SUPER NOTES VISTAS

THE THIRD LEVEL

• The narrator, Charley reveals that he has been to the third level at the Grand Central Railway Station, New York. He admits
that although the station has only two levels, he feels that there is also a third one.
• When he tells his psychiatrist friend Sam Weiner about this, the latter diagnoses it as a 'waking dream-wish fulfillment'. He
explains that it is the outcome of every modern man's wish to escape from the insecurities, fears and frustrations of modern
life.
• Sam also terms Charley's hobby of stamp collection as an escape mechanism. But Charley does not believe this because his
grandfather too pursued philately. The old man had no worries and lived a peaceful life from which he did not need to escape.
• Describing the day when he strayed to the third level at the station, Charley says that he had worked till late one summer night
in an office.
• He was keen to get back home to his wife Louisa and he hurried to board a train at the second level. He rushed down to the
second level and lost way when he crossed the arched doorway that led to the subway.
• He felt that the Grand Central was like a tree that keeps growing new corridors and stairs like branches and offshoots.
• Continuing his search for the train that would take him home, Charley walked down a corridor hearing the empty sound of his
own footsteps. Suddenly he found himself on the third level. This place had smaller rooms, fewer ticket windows and open-
flame gaslights.
• The old-world charm of the 19th century was visible in the manner of dressing adopted by the people on this third level. To
confirm his observation, Charley spotted a newspaper 'The World' that carried a lead story about President Cleveland, the
premier of US in the late 19th century. Charley also noted that the newspaper was dated June 11, 1894.
• He then proceeded to the ticket window and asked for two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois - a place where he grew up as a
schoolboy. He wished to return to the peaceful life in that place along with his wife.
• The thought that returning to 1894 would keep him away twenty years from the First World War and forty years from the
Second World War thrills Charley. But the currency that he offers to pay for the tickets is not accepted and is threatened by
the clerk at the window for trying to cheat.
• Charley beats a hasty retreat on return to twentieth century. He prepares to arrange the currency that was used in the late
19th century. He withdraws three hundred dollars from his bank the next day and buys two hundred dollars in old-style bills.
• This worries his psychiatrist friend Sam, but Charley does not share with him the idea that the 'exits' of the Grand Central lead
to escape routes and he had been there.
• Charley tries to return to the third level too board a train that would take him to Galesburg. However, all his efforts prove
futile, and he never finds the third level. He shares everything with his wife who gets worried and dissuades Charley from
looking any further.
• After that he stops his search for the third level and resumes routine life along with collection of stamps.
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• Towards the end, the story takes a turn and Charley says that he and his wife have started the search for third level once again
on weekends because they have found proof of its existence. Charley's friend Sam's disappearance had made them believe
that the third level exists.
• Charley recalls that he had shared with Sam his experiences as a young schoolboy in Galesburg and impressed by those
descriptions, Sam had found this place and escaped to it.
• At this point, Charley discusses the first day covers and informs that stamp tickets increased in worth if they were posted on
the day of their launch.
• Stamp collectors practiced this exercise by putting blank letters inside self-addressed envelopes and affixing new stamps on
them. They would then post it and keep it as treasure without opening the covers. Charley discloses that he found one such
first-day cover in his collection. It carried his grandfather's address in Galesburg and had a letter inside written by Sam.
• The letter was dated July 18, 1894. The six-cent stamp on the cover bore the picture of President Garfield. Sam had confirmed
the presence of the third level in this letter and had invited both Charley and Louisa to join him at Galesburg.
• He advised them to continue their search for the third level till they found it.
• Charley tells a little more about Sam's disappearance by informing them that Sam had bought eight hundred dollars' worth of
old-style currency a few days before disappearing. Charley feels that since Sam cannot practice psychiatry in 1894, the money
will be sufficient for setting up a little 'hay, feed, and grain business'.
• The ending of the chapter leaves the reader wondering whether Sam wrote a letter from Galesburg, or it was yet another
escape- mechanism of Charley.

