UNIT 3 CHALLENGES OF LIFE

UNIT 3 CHALLENGES OF LIFE

A THREE WHEELED REVOLUION:     AN INTERWIEW WITH IRFAN ALAM

Irfan Alam founded the Sammaan Foundation. It was to modernize the rickshaw pulling sector in Bihar. The lesson titled “A Three Wheeled Revolution” is an interview with Irfan Alam. Irfan Alam started life from very humble background. This lesson tells us how he could become a successful entrepreneur. He shares the story behind his entrepreneurship. Alam was once travelling in a rickshaw. When he felt thirsty he wanted to get water from the rickshaw puller. But he could not provide water since he couldn’t afford it in his rickshaw. Soon Irfan thought of a business idea. He started an agency named ‘SammaaN Foundation’. This agency plays an important role to organize the  rickshaw pullers. With this agency, he could increase the living conditions of the rickshaw pullers. He used rickshaws as a source of income from advertising, music and newspapers for passengers, first aid and the selling of cold water and juice.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS.

1. Irfan Alam comes to your School to inaugurate the Youth Club. Prepare a script for announcement introducing him (Young Entrepreneur- founder and chairman of SammaaN Foundation- recognized as one of the top thirty Youth Icons of India by the Times of India).

Respected Principal, My dear Teachers and my loving friends,

As we all know today we are really honoured with the living presence of young and successful entrepreneur Sri Irfan Alam to inaugurate the Youth Club of our School.  He is the founder and chairman of SammaaN Foundation. His efforts to empower those at the bottom of Indian Society have been recognized widely. We became very much interested when we studied more about him from our English lesson titled, “A Three Wheeled Revolution”. He has won the Business Baazigar and the World Bank’s Innovation Award. Besides he has been recognized by the Times of India as one of the Top 30 Youth Icons of India. Alam, the winner of Business World’s “Hottest Young Entrepreneur” award and the TED fellowship award. He is really a source of inspiration to all of us. We are happy to say that we will contribute something for the betterment of the society. So I am very happy to welcome him into our School for inaugurating the Youth Club.

 2. The R&D wing of SammaaN is planning to redesign rickshaws with necessary improvements. Think about some useful modifications that you would like to suggest to Irfan Alam. Negotiate your ideas with your partner and make a final list of modifications.

	neiltom@gmail.com
TO	irfanalam@gmail.com
SUB	Modifying the rickshaw
	Dear Irfan, It is a matter of immense pleasure for me to know that you are planning to make some useful modifications in the rickshaws to improve their services. I would suggest the following modifications. a) At first I would like to suggest the matter of having food items.  It would help them to enjoy their journey. The travelers can be charged for the same. b) Secondly I would suggest to make necessary arrangement to close the open part. The travelers suffer a lot from the sunlight. c) Thirdly I would suggest improving the advertising method. d) Finally I suggest putting music box on one side of the rickshaw. Thanking you Neil Tom

3. Your class has decided to conduct a group discussion on the topic “India- A Land wonder for young Entrepreneurs.”

You are asked to initiate the discussion. Prepare the script of a presentation you would make on the occasion.

I agree that India is really a land wonder for young Entrepreneurs. Today, India currently has more than 48 million small businesses, double the number of the small companies here in the U.S.  According to Indian government data, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) contribute nearly 8 percent of the country's GDP, 45 percent of the manufacturing output, and 40 percent of the country's total exports. Small businesses in India create 1.3 million jobs every year and provide the largest share of employment after agriculture. They play a significant role in the country's GDP.

4. You have read the interview with Irfan Alam, founder and chairman of SammaaN Foundation. Prepare a blog on Irfan’s ideas of entrepreneurship and the means he adopted to execute his ideas. The blog should be presented in such a way as to motivate the young budding entrepreneurs.

