Though water in the ship can be a cause of extreme panic, but the neither narrator nor any of his family members panicked. It could be owing to the sixteen years long training they had undertaken before setting off to the voyage. The author was really a great captain whose timely decisions helped them survive through the stormy ordeal. It was such a wise decision on his part to hire two professionals, Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler, to help them tackle the Southern Indian Ocean. They proved to be real saviours when the ship had been flooded with the sea water. They pumped like madmen to keep the water levels reasonably low. Even author and his wife lent a helping hand to them. The most amazing reaction was that of the kids. They showed such a courage during those hard times as is rare to be seen of children of that age. This courage of the kids motivated the author to figure out survival strategies for the entire crew. And ultimately they made it to Ile Amsterdam, a French scientific base.

On the evening of the 2nd of January, a giant wave, that first looked like a dark cloud, crashed into the boat, badly damaging it. The giant waves threw the narrator into the water and back into the boat, which resulted in him fracturing his ribs and breaking his teeth. The boat was slowly sinking, as water entered through a hole made by the wave. To add to the chaos, a few essentials like two spare hand pumps, the forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor had been thrown overboard. 

On the evening of the 2nd of January, a giant wave, that first looked like a dark cloud, crashed into the boat, badly damaging it. The giant waves threw the narrator into the water and back into the boat, which resulted in him fracturing his ribs and breaking his teeth. The boat was slowly sinking, as water entered through a hole made by the wave. To add to the chaos, a few essentials like two spare hand pumps, the forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor had been thrown overboard. 

Here, the poet says that  the narrator had to face a number of troubles that posed dangers to his life before he somehow managed to survive till the end.

At a point to time, he founded that the sea started to roar more and more and the waves became furious and uncontrollable.

At first, the narrator thought that they would be saved as the ship would easily  be able to take a hold over the situation. Later, due to a sudden unknown explosion, the deck got affected and there was a gush of water all over the ship. The  narrator got badly hurt on his head. It took great effort before things subsided.

The narrator and his wife Mary have dreamt to voyage around the world like the famous Captain James Cook. They have got a professionally built Wavewalker. The boat has been tested for months in the roughest of the weathers.
In July 1976, the narrator, together with his wife and kids (son Jonathan, 6 and daughter Suzanne, 7) sets sail from Plymouth, England. The initial period of the three-year journey (from the west coast of Africa to Cape Town) proves to be quite pleasant. Before heading east, they employ two crewmen, namely, Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler to help them tackle one of the worlds roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean.

There was lot of difference between the way in which the adults and children reacted when they faced danger. The adults lost hope and waited for their end with a heavy heart. At this point, they were motivated by the children. The children offered moral support to the adults. They displayed maturity and tolerance. Jonathan expressed his fearlessness and courage when he said that they were not afraid of dying if they all could be together. Sue expressed her love and gratitude for her parents by making a greeting card.
She was strong enough not to let her parents know about her serious injuries. She did not want to bother her parents at the time of crisis.

• When the author, Khushwant Singh, was a little child, his parents left him in the village with his grandmother and went to live in the city.
• The author’s grandmother was an old lady. She was very religious. The author shared a very close bond with his grandmother. They became very good friends.
• The grandmother woke him up, dressed him and accompanied him to school. The school was attached to the temple.
• While the author was at school, the grandmother used to read the scriptures in the temple.
• When the author’s parents were well-settled, he and his grandmother also went to the city. It proved a turning point in their friendship.
• In the city, Khushwant Singh attended an English school and travelled in a motor bus. He learnt English words and topics of Western Science.
• The grandmother could no longer accompany him to his school nor help him in his studies. However, they shared the same room.
• When the author went to the University, he was given a separate room, Thus, the last link of their friendship was broken.
• The grandmother kept herself busy in her prayers and spinning the wheel. Her favourite part of the day was feeding the sparrows.
• When the author went abroad for higher studies, the grandmother came to see him off at the station but she showed no emotions and was not even sentimental.
• The author came back after five years and was received by his grandmother at the station. She was unchanged and did not look a day older.
• In the evening, the grandmother did not pray and instead collected the women of the neighbourhood and celebrated her grandson’s homecoming,
• The grandmother fell ill the next day and she knew that her end was near.
• She stopped talking and closed her eyes. She was lost in her prayers and counting the beads of her rosary. Suddenly, the rosary fell down and her lips stopped moving. She was dead.
• Thousands.of sparrows assembled in the room and sat quietly to mourn her death. They did not even eat the crumbs given by the author’s mother.
• After the grandmother’s body was taken for cremation, the sparrows flew away silently.

On 4th January, the mental condition of the voyagers was vacillating between hope and despair. After 36 hours of continuous pumping, water had receded but they still had to keep pace with the water still coming in. The captain's wife provided them with the first meal in two days of some corned beef and cracker biscuits. However, this respite was only short-lived. The storm started building up and the situation again became worse. On 5th January, the situation was desperate. When the captain went to his children to comfort them, the small boy asked him innocently if they all were going to die but added that he did not mind dying as long as all were the family members were together. This strengthened the captain's determination to fight all odds and survive. 

