ICE BREAKERS
|
Strengths |
Why do you feel so? |
Dream career |
|
painting and drawing |
can visualise, express |
commercial artist, cartoonist |
|
playing and exercising |
can remain active |
sportsperson |
|
befriending and helping |
can manage & organise |
manager, Leader |
|
solving riddles & problems |
can imagine and think deep |
mathematician, policy maker |
1. selling flowers, selling grocery 2.selling vegetables
3. selling spices
4. selling fruits
5. selling toys
ØIn
a village /town /city it is quite a common sight to see an astrologer sitting by the roadside with his professional equipment. Discuss with your partner and list the requirements for his trade.
1. parrot, cards etc. 2. Booklet depicting some
mystic diagrams
3. Holy ash 4.
Stones of different colours and shapes
5. Chains of beads
ØThere
are certain unreasonable beliefs among people living in our society.
Certain common events are linked with superstitions. List such events, discuss
the superstitions linked with them and the means of their eradication.
1. A cat crossing your path 2. Yelling of a dog at night
3. Haze around moon 4. Hooting of an owl
5. Extinguishing lamp (diya) suddenly
BRAINSTORMING
(A1) (i) Given below are some descriptions. Discuss them with your partner and find
out one word for each of them. An example is given for you.
(a) The
scientific study of the universe and the objects in it, including stars, planets,
nebulae and galaxies
- Astronomy
(b) The
study of the movements of the planets, Sun, Moon, and Stars in the
belief that these movements can have an influence on people's lives
- Astrology
(c) A prediction of what will happen in the future
- Prophesy, Forecast,
Fore-telling
(d) Scientific discipline that studies mental states and processes and
behaviour in humans and other animals
- Psychology
(ii) In the
story we are told that the Town Hall Park was a remarkable place in many ways
for an astrologer to build his business. Discuss it in a group and list the exceptional qualities of the place.
A surging
crowd, variety of trades and
occupations, busy road for the
whole day, a vendor of fried
groundnut nearby was a crowd-puller, dim
light at night , bewildering crisscross of light rays and moving shadows.
(iii) The astrologer never opened his mouth till the other had
spoken for at least ten minutes. Discuss the reasons behind his
act.
·
He
is good at reading the people.
·
Listening
them he could judge the problem of the person.
·
He
could analyse the character.
·
It
provided him enough stuff for a dozen answers and advices.
(A2) (i) The
tactics used by the astrologer to earn his wages are...
The Tactics
- analysis of human troubles
- sharp perception about human mind
- listen the person carefully
- saying things which please and astonish
everyone
(ii) An
astrologer's appearance helps to create an impression on his clients.
Complete the following.
(a) The
turban on his head
(b) sacred ash and vermilion on his forehead
(c) sharp abnormal gleam in eyes
(d) dark whiskers
(iii) Read
the following sentences and choose the correct one.
(a) The astrologer says that if Nayak leaves his
village again, he would
(1) return
the money
(2) face danger
(3) go back home and stop looking for the man who tried to kill him
(4) not find the killer.
(b) According to the narrator the astrologer's
success in his profession is primarily due to
(1) luck
(2) the bargains he drives
(3) his appearance
(4) his understanding of
people.
(c) The story suggests that the astrologer's
comments and observations please people by
(1) promising them success and good fortune
(2) proving, as time passes, to have been true
(3) flattering them or
supporting their own views
(4) helping them to learn to solve their own problems
(d) Guru Nayak consults the astrologer because he
wants to
(1) understand the past
(2) find out who the astrologer is
(3) make some money through a bet
(4) get the answer to a
specific question.
(e) Guru Nayak is looking for the man who tried to
kill him
(1) to take revenge (2)
to get an apology
(3) to demand an explanation (4)
to prove that the man was unsuccessful.
(f) The astrologer's remark makes Guru Nayak feel
all of the following except
(1) relieved
(2) suspicious
(3) impressed
(4) disappointed.
(g) Reactions of the astrologer's wife to his news
suggest that she
(1) was unaware of his past
(2) has been worried about his safety
(3) has known him since he was young
(4) is concerned about her future with him.
(iv) Read
the following sentences and find out True and False sentences. Correct the False sentences.
(a) The
astrologer gave a correct prediction to the client about his past that he was
stabbed, thrown into a well and left for dead.
