Maharashtra State Board Class 10 English Lesson Let’s March Summary, Line by Line Explanation, along with difficult word meanings from English Kumarbharati Book
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Let’s March Maharashtra State Board Class 10 English
Kailash Satyarthi
- Let’s March Introduction
- Theme of the Lesson Let’s March
- Let’s March Summary
- Let’s March Summary in Hindi
- Let’s March Lesson Explanation
Let’s March Introduction
Kailash Satyarthi was honoured with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. He delivered a powerful speech on the eve of Nobel Prize Distribution ceremony.
This speech talks of the well-being and basic rights of all children everywhere. It mentions the challenges children face and how we can all work together to create a better future for them.
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Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson Let’s March
The central idea of the lesson “Let’s March” is fighting for the well-being and basic rights of all children.
The lesson highlights the plight of millions of children suffering from unfair treatment like forced labor, poverty, and lack of education. It emphasizes the importance of global action and compassion to create a world where every child has the right to the following:
- Life
- Freedom
- Health
- Education
- Safety
- Dignity
- Equality
- Peace
- Dream
The speech is a call to action, urging everyone – individuals, organizations, and leaders – to work together to eradicate child exploitation and build a brighter future for all children.
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Let’s March Summary
Kailash Satyarthi gave a strong speech on the eve of the Nobel Prize Distribution ceremony in 2014. The speech has been divided into three parts in the chapter “Let’s March”.
Part 1: Kailash Satyarthi spoke about many children who are treated unfairly. They are forced to work, toil, and don’t have enough to eat. He said the world needs to do more to help these kids, and that learning and gaining knowledge is important for everyone to get along.
Part 2: Kailash Satyarthi said even one person can make a difference, like a tiny bird trying to put out a fire. He wants everyone to work together with kindness to help children everywhere.
Part 3: Kailash Satyarthi called on everyone – leaders, businesses, teachers, and even regular people – to join the movement and stop kids from being treated badly. He ended with a hopeful image of a future where every child can go to school, feel safe, and dream big.
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Let’s March Summary in Hindi
कैलाश सत्यार्थी ने 2014 के नोबेल शांति पुरस्कार वितरण समारोह में एक बहुत ही प्रभावशाली भाषण दिया था। उनके भाषण को “लेटस मार्च” अध्याय में तीन भागों में विभाजित किया गया है।
भाग 1: कैलाश सत्यार्थी ने उन असंख्य बच्चों के बारे में बात की जिनके साथ बुरा व्यवहार किया जाता है। उन्हें काम करने के लिए मजबूर किया जाता है, जो कठिन परिश्रम करने को मजबूर हैं और उनके पास पर्याप्त भोजन नहीं होता है। उन्होंने कहा कि दुनिया को इन बच्चों की मदद करने के लिए और अधिक प्रयास करने की जरूरत है, और यह कि सभी को आपस में मिल कर ज्ञान प्राप्त करना और सकारात्मक बदलाव लाना महत्वपूर्ण है।
भाग 2: कैलाश सत्यार्थी ने कहा कि एक व्यक्ति भी फर्क ला सकता है, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे एक छोटी सी चिड़िया आग बुझाने की कोशिश करती है। वे चाहते हैं कि हर जगह बच्चों की मदद करने के लिए हर कोई स्नेह के साथ मिलकर काम करे।
भाग 3: कैलाश सत्यार्थी ने सभी लोगों – नेताओं, व्यापारियों, शिक्षकों और यहां तक कि आम लोगों को भी आंदोलन में शामिल होने और बच्चों के साथ बुरे व्यवहार को रोकने का आह्वान किया। उन्होंने भविष्य की एक आशावान छवि के साथ अपनी बात को समाप्त किया, जहां हर बच्चा स्कूल जा सकता है, सुरक्षित महसूस कर सकता है और बड़े सपने देख सकता है।
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Let’s March Lesson Explanation
Note– The lesson is a speech, hence the author is referred to as the speaker.
Part I
Passage: My dear children of the world … Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, dear brother Tom Harkin, brothers and sisters, and my dear daughter Malala.
Word Meaning
Majesty/Royal Highness: Titles used to address kings, queens, or other members of a royal family.
