It so happened...

Supplementary Reader in English

8
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State
Council
of
Educational
Research
&
Training
Andhra
Pradesh

Free
distribution
by
Samagra
Shiksha,
Government
of
Andhra
Pradesh
www.apteachers.in
www.apteachers.in

It so happened...
Supplementary Reader in English
for Class VIII

State Council of Educational Research & Training

Andhra Pradesh
 IT SO HAPPENED...
ISBN 81-7450-835-5
Supplementary Reader in English for Class VIII

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Blue Fish
 Text Book Development Committee

Sri Praveen Prakash IAS Sri. S. Suresh Kumar IAS

Principal Secretary to Government Commissioner of School Education , AP
Department of School Education, AP

Sri. B. Srinivasa Rao IAS Sri. K. Ravindranath Reddy MA., B.Ed.

State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, AP Director, Government Textbook Press, AP

Dr. B. Pratap Reddy MA., B.Ed., Ph.D.

Director, SCERT, AP
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Programme Co-ordinators

Dr. G. Kesava Reddy

Prof. C&T, SCERT, AP

Smt. V. Swarnalatha
Lecturer, C&T, SCERT, AP

Subject Co-ordinator
Smt. G. Sudha Lakshmi
Faculty, SCERT, AP

Asst. Subject Co-ordinator Technical Co-ordinator

Smt. T.L. Sailaja Dr. Ch.V.S. Ramesh Kumar
Faculty, SCERT, AP Faculty, SCERT, AP

Published by Samagra Shiksha, Government of Andhra Pradesh

 THE National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends
that children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside
the school. This principle marks a departure from the legacy of
bookish learning which continues to shape our system and
causes a gap between the school, home and community. The
syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an
attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to
discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp
boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these
measures will take us significantly further in the direction of a
child-centred system of education outlined in the National Policy
of Education (1986).
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The success of this effort depends on the steps that school

principals and teachers will take to encourage children to reflect
on their own learning and to pursue imaginative activities and
questions. We must recognise that, given space, time and
freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with
the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the
prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of
the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are
ignored. Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we
perceive and treat children as participants in learning, not as
receivers of a fixed body of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school routines
and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is
as necessary as rigour in implementing the annual calendar
so that the required number of teaching days are actually
devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching and
evaluation will also determine how effective this supplementary
reader proves for making children’s life at school a happy
experience rather than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus
designers have tried to address the problem of curricular
burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different
stages with greater consideration for child psychology and the
time available for teaching. The book attempts to enhance this
endeavour by giving higher priority and space to opportunities
 for contemplation and wondering, discussion in small
groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.

J
The National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) appreciates the hard work done by the textbook
development committee responsible for this book. We wish to

J
thank the Chairperson of the advisory group in languages,
Professor Namwar Singh, and the Chief Advisor for this book,
Professor R. Amritavalli for guiding the work of this committee.
Several teachers contributed to the development of this book;

J we are grateful to their principals for making this possible. We

are indebted to the institutions and organisations which have
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generously permitted us to draw upon their resources, materials

and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members of the
National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department
of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human
Resource Development under the Chairpersonship of Professor
Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande for their valuable
time and contribution. As an organisation committed
to systemic reform and continuous improvement in the
quality of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and
suggestions which will enable us to undertake further
revision and refinements.

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
30 November 2007 Research and Training

J
J
www.apteachers.in
 J
THE main objective of this supplementary reader is to promote
among learners the habit of reading independently with interest,
understanding and enjoyment. It seeks to enable them to read
independently in the sense that they would not expect the book
to be taken up page by page in the classroom. They would
rather read it on their own and later share and confirm
their responses and appreciation with the teacher and the peer
group through discussions, questions and, wherever possible,
J
even role-play.
The book contains eleven pieces. Each piece has been divided
into two or three manageable sections, each section briefly
summarised in point form without revealing crucial turns and twists
of the storyline, thus sustaining readers’ curiosity and interest.
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While-reading ‘Comprehension Check,’ given at the end of sections,

is a recall of what has been read and understood so far.
This format is being tried to make comprehension easier and
concentration keener. Each piece is also followed by a set of
questions as aids to understanding and, at many places, topics
for discussion in groups. Points under ‘Think it Over’ are largely
such quotations as have a direct bearing on the theme of the
story. Some quotations may not be immediately comprehensible
to learners. Teachers may therefore want to play a direct role in

J
explaining, simplifying or paraphrasing lines/topics and suggest
appropriate sub-topics to facilitate a focussed discussion in small
groups. All questions should be attempted orally before well-
formulated answers are put down on paper. Discussion on
related topics should be encouraged so that learners get an
opportunity to go beyond the book and feel inspired to reach
hitherto undiscovered vistas of knowledge and pleasure.
The stories, amply illustrated, deal with themes of
cooperation, compassion, respect and love for flora and fauna,
sound decision-making, science fiction, education, peace and
harmony. It is hoped that young readers will find the book
enjoyable and rewarding, and will feel motivated to read
extensively on their own to become proficient readers in the
years to come.
 NCERT

CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY GROUP IN LANGUAGES

Professor Namwar Singh, formerly Chairman, School of
Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
CHIEF ADVISOR
R. Amritavalli, Professor, The English and Foreign Languages
University, Hyderabad
CHIEF COORDINATOR
Ram Janma Sharma, Professor and Head, Department of
Languages, NCERT, New Delhi
MEMBERS
Beena Sugathan, PGT (English), Loreto Convent, Delhi
Cantonment, New Delhi
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Madhavi Gayathri Raman, Lecturer, The English and Foreign

Languages University, Hyderabad
Rooma Palit, PGT (English), Delhi Public School, Nalconagar,
Angul, Odisha
Shyamala Kumaradas (formerly of CIEFL, Hyderabad),
3C Sheetal Haven, Peringavu, Trichur
MEMBER–COORDINATOR
Nasiruddin Khan, Reader in English, Department of
Languages, NCERT, New Delhi
 THE National Council of Educational Research and Training is
grateful to Professor M.L. Tickoo, formerly of the Central Institute

J
of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, and the
Regional Language Centre, Singapore for going through the
manuscript and making valuable suggestions. Special thanks
are due to Professor R. Amritavalli for her overall monitoring
and assistance as Chief Advisor.
For permission to reproduce copyright material in this book
NCERT would like to thank the following: Gita Wolf and

J Anoushka Ravishankar for ‘Children at work’ from Trash—On

Ragpicker Children and Recycling, Tara Publishing & Books
for Change, Chennai, 1999; M.S. Bela Raja for ‘The treasure
within’ from Sparsh—A Newsletter from The Resource Centre,
The Valley School, Bengaluru, Vol : 003, July 2001; Ruskin
Bond for ‘The fight’ from Time Stops at Shamli and Other
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Stories, Penguin India, 1989; and Jayant Narlikar for ‘The

comet’ from Tales of the Future, Witness Books, Delhi, 2005.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders.
We apologise for some omissions, and will gratefully
acknowledge them as soon as they can be traced.
The Council acknowledges the valuable inputs and
suggestions given by the Review Committee constituted by the
NCERT.
Thanks are also due to Meenakshi Khar, Associate
Professor, DEL, NCERT and Kirti Kapur, Professor, DCS,
NCERT for developing new content under the present review.
Special thanks are also due to the Publication Department,

J NCERT, for its support. The NCERT also acknowledges the

contributions made by Parash Ram Kaushik, Incharge,
Computer Resource Centre; Razi Ahmad and Inder Kumar, DTP
Operators; and Mathew John, Proof Reader.
 Contents

J 1.

2.

3.
Foreword
A Note for the Teacher

How the Camel got his hump

Children at work

The Selfish Giant

iv
vii

17
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4. The treasure within 25

5. Princess September 34

6. The fight 45

7. The open window 55

8. Jalebis 62

9. The comet — I 73

10. The comet — II 81

11. Ancient Education System of India 89

 1 How the Camel got his hump

I
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• The world had just begun, and the animals were working for
humans.
• There was one lazy animal that did nothing, and said nothing
but ‘Humph’.
• Even the clever Djinn was at his wit’s end.

IN the beginning, when the world was new and the Animals were just
beginning to work for Man, there was a Camel, and he lived in the
middle of a Howling Desert because he did not want to work. He ate
sticks and thorns and prickles, and when anybody spoke to him he
said “Humph!” Just “Humph!” and
no more.
Presently the Horse came to
him on Monday morning, with a
saddle on his back and said,
“Camel, O Camel, come out and
trot like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel,
and the Horse went away and
told the Man.
Djinn: (pronounced ‘jin’ and variously spelt as ‘genie’, ‘genii’, ‘jinnee’, ‘djinni’, ‘djinny’): a
spirit that has strange powers and can assume any form, human or animal

How the Camel got his hump 1

 Presently the Dog came to him, with a stick in his mouth, and said,
“Camel, O Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel, and the Dog went away and told
the Man.
Presently the Ox came to him, with the yoke on his neck, and said,
“Camel, O Camel, come and plough like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel, and the Ox went away and told
the Man.
At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox
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together, and said, “Three, O Three, I’m very sorry for you; but that Humph-
thing in the Desert can’t work, or he would have been here by now, so I am
going to leave him alone, and you must work double-time to make up for
it.”
That made the Three very angry, and they held a panchayat on the edge
of the Desert; and the Camel came chewing cud and laughed at them. Then

2 It so happened...
www.apteachers.in

he said “Humph!” and went away again.

Presently there came along the Djinn who was in charge of All Deserts,
rolling in a cloud of dust.
“Djinn of All Deserts,” said the Horse, “is it right for anyone
to be idle?”
“Certainly not,” said the Djinn.
“Well,” said the Horse, “there’s a thing in the middle of your Desert with a
long neck and long legs, and he hasn’t done a stroke of work since Monday
morning. He won’t trot.”
“Whew!” said the Djinn whistling, “that’s my Camel. What does he say
about it?”
“He says ‘Humph!’, and he won’t plough,” said the Ox.
“Very good,” said the Djinn. “I’ll humph him if you will kindly wait a
minute.”

Comprehension Check
1. What tasks, do you think, were assigned to the dog and the ox?
2. Why did the camel live in the middle of the desert?
3. What made the dog, the horse and the ox very angry?
4. How did the Djinn know the horse was complaining against the camel?

I’ll humph him: I’ll deal with him appropriately./I’ll set him right.

How the Camel got his hump 3

 II
• The Djinn remonstrated with the camel, who said “Humph”.
• The camel’s beautiful back suddenly grew a lump, which was the camel’s
hump.
• The Djinn assured the camel his hump would always be a help, not a hin-
drance.

The Djinn rolled himself up in his dust-cloak, and took a walk across the
Desert, and found the Camel looking at his own reflection in a pool of water.
“My friend,” said the Djinn, “what’s this I hear of your doing
no work?”
The Djinn sat down, with his chin in his hand, while the Camel looked at
his own reflection in the pool of water.
“You’ve given the Three extra work ever since Monday morning, all on
account of your idleness,” said the Djinn. And he went on thinking with his
chin in his hand.
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“Humph!” said the Camel.

“I shouldn’t say that again if I were you,” said the Djinn; “you might say it
once too often. I want you to work.”

remonstrated: protested/complained

4 It so happened...
 And the Camel said “Humph!” again; but no sooner had he said it than
he saw his back, that he was so proud of, puffing up and puffing up into a
great big hump.
“Do you see that?” said the Djinn. ‘‘That’s your very own humph that
you’ve brought upon your very own self by not working. Today is Thursday,
and you’ve done no work since Monday, when the work began. Now you
are going to work.”
“How can I,” said the Camel, “with this humph on my back?”
‘‘That has a purpose,” said the Djinn, “all because you missed those
three days. You will be able to work now for three days without eating,
because you can live on your humph; and don’t you ever say I never did
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anything for you. Come out of the Desert and go to the Three, and behave.”
And the Camel went away to join the Three. And from that day to this
the Camel always wears a humph (we call it ‘hump’ now, not to hurt his
feelings); but he has never yet caught up with the three days that he
missed at the beginning of the world, and he has never yet learned how to
behave.

RUDYARD KIPLING
(abridged)

Comprehension Check
1. The camel was looking at this own reflection in the pool. What does it suggest to
you about the camel?
2. The camel said, “Humph” repeatedly. How did it affect him?
3. What, according to the Djinn, was the use of the “humph”?
4. “...he has never yet learnt to behave”. In the light of this, what is the writer’s opinion
about the camel?

How the Camel got his hump 5

 Exercise

JJ Discuss the following topics in groups.

1. Can this story be factually true?

2. What, according to you, is the story about?

Consider the following:

(i) How the world began.

(ii) Why everyone should do his/her share of work seriously.

(iii) How animals are important to humans.

(iv) How the camel got his hump.

3. What did you do over the weekend? Were you generally active or idle? Please
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check your back before starting to discuss or answer the question.

4. There are broadly two categories of workers — those who prefer to do today what
they can do tomorrow, and those who prefer to do tomorrow what they can do
today. Where do you belong?

Think it Over
J
J

 All work is dignified: there is no such thing as ‘menial work’.

 He who struggles is better than he who never attempts.
 ‘All work and no play...’ Is it a good idea? William Faulkner, American novelist
and poet, didn’t think so. In his words, “One of the saddest things is that the
only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You
can’t eat eight hours a day... All you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the
reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy”.

6 It so happened...
 2 Children at work

Before you read

There are many reasons why children have to work. Some help their family
make a livelihood. Others, who run away from unhappy homes, need to sup-
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port themselves. Children who have to work can’t go to school and play like
other children of their age.

I
• Velu, an eleven-year old boy, runs away from home.
• He wanders around for hours before getting on a train to Chennai without
a ticket.
• Tired and hungry, he doesn’t know where to go when a stranger at the
station shouts a word of welcome.

WHEN the Kanyakumari Express pulled in at Chennai Central, it took Velu

some time to get off. When he finally stood on the platform, his legs felt
wobbly, as if he was still on a moving train.
“Oy, out of the way!” A porter went by with a loaded trolley. Velu jumped
aside.
He sat on a bench on the platform, putting his small bundle down. In
all his eleven years, he had never seen so many people, except once a year
at the fair in his village. People walked by, bumping into him with their
suitcases. A voice announced something on a loudspeaker. Near him a
group of people sat on their luggage, looking at a TV hanging from the

pulled in: arrived wobbly: unsteady

Children at work 7
 roof. The noise was terrible.
Velu put his head down on his knees, feeling miserable and
exhausted. He had run away from his village two days ago. For two days he
had eaten nothing but some peanuts and a piece of jaggery.
In his bundle he carried a shirt, a towel and a comb.
He had walked for most of the first day to Kanur and then got on the
train to Chennai. Velu had no money for a ticket but luckily the ticket
collector didn’t come to the unreserved compartment. He had tried to sleep
on the floor near the door. A group of men next to him had played cards
and shouted all night.
“Aiy! What, new to town eh?” called out a rough voice.
Velu opened his eyes. There were a lot of people standing around, but
nobody was looking at him.
“Here! Aiy!”
He turned around. Behind him was a girl around his own age,
wearing a long banian that came down to her knees. Her hair was stiff and
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brownish and she had a huge sack on one shoulder. She was picking up
dirty plastic cups from the floor and stuffing them into her sack. Why is

8 It so happened...
 she calling me, thought Velu. And why is a girl wearing a banian?
“No need to stare stupidly. What’s your name?”
“Velu,” muttered Velu, looking away.
“So Mr Velu,” said the girl, looking at his bundle. “Run away from home?”
Velu didn’t answer. He didn’t want to tell some strange girl what he had
done. He had run away because he couldn’t stand his father beating him for
one more day. His father would snatch away all the money Velu and his
sisters earned and spend it on drink.
“Don’t think I don’t know. This place is full of children like you.
So what are you going to do here? Become rich?”
She sat down next to him. Velu shifted away slightly.
He felt hunger pinching him and pressed his stomach with a
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grimace. “Hungry?” asked the girl. “You won’t get food by sitting here glumly,
making faces. I can find some if you want.”
She picked up her sack and started to walk away. Velu stayed on
the bench. What should he do? Should he follow this girl? Where
was she going to take him? She was disappearing into the crowd, so
he had to make up his mind quickly. Alright, he decided. Anyway I
have no idea where to go. He jumped up and ran after her. She wasn’t
even looking back to see where he was.

