Class 7 English Unit 1 NCERT Book - The Day the River Spoke

 Page 1


Learning Toge Ther Unit 1
LEARNING TOGETHER
t he Day the RiveR Spoke Let us do these activities before we read.
 I Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. 
 1. Are they trying to tell you something? 
 2. Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long? 
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
 II Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three 
brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. 
She had a dream. 
 1. What could that dream be? 
 2. How could she make her dream come true? 
 3. What is your dream? What can you do to make your 
dream come true?
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
Unit 1.indd   1 Unit 1.indd   1 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM
Page 2


Learning Toge Ther Unit 1
LEARNING TOGETHER
t he Day the RiveR Spoke Let us do these activities before we read.
 I Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. 
 1. Are they trying to tell you something? 
 2. Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long? 
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
 II Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three 
brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. 
She had a dream. 
 1. What could that dream be? 
 2. How could she make her dream come true? 
 3. What is your dream? What can you do to make your 
dream come true?
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
Unit 1.indd   1 Unit 1.indd   1 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM
Poorvi 2
 Let us read
splashed: fell in 
drops, making a 
sound
slithered: moved 
by sliding from 
side to side
murmuring: 
speaking in a 
low voice
thicket: a dense 
group of bushes 
and trees
shrieked: made 
a high-pitched 
sound
startled: 
surprised
I
A big bright tear splashed down her nose. And another. 
A kingfisher swept down, its wings an arrow of blue in the 
sunlight. And a green lizard slithered down to the river’s edge 
to bask in the sun.
“Dear, dear!” said a sleepy, murmuring voice, “What’s the 
matter?”
Jahnavi was startled, because she was sure she had been quite 
alone. It couldn’t have been the lizard. And the kingfisher was 
up in the thicket of bamboo eating the fish it had caught. It 
couldn’t be the parrots, because parrots shrieked and this was 
such a sleepy voice. She looked around her. There wasn’t a 
soul in sight. She was rather scared and wanted to run away.
“You shouldn’t cry, you know,” the voice went on. “And you 
really shouldn’t be scared, when you have been coming here 
to see me every day, well, almost every day.”
Unit 1.indd   2 Unit 1.indd   2 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM
Page 3


Learning Toge Ther Unit 1
LEARNING TOGETHER
t he Day the RiveR Spoke Let us do these activities before we read.
 I Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. 
 1. Are they trying to tell you something? 
 2. Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long? 
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
 II Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three 
brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. 
She had a dream. 
 1. What could that dream be? 
 2. How could she make her dream come true? 
 3. What is your dream? What can you do to make your 
dream come true?
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
Unit 1.indd   1 Unit 1.indd   1 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM
Poorvi 2
 Let us read
splashed: fell in 
drops, making a 
sound
slithered: moved 
by sliding from 
side to side
murmuring: 
speaking in a 
low voice
thicket: a dense 
group of bushes 
and trees
shrieked: made 
a high-pitched 
sound
startled: 
surprised
I
A big bright tear splashed down her nose. And another. 
A kingfisher swept down, its wings an arrow of blue in the 
sunlight. And a green lizard slithered down to the river’s edge 
to bask in the sun.
“Dear, dear!” said a sleepy, murmuring voice, “What’s the 
matter?”
Jahnavi was startled, because she was sure she had been quite 
alone. It couldn’t have been the lizard. And the kingfisher was 
up in the thicket of bamboo eating the fish it had caught. It 
couldn’t be the parrots, because parrots shrieked and this was 
such a sleepy voice. She looked around her. There wasn’t a 
soul in sight. She was rather scared and wanted to run away.
“You shouldn’t cry, you know,” the voice went on. “And you 
really shouldn’t be scared, when you have been coming here 
to see me every day, well, almost every day.”
Unit 1.indd   2 Unit 1.indd   2 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM
3
She was puzzled. It was such a voice, like 
the river. It couldn’t be the river!
“Well, tell me all about it,” said the River, 
for it was the River. “I’ve got to hurry to reach 
the sea, you know.”
“They won’t let me go to school,” said Jahnavi.  
“I asked my mother, ‘Why can’t I go to school 
like Ettan and Meena?’ And Mother had 
replied, ‘You are too small, baby. Maybe 
later.’ ” But when she was five, little 
Ramu was born and Mother still said, 
“Maybe next year. Jahnavi, mind your 
little brother while I go to the fields.” 
