Transfer and Postings

The idea conveyed in this Character of a Happy Man Poem Summary is that those who have lesser cares and ambitions in life are the most contented people. Those who are truthful and modest and do not fall a prey to pride and vices and have faith in God and honesty are truly happy. Read More Class 10th English Summaries.

Character of a Happy Man Poem Summary In English

Character of a Happy Man Introduction:

In this poem, the poet lists those virtues which enable a person to lead a happy life. He says that one who wants to be happy, should live a free and honest life. Such a person is not a slave of passions. He does not run after worldly fame and wealth. He is jealous of none. He follows the rules of righteousness. He prays to God regularly. He passes his time in the company of religious books or faithful friends. He is not ambitious at all. He is content with whatever little he has.

Character of a Happy Man Summary:

A man is lucky if he has not to serve another’s will. He is happily born and taught if he leads a free life of his own. He has no need of an armour for the protection of his body. His honest thoughts serve as his armour. The only art or craft that he knows is that of simple truth. In other words, he is simple at heart and knows no cunning.

A lucky and happy person is one

• who is not a slave to his passions,
• whose soul is always prepared to receive death, and
• who is not tied to the world by care of public fame or the good opinion of others. In other words, he has no worry to earn public fame
• or the good opinion of others.

A truly happy person is one who does not feel jealous of others. He does not feel jealous of those who rise in life by chance or through the use of wicked means. He does not know how deep wounds are caused by false praise. In simple words, he never indulges in false praise of others. He rules over others not by virtue of any political power but by the goodness of his heart.

A man who prays to God every hour of the day gets true happiness. He prays to God not for any material gains but for mercy. He spends his day in harmless pleasures. He entertains himself by reading a religious book or spending time in the company of a friend.

A man who has all these qualities is free from all hopes and fears. He has no hope to rise or fear of fall. He has complete self-control. He may not be the master of lands, but he is complete master of himself. He may not be having any material possession, yet he lives as if he has everything. In other words, he leads a completely contented life.

The Beggar Summary

summary of surdas, an eminent poet of the 15th-16th century, was one of the prominent figures of the Bhakti movement. His compositions, primarily written in Braj Bhasha, eloquently portrayed his deep love and devotion to Lord Krishna. His verses were not just poetry; they were an expression of divine communion that continues to resonate with millions even today. Surdas’ profound impact on Hindi literature and his unwavering faith in spirituality make him an extraordinary figure worth exploring. Read More Class 12 Summaries.

सूरदास के पद Summary In Hindi

सूरदास जीवन परिचय

महाकवि सूरदास का संक्षिप्त जीवन परिचय लिखिए।

मध्यकालीन सगुणोपासक एवं कृष्णभक्त कवि सूरदास जी का जन्म सन् 1478 ई० में दिल्ली के निकट सीही ग्राम में एक सारस्वत,ब्राह्मण परिवार में हुआ। कुछ विद्वान् इन्हें जन्म से ही अन्धा मानते हैं तो कुछ मानते हैं कि यह किसी कारणवश बाद में अन्धे हो गए लेकिन इसका कोई भी साक्ष्य नहीं मिलता। सूरदास जी वल्लभ सम्प्रदाय में दीक्षित हुए और उन्हीं की प्रेरणा से ब्रज में श्रीनाथ जी के मन्दिर में कीर्तन करने लगे। इनके काव्य में श्रृंगार और वात्सल्य का बहुत सहज और स्वाभाविक चित्रण प्राप्त होता है। श्रृंगार के वियोग पक्ष में इन्होंने गोपियों के कृष्ण के विरह में संतप्त हृदय का मार्मिक चित्रण किया है। श्रीकृष्ण लीलाओं में उनकी बाललीलाओं का वर्णन बेजोड़ है। सूरदास जी की भक्ति भावना सख्य भाव की है।

