SCERT Maharashtra solutions for English (Third Language) 10 Standard SSC chapter 2 - Section 2: Textual Passages [Latest edition]

            The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The great expanse of the sea stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down - miles down. He felt certain that his wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night. Even when each of his brothers and his little sister, whose wings were far shorter than his own, ran to the brink, flapped their wings, and flew away, he failed to muster up the courage to take that plunge which appeared to him so desperate. His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. But for the life of him, he could not move.

            That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice.

TODAY, beyond the darkness, I see the smiling faces of our children in the blinking stars. TODAY, in every wave of every ocean, I see my children are playing and dancing. TODAY, in every plant, in every tree, and mountain, I see our children growing freely with dignity.

Friends, I want you to see and feel this TODAY inside you.
My dear sisters and brothers, as I said many interesting things are happening today. May I please request you to put your hand close to your heart - close your eyes and feel the child inside you?

I am sure you can - Now, listen to that child. Listen, please.
Today, I see thousands of Mahatma Gandhis, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King calling on us.
Let us democratise knowledge. Let us universalize justice. Together, let us globalize compassion!
I call upon you in this room, and all across the world. I call for a march from exploitation to education, I call for a march from poverty to shared prosperity, a march from slavery to liberty, and a march from violence to peace.
Let us march from ignorance to awakening. Let us march from darkness to light. Let us march from mortality to divinity.
Let us march!

Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. Successful professionals thrive in the same manner. We all have natural talents. If we use that talent to set our goals in life, we can easily get success in life. We shall not achieve our goals if we do not take action to achieve them.

Setting goals has two valuable assets - a sense of originality and a stepping stone to illuminate the path. Goals put one at the helm of life; pursuing them acknowledges a better future situation. They help to steer a course of life rather than simply drifting along and letting things happen.

Setting goals may appear easy, but, for some, it is quite challenging. Fear of failure may be avoided in the absence of any goals. After all, one has to decide what one wants to achieve in the end. To accomplish goals, experts recommend a five-step approach.

‘Then what’s the secret of your energy?’ I asked like Tendulkar does in the advertisement. She smiled, ‘A beggar changed my life.’

I was absolutely dumbfounded and she could see it.
‘Yes, a beggar,’ she repeated as if to reassure me. ‘He was old and used to stay in front of my house with his five-year-old granddaughter. As you know, I was a chronic pessimist. I used to give my leftovers to this beggar every day. I never spoke to him. Nor did he speak to me. One monsoon day, I looked out of my bedroom window and started cursing the rain. I don’t know why I did that because I wasn’t even getting wet. That day I couldn’t give the beggar and his granddaughter their daily quota of leftovers. They went hungry, I am sure.
‘However, what I saw from my window surprised me. The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was no traffic. They were laughing, clapping, and screaming joyously as if they were in paradise. Hunger and rain did not matter.
They were totally drenched and totally happy. I envied their zest for life.’
‘That scene forced me to look at my own life. I realized I had so many comforts, none of which they had. But they had the most important of all assets, one which I lacked. They knew how to be happy with life as it was. I felt ashamed of myself. I even started to make a list of what I had and what I did not have. I found I had more to be grateful for than most people could imagine. That day, I decided to change my attitude towards life, using the beggar as my role model.’