The Marriage Proposal — Anton Chevkov

Stepan Stepanovitch Tschubukov and Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov were neighbours in a village. Natalia Stepanovna was the daughter of Tschubukov. Lomov a man of thirty five wanted to marry. He thought Natalia was good at housekeeping and she was not bad looking. So he came to the house of Tschubukov on one evening to propose to Natalia. Naturally he was in his best clothes befitting the occasion of a marriage proposal. Tschubukov received him cordially in his reception room. Like every young man going to make a marriage proposal Lomov was also excited and nervous. After some nervous stammering, he told Tschubokov that he wanted Natalia's hand in marriage. Tschubokov was very excited and happy at the proposal. He went out and sent Natalia into the room to meet the suitor. Natalia was not told of the purpose of Lomov. Natalia and Lomov began to talk.

Lomov was more nervous as he was facing the bride. He made a strong preface before coming to the proposal. He told Natalia about how the Lomovs and the Tschubukovs had been good neighbours on good terms for many years. In this context, he mentioned that his meadows touched the birch woods of Tschubukov. Natalia was surprised to hear that the meadows belonged to Lomov. She claimed that the plot of land belonged to them, the Tschubukovs. A bitter quarrel ensued. Lomov claimed it belonged to him and Natalia too claimed it to be theirs. Lomov forgot his original purpose. They called each other names, even though a little while ago they were full of good neighbourly feelings. Tschubukov came in and heard their quarrel. He too claimed that the meadows belonged to him. The quarrel grew even bitterer. They called each other names and began to expose the scandals of each others' families. Lomov had a weak heart. He used to have palpitation in the heart. He was excited and he fainted. He rose and left the house. At this juncture, Tschubukov remarked that such a fool had dared to come seeking the hand of Natalia. 

The moment she heard that he had come to propose to her, Natalia changed her tone. She asked her father to bring back Lomov. Her self interest overruled all other considerations like her loyalty to her family. Lomov came back. Natalia was all politeness. She even conceded that the meadows belonged to Lomov. After all, if they were married, the meadows would come to be hers only. Lomov informed that he would go hunting after the harvest. He was sorry that his dog Ugadi limped and he began to praise his dog. He thought that a hundred and twenty five rubles that he had paid for it was very cheap for such a good dog. Natalia, however, thought that it was a very high price because her father had paid only eighty-five rubles for their dog Otkatai, which was a better dog than Ugadi.

Lomov disagreed and asserted that Otkatai had a smaller lower jaw than the upper one and Ugadi was a far better dog than Otkatai. Once again their pride in their dogs led to another quarrel. Tschubukov came in and joined the quarrel. Lomov once again got excited and he fainted. Tschubukov who knew the importance of getting his daughter married, at once joined the hands of Natalia and Lomov and declared that Natalia agreed to the match. Natalia too, declared that she was willing and Lomov declared that he too, was happy. Tschubukov shouted for champagne to celebrate the intended marriage.

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The Unknown Citizen – W. H. Auden

How does W. H. Auden  draw a pen picture of a socially-regimented citizen in a materialistic Utopia of Modern Age in his poem ‘The Unknown Citizen’?

W. H. Auden is a sensitive citizen, a poet, lover of freedom and desires that every citizen should enjoy freedom. With his remarkable social and political awareness, he opposed totalitarianism which destroys the freedom of an individual by imposing too many controls on one’s freedom and reduces him to a mere ‘number’ on an identity card. According to him, modern society is like a goodly apple rotten at the core.

It is a mockery and irony that the state which is directly responsible for the dilution of individual freedom and appreciates the unknown citizen and makes him known, through a marble monument, to perpetuate his memory. The poet wonders that the monument might have been erected to commemorate his tolerance, even after losing his freedom under the controls of the state. Happiness and freedom for such citizens become words of no substance, and no significance. The actions of the state seem merely to mock these noble concepts.

Auden opens his poem ‘Unknown Citizen’ with reference to a citizen who is unknown. This ordinary citizen was remembered by a marble monument erected by the state in his honour. The bureau of statistics which is there to look after the citizens’ conduct and welfare, made no complaint against this particular citizen at any moment. All the reports on his conduct give him a clean chit. The old-fashioned word ‘saint’ can be used to regard him, although he belongs to the modern times.