Comprehension Check
1. Velu stood on the platform but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train”. Why?
2. What made him feel miserable?
3. (i) Velu travelled without a ticket. Why?
(ii) How did he escape the ticket collector’s attention?
4. Why had Velu run away from home?
5. Why did he decide to follow the ‘strange’ girl?

grimace: twisted expression (on the face) due to pain glumly: sadly/gloomily

Children at work 9
 II
• Velu follows his friend through the crowded streets to a
big building.
• Behind the building, there is a big garbage bin.
• Velu wonders why they are there at all.

He caught up with the girl as she was leaving the station. When they got to the
road, Velu found that the vehicles kept coming and never stopped for anyone.
Smoke and dust flew at him from all sides, making his head spin. They had to
wait for a long time before they could find a gap to run through. Velu kept
hesitating and the girl finally dragged him to the other side.
“What do you think you’re doing? Grazing cows? If you stand around in the
middle of the road like that, you’ll be chutney.”
Velu’s heart was still beating fast. He looked back at Central Station and the
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traffic speeding by. How had they managed to come through that? They walked
along the side of the road under some huge signboards. Velu looked up at the

making his head spin: giving him a headache/making him feel dizzy chutney: (here) run
over/killed; crushed and ground into chutney

10 It so happened...
 pictures: banians, car tyres, pens, a woman holding a box. The writing was all
in English, so he didn’t know what it meant.
The girl turned onto a wide bridge and walked up. Velu stopped and
peeped over the railing. Under him, the road ran into the city. In the distance
he could see huge buildings and towers and more roads.
“See that big building with the wall around it? If you’re not careful, you’ll
soon be counting bars there.” The girl grinned and pointed at a huge building.
Velu squinted and read the Tamil sign, Central Jail.
“Why? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You don’t have to do anything. Just don’t get caught,
that’s all.”
What does she mean, Velu wondered. Meanwhile the girl was already
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heading down the bridge with the sack on her shoulder. What was in it? He
had seen her putting plastic cups into it at the station.
“What are you carrying in that bag?”
“Things. Bottles, paper.”
Velu wondered what she was doing with them, but he felt shy to ask any
more questions.
It was still morning but the sun blasted down on the tar and Velu’s bare feet
burned. It was not like walking on a mud road. He was soaked with sweat. He
tried hard to walk in the shade and keep up with the girl at the same time. She
walked really fast. How far away was the food?
After almost an hour of walking, they stopped in front of a big building. Sri
Rajarajeshwari Prasanna Kalyana Mandapam read Velu slowly. A sign with
letters made of flowers said, Groom:
J. V. Vinayagan, Bride: Rani. Velu stared at the big cars parked
outside. One of the cars had a flower garland and roses taped onto it. The girl
looked around, pulled one off quickly and stuck it in her hair.
“Come on,” she said.
“Are we going to eat here?” asked Velu, looking at the huge hall and the
people inside.

Children at work 11
 “Hopes!” said the girl shaking her thumb under his nose. She led him
behind the hall. There was a big garbage bin overflowing with rubbish. Two
goats were standing on the pile, fighting for a banana leaf. A cloud of flies
buzzed around their legs. There was a rotten smell in the air. The girl picked
up a squashy banana and held it out to Velu.
“Here’s your food.”
Velu was shocked. “Are we going to eat their leftovers?”
“Chey! What do you think I am? A dog? I only take untouched food. Here,
some more, catch!” She threw him a vada. Velu looked at it with distaste.
“Come on, hero, eat it! You think I like it? I told you I’ll find you some-
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thing to eat. Don’t think I have money to buy food for you. You’d better eat
what you get until you have your own money.”
Velu hesitated, but his stomach squeezed him again. He gulped down the
banana and vada. His stomach felt better immediately. He could have eaten
at least ten times more, but the girl could find only one more banana which
she ate herself.

squashy: crushed stomach squeezed him: he was very hungry; his stomach, which was
empty, twiched and pained gulped down: swallowed quickly (without chewing)

12 It so happened...
 “It’s too early, they’ve only eaten tiffin. If you’re still hungry, you’ll have to
wait for them to finish lunch. You can wait if you want. I have to work, I’m
going.” She picked up a couple of bottles from the heap and threw it into her
sack. Then she walked off.
Velu panicked. He realised that if the girl left him, he had no idea where
he was and what to do. It was better to stick to her, she seemed to know her
way around. He ran after her again.
“Aiy!” he called. He did not even know the girl’s name. “Aiy, what is your
name?” he asked hurrying behind her.
She stopped and turned around. “Oho! So you’ve been following me around
without even knowing my name. Jaya.”
“I’m not following you.”
“What then? Who got you food?”
“Can I come with you? Where are you going?”
“Come if you want. This bag is full, I have to go home to get another one.”
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Comprehension Check
1. Can Velu read Tamil and English? How do you know?
2. “If you are not careful, you will soon be counting bars there,” the girl said.
(i) What is she referring to?
(ii) What does she mean when she says “If you are not careful...”?
(She says something a little later which means the same. Find that
sentence.)
3. (i) Where did the girl lead Velu to?
(ii) What did they get to eat?
4. What work did she do? Think of a one-word answer.

III
• There is a row of huts near some dirty puddles.
• Outside one of the huts, Jaya dumps her sack.
• Grateful to his friend, Velu thinks of the days ahead.

Jaya and Velu walked along the roads for half an hour, until they came to a
bridge across a dirty trickle of water. “We are in Triplicane now. See, that’s
Buckingham Canal,” said Jaya.

tiffin: snack (not a proper meal) panicked: was very worried

Children at work 13
 Velu stared. This was a canal? Near some puddles of water was a row of the
strangest huts he had ever seen. They were built out of all sorts of things —
metal sheets, tyres, bricks, wood and plastic. They stood crookedly and looked
as if they would fall any moment.
“Is this where you live? These houses are strange!” said Velu. “In our vil-
lage, the houses are made of mud and palm leaves.”
Jaya went around to one of the huts and dumped her sack outside. Then
she picked up an empty one.
“Let’s go.”
She turned to Velu and gave him a shove. “At least help me now. Here,
wear these and come with me.”
She threw him a pair of old shoes without laces and pushed a sack and a
stick into his hands. Velu was confused. What work did she want him to do with
these things? The only work he had ever done was on the landowner’s farm,
weeding and taking cows out to graze.
“Are there any farms in the city?” he asked Jaya.
www.apteachers.in

crookedly: not straight shove: push weeding: working in a field removing grass/
digging, etc

14 It so happened...
 She laughed and thumped her stick on the ground. “Farms! There are no
farmers here. We are ragpickers.”
“Ragpickers?”
“See my sack? Full of things I collected.”
“Collected? From where?” asked Velu.
“From rubbish bins, where else?”
“You collect rubbish?” Velu had never heard of such a thing
“Ayye, blockhead. It’s not any rubbish. Only paper, plastic, glass, such things.
We sell it to Jam Bazaar Jaggu.”
Velu was puzzled. He had heard of people throwing away rubbish. But
why would anyone want to buy rubbish?
“Who’s Jam Bazaar Jaggu? Why’s he buying all this?”
“You think he buys it for show? He sells it to a factory. Come on, I don’t
have time to waste, like you.”
Velu did not move. He hadn’t run away and come to this new place to dig
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through garbage bins. Jaya poked at him with her stick.

“Look here!” she shouted. “If someone gets there before us we don’t get
anything. Don’t just stand there, posing. Big hero. I’m trying to help you.
Who filled your stomach today?”
Velu scratched his head and sighed. I’ll do it for now, he thought, until I
find a better job.
GITA WOLF
ANUSHKA RAVISHANKAR
ORIJIT SEN
From Trash — on Ragpicker Children
and Recycling

Comprehension Check
1. (i) What material are the ‘strange’ huts made out of?
(ii) Why does Velu find them strange?
2. What sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what did they do
with those things?
3. Is Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your answer.

blockhead: fool posing: looking important, hoping to impress others

Children at work 15
 Exercise

JJ
Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their answers after-
wards.
1. Is Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text show that he is or isn’t?

2. Do you think Jaya is a brave and sensitive child with a sense of humour? Find
instances of her courage, kind nature and humour in the text.

3. What one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find this
sentence meaningful in the context of this story? How?
www.apteachers.in

Think it Over
J
J

• The best investment that a country can make is to put milk into its children.

• People don’t notice goodness because it is transparent like water and air;
only if it runs out does it become noticeable.
• It is never too late to have a happy childhood.

Is it someone you know? JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

A busy official known for his love of animals was once passing through a
village in a cart. Suddenly he asked the cartman to stop and tried to listen
to what sounded like a wail from far away. The cartman asked, “Is it a
man you know?”The official replied, “No, it’s a dog I don’t know.”
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

16 It so happened...
 3 The Selfish Giant

I
www.apteachers.in

• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and Summer till
the Giant experienced a change of heart.

EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go
and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the
grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that
in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in
the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly
that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How
happy we are here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend, the Cornish
ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When he arrived he saw the
children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children
ran away.

Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.) ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person gruff: rough; surly

The Selfish Giant 17

www.apteachers.in

“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” So he built
a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:

TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED

He was a very selfish Giant.

The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the
road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not
like it. They used to wander round the high walls when their lessons were
over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. “How happy we were there!”
they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still
winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no

trespassers: those who enter somebody’s land/property without his/her permission

prosecuted: tried in a court of law (here, punished)

18 It so happened...
 children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its
head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry
for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to
sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost.
“Spring has forgotten this garden,” they cried, “so we will live here all the
year round.” The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak,
and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind
to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all
day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. ‘‘This is a
delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came.
Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke
most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as
he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.
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“I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said the Selfish
Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold, white garden; “I
hope there will be a change in the weather.”
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden
fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. “He is too
selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind and the
Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some
lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the
King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside
his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird singing in his
garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world.
Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased
roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement.
“I believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped out
of bed and looked out.

Snow, Frost, North Wind, Hail: All these have been presented as characters or persons.
North Wind is the chilly wind, and Hail is the hailstorm linnet: a brownish songbird
found in Europe casement: window that opens on hinges like a door

The Selfish Giant 19

 Comprehension Check
1. Why is the Giant called selfish?
2. On one occasion the children said: “How happy we are here!”
Later they said: “How happy we were there!”
What are they referring to in both the cases?
3. (i) When spring came, it was still winter in the garden. What does winter stand
for or indicate here?
(ii) Winter has been presented like a story with its own characters and their
activities. Describe the story in your own words.
4. Was the Giant happy or sad over the state of the garden?
5. What effect did the linnet’s song have over Hail and the North Wind?

II
• To celebrate the return of the children, trees covered themselves with birds
and blossoms.
• The Giant was delighted to see his friends back, especially a little boy
whom he loved dearly.
• The little boy soon disappeared only to return much later.
www.apteachers.in

He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children
had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every
tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to
have the children back again that they had covered themselves with
blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children’s heads.

20 It so happened...
 The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the
flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It
was a lovely scene. Only in one corner it was still winter. It was the
farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He
was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree,
and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree
was still covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was
blowing and roaring above it. “Climb up, little boy!” said the Tree,
and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was
too tiny.
And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I
have been!” he said; “now I know why the Spring would not come
here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I
will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s
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playground for ever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what
he had done.
So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly,
and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they
were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became
winter again. Only the little boy did not
run, for his eyes were so full of tears that
he did not see the Giant coming. And the
Giant stole up behind him and took him
gently in his hands, and put him up into
the tree. And the tree broke at once into
blossom, and the birds came and sang
on it, and the little boy stretched out his
two arms and flung them round the
Giant’s neck, and kissed him. And the
other children, when they saw that the
Giant was not wicked any longer, came

stole up: came quietly without being noticed

The Selfish Giant 21

 running back, and with them came the Spring. “It is your garden now, little
children,” said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the
wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o’clock they found
the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had
ever seen.
All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to
bid him good-bye.
“But where is your little companion?” he said; “the boy I put into the
tree?” The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.
“We don’t know,” answered the children. “He has gone away.”
“You must tell him to be sure and come tomorrow,” said the Giant. But
the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen
him before; and the Giant felt very sad.
Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played
with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen
again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his little
friend, and often spoke of him. “How I would like to see him!” he used to say.
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Years went by, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play
about anymore, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at
their games and admired his garden. “I have many beautiful flowers,” he

feeble: weak

22 It so happened...
 said; “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.”
One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He
did not hate the winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring
asleep, and that the flowers were resting.
Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder and looked and looked. It certainly
was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite
covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were golden, and silver
fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had
loved.
Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened
across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close
his face grew red with anger, and he said, “Who hath dared to wound thee?”
For on the palms of the child’s hands were the prints of two nails, and the
prints of two nails were on the little feet.
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“Who hath dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant; “tell me, that I may
take my big sword and slay him.”

slay: kill nay: no

The Selfish Giant 23

 “Nay!” answered the child: “but these are the wounds of Love.”
“Who art thou?” said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he
knelt before the little child.
And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, “You let me play once
in your garden; today you shall come with me to my garden, which is
paradise.”
And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying
dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.
OSCAR WILDE

Comprehension Check
1. (i) The Giant saw a most wonderful sight. What did he see?
(ii) What did he realise on seeing it?
2. Why was it still winter in one corner of the garden?
3. Describe the first meeting of the little boy and the Giant.
4. Describe their second meeting after a long interval.
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5. The Giant lay dead, all covered with white blossoms. What does this
sentence indicate about the once selfish Giant?

Exercise
J Discuss the following topics in groups.
1. The little child’s hands and feet had marks of nails. Who does the child
remind you of? Give a reason for your answer.
2. Is there something like this garden near where you live? Would you like
one (without the Giant perhaps) and why? What would you do to keep it in
good shape?
J
J
J

Think it Over
• Selfless love involves suffering for others.
• Owning things is human; sharing them is divine.

Who art thou?: Who are you?

24 It so happened...
 4 The treasure within
Before you read
• Every child is a potential achiever and is different from other children in her/his
style of learning and area of interest.
www.apteachers.in

• Read the interview that follows. It is based on a conversation

between Ms Bela Raja, editor of Sparsh, a newsletter from the Resource Centre,
The Valley School, Bangalore, and Mr Hafeez Contractor, one of India’s leading
architects.

I
• Hafeez Contractor was an unhappy school boy.
• He loved doing things but detested mechanical learning.
Mathematics gave him the shivers.
• What his Principal once said to him influenced him deeply.

