Bihar Board Class 10 · English · Matric exam 2027
Chapter 6: Two Horizons — notes
The chapter’s 8 parts in the book’s order — the first idea of each and the points Medha Ma’am writes on the board — and the summary at the end. The full lesson and a check question for each part are in the app.
1. The Story and Its Writer
Okay, so let's talk about who wrote this chapter.
- • Writer: Binapani Mohanty (born 1936)
- • Oriya short story writer
- • Won Sahitya Akademy Award for Pata Dei (1990)
- • Translated from Oriya by Jayanta Mahapatra
- • Story told through two letters: Daughter to Ma, Ma to Daughter
2. The Daughter's Laughter and Her Burden
Okay, so let's look at this letter again.
- • Daughter worked hard to fulfil her dreams
- • Sleepless nights, pain suffered silently
- • Laughter learnt from Ma's existence inside her
- • Also learnt: mantra of loving pain, hardship, life
- • Shouldered family responsibilities without protest
- • Became known as a good daughter-in-law
3. The Daughter's Weariness and Emptiness
Even though the daughter has earned a name in her work and no one has ever pointed a finger at her, she now feels a huge emptiness inside and does not wish to dream anymore, saying life has become mechanical and her shoulders are weary.
- • Daughter: successes but weariness and emptiness remain
- • Ma: undiminished enthusiasm despite old age
- • Ma's zest like abundant pollen scattered everywhere
- • Puja-room: Ma's unseen, silent moments
- • Daughter's question: why can't I get your fulfilment?
- • Fear: look back = Ma turns to stone; go ahead = fathomless deeps
4. Ma's Advice Before the Daughter Left
Okay, so let's think about the moment the daughter was leaving home.
- • Ma's words: don't be afraid, no one can live in fear
- • Bring out power from within to face the world
- • Light of one's own eyes shows the way in dark times
- • Ma: my soul will always be beside you, like your shadow
- • Ma put vermillion from her own hair into daughter's hair
5. Ma Reads the Letter
Okay, so let's go to Ma now.
- • Ma reads letter: world blurs, remembers daughter's tears
- • Clay figure can be set right, not flesh and blood
- • Ma silently accepted the ways of life
- • Ma locks herself in puja-room, decides to write to daughter
- • Mirror shows no sunlight or pollen now, only wrinkles
6. Ma's Own Struggles
In her reply, Ma tells her daughter that feeling tired happens to everyone, and that she too was tired on life's long road, sometimes sitting under a tree, sometimes waiting in harsh noonday sun, sometimes walking fearlessly in total darkness, living for a…
- • Ma: feeling tired happens to everyone
- • Sat under tree, waited in noonday sun, walked in dark
- • Ma: I myself made me fall and get up, no one else helped
- • Husband turned 'stranger' after gruff reply
- • Grandmother's anger after dowry remark: Ma answered back once
- • Ma later learnt to ignore such hurtful words
7. The Mimosa Plant and the Crocodile Tale
Okay, so let's look at Ma's words here.
- • Mimosa plant / millipede: curls up when touched
- • Ma: my whole life, I have been like that
- • Ma reborn every morning, never looked into herself
- • Tale of crocodile and monkey: closeness can 'eat into' the other
- • Ma's fulfilment = simplicity of an innocent child
- • Ma's only companion: her god, to whom she surrendered her pain
8. The Key to Fulfilment and the Two Horizons
Okay, so let's look at this letter from Ma to her daughter.
- • Each person must find their own key to fulfilment
- • Daughter: knowledgeable, intelligent, world before her
- • Circle of fulfilment: limited
- • Unfulfilment: grows on, boundless
- • You can touch the horizon of that infinite
- • Deeper the unfulfilment, closer your fulfilment
Summary
Okay, so let's close this chapter together. "Two Horizons" is by Binapani Mohanty, translated by Jayanta Mahapatra. It's told through two letters. First, the daughter writes to Ma. She confesses something — even though she's laughed her way through life, and carried every family responsibility without complaint, she now feels a huge emptiness, and a deep tiredness. She notices Ma is different — still full of enthusiasm, still full of zest for life. She remembers Ma's parting words, about facing the world fearlessly. She remembers the vermillion Ma placed in her hair. Now, Ma reads this letter, with a heavy heart. And she writes back. She shares her own long struggles — the harsh moments from her husband, and from her mother-in-law. She compares herself to the mimosa plant — the one that curls up the moment you touch it. Ma explains something important here — fulfilment can't be bought, and it can't be gifted. She says she herself has found only one thing — the simple, innocent faith of a child in her god. Finally, Ma tells her daughter this — each person must find their own key to fulfilment. And she leaves her with a thought to carry forward — the circle of fulfilment is always limited, but unfulfilment keeps growing, boundless. And the deeper the unfulfilment, the closer one actually comes to fulfilment. Now tell me — what do you think Ma means by that?
AskMedha · Medha Ma’am — Bihar Board Class 10 English, Chapter 6. Written from the textbook, checked twice.
Questions parents and students ask
- How do I get the "Two Horizons" notes as a PDF?
- Press "Save as PDF" — the phone’s print sheet opens; choose "Save as PDF" there. The PDF holds the notes only.
- Where are these notes written from?
- From the chapter’s own textbook text, part by part, in the book’s own terms; a second, independent model then checked every part against the book. The full lesson, a check question for each part and the practice are in the AskMedha app.
The same preparation, with Medha Ma’am — on your phone
Every question of every chapter with its model answer, practice questions in the board’s own shapes, 60 minutes of class a day, written answers marked, a test every Sunday and a WhatsApp report to parents.
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