(Prose-3)
FORGETTING
-Robert Lynd
Answer in one or two sentences:
Q. What does Lynd actually wonder at?
Ans. Lynd actually wonders at the efficiency of human memory which remembers many
things.
Q. Name a few things that a person remembers easily.
Ans. A man easily remembers all the items of clothing; shutting the door before leaving
the home; turning off lights before going upstairs, etc.
Q.How do psychologists interpret forgetfulness?
Ans. Psychologists tellus that people forget things because they wish to forget them.
Q. What is the commonest type of forgetfulness, according to Lynd?
Ans. The commonest type of forgetfulness occurs in the matter of posting letters. The
author himself has forgotten to post his own letters many times.
Q. What does the author mean when he says the letter in his pocket leads an
unadventurous life?
Ans. The letter in his pocket leads an unadventurous life as it is kept safe inside his
pocket for a long time without him remembering about it.
Q. What are the articles the writer forgets most often?
Ans. The poet often forgets his books and walking sticks.
Q. Who are the citizens of 'dreamland'? Why?
Ans. Sportsmen are the citizens of dreamland because even after returning from their
games their mind is still filled with the imagination of playing.
Q. What is common about the 'angler' and the 'poet?
Ans.The angler enjoys his sport of fishing so intensely that he forgets his fishing rod.
Likewise, the poet who often roams in his own world of imagination, may forget to post
a letter. Both the angler's and the poet's loss of memory is a tribute to the intensity of
their enjoyment.
Answer in two to four sentences:
Q. What made people wonder about the absentmindedness of their fellow-beings?
Ans. The people wondered about the list of articles published for sale which were lost by railway
travellers.
Q. What are our memories filled with?
Ans. Our memories are filled with names of cricketers, footballers, murderers, actors and
actresses. Our memories are filled with many routine activities.
Q. When does human memory work with less than its usual capacity?
Ans. Human memory works with less than its usual capacity when we forget things as we wish
to forget them and when we have antipathy towards something.
Q. Why, according to Lynd, should taking medicines be one of the easiest actions to remember?
Ans. Taking medicines should be one of the easiest actions to remember because doctor has
prescribed the medicine to recover from illness. Besides, there is a need to take it either before
or after meals. Everytime one takes meals, one should easily remember medicine.
Q. How do the chemists make fortunes out of the medicines people forget to take?
Ans. Similar to the author, many remember to forget medicine as soon as the appointed time
arrives. The medicine which is kept for long without swallowing may soon become expiry and
cannot be used anymore. Thus, chemists make fortunes out of the medicines people forget to
take.
Q. The list of articles lost in trains suggest that sportsmen have worse memories than their
ordinary serious-minded fellows. Why does Lynd say this?
Ans. Considerable number of footballs and cricket bats were forgotten by young sportsmen.
Serious-minded ordinary citizens forget less. The author Lynd infers that the sportsmen's
forgetfulness is justified as their minds are full of vision of the playing field. Their heads are in
the stars and among the clouds. Keeping their hearts in boots, young sportsmen rush home to
talk about their exploits and are naturally more absent-minded than serious-minded ordinary
folks.
Q. What kind of absent-mindedness is regarded as a virtue by Lynd?
Ans. The poet, forgetting to post a letter is regarded as a virtue by Lynd because this kind of
absent-mindedness occurs as his mind is filled with glorious matter.
Q. Narrate the plight of the baby on its day out.
Ans. Afather offered to take the baby out in a perambulator. On a sunny morning, he was
tempted to have a glass of beer. He entered a pub leaving the perambulator in the street
opposite to the pub. A little later, his wife found the baby asleep in the perambulator. Her
husband was not found anywhere. She took the perambulator home anticipating her husband's
remorse over the stolen baby. But to her obvious dismay, he walked in cheerfully and asked her
what was for lunch. He had completely forgotten about the baby.
Answer in a paragraph of about 150 words:
Q. Kahlil Gibran states 'Forgetfulness is a form of freedom'. Write an article for your
school magazine, linking your ideas logically and giving appropriate examples.
Ans. "Forgetfulness is a form of freedom". To a greater extent, this statement is true.
Forgetting is the apparent loss of information already encoded and stored in an
individual's long-term memory. It is a gradual process in which old memories are unable
to be recalled from memory storage. There is no use crowding all activities in our minds
forever. This may naturally lead to many health hazards. On the other hand, a person
with forgetfulness leads a peaceful life because he lives for the present moment
without any botheration about the past. Scientists, poets, philosophers, and creative
people are known for their absent-minded ways. Several anecdotes revolve around
Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton due to their scattered, forgetful ways. Einstein
once called the university he worked at to ask for his own address as he had forgotten it.
Persian Poet Sumi says, "Mindlessness helps you unite with the divine."
Q. How does the author prove that absent-mindedness is a boon as well as a bane?
Ans. Absent-mindedness of people shocked the author when the Railway department
published the list of lost articles. It was startling to note that young people forget bats,
balls etc. The author attributes it to the abundant imagination and dreams. They are
citizens of dreamland. Anglers also forget their fishing rods. Absent-mindedness is
often a blessing in disguise. People can forget their unhappiness and live in a world of
Utopia. Great thinkers, poets and philosophers are absent-minded because their minds
are full of lofty ideas and imagination. Socrates the philosopher and S. T. Coleridge the
poet were absent-minded people. Similarly, politicians have bad memories. States are
yet to produce ideal statesmen. Great writers, composers of music have amazingly
great memories. Memory is half the substance of their art. Once a father took his baby
out in a perambulator in the morning. He walked into a pub to have a glass of beer. The
child was sitting in the perambulator outside in the street. After sometime, his wife
came that way for shopping. She was shocked to find her baby sleeping in the
perambulator unattended. She decided to teach her husband a lesson. She took the
baby home. She expected her husband to come and apologize for losing the child. But
he just walked in and casually asked his wife cheerfully what was there for lunch. Very
few people like Einstein or Socrates would be capable of such absent-mindedness. Men
should forget unpleasant things and remember pleasant things. Thus absent
mindedness is both a boon and a bane.
