Maharashtra Board Class 12 English Chapter 2.2 Indian Weavers Textbook PDF Download

Ice Breakers

Artisans are also called craftsmen. They are creators of diverse goods and use their hands to create unique, functional and also decorative items using traditional techniques. Now complete the web given below:

Different types of artisans: Goldsmith

Teacher's Note

Artisans make beautiful things by hand. In India, you can see goldsmiths making jewellery in small shops in every town.

Exam Trick

Remember: Artisans = people who make things by hand. They use their skills, not machines.

Points to Remember

Artisans create unique and decorative items.
They use traditional techniques passed down from old times.
Craftsmen use their hands to make functional goods.
Different artisans make different products.

Discuss with your partner the seasons/occasions when we need:

(a) woollen clothes

(b) casual clothes

(c) rich silk clothes

(d) colourful, comfortable clothes

Let's play a game. The teacher will ask the students some questions. Students will understand that there are some exceptions to the general rules. Let's start.

One who weaves is a weaver.

One who plays a game is a...

One who sings is a...

One who dances is a...

One who teaches is a...

One who cooks is a...

Teacher's Note

Grammar patterns help us make new words. In Hindi, we also add 'wala' or 'karta' to make job names.

Exam Trick

Remember: Add 'er' to make job names. Singer, dancer, teacher, cooker. These follow a pattern!

Points to Remember

One who does something is called by adding 'er' to the action word.
Singer = one who sings.
Dancer = one who dances.
Weaver = one who weaves.

We have often seen the picture of Gandhiji spinning on his charkha. Discuss the reasons behind this. One has been given for you.

(a) To give rural people an opportunity to earn their livelihood.

(b)

(c)

(d)

Name some tools used by the weavers.

(a) Loom

(b)

(c)

Name some types of yarns used by the weavers.

(a) Linen

(b)

(c)

Teacher's Note

Gandhiji believed in making cloth at home using the charkha. This helped poor people earn money and also made India free from foreign cloth.

Exam Trick

Remember: Charkha = spinning wheel. It was Gandhiji's symbol for swadeshi or making things in our own country.

Points to Remember

Gandhiji used the charkha to make thread.
It gave jobs to rural people and gave them income.
The charkha became a symbol of India's independence movement.
Weavers need tools like looms.
Weavers use different types of yarn to make cloth.

Indian Weavers

Weavers, weaving at break of day,

Why do you weave a garment so gay?......

Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,

We weave the robes of a new-born child.

Weavers, weaving at fall of night,

Why do you weave a garment so bright?........

Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,

We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

Weavers, weaving solemn and still,

What do you weave in the moonlight chill......

White as a feather and white as a cloud,

We weave a dead man's funeral shroud.

- Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu (1879 to 1949) was a political activist, feminist and the first Indian woman who became the President of the Indian National Congress. She was an important figure in India's Struggle for Independence. Sarojini Naidu's work as a poet earned her the title of Nightingale of India. Later she became the Governor of the United Provinces in 1947 becoming the first woman to hold the office of the Governor in Independent India.

"Indian Weavers" is a short poem where the poet talks about three types of garment that the weavers weave at three particular times of a day. Each stanza of the poem represents the three important events of human life: birth (childhood), adulthood (young) and death (old). The colours mentioned in the stanzas are very significant as they indicate the moods related to the events.

Halcyon: Kingfisher, a bird which has bright, colourful plumes

Plumes: soft feathers

Shroud: a cloth in which a dead person is wrapped

Teacher's Note

Sarojini Naidu was a great poet and freedom fighter. She wrote beautiful poems about India and its people, and was respected by Gandhiji.

Exam Trick

Remember: Nightingale of India = Sarojini Naidu. Nightingale is a bird that sings beautifully. She wrote beautiful poems like a nightingale sings.

Points to Remember

Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman President of Indian National Congress.
She was a poet and freedom fighter.
The poem shows three important events of life: birth, marriage, and death.
Different colours in the poem show different moods and feelings.

Brainstorming

Teacher's Note

This poem teaches us to think about different jobs. Weaving, tailoring, knitting, and embroidering are all old craft jobs that still exist in India today.

Exam Trick

Remember: Each stanza = different time of day + different life event + different colour mood. Morning = blue + birth, Evening = purple/green + marriage, Night = white + death.

Points to Remember

Weavers weave robes for new-born children in the morning.
They weave marriage veils in the evening.
They weave funeral shrouds at night in cold moonlight.
The colours in the poem show different feelings and life events.
The poem is about the importance of weavers in our society.

(A1) Discuss with your partner about the following vocations:

(a) Weaving

(b) Tailoring

(c) Knitting

(d) Embroidering

(A2) (i) Discuss the various products made by the weavers in the poem.

(ii) The words in the three stanzas of the poem mention different times of a day. Complete the table.

(iii) The poem reveals three phases of life. Fill in the blanks with feelings and colours appropriate to the phases of life. One is done for you.

(iv) Complete: The weavers weave in the chill moonlight

(v) Pick out two words used to describe the weavers in the last stanza. Also state their importance.

(vi) Express your views about the present condition of weavers.

(vii) Describe in your own words the steps or measures that can be taken to solve the problems of the weavers.

(viii) Express your own views and opinions from the weavers' point of view and complete the following table.

(A3) (i) Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.

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