Freedom

According to George Bernard Shaw the absolute freedom means doing what one likes, when he likes and where he likes. There can never be absolute freedom because whether we like it or not we must sleep, eat, drink, wash and dress. We are expected to live and behave in a certain way otherwise society will reject us. We can not live in isolation. We are slaves to necessities. Though we can not avoid these natural jobs, we can avoid work, which goes with them. We can get food and home and clothes from others. “We can make others do most of the work for us.”

The Government enforces slavery and calls it freedom. An ordinary man’s freedom is limited to choosing between one master and another. It is government-regulated slavery. We are supposed to govern ourselves with a vote.  But it does not change our status or reduce our work. We are fooled into believing that we are free.

There are two types of slavery. One, the natural slavery of man to Nature and two the unnatural slavery of man to man. Nature forces us to eat, sleep, drink and set up a family. This natural slavery is pleasant and essential. But the slavery of man to man is hateful to the spirit. No man is good enough to be another man’s master. It leads to the class war. For a peaceful and stable society abolition of slavery is essential. Everyone must do his share of work. The mater class, through its parliaments and schools and newspapers, prevents common people from realizing their slavery. When people grumble they are told that all their miseries are of their own doing because they have the vote to elect their government. They are told that the rich are taxed but not how much the poor have to work. Those who protest against such imposture is called evil people (anti-social elements). Everything is done to retain the slave order.

All this is meant to deceive the common people, the master class is also deluded. All are deceived by falsified history. Gentlemen are taught snobbery in their schools. A gentleman is taught that he is superior to others who should work for him. He believes that the system, which has put him in such a comfortable position is the best one and whatever it says is right. So the slavery to man is perpetuated methodically.

Aristotle held that the law and order and government would be impossible unless the persons (the people) have to obey beautifully dressed and decorated, speaking with special accent, travelling in special carriages, and not doing anything that can be done ordering some common man to do it. This means that they must be made very rich to produce an impression of god like superiority. So the master class is an artificial creation for convenience. In short, you must make men ignorant idolaters to make them obedient workers. The common people themselves do not vote for the members of their own class. When women were enfranchised they defeated the women who stood for workers and elected a titled lady of great wealth. This servility is the product of the manipulated education system.

Absolute freedom is impossible since we have to obey nature and work to earn a living. Even during our free time nature interferes. A man is at the mercy of his employer and the landlord. Yet a lot of freedom or leisure is not good either for man or for society in general. An idle man’s mind is devil’s workshop. If we have a lot of wealth we may loose both health and happiness. Some restriction is necessary for the health of society and some work is necessary for the health of human beings.

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The Two Trees – W. B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats is one of the major poets of the 20^th century. He has a multifaceted personality with varied interests. His contributions include poetry, dramas, essays on literary criticism and an autobiography. He was also known as mystic poet. The present poem 'Easter 1916' deals with an historical event of Irish Freedom Struggle. All the peasants of Ireland launched a movement of protest against the British rule exactly on the Easter Day (resurrection day of Lord Jesus Christ) in the year 1916. The freedom struggle was a long drawn battle of sacrifices. The sacrifice of the patriots is an awakening to the people of Ireland.

'Eater 1916' is partly biographical and partly historical. The poet says that he met the rebellious people at the close of the day. They were all belonging from various walks of life deemed to sacrifice for the sake of national interest. ' A terrible beauty is born'; the refrain of the poem helps the reader to imagine the change that occurred in his country. It was the result of the chain events of sacrifices, struggles, sufferings of men and women who dreamed for their free country from British Rule.

People of all walks of life participated in this protest indicates how the movement had taken itself into a mass movement, a saga of sacrifice, struggle and suffering. The poet takes some such examples to build up his theme of transformation. There was resistance within the society although the change is the rule of the nature.  The birth of the terrible beauty presupposes innumerable instances of untold miseries and sufferings of the patriots who loved their free country.

The Lady Officer who put to death by the British Government, the poet's friend Patric Pearse, Thomas Mac Donagh John Mac Bride and lots of other patriots were suffered greatly in the course of the freedom struggle. Many people strove hard to awaken their countrymen and fill in them a sense of pride and a craving for independence and freedom.

Long series of sacrifices brought about a change in the outlook and the mood of the people of Ireland. The revolution assumed momentum. The British parliament was forced to pass bill of Home Rule. The poet asserts that the sacrifices of the patriots would never go vain. They would be remembered for their precious services to the country. The poet's acknowledgment would also immortalise those great men and women who fought for the noble cause of freedom. By this poem, 'Easter 1916' the poet desires to immortalise all those great souls who sacrifice their lives for the sake of their country.

