DUTIES OF A CITIZEN

           The word citizen means a person who lives in a town and not in a village. But it has another meaning too. Any person who has full rights in a State is a citizen. It does not matter whether he lives in a town or in a village. A citizen enjoys many rights, but he has also many duties to the State. A citizen ought to love his country and serve his fellow citizens. He should help his family and at the same time he should help his friends, relations and neighbors, too. He should develop the virtue of discipline in him. In order to live happily, he must see to it that his actions never bring to others around him. A good citizen never breaks the laws of the land, but encourages others to lead an honest life. As students, we should acquire the good qualities of head and heart so as to grow up as good citizens in future.

A MEMORABLE DAY IN MY LIFE

           I can never forget the day when my father, who has always been kind to me, bought me a new bicycle. It was October 18,1985. My father, a lecturer at a local college, usually comes home at five, but that ’day he was rather late. My mother got anxious. I thought I would go to one of our neighbors and ask for help. Hardly had I gone out of my house when I heard my father ‘calling from behind. Lo! ‘Father was riding a new bicycle. It had a sleek look; it was bright and shining. I liked it at once. To my great surprise, father declared that he bought it for me. I jumped upon the saddle and cycled round for some time. I felt happy and excited. I had become a proud owner of an attractive bicycle.

STUDENT AND SOCIAL SERVICE

            Students are the future citizens of the country. They should develop in them some good qualities like discipline, punctuality, obedience, perseverance, etc., at early stage. They must learn right now to discharge their duties towards the society. Students should learn to help their friends and relations. They should keep their homes as well a schools’ neat and clean. With the help of their elders they may organize social aid camps and render useful service to their neighboring places. They may plant trees, clean roads and do other constructive works. They should learn good manners and help the poor and the destitute in whatever way they can. Along with their studies, the students should know the society and try to make it a better and happier place to live in. Of course, they cannot be expected to do great things. but small help. if rightly given, may turn out to be of great importance to all.

NEWSPAPER READING

          Man’s hunger for news is perhaps as old as the civilization itself is. Today, thanks to the radio and the television, a man can get the news of his country and abroad quite easily. But still, newspapers are in great demand. A man living in a city wants two things after getting up in the morning-a cup of tea and the day’s newspaper. A newspaper, really a newspaper, contains many important news-items and it satisfies the need of various types of readers like businessmen, teachers, politicians, lawyers, students, etc. By reading a newspaper a man can keep himself abreast of the major events taking place all over the world. He, thus, becomes a well informed person and can form his own opinion in some cases and is thus prepared to take part in any relevant discussion with his friends.

DUTIES OF A CITIZEN

          The word citizen means a person who lives in a town and not in a village. But it has another meaning too. Any person who has full rights in a State is a citizen. It does not matter whether he lives in a town or in a village. A citizen enjoys many rights, but he has also many duties to the State. A citizen ought to love his country and serve his fellow citizens. He should help his family and at the same time he should help his friends, relations and neighbors, too. lie should develop the virtue of discipline in him. In order to live happily, he must see to it that his actions never bring woe to others around him. A good citizen never breaks the laws of the land, but encourages others to lead an honest life. As students, we should acquire the good qualities of head and heart so as to grow up as good citizens in future.

A MEMORABLE DAY IN MY LIFE

             I can never forget the day when my father, who has always been kind to me, bought me a new bicycle. It was October 18,1985. My father, a lecturer at a local college, usually comes home at five, but hat day he was rather late. My mother got anxious. I thought I would go to one of our neighbours and ask for help. Hardly had I gone out of my house when T heard my father calling from behind. To Father was riding a new bicycle. It had a sleek look; it was bright and shining. I liked it at once. To my great surprise, father declared that he bought it for me. I jumped upon the saddle and cycled round for some time. I felt happy and excited. I had become a proud, owner of an attractive bicycle.

ISWAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR

           Iswar Chandra Bandyopadhyay was born at a village in Midnapore in the year 1820. He had to live in utmost poverty in his childhood. When he was quite young he came to Calcutta with his father. They walked all the way and Iswar Chandra learnt the English numerals from the milestones. As a student he was simply brilliant. He had a powerful retentive memory. He read in the Sanskrit College and later became its Principal. He was a great social reformer. He introduced widow marriage and fought all his life to uphold the dignity of man. He had a very kind heart, but he could be stem, if the situation so demanded of him. He did a great service to the Bengali literature by writing some text books in Bengali. He also translated many Sanskrit books into Bengali. He was a vastly learned man, but was a picture of simplicity and kindness.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

          Swami Vivekananda, the great patriot-monk of India, was born in Calcutta in the year 1863. In his early life he was known as Narendra Nath Dutta. He graduated from Scottish Church College in 1883. While he was a student, he felt a great urge to realise God. He met many saints and religious people but none could satisfy him. Then he came in contact with Sri Ramkrishna who answered all his questions. Sri Ramktshna was God incarnate. Naren was deeply impressed and later he became his disciple. Sri Ramkrishna passed away in 1886. Naren became a monk now. He toured the whole of India and saw for himself the distress of the Indian people and devoted himself to their service. In 1893 he attended the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, America and upheld the Vedantic philosophy of ancient India. He came back to India and founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur on the western bank. of the Hooghly. It preaches the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was great as a saint, but as a patriot, he was greater still.

MY BEST FRIEND

          Asit Das is my best friend. We read in the same class, and live in the same village. In fact, he is my next-door neighbour. Asit is tall and thin, but he is quite strong. He  loves to wear simple clothes and never shows off. What I like in him most is that he has a large heart. He is always ready to help me; he is always by my side. We read together, walk together and play together; we love to be in each other’s company. Whenever I feel unhappy or lonely, Asit is there to offer me solace and cheer me up. How happy I feel when I see his smiling face. Asit is bright and cheerful and I have never seen him look grim. Together we have laid out a flower garden. There we have grown some lovely flowers. I am really proud of Asit, my best friend.

THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINEE

          A poor fisherman lived in a village near the sea. Everyday, he used to g to the sea to catch fishes. One day, as usual, he threw his net in sea water. After a while, when he pulled out his net, he found nothing except a small strange looking jar.

          The fisherman picked up the jar and saw something moving inside the jar. Out of sheer curiosity, the fisherman removed the lid of the jar. As soon as the lid was opened, a dark cloud of smoke rose up from the bottle. Amidst the dark cloud, a huge fearful Jinee appeared before the fisherman.

          The fisherman began to tremble in fear. He had never seen such a large monster in his life. He humbly asked the Jinee in a trembling voice, are you?”

          The Jinee laughed aloud and replied, “Many years ago, I happened to be a terror. People were greatly afraid of me. But a very powerful and intelligent king captivated me inside this small bottle by casting his spiritual power.” The Jinee stopped for sometime. “The king then threw the jar in the deep sea”, continued the Jinee, “and now you have freed me.”

“But I am now very hungry”, said the Jinee, “and I’ll have to kill you to meet my hunger.”

          The fisherman was a man with cool brain. He began to think how to save himself from the Jinee. He politely said, “I know that you’ve really very hungry and I am ready to offer my life. But I’ve a last wish.”

          “What is it?” Jinee wanted to know eagerly. He could not wait anymore for he was very hungry. The fisherman said, I want to know how a huge Jinee like you enter into this tiny jar.”

          The foolish Jinee boastfully replied, ‘That’s all you want! All right, wait and see.” Saying so, the Jinee quickly reduced his size and entered into the jar. The clever fisherman at once closed the jar with the lid tightly. He then threw the jar back into the deep sea.

Moral: Never lose your cool at the time of danger.