- This character sketch is about Swaminathan, a 12-year-old boy from a middle-class South Indian family. - His father works as a clerk in the courts. Swaminathan has friends named Rajam and Mani who he enjoys playing with. - Swaminathan is portrayed as a loafer who dislikes studying and staying home. He sees holidays as a time for playing rather than reading, and enjoys wandering with his friends.

1. PES/ENG/XII/025
• This is final file for SB production.
• Contact person for this script from SSA, Punjab team – Mrs Brar 9780107971
• Word limit- 2875 Subject English
Class-XII
Module- Swami and his father
Anchor-1
CHARACTERSKETCH OF SWAMINATHAN
Welcome to today’s lesson. Today, we will learn ‘how to write a character sketch’. Do you know
what does a character sketch mean? The word character sketch consists of two words – character
and sketch .
Character means reputation
Bwv cirqr
Sketch means a portrait or a drawing.
ryKw icqr Bwv cirqr icqrx - iksy ivAkqI dy cirqr bwry dsxw
Now you must be thinking that while writing an essay on a person you do the same. But you will
see the difference between the two.
While writing an essay, we are free to use our own imagination about a person.
ieh lyK iLKx vWg hI hY pr lyK iv`c AsI AwpxI klpxw vrq skdy hW
We talk about the good qualities of that person.
AsIN ivAkqI bwry isrP cMgIAW g`LW krdy hW [
While writing a character sketch, we are confined to the nature of the character what the
writer has portrayed in the story, novel or a play.
VO

2. PES/ENG/XII/025
pr cirqr icqrx ilKx ligAW AsIN pwqr dy suBwA bwry dsdy hW ijvyN lyKk nyN khwxI
,nwvl jW nwtk iv`c icqirAw hY[ Both good and bad aspects of a person are discussed. icqrq
kIqy jw rhy ivAkqI dy suBwA dy cMgy Aqy mwVy dovyN p`KW qy ivcwr kIqI jWdI hY [
So for writing a character sketch we have to read the text. Today we will learn to write
MO & VO
CHARACTERSKETCH OF SWAMI NATHAN
From
Text book: ‘Reader Book VI’
Swami and His Father
By
R. K. Narayan
Anchor-2 (Show picture of R. K. Narayan)
The writer of the story was Born on October 10, 1906 in Madras, now called Chennai
His first novel was published in 1935 named Swami and Friends
But children! While you read this lesson you may find some new words which are difficult to
understand for you so let’s have look on the glossary.
(Voice-over with all relevant pictures relating to the glossary and will explain in Punjabi and
English.)
GLOSSARY
• Ramble: walk for pleasure, wander, aimless walking AvwrwgrdI krnw
• Blew off: drove away with a breath PUk mwrnw (Anchor may show this action
himself.)
• Web: net jwl (with pic)

3. PES/ENG/XII/025
• Pile: heap Fyr (with pic)
• Pestered: Gave a trouble bhuq qMg krnw ,n`k iv`c dm krnw
• Banged: hit violently kroD nwl mwrnw ( show the action)
• Glared at: looked in anger GUrnw pic
• Tilted: slanted, inclined to one end tyFw krnw ( action)
• Smothering: suppressing, hiding dbwauxw ,lukwauxw ( action)
• Obscure: difficult to understand muSkl ,AOKw
• Acquire: get or gain
• Vigorously: forcibly, with great force
• Avarice: greed
• Peevishly: with irritation, with bad temper
• Irrelevantly: not important, without having anything to do with the matter in hand
• Contradict: to oppose, deny the truth of something that somebody says
• Annoyed : made angry, irritated
• Harass : to give trouble or worry
• Utterly :completely
MM
(Make characters as given below description.)
Swami’s father: 30-35 years old stout south Indian, working as a clerk in the court, wearing
white dhoti, banyan and chappals.
Mother: 32 years old lady wearing a south Indian sari and carrying a small baby in her arms
Swami: 12 years old boy, south Indian look, wearing a shirt and shorts or dhoti.
Granny: 60 years old south Indian lady, sitting on a mat, preparing pickles in china clay pots

