THE THIEF'S STORY

Question 1: What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education? Do they change over time? What makes him return to Anil?

Answer: Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education change over time. When he started living with Anil he wanted to be literate so that he could become a more cunning cheat. Later on there is a change in his heart. He wants to earn respect in life. Probably he is influenced by the calm in Anil’s life. Although, both of them depend on irregular sources of income, but Anil seems to be more satisfied. Hari Singh develops a desire to be part of the civilized society.

Question 2: Why does not Anil hand the thief over to the police? Do you think most people would have done so? In what ways is Anil different from such employers?

Answer: The wetness of notes must have given the idea of Hari Singh’s act to Anil. But Anil is pleased with the fact that Hari returned whatever he had stolen. This must have given him a hope for Hari Singh’s desire to change. That is why he did not hand over Hari to police. People like Anil are hard to find. Most people would have reacted in predictable ways by thrashing Hari Singh and calling police. Anil is different because he wants his servant to become literate. He wants his servant to lead a respectable life in future.

Question 3: Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or are there such people in real life?

Answer: Both Anil and Hari Singh are rare in society. Especially the changed Hari Singh after he decides to go back to Anil is difficult to find.

Question 4: Do you think it a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?

Answer: Hari Singh’s observation about Anil getting irregular income and Anil’s statement about his sale of a book to a publisher indicates that he is a struggling writer. He lives life according to the flow of money he gets at a given time. When he gets the money he enjoys eating out with his friends. When he is having less money then he even doesn’t accept paying salary to Hari Singh.

Question 5: Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? Can you think and imagine the circumstances that can turn a fifteen-year-old boy into a thief?

Answer: I have met several people who help needy people and help them specially in becoming literate. Fifteenth year is a very dangerous phase of life as it is teenage. A deep scar on mind or a deep sense of greed can make criminal out of ordinary boys and girls. There is a chance of Hari Singh getting a sound rebuke from his parents for asking some costly thing. Or there is equal chance of Hari Singh spoiling his consumption pattern beyond his means.

Question 6: Where is the story set? Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the story spoke to each other in English?

Answer: The story is set in Uttar Pradesh somewhere near Lucknow. The town is having an important railway station as express trains have stoppage over there. The presence of sweet shop indicates towards presence of a decent market. The description of hotels near railway station indicates that it is an important centre where people come from far off places for business related activities.

IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS

Question and Answers
1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?

A. When the guru and his disciple reach the kingdom of fools, they find the following two strange things-

a) All the people sleep during the day and work during the night time. They have trained the cattle and all the other animals also to do the same as they fear punishment at the hands of the king.

b) Everything in the kingdom of fools-  a bag of rice or a bunch of bananas  costs one duddu. The guru is astonished and his disciple is excited to realise that food is so cheap in the kingdom.



2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?

A. The disciple loves food. He gets excited to see such cheap food available in the kingdom of fools. As he wants to relish more and more food, he stays back in the kingdom of fools. His decision was not a good one as he got into trouble. Although he was innocent, the king's men took him for execution as they needed a fat person who could be killed easily by the stake.



3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
A. The names of the people who were tried in the king's court are as follows-

a) The rich merchant who was the owner of the house was tried because the wall that collapsed onto the thief belonged to him. Later, on he was again tried and held guilty on behalf of his dead father who had ordered the goldsmith to deliver the ornaments in a haste due to which the goldsmith could not deliver the dancing girl’s ornaments in time.

b) The bricklayer who had built the weak wall was also tried for constructing the wall that collapsed and killed the thief.

c) The dancing girl was tried for distracting the bricklayer. As she walked in the lane again and again, the jingling sound of her anklets distracted the bricklayer because of which he constructed a weak wall.

d) The goldsmith was tried because it was due to him that the dancing girl had to walk up and down the lane again and again.

e) The rich merchant’s dead father was tried because  he had ordered the goldsmith to deliver his ornaments first as there was a wedding with his family. Due to his order the goldsmith was unable to make the dancing girl’s ornaments in time.



4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
A.  According to the king, the real culprit was the merchant’s dead father. As he  was dead, he could not be punished and in place of him, his son who had inherited all his property would be punished. 
The merchant escapes the punishment as the minister feels that he is too thin to be killed by the stake.


5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?
A. The Guru had told his disciple that the place was a kingdom of fools and they was unsafe for them. He had asked his disciple to leave the place at once. The disciple is reminded of his Guru’s words of wisdom when he lands into trouble. When the king's men take him for execution, he prays to his Guru and asks him to save his life.


6. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?
A.  The guru is a wise and intelligent man. He traps the foolish king in his talks. He says that as he is the Guru, he is senior to his disciple and so, he should be killed first. The king gets confused to see the Guru’s eagerness to die.  He asks him the reason for it. On being promise that he would be killed first, the Guru says that as the stake is a new one, it has not killed any criminal. He adds that the person who would be killed by the state first would be reborn as the king of the kingdom. The second person who would be killed by the stake would be reborn as the Minister of the kingdom.  The king considers the Guru to be genuine and so, tells his minister that they should not lose their kingdom in the next birth. In this way, the king decides to save his kingdom and get himself and his minister killed by the stake in place of the guru and his disciple. Hence, the Guru saves his disciple’s life.

Inexorable - Arunima Choudhury

Born in a middle class family of UP Arunima Choudhury initially desired to join the CSIF . In 2011 job opportunity directed her to join  Delhi regiment. Circumstances got changed while traveling to Delhi via Paadmavaat express. Suddenly few goons boarded d same compartment and stripped her necklace in front of other travellers.Misfortune eventuated when she was brutally thrown out of d train to collide with a forthcoming train  Tormented in pain she fell on the death's door at the tracks.Entire night she endured extreme pain but screams of agony couldn't allure any help. Next morning she was rescued and admitted for treatment but her leg had to be amputed.The incident was purported as a suicide attempt and rumors spread like wild fire. Her Indomitable spirit aspired to accomplish mounteneering skills ,to which many people made sarcastic remarks.Bachendri pal as a mentor guided her to overcome all adversities with consistent tedious practice skills. The zeal to prove every person making a negative comment that a woman can't achieve epitome of success after physical deformatives became her immediate ambition. Finally on 21st May, 2013 she unfurled our trio color at d zenith of Everest.She screamed with joy that instead of having a prosthetic leg among every common people  she holds a record which symbolizes triumph of adamant will  . An empowered women can contribute to nation building by joining any sector.  
Resolution in life can be achieved if we stop complaining life and strive for our goal happily with whatever we have. 

THE STRUGGLES OF OUR LIFE

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.

He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.

“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Moral of the story: 

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

The sound of music

1. Why was Evelyn Glennie going to face a bigger challenge at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
   Evelyn Glennie was full of passion for music but performing at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London was a challenge for her for two reasons: in the first place she was deaf and in the second, she was brought up on a Scottish farm. It is a challenge for a deaf village girl to compete with other singers who have perfect hearing.
2. What do you know about Evelyn’s gradual loss of hearing?
   When Evelyn was eight years old, she was waiting to play the piano at a function. Her mother Isabel Glennie noticed that Evelyn had not heard the organizers call out her name loudly and clearly.
3. How did Evelyn lose her hearing?
   Evelyn’s hearing impairment happened as a result of gradual nerve damage.
4. What did Evelyn’s school advise her parents for her future?
   The headmistress advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.