सूरदास जी रचित तीन रचनाएँ सूरसागर, सूरसारावली और साहित्य लहरी हैं। सूरसागर की रचना श्रीमद्भागवत पुराण के आधार पर की गई है। इनका काव्य ब्रजभाषा में रचित, गीतात्मक, माधुर्य गुण से युक्त तथा अलंकारपूर्ण है। इनका देहान्त सन् 1583 ई० में मथुरा के निकट पारसौली गांव में हुआ था।

summary of surdas class 10

सूरदास पदों का सार

सूरदास द्वारा रचित प्रथम दो पद विनय से सम्बन्धित हैं, जिनमें कवि ने श्रीकृष्ण की महिमा का गुणगान करते हुए उनके चरणकमलों की वन्दना करते हुए उन्हें करुणामय बताया है, जिनकी कृपा से लंगड़ा पर्वतों पर चढ़ सकता है, गूंगा बोल सकता है, बहरा सुन सकता है, अन्धा देख सकता है और निर्धन राजा बन सकता है। दूसरे पद में प्रभु से भवसागर से पार उतारने की प्रार्थना की गई है। वात्सल्य भाव के दो पदों में से प्रथम पद में श्रीकृष्ण की बाललीला का वर्णन करते हुए उन्हें माता यशोदा से बलराम द्वारा चिढ़ाने की शिकायत करते हुए चित्रित किया गया है, इस कारण वे खेलने भी नहीं जाना चाहते। दूसरे पद में श्रीकृष्ण माता यशोदा को यह विश्वास दिलाना चाहते हैं कि उन्होंने माखन चुराकर नहीं खाया बल्कि ग्वाल-बालों ने ही ज़बरदस्ती उनके मुख पर माखन लगा दिया है।

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The Rule of the Road is a set of guidelines and laws that govern how individuals should behave and operate vehicles on public roads to ensure safety and efficient traffic flow. This summary aims to outline some fundamental principles of the Rule of the Road. Read More Class 10th English Summaries.

The Rule of the Road Summary In English

The Rule of the Road Introduction:

We have the liberty to do what we like, but our liberty should not interfere with the liberty of others. If every man were free to do what he likes, there would be chaos everywhere. The rule of the road means that to preserve the liberties of all, the liberties of everybody must be curtailed. That is what a policeman on the road does.

Liberty is not a personal affair. It is a compromise or social contract. We are free in matters which don’t touch the liberty of anyone. But in matters which affect the liberty of others, we have to curtail our liberty. We should never do anything that can cause discomfort to those around us.

For example, we should not talk aloud while travelling in a train if someone sitting close to us wants to read or do something in quiet. A reasonable consideration for the rights of others is the foundation of social conduct. This is the only test of our being civilized or uncivilized. Society has to respect the liberty of the individual and the individual has to respect the liberty of society. There can neither be complete social liberty nor complete individual liberty. It is a judicious mixture of both.

Summary On The rule Of  The Road

(Page 110)

That was a jolly story which Mr Arthur Ransome told the other day in one of his messages from Petrograd. A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and with no small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for foot passengers, but she replied : ‘I’m going to walk where I like.

We’ve got liberty now.’ It did not occur to the dear old lady that if liberty entitled the foot passenger to walk down the middle of a road, it also entitled the car driver to drive on the pavement, and that the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everybody would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.

There is a danger of the world getting liberty-drunk in these days like the old lady with the basket, and it is just as well to remind ourselves of what the rule of the road means. It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be curtailed. When the policeman, say at Picadilly Circus, steps into the middle of the road and puts out his hand, he is the symbol not of tyranny, but of liberty.

You may not think so. You may, being in a hurry and seeing your motor car pulled up by this insolence of office, feel that your liberty has been outraged. How dare this fellow interfere with your free use of the public highway ? Then, if you are a reasonable person, you will reflect that if he did not, incidentally, interfere with you he would interfere with no one, and the result would be that Picadilly Circus would be a maelstrom that you would never cross at all. You have submitted to a curtailment of private liberty in order that you may enjoy a social order which makes your liberty a reality.

(Page 111)

Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract. It is an accommodation of interests. In matters which do not touch anybody else’s liberty, of course, I may be as free as I like. If I choose to go down the Strand in a dressing-gown with long hair and bare feet, who shall raise on objection ? You have liberty to laugh at me, but I have liberty to be indifferent to you. And if I have a fancy for dyeing my hair, or waxing my moustache or wearing a tall hat, a frock-coat and sandals, or going to bed late or getting up early, I shall follow my fancy and ask no man’s permission.

