KV CRPF DURGAPUR

MINIMUM LEVEL OF LEARNING FOR

CLASS 10
SUB: ENGLISH

1.Letter to God Summary – The story, “A Letter to God” by G.L. Fuentes depicts
the unwavering faith of a farmer in God. It begins with a farmer, named Lencho
expecting for a rain shower to nourish his field of corn. He is confident that his
harvest is going to yield him huge profits just like it does every year. To his utmost
excitement, rainfall did happen but sooner, it turned into a hailstorm destroying his
entire crop field. The damage posed a threat to the family’s survival as their entire
livelihood was dependent on the year’s produce. Although disheartened, the family
had robust belief in the almighty. Lencho, despite having worked day and night at the
field, knew how to write and thus, decided to write a letter to God explaining his
situation and asking for help. He went to town to post his letter addressed “To God”.
The letter on being noticed by the postmaster, at first amused him, but then
motivated him want to do something for the farmer so as to keep his immense belief
intact. He contributes from his salary and collects money from his colleagues and
friends who willingly contributed for an act of charity. To his dismay, he could only
collect 70 pesos which he wrapped in an envelope to make it seem like a reply from
the deity. On having found the letter, the writer (Lencho) is not at all shocked, but
instead, he gets angry on finding that the amount is less than what he had expected.
He again writes a letter to God conveying his disappointment and distrust in the
employees of the post office who he thought had stolen the remaining amount.
2. A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM: NELSON MANDELA
This chapter is an extract from the autobiography of Nelson Mandela (born-
18 July, 1918), the first Black President of South Africa. It begins with the description
of their inaugural ceremony which took place on the 10th of May 1994 where the
entire nation along with many international leaders embraced the victory of a newly
and fairly elected government. It involved speeches by the President and the two
Deputy Presidents followed by an impressive air show of fighter jets and helicopters.
Long ago, in the first decade of the twentieth century, white supremacy introduced
the system of apartheid and made life a living hell for the dark-skinned population. It
gave rise to one of the most inhumane societies of the world. Many people have
struggled and sacrificed for basic human rights. The author expressed his desire to
thank all those freedom fighters who couldn’t live to see this autumn day. He
referred to the citizens as the greatest asset of the country. It is these people he
gathered his courage from. Mandela believes that courageous is not the man who is
fearless, but the man who has overcome fear. He also mentioned the two
responsibilities every human has and how in order to fulfil his obligation towards the
society, his obligation towards his family was neglected. He became a man of people
when he realised that the idea of freedom was an illusion for him and people like
him. It was then he joined the African National Congress and fought for his rights till
he became the first black President of the nation. According to him, the oppressor is
as much a prisoner as the oppressed. As soon as the former robs the oppressed of
their freedom he, himself gets robbed of his humanity. Thus, the oppressor too, is not
free.
PART 1 HIS FIRST FLIGHT
The story “His First Flight” by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is about a young seagull who is
afraid to fly. All his younger siblings despite their much shorter wings flew fearlessly
while he could not gather the courage to trust his own wings. The young seagull
became sad when he saw his parents perfecting his younger siblings in the art of
flying. His parents scold and taunt him for not even trying. They even call him a
“coward”. They tell him a lot to at least try and also threaten him to leave him alone
and hungry if he does not. The following day, he is left in isolation and upon feeling
hungry; he tries to seek the attention of his family members. Only his mother, who is
withering a fish in an attempt to eat it, notices his son. The young seagull cries out of
starvation hoping his mother would help. On seeing his mother come to him with the
fish, he gets excited. But on noticing that his mother stopped mid-way, he gets
maddened out of hunger and takes a dive at the fish, forgetting for a moment that
he is afraid to fly. Finally, he took his first flight. All the family members celebrate his
victory by cheering and dancing around him. He also attempts at floating in the sea
that he was once afraid of. Thus, he overcomes his fear and realizes that it is all in
the mind.
PART 2 (BLACK AEROPLANE)
The story “Black Aeroplane” is about a pilot who feels happy and contended to fly
over a city that is sleeping (at night time). He is flying from Paris to London. While
taking his flight, he dreams about the long holiday with his family. He also fantasizes
about the scrumptious breakfast he would have upon landing. As soon as he crosses
Paris, he gets a look of the dark clouds that were a sign of the upcoming storm. The
right decision would have been to turn back to Paris for the sake of safety. But he is
overshadowed by his dreams and not wanting to delay them, risks the life of his
passengers and heads straight into the storm. Everything gets dark, he is unable to
see, all his direction instruments stopped functioning and he lost control of the plane.
When all hope was lost, he saw another plane whose pilot was more than willing to
rescue them. The author was panicking as there was very less amount of fuel left.
The anonymous pilot guided them out of the storm and disappeared as soon as they
saw light. Upon landing, when he asks the lady in the control room about the other
pilot, he is left in shock when she says that his was the only plane in the sky.
4.Summary of From the Diary of Anne Frank
From the diary of Anne Frank is an autobiography of a young Jewish girl who wrote
her thoughts in a diary. At first, she felt it was an unusual experience for her to pen
down all her thoughts. She believed that no one in the near future would be
interested to read about a young girl’s past experiences from her diary.