Excellencies: A title used to address ambassadors, high commissioners, or other dignitaries.
Distinguished: Deserving of respect and admiration.
Norwegian Nobel Committee: The group responsible for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize.
Explanation: In his speech. the speaker, Kailash Satyarthi is addressing a big audience with important people (kings, queens, officials),distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and family.
Passage: From this podium of peace and humanity, I am deeply honoured to recite a mantra from the ancient texts of wisdom, Vedas. This mantra carries a prayer, an aspiration and a resolve that has the potential to liberate humanity from all man-made crises.
Word Meaning
Podium: A raised platform used by a speaker at a public meeting or ceremony.
Recite: To say aloud something that has been learned by heart.
Mantra: A word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation. (Here, it refers to a special verse)
Resolve: A firm decision to do something.
Liberate: To set someone free from imprisonment, control, or difficulty.
Explanation: The speaker feels grateful and honoured to be speaking at a place that promotes peace and understanding. He shares a message from a very old and wise book, the Vedas. This message offers hope for solving problems created and faced by humans.
Passage: Let’s walk together. In the pursuit of global progress, not a single person should be left out or left behind in any corner of the world, from East to West, from South to North.
Word Meaning
Pursuit: This means the act of trying to achieve something.
Left out: This means excluded or not included.
Explanation: The speaker invites everyone to join together. He believes everyone in the world deserves to be part of progress, no matter where they live.
Passage: Let’s speak together, let our minds come together! Learning from the experiences of our ancestors, let us together create knowledge for all that benefits all. I bow to my late parents, to my motherland India, and to the mother earth.
Word Meaning
Ancestors: People who lived in your family generations ago (grandparents, great-grandparents etc.)
Come together: To unite, to join forces, to collaborate
Benefits: Something positive that is gained or achieved
Bow: To bend your body at the waist as a sign of respect or greeting
Motherland: A person’s native country
Explanation: The speaker calls for communication and sharing ideas. We should learn from the past (ancestors) to find out the knowledge that would be helpful for everyone. He shows respect to his parents, his home country India, and the entire planet Earth.
Passage: With a warm heart I recall how thousands of times, I have been liberated, each time I have freed a child from slavery. In the first smile of freedom on their beautiful faces, I see the Gods smiling.
Word Meaning
Liberated: Set free from something unpleasant or harmful.
Recalling: Remembering something from the past.
Slavery: The state of being a slave, which is someone who is forced to work for another person without pay and has no freedom.
Explanation: The author feels happy remembering all the times when he freed children from slavery. Seeing the children smile after being free makes him feel like even gods are happy to see them free.
Passage: I give the biggest credit of this honour to my movement’s Kaalu Kumar, Dhoom Das and Adarsh Kishore from India and Iqbal Masih from Pakistan who made the supreme sacrifice for protecting the freedom and dignity of children. I humbly accept this award on behalf of all such martyrs, my fellow activists across the world and my countrymen.
Word Meaning
Supreme sacrifice: This means the greatest sacrifice someone can make, often referring to giving up their life.
Humbly: This means he is accepting the award modestly and respectfully.
Martyrs: These are people who die for a cause they believe in.
Explanation: The speaker shares the credit for his award with people who fought for children’s rights, like Kaalu Kumar, Dhoom Das and Adarsh Kishore from India and Iqbal Masih from Pakistan, some of whom even died for the cause. The speaker accepts the award modestly, representing all who work to help children.
Passage: My journey from the great land of Lord Buddha, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi; India to Norway is a connect between the two centres of global peace and brotherhood, ancient and modern.
Word Meaning
Brotherhood: A feeling of friendship and solidarity between people.
Ancient: From a very long time ago.
Explanation: The speaker travels from India to Norway.
India is a land known for peace. India is the home of Gautam Buddha, Guru Nanak ji and Mahatma Gandhi. All of these great men spread the message of peace. Norway, another place that promotes peace. It is like connecting two places that work for world peace, in both olden and modern times.
Passage: Friends, the Nobel Committee has generously invited me to present a “lecture.” Respectfully, I am unable to do that. Because, I am representing here – the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And, the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those children who are left behind and that’s why I have kept an empty chair here as a reminder.
