Class 12 English Flamingo NCERT Solutions
The Last Lesson
QUESTIONS
FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1. What was Franz expected to be
prepared with for school that day?
Ans: That day Franz was
expected to be prepared with participles because M. Hamel had said that he
would question them on participles. Franz did not know anything about
participles.
Q2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school
that day?
Ans: Usually, when school
began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street. But it
was all very still that day. Everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. There
was no opening or closing of desks. His classmates were already in their places.
The teacher’s great ruler instead of rapping on the table, was under M. Hamel’s
arm.
Q3. What had been put up on the bulletin-board?
Ans: For the last two
years all the bad news had come from the bulletin-board. An order had come from
Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The Germans
had put up this notice on the bulletin-board.
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1. What changes did the order from
Berlin cause in school that day?
Ans: M. Hamel had put
on his best dress—his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt and the little
black silk cap, all embroidered. The whole school seemed so strange and solemn.
On the back benches that were always empty, the elderly village people were
sitting quietly like the kids.
Q2. How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school
change?
Ans: Franz came to know
that it was the last lesson in French that M. Hamel would give them. From the
next day they will be taught only German. Then he felt sorry for not learning
his lessons properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier
were now old friends. His feelings about M. Hamel also changed. He forgot all
about his ruler and how cranky he was.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Q1. The people? in this story suddenly
realise how1 precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does
this happen?
Ans: M. Hamel told
the students and villagers that henceforth only German would be taught in the
schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Those who called themselves Frenchmen would
neither be able to speak nor write it. He praised French as the most beautiful,
the clearest and most logical language in the world. He said that for the
enslaved people, their language was the key to their prison. Then the people
realised how precious their language was to them. This shows people’s love for
their own culture, traditions and country. Pride in one’s language reflects
pride in the motherland.
Q2. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even
the pigeonsT’ What could this mean?(There could he more than one answer.)
Ans: This comment of
Franz shows a Frenchman’s typical reaction to the imposition of learning
German, the language of the conquerors. Being deprived of the learning of
mother tongue would mean cutting off all bonds with the motherland. Teaching
the pigeons to sing in German indicates how far the Germans would go in their
attempts of linguistic chauvinism.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Q1. “When a people are en slaved, as
long as th ey hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their
prison.”
Can you think of examples in history
where a conquered people had their lan¬guage taken away from them or had a
language imposed on them?
Ans: Mother tongue helps a
person to express his feelings and thoughts most lucidly and intimately.
Conquerors try to subdue and control the people of the enslaved territory by
enforcing many measures such as use of force to crush dissent and imposing
their own language on them.
From time immemorial the victorious nations have imposed their own language on
the conquered people and taken away their own language from them. The Romans
conquered many parts of Europe and replaced the local languages by their own
language— Latin. Later on Spanish, Pourtuguese, Italian and French developed
from Latin. The Muslim invaders imposed Arabic and Persian in the countries of
Asia overpowered by them. In many Arab countries the local religion and
language have disappeared. In India, a new language Urdu developed from the
mixture of Persian and Hindi.
Q2. What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do
you think they can keep their language alive? For example:
Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in Mumbai
Kannadigas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata
Ans. The linguistic
minority in any state is easily marked and faces the same discrimination as the
religious, social or ethnic minorities. There is, however, a pronounced
difference in the treatment meted out and the level of acceptance displayed by
the majority community in that region/city. Some cities like Delhi, Mumbai are
cosmopolitan in outlook.
The linguistic minority tries to preserve its identity through an intimate
contact, interaction and preservation of their language in social
get-togethers, family functions and festivals of their own region. Adherence to
social customs and traditions in family gatherings/group meetings of women also
promote the unity between members of the linguistic minority.
In short, they create a mini-Punjab in Bangalore, mini-Chennai in Mumbai,
mini-Bangalore in Delhi and mini-Surat in Kolkata.
Q3. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far?
Do you know what “lin¬guistic chauvinism” means?
Ans. ‘Linguistic
chauvinism’ means an aggressive and unreasonable belief that your own language
is better than all others. This shows an excessive or prejudiced support for
one’s own language. Sometimes pride in one’s own language goes too for and the
linguistic enthusiasts can be easily identified by their extreme zeal for the
preservation and spread of their language. In their enthusiasm, love and
support for their own language, they tend to forget that other languages too
have their own merits, long history of art, culture and literature behind them.
Instead of bringing unity and winning over others as friends, having excessive
pride in one’s own language creates ill-will and disintegration. The
stiff-resistance to the acceptance of Hindi as national language by the
southern states of India is a direct outcome of the fear of being dominated by
Hindi enthusiasts. The result is that ‘One India’ remains only a slogan.
WORKING WITH WORDS
Q1. English is a language that contains
words from many other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is
now a “world language”. For example’.
petite – French
kindergarten – German
capital – Latin
democracy – Greek
bazaar – Hindi
Find out the origins of the following
words:
tycoon barbecue zero
tulip veranda ski
logo robot trek
bandicoot
Ans.Word Origin Word
Origin
Tycoon Japanese Veranda Portuguese
Tulip Persian Robot Czech
Logo Greek Zero Arabic
Bandicoot Telugu Ski Norwegian
Barbecue Spanish Trek South African Dutch
Q2. Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick
the option that best explains their meaning:
(a) “What a thunderclap these words were
to me!”
The words were
(i)loud and clear.
(ii)startling and unexpected.
(iii) pleasant and welcome.
(b)“When a people are enslaved, as long
as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their
prison.”
It is as if they have the key to the
prison as long as they
(i)do not lose their language.
(ii)are attached to their language.
(iii)quickly learn the conqueror’s
language.
(c)Don’t go so fast, you will get to
your school in plenty of time. You will get to your school.
(i)very late.
(ii)too early.
(iii)early enough.
(d)I never saw him look so tall.
M. Hamel (i) had grown physically
taller.
(ii) seemed very confident.
(iii) stood on the chair.
Ans. (a) (ii) startling and
unexpected.
(b) (ii) are attached to their language.
(c)(iii) early enough.
(d)(ii) seemed very confident.
NOTICING FORM
1.Read this sentence:
M. Hamel had said that he would question
us on participles.
In the sentence above, the verb form
“had said” in the first part is used to indicate an “earlier past”. The whole
story is narrated in the past. M. Hamel’s “saying” happened earlier than the
events in this story. This form of the verb is called the past perfect.
Pick out five sentences from the story
with this form of the verb and say why this form has been used.
Ans. (i)For the last two
years all our bad news had come from there.
Reason: The ‘coming’ of bad news happened earlier than the bulletin in the story.
(ii)Hauser had brought an old primer.
Reaeon : The event of ‘bringing’ happened earlier than Franz noticed it.
(iii) That was what they had put up at the town-hall!
Reason’. The ‘putting up’ of bulletin happened earlier. Now it is recalled.
(iv)they had not gone to school more.
Reason’. The action of ‘not going* happened much earlier.
(v)the hopvine that he had planted himself twined about the windows to the
roof.
Reason’. The ‘planting’ of hopvine happened earlier than its twining about the
windows.
WRITING
Q1. Write a notice for your school
bulletin board. Your notice could be an announcement of a forthcoming event, or
a requirement to be fulfilled, or a rule to be followed.
Ans:
Q2. Write a paragraph of about 100 words arguing for or
against having to study three languages at school.
Ans:
STUDYING
THREE LANGUAGES AT SCHOOL
In most of the states in India, students have to study three languages at
school. One of them is the mother tongue, the second is Hindi (the national
language) and the third is English (the international or link language). In Hindi
speaking region, a South or East Indian language—Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,
Malyalam or Bangla, Oriya, Assamese etc is taught. The three language formula
helps in national integration by acquainting young students about the social
customs, rituals, culture and traditions of the various parts of the country.
It also focuses on the principle of unity in diversity. The only drawback in
this system is that it puts an excessive burden on the minds of the young
learner. To alleviate their problem, the courses of study in the three
languages may be structured suitably.
Q3. Have you ever changed your opinion about someone or
something that you had earlier liked or disliked? Narrate what led you to
change your mind.
Ans: Facts are sometimes
stronger than fiction. Many occurrences of life come as eye-openers. Such an
experience occurred the previous day which led me to change my mind about our
hostel warden Miss Angela Thomas. Overnight the terrible titan was transformed
into a loving and affectionate elder sister full of milk of human kindness. Now
when I remember how I disliked her and invented nicknames and pranks to tease
her, I feel ashamed of myself. Yesterday, I had a terrible nightmare and I
cried and wept. My room-mate failed to console me and reported the matter to
the warden. God knows how long I remained unconscious! When I came to my senses
I found my head in the lap of Miss Angela Thomas. Her eyes were red with tears
and bps moving in prayer. She had really proved an angel for me and saved me.
THINGS TO DO
Q1. Find out about the following (You
may go to the internet, interview people, consult reference books or visit a
library.)
(a)Linguistic human rights
(b)Constitutional guarantees for
linguistic minorities in India.
Ans: Extension Activity: To
be done under the Teacher’s Guidance.
Q2. Given below is a survey form. Talk to at least five of
your classmates and fill in the information you get in the form.
Ans:
Classroom Activity: Do it yourself.
MORE
QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Why do you think was little Franz
afraid of being scolded?
Ans: Franz was afraid
of being scolded that day especially because M. Hamel, the teacher, had said
that he would question them on participles. Franz frankly admits that he was
totally ignorant about the topic. His exact words are: “I did not know the first
word about them.” Secondly, he had started for school very late that morning.
Q2. “It was all much more tempting than the rule for
participles.” What did Franz find ‘much more tempting’? How did he finally
react?
Ans: Franz found that it
was a very warm and bright day. The birds were chirping at the edge of woods.
The Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open field at the back of sawmill.
He could gladly spend life out of doors. However, he had the strength to resist
the temptation. Finally, he hurried off to school.
Q3. “What can be the matter now?” says Franz. Why, do you
think, did he make this comment?
Ans: There was a
bulletin-board near the town-hall. When Franz passed by it, he noticed a crowd
there. He did not stop to look at it. He wondered what could be the matter
then. For the last two yeairs they had received all the bad news from the
bulletin-board—the lost battle, conscription and the orders of the commanding
officer.
Q4. Who was Wachter? What did he ask Franz and why? How did
Franz react?
Ans: Wachter was a
blacksmith. He was reading the latest bulletin. He asked Franz not to go so
fast to his school. He added that the little boy would get to his school in
plenty of time. Wachter had read the latest bulletin about teaching of German.
Franz thought that the blacksmith was making a fun of him. So, he ran to the
school and reached there breathless.
Q5. What was the usual scene when Franz’s school began in the
morning?
