English Access Literature Reader Ch-3 The Silver Lininng

3.The Silver Lininng We often draw our own conclusions without stopping to consider facts. Discuss an incident when you misunderstood someone because you did not make an effort to get to know that person. How did you feel when you leamed the truth? Read this short stoy where the owners of a guest house misjudge a new guest until he proves to be the silver lining in their cloud of unhappiness. I t is difficult to assess the range and quality of human emotions. Those with smiling, evergreen faces may have worm-like griefs gnawing' at their existence, and someone who seems quite dull and indifferent may be blissfully happy. Life can be a strange, humdrum2 affair, where even the few moments of peace that can be snatched should be gratefully acknowledged. recently had the very pleasant experience of staying at a private Guest House at a hill resort. A friend of mine had earlier warmly recommended the place to me, claiming for it all the facilities which most of these boarding houses advertise but generally lack. It was centrally situated- close to the post office, close to the market, close to the bus stand-yet iSolated and away from the common dins. There were pleasant views to De had from there, it had excellent cuisine, and was well looked after by one of the most charming hostesses one could find anywhere. discovered that the place exactly corresponded to the details described. But it was the hostess, particularly, and her husband and their little daughter who really proved to be the central attraction for me. nawing: (here) thoughts or ideas that are constantly worrying or distressing drum: routine; lacking excitement orvariety |din: loud, unpleasant and prolonged noise Cuisine: option of food served 25

Indamarried north an. Sheand had the south, face pleasant swarthy° ll smilebsoannyd ndneasnsd.with e, limtThe lady to and was all smiles and man, W belonged h larg bony darkwas with a very husband was a huge, The arei.took me in hand the moment Iextremely polite. put roo hadSbSyhaheethen easeclMouoprskoeBfdhdaaefnltidecariromiiu,nystfhcloeuorgmflafgaenaledglylieam,adgpbyrao,ovuVet instru ctions regarding my ee at n i a no time, th put mm ised in C om r and my visit. I was mysei for voa..\"talking to won over me It seemed as iti had known them by the family. While thus chatting with the two of them, I became aware of the.slightly wbuaisltsgwirel ehtidainndg behind the se ttee. she must have been abo ut eight and charming like was c her mothe r. Her hair lose ly cronn ad, with a straight fringe across the forehead. She was in jeans and, in her half-sleeved loose jersey and high boots, looked like a miniature jungle queen. But she was behaving a bit tooa timidly for one, and seemed to be avoiding me. I couldn't help smiling when I saw that she was staring at me. I said, What's your name?' and beckoned to he The girl became self- conscious immediately, shook her head and stood where she was. called once more, 'Hello! Come here, my dear. 6cettee: longSwarthy: having aplexionheckoned: comfortable seatmovedthat two or more a dark com ple xio n |°settee: aa m | p eople can sit on \"beckoned: withsomeone to come nearer one's hand or a baacwkayantdhaatrmassks head in 26

hat aanndd aaggaaiinn shook her head. After a second, she ran out. bushad Sne eyessaw tears in her ev became aware of an awkward pause in the room and, turning he Bhandaris. discovered that both of them were frowning, a a k on their faces. MrBhandari squeezed his wife's arm and said tica iv. T'm sorry, Mr Dhanda. You see, our daughter can neither 8Nigetically youspesk That's why she didn't come to ner n t nd muttered something about being sorry. I felt confused d not know what more to say-for I was feeling ashamed at my rdness with a chila who was obviOusly not in a position to respond yOvertures° ot friendship. I vaguely felt I had wronged9 her and her perents n o t take me long to see that thiswas a situation the poor parents aT to put up with aimost every day. For, every day, one or two guests et and new ones came along. And, at the very first meeting, or soon terwards, they wouid run into the child and fascinated by her charm and beauty, would want to talk or play with her. And every time, it would resultin the child silently smiling, sighing and withdrawing. eaving looks of agony on the faces of her parents. Often, it would lead to lengthy explanations as to how the calamity10 had come about, for many of the inquisitive visitors liked to know if it was from birth, or the result of an accident; whether anyone else in the family suffered from a similar affliction; and if any treatment was being undertaken. The queries were answered by the parents haltingly12 and with obvious anguish. What struck me as the worst part of the situation was that the giri would often be gravely4 Iooking on, her eyes aghast5 with horror and self-pity, aware that she was the topic of discussion. She had no other pastime than to run around the house, or play with the attendants. overtures: something that is offered or suggested with the hope that it will start a relationship Wronged: hurt or offended 1calamity: event that causes great damage to people's lives | affliction: disorder or disease | 12hatingly: starting and stopping often when one is uncertain or not confident | 1anguish: severe mental suffering | 14gravely: serious in manner | 15aghast: filled with dread or shock 27

