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Question
Summarise the story with the help of the points given below.
- Meena’s initial attitude
- Meena’s meeting with Sudha Murthy in Mumbai
- Beggar’s incident
- Change in attitude
Summary Maker
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Use important/relevant points/ incidents/ events short forms of the text. | Select irrelevant/less important points/ incidents/events |
| Make a paragraph containing the message, theme etc | exceed the word limit |
| Use your own language taking help of the sentences in a topic and key words | reproduce/copy the text |
Solution
Meena was an LIC officer in Bangalore and the writer’s friend. She was a pessimistic person who always looked at the negative side of things and never said anything positive about someone or something. She was such a pessimist that even the writer felt depressed when she was around her. Meena was later transferred to Bombay and the writer didn’t see her for a few years. One rainy day, the writer was in Bombay on official business and ran into Meena. Meena cheerfully greeted the writer and insisted she stay the night with her so that they could catch up. When the writer politely refused, Meena invited the writer to have tea with her at the Grand Hotel. The writer was surprised to see Meena’s changed attitude towards life. Meena told the writer that a beggar changed her life. She told her about the incident where she saw the beggar and his granddaughter playing on the road on a rainy day. She saw how happy and satisfied they were. The incident made Meena reflect on her life and the comforts that she was blessed with. That day Meena decided to adopt a more positive attitude towards life keeping the beggar as her role model. It took Meena two years to completely change her attitude, but she did become a positive person. She wanted to give ‘gurudakshina’ to her guru - the beggar, but he was dead by the time she had turned her life around. So, she sponsored the beggar’s granddaughter to a boarding school.
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| Unexpected rainfall/bad weather | ||
| Illness | ||
| Extra classes in school |
Complete the following table.
| Utterance | Who said | To whom |
| “Shwetha is a very beautiful girl, isn’t she ?” | ||
| “When a pony is young, he looks handsome ?” | ||
| “It’s a beautiful day.” | ||
| “No, the sun is too hot.” | ||
| “I’m all excited, it’s nice to meet old friends.” | ||
| “Let’s chat.” | ||
| “We won’t get a taxi in this rain.” | ||
| “Then, what’s the secret of your energy?” | ||
| “A beggar changed my life.” |
The author and Meena were great enemies.
Meena was a very cheerful person initially.
Meena was the second child of her parents.
Meena stayed alone in an appartment in Delhi.
The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was a lot of traffic.
The scene of the beggar and the girl made Meena peep into her own life.
It took Meena almost two years to put the change into effect.
Meena, who is an LIC officer, is ____________.
The writer was standing near Akbarallys, a popular department store because - __________________
The only thought in the writer’s mind till they reached the Grand Hotel was __________________
Meena sponsored the granddaughter of the beggar because __________________
How did the beggar change Meena’s attitude? Discuss with your partner and complete the following web.
Write in your own words:
How did Meena show her gratitude to her guru?
Why would Meena be sad initially? Give reasons. Pick out sentences from the story which prove that Meena was a pessimist.
- She was forever unhappy.
- ________________________
- ________________________
- ________________________
- ________________________
- ________________________
Go through the points below showing Meena’s encounter with the beggar that transformed her completely. The sequence of events are jumbled up below. Arrange the events according to the occurence. Fill in the number as per sequence.
How did the beggar change Meena’s attitude towards life? Write it down in 5 to 6 lines. One is done for you.
- The incident made Meena to look at her own life
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- _______________________________
Write the above summary making Meena the narrator. Begin with ‘I worked in Bangalore in LIC. Sudha was my friend.__________________
Read the following passage and do the activities:
B1. Complete the following table: (2)
| Utterance | Who said | To whom | |
| i. | Meena, did you know Rakesh has come first in his school? | ||
| ii. | Naturally, his father is a school teacher. |
|
Meena is a good friend of mine. She is an LIC officer earning a good salary. But there was always something strange about her. She was forever unhappy. Whenever I met her, I would start to feel depressed. It was as though her gloom and cynicism had a way of spreading to others. She never had anything positive to say on any subject or about any person. For instance, I might say to her, ‘Meena, did you know Rakesh has come first in his school?’ Meena’s immediate response would be to belittle the achievement. ‘Naturally, his father is a school teacher’, she would say. If I said, ‘Meena, Shwetha is a very beautiful girl, isn’t she?’ Meena would be pessimistic. ‘When a pony is young, he looks handsome. It is age that matters. Wait for some time. Shwetha will be uglier than anyone you know.’ ‘Meena, it’s a beautiful day. Let’s go for a walk.’ ‘No, the sun is too hot and I get tired if I walk too much. Besides, who says walking is good for health? There’s no proof.’ That was Meena. She stayed alone in an apartment as her parents lived in Delhi. She was an only child and had the habit of complaining about anything and everything. |
B2. Describe Meena’s character. (2)
B3. Find from the passage the antonyms of: (2)
- bad × ______
- never × ______
- happy × ______
- optimistic × ______
B4. Do as Directed: (2)
- Shwetha is a very beautiful girl. (Make it exclamatory)
- Meena is an LIC officer. (Frame a 'Wh' question to get the underlined part as an answer)
B5. Personal Response: (2)
If you have a friend like Meena, what would be your attitude towards her?
