Bihar Board Rainbow English Book Class 12 Solutions
Chapter 2 'Bharat is My Home by Dr. Zakir Husain'
Text Book Questions and Answers
B.1.1. Complete the following sentences on the basis of the lesson -
1. Dr. Radhakrishnan never lost his faith in the essential humanity of man.
2. Dr. Radhakrishnan always championed the right of all men to live in dignity and with justice.
3. Dr. Zakir Hussain entered the office of the President in a spirit of prayerful humanity and dedication.
4. According to Dr. Zakir Hussain, the value remains eternally valid.
5. According to Dr. Zakir Hussain, education is a primary instrument of national purpose.
B.1.2. Answer the following questions briefly -
1. What did Dr. Radhakrishnan bring to the Presidency?
Ans: Dr. Radhakrishnan brought to the presidency mental equipment, a degree of learning, and wealth of experience rarely to be found anywhere.
2. What oath did Dr. Zakir Husain take of?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain took the oath as President. He also took the oath of loyalty to the constitution.
3. What is the business of education?
Ans: The business of education should be the growth of national culture and national character.
4. What did Dr. Zakir Husain pledge himself to?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain pledged himself to the loyalty of our past culture. He pledged himself to the service of totality to our country’s culture. He pledged his loyalty to his country irrespective of religion or language. The whole Bharat is his home. So, he pledged to work for the welfare of the people of the country.
5. What does ‘Work one’s self mean? What is its end product?
Ans: ‘Work on one’s self means work for the individual. The work on self is to follow the urge towards moral development as a free person and under self-imposed discipline. Its end-product is a free moral personality. We should not ignore our end-product.
6. What shall we dedicate ourselves to?
Ans: We shall dedicate ourselves to work for the peace of the strong nation. According to Mahatma Gandhi power should be used only for moral purposes.
7. When was Dr. Zakir Husain born?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain was born in 1897.
8. How long did Dr. Zakir Husain live?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain lived for 72 years. He died in 1969.
9. On what occasion did Dr. Zakir Husain deliver this speech?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain delivered this speech in 1967 after taking the oath as president of India.
10. Why does Dr. Zakir Husain call India “the young state of an ancient people”?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain called India “The Young State of an ancient people”. It is so because our past is not dead and static. It is alive and dynamic. Our ancient culture is alive and we can make our future based on our ancient people’s blessings.
C.1. Long Answer Questions -
1. ‘This work, as I see it, has two aspects”. What are the two aspects of the works? Explain in your own words.
Ans: The two aspects of work are (i) individual works and (ii) social works. According to the author, individual work means work on one’s self. This type of work is to follow the urge towards moral development as a free person and under self-imposed discipline. Its end-product is a free moral personality. On the other hand, social work is work for the society around. The individual can not grow in full perfection without social help. So, we should get ourselves whole-heartedly engaged in two aspects of work.
2. What did Dr. Zakir Husain say about material and cultural life, individual and social development giving special flavour to India?
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain in his speech has said about material and cultural life, individual and social development in India.
Material and cultural life: Regarding the material life of our people, the author says that we should work more and more, our work should be silent, sincere, solid, and steady. Regarding our cultural life, the author is sincere. He says that our culture is alive and dynamic. Our past culture is inherited by our ancient sages right from Aadipurush, Mannu to St. Tulsidas. It is still alive and progressing day by day.
Individual and social development: Regarding individual and social development, Dr. Zakir Husain, says that both individual and social development of our country is co-related to each other. For individual development, there are two types of work. One works for personal benefit - both financially and morally. But for two types of personal gains, one must go to society. The author says that individuality can not grow to full perfection without social help.
3. ‘Power should be used only for moral purposes.’ Explain.
Ans: Power plays a dominant role in human society, the power of the manpower of society and the power of the state are the main kinds of power. According to Mahatma Gandhi power should be used only for moral purposes. If a strong man is engaged in work, there is peace. Regarding state power, the author says that the state to us will not be just an organization of power but a moral organization. So, the moral purpose of power is essential for the all-round development of society.
4. ‘The past is not dead and static’. How does Dr. Zakir Husain emphasises the significance of past?
Ans: According to Dr. Zakir Husain there is a great significance of our history. To him, we should pledge our loyalty to our past culture. We should not mind from where our past culture came and who brought the culture. The important thing is that our past glory is of great value. Our past glory and culture is the base on which the growth of our national culture and national character depends. So, the author is right to say that our history is not dead and static. It is still alive and dynamic. Our prospect of the future depends on the importance of the past.
5. What does Zakir Husain exhort us to do to build the new life of the nation?
Ans: The author in his speech has tried his best to advise us to labour hard to build the new life of the nation. To him, our family of the nation is big. We are continuously growing very fast. We shall have to participate in building its new life. He advises the people of India not to sit idle. Our work for the nation is hard, but we should not be discouraged. He says that the situation of the country demands of us work, work and work more, silent and sincere work, solid and steady reconstruction of the whole material and cultural life of our people.
