TOPIC

“TOLSTOY ‘ S HOME“
By “ K.P.S. MENON”
 Complete Summary
 The writer visited the birth
palace of Tolstoy, the great
Russian Writer. Tolstoy’s
home is held in great all
over the world. He was not
only a great writer but also
a great moral thinker. his
thought and ideas
exercised a deep influence
on Mahatma Gandhi.
 As a matter of fact .
Tolstoy’s influence on
Gandhi was next only to
that of The Gita and the
Sermon on the Mount.
 Tolstoy’s house is situated in a
beautiful park. Tolstoy belonged
to an aristocratic family. his father
was a count and his mother was a
princess. judged by the royal
standard. Tolstoy's house is a
simple building. Within the house
,the bedroom which Tolstoy
occupied was quite simple.
Tolstoy's small bedroom was in
striking contrast to that of his
wife. His wife’s bedroom was
larger and more ornate and full of
picture.
 Tolstoy’s house is preserved
exactly as it used to be in his life
time. In Tolstoy's bedroom there
are pictures of his family, which
consisted of thirteen children, five
of whom died in infancy. there is
also his old cot and the crutch
which he had to use after he had
injured his leg.
 The Writer was delighted to see
Tolstoy’s study. It was there that
Tolstoy wrote his famous novels such
as “War and Peace" and “Anna
Karenina”. Here also Tolstoy wrote his
letter to Mahatma Gandhi. The most
touching object in the study was the
candle on the writing desk which
Tolstoy blew out when he decided to
renounce his home. On that night,
Tolstoy left his family and went to live a
simple life.

 There is a balcony in front of Tolstoy’s

study which overlooks a garden. From
this balcony, Tolstoy could see the
village where he used to spend time
with the peasants. He used to spend
much time talking and cracking jokes
with the villagers. His wife ,did not like
his receiving the villagers in their
home. Tolstoy’s intimate friendship
with the peasants was one reason for
his friction with the family. As a matter
of fact, Tolstoy’s wife always remained
a stranger to Tolstoy who had explored
the depth of the human heart in his
 Around the Tolstoy’s house there
is a large garden where Tolstoy
planted apple-trees and cherry
trees and grew all kind of flowers.
The garden around Tolstoy’s
house merges with the forest.
There are some lovely Oak-trees
in the forest. Once under these
trees, Tolstoy’s wife and a small
son took shelter during a
thunderstorm. In the heart of the
forest is Tolstoy’s grave. It is very
simple. It is just mound of earth,
covered with the flowers. Tolstoy
had himself selected this spot for
his grave. A few yards from
Tolstoy’s grave lies his favorite
horse which survived Tolstoy by
two year.
 Tolstoy was a great, but
simple soul. He believed
in the dignity of manual
labor. He wanted the
members of his family
to use their hands more
than their servants less.
Tolstoy preached the
doctrine of non-
violence. His principle
of non-violence was
adopted by Mahatma
Gandhi who used this
principle for the
liberation of one-fifth of
man kind.
Character Sketch Of
“Leo Tolstoy”
 Leo Tolstoy was a Russian
novelist and a moral
philosopher. As a novelist,
Tolstoy made a deep analysis
of man as a social being. No
other novelist has given us
such a deep analysis of the
emotional life of man. As a
moral teacher, Tolstoy
believed that many social
institutions should be
abolished. There should be no
right of personal property.
Tolstoy loved simple village
people. He would spend many
hours talking with the
villagers. He had set apart a
room in his house for
receiving the peasants.
Tolstoy was a saintly person.
In his old age, he decided to
renounce the world. He
wanted to join a monastery.
But he did not want to join the
church. He believed in
 “Theme of the Lesson ”
 The theme of the lesson is to
describe that international
personalities are respected and
worshipped all over the world.
They are remembered by the
posterity because of their
greatness. People like Tolstoy are
known for their revolutionary
ideas and ideal philosophy. Their
works guide the coming
generations. They belong to the
whole world, not to a particular
country. They are great in every
sense. This is why each and every
thing that belonged to them is
preserved for those who want to
seek inspiration from their way of
life. Tolstoy was a great soul like
Gandhi ji . His home has been
turned into a museum by the
government of Russia. K. P. S
Menon paid a visit to his home in
Yasnaya Polyana in order to pay
true homage to that saint of
humanity. He was very much
impressed by the simplicity of his
tomb and the simple way in which
he led his life
Word Meaning
 Aristocratic stock  Belonging to a rich
family
 Manual Labour
 Ornate  To Work With Hand
 Pilgrimage  Rich
 Preserved  A visit to holy place
 Puritan  Kept Safe
 One who leads a
disciplined life
 Renounce
 To leave
Word Meaning
 Menial  Of an inferior kind
 Monastery  convent
 Merges  Mixes with
 Mound  A small hill
 Slab  A flat stone
 Sewn  Stitched
 survived  Lived after
 Wildfire  Fire in the forest
 Bibliography
 Text References taken from
M.B.D book of class (10+2)
P.S.E.B
 Pictures collect from Internet
 Some text material taken from
Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia
 Also refer the text book of
(10+2) P.S.E.B