Word Meaning
Generously: Given freely and kindly, without expecting anything in return.
Invisibility: The state of being invisible or not being seen. (Here, it refers to the unheard voices and unseen suffering of children who are neglected.)
Explanation: Kailash Satyarthi is called by the Nobel Committee to give a lecture but he doesn’t want to give a traditional lecture. He represents the voiceless children, the ones who can’t speak for themselves. The empty chair kept on the platform is a symbol of all these forgotten children.
Passage: I have come here only to share the voices and dreams of our children – because they are all our children – (gesture to everyone in the audience). I have looked into their frightened and exhausted eyes. I have held their injured bodies and felt their broken spirits.
Word Meaning
Gesture: A movement of the body used to express an idea or feeling. (Here, Satyarthi is indicating the entire audience with a hand gesture.)
Frightened: Feeling scared or worried.
Exhausted: Extremely tired, lacking in energy.
Explanation: The author says he is there to tell the audience about the dreams and wishes of all the children, because those children belong to everyone (pointing towards the audience). Kailash Satyarthi had seen the children scared and tired, and he helped them when they were hurt and sad.
Passage: Twenty years ago, in the foothills of the Himalayas, I met a small, skinny child labourer. He asked me: “Is the world so poor that it cannot give me a toy and a book, instead of forcing me to take a gun or a tool?”
Word Meaning
Foothills: The base of a mountain range, where the mountains meet the flatter land.
Laborer: Someone who does physical work, often for a wage (pay).
Skinny: Very thin and lacking flesh.
Explanation: Twenty years back, while visiting the Himalaya mountains near India, at the base of the mountains, the author saw a young boy who was very thin and had to work a hard job. The boy looked at Kailash Satyarthi and asked a sad question. The child labourer asked if the world was so poor that it couldn’t provide him with a toy and a book instead of forcing him to take up a weapon or a tool to work with. He meant to ask that could the world not even provide him a simple thing like a toy to play or a book to read.
Passage: I met with a Sudanese child-soldier. He was kidnapped by an extremist militia. As his first training lesson, he was forced to kill his friends and family. He asked me: “What is my fault?”
Word Meaning
Extremist: A violent armed group with extreme political or religious views.
Militia: A private army, often not part of a country’s official military.
Explanation: The speaker spoke with a child who had been forced to be a soldier, from Sudan (a country in Africa). He was kidnapped by a military group that wanted to hurt people. To train him to be cruel, they forced him to kill his friends and family. The child asked a heartbreaking question that what had he done wrong.
Passage: Friends, all the great religions teach us to care for our children. Jesus said: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.” The Holy Quran says: “Kill not your children because of poverty.”
Word Meaning
Hinder: To prevent someone from doing something.
Explanation: The speaker talks about how important children are. All religions teach us to take care of children, for example, Jesus says to let them be close to him and the Quran says not to harm them in case you are poor.
Taking away a child’s dreams is the worst kind of violence.
Passage: Friends! There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children. Therefore … I refuse to accept that all the temples and mosques and churches and prayer houses have no place for the dreams of our children.
Word Meaning
Violence: Here, it refers to harmful actions that can be physical, emotional, or psychological. Denying someone’s dreams can be seen as emotional violence.
Refuse: To firmly say no, to reject.
Explanation: The speaker says that taking away a child’s dreams is the worst kind of violence. The author rejects all those places of worship that can’t help children achieve their dreams.There are many places of worship like temples, mosques churches etc, but the author believes that these are wasteful if our world cannot care about the dreams and aspirations of children. Merely doing religious acts is of no importance.
Passage: I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when just one week of global military expenditure can bring all the children to classrooms.
Word Meaning
Expenditure: This is the money that is spent on something.
Military: This refers to the armed forces of a country.
Explanation: The author doesn’t accept that the world is too poor to help children. He points out that if countries stop spending money on weapons for just one week, they can educate all children of the world.
Passage: I refuse to accept that all the laws and constitutions, police and judges are unable to protect our children. I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT here.
Word Meaning
Constitutions: These are the written rules that a country follows.
Shackles: These are metal chains that lock someone’s hands or feet together, like handcuffs or leg irons. In this context, it refers to the limitations and restrictions of slavery.