THE TIGER KING

• The story starts with the death of Tiger King -the king of Pratibandapuram and the rest of the tale tells how he died.
• It was rumored that astrologers had prophesied at the King's birth itself that he will have to die one day (this event is expressed
in a satirical tone by the writer, since all humans die one day).
• The King, merely ten days old, himself inquired about the reason that would lead to his death (this event is in a supernatural
tone, since a ten-day old baby cannot talk).
• The chief astrologer answered the king by telling him that a tiger would be the cause of his death. The baby King growled then:
"Let tigers beware!".
• With time, the king grew up in typical English fashion as did all the kings at that time in India. When he grew old enough,
people in his kingdom started talking about the prophecy, the news of which reached the King.
• Under the pretext of self-defense, the king killed a tiger and showed it to the state astrologer to prove that the tiger could not
cause his death.
• At this, the astrologer told the king that he may kill ninety-nine tigers but the reason for his death would be the hundredth tiger.
So, the Maharaja sent out a proclamation banning tiger-hunting for everyone else.
• He also announced that all the wealth of such people would be confiscated who would flout the rule. He then decided not to
attend any other state-matters till he achieved his goal of killing a hundred tigers.
• Once, a Durai, a high-ranking British official, who was fond of tiger hunting and being photographed with the kill, wanted to
visit Pratibandapuram. The Maharaja refused permission because he did not want any obstacle in his goal of killing hundred
tigers at the earliest.
• However, because of this refusal, the king faced the danger of losing his throne. So, fifty expensive diamond rings were sent to
the duraisani, the wife of the official, as a bribe. She was asked to pick a few from them. Instead, she kept all the rings and sent
a 'thank you' reply.
• The King had to pay a bill of three lakhs to the jewelers but was still happy to have retained his precious throne at this cost.
Within the next ten years, the Maharaja managed to kill seventy tigers and hence the tiger population started dwindling.
• To solve the problem of finding more tigers for hunting, the king decided to marry into a royal family of a state which had a
large tiger population. After achieving this new matrimonial alliance, the King began to hunt five or six tigers on each visit to
his father-in-law. He thus managed to kill ninety-nine tigers in all.
• Somehow, it became impossible to find one more tiger that would help the king attain his goal. One day news came that sheep
had begun to disappear from a hillside village.
• This meant that a tiger had been on the prowl in that area. The villagers, who told the Maharaja about this development, were
granted a three-year exemption from taxes.

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• But when the tiger could not be found, the Maharaja's fury led to many officers losing jobs and doubling of land tax for that
village. The dewan became anxious about the resulting discontent among people and the possibility of him losing his job.
• He, along with his wife, let out a tiger from the People's Park in Madras that had been kept hidden in his house. The next day,
the Maharaja saw the wandering tiger and shot it.
• He ordered the tiger to be brought back in a grand procession. Just then the hunters found that the tiger had not died but had
only fainted. Fearing loss of their jobs, the hunters killed the tiger themselves and quickly buried it and erected a tomb in that
place. The king remained unaware of the actual status of his kill.
• A few days later, on the third birthday of his son, the King decided to gift something special to him. He found a wooden tiger
in a toy shop which he took away as an offering on behalf of the owner (this event is an example of royal greed).
• This toy tiger had tiny wood slivers all over its surface, one of which pierced the king's right hand. As a result, an infection
flared up and slowly developed into a sore spreading all over the arm. Three famous surgeons from Madras were brought
down to cure the king.
• After the operation, one of the surgeons announced that the operation was a success. But it implied the success of the
prophecy, since the Maharaja had died owing to the infection caused by the wound.

JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE EARTH

• This article by Tishani Doshi begins with a description of her expedition of the continent of Antarctica along with a group of
high school students in a Russian research vessel named 'the Akademik Shokalskiy'.
• Doshi informs the reader that Antarctica is the coolest, windiest and the driest continent on Earth. This expedition starts from
Madras and Doshi reaches her destination after crossing nine time zones, six checkpoints, three water bodies and many
ecospheres. The entire journey is carried out in one hundred hours.
• On reaching Antarctica, Doshi's first reaction is of wonder and relief. She is awestruck by the vast, white expanse of Antarctica
and is relieved that her entire crew reaches safely.
• Next, Doshi takes the reader back to six hundred and fifty million years ago and informs about the history of Antarctica. It was
a giant amalgamated, landmass in the past and was called 'Gondwana'.
• Gondwana was like a super continent of the southern hemisphere that surrounded Antarctica. Human life was nonexistent
then and flora and fauna flourished amid much warmer climate. Gondwana thrived for a period of 500 million years and
eventually got detached from the present-day Antarctica, to give shape to what we see on the modern globe.
• A part of Gondwana pushed northwards and formed India along with giving shape to Himalayas. The present-day continent
of South America also got formed during this process. It gradually drifted off to reach close to North America. Eventually, we
got the present shape of Antarctica which is now an extremely frigid and desolate place.
• Sharing her sense of amazement about Antarctica, Doshi tells that as a resident of a warm place like Chennai in South India
she is surprised to look at the smooth and voluminous ice present on this frigid island. She says that she feels as if she is walking
on a giant ping-pong ball.
• Antarctica does not have human life and only midges, mites, blue whales and huge icebergs are found here. The presence of
bright summer lights round the clock is another factor that surprises her. The next part of the article discusses the impact of
human activity on the Earth and its consequences.
• Doshi informs that human life is merely 12,000 years old as per the Geological clock. Yet, humans have wreaked havoc by
encroaching upon nature. They have established cities and megacities besides adding population that is gradually depleting
the available resources.
• This irresponsible attitude has caused an increase in the average global temperature and the blanket of carbon dioxide has
enveloped the earth. Since climate change is a hotly discussed topic, Doshi conjectures if the West Antarctic ice sheet would
melt. If this happens then how would it affect the Gulf Stream and will the world, then come to an end.
• Doshi finds Antarctica as an object of active debate for two reasons. The first is because it is the only place on Earth that is
still 'pristine' and has half-million-year-old carbon records. The second reason is that Antarctica holds hidden in it the past,
present and future of Earth.
• Tishani Doshi also writes about the 'Students on Ice' programme in this article. She says that this programme is run by Geoff
Green, a Canadian who used to cart celebrities and retired people to Antarctica for money.
• However, he felt dissatisfied at the response from these people and started taking school students instead. He would arrange
visits of young students to Antarctica under the programme 'Students on Ice' because he believes that young minds are
impressionable and are sure to learn and absorb better from this experience.

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• Doshi's present visit is also a part of this programme. She agrees with Geoff Green's belief when she witnesses the children
gaining a first-hand experience of collapsing ice-shelves, retreating glaciers and realizing that the threat of global warming is
for real.
• Towards the end of the article, Doshi enlists some lessons for students. She shares from her experience and observation that
even minor environmental changes have huge repercussions.
• She further tells that the process of photosynthesis involving phytoplankton is very important for the entire food-chain. But the
depletion of the ozone layer injures all types of life on Earth and is ill affected when the food chain is disrupted. Hence, to save
bigger things, we must first take care of smaller things.
• Doshi ends the article by saying that the Antarctica experience was memorable for all. When they had reached 65.55 degrees
south of equator, Doshi and the other crew were told to get down since the vessel could not sail further.
• The crew landed on solid ice of Antarctica after putting on ice shoes, that helped them to walk on slippery surface of the
continent and wore sunglasses to shield their eyes from glare. This crew walked on a one-meter-thick layer of ice underneath,
which was 180 meters of salt-water, full of marine life. While walking, they also saw Crabeater seals sitting as if one sees stray
dogs. Doshi is overwhelmed by the beauty of balance in this place and wonders what would happen if Antarctica became a
warm place and would it then lead to extinction of human life as well.
• However, she is hopeful that the value of idealism in the young students will certainly find a solution, even though it may take
years. Doshi is happy that the day has made the difference.

