In Sahyadri Hills - ALesson in

Humility
Sudha Murthy

Sudha Murthy's (b.1950) social work inspires many of her writings.

Although a computer scientist and engineer by profession, she
is keenly involved in initiatives such as setting up orphanages,
computer labs and libraries rural areas of Karnataka. She is
also part of the public health care programmes launched under
the aegis of Gates Foundation. Murthy is a pioneer of computer
education in schools in Karnataka. She has also acted in Marathi
and Kannada films. Her well-known works include How Taught
My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories (2004), The Old Man and
His God: Discovering the Spirit of India (2006), The Magic Drum and
Other Favouite Stories (2006), The Bird with Gotden Wings: Stories
of Wit and Magic (2009), The Day / Stopped Drinking Milk: Life Stories
from Here and There (2012) and Grandma's Bag of Stories (2012).

About the story

The present piece, In Sahyadri Hills, A Lesson in Humility, has
been taken from the collection Wise and Otherwise:A Salute to Life
(2002). It is a touching account of Murthy's interactions with the
tribal people living in the dense forests of Karnataka. The story
records the changes in the vision of the tribal folk who are all set
to join the computer revolution which has not only helped India
to grow in tandem with the changing times but has also enhanced
the employability of our youth. The conclusion of the piece is a
lesson on human nature.

love travelling. Be it a tiny village, a drought-hit area, a deserted

mountan top, a dense forest or even a monument in Egypt or
China - I enjoy going to different places.
 LiteraryGlcam
76
to the Sahyadr1 Hills, a densely forestr 3
On one 0ccasion, went
I
day. Thouok
drizzl1ng he whole
region in Karnataka. It had been
diticult (o negotiate during the rains, especially d.
forests are lecches, one ought to visit them
to the prescnce of those drcaded
to get the most
out of them. The mild smell
rainy scaso
during the flowers; the chirping of different kind.
of exotic trees, sthrubs and
birds; the gentle whistle of the unpolluted breeze these are joys
of
experienced in any town or city.
that can never be
deep in the forest
Iwas there to visit a tribal village school
Connected wanted to
area. The charitable trust with which Iam
groups of tribals aro
help improve the school. Thandas (as local Thanda
called) are delightful. Normally there is a/headmarn in eachthe trihe
man of
known as the Thandappa. He is the senior-most
and is considered the supreme power, almost a living God. All
are beholden to him. He practises the customs taught to him in his
childhood and everyone follows them.)
There was a downpour when I reached the village. The rain,
the glistening leaves and the strong smell of wild flowers made me
feel as though I was on a different planet. But Inever felt like an
intruder. Not even when I reached the school after a long walk and
every villager stood by staring at me.
Reaching the school was an adventure in itself. I saw a lady
walking with rhythmic grace despite the three pots of water balanced
on her head. I stopped her and asked, Which way should Igo to
reach the school?" She made an exclamatory sound, stared at me and
walked away. Perhaps she didn't want to talk to a stranger, especially
one from a town. Or perhaps she didn't understand my
language.
Ithen approached an old man who was
weaving a cane basket
while humming a folk song. I knelt in front of him
and asked in a
loud and clear tone, Where is the school?"
all over his face and he Curiosity was written
seemed anxious to ask me all kinds 0r
questions. But he didn't. He simply said something in his dialect and
indicated directions with his hand.
The school was an old
thatched building, probably built by
the tribals themselves. It was a
primary school. Icould see a few
children playing outside, while others were
shelter doing something with leaves and busy under a shed-lik
straws.
 In Sahyadri Hills ALesson in Hunuhty 77

