The Little Girl

Kezia, the little girl was afraid of her father due to his
1. authoritative and dominating nature.
2. Moreover, his loud voice coupled with his massive physical appearance was what terrified Kezia.

There were five members in the family including Father, Mother, Grandmother, Alice the cook and Kezia herself.

(i) Before going to his office, Kezia’s father usually visited her room to give her a casual kiss before leaving the house.

(ii) After coming back from his office, Kezia’s father ordered for a tea to be brought into the drawing room. He further used to raise questions enquiring about the paper and asked to bring his slippers. Kezia was also called upon to remove her father’s boots.

(iii) On Sunday afternoons, Kezia usually saw her father stretched out on the sofa with a handkerchief on his face, his feet on one of the best cushions, sleeping soundly and snoring.

Kezia’s grandmother used to send her down to the drawing room on Sunday afternoons to have a nice and warm talk with her father and mother. In addition to this, she also gave Kezia, a brilliant idea of surprising her father with a pin-cushion made out of yellow silk on his birthday in order to make him happy and feel special.

Kezia, the little girl was very scared of her father who was a dominant personality with authoritative traits. One day, when she was kept indoors due to cold, her grandmother acquainted her about her father’s birthday next week and suggested her about making a pin-cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk.

The little girl worked assiduously stitching the three sides with double cotton but did not know what was to be filled inside the cushion. During that particular situation, her grandmother was out in the garden because of which she herself went to her mother’s room to look for scraps. As soon as she came across a number of sheets of paper on the bed table, she gathered them and tore them into tiny pieces and stuffed them up in the cushion, following which she sewed up the fourth side.

Although, Kezia’s purpose of tearing the pages was only for her father’s birthday present the situation turned bitter and unpleasant because the papers she tore had father’s great speech for the Port Authority. After knowing the truth, Kezia’s father lost his temper in no time and scolded her for touching things that did not belong to her and punished her by hitting her palm with a ruler and her efforts went on to displease her father very badly.

Kezia decided that there were “different kinds of fathers” after watching Mr. Macdonald play with his five children who lived next door.

Kezia considered Mr. Macdonald to be a very soft-hearted and loving father in comparison to her father. He was very gentle in his approach and had a healthy relationship with his children.

As opposed to Mr. Macdonald’s personality traits, Kezia’s father was a very strict disciplinarian with a short-tempered attitude. He had a dominating nature and because of his volatile temperament, Kezia was very scared of him and his presence every time.

When Kezia’s mother fell ill, she was left alone in the house with Alice, the cook as grandmother went to the hospital. The daytime went on but as Alice was putting her to bed at night, she suddenly grew afraid as the thoughts of the nightmares she experienced kept on disturbing her.

Unfortunately, Kezia’s worst fears came true and she experienced the same old nightmare of the butcher and a knife. As she woke up screaming “grandma grandma”, she saw her father beside her bed. Her father immediately took her in his arms and carried her to the big bedroom and lay beside her. With the thought of the butcher still on her mind, she crept close to her father, snuggled her head under his arm and held tightly to his shirt. The father asked Kezia to rub her feet against his legs to keep them warm and fell asleep with her.

Kezia understood the magnitude of the hard work her father did every day which left him too tired to become like “Mr Macdonald”. As she trembled and sighed, she expressed her transformed feelings by telling her father about the beauty of the ‘big heart’ he had.

(i) She was overjoyed by the news of her brother’s wedding.

(ii) I was delighted to be invited to the party.

(iii) She was glad at the birth of her granddaughter.

(iv) The coach was pleased with his performance.

(v) She was very happy with her results.

(ii) Today you are going to take the biggest decision of your career. Consequential

(iii) Their project is full of big ideas. Extraordinary

(iv) Cricket is a big game in our country. Popular

(v) I am a big fan of Lata Mangeskar. Great admirer

(vi) You have to cook a bit more as my friend is a big eater. Gourmet

(vii) What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear. Compassionate

(i) He says he will enjoy the ride.

(ii) Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday.

(iii) No one told us that the shop was closed.

(iv) He answered that the price would go on.

(v) I wondered why he was screaming.

(vi) Ben told her to wake him up.

(vii) Ratan apologised for coming late to the party.

(i) I am not afraid,” replied the woman.

(ii) “Leave me alone,” my mother shouted.

(iii) The children were complaining that the roads were crowded and noisy.

(iv) “Perhaps he isn’t a bad sort of chap after all,” remarked the master.

(v)Let’s go and look at the school ground,” suggested the sports teacher.

(vi) The traffic police ordered all the passers-by to keep off the road.

Life is full of troubles, stress and anxieties. There comes a time when our parents our circumstantially forced to abide by certain things which keeps them much pre-occupied. They even fail to think for themselves or their own interests. Such was the case with the Father of Kezia.

Living in a joint family, I have been given utmost love, care and concern in every field by my parents, my grandparents, my uncle and aunt as well as the other members of my family . So as compared to the experience of Kezia, my life and childhood was quite different.

As a young child, I often used to feel bad about some things for which I was repeatedly scolded or corrected at. Just the way Kezia was scolded for tearing the important pages written by her father, I was also similarly criticized for my bad habits and wrong deeds. They definitely did pinch me at that particular point of time. However, as I have grown up over the years, I have a gradually noticed a big change in the attitude of my parents towards me. They have given me the freedom to explore myself freely at every stage of my life wherever it was required.

From a small child to the years of adolescence, I have not only witnessed the kind of freedom but at the same time understood all the things that I was corrected at repeatedly or told not to do this or do that. Over the years, I have become more understanding and mature. Although, children at a younger age might feel bad about certain things, but it is very fundamental to their overall development as an individual because correcting them and making them learn the right things at a younger stage is much easier than at a later stage.

These experiences of my life have taught me some very important lessons which I would definitely carry forward for the rest of my life and above all, the difference between the right and the wrong, and the good and the bad.

NOTE-Students can share their own experience. The above answer is just an example.

(i) Humid shadows refer to the dark black clouds that float in the air.

(ii) Starry spheres refer to the night sky which has been lit up by the stars.

(iii) The phrase ‘What a bliss’ highlights the magnitude of happiness and joy that the poet derives from the pitter-patter of the rain.

(iv) ‘A thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start’ refers to the dreams and fantasies that abound the poet’s mind.

(v) ‘A thousand recollections weave their air threads into woof’ refers to the memories that the poet recollects just like the threads which are woven across the loom to form an exquisite picture.

Yes, my mother used to tuck me in the manner in which poet’s mother did when I was a young child.

NOTE-This question requires the students to share their own experience.

The poet experiences an extreme feeling of joy and pleasure as he lies on the cottage-chamber bed pressing a pillow. Consequently, listening to the pitter-patter of the soft rain takes him to the seventh heaven.

Yes, I like rain as well as its soft pitter-patter voice. I love to get wet in the heavy showers which is just like an energy drink for me.

No, I don’t like rain as it has a very disturbing impact on the lives of those who live in kutcha houses and on the footpaths and elsewhere. Excessive rains also destroy the crops of the farmers which their only means of livelihood.

NOTE-This question requires the students to share their own views and opinions and experiences according to their likes and dislikes.

The single major memory that comes to the poet’s mind is the memory of his mother.

The ‘darling dreamers' refers to are all lovely dreamers who remember their mothers in the same way as the poet does.

No, everybody is not fortunate enough to enjoy a cozy bed when it rains. Everybody in this world does not have an opportunity to feel the pleasure and energy it accompanies.

Animals such as birds, stray dogs etc. often take shelter inside their nests and thatched roofs made of reed and straw respectively.

However, many people are faced with difficulties of taking shelter, many houses are ruined because of heavy rainfall and many people often die due to the disastrous consequences such as lightning which may fall or trees that fall apart due to a thunderstorm. Such a situation, therefore, has its own pros and cons every time it comes.

No, the poet is not a child anymore. He is a grown-up individual.

The poet’s mother is not alive. However, that motherly affection and love can be felt by the poet as he enjoys the patter of the soft rain in his cottage-chamber.