Ans: Usually, when the
school began, there was a great bustle. The noise could be heard out in the
school. Students opened and closed their desks. They repeated the lessons
together very loudly. They kept their hands over their ears to understand
better. The teacher would go on rapping the table with his great iron ruler.
Q6. How had Franz hoped to get to his desk? What had he to do
and why?
Ans: Franz had hoped to get
to his desk unseen during the commotion. But that day it was very quiet. So,
Franz had to open the door and go in before everybody. He blushed as he was
late. He was frightened that the teacher might rebuke him, but M. Hamel spoke
kindly to him that day.
Q7. What three things in school surprised Franz most that
day?
Ans: First, M. Hamel,
the teacher had put on his fine Sunday clothes—his beautiful green coat,
frilled shirt and the little black silk cap, all embroidered. Second, the whole
school seemed quite strange and solemn. Thirdly, the village people were
sitting quietly like school children on the back benches that usually remained
empty.
Q8. Why had the villagers come to school that day? How did
they look?
Ans: The villagers
had come there to thank M. Hamel for his forty years of faithful service. They
also wanted to show their respect to the country that was theirs no more. They
were sorry that they had not gone to school more. They were sitting quietly and
looked sad.
Q9. “What a thunderclap these words were to me!” Which were
the words that shocked and surprised the narrator?
Ans: M. Hamel, the
teacher, told the children in a solemn and gentle tone that it was their last
French lesson. Henceforth, only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace
and Lorraine. The new master would come the next day. As that was their last
French lesson, he wanted them to be very attentive. The teacher’s kind gesture
and use of soft words shocked and surprised the narrator.
Q10. How did Franz react to the declaration: ‘This is your
last French lesson’?
Ans: The words appeared
startling and unexpected like a thunderclap. He now understood why there was a
crowd at the bulletin board, why the village people had come to school, why the
teacher was dressed in his Sunday best and why there was sadness and silence in
the school.
Q11. What tempted Franz to stay away from school? [Delhi
2014]
Ans: Franz was not prepared
Tor the test on participles. The Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open
field at the back of sawmill. The birds were chirping at the edge of woods.
These things tempted him. So he hurried off to school.
Q12. Who did M. Hamel blame for neglect of learning on the
part of boys like Franz?
Ans: He thought it
typical with the people of Alsace. They would put off learning till tomorrow.
Parents are not quite anxious to have their children learn. They put them to
work on a farm or at the mills in order to have a little more money. The
teacher got his flowers watered or gave them a holiday. He too neglected their
lessons.
Q13. What did M. Hamel tell them about French language? What
did he ask them to do and why?
Ans:M. Hamel told them
that French was the most beautiful language in the world. It was the clearest
and the most logical language. He asked them to guard it among them and never _
forget it. He gave a reason also. When a people were enslaved, as long as they held
fast to their language, they had the key to their prison.
Q14. Why were the elders of the village sitting in the
classroom? [All India 2014]
Ans: M. Hamel was
taking the class of last French lesson. That is why elders of the village were
sitting in the classroom to attend it. It was done not only to pay respect to
M.Hamel but to pay respect to his own language.
Q15. How did Franz and other hoys enjoy their lesson in
writing?
Ans: That day M.
Hamel had new copies for them. The words “France, Alsace, France, Alsace” were
written on them in a beautiful round hand. The boys set to work quietly. The
only sound was the scratching of the pens over the paper. Nobody paid any
attention to the beetles who flew in.
Q16. How did M. Hamel feel and behave during the last lesson?
Ans: M. Hamel was solemn
and gentle. He sat motionless in his chair during the writing lesson. He gazed
at one thing or the other. Perhaps he wanted to fix in his mind how everything
looked in that little school room. Surely, it must have broken his heart to leave
it all after forty years.
Q17. “He had the courage to hear every lesson to the very
last.” What led Franz to make this remark?
Ans: Franz noticed that M.
Hamel was feeling sad on having to leave the place sifter 40 years and not
being allowed to teach French any longer. Yet, he kept control on his emotions.
He performed his duties faithfully. He heard every lesson to the last. The
school was dismissed only at mid-day prayer time.
Q18. What happened when the lesson in history was over?
Ans: After the lesson
in history was over, the babies chanted their ba, be, bi, bo, bu. Old Hauser,
who was sitting at the back of the room, had put on his spectacles. He was
holding his primer in both hands. He was spelling the letters with the babies.
Q19. “Ah, how well I remember it, that last lesson!” says the
narrator. Which scene does he remember more vividly than the others?
Ans:The narrator remembers
the scene of old Hauser spelling the letters from the primer with the babies.
He too was crying. His voice trembled with emotion. It was so funny to hear him
that all of them wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
Q20. How did M. Hamel behave as the last lesson came to an
end?
Ans: M. Hamel stood up in
his chair. He looked very pale and tall. He wanted to say some parting words,
but something choked him. Then he wrote “Vive La France!” on the blackboard
with a piece of chalk. Then he stopped. He leaned his head against the wall.
Without a word, he made a gesture to the students with his hand to permit them
to go as the school was over.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Why was Franz scared that day 1 What
did he see on his way to school and how did he get to his deski
Ans: Franz was not good at
learning. He would rather take the day off and waste time in searching birds’
eggs or going sliding on the Saar. Franz was scared that day because M. Hamel
had said that he would question them on participles. Franz did not know
anything about participles.
He found that the day was warm and bright. The birds were chirping at the edge
of the woods. The Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open fields. There was
a crowd in front of the bulletin-board near the town-hall.
Franz found the school room unusually quiet. So, he had no option but to open
the door and go in before everybody. He blushed and was frightened of the
teacher. M. Hamel spoke very kindly to him and asked him to go to his place
quickly. Franz jumped over the bench and sat down at his desk.
Q2. What order had been received from Berlin that day? What
effect did it have on the life at school?
Ans: An order had been
received from Berlin that only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace
and Lorraine. This order had far-reaching effects on the life at school. M.
Hamel, who had been teaching French at the village school for the last forty
years would deliver his last lesson that day.
It was in honour of the last lesson that M. Hamel, the teacher had put on his
best clothes. Old men of the village were sitting quietly at the back of the
classroom. They were sad as well as sorry for they had not gone to school more.
They had come to thank the master for his forty years of faithful service and
to show respect for the country that was theirs no more.
The teacher addressed the students in a solemn and gentle tone. He asked them to
be attentive and explained everything quite patiently. He appealed to them to
preserve French among them. During slavery it would act as key to the prison.
He felt so overwhelmed by emotion that he could not bid farewell properly.
Q3. What do you think is the theme of the story ‘The Last
Lesson’? What is the reason behind its universal appeal?
Ans:The theme of the story
‘The Last Lesson’ is linguistic chauvinism of the proud conquerors
and the pain that is inflicted on the people of a territory by them by taking
away the right to study or speak their own language and thus make them aliens
in their own land of birth. The story has a sub-theme also. It highlights the
attitudes of the students and teachers to learning and teaching.
Though the story is located in a particular village of Alsace district of
France which had passed into Prussian hands, it has a universal appeal. It
highlights the efforts of the victors to crush their victims—the vanquished
people in all possible manner—materially, spiritually, mentally and
emotionally. Taking away mother tongue from the people is the harshest
punishment. The proper equation between student and teacher, his focused
attention, helpful and encouraging attitude and kind treatment can encourage
students to learn better.
Q4. Comment on the appropriateness of the title ‘The Last
Lesson’.
Ans: The story has an
appropriate and suggestive title. It is the centre of attention throughout and
the whole story revolves around it. The beginning of the story serves as
preparation for it. The unusual quietness at school, presence of village elders
and the teacher in his Sunday best dress—all point out to the unusual and
unique occasion—the last lesson in French in a French village school in a
district conquered by the Prussians. While delivering the last lesson, the
teacher wants to transmit all his knowledge in one go. He explains everything
with patience and the students as well as old villagers listen attentively.
For the narrator it is an unforgettable experience. “Ah, how well I remember
it, that last lesson,” says he. Old Hauser is crying and his voice trembled
with emotion. As the teacher is unable to express His emotions because of
choked throat, he ends the lesson by writing Wive La France’ on the blackboard.
He makes a gesture with his hand to indicate that the school is dismissed and
students can go home.
Q5. What impression do you form ofM. Hamel on the basis of
your study of the story ‘The Last Lesson’?
Ans: M. Hamel is an
experienced teacher who has been teaching in that village school for forty
years. He imparts primary education in all subjects. He is a hard task master
and students like Franz, who are not good learners, are in great dread of being
scolded by him.
The latest order of the Prussian conquerors upsets him. He has to leave the
place for ever and feels heart broken. He feels sad but exercises self-control.
He has the courage to hear every lesson to the last.
His performance during the last lesson is exemplary. He is kind even to a late
comer like Franz. He uses a solemn and gentle tone while addressing the
students. He has a logical mind and can analyse problems and deduce the reasons
responsible for it. The problem for Alsace is that he (the district) puts off
learning till tomorrow.
He knows the emotional hold of a language over its users. He is a good
communicator and explains everything patiently. Partings are painful and being
human, M. Hamel too is no exception. He fails to say goodbye as his throat is
choked. On the whole, he is a patriotic gentleman.
VALUE-BASED QUESTIONS
Q1. War causes destruction and spreads
hatred. People feel insecure. Discuss the disadvan¬tages of war keeping in mind
Franco-Prussian war (1870-71).
Ans: War is a great threat
to mankind. Fear, anxiety, tension and hatred are some of the offsprings of
war. No individual is in favour of this brutal act. Innocent people lose their
life because of the vested interests of some of the corrupt politicians.
Moreover, war is not the solution to any problem. It only increases the hiatus
between two nations. The desire to overpower the other disseminates hatred and
the feelings of enmity. The aftermaths of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are evident
before us. It should also be remembered that each nation is trying its level
best to become a nuclear power. A nuclear bomb has the power to devastate
nations. Thousands of people will lose their lives. There will not be any
survivor. If someone is left alive, he/she will be crippled. There is no doubt
that war has put the human existence at stake. We have heard seers say that one
should shed one’s ego. The nations should also feel equally important. No
nation is self-sufficient. Peace enhances creativity and productivity. The
concept of a global village should be followed by all countries. Thus, war does
not benefit any individual. It must not be encouraged.
Q2. It is often said that each language is unique in itself.
No language is superior or inferior. People need to understand that a language
is one of the means of communication. Discuss this statement in the light of
the following lines:
“My children, this is the last lesson I
shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in schools
of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French
lesson…”
Ans: Language is always
considered a medium of communication. Man is a gregarious animal. He has to
interact with the fellow human beings. Therefore, a set of complex symbols is
designed to serve this purpose. We must ruminate over the past before
discussing the status of a language. There are innumerable man made problems.
