Nakshi Kantha

Key words: quilt    artistic    commercially    traditional    demand    pattern  

 

A   Look at the picture and the questions. Them ask and answer the questions with your partner.

1.       What do you see in the picture?

2.       What is it called?

3.       Have you seen it before? Where?

4.       What do we do with it?

B  Now read the text to know about Nakshi Kantha.

Nakshi Kantha is a kind of embroidered quilt. The name was taken from a Bengali word `naksha’ which means artistic pattern. It is a kind of traditional craft and said to be indigenous to Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. The art has been practiced in rural Bengal for centuries. The name `Nakshi Kanthar Math’ was published in 1929.

Traditional kanthas are made for family use. Old or new cloth and thred are used to make this quilts. Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Ranshahi, Faridpur, Bogra and Jessore are most famous for this craft. Now it is produced commercially. You can find them in many expensive handicraft shops in cities. The quilts are now in great demand because of the colourful patterns and designs embroidered on them.

A glimpse of our culture

Unit One

A glimpse of our culture

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

* read and understand tests through silent reading
* infer meaning from context
* ask and answer questions
* write answers to questions
* write short compositions

Lesson 1 : Our folk songs

Key Words : folk,musical,instruments
A Work in pairs. Read out the musical instruments and answer the following questions.

dotara	Sarinda	guitar	Bamboo flute	drum
Tabla	piano	harmonium	Ek-tara	violin

     

1.       Can you sing a song?

2.       Can you play any of these musical instruments?

3.       Do you know anybody who can play any of these instruments? Tell me what you know abut her\him.

B  Read the text and answer the following question.

Folk songs are songs sung in the traditional style of a community or country. Here the traditional style includes the themes, words and tunes of the songs that have we existed for a long time among the common people.

We have a rich history and collection of folk songs in Bangladesh. Of them, Palligiti, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Jari, Sari, Gambhira, Lalongiti, Palagaan, and songs of Hason Raja are very popular. The traditional musical instruments are usually played with these songs.

Questions

1.       Who usually likes our folk songs?

2.       Can you name some well known folk singers?

3.       Do you like folk songs? If you do, who is your favourite folk singer? Which song or songs do you like most?

4.       Look at the musical instruments in A above and say which instruments go well with the folk songs.

5.       Discuss in groups whether the modern instruments like the guitar and the piano could be played with the folk songs.

 

       C Discuss in groups and write a paragraph on the following question.

Do you want more or less programmes on folk songs on our TV channels? Why?

'Your School Library'

Write a paragraph on ‘Your School Library’ mentioning its size, number and kind of books, book shelves, the librarian, the mode of borrowing books and its usefulness.

Or

Write the paragraph answering the following questions:

a)     What is a library?

b)     How many books are there in your school library?

c)     Who is called a librarian?

d)     How can you borrow books from the Library?

e)     Why is a school library important to you?

YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY

Library is a place where there are plenty of books to read or borrow. Our school library is not a big place. It contain about 4000 books of various kinds. These books are reference books, story books, novels, books on science and general knowledge, biographies, dictionaries. There are two rows of open selves in the library. We can move around the selves and choose books according to our needs. The man in charge of the library is called the librarian. He keeps the records of the library and issues us books. There are rules of borrowing and using the library books. We obey them very strictly. The library is a quiet place. We keep quiet when we enter the library. There is a separate corner in the library for our teachers. A library is a learning place. We should learn how to use it. It is our best teacher if we can use it properly.