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                                  Specimen Question Paper Std X Eng


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Mimusops elengi

Mimusops elengi

Maulsari is a medium-sized evergreen tree found in tropical forests in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Northern Australia. English common names include Spanish cherry,[1] Medlar,[1] and Bullet wood. In Hindi Maulsari. Its timber is valuable, the fruit is edible, and it has traditional medicinal uses.

Common name: Spanish cherry • Hindi: Maulsari मौलसरी • Urdu: Kirakuli किराकुली • Manipuri: বোকুল লৈ Bokul lei • Tamil: மகிழம்பூ Magizhamboo • Malayalam: Ilanni • Bengali: Bakul • Marathi: Bakuli • Konkani: Omval • Kannada: Ranjal • Gujarati: Barsoli

Botanical name: Mimusops elengi    Family: Sapotaceae (Mahua family)

Spanish cherry is a lovely green small tree of the Indian subcontinent. With its small shiny, thick, narrow, pointed leaves, straight trunk and spreading branches, it is a prized oranamental specimen because it provides a dense shade and during the months from March to July fills the night air with the delicious heady aroma of its tiny cream colored flowers. Flowers are small, star-shaped, yellowish white in color, with a crown rising from the center. Oval leaves, wavy at margin, about 5-16 cm and 3-7 cm wide. In the morning the fragrant flowers which so graciously scented their surroundings with their deep, rich, fragrance during the evening hours, fall to the ground. People love to collect them as they retain their odor for many days after they fall. They are offered in temples and shrines throughout the country. Appears in Indian mythology as Vakula - said to put forth blossoms when sprinkled with nectar from the mouth of lovely women. Fruits are eaten fresh.

Medicinal uses:  Various parts of the tree have medicinal properties. It is used in the treatment and maintenance of oral hygiene. Rinsing mouth with water solution made with bakul helps in strengthening the teeth. It also prevents bad breath and helps keep the gums healthy.

Second interview with Raksha Bharadia

Q: When and why did you start blogging?

A: I think in 2007.

Q: What topics do you generally blog about?

A: Little observations of life, everyday failings of us, our victories, our beauty, our ugliness.

Q: You love stir fry and Bengali mithai, and have now settled to the land of Dhoklas and Theplas.  How do you look at both the cities and how has the shift treated you? What was Raksha doing before she was a writer?

A: I love the freedom and space that Ahmedabad offers, and I cherish the city I grew up in Kolkata, its newspapers, to its theater to its packed roads and of course Flury’s where one can have the most delicious rum balls and gaze at passers by at Park Street through the glass.

Q: A very good flair for writing is what you seem to posses. Which author is your inspiration & why? According to you, what is the most interesting thing about your writing?

A: I have many writers that I look up to. Marcel Proust, Milan Kundera, Tagore, Simone de Beauvoir, Maugham etc. I perhaps may not be able to answer as to what is the most interesting thing about my writing but can definitely say that I am an observer of the little things that affect us.

Q: Family support is very critical. How do your friends and family respond when they read your books? Who do you think are your best critics and why?

A: Family and friends are indeed good support. My biggest critique? I think I, me, myself.

Q: Your girls are voracious readers. So, do your children also aspire to become like their mother? What do you wish to see them in future?  What does your husband do feel about your writing? Does he also have a creative instinct like you?

A: It is too soon to tell what path my children will take. As far as my wish for them, I only want them to do and be what they enjoy most, be it writing, science, even DJing. My husband Sanjeev is proud of me and enjoys the little tidbits I share with him of my writing.

Q: All and Nothing, though fiction, has a real base. You’ve met Tina & her husband, who are also the characters of your the book. We would like you to elaborate more on your meeting and how you decided to write a book on it.

A: I met Tina in a club in Kolkata. The mood was light and we were a few drinks down. We were talking of relationships, marriage, commitment and then My Tina said that she will make her husband love her, that it was just the beginning. After a little while, I found myself seated next to the husband and he said that he is happy where they were in their marriage (alcohol was responsible for this uninhibited state of course). The contrast struck me. Two people, one marriage and yet they saw it so differently. While for one, it was the best possible, for the other it was just a starting point for something better. That evening, All and Nothing was conceived.

Q: You’ve edited many series of Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul. Which book has been closest to your heart?

A: Chicken Soup for the Indian Armed Forces.

Q: Teaching English in a street school run by NGO Manav Sadhna and teaching in the school for the visually challenged in Andh Kanya Gruh are a part of your life, along with reinventing yourself via Kathak. Does teaching & dancing help you escape from the rigors writing? What other social activities have you been doing?

A: To me, dancing and teaching are like meditation. I enjoy it very much. It is not so much about escaping the rigors of writing as it is about forgetting the ‘I’ which otherwise is always omnipresent. I have been involved in some service work since a long time now.

Q: An author, columnist, dancer, wife, teacher and a mother. How do you balance your professional and personal life with two daughters?

A: I manage…though I would like to devote more time to reading.

