Semester : III Semester

Course : BCA

Subject Code :

Subject Name : General English

Department :

In the Kingdom of Fools

-A K Ramanujan

‘’In the Kingdom of Fools” the author A.K.Ramanujan narrates the story of the king and minister

who were idiots and wanted to change night into day and day into night. The subjects were also

idiots and agreed to this whole heartedly .One day a guru and his disciple arrived in the city and

found that people and even the cattle slept in the morning and it was business as usual at night.

Another interesting thing was that everything in that place cost only a rupee. The disciple who

loved food decided to stay back but the guru warned him that he might get into trouble as it

was a kingdom of fools.

One day a thief broke into a rich merchant’s house by making a hole in the wall. While escaping

with the loot the wall fell on him and he was killed. Since it was the kingdom of fools the thief’s

brother approached the king and said that the merchant should be punished as he built a weak

wall that killed the merchant. The king agreed and called the merchant .The merchant replied

that it was built by a bricklayer in his father’s time. When the brick layer was called he shifted

the blame to a harlot saying that he was distracted by her walking up and down. The blame

game continued when the harlot who was brought in said that she walked up to the goldsmith’s

shop several times as he did not give her ornaments on time. The goldsmith replied that he was

busy making the ornaments for a wedding in the merchant’s house and so could not finish the

harlot’s ornaments on .time. Now the blame fell squarely back on to the merchant .The king

gave the judgement that although this happened in his father’s time, since he was no more his

legal heir should be punished. As ordered by the king the guards prepared a stake. But it

happened that the stake was too big for the thin merchant .Now the guards started looking for

someone who will fit the stake and the disciple was chosen as he fitted stake properly.

The disciple prayed to the guru and they hatched a plan. The guru told the king that whoever

died first and second in the stake will be reborn in their next life as the king and minister, and

begged him to give them that opportunity. The king believed this, disguised himself and the

minister as the guru and disciple, and got themselves executed. The next day people were

shocked when they found the

king and the minister dead. They begged the guru and the disciple to rule the kingdom. Finally

they agreed to do so, changed the rules, and made it like any other place.

Questions

1. Why does the king and the minister decide to change day into night and vice versa?(2 marks)

2. What warning did the guru give the disciple?

3. Why did the thief’s brother appeal for justice?

4. How did the blame get passed from one person to another? (5marks)

5. What trick did guru play on the king to save the disciple?

6. How did the king and the minister prove their foolishness over and over again? (10 marks)

In Search of Myself

-Chhaya Datar

In the story “In Search of Myself” the author Chhaya Datar undertook a journey to interior

Maharashtra, a place called Adchi two miles from Dhulwad. It was totally cut off from the urban

world with no buildings roads and electricity. She enjoyed the beauty and peace of the village in

the banks of the river Tapi. The aim of her journey was to organize the village women and make

them aware of their rights.

The villagers were poor and their staple diet was bhakris and watery dal. They lived in mud

houses, had no work and if at all they were employed were paid only half the wages .The

women had to walk long distances for water and the children were put behind bars when they

went to collect firewood from the forest. When the classes began the women actively

participated nodding their head and each one eager to tell her story. In the midst of all this

Chhaya’s mind was not at peace .She had received a letter from her husband ordering her to

return in time for his nephew’s mundane ceremony. The work was not over yet and she felt

tormented by the image of her angry husband and mother-in- law.

A march to the taluk office was planned the next day. That was when the women showed their

full commitment: they were no sheep but full blooded human beings. Later the classes began

and by noon Bhuribai came running dripping with sweat and her feet bare. The women

gathered round her asking her why she was late. She narrated her story. She wanted to join the

camp. But it was her brother – in -law’s wedding day and when she made a fuss her father –in –law burnt her hand with a hot tawa. Her skin was burning all night, but the next day morning

she got up early and sneaked out to come for the camp. Bhuribai was an uneducated ignorant

woman who had broken her leash to come to the camp.

Chhaya was inspired by this woman to take the decision she wanted. She threw her husband’s

letter into the Tapi river.