Whatever he did, he did only for the benefit of the society. Auden certifies that he served the greater community till the day of his retirement. He worked sincerely in a factory where he was never found to be guilty and no one suspended him or dismissed him from his job. He always satisfied his superiors and his employers. Auden sarcastically describes the company where he works is Fudge Motors Inc.

The citizens never refused to give their opinion of his co-workers, nor did he owe any dues to the trade union. He was as popular with his colleagues as he was with others. Like many ordinary individuals he enjoyed a drink now and then. The press was happy that he read a paper, daily. He never over-reacted to any advertisements. His insurance policies proved that he was fully covered by the insurance. The health card maintained in his name showed that he was healthy. He visited a hospital only once during his long years of service.

He enjoyed all comforts which a common man could afford. He had a gramophone, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire. Public opinion surveys revealed that his opinions about men and matters had nothing offensive. In peace, he enjoyed peace and in war, he went to war when he was called upon. Like many ordinary citizens, he was also married and had five children and at that time population experts considered that this was the right number for any parent. Teachers reported that he never interfered with his children’s education.

Auden concludes his poem very sarcastically saying that he may not ask the citizen a question that whether he was happy. The question, the poet feels, is absurd. If anything had happened wrong, it would certainly have been reported.

Thus, Auden represents through the character of the unknown citizen, modern man who is reduced to a part of a machine. He has no individuality. He accepted the views of the state, without any resistance. So the government was happy with him, but the citizens cannot be called happy in any true sense of the word, as the citizen never enjoyed the benefits of freedom. He lived like a slave without any opinion which could be called his own.

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Unlock Your Own Creativity – Roger Von Oech

Q. What are the basic principles to unlock one’s own creativity?

Roger Von Oech, the author of the essay “Unlock Your Own Creativity” expresses his opinion that in this changing world one cannot have his thoughts and ideas locked up in his mind. Man has to be open-minded and not to have any conservative thinking which stands as an obstacle for his all-round development.  New ideas and creativity in the minds of the people should germinate and give scope for discovery of what nobody has thought. Mental locks should be freed and unlocked to give opportunity for the new ideas. The adults are used to find a set of answers to a set of questions. They think only in one dimension. The children think freely and with a natural ease. Thus the children are more creative than adults because they let their minds run free. So the adults remain with no new ideas.

Fortunately creativity is not all that mysterious. According to the Nobel prize-winning physician, Albert Szent-Györgi, the important trait of the creativity is “Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought”.

A whack (hit) on the head or some kind of push is required to strike the ideas. The falling apple awakened Alfred Newton to discover the laws of gravitation. Similarly some big blows make people think differently.  If a person loses his job, or if a person wants to do some difficult work, he or she is likely to respond creatively. People when faced with some challenges big or trivial, they set to think creatively.  Otherwise the mental locks will hold the persons to think freely. To over come these mental locks the author suggests uncritical acceptance of seven common mental locks in his famous book “A Whack on one side of the head” they are:

1. Find the right answer:

We are taught that there is one right answer to every problem. But in reality, many important issues are open-ended. Suppose if we have a problem like: “What do I do now if I have lost my job?”  The accepted right answer is —‘Look for another job’. But there is a second right answer also, —‘Go back to school and, learn a new trade’. And there is third possible answer is —‘Start your own business’. If you merely try to look for a second answer, that would produce the new idea you need. It is very important to note that according to Emile Chartier ‘Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one we have’.

2. That’s not logical:

Hard and logical thinking can be death to new ideas, because it eliminates alternatives that seem contradictory. New ideas germinate faster in the loose soil of soft thinking, which finds similar ties and connections among different things or situations.

 3. Follow the rules:

To get an idea, we have to break rules that no longer make sense. Some times a new idea may lead on to a new rule.

4. Be practical

To grow ideas one should need a wide realm of the possible rather than the narrow one of the practical. Ask yourself: ‘What if …?’ you may likely stumble at the new ideas.

