Face to Face with Bismillah Khan by Shekhar Gupta

 

About the author

1.     Shekhar Gupta was a famous Indian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Indian Express.

2.     He wrote several famous books including ‘Anticipating India: the Best of National Interest (2014) and Reader’s Digest (2005).

3.     He was awarded Padma Bhusan by Indian Government in 2009.

About Bismillah Khan

1.     Bismillah Khan was one of the pioneers of 20^th century Hindustani music.

2.     He developed single-handed folk and classical music ‘Shehnai’ which he used to play in weddings, temples and processions.

3.     He was born on 21^st March 1916 in Bihar and died on 21^st August 2006 in Varanasi, India.

4.     He was a typical Shehnai musician and composer of songs who became leading classical musical artist of India.

5.     He used to accompany his uncle to play Shehnai in Hindu temples across India.

6.     He was considered as a symbol of religious harmony and communal harmony.

7.     Though he was a Muslim by religion, he used to play Shehnai at various ceremonies of Hindu deities as well as weddings of the Hindu people.

8.     He used to perform playing Shehnai on TV every independence day of India.

9.     Shehnai is a classical musical instrument developed by Ustad Bismillah Khan.

10.  Even in Nepal, Shehnai is one of the instruments included in Panchai Baaaja.

11.  Bismillah Khan was awarded with the greatest and highest India’s civilian honor “the Bharat Ratna” in 2001.

12.  Moreover, he was awarded with Padma Bhusan in 1968, Padma Shri in 1996 and Padma Vibhushan too.

13.  He ran Shehnai concert a number of times in All India Musical Conference.

14.  Shehnai can be taken as a synonym of Bismillah Khan.

15.  He was a secular person who respected all the religions equally.

16.  Bismillah was the third greatest musician after M.S. Subhulakshmi and Ravi Shankar.

17.  He spread the vision of peace and love through music.

18.  He has honorary doctorate from Baranas Hindu University.

 
Main ideas from the text:

1.     Shekhar Gupta interviewed Ustad Bismillah Khan regarding his career, life style and his musical instrument Shehnai.

2.     Bismillah told him that music is the means to reach out to God, Allah.

3.     He is the lover of music and it is everything for his life.

4.     He used music as a means to serve people and God but not as a means to earn the money.

5.     He said that Lata Mangeshkar congratulated him for awarding Bharat Ratna and he also congratulated her for awarding the same medal by Indian government.

6.     For Bismillah Khan, the music is his communion, the great wealth of the world and a means for pleasure as well as the way of forgetting all the troubles and difficulties by music.

7.     Bismillah Khan can be considered as a famous Shehnai player from India.

8.     He is the third greatest musician of India.

9.     Although he is a Muslim, he was a secular man who respected every caste and religions.

10.  He used the Shehnai to bring the close relationship and communal harmony between the two countries India Pakistan.

11.  This dialogue presented in the text with Shekhar Gupta and Bismillah Khan shows what music really is and how it is connected to the life of people, importance of music and life of Bismillah Khan.

12.  Bismillah Khan is giving the message of friendship, peace, love and harmony between the people and countries.

13.  He said that we should dedicate ourselves to something such as a music or poetry from which we will lose all fear from us.

14.  All the religions are equal and there should be no division or discrimination among the people in the name of caste, religion and so on.

15.  One should be remaining faithful towards the country.

Source: Tapan Chhetri from Itahari

 

Everest: The West Ridge Phakding March by Jon Krakauer

Introduction to the writer:

1.     Jon Krakauer is an Americal writer and mountaineer primarily known for his writings about the outdoors, especially mountain climbing.

2.     He is the author of best-selling non-fiction boosk “Into the Wild”, “Into Thin Air”, “Under the Banner of Heaven” and “Where Men With Glory” as well as numerous magazine articles.

3.     He was a member of an ill-fated expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1996, is known as the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster, one of the deadliest disasters in the history of climbing Everest.

Summary of the text:

1.     Krakauer has covered the first days and nights of the trek in this chapter.

2.     They spent their first night at Phakding, a place close enough to the ground to sustain some homes and lodges.

3.     As they keep walking, they encountered Namche Bazaar, which is described as “Sherpa Society” by the writer.

4.     The chapter explains and deconstructs the stereotypes associated with Sherpas.

5.     Krakauer explains that not all Nepalese are Sherpas.

6.     In fact, only 20,000 Sherpas inhabit Nepal.

7.     They are a Buddhist mountain society who migrated from Tibet hundreds of years ago.

8.     Their villages are rugged and tough, and for the most part, they don’t use cars, bikes or any wheeled transportation.

