English Summary

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Weathering the Storm in Ersama Summary

About the Poet of Weathering The Storm In Ersama Summary
Harsh Mander is an activist and author of several books including, Fractured Freedom: Chronicles from India’s Margins. He is the Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, a research organisation based in New Delhi. A social activist who works with survivors of mass violence and hunger, as well as homeless persons and street children.

Poet Name	Harsh Mander
Born	17 April 1955 (age 64 years), Shillong
Profession	Author, Columnist, Researcher, Teacher
Education	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, St Stephen’s College

Summary Of Weathering The Storm In Ersama Introduction

Weathering the Storm in Ersama by Harsh Mander is based on a true story of the adventures of a teenager Prashant was marooned on the roof of a house for two nights following the dreadful storm that hit Orissa (now Odisha) on 27^th October 1999.

The storm had killed thousands of people and devastated hundreds of villages. Prashant showed extraordinary courage at the face of the great natural calamity. He saved his own life and came in the forefront to lead the disaster management in his village.

Weathering the Storm in Ersama Summary of the Lesson

On 27 October 1999, Prashant, a young boy of nineteen, went to meet his friend in Ersama, a small town in coastal Odisha. Osama was some eighteen kilometres away from his village. In the evening, weather suddenly changed and soon there occurred a strong storm with devastating winds. It was later termed as super cyclone. The wind velocity was 350 km per hour. Prashant had never witnessed such a menacing storm.

The storm was followed by heavy and incessant rain which washed away several houses and people. The angry waters swirled into his friend’s house, neck-deep. So, Prashant and his friend’s family took shelter on the rooftop where they spent two nights in the same position. They froze in the cold and continuous rain. Prashant could see in the grey light of the early morning the destruction caused by the super cyclone.

There was water everywhere in which standing some fractured cement houses in a few places. Bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floated in every direction. Even huge trees had fallen here and there. Prashant was worried about his family. But he was helpless.

Two days later, the rain stopped and the rain waters slowly began to recede. Then Prashant decided to go to his village and see his family. He took a long, sturdy stick, and then started on the difficult journey to his village through the swollen flood waters. At places the water was waist deep which slowed his journey. At several points, he lost the road and had to swim.

On the way, he came across many human bodies and carcasses of dogs, goats and cattle. But he could barely see a house standing while passing through the villages. Eventually Prashant reached his village, Kalikuda. He was depressed to see the widespread destruction everywhere.

He wanted to see his family members but found them nowhere. So, he went to the Red Cross shelter to for them. Fortunately, his family was alive. He thanked God for this.

N. Prashant was upset to see the miserable condition of the cyclone-affected people in the shelter. There was a big crowd there. They had nothing to eat except green coconuts. There was too much filth everywhere. Prashant could not be the silent spectator. He decided to do something for the survivors. First, he made arrangements for their food with the help of some youths and elders.

Then, he organised a team of youth volunteers to clean the shelter of filth, urine, vomit and floating carcasses, and to tend to the wounds and fractures of the many who had been injured.

On the fifth day, a military helicopter dropped some food parcels. But it did not return. Prashant and others devised a plan to attract the attention of the helicopter. They deputed children to lie around the shelter with empty utensils on their stomachs, to communicate to the passing helicopters that they were hungry. The plan was successful and after that the helicopter started dropping food packets and other basic needs.

Prashant’s rehabilitation work went on ceaselessly. He brought the orphaned children together and put up a polythene sheet shelter for them. He mobilised men and women to look after them with food and materials.

He also persuaded the women to start working in the food-for-work program started by an NGO, and for the children he organised sports events. Later orphans were resettled in new foster families made up of childless widows and children without adult care.

Thus, Prashant became the saviour of thousands of cyclone-affected people. His self-less service for the mankind is praiseworthy.

What is the summary of weathering the storm in Ersama?

Summary Of Weathering The Storm In Ersama Introduction

Weathering the Storm in Ersama by Harsh Mander is based on a true story of the adventures of a teenager Prashant was marooned on the roof of a house for two nights following the dreadful storm that hit Orissa (now Odisha) on 27th October 1999.

What is the moral of the story weathering the storm in Ersama?

This lesson conveys the message that when a natural calamity strikes, the members of the community should help themselves. They should not be totally dependent upon the government to provide help. It also gives the message that the youth have a major role to play in organising the community to help themselves.

Is weathering the storm in Ersama a true story?

Weathering the Storm in Ersama by Harsh Mander is based on a true story of the adventures of a teenager Prashant was marooned on the roof of a house for two nights following the dreadful storm that hit Orissa (now Odisha) on 27th October 1999.

How many characters are there in the story weathering the storm in Ersama?

