Chapter 5: Glimpses of India (Glimpses of India)

Sample answer (open-ended): I think of people in colourful dresses and turbans, farmers in green fields, busy markets and festivals; and of places such as the snow-capped Himalayas, long beaches, deserts, backwaters, forts, temples and big busy cities.

Sample answer (open-ended): I have lived in Rajasthan and visited Agra, Delhi and Goa. Popular tourist destinations include the Taj Mahal in Agra, the beaches of Goa, the forts and palaces of Jaipur, the backwaters of Kerala, the hill stations of Shimla and Darjeeling, and the temples of Varanasi.

French influence is seen in Puducherry (Pondicherry), Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, and in Chandannagar in West Bengal. Portuguese influence is seen in Goa, Daman and Diu.

(i) Tea is grown in Assam, Darjeeling in West Bengal, the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, and parts of Kerala.

(ii) Coffee is grown in the hills of Karnataka (Coorg and Chikmagalur), Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

They are nostalgic about the good old Portuguese days and the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread.

Yes, it is still popular. The writer says that those eaters of loaves might have vanished but the makers are still there. The mixers, moulders and bakers are there, the age-old furnaces still exist, the fire in the furnaces has not yet been extinguished, and the thud and jingle of the baker's bamboo can still be heard in some places.

The baker is called a pader.

The baker is called a pader.

The baker came at least twice a day: once in the morning when he set out on his selling round, and again when he returned after emptying his huge basket. The children ran to meet him not for the bread but for the bread-bangles, which they chose carefully, and sometimes for the sweet bread of special make.

(i) In the Portuguese days the baker wore a peculiar dress called the kabai, a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees.

(ii) When the author was young, bakers wore a shirt and trousers which were shorter than full-length ones and longer than half pants.

Anyone who wears a half pant which reaches just below the knees invites this comment, because the bakers of the author's childhood wore trousers of this length.

The monthly accounts were recorded on some wall in pencil.

On a wall, in pencil.

It means a plump, round and healthy body, like that of the bakers, who were well fed and prosperous. Even today a plump person is compared to a baker.

The correct statements are (i), (ii) and (v).

The others are wrong: (iii) the paders did not go away; the makers are still there. (iv) Later bakers wore a shirt and trousers, not the long frock. (vi) The text says that baking was profitable in the old days; it does not say this about the present. (vii) The paders have survived, and it was in the old days that the baker's family 'never starved'.

Correct: (i), (ii), (v)

Yes. The baker visited the houses twice a day. Bread was a must for marriage gifts (bol), for parties and feasts, for the engagement (sandwiches) and for Christmas and other festivals (cakes and bolinhas). The writer says that the presence of the baker's furnace in the village is absolutely essential.

Paragraph: In the author's childhood in Goa, the baker, or pader, was a friend, companion and guide. Every morning the 'jhang, jhang' of his bamboo woke the children, who ran to meet him and to choose bread-bangles from his basket. The bread was baked in old furnaces. In the Portuguese days the baker wore a kabai, but in the author's childhood he wore a shirt and trousers that were not full-length. He collected his bills at the end of the month, and kept the accounts in pencil on a wall. The baker and his family looked plump, happy and prosperous.

The piece from the text is personal and nostalgic. It speaks from the writer's own memories, with feelings, humour and sensory details such as the jingle of the bamboo and the fragrance of the loaves. The piece from Nandakumar Kamat's article is impersonal and factual. It reports information in a plain style.

The facts overlap: in both, the paders survived after the Portuguese days. But the second piece adds new facts: that the paders survive because they have perfected door-to-door delivery, that they learn bread-making from family traditions, and that leavened, oven-baked bread is a gift of the Portuguese. Both writers give a picture of the baker, but the first gives a much more vivid and detailed picture, and the second gives only a brief outline.

Sample answer (open-ended):

Mount Abu is the only hill station of Rajasthan, say the brochures. But the brochures do not tell you about the cool breeze that greeted us as soon as the bus climbed the winding road, or the smell of wet earth in the morning. We took a boat on Nakki Lake and my little brother tried to catch the ducks with his hand. In the evening we walked to Sunset Point, where hundreds of tourists were waiting quietly while the sky turned orange and then red. We ate hot corn on the cob from a roadside cart. I came back with tired feet, a happy heart and a bag full of memories.

