Prasanna

Ikat and its importance in Indian culture. The author’s enthusiasm for Ikat and her vivid descriptions of Ikat fabrics help to create a sense of anticipation for the rest of the story.

The Story of Ikat Summary

Janaki was a Social Studies teacher. That day she came a bit late to the class. She brought the brilliant red and black checked rumals, shawls with black and blue geometric patterns with her. That material made the dull class vibrant. She wrote on the blackboard ‘Textiles of India – “Ikat” of Andhra Pradesh and pronounced the word “Ikat”. “Ikat” means “to bind” or “knot”. Then she elicited the name of Nalgonda district from the students. She made them know the name ‘Pochampally’, a village in Nalgonda district in connection with “Ikat”. Every student immediatley connected to the village.

A handloom is a hand operated loom which weaves. It has been weaving fabrics for centuries. Now we have forgotten our heritage in race with the machine. After telling this, Janaki began to tell the story of Ikat. It is called ‘Chitiki’ in Telugu, ‘Patola’ in Gujarati and simply ‘Ikat’ in Oriya. She showed them a silk patola sari from Patan, Gujarat which created a mesmerising effect. Then she asked them if they were thinking about ‘Ikat’ or ‘tie and dye’. When no one could answer her, she told them about ‘warp’ and ‘weft’. The threads stretched lengthwise are called ‘warp’ and the threads intersecting them widthwise are called ‘weft’.

In ‘Ikat’ the threads are carefully sorted, warp and weft divided into bundles, then tied with the materials like plastic sheets, rubber strips and then dropped into colours. The weavers count the threads, measure the distance, calculate when to repeat a pattern and then tie the knots. They draw patterns on the graphs and copy them on the threads. ‘Chitiki rumal’ was the favourite headgear of fishermen and other labourers.

Gujarat traders put them on their shoulders as the towels. In Telugu ‘Chitikedu’ means a small quantity of material. Then the students came to know about the original explanation of Ikat. They understood that the characteristic of Ikat was small and small dots of colour. Once Chitiki fabric was our favourite export item. There are different stories about its origin. Different regions fight about its origin but there is no systematic documentation to resolve this dispute. Tying the knot is sacred in our tradition. Muslim culture influenced the designs in Ikat in parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Deccan.

Conclusion:

This conclusion paragraph effectively ties up the loose ends of the story and leaves the reader with a sense of hope and optimism. Janaki’s words remind us that Ikat weaving is a living tradition that continues to evolve and inspire.

“The Garden Within” the human heart is a place of beauty, peace, and nourishment, just like a garden. The speaker also introduces the metaphor of the heart as a garden, which she will use throughout the poem to explore the different aspects of the human heart.

The Garden Within Summary

The poetess finds that there is a garden in her heart. Like the gardener who lovingly tends his garden for the pleasures of bloom, the poetess nourishes the memories because they comfort her soul. In the garden of her heart beauty doesn’t grow continuously. She wants to give her smiles to others like the petals of the flowers in the garden of her heart. Then the others will respond in the same way and respect her feelings. There is a good hope in her and it results in good seeds to comfort her spirit. She wants to reach her goal with thankfulness and it will touch her soul. Here the soul of the poetess is compared with beautiful garden.

Conclusion:

“The Garden Within” summarizes the speaker’s journey to self-discovery and her appreciation for the beauty and strength of her own heart. The speaker begins by acknowledging that she used to look for peace and innocence in the external world, but she eventually realized that these qualities are found within herself. She then compares her heart to a garden, a place of beauty, nourishment, and growth.

“The Selfish Giant Part 2” also introduces the new central theme of the story: the power of redemption. The Giant, who was once selfish and uncaring, has now learned to love and care for others. The story will now explore how the Giant can atone for his past sins and find true happiness.

The Selfish Giant Part 2 Summary

One morning, when the Giant was lying awake in bed, he heard some lovely music. It sounded very sweet to the Giant’s ears. A little linnet was singing outside his window. The Giant thought that the spring had come at last. The children had crept in through a little hole in the wall. They sat in the branches of the trees and the trees were so glad to have the children back again. In the farthest corner of the garden it was still winter. In that corner, a little boy was trying to reach up to the branches but he couldn’t as he was so small.

The Giant’s heart melted. He understood that he had been selfish. He was really sorry for what he had done. He went into the garden and the frightened children ran away and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy was there and the Giant put him gently up into the tree. The tree broke at once into blossom, the birds sang and the boy kissed him.

The other children saw that and came running back. With them the spring came. The Giant was no longer wicked. He took an axe and broke the wall. He started playing with them. In the evening, the Giant came to know that the little boy whom he put into the tree had gone away. Every afternoon, the children came and played with the Giant. But he never saw again the little boy who he loved.