The main character of the ‘weathering the storm in Ersama’ is Prashant. He was the protagonist. Other supporting characters are Prashant’s two uncles, friends, friend’s families, maternal grandmother, brother, sister, aunts and also hungry women, men, children, widows, and orphans.

On what theme is Weathering the storm in Ersama?

In the weathering the storm in Erasma by Harsh Mander, the theme of the story is evoked when the storm takes place and due to which people are in a lot of suffering. It states that the community members should mobilize in order to prevent themselves from suffering apart from the aid provided by the government.

What is the summary of weathering the storm in Ersama?

Summary Of Weathering The Storm In Ersama Introduction

Weathering the Storm in Ersama by Harsh Mander is based on a true story of the adventures of a teenager Prashant was marooned on the roof of a house for two nights following the dreadful storm that hit Orissa (now Odisha) on 27th October 1999.

What is the moral of the story weathering the storm in Ersama?

This lesson conveys the message that when a natural calamity strikes, the members of the community should help themselves. They should not be totally dependent upon the government to provide help. It also gives the message that the youth have a major role to play in organising the community to help themselves.

Is weathering the storm in Ersama a true story?

Weathering the Storm in Ersama by Harsh Mander is based on a true story of the adventures of a teenager Prashant was marooned on the roof of a house for two nights following the dreadful storm that hit Orissa (now Odisha) on 27th October 1999.

What are the characters in weathering the storm in Ersama?

The main character of the ‘weathering the storm in Ersama’ is Prashant. He was the protagonist. Other supporting characters are Prashant’s two uncles, friends, friend’s families, maternal grandmother, brother, sister, aunts and also hungry women, men, children, widows, and orphans.

On what theme is Weathering the storm in Ersama?

In the weathering the storm in Erasma by Harsh Mander, the theme of the story is evoked when the storm takes place and due to which people are in a lot of suffering. It states that the community members should mobilize in order to prevent themselves from suffering apart from the aid provided by the government.

What is the theme of the chapter Weathering the storm in Ersama?

The theme of the chapter ‘Weathering the Storm in Ersma’ is that our courage, fortitude and presence of mind helps us tide over even the worst of hurdles. Prashant faced deep sorrow, yet stepped up to rehabilitating the people affected by the natural disaster.

What lessons did you learn from Weathering the storm in Ersama?

The moral that this story teaches, is of courage, hardwork and a strong will to achieve your goals. It also beautifully explains us the difference between a leader and boss. It takes a lot of strength and determination to lead others and help them out in difficult times.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Summary

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The Bond of Love Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Kenneth Anderson
Kenneth Anderson (1910-1974). He was a hunter, nature enthusiast and chronicler of wildlife. He was a British writer and hunter who wrote many books about his adventures in the jungles of South India. The Bond of Love is the story by Kenneth Anderson which shows the love of a human with a sloth bear whom she called ‘Bruno’. Bruno was a sloth bear rescued by the author.

Poet Name	Kenneth Anderson
Born	8 March 1910, Bengaluru
Died	30 August 1974, Bengaluru
Education	St. Joseph’s College, Bishop Cotton Boys’ School
Nationality	British, Indian

The Bond of Love Introduction

‘The Bond of Love’ is a story by Kenneth Anderson which shows a strong attachment between a human being and a sloth bear that becomes a pet. The animal is rescued by the author and is named ‘Bruno’.

Bruno gets attached with the author’s wife and soon they develop a great bond of love and affection. But a time comes when it becomes necessary to shift the animal to a zoo. However, he does not live there for a long time and is brought back.

The Bond of Love Summary of the Lesson

While passing through the sugarcane fields near Mysore, the author came across an orphaned baby bear. He caught the little creature and presented it to his wife. The author’s wife expressed her delight on getting the baby bear.

She at once put a colored ribbon around its neck and named it ‘Bruno’. As time passed, Bruno got attached to the author’s wife. She gave him a variety of things to eat and drink such as porridge, vegetables, nuts, meat, rice, tea, coffee, lime-juice, etc. Bruno grew mischievous with the passage of time. One day, he ate some poison-barium carbonate.

He also vomited and breathed heavily, but was later cured. In another incident, he drank nearly a gallon of old engine oil. Fortunately, he remained unaffected. He also terrorized the tenants’ children very often. So, it was decided to keep him in-chain most of the time.

As time passed, Bruno grew big. He had equaled the Alsatians in height and even outgrown them. So, the author and his friends advised his (author’s) wife to send Bruno to the zoo at Mysore. It was getting too big to be kept at home.

It took time to the author’s wife to give her consent. But finally, she agreed and Bruno was sent to the zoo. The separation was very painful. Everyone in the house particularly the author’s wife missed him greatly. She was so grief-stricken that she refused to eat food. Same was the condition of Bruno. He also did not eat food and grew thin and sad.

