UNIT 1
THE BEST ADVICE I EVER HAD-
Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit
Warm-up activity :
A.) Identify the following great personalities.
Sarojini Naidu 2. Vijayalakshmi Pandit 3. Indira Gandhi 4. Justice Fathima Beevi 5. Pratibha Patil 6. Kiran Bedi
B.) Now using the clues given in column ‘A’ write the names of the personalities in column ‘B’
1) The first woman President of the UN General Assembly – Vijayalakshmi Pandit
2) The first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India – Justice Fathima Beevi
3) The first woman IPS officer of India – Kiran Bedi
4) The first woman President of India – Pratibha Patil
5) The first woman Prime Minister of India – Indira Gandhi
6) The first woman Governor in India – Sarojini Naidu
C1.) Based on your reading of the lesson, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option.
1.) Mrs. Vijayalakshmi resented her galling position. The “galling position” referred to here is
a) the death of her husband
b) her position as a widow without a son
c) she and her daughters not being entitled to any shareof the family property
d) The hatred of her family members.
2.) According to Gandhiji, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi could cleanse the bitterness of her heart by
a) making peace with her relatives
b) going out of the country for some time
c) asking excuse from her relatives
d) fighting for her rights
3.) Mrs. Vijayalakshmi said, ‘‘I thought of the counsel that had calmed me so many times.’’ The counselling referred to here is
a) never hate anyone
b) no one can harm you but yourself
c) treating others in the same way
d) not to be revengeful
C2.) Discuss the answers for the following questions with your partner and then write them in your notebook.
1.) Why was Mrs. Vijaylakshmi Pandit in anguish?
Answer: Mrs. Vijaylakshmi Pandit had lost her husband and she had no son to inherit share of her in-laws’ family.
2.) In paragraph 3, Mrs. Pandit speaks about “antiquated law.” What is referred to as antiquated law?
Answer: “Antiquated law” refers that only male heirs had the right to inherit the family property. Female heirs didn’t have any right to inherit the property.
3.) Why was Mrs. Pandit going to America, according to Gandhiji?
Answer: According to Gandhiji, Mrs. Pandit was going to America because she was unhappy and wanted to escape from her plight.
4.) What did Gandhiji want Mrs. Pandit to do before going abroad? What was Mrs. Pandit’s response to that?
Answer: Gandhiji wanted Mrs. Pandit to meet her family and bid good-bye to them before going abroad because courtesy and decency demanded this.
5.) How did Gandhiji make Mrs. Pandit meet her relatives?
Answer: Gandhiji advised Mrs. Pandit to let go of her bitterness that she had in her heart. He told her to be humble and cleanse her heart before going abroad.
6.) “Must you inflict further injury on yourself”
a) What is the injury referred to here?
Answer: The injury is the pain by the bitterness in the heart of Mrs. Pandit.
b) Why did Gandhiji ask Mrs. Pandit not to hurt herself?
Answer: Gandhiji asked Mrs. Pandit not to hurt herself because she was already in the pain of the death of her husband. By keeping bitterness in her heart would make add further injury.
7.) Why did Mrs. Pandit not meet her relatives in the beginning before she left for America?
Answer: In the beginning Mrs.Pandit didn’t want to meet her relatives because she had bitter feelings toward them as she and her daughters were not considered as heirs in their family
property and the relatives didn’t support her.
8.) “I lifted the debate back to where it belonged.” What was the debate about?
Answer: The debate was about India’s complaint regarding the treatment of people of Indian origin in South Africa.
9.) Mrs. Pandit recollected the advice of Gandhiji often. What was the advice?
Answer: No one can harm you but yourself- this was the advice that Mrs. Pandit often recollected.
10.) After visiting her relatives, Mrs. Pandit commented, ‘‘I felt as if a great burden had been lifted and I was free to be myself.”’ Have you experienced such a situation or a feeling in your life? Discuss.
Answer: Yes, I had been in such situation when I demanded useless thing from my father. He tried to explain me but I became angry. After a few days when I realized that it was mistake I felt guilty of hurting my father and apologized to him. Only after apologizing him I felt as if a great burden had been lifted.
11.) What do you infer about the relationship between Mrs. Pandit and Gandhiji from reading this lesson?
Answer: From reading the lesson we come to understand that Mrs. Pandit had huge respect towards Gandhiji and she took his advice seriously. She followed his advice.
12.) Describe the state of mind of the cook referred to in the lesson.
Answer: The cook was completely drunk and had no control on what he was doing. He was waving a ladle and singing, beating time with his foot. His eyes were glazed and he was far away in some other sphere. The table was littered with pieces of chicken.
C3.) Following are some extracts from the lesson. Read them carefully and answer the questions that are given below each of them.