 

 

9.     Yaks are used for transportation, food, milk and other staples.

10.  Sherpas were first used as climbing guides in 1921, and ever since the economy of the villages is directly related to the Everest’s climbing season.

11.  The culture has also been affected by the fact that about one third of the people who have died on Everest were Sherpas.

12.  Sherpas compete for spots on expeditions, and tea houses and lodges compete for the travelers’ business.

13.  The influx of money has improved schools, medical facilities, bridges, energy supplies and other aspects of life.

 

 

14.  As the climbers make their way to base camp, they begin the process of acclimatization because they have just arrived from sea level, it takes longer and there ar some days when the climbers don’t go anywhere at all.

15.  They arrive at Tengboche, the most important Buddhist monastery in the village.

16.  Krakauer meets the head lama of Nepal there.

17.  The lama speaks  to them, blesses them and offers a token intended to please god and ward of  harm.

18.  The lama shows krakauer a photo album of a recent trip to America.

19.  There were pictures in Washington, at the Lincoln Memorial and Space Museum, and in California.

20.  The lama shows his two favorite pictures: one of him with Richard Gere and another of him with Steven Seagal.

21.  Krakauer finds himself spending most of his time with Doug Hansen and Andy Harris. Harris and his significant other, Fiona McPherson, had just begun building a house together, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to climb the mountain.

22.  Harris and his girlfriend had both climbed in the Himalayas and even helped run a medical clinic to treat the altitude related sickness.

23.  Hall’s girlfriend, Jan Arnold, had worked alongside McPherson during Hall’s first climb up Everest.

24.  Arnold and Hall both summated Everest together in 1933 and during the Krakauer’s trek Arnold was seven months pregnant with their first child.

25.  That night during dinner, Hall and Harris have a conversation about the inevitability of a disaster on Everest, especially given the lack of experience of some of the climbers that hire guides.

26.  No one realizes just how prophetic conversation is.

 

 

27.  They spend the next night at Lobuje, a village with a filthy climber’s lodge.

28.  Base camp is only one day away, but a heavy snowfall is keeping many travelers at Lobuje.

29.  The lodge is disgusting – people defecate outside, fleas and live inhabit the bunks and the heat is supplied by burning the yak dung.

30.  While there, Hall learns of a Sherpa, Tenzing who has fallen into a crevasse higher up on the mountain.

31.  Although he has been pulled out, he has a broken femur.

32.  Hall leaves the group at Lobuje and goes to help the rescue of fort.

33.  They later find out that Tenzing fell because he was climbing without a rope.

34.  Krakauer describes a number of events that befell young Sherpas whose guides did not impress upon them the importance of adhering to the safety rules.

35.  The most gruesome of these stories had actually been witnessed by one of Krakauer’s teammate, Frank,

36.  A young Sherpa who neglected to clip his rope fell from a distance of nearly 2000 feet.

Source: Tapan Karki from Sunsari, Itahari 

Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative Sentences in 12 Tenses: Present, Past and Future

Reported Speech: Sentences in Direct and Indirect Speech

Politics, Education, and the Labour Pains of Linguistics in Nepal by Kamal Prasad Malla

 Introduction to the author

1.     Kamal Prasad Malla was born in 1936 AD.

2.     He is a professor emeritus of Newar studies at Tribhuvan University, where he was previously university rector.

3.     His research has touched upon many aspects of Newar history and language, including writing a grammar of the Kathmandu dialect, and serving as editor-in-chief of a comprehensive dictionary of classical Newar.

4.     His works include "Linguistics Studies in Nepal (1975), the Road to Nowhere (1979), Classical Newari Literature: A Sketch(1982), The Newari Language: A Working Outline (1985), The Profane Names of the Sacred Hillocks (1996) "A history of Nepal by JOhn Whelpton (2006) and so on.

5.     He played the role of teh author, editor and others.

Summary of the text:

1.     This text is a speech delivered by Kamal Prasad Malla, the founder president at the 25th Annual COnference of the Linguistic Society of Nepal.

2.     The writer has presented the different difficulties and problems for the eshtablishment of Department of Linguistics under Tribhuvan University.

3.     On Dec, 27, 1971, when the institute of Nepal has set up, the faculty members called the meeting and discussed to prepare about the working paper on the formation of Department of Linguistics along with the Nepali personality as well as British Council Lecturers of English language.

4.     They focused on the three sets of linguistics: A dictionary of Nepali technical vocabulary, Linguistic Survey of Nepal and finally the research fellowships in Descriptive linguistics.

5.     The meeting concluded to give the six scholarships for foreign study to qualified and interested Nepali scholars.

6.     A small committee was made which drafted the Tribhuvan University Act, 1970 and proposed a network of connection with regional colleges as well as affiliated colleges which came in the fourth 5-year plan (1964-74).

