The Nose Jewel (Prose)

Unit 1 – Prose

The Nose-Jewel

C. Rajagopalachari

Warm Up

What life lessons do you learn from the birds?
Match the qualities of the birds with the life lesson.

Qualities of birds	Life lessons I can learn from the birds
Time conscious	Plan your time
Arise and awake	Be an early riser
Unity	Team work
Preening	Keep yourself clean
Focus	Concentrate
Cleanliness	Groom yourself

Reading

Ramayya was a simple man living in the town. He lived with his wife in a nice house made of tiled roof. He was not rich but he could take care of his family.

Two sparrows built a nest in a nice spot on the roof of Ramayya's house. The mother bird laid her eggs in it.

Male sparrow: “My dear,”
Female sparrow: “And what do you want now?”
Male sparrow: “Why does the lady of this house always quarrel with her husband?”
Female sparrow: “How am I to know? Let us mind our own business.”
Male sparrow: “You are always self-centred. Should we not help this poor Ramayya?”
Female sparrow: (with disdain) “Let me see what help you can do for him. Please do not talk about what does not concern us. See that the cat does not come near our nest. That would be enough for you and me.”

Somewhere in the muck-heap lay a diamond nose-jewel. The male bird picked it up and came to the nest with the shining stud in his beak.

Male sparrow: “Look! Do you like this?”
Female sparrow: “What am I to do with diamond nose studs or with ear-rings? Find some grub; the young ones are hungry.”

The bird dropped the diamond stud on the floor and went out in search of little worms for the young ones.

Ramayya's wife noticed the jewel as she was sweeping the floor. She picked it up with delight and wore it.

Ramayya: (angrily) “From where did you get this diamond-stud?”
Wife: “I found it lying here yesterday and took it. That is all.”
Ramayya: “We should go and hand it over to the village magistrate. Tomorrow if the police should come and search our house, it will be a disgrace to us.”

In the neighbourhood of Meenakshi Ammal, the talk went thus:

“I forgot and left it in the bathroom. Kuppayi, the maid-servant must have swept it out. She is very careless and ignorant.”

Meenakshi Ammal consoled her little girl:

“Let us search and find it. Don’t tell father yet. He would go into a rage if he knew that you had lost the diamond nose-stud.”

Ramanatham: “What is the secret you are whispering?”

The loss of the jewel had to be admitted. Soon the whole village knew about it. The maid-servant Kuppayi was suspected by everyone. The police came and searched her hut, but could find nothing.

Ramayya's heart was in a flutter. Ramayya's wife put the stud away in her box. She soon developed a severe fever and was confined to bed. No one thought of searching their house.

He-sparrow: “Look at the fun, my dear, the lady of this house is scared and is down with fever.”
She-sparrow: “Nice fun indeed! The poor woman is in a panic. The fever may be the end of her.”
He-sparrow: (cruelly) “And a good thing too.”
She-sparrow: “It is all your doing. You brought and threw it here and tempted her.”
He-sparrow: (gravely) “Did I tell her to steal the thing? This is bound to happen when humans are greedy.”

She-sparrow: “Rightly said, we should never be greedy for what belongs to others. Come, let us go now and bring some worms for the young ones.”

And the two flew out.

Ramayya and his wife spent the rest of their life in fear of being caught. The diamond nose-jewel may still be with them, but the fear of getting caught was everlasting.

About the Author

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972)
Informally called Rajaji, was an Indian politician, independence activist, lawyer, writer, historian and statesman.
- Born in Thorapalli, Krishnagiri district.
- Last Governor-General of India (1948–50).
- First Indian-born Governor-General.
- Served as:
- Leader of the Indian National Congress
- Premier of the Madras Presidency
- Governor of West Bengal
- Minister for Home Affairs
- Chief Minister of Madras State
- Recipient of Bharat Ratna.

Glossary

Word	Meaning
self-centred	concerned with the self
disdain	feeling of contempt or scorn
muck heap	a pile of dung, soil or refuse
grub	food
magistrate	a judicial officer with limited authority to administer and enforce law
disgrace	the state of being dishonoured
ignorant	unaware
consoled	comforted (someone) in time of grief or disappointment
suspected	believed to be a cause or at fault
flutter	to flap or wave quickly but irregularly
confined	restricted, kept in a limited space
panic	frightened
cruel	merciless or heartless
gravely	in a grave or serious manner

Read and Understand

A) Choose the correct synonym for the italicized word.

