A Text Book for General English Semester - III

Ms. V.Vanitha Jeyakumari et al.

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Unit-I

Biographies : Patriotism

1. Nehru – A.F. Toynbee

2. Martin Luther King - R N Roy

3. C.V. Raman – H. Kusumakar

Unit-Two

Renowned Speeches: Empowerment

1. U.N Youth Assembly Speech - Malala Yousafzai 2. Give Us a Role Model - A.P.J. Kalam 3. Inaugural Address - Nelson Mandela

Unit-Three

Grammar

1. Sentence Structure

2. Types of Sentences (Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamatory), Transformation of Sentences

3. Active Voice and Passive Voice

4. Direct and Indirect Speech

Unit-Four

Listening and Speaking Skills:

1. Group Discussion: Structure of Group Discussion, Types of Group Discussion, Phrases for participating in a Group Discussion, Do's and Don'ts in a Group Discussion.

2. Group Dynamics (Nonverbal and Behavioural Aspects): Body Language, Personal Appearance, Posture, Gestures, Facial Expression, Eye Contact, Space Distancing.

3. Paralinguistic Cues: Tone, Pitch, Volume, Speed (rate of speech), Pauses, Stress and Intonation.

Unit-V

Reading and Writing Skills : Digital Communication

1. Reading and Understanding Digital Texts: Skills for Analysing Digital Texts (connotative and denotative skills).

2. Introduction to Digital Writing: Types of Digital Writing, Website Content, Blog Writing, Social Media Writing, S.E.O Writing, Review and Opinion Writing

3. Editing Digital Content, Digital Integrity and Ethics in Writing.

About the Author

Unit 1

Nehru

- A.J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee was born on 14 April 1889 in London. A historian and expert on international affairs, he is best known for A Study of History (1934 to 1961). During both world wars, he worked for the British Foreign Office and was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History at King's College, London from 1919 to 1924, he was a Manchester Guardian correspondent during the Greco-Turkish War. He was appointed Research Professor of International History at the London School of Economics 1925, retiring in 1956.

Toynbee was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1937 and International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1941. He oversaw the publication of The Survey of International Affairs from 1925 to 1977. Important works include Nationality and the War (1915), The Armenian Atrocities: The Murder of a Nation (1915), The German Terror in France: An Historical, Turkey, a Past and a Future (1917), Civilization on Trial (1948), Christianity Among the Religions of the World (1958), and Democracy in the Atomic.

About the text

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 – 1964) was not only a statesman but also a great writer and interpreter of history. Toynbee (1889 – 1975), a great professor of history, pays glowing tributes to Pandit Nehru in his memorable essay. The historian gives his assessment of Nehru as a cosmopolitan and dynamic leader of his nation. The role of Nehru in India and abroad can be understood from the account of Toynbee. The personal glimpses described here reveal Nehru's generosity and warmth of feeling.

Text

I did not know Nehru at all intimately; in fact, I did not even meet him many times. But his personality made an immediate impression at one's first meeting with him, and this impression did not change over the years. Nor was the effect he made just an impression; the word is too weak and too cold.

'Captivation' comes nearer to the truth. Here was a human being who could win one's heart and keep it.

This would be something remarkable in anyone in any walk of life; but in someone whose position was humble and obscure it might not be so surprising as it was in a world-famous statesman who has left a deep mark, and this on the whole world and not just on his own country. In this great statesman, the lovable human being was not smothered by the eminent public figure. I should say that, in Nehru, there was not even the faintest touch of pomposity or self-importance or self-consciousness. He retained the spontaneity and the buoyancy of youth after he had been carrying for years an unusually heavy burden of office. It was not till his last years that the unforeseen breach between India and China began to bow him down under its weight.

My first meeting with Nehru happened to bring out the essence of his personality in a way that was amusing but also illuminating and, above all, morally impressive. The date was one of the inter-war years and Nehru had just finished serving one of his terms of imprisonment by the British Government of India. He had come out of prison and had come to England for a holiday. An English lady invited me to lunch. her house to meet him. Nehru was already there when I arrived, but, when the door opened for the next guest, it was a British general in uniform and, when the general saw Nehru, his jaw dropped. Apparently he had been implicated in some way in the sentence that Nehru had just been serving. (I never could discover whether our hostess' act, in inviting the general and Nehru to meet each other, had been deliberate or inadvertent. I dare say it was inadvertent. Her husband's family had a long-standing connection with India, and she may have thought vaguely that two men who were both connected with India in some way or other would probably fit well at the same lunch-party.)

I wondered how Nehru was going to take the situation. During the few minutes of conversation before the general's arrival, Nehru had left us in no doubt about his militancy. Manifestly, he was going all out to win India's independence from Britain; he was in the battle up to the hilt.

Would his reception of the embarrassed British general be stiff? Would it be grim? This question was answered instantaneously by a twinkle that came into Nehru's eye. The situation had struck him as being funny, and he entertained us by teasing the general ever so gently-making him become more and more nervously conciliatory at each sly poke. This incident, though trifling in itself, was a revelation. I was in the presence of a human being who could fight and fight with might and main-without hating his human opponents. There was plenty of fuel for resentment in Nehru's experience at British hands. Terms of imprisonment take painful bites out of a brief human life; and the fighters for India's independence were being imprisoned by the British for acting under the inspiration of ideals to which the British themselves officially subscribed and which they took seriously, for their own benefit, at home. Here were grounds for bitterness, but Nehru showed none.

I had known that fighting without hating was one of Mahatma Gandhi's principles. Here, in one of his chief companions, I was seeing something out of the Sermon on the Mount being practised in real life, and this without any apparent effort. That bowled me over, and the memory of that lunch is as vivid in my mind today as if it had happened yesterday and not thirty years ago.

Another personal memory of mine involves an incident which was still slighter, but it, too, is revealing. One day in 1957 the University of Delhi was doing me the honour of conferring a degree on me, and I was still far from the university precincts when the hour fixed for the ceremony overtook me. The university is in the old Civil Lines, at the opposite end of the seven (or is it fourteen?) Delhi's from the Ashoka Hotel, and we had been held up by the traffic in the crowded streets of Shahjehanabad. When we were, at last, within about a quarter of a mile of the university (but about three-quarters of an hour late) 1 was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Nehru running towards us. How could the Prime Minister have the time to honour and please me by taking a personal part in the academic proceedings? And why was it he, of all people, who had set out in search of me? I had wasted an additional three-quarters of an hour of his time, but he was not cross. The sufferers were his security men.

When we arrived together at the university, we found them in a flap at having failed to prevent the Prime Minister from darting out through their cordon. That anxiety was well justified. Had not Mahatma Gandhi been assassinated? And was not the Prime Minister the man on whom Gandhi's mantle had fallen?