Quest: This is a determined search or pursuit for something important, like a journey to find freedom.
Explanation: It makes Kailash Satyarthi really sad that even with all the rules and important documents, and even with the presence of police and judges, children aren’t always safe. He believes a desire for freedom is stronger than anything that tries to control people. No one should be forced to work like a slave, and freedom is always more powerful than anything holding one back.
Passage: My only aim in life is that every child is free to be a child,
– free to grow and develop,
– free to eat, sleep, and see daylight,
– free to laugh and cry,
– free to play and learn,
– free to go to school, and above all,
– free to dream.
Word Meaning
Daylight: Sunlight during the day.
Explanation: This is the author’s goal: every child should be free to be a child. This means that a child should have the freedom to grow, be healthy, go to school, learn, play, have fun, eat good food, sleep peacefully and most importantly, to dream.
Passage: I have the privilege of working with many courageous people who have the same aim. We have never given up against any threat or attack and we never will.
Word Meaning
privilege: a special right or advantage enjoyed by a person or group.
courageous: having or showing bravery.
threat: something that is likely to cause damage or danger.
Explanation: The author feels lucky to work with many brave people who all want the same thing, to make the world a better place for all the children. They have never stopped fighting for what they believe in, no matter what difficulties they face.
Passage: We have made progress in the last couple of decades. We have reduced the number of out-of school children by half. We have reduced the number of child labourers by a third. We have reduced child mortality and malnutrition, and we have prevented millions of child deaths.
Word Meaning
Decades: Periods of ten years.
Mortality: The number of deaths in a given population during a specific period.
Malnutrition: Lack of proper nourishment caused by not having enough food or not eating the right kinds of food.
Explanation : Kailash Satyarthi says that things have gotten better in the past 20 years.There are fewer kids who don’t go to school now, only half as many as before and the number of child labourers has reduced by a third. Fewer children die from preventable causes and malnutrition, and millions of lives have been saved.
Passage: But, let us make no mistake, great challenges still remain. Friends! The biggest challenge or biggest crisis knocking on the doors of humankind is fear and intolerance. We have utterly failed our children in imparting an education. An education that gives the meaning and objective of life. An education that gives a sense of global citizenship among the youth.
Word Meaning
Utterly: Completely, absolutely.
Imparting: Providing, giving.
Explanation: But there are still big problems to be solved. The biggest problem people face at the time is fear and hatred. The author feels that we haven’t done a good enough job teaching kids important things in school. We haven’t taught them what life is about or why it matters. The children should also feel like they’re part of the whole world, not just their own country.
Passage: I am afraid that the day is not very far away when the cumulative result of this failure, will culminate in an unprecedented violence, and that will be suicidal for humankind.
Word Meaning
Cumulative: gradually accumulating or increasing over time.
Culminate: reach its highest or most important point; come to an end.
Unprecedented: never done or experienced before.
Suicidal: likely to cause serious harm or death.
Explanation: The author says that he is worried that if we keep failing to teach children the right things, it will soon lead to terrible violence that could destroy humanity.
Passage: Rights, security, hope can only be restored through education. Young people like Malala … I’ve started calling her my daughter Malala not just Malala … So my daughter Malala and other daughters including Kayanat.. in fact.. two Kayanats, and Shazia, and the daughters from Africa, and from all over the world. They are rising up and choosing peace over violence, tolerance over extremism, and courage over fear.
Word Meaning
Restored: This means to bring something back to its original or better state.
Extremism: This refers to holding very extreme political or religious views.
Tolerance: This means being accepting of people with different beliefs or practices.
Explanation: Education is the only way to bring back rights, safety and hope for people. Young people like Malala are making a big difference. Kailash Satyarthi had become so close to her, he even calls her his daughter. Malala, and other girls like Kayanat (there are actually two girls named Kayanat), Shazia, and girls from all over the world, are standing up for what’s right. They choose peace instead of fighting, understanding instead of hatred, and bravery instead of being scared.
Passage: The solutions are emerging. But these solutions cannot be found in the deliberations in conferences alone, and cannot be found in prescriptions from a distance. They lie in small groups and local organisations and individuals, who are confronting with the problem every day. Even if they remain unacknowledged, unrecognised and unknown to the world the solutions are with them.