The Guide – R K Narayan

'The Guide' is the most popular novel from the pen of R. K. Narayan. It was published in 1958 and won the Sahitya Academy Award for 1960. It has also been filmed and the film has drawn house-full collections

It recounts the adventures of a railway guide, popularly known as ‘Railway Raju’.  As a tourist guide he is widely popular. It is this profession which brings him in contact with Marco and his beautiful wife, Nalini. While the husband is busy with his archaeological studies, Raju seduces his wife and had a good time with her. Ultimately Marco comes to know of her affair with Raju and goes away to Madars leaving Nalini behind. Nalini comes and stays with Raju in his one-roomed house. His mother tolerates her for some time, but when things become unbearable, she calls her brother and goes away with him leaving Raju to look after Nalini and the house.

Nalini is a born dancer, she practices regularly and soon Raju finds an opening of a dance performance for her with quite attractive changed name ‘Rosie’. In the very first appearance, she has a grand success. Soon she is very much on demand to perform dance shows and their income increase enormously. Raju starts to live lavishly, entertains a large number of friends with whom he drinks and gambles. All goes well till Raju forges Rosie’s signatures to obtain valuable jewellery lying with her husband’s possession. The act of forgery of one’s signature made him land in jail. Rosie leaves Raju and Malgudi and goes away to Madras, her home town. She goes on with her dancing performances and she does well without the help and management of Raju, of which he was so proud.

On release from jail, Raju takes shelter in an old deserted temple on the banks of a river Sarayu, a few miles away from Malgudi, and close to the village called Mangal. The simple villagers consider him to be a Mahatma and all begin to worship him. They bring him a lot of eatables as presents. Raju is quite comfortable and performs the role of a saint to perfection.

However, soon there is a severe drought, and the villagers expect Raju to perform some miracle to bring them rain. So he has to undertake a fast. The fast attracts much attention and people come to have darshan of the Mahatma from far and wide. On the twelfth day of the fast, Raju falls down exhausted just as there are signs of rain on the distant horizon. It is not certain if he actually dead or merely fainted. Thus the novel comes to an abrupt end on a note of ambiguity.

Raju can be considered as he Chief Protagonist of the novel ‘The Guide’ though he upholds insincerity and pain. As a professional guide to Malgudi’s surrounding historical places, he invented a new historical pasts for bored tourists, he seduced a married woman, drifted away from his old mother from his house and acquired a falsehood,  gambling and drinking alcohol and spend money lavishly for simple physical pleasures. He even tried to forge the signature of Rogie to get her valuable jewellery from her former husband Marco. This forgery case made him land in a jail and being abandoned by everyone.

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The Character of Ratan Rathor

THE APPRENTICE - ARUN JOSHI

# Write an essay on the character of Ratan Rator, the protagonist of the novel, ‘The Apprentice’

Ratan Rathor, the protagonist, who narrates the story of his life to a N.C.C. cadet who came to New Delhi to participate in the Republic Day parade. Ratan narrates his own story an episode after another episode ranging from his childhood to his apprenticeship as a shoeshiner on the steps of a temple as a sort of expiation (redemption) for his sins. The novel, ‘The Apprentice’ deals with Ratan Rathor’s adolescent innocence, his manly experience and his saintly expiation.

Ratan Rathor presents before us a background of his childhood life both before and after the death of his father. Ratna has been an eye-witness to the sight of his father lying dead, who was brutally killed by a British Sergeant while he was leading a procession protesting against British Rule in India. Ratan Rathor, with the background of his middle class family, is torn between the world of his father’s idealism and his mother’s pragmatism. On one hand his father, an ardent patriot, gives up his lucrative practice as a lawyer to politics at Gandhi’s call. Up holding moral values he donates everything to the national cause without thinking of his family’s difficulties. On other hand his mother, who was disillusioned about the sacrifices made by the patriots during the freedom struggle. A woman suffering all the time physically, mentally, and economically may become almost cynical about money as it is the only means needed to make a man’s life happy in this world.

As a student Ratan Rathor also had ideals like his father and hoped that free India will bring new light to the citizens of the Republic. But, after the achievement of Independence all his hopes for better India have shattered.  He thought that the politicians of free India are worse substitutes for the alien Englishmen. This problem becomes so nagging that Ratan Rathor compelled to think that it has simply given us New Slavery: “yes a new slavery with new masters; politicians, officials, the rich, the old and new. Swindlers in fancy cars.”

When Ratan Rathor comes to Delhi, ‘a city of opportunities’, after his graduation in search of a job for his livelihood, he is disillusioned with stark realities of the present system. In his search for employment he realizes that the posts advertised are already filled in some manner. Even his father’s friends could not come to his aid for finding job for him. During his stay in Delhi he gets shelter in a sarai (inn) beside a masque where several others also occupy the same room with him. A stenographer living at the same inn, manages a temporary job for him in a Government office, dealing with war purchases.   

Thus Ratan Rathor begins his life as an apprentice clerk. Ratan Rathor keeps his eye upon his career despised by his father as bourgeois filth. He leaves the inn as soon as he gets the job to settle somewhere and tries to keep himself away even from the stenographer who had been instrumental in securing a job for him. He works hard to please his superintendent. In very short time of six months, on the recommendation of the superintendent, he gets confirmation in the service on his assurance that he would marry the superintendent’s niece. Henceforth he never looks back and on the superintendent’s retirement he gets this most coveted post which brings him every comfort in his life. With the accumulation of riches, Ratan rather gets engulfed in the vices associated with wealth such as taste for wine and women. In Bombay he once gets engrossed in ‘fantasies of pleasure.’