1.) ‘‘Yet in law we women were still recognized only through our relationship to men.’’
a) Why does the speaker say so?
Answer: The speaker says so because she and her daughter were had no right to inherit the family property. Only male heirs could inherit the property and this is why she said the above words.
b) What is the mood of the speaker while speaking the above words?
Answer: The tone of the speaker is bitter and agony.
‘‘No one can harm you except yourself.’’
a) Identify the speaker.
Answer: The speaker is Mahatma Gandhiji.
b) Whom is the speaker addressing?
Answer: The speaker is addressing to Mrs. Pandit.
c) What does the speaker mean by the above words?
Answer: By the above words the speaker wants to say that only you have the power to make or break yourself.
3.) “I struck back with the same sharp weapon.”
a) Who is the “I” here, and at whom did the speaker strike back?
Answer: “I” here refers to Mrs. Pandit and the she striked back at the opponents who made personal attacks harmful to India’s prestige and to her.
b) What was the weapon used by the speaker?
Answer: The weapon used by the speaker was her harsh words.
c) What was the need to strike back?
Answer: The speaker resented the manner in which harsh things were said to her and her country so she had to strike back.
C4.) Discuss the answers for the following questions in a group of 3 or 4 and then present your answers before the other groups :
1.) Mrs. Pandit had to face a lot of humiliating situations in her life. Give a brief account of the situations and comment on them.
Answer: Mrs. Pandit faced a lot of humiliation when she lost her husband. It was a law that only male heirs could inherit the property of the family. Mrs. Pandit didn’t have any son; she had two daughters which meant that she and her daughters would not inherit the property of the family. It made her feel sad about her situation. It created bitterness in her heart towards her relatives. Another situation when she faced a lot of humiliation was when she was in New York. She was the leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations. Harsh things were said to her and her country which made her feel sad very deeply. The given both situations show how cruel the people had been with Mrs. Pandit yet she managed to stand strong and come back fearlessly.
2.) Comment on the title of the lesson with respect to Mrs. Pandit’s experiences in different situations in her life.
Answer: The title of the lesson- ‘The Best Advice I Ever Had’ aptly shows how Mrs. Pandit was greatly influenced by Gandhiji’s words and followed his advice at crucial stages of her life. Gandhiji’s advice that no one can hurt harm you except yourself paved her right way and she had a cordial relation with her relatives.
3.) From a reading of the lesson, write a note on Mrs. Pandit’s accomplishments and her contributions to India.
Answer: Mrs. Pandit was the High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom. She was also the first woman President of the UN General Assembly. She was a leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations.
4.) “Means are as important as the end,” said Gandhiji. Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer.
Answer: Here Gandhiji wanted to tell that the process of anything to achieve is as important as the result. It is very important that the process is also paid attention as much as we think about the outcome. It was because of his words that helped Mrs. Pandit achieve bigger goals and become successful in life.
5.) Assume yourself to be a social activist. Write an article suggesting ways and means of removing gender discrimination that still exists in our society. You can discuss in groups and write down the article.
Answer: Women are the real architects of the society. They play a key role in building the society. Still in India we can see the problem of gender discrimination and gender inequality. Women now are as equal as men in almost every field of life. But still there are some people who think that women should only be at home and look after their family. They fail to recognize the strength a woman has.
It is very important to spread awareness regarding equal rights for women as many women don’t even know their basic rights. It is important to make people realize that women have wishes and passion to follow and one should give them freedom. We must respect woman and her decision and give her wings to fly and follow her dream.
LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES:
Vocabulary
V1.) Dictionary work
Complete the words beginning with “re…” which mean the phrases given against each of them.
1.) make a decision : resolve
2.) state that one is unwilling to do something : refuse
3.) take revenge or hit back : retaliate
4) feel bitter about : resent
5.) connected with, concerning : regarding
6.) a feeling of reassurance and relaxation after stress is over : relief
7.) latest, fresh : recent
8.) keep, preserve : retain
V2.) Classify the following qualities into desirable and undesirable. Discuss with your teacher as to why you classify them so.
Desirable quality Undesirable quality
Sincere
Advantageous
Decent
Courteous
Happy
Humble
Significant
Prestigious
Diplomatic Galling
Quarrelsome
Difficult
Bitter
Harmful
Hysterical
A.) Work in pairs and change the following verbs into nouns. Then check your answers in a dictionary.
1.) Perform – Performance
2.) Continue – Continuation
3.) React – Reaction
4.) Realize – Realization
5.) Treat – Treatment
6.) Observe – Observation
7.) Express – Expression
8.) Involve – Involvement
9.) Agitate – Agitation
10.) Interact – Interaction
11.) Confront – Confrontation
12.) Explain – Explanation
13.) Enter – Entry
14.) Allow – Allowance
15.) Achieve – Achievement
16.) Enroll – Enrollment
17.) Admit – Admission
18.) Free – Freedom
19.) Judge – Judgment
Pick out such pairs from the lesson and classify them into adjectives and nouns.
