NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo - Prose Chapter 3 - Deep Water

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Text Book Questions :-

Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.

(a) Treacherous—deceptive
(b) Subdued my pride—overcome one’s pride
(c) Flailed at the surface—flog/hit the surface of the water
(d) Fishing for landlocked salmon—(here) catching Salmon (a kind of fish) from a lake
(e) Misadventure—accident
(f) Bob to the surface like a cork—come up to the surface like a cork
(g) Curtain of life fell—fall unconscious
(h) Back and forth across the pool—to swim to and fro across the pool.

Think as you Read :-

1. What is the ‘misadventure’ that William Douglas speaks about?

Ans. Douglas here, refers to the incident at the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool where he almost drowned. The author
was about ten or eleven years old at that time and had barely begun to learn swimming. He actually used to
ape others. Once, he was thrown suddenly into the water by someone and as he couldn’t swim, he started
drowning. His struggle to come to the surface and to avoid getting drowned left him with a deep fear of
water. This fear of his deprived him from enjoying water-related activities for many years.

2. What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown into the pool?
What plans did he make to come to the surface?

Ans. The realisation of being thrown into the pool did not make Douglas lose his wits immediately. Although he
was frightened, he thought of a trick to come up to the surface but he couldn’t execute the trick successfully.
He panicked and felt suffocated by the water. His senses gave way, his heart pounded loudly, his limbs
became paralysed with fear, his mind became dizzy and his lungs ached. He gulped a large amount of water
while making desperate attempts to come out of the water. Finally, he lost all his strength to keep struggling
and he became unconscious.
Douglas had planned to allow himself to go down till his feet hit the bottom. He wanted to make a big jump
to come back to the surface like a cork. Then, he would lie flat on the surface of water and paddle to the edge
of the pool.

3. How did this experience affect him?

Ans.The near to death experience of drowning had a very strong impact on his psychology. He was deeply
disturbed and shaken by the whole experience. A fear of water took control of his physical strength and
emotional balance for many years. As he couldn’t bear being surrounded by water, he was deprived of
enjoying any water-related activity.

4. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?

Ans. Douglas hated being deprived of enjoying water activities like canoeing, boating, swimming, fishing, etc.
His wish to enjoy them and the craving to regain his lost confidence, while being in water, made him to get
after every possible way to get rid of his fear. He was finally able to overcome this fear by getting himself a
swimming instructor and further ensuring that no residual fear was left.

5. How did the instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas?

Ans. The instructor worked gradually on Douglas’ psychology. Then he slowly moved on to his physical
movements and each part to build a swimmer out of him. At first, he made Douglas swim back and forth
across the swimming pool so that he could get used to it. He used an elaborate mechanism with a rope, belt,
pulley and an overhead cable to help them stay connected with Douglas while he was in the pool. Then, oneby-one, he made Douglas master the techniques of swimming, like putting his head in the water, exhaling and
inhaling while in water, movements of his hands, body, legs, etc. Finally, he integrated these perfected steps
into a whole experience of swimming for Douglas.

6. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?

Ans. Even after the swimming training was over, Douglas wasn’t confident about his swimming. He was not sure
that he had overcome the fear. He was determined to completely get rid of it forever. He swam alone in the
pool. He went to Lake Wentworth to dive. There, he tried every possible stroke he had learnt. He fought back
the terror that gripped him in the middle of the lake. Finally, in his diving expedition in the Warm Lake, he
realised that he had truly conquered his old terror heart to become a motor mechanic. He willingly took up the hardship to walk a long way to the garage to acquire his necessary training and skills. Thus, he dared to fulfil his dream.

