Nelson Mandela Explanation, Line by Line,  Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 10 NCERT First Flight Chapter 2

 Nelson Mandela Explanation, Line by Line,  Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 10 NCERT First Flight Chapter 2

NELSON MANDELA

(Explanation and Meaning of difficult words)

Author – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

 

Word	Meaning
Dawned	Began,
Pleasantly	Happily, With happiness
Besieged	Closely surrounded
Dignitary	Important Person, VIP
Gathering	Meeting, Assembly

Tenth May morning had good sunshine and the sky was clear. I was happy to be surrounded by dignitaries and world leader since last few days. [Means that so many people had come to meet me]. They were coming to meet me before the inauguration. During inauguration ever highest number of international leaders would come to South Africa. [Inauguration is the day Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President of South Africa. It is 10^th May 1994]

 

 

Word	Meaning
Amphitheatre	Big indoor or outdoor stadium
Took place	Conducted, Occurred
Sandstone	Type of stone
Pretoria	Capital of South Africa
Union Buildings	Office of President of South Africa

The ceremonies were conducted in a beautiful stadium made of sandstone. The amphitheater was built between Union Buildings in Pretoria.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Decade	Ten years
Site	Place
Supremacy	Being powerful, Authority
Race	Group of people of similar colour of skin
Non-racial	Without considering colour of skin

For several sets of ten years, the amphitheater has been considered as the seat of supremacy of white people. Today people of different colours and nations have assembled. Therefore it is looking like a rainbow. [Rainbow gathering also means a temporary gathering of people for a short duration] They have come here on the occasion of first democratic and non-racial government of South Africa.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Lovely	Pleasant
Accompany	To be with
Podium	Platform

On that pleasant day of autumn, my daughter Zenani was with me. From the platform, first Mr. de Klerk took oath as second deputy president. Then Thabo Mbeki took oath as the first deputy president.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Pledged	Promised
Uphold	Maintain, Respect
Devote	To work whole heartedly
Wellbeing	State of being happy and healthy
Assembled	Gathered

Then it was my turn to take oath. I promised to obey and respect the Constitution and to devote myself for the benefit of the Country and its people. I said following to the world watching the ceremony and to the guests who had come there –

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Confer	Give to, Award to
Glory	Honour, Fame
Liberty	Freedom
Disaster	Event that results in great damage
Lasted too long	Continued for long time
Humanity	Mankind

By being present here, we all are giving honour and hope to newly born freedom. From the previous long experience of extraordinary destruction of mankind, a new society should emerge. This new society should be such that mankind is proud of it.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Outlaws	Person banned from society
Rare	Unique, Uncommon
Host	Who receives guest
On our soil	In our country
Rare	Exceptional, Not occurring frequently
Privilege	Advantage, Honour

Till recent past, we were banned from society. But today we have the unique honour of receiving guests from nations of the world in our country.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Distinguished	Famous, Respectable,
Take possession with	Share, Celebrate
Dignity	Honour, Respect

We thank all our respected guests for coming to our country to share and celebrate with people our country. After all this (democratic government in South Africa) is victory of justice and peace for the respect of whole humankind across the world.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Emancipation	Freedom, Liberty
Bondage	Slavery, Being slave
Liberate	To make free
Deprivation	Non-availability, Not having something
Discrimination	Inequality, Unfairness

Finally we have achieved our political freedom. [Means we can select our own government]. We promise to free our people from slavery of poverty, non-availability of essential facilities, suffering, gender and other inequalities. These have been continuing since a long time.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Oppression	Injustice, Exploitation
Reign	To rule, To govern
Sun will never set	It will never end, Something permanent
Glorious	Famous, Big

In this beautiful land of South Africa nobody will ever do injustice or cruelty to another person. [Means that all people will be considered equal]. This big glorious achievement will always be shining. [This achievement is permanent]. Freedom shall be the rule of the country. Let God give his blessings to South Africa.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Awe	Wonder, Amazement
Array	Series
Spectacular	Fantastic
Jets	Planes
Formation	Arrangement

After few moments we all looked in the sky in amazement. We saw a fantastic series of South African fighter planes, helicopters and planes for carrying soldiers. These were flying in perfect arrangement in the sky over Union Buildings. Sound of these planes and helicopter was thundering the sky. [sound was very loud]

