A Roadside Stand - Robert Frost on Economic Disparity

The central theme of the poem

The Roadside Stand deals primarily with the socio-economic conditions of the poor and the deprived. Robert Frost draws the attention of the reader towards the disparity in the allocation of financial resources to urban areas as opposed to the countryside. People living in cities receive more resources and better opportunities than their counterparts in the countryside. The poem also highlights the apathy and insensitivity of affluent city dwellers who pass by in polished cars and also politicians who break their promises. 

Tone

The poem starts with a tone of sadness, grief and a sense of helplessness. There is a tone of complaint till three-fourths of the poem when suddenly the poet voices his frustration at the helplessness of the situation and then states how it would be a "great relief...to put these people at one stroke out of their pain." It is as if out of a sense of frustration, Robert Frost suggests that the only solution would be to  put them out of their misery by shooting them or even exterminating them, though in the line he retracts from this rather harsh statement by stating that "next day as I come back into the sane, I wonder how I should like you to come to me and offer to put me gently out of my pain." Detached,  clinical clarity in his descriptions of the human situation.

Symbols

1. Roadside Stand: It is a symbol of the pathetic condition of the people living in the countryside.

2. Polished Traffic: It symbolises the more affluent people of the city passing by.

3. Theatre and Store: They both symbolise vices and a culture that is hollow, addictive and meant to befuddle and divert the attention of the youth from their actual socio-economic condition.

4. Flower of cities: The city that has been pampered and supported with surplus cash.

Figures of Speech

1. Personification:  The polished passed with a mind ahead

2. Transferred Epithet: trusting sorrow

3. Transferred Epithet, Oxymoron, Antithesis: greedy good doers & beneficient beasts of prey

4. Oxymoron: greedy good-doers, beneficient beasts of prey

5. Irony:  moving picture's promise

A Summary of the Poem

1.  The first six lines of the poem describe a little house by the highway which is attached to a new shed meant for selling things. Unfortunately, the shed appears to be shabby and rather pathetic for want of funds. The poet's accusation is that the cash that supports the cities from withering hasn't found its way here!

2. The next six lines describe how rich people who pass by in their expensive cars don't even acknowledge the presence of the shed. If at all they do look at the shed, it is because of the signboard on which the letters 'N' and 'S' have been turned wrong, which has spoiled the landscape! The items for sale at the roadside stand include wild berries, golden squash, and pictures of mountain scenes.

3. The third set of six lines describes a complaint about how insensitive the city people who pass by are. Their complaint of the spoilt scenery caused by the wrongly turned letters 'N' and 'S' is lesser than the sorrow of the people running the roadside stand.

4. The fourth set of six lines describes how badly the people running the roadside stand want to feel the touch of some money in their hands. They want to prosper and they want to realise the dreams, the promises that the party in power made to them about a better life. Alas! The party in power has forgotten the promises that it made to the people living in the countryside. Moreover, it is in the news that the poor people living in the countryside will be relocated to other villages with amenities like theatres and stores.

5. The fifth set of six lines rather clinically describes how hollow this effort for relocating the poor people is. It is ironic that the people are being deliberately exposed to vices and habits that would dull their minds to reality, thus ignoring the acts of omission and neglect by the party in power. The party in power is enforcing benefits that are meant to blind the people to the gross neglect committed by the party in power. The party in power destroys the lives of the poor people by making them stay awake the whole night (probably drinking and partying) so that they sleep the whole day!

6. The sixth set of six lines describes how anguished the poet feels when he looks at the hopeless, childish longings of the owners of the roadside stall who wait by the window for at least one customer to turn up at the shed to buy something.

7. The seventh set of six lines describes the cars that do stop. Alas! Their hopes are dashed when the drivers of the cars that stop, stop to ask directions or to take a U-turn. Others stop to ask about real-estate prices, or perhaps even ask for a gallon of petrol!

8. The last eight lines of the poem describe how badly the poet feels about the whole situation. Unfortunately, no one really knows the exact amount of money required to enjoy happiness in life. Frustrated and angry about how people in power have neglected these people, the poet wonders if it would not be a relief to kill all of the poor people, to end their misery once and for all! But then the next moment he remonstrates with himself and rationalises how he himself would feel if someone, the reader, offered the same solution to the poet, put the poet's mind to rest in the same manner!