The Giant had grown old and feeble. So, he sat there watching the children at their games. One winter morning, the Giant filled with wonder to see the little boy standing under a tree in the farthest comer of the garden. In great joy, the Giant ran downstairs out into the garden and went near to the child. His face grew red with anger when he saw the wounds on the boy’s hands and feet. The Giant cried that he would kill the person who had wounded the little boy. The child asked the Giant not to do that as those were the wounds of love. The little boy asked the Giant to come with him to his garden. The child climbed into the old Giant’s arms and they both walked into the garden of Paradise.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, paragraph is an effective example of how to create a sense of closure in a story. The reader is left with a feeling of hope and optimism, knowing that the Giant has finally redeemed himself and that he and the children will live happily ever after.

“The Selfish Giant” is an effective example of how to set the scene, introduce the main characters, and establish the central theme of a story. Wilde’s use of descriptive language, vivid imagery, and contrast immediately engages the reader’s attention and prepares them for the magical and heartwarming story that follows.

The Selfish Giant Part 1 Summary

Once there was an old Giant. He was very selfish. He had a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. The grass stood beautiful flowers like stars and there were twelve peach trees in the garden. Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden. The Giant had been to visit his friend the Cornish og and came back after seven years. When the Giant came back, he saw the children playing in the garden.

The selfish Giant told the children that they couldn’t play in his garden. He built a high wall all round and put up a notice-board: “TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.” Now, the children couldn’t play anywhere. They tried to play on the road, but it was very dirty and lots of hard stones were there on the road.

When a boy told that the Giant was selfish, the Giant opened a door in the wall and told again that he would not allow anybody to play in his garden. When the children heard his voice, they scattered. Then the spring came, and there were little blossoms and little birds all over the country. But it was still winter in the Giant’s garden. In his garden the birds did not come to sing, and the trees forgot to blossom. The North Wind, the Hail, the Frost and the Snow were dancing about through the trees in the garden.

Conclusion:

This conclusion paragraph is more specific because it mentions the Giant’s joy and his happiness at seeing the children play. It also uses the image of the Giant sitting on the soft green grass to symbolize his connection to the natural world.

Romesh, a fourteen year old boy, left his family back in Bihar and reached Hyderabad to find a new future. Finding a job was not an easy job for him. Cursed by hunger, he joined a group of rag pickers. Some rescuer called 1098 help line and he got a helping hand from ‘The Child Line”.

Reaching the Unreached Summary

Romesh, a fourteen year old boy, left his family back in Bihar and reached Hyderabad to find a new future. Finding a job was not an easy job for him. Cursed by hunger, he joined a group of rag pickers. Some rescuer called 1098 help line and he got a helping hand from ‘The Child Line”. He is now one of the beneficiaries of Andhra Pradesh State based project for the Elimination of Child Labour.

Many such children fall to similar fate due to domestic violence and abject poverty. Shanti, a nine year old girl, was sent to Hyderabad by her parents to work in a middle class home. There she did the menial tasks like cooking, moping, cleaning and washing clothes. Her owners used to lock her up in a tiny room when they went out. The neighbours informed the “Child Labour Enforcement Team” and she was rescued and is now placed in a girls’ transit home.

CRY (Child Rights and You) is an organization that believes that children are citizens and they have their own rights. At CRY, they partner some basic level organizations working for children, their parents and communities. It acts as a bridge between child developmental organizations and people working for marginalized children. They gather the support, money and time of the Indians around the world and thousands of field workers across India who struggle to enrich the lives of children. CRY has freed more than 1 lakh children from hunger, exploitation and illiteracy in more than 13000 villages and slums.

Save Our Soul (SOS)

SOS Children’s Villages is an independent, non-governmental, social development organisation that provides family-based care for children in India since 1964. It advocates the concerns, rights and needs of children. More than 6000 children and young people live in 33 SOS Children’s Villages and 27 SOS Youth Facilities in India.

At SOS Children’s Villages, the organisers believe that every child should grow up in a strong family environment, and so their work helps families to create a loving, caring home. Their work focuses on strengthening families, helping them to stay together during difficult times and provide the best care possible to their children. The needs of a family can be varied. SOS Children’s Village experts work with families to help them develop a wide range of skills, from house-hold b udget planning, how to get a job and earning a living, to bonding with a child or young person and learning to create a stable family life at home.

Sometimes, however, it is not possible for a child to stay in the family. In these cases, the organisation works to find tailor-made solutions that respond to each situation, keeping the best interest of each child or young person’s in mind. SOS Children’s Villages is the only organisation of global impact that provides direct care to children who can no longer stay with their families.

