Std.12: Maharashtra State Board: Sub-English: Videos by Prof. Dr. Uday Shirgave Sir [SECTION ONE: PROSE]

An Astrologer’s Day is a thriller, suspense short story by author R. K. Narayan. While it had been published earlier, it was the titular story of Narayan’s fourth collection of short stories published in 1947 by Indian Thought Publications. It was the first chapter of the world famous collection of stories ‘Malgudi Days’ which was later telecasted on television in 2006. “An Astrologer’s Day” is an interesting story about a man who runs away from his home and pretends to be an astrologer after imagining that he has committed a murder. In a strange situation, an ironic twist of fate, he runs into the very man he thought he had killed.

In On Saying ‘Please’, the writer A.G. Gardiner points out the value of good manners in social life and emphasizes the importance of courtesy and politeness in daily behavior. He shows how polite speech and manner sweeten the atmosphere around and how discourtesy and ill manners spoil or pollute it. The essay is focused on the Bad-mannered Lift-man and Well-mannered Bus-Conductor.

THE COP AND THE ANTHEM is the famous short story about a homeless man named Soapy. Soapy faces the urgent necessity of finding some sort of shelter for the winter. He plans to put himself in prison in the New York City jail.

For this purpose, Soapy decides to do something illegal in order to attract a cop’s attention. What he does includes cheating a restaurant into serving him an expensive meal, vandalizing the plate-glass window of a luxury shop, repeating his eatery exploit at a humble diner, pretending to be publicly intoxicated and stealing another man’s umbrella.

However, no matter what he does, his plans fall into failure. Disappointed, Soapy hears the church organ playing an anthem that makes him decide to turn over a new leaf. Just at this moment a policeman taps him on the shoulder and asks him what he is doing. Soapy answers “Nothing” and then he is arrested by the policeman. He is convicted of the misdemeanor of loitering and sentenced to three months in Blackwell’s Islands.

The lesson ‘Big Data-Big Insights’ reveals how Information & Technology changed the present scenario, in a very systematic way. Human lifestyle has absolutely been affected by Big Data. It has become a rapidly growing part of today’s society. The whole lesson is highlighted with eight important revolutionary outcomes, with valuable insights of human development.

The lesson is systematically divided into two parts under two titles, ‘Lost in the Jungle’ and ‘Tracking the Panther of Nagarhole’, respectively.

First Part is an amazing experience of Kiran Purandare, the solitary traveller, completely lost in the jungles of ‘Umbarzara’. He narrates how he lost his way at the fall of the dusk and the terrifying turmoil he underwent thereafter. Shouting for help would literally mean ‘crying in the wilderness’. He also gives a detailed description of how he found his way towards the ‘Pitezari’.

Second Part has been extracted from ‘CN Traveller Magazine’. It is about Shaaz Jung, known for his wildlife photography. It briefs us about his entry into this world of wildlife photography. It also reveals the insight that he received during this journey regarding the loss of the habitat of Jungle Heroes. The extract is the witness of his genuine efforts he took by establishing BCRTI. It is his honest effort for the conservation of forests by educating the rural folks as well as by providing them with a sound reliable source of income.

Voyaging Towards Excellence is an autobiographical sketch penned by Achyut Godbole. It depicts his journey from a middle class school boy to a famous writer. He was a successful General Manager of Patni Computer Systems. He headed many other reputed companies and later became a famous writer. The present write-up discusses his quest for excellence, how he developed a thirst for knowledge. He discusses at length the ingredients/essentials of success and the ways to achieve it.