In all these and a thousand other details you and I please ourselves and ask no one’s leave. We have a whole kingdom in which we rule alone, can do what we choose, be wise or ridiculous, harsh or easy, conventional or odd. But directly we step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty. I might like to practise on the guitar from midnight till three in the morning.

If I went on to the top of a hill to do it, I could please myself, but if I do it out in the streets, the neighbours will remind me that my liberty to play on a guitar must not interfere with their liberty to sleep in quiet. There are a lot of people in the world, and I have to accommodate my liberty to their liberties. We are all liable to forget this and, unfortunately, we are much more conscious of the imperfections of others in this respect than of our own.

The Rule of the Road Summary Class 10

(Page 112)

I got into a railway carriage at a country station the other morning and settled down for what the school-boys would call an hour’s ‘swot’ at a Blue- book. I was not reading it for pleasure. The truth is that I never do read Blue- books for pleasure. I read them as a lawyer reads a brief, for the very humble purpose of turning an honest penny out of them. Now, if you are reading a book for pleasure it doesn’t matter what is going on around you. I think I could enjoy a really good novel even in the midst of an earthquake.

But when you are reading a thing as a task, you need reasonable quiet, and that is what I didn’t get, for at the next station in came a couple of men, one of whom talked to his friend for the rest of the journey in a loud and pompous voice on any and every subject under the sun.
If I had asked him to be good enough to talk in a lower tone, I daresay he would have thought I was a very rude fellow.

It did not occur to him that anybody could have anything better to do than to listen to him, and I have no doubt he left the carriage convinced that everybody in it had, thanks to him, had a very illuminating journey, and would carry away a pleasing impression of his great knowledge. He was obviously a well-intentioned person. The thing that was wrong with him was that he had not the social sense. He was not ‘a clubbable man’. A reasonable consideration for the rights or feelings of others is the foundation of social conduct.

Let us take the guitar as an illustration again. A man who wants to learn to play on it is entitled to learn it in his own house, even though he is a nuisance to his neighbours, but it is his business to make the nuisance as slight as possible. He must practise in the attic and shut the window. He has no right to sit in his front room, open the window, and blow his noise into his neighbours’ ears with the maximum of violence.

You are interfering with the liberties of your neighbours if you don’t do what you can to limit the noise to your own household. Your neighbours may prefer to have their Sunday afternoon undisturbed, and it is as great an impertinence for you to wilfully 10 trespass on their peace as it would be to go, unasked, into their gardens and trample on their flower beds.

(Page 113)

There are cases, of course, where the clash of liberties seems to defy compromise. My dear old friend X, who lives in West End Square and who is an amazing mixture of good nature and irascibility, flies into a passion when he hears a street piano, and rushes out to order it away. But nearby lives a distinguished lady of romantic picaresque tastes, who dotes on street pianos, and attracts them as wasps are attracted to a jar of jam. Whose liberty in this case should surrender to the other ? For the like of me, I cannot say. It is as reasonable to like street pianos as to dislike them and vice versa. I would give much to hear Sancho Panza’s solution of such a nice riddle.

I suppose the fact is, that we can be neither complete anarchists nor complete socialists in this complex world. We must be a judicious mixture of both. We have both liberties to preserve, our individual liberty and our social liberty. I shall not permit any authority to say that my child must go to this school or that, shall specialize in science or arts, shall play cricket or soccer.

These things are personal. But if I proceed to say that my child shall have no education at all, that he shall be brought up as a primeval savage, or at Mr Fagin’s academy for pickpockets, then society will politely but firmly tell me that it has no use for primeval savages and a very stern objection to pickpockets, and that my child must have a certain minimum of education whether I like it or not. I cannot have the liberty to be nuisance to my neighbours or make my child a burden and a danger to the commonwealth.

It is in the small matters of conduct, in the observance of the rule of the road, that we pass judgement upon ourselves, and declare that we are civilized or uncivilized. The great moments of heroism and sacrifice are rare. It is the little habits of commonplace intercourse that make up the great sum of life and sweeten or make bitter the journey. I hope my friend in the railway carriage will reflect on this.

