CLASS 10 BLISS

The author and the text:

R K Narayan (1906-2001) is one of the leading figures of early Indian literature in English. His notable works include Malgudi Days and The Guide. He was awarded the Sahitya Academy award in 1958 for The Guide.

The story, an edited excerpt from Malgudi Days, is about a young boy called Swaminathan who is unwilling to go to school, but is forced by his father to attend school. The story explores how, through the events that follow, Swami’s original reservations about his teacher, Samuel, get transformed considerably.

Unit 1

Lying in bed, Swami realized with a shudder that it was Monday morning. It looked as though only a moment ago it was Friday. Already Monday was here. He hoped he didn’t have to go to school.

At nine o’ clock, Swaminathan wailed, “I have a headache.”

Mother generously suggested that Swami might stay at home. At 9.30, when he ought to have been in the school prayer hall, Swami was lying on the bench in Mother’s room.

Father asked him, “Have you no school today?”

“Headache,” Swami replied.

“Nonsense! Dress up and go.”

“Headache!”

“Loaf about less on Sundays and you will be without a headache on Monday.”

Swami knew how strict his father could be. So he changed his tactics. “I can’t go so late to the class.”

“You’ll have to. It is your own fault.”

“What will the teacher think if I go so late?”

“Tell him you had a headache and so are late.”

“He will scold me if I say so.”

“Will he? Let us see. What is his name?”

“Samuel.”

“Does he always scold the students?”

“He is a very angry man. He is especially angry with boys who come in late. I wouldn’t like to go late to Samuel’s class.”

” If he is so angry, why not tell your headmaster about it?”

“They say that even the headmaster is afraid of him.”

Comprehension Exercises

Unit 2

Swami hoped that with this his father would be made to see why he must avoid school for the day. But Father’s behaviour took an unexpected turn. He proposed to send a letter with Swami to the headmaster. No amount of protest from Swami would make him change his mind.

By the time Swami was ready to leave for school, Father had composed a long letter to the headmaster. He put it in an envelope and sealed it.

“What have you written, Father?” Swami asked apprehensively.

“Nothing for you. Give it to your headmaster and go to your class.”

“Have you written anything about our teacher Samuel?”

“Yes. Plenty of things.”

“What has he done, Father?”

“Everything is there in the letter. Give it to your headmaster.”

Swami went to school feeling that he was the worst boy on earth. His conscience bothered him. He wasn’t at all sure if his description of Samuel had been accurate. He felt he had mixed up the real and the imagined.

Swami stopped on the roadside to make up his mind about Samuel. Samuel was not such a bad man after all. Personally he was much more friendly than the other teachers. Swami also felt Samuel had a special regard for him.

Swami’s head was dizzy with confusion. He could not decide if Samuel really deserved the allegations made against him in the letter. The more he thought of Samuel, the more Swami grieved for him. To recall Samuel’s dark face, his thin moustache, unshaven cheek and yellow coat filled Swaminathan with sorrow.

Comprehension Exercises

Unit 3

As he entered the school gate, an idea occurred to him. He would deliver the letter to the headmaster at the end of the day. There was a chance Samuel might do something during the course of the day to justify the letter.

Swami stood at the entrance to his class. Samuel was teaching arithmetic. He looked at Swami. Swami hoped Samuel would scold him severely.

“You are half an hour late,” Samuel said.

“I have a headache, sir.” Swami said.

“Then why did you come at all?”

This was an unexpected question from Samuel.

Swami said, “My father said I shouldn’t miss school, sir.”

Samuel looked impressed. “Your father is quite right. We want more parents like him.”

“Oh, you poor man!” Swami thought, “you don’t know what my father has done to you.”

“All right, go to your seat.”

Swami sat down, feeling sad. He had never met anyone as good as Samuel.

The teacher was inspecting the home lessons. To Swami’s thinking, this was the time when Samuel got most angry. But today Samuel appeared very gentle.

“Swaminathan, where is your homework?”

“I have not done my homework, sir,” Swami said.

“Why— headache?” asked Samuel.

“Yes, sir.”

“All right, sit down,” Samuel said.

When the bell rang for the last period at 4.30, Swami picked up his books and ran to the headmaster’s room. He found the room locked. The peon told him the headmaster had gone on a week’s leave. Swaminathan ran away from the place.

As soon as he entered home with the letter, Father said, “I knew you wouldn’t deliver it.”

“But the headmaster is on leave,” Swami said.

Father snatched the letter away from Swami and tore it up.

“Don’t ever come to me for help if Samuel scolds you again. You deserve your Samuel,” he said.

Comprehension Exercises

Writing Activities

Read the following letter carefully:

A letter to the Editor of a newspaper is a formal letter usually read by a large number of people. It should be to the point, clear and brief. It generally has eight parts:

• To whom you are addressing the letter (name, designation and address of the addressee)
• Subject of the letter in brief
• Greeting/ salutation
• Body of the letter
• Subscription
• Signature/ name of the person writing the letter
• The writer’s address
• Date

12. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper (within 100 words) about the problems faced by commuters due to reckless driving of public vehicles.