Glimpses of India

1. Overview — three pieces, one idea

This chapter is not a single story. It stitches together three independent travel/portrait pieces, each by a different author, to give the reader a "glimpse" of three very different regions of India:

• Goa (west coast) — Portuguese heritage, bread and the village baker.
• Coorg / Kodagu (Karnataka, south) — coffee, rainforests, brave Kodava people, the Kaveri, adventure tourism.
• Assam (north-east) — the largest tea-growing country in the world, with its legends and gardens.

The writers move from a nostalgic portrait (Goa) to a descriptive travelogue (Coorg) to a narrative journey (Assam). Together they celebrate how India's people, food and landscape change every few hundred kilometres — and how each is "a piece of heaven". Keep the three pieces clearly separate in your answers; examiners ask about them individually.

2. A Baker from Goa — the pader and his bread

The narrator's elders reminisce nostalgically about "those good old Portuguese days" and their famous loaves of bread. Though the old loaf-eaters have vanished, the makers remain — the mixers, moulders and bakers. The age-old furnaces still burn, and the thud and jingle of the baker's bamboo can still be heard, heralding his morning arrival. Even if a father has died, the son carries on the family profession. These bakers are still called pader in Goa.

In the narrator's childhood the baker was a friend, companion and guide, visiting at least twice a day — once on his selling round, once when returning with an empty basket. The jingling thud of his bamboo woke the children, who ran to greet him — not for love of him, but for the bread-bangles they loved to choose, and sometimes special sweet bread. The baker made a "musical entry" with the jhang, jhang of his bamboo staff: one hand balanced the basket on his head, the other banged the bamboo on the ground.

He would greet the lady of the house with "Good morning", set his basket on the vertical bamboo, and the kids would be pushed aside while loaves were handed to the servant. Still the children peeped into the basket; the narrator can recall the typical fragrance of those loaves. (He notes they did not bother to brush teeth or wash — "The tiger never brushed his teeth"!)

3. A Baker from Goa — bread, festivals and the baker's life

Bread is woven into every Goan occasion: marriage gifts are "meaningless" without the sweet bread called bol; a party or feast loses charm without bread; the lady of the house prepares sandwiches at a daughter's engagement; cakes and bolinhas are a must at Christmas and other festivals. So the baker's furnace is absolutely essential to the village.

Dress: in the old days the baker wore a peculiar single-piece long frock reaching the knees, called the kabai. In the narrator's childhood, bakers wore a shirt and half-trousers (shorter than full, longer than half-pants). Even today, anyone in half-pants that reach just below the knees invites the comment that he is "dressed like a pader".

Money & prosperity: the baker collected bills at the end of the month, and monthly accounts were recorded in pencil on a wall. Baking was a profitable profession — the baker, his family and servants "never starved" and always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was "an open testimony" to this; even today a person with a jackfruit-like (round, well-fed) appearance is compared to a baker.

4. Coorg — land, people and the Kodava heritage

Location: Coorg, or Kodagu, is the smallest district of Karnataka, lying midway between Mysore and the coastal town of Mangalore — "a piece of heaven that must have drifted from the kingdom of god". It is home to evergreen rainforests, spices and coffee plantations. Rainforests cover 30% of the district. The best season for visitors is September to March (monsoons drive tourists away). Coffee estates and colonial bungalows sit tucked under tree canopies.

The Kodavas: the people of Coorg are fiercely independent and possibly of Greek or Arabic descent. One story says a part of Alexander's army moved south and settled here when return became impractical; they married locals, and their culture shows in martial traditions and rites distinct from the Hindu mainstream. The Arab-origin theory draws support from the long black coat with an embroidered waist-belt, the kuppia, resembling the kuffia worn by Arabs and Kurds.

Martial valour: Coorgi homes are famous for hospitality and for recounting tales of valour about their sons and fathers. The Coorg Regiment is one of the most decorated in the Indian Army; the first Chief of the Indian Army, General Cariappa, was a Coorgi. Kodavas are the only people in India permitted to carry firearms without a licence.

5. Coorg — the Kaveri, wildlife and adventure

River Kaveri: the Kaveri obtains its water from the hills and forests of Coorg. Mahaseer, a large freshwater fish, abounds in these waters; kingfishers dive for their catch, squirrels and langurs drop partly-eaten fruit for the joy of the splash and ripples, and elephants enjoy being bathed and scrubbed by their mahouts.

Adventure tourism: the most laidback people become converts to high-energy adventure — river rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and mountain biking. Numerous walking trails attract trekkers; birds, bees and butterflies give company, and macaques, Malabar squirrels, langurs and slender loris watch from the tree canopy. (The narrator prefers to step aside for wild elephants!)

Sights: the climb to the Brahmagiri hills gives a panoramic view of Coorg; a rope bridge leads to the sixty-four-acre island of Nisargadhama. Near Bylakuppe is India's largest Tibetan settlement, where Buddhist monks in red, ochre and yellow robes are among the surprises that await visitors searching for "the heart and soul of India, right here in Coorg".

6. Tea from Assam — the journey of Rajvir and Pranjol

Pranjol, a youngster from Assam, is Rajvir's classmate at a school in Delhi. Pranjol's father manages a tea-garden in Upper Assam, and Pranjol invites Rajvir to visit during the summer vacation. On the train a vendor calls "Chai-garam… garam-chai"; Pranjol buys two cups. Almost everyone in the compartment is drinking tea.