Q: Earlier works from your pen are Me: ‘A Handbook for Life’, a self help book & ‘ROOTS And WINGS: A Handbook For Parents‘, a parenting guide. You moved to fiction with All and Nothing. What is the next book in works and which genre? Which style do you prefer writing? Would you like to write a biography or an auto-biography in future?

A: I have got hooked to fiction. It offers me space and freedom. Also, I feel that fiction has more truth than non-fiction. What I cannot say as Raksha, I can as Tina, or Manas or Poorvi (the characters in All and Nothing). I have had a few offers for biographies but at the moment I am into another novel.

Q: You have been editing Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series since a long time now. Being a non-fiction series, you have read many stories which have a range of human emotions in them. How have you connected with them? How difficult it is to choose one emotional story over another? Also, how have the stories changed your emotions, perceptions, etc.? Share one such story that touched your heart or brought about a change in you.

A: The more stories I get, the more authors I meet, the more I feel about the universality of human emotions. We all feel anger, hatred, love, empathy, etc but differ in degree only. The wider my database of writer grows, the narrower is the listing of fundamentals of us. But along with this there is another reality that where ever we are, at whatever point in our lives, we all want to grow, be better, do better….and this has been my biggest lesson. That the desire to be be more than what we are is inbuilt in us.

Q: If Raksha Bharadia was not an author, what would she be? What are your interests other than writing? You are a workaholic and have been wanting to stay in a place like Auroville for a week, all by yourself, since the last 4 years! Has it been fulfilled now? If not, what are you doing to work towards it? What else does Raksha wish to do but has not been able to?

A: Auroville is still a wish list. If I would not have been an author I would have perhaps been a counselor. I have so many entries in my bucket list that you will tire of reading them…:)

Q: We suppose you have a special talent to sense what people like hearing. So, can we look forward to a scriptwriter or a film director in future? 

A: Inshaah Allah….

Q: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

A: Permitting time and space, it is a good idea for a blogger to interact with the readers. I cannot respond to all the comments I get, but try and respond to the ones that touch me.

Q: What do you find to be the most gratifying aspect of blogging?

A:The fact that I can get down in paper what is prime on my mind.

Q: How, in general, would you rate the quality of Indian blogs? Share your favourite five blogs.

A:I think there is a revolution happening here. I think because we Indians have so much more in terms of legacy, number of relationships, struggles, experiences, traditions that with the tool of blogging and the power of expression we can be at some place powerful. Just because there is so much more content in an Indian mind…

Q: What is your advice to someone who wants to start a blog?

A: Be honest in writing what you do. Do not write for the reader, write what you feel.

Q: Do you ever get stuck when writing an entry? What do you do then?

A: Many times. Usually take a break, go for a walk, read, meditate.

Q: Do you promote your blog? What promotional techniques work best for you and why?

A: Nope, I do not promote my blog at all.

Q: Do you earn revenue through your blog? How does one go about it?

A: I do not earn revenue through my blog.

Q: Let’s conclude off with a few favorites.

Color: White and Black

Movie: Closer

TV Show: Two and a Half Men

Book: Many

Time of Day: 6 in the evening when I go for a walk

Your Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Thank you Raksha for this wonderful interview. We wish you all the best for the upcoming titles of ‘The Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul’ and your upcoming book. Readers, time to grab the book and let Raksha know your thoughts on the same.

Raksha Bharadia

Raksha Bharadia

  

We have one lesson in std X – Alchemy of Nature written by Raksha Bharadia. Raksha Bharadia is the author of the bestselling Me: A Handbook for Life and has co-authored the much-awaited Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul. Her latest book, All and Nothing, communicates about life and the unusual situations and how our inner strength tries to overcome it.

On January 03, 2011 Divya Goyal from Hindustan Times had an interview with her. I am posting that interview here.

  All and Nothing is your first work of fiction and you are co-author of the Chicken Soup series. Do you find fiction easier to write as compared to non-fiction?

 No, writing fiction was in fact for me more difficult. When I am dealing with facts or my understanding of facts (in non-fiction), I already have a structure, a style, a perspective in mind, but with writing fiction everything goes for a toss! The characters start living their own lives and even when I am not in accordance with them I have to bow and make space for their moods…to me the difficult part was who was to decide (on a continual basis) who is right them or me! Also the freedom that comes with fiction, carries its own cross.…In fact I did far more research on my characters for this book than what I do for my non-fiction works!

 You have been occupied with the self-help genre like the Chicken Soups series. Why did you decide to write fiction? Did your earlier experience count or was it completely an uncharted territory?

 Though I have done only non-fiction I always knew I would be writing novels for me fiction speaks more truth than non-fiction. And I love what I can say as ‘Tina’ or ‘Manas’ (characters in All and Nothing) that I cannot as Raksha…

In this book you have explored a whole gamut of relationships and the insecurities in any relationship. What made you take up this subject matter?

Relationships intrigue me. I feel that whatever chance we have it is in human relationships and yet relationships are a source of extreme pain too. Relationship in today’s world is even more complex with the advent of social networking sites, channels and movies…all our ethos, morality and codes and how relevant or right they are is in itself in a flux….I enjoy how the changing world affects two dynamic individuals in a relationship…

From where do you draw your inspiration and ideas? Has there been a specific inspiration for the story of Tina?

