NCERT Textbook: Bringing Up Kari | English An Alien Hand Class 7 PDF Download

 Page 1


Kari, a five-month-old baby elephant, lives and grows up
with his nine-year-old friend and keeper.
Kari doesn’t eat much—just about sixteen kilograms of
delicious twigs a day.
Playful and sensitive, Kari saves a boy from drowning.
KARI, the elephant, was five months old when he was given
to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could
reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain
that high for nearly two years. We grew together; that is
probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He
lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on
thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari
bumped against the poles as he moved about.
One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a
boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed
forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every
day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his
bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed
him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that
he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his
skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal
squeal: cry/trumpet
Reprint 2024-25
Page 2


Kari, a five-month-old baby elephant, lives and grows up
with his nine-year-old friend and keeper.
Kari doesn’t eat much—just about sixteen kilograms of
delicious twigs a day.
Playful and sensitive, Kari saves a boy from drowning.
KARI, the elephant, was five months old when he was given
to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could
reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain
that high for nearly two years. We grew together; that is
probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He
lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on
thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari
bumped against the poles as he moved about.
One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a
boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed
forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every
day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his
bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed
him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that
he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his
skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal
squeal: cry/trumpet
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8
An Alien Hand
with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then I
would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way
to lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle
while I went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for
his dinner. One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut
down these twigs; it takes half an hour to sharpen the
hatchet because if a twig is mutilated an elephant will not
touch it.
It was not an easy job to get twigs and saplings for Kari.
I had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate and
tender twigs. As he was very fond of the young branches of
the banyan tree which grows like a cathedral of leaves and
branches, I was gathering some, one spring day in March,
when I suddenly heard Kari calling to me in the distance.
As he was still very young, the call was more like that of a
baby than an elephant. I thought somebody was hurting
luscious: tasty and sweet smelling hatchet: small axe mutilated: torn
awkwardly/disfigured
Reprint 2024-25
Page 3


Kari, a five-month-old baby elephant, lives and grows up
with his nine-year-old friend and keeper.
Kari doesn’t eat much—just about sixteen kilograms of
delicious twigs a day.
Playful and sensitive, Kari saves a boy from drowning.
KARI, the elephant, was five months old when he was given
to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could
reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain
that high for nearly two years. We grew together; that is
probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He
lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on
thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari
bumped against the poles as he moved about.
One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a
boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed
forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every
day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his
bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed
him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that
he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his
skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal
squeal: cry/trumpet
Reprint 2024-25
8
An Alien Hand
with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then I
would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way
to lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle
while I went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for
his dinner. One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut
down these twigs; it takes half an hour to sharpen the
hatchet because if a twig is mutilated an elephant will not
touch it.
It was not an easy job to get twigs and saplings for Kari.
I had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate and
tender twigs. As he was very fond of the young branches of
the banyan tree which grows like a cathedral of leaves and
branches, I was gathering some, one spring day in March,
when I suddenly heard Kari calling to me in the distance.
As he was still very young, the call was more like that of a
baby than an elephant. I thought somebody was hurting
luscious: tasty and sweet smelling hatchet: small axe mutilated: torn
awkwardly/disfigured
Reprint 2024-25
9
Bringing up Kari
him, so I came down from my tree and ran very fast to the
edge of the forest where I had left him, but he was
not there.
I looked all over, but I could not find him.
I went near the edge of the water, and I saw a black
something struggling above its surface. Then it rose higher
and it was the trunk of my elephant. I thought he was
drowning. I was helpless because I could not jump into
the water and save the four hundred pounds of him since
he was much higher than I. But I saw his back rise above
the water and the moment he caught my eye, he began to
trumpet and struggle up to the shore. Then, still trumpeting,
he pushed me into the water and, as I fell into the stream, I
saw a boy lying flat on the bottom of the river. He had not
altogether touched bottom but was somewhat afloat. I came
to the surface of the water to take my breath and there Kari
was standing, his feet planted in the sand bank and his
trunk stretched out like a hand waiting for mine. I dived
down again and pulled the body of the drowning boy to the
surface but, not being a good swimmer, I could not swim
ashore and the slow current was already dragging me down.
Seeing us drift by in the current, Kari, who was usually
slow and ponderous, suddenly darted down like a hawk
and came halfway into the water where I saw him stretch
out his trunk again. I raised up my hand to catch it and it
slipped. I found myself going under the water again, but
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4