Word Meaning
Deliberations: Discussions or debates to reach a decision.
Prescriptions: Orders or sets of instructions given by someone in authority.
Confronting: Facing a problem or challenge directly.
Unacknowledged: Not recognized or given credit.
Unrecognized: Not noticed or identified.
Explanation: The solutions to the problems are developing but fancy meetings won’t solve them. Instead, the solutions are with the small groups, local organizations, and everyday people who are facing these issues. Even though their work might not get a lot of attention, they have the ideas that we need to move forward and get to a solution.
Part II
Passage: We can do it … You may ask that- what can one person do? I would recall a story of my childhood: A heavy fire had broken out in the forest. All the animals were running away, including lion, the king of the forest. Suddenly, then he saw a tiny bird rushing towards the fire. He asked the bird, “What are you doing?” To the lion’s surprise, the bird replied “I am going to extinguish the fire.” The lion laughed and said, “How can you do it keeping just one drop of water, in your beak?” The bird was adamant, and she said, “I am doing my bit.”
Word Meaning
Extinguish: To put out a fire
Rushing: Moving very quickly in a hurry
Adamant: Firm and determined, not willing to change their mind
Bit: A small amount or effort
Explanation: Even though things seem difficult, we can still try to make a difference. You might wonder, what can just one person do. The author tells a story he heard when he was young.
There was a big fire in the forest which had scared all the animals and they were running away. Even the lion, the strongest animal, was running. That’s when he saw a tiny little bird flying towards the fire instead of away from it. The lion was confused and asked the bird what it was doing. The bird, carrying just a single drop of water in its beak, replied that it was going to put out the fire. The lion laughed because it seemed impossible to put off the fire with a single drop of water. He said how could a small bird do that with just one drop in its beak. But the little bird was determined. It simply said that she was doing her part.
Passage: Eighteen years ago, millions of individuals marched across the globe. And demanded a new international law for the abolition of worst form of child labour, and it has happened, we did it, millions of individuals did it. Friends! We live in an age of rapid globalisation. We are connected through high-speed Internet.
Word Meaning
Globally: Across the entire world.
Abolition: Ending something completely.
Worst Forms: The most severe or harmful types.
Explanation: Millions of people marched to demand a new world rule to end child labour about eighteen years ago and they achieved their goal. The author addresses the audience as friends and tells them that this is the age of technology where the people of the world are connected through high-speed internet facilities.
Passage: We exchange our goods and services in one single global market. Thousands of flights every day connect us from one corner to another corner of the globe. But there is one serious disconnect and there is a lack of compassion. Let us inculcate and transform these individuals’ compassion into a global compassion. Let us globalise compassion.
Word Meaning
Disconnect: A lack of connection or communication.
Compassion: Sympathetic concern for others’ suffering.
Inculcate: To instill or teach a value or habit.
Globalize: To make something worldwide or international. Here, the speaker is calling for compassion to be embraced by everyone around the world.
Explanation : We trade goods and services, all over the world. Planes fly everywhere, connecting us like never before. But there’s one big problem: the world is more connected than ever before, but we lack understanding of each other. We need to take the kindness we feel for people close to us and spread it around the world. We need to be more compassionate, not just to our friends and family, but to everyone on Earth. We must understand the other person’s problems and struggles no matter how far away he / she is.
Passage: Mahatma Gandhi said, “If we are to teach real peace in this world… we shall have to begin with the children.” I humbly add, let us unite the world through the compassion for our children. I ask – Whose children are they who stitch footballs, yet never played with one? Whose children are they who harvest cocoa, yet have never tasted chocolate? Whose children are they who are dying of Ebola? Whose children are they who are kidnapped and held hostage? They are all our children.
Word Meaning
Unite: To join together as one.
Stitch: To sew something together with thread.
Harvest: To collect crops that have grown.
Ebola: A deadly disease that affects humans and some primates.
Hostage: A person held prisoner by someone who threatens to harm them.
Explanation: Mahatma Gandhi once said that if we want everyone to get along and stop fighting, it’s best to start teaching kids to be peaceful when they’re young. He added that if we care about all children equally, it will help bring people from all over the world together.