One day the author’s wife expressed her wish to visit the zoo to meet Bruno. The author, thinking that he must have forgotten her, took her to the zoo, but after reaching there she came to know that he still remembered her.

They sat together for three hours. She gave him tea, lemonade, cakes and ice-cream. When the ‘closing time’ came, she cried bitterly. She requested the superintendent of the zoo to bring Bruno back home.

The superintendent allowed her and made special arrangement for transporting him to their home. At home a separate island was made for Bruno. It was twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide and was surrounded by a dry pit, or moat, six feet wide and seven feet deep.

A wooden box was kept on the island for Bruno to sleep. Bruno was happy and so was the author’s wife. They spent hours together. Such was the bond of love between a human being and an animal.

After Apple-Picking Summary

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Reach for the Top Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Santhosh Yadav
Santosh Yadav is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest twice, and the first woman to successfully climb Mt. Everest from Kangshung Face. She was, of course, a kind-hearted person and a daredevil who was dedicated to her mission. Her strength was her physical fitness, mental toughness, and climbing skill.

Poet Name	Santosh Yadav
Born	1969 (age 51 years), Joniawas
Spouse	Uttam Kumar Lal (m. 1992)
Education	Maharani College
Awards	Padma Shri
Nationality	Indian

Reach for the Top Introduction

The chapter ‘Reach for the Top’ consists of two biographical pieces that depict persistent endeavors to reach the top. The first part recounts the journey of Santosh Yadav, the only woman in the world who has scaled Mt Everest twice.

The second part is about Maria Sharapova, a Russian girl who reached the summit of women’s tennis when she was barely eighteen. The story of the two women inspires us to set our goals and achieve them ignoring all the hurdles.

Reach for the Top Summary of the Lesson

Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world to have climbed Mt Everest twice. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas of Rewari district in Haryana where the birth of a daughter was not generally welcome. She was the sixth child in the family with five sons, a sister to five elder brothers. Her family named her ‘Santosh’ which means contentment.

But she was not content with her place in the traditional set up of the family and adopted a different lifestyle. She used to wear shorts instead of traditional Indian dresses. She was determined to change the people around her because only then she could achieve what she had dreamed.

Her parents were affluent landowners with orthodox attitudes. They had no interest in giving much education to their daughter. So they sent her to the local village school. When Santosh turned sixteen, her parents pressurised her to marry because most of the girls in their village used to get married at this age. But she didn’t listen to them.

She firmly told her parents that she would not marry before getting a proper education. Her parents got angry and refused to pay for her education. But that didn’t deviate her from her goal. She planned to do part-time work to pay for her school fees. Seeing her determination, her parents finally agreed to pay for her education.

After passing the high school examinations, Santosh Yadav went to Jaipur for further education. She joined Maharani College and got a room in Kasturba Hostel. Living in the hostel, she used to watch people climbing the Aravalli Hills.

She could not resist herself from asking some mountaineers if she could join them. They gave a positive reply which encouraged her to take to climbing. She joined Uttarkashi Nehru Institute of Mountaineering after completing her college semester in Jaipur.

Santosh never looked back thereafter. She went on an expedition every year which matured her climbing skills very fast. She scaled Mt Everest at the age of twenty and became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat.

She impressed her seniors with qualities like iron will, physical toughness and mental endurance. She was very helpful to the co-climbers. During the 1992 Everest mission, she managed to save another climber who would have died if she had not shared her oxygen with him.

Within a year, she scaled Mt Everest a second time which secured a unique place for her in the annals of mountaineering. The Indian government recognised her achievement by awarding her with one of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.

Santosh Yadav is a great environmentalist. She collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas which shows her concern for the environment.

The Beggar Summary

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If I Were You Summary, Explanation

About the Poet Douglas James
Douglas James (1888-1946) was a British colonial administrator, holding the posts of Governor of North Borneo, Sierra Leone, and the Leeward Islands during his career. British colonial administrator. In more languages. Spanish. In 1916, he became Secretary to Administration in “British Somaliland” a position he held until 1921.

Poet Name	Douglas James
Born	13 October 1888
Died	11 December 1946
Education	Westminster School, Trinity College
Nationality	British
Books	The Mad Mullah of Somaliland

If I Were You Introduction

‘If I Were You’ is a one-act play by Douglas James. It is the story of an Intruder who enters the cottage of Gerrard, a playwright with an intention to murder him and take on his identity because he looks like him. Gerrard, however, gets rid of him by handing him over to the police.

If I Were You Summary of the Lesson

This one-act play by Douglas James is a dialogue between Gerrard, the playwright, and an Intruder who is a criminal. Gerrard lives a lonely life in a small cottage. One day, while he was talking over the telephone, an Intruder enters his cottage with a revolver.

