Lesson 1 - A Photograph Class 11 English Summary in English and Summary in Hindi

Lesson 1 - A Photograph

Class 11 English

Summary in English and Summary in Hindi

I. INTRODUCTION

Shirley Toulson's ‘A Photograph'describes three stages. In the first stage, the photograph shows the poet's mother standing at the beach enjoying a holiday with her two cousins. She was twelve or so at the time. The second stage takes us twenty or thirty years later. The mother would laugh at the way she and her cousins Betty and Dolly were dressed up for the occasion. In the third stage the poet remembers her mother with a heavy heart. The photograph revives nostalgic feelings in the poet.

1. Three Cousins at the Beach

The poet sees an old photograph. It shows the poet's mother and her two cousins Betty and Dolly. They were on a holiday at the beach. The photograph shows the poet's mother, a girl of twelve or so. They stood there smiling. Her uncle captured the sweet smile of the poet's mother in the camera. The three cousins stood at the beach. The waves washed their 'terribly transient’ feet. 

1. तीन चचेरी बहनें समुद्री तट पर 

कवि एक पुराना फोटोग्राफ देखती है। वह कवि की माँ और उसकी दो चचेरी बहनों Betty और Dolly को दिखाता है। वे समुद्री तट पर छुट्टी मनाने गयी थीं। फोटोग्राफ कवि की माँ को बारह साल या उसके आसपास की लड़की के रूप में दिखाता है। वे वहाँ मुस्कुराती हुई खड़ी थीं। उसके चाचा ने कवि की माँ की मधुर मुस्कान को कैमरे में कैद कर लिया। तीनों चचेरी बहनें समुद्री तट पर खड़ी थीं। लहरें उनके 'भयानक रूप से नाशवान' पैरों को धो रही थीं।

2. Twenty or Thirty Years Later

Time flew on wings. Twenty or thirty years passed. The poet remembers how her mother laughed when she looked at the old photograph. She pointed out to her cousins Betty and Dolly how they dressed them for the beach years ago. The sea-holiday was now a thing of the past for the mother. But the sweet laughter of the mother had now become a thing of the past for the poet. Both felt a sense of loss. The mother lost those happy moments of her childhood which she enjoyed at the beach. The poet's loss was the loss of her mother's sweet smile. Both laboured to bear the loss with ease.

2. बीस या तीस साल बाद

समय पंखों पर उड़ गया। बीस या तीस साल निकल गये। कवि याद करती है कि किस प्रकार उसकी माँ हँसी थी जब उसने पुराने फोटोग्राफ को देखा था। उसने अपनी चचेरी बहनों Betty और Dolly को बताया कि उन्होंने समुद्री तट पर जाने के लिए सालों पहले किस प्रकार की पोशाक उन्हें पहना दी थी। माँ के लिए समुद्री छुट्टी अब एक भूतकाल की घटना बन चुकी थी। लेकिन माँ की मधुर हँसी कवि के लिए अब एक बीती चीज बन गयी थी। दोनों को नुकसान की अनुभूति हुई थी। माँ ने अपने बचपन के वे खुशी के क्षण खो दिये थे जो उसने समुद्र तट पर बिताये थे। कवि का नुकसान मां की हंसी का खो जाना था। दोनों ने प्रयत्न कर उस नुकसान को सुगमता से सहन करने का प्रबंध किया।

3. Mother is Dead

The mother is dead. She died years ago. Actually, she has been dead nearly as many years as she lived. The poet has nothing to say. She has silently resigned to her fate.

3. माँ मर गयी

माँ मर गयी है। वह सालों पहले मर गयी। वास्तव में उसे मरे उतने साल हो गये हैं जितने साल वह जिंदा रही। कवि को कुछ नहीं कहना है। उसने चुपचाप अपने भाग्य को स्वीकार कर लिया है।

Important Points

1.The poet looks at an old photograph. It shows the poet's mother and her two girl cousins. 

2. The poet's mother stood with her two cousins at the sea-beach. They had gone there to enjoy a holiday. 

3.The mother was just a girl of twelve or so. 

4.Her uncle captures the sweet smile and face of the poet's mother and her cousins in a camera.

5.That was long ago when the poet was not even born. 

6. Some twenty or thirty years passed. 

7. The mother would laugh at the photograph. She showed it to her cousins Betty and Dolly the way they were dressed up for the beach. 

8. That sea holiday had become a thing of the past for the mother. And the mother's sweet smile became a thing of the past for the poet. 

9. The mother has been dead for years. 

10. There is nothing but a pall of silence spread all around.