There is nothing unethical about the fact that the son of the freedom fighter runs after a bureaucratic career. But it is highly illegal, unethical and unscrupulous that he should get corrupt and act against the national interest. During the time of the nation’s adversity, he is not only one to gain prosperity by clearing sub-standard war materials supplied by the Sheikh Himmat Singh, being used in Indo-China war without caring for the lives of innocent people. The gravity of the offence committed by Ratan Rathor is surely more intense than the solution of polishing the shoes in front of the temple. Ratan rather forms a view that a successful career cannot be achieved through diligence and sincerity, but be realized through flattery and cunning. So he deceives his very close friend by giving a false statement without admitting his crime. Ultimately, the Brigadier commits suicide. Similarly, Ratan plays havoc with many who are sacrificing their lives for the nation’s cause. Ratan deceives Himmat Singh, a contractor holding him responsible for the supply of defective materials, but the words of Himmat Singh exposing the character of Ratan Rathor are soul-searching when he comments: “You are bogus, Ratan Rathor….from to bottom. Your work, your religion, your friendship, your honour nothing but a pile of dung”.

* * * * *

THE APPRENTICE – ARUN JOSHI

# Write the theme of the novel ‘The Apprentice’.

Ratan Rathor, the protagonist and also narrator of the story in the novel ‘The Apprentice’, who recounts the story of his own life in an episodic and reflective manner. He is initially an idealist like his father whose martyrdom gave him a strong impression on idealism and moral values but later he sacrificed his idealism and moral values in the face of the harsh, frustrating realities of bourgeois (middle class) existence.

It may be argued that ‘The Apprentice’ is predominantly about money, power, politics and corruption. The novel basically deals with how the New Slavery has come into existence after independence with new masters: politicians, officials (bureaucrats) and the rich.  At the outset the narration of the story in the novel is directly aims at exposing social degradation and political corruption of post-independent India. It is also be argued that the novel deals with the problem of character building, since Ratan Rathor the young idealist authored an essay ‘on the crisis of character’ to his college magazine which won the first prize for the year.  

Ratan Rathor has seen two pictures of India: the colonial India that produced a nation of clerks, the pillars of British Raj, and the post-independent India, which, in spite of fervent patriotism, ancient heritage, and Gandhian moral enthusiasm, is still overwhelmed by the British colonial tradition, which emphasis the spirit of docility and obedience as values that makes the middle-class so blindly follow its masters. The unique class of clerks is ironically portrayed by Joshi in his novel ‘The Apprentice’ as a class of emaciated men whose ambition does not extend beyond the constricting goals of clerkship, career-hunting, matrimonial game-planning and other highly charged ritualistic games involving status and money.

It was in the India of the 1940s and 1950s; Ratan Rathor first finds himself confronting with two worlds: one, the world of his father that is the world of idealism, patriotism, social and moral concern and the other is crippled world of bourgeois filth. No doubt poverty is a fertile soil for breeding crime, but it is seen in both the rich and the bourgeoisie of the pre-independence and the post-independence periods, who will do anything to gratify their indulgent lust for money. Joshi’s astute analysis of crumbling values of the bourgeoisie and its complete absence of ethical values and concerns in the name of aristocracy reveals the nature of the moral and psychological conflict among the people like Rathan Rathor, who has come from bourgeois class of society. Ironically, Ratan Rathor’s mother, a tuberculosis patient, is a staunch realist who knows fully about the practical value of money states categorically that without money life and all its idealism are totally meaningless. Rathor’s mother warned her husband not to give up his Law-practice for the sake of the falsetto idealism of Mahatma Gandhi. Following her husband’s sacrificial death, she is more convinced about the value of money. 

The self-destructive confusion and moral ambivalence of Ratan Rathor, which finally make him succumb to the mounting temptation of accepting tainted money by sacrificing his patriotism and honour, result from the spineless structure of bourgeois morality. By accepting the bribe from Himmat Singh, he has risked the lives of thousands of patriotic soldiers who fought with the enemy with inferior weapons. Ironically, when it comes to rationalization –— one of the last resorts of a criminal like our hero –— Ratan Rathor is frantically obsessed more by his honour than by the severity and magnitude of his crime. 