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Display	Exhibition, Show
Pinpoint	Exact
Precision	Accuracy
Freely and fairly	Without pressure and in right way

This was not the show of exact accuracy and military power. It was to show that military is loyal to democracy and to the new government. The government that has been freely and fairly elected.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Generals	Officers
Bedecked	Decorated
Days gone by	Earlier period of time

 

Before that air show, highest officers of South African defence forces and of police saluted me and promised their loyalty. Their chests were decorated with ribbons and medal they had won earlier.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Unmindful	Unaware
Chevron	V shaped formation
Trail	Line

 

I was aware of the fact that many years before they did not salute me. During those days they would have arrested me. Finally jets in V formation flew. Because of their colourful smoke lines were made in the sky. Their smoke were of black, red, green, blue and golden colours. These are the colours of national flag of South Africa.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Symbolised for me	Became memorable for me

The day became memorable for me because our both the national anthems were played. The white people sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’. And black people sang ‘Die Stem’, which is the old national anthem of the country.

[During earlier period of white rule, South Africa had ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’ as their national anthem. Blacks did not accept this. They declared ‘Die Stem’ as their national anthem. After end of apartheid rule these two national anthems used to be sung at every occasion. In 1997 these two were combined with other lines to make one national anthem for South Africa.]

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Lyrics	Wordings
Despised	Hated
Know by heart	Memorise

That day any of the groups (whites and blacks) did not know wordings of anthem of another group. They had hated the anthem of another group. I was sure that soon they would memorise words of both anthems.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Overwhelmed	Affected, Impressed
Bitter war	Fierce war, Severe war
Patched up	Became friends
Domination	Supremacy

On the day of the inauguration, history of South Africa came to my mind. I was deeply affected by the history. After many years, war between people of England and Boer (a white community in South Africa) ended. This had happened before Nelson Mandela was born. In the first 10 years of twentieth century (1900 to 1910) people from these two communities of white people became friends. They organized a system so that white people will have supremacy over black people of their own country of South Africa.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Harshest	Most cruel
Inhumane	Without human values

The system created by these two white communities resulted into one of the most cruel society in the world. This system did not care for human values.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Overturned	Changed, Withdrawn
Regardless of	Without considering, Irrespective of

Now in the last decade of twentieth century (1990 to 2000), and during eighth decade (80 to 90) of my age, this system has been changed forever. The new system will provide rights and freedom to every person without considering colour of their skin.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Unimaginable	Beyond imagination, Great

 

This day of change has come because of great sacrifice of thousands of my people. Their great suffering and courage can never be understood or repaid.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Sum of all those	Representative of them
Patriotic	One who loves his country, Nationalist
Line	Chain of ancestors and family
Pained	Became sad
Wrought	Emerged,

Similar to other days, that day also I felt that I was merely a representative of those patriot people of Africa who had died earlier. Those ancestors have died. And a new chain of family has started from people of this era. I was sad because I could not thank them. And they are not able to witness the change that has come because of their sacrifice.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Deep and lasting	Big and permanent
Profound	Very big, Great
Hurt	Injury, Damage

The policy of apartheid created a big and permanent damage to my country and my people. We will need to spend many years, if not generations, to recover from that great damage.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Oppression	Injustice, Exploitation
Brutality	Cruelty
Unintended	Unplanned, Undesirable
Generosity	Kindness

But long period of injustice and cruelty had another unplanned (by the white community) effect. The effect was that many people of extraordinary courage, wisdom and kindness emerged. [Names of such prominent people are mentioned in the text.] Such people can never be born again.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Characters	Persons, Personality
Beneath	Below
Finer and truer	Better and more valuable

Probably such a large injustice is necessary for emergence of such great persons. My country has vast amount of minerals and gems below the surface of its ground. But our greatest wealth is people of my country. I always believe that people of my country are better and more valuable than the purest diamonds.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Comrades	Colleagues
Time and again	Repeatedly, Many times

In the struggle for equality, I have understood meaning of courage from these colleagues. Many times I have seen that men and women had sacrificed their life for an idea or a cause.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Stand up to	Oppose and fight
Resilience	Tolerance, Toughness
Breaking	Accepting defeat
Defies imagination	Beyond imagination

I have seen men oppose and fight against attacks and torture without withdrawing or accepting defeat. They show strength, toughness and tolerance that is beyond imagination.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Triumph	Victory, Win
Conquer	Win, Overcome

I have understood that courage is not the absence of fear but it is the victory over fear. A brave person is the not the one who is not afraid but the one who overcomes his fear.