,.alked in and found a small roonn with two chairs, two tables.
blackboard with a pot of water beside it There Werc n0
and a asnall shutterless opening served
electric lights or fans. Instcad,
window. This was the only source of ventilation m the room.
asthe
no one there. |
I appeared to be the offhcC roonm but there was
someone, an
d not find any statf around. While Iwas l0oking for
wanted. Il introduced
lderly nan walked up to me and asked what I
could
yself and told him that had conme to see what help we
nnovide the school. His response, however, didn't seem very
better if I
encouraging. Ithought I might be able to communicate
him about his life.
first put him at ease, so Istarted asking
watchman-cum-peon of the
It turned out that he was the live-in
sometimes. But he was
school. He would double as a tour guide
the government. His
not a paid employee of either the school or
cost in return for the
grandson was studying in the school free of
had he been living
services which the old man rendered. How long
He lived in a small hut
there? "For many years, he replied simply.
in the courtyard of the school.
more encouraging, s0
By now his attitude towards me was slightly
the affairs of the school. He said
Igentlyturned the conversation to
state government ran the school; there were two teachers
that the
from far and near. There was
and around fifty students who came of children
impressed by the number
no compulsory uniform. I was their parents were unschooled
the school. After all,
who attended
were harsh. Yet there was a
themselves and the living conditions
willingness to educate their children.
running this school?"
What are the difficulties you face in
didn't say much by way of reply. He just took me to
The old man seemed
cottage nearby and introduced me to the Thandappa, who
a
old. He was happy to see me.
to be more than ninety years
him the same question: What problems do you face in
Iasked
running the school?"
school was difficult during the rains, he said.
Commuting to
dry in the rainy season - the
Besides, the school clothes wouldn't
too. During the course of
simplest of problems and a familiar one, problems from many such
such
my work, Ihave listened to many
people.
78 Literar Glcam

Atter acqurnng a tar understandng of he people and then Ive

I departed, ot forgettung to thank thecm lor their
coopcration
devidedto retun with sone unmbrellas and clothes for the child.
I

I|hen I went agan, it was wnter. The rains were 0ver. Now th
scee was transtond. I was paradise. There waS n0 mud and
frogs cnakng Birds were cooing The sky was clear. Many ar.
flowers had bloomed. Imet the same 1handappa. He recognized me.
and greeted ne with asuile. His eyes seemmed to weicome me warnlv
Please accept these things which I have brought for the children
here. Last time, Ididn't know what to give them, Isaid, handing
Over a big bag to him.
The Thandappa hesitated. I wondered whether he was feeling
embarrassed. Itold him, You have not asked for any gift from
me. Ibrought this myself. It will help the children during the rains.
Please get the clothes stitched according to their size.'
He walked into his hut without saying a word.
What do you want to learn?" Iasked some children who were
standing nearby.
No one answered. After a lot of perSuasion, a few
youngsters
came clOser, but they were still too shy to talk. Iwent on coaxing
them and ultimately one of them said, We've heard about computers
but we have not seen them, except on TV. We want to
learn about
Computers. Do you have any book about computers that is written
Kannada?"
Having been brought up in a teacher's family and being a teacher
myself, I was delighted to hear what these children had to say. Their
ideas were surprisingly fresh and modern despite the fact that they
belonged to such a backward region.
Itold them that I would look for such books in
Ididn't find any, Ipromised that I would write a
Bangalore. If
book for them
myself. They seemed pleased and I was extremely happy. By that
time the Thandappa had returned from inside his hut. He held a
bottle of red liquid in his hands.
'Amma, he said, presenting the bottle to me, 'we do not know
what you like and what you drink at home. This is a very
special
drink that we prepare during summer in this forest area. We extract
 In Sahvadri Hills A Lesson n Huulty 79

wildI red fruit and store it. I lasts for at lcast two rany
troma
juce
seasons.
Nothing is added to the juice. I is good tor hcalth. Add
juice to acup ofwaater and sir it bctore drinking
of his
some embarrasscd How could Taccept a gitt trom these
poxor
I was thenselves did not seem to have enouglh to cat and
They
I had gone on a mission to give, n0t lo take. I
drink. Morover.
il over and
politely declined the gift.
thought
The Thandappa
then said gravely, Amma, then we cannot
your giti either. Our ancestors have lived in this forest for
ATept us
generations and they have taught their ways. When you want to
something. we accept; but only when we can give something
to0. Unless you take our gift, we
cannot take the things you
l0 you
us.'
have brought for
embarrassed, and humbled. Nothing in my
was shocked.
experience.had prepared me for this. The usual pattern is for people
express gratitude when a charitable organization provides some
O too. When a group or
asistance. Ihave Come across complaints
many problems and we help solve one of them. it
organization has
grumble about what
is not unusual for the recipients of our help to
gratitude for what has been
has been left undone rather than show
have
accomplished. There have even been cases where recipients
I have taken all
complained about the amount of help given to them.
in the responses.
this in my stride, finding fulfillment in the giving, not
man,(a tribal with no
Here in the Sahyadri forest was an old
of life give
schooling, practising- a highly principled philosophy
giving. This was culture at its
when you take; do not take without
best)I smiled and gracefully accepted his gift.
esteem when he re
Ihe Thandappa rose even further in my accepting also.
marked with a twinkle, 'There is a grace in