Finally, through advocacy, SOS Children’s Villages aims to improve the overall framework conditions for children whose parents cannot take care of them, or who are at risk of losing the care of their families. Successful advocacy, based on their experience as a practitioner, brings about changes in policies and practices that weaken children’s rights leads to sustainable changes to improve the situation for children and families everywhere.

Conclusion:

Reaching the Unreached is a critical challenge for many organizations, whether they are trying to promote social change, sell a product, or simply share information. It can be difficult to break through the noise and reach people who are not already familiar with your organization or cause.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s The Cry of the Children is a powerful and moving poem that condemns the exploitation of child labor in Victorian England. The poem was first published in 1843, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, when child labor was widespread and often brutal.

The Cry of Children Summary

In this poem E. Browning shows and criticises the sorrow of the children in those years how the exploitation was managed in coal mines and factories. In those days, children were working endlessly under deplorable conditions.

The children are tired and weary. They are fed up with the continuous work in the coal mines and iron factories. They have no joy of living. Their routine is always the same. They start their work early in the morning and finish it late in the evening. They don’t experience the sunlight in the dark undergrounds of the coal mines. They don’t have play time. They don’t have any happiness. They can’t run or jump. They want to sleep in the meadows. Their knees are trembling with their heavy work. Their eyelids are drooping with tiredness.

Conclusion:

The speaker once again mentions the upturned faces of the crying children, but at the conclusion of the poem these faces are “dread to see” as they convict the reader: “for they mind you of their angels in high places, / With eyes turned on Deity”

“Oliver Asks for More” story follows the adventures of Oliver Twist (played by John Howard Davies), an orphan in 19th-century England, who encounters a number of setbacks in his quest to find security and happiness. He lives in a harshly run orphanage until being sold as an apprentice to a cruel undertaker.

Oliver Asks for More Summary

Oliver, an orphan boy, was brought to a children’s home. Mr. Bumble, the beadle, informed Oliver that he had to appear before the board at once. As he did not have any idea of a live board, he was astonished and was not quite certain whether he ought to laugh or cry. Mr. Bumble took him into a large white-washed room where eight or ten fat gentlemen were sitting round a table. Mr. Bumble ordered Oliver to bow to the board. Seeing no board but the table, Oliver bowed to the table. He was frightened at the sight of them and trembled.

The beadle tapped on his back with his cane and he cried. The gentleman in the high chair asked Oliver if he knew that he was an orphan. Oliver couldn’t understand his question as he had no idea of an orphan. The gentlemen reminded Oliver that he was brought up by the parish and asked him to pray for them and take care of him like a Christian.

The gentleman in the white waistcoat ordered Oliver to begin to pick oakum the following day morning at six o’clock. Oliver made a low bow and hurried away to a large ward sobbing himself to sleep on a rough, hard bed. The members of the board were very wise and philosophical men. They discovered that the workhouse was the regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes. They opined that the poor should starve quickly outside the workhouse or gradually inside it.

They decided the inmates of the workhouse would be issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week. As a result, the number of workhouse inmates got smaller and they shrank in size. Oliver and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months. They became wild with hunger. One day a tall boy announced that he would eat the boy who slept next to him unless he was given extra gruel. A council was held and it was decided that Oliver should ask the master for more. That evening the gruel was served and they ate it up. The boys winked at Oliver and nudged him. Oliver advanced to the master and requested him for more gruel.

The master got a rage and aimed a blow at Oliver’s head with the ladle. He reported it to the beadle. Mr. Bumble, the beadle rushed into the gentlemen’s room and reported the same. The gentleman in the white waistcoat opined that the boy would be hung. Nobody contradicted his opinion and Oliver was ordered into instant confinement. The following morning a bill was pasted offering five pounds to those who would take Oliver as an apprentice to any trade, business or profession.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Oliver Twist is a compelling novel that explores themes of social injustice, corruption, and the search for identity and redemption. The memorable characters and their intertwining stories make it a timeless literary masterpiece.

This introduction paragraph is clear, concise, and friendly. It states the purpose of the letter (to reach out to a friend), expresses gratitude for the friendship, and gives a brief update on the writer’s life. It also invites the friend to share what’s new with them.

A Letter to a Friend Summary

Ramesh wrote this letter to his friend Suresh apologizing for his not meeting him during his visit to Hyderabad the previous week. Ramesh is a computer programmer at Microsoft, Hyderabad and his wife is a System Analyst at Dell, Hyderabad. He is annoyed at his busy city life. Both Ramesh and his wife work with computers, think like computers and live like computers. Their child always plays computer games never caring for anyone. Ramesh is very unhappy in the city. He recalled the memorable days of his childhood in his letter.