At the dawn of civilisation there was no discrimination on the basis of caste,
colour, creed, language and nationality. But in this century these problems
exist. Nature does not segregate nations. Scientific advancement, material
prosperity, lofty aspirations, materialistic attitude, a desire to rule the
world and vested interests are some of the causes of human sufferings. The
concepts of all languages are similar. They have nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. As no religion is insignificant in the
same way no language is inferior. The characteristics and nature of all
languages are similar. The only difference is in symbols and pronunciation. The
purpose and objective of all languages are synonymous. There is a dire need to
understand that there should be only one religion i.e. humanity and there
should be only one language i.e. the language of love. A language must not
become the cause of rift among masses. It should bring people together instead
of spreading hatred. One should not despise others because of their language.
It is against human dignity and grace.
Q3. The people of Alsace and Lorraine were forced to study
German. They were not allowed to study French. It implies that students of the
area were taught only one language. They did not follow the concept of three
languages at school. Write an article on the topic Advantages of Three Language
System at school.
Ans:
Advantages of Three Language System
India is a democratic stater. It is replete with people who have diverse
backgrounds, and culture. Their customs and traditions vary. Their languages
are also different. The language of a South Indian is entirely different from
that of the North Indians. People have their regional languages and dialects
too. In such circumstances it becomes a herculean task to decide which language
should be taught at schools. So, India opted for three language system at
schools. It is a boon to the residents of a particular area. They do not feel
that their language is insignificant and ignored. They are given ample
opportunities to opt for the languages they intend to speak or learn. Pupils
get fundamental knowledge of three languages and can appreciate the literature
of all these three languages. Such students never face failure due to language
barriers. They bring laurels to their parents and nations as well. They explore
new avenues and horizons with an astonishing ease. Three language system must
be adopted by all nations so as to acquaint the children with various language
patterns. The people of Alsace and Lorraine could be taught both languages i.e.
German and French. Linguistic discrimination mars the future of humanity.
Q4. Nature has the knack to fascinate even the cynics. Its
beauty and spontaneous music galvanise the beings. Write an article expressing
the astounding beauty of nature in the light of the following lines:
“It was so warm, so bright! The birds
were chirping at the edge of the woods… It was all much more tempting than the
rule for participles…”
Ans. Our touch with nature
makes the whole world kin. Matthew Arnold has rightly said that:
“Nature, with equal mind,
sees all her sons at play,
sees man control the wind,
the wind sweep man away.”
Nature’s
working is mysterious. It is an astonishingly fabricated universe. Man has,
undoubtedly, progressed a lot. Scientific advancement has explored the portals
of every field. The hidden realities have been exposed. But science has not
unearthed the mysterious traits of nature. It is also an acceptable fact that
nature gives happiness to weary minds. It soothes and consoles the troubled
souls. It banishes anxiety, tension, worry, fear and dejection. Its law is to
please every beholder. The aesthetic pleasure we derive from Nature is
incredible and cannot be expressed in words. Keats has rightly averred that ‘A
thing of beauty is a joy forever!’ Lord Byron has said:
“There is a pleasure in the pathless wood,
there is a rapture on the lonely shore,
there is a society where none intrudes, ‘
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less but nature more.”
Nature
is our mother. It must be obeyed. It gives us moral lessons. All the seers and
intellectuals have understood the significance of nature. “Nature goes on her
own way, and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order.”
It fascinates those who are indifferent to life. The boring scientific
explorations and linguistic principles make our life insignificant. We are
becoming devoid of emotions. But nature evokes sentiments and help us to become
sensitive.
Ans: Technology and Teachers
It goes without saying that teachers shape the destiny of children. They mould them according to their inbred potential and considerable talent. Dronacharya taught his pupils together. But he could not make everyone so skilled in using the bow and arrow as Aijuna. He identified his latent talent and tapped the same potential. In modem education system teachers don’t have much time to study the child. Children stay in the school campus for six hours a day and study various subjects from teachers. At times it happens that the subject teachers do not remember the names of students. They use PITs, projectors and computers to make their lectures interesting. They lack any kind of emotional attachment with the pupils. It has happened because of the innovative educational tools and aids. Teachers are given softwares to teach students. The teaching community has made students information seekers. The role of a teacher has undergone a sea change. A teacher has become a facilitator. He has no right to scold and punish the child. The dictum ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ has become obsolete and outdated. A teacher has to understand the psychology of a child in a period of thirty minutes. The role of a teacher is a mystery in today’s era.
Lost
Spring
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK
SOLVED
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he
come from?
Ans. Saheb is looking for
gold in the garbage dumps. He is in the neighbourhood of the author. Saheb has
come from Bangladesh. He Came with his mother in 1971. His house was set amidst
the green fields of Dhaka. Storms swept away their fields and homes. So they
left the country.
Q2.
What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans. One explanation
offered by the author is that it is a tradition to stay barefoot. It is not
lack of money. He wonders if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual
state of poverty. He also remembers the story of a poor body who prayed to the
goddess for a pair of shoes.
Q3.
Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Ans. No, Saheb is not
happy working at the tea-stall. He is no longer his own master. His face has
lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag
he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister
belongs to the man who owns the tea-shop.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans. The city of
Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged
in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry. Families
have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles
for the women in the land.
Q2.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
Ans. Boys and girls
with their fathers and mothers sit in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of
flickering oil lamps. They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of
bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside.
They often end up losing eyesight before they become adults. Even the dust from
polishing the glass of bangles is injurious to eyes. Many workers have become
blind. The furnaces have very high temperature and therefore very dangerous.
Q3.
How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans. Mukesh’s
grandmother thinks that the god-given lineage can never be broken. Her son and
grandsons are bom in the caste of bangle makers. They have seen nothing but
bangles.
Mukesh’s father has taught them what he knows—the art of making bangles. But
Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. He will go to a garage and learn, though
the garage is far away from his home.
UNDERSTANDING
THE TEXT
Q1.
What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to
cities?
Ans. People migrate
from villages to cities in search of livelihood. Their fields fail to provide
them means of survival. Cities provide employment, jobs or other means of
getting food. The problem in case of the poor is to feed the hungry members.
Survival is of primary concern.
Q2.
Would you agree that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept? Why do
you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Ans. The promises
made to the poor are rarely kept. The author asks Saheb half-joking, whether he
will come to her school if she starts one. Saheb agrees to do so. A few days
later he asks if the school is ready. The writer feels embarrassed at having
made a promise that was not meant. Promises like hers abound in every comer of
their bleak world.
Q3.
What forces conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in
poverty?
Ans. Certain forces
conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty. These
include the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the
bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they impose a heavy burden on the
child.
TALKING
ABOUT THE TEXT
Q1.
How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
Ans. Mukesh is the
son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad. Most of the young men of Firozabad
have no initiative or ability to dream, but Mukesh is an exception. He has the
capacity to take courage and break from the traditional family occupation. He
has strong will power also. He does not want to be a pawn in the hands of the
middlemen or moneylenders. He insists on being his own master by becoming a
motor mechanic.
He can realise his dream by joining a garage and learn the job of repairing
cars and driving them. He will have to overcome many hurdles before he
succeeds. Then comes transport problem. Money is the first one. He will have to
earn some money himself. The garage is a long way from his home. He will have
to cover it twice everyday anyhow—by walking on foot.
Patience, hardwork, firm will and the determination to learn will help him
realise his dream.
Q2.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The glass
bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs small children. It
is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous industries, but certain
forces like ! middlemen, moneylenders, police and politicians combine to entrap
the poor workers.
Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage
industry. They work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy
cells are without air and light. Boys and girls work hard during day next to
lines of flames of flickering oil lamps.
They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more
adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why, they often end up
losing their eyesight before they become adults.
Glass blowing, welding and soldering pieces of glass are all health hazards.
Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the eyes
and even adults go blind. Thus, the surroundings, prevailing conditions and the
type of job involved-all prove risky to the health of the workers.
Q3.
Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Ans. Child labour should be
eliminated because the children employed at tender age as i domestic servants,
dish-washers at road-side dhabas and in hazardous industries making glass
bangles, biris, crackers etc. lose the charm of the spring of their life. Their
childhood is stolen. Burdened by the responsibility of work, they become adults
too soon. Most of them are undernourished, ill-fed, uneducated, and poor. They
have a stunted growth.
Child labour can be eliminated only through concerted efforts on the part of
government agencies, NGOs (Non-Government Organisations), co-operative
societies and political leaders. Mere passing of law will not help. Laws should
be enacted faithfully. The children thrown out of work should be rehabilitated
and given proper food, clothes, education and pocket money. Their feelings,
thoughts and emotions should be respected. Let them enjoy sunshine and fresh
air.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE
Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery, it
transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary
experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices:
•Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or
more exciting than it really is. For example: Garbage to them is gold.
•A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very
similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature
of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor “transfers” a quality of one
thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.
•Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the
words “like” or “as”. For example: As white as snow.
Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you
identify the literary device in each example?
1.Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to
what Saheb is in reality.
2.Drowned in an air of desolation
3.Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it,
metaphorically.
4.For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of
survival.
5.As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she
knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.
shoulders.
Answers
1.Hyperbole 2.Metaphor 3.Contrast 4.Contrast
5.Simile 6.Contrast 7.Hyperbole 8.Metaphor
9.Metaphor 10.Hyperbole 11.Contrast
THINGS
TO DO
The beauty of the glass bangles of Firozabad contrasts with the misery of
people who produce them. This paradox is also found in some other situations,
for example, those who work in gold and diamond mines, or carpet weaving
factories, and the products of their labour, the lives of construction workers
and the buildings they build.
•Look around and find examples of such paradoxes.
•Write a paragraph of about 200 to 250 words on any one of them. You can start by
making notes.
Here is an example of how one such paragraph may begin:
You never see the poor in this town. By day they toil, working cranes and earth
movers, squirreling deep into the hot sand to lay the foundations of chrome. By
night they are banished
to bleak labour camps at the outskirts of the city
Ans. For
self-attempt.
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
Who was Saheb? What was he doing and why?
Ans. Saheb was a young boy
of school-going age. He was looking for gold in the garbage dumps of the big
city. He had left his home in Dhaka, Bangladesh and came to the big city in
search of living. He has nothing else to do but pick rags.
Q2.
“But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” What
promise does the author recall? In what context was it made? Was it fulfilled?
Ans. The author asked
Saheb about going to school. Saheb explained that there was no school in his
neighbourhood. He promised to go to school when they built one. Half joking,
the author asked whether he would come in case she started one. Saheb smiled
broadly and agreed to come. After a few days, he ran upto the author and asked
if the school was ready. The author felt embarrassed. She had made a promise
that was not meant.
Q3.
What is the meaning of Saheb’s full name? Does he know it? How does he conduct
himself?
Ans. His full name is
“Saheb-e-Alam”. It means the lord of the universe. He does not know it. If he
knew it, he would hardly believe it. He roams the streets barefoot with other
rag-pickers. This army of arefoot boys appears in the morning and disappears at
noon.
Q4.
How does the author focus on the ‘perpetual state of poverty’ of the children
not wearing footwear?
Ans. The author notices
that most of the young children engaged in rag picking are not wearing
footwear. Some of them do not have chappals. Others want to wear shoes. Some
say it is tradition to stay barefoot. To the author it seems lack of money.
Poverty forces them to walk without footwear.
Q5.
Explain: “For children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to
their parents. ”
Ans. Small children
scrounge heaps of garbage. They expect to get some coin, note or valuable thing
in it. Sometimes they find a rupee or even a ten rupee note. This gives the
hope of finding more. They search it excitedly. For children, garbage is
wrapped in wonder.
For the elders it is a means of survival. Thus, garbage has two different
meanings.
Q6.
Where does the author find Saheb one winter morning? What explanation does
Saheb offer?
Ans. The author finds Saheb
standing by the fenced gate of a neighbourhood club. He is watching two young
men, dressed in white, playing tennis. Saheb says that he likes the game, but
he is content to watch it standing behind the fence. He goes inside when no one
is around. He uses the swing there.
Q7.
What job did Saheb take up? Was he happy ? [All India 2014]
Ans. Saheb took up the job
at a tea-stall. But he was not happy with it. He was no longer his own master.
His face had lost the carefree look. Although he earned ? 800, even then he was
not satisfied.
Q8.
How has “a dream come true” for Saheb but what is “out of his reach?”
Ans. Saheb is wearing
discarded tennis shoes. One of them has a hole. Saheb does not bother about the
hole. For one who has walked barefoot, even shoes with a hole is a dream come
true. But tennis, the game he is watching so intently, is out of his reach.
Q9.
How does Saheb’s life change when he starts working at the tea-stall?
Ans. Saheb now has a
regular income. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. Thus, food is no
problem. But his face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister in his
hand now seems a burden. He is no longer his own master. He may have to work
for longer hours. The helplessness of doing things at his own will makes him
sad.
Q10.
Who is Mukesh? What is his dream? Why does it look like “a mirage amidst the
dust?”
Ans. Mukesh is the son of a
poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, where every other family is engaged in making
bangles. His poor father has failed to renovate his house or send his two sons
to school. Mukesh insists on being his own master. His dream is to be a motor
mechanic. He wants to drive a car. Given the conditions of existence, his dream
looks like a mirage amidst the dust.
Q11.What
do you learn about Firozabad from this chapter ?
Ans. Firozabad is famous
for its glass bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry.
Families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making
bangles for all the women in the land. Every other family in Firozabad is
engaged in making bangles.
Q12.
“Born in the caste of bangle-makers they have seen nothing but bangles.” Where
do they ‘see’ bangles?
Ans. Children like Mukesh
are bpm in the caste of bangle-makers. They know no other work.
They see bangles in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other
yard, every street in Firozabad. The spirals of bangles lie in mounds in
unkempt yards. They are piled on four wheeled hand carts.
Q13.
What contrast do you notice between the colours of the bangles and the
atmosphere of the place where these bangles are made?
Ans. The bangles are
of every colour bom out of the seven colours of the rainbow. These are sunny
gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink and purple. Boys and girls work in dark
hutments, next to the flickering flames of oil lamps around furnaces, blowing
glass, welding and soldering it to make bangles.
Q14.
What are most of the bangle-makers ignorant of? What would happen if law were
enforced strictly?
Ans. Most of the
bangle-makers are ignorant of the fact that employing children in bangle making
is illegal. This is a hazardous industry. Many children become blind before
reaching tHeir adulthood. If the law were enforced strictly, 20,000 children
would be released from
working hard throughout the day at hot furnaces with high temperatures. *
Q15.
Where is Mukesh’s house located? What is he proud of?
Ans. Mukesh’s house
is built in a slum-area. The lanes stink with garbage. The homes there are
hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are crowded
with families of humans and animals. Most of these houses are shacks or huts.
Mukesh is proud that his house is being rebuilt. His eyes shine as he
volunteers to take the author to his home,
Q16.
What impression do you form about Mukesh ‘s family on having a glimpse of their
‘house?’
Ans. Mukesh’s house
is a half built shack with a wobbly door. One part of it is thatched with dead
grass. There is a firewood stove. Spinach leaves are sizzling in a large
vessel. More chopped vegetables lie on aluminium platters. The eyes of the
frail young woman are filled with smoke, but she smiles. The scene depicts
their grinding poverty but contentment with their lot.
Q17.
Give a thumb-nail sketch of the “frail young woman” in the chapter ‘Lost
Spring’.
Ans. The young woman is the
wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Her eyes are filled with the smoke of firewood.
Though not much older in years, she commands respect as the daughter- in-law of
the house. She adheres to customs and traditions. She veils her face before
male elders. She gently withdraws behind the broken wall to do so.
Q18.
How would you regard Mukesh’s father’s life and achievement?
Ans. Mukesh’s father
was bom in the caste of bangle-makers. His father went blind with the dust from
polishing the glass of bangles. He is an old and poor bangle-maker. He has
worked hard for long years, first as a tailor and then as a bangle-maker. He
has failed to renovate a house or send his two sons to school.
Q19.
“Savita is a symbol of innocence and efficiency.” Comment.
Ans. Savita is a young
girl. She has put on drab pink dress. She is soldering pieces of glass. Her
hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine. She is innocent as she is ignorant
about the sanctity of the bangles she helps to make.
Q20.
What do bangles symbolise? When, according to the author, will Savita know “the
sanctity of the bangles she helps make?” How is the Indian bride dressed?
Ans. Bangles symbolise
auspiciousness in marriage for an Indian woman. Savita will come to know “the
sanctity” of the bangles when she becomes a bride. The head of a bride is
draped with a red veil. Her hands are dyed with red henna. Red bangles are
rolled on to her wrists.
Q21.
“She still has bangles on her wrist but no light in her eyes.” What exactly
does the author want to convey through this?
Ans. ‘She’ is an elderly
woman who became a bride long ago. Since her husband, an old man with a flowing
beard is still alive, she still has bangles on her wrist. She has, however, not
enjoyed even one full nteal in her entire lifetime. So, there is no light in
her eyes. This is just a comment on the abject poverty and helplessness of the
bangle-makers.
Q22.
“The young men echo the lament of their elders. ” What do you think is the
common complain t ? How has it affected their lives?
Ans. The
bangle-makers of Firozabad are quite poor. They do not have enough money to do
anything except carry on the business of making bangles. Some even do not have
enough to pacify their hunger. Building a house for the family is an
achievement for them. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and
the ability to dream.
Q23.
Why do the bangle-makers not organise themselves into a cooperative?
Ans. Most of the
young bangle-makers have fallen into the traps of the middlemen. They are also
afraid of the police. They know that the police will haul them up, beat them
and drag to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader among them to
help them see things differently. Their fathers are equally tired. They can do
nothing except carrying on their i inherited business.
Q24.
Which two distinct worlds does the author notice among the bangle-making
industry ?
Ans. The families of
the bangle-makers belong to one of these worlds. These workers are caught in
the web of poverty. They are also burdened by the stigma of the caste in which
they are bom. They know no other work. The other world is the vicious circle of
the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the
bureaucrats and the politicians.
Q25.
How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. Mukesh is quite
different from other bangle makers of Firozabad because he has the courage to
take initiative and break from the traditional family occupation. He has strong
will power also. He insists on being his own master by becoming a motor
mechanic.
Q26.
What do you think is the plight of the children born in the families of
bangle-makers?
Ans. The vicious circle of
the middlemen and their allies have entrapped the poor bangle- makers in their
nets. The stronghold is suffocating. They have imposed a heavy burden on little
children. They can’t put it down. Before they are able to think, they accept
the baggages as naturally as their fathers.
Q27.
What do you think is the theme of ‘Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood’?
Ans. The theme of the
chapter is the grinding poverty and the traditions which condemn poor children
to a life of exploitation. The two stories taken together depict the plight of
street children forced into labour early in life and denied the opportunity of
schooling. The callousness of the society and the political class only adds to
the sufferings of these poor people.
LONG
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.What
are the dreams of the poor like ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ and Mukesh? Could these be
realised? What is the reality of the situation?
Ans. Poor rag-pickers
like Saheb spend the early years of their lives looking for gold in garbage
dumps. The parents of these street children have no fixed income. They wage war
against poverty and hunger. They have no dreams except finding the means of
survival. Garbage to them is gold. It is the source of their daily bread and
provides a roof over their heads. He ends up as a servant at a tea-stall and
loses his freedom.
Mukesh, the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, has a dream of becoming a
motor mechanic. He wants to learn to drive a car. He thinks of joining a garage
to fulfil his dream. He knows that the garage is far away, yet he has decided
to walk. He realises the reality and is willing to overcome the obstacles. His
daring to rise and decision to get free from the trap laid by vicious
moneylenders and middle men arouse a sense of hope.Deprived of education,
proper food and upbringing, these children are forced into labour early in
life.
Q2.
Firozabad presents a strange paradox. Contrast the beauty of the glass bangles
of Firozabad with the misery of the people who produce them.
Ans. Firozabad, the
centre of India’s glass-blowing industry, is famous for its bangles. Spirals of
bangles of various colours can be seen lying in mounds in yards or piled on
four wheeled push carts. These bangles have shining bright colours: sunny gold,
paddy
green, royal blue, pink, purple-in fact, every colour bom out of the seven
colours of the rainbow.
The banglemakers lead a miserable life. They know no other work than bangle
making. They have neither courage nor money to start another trade or job. they
have spent generations in the clutches of middle men and moneylenders. Extreme
poverty forces them to remain hungry and yet work all day. The elderly
woman,who works with Savita, has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire
lifetime. Her husband has made a house for the family to live in. He has
achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. Mukesh’s father has failed to
renovate a house or send his two sons to school. Young boys are as tired as
their fathers. Their work at hot furnaces makes them blind prematurely.
Q3.(i)
“Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.”
(ii)
“Garbage to them is gold.”
(iii)
“For the children it (garbage) is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a
means of survival.”
In
the light of the above remarks write an account of the life and activities of
the ragpickers settled in Seemapuri (Delhi).
Or
Give
a brief account of the life and activities of the Bangladeshi squatters like
Saheb-e-Alam settled in Seemapuri.