Note: it is clear that the poet expresses his disappointment about how the poor people have been treated by a government that has done nothing to address their poverty. The poet analyses the whole situation in a very clinical and detached manner throughout most of the poem. It is only in the last eight lines that he expresses his true feelings of frustration and helplessness, that nothing much can be done for the poor people.

Answer key to the Reference to Context questions given on:


https://rodrickwrites.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-roadside-stand-reference-to-context.html

1. Lines 1 to 6

"The little...faint."

1. In the Countryside, by the highway.

2. Money, buyers, cash

3. Metaphor

4. How is the flower of cities prevented from fainting?

2. Lines 7 to 12

The polished traffic...silver warts"

1. It represents rich people from the cities driving by. Polished is a transferred epithet. Polished traffic is also a personification of the cars.

2. Indifferent, dispassionate, blind.

3. The letters N and S  turned the wrong way.

4. The list includes wild berries in wooden quarts, 

containers of golden squash and paintings or pictures of mountain scenes.

Lines 13 to 18

3. "Or Beauty...stand."

1. The pictures with mountain scenery.

2. "You" refers to the rich people from the cities who drive by. "You" are mean because they don't want to buy anything from the roadside stand. They don't want to spend any money on the people who need the money most.

3. The complaint of the owners of the roadside stand is greater than the complaint of the marred landscape because their need is greater than the need for a better landscape.

4.  "Trusting sorrow"  is an antithesis because 'trust' conflicts with sorrow. It highlights the precarious situation of the people in the countryside. They have been betrayed by the Government, the people in power. They are filled with sorrow on being betrayed, and yet they have a lingering level of trust in the government in power.

4. Lines 19 to 24

"And ask...gathered in".

1. They long for someone to look at them, sympathise with them, someone to buy things from them.

2. The expression "our being expand" refers their desire for prosperity, progress and growth.

3. The "moving-pictures' promise" is a promise of a movie kind of life, a good life, the life of pictures, the promise of a good life, good days to come.

4. Ironically, the party in power is "keeping from us", the promises of a moving pictures life that they had made to them earlier, probably before the elections. The word, "us" refers to the people living in the countryside, people running the roadside stand.

5. What is in the "news" is that poor people will be relocated to other towns.

6. The word, "mercifully gathered" is ironical because there is really nothing "merciful" in the intentions of the Government or the people in power. It is as if they are being gathered so that they can be slaughtered, or even silenced forever!

5. Lines 25 to 31

To live in...ancient way."

1. They will be provided with a theatre and a store. The theatre and the store will not help them because they will expose them to vices, they will push the people further into poverty since you need money to buy things from the store, moreover, no one would allow you to enter the theatre unless you bought the ticket. 

2. The things provided by the store and the entertainment provided by the theatre would only dull their minds to reality. Their attention would be diverted from their poverty and how neglected they are. They would be exposed to the vices of the good life.

3. Greedy good doers-alliteration of the letter 'G',

    beneficient beasts of prey-alliteration of the letter 'b',

    Greedy good doers-Oxymoron,

    beneficient beasts-Oxymoron.

4. The words"enforcing benefits" indicate forced benefits that are an eye-wash. They appear to be benefits but are in fact detrimental towards the well being of the people running the roadside stand.

5. The phrase, "calculated to soothe them out of their wits" suggest an ulterior calculation meant to confuse the poor people. They are to be exposed to a regimen that is intended to expose them to something akin to mass amnesia or mass forgetfulness.

6. The politicians "Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way" by exposing them to the culture of nightlife, late-night parties, binge drinking, and perhaps even lat- night shifts, graveyard shifts. The "ancient way" refers to the ancient way of life. Nights are for sleeping and days are for wakefulness.

6. Lines 32 to 37

1. He can "hardly bear" to think how naive and innocent the people running the roadside stand are to think someone will visit them and buy things from them.

2. The  "childish longing" refers to the innocent beliefs of people of the roadside who believe that people will buy stuff from them.

3. The figure of speech is the personification of the emotion of sadness.

4. Their "open prayer" is for someone to stop and buy stuff from them.

5. The cars are "selfish" because they don't stop to buy things from them. They don't even notice how miserable they are.

7. Lines 38 to 43

"And one did stoop...see?"

1. The first one stopped to ask the farmer's prices of vegetable and fruits.

2. The figure of speech is personification.

3. It had almost run out of fuel.

4. The people in the cars "didn't see" the plight of the people running the roadside stand. They ignored the plight of the poor.

