Maharashtra Board Class 12 English Solution Chapter 2.8 – Small Towns and Rivers
Balbharati Maharashtra Board Class 12 English Solution Chapter 2.8: Small Towns and Rivers. Marathi or English Medium Students of Class 12 get here Small Towns and Rivers full Exercise Solution.
Std |
Maharashtra Class 12 |
Subject |
English |
Chapter |
2.8 |
Chapter Name |
Small Towns and Rivers |
Ice breakers:
1.) i.)
a.) availability of water
b.) nearby forests
c.) Lands for grazing of cattle.
d.) Lands for growing crops.
ii.)
River | City |
Ganga | Varanasi |
Yamuna | Delhi |
Godavari | Rajamundry |
Varada | Banavasisagara |
Krishna | Vijaywada |
Tapi | Surat |
iii.)
City | River |
London | Thames |
Cairo | Nile |
New York | Hudson |
Paris | Seine |
2.) i.) When cities start growing on the riverside places extra initiatives have been taken for conserving the rivers. The government takes responsibilities to protect river and not disrupting its natural resources. Beautiful bridges have been built for communication which enhance the overall beauty of the cities. The industries and manufacturing companies established riverside must take steps for not polluting river water. Dams have been made to protect people from flood or heavy water flow during monsoon. Ports have also been constructed to improve the communication with the help of rivers.
ii.) Conservation of rivers and development of the cities:
It is our responsibility to conserve rivers which give many natural resources to us. When cities grow beside rivers we have to focus on both factors developing cities and conserving rivers along with it. People expect developed facilities and resources within cities for living comfortable lifestyle where they can fulfil all their needs. While we take innovative measures for enhancing the lifestyle we should not ignore conserving rivers. If river water gets polluted once then it will cause major loss for us. The government will have to spend much for protecting the rivers and eliminating polluting factors. As responsible citizens we must give importance on this aspect of not affecting river water for our own benefits. Instead of that we should fulfil our individual duty of conserving the rivers and developing city life.
Brainstorming:
A1.)
a.) Flowers: tuberoses used for making wreaths.
b.) River: people are majorly dependant on river for their livelihood. River shows the immortality of nature through its water which signifies the unending beauty of nature.
c.) Bamboo: it is used for building small structures at the burial places.
d.) East: the souls of earth rise and walk into the ‘house of the sin’ which is to the side of the golden east.
A2.) i.) my hometown lies calmly amidst the trees,
- It is always the same,
- In summer or winter,
- With the dust flying
- Or the wind howling down the gorge.
ii.) Trees, dust, gorge, wind, tuberoses, river, stars, fish, mountaintops, mist, rain, water, earth.
iii.) The statement ‘river has a soul’ explains that the river flows through the small towns in the state of the poet and how it affects the living of its people. The same expression has been found in third and fourth stanzas where the poet described the river as human with its alike qualities. For that the poet presented beautiful images like ‘holding its breath’, ‘being a torrent of grief’, ‘knowing the first drop of rain’, ‘stretching past the town’ etc. within the poem. The poet tried to highlight on the fact that the river is highly involved with the living of people by presenting all its attributes.
iv.)
a.) From the first drop of rain to dry earth
b.) And mist on the mountaintops
c.) The river knows the immortality of water.
v.)
a.) torrent of grief: it means the pain that river brings with it in the living of people for the lack of flowing water level.
b.) Shrine of happy pictures: it refers the childhood of the poet which is full of fond and happy memories.
c.) The land of fish and stars: it refers to the world when the river with soul brings upcoming situations of life for being the torrent of grief.
vi.) In the first line of the poem the poet says ‘small towns always reminds me of death’ which refers to the small towns in her homeland. The small towns are like reminders of death to her with the existence of river in it. She brings the harmony of river within towns as death is permanent for life. With the sense of conserving river the poet tried to convey the message that it is important to conserve the entire nature. We are living in a small town which is so dependent on river and to get healthy life we have to conserve river. In the last lines the poet reflects the sense of optimism for inspiring us to conserve nature.
vii.) a.) I will try to motivate people for planting more tress around them to create a clean environment. I will take responsibility for educating them about the adverse effects of deforestation which is the reason of increasing pollution and global warming. We have to understand the fact we will face the consequences in future for our own actions.
b.) I will try to figure out innovative methods for conserving nature in wonderful ways. Children will find fun in creating peaceful environment through creative ways where they will find happiness. It will create memories for them which they can cherish forever.
