107. Reading Skills Comprehension: ADAPT! ADAPT!

ADAPT! ADAPT !….

 “I went to Bombay in the procession,” Hari reminded him, interrupting the harsh shrieks of the drongoes. “We wanted to stop them building a factory here.

“Ah,” sighed the birdwatcher, dropping the binoculars and sinking into the cane chair. “So you’re one of those who put up a fight. You’ve lost the fight, you know—we lost the case in court. The politicians won—so they can make plenty of money from the sale of land and licenses in the name of progress. Thul is lost,” he sighed straightening the spectacles on his nose. “Everything is doomed. The fish in the sea will die from the effluents that will be pumped into the water. The paddy fields will be built over by factories and houses and streets. My little baya birds will find no more paddy leaves for their nests or grain or food for their young. They will have to fly away. I may not see them again.

He sounded so heartbroken that Hari asked, “Why do you care so much about the birds, sir ?”

The birds are the last free creatures on earth. Everything else has been captured and tamed—tigers behind bars, lions in safari parks and men and women in houses like matchboxes working in factories that are like prisons. Only the birds are free and can fly away into space when they like. Perhaps I would also like to leave all this ugliness we have made on earth and fly away with them. “Wouldn’t you?” he asked Hari.

 “But we can’t fly,” Hari reminded him, earnestly. “We are here on earth, we cannot leave it. We must live here, somehow.”

The gentleman looked at him with sad eyes.”Yes, what will you do? What will become of you? I don’t know my friend. When it comes to people I know nothing I am lost.”

 Hari came a little closer to him. “Sir, I thought—I thought— since it is too late to start fishing or farming now, and since I don’t want to work in a factory—I thought I would buy some chickens, build chicken coops in my field, start a poultry farm. I could sell eggs in the village and chickens to the rich people who will come to Thul once the factory is built. So we will live for a while. Later I want to set up a watch mending shop. I have learnt a little watch mending,” he added with shy pride.

“.Have you ?” asked the birdwatcher in astonishment. “Can you mend my watch for me? I fell into the creek and my watch hasn’t worked since.” He fished it out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Hari who took it eagerly. He could hardly believe that he was being asked to do something for the great man who had spoken to him in Bombay and comes to Thul to study birds. He shook the watch gently and held it to his car. “Water has got into the works, sir. It’s very easy to  clean and dry—I did many during the monsoon in Bombay.”

 The birdwatcher was staring at him as he spoke as if he were a bird performing some wonderful and interesting act. Then he shot out of his chair, crying, “Adapt! Adapt !” “What, Sir ?” asked Hari puzzled.

“Adapt, that is what you are going to do… You are going to give up your traditional way of living and learn a new way to suit the environment. Yes, you will survive.”

1.Based on your reading of the passage answer the following questions.

 (a) List two effects that the building of the factory would have on Thul.          

(b) Why was the birdwatcher so concerned about birds ? Give two reasons.                

 (c) Why was the birdwatcher thrilled by Hari’s plans?                                                   

 (d) What procession had Hari taken part in?                                                                  

2. Pick out words from the passage. which mean the same as: 

(a). a songbird with glossy black plumage and typically a long forked tail and a crest

 (b). a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way

 (c). a field where rice is grown

 (d). not dangerous or frightened of people

 Answers- 1.

Answer-  (a)   (i) There would be doom everywhere.

(ii) All the birds would fly elsewhere.

Answer- (b)    (i) His little bay birds wouldn’t find a place for food or nests.

(ii) Also, he won’t do bird watching.

Answer- (c)    He was thrilled because Hari had learnt to adapt himself according to the changing environment.

Answer- (d) He had taken part in a procession against the acquisition of land in Thul for factories.

Answers 2-

Answer- (a). Drongo

Answer- (b). Politician

Answer- (c).Paddy

Answer- (d). Tame

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