THE FUN THEY HAD

The story opens with Margie writing in her diary about an old book that Tommy had found. Margie was
reminded of her grandfather who had once talked about his grandfather who went to an actual school
where the students were taught by human teachers.However, Margie and Tommy lived in the future
world,in the year 2157 where education was completely computerized. They did not go to school.
Instead, they had a special study room where a computer taught them. The computer teacher was
programmed and adjusted according to the needs of each child. Now and then the computer teacher-
developed faults which were fixed by a County Inspector.Both Tommy and Margie wondered at the book
found by Tommy in his attic. They wondered at it as they read books on the screen of their computer
teacher. Margie felt that the computer teacher was boring; she disliked the mechanical teaching and
learning. She also wondered how much fun it would be studying in a school. Studying in a fun way, with
other children and that too from a human teacher.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Here is the Summary of the Road not taken. The poet says that once, he was walking down the road and
reached a fork. He could walk over one of the paths only. He took time to choose the right path. He
inspected them to decide which was a better option and then chose the one which seemed less walked
over. He kept the other one for some other day although he knew that he would never get the chance to
walk over it. He would go further on the chosen path and not get a chance to go back on it. As he walked
on the chosen path, he realized that both the paths were similar. He felt that his future depended on the
choice that he made.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Evelyn Glennie is a multi-percussionist. She has attained mastery over almost a thousand musical
instruments despite being hearing–impaired. She learnt to feel music through the body instead of
hearing it through the ears.When Evelyn was eleven years old, it was discovered that she had lost her
hearing power due to nerve damage. The specialist advised that she wear hearing aids and be sent to a
school for the deaf. On the contrary, Evelyn was determined to lead a normal life and follow her interest
in music. Although she was discouraged by her teachers, her potential was noticed by master
percussionist, Ron Forbes. He guided Evelyn to feel music some other way than to hear it through her
ears. This worked well for Evelyn and she realized that she could sense different sounds through different
parts of her body.Once she had overcome this hurdle, Evelyn began her career in music. She got
admission in the Royal Academy of Music, London and scored the highest marks in the history of the
academy. Evelyn says that hard work and dedication towards her goal helped her achieve success. Evelyn
gives solo performances and even gives free concerts for hospitals and schools. In the year 1991, she
won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Soloist of the Year Award. Evelyn’s story is an
inspiration for the differently-abled who are motivated to fulfill their dreams like she did.

PART 2

The second part of the chapter portrays the journey of Bismillah Khan. Bismillah Khan was a maestro in
‘Shehnai’. The history of Shehnai says that Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the instrument
‘Pungi’ because of its unpleasant sound. A barber reinvented the instrument by taking a pipe with a
natural hollow stem and making seven holes on its body. He played on it by opening and closing some of
those holes. The instrument produced a melodious sound. The emperor accepted the instrument named
‘Shehnai’. The sound of the shehnai was considered auspicious and so it was played in the temples and
at weddings. Ustad Bismillah Khan brought the instrument onto the classical stage. Ustad Bismillah Khan
was born on March 21, 1916, in a family of musicians in Bihar. His grandfather Rasool Bux Khan played
shehnai in the Bhojpur king’s court. His father Paigambar Bux and other ancestors were also great
shehnai players. When Bismillah Khan was three years old, he went to his maternal uncle’s house and he
was very impressed by his uncle’s practice of shehnai. He accompanied his uncle to the Vishnu temple of
Banaras where his uncle performed. Soon, he started practising playing this instrument. Over the years,
the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya in Banaras and the banks of Ganges became his practice
grounds. At the age of fourteen, Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music conference.
The opening of the All-India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 became a big breakthrough for him. He started
playing shehnai on the radio. He was the first Indian to greet the nation’s independence with his shehnai
on 15th August 1947. He played Raag Kafi from the Red Fort. Bismillah Khan has given many memorable
performances all over the world. He also made music for two movies, which made sky-high records. He
was the first Indian to be invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre Hall in the USA. He performed in many
art festivals and trade fairs across the globe. An auditorium was named after him in Teheran.He was
conferred with National awards like Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. He was awarded India’s
highest civilian award, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 2001. He always conveyed to teach children music, which is
one of the richest traditions of India. Though Bismillah Khan travelled all over the world, he loved his
roots the most. He is a perfect example of an Indian who celebrated the rich culture of Indian music.