The last time that I met Nehru was in 1960, and it was sad to see him, not changed in spirit, but now visibly labouring under his load. He had asked me to come and visit him, and at our meeting, I tried to keep off the subject of China, since this was, I knew, what was most tormenting him at the time. It was no use. He raised the subject himself and was evidently harrowed and almost obsessed by it. It was a striking contrast to previous meetings; but then, as each time before, came the human act that took one by surprise. I was in New Delhi to give the second series of Azad Memorial Lectures (Nehru himself had been the first lecturer).

I had just got to my feet to begin my first lecture when the Prime Minister came into the hall. Once again, he had made the time to take a personal part in academic proceedings in order to give pleasure to a guest. This was generous in a Prime Minister, but it was also most moving on a day on which he had suffered a previous personal loss. It was the day of Lady Mountbatten's death. Lady Mountbatten and Pandit Nehru had been particularly close personal friends.

And, for Nehru's warm heart, close friendship counted, I should guess, far even more than they count for most of us. Again, I was deeply touched.

It seems certain that, for ages to come, Nehru will be remembered as an historic figure, but what is the future picture of him going to be? The lovable human being whom his intimate friends knew much better than I did, made his impression on one through one's meeting him in the flesh. At second or seventieth hand, this vivid, personal impression will be dimmed, at best, and, in time, may be almost effaced.

Will Nehru be remembered as a great statesman? Un-questionably he was that. But I have suggested, and here I believe I am right, that his eminence in public affairs was not the distinctive thing about him.

One must be thankful when a noble soul takes on itself the burden of political leadership, for politics are always in need of redeeming. They are a backward field of human activity in which our average standard of behaviour is decidedly lower than it is in family life or in our professional vocations. A noble soul goes into politics at its peril, for politics are as difficult to redeem as they are in need of redemption. Politics are intractable. They cannot be redeemed in one short lifetime even by one of those rare spirits that combine high idealism with practical genius.

The noblest minded statesman cannot altogether escape becoming a bondsman of his imperious circumstances. To be caught on the sorrowful wheel is part of the personal price that the statesman-idealist has to pay. It is more blessed to be imprisoned for the sake of one's ideals than to imprison other people, incongruously, in the name of the same ideals. Nehru lived to have both experiences.

This was the nemesis of taking over the responsibility for the government of a great country.

For Nehru himself, his political career, eminent though it was, was not, I believe, the most important thing in his life, because, for him, it was not an end in itself. For him, it was a means of serving his fellow human beings—his Indian fellow countrymen in the first place, but not them alone; for his feeling for his fellows embraced the whole of mankind. Nehru has virtually said as much in more than one of his public utterances. He did care intensely for mankind's welfare and destiny, and vision of this will be the thing in him for which he will be remembered by posterity if the verdict of history faithfully reflects the fundamental truth about him.

I find it difficult to pigeon-hole his human personality in any of those impersonal categories in which historians deal. But, if constrained to try my hand at this, I should say that Nehru served his fellow men most fruitfully and most characteristically by taking his place in a series of interpreters and mediators between the civilization of the West and the other living civilizations. In modern times the West has been making a revolutionary impact on the rest of the world.

The impact has been so potent that non-Westerners have been confronted with the choice of coming to terms with it or being hopelessly overwhelmed by it. Conversely, the West is now finding that it, for its own part, has to come to terms with the non-Western majority of the human race. We seem, in fact, to be in the birth-throes of a new society embracing the whole human race, with all the manifold and contradictory traditions of its formerly segregated sections. This seems to be the goal towards which the last four or five hundred years of the world's history have been leading.

If this diagnosis is correct, the role of interpretation and mediation is the key role in the present age. It is a more important role than the mere statesman's; and, in fact, some of the most effective of the interpreters have done their work outside the political arena. They have done it as scholars, writers, artists, poets, and prophets.

Nehru was one of those who have played this part on the political stage; and, among the statesmen-interpreters of one civilization to another, one can distinguish more than one type. There is the ruthless sergeant-major who dragoons his troops into putting themselves through the excruciating process of cultural mutation; and there is the seer who inspires his followers to tread the same painful path voluntarily. Famous representatives of the first of these two types were Peter the Great, Mohammed Ali, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and, in a rather more deft and light-handed way, the authors of the Meiji Revolution in Japan.

Jawaharlal Nehru is evidently a representative of the type that moves mankind, not by coercion, but by persuasion; and the other representatives of this kind of leader who first come into my mind are all Indians, like Nehru himself. One of them is the Emperor Asoka, who was converted, by his experience of life, from being a coercionist into becoming a missionary, but who did his life-work, throughout, on the political stage. The other two whom I think of first are Rammohun Roy, the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, and, of course, Jawaharlal Nehru's master and mentor, Mahatma Gandhi.

This is the company to which Nehru belongs, and in which he deserves to be remembered and to be immortalized.

Glossary

Captivation – arresting attractiveness

Pomposity – show of self-importance

Spontaneity – natural impulse

Buoyancy – lightness of spirit

Jaw dropped – expression changed

Conciliatory – becoming friendly

Trifling – unimportant

Peril – serious danger

Nemesis – deserved fate Posterity – future generations

Verdict – decision

Pigeon-hole – ignore

Peter the great – (1672 to 1725) Tsar of Russia who westernized Russia

Mohammed Ali – (1769 to 1849) the founder of the Royal House which ruled Egypt till 1972

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – (1881 to 1938) the first president of Turkish Republic who modernized Turkey

Meiji Revolution – Meiji Tenno (1852 to 1912) the Emperor of Japan who westernized the country and made it a great power

Coercion – force

Rammohan Roy – a great reformer and leader of a religious movement in India during the nineteenth century

Brahmo Samaj – the religious movement started by Rammohan Roy

Choose the best answer:

1. Fighting without hating was one of ___ _ principles.

a) Nehru's b) Mahatma Gandhi's c) Martin Luther King's

2. The last time Toynbee met Nehru was in _ _.

a) 1960 b) 1970 c) 1980

3. Nehru will be remembered as an ___ _ figure.

a) Heroic b) Historic c) mythical

4. _ _ was the founder of Brahmo Samaj.

a) Rammohun Roy b) Nehru c) Gandhi

5. Jawaharlal Nehru's master and mentor was ___ _.

a) Rammohun Roy b) Mohammed Ali c) Mahatma Gandhi

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. Write the differences between 'making an impression' and 'captivating'.

2. Discuss how did Nehru tackle the embarrassing situation created by the arrival of the British general at the lunch hosted by the English lady.

3. List out the human acts performed by Nehru during Toynbee's visits to Delhi in 1957 and 1960.

4. According to Toynbee, explain the role in which Nehru has fruitfully served his fellow-men.

5. Explain the reason why Toynbee has put Nehru in the second kind of statesman.

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Discuss the relationship between the two parts of Toynbee's essay 'Nehru'. Why does Toynbee narrate three personal episodes in the first part.