ON THE FACE OF IT
• The play "On the Face of It" is divided into three scenes with the first one being the longest because it is here that Derry, the
lad of fourteen, undergoes a metamorphosis.
• The play features an elderly gentleman, Mr. Lamb, and a young lad of fourteen, Derry, who meet in the former's garden. Derry
enters the garden stealthily, thinking it to be empty, but is startled by Mr. Lamb's advice, "Mind the apples."
• The young boy is confused and feels guilty, because he entered the garden out of curiosity but feels like he has been caught
by Mr. Lamb. Consequently, he is quite embarrassed and wants to go home.
• However, Mr. Lamb reassures him by telling him that he does not mind strangers entering his garden or his house. That is why
he keeps the gates of the house and the garden open.
• Mr. Lamb does not know that Derry is a complex ridden boy. So, he is surprised when Derry reacts haughtily to the word
'afraid'. Derry tells Mr. Lamb that it is people who are afraid because he has an ugly face, one side of which got burnt due to
acid.
• Mr. Lamb reacts quite unexpectedly to this and remains cool. He tells Derry that he is going to make jelly out of the ripe
apples. But Derry does not like this change of topic.
• Mr. Lamb tries to build up the boy's confidence by telling him that he loves all creatures made by God and that nothing in this
world is so worthless that it deserves to be considered as trash.
• Even weeds have their own value.
• At this stage Mr. Lamb tells him about his handicap. He has a tin leg because the real one had been blown off in war. The
children tease him by calling him "Lamey-Lamb," but he does not mind it. He advises Derry to ignore people's comments in a
similar way.
• Derry is still bursting with anger against this world and is critical of his mother too because she kisses him only on the good
side of the face. Mr. Lamb tries to deal with the negative attitude of this young boy in a positive way and advises him to think
of the beautiful objects in the world.
• Derry feels interested in the unusual conversation and ideas of Mr. Lamb. At this point Derry makes a meaningful comment
by saying, "think of all those people worse off than you."
• However, bitterness once again takes the better of Derry as he is reminded of the negative comments of the people about him,
to which Mr. Lamb asks meaningfully, "So you believe everything you hear then?" indirectly advising him to hear only those
things that are worth listening to.
• Meanwhile, Mr. Lamb does not forget the task before him and thinks of his beehive and the musically humming bees.
• Realizing that Derry is interested in what he says, Mr. Lamb narrates the incident of a timid man who refused to come out of
his house lest he should meet some fatal accident but died in his room itself because "a picture fell off the wall on his head and
killed him." Through this story Mr. Lamb wants to convey the thought that one cannot change one's destiny.
• The story makes Derry laugh heartily and from then on, his attitude towards Mr. Lamb and life in general starts taking a U turn

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• Mr. Lamb tells Derry that he dislikes curtains because they shut out things. Derry recollects the opinion of his family-members
about him and is reminded of their pitying attitude towards him. Mr. Lamb has an encouraging word for every passive and
pessimistic observation of Derry.
• He reminds Derry of the positive things he has, like strong legs, eyes, ears, tongue and brain etc. and advises him "to set his
mind" to doing things to be "better than all the rest".
• Words of wisdom continue to flow from Mr. Lamb, and he tells Derry that every human being is his friend and that it is not
necessary to be acquainted with one to be one's friend. He also tells him about the importance of people.
• He advises Derry to love all mankind, because hatred corrodes us and hurts more than acid. Derry's problem was that he was
over obsessed with himself. But now, for the first time, he talks about Lamb and his handicap.
• He asks Lamb what would happen if he were on his own and fell from a ladder and broke his neck. He could lie on the grass
and perhaps die. Lamb, who has faith in destiny, gives a cryptic answer "I could." Derry knows that his presence in Lamb's
house could help him but at this stage he is worried about his mother who must have been waiting for him.
• With the promise to return soon, Derry leaves for home. At this point Mr. Lamb thinks to himself that the boy will not return.
In the second scene Derry reaches home and tells his mother about his decision to go back to his new mentor.
• In the final scene he runs back to Mr. Lamb's garden but by that time Derry's apprehensions have proved prophetic, for Mr.
Lamb has fallen. Derry calls out to him but does not get any response. Perhaps Mr. Lamb is dead.

