NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 1 the Third Level

The third level refers to the subway of the Grand Central Station that takes passengers to Gales burg, Illinois. This third level on the station was a medium of escape for Charley who was fed up of harsh realities of modern world. This was the world he used to dream of with open eyes.

It did not happen. This is because this third level at station was only his imagination and in reality it didn’t exist.

Certainly the third level was a medium of escape for Charley. He was fed up with sufferings of life. As today’s life is full of tensions and he wanted to run away from all those problems. Like any other human being he was fed up of concrete jungle and wanted himself in a place which is less crowded and very peaceful. The fast life made him uneasy and restless. He started thinking about past that his forefathers have lived and he fell into those dreams. He used to think about living such life and wanted to live a one like that. Not for few days, he wanted to move to a place called Galesburg permanently with his wife Louisa because Galesburg was his dream city.

Sam’s letter to Charley is dated 18th July, 1894. He wrote from Galesburg. After buying old currency Sam departed for Galesburg as he too like Charley wanted to escape the fast life of city and wanted to settle in imagining world. Letter also suggests that those who can find the third level can enjoy songs, music and peaceful life. As a reader it feels as if Galesburg is a non urban city which has lot of greenery and less commercial activities and people tend to spend more time with each other in most of the times of day. Sam was happy after finding the third level and invited Charley and his wife to keep searching for third level.

Undoubtedly modern world is full of fear, worry and stress for all age groups. No one is spared from this stress but every human being according to their preferences and interests can beat this fear or stress. Reading, travelling places, watching sports, plantation etc can be one of such attempts to overcome fear and anxiety. But exercise, meditation and worshipping God are few such things that help everyone at any age to overcome problems associated with war, worry and stress.

Yes, there are many instances where we see an intersection of time and space. Firstly, the first two levels of grand central station were located in present time while third level was in late 1890’s. Secondly, the architecture of the platform at third level was extremely old and was different from first two levels of modern times. The way people were dressed up was also unique to Charley as it was extremely old. Lastly, the letter was mailed to Charley’s grandfather on 18th July, 1894 represents the intersection of time and space as Sam & Charley belongs to present time.

It is absolutely correct that apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection. There are many things that happened in the past that changed our lives forever. If the bulb had not been invented, today the world would be in darkness. No one even thought that a machine (Computer) would do mathematical calculations worth crores in a fraction of a second. And this machine will help us the way we work in hospitals, offices, railways, airports etc. Without their respective invention our life would have been different. No one could have ever imagined that we would be able to talk to a person sitting thousands of miles away in a second through a video call but today its possible.

Besides philately, there are infinite things through which we can keep our past alive. Collection of old coins can be one of them. Keeping the belongings of your ancestors can also be one of them.
Moreover, we can keep our culture and traditions alive when we follow rituals as advised by our elders. This can be done on festivals and niceties etc. We, human beings can prepare our future course of action on the basis of past experience and it can help us to achieve desired goals. So in case of any failure in past, we can set new strategies for ourselves and can correct our present and future. So any such habits can make us good person and keep us in discipline.

In “Adventure” Jayant Narlikar expressed that many worlds exist at the same time but they appeared to be separated by time. He expressed that the other world also existed and flourish with the world we are aware of. Whereas, in the third level, narrator gets lost in the world of dreams because he wants peace of mind and for this he dreams of going to a quiet and greener place named Galesburg, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The rooms on the third level were smaller. There were fewer ticket windows and train gates. The information booth in the centre was wood made and very old-looking. The lights were dim and blinking because these were open flame gas lights. There were brass spittoons on the floor. The man sitting in the room at third level wore a green eye shade and long black sleeve protectors.

According to Charley, first two levels of grand central station were like any other central station and nothing was abnormal. The first level was for trains for most part of the cities of twentieth century and second level was the place from where trains to suburban places leave.

The narrator thinks that grand central station was growing like a tree. Just like branches of an old tree spread far in the ground, same way this central station was also spreading like it. He says he often went there andhe once got into a tunnel and he walked a mile and came out in the lobby of Roosevelt hotel. In another incident he came out in an office building on Forty Sixth Street, which was three blocks away. So this central station was constructed endless as per him.

1. Why did Charley run away from ticket counter when he went to buy old currency?
   When Charley went to ticket counter to buy tickets for himself and Louisa for Galesburg. He offered new currency to the person at ticket counter.However, the station was very old and also the people and era so this modern currency was not acceptable. The clerk threatened Charley after seeing that currency and asked him to run away or else he would send him to jail. Fearing the prison, Charley runs away from there immediately.
2. Did Charley agree with what Sam said about his disease?
   Charley did not agree with his psychiatrist friend Sam. Sam thought his friend was trying to run away from fear, anxiety and stress of city life. Sam calls “walking dream wish fulfillment” to his claim of existence of a third level at grand central station. But Charley was very sure of his words as he has been to third level not just once or twice but many times and it was no coincidence. When Sam said that stamp collection is also a part of it, Charley said that his grandfather also used to do this work and also former president of United States but that does not mean they were running away from city stress. Hence, it must have been a part of their life or their hobbies and not necessarily a walking dream wish fulfillment.

• What do you understand by First day cover?
  First day cover is an envelope that stamp collectors used to mail themselves when a new stamp is issued. Such envelopes are never opened; they used to put only a blank paper inside and nothing else. The main purpose was to collect a stamped postmarked envelope with the date of postmark being the same as the date of release of the stamp. This was done just for remembrance.
• How was the third level at Grand Central Station different from the other two?
  The third level at Grand Central Station was smaller, there were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the information booth in the centre was wooden and old-looking. The man in the booth wore a green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors. The open-flame gaslights were dim and sort of flickering. There were brass spittoons on the floor. The people on the station were dressed like in the 1890s. They had beards, sideburns, and fancy moustaches. Charley saw a man pull a gold watch from his vest pocket. He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with tiny lapels.

1. What was the reaction of the clerk at the ticket counter to Charley? Why?
   After Charley decided to go to Galesburg, he counted out the money that was needed and gave it to the clerk. The clerk looked at the money and he refused to recognize that currency. He felt that Charley was trying to trick him. He told Charley that if he were trying to trick him, he wouldn’t succeed. He glanced at the cash drawer beside him that had old-style money. Charley understood that if he did not leave, he would be handed over to the police and even in 1894there was nothing nice about jail.
2. What was Charley’s reaction after coming back from the third level?
   Charley came out from the third level the same way he had entered. The next day he drew 300 dollar out of the bank and bought old-style currency. Although his 300 dollar bought less than 200 in old-style bills, he didn’t care as he was going into an era that was much cheaper than the present times and he was excited to go there. Unfortunately, he never again found the corridor that led to the third level at Grand Central Station, despite his frequent attempts.

What convinced Louisa and Charley about the existence of the third level?
Initially, Louisa was very concerned when Charley told her about the third level. She didn’t want Charley to look for the third level anymore. So he stopped looking for third level after some time. But one day, his friend Sam Weiner disappeared. Nobody knew of his whereabouts till one day Charley found an envelope in his collection with an unfamiliar first-day cover. It had been mailed to his grandfather at his home in Galesburg and had been there since 18th July, 1894, according to the postmark. The stamp was a six-cent, dull brown one, with a picture of President Garfield. But when he took it out and opened it, he found Sam’s letter addressed to him from Galesburg dated 18th July, 1894.