Class 10 English — First Flight · Chapter 5 NotesGlimpses of India

The first extract is a pen-portrait of the traditional Goan village baker. The elders of Goa still speak fondly of the Portuguese days and their famous loaves of bread. The Portuguese eaters of loaves may have gone, but the makers remain: the mixers, the moulders and those who bake, and the old furnaces are still lit. The baker is called pader in Goa, and the sound of his bamboo staff, a jhang-jhang thud, announces his arrival. He came at least twice a day, once on his morning selling round and again after emptying his basket. Children ran to him not for the loaves, which were bought by the maid-servant, but for the bread-bangles and sometimes sweet bread of special make.

• Paderthe Goan name for the traditional baker
• Kabaithe baker's single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees
• Bread-banglesthe special bread the children longed for

Bread is woven into every important occasion in Goa. Marriage gifts feel meaningless without the sweet bread called bol, and a party or feast loses its charm without bread. Sandwiches must be prepared for a daughter's engagement, and cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas and other festivals, so the baker's furnace is essential to the village. The baker of the old days wore the kabai; in the author's childhood, bakers wore a shirt and trousers shorter than full-length ones and longer than half pants, so anyone wearing a half pant just below the knees is teased as being dressed like a pader. Bills were collected at the end of the month and monthly accounts were recorded in pencil on some wall. Baking was a profitable profession, and the baker, his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous, their plump physique an open testimony to this.

• Bolsweet bread without which marriage gifts are meaningless
• Bolinhasa must, along with cakes, for Christmas and other festivals
• Monthly accounts were written in pencil on a wall

The second extract describes Coorg, or Kodagu, the smallest district of Karnataka. It sits midway between Mysore and the coastal town of Mangalore, a land of rolling hills inhabited by a proud race of martial men, beautiful women and wild creatures. It is coffee country, famous for its rainforests and spices. Evergreen rainforests cover thirty per cent of the district. During the monsoons it pours so heavily that many visitors stay away, but the season of joy runs from September to March, when the weather is perfect with some showers thrown in. The air breathes of invigorating coffee, and coffee estates and colonial bungalows stand tucked under tree canopies in prime corners.

• Coorg or Kodaguthe smallest district of Karnataka
• Evergreen rainforests cover thirty per cent of the district
• Best season for visitorsSeptember to March

The fiercely independent people of Coorg are possibly of Greek or Arabic descent. One story says that a part of Alexander's army moved south along the coast and settled here when return became impractical; these soldiers married among the locals, and their culture shows in martial traditions, marriage and religious rites that are distinct from the Hindu mainstream. The theory of Arab origin draws support from the long, black coat with an embroidered waist-belt worn by the Kodavus, known as the kuppia, which resembles the kuffia worn by the Arabs and the Kurds. Coorgi homes have a tradition of hospitality and are happy to recount tales of valour. The Coorg Regiment is one of the most decorated in the Indian Army, and General Cariappa, the first Chief of the Indian Army, was a Coorgi. Kodavus are the only people in India permitted to carry firearms without a licence.

• Kuppiathe long black coat with an embroidered waist-belt worn by Kodavus
• Kuffiathe similar garment worn by Arabs and Kurds
• General Cariappa, the first Chief of the Indian Army, was a Coorgi

The river Kaveri obtains its water from the hills and forests of Coorg. Mahaseer, a large freshwater fish, abound in these waters. Kingfishers dive for their catch, while squirrels and langurs drop partially eaten fruit for the mischief of enjoying the splash and the ripple effect in the clear water, and elephants enjoy being bathed and scrubbed in the river by their mahouts. Even the most laidback individuals become converts to high-energy adventure here, with river rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and mountain biking, and numerous walking trails are a favourite with trekkers. Birds, bees and butterflies give company, while macaques, Malabar squirrels, langurs and slender loris keep a watchful eye from the tree canopy. The climb to the Brahmagiri hills gives a panoramic view of the misty landscape, a walk across the rope bridge leads to the sixty-four-acre island of Nisargadhama, and nearby Bylakuppe has India's largest Tibetan settlement, where Buddhist monks in red, ochre and yellow robes can be met.

• Mahaseera large freshwater fish found in the Kaveri
• Adventure sportsriver rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing, mountain biking
• Nisargadhamaa sixty-four-acre island reached by a rope bridge

The third extract begins on a train, where a vendor calls out chai-garam and Rajvir and his classmate Pranjol sip steaming tea. Rajvir tells Pranjol that over eighty crore cups of tea are drunk every day throughout the world. Rajvir, keener on the scenery than on his detective book, watches the soft green paddy fields give way to tea bushes, a sea of tea bushes stretching as far as the eye can see, with tall sturdy shade-trees and doll-like figures moving among the orderly rows. Pranjol, born and brought up on a plantation, is not excited, and tells Rajvir that Assam has the largest concentration of plantations in the world. Rajvir then shares legends: one about a Chinese emperor who always boiled water before drinking it, into which a few leaves of the twigs burning under the pot fell, giving the water a delicious flavour; and an Indian legend about Bodhidharma, an ancient Buddhist ascetic, who cut off his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditation, and ten tea plants grew out of the eyelids, whose leaves banished sleep when put in hot water and drunk.

• Over eighty crore cups of tea are drunk every day throughout the world
• Tea was first drunk in China as far back as 2700 B.C.
• Words such as tea, chai and chini are from Chinese

The train reaches Mariani junction, where Pranjol's parents are waiting, and soon they drive towards Dhekiabari, the tea-garden managed by Pranjol's father. An hour later the car veers sharply off the main road, crosses a cattle-bridge and enters the estate. On both sides of the gravel road are acre upon acre of tea bushes, all neatly pruned to the same height, and groups of tea-pluckers with bamboo baskets on their backs and plastic aprons pluck the newly sprouted leaves. Pranjol's father slows down to let a tractor pulling a trailer-load of tea leaves pass. Rajvir asks whether it is the second-flush or sprouting period, which lasts from May to July and yields the best tea, and Pranjol's father says in surprise that Rajvir seems to have done his homework. Rajvir admits it and adds that he hopes to learn much more during his stay.

• Second-flush or sprouting periodlasts from May to July and yields the best tea
• Tea-pluckers wear plastic aprons and carry bamboo baskets on their backs
• Dhekiabarithe tea estate managed by Pranjol's father