ENGLISH

1. ENGLISH LESSON - 3SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

2. Pre-reading task Look at the pictures of the great achievers given below. Identify them and mention their fields of achievement. b) If you have to participate in a fancy dress competition, which role will you take and why? Mention the type/colour of the dress you would wear

3. Narendranath’s Boyhood Narendranath was born in 1863. He was the son of Viswanath Datta, a well-known lawyer of Kolkata and Bhuvaneshwari Devi. Viswanath was known for charity and was respected by everyone. Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a pious lady and a good story teller too. Naren learned the Epics and Puranas from his mother. He also inherited her memory among other qualities. Narendranath was an all-rounder. He could sing well. He was good at sports and had a ready wit. He liked to meditate. He would get lost in his thoughts about God and for a time he would not see or feel anything around him. Once Narendra and his friends sat in meditation. A cobra came gliding along the ground. His friends were frightened and ran away, but Narendra stayed where he was. They shouted at him but he did not hear them. After some time the cobra crept away. What a powerful concentration of mind Narendra had! Later his parents and friends asked him why he had not run away. He replied. “I did not know anything about the cobra. I was feeling very happy.”

4. His Education When Narendra was seven, he was sent to the Metropolitan school. He was very intelligent and learnt his lessons quickly. He became a leader among the students. Sometimes he turned the classroom into a place of lively and interesting discussions. He would talk to his friends and tell them stories even while the teacher was present. Once the teacher saw the students talking in the class. He turned to Narendra and his friends and asked them a few questions on the lesson he was teaching. Narendra answered all the questions correctly but the others couldn’t. The teacher wanted to know who had been talking. They pointed at Narendra. The teacher did not believe them and made them stand up as a punishment. Narendra also stood up. The teacher told him that he need not stand up. Narendra said. “I must, for it was I who was talking.”

5. His Education Narendra passed the Entrance Examination in the first division. He joined the General Assembly’s college and passed the First arts Examination and B.A. The professors of the college were surprised to see how intelligent Narendra was. Prof. W.W. Hastie, the principal of the college, once said, “I have travelled far and wide but I have never yet come across a lad so brilliant and talented as Narendranath. He is bound to make his mark in life.” It was from Hastie that he first heard of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

6. His meeting with Sri Ramakrishna As a student of Philosophy, he began to think of God. “Does God really exist? If there is a God, what is He like? What isman’s relation with Him?” He discussed with many, but no one could give him satisfactory answers. A relation of his advised him to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineshwar. Narendra met Sri Ramakrishna and asked him, “Have you seen God?” Sri Ramakrishna said, “Yes, I have. If you wish I can show you.” Narendranath watched Sri Ramakrishna from close quarters and after a long time, he understood that Sri Ramakrishna was an extraordinary soul. Narendranath gradually came to accept Ramakrishna as his master.

7. His meeting with Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ramakrishna suffered from cancer. During his illness, his disciples including Narendra nursed him. Ramakrishna asked them to take to monastic life. Accordingly, they founded a monastery at Baranagar. They put on saffron robes and began to live together depending upon what they got by begging. Sometimes they would also wander about like other monks. Narendranath also would sometimes go travelling. It was while he was thus travelling that he assumed the name of Swami Vivekananda.

8. Swami Vivekananda at Chicago Swamiji was a follower of Sri Ramakrishna and he always tried to carry out the will of his Master. Ramakrishna wanted him to go to America to attend the Parliament of Religions. To fulfil his will, he resolved to go to America. He got an introductory letter from Prof. Wright to Dr. Barrows, the Chairman of the Committee for the selection of the delegates. The letter stated, “Here is a man who is more learned than all our learned professors put together”. On Monday, September 11, 1893, the first session of the Parliament was opened in the ‘Great Hall of Columbus, at Chicago. There was a large audience of 7000 people. Swamiji felt nervous at the sight of such a huge audience. Late in the afternoon, the Chairman asked him to speak. Swamiji stood up and began his speech by saying, “Sisters and Brothers of America”. Immediately there was thunderous applause from the vast audience, and it lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored, Swamiji presented Hinduism as a way of life which taught that all religions are true and that all of them should be accepted.

9. Swami Vivekananda at Chicago Swamiji, in his speech, stressed again and again the idea of validity of all religions and their harmony. Every religion, he pointed out, has produced men and women of the most exalted character endowed with holiness, purity and charity. He, therefore, appealed to every person to preserve his or her individuality and at the same time to learn and assimilate the good points, the spirit of others’ religions. The audience liked his speech because he had stressed the greatness of all religions. The effect of Swamiji’s speech was tremendous. The newspapers proclaimed Swamiji, a prophet and a seer. The New York Herald wrote, “After hearing him, we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation.” During his stay in America, he tried to bring about an exchange of ideas between the East and the West. He then visited England and returned to India.