 

Ratan Rathor is guilty of accepting a bribe would characterize as compound fraud, the sin against community. His bribery and fraud threatened his honour for which he determined to take revenge from Himmat Singh, and then from the Secretary who hatched a conspiracy of supplying defective weapons to the army and also responsible for the committing suicide of his childhood friend Brigadier. Ratan Rathor did not opt for death like his Brigadier friend for his guilt of accepting bribe but expiate his guilt in more Gandhian way than Vedantic way:

“Each morning, before I go to work, I come here. I sit on the steps of the temple and while they pray I wipe the shoes of the congregation. Then, when they are gone, I stand in the doorway. I never enter the temple. I am not concerned with what goes on in there. I stand at the doorstep and I fold my hands, my hands smelling of leather and I say things. Be good, I tell myself. Be good. Be decent. Be of use. Then, I beg forgiveness. Of a large host: my father, my mother, the brigadier, the unknown dead of the war, of those whom I harmed, with deliberation and with cunning, of all those who have been the victims of my cleverness, those whom I could have helped and did not.

After this I get into my car and go to office. And during the day whenever I find myself getting to be clever, lazy, vain, indifferent, I put up my hands to my face and there is the smell of hundred feet that must at that moment be toiling somewhere and I am put in my place.”

Thus Ratan Rathor’s search for spiritual identity includes his concern for humanity. Ratan Rathor is freed from the fear of a possible judgement of society, but he remains bound to his own moral conscience in a voluntary attempt to redeem himself from the sin he had committed. However, in the process of discovery of self, there are magical moments when the individual sees congruence between social morality and individual consciousness.

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Dialogue Writing and Practice

Model Exercise

Read the following dialogue.

Mother    :               Are you ready, Uma?

Uma        :               Yes, I’m.

Mother    :               Have you taken the library books?

Uma        :               Yes, I’ve. What is there for breakfast, Mum?

Mother    :               Idli and chutney. Don’t you like it?

Uma        :               I love it. What’s there for lunch?

Mother    :               Can you guess? What did you want?

Uma        :               Oh! Now I guess. How do you find time for all this? So sweet of you.

Exercise – 1

Ganga wished Arun good morning and enquired of his well being. Arun said that he was fine and thanked her for the enquiry. Ganga then said that it was along time since they had met and added that she thought they had not met since he joined the Bangalore University. She then asked him how he liked his new set up. Arun replied that he liked the campus very much and added that the faculty was very competent and that all facilities for academic growth were available there. Ganga further wanted to know the duration of his course. He said it was four semesters in two years. Then he suggested that she make a trip to Bangalore. She exclaimed that it was a fine Idea. Arun asked her whether she would bring her brother also and added that he would love the city. Ganga apologised and said he wouldn’t be able to go since he was leaving for U.K. the next day. Arun was surprised to hear that. Then he invited Ganga home to tea that evening. She agreed and thanked him for the invitation. Then they bade farewell to each other.

Read the following conversation.

Ganga     :               Hi Arun! Good morning! How are you?

Arun       :               I’m fine. Thank you.

Ganga     :               It’s a long time since we met. I think we haven’t met since you joined the

                                Bangalore University. How do you like your new set up?

Arun       :               I like the campus very much. The faculty is very competent and all facilities for

                                academic growth are available there.

Ganga     :               What’s the duration of your course?

Arun       :               Four semesters in two years. Why don’t you make a trip to Bangalore?

Ganga     :               What a fine idea!

Arun       :               Will you bring your brother also? He’ll love the city.

Ganga     :               I’m sorry. He won’t be able to come. He’s leaving for U.K. tomorrow.

Arun       :               Is it so? By the way, will you please come home this evening for tea?

Ganga     :               Thank You. I’ll surely come. Bye.

Arun       :               Bye bye.

Exercise – 2

Write the report for the following dialogue.

Balu         :               My friends are coming home in the evening. Will you also come?

I               :               I’m tired. I don’t think I will be able to.

Balu         :               I’ve told them you’ll be there.

I               :               You inform me of their next visit. I’ll definitely be there.

Balu told me that his friends were coming home in the evening. He asked me whether I would also go. I replied that I was tired and expressed my inability to go. Balu said that he had told them that I would be there. Then I requested him to inform me of their next visit and assured him that I would definitely be there.

Exercise – 3

Read the following passage and write dialogue.

Ann asked Reena whether she had had her dinner. Reena replied that she had had it just a while ago and added that her tummy was full. Then Ann commented that in that case she could eat the chocolate she had brought for Reena. Reena immediately responded in the negative and said that there is always room for chocolates.

Ann        :               Did you have your dinner?

Reena     :               Yes, just a while ago and my tummy is full.

Ann        :               So, can I eat the chocolate I’ve brought for you?

Reena     :               Oh no, there’s always room for chocolates.

Exercise – 4

Read the following dialogue and a report to it.

Vishnu    :               What’s happening here?

Renu       :               It’s my birthday.

Vishnu    :               Whom have you invited?

Renu       :               All my friends.

Vishnu    :               How can this hall accommodate all your friends?

Renu       :               I’ve only a few friends.

Vishnu asked Renu what was happening there. She replied that it was her birthday. Then Vishnu asked whom she had invited. She said that she had invited all her friends. He wondered how that hall could accommodate all her friends to which she replied that she had only a few friends.

