ribs cracked, his mouth filled with blood and he had a broken tooth. He found the wheel, lined the stern for the next wave and waited. There was water everywhere. The narrator could feel water below the ship but he didn’t leave the wheel alone. Suddenly, the front door opened and his wife, Mary, came screaming that they were sinking. She said, ‘the decks are smashed; we’re full of water’. The narrator handed her the wheel and climbed towards the door.

Larry and Herb were pumping like madmen. Broken timbers hung at crazy angles, the whole starboard side bulged inwards; clothes, crockery, charts, tins and toys sloshed about in deep water. I half-swam, half-crawled into the children’s cabin. “Are you all right?” I asked. “Yes,” they answered from an upper bunk. “But my head hurts a bit,” said Sue, pointing to a big bump above her eyes. I had no time to worry about bumped heads. After finding a hammer, screws and canvas, I struggled back on deck. With the starboard side bashed open, we were taking water with each wave that broke over us. If I couldn’t make some repairs, we would surely sink.

Word meaning

Timbers – wood board used in building of a ship
Starboard – side of a ship which is on the right side when one is facing forward
Bulged – swell
Sloshed – move through liquid with a splashing sound.
Bashed – strike hard; hit 

Explanation : The crewman Larry and Herb were pumping the water very fast. The timbers of the ship were broken and were hanging badly. The starboard of the ship had sunk, clothes, crockery, charts, tins and toys were roaming around in deep water. The narrator swam and crawled to the children’s cabin and asked the children whether they were alright. The children replied ‘yes’. Sue, his daughter complained about a big bump on her head. The narrator didn’t pay much attention to it as his major concern was to save them. The narrator found screws, hammer and canvas, he went back to the deck. The broken starboard side was letting so much water in, if the narrator could not fix the problem, they would all sink in the sea.

Somehow I managed to stretch canvas and secure waterproof hatch covers across the gaping holes. Some water continued to stream below, but most of it was now being deflected over the side.
More problems arose when our hand pumps started to block up with the debris floating around the cabins and the electric pump short-circuited. The water level rose threateningly. Back on deck I found that our two spare hand pumps had been wrenched overboard — along with the forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor.
Then I remembered we had another electric pump under the chartroom floor. I connected it to an out-pipe, and was thankful to find that it worked.

Word meaning

Deflected - turned aside
Canvas – a strong unbleached cloth
Debris – rubbish
Wrenched – pull suddenly, removed
Forestay – a rope to support ship’s foremast
Dinghies – a small boat for recreation with mast or sail

Explanation : The narrator stretched the canvas cloth and secured the waterproof hatch which covered the gaping holes. Some water streamed below and some was now deflected over the side. The handpump was blocked as rubbish was floating around the cabins and entered it, the electric pump short-circuited. As the water level rose, the narrator found two hand pumps had been removed along with a rope, jib, a small boat, and the main anchor. He found another electric pump under the chartroom. He connected it to an out pipe and it started working.

The night dragged on with an endless, bitterly cold routine of pumping, steering and working the radio. We were getting no replies to our Mayday calls — which was not surprising in this remote corner of the world.
Sue’s head had swollen alarmingly; she had two enormous black eyes, and now she showed us a deep cut on her arm. When I asked why she hadn’t made more of her injuries before this, she replied, “I didn’t want to worry you when you were trying to save us all.”

Word meaning

Mayday calls – words used to signal ships stuck in a disastrous situation through radio

Explanation : The whole night was about the endless routine of pumping out the water, steering the wheel and working the radio. There were no replies to their signals sent over the radio as they were in the remotest part of the world. Sue’s head was now more swollen and she had two back eyes with a deep cut in her arm. When upon being asked why she didn’t tell him about her injuries earlier, she said that she didn’t want to worry him as he was trying to save all of them.

By morning on January 3, the pumps had the water level sufficiently under control for us to take two hours’ rest in rotation. But we still had a tremendous leak somewhere below the waterline and, on checking, I found that nearly all the boat’s main rib frames were smashed down to the keel. In fact, there was nothing holding up a whole section of the starboard hull except a few cupboard partitions.
We had survived for 15 hours since the wave hit, but Wavewalker wouldn’t hold together long enough for us to reach Australia. I checked our charts and calculated that there were two small islands a few hundred kilometres to the east. One of them, Ile Amsterdam, was a French scientific base. Our only hope was to reach these pinpricks in the vast ocean. But unless the wind and seas abated so we could hoist sail, our chances would be slim indeed. The great wave had put our auxiliary engine out of action.

Word meaning

Smashed – badly broken
Keel – steel structure along the base of the ship
Pinpricks – a prick caused by a pin
Pinpricks in the vast ocean – the two small islands in the vast ocean were very tiny like the prick caused by a pin
Abated – something unpleasant to become less intense
Auxiliary engine – small secondary engine used to board ships to operate a windlass in the ship

Explanation : The water level was under control by the morning of January 3, so all of them took two hours rest in rotation. But there still was a leak somewhere below the waterline. Upon checking, the boat rib structure was badly broken down till the base of the ship. The whole section of starboard was held together with a few cupboard partitions.
The ship’s condition was so bad that it would not make it till Australia. The narrator checked the charts and calculated that there were two small islands a few kilometres to the east, one of them was lle Amsterdam, which was a French Scientific base. Their only hope was to search and reach that island. But only if the wind and the sea do not cause further damage, else their chances were slim. The wave had destroyed the ship’s auxiliary engine.

On January 4, after 36 hours of continuous pumping, we reached the last few centimetres of water. Now, we had only to keep pace with the water still coming in. We could not set any sail on the main mast. Pressure on the rigging would simply pull the damaged section of the hull apart, so we hoisted the storm jib and headed for where I thought the two islands were. Mary found some corned beef and cracker biscuits, and we ate our first meal in almost two days.
But our respite was short-lived. At 4 p.m. black clouds began building up behind us; within the hour the wind was back to 40 knots and the seas were getting higher. The weather continued to deteriorate throughout the night, and by dawn on January 5, our situation was again desperate.

Word meaning

Rigging – the ropes and wires supporting the structure of the ship
Hull – the framework of the vessel
Respite – a short period of rest
Deteriorate – get worse

Explanation : 36 hours of continuous pumping, on January 4, the water was only a few centimetres left to be pumped out. But they still had to pump out the water which was coming in. They could not set sail on the main mast. They hoisted the storm jib and sailed towards the two small islands. They had their first meal in two days, some corned beef and cracker biscuits found by Mary.
The rest period was short-lived as black clouds built up around 4 pm. The wind was now 40 knots and the sea was getting higher. The weather got worse and by the early morning of January 5, the situation was bad.

When I went in to comfort the children, Jon asked, “Daddy, are we going to die?” I tried to assure him that we could make it. “But, Daddy,” he went on, “we aren’t afraid of dying if we can all be together — you and Mummy, Sue and I.”
I could find no words with which to respond, but I left the children’s cabin determined to fight the sea with everything I had. To protect the weakened starboard side, I decided to heave to — with the undamaged port hull facing the oncoming waves, using an improvised sea anchor of heavy nylon rope and two 22 litre plastic barrels of paraffin.
That evening, Mary and I sat together holding hands, as the motion of the ship brought more and more water in through the broken planks. We both felt the end was very near.

Word meaning

Heave to – to raise or lift with effort
Paraffin – colourless flammable oil liquid

Explanation : When the narrator went to comfort his children, his son asked him whether they were going to die. He tried to assure him that they would make it. His son replied that they were not afraid to die till they all were together. This filled the narrator with a determination to fight back. He made efforts to protect the weakened starboard side. He used an improvised sea anchor made of heavy nylon rope and two 22 litre plastic barrels of kerosene. That same evening, the narrator and his wife sat holding hands and they believed that their end was near.

But Wavewalker rode out the storm and by the morning of January 6, with the wind easing, I tried to get a reading on the sextant. Back in the chartroom, I worked on wind speeds, changes of course, drift and current in an effort to calculate our position. The best I could determine was that we were somewhere in 150,000 kilometres of ocean looking for a 65 kilometre-wide island.
While I was thinking, Sue, moving painfully, joined me. The left side of her head was now very swollen and her blackened eyes narrowed to slits. She gave me a card she had made.
On the front she had drawn caricatures of Mary and me with the words: “Here are some funny people. Did they make you laugh? I laughed a lot as well.” Inside was a message: “Oh, how I love you both. So this card is to say thank you and let’s hope for the best.” Somehow we had to make it.

Word meaning

Sextant – an instrument with graduated arc of 60 degrees for taking altitudes and navigation
Caricatures – picture of a person; cartoon

Explanation : The ship made it through the storm and by the morning of January 6, the narrator tried to get reading on the sextant. He worked with wind speeds, drift and current and calculated their position. They were in 150,000 kilometres area of ocean, looking for a 65 kilometre wide island. While the narrator was still thinking, his daughter Sue, joined him and she was in pain. The left side of her head was swollen and her blackened eyes had narrowed down to slits. She gave him a card which she had made herself. On the front of the card was a cartoon image of her parents with words written about them being funny people and how they made her laugh. On the inside of the card, she told them how she loved them both and she thanked them. This made the narrator realize that they had to make it to the island.

I checked and rechecked my calculations. We had lost our main compass and I was using a spare which had not been corrected for magnetic variation. I made an allowance for this and another estimate of the influence of the westerly currents which flow through this part of the Indian Ocean.
About 2 p.m., I went on deck and asked Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees. If we were lucky, I told him with a conviction I did not feel, he could expect to see the island at about 5 p.m.
Then with a heavy heart, I went below, climbed on my bunk and amazingly, dozed off. When I woke it was 6 p.m. and growing dark. I knew we must have missed the island, and with the sail, we had left, we couldn’t hope to beat back into the westerly winds.
At that moment, a tousled head appeared by my bunk. “Can I have a hug?” Jonathan asked. Sue was right behind him.

Word meaning

Tousled head – disarranged hair of the narrator’s son, Jonathan
Bunk – bed
Dozed off – went off to sleep

Explanation : The narrator rechecked his calculations. They lost their main compass and were using the spare one which was not corrected for magnetic variations. He estimated the influence of the westerly currents which flow through the Indian Ocean. Around 2 pm, he went on deck and asked Larry to steer the wheel to 185 degrees. He felt, if they were lucky, they would see the island by 5 pm. Then he went below and slept. He woke up around 6 pm and it was dark outside. He thought that they might have missed the island. He started worrying about how they would tackle the westerly wind more as the ship wasn’t capable to sail more. His son came and asked him for a hug, his daughter followed.

“Why am I getting a hug now?” I asked.
“Because you are the best daddy in the whole world — and the best captain,” my son replied.
“Not today, Jon, I’m afraid.”
“Why, you must be,” said Sue in a matter-of-fact voice. “You found the island.”
“What!” I shouted.
“It’s out there in front of us,” they chorused, “as big as a battleship.”
I rushed on deck and gazed with relief at the stark outline of Ile Amsterdam. It was only a bleak piece of volcanic rock, with little vegetation — the most beautiful island in the world!

Word meaning

Bleak – an area of land lacking vegetation
Stark – sharply defined

Explanation : He asked that why was he getting a hug. His son replied that he was the best daddy in the world and also called him the best captain. The narrator replied that he was afraid. Sue told him then that they had found the island which was as big as a battleship.
The narrator rushed to the deck and gave a sigh of relief. They could see the complete outline of lle Amsterdam. There was a bleak piece of volcanic rock in front of them. It had a little vegetation. It was the most beautiful island in the world.

We anchored offshore for the night, and the next morning all 28 inhabitants of the island cheered as they helped us ashore.
With land under my feet again, my thoughts were full of Larry and Herbie, cheerful and optimistic under the direst stress, and of Mary, who stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours. Most of all, I thought of a seven-year-old girl, who did not want us to worry about a head injury (which subsequently took six minor operations to remove a recurring blood clot between skin and skull), and of a six-year-old boy who was not afraid to die.

Word meaning

Anchored – moor a ship to the sea bottom
Offshore – situated at the sea some distance from the shore
Ashore – on the shore of the land
Optimistic – hopeful and confident

Explanation : They moored the ship at some distance from the shore and the next morning, 28 inhabitants of the Amsterdam island helped them to move on the shore of the land. As he felt the land again on his feet, he thought of his crewmen and his wife. He also thought of his seven-year-old daughter who was injured badly. She had to go through six minor operations to remove the blood clot in her head. His son who never gave up and was not afraid to die.

Discovering tut: the Saga Continues
(A.R Williams)

About the lesson 
“Discovering Tut :the Saga Continues” providers insight into man's keen desire to know and analyse roots of our civilization . The passage transports us to Egypt, the land of the pyramids and ancient civilization . The mummies which lie buried in those wonders of the world has startling facts to reveal about human life thousands of years ago . The discovery of Tut's tomb in 1922 inspired many archaeological researchers to speculate  about what happened to him as he died and early and untimely death.  The last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt and its empire for years,  died when he was just a teenager .His body was laid to rest with gold and eventually forgotten .The lesson analyses the advanced studies made on the cause(s) of his death through C.T scan which offers new clues about his life and death by providing precise data for an accurate forensic reconstruction.

Summary
Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues gives us an in-depth insight of Tutankhamun, the last ruler of the powerful Pharaoh Dynasty in Egypt. He was a teenager when he died and his death was a mystery. Some speculated that he was murdered.
He ruled in Egypt and its empire for centuries. In 1922, his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter, a British Archaeologist. After 80 years, he was taken from his resting place for CT scan which offers to solve the mystery of his life and death by creating a forensic reconstruction.
Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III, was a very powerful Pharaoh who ruled over a period of forty years. His son, Amenhotep IV, thrived him and began the strangest period in the history of Egypt.
He promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk). He changed his name to Akhenaten meaning servant of the Atens. He also moved the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna.
Further, he attacked Amun, a god, smashed his images, and closed his temples. Another mysterious ruler succeeded him who died soon. Next, Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, sat on the throne and ruled for nine years. He worshipped god Amun in the old ways. However, he died mysteriously.
When Tut’s mummified body was discovered, he was laid with lots of gold, wealth and everyday items like a bronze razor, games, clothes, cases of food and wine. Carter discovered him after searching for many years.
After researching on the treasures, he decided to investigate his three nested coffins. Some parts of the Tut’s treasures in the tomb were already looted.
His tomb was rock-cut, 26 feet underground, which had wall paintings. On the outer coffin, Tut’s face was gilded. In the first coffin, he found the garlands of olives, lotus petals, and cornflowers. It showed that he was buried in the months of March or April. The third and final coffin put Carter into trouble.
The resins used to cement Tut to the bottom of the solid gold coffin was hardened enough making it impossible to move. He put the coffin in the sun for several hours in hope for the resins to loosen up but it didn’t work. Finally, he removed the resins with the help of chisel and hammer.
Carter felt he didn’t have any other choice as to if he hadn’t cut the mummy from limb to limb, thieves would have looted the gold. His men first removed his head, then they cut off every joint. After removing the body parts, they placed it on the layer of sand in a wooden box and put it at the original place.
In 1968, the mummy was X-rayed by an anatomy professor, revealed few facts – his breast bone and front ribs were missing.
Later, on January 05 2009, Tut was taken for CT (Computed Tomography) scan which takes hundreds of X-Rays and creates a three-dimensional image. The night of the scan, the workmen carried his body from the tomb in a box.
They climbed ramp and stairs and lifted it on a hydraulic trailer that held the scanner. The scanner stopped working which paused the procedure. After using a pair of spare fans, the scan was finally done. After three-hours, his body was taken back to his tomb where his body is resting in peace.

Lesson's explanation
He was just a teenager when he died. The last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries, he was laid to rest laden with gold and eventually forgotten. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modern world has speculated about what happened to him, with murder being the most extreme possibility. Now, leaving his tomb for the first time in almost 80 years, Tut has undergone a CT scan that offers new clues about his life and death — and provides precise data for an accurate forensic reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.

Word meaning

Heir – Inheritor, successor
Laden – loaded
Speculated- form a theory without evidence
Tomb - an enclosure to bury the dead
Forensic Reconstruction – the process of recreating the face of an individual
Pharaoh - a ruler in ancient Egypt

Explanation : Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, was a teenager when he died. He was the last successor of his powerful Pharaoh Dynasty which ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries. He was laid on rest, heavily loaded with gold. His tomb was discovered in 1922 which made the world raise a question about what had happened to him and whether he had been murdered? After almost 80 years, his body was about to undergo a CT scan which would give new information and clues about his life and death. His face would be recreated with the help of a procedure called forensic reconstruction.

AN angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils as King Tut was taken from his resting place in the ancient Egyptian cemetery known as the Valley of the Kings*. Dark-bellied clouds had scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket grey. It was 6 p.m. on 5 January 2005. The world’s most famous mummy glided head first into a CT scanner brought here to probe the lingering medical mysteries of this little understood young ruler who died more than 3,300 years ago.

Word meaning

Stirred – move or cause to move slightly
Ghostly – eerie and unnatural; unreal
Resting place - here, the grave
Cemetery - a large burial ground
Dark-bellied – dark in colour
Scudded across – moving quickly; it refers to the movement of the dark-bellied clouds
Veiling – to cover something
Casket - a small ornamental box or chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valued objects.
Casket grey – It means that the grey clouds were like a grey coloured casket which contained the stars. The stars are like jewels which are kept in a casket.
Glided – quite, continuous motion
Probe – to investigate, find out
Lingering – long-lasting

Explanation : A fast, strange and unnatural wind was blowing as King Tut’s body was taken from his grave called ‘Valleys of the Kings’, an ancient Egyptian cemetery (The location of the Valley of the King is given in the image). Dark clouds moved quickly across the desert all day long and later, they covered the stars. On January 5, 2005, at 6 pm, King Tut’s mummy which is the world’s most famous mummy was placed in the CT scanner to investigate the mystery behind his death which had occurred more than 3300 years ago.

All afternoon the usual line of tourists from around the world had descended into the cramped, rock-cut tomb some 26 feet underground to pay their respects. They gazed at the murals on the walls of the burial chamber and peered at Tut’s gilded face, the most striking feature of his mummy-shaped outer coffin lid. Some visitors read from guidebooks in a whisper. Others stood silently, perhaps pondering Tut’s untimely death in his late teens, or wondering with a shiver if the pharaoh’s curse — death or misfortune falling upon those who disturbed him — was really true.