HC: “I used to have this terrible nightmare. Only now, over the last four to five
years, it seems to have disappeared.
BR: What nightmare are you talking about and why do you think it has dis-
appeared now?
HC: I used to get continuous nightmares about appearing for a maths exami-
nation where I did not know anything! Now the psyche must have gotten
over it, I don’t have to think about education and there is absolutely no
time to get nightmares.

nightmare: haunting fear/frightening dream psyche: mind or mentality

The treasure within 25

 BR: Tell us something about your earliest memories in school.
HC: In the first and second year I was a good student. After I reached
the third standard, I simply lost interest and I
never studied.
I used to be interested in games, running around, playing
jokes and pranks on others. I would copy in class during exam
times. I would try to get hold of the examination paper that had
been prepared and study it, as I could not
remember things that had been taught to me in class.
However, later, one sentence spoken to me by my
Principal changed my life.
When I approached my eleventh standard, the Principal called
me and said, “Look here, Son, I have been seeing you from day
one. You are a good student, but you never studied. I have taken
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care of you till today. Now, I can no longer take care of you so you
do it yourself.”
He talked to me for five minutes, “You don’t have your father,
your mother has worked so hard to bring you up and paid all
your fees all these years but you have only played games. Now
you should rise to the occasion and study.”
I used to be a very good sportsman. I had been the senior
champion for so many years and I also was the cricket captain. I
used to play every game, but that year I did not step out onto the
field.
I would go for prayers and all I would do was eat and study. I
normally used to copy and pass, but I realised that once I was in
SSC, I could not do that.
When I got a second class, 50 per cent, in my SSC my Principal
said, “Son, consider yourself as having got a distinction!” This is
my memory of my school days.
I did lots of other things. See, as far as my things are
concerned, I can’t remember. I forget things very easily. To
remember, I have to see things as a photograph. I read a
as far as my things are concerned: perhaps he is referring to matters other than course
materials and their details

26 It so happened...
 book and I can remember the
matter as a photograph but not
through my mind. That is how it
works.
BR: When you were in school and you
were doing badly, did the teach-
ers pull you up and how did you
feel?
HC: I never felt anything on being
pulled up. I used to be so
interested in playing. I would receive a caning every week.
BR: When you knew that you had incurred the wrath of your teacher by
not doing your homework or by behaving badly, when you knew
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you would get a caning, what was the state of your mind?
HC: State of mind? Just lift up the hand and they would cane you. It
would hurt badly and then I would have to forget about it, be-
cause I would want to go and play.
BR: You never felt insecure or threatened?
HC: I was just interested in playing and nothing else. I was most inter-
ested in funny pranks. One day, I did not want to study, so I created a
distraction. For one whole hour we played ‘chor police’.
Every Saturday we were allowed to go into town to see a movie.
So what I would do was have no lunch and collect money from
40 – 50 students, and run and buy the tickets. On my way
back, I would eat to my heart’s content.
I used to be the leader of a gang. We would have gang fights
and plan strategies. These things used to interest me more than
any academics.

caning: punishment/beating incurred the wrath of your teacher: made your teacher furious
distraction: something amusing and pleasurable chor police: children’s game in which one child
(thief) hides and others (policemen) try to find him/her eat to my heart’s content: eat as much
as I wanted; eat my fill strategies: methods of winning fights academics: academic or educa-
tional matters (books, discussions, debates, etc.)

The treasure within 27

 Students used to book my textbooks for the following year, be-
cause they were almost brand new. I probably opened them one day
before exams.

Comprehension Check
1. What did Hafeez Contractor have nightmares about?
2. What did the Principal say to him, which influenced him deeply?
3. “... that year I did not step out onto the field.” What was he busy doing that year?
4. (i) What “distraction” did Hafeez Contractor create one day?
(ii) Would you have liked to participate in the “distraction” had you been
with him?

II
www.apteachers.in

• He stumbled on architecture because he knew little French and less Ger-

man.
• He was offbeat even in the pranks that he played on others.
• When he found his calling, there was no looking back.

BR: How did you get into the field of architecture?

HC: In the college for architecture, nobody who had got below
80 – 85 per cent was allowed to enter. I had only 50 per cent.
I wanted to join the Army. I got my admission letter but my aunt
tore it up. Then I decided that I wanted to join the police force.
My mother said, “Don’t join the police force, just do your gradua-
tion!” So I went to Jaihind College in Bombay.
There, I was to either take French or German. Though I had stud-
ied French for seven years, I did not know seven words of French. So I
took German. Then my German teacher died. The college told me that
I could change the college or take French. Now, who would give me

book: offer to buy in advance; reserve stumbled on: got into (architecture) by chance
offbeat: unusual or unconventional calling: work or vocation of his choice

28 It so happened...
 admission in another college? I had got admission to Jaihind by
influence.
So I thought, ‘Okay, I will take French’ and I started learning French
again. I learnt it from my cousin. She was an architect’s wife.
I was going to an architect’s office to learn French!
BR: Was it then that you decided you wanted to do architecture?
HC: Actually, it all happened quite by chance.
In the architect’s office, I saw somebody drawing a window detail.
A window detail is a very advanced drawing.
I told him that his drawing was wrong — that the window he had
drawn would not open.
He then had a bet with me and later he found that indeed, his drawing
was wrong! My cousin’s husband was surprised. He asked me to draw a
few specific things, which I immediately did.
www.apteachers.in

He asked me to design a house and I designed a house. After that,

he told me to drop everything and join architecture.
We went to meet the Principal of the college.
The Principal warned me, “I will allow you to take part in the entrance
exams, but if you do not do well I will not allow
you to join.”
I got an ‘A+’ in the entrance exam and from that day it was a
cakewalk.
I had never made a plan, but I knew how something looked like,
from the top.
I had never known what a section was, but I knew if you cut a
plan what it would look like.
I stood first class first throughout, after that.
I believe that all this understanding came from what I used to
play and do during school.
I had a friend called Behram Divecha. We used to have competitions
between us for designing forts, guns and ammunition. Each of us would
design something in an effort to be different.

influence: an important person recommended him for admission/used his influence to get him
admitted cakewalk: smooth ride/something easy to achieve

The treasure within 29

 In school, when I was in the second or third standard, one of my
teachers, Mrs Gupta, saw my sketches and told me, “See, you are
useless in everything else but your sketches are good. When you grow
up you become an architect”. I did not know at the time but she was
right. Later, after I became an architect, I went back to meet her and
tell her.
BR: Why do you think you did not like studies? Was it because you felt you
could not cope, could not deal with the curriculum?
HC: I was very bad at languages. Science and geography I could deal with,
maths was very bad. I just was not interested. I was studying for the
sake of studying. What they taught me today, I would forget after two
days. I would not bother because there was no application of mind
there, to begin with.
www.apteachers.in

BR: Did you think that what they taught in school was boring or did you
feel that once you understood the concept of what was being taught,
you lost interest in the rest of the lesson?
HC: Living in a boarding school is difficult. We were just living from day to
day.
Nowadays, there are so many tests. Back then, whenever we had
tests we used to just copy. The teacher thought that we had done our
work.
BR: There is a contention that giftedness and learning disabilities go hand
in hand. Do you think this applies to you?
HC: Well, take some students from my class. Those who always stood first
or second are today doing very ordinary jobs.
BR: I have come across this situation in so many different places where
people tell me that their class toppers are doing very ordinarily today.
HC: In school, I think living our lives there made us street smart. I have
learnt more by doing what I did on my own than

cope: manage/handle/deal with curriculum: (here) school subjects or prescribed courses of study
giftedness: having special abilities street smart: smart by doing things
independently/ by choice rather than force

30 It so happened...
 what academics would have
taught me.
BR: That is because the personality and
skills were there. You were able to find
expression in a manner you were
comfortable with and you defied every
rule so that nobody would stop you
from doing what you needed to do.
HC: I was more interested in other things.
If, for example, while in class, it
started raining outside, I would think
of the flowing water and how to build
a dam to block it. I would be thinking
about the flow of water within the dam
and how much of water the dam
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would be able to hold. That was my Complex designed by

Hafeez Contractor
interest for the day.
When students lost a button while
playing or fighting, they would come running to me and I
would cut a button for them from chalk, using a blade. Disci-
pline in the school was very important and no student could
afford to have a button missing. The student would get past
dinner with a full neat uniform and after that it did not mat-
ter.
BR: Coming to the present, how do you decide as to what kind of
structure you want to give a client?
HC: I look at the client’s face, his clothes, the way he talks and
pronounces, the way he eats and I would know what his taste
would be like. I can relate to people in a way that would be
comfortable. I sketch very spontaneously on a paper on the
spot. That paper, I give to my people in the office.
BR: You do it instinctively?

defied: broke instinctively: naturally (not coming from training or based on reasoning)

The treasure within 31

 HC: Call it instinct, call it arithmetic, whatever. Now it comes to me like
mathematics. Putting design, construction, psychology and sociology
together and making a sketch from all that is ‘mathematics’.
Here we almost come to a full circle where Mr Contractor has derived his own
interpretation of Mathematics — taking it from a subject he hated to a subject
he now loves dealing with!

Comprehension Check
1. Hafeez Contractor wanted to join the police force. Why didn’t he?
2. In the architect’s office, Hafeez Contractor was advised to drop
everything and join architecture. Why?
3. (i) What was Mrs Gupta’s advice to Hafeez Contractor?
(ii) What made her advise him so?
4. How did he help fellow students who had lost a button?
5. Which rules did he break as a school boy?
6. (i) What is Hafeez Contractor’s definition of mathematics?
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(ii) How would you want to define mathematics? Do you like the
subject?

Exercise
J Answer the following questions.
1. Is it likely that someone who is original and intelligent does not do very well at
school? Should
failure? If not, why not?
such a

2. Who, in your view, is an ‘unusual’ learner?

learner be called a

3. What can schools do to draw out the best in unusual learners? Suggest what-
ever seems reasonable to you.
J
J
J

Think it Over
• The only disability in life is a bad attitude.
• Cooperation is doing with a smile what one anyhow has to do.

32 It so happened...
 Advanced Personalised Learning JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
A panel of experts from around the world has identified 14 grand challenges for
engineering that, if met, may significantly improve the quality of life on earth. The
US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has revealed that the panel’s choices
fall into four themes—sustainability, health, reducing vulnerability and joy of liv-
ing.
One of the fourteen challenges is Advanced Personalised Learning, whereby
instruction can be individualised based on learning styles, speeds and interests
to make learning more reliable.
— from a recent newspaper report
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

Hafeez Contractor — a profile

www.apteachers.in

Hafeez Contractor was born in 1950. He did his Graduate Diploma in architecture
from Mumbai in 1975 and completed his graduation from Columbia University, New
York (USA) on a Tata Scholarship. Hafeez Contractor commenced his career with T.
Khareghat as an apprentice architect and in 1977 he became the associate partner in
the same firm. Between 1977 and 1980 Hafeez was a visiting faculty at the Academy
of Architecture, Mumbai. He is a member of the Bombay Heritage Committee and New
Delhi Lutyens Bungalow Zone Review Committee.
His practice had modest beginnings in 1982 with a staff of two. Today the firm has
J
over 350 employees including senior associates, architects, interior designers,
draftsmen, a civil engineering team and architectural support staff. The firm has
conceptualised, designed and executed a wide range of architectural projects like
bungalows, residential developments, hospitals, hotels, corporate offices, banking and
financial institutions, commercial complexes, shopping malls, educational institutions,
J

J
recreational and sports facilities, townships, airports, railway stations, urban planning
and civic redevelopment projects.

The treasure within 33

 5 Princess September

I
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• Princess September, like each one of her numerous sisters,

receives the gift of a parrot in a golden cage on her father’s
birthday.
• The parrot dies, and by chance a singing bird comes in its place.
• The princess shows off her pet to the sisters who advise her to put it in a cage.

THE King and Queen of Siam had many daughters, and the Queen said that
it confused her to have to remember so many names. One day the King
decided to call them January, February, March (though of course in
Siamese) till he came to the youngest whom he called September.
The King of Siam had a peculiar habit. Instead of receiving gifts on his
birthday he gave them. One year on his birthday, not having anything else
handy, he gave each of his daughters a green parrot in a golden cage. The
princesses were very proud of their parrots and they spent an hour every
day in teaching them to talk. Presently all the parrots could say ‘God save
the king’ and some of them could say ‘Pretty Polly’ in no less than seven
Oriental languages.

Siam: now Thailand handy: immediately available Oriental: of the east (the Orient
means countries of the Far East. Its opposite is the Occident.);
www.apteachers.in

But one day when Princess September went to say good morning to her
parrot she found it lying dead at the bottom of its golden cage. She burst
into a flood of tears, and nothing that her Maids of Honour could say
comforted her. She cried so much that the Maids of Honour, not knowing
what to do, told the Queen, and the Queen said it was stuff and nonsense
and the child had better go to bed without any supper. The Maids of Honour
wanted to go to a party, so they put Princess September to bed as quickly as
they could and left her by herself. And while she lay in her bed, crying still
even though she felt rather hungry, she saw a little bird hop into her room.
She wiped her tears and sat up. Then the little bird began to sing and he
sang a beautiful song all about the lake in the King’s garden and the willow
trees that looked at themselves in the still water and the goldfish that glided
in and out of the branches that were reflected in it. When he had finished,
the Princess was not crying any more and she quite forgot that she had had
no supper. “That was a very nice song,” she said.

