1.3 The call of the soil – Activity – 3

1.3 The call of the soil – Activity – 3

 Read the extract & complete the activities given below. [12]

The tales of Kasbai made us more determined to get it. We decided that if we did manage to get some seeds this would be a great rice to grow. I thought the government may know something about it. A visit to the agricultural officer was enlightening. He had not even heard of this rice variety. He said the villagers were taking me for a ride and there was no rice by this name. He rattled off the names of a number of latest hybrids and even offered to give me some of them free of cost for a trial. Cursing myself for wasting time with him I moved on to the next destination.

This time it was the Adivasi Mahamandal at Kasa which buys rice from the Adivasi villagers on behalf of the government. Kasbai did not figure in their files. A good indication why people did not grow it any more. The market itself did not recognize the rice, so if you grew it you would not be able to sell it. However, the officer incharge here had more knowledge of rice and did remember Kasbai being sold to him a few years ago.

So when I in Dhanivari, Baban and I started looking for Devu Handa and found a greying old man wearing a cap, sitting outside his house on a charpoy. An ex-sarpanch of the village, he had acres of land, a huge house and a large family. After exchanging the usual pleasantries we came to the topic of Kasbai. The mere mention of Kasbai and Devu Handa drifted into the past. His eyes turned dreamy and with a tremble in his voice he told us how the entire village at one time grew only Kasbai. He said, “There was a time when people passing our village during lunchtime would be forced to stop and ask for a meal. Such was the alluring aroma of Kasbai.” The entire area would have this heady aroma hanging in the air as all the houses cooked the same rice. Today, he said, no one grew Kasbai and everyone had shifted to growing the new hybrid varieties. He claimed he had to force himself to eat this rice that was so insipid!

A1] Global Understanding- [2]

Arrange the following sentences as per their occurences in the extract –

1. The writer met Devu Handa in Dhainivari.
2. The writer visited the government agricultural officer.
3. The ex-sarpanch gave valuable information about the Kasbai rice..
4. The writer visited the Adivasi Mahamandal at Kasa.

A2] Complex factual [2]

Guess –

1. The writer cursed himself for wasting his time with the government agricultural officer.
2. People did not grow Kasbai rice any more.

A3] Analysis – [2]

List the fond memories that Devu Handa had about Kasbai rice.

A4] Personal Response [2]

Do you miss eating something that you enjoyed eating earlier? Explain.

A5] Language study [2]

Do as directed:

1. Cursing myself for wasting time with him I moved on to the next destination. [Make Compound sentence]
2. I thought the government may know something [Rewrite the sentence using the modal auxiliary showing ‘advice’]

A6] Vocabulary [2]

Match the pairs

        A                            B

1. Rattle        a. Give great knowledge
2. Insipid      b. Enchanting
3. Enlighten  c. Talk rapidly
4. Alluring    d. tasteless

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