WIND

The first part of the poem describes the action of the wind. The poet asks the wind to come softly. He
requests the wind not to break the shutters of the windows, not to scatter the papers and throw down
the books from the shelf.But the wind throws the books and tears the pages. The poet says that the wind
makes a mockery of weaklings. It brings down frail houses, crumbling doors, rafters, and even weak
hearts. It crushes everything that is weak.The poet advises us to be strong. Only then can we save
ourselves from the wind. We should build strong homes with firm doors. Our bodies and hearts should
also be strong.It is the way of the world to kick the weak and to be friends with the strong. The wind
blows out the weak fires but makes the strong fires roar and flourish.Thus, the poem conveys the idea
that nobody cares for the weak. Even the wind is on the side of the strong people. We must make
ourselves strong to become successful and overcome the challenges in life.

THE LITTLE GIRL

The Little Girl’ is the story of a little girl, Kezia who misunderstood her father’s strictness and usually
remained scared of him. She kept a distance from him, whenever he would be at home. She considered
him to be as big as a giant. She would often get nervous and stutter while talking to him. She longed for
his love and affection like her neighbour Mr Macdonald.Once she was kept indoors as she was affected
by cold. Her grandmother suggested that she make a gift for her father’s birthday next week. They
decided that Kezia would make a pincushion for him. Kezia made a beautiful pin-cushion; but she
accidentally made a mistake. She filled it with bits of paper that she got by tearing her father’s important
speech. She was punished for that. This incident further estranged Kezia from her father.She would often
look at the neighbours, the Macdonalds playing joyously in their lawn. Mr. Macdonald was such a good
father and played so lovingly with his children. She wondered he might be a different sort of father.Once
her mother fell ill and was hospitalized. She was left alone at home under the care of the cook. At night
she had a nightmare and woke up screaming. She found her father standing by her bedside. He picked
her up and took her to her room. He tucked her up in his bed and soon fell asleep. Kezia felt secure lying
near her father. She realized that her father was not as big as a giant. She felt the beating of her father’s
loving large heart. Finally, she realized her father was very loving and had a generous heart.

RAIN ON THE ROOF

The poem ‘Rain on the Roof’ talks about the poet’s varied reactions to the sound of raindrops falling on
the roof of his house. He says that the raindrops at night are like tears shed by the sad, dark night.He
loves to lie in bed and hear rain falling on the roof of his room because it gets back sweet memories of
the past. He says that the sound of raindrops helps him fall asleep and gives him sweet dreams. He has
memories of his loving mother who would put them to sleep.

A TRULY BEAUTIFUL MIND

Albert Einstein was born on 14th March in 1879, in the German city of Ulm. Till the age of two and a half
years, he could not speak and when he started speaking, he spoke every word twice.His playmates
considered him to be boring and his mother thought that he was crazy because of the abnormally large
size of his head. At school, his headmaster regarded him as stupid and good for nothing.But he proved
them all wrong. At the age of 6, at the insistence of his mother, he learned to play the violin. He became
a gifted violinist. At the age of 15, his family moved to Munich. He did not feel comfortable with the
strict discipline at the school and left it.On completing his schooling, he joined the University at Zurich
because the atmosphere there was more liberal, and accepted new ideas and concepts. He showed
more interest in Physics and Mathematics.He met a fellow student, Mileva Maric at the University. She
was equally intelligent and clever. Later on, they married and had 2 sons but unfortunately, their
marriage did not survive, and were divorced in 1919.After completing his education, Albert worked as a
technical expert in the patent office at Bern. Here, he worked secretly on his idea of relativity. In 1915,
he published his paper on the special theory of relativity, followed by the world-famous equation E =
mc2.In 1915, he published his paper on General Theory of Relativity, which gave an absolutely new
definition to the concept of gravity. This theory made him a famous figure.In 1919, during the solar
eclipse, his theory came out to be accurate and revolutionized physics. In 1933, he emigrated to the USA
as Nazis had come to power in Germany. He did not want his finding and research to be used for
destruction.

