CBSE Textbook: Challenges to National Integration | Main Course (Communicative English) Book Class 10 PDF Download

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UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
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UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
209
 
 
 
 
 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
 Where words come out from the depth of truth 
 Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection 
 Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
 Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
 Where the mind is led forward by thee 
 Into ever-widening thought and action 
 Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 
     Rabindranath Tagore
  Why does the poet say, 'Where the mind is without fear'? •
  What are the narrow domestic walls being referred to as? •
  Why are they 'narrow'? •
  How / when does the 'clear stream of reason' lose its way? •
  What is the poet's appeal? •
B 2.  SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIA
 S: Strengths   W: Weaknesses
 O: Oppoprtunities T: Threats
 SWOT analysis is a tool used to develop effective strategies and plans for the 
progress and development of organizations, companies, institutions and 
even individuals.  Working in groups, identify the strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities and threats for our country.  Present your group's views to the 
class.  Your brief presentation should conclude with a 'vision statement' for 
India- where you want our country to be, say ten years from now and what we 
should do to achieve it.
210
Page 3


UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
209
 
 
 
 
 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
 Where words come out from the depth of truth 
 Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection 
 Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
 Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
 Where the mind is led forward by thee 
 Into ever-widening thought and action 
 Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 
     Rabindranath Tagore
  Why does the poet say, 'Where the mind is without fear'? •
  What are the narrow domestic walls being referred to as? •
  Why are they 'narrow'? •
  How / when does the 'clear stream of reason' lose its way? •
  What is the poet's appeal? •
B 2.  SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIA
 S: Strengths   W: Weaknesses
 O: Oppoprtunities T: Threats
 SWOT analysis is a tool used to develop effective strategies and plans for the 
progress and development of organizations, companies, institutions and 
even individuals.  Working in groups, identify the strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities and threats for our country.  Present your group's views to the 
class.  Your brief presentation should conclude with a 'vision statement' for 
India- where you want our country to be, say ten years from now and what we 
should do to achieve it.
210
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
211
B3. Read the following extract from Wings of Fire, where the former President of 
India speaks of his childhood.
My Childhood
--APJ Abdul Kalam
1.  I was born into a middle-class 
Tamil family in the island town 
of Rameswaram in the 
erstwhile Madras State. My 
father, Jainulabdeen, had 
n e i t h e r m u c h f o r m a l 
education nor much wealth; 
despite these disadvantages, 
he possessed great innate 
wisdom and a true generosity 
of spirit. He had an ideal 
helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she 
fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the 
members of our own family put together.
2.  I was one of many children - a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to 
tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in 
the middle of the nineteenth century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of 
limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father 
used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were 
provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a 
very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
3.  The Second World War broke out in 1939, when I was eight years old. For reasons I 
have never been able to understand, a sudden demand for tamarind seeds 
erupted in the market. I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop 
on Mosque Street. A day's collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna. 
My brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would 
later attempt to trace in the headlines in Dinamani. Our area, being isolated, was 
Page 4


UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
209
 
 
 
 
 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
 Where words come out from the depth of truth 
 Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection 
 Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
 Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
 Where the mind is led forward by thee 
 Into ever-widening thought and action 
 Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 
     Rabindranath Tagore
  Why does the poet say, 'Where the mind is without fear'? •
  What are the narrow domestic walls being referred to as? •
  Why are they 'narrow'? •
  How / when does the 'clear stream of reason' lose its way? •
  What is the poet's appeal? •
B 2.  SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIA
 S: Strengths   W: Weaknesses
 O: Oppoprtunities T: Threats
 SWOT analysis is a tool used to develop effective strategies and plans for the 
progress and development of organizations, companies, institutions and 
even individuals.  Working in groups, identify the strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities and threats for our country.  Present your group's views to the 
class.  Your brief presentation should conclude with a 'vision statement' for 
India- where you want our country to be, say ten years from now and what we 
should do to achieve it.
210
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
211
B3. Read the following extract from Wings of Fire, where the former President of 
India speaks of his childhood.
My Childhood
--APJ Abdul Kalam
1.  I was born into a middle-class 
Tamil family in the island town 
of Rameswaram in the 
erstwhile Madras State. My 
father, Jainulabdeen, had 
n e i t h e r m u c h f o r m a l 
education nor much wealth; 
despite these disadvantages, 
he possessed great innate 
wisdom and a true generosity 
of spirit. He had an ideal 
helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she 
fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the 
members of our own family put together.
2.  I was one of many children - a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to 
tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in 
the middle of the nineteenth century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of 
limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father 
used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were 
provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a 
very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
3.  The Second World War broke out in 1939, when I was eight years old. For reasons I 
have never been able to understand, a sudden demand for tamarind seeds 
erupted in the market. I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop 
on Mosque Street. A day's collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna. 
My brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would 
later attempt to trace in the headlines in Dinamani. Our area, being isolated, was 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
212
completely unaffected by the War. But soon India was forced to join the Allied 
Forces and something like a state of emergency was declared. The first casualty 
came in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. The 
newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the 
Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced my 
cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in Rameswaram, to look for a 
helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin 
helped me earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of 
pride in earning my own money for the first time.
4.  Every child is born, with some inherited characteristics, into a specific socio-
economic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways by figures of 
authority. I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, 
I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness and so did my three brothers and 
sister. I had three close friends in my childhood - Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan 
and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As 
children, none of us ever felt any difference amongst ourselves because of our 
religious differences and upbringing. In fact, Ramanadha Sastry was the son of 
Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple. Later, he 
took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father; Aravindan 
went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; and 
Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.
5.  During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, our family used to 
arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple 
to the marriage site, situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha which 
was near our house. Events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet 
were the bedtime stories my mother and grandmother would tell the children in 
our family.
6.  One day when I was in the fifth standard at the Rameswaram Elementary School, 
a new teacher came to our class. I used to wear a cap which marked me as a 
Muslim, and I always sat in the front row next to Ramanadha Sastry, who wore the 
sacred thread. The new teacher could not stomach a Hindu priest's son sitting 
with a Muslim boy. In accordance with our social ranking as the new teacher saw 
Page 5


UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
209
 
 
 
 
 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
 Where words come out from the depth of truth 
 Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection 
 Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
 Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
 Where the mind is led forward by thee 
 Into ever-widening thought and action 
 Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 
     Rabindranath Tagore
  Why does the poet say, 'Where the mind is without fear'? •
  What are the narrow domestic walls being referred to as? •
  Why are they 'narrow'? •
  How / when does the 'clear stream of reason' lose its way? •
  What is the poet's appeal? •
B 2.  SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIA
 S: Strengths   W: Weaknesses
 O: Oppoprtunities T: Threats
 SWOT analysis is a tool used to develop effective strategies and plans for the 
progress and development of organizations, companies, institutions and 
even individuals.  Working in groups, identify the strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities and threats for our country.  Present your group's views to the 
class.  Your brief presentation should conclude with a 'vision statement' for 
India- where you want our country to be, say ten years from now and what we 
should do to achieve it.
210
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
211
B3. Read the following extract from Wings of Fire, where the former President of 
India speaks of his childhood.
My Childhood
--APJ Abdul Kalam
1.  I was born into a middle-class 
Tamil family in the island town 
of Rameswaram in the 
erstwhile Madras State. My 
father, Jainulabdeen, had 
n e i t h e r m u c h f o r m a l 
education nor much wealth; 
despite these disadvantages, 
he possessed great innate 
wisdom and a true generosity 
of spirit. He had an ideal 
helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she 
fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the 
members of our own family put together.
2.  I was one of many children - a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to 
tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in 
the middle of the nineteenth century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of 
limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father 
used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were 
provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a 
very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
3.  The Second World War broke out in 1939, when I was eight years old. For reasons I 
have never been able to understand, a sudden demand for tamarind seeds 
erupted in the market. I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop 
on Mosque Street. A day's collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna. 
My brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would 
later attempt to trace in the headlines in Dinamani. Our area, being isolated, was 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
212
completely unaffected by the War. But soon India was forced to join the Allied 
Forces and something like a state of emergency was declared. The first casualty 
came in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. The 
newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the 
Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced my 
cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in Rameswaram, to look for a 
helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin 
helped me earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of 
pride in earning my own money for the first time.
4.  Every child is born, with some inherited characteristics, into a specific socio-
economic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways by figures of 
authority. I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, 
I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness and so did my three brothers and 
sister. I had three close friends in my childhood - Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan 
and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As 
children, none of us ever felt any difference amongst ourselves because of our 
religious differences and upbringing. In fact, Ramanadha Sastry was the son of 
Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple. Later, he 
took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father; Aravindan 
went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; and 
Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.
5.  During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, our family used to 
arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple 
to the marriage site, situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha which 
was near our house. Events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet 
were the bedtime stories my mother and grandmother would tell the children in 
our family.
6.  One day when I was in the fifth standard at the Rameswaram Elementary School, 
a new teacher came to our class. I used to wear a cap which marked me as a 
Muslim, and I always sat in the front row next to Ramanadha Sastry, who wore the 
sacred thread. The new teacher could not stomach a Hindu priest's son sitting 
with a Muslim boy. In accordance with our social ranking as the new teacher saw 
UNIT-6
MAIN COURSE BOOK
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
213
it, I was asked to go and sit on the back bench. I felt very sad, and so did 
Ramanadha Sastry. He looked utterly downcast as I shifted to my seat in the last 
row. The image of him weeping when I shifted to the last row left a lasting 
impression on me.
7.  After school, we went home and told our respective parents about the incident. 
Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher, and in our presence, told the teacher 
that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal 
intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He bluntly asked the teacher to 
either apologise or quit the school and the island. Not only did the teacher regret 
his behaviour, but the strong sense of conviction Lakshmana Sastry conveyed 
ultimately reformed this young teacher.
8.  On the whole, the small society of Rameswaram was very rigid in terms of the 
segregation of different social groups. However, my science teacher 
Sivasubramania Iyer, though an orthodox Brahmin with a very conservative wife, 
was something of a rebel. He did his best to break social barriers so that people 
from varying backgrounds could mingle easily. He used to spend hours with me 
and would say, "Kalam, I want you to develop so that you are on par with the highly 
educated people of the big cities."
9.  One day, he invited me to his home for a meal. His wife was horrified at the idea of a 
Muslim boy being invited to dine in her ritually pure kitchen. She refused to serve 
me in her kitchen. Sivasubramania Iyer was not perturbed, nor did he get angry 
with his wife, but instead, served me with his own hands and sat down beside me 
to eat his meal. His wife watched us from behind the kitchen door. I wondered 
whether she had observed any difference in the way I ate rice, drank water or 
cleaned the floor after the meal. When I was leaving his house, Sivasubramania 
Iyer invited me to join him for dinner again the next weekend. Observing my 
hesitation, he told me not to get upset, saying, "Once you decide to change the 
system, such problems have to be confronted." When I visited his house the next 
week, Sivasubramania Iyer's wife took me inside her kitchen and served me food 
with her own hands.