Word meaning

Descended – moved or gathered
Cramped – very small to fit into
Rock-cut – made in a rock by cutting it
Gazed – to look in surprise or in admiration
Murals – a painting or other artwork executed directly on the wall
Gilded – covered with a thin sheet or coating of gold
Striking- prominent
Whisper - to speak in a low voice
Pondering – think about something carefully

Explanation : All afternoon, tourists visited the 26 feet deep, underground rock-cut tomb to pay respect to the king. Many people stuffed into the small tomb and looked in admiration at the murals on the walls of the chamber and took a look at the face of Tut that had been painted with gold. While visitors read the guidebooks in a hushed tone, some stood silently, wondering about his untimely death in his teen years. They might also be wondering if the curse of the pharaoh which leads to the descend of misfortune upon the person who disturbs him is true.

“The mummy is in very bad condition because of what Carter did in the 1920s,” said Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, as he leaned over the body for a long first look. Carter—Howard Carter, that is — was the British archaeologist who in 1922 discovered Tut’s tomb after years of futile searching. Its contents, though hastily ransacked in antiquity, were surprisingly complete. They remain the richest royal collection ever found and have become part of the pharaoh’s legend. Stunning artefacts in gold, their eternal brilliance meant to guarantee resurrection, caused a sensation at the time of the discovery — and still get the most attention. But Tut was also buried with everyday things he’d want in the afterlife: board games, a bronze razor, linen undergarments, cases of food and wine.

Word meaning

Futile – pointless; incapable of producing the result of something
Hastily – fast ; swiftly
Ransacked – raid; go through a place to steal or damage something
Antiquity – age, oldness
Resurrection – restoration to life
Afterlife -  life after death, based on the belief that the essential part of an individual’s identity  continues to the next life after the death of the physical body

Explanation : As Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt, leaned over the body to have a look, he said that the mummy was in a very bad condition because of what the British archaeologist Howard Carter did to it in the 1920s. He discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 after a long search. The valuable treasures of Tut had been explored earlier too but surprisingly, they were complete. The treasure found at Tut’s grave is the richest till date and has come to be known as the Pharaoh’s legend. It has artefacts in gold which are eternally beautiful and as good as new. Such artefacts still get attention. Tut was buried with things of daily use like a razor made of bronze, games, linen undergarments and boxes of food and wine which he could use in the next life.

After months of carefully recording the pharaoh’s funerary treasures, Carter began investigating his three nested coffins. Opening the first, he found a shroud adorned with garlands of willow and olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals, and cornflowers, the faded evidence of a burial in March or April. When he finally reached the mummy, though, he ran into trouble. The ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold coffin. “No amount of legitimate force could move them,” Carter wrote later. “What was to be done?”
Funerary Treasures – the valuable things with which the king was buried
three nested coffin- three coffins placed one in another in order of decreasing size. The innermost coffin houses the body of the deceased.

Word meaning

Shroud – a length of cloth in which a dead person is wrapped
Adorned – decorated
Garlands of willow – a wreath of flowers and leaves
Mummy -  a body of a human being or animal that has been ceremonially preserved by removal of the internal organs, wrapping in bandages.
Ritual – here, the resins used in the ceremony of mummification
Resins – a sticky flammable substance that is insoluble in water
Legitimate – reasonable

Explanation : Carter took a few months to record the treasures found in Tut’s grave.  Then he began investigating his three coffins which were nested one in another. In the first coffin, he found a piece of cloth with garlands of willow, olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals and cornflower, which suggested that he had been buried in the months of March or April. When he reached the third coffin, he was in trouble. The body had hardened due to the resins which had cemented the body and it had stuck to the bottom of the coffin which was made of gold. Carter wondered what to do next because no amount of force could separate the two.

The sun can beat down like a hammer this far south in Egypt, and Carter tried to use it to loosen the resins. For several hours he set the mummy outside in blazing sunshine that heated it to 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Nothing budged. He reported with scientific detachment that “the consolidated material had to be chiselled away from beneath the limbs and trunk before it was possible to raise the king’s remains.”

Word meaning

Blazing – very hot
Budged – moved or shifted; a slight movement
Chiselled away – to cut something with a chisel

Explanation : Carter tried to loosen the resins by keeping the body in the hot sun. He kept the mummy in 149 degrees Fahrenheit heat for several hours but still, it remained stuck. He reported that a chisel could be used to cut down the mummy from the limbs and the trunk so that Tut’s body could be taken out of the coffin.

In his defence, Carter really had little choice. If he hadn’t cut the mummy free, thieves most certainly would have circumvented the guards and ripped it apart to remove the gold. In Tut’s time the royals were fabulously wealthy, and they thought — or hoped — they could take their riches with them. For his journey to the great beyond, King Tut was lavished with glittering goods: precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes, and the now iconic inner coffin and mask — all of pure gold. To separate Tut from his adornments, Carter’s men removed the mummy’s head and severed nearly every major joint. Once they had finished, they reassembled the remains on a layer of sand in a wooden box with padding that concealed the damage, the bed where Tut now rests.

Word meaning

Circumvented – find a way around; thieves would have found a way to tackle the guards and remove the gold from the tomb
Inlaid – a decorative pattern on a surface
Amulet – an ornament or small piece of jewellery thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease.
Apron – a protective garment worn over the front of one’s clothes and tied at the back.
Sheaths – a close-fitting cover
Iconic – something or someone who is a symbol or it represents some other thing
Adornments – ornaments
Concealed - hid

Explanation : According to Carter, he had no choice other than to cut the mummy. He believed that if he hadn’t done that, thieves would have removed the gold from the tomb and would have looted it. During Tut’s time, the royal people were very wealthy and they had a belief that after death, they could take the wealth along with them. For his life after death, he was given precious collars, necklaces with decorative patterns, bracelets, rings, amulets, ceremonial aprons, sandals, sheaths for fingers and toes and now, an iconic inner coffin and a mask. His men removed his head and every joint of his body. After they finished, they reassembled the remains in a wooden box with padding filled with a layer of sand to conceal the damage. It was his new resting place.

Archaeology has changed substantially in the intervening decades, focusing less on treasure and more on the fascinating details of life and intriguing mysteries of death. It also uses more sophisticated tools, including medical technology. In 1968, more than 40 years after Carter’s discovery, an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy and revealed a startling fact: beneath the resin that cakes his chest, his breast-bone and front ribs are missing.

Word meaning

Intervening – occur in the time between events
Intriguing – to arouse one’s curiosity
Startling – unexpected or surprising

Explanation : In the past few decades, archaeology has changed as it now focuses on the details of life and the mysteries of death. Earlier, it was about focusing on the treasure. Now, it uses more advanced medical technologies and tools for research. In 1968, an anatomy professor X-rayed King Tut’s mummy and revealed that the front limbs and breast bone were missing.

Today diagnostic imaging can be done with computed tomography, or CT, by which hundreds of X-rays in cross section are put together like slices of bread to create a three-dimensional virtual body. What more would a CT scan reveal of Tut than the X-ray? And could it answer two of the biggest questions still lingering about him — how did he die, and how old was he at the time of his death?
King Tut’s demise was a big event, even by royal standards. He was the last of his family’s line, and his funeral was the death rattle of a dynasty. But the particulars of his passing away and its aftermath are unclear.

Word meaning

Computed Tomography – Also called a CT scan, it is a three-dimensional scan of a body with the help of hundreds of X-Rays in cross-section together
Demise – death
death rattle – the gurgling sound produced in the throat of a person who is about to die
Aftermath – after-effects of an unpleasant event

Explanation : Now with the advancement of technology, CT scan or Computed Tomography can give a virtual image of the whole body. With the help of this technology, King Tut’s body would be scanned to find answers to two questions – How he died and how old was he at the time of his death.
His death was a shock to the royals also as he was the last person of his family and his funeral indicated the diminishment of his dynasty. However, what happened after his death is still not clear.

Amenhotep III — Tut’s father or grandfather — was a powerful pharaoh who ruled for almost four decades at the height of the eighteenth dynasty’s golden age. His son Amenhotep IV succeeded him and initiated one of the strangest periods in the history of ancient Egypt. The new pharaoh promoted the worship of the Aten, the sun disk, changed his name to Akhenaten, or ‘servant of the Aten,’ and moved the religious capital from the old city of Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten, known now as Amarna. He further shocked the country by attacking Amun, a major god, smashing his images and closing his temples. “It must have been a horrific time,” said Ray Johnson, director of the University of Chicago’s research centre in Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes. “The family that had ruled for centuries was coming to an end, and then Akhenaten went a little wacky.”

Word meaning 

Wacky –amusing in a slightly odd way

Explanation : Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III, was a very powerful Pharaoh who ruled over a period of forty years. His son, Amenhotep IV, succeeded him and began the strangest period in the history of Egypt. He promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk). He changed his name to Akhenaten meaning servant of the Atens. He also shifted the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna. Further, he attacked Amun, a god, smashed his images and closed his temples. Ray Johnson, director of the University of Chicago said it must have been a bad time for the empire as the family who ruled for centuries came to an end and Akhenaten moved in an odd direction.

After Akhenaten’s death, a mysterious ruler named Smenkhkare appeared briefly and exited with hardly a trace. And then a very young Tutankhaten took the throne — King Tut as he’s widely known today. The boy king soon changed his name to Tutankhamun, ‘living image of Amun,’ and oversaw a restoration of the old ways. He reigned for about nine years — and then died unexpectedly.
Regardless of his fame and the speculations about his fate, Tut is one mummy among many in Egypt. How many? No one knows. The Egyptian Mummy Project, which began an inventory in late 2003, has recorded almost 600 so far and is still counting. The next phase: scanning the mummies with a portable CT machine donated by the National Geographic Society and Siemens, its manufacturer. King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life, moving regally ahead of his countrymen.

Explanation : Another mysterious ruler, Smenkhhare, succeeded him and died soon. Next, Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, sat on the throne and ruled for nine years. He worshipped god Amun in the old ways. However, he died mysteriously. Tut is one of the mummies in Egypt. Whereas, until now with the help of the Egyptian Mummy Project which started in 2003, almost 600 mummies have been recorded so far. King Tut’s mummy was the first one to be scanned by CT under the next phase of scanning the mummies with the machine donated by the National Geographic Society and Siemens.

A CT machine scanned the mummy head to toe, creating 1,700 digital X-ray images in cross-section. Tut’s head, scanned in 0.62-millimetre slices to register its intricate structures, takes on eerie detail in the resulting image. With Tut’s entire body similarly recorded, a team of specialists in radiology, forensics, and anatomy began to probe the secrets that the winged goddesses of a gilded burial shrine protected for so long.

Word meaning

Eerie detail – strange image of Tut’s head as visible with the help of CT scan
Forensics – the application of the scientific method to investigate a crime
Anatomy – the branch of science which deals with the bodily structure of humans, animals or other living beings
Burial – burying the dead
Shrine – holy place

Explanation : The CT scan machine scanned the body by creating 1700 digital X-rays in cross-sections. Tut’s head was scanned in 0.62 mm slices to record the tiny details. The resulting image was very strange. A team of Radiology, Forensics and Anatomy experts started examining the secrets of the grave that had been protected by flying goddesses for a long time.

The night of the scan, workmen carried Tut from the tomb in his box. Like pallbearers they climbed a ramp and a flight of stairs into the swirling sand outside, then rose on a hydraulic lift into the trailer that held the scanner. Twenty minutes later two men emerged, sprinted for an office nearby, and returned with a pair of white plastic fans. The million-dollar scanner had quit because of sand in a cooler fan. “Curse of the pharaoh,” joked a guard nervously.
Eventually the substitute fans worked well enough to finish the procedure. After checking that no data had been lost, the technicians turned Tut over to the workmen, who carried him back to his tomb. Less than three hours after he was removed from his coffin, the pharaoh again rested in peace where the funerary priests had laid him so long ago.

Word meaning

Pallbearers – a person who helps to escort a coffin at a funeral
Swirling – to spin or twist
Hydraulic lift – a lift that uses a machine to lift or move heavy objects with a pressure
Sprinted – ran at a high speed

Explanation : During the night, workmen climbed up on the ramp and the flight of stairs to carry the body from the tomb into the spinning sand outside. They rose the body onto a hydraulic lift, then into a trailer where the scanner was kept. After twenty minutes, two men ran towards the office nearby to bring two fans. The scanner was not working as the sand had entered a cooler fan. The guard joked that it was because of the curse of the pharaoh because they had removed his body.

Once the fans worked, the procedure was finished. The data was checked in case of any losses and then technicians returned the body to the pallbearers who carried him back to his tomb. In less than three hours, he was resting at the same place where the priests had laid him many years ago.
Back in the trailer a technician pulled up astonishing images of Tut on a computer screen. A grey head took shape from a scattering of pixels, and the technician spun and tilted it in every direction. Neck vertebrae appeared as clearly as in an anatomy class. Other images revealed a hand, several views of the rib cage, and a transection of the skull. But for now the pressure was off. Sitting back in his chair, Zahi Hawass smiled, visibly relieved that nothing had gone seriously wrong. “I didn’t sleep last night, not for a second,” he said. “I was so worried. But now I think I will go and sleep.”
By the time we left the trailer, descending metal stairs to the sandy ground, the wind had stopped. The winter air lay cold and still, like death itself, in this valley of the departed. Just above the entrance to Tut’s tomb
stood Orion — the constellation that the ancient Egyptians knew as the soul of Osiris, the god of the afterlife — watching over the boy king.

Word meaning

Astonishing – amazing
Pixels – a pixel is a single point in a graphic image
Spun – to turn around
Vertebrae – series of small bones which form a backbone

Explanation : In the trailer, the technician showed a beautiful image of Tut on a computer screen. He showed the grey head which was scattered in pixels and he spun it around. Next, the vertebrae, hand, rib cage, and transection of his skull were shown. As the work was done, the pressure was finally off from the shoulders of Zahi Hawass. While sitting in his chair, he smiled and said that he was relieved that nothing went wrong. He had not slept the previous night and now, as the work was done, he would go and sleep.
By the time they left the trailer, the wind had stopped and the winter air was like death itself. Just above the tomb the Orion constellation shone in the night sky, watching over the boy king.

Landscape of the soul
Nathalie Trouveroy 

About the lesson 
The chapter is about how different the Chinese Art form is, from the European art form. The writer uses two stories to make a contrast. European art is about reproducing an actual view whereas Chinese art is about not creating a real landscape. European art is an artist’s way to let viewers show exactly what he wants them to see in the landscape. Chinese art is the artist’s spiritual and inner voice where you can travel from any point and it lets the viewer creates a path for their imagination.
Summary 
The writer contrasts two forms of art – Chinese art and European art by using two different stories. In China during the eighth century, the Tang emperor Xuanzong commissioned a painter Wu Daozi to decorate a wall in the palace.Upon seeing the wall painting, the Emperor started noticing the outer appearance of the painting but the painter drew his attention to a cave at the foot of the mountain. The painter told the Emperor that he would take him inside.The painter entered the cave and the entrance closed behind him. As soon as the painter clapped his hand, the painting on the wall was gone and so was the painter.In another story, a painter wouldn’t draw an eye of a dragon as he feared that the dragon would fly out of the painting. In another story to represent a European art form, a master Blacksmith falls in love with a painter’s daughter. The father didn’t approve of him because of his profession. The blacksmith sneaked into his painting studio and painted a fly on the painter’s latest panel.The fly seemed so real that the painter tried to hit it first before realizing it was in the painting. The painter accepted him as a trainee in his studio. The blacksmith married the painter’s daughter and later became one of the famous painters of his time.These stories revealed as to how art form is believed to be followed in two different regions in the world. In Europe, an artist wants the viewer to see a real viewpoint by borrowing his eyes. The art must be perfect and must be illusion likeness.Whereas, in China, the artist doesn’t paint a real one but uses his inner and spiritual voice to create an abstract piece. The viewer can enter the painting from any point and can travel according to his own imagination. The artist wants the viewer to enter his mind and create a path of its own.
This concept is called ‘Shanshui’ which means ‘mountain water’. When they are used together, they make the word ‘landscape’.

Lesson's explanation 
A WONDERFUL old tale is told about the painter Wu Daozi, who lived in the eighth century. His last painting was a landscape commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, to decorate a palace wall. The master had hidden his work behind a screen, so only the Emperor would see it.
For a long while, the Emperor admired the wonderful scene, discovering forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in an immense sky, men on hilly paths, birds in flight. “Look, Sire”, said the painter, “in this cave, at the foot of the mountain, dwells a spirit.”
The painter clapped his hands, and the entrance to the cave opened. “The inside is splendid, beyond anything words can convey. Please let me show Your Majesty the way.” The painter entered the cave; but the entrance closed behind him, and before the astonished Emperor could move or utter a word, the painting had vanished from the wall. Not a trace of Wu Daozi’s brush was left — and the artist was never seen again in this world.

Word meaning 

Dwells – live; stay
Splendid – very impressive; superb
Astonished – greatly surprised or impressed

A painter named Wu Daozi who lived in the eighth century was assigned to decorate a Palace wall by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong. It was his last painting. The painter hid his work behind the screen so the only emperor would see it. The Emperor upon looking at the painting admired many things into that painting like discovering forests, high mountains, waterfalls, floating clouds, men on hilly paths and birds in flight. The painter then made him look at a cave in the painting which was at the foot of the mountain and compared it with a living spirit. As the painter clapped his hands, the entrance of the cave opened and he let the emperor know how beautiful the inside of the cave was and he asked him to show all this to him. The painter entered the cave and the entrance closed behind him. The Emperor couldn’t enter the cave, as the Emperor was greatly surprised, the painting vanished from the wall. After that, the painter was never seen again.

Such stories played an important part in China’s classical education. The books of Confucius and Zhuangzi are full of them; they helped the master to guide his disciple in the right direction. Beyond the anecdote, they are deeply revealing of the spirit in which art was considered. Contrast this story — or another famous one about a painter who wouldn’t draw the eye of a dragon he had painted, for fear it would fly out of the painting — with an old story from my native Flanders that I find most representative of Western painting.

Word meaning 

Disciple – a follower or a pupil of a leader, teacher
Anecdote – a short interesting story of a real person
Flanders – a medieval country in Western Europe

These stories played an important role in classical education in China. Similarly, like the books of Confucius and Zhuangzi are full of such stories as they help the master to help and guide his followers in the right direction. These stories were considered to be deeply revealing of the spirit just like the art. There was another famous story, in contrast to the previous one, where the painter wouldn’t paint the eye of a dragon. He feared that the dragon would fly out from the painting. It was one of the stories from many others which came from a medieval country Western European.