A Prayer for My Daughter Summary

however these are simply glimpses of the epic tale that awaits you within the most important article. Delve deeper into the tremendous journey of our planet, sponsored by means of insights from famend geologists and clinical experts who have devoted their lives to unraveling the Earth’s history. put together to be captivated by the wonders of our planet’s past and benefit a brand new appreciation for the difficult strategies which have fashioned our world. So, with none further put off, permit’s embark in this enchanting day trip and unencumber the secrets and techniques of The Making of the Earth. Read More Class 10th English Summaries.

The Making of the Earth Summary In English

The Making of the Earth Introduction:

This chapter is an extract from Nehru’s ‘Letters from a Father to His Daughter. He wrote these letters to his daughter in the summer of 1928 when she was at Mussoorie. In this chapter, Nehru defines the solar system to which our earth belongs. He differentiates between a planet and a star. He talks of the breaking away of the earth from the sun and the breaking away of the moon from the earth. He also talks about the gradual cooling of the earth and the moon, and the formation of the great oceans.

Summary of The Making of the Earth

Page 103

You know that the earth goes round the sun and the moon goes round the earth. You know also perhaps that there are several other bodies which like the earth go round the sun. All these, including our earth, are called planets of the sun. The moon is called a satellite of the earth because it hangs on to it. The Other planets have also got their satellites.

The sun and the planets with their satellites form a happy family. This is called the solar system. Solar means belonging to the sun, and the sun being the father of all the planets, the whole group is called the Solar System. At night you see thousands of stars in the sky. Only a few of these are the planets and these are really not called stars at all. Can you distinguish between a planet and a star? The planets are really quite tiny, like our earth, compared to the stars but they look bigger in the sky because they are much nearer to us.

Just as the moon, which is in reality quite a baby, looks so big because it is quite near to us. But the real way to distinguish stars from the planets is to see if they twinkle or not. Stars twinkle, planets do not. That is because the planets only shine because they get the light of our sun. It is only the sunshine on the planets or the moon that we see. The real stars are like our sun. They shine of themselves because they are very hot and burning. In reality our sun itself is a star, only it looks bigger as it is nearer and we see it as a great ball of fire.

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So our earth belongs to the family of the sun the solar system. We think the earth is very big and it is big compared to our tiny selves. It takes weeks and months to go from one part of it to another even in a fast train or steamer. But although it seems so big to us it is just like a speck of dust hanging in the air. The sun is millions of miles away and the other stars are even further away.

Astronomers, those people who study the stars, tell us that long, long ago the earth and all the planets were part of the sun. The sun was then as it is now a mass of flaming matter, terribly hot. Somehow little bits of the sun got loose and they shot out into the air. But they could not wholly get rid of their father, the sun.

It was as if a rope was tied to them and they kept whirling round the sun. This strange force, which I have compared to a rope, is something which attracts little things to great. It is the force which makes things fall by their weight. The earth being the biggest thing near us, attracts everything we have.

In this way, our earth also shot out from the sun. It must have been very hot, with terrible hot gases and air all around it, but as it was very much smaller than the sun, it started to cool. The sun also is getting less hot but it will take millions of years to cool down. The earth took much less time to cool. When it was hot, of course, nothing could live on it – no man or animal or plant or tree. Everything would have been burnt up then.

The Making of the Earth Summary Class 10

Page 105
Just as a bit of the sun shot out and became the earth, so also a bit of the earth shot out and became the moon. Many people think that moon came out of the great hollow which is now the Pacific Ocean, between America and Japan. So the earth started to cool. It took a long time over it. Gradually the surface of the earth became cooler although the interior remained very hot. Even now if you go down a coal mine it becomes hotter and hotter as you go down. Probably if you could go down deep enough inside the earth you would find it red hot. The moon also started to cool and because it was much smaller than even the earth, it cooled more quickly than the earth. It looks delightfully cool, does it not ? It is called the ‘cold moon’. Perhaps it is full of glaciers and ice fields.

When the earth cooled all the water vapour in the air condensed into water and probably came down as rain. It must have rained a tremendous lot then. All this water filled the great hollows in the earth and so the great oceans and seas were formed.As the earth became cooler and the oceans also became cooler, it became possible for living things to exist on the earth’s surface or in the sea .