Kari, a five-month-old baby elephant, lives and grows up
with his nine-year-old friend and keeper.
Kari doesn’t eat much—just about sixteen kilograms of
delicious twigs a day.
Playful and sensitive, Kari saves a boy from drowning.
KARI, the elephant, was five months old when he was given
to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could
reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain
that high for nearly two years. We grew together; that is
probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He
lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on
thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari
bumped against the poles as he moved about.
One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a
boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed
forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every
day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his
bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed
him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that
he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his
skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal
squeal: cry/trumpet
Reprint 2024-25
8
An Alien Hand
with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then I
would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way
to lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle
while I went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for
his dinner. One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut
down these twigs; it takes half an hour to sharpen the
hatchet because if a twig is mutilated an elephant will not
touch it.
It was not an easy job to get twigs and saplings for Kari.
I had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate and
tender twigs. As he was very fond of the young branches of
the banyan tree which grows like a cathedral of leaves and
branches, I was gathering some, one spring day in March,
when I suddenly heard Kari calling to me in the distance.
As he was still very young, the call was more like that of a
baby than an elephant. I thought somebody was hurting
luscious: tasty and sweet smelling hatchet: small axe mutilated: torn
awkwardly/disfigured
Reprint 2024-25
9
Bringing up Kari
him, so I came down from my tree and ran very fast to the
edge of the forest where I had left him, but he was
not there.
I looked all over, but I could not find him.
I went near the edge of the water, and I saw a black
something struggling above its surface. Then it rose higher
and it was the trunk of my elephant. I thought he was
drowning. I was helpless because I could not jump into
the water and save the four hundred pounds of him since
he was much higher than I. But I saw his back rise above
the water and the moment he caught my eye, he began to
trumpet and struggle up to the shore. Then, still trumpeting,
he pushed me into the water and, as I fell into the stream, I
saw a boy lying flat on the bottom of the river. He had not
altogether touched bottom but was somewhat afloat. I came
to the surface of the water to take my breath and there Kari
was standing, his feet planted in the sand bank and his
trunk stretched out like a hand waiting for mine. I dived
down again and pulled the body of the drowning boy to the
surface but, not being a good swimmer, I could not swim
ashore and the slow current was already dragging me down.
Seeing us drift by in the current, Kari, who was usually
slow and ponderous, suddenly darted down like a hawk
and came halfway into the water where I saw him stretch
out his trunk again. I raised up my hand to catch it and it
slipped. I found myself going under the water again, but
Reprint 2024-25
10
An Alien Hand
this time I found that the water was not very deep so I sank
to the bottom of the river and doubled my feet under me
and then suddenly kicked the river bed and so shot
upwards like an arrow, in spite of the fact that I was holding
the drowning boy with my hand. As my body rose above
the water, I felt a lasso around my neck. This frightened
me; I thought some water animal was going to swallow me.
I heard Kari squealing, and I knew it was his trunk about
my neck. He pulled us both ashore.
Kari becomes fond of ripe bananas.
He believes in self-help, much to the discomfort of his
friend.
With quiet dignity, Kari accepts the chiding he knows he
deserves.
Kari was like a baby. He had to be trained to be good
and if you did not tell him when he was naughty, he was
up to more mischief than ever.
For instance, one day, somebody gave him some
bananas to eat. Very soon he developed a great love for
ripe bananas. We used to keep large plates of fruit on a
table near a window in the dining-room. One day all the
bananas on that table disappeared and my family blamed
the servants for eating all the fruit in the house. A few days
later the fruit disappeared again; this time the blame was
put on me, and I knew I had not done it. It made me very
angry with my parents and the servants, for I was sure they
had taken all the fruit. The next time the fruit disappeared,
I found a banana all smashed up in Kari’s pavilion. This
surprised me very much, for I had never seen fruit there
and, as you know, he had always lived on twigs.
Next day, while I was sitting in the dining-room
wondering whether I should take some fruit from the table
lasso: rope with a noose at the end
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5