8. Lines 44 to 51

"No, in country...my pain."

1. In the line, "No, in country money, the country scale of gain, the requisite lift of spirit has never been found" Robert Frost refers to the ambiguity of knowing the exact figure or amount of money, income required to make one happy.

2. The "voice of the country" seems to "complain" about being neglected by the government, being victims of broken promises, of being passed over for people living in the cities. The nature of the complaint is in the form of a silent protest.

3. The poet feels upset, disappointed, disillusioned grief-stricken.

4. It would be a "great relief" for the poet to be rid of the problem of economic disparity even if it meant silencing the poor people once and for all.

5. The poet has a  change of heart because he himself wouldn't like to be put out of his trouble by being shot!

The Third Level - A Critical Analysis with Latest MCI Questions for Practice.

The Central Theme

The Third Level by Jack Finey is a futuristic projection of time travel and space travel. While this concept has been broached by H.G.Wells in his book The Time Machine, students of grade twelve would have come across a similar theme in the lesson, The Adventure by Jayant Narlikar in grade eleven. Moreover, the concept of time travel in the form of teleportation is a familiar concept for those who have watched the Star Trek T.V. Series and the movie besides the movies Interstellar and Inception.

Another important theme this short story explores is the theme of escapism - 'a temporary refuge' from the stress of living in the modern world. Daydreams, fantasies, and hobbies offer a brief respite from the hectic routines of everyday life. The short story, The Third level explores the ideas of time travel, space travel and the role of pastimes or hobbies. The author deliberately leaves the interpretation of the story open-ended.

Important Symbols in the lesson

1. The Third Level also refers both to an intersection in time and space and for that matter, an escape mechanism that helps us escape the harsh realities of the world for a brief time. Jack Finey has deliberately left the interpretation open-ended in order to convey a sense of randomness in a world that seems to be so well ordered! The idea of randomness is best expressed by Jayant Narliker in the short story The Adventure as, a "lack of determinism in quantum theory", or when an electron makes a "jump from high to low energy".

2. The tree with roots is like a tunnel, a passageway, a portal, a wormhole, that helps you travel in space. It is like a tesseract, a means for travelling large distances in a split second.

3. The stamp collection is a medium with the help of which one can visit the past through the stamps. It is like a time machine that helps you see how things were in the past. It connects the present with the past and future. The stamp collection is like a portal or intersection (like the third level) that helps you travel back and forth in time. Like a photograph, stamps have captured a slice of time, a moment in history. They are important capsules of time.

4. The Galesburg in the year 1894 is rather like the ideal world to live in. It is a Utopian world where everyone has a rather laid-back, carefree life. Remember that the First World War is yet to happen. It is a world without stress, a world where there is so much leisure. In fact it is because of this reason that Sam Weiner decides to wind up his dispensary and instead set up a hay and animal feed business in Galesburg in the year 1894.

Important Characters in the Story

1. Charley is the narrator of the story. He had been able to somehow step into the third level but could not buy the train tickets to the Galesburg in the year 1894. He had travelled back in time to the year 1894 in the Grand Central railway station. He had also travelled in space, meaning that on two occasions he had ended up in a different place than his intended destination. On the first occasion, he left his office for his home and ended up in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. On the second occasion, he left his place of work for home but ended up in an office building on Forty-sixth Street, three blocks away.

2. Louisa is Charley’s wife. She is a bit sceptical about the whole story of the third level and she didn’t want Charley to look for it. But then, when they both learn that Charley’s friend Sam Weiner had managed to travel back in time to the Galesburg in the year 1894, she also is interested in finding the third level.

3. Sam Weiner is Charley’s Psychiatrist friend. Initially, when Charley told him about the third level he dismissed it as a ‘waking dream wish fulfilment’, a fantasy whereby he thought Charley wanted to escape from the troubles and disappointment of everyday life. Later, however, he bought old currency notes and was able to buy a ticket to Galesburg in the year 1894. He sold off his dispensary and bought a hay-feed business!

Is the third level a medium of escape for Charley?

From a psychological point of view, the third level was a medium of escape for Charley. According to Sam his Psychiatrist friend, "it was a waking-dream wish fulfilment." He believed that Charlie wanted to escape from a modern world "full of insecurity, fear, war worry" however briefly! Sam adds that Charley's hobby of stamp-collecting offered him a "temporary refuge from reality." In the lesson Going Places,  a similar thing happens when Sue resorts to fantasizing about meeting Danny Casey as a means of escaping from a life that she thinks is too limited for her aspirations beyond the biscuit factory. For Sue, however, fantasizing had taken up pathological proportions.