Exercise –5 

Ramesh wished Raja good morning and he too wished him back and then said that he thought they had not met each other before. Ramesh confirmed it and then introduced himself as a tourist from abroad and journalist by profession. Raja politely asked him what he could do for him. Ramesh replied that he had heard that Raja’s school had been selected as a model and congratulated for that. Raja thanked him. Ramesh requested Raja to answer some of the questions as he is going to write an article on the school. Raja agreed to co-operate. Then Ramesh asked him how he maintained discipline there. He wanted to know whether he was very strict with the boys.  Raja replied in the negative. Then Ramesh asked him whether he allowed the boys to smoke and drink. Raja emphatically denied it. Then he asked him whether they went for films. He answered that they went for films once in a while. Then Ramesh exclaimed that it was a very rigid system. Raja responded that you/one cannot have discipline in an institution for young boys, unless you are/ one is a bit rigid.

Ramesh   :               Good morning. Mr. Raja.

Raja        :               Good morning. I think we haven’t met each other before.

Ramesh  :               No, We haven’t. I’m Ramesh a tourist from abroad and a journalist by profession.

Raja        :               What can I do for you?

Ramesh   :               I heard that your school has been selected as a model. Congratulations!

Raja        :               Thank you.

Ramesh   :               I’d like to write an article about your school. Would you please answer a few

                                questions about your students?

Raja        :               Certainly, with pleasure.

Ramesh   :               How do you maintain discipline here? Are you very strict with the boys?

Raja        :               No, not very.

Ramesh   :               Do you allow the boys to smoke and drink?

Raja        :               Definitely not.

Ramesh   :               Do they go for films?

Raja        :               Only once in a while.

Ramesh   :              What a rigid in a system!

Raja        :              You cannot have discipline in an institution for young boys, unless you are a bit                                     rigid.

Exercise – 6

Read the following passage and a dialogue.

Rishi requested Arjun to lend him his pen. Arjun refused to so and said that he had only one pen with him. Then Rita said that she had a spare pen, which she would lend him. Rishi thanked her and promised to buy her a chocolate that evening.

Rishi       :               Arjun, will you please lend me your pen?

Arjun      :               No, I’ve only one pen with me.

Rita         :               I have a spare pen, which I’ll lend you.

Rishi       :               Thank you Rita. I’ll buy you a chocolate this evening.

In a restaurant

Rani        :               Can you please serve some more salad?

Bearer     :               Yes, madam. Anything else?

Rani        :               No, thanks. Please get me a cup of vanilla ice cream in a parcel.

Bearer     :               O.K., ma’am.

In the class room

Kumar    :               Could you please lend me a pen? Mine doesn’t write.

Ravi        :               Sorry, I don’t have one to spare.

Kumar    :               May be you’ve a pencil?

Ravi        :               Sorry, I don’t have a pencil either.

Requesting a friend to go with you to the town

Rani        :               Anu, are you free this evening? Can you please come with me to the town?

Anu        :               Yeah, sure. I’m free this evening.

Rani        :               Can you take me to the Gems? I don’t know the way.

Anu        :               Certainly. What time shall we go?

Rani        :               Let’s go at five.

At the post-office to a strange

Jacob                      :               Excuse me. Could I borrow your pen for a minute, please?

Stranger                  :               Certainly. Here it is.

Jacob                      :               Thank you.

Over the telephone

Receptionist          :      Good morning. Paradise Towers International.

Anurag                  :      Good morning. May I speak to Mr. Keshava murthy of room number 12,

                                     please?

Receptionist          :      May know who is calling, please?

Anurag                  :      I am Anurag Pande from Choice Towers.

Receptionist          :      Please hold on for a moment, sir. Let me see if he’s available… 

                                     Please speak on, sir. Mr. Keshava murthy is on the line.

Requesting your Principal to forward your application

Savithri  :               Good morning, Sir.

Principal:                Good morning.

Savithri  :               Sir, I’m applying for the Nehru Fellowship for higher studies. Would you kindly

                               forward my application.

Principal:                Very good. Please give it in the Office. I’ll forward it. I wish that you’d get it.
                               All the best.

Savithri  :               Thank you, sir.

Inviting a reputed writer

Arjun      :               Sir, We’re planning to organize a workshop on the effects of criticism on young                                   writers.

Writer     :               That’s a good idea. But what can I do for you?

Arjun      :               We’d be delighted if you could spare some time for us and address the students.

                                It’s for two days, the 10^th and 11^th of January.

Writer     :               All right. You just send me the details.

Arjun      :               I’ll do so. Thank you very much, sir.

Invitation declined by the District Collector.

Shekar    :               Good morning, Sir. I’m Shekar, Chairman of the College Students’ union of

                                Kottureshwara College.

Collector:               Good morning. Shekar, please sit down.

Shekar    :             Thank you, sir. I’ve come to invite you to inaugurate our College Day celebrations.

Collector:              When is it?

Shekar    :               Any day between 12^th and 16^th of February, according to your convenience.