He resembles Gerrard and so intends to kill him to take on his identity and live as Gerrard for the rest of his life. He bumps accidentally against the table, and at the sound, Gerrard turns quickly. But he does not get panicked, instead, he maintains calm and gently asks the Intruder his name.

The Intruder, however, ignores Gerrard’s question and shows much interest in knowing his full name. He asks many questions to Gerrard. Gerrard answers his questions very wisely.

Moreover, he also understands the Intruder’s ill motives. He makes a false story to save himself and capture the Intruder. He tells him that he is also a murderer and the police are after him. In case, he kills Gerrard he is sure to be hanged.

Gerrard explains that unfortunately one of his men has been caught and he is expecting trouble that night. He then makes the Intruder understand that it is good for him if he runs away with him in his car to a safe place.

He also tells him that if it is a frame, he can shoot him in the car. Gerrard tells all these things so confidently that the Intruder has to trust his words. He is ready to accompany him. But when he is about to cross the door, Gerrard gives him a push.

The revolver falls on the ground as the Intruder steps into the cupboard. Gerrard then quickly slams its door and picks up the revolver. Thereafter, he telephones the police for his arrest. In this way, he saves his life by a clever trick.

My Father Travels Summary

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The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Ustaad Bismillah Khan
Ustad Qamruddin “Bismillah” Khan, often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class.  Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference. When Bismillah Khan was 14 years of age, he accompanied his maternal uncle, Ali Bux to the Allahabad Music Conference.

Poet Name	Ustaad Bismillah Khan
Born	21 March 1916, Dumraon
Died	21 August 2006, Heritage Hospitals, Varanasi
Instrument	Shehnai
Awards	Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan

Short Summary Of The Shehnai Of Bismillah Khan Introduction

The lesson has been divided into two parts. Both are associated with the subject of music and the personalities who made music their life. Evelyn Glennie turned out to be the most sought after musician internationally in spite of her disability.

She was profoundly deaf but learnt to listen to music with her body instead of the ears. She became the perfect player of the xylophone and earned a huge name and fame. Bismillah Khan, on the other hand, became India’s most revered shehnai maestro.

He was the winner of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India. He performed not only in India but abroad too.

The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan Summary of the Lesson

This part of the lesson throws light on the origin of the shehnai and the contributions of Ustad Bismillah Khan to bring this musical instrument onto the classical stage.

Pungi, a musical instrument, was banned by Emperor Aurangzeb because of its unpleasant sound. It was improved by a barber of a family of professional musicians. The barber brought several changes in this instrument until it produced soft and melodious sounds. He then played it before royalty and got immense appreciation. Since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers by a nai, the instrument came to be known as the ‘shehnai’.

The sound of shehnai began to be considered auspicious. But its use was limited to temples and weddings. It was Bismillah Khan who popularised this instrument in India and abroad. Bismillah Khan belonged to the Benaras Gharana. He was born on 21 March 1916 at Dumraon in Bihar. His father, grandfather and other paternal ancestors were great shehnai players.

Bismillah Khan began to show his interest in music when he was just five-year-old. As a young child he would regularly go to the Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri ‘Chaita’. He watched his maternal uncles practising the shehnai with great fascination. Slowly, he started getting lessons in playing the instrument and would sit practising throughout the day. He made the river Ganga his favourite spot to practise in solitude. At the age of 14, he accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference where he got huge appreciation at the end of the recital. The opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 proved to be a big break for him. His shehnai came to be heard very often on radio afterwards.

Bismillah Khan greeted the independent India with his shehnai from the Red Fort on 15 August, 1947. He travelled far and wide giving many memorable performances and won many national and international awards. He became the first Indian to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade Fair. The national awards conferred on him included the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. India’s highest civilian award.

Bismillah Khan loved his country deeply. When he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning for India. He was very fond of Dumraon and Benaras. He could not stay away from Benaras because the river Ganga was there. He also got huge success in the celluloid world. He gave his music in two films. His composition ‘DU ka khilona hai toot gay a….,’ turned to be a nationwide record-breaker. But he could not come to terms with the artificial glamour of the film world and remained a true devotee of music throughout his life.

The Diamond Necklace Summary

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A Truly Beautiful Mind Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1916-1995) was a theoretical physicist who published the special and general theories of relativity and contributed to other areas of physics. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. In June 1905, Albert Einstein produced four papers that revolutionized science.

Poet Name	Albert Einstein
Born	14 March 1879, Ulm, Germany
Died	18 April 1955, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, New Jersey, United States
Spouse	Elsa Einstein (m. 1919–1936), Mileva Marić (m. 1903–1919)
Education	University of Zurich (1905), ETH Zürich (1896–1900)

A Truly Beautiful Mind Introduction

This is the story of Albert Einstein who is regarded as a visionary and world citizen. The story tries to show him as a human being, a fairly ordinary person who had his likes and dislikes, his streaks of rebellion, and his problems. Over time, the name Einstein became synonym for genius. His work changed our understanding of space, time and the entire cosmos.