2. Explain some of the statesmen-interpreters who have tried to change their people by force.

3. Nehru as a 'statesman-idealist'. – Justify.

About the Author

Martin Luther King - R. N. Roy

Prof R.N. Roy was born in Raghunath Ganj in present day Murshidabad in August of 1928, but moved to Pabna in present day Bangladesh at the age of four. At a time when all his students would drive in to work in their plush cars, he spent his entire working life whether as Professor and Head of Neurosurgery or as Director of I.P.G.M.E.R, travelling to work in public transport. Prof R.N Roy's simplicity and humility left as great an impact on the discerning as his neurosurgery and his teaching!

About the text

The account given here of Martin Luther King (1929 to 68) elucidates the non-violent and humane aspects of his social reform in the U.S.A. King was deeply impressed by Gandhiji's peaceful movement in India and believed in the efficacy of non-violence and the superiority of moral force over physical force. Dr R N. Roy of Nagpur University explains the features of King's work in America and compares him with the great martyrs of the world. He is ranked with Abraham Lincoln, Gandhiji and John F. Kennedy.

Text

Martin Luther King (1929 to 68) is one of the greatest men the world has seen. He is in many respects like Mahatma Gandhi. Both belonged to the twentieth century, a century that has witnessed more hatred and cruelties than any other century in the history of the world. Both championed the cause of the downtrodden. Gandhi championed the rights of the Harijans (untouchables), and King the rights of American Negroes. Both were peaceful warriors, fighting with the weapon of non-violence against powers that were armed from head to foot. And both were shot to death by assassins.

An ardent clergyman who was nurtured in the bosom of the Church and sustained by its spiritual blessings, Martin Luther King believed in the equality of man. And the racial discrimination that he saw around him, the continued denial of what the Negroes considered to be their legitimate aspirations, deeply distressed his mind. The Negroes had done more than their share in building America as we find it today. They had done hard work, dirty work, and dangerous work in the mines, on the docks, and in the blistering foundries. And they had fought bravely and sacrificed their lives to defend America's honour and prestige in times of external peril. Yet, 'why does misery constantly haunt the Negro?' No doubt, a few concessions had been grudgingly granted by white Americans, but King said, 'no person can truly exist half slave and half free.'

The Negroes lived in constant economic insecurity in the midst of abundant material prosperity. They were deprived of normal education and normal social opportunities. A Negro could not attend a school or a public amusement park meant for whites, and when he took a cross-country drive he could not enter a motel, because it was violation of the law to serve food to a Negro at the same counter with whites.

A Negro was a nobody in his own land. He was harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that he was a Negro. This atmosphere of economic insecurity, social inferiority, fear and resentment warped his personality.

A parallel situation prevailed in India. Paradoxically, India, a land of saints who have all preached the gospel of universal brotherhood, segregated a large part of her population as untouchables. Millions of untouchables were denyed all social rights, and they suffered agonies of discrimination for ages. Mahatma Gandhi fought all his life against such inhuman social discriminations, and today the untouchables are no longer untouchable.

Another evil that haunted India like a nightmare was the British rule. It sapped her vitality and stood in the way of her mental and spiritual growth. For, no nation can grow in an atmosphere of slavery and inhibition. Freedom is every nation's birthright.

Gandhiji embarked upon a campaign of opposition to British rule in India. He infused into it a new spirit by his doctrine of Ahimsa (non-violence). He and his men were beaten to pulp, but they never offered any violent resistance. At the last the mighty British power yielded to this passive resistance and quitted India.

As a young boy Martin Luther King was deeply struck by Gandhiji's success in social and political fields, the efficacy of non-violence, and the superiority of moral force over physical force, and he was inspired by this living Indian example to right the wrongs that he saw around him. He said, 'Before this century, virtually all revolutions had been based on hope and hate. The hope was expressed in the rising expectation of freedom and justice.

The hate was an expression of bitterness toward the perpetrators of the old order. It was the hate that made revolutions bloody and violent. What was new about Mahatma Gandhi's movement in India was that he mounted a revolution on hope and love, hope and non-violence.

This same new emphasis characterized the civil rights movement in our country dating from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956 to the Selma movement of 1965.'

For about three centuries and a half, twenty million Negroes silently sobbed and sighed, but white Americans, except a sensitive few, like Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy, paid no heed to what they wanted. Martin Luther King could find no reason why American democracy should trample on the rights of the Negroes. He wanted the Negroes to share lunch counters, schools, libraries, parks, hotels, and other facilities with whites. He insisted on having these rights without any further delay. He said, 'We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia are moving _ _. with jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but still we creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.' And to those who called his activities 'unwise and untimely' and accused him of impatience he replied that they had 'never felt the stinging darts of segregation.' Martin Luther King came to national attention in 1956 when he led a boycott of the public buses in Montgomery, to protest against segregated seating on them. A year later, after many mass arrests, physical attacks, torture, and threats, the boycott was crowned with success. The U.S Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on public conveyances, both intrastate and interstate, was unlawful. For the first time in the history of America, Negroes enjoyed non-segregated bus travel.

It was a movement that knew no hatred or violence. For King had enunciated a principle from which he never budged an inch even in the face of imminent danger: 'We will not resort to violence. We will not degrade ourselves with hatred. Love will be returned for hate.'

The Montgomery victory had taught the Negroes the power of organization, the superiority of moral force over physical force, the dignity of suffering for a noble cause, and the efficacy of non-violence. In January 1957 King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which broadened his field of activity and gave him a national platform. He moved from place to place and delivered innumerable lectures, conferred with heads of state, and discussed the problem of the Negro with leaders in the country and abroad. King became a powerful speaker.

His voice often rang with a revivalist's fervour. Slavery and oppression over a period of several centuries had crushed the very soul of the Negro, and the entire race was in a state of torpor. Through fiery speeches King was able to generate the power which finally galvanized the entire race. He delivered the most impressive oration of his career in 1963 when 2,50,000 Americans of all faiths, races and creeds assembled together to 'March on Washington.' The burthen of his speech was 'I have a dream'-a dream of the time when racialism will vanish, when children of God will inhabit God's earth like brothers and sisters.

King's active career extended from 1957 to 1968. During this brief career he led numerous protest demonstrations in the South as well as in the North. He challenged the moral complacency of America and fought for the rights and liberties of the Negro. He hated the eye-for-an-eye method and fought with the weapon of non-violence-a weapon, said King, that 'cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.' And he raised a vast army. 'But it was a special army, with no supplies but its sincerity, no uniform but its determination, no arsenal except its faith, no currency but its conscience. It was an army that would move but not maul.

It was an army that would flank but not falter. It was an army to storm bastions of hatred, to lay siege to the fortress of segregation, to surround symbols of discrimination. It was an army whose allegiance was to God and whose strategy and intelligence were the eloquently simple dictates of conscience.' His creed of non-violence was criticized and challenged by 'black power' militants who would not renounce the use of violence to achieve their goals. King reminded them that 'within his own century the non-violent ethic of Mahatma Gandhi and his followers had muzzled the guns of the British Empire in India and freed more than three hundred and fifty million people fro colonialism.' His faith in non-violence never wavered.