Now, she was nearly ten and minding 
Little Appu, who was the smallest. “They 
don’t want me. They only...”—she stopped with a sob...
“I am scared to go to school. And I’m so old now, they’ll never 
let me go. But I want to go. I want to learn to read like Ettan 
and Meena.” Jahnavi called her brother ‘Ettan’.  Ettan means 
‘Elder brother’, but his real name was Gopi. “I want to know 
why spiders are yellow in yellow flowers, why bamboo 
trees rustle, why the moon always comes from 
behind the hills, never the other way, why 
the baby fish in the field water become 
frogs, why...”
“Stop!” said the River. “You make me 
breathless. So many whys! I can tell 
you where the moon goes,” the River 
said conspiratorially. “It goes down 
towards the sea. I’ve seen; it always 
takes the same way—over the 
mountains and down to the sea, 
like me!”
rustle: light 
sound made by 
leaves rubbing 
against each 
other
conspiratorially: 
secretly
Let us discuss
 1. What was Jahnavi’s dream? Was it 
important to her? Why?
 2. Do you think the river can help 
her in fulfilling her dream? How?
Learning TogeTher Unit 1.indd   3 Unit 1.indd   3 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM
Page 4


Learning Toge Ther Unit 1
LEARNING TOGETHER
t he Day the RiveR Spoke Let us do these activities before we read.
 I Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. 
 1. Are they trying to tell you something? 
 2. Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long? 
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
 II Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three 
brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. 
She had a dream. 
 1. What could that dream be? 
 2. How could she make her dream come true? 
 3. What is your dream? What can you do to make your 
dream come true?
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
Unit 1.indd   1 Unit 1.indd   1 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM
Poorvi 2
 Let us read
splashed: fell in 
drops, making a 
sound
slithered: moved 
by sliding from 
side to side
murmuring: 
speaking in a 
low voice
thicket: a dense 
group of bushes 
and trees
shrieked: made 
a high-pitched 
sound
startled: 
surprised
I
A big bright tear splashed down her nose. And another. 
A kingfisher swept down, its wings an arrow of blue in the 
sunlight. And a green lizard slithered down to the river’s edge 
to bask in the sun.
“Dear, dear!” said a sleepy, murmuring voice, “What’s the 
matter?”
Jahnavi was startled, because she was sure she had been quite 
alone. It couldn’t have been the lizard. And the kingfisher was 
up in the thicket of bamboo eating the fish it had caught. It 
couldn’t be the parrots, because parrots shrieked and this was 
such a sleepy voice. She looked around her. There wasn’t a 
soul in sight. She was rather scared and wanted to run away.
“You shouldn’t cry, you know,” the voice went on. “And you 
really shouldn’t be scared, when you have been coming here 
to see me every day, well, almost every day.”
Unit 1.indd   2 Unit 1.indd   2 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM
3
She was puzzled. It was such a voice, like 
the river. It couldn’t be the river!
“Well, tell me all about it,” said the River, 
for it was the River. “I’ve got to hurry to reach 
the sea, you know.”
“They won’t let me go to school,” said Jahnavi.  
“I asked my mother, ‘Why can’t I go to school 
like Ettan and Meena?’ And Mother had 
replied, ‘You are too small, baby. Maybe 
later.’ ” But when she was five, little 
Ramu was born and Mother still said, 
“Maybe next year. Jahnavi, mind your 
little brother while I go to the fields.” 
Now, she was nearly ten and minding 
Little Appu, who was the smallest. “They 
don’t want me. They only...”—she stopped with a sob...
“I am scared to go to school. And I’m so old now, they’ll never 
let me go. But I want to go. I want to learn to read like Ettan 
and Meena.” Jahnavi called her brother ‘Ettan’.  Ettan means 
‘Elder brother’, but his real name was Gopi. “I want to know 
why spiders are yellow in yellow flowers, why bamboo 
trees rustle, why the moon always comes from 
behind the hills, never the other way, why 
the baby fish in the field water become 
frogs, why...”
“Stop!” said the River. “You make me 
breathless. So many whys! I can tell 
you where the moon goes,” the River 
said conspiratorially. “It goes down 
towards the sea. I’ve seen; it always 
takes the same way—over the 
mountains and down to the sea, 
like me!”
rustle: light 
sound made by 
leaves rubbing 
against each 
other
conspiratorially: 
secretly
Let us discuss
 1. What was Jahnavi’s dream? Was it 
important to her? Why?
