A LETTER TO GOD
This insightful story is about a farmer named Lencho who writes a letter to
God seeking His assistance when his crops are devastated by a natural
phenomenon. It has interesting parallels between contradicting themes
such as faith and reasoning, innocence and ignorance, generosity and
greed, etc.
'A Letter to God' is a story of a farmer's extreme faith in God. The writer G.L.
Fuentes has tried to depict the faith of a poor and simple farmer in God in an
impressive manner. Lencho was an honest and hardworking farmer. He was
shocked to notice that his crop was ruined in a hailstorm. He turned to God
for getting some help. He wrote a letter to God. On Sunday, he posted the
letter. When an employee of the post office chanced to see the letter
addressed to God, he made fun of the man who had written that letter but
his boss, the postmaster, was a serious man and did not take the letter
lightly. He was impressed by the extreme faith of the man and wished to
have the same faith. He decided to answer the letter. He collected money
from his employees to give in charity to the needy farmer. He was able to
collect only seventy pesos and thought that the farmer would be glad to
receive this much. But to his utter disappointment, the postmaster was
shocked to notice that it had made Lencho angry, who wrote another letter
to God but with a warning not to send the money by post as he considered
the postal employees 'a bunch of crooks' who had stolen thirty pesos from
the hundred pesos sent by Him.
NELSON MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
The lesson is an extract taken from the autobiography of Nelson Mandela,
the First Black President of South Africa.
It provides us a glimpse into the early life of Nelson Mandela, his education,
thirty years in prison, and the pains he suffered at a young age. He recounts
his fight for the freedom of his own people who were suppressed by the
whites and pays tribute to other freedom fighters and countless common
people who fought against Apartheid.
Nelson Mandela, the first black President of South Africa, fought for the
freedom of his people. In his autobiography, he describes in detail the pains
he had to suffer from the time when he was young. He was discriminated
against by the whites along with other black people. He was an enthusiastic
young boy who considered staying away from his home to get freedom. He
wanted to marry the person of his choice. But gradually he realised that
freedom is more meaningful.
He decided to bring freedom for his own people. On 10 May 1994 he was able
to materialise his dreams long cherished by the black people who sacrificed
their lives to give dignity to their coming generations. He gives two
contradictory pictures of his country: one, in which the black people were
tortured and had to suffer quietly; second, when the blacks will be free to
live a life of their own. In this extract, Mandela speaks about a historic
occasion, ’The Inauguration’.
HIS FIRST FLIGHT
This is a story about the value of self-confidence and courage; that one
should never give up and persevere even if the odds are against them. A
young seagull boldly overcomes all obstacles and succeeds in its goal of
learning the skill of flying. The story also conveys that not everyone can
achieve their goals at the same time, and some may take a while more, but
that doesn't make them weak or unworthy.
'His First Flight' written by Liam O' Flaherty is a story of a young seagull
who is afraid of flying. A family of seagulls lived on a ledge. A young seagull
is left alone as he is afraid to fly and is one among the slow learners. All that
this young seagull needed was motivation. By way of punishment, his family
left him alone on the ledge and flew away. They upbraided him, taunted him
for cowardice, and even threatened to let him starve. He remained hungry
for twenty-four hours and was unable to shed his fright of flight. He cried
begging his mother to bring him some food. She picked up a piece of fish in
her beak and flew across him and stood just in front of him. The piece of fish
in her beak was almost within the reach of his beak. The young seagull was
mad with hunger. He dived at the fish. The next moment he found himself
falling outwards and downwards into space. Instinctively, he spread his
wings and flapped them. He soared upwards and all his fear was gone. It was
a joyous moment for his family. He forgot that he was ever afraid of flying.
THE BLACK AEROPLANE
'The Black Aeroplane' is a psychological account of an adventurous but
frightful flight undertaken by a pilot who landed into trouble and faced
imminent death. Overcome with doubt and fear, he was mysteriously and
miraculously saved by another aeroplane. These incidents take us out of
trouble and are nothing but our mind's courage and strength which takes
the form of an external factor to pull us out of the tough situation. We call
such helpful incidents to be miracles and mysteries.
The present story offers a psychological insight into a character under
stress. It is an interesting account of the narrator's encounter with the pilot
of a black aeroplane who comes to his rescue in distress. It is a mystery built
around the black aeroplane and its pilot.
SERMON AT BENARES
Buddha wants us to understand that this world is full of sufferings, death
and decay. Death spares none. Death is the ultimate truth of life. Everything
that is born today will die sooner or later. No lamentation or grieving will
bring the dead to life again. It ended the suffering of a woman, Kisa, who
had lost her son. She accepted the truth and thus, was freed from pain.
The story is about a moral lesson that Gautama Buddha gave to a
grief-stricken woman. Buddha was very sensitive toward the sufferings of
human beings. At a very young age, he gave up all worldly pleasures to seek
enlightenment. Once a woman called Kisa Gotami came to him after the
demise of her son. She wanted Buddha to give her some medicine for her
son. Gautama Buddha advised her to go and collect a handful of mustard
seeds from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
When Gotami could not get such a house, she understood the secret of life
and death - the very meaning of Buddha's words.
THE PROPOSAL
The play 'The Proposal' explains how anger and arguments can easily ruin a
relationship. Thus to maintain a good relationship, it is important to have
control over your anger. Having arguments over silly or small issues is
extremely harmful and a waste of time.
The play highlights the tendency of wealthy families who seek ties with
other wealthy families to increase their estates through marriages because
it makes good economic sense. Lomov is a rich eligible bachelor who wants
to marry Natalya, the daughter of another rich man and his neighbour,
Chubukov. All three characters are quarrelsome and argue over petty issues.
Both Natalya and Chubukov curse Lomov and call him useless, petty, a
lunatic, a gambler, a backbiter, and so on. Lomov also calls him a land
grabber. There is no attraction between Natalya and Lomov. But the
moment Natalya comes to know that Lomov wants to marry her, she
becomes polite and starts repenting her attacks on him. Chubukov also tells
Lomov, 'And I have always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son.'
'The proposal' is in danger of being forgotten amidst all quarrelling but
better sense prevails and the proposal is finally made and accepted.