In fifteenth-century Antwerp, a master blacksmith called Quinten Metsys fell in love with a painter’s daughter. The father would not accept a son-in-law in such a profession. So Quinten sneaked into the painter’s studio and painted a fly on his latest panel, with such delicate realism that the master tried to swat it away before he realised what had happened. Quinten was immediately admitted as an apprentice into his studio. He married his beloved and went on to become one of the most famous painters of his age. These two stories illustrate what each form of art is trying to achieve: a perfect, illusionistic likeness in Europe, the essence of inner life and spirit in Asia.

Word meaning

Antwerp – a city of northern Belgium
Delicate Realism – the quality of art that makes it seem real
Swat – hit or crush something
Apprentice – trainee; learner
Illusionistic Likeness – an illusion created which resembles something

During the fifteenth century in Antwerp, a master blacksmith named Quinten Metsys falls in love with a painter’s daughter. Since the father was not accepting their relationship because of his profession, the blacksmith sneaked into the painter’s studio and painted a fly on his latest panel. The painting was so real that the master tried to hit the fly away before he realized that it was just a painting. The blacksmith was accepted into the studio as a trainee. He married the painter’s daughter and later became one of the famous painters of his age. The two stories told above are trying to illustrate the form of art in two different regions. In Europe, the art is perfect and like an illusion which resembles something; In Asia, the art gives an essence of inner life and spirit.

A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting. Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint. His landscape is not a ‘real’ one, and you can enter it from any point, then travel in it; the artist creates a path for your eyes to travel up and down, then back again, in a leisurely movement. This is even more true in the case of the horizontal scroll, in which the action of slowly opening one section of the painting, then rolling it up to move on to the other, adds a dimension of time which is unknown in any other form of painting. It also requires the active participation of the viewer, who decides at what pace he will travel through the painting — a participation which is physical as well as mental. The Chinese painter does not want you to borrow his eyes; he wants you to enter his mind.

Word meaning

The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.
Figurative painting – metaphoric representation of an art
Leisurely – unhurried or relaxed
Conceptual Space – relation with an abstract representation

The Chinese landscape painting is not made with a real viewpoint but it is a representation of the artist’s thoughts. The western painting in Europe is a figurative art form. The European painter paints a landscape to show you a specific scene of the landscape whereas the Chinese painter doesn’t choose a real viewpoint. You can enter the painting from any point and can travel anywhere where your thoughts and imagination take you. The Chinese artist wants you to travel by creating your own path and then come out in a relaxed movement. In China, this mode of seeing a painting is more enjoyable. A horizontal scroll is a form where one section of the painting is opened one by one by rolling it up to move on the other side. It creates a dimension which is not practiced in any other form of artwork. It requires both mental and physical participation of the viewer. The Chinese painter wants you to enter his mind and see the painting from his thoughts. The landscape created by Chinese artists is spiritual, inner and of conceptual or abstract space.

This concept is expressed as shanshui, literally ‘mountain water which used together represent the word ‘landscape’. More than two elements of an image, these represent two complementary poles, reflecting the Daoist view of the universe. The mountain is Yang — reaching vertically towards Heaven, stable, warm, and dry in the sun, while the water is Yin — horizontal and resting on the earth, fluid, moist and cool. The interaction of Yin, the receptive, feminine aspect of universal energy, and its counterpart Yang, active and masculine, is of course a fundamental notion of Daoism.
What is often overlooked is an essential third element, the Middle Void where their interaction takes place. This can be compared with the yogic practice of pranayama; breathe in, retain, breathe out — the suspension of breath is the Void where meditation occurs. The Middle Void is essential — nothing can happen without it; hence the importance of the white, unpainted space in Chinese landscape.

Word meaning

Daoism – a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-Tzu
Void – empty; vacant

The Chinese concept of art is also expressed as ‘Shanshui’ which also means mountain water. It is used together to represent the word ‘landscape’. The two complementary poles of an image reflect the Daoist view. The mountain in the landscape is Yang which means to reach vertically towards heaven, stable, warm and dry in the sun. Whereas the water is the Yin, which is receptive and feminine aspect of universal energy. The Yang is active and masculine, and the opposite of Yin. There is a third essential element which is a Middle Void which is the place where they interact. This middle void can be compared to Pranayama which means to breathe in, retain and breathe out. Here, the suspension of the breath is the void in this meditation process. It is an essential part as nothing can happen without it. Hence the white unpainted space in Chinese landscape is equally important.

This is also where Man finds a fundamental role. In that space between Heaven and Earth, he becomes the conduit of communication between both poles of the Universe. His presence is essential, even if it’s only suggested; far from being lost or oppressed by the lofty peaks, he is, in Francois Cheng’s wonderful expression, “the eye of the landscape”.

Word meaning

Conduit – channel; tube
Oppressed – burdened; worried
Lofty – tall or high

The middle void is where a man finds an important role. Man is the channel of communication in the space between Heaven and Earth which are the two poles of the universe. Man’s presence is essential. It is not being lost or suppressed due to high peaks but he is the eye of the landscape (Francois Cheng’s expression).

The Ailing planet :The Green Movement's Role 
(Nani Palkhivala)

About the lesson 
The article the ailing Planet The Green movement's role was written by Nani Palkhivala and published in the Indian Express on 24th November 1994 . The article Rises vital issues regarding the degrading environment of the planet and the immediate need to to promote sustainable development which have become the burning issues of the day. However despite, Conscientious efforts of environmentalists and the  rapid awareness towards the Green Movement the success story of repleting the earth is bleak. The  planet is heading towards catastrophic depletion. The immediate need is being felt to promote the concept of ‘sustainable development' as popularized in 1987 by world Commission on environment and development and defined as “ that meets the needs of the present ,without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”.

Summary 
In this chapter, the writer raises an issue towards the deteriorating health of the earth. As human beings have been exploiting natural resources from decades, presently the condition has made the environment critical. In 1972, the Green Movement helped environmentalists to raise awareness about the harmful condition of the earth and since then there has been no looking back as the movement has been successfully educating people about the conservation of the environment.
Earth is like a patient whose health is declining and it is our duty to improve it. In 1987, the term Sustainable Development was used by the World Commission on Environment and Development. A zoo in Lukasa, Zambia has a cage in which a sign reads ‘The World’s most dangerous animal’ and inside there is a mirror. It gives a message that human beings are the most dangerous animals. Brandt Commission raised a question “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”
There are four principal biological systems that form the foundation of the global economic system – fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands. These four systems also provide food and raw materials for industries except for minerals and synthetics. With these systems becoming unsustainable, fisheries will collapse, the forest will slowly disappear, grasslands will turn into a barren wasteland and croplands will become worse.
In poor countries, forests are being cut down for fuelwood which is used for cooking purposes. There are some areas where the cost of fuelwood is more than the cost of food. It is leading to deforestation at an alarming rate.
One of the reasons for the exploitation of the environment is the increasing population. It is observed that about one million population is increasing in every four days. This is not a good sign. There is an urgent need to control overpopulation in the world. Development is the best contraceptive for this problem as it will help in reduction in fertility, increase in education and income and improvement in health.
We must see the world as a whole and not as dissociated parts. It is a holistic and ecological view. According to Lester Brown, we have not inherited the earth from our forefathers but we have borrowed it from our future generations.

The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement’s Role- Explanation 
The following article was written by Nani Palkhivala and published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994. The issues that he raised regarding the declining health of the earth continue to have relevance.
 ONE cannot recall any movement in world history which has gripped the imagination of the entire human race so completely and so rapidly as the Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago. In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.

Word meaning

Gripped – clutch; hold
Green Movement – It is a movement which stresses people to follow environmentally friendly practices.

Explanation : The chapter ‘The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role’ was an article published in the newspaper ‘The Indian Express’ on November 24, 1994, written by Nani Palkhivala. He wrote about the declining health condition of Earth.
The Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago from 1994 spread so quickly in world history. The world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand in 1972.

We have shifted — one hopes, irrevocably — from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. For the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism — an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved.

Word meaning 

Irrevocably – in a way that cannot be changed or reversed
Holistic and Ecological View – It means a view for the preservation of the environment. It also refers to the understanding of importance of earth’s resources for the use of future generations
Revolutionary – evolving a complete change
Metabolic needs – needs of a living organism that enables them to have a chemical process that causes food to be used for growth and energy

Explanation : From some time our views have shifted from seeing earth and its resources as irreversible to complete opposite. We now understand that our resources need to converse for future generations. Copernicus taught mankind how the earth and other planets revolve around the sun and it was a complete change which evolved human perception. Now, the earth is seen as a living organism of which we are an integral part. Earth has its own metabolism and vital needs which humans should respect and preserve.

The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. We have begun to realise our ethical obligations to be good stewards of the planet and responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations.
The concept of sustainable development was popularised in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In its report it defined the idea as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, i.e., without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.

Word meaning

Ethical Obligation – when someone is required to do something based on a righteous standard of rules
Stewards – manage or to look after
Sustainable Development – economic development without depletion of natural resources 

Explanation : Earth is now like a patient whose health is declining. We as human beings are now realizing our duty to be good managers of the planet and to be responsible trustees to conserve the environment so that we can pass a legacy to the future generations. Sustainable Development was popularised in the year 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In the reports, Sustainable development is termed as a type of development that meets the needs of the present generation without wasting or compromising with natural resources so that future generations can meet their needs.
 
In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership.
Scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth. Estimates vary widely as regards the still-uncatalogued living species — biologists reckon that about three to a hundred million other living species still languish unnamed in ignominious darkness.

Word meaning

Dawned – begin
Catalogued – classify; characterise
Reckon – calculate
Languish – lose or lack of vitality of a person or plant or animal; grow weak
Ignominious darkness – disgraced as no one has knowledge about them

Explanation : In a cage in a zoo in Lusaka, Zambia there reads a notice- ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ and inside the cage is a mirror that depicted that humans are the world’s most dangerous animals. With the efforts of new agencies in the world, now humans are seen as the most dangerous animals. They have realized the importance of shifting to a new system based on partnership. Humans share the earth with about 1.4 million living species according to the classification of scientists. Biologists calculate that there are still millions of other species which are yet not classified due to their weakness or due to lack of knowledge about them.

One of the early international commissions which dealt, inter alia, with the question of ecology and environment was the Brandt Commission which had a distinguished Indian as one of its members — Mr
L.K. Jha. The First Brandt Report raised the question — “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”

Word meaning

Inter Alia – among other things
Scorched – burn the surface with heat of fire
Impoverished – made poor
Ailing – in poor health

Explanation : Brandt Commission was one of the early international commissions who dealt with questions of ecology and environment. They commissioned Mr. L.K. Jha as one of their commission members who was an Indian citizen. Its first report raised a question: are we going to leave a burned planet with aided deserts, poor landscapes and a poor environment for our future generations?

Mr. Lester R. Brown in his thoughtful book, The Global Economic Prospect, points out that the earth’s principal biological systems are four — fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands — and they form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics. In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate. In a protein-conscious and protein hungry world, over-fishing is common every day. In poor countries, local forests are being decimated in order to procure firewood for cooking. In some places, firewood has become so expensive that “what goes under the pot now costs more than what goes inside it”. Since the tropical forest is, in the words of Dr Myers, “the powerhouse of evolution”, several species of life face extinction as a result of its destruction.

Word meaning

Synthetics – artificial substance
Impaired – weakened or damaged
Barren wastelands – barely inhabitable piece of land
Deteriorate – become progressively worse; decline
Decimated – to reduce in number
Procure – obtain with care or effort

Explanation : There are four principal biological systems that form the foundation of the global economic system according to the book by Leslie R. Brown ‘The Global Economic Prospect’ – fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands. These four systems provide food and raw materials for industry except for minerals and synthetics. These systems have reached an unsustainable point where their productivity has impaired. With this, fisheries will collapse, the forest will slowly disappear, grasslands will turn into barren wastelands and croplands will become worse. Overfishing is very common nowadays where people are becoming protein-conscious. In poor countries, forests are being cut down on a large scale to obtain wood for cooking. In some areas, firewood is more costly than food. Many species are under destruction in tropical forests.

It has been well said that forests precede mankind; deserts follow. The world’s ancient patrimony of tropical forests is now eroding at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year, and the growing use of dung for burning deprives the soil of an important natural fertiliser. The World Bank estimates that a five-fold increase in the rate of forest planting is needed to cope with the expected fuelwood demand in the year 2000.
James Speth, the President of the World Resources Institute, said the other day, “We were saying that we are losing the forests at an acre a second, but it is much closer to an acre-and-a-half to a second”.

Word meaning

Precede – come before in order or position
Patrimony – property inherited from father or ancestor
Deprives – prevent a person from using something

Explanation : Forests and deserts come first in order in comparison to humans. The ancient inheritance of tropical forests is constantly wearing away at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year. Also, the burning of dung is preventing the soil to become natural fertilizer. To meet the need for fuelwood demand, there is a need to increase the rate of forest plantation by fivefold by the year 2020. We are losing the forests closer to an acre-and-a-half to a second according to James Speth, President of the World Resources Institute.

Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. But what causes endless anguish is the fact that laws are never respected nor enforced in India. (For instance, the Constitution says that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished, but they flourish shamelessly even after forty-four years of the operation of the Constitution.) A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the near catastrophic depletion of India’s forests over the last four decades. India, according to reliable data, is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, “are already virtually treeless”. The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.

Word meaning

Endeavour – trying hard to achieve something
Anguish – pain; suffering
Casteism – discrimination on the grounds of caste
Catastrophic Depletion – a harmful reduction in a number of something

Explanation : According to Article 48A of the Constitution of India, the state should try to protect and improve the environment and must protect the forest and wildlife of the country. But the painful fact is that laws are not followed in India, for example – casteism, untouchability and bonded labour. They are abolished but still are followed shamelessly. Over the last four decades, India is losing forests at a harmful rate of 3.7 million acres a year as per the report of Parliament’s Estimates Committee. The large area of forestland is now treeless and the actual loss is estimated to be eight times the rate given by government statistics.

A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated.
There can be no doubt that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. That was the world population around the year 1800. By the year 1900, a second billion was added, and the twentieth century has added another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion. Every four days the world population increases by one million.

Word meaning 

Distorting – deform; disfigure

Explanation : According to the three-year study conducted by the United Nations using satellites and aerial photography, our environment has got so bad that in eighty-eight countries, it has reached the critical stage. Growth of world population at such a fast rate is one of the strongest reasons behind the distortion of the future of mankind. When it took more than a million years to reach the first  billion population, in the next 100 years, the population number increased by the next billion numbers. In the 20th century, the population reached 3.7 billion and the present number is 5.7 billion. Presently, the case is of the population increasing by one million every four days.

Fertility falls as incomes rise, education spreads, and health improves. Thus development is the best contraceptive. But development itself may not be possible if the present increase in numbers continues.
The rich get richer, and the poor beget children which condemns them to remain poor. More children does not mean more workers, merely more people without work. It is not suggested that human beings be treated like cattle and compulsorily sterilised. But there is no alternative to voluntary family planning without introducing an element of coercion. The choice is really between control of population and perpetuation of poverty.

Word meaning 

Beget – give life to
Condemns – find guilty of something
Sterilised – make free from bacteria or other micro organisms
Voluntary – done or given of one’s free will
Coercion – force
Perpetuation – keep going

 Explanation : Development is the best possible solution for overpopulation. It can help in reduction in fertility and rise in income, to spread more education, and improvement in health. But if the number of the population will keep increasing, it may not help in attaining any kind of development. As the rich get richer, the poor births children who are  bound to remain poorer. More population will lead to more unemployment. Humans should not be treated like cattle who are sterilized by  force. But to control the population some element of force has to be put on for family planning. Now, humans have to choose between population control and keeping up with poverty.

The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today — more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together. No one familiar with the conditions in India would doubt that the hope of the people would die in their hungry hutments unless population control is given topmost priority. For the first time in human history we see a transcending concern — the survival not just of the people but of the planet. We have begun to take a holistic view of the very basis of our existence. The environmental problem does not necessarily signal our demise, it is our passport for the future. The emerging new world vision has ushered in the Era of Responsibility. It is a holistic view, an ecological view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts.

Word meaning

Hutments – collection of huts
Transcending Concern – a concern that existed for a very long time and has passed down from one generation to another
Demise – death
Ushered – guide someone somewhere

Explanation : The population of India is 920 million that is more than the population of Africa and South America  together. If the population is not controlled, most of the people would die in their huts with just a hope. But with time, people are now concerned about the survival of the planet. We have now started to see our existence with a comprehensive view. Solving Environmental problems are a passport to the future and should not be seen as a remark of our death. We should see the world as a whole and not as different parts.

Industry has a most crucial role to play in this new Era of Responsibility. What a transformation would be affected if more businessmen shared the view of the Chairman of Du Pont, Mr Edgar S. Woolard who, five years ago, declared himself to be the Company’s “Chief Environmental Officer”. He said, “Our continued existence as a leading manufacturer requires that we excel in environmental performance.”
Of all the statements made by Margaret Thatcher during the years of her Prime Ministership, none has passed so decisively into the current coin of English usage as her felicitous words: “No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy — with a full repairing lease”. In the words of Mr. Lester Brown, “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.”

Word meaning

Decisively – clear and definitive
Felicitous – well-chosen
Freehold – permanent tenure of land or property
Tenancy – possession of the land

Explanation : In the era of responsibility towards the environment, industry plays an important role. Chairman of Du Pont, Mr. Woolard declared himself as ‘Chief Environmental Officer’ and such attitude in other businessmen can have a great effect on the transformation. When Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister, her one statement which was so well chosen, she said that no human on this earth holds a permanent tenure, we all have life possession and a full repairing lease. According to Mr. Lester Brown, we have borrowed the earth from our children.

The Browning Version
By Terence Rattigan

About the Lesson
The play presents a conversation between a lower fifth grade science student, Taplow and Frank, a teacher. This play highlights the attitude of a teenaged student towards his teacher. His comments are shocking because they are very close to reality. He imitates the voice of Mr. Crocker-Harris. He calls the man almost inhuman. He is mortally afraid of his teacher. His promotion depends on the whim or goodwill of his teacher. But he opens up when the other science teacher encourages him to do so. He hates the Greek play because he does not like the teacher’s method of teaching. Mr. Crocker Harris seems to hate people in order to make them like him. But Taplow admits that, although like most students he had his share of fun at Crocker-Harris’s expense, he does have sympathy for him.