If the Well Goes Dry Summary

“The Home Coming Summary” explores themes of power, desire, and family dynamics. It delves into the complexities of human relationships, revealing the dark and primal aspects of human nature. Read More Class 10th English Summaries.

The Home-Coming Summary

The Home-Coming Introduction:

This is the story of a fourteen-year-old boy, Phatik. He is very mischievous. He is sent to Kolkata with his maternal uncle. But there, he is not treated well by his aunt as well as his cousins. He becomes seriously ill and dies in the end. The underlying idea of this story is that home is a place where we find love – a place that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. Though it rains gold and silver in another place and daggers and spears at home, yet it is better to be at home.

The Home-Coming Summary & Translation in English

(Page 84)

Phatik Chakravarti was the ring – leader amongst the boys of the village. One day a plan for new mischief entered his head. There was a heavy log lying on the mud-flat of the river, waiting to be shaped into a mast for a boat. His plan was that they should all work together to shift the log by main force from its place and roll it away. The owner of the log would be angry and surprised, while they would all enjoy the fun. Everyone supported the proposal, and it was carried unanimously .

But just as the fun was about to begin, Makhan, Phatik’s younger brother, sauntered up without a word and sat down on the log in front of them all. The boys were puzzled for a moment. One of them pushed him rather timidly, and told him to get up; but he remained quite unconcerned. He appeared like a young philosopher meditating on the futility of things. Phatik was furious. “Makhan,” he cried, “if you don’t get up this minute, I’ll thrash6 you !”

Makhan only moved to a more comfortable position. Now, if Phatik was to keep his regal dignity before the public, it was clear that he must carry out his threat. But his courage failed him at the crisis. His fertile brain, however, rapidly seized upon a new maneuver which would discomfit his brother and afford his followers added amusement. He gave the word and command to roll the log and Makhan over together. Makhan heard the order and made it a point of honour to stick on. But like those who attempt earthly fame in other matters, he overlooked the fact that there was peril in it.

(Page 85)

The boys began to heave at the log with all their might calling out, “One, two, three, go !” At the word ‘go’ the log went; and with it went Makhan’s philosophy, glory and all. The other boys shouted themselves hoarse with delight. But Phatik was a little frightened. He knew what was coming. And he was not mistaken, for Makhan rose from Mother Earth blind as Fate and screaming like the Furies. He rushed at Phatik, scratched his face, beat him and kicked him, and then went crying home. The first act of the drama was over.

Phatik wiped his face, and sitting down on the edge of a sunken barge by the river bank, began to nibble at a piece of grass. A boat came up to the landing and a middle-aged man, with grey hair and dark moustache, stepped on to the shore. He saw the boy sitting there doing nothing and asked him where the Chakravartis lived. Phatik went on nibbling the grass and said : ‘Over there’; but it was quite impossible to tell where he pointed. The stranger asked him again. He swung his legs to and from on the side of the barge and said : ‘Go and find out’ and continued to nibble the grass.

But, at the moment, a servant came down from the house and told Phatik that his mother wanted him. Phatik refused to move. But on this occasion the servant was the master. He roughly took Phatik up and carried him, kicking and struggling in impotent rage. When Phatik entered the house, his mother saw him and called out angrily : ‘So you have been hitting Makhan again ?’

Phatik answered indignantly : ‘No, I haven’t ! Who told you that I had ?’
His mother shouted : ‘Don’t tell lies ! You have.’ Phatik said sullenly ‘I tell you, I haven’t. You ask Makhan !‘ But Makhan thought it best to stick to his previous statement. He said : ‘Yes, mother, Phatik did hit me.’

Page -86

Phatik’s patience was already exhausted. He could not bear this injustice. He rushed at Makhan and rained on him a shower of blows : ‘Take that,’ he cried, ‘and that, and that, for telling lies.’

His mother took Makhan’s side in a moment and pulled Phatik away, returning his blows with equal vigour. When Phatik pushed her aside , she shouted out: ‘What! You little villain ! Would you hit your own mother ?’

