Love for Animals – Unit – 1 : Prose
Warm-Up Activities :
The names of animals :
Love for Animals
The school bell rings. It is 4.15 in the evening. Lucy and Nithin are returning home from school. They see a man walking with his pet dog. The man is trying to tell his dog something. The dog seems to be answering him by barking. Watching this, Lucy remembers Ramana Maharshi.
Lucy : Do you know anything about Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi?
Nithin : No, I don’t. What’s special about him?
Lucy : Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi loved animals and birds.
Nithin : Can you tell me more about Ramana Maharshi?
Lucy : Listen. Even animals were attracted to him. He spoke to them just as he would speak with people.
Nithin : You mean, just like the man we saw talking to his dog?
Lucy : Yes, he called the dogs, “boys”. He used to say, “Are the boys eating their food?”
Nithin : Really?
Lucy : Yes, and he called his cow Lakshmi. He used to say, “Give Lakshmi some rice”.
Nithin : Where did he keep all these animals?
Lucy : These animals lived in his ashram. He always fed the animals and birds first. He ate only after feeding them.
Nithin : Even birds?
Lucy : Yes, Ramana Maharshi called the peacocks by making sounds of their cries. Then they
would go to him and eat the peanuts, rice and mangoes from his hands.
Nithin : That’s interesting. Lucy, will you please tell me more interesting stories about Ramana Maharshi and animals?
Lucy : Yes, listen. One day, Maharshi was sitting on a hillside. A snake crawled over his legs. He didn’t move nor show any fear. Later, someone asked him what he felt like when the snake crawled over his legs. He replied, “Cool and soft”.
Nithin : My God! I would have cried and run away. Did anyone kill the snakes in the ashram?
Lucy : Ramana Maharshi never allowed people to kill snakes in his ashram. He said, “ We have come to their home and we have no right to trouble them. They do not trouble us.” Oh! We are nearing our homes. I will continue the story tomorrow.
Nithin : Yes. Thanks a lot. Who told you all these stories?
Lucy : My grandmother knows a lot of stories. She tells us stories every day. Bye.
Nithin : That’s wonderful ! Tell me more tomorrow. See you, bye.
Words to know
Attracted : a feeling of liking somebody (ಆಕರ್ಷಿಸು)
Cries : (Here) sounds made by birds and animals (ಕೂಗು)
Interesting: a feeling to know more about something (ಆಸಕ್ತಿದಾಯಕ)
Present tense – Past Tense forms :
Ring – rang
Return – returned
See – saw
Walk – walked
Try – tried
Tell – told
Watch – watched
Remember – remembered
Know – knew
Love – loved
Listen – listened
Attract – attracted
Speak – spoke
Like – liked
Talk – talked
Call – called
Use – used
Say – said
Eat – ate
Keep – kept
Live – lived
Feed – fed
go – went
crawl – crawled
move – moved
show – showed
ask – asked
feel – felt
reply – replied
cry – cried
run – ran
kill –killed
allow – allowed
have – had
come – came
trouble – troubled
continue – continued