Summary 
The scene is set in a school where Taplow arrives to do extra work on the last day for Mr. Crocker-Harris as he missed a day before. He finds Frank, a science teacher in the school. Frank asked him his name and the reason he is there that day. Taplow studies in the lower fifth standard and is about to get his result from his teacher Mr. Harris. Mr. Crocker-Harris usually reveals the result on the last day of school and unlike every other teacher, he follows the rules and regulations strictly.They both started having a conversation where Frank asked him several questions. We don’t see Mr. Crocker-Harris in the whole chapter but we get to know a lot about him.Taplow wants to take science as a remove because he finds the subject extremely interesting. Frank, on the other hand, doesn’t like what he teaches in the school. Mr. Croker-Harris is ‘hardly human’ as he never shrivels up. He told Taplow that he will get what he deserves. Nothing less and nothing more and this makes him tensed. Taplow further imitates Mr. Harris twice in front of Frank.
Franks admits that he envies Mr. Crocker-Harris because of the effect he has on them. Taplow told him that he never shows his emotions like other teachers and never beats them up like other masters.He is not a sadist. As they were deeply engaged in a conversation, Millie enters and comes with a shopping bag. She asked Taplow to go out and come back in a quarter of an hour as Mr. Crocker-Harris will be late. If her husband arrives earlier, she will take the blame. She further gives him a prescription and instructs him to purchase medicines for her from the chemist. Taplow follows and goes away to do the job.

Lesson's explanation 
This is an excerpt from The Browning Version*. The scene is set in a school. Frank is young and Crocker-Harris, middle-aged. Both are masters. Taplow is a boy of sixteen who has come in to do extra work for Crocker-Harris. But the latter has not yet arrived, and Frank finds Taplow waiting.

FRANK: Do I know you?
TAPLOW: No, sir.
FRANK: What’s your name?
TAPLOW: Taplow.
FRANK: Taplow! No, I don’t. You’re not a scientist I gather?
TAPLOW: No, sir, I’m still in the lower fifth. I can’t specialise until next term — that’s to say, if I’ve got my remove all right.
FRANK: Don’t you know if you’ve got your remove?
TAPLOW: No sir, Mr Crocker-Harris doesn’t tell us the results like the other masters.

Word meaning

Excerpt – a short extract from writing, movie or music
Latter – denoting the second-mentioned person of the two people
Remove – a division in British schools

Explanation : Scene is a short extract from the play ‘The Browning Version’. Taplow is a boy aged sixteen who arrives at the school to do extra work for Mr. Crocker-Harris, his teacher. He meets another teacher Frank and engages in a conversation with him while waiting for Mr. Harris. Frank is another teacher in that school who is young in age. Mr. Crocker Harris is middle-aged. Frank saw Taplow and asked his name and in which class he studies. Taplow answers him and tells him that he studies in the lower fifth standard and he cannot specialize until he gets his division (remove). Frank asked him whether he got the remove or not and Taplow replied that his master (Mr. Crocker – Harris) doesn’t reveal the information like other masters.

FRANK: Why not?
TAPLOW: Well, you know what he’s like, sir.
FRANK: I believe there is a rule that form results should only be announced by the headmaster on the last day of term.
TAPLOW: Yes — but who else pays attention to it — except Mr Crocker-Harris?
FRANK: I don’t, I admit — but that’s no criterion. So you’ve got to wait until tomorrow to know your fate, have you?
TAPLOW: Yes, sir.

Word meaning 

Criterion – a standard by which something is judged

Explanation : Frank asked if Mr. Crocker-Harris doesn’t reveal the remove earlier like other masters. Taplow tells him that he already knows how Mr. Harris is. Frank supposes that there is a rule that the form result should be revealed on the last day of the term. Taplow agrees and told him that Mr. Harris follows it very seriously. Frank shares that he doesn’t follow it but still Taplow should wait until tomorrow to know his result to which he agrees.

FRANK: Supposing the answer is favourable — what then?
TAPLOW: Oh — science, sir, of course.
FRANK: (sadly) Yes. We get all the slackers.
TAPLOW: (protestingly) I’m extremely interested in science, sir.
FRANK: Are you? I’m not. Not, at least, in the science I have to teach.
TAPLOW: Well, anyway, sir, it’s a good deal more exciting than this muck (indicating his book).
FRANK: What is this muck?
TAPLOW: Aeschylus, sir. The Agamemnon.
FRANK: And your considered view is that the Agamemnon is muck?
TAPLOW: Well, no, sir. I don’t think the play is muck — exactly. I suppose, in a way, it’s rather a good plot, really, a wife murdering her husband and all that. I only meant the way it’s taught to us — just a lot of Greek words strung together and fifty lines if you get them wrong.

Word meaning 

Slackers – lazy students who are not motivated
Muck – useless; which is of no good or use
Aeschylus – he was an ancient Greek tragedian who is referred to as ‘Father of Tragedy’
Agamemnon – he was the king of Mycenae in Greek mythology
Strung together – to combine two different things into something useful

Explanation : Frank asks Taplow about what remove he is interested to take further and he replies Science. Frank tells him that they have some lazy students in science to which Taplow clarifies that he is interested in the subject that is why he wants to take it. Frank tells him that he is not interested in Science which he has to teach in the school. Taplow thinks that the subject that Frank teaches is still a good deal than the book he is currently reading. Upon asking about the book, Taplow tells him about the name of the author and the book – Aeschylus (Author) and The Agamemnon (Book). Taplow further shares his view about ‘The Agamemnon’. He thinks the plot is good but the way those Greek words are taught to them combined together is useless.

FRANK: You sound a little bitter, Taplow.
TAPLOW: I am rather, sir.
FRANK: Kept in, eh?
TAPLOW: No, sir. Extra work.
FRANK: Extra work — on the last day of school?
TAPLOW: Yes, sir, and I might be playing golf. You’d think he’d have enough to do anyway himself, considering he’s leaving tomorrow for good — but oh no, I missed a day last week when I was ill — so here I am — and look at the weather, sir.
FRANK: Bad luck. Still there’s one comfort. You’re pretty well certain to get your remove tomorrow for being a good boy in taking extra work.
TAPLOW: Well, I’m not so sure, sir. That would be true of the ordinary masters, all right. They just wouldn’t dare not to give a chap a remove after his taking extra work. But those sort of rules don’t apply to the Crock — Mr Crocker-Harris. I asked him yesterday outright if he’d given me a remove and do you know what he said, sir?

Word meaning 

Kept in – to make someone stay in a place, especially in school as a punishment
Chap – a man who you know and like

Explanation : On criticizing the book, Frank tells him that you are sounding a little bitter about Mr. Crocker – Harris. Further, Frank asks him if he is staying in school as a punishment to which Taplow replies that he is in the school on the last day of the term due to extra work. He was ill last week due to which he was absent for a day, for which he is compensating now by doing extra work. He further says that he feels that Mr. Harris also has extra work himself because he is leaving tomorrow for good. Harris didn’t have any extra work and yet with such a good weather, he has to come to school. He also adds that he wanted to play golf at that moment.Frank comforts him by saying that he will get his remove tomorrow due to the extra work he is doing for Mr. Harris. Taplow is unsure of this and tells him that this might work for other teachers but Mr. Harris is different. He doesn’t give a student a remove for doing extra work. Taplow also asked Mr. Harris about his remove to which the master gave an astonishing answer.

FRANK: No. What?
TAPLOW: (imitating a very gentle, rather throaty voice) “My dear Taplow, I have given you exactly what you deserve. No less; and certainly no more.” Do you know sir, I think he may have marked me down, rather than up, for taking extra work. I mean, the man’s hardly human. (He breaks off quickly.) Sorry, sir. Have I gone too far?
FRANK: Yes. Much too far.
TAPLOW: Sorry, sir. I got carried away.
FRANK: Evidently. (He picks up a newspaper and opens it) — Er Taplow.
TAPLOW: Yes, sir?
FRANK: What was that Crocker-Harris said to you? Just — er — repeat it, would you?
TAPLOW: (imitating again) “My dear Taplow, I have given you exactly what you deserve. No less; and certainly no more.”
FRANK: (looking severe) Not in the least like him. Read your nice Aeschylus and be quiet.
TAPLOW: (with dislike) Aeschylus.

Word meaning

Got carried away – to become overly excited or to take things too far
Imitating – copying

Explanation : Frank asks him what Mr. Harris told him upon being asked about his remove. Taplow imitates Mr. Crocker-Harris and told him exactly what his master answered him. Mr. Harris told him that he will get what he deserves, nothing less and nothing more. Taplow feels that he might have marked him down for taking extra work because he doesn’t have human feelings. Then, he realizes that he has said too much therefore he apologizes to Frank. Frank asked him to repeat what he just said about Mr. Harris and he starts imitating him again. Frank tells him that his imitation is not close to Mr. Harris’s way of saying things and he told him to read his book.

FRANK: Look, what time did Mr Crocker-Harris tell you to be here?
TAPLOW: Six-thirty, sir.
FRANK: Well, he’s ten minutes late. Why don’t you cut? You could still play golf before lock-up. TAPLOW: (really shocked) Oh, no, I couldn’t cut. Cut the Crock — Mr Crocker-Harris? I shouldn’t think it’s ever been done in the whole time he’s been here. God knows what would happen if I did. He’d probably follow me home, or something …
FRANK: I must admit I envy him the effect he seems to have on you boys in the form. You all seem scared to death of him. What does he do — beat you all, or something?
TAPLOW: Good Lord, no. He’s not a sadist, like one or two of the others.
FRANK: I beg your pardon?
TAPLOW: A sadist, sir, is someone who gets pleasure out of giving pain.
FRANK: Indeed? But I think you went on to say that some other masters …

Word meaning 

Cut – stop doing something undesirable
Envy – Jealousy
Sadist – a person who derives pleasure by giving pain or humiliation to others
Pardon – the action of being forgiven for error or offense; forgiveness
Indeed – Truly

Explanation : Frank asks him at what time did Mr. Harris asked him to come to school. Taplow told him six-thirty. Frank suggests him to go and play golf for a little while as he would be ten minutes late. Taplow refuses as he is afraid of what would happen if he shows up in his absence and he might follow him home. Frank tells him that he is a little jealous of Mr. Harris because of the effect he has on all the boys in the form. He asks him if Harris beat students to which Taplow says that no, he is not someone who derives pain by hurting others, there are one or two other teachers like that. Frank asked him to be more specific and he explains to him the meaning of sadist. Frank asked him what he was saying about other masters.

TAPLOW: Well, of course, they are, sir. I won’t mention names, but you know them as well as I do. Of course I know most masters think we boys don’t understand a thing — but, sir, you’re different. You’re young — well, comparatively, anyway — and you’re science. You must know what sadism is.
FRANK: (after a pause) Good Lord! What are our schools coming to?
TAPLOW: Anyway, the Crock isn’t a sadist. That’s what I’m saying. He wouldn’t be so frightening if he were — because at least it would show he had some feelings. But he hasn’t. He’s all shrivelled up inside like a nut and he seems to hate people to like him. It’s funny, that. I don’t know any other master who doesn’t like being liked —
FRANK: And I don’t know any boy who doesn’t use that for his own purposes.
TAPLOW: Well, it’s natural sir. But not with the Crock —
FRANK: Mr Crocker-Harris.
TAPLOW: Mr Crocker-Harris. The funny thing is that in spite of everything, I do rather like him. I can’t help it. And sometimes I think he sees it and that seems to shrivel him up even more —
FRANK: I’m sure you’re exaggerating.

Word meaning

Shrivelled up – having no feelings
Exaggerating – represent something as being worse than it really is

Explanation : Taplow explains to him that there are many teachers in the school whose names he will not take but they are a sadists. They think that the boys don’t understand a thing. But Frank is different from them, as he is young and he is from a science background and must know about sadism.Frank in a surprising tone exclaims about the condition of schools.  Taplow goes on ranting about Mr. Harris. He shares that Mr. Crocker- Harris is not a sadist and yet he has no feelings. He is a type of a person who might hate it when people like him. He further says he doesn’t know about any master there who doesn’t like being liked. Frank mocks him and says he hasn’t seen any student using this quality for his own purpose. Taplow agrees and calls Mr. Harris ‘Crock’ again to which Frank corrects him by saying his full name.Taplow corrects himself and admits that he still likes him and he cannot help it. Sometimes Mr. Harris sees it and he wrinkles even more to which Frank replied that he must be exaggerating.

TAPLOW: No, sir. I’m not. In form the other day he made one of his classical jokes. Of course nobody laughed because nobody understood it, myself included. Still, I knew he’d meant it as funny, so I laughed. Out of ordinary common politeness, and feeling a bit sorry for him for having made a poor joke. Now I can’t remember what the joke was, but suppose I make it. Now you laugh, sir. (Frank laughs.)
TAPLOW: (in a gentle, throaty voice) “Taplow — you laughed at my little joke, I noticed. I must confess that I am pleased at the advance your Latin has made since you so readily have understood what the rest of the form did not. Perhaps, now, you would be good enough to explain it to them, so that they too can share your pleasure”.

Explanation : The door up right is pushed open and Millie Crocker-Harris enters. She is a thin woman in her late thirties, rather more smartly dressed than the general run of schoolmasters’ wives. She is wearing a cape and carries a shopping basket. She closes the door and then stands by the screen watching Taplow and Frank. It is a few seconds before they notice her. Taplow shares further that one day, Mr. Crocker- Harris cracked one of his classic jokes to which no one laughed. He understood that the joke was meant to be funny and laughed anyway because he wanted to be polite and to feel sorry for him making such poor jokes. He doesn’t remember what the joke was and asked Frank to suppose he cracked a joke right away and asked him to laugh.He imitated his teacher again and told Frank what his reaction was when he laughed at his joke. Mr. Crocker-Harris asked him to explain the joke to the rest of the form as he was the only one laughing in the class.As he was saying this, the door of the classroom opened and Millie, the wife of Mr. Crocker-Harris entered the class. She was a thin woman who dresses smarter than the rest of the women who are wives of Schoolmasters. She was wearing a cape and was carrying a shopping basket. She closed the door as she entered and stood next to the screen watching both of them talking. They noticed her after a few seconds.

FRANK: Come along, Taplow (moves slowly above the desk). Do not be so selfish as to keep a good joke to yourself. Tell the others… (He breaks off suddenly, noticing Millie.) Oh Lord!
Frank turns quickly, and seems infinitely relieved at seeing Millie.
FRANK: Oh, hullo.
MILLIE: (without expression) Hullo. (She comes down to the sideboard and puts her basket on it.)
TAPLOW: (moving up to left of Frank; whispering frantically) Do you think she heard?
FRANK: (shakes his head comfortingly. Millie takes off her cape and hangs it on the hall-stand.) I think she did. She was standing there quite a time.
TAPLOW: If she did and she tells him, there goes my remove.
FRANK: Nonsense. (He crosses to the fireplace.)

Word meaning 

Infinitely – to a great extent
Frantically – desperately

Explanation : As Frank was joking about telling the joke to others, he saw Millie and stopped talking. He turned around and was relieved by seeing her there and wished her hello. She replied hello without any expressions on her face and put her basket on the sideboard. Taplow asked Frank in a desperate tone if she had heard any of their conversation. Frank thought that she did because she was standing there for quite some time. Millie took her cape off and hung it on hall-stand. Taplow in a worrying tone says if she did hear them, then he will not get his remove and Frank tells him not to think too much. Frank crosses the fireplace.

Millie takes the basket from the sideboard, moves above the table and puts the basket on it.
MILLIE: (to Taplow) Waiting for my husband?
TAPLOW: (moving down left of the table) Er-yes.
MILLIE: He’s at the Bursar’s and might be there quite a time. If I were you I’d go.
TAPLOW: (doubtfully) He said most particularly I was to come.
MILLIE: Well, why don’t you run away for a quarter of an hour and come back? (She unpacks some things from the basket.)
TAPLOW: Supposing he gets here before me?
MILLIE: (smiling) I’ll take the blame. (She takes a prescription out of the basket.) I tell you what — you can do a job for him. Take this prescription to the chemist and get it made up.
TAPLOW: All right, Mrs Crocker-Harris. (He crosses towards the door up right.)

Explanation : Millie picks up the basket from the sideboard and puts it on the table. She asks Taplow if he is waiting for his husband to which he replies yes. She tells him he is at the Bursar’s and it might take some time. If she was in his place, she might have left. Taplow replies that he said he will come. As Millie unpacks the things from the basket, she suggests him to go for a quarter of an hour and then come back to check on him. Taplow asks her if Mr. Harris comes back before him then what will happen. Millie assured him that she will take the blame for this and takes out a prescription from the basket. She hands it over to him and asks him to bring medicines for her from the chemist. He agrees and crosses the door upright.
 

The Adventure 
By Jayant Narlikar

About the lesson 
The story adventure belongs to science fiction. Professor Gangadhar Pant Gaitonde finds himself in a strange world. No doubt he is in Pune, but the fat do not agree with History. He decides to go to Bombay and consult history books. Bombay is not what he expected to find it. East India company is still ruling their. According to the history known to him the East India company was wound up just after the events of 1857. He goes to the library and find the answer . The events took a different course after up after the battle of Panipat. The Marathas had won the battle, not lost it.

Summary 
Professor Gaitonde was travelling from Pune to Bombay via the Jijamata Express, a train which was faster than the Deccan Queen. As he was crossing towns and villages, he met a man named ‘Khan Sahib’ who talked about his business and chatted about several things. They got off at Victoria Terminus station which was neat and clean. It had British officers, Parsees and Anglo-Indian staff all around. He was confused as to how the East India Company was ruling the country as according to his facts, they had fled away after the events of 1857.

He went to the Hornby road and noticed that the shops were different. He entered the Forbes building and inquired about Mr. Vinay Gaitonde but as checked by the receptionist, no such man had ever worked there. He went to the Town Hall and sat in the reading room. He took five books related to the history and decided to go through them one by one and check how the facts had changed. He started investigating from the period of Asoka to the third battle of Panipat.
According to the fifth volume ‘Bhausahebanchi Bakhar’, he found out that Marathas had won the Battle of Panipat and spread their influence all over India after that. He was confused as it was different from what he knew so far. After the victory, India was moved to the path of democracy. There were no longer any kings ruling and democratic parties had been set up. The professor started liking India as he kept reading further about it. It was different from the one he believed he saw. This country knew how to stand on its feet and it was no longer slave under the white man.

As he was going through the book, the librarian told him to finish since they were closing the library. It was eight o clock. He asked about carrying the books with him as he would return the next morning and slipped the Bakhar book into his left pocket. He checked into a guest house and had his dinner. He decided to walk towards Azad Maidan. He noticed a large crowd of people going towards a pandal. A lecture was going on but he noticed something unusual. The presidential chair was empty. Thespeaker was talking and the crowd was continuously moving inside and outside.

