The Day the River Spoke: NCERT Class 7 English Story (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20266 min read

Jahnavi is nearly ten and has never been to school, because she must look after her little brothers. One morning, the river she visits every day starts talking to her. This gentle story shows children that courage and a little help can open the door to learning.

Open now: the CALP Class 7 English course (Poorvi)
Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 7 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year, and “Start here” and the first chapter’s notes are free to try.
See the free lessons and enrol →

From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 7, unit “Learning Together”. Unit 1.

What your child learns

Sound words from the story: splashed, shrieked, rustle, gasped, wailed
Prepositions, and words like up, down and inside that can also be adverbs
Why the River gets a capital letter when it talks like a person
Asking for and giving advice: 'What do you think I should do?', 'If I were you, I would...'

What the story is about

Jahnavi lives with her parents and three brothers in a village by the coast. Her parents work on the farm, and Jahnavi minds her baby brother, Appu. Her elder brother Gopi (she calls him Ettan) and Meena go to school, and even little Ramu goes, but Jahnavi is always told to wait. One day she sits crying by the river, and the River speaks to her in a sleepy voice. It listens to her many questions about spiders, bamboo, the moon and baby fish, and tells her that girls can do as much as boys. Its advice: quietly go and sit in the school, and see if the teacher lets her stay. It is up to her.

The next day Jahnavi gathers courage, carries Appu to school and listens from the back row. The kind teacher notices her, learns that she is Gopi's sister, and visits her father that evening. Her mother, who was never allowed to study, is glad, and Jahnavi will go to school. She runs to tell the River that she was scared but did it, and she dreams of becoming a teacher who brings every girl in the village to school. The story is by Kamala Nair.

New words, with Hindi meanings

splashed: fell in drops, making a sound (हिंदी: छप से गिरा)
slithered: moved by sliding from side to side, like a snake or lizard (हिंदी: सरककर चला)
murmuring: speaking in a low, soft voice (हिंदी: धीमे बोलता हुआ)
startled: suddenly surprised or a little frightened (हिंदी: चौंक गई)
thicket: a thick group of bushes and trees (हिंदी: झुरमुट)
shrieked: made a loud, high sound (हिंदी: चीखे)
rustle: the light sound of leaves rubbing together (हिंदी: सरसराहट)
conspiratorially: in a secret way, as if sharing a secret (हिंदी: राज़ की तरह)
catamaran: a kind of boat made of logs tied together (हिंदी: कट्टमरम नाव)
wailed: complained in a loud, crying voice (हिंदी: रोते हुए बोली)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What was Jahnavi's dream?
Why could Jahnavi not go to school like her brothers?
What advice did the River give Jahnavi?
How did Jahnavi's mother feel when the teacher came to talk to her father, and why?
Think of a time you were scared to try something new. What helped you do it?

Answers for parents

She wanted to go to school, learn to read, and find answers to all her questions about the world.
She had to look after her little brothers while her mother worked in the fields, and her mother kept saying 'maybe later'.
The River said girls can do as much as boys. It told her to slip into the school, sit and listen, and see if the teacher let her stay, because it was up to her.
She was glad. When she was a girl, her own mother did not let her go to school, and she believed girls should learn as much as they want.
For example: I was scared to join the school choir. My friend said, 'Just try once.' I went to one practice, and now I love singing.

Grammar corner: Prepositions and adverbs (up, down, inside, outside)

A preposition shows place, direction or time, and it is always followed by a noun or pronoun: 'down the path', 'behind the hills'. Some of the same words can also be adverbs. Then no noun follows, and the word tells us more about the action: 'The bird swept down.'

Jahnavi walked down the path to the river. (preposition: down + the path)
The kingfisher flew up and sat on a branch. (up is an adverb; on is a preposition)
The teacher smiled and said, 'Please come inside.' (adverb, no noun after it)

Practice at home

Fill in the blank with the right preposition: Jahnavi sat ___ the back row of the classroom. (in / on / under)
Is 'down' a preposition or an adverb? (a) The fish swam down the river. (b) Please sit down.
Match the sound to its maker: rustle, shriek, splash. (a) parrots (b) bamboo leaves (c) a stone falling into water

Answers: 1. in · 2. (a) preposition, because 'the river' follows it; (b) adverb, because no noun follows it. · 3. rustle - bamboo leaves; shriek - parrots; splash - a stone falling into water

Try this

Sound walk: sit quietly with your child for one minute, at a window, on a balcony or in a park, eyes closed. Then each of you names three sounds you heard and finds an English word for it: the rustle of leaves, a dog barking, a pressure cooker whistling. Next, pretend something you heard could talk, like the River in the story. What would the tree or the bird say to you? Say it in a sleepy, happy or worried voice.

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi first: 'अगर नदी तुमसे बात करे, तो तुम उससे क्या पूछोगे?' Let them answer in Hindi, then help them say the same idea in English, one sentence at a time. You can also share a story from your own childhood about school; children remember a lesson better when it connects to their own family, and every English try deserves praise.

Questions parents ask

What is the moral of The Day the River Spoke?

Every child, girl or boy, deserves to learn, and we must find the courage to go after our dreams. As the River tells Jahnavi, it is up to her to take the first step.

Who are the characters in The Day the River Spoke?

Jahnavi, the talking River, Jahnavi's mother and father, her brothers Gopi (Ettan), Ramu and little Appu, Meena, the kind schoolteacher, and Chandu, who owns a catamaran.

Is The Day the River Spoke in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is the first chapter of Poorvi, NCERT's new English book for Class 7, in Unit 1 (Learning Together). It is an extract adapted from a story by Kamala Nair.

Learn every Class 7 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 7 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →