"HELP"

That day, Rajesh could not sell a single book. It was getting dark. For survival, he had to do this. After thrown out from the waiter's job in the Radhe-Krisha restaurant on the Main Street, it was the only job he could get, and he wanted not to lose this too. On the day of joining as a salesman, he had made a promise to himself that he would not return home till he would sell at least one set of books. 

Rajesh, aka Raju, was a second-year student in one of the local colleges in Nana Peth. He had the burden of educating his orphan nieces. Though he was only 20 years old, he was the head of the house. Some days he would work as a caterer and would bring the left-over food to his nieces. Some days he would go to assist the fabrication workers in his chawl in painting the window grills and cots. Two months ago, he was appointed as a waiter which earned him more than his expectations, but he left that job too due to late-night duties. 

It was getting darker now. He was about to return home. "If I could find a society or some houses where I could sell at least one set ...," he still had the hope. While pedalling his cycle, he heard a cracking sound from the chain. He parked the cycle on the side-stand and found that the cycle's chain was broken. He had to take the cycle and walk the next eight kilometres to reach his house. 

On his way home, he saw a line of bungalows to his right side. All standing tall. From inside of some bungalows was coming the sound of the English opera music played on the old gramophone, while from some bungalows came the sounds of Doordarshan TV news. 

"How happy their lives are! They don't have to work day and night to earn two times meal." He thought to himself. He looked at the cars and bikes parked in front of the bungalows. "They don't have to walk throughout the day in the sun carrying such a cycle that demands repair every now and then." Angrily, he kicked his cycle and the cycle's wheel started wobbling now. While thinking about the luxurious lives inside those bungalows, he was cursing what fate had offered him. 

He walked for a while. Now there were no bungalows, houses or human around. To reduce his fear, he started humming a tune. There were no streetlights and the road was covered by the canopy of tall trees, and that was giving him an eerie feeling. His mouth was parched. He knew that the water bottle in his sack was empty. 

As he walked some more distance, he saw a bungalow. "Shall I go and ask for some water?" 

"No, you shouldn't. You never know what kind of people must be living there?"

"Come on dude. You are tired. People are good. They help poor people like you."

Thoughts lingered in his mind till he reached in front of the bungalow's gate. He saw a girl around 22 to 25 years old who was opening the latch of the gate and was about to enter. Thinking that it was a good opportunity to ask for help rather than knocking someone's door, he moved quickly towards the gate and asked the girl politely, "Excuse me! Can I get some water? I have to walk for the next eight kilometres and I am very tired." He wiped his sweat on his forehead with his sleeves. 

The girl looked at him from head to toe as she wanted to confirm his intention, and then asked, "What are you doing in this Cantonment area? This is Army area. Aren't you aware of this?" She adjusted her glasses on her nose while holding a bunch of books in her other hand. 

"I knew but my cycle got ..." before he could finish the sentence, she said, "It's ok. Please come inside."

Rajesh went inside the bungalow. It was the biggest house he had ever seen. 

"Please sit on the chair in the corner. I will get you some water," the girl said. He looked at the dressing room. There was a grand piano kept in one of the corners. It seemed that it had not been dusted for days. Some tinted photo frames were on the wall. From the look of the people in the frames, he could guess that the family belonged to an army officer. There was a bronze statue of Emperor Alexander with a spear in his hands. A bookshelf was on the wall. As a keen reader and a book-salesman, he went closer to have a look at it. Before he could touch Agatha Christie's 'The Witness For The Prosecution', the wooden windows opened with a thud and the wind rushed inside the house making a grunting sound. His hand was still in the mid-air, and before he could take his hand a little closer to the book, he heard a growling sound. 

"Don't worry. It is our kitty." The girl said while handing him over the glass of water. 

He looked at the pitch-black coloured cat jumping off the window on the piano, and to his surprise, the cat had only one eye, and that too was as white as marble. 

"Thank you, madam. Thanks a lot." He said with an intention of leaving that bungalow as soon as possible as he gathered his books and the sack. 

"Wait !" The girl said. "Do you sell books?"

"Yes, mam. I could see you have a great collection of suspense novels." Rajesh replied. 

"Then you are of my help. I need the complete work of Shakespeare. A collection of all his dramas. I tried to search it in Crossword but in vain." She said in a whispering voice. 

Raju smelled something was eccentric about this girl, but if she would buy the entire set of Shakespeare's dramas, it would fetch him a good amount. So, for a moment, he ignored the eerie feeling.