Ans. Seemapuri is a place
on the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it metaphorically. Squatters who
came from Bangladesh way back in 1971 live here. Saheb’s family is one of them.
Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. Nearly
10,000 ragpickers live there in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and
tarpaulin. These shanties are devoid of sewage, drainage or running water.
These people have lived there for more than thirty years without an identity or
permit. They have got ration cards that enable them to buy grains and get their
names on voters’ lists. For them food is more important for survival than an
identity. The women put on tattered saris. They left their fields as they gave
them no grain. They pitch their tents wherever they find food. Ragpicking is
the sole means of their survival.
It has acquired the proportions of a fine art for them. Garbage to them is
gold. It provides them their daily bread and a roof over the heads. Most of the
barefoot ragpickers roam the streets early in the morning and finish their
activities by noon. They seem to carry the plastic bag lightly over their
shoulders. They are clothed in discoloured shirts and shorts and denied the
opportunity of schooling.
Q4.
“The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of
making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo
the lament of their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in
Firozabad.” Comment on the hardships of the banglemakers of Firozabad with
special emphasis on the forces that conspire against them and obstruct their
progress.
Ans. The
bangle-makers of Firozabad are bom in poverty, live in poverty and die in
poverty. For generations these people have been engaged in this trade—working
around hot furnaces with high temperature, welding and soldering glass to make
bangles. In spite of hard labour throughout the day, the return is meagre. Some
of them have to sleep with empty, aching stomachs. Others do not have enough to
eat. Whatever they do get is not delicious or nourishing.
The stinking lanes of their shanty town are choked with garbage. Their hovels
have crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are overcrowded with
humans and animals.
Poverty and hunger, social customs and traditions, stigma of caste and the
intrigues of powerful lobby that thrives on their labour combine to keep them
poor, uneducated and hungry. The moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen,
the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians—all are ranged against
them. Children are engaged in illegal and hazardous work. Years of mind-numbing
toil have killed all initiative and ability to dream. They are unable to
organise themselves into cooperative due to lack of a leader and fear of
ill-treatment at the hands of the police. They seem to carry the burden that
they can’t put down. They can talk but not act to improve their lot.
Q5.
Compare and contrast the two families of bangle-sellers portrayed in ‘Lost
Spring.’ Comment on the roles of individuals in highlighting the issues raised
by the author.
Ans. One of the families is
that ofMukesh’s. It comprises three males and two females: Mukesh, his brother,
their father, their grandmother and the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. The
grandmother had watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing
the glass of bangles. Mukesh’s father is a poor old bangle maker, who has
failed to renovate a house and send his two sons to school. Mukesh and his
brother make bangles. The wife of Mukesh’s brother is a traditional
daughter-in-law who follows the customs and cooks food for the family. The
grandmother believes in destiny and caste. Only Mukesh shows some sparks of
fighting the system and declares that he wants to be a motor mechanic.
Savita, the elderly woman and her old, bearded husband form the other family.
Young and innocent Savita works mechanically. The elderly woman highlights the
plight of bangle makers who fail to enjoy even one full meal during the entire
lifetime. The old man has an achievement to his credit. He has made a house for
the family to live in. He has a roof over his head.
The lifestyle, problems and economic conditions of the two families are
similar. There is only a difference of degree but not of kind in their
existence and response to life’s problems.
VALUE-BASED
QUESTIONS
Q1.Hunger
knows no friend but its feeder. The downtrodden lead a miserable life.
Elucidate the dictum keeping in mind the following lines:
“survival
in Seemapuri means ragpicking. Through the years, it has acquired the
proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread a
roof over their heads, “
Ans.
Poverty: A Vicious Circle
It is a well known saying that poverty is the root cause of all evils.
Corruption, loot, begging and incidents of theft are the offspring of abject
poverty. The destitute lead a pitiable and miserable life. They do not get
sufficient food. Lack of funds constrain them to take recourse to illegal
activities. Slum dwellers always feel themselves dejected. They recognise only
those beings who help them and feed them. Political leaders take undue
advantages of their poverty. They are misused to win elections. Humanity,
mankind, honesty, trust and love become significant when an individual succeeds
in satisfying his hunger. Hungry people need only food. There is a dearth of
people who are capable of converting obstacles into opportunities. These poor
people are exploited ruthlessly by industrialists, politicians and other middlemen.
They scrounge for gold in the garbage dumps to earn their livelihood. The
hiatus between the rich and the poor seems difficult to be bridged. It is
increasing day by day. The poor are becoming poorer and the rich richer. There
is no human being who would like to work for their welfare. Their plight is
pitiable and horrible. The residential areas of these people are packed with
filth. They become habitual of foul smell. Poverty is a vicious circle. It
never comes to an end. The unemployed youth are heading towards destruction.
They do not remember anything except the help they receive from the
opportunistic people who feed them to materialise their vested interests.
Q2.
There is no denying the fact that ‘Life is action and not contemplation.’ Those
who shirk work and waste their time in thinking about bitter consequences never
achieve greatness. They lack enthusiasm. Substantiate the aphorism keeping in
mind the following lines:
“I
will be a motor mechanic’’ “I will learn to drive a car”. His dream looms like
a mirage amidst the dust of streets…”
Ans.
Life is Action and not Contemplation
Initiation is the law of nature. Success depends on the actions taken by an
individual. One has to take actions without wasting time. Dreams give us
directions. But it should not be forgotten that a man cannot become influential
by only dreaming . One who does not utilise time fails to do anything
significant in life. Actions shape the destiny of the beings. Contemplation
destroys happiness. Aimless thinking aggravates woes and worries. It leads to
nowhere. Such thinkers never get pleasure in this world of mortals. Those who
believe in taking actions attain their long cherished goals with an astonishing
ease. They never feel confused or perplexed. They never become a victim of
depression. All the human beings are to perform their duties on the earth.
Contemplation leads to idleness. Life is a judicious blend of contemplation and
action. Contemplation transformed into action is of utmost importance. Action
without contemplation may be disastrous. Contemplation without action is a sin.
One should not waste time in thinking only. We should always remember that life
is short and time is swift. Procrastination is the thief of time. One should
not forget that there’s a time for everything. One should grab this opportune
time to get success in life.
Q3.
Dedication, determination and devotion are the factors responsible for
phenomenal suc¬cess. Substantiate the above quoted statement in the light of
the following lines:
“I
want to be a motor mechanic,’ he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But
the garage is a long way from his home. 7 will walk’, he insists.”
Ans.
Key to Success
Hard work is the key to success. Dogged determination and strong will power are
the essential ingredients of success. Industrious people never feel
disheartened. They bum the mid night oil and strive hard to achieve the desired
goals. It is said that between two stools one falls on the ground. Thus, one
has to dedicate one’s life to a specific field. The long term goals and aims of
life must be set thoughtfully and not whimsically. The capricious nature
of a fellow does not allow him to reach the heights. Devotion always brings
good results and rewards. The essence of devotion is trust or faith. If one has
trust in performing the actions, one is able in winning the battle of life.
Trust gives strength and strength gives birth to determination which leads to dedication.
Devoted and dedicated people never become a part of a problem. They remain a
part of the solution. They do not do different things but they do things
differently. Their devotion to the field encourages them to have indepth
knowledge. Those who dare to climb the hill conquer Mount Everest. Dedication
has no substitute. It is the only way to great accomplishments.
Q4.
Health plays an important role in the life of a mortal. But the destitute fail
to get nutritious food and do not remain healthy. It is said that health
is wealth. People believe that a sound mind lives in a sound body. Elucidate it
taking ideas from the following lines:
“Ek
waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin Khaya.”
Ans.
Health and Food
One has to accept the fact that if wealth is lost, something is lost and if
health is lost, everything is lost. The proverb A sound mind lives in a sound
body’ is apt. A healthy man can enjoy the beauty of this world. An unhealthy
man misses one of the greatest boons given by the Almighty. A healthy beggar is
better than an unhealthy king. A person who accumulates enormous wealth and
suffers from chronic or fatal diseases cannot relish life.
He wastes his time in clinics and hospitals. Health is essential to have
positive thoughts.
One should wake up early in the morning and take exercise. Nutritious food is
indispensable for good health. Junk food must be avoided. The destitute suffer
because they do not get : sufficeient food. They do not have any source of
income. Undoubtedly good health plays a pivotal role in the life of a
mortal. Pecuniary gains are of utmost importance but a strong and sturdy body
free from ailments is of paramount importance. It has no substitute. A mortal
cannot endure the loss of health. Creativity, productivity and innovation get
enhanced if a man is healthy. Thus, one should be in the best of health so that
one can lead a happy and contented life.
“None of them knows that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces 1 with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight /hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes.”
Ans. Child Abuse
Child abuse is a grave problem in India. Many children work for dhabas, factories and tea stall owners. These are those unfortunate children of this country who don’t get even . meals three times a day. It is a blemish on our nation. It is the duty of the governments to make arrangements of education for these children. Child labour is common in the fields of agriculture, domestic service, sex industry, carpet and textile industries, quarrying, bangle making and brick making. These children are forced to work in horrible conditions. There are no set working hours for these children. They are given low wages.
In some cases poverty of the household and low level of parental education are responsible , for child labour. Employing children in factories implies that the nation’s future is in dark. These children never feel happy. They become devoid of human emotions. They adoptillegal ways to earn their bread and butter when they become able-bodied. It gives rise to .violence and corruption. Child labour should be stopped and the governments should educate these children free of cost. At least elementary education should be given to all children.
Deep
Water
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK
SOLVED
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
What is the “misadventure ” that William Douglas speaks about?
Ans. William O.
Douglas had just learnt swimming. One day, an eighteen year old big bruiser
picked him up and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool.
He hit the water surface in a sitting position. He swallowed water and went at
once to the bottom. He nearly died in this misadventure.
Q2.
What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was
thrown into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface?
Ans. Douglas was
frightened when he was thrown into the pool. However, he was not frightened out
of his wits. While sinking down he made a plan. He would make a big jump when
his feet hit the bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on
it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.
Q3.
How did this experience affect him?
Ans. This experience
revived his aversion to water. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He
couldn’t eat that night. For many days, there was a haunting fear in his heart.
The slightest exertion upset him, making him wobbly in the knees and sick to
his stomach. He never went back to the pool. He feared water and avoided it
whenever he could.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Ans. His fear of
water ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing,
boating, and swimming. Douglas used every way he knew to overcome this fear he
had developed ’since childhood. Even as an adult, it held him firmly in its grip.
He determined to get an instructor and learn swimming to get over this fear of
water.
Q2.
How did the instructor “build a swimmer” out of Douglas?