However, she still decided to write her thoughts in her diary and named it “Kitty”.
She considered her diary to be her true and loyal friend as she was lonely and had
no friends to talk to. Anne felt that her diary had more capacity to absorb thoughts
than people with low patience levels. Further, she mentioned how much she loved
her family, especially her adorable father, who gifted her the diary on her thirteenth
birthday.
On 20th June 1942, Anne stated how her entire class was nervous about their exam
results. Although she was confident about other subjects, she wasn’t quite sure
about mathematics. She and her friend, G, pleaded with the students to calm down
and not make noise, but all in vain. She felt that about a quarter of the class were
dummies who should be kept back in the same class as they did not participate in
other activities.

Besides, Anne also mentioned how the maths teacher, Mr Keesing, was annoyed by
her talkative nature. He would often punish her with extra homework whenever she
talked more during his class. In the first punishment, he asked her to write an essay
on ‘A Chatterbox’, which in itself was a weird topic for Anne. She gave good thought
to the topic and decided to present convincing arguments in her essay, justifying her
points in support of talking. She mentioned that she would try to improve herself, but
she could not do anything about the trait that she inherited from her mother. When
her teacher read the essay, he found it amusing and assigned her a second essay,
‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’.

However, during the third lesson, Mr Keesing had read enough of her justifications
and assigned her another topic entitled, ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress
Chatterbox’ as a punishment for her incorrigible habit. This time she took the help of
her friend, Sanne, who was good at poetry and wrote the essay from beginning to
end in satirical verse. When her teacher read the essay he took it lightly and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Since then, Anne was allowed to talk in class and was never
assigned any extra homework by Mr Keesing.

Conclusion of From the Diary of Anne Frank

In the chapter – From the Diary of Anne Frank, we learnt that a young student should
be allowed to interact in class in order to feel joyous and have an enjoyable learning
experience.

5.GLIMPSES OF INDIA( BAKER FROM GOA)PART 1

A Baker From Goa Summary – The lesson begins with how narrator’s elders often
recall the time when Goa was under the rule of the Portuguese. They talk how the
importance of bakers is still maintained in their villages even after the Portuguese
have left. They are known as ‘Paders’ in Goa. The mixers, moulders and their time-
tested furnaces continue to serve the people of Goa with their famous bread loaves.
It is possible that the original ones may not exist, but their profession is being
continued by their sons. The thud of their bamboo stick can still be heard in some
parts of the village. The same jingling thud would wake the narrator and his friends
during their childhood days who would go running to him without brushing or
washing their mouth properly. It was the maid-servant of the house who collected
the loaves while children sorted out the bread bangles for themselves. Bakery
products have importance in the culture and traditions of Goa. Bol or sweet bread is
a part of marriage gifts, cakes and Bolinhas or coconut cookies are eaten at every
festival and the lady of the house prepares sandwiches at her daughter’s
engagement. Earlier bakers wore a unique frock of knee-length known as ‘kabai’ but
during the narrator’s childhood days, they wore a shirt and trousers of length slightly
shorter than the usual ones. They generally collected their bills at the end of every
month. Bakery has continued to be a profitable profession, managing to keep their
families joyous and prosperous.
COORG (PART 2)
Coorg is a piece of heaven in midway between Mysore and the coastal town of
Mangalore. It is the smallest district of Karnataka. It is a hilly place of brave men,
beautiful women and wild creatures. It is also known by the name of ‘Kodagu’.
Coorg is the home of evergreen forests, spices and coffee plantations. It rains
heavily during the monsoons and the visitors keep away. But the months from
September to March are very pleasant. The air breathes of refreshing coffee.
The Coorg people live a life of complete independence. It is believed that they are
descended from the Greeks or the Arabs. According to the Greek theory, it is said
that a part of Alexander’s army found it impossible to go back and was left here.
These people married among the locals.
The martial traditions of the Greeks, their marriage and religious rites are quite
visible among the Coorg people. According to Arab theory, the Kuppia (A long black
coat with an embroidered belt) worn by the Kodavus resembles the Kuffia worn by
the Arabs and the Kurds.

