Date: April 8, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Buses crossed between India and Pakistan early on March 7^th for the first time in 58 years. As well as reconciling families divided by almost six decades, and three wars between the two nuclear neighbours, the bus service also represented a small step on the road to peace. The bus from Srinigar, in Indian-held Kashmir, was waved off by an emotional Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said: “Brothers and sisters will hold hands again, parents will meet children.” The bus from Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, was seen off by Sikandar Hayat Khan, who praised Mr. Singh for initiating the watershed bus service. Passengers headed in both directions were lavishly welcomed on either side of the Line of Control dividing Kashmir by ceremonies involving local school children, music, garlands and a feast of local dishes.

Resumption of the historic bus service, suspended in 1947, comes a week before Pakistan’s President Musharraf travels to New Delhi for peace talks. The tight security surrounding the two bus journeys indicated how far apart the two sides still are. Dangers are still very present, as shown by Islamic rebels throwing a grenade and firing at the Muzaffarabad-bound bus. Fortunately, the grenade and bullets missed their target. However, hope for peace is also palpable as passengers are determined to use the bus service despite threats from militants to attack it. Prime Minister Singh said: “For us, to open the links for the commuters is only the first step.…I am very thankful for the people who came together with us to make this possible, especially Pakistan and their leader Musharraf.”

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: India / Pakistan / wars between neighbours / buses / local dishes / President Musharraf / New Delhi / tight security / peace.

For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. KASHMIR BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Kashmir. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. BUSES: In pairs / groups, talk about buses and bus journeys – the longest, the worst, the most boring, the most dangerous etc. What part do buses play in your life? Do you prefer them to trains?

4. 2-MINUTE KASHMIR DEBATES: Face your partner and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A have the first argument, students B the second. Change partners often to ensure a lively pace.

1. India is better. vs. Pakistan is better.
2. Buses are better. vs. Trains are better.
3. Peace will never be reached between India and Pakistan. vs. Yes it will.
4. President Musharraf is more serious about peace. vs. Prime Minister Singh is.
5. Both countries should destroy their nuclear weapons. vs. They maintain peace.
6. Kashmir is mainly Muslim – it should be returned to Pakistan. vs. No way.
7. President Musharraf deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. vs. Prime Minister Singh first.
8. Pakistan is a dangerous country. vs. Since 9/11 it has fought terror non-stop.
9. Kashmir is a beautiful place for a vacation. vs. Way too dangerous.
10. I want to ride the Kashmir peace bus. vs. You are crazy.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘bus’ and ‘service’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. Buses traveled between India and Pakistan for the first time since 1947.  T / F
2. Both India and Pakistan has nuclear weapons.  T / F
3. Pakistan’s President Musharraf waved off the India-bound bus.  T / F
4. The bus service was Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s idea.  T / F
5. Messrs. Musharraf and Singh will meet next week and ride the bus together.  T / F
6. There is tight security surrounding the bus service.  T / F
7. One of the buses was hit by a grenade.  T / F
8. Mr. Singh thanked Mr. Musharraf for making the bus journeys possible.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	reconciling	showed
(b)	waved off	starting
(c)	initiating	sumptuously
(d)	watershed	obvious
(e)	lavishly	shooting
(f)	resumption	landmark
(g)	indicated	reuniting
(h)	firing	continuation
(i)	palpable	passengers
(j)	commuters	seen off

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	reconciling	on the road to peace
(b)	nuclear	palpable
(c)	a small step	for the commuters
(d)	lavishly	the historic bus service
(e)	a feast of	threats from militants
(f)	resumption of	local dishes
(g)	indicated how	welcomed
(h)	hope for peace is also	families
(i)	despite	neighbours
(j)	open the links	far apart the two sides still are

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL: Fill the gaps with the words in the column on the right.

India-Pakistan bus service resumes after 58 years

Buses crossed between India and Pakistan early on March 7th for the first time in 58 years. As well as __________ families divided by almost six decades, and three wars between the two nuclear neighbours, the bus service also __________ a small step on the road to peace. The bus from Srinigar, in Indian-held Kashmir, was waved off by an __________ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said: “Brothers and sisters will hold hands again, parents will meet children.” The bus from Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, was seen off by Sikandar Hayat Khan, who __________ Mr. Singh for initiating the watershed bus service. Passengers headed in both directions were lavishly welcomed on either side of the Line of Control dividing Kashmir by __________ involving local school children, music, garlands and a feast of local dishes.		emotional ceremonies represented reconciling praised
__________ of the historic bus service, suspended in 1947, comes a week before Pakistan’s President Musharraf travels to New Delhi for peace talks. The tight security __________ the two bus journeys indicated how far apart the two sides still are. Dangers are still very present, as shown by Islamic rebels throwing a grenade and firing at the Muzaffarabad-bound bus. Fortunately, the grenade and bullets missed their target. However, hope for peace is also __________ as passengers are __________ to use the bus service despite threats from militants to attack it. Prime Minister Singh said: “For us, to open the links for the commuters is only the first step.…I am very thankful for the people who came together with us to make this __________, especially Pakistan and their leader Musharraf.”		surrounding possible determined resumption palpable

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS: Check your answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Each student surveys class members independently and reports back to their original partner/  group to compare their findings.