 

 

Nobody at his birth knows to hate people because of colour of skin or background or religion. People learn these things afterwards. If they can learn to hate, we can teach them to love each other. Because love can be understood more easily than to hate.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Grimmest	Most difficult
Pushed to limits	Beyond normal tolerance
Glimmer	Ray of hope, Shine
Reassure	To give confidence
Keep going	To continue to make efforts
Extinguish	To end or destroy

During the most difficult times I and my colleagues were tortured beyond our normal tolerance level. Even during that time, I used to see a hope of humanity in eyes of one of the guards. Probably it used be just for a second. But it gave me some confidence and I continued my efforts. Good nature of a person is just like a flame that one can hide but it can never be destroyed.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Twin	Two things at a time
Obligation	Responsibility

Every person has two responsibility. The first responsibility is towards family. The family consists of his parents, his wife and his children. The second responsibility is towards people of his country, his people and his community.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Civil	Cultured, Democratic
Humane	Of human values
Inclination	Choice

In a democratic society that believes in human values, every person can fulfil both obligations. He can do so according to his choice and abilities. But in the country of South Africa, people of my age and my colour could not fulfill these responsibilities. It was impossible.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Isolated	Arrested
Inevitably	Certainly
Ripped	Separated
Twilight existence	Gradually die
Rebellion	One who revolts

In South Africa if a black person tried to live as a normal human being, he was punished and arrested. In South Africa if a black person tried to fulfil his duty towards his community he would certainly be separated from his family and his home. He would be considered a rebellion and no information about him would be given to his family. He would ultimately die.

 

 

Initially I did not select to consider people of my community above my family. But later when I started to help my people, I was stopped from fulfilling my responsibilities of a son, brother, father and husband.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Hunger	Strong desire
Roast	Cook by putting in fire
Mealie	Corn

I did not have a strong desire to gain freedom during my childhood. I was a free person to do anything during my childhood. I was free to run around the field near our hut. I was free to swim in a river that was going through our village. I had the freedom to roast corn in the open sky. I was free to ride on the strong back of bulls which moved slowly.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Abided	Followed, Adhered,
Customs	Traditions, Conventions

Till I obeyed my father and followed traditions of my community, I did not have trouble from people, law or God.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Illusion	Fantasy, Deception

But later I understood that freedom of my childhood was merely a deception. When I became a young person, I came to know that my freedom had already been taken away. Then I started feeling a strong desire to gain freedom.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Transitory	Temporary, Occasional
Pleased	Liked

Initially, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself. The occasional freedom to go out of my house during night, to read what I liked and to go where I wanted to go.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Yearn	Strongly desire, Intense feeling
Potential	Future, Ability
My keep	Money required for living

When I became young I started living in Johannesburg. I strongly wanted to have some simple and honuorable freedoms. I wanted the freedom to achieve my potential and to earn money for living. I wanted the freedom to marry and have a family. I wanted the freedom that nobody should obstruct me when I was following all the laws.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Curtailed	Restricted, Limited

But gradually I understood that I was not free. My brothers and sisters were also not free. Not only my freedom was restricted but the freedom of every black person was restricted. [He was black. So everybody who looked like him means every black person]

 

 

After realizing this, I joined African National Congress. Then the desire for my own freedom got converted into the larger desire for freedom of every one of my community.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Animated my life	Became goal of my life
Transformed	Changed
Frightened	Afraid, Scared
Attorney	Lawyer
Law abiding	Follower of law
Forced	Compelled

The desire of achieving freedom for my people to live their life with honour and self-respect became goal of my life. This changed me from a scared person into a bold person. From a lawful lawyer I changed to a criminal, from a family loving husband into a homeless man. This compelled a person who loved his life to live like a monk.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Virtuous	Expert, Genius

I am not better or a self-sacrificing person than any other ordinary person. But I could not enjoy the limited freedom allowed to me because I knew that my people did not have freedom.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Chains	Restrictions

Freedom cannot be given to only some people. Restrictions on any one of my people were restrictions on every one of my people. And I considered restriction on all my people as restrictions on me.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Oppressor	One who does injustice
Oppressed	One who suffers injustice, Sufferer
Prejudice	Wrong thinking
Narrowmindedness	Not ready to consider other opinions, Intolerance

I knew that same as oppressed needs to gain freedom, the oppressor also needs to become free in his mind. A person who takes away freedom of another person is himself a prisoner of hate. He has locked himself behind wrong thinking and his own thoughts.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Robbed of	Taken away, Snatched

I do not have freedom if I take away freedom of somebody else. This is certainly similar to not being free when my own freedom is taken away. The oppressor and oppressed both are without human values.