Collector:              Sorry, Shekar. I’ll be in Delhi that week to attend a conference.
                              However, thank you very much for the invitation, and wish you all the best.

Congratulating one’s son for winning a championship

Nikhil      :               Dad, I’ve won the championship in athletics. Here’s the cup.

Dad         :               Well done my boy! You deserve it. Hearty congratulations!

Nikhil      :               Thank you, dad. There was stuff competition.

Dad         :               You’ve had good practice. Hard work always pays. But I must remind you not to

                                neglect your studies.

Nikhil      :               Don’t worry, dad. My rank is quite high in the proficiency list.

Dad         :               Congratulations, My son! I’m really proud of you.

Exercise – 6

Both Father and daughter went to Post Office and met the postmaster.

Shankarappa         :         Good morning sir, I’m Shankarappa, she is my daughter Rama.

Postmaster            :          Good morning, Oh! Shankarappa, for a long time you have come to the

                                         Post office. What can I do for you?

Shankarappa         :          There must be a parcel from Mumbai on her name. Is there any such

                                         arrival, sir?

Postmaster            :          Oh! That parcel of books has been delivered to you? We did not know

                                         Whose parcel was that because the address was insufficient.

Sankarappa           :          What is wrong with it, sir.

Postmaster            :          There was only Rama’s name in the address. And there was no name of

                                         you. How can we find out the addressee? There must be the name of the

                                         family’s head in the address.

Sahnkarappa         :          Wrongly written in Urgency, Excuse me, sir.

Postmaster            :          All right, I’ve known you, and there is no difficulty in delivering the

                                         parcel. (towards his assistant) Raja, could you bring that parcel in the name

                                         of Rama, which was kept undelivered for a long time.

Raja                      :          Yes, sir. (he brings and gives it to him)

Postmaster            :          Mr. Shankarappa could you please put the signature here on this form.

Shankarappa         :          Ok. sir.

Postmaster            :          Rama, could you please lend me your book to read at once?

Rama                     :          Yes, sir. I will give this book after my reading. (Postmaster laughs at her

                                          words)

Shankarappa         :           Thank you, sir. We have been benefited by you. We will see you latter,

                                          Sir. (goes out)

DIALOGUE PRACTICE

Murali:                   Hi! Manoj, what brings to this office again?

Manoj:                   I’ve come for my service certificate.

Murali:                   How long did you work here?

Manoj:                   I joined here at the age of 20 and left at the age of 23. That means 3 years. 
                              To be exact it is a little over three years.

Murali:                   Murthy has also left us, isn’t he (is he not) the same age as you?

Manoj:                   No, I am 23 now. And he is above 24. He is at least a year older than I. What                                        about you?

Murali:                   I am under twenty-one. I am slightly, that is, just a few months over 20.

Introducing self and others

Raghav:                 Excuse me, can I sit here please?

Sudhir:                   Yes, please.

Raghav:                 Thank you, Hello, I am Raghav Rai.

Sudhir:                   I’m Sudhir Sen.

Raghav:                 What do you do Mr. Sen.

Sudhir:                   I’m a salesman in Mega Electricals. What about you?

Raghav:                 I’m an accountant in the Bank of India.

Sudhir:                   Where are you from?

Raghav:                 I’m from Mumbai. But now I settled in Bangalore. And You?

Sudhir:                   I am from Bangalore Itself.

Raghav:                 My stop has come. O.K. Bye, Sudhir.

Raghav:                 Bye.

After a few days when two families are meeting

Sudhir:                   Hello Raghav, How are you?

Raghav:                 Fine, thank you. And you?

Sudhir:                   Fine, here, Meet my wife Meeta, my son Mohit, and my daughter Neha.

Raghav:                 Hello Mrs Sen, hello children. My wife Shefali and my daughter Soma.

Sudhir:                   Hello Mrs Rai.

Meeta:                    (to shafali) Hello, nice meeting you.

Shafali:                   Nice meeting you too.

Meeta:                    Do you work, Shefali?

Shafali:                   No, I’m a housewife. What about you?

Meeta:                    I teach in a school.

Shafali:                   Which school?

Meeta:                    Nehru Public School.

Shafali:                   Where is that?

Meeta:                    In mission road.

Shafali:                   In V.V. Puram. Please drop in sometime.

Meeta:                    Sure, you too.

Mother and son

Mother:                  Get up Rishal, It’s five o’clock.

Rishal:                    It’s too early, mom.

Mother:                  You have your science exam today. Get up and revise your course.

Rishal:                    O.K. Mom, I will get up in two minutes.

Mother:                  Hurry up and wash your face. Meanwhile, I’ll get milk for you.

Rishal:                    O.K. mom.

Mother:                  Did you take out your clothes last night, Rishal?

Rishal:                    Yes, I did.

Mother:                  And your shoes? Did you polish them?

Rishal:                    No, I forgot to polish the shoes, I’ll do it now.

Mother:                  Do that later. First finish your revision.

Rishal:                    O.K. mom.

Mother:                  Haven’t you finished yet, Rishal?