A Truly Beautiful Mind Summary of the Lesson

Albert Einstein was bom on 14 March 1879 at Ulm in Germany. His mother thought he was a freak and his head was too large. Einstein didn’t speak until the age of two-and-a-half and when he did learn to speak, he uttered everything twice. He had no interest in playing with other children. He preferred being by himself. However, he loved mechanical toys.

Once the headmaster at a school Einstein studied in, told his father that his son would never be successful, whatever career he took up. His mother wanted him to learn the violin when was six-years old. So, he started learning it and later became a gifted amateur violinist.

Einstein was not a bad student. He went to high school in Munich and got good marks in almost every subject. But he did not like the school’s stifling discipline and left it for good at the age of 15. He wanted to continue his higher education as he had deep interest in mathematics and physics. He joined a university in Zurich because the atmosphere there was more liberal than Munich.

There he met a fellow student, Mileva Marie who was equally intelligent and clever. They fell in love and finally married in 1903 after Einstein got a job on completing his university studies. The couple was gifted with two sons. But their marriage didn’t last long and they finally divorced in 1919.

After completing his university education, Einstein badly needed a job. He started his career as a teaching assistant and gave private lessons. Finally, in 1902, he secured a job as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern.

Though his job was to assess other people’s inventions but he worked secretly on his idea on relativity. He published his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, according to which time and distance are not absolute.

This was followed by the world famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy: E = me2, where E stands for energy, m for mass and c for the speed of the light in a vacuum. In 1915, he published his General Theory of Relativity, which gave an absolutely new interpretation of gravity.

This theory established Einstein’s fame in the world of science. In 1919, during a solar eclipse, his theory came out be accurate which brought a scientific revolution. Two years later, he received the Nobel Prize for Physics. After this, he became a world figure.

In 1933, Einstein emigrated to the United States as the Nazis had come to power in Germany. He was apprehensive about atomic bomb. So, when Germany developed the principle of nuclear fission in 1938, he became the first person to raise his voice against it.

He wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt on 2 August 1939 to warn him against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb. This made the Americans develop their own atomic bomb in secret which they used against Japan in August 1945.

As a result, the two Japanese cities named Hiroshima and Nagasaki were totally destroyed. The large scale destruction that it caused shook Einstein from within.

He then wrote an open letter to the United Nations proposing the formation of a world government which could stop such destruction by putting an end to the arms buildup. He was a great advocate of peace and democracy and campaigned for the same till his death in 1955 at the age of 76.

What is the message of a truly beautiful mind?

This account of the life and personality of the famous scientist Einstein gives us the message that a beautiful mind possesses not only innovative ideas but also makes sincere efforts to use these ideas for the well being of mankind. Science should be solely devoted to the promotion of worldwide peace and prosperity.

What does this lesson a truly beautiful mind speak about * 1 point?

the life of the greatest scientist Einstein and his contributions to the field of science and world politics.

What is the summary of the chapter the lost child?

The Lost Child is the story of a small child who gets lost in a fair. He had gone with his parents to the fair but loses them when he gets engrossed in looking at a roundabout swing. The story highlights the bond of love and affection that the child shares with his parents.

What lesson does the story a truly beautiful mind?

However, the title – ‘A Truly Beautiful Mind’ may let you wonder how a scientist’s mind can be beautiful. It is because, in this lesson, we get to know about another aspect of his life. His other side that he believes in humanity. Moreover, he advocates world peace, non-violence his entire life.

What did Einstein’s mother think of him when he was baby?

Answer: Einstein’s mother thought him to be a ‘freak’ or someone with an unusual physical abnormality or behavioural problem. She thought of him as a freak because his head seemed too large to her. … As a child, Einstein had a large head and did not start to speak till he was two-and-a-half years old.

Dream – Children: A Reverie Summary

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The Sound of Music Summary

The Sound of Music Introduction

The lesson has been divided into two parts. Both are associated with the subject of music and the personalities who made music their life. Evelyn Glennie turned out to be the most sought after musician internationally in spite of her disability.

She was profoundly deaf but learnt to listen to music with her body instead of the ears. She became the perfect player of the xylophone and earned huge name and fame. Bismillah Khan, on the other hand, became India’s most revered shehnai maestro.

He was the winner of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India. He performed not only in India but abroad too.

The Sound of Music Summary Part 1

Evelyn Glennie is a multi-percussionist, who can play thousands of instruments to perfection. She is the most sought after musician of the world. She reached the pinnacle in spite of being profoundly deaf. But she excelled in the field of music by dint of her hard work and firm determination.