 2. Do you think the river can help 
her in fulfilling her dream? How?
Learning TogeTher Unit 1.indd   3 Unit 1.indd   3 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM
Poorvi II
“Even little Ramu goes to school,” said Jahnavi, “pity , the school 
isn’t by the sea,” said the River. “Then I could take you along, 
you know. But, I suppose I couldn’t really. You’d get your feet 
wet. And that would never do! I’m afraid there’s only one thing 
you can do.”
“Can I do something?” asked Jahnavi. “Well, it’s up to you,” 
said the River. “Seems to me little girls can do as much as little 
boys—they swim as fast as little boys. You just slip along one 
morning and sit there in the school and listen to what’s going 
on, and maybe the teacher will let you stay.”
“I couldn’t,” gasped Jahnavi. “I couldn’t! They’d scare me! 
They’d chase me out.”
The River laughed. “You? Scared?” the River said, “when you’re 
not afraid of the green lizard, or of the snake in the bamboo 
clump, (Jahnavi startled) or the big trains rattling past that 
bridge.” “Trains are noisy; I prefer ships,” said the River.
Jahnavi never knew the snake lived in the bamboo clump.
“What are ships?” she asked.
“Big boats,” said the River, “so big that they can take hundreds 
of people, and they sail along the sea with lights that shine all 
night.”
Jahnavi held her breath. “Will they come here?” she asked. 
“I’m afraid not,” said the River. “Too large, you know. Chandu’s 
catamaran is good enough for me. Chandu can take you to see 
a ship, someday.”
“They’d never let me!” wailed Jahnavi. 
“Try going to school first,” said the River. “Remember—it’s up 
to you!”
wailed: (here) 
complained in a 
loud voice
catamaran: a 
kind of boat
clump: 
a small group of 
trees growing 
together
rattling: noise 
made by shaking 
things
4
Unit 1.indd   4 Unit 1.indd   4 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM
Page 5


Learning Toge Ther Unit 1
LEARNING TOGETHER
t he Day the RiveR Spoke Let us do these activities before we read.
 I Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. 
 1. Are they trying to tell you something? 
 2. Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long? 
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
 II Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three 
brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. 
She had a dream. 
 1. What could that dream be? 
 2. How could she make her dream come true? 
 3. What is your dream? What can you do to make your 
dream come true?
  Share your answers with your classmates and the teacher.
Unit 1.indd   1 Unit 1.indd   1 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:07 PM
Poorvi 2
 Let us read
splashed: fell in 
drops, making a 
sound
slithered: moved 
by sliding from 
side to side
murmuring: 
speaking in a 
low voice
thicket: a dense 
group of bushes 
and trees
shrieked: made 
a high-pitched 
sound
startled: 
surprised
I
A big bright tear splashed down her nose. And another. 
A kingfisher swept down, its wings an arrow of blue in the 
sunlight. And a green lizard slithered down to the river’s edge 
to bask in the sun.
“Dear, dear!” said a sleepy, murmuring voice, “What’s the 
matter?”
Jahnavi was startled, because she was sure she had been quite 
alone. It couldn’t have been the lizard. And the kingfisher was 
up in the thicket of bamboo eating the fish it had caught. It 
couldn’t be the parrots, because parrots shrieked and this was 
such a sleepy voice. She looked around her. There wasn’t a 
soul in sight. She was rather scared and wanted to run away.
“You shouldn’t cry, you know,” the voice went on. “And you 
really shouldn’t be scared, when you have been coming here 
to see me every day, well, almost every day.”
Unit 1.indd   2 Unit 1.indd   2 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:08 PM
3
She was puzzled. It was such a voice, like 
the river. It couldn’t be the river!
“Well, tell me all about it,” said the River, 
for it was the River. “I’ve got to hurry to reach 
the sea, you know.”
“They won’t let me go to school,” said Jahnavi.  
“I asked my mother, ‘Why can’t I go to school 
like Ettan and Meena?’ And Mother had 
replied, ‘You are too small, baby. Maybe 
later.’ ” But when she was five, little 
Ramu was born and Mother still said, 
“Maybe next year. Jahnavi, mind your 
little brother while I go to the fields.” 