Maids of Honour: women attending the Princess

Princess September 35
 The little bird gave her a bow. “Would you care to have me in place of
your parrot?” said the little bird. “It’s true that I’m not so pretty to look at,
but on the other hand I have a much better voice.” Princess September
clapped her hands with delight and then the little bird hopped on to the
end of her bed and sang her to sleep.
When she awoke next day the little bird was still there, and as she
opened her eyes he said, “Good morning!” The Maids of Honour brought in
her breakfast, and he ate rice out of her hand and he had his bath in her
saucer. He began to sing again so beautifully that the Maids of Honour
were quite surprised, for they had never heard anything like it, and Princess
September was very proud
and happy.
“Now I want to show you to my eight sisters,” said the Princess.
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She stretched out the first finger of her right hand so that it served as a
perch and the little bird flew down and sat on it. Then, followed by her
Maids of Honour, she went through the palace and called on each of the
Princesses. And for each of them the little bird sang a different song. But
the parrots could only say ‘God save the king’ and ‘Pretty Polly’. At last she
showed the little bird to the King and the Queen. They were surprised and
delighted.
“I knew I was right to send you to bed without any supper,” said the
Queen.
“This bird sings much better than the parrots,” said the King.
“I should have thought you got quite tired of hearing people say ‘God
save the king’,” said the Queen. “I can’t think why those girls wanted to
teach their parrots to say it too.”
“The sentiment is admirable,” said the King, “and I never mind how
often I hear it. But I do get tired of hearing those parrots say ‘Pretty Polly’.”
“They say it in seven different languages,” said the Princesses.
“I dare say they do,” said the King, “but it reminds me too much of my
Councillors. They say the same thing in seven different ways and it never
means anything in any way they say it.”

perch: place where a bird sits or rests I dare say: I agree/accept (that it is true)

36 It so happened...
www.apteachers.in

The Princesses were vexed at this, and the parrots looked very glum
indeed. But Princess September ran through all the rooms of the palace,
singing like a lark, while the little bird flew round and round her singing
like a nightingale.
Things went on like this for several days and then the eight Princesses put
their heads together. They went to September and sat down in a circle round
her. “My poor September,” they said, “we are sorry for the death of your beautiful
parrot. It must be dreadful for you not to have a pet bird as we have. So we
have all put our pocket-money together and we are going to buy you a lovely
green and yellow parrot.”
‘‘Thank you for nothing,” said September. “I have a pet bird which sings
the most charming songs to me and I don’t know what on earth I should do
with a green and yellow parrot.”
“Well, my dear,” they said, “it’s absurd to talk of your bird when the little
fellow flies in and out just as he likes.” They looked round the room and
raised their eyebrows.

vexed: distressed; worried glum: sad put their heads together: discussed amongst
themselves to take a decision

Princess September 37
 “Do you mind our asking where your bird is now?” they said.
“He has gone to pay a visit to his father-in-law,” said Princess September.
“And what makes you think he’ll come back?” asked the Princesses.
“He always does come back,” said September.
“Well, my dear,” said the eight Princesses, “if you’ll take our advice you
won’t run any risks like that. If he comes back, and mind you, if he does
you’ll be lucky, pop him into the cage and keep him there. That’s the only
way you can be sure of him.”
“But I like to have him fly about the room,” said the young Princess
September.
“Safety first,” said her sisters ominously.
They got up and walked out of the room, shaking their heads, and they
left September very uneasy.
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Comprehension Check
1. How many daughters did the royal couple have?
2. Why were they named after the months of the year?
3. The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar?
4. (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot?
(ii) What was her mother’s reaction to it?
(iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each?
5. What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
6. How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess and the
bird had become intimate friends?
7. The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always repeated
themselves. What did they say?
8. What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he form that
opinion?
9. (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September. What
was it?
(ii) Why, in your view, did they do it?
10. What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?

pop: put; push ominously: threateningly – suggesting that something bad was about
to happen

38 It so happened...
 II
• Princess September loves the bird far too much to take chances, and acts upon
her sisters’ advice.
• The bird cannot overcome the loss of freedom.
• Princess September decides to put the bird’s happiness above her own.

It seemed to Princess September that her little bird had been away a long
time. Something might have happened to him. What with hawks and with
snares you never knew what trouble he might get into. Besides, he might
forget her, or he might take a fancy to somebody else. That would be dreadful.
She wished he were safely
back again.
Suddenly September
heard a ‘tweet-tweet’ just
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behind her ear and she saw

the little bird sitting on her
shoulder. He had come in so
quietly and alighted so
softly that she had not
heard him.
“I wondered what on
earth had become of you,”
said the Princess.
“I thought you’d wonder
that,” said the little bird.
“The fact is I very nearly didn’t come back tonight at all. My father-in-law was
giving a party and they all wanted me to stay, but I thought you’d be anxious.”
Under the circumstances this was a very unfortunate remark for the little
bird to make.
September felt her heart go thump against her chest, and she made up her
mind to take no more risks. She put up her hand and took hold of the bird. The

snares: traps for catching birds or animals alighted: came down

Princess September 39
 bird suspected nothing and he was
so surprised when she carried him
over to the cage, popped him in,
and shut the door on him that for
a moment he could think of
nothing to say. But in a moment
or two he hopped up to the ivory
perch and said, “What is the joke?”
‘‘There’s no joke,” said
September, “but some of
mamma’s cats are prowling about
tonight, and I think you’re much safer in there.”
“Well, just for this once I don’t mind,” said the little bird, “so long as you let
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me out in the morning.”

He ate a very good supper and then began to sing. But in the middle of his
song he stopped.
“I don’t know what is the matter with me,” he said, “but I don’t feel like
singing tonight.”
“Very well,” said September, “go to sleep instead.”
So he put his head under his wing and in a minute was fast asleep. September
went to sleep too. But when the dawn broke she was awakened by the little bird
calling her at the top of his voice.
“Wake up, wake up,” he said. “Open the door of this cage and let me out. I
want to have a good fly while the dew is still on the ground.”
“You are much better off where you are,” said September.
“Let me out, let me out,” said the little bird. And he tried to slip through the
bars of the cage, but of course couldn’t, and he beat against the door, but of
course he couldn’t open it. Then the eight Princesses came in and looked at him.
They told September she was very wise to take their advice. They said he would
soon get used to the cage and in a few days would quite forget he had ever been
free. The little bird said nothing at all while they were there, but as soon as they
were gone he began to cry again: “Let me out, let me out.”

prowling: moving about quietly

40 It so happened...
 “Don’t be such an old silly,” said September. “I’ve put you in the cage
because I’m so fond of you. I know what’s good for you much better than you
do yourself. Sing me a little song and I’ll give you a piece of sugar.”
But the little bird stood in the corner of his cage looking out at the blue
sky, and never sang a note.
“What’s the good of sulking?” said September. “Why don’t you sing and
forget your troubles?”
“How can I sing?” answered the bird. “I want to see the trees and the lake
and the green rice growing in the fields.”
“I’ll take you out every day,” she said.
“It’s not the same thing,” said the little bird. “The rice-fields and the lake
and the willow trees look quite different when you see them through the bars
of a cage.”
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The bird wouldn’t sing a song and he wouldn’t eat a thing. The Princess
was a little anxious at this, and asked her sisters what they thought about it.
“You must be firm,” they said.
“But if he won’t eat, he’ll die,” she answered.
“That would be very ungrateful of him,” they said. “He must know that
you’re only thinking of his own good. If he’s obstinate and dies it’ll serve him
right and you’ll be well rid of him.”
September didn’t see how that
was going to do her very much good,
but they were eight to one and all
older than she, so she said nothing.
“Perhaps he’ll have got used to
his cage by tomorrow,” she said.
And next day when she awoke
she cried out good morning in a
cheerful voice. She got no answer.
She jumped out of bed and ran to
the cage. She gave a startled cry,
for there the little bird lay, at the

Princess September 41
 bottom, on his side, with his eyes closed, and he looked as if he were dead.
She opened the door and putting her hand in lifted him out. She gave a sob
of relief, for she felt that his little heart was beating still.
“Wake up, wake up, little bird,” she said.
She began to cry and her tears fell on the little bird. He opened his eyes and
saw that the bars of the cage were no longer around him.
“I cannot sing unless I’m free, and if I cannot sing I die,” he said.
The Princess gave a great sob.
‘‘Then take your freedom,” she said. “I shut you in a golden cage because
I loved you and wanted to have you all to myself. But I never knew it would
kill you. I love you enough to let you be happy in your own way.”
She threw open the window and gently placed the little bird on the sill.
He shook himself a little.
“Come and go as you will, little bird,” she said. “I will never put you in a
cage any more.”
“I will come because I love you, little Princess,” said the bird. “And I will
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sing you the loveliest songs I know. I shall go far away, but I shall always come

42 It so happened...
 back and I shall never forget you.” He gave himself another shake. “Good gracious
me, how stiff I am,” he exclaimed.
Then he opened his wings and flew right away into the blue. But the little
Princess burst into tears, for it is very difficult to put the happiness of someone you
love before your own, and with her little bird far out of sight she felt, all of a
sudden, very lonely. When her sisters knew what had happened they mocked her
and said that the little bird would never return. But he did, at last. And he sat on
September’s shoulder and ate out of her hand and sang her the beautiful songs he
had learned while he was flying up and down the fair places of the world. September
kept her window open day and night so that the little bird might come into her
room whenever he felt inclined, and this was very good for her; so she grew extremely
beautiful.
And when she was old enough she married the King of Cambodia and was
carried on a white elephant all the way to the city in which the King lived. But
her sisters never slept with their windows open, so they grew extremely ugly as
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well as disagreeable, and when the time came to marry them off they were given
away to the King’s Councillors with a pound of tea and a Siamese cat.
SOMERSET MAUGHAM
[slightly abridged]

Comprehension Check
1. In the following sentence elaborate the parts given in bold. Under the circumstances it
was a very unfortunate remark for the bird to make.
2. (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
3. Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?
4. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
5. Princess September kept her window open day and night.
(i) How did it help the bird?
(ii) How did it help the Princess herself?
6. The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them?

disagreeable: unpleasant

Princess September 43
 Exercise

JJ
Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their answers later.
1. Are the sisters unkind and cruel? Find evidence in the text to support your
idea.
2. Which, to you, is the most important idea in this story, and why?
(i) importance of music
(ii) value of freedom
(iii) beauty of nature

Think it Over
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• There are two ways to study butterflies: chase them with nets then inspect
their dead bodies, or sit quietly in a garden and watch them dance among
the flowers.
• Freedom practises its own logic. It puts a bouquet of rights in your right
hand and a basket of duties in your left hand. This is merely to help you
walk straight.
• To be free is to be disciplined. Who knew it better than a young enthusiast
walking down the road swinging his arms wildly. When he accidentally hit
an old gentleman on the tip of his nose, the man asked “What do you think
you are doing?”
“I’m sorry”, said the enthusiast, “but it’s a free country. I am swinging
my arms.”
“Remember,” advised the old man, “your freedom ends where my nose
begins.”

44 It so happened...
 6 The fight

I
• Ranji discovers a pool in the forest and plunges into it for a swim.
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• There is serious trouble between him and someone else over who has a right to
the pool. A fight ensues.
• The first round ends in a draw.

RANJI had been less than a month in Rajpur when he discovered the pool in the
forest. It was the height of summer, and his school had not yet opened, and,
having as yet made no friends in this semi-hill station, he wandered about a good
deal by himself into the hills and forests that stretched away interminably on all
sides of the town. It was hot, very hot, at that time of the year, and Ranji walked
about in his vest and shorts, his brown feet white with the chalky dust that flew
up from the ground. The earth was parched, the grass brown, the trees listless,
hardly stirring, waiting for a cool wind or a refreshing shower of rain.
It was on such a day — a hot, tired day — that Ranji found the pool in the
forest. The water had a gentle translucency, and you could see the smooth round
pebbles at the bottom of the pool. A small stream emerged from a cluster of rocks
to feed the pool. During the monsoon, this stream would be a gushing torrent,
cascading down from the hills, but during the summer, it was barely a trickle.

interminably: endlessly parched: hot and dry translucency: clarity (possible to see
through) torrent: rushing stream (of water) cascading: coming down (like a waterfall)
trickle: weak or thin flow of water.
 The rocks, however, held the water in the pool, and it did not dry up like the
pools in the plains.
When Ranji saw the pool, he did not hesitate to get into it. He had often
gone swimming, alone or with friends, when he had lived with his parents in
a thirsty town in the middle of the Rajputana desert. There, he had known
only sticky, muddy pools, where buffaloes wallowed and women washed clothes.
He had never seen a pool like this — so clean and cold and inviting. He leapt
into the water. His limbs were supple, free of any fat, and his dark body
glistened in patches of sunlit water.
The next day he came again to quench his body in the cool waters of the
forest pool. He was there for almost an hour sliding in and out of the limpid
green water, or lying stretched out on the smooth yellow rocks in the shade of
broad-leaved sal trees. It was while he lay thus that he noticed another boy
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standing a little distance away, staring at him in a rather hostile manner. The
other boy was a little older than Ranji — taller, thickset, with a broad nose
and thick, red lips. He had only just noticed Ranji, and when Ranji did not
say anything, the other called out, “What are you doing here, Mister?”
Ranji, who was prepared to
be friendly, was taken aback
at the hostility of the other’s
tone.
“I am swimming,” he re-
plied. “Why don’t you join
me?”
“I always swim alone,”
said the other. “This is my
pool; I did not invite
you here.”
The stranger strode up to
Ranji, who still sat on the rock

wallowed: rolled about (in mud or dirty water) quench: cool (his body) thickset: stout/solidly built
taken aback: surprised hostility: ill will/enmity

46 It so happened...
 and, planting his broad feet firmly on the sand, said (as though this would
settle the matter once and for all), “Don’t you know I am a Warrior? I do not
take replies from villagers like you!”
“So you like to fight with villagers?” said Ranji. “Well, I am not a villager.
I am a Fighter!”
“I am a Warrior!”
“I am a Fighter!”
They had reached an impasse. One had said he was a Warrior, the other
had proclaimed himself a Fighter. There was little else that could be said.
“You understand that I am a Warrior?” said the stranger, feeling that
perhaps this information had not penetrated Ranji’s head.
“I have heard you say it three times,” replied Ranji.
“Then why are you not running away?”
“I am waiting for you to run away!”
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“I will have to beat you,” said the stranger, assuming a violent attitude,
showing Ranji the palm of his hand.
“I am waiting to see you do it,” said Ranji.
“You will see me do it,” said the other boy.
Ranji waited. The other boy made a strange, hissing sound. They stared
each other in the eye for almost a minute. Then the Warrior slapped Ranji
across the face with all the force he could muster. Ranji staggered, feeling
quite dizzy. There were thick red finger marks on his cheek.
“There you are!” exclaimed his assailant. “Will you be off now?”
For answer, Ranji swung his arm up and pushed a hard, bony fist into
the other’s face.
And then they were at each other’s throats, swaying on the rock, tumbling
on to the sand, rolling over and over, their legs and arms locked in a desperate,
violent struggle. Gasping and cursing, clawing and slapping, they rolled
into the shallows of the pool.
Even in the water the fight continued as, spluttering and covered with
mud, they groped for each other’s head and throat. But after five minutes of

impasse: (also pronounced ampass) deadlock; place or position from which there is no way out
penetrated: gone through/into muster: (here) use; collect or gather staggered: felt weak/unsteady
(due to the blow) assailant: the person who attacks; (here) enemy/ adversary swaying: moving from
side to side (in the fight) spluttering: speaking quickly/confusedly

The fight 47
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frenzied, unscientific struggle, neither boy had emerged victorious. Their

bodies heaving with exhaustion, they stood back from each other, making
tremendous efforts to speak.
“Now — now do you realise — I am a Warrior?” gasped the stranger.
“Do you know I am a Fighter?” said Ranji with difficulty.
They gave a moment’s consideration to each other’s answers and, in
that moment of silence, there was only their heavy breathing and the rapid
beating of their hearts.
“Then you will not leave the pool?” said the warrior.
“I will not leave it,” said Ranji.
“Then we shall have to continue the fight,” said the other.
“All right,” said Ranji.
But neither boy moved, neither took the initiative.
The warrior had an inspiration.
“We will continue the fight tomorrow,” he said. “If you dare to come here

frenzied: violent exhaustion: tiredness/fatigue tremendous: great rapid: quick/fast

inspiration: (here) a new idea.

48 It so happened...
 again tomorrow, we will continue this fight, and I will not show you mercy as I
have done today.”
“I will come tomorrow,” said Ranji. “I will be ready for you.”
They turned from each other then and, going to their respective rocks, put
on their clothes, and left the forest by different routes.

Comprehension Check
1. In what way is the forest pool different from the one which Ranji knew in the
Rajputana desert?
2. The other boy asked Ranji to ‘explain’ himself.
(i) What did he expect Ranji to say?
(ii) Was he, in your opinion, right or wrong to ask this question?
3. Between Ranji and the other boy, who is trying to start a quarrel? Give a reason for
your answer.
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4. “Then we will have to continue the fight,” said the other.

(i) What made him say that?
(ii) Did the fight continue? If not, why not?