"Yes mam, I have that. I can bring it tomorrow for you." He said and then suddenly he paused as if he remembered something, "Sorry ma'am. Tomorrow it won't be possible for me" He took his wallet out and handed a card over to her and said, "This is my card ma'am. If I will not come, you come to my owner's shop and collect it yourself. I will pack the items for you and inform my boss about your order." He wanted to finish his meeting with her as early as possible. 

"Thank you. I will try if possible," the girl said while closing the doors of the bungalow. 

Rajesh left the place and walked as fast as possible till he saw the bungalow disappearing in the road. 

The next night, the girl waited for him to come with the books, but he did not. Three days past. She called in other book shops to see if they had those books, but it was of no use. She was left with only one option to go to Rajesh's shop. She had never been out of that bungalow except for computer classes. That evening, after coming from the class early, she hired an autorickshaw and asked the autorickshaw driver to drop her at the address mentioned on the card. Till she reached her destination, it was about to get dark. 

The autorickshaw driver dropped her in front of a hut. From no angle, it looked like a book shop though there was a signboard 'Novel Bookstore' hanging on the door. 

She knocked on the door. Nobody responded. She knocked on the door one more time. Twice. Thrice. The tin door was opened with a cracking sound by a small girl. She looked at the girl. Her hair was dishevelled, clothes were dirty, and she was looking weak. 

"What do you want madam?" Who do you want to meet?" The girl asked. 

She looked inside for that boy from the half-opened door, but nobody was there. Some other girl was sleeping on the ground.

"I came here to collect some books. I was told that my books will be packed and kept aside." She said.

"Come inside madam." The little girl said. 

She opened the rusted tin trunk kept in the corner, and took a pack of books out of the trunks, and handed over the pack to the girl. 

"Are you talking about these books?"

The girl took the books and a wide smile spread across her face. She read the price on the pack, took money from her purse and handed it over to the little girl. 

"Thank you. You don't know how valuable these books are for me. Say thanks to that book salesman" said the girl and was about to leave the open door.

"Who salesman?" 

"The one who came to my house some night ago." She said. 

"Is he the one you are talking about?" The little girl said while pointing a finger at a photograph hanging on the wall.

The photograph was of the same book salesman. In the photograph, he was wearing the same shirt and the same pant, and the same sack on his shoulder. The girl got the shock of her life when she read what was written under the photograph:

Rajesh Sampat Shinde

Birth: 12 April, 1998

Death: 7 March, 2018

(to be continued)

Author: Amit Kharat

THE NEVER GONE

I had just returned from the coaching class and sat down to dinner. Usually I let my mother's talk wash over me while she served me food — mostly it was about whether I was dating someone, or when I planned to marry. I would nod, say "Hmm," and keep chewing. But that night, the word possessed stopped me mid-bite. A piece of chapati hung between my fingers, halfway to my mouth.

"What?" I said.

"Arrey, Lokhande's Prakash — that Pakya — a ghost has taken him. Since last night he's been acting strange, talking in some other voice," my mother said, chin resting on her palm, as if she were describing the weather.

I finished eating before I let myself react. "Ghosts, possession — Aayi, it's all superstition. Good stories to tell over tea, nothing more."

"You educated people think you know everything. On top of it you're a Nastik, an atheist — you won't even trust your own mother. After everything I did to raise you, to educate you—" I left before she could finish. I knew emotional blackmail when I heard it coming.

Prakash was from my chawl — a waiter-cashier-cook, all in one, at the nukkad's chai stall. I walked straight to his jhuggi. A crowd had already gathered outside, the way it always did in our locality whenever something unearthly was rumored. People here loved nothing more than a good fright to pass around. I pushed through the shoulders and elbows until I could see.

Prakash sat on the ground, knees drawn to his chest, shivering — in April, in that heat. His eyes were bloodshot, his lips cracked and colorless. Fresh scratches ran down his arms. His shirt hung torn at the shoulder. I was still taking in the state of him when he opened his mouth, and the shock of what came out of it hit me harder than anything I'd seen so far.

"I won't leave him. I won't go anywhere."

It wasn't Prakash's voice. It came from somewhere lower in his chest, hoarse, edged — a woman's voice, furious, wearing his throat like a borrowed coat. I felt my own skin go cold, April heat or not.

"He shouldn't have kicked the Utara. Now I won't leave him. Never." He kept saying it, over and over, banging his head against the wall between each sentence, until his father and brothers pinned his arms down.