Questions

1. Why does the narrator go to Dhulwad? (2 marks)

2. Why does her husband summon her?

3. How does Bhurribai influence the narrator’s decision? (5 marks)

4. The narrator’s journey into the adivasi camp is also a journey towards her self -discovery.

How does the story bring this out? (10 marks)

Bhishma-The Final Effort

-Iravati Karve

The author Iravathy Karve gives an insight into the character of Bhishma in this essay.

According to Mahabharatha he is one of the eight vasus cursed by saint Vasishta. The vasus

approached goddess Ganga and begged her to be born in this world to give them salvation

Shanthanu, the Chandravamshi king went hunting saw beautiful Ganga and fell in love with her.

When he asked her hand in marriage, she agreed on the condition that she should not be

questioned about any of her actions .The king agreed. Ganga drowned into the river all the

seven children born from their marriage .When the eighth child was about to be drowned the

king asked her to spare the child .Ganga took the child along with her and left the king. Years

later she brought him back as a young man well versed in the art of kshatriyas. He was called

Devavritha and the king was happy.

Shanthanu was fond of hunting .In the forest he saw the beautiful Satyavathi and wanted to

marry her. Satyavathi’ father said that he will agree to it only on the condition that his son

Devavrita should not marry and that only the sons born from their marriage will succeed to the

throne. Although shanthanu was not ready to concede to these conditions, Devavrita took an

oath to fulfill them and got his father married off to satyavati. From then on he came to be

known as Bhishma

Satyavathi gave birth to two sons, Chitraveera and vichitraveera. Shanthanu died soon after and

so did chitravira. Later the task of finding a wife for Vichitravira fell upon Bhishma. He attended

the swayamvara of the Kasi princes and abducted them and brought them back to be married

to vichitravira. The eldest princes Amba was in love with Shalva another king When Bhishma

sent her back to him he refused her saying that she has been in the company of Bhishma for

three weeks. Bhishma too refused to accept her, she committed suicide and was born as

Shikhandi to kill Bhishma.

Vichitravira died without leaving any heirs. Bhishma refused to marry his wives as was the

custom in those days. Satyavati’s son Vyasa from previous marriage fathered the sons of

Ambika and Ambalika respectively. When the sons Dritharashtra and Pandu grew up he again

took the initiative in finding wives for them with unhappy results.

Bhishma was totally committed to his family but there were a lot of criticism against his actions.

Firstly it was the inconsiderate way he treated the women in the family. When Draupadi was

dragged into the court he did not raise his voice against it. After Duryodhana grew up he did

not wield any powers in the court. Still he remained in the court instead of retiring into the

forest .In the battle of Kurukshetra he accepted the generalship of the army at extreme old age.

The justification is that he wanted to prevent the war.

Next the author points out the many inconsistencies in Mahabharatha. Bhishma is considered

as a great warrior. The only proof of that is his battle with Parasurama. But then Parasurama is

supposed to have lived in the earlier yuga. During the battle, Dharma abuses Shikhandi for not

killing Bhishma. But it was a known fact that he was born to kill him. Krishna is described as

leaping from the chariot with disc in hand. Since he is the charioteer it would have been natural

for him to leap with whip in hand. The third incongruity is in the description of Bhishma’s fight.

During the battle Bhishma is protected on all sides by Duryodhanas sons and Dusshasana.The

question is then how could Arjuna and Shikkandi could attack and oust him from the chariot. He

lay for six months in the bed of arrows listening to the laments of the widowed kuru women.

Questions

1. How did Devavritha come to be known as Bhishma? (2marks)

2. What is the myth surrounding the life of Devavritha? (5marks)

3. How do all the women Bhishma brings home as brides suffer humiliation and disgrace? (5

marks)

4. What are the interpolations that have crept into the story according to the author?

5. Why does the author say that Bhishma’s actions were justifiable in the realm of politics?

6. Discuss some of the inconsistencies that the author mentions with reference to the great

war?(10 marks)

7. How does the author portray the character of Bhishma? How is it different from the

traditional concept? (10 marks)

An Education in Language

-Richard Rodriguez

The author Richard Rodriguez was a socially disadvantaged child .He was an immigrant and

could speak only Spanish. Later he became fluent in English but laments the fact that in the

process he lost touch with his family language and the bond with his family.