It was just at this critical moment that the grey-haired stranger arrived. He asked what had occurred. Phatik looked sheepish and ashamed. But when his mother stepped back and looked at the stranger, her anger was changed to surprise, for she recognized her brother and cried : ‘Why, Dada ! Where have you come from ?’ As she said these words, she bowed to the ground and touched his feet.

Her brother Bishamber had gone away soon after she had married, and had started business in Mumbai. She herself had lost her husband while he was there. Bishamber had now come back to Kolkata, and had at once made enquiries concerning his sister. As soon as he found out where she was, he had hastened to see her.

The next few days were full of rejoicing. The brother asked how the two boys were being brought up. He was told by his sister that Phatik was a perpetual nuisance. He was lazy, disobedient and wild. But Makhan was as good as gold, as quiet as a lamb, and very fond of reading. Bishamber kindly offered to take Phatik off his sister’s hands and educate him with his own children in Kolkata. The widowed mother readily agreed. When his uncle asked Phatik if he would like to go to Kolkata with him, his joy knew no bounds, and he said : ‘Oh, yes, uncle !’ in a way that made it quite clear that he meant it.

It was an immense relief to the mother to get rid of Phatik. She had a prejudice against the boy, and no love was lost between the two brothers. She was in daily fear that he would some day either drown Makhan in the river, or break his head in a fight, or urge him on into some danger. At the same time she was a little distressed to see Phatik’s extreme eagerness to leave his home.

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Phatik, as soon as all was settled, kept asking his uncle every minute when they were to start. He was on pins all day long with excitement and lay awake most of the night. He bequeathed to Makhan, in perpetuity, his fishing-rod, his big kite, and his marbles. Indeed at this time of departure, his generosity towards Makhan was unbounded. When they reached Kolkata, Phatik met his aunt for the first time. She was by no means pleased with this unnecessary addition to her family. She found her own three boys quite enough to manage without taking anyone else. And to bring a village lad of fourteen into their midst was terribly upsetting1. Bishamber should really have thought twice before committing such an indiscretion.

In this world there is no worse nuisance than a boy at the age of fourteen. He is neither ornamental nor useful. It is impossible to shower affection on him as on a smaller ,boy; and he is always getting in the way. If he talks with a childish lisp he is called a baby, and if in a grown-up way he is called impertinent. In fact, “talk of any kind from him is resented. Then he is at the unattractive, growing age. He grows out of his clothes with indecent haste his face grows suddenly angular and unsightly.

It is easy to excuse the shortcomings of early childhood, but it is hard to tolerate even unavoidable lapses in a boy of fourteen. He becomes painfully self-conscious, and when he talks with elderly people he is either unduly forward, or else so unduly shy that he appears ashamed of his own existence. Yet, it is at this age that in his heart of hearts, a young lad most craves recognition and love; and he becomes the devoted slave of any one who shows him consideration. But none dare openly love him, for that would be regarded as undue indulgence and therefore bad for the boy. So, what with scolding and chiding, he becomes very much like a stray dog that has lost its master.

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His own home is the only paradise that a boy of fourteen can know. To live in a strange house with strange people is little short of torture; while it is the height of bliss to receive the kind looks of women and never to suffer their slights. It was an anguish to Phatik to be an unwelcome guest in his aunt’s house, constantly despised and slighted by this elderly woman.

If she ever asked him to do anything for her, he would be so overjoyed that his joy would seem exaggerated; and then she would tell him not to be so stupid, but to get on with his lessons. ’ There was no more backward boy in the whole school than Phatik. He gaped and remained silent when the teacher asked him a question, and like an overladen ass patiently suffered the many thrashings that were meted out to him. When other boys were out at play, he stood wistfully by the window and gazed at the roofs of the distant houses. And if by chance he espied children playing on the open terrace of a roof, his heart would ache with longing.

One day he summoned up all his courage, and asked his uncle, ‘Uncle, when can I go home ?’ His uncle and. ‘Wait till the holidays come.’ But the holidays would not come till October and there was still a long time to wait.

One day Phatik lost his lesson book. Even with the help of books he had found it very difficult to prepare his lesson. But, now, it became impossible. Day after day the teacher caned him unmercifully. He became so abjectly miserable that even his cousins were ashamed to own him. They began to jeer and insult him more than even the other boys did. At last he went to his aunt and told her that he had lost his book.