4. PES/ENG/XII/025
Create a scene-
• Swami’s father (wearing dhoti and banyan) standing in a small court yard, commanded
Swaminathan just as he was about to stepping out the house, “Swami, come here. Where
are you going?”
• Swami: No where.
• Father: where were you yesterday at this time?
• Swami: Here
• Father: you are lying. You were not here yesterday. And you are not going out now.
• Mother: That is right. There is no limit to his loafing in the sun.
• Father: Come, follow me. (Both reach in father’s dressing room where in the corner a table
is placed. Swami’s books are scattered on the table. Every thing is full of dust and there is a
spider weaving a web between the corner of the table and the pile of books. ) Father blew
off the fine layer of dust from the books and asked
• Father: How many days is it since you touched your books?
• Swami: Should I read even when I have no school?
• Father: You think you have passed the B.A.?
• Swami: I mean father when the school is closed, when there is no examination, even then
should I read?
• Father: What a question? You must read.
• (Swami grumbles. Father set him to dust his books and clean the table. Swaminathan
vigorously started blowing off the dust. He caught the spider carefully and took it to the
window to throw it out. He held it outside the window and watched it for a while. )
• Father: Look sharp! Do you want a whole day to throw out the spider?
Anchor-3
Swami suddenly realized that he might have the spider as his pet. He secretly slipped it into his
pocket and after shaking an empty hand outside the window he returned to his duty at the desk.
Swami picked up oily red bound reader book opened it and banged together the covers in order
to Shake off the dust and then rubbed violently the oily covers with his palm. ( punjabi)

5. PES/ENG/XII/025
nukBe ;tkwh B/ ;'funk fe wZeVh th T[;dh gkbs{ j'Dh ukjhdh j? .T[;B/ u[gukg T[;Bz{ nkgDh i/p
ftZu gkfJnk ns/ jEkA Bz{ skeh ftu' pkjo MkV e/ nkgD/ ezw bJh nkgD/ v?;e s/ tkfg; nk frnk
.T[;B/ bkb ozr dh fibd tkbh uheDh feskp Bz{ u[Ze e/ y'fbnk . T[;d/ T[s'A fwZNh Bz{ MkVB
tk;s/ T[;Bz{ Szfvnk s/ fco p/ofjwh Bkb T[;dh uheDh fibd Bz{ nkgDh jE/bh Bkb orfVnk .
So I hope you have come to know a few qualities of Swami. You have seen that Swami is a
school going boy. I am sure you must have noticed that his father works in courts. Dresses
of his family members and even Swami’s own name indicate that he belongs to a South-
Indian family. If you read the lesson you will find that he has two friends Rajam and Mani
who always accompany him in roaming and playing. So let’s try to write.
V/O with Text
• Swaminathan is a school going boy.
V.O
• ;tkwh fJe ;e{b ftZu gVQB tkbk bVek j? .
• He belongs to a middle class South Indian family.
V.O
• T[;dk gfotko dZyD-Gkosh gfotko j? Gkt T[j dZyD dk ofjD tkbk j? .
• His father works in courts.
• T[;dk fgsk feZE/ ezw eodk j??<
• jkA, eufjoh ftZu .
• Rajam and Mani are his fast friends. Like all other boys of his age, he loves to be in the
company of his friends.
• j[D s[jkBz{ T[;d/ d';skA pko/ th gsk j?. eh s[;h T[BkQA d/ BkA d;'r/< jkA,
fpbe[b mhe . T[;d/ d';s okiw ns/ wBh jB . pfuT[ T[j th s[jkv/ tAkr x[zwD fcoB
ns/ y/vD dk F"ehB j? .