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE

The poet is reminded of his past, his boyhood, when he visited the peaceful Lake Isle of Innisfree. He
wants to go there and says that he will live there all alone. He wants to build a small cabin with clay and
wattles. He would grow beans and get a honeybee hive for honey to survive on.The poet describes the
peaceful natural surroundings of the lake. He says that the scene of the cloudy mornings, the shining
stars, the glowing Sun and birds flying in the sky give him peace. He feels relaxed to hear the pleasant
sound of the cricket’s song.The poet feels the urgency to go to the lake Isle of Innisfree. In the depth of
his heart, he can hear the sound of the lake waters hitting the shore. It is as if the lake is calling him. He
hears the sound everywhere – either on the crowded roads or the grey – coloured pavements of the city
in which he lives. This indicates that he wants to escape from the artificial life of the city into the
peaceful surroundings of nature.

THE SNAKE AND THE MIRROR

It is a story of a homeopathic doctor’s encounter with a snake. The doctor lived in a small rented room
which was an outhouse. It had two windows and a tiled roof. The tiles were supported by gables which
rested on the beam and there was no electricity supply to the room. The place was infested with
rats.One hot summer night, the doctor took his meals at the restaurant and returned home. He lighted
the kerosene lamp, took off his coat and shirt and opened the two windows. He settled on the chair and
took out a medical book to read. There was a large mirror on the table on which stood a lamp. Since it
was too hot to sleep, and he had nothing better to do, he sat down in front of the mirror, admiring
himself, planning to improve his appearance as he was an eligible bachelor. Gradually, his thoughts
shifted from self-admiration to planning his future marriage. He thought that he would marry a rich
doctor having a good practice and that he would choose a fat lady as his wife so that she would not be
able to run and catch him.He was so engrossed in his day dreaming that he did not give much
importance to the sudden silence. The rats had stopped scampering and there was a sound of something
falling behind him. But he was slow to react. By the time he turned around to have a look, a snake had
wriggled over the back of the chair and landed on his shoulders. It coiled around his left arm, above the
elbow. It was a dangerous cobra and its hood spread out, hardly three inches from his face.The doctor
sat there like a stone statue, afraid to move, lest the snake may strike. He thought of various medicines
he had and if any was good enough to save him if the snake did bite him.In this moment of fear of death,
(he realized the presence of God). God had punished him for being too proud and arrogant. He realized
that he was but a mere human, a poor man, nothing to boast about.The moment he accepted his true
worth, the snake crawled off and sat on the table in front of the mirror.The doctor got up silently and
rushed out of the door. Next morning when he returned, all his belongings had been robbed but for his
dirty vest which was too dirty even for the thief.

A LEGEND OF NORTHLAND

The poem is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed. The story goes on
like this. One day, Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door of a cottage where
this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them on a hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger.
He asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. The cake that she was baking then appeared to be too big,
so she did not give him that and instead, she baked another smaller one. That also appeared to be big so
she did not give him that also. The second time she baked yet another smaller cake but found it too big
to give away. In the third attempt, she took an extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it
as thin as a wafer but was unable to part with that also. This angered St. Peter a lot. He said that she was
not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a
woodpecker bird who had to bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees
all day boring and boring for food.

MY CHILDHOOD

My Childhood” is an extract taken from the biography of APJ Abdul Kalam – ‘Wings of Fire’. He was a
great scientist and also the 14th President of India. He was born in a middle-class Muslim family in 1931
in the island town of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.In his childhood, he was greatly influenced by his
parents, his teachers, and his friends. His father, Jainulabdeen, was not highly educated but he was a
generous and kind person. He was not rich but provided a secure childhood to Abdul and his siblings.
Abdul inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father and faith in goodness and deep kindness from
his mother.Kalam earned his first wages by working as a helping hand to his cousin, Samsuddin, who
distributed newspapers in Rameswaram.In his childhood, he had three close friends- Ramanadha
Sastry,Aravindam, and Sivaprakash. Once when he was in the fifth standard, a new teacher asked him
not to sit in the front row along with the high caste Brahmin boys.Abdul found Ramanadha Sastry
weeping as he went to the last row. This made a lasting impression on Abdul.Abdul was also greatly
influenced by his science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer. He learned the lesson of breaking social barriers
from him. Iyer invited him to his home for a meal. His wife refused to serve food to a Muslim boy in her
pure kitchen.Iyer served him with his own hands and sat down beside him to eat his meal. He convinced
his wife to serve the meal with her own hands and thus was successful in changing her conservative
attitude.For higher education, Abdul Kalam sought permission from his father to leave Rameswaram and
study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram. His father said that Abdul had to go a long way in
life just like a seagull bird that flies long distances.He calmed down APJ’s reluctant mother by quoting
Kahlil Gibran’s poem ‘Your children. He said that her children could not be dominated by her because
they had their own thoughts. They did not belong to her but were a result of life’s desire for itself. He
asked her to give them the freedom to fulfill their thoughts.