What Martin Luther King, the Peaceful Warrior and his followers suffered, it is hard to describe. They were abused and stoned by the mob, slapped and kicked by the police and jeered by some of their own men. The police used fire hoses and ferocious dogs to rout them and the law courts sent them to solitary confinement where not a ray of the sun entered. Their women and children fared no better. Once a Negro church was bombed, killing four little girls attending Sunday School. They suffered all this without ever lifting a hand in self-defence. For they had taken an oath to 'refrain from the violence of the fist, tongue, or heart'. King was recognized for his peaceful methods and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 when he was only thirty-five, the youngest of all who had received this great honour.

In 1967 King announced his open opposition to the Vietnam War and led many non-violent demonstrations against it. In 1968 he announced a Poor People's Campaign, to be held in Washington. On 4 April of this year as he was planning with his staff on a balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis to lead a demonstration of striking sanitation workers, he was shot to death by an assassin.

Martin Luther King dedicated his book Why We Can't Wait 'To my children Yolanda-Martin 3-Dexter-Bernice, for whom I dream that one day soon they will no longer be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character'. Has his dream been realized? Not fully yet.

But King fought not only for the Black but for all the poor in all their hues, for he knew that if colour made them different, misery and oppression made them one. And he wanted to use the weapon of non-violence not only to solve racial, social and economic problems but also to prevent a typhoon of nuclear war which may annihilate all humanity. He said, 'Non-violence, the answer to the Negroes' need, may become the answer to the most desperate need of all humanity.'

Martin Luther King was the pride of the world and the world mourns his tragic death. He belonged to a century that is the most brutal, the wickedest since the dark ages, and a contrast between him and his century is a contrast between day and night.

He gave his great mind to great thoughts when other great minds wasted themselves on petty, selfish pursuits; he was a rock of convictions in a time when men believed in nothing. He maintained his personal dignity unimpaired in an age of fawning and servility. He was a peaceful warrior when men invented deadly weapons to kill one another. The world will admire him as long as virtues are admired and it will worship him as long as apostles of peace are worshipped.

King's assassin killed a man who was a ray of hope in a world that is enveloped by the gloom of nuclear war. Socrates was condemned to death by the drinking of hemlock, Christ was crucified, Joan of Arc was burnt alive, and Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King were shot to death. 'O God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to receive Thy saints? How long, O Lord, how long?"

Glossary

Championed – supported

Assassin – person who kills an important man for political reasons Nurtured – brought up legitimate aspirations – lawful desires

Sustain – uphold

Grudgingly – not willingly

Resentment – feeling that one has when insulted

Paradoxical – something contrary to what is natural

Sapped – weaken

Embark – start

Efficacy – strength

Perpetrator – one who did a wrong

Enunciated – expressed clearly

Torpor – dullness

Arsenal – weapons

Socrates – (473 to 399 B.C.), Greek philosopher. He was asked to drink hemlock and die. It was a sentence passed on him for his impiety

Joan of Arc – (1412 to 31) French heroine who defeated the English at Orleans (1429); burned at the stake for witchcraft; declared a saint in 1920.

'O God...O Lord, how long?, - These are the last lines of the play St. Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Joan appears in a dream to Charles 7 of France and speaks protesting against the neglect of martyrs.

Choose the best answer

1. Gandhi championed the rights of _ _.

a) Harijans b) Black c) Negroes

2. King championed the rights of _ _.

a) Harijans b) Negroes c) American Negroes

3. A _ _ was nobody in his own land.

a) Negro b) Black c) Harjan

4. King was assassinated on _ _.

a) 4th April 1968 b) 14th April 1968 c) 24th April 1968

5. _ _ belonged to the century that is the most brutal, the wickedest since the dark ages.

a) Gandhi b) King c) Nehru

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. List out the similarities between Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Discuss the statement 'no person can truly half slave and half free'.

3. Write a note on the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956.

4. Explain the power of non-violence with reference to the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

5. Give an account on paradoxical situation in India.

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Write an essay on the similarities between Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Briefly describe the criticism faced by King from both camps – the segregationist whites as well as Black militants.

3. Discuss the kinds of segregation and injustice practised against Harijans.

About the Author

C. V. Raman - H. Kusumakar

H. Kusumakar is best known as a veteran science journalist and correspondent for The Hindu, who notably wrote about the life and legacy of the Nobel Prize-winning Indian physicist Sir C.V. Raman. His journalistic work and biographical sketches of Dr. Raman offer a highly valuable and grounded perspective on the physicist's life, tracing his journey from his early days in Tamil Nadu to his pioneering research in light scattering in Calcutta, and finally to his later years in Bangalore.

About the text

, one of the greatest scientists of our country, had the distinction of winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. His work on the scattering of light known as the Raman Effect is considered to be one of the most original contributions to science. Raman took his master's degree in physics in 1907 and started his career as an officer of the Finance Department of the Government of India. He returned to scientific study in 1917 by assuming the professorship of physics at Calcutta University. He started the Raman Institute at Bangalore and devoted his life to the promotion of science. Kusumakar's account of Raman gives an insight into the many-sided personality of the great scientist.

Text As one approaches the gate of the high-walled Raman Institute in Hebbal, a quiet corner of Bangalore, one misses the weather-beaten shingle which for many years warned visitors: 'We are at work. Please do not disturb us.'

One misses, even more, the man at work, turbaned, a tie, rather carelessly knotted, trousers almost always baggy, a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a smile which often broke into a guffaw.

Dr Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the fifteenth anniversary of whose scientific discovery which bears his name was recently celebrated internationally, had a charm that can only be described as unpredictable. He could be very angry and bitter at times, but when he was in the mood, he was the very soul of warmth.

This writer had the privilege of meeting the Nobel Prize winner on a few occasions, happily, in his better moods. He could enchant the visitor with an hour-long chat on his researches on the physiology of vision and floral colours (his favourite flower was the rose), answering telephone calls with a brusque 'yes' or 'no' and tearing up the letters piled up on his table after a single look and scattering the pieces all around like confetti.

"These fellows," he would say, pointing to a note, 'do not have the elementary courtesy to leave me alone. They want me to come all the way to...and address them. I am not a salesman.' Tugging at his lapels—a mannerism characteristic of him—he would add, 'You see what I mean?'

Looking back, he would recall his early scientific work at Calcutta and the simple apparatus he used to make his famous discovery, comparing it with the vast sums spent on importing sophisticated equipment or on sending Indian scientists abroad. 'Come, I shall show you my trinkets,' he would say, opening his steel cupboard and holding up the Nobel Prize, awarded to him in 1930 (for his work on the diffusion of light and the discovery of what has now come to be known as the Raman Effect), together with other innumerable gold and silver medals which he collected by the dozen.

Accompanying Dr Raman on a walk around his sprawling garden of exquisite roses, jacarandas, bougain-villas, hibiscus and eucalyptus or to visit his 'store-house' of gems and minerals, glowing under infra-red rays, one could feel that colour, as someone appropriately said, had become 'his passion, his obsession and his excitement.'