True
(b) When the astrologer came to know that the man whom he killed is alive he
felt that he was relieved of his guilt.
True
(c) The astrologer tried to back out of the deal and talked about the client's past.
False (The astrologer tried to back out the deal because he recognized the client which made him uneasy)
(d) The astrologer rescued himself from Guru Nayak's revenge.
True
(e) The moral of the story is that we must be responsible about what we have
done and should not run away from our mistakes.
True
(v) The
astrologer has changed his appearance and his persona when he arrived in the
city. Give specific reasons.
The
astrologer had fled from the village as he felt that he had killed Guru Nayak.
He took shelter in the city and changed his appearance and his persona so that
no one could recognise him. By this he could hide himself from getting caught
for his crime. Moreover, he could earn his bread and butter by his new
profession as an astrologer.
(vi) 'The darkness load that was inside the astrologer has disappeared'.
Through
this sentence, explain the significance of the title 'An Astrologer's Day
For so many years, since
he had fled from his village, the astrologer was under the guilt that he had
killed Guru Nayak. But, when he found that Guru Nayak was alive, he felt
relieved from the burden of guilt of being a murderer. As an astrologer he not
only earned good money that day but got free from a huge tension. Therefore it
was An Astrologer’s Day.
(vii)
The astrologer feels relieved that Guru is not dead as it relieves a great
burden from him. Critically justify the statement and explain it.
When
the astrologer was a youngster, he stabbed and pushed Guru Nayak in the well in
a feat of anger as they had drunk, gambled and quarrelled. He felt that Guru
was dead and he was responsible for that. But when he saw Guru, he felt
relieved. The astrologer was not a seasoned and ruthless murderer. He was not
evil at heart. But , in the influence of wine, he couldn’t control his anger
and lost his mind. For so many years he carried the burden of his guilt which
proves that he was a sensible person.
(viii)
The astrologer wins/gets the sympathy of criticism of the reader in the end.
Express your opinion with the support of the main story.
Through
the story we come to know that the astrologer was not a ruthless criminal. He
was a victim of circumstances, that made him culprit. When he comes face to
face with the person whom he tried to kill, he tactfully removes the thought of
revenge from the person’s mind. Without doing any harm he wins over the person
whose heart is full of anger.
(ix) If we have to eradicate the superstitions and other ill practices from our
society, what steps would you like to suggest?
The
first and foremost thing that will help us to eradicate the superstitions and
other evil practices from our society is good education. It will develop
scientific view among the people. They will test all illogical things on the
basis of science and will not believe in hearsay or rumours or ill practices.
Secondly, the stringent action must be taken against those who practice
superstitions.
(x) In the story, astrologer has a great listening power. Listening helps in developing
good relations with people. Express your opinion.
Every
person has some or the other problem. Some have great things to tell. They need
someone to share these things. If you listen to them patiently, they feel your
involvement with them which draw them near you emotionally. Your simply
listening lightens their stress and boost their morale. They see good friend in
you who listen to them.
(A3) (i) In the story, the following characters reveal their qualities through
words and actions. Pick out the words that describe them from the box and write in the appropriate columns.
shrewd clever suspicious gullible
arrogant demanding antagonistic quarrelsome
overconfident manipulative skeptical mystical
smart caring protective sharp
rational mean intuitive aggressive
worried cunning humanistic impetuous
|
Astrologer |
Guru Nayak |
Astrologer's wife |
|
(1) shrewd (5) mean (6) cunning (7) intuitive (8) humanist (9) mystic (10) sharp |
(1) manipulative (2) arrogant (3) overconfident (4) rational (5) demanding (6) antagonist (7) skeptical (8) quarrelsome (9) aggressive (10) impetuous |
(1) caring (2) suspicious (3) protective (4) gullible |
(ii)
Match the suffixes with the words and make nouns. One is done for you.
|
Word |
suffix |
noun |
|
auction |
able |
auctioneer |
|
enchant |
ure |
enchantment |
|
know |
ment |
knowledge |
|
prepare |
eer |
preparation |
|
proceed |
ance |
procedure |
|
appear |
ledge |
appearance |
|
remark |
tion |
remarkable |
(iii) 'An Astrologer's Day' has ironic elements
where the astrologer pretends to have 'supernatural knowledge' that
coincidently turns out to be the truth.
