NCERT's Hindi textbook for Classes 6, 7 and 8 is now Malhar (मल्हार), named after the raga sung in the monsoon. It replaced the older Vasant books one class at a time: the Class 6 book was first published in June 2024, Class 7 in April 2025 and Class 8 in June 2025. All three have been reprinted for the 2026-27 session.
If an older brother or sister used Vasant, expect a different book: new chapters, and a new kind of question. Here is every chapter of all three books, from each book's own contents page, then what the exercises expect and what Class 9 will assume. Check your school's booklist first: many CBSE schools use Malhar, but some use a publisher's series.
Class 6: 13 chapters
| No. | Chapter | Form | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | मातृभूमि | poem | Sohanlal Dwivedi |
| पुष्प की अभिलाषा | for reading | Makhanlal Chaturvedi | |
| 2 | गोल | memoir | Major Dhyan Chand |
| एक दौड़ ऐसी भी | for reading | ||
| 3 | पहली बूँद | poem | Gopalkrishna Kaul |
| 4 | हार की जीत | story | Sudarshan |
| 5 | रहीम के दोहे | dohe | Abdurrahim Khankhana |
| 6 | मेरी माँ | autobiography | Ramprasad 'Bismil' |
| 7 | जलाते चलो | poem | Dwarika Prasad 'Maheshwari' |
| 8 | सत्रिया और बिहू नृत्य | essay | Jaya Mehta |
| 9 | मैया मैं नहिं माखन खायो | pada | Surdas |
| 10 | परीक्षा | story | Premchand |
| 11 | चेतक की वीरता | poem | Shyamnarayan Pandey |
| 12 | हिंद महासागर में छोटा-सा हिंदुस्तान | travelogue | Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' |
| 13 | पेड़ की बात | essay | Jagadish Chandra Bose |
| आओ बच्चो तुम्हें दिखाएँ झाँकी हिंदुस्तान की | for reading | Kavi Pradeep |
Class 7: 10 chapters
| No. | Chapter | Form | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | माँ, कह एक कहानी | poem | Maithilisharan Gupt |
| 2 | तीन बुद्धिमान | folk tale | |
| 3 | फूल और काँटा | poem | Ayodhyasingh Upadhyay 'Hariaudh' |
| 4 | पानी रे पानी | essay | Anupam Mishra |
| विश्वेश्वरैया | for reading | ||
| 5 | नहीं होना बीमार | story | Swayam Prakash |
| 6 | गिरिधर कविराय की कुंडलिया | poem | Giridhar Kavirai |
| 7 | वर्षा-बहार | poem | Mukutdhar Pandey |
| 8 | बिरजू महाराज से साक्षात्कार | interview | by students |
| नृत्यांगना सुधा चंद्रन | for reading | ||
| 9 | चिड़िया | poem | Arsi Prasad Singh |
| 10 | मीरा के पद | pada | Meera |
| स्वामिभक्त सुमुख | for reading | ||
| विजयी विश्व तिरंगा प्यारा | for reading |
Class 8: 10 chapters
| No. | Chapter | Form | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | स्वदेश | poem | Gayaprasad Shukla 'Sanehi' |
| 2 | दो गौरैया | story | Bhisham Sahni |
| मित्रलाभ | for reading | from the Panchatantra | |
| 3 | एक आशीर्वाद | poem | Dushyant Kumar |
| 4 | हरिद्वार | letter | Bharatendu Harishchandra |
| 5 | कबीर के दोहे | dohe | Kabir |
| कदम मिलाकर चलना होगा | for reading | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| 6 | एक टोकरी भर मिट्टी | story | Madhavrao Sapre |
| 7 | मत बाँधो | poem | Mahadevi Verma |
| 8 | नए मेहमान | one-act play | Udayshankar Bhatt |
| 9 | आदमी का अनुपात | poem | Girija Kumar Mathur |
| 10 | तरुण के स्वप्न | address | Subhash Chandra Bose |
| भारति, जय, विजय करे! | for reading | Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' |
Rows in italics are the pieces each book marks for reading (पढ़ने के लिए): they sit between the chapters. Every book ends with a short dictionary of its harder words, and the Class 7 and 8 books add the Hindi letters and numbers in Braille.
What changes from year to year
Each year has old poetry. Class 6 has Rahim's dohe and a pada of Surdas, मैया मैं नहिं माखन खायो. Class 7 has the kundaliya of Giridhar Kavirai and Meera's pada. Class 8 has Kabir's dohe. These were written centuries ago in older forms of Hindi, and a child who meets them cold will not follow them. They need taking line by line, the words explained, before any question makes sense. Even a child who speaks Hindi well at home can be caught out here: everyday Hindi does not prepare anyone for it.