Dr Raman's nephew, Professor S. Ramaseshan, a scientist on his own merit and the head of the Materials Science Division of the National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore, has captured in his 'Raman Lecture,' now available in the form of a booklet, glimpses of the scientist's childhood and the influences that made him an open-minded and curious man. Chandrasekhara Iyer, Raman's father, a schoolmaster earning a monthly salary of Rs 10, was an agnostic who had come under the spell of Spencer, Bradlaugh and Ingersoll.

He also played the violin exceedingly well and young Raman owed his interest in music and musical instruments to his father. When Raman saw Lokasundari, his future wife, for the first time, she was playing the famous Thyagaraja composition, Rama nisamanam evaro (Rama, who is equal to you), on the veena. Raman decided to marry her then and there, against all conventions!

Later, during his scientific investigations, Raman was to study the bridge of the veena and discover that its construction violated the Helmholtz law (that the position at which the string is plucked cannot be a node). Thus the veena, and tanpura as well, produced innumerable harmonies, making their sound closest in harmonic content to the human voice. A copy of Raman's monograph on the bowed string has this inscription by Yehudi Menuhin, written in 1952, 'In memory of my visit to the Institute, to an authority on sound from an ignorant violinist.'

After passing his M.A., at the age of 18, Raman topped the list in the Government of India's Civil Service (Finance Department) examination. His first posting was as assistant accountant-general in Calcutta. Raman and Lokasundari set up home at Scots Lane, off Bowbazaar. At the end of the road was a church, which the couple often visited to listen to the magnificent organ music. Their Brahmin cook was outraged at this and left. A letter from Raman's father written at this time is revealing, 'By the bye, your old servant has been circulating a lot of cock-and-bull stories about you, one of which you should certainly know. You and Lokam (Lokasundari) are such devout Christians (!!!) that you go to church Sunday after Sunday.'

After reaching Calcutta, Raman lost no time in establishing contact with the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, where he spent most of his spare time in scientific investigation. Giving up what was clearly a promising career in the Finance Department, Raman decided to accept the Palit Chair of Physics in Calcutta University on a salary less than what he was getting.

The news of the discovery of the Raman Effect was broken to the world on 29 February 1928, by the Associated Press of India in these words: "The principal feature observed is that when matter is excited by light of one colour, the atoms contained in it emit light of two colours, one of which is different from the exciting colour and is lower down the spectrum...there is in addition a diffuse radiation spread over a considerable range of the spectrum." Raman, many scientists acknowledge, is relevant even today.

Within two years of the announcement of the discovery, Dr Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was a nationalist to the core. On receiving the prize from the hands of the King of Sweden at a colourful ceremony, he commented, 'I am sad that India does not have a flag of her own. Many years later, he developed a cynical attitude towards the government of free India because he sincerely believed that Indian science had become a plaything of politicians and politician-scientists. In a joke that perhaps hurt, he was reported to have told a meeting, "These days, all that you need for success in India is a Gandhi cap over your head and nothing below it!'

Then came a spell as Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He left the Institute in the wake of a controversy over the invitations he extended to some famous German scientists fleeing from Nazi tyranny. He wanted to start an institute for himself with his life's savings, where he could retire and enjoy science. But he lost much of his savings in a slippery investment with a private banker whose business crashed all of a sudden. Dr Raman literally turned to 'begging' and collecting funds for his institute which he built patiently and with loving care. Its activities as a centre of scientific research continue, managed by a trust instituted after his death.

Dr Raman had indeed come a long way from Truvannankkaval, his ancestral home in Tamil Nadu, but he died an old and frustrated man, in Bangalore in November 1970. Shortly before his death, he had commented, 'My life has been an utter failure. I thought I would try to build true science in this country. But all we have is a legion of camp followers of the West.'

Did Dr Raman hold any religious belief? He appeared to have inherited his father's agnosticism. He was quoted by a newspaper as having said, 'There is no heaven, no swarga, no hell, no rebirth, no reincarnation and no immortality.' The only thing that was true to him was that a man is born, he lives and he dies. He protested against any belief in the next world: 'People are likely to lead a more rational and religious life if they believe that what really matters is life today.' If you appeared shocked, he would have probably tugged at his lapels and made his characteristic remark, 'You see what I mean?'

Glossary

- Shingle – small flat square or oblong piece of stone

- Guffaw – noisy laughter

- Confetti – small bits of coloured paper showered on people at weddings

- Spencer –, the nineteenth-century scientist of England, who

- advocated the supremacy of science over religion

- Bradlaugh –, a great English free-thinker, known for his love of individual liberty

- Ingersoll – Robert Green, American orator, politician and advocate of scientific rationalism

- Thyagaraja – saint-composer of South India, a great exponent of Carnatic music

- Helmholtz – of Germany, a great scientist and

- philosopher, whose work on sound is considered the most original

- Yehudi Menuhin – famous violinist of the U.S.A

Choose the best answer

1. C.V Raman got Nobel Prize for Physics in _ _.

a) 1913 b) 1930 d) 1931

2. C.V.Raman's work on the scattering of light is called the _ _.

a) Raman Effect b) Dark Effect c) Dark Room

3. C.V Raman started the ___ _ at Bangalore.

a) Raman Institute b) Sir C.V. Raman Arts College c) Engineering college

4. C.V. Raman's wife was _ _.

a) Lokasundari b) Sundari c) Veena

5. C.V.Raman died as an old and frustrated man in Bangalore in _ _.

a) November 1970 b) October 1970 c) September 1970

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. Write a note on Sir C V Raman's trinkets.

2. Compare and contrast 'agnostic' and an 'atheist'.

3. Explain the Helmholtz law.

4. Sir C V Raman – a nationalist to the core. Justify.

5. Discuss about Raman effect.

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Write an essay on Raman's great love for music.

2. Justify with evidence and examples Raman an irreligious man.

3. Elucidate Raman's devotion to science.

About the Speaker:

Unit 2 U.N Youth Assembly Speech - Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. She became globally known after surviving a Taliban attack in 2012 for advocating girls' education in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Despite the attack, she continued her mission for education and women's rights. She now works through the Malala Fund to promote equal access to education for children, especially girls, across the world.

About the Speech:

The U.N Youth Assembly Speech is a powerful speech delivered by Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations. In this speech, she speaks about her personal experience of being attacked for supporting education and emphasizes the importance of education for all children. She highlights issues such as poverty, terrorism, gender inequality, and lack of schooling in many countries. The speech strongly calls upon world leaders to ensure free and compulsory education for every child and encourages young people to raise their voices for peace, equality, and justice.

Text:

In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful. Honorable U.N Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, honorable U.N envoy for global education Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the U.K and the U.A.E government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

I fully support U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of U.N Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the U.N General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand. So here I stand, one girl, among many.

I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same.

Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child.

I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns.

The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them.

They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society.

And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education? He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said, "a Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book."

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people's heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons.

Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

Today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves.

So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm.

We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.

We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice.

We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we were all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future. So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.

Education is the only solution. Education first.

Thank you.

