growing up with kites
We flew kites too; we loved to fly them. Made of coloured paper and fine bamboo,
Indian kites are as brilliant as huge butterflies and almost as light. The gatekeeper, Guru,
bought them for us in the bazaar and showed us how to glass our strings, how to run the
fine thread through a mixture of flour paste and ground glass until the whole string was
armoured and then to wind the string around the polished bamboo roller that had a slim
bamboo handle at each end and which are small hands could grasp.
He showed us how to launch and fly our kites, how to send them higher and higher,
standing with our legs well apart, holding our rollers in both hands bracing ourselves
against the tug and pull. He taught us how to make our kite bob three times as a challenge
to the other kites in the sky and then, as a distant cry of “Dhari, Dhari!” rose from an
invisible rooftop, to cross strings with our opponent until the vanquished kite, cut loose,
floated helplessly away over the river.
Sometimes we heard a shrill commotion on the road below and looking over the parapet,
saw a crowd of boys running with bamboo poles after a drifting kite mended and
patched, could do battle again.
_ Jon and Rumer Godden
On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the following questions:
a) Why does the author find flying kites an enjoyable hobby?
b) How was the string made into a lethal weapon?
c) What all did the gatekeeper, Guru, teach the authors?
d) How did the sport of kite –flying become a battle?
e) Find words from the passage which mean the following-
i) splendid
ii) remote
Answers
Answer:
earrange the equation by subtracting what is to the right of the equal sign from both sides of the equation :
m/4-(12)=0
Step by step solution :
STEP
1
:
m
Simplify —
4
Equation at the end of step
1
:
m
— - 12 = 0
4
STEP
2
:
Rewriting the whole as an Equivalent Fraction
2.1 Subtracting a whole from a fraction
Rewrite the whole as a fraction using 4 as the denominator :
12 12 • 4
12 = —— = ——————
1 4
Equivalent fraction : The fraction thus generated looks different but has the same value as the whole
Common denominator : The equivalent fraction and the other fraction involved in the calculation share the same denominator
Adding fractions that have a common denominator :
2.2 Adding up the two equivalent fractions
Add the two equivalent fractions which now have a common denominator
Combine the numerators together, put the sum or difference over the common denominator then reduce to lowest terms if possible:
m - (12 • 4) m - 48
———————————— = ——————
4 4
Equation at the end of step
2
:
m - 48
—————— = 0
4
STEP
3
:
When a fraction equals zero :
3.1 When a fraction equals zero ...
Where a fraction equals zero, its numerator, the part which is above the fraction line, must equal zero.
Now,to get rid of the denominator, Tiger multiplys both sides of the equation by the denominator.
Here's how:
m-48
———— • 4 = 0 • 4
4
Now, on the left hand side, the 4 cancels out the denominator, while, on the right hand side, zero times anything is still zero.
The equation now takes the shape :
m-48 = 0
Solving a Single Variable Equation:
3.2 Solve : m-48 = 0
Add 48 to both sides of the equation :
m = 48