 Well many of my characters are sourced from real life, perhaps from an image, a fleeting conversation, a situation etc. but once I give them a name, they become for me a breathing living entity and dictate their own telling…

Poorvi’s character interrogates a common problem of our society: need of a male child. What is your view on the matter?

 I think that even in today’s world and times with India being where it is, with the female gender and all its education, there still is this age-old craving to womb a male child. it is there!

Mana’s’ story shows the failure of a live-in relationship. Do you think that majority of live-in relations are unsuccessful and through this tale you wish to discourage those who are in favor of live-in relationship?

 Absolutely not! I think live-in relationships has its own merits and in fact works better especially when the couples do not want a child. My Manas was the story of a person who allows his love to corrupt in the face of his ego…and of course it deals with the question of ‘exclusivity’ and how it affects a relationship.

You previously wrote a book on parenting, however in All and nothing you do not fully expound on the dilemma’s faced by a child who witness constant bickering of his parents. Why?

 Haha,…nice question. All and Nothing is about adult relationships…hence the limited space that Shaswati and Tammana occupied in it.…

If you were to choose another connecting link to the characters than Tina, who would it be and why?

The story could be threaded through Tina only…otherwise it would simply be a book of short stories and not a novel.

Movies, such as Life.. In a Metro or the upcoming Dhobi Ghat tends to capture the essence of relationships in the urban world. Do self-help books work because of an emotional vacuum in society?

 Self help books gives us a kind of ‘collective consolation’. When I read about another who has gone through failures, trials, blocks, depression, as I have, I feel less wronged, less unlucky, less incapacitated and so on. We ultimately do not feel alone in our misery…

Interchange of Exclamatory and Assertive Sentences

Interchange of Exclamatory and Assertive Sentences

Study the following examples:-

1. The elephant is a very big animal.

What a big animal the elephant is!

2. The king was very cruel.

How Cruel the king was!

Transform the following into Exclamatory sentences:-

1.     The salesman was unbearably slow

2.    It is a horrible night.

3.    It is hard to believe that he did such a deed.

4.    I wish I had met you ten years ago.

5.    It is very stupid of me to forget your name.

6.    The king was very cruel.

7.    The mangoes are very sweet.

8.    I had a lovely evening.

9.    I wish I was that lovely.

Transform the following Exclamatory sentences into Assertions:-

1.     How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

2.    The moonlight very sweetly sleeps upon this bank.

3.    If only I were young again!

4.    I wish I were young again.

5.    Alas that youth should pass away!

6.    It is sad to think that youth should pass away.

7.    What a piece of work is man!

8.    What a wonderful creature an elephant is!

9.    How awkwardly he manages his sword!

10. If only I had the wings of a dove!

11.  What a large nose!

12. If only I had a good horse!

13. What a delicious meal!

14. How well fitted the camel is for the work he has to do!

15. How cold you are!

16. What a beautiful scene this is!

17. What a delicious flavour these mangoes have!

18. If only I knew more people!

19. If only I had come one hour earlier!

20.How naughty you are.

21. How beautiful is night!

22.Alas the king is dead!

23.Shame on you!

24.Shame on your beaviour!

Assertive to interrogative

Assertive to interrogative

1. This is not the answer I expected from you.

     Is this the answer I expected from you? 

2. Gold alone can not make a relation strong.

     Can Gold alone make a relation strong? 

3. Everybody worships the rising sun.

     

4. It is no use crying over spilt milk.

     

5. There is nothing better than a busy life.

     

6. Nowhere in the world will you find a fairer building than the Taj Mahal.

     

7. It is useless to offer bread to a man who is dying of thirst.

     

8. We could have done nothing without your help.

     

9. That was not an example to be followed.

     

Interrogative to assertive

Interrogative to assertive

1. Can I ever forget your kindness?

     I can never forget your kindness. 

2. Shall I ever forget those happy days?

     I shall never forget those happy days. 

3. Can anyone excel Sachin in batting?

     

4. Isn’t she exceptionally well for her age?

     

5. Who authorized you to sign these documents?

     

6. Who is free from sin?

     

7. Who was there to listen to her appeals?

     

8. When can their glory fade?

     

9. Why waste time in reading such rubbish?

     

10. Why should your consent be half-hearted?

     

11. Were we born simply to eat, drink and make merry?

     

12. Where else can we get the comfort of home?

     

13. What though we happen to be late?

It does not matter much though we happen to be late.

14. Were we sent into the world simply to make money?

We were not sent into the world simply to make money.

15. Was he not a villain to do such a deed?

He was a villain to do such a deed.

16. Who can touch pitch without being defiled?

17. What though the field be lost?

     

18. Is that the way a gentleman should behave?

     

19. Who does not know the owl?

     

20. Why waste time in this fruitless occupation?

     

21. Is this the kind of dress to wear in school?