II
• Next day the two claimants face each other across the pool.
• They throw challenges and counter-challenges at each other.
• The best solution, they realise, lies not in fighting each other but fighting to-
gether for something.

When Ranji got home, he found it difficult to explain the cuts and bruises
that showed on his face, leg and arms. It was difficult to conceal the fact
that he had been in an unusually violent fight, and his mother insisted
on his staying at home for the rest of the day. That evening, though, he
slipped out of the house and went to the bazaar, where he found comfort
and solace in a bottle of vividly coloured lemonade and a banana leaf full
of hot, sweet jalebis. He had just finished the lemonade when he saw his
adversary coming down the road. His first impulse was to turn away and
look elsewhere, his second to throw the lemonade bottle at his enemy. But
he did neither of these things. Instead, he stood his ground and scowled

The fight 49
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at his passing adversary. And the warrior said nothing either but scowled
back with equal ferocity.
The next day was as hot as the previous one. Ranji felt weak and lazy
and not at all eager for a fight. His body was stiff and sore after the previous
day’s encounter. But he could not refuse the challenge. Not to turn up at
the pool would be an acknowledgement of defeat. From the way he felt just
then he knew he would be beaten in another fight. But he could not acquiesce
in his own defeat. He must defy his enemy to the last, or outwit him, for
only then could he gain his respect. If he surrendered now, he would be
beaten for all time; but to fight and be beaten today left him free to fight
and be beaten again. As long as he fought, he had a right to the pool
in the forest.

scowled: looked angrily adversary: opponent/enemy ferocity: fierceness (suggesting

anger/cruelty) acquiesce: accept quietly

50 It so happened...
 He was half hoping that the warrior would have forgotten the challenge,
but these hopes were dashed when he saw his opponent sitting, stripped to
the waist, on a rock on the other side of the pool. The warrior was rubbing oil
on his body. He saw Ranji beneath the sal trees, and called a challenge across
the waters of the pool.
“Come over on this side and fight!” he shouted.
But Ranji was not going to submit to any conditions laid down by his
opponent.
“Come this side and fight!” he shouted back with equal vigour.
“Swim across and fight me here!” called the other. “Or perhaps you cannot
swim the length of this pool?”
But Ranji could have swum the length of the pool a dozen times without
tiring, and here he would show the warrior his superiority. So, slipping out of
his vest, he dived straight into the water, cutting through it like a knife, and
surfaced with hardly a splash. The warrior’s mouth hung open in amaze-
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ment.
“You can dive!” he exclaimed.
“It is easy,” said Ranji, treading water, waiting for a further challenge.
“Can’t you dive?”
“No,” said the other. “I jump straight in. But if you will tell me how, I will
make a dive.”
“It is easy,” said Ranji. “Stand
on the rock, stretch your arms
out and allow your head to
displace your feet.”
The warrior stood up, stiff
and straight, stretched out his
arms, and threw himself into
the water. He landed flat on his
belly, with a crash that sent the
birds screaming out of the trees.
Ranji dissolved into
laughter.

vigour: strength treading water: keeping oneself upright in deep water by moving the feet

The fight 51
 “Are you trying to empty the pool?” he asked, as the warrior came to the
surface, spouting water like a small whale.
“Wasn’t it good?” asked the boy, evidently proud of his feat.
“Not very good,” said Ranji. “You should have more practice. See, I will do
it again.”
And pulling himself up on a rock, he executed another perfect dive. The
other boy waited for him to come up, but, swimming under water, Ranji circled
him and came upon him from behind.
“How did you do that?” asked the astonished youth.
“Can’t you swim under water?” asked Ranji.
“No, but I will try it.”
The warrior made a tremendous effort to plunge to the bottom of the pool and
indeed he thought he had gone right down, though his bottom, like a duck’s,
remained above surface.
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Ranji, however, did not discourage him.

“It was not bad,” he said. “But you need a lot of practice.”
“Will you teach me?” asked his enemy.
“If you like, I will teach you.”
“You must teach me. If you do not teach me, I will beat you. Will you come
here every day and teach me?”
“If you like,” said Ranji. They had pulled themselves out of the water, and
were sitting side by side on a smooth grey rock.
“My name is Suraj,” said the warrior. “What is yours?”
“It is Ranji.”
“I am strong, am I not?” asked Suraj, bending his arm so that a ball of
muscle stood up stretching the white of his flesh.”
“You are strong,” said Ranji. “You are a real pahelwan.”
“One day I will be the world’s champion wrestler,” said Suraj, slapping his
thighs, which shook with the impact of his hand. He looked critically at Ranji’s
hard, thin body. “You are quite strong yourself,” he conceded. “But you are
too bony. I know, you people do not eat enough. You must come and have
your food with me. I drink one seer of milk every day. We have got our own
cow! Be my friend, and I will make you a pahelwan like me! I know — if you

feat: clever act; special skill plunge: jump conceded: admitted seer: same as ser, a unit of weight
used previously in India. A ser, a little less than a litre, was one-fortieth of a maund.

52 It so happened...
 teach me to dive and
swim underwater, I will
make you a pahelwan!
That is fair, isn’t it?”
“That is fair!” said
Ranji, though he
doubted if he was get-
ting the better of the
exchange.
Suraj put his arm
around the younger
boy and said, “We are
friends now, yes?”
They looked at each
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other with honest, unflinching eyes, and in that moment love and understand-
ing were born.
“We are friends,” said Ranji.
The birds had settled again in their branches, and the pool was quiet and
limpid in the shade of the sal trees.
“It is our pool,” said Suraj. “Nobody else can come here without our permis-
sion. Who would dare?”
“Who would dare?” said Ranji, smiling with the knowledge that he had won
the day.
RUSKIN BOND

Comprehension Check
1. What is it that Ranji finds difficult to explain at home?
2. Ranji sees his adversary in the bazaar.
(i) What does he wish to do?
(ii) What does he actually do, and why?
3. Ranji is not at all eager for a second fight. Why does he go back to the pool, then?

unflinching: (without blinking) looking straight at each other limpid: clear

The fight 53
 4. Who was the better swimmer? How do you know it?
5. What surprises the warrior?
6. Now that they are at the pool, why don’t they continue the fight?
7. Ranji’s superiority over the other boy is obvious in the following:
physical strength, good diving, his being a fighter, sense of
humour, swimming under water, making a good point,
willingness to help
Underline the relevant phrases.
8. What, according to you, makes the two adversaries turn into good friends in
a matter of minutes? Explain it as you have understood it.

Exercise
JJ Discuss the following topics in small groups.
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1. Is fighting the only way of resolving differences of opinion? What else can be done to
reach a mutually acceptable settlement?
2. Have you ever been in a serious fight only to realise later that it was unnecessary
and futile? Share your experience/views with others frankly and honestly.
3. Why do some of us find it necessary to prove that we are better than others? Will you
be amused or annoyed to read the following sign at the back of the car in front of
you?
I may be going slow but I am ahead of you.

Think it Over
J
J

• Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they are
there.
• Success is the outline of a rest house on the horizon. Effort is the uneven path
leading towards it. Destiny is the vehicle in which one arrives.

54 It so happened...
 7 The open window

I
• Framton Nuttel has bad nerves.
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• He retires to the country for cure, and calls on a family friend.

• The lady being busy upstairs, her young niece refers to a family mishap with
focus on the open window.

“MY aunt will be down presently, Mr Nuttel,” said a very self-possessed young
lady of fifteen. “In the meantime you must try and put up with me.”
Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say something which should duly flatter
the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was to
come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits of a
succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure
which he was supposed to be undergoing.
“I know how it will be,” his sister had said when he was preparing to
migrate to this rural retreat; “you will bury yourself down there and not speak
to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping. I shall
just give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of
them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice.”

self-possessed: calm and confident; sure of herself endeavoured: tried flatter: make
(her) happy
 Framton wondered whether Mrs Sappleton, the lady to whom he was pre-
senting one of the letters of introduction, came into the
nice division.
“Do you know many of the people round here?” asked the niece, when she
judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.
“Hardly a soul,” said Framton. “My sister was staying here, some four years
ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here.”
He made the last statement in a tone of distinct regret.
“Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?” pursued the self-
possessed young lady.
“Only her name and address,” admitted the caller. He was wondering
whether Mrs Sappleton was in the married or widowed state. An undefinable
something about the room seemed to suggest masculine habitation.
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“Her great tragedy happened just three years ago,” said the child, “that
would be since your sister’s time.”
“Her tragedy?” asked Framton. Somehow in this restful country spot trag-
edies seemed out of place.
“You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October
afternoon,” said the niece, indicating a large French window that opened on
to a lawn.
“It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton, “but has that
window got anything to do with the tragedy?”
“Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her
two young brothers went off for their day’s shooting. They never came back.
In crossing the moor to their favourite shooting ground they were all three
engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It had been that dreadful wet summer,
you know, and places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without
warning. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it.”
Here the child’s voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly human.

suggest masculine habitation: suggest that the room belonged to a man moor:
grassland treacherous: dangerous (though it seems safe) bog: wet, spongy ground (one may sink into it)
falteringly: a ‘faltering’ voice is shaky, hesitant; haltingly

56 It so happened...
www.apteachers.in

“Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the
little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just
as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it
is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her
husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her
youngest brother, singing ‘Bertie, why do you bound?’ as he always did to
tease her, because she said it got on her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on
still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all
walk in through that window... ”

Comprehension Check
1. Why had Framton Nuttel come to the “rural retreat”?
2. Why had his sister given him letters of introduction to people living there?
3. What had happened in the Sappleton family as narrated by the niece?

The open window 57

 II
• Mrs Sappleton comes down at last and inadvertently confirms her niece’s
story.
• Framton tries to acquaint his host with the nature of his ailment.
• Through the open window, he can see things that worsen his nerves.

She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt
bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her
appearance.
“I hope Vera has been amusing you?” she said.
“She has been very interesting,” said Framton.
“I hope you don’t mind the open window,” said Mrs Sappleton briskly;
“my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they
always come in this way. They’ve been out for snipe in the marshes today,
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so they’ll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn’t
it?”
She rattled on cheerfully about the shooting and the scarcity of birds,
and the prospects for duck in the winter. To Framton it was all purely horrible.

bustled: entered (the room) noisily whirl of apologies: many apologies (in quick
succession) snipe: water bird that lives in marshes rattled on: went on scarcity of birds: no birds
or very few (‘scarcity’ means acute shortage)

58 It so happened...
 He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a
less ghastly topic; he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a
fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly straying past him to the
open window and the lawn beyond. It was certainly an unfortunate coincidence
that he should have paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.
“The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental
excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise,”
announced Framton, who laboured under the tolerably widespread delusion
that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail
of one’s ailments and infirmities, their cause and cure. “On the matter of diet
they are not so much in agreement,” he continued.
“No?” said Mrs Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a
yawn at the last moment. Then she suddenly brightened into alert attention —
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but not to what Framton was saying.

“Here they are at last!” she cried. “Just in time for tea, and don’t they look
as if they were muddy up to the eyes!”

straying: moving (she was not looking at him) delusion: false impression or belief ailments and
infirmities: (relating to health) complaints of sickness/weakness

The open window 59

 Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended
to convey sympathetic comprehension. The child was staring out through the
open window with a dazed horror in her eyes. In a chill shock of nameless fear
Framton swung round in his seat and looked in the same direction.
In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn to-
wards the window, they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them
was additionally burdened with a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired
brown spaniel kept close at their heels. Noiselessly they neared the house,
and then a hoarse young voice chanted out of the dusk: “I say, Bertie, why do
you bound?”

Comprehension Check
1. What did Mrs Sappleton say about the open window?
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2. The horror on the girl’s face made Framton swing around in his seat. What did he
see?

III
• What else can Framton do but beat a hasty retreat!
• Had he seen a ghost?
• The niece does have a knack for explaining an uncanny coincidence.

Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive,
and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist
coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision.
“Here we are, my dear,” said the bearer of the white mackintosh, coming in through
the window. “Who was that who bolted out as we came up?”
“A most extraordinary man, a Mr Nuttel,” said Mrs Sappleton. “He could
only talk about his illnesses, and dashed off without a word of goodbye or
apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost.”

sympathetic comprehension: understanding and showing sympathy uncanny coincidence: unnatural/

unexpected/strange event

60 It so happened...
 “I expect it was the spaniel,” said the niece calmly. “He told me he had a
horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the
banks of the Ganges by a pack of dogs, and had to spend the night in a
newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just
above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve.”
Romance at short notice was her speciality.
SAKI (H.H. MUNRO)

Comprehension Check
1. Why did Framton rush out wildly?
2. What was the girl’s explanation for his lightning exit?

Exercise
JJ
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Discuss in small groups.

1. Is this a mystery story? Give a reason for your answer.
2. You are familiar with the ‘irony’ of the situation in a story.
(Remember The Cop and the Anthem in Class VII Supplementary Reader!)
Which situations in ‘The Open
Window’ are good examples of the use of irony?
3. Which phrases/sentences in the text do you find difficult to understand?
Select a few and guess the meaning of each. Rewrite a simple paraphrase
of each.

Think it Over
J
J

• Chance usually plays a leading role in the drama of life.

• It is always the best policy to speak the truth—unless, of course, you are
an exceptionally good liar.
• All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to
discover them.

romance at short notice: finding occasions for fun and enjoyment, wherever possible

The open window 61

 8 Jalebis

I
• An honest boy is on his way to school carrying money in his pocket to pay
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the school fees.

• The sight of crisp, syrupy jalebis in the market excites him and the coins in
his pocket begin to jingle.
• After a long debate with himself, he yields to the sweet
temptation.

IT happened many years ago. I was in the fifth standard at the government
school, Kambelpur, now called Atak. One day, I went to school with four
rupees in my pocket to pay the school fees and the fund. When I got there I
found that the teacher who collected the fees, Master Ghulam Mohammed,
was on leave and so the fees would be collected the next day. All through the
day the coins simply sat in my pocket, but once school got over and I was
outside, they began to speak.
All right. Coins don’t talk. They jingle or go khanak-khanak. But I’m
telling you, that day they actually spoke! One coin said, “What are you think-
ing about? Those fresh, hot jalebis coming out of the kadhao in the shop
over there, they’re not coming out for nothing. Jalebis are meant to be eaten
and only those with money in their pocket can eat them, And money isn’t

khanak-khanak: sound of jingling of coins jalebis: syrupy Indian sweet kadhao: large,
open pot for cooking/boiling
 for nothing. Money is meant to be spent and only they spend it, who like
jalebis.”
“Look here, you four rupees, I said to them. I am a good boy. Don’t
misguide me or it won’t be good for you. I get so much at home that I
consider even looking at something in the bazaar a sin. Besides, you are
my fees and fund money. If I spend you today, then how shall I show my
face to Master Ghulam Mohammed in school tomorrow and after that to
Allah miyan at Qayamat? You probably don’t know it but when Master
Ghulam Mohammed gets angry and makes you stand on the bench, he
simply forgets to let you sit till the last bell rings. So it’s best you stop
chewing at my ears like this and let me go home straight.”
The coins disliked what I’d said so much that all of them began to speak
at the same time. There was such a clamour that passersby in the bazaar
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stared, eyes wide with surprise, at me and my pocket. The coin of those
days, the wretched thing, made so much more noise too! Finally, in a panic,
I grabbed all four of them and held them tight in my fist and then they were
silent.

clamour: loud noise

Jalebis 63
 After taking a few steps, I loosened my grip. Immediately, the oldest coin
said, “Here we are trying to tell you something for your own good and you try
to strangle us instead. Tell me honestly now, don’t you feel like eating those
hot, hot jalebis? And then, if you do end up spending us for today, won’t you
get the scholarship money tomorrow? Sweets with the fees money, fees with
the scholarship money. End of story! Kissa khatam, paisa hazam.”
What you’re saying isn’t right, I replied, but it isn’t that wrong either.
Listen. Stop blabbering and let me think. I am not a common sort of boy. But
then, these jalebis are no common sort of jalebis either. They’re crisp, fresh
and full of sweet syrup.
My mouth watered, but I wasn’t about to be swept away so easily. In school
I was among the most promising students. In the fourth standard exams, I
had even won a scholarship of four rupees a month. Besides, I came from a
particularly well-to-do family, so I enjoyed considerable prestige. I’d never
once been beaten so far. On the contrary, Masterji had got me to beat the
other boys. For a child of such status, standing there in the middle of the
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bazaar eating jalebis? No. It wasn’t right, I decided. I clenched the rupiyas in
my fist and came home.