Ans. The instructor
built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. For three months he held him
high on a rope attached to his belt. He went back and forth across the pool.
Panic seized the author everytime. The instructor taught Douglas to put his
face under water and exhale and to raise his nose and inhale. Then Douglas had
to kick with his legs for many weeks till these relaxed. After seven months the
instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.
Q3.
How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?
Ans. Douglas still felt
terror-stricken when he was alone in the pool. The remnants of the old terror
would return, but he would rebuke it and go for another length of the pool. He
was still not satisfied. So, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived
off a dock at Triggs Island and swam two miles across the lake. He had his
residual doubts. So, he went to Meade Glacier, dived into Warm Lake and swam
across to the other shore and back.Thus, he made sure that he had conquered the
old terror.
UNDERSTANDING
THE TEXT
Q1.
How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him
as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description
vivid.
Ans. Douglas gives a
detailed account of his feelings and efforts to save himself from getting
drowned. He uses literary devices to make the description graphic and vivid.
For example,
‘Those nine feet were more like ninety’, ‘My lungs were ready to burst.’ ‘I
came up slowly,
I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water….. I grew panicky1 ‘I was
suffocating. I
tried to yell, but no sound came out!’ ‘
Q2.
How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Ans. When Douglas grew up,
he took the help of an instructor to learn swimming. His training went on from
October to April. For three months he was taken across the pool with the help
of a rope. As he went under, terror filled him and his legs froze. The
instructor taught him to exhale under water and inhale through raised nose. He
made him kick his legs to make them relax. Then he asked him to swim. He
continued swimming from April to July. Still all terror had not left. He swam
two miles across Lake Wentworth and the whole length to the shore and back of
Warm Lake. Then he overcame his fear of water.
Q3.
Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his
conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience?
Ans. The experience of
terror was a handicap Douglas suffered from during his childhood. His
conquering of it shows his determination, will power and development of his
personality.
He drew a larger meaning from this experience. “In death there is peace.”
“There is terror only in the fear of death.” He had experienced both the
sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce. So, the will to
live somehow grew in intensity. He felt released- free to walk the mountain
paths, climb the peaks and brush aside fear.
TALKING
ABOUT THE TEXT
Q1.“All
ice have to fear is fear itself” Have you ever had a fear that you have now
overcome? Share your experience with your partner.
Ans. I must have been
about eight or nine years old. It was the night of Diwali. All the houses were
shining bright with the rows of candles, oil lamps and electric bulbs. Children
were bursting crackers. Suddenly, a cracker went up and hit the thatched roof
of a poor gardener. Soon the hut was in flames. His only son, a tiny
infant had severe burns before he could be rescued. I began to tremble
with fear as the police questioned the boys exploding crackers. From then
on I had a fear of crackers, fire and police. My parents and I had to work
very hard to remove this blemish. It was adversely affecting
my personality. By learning the safeguards against fire and safe handling of
crackers, I
gradually overcame my fear. However, I still get panicked at the sight of a
policeman in uniform. The fear of police remained now; My uncle came to my
rescue. He got me dressed as a police inspector in one of his plays, I
commanded many policemen and scolded them for misbehaving with the common people.
I learnt that policemen were also, humans and not demons. Police protect and
help us to maintain law and order. Thank God, I have overcome all my fears now.
Q2.
Find and narrate other stories about conquest of fear and what people have said
about courage. For example, you can recall Nelson Mandela’s struggle for
freedom, his perseverance to achieve his mission, to liberate the oppressed and
the oppressor as depicted in his autobiography. The story ‘We’re Not Afraid To
Die,’ which you have read in Class XI, is an apt example of how courage and
optimism helped a family survive under the direst stress.
Ans. In his
autobiography ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, Nelson Mandela tells the extraordinary
story of his life. He brings vividly to life the escalating political warfare
in the fifties between the African National Congress and the government,
culminating in his dramatic escapades as an underground leader and the
notorious Rivonia Trial of 1964, at which he was sentenced to life
imprisonment. He recounts the surprisingly eventful twenty-seven years in
prison and the complex, delicate negotiations that led both to his freedom and
to the beginning of the end of apartheid. Mandela also struggled against the
exploitation of labour and on the segregation of the universities. He
persevered to achieve his mission and to liberate the oppressed and the
oppressor. In 1990, he was freed from prison. The apartheid laws were relaxed.
Mandela became the champion for human rights and racial equality. He also
became the first non-white president of the Republic of South Africa.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE
If someone else had narrated Douglas’s experience, how would it have differed
from this account? Write out a sample paragraph or paragraphs from this text
from the point of view of a third person or observer, to find out which style
of narration would you consider to be more effective? Why?
Ans. The third person account or one from the point of view of an observer is
detached and objective. Real-life personal account is subjective and focuses
more on the person’s thoughts, feelings and emotional response. I would
consider the first person narrative style more effective as it is quite
authentic and depicts everything faithfully.
SAMPLE
PARAGRAPHS
(From the point of view of a third personlobserver)
A big bruiser of a boy, yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?” with
that he picked up the 10 year old tiny boy and tossed him into the nine feet
deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. The kid struck the surface in a sitting
position, swallowed water and at once went to the bottom. .
Watching all this from a distance filled me with anxiety for the kid. I rushed
towards the side of the pool. By that time, the boy had risen twice to the
surface but being unable to grab a rope or support on the side wall, he went
down.
Before I could bail him out he sucked in more water and went down third time. I
at once jumped into the pool. The boy’s legs were limp. All efforts had ceased.
I carried him on my shoulder and swam to the side of the pool.
He was made to lie on his stomach. His back was slapped gently but firmly to
make him vomit the water he had swallowed. He responded to the first-aid
measures and soon regained consciousness.
WRITING
Q1.
Doing well in any activity, for example a sport, music, dance or painting,
riding a motorcycle or a car, involves a great deal of struggle. Most of us are
very nervous to begin with until gradually we overcome our fears and perform
well.
Write
an essay of about five paragraphs recounting such an experience. Try to recollect
minute details of what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you
got from others or the criticism.
You
could begin with the last sentence of the essay you have just read: “At last I
felt released—free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside
fear.”
Ans.
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE OF RIDING A MOTORCYCLE
At last I felt released, free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to
brush aside fear. This fear of injuries had been my old enemy and had thwarted
me at crucial moments. I remember exactly when I started developing this fear.
I was a toddler when I was given a tricycle. I would lose balance and the
tricycle would fall over me.
As I grew older, I was given dwarfer versions of cycles but my road fear persisted.
I would hit someone or something and fall down. Sometimes the injuries took
time to heal. I felt annoyed with myself and cursed my fear. But fern assumed
monster like proportions.
Now I had passed tenth class examination and joined the city school. My father
gifted me a Hero Honda mobike on my birthday. My uncle volunteered to train me.
After telling me in details the functions of various parts, he took me to the
playground. He sat behind me and issued orders. He held me firmly at first.
When I had learnt to start the vehicle,
change gear, increase and decrease speed, turn the vehicle and come to a stop,
he asked me to take a round. I perspired from head to foot. He reassured me and
encouraged me. I regained my confidence.
Then I took a short round of the playground. I still hesitated while tinning
the comer. Uncle explained the mechanism and demonstrated how to handle the
machine.
Finally, I took three rounds of the playground. Then uncle and I came to the
side road. He trained me how to avoid the vehicles and give them passage. I
drove to the city and returned safe. I had conquered fear and learnt how to
ride a motorcycle.
Q2.
Write a short letter to someone you know about your having learnt to do
something new.
Ans. 23, King John’s Lane
Westbury (UK)
12 March, 2007
Dear Dolly,
You will be pleased to learn that at last I have learnt playing tennis. You
know how I dotted on the players taking part in Wimbledon and had cherished a
dream to play on the centre court.
Well, I have taken the first step in that direction. After years of
perspiration and training I have learnt playing tennis. This year I am
participating in the Junior County Championship.
I must take this opportunity of thanking you for you have been a constant
source of inspiration and support to me, both on and off the court.
I am anxiously awaiting for the day when I’ll intimate to you my achievements
in this newly learnt game.
With best wishes
Yours sincerely
Angela
THINGS
TO DO
Q1.
Are there any water sports in India? Find out about the areas or places which
are known for water sports.
Ans. India provides exciting opportunities for the following watersports:
(i) White Water Rafting, (ii) Water Skiing, (iii) Canoeing and Kayaking,
(iv) Scuba Diving, (u) Snorkelling, (vi) Angling and Fishing.
Areas or places known for watersports:
(i) White Water Rafting and Kayaking : The Ganges (from Rishikesh); the Beas
(from
Manali, the Indus (in Ladakh), Zanskar (in Zanskar), the Teesta (in Sikkim)
(ii)Water Skiing:The Ganges, the Beas.
(iii)Sailing, Yachting and Wind-surfing:Goa, Kovalam Beach in Kerala.
(iv)Scuba Diving:Andaman and Lakshadweep, Goa.
(v)Snorkelling:Andaman and Lakshadweep, Goa.
(vi)Angling and Fishing:Balukpung (Assam) Beas (Kullu Valley)
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
When did Douglas decide to learn swimming? What options were available to him
to swim in? Which one did he choose and why?
Ans. Douglas was ten
or eleven years old when he decided to learn swimming. He could swim in the
Yakima River or the Y.M.C.A. pool at Yakima. The Yakima River was dangerous.
Many persons had drowned in it. So, he chose the Y.M.C.A. pool. It was
considered safe.
Q2.
Which factors led Douglas to decide in favour of the Y.M.C.A. pool?
Ans. The Y.M.C.A. pool was
safe. It was only two to three feet deep at the shallow end. It was nine feet
deep at the other. Moreover, the drop was gradual. The Yakima River was
treacherous and had drowned many. So, he decided in favour of the Y.M.C.A.
pool.
Q3.
“I had an aversion to the water when I was in it?” says Douglas. When did he
start having this aversion and how?
Ans. The aversion started
when Douglas was three or four years old. His father had taken him to the beach
in California. They were standing together in the surf. He had held his father
tightly, even then the waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was buried
in water. His breath was gone. He was frightened. There was terror in his heart
about the overpowering force of the waves.
Q4.
How did Douglas initially feel when he went to the Y.M.C.A. pool? What made him
feel comfortable?
Ans. Unpleasant
memories of the past were revived and childish fears were stirred. In a little
while he gathered confidence. He paddled with his new water wings. He watched
the other boys and tried to imitate them. He did so two or three times on
different days. He began to feel comfortable.
Q5.
What two things did Douglas dislike to do? Which one did he have to do and why?
Ans. Douglas hated to walk
naked, into the pool and show his very thin legs. Secondly, he was fearful
about going in alone. So, he sat on the side of the pool to wait for others.