I didn't stay to watch more. Someone in the crowd muttered that Pakya had kicked over an utara left in the lane — a lemon pierced with pins, dusted in kumkum, meant to hold a spirit that had been conjured out of somewhere it didn't belong.

That night, I heard voices in the chawl, low and urgent. A woman knocked and told my mother, "Shut the door — now. They've caught the spirit in a lemon, they're carrying it out." My mother closed the door before the woman finished the sentence. When I opened my mouth to ask why, she cut me off: "During this, you don't leave a door open, and you don't cross the tantrik's path while he carries it. The ghost can jump to whoever's nearest." It was, I thought, the single most ridiculous thing I'd heard her say. After the ritual passed, every house threw a bucket of water across its verandah, to wash the chawl clean.

The next morning, on my way to office, I saw Prakash sitting alone on his porch. He looked like himself again. "Good morning, Amit," he said, and I returned the greeting, though I didn't have the nerve to ask about the night before. By afternoon, word had gone around the chawl: the spirit was gone. He was fine.

For a few hours, the chawl exhaled. Kids ran hide-and-seek under the hundred-watt bulbs strung along the lane. Women sat out on their porches, trading the day's gossip. Men played cards in a haze of beedi smoke, laughing too loud, the way people do when they want to prove to themselves that they're not afraid.

Then a scream cut through all of it.

The cards stopped mid-shuffle. The kids froze behind their mothers' legs. The scream came again, sharper this time, from Sheru's house. The men were the first to move, and I saw their faces change before I even reached the doorway — Sheru's younger sister, Sanaa, sat in the middle of the room, hair torn loose from its braid, eyes red-rimmed, lips cracked and pale.

"I won't leave her. I won't go anywhere," she said, in a voice that wasn't hers — hoarse, furious, and exactly, unmistakably, the same voice that had come out of Prakash the night before.

"She shouldn't have kicked the Utara. Now I won't leave her. Never."

(to be continued)

Double Seat

Mohan Mama. 

He wasn't our maternal uncle, but all the kids in the chawl would call him by that name, except his own. A middle-aged man, tall and slim, a little bent in the back, Mohan mama was always seen smoking bidi or occasionally, a cigarette. Early in the morning, we would see him going to work on his bicycle, and coming in the night, drunk. Though he had the habit of drinking, he never troubled anyone. On the other hand, he was a source of amusement for all of us. On Sundays, when he would not drink, and if he was in a good mood, he would tell us stories. In the night, when he would sit on the porch in front of his house in his lungi and vest, we would go to him for a new story. 

"You know what work I do? I am a car mechanic." He said taking a puff of smoke. 

"Thus, I have to deal with work that needs a lot of strength, and for that, I had to eat a lot of meat and beef. Sometimes, I had to work with a sledgehammer." He held the beedi in between his lips and showed us his palms. 

"Look at my hands! They are so hard and rough. If I slap someone, the man would not wake up till the next day." The beedi was still in between his lips, and the smoke was coming out from his nostrils. 

We would touch his hands, and truly, they were rough as a stone. 

"It's not easy to do this job. I have to cycle around 10 km to reach my garage near the University of Pune. Do you know how far it is?"

We nodded our heads. 

"Once, it was a Friday. My boss asked me to do some denting-painting work of a damaged car all alone. Everybody in the garage left for the home, but I. I told my boss that I would not leave the garage until I am done with this car. I also told him to go home as I would lock the garage myself."

"After completing the task, I packed my sack, put my tiffin in it. The tiffin still had the smell of the beef curry and paayaa your Maami gave me for lunch. I locked the garage. I looked at my watch. It was 11 o'clock in the night. The streets were almost empty. Only a bus or two, and some rickshaws were there. I cycled towards my home."

"On the way, I had to cross Lakdi Pool (the Deccan Bridge). There were no street lights that night. I looked at the sky, the moon wasn't there. It was an amaavas night. Was I scared? No. I am a devotee of Hanuman and I always carry his photo in my pocket. As I was cycling, I saw a white figure from a far distance. Was I scared now? Hmm ... A little bit. I started reciting Hanuman Chalisa in my mind. As I came closer to that figure, I saw that it was a beautiful woman draped in a white saree. She was asking for a lift. At first, I thought not to give her a lift as it was too late for me, but then I thought, she is a lady, and being a gentleman, I should help her." He took a new beedi out from the pouch and lit it.

"Can you drop me till Nana Peth? I missed my last bus." 

"Hmm ... I don't mind. I stay in Nana Peth only."