Glossary

- Emancipation – freedom from control, oppression, or restrictions

- Deprivation – lack of basic needs such as education, food, or rights

- Extremism – belief in very strong or violent political/religious ideas

- Injustice – unfair treatment or violation of rights

- Equality – state of being equal in rights, status, and opportunities

- Compulsory – required by law; must be done

Choose the correct Answer

1. Malala delivered this speech at the _ _. a) Parliament b) United Nations c) School d) Hospital

2. Malala was attacked by _ _. a) Police b) Taliban c) Teachers d) Soldiers

3. According to Malala, the most powerful weapon is _ _. a) Gun b) Bomb c) Pen and books d) Army

4. Malala believes education is _ _. a) Optional b) A luxury c) A basic right d) Not important

5. The speech mainly focuses on _ _. a) War b) Education and equality c) Sports d) Politics

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. What is the main theme of Malala Yousafzai's U.N Youth Assembly speech?

2. How does Malala describe the importance of education in her speech?

3. Why does Malala say that books and pens are more powerful than guns?

4. What challenges to education are mentioned in the speech?

5. What message does Malala give to world leaders in her speech?

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Write an essay on the importance of education based on Malala Yousafzai's speech.

2. Describe the life and achievements of Malala Yousafzai.

3. Discuss how Malala Yousafzai inspires young people through her speech.

4. Explain the main ideas and message of the U.N Youth Assembly speech.

5. “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.” Discuss with reference to Malala's speech.

About the Speaker:

Give Us a Role Model - A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was an Indian scientist and the 11th President of India, widely known as the “Missile Man of India.” He played a key role in India's space and missile development programmes. Apart from being a scientist, he was a great teacher and motivational speaker who inspired millions of students through his speeches and books like Wings of Fire and Ignited Minds. He always encouraged young people to dream big and work hard for a developed India.

The given text is an inspirational speech by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam based on his interactions with students across India. In this speech, he highlights the importance of role models, especially parents and teachers, in shaping young minds. He emphasizes the power of dreams, education, and positive thinking in building a strong and developed nation. The text also reflects his belief that young people are the real strength of a country and can bring change through knowledge, confidence, and determination.

Text:

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.

—Mahatma

Gandhi

Why should I meet young students in particular? Seeking the answer I went back to my student days. From the island of Rameswaram, what a great journey it's been! Looking back it all seems quite incredible. What was it that made it possible?

Hard work? Ambition? Many things come to my mind. I feel the most important thing was that I always assessed my worth by the value of my contribution. The fundamental thing is that you must know that you deserve the good things of life, the benefits that God bestows. Unless our students and young believe that they are worthy of being citizens of a developed India, how will they ever be responsible and enlightened citizens? There is nothing mysterious about the abundance in developed nations. The historic fact is that the people of these nations—the G.8 as they are called—believed over many generations that they must live a good life in a strong and prosperous nation. The reality became aligned with their aspirations.

I do not think that abundance and spirituality are mutually exclusive or that it is wrong to desire material things. For instance, while I personally cherish a life with minimum of possessions, I admire abundance, for it brings along with it security and confidence, and these eventually help preserve our freedom. Nature too does not do anything by half measures, as you will see if you look around you. Go to a garden. In season, there is a profusion of flowers. Or look up. The universe stretches into infinitude, vast beyond belief.

All that we see in the world is an embodiment of energy. We are a part of the cosmic energy too, as Sri Aurobindo says. Therefore when we begin to appreciate that spirit and matter are both part of existence, are in harmony with each other, we shall realize that it is wrong to feel that it is somehow shameful or non-spiritual to desire material things.

Yet, this is what we are often led to believe. Certainly there is nothing wrong with an attitude of making do with the minimum, in leading a life of asceticism. Mahatma Gandhi led such a life but in his case as in yours it has to be a matter of choice. You follow such a lifestyle because it answers a need that arises from deep within you. However, making a virtue of sacrifice and what is forced upon you—to celebrate suffering—is a different thing altogether. This was the basis of my decision to contact our young. To know their dreams and tell them that it is perfectly all right to dream of a good life, an abundant life, a life full of pleasures and comforts, and work for that golden era. Whatever you do must come from the heart, express your spirit, and thereby you will also spread love and joy around you.

My first such meeting took place in a high school in Tripura. It was a gathering of 500 students and teachers. After my talk on the second vision for transforming India into a developed nation, there were a series of questions, two of which I would like to discuss. The first question was: 'Where do we get a role model from, how do you get a role model?' Whether we are aware of it or not, from childhood onwards, through various phases of life, we adopt role models. I said, 'When you are growing up, say till the age of fifteen, the best role model I can think of would be your father, your mother and your schoolteacher.' They, to my mind, are the people who can impart the best guidance during this period.

I turned to the teachers and parents present there and told them what a big responsibility they have. I personally believe the full development of a child with a value system can only come from these people. In my own home, when I was growing up, I used to see my father and mother say namaz five times a day, and in spite of their modest financial resources, I found them always giving to the needy around.

My teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, was responsible for persuading my father to send me to school setting aside financial constraints. It is very important for every parent to be willing to make the effort to guide children to be good human beings—enlightened and hard-working. The teacher, the child's window to learning and knowledge, has to play the role model in generating creativity in the child.

This triangle is indeed the real role model I can think of. I would even go to the extent of saying that if parents and teachers show the required dedication to shape the lives of the young, India would get a new life. As it is said: Behind the parents stands the school, and behind the teacher the home. Education and the teacher—student relationships have to be seen not in business terms but with the nation's growth in mind. A proper education would help nurture a sense of dignity and self-respect among our youth.

These are qualities no law can enforce—they have to be nurtured ourselves. The children enjoyed this answer though I don't know whether the parents and teachers got the message.

Another girl in all seriousness asked, 'Every day we read in the newspaper or hear our parents talk about atankvadis (terrorists). Who are they? Do they belong to our country?' This question really shocked me. I myself was searching for an answer. They are our own people.

Sometimes we create them through political and economic isolation. Or they can be fanatics, sometimes sponsored by hostile nations, trying to disrupt normal life through terrorism. I looked at the audience, at the people sitting by my side, at the teachers, and at the sky for an answer. I said, 'Children, I am reminded of our epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the Ramayana the battle is between the divine hero Rama and demon king Ravana. It is a long-drawn battle that finally Rama wins. In the Mahabharata, there is the battle at Kurukshetra. In this fight between good and evil, Dharma wins again.

The battles are many but finally peace triumphs. In our times too we have seen this battle between good and evil—for instance, the Second World War. It seems to me that both good and evil will survive side by side. The Almighty does help them both to various degrees! How to minimize the evil through our spiritual growth is a question that has persisted throughout human history.

On another occasion, I addressed a very large gathering of students at St Mary's School, Dindigul in Tamil Nadu on their seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations.

Among the large number of children wishing to meet me were two who were in a hurry to get an answer from me. One student asked, 'I have read your book Agni Siragugal (the Tamil version of Wings of Fire). You always give a message to dream. Tell me, why dream?'