He could not control himself and moved towards the stage and sat on the chair. The crowd was taken aback and started asking him to get up and move away. He tried to talk to them but they started throwing several objects at him such as tomatoes, eggs, etc. Soon the crowd moved towards him to push him away and he was nowhere to be seen.
Next, he woke up in a hospital bed and saw Rajendra in front of him. He narrated the whole sequence of events that took place and Rajendra listened to him amazed. The professor was confused as to where he was and if he had been in a coma for the past two days. What was the experience he just had, was it real or not.

Rajendra explained to him that it happened because of two theories – Catastrophe theory and lack of determinism in Quantum theory. Catastrophe theory states that a small change in any situation can result in a shift in behaviour. In reality, the Marathas lost their leader – Bhausaheb and Vishwarao and hence they lost the battle. But Professor saw that the bullet missed and Vishwarao was not dead.
Professor then showed him the torn page of the Bakhar book that he had in his pocket. Rajendra read it carefully and told him that realities can be different for different people. What he thought had happened is a catastrophic experience.
Rajendra told him that in the case of electrons, one cannot predict which path the electron takes at a point of time. He told him that it is the lack of determinism in Quantum theory and explained to him what it meant. In one world, the electron may be found here and in another, it may be found in another place but in the third world. It may be at different locations. Once the observer knows about the correct placing of the electrons in every world, it might happen that an alternative world exists at thesame time.

Hence, the professor was in two different worlds at the present time. He had real-life experience in an alternative reality and he came back from another world. Both the worlds had different histories and different sets of events. The professor wanted to know why he was the one to make the transition. Rajendra told him that at the time of the collision with the truck, the professor was thinking about the catastrophe theory and its role in the war. He was also thinking about the Battle of Panipat at that moment, so the neurons in his brain acted as a trigger and made the transition.
The professor was in that alternative world for the last two days.
 
The Adventure Lesson and Explanation

THE Jijamata Express sped along the Pune-Bombay* route considerably faster than the Deccan Queen. There were no industrial townships outside Pune. The first stop, Lonavala, came in 40 minutes.
The ghat section that followed was no different from what he knew. The train stopped at Karjat only briefly and went on at an even greater speed. It roared through Kalyan.
Meanwhile, the racing mind of Professor Gaitonde had arrived at a plan of action in Bombay. Indeed, as a historian, he felt he should have thought of it sooner. He would go to a big library and browse through history books. That was the surest way of finding out how the present state of affairs was reached. He also planned eventually to return to Pune and have a long talk with Rajendra Deshpande, who would surely help him understand what had happened.
That is, assuming that in this world there existed someone called Rajendra Deshpande!
The train stopped beyond the long tunnel. It was a small station called Sarhad. An Anglo-Indian in uniform went through the train checking permits.

Word meaning

Townships – Towns or villages
Roared – to move at a high speed while making a loud noise
Permits – authorize to do something

Professor Gaitonde was traveling by the Jijamata Express train which was running along Pune-Bombay Route and was faster than the Deccan Queen. The first stop of the train was Lonavala which came in 40 minutes. The professor noticed that there were no industrial towns outside Pune city. The next stop was the ghat section which was similar to what the professor already knew. The train followed to the next city – Karjat and started speeding at a greater pace than before. When the train was in Kalyan, it moved at high speed.
The professor came up with a plan to be followed when he would arrive at Bombay city. He was a historian who thought he should have come up with a plan sooner to go to the big library and glance at the history books there. He wanted to know how the current situation of India by studying various events. He further planned to move back to Pune after his work finished and meet with Rajendra Deshpande to have a discussion over the current events.
He was thinking about it and assumed if a person named Rajendra Deshpande existed in this world. As he was into his thoughts when the train stopped beyond a long tunnel in a place called ‘Sarhad’. He saw an Anglo-Indian in a uniform who was going through the train to check the permit.

“This is where the British Raj begins. You are going for the first time, I presume?” Khan Sahib asked.
“Yes.” The reply was factually correct. Gangadharpant had not been to this Bombay before. He ventured a question: “And, Khan Sahib, how will you go to Peshawar?”
“This train goes to the Victoria Terminus*. I will take the Frontier Mail tonight out of Central.”
“How far does it go? By what route?”
“Bombay to Delhi, then to Lahore and then Peshawar. A long journey. I will reach Peshawar the day after tomorrow.”
Thereafter, Khan Sahib spoke a lot about his business and Gangadharpant was a willing listener. For, in that way, he was able to get some flavour of life in this India that was so different. The train now passed through the suburban rail traffic. The blue carriages carried the letters, GBMR, on the side.

Word meaning

Ventured – to say something that might be considered as an apology
Suburban – residential area

As the incident was taking place, a person named ‘Khan Sahib’ asked Gaitonde if he was going to Bombay for the first time to which he replied yes. He asked Khan Sahib about how would he reach Peshawar. He told him the whole route – the train would first go to Victoria Terminus and then he would change the train ‘Frontier Mail’ from the central. The train will then go to Delhi and then to Lahore and finally Peshawar. It would be a long journey of two days.
Khan Sahib further talked about his business to Gangadharpant Gaitonde (Professor) who was listening to him willingly. He got to taste a different flavour of the country other than what he saw and knew. The train next passed through the residential rail traffic and he saw a blue carriage with GBMR on the side.

“Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway,” explained Khan Sahib. “See the tiny Union Jack painted on each carriage? A gentle reminder that we are in British territory.”
The train began to slow down beyond Dadar and stopped only at its destination, Victoria Terminus. The station looked remarkably neat and clean. The staff was mostly made up of Anglo-Indians and Parsees along with a handful of British officers.
As he emerged from the station, Gangadharpant found himself facing an imposing building. The letters on it proclaimed its identity to those who did not know this Bombay landmark:
EAST INDIA HOUSE HEADQUARTERS OF
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
Prepared as he was for many shocks, Professor Gaitonde had not expected this. The East India Company had been wound up shortly after the events of 1857 — at least, that is what history books said. Yet, here it was, not only alive but flourishing. So, history had taken a different turn, perhaps before 1857. How and when had happened? He had to find out.

Word meaning

Emerged – developed; begin
Imposing – Impressive
Proclaimed – to announce something officially
Flourishing – to grow successfully 

Khan Sahib explained the full form of GBMR – Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway. He further showed him the tiny Union Jack painted on the carriages which was a mark for the reminder that they were in British territory. As the train moved passed Dadar, it stopped at the destination – Victoria Terminus. The station was neat and clean and the staff consisted of Anglo-Indians and Parsees with few British Officers.
As the professor got down from the station, he saw a big sign which read ‘East India House Headquarters of the East India Company’ which made the professor curious as he didn’t expect this in Bombay. According to his knowledge of history, East India Company was shut down after 1857 events. But the company was standing there which was growing successfully. He was confused as to how history took a turn. He had to know what happened.

As he walked along Hornby Road, as it was called, he found a different set of shops and office buildings. There was no Handloom House building. Instead, there were Boots and Woolworth departmental stores, imposing offices of Lloyds, Barclays and other British banks, as in a typical high street of a town in England.
He turned right along Home Street and entered Forbes building.
“I wish to meet Mr Vinay Gaitonde, please,” he said to the English receptionist.
She searched through the telephone list, the staff list and then through the directory of employees of all the branches of the firm. She shook her head and said, “I am afraid I can’t find anyone of that name either here or in any of our branches. Are you sure he works here?”
This was a blow, not totally unexpected. If he himself were dead in this world, what guarantee had he that his son would be alive? Indeed, he may not even have been born!
He thanked the girl politely and came out. It was characteristic of him not to worry about where he would stay. His main concern was to make his way to the library of the Asiatic Society to solve the riddle of history. Grabbing a quick lunch at a restaurant, he made his way to the Town Hall.

 As the professor walked passed the Hornby road in Bombay, he noticed a different set of shops in the street. There were no longer Handloom House Building but were Boots and Woolworth departmental stores and offices of Lloyds, Barclays and other British originated banks. It was just like a high street in England.
He entered the Forbes building in the Home Street. He asked the receptionist about Mr. Vinay Gaitonde. She searched for quite some time, all the telephone list and the staff list but didn’t find anything. She told him that there is no such person working in any branches of the company.
He was shocked and didn’t expect this. He was thinking about what would happen if he would not be alive in this world.
He moved out of the building and went to a restaurant to eat lunch. He then went to ‘Town Hall’.

Yes, to his relief, the Town Hall was there, and it did house the library. He entered the reading room and asked for a list of history books including his own.
His five volumes duly arrived on his table. He started from the beginning. Volume one took the history up to the period of Ashoka, volume two up to Samudragupta, volume three up to Mohammad Ghori and volume four up to the death of Aurangzeb. Up to this period history was as he knew it. The change evidently had occurred in the last volume.
Reading volume five from both ends inwards, Gangadharpant finally converged on the precise moment where history had taken a different turn.

Word meaning 

Converged – met
Precise – exact; accurate 

He reached the Town Hall which had a library inside. He entered the reading room and made his way towards history books. He took five volumes and started reading from the beginning. Volume one was about the period of Ashoka, another was about Samudragupta, the third one was about Mohammad Ghori and the fourth volume was up to the death of Aurangzeb. He noticed the last volume, it had some changes. After reading volume five, he knew about the exact moment where history changed.

That page in the book described the Battle of Panipat, and it mentioned that the Marathas won it handsomely. Abdali was routed and he was chased back to Kabul by the triumphant Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau and his nephew, the young Vishwasrao.
The book did not go into a blow-by-blow account of the battle itself. Rather, it elaborated in detail its consequences for the power struggle in India. Gangadharpant read through the account avidly. The style of writing was unmistakably his, yet he was reading the account for the first time!
Their victory in the battle was not only a great morale booster to the Marathas but it also established their supremacy in northern India. The East India Company, which had been watching these developments from the sidelines, got the message and temporarily shelved its expansionist programme.

Word meaning

Triumphant – Successful
Blow – by – blow account – a detailed account
Avidly – with great interest
Morale booster – anything which boosts self- confidence
Supremacy – the condition of being superior to others
Expansionist – a follower of the policy of territorial or economic expansion

He came to know that Marathas had won the Battle of Panipat. Abdali was chased to Kabul by the successful Maratha army which was led by Sadashivrao Bhau and his nephew.
The book didn’t give detailed information about the war but it elaborated about the details about the power struggles in India. The professor read the account with great interest. Although he recognized the writing style to be his, he could not recollect having written it. After the war, the Marathas established superiority in the northern Indian region which also worked as a great confidence booster for them.
The East India Company got side-lined and abandoned its expansionist program.

For the Peshwas the immediate result was an increase in the influence of Bhausaheb and Vishwasrao who eventually succeeded his father in 1780 A.D. The trouble-maker, Dadasaheb, was relegated to the background and he eventually retired from state politics.
To its dismay, the East India Company met its match in the new Maratha ruler, Vishwasrao. He and his brother, Madhavrao, combined political acumen with valour and systematically expanded their influence all over India. The Company was reduced to pockets of influence near Bombay, Calcutta* and Madras@, just like its European rivals, the Portuguese and the French.
For political reasons, the Peshwas kept the puppet Mughal regime alive in Delhi. In the nineteenth century, these de facto rulers from Pune were astute enough to recognize the importance of the technological age dawning in Europe. They set up their own centers for science and technology. Here, the East India Company saw another opportunity to extend its influence. It offered aid and experts.
They were accepted only to make the local centers self-sufficient.

Word meaning 

Relegated to – assigned to a lower rank
Dismay – shock
Political acumen – political smartness
Valour – great courage in battle
De facto – existing in fact with or without any lawful authority
Astute – smartness; quick-witted

For the Maratha ruler, the influence of Bhausaheb and Vishwarao increased. Vishwarao succeeded his father in 1780 AD. Dadasaheb was assigned to a lower rank and he retired from state politics. The East India Company met its match in Vishwarao. Vishwarao and his brother, Madhavrao, with their political smartness and courage in the battlefield, expanded their influence all over India. The company was left with influence in only a few cities in India like Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras just like Europeans, Portuguese and French.
The Marathas kept the Mughal government alive for political reasons. In the nineteenth century, rulers were smart enough to recognize the importance of technology rising in Europe. On the other hand, East India Company extended its influence by offering aid and experts in the region where they were accepted only as local centers.

The twentieth century brought about further changes inspired by the West. India moved towards a democracy. By then, the Peshwas had lost their enterprise and they were gradually replaced by democratically elected bodies. The Sultanate at Delhi survived even this transition, largely because it wielded no real influence. The Shahenshah of Delhi was no more than a figurehead to rubber-stamp the ‘recommendations’ made by the central parliament.
As he read on, Gangadharpant began to appreciate the India he had seen. It was a country that had not been subjected to slavery for the white man; it had learnt to stand on its feet and knew what self-respect was. From a position of strength and for purely commercial reasons, it had allowed the British to retain Bombay as the sole outpost on the subcontinent. That lease was to expire in the year 2001, according to a treaty of 1908. Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he knew what he was witnessing around him. But, at the same time, he felt that his investigations were incomplete. How did the Marathas win the battle? To find the answer he must look for accounts of the battle itself.

Word meaning

Figurehead – a carving; image
Outpost – a small military camp used as a guard 

India was a democratic country inspired by the West during the twentieth century. The Peshwas of Marathas lost their empire and democratic bodies took their place. The Mughal Sultanate at Delhi survived the transitions as they had no influence. The Mughal rulers were no longer a carving on the rubber stamps. The professor started liking India as he continued reading about it. It was different from the one he believed he saw. This country knew how to stand on its feet and it was no longer the slave under white man. Bombay was made an outpost on the sub-continent region by the British. According to a treaty in 1908, it would expire in the year 2001. The professor was comparing the country he was witnessing now. But, he still felt that his investigation was incomplete and he wanted to know more answers about the Maratha battle.
He went through the books and journals before him. At last, among the books he found one that gave him the clue. It was Bhausahebanchi Bakhar.
Although he seldom relied on the Bakhars for historical evidence, he found them entertaining to read. Sometimes, buried in the graphic but doctored accounts, he could spot the germ of truth. He found one now in a three-line account of how close Vishwasrao had come to being killed:

And then Vishwasrao guided his horse to the melee where the elite troops were fighting and he attacked them. And God was merciful. A shot brushed past his ear. Even the difference of a til (sesame) would have led to his death.
At eight o’clock the librarian politely reminded the professor that the library was closing for the day. Gangadharpant emerged from his thoughts. Looking around he noticed that he was the only reader left in that magnificent hall.
“I beg your pardon, sir! May I request you to keep these books here for my use tomorrow morning? By the way, when do you open?”
“At eight o’clock, sir.” The librarian smiled. Here was a user and researcher right after his heart.
As the professor left the table he shoved some notes into his right pocket. Absent-mindedly, he also shoved the Bakhar into his left pocket.

Word meaning

Seldom – not often
Doctored accounts – manipulated accounts related to history
Melee – a confused fight
Shoved – to push someone roughly

As he was going through the books in front of him, he found the clues in one of them, which was Bhausahebanchi Bakhar. He never relied on Bakhar for any type of historical evidence but he always found them entertaining. Among the manipulated accounts, he found the three-line account about Vishwarao and how he was killed. Vishwarao was shot and the bullet brushed past his ear while he was running upon his horse in a confused fight. The book said that even a sesame seed would have been a reason for his death.
The librarian asked him to finish as the library was about to be closed at eight o’clock at night. He noticed he was the only one left in the reading room. He asked the librarian whether he could keep the books with him and asked him about the opening time of the library. The librarian told him that it opens at eight o’clock in the morning and the professor left the table. He pushed the notes into his right pocket and pushed the Bakhar book into his left one.

He found a guest house to stay in and had a frugal meal. He then set out for a stroll towards the Azad Maidan.
In the maidan he found a throng moving towards a pandal. So, a lecture was to take place. Force of habit took Professor Gaitonde towards the pandal. The lecture was in progress, although people kept coming and going. But Professor Gaitonde was not looking at the audience. He was staring at the platform as if mesmerised. There was a table and a chair but the latter was unoccupied. The presidential chair unoccupied!
The sight stirred him to the depths. Like a piece of iron attracted to a magnet, he swiftly moved towards the chair.
The speaker stopped in mid-sentence, too shocked to continue. But the audience soon found voice.
“Vacate the chair!”
“This lecture series has no chairperson…”
“Away from the platform, mister!”
“The chair is symbolic, don’t you know?”
What nonsense! Whoever heard of a public lecture without a presiding dignitary? Professor Gaitonde went to the mike and gave vent to his views. “Ladies and gentlemen, an unchaired lecture is like Shakespeare’s Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. Let me tell you…”

Word meaning 

Frugal – less costly and simple
Stroll – to wander
Throng – a large pack of crowd
Gave vent to – to express one’s feelings

He found a guest house to stay in and eat cheap meat for dinner. He decided to walk towards Azad Maidan and found a large pack of a crowd moving towards the pandal. The professor moved towards the pandal. A lecture was taking place and people were going and coming to and fro. His attention was on the stage. There was an empty table and chair. The presidential chair was also unoccupied. He was motivated and he moved towards the chair. The speaker stopped and he was shocked to see the professor sitting on that empty chair. The speaker yelled at him to vacate the chair. He replied the lecture doesn’t have any chairperson but the speaker asked him to move away and told him that the chair was iconic. The Professor didn’t listen to his instructions and went to the mike to express his thoughts. He started by saying that vacant chair lecture is like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and without Prince of Denmark .

the audience was in no mood to listen. “Tell us nothing. We are sick of remarks from the chair, of vote of thanks, of long introductions.”
“We only want to listen to the speaker…”
“We abolished the old customs long ago…”
“Keep the platform empty, please…”
But Gangadharpant had the experience of speaking at 999 meetings and had faced the Pune audience at its most hostile. He kept on talking.
He soon became a target for a shower of tomatoes, eggs and other objects. But he kept on trying valiantly to correct this sacrilege. Finally, the audience swarmed to the stage to eject him bodily.
And, in the crowd Gangadharpant was nowhere to be seen.

Word meaning

Hostile – unfriendly
Valiantly – bravely
Sacrilege – disrespect
Swarmed – move somewhere in a large number

The audience was in no mood to listen to anything. Clearly, old customs had changed now. They no longer believed the chaired person and his false promises. They asked him to move aside, as they only wanted to hear the speaker. But the professor continued talking as he believed he would control the unfriendly audience. They soon started throwing tomatoes, eggs and other objects towards him. He kept on trying bravely but the audience started moving towards him to remove him physically from the platform. In the crowd, the professor was nowhere to be seen.