THE ENEMY
• Dr Sadao Hoki was a Japanese doctor who had studied in America where he had also met his future wife, Hana. Presently
they lived in Japan with their two children and, like the rest of the world, were indirectly involved in war.
• Sadao had spent his childhood like an ordinary kid climbing trees and playing bare feet amongst the seas.
• His father had been a great inspirational force in his life who had taught his son that 'our future depends on how we build it'.
He had been wholly devoted to Sadao's education and had sent him to America at twenty-two to learn surgery and medicine.
• Sadao returned to Japan at the age of thirty and became famous as a scientist. Sadao's surgical skills were indispensable to
Japan, for he was perfecting a discovery that would render wounds clean.
• As a result, when Japan went to war, Sadao was not sent out with the troops because the Japanese General had a condition
for which he could have needed surgery and he trusted only Sadao.
• One day, there was a heavy fog, and Sadao returned home after spending a while watching the mist near the shore. On reaching
home his wife, Hana, opened the door and welcomed him lovingly.
• Sadao recalled how he had met her at an American professor's (Professor Harley) house. Showing regard for his father's
feelings, he had waited to marry her until he was sure that she was purely Japanese. Now they were living happily with their
two children.
• While standing in their veranda, the couple suddenly saw a man flung out of the ocean. Dr Sadao and Hana, thinking him to
be a fisherman, ran towards him. Upon reaching the spot they saw that he was bleeding heavily.
• On a closer look, they saw that he was a white man with a gun wound on the right side of his lower back that had been
reopened by the ocean rocks. Sadao and his wife were in dilemma because Sadao had found the man's cap bearing the letters
U.S. Navy which indicated that this injured man was perhaps a prisoner of war.
• The couple was patriotic to the core and duly considered Americans to be their enemy. But the humane side in them did not
allow them to toss back a wounded man into the wild rocky ocean.
• They thought about the servants who would not approve of harboring an enemy in the house. Knowing fully well that it would
affect Sadao's reputation, they still decided to go ahead and treat the POW.
• The room in which they lodged the prisoner belonged to Sadao's late father. It had a perfect Japanese setting without chairs
or a bed. So, the man was laid down on a deeply matted floor.
• Hana was hesitant to cover him with the silk quilt as he was very dirty. She decided to ask Yumi, the nanny, to wash him.
Sadao decided to call the other servant. He checked the man's pulse and heartbeat, which was faint, and decided that he
would have to operate immediately.
• Hana went to the nursery and asked Yumi to follow her. The two servants were frightened at what Sadao had just told them.
The gardener, being an old superstitious man, warned them that they should not try to help the enemy.
• Yumi, upon seeing the dirty white man, refused to wash him; so Hana went ahead to do the cleaning herself.
• Sadao entered the room with surgical equipment and told Hana that she would have to give the anesthetics if need arose.
Hana choked on seeing all the blood and ran out to vomit.