6. In what context does Dr. Zakir Husain say ‘Bharat is my home’.
Ans: In his presidential speech Dr. Zakir Husain expresses his national feelings. He loves his nation. He says that he is devoted to the loyalty of our past culture. He also promises to work for the development of our ancient culture. He pledges himself to work for the strength of the nation and its progress and the welfare of its people without distinctions of caste, colour, and creed. He says that “The whole of Bharat is my home and its people are my family”. He is proud of being a citizen of Bharat. He says that it is the greatness of the people that they have chosen him to make him the head of this family. He pledges to make his home ‘Bharat’ strong and beautiful. He would make the life of the people prosperous and graceful. Here, a strong feeling of the nationality of the author is clearly expressed. Zakir Husain was a great nationalist.
C. 3. Composition -
Write a paragraph in about 100 words on each of the following -
a) Write a summary of Dr. Zakir Husain’s speech in about 150 words.
Ans: Dr. Zakir Husain calls India a young state with ancient civilization and culture to which all the ethnic groups comprising the people of India contributed. He pledges to uphold the timeless values realised by the people through thousands of years. He pledges to serve all the people irrespective of their caste, creed, language, and religion. He believes that the process of growth of national culture and national character is constant, and education is a prime instrument of national purpose because the quality of character depends on the quality of education. He says that the task of reconstruction of the material and cultural life of people demands sincere and steady efforts. For this, each person should develop himself into a moral personality through self-discipline, and then serve society to achieve a better, juster, and more graceful society. He endorses Gandhiji’s view that power should be used only for moral purposes.
b) Write a short essay in about 150 words on ‘Unity in diversity’.
Ans: ‘Unity in diversity’ is a special feature of India. She is an ancient land with a culture and civilization that has evolved over thousands of years. Though several ethnic groups live in India, this ancient civilization binds them all together. India is a vast land. It has many different geographic and climatic zones. There are the Himalayas with snow-capped hills and mountains. Then there is the dry and sandy desert of Rajasthan. There is a hot climate in the south that lies surrounded by the sea. Bengal and Gujarat are so different. Because of climatic and local conditions, the clothes and food habits and lifestyle of people are as varied as possible. Languages are so different. Hindi of the north and Kannad and Tamil of the south seem to have no relation. Yet India is firmly tied by the ancient values, civilization, and culture. There is unity in diversity.
c) Write a speech to be delivered on Teachers’ Day justifying the celebration of Dr. Radhakrishnan’s birthday as Teacher’s Day.
Ans: Dr. Radhakrishnan has been the President of India. When he was asked how he would like his birthday to be celebrated, he replied that it could be celebrated as a Teacher’s Day, Indeed Dr. Radhakrishnan considered himself a foremost teacher. He was a professor of philosophy at Calcutta University and later at Oxford University. He was the first Indian to be appointed as a professor there. He has been the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also the President of UNESCO. Indeed he was one of the greatest teachers India can be rightly proud of. Dr. Zakir Husain also greatly admired him and appreciated his contribution as a teacher. According to him, Dr. Radhakrishnan devoted his lifetime to the pursuit of knowledge and truth. He explained Indian philosophical thought to the world. Dear friends, I think we are happy that on this teacher’s day when we pay our regards to our one teacher, we also remember the great teacher and son of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan.
d) You have been elected as the President of your school’s Student Council. Make a diary entry about changes you propose to introduce for the betterment of your school.
Ans:
D. Word Study -
D.1. Dictionary Use -
Ex. 1. Correct the spelling of the following words -
- confes — confess
- overwelmed — overwhelmed
- errudition — erudition
- prayfull — prayful
- prejumption — presumption
- inascapably — inescapably
Ex. 2. Lookup a dictionary and write two meaning of the following words - the one which is used in the lesson and the one which is more common -
- brought - come with; caused to be in a state or position
- degree - amount feeling or quality; the course of study in a university
- enter - come into a place; become a member of an organisation
- dead - no longer living; complete or absolute (silence)
- renewal - starting again; extension of time for which it is valid
D. 2. Word-formation -
Point out which words the following are derived from -
- renewal — new
- myself — my
- totality — total
- constantly — constant
- building — build
D. 3. Word-meaning -
Ex 1. Match the words given in column A with their meanings given in column B -
- requisite - necessary
- peril - threat
- presumption - opinion
- ethnic - racial
- pledge - promise
Ex. 2. Fill in the blanks with suitable adjectives: new special dual long prayerful -
a) Dr. Zakir Husain entered the office in a spirit of prayerful humility.
b) It is a Constitution of a new state.
c) The choice of this office has been made due to long association.
d) This special effort will give to the life of our state a dual flavour.
D. 4. Phrases -
Ex. 1. Read the lesson carefully and find out the sentences in which the following phrases have been used. Then use the phrases in sentences of your own -
- the pursuit of - He works day and night in pursuit of excellence.
- bring to - Please bring the matter to the notice of the Principal immediately.
- approximation of - The account is given by the witness was an approximation of the truth.
- bring forth - Our new Principal has brought forth many remarkable improvements.
E. Grammar -
Read the following sentences from the lesson carefully -
I must confess that ......
I can only assure you that .......
Mark the use of modal auxiliaries - ‘must’ and ‘can’ – in the sentences given above.
Ex. 1. Find out other modal auxiliaries used in the lesson and tell the specific meaning in which these modal auxiliaries have been used.
- must — bound to
- can — be capable of
- may — possibility
- I may be forgiven — please forgive me.
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