“That is all I have to tell, Rajendra. All I know is that I was found in the Azad Maidan in the morning. But I was back in the world I am familiar with. Now, where exactly did I spend those two days when I was absent from here?”
Rajendra was dumbfounded by the narrative. It took him a while to reply.
“Professor, before, just prior to your collision with the truck, what were you doing?” Rajendra asked.
“I was thinking of the catastrophe theory and its implications for history.”
“Right! I thought so!” Rajendra smiled.
“Don’t smile smugly. In case you think that it was just my mind playing tricks and my imagination running amok, look at this.”
And, triumphantly, Professor Gaitonde produced his vital piece of evidence: a page torn out of a book.
Rajendra read the text on the printed page and his face underwent a change. Gone was the smile and in its place came a grave expression. He was visibly moved.
Dumbfounded – amazed
Catastrophe theory – it is a branch of mathematics concerned with systems displaying discontinuous changes

Word meaning 

Smugly – to show excess satisfaction
Amok – to behave uncontrollably
Triumphantly – to win a battle

The professor was talking to Rajendra. He narrated everything to him which he saw and lived for those few days. He said he was found in the Azad Maidan next morning and now he is back to the real world which he is familiar with. He wanted to know where had he spent the two days when he was unconscious.
Rajendra was amazed by the narrative and he replied after a while. He asked the professor what he was thinking just before his collision with the truck. Professor replied that he was thinking about Catastrophe theory. He further told Rajendra not to smile showing excess satisfaction. It is nothing like that my mind was playing tricks with me. To win the argument, the professor took out the printed page and Rajendra was surprised. 

Gangadharpant pressed home his advantage. “I had inadvertently slipped the Bakhar in my pocket as I left the library. I discovered my error when I was paying for my meal. I had intended to return it the next morning. But it seems that in the melee of Azad Maidan, the book was lost; only this torn-off page remained. And, luckily for me, the page contains vital evidence.” Rajendra again read the page. It described how Vishwasrao narrowly missed the bullet; and how that event, taken as an omen by the Maratha army, turned the tide in their favour.
“Now look at this.” Gangadharpant produced his own copy of Bhausahebanchi Bakhar, opened at the relevant page. The account ran thus:
… And then Vishwasrao guided his horse to the melee where the elite troops were fighting, and he attacked them. And God expressed His displeasure. He was hit by the bullet.
“Professor Gaitonde, you have given me food for thought. Until I saw this material evidence, I had simply put your experience down to fantasy. But facts can be stranger than fantasies, as I am beginning to realise.”
“Facts? What are the facts? I am dying to know!” Professor Gaitonde said.

Word meaning

Inadvertently – unintentionally

Professor told Rajendra that he had unintentionally slipped the Bakhar into his left pocket and he intended to return it the next morning. But the book got torn off and lost in the large crowd in the Azad Maidan. This page is evidence from the book that I had stolen it. Rajendra again read the page, it described how Vishwarao missed the bullet. He then showed him his own copy of Bakhar and the texts were different. It said that Vishwarao was hit by the bullet.
Rajendra told the professor that by reading the evidence, he had begun to realize it’s not a fantasy. He wanted the professor to know some facts.

Rajendra motioned him to silence and started pacing the room, obviously under great mental strain. Finally, he turned around and said, “Professor Gaitonde, I will try to rationalize your experience on the basis of two scientific theories as known today. Whether I succeed or not in convincing you of the facts, only you can judge — for you have indeed passed through a fantastic experience: or, more correctly, a catastrophic experience!”
“Please continue, Rajendra! I am all ears,” Professor Gaitonde replied. Rajendra continued pacing as he talked.
“You have heard a lot about the catastrophe theory at that seminar. Let us apply it to the Battle of Panipat. Wars fought face to face on open grounds offer excellent examples of this theory. The Maratha army was facing Abdali’s troops on the field of Panipat. There was no great disparity between the latter’s troops and the opposing forces. Their armour was comparable. So, a lot depended on the leadership and the morale of the troops. The juncture at which Vishwasrao, the son of and heir to the Peshwa, was killed proved to be the turning point. As history has it, his uncle, Bhausaheb, rushed into the melee and was never seen again. Whether he was killed in battle or survived is not known. But for the troops at that particular moment, that blow of losing their leaders was crucial. They lost their morale and fighting spirit. There followed an utter rout.

Word meaning 

Disparity – difference
Armour – shell
Rout – a defeat

Rajendra explained to him that this was a catastrophic experience which he had just felt. Professor told him to continue. He told the professor to apply the Catastrophe theory to the Battle of Panipat. The Abdali and Maratha army were both equally strong in terms of troops and forces. Their shell was also comparable but the victory dependent on the leadership and morale of the troops.
The point where the Marathas were killed was the turning point of the battle. Uncle of Vishwarao rushed into the crowd and was never seen again. No one knows whether he survived or died. The troops lost their morale and fighting spirit and it was a defeat for them.

Exactly, Professor! And what you have shown me on that torn page is the course taken by the battle, when the bullet missed Vishwasrao. A crucial event gone the other way. And its effect on the troops was also the opposite. It boosted their morale and provided just that extra impetus that made all the difference,” Rajendra said.
“Maybe so. Similar statements are made about the Battle of Waterloo, which Napoleon could have won. But we live in a unique world which has a unique history. This idea of ‘it might have been’ is okay for the sake of speculation but not for reality,” Gangadharpant said. “I take issue with you there. In fact, that brings me to my second point which you may find strange; but please hear me out,” Rajendra said.
Gangadharpant listened expectantly as Rajendra continued. “What do we mean by reality? We experience it directly with our senses or indirectly via instruments. But is it limited to what we see? Does it have other manifestations?

Word meaning

Impetus – the force with which body moves
Manifestation – the action of showing something; demonstration

Rajendra continued by saying that the torn page that he read was about how the events took another turn and everything happened differently from what they knew. The Professor added similar statements are made about Battle of Waterloo where several texts talk about ‘it might have been. Rajendra then made his second point which was, how we experience reality. It is via our senses or with the help of instruments. But is reality really limited to what we see or is it a demonstration?

“That reality may not be unique has been found from experiments on very small systems — of atoms and their constituent particles. When dealing with such systems the physicist discovered something startling. The behaviour of these systems cannot be predicted definitively even if all the physical laws governing those systems are known.
“Take an example. I fire an electron from a source. Where will it go? If I fire a bullet from a gun in a given direction at a given speed, I know where it will be at a later time. But I cannot make such an assertion for the electron. It may be here, there, anywhere. I can at best quote odds for it being found in a specified location at a specified time.”
“The lack of determinism in quantum theory! Even an ignoramus historian like me has heard of it,” Professor Gaitonde said.

 Word meaning

Startling – surprising
Assertion – a confident statement of a fact
Determinism – a doctrine that all the events are caused by the external will
Quantum theory – a theory of matter and energy based on quantum mechanics.
Ignoramus – an ignorant person

Rajendra explained that the reality is not the same, it has been founded by the experiments of small atoms and their particles. The physicists studied such system and found something surprising. They found that the behaviour of such systems cannot be predicted. He gave an example of an electron. If he would fire a bullet from a gun. He would know where it will go but it cannot be predicted about the electron. We can count odds about where it can be at a specific time and position. Professor added ‘the lack of determinism’ which means lack of a doctrine caused by external will. He added that he had also heard of it.

“So, imagine many world pictures. In one world the electron is found here, in another it is over there. In yet another it is in a still different location. Once the observer finds where it is, we know which world we are talking about. But all those alternative worlds could exist just the same.” Rajendra paused to marshall his thoughts.
“But is there any contact between those many worlds?” Professor Gaitonde asked.
“Yes and no! Imagine two worlds, for example. In both an electron is orbiting the nucleus of an atom…”
“Like planets around the sun…” Gangadharpant interjected. “Not quite. We know the precise trajectory of the planet. The electron could be orbiting in any of a large number of specified states. These states may be used to identify the world. In state no.1 we have the electron in a state of higher energy. In state no.2 it is in a state of lower energy. It can make a jump from high to low energy and send out a pulse of radiation. Or a pulse of radiation can knock it out of state no.2 into state no.1. Such transitions are common in microscopic systems. What if it happened on a macroscopic level?” Rajendra said.

Word meaning

Marshall – to gather something
Precise – error-free; correct
Trajectory – the path followed by a projectile flying

Rajendra while gathering his thoughts told the professor that in one world, the electron may be found here and in another, it may be found in another place but in the third world. It may be at different locations. Once the observer knows about the correct placing of the electrons at every world, it might happen that an alternative world exists at the same time. The Professor asked him whether there are any contacts between these many worlds. Rajendra told him it might not happen. He said in both the worlds, the electron is orbiting the nucleus of an atom. The Professor added an example of planets and sun. Rajendra said not quite as in the case of the planets we know about the path that is followed by the planets. But in the case of electrons, it is different. When an electron is in state 1, it is in higher energy. In-state 2, it is in lower energy. It might happen that the electron jumps from a higher to a lower position. These transitions happen at a microscopic level but what if it happened at the macroscopic level.

“I get you! You are suggesting that I made a transition from one world to another and back again?” Gangadharpant asked.
“Fantastic though it seems, this is the only explanation I can offer. My theory is that catastrophic situations offer radically different alternatives for the world to proceed. It seems that so far as reality is concerned all alternatives are viable but the observer can experience only one of them at a time.
“By making a transition, you were able to experience two worlds although one at a time. The one you live in now and the one where you spent two days. One has the history we know, the other a different history. The separation or bifurcation took place in the Battle of Panipat. You neither travelled to the past nor to the future. You were in the present but experiencing a different world. Of course, by the same token there must be many more different worlds arising out of bifurcations at different points of time.”
As Rajendra concluded, Gangadharpant asked the question that was beginning to bother him most. “But why did I make the transition?”

Word meaning

Viable – practical
Bifurcation – division

Professor told him that he went to another world and came back again. Rajendra said it is the only explanation he can offer right now. According to him, in catastrophic situations, different alternatives can exist and somewhere the observer can experience one reality one at a time.
Rajendra added that the professor made a transition and experienced two worlds one at a time, one in which he lives and another one where he spent his last two days. This world has the history they know about and another one has different facts. The Battle of Panipat had divisions of facts in both worlds. He said that the professor didn’t travel past or future but was in the present and experiencing different worlds. There may be more worlds which may arise out of division at different points of time. Professor asked as to why only he made the transition.

“If I knew the answer I would solve a great problem. Unfortunately, there are many unsolved questions in science and this is one of them. But that does not stop me from guessing.” Rajendra smiled and proceeded, “You need some interaction to cause a transition. Perhaps, at the time of the collision you were thinking about the catastrophe theory and its role in wars. Maybe you were wondering about the Battle of Panipat. Perhaps, the neurons in your brain acted as a trigger.”
“A good guess. I was indeed wondering what course history would have taken if the result of the battle had gone the other way,” Professor Gaitonde said. “That was going to be the topic of my thousandth presidential address.”
“Now you are in the happy position of recounting your real-life experience rather than just speculating,” Rajendra laughed. But Gangadharpant was grave.
“No, Rajendra, my thousandth address was made on the Azad Maidan when I was so rudely interrupted. No. The Professor Gaitonde who disappeared while defending his chair on the platform will now never be seen presiding at another meeting — I have conveyed my regrets to the organizers of the Panipat seminar.”

Word meaning

Speculating – wondering
Grave – serious

Rajendra answered that he didn’t know why he made the transition but he could guess it. At the time of the collision, the professor was thinking about catastrophe theory and its role in the war. Maybe he was thinking about the Battle of Panipat at that moment the neurons in his brain acted as a trigger and made the transition. The Professor confessed that he was thinking about what would happen if the battle had gone the other way and he was about to address this at his thousandth presidential address. Rajendra laughed and said now he can happily recount his real-life experience than just wondering about it. The Professor was serious and told him that at his thousandth presidential address at Azad Maidan, he was rudely interrupted by the crowd and speaker. The professor Gaitonde who was defending his chair on the stage had to disappear and he would never be seen again at another meeting. He also conveyed his regrets to the organizers of the seminar.

Silk Road

By Nick Middleton

About the lesson

This chapter is part of a travelogue about the author’s travel along the ancient trade route called ‘Silk Road’ regions as they are now. This account of the Silk Road, with its contrasts and exotic detail, describes the challenges and hardships the author faced while journeying to Mount Kailash on a pilgrimage.

Summary

The protagonist wanted to go to Mount Kailash to complete the kora. He hired Tsetan to drive him up to Mount Kailash. As a farewell gift, Lhamo gave him a long-sleeved sheepskin coat. He took Daniel as his companion till Darchen.When they started the journey, Tsetan took a short cut to the south-west which was a direct route to Mount Kailash. They had to cross high mountain passes to reach their destination. Tsetan assured him that it would be no problem if there would be no snow. They crossed through few gazelles, a herd of wild asses and shepherds tending the flocks.When they reached the hill, they passed dark tents which were home for nomads. He saw a Tibetan mastiff standing outside the tent as a guard. These mastiffs ran after his car as he reached near the tents. These dogs had large jaws.

As soon as they entered the valley, they witnessed snow capped mountains with rivers flowing which were blocked with ice. When they were riding through the hill, the turns became sharper and roads became bumpier. Tsetan was driving in third gear. The protagonist could feel the pressure in his ears. He held his nose, snorted to clear the congestion. He checked his wristwatch, they were at 5210 meters above sea level.They reached their first hurdle which was a road filled with snow. Tsetan threw dirt on the snow and drove carefully on that road. They resumed their journey. The protagonist felt his head was hurting. He took a few sips of water from his water bottle. They were still climbing up the hill. They reached at 5515 meters above sea level. They stopped again and this time the fuel tank hissed when Testan unscrewed the top. As the petrol was expanding due to low atmospheric pressure, Tsetan told them not to smoke around it.Soon in the afternoon around two o clock, they stopped for lunch. The protagonist’s headache was gone by now. By late afternoon, they reached a small town called ‘Hor’. They reached the east-west highway again. It was the old route from Lhasa to Kashmir. Daniel got off the car and took a lift to Lhasa. Their car had a few punctures which worried Tsetan. He got them fixed and the protagonist waited at a local café of Hor while having a glass of tea. He found Hor a miserable place. After a while, Tsetan reached to him and they resumed their journey again.At night around 10.30 pm, they stopped at a guest house in Darchen to spend the night. The protagonist got ill and suffered from nose-congestion due to the change in altitude and cold weather. He stayed awake all night. Next morning, Tsetan took him to Tibetan medical college where a he consulted a Tibetan Doctor who gave him a five-day course medicines in a brown envelope. After taking a full day of medicine, the protagonist was feeling good. Tsetan left him thereafter assuring his health condition. The protagonist was staying at Darchen. That place had a general store where Chinese cigarettes, soap, and other things were available. In the afternoon, the men gathered at a shabby table to play pool every day. Women would wash their hair in the narrow stream. Darchen had one problem, it had no pilgrims. According to the local people, in the peak season of pilgrimage the place would be filled with travellers. He met a person in the Darchen’s only café. His name was Norbu who was a Tibetan working in Beijing at the Institute of Ethnic Literature of Chinese Academy of Social Science. He came to Darchen to complete the kora just like the protagonist. He was fat and found it difficult to walk. The protagonist decided to go on the pilgrimage with him. They hired yaks to carry their luggage. Norbu finally said it is not possible for him while he collapsed across the table and laughed hilariously. His tummy was also too big.

Silk Road Lesson Explanation

 A FLAWLESS half-moon floated in a perfect blue sky in the morning we said our goodbyes. Extended banks of cloud-like long French loaves glowed pink as the sun emerged to splash the distant mountain tops with a rose-tinted blush. Now that we were leaving Ravu, Lhamo said she wanted to give me a farewell present. One evening I’d told her through Daniel that I was heading towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora, and she’d said that I ought to get some warmer clothes. After ducking back into her tent, she emerged carrying one of the long-sleeved sheepskin coats that all the men wore. Tsetan sized me up as we clambered into his car. “Ah, yes,” he declared, “drokba, sir.”

We took a short cut to get off the Changtang. Tsetan knew a route that would take us south-west, almost directly towards Mount Kailash. It involved crossing several fairly high mountain passes, he said. “But no problem, sir”, he assured us, “if there is no snow.” What was the likelihood of that I asked. “Not knowing, sir, until we get there.”

Word meaning

Loaves – bread shaped and baked in one piece which is usually sliced before being eaten

Kora – meditation performed by Buddhist believers

Ducking Back – going inside and then coming out

Size me up – to look at someone attentively

Clambered – move or climb in an awkward way

Drokba – Shepherd

As the protagonist was heading towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora in the morning, he witnessed a beautiful half-moon in the blue sky. The clouds looked like French bread which glowed pink because of the sun which spread a slash of rays on the mountain tops. It looked like a rose-tinted blush. Ravu and Lhamo wanted to give him a farewell gift. One evening when the protagonist passed a message to Lhamo through Daniel, she gave him a long-sleeved sheepskin coat which is meant for men. Tsetan looked at him attentively while he climbed into his car. He declared yes and said Drokba to him which means kora in the region of Tibet. They took a short cut to cut off the Changtang. His driver knew the short route which took them to the south-west towards Mount Kailash. They had to pass high mountain passes. Tsetan told him that they can reach the destination only if there is no snow and they can’t know that until they’ll reach there.

From the gently rolling hills of Ravu, the short cut took us across vast open plains with nothing in them except a few gazelles that would look up from nibbling the arid pastures and frown before bounding away into the void. Further on, where the plains became more stony than grassy, a great herd of wild ass came into view. Tsetan told us we were approaching them long before they appeared. “Kyang,” he said, pointing towards a far-off pall of dust. When we drew near, I could see the herd galloping en masse, wheeling and turning in tight formation as if they were practising manoeuvres on some predetermined course. Plumes of dust billowed into the crisp, clean air.