My answer was to ask the gathered children to recite the following: 'Dream, dream, dream. Dream transforms into thoughts. Thoughts result in actions.' I told them, 'Friends, if there are no dreams, there are no revolutionary thoughts; if there are no thoughts, no actions will emanate. Hence, parents and teachers should allow their children to dream. Success always follows dreams attempted though there may be some setbacks and delays.'

Another boy asked, 'Please tell me, who would be the first scientist in the world?' It occurred to me—science was born and survives only by questions. The whole foundation of science is questioning. And as parents and teachers well know, children are the source of unending questions. Hence, 'Child is the first scientist,' I replied. There was thunderous applause. The children enjoyed this different way of thinking. Teachers and parents also smiled at the answer.

During my visit to Assam, I visited Tezpur. I had gone for the convocation ceremony of Tezpur University and also to receive the honorary doctorate conferred on me. After the convocation, I took off to meet schoolchildren. It was a big gathering of young people. The theme of my address was 'Indomitable Spirit'. As soon as I finished my talk the youngsters mobbed me for autographs.

When I finished giving autographs I faced two interesting questions. One was: 'Why cannot water from the Brahmaputra, which is in flood much of the time, be diverted to Rajasthan or Tamil Nadu which are starved of water?'

Only children will have these innovative ideas. Grown-ups tend to see more impossibilities. It was such a powerful question, I was completely beaten.

I was sure even the Prime Minister would not have been able to answer it! How to tell the boy, rivers are a state subject and our states are fighting for the rights to their waters? That these would bring them prosperity some day but meanwhile they were flowing wastefully into the sea and causing floods every year. How to answer it? I said, 'India Vision 2020 demands from the young that they start a great mission of connecting rivers cutting across the states.' I personally feel the young have the most powerful minds.

They can overcome the negativity of the bureaucracy and some self-centred policies of the state governments to enrich the people of the country. They can even improve coordination between the states and the Centre. And they surely will!

Another student asked me a question for which again I had no ready answer. He said, 'Sir, big leaders in any field don't come and talk to us. We see our Prime Minister often going to Chennai, Lucknow, and many places. But he never comes here. We want him; we want to talk to him.' I was impressed by this urge to communicate with the country's leaders.

I said, when I reach Delhi, I will tell your dream to the leaders and your dream will come true. I later narrated this to the Prime Minister. He conceded the point and said, 'Children don't talk to me any more. Maybe the security cordon has created a separation.' I request our leaders in different fields to interact more with the children of the country for a better understanding of their own purpose in life as also for helping create a better future for our children.

I have visited Jharkhand a number of times after its formation. Every time I visit it, I am struck by the tremendous resources that wait to be harnessed in the state, which will multiply its wealth manifold. At the Sri Ramakrishna High School, Bokaro, I addressed a gathering of about 3,000 students and saw their creativity on display in an exhibition of their paintings, toys and other items made by them.

In my conversation with them, one student asked me, 'In Jharkhand, it is green everywhere. We have forests, streams and hills. Why is it that we have a desert in Rajasthan?'

The question reminded me of a similar one in Assam: Why cannot the Brahmaputra's waters be taken to Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan? 'You know, twenty years ago, you would not have seen much cultivation in Rajasthan. But once the Indira Gandhi Canal was constructed agriculture became possible in many places. It is possible for man to transform the desert into a fertile land.' I repeated what I had told the student in Assam. 'It has to be one of the greatest missions of India to connect rivers so that water can reach many water-starved states. Visionary action is needed. When you grow up you will probably be part of reconstructing this nation and giving shape to these thoughts.'

One child came to me with a serious expression and asked, 'Sir, will your Agni missile cross the ocean and reach America?'

I was a little startled by this thought. 'For us no country is our enemy to send Agni there. Particularly America is our friend. Agni symbolizes our strength. It shows that India has all the capabilities.'

During my visit to Cuttack I participated in the birthday celebrations of the late Justice Harihar Mahapatra. I went there at the invitation of Justice Ranganath Mishra. For me, it was a revelation, how the independence movement, the first vision for the nation, had created the larger-than-life figure of Justice Harihar Mahapatra. He lived to the age of ninety-two and established Cuttack Eye Hospital, Utkal University and above all organized multi-pronged efforts to remove poverty. My biography in Oriya was released. At the end of my speech the youngsters crowding around put forth many questions. The first question was, 'Sir, tell us which are your favourite books, that you loved and which have shaped your mind?'

I said, 'Four books in my life have been very close to my heart. I cherish reading them. The first is Man the Unknown by Dr Alexis Carrel, a doctor-turned-philosopher and a Nobel laureate. This book highlights how the mind and body both have to be treated in an ailment as the two are integrated. You cannot treat one and ignore the other.

In particular, children who dream of becoming doctors should read the book. They will learn that the human body is not a mechanical system; it is a very intelligent organism with a most intricate and sensitive feedback system. The second book, one I venerate, is Tiruvalluvar's Thirukkural, which provides an excellent code of life. The third is Light from Many Lamps by Lillian Eichler Watson which has touched me deeply. It illuminates how we live and has been an invaluable guide to me for fifty years.

And the Holy Quran is, of course, a constant companion.' While I was addressing another gathering of schoolchildren in Anand, Gujarat, one smart boy asked a very intelligent question: 'Who is our enemy?' I liked the question and put it to the other students, encouraging them to come forward with their views. Then came the answer, 'Poverty.' What a wise reaction from this young child whom I have mentioned in the dedication.

The last question, which I am including here, came from the powerful mind of another child. 'Tell me, sir, are Pakistani weapons stronger than Indian ones?' I asked the child why this doubt arose in his mind. Reports he read in the media led him to think so, he said. 'This is a unique characteristic of our country—to belittle our capabilities. It may even be genetic!' I said. 'India can design, develop and produce any type of missile and any type of nuclear weapon.

This is a capability only four countries in the world have. You remove all the doubts from your mind,' I told the child, who gave me a very satisfied look.

I have selected only eleven questions here from among the hundreds of questions I have been asked during the course of meeting 40,000 high school students so far. The questions reflect the children's innocence, but most of all they show how strongly they feel the desire to live in a strong and prosperous nation. I also realized from these sessions how important it is for them to have role models, whether in science, industry, sports, entertainment or some other field. The question is: Can we give our children a role model? And how?

At the dawn of the new millennium came the news that the human genome had been decoded. All the 30,000 genes that human beings carry today, we are told, are identical to those of our Stone Age ancestors who lived thousands of years ago. One of the traits that has come down to us from them, along with others that are needed for survival, is the desire for achievement.

It is said that nature gave us this instinct because the need to achieve, like the need to reproduce, the need to eat, the need to drink and the need to breathe, is simply too important to be left to chance. History shows the hunger for achievement is a highly evolved one and undoubtedly the strongest one. We tend to forget it but it underlines much of our experience. Most important, without it, how would we learn and grow, aspire to greater perfection?