Rishal:                    Yes, I have.

Mother:                  Have you revised everything well?

Rishal:                    Yes, mom. I have revised everything well.

Mother:                  are sure of writing your exam well?

Rishal:                    yes, mom

Mother:                  O K, my child, I wish you the best of everything.

Secularism

Secularism is not atheism but it is dedication to the core of all religions. Secularism is more a social ideal than a political policy. Every religion believes in the essential dignity of every individual irrespective of creed or clan. Secularism is the direct continence of humanism. It clearly demonstrates the peaceful co-existence of all people belonging to various clans and communicates.

India is a land of unity in diversity. It is the land where a number of different languages and religions are existing. Despite all these India ought to secure Unity, Harmony and Tolerance among people. Though, people belong to various faiths and religions ought to live together at peace. Thus, millions of people have to contribute to the rich treasure of culture and heritage of India.

Above all, all religions preached love, compassion and tolerance albeit through different ways. God or no God, rebirth or rebirth, one must live as a good human being, helping and not harming fellow citizens. Harmony and friendliness are the basis for peace and Prosperity – it does not happen by miracle – we have to work for it.

Growing Hindutva and its fanaticism is a trauma of secular ideology of Indian constitution. The 464 – year – old Babri Masjid has been razed to the ground and led to serious repercussions of killing and looting – Secularism is at stake.

Ours is an ancient country and hence our history is ancient. There is a great deal that has come down to us as a legacy. It is both varied and rich and has the happenings of the time’s woven into it. We need not only respect this heritage but also to hand it down to posterity.  What was bequeathed to us is the bonding between successive generations and communities. We must also remember that our national heritage knows no religion.

Let not our people are killed for the sake of futile political gain for a few. Secularism is a living idea that strengthens the base of unity of humanity. Though the Republic of India and its secular constitution received the biggest blow in its 45 years existence when the mob of vandals destroyed the 16^th century monument. 

Integrated Circuits / Microchips

Electronic devices – including computers, portable stereos, calculators, microwave ovens or cookers and digital watches – are all around us, making modern life more convenient. In spite of their many differences, these devices all rely on the same invention – the integrated circuit (IC), also known as the micro chip – which can calculate, process, send, receive and store information faster, more cheaply and more accurately than any other machine ever made.

A microchip or IC is a collection of thousands of electrical circuits, all of them tiny and laid out on wafers of silicon about the size of a fingernail. Information enters as pulses of electric current. These chase along the pathways of the circuit, picking up other pieces of information, changing it, working on it, keeping some bits and rejecting others, and producing a new set of information at the other end within a flash of time.

The speed and the potentiality of a microchip or IC are really amazing. For example, predicting the world’s weather condition is a complex business. The computer of the British Meteorological office can make up to 80 billion calculations in a second, although it usually operates at 1 billion calculations a second. A six-day global weather forecast takes it about 15 minutes to work out. 

The smallest IC of the world is called a Tiny mite. It is surrounded by its electrical connectors and total microchip is designed on its panel is the size of a human fingernail.

As we know, the computers are digital machines, chiefly working on integrated circuits. The means of storing and processing all information like words, music, pictures and sounds – as long strings of numbers, or codes. Computer programmes, also known as software, tell a computer how to process its information by breaking down every task into a series of simple steps. These are carried out at amazing speeds. Some home computers or personal computers can deal with 400 million codes per second; bigger machines are considerably faster than this.

These microchips are applied in various activities of our lives, particularly where human eye failed to judge. For instance, some tennis players can serve a ball at 200 km/h, which is too fast for the eye to follow the ball clearly.  In professional matches, linesmen and umpires rely on an electronic eye to tell them if a service of the ball has crossed a line or not. The system sends an infrared beam along the service line, about 15mm above the ground. If the service of the ball crosses the beam; a microchip activates a warning beeper and a red light in the lineman’s box.

Thus microchip or IC has become an indispensable object, which continuously making our lives more easily and more efficient than ever before.

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games have become so much a part of our lives that we are no longer curious about its beginnings. We talk of legendary sportsmen and their exploits at the games but a few of us know the legends behind the games. The first Officially recorded Olympic Games was held as far back as 776 BC. But the Games are believed to have begun as early as 1370 BC. 

According to legend, the games were conducted to commemorate the victory of the Greek God Zeus in his battle with a rival God Tronous for possession of the Earth. The battle was believed to have fought at Olympia in Greece, said to be abode of Gods, and the games were held periodically in Olympia. And there are many legends, which explain the beginning the legendary Olympic Games.

The Olympics in ancient Greece began in a small way with a few games, and few competitors from nearby regions, but soon grew to be a mammoth festival. Participants came from every corner of Greece, and a sacred truce was declared during the games to enable warring states to partake amicably and to ensure safety of all participants and spectators. 

