Swami and friends

chapater -1

1. It is 1930 and the protagonist , Swaminathan ,a young school boy is reluctant to attend school
after the delicious freedom of Saturday and Sunday.
2. After struggling to complete his homework, he heads to his school .There we are introduced to
three of his teachers fire-eyed Vedanayagam, with whom Swami terribly bored .The sight of
the infants falling over each other and the 12:30 mail gliding over the embankment and
crossing the Sarayu bridge offer relief to him.
3. Swaminathan was reprimanded and pinched by vedanayagam for not doing the sums correctly.
4. We are now introduced to D. Pillai , the history teacher , who was reputed for his kindness and
good humor. He was an excellent teacher , his narration was such that students could picturise
the history in front of them .
5. Then came the as last period for the day , the scripture period , taken by Ebenezar. He was
fanatic. He was in support of Christianity and mocked hindu religion . There is a war of
words between swaminathan and Ebenezars comment on Hinduism.
6. Swaminathan regrets telling his father about this Ebenezars episode , he reverts by writing a
letter to principal in which he expresses his anger towards the scripture for passing insulting
and provoking comments on hindusim.
7. Friends of swami
Mani ; The mighty good for nothing
Back bencher ;slept bravely in class ; bully . a good friend of swami .
Sankar ;the most brilliant boy of the class; rumored to be a sycophant of the teachers. Swami
looked upon him as a marvel .
Samuel ; know as Samuel the pea for his small size quite similar to swamis character weak ,
apprehensive and bad at arithmetic. The bond between Samuel and swami was laughter . They
laughed at everything together
Sommu ; The monitor . chummy with teachers , confident and calm , known to be uncle of the
class .

8. Together these frds have a discussion about the Ebenezar episode .

9. Towards the end of the chapter headmaster calls in Swami , where Ebenezar is also present .In a
calm way Headmaster advises swami to approach him first then tha problem to his father .

Vocabulary builder

Fanatic someone who is over enthusiastic

Reprimand to criticize someone
Reverie -- day dream
Flabbergasted overcome with amazement
Furtive done in a quiet & secret way .