Ch-7Kaveri
Class 9
Class 9
Class 9 · English (Kaveri) · Chapter 7
Carrier of Words
Short & colourful notes — prose + poem, samjho ek baar mein!
1. Chapter at a Glance
2parts of the prose
1real-life hero: Khetaram
50°Cheat he walks in
28 kgmaximum mailbag load
Type: A non-fiction / reportage piece (a true story) followed by a poem.
Prose: “Carrier of Words” — the life of Khetaram, a Gramin Dak Sewak (village postman) of the Thar desert, Rajasthan.
Poem: “Words” by Charles Swain — words are useless unless they are few, true and heartfelt.
2. Theme / Central Idea
- Prose: Even in the age of the internet, thousands of villages stay connected only because of ordinary people who walk extraordinary distances. The chapter is a salute to unsung workers like Khetaram.
- Poem: Words are cheap when they are many. A few sincere words reach the heart; a flood of showy words reaches only the head.
- Common thread: Both texts are about words — one about carrying them, the other about choosing them.
3. Life Before the Internet
- Today mail is one click away. Earlier, a letter travelled: post box → postal system → postman → your letter box.
- But the story does not end there. Where the last railhead ends and the road crumbles into sand, letters still travel on foot.
- In such places, Gramin Dak Sewaks are the sole link between far-off families and the “oases of humanity” in India’s extremes.
4. Meet Khetaram
| Detail | About Khetaram |
|---|---|
| Who | A Gramin Dak Sewak (GDS) — village postal worker |
| Post office | Somarad Branch Post Office, a Rajasthani village |
| Experience | The sole postman there for 15 years |
| Identity mark | Left shoulder slumped from years of carrying a mailbag |
| Area served | Far-flung hamlets (dhaanis) only 2.5 km short of the Indo-Pakistan border |
| Dress | Khaki turban & uniform, mojri on his feet |
Remember this line
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He is called the lone face of the state — for these villagers, Khetaram is the government.
5. The Toughest Route in India
- 120 km beyond the last railhead at Barmer.
- 50 km beyond the last telephone.
- 10 km beyond the point where the Barmer–Chohtan road crumbles into sand so soft that even bicycles cannot move.
- Mail comes by train, then bus, then is hefted on to his shoulders — and still reaches the border within 24 hours of dispatch from Jodhpur, about 330 km away.
- Rules say his load must not cross 28 kg. The depth of his footprints shows how heavy the bag really is.
- In summer he may walk 20 km for a single delivery.
6. Fighting the Thar Desert
- The 49.9 trick: when the temperature crosses 50°C it is officially recorded as 49.9°C — because 50°C would mean a state holiday. So he keeps delivering.
- In extreme heat he simply postpones deliveries till after sundown.
- His turban and uniform are his only protection against scorching winds and sandstorms that turn him into a “walking sandman”.
- Water is too precious to waste on a bath — he only wipes his body, and a sand dune collects at his feet every evening.
7. Who are Gramin Dak Sewaks?
- Till 2001 they were only called ‘delivery agents’, working in rural areas devoid of schools and health centres.
- Since then, India’s 3 lakh+ delivery agents were accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks (GDS) — they form more than 50% of India Post’s total workforce.
- GDS territories include the frozen desert of Ladakh, the isles of Lakshadweep and the riverine communities of the North-East.
- The Postmaster-General (Rajasthan Western Region) calls their role “invaluable”, because they deliver in interior areas that are inaccessible by any means except foot.
8. India Post: Then vs Now
| British postal system | India Post after Independence |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Set up to relay company dak between administrative centres only |
| Mandate | To bring the entire population within the mailing ambit (range) |
| 1947 | About 25,000 post offices |
| Today | More than 1.5 lakh post offices across the country |
Bank of the village
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Through the GDS, India Post also reaches rural depositors who entrust their monthly savings to it. The many operational accounts in every post office show the people’s deep trust in the postal system.
9. Why GDS Rules are Different (Part II)
- The essential condition for GDS selection is that the person must have access to another means of livelihood.
- They work only five hours a day and may serve even after 60, up to the age of 65.
- They are paid a salary that gives them an assured income. (Regular postmen’s salaries get revised like other government employees.)
- A postmaster explains: only such different conditions could help India Post retain a large workforce willing to serve remote outposts.
10. Khetaram’s Family & Money Orders
- The job gave him a new lease of life more than a decade ago.
- Akaal (famine) is a way of life there. In a good year he gets just one crop of bajra — not enough to feed his family of five. “We would starve without this job,” he says.
- For most families of this arid land, survival partly depends on money orders remitted by a relative — and the postman is the one who brings them.
- Writer Mulk Raj Anand, in Story of the Indian Post Office, notes that nowhere else are remote villagers so dependent on the post office for small sums of money — proof of the absolute confidence Indians place in it.
11. The Trust of the People
- A scheme to scrap the GDS and hand the job to patwaris (village record keepers) was proposed and summarily rejected. Village elder Budh Singh said plainly that they could not have done the job.
- Khetaram is a warmly received man — he can dwell on any threshold, read out letters and draft replies for villagers.
- The BSF gives him a lift and a cup of tea when he distributes their dak.
- When he brings news of a birth or a wedding, the village offers him a piece of jaggery — a sweet welcome for sweet news.
12. The Letter He Dreads
The sign: an envelope with its right corner torn off means the letter carries news of a death.
His belief: “Ashubh Samachar” (bad news) must never be carried into a house.
What he does: he stands outside, reads the letter aloud twice (so nothing is missed and the family truly understands), then tears it to bits — “Bad news must be destroyed.”
What it shows: sensitivity, respect for local beliefs, and how personally he shares the villagers’ joy and grief.
