Q1.
Make a list of all people outside your family that are supporting you through their work in one way or another.
Answer
Method. Walk through one ordinary day of your life from waking to sleeping, and at each point ask: “whose work made this possible?” Your list will be far longer than you expect. Write it as a table so that the work is visible, not just the person.
Sample answer:
| Person | How their work supports me |
|---|---|
| Farmers and farm workers | Grow the rice, wheat, dal and vegetables I eat every day |
| Milk seller, vegetable seller, grocer | Bring that food within walking distance of my house |
| Truck and railway workers | Carry goods from where they are grown or made to where I live |
| Municipal sweepers and waste collectors | Keep my street and colony clean and take away the waste every day |
| Water supply and electricity workers | Water in the tap and light in the room; they repair the lines when a storm brings them down |
| Teachers and the school staff | Teach me; the clerk, the cook and the cleaner keep the school running |
| School bus driver / autorickshaw driver | Takes me to school and brings me back safely |
| Doctors, nurses, chemist | Treat me when I fall ill; the chemist keeps the medicines in stock |
| Police, fire service | Keep the area safe and come when there is an emergency |
| Tailor, cobbler, barber, carpenter, electrician, plumber, mason | Make and mend the clothes, shoes, furniture and fittings I use |
| Postal and delivery workers | Bring letters, parcels and documents |
| Weavers, tailors and factory workers | Made the clothes I am wearing right now |
| Writers, printers and booksellers | Made the very textbook I am reading this chapter in |
| Neighbours and friends | Lend a hand in an emergency, keep a key, help with studies |
What the list proves: the chapter’s closing point on page 147 — “in our complex societies, everyone depends on a number of other people and communities”. You did not choose most of these people, you may not know their names, and yet not one ordinary day of yours would work without them. That is interdependence.
Tip: when you read your list out in class, add one line — “and whom do I support?” Perhaps you help a younger cousin with homework, carry a neighbour’s water, or look after a sibling. Interdependence goes both ways.