Page 48 - Viva Real English 3 : Ebook
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in the night when he got off at the station. He was wearing a cotton dhoti,
kurta and a Gandhi cap. In this dress he looked like an ordinary villager.
The platform was deserted. Dr Prasad lodged his rolled quilt in the crook of
his arm and walked to the stationmaster’s office. With great politeness he
asked the stationmaster, ‘Could I make a telephone call? It’s an important
matter.’
The stationmaster gazed at him for a while. He thought the man in front of
him was a mere villager.
‘Want to make a call? Who do you think you are?’
Dr Prasad wanted to introduce himself – ‘Rajendra Prasad . . . Congress . . .’
Before he could finish, the stationmaster interrupted, ‘No, no . . . Rajendra
Prasad is not going to be here tonight. You may go now.’
He did not allow Dr Prasad to make his call. Dr Prasad was so shy that he
could not tell the stationmaster that he was speaking to Rajendra Prasad
himself!
Dr Rajendra Prasad was one of the main leaders of the Indian independence
struggle. In 1942 he participated in the ‘Quit India Movement’ against the
British rulers of our country. The British arrested him and put him in prison
for three years. While in jail, he wrote his autobiography, which was 900
pages long.
deserted : without people politeness : respect and
lodged : fixed consideration for other
quilt : a thick and warm bed people
covering gazed : looked steadily
crook of the arm : the bend in the interrupted : stopped someone
arm from speaking
stationmaster : the official in autobiography : the story of a
charge of a railway station person’s life written by the
person himself/herself
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