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The Journey’ is an excellent piece of work written by Yes he Dorjee Thongchi, a prominent Assamese writer and it is translated into English by D.P. Nath. The author was a government officer. He came to his village to get married. His parents had arranged his marriage, according to the customs of their tribal society. After spending six months at home, he was preparing to return to his place of work. But he didn’t want to leave behind his newly-wed wife. He thought of extending his leave too. But his responsibilities made him decide to go.

As theirs is a hilly terrain, without any motorable roads, the author always prefers to carry less luggage. Now, his problem was that he needed someone to carry his luggage as his education had made him avoid physical labour. Since most of the villagers were busy in the fields, he couldn’t find even one who could help him carry the trunk to the bus stop. Finally, the writer’s father told him that he would see him off at Dirang. He didn’t want to allow his old father to carry his trunk and so he protested. But his father decided to carry the chest to the bus stop. On the day of his departure, a large crowd gathered to wish him luck and the author left for Dirang at 10 : 20. His father had already left and he had to walk fast to catch up his father. He was very tired when he caught up with his father. He sat on a rock to rest for a while. His father drank all the wine given by him and resumed carrying the luggage on his back. The author followed his father. Neither of them spoke a word as if they were strangers. The author thought that it was improper for him to let his father carry the luggage. Although he wanted to tell his father that he would like to carry the trunk himself, he couldn’t do so because of his guilt, shame and pride. He felt that the whole world would laugh at him if he did so.

The author knew that his father had provided for his education. He thought that it was through him that his parents had earned admiration and respect from the villagers. He knew that he was physically useless in spite of his youth and strength. He concluded that it would be better to let his father carry the luggage and followed him silently After resting at two places for tiffin, they reached Dirang finally. They entered a tea shop and started sipping tea. His father asked him if he had a pair of old shoes. Then the author looked at his father’s bare feet and noticed that they were full of cracks. He noticed this for the first time. He offered his father money but he refused to take. Instead, he wanted the author’s old pair. So, the author gave him the hunting boots he was wearing. His father filled with satisfaction when he saw the author taking out his pair of leather shoes from the trunk. His father wanted to say something to him but the bus started moving. Finally the author realized that both their ways were different – his way was a luxurious one while his father’s was a difficult one.

1. True

2. False 

3. False 

4. False

(b) Repentance

Corrections: 

1. The author didn’t carry the trunk at all throughout the story. His father carried it all the way. 

2. The author decided that it would be better to let his father carry the trunk. 

3. The author initially thought of taking unpaid leave but later he decided against it. 

4. The father was happy with the old shoes his son gave him. His face lit up with contentment when he noticed the author taking out his pair of shoes from the trunk.

                                     The Adverse Effects of Education

It is a well-known fact that education plays a vital role in bringing up both economically and socially. It is thought that education helps people in so many ways. Highly educated people are enjoying the status in the present day society. People with high education attain a good job, more money and many other benefits. A literate person can show the right path to others. We usually think of the benefits of education only but we should not ignore the adverse effects of education.

When the pupils spend all their time in reading and writing, there is no scope for them to do any other work. They don’t find time even to play games. Their education makes them physically weak. They are unable to do any work that involves physical labour. “A sound mind in a sound body” is a proverb. Both the sound mind and the sound body are needed if one desires to be successful. When we are helathy, we can perform our functions regularly and properly. Today, most of the pupils stay in hostels right from their childhood. Hence, they never get the chance to do physical labour. One’s physical labour will make oneself both physically and mentally strong. But today’s education system doesn’t allow the pupils to do physical labour. And the other thing is that the educated people think that others will laugh at them if they do any kind of physical labour. They think that theirs is an important position in the society. Doing their own things is the point of prestige for them. Their false prestige makes them think in a wrong way.

The second point is their dress sense. The persons with high education try to wear fashionable dresses which are different from other ones. As far as the educated Indians are concerned, they give more value to the western culture. They try to adapt the foreigners’ culture. They never think of our culture and traditions. They think that only illiterate people wear such kind of dresses which reflect our culture. In their view, they will be degraded if they don’t wear modern dresses. This thought only leads to other social problems. The young women’s dress sense will cause them a threat. They think that they are superior to the uneducated ones and behave arrogantly.

Another important point is how education affects the family relations. When a person completes his education, he starts thinking that he is greater than the other uneducated members of his family. He wants to show his dominance. If he gets employment, he doesn’t find time to spend with them. He always thinks about earning money. He gives importance to money only. He doesn’t show any love and affection even for his parents. Thus, one’s education leads to the absence of human relationships.

Most of the literates don’t give any respect to elders. As Indians, we generally have faith in our values, traditions and culture. What we have learnt from our ancestors is that we should give utmost respect to our elders. At present, we witness a different scenario. Some educated persons think that there is no use of elders. They forget the sacrifices made by them. They ill-treat their family members who are illiterates. This will lead to the destruction of family relationships.

No doubt, there are so many advantages with the education one gets. But one’s education makes one senseless. The educated persons must not move away from physical labour. They must do some work that involves physical labour. They should take care about their dress. They should not deviate from our traditional way of dressing. They should maintain good family relationships. They should respect elders. They should treat the illiterate people with courtesy. Then only their education is meaningful.