At the age of seven in the new school he was a silent child. Brought up in close knit Spanish

family being surrounded by English speaking teachers and children was an agonizing experience

for him. Eventually the teachers directed him and his siblings to a daily tutoring session. They

even urged the parents to speak English at home. His brother and sister were speaking English

in one part of the house, while his parents spoke to him in English and forced him also to do so.

Finally one day when the teacher asked a question in class he volunteered and that was a

turning point in his life.

But this public success was measured at home by a feeling of loss. He no longer rushed home

after school and his teachers became new figures of authority. He started imitating their

accents and their every compliment was cherished by him. At home he became distant from his

parents and siblings and kept to his books and room. Even when relatives visited he never

mixed with them He never spoke about his awards at school and felt that his teachers were

condescending to his parents. Richard’s parents felt hurt by his attitude and his mother tried

her level to reach out.

Richard’s mother was determined that her children should get a good education for

advancement in life. As a girl new to America she had learnt to speak English and type. She got

the job of a typist in the government office Later she got a job as a part of governor’s staff

translating from Spanish to English. Although a fast typist and excellent speller when there was

a reference to’ urban guerillas’ she spelt it as “gorillas” .The mistake horrified the authorities

and she was sent to her previous job. So she willed ambition to her children.

The bridge between Richard and his parents was not generation gap; it was the language that

was creating the rift. His parents had remained the same but he had advanced much in life.

When he chose a college for higher studies they were hurt and tried to change his decision but

stood by and supported him when they found him determined.

Questions

1. What difficulty did the author face when he started schooling? (2marks)

2. How did the teacher interpret the silence of Richard?

3. How did the teachers treat Richard’s parents?

4. When the mother was reverted to her previous job what decision did she take?

5. Why was there separation between Richard and his parents?

6. In what ways was Richard a socially disadvantaged child? (5marks)

7. Language is not a mere tool for communication but a matter of one’s identity and culture

.How does the story brig this out? (10 marks)

Shame

-Dick Gregory

In ”Shame” the author Dick Gregory narrates his experiences in school. A seven year old poor

boy ,he did not want to be helped out of pity and concern. Dick was in love with Helene Tucker

a clean and smart girl with nice manners. She was a symbol of everything he wanted to achieve

in life. Although poor, in order to impress Helene he would wash his only shirt from ice

borrowed from the nearby shop as the pipes were clogged in the winter. He often got sick as he

wore the still wet shirt the next day. Whenever he walked down his street he would follow her

shoveling the snow on her path and trying to exchange pleasantries with her mother and aunt.

He would even drop money on her verandah while returning back from shining shoes.

In school he was always hungry and couldn’t concentrate in class. The teachers thought that he

was a troublemaker but actually he was a poor hungry boy with worn out clothes and pinching

shoes and no father to see him through life. One day the teacher asked everyone to pay to the

community welfare fund. Dick had decided that he would pay more than Helene in order to

impress her. The teacher called out all the names except Dick’s name. Suddenly he got up and

claimed that his father had promised fifteen dollars. At first the teacher ignored him but when

he persisted she replied that he had no daddy and they were collecting money for people like

him.

That was when he felt shame. He walked out of the school that day and didn’t go back very

often. He did not want to go for the annual Christmas dinner or wear the sweater because it

was all given under the label of welfare. It hurt him so much that the whole world knew that he

had no father. Later for a long time in the midst of all success he achieved he always wished

that Helene could hear the applause.

One day while having food in the restaurant he came across a wino who ordered food,ate it but

didn’t have money to pay. The owner bashed him until there was blood all over his face. Dick

came to his rescue and offered to pay the money. The wino replied that it was too late and that

he had already paid for his mistake. Dick understood the shame experienced by the wino and

felt sad that he had waited so long to help another man.

Questions

1. What does little Gregory do to please Helene Tucker? (2 marks)

2. Why does the teacher think that he is stupid? (2 marks)

3. Why does Gregory offer to donate money to the Negro welfare and why does the teacher

refuse the offer?

4. What details in the story suggest that the narrator is poor and hungry?(5marks)

5. What does the line ‘Everybody has got a Helene Tucker’ mean with reference to Dick

Gregory? (5 marks)

6. Why does Gregory feel that he should not have waited long to help the wino? How can you

connect this to Gregory’s experience? (10 marks)

Can we Know the Universe?