Kissa khatam paisa hazam: end of story (literally: story ends, money disappears) blabbering: talking
confusedly prestige: respect

64 It so happened...
 The coins were so keen on being spent that day, they kept up their attempts
at persuasion till their voices began to choke. When I reached home and sat
on the bed, they began to speak. I went inside to have lunch, they began to
shriek. Thoroughly fed up, I rushed out of the house barefoot and ran towards
the bazaar. Terrified I was, but quickly I told the halwai to weigh a whole
rupee worth of jalebis. His astonished look seemed to be asking where I had
the handcart in which I would carry all those jalebis. Those were inexpensive
times. One rupee fetched more than twenty rupees does nowadays. The halwai
opened up a whole newspaper and heaped a pile of jalebis on it.

Comprehension Check
1. Why didn’t he pay the school fees on the day he brought money to school?
2. (i) What were the coins ‘saying’ to him?
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(ii) Do you think they were misguiding him?

3. Why didn’t he take the coins’ advice? Give two or three reasons.
4. (i) What did the oldest coin tell him?
(ii) Did he follow his advice? If not, why not?
5. He reached home with the coins in his pocket. What happened then?

II
• A heap of jalebis he eats, and shares them liberally with one and all.
• Though penniless now, he feels no less important than a mob leader.
• The real problem at hand is payment of school fees on time.

Just as I was gathering up the heap, in the distance I spotted our tonga.
Chachajaan was returning from Court. I clutched the jalebis to my chest and
ran into a gali. When I reached a safe corner, I began to devour the jalebis. I
ate so many... so many jalebis that if anyone pressed my stomach a little,
jalebis would have popped out of my ears and nostrils.

persuasion: coaxing halwai: sweetmeat seller tonga: two-wheeled, horse-drawn

vehicle gali: narrow lane

Jalebis 65
www.apteachers.in

Very quickly, boys from the entire neighbourhood assembled in the gali.
By that time I was so pleased with my stomach full of jalebis that I got into
the mood for some fun. I started handing out jalebis to the children around.
Delighted they ran off, jumping and screaming, into the galis. Soon a whole
lot of other children appeared, probably having heard the good news from
the others. I dashed to the halwai and bought one more rupee’s worth of
jalebis, came back and stood on the chabutara of one of the houses, liberally
distributing jalebis to the children just like the Governor saheb used to
distribute rice to the poor and needy on Independence day. By now there
was a huge mob of children around me. The beggars too launched an assault!
If children could be elected to the Assembly, my success would have been
assured that day. Because one little signal from my jalebi-wielding hand
and the mob would have been willing to kill and get killed for me. I bought
jalebis for the remaining two rupees as well and distributed them. Then I
washed my hands and mouth at the public tap and returned home, putting
on such an innocent face, as if I hadn’t even seen the hint of a jalebi all my
chabutara: platform assault: attack jalebi-wielding hand: the hand that held jalebis

66 It so happened...
 life. Jalebis I had gobbled up easily enough, but digesting them became
another matter. With every breath came a burp, and with every burp, the
danger of bringing out a jalebi or two — the fear was killing me. At night I had
to eat my dinner as well. If I hadn’t eaten I would have been asked to explain
why I did not want any food, and if I had pretended illness the doctor would
have been summoned and if the doctor, after feeling my pulse, had declared,
Munna has devoured a mound of jalebis, I would simply die.
The result was that all night I lay, coiled up like a jalebi, suffering a stomach
ache. Thank God I didn’t have to eat all four rupees worth of jalebis by myself.
Otherwise, as they say, when children speak, flowers shower from their mouths
but I would be the first child in the world with whose every word a crisp, fried
jalebi would come out.
Chidren don’t have stomachs, they have digestion machines. My machine
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too kept working right through the night. In the morning, just like any other
day, I washed my face and like a virtuous student, with chalk and slate in
hand, I headed for school. I knew I would get the previous month’s scholarship
that day and once I’d paid the fees with that amount, the jalebis would be
completely digested. But when I got to school, I found out that the scholarship
was going to be paid the following month. My head started to spin. I felt as if I
was standing on my head and could not get on to my feet again even if I tried.
Master Ghulam Mohammed announced that the fees would be taken during
the recess. When the recess bell rang, I tucked my bag under my arm and left
the school and simply followed my nose, walking on and on... If no mountain
or ocean blocked my path, I would have kept going till the earth ended and
the sky began, and once I got there, I would say to Allah miyan. “Just this
once save me. Order a farishta to pass by and drop just four rupees in my
pocket. I promise I will use them only to pay my fees and not to eat jalebis.”
I couldn’t reach the point where the earth ended, but definitely reached
the point where the Kambelpur railway station began. The elders had warned

gobbled: eaten quickly/greedily summoned: sent for/called virtuous: good and noble farishta:
angel

Jalebis 67
 me never to cross the railway tracks. Fine. The elders had also warned me that
one must never eat sweets with one’s fees money. How did this instruction
escape my mind that day? I don’t know.

Comprehension Check
1. (i) Why didn’t he eat all the jalebis he had bought?
(ii) What did he do with the remaining jalebis?
2. “The fear was killing me.” What was the fear?
3. “Children’s stomachs are like digestion machines.” What do you
understand by that? Do you agree?
4. How did he plan to pay the fees the next day?
5. When it is time to pay the fees, what does he do? How is he disobeying the elders by
doing so?
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III
• Remorseful and scared, he prays to God for monetary help.
• He makes matters look normal but prays harder than ever.
• The inevitable happens, though somewhere along the way he
notices the divide between the fanciful and the factual.

There was a shade-giving tree beside the railway tracks. I sat under it and
wondered whether there could possibly be a more unfortunate child than me
in this world! When the coins had first created a racket in my pocket, the
entire matter seemed so simple and straightforward. Eat jalebis with the fees
money and then pay the fees with the scholarship money. I thought that two
and two added up to four and could never be five. How was I to know that
sometimes it added up to five as well? Had I known that I would get the
scholarship the next month, I would have postponed my jalebi eating
programme to the next month as well. Now for the crime of eating a few jalebis,
for the first time in my life I was absent from school, and crouching in the
shade of a tree in a deserted corner of the railway station. Sitting there under
the tree, at first I felt like crying.

racket: uproar/loud noise crouching: sitting (as if hiding)

68 It so happened...
 Then I felt like laughing when it struck me that the tears I was shedding
were not tears but drops of jalebi syrup. From the jalebis my thoughts went to
the fees, and from fees to Master Ghulam Mohammed’s cane, and from his
cane I thought of God. I closed my eyes, and began to pray.
‘Allah miyan! I’m a very good boy. I have memorised the entire namaaz. I
even know the last ten surats of the Quran by heart. If you wish, I can recite
the entire ayat-al-kursi for you just now. The need of your devoted servant is
only the fees money that I ate the jalebis with... So all right, I admit I made a
mistake. I didn’t eat them all by myself, though I fed them to a whole lot of
children too, but yes, it was a mistake. If I’d known the scholarship money
would be given next month, I would neither have eaten them nor fed them to
the others. Now you do one thing, just put four rupees in my bag. If there’s a
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paisa more than four ruppes I will be very displeased with you. I promise, if I
ever eat sweets with my fees money again, then let a thief’s punishment be my
punishment. So, Allah miyan, just this once, help me out. There is no shortage
of anything in your treasury. Even our chaprasi takes a whole lot of money
home every month, and Allahji, after all I
am the nephew of a big officer. Won’t you
give me just four rupees?
After the prayer I offered
namaaz, recited ten surats,
ayat-al-kursi, kalma-e-tayyab,
in fact everything that I
remembered. Then I blew over
my bag saying Choo. Then,
after saying bismillah, I
realised that what they said

surats: verses from the Holy Quran

ayat-al-kursi: title of a verse in the Holy Quran; treasury: wealth chaprasi: peon choo: sound of
‘blowing over the bag’ (to ward off evil) bismillah: in the name of God (words spoken before starting
something)

Jalebis 69
 was only too true — no one can erase what fate has decreed. Forget four
rupees, there weren’t even four paise in my bag. Just a few textbooks and
notebooks. One pencil. One sharpener. One Id card my Mamu had sent me
last Id.
I felt like crying as loudly as I could, but then I remembered that school
must have ended and the children must be on their way home. Tired and
defeated, I got up from there and walked to the bazaar and waited for the
school bell to ring, so that when the children came out I too would walk home
with them as if I had come straight from school.
I didn’t even realise that I was standing near the jalebiwala’s shop. Sud-
denly, the halwai called out, “Kyon bhai, shall I weigh a rupee’s worth?
Don’t want jalebis today?”
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I felt like saying I won’t eat your jalebis today but, I’d sure like to roast
your liver and eat that instead. But I wasn’t feeling too well that day, so I
simply moved away.
The next day I did the same thing. I got dressed and left home, went up to
the school gate and then turned off to the railway station. Under the same
tree I sat and began to say the same prayers. I repeatedly pleaded, Allah
miyan! At least give it to me today. Today is the second day.
Then I said, “All right come, let’s play a game. I will go from here to that
signal. You secretly place four rupees under this big rock. I will touch the
signal and come back. What fun it will be if I pick up the rock and find four
rupees underneath! So, are you ready? I am going towards the signal. One-
two-three.”
I went up to the signal and returned, smiling. But I could not find the
courage to pick up the rock. What if the coins were not there? But then, I
thought, what if they were?
Finally after saying bismillah, when I lifted up the rock, this big hairy
worm got up, and curling and twisting wriggled towards me. I screamed and
ran away and once again touched the signal. Then, crawling on my hands

70 It so happened...
 and knees, I reached the
tree. I tried my best not
to let my eyes stray to-
wards the rock. But as I
picked up my bag and
was about to leave, I had
to look once again at the
rock, and do you know
what I saw there? I saw
Mr Worm coiled on it
comfortably, staring at
me.
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I walked away thinking, tomorrow I will do wazu, wear clean clothes and
come here. From morning to noon I will keep reading the namaaz. If, even
after that, Allah doesn’t give me four rupees, I will be forced to learn how to
strike bargains or make deals with Him. After all, if my Allah does not give
me my four rupees then who will? That day, when I returned home, appar-
ently from school and actually from the railway station, I was caught. The
report of my absence had reached home. It’s useless to relate what hap-
pened after that.
Well, whatever happened, happened. But up to the seventh or eighth
standard I kept wondering, if Allah miyan had sent me four rupees that day,
what harm could it have possibly caused anyone? It was only later that I
came to the conclusion that if Allah miyan were to provide all for the asking,
then man would, even today, be living in nests like vultures and crows and
would not have learnt the art of making jalebis!

AHMED NADEEM QASMI

(translated from the Urdu
by SUFIYA PATHAN)

wazu: ablution (washing face, hands and feet before praying)

Jalebis 71
 Comprehension Check
1. What was the consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money?
2. His prayer to God is like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Does he argue
his case well? What are the points he makes?
3. He offers to play a game with Allah Miyan. What is the game?
4. Did he get four rupees by playing the game? What did he get to see under
the rock?
5. If God had granted his wish that day, what harm would it have caused
him in later life?

Exercise
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JJ Work in small groups.

1. Select and read sentences that show
• that the boy is tempted to eat jalebis.
• that he is feeling guilty.
• that he is justifying a wrong deed.
2. Discuss the following points.
• Is the boy intelligent? If so, what is the evidence of it?
• Does his outlook on the jalebis episode change after Class VIII? Does
he see that episode in a new light?
• Why are coins made to ‘talk’ in this story? What purpose does it serve?

Think it Over
J
J

• I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has
endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to
forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which
we can attain by them.

72 It so happened...
 9 The comet – I

Before you read

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A new comet has appeared in the sky and is heading straight for the earth. A head-
on collision, which is nearly unavoidable, will mean the end of life on this planet.
Scientists and religious leaders react to this situation in two different ways. What
happens to the comet?

I
• Duttada, an amateur scientist, can’t stay away from the
keen-eyed Dibya Chakshu for long.
• Dibya helps him achieve his secret ambition.
• Duttada’s wife, Indrani Debi, wishes he hadn’t found the object of his search.

IT was a moonless night in December. A burst of cool breeze from the window
was enough to disturb the sleep of Indrani Debi. Half awake she felt for the
adjoining pillow, although she knew the
answer. Duttada was not there.
“So he has gone to hobnob with that wretched Dibya! At least he might
have bothered to close the door.” Even as she muttered her complaints Indrani
Debi could not repress her smile. She knew how utterly oblivious her hus-
band was of the practical problems of living. Didn’t his doctor tell him to take
special precautions against the cold? But he wouldn’t remember to put on a
sweater even if it was lying on his bedside chair! How could he when Dibya
had put her spell on him?

hobnob: have friendly talk/spend time together oblivious: forgetful

www.apteachers.in

She picked up the white woollen pullover, wrapped herself in a shawl

and made her way to the roof, to break up his tete-a-tete with Dibya.
She found them both huddled together eye to eye. At least Duttada
was looking into Dibya’s eyes.
When Duttada acquired this telescope he was so thrilled that he called
it Dibya Chakshu — Divine Eye. To Indrani Debi the telescope was like a
designing woman who had ensnared her husband. So she just called it
Dibya and the name stuck.
To Duttada the telescope marked the fulfilment of the ambition of a
lifetime. As an amateur astronomer he had longed for enough money to
buy a good telescope and for enough spare time in which to observe the
heavens. He got them both when he retired with ample money. The tele-
scope was duly installed and long were the dark nights that Duttada spent
in star-gazing. At least Indrani Debi thought so.
“Here! Put on this sweater — or do you want Nabin Babu to order bed-
rest tomorrow?”

tete-a-tete: private meeting/talk between two persons acquired: (here) bought

astronomer: a scholar of the science of the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.

74 It so happened...
 Like every other amateur astronomer, Duttada had a secret ambition that
he would one day discover a new comet. For, comets can be new, coming as
they do from the remote corners of the Solar System. Like planets, comets also
orbit round the Sun but their orbits are highly eccentric. So once in a while a
comet comes close to the Sun; it has a longish tail that is lit brilliantly by the
sunlight and then it recedes into darkness not to be seen again for years, or for
centuries.
What chance did he stand with his eight-inch Dibya? Didn’t professional
astronomers have gigantic telescopes?
Duttada was optimistic... he knew that the professionals with their pre-
assigned programmes would be looking at faint stars and nebulous galaxies.
They might miss such an insignificant thing as a comet which they were not
expecting to see anyway! Indeed amateurs had often discovered new comets
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which the professionals had missed.