Evelyn’s loss of hearing had been gradual. It was first noticed by her mother when she was just eight-years-old, waiting to play the piano. By the time she was eleven, it was discovered that her hearing was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve damage.

It was a big shock for her and her family. But she was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her career in music. She was greatly supported by percussionist Ron Forbes who spotted her potential and decided to work with her. He began by turning two large drums to different notes and advised Evelyn to not listen with her ears but try to sense it some other way.

Soon, she discovered that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body. She also learnt to open her mind and body to sounds and vibrations. After that she never looked back. She decided to make music her life. She joined the

prestigious Royal Academy of Music and got excellent marks. She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. She proved her excellence in this field too.

Evelyn Glennie believed in hard work. It was her hard work combined with firm determination which made her the world’s most sought-after multi-percussionist with a mastery of some thousand instruments.

In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award. She gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also takes classes for young musicians.

Thus, she is a shining inspiration for the deaf and handicapped children. She has proved that nothing is impossible. You just fix your goal and start doing hard work. You will get there.

The Sound of Music Summary Part 2

This part of the lesson throws light on the origin of the shehnai and the contributions of Ustad Bismillah Khan to bring this musical instrument onto the classical stage.

Pungi, a musical instrument, was banned by Emperor Aurangzeb because of its unpleasant sound. It was improved by a barber of a family of professional musicians. The barber brought several changes in this instrument until it produced soft and melodious sounds. He then played it before royalty and got immense appreciation. Since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers by a nai, the instrument came to be known as the ‘shehnai’.

The sound of shehnai began to be considered auspicious. But its use was limited to temples and weddings. It was Bismillah Khan who popularised this instrument in India and abroad. Bismillah Khan belonged to the Benaras Gharana. He was born on 21 March 1916 at Dumraon in Bihar. His father, grandfather and other paternal ancestors were great shehnai players.

Bismillah Khan began to show his interest in music when he was just five-year-old. As a young child he would regularly go to the Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri ‘Chaita’. He watched his maternal uncles practising the shehnai with great fascination. Slowly, he started getting lessons in playing the instrument and would sit practising throughout the day. He made the river Ganga his favourite spot to practise in solitude. At the age of 14, he accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference where he got huge appreciation at the end of the recital. The opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 proved to be a big break for him. His shehnai came to be heard very often on radio afterwards.

Bismillah Khan greeted the independent India with his shehnai from the Red Fort on 15 August, 1947. He travelled far and wide giving many memorable performances and won many national and international awards. He became the first Indian to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade Fair. The national awards conferred on him included the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. India’s highest civilian award.

Bismillah Khan loved his country deeply. When he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning for India. He was very fond of Dumraon and Benaras. He could not stay away from Benaras because the river Ganga was there. He also got huge success in the celluloid world. He gave his music in two films. His composition ‘DU ka khilona hai toot gay a….,’ turned to be a nationwide record-breaker. But he could not come to terms with the artificial glamour of the film world and remained a true devotee of music throughout his life.

Invocation Summary

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Very Short Summary of The Snake and The Mirror Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1859-1927) was an Indian independence activist and writer of Malayalam literature. In the Malayalam Literary arena, the legend Vaikom Muhammad Basheer owns a remarkable position. With his profound and simple writing, a touch of satire, sarcasm and black humour. He is regarded as one of the prominent literary figures ever existed in india. He was a legend in Kerala.

Poet Name	Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Born	21 January 1908, Thalayolaparambu
Died	5 July 1994, Beypore
Parents	Kaye Abdul Rahiman
Movies	Mathilukal, Bhargavi Nilayam, Balyakalasakhi, House of Stories
Awards	Vallathol Award, Muttathu Varkey Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Kerala State Film Award for Best Story

The Snake And The Mirror Summary In English

The Snake and the Mirror Introduction
This is a humorous story about a doctor, a snake, and a mirror. The doctor has just started his practice in homeopathy and is a bachelor. He lives in a small rented room which is an outhouse. One night he has an encounter with a snake. His death seems to be imminent. But the mirror in his room helps him and he escapes death.

The Snake and the Mirror Summary of the Lesson

It was a hot summer night; about ten o’clock. A homeopathic-doctor, who was a bachelor, had just returned from the work to his small rented room. The room had two windows and a tiled roof. The tiles were supported by gables which rested on the beam over the wall. There were countless rats living in that room. The doctor was familiar with the sound they used to make.

He lighted the kerosene lamp on the table as the house was not electrified and took off his coat and shirt and opened the two windows. He sat down on the chair and took out a book called the Materia Medica to read. There was a large mirror on the table on which stood the lamp.

He felt tempted to look into the mirror. He sat down in front of it, admiring his looks and smile. He felt he should make himself more presentable because he was unmarried and was a doctor. He picked up the comb and ran it through his hair and adjusted the parting.