The ancient Olympics were not merely spectacles of physical prowess. The Olympic festival continued for five days and there was big fair. The Greeks, who believed in the harmonious development of the body and soul, included in Olympics, Competitions for poets, dramatists and orators. The Games became so popular that in later years even the Romans participated in them. In 65 AD Emperor Nero of Rome took part in the chariot race at the 211^th Olympiad. He was awarded the prize although he did not complete the course!

There were, in all, 293 Olympics spread over 1,168 years.  The games finally came to an end in 393 Ad when the roman Emperor Theodesius banned them. The reasons for the ban are not certain.

Exactly 101 years ago, in 1892, the Baron de Coubertin, French founder of Modern Olympics, gave his clarion call for the resurrection of the games. French aristocrat and educationalist who wanted to restore the glory of sport and promote Global Peace and understanding through medium of sport. In 1893, he was instrumental in calling an in international conference at Paris in which 13 nations were represented and unanimously adopted the Coubertin’s proposal of holding the Olympic Games every four years. Accordingly, the first modern Olympics were held, quite appropriately, in Athens in 1896. The Baron also introduced the Olympic Flag, with it five colourful interlaced rings, at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920. The five rings represent the five continents and their colours include colours from the flags of all partaking countries, which supports the spirit of international good will.

Adult Education

Man is no better than a beast without education. Education is light, which illuminates all dark corners of human brain. It is not merely learning three R’s, i.e., Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. It is a change from good to better and better to best. Thus and educated person is one who grows creatively, without change in creativity life remains dull and drab.

India lives in her villages. There are millions of uneducated people live in her/our villages. These people do a number of jobs to earn their livelihood. As a result of illiteracy of these millions, nation is relegated to backwardness. Education gives them, new skills and talents and it increases their efficiency.

India, with its lofty idea of education to rural millenium, launched National Adult Education Programme (NAEP) in 1978, followed by the State Adult Education Programme (SAEP), which accounted rather modest results. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi government, which took office included literacy as one of its Technology Missions, and on May 5^th 1988 the Prime Minister launched the National Literacy Mission (NLM). All these programmes took shape into Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs) proved outstanding success in Ernakulam district, by the then collector of Ernakulam shaping into fully literate district by over 20,000 volunteers involved to educate more than 1.5 lakh illiterates. Each volunteer had put in around 240 hours over a six-month period to achieve this Herculean task. By February 4^th 1990, the date which, the Prime Minister V.P. Singh declared Ernakukam the first literate district in the country.

Thus, today the Government of India (GoI) is spending millions of rupees on Adult Education. Though Adult Education Programme gives Education to the countryside adult agriculture labourer and it dispels his idleness. Farm labourers by the help of their education they may put his leisure in productive way but the achievements of AEP are not satisfactory. Let us wish Adult Education Programme should be a successful one though it is an image of gold with feet of clay and hope for golden harvest.  

Science and Technology

The insatiable thirst for knowledge never ends and inexhaustible. Man is never tired of finding out what he fails to know once. His efforts have been expanded to the horizons of knowledge. Sky is the limit in triumph of modern man.

The modern age challenges the man with its complexity although he achieved a lot. It is eternal quest for knowledge makes man more optimistic than pessimistic to find out the remedy for every riddle in his life. The world has become smaller than before due to tremendous inventions and developments in every dimension of progress such as communications and travel facilities. But man does not satisfy with what he accomplished.

The western world achieved incredible development by passing through two major Industrial Revolutions while India trudging for its existence from its futile multi-faceted lingual and communal problems. The Industrial growth and economy brought change in every walk of life in European community. Hence, India relegated to centuries of backwardness of both Research and Industrialization.

However, the young Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who came to office in 1985, dreamt for India’s 21^st century prospectives and challenges and tried to lead the country to step into the future century by welcoming the third Industrial Revolution Known as Computer Revolution. This bold decision minimizes the gap from centuries to decades and decades to a few years between west and east. India is, however stepping forward rather slowly towards maturity in every dimensional progress.

India is, in fact, trying to develop indigenous world-class technology rather than import. ISRO’s successful INSAT-2A is the landmark of India’s matured capabilities in satellite building for multi-purpose applications, which launched in July 1992. IRS-IA is the first successful satellite, which preceded INSAT-2A with total indigenous capabilities orbited in March 1988; spread wings of Indian Technology Mission. Rightly said ISRO’s chairman Prof. U.R. Rao that Indian satellite technology has reached maturity.

The other successful stages of accomplished development like atomic explosion at Pokharan in Rajasthan on 18 May, 1974 headed by Dr. Raja Ramanna; launching a Centre for Development of Telematics (C – DoT) in Delhi led by Sam Pitroda; BHEL’s and Development Centre in Hyderabad are worthy to note. 

India’s Defence Research and Development Base – Hyderabad has just crossed three milestones by successfully testing highly sophisticated computerized missiles in recent years. ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) which adds another feather to the plethora of successful achievements of India by HAL – Bangalore by the joint venture with Euro-Copter – Germany. Though we achieved a great deal is less than what we achieved, a great deal is less than what we need. India is many miles to go to meet the needs of the people.