But he had to go into water as one cannot learn swimming without going into
water.
Q6.
In what connection does Douglas mention “a big bruiser of a boy ?”
Ans. Douglas mentions him
for his misadventure in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool in which he had nearly died.
It was this boxer boy who had picked up Douglas and tossed him into the deep
end. Later on, when Douglas was rescued, the boy said, “I was only fooling.”
Q7.
Describe the boy who was responsible for the author’s misadventure?
Ans. He was a big boy, a
bruiser. He was probably eighteen year old. He had thick hair on his chest. He
was a beautiful specimen. His legs and arms had rippling muscles. He was a fun
loving fellow and enjoyed teasing the younger and weaker boys.
Q8.
How did the “misadventure” happen with Douglas?
Ans. Douglas was sitting
alone on the side of the pool, waiting for others. A big, boxer boy of eighteen
came there. Mocking him as ‘skinny’ he enquired how he would like to be plunged
in water. Saying so, he picked up Douglas and tossed him into the nine feet
deep end. Douglas struck the surface of water, swallowed water and at once went
to the bottom.
Q9.
“I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits,” says Douglas. Which
qualities of the speaker are highlighted here and how?
Ans. Douglas was frightened
when he went down into the pool and was about to be drowned. He had an aversion
to water and now he was filled with terror. He had remarkable self¬control. He
used his mind even in the crisis and thought of a strategy to save himself from
being drowned.
Q10.
“On the way down I planned,” remarks Douglas. What plan had he devised and how
far did it succeed?
Ans. While going down
to the bottom, he made a plan to save himself from being drowned. He decided to
make a big jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to move up to the surface
of water like a cork. Then he would lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of
the pool. The plan was only partly successful. He rose to surface twice. But
each time he swallowed water and went down.
Q11.
What did Douglas experience as he went down to the bottom of the pool for the
first time ?
Ans. Going down to the depth
of nine feet was not quick. It seemed a long way down. For him those nine feet
were more like ninety. Before he touched bottom his lungs were ready to burst.
He did not lose his presence of mind. Using all his strength, he made a great
jump upwards.
Q12.
How was the result of the ‘great spring upwards’ that Douglas made on hitting
the bottom of the pool for the first time?
Ans. Douglas rose to the
surface very slowly. When he opened his eyes he saw nothing but water with a
dirty yellow colour. He grew panicky. He tried to grab a rope but his hands
clutched only at water. He was suffocating. He tried to shout, but no sound
came out. Then his eyes and nose came out of the water but not his mouth.
Q13.
How did Douglas struggle before hitting the bottom of the pool for the second
time? What was the outcome of his struggle?
Ans. Douglas moved
his arms and legs around without control. He swallowed water and choked. His
legs hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force was pulling him
down. He struck at the water with full force as he went down. He had lost all
his breath. His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went
down through dark water and was filled with fear.
Q14.
What sort of terror seized Douglas as he went down the ‘water with a yellow
glow?’ How could he feel he was still alive?
Ans. An absolute, rigid
terror seized Douglas. It was a terror that knew no understanding or control
and was beyond comprehension of anyone who had not experienced it. He was
paralysed under water-stiff and rigid with fear. His screams were frozen. The
beating of his heart and throbbing of mind made him feel that he was still
alive.
Q15.
‘In the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.’ How did the two forces
work in opposite direction and how did Douglas fare?
Ans. Reason told him to
jump when he hit the bottom as he felt the tiles under him, he jumped with
everything he had. But the jump made no difference. A mass of yellow water held
him. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on him. He shook and trembled with
fright. His arms and legs wouldn’t move. He tried to call for help, but nothing
happened.
Q16.
7 crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.’ How did Douglas
experience the sensation of dying before he actually crossed to oblivion?
Ans. As Douglas went
down the pool the third time, he swallowed more water. All his efforts to jump
up ceased. His legs felt limp. A blackness swept over his brain and it wiped
out fear and terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. He
felt drowsy and wanted to go to sleep.
Q17.
In what state did Douglas find himself on regaining consciousness?
Ans. He found himself
lying on his stomach near the pool. He was vomiting. The fellow who had thrown
him in the pool was saying that he was only joking. Then someone remarked that
the small boy had nearly died. He hoped that he would be all right then. Then
he was carried to the locker room for change of clothes.
Q18.
How did Douglas react to the frightening experience (i) that day and (ii) later
when he came to know the waters of the Cascades?
Ans. (i) He walked home
after several hours. He was weak and trembling. He shook and cried when he lay
on his bed. He couldn’t eat that night. A haunting fear was there in his heart.
The slightest exertion upset him. His knees became wobbly. He felt sick to his
stomach. (ii) Whenever he waded the Tieton or Bumping River or bathed in Warm
Lake of Goat Rocks, the terror that had seized him in the pool would come back.
This terror would take possession of him completely. His legs would become
paralysed. Icy horror would grab his heart.
Q19.
“This handicap stayed with me as the years rolled by.” How did it affect his
pursuits for pleasure?
Ans. The haunting fear of
water followed Douglas everywhere. He rowed in canoes on Maine lakes fishing
for landlocked salmon. He went for bass fishing in New Hampshire, trout fishing
on the Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon, fishing for salmon on the Columbia, at
Bumping Lake in the Cascades. Fear ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of
the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming.
Q20.
What efforts did Douglas make to get over his fear of water and why?
Ans. Fear of water was a
handicap Douglas developed during his childhood. It stayed with him as he grew
older. It ruined his pursuits of pleasure such as canoeing, boating, swimming
and fishing. He used every method he knew to overcome this fear. Finally, he
determined to get an instructor and learn swimming.
Q21.
What was the first piece of exercise the Instructor gave Douglas? How long did
it take to yield the desired result?
Ans. The instructor made
him go across the pool an hour a day for five days with the help of a rope
attached to his belt. The rope went through a pulley that ran on an overhead
cable. The instructor held on to the end of the rope. They went back and forth
across the pool. A bit of panic seized him every time. Moreover, the old terror
returned and his legs froze when the instructor loosened his grip on the rope
and Douglas went under water. It was after three months that the tension began
to decrease.
Q22.
Which other exercise did the Instructor prescribe for Douglas to make him shed
the panic caused by water?
Ans. He taught Douglas to
put his face under water and exhale. Then he was to raise his nose
and inhale. He repeated this exercise hundreds of time. Bit by bit he shed part
of the panic that seized him when his head went under water.
Q23.
Which exercise helped Douglas to loosen his stiff legs and make them work as he
desired?
Ans. The Instructor held
Douglas at the side of the swimming pool. Then he made Douglas kick vfith his
legs. He did just that for weeks. At first his legs refused to work. But
gradually they relaxed. Finally, he was able to command them.
Q24.
Why does Douglas say: ‘The Instructor was finished. But I was not finished?’
How did he overpower tiny vestiges of the old terror?
Ans. The Instructor’s
work was over when he built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece and then
put them together into an integrated whole. However, Douglas was not satisfied
as the remnants of the old terror would return when he swam alone in the pool.
He would frown on terror go for another length of the pool.
Q25.
Why did Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire? How did he make his
terror flee ?
Ans. Douglas was not
sure whether all the terror had left even after the training from October to
April and practice till July. So, he went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles.
Terror returned only once when he was in the middle of the lake. He had put his
face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned in
a smaller size. He laughed and rebuked terror. His terror fled away and he swam
on.
LONG
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
“There was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.” When did
Douglas start fearing water? Which experience had further strengthened its hold
on his mind and personality’?
Ans. The water waves which
knocked down young Douglas and swept over him at the beach in California filled
him with fear. He was then three or four years old. All this happened when he
had clung to his father. He was buried under water. His breath was gone and he
was frightened. His father laughed, but there was terror in his heart at the
overpowering force of the waves.
His introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and
stirred childish fears. He had gathered some confidence when a misadventure
happened as a big boy threw him at the nine feet deep end of the pool. His
efforts to rise to the surface and paddle to the side failed twice. He would
have drowned if he had not been rescued in time. This terror of water
overpowered his limbs and made them stiff. His mind was haunted by fear of
water. It was, in fact, a handicap to his personality.
Q2.
Give an account of the fears and emotions of Douglas as he made efforts to save
himself from being drowned in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool.
Ans. Douglas was frightened
as he was going down. His active mind suggested a strategy to save himself from
being drowned in water. He knew that water has buoyancy. He must make a big
jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to rise up like a cork to the
surface, lie flat on it and paddle to the edge of the pool.
Before he touched bottom, his lungs were ready to burst. Using all his
strength, he made a great jump. He rose up very slowly. He saw nothing but yellow
coloured dirty water. He grew panicky and he was suffocated. He swallowed more
water as he tried to shout. He choked and went down again. His stiff legs
refused to obey him. He had lost all his breath.
His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went down through
darkwater again. An absolute terror seized Douglas. He was paralysed under
water. His reasoning power told him to jump again. He did so, but his aims and
legs wouldn’t move. His eyes and nose came out of water, but not his mouth. He
swallowed more water and went down third time. Now a blackness swept over his
brain. He had experienced the terror that fear of death can produce as well as
the sensation of dying.
Q3.
How did the misadventure in Y.M.C.A. swimming pool affect Douglas ? What
efforts did he make to conquer his old terror? Did he succeed?
Ans. Douglas had
nearly died in the swimming pool. For days there was a haunting fear in his
heart. The slightest exertion upset him. He avoided going near water as he
feared it. The waters of the cascades, fishing for salmon in canoes, bass or
trout fishing-all appeared attractive activities. However, the haunting fear of
water followed Douglas everywhere and ruined his fishing trips? It deprived him
of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming.
The fear of water became a handicap. He used every method he knew to overcome
this fear. Finally, he decided to engage a trainer and learn swimming. In seven
months the Instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas. However, the vestiges of
the old terror would return when he was alone in the pool. He could now frown
on terror and go for another length of the pool. This went on till July.
Douglas was not satisfied.
He went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles. The terror returned only once
when he had put his face under water and saw nothing but bottomless water. In
order to remove his residual doubts he hurried west to Warm Lake. He dived into
the lake and swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy as he
had conquered his fear of water. He finally succeeded in his effort.
Q4.
Comment on the appropriateness of the title ‘Deep Water’
OR
Do
you think the title Deep Water’ is apt? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Ans. The title ‘Deep Water’
is quite appropriate to this extract from ‘Of Men and Mountains’ by William O.
Douglas. The title is highly suggestive and at once focuses our attention on
the main theme—experiencing fear of death under water and the efforts of the author
to overcome it.
All the details in the essay are based on his personal experience and analysis
of fear. The psychological analysis of fear is presented from a child’s point
of view and centres round deep water and drowning.