The narrator had always seen his grandmother dressed in spotless white saree . His hair were silvery and her locks used to spread over the pale and wrinkled face. The narrator described her to look like an expense of pure white serenity. He also compared the mountains full of snow cover to look equally peaceful as his grandmother face.

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Masti blames the local cartographer for not including Hosahalli in India’s map. He equals Mysore and India on one hand and Karigadabu and its filling on the other. He says that  Karigadabu is not possible without its coconut-sugar filling. Similarly, Hosahalli is as much important a place in Mysore State as a filling serves Karigadabu.

The Garoghlanian tribe having a unique perspective of the world because it's members value their pride,their honesty and their beliefs in write and wrong.They were so poor that it was very difficult for them to arrange food for thrice in a day but they never thought to steal even a single thing.

Actually, both of them were like good and intimate friends. They spent most of the time together. She woke him up early in the morning and got him ready for school. She gave him a breakfast of stale bread with a little butter and sugar spread on it. She accompanied him to his school.

When it comes to natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and tsunamis, decades of development like buildings, flyovers, dams, institutions, all get destroyed in an instant. Less people die but more become crippled. Thus, livelihoods are severely affected. So, as a country prone to natural disasters, we need to prepare ourselves with additional funds for such times.

As we are aware, a lot has been said and written about the cause of such natural disasters, global warming being one of them. Yet, no action is being taken. Vehicular traffic is one such reason that is contributing towards global warming throughout the world. Burning fossil fuels is yet another. Unplanned urbanization is another reason. But the root cause of all is man’s greed for more and more, as he is not prepared to spare even the earth where he lives in for the purpose.

Like many developed countries that are taking measures to be prepared, in India too we need to be proactive in our approach to tackle future disasters. Technology like advance warning systems, building buildings that can withstand earthquakes are just some of the things that we can do. Other than that, insurance schemes especially meant for natural disasters need to be introduced by the Government. The general masses also need to be educated about evacuation procedures. Government institutions, corporate, schools and colleges should have initiatives for the same. Because when a disaster strikes, help must be ready in an instant. We cannot lose time leveraging resources during such times. 

In the poem ‘A Photograph’ by Shirley Toulson the cardboard shows the poet an old photograph which was glued and stuck on it to preserve it.

The cardboard shows the daughter, her mother’s photograph taken when the mother had been 12 years old.

It helps the daughter to relive her mother’s laughter when she had talked about her childhood memories.

The story 'The Address' is all about the address that the author had received from her mother years ago so that she can reclaim her belongings back after the the war. The whole plot develops from this address of Mrs Dorling 'House no:46 Marconi street'.

It was hard for author to believe that his grand mother was once young and pretty as when he opened his eyes he saw his grand mother old, so terribly old that one could not grow more older. Her skin was a criss cross of wrinkles spread all over her face. Therefore it was beyond the expectations of author to believe that his grandmother had been pretty once.

The head teacher had summoned Albert in order to ask him to leave the school. The reasons behind expelling Albert was that his presence in the classroom was disruptive of the discipline and decorum expected in a classroom. It created animosity in the class and was a source of distraction for the teacher. It hampered the teacher in his objective of teaching the students and also disturbed the students in their task of learning. Einstein's refusal to cooperate in the class,behave according to the teacher's dictum and being rebellious was obstructive in the way of carrying out work in the classroom.
Albert could feel the medical certificate burning a hole in his pocket because he was going to leave anyway.

The narrator's grandmother was a very religious lady. She used to hobble around the house telling the beads of her rosary. Even as she bathed him, she would recite her morning prayers and hope that he would learn it too. While the narrator was at school, she would sit in the temple and recite scriptures. Even after the narrator went to the University, she would sit by her spinning wheel and recite prayers. Even at the time of her death, she did not waste her time talking to her family, but went on saying her prayers.

Elsa was Einstein's cousin who used to live in Berlin where her father had his business. She believed that one must learn just enough to pass exams. She observes that one does not have to know anything or understand what is being taught but just be able to repeat it in the exams. To learn to repeat things like a parrot and reproduce it in the exam hall. Elsa does not read anything other than what is prescribed in her school,she has no thirst for knowledge and will not study anything that is not required as per her coursework. She advised Einstein to do the same and just get his diploma because kids dumber than him would get it easily without putting in any effort.

The comparison made between rain and music is definitely a suitable metaphor. The poet says that water rises, and falls onto the earth, returning beauty to nature in the form of flowers and other plants. Similarly, music resonates from the musician, evoking thoughts, ideas and emotions from the soul of the listener. Feelings which lie dormant in the mind of the listener come out only when listening to music, just like seeds that lie buried under the earth, that sprout into plants after rainfall.