Notes for the Teacher

Teacher
Units 8–11

8. REACH FOR THE TOP

This unit has two biographical pieces that depict persistent endeavours to
reach the top. Part II of this unit is taken from a newspaper. The language is
very current and idiomatic. An exercise of matching words and phrases to
their meanings has been given as a pre-reading activity to facilitate students’
understanding and appreciation of this part of the text.
In this unit students are asked to imagine that they have to give a speech.
They may wish to read the texts of well-known speeches such as Nehru’s
‘Tryst with Destiny’. A speech is a formal use of spoken language. It must be
prepared meticulously.
The language is formal but should be made powerful by the use of balance
(“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country.” — Kennedy), imagery (“The light has gone out of our lives” — Nehru)
and other such rhetorical devices. It can be enriched by the use of examples
and anecdotes.
The Writing task of composing an article for a school magazine can be prepared
for by looking at other examples of such articles in newspapers. This task
makes a beginning in helping students to write for the print media. Encourage
them to work within a given word limit (such as 500 words, or 1000 words),
and to use everyday, contemporary language.
Help students to write a description of Santosh Yadav’s character by drawing
their attention to her background, likes and dislikes, her humanity and her
contribution to society.

9. THE BOND OF LOVE

This unit is about a strong attachment between a human being and a wild
animal that becomes a pet. Encourage the students to locate the incidents
that show this in the story, and to give examples from their own experience.
The exercise of referring to an index for obtaining specific information on a
given topic aims to strengthen students’ reference skills. Try to add some
examples of your own from other areas of the curriculum where consulting an
index is useful.
The passage to be dictated is a scrambled story. After the dictation, allow the
students to go through their writing carefully to rearrange the incidents logically.
The writing activities are designed to help students to build up an argument.

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 10. KATHMANDU
‘Kathmandu’ is excerpted from Heaven Lake, a travelogue in which Vikram
Seth gives an account of what he saw, thought and felt when he travelled from
China to Tibet, from Heaven Lake to the Himalayas.
The map reading activity and the activity on locating the possible routes (by
road, rail or air) from Kathmandu to different places in India are designed to
link the lesson to the outside world. Students may wish to consult brochures
or travel guides, visit a travel agency or call them on the telephone, speak to
people who have been to Nepal, and so on. This is a ‘communicative’ and
‘authentic’ task.
To prepare for the second Speaking task, students can listen to cricket/
football commentaries or eyewitness accounts of the Independence Day/
Republic Day parade in class or at home on radio or T.V. Encourage them
to observe the use of the language and follow the narration. Have a
discussion in the class on the features of the commentary (its language, its
liveliness, etc.)
A diary can be an opportunity to write freely about our life and the things
that happen to us — funny, sad, happy, embarrassing or fearful. We also
make notes on places we visit or our encounters with people.
The Writing task suggests that diary entries can form the basis of a
travelogue, and asks students to imagine a journey to Kathmandu. It may be
supplemented by an actual travelogue-writing task given after a long holiday,
or after a class trip out of the town.

11. IF I WERE YOU

This one-act play is to be read aloud in class by assigning roles to students.
Draw the students’ attention to the stage setting, stage directions, description
of the characters, their movements, gestures and tonal variations, since these
combine to bring out the effect of the play.
The play has many examples of wit and irony. Two examples are given in an
exercise. You can add a few more for the students to have a clear understanding.
The dictionary task in this unit is to help children locate the right meaning
from a dictionary for a word they come across while reading. The task draws
students’ attention to ‘signposts’ such as parts of speech that help match use
to meaning. Encourage the students to look at more entries in the dictionary
and observe the meanings of words that occur as different parts of speech
(adjective, noun, verb).

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 8. Reach for the Top
Top

Part I
Santosh Yadav

BEFORE YOU READ

• Think for a while and make a list of three to five persons you
idolise, or admire very much for their achievements. Your
idols may be from any sphere of life — sports, medicine,
media, or art and culture.
• Your teacher will then discuss your choices with you to find
out who the top five idols of your class are.