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• She soon returned and followed her husband's directions who told her to saturate the cotton with the anesthetic and hold it
near the nostrils of the patient.
• At this juncture, she recalled the stories about the sufferings of prisoners and what she had read in newspapers about the
glorification of Japanese army.
• At the same time, she also recalled having read that the Japanese General Takima was a wife-beater.
• Sadao found the bullet near the kidney of the injured soldier and removed it. Hana had to serve him herself because her
servants refused to help an enemy. A few days later the man woke up weak and terrified.
• He asked the couple if they were planning to hand him over to the authorities. Sadao answered that though that would be the
right thing to do but they had not come to a decision yet.
• Meanwhile, he forbade the boy from telling him his name unless asked to do so. Sadao dutifully continued to treat his wounds.
When he removed the last stitches, he knew that now it would not take more than a fortnight for the patient to be well.
• So, he typed a letter addressed to the Chief of Police reporting that on the twenty-first day of February an escaped prisoner
was washed up on the shore in front of his house. He kept this unfinished letter in a secret drawer.
• On the seventh day after having been taken-in the POW by the Sadao's, the servants of their household decided to leave as a
mark of protest for giving shelter to an enemy.
• But Sadao, even though accepting that the American was his enemy, refused to turn his patient away because he had been
trained to save lives. However, the servants left with their belongings and Hana took upon herself all the chores of the
household.
• In the afternoon, on the same day, a messenger came. A terrified Hana ran to Sadao thinking that the servants must have
disclosed the information about the POW. But the messenger had come to fetch Sadao to treat the General who was in pain.
• Seeing Hana in distress, Sadao decided to get rid of the prisoner as soon as possible. During his meeting with the General, Dr
Sadao disclosed everything about the POW.
• But, since Sadao was indispensable to the General and the doctor's possible arrest for harboring an enemy would affect him
as well, he told Sadao that he would send his private assassins at night who would silently kill the prisoner and dispose of the
body.
• Sadao thought it best not to scare Hana by telling her about the plan. So, he went to check on the boy who was out of bed.
• Tom, for that was his name, thanked Sadao for saving his life. Sadao's conscience pricked him, and he could not sleep for
three nights anticipating the arrival of assassins. Unable to take it anymore, he devised a plan for Tom's escape.
• He revealed to Tom that the authorities knew of his presence in his house and that he would give him his boat which could be
rowed at night to an uninhabited, submerged, and unprotected island nearby.
• He warned him not to take help from anyone except a Korean fishing boat. When night approached, Sadao dragged his boat
to the shore, put food, bottled water and two quilts in it.
• He did not let Hana know anything about the escape plan. He checked Tom's health status and gave him his own flashlight
asking to signal two flashes at the instant the sun dropped over the horizon, in case he ran out of food.
• He warned him against using fire as it could be spotted easily. He dressed him up in Japanese clothes and tied a black cloth
about his blonde head. The American shook his hand warmly and rowed away.
• Sadao then went to the General and after operating upon informed that the prisoner had escaped. The General said that he
had been unwell and had not been able to think about anything other than his health, hence, he had forgotten to send the
assassins. Both the men decided to keep the event a secret.
• That night, Sadao was sure that the American had been saved. Meanwhile, the servants returned to the Sadao household and
life became normal.
• But Dr Sadao kept thinking about all the Americans he knew - Professor Harley, his wife, his old Anatomy teacher who taught
him so much, his landlady who gave him shelter and nursed him through influenza despite the prejudice against Japanese in
America.
• Remembering the young, tortured prisoner, Sadao wondered why he had been unable to kill him.

MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD
• The second episode, WE TOO ARE HUMAN BEINGS, is an excerpt from the dalit writer Bama's book "Karukku". Bama
recalls the time when she was a student in class three. She had not heard people talk about untouchability but had begun to
experience and observe the humiliation meted out to untouchables.

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• She discusses at length her tendency to observe things minutely and shares with the reader the details of the market area that
she had to cross on her way back home from school.
• She would take more than double of the usual time while passing through this territory, for the ordinary things like the shops,
restaurants, jugglers, street plays, puppet shows, Pongal festivities etc. would capture her attention.
• On one such day she saw an elderly man from her community who was carrying vadais in a strange manner. He was holding
the packet by its string, without touching it.
• Bama thought that such a manner of carrying the packet could lead to the contents falling off. However, on reaching home,
she shared the episode with her brother, Annan, who was a student at the university.
• She told him that the sight was very funny. But when her brother revealed to her the reason behind the odd behavior of the
man, Bama was extremely angry.
• Annan told her that the elderly man was an untouchable and according to the customs practiced in the name of caste system,
his touching the vadas would have made them unfit for his upper caste master.
• At this point Bama questioned the system that denied the low caste even a basic right to be treated as humans.
• Annan also told Bama about his own experience when one of the landlord's men wanted him to tell the name of his street as
that would have disclosed his caste.
• However, as an elder brother he passed on sage advice to his sister. He told her to work hard and progress if she wanted to
be treated as an equal.
• She must study well and be ahead in all her lessons. Then the people of the upper caste would come to her of their own accord
and attach themselves to her. Bama followed the advice of her brother and finally stood first in her class.