-Carl Sagan

When the question is asked as to how much we know the universe there is one set of people

who are fearful of a universe in which everything is known. Then there are scientists who

pronounce that everything worth knowing is already known or soon will be known and

compare the current civilization to Polynesians and Dionysians whose intellectual curiosity has

been suppressed by hallucination. According to the author this contention is wrong. It is very

difficult to understand about the universe and Milky Way. when we try to analyze one

microgram of table salt it has 10 million billion atoms and to calculate the nature of forces

between the atoms is no easy task .This leads us to the question how much can the brain know

and store. The capacity of the brain is vast but it can in no way be compared to the atoms in the

speck of salt.

The atoms in the salt are arranged in a regular manner. If the same law is applicable to the

universe then it is knowable. Even if this information is too vast it can be stored in books or

computer memories. Human beings want order in the universe and when they try to find

natural laws, it is called science. If we imagine a universe with no laws then the capacity of the

brain should be vast as the universe. But if there is no internal stability then there would be no

joy passion or knowledge.

Our commonsense, experience and evolutionary history has prepared us to understand this

everyday world. But when we move into realms like theory of relativity this will not hold true.

what is true for a molecule of salt need not be true in the world of quantum mechanics. We do

not experience this directly in our everyday life. When commonsense intuitions don’t work then

we should count on observation and experiment.

The world places restrictions on what human beings can do. This might be frustrating but it

motivates us to find the natural laws that encompass widely divergent phenomena. We need

openness and intellectual curiosity to understand it. Carl Sagan concludes by saying that an

ideal universe is like the current one where much is unknown at the same time there is much

that is knowable and it is not a coincidence

Questions

1. What are the two sets of opinions held by the scientists? (2marks)

2. How are the Dionysian and Polynesian age portrayed by the scientists?

3. Under what condition is the universe knowable?

4. What would happen to the universe if we did not follow the natural law?

5. What kind of universe does the author prefer and why?

6. Scientific knowledge enables us to realize how much more we ought to know. Discuss(10

marks)

Sonnet 25

- William Shakespear

Sonnet 25 written by William Shakespeare celebrates the permanence of love and says that

being in love and to be loved is better than being famous. People who are favoured by stars

(fortunate people) boast about their honour and titles. Though the poet is not so fortunate h e

is not disappointed. Great princes bloom like marigold in the light of the sun. But this glory is

short lived and would die at a frown of destiny. The warrior becomes famous after a thousand

victories but one defeat is enough to raze his victories and he will be erased from the mind of

the people. The poet concludes by reemphasizing the permanence of love.

Questions

1. What do people with favourable stars boast of? (2marks)

2. What is the attitude of the poet towards honours?

3. What happens to the warrior who faces defeat?

4. Why does the poet feel happy when compared with others?

5. How does the poet celebrate the permanence of love? (5 marks)

The Louse and the Mosquito

-Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth’s poem “The Louse and the Mosquito” set in a humorous tone explores the

thought whether people land themselves in trouble when they try to help strangers. Creep the

louse with his huge family had been living in his ancestral home, the King’s bed for three

decades. They were experts at sipping the King’s blood discreetly. Living this life of undisturbed

delight they grew plump smooth and white. One day a mosquito flew through the window and

landed in the king’s bed near the louse. The louse asked the mosquito to fly away, but the

mosquito pleaded to let it sleep for one night and the kind hearted louse allowed him on the

condition that he will not bite the king. The mosquito pleaded again fir one bite saying that he

had heard that the royal blood was tasty and that it was a cure for all aches and pains. He

promised the louse that he would bite stealthily that he won’t even shift or sigh. The louse

advised him to bite to bite the king only when he was fast asleep. The king came for his

afternoon snooze the mosquito in excitement bit him on his back. The king at once awake

started screaming that he was bitten by a scorpion or a snake. When the servants inspected the

bed the mosquito flew away, but the louse and his whole clan were killed.

Questions

1. What is referred to as the ancestral house of the louse? Why? (2marks)

2. What advice did the louse give the mosquito?

3. What is the King’s reaction to the bite?

4. How did the mosquito persuade the louse to bite the king? What made the louse permit

him? (5marks)

5. How did the louse fall a prey to his own goodness? (10 marks)