CHANGING TIMES-(TEXT)

CHANGING TIMES

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-IV

My name is Chetandas. Many years ago I used to teach children like you. These days I spend my time by writing about the days when I was young. I would love to share some of these with you.

A Big Move

I remember the time when I was nine years old. It must have been over sixty years ago. That was when we lived in Dera Gazikhan.

Today this place is in Pakistan. At that time, there were a lot of problems all around us. I could not understand what was happening. One day Baba told us that we had to leave our village and move to another place.

I was sad to leave my house and my village. That was where I had all my friends. All of us – Baba, Amma, my younger brothers and sisters and I took a train to come here, near Delhi.

Like us, many people from our area also moved. People were saying that our country was being divided into two – India and Pakistan.

Many people from India went to Pakistanjust like we moved to India.

For some time we all stayed in a camp. We lived in big tents that were

put up in a huge ground.

A New Home

One day Baba told us that we had been given some land in Sohna village. He said that we could build our house there. I was very happy.

Baba and Amma worked hard to make the house. We children also helped. Baba dug the soil, and we quickly filled the pans and passed them on to Amma. Gudiya and Amma mixed husk in it. Baba put up the walls.

We brought cow dung from nearby houses. Amma mixed it with the mud. She coated the floor with this mixture, just like she used to do in our old house. Amma used to say that this would keep the insects away.

Then, it was the turn for the roof to be made. Baba made a frame by joining strips of wood and fixed it on the four walls.

We put branches of neem and keekar trees on the frame, so that termites would not harm the wood. Amma put old gunny bags on this and covered them with mud.

Most of the houses around our house were made like ours. A few were different. But I liked my house the best. It was just like our old house.

A Changing House

Time passed quickly. I finished my studies and got a job. Amma- Baba wanted me to get married. I thought that before I got married we should repair our house and build one more room.

In those days, people in cities were using cement. They said that this made the houses stronger. We also thought we would use cement. We used iron and cement for making the roof of the new room.

In those days unbaked bricks were also available in the market. We made the walls with them. 

The use of bricks was useful – we did not need to coat the wall every week.

Once a year we would whitewash the walls. We also built a small kitchen in the courtyard. The kitchen had a mud chulha and place to keep the vessels.

Then I got married, and my wife Suman came to our new house. To cook, Suman used to sit on the floor in the kitchen.  We all used to sit on mats in the kitchen and eat together.

It was a happy time! People used to go out to the field for their toilet in those days. Some of the houses had a separate place for this. We also

made a small toilet with unbaked bricks behind the house.

More Changes

My two sons and a daughter were born in that house. Time passed. The children completed their studies. Fifteen years ago, our daughter Simi got married and moved to Palwal.

When Raju was to get married, we felt that we should get the house ready for the new bride. By then, everyone was using baked bricks.

We also used them for the walls and put a lintel for the roof. We used marble chips and cement for a strong and fancy floor.

In the toilet we put pipes to take away the waste. The kitchen was made bigger.

Now, Raju's wife does not use the clay chulha. She stands while cooking on the gas stove.

Seeing New Things

My younger son Montu moved to Delhi when he got a job there. Now he stays there with his family. Suman and I stay with Montu for some months in a year, and with Raju in Sohna for the rest of the time.

On the way to Delhi from Sohna, we go through Gurgaon. So many big high-rise buildings have come up there!

A few years ago Raju renovated the toilet and the bathroom. He used coloured tiles in his bathroom. Imagine, spending so much money for a place to have a bath!

I am now seventy years old. In all these years, I have seen so many changes, even in my own house. I don't know where my grandchildren will want to live and how their house will be!

I wonder what the houses are like in Dera Gazikhan today. And how about all my friends – where will they be?

THANKYOU,

NANDITHA

THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS-(TEXT)

THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-IV

In the hills of Uttaranchal there is a place where there are flowers everywhere. This place is called the ‘Valley ofFlowers’.

 Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park, located in West Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora.