Understanding the Text :-

1. How does Douglas make clear to the reader, the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description vivid.

Ans. Douglas takes us through his ‘near to death’ experience at the Y.M.C.A. pool by detailing every little aspect
associated to it. He details us with the minutes of his emotional, mental and physical struggle with the
paralysing fear of being drowned in the water. The first person narration of the incident also helps us to
associate with his experience more deeply and personally.
Though he did not lose his wits initially, he panicked when his strategy didn’t work. His feelings of
suffocation, fear and losing hold on his senses make the readers experience what he felt. His eyes couldn’t
see beyond the dirty yellow water. His voice did not assist him. His nose and mouth took water to the
lungs. His limbs became paralysed with fear and his mind went dizzy. His desperation to save himself kept
him struggling until he went down the third time and lost his senses completely. All these details make the
description vivid.

2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

Ans. At first, he tried to overcome his fear of water on his own. But when he failed, he got an instructor for himself who worked on Douglas’s fear very methodically. With his help, Douglas began learning to be at ease in
water. After this, he practiced exhaling-inhaling in water to suspend the fear of putting his head inside the
water. Then, he moved on to master individual steps of swimming which were, finally, put together into a
complete experience of swimming, by his instructor. After about six months, Douglas could not only swim
well, but also got free from his fear to a great extent.
At this stage, Douglas’s journey of truly overcoming his fear began. He swam alone in the pool. He went to
Lake Wentworth to dive. He tried every possible stroke he learnt. Finally, in his diving expedition, in the
Warm Lake, he conquered his fear completely

3. Why does Douglas as an adult, recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What
larger meaning does he draw from his experience?

Ans. Douglas recounts his childhood experience at the Y.M.C.A. pool to enable the readers to understand the
exact nature and intensity of the terror. The fear of being surrounded by the water, the fear of putting his
head in the water, the fear of choking and the fear of his limbs going numb couldn’t have been explained to a
reader unacquainted with Douglas’ childhood experience. In that case, the elaborate strategy adopted by the
author (and his instructor) and the time taken by him to learn or master even simple things, though put in the
perspective of his fear of water, couldn’t have been understood properly.
By quoting Roosevelt, ‘All we have to fear is fear itself,’ Douglas indicates the larger meaning that he draws
from his experience. For him, the importance of life became evident when he encountered death.

Talking about the Text :-

1. ‘All we have to fear is fear itself’. Have you ever had a fear that you have not overcome? Share your experience with your partner.

Ans. I must have been about nine or ten years old at that time. It was a normal day at school. We were being
taken to the swimming pool for our swimming class. We all changed and stepped down in water. We started
splashing water at each other when we did not find our instructor around. It was during this time that I
slipped inside the pool. I was almost next to being drowned when I caught hold of the safety rope tied all
across the pool wall. I held it fast and tried to stand up in the water with all my strength. A friend of mine saw
it all and came to my rescue. He informed our instructor about it. Since then, I have had a fear of water. The
very sight of a swimming pool makes me freeze. I often go absent on the day we have swimming classes. My
parents have counselled me a lot. They ensured their presence too at times but I dare not even step down in
the pool since then.

2.Find and narrate other stories about the conquest of fear and what people say about courage. For example, you can recall Nelson Mandela’s struggle for freedom, his perseverance to achieve his mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor as depicted in his autobiography. The story ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die’ which you have read in Class IX, is an apt example of how courage and optimism helped a family survive
under the direct stress.

Ans. Hrithik Roshan, who is known as one of the highest paid and greatly admired actor today, suffered from
stammering since childhood. He used to bunk school during oral exams. At first, he was skinny and lean.
Though known as a great dancing actor not many people know that as a child he couldn’t dance well. When
he grew up he decided to establish himself well in his career and get rid of all the negativity. With a strong will
power to overcome his handicap and with the support of his family, he started taking speech therapy every
day. He also worked as an assistant director under his father–the great director actor Rakesh Roshan. He also
underwent training at the gym for hours. He regularly practiced dancing. After many years of patience and
perseverance, he is now one of the most admired actors and dancers.