IRFAN ALAM A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR WITH A VISION:

By Naveen Kumar         DATE:

Irfan Alam is a young entrepreneur who founded the SammaaN Foundation to modernize the rickshaw pullers in Bihar. It is really interesting to find out his ideas and visions on entrepreneurship. It is quite surprising to know his story as a successful entrepreneur. Alam once happened to travel in a rickshaw. When he asked for water, the rickshaw puller couldn’t provide him as he couldn’t afford it. It was at that time an idea flashed through his mind. It was the starting point of a business plan. He realized that there was a market for selling water bottles. Next day he talked to five rickshaw pullers and gave them each eight bottles of water. He told them that for every bottle they sold, he would make a profit of two rupees. This really helped rickshaw pullers to earn one rupee per bottle. This gave him much confidence. Really entrepreneurship is in his blood. He had started his first portfolio management firm at the age of 13. It means that there is no age limit for beginning a career of entrepreneurship. When he founded SammaaN Foundation, he could give proper training in traffic rules. Besides he arranged loans for the rickshaw pullers to buy their own rickshaws. This organization provide him much confidence. As students we should be hardworking and truthful to become a successful entrepreneur. The life of Irfan Alam is really an inspiration.

DIDI BY SHAHEEN MISTRI

Shaheen Mistri is the CEO of the Teach for India. Teach for India is a nationwide mission. She has earned global recognition for her devotion to educating and empowering the less privileged children of India. She is also the Founder of the Akanksha Foundation. It is a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the lives of low-income children. It really helps them to transform their lives.

SUMMARY: “Didi” is an excerpt from “Redrawing India” by Shaheen Mistri & Kovid Gupta. This lesson tells us the real life story about Shaheen Mistri. It describes her initial steps of beginning her new mission. She shares her experience in India. Whenever she came to India for her vacation, she found the great sense of inequity in India. She met many poor children of India. She decided to take bold steps to do something for Indians. She took care of the poor children and educated them. She found a system called “Akanksha” to educate the children.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS:

1). Read the following advertisement.

You wish to apply for a post. Prepare an application letter and a resume for the purpose.   

FROM

NAME

ADDRESS

PLACE

                                               

TO

THE MANAGER

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL GENOMICS

NETAJI SUBASH SANATORIUM

P O NSS

KALYANI

INDIA

Respected sir,

Sub: Job application letter

                        With reference to your advertisement found in the Hindu Daily, dated 24^th February, I would like to apply for the post of technical assistant in your firm.

I have passed my degree with 90 % marks in every higher levels. I am very much eligible in handling English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil languages. I have experience as lab technician in Rajamukhi hospital Chennai.

I assure you that if I were selected, I would work very sincerely for the betterment of your firm. Besides, I will be very obedient to obey the rules and regulations of your firm.

I enclose herewith my resume for your kind notification.

                                                RESUME

NITHYA MENON

123 MAIN STREET KARTHIK NAGAR, NILAYATHINKAL HOUSE KOLLAM 685457  CELL NO 8585854747

nithyamenon@gmail.com

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY:  A technical assistant with government and academic experience conducting mechanical research, writing research papers for publication for successful fund raising. Driven by an unquenchable thirst for working as a mechanical assistant

CORE QUALIFICATIONS:

·         Complex problem solving

·         Advanced mechanical and creative skills

·         Teamwork

·         Mechanical related  knowledge

·         Strong physics background

·         Development of  successful projects.

Experience

·         January 2012 to August 2014  Two years’ experience as Lab Technician In Rajamukhi Hospital in Chennai

·           large data sets collected through observation and experiment.

·           Prepared reports on research findings.

·          Through applied research with keen interest assisted in accurate observations and data collection.

·          Worked on research project funded by grants.

·          Wrote grant proposals.

·         Traveled to remote locations and often worked at night for better observation conditions.

·         Assisted in the development of computer software to analyze data.

·         Authored scientific papers for journals

·          Designed telescopes, lasers and other scientific equipment.

·         Conducted applied research related to GPS technology.

EDUCATION:

·         2007-2010  Graduate degree in Physics from Kerala University Campus

·         2011-2013 Post Graduation from Maharajas College Ernakulam

SKILLS:

·         Interested in Music,

·         Plays Guitar and knows swimming

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Member of the Charitable organization Pratheeksha

LANGUAGE SKILL:

English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil

2. Inspired by Shaheen Mistri, your School has decided to take up the task of providing free education to a selected group of poor, needy children. You would like to inform Shaheen about this new venture and invite her to visit your School. Write an e-mail to her.