Some children work hard making things like soccer balls, but they never get to play with them. Some children pick the cocoa beans used to make chocolate, but they might not even get to try any. Sadly, some children get sick and even die from diseases like Ebola. Some children are taken away from their families and kept forcefully, against their will. He asks the audience whose children are these and then says that these all are our children as well. Even though they might seem different or live far away, all these children deserve our care and help.
Passage: I remember an eight-year-old girl we rescued from intergenerational forced labour from stone quarries. When she was sitting in my car right after her rescue, she asked me: “Why did you not come earlier?” Her angry question still shakes me – and has the power to shake the whole world. Her question is for all of us. What are we doing? What are we waiting for? How many girls will we allow to go without rescue? Children are questioning our inaction and watching our actions. We need collective actions with a sense of urgency.
Word Meaning
Intergenerational: spanning multiple generations.
Quarries: large pits where rocks are mined for construction or other purposes.
Rescue: to save someone from a dangerous or harmful situation.
Inaction: lack of action or taking no steps to address a problem.
Urgency: something that needs to be dealt with immediately because of its importance.
Explanation: The author is talking about a young girl who was saved from a terrible forced labour where her family had been forced to work for many generations. They were made to break rocks in quarries. The girl is upset because she wonders why nobody helped her before. This question makes the author feel bad and angry too.
The author says this is a question we all should think about. What are we doing to stop children from being forced to work in dangerous places? These children are suffering because we are not acting fast enough to help them. The author believes we need to work together to solve this problem quickly.
Passage: Every single minute matters, every single child matters, every single childhood matters. Therefore, I challenge the passivity and pessimism surrounding our children. I challenge this culture of silence and this culture of passivity, this culture of neutrality.
Word Meaning
Passivity: Lack of action or interest; not taking initiative.
Pessimism: A tendency to believe that the worst will happen; a negative outlook. (Opposed to optimism)
Neutrality: The state of being neutral; not supporting either side in a conflict.
Explanation: The speaker is saying that every moment in a child’s life is important, and every child deserves a happy childhood. They’re upset because many people don’t speak up for what’s right for children. They want people to be more active and fight for things that will help children, instead of just staying quiet and accepting the problems.
Part III
Passage: I call upon all the governments, intergovernmental agencies, businesses, faith leaders, workers, teachers and NGOs, and each one of us, to put an end to all forms of violence against children. Slavery, trafficking, child marriages, child labour, sexual abuse, and illiteracy these things have no place in any civilised society.
Word Meaning
Intergovernmental: This refers to organizations or relations between two or more governments.
Civilisation: A society that is considered to be highly developed and advanced.
Explanation: The author asks everyone (governments, businesses, religious leaders, teachers, etc.) to work together to stop violence against children. This includes evils like slavery, kidnapping, forced marriage, child labor, abuse, and not being able to go to school. These shouldn’t happen anywhere.
Passage: Friends, we can do this. Governments must make child-friendly policies, and invest in education and young people. Businesses must be more responsible, accountable and open to innovative partnerships. Intergovernmental agencies must work together to accelerate action. Global civil society must rise above the business-as-usual and fragmented agendas. Faith leaders and institutions, and all of us must stand with our children. We must be bold, we must be ambitious, and we must have the will. We must keep our promises.
Word Meaning
Accountable: Responsible to someone for your actions.
Accelerate: To make something happen faster.
Fragmented: Divided into separate and unconnected parts.
Bold: Willing to take risks or try new things.
Ambitious: Having or showing a strong desire to achieve great things.
Explanation: The author, Kailash Satyarthi is saying that if we work together, we can make the world a better place for children. Adults (governments, businesses, and organisations) need to do more to help kids. This includes creating laws that protect children, giving them opportunities to learn, and finding new ways to work together. Everyone needs to stand up for what’s right for kids and keep the promises we make to them. The author is encouraging us to be brave, have big goals, and be determined to make a difference.
Passage: Over fifty years ago, on the first day of my school, I met a cobbler boy my age sitting outside the gate of my school. I asked my teachers: “Why is he working outside? Why is he not with us in the school?” My teachers had no answer. One day, I gathered the courage to ask the boy’s father. He said: “Sir, I have never thought about it. We are born to work.” His answer made me angry. It still makes me angry.
