English: Class 7 — Chapter 5: Bravehearts

• Location & Size: Spread over 40 acres near the iconic India Gate in New Delhi.
• Inauguration: Envisioned and inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in February 2019.
• Structure: Consists of four concentric circles representing the journey of a soldier:
  • Amar Chakra (Circle of Immortality): Houses the central 15-metre-tall obelisk with the eternal flame (Amar Jawan Jyoti).
  • Veerta Chakra (Circle of Bravery): A covered gallery exhibiting six bronze murals depicting valiant battle actions.
  • Tyag Chakra (Circle of Sacrifice): Circular concentric walls of honour covered with granite tablets bearing the names of over 26,000 fallen soldiers etched in golden letters.
  • Raksha Chakra (Circle of Protection): The outermost circle consisting of rows of trees representing soldiers guarding the nation's borders.

The letters highlight the supreme sacrifices of India's bravehearts, recognized through prestigious gallantry awards:

• Param Vir Chakra (PVC): India's highest wartime gallantry medal. Major Somnath Sharma was posthumously awarded India's first PVC in 1947.
• Lance Naik Albert Ekka (PVC): Honoured for his exceptional bravery in the Battle of Gangasagar (1971), where he single-handedly silenced enemy machine-gun bunkers despite being mortally wounded.
• Major Padmapani Acharya (MVC): Posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his heroic leadership during the 1999 Kargil War, leading his platoon to capture a heavily fortified enemy position under intense fire.

• territorial integrity: Safeguarding a nation's borders.
• envisioned: Visualised or conceptualised.
• gallantry: Exceptional courage, especially in battle.
• posthumously: Awarded or occurring after death.
• citation: An official report praising a soldier's meritorious performance of duty.
• obelisk: A tall, four-sided, tapering stone pillar.
• wreaths: Circular arrangements of flowers used as a mark of respect and remembrance.

• Unwavering Vigilance: Soldiers guard the nation tirelessly while citizens sleep in peace.
• Harsh Conditions: They endure extreme weather, from freezing snow to scorching desert heat.
• Diverse Terrains: Their duties span mountains, valleys, deserts, marshes, seas, and the air.
• Sacrifice of Youth: Giving the prime of their youth to secure the nation's future.

• Imagery: Vivid descriptions like "scorching sun's sweltering rays" and "lonely expanses".
• Simile: "Treading the lonely expanses as yogis" (comparing soldiers' disciplined, solitary life to that of yogis).
• Metaphor: "Wind chimes of my land vibrate your feat" (representing the nation's collective memory and gratitude).
• Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds in "season or snowy" and "sun's sweltering".

• Defiance of Colonial Power: Rani Abbakka refused to pay annual tribute to the Portuguese, declaring Ullal a sovereign country.
• Courageous Leadership: Despite her husband (Veera Narasimha of Bangadi) and other local rulers warning her of Portuguese wrath, she stood firm and allied with the Zamorin of Kozhikode.
• The Battle of Ullal: When the Portuguese attacked, she led her forces valiantly, launched counter-attacks on the Portuguese fort, and successfully defended her kingdom, driving the colonisers out.

• vassal: A state or ruler subordinate to a more powerful nation.
• coronation: The ceremony of crowning a sovereign.
• sovereign: Possessing supreme, independent authority.
• dauntless: Fearless and determined.
• avenge: To take vengeance or seek retribution for a wrong.

Rules for transforming direct speech into reported (indirect) speech:

• Tense Shifts: Present simple shifts to past simple; present perfect shifts to past perfect; modals like 'will' shift to 'would'.
• Pronoun Changes: Pronouns adjust to align with the reporter's perspective (e.g., "I" becomes "he" or "she").
• Time and Place Expressions:
  • "now" becomes "then"
  • "today" becomes "that day"
  • "yesterday" becomes "the day before"
  • "here" becomes "there"

• Prefixes: Letters added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning (e.g., dis- + regard = disregard; un- + daunted = undaunted).
• Collocations: Natural combinations of words that frequently occur together (e.g., "barren landscape", "dense forest", "steady feet").