A3.) i.) summer, winter, wind howling, dust flying, dry earth, first drop of rain, mist on the mountaintops.
ii.)
Column A |
Column B |
Cool | Bamboo |
Happy | Pictures |
Dreadful | Silence |
Dry | Earth |
A4.) i.) the wreath cannot be sad alone as it is an inanimate object. The sadness described in the poem is related to someone’s death for which the wreath is placed on the dead body. The figure of speech used here for referring sadness with wreath is transferred epithet.
ii.) The grief of the ton people has been compared with the torrent of the river when the flowing water level becomes reduced during summer season.
iii.) Personification: the river is personified here for relating it with having a soul within it.
Antithesis: two opposite life aspects life and death have been placed in this line for referring the unavoidable life cycle within earth. Everything is temporary in life and one has to go through ultimate stage of life one day which is death.
iv.) The poem ‘small cities and the river’ is written in free verse and simple language for expressing the easy flow. There is no particular rhyming scheme followed in the poem in its all seven stanzas. The free verse gave the poet the correct way of describing emotions in natural expressions. The free verse will also attract readers for understanding the sense of the poem by analysing it with real life experiences.
A5.) iii.) the poem ‘small towns and the river’ written by Mamang Dai depicts the image of small towns in north eastern part of India. The poet has written the poem for celebrating nature with its vast usefulness in our life. The poet expresses her grief for destructing valuable natural resources despite being involved in our living. The poem is written in complete seven stanzas in free verse that means no rhyming scheme present in it. The poet signifies that the cycle of life and death will always remain prevalent in living while the nature and its resources will be permanent. But we destructing the valuable resources by our own mistakes and calling danger in future. The torrent of river reflects the sense of grief in life which comes after death. The poet describes memories of her childhood which is full of happiness but in the later stage of life the poet experiences anxiety. This sense is beautifully presented within the poem when summer comes in small towns sadness of people’s life also begins. The poet has used figures of speech like antithesis, alliteration, metaphor, personification, simile, transferred epithet for expressing the sense of the poem. The imagery like the should of the dead dwell in nature, rise with the sun, the cold bamboo that springs back with the sunlight forms the perfect essence of relationship between life and nature. The poet describes significant features of nature while she feels sad by remembering the image of small towns which may face difficulties for not conserving nature.
iv.) Antara: hi Sudipa! How are you?
Sudipa: hey! I am absolutely fine. After such a long time I am seeing you.
Antara: yes that’s right. So how is life going on?
Sudipa: everything is fine. I am just a bit worried for water shortage in our area for few days.
Antara:ohh. That’s so sad. How did it happen suddenly?
Sudipa: actually the water tank is closed for maintenance and we are dependent mostly on it for water supply. The government authority kept it closed for some days.
Antara: but you can use river water during these days as you live nearby a river.
Sudipa: I know that. But we cannot use that river water as it has become completely polluted.
Antara: it is really terrible when we cannot use natural resources despite having it. we only realise the importance of conserving nature after facing difficulties for it.
Sudipa: you are right. People did not realise it before when they were constantly misusing river water and making it polluted.
Antara: nature is interlinked with our living which we must realise. We all have to face the adverse effects when nature will be disturbed.
Sudipa: yes. See we get so many benefits from river water. Like we can get fishes to eat from rivers. We can use water for drinking, washing, farming and other works. We can produce electricity from river water as well. still we forget the positive reasons for conserving river.
Antara: now this is high time to take initiatives for stopping distrupting nature. We all should work collaboratively for conserving nature at utmost level.
Sudipa: yes, we will talk about this topic in our school group. Let’s see if we get any helpful result for taking initiatives soon.
Antara: yes, let’s be hopeful about it. I am getting late. I have to go now. Take care.
Sudipa: yes, see you soon. Bye.