1. The only woman in the world who

has scaled Mt Everest twice was
born in a society where the birth of
a son was regarded as a blessing,
and a daughter, though not
considered a curse, was not
generally welcome. When her
mother was expecting Santosh, a
travelling ‘holy man’, giving her his
blessing, assumed that she wanted
a son. But, to everyone’s surprise,
the unborn child’s grandmother, who
was standing close by, told him that
they did not want a son. The ‘holy
man’ was also surprised!
Nevertheless, he gave the requested
blessing . . . and as destiny would
have it, the blessing seemed to work.
Santosh was born the sixth child in
a family with five sons, a sister to

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 five brothers. She was born in the small village of
Joniyawas of Rewari District in Haryana.
2. The girl was given the name ‘Santosh’, which means
contentment. But Santosh was not always content
with her place in a traditional way of life. She began
living life on her own terms from the start. Where
other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh
preferred shorts. Looking back, she says now, “From
the very beginning I was quite determined that if I
chose a correct and a rational path, the others
around me had to change, not me.”
3. Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who
could afford to send their children to the best
schools, even to the country’s capital, New Delhi,
which was quite close by. But, in line with the in line with: following
prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to or in accordance
with; according to
make do with the local village school. So, she decided
to fight the system in her own quiet way when
the right moment arrived. And the right moment
came when she turned sixteen. At sixteen, most of
the girls in her village used to get married.
Santosh was also under pressure from her parents
to do the same.
4. A marriage as early as that was the last thing on the last thing: the
least important thing
her mind. She threatened her parents that she
would never marry if she did not get a proper
education. She left home and got herself enrolled
in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to
pay for her education, she politely informed them
of her plans to earn money by working part time to
pay her school fees. Her parents then agreed to pay
for her education.
5. Wishing always to study “a bit more” and with her
father slowly getting used to her urge for more
education, Santosh passed the high school
examinations and went to Jaipur. She joined
Maharani College and got a room in Kasturba Hostel.
Santosh remembers, “Kasturba Hostel faced the
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 Aravalli Hills. I used to watch villagers from my
room, going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after
a while. One day I decided to check it out myself. I check it out: find out
found nobody except a few mountaineers. I asked if (the truth)
I could join them. To my pleasant surprise, they
answered in the affirmative and motivated me to
take to climbing.”
6. Then there was no looking back for this determined
young girl. She saved money and enrolled in a
course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of
Mountaineering. “My college semester in Jaipur was
to end in April but it ended on the nineteenth of
May. And I was supposed to be in Uttarkashi on
the twenty-first. So, I did not go back home; instead,
I headed straight for the training. I had to write a headed straight for :
letter of apology to my father without whose went towards
permission I had got myself enrolled at Uttarkashi.”
7. Thereafter, Santosh went on an
expedition every year. Her climbing
skills matured rapidly. Also, she
developed a remarkable resistance to
cold and the altitude. Equipped with
an iron will, physical endurance and
an amazing mental toughness, she
proved herself repeatedly. The
culmination of her hard work and
sincerity came in 1992, just four years
after she had shyly asked the Aravalli
mountaineers if she could join them.
At barely twenty years of age, Santosh
Yadav scaled Mt Everest, becoming the
youngest woman in the world to
achieve the feat. If her climbing skills,
physical fitness, and mental strength
impressed her seniors, her concern for
others and desire to work together with Iron will, physical endurance and
them found her a special place in the mental toughness characterise
Santosh Yadav.
hearts of fellow climbers.
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8. During the 1992 Everest mission, Santosh Yadav
provided special care to a climber who lay dying at
the South Col. She was unfortunately unsuccessful
in saving him. However, she managed to save
another climber, Mohan Singh, who would have
met with the same fate had she not shared her
oxygen with him.
9. Within twelve months, Santosh found herself a
member of an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition
that invited her to join them. She then scaled the
Everest a second time, thus setting a record as the
only woman to have scaled the Everest twice, and
securing for herself and India a unique place in the
annals of mountaineering. In recognition
of her achievements, the Indian government
bestowed upon her one of the nation’s top honours, top honours: highest
the Padmashri. awards

10. Describing her feelings when she was literally ‘on the enormity of the
moment: a very great
top of the world’, Santosh has said, “It took some
moment
time for the enormity of the moment to sink
sink in: be
in ... Then I unfurled the Indian tricolour and held understood
it aloft on the roof of the world. The feeling is
held it aloft: held it
indescribable. The Indian flag was flying on top of up high
the world. It was truly a spiritual moment. I felt
proud as an Indian.”
Also a fervent environmentalist, Santosh fervent: having
collected and brought down 500 kilograms of strong and sincere
feelings
garbage from the Himalayas.

Thinking about the T

Teext
I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers
within brackets provide clues to the answers.)
1. Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised?
(1)
2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to
accept anything unreasonable. (2)
3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)

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 4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
5. Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What
mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident? (4)

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for
her team-mates?
3. What shows her concern for the environment?
4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
5. Santosh Yadav got into the recor d books both times she scaled
Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?

III. Complete the following statements.

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to

2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her
father because

3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her
while endeared her to fellow climbers.

IV. Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the following words or
expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.)