Kodavus or Coorgis are known for their bravery and hospitality. The Coorg regiment
of the Indian Army has won many bravery awards. General Cariappa, the first chief
of the Indian Army was a Coorgi.

The river Kaveri obtains its water from the hills and forests of Coorg. The area is rich
in wild life like elephants, kingfishers, squirrels,langurs and parrots. The most
popular adventure sports are rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and
mountain biking. The Nisargadhama Island is a lovely island beyond the Brahmagiri
hills. The Buddhist monks settled here give us a glimpse of the heart and soul of
India.

6.MILBIL THE OTTER

The story begins with the author travelling to Basra along with his friend. During
their journey, the author expresses his desire to domesticate an otter because after
he had lost his pet dog, life had become lonely for him. His friend suggested that he
should get one from the Marshes along river Tigris in Iraq. When they reached the
destination, they found that only the friend’s mail had arrived. After a few days, the
friend left while the narrator was still waiting to receive his mail. Upon receiving it,
he went to his room only to find an otter (brought to him in a sack), accompanied by
two Arabs with a note. It was a gift from his friend. He named the otter Mijbil or
shortly, Mij. It took some time for Mij to open up and get acquainted with his
surroundings. He was covered in mud to an extent that it took almost a month of
cleaning and washing to reveal his actual colour. Mij loved playing with water so
much so that he even learned to open the tap on his own. He believed that each
drop of water should be squished and splashed till the bowl had been emptied.
Everything was going smoothly in Basra, but now it was time to fly back to London.
British airlines did not allow animals, so he had to book another flight that allowed
Mij with a condition that he had to be carried in a box. The narrator put him in a box
an hour before the flight so that Mij could get accustomed to it and then left for a
quick meal. When he returned, he found that the box was still and Mij had created a
mess by destroying the inner lining. As a result, blood was dripping out of the holes.
Scared as he was, he hurried. They were far away from the airport and there were
only ten minutes left for the flight to take off. He cleaned it all, hurried in a cab and
managed to reach just in time. He explained the series of events to a very kind and
generous air hostess who advised him to keep the box on his lap. Gavin developed
extreme admiration for the air hostess for she was very kind to him. As soon as he
opened the box, the otter leaped out and disappeared thereby creating a chaos.
Passengers were frightened. A lady climbed up her chair and in an attempt to get a
hold of Mij, the author got himself covered in curry. The air hostess offered help and
brought him back to Gavin and finally, they reached London. Mij was fond of playing
with ping-pong balls and marbles. He even developed a game with the author’s
damaged suitcase. It could keep him engrossed for a long period of time. Narrator
took him for walks while taking the lead and played with him. People of London,
being unfamiliar with otters, had wild guesses about what Mij was. Some thought it
to be a baby seal, squirrel or even a hippo. The most shocking reaction came when a
labourer digging the hole asked the author, “what is that supposed to be?”