10. The Ramakrishna Mission Swamiji established the Ramakrishna Mission. The aims and ideals of the Mission propounded by the Swamiji were purely spiritual and humanitarian. The mission aimed at translating into action the message of Sree Ramakrishna all over the globe. The motto of the mission stood with the new approach. AtmanoMoksharthamJagatHitaya Cha (spiritual liberation as well as the well-being of humanity).

11. The passing away It was Friday, the fourth July 1902. He went to the chapel in the morning and spent three hours in meditation. He took his food and in the afternoon and went for a walk. He went to his room in the evening and remained absorbed in meditation for nearly an hour. Then he laid himself down on his bed and breathed his last.

12. Swamiji’s Sayings • Strength is life. Weakness is death. • Arise, awake (wake up yourselves and awaken others) and stop not till the goal is reached. (from the Upanishad) • Worship the poor, the miserable and the weak. Let these people be your God. Think of them and work for them. The Lord will show you the way. • We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet. • Women should have the same status as men in society. • Society cannot progress, depending on men alone. It has to harness the female power too.

13. A. Oral Work • Work in pairs. Put questions to your partner and collect details about his/her life history. When you have finished, reverse the roles. • Example : How many members are there in your family? What are your interests • Think of a well-known personality. Your friends in the class will guess the name of the person by asking ‘yes/no’ questions. • Example : Is he/she an Indian? Is he/she from …….? You will either say yes or no • Who do you think are the saints of modern India? Say a few sentences about them.

14. B. Vocabulary Match the words in List A with their meanings given in List B: A B 1. Disciple i) humour 2. Assimilate ii) to emphasise 3. Stress iii) follower 4. Resolve iv) strict 5. wit v) to understand completely vi) to decide firmly

15. B. Vocabulary • 2. Use prefixes and make the following words negatives. • 1) correct 2) believe 3) real 4) respect 5) understand • 3. Point out the difference in meaning between the following pairs of words, using them in sentences of • your own. • 1) wonder, wander • 2) mission, machine • 3) lost, last • 4) principal, principle • Consult a good dictionary to check your answers. Read the pairs aloud to know the difference in pronunciation.

16. B. Vocabulary 4. Pick out words form the lesson that end with the following letters. (i) _________ tion (ii) _________ ce (iii) _________ ment Now add to the list from your memory. eg. meditation New words: gravitation examination

17. C. Grammar 1. Exclamatory sentences. a) Match the statements / situations in column ‘A’ with the responses in column ‘B’.

18. C. Grammar b) What are the feelings expressed in the above situations? Choose from the box. 1. ------------------------------- 2. ------------------------------- 3. ------------------------------- 4. ------------------------------- We often use exclamatory sentences as in column ‘B’ to show our strong feelings. You can express the same feelings in the assertive form also. Look at the following sentences. a) He was quite intelligent. b) It’s a great pity that we cannot go out. c) He is a nuisance. d) It’s very cool. e) She is really lucky anger disappointment surprise worry happiness

19. C. Grammar What changes do you observe from exclamatory to assertive sentences? Study the two sentences and the table given below. Exclamatory: How beautiful the sky is! Assertive: The sky is very beautiful Note: (i) Assertive sentences may have additional words such as ‘very’, ‘great’, ‘really’ and ‘quite’. (ii) Exclamatory sentences are often used in Spoken English

20. C. Grammar • c) Change the following into exclamatory sentences. • Narendranath had a powerful concentration of mind. • His speech was very interesting. • The food is very delicious. • Shakuntalais such an interesting play. • 2. Conjunctions • a) Read the following sentences • Vishwanathwas known for charity and was respected by everyone. • conjunction • ii) Narendra answered all the questions correctly but the others couldn’t. conjunction

21. C. Grammar In sentence (a), ‘and’ is used to join the two parts of the sentence: Viswanath was known for charity, he was respected by everyone. The second part gives additional information and therefore the conjunction used to combine them is ‘and’. You will also notice that while combining, the common subject ‘he’ is omitted in the second part. In sentence (b), the second part (the others couldn’t) has a different meaning from the first one and hence the conjunction used to show the contrast is ‘but’. Now look at the following table to know more about conjunctions.

22. C. Grammar b) Copy all the sentences from the lesson where the above mentioned conjunctions are used. Mention the purpose why each conjunction is used. c) Revise the following piece of writing by combining some of the sentences. Our school is situated on the Mysore Road. It is big. It is beautiful. There are 600 children. There are only eight teachers. There is a playground in our school. We play games in the playground. We play cricket. We sometimes play volleyball also. We don’t play hockey. The reason is that there is no hockey ground.