1. took to be true without proof (1):

2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2):

3. the usual way of doing things (3):

4. a strong desire arising from within (5):

5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7):

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 Part II
Maria Sharapova

BEFORE YOU READ

• A Russian girl, Maria Sharapova, reached the summit of
women’s tennis when she was barely eighteen. As you read
about her, see if you can draw a comparison between her
and Santosh Yadav.

• Match the following.

something disarming quickly, almost immediately

at odds with more calm, confident and in control
than people of her age usually are
glamorous attire in contrast to; not agreeing with
in almost no time something that makes you feel friendly,
taking away your suspiciousness
poised beyond her sent off
years
packed off attractive and exciting clothes
launched causing strong feelings of sadness
heart wrenching started

• As you read, look for the answers to these questions.

– Why was Maria sent to the United States?
– Why didn’t her mother go with her?
– What are her hobbies? What does she like?
– What motivates her to keep going?

1. T H E R E is something disarming about Maria

Sharapova, something at odds with her ready smile
and glamorous attire. And that something in her
lifted her on Monday, 22 August 2005 to the world
number one position in women’s tennis. All this
happened in almost no time. Poised beyond her
years, the Siberian born teenager took just four
years as a professional to reach the pinnacle.
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 Maria Sharapova won the women’s singles
at Wimbledon in 2004

2. However, the rapid ascent in a fiercely competitive

world began nine years before with a level of
sacrifice few children would be prepared to endure.
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth
birthday when she was packed off to train in the
United States. That trip to Florida with her father
Yuri launched her on the path to success and
stardom. But it also required a heart-wrenching
two-year separation from her mother Yelena. The
latter was compelled to stay back in Siberia because
of visa restrictions. The nine-year -old girl had
already learnt an important lesson in life — that
tennis excellence would only come at a price.
3. “I used to be so lonely,” Maria Sharapova recalls. “I
missed my mother terribly. My father was working
as much as he could to keep my tennis-training
going. So, he couldn’t see me either.
4. “Because I was so young, I used to go to bed at
8 p.m. The other tennis pupils would come in at
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 11 p.m. and wake me up and order me to tidy up
the room and clean it.
5. “Instead of letting that depress me, I became more
quietly determined and mentally tough.
I learnt how to take care of myself. I never thought
of quitting because I knew what I wanted. When
you come from nothing and you have nothing, then
it makes you very hungry and determined . . . I would
have put up with much more humiliation and insults
than that to steadfastly pursue my dream.”
6. That toughness runs through Maria even today. It
was the key to her bagging the women’s singles crown
at Wimbledon in 2004 and to her meteoric rise to
the world number one spot the following year.
7. While her journey from the frozen plains of Siberia
to the summit of women’s tennis has touched the
hearts of tennis fans, for the youngster herself there
appears to be no room for sentiment. The straight
looks and the answers she gives when asked about
her ambition make it amply clear that she considers
the sacrifices were worth it. “I am very, very
competitive. I work hard at what I do. It’s my job.”
This is her mantra for success.
8. Though Maria Sharapova speaks with a pronounced
American accent, she proudly parades her Russian
nationality. Clearing all doubts, she says, “I’m
Russian. It’s true that the U.S. is a big part of my
life. But I have Russian citizenship. My blood is
totally Russian. I will play the Olympics for Russia
if they want me.”
9. Like any number of teenaged sensations, Maria
Sharapova lists fashion, singing and dancing as her
hobbies. She loves reading the novels of Arthur Conan
Doyle. Her fondness for sophisticated evening gowns
appears at odds with her love of pancakes with
chocolate spread and fizzy orange drinks.
10. Maria Sharapova cannot be pigeon-holed or
categorised. Her talent, unwavering desire to
succeed and readiness to sacrifice have lifted her
to the top of the world. Few would grudge her the
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 riches she is now reaping. This is what she has to
say about her monetary gains from tennis:
“Of course, money is a motivation. Tennis is a
business and a sport, but the most important thing
is to become number one in the world. That’s the
dream that kept me going.”

Thinking about the T

Teext
Working in small groups of 4–5 students, go back over the two passages on
Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova and complete the table given below with
relevant phrases or sentences.