7.MADAM RIDES THE BUS

The story is about an eight year old girl named Valliammai. She was very curious to
know about things.
Her favourite pastime was to stand at the front doorway of her house and see what
was happening in the street outside.
She would watch the bus that passed every hour from her village to the nearest
town.
She developed a desire to ride the bus. This became her deepest desire.
Valli found out the details of the bus journey by listening carefully to the
conversations between her neighbours and regular bus users.
She came to know that the town was just six miles from her village and the fare for
the bus journey was thirty paise one way. The trip took 45 minutes.
Valli planned her visit to the town. She saved sixty paise for the fare. Finally, one day
she took the one o’clock bus to the town.
Valli was very happy to have got into the bus.
On the way to the town, Valli saw a cow running right in front of the bus. She clapped
as the cow kept on running towards the bus despite the continuous honking by the
driver.
Valli did not get off the bus when it reached the town. She also declined the offer of a
cold drink by the conductor.
On the return journey, she saw the same cow lying dead by the roadside. This
unpleasant sight made her very sad.
The bus reached the village at three forty. She ran straight for her home after getting
down the bus.Her mother did not come to know about her journey.
8.SERMON AT BENARAS
About the Characters
Buddha Gautama Buddha is the founder of the Buddhist Religion. He was a spiritual
teacher who had gained enlightenment after seeing the World’s pains and greed.
Kisa Gotami She was a young mother whose only son had died. She was a loving
and caring mother, but at the same time, she became selfish and wanted to get her
son back after death
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER
Buddha as a Prince
Gautama Buddha was bom as a prince named Siddhartha Gautama in Northern
India. At 12, he was sent for schooling in Hindu Sacred Scriptures. Four years later,
he returned home and got married to a princess. They had a son. They lived a royal
life for 10 years.
Gautama is Enlightened from the Sufferings of the World
He was protected from the sufferings of the world. One day, he saw a sick man, an
old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging for money and food. This moved
Buddha and he then went out to seek enlightenment.
Gautama Seeks Enlightenment and Becomes Gautama Buddha
He travelled aimlessly for seven years and then he stayed under a peepal tree until
he attained enlightenment. After seven days, he got enlightened and renamed the
tree as Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom). There, he began to teach and share his
knowledge and became known as Buddha.
Buddha Gives his First Sermon
Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares. It is the holiest of the
dipping places on the river Ganges. This sermon reflects Buddha’s wisdom about the
kind of suffering that is impossible to interpret.
Kisa Gotami’s Story
Kisa Gotami had only one son. She carried her dead son in her arms and she went
door to door asking for medicines for her dead child. The neighbours pitied her but
could not help her as her son was dead. Finally, somebody suggested that she
should go to the Sakyamuni, the Buddha. Kisa Gotami went to meet Gautama
Buddha. Gautama told her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where
death has never knocked at the door. Kisa thought that it was a very easy task. She
went to all the houses in the village but couldn’t find a single house where death had
not taken a beloved away.
She sat down, hopeless and tired. She soon realised that she was being very selfish
in her grief. Death is common to all.

Buddha’s Reply to Kisa Gotami

The life of morals is troubled, brief and combined with pain. It is not possible to avoid
death. As the ripe fruits are in danger of falling, as the earthen vessels made by the
potter break, similarly the mortals have the danger of death. Wise men and fools, all
fall in the power of death. Only the wise do not grieve and they accept the reality. All
weeping and grieving will bring more pain and sufferings to the body. One, who is
composed, will obtain peace of mind and will be free from sorrow and be blessed.

THE BALL POEM

The poem is about losing something that you love, and learning to grow up without it.
It is about a little boy who for the first time in his young life, is learning what it is like
to experience grief at the loss of a much beloved possession-his ball. To us, the loss
of a ball is of minor consequence, and our reaction to it is to say 'O there are other
balls'. But to a little boy, this is not so. A dime, another ball, is worthless. Money is
external; it cannot buy back our love, nor replace the things that we love: the things
that really mafters.
In this poem, the boy's ball personifies his young days and happy innocence. In this
world, people will take balls just as they will take away our innocence and force us to
grow up. And once we lose this innocence, we can never get it back. Balls will be lost
always, little boy, and no one buys a ball back. This poem goes to show how, all
throughout your life, you will be forced to do things that you don't want to do; and you
will lose or have to give up the things that you love. But, despite this, you have to
learn to stand up - to be strong and get on with your life - no matter how much it
hurts inside. Because that is the only way you will survive; you have to learn to
accept and let go - and not cling onto something that you can never have.
Literary devices
1. Alliteration: use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two consecutive words (buys a ball
back)
2. Anaphora: use of repeated words in two or more lines (What is the boy… what,
what and merrily bouncing… merrily over)
3. Assonance: repeated use of vowel ‘o’ (boy, now, who, lost)
use of vowel sound ‘e’ (He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes)
4. Asyndeton: no use of conjunction in a sentence (A dime, another ball, is worthless)
5. Imagery: when poet says merrily bouncing down the street
6. Repetition: ‘what’ is repeated
use of word ‘ball’
‘ball’ word is repeated
7. Rhyme scheme: There is no rhyme scheme followed in the poem.