Irony means a situation or statement characterized
by a significant difference between what is expected and what actually happens,
or between what is understood and what is meant.
Find out the
examples of irony from the story and write them down. One has been done for
you.
(a) He knew
no more of what was going to happen to others than he knew what was going to
happen to himself the next minute.
(b)The
astrologer asks Guru Nayak not to return to the city or he would be in danger.
But, as a matter of fact, the astrologer would be in danger.
(c) The
astrologer felt Guru Nayak was dead but he was alive.
(d) The
astrologer felt that case of Guru Nayak would put him in danger but it paid him
off.
(iv) In the
story, many Indian words are used.
'Cowrie shells'. This is an example of code-mixing.
Find out
other such words from the story and write them down.
Raja’s delicacy, Three pies, Took out an anna, Lit a cheroot, jutka drivers
(v) There are some phrases where the word crown is used with different shades of meaning. Use the following phrases to complete the sentences meaningfully. One is done for you.
(crowning achievement, To crown the effect, crown of thorns,
crowning glory, to crown it all)
To crown the effect, he wound a saffron-coloured turban around
his
head.
(a) The
works of Shakespeare are the crowning glory of English drama.
(b) Amitabh has given us awesome movies throughout five decades. But his crowning
achievement is
his performance in the movie 'Black'.
(c) In her pursuit of success, Radha has distanced herself from her family. Her
fame has become a real crown of thorns.
(d) They threw a wonderful party for me with costumes, games and to crown it all my favourite kind of ice cream.
(e) Medical science has great inventions, but organ transplantation is
definitely a crowning
achievement
for human beings.
(A4) (i)
Word Usage
Use the words given in the brackets and rewrite the sentences.
(a) The
power of his eyes was considerably enhanced. (enhancement)
The enhancement
in the power of his eyes was considerable.
There was
considerable enhancement in the power of her eyes
(b) He had a working analysis of mankind’s troubles. (worked)
He worked on the
analysis of mankind’s troubles.
(c) He knew what was going to happen to himself next minute.(happening)
He knew what would be happening to himself next minute.
d) If you
find my answers satisfactory, will you give me five rupees? (satisfaction)
If you find
satisfaction in my answer, will you give me five rupees?
(e) He shook his head regretfully. (regret)
He shook his head
in regret.
(f) It was a
bewildering crisscross of light rays. (bewildered)
Everyone could be
bewildered by the crisscross of light rays.
The crisscross of
light rays could bewilder everyone.
(g) “I should have been dead if some passer-by had not chanced to peep into the
well,” exclaimed the other, overwhelmed by enthusiasm. (enthusiastically)
“I should have
been dead if some passer-by had not chanced to peep into the well,” exclaimed
the other, overwhelming enthusiastically.
(h) You tried
to kill him. (killing)
You tried killing
him.
(i) I will prepare some nice stuff for her. (preparation)
My preparation
will be some nice stuff for her.
(j) The other groaned on hearing it. (heard)
The other groaned
when he heard it.
(A5) (i)
Prepare a speech on Science and Superstitions.
The 21st century has gifted us with number of great
things like mobiles, fast internet and various electronic gadgets which have
opened the storehouse of knowledge to the mankind. The whole world is moving
forward rapidly with close relationship with individuals. But some things are
still there like superstitions, black magic, evil practices which are
stretching us back. Unfortunately India has got a terrible trouble of such
practices. The innocent children are killed to please a deity for money.
Someone is brutally killed with the suspicion of satanic power. There is
illogical reasoning behind these things.
The only way to get out of the superstition
is good education which will develop scientific views among the people. Then
the people will understand the natural forces and science behind them. Then
they will not believe that black colour is ominous and cat after all is a
simple animal. Science has given us new
vision to peep into the nature. It has given us tremendous power to break the
shackles of ignorance. With the help of science man could explore the space and
could find out that there is nothing like Rahu and Ketu. They have no role in
human life. And, Saturn is a magnificent planet in our solar system. It
never gets angry with human beings. So
friends lets develop scientific view and pledge to eradicate superstition. In
the end I pay huge thanks to you for listening me patiently.
Thank you for this
ReplyDelete