Open-ended project. Guidance:

• Earlier: dough was mixed and kneaded by hand, moulded by hand and baked in wood-fired furnaces by traditional bakers, who sold the bread door to door.
• Now: electric mixers and kneading machines, dough dividers and moulding machines, controlled proving (rising) rooms, and gas or electric ovens with fixed temperature. Bread is sliced, packed and sent out in vans to shops.
• What has changed: speed, quantity, hygiene and packing have improved; the hand-made, wood-fired taste and the personal service of the pader have become rare.

Sample presentation on pottery (open-ended):

• Skills required: preparing and kneading the clay, shaping it on the wheel by hand, decorating, drying and firing it in a kiln.
• Reasons for decline: cheap plastic, steel and machine-made goods have replaced clay pots; potters earn little; young people prefer other jobs; clay and fuel have become expensive.
• Ways to revive: promote the use of clay products as eco-friendly, hold fairs and exhibitions, train young people, give potters loans and tools, sell online, and make new designs such as lamps, planters and water bottles.

Coorg, or Kodagu, is the smallest district of Karnataka. It lies midway between Mysore and the coastal town of Mangalore.

The Kodavus are possibly of Greek or Arabic descent. According to one story, a part of Alexander's army moved south along the coast and settled here when return became impractical. These people married amongst the locals, and their culture, seen in their martial traditions and marriage and religious rites, is distinct from the Hindu mainstream. The theory of Arab origin is supported by the long black coat (kuppia) with an embroidered waist-belt worn by the Kodavus, which resembles the kuffia worn by the Arabs and the Kurds.

(i) The people of Coorg are fiercely independent, proud, hospitable and martial. Tales of valour are told about their sons and fathers. The Coorg Regiment is one of the most decorated in the Indian Army, and General Cariappa, the first Chief of the Indian Army, was a Coorgi. The Kodavus are the only people in India permitted to carry firearms without a licence.

(ii) The main crop of Coorg is coffee. Spices are also grown there.

(iii) Coorg offers river rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and mountain biking, and also trekking along its numerous walking trails.

(iv) You may see macaques, Malabar squirrels, langurs, slender loris and wild elephants. Mahaseer fish and kingfishers are found along the Kaveri, and there are birds, bees and butterflies.

(v) Coorg is about 250-260 km from Bangalore. There are two routes by road: the route via Mysore, which is the most frequented, and the other via Neelamangal, Kunigal and Chanrayanapatna. The nearest airports are Mangalore (135 km) and Bangalore (260 km), and the nearest railheads are Mysore, Mangalore and Hassan. Madikeri is the only gateway to Coorg.

'How old are you?' is the common collocation. 'How young are you?' is odd and should be struck out.

Strike out: How young are you?

'A pleasant person' is a common collocation. 'A pleasant pillow' is odd and should be struck out.

Strike out: a pleasant pillow

Answers may vary.

1. A heavy downpour has been forecast due to low pressure in the Bay of Bengal.
2. Rakesh will undergo major surgery tomorrow morning.
3. My brother is responsible for the upkeep of our family property.
4. The dropout rate for this accountancy course is very high.
5. She went to the Enterprise Company to attend a walk-in interview.

1 downpour, 2 undergo, 3 upkeep, 4 dropout, 5 walk-in

1. The Army attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the Government. (throw)
2. Scientists are on the brink of a major breakthrough in cancer research. (break)
3. The State Government plans to build a bypass for Bhubaneswar to speed up traffic on the main highway. (pass)
4. Gautama's outlook on life changed when he realised that the world is full of sorrow. (look)
5. Rakesh seemed unusually downcast after the game. (cast)

1 overthrow, 2 breakthrough, 3 bypass, 4 outlook, 5 downcast

Answers may vary.

