Friends Forever Chapter 6

He spent a couple of minutes hunting and then picking up two books handed them to Aamir

The next Saturday Aamir went to Sharma Sir’s house. He was in his study reading a book.

“Come young man. So how did you like the first meeting of the Literary Club?”

“It was nice,” Aamir said not wanting to commit anything. Actually, he had got quite bored. Sharma Sir hadn’t come to the meeting and it had been presided over by the Literary Club President Jagdish Joshi, a rather dull young man, who had droned on and on about the greatness of Shakespeare as a dramatist.

“I know it could have been more interesting. Jagdish is not one of our liveliest youngsters. Next year I’ll pick someone brighter. Now, let’s get started. First, let me ask you a question. How serious are you about improving your English?”

“Very serious sir.”

“Good. I want it to become a passion, an obsession with you. English is a beautiful language and a very powerful one too. For sheer adaptability and flexibility, it can rival any language in the world. Once we start working together I am confident you’ll fall in love with English. Today, I’ll give you two books from my personal library,” Mr Sharma said, getting up and going to a wall cupboard beside his desk.

He spent a couple of minutes hunting and then picking up two books handed them to Aamir.

Aamir looked at the titles: Stories behind Words and Write Better, Speak Better.

“These two books will help you get started and later we’ll build on the foundation. I want you to start going through them. We’ll discuss more when we meet again.”

Aamir happily took the books to his room and after dinner started reading Stories behind Words. The book was fascinating. It told the tales behind words like Echo, Narcissus, Achilles Heel, Martinet, and lots more, in simple language. Though his speed was slow he finished more than fifty pages of the book before falling asleep.

In the next session of the Literary Club Sharma Sir divided the twenty members into four groups and conducted a literary quiz. Four questions pertained to Greek mythology. Thanks to Aamir’s new found knowledge he could answer all. His team bagged the top spot and Aamir was delighted.

He went to Sharma Sir’s house on Saturday.

“Aamir I am happy with you. Your performance in the quiz was good – it is clear that you have been reading as well as digesting the books I gave you. If you continue with the same fervour you are sure to achieve your goal.”

“Thank you sir,” Aamir said.

Friends Forever is a serialized novel by Ramendra Kumar, exclusively on LnC

“Now I want to give you a few more tips. Speak as much as you can in English. In our school, we do have an advantage that the general standard of English is pretty high but kids do tend to mix Hindi or Telugu. You must avoid that. Your friends might even make fun of you, do a little bit of leg pulling but you should not bother. Luckily, your best friend Sagar speaks very good English and that should really help you. Secondly, you must watch channels like BBC, NDTV 24×7, CNN IBN, National Geographic, Discovery – these channels are ideal if you want to improve your vocabulary as well as your pronunciation.”

“But sir, in the common room whenever we are free all that the boys want to watch are the various Sports Channels.”

“You’ll have to somehow adjust your timings so that you can get to watch the channels I have suggested.”

“Sir, what about reading?”

“I am glad you asked. Francis Bacon, the famous writer has said, ‘Reading maketh a man’. I, too, believe in this. You have to read and read as much as you can. Our library has a wide range of books to choose from. At your age, you can start with Enid Blyton, Harry Potter, and Hardy Boys and then move on to Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. You should also read the abridged versions of the classics written by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Jules Verne, RL Stevenson, and the Bronte sisters. In fact, as you grow up you should develop as eclectic a taste as possible.”

“Sir, what is ec…telic?”

“Not ectelic; it is eclectic. It means varied – diverse.”

Aamir nodded slowly. He was wondering when he would be able to do all this.

“Finally you have to practice writing. Write as much as you can.”

“Do you mean I have to copy down things to improve my writing?”

“No. I mean creative writing. Write on any topic that suits you – one page every day; or at least every alternate day. Make this a habit. After ten days or so you can show me what you’ve written. I’ll have a look and then we can have a discussion. That way, we’ll know how you are progressing and where you are going wrong.”

(Friends Forever is a children’s novel by Ramendra Kumar with illustrations by Avijit Sarkar, serialized exclusively on LnC every Wednesday and Friday)

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Read on to Chapter 7

Friends Forever Chapter 7

About the Author

Ramendra Kumar ( 117 Posts)

Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is a children’s writer with 38 books to his name. He has won 34 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT), over the years. He also dabbles in satire, poetry, fiction and travelogues. His writings have been translated into 15 Indian and 14 foreign languages and have also found a place in text books, as well as national and international anthologies. A much sought after inspirational speaker and story teller, Ramen has been invited to participate in several conferences and festivals. These include the IBBY Congress of Children’s Writers in Denmark (2008) & Greece (2018) and Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (2019), apart from many literary events across the country. In the Congress held in Greece he was the only writer from India to be invited to chair two sessions. An Engineer and an MBA, Ramen is former General Manager & Chief of Communications, SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant. He is the father of two children who are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 76K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his Dad's books. His website is www.ramendra.in
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