NO MEN ARE FOREIGN

The poem ‘No Men Are Foreign’ begins and ends with the same line- ‘Remember no men are strange,
no countries foreign’ as the poet wants to emphasize on the fact that all the people living on this Earth
are the same and that we have created distinctions by erecting borders and fences, different languages,
etc. While we are alive, we walk on the same Earth and upon our death, we will lie in our graves in the
same earth. He draws another similarity that we all enjoy good food during peace and starve during war
and in winter time. We all have similar hands which we use to do a lot of hard work. All of us have eyes
which remain open when we are awake and close when we are asleep. He reminds the reader that
whenever we hate someone, we cheat and hate ourselves. Also, when we pick up weapons against
someone, we pollute the Earth and make it impure with the huge mounds of dead bodies strewn on it.

REACH FOR THE TOP

 Santosh Yadav was born to wealthy landowners in Joniya was village of Rohtak district in Haryana. She
was the youngest child, a sister to five elder brothers. Due to the traditions, she was forced to study in
the village school. Since childhood, she was opposed to the customs, preferred wearing shorts in
opposition to the traditional dresses like salwar kameez. At the age of sixteen, like other girls in the
village, she was forced to get married but she resisted and insisted upon getting educated before getting
married. She took admission in a school in Delhi but her parents refused to support her. She accepted it
and decided to work part-time to fund her schooling fee. Finally, her parents agreed to support her. Her
father accepted her desire to get higher education. After high school, Santosh joined the Maharani
college at Jaipur and lived at the Kasturba hostel. There she saw the villagers climb the Aravalli hills and
was curious to know what was at the other side of the hills. She joined a group of mountaineers there
and hence, undertook her first climbing expedition.Within four years, in 1992, she climbed Mount
Everest. Her qualities of determination, physical and mental strength impressed her seniors. Her fellow
climbers appreciated her concern for others and willingness to work in a team. She saved the life of a
fellow climber named Mohan Singh by sharing her oxygen cylinder with him. She joined an Indo –
Nepalese woman expedition and climbed Everest twice, thus becoming the first woman in the world to
climb the peak twice.Santosh cannot describe the immense feeling of happiness and pride when she was
on top of the world. As she hoisted the Indian flag, she felt proud to be an Indian. Being an
environmentalist, she brought down five hundred kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

In Part 2 of Reach for the Top chapter, we learn about the renowned Russian tennis player Maria
Sharapova. This story illustrates her journey of becoming the world champion in women’s tennis. She
achieved the number one position through hard labour, extensive and rigorous training and several
sacrifices on the personal front. In this biography, Maria tells us how she started her tennis training at an
early age to reach the summit of women’s tennis when she was barely eighteen years old.Maria was
born in Siberia in Russia and left her home town at the tender age of nine to pursue her dream of
becoming a tennis star. She had to stay separate from her mother and moved to Florida along with her
father to proceed with her training. Her father worked laboriously to fund her tennis training. Although
she suffered bullying on account of being a foreigner, she never lost hope or gave in to petty remarks.
Her will and determination led her to achieve success and reap satisfying results from her practice
sessions. Apart from practising tennis, her hobbies are fashion, singing and dancing. Although she
mentions that money is a motivating factor for playing tennis, her sole aim remains to become and
continue being number one in the world of tennis

ON KILLING A TREE

On Killing a Tree” is a sensitive poem. The poet persuades the reader not to destroy trees and equates it
with “killing” a human being. He says that a plant takes sunlight, water, air, and nutrients from the soil to
gradually become a huge tree. It develops a strong trunk and gets numerous leaves.Merely cutting the
trunk of the tree does not kill it. When a tree is cut, the sap flows out just like a wounded man bleeds.
Once the wound heals, new branches and tiny leaves grow from there which grow into trees.In order to
destroy a tree, it has to be uprooted. The roots which are white in color and are damp due to the
moisture that they get from the soil are hidden in a pit in the Earth. These roots are the most sensitive
part of the tree as they bind it to the earth. In order to kill the tree, these roots have to be detached
from the soil.Once the roots are detached, the tree starts dying, It withers, dries up with the action of
heat and wind, twists, hardens and finally, dies.