Sample paragraph:

A trip to Coorg is an exciting experience. The rain-washed hills and coffee estates are interesting to see, and the thrilling sports, such as river rafting and rappelling, make even bored city people feel excited. I was delighted when I saw a wild elephant bathing in the river, though I was also a little frightened. The tales of the brave Kodavus are fascinating, and the fragrance of coffee in the air is relaxing. Anyone who goes there is sure to come back interested in visiting again.

Sample role play (open-ended):

Planter: I would like you to know that the second flush, from May to July, yields the best tea. Sales agent: I feel that this tea will sell well in India and abroad because tea is a very popular drink. Tea lover: I think that tea really refreshes me; I cannot start my day without it. Physician: I would like you to know that tea in moderation is good, but I suggest that too much of it, especially with a lot of sugar, is harmful. Tea-shop owner: I agree with you, but I am afraid that people who come to my shop for tea also want snacks and a place to talk. Tea lover: I agree with the shop owner.

Sample advertisement (open-ended):

ASSAM GOLD TEA: Wake up to the taste of Assam! Grown in the green gardens of Upper Assam and plucked by hand in the best season, the second flush, from May to July, Assam Gold gives you a rich colour, a strong flavour and a fresh aroma in every cup. One cup of Assam Gold refreshes your mind and warms your heart. Share a cup with the people you love. Assam Gold: Every sip is a glimpse of India.

Add a picture of a steaming cup against a background of tea bushes and a line saying 'Pure. Fresh. Assam.'

In a treeless forest (i) no bird could sit, (ii) no insect could hide, and (iii) no sun could bury its feet in shadow.

The words create a picture of sunbeams falling through the thick trees and ending in the cool darkness of the forest floor, as if the sun were sinking its feet into the shadow. By the sun's 'feet' the poet means the rays of the sun that reach the ground.

The trees are inside the house, on and near the veranda, with their roots in the cracks of the veranda floor. All night the roots work to free themselves from the cracks. The leaves strain towards the glass of the windows, and the small twigs are stiff with exertion, as they all try to move out into the forest.

She compares the long-cramped boughs, shuffling under the roof, to newly discharged patients, half-dazed and moving to the clinic doors.

(a) At the beginning of the third stanza, the night is fresh and 'the whole moon shines in a sky still open', so the moon is complete, bright and calm.

(b) At the end, 'the moon is broken like a mirror', and its pieces flash in the crown of the tallest oak.

The change comes with the movement of the trees. As the glass breaks and the trees stumble forward into the night, the whole moon seems to be shattered like a mirror, and its pieces flash in the crown of the tallest oak. (Interpretive: the poem does not state the cause directly.)

The house loses the trees: the glass breaks as they push against it, and the rooms are emptied of the trees. The poet says that her head is full of whispers 'which tomorrow will be silent', so the house will be quiet and empty.

The departure of the trees is so strange and unexpected that she does not know how to express it. She may feel embarrassed, or may fear that others will not believe or understand her. Like many of us, she stays silent about the most important happenings, and writes of ordinary matters in her letters.

Yes, it can be read as a conflict between man and nature. Just as the tiger in 'A Tiger in the Zoo' is locked in a cage when it should be in the jungle, the trees are confined inside a house, though their place is in the forest. They are 'imprisoned' as decoration while forests are cut down. They strain, break the glass and move out to the empty forest. Both poems say that nature should live free in its natural home.

If the trees stand for human beings, the poem is about people, especially women, who are confined in homes and in roles made by society, and who long to break out into freedom. Their effort is slow and painful: the roots work all night, the twigs are stiff, the boughs are cramped like discharged patients. The poet sits inside and does not mention the departure in her letters, as people often keep their struggle for freedom silent. The breaking glass stands for breaking the barriers that confine them.

Open-ended. Guidance: In 'The Trees', trees free themselves from a house and return to the forest, so nature is shown as a force that wants freedom and cannot be held back. In 'On Killing a Tree', it takes a long and cruel effort for human beings to kill a tree, which shows its strength and its will to live. Both poems show the power and resilience of trees, and both make us think about how human beings treat nature.

Meaning of the sentences: the dump was so full that it had to decline more rubbish; the bird plunged into the bushes when shot at; and the insurance was not valid for the sick person.