Unit 5 (Glimpses of India)
Listening, travel and trains
Plan a trip and write a travel account and an advertisement.
Listening: the baker of Goa. Someone reads the passage; you note keywords, main ideas and nice expressions. The baker came twice a day with the 'jhang, jhang' of his bamboo staff. The children ran out, not for the loaves (the maid bought those) but for the bread-bangles and sweet bread. Then write a short summary from your notes, in your own words; don't copy every line.
Speaking: a budget trip to Araku. In a group of four, plan a cheap, safe trip. Find the location on a map and how to get there (the railway now runs a glass Vistadome coach to the valley). Choose a safe, cheap stay, such as a homestay. Work out the costs and the bookings. Then write a day-by-day itinerary and share it.
Tongue twisters to practise: 'Six slim slick slender saplings'; 'Tie twine to three twigs'.
Writing a train journey. Use these expressions from the Parsi passage:
- the length and breadth (of the country): all over it;
- chugged into: arrived slowly and noisily (a train);
- vouch for: confirm from your own experience;
- long gone: in the past, no longer here;
- out came the treats: the snacks were brought out.
Give the distance, how you booked, the facilities on board, and suggestions to make it better. Don't only complain: suggest.
An advertisement for a tea or coffee: a name, a short slogan, two or three selling points (taste, aroma, where it comes from), and where to buy it.
Kashmiri breads. A Kashmiri's day starts with nun chai (salty pink tea) and bread from the Kandur (the baker). The Kandur shop is a meeting place, like a local tea stall. Collect information on breads, rotis and parathas from different states and make a collage.
Project: the Frontier Mail. It started in 1928 and ran between Bombay and Peshawar: a fast, punctual and luxurious train that covered 2,335 km in about seventy-two hours. Find out how Indian Railways has changed since independence (electrification, faster trains) and collect pictures of old and luxury trains.
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