He took a close look at his face in the mirror and decided to shave daily and grow a thin mustache. Then came a lovely thought in his mind. He began planning his future marriage. He would marry a woman doctor who had plenty of money 3hd a good medical practice. He was so engrossed in his daydreaming that he did not give much importance to the sudden silence.

The rats had stopped making noise and there were no more sounds from above. Suddenly the doctor felt the sound of something falling behind him. He turned around to have a look and was surprised to see that it was a fat cobra.

The snake wriggled over the back of the chair and with great alacrity landed on the doctor’s shoulder. The dreadful creature slithered along his shoulder and coiled around his left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from his face.

The doctor found himself very close to death. He turned to stone. He could not move because any such action would prompt the snake to strike him. What would he do if he was bitten by the cobra? There were no medicines in the room for snakebite.

He then realised that he was a foolish and stupid doctor. He smiled at helplessness. He prayed to God because only God could save him in the face of danger. And the God appeared pleased on the doctor whose thoughts changed after his encounter with the snake. From being a proud doctor he moved on to accept his stupidity. The snake turned its head. It looked into the mirror on the table and saw its reflection.

It then unwound itself from his arm and slowly slithered into his lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror.

The doctor heaved a sigh of relief. He got up carefully and escaped from the house. He ran fast and reached a friend’s house where he smeared oil all over himself and took a bath. Next morning, he came back to his room to vacate it but found nothing except his dirty vests. Some thief had stolen all his belongings seeing the room open.

The story conveys a very important message. One should not be proud of oneself. We are nothing without God’s benign support. The moment the doctor realised his true worth, the snake was recalled and his life was saved.

What is the summary of the snake and the mirror?

The Snake and The Mirror summary is the story within a story. The writer tells us a story that he heard from a homoeopathic doctor. And similarly, the story rotates around the two factors of the Snake and The Mirror. Moreover, in this story, a doctor reflects on a day in his youth, when he was unmarried.

What is the summary of the snake trying?

The poem revolves around a snake that is struggling after being hit by a stick. Furthermore, the stick is held by a person who intends to kill this snake. Moreover, the snake is trying to escape from this predicament. The message that the poet wants to convey is that not all snakes are harmful.

What kind of story is the snake and the mirror?

The story is a narrative within the narrative. The writer tells us the story which was told to him by a homeopathic doctor. As we see from the title, the snake and the mirror are the two most important things in the story. This homeopathic doctor encountered a snake, the snake fell on the doctor.

What is the theme of the lesson the snake and the mirror?

The humorous anecdote revolves around the theme of human vanity and fears and how they affect people. The narrator is a homoeopath doctor who is struggling with his poverty and sluggish practice.

Why did the listeners fall silent the snake and the mirror?

The audience became silent due to the fear of the cobra snake. Then the doctor narrated his story. It was a hot summer night, almost 10 o’clock, he was returning home after having his dinner at the restaurant.

Why did the snake move towards the mirror?

Answer: The snake settled in the writer’s lap after uncoiling from the writer’s arm. The snake moved towards the mirror to have a closer look of its image.

Our Casuarina Tree Summary

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The Little Girl Summary By Katherine Mansfield

About the Poet Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) is New Zealand’s most internationally famous author. She was a writer of short stories, poetry, letters, journals, and reviews, and changed the way the short story was written in the English language. She was a rebel and a modernist who lived her short life of 34 years to the full. Even before she died at the age of thirty-four she had achieved a reputation as one of the most talented writers of the modern short story

Poet Name	Katherine Mansfield
Born	14 October 1888, Wellington, New Zealand
Died	9 January 1923, Fontainebleau, France
Short Stories	The Garden Party, Miss Brill, The Doll’s House
Siblings	Leslie Heron Beauchamp, Jeanne Beauchamp

Short Summary of The Little Girl

The Little Girl Introduction
This is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield. The story is about a little girl who is initially afraid of her father and avoids him. She feels relieved on seeing her father go to the office. However, her feelings for her father change in the end from fear to understanding. She is happy to find that her father is not a figure to be feared but a person to be adored.

The Little Girl Summary of the Lesson

Kezia was a little girl who lived with her parents and grandmother. She did not like her father because of his overbearing attitude. So long father remained at his office, she was relieved.

But the moment he came home, she would start feeling uncomfortable. She never stuttered with other people but failed to speak properly in front of him. He appeared to her as harsh, rude and critical. He was like a giant for Kezia.

Mother would encourage her to go near father in the drawing-room when he came home from the office and take off his shoes like a good girl. Kezia would turn so nervous but there was no way out. She cannot disobey her mother. And when she would take off his shoes, he would ask if she had been a good girl that day.