.AMANDA
The poem describes a girl named Amanda and her mother who is nagging her for
her mistakes. She is first pointed out most probably by her mother for biting her nails
and for not sitting in the right posture.
The mother also feels that Amanda sits in a very lazy manner. To this, Amanda
imagines herself as a mermaid who lives a calm and relaxing life in the beautiful
green sea. Further, she is nagged for not cleaning her room and shoes and also for
not doing her homework. She then imagines herself to be an orphan because she is
now fed up of being watched by her parents continuously.
She says that she would have enjoyed her freedom then, by making the patterns of
her bare feet on the sand and would live a peaceful life. Next, Amanda is scolded for
eating too many chocolates as this causes pimples
She is also scolded for not listening to her mother. So, now Amanda thinks of being
Rapunzel, a character from a fairy tale and wants to live in a huge tower like her. In
the tower she will be alone and will live a peaceful life and will never allow anyone to
come in. Finally, the mother asks her to stop being moody because she doesn’t want
anyone to blame her for harassing her daughter . She used to do so in order to
escape from the continuous harassment and dominance of her parents.
Literary devices
1. Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ – ‘s’ sound is being repeated at
the start of closely placed words.
‘Stop that sulking’ – ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely placed words
2. Allusion: ‘mermaid’ is a well known imaginary creature
use of famous fairy tale character Rapunzel
3. Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite… don’t
hunch)
Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you finish….did you tidy)
4. Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you
5. Consonance: use of sound ‘r’ (I am Rapunzel; I have not a care …..Bright hair)
6. Imagery: drifting blissfully
7. Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to the
colour of emrald
silence is golden – silence is said to be glorious like golden colour
freedom is sweet – freedom is said to be sweet in taste.
8. Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
9.THE MAKING OF SCIENTIST
Richard’s article on how cells work published in a science journal at the age of
twenty-two.
Richard was a single child and didn’t have friends to play with. So, he became
interested in collecting butterflies and various other items.
His mother bought him all the equipment he needed. She guided him and helped him
to learn.
He read a book ‘The Travels to Monarch X’ which created a love for science in him.
He raised thousands of monarch butterflies at home over a few years. He tagged
them as they grew and freed them to study their migration.
Richard put up a slide of frogs at the County science fair but did not win any award.
His defeat inspired him to experiment. He took help from Dr Urquhart to work on
various projects.
He won many awards at the County and International science fairs in subsequent
years.
His work on viceroy butterflies got him the first position award in a fair.
Richard discovered a hormone necessary for the growth of, monarch butterfly.
He worked at the Army laboratory and the US Department of Agriculture laboratory.
Richard spent a year at Harvard as a freshman before going back to the laboratory
to discover the chemical structure of the hormone responsible for the gold spots on
the monarch pupa.
His findings motivated him to study cells and how they read their DNA. His theory
may help to prevent many kinds of cancers and other diseases.
He graduated from Harvard with second position among 1510 students.
His other interests include debating, public speakingand photography. ‘
Richard’s social studies teacher praises him for his excellent mind, curiosity and a
will to win – the essential qualities of a scientist.

10.THE NECKLACE
Matilda Loisel She is a pretty young woman who is married to a i clerk. She is
dissatisfied with what she has. She is always lost in her dreams of wealth and
pleasure.
M Loisel He is the husband of Matilda and is an ordinary clerk. He lives within his
means. He always tries to please his wife as he is a caring man.
Madam Forestier She is a good friend of Matilda. She is helpful and considerate.
She lends Matilda a necklace that leads to her ruin.
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER :
Matilda Loisel and her Unhappiness
Matilda Loisel, a middle class lady, desperately wished she were wealthy. She was
very pretty and charming but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks and
married to another clerk, M Loisel. Her husband worked as a clerk in the office of the
Board of Education. Matilda was simple but she was unhappy.

M Loisel Brought an Invitation :

One day, M Loisel brought an invitation to a fancy ball organised by his boss, the
Minister of Education. M Loisel thought that her wife would be delighted to read the
invitation but she was not delighted to see the invitation. She told her husband that
she does not have a good dress to wear to that occasion and ask him to give the
invitation to his friend. Her husband M Loisel, told her that she could buy a new
dress. He had saved four hundred francs to buy a gun to join some hunting parties.

Matilda Gets Necklace From Mme Forestier :

Matilda buys a new dress but she was not happy. She says that she would not go for
the ball as she does not have jewellery to wear with the dress. He replied that she
should wear some natural flowers, but she was not convinced. Then he advised her
to borrow it from her friend, Mme Forestier. Next day she went to her friend’s house
and borrowed a necklace for the ball.

