Tag: India

Slumdog Millionaire

After three attempts I was finally able to see the complete movie – Slumdog Millionaire. The movie initially turned me off with its portrayal of stark reality but it turns out to be an incredible love story. This is the redeeming feature of the film apart from the rags to riches story. The first part appalls you – makes your hair stand on end. It is perhaps the reality of India but it nauseates – it is outrageous, it is frightening. Is this really happening in our country? Are the children going through such inhumane brutality? Is someone doing anything to save orphaned, street children or are they left uncared for to become victims of criminals/ underworld? The movie is a celebration of India’s sordidness.

Kinds of Nouns

Kinds of Nouns

There are four kinds of nouns:

  1. Proper Nouns
  2. Common Nouns
  3. Abstract Nouns
  4. Collective Nouns

 

Notice the difference between these two lists of nouns:

  1. Jack   Mary   London   India   The White House   Alice in Wonderland
  2. Boy     girl         city          country          building                            book

 

The nouns in list 1. are special names of persons, places and things. They begin with a capital letter. They are called Proper Nouns.

 

The nouns in list 2. are Common Nouns, as they are not special names. They can be used for any person, place or thing. ‘Boy’ can be any boy –Alec, Bob, George, John, William etc.  

A noun which names a particular person, place or thing is called a Proper Noun.

 Proper Nouns include the names of persons, cities, towns, villages, countries, parks, libraries, historical buildings, streets, schools, colleges, universities, hills, mountains, days of the week, months of the year, books, festivals, newspapers, etc.

A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.

 

A noun that gives a common name to persons, places, or things of the same kind is called a Common Noun.

The words city, country, school, river, mountain, book, boy, girl, woman, man, bird, animal, are all common nouns. England, France, India, China, Japan are the names of countries. The word country is a common noun. It is common to all the five named here. But the words England, France, India, China, and Japan are particular names. They are Proper Nouns.  

 

Now look at the following sentences:

  1. Honesty is the best policy.
  2. Laughter is the best medicine.
  3. Poverty is a great curse.   
  4. The soldiers were awarded for their bravery.

The words in bold italics name Quality (honesty, bravery), Action (laughter), and State (poverty). Such a name given to some state, quality, feeling, or action that we can only think of is called an Abstract Noun.

Abstract Nouns are formed:

  1. From Adjectives, as Kindness from kind, Bravery from brave.(Most abstract nouns are formed thus.)
  2. From Verbs, as Obedience from obey, Laughter from laugh, Growth from grow.
  3. From Common Nouns, as Childhood from child, Slavery from slave.

 

Now read the following sentences:

  1. Our team won the match.
  2. The army fought bravely.
  3. Our class consists of fifty students.
  4. A flock of sheep was grazing in the field.
  5. She gave me the bunch of keys.

The words team, army, class, flock and bunch are used for a collection of persons or things. Such a name given to a collection of things taken as a whole/ group is called a Collective Noun.

Crowd, mob, team, army, family, committee, flock, herd, swarm, fleet, jury etc are some Collective Nouns.

Nouns – Common and Proper

  • Look at the following sentences:

 

  1. Jack is boy.
  2. Tom is a boy.
  3. John is a boy.
  4. Dick is a boy.

 

  • The word boy occurs in all the four sentences. It is a common name used for all the boys. But all boys have special names too. Jack, Tom, John and Dick are special names of these four boys.
  • Pets and places also have special names. Cat and dog are common names used for all cats and dogs. But we often give special names to our pets:

       1.   My cat’s name is Silky. 

      2.   I call my dog, Naughty.

  • Jackie, Jimmy, Buddy, Molly, Rover, Rustam, Rosebud, Tiger, Pussy, Snowy, Snowball, Rocky, Jumbo, Appu, are some special names of our pets.
  • Places also have both common and special names. The words village, city, town, country, school, college, hospital, park, street are common names. But India, Australia, Delhi, Aton School, Sony Hospital, White Park are special names of places.
  • Similarly books, newspapers, magazines, days, months, festivals, institutions, companies, products etc. also have special names .The Bible, The Gita, Great Expectations, Harry Potter, The Times, Femina, Sunday, January, Christmas, Diwali, are all special names.
  • These special names are called Proper Nouns and common names are called Common Nouns.
  • Special names or Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.
  • Some examples:
  1. Susan is a good girl.      
  2.  Peter is a smart boy.
  3. Bombay is a big city.
  4. Jackie is my dog.     
  5. Ganga is a holy river
  6. Femina is a woman’s magazine.

 

Susan, Peter, Bombay, Jackie, Ganga and Femina are Proper Nouns and girl, boy, city, dog, river, woman, magazine are Common Nouns.

 

  • A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person, place or thing.
  • A Common Noun is a name given in common to all persons or things of the same class or kind.

 

 

 

Nouns

Nouns – Naming Words

  • Look  at the following words:

Apple, airplane, bat, ball, butter, bread, balloon, bus, banana, bag, car, cat, crow, cow, cap, chair, chocolate, doll, dog, donkey, egg, elephant, fan, fish, flower, goat, grass, gun, hen, helicopter, ice-cream, ink, jam, jug, kite, kangaroo, lion, lamp, monkey, mango, orange, owl, parrot, peacock, park, queen, rat, shoes, school, ship, tap, tiger, umbrella, van, watch, zoo, mummy, papa, uncle, aunt, Mary, John, etc.

 

  • All these words are names of something, somebody or someplace.
  • Names are usually the first words which small children learn.
  • These naming-words are called Nouns.

 

  • Read the following  sentences carefully:

 

  1. James is a good boy.
  2. The cat ran after the rat.
  3. India is in Asia.
  4. The book is on the table.
  • The words James and boy are the names of persons.
  • The words cat and rat are the names of animals.
  • The word India and Asia are the names of places.
  • The words book and table are the names of things.
  • Words which are used as the names of persons, animals or birds, places or things are called Nouns.

 

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a disturbing, powerful, intense, gripping and provocative novel. It stirs a number of emotions. Once you start reading it, you cannot put it down. The degeneration of Afghanistan, the displacement and migration of people bring back memories of the partition of India. The pain/the struggle, strike a chord even in people who were not directly affected by the partition. We have all grown up listening to stories of how our grandparents fled, escaped, leaving everything behind, hoping to return to their motherland one day. But that day never came. How people adapt to new places, people, situations, occupations is a remarkable thing about mankind. We know this by example. In Hosseini’s novel too, we find Afghan families adapting to the changed situation, earning bread and butter in anyway possible.

Besides this we get involved with the characters and their destinies. At a very early stage in the novel we realize there is more to Hasan’s and Amir‘s father’s relationship. We are angry at Amir’s cowardice and subsequent ill-treatment of his loyal, childhood mate Hasan. It proves how jealousy corrodes the goodness within. That one mistake changes/affects the lives of so many people. We feel sorry for Hasan who has to live life like a hazara and endure all kinds of unimaginable insults. The story would have been different, had young Amir protested and saved Hasan from abuse. Hosseini’s portrayal of childhood with its vulnerabilities, fears, jealousies, tensions, is terrific.

All this in the backdrop of the turbulent Afghanistan – the end of monarchy, invasion by the Russian forces and the rise of the Taliban regime. But it is the personal story of the two childhood friends – Amir and Hasan that binds the story together. And the message ‘there is a way to be good again’ is something we all need to imbibe.