Work in small groups:

1. Do you like stories?
2. Why do you like stories?
3. Tell any story on love between man and animal.

Unexpectedly, one morning, when I entered the verandah from the room, I saw two crows playfully poking their beaks at the flowerpots, as if engaged in the game of hide and seek.

Suddenly, my assiduous critique of this mythical tale of the crow was intercepted by my gaze that fell on this tiny being, lying hidden in the gap at the junction of the pot with the wall. Moving closer, I saw that it was a tiny baby squirrel that must have accidentally fallen down from a nest and was now being considered by the crows to be an easy prey.

Having sustained two wounds due to the assault by the pair of crows was enough for this tiny being and he was now motionless, clinging to the pot.

Everyone remarked that as he would not survive after having been so assaulted by the crows, he be left alone. But, my mind refused to accede to their views, and therefore, I gently lifted him up and brought him to my room, and after wiping the blood from his wounds with cotton wool, applied Penicillin ointment.

I tried to feed him by somehow putting a thin cotton wool wick, dipped in milk to his mouth, but he was unable to open his mouth and the drops of milk only slid down from both sides. Only after several hours of tending could I manage to pour one drop of water in his mouth. But, on the third day he became so much better and assured that he would use his two tiny claws to hold my finger and gaze all around with his blue, glass-beads-like eyes. And in three-four months, he astonished everyone with his smooth fur, bushy tail and naughty, refulgent eyes.

A transformation from common to proper noun followed and we started calling him, Gillu! I hung a light-weight flower basket lined with cotton wool on the window with the help of a wire. For two years, this was Gillu's abode. All were pleasantly astonished at his antics and intellect.

When I would sit down to write, he would be seized by such an acute desire to attract my attention that he devised a novel way of doing it. He would venture close to my feet, go swiftly up the curtains and descend with the same breakneck speed. This sequence would continue till the time I got up to catch him.

1. How did 'Gillu' sustain wounds?
2. Who started calling the tiny baby Squirrel as Gillu?
3. Which ointment was applied on the wounds of the tiny baby squirrel?
4. What does the transformation from the common to the proper noun imply? What difference does a name make?

When hungry, he would inform me by twittering 'chik-chik', and after having received some biscuits or Kaju. I wondered with the twittering of chik-chik, what transpired between him and the other squirrels that were often spotted near the wire-meshed window! Seeing Gillu sitting near the window and affectionately peering at the world outside, made me realise that it was necessary to set him free.

By removing some nails, I made a small opening in a corner of the wire-mesh and, on being able to go out from this opening Gillu was thrilled to be liberated.

Due to my important papers and letters, my room used to remain locked in my absence. The moment the room was opened on my return from college and I stepped in, Gillu would rush on to me and climb up and down from my head to toe. Since then, this had become a regular practice. On my leaving the room, Gillu would also make an exit through the wire-mesh opening of the window. He would spend the whole day with his lot, jumping and prancing up and down the branches.

I have several pet animals and birds and all of them are quite fond of me, but I don't remember any of them daring to eat from my plate. Gillu was an exception. The moment I would reach the dining room, he would emerge from the window, cross over the courtyard wall and the verandah, reach the table and would want to sit in my plate. With great difficulty, I taught him to sit close to my plate. His favourite food was Kaju and when not available for several days, he would refuse other food items and threw them down from the swing.

Around that time, being injured in a motor car accident, I had to spend some days in the hospital. Those days, whenever my room was opened, Gillu would rush down from his swing, but on seeing somebody else, he would, with the same alacrity, scuttle back to sit in his nest. Everyone would offer him Kaju, but when I cleaned up his swing on my return from the hospital, I discovered it was full of Kaju, which only showed how little he was eating his favourite food those days! During the course of my indisposition, he would sit near my head on my pillow and gently stroke my forehead and hair, and his moving away was like the going away of a nurse or attendant!

When I used to work during summer afternoons, Gillu would abstain from going outside or sitting in his swing. To keep himself close to me and also to tackle the summer heat, he had discovered a totally new method. He would lie prostrate on the surahi kept near me and thus remain cool and also close to me!

Squirrels have a life span of barely two years; as such, Gillu's lease of life finally came to an end. For the whole day, he neither ate nor ventured out. In the night, even with the pain of going away, he came to my bed from the swing, and clutched the same finger with his icy claws, which he had clung to, in his near death-like state during his natal days. The claws were getting so cold that I switched on the heater and tried to give him some warmth. But, as the first ray of the morning touched him, he departed.

His swing was taken off the hook and the opening made in the wire-mesh window was closed.

Gillu was put to eternal rest under the Sonjuhi creeper—both because he loved this creeper most and also because of the satisfaction I derive from my belief that some spring day I will find him flowering and blossoming in the guise of a tiny yellow Juhi flower!

1. How would Gillu inform that he was hungry?
2. What prompted the narrator to set Gillu free?
3. What is the life span of squirrels?
4. What was Gillu's favourite food?
5. When was his swing taken off?

• unexpectedly: which was not expected to happen
• assiduous: hardworking, diligent
• critique: critical essay or revision
• intercepted: stopped, caused interruption in action
• accede: assent, agree
• antics: queer or typical behaviour
• refulgent: shining, bright
• alacrity: eager and cheerful readiness

C.1. Answer the following:

1. What did the narrator do with the wounded squirrel?
2. How did the narrator make the tiny baby squirrel hale and hearty?
3. Gillu took little food during the indisposition of the narrator. What does this suggest?
4. Do you have any pet animal? How does it show concern for you?
5. What did the narrator feel at the death of Gillu? Describe her feelings in your own words.

C.3. Composition:

a. Write a paragraph in about 100 words on "Relation between men and birds".
b. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper regarding the extinction of birds.

D.1 Correct the Spelling:

sudenly (suddenly), pencilín (penicillin), biscit (biscuit), exeption (exception), spoted (spotted), invelop (envelope), faverite (favorite), pillo (pillow), squirel (squirrel), beleif (belief)

D.2 Word Formation (Adverbs):

gladly, nicely, accurately, suddenly, swiftly, affectionately, totally, timely, badly, sadly, beautifully...

D.3 Word Meaning Match:

Meaning	Word
Sudden attack	Assault
Eager/cheerful readiness	Alacrity
Lasting forever	Eternal
Typical behaviour	Antics
Lying on ground	Prostrate

Combine the following sentences:

1. She came and took her lunch.
2. He got first class because he laboured hard.
3. Since Sheela was suffering from fever, she could not attend her school.
4. As soon as the teacher entered the class, he started teaching.