Glossary geographical area

region any tract of land; any
spring, summer,
Season the four divisions of a year, i.e.
autumn and winter
bush
shrub low woody plant that is smaller than a tree;
a a place; strange;
exotic something that does not belong to
uncommon
 Literary Gleam

sound
whistle a high pitched
beholden
to be in debt towards someone or something
to shine by reflecting light off a smooth or wet
glistening
surface
someone who does jobs in an office that does ns
peon
require any particular skill
knelt to bend down and rest on knees
paradise heaven; a pleasant and perfect place
hesitate to be unsure
persuasion the act of convincing somebody to do somethina
coaxing to persuade someone gently

Exercises
A. Answer the following questions in one sentence each.
1. Look up a map for Sahyadri hills. Where is it situated?
2. Who are the Thandas?
3. Why were the Thanda people reluctant to talk to the writer?
4. What gifts did Murty bring when she visited the school in
winter?
B. Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words each.
1. What change landscape did the writer observe when she
visited the school for the second time?
2. The children wanted to learn about
computers in Kannada
lanquage. What does this tell about their mindset?
3. There is a grace in accepting also.
4. What were the author's first
Explain this statement.
impressions of the school?
C. Answer the following
questions in about 150 words each.
1. Discuss the
relevance of the title of the piece.
2. Poverty is a state of mind: Do
you agree
Why or why not? Illustrate your answer withwith this statement?
text. examples from the
 3

The Eyes are not Here

Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond (1934- ) was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh

India but grew up in Jamnagar (Gujarat), Dehradun, and Shimla
His writing career spans across forty years and in this time he ho
Written over a hundred short stories, essays, novels, and more tha
thirtybooks for children. He has also published three collections
of short stories: The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli. and
Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. He wrote his first novel, The Room
on the Roof, when he was only seventeen and it received the Jobo
Llewellyn Rhys Memorial prize in 1957. Vagrants in the Valley
intended as the sequel to The Room on the Roof was also written
in his teens. Ruskin Bond was awarded the Sahitya
Akademi
Award for English writing in India in 1992, for Our Trees Still Grow
in Dehra. He also published a
collection of
under the title Rain in the Mountain. Delhi is non-fiction writina
not
Ruskin Bond was published the following year. He Far: The Best of
two anthologies: The Penguin Book of Indian has also edited
Penguin Book of Indian Railway Stories. Ghost Stories and The