Rajvir notes that over eighty crore cups of tea are drunk every day throughout the world — "Tea really is very popular," says Pranjol. Pranjol, born and brought up on a plantation, buries his nose in a detective book; Rajvir, also a fan of detective stories, is more keen on the beautiful scenery.

Outside it is green, green everywhere. Soft green paddy fields give way to tea bushes: against a backdrop of densely wooded hills, a "sea of tea bushes" stretches as far as the eye can see, with tall shade-trees and doll-like figures (the tea-pluckers) moving in the orderly rows. Rajvir spots a tea garden, and Pranjol confirms — "Assam has the largest concentration of plantations in the world."

7. Tea from Assam — the two legends and the tea estate

Rajvir has read a lot about tea: "No one really knows who discovered tea but there are many legends." He tells two:

• The Chinese legend: a Chinese emperor always boiled water before drinking it. One day a few leaves from a burning twig fell into the pot, giving the water a delicious flavour — said to be tea leaves.
• The Indian legend: Bodhidharma, an ancient Buddhist ascetic, cut off his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditation. Ten tea plants grew out of the eyelids; their leaves, put in hot water and drunk, banished sleep.

Rajvir adds that tea was first drunk in China as far back as 2700 B.C. — the words "chai" and "chini" are Chinese. Tea came to Europe only in the sixteenth century and was at first drunk more as medicine than beverage.

At the estate: the train clatters into Mariani junction; Pranjol's parents drive them towards Dhekiabari, the tea-garden managed by his father. The car crosses a cattle-bridge and enters Dhekiabari Tea Estate, where acre upon acre of bushes are pruned to the same height and tea-pluckers with bamboo baskets and plastic aprons pluck the newly sprouted leaves. Rajvir impresses Mr Barua by knowing this is the "second-flush" or sprouting period (May to July) that yields the best tea — "I hope to learn much more while I'm here."

8. Themes

• Unity in diversity: three regions — Goa, Coorg, Assam — differ in food, faith, people and landscape, yet each is a beautiful "glimpse" of one nation.
• Tradition & livelihood: the pader's craft, the Kodava martial heritage and Assam's tea industry each show a region defined by its work and customs.
• Nostalgia & continuity: the Goa piece treasures the past while celebrating that the tradition lives on through the baker's son.
• Nature & tourism: Coorg and Assam show India's natural wealth — rainforests, rivers, wildlife and tea gardens — and the joy of travel and adventure.
• Curiosity & learning: Rajvir's eagerness to learn about tea models the value of being well-read and observant.

9. Message & values

The chapter teaches us to appreciate and respect the diversity of our own country — its many cultures, foods, peoples and landscapes are a source of pride. It values preserving traditions and crafts (the dying pader's trade is still essential), courage and self-respect (the Kodavas), hospitality, and a spirit of curiosity, observation and lifelong learning (Rajvir). It also reminds us of the dignity of labour — bakers, tea-pluckers and mahouts whose work sustains a region. Above all, it urges the reader to travel, observe and feel a place personally rather than read dry, impersonal facts.

10. Literary devices & style

• Pen-portrait / first-person nostalgia (Goa): warm, reminiscing tone — "those good old Portuguese days".
• Onomatopoeia: the baker's bamboo goes "jhang, jhang"; the "thud and jingle" of the bamboo; "Chai-garam… garam-chai".
• Imagery: "a sea of tea bushes", "doll-like figures", the fragrance of fresh loaves, Coorg as "a piece of heaven".
• Metaphor / hyperbole: Coorg "must have drifted from the kingdom of god"; a well-fed person has a "jackfruit-like appearance".
• Travelogue & dialogue: Coorg uses descriptive travel-writing with a fact file; Assam uses lively dialogue to weave in information.
• Local words / glossary: pader, bol, bolinhas, kabai (Goa); kuppia, mahaseer (Coorg); chai, chini, second-flush (Assam) — anchoring each piece in its region.

11. Word meanings (all three pieces)

• Reminiscing nostalgically — thinking fondly about the past.
• Heralding — announcing the arrival of someone/something.
• Pader — the traditional baker of Goa.
• Rebuke — an expression of disapproval; a scolding.
• Fragrance — a pleasant scent or smell.
• Bol — special sweet bread given as a marriage gift in Goa.
• Bolinhas — Goan sweet cakes/biscuits, a Christmas must.
• Kabai — single-piece long frock once worn by Goan bakers.
• Plump physique / open testimony — a pleasantly fat body / clear public proof.
• Drifted from — carried along gently (here, by air).
• Martial — connected with war or fighting.
• Canopies — roof-like coverings (of leaves) that form shelters.
• Prime (corners) — here, the best.
• Mainstream — a tradition that most people follow.
• Tales of valour — stories of courage and bravery, usually in war.
• Laidback — relaxed; not in a hurry.
• Rappelling — going down a cliff by sliding down a rope.
• Panoramic view — a view of a wide area of land.
• Ascetic — a person who lives a simple, self-denying religious life.
• Second-flush — the second sprouting period of tea (May–July) yielding the best leaves.