Charley was not able to escape to Galesburg, Illinois in the year 1894 because he did not have old currency notes to buy two tickets for the train journey and when he returned to the Grand Central Station, he would never find the corridor that led to the third level. On the other hand, his psychiatrist friend, Sam Weiner was able to escape in time and space as is evident from the letter posted by him to his grandfather. The letter was posted to Charley's grandfather and this is because once Sam had reached Galesburg in the year 1894 he could only post the letter to Sam's Grandfather in the same year, same time zone.

Clearly, therefore, the third level could at the most afford Charley a temporary peek into the past, to a railway station in the year 1894 as is evidenced by the date on the World newspaper. He had to beat a hasty retreat from that railway station before the ticket seller, the clerk raised a hue and cry about him thinking that he was trying to "skin" him with his fancy cash!

What does the third level refer to?

Taken literally, the third level refers to the third floor at the Grand Central Railway station. Symbolically, however, it refers to some kind of a portal that can help one travel back in time, (in this case, 1894) and it can teleport the person to Galesburg, thus helping the person to travel some distance, (which is equivalent to travelling in space). At a psychological level, the third level is an imaginary dream, a "waking dream" that afforded him an escape from the insecurity and stress of everyday life. There are therefore three different aspects to the third level.
The first interpretation is supported by Charley's description of how once while going back home, he turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, went down the steps to the second level,  walked down another flight of stairs, ducked into an arched doorway and got lost. He ended up in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. The second time he entered a corridor and stepped into a tunnel ending up in an office building on 46th street. The third time he ended up in a railway station on the third level in the year 1894! The third level was thus an intersection in time and space.
An interesting Science fiction interpretation is that the third level is a portal, an exit into another town and another town. Charley ended up in a railway station in 1894. Sam, his psychiatrist friend was able to travel, from the third level to Galesburg in 1894. To quote from Sam's letter, "I got to wishing that you were right. Then I got to believing you were right. And, Charley, it's true; I found the third level! I've been here two weeks, and right now, down the street at the Daly's someone is playing a piano". The address on the letter reads, "941 Willard Street, Galesburg, Illinois", and the date is, "July 18, 1894". The symbol of the "tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots," suggests a highway, a portal into space (place) and time. The multiple corridors take you to different time zones and different places.
The third explanation is that the third level is a mere figment of the imagination. Charley was "unhappy" probably stressed out from work so he decided to escape into a fantasy world. It was a "temporary refuge" from the real world. It was an escape mechanism built by the brain to give the mind some rest. So one might argue that the third level was nothing but a daydream, fantasy or something imagined on the spur of the moment.

How do people attempt to overcome the insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress of the modern world?

 According to Sam, the psychiatrist in The Third level, people attempt to escape from the stress and worries of the modern world through fantasizing, daydreaming and taking up hobbies like stamp collecting. He believes that waking dream wish fulfilment is about escape. Charley liked to think about Galesburg as a "wonderful town still with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. And in 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns...a peaceful world" a wistful memory, a fantasy of a time long gone by. Charley was obsessed with the Galesburg of 1894, something that, according to Sam was an escape from the world of stress and worry. What he had experienced, according to Sam the psychiatrist was a waking dream wish fulfilment in which he lived his fantasy of travelling back in time when people were more relaxed and laid back, things were more peaceful and the air was fresher. However, one should note that by the end of the story, Sam the Cynic, the non-believer, himself ends up travelling to Galesburg in the year 1894! What greater comment can Jack Finney make about not believing the implausible!
People take up hobbies as an attempt to escape and overcome the insecurity, fear, worry and stress of life in the modern world. To quote from the lesson, "My stamp-collecting, for example; that's a 'temporary refuge from reality.' " However, Charley doesn't agree with this point of view since he believes that his grandfather "didn't need any refuge from reality; things were pretty nice and peaceful in his day."
Taking up hobbies, sports, adventure activities do have benefits. They provide us with a much-needed break from hectic work schedules. Pastimes help divert the mind from work and provide a moment for the brain to cope with mental fatigue. Hobbies provide people with coping strategies. Hobbies like stamp-collecting (Philately) and coin-collecting (Numismatics) help keep the past alive. They help enthusiasts meet each other, and widen their social circles.