KATHMANDU

In this chapter, the writer Vikram Seth describes his visit to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. He visited
two temples there – one was the Pashupatinath temple which is a pilgrimage for the Hindus and the
other was the Baudhnath temple which is a holy place for the Buddhists.At the Pashupatinath temple,
entry was restricted to Hindus. There was a lot of chaos with priests, tourists, pilgrims and animals
flocking the place. The holy river Bagmati which flows near the temple was being polluted by
washerwomen who were washing clothes in it, children who were bathing in it and residents who were
throwing dry, withered flowers in it. Small shrines protruded on to the stone platform and it was said
that when the platform would emerge completely, then the goddess would emerge out of it and end the
Kaliyug. The scene at the Baudhnath temple was opposite to that at the Pashupatinath temple. It was a
huge white coloured dome surrounded by an outer road. The place was quiet and calm. There was a
Tibetan market outside the temple where Tibetan refugees were selling bags, garments and
jewellery.Kathmandu has a variety of things to offer. It has religious sanctity, it is a business hub and a
tourist destination. There are shops selling postcards, antiques, chocolates, imported cosmetics, camera
film rolls and utensils. A variety of sounds could be heard in the streets. The music blaring out of the
radios, honking of the car horns, ringing of the bicycle bells, moo sounds of the cows as they obstructed
the motorcycles passing by and the screaming vendors selling their wares. Vikram ate a marzipan bar, a
corn on the cob roasted on charcoal fire and garnished with lemon juice, salt and chili powder and drank
coca cola to digest it. He bought some love story comics and a Reader’s Digest too.On his way back to
Delhi, he considered going by an adventurous route. It would be a bus or train journey till Patna, then a
boat ride up the Ganga river till Allahabad. It would be followed by a boat journey on the Yamuna river
to Delhi. As he was tired, he chucked the idea and took a direct flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi the
next day.Outside his hotel, he saw a flute seller. He held a pole out of which many flutes popped out like
the thorns on a porcupine’s body. The man stood quietly and would take out a different flute, play it for a
couple of minutes and replace it with another one. Once in a while he would sell one of them mindlessly.
He played the flute meditatively. He was unlike other hawkers who screamed to sell their wares. The
writer got attracted to the music of the flute. Flutes are played in many regions of the world and they
vary in appearance, names and the music that they produce. The sound of a flute resembles human
voice as it is played by exhaling the breadth and its music also pauses when a person inhales a breadth.

A SLUMBER DID MY SPIRIT SEAL

Here is the summary of the poem written by William Wordsworth “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal.” The
poem is a musing on the nature of sleep and its capacity to promote emotional and spiritual well-being.
The poem’s speaker recalls falling asleep deeply and waking up with their spirit “locked” in a serene,
dreamless condition. The speaker also considers how nature’s magnificence, such as the moon and stars,
made a significant contribution to their achieving this serene state. The poem’s main message is that
sleep has the ability to relieve stress and rejuvenate the mind and spirit, allowing the individual to forget
about their problems and anxieties.
IF I WERE YOU

Gerrard was a playwright. He had to leave his house to deliver props for a rehearsal. Just then, an
intruder entered his home. He was carrying a gun. He wanted to kill Gerrard and live on his identity. The
intruder had committed a murder and was wanted by the police. So, he thought of stealing Gerrard’s
identity so that he could live peacefully. He wanted to know details about Gerrard before killing him so
that he could imitate him well.Gerrard said that he was a crook too and that if the intruder stole his
identity, even then he would be chased by the police. He had killed someone and the police had
evidence against him. He further added that he was carrying false moustaches and other props so that
he could disguise himself and hide from the police. He sensed that the police could raid his house that
night. He had positioned an accomplice on the road to warn him of danger. Gerrard fooled the intruder
to believe him by saying that if the intruder felt that Gerrard was lying, he could kill him. As the phone
rang, Gerrard said that it was time to leave. When the intruder did not believe Gerrard, he asked him to
peep out through the door of the garage and see the police for himself. In fact, the door was that of a
cupboard. As the intruder bent forward, Gerrard pushed him inside the cupboard and locked it. Then he
called the sergeant as he would hand over the intruder to the police.