And, it looked to Duttada that tonight was going to be the big night. For
against the background of the same old stars Duttada had detected a faint
stranger. He re-examined the charts with him, checked his Dibya for any
smudges on the optics, did some calculations on his pocket calculator in
torchlight — for, though absent-minded about daily chores, he was
meticulous in
his observations.
Yes, there can be no mistake. What he was looking at had not been there
earlier and it did look like a new comet.
Two days later the Ananda Bazar Patrika came out with the news:

Calcutta Man Discovers New Comet

(From our special correspondent)
Shri Manoj Dutta, a resident on the northern outskirts of Calcutta* has claimed to
have discovered a new comet. He has seen the comet on the last two nights and has
informed the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) at Bangalore* of its whereabouts.

eccentric: unusual/unlike the orbits of other planets recedes: goes back; disappears optimis-
tic: hopeful; expecting the best nebulous: hazy smudges: spots/marks optics: Dibya’s eyes
(glass) through which he detected the comet meticulous: careful and exact
* now, Kolkata

The comet – I 75
 The IIA runs a 90-inch telescope, the biggest in Asia, at Kavalur. If it confirms
Dutta’s finding it will be the high point in his lifelong career as amateur astronomer.
Duttada, as he is affectionately called by his friends and admirers, estimates that
the comet would be clearly visible to the naked eye in the next few months. He
gives all credit for his discovery to his eight-inch telescope which he calls Dibya.

Thereafter it took just one week for ‘Comet Dutta’ to be recognised and
so named. For the IIA confirmed the findings and communicated it worldwide
and, according to the accepted practice, the new comet was named after its
discoverer.
This brought in unwelcome publicity to the introvert Duttada. There
were numerous receptions and functions to attend. Returning from one
such ceremony Duttada muttered to himself in disgust, “I almost wish I
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had not discovered this comet.”

To his surprise Indrani Debi agreed. “I wish the same, though not for
the same reason”.
“May I ask why you wish I had not discovered this comet?” Duttada
asked.
“Comets bring ill-luck and I wish a good man like you were not associated
with the discovery of one,” Indrani Debi said with concern.
Duttada laughed. “I see that even an MA degree has not cured you of
your superstitions! There is no corelation whatsoever with the arrival of a
comet and the calamities of the earth. On the contrary comets have been
scientifically studied and their composition is well understood. There is
nothing harmful about them. Well, you will soon see this comet of mine
pass harmlessly by causing no anxiety to anybody.”
In this last comment, however, Duttada was not going to be
exactly right.

* now, Bengaluru
introvert: one who is preoccupied with his/her own thoughts and feelings—not
interested in things outside oneself disgust: strong dislike or disapproval calamities: disas-
ters/misfortunes

76 It so happened...
 Comprehension Check
1. Why does Indrani Debi dislike Duttada’s “hobnobbing” with Dibya?
2. She is complaining and smiling. Why is she smiling?
3. (i) What was Duttada’s secret ambition?
(ii) What did he do to achieve it?
4. What is the difference between a planet and a comet, as given in the story?
5. Why was Duttada hopeful that he would discover a new comet soon?
6. Why does Duttada say — “I almost wish I had not discovered this comet.”?
7. Why is his wife unhappy about the discovery?

II
• A British scientist writes a paper based on Duttada’s discovery.
• He and the Defence Science Advisor have a tete-a-tete over an impending
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calamity.
• A conference of international experts might yield a clue to the
cosmic puzzle.

In the spacious dining hall of King’s College, Cambridge, the butler whispered
deferentially in the Provost’s ear and handed him an envelope on a silver tray.
The Provost beckoned James and passed on the envelope saying, “It seems you
are wanted urgently inyour room.”
As he made his way towards the beautiful building, James opened the
envelope. It contained a brief note:
Dear Dr Forsyth,
The bearer of this note has been instructed to bring you to my office in London
tonight. Please come without delay. I am making arrangements for your overnight
stay in London. I regret the inconvenience caused to you and request you to keep
your visit strictly confidential. Believe me, it is absolutely essential.
Yours sincerely,
John Macpherson

The signature carried the designation underneath: Defence

Science Advisor, Her Majesty’s Government.

deferentially: respectfully

The comet – I 77
 A bowler-hatted man near the mantlepiece greeted him as James entered
his sitting room. “I am Johnson, sir. Security officer at Whitehall.” He showed
his identity card and continued, “I presume, you know why I am here, sir.”
“To the extent that is conveyed in this note,” replied James. He knew that
it would be useless to ask Johnson for further details. “I won’t take long.”
Johnson’s Ford Cortina brought them to Whitehall in less than ninety
minutes. It took them another ten minutes to reach the chambers of Sir
John Macpherson. Having introduced James to Sir John, the quiet but efficient
Johnson slipped out.
“Dr Forsyth, my apologies for this imposition on your time!” Sir John
advanced with outstretched hands. “To avoid any further delay, I will come to
the point right away.” Sir John handed him a typescript.
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“Why! It is my paper to Nature. How did you get this original manuscript?”
James was surprised and somewhat uneasy.
Sir John saw his anxiety and continued, “Taylor, the editor of Nature is a
friend of mine.”
“I had asked Nature to publish it without delay since it is very important,”
James looked puzzled.
“I agree that it is important. So important in fact that it must never be
published — that is, if what you say is correct.” Sir John lit his pipe.
James would never have tolerated aspersions on the accuracy of his work, or
the implied order that it must be suppressed. But he knew Sir John to be a
respected scientist and was willing to hear him out.
“Please do not misunderstand me, Dr Forsyth. I met Taylor today at lunch
in the club where he showed me your paper — I still retain enough interest
in astronomy, you know — and he asked for my opinion before sending it to a
professional referee. I immediately realised that your result has profound
implications, if it is correct.”

imposition: unfair demand that one is obliged to accept manuscript: paper or book not yet printed
aspersions: harsh remarks

78 It so happened...
 “Let me assure you, Sir John, that it is correct. I stake my reputation on
it,” James could not contain himself any more.
“Do you realise what will happen if Comet Dutta collides with the Earth,
as you predict it will?”
“The effects will be catastrophic! That is why I have taken extra care to
verify my calculations. Barring rare circumstances, the collision is inevitable.”
James was confident. But Sir John picked out the one qualifying phrase:
“What are those rare circumstances?”
“Well, it might collide with some asteroid before reaching here. Or it
might just split up when near the Sun, or it might evaporate...”
“But one can’t count on these fortuitous circumstances. We have to
proceed on the assumption that Comet Dutta will collide with the Earth.
Cometary collisions are expected to occur once in ten million years. But
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now we know that the next one will occur

in a year...”
“Ten months, to be precise,” interjected James.
“Thank you for the correction! Do you realise that we have only ten
months of survival left for the entire living species on the Earth? Don’t you
think we have to do something to stop all this?”
A fleeting smile crossed James’ face. ‘Just like a civil servant! As if we
are facing here a minor breakdown of law and order,’ he thought to him-
self. Aloud, he said, “How, may I ask, can we prevent this natural catastro-
phe?’
“I don’t know; but we have no option but to try. I think we need more
than two brains to handle this situation. It is essential to call an urgent
meeting of experts from all over the world to think of a counter-measure
and of course in total secrecy. Think of the panic in the world if this dread-
ful news leaks out.” Sir John glanced at the manuscript in James’ hand.
“My suppressing this paper will not hide the truth, Sir John!” James
said. “There are others who will arrive at the same conclusion, sooner or
later.”

fortuitous: (happening) by chance counter-measure: step or action in the opposite direction

The comet – I 79
 “No. Do not suppress it but tone it down. Add many if’s and but’s to make
your conclusion appear not so certain... I will exert all my influence with
friends in other countries to make them exercise a similar restraint for a
while.”
“For how long?”
“Until this wretched comet is safely out of the way. Let us spend some
time now to plan the details of this international conference. Shall we call it
in a week’s time, here?”
A week to plan such an important secret conference of international experts!
James thought it an impossible task, but Sir John disagreed, and began to
spell out details.

Comprehension Check
1. How did Sir John get hold of James’ original manuscript?
2. What is the important point the paper makes?
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3. Why does Sir John say that James’ paper should not be published?
4. What do the two men finally decide to do?

Cold Causes Colds JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness– which is
probably why there are more myths about it than any of the other ill-
nesses.
A widespread fallacy is that colds are caused by cold. They are
not. They are caused by viruses passed on from person to person. If
cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to
suffer from them permanently. But they
do not.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

restraint: control/check

80 It so happened...
 10 The comet – II
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I
• Duttada is invited to the secret conference.
• How to change the course of Comet Dutta is the scientists’ hidden agenda.
• Duttada and the Defence Advisor become close friends, and share a secret.

BY the time they finished their deliberations and Sir John dropped him at
his hotel off Regent Street, it was 1 a.m. There was hardly any crowd on the
street but when James looked up from his
window a star-studded night sky greeted him. Somewhere amongst these
stars was Comet Dutta heading for a collision with the Earth. It was hard to
believe the calamity of the future on such a peaceful night. For a moment
James wondered if he had done his sums right.
Whatever doubt James may have had about Sir John’s efficiency were
quickly dispelled when he reported for the conference and found that all the
experts listed by him were there. Astronomers, computer scientists, nuclear
physicists, space technologists, biologists, all were there. And as Sir John’s
special invitee was present the man who had started it all—Manoj Dutta.
The conference lasted one week and went on under total cover of secrecy.
First the experts checked and rechecked James Forsyth’s calculation with
the latest observations of Comet Dutta.
 He was right: there was no escape from the direct hit predicted by him.
There was a small chance that the comet may just graze the atmosphere of
the Earth and not collide. In that case the loss of life and property would not
be total. But this slight respite was hardly reassuring enough for taking no
action.
Having decided that some action was needed, what form should it take?
The experts dismissed defensive measures like living in underground bun-
kers. It was simply not a practical proposition. So the only course was to take
offensive action. Comet Dutta could be marginally deflected from its path by
giving it a push.
The experts calculated that the bulk of destructive nuclear power available
on the Earth would be needed to achieve this mammoth task. A gigantic
nuclear explosion suitably placed, suitably directed and suitably timed could
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do the trick. This could be done by placing the nuclear payload in a spaceship,
sending it to intercept the approaching comet and detonating it by remote
control. Success or failure, secrecy must be preserved. Finally a time-table
was drawn up for the operation which was code-named ‘Project Light Brigade’.
The important dates in it were:
October 10: Despatch the spacecraft with the payload unless by then
the comet is already destroyed by natural causes or has changed its
path due to unforeseen reasons.
November 15: Rendezvous with the comet and detonation of the pay-
load.
December 15: If the experiment failed this was the day the comet
would hit the Earth. If it succeeded, this was the day the comet would
pass by at a near but safe distance.
The success of the experiment depended on how massive the comet was.
Nobody could estimate; everybody hoped that it was not very massive.
“Do you think we will succeed?” Duttada asked Sir John Macpherson for
his opinion. During the week the two had developed considerable affinity for
each other.

respite: relief intercept: (here) stop or block detonating: setting it off; making it
explode payload: equipment rendezvous: (pronounced rondivoo) meeting place

82 It so happened...
 “Mr Dutta, I will give you an honest answer! I am not buying any Christ-
mas presents till December 15.”
Duttada toured the British Isles for two weeks after the conference and he
had a pleasant time visiting observatories and exchanging views with amateur
as well as professional astronomers. On his return he was greeted by the
inevitable vast crowd of friends, social leaders, students and the usual hangers-
on. Loaded with garlands and bombarded by questions from the press he
somehow made his way to the waiting car.

Comprehension Check
1. “For a moment James wondered if he had done his sums right.” Why was James
doubtful about his sums and calculations?
2. What did the scientists at the conference say about James’s ‘sums’?
3. Immediate action was needed, the scientists decided. Give one example each of
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‘defensive’ and ‘offensive’ action mentioned in the text.

4. “I am not buying any Christmas presents till December 15.” What did Sir John mean by
that?

II
• Duttada returns home to a warm welcome and a ceremony, which is not a
scientist’s delight.
• A secret communication sends him rushing to the local sweet shop.
• Indrani Debi says that Khoka, their eight-year-old grandson, has saved the
world. Her husband is seriously puzzled.

Arriving home he found another crowd gathered under a pandal. He glanced

questioningly at Indrani Debi. Surely she knew how he hated crowds. Indrani,
obviously uneasy, offered the explanation: “I have arranged a yajna and called
priests to bless you.”
“But why? Just because I left the shores of India? You know it is no longer
taboo! And in any case you know my views on these meaningless rituals.”

hangers-on: people in a meeting etc. (usually uninvited) who try to appear very friendly with impor-
tant people taboo: something not premitted for religious, social/cultural
reasons

The comet – II 83
 Indrani Debi looked at Sibaji babu, the younger brother of her husband.
Sibaji babu coughed and explained, “We have all been very disturbed since
you discovered the comet. Guruji recommended a shanti yajna to pacify the
evil spirit behind the comet. We are all waiting for you to perform the yajna.”
“May I know what specific advantage there is in this ceremony?” Duttada
was outwardly calm.
“The comet you have discovered will not cause any ill effects on the
Earth.”
At this remark Duttda blew up. “Don’t you know that this is all
superstition? It could be condoned in the olden times when man did not
know what comets were. Not so in modern times. Comets are known for
what they are, their movements are forecast precisely by mathematical
calculations and it is clearly established by statistical studies that their
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visits have no correlations with disasters on the Earth ... All this is of course
futile on my part to explain — you and the likes of you never read even the
elementary books
on Science.”
Sibaji babu gently interjected, “But our wise forefathers recommended
such yajnas.”
Since his return from London, Duttada was in regular correspondence
with Sir John Macpherson. Their friendship had grown out of their
appreciation of each other’s virtues. Sir John admired Duttada’s scientific
outlook while the latter admired the former’s discipline and efficiency. Their
correspondence never mentioned the Project Light Brigade although once
in a while Sir John would hint at its progress in a subtle manner that
Duttada would understand.
Meanwhile Comet Dutta was following its predicted path. In due course it
developed its tail. It circled round the Sun without breaking apart; nor did it
evaporate. The scientists on Project Light Brigade therefore knew that the
threat of collision was now very much real.
In the middle of October, Duttada got a letter from Sir John. In the midst
of descriptions of the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, the

correlations: connections futile: useless; in vain

84 It so happened...
 unseasonably warm weather, the opening matches of the football season and
a recent bye-election, Duttada spotted the sentence he was eagerly looking
for: “The charge of the Light Brigade has begun. Let us hope for the best.” So
the spacecraft had been launched on time.
But will it achieve the rendezvous in time and at the right place? Will the
remote control detonation work? What if the gigantic nuclear pile fails to
fire?
Duttada could not share his anxieties with anyone around him. He had to
participate in and outwardly enjoy the Puja ceremonies, the Diwali celebration
and other festivals. His sole daytime relaxation was in the company of Khoka,
his eight-year-old grandson, and of course at night looking through Dibya.
He was regularly monitoring the comet, now clearly visible even to the
naked eye. On November 18 a special messenger on a scooter from the British
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Council brought in an urgent telex message for him. The telex operator in
Calcutta had wondered what was so special about it to make it so urgent. But
on reading it Duttada lost all his lethargy and rushed to his favourite rasagolla
shop. The
message read:
“I am confident now of buying my Christmas presents on December 15 —
John Macpherson.”
On December 15 Comet Dutta came closest to the earth — at a distance of
80,000 kilometres. Millions saw it and admired it. Only a handful knew how
close they had come to total annihilation.
When the comet had gone far away and was seen no more, Duttada felt it
safe to make the following comment to his wife: “Now that the comet came
and went, are you satisfied that no major disaster took place that can be
attributed to it?”
“I agree that there has been no major disaster; but there could have been
some. Do you know how they were averted?” Indrani Debi said with quiet
confidence.