5. Don’t be foolish:

Many times being humorous you can get new ideas. Being foolish is the form of play. If necessity is mother of invention, play is its father. Be foolish and write down the ideas that come to your mind.

6. That’s not my area:

Fresh ideas almost invariable come from outside one’s field of specialization. Creative people have to be generalists, interested in everything. What you learn in one field might prove useful in another. We are all generalists at home from where we start being creative.

7. I am not creative:

Most of us think that creativity is only for artists and inventors. If we think like this, we will not try creative solutions to any important problem. Self-esteem is essential for creativity because any new idea makes you a pioneer. Once you put an idea into action, you are out there alone taking risks of failure and ridicule.

We need the change that comes through creative thinking of all people, not just geniuses.

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Grammar for BA / BSc / B Com I Semester

Change the following sentences into passive voice:

Passive voice

       Passive voice is used when object is more important than the subject in the sentence.

       Passive voice is used only for transitive verbs.

       Passive voice is to remove the unimportant subject of the sentence.

       Passive voice is used when verb is followed by a direct object.

Sl. No	Tense pattern	Active Voice verb	Passive voice verb
1	Simple present	write/writes	is/ are written
2.	Present continuous	am/is/are writing	is/are being written
3.	Present prefect	have/has written	have/has been written
4.	Present prefect continuous	have/has been writing	No passive
5.	Simple past	wrote	was/were written
6.	Past continuous	was/were writing	was/ were being written
7.	Past perfect	had written	had been written
8.	Past perfect continuous	had been writing	No passive
9.	Simple future	*modal + write	modal + be + written
10.	Future continuous	modal + be+ writing	No passive
11.	Future perfect	modal + have + written	modal + have + been written
12.	Future perfect continuous	modal + have +been + writing	No passive

(* modal verbs are: will/shall/can/ may/ must/should/would/could/might/ought)

Noun Case
Noun/pronoun	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive/Genitive Case
Rama	Rama	Rama	Rama’s
I	I	me	my/mine
We	We	us	our/ours
You	you	you	your/yours
He	he	him	his
She	She	her	her
It	It	it	its
They	They	them	their
who	who	whom	whose

Exercises:

 B. Sc. 2008

1. Somebody has put out the light.    The light has been put out (by somebody).

2. He ordered a book.
3. They found him guilty of murder.
4. We expect good news.

 B. Sc. 2010

1. We demand an enquiry.
2. The principal grants us leave.
3. People criticized him for not offering to pay for the damage.
4. Ram will win the first prize.

B. A. 2008

1. The institute received 100 applications
2. Americans elected Bush as their President.
3. The syllabus is completed by the teacher in time.
4. Library books were returned by a few students.

B. A. 2010

1. Sita likes coffee.
2. Somebody wants Ravi on the telephone.
3. The police is/are unduly harassing me.
4. Students are doing a lot of work.

B. Com. 2009

1. The carpenter repairs the chair.

      2. Who wrote the poem?

      3. The child was brought up very well by the step-mother.

5.  Let the latest news be given to me.      Give me the latest News.

B. Com. 2010

1. He ate a fruit.
2. They beat him.
3. The cow gives milk.
4. We should respect elders.

 B. Sc. 2010

1. Someone switched on the light and opened the door.
2. He will not write the letter he will type it.
3. They are repairing the roads recently damaged in the rains.
4. How did you kill the snake?

B. Com. 2010

1. The hunter shot down many ducks.
2. The camel ate leaves.
3. We must give up bad habits.
4. We have to repair the fence.

B. Sc. 2010

1. Students will enjoy a holiday.
2. Sita likes sweet.
3. Suresh bought these books.
4. My friends trust me.

B. C. A. 2010

1. My friends trust me.
2. He presented his wife a saree.
3. They were making good progress.

B. Sc. 2010

1. The curator of the museum showed us some ancient coins.
2. They have pulled down the old house.
3. We expect good news.
4. We must listen to his words.

 B. Sc. 2010

1. They found him guilty of murder.
2. I have kept the money in the safe.
3. We admire the brave.
4. I offered him a chair.