TO: shaheenmistri@gmail.com

SUB: FREE EDUCATION-PROGRAMME TO POOR CHILDREN

Respected Madam,

We are very much thankful to you for your efforts to uplift poor children of the society. When we studied more about you from our English Class, our friends and teachers are planning a project in our School to provide free education to a selected group of poor and needy children. We are really proud you. Our Village is a poor section and there are many poor children without getting good education. You are the right person to inaugurate this project in our School. We hope that you would be blessing us all with your sweet presence. We invite you very happily to inaugurate this project next Monday.

Thanking you

NAME

STAMMER- A POEM BY K SATCHIDANANANDAN

Stammer is a characteristic poem which declares that ‘Stammer is the language of the World’. In this poem, the poet treats stammer not as a handicap but as a mode of speech. Word and meaning are different like word and deed. A word doesn’t have a fixed meaning. It is the speaker or listener who attributes different meanings to words. It would be difficult even for a linguist to analyse and explain the history of stammer. It would have started with the creation of man. When we stammer we convey different meanings to our listeners. It will be different from the literal meaning. The Poet considers stammer as a sacrifice to the God of meanings. We are really making a sacrifice to a language by giving different utterance of it. If all people stammer, then stammer becomes their mother tongue. The poet says that God must have stammered at the time of creation. He adds that it would be the reason why all the words of man carry different meanings. That is why why everything man utters from prayers to commands stammers like poetry. The poet compares stammer to poetry. Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex feelings. To understand the multiple meanings of a poem, readers must examine its words and phrases from the perspectives of rhythm, sound, images, obvious meaning and implied meaning.

The poem, “Stammer” analyses issues like language, dialect, meaning and speech. It is actually the language which defines who we are. Our culture and its memories are preserved in languages. If we lose our language our culture also will be lost. Our generation is passing through a crisis. Poets are in search of a language to express new feelings. They want to speak about our times in a new manner. The poem, “Stammer” makes a plea to preserve our dialects and mother tongues. The poet sees language and meaning everywhere. Poetry according to Sachidanandan is the shared mother tongue of human beings. This poem is also about the stammering self. At the same time it also speaks about the stammering people. Stammer is really the language of the self. Linguists make different questions regarding stammer as the language of the self. The first question is whether stammer precedes language or succeeds it. The second question is whether stammer is a dialect or language itself. These questions are not mere rhetorical questions. Thus these questions make the linguists stammer.

The poem, “Stammer” deals with the problem of communication, in our times. The poet writes, ‘Each time we stammer we are offering a sacrifice to the God of meanings.” It is only through sacrifice language is offered to God or the world. He concludes, “God who created language is also a stammerer.” Human stammering is then a translation of the stammering of the Creator.

Many people consider ‘Stammer’ as a disorder. But it is related with great wisdom. Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, EMS Namboodiripad, Theodore, Roosevelt and Charles Darwin were all stammerers. Churchill was considered as the best orator in the Parliament.

MODEL QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAM:

1. What does the Poet think of stammer primarily?

A) The poet thinks that stammer is not a handicap but a mode of speech.

2. How does the poet link stammer and lameness beautifully to silence?

A) The poet links stammer and lameness beautifully to silence. Stammer is like lameness. Lameness is the silence that falls between word and deed. In the same way the poet argues that stammer is the silence that falls between the word and its meaning.

3. What according to the poet is a person doing when he stammers?

A) According to the poet, when a person stammers, each time he is offering a sacrifice to the God of meanings.

4. Why does the poet refer to the linguist here?

A) A linguist is an expert in the language. But the poet says even a linguist is confused about the nature of stammer. He cannot state whether  stammer precedes or succeeds language. He is also confused thinking that stammer is a language in itself.

5. When does stammer become a social phenomenon?

A) When an entire community starts stammering, it becomes a social phenomenon.

BLOGGING: GUIDELINES

1. Firstly we should give a proper title with Date and name of the blogger.  The title should help them to feel that it is useful for them.

2. Begin with an impressive style. You can begin by asking some questions or in a colloquial way.

3. It is very important to paragraph your ideas.

4. It is good to keep a list of your important points. For that you can give number for the main points.

5. It is good to add graphics or relevant photo to suit the blog.

6. You can conclude by giving some suggestion