THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
3
1. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes
from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Answer:
Kisa
Goswami goes from house to house after her son dies because she wants to know
if anyone has got medicine to 'cure' her son. No, she does not get it since
nobody has got such a medicine.
2. Kisa Gotami again goes from house to
house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for, the second time
around? Does she get it? Why not?
Answer:
The
second time, Gita goes from house to house in search of that one house where
death has not taken place. She has been asked to get mustard seeds only from the
house where no death has occurred. This time again, she doesn’t get what she
asks for as there is not one house that has not witnessed any death.
3. What does Kisa Gotami understand the
second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the
Buddha wanted her to understand?
Answer:
Kisa
Goswami becomes tired and hopeless upon discovering that death has knocked
everyone’s house. She, therefore, comes to the realisation that death is a
truth that none can escape from. She also realises that she had been selfish
throughout. And this is exactly what Buddha wanted her to understand.
4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami
understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her
understanding?
Answer:
Kisa
Goswami was witness to her son’s death alone, and she clearly did not know what
had transpired in other houses. When she was asked to find a house where no
death had occurred, she did so, and when she did not find any, she realised
that death is inevitable and that she was not the only person who was grieving
the loss of a near and dear one.
5. How do you usually understand the idea
of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in
her grief’?
Answer:
A
selfish person cares only about himself. He has scant regard for what others
think. For him, only his problems are great. I do agree that Kisa Goswami was
being selfish in her grief because she did not understand that there is no cure
for death. She was so attached to her mortal son that she forgot that one day
she would have to leave him or he would have to leave her.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE PAGE
4
I. This text is written in an
old-fashioned style, for it reports an incident more than two millennia old.
Look for the following words and phrases in the text, and try to rephrase them
in more current language, based on how you understand them.
· give
thee medicine for thy child
·
Pray tell me
·
Kisa
repaired to the Buddha
·
there
was no house but someone had died in
it
·
kinsmen
·
Mark!
Answer:
·
Give you medicine for your child
·
Please tell me
·
Kisa went to the Buddha
·
There was not a single house where no
one had died
·
Relatives
·
Listen
II. You know that we can combine
sentences using words like and, or, but, yet and then. But sometimes no such
word seems appropriate. In such a case we can use a semicolon (;) or a dash (—)
to combine two clauses.
She has no
interest in music; I doubt she will become a singer like her mother.
The second
clause here gives the speaker’s opinion on the first clause.
Here is a sentence from the text that
uses semicolons to combine clauses. Break up the sentence into three simple
sentences. Can you then say which has a better rhythm when you read it, the
single sentence using semicolons, or the three simple sentences?
For there is
not any means by which those who have been born can avoid dying; after reaching
old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings.
Answer: I feel that the sentences using semicolons have a good cadence and rhythm, definitely better than the one without them. Also, using semicolons seems to convey the thoughts of the speaker much better.
WRITING PAGE
6
Write a page (about three paragraphs) on
one of the following topics. You can think about the ideas in the text that are
relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.
1. Teaching
someone to understand a new or difficult idea
2. Helping each
other to get over difficult times
3. Thinking
about oneself as unique, or as one among billions of others
Answer:
To
be done by the student.
Poem: For
Anne Gregory by
William Butler Yeats
THINKING
ABOUT THE POEM PAGE
9
1. What does the young man mean by “great
honey-coloured /Ramparts at your ear?” Why does he say that young men are
“thrown into despair” by them?
Answer:
The
phrase 'great honey-coloured' refers to the golden hue of Anne Gregory's hair.
And by using the phrase 'ramparts at your ear', the young man is only trying to
convey that the hair falls on her ears covering them like a fortified wall. He
says that young men are 'thrown into despair'
because they get beguiled by their beauty.
2. What colour is the young woman’s hair?
What does she say she can change it to? Why would she want to do so?
Answer:
The
woman's hair is honey-coloured or golden-hued. She says she can change it to
any colour using a hair-dye. For example, she can dye her hair black or brown
or any random colour of her choice. She wants to do so to prove to the men
falling for her that her outer beauty is transient and fleeting.
3. Objects have qualities which make them
desirable to others. Can you think of some objects (a car, a phone, a dress…)
and say what qualities make one object more desirable than another? Imagine you
were trying to sell an object: what qualities would you emphasise?
Answer:
Objects
having qualities in our lives that make it desirable to others.
Object
Qualities
House
Size, Colour,
Car
Model, Speed
Laptop
Brand, Price
TV
Appearance, User-friendliness
I will emphasise on the qualities that I know the
customer will like while selling an object.
4. What about people? Do we love others
because we like their qualities, whether physical or mental? Or is it possible
to love someone “for themselves alone”? Are some people ‘more lovable’ than
others? Discuss this question in pairs or in groups, considering points like
the following.
(i) a parent or
caregiver’s love for a newborn baby, for a mentally or physically challenged
child, for a clever child or a prodigy
(ii) the
public’s love for a film star, a sportsperson, a politician, or a social worker
(iii) your love
for a friend, or brother or sister
(iv) your love
for a pet, and the pet’s love for you.
Answer:
(i) reflects the bond they share with their blood
relatives
(ii) this purely mirrors the selfless love and
admiration that the fans have
(iii) This is created out of empathy and selfless
love
(iv) It’s purely unconditional and thus expects
nothing in return.
5. You have perhaps concluded that people
are not objects to be valued for their qualities or riches rather than for
themselves. But elsewhere Yeats asks the question: How can we separate the
dancer from the dance? Is it possible to separate ‘the person himself or
herself’ from how the person looks, sounds, walks, and so on? Think of how you
or a friend or member of your family has changed over the years. Has your
relationship also changed? In what way?
Answer: To be done by the student.
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