"Thank you very much. It was difficult to get any help at such an hour on a night of amaavas."

"What number bus did you miss?"

"Bus number 13."

She sat on the carriage seat behind me keeping both of her legs on one side of the bicycle. 

I started pedalling my bicycle. 

"Where do you stay in Nana Peth?"

"Near Bharat Talkies."

"I too stay there only. But where exactly?" I asked her.

The wind was growing wilder now. Her hair was flying on my face.

"I stay near the mosque."

"Where near the mosque?"

"Don't you know what is near the mosque?"

"I know. It is Kabristan (a cemetery)."

My mind paused for a while. "Did she say that she stays in Kabristan?" To reassure my fear, I asked again.

"Where near the mosque? Any exact location? Any chawl number?

"Not in a chawl. I live in a Kabristan. In a grave." She said with a weird voice that sent chills down my spine. 

I looked behind. Her beautiful face now turned into a witch's face. She held my arms tightly. I tried to pedal faster, but I could see that my bicycle was not moving. Before anything could happen, I jumped off my bicycle and looked at her. She was still sitting on the rear seat, mid-air. I looked at her legs were crooked. Without wasting any second, I ran for my life."

"The next day, when I got from my bed, I called a Brahmin Pandit and told him about the incident."

"That was an insatiable soul whose wish was not fulfilled before her death," Pandiji said.

"But why was she after me only?"

"Because you were all alone in the amaavas night, and on the top of that, you were carrying non-veg in your tiffin. Ghosts can smell non-veg from miles." 

Panditji did some prayers and I felt good."

Mohan mama was done with his story so with the last beedi remaining in the pocket. 

"Were you not scared at all?" asked one of us kids. 

"Not at all. I am not scared of the deadliest of the ghosts or the witches because I have this Hanuman's photo in my pocket and I know Hanuman Chali ..."

Before Mohan mam could complete the word 'Chalisa', shouted his wife loudly, "It is too late now. Would you come inside or shall I come out?"

Mohan mama got up from his seat, and said, "and I am not scared of anyone because I know Hanuman Chalisa". 

We kids could not control our laughs as we went to our beds. 

पाहिलं आज दृश्य

पाहिलं त्याला आज ...

भुकेसाठी कॉम्प्रोमाइज करून 

भीतीच्या अंधारात मरत-मरत जगताना. 

जीभ कापल्यासारखं , मुक्याच सोंग घेताना.

९ ते ५ ची डयुटी  करून डाळ भात खाऊन झोपताना.

पाहिलं त्याला ... रोज रोज हरताना .

रिटायरमेंट ची वाट बघताना.

त्यालाही पाहिलं आज ...

दगड हातात घेऊन रस्त्यावर उतरताना,

डोळ्यातल्या रागातून पीएमटी जाळताना,

पोलिसच दांडकं पडताच जोरात विव्हळताना,

मलम पट्टी करून परत उभा होताना ...

पहिला त्यालाही ... रोज रोज झगडताना 

फ्रस्टरेशन मूळ बिघडताना .

आणि यालाही पाहिलं आज ...

शिकून सावरून मोठं होताना,

बुद्धिवाद्यांची  भाषा वापरताना,

कधी फेसबुक तर कधी ट्विटर वर निषेध नोंदवताना,

गर्दीला दिशा दाखवताना...कधीतरी जिंकताना. 

पहिला यालाही ... कधीतरी जिंकताना

दररोज झगडताना .... 

आणि पाहिलं माय बाप सरकारला 

यांच्या जखमेवर मूतताना ,

पिढ्यानं पिढ्या  सडवताना ,

एकमेकात लढवताना ,

मुडद्या च्या कपाळावरील लोणी चोरताना,

स्वतःची पॉट भरताना ... या तिघांवर हसताना 

पाहिलं माय बाप सरकारला ...

रोज रोज जिंकताना ... हसत हसत जगताना. 

 

Effective Ways of Planning Lessons

Teaching is sharing of experiences that help in better and easy learning. It is not difficult to make someone understand and remember the text for some time, but it needs rigorous practice of planning to enable the learner understand the text for a life time. Here comes the role of planning a lesson.

What is required to plan a lesson? A book? No. It needs understanding of what the National Curriculum Framework is expecting us teachers to do in the classroom. Most of the teachers, and for that matter, the Principal of the school, too isn’t aware of the teaching and learning objectives given in the National Curriculum Framework. Every Textbook that NCRT provides has guidelines at the start of the unit that help the teacher in understanding the objectives laid by the National Curriculum Framework. But do teachers even care to read those guidelines?

