LitAide

 This poem was written by a famous nineteenth century writer, Rudyard Kipling. Kipling, a Nobel Laureate, who was renowned for his storytelling. But here, we are discussing his philosophical poem "If". This poem is a practical advice by the poet, in the role of a father to his son, guiding him how to become a "real man". His wisdom points to living a life of integrity, grit and temperance.  His avoidance of the life of extremity is worthwhile and pragmatic. According to Khuswant Singh, the poem is said to summarize the core message of Bhagwata Gita. Notably, this poem is hung on every study table in the rooms of every cadet in the prestigious National Defence Academy, Dehradun (India). Lessons from the poem :- Remain calm and composed in adverse situations when everyone's mind goes boggling. People may blame one for the tough times/conditions, but one shouldn't lose it under such censure. Trust your own abilities and have some confidence in yourself even whe...

This story is about a young prodigy of music, who has the disability of deafness. Evelyn Glennie's loss of hearing couldn't stop her from achieving various feat in a field in which one's oral and auditory prowess is vital. She was not born with this disability, it was gradual. Initially, she was reluctant to share it with her parents, but when her grades were falling down, she finally told them.  It was a jolt to everyone including herself. Her parents were advised to send her to Special schools for the deaf and get her hearing aids. It was not in her nature to give up that easily. Her interest in music was immense. Through a chance incident in which she played a xylophone and a percussionist backing her up, she found a way to sense the drum beating, she could sense its vibrations. Her enhanced senses due to loss of one, aided her different body parts to grasp various notes.  "I had learnt to open my mind and body to sounds and vibrations" She received acclaim due...

"A Gift of Chappals" is an excerpt from a novella (a short novel) by Vasantha Surya, a writer, translator, poet, and journalist. This short story is about the playful activities of a group of cousins:- Mridu, Lalli, Ravi and Meena. Mridu, a young girl resided in Madras (present-day Chennai) with her Tapi (grandmother) and Thatha (grandfather). She visited her aunt, Rukku Manni's house and was welcomed there by her cousins, Lalli, Ravi and Meena. In the beginning, when they entered their house, Mridu took off her slippers unknowingly near old and dusty grey slippers. These slippers are important as we will see later. The cousins were excited as they found a kitten which was the centre of attraction for them. They laid the cat inside a torn football and fed it milk stolen from the kitchen in a coconut shell. Interestingly, they named it "Mahendraverma Pallava Poonai", in short, "M.P Poonai", after the emblematic cat belonging to the Pallava empire. Sudde...

"Wind" is written by Subramania Bharti, a prominent Tamil poet, journalist, and social reformer who played a key role in India's independence movement. In this poem, the poet presents the destroying nature of wind, how it threatens man-made creations, wrecking havoc in our lives. It makes fun of us for our frailty and weakness. The poet asks us to be wind's friend by becoming resilient. The wind respects those who are themselves strong, and who can build lasting things. The poet emphasizes the word "frail" by creating alliterative effect as this weakness is detested by the wind:  Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters, crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives, crumbling hearts Our heart should be stoic to all disasters. According to the narrator, the wind tests our strength as he emphasizes this with  the metaphor of fire. If we are weak like a fluttering flame, the wind will blow it out. But if we are fiery and vigorous like st...

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a fascination to know the answers of the following three questions: 1) What is the right time to begin something? 2) Which people should the king listen to? 3) What is the most important thing for him to do? The king made an announcement that whoever would answer his questions, would get a large sum of money. Many people offered various answers. But the king was not satisfied. He heard about a worldly-wise hermit, so he undertook a journey to the woods where the hermit lived. But there was a catch, the hermit used to meet only common men, so the king went there disguised as a plain man. He saw him digging in front of his hut. The king met him and asked him his questions. He ignored as he was digging the ground. The hermit, being old and weak, tired out soon. The king offered him help and he obliged and gave him his spade. The king worked continuously through the evening. Done with the work, he blurted out the reason why he came to visit him in...

The poem is a sestet , a six line poem, describing a single scenery of a squirrel against the backdrop of a garden. In this poem, the narrator describes an imagery of a squirrel sitting on a ground, relishing (enjoying) "his" nut. Its rolled tailed forms the shape of a question mark.  The narrator uses the metaphor of an "overcoat" to describe its furry skin of grey colour. The squirrel is lively and loves playing with the narrator, who teases it by running around its beloved tree. When he runs, the squirrel gets positive reinforcement and it runs along with him around the tree. You must have noted that the poet used the pronoun "he" for the squirrel.

The narrator, a child describes a shed at the corner of his garden. He is afraid to go into it. He can hear the creaking of its rusted door hinges while from being laid in his bedroom. Also he saw spider webs on the door. He resolves to open that door one day   and conquers his fears. The window pane of the shed has three crack on its glass. When he walks past the shed, he fears that someone stares at him from the inside. His brother, taking advantage of his fear of the shed, tells him that a ghost lives underneath the floor of the shed. He cautions the narrator against entering the shed because if he does so, a ghost will chop his head off. But the narrator dispels this ghost theory, owing it to his brother's plan to keep it as his own place. He himself refutes his own misconceptions about it. He plans to go into the shed, some day, but not at the present time. This shows that he is still afraid of the unknown contents of the shed.