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NEW HORIZON COLLEGE MARATHALLI, BANGALORE (Affiliated to Bangalore University) A Recipient of Prestigious Rajyotsava State Award 2012 conferred by the Government of Karnataka II SEM BBM, BCOM, BCA STUDY MATERIAL ADDITIONAL ENGLISH Prepared By Meenakshi T Ring Road, Bellandur Post, Near Marathalli, Bangalore - 560 103 Tel : +91-80-6629 7777 Fax : +91-80-2844 0770 E-mail : [email protected] Web : www.newhorizonindia.edu Table of Contents Sr. Title of the Chapter Page no. no. 1 A Horse and Two Goats 4 2 The Cow of the Barricades 6 3 Building A Wall 9 4 Mending Wall 12 5 The Berlin Wall 13 6 A Wall Is Just A Wall 21 7 11/9 Versus 9/11 22 8 A Girl 25 9 To Mother 26 10 A Ring To Me Is Bondage 27 11 The Beauty Industry 29 12 I Am An Ordinary Man 32 13 Previous Years‘ Question Papers 34-40 1 2 PART I: STORY TELLERS 1. A HORSE AND TWO GOATS R K Narayan R K NARAYAN a literary genius is known for his extraordinary skill of finding humor in day to day life. Here he illustrates the story of an ordinary Tamilian and a foreigner who in spite of not comprehending each other‘s language still converse for long. ―Kritam‖ meaning crown in Tamil was a tiny village which housed thirty small houses and a big yellow house. Muni lived in one of these small houses lorded over a flock of forty sheep. Every morning he would drive his flock to the highway to graze while he would sit on the pedestal of the statue of a horse. He would collect some firewood for his kitchen. Now days were bad and from a flock of forty it was reduced to two skinny goats. Muni, though old, still his mouth watered for some delicious food but his dreams could not be materialized as the shopkeeper had refused to give him anything on credit basis. Every time he approached him he would be reminded of his earlier credits and turned back and he would return with a broken heart when he thought of all the people who had seen him at the shop Muni remembered his good old days when he had the sheep to shear and how the butcher from town would come and pamper him with all the goodies from town. Muni remembered how he had an upper hand over his wife. He was childless and people talked behind his back about the barren couple. All these hurt him a lot. He would often think about the stories associated to the horse. It was nearly life- size, made of clay, baked, burnt and brightly colored. It stood with its legs in the air and its tail in a loop. Beside the horse stood a warrior like statue of a man who seemed to possess great strength. Muni remembered how it had looked earlier with its majestic looking brocaded back cover on its milky white body but none in the village admired it as they hardly noticed its existence. It stood untouched by the vandals of the village. Now the statue was farther as the village had moved inside. One fine day as usual Muni was out with his goats when a vehicle stopped abruptly before him. A foreigner who was driving the vehicle stepped out and approached muni enquiring for a gas station. All of a sudden his eyes fell on the huge statue of the horse. He was amazed. Muni saw the man wearing khaki and was scared .He wanted to run but his old legs would not take him far and so decided to face the odds. Muni who did not know English more than a yes or a no started conversing in Tamil confessing that he was unaware about the murder in the next village some time ago. A long conversation went on between Muni and the foreigner though they both did not understand what each other said. The foreigner told him about how he had come to India with his wife Ruth from New York. The foreigner felt it was Muni beside the horse and he expressed his desire to buy the statue. He was also willing to offer Muni a good price for it but poor Muni 3 not knowing his intention started narrating what he had known about the horse from his great grandfather. The foreigner stood on its pedestal and marvelled at its beauty its colour combinations that made it look exquisite. Muni carried by his own thoughts said the horse was believed to be the guardian of the village and would protect it from all adversaries. He said that at the end of Kali Yuga all worlds would be destroyed and the redeemer will come in the shape of a horse called Kalki and this horse will come to life and trample all bad men. The foreigner went on to tell Muni about his plans of setting up the horse at his home in New York. He would shift all his things at home to give space to this horse that he would be taking. Muni went on to tell him about all ―avatars‖ of Vishnu and many other things. Muni asked the foreigner how many children he had but he under stood it as how much he was willing to pay for the horse. He drew his wallet and handed Muni a hundred rupee note. Muni though shocked thought it was for the skinny goats that he possessed. Finally went home thinking that he would make his wife for the deal he had struck.As he stood explaining the day‘s events he heard the bleating of the goats outside. His wife unaware of the situation senses a foul play and tells Muni that she would return to her mother‘s place rather than being a partner in the crime. Questions: 2 Marks: 1. Where was the village of Kritam located? 2. What was Muni‘s initial opinion of the foreigner? 3. What did Muni think the foreigner wanted to buy? What did the man actually want to buy? 4. What did the foreigner plan to do with the horse? 6 Marks: 1. What is the nature of the relationship between Muni and his wife? Discuss. 2. Discuss the humourous element of the story. 10 Marks: 1. Write a character-sketch of Muni while discussing the ups and downs faced by him in his life. _________________________ 4 2. THE COW OF THE BARRICADES Raja Rao ‗The Cow of the Barricades‘ written by Raja Rao portray the story of a cow that appears strangely in a village. The cow named Gauri would behave like a pet to the Master in the hermitage of the village. She would appear from nowhere on every Tuesday in the evenings just before sunset. She would walk straight to the Master and express her love for him in a very humane way. She would nibble (gesture of chewing in this case) at the hair of the Master and the Master too would caress her with profound love. He would ask her how she was. After that she would accept and chew what the Master would offer her as if she is uttering some holy words and noiselessly walk out and disappear. This strange episode occurring every Tuesday thrilled the other villagers. They became more eager to know who she was; from where she would come and that too exactly why on every Tuesday. Gauri would be heartless to reject what the other villagers would offer her to eat and simply walk out. People would follow her in the local places like the Cotton Street, the Mango Street and the Ginning Mills and through the Weavers‘ Lines but she would not be found anywhere. They would be all surprised and would go and ask the Master who might this cow be? The Master being a humble man would just joke that she must be his mother-in-law and the mother of someone in the crowd. And finally, they all came to a conclusion that she must be the ―vehicle‖ of the great Mother. That was how Gauri came to be celebrated as an embodiment of the Holy. And the celebration went on to a large extent. People would come and visit her from near and far and would worship and offer her. They would bring grain, hay and kumkum to honour her. People with various hopes and expectations came to worship her. The merchants came to worship her thinking the coming year they would have more money and more harvest; students would go and touch her head and tail praying for good results; young girls would come to pray for getting suitable matches for themselves; widows would pray for their lifelong purity; childless would pray for the child. And every Tuesday would be a gathering of people and procession at the Master‘s hermitage. Gauri remained unaffected by these gestures and would just accept the offering of her master and walk out. People would take back all they got to offer her and throw it in the river. They would not take it back with them but would rather give it away. And one morning things in that simple village turned terribly bad. The army of the Government was attempting to take over the village. The village seemed to be under attack. People were all frightened. Situation became such that no woman or child would be spared by the army of the Government. So the men in the village took their wives and children far away from the village somewhere in the fields beyond and cooked food beneath the trees and lived there.