II. From the text on Bismillah Khan, find the words and phrase... - Beehive

I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30–40 words).
1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?
2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

III. Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100–150 words).
1. How does Evelyn hear music?

I. Tick the right answer.
1. The (shehnai, pungi) was a ‘reeded noisemaker.’
2. (Bismillah Khan, A barber, Ali Bux) transformed the pungi into a shehnai.
3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were (barbers, professional musicians).
4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from (Ali Bux, Paigambar Bux, Ustad Faiyaaz Khan).
5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to (Afghanistan, U.S.A., Canada).

II. Find the words in the text which show Ustad Bismillah Khan’s feelings about the items listed below. Then mark a tick (✔) in the correct column. Discuss your answers in class.

III. Answer these questions in 30–40 words.
1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?
2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?
4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?
6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?
7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.

I. Look at these sentences.
• Evelyn was determined to live a normal life.
• Evelyn managed to conceal her growing deafness from friends and teachers.
The italicised parts answer the questions: “What was Evelyn determined to do?” and “What did Evelyn manage to do?” They begin with a to-verb (to live, to conceal).
Complete the following sentences. Beginning with a to-verb, try to answer the questions in brackets.
1. The school sports team hopes ____ (What does it hope to do?)
2. We all want ______(What do we all want to do?)
3. They advised the hearing-impaired child’s mother _____(What did they advise her to do?)
4. The authorities permitted us to ______(What did the authorities permit us to do?)
5. A musician decided to _____ (What did the musician decide to do?)

III. Tick the right answer.
1. When something is revived, it (remains dead/lives again).
2. When a government bans something, it wants it (stopped/started).
3. When something is considered auspicious, (welcome it/avoid it).
4. When we take to something, we find it (boring/interesting). 
5. When you appreciate something, you (find it good and useful/find it of no use).
6. When you replicate something, you do it (for the first time/for the second time).
7. When we come to terms with something, it is (still upsetting/no longer upsetting).

IV. Dictionary work
• The sound of the shehnai is auspicious.
• The auspicious sound of the shehnai is usually heard at marriages.

The adjective auspicious can occur after the verb be as in the first sentence, or before a noun as in the second. But there are some adjectives which can be used after the verb be and not before a noun. For example:

• Ustad Faiyaz Khan was overjoyed.

We cannot say: *the overjoyed man.

Look at these entries from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005).

elder adi., noun adjective 1 [only before noun] (of people, especially two members of the same family) older: my elder brother • his elder sister 2 (the elder) used without a noun immediately after it to show who is the older of two people: the elder of their two sons 3 (the elder) (formal) used before or after sb’s name to show that they are the older of two people who have the same name: the elder Pitt • Pitt, the elder.

awake adj., verb adjective [not before noun] not asleep (especially immediately before or after sleeping): to be  half/fully awake; to be wide awake. I was still awake when he came to bed.

Consult your dictionary and complete the following table. The first one has been done for you.

Use these words in phrases or sentences of your own.

I. 1. What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?
2. Have you seen anybody winnow grain at home or in a paddy field? What is the word in your language for winnowing? What do people use for winnowing? (Give the words in your language, if you know them.)
3. What does the poet say the wind god winnows?
4. What should we do to make friends with the wind?
5. What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?
6. How does the poet speak to the wind — in anger or with humour? You must also have seen or heard of the wind “crumbling lives”. What is your response to this? Is it like the poet’s?