The Elder Brother: A Story of Sibling Relationships - PDF

Here is the text from the images converted into a structured markdown format: ### Reading Do you have an older sibling who always tells you what to do? Read this story about two brothers who live away from home to attend school. Read on to find out how their relationship changes over time. M y bi...

Here is the text from the images converted into a structured markdown format: ### Reading Do you have an older sibling who always tells you what to do? Read this story about two brothers who live away from home to attend school. Read on to find out how their relationship changes over time. M y big brother was five years older than me but only three grades ahead. He had begun his studies at the same age as I had, but he didn't like the idea of moving hastily in an important matter like education. He took two years to do one year's work; sometimes he even took three. I was nine, he was fourteen. He had full right by seniority to supervise me. And I was expected to accept every order of his. He was very studious by nature. He was always sitting with a book open. And perhaps to rest his brain, he would sometimes draw pictures of birds, dogs and cats in the margins of his notebook. Sometimes he would write a name, a word or a sentence ten or twenty times. He would copy a stanza several times in beautiful letters or create new words that made no sense. I didn't really like studying. To pick up a book and sit with it for an hour was too much of an effort. As soon as I got a chance, I would leave the hostel and go to the playground and play marbles or fly kites or just meet a friend – what could be more fun? But as soon as I came back into the room and saw my brother's scowling face, I would be terrified, His first question would be, 'Where were you?' Always the same question, which he asked in the same tone, and I could only answer with silence. I don't know why I couldn't say that I had just been playing outside. My silence was an acknowledgement of guilt and my brother would always say angrily, 'If you study English this way, you'll be studying your whole life and you won't get one word right! Studying English is no laughing matter. You have to wear out your eyes morning and night and use every ounce of energy. And even then you'll just have a smattering of it. Can't you learn from looking at me? You have seen with your own eyes how hard I work. No matter how many shows and fairs there are, have you ever seen me attend them? Every day there are cricket and hockey matches, but I don't go near them. Despite studying all the time, it takes me two years, or even three, to get through one grade. How do you expect to pass when you waste your time like this? Why waste our father's hard-earned money?' After such a dressing-down, I would start crying. My brother was an expert in the art of giving advice. He'd say such cruel words, overwhelm me with such good advice that my spirits would sink, my courage disappear. I would think, ‘Why don't I run away from school and go back home? Why should I spoil my life fiddling with work that's beyond my capacity?' But after an hour or two, I would get over my despair and resolve to study with all my might. I'd draw up a schedule on the spot. In my timetable, the time for play was entirely absent. Get up early in the morning at the crack of dawn, wash my hands and face at six, eat a snack, sit down and study, From six to eight, English; eight to nine, arithmetic; nine to nine-thirty, history; then mealtime and afterwards, off to school. A half hour's rest at three-thirty when I got back from school; geography from four to five; grammar from five to six, then a half hour's walk in front of the hostel; six-thirty to seven, English composition; then dinner; translation from eight to nine, Hindi from nine to ten; from ten to eleven, miscellaneous; then to bed. But it's one thing to draw up a schedule, another to follow it. It began to be neglected from the very first day. The inviting green expanse of the playground, the balmy winds, the commotion on the football field, the exciting stratagems of prisoner's base, the speed and flurries of volleyball would all draw me mysteriously and irresistibly. As soon as I was there, I forgot everything: the life-destroying schedule, the books that strained your eyes – I couldn't remember them at all. And then my brother would start on me again. I would stay well out of his way, try to keep out of his sight, come into the room on tiptoe so he wouldn't know. But if he spotted me, it would be my death. The yearly exams came round: my brother failed. I passed and was first in my class. There was only two years' difference left between him and me. Now I could be a little proud of myself and my ego was inflated. My brother's sway over me was over As I began to take part freely in the games, my spirits were running high. One day when I had spent the whole morning playing gilli danda and came back exactly at mealtime, he said, with all the air of pulling out a sword to rush at me: 'I see you have passed this year and you're first in your class, and you think you've conquered the world. But even great men live to regret their pride, and who are you compared to them? You must have read about Ravan. He was master of the Earth. All the kings of the Earth paid taxes to him. The gods were his servants. But what happened to him in the end? Pride completely finished him, destroying even his name. You've just been promoted one grade and your head's turned by it. Just passing an exam is not enough, the real thing is to develop your mind. Wait till you reach my class. Algebra and geometry will drive you mad, and God help you with British history! Those poor fellows didn't have names enough to go around. There are scores of Charles! After every name, they have to put second, third, fourth and fifth. If anybody had asked me, I could have reeled off thousands of names. And as for geometry, if you write 'a c b' instead of ‘a b c’, your whole answer is marked wrong. They will say, 'Write an essay on punctuality no less than four pages long. Who doesn't know that punctuality's a very good thing! A man's life is organized according to it, others love him for it and his business prospers from it. Do I need four pages for what I can describe in one sentence! It's not economising time, it's wasting it. We want a man to say what he has to say quickly and then to move on. When you get into my class, you'll find out what's what. Just