6. PES/ENG/XII/025
• He is a loafer. He loves wandering and playing with his friends and Dislikes to stay at
home.
• T[j ntkok xz[wDk fcoBk pj[s g;zd eodk j? . T[;dk xo ofjD Bz{ wB Bjh eodk .
• Shirker. He does not want to study.
• fJ; bJh s[;h T[;Bz{ ezw s' ih u[okT[D tkbk th efj ;ed/ j' .
• He thinks that the holidays are not meant for studying.
• T[j ;'udk j? fe S[NhnkA gVkQJh bJh Bjh jz[dhnkA .
• To him, holidays are for playing.
• S[NhnkA skA p; y/vD bJh jB .
• The saying “no work and all play makes Jack a dull boy” fits him very much.
• He loves pets. He does not mind even putting an insect like spider into his pocket.
• pfuT[ eh s[;h ed/ spider Bz{ i/p ftZu gkfJnk j? go ;tkwh Bz{ ikBto gkbD dk
fJBkQA F"e j? fe T[j wZeVh Bz{ th gkbs{ oZyD pko/ ;'udk j? .
Anchor-4
So we have written many sentences about Swami. Now have a look on an interesting scene
and try to gather more about this boy.
Create a scene where-
Swami picked up oily red bound reader book, opened it and banged together the covers in order
to shake off the dust and then rubbed violently the oily covers with his palm.

7. PES/ENG/XII/025
Show following conversation
• Father: Get a piece of cloth, boy. ( Father having a news paper in his hand)
• Swami: I can’t find any here, father.
• Father: Run and see. (Swami hurried out. He first went to his grandmother.)
• Swami: Granny, get me a piece of cloth, quick.
• Granny: Where am I to go for a piece of cloth?
• Swami: Where am I to go? If one has got to read even during holidays, I don’t see why
holidays are given at all?
• Granny: What is the matter?
Voice from back- This was his opportunity to earn sympathy. He almost wept.
• Swami: I don’t know what Rajam and Many will think, waiting for me there, if I keep on
fooling here. Granny if father can not find any work to do why shouldn’t he go and sleep?
• Father: Did you find the cloth?
• Swami: Granny hasn’t got it. I shall see if mother has. (His mother is sitting in the back
corridors on a mat with the baby sleeping in her lap. Swami glared at her and said in an
undertone
• Swami: You are a fine lady, mother. Why don’t you leave us poor folk alone?
• Mother: What?
• Swami: You needn’t have gone and carried tales against me.
• Father (voice): Swami
• Swami: Mother, can you give me a piece of cloth?
• Mother: What cloth!
• Swami: What cloth! How should I know?
• Mother: I can’t get any now.
• Swami: H’m ! You can’t, can’t you?

8. PES/ENG/XII/025
Scene -- Swami looked about. There was a piece of cloth under the baby. In flash, he rolled the
baby over, pulled out the cloth and was off.
Anchor-5
Did you enjoy the episode? You must have gathered enough information about Swami. Let us
recall it with the help of the following points:
eh s[;h fJ; ;ko/ gkm dk nkBzd wkfDnk< s[jkBz{ ;tkwh pko/ j[D pj[s ;koh ikBekoh j' rJh j't/rh .
nkT[ fJe tko c/o ;ko/ gkm Bz{ d[jok bJhJ/ .A
MO & VO
Points to be described about a character:( You can expand the following points in
your own words.)
• Name/full name (VO- First of all we will write name of the character)
• Age/sex (vo- what is his or her age. Some time the exact age is not shown so you can
guess if infant/school going/if any class is mentioned/young/ middle aged/old so you will
also write boy/girl/man/ woman. Like this you can write the name , age and sex. You can
also combine all the three in on sentence.)
• Family ( V.O You also know the family )
• Friends( V.O you can mention the names of his friends)
• Nature/ Habits/routine (vo to write about nature or habits you can look for the following
for example what does a character likes or dislikes.
Liking/disliking
Personal qualities: Honest/dishonest, intelligent/dull,(VO his personal qualities eg.
Mischievous/serious ( Vo is he naughty or serious)
Hard worker/shirker ( vo is he hard worker or shirker)
Calm/revengeful
• Relations with family/society (VO- Then you will write the behavior of the character with
the other family members and the society he lives in.