I have seen Dr Vikram Sarabhai's vision succeeding over three decades through sustained and coordinated achievement. At work in that and any other endeavour was this same desire to exceed the limits. As we try and excel, role models play a guiding role. The power of Vikram Sarabhai was such that others took up his vision and completed it long after he was no more. For you it could be someone else whom you admire—a sportsperson, a teacher, a successful entrepreneur.

I recently had the chance to meet a legendary personality, a role model herself.

Lata Mangeshkar was presiding over a function in remembrance of her father, Master Deenanath Mangeshkar. Lata Mangeshkar is a recipient of the Bharat Ratna and I felt honoured that she had asked me to inaugurate the 450-bed Deenanath Hospital and Research Centre in Pune. I visited the hospital just before the inauguration. I found that it would be treating nearly 30 per cent of the patients free. I was touched by the fact that despite her wealth and fame, she had not lost sight of the fact that one needs to do all one can to help relieve the suffering of others.

Her songs played over the radio have brought pleasure to countless hearts over the decades. During the India—China conflict in 1962, her song 'Ae mere vatan ke logo' moved an entire nation. Few people can claim to have influenced the lives of millions in such a delightful way.

Role models can help us focus on what is correct for us as individuals, as groups and, of course, as a nation. They can also lead us to great success. We seem to have got carried away with the success of a few in the field of information technology. But that is indeed nothing compared to what we can and should achieve.

Ancient India was a knowledge society and a leader in many intellectual pursuits, particularly in the fields of mathematics, medicine and astronomy. A renaissance is imperative for us to once again become a knowledge superpower rather than simply providing cheap labour in areas of high technology.

Glossary

Asceticism – simple and strict lifestyle without luxury

Contribute – to give or add something useful

Indomitable – impossible to defeat or discourage

Visionary – someone who has clear ideas about the future

Integrity – honesty and strong moral principles

Prosperous – successful & wealthy

Choose the Best Answer:

1. Kalam believes role models are important for _ _. a) Entertainment b) Guidance and success c) Politics d) Sports only

2. The main role models for young children are ___ _.

a) Film actors b) Parents and teachers c) Friends d) Politicians

3. Kalam describes India's future as a _ _ nation.

a) Weak b) Developed c) Small d) Poor

4. According to Kalam, dreams lead to _ _.

a) Fear b) Actions c) Silence d) Confusion

5. Kalam says science begins with _ _.

a) Writing b) Questions c) Reading d) Memory

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. What does Kalam say about the importance of role models in a child's life?

2. How does Kalam explain the relationship between dreams and actions?

3. Why does Kalam believe parents and teachers are the best role models?

4. What is Kalam's view on abundance and spirituality?

5. How does Kalam describe the role of children in shaping the future of a nation?

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Discuss the importance of role models in shaping the youth based on Kalam's speech.

2. Explain how A. P. J. Abdul Kalam motivates students through his interactions.

3. “Dreams lead to achievements” — Discuss with reference to Kalam's ideas.

4. Describe Kalam's views on education, teachers, and parents as role models.

5. Write an essay on how young people can contribute to building a developed nation.

About the Speaker:

Inaugural Address

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (1918 to 2013) was a great leader, freedom fighter, and the first Black President of South Africa. He fought against the cruel system of apartheid, which discriminated against Black people. Because of his struggle for equality and justice, he was imprisoned for 27 years. After his release, Mandela worked for peace, reconciliation, and democracy. In 1994, he became the first democratically elected President of South Africa. He is remembered worldwide as a symbol of courage, forgiveness, and humanity. Mandela also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his efforts to end racial discrimination peacefully.

“Inaugural Address” is a famous speech delivered by Nelson Mandela on 10 May 1994 at his swearing-in ceremony in Pretoria. The speech marks the historic end of apartheid and the birth of a free and democratic South Africa. Mandela expresses gratitude to the people who struggled and sacrificed for freedom. He promises to build a nation where all citizens, regardless of race, colour, or gender, can live with equal rights, dignity, and opportunities. In the speech, Mandela speaks about unity, peace, and national healing.

He urges people to forget hatred and work together to create a better future. He also highlights the importance of courage, human dignity, and freedom. The address inspires hope and reflects Mandela's vision of a country based on justice, equality, and brotherhood.

Text:

Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends

Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.

Out of the experience of and extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.

Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for glorious life for all.

All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today.

To my compatriots, I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld.

Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change.

We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.

That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression.

We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws no so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.

We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racialism and democracy.

We deeply appreciate the role that the masses of our people and their political mass democratic, religious, women, youth, business, traditional and other leaders have played to bring about this conclusion. Not least among them is my Second Deputy President, the Honourable F.W. de Klerk.

We would also like to pay tribute to our security forces, in all their ranks, for the distinguished role they have played in securing our first democratic elections and the transition to democracy, from blood-thirsty forces which still refuse to see the light.

The time for the healing of the wounds has come.

The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.

The time to build is upon us.

We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.

We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace.

We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the million of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world. As a token of its commitment to the renewal of our country, the new Interim Government of National Unity will, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of amnesty for various categories of our people who are currently serving terms of imprisonment.

We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free. Their dreams have become reality. Freedom is their reward.

We are both humbled and elevated by the honour and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist government.

We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom.

We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.

We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.

Let there be justice for all.

Let there be peace for all.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

Let each know that for each that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.

Let freedom reign.

The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!

God bless Africa!

Thank you.

Glossary

- Liberty – Freedom Emancipation – Release from slavery or control Reconciliation – Restoring friendship and unity Oppression – Cruel treatment Dignity – Self-respect and honour

Choose the Best Answer

1. Who delivered the “Inaugural Address”? a) Mahatma Gandhi b) Nelson Mandela c) Abraham Lincoln d) Jawaharlal Nehru

2. On which date was the speech delivered? a) 15 August 1947 b) 26 January 1950 c) 10 May 1994 d) 2 October 1869

3. What system ended in South Africa before Mandela became President? a) Colonialism b) Apartheid c) Monarchy d) Communism

4. What kind of nation did Mandela dream of? a) A divided nation b) A military nation c) A rainbow nation at peace

d) A rich nation only

5. What does Mandela ask the people to build together?

a) War b) Hatred

c) National reconciliation and peace d) Isolation

Answer the following paragraph questions:

1. Write a short note on Mandela's dream for South Africa.

2. How does Mandela describe the suffering caused by apartheid?

3. Why does Mandela thank the international community?

4. Explain the meaning of the phrase “rainbow nation.”

5. How does Mandela stress unity and reconciliation in his speech?

Answer the following essay questions:

1. Explain the main ideas expressed in Mandela's “Inaugural Address.”

2. Describe Mandela's vision of a democratic and peaceful South Africa.

3. How does Mandela inspire hope and unity through his speech?

4. Discuss the importance of freedom and equality in the “Inaugural Address.”

5. Write an essay on the role of sacrifice and struggle in achieving freedom according to Mandela's speech.

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