1. Nice fun indeed!
   a) in fact ✅
2. The poor woman is in a panic.
   a) fear ✅
3. The mother consoled her little girl.
   b) comforted ✅
4. You are always self-centred.
   a) egoistic ✅
5. What is the secret you are whispering?
   b) murmuring ✅

B) Find the antonym.

1. delight × sorrow
2. disgrace × honour
3. careless × careful
4. secret × open
5. confine × free

C) Fill in the blanks.

1. The sparrows built their nests in the roof of Ramayya’s house.
2. The diamond jewel was lying in the muck-heap.
3. The diamond jewel belonged to Meenakshi Ammal’s daughter.
4. Kuppayi was the maid-servant at Meenakshi Ammal’s place.
5. Ramayya and his wife lived with the fear of being caught.

D) True or False.

1. Two sparrows built a nest on a tree top. ❌
2. Kuppayi swept out the diamond jewel. ❌
3. Ramayya gave the diamond jewel to the magistrate. ❌
4. Ramayya's wife put the stud away in her box. ✅
5. The police searched Ramayya’s home. ❌

E) Answer the following.

1. Where did the sparrows build the nest?
   On the tiled roof of Ramayya’s house.

2. Where did the bird drop the diamond stud?
   On the floor of Ramayya’s house.

3. What did Meenakshi Ammal tell her daughter?
   Not to tell her father about the lost jewel; they would search for it.

4. Who was suspected of stealing the diamond nose stud?
   Kuppayi, the maid-servant.

5. What did Ramayya’s wife do with the stud?
   She hid it in her box.

6. What happened to Ramayya’s wife at the end?
   She developed severe fever due to fear.

F) Answer in about 100 words.

1. Why did the sparrow throw the nose-jewel into Ramayya’s house?
   The male sparrow found the shining diamond stud in the muck-heap and brought it to show his mate. When she scorned it, he dropped it inside Ramayya’s house out of indifference, never intending to cause trouble. His action was casual, yet it triggered the whole chain of events.

2. How did Ramayya’s wife react when she saw the nose-jewel?
   She was delighted, picked it up immediately and wore it, ignoring the fact that it belonged to someone else. When Ramayya questioned her, she casually admitted finding it, showing greed and lack of conscience.

Vocabulary

Homophones

a) Pick the correct homophone.

1. I am not allowed to drink soda.
2. The wind blew the leaves.
3. I will meet my friend.
4. He will play the role in the second play.
5. I have seen the movie already.

b) Choose the correct homophone.

1. Every morning my father likes to look at the dew on the grass.
2. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu.
3. I was very bored last weekend.
4. The cat caught the scent of a mouse.
5. The sun rises in the east.

Abbreviation and Acronyms

a) Abbreviation – shortened form of a word/phrase.
b) Acronym – formed from initial letters of a phrase.

Expand the following:

• ECG – Electrocardiogram
• ILO – International Labour Organization
• SCERT – State Council of Educational Research and Training
• IIT – Indian Institute of Technology
• ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation
• FIR – First Information Report
• UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
• UNICEF – United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
• ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• UFO – Unidentified Flying Object
• FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Listening (Answers)

1. d) All of the above
2. d) both A and B are correct
3. d) both A and B are correct
4. c) warnings
5. d) both B and C are correct
6. a) health
7. a) recognize other members

Speaking – Greetings

Meeting People for the First Time

• Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you.
• How do you do?

Meeting People (Daytime)

Formal:
- Good morning / afternoon / evening!
- How are you?

Informal:
- Hi!
- Hey, how’s it going?
- What’s up?

Departing

Formal:
- Goodbye.
- It was a pleasure seeing you.

Informal:
- See you later.
- Later!

Writing

Formal Letter Format

1. Sender’s address
2. Date
3. Receiver’s designation & address
4. Subject
5. Salutation (Dear Sir/Madam,)
6. Body
7. Closing paragraph
8. Complimentary close (Yours sincerely,)
9. Signature & name

Topics:
a) To Police Commissioner – noise from loudspeaker near school.
b) To Postmaster General – non-receipt of book parcel.
c) To TNSTC Transport Manager – buses not stopping at school bus-stop.

Informal Letter Format

1. Sender’s address
2. Date
3. Salutation (Dear Mother,)
4. Body
5. Closing paragraph
6. Subscription (Your loving daughter,)
7. Name

Topics:
a) Ask father’s permission for educational tour.
b) Tell friend about summer holidays.
c) Advise sister to take part in cultural programme.