‘The Journey’ is a beautiful narrative by Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi. Most of the events were narrated in the order in which they had happened. Here and there we find that the narration changed its directions. 

The sentences where the course of narration changed its directions: 

a) “I did not have much to carry byway of luggage – just a trunk. Ours is a hilly terrain Here the author tried to give the reason. Then he explained the purpose of his coming to his place. Thus, the course of narration was changed. 

b) “Nobody had time to spare for me. In fact, carrying the trunk should not have been such a worry” The course of narration was changed after the first sentence when the author tried to tell us about his inner feelings. 

c) “We were walking up a narrow hilly road and neither of us uttered a word as if we were strangers who spoke different languages. I did not know what was going on in his mind.” When we observe the two sentences given above, the first one changed its direction when the author tried to present his thoughts. 

d) “Father wanted to say something but the bus started moving.” Later the narrative was changed its course when the author tried to think about his way in comparison with his father’s. A reader could understand very well about the author’s inner thoughts by this way of narration. He too would try to think in his own way imagining that if he were in the author’s place. Thus it was effective in provoking the thoughts.

When the bus started moving, the author saw his father gradually receding into the distance. The author felt that their journeys started in two opposite directions, with him seated in the luxurious seat of a bus and father walking back with tired legs on the pebble-strewn road. The phrase ‘opposite directions’ suggests that both their directions were different. Actually, the son and the father had to travel in opposite directions to reach their destinations. In the other sense, the writer’s way was a luxurious one as he was an educated one and a government officer. He didn’t need to lead such a hard and laborious life like his father used to lead. When compared with his life, his father’s life was much harder one.

Yes, 1 agree to the above statement. After spending a leisurely holiday at home, the very thought of returning to work on the next day is tiring to anyone. I have felt so many a time. I felt so after Dussehra holidays, Pongal holidays and summer vacation previously. It would be a difficult day for me going to school on the very first day after the holidays are over.

The author feared that the whole world would laugh at him if he carried the trunk. I think his fear was imaginary. No one laughs at us when we do our work. In fact, carrying the trunk should not have been such a worry for him. For a young man like the author it should not have been an issue to carry his luggage on his back. Actually the others will praise his modesty, if he carries his luggage himself.

The author was reluctant to carry his own luggage as he had the feeling that if he carried the luggage, the whole world would laugh at him. He thought that his education had made him shun physical labour. In fact, the author looked for someone’s help. He felt that his guilt, shame, self-consciousness and pride might have stopped him from carrying the luggage. If I were in the author’s place, I would not do like he did. I would myself carry the luggage without looking for others’ help.

“Somehow, I had the feeling that if 1 carried the luggage, my father and my people, in fact the whole world would laugh at me and I would be belittled,” – this sentence expresses the author’s false prestige. He thought that his education had made him avoid physical labour. As a government officer, he didn’t accept the idea of people seeing him carry his own luggage. He was of the opinion that it was through him that his parents had earned a greater degree of admiration and respect from the villagers. He felt that his father would not like to see him carrying a trunk on his back and would be very hurt if he did so. These are all the facts which show the author’s false prestige.

The author felt that he had got into debt after his marriage. 

The possible reasons are : 

i) The author might have met his marriage expenses. 

ii) He spent leisurely at home for about six months without going to work. 

iii) The increased expenses for the new couple. 

iv) The author might have bought new furniture. 

v) He might have bought a new flat.

vi) He might have bought a number of sarees for his newly-wed wife. 

vii) He might have spent money carelessly.

viii) He might have given money to his old parents.

1. The excerpt is about an old man’s inner feelings. He feels sorry for himself. Through this excerpt, he tries to tell the readers about his pathetic condition. He feels that he is totally neglected.

2. When the old man tries to smile and reach out to others, no one notices and no one waits. They look to him like he is nothing. The old man feels that they are afraid to be seen saying “Hi” to an old man like him.

3. The old people should be treated equally. They should be respected and treated with honour. They should not be bullied or laughed at. We should share our feelings with them. We should give value to their feelings. We should obey them and try to follow their pieces of advice. If we treat the old people as mentioned above, they don’t feel neglected.

1. built (newly-built) 

2. home (homeless) 

3. flood (flood-hit) 

4. confidence (self-confidence) 

5. kind (kind-hearted) 

6. newly (newly-wedded) 

7. blue (blue-collar) 

8. kilo (20-kilo) 

9. white-collar 

10. self (self-employment) 

11. strewn (pebble-strewn) 

12. gold (gold-plated)

1. tick-tock 

2. ding-dong 

3. pitter-patter 

4. bow-wow 

5. ha ha

The last sentence of the first paragraph says that the author didn’t want to go but the first sentence of the second paragraph says that the author decided to go finally. Both the sentences contradict each other. At first he didn’t want to go as he had got married. He didn’t want to leave behind his newly-wed wife. But, when he remembered his increased responsibilities because of his marriage and his debts, he decided to return to work.