23. D) Comprehension and Composition • I. Answer each of the following questions in a word, phrase or sentence. • Who were Narendranath’s parents? • Pick out the words used to describe the qualities of his parents. • What did Narendranath sometimes change the classroom to? • Why were the other students unable to answer the questions? • Why didn’t the teacher punish Narendranath? • When did Narendranath assume the name of Swami Vivekananda? • 7. Why did Narendranath go to America? • 8. Where was the Parliament of Religions held? • 9. How did Swamiji address the Parliament of Religions? • 10. Why did Vivekananda establish the Ramakrishna Mission?

24. D) Comprehension and Composition II. Answer each of the following questions in two or three sentences. What qualities did Narendranath inherit from his mother? What examples in the passage tell you that Narendranath was an all-rounder? How do you know that Narendranath was truthful? What did Prof. Hastie once say about Narendranath? What thoughts came to Narendranath’s mind about God? Why did Narendranath visit Sri Ramakrishna? What did he ask him? What reply did he get from Sri Ramakrishna? Who gave Narendranath an introductory letter for attending as a delegate at the Parliament of Religions? What did he write in the letter? 9. What did the newspapers of America write about Swami Vivekananda? 10. What would have happened if Swamiji had not got the letter from Prof. Wright?

25. D) Comprehension and Composition II. Answer each of the following questions in two or three sentences. What qualities did Narendranath inherit from his mother? What examples in the passage tell you that Narendranath was an all-rounder? How do you know that Narendranath was truthful? What did Prof. Hastie once say about Narendranath? What thoughts came to Narendranath’s mind about God? Why did Narendranath visit Sri Ramakrishna? What did he ask him? What reply did he get from Sri Ramakrishna? Who gave Narendranath an introductory letter for attending as a delegate at the Parliament of Religions? What did he write in the letter? 9. What did the newspapers of America write about Swami Vivekananda? 10. What would have happened if Swamiji had not got the letter from Prof. Wright?

26. D) Comprehension and Composition • III. Four alternatives are suggested to each of the following statements. Pick out the best answer and write it in your • exercise book. • 1. When a cobra came gliding along the ground, his friends shouted at him. But Narendranath did not get up because • he was deaf • he was not afraid of the cobra • he had been meditating on God • he knew that the cobra would not harm him. • 2. The audience liked Swami Vivekananda’s speech because he • addressed them as ‘Brothers and Sisters of America’ • spoke to them in their language • praised the greatness of all religions • did not blame or criticize any religions

27. D) Comprehension and Composition • 3. Narendranath stood up because • a) he was also talking with others in the class • b) the teacher asked him to stand up. • c) he did not answer the question. • d) his friends forced him to stand up. • 4. Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a pious lady. The word ‘pious’ means • a) kind • b) deeply religious • c) hospitable • d) god-fearing • 5. Narendranath first heard the name of Sri Ramakrishna from • a) his father • b) his mother • c) Prof. W.W. Hastie • d) Prof. Wright

28. D) Comprehension and Composition • IV. Answer each of the following questions in two or three sentences. • Give an instance to show that Narendranath had powerful concentration of mind. • Describe the first meeting of Narendranath with Sri Ramakrishna. • Summarize Swami Vivekananda’s speech in the Parliament of Religions at Chicago. • Swamiji said that women should have the same status as men in society. What is your opinion? Justify with reasons.

29. E) Group Work Sit in groups. One reads the following passage aloud. Discuss the content of the passage and find answers to the questions given below. ‘‘He speaks without a scrap of paper in his hand. We see in him the qualities of Jesus himself. A strange attire, a radiant personality, a rare elegance and skill to epitomise Hinduism superbly - with these gifts he has won the hearts of our people. He is mesmeric. His mastery of English is exceptional. A man like him appears only once in an age. We are fortunate that we can see him and hear him.’’ Thus the newspaper in the U.S.A. went into raptures about Swamy Vivekananda's great personality. QUESTIONS: 1. Who did the newspapers in the USA compare Vivekananda to? 2. What gifts did Vivekananda possess, according to the newspaper reports? 3. What was Vivekananda's greatness? 4. ‘He was mesmeric’ What does this statement mean? 5. ‘‘We are fortunate’’. In what respect were they fortunate?

30. Glossary pious: deeply religiousinherit: receive from one’s parents wit: the ability to say things that are clever and amusing glide: move smoothly and quietly lad: a boy or young man disciple: follower, pupil. monastery: a building in which monks live. found: start something. robe: a long loose piece of clothing. carry out: do something. will: desire. delegate: a person who has been appointed or selected to attend a conference. applause: the sound of many people hitting their hands together to show that they have enjoyed something. last for: continue for a particular length of time.

31. Glossary validity: state of being officially acceptable. exalted: of high rank. endowed with: have a good quality by nature. charity: a kind, sympathetic attitude. assimilate: understand completely. proclaim: say publicly that something important is true. prophet: a man whom people believe has been sent by God to lead them. seer: someone who can see into the future and say what will happen. bring about: to make something happen. motto: a short statement which expresses the aims or beliefs of a person, school or institution. status: social position or rank. harness: use.