The Sound of Music (Part 1)

1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?

Evelyn was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

Her deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old and it was confirmed when she was eleven.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30–40 words).

1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?

Percussionist Ron Forbes helped Evelyn to continue with music. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He asked her not to listen to them through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner.

2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

2. Evelyn, with a hectic international schedule, gives solo performances at regular concerts. Apart from these, she gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also accords high priority to classes for young musicians.

III. Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100–150 words).

1. How does Evelyn hear music?

 Evelyn heard music by sensing the notes in different parts of her body. When Ron Forbes tuned two drums to different notes and asked her to sense the sound without using her ears, she realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down. She learnt how to open her mind and body to sounds and vibrations.
It was sheer determination and hard work. When she played the xylophone, she could sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she could feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removed her shoes so that the vibrations could pass through her bare feet and up her legs. She herself said that music poured in through every part of her body. It tingled in the skin, her cheekbones and even in her hair.

Part II - The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan

Answer these questions in 30 – 40 words.

1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?

Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence for it had a shrill and unpleasant sound. It became the generic name for reeded noisemakers.

2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?

Shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow stem that is longer and broader than the pungi. It has seven holes on its body. When it is played, the closing and opening of some of the holes produces soft and melodious sounds.

3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?

Traditionally, the shehnai was part of the traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. It was used only in temples and weddings. However, Ustad Bismillah Khan brought in the change by bringing it onto the classical stage.

4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?

Bismillah Khan had accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference at the age of fourteen. At the end of his recital, Ustad Faiyaz Khan patted his back and told him to work hard and he shall make it big in life. He got his big break with the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He soon became an often-heard shehnai player on radio.

5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?

On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai from the Red Fort. It was a historic day as India gained independence on that day. He became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai. His audience included illustrious names such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?

Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not. He himself said that whenever he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning to see Hindustan.

7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.

Bismillah Khan immensely loved India, particularly Benaras and Dumraon. In his initial years, the temple of Balaji, Mangala Maiya, and the banks of River Ganga in Benaras became his favourite haunts where he could practice in peace and solitude. River Ganga’s flowing waters inspired him to improvise and invent ragas that were once thought to be beyond the range of shehnai.

Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not.

 BEEHIVE LESSON-1 THE FUN THEY HAD

  Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen-year-old.

2. Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”.
3. No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. Margie found it strange that the words printed on a book stood still instead of moving the way they did on a screen. She also found it odd that the words on a page always remained the same as the first time they were read. Besides, the idea that someone would write a book about schools was itself strange for Margie.
5. A book that can be displayed on a screen is called telebook.
6. Margie’s school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.
7. Margie and Tommy learned geography, history and arithmetic.

II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
1. “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(i) Who says these words?
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?

Ans: (i) Tommy said these words.
(ii) ‘It’ refers to the television screen, on which you could read over a million books
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen to the real books in earlier times in which words were printed on paper. He thought that after reading such books, one would have to throw them away. However, he would never have to throw away his telebooks.

2. “Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
(i) Who does ‘they’ refer to?
(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
(iii) What is it contrasted with?

Ans: (i) They refer to the students who studied in the old kind of schools centuries before the time the story is set in.
(ii) Here, ‘regular’ refers to the mechanical teachers that Tommy and Margie had.
(iii) The mechanical teacher is contrasted with the teacher of the earlier times, who was a human being.

III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were large and black and ugly and had large black screens on which all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. These mechanical teachers had a slot in which the students had to put their homework and test papers. They had to write their answers in a punch code and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately.

2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?

Ans: Margie had been given many tests in geography by the mechanical teacher, but there was no improvement in her performance. It only kept getting worse. It is for this reason that Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector to find out why this was happening.

3. What did he do?

Ans: The County Inspector gave Margie an apple and started working on the mechanical teacher. He took it apart and then checked it. Margie had hoped that the Inspector would not know how to put the mechanical teacher together again, but he managed to reassemble it. He slowed down the geography sector of the teacher because it was geared a little too quick for an average ten-year-old.

4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?

Ans: Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been geared a little too quick. The County Inspector rightly told her that she could not be blamed for her poor performance. The County Inspector slowed down the geography sector of the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year level. He also told Mrs. Jones that Margie’s overall progress pattern was satisfactory.

5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?

Ans: Once, The history sector of Tommy’s teacher had once blanked out completely.

6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?

Ans: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. This was because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls learn better. Her mechanical teacher was also on at the same time everyday except Saturday and Sunday.

7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?^

Ans: Tommy described old kind of school as a special building where all kids studied together. There were hundreds of students studying and playing together. They used to shout and laugh together in an open yard.

8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?

Ans: Tommy said that the old kind of teacherswas men, who taught the students inside a special building. The teachers taught the children in groups and gave them homework and asked them questions.

IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words).

1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They had large black screens on which all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. They had a slot in which students had to put their homework and test papers. They had to write their answers in a punch code and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately. Their schools were in their homes itself. They did not have any classmates. They learned geography, history and arithmetic. They had regular days and hours for school. Margie’s school was right next to her bedroom. The mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays because her mother said that little girls learned better when they learned at regular hours.

2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Ans: Margie hated school because it was not fun. A mechanical teacher used to teach her everyday at a fixed time. Recently, she had been doing badly in the geography tests that her mechanical teacher had been giving her. Her mother was not happy with the performance and sends for the County Inspector, she hopes that the inspector would take the mechanical teacher away. She is disappointed when the County Inspector manages to assemble all the parts of the mechanical teacher. The part that she hated the most was inserting the homework and test papers in the slot on the mechanical teacher.

She did not like the fact that she had to write her answers in a punch code. She thought that the old kind of school must have been fun as she imagined all the kids from the entire neighbourhood coming together, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard. She imagined that they would sit together in the classroom and go home together at the end of the day. They would learn the same things and could help one another with the homework and talk about it. Also, the teachers were people. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school must have been fun.

3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans: Yes, I agree schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the story, there is no interaction among students regarding studies. Studying and answering questions seems to be a boring idea. Doing homework without anybody’s help and writing them in a punch code would also be draining. Moreover, children develop a better understanding about each other and of their surroundings when they go to a school and interact with each other. It is a healthier way of learning.
Listening to teachers explaining lessons is always more interesting than reading the entire lesson on a mechanical computer. Also, if any student faces any problem with the subject or in homework, he can discuss it with the teacher and other kids. It is impossible to discuss problems and situations with a mechanical teacher that is only programmed to teach in a particular manner.

The excitement of waiting to know the marks scored in exams is greater when one is sitting in a classroom with other students. It does not have the same effect when the marks are calculated immediately after a test has been taken.
Finally, the friends that you make at school are most probably the best friends that you will ever make in your entire life. The various qualities that you learn in school like obedience, respect, kindness for others, sharing, taking part in school games, sports, and other activities are all a part of school education today. Therefore, schools today are more fun than the school in the story as they are more interactive. They promote a healthy environment for the students to study and learn.