She did not go to school as there were none there to cater to her Do you think a differently needs. They had tried to teach her abled child should be at home, but without success. treated with dignity She could only hear faintly, when and respect? one shouted close to her ears; *** and she could speak nothing except utter cries of happinesss and sorrow; or crudely say such words as 'ma-ma or 'unc-I' Al her ' dsother communications were confined to gestures with her hande wwhich brought a fleeting sensation of torture to her whole beina he one failed to follow what she was saying. To save the child from such repeated humiliation', one dayI suagoes. something to the Bhandaris, which they, after some trepidation'8 agrre= to try. We decided to have bits of paper typed, and to hand over one of these chits, duly sealed in a cover, to every new visitor as soon as he entered the Guest House. The text of the chit ran: Our daughter can neither hear nor speak. You may hurt her by trying to be friendly too soon, as she can neither understand nor reply to your kind words. You are requested to please give her time to approach you and make your acquaintance's. Thank you A line to the effect that they might be spared questions about her was removed by Mrs Bhandari on the plea that it would not be compatible\" with her spirit of hospitality. As it was, she felt the note was nota very make her Guest kind o ne to be given to people who were going to the t21 to save the giri House their temporary home. But she gave consen r very time a strange untold misery and helplessness she experienced e approached he. an iuce of parts of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express faeiing ashamed or stupid| 1trepidation: a feeling of fear ogestures: movements

T h o u g he x p e c t a t i o n s . a few ourworked wwee worked ploy\" sTyhme paaththeettiic question sypared Laateterr,, tthhee girl llll,, even beyond arents, the po or chil d was m were still put to the p intimate w ith any o f the lea st s slowly becam e ght that at one o f the i r herself u s t s . T h eBBhhaann ddaarriiss felt relieved, and tho The temporarily solved. gu had been problems viissiittoorr oonnee day. oroblems theyinthe ICUrsion, had a strange the landlord about the afternoon and was talking to Then was planning a short llaattee in t h e . need the next day-I y. The landlord was in a waass woul d that I a group of caves nearb d booked a room for th 4ed lunch a new g uest who ha or e packed by myself, to h xCursion, t e byhurry, arranging tthhiilngs f arranging in any moment-arriving supposed TV to be moving seassoonnaanndd was iuoaage.Mail train. a young man came in, a porter carrying h i s enough, soon twenty-five, clad in an ill-fitting tweed su it , And sure and wide trouser-bottoms. 9gage.HHee was barely s shoulder ahBwtitteis-etcbhnnaletdauiccroskkoentoei.oeypB,fietuhnshtigseshpsjeoahhruokarelndisenaaygl,clwhhuieentehklrofevoumiktlapefladittcayue2nn3adtindndye,ehdiisn h air, g Mr Bhandari stepped forward and asked, 'Mr David, I presume?' The young man looked closely at his face, smiled and nodded. Room No. 18, please. Everything is ready. The young man again looked at him, smiled and nodded. He paid the porter, who bowed low-for he was not asked to return the change-and disappeared. The ploy: trick | 2vitality: energy and enthusiasm

before hugeyoung bookwhich man g ave me a brief, friendly look and sat before aa entry the lan dlord had pushed befor e him, making the necreassar about himself and his intended stay. At this time, he discovered the sealed envelope containing th typedchit lying on the table, addressed to him by name. He took the o into theand tore it open. This coincided with the entry of the landlad room. She hurriedly asked her husband if this was the nneeww . guewstitahndth,ehaving received confirmation, came forward and shook handdes and, young man. 'Did you have a nice journey, Mr David?' she asked, with hheerr sswweeet smile. The young man smiled and nodded nonchalantly24, as if to sa Wel, neither very pleasant nor very unpleasant. Would you like to have a hot bath immediately or tea first?\" The young man pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders, obviouslv implying that one would be as good as the other and that he had no preferences. Both the landlord and the landlady were by now slightlydisconcerted by what they inferred2 to be their guest's pride and arrogance, since he had not even deigned27 to reply adequately to their polite enquiries The young man, meanwhile, took out the typed chit and started reading it. As soon as he had gone through it, he looked around, astonished. The little girl, Promodni, was at that moment playing in the courtyard. We could see her sitting near the flower beds. The young man looked at all of us with a smile and darted out28 towards her. \"Now this is very strange!' Mrs Bhandari cried out in protest. 'How rude he is' He shouldn't have ignored our request like this, the landlord put in, more mildly. sunonomsneecttthhleiandlganitthnlyafte:orarnpeepdec:aodrnienscgiiddeuerndsctsooonmcbeeertnbheeindng,eacotahnlmtoh,neaen'bsdadsriiesglnaoixftyeidn|f2|o2drm5adraittseicodonnocauevtr:ateirldua:bshlceeodn| f2ouduseetidgnaendd: au 30