****

A TIGER IN THE ZOO

(Explanation)

Poet – Leslie Norris

 

Word	Meaning
Stalks	Walks
Vivid	Bright, Fascinating, Clear
Stripes	Lines
Velvet	Type of soft cloth
Quiet	Silent
Rage	Anger

Poetic Devices
He stalks	Personification
in his vivid stripes	Assonance
on pads of velvet	Metaphor
stalks in his vivid stripes	Consonance
Quiet rage	Oxymoron

The poet has used ‘he’ in the poem for the tiger who is in the cage of a zoo.

The tiger has bright stripes on his body. He walks in cage. But he can take only a few steps because space in his cage is limited. The pads in his feet are soft like velvet so his walking does not produce any sound. He is angry but silent.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Lurking	Hiding to attack
Sliding	Moving slowly
Water hole	Source of water like a stream
Plump	Fat

Poetic Devices
plump deer pass	Alliteration

He should be in a jungle, hiding in a shadow to hunt for a prey. He should be moving in long grass so that he is not easily seen. He should be hiding near a source of water (like a river or a lake) where fat deer come to drink water.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Snarling	Growling
Baring	Showing
Fangs	Teeth
Terrorise	To frighten
Claws	Nails of animal or bird

Poetic Devices
snarling around houses	Onomatopoeia
around houses	Assonance
baring his white fangs his claws	Assonance
his white fangs his claws	Consonance
his white fangs his claws	Repetition

He should be in the jungle and snarling around houses situated at the edge of the jungle. While snarling he would show his white teeth and claws. This would frighten the villagers.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Cell	A small room
Behind bars	In prison, Arrested, Restricted

Poetic Devices
he’s locked	Personification
his strength behind bars	Consonance
behind bars	Alliteration

But the tiger is locked in small room made of concrete. His strength is arrested. [He cannot use his strength]. He walks within available space of his cage. He ignores all the visitors. [He does not look at visitors]

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Patrolling cars	Vehicle used for taking rounds
Stare	Look intently
Brilliant	Shining

Poetic Devices
he hears	Alliteration
with his brilliant eyes	Assonance

The tiger in the cage hears last voice in the night. [When visitors are gone, there is no sound of people] In the night he hears the sound of vehicle of zoo that come to take round of the zoo. Through the gate of his cage he looks at the shining star through his shining eyes. [He is feeling bad that he is not free]

 

 

Detailed Explanation

The poet is trying to compare condition of a tiger kept in zoo with a tiger who lives in jungle. The tiger in zoo is just like being in a prison. While the tiger in a jungle has freedom.

Poet says that the tiger kept in a zoo in not happy. His movements are highly limited. He is very sad. He cannot express his anger.

If the tiger would have been in jungle he would have lived his natural life. He would have hunted animals by himself. He would have frightened people. But in the cage he cannot hunt. Nobody is afraid of him. The tiger does not like this condition.

Since the tiger is kept in a cage he is not able to use his strength. In his sadness he walks in the cage. He does not look at his surroundings and visitors.

When all the visitors are gone there is no sound around him except that of patrolling cars. From cage of the gate he looks at the shining star. He yearns for his freedom. He would have enjoyed the nature if he were in the jungle.

Poet wants to give the message that it is un-natural to keep animals in the zoo. Poet is against keeping animals the zoo.

****

Important Links
Nelson Mandela – Textbook Q&A	Nelson Mandela – Extra Q&A
Two Stories about Flying – Explanation	A Letter to God – Explanation
Two Stories about Flying – Textbook Q&A	A Letter to God – Textbook Q&A
Two Stories about Flying – Extra Q&A	A Letter to God – Extra Q&A
Re-arrange Exercises	Error Finding Exercises
Active-Passive Rules	Gap Filling Exercises
Passages	Direct-Indirect Speech Rules
Story Writing Tips	Letter Writing