Matilda at the Day of Ball :

The night of the ball arrived and Matilda was happy at the occasion. She looked very
beautiful in the dress. Everyone liked her and she was absolutely thrilled. She and
her husband did not leave until 4 am. Then they caught a cab and returned home.

The Necklace was Lost :

When she returned home and was changing her dress, Matilda wanted to see her
beauty in final view before the mirror. Suddenly she noticed that the necklace was
not around her neck. Her husband searched for the necklace on every place, where
they went last night. He went to the police and the cab offices. So he advised her
wife to write a letter to her friend telling her that she needs some time to get the
necklace repaired.

Lolsels Replace the Necklace :

At last, Matilda decides to replace the necklace with a necklace that looks similar to
it. Her husband gives her 18,000 francs which his father had left for him. He takes a
loan of the remaining amount and purchase a diamond necklace for 36,000 francs.
She returns the necklace to her friend. Buying the necklace bought the Loisels in
poverty. They lost their house, their maid, their comfortable lifestyle and on top of it
ail, Matilda loses her good-looking face.

The Truth Revealed Out :

After ten years, all the debts were finally paid. One day Matilda was walking in the
Champs-Elysees and saw Mme Forestier. She was looking charming and beautiful
as she had looked ten years before. Now that all the debts are paid off, Matilda
decided to tell the story to Mme Forestier about her necklace. At this, Mme Forestier
informed her that it was a fake necklace and the cost of it was only five hundred
francs.

11.BHOLI
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER
Bholi’s First Few Years :
Bholi was one of seven children of Ramlal. Ramlal is a well-to-do man as he is the
Numberdar of the village. She fell off her cot when she was just ten months old. Her
brain suffered some damage and she was slow in learning things. So, everyone
called her Bholi.

An attack of small pox at the age of two years leaves her pock-marked on her entire
body. She learned to speak when she was five but she stammered. Everyone made
fun of her. Even her parents took her to be just an ugly burden.

Bholi’s Goes to School :

Once the Tehsildar came to inaugurate a new primary school in the village. He asked
Ramlal to send his daughters to school. Ramlal could not say no to him. His wife
objects that no one would marry the girls if they went to school. But, then she felt that
Bholi is ugly and it will be difficult to get her married. So, they decided to send only
Bholi to school.

Bholi Prepares for School :

Bholi was fearful of going to school at first. Then, she was given new and clean
clothes to wear. She was given a bath and her hair was oiled. Now, she felt better.
She thought of school as a nice place.
Bholi’s First Day at School :
Bholi finds the classroom full of girls like her. She was afraid and sat in one corner.
She was attracted to the colourful pictures on the wall. The teacher asked her name.
Bholi stammered and then started crying. After the other children leave, the teacher
came back to her. She called her lovingly. This time Bholi was able to speak her
name better. . Bholi felt as if a new life was beginning for her.
Match for Bholi :
After a few years, Bholi’s parents get a marriage proposal for her. Ramlal is not very
happy. The man was a widower. She just feels that as Bholi was so ugly that
proposal was good for her.

Bholi Stands up for her Rights :

When the wedding was about to take place, Bishamber Nath asks for five thousand
rupees to marry Bholi as she had pock-marks. He also threatens to walk away from
the ceremony. Ramlal was afraid of the humiliation and so, with tears in his eyes, he
hands the dowry money to Bishamber. Bishamber proceeds to garland Bholi but
Bholi throws the garland away. She asks her father to take back the money and
refuses to marry the greedy coward. Everyone goes away. Ramlal asks her what she
will do now. She just tells him she would work as a teacher in the same school where
she had studied. Her education has change her outlook.

THE THIEF STORY

The Thief’s Story is written by Ruskin Bond. The story is about a young fifteen-year-
old boy, Hari Singh, who befriended people in order to rob them. One day, he met
Anil during a wrestling match. Anil was a twenty-five-year-old man who was leading
his life casually. He was a struggling writer who would make small money with his
writing prowess. Hari flattered Anil by trying to befriend him and asked him for some
work.