Why are these guidelines important?

Sometimes, a teacher may know about the topic more than required for his teaching. Sometimes teachers are not aware of different definitions given by the Education Committee for the same concept. These guidelines help in limiting and delimiting teachers’ teaching and thus help the teacher to focus on particular aspects. It is not that teachers cannot go beyond the given guidelines, but during teaching, these guidelines work as a trail on which a teacher has to walk and come back.

Once the guidelines are studied, a teacher understands the objectives of his teaching. A teacher always divides his objectives on the basis of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The objectives should be divided into remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. Though these are the main objectives for achieving any teaching goal, these objectives further can be divided into smaller goals and larger goals too. Thus, in a lesson plan, then has to be minimum six objectives.

Once the objectives are derived, a teacher then needs to find out the skills and the knowledge aspects that he would like his students to be acquainted with or possess. It is called as ‘Learning Outcomes’. Learning Outcomes always starts with the phrase ‘At the end of this chapter/unit, the student will be able to …’. Thus learning outcomes is the direct result of the proposed achievements that are planned in the previous stage i.e. writing Teaching objectives.

Now your teaching objectives and learning outcomes are decided, you cannot go to teach in the class. A teacher has to create a plan to evaluate students’ achievement. This is called as planning ‘Formative’ and ‘Summative’ assessment. Formative and summative assessments should be planned keeping in mind the learning outcomes.

Why to plan assessments even before we teach?

It has been a common trend in India and most of the countries in Asia to make question papers to check students’ memorization skills. But memory is not the only skill a teacher wants students to develop. That is why while planning the assessment, one should be really aware of the LEARNING OUTCOMES. Because learning outcomes act as a lighthouse for assessment planning. Our assessment should only assess the skills we are trying to imbibe in the students. Anything other than that would only give a wrong analysis of the students’ performance.

Once the foundation is made (teaching objectives, learning outcomes and Assessments), the actual planning of ‘what to do when we enter the class’ starts.

A great teacher always creates curiosity amongst the students before teaching the topic. Curiosity will lead to making students inquire more, want more, and thus, get more.

How to build the curiosity?

The best way is to tell students stories, share with them the case studies, share with them your experiences related to the topic, asking them questions to make them ask more questions. These all activities come under non-instructional teaching practices, and they are equally important as teaching practices. Imagine telling the story of the need of survey in Delhi for the sudden increase of number of women during last decade. Students will come up with various questions and answers for the same, and it will give teacher an opportunity to tell them what statistics is, and why it is required. A good amount of time should be given for ice-breaking. I always prefer to have an Inquiry Wall in the classroom where students will post their questions regarding the topic to be learnt.

Gone is the era when teacher used to teach with lecture, chalk and board. Though we are 21^st century teachers, we have to outlive our own era, we have to try to be the teacher of 22^nd century. Keeping in mind different types of learners, we have to plan different types of teaching methodology. Some of the best methods to teach students are story-telling, narrating, giving case study, but in each case, students have to proactively involve. A good teacher always has a bundle of different activities prepared in advance to take in the classroom. These activities not only help in engaging the class, but also in going closer to the learning outcomes.

Each day’s teaching is to be assessed. Each day a teacher should check whether he/she is teaching properly and the students are showing the signs of achieving learning outcomes. If not done on a regular basis, teacher may not realize whether students’ are prepared for learning the next part of the text. This stage will also help in understanding the low performers and planning remedial for them.

After learning the concept, a teacher has to plan what student will explore. A teacher has to show what activity students will complete to help them explore the material. Activities such as stations, cooperative learning groups, games, worksheet or other instructional methods, help in the same.

Once the explanation, teaching is done, elaborating starts. Elaborating, in education, is independent practice. Students should be given many activities where they will get opportunities to apply the knowledge and the skills they achieved during the teaching-learning process. These activities should help the children apply the learning in variety of situations. This work has to be done in the classroom and also at home.

Evaluation is the end stage in most of the lesson plans. But according to me, it has to be a stage at the each stage of learning. We have to evaluate students’ prior knowledge, their learning abilities, their skills, etc. Thus evaluation is not something to be taken only at the end. But yes, formative and summative assessment will help in evaluating students’ understanding of the concept and thus, in making a new plan to achieve the teaching objectives. Daily evaluation should be done in the form of an EXIT SLIP where a teacher will make a chit with a question written on it, and the students have to answer it in the end of the session.  