Word meaning

Gazelles – an African or Asian mammal with large eyes that moves quickly and hoofs

Nibbling – take a small bite from

Arid – having little or no rain

Pastures – land covered with grass

Frown – to disapprove of something

Bounding – jump; hop; bounce

Wild ass – an animal who have ears shorter than a horse and smaller in size

Herd – a large group of animal

Galloping – progressing in an uncontrollable manner

En masse – in a group

Manoeuvres – military exercises

Plumes – Trails

Billowed – filled with air; swelled out

The route was filled with open plains in Ravu where Gazelles were eating grass from the land which had little rain and disapproved while hopping back in the void. As they moved forward, a large group of wild asses appeared. Tsetan told him that they were approaching the wild asses long before they appeared there. Tsetan pointed out a huge pile of dust which he called ‘Kyang’ in his local language. When they drew nearer to the destination, they could see a large group of animals progressing in a fast and uncontrollable manner like they were doing military exercises. Trails of dust filled with air.

As hills started to push up once more from the rocky wilderness, we passed solitary drokbas tending their flocks. Sometimes men, sometimes women, these well-wrapped figures would pause and stare at our car, occasionally waving as we passed. When the track took us close to their animals, the sheep would take evasive action, veering away from the speeding vehicle. We passed nomads’ dark tents pitched in splendid isolation, usually with a huge black dog, a Tibetan mastiff, standing guard. These beasts would cock their great big heads when they became aware of our approach and fix us in their sights. As we continued to draw closer, they would explode into action, speeding directly towards us, like a bullet from a gun and nearly as fast.

Word meaning

Wilderness – wasteland

Solitary – private

Flocks – a group of birds

Evasive – slippery

Veering – to change direction suddenly

Shaggy – bushy or hairy

As they move passed the rocky area, they came across private Koras nurturing their group of birds. Both men and women stared at their car and some also waved at them. As they moved closer to the animals, the sheep would take a slippery path and would suddenly move into another direction away from the car. They witnessed nomads’ tents which were dark in complete isolation and a big black Tibetan dog standing as their guard. They fixed their gaze on the approaching car and ran behind it as a bullet fired from a gun.

These shaggy monsters, blacker than the darkest night, usually wore bright red collars and barked furiously with massive jaws. They were completely fearless of our vehicle, shooting straight into our path, causing Tsetan to brake and swerve. The dog would make chase for a hundred metres or so before easing off, having seen us off the property. It wasn’t difficult to understand why ferocious Tibetan mastiffs became popular in China’s imperial courts as hunting dogs, brought along the Silk Road in ancient times as tribute from Tibet. By now we could see snow-capped mountains gathering on the horizon. We entered a valley where the river was wide and mostly clogged with ice, brilliant white and glinting in the sunshine. The trail hugged its bank, twisting with the meanders as we gradually gained height and the valley sides closed in.

Word meaning

Swerve – change direction suddenly

Ferocious – cruel or violent

Mastiffs – a dog who is a strong breed with dropping ears saggy ears

Glinting – sparkle or twinkle

Meanders – to follow a winding course of a river or road

Those bushy creatures were blacker than the normal black colour who wore a bright red collar and they barked angrily at them with big jaws. Those dogs were fearless and were running towards the car causing Tsetan to apply brakes and change direction suddenly. The dogs ran after them for a hundred meters more and then stop to watch them go away. These Tibetan Mastiffs became popular in China’s royal courts as hunting dogs. They were brought along the silk route as tribute in ancient times from Tibet. As they passed the area with bushy Tibetan dogs, they started witnessing snow-capped mountains. They entered the valley which was covered with Wide River covered with ice which was white and shiny in the sun. The track was moving along the river bank as they gained height and the valley was closing in towards them.

The turns became sharper and the ride bumpier, Tsetan now in third gear as we continued to climb. The track moved away from the icy river, labouring through steeper slopes that sported big rocks daubed with patches of bright orange lichen. Beneath the rocks, hunks of snow clung on in the near permanent shade. I felt the pressure building up in my ears, held my nose, snorted and cleared them. We struggled round another tight bend and Tsetan stopped. He had opened his door and jumped out of his seat before I realised what was going on. “Snow,” said Daniel as he too exited the vehicle, letting in a breath of cold air as he did so. A swathe of the white stuff lay across the track in front of us, stretching for maybe fifteen metres before it petered out and the dirt trail reappeared. The snow continued on either side of us, smoothing the abrupt bank on the upslope side. The bank was too steep for our vehicle to scale, so there was no way round the snow patch. I joined Daniel as Tsetan stepped on to the encrusted snow and began to slither and slide forward, stamping his foot from time to time to ascertain how sturdy it was. I looked at my wristwatch. We were at 5,210 metres above sea level.

Word meaning

Daubed – spread a thick sticky substance on a surface carelessly

Lichen – a slow-growing plant which grows on walls, trees or rocks

Clung – hold tightly onto something

Swathe – a long strip of land

Petered out – to diminish gradually and stop

Encrusted – decorated with a hard surface layer

Slither – to move smoothly over a surface

The driver was driving in third gear while the turns were sharper and the ride got bumpier. Then they moved away from the road which ran along the icy river. It had sharp slopes and big rocks coated with thick sticky orange lichen. Below the rocks were chunks of snow. The protagonist felt a pressure on his ears, he held his nose and snorted in order to clear them. A sharp turn came again and Tsetan stopped the car and jumped out from his seat. David too did the same. He exclaimed “snow” in his excitement. A long track of snow was in front of them which was about fifteen meters long before it diminished and the normal dirty track appeared again. The snow was on both sides of them and it was difficult to move the vehicle in that condition. The protagonist joined Daniel as Tsetan tried to move smoothly over the snowy surface by stamping his foot on the surface. The protagonist saw his wristwatch, they were 5,210 meters above sea level.

The snow didn’t look too deep to me, but the danger wasn’t its depth, Daniel said, so much as its icy top layer. “If we slip off, the car could turn over,” he suggested, as we saw Tsetan grab handfuls of dirt and fling them across the frozen surface. We both pitched in and, when the snow was spread with soil, Daniel and I stayed out of the vehicle to lighten Tsetan’s load. He backed up and drove towards the dirty snow, eased the car on to its icy surface and slowly drove its length without apparent difficulty. Ten minutes later, we stopped at another blockage. “Not good, sir,” Tsetan announced as he jumped out again to survey the scene. This time he decided to try and drive round the snow. The slope was steep and studded with major rocks, but somehow Tsetan negotiated them, his four-wheel-drive vehicle lurching from one obstacle to the next. In so doing he cut off one of the hairpin bends, regaining the trail further up where the snow had not drifted.

Word meaning

Fling – throw

Lurching – listing

The snow was deep beneath its icy top surface. Daniel said that if they turn their car over, they could slip off. Tsetan grabbed dirt and threw it across the frozen surface. They pitched in and helped Tsetan until the snow with soil appeared and it loaded the tension of Tsetan. He drove back the car and slowly drove to the more comfortable side of the road.
After ten minutes, Tsetan stopped again as another obstacle came in front of them. They drove around the snowy track which was steep and filled with rocks. He further drove from the hairpin bend, moving on the higher side where the snow was still there.

I checked my watch again as we continued to climb in the bright sunshine. We crept past 5,400 metres and my head began to throb horribly. I took gulps from my water bottle, which is supposed to help a rapid ascent. We finally reached the top of the pass at 5,515 metres. It was marked by a large cairn of rocks festooned with white silk scarves and ragged prayer flags. We all took a turn round the cairn, in a clockwise direction as is the tradition, and Tsetan checked the tyres on his vehicle. He stopped at the petrol tank and partially unscrewed the top, which emitted a loud hiss. The lower atmospheric pressure was allowing the fuel to expand. It sounded dangerous to me. “Maybe, sir,” Tsetan laughed “but no smoking.”

Word meaning

Throb – pulsate

Ascent – climb on an upward slope

Cairn of rocks – the pile of stone on the top of the mountain, especially where someone is buried.

Festooned – decorated

The protagonist checked his watch again while he was climbing the mountain in the bright sunlight. They move up to 5400 meters height and his head began to pulsate again. He had a few sips of water from his bottle which helped him to climb the slope. They reached at 5,515 meters and a large pile of stone was decorated with white silk scarves and some dirty prayer flags. They took a turn round that stone in a clockwise direction as in the tradition and the driver checked the tyres of his vehicle. He stopped at the petrol tank and unscrewed its top which made a loud hiss noise as the pressure was making the fuel expand. The driver told him maybe it’s dangerous but told him not to smoke around there.

My headache soon cleared as we careered down the other side of the pass. It was two o’clock by the time we stopped for lunch. We ate hot noodles inside a long canvas tent, part of a workcamp erected beside a dry salt lake. The plateau is pockmarked with salt flats and brackish lakes, vestiges of the Tethys Ocean which bordered Tibet before the great continental collision that lifted it skyward. This one was a hive of activity, men with pickaxes and shovels trudging back and forth in their long sheepskin coats and salt-encrusted boots. All wore sunglasses against the glare as a steady stream of blue trucks emerged from the blindingly white lake laden with piles of salt. By late afternoon we had reached the small town of Hor, back on the main east-west highway that followed the old trade route from Lhasa to Kashmir. Daniel, who was returning to Lhasa, found a ride in a truck so Tsetan and I bade him farewell outside a tyre-repair shop. We had suffered two punctures in quick succession on the drive down from the salt lake and Tsetan was eager to have them fixed since they left him with no spares. Besides, the second tyre he’d changed had been replaced by one that was as smooth as my bald head.

Word meaning

Careered down – sinking the slope

Salt flats – thatched roof covered with snow

Pockmarked – disfigured with a scar

Brackish – slightly salty water

Vestiges – a trace of something that is disappearing

Laden – loaded

His headache cleared as they descended down the slope. It was two o’clock when they stopped for lunch at a long canvas tent beside the dry salt lake. They had hot noodles. The plateau was disfigured and the lake was filled with salty water and thatched roof covered with snow. It had traces of extinct Tethys Ocean which used to border Tibet before the collision of the continent. Few men were working there with pickaxes and shovels. They were wearing sunglasses to minimize the glare coming from blue trucks loaded with pile of salt, salt-encrusted boots, and long sheepskin coats. By the late afternoon, they reached Hor town and back to the east-west highway, which was an old route from Lhasa to Kashmir. Daniel found a ride as he was on his way back to Lhasa, both of them bid him farewell at tyre repair shop. Their car suffered two punctures on the way from the salt lake so Tsetan was eager to get them fixed. They had no spare tyre left and the second tyre which he changed was replaced by a smooth tyre just like the head of the protagonist.

Hor was a grim, miserable place. There was no vegetation whatsoever, just dust and rocks, liberally scattered with years of accumulated refuse, which was unfortunate given that the town sat on the shore of Lake Manasarovar, Tibet’s most venerated stretch of water. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist cosmology pinpoints Manasarovar as the source of four great Indian rivers: the Indus, the Ganges, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra. Actually only the Sutlej flows from the lake, but the headwaters of the others all rise nearby on the flanks of Mount Kailash. We were within striking distance of the great mountain and I was eager to forge ahead. But I had to wait. Tsetan told me to go and drink some tea in Hor’s only cafe which, like all the other buildings in town, was constructed from badly painted concrete and had three broken windows. The good view of the lake through one of them helped to compensate for the draught.

Word meaning

 Grim – ugly or grey

Accumulated – gathered

Venerated – respected

Cosmology – science about the origin and development of the universe

Flanks – sides

Forge – put together; build-up

Hor was an ugly and miserable place which had no vegetation and just dust and rocks. It is scattered with gathered refuse and it was luckless that it was on the shore of Lake Mansarovar which is Tibet’s most respected water. According to ancient Hindu and Buddhist cosmologists, it consists of four Indian rivers – the Indus, the Ganges, the Sutlej, and the Brahmaputra. Sutlej River flows from this lake and other three rivers rise near the sides of Mount Kailash. They were in a remarkable distance and he was eager to build ahead. He waited for Tsetan while having some tea at Hor’s café which was constructed badly from painted concrete and three broken windows. Although, it had a good view of the lake.

I was served by a Chinese youth in military uniform who spread the grease around on my table with a filthy rag before bringing me a glass and a thermos of tea. Half an hour later, Tsetan relieved me from my solitary confinement and we drove past a lot more rocks and rubbish westwards out of town towards Mount Kailash. My experience in Hor came as a stark contrast to accounts I’d read of earlier travellers’ first encounters with Lake Manasarovar. Ekai Kawaguchi, a Japanese monk who had arrived there in 1900, was so moved by the sanctity of the lake that he burst into tears. A couple of years later, the hallowed waters had a similar effect on Sven Hedin, a Swede who wasn’t prone to sentimental outbursts

Word meaning

Filthy – dirty

Rag – scrap cloth

Solitary – private

Confinement – detention; captivity

Stark – plain

Sanctity – pure

The protagonist was served by a Chinese boy who was wearing a military uniform. He spread the grease around his table with a dirty cloth and brought him a glass and a thermos of tea. Tsetan freed him from his private detention and they started their journey ahead passing more rocks and rubbish. The protagonist’s experience was opposite from what he read on traveller’s first encounters of the town. Ekai Kawaguchi was a Japanese monk who arrived in the town in 1900, he was so moved with the purity of the lake that he cried. After few years, similar effect was on Sven Hedin a Swedish who didn’t have such an emotional outburst.

It was dark by the time we finally left again and after 10.30 p.m. we drew up outside a guest house in Darchen for what turned out to be another troubled night. Kicking around in the open-air rubbish dump that passed for the town of Hor had set off my cold once more, though if truth be told it had never quite disappeared with my herbal tea. One of my nostrils was blocked again and as I lay down to sleep, I wasn’t convinced that the other would provide me with sufficient oxygen. My watch told me I was at 4,760 metres. It wasn’t much higher than Ravu, and there I’d been gasping for oxygen several times every night. I’d grown accustomed to these nocturnal disturbances by now, but they still scared me. Tired and hungry, I started breathing through my mouth. After a while, I switched to single-nostril power which seemed to be admitting enough oxygen but, just as I was drifting off, I woke up abruptly. Something was wrong. My chest felt strangely heavy and I sat up, a movement that cleared my nasal passages almost instantly and relieved the feeling in my chest. Curious, I thought.

Word meaning

Nocturnal – night time

When they resumed their journey from Hor, it was dark at that time. After 10.30 pm they decided to stay in a guest house in Darchen which turned out to be a difficult night for him. The rubbish dump in Hor made his cold worse and herbal tea also didn’t help him. One of his nostrils was blocked as he lay on the bed. He wasn’t getting sufficient oxygen and he checked his watch. He was at 4760 meters above sea level. The height was not more than Ravu but he would be out of breath several times a night. He was so familiar to these night time disturbances and he was scared this time. He started breathing from his mouth, he was tired and hungry. He switched back to breathing from single nostril and as soon as he was about to sleep, he would wake up shortly. He was not feeling well as his chest felt heavy. He sat up and it cleared his nasal passages. He was curious.

I lay back down and tried again. Same result. I was on the point of disappearing into the land of nod when something told me not to. It must have been those emergency electrical impulses again, but this was not the same as on previous occasions. This time, I wasn’t gasping for breath, I was simply not allowed to go to sleep. Sitting up once more immediately made me feel better. I could breathe freely and my chest felt fine. But as soon as I lay down, my sinuses filled and my chest was odd. I tried propping myself upright against the wall, but now I couldn’t manage to relax enough to drop off. I couldn’t put my finger on the reason, but I was afraid to go to sleep. A little voice inside me was saying that if I did I might never wake up again. So I stayed awake all night.

Word meaning

Gasping – breathlessness

Propping – to hold up

He tried again by laying back on the bed. The same thing happened. He was in the land of signals where something told him not to do it. He wasn’t able to go to sleep this time. When he was sitting up, it made him feel better as he could breathe properly and his chest felt light. The opposite happened as soon as he laid down. He held himself up against the wall but he wasn’t able to relax. He was afraid to sleep now, a voice inside him told him that he might die if he would try to sleep so he stayed awake all night.

Tsetan took me to the Darchen medical college the following morning. The medical college at Darchen was new and looked like a monastery from the outside with a very solid door that led into a large courtyard. We found the consulting room which was dark and cold and occupied by a Tibetan doctor who wore none of the paraphernalia that I’d been expecting. No white coat, he looked like any other Tibetan with a thick pullover and a woolly hat. When I explained my sleepless symptoms and my sudden aversion to lying down, he shot me a few questions while feeling the veins in my wrist.
“It’s a cold,” he said finally through Tsetan. “A cold and the effects of altitude. I’ll give you something for it.” I asked him if he thought I’d recover enough to be able to do the kora. “Oh yes,” he said, “you’ll be fine.”

Word meaning

Paraphernalia – miscellaneous articles

Tsetan took him to Darchen medical college the next morning. It was new and looked like a monastery with a door which lead to a large courtyard. They went to a dark and cold consulting room filled by a Tibetan doctor who wore nothing kind lf random articles which he expected. He was wearing a thick pullover and a woolly hat. He asked him a few questions while feeling his veins. He told the driver that it is cold and he had an effect due to cold and altitude change. He gave him some medicine and reassured him that he will be able to do the kora.

I walked out of the medical college clutching a brown envelope stuffed with fifteen screws of paper. I had a five-day course of Tibetan medicine which I started right away. I opened an after breakfast package and found it contained a brown powder that I had to take with hot water. It tasted just like cinnamon. The contents of the lunchtime and bedtime packages were less obviously identifiable. Both contained small, spherical brown pellets. They looked suspiciously like sheep dung, but of course I took them. That night, after my first full day’s course, I slept very soundly. Like a log, not a dead man.
Once he saw that I was going to live Tsetan left me, to return to Lhasa. As a Buddhist, he told me, he knew that it didn’t really matter if I passed away, but he thought it would be bad for business.
Darchen didn’t look so horrible after a good night’s sleep. It was still dusty, partially derelict and punctuated by heaps of rubble and refuse, but the sun shone brilliantly in a clear blue sky and the outlook across the plain to the south gave me a vision of the Himalayas, commanded by a huge, snow-capped mountain, Gurla Mandala, with just a wisp of cloud suspended over its summit.

Word meaning

Pellets – shots

Derelict – ruined

Heaps – loads

Wisp – a small amount of something

The Tibetan doctor gave him a five day course. He came out with a brown envelope which had fifteen screws of paper. After having breakfast, he opened the ‘after breakfast package’ which had a brown powder which he had to take with hot water. It tasted like cinnamon and the lunchtime and bedtime packages were nearly the same. They looked like sheep dung, both had small spherical brown packages. After taking the full day medicine, he slept peacefully that night. Tsetan left him in Darchen when he came to know that he is going to be fine. He told him as a Buddhist that if he had passed away, it would not matter but it would be bad for business. Next day, Darchen wasn’t looking so bad. It was dusty, partially ruined and had loads of rubble and refuse everywhere. The brightly shining sun in the blue sky gave him the vision of Himalayas. Gurla Mandhata, he was able to see a little bit with clouds suspended over it.