Anil asked Hari if he could cook, to which the young boy replied affirmatively.
Hearing this, Anil took him to his room and promised to teach Hari how to read,
write, add numbers and cook delicious meals. Sometimes, Anil would give a rupee to
Hari as a tip for his efforts. One fine day, Anil received a bundle of notes for his
published articles. He kept the money under his mattress, and Hari happened to
notice this. At midnight, when Anil was fast asleep, Hari stealthily slipped his hand
and stole the money kept under the mattress. He immediately left for the railway
station to board a train to Lucknow. Unfortunately, he missed the train and wandered
across the streets. As it was pouring heavily, he got drenched completely.

Soon, Hari began to feel agitated and was regretful for stealing money from an
honest man like Anil, who treated him so well. He felt guilty for cheating Anil, who
taught him how to read and write his name and add numbers. Suddenly, Hari Singh
had a change of heart, and he decided to return to Anil. Although the notes had
become soggy due to rain, he kept the money in the same spot from where he
retrieved it. The following day, when he woke up, he found Anil was normal as usual.
The young man offered Hari fifty rupees and said that he had rightfully earned it. Anil
further said that he would pay Hari regularly. However, when Hari touched the
money, he realised that the money was still damp. Hari understood that Anil was
aware of his misdeed the previous night, but the young man still didn’t treat him
with disgust or hand him over to the police. On the contrary, Anil promised to teach
Hari how to write full sentences. After this incident, Hari Singh was filled with
gratitude and respect for Anil, and he decided to mend his ways and become a noble
human being like Anil.

A MIDNIGHT VISITOR

This story is about the witty secret agent Ausable. He was with a writer friend
Fowler. They planned to spend time in the evening. Then Fowler realized that he is
exactly the opposite of what he had imagined about him. Ausable told Fowler that
he had been thinking wrong and very soon he would be looking at a very important
report which would change the country’s future. Then both went to his room. But,
when they enter the room another guy Max with a gun was standing in the room.
He asked them to be comfortable until the reports related to missiles arrived.

This was really an adventurous experience for the Fowler while meeting with a
secret agent. Meanwhile, Ausable started with a story about a hypothetical balcony
below the window of his room. While this talk was going on, someone was
continuously knocking at the door. Ausable said that the police were at the door
came to check him and his room on a regular basis. Max, pointing his gun towards
both of them, said that he would be waiting in the balcony and during this time
Ausable should send away the police otherwise he would shoot them.

As the doorknob is turned in loud, Max jumps out of the window and they heard a
loud scream. The door opens and a waiter comes in. The waiter says that he has
brought the wine that Ausable had ordered. He keeps the bottle, tray and glasses
there on the table and leaves. Fowler is surprised after seeing all that. Fowler asked
him about the police. Then Ausable replied that there was no police. Fowler again
asked about Max, who was waiting in the balcony outside the window. Then
Ausable replied that the person would not return as there was no balcony at all.

This shows the quick wit of Ausable as he took advantage of the situation and
successfully made Max nervous. Under his nervousness, he jumped out of the
window without any thought. He jumped from the top floor of the hotel and hence
died. Thus, Ausable outwitted Max and saved himself from a very dangerous
situation.
Conclusion of The Midnight Visitor

The ultimate message that one can get from this story is that in any situation we
should not panic instead we should take a step and face the situation with our
presence of mind.

FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

The story is about a scientist named Griffin. He had been discovering ways that could
make a man invisible and finally swallowed certain rare drugs that made him
invisible. He was first noticed by two boys in the staircase of a house where they
could just see his footsteps and started following it. They follow it until the footsteps
are fainter and cannot be seen. First, as he is feeling cold he enters a mall for some
warmth. After the stores shut down, he decides to wear some warm clothes and eat
something.
He first unboxes a few clothes and wears them. Then from the kitchen of a
restaurant, he eats cold meat and some coffee. Later he goes to a grocery store and
eats sweets and drinks wine. He then falls asleep on a pile of quilts. He then wakes
up in the morning when some of the store assistants had seen him and started
chasing him. He quickly threw away all the clothes he was wearing and became
invisible again. Then he started roaming around again without any clothes in the cold
winters of London.
He then decides to steal clothes from a theatre company as he knew he would get
something there to cover his face as well. He then steals bandages for his face, dark
glasses, false nose and a hat for covering himself.
He then hits the shopkeeper and steals all his money. Soon he realizes that London
is too crowded to live like this and decides that he would go to a remote village. He
books two rooms at an inn at the Iping village.
He reaches there and it is strange for the people of Iping that a stranger with such a
weird appearance has come to stay at an inn during the winter season. Once his
money is over, he steals from people and also hits the landlord and his wife when
they try to check his room in his absence. Then the village constable is asked for
help but before that Mrs. Hall, the wife of the landlord asks him questions regarding
who he is and what he did to her furniture.
This makes him really furious and he decides to show her who he really is. The
people then see a headless man and Mr. Jaffers, the constable also finds out that he
would have to arrest a man who does not have a head. They are unable to catch
Griffin as he removes all his clothes and becomes invisible. He even knocks out
Jaffers as he tries to catch him.