Ramesh and Suresh enjoyed their childhood days in Manikonda village. They played together in their garden in the moonlight. Theirs was a big family. Their grandpa used to tell them tales. They played gill-danda, hide and seek and kabaddi. They went for swimming every Sunday. Ramesh remembered how their Padmanabhaiah Sir appreciated them when they got the first prize in District Science Fair. Their picnic to Koil Sagar and their tour of Srisailam were memorable.

Ramesh couldn’t forget the roaring of the Krishna River at the dam. They enjoyed the festivals such as Dasara, Deepavali, etc. along with their uncle and aunt. Ramesh thought of his grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters …. sometimes. He thought that they missed them all. They missed the joy of the family, their company and many things in their busy life. At present they are living in this unreal world. They have lost their real life.

Conclusion:

This conclusion paragraph is more specific because it mentions the friend’s new job and expresses the writer’s interest in hearing more about it. It also invites the friend to keep in touch, which shows that the writer is interested in maintaining the friendship.

My mother is the most important person in my life. She is my biggest supporter, my best friend, and my role model. She has taught me so much about life, love, and strength. I am so grateful to have her in my life.

My Mother Summary

‘My Mother’ is a gentle nostalgic poem written by ‘Guru’ Rabindranath Tagore. He is one of the greatest poets of modern India. His mother passed away when he was young. In this poem, he expresses his inability to recall the face or the features of his mother. When he looks at his playthings, he seems to be able to hear a tune. Perhaps his mother often sang the same song when she moved his cradie gently.

In autumn, the shiuli tree blossoms into fragrant tiny flowers. His mother would string the flowers for the morning service in the temple. When he smells the scent of shiuli flowers, he recalls his mother. When he sees from his bedroom window into the blue of the distant sky, he feels the stillness of his mother’s gaze. This poem eloquently reveals the emotional bonding between the poet and his mother. She has a great impact on the poet.

Conclusion:

My mother, I have learned the importance of kindness, compassion, and hard work. I have also learned the importance of putting family first and never giving up on my dreams. My mother is my role model and I am so proud of the woman she is.

The tattered blanket’ symbolises the relationship between the mother and the son. Just as the blanket was old and worn out, their relationship was strained. Gopi had not written a single letter to his mother, nor did he take the initiative of visiting her.

The Tattered Blanket Summary

Gopi was a government officer living in Delhi. He married Vimala. district collector Nambiar’s eldest daughter. They had four children. Gopi’s old mother was living in the countryside along with her eldest daughter Kamala, a widow. After attending a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, he dropped in on his way back. His mother saw him getting down at the gate and asked Kamala to see who he was.

Kamala walked slowly to the gate reluctantly. She recognised Gopi and asked him unpleasantly why he made a sudden unexpected visit. But Amma did not recognize him. Gopi tried to tell her that he was her son. Kamala told Gopi that that Amma was often like that those days. She didn’t recognize anybody. When Amma asked Kamala if her son (Gopi) had sent a letter, Kamala told her everything was fine with him. But Gopi didn’t write any letter to her. When Kamala told Gopi all these things, he replied that he was on his toes always as he got promotion the previous year. So he didn’t get any time to write letters.

Again Amma asked who he was. Gopi told her that he was her son Gopi and he had come from Delhi. She even forgot his wife’s name. She used to think that Gopi wrote letters to him every day. So she asked Kamala if he wrote a letter that day. Gopi kept his briefcase on the thinna, opened it and pulled out his contents such as clothes, files, a shaving set, etc.

Amma told Gopi that her son Gopi was a government officer in Delhi and had Kesariyogam. She asked him to send her a new red blanket to protect herself from a cold mist. Her old blanket, which was brought by Gopi when he was studying in Madras, was all tattered. Actually Gopi didn’t come to the village too see her Amma. He didn’t have any affection and love towards his Amma. He gave more importance to status. He wanted to raise some money by selling his share of the family property. He came to talk it over with his sister. Kamala knew that he would never come there anymore after selling his land. When she told Gopi the same, he answered that he would come when he got time. He said that Amma couldn’t remember who he was. Actually it was he who didn’t remember his Amma.

Conclusion:

My tattered blanket is an exquisitely written emotional story written by Kamala Das about a old mother, her son who is least bothered about her and the widowed daughter of the old lady. Gopi is a government officer staying in Delhi, and leads a very good lifedrops with his wife Vasanta and his four children.