Being a teacher is easy, making people call you a great teacher is challenging. Only great planning will ease the journey from ‘A Teacher’ to an ‘Awesome Teacher’.  

Vedic Education Vs Modern Macaulay's Education

Decisions go wrong, and there is nothing wrong about it.

When one way doesn’t work for us, we change it to other. We choose the other way. But eventually when we find that the other way too is not much effective, we get frustrated, and instead of finding out which way was better, we curse the Way 2 and feel that Way 1 was better. Things are happening the same way in education, especially when people praise ‘Vedic Education System’ and curse ‘The New Education System’ brought by Lord Macaulay.

Both have their pros and cons, and for that matter, every education system has. Education system cannot be changed from A to B. It has to evolve from A to better A to Best A. But if asked which one is better in the cases of Vedic Education and the new Macaulay education, we should look for the one which has lesser cons.

Vedic Education system was hidden, or let’s say, was forgotten by the people of India till the rise of the new Hindutva or the right winged extremism. Why suddenly people started finding a better alternative in Education in the form of Vedic System? It has something to do with present Socio-Political situations. According to m, Vedic Education has the cons that would stop a generations growth.

1)    Vedic Education system emphasized upon ‘learning by heart’ and not by finding the universal reasoning for anything. Students, studying in Ashramas, were taught about the Vedas without questioning them. This is SANATAN way of education. The word SANATAN stands for things that has no birth and are prevailed in the society since ages. Better way to understand is, SANATAN means something given by GOD and not to be challenge. For me, the real education starts in challenging the wrongs and finding what the truth is. For example: There are many pundits who teach their current generation about Pooja Path, about how to take Satya Narayan Puja and all. They teach them about the rituals and the methods. But the student is not supposed to ask any question that will put the teacher in dilemma. The student is not supposed to ask any question that arouses his rational thinking, universal reasoning. 2)    Vedic Education was confined only for a particular stratum of the society. For example: In Vedic Era, only Brahmins were allowed to teach only to Brahmins. So who will be educated? Only Brahmins. What about other strata of the society? Shudras were not the part of this education system. So, it would be very right to say, that Vedic Education System did not believe in inclusiveness. Not everybody was included in the system. On the other hand, those who wanted to be a part of system, were sidelined by cruel intentions. For example: How Eklavya was thrown out of the competition by the Guru Drona. On the other hand, Macaulay’s education system brought all the members of the society together in the mainstream education, proposed special facilities for those who couldn’t afford it. 3)    The entire concept of Vedas is put into the culture for making mental slaves. Manusmirti was also written in the times of Vedas, and can be called as one of the Vedic Literature. But, it criticizes women calling women good for nothing but for taking care of the families. There are many objectionable things written about women and untouchables in Manusmriti. How can we say that such Vedic Literature is to be accepted in today’s era? Manusmiriti classified people and pave the road of RACISM and CASTISM in Indian Soil. Now people who defend Vedas will says that Varna System was for division of labour, but my question will be if it was for division of labour, why there is no history or literature that talked about a Shudra becoming a Brahmin. So, it is very much clear that Vedas talk not about division of labour, but division of laborers.   4)    Lack of rational thinking, lack of inquisitiveness is also one of the characteristics of Vedic Education. 5)    It is said that Vedic Education System talked about Wisdom. But to reach wisdom, one has to go through following steps: Data – Information – Knowledge - Wisdom But when the very first step of Knowledge relies much on some supernatural element, or on some element whose existence has not been proved yet, and will not be proved, the last step of wisdom becomes mere a dream.   5) Vedic Education system was closed. Completely closed. Data limited. Authenticity of the data was not verified. Conclusions were not checked and verified under different variables. May be that's why there wasn't any Issac Newton produced by Vedic Education.  When we have so many flows, which if accepted in today's generation would create a wide disparity amongst social classes and would create 'by heart learners', calling Vedic Education System as an alternative to Macaulay's Education System wouldn't be a nice idea.  I know Macaulay's education system too wasn't good as it, according to most of us, created clerks. But still Macaulay's education system believes in equality, liberty and the most important, in rationality. We cannot finalize an education system, it has to evolve with evolving times.