7.     There is the dramatic change took place in the field of history of education.

8.     Some of them can be listed in the points below:

·       includes the formation of plans

·       various acts were implemented

·       associating with the various projects

·       focusing on the special linguistic issues, agreement and in the matter of linguistics

·       made the revision in the English curricula at the intermediate and Bachelor level, separating the literary courses from the language course

·       A British language specialist was supported by UK to teach the English proficiency of the students.

·       Find the poor language skills of the students and provides the remedial courses as well as training courses to the teachers.

·       This ups and downs had gone to implement the linguistics department in Tribhuvan University which they go on challenging it.

·       The writer stated the bitter experiences that he has got in the field of linguistics

·       The writer talks about the graduate students whether they will fight in the global trade market or not.

·       There is the continuity of the collective efforts in the development of Nepalese linguistics.

·       The writer focuses to train the teachers and youth so that the disciplines will take its root and flourish well.

·       Preserving the various languages as well as keen interest and commitment to the discipline.

·       The writer was against the slogan of "Free Higher Education"

·       Thus, the writer states about his curiosity and deeper interest to learn about the linguistics and then culture

·       States that labor pains in the birth of linguistics department in the Tribhuvan University.

Chapter 6 : I'm Glad You Liked It by Haruki Murakami

Introduction to the writer:

1. He was the most experimental Japanese Novelist.

2.     Haruki Murakami was very much attracted by the western writers and their culture and literature.

3.     He was very prolific writer of the 20th century who was from the middle class.

4.     His father was a school teacher and a monk.

5.     His female characters were extrovert and feminist natured.

6.     His famous novels are: Hear the Wind (1984), Norwegian Wood and Collection of Short Stories was after the quake.

7.     His latest work is "Kafka on the Shore".

8.     He likes to include female characters in the novel and short fiction.

9.     He wrote fantasies blog, fiction, essay, which are very popular for the Japanese readers.

Summary of the text:

1.     "I'm glad you liked it" is a text which has been extracted from IQ84 (Pronounced as 1984) by Haruki Murakami, who is a famous Japanese Novelists.

2.     There are major three characters in this text: Fuka-Eri, Tengo as well as Komatsu:

a.     Tengo: Tengo is a maths teacher. He taught three days a week at the Cram shool, and got together once a week with his married girlfriend. He in an unpublished novelist, drifting rather aimlessly through his life, with no clear sense of purpose or ambition. He spent doing housework, taking walks, and writing his own novel. His full name is Tengo Kawana. He is the second of the novel's point-of-view characters. His mother died when he was very young, his earliest memory is of his mother in bed with a man who was not Tengo's father.

b.     Komatsu: A 45-year-old editor of publishing company. He lives his daily life on his own schedule, seemingly oblivious to the rhythms of people around him, and often calls Tengo in the middle of night. Although Komatsu enjoys a great professional reputation for his competence, he is not seen to be an amicable person. Life is known a little bit about hi beyond the rumors. Is full name of Komatsu Yuji.

c.      Fuka-Eri: A slight but striking 17-year-old high school student whose manuscript "Air Chrysalis," is entered in a literary contest. She is extremely reticent, with an unusual, abrupt way of speaking; and what seems to be an apathetic view of life. She also suffers from dyslexia and struggles in school. Her pen name is taken from her real name Eriko Fukada.

d.     Professor Ebisuno: A man in his mid 60s who is the Fuka-Eri's guardian. H has an apartment in Shinanomachi. He used to work in Academia alongside Fuka Eri's father before Mr. Fukada went with 30 of his students to start Sakigake.

3.     The particular text begins with the Komatsu, an unscrupulous and cynical editor, who asks Tengo to rewrite a story by 17-year-old Fuka-Eri so that it can be considered for a major literary prize.

4.     Tengo realizes he's entering into a devil's bargain. But he's so taken with the story that he is unable to resist Komatsu's offer. The novel 'Air Chrysalis' becomes an immediate best seller, attracting towards the wide spread media attention over to it. By rewriting the works in Air Chrysalis novel, Tengo has got the opportunity to improve in this writing and language style which he feels very glad about it.

5.     Again, the editor has given the another task to Tengo that he should be preparing the Fuka-Eri for the press conference which Tengo has to be doing it truly by questioning and answering to her about the probable questions and told to Fuka-Eri to be kept completely secret aout his direct involvement in reqriting the novel, Air Chrysalis which Fuka-Eri too agreed on it. And the Novel or this particular text ends up with Tengo and Fuka-Eri returning to their own home.