too. wwaassaa bbiitt upset. For it was obvious that our effort to save Promodni ffrompmbarrassment strangers was about to fail in this instance. After a few oments, we all walked out to the verandah, and I was ehensive of that impending\" look of anguish on the faces of the parents and the child. The Stene that contronted us was something we least expected to see. The strange young man was reclining on the grassy ground while Dramodni was sitting near him. He was showing her the flowers. And suddenly, like the sound of a gun eNploding, the shrill laughter of Promodni pierced the air. The parents looked at each other with wonder and amazement. Our daughter has not laughed like this in years! Mrs Bhandari said. Curious.we watched the two of them who were now walking towards us hand-in-hand. Promodni ran to her mother, danced about her with joy saying Ma-ma! Ma-ma!' and wildly pointed at the young man. It was Mr David who came to Our rescue. We soon realized that he, too, had the same condition! His strange, ambiguous1 silences, his sudden interest in the girl on reading the note-all became apprehensive: anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant might happen impending: something that is about to happen | 3'ambiguous: not clear or decided

news.the news. AAnned then, bothtotime little digest a p o l ep r o f u s e 3 3 of profusesd apologies thatclear to us. It took us of statements the amanninstantly predicament3sof incoherent the \" tried toCcoonbroke into Presuming and tried o ey theparents it earlier. half-sentences dtthe e slightest difficultythey efullylips.they had no noticed spoke i n had no t t h es l i g h t e s t ta t y u n g m an eir He gracefulh, were lking to, the ut the yo to th head B read gestures. shook is reply,his headrest through h ethem: appeared or shook in nodded either pane answers, understanding in and pen and per.warmth h etheir used acknowledged and lengthy complicated hadShe talked as she ha sand his plans forthe For more full of news. was Bhandari of l f been educated intheythem, thounh .TbTnehehtevetreenerremwtxaeetlknrdeetadysc,bhMPeofrrooosrlmes.otShdahnteistmhhaeemtnchoteieuaonlhndsae.addtHtoteheunethdlsai,ntdrheahednihtgmoaesdrheetlofr an d her husband ld educated be render themost people's returned to India to airlhMcPbesoowrralrnuoposmeleimkrBdneees,oghubudidancoesonnhfeydwidfjiouaaaunnnesrmlsidwtshcileaitioatrusnuuhvtfdgirigioscrhbrneseeatuotadtpotibfttuleruoitpkiordtmiehaale.deeanwHr,;dcsalhea,ihnevrbhodeneyanfahsdrseeshatyeeaednmrayostntpiaoronthmiuhwgdaneatatgilhctsaagaacblitlhrlliylhfeo.ese.oS6Salhhsshhateeeaadrgntleeaayo.dgvooSretnkehheeeuaeddsetallttaslihokmneeea.oectxschtteeernapt happiest woman in the world. CHAMAN NAHAL AtSChikehaaiaidkmmeomtapna(incaNotwwaoahfriacndloP(fl1ooa9nrk2iihsa7itl-sai2snn0m)1o. 3vaH)en,el,dawlAssatzorsaukdbgino,gorwlwninhnigincahfasodrpCeeihpnraiidocmetdpsaewntnhhNdeeeantnhraacInluedA.miHzaaaewdowifa, soPwnararettseihtlbeiionoSngrnatuhhininatdytear Bccompanied the independence of India in 1947. Through his works, he captured the essence of middle-class life in India. oherent expressed in a jumbled orconfusing way; unclear| \"profuse: abundant| presuming: assuming or supposing predicament: a difficult, unpleasant or embarrassing ivation emphatically:without doubt; clearly