5. ‘BUS’ / ‘SERVICE’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was interesting in this article?
2. Were you surprised by anything in this article?
3. Were your hopes raised by anything in this article?
4. What do you think of the resumption of this bus service?
5. Would you have taken one of the bus journeys if you had had the chance?
6. Does this bus service represent real hopes for peace between India and Pakistan?
7. What do you know about Kashmir?
8. What do you know about the Line of Control?
9. What do you know about Indo-Pakistani relations?
10. President Musharraf has fought terror non-stop since 9-11 and brought stability to his region. Do you think he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?
11. Are India and Pakistan dangerous countries?
12. What do you think Ghandi would have thought about his country having nuclear weapons?
13. Should Kashmir, which is mainly Muslim, be handed to Pakistan?
14. Is the conflict in Kashmir similar to those in Northern Ireland and between Israel and Palestine?
15. Should India and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons be dismantled ?
16. Would you like to visit India and Pakistan?
17. Would you like to visit Kashmir?
18. What is the first word that springs to mind when you hear the word “India”?
19. What is the first word that springs to mind when you hear the word “Pakistan”?
20. What adjective would you use to describe India?
21. What adjective would you use to describe Pakistan?
22. Did you like this discussion?
23. Teacher / Student additional questions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on Kashmir. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. ON THE BUS: Imagine you were a passenger on the Srinigar-Muzaffarabad bus. Write your diary/journal entry describing your bus journey. Share this with your class next lesson.

4. MESSRS. SINGH & MUSHARRAF: Write a letter to either Prime Minister Singh or President Musharraf explaining your thoughts on the historic bus service resuming.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Buses traveled between India and Pakistan for the first time since 1947.  T
2. Both India and Pakistan has nuclear weapons.  T
3. Pakistan’s President Musharraf waved off the India-bound bus.  F
4. The bus service was Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s idea.  T
5. Messrs. Musharraf and Singh will meet next week and ride the bus together.  F
6. There is tight security surrounding the bus service.  T
7. One of the buses was hit by a grenade.  F
8. Mr. Singh thanked Mr. Musharraf for making the bus journeys possible.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	reconciling	reuniting
(b)	waved off	seen off
(c)	initiating	starting
(d)	watershed	landmark
(e)	lavishly	sumptuously
(f)	resumption	continuation
(g)	indicated	showed
(h)	firing	shooting
(i)	palpable	obvious
(j)	commuters	passengers

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	reconciling	families
(b)	nuclear	neighbours
(c)	a small step	on the road to peace
(d)	lavishly	welcomed
(e)	a feast of	local dishes
(f)	resumption of	the historic bus service
(g)	indicated how	far apart the two sides still are
(h)	hope for peace is also	palpable
(i)	despite	threats from militants
(j)	open the links	for the commuters

GAP FILL:

India-Pakistan bus service resumes after 58 years

Buses crossed between India and Pakistan early on March 7^th for the first time in 58 years. As well as reconciling families divided by almost six decades, and three wars between the two nuclear neighbours, the bus service also represented a small step on the road to peace. The bus from Srinigar, in Indian-held Kashmir, was waved off by an emotional Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said: “Brothers and sisters will hold hands again, parents will meet children.” The bus from Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, was seen off by Sikandar Hayat Khan, who praised Mr. Singh for initiating the watershed bus service. Passengers headed in both directions were lavishly welcomed on either side of the Line of Control dividing Kashmir by ceremonies involving local school children, music, garlands and a feast of local dishes.

Resumption of the historic bus service, suspended in 1947, comes a week before Pakistan’s President Musharraf travels to New Delhi for peace talks. The tight security surrounding the two bus journeys indicated how far apart the two sides still are. Dangers are still very present, as shown by Islamic rebels throwing a grenade and firing at the Muzaffarabad-bound bus. Fortunately, the grenade and bullets missed their target. However, hope for peace is also palpable as passengers are determined to use the bus service despite threats from militants to attack it. Prime Minister Singh said: “For us, to open the links for the commuters is only the first step.…I am very thankful for the people who came together with us to make this possible, especially Pakistan and their leader Musharraf.”

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