1. A Truly Beautiful Mind
1.1. Albert Einstein
1.1.1. Characters: Albert Einstein, Albert's Mother, Mileva Maric, Franklin D Roosevelt.
1.1.2. Theme: This chapter illustrates the life and personality of the world citizen and renowned scientist Albert Einstein.
2. My Childhood
2.1. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
2.1.1. Characters: Abdul Kalam, Jainulabdeen, Ashiamma, Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan, Sivaprakasan, Lakshmana Sastry, Sivasubramania Iyer and his wife, The new teacher at Rameswaram Elementary School.
2.1.2. Theme: This extract from his autobiography portrays the childhood of one of India's greatest assets A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and the various inspiring and supportive people in his life as a child in the town of Rameswaram.
3. The Bond Of Love
3.1. Kenneth Anderson
3.1.1. Characters: Bruno, Kenneth Anderson, Kenneth's Wife.
3.1.2. Theme: This chapter narrates the relationship between Bruno, a sloth bear and the author's wife, about their love and affection for each other and the consequences of them not being around each other
4. The Snake and The Mirror
4.1. Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
4.1.1. Characters: Doctor and Snake.
4.1.2. Theme: This chapter talks about a doctor's encounter with a snake, how he escapes from the snake when it coils itself around his arm makes up the story.
5. Reach for the Top
5.1. Santosh Yadav
5.1.1. Characters: Santosh Yadav, Santosh's Parents, Mohan Singh.
5.1.2. Theme: This division of the chapter describes the struggles in the life of Santosh Yadav, the youngest woman to climb Mt Everest. and what sacrifices she had to make in order to get to where she is now.
5.2. Maria Sharapova
5.2.1. Characters: Maria Sharapova, Yelena (mother), Yuri (father).
5.2.2. Theme: This division of the chapter describes the story world renowned Tennis player Maria Sharapova's experience as a Siberian teenager to one of the biggest figures in the world of Tennis.
6. The Fun They Had
6.1. Isaac Asimov
6.1.1. Characters: Margie, Tommy, Margie's mother, County Inspector.
6.1.2. Theme: The story talks about education in the future and its contrast when compared to today's education.
7. The Sound Of Music
7.1. Deborah Cowley
7.1.1. Evelyn Glennie
7.1.1.1. Characters: Evelyn Glennie, Ron Forbes, Isabel Glennie.
7.1.1.2. Theme: The story depicts Evelyn's journey as a deaf percussionist.
7.1.2. Bismillah Khan
7.1.2.1. Characters: Bismillah Khan, Ali Bux.
7.1.2.2. Theme: The story depicts the life of Ustaad Bismillah Khan a world famous Shehnai Player from India.
8. The Little Girl
8.1. Katherine Mansfield
8.1.1. Characters: Kezia, Kezia's Father, Kezia'a Mother, Kezia's Grandmother, The Macdonalds, Alice the Cook.
8.1.2. Theme: This story depicts the different types of relationships that children have with their parents.
9. Packing
9.1. Jerome.K.Jerome
9.1.1. Characters: Jerome.K.Jerome, Harris, George Montmorency.
9.1.2. Theme: This extract from Jerome.K.Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' narrates the chaos that occurred when the author and his 2 friends caused while packing for a trip. While the author prides himself in his packing skills his friends fall a little behind. They're struggles while packing the food makes up much of the story.
10. Kathmandu
10.1. Vikram Seth
10.1.1. Characters: Vikram Seth and the Flute Seller.
10.1.2. Theme: This extract from Vikram Seth's 'Heaven Lake' describes Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, in its utmost beauty. The author describes his surroundings and talks about the culture of Nepal.
11. If I were you
11.1. Douglas James
11.1.1. Characters: Intruder and Gerrard.
11.1.2. Theme: A criminal breaks into the lonely cottage of Vincent Charles Gerrard, Gerrard however handles this situation rather calmly which is quite abnormal especially when the intruder threatens to murder him. The conversation that goes on between the 2 protagonists makes up the play.