Now, she was nearly ten and minding 
Little Appu, who was the smallest. “They 
don’t want me. They only...”—she stopped with a sob...
“I am scared to go to school. And I’m so old now, they’ll never 
let me go. But I want to go. I want to learn to read like Ettan 
and Meena.” Jahnavi called her brother ‘Ettan’.  Ettan means 
‘Elder brother’, but his real name was Gopi. “I want to know 
why spiders are yellow in yellow flowers, why bamboo 
trees rustle, why the moon always comes from 
behind the hills, never the other way, why 
the baby fish in the field water become 
frogs, why...”
“Stop!” said the River. “You make me 
breathless. So many whys! I can tell 
you where the moon goes,” the River 
said conspiratorially. “It goes down 
towards the sea. I’ve seen; it always 
takes the same way—over the 
mountains and down to the sea, 
like me!”
rustle: light 
sound made by 
leaves rubbing 
against each 
other
conspiratorially: 
secretly
Let us discuss
 1. What was Jahnavi’s dream? Was it 
important to her? Why?
 2. Do you think the river can help 
her in fulfilling her dream? How?
Learning TogeTher Unit 1.indd   3 Unit 1.indd   3 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM
Poorvi II
“Even little Ramu goes to school,” said Jahnavi, “pity , the school 
isn’t by the sea,” said the River. “Then I could take you along, 
you know. But, I suppose I couldn’t really. You’d get your feet 
wet. And that would never do! I’m afraid there’s only one thing 
you can do.”
“Can I do something?” asked Jahnavi. “Well, it’s up to you,” 
said the River. “Seems to me little girls can do as much as little 
boys—they swim as fast as little boys. You just slip along one 
morning and sit there in the school and listen to what’s going 
on, and maybe the teacher will let you stay.”
“I couldn’t,” gasped Jahnavi. “I couldn’t! They’d scare me! 
They’d chase me out.”
The River laughed. “You? Scared?” the River said, “when you’re 
not afraid of the green lizard, or of the snake in the bamboo 
clump, (Jahnavi startled) or the big trains rattling past that 
bridge.” “Trains are noisy; I prefer ships,” said the River.
Jahnavi never knew the snake lived in the bamboo clump.
“What are ships?” she asked.
“Big boats,” said the River, “so big that they can take hundreds 
of people, and they sail along the sea with lights that shine all 
night.”
Jahnavi held her breath. “Will they come here?” she asked. 
“I’m afraid not,” said the River. “Too large, you know. Chandu’s 
catamaran is good enough for me. Chandu can take you to see 
a ship, someday.”
“They’d never let me!” wailed Jahnavi. 
“Try going to school first,” said the River. “Remember—it’s up 
to you!”
wailed: (here) 
complained in a 
loud voice
catamaran: a 
kind of boat
clump: 
a small group of 
trees growing 
together
rattling: noise 
made by shaking 
things
4
Unit 1.indd   4 Unit 1.indd   4 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:10 PM
Learning Toge Ther 5
Jahnavi gathered courage. The next day she reached the school, 
panting and out of breath and stood by the door listening while 
the teacher read out the lesson. It was a story about a prince 
called As´ hoka, who became a great king. Little Appu had fallen 
asleep on her shoulder. She crept nearer and nearer till she was 
in the back row, squatting with the others on the earthen floor. 
Little Appu made no noise and she listened.
“Where did you spring from, little girl?” asked the teacher. “And 
what is your name? You’re new in my class.” 
“She’s Gopi’s sister, Gopi is in the next class,” said one of the boys. 
“It’s Jahnavi,” said another. “So, you’re Gopi’s little sister? Nice 
lad, Gopi.”
“If you really, really want to come to my school, Jahnavi,” the 
teacher had said, “we’ll talk to your father about it. Don’t you 
worry. We’ll find a way.”
Jahnavi saw the teacher walking up the steps to their gate the 
next evening when she was lighting the lamp. She could see her 
father scratching his cheek the way he did when he was worried 
and the teacher was nodding and saying something she couldn’t 
make out. And Mother said, “Little Jahnavi, I shall miss you when 
you go to school. Girls should learn as much as they want. When I 
was your age, I wanted to go to school, but your grandmother said 
‘No’, but now, I am glad the teacher came to talk to your father.” 
Unit 1.indd   5 Unit 1.indd   5 06-Mar-25   2:47:12 PM 06-Mar-25   2:47:12 PM