The Book that Saved the Earth Summary

The story begins with a stage show of twenty fifth century in which a historian is
sitting in the museum and she explains the truth about the Martian invasion that
happened in twentieth century. To prove her statement she asks the audience to
look into the historiscope, a device that can show things happened in the history. In
the next scene two characters are shown one of them which has a balloon brain is
shown as the master. His name is Think Tank and another one is his assistant
Noodle. Both of them are discussing about their plan to invade earth. They think that
earth is a ridiculous plan and they should invade earth so as to establish their kind
rule over the planet. So, the master think tank sends one of his crew to inspect
earth. The crew lands into a library and look confuse as they know nothing about the
items (books) of the library. So, they consult it with their master Think Tank that they
think is very intelligent. He asks them to show the item and tells them that they are
sandwiches which is a staple diet of the earthlings. He commands his crew to eat it,
which they then consider as a tasteless eatable. His assistant Noodle corrects him
and tells him that they are the communication devices. He on hearing this, asks his
crew to listen to the information from the devices. They try to hear it but they get
nothing to hear from them. Once again Noodle corrects his master Think Tank that
they are to be read and not hear. So with the help of the vitamins provided by the
chemical department of Mars, the crew tries to read the book. It was a book of
rhymes.

THE PROPOSAL

The curtain rises with Lomov entering his neighbour Chubukov’s house fully dressed
up in his evening attire. Chubukov is surprised to see him well-dressed and asks him
the occasion. Lomov reveals that he had come to make a request. Chubukov
anticipates that he must have come to ask for money which he doesn’t intend on
giving. On being revealed that Lomov had come to ask for Chubulov’s daughter,
Natalya’s hand in marriage, Chubukov gets filled with excitement and leaves to call
Natalya. Lomov is a 35 year- old gentleman who suffers from palpitations, gets upset
very easily and doesn’t sleep well. He thinks it is the best age for him to get married
and he is happy that he has his mind made-up about Natalya. According to him,
Natalya is average-looking and a good housekeeper. When Natalya arrives, Lomov
begins the conversation about how grateful and glad he is that both their families
are on good terms since the very beginning. While continuing to talk about his land,
he somehow mentions about Oxen Meadows which earlier was a disputed property
but is now his. Natalya couldn’t believe a word he was saying because she believes
that Oxen Meadows belong to her family. Both of them enter into a heated
discussion and act childishly when Chubukov enters just to get the conversation
more heated. They shout and scream while Lomov suffers from extreme pounding of
the heart, a side pull and a numb foot. They throw Lomov out of the house and
continue cursing him. While speaking ill of him, Chubukov unintentionally reveals
that he had come with a marriage proposal for Natalya which surprises Natalya and
she immediately regrets sending him out. She tells her father to bring him back
immediately and Chubukov curses himself on being a father of a grown-up daughter.
When Lomov returns, Natalya tries to deviate to another topic and starts talking
about shooting. Somehow they enter into an argument involving their dogs. Natalya
feels that her Squeezer is better than Lomov’s Guess. They continue arguing when
Chubukov enters the scene only to make the situation worse, once again. Everyone
gets hyper and Lomov finally falls due to his palpitations. Even then, the cursing
continues when suddenly Natalya notices that he is unconscious. They try to get
water down his throat but end up getting unsuccessful and declare him dead. It is
only when Lomov moves a little bit, they feed him some water and Chubukov
forcefully hands over Natalya’s hands to him, gives his blessings and asks them to
kiss. Lomov, still not fully conscious doesn’t understand what is going on. When he
finally comes to his senses, he expresses his excitement and kisses Natalya’s hands.
Natalya, being childish as she is, manipulates him into accepting that Squeezer is
better than Guess but Lomov, being adamant as he is, refuses to accept it. Thus,
once again, the quarrelling continues