9. PES/ENG/XII/025
Let’s describe all these points as per Swaminathan’s character
Name and Age: ( VO-actual age is not given so we can write as)
• Swaminathan is a school going boy.
Family: ( VO- Now you know his family members)
• He belongs to a middle class South Indian family.
• He has a grand mother, a father, a mother and a little brother in his house.
• His father works in courts.
Friends:( VO- You also know the names of his friends)
• Rajam and Mani are his fast friends. Like all other boys of his age, he loves to be in
the company of his friends
Habits: ( VO- Like all boys of his age)
j[D n;h T[;dhnkA nkdskA pko/ fbykAr/ . s[jkBz{ gsk j? fe T[;dh xz[wD fcoB dh nkds j?
So you can write.
• He is a loafer. He loves wandering and playing with his friends and Dislikes to stay at home.
• Shirker. He does not want to study. ( VO- Why do we call him shirker ? because neither he
wants to study nor does he takes interest in helping his parents at home )
• He thinks that the holidays are not meant for studying.
• To him, holidays are for playing.
• The saying “no work and all play makes Jack a dull boy” fits him very much.
Nature: ( VO- Recalling the scene with the spider you can write that)
• He loves pets. He does not mind even putting an insect like spider into his pocket.
(VO- Now do you remember)
• The way he tilts the table and scatters all the books on the floor shows his anger against his
father. ( VO – Here you can also say that he has aggressive nature.)

10. PES/ENG/XII/025
( VO- In spite of all this if we recall the scene of sum you will definitely say that)
• He is very innocent. When his father gives him a very simple sum to solve, instead of doing
calculations he is thinking about the nature of the mangoes and the mango sellers.
(V.o At the same time he is very innocent boy)
• d/y' pfuT[ Gkt/ T[; ftZu' pdb/ dh GktBk nkT[dh j? go T[j pj[s nbr j?, fJj fet/ gsk brdk j? .
id' T[;d/ fgsk T[;Bz{ ;[nkb eYZD bJh fdzd/ jB skA T[j T[;dk jZb eYZD d/ pikJ/ nzpkA d/
eZu/ ikA gZe/ j'D pko/ ;'u fojk j? .
Relations with family : ( VO- Now while writing his relations with the family recall
that how )
• He irritates each and every family member. (VO- Not only the family members but)
• j[D feT[fe T[;Bz{ T[;d/ fgsk d/ efjD s/ nkgDh woih d/ fybk xo ftZu ofjDk g?dk j? fJ;bJh
T[;dk ;[Gkn pj[s fuVfuVk j' ikAdk j? ns/ d{finkA Bz{ th szr eodk ofjzdk j? .
• He himself also gets irritated by his mother, father and grand mother. They do not give him
due attention. ( VO- As a result)
• He is unbearable to his mother.
• T[;dh wkA skA T[;s' pj[s szr nk ikAdh j? .
• Being ignored by his mother he becomes revengeful.
• Father has a soft corner for him, despite his stupidity
• jkA, T[;d/ fgskih GkAt/ T[;Bz{ fMVed/ jB go fco th T[BkQ Bz{ T[;s/ so; nk ikAdk j? .a
• He also tries to win the sympathy of his grandmother.
So in conclusion we can say that
Conclusion
swami is a true representative of his age group. Like all other school boys he is fond of wandering
and playing with his friends. When his father wants him to study during summer vacations, he

11. PES/ENG/XII/025
makes one or the other excuses. You can easily relate Swaminathan to your younger brothers or
sisters. He’s not an extraordinary character. He is the true representative of his peer group. Like
all other boys of his age , he tells lies, makes excuses and loves pets. Similarily irritating the other
members of his family is also very common in school going boys.
ANCHOR
I think you would have surely enjoyed the story and his activities, mischief and his excuses must
have amused you. I hope now you can easily write the character sketch of Swaminathan and will
get good marks in your exams.
Here is an activity for you to make a chart or model which will help you to remember the
character of Swami.
ACTIVITY:
1 Draw a sketch of a school going boy with the help of sketch pen or paint brush etc.
2. Take small pieces of chart paper or a card board.
3. Write adjectives used for Swami in the episode or in the text of the lesson on one paper.
4. Now write these adjectives with different colors one on each piece of paper.
5. Now paste the picture of the school going boy on the center of a chart paper.
6. Label this picture as ‘SWAMI’
7. Now arrange the written piece of papers around ‘SWAMI NATHAN’
8. Draw arrows from Swami to each adjective.
9. Paste this chart in the class room.
(Show this picture in animation also.)
In the next episode we’ll read a story about another such mischievous boy, Tom Sawyer.
The script is frozen by Mrs Baljeet Brar on 23.07.09

12. PES/ENG/XII/025