13. A Hope for Tomorrow
- After more than 15 years of carrying words across a desolate land, Khetaram proudly says his spine is strong.
- He is grateful that as a GDS he can serve people even after 60.
- Phone lines are now only 50 km away. Once they arrive he may become a Gramin Sanchar Sewak — carrying a cell phone along with the post, from home to home.
- His answer to the future: “Main tayyar hoon” (I’m ready) — said before striding off to deliver Panna Devi’s dak before sundown.
- The author ends with a salute: people like Khetaram are part and parcel of our social fabric.
14. Character Sketch of Khetaram
| Quality | Proof from the text |
|---|---|
| Hard-working | Walks 20 km for one delivery, carries up to 28 kg on foot |
| Dutiful | Delivers even at 50°C; shifts work to after sundown instead of skipping it |
| Trustworthy | Villagers let him read and write their private letters |
| Sensitive | Never carries bad news inside a house |
| Humble & grateful | “We would starve without this job”; happy to serve after 60 |
| Willing to learn | Ready to become a Gramin Sanchar Sewak — “Main tayyar hoon” |
15. Values & Message
Take these into your answers
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- Dignity of labour — no job is small if it serves people.
- Service before self — duty is kept above personal comfort.
- Human touch beats technology — a machine cannot read a letter to a weeping family.
- Respect the invisible workers — postmen, sweepers, delivery agents keep society running.
16. Word Meanings
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| sole | only | hamlets | small settlements |
| ply | move | hefted | lifted |
| stipulate | specify | mojri | traditional Rajasthani footwear |
| operating | working | riverine | situated on a river bank |
| inaccessible | unreachable | ambit | range |
| access | opportunity | remitted | sent (as money) |
| scrap | remove | dwell | to stay on for some time |
| threshold | entrance to a home | dreads | fears |
| missive | letter | entail | involve |
| striding | walking with long steps | arid | very dry, without rain |
| desolate | empty and lonely | slumped | drooped, fallen down |
| dunes | hills of sand | devoid | completely without |
17. Poem — “Words” by Charles Swain
Poet: Charles Swain (1801–1874), an English poet. Idea: the value of a word lies in its sincerity, not its quantity.
Stanza 1 — If words could really satisfy the heart, the heart would have fewer worries. But words fly away like summer birds and leave only empty air behind.
Stanza 2 — The heart is a pilgrim on earth. Whenever it truly needs comfort, it finds that words are as worthless as weeds.
Stanza 3 — A little said, and truly said, gives deeper joy than hundreds of words. Too many words reach only the head; few sincere ones touch the heart.
Stanza 4 — The voice that cheers up a lonely home usually speaks the fewest words — and those few are the dearest of all.
Stanza 5 — If words could satisfy us, the whole world would be celebrating. But when words are actually tested, they satisfy the least.
Stanza 6 — Empty words are like showy plants that produce only flowers, never a single fruit — beautiful to look at, useless in the end.
One-line theme
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“Kam bolo, sach bolo, dil se bolo.” Fewer, honest words are worth more than a flood of empty ones.
18. Poetic Devices & Rhyme Scheme
| Device | Example from the poem | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Simile | words compared to summer birds | Shows words come and go quickly, leaving nothing |
| Metaphor | the heart called a pilgrim upon earth | Life is a journey; the heart keeps searching for comfort |
| Simile | words as worthless as weeds | Useless words grow everywhere, like unwanted plants |
| Hyperbole | the world might hold a feast | Exaggeration to show how rarely words satisfy |
| Personification | words that depart; a voice that wins its sunny way | Words behave like living beings |
| Alliteration | summer birds / satisfy … words … worth … weeds | Repeated sounds give the poem music |
| Repetition | words, heart, satisfy | Hammers in the central idea |
Quick facts
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Rhyme scheme: a b a b in every stanza (heart–care–depart–air).
Tone: thoughtful, a little disappointed with empty talk.
Metre: alternating stressed and unstressed syllables give the poem its lyrical rhythm.
19. Bonus Poem — “Weigh Your Words”
Poet: E. F. Hayward. Given at the end of the chapter for extra reading.
- If we weigh our words and say only what we mean, we save a lot of useless talk and keep our conscience clean.
- Careless words and easy promises, if believed by someone weak, can break a heart.
- We can never erase what we have once written on a heart.
- So it is best to weigh every sentence — we may speak less, but it will mean a lot more.
20. Learning Beyond the Text
- Daakroom carnival: conceptualised by the Ministry of Culture (with India Post, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti) to re-introduce children to letter writing through competitions and workshops — a “digital detox”.
- Philately: the study of postage stamps and postal history. You can be a philatelist without owning a single stamp — some rare stamps exist only in museums.
- Telegram: an old, very fast way of sending short messages. Charges depended on the number of words, so every word had to be precise.
- Postal items: postcard, inland letter, envelope and money order form — each differs in cost, privacy, space to write and whether you can enclose things.
21. Quick Revision in 5 Minutes
- Khetaram = Gramin Dak Sewak, sole postman of Somarad Branch Post Office, 15 years of service.
- Route: 120 km past Barmer railhead, 50 km past the last phone, hamlets 2.5 km from the border.
- Load limit 28 kg; mail reaches within 24 hours from Jodhpur (330 km).
- Heat above 50°C is written as 49.9°C to avoid a state holiday.
- Since 2001, 3 lakh+ delivery agents became GDS — over 50% of India Post’s workforce.
- Post offices: 25,000 in 1947 → 1.5 lakh+ today.
- Torn right corner = death news; read outside, twice, then torn up.
- Future plan: become a Gramin Sanchar Sewak when phone lines arrive.
- Poem “Words” (Charles Swain): few true words > many empty words; rhyme scheme abab.
✍️ Notes by @edugrown — keep revising, keep growing!