6.3 Understanding the Text
Answer each question yourself first, then check the model answer.
A. Reading for details
1. To whom is the letter written, and by whom?
The letter is written by Dr Verghese Kurien to his grandson, Siddharth.
2. Why does Kurien prefer writing a letter to sending a mobile message?
He feels a mobile message gives only fleeting (short-lived) joy, while a letter lasts longer and brings abiding (long-lasting) pleasure, because it can be kept and read again and again.
3. What different careers could Kurien have chosen, and what did he choose instead?
He could have built a career in metallurgy, joined the Indian Army, or settled in the United States. Instead, he chose to return to India and serve dairy farmers in Anand, Gujarat.
4. Who supported and guided Kurien in his work?
His wife supported him, and his mentor Tribhuvandas Patel guided him as he built the dairy cooperative movement.
B. Reading between the lines
5. What does Kurien’s choice to serve farmers tell us about his character?
It shows that he valued service and purpose over comfort, wealth, and status. He was willing to give up easier, more glamorous paths to do work that helped millions of ordinary people.
6. Why does Kurien open the letter by comparing letters with phone messages?
The comparison gently introduces a larger idea: lasting things matter more than passing ones. Just as a letter endures while a message fades, values and service last longer than wealth or quick pleasures.
7. What does Kurien mean by saying the greatest failure is to waste one’s life?
He means that a life spent only on personal comfort and gain, without contributing to the good of others, is a wasted one. True success lies in using one’s life to help society.
C. Thinking about values
8. What values does Kurien hope to pass on to his grandson?
He hopes to pass on integrity, honesty, humility, and a spirit of service — and the belief that life is a privilege to be used for the common good.
9. How does the chapter show the power of working together (cooperation)?
Amul succeeded because farmers joined together in a cooperative under honest leadership. This shows that ordinary people, working as one, can transform their lives and even change a nation’s economy.