Grammar

Parts of Speech – Quick Recap

• Noun – name of person, place, thing, animal, idea
• Pronoun – word used instead of a noun
• Verb – action or state
• Adjective – describes a noun
• Adverb – describes verb/adjective/adverb
• Preposition – shows relation of noun to another word
• Conjunction – joins words/sentences
• Interjection – sudden feeling

Types of Nouns

• Proper – specific name (India, Ravi)
• Common – general name (boy, city)
• Collective – group (team, flock)
• Abstract – quality/idea (happiness, youth)
• Material – raw material (gold, cotton)

a) Sort the given words into table (exercise left for student).
b) Pick nouns from paragraph about “Hobby”.
c) Fill collective nouns:

1. herd of cows
2. flock of birds
3. choir of singers
4. bottle of milk
5. cup of tea
6. swarm of ants
7. bunch of grapes
8. bowl of rice
9. pair of shoes
10. shower of rain

Pronoun

Subject Pronouns: I, we, you, he, she, it, they
Object Pronouns: me, us, you, him, her, it, them
Possessive Adjectives: my, our, your, his, her, its, their
Possessive Pronouns: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs

a) Replace underlined nouns with correct pronouns (exercise).
b) Change possessive adjective to possessive pronoun:

1. This pen is mine.
2. Small purse is hers.
3. Wooden house is ours.
4. New book is mine.
5. Red bike is his.

Verb

• Transitive – takes object (I threw the ball.)
• Intransitive – no object (I ran.)

Language Check

• Incorrect: I cannot cope up with this pressure.
  Correct: I cannot cope with this pressure.
• Incorrect: He has grey hairs.
  Correct: He has grey hair.
• Incorrect: What is the time in your watch?
  Correct: What is the time by your watch?

Practice Practice Exercises

a) To locate one another

b) To warn other birds

c) To find a mate

d) All of the above

a) other birds can hear them

b) other birds can see them

c) they can hide there

d) Both A and B are correct.

a) by the length of its song

b) by the complexity of its song.

c) by the volume of its song

a) territorial songs

b) mating songs

c) warnings

d) shorter song verses

a) natural instinct

b) listening and interaction

c) practice

d) Both B and C are correct

a) health.

b) danger

C ) a song

D ) a warning.

a) recognize other members

b) Maintain health

c) Increase the length of their song

d) Communicate with one another.

1. a of cows

2. a of birds

3. a of singers

4. a of milk

5. a of tea

6. a of ants

7. a of grapes

8. a of rice

9. a of shoes

10. a of rain

1. I saw Mr. Balu this morning and gave Mr. Balu my homework.

2. Muthu likes computer games, but he doesn’t play computer games very often.

3. My aunt lives in Trichy but, my aunt often comes to visit my family.

4. Neil Armstrong was born in 1930. Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in nineteen sixty nine.

5. He helped the old lady. He gave the old lady some food.

1. This is my pen.

2. Her purse is small.

3. Our house is made of wood.

4. My book is new.

5. His bike is red.

a. infact

b. doubtedly

c. fine

a. fear

b. grid

c. crash

a. pretended

b. comforted

c. left

a. egoistic

b. generous

c. heroic

a. rumouring

b. murmuring

c. shouting

1. Delight

2. Disgrace

3. Careless

4. Secret

5. Confine

1. The sparrows built their nest in the .

2. The diamond jewel was lying in the .

3. The diamond jewel belonged to .

4. was the Maid - Servant at Meenakshi Ammal’s place.

5. Ramayya and his wife lived with the fear of .

1. Two sparrows built a nest on a tree top.

2. Kuppayi swept out the diamond jewel.

3. Ramayya gave the diamond jewel to the magistrate.

4. Ramayya’s wife put the stud away in her box.

5. The Police searched Rammaya’s home.

1. Where did the sparrows build the nest?

2. Where did the bird drop diamond stud?

3. What did Meenakshi Ammal tell her daughter?

4. Who was suspected of stealing the diamond nose stud?

5. What did Ramayya’s wife do with the stud?

6. What happened to Ramayya’s wife at the end?

1. Why did the sparrow throw the nose jewel into Ramayya's house?

2. Explain how Ramayya's wife reacted when she saw the nose jewel?

1. I am not to drink soda. (aloud, allowed)

2. The wind the leaves. (blue, blew)

3. I will my friend. (meat, meet)

4. He will play the in the second play. (role, roll)

5. I have the movie already. (scene, seen)

1. Every morning my father likes to look at the on the grass.

a) due

b) dew

2. Chennai is the of Tamilnadu.

a) capitol

b) capital

3. I was very last weekend because my friends went to the village without informing me.

a) bored

b) board

4. The cat caught the of a mouse.

a) scent

b) cent

5. The rises in the east.

a) son

b) sun