Word Meaning
Cobbler: A person who mends or repairs shoes
Explanation: Kailash Satyarthi describes a childhood experience where he saw a cobbler boy of his age who wasn’t allowed to go to school. The author’s teachers didn’t have a good answer for why the boy couldn’t go to school, and the boy’s father simply accepted that they were born to work. This made Kailash Satyarthi angry, and he still feels angry about it.
Passage: As a child, I had a vision of tomorrow. A vision of that cobbler boy sitting with me in my classroom. Now, that tomorrow has become TODAY. I am TODAY, and you are TODAY. TODAY it is time for every child to have a right to life, right to freedom, right to health, right to education, right to safety, right to dignity, right to equality, and right to peace.
Word Meaning
Vision: A dream or idea about the future, especially one that is very vivid and inspiring.
Cobbler: A person who repairs shoes and boots.
Dignity: The state or quality of being worthy of respect.
Equality: The state of all people being equal in social status, rights, and opportunities.
Explanation: The speaker talks about a dream he had as a child, where all children would have the opportunity to go to school. He says that that dream should now become a reality.
The speaker believes it is time now that every child should have basic rights like life, freedom, health, education, safety, dignity, equality, and peace.
Passage: TODAY, beyond the darkness, I see the smiling faces of our children in the blinking stars. TODAY, in every wave of every ocean, I see my children are playing and dancing. TODAY, in every plant, in every tree, and mountain, I see our children growing freely with dignity. Friends, I want you to see and feel this TODAY inside you. My dear sisters and brothers, as I said many interesting things are happening today. May I please request you to put your hand close to your heart – close your eyes and feel the child inside you?
Word Meaning
Blinking: This refers to the rapid opening and closing of the eyes, here, used metaphorically for the twinkling of stars.
Explanation : The speaker is feeling hopeful and believes good things are happening in the world. Even though things might seem bad now, the speaker sees a bright future (smiling faces) like twinkling stars in the sky. The speaker imagines children playing freely everywhere, like waves in the ocean. He sees children growing up strong and happy, like plants and trees in nature.The speaker wants everyone to feel this hope and optimism (like a child full of wonder) within themselves.
The speaker, Kailash Satyarthi asks everyone to close their eyes and imagine a world where children are happy and free.
Passage: I am sure you can – Now, listen to that child. Listen please. Today, I see thousands of Mahatma Gandhis, Nelson Mandelas and Martin Luther Kings calling on us. Let us democratise knowledge. Let us universalise justice. Together, let us globalise compassion!
Word Meaning
Democratize: To make something accessible to everyone.
Universalize: To make something apply universally, meaning it’s valid and accessible for everyone in the world.
Globalize: To spread something on a worldwide scale.
Explanation: Kailash Satyarthi believes that by listening to the child within us, we can be inspired to work for a better world. He mentions famous activists like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, who fought for justice and equality. He calls for spreading knowledge, justice, and compassion around the world.
Passage: I call upon you in this room, and all across the world. I call for a march from exploitation to education, I call for a march from poverty to shared prosperity, a march from slavery to liberty, and a march from violence to peace. Let us march from ignorance to awakening. Let us march from darkness to light. Let us march from mortality to divinity. Let us march!
– (Nobel Acceptance Speech by Kailash Satyarthi)
Word Meaning
Exploitation: Taking unfair advantage of someone or something for personal gain.
Prosperity: The state of being successful, flourishing, and having financial security.
Liberty: Freedom from limitations or control.
Ignorance: Lack of knowledge or understanding.
Awakening: A moment of realization or enlightenment.
Mortality: The condition of being subject to death.
Divinity: The state of being a god or goddess.
Explanation: The speaker, Kailash Satyarthi ends the speech with a powerful call to action. He urges everyone to join the movement and march for positive change. This would be symbolic of progress, moving from bad things like exploitation, poverty, slavery, violence, ignorance, darkness to good things like education, prosperity, liberty, peace, awakening, light.
Kailash Satyarthi, the speaker, finishes by simply saying “Let us march!” This is a strong way to encourage everyone to join this movement for positive change.