Page 38 - Real English 2024 Book 8

Idgah

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Idgah 1 3

Festivals are a time of joy when people of all ages get together to celebrate an occasion. However, in reality not
everyone gets to enjoy the same kinds of pleasures in life. Munshi Premchand’s stories are known to deal with
common people and their daily struggles, and reflect on the problems that the society of his time grappled with.
In this story, a young boy is excited to experience the festival of Id, but he does not have the luxury of enjoying
himself as fully as other children his age. Read on to find out how he celebrates and upholds the values of the

festival.

A full thirty days after Ramzan comes Id. It
was a glorious morning and the village was
2
agog with excitement. People were getting
ready to go to the Idgah. But the happiest

of all was Hamid, a little boy of four or five.
An orphan, he lived with his grandmother,
Amina, and slept in her protective arms,
thinking that his father would come back with

bags full of money and his mother would be
back from heaven with beautiful gifts. Hope is
a wonderful thing and then a child’s hope!
3
Poor Amina sat in her hovel and cried.
It was Id and she didn’t have a grain of food
4
5
in the house. She was filled with gloom and despair when Hamid
1.
a place set apart for public
prayers on the occasion of entered the hut and said, ‘You mustn’t worry, Amma. I’ll be back
Id before anyone else.’
very eager to see or hear Amina felt a tightening around her heart. Other children were
2.
something all going with their fathers, but Hamid had no one to accompany
3.
a small dirty house him. He had no shoes and had to walk three miles. He’d get blisters.
6
4.
sadness There were only eight paise in the house, three in Hamid’s pocket
5.
the feeling of having lost and five in Amina’s pouch.
all hope The villagers started for the fair. Hamid was walking along with
sores on the skin caused by
6.
friction or burning the other children. Why were they walking so slowly? Whatever
7
7.
stare with one’s mouth open caught their eyes, they’d stand and gape at it in wonder. Hamid felt
wide he had wings on his feet. Suddenly they could see the Idgah. There

16