Voyaying Towards Excellence

I had a very simple upbringing. We were a lower middle class family. Our 300 square feet house did not even have basic amenities such as a fan, a refrigerator, a geyser, a dining table or a gas stove;
leave alone an air conditioner or a car. It was only when I entered the college that I got a watch and we got a dining table and a gas stove at home.
Nevertheless, culturally, I had a rich childhood. Poets like Vinda Karandikar, Mangesh Padgaonkar and Vasant Bapat used to visit our home and for hours I
could listen to the discussions about poetry and literature-Marathi and English. They used to talk about
Keshavsut, Mardhekar, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. I did not fully understand their discussions in depth, but I was immensely impressed.
We also were lucky to have Pt. Kumar Gandharv, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and Pt. Jasraj visit our place and talk about Indian music till late night or sometimes dawn.
This is how and why I developed my interest in literature and music during my school days. I did not and even today don’t understand the ‘grammar’ of music, but I began to love it tremendously since then.
Most of the times, the topics of discussion at our home were about music, literature, paintings, sculptures etc. I could listen to the discussions about Van Gogh, Mozart and Michaelangelo etc. It was because of such a milieu around me that I had a firm belief which I still hold that all arts are equally, if not more, milieu : setting or social important in our lives than Science or Technology. I environment had learnt from my childhood that money does not mean everything in life. It is necessary, but if at all there is something which enriches our lives and puts meaning to our existence, it is the arts, music and literature.
Q A1:-
The basic amenities writer mention were-
Ans: fan, a refrigerator, a geyser, a dining table or a gas stove
Q A2:-
Find out the lines which shows the writer had culturally rich childhood.
Ans:- Poets like Vinda Karandikar, Mangesh Padgaonkar and Vasant Bapat used to visit our home and for hours I
could listen to the discussions about poetry and literature-Marathi and English.

QA 3 :-
Name the great personalities who are
culturally rich.
Ans:-Keshavsut, Mardhekar, Shakespeare, Charles Dicken
QA4 :-
‘Money does not mean everything in life’
Do you agree with the Statement-
Ans :- it is the arts, music and literature which gives colour to life.
QA 5 :-
Language Study:
1) I had a very simple upbringing.
(Make it exclamatory)
a) How simple upbringing I had!
b) What a simple upbringing I had !
c) How a simple upbringing I had!
d) What simple upbringing I had!
2) I did not understand discussion in depth but I was immensely impressed. (Remove-but)
a) I did not understand discussion in depth ,I was immensely impressed.
b) I did not understand discussion in depth though I was immensely impressed.
c) Though I did not understand discussion in depth but I was immensely impressed.
d) Though I did not understand discussion in depth , I was immensely impressed.
Ans :-
d) Though I did not understand discussion in depth , I was immensely impressed.
A6 Find out the meaning of the words from the passage.

a) Something that makes a place pleasant or easy to live in
Ans:.amenities
b) To a great extent
Ans :- tremendously
c) The early morning, when light first appears in the sky
Ans: dawn
d) setting or social environment .
Ans :-milieu