Discourses based on the lesson "Listen to the Mountain" in the English text book of Std IX Unit 3.
Download PDF File
LISTEN TO THE MOUNTAIN
KAVERY NAMBISAN
Major Characters
GRANDMOTHER —Ninety year old. Great grandmother, wise and sensitive lived in the village
all her life, great love for nature, birds, fishes, trees, flowers and
animals are her friend. Shocked and upset at the plan to build a hotel in
Dharmagiri.
NARAYAN
– School Headmaster. loves the village and villagers, devoted to the cause
of protecting nature, determined to find a solution.
RAMANNA -
tea-shop owner. Concerned about the hotel coning up at Dharmagiri. Feels
that villagers opinion should have been taken, cannot think of going against
traditions and of villagers.
SAGAR - building contractor of Mr Dixit, representative of man Who looks down
upon the village and villagers. Materialistic as well as ambitious. Not
concerned about the age old belief of the villagers.
DIXIT -
millionaire industrialist, business minded. Does not understand the
sentiments of villagers,
Minor Characters
·
SHASTRI
·
KANNAN
·
RUDRAPPA
Main Events
Scene I
Ø
Monologue of the grandmother.
Ø
Grandmother speaks about her village on the slopes of the Dharmagiri
hills.
Ø
The village set amidst the Dharmagiri hills in natural beauty
Ø
Grandmother had a tough but happy life.
Ø
The river, trees, flowers, birds, and animals are all her friends.
Ø
Grandmother is distressed on hearing the shocking news from her
grandson.
Scene 2
Ø
Sagar, the building contractor, informs the villagers of Dixit's plan to
build a five-star hotel in the village.
Ø
Villagers are shocked to hear of plan.
Ø
Villagers are cannot accept the idea of a five-star hotel as it would
destroy the village.
Ø
The villagers feel that there is no need for a multistoried hotel in their
village which has a population of only 500 people
Ø
Sagar mocks that he villagers calling them ignorant and dumb.
Ø
Sagar says that the people who lose their houses will handsomely
compensated.
Ø
Dixit is very influential and has clinched the deal to construct the
hotel
Scene 3
Ø
Narayan. Ramanna. Kannan. Shastri and Rudrappa meet at the tea-shop to
discuss about the hotel
Ø
Ramanna considers it foolish to build a hotel in their village.
Ø
Kannan is of the opinion that hotel will bring in more tourists and hence
more money.
Ø
Shastri informs the villagers that it is dangerous to construct a hotel on
Dharmagiri.
Ø
Dharmagiri cannot support a structure taller than thirty feet.
Scene 4
Ø
Grandmother is worried about what would happen to the animals, birds, trees
and river.
Ø
She advises Narayan to speak to the children as tomorrow’s world
their world.
Ø
She mocks the rich saying ‘big people with small hearts will swallow this
village of ours’.
Scene 5
Ø
Children lead by Narayan protest against the construction.
Ø
They present a petition to Dixit
Ø
Dixit refuses to budge and calls the petition nonsense.
Ø
Landslide occurs in village killing eleven people including two
children.
Climax
·
Landslide at Dharmagiri
Message
·
Nature always speaks if we care to listen.
Conversation
Some of The villages go to meet Sagar to discuss the hotel construction.
Prepare a conversation between them
Sagar
: Why are you here men?
Narayan : We have a
serious issue to discuss with you
Sagar
: serious issue? What is it?
Narayan : We want you to
stop building the hotel here
Sagar
: How dare you ask me to stop it? We are doing it for you
Narayan : We don't want
anything to destroy the serenity of our village. Moreover it is dangerous to
the
mountain
Sagar
: But we are doing nothing to the mountain. your village is going to be a
famous tourist place
Sasthriji :
Dharmagiri cannot hold a structure more than 30 feet. it is so dangerous.
Sagar you think you
know more than our engineers from big cities?
Ramanna : Never.but it is an old
belief.
Sagar
: I don't care,we are going to start the work tomorrow.
Letter
Prepare the petition of the villages to be given to Mr Dixit
From
The villagers
Dharmagiri
To
Mr Dixit
MD, ABC Firms Limited
Bombay
Sir
Sub: complaint against building of 5 star hotels in Dharmagiri reg:
We have come to know that your company is going to build a 5 Star hotel
here. As per the geographical peculiarities our village cannot hold a
structure more than 30 feet. It is dangerous to the mountain. The villagers
do not need a hotel with 300 rooms. Moreover building of such a multi
storied hotel can destroy the serenity of the village as well as the
mountains .Many houses will be demolished and trees will be cut off. We will
not allow anything to affect the environment and our life here. So we
request you to stop the construction work immediately and leave the project.
Yours faithfully
Shastri
(on behalf of the villagers ,Dharmagiri)
Sign/
News Paper Report
Prepare a newspaper report of the landslide in Dharmagiri
At last the mountain spoke
Dharmagiri:
A terrible landslide shook the village yesterday .1t occurred in the
afternoon when the construction of a multistoried hotel was going on. Eye
witnesses say that there was a terrific roar like rocks falling which lasted
for 30 seconds. It was soon followed by a sharp noise. Nearly a hundred men
were injured and many were reported to be under the rocks. The wounded were
immediately brought to the nearby hospitals. The tragedy is said to be the
result of unscientific construction of the hotel. It is believed that the
village cannot hold a structure more than 30 feet long. Many villages told
that they had given warnings to Mr Dixit, who is the owner of the hotel
about the dangers. The government has ordered to stop all the constructions
going on in the area and also announced a sum of rupees 10000 as a relief to
the hospitalized.
