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Hafeez Contractor: I used to have this terrible nightmare. Only now, over the last four to five years, it seems to have disappeared.
Bela Raja: What nightmare are you talking about and why do you think it has disappeared now?
Hafeez Contractor: I used to get continuous nightmares about appearing for a maths examination where I did not know anything! Now the psyche must have gotten over it, I don’t have to think about education and there is absolutely no time to get nightmares.
Bela Raja: Tell us something about your earliest memories in school.
Explanation:
The lesson “The Treasure Within” is based on a conversation between Ms Bela Raja and Hafeez Contractor. Ms Bela Raja was the editor of a newsletter called “Sparsh”, and Mr Hafeez Contractor was a famous architect in India.
The lesson opens with Ms Bela Raja was interviewing a famous architect called Hafeez Contractor. Hafeez Contractor was sharing some of his memorable experiences with Ms Bela Raja. Hafeez Contractor explained how he used to get terrifying nightmares. Also, he stated that his nightmares seemed to have disappeared over the past four to five years.
Ms Bela Raja interviewing Mr. Hafeez Contractor
While hearing the term “nightmare”, Ms Bela was interested to know more about it. She was curious to know about what nightmare he was referring to, as well as why he believed the nightmares had vanished from his dream.
Hafeez Contractor said that he used to have continuous nightmares about attempting the Mathematics exam. He was terrified when he saw himself writing a maths exam because he did not know anything about the subject. Later, he also remarked that he didn’t have time to see the nightmares these days; thus, his mind wasn’t imagining anything. It meant that Hafeez was no longer a student, and his studies no longer bound him. Therefore, his thoughts had also forgotten about appearing for the maths test. He didn’t have to worry about it because he had completed his studies. On the other hand, as he was a busy architect, he would not have time to worry about or experience similar nightmares again.
Nightmares on appearing for Mathematics exam
Finally, Ms Bela understood that Hafeez was talking about his early education. As a result, she was quite interested in knowing about his school days. So, she asked him to share his past memories in school.
Meanings of the difficult words:
S.No | Words | Meanings |
1 | Nightmare | A frightening or unpleasant dream |
2 | Terrible | Extremely or distressingly bad or serious |
3 | Disappear | Vanish from sight |
4 | Psyche | The human soul, mind, or spirit |
5 | Memories | Something remembered from the past; a recollection |
6 | Architect | A person who is trained to design buildings and supervise their construction |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2008). It so happened. The Treasure Within (pp. 25-33). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.