The forms widen. Class 6 already moves beyond stories and poems: Major Dhyan Chand's memoir of hockey, Ramprasad Bismil's autobiography, Dinkar's travelogue, Jagadish Chandra Bose's essay. Class 7 adds an interview with Birju Maharaj and a folk tale. Class 8 adds a letter by Bharatendu Harishchandra, a one-act play and an address by Subhash Chandra Bose. The form matters, because the exercises ask what makes a letter a letter or a play a play.
The writers are the great names. Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Maithilisharan Gupt, Bhisham Sahni, Nirala and Dushyant Kumar all appear across the three books. A child who has read them properly by Class 8 has met writers they will keep meeting in Hindi for years.
How the exercises work
Every lesson ends with the same set of activities, and the book's own introduction explains them. The headings are worth knowing, because they show what the book wants a child to be able to do.
- मेरी समझ से: two or three multiple-choice questions on understanding the whole lesson. The book expects that students may choose different answers; each explains why, and the class talks its way to an agreed one.
- पंक्तियों पर चर्चा: chosen lines from the lesson to read closely and discuss.
- सोच-विचार के लिए: questions on the lesson, answered in the student's own words in the notebook.
- अनुमान या कल्पना से: questions whose answers are not written in the text, worked out from it.
- शब्दों की बात: vocabulary, and using new words correctly.
- आपकी बात: linking the lesson to the student's own life.
Grammar has no separate chapters. The book teaches it inside the lessons, and says plainly that at this stage the aim is to use the language well, not to memorise definitions. So a guidebook of ready-made answers is a poor fit for Malhar: many of its questions have no single answer to copy. What works is reading the lesson properly and practising answers in one's own words.
What Class 9 will assume
Classes 6 to 8 have no board paper; the school sets the tests, so ask for its sample paper. Class 9 is different. The CBSE Class 9 paper names its grammar: prefixes and suffixes and the parts of speech in both versions of the paper, and in the first-language version adjectives, verbs and sentence types by meaning as well. It sets fixed writing tasks such as a paragraph, an informal letter and a dialogue. Malhar teaches the same language without the names.
So Classes 7 and 8 are the time to put names to what the child already does: this is a उपसर्ग, this is a विशेषण, this sentence is a question. A child who arrives in Class 9 with the names attached finds the grammar section a step. One who has only ever used the language finds it a wall. Gender agreement is worth practising on its own at any stage, and if Class 9 brings a choice of papers, here is how to choose.
A routine that fits Malhar
Fifteen to twenty minutes a day does more than an hour at the weekend. Read the current lesson aloud, a page at a time. Look up two new words in the dictionary at the back of the book, which is there to be used from Class 6. Write one answer from सोच-विचार के लिए in your own words, then read it back and correct it. For the old poetry, one line a day: say it, explain it, and use one of its words in a sentence of your own.
Hindi for Classes 6 to 8, taught to the book
Ms. Ishita Parikh taught Hindi in Mumbai schools for five years and holds an MA in Sanskrit, from which Hindi grammar is explained rather than memorised. Tuition follows the school's own book, takes the old poetry line by line, and puts names to the grammar a year before Class 9 asks for them.
School Hindi tuition, Classes 1 to 12, online; in Mumbai, in person at Borivali West for Classes 1 to 10. Or book the free first class and bring the last test paper.
Questions people ask
Which Hindi textbook does NCERT prescribe for Classes 6, 7 and 8?
Malhar, one book for each class: the Class 6 book was first published in June 2024, the Class 7 book in April 2025 and the Class 8 book in June 2025, and all three were reprinted for the 2026-27 session. Many CBSE schools use them, but some use a publisher's series instead, so check the booklist your school has issued.
How many chapters are in Malhar for Class 6, 7 and 8?
Thirteen in Class 6, ten in Class 7 and ten in Class 8. Each book also has a few extra pieces marked for reading and a dictionary of its harder words at the back, and the Class 7 and 8 books add the Hindi letters and numbers in Braille.
What kind of questions does Malhar ask?
Every lesson ends with the same set of activities: a few multiple-choice questions on understanding, discussion of chosen lines, written questions to answer in the student's own words, questions whose answers are not directly in the text, vocabulary work, and a question that links the lesson to the student's own life. Grammar is taught inside the lessons rather than as definitions to learn.
Which old Hindi poets are in Classes 6 to 8?
Rahim's dohe and a pada by Surdas in Class 6, the kundaliya of Giridhar Kavirai and Meera's pada in Class 7, and Kabir's dohe in Class 8. These were written centuries ago in older forms of Hindi, so they need to be taken line by line before a child can answer questions on them.
How do Classes 6 to 8 prepare a child for Class 9 Hindi?
In Class 9 the CBSE paper names its grammar topics, such as prefixes and suffixes and the parts of speech, and sets fixed writing tasks such as a paragraph, an informal letter and a dialogue. Malhar teaches the same language without the names. Classes 7 and 8 are the time to attach the names to what the child already uses, so Class 9 is a step, not a wall.