Kari, a five-month-old baby elephant, lives and grows up
with his nine-year-old friend and keeper.
Kari doesn’t eat much—just about sixteen kilograms of
delicious twigs a day.
Playful and sensitive, Kari saves a boy from drowning.
KARI, the elephant, was five months old when he was given
to me to take care of. I was nine years old and I could
reach his back if I stood on tiptoe. He seemed to remain
that high for nearly two years. We grew together; that is
probably why I never found out just how tall he was. He
lived in a pavilion, under a thatched roof which rested on
thick tree stumps so that it could not fall in when Kari
bumped against the poles as he moved about.
One of the first things Kari did was to save the life of a
boy. Kari did not eat much but he nevertheless needed
forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every
day I used to take him to the river in the morning for his
bath. He would lie down on the sand bank while I rubbed
him with the clean sand of the river for an hour. After that
he would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out his
skin would be shining like ebony, and he would squeal
squeal: cry/trumpet
Reprint 2024-25
8
An Alien Hand
with pleasure as I rubbed water down his back. Then I
would take him by the ear, because that is the easiest way
to lead an elephant, and leave him on the edge of the jungle
while I went into the forest to get some luscious twigs for
his dinner. One has to have a very sharp hatchet to cut
down these twigs; it takes half an hour to sharpen the
hatchet because if a twig is mutilated an elephant will not
touch it.
It was not an easy job to get twigs and saplings for Kari.
I had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate and
tender twigs. As he was very fond of the young branches of
the banyan tree which grows like a cathedral of leaves and
branches, I was gathering some, one spring day in March,
when I suddenly heard Kari calling to me in the distance.
As he was still very young, the call was more like that of a
baby than an elephant. I thought somebody was hurting
luscious: tasty and sweet smelling hatchet: small axe mutilated: torn
awkwardly/disfigured
Reprint 2024-25
9
Bringing up Kari
him, so I came down from my tree and ran very fast to the
edge of the forest where I had left him, but he was
not there.
I looked all over, but I could not find him.
I went near the edge of the water, and I saw a black
something struggling above its surface. Then it rose higher
and it was the trunk of my elephant. I thought he was
drowning. I was helpless because I could not jump into
the water and save the four hundred pounds of him since
he was much higher than I. But I saw his back rise above
the water and the moment he caught my eye, he began to
trumpet and struggle up to the shore. Then, still trumpeting,
he pushed me into the water and, as I fell into the stream, I
saw a boy lying flat on the bottom of the river. He had not
altogether touched bottom but was somewhat afloat. I came
to the surface of the water to take my breath and there Kari
was standing, his feet planted in the sand bank and his
trunk stretched out like a hand waiting for mine. I dived
down again and pulled the body of the drowning boy to the
surface but, not being a good swimmer, I could not swim
ashore and the slow current was already dragging me down.
Seeing us drift by in the current, Kari, who was usually
slow and ponderous, suddenly darted down like a hawk
and came halfway into the water where I saw him stretch
out his trunk again. I raised up my hand to catch it and it
slipped. I found myself going under the water again, but
Reprint 2024-25
10
An Alien Hand
this time I found that the water was not very deep so I sank
to the bottom of the river and doubled my feet under me
and then suddenly kicked the river bed and so shot
upwards like an arrow, in spite of the fact that I was holding
the drowning boy with my hand. As my body rose above
the water, I felt a lasso around my neck. This frightened
me; I thought some water animal was going to swallow me.
I heard Kari squealing, and I knew it was his trunk about
my neck. He pulled us both ashore.
Kari becomes fond of ripe bananas.
He believes in self-help, much to the discomfort of his
friend.
With quiet dignity, Kari accepts the chiding he knows he
deserves.
Kari was like a baby. He had to be trained to be good
and if you did not tell him when he was naughty, he was
up to more mischief than ever.
For instance, one day, somebody gave him some
bananas to eat. Very soon he developed a great love for
ripe bananas. We used to keep large plates of fruit on a
table near a window in the dining-room. One day all the
bananas on that table disappeared and my family blamed
the servants for eating all the fruit in the house. A few days
later the fruit disappeared again; this time the blame was
put on me, and I knew I had not done it. It made me very
angry with my parents and the servants, for I was sure they
had taken all the fruit. The next time the fruit disappeared,
I found a banana all smashed up in Kari’s pavilion. This
surprised me very much, for I had never seen fruit there
and, as you know, he had always lived on twigs.
Next day, while I was sitting in the dining-room
wondering whether I should take some fruit from the table
lasso: rope with a noose at the end
Reprint 2024-25
11
Bringing up Kari
without my parents’ permission, a long, black thing, very
much like a snake, suddenly came through the window
and disappeared with all the bananas. I was very much
frightened because I had never seen snakes eat bananas
and I thought it must be a terrible snake that would sneak
in and take fruit. I crept out of the room and with great fear
in my heart ran out of the house, feeling sure that the snake
would come back into the house, eat all the fruit and
kill all of us.
As I went out, I saw Kari’s back disappearing in the
direction of the pavilion and I was so frightened that I
wanted his company to cheer me up. I ran after him into
the pavilion and I found him there eating bananas. I stood
still in astonishment; the bananas were lying strewn all
around him. He stretched out his trunk and reached for
one far away from where he was standing. That instant the
Reprint 2024-25