Kezia’s grandmother wanted her to understand her parents better, and would ask her to go to the drawing-room to chat with them. But the little girl always found mother reading and father stretched out on the sofa. One day, grandmother told Kezia that father’s birthday was next week, and suggested her to make a pincushion for a gift.

Kezia stitched the three sides of the pin-cushion. Now she wanted to stuff it with some thing. She looked out for it here and there in the house. Suddenly in her mother’s bedroom she found many sheets of fine paper lying on the bed-table.

She gathered them up, tore them into tiny pieces, and stuffed her case, then sewed up the fourth side. Kezia had unknowingly committed a grave mistake. Those were important papers as they contained her father’s speech for the Port Authority.

There was a hue and cry in the house that night. Though Kezia accepted her mistake and tried to explain the reasons behind it, her father was too angry to listen to anything. He picked up a ruler and hit her hands with it. Kezia found Mr Macdonald a different sort of father.

He lived next door and used to play with his five children, laughing and enjoying, with them. This convinced Kezia that all fathers are not alike. Some are loving like Mr Macdonald and some are cruel like her own father.

One day, Kezia’s mother fell ill, and her mother and grandmother went to hospital. The little girl was left alone in the house with Alice, the cook. Kezia was all right in the daytime but when night fell, she grew suddenly afraid. What would she do if she had a nightmare? She often had nightmares and then Alice took her into her bed.

But she was not there that night. Alice tried to console her by putting her to bed. While sleeping, she had a horrible dream in the middle of the night. She woke up screaming. When she opened her eyes, she saw her father standing beside her bed. He took Kezia with her into his room and made her warm on his bed. He made her feel safe and comfortable with him.

Kezia then realised that her father was not a cruel person. She felt sorry for comparing him with a giant. She realised that he loved her and cared for her in his own way. She was proud to find her father as a big-hearted man.

Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S Summary

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Iswaran the Storyteller Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet R.K. Laxman
Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (1921-2015). He began cartooning for the Free Press Journal, a newspaper in Bombay. He is best known for his creation The Common Man and for his daily cartoon strip, You Said It in The Times of India, which started in 1951.

Poet Name	R.K. Laxman (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Laxman)
Born	24 October 1921, Mysuru
Died	26 January 2015, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Center, Pune
Education	The University Of Mysore, Maharaja’s College, Mysore
Awards	Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan

Iswaran the Storyteller Introduction

Iswaran the Storyteller by R. K. Narayan is a story about Mahendra, a junior supervisor in a firm and his cook, Iswaran. Mahendra has to keep moving from place to place every now and then as ordered by his head office.

Wherever he goes, Iswaran will always be there with him. He not only takes great care of his master but also tells him interesting stories. One day he scares his master with his ghost story.

Iswaran the Storyteller Summary of the Lesson

Mahendra was a junior supervisor in a firm which offered on hire supervisors at various types of construction sites. His job made him move every now and then from a coal mining area to a railway bridge construction site to some chemical plant after some months.

He was a bachelor. He had a cook named Iswaran. Iswaran accompanied Mahendra wherever he went and was therefore greatly attached to him. He not only cooked for Mahendra, and washed his clothes but also used to tell him stories in a very interesting manner.

Iswaran loved to read popular Tamil thrillers in his leisure time. As a result, he innovated his own thrillers and would tell about it to Mahendra. Mahendra enjoyed listening to them because of the inimitable way in which they were told. Once he told his master a story about how he controlled a wild elephant that had gone berserk.

He told that he came from a place famous for timber. The logs there were carried on to the lorries by elephants. They were huge well-fed beats. But when they turned wild, not even the most experienced mahout could control them. One day the elephant entered the school ground where children were playing, breaking through the brick wall. Children and teachers got terrified and rushed to the safe place.

But Iswaran was not scared. He moved towards the mad tusker with a cane in his hand and whacked its third toenail on the quick. The beast shivered from head to foot and then collapsed.

One day, while talking about the spirits of ancestors, he began to talk of ghosts. He said that the place where they were staying was once a burial ground and that he had sometimes seen ghosts at night. Being a brave man, he was not scared of them.

Then he told his master about a horrible ghost woman seen only on a full moon night. She moaned and carried a foetus in her arms. Mahendra shivered at the description and told Iswaran that there were no such things as ghosts or spirits. He left the room and retired for the night. But he could not sleep. The story of the ghost woman began to hover in his mind.

One night, Mahendra was woken up from his sleep by a low moan close to his window. He looked out at the white sheet of moonlight outside, and found a dark cloudy form clutching a bundle. Mahendra was sure that it was none but the ghost woman.

He broke into a cold sweat and fell back on the pillow, panting. In the morning Iswaran asked him about the ghost woman and the sound of moaning that was coming from his room. But Mahendra was very upset. He decided to leave the place immediately.

Albert-Einstein at School Summary