because you got a first division this time, you're all puffed up. I failed, but I'm still older than you, and I have more experience of the world. Take my advice or you'll be sorry. It was almost time for school or I don't know when the sermons would have ended. I didn't have much appetite that day. If I got a scolding like this when I passed, maybe if I had failed, I would have had to pay with my life. My brother's terrible description of studying in the ninth grade really scared me. I'm surprised I didn't run away from school and go home. Still, I didn't miss a chance to play. I did study, but much less. Well, just enough to complete the day's work and not be disgraced in class. But the confidence I had gained in myself disappeared and I began to live like a thief. Then, it was time for the yearly exams again. Once more, I passed and my brother failed. I hadn't done much work; but somehow or the other, I was in the first division. I was astonished too. My brother had just about killed himself with work, memorising every word in the course, studying till ten at night and starting again at four in the morning, and from six until nine-thirty before going to school. When he heard the results, he broke down and cried. So did I. My pleasure in passing was cut by half. There was only one grade left between my brother and me. The evil thought crossed my mind that if he failed just once more, I'd be at the same level as him. Then what grounds would he have for lecturing me? But I violently rejected the thought. After all, hed scolded me only with the intention of helping me. Maybe it was because of his advice that I'd passed so easily and with such good marks. But now, a change came over my brother. He became much gentler. Perhaps he felt that he no longer had the right to tell me off or at least not as much as before. My independence grew. I began to take unfair advantage of his tolerance. I half started to imagine that I'd pass the next time whether I studied or not. The little I used to study because of my brother ceased too. I found a new pleasure in flying kites and I spent all my time at the sport. In preparation for a kite tournament, I busied myself in solving problems like how to apply the paste mixed with ground glass on it, to cut the other fellows' kites off their strings. One day, far from the hostel, I was running along madly to grab hold of a kite. A whole army of boys came racing out to welcome it with long, thick bamboo rods. Nobody cared who was in front or behind them. Suddenly, I collided with my brother, who was probably coming back from the market. He grabbed my hand and said angrily, Aren't you ashamed of running with these ragamuffins after a one-paisa kite? Have you forgotten that you're not in a junior class anymore? You're in the eighth now, one class behind me. You're smart, there's no doubt about that, but what use is it if it destroys your self- respect? You must have thought, “I'm just a grade behind my brother, so now he doesn't have the right to say anything to me.” But you're mistaken. I'm five years older than you and even if you come into my grade, you can never equal the experience I have of life and the world, even if you get an M.A. and a D.Litt. or even a Ph.D. 'Understanding doesn't come from reading books. Mother never passed any grade and Father probably never went beyond the fifth, but even if we had the wisdom of the whole world, Mother and Father would always have the right to correct us. Maybe they don't know what kind of government they have in America or how many constellations there are in the sky, but there are a thousand things they know better than you and me. God forbid, but if I should fall sick today, then you'd be at your wit's end. You wouldn't be able to think of anything except sending a telegram to Father. But in your place, he wouldn't send anybody a telegram or get upset or be worried. He'd find out about the disease himself and try the remedy; then if it didn't work, he'd call some doctor. But you and I don't even know how to make our allowance last through the month. Don't be so proud of almost catching up with me and being independent now. I'll see that you don't go off track. If need be (he held up his fist), I can use this too. I was thoroughly shamed by his new approach. I had truly come to know my own insignificance and a new respect for my brother was born in my heart. With tears in my eyes, I said, ‘No, no, what you say is completely true and you have the right to say it. My brother embraced me and said, 'I don't forbid you to fly kites. I like it too. But what can I do? If I go off track, how will I watch out for you?' Just then, a kite that had been cut loose passed over us with its string dangling. A crowd of boys were chasing after it. My brother was very tall. He leaped, caught hold of the string and ran at top speed towards the hostel. I followed, running close behind him. ### Literary Term 1. This is an example of irony. The boy thought that his brother took more time to complete each class because he was studious. But it actually means that he failed the examinations. * **Scowling:** Frowning with anger * **Acknowledgement:** acceptance * **Smattering:** incomplete understanding of a subject * **Dressing-down:** scolding * **Overwhelm:** have a strong emotional effect ### Vocabulary * **Miscellaneous:** Consisting of different kinds of things * **Expanse:** a wide and open area * **Balmy:** pleasantly warm * **Stratagems:** plans to defeat an opponent * **Ego:** a person's sense of self-importance * **Economising:** saving * **Sermons:** lectures * **Tolerance:** willingness to accept something you may not agree with * **Collided:** crashed into (someone) * **Ragamuffins:** dirty, ragged children * **Constellations:** groups of stars that form shapes and have names ### Did You Know? History Charles was the name of two British kings, Charles I and his son, Charles II. Both of them reigned in the seventeenth century. ### Did You Know?? G.K. * M.A. (Master of Arts) * D.Litt. (Doctor of Literature) * Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy, a research degree) are educational qualifications given by universities after someone completes an advanced level of study. ### Comprehension Questions: * What was absent in the narrator's timetable? * What did the elder brother do to rest his brain? * What really scared the narrator? * What did the narrator spend all his time at? * Who was chasing after the kite that had been cut loose?