3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Ans. . Child labour is an offense. It is banned under the law. Yet it goes on unabated in many cities and towns. It
is hazardous in nature. It inflicts physical and mental harm which they are neither able to understand nor
express. Many a times, they lose or damage their vital body organs while working. They lose their innocence
before they become adults. Slogging day and night kills all their initiative, drive and desire to dream in life.
They are even deprived of school education and proper growth. Employing children in perilous industries
like manufacturing fireworks, bangles and carpet industry is life-threatening. If any accident or disaster
occurs, these children are totally unaware how to protect themselves.
The only possible solution with the government and the society lies in punishing the exploiters ruthlessly.
The laws against child labour should become more strict and implemented in totality. Only exemplary
punishment can put an end to such a crime

Writing :

Q.1. Doing well in any activity, for example a sport, music, dance or painting, riding a motorcycle or a car,
involves a great deal of struggle. Most of us are very nervous to begin with until gradually we overcome
our fears and perform well.
Write an essay of about five paragraphs recounting such an experience. Try to recollect minute details of
what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or the criticism.
You could begin with the last sentence of the essay you have just read - ‘At last I felt released – free to walk
the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.’

Ans. Directions: This is to be attempted by the student itself .You may follow the given steps for the essay:

Paragraph 1: Begin with ‘At last I felt released – free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside
fear. Fear, when conquered, becomes victory. And a victory, emerging from the bitterness of failures and
hardships of enduring them for a long period of time, has its own meaning and charm. When I look back, it
appears to be a long and arduous journey that has now successfully culminated in its destination.

Paragraph 2: Talk about the beginning of the incident that was the root cause for your fear. Try to pen down
what you saw, what you felt and what you thought. Recollect and write the details of the surrounding
environment, people and things.

Paragraph 3: Here, you can continue talking about how the incident progressed in terms of the subsequent
events or happenings. Describe in detail the exact proceedings in the logical order of their happening. You
may talk about what you think went wrong and how the incident could have ended differently.

Paragraph 4: In this paragraph, you may write how the fear proved a handicap or hindrance and how it
affected other activities of your life. Then write about when you decided that you will get rid of it. Talk about
your plans, strategies and things that you have considered to ensure that you succeed in your attempt.
Paragraph 5: In the last paragraph, you can detail all your efforts (and that of others) and end with an analysis
of why you were able to win over your fear

Q. 2. Write a short letter to someone you know about your having learnt to do something new.
Ans. 23 Daryaganj,
New Delhi,
September 1, 20XX.
Dear Garima,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I’ve something interesting to share this time. Striking off
one more thing from my to-do list is truly liberating. I have learnt skating this summer. Being able to skate is
a wonderful feeling and it has filled me with loads of confidence. There is an odd sense of power in knowing
that every technique and skill you need to master has been learnt. With a little more practice, I would feel my
spirits flying high.
Initially, I was very scared of even wearing my skates. But all the bruises, injuries, frustrations and pessimistic
ideas that gripped me during some of the initial training sessions now seem nothing in front of what I feel. It
gives me immense satisfaction to see myself almost flying in the air. Skating also helps me stay fit. My parents
are also very happy to see me investing my time constructively.
Do let me know about your hobby classes. Convey my kind regards to Uncle and Aunt.
Yours affectionately,
XYZ

Things to do :

Q. 1. Are there any water sports in India? Find out about the areas or places which are known for water sports.

Ans.

WATER SPORTS	PLACES
Water Skiing	Asan Barrage, Goa, Dal & Nagin Lake, Manasbal Lake, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep
River Rafting	Zanskar river in Ladakh, Rishikesh, River Teesta.
Canoeing and Kayaking	Mumbai, Dal Lake, Nagin Lake, Wular Lake, Rishikesh, Teesta River, Goa.
Scuba Diving	Lakshadweep Islands, Andaman Islands, Dugong Reef, Havelock Island, Goa.
Snorkeling	Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Angling and Fishing	Tirthan Valley, Beas Ghat (Uttaranchal), Ranikor- Meghalaya, Mahakali (Uttaranchal), Jia Bhoroli (Assam)