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With an expression of the greatest contempt she burst out : ‘You great, clumsy, country lout ! How can I afford to buy you new books five times a month, when I have my own family to look after ?’ That night, on his way back from school, Phatik had a bad headache and a shivering fit. He felt that he was going to have an attack of malaria. His one great fear was that he might be a nuisance to his aunt.

The next morning Phatik was nowhere to be seen. Search in the neighbourhood proved futile. The rain had been pouring in torrents all night, and those who went out to look for the boy were drenched to the skin. At last Bishamber asked the police to help him. At nightfall a police van stopped at the door of the house. It was still raining and the streets were flooded. Two constables carried Phatik out in their arms and placed him before Bishamber. He was wet through from head to foot, covered with mud, while, his face and eyes were flushed with fever and his limbs were trembling. Bishamber carried him in his arms and took him inside the house. When his wife saw him, she exclaimed : ‘What a heap of trouble this boy has given us ! Hadn’t you better send him home ?’

Phatik heard her words and sobbed aloud : ‘Uncle, I was just going home; but they dragged me back again.’ The fever rapidly increased, and throughout the night.the boy was delirious. Bishamber brought in a doctor. Phatik opened his eyes, and looking up to the ceiling said vacantly ‘Uncle, have the holidays come yet ?’

Bishamber wiped the tears from his eyes and took Phatik’s thin burning hands in his own and sat by his side through the night. Again the boy began to mutter, till at last his voice rose almost to a shriek. ‘Mother !’ he cried, ‘don’t beat me like that Mother ! I am telling the truth.’

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The next day Phatik, for a short time, became conscious. His eyes wandered round the room as if he expected someone to come. At last, with an air of disappointment, his head sank back on the pillow. With a deep sigh he turned his face to the wall. Bishamber read his thoughts, and bending down his head whispered ‘Phatik, I have sent for your mother.

The day dragged on. The doctor said in a troubled voice that the boy’s condition was very critical. Phatik began to cry out: ‘By the mark three fathoms. By the mark four fathoms. By the mark.’ Many times had he heard the sailors on the river-steamers calling out the mark on the lead line. Now he was himself plumbing an unfathomable sea.

Later in the day Phatik’s mother burst into the room like a whirlwind and rocking herself to and fro from side to side, began to moan and cry. Bishamber tried to calm her, but she flung herself on the bed, and cried ‘Phatik, my darling, my darling.’Phatik stopped his restless movements for a moment. His hands ceased beating up and down. He said ‘Eh ?’ The mother cried again: ‘Phatik, my darling, my darling.’Very slowly Phatik’s eyes wandered, but he could no longer see the people around his bed. At last he murmured ‘Mother, the holidays have come.’

Our Casuarina Tree Summary

The poem begins by personifying death as “Death the Leveller.” This personification portrays death as an impartial force that treats all human beings equally, irrespective of their social standing or accomplishments. Read More Class 10th English Summaries.

Death the Leveller Poem Summary In English

Death the Leveller Introduction:

Death is a great leveller. It knows no difference between a king and a pauper. It treats the mighty and the weak, the rich and the poor equally. Everybody has to bow before Death’s power. Man should not boast of his great deeds. Only good actions are remembered after one’s death.

Death the Leveller Summary Poem:

The glories of our high birth and position are mere shadows. They are not substantial things. There is no shield that can save us from what is destined for us. Death lays its cruel hands on kings even. Their sceptre and crown tumble down and are made equal in dust with the poor scythe and spade. In other words, kings and peasants are made equal in death.

Some men win battles by the power of sword. They may win laurels by killing others. But the strong nerves of even such men must at last bow before death. Men can defeat one another only; they can’t defeat death. All powerful men must bow before their fate and give up their murmuring breath early or late. When death overpowers them, they look like pale captives. Death ends all their pride.

The fame and honour won by you shall fade away’ after your death. So, you should not boast of your mighty achievements. You should know that all victors become victims at the purple altar of Death. Your heads, too, will have to lie under the cold tombs after your death. Only the actions of just men live after their death, and spread their fragrance all around.

After Apple-Picking Summary