Valley of Flowers is located 300 Kms North of Rishikesh, near Badrinath. You need to Travel by Road till Govindghat and from there the trek to Valley of Flowers starts. Govindghat is 20 Kms before Badrinath. Till Govidghat there is a motor-able Road. Rishiksh is 6 Hours Drive from New Delhi, India.

Location of Valley of Flowers

Valley of flowers is located in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand India. This is remotely located and it takes minimum 3 days to reach Valley of flowers from Haridwar. The last motor-able point is Govindghat.

You can check our trek itinerary page for more day wise information. It is around 500 km from New Delhi and 300 km from Haridwar. You can check our page on how to reach valley of flowers, we have given distances between important points and time required between them, different modes of transportation available to reach Valley of Flowers.

Opening and Closing dates of Valley of Flowers. Valley of flowers opens on 1st June every year and closes on 4th October, but the valley remained closed for public in 2013 after the floods in June 2013 till 4th October, 2014 as the trek between Ghangaria and Valley ofFlowers was damaged.

It was reconstructed by September, 2014 and valley was opened for public for 6 days from 4th October to 9th October, 2014. You can visit out best time to visit valley of flowers page to know what will be best time among these four months of accessibility of the valley.

In some places, one sees red flowers blooming on bushes, while in others one finds white flowers peeping out between the stones. There are wide areas carpeted with the brightest yellow flowers.

And suddenly, elsewhere, blue flowers shining like tiny stars between the grass. All this seems like a beautiful dream, doesn’t it? Yes, because like a dream these flowers bloom only for a few weeks in the year.

Now you were just left counting, weren’t you? Are there any things in your house which have designs of flowers made on them – like clothes, sheets, vases, etc.? Here is a floral design in the box below.

The design in the picture is called ‘Madhubani’. It is a very old form of folk art. Do you know why it is called Madhubani? There is a district in Bihar called Madhubani.

Here, during festivals and happy occasions, the walls of the houses and their courtyards are painted with such pictures. These paintings are made out of paste of powdered rice in which colour has been mixed. The colours used in Madhubani painting are very special too.

To make them, indigo (Neel), turmeric (Haldi), colours from flowers and trees, etc., are used.  paintings show human beings, animals, trees, flowers, birds, fish and many other animals.

Blooming buds!

You must have seen buds on the plants. If there are any flower bearing plants growing near your school or home, look carefully at their buds.

So many uses!

Flowers are even eaten!

What are the different ways we use flowers in our daily life? Do you know that flowers can be eaten as well? Manyflowers are cooked as vegetables.

In Uttar Pradesh, Firoza and Nilima enjoy eating a vegetable made of kachnar flowers.

In Kerala, Yamini wants her mother to cook her a vegetable made of banana flowers.Mamta and Omar who are from Maharashtra love pakoras made of sahjan flowers.

Colours from flowers:

Colours are made from many flowers like marigolds, zenia, etc.

These colours can also be used to dye cloth.

The Kannauj district in Uttar Pradesh is famous for Itr. Truckloads of flowers are brought from neighbouring areas for this purpose.Itr, rose water, Kewra water are prepared from flowers here. Thousands of people in Kannauj are engaged in this work.

Of course, if there are so many uses of flowers, then we need lots and lots of flowers. Flowers are grown in many places. Imagine fields full of flowers extending for miles together! How beautiful!

Let us all visit the….What will you find there?
Himalayan Blue Poppy, Daisies, White, Yellow, Calendula, Lily,
Purple, Dianthus, Asters, Strawberry Flowers, Brahma Kamal  Or Bethlehem,  Pansies.

Let us study at some common flowers  around us…..

Zinnia, Cactus flowers,lily,  Marigold, Hibiscus, Shoe Flower, Periwinkle,Vinca Rosa, Datura, Night Blooming Cereus, Night Jasmine Flowers, Water Lily, rose, Jasmine, Magnolia, Bottle Brush, Neel Kamal.

Let us study at shapes of different  flowers:

Bell shaped, Funnel, Trumpet-shaped, Tube-like= tubular,Urn-shaped or pot-shaped, , Saucer- shaped. Star-shaped, Bowl-shaped, Cross-shaped, Lipped flowers.

THANKYOU,

NANDITHA