2. Section - I

Introduction:

 

"Being safe" is a story about safety rules to be followed in our daily lives. The story is in a conversational style. It is set in a manner where a group of children are in discussion with their friend's grandfather fondly known as grandpa. The conversation happens in a place called Nagathi, a river island in Thanjavur.

 

  

Prasanth lived in a place called Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. He visited his grandparents in Thanjavur, a nearby city, for his summer vacation. His grandparents lived in an island called Nagathi. The river Vatar in Thanjavur divided into two and merged again to form this village. Since the river flows in these areas, it is always lush green with beautiful landscapes with majestic trees. Prasanth had a lot of friends in Nagathi. He loved spending time with his grandfather and his friends.

 

His grandfather had retired from a Central Government job. His work had required him to travel to many places in India, and therefore he had gathered knowledge from his various experiences. Grandfather's knowledge always entertained Prasanth. As soon as he reached his grandparents house, the news reached his friends. They all arrived at grandpa's house and wanted to take Prasanth out for playing. Grandpa was a very caring person. He gave them some instructions and tips to go safely.

 

The characters in this scene are:

Sundar greeted grandpa with a "Good Afternoon" and asked where Prasanth was. Grandpa greeted back every one with "Good afternoon". Ravi asked grandpa if they could take Prasanth out to play in the fields. Grandpa immediately agreed but cautioned them that they should be careful while walking on roads. Peter replied that their teacher had taught them the rules of road safety and that they followed them firmly always.Grandpa started questioning them. He asked them which side of the road they should walk. Jaffer took the question and replied that we should walk on the right side of the road, which was opposite to the side of the traffic - so that they can see the vehicles coming. Grandpa said "good" and asked if they knew how to cross the road. Mani replied this time. He said we should wait till the vehicles clear the road. He further added that we should look right, left and again right to check if there are vehicles and then cross the road. Gandhi added that they would walk in a line one behind the other and not in groups.

 

  

Finally, grandpa said that they should never use a cell phone while walking on the road.

 

 

He advised that road safety rules are for our safety and we should follow it strictly.