The Storeyed House Part1

TS 10th Class English Guide Unit 5A The Storeyed House - I

Social Issues

Read the following quotation and answer the questions that follow

Question 1.
What does the above line talk about?

Answer: In the above lines the poet Tagore thinks that a society, which is not divided by communal, regional, religious and linguistic differences, is like a heaven itself. He even wishes his country to be such a heaven. The narrow feelings among the people such as communalism, regionalism, religious fundamentalism and linguistic fascinations divide the society into pieces

They divide one section of people from others as narrow domestic walls. Tagore wishes that there should not be any differences, and discrimination among the people. All the people in our country should live in harmony, peace and fraternity. Then our country becomes a heaven of freedom

Question 2.
What does the expression the narrow domestic walls mean?

Answer: The communal, religious, regional and linguistic differences among the people are called the narrow domestic walls, because they divide the society into pieces. They distinguish one section of people from the other like walls. Communalism, religious fundamentalism, regionalism, and linguistic feelings are the narrow ideas that divide people from one another

Oral Discourse

Speech - Social evils are the hurdles for the development of the country. (Social evils; causes; consequences and your role in making the world heaven of freedom) ?

Answer: Social & cultural practices that have adverse or negative impact on all, or some group of people including girls women, and dalit are known as social evils. Social evils exist in almost all societies, communities, religion, regions are civilization since time immemorial

The only difference is educated & developed societies have released, and given up the practices that are unscientific, inhuman, undemocratic and discriminatory. On the other hand, developing countries with a large percentage of illiterate, ignorant and unexploited masses of people are yet to give up the various aspect of social evils

However the combined effort of law, act, education and awareness, democratic principles, modern and western influence have been helping to gradually eradicate these time immemorial practices. In practice, the various type of society evil do prevail in the day-to-day the severity of the social evils in much more in rural areas than the urban centers

Impact of social evils and problems:

• Felling of nationalism and petrolism declines
• Deprivation of fundamental rights / human rights
• Deprivation of social culture rights & privileges
• Social communal and political conflict / violence, hatered, grudge
• Increase poverty and deprivation
• Sovernity, democracy and unity became weaker
• Narrow division of society / community
• The effort of planned development cannot achive the object of equity, equaity and quality life
• Lack of equal aspect, support and co-ordinate among the people at different levels
• Psychological / pressure / develop inferiority complex
• Pack of mass baed political participation

I. Answer the following Questions

Question 1.
Who was Bayaji? Where did he work?

Answer: Bayaji was a sixty year old man with sound health. He was a Mehar by caste. He worked for thirty five years as a porter in the dockyard in Bombay. He retired as a supervisor

Question 2.
Why did he return home?

Answer: Bayaji retired from his service as a supervisor in the dockyard. He thought that there was no longer any reason to hang around in Bombay. So he decided to come back to his own village. He wanted to live his remaining life in his own village with his own people. He had a big family but he owned a small house. He wanted to construct a big storeyed house for his family. So he returned home

Question 3.
"Greetings to you, sir, how are things with you?" Bayaji greeted Bhujaba. Why did Bhujaba become furious?

Answer: Bhujaba was a known rascal of the village. He belonged to a upper caste. When Bayaji greeted him by merely saying "Greetings sir, he became furious. He was expected to greet higher caste people by saying "My humble salutations sir". Bhujaba thought, after embracing Buddhism, Bayaji himself must have felt an equal to a Brahmin. So he grudged about it and became furious

Question 4.
Which religion did Bayaji embrace?

Answer: Actually Bayaji belonged to Mehar, a dalit community of Maharashtra. Later he embraced Buddhism to escape the sufferings of untouchability

Question 5.
Why was Bayaji tempted to knock down Bhujaba with his box?

Answer: When Bayaji merely said "Greetings", Bhujaba became furious and asked him if he thought he could become a Brahmin merely by saying "Greetings" and if he could forget his position simply because he had turned Buddhist. Bayaji was nonplussed to face those questions from Bhujaba and for a moment, he was tempted to knock Bhujaba down with his box

Question 6.
Why do you think Bhujaba insisted on knowing the exact amount received by Bayaji on his retirement?