A SAMPLE ENGLISH PAPER FOR BOARDS EXAM

Section A: Reading

Q.1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions:

On February 17, 1920, a group of Indian revolutionaries met in Kabul to pass a resolution. The resolution directed at the Russian Communist revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, expressed deep admiration of Soviet Russia’s working class struggle that was led by him. “The Indian revolutionaries express their deep gratitude and their admiration of the great struggle carried on by soviet Russia for the liberation of all oppressed classes and peoples, and especially for the liberation of India,” said the statement. Just about a couple of months later, Lenin responded to the Indian call, “I am glad to hear that the principles of self-determination and the liberation of oppressed nations from exploitation by foreign and native capitalism, proclaimed by the Workers’ and Peasants’ Republic, have met with such a ready response among progressive Indians, who are waging a heroic fight for freedom,” said he. For the revolutionary leader, an Indian free from an oppressive British rule was a necessary prerequisite for a decisive defeat of an exploitative capitalist system.

Lenin was sure that the Russian revolution would be incomplete unless it was followed by a similar uprising of workers and peasants across Europe and Asia. The anti-colonial struggle in this regard was a necessity, an essential step in that direction, and Lenin did everything in his capacity to motivate and support a revolution against imperialist rules.

On Tuesday, the legacy of the Soviet leader in Indian received a disturbing jolt when a statue of his in Belonia town of Tripura was brought down by an enthusiastic crowd of BJP supporters amid cries of “Bharat Mata ki Jai.” The demolition was on one had justified by the BJP as a reaction by those being ‘oppressed’ by the Left. On the other hand, the CPI-M explained the act as the manifestation of ‘Communism Phobia’. “Even if it was a statue of former CPI(M) chief minister Nripen Chakraborthy, nobody would have touched it – he was one of us and belonged to the country. But what does this foreigner Lenin have to do with our people?” remarked BJP south district secretary Raju Nath in response to the incident.

Questions:

1.      What was the intention of Indian revolutionaries for passing the revolution in Kabul? (2 Marks)

2.      How did Lenin praise the Indian spirit of fight against oppressions? (2 Marks)

3.      Why did Lenin want India free from oppressive colonist rule? (2 Marks)

4.      How did BJP justify the demolishing of Lenin’s statue? (2 Marks)

5.      Find the words from the passage which mean:

a.       Freedom (para 1)

b.      Utilization in the form of mistreat (Para 1)

c.       Mutiny (Para 2)

d.      Pulling down (Para 3)

Q.2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions:

There is a minor celebrity hood that comes with occasionally appearing on Arnab's show. In the oddest of places, strangers will walk up to me and ask, 'Don't I Know you from somewhere? ' There was a time when I would seriously consider the possibility, but I've come to realise that many people are really at home only in front of their TV watching Arnab, and in that sense I am an old acquaintance.

I had little inkling of this fate when I first started appearing on television to defend Open magazine's decision to publish the Radia tapes After that memorable television encounter where Barkha Dutt and Manu Joseph replayed the same conversation 20 times over, I was left to fend for the magazine on other channels. Initially, I agreed to continue appearing on Arnab's channel because the magazine's publisher insisted this was good publicity; it was only later that I saw some journalistic sense in doing so.

I say this despite harbouring no illusions about the nature of the show. It is a performance with Arnab as the director and the main character, and an audience swept along by the drama of what transpires. The form is defined by Arnab, the substance born out of the audience. This is an audience that comprises the section of middle class which is comfortable watching news on television in English. It is socially liberal, hence the anger against gharwapasi or those opposing Valentine's Day, but it is xenophobic in its nationalism, hence the noise about Pakistan or Greenpeace. If NDTV was the product of the scions of a particular elite telling the rest of the English- speaking class what to think, Times Now gives voice to what this class actually thinks, which is why this Prime Time clash was never much of contest.

In this theatre, journalists like me have a prescribed role: to endorse Arnab's opinion. Journalists perceived to be affiliated with a political party can't carry this off with any conviction. Those who remain are likely to endorse Arnab only when they genuinely agree with him, forcing the channel to cherry pick. I know I won't be asked to appear on a show about offloading a Greenpeace activist, because I'd then be at odds with Arnab.

What does this role offer those who accept it? The increased visibility lends their work greater value at a time personal branding is increasingly defining value in journalism. But I also see it as an opportunity to point out to a largely apathetic country that in 1984, Kamal Nath was at the head of a mob that burned two Sikhs to death a few 100 metres from Parliament. Or voice my apprehensions about Narendra Modi to a mass audience at a time the country seemed besotted with him. This is possible because Arnab's sole interest is his play, he is not a participant in the games most other anchors play out in Delhi. Interestingly, the roles come with no strings attached. No one's ever asked me not to be critical of Arnab, as I have been, or Samir Jain, as I continue to be.