Write-up
Prepare a write-up about the views held by the grandmother and Mr Dixit
about development
Grandmother is the representative Of the Old generation who believes that
man should live in harmony with Nature. She thinks that she can hear the
voice of the streams, rivers, the birds and the mountain. She is happy with
the rough life of village without much luxuries like car or T V .When she
hears about the construction of hotel in her village she appears more
concerned about the pollution, the noise and the loss of habitat of animals
and birds. The picture of filthy river frightens her. But she is not
altogether against progress and admits that since future belongs to the
children they should be consulted. Mr Dixit is a millionaire who has money
and power so he is so fast in the construction of the hotel. He is not at
all bothered about the life or feelings of the villagers. He thinks that
nature is something to be exploited according to our needs. UnIike the
grandmother he fails to hear the voice of the mountain. He is a selfish man
whose only motive is business.
Letter
The students of Narayan decides to submit a petition to the Child right
commission about the impending danger their village faces. Draft the
petition.
From
ABC SCHOOL
DARMAGIRI
To
THE CHAIR MAN
THE CHILD RIGHT COMMISSION
DELHI.
16.10.16
Subject: Plea for a peaceful living.
Sir,
We are a group of concerned students who recide in Darmagiri. Our village
is very small and beautiful and serene. We lead a peaceful life in harmony
with the trees, the mountain, the river, the flowers and birds. The river
that flows down sustains our very life. But of late, we are concerned about
a grave issue. Our life is going to be threatened by some big people's
project of building a star hotel on the top of Darmagiri Mountain. We could
never allow such a thoughtless act since it would mar our lives. The only
construction we have on the mountain is a three hundred year old temple, All
the villagers know for sure that the mountain could not be dug more than
thirty feet down. It would result in massive We plead for our rights to live
and learn in a peac-eful atmosphere. We strongly state that we don't need
any fancy hotels in our village even if it is tagged under tourism and
development. Hope you would see to it and prevent the concerned authorities
from making such a grave mistake
Yours truly
Students from ABC SCHOOL
DARMAGIRI
News Paper Report
The Darmagiri villagers were highly opposed to the construction of a star
hotel. They conduct rallies and protest march as a part of the popular
unrest. Prepare a newspaper report.
DARMAGIRI BOILING
16.9.16,Darmagiri: An agitated mob here in Darmagiri started hour-long
protest marches and rallies shouting slogans to save their village from an
impending tragedy. They were highly sensitive about the invasion of a
foreign company to establish their chain of star hotels in the name of
tourism and development. Though the villagers were small in numbers, they
were highly opinionated. They declared that they would conduct fast unto
death if the authorities fail to address their grievance. the protests were
peaceful. No violent events were reported anywhere.
Profile
Write a short profile of Kavery Nambisan using the hints given below.
Born
: Palangala, Kodagu in India
Pen Name : Kavery Bhatt
Education : St. John's Medical
College, Bangalore
Occupation : Surgeon and medical advisor at the
Tata Coffee Hospital in Kodagu, Karnataka
Spouse :
Vijay Nambisan, a journalist and poet
Notable Works : Once Upon a Forest (1986), The Scent of Pepper (1996) On
Wings of Butterflies (2002),
The Hills of Angheri (2005), The Story That Must Not Be Told
(2014)
Awards/Honours : Coorg Person of the Year in 2005
Kavery Nambisan
Kavery Nambisan, an Indian novelist, was born in Palangala village in South
Kodagu, Karnataka, in a family of politicians. She studied medicine in St.
John's Medical College, Bangalore, and at the University of Liverpool,
England. Nambisan's story 'Dr Sad and the Power Lunch' was joint runner-up
in the third Outlook-Picador nonfiction contest in 2003. 'The Story that
Must Not Be Told' was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature in 2012 as well as the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008. She was
elected Coorg Person of the Year in 2005.
Diary Entry
Ramanna is annoyed and disturbed to hear about the plan of a building a
five star hotel in Dharmagiri village. He writes a diary expressing his
concerns. Prepare the likely Diary entry.
Diary
Monday, 15th July 2020
What a horrible thing! They are constructing a five star hotel, right here
on the top of Dharmagiri, overlooking our village. No one in the village has
been told about it. I think the villagers won’t like it, I know they will
not. They say that we are ignorant. They are going to widen the road. Some
houses will be knocked down. What shall we do? This is arrogance. I will not
allow this. I will protest. The Dharmagiri is a sacred mountain to us. We
will not allow any one to disrupt it. Will they make our village a slum?
They are accommodating the labourers here. They are aiming at making profit.
Business minded. But our village, we have keep up its tradition. This is
unfair. They don't know us. We certainly have something to do with it. Let’s
wait and see.
Character sketch of Sagar
Sagar is the building contractor of Mr Dixit who is going to build a
multistoried hotel at Dharmagiri .He is the representative of
modern man who looks down upon the villagers. Sagar believes in fast life.
He thinks that everything has become so easy with the help of machineries.
He hates life in the village. He is materialistic as well as ambitious
.Sagar talks with contempt to the villages .For him money and
power are above humanity and values. Sagar considers the serene beauty of
the village and the valley as only to attract the tourists. He gives less
care to the emotional attachment of the villages. Even the workers are like
rats for him. He does not bother about the age old beliefs of the villagers
too.