The town had a couple of rudimentary general stores selling Chinese cigarettes, soap and other basic provisions, as well as the usual strings of prayer flags. In front of one, men gathered in the afternoon for a game of pool, the battered table looking supremely incongruous in the open air, while nearby women washed their long hair in the icy water of a narrow brook that babbled down past my guest house. Darchen felt relaxed and unhurried but, for me, it came with a significant drawback. There were no pilgrims. I’d been told that at the height of the pilgrimage season, the town was bustling with visitors. Many brought their own accommodation, enlarging the settlement round its edges as they set up their tents which spilled down on to the plain. I’d timed my arrival for the beginning of the season, but it seemed I was too early. One afternoon I sat pondering my options over a glass of tea in Darchen’s only cafe. After a little consideration, I concluded they were severely limited. Clearly I hadn’t made much progress with my self-help programme on positive thinking.

Word meaning

Rudimentary – basic or primary

Incongruous – strange

Brook – a small stream

Pondering – thinking

Darchen had some basic general stores selling Chinese soaps, cigarettes, and strings of prayer flags. Every afternoon men would gather for a game of pool. They would sit around a shabby table looking strange in the open air while women washed their hair in iced water of a small stream which flowed all the way to his guest house. Darchen had no pilgrims which were a setback for him. He was told that in the peak season of pilgrimage, in this town was filled with visitors. Some brought their own accommodation such as tents which were set up in the plains. He felt that he had arrived at that place way too early. One day while he was thinking about his options while having a glass of tea at Darchen’s only café, he concluded that there are limited options for him as he made little progress on the self-help program on positive thinking.

In my defence, it hadn’t been easy with all my sleeping difficulties, but however I looked at it, I could only wait. The pilgrimage trail was well-trodden, but I didn’t fancy doing it alone. The kora was seasonal because parts of the route were liable to blockage by snow. I had no idea whether or not the snow had cleared, but I wasn’t encouraged by the chunks of dirty ice that still clung to the banks of Darchen’s brook. Since Tsetan had left, I hadn’t come across anyone in Darchen with enough English to answer even this most basic question. Until, that is, I met Norbu. The cafe was small, dark and cavernous, with a long metal stove that ran down the middle. The walls and ceiling were wreathed in sheets of multi-coloured plastic, of the striped variety— broad blue, red and white—that is made into stout, voluminous shopping bags sold all over China, and in many other countries of Asia as well as Europe. As such, plastic must rate as one of China’s most successful exports along the Silk Road today.

Word meaning

Well-trodden – much frequented by travellers

Cavernous – vast

Wreathed – twisted

Stout – firm

He was having difficulty in sleeping which hadn’t made it easy for him. He had no option other than to wait until the peak season of pilgrimage. The trail was much frequented by the travellers. He could do kora alone but it was a seasonal session because of the route blockage by snow. He had no idea if the snow was cleared and he was not feeling good about dirty ice that still resided on the bank of Darchen’s small streams. He had been facing communication problems since Tsetan left. No one knew much English to answer his basic question. He met Norbu in a café which was small, dark and vast with long metal stove. The walls and ceilings were twisted in multi-coloured plastic sheets of different coloured stripes. It was made into a firm and big shopping bags which were sold over China and in many other countries of Asia and Europe. Plastic was China’s successful export along the Silk Route.

The cafe had a single window beside which I’d taken up position so that I could see the pages of my notebook. I’d also brought a novel with me to help pass the time. Norbu saw my book when he came in and asked with a gesture if he could sit opposite me at my rickety table. “You English?” he enquired, after he’d ordered tea. I told him I was, and we struck up a conversation. I didn’t think he was from those parts because he was wearing a windcheater and metal-rimmed spectacles of a Western style. He was Tibetan, he told me, but worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the Institute of Ethnic Literature. I assumed he was on some sort of fieldwork.

“Yes and no,” he said. “I have come to do the kora.” My heart jumped. Norbu had been writing academic papers about the Kailash kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature for many years, he told me, but he had never actually done it himself.

Word meaning

Rickety – unstable

That café had only one window which he would take so that he could see his notebook clearly and he would also bring a novel with him to pass time. Norbu once saw his book and asked if he could sit opposite him at his unstable table. He asked him if he is English after he ordered tea. He told him that he was English. The protagonist guessed that he must not be a local as he was wearing a windcheater and metal-rimmed spectacles which were of western style. Norbu was a Tibetan who worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the Institute of Ethnic Literature. Norbu told him that he had come here to do kora. The protagonist was happy. Norbu was writing academic papers on Kailash kora and its importance in various Buddhist literature works. He had never done the kora himself.

When the time came for me to tell him what brought me to Darchen, his eyes lit up. “We could be a team,” he said excitedly. “Two academics who have escaped from the library.” Perhaps my positive-thinking strategy was working after all. My initial relief at meeting Norbu, who was also staying in the guest house, was tempered by the realisation that he was almost as ill-equipped as I was for the pilgrimage. He kept telling me how fat he was and how hard it was going to be. “Very high up,” he kept reminding me, “so tiresome to walk.” He wasn’t really a practising Buddhist, it transpired, but he had enthusiasm and he was, of course, Tibetan. Although I’d originally envisaged making the trek in the company of devout believers, on reflection I decided that perhaps Norbu would turn out to be the ideal companion. He suggested we hire some yaks to carry our luggage, which I interpreted as a good sign, and he had no intention of prostrating himself all round the mountain. “Not possible,” he cried, collapsing across the table in hysterical laughter. It wasn’t his style, and anyway his tummy was too big.

Word meaning

Tiresome – dull and boring

Transpired – leaked

Envisaged – predicted

Devout – deep

Prostrating – lying down

Norbu was excited when he got to know why the protagonist was at Darchen. He said they could be a team who are two academists who escaped from the library. The protagonist believed his positive thinking strategy was working. Norbu was also staying at a guest house just like him and Norbu was as ill-equipped like him. Norbu kept telling him that he was too dull, boring and tired to walk and he was fat. Norbu was not a practicing Buddhist but he was an enthusiast. Originally, the protagonist predicted that the trek would be good in a company of any deep believer but he found Norbu to be an ideal partner. They decided to hire some yaks to carry their luggage and he had no intention of lying down flat all over the mountain. Norbu finally said it is not possible for him while he collapsed across the table, laughing hilariously. His tummy was also too big.

A photograph

by Shirely Toulsan

The poem deals with the shortness of human life pitched against the permanence of Nature. The speaker sees the photograph of her mother at a seaside holiday with her Two cousins. The mother is only twelve years old at the time and now she has been dead for twelve years. The finality of death makes the feeling of loss acute and there is a terrible silence, which speaks for itself.

A Photograph Poem Explanation

Line 1 – 4:

The cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling,

Each one holding one of my mother’s hand

And she the big girl — some twelve years or so

Paddling – walking

In these lines, the poet is looking at an old photo album which is made up of cardboard. In the picture, there are three girls who are walking on the beach holding each other’s hands. The girl in the middle is the tallest and oldest, the other two girls on each side are younger than her. The girl in the middle is the poet’s mother. She is around twelve years old when the picture was taken.

Line 5 – 9:

All three stood still to smile through their hair

At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,

My mother’s, that was before I was born.

And the sea, which appears to have changed less,

Washed their terribly transient feet

Transient – short-term; temporary

In the above lines, the poet describes how the photograph was taken. Her mother’s uncle took the photograph and told them to stop and pose. All three of them left their wet hair open and smiled at the camera. The poet’s attention is drawn towards his mother’s face which is described as a ‘sweet face’. The photograph was taken long before the poet was born. The poet calls their feet ‘terrible transient’ as they were so young by then and now they had grown older. On the other hand, the sea which touched their feet has changed less.

Line 10 – 13:

Some twenty-thirty — years later

She’d laugh at the snapshot.

“See Betty And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they

Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday

Snapshot – photograph

After twenty-thirty years later, she would laugh at the photograph. She would tell me to look at her cousins, Betty and Dolly and how their parents would dress all three of them up for the beach. They would have planned to take a photograph beforehand.

Line 14 – 15:

Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry

With the laboured ease of loss.

Wry – ironic; mocking

The poet recalls the sea holiday was her mother’s favourite moment from the past. While the poet’s favourite moment from the past was her mother’s laughter. Both the women would think about those past memories which they cannot live again. They tried their best to adjust to what they lost.

Line 16 – 19:

Now she’s been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance

There is nothing to say at all.

Its silence silences.

Silences – a complete absence of sound

In the above lines, the poet says that her mother died twelve years ago, the same age her mother was in the photograph. Whenever the poet thinks of her mother’s death, she cannot explain what effect she has of her mother’s death. Death has silenced her mother which has also left her speechless.

A Photograph Literary Devices

Alliteration – repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive words. The instances of alliteration in the poem are as follows-

Stood still

Through their

My mother’s

Terribly transient

Silence silences

Oxymoron – a term which contradicts itself

Laboured ease

Epithet – a phrase expressing a quality of a person or something

Terribly transient

The laburnum top
By Ted Hughes

The Laburnum Top is silent, quite still

in the afternoon yellow September sunlight,

A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup

A suddeness, a startlement,at a branch end

Then sleek as a lizard, and alert and abrupt,

She enters the thickness,and a machine starts up

Of chitterings, and of tremor of wings,and trillings -

The whole tree trembles and thrills

It is the engine of her family.

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end

Showing her barred face identity mask

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty

Introduction : This poem “The laburnum top” is a  beautiful poem by Ted Hughes. In this poem, the poet has used the laburnum tree and goldfinches as a symbol of life and its fluctuations. He describes the visiting of goldfinches on the laburnum tree and how she has made a nest on it. When the goldfinches have , it brings alive the  tree as the chicks start to rustle and chirp. Hughes is trying to convey the message that the life is a process of exchange and transformation . People are alive because they undergo exchange of . The goldfinches transform the tree and make it alive coma without goldfinches and that chicks the laburnum is just another tree.

Line 1-3  : In the first stanza the poet says that he saw a laburnum tree with its yellow flowers. The tree is still and looks dead like in the day of September . Even the sunlight is also yellow. As it is the time of autumn the leaves of the tree have turned yellow and its seeds have fallen off it. The yellow colour symbolises beauty (because of flowers which  have fallen off in the form of seeds,  ( because of yellow leaves) as well as silence (day time without rain or wind) .In the whole stanza ,the poet is trying to describe the miserable condition of the laburnum tree which is silent , and without seeds.(useless)

Line 4-8 : the dead like me however changes as soon as the Goldfinch comes with a twitching chirrup. Goldfinch is a bright yellow coloured bird.

The poet uses similes comparing the bird’s movement to that of a lizard to describe the alertness and abrupt movements of the bird.

The poet uses onomatopoeia to bring the poem alive. In line 8,word like to drink and trillings are onomatopoeic words. He has also used the phrase “tremor of wings” to make the poem three dimensional by adding movements to it.  The tree comes alive with all that is happening in it.

Line 9 -12: Now the whole tree trembles and thrill because of the mother bird and her young ones The poet probably wants us to feel how a dead like tree becomes alive because it has given space to the bird and her young one stop the birds have gotten shelter and the tree in return has got life
The Goldfinch is thus the engine of her family which includes the laburnum tree as well. According to the poet it fills the them with fuel i.e. It gives food to the young ones and thrill to the tree. Having done that, she against flies to a branch and non stop only had dark colours tried face is visible as it is yellow and hence becomes invisible in the yellow leaves of the tree.

Line 13- 15 : Reaching the branch-end of the tree, it makes strange but sweet chirping sounds and then begins his journey that is the sky and the laburnum tree again becomes silent and dead like.
 

The voice of the Rain
by Walt Whiteman

Introduction: The poem is a dialogue between the poet and the rain former vehicle in itself the Poem of Earth , it explains its lifecycle. Rising from the sea and the land in vaporous  form, the raindrops fall back giving the world relief from drought and settling dust all over. It stimulates the dormant seeds to life and by soaking the earth once again it heads for a fresh lifecycle. A parallel is drawn between music and rain.

The voice of the rain 
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the
bottomless sea,

Who art thou – Who are you
Eternal – never-ending
Impalpable – which cannot be described

Explanation:
In the above lines, the poet as the soft-falling Shower  ‘who are you' ? to which the rain replied in a strange to state manner. The rain said that it was the Poem of the Earth and it is rose continuously from the land and bottomless ocean in the form of vapours.

Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;

Whence – where
Vaguely – not clearly
Descend – come down
Lave – wash; bathe
Atomics – small particles
Latent – hidden/buried

Explanation 
The rain tells the poet that it rises upwards towards the sky in the form of vapour where it changes its form (condenses into water droplets). It also says that although its form gets changed, it still remains the same.
The rain comes down to wash the drought and provide water. It also washes away the dust and small particles from the earth’s surface. And the seeds inside the earth grow into a plant because of the water provided by the rain. It gives life to the seeds.

And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For the song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)

Reck’d or unreck’d – it means whether cared for or not cared for. It doesn’t affect the rain nor the poet if someone listened to the rain or not.

Explanation

The rain says that by day and night it provides life, care, enrichment, and water to the place from where it originated. The rain keeps enhancing the beauty and purity of the earth by preparing a life-cycle for itself again.
(The Rain is like a song that originates from its birth-place, just like the heart of the singer, and travels to fulfil the earth’s needs and wanders. It finally comes back to the place from where it originated. Whether it is ruined or not, it returns to the original position, with a lot of love to its birth-place).

Poetic devices used in the poem

Personification:  “And who art thou”? Although rain is non living thing yet the poet treats it like living thing. 

Metaphor : ‘I am the poem of the Earth'

Imagery : ‘ soft-falling shower ’
 

Childhood
by Markus Natten

Introduction: The poem childhood deals with the poet's curiosity to know when actually and individual ceases to be a child. He wonders whether it is the age of the stage when the young, unsullied mind learns to see through the adult ‘hypocrisy and identifies his own distinctiveness. Childhood disappears to hide itself in an infant's innocent expression.

Stanza 1
When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven.
Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!

Explanation: The poet wonders when did his childhood go away from him. He wonders whether it went away when he crossed the age of 11 or when he realised that Hell and Heaven are imaginary and are not found in Geography (i.e. real world).He starts thinking perhaps the day when he gained his rational and logical thinking, he lost his childhood.

In this stanza, the poet has two different things which would have led to the lost of his childhood. The first is his growing up and the second his rationality. So, the poet neither likes to grow up nor rational thinking. He seems to be a lover of imaginations (Hell and Heaven). He desires to have the same beliefs which he had during his childhood.

Stanza 2
When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realised that adults were not
All they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!

Explanation: In the second stanza, the poet again raises rhetorical question. He wonders whether he lost his childhood when he realised that adults are not what they seem to be. They talk and preach about love but their actions do not seem to be out of love. They are hypocrites and have hate in their actions.
Saying that, the poet thinks whether that was the day when he lost is childhood i.e. after realising the hypocrisy of the adults.

Stanza 3 
When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not those of other people
But my own and mine alone
Was that the day!

Explanation: In the third stanza, the poet again raises a rhetorical question. He wonders whether he lost his childhood when he realised that his mind was really his own i.e. he could think independently and use it the way he desired.
The day when he realised that that he could produce his own thoughts and opinion and needed not to depend on the opinions of other people. Saying that, the poet thinks whether that was the day when he lost is childhood i.e. after realising the hypocrisy of the adults.
In this stanza, the poet is probably referring to his past experiences which are not very good. Perhaps he was earlier affected by what people would say. However when he grew up, he realised that other people cannot form his opinions. His mind is his own and he can think on his own.

Stanza 4
Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That is hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.

Explanation : In the final stanza, the poet again wonders where has his childhood gone. Perhaps it went to a place which is forgotten. Finally the poet says that he can see his childhood and innocence hidden in the face of an infant child and that is the only place where it is found. In the final stanza, the poet seems to be a little bit relieved because he can finally see his childhood and innocence.
 

Father to son

by Elizabeth Jennings

Introduction: “ Father to Son” deals with an estrange relationship, lack of understanding and an absence of a rapport between a father and his son. The father's longing for the same relationship they enjoyed during the sons childhood is very touching. Ready to forgive him, he helplessly watches the gap between the two becoming increasingly and unbridgeable.

Stanza 1

I do not understand this child
Though we have lived together now
In the same house for years. I know
Nothing of him, so try to build
Up a relationship from how
He was when small. Yet have I killed

Explanation

In the above stanza, the poet shares his feelings about his relationship with his son. He says that although they both had lived together in the same house for many years, yet he doesn’t understand him. He doesn’t know anything about his son, his likes and dislikes. He tried to build up a relationship with him from the time he was vain and small. His son has changed as he has grown up.

Stanza 2

The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine?
We speak like strangers, there’s no sign
Of understanding in the air.
This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share.

Sown – do something which will bring a result

Explanation  The father uses ‘I’ in the first line to acknowledge his role in the communication gap between them. He says that despite all efforts, his son was in another place that the father cannot access. They used to talk to each other like strangers and there was no sign of understanding between them. His child used to look like him and yet he didn’t know what his son loved.

Stanza 3

Silence surrounds us. I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father’s house, the home he knew,
Rather than see him make and move
His world. I would forgive him too,
Shaping from sorrow a new love.

Prodigal – spending money freely

Explanation There is silence between them. As a child, he was a prodigal son and now his father wanted him to return to his house, the one he knew. He didn’t want his son to move around and make his own world. He was ready to forgive him and let go of the sorrows he had inside because of him, because of the distance between them. He wanted to love him again.

Stanza 4

Father and son, we both must live
On the same globe and the same land,
He speaks: I cannot understand
!!!, why anger grows from grief.
We each put out an empty hand,
Longing for something to forgive.

Grief – sorrow, sadness

Explanation The son speaks for the first time and explains what he feels. He also feels sad about the distance between them. He shares that he is at a point where he doesn’t understand himself. His anger arises out of his sadness. It is quite clear that on both sides lies the same frustration about the gap in their relationship. They both want to forgive each other and yet they cannot find a solution to the problem. Both of them put out an empty hand for the other to seek, always in vain.

Father to Son Literary Devices

Simile – a figure of speech that makes comparison and shows similarities between two things

We speak like strangers

Alliteration – The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words

The seed I spent or sown it where – ‘s’ sound
Silence surrounds us

Metaphor – an indirect comparison between a quality shared by two persons or things

The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine?

I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father’s house