Hobbies like Stamp-collecting and Coin collecting have advantages. Even President Roosevelt collected stamps.

Philately and Numismatics have great advantages for enthusiasts. They help people travel back and forth in time between the past, the present and the future. Old coins and stamps take you back in time. One learns a lot about the past through them, like social conditions, the rulers who ruled in those times, you learn about the economics of those time, geography, ecology and so forth. Stamps and coins of the present times can form a reference point to make projections about the future and they help you compare the present with the past. The use of silver and gold in the coins of the past followed by alloys in the present time tell you a lot about the shift in the economy.
Charley was able to connect to his past, more specifically to his grandfather through the stamp collection that he had inherited from his grandfather. The stamps that his grandfather had collected were in a way like a time capsule. Moreover, Charley's connection to Galesburg was through his stamp collection. It is pertinent to note that he discovered Sam's note inside a first-day cover envelope addressed to his grandfather who had lived in Galesburg. Charley's stamp album helped him connect to the past. It was a means of travelling in time.

Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection!
The submarine was a futuristic projection about underwater travel. Jules Verne's description of the Nautilus would have been an illogical concept in the times when Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under The Sea was published. H.G.Wells description of space Travel to the moon must have seemed implausible in the time when his book was published. The steam engine did not pop out of the drawing board, it was dreamt! In all these cases, illogicalities turned out to be futuristic projections of discoveries and inventions that have become rather commonplace today.
Looking at the above examples as a basis for futuristic projections of the world, would it not be correct to assume that time travel and space travel (teleportation) might not become realities of the future? Films like Back to the Future, Inception and Interstellar, predict what might one day become a reality. Jayant Narliker writes about travel between multiple dimensions both in space and time in the grade eleven lesson The Adventure. Quantum physics describes the world through Quantum theory as a world based on the randomness of things. Professor Gaitonde had travelled back in time and space after his collision with a truck.
The very concept of reality is challenged by Quantum theory. Professor Gaitonde was able to make a transition; he was able to experience two worlds. Charley was able to experience (theoretically at least) time travel for a short while. Sam, the cynical psychiatrist was able to travel back in time and space permanently at least!

What do you infer from Sam's letter to Charley?
At a symbolic level, Sam had managed to find 'the corridor that leads to the third level at Grand Central Station' and travelled back in time to Galesburg in the year 1894.
That he had travelled in time and space is evident from his letter to Charley. According to him,' it's true; I found the third level!' Sam goes on to describe life in Galesburg in the year 1894 and he encourages both Charley and Louisa to 'Keep looking' for the third level.
The final proof that Sam had travelled back in time and space is also evident from the way the letter ends up in Charley's stamp collection. Another important proof is the address and the date in Sam's letter 941, Willard Street, Galesburg, Illinois, July 18, 1894.

Extract-based Questions

1. Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There's probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe because for so many people through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape-maybe that's how the tunnel I got into...But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.

1. Who is 'I' in the extract?

2. What figure of speech has the writer used in the first line? Why does the writer use the figure of speech?

3. What has the Grand Central been 'an exit' to?

4. What 'idea' is the narrator talking about?

2. Sometimes I think grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There's probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park.

1. Identify the metaphor used in the first line.
2. Where does the tunnel exist?
3. What are the two destinations of the tunnel?
4. Who is I and what does he think?

3. Then I saw why: they were open-flame gaslights.
   There were brass spittoons on the floor, and across the station, a glint of light caught my eye; a man was pulling a gold watch from his vest pocket. He snapped open the cover, glanced at his watch and frowned. He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with a tiny lapel, and he had a big, black, handlebar moustache. Then I looked around and saw that everyone in the station was dressed like...

1. Why were there open-flame gaslights?
2. What kind of a watch did the man pull out?
3. What is so strange about the man's clothes and appearance?
4. What year did Charlie travel to?

4. But now we're both looking, every weekend because now we have proof that the third level is still there. My friend Sam Weiner disappeared.

1. Who are  'we' in the first line?
2. What are they looking for every weekend?
3. What 'proof' is the narrator talking about?
4. Who is Sam? Where had he disappeared to?

