NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 3 Spices that Heal Us — Let us speak
Book page 98 & 99 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Daadi told Vikram and Vaibhavi about many spices. Choose one spice and introduce yourself as that spice to the class.
Answer
Choose a spice you can actually see and smell at home, so that your description is true. Then speak as the spice, in the first person.
Sample answer (Turmeric):
“Namaste! I am Haldi, and in English you call me Turmeric. I am the root of my plant, and I grow under the ground. I am bright yellow, and I stain every finger and every dupatta that touches me. When I am dried and ground, I become a soft powder; before that I am rough and hard like a small finger of ginger. My taste is bitter, so nobody eats me alone — but no Indian kitchen can cook a single dish without me. I give your food its golden colour, I improve your energy and your digestion, and I reduce your body pain. Your grandmother mixes me into hot milk when you fall down and hurt your knee. That is why they call me the golden spice.”
Structure of a good ‘I am the spice’ talk: greeting → name in both languages → what part of the plant you are → how you look and feel → how you taste → what you do for the body → one line that people will remember.
Q2.
Before you speak, make a spicy headband for the spice you chose. Follow the steps given below. (Cut out strips of a paper 2 inches wide → Join two ends to make a band that can fit your head → Make a small card with a picture of a spice. Colour it. → Attach the card on your headband.) Use the headband while introducing yourself as the spice.
Answer
The four steps shown on page 98:
Cut two strips of thick paper, each 2 inches wide and long enough together to go round your head.
Join the two ends with gum or a stapler to make a band that fits your head — measure with a thread first, and leave a little extra so it is not tight.
Make a small card about the size of your palm. Draw the spice you chose on it and colour it carefully — yellow fingers for haldi, brown rolls for dalchini, green pods for elaichi.
Attach the card to the front of the band so that it stands up above your forehead.
Make it neat: use a pencil first and colour afterwards, keep the drawing big and simple so the last row of the class can see it, and write nothing on the card — let your speech do the telling.
Q3.
Mention the following while speaking: • your name • part of the plant • colour • texture • taste • benefits
Answer
Six points, six sentences — say them in this order and you cannot go wrong.
Point
Sentence starter
Example (Clove / laung)
Your name
I am …
I am Laung; in English you call me Clove.
Part of the plant
I am the … of my plant
I am the dried flower bud of my tree.
Colour
I am … in colour
I am dark brown, almost black.
Texture
I feel …
I am hard and rough, with a tiny round head.
Taste
I taste …
I taste sharp and spicy, and I make the tongue tingle.
Benefits
I help you by …
I give relief from toothache until you can see a dentist, and I add flavour to pulao and garam masala.
While you speak: wear the headband, hold up a spoonful of the real spice if the teacher allows it, and end with a question for the class — “Now, can you tell me one dish in which your mother uses me?”