10th Standard Maharashtra State Board Textbook

Introduction to Kumarbharati Standard Ten

• The book is designed to help students use English with confidence and proficiency.
• The main aim is to make students confident in using English in all aspects of life.

Preface

• The book is a part of the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research.
• The book is designed to help students attain a proficiency level in English, enabling them to think directly in English.
• The book aims to help students reach out to the world through English.

Statement of Competencies

• The book aims to help students develop listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.
• Students will be able to enjoy listening to English programmes, discuss personal and social issues, and predict the next part of a narration.
• Students will be able to read literature for pleasure, read silently and fluently, and understand different interpretations of a literary piece.
• Students will be able to speak clearly and confidently, use acceptable pronunciation, and contribute meaningfully to conversations.
• Students will be able to write correctly, paraphrase a text, and write responses/answers in a given form.

Unit One: Where the Mind is Without Fear...

• The poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Prize-winning poet.
• The poem is a prayer to the Almighty for social, educational, and economic freedom for the people of India.
• The poem appeals for a world where the mind is free from fear, knowledge is free, and the world is not broken into fragments.
• The poet prays for a world where words come from the depth of truth, and reason is not lost in dead habit.
• The poem concludes with a prayer for the country to awaken into a heaven of freedom.

Poem Analysis

• The poem is a reflection of Tagore's desire for India's freedom from British rule.
• The poem is a call for social, educational, and economic freedom.
• The poem highlights the importance of knowledge, reason, and freedom.
• The poem is a prayer to the Almighty, appealing for a better world.### Rabindranath Tagore
• The poet wishes for a nation where people are truthful, and have a fearless mind and a head held high in dignity.
• He desires a nation where knowledge is free, and everyone has the right to education.
• Tagore dreams of a nation where people work hard to reach their goals and strive for perfection.
• He wants people to have a clear stream of reason and a broadening outlook, free from narrow domestic walls and dead habits.
• The poet appeals to a higher power to make his country a heaven of freedom, where people can enjoy freedom of thought, word, and deed.

The Thief's Story

• The narrator, Hari, is a 15-year-old thief who has been stealing since he was a child.
• He meets Anil, a 25-year-old man who is kind and trusting, and decides to work for him.
• Hari learns to cook and write, but still practices deceit, and eventually steals Anil's money.
• Anil is a writer who makes a living by fits and starts, and is a careless and trusting person.
• Hari is torn between his desire to rob Anil and his growing affection for him.
• In the end, Hari returns the stolen money to Anil, and learns the value of honesty and hard work.

Key Concepts

• Flattery: insincere praise to gain something
• Modestly: without boasting, in a humble way
• Grunting: making low guttural sounds
• Appealing: attention-getting, attractive
• By fits and starts: in short, irregular intervals
• Heart sank: felt depressed
• Spirits rose: became very hopeful

Important Questions

• Why did Hari hesitate to board the train?

• What favours did Anil do for Hari?

• What proves that Hari still practiced deceit?

• What is face reading?

• Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?

• Why did Hari feel nervous?### William Shakespeare

• An English poet, playwright, and actor

• Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language

• Often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"

Poem Context

• The poem is taken from Shakespeare's play "As You Like It"
• Compares the world to a stage where the drama of human life is enacted

The Seven Ages of Man

• Shakespeare describes the seven stages of human life
• Each stage is compared to a different role or part played on the stage

Stage 1: Infancy

• The first stage is infancy
• The infant is mewling and puking in the nurse's arms

Stage 2: Schoolboy

• The second stage is the whining schoolboy
• He carries a satchel and has a shining morning face
• He is unwilling to go to school and creeps like a snail

Stage 3: Lover

• The third stage is the lover
• He is sighing like a furnace and writes a woeful ballad to his mistress' eyebrow

Stage 4: Soldier

• The fourth stage is the soldier
• He is full of strange oaths and bearded like a pard
• He is jealous in honour and sudden and quick in quarrel
• He seeks the bubble reputation, even in the cannon's mouth

Overall Themes

• The fleeting nature of human life and reputation
• The stages of human life are compared to roles played on a stage
• The poem explores the idea that human life is a performance, and we play different roles at different stages