5.   Have you ever been there? It's a wonderful town still with big frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. And in 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns, the men smoking cigars and talking quietly, the women waving palm-leaf fans, with the fireflies all around, in a peaceful world.

1. What place is being described in the above extract?
2. How is the place different from the place Charlie lives in?
3. How are the people different from the people who live in a modern city?
4. What does the writer mean by, 'summer evenings were twice as long '.

MCQI Type Questions

1.       Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There's probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park.

1. The figure of speech used in the first sentence is not an example of:

     i.  alliteration

     ii. simile

     iii.metaphor

     iv. imagery

2. The Grand Central as a metaphor refers to

     i. some kind of a portal

     ii. an intersection in time and space

    iii. a time travel device

    iv.  all of the options are correct.

3.  The expression, "feeling its way" suggests a movement that is

      i. tentative and a little explorative.

     ii. confident and insistent.

    iii. insinuative and persistent.

    iv. unsure but goal-oriented.

2.          The clerk figured the fare - he glanced at my fancy hatband, but he figured the fare - and I had enough for two coach tickets, one way. But when I counted out the money and looked up, the clerk was staring at me. He nodded at the bills. "That ain't money, mister," he said, "and if you're trying to skin me, you won't get very far," and he glanced at the cash drawer beside him.

1. The clerk glanced at Charley's 'fancy hatband' because

     i. it was an expensive one.

    ii. it was rather flashy.

   iii. it looked strange.

   iv. it looked exclusive.

2. The second coach ticket was for

    i. his psychiatrist friend.

   ii. Sam Weiner

  iii. Loiusa

  iv. his boss

3. The reason why he had bought a 'one way' ticket was that

    i. he couldn't afford a two-way ticket.

   ii. he did not plan to return to New York.

  iii. he planned to stay for some time there.

  iv. none of the above statements holds true.

4. The clerk 'nodded at the bills' because

    i. they were fake bills

   ii. they were soiled and torn

  iii. they looked different 

  iv.  they were counterfeit

3. The clerk's glancing at the cash drawer is indicative of

    i. his nervousness lest Charley intended to steal the cash in it.

   ii. a warning to Charley to run away before he used a weapon.

  iii. he had something that was most valuable in the drawer.

  iv. he was checking on the small change. 

4. I got to wishing that you were right. Then I got to believing you were right. And, Charley, it's true; I found the third level! I've been here two weeks, and right now, down the street at the Daly's, someone is playing a piano, and they're all out on the front porch singing 'Seeing Nelly Home.' And I'm invited over for lemonade.

1. The tone in the above extract is

   i. excited 

  ii. wistful

 iii. languid

  iv. joyful

2. The above extract suggests that the narrator is

  i. glad to have travelled back to the town where he had spent his childhood.

 ii. glad to have travelled back in time to the Galesburg described by Charley.

iii. glad to have opened his clinic in a different town.

 iv. glad to have been invited for lemonade.

3. The narrator in the above extract describes

   i. a revision in the narrator's opinion about life in a metro.

  ii. a revision in the narrator's opinion about the third level

 iii. a revision in the narrator's opinion about the hay business

 iv. a revision in the narrator's opinion about wish fulfilment.

Suggested Reading:

The Adventure by Jayant Narliker-Hornbill, Textbook for Class XI

Fanmail from a Bluethroat bird Photo by Rodrick Lal — National Geographic Your Shot

Fanmail from a Bluethroat bird Photo by Rodrick Lal — National Geographic Your Shot: This Bluethroat bird that I spotted at the Basai Wetland seemed more curious of me than I was of it! It simply kept hopping towards me.

A Flight of Birds at the Basai Wetland

The Basai Wetland, right on the edge of Gurgaon on the Basai-Jajjar road is easily missed. Once you get down the flyover and land bang close to the main entrance to the waterworks, you need to travel a few fifty metres down the road till you see a cut in the road leading to a nondescript lane on the right leading to nowhere. Those of you who are lucky, that is if you reach by seven in the morning, you might be able to catch some action. At this time of the year, (end of February and the beginning of March) you might be able to see storks both woolly and painted, and cormorants catching fish. The Ducks will have left by now and the Sarus cranes too. Of particular interest are the Purple Herons in flight. Being larger birds, they are fun to capture!

The black-winged stilt such as the one pictured above can be interesting too, especially for the kind of refection they cast on the water that they wade in. Sandpipers too can be a joy to photograph in flight especially as they might be seen flying close to the water with their reflections making for an interesting pattern in the water.