Questions:

1)      What did the writer realize about the TV watching habit of his countrymen? (1 Mark)

2)      Why did the writer continue appearing on Arnab's Channel? (1 Mark)

3)      Which section of society watches Arnab's show ? (1 Mark)

4)      Who is 'xenophobic' in its nationalism ? (1 Mark)

5)      Why do people appear on Arnab's show? (1 Mark)

6)      On which news channel does Arnab appear? (1 Mark)

7)      Find words from the passage which mean the same as: (2 Mark)

a)      An erroneous mental representation. (b) A descendant or heir

Section B: Writing and Grammar

Q.3. You are Suman/Sumit Shinde from M.G. Road, Nagpur. Write a letter to the editor of a local daily mentioning your concern over improper implementation of inclusive education and RTE in the schools in your locality. (8 Marks)

Q.4. Write a story on the basis of following points: (12 Marks)

Three friends – decide to play a prank on fourth friend – midnight – ghost prank – fourth friend disappears – nowhere to be seen – three friends see a ghost – get scared and run away – fourth friend is the ghost – prank failed

Q.5. Rearrange the following jumbled words to make meaningful sentences: (3 Marks)

free/ is /not born / a man / a slave /but / a / to be /soul/to be

Ans: A man is not born to be a slave but to be a free soul.

ruling /always /sure /amongst / the /make /of /classes /commoners /illiteracy.

rebels /person /slavery /the /of /the /against /ruling /classes /aware.

is /a /day /to /live /it /like /a /hundred /tiger /for /than /a /better /goat /for /days.

Q.6. Read the given conversation and complete the following sentences: (4 Marks)

Ajay: Are we not going for a movie?

Kavita: Why should I go with you?

Ajay: I know you are angry at me since last night.

Kavita: I am not coming with you. Take someone else for a movie.

Ajay: You started the fight first last night.

Kavita: But why did you comment on my family?

Ajay asked Kavita (a) ………………………………… She replied saying (b) ……………………… To that Ajay said that he knew that she was angry at him since the previous night. To that Kavita told him that she was not coming with him and also told him (c) ……………………. Ajay mentioned that it was Kavita who had started the fight first the previous night. To that Kavita questions Ajay (d) ……………………..

Q.7. Read the given paragraph. In each line (except the second line) there is word missing. Find the missing word and write it as it is given in sample answer: (3 Marks)

	Word Before	Missing word	Word after
Days after India reached out  China and	out	to	China
advised Indian officials skip events organised
by the Tibetan government-in-exile, Beijing	a)  …………….	…………….	…………….
Thursday  New Delhi to shed “mental inhibitions”	b)  …………….	…………….	…………….
“mutual suspicion” to improve bilateral ties.	c)  …………….	…………….	…………….
Using one of the most oft-repeated metaphors	d) …………….	…………….	…………….
India and China, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
said it  time for the Chinese dragon and Indian	e) …………….	…………….	…………….
elephant to dance together rather  fight each other.	f) …………….	…………….	…………….

Section C: Literature

Q.8. Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:  (4 Marks)

“My credit now stands on such slippery grounds”.

a)      Who said this and to whom?

b)      Why does the speaker say so?

c)      What does the phrase ‘such slippery ground’ refer to here?

d)      Is the speaker honest to say so? Why do you think so?

OR

Q.8. Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:  (4 Marks)

“But you shall shine more bright in these contents

Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.”

a)      Identify and explain the figures of speech given in these lines.

b)      Why does the poet call the time ‘sluttish’?

c)      What is the main theme of this poem?

d)      What do you mean by the lines ‘unswept stones besmeared with sluttish time’?

Q.9. Answer any four of the following questions in 50 to 60 words: (2 x 4 = 8 Marks)

a)      ‘Mrs. Packetide’s Tiger’ is an environmental satire. Explain.

b)      The law of Karma is one of the major themes of Dhumketu’s ‘The Letter’. Discuss.

c)      How does John Hallock’s promise to Helen fail miserably?

d)      Patol Babu doesn’t wait to take money after his shoot get over. Why?

e)      Discuss the themes common between ‘The Rime of Ancient Mariner’ and ‘Snake’.

f)       How has the poet described the snake?

Q.10. ‘The Dear Departed’ is the writer’s take on modern isolated families and that is what makes it a and ironical social satire. Explain with reference to the play.            (8 Marks)

Q.11. How the personality of young Anne keeps on changing due to the various incidence that happened in her family and society around her.  (10 Marks)