Summary of Silk Road
The chapter Silk Road is a travel account written by British geographer Nick Middleton. It talks about the importance of the virtue of persistence in successfully completing an arduous task. The account is narrated by him in the first person, and he mentions details of his journey to Mount Kailash chronologically in the chapter. Silk Road Class 11 summary portrays the obstacles faced by the author many a time during the journey. It also tells the reader about his thoughts and feelings on the geography of Tibet on the way to Mount Kailash. He is accompanied by another person Daniel and their driver Tsetan. The author is determined to do the kora and moves ahead no matter what the situations are like. Silk Road Summary is a part of BYJU’S CBSE Summary. Students can also go to CBSE Notes for more information and learning materials on other English topics.
CBSE Class 11 English Silk Road Summary
The author of the chapter ‘Silk Road’, Nick Middleton, narrates his journey to Mount Kailash through Tibet. He wanted to perform the holy ritual of the kora and saw it as a motivation for positive thinking that he wanted to inculcate more in his daily life.
While leaving a place called Ravu, the author is accompanied by another person named Daniel. The name of their driver is Tsetan. A local lady from Ravu named Lhamo gifted a sheepskin coat to the author. It was the general attire of the drokbas. Tsetan knew a route to Mount Kailash in the southwest direction that would involve passing through several high mountain passes.
Along the way, the author saw vast, open arid pastures with gazelles nibbling on them; dust clouds called kyang; solitary drokbas looking after their cattle and nomads’ tents guarded by Tibetan mastiffs. The massive and fear-inducing anatomy of these Tibetan mastiffs made the author realise why they were popular as hunting dogs in China’s imperial courts. Soon, they encountered snow-capped mountains that were quite difficult to pass through. The altitude at this place was 5,210 metres above sea level, according to the author’s watch. The cold affected his physiological functions and he started experiencing a headache.
They reached the top of the mountain pass, which was 5,515 metres above sea level and marked by a pile of rocks. The author finally started feeling better as they descended to a work camp set up beside a dry salt lake. By afternoon, they reached a small town called Hor – which the author describes as ‘miserable’ with no greenery and only rocks and dust. Daniel parted ways here and went back to Lhasa. The author expresses his disappointment at his expectations of the Mansoravar Lake on whose shore the town of Hor was situated. There was garbage everywhere.
Finally, they arrived at a guest house in Darchen at night. The author could not sleep, and Tsetan took him to the Darchen medical college the following morning. Once he was assured that the author was well and could do the kora, Tsetan returned to Lhasa.
After a good night’s sleep, Darchen did not look so horrible to the author, and he felt relaxed. He describes Darchen as a dusty and derelict town with a few rudimentary stores. The author could not see too many pilgrims around and assumed that he might have arrived very early for the pilgrim season. He did not want to do the kora alone, with the snow blocking most of the way.
As he waited for optimum conditions to do the kora, he met Norbu, who was an academic researcher working on the importance of it in various works of Buddhist literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. The author got to know Norbu better and found out that he was there to do the kora as well. Both academicians decided to do the pilgrimage as a team, and the author felt that his positive-thinking strategy was working again.
Conclusion of Silk Road
Silk Road Class 11 summary shows us the outcomes of resilience and faith in oneself. The author had to face many challenges, which made him develop a negative attitude towards his journey many times, but he stayed put and was finally able to find someone as interested in the kora as him. Both found common grounds in their motivation towards the pilgrimage. The author ends his travel account on a note of positivity. He finds out that thinking positively does lead to good outcomes in life.
Understanding the deeper meanings involved in a piece of writing is very important to have a good grasp of literature. Students can find other articles and materials related to CBSE English for better command over the syllabus. They can also find other related topics like grammar and writing on BYJU’S website.