About the story

The Eyes are Not Here' (also
and The Eyes Have It) is a known as The Girl on the Train'
short story by Ruskin Bond that
originally published was
Contemporary
deeply touching story about two Indian English Stories. It is a
both blind and do not
fact that the narrator ofrealise co-passengers
that
in a train who are
the other is. The irony is in
the story learns that the
blind only after she had got off his
in the the train.There isco-passenger was
pathos and irony
situation and
to the effect of the Bond offers us the irony in the
ending. adding
left and another whole story on the reader. It was only after
passenger came into the
narrator realises that
she
the qirl was blind. compartment that the
 The bye are iit iice
91
Thadthe ompartncnt to nyself up to Rohana, and then a girl
cuple who saw her off werc got
Lin. The probably her parcnts; they
cemcd very anxiOus about her comlort, and the wonan gavC thc
detailed instructions as to where to keep her
things, when not
lean out of the windows, and how to avod
speaking to strangers
They said their goxd--byes, the train pulled out of the station.
As I was totally blind at the time, mny cyes
sensitive only to light
nd darkness, I was unable to tell what the girl Jooked like: hut
I
knew she wore slippers trom the way they slapped against her hecls.
It would takc me some tine to discOVer
somnething about her
looks, and perhaps I never would. But I Iiked the sOund of her
voice, and cven the sOund of her slippers.
Are you going all the way to Dehra?" I asked.
Imust have been sitting in a dark corner, because my voice
startled her. She gave a little exclarnation and said, I didn't know
anyone clse was here.
Well, itoften happens that people with good eyesight failto see
what is right in front of thern. They have too much to take in, I
suppose. Whercas people who cannot see (or see very little) have to
take in only the essentials, whatever registers most tellingly on their
remain1ng senses.
I didn't see you cither,' I said. 'But I heard you come in.
I wondered if I would be able to prevent her from discovering
that Iwas blind, I thought. Provided I keep to my seat, it shouldn't
be too difficult
The girl said, I'm getting down at Saharanpur. My aunt is
meeting me there
Then Ihad better not be too farmiliar,' I said. 'Aunts are usually
formidable creatures
Where are you going? she asked.
To Dehra, and then to Muss0orie.
Oh. how lucky you are, Iwish Iwere going to Mussoorie. Ilove
the hills Especrally in October
Yes, this Is the best time,"Isaid, call1ng on my memories. "The
hills are covered with wild dahlias, the sun is delicious, and at night
Most of
yu can sit in front of a log fire and drink a little brandy.
 VINOnary Gleam
92
the tourists have gonc. and the roads are quiet and almost deserted

October is the best time

'es,She was silent, and I wondered if my words had touched her, or
Then Tmade a mistake
whether she thought me a romantic lool.
What is it like?" Iasked.
question. Had ek
She seemed to find nothing strange in the
question removea
noticed already that Icould not see? But her next
my doubis.
she asked.
Why don't vou look out of the window?'
window-ledge Th
Imoved easily along the berth and felt for the
window was open, and I faced it, making a pretence, of studyine
the landscape. I heard the panting of the engine, the rumble of the
wheels, and, in my mind's eye, Icould see the telegraph-Dosts
flashing by.
'Have you noticed, Iventured, that trees seem to be moving
while we seem to be standing still?"
That always happens,' she said. Do you see any animals?
Hardly any animals left in the forests near Dehra.?
Iturned from the window and faced the girl, and for a while we
sat in silence.
You have an interesting face,' Iremarked. I was becoming quite
daring, but it was a safe remark. Few girls can resist flattery.
She laughed pleasantly, a clear, ringing laugh.
It's nice to be told Ihave an interesting face. I'm tired of people
telling me I have a pretty face.'
Oh, so you do have a pretty face, thought I, and aloud said:
Well, an interesting face can also be pretty."
You are a very gallant young man,' she said. 'But why are you
SO serious?"
Ithought then, that I would try to laugh for her; but the thought
of laughter only made me feel troubled and lonely.
We'll s0on be at your station, Isaid.
"Thank goodness it's a short journey. I can't bear to sit in a tran
for more than two or three hours.'
Yet I was prepared to sit there for almost any length of time.
just to listen to her talking. Her voice had the sparkle of a mountaun
 The Eyes are not Here
93
she left the train, she would
stream. As SOon as
encounter; but it would stay with me for the rest of
forget our brief
time after.
the journey, and
for some
The engine's whistle shrieked, the carriage wheels changed their
sound and rhythm.
The girl got up and began to collect her things. I
ore her hair in a bun, or if it was wondered if she
plaited, or if it hung loose over
her shoulders, or if it was cut very short.
The train drew slowly into the station.
Outside, there was the
chouting of porters and vendors and a high-pitched female voice
near the carriage door which must have belonged to the
girl's aunt.
Good-bye,' said the girl.
She was standing very close to me, so close that the
perfume
from her hair was tantalising. Iwanted to raise my hand and
touch
her hair; but she moved away, and only the perfume still
where she had stood.
lingered
You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, But the
Scent of the roses will linger there still
There was some confusion in the doorway. A man, getting into
the compartment, stammered an apology. Then the door banged
shut, and the world was shut out again. I returned tO my berth. The
guard blew his whistle and we moved off. Once again, I had a game
to play and a new fellow-traveller.
The train gathered speed, the wheels took up their song, the
carriage groaned and shook. Ifound the window and sat in front of
it, staring into the daylight that was darkness for me.
So many things were happening outside the window. It could be
a fascinating game, guessing what went on out there.
The man who had entered the compartment broke into my reverie.
You must be disappointed,' he said, I'm sorry I'm not as
attractive a travelling companion as the one who just left.'
'She was an interesting girl,' I said. 'Can you tell me-did she
keep her hair long or short?"
Idon't remember,' he said, sounding puzzled. It was her eyes
Inoticed, not her hair. She had beautiful eyes--but they were of no
use her, she was completely blind. Didn't you notice?"
 VIsOnary Gleam
94

Glossary
to go to an arport, station, etc. with someone whe:
to see off
beqinning a journey and to bid goodbye
startie to cause someone to be suddenly surprised
sometimnes making them jump
to have an effect (on a person), to be noticed or
register on
remembered
formidable causing anxiety/fearful respect
dahlia a garden flower with a lot of brightly coloured
petals
aromantic fool a highly imaginative person
pretence : an action or way of behaving that is intended to
make people believe something that is not true
panting : acondition of being out of breath, though here, the
sound made by the train's engine is compared to
the sound made by a person if he/she were out of
breath
venture : to venture a question or statement is t0 say it in an
uncertain or hesitant manner
gallant : a man politely attentive to women
a brief a shortunexpected meeting
tantalising causing temptation or to appear promising
linger to remain, stay on
stammer : to speak with difficulty, hesitating and repeating
words or sounds
reverie a state of imagining or thinking about
things, as in a dream pleasant

Exercises
A. Answer the following questions in one
1. Where was the girl sentence each.
station?
going? Who would come for her at
the
2. Why did she say that
3. What could the
the narrator was lucky?
out of the
narrator see in his mind's eve when he
window? looked
4. What did the new
passenger have to say about the girl?
B. Answer the
following
1. Write in your own questions about 30-40 words each.
in
words how the narrator
in October. describes MussOorie
 The Eyes are not Here
95
2. What did the girl say when she was told that she had an
interesting face?
3. How does the narrator describe the way the girl talks?

does the narrator say that he had a game to

4 Why
thegame? play? What was
Answerthe following questions in about 150 words each.
1. Is there a climax in the story? How does the author lead up to
it?
2. What are the instances in the story where it is evident that both
the narrator and the girl have lost their sight?
to mislead each other? Do they succeed? How do they try
. Attempt to report the wnote story trom the point of view of the
girl.
Do vou think the narrator will attempt to mislead his next
travelling companion? Does any part of the story suggest why
he narrator may want to trick a person into believing he
can
see?
 My Heart Leaps Up
William Wordsworth

tem Wordsworth (1770-1850), born in the Lake District, was

the son of an attorney. Wordsworth describes the different periods
sie life vividly in his work, The Prelude. In 1795, after receiving
a legacy. Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy first in Dorset
nd then in the Lake District, close to his friend and fellow poet.
Coleridge. During this period Wordsworth wrote many of his
greatest poems. Wordsworth and Coleridge published a collection
of o0ems called the Lyrical Ballads and in 1800 came out with
the second edition of the same. The poems of the collection were
markedly different from those of Wordsworth's predecessors and
the Preface laid out a manifesto for what would soon be called the
Romantic age. ldealism, escapism, a return to God and to nature
were some of the themes that characterised this kind of poetry.
This publication was followed, by the publication of Poems in
Two Volumes, in 1807, which included the poems, Resolution and
Independence' and 'lntimations of Immortality from Recollections
of Early Childhood:

About the poem

Written or March 1802 and published in 1807, this poem
addresses the themes found in'Tintern Abbey'and Ode:Intimations
Of Immortality' in a much more concise way. Wordsworth captures
e innocent joy and wonder of a child on seeing a rainbow and
talks about how he has held on to it even as an adult. He wishes
onever lose these pure feelings. He feels that if he stops having
nse of wonder then being alivewould not really matter. For
nthisis the most natural state of piety and worship and Nature
man's first cathedralL
100 Literary Gleam

heart leaps up when Ibehold

M
A rainbow the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now Ian a man;
So be it when I shallgrow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And Icould wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

Glossary
leap to spring or bound upward from, or as if from. the
ground
behold to see
piety qoodness. In spiritual terms, piety is a virtue that
can mearn religious devotion, spirituality, or a
combination of both.

Exercises
A Answer the following questions in a sentence each.
1. Who is the speaker of the poem?
2. What does his heart do?
3. Why does he feel such joy?
4. What does he wish for as he
grows old?
B Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words each.
1. What does the speaker mean
when he says that his heart ledy
up? Would it have been different if he had
or rises' instead of'leaps up'? used'jumps' or hops
2. What is so special about a
3. Explain the line The Child is
rainbow?
father of the Man.
4. What does
Wordsworth mean by 'natural piety?
C. Answer the following
questions in about 150 words each.
1. What makes the poem My Heart Leaps Up' a
2. How has the speaker's intimacy with nature
Romantic lyric
influenced him!
 Ozymandias
P. B. Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) is one of the younger Romantic

noets or 'the late Romantics' and a friend and contemporary of Lord
Byron. Growing up in the countryside, Shelley was nourished by
nature. His poetry is noted for its lyrical charm and idealistic spirit.
From his youth, Shelley showed a remarkable independence of
spirit bordering on rebellion. As a very young man, he entertained
unshakeable convictions on love, liberty and God, and many of
these ideas were unconventional. His major workS include long,
visionary poems such as Queen Mab, 'Alastor, Adonais, Ode to
a Skylark, Ode to the West Wind' and dramas in verse such as
Prometheus Unbound.

About the poem

Ozymandias' is not a typical Shelley poem in its theme or form.
Written in sonnet form, this philosophical poem deals with the
transience of earthly power rather than about love or beauty, which
are recurring themes in Shelley's poetry. The poet tells the reader
about an 'antique traveller' who in turn told him about a desert
with a shattered statue in it. The statue is that of legendary king
Ozymandias, the ironic-hero of the poem. In antiquity, Ozymandias
was another name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses .

met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
 Lilerary Gleam
102
survive, stampcd on these lifeless things,
Which yet that fed:
The hand thatmocked them, and the heart
words appear:
And on the pedestal these
name is Ozynandias, King of Kings:
My
my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Look on
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
Of that
lone and level sands stretch far away".
The

Glossary very
antique used as an adjective here, meaning, from
ancient times'
trunkless without a torso or body.
vast big
infinite, endless, vast.
boundless
face
visage or
mocked SCorned; make fun of; here, it means, reproduce
hands
recreate so closely that the sculptor's skilled
seem to have scorned the original
despair used as verb here meaning to lose hope
the like
pedestal a raised platform to support a statue or
sculptor one who practices the art of sculpting/carving
Sneer speak or smile contemptuously
to decompose; perish
decay
colossal gigantic or huge
lone lonely, desolate

Exercises

A Answer the following questions in a sentence each.

1. Who narrates the story of Ozymandias?
2. What portion of the statue remains standing?
3. What appears on the pedestal?
What metre is the poem written in?
5. Where is the statue located?
 Ozymandias 103

Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words each.

8.
, ldentify the different speakers in the poem.
, Fxplain the phrase The hand that mocked them
7 What is inscribed on the pedestal?
4 What kind of person do you think Ozymandias is2
E What is the traveller's opinion of the sculptor? What words in
the poem tell you this?
C Answer the following questions in about 150 words each.
1. Does the poem prove that art survives? Give reasons for your
answer.
2. How does the poem portray the theme of transience
(impermanence) of human life and power? Pay close attention
to the last five lines of the poem.