Answer: He Bhujaba came to know that Bayaji was retired from his service and came to the village to spend the rest of his life there. Knew that Bayaji would get some amount of money towards retirement benefits. Actually, he was Jealous and greedy about Bayajis money

He wanted to swindle at least four or five hundred rupees from Bayajis fund amount. So, I thought Bhujaba insisted on knowing the exact amount received by Bayaji on his retirement. In fact, Bhujaba respected him when he came to know that Bayaji had collected the fund amount some two and a half thousand rupees

Question 7.
What was Bayajis dream?

Answer: Bayajis dream was to build a storeyed house in his own village. He had a big family but a small house. Their house was so small that all the members of the family could not eat at once. The existing three-portioned house could not accommodate all the people in his large family. So his dream was to build a big storeyed house

The Storeyed House - I Summary in English

Bayaji was a sixty year old man with sound health. He worked as a porter for thirty five years in the dockyard in Bombay. He retired from his service as a supervisor. He received two thousand five hundred rupees as fund amount. He thought that there was no longer any reason to hang around in Bombay. So he wanted to go back to his village to live his remaining life with his family

Bayaji belonged to a Mehar caste, a low caste of Maharashtra. Later he embraced Buddhism. On reaching his village he met Bhujaba, a highercaste rascal. Bayaji greeted him by saying "Greetings Sir!". Bhujaba thought his greetings had not any salutation and was not humble. So he showed his upper-caste grudge against Bayaji

He asked him whether he had grown head strong and forgot his lower social position after embracing Buddhism. For a moment it annoyed and frustrated Bayaji. Bhujaba was jealous of Bayajis financial position. He enviously asked Bayaji how much money he received as fund amount after his retirement. He insisted Bayaji to tell the exact figure of his receipts

On reaching the house all his family members received him delightfully. His mother, his beloved wife, all his eight children received him with warm welcome. His daughters, overcame with enthusiasm, like little children searched all his luggage, to see whether he had brought any gifts for them. On finding pots, pans, nails and photographs in his box they were a little disappointed

They asked him fondly why he had not brought anything for them. Then Bayaji replied smilingly that he wanted to present a gift for them all which could last for ever. He told them that their house was very old and very small. It could not accommodate all his big family. So for their comfort he told them he decided to build a single Storeyed House for them

Glossary

Winding (adj) = having a curving and twisting shape

dispenssary (n) = a place where patients are treated, hospital

obstinate (adj) = stubborn

destination (n) = a place to which somebody is going to

sore (adj) = annoyed; upset and angry

goddammit (phr) = an expression used to show that one is angry or annoyed

initial (adj) = first

momentum (n) = impetus gained by movement

clambered (v) = climbed or moved with difficulty; climbed

jostle (v) = to push roughly against somebody in a croud; push

reluctantly (adv) = unwillingly

truant (n . phr) = a child (a student) who stays away from school

without leave or permission

bang (n) = a sudden loud noise

lurch (n) = to make a sudden, unsteady movement; forward or

sideways(stagger away); a sudden movement

helter - skelter (adv) = in disorderly haste

stumble (v) = to hit your foot against something which you are walking or running

heaved (v) = uttered (a sigh)

grunted (v) = made a short low sound in the threat

hang around (phr . v) = to stay at a place not doing very much

sundry (adj) = various; not important enough to be named

dockyard (n) = place where ships are built and repaired

non plussed (v) = so surprised and confused that you do not

know what to do or say; Dumbfounded

inter (v) = to bury a dead person

incur (v) = to become liable for

hostility (n) = enmity

persist (v) = to continue to do something

artfully (adv) = cleverly

swindle (v) = to cheat somebody in order to get something ;

scampered (v) = ran quickly

scrambled (v) = to move quickly especially with great difficulty;

mock (adj) = not sincere

conceal (v) = hide

cling (v) = to hold on tightly to somebody ; cling-clung-clung

obey (v) = to do what you are told or expected to do

fling (v) = to throw ; fling-flung-flung

temple (n) = each of the flat part at the sides of the head

be doing well (pharase) = to be in good health

godly (adj) = living a moral life based on religious principles

adequqte (adj) = enough in quantity, sufficient

auspicious (adj) = showing signs that something is likely to be

successful in the future; promising

Mahar (n) = a dalit community in Maharastra (Their main occupations are wall mending, sweeping or agricultural labour.)

pleasantries (n) = jocular or humorous remarks

sturdy (adj) = strong and solid