a short monsoon diary ncert summary
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☂A Short Monsoon Diary.
(Ruskin Bond)
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★Introduction
These are a few extracts from Ruskin Bond's diary. They show the silent miracles of nature and life's little joys and regrets. They are about author's experiences during the monsoon months in Mussoorie. Monsoon starts in the last week of June and continues till the end of August
★June 24
It is the first day of monsoon mist. The mist has concealed the hills. It has also silenced the birds. The author hears Biju calling to his sister. He can feel that Bijju is running. However the mist doesn't let him see Bijju. The mist appears to change the hills in two ways. It conceals the hills from view. It also makes them silent. It is so because the birds fall silent in the mist.
★June 25
The rain is warm and humid. So it is not as uncomfortable as the rain in winter. The flowers are coming up. The author describes the hill station and valley in one sentence. It is: 'A paradise that might have been.
★June 27
The monsoon has brought leeches. A leopard has also been seen. It has been stealing dogs and other animals. Some seasonal flowers also appear. More importantly new birds appear. Among them are minivets. These are brightly coloured (birds). They sit silently among the leaves.
★August 2
It has rained all night. The sound of the rainfall on the tin roof pleases the author. One is untouched and yet in touch with the rain.
★August 3
The rain stops. There is sunshine. People, animals and birds are out in the open once Again. The song of a whistling thrush coming from a distance pleases the author.
★August 12
It has been raining non-stop for more than a week. Everything is damp. One can go out only with an umbrella. But it is not cold. The hills are covered with flowers.
★August 31
Monsoon growth is visible everywhere. The seeds of the cobra lily are turning red. This is an indication that the rains are coming to an end. All holes are full of rainwater. So snakes and rodents have taken shelter in roofs, at-tics and godowns.
★October 3
This year monsoon rain continued much longer than usual. Now there is winter rain. A hailstorm has cleared the sky.
★January 26
The author wrote a poem about winter rain. The winter rain makes the author more lonely. A friend who had been staying with him has left. Unlike the monsoon rain, there are no flowers in the winter rain.
★March 23
It is the end of winter. After a hailstorm. there is a rainbow in the clear sky.
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Answer:
The lesson gives us a glimpse into the diary of Ruskin Bond and the first day being talked about is June 24, the time around which monsoon begins. He mentions how the mist silences the birdsong and conceals the hills making everything invisible. By June 25, humidity emerges as they begin receiving some early monsoon rain. The first cobra lily rears its head from the ferns. The author describes the hill station and valley in one sentence, “A paradise that might have been”. The rains also heralds the arrival of a few seasonal visitors like the leopard, leeches, scarlet minivets and drongos. Because of the downpour, there is no dearth of food for the insect-eating birds. He mentions how the rain continued all night on August 2. The springing leaks from the tin roof made him feel touched by the rain while actually remaining untouched. By the twelfth day of August, Mussoorie had been receiving showers for a stretch of eight to nine days straight. They had nowhere to go. One could only pace in the room or look out of the window. The last day of August marked the peak of the lush monsoon growth. The reddening of the seeds of the lily cobra signified that the rains are about to come to an end and the ferns will now start turning yellow. With October, comes the winter rain bringing snow on the higher altitudes. The late March marks the end of the winter season when the hill station experiences the darkest clouds that make way for a rainbow to form after it has hailed thus, leaving the sky clear.