lethargy: laziness annihilation: total destruction attributed: (can be) put down to/be the result
of

The comet – II 85
 Duttada looked at her. Did she know? How could she? He had never
mentioned Project Light Brigade to her. He probed cautiously, “I don’t un-
derstand what you mean.”
“It is very simple. There were no disasters because of the yajna at our
house.”
“But I never performed the yajna. Don’t you remember, I refused to have
anything to do with it?”
“Of course, I do. But we found a way out — at least Guruji did. He said
that if you were unwilling to perform the yajna, it would be all right if a
descendant of yours did it. So we got Khoka to deputise for you. And it has
worked! Isn’t Guruji clever?” Indrani’s voice had a ring of triumph.
Duttada formed a mental picture of Khoka performing the yajna uttering
mantras dictated to him which he did not understand, pouring ghee at
specified intervals into the fire, offering flowers... And then the picture
changed to an assembly of scientists at the conference analysing the problem,
devising solutions and executing them rationally and efficiently.
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It seemed hard to believe that both pictures were different aspects of

descendant: a close relative (children or grandchildren) deputise: act on your behalf

86 It so happened...
 contemporary human society. Duttada was aware of the gulf that separates the
rich from the poor, the educated from the illiterate, the privileged from the
unprivileged. But this gap between the rational and the superstitious seemed
to him far wider, far more sinister. Will human society ever succeed in eliminating
it?
Duttada did not know the answer.
JAYANT NARLIKAR

Comprehension Check
1. What is Duttada expected to do on his return from London?
2. What is his reaction to the proposal?
3. (i) What does ‘Project Light Brigade’ refer to?
(ii) What does Sir John say about the Project in his letter to Duttada
in October?
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4. Did Sir John buy Christmas presents on December 15? How did Duttada get to know
about it?
5. Why, according to Indrani Debi, had the comet not been disastrous?
Do you agree with her?
6. Is Duttada’s general outlook
(i) rational?
(ii) moral?
(iii) traditional?
Choose the right word. Say why you think it right.

contemporary: of the same period; modern rational: logical/that which has a reason sinister:
dangerous/harmful

The comet – II 87
 Exercise

JJ
Discuss the following topics in small groups. Write your answers afterwards.
1. Should a scientist’s findings be suppressed if they seem disturbing? Give
reasons for and against the topic.
2. Do you think ours is a traditional society? What are some of the things we do
to be called traditional? Do you find these things useless or useful?
3. Give two or three examples to show how science has been useful to us.
4. Give one example to show how science has been misused, and has as a result
been harmful to us.
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Think it Over
J
J

• When a person who has never flattered you suddenly discovers all your
qualities, he either wants to con you or needs something urgently from you.
(To ‘con’ is to swindle after gaining one’s trust)
• Be generous in complimenting others. The secret of happiness is to make
others believe that they are the cause of it.

88 It so happened...
 Ancient Education System of India
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I
• Did you know that India has been the centre of learning since ancient
times? How did we come to know about this?
• There are inscriptions on stones and copper, palm leaf records and our
scriptures as evidences of the historic origins of learning in India. Today
we follow an education system in which learning takes place through
syllabus, curricula, textbooks and assessment practices. Have you ever
thought what these were like in the past?
• In this feature story, we will give you glimpses of our ancient
education system.

INTRODUCTION

You must have heard or read that travellers from various regions having
different climates and cultures began to visit parts of India from early times.
To them, India was a land of wonder! The fame of Indian culture, wealth,
religions, philosophies, art, architecture, as well as its educational practices
had spread far and wide. The education system of ancient times was regarded
as a source for the knowledge, traditions and practices that guided and
encouraged humanity.
 SALIENT FEATURES OF ANCIENT EDUCATION SYSTEM

From the time of Rigveda onwards, our ancient education system evolved
over the period and focused on the holistic development of the individual by
taking care of both the inner and the outer self. The system focused on the
moral, physical, spiritual and intellectual aspects of life. It emphasised on
values such as humility, truthfulness, discipline, self-reliance and respect
for all creations. Students were taught to appreciate the balance between
human beings and nature. Teaching and learning followed the tenets of
Vedas and Upanishads fulfilling duties towards self, family and society,
thus encompassing all aspects of life. Education system focused both on
learning and physical development. In other words, the emphasis was on
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healthy mind and healthy body. You can see that education in India
has a heritage of being pragmatic, achievable and complementary to life.

SOURCES OF EDUCATION

The ancient system of education

was the education of the Vedas,
Brahmanas, Upanishads and
Dharmasutras. You must have
heard the names of Aryabhata,
Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali.
Their writings and the medical
treatises of Charaka and Sushruta
A page from a manuscript* of the Rigveda
were also some of the sources of
learning. Distinction was also drawn between Shastras (learned disciplines)

*This birch bark manuscript of the Rigveda was found in Kashmir. About 150 years ago, it was used
to prepare one of the earliest printed texts of the Rigveda, as well as an English translation. It is
now preserved in a library in Pune, Maharashtra. (Class VI, Our Pasts-1, NCERT, 2017)
heritage: something that is handed down from the past, as a tradition tenets: the main principles
of a religion or philosophy

90 It so happened...
 and Kavyas (imaginative and
creative literature). Sources of
learning were drawn from various
disciplines such as Itihas (history),
Anviksiki (logic), Mimamsa
(interpretation) Shilpashastra
(architecture), Arthashastra (polity),
Varta (agriculture, trade, commerce,
Visual mapping of the various
animal husbandry) and
disciplines encompassed in the Vedas
Dhanurvidya (archery).
Physical education too was an important curricular area and pupils
participated in krida (games, recreational activities), vyayamaprakara
(exercises), dhanurvidya (archery) for acquiring martial skills, and
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yogasadhana (training the mind and body) among others. The Gurus and
their pupils worked conscientiously together to become proficient in all
aspects of learning.
In order to assess pupils' learning, shastrartha (learned debates) were
organised. Pupils at an advanced stage of learning guided younger pupils.
There also existed the system of peer learning, like you have group/peer
work.

ANCIENT EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA — A WAY OF LIFE

In ancient India, both formal and informal ways of education system existed.
Indigenous education was imparted at home, in temples, pathshalas, tols,
chatuspadis and gurukuls. There were people in homes, villages and temples
who guided young children in imbibing pious ways of life. Temples were
also the centres of learning and took interest in the promotion of knowledge
of our ancient system. Students went to viharas and universities for higher
knowledge. Teaching was largely oral and students remembered and
meditated upon what was taught in the class.

indigenous: originating or occurring naturally in a particular place

Vihara: Buddhist monastery

Ancient Education System of India 91

 Gurukuls, also known as ashrams, were the residential places of learning.
Many of these were named after the sages. Situated in forests, in serene
and peaceful surroundings, hundreds of students used to learn together in
gurukuls. Women too had access to education during the early Vedic period.
Among the prominent women Vedic scholars, we find references to Maitreyi,
Viswambhara, Apala, Gargi and Lopamudra, to name a few.
During that period, the gurus and their shishyas lived together helping
each other in day-to-day life. The main objective was to have complete
learning, leading a disciplined life and realising one's inner potential.
Students lived away from their homes for years together till they achieved
their goals. The gurukul was also the place where the relationship of the
guru and shishya strengthened with time. While pursuing their education
in different disciplines like history, art of debate, law, medicine, etc., the
emphasis was not only on the outer dimensions of the discipline but also
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on enriching inner dimensions of the personality.

Comprehension Check
1. Why were travellers attracted towards India?
2. What were the sources of the ancient education system?
3. What were the features of education system in ancient India?
4. What was the role of guru in pupils’ lives?

II
• In Part I, you have read about the ancient education system in ashrams/
gurukuls, and the way of life in them.
• This system continued to flourish during the time of the Buddha and the
subsequent periods.

Many monasteries/viharas were set up for monks and nuns to meditate,

debate and discuss with the learned for their quest for knowledge during
this period. Around these viharas, other educational centres of higher
learning developed, which attracted students from China, Korea, Tibet,

monastery: a place where monks line and worship

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 Burma, Ceylon, Java, Nepal and other distant countries.

VIHARAS AND UNIVERSITIES

The Jataka tales, accounts given by Xuan Zang and I-Qing (Chinese scholars),
as well as other sources tell us that kings and society took active interest in
promoting education. As a result many famous educational centres came
into existence. Among the most notable universities that evolved during this
period were situated at Takshashila, Nalanda, Valabhi, Vikramshila,
Odantapuri and Jagaddala. These universities developed in connection with
the viharas. Those at Benaras, Navadeep and Kanchi developed in connection
with temples and became centres of community life in the places where they
were situated.
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These institutions catered to the needs of advanced level students. Such

students joined the centres of higher learning and developed their knowledge
by mutual discussions and debates with renowned scholars.
Not only this, there was also occasional summoning by a king to a gathering
in which the scholars of the country of various viharas and universities would
meet, debate and exchange their views.
In this section we will give you glimpses of two universities of the ancient
period. These universities were considered among the best centres of learning
in the world. These have been recently declared heritage sites by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

TAKSHASHILA OR TAXILA

In ancient times, Takshashila was a noted centre of learning, including

religious teachings of Buddhism, for several centuries. It continued to attract
students from around the world until its destruction in the 5th century CE.
It was known for its higher education and the curriculum comprised the

summon: to officially arrange a meeting of people

university: institution of higher education

Ancient Education System of India 93

 study of ancient scriptures, law, medicine, astronomy, military science and
the eighteen silpas or arts.
Takshashila became famous as a place of learning due to its teachers'
expertise. Among its noted pupils were the
legendary Indian grammarian, Panini. He was
an expert in language and grammar and
authored one of the greatest works on grammar
called Ashtadhyayi. Jivaka, one of the most
renowned physicians in ancient India, and
Chanakya (also known as Kautilya), a skilled
exponent of statecraft, both studied here.
Postage stamp of
Students came to Takshashila from Kashi, Indian grammarian, Panini
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Kosala, Magadha and also from other countries

in spite of the long and arduous journey they had to undertake.

Takshashila was an ancient Indian city,

which is now in north-western Pakistan.
It is an important archaeological site and
the UNESCO declared it to be a World
Heritage Site in 1980. Its fame rested on
the University, where Chanakya is said
to have composed his Arthashastra.
Archaeologist Alexander Cunningham discovered its ruins in the mid-
19th century.

ROLE OF THE TEACHER

Teachers had complete autonomy in all aspects from selection of students to

designing their syllabi. When the teacher was satisfied with the performance
of the students, the course concluded.

autonomy: freedom to act on one’s will statecraft: the skill of governing a country

94 It so happened...
 He would admit as many students as he liked and taught what his
students were keen to learn. Debate and discussions were the primary
methods of teaching. Teachers were assisted by their advanced level
students.

NALANDA UNIVERSITY

Nalanda, when Xuan Zang visited it, was

called Nala and was a centre of higher
learning in various subjects. The
University attracted scholars from the
different parts of the country as well as
world. The Chinese scholars
I-Qing and Xuan Zang visited Nalanda in
the 7th century CE. They have given vivid
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accounts of Nalanda. They have noted that

as many as one hundred discourses Xuan Zang I-Qing
happened on a daily basis, in a variety of disciplines through the methods
of debate and discussions. Xuan Zang himself became a student of Nalanda
to study yogashastra. He has mentioned that the Chancellor of Nalanda,
Shilabhadra, was the highest living authority in yoga. The courses of study
offered by Nalanda University covered a wide range, almost the entire circle
of knowledge then available. Students at Nalanda studied the Vedas and
were also trained in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics
and the art of warfare.

The ancient Nalanda was a centre of

learning from the 5th century CE to
12th century CE. Located in present
day Rajgir, Bihar, India, Nalanda was
one of the oldest universities of the
world and UNESCO declared the
ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara, a world
heritage site. The new Nalanda University is envisaged as a
centre of inter-civilisational dialogue.

Ancient Education System of India 95

 ROLE OF COMMUNITY

At that time, knowledge was considered sacred and no fee was charged.
Contributions towards education were considered the highest form of
donation. All members of the society contributed in some form or the other.
Financial support came from rich merchants, wealthy parents and society.
Besides gifts of buildings, the universities received gifts of land. This form of
free education was also prevalent in other ancient universities like Valabhi,
Vikramshila and Jagaddala.
At the same time in the south of India, agraharas served as centers of
learning and teaching. South Indian kingdoms also had other cultural
institutions known as Ghatika and Brahmapuri.
A Ghatika was a centre of learning including religion and was small in size.
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An agrahara was a bigger institution, a whole settlement of learned Brahmins,

with its own powers of government and was maintained by generous
donations from the society. Temples, Mathas, Jain Basadis and Buddhist
Viharas also existed as other sources of learning during this period.

CONTINUATION OF INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

The Indian education system continued in the form of ashrams, in temples

and as indigenous schools. During the medieval period, maktabas and
madrassas became part of the education system. During the pre-colonial
period, indigenous education flourished in India. This was an extension of
the formal system that had taken roots earlier. This system was mostly religious
and spiritual form of education. Tols in Bengal, pathshalas in western India,
chatuspadis in Bihar, and similar schools existed in other parts of India.
Local resources via donations supported education. References in texts and
memoirs inform that villagers also supported education in southern India.
As we understand, the ancient education system of India focused on the
holistic development of the students, both inner and outer self, thus preparing
them for life. Education was free and not centralised. Its foundations were
laid in the rich cultural traditions of India thereby helping in the development

96 It so happened...
 of the physical, intellectual, spiritual and artistic aspects of life holistically.
Our present day education system has a lot to learn from the ancient
education system of India. Therefore, the stress is being laid on connecting
learning to the world outside the school. Today educationists recognise the
role and importance of multilingual and multicultural education, thereby
connecting the ancient and the traditional knowledge with contemporary
learning.

Comprehension Check
1. Where did nuns and monks receive their education?
2. What is Panini known for?
3. Which university did Xuan Zang and I-Qing study at?
4. Which subject did Xuan Zang study in India?
5. How did society help in the education of the students?
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Exercise
JJ
Discuss the following questions in small groups and write your answers.
1. Which salient features of the ancient education system of India made it
globally renowned?
2. Why do you think students from other countries came to India to study
at that time?
3. Why is education considered 'a way of life'?
4. What do you understand by holistic education?
6. Why do you think Takshashila and Nalanda have been declared heri-
tage sites?

Think it Over
J
J

• Talk to your History teacher and find out more about Takshashila and
Nalanda Universities. What could have been the geographical locations of
these universities at that time?

Ancient Education System of India 97

 Notes
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