Points of
Comparison/Contrast Santosh Yadav Maria Sharapova

1. Their humble beginning

2. Their parents’ approach
3. Their will power and strong
desire to succeed
4. Evidence of their mental
toughness
5. Their patriotism

Thinking about Language

Look at the following sentences. They each have two clauses, or two parts each
with their own subject and verb or verb phrase. Often, one part (italicised) tells
us when or why something happened.
• I reached the market when most of the shops had closed. (Tells us when I
reached.)
• When Rahul Dravid walked back towards the pavilion, everyone stood up. (Tells
us when everyone stood up.)
• The telephone rang and Ganga picked it up. (Tells us what happened next.)
• Gunjan has been with us ever since the school began. (Tells us for how long he
has been with us.)
I. Identify the two parts in the sentences below by underlining the part that gives
us the information in brackets, as shown above.
1. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.
(Contrasts her dress with that of others)

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 2. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.(Tells us what
happened after the first action.)
3. She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.(Tells us
when she was going to fight the system.)
4. Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed
off to train in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the U.S.)
II. Now rewrite the pairs of sentences given below as one sentence.
1. Grandfather told me about the old days. All books were printed on paper then.
2. What do you do after you finish the book? Perhaps you just throw it away.
3. He gave the little girl an apple. He took the computer apart.
4. You have nothing. That makes you very determined.
5. I never thought of quitting. I knew what I wanted.

Dictation
Read the passage once. Then close your books. Your teacher will dictate the
story to you. Write it down with the correct punctuation and paragraphing.
The Raincoat
After four years of drought in a small town in the Northeast, the Vicar
gathered everyone together for a pilgrimage to the mountain, where they
would pray together and ask for the rain to return.
The priest noticed a boy in the group wearing a raincoat.
“Have you gone mad?” he asked. “It hasn’t rained in this region for
five years, the heat will kill you climbing the mountain.”
“I have a cold, father. If we are going to ask God for rain, can you
imagine the way back from the mountain? It’s going to be such a downpour
that I need to be prepared.”
At that moment a great crash was heard in the sky and the first
drops began to fall. A boy’s faith was enough to bring about a miracle
that not even those most prepared truly believed in.
(translated by JAMES MULHOLLAND)

Speaking
Imagine that you are Santosh Yadav, or Maria Sharapova. You have been invited
to speak at an All India Girls’ Athletic Meet, as chief guest. Prepare a short
speech to motivate the girls to think and dream big and make an effort to fulfil
their dreams, not allowing difficulties or defeat to discourage them. The following
words and phrases may help you.
• self confident/confidence/sure of yourself
• self assured/assurance/belief in yourself
• morale/boost morale/raise morale
• giving somebody a boost/fillip/lift
• demoralising/unsure of yourself/insecure/lack confidence
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 Writing
Working in pairs, go through the table below that gives you information about
the top women tennis players since 1975. Write a short article for your school
magazine comparing and contrasting the players in terms of their duration at
the top. Mention some qualities that you think may be responsible for their brief
or long stay at the top spot.

Top-Ranked Women Players

I. The roll of honour of women who enjoyed life at the summit since everybody’s
favourite player, Chris Evert, took her place in 1975.

Name Ranked on Weeks as No. 1

Maria Sharapova (Russia) 22 August 2005 1
Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) October 2004 82
Amelie Mauresmo (France) 13 September 2004 5
Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 20 October 2003 45
Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 11 August 2003 12
Serena Williams (U.S.) 8 July 2002 57
Venus Williams (U.S.) 25 February 2002 11
Jennifer Capriati (U.S.) 15 October 2001 17
Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) 12 October 1998 82
Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 31 March 1997 209
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 6 February 1995 12
Monica Seles (U.S.) 11 March 1991 178
Steffi Graf (Germany) 17 August 1987 377
Tracy Austin (U.S.) 7 April 1980 22
Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 10 July 1978 331
Chris Evert (U.S.) 3 November 1975 362

II. Which of these words would you use to describe Santosh Yadav? Find reasons
in the text to support your choices, and write a couple of paragraphs describing
Santosh’s character.

contented determined resourceful polite adventurous considerate

weak-willed fearful independent pessimistic patient persevering

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 On Killing a Tree
Tree

You must have observed people cutting down trees. But can
they kill a tree? Is it easy to do so? Let’s read the poem and
find out what the poet says on killing a tree.

It takes much time to kill a tree,

Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.

So hack and chop

But this alone wont do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.

No,
The root is to be pulled out —
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out — snapped out

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 Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.

Then the matter

Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.

GIEVE PATEL

GLOSSARY
jab: sudden rough blow
leprous hide: discoloured bark
hack: cut roughly by striking heavy blows
anchoring earth: Trees are held securely with the help of the roots in the earth.
snapped out: chopped out
scorching and choking: the drying up of the tree after being uprooted

Thinking about the Poem

I. 1. Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a tree? Why not?
2. How has the tree grown to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life
and activity.
3. What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed?
4. The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean
by this?
5. What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth cave”?
6. What does he mean by “the strength of the tree exposed”?
7. What finally kills the tree?

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 Read and Enjoy

Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

JOYCE KILMER

When eating fruit, think of the person who

planted the tree.
VOLTAIRE

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