Pairs Adjective Noun
1. best advice best advice
2. sunny afternoon Sunny Afternoon
3. deep sorrow Deep Sorrow
4. humiliating realization Humiliating realization
5. galling position. Galling Position
6. antiquated law. Antiquated Law
7. small gesture Small Gesture
8. Indian delegation Indian Delegation
9. personal attacks Personal Attacks
10. questionable tactics Questionable Tactics
11. little kitchen Little kitchen
12. opposing delegation. Opposing delegation
Combine the following pairs of sentences by changing the adjective(s) in italics to noun (s).
1.) Rajesh is a very amiable person. It has endeared him to his colleagues.
Answer: Rajesh’s colleagues are endeared to him because of his amiability.
2.) The actor was famous. It got him many endorsements.
Answer: The fame of the actor got him many endorsements.
3.) The young businessman was extravagant. It led to his downfall.
Answer: The young businessman went into downfall due to his extravagance.
4.) James was silent during the enquiry. It did not help the police in bringing the culprit to book.
Answer: James silence during the enquiry didn’t not help the police in bringing the culprit to book.
Make new verbs with the following words. Then use them in sentences of your own.
1.) Bath – Bathe – Manujsha took her twins to bathe them.
2.) Courage – Encourage My mother always encourages me.
3.) Force – Enforce – People should be enforced to follow strict laws.
4.) Food – Feed – I want you to feed my cat.
5.) Joy – Enjoy – I enjoy listening to music.
5.) Memory – Memorize – It is hard to memorize big lessons.
6.) Prison – Imprison – He was imprisoned for 10 years.
7.) Slave – Enslave – Mahesh was enslaved by taking alcohol.
8.) Speech – Speak – Can you speak in English?
9.) Sympathy – Sympathize – Pranesh always sympathize with poor people.
10.) Clear – Clarify – You should clarify the matter and sort it out.
11.) Civil – Civilize – A good teacher help civilize the society.
A) Pick out the adverbs used in the lesson and frame sentences using them.
Answer:
1.) Recently – I have got married recently.
2.) Finally – Finally my results are out.
3.) Suddenly – Suddenly I heard barking of dogs.
4.) Lightly – Lightly she tapped her feet.
5.) Hardly – I hardly know her.
6.) Meticulously – My mother plans and keeps everything meticulously.
B) Choose the right word and rewrite the following sentences:
1.) Bill is a careful/carefully driver.
Answer: Bill is a careful driver.
2.) Can you please repeat that slow/slowly?
Answer: Can you please repeat that slow?
3.) The party was very good/well. I enjoyed it very much.
Answer: The party was very good.I enjoyed it very much.
4.) Tom didn’t do very good/well in his examination.
Answer: Tom didn’t do very well in his examination.
5.) Come on, George! Why are you always so slow/slowly?
Answer: Come on, George! Why are you always so slow?
6.) Our team played bad/badly.
Answer: Our team played badly.
7.) John! I need your help quick/quickly.
Answer: John! I need your help quickly.
G4.) In a group of four, share each part of speech and complete the following table by filling the empty columns.
Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
Continuation Continue Continuous Continuously
1. Realization Realize Realized Real
2. Powerfulness Power Powerful Powerfully
3.Beauty
Beautify Beautiful Beautifully
4.Pleasance
Please Pleasant Pleasantly
5. Agreement
Agree Agreeable Agreeably
6. Enjoyment
Enjoy Enjoyable Enjoyably
7. Caring
Care Careful Carefully
8. Danger Endanger Dangerous Dangerously
9.Expressiveness
Express Expressive Expressively
10.Courage
Courageous Courageously
Make sentences using the words given in the box below as nouns and as verbs.
1.) View – I saw the most beautiful view in Mahabaleshwar. (Noun)
I view this matter differently from you. (Verb)
2.) Drop – She analyzed each drop of the sample. (Noun)
Don’t drop the cups. (Verb)
3.) Design – This frame has outstanding design. (Noun)
This room is designed for work. (Verb)
4.) Walk – She always take a walk after dinner. (Noun)
I walk very fast.
5.) Distance – I could see him from the distance. (Noun)
He distanced the other runners in the race. (Verb)
6.) Need – She satisfies every need of her child. (Noun)
Cooking needs a lot of patience. (Verb)
7.) Treat – I have decided to give you a big birthday treat. (Noun)
You have treat people with respect. (Verb)
8.) Delight – My dream home is a pure delight. (Noun)
He delights in his grandchildren. (Verb)
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