Cormorants, though not so colourful as the painted storks and the flashy Kingfishers, have a most interesting flight pattern. They fly close to the surface of the water with their webbed feet hanging out rather like the landing gear of airliners coming to land.

Incidentally, it is the flying birds that make for the most compelling shots. Such shots contain drama and they have a story of sorts to tell. The snap posted below is that of a woolly necked stork taking to the air.

One of my favourite snaps taken that day though is that of a Purple Heron taking off into the air with the rays of the rising sun lending drama to the whole scene.

The Gurgram Conundrum-Changing Ecological Factors

Increasing demand for space and infrastructure has exposed this once sleepy and rather peaceful town to a change in environmental factors that have affected the quality of lives of not only people residing in the town but also the birds and all wildlife endemic to the region. The recent proposal of allowing the Aravalis to be used for development purposes both residential and commercial has once again led to debates and discussions about why we need to preserve our remaining forests and wetlands. While some claim that we need more space for development purposes, others claim that the Aravalis and forests are the lungs of the NCR region and that they are the only protective barriers that would prevent the ingress of dust and sand from Rajasthan into the National Capital Region. A few Environmental experts claim that the Aravalis are a form of a natural bund or dam that help funnel rainwater runoff into the bowl that Gurgaon happens to be.

My focus, however, is not the Aravalis as such, but parts of Gurgaon that are already undergoing rapid development. In this case, the entire area along the Gurgaon-Jajhar road starting from the Basai Wetland. Ironically, the term 'Wetland' does not exist for Basai in the official lectionary although it might perhaps exist as a 'Wasteland'! When I  think about Environmental degradation, I believe it is indicated in the conflict between wildlife and man. All the development taking place in the region is impacting the wildlife that exists in the region. While desertification might not be immediately visible, the flooding that takes place immediately after rains is an indication of worse to come. Extreme weather changes locally and shifts in climate might be a direct result of unplanned development taking place -  a development that doesn't take into consideration its impact, thereof on the Environment and Ecology of the region. A few photographs that I take of the Basai Wetland are indicative of the Gurgaon Conundrum, an essay on the impact of development on the Ecological health of the town and its surrounding areas.

Farmlands have given way to development projects. Forests have disappeared, rainwater runoff streams, the Badhsahpur drain and the wetlands are disappearing from sight. A large number of migratory birds return to breeding grounds only to discover that they no longer exist! Siberian Cranes, Bar-headed Geese, Flamingos, Pochards, Gadwall Ducks, Painted Storks, Woolly Necked Stork, Northern Shoveller Ducks even Sarus Cranes are disappearing fast. The disappearance of these migratory birds is an indication that the ecology of the region is undergoing a huge change. While we should not rush into speculation and alarmistic predictions of an immediate Environmental Disaster, we should at least take notice of the symptoms of the ill health of the Ecology of the region. Pictures of Herons and Storks flying into the skies against the backdrop of shells of newly built structures (as yet unoccupied)  with gaping windows are a poignant and foreshadowing of zombie townships, silent and brooding with the human populace missing.

The close proximity of development projects and wetlands is a symbol of the man-wildlife struggle for space. With no more space left, giant birds like storks and cranes will probably disappear forever. What most people realise today is that Environmental degradation leads directly to a degradation of the quality of life. What everyone wants today is fresh air, clean drinking water, the scent of blooming flowers, the sight of lush green fields, the sight of birds, birds soaring into clear blue skies, the calm and serenity of a world at peace with itself. But then instead of blue skies, you have a horizon of concrete structures meeting the sky, blocking the flight of birds, the very spirit flags!

The sight of birds foraging in murky waters, sewage, probably, in the backdrop of industrial waste, broken concrete slabs, debris from failed construction sites, images of birds gathered in shrinking oases, bewildered, befuddled, wondering if they have a future, these are the images that we get of the dwindling number of migratory birds that we see as the birds flash by.

What struck really hard was the sight of a Purple Heron sitting in the middle of a dry wasteland of dried up weeds, brilliantly camouflaged in the browns of the dried leaves, evocative of a burnt up world with no greenery left to break the monotony.

A rather haunting image of despair and helplessness, the emptiness of an Environment bereft of greenery or even the brilliance of a blue sky, this is what we are headed to unless we do something about protecting our wetlands, forests and mountains!