The overpowering force of the waves at the California beach stir aversion for
water in Douglas. His mother warns him against swimming in the deep waters of
the treacherous Yakima River. The nine feet deep water of the swimming pool
appears more than ninety to Douglas. However, when he conquers fear he can dive
and swim in the deep waters of Lake Wentworth and Warm Lake. :
Thus the title is apt and suggestive.
Q5.
What impression do you form of William O. Douglas on the basis of reading Deep
Water?’
Ans. William Douglas leaves
a very favourable impression on us. He appears quite truthful and courageous.
He gives a detailed account of his fears and emotions as he struggles against
deep water to save himself from being drowned. Confessing one’s faults and
shortcomings is not easy. It needs courage, honesty and will power. Douglas has
all these qualities.
His efforts to overpower the fear of water show his firm determination,
resolution and strong will power. He has an analytic mind which diagnoses the
malady and prompts him to search the cure. He is frightened of deep water, but
not yet frightened out of his wits.
In his heroic struggle against fear, terror and panic, he rises to heroic
stature. He becomes an idol, a living image of bravery and persistent efforts.
He typifies the will not to surrender or yield. His indefatigable zeal is a
source of inspiration for all and specially for the youth.
In short, William Douglas impresses us as a frank, truthful, honest and
determined person.
VALUE-BASED
QUESTIONS
Q1.
It is often said that ‘No Pains, No Gains’. One cannot get anything if one does
not work hard. Write an article on the ‘topic, mentioned above, in not more
than 120 words. You can take ideas from the following lines:
“I
went to a pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day. A rope
attached to the belt went through a pulley that fan on an overhead cable. He
held on to the end of the rope, and we went back and forth, back and forth
across the pool, hour after hour, day after day, week after week.”
Ans.
No Pains, no Gains
The dictum implies that one can’t attain phenomenal success without making
sincere efforts. There is no substitute to hard work. There is no short cut to
success. All successful persons have emphasised the importance of hard work in
life. Nobody achieved greatness overnight. The secret of their success was hard
and systematic work. Destiny never obliges the shirkers. God helps those who
help themselves. Rome was not built in a day. Man must comprehend the significance
of doing hard labour. One must bum the midnight oil to succeed in this world of
intense competition. Never forget that rest is rust and work is worship. A
person who toils and work hard gets applause and recognition everywhere. Hard
work is the only key to success. Those who work hard flourish and those who are
passive rain their earthly existence. They lose their identity. Industrious
people reach at their long cherished destinations. They lead their fellow human
beings with politeness and humility.
Q2.
People say that failures are the stepping stones. They are the best teachers.
Discuss the aphorism taking ideas from the following lines:
“I
feared water. I avoided it whenever I could. A few years later when I came to
know the waters of Cascades, I wanted to get into them. And whenever I did …
the terror that had seized me in the pool would come back… I decided to get an
instructor and learn to swim. ”
Ans.
Failures are the Pillars to Success
It is rightly said that failure plays an important role in a man’s life.
Failure in one field becomes the cause of exploring success in other fields. It
is a sure key to many a riddle. Failures make us familiar with our weaknesses
and flaws. They become the stepping stones and inspire us to fight against odd
circumstances. Man should learn from his mistakes and strive hard to reach at
his destination. Most of the successful peoples failed at any step but could
get their target because failures guided them and encouraged them to try
harder. One should never give up one’s target. Our duty is to do our ‘karma’.
The result is in the hands of the Almighty. It is certain that failure inspires
us to work with more strength and vigour. One should never get depressed and
dejected. All leaders, fighters, businessmen, bureaucrats firmly say that
failures are the pillars to success.
Q3.
The story “Deep Water” has made you realize that with determination and
perseverance one can accomplish the impossible. Write a paragraph in about 100
words on how a positive attitude and courage will aid you to achieve success in
life. [Delhi 2014]
Ans. Will power plays
a pivotal in the life of a human being. Determination and persistent hard work
are the hallmarks of success. A person who has passionate desire to do
something achieves his goals within the stipulated time. There are numerous
ways which lead to the desirable goals. Will power of a human being gives him
strength, energy, vigour and enthusiasm. It determines the fate of a human
being. Absolute determination has the uncanny ability to face and overcome
obstacles. No hindrance can defeat the will power. It is invincible and
insurmountable. A man who lacks enthusiasm, will power and determination is
like a ship which has no helm. It floats on the surface of water according to
the wind. There is no problem in this world which has no solution. It has been
proved by great personalities that all obstacles can be overcome by sheer
determination. Man has the knack to achieve anything. Nothing is impossible in
this world of science and technology. He must not be fatalist. He should not
believe in destiny, but on karma. Man can accomplish every assignment if he
desires. Strong desire is the prerequisite to success. There is no scope for
disappointment in the life of a person who has iron will and dogged
determination. He puts in tremendous efforts to achieve greatness.
Q4.
The significance of training cannot be underestimated. Saint Cyprian said, “The
helmsman is recognised in the tempest; the soldier is proven in warfare’.
Substantiate the words quoted above in your own words. You may take ideas from
the given lines:
“I
decided to get an instructor and learn to swim… he taught me to put my face
under water and exhale, and to raise my nose and inhale… Bit by bit I shed part
of the panic that seized me when my head went under water.”
Ans.
Training: An Essential Component of Success
Training sharpens the consumate skills of trainees. Acquiring the profound
knowledge of the work we do is of utmost importance. Nobody can refuse to
accept and acknowledge the wider and potential significance of training.
Soldiers receive training to overcome the greatest obstacles they can face in
the battlefield. Doctors are given training so that they
may not become the cause of a patient’s life. Teachers receive training to
dispel the darkness of ignorance. Training keeps the trainees abreast of the
latest developments in their specific fields. The trainers apprise them of all
the fundamental and significant instructions. A fresher who joins any
profession without receiving proper training may devastate everything.
Experience matters a lot. It teaches us the way things are to be done. It is
rightly said that ‘the best way really to train people is with an experienced
mentor… and on the job’. The experienced advice of the trainer enlightens the
trainees. They are made exceptionally skilled in the basic techniques. The
overwhelming importance of training can be neglected at our own peril. This
perception of beings would bring them perilously close to disaster.
Q5.
FD Roosevelt says in his Inaugural Address in 1933 that ‘The only thing we have
to fear is fear itself.’ Write an article on this topic. You may take ideas
from the given lines:
“I used every way I knew to overcome
this
fear, but it held me firmly in its
grip
Fear stifles innovation, erodes creativity and limits the exponential growth. It is said that Those who love to be feared, fear to be loved. Some fear them, but they fear everyone. Montaigne wrote that The thing I fear most is fear’. Fear is the principal source of superstition, and one of the primary sources of cruelly. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Seneca says that ‘If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living. A person who is afraid of something cannot enjoy life in totality. Fear makes us weak, and cowardly. But it does not mean that one should become arrogant. A person of peevish nature cannot be called a brave fellow. Aijuna said that a warrior’s fear always helps him in understanding and analysing the potential of the opponent. Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote that ‘Fear has many eyes and can see things underground’. Man should not have unnecessary fear. It discourages him to achieve the lofty aspirations. Fear impedes action and it is a well known fact that those who do not act lose the battle of life. One has to face the challenges of life. They can never be ignored and neglected. They help us in honing our skills and tapping our untapped potential. Hence, one must shed fear
The
Rattrap
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK
SOLVED
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
Ans: The peddler had been
thinking of his rattraps when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole
world was nothing but a big rattrap. It existed only to set baits for people.
It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing in the same manner
as the rattrap offered cheese and pork. As soon as someone let himself be
tempted to touch the bait, it closed in on him, and then everything came to an
end.
Q2.
Why was he amused by this idea?
Ans: His own life was
sad and monotonous. He walked laboriously from place to place. The world had
never been kind to him. So, during his gloomy ploddings, this idea became his
favourite pastime. He was amused how people let themselves be caught in the
dangerous snare and how others were still circling around the bait.
Q3.
Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the
crofter?
Ans: The crofter
served him porridge for supper and tobacco for his pipe. He also played a game
of cards with him till bed time. This hospitality was unexpected as people
usually made sour faces when the peddler asked for shelter.
Q4.
Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
Ans: The crofter’s
circumstances and temperament made him so talkative and friendly with the
peddler. Since he had no wife or child, he was happy to get someone to talk to
in his loneliness. Secondly, he was quite generous with his confidences.
Q5.
Why did he show the thirty kronor to the peddler?
Ans: The crofter had
told the peddler that by supplying his cow’s milk to the creamery, he had
received thirty kronor in payment. The peddler seemed to doubt it. So, in order
to assure his guest of the truth he showed the thirty kronor to the peddler.
Q6.
Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
Ans: No, the peddler did
not respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter. At the very first
opportunity that he got, he smashed the window pane, took out the money and
hung the leather pouch back in its place. Then he went away.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
Ans: The peddler realised
that he must not walk on the public highway with the stolen money in his
pocket. He went into the woods. He kept walking without coming to the end of
the wood. Then he realised that he had fallen in the rattrap. He had let
himself befooled by a bait and had been caught in.
Q2.
Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
Ans: The ironmaster
walked closely up to the peddler. In the uncertain reflection from the furnace,
he mistook the man as his old regimental comrade, Captain Von Stahle. He
addressed the stranger as Nils Olof, spoke very kindly and invited him home.
Q3.
Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
Ans: The peddler knew
that the ironmaster had mistaken him for his old regimental comrade. Secondly,
he had stolen money—thirty kronor—on him. Going to the ironmaster’s residence
would be like entering the lion’s den. So, he declined the invitation.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
Ans: Miss Edla Willmansson
looked at the peddler quite compassionately. She noticed that the man was
afraid. She assured him that he would be allowed to leave just as freely as he
came. She requested him to stay with them over Christmas Eve. Her friendly
manner made the peddler feel confidence in her and accept her invitation.
Q2.
What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
Ans: As Edla lifted the
peddler’s hat, he jumped up abruptly and seemed to be quite frightened. Even
her kind looks, disclosure of her name and purpose of visit failed to calm him.
From his fear, she thought that either he had stolen something or he had
escaped from jail.
Q3.
When did the ironmaster realise his mistake?
Ans: Next morning,
the stranger was cleaned and well-dressed. The valet had bathed him, cut his
hair and shaved him. He was led to the dining room for breakfast. The
ironmaster saw him in broad daylight. It was impossible to mistake him for an
old acquaintance now. Then the ironmaster realised his mistake and threatened
to call the Sheriff.
Q4.
How did the peddler defend himself against not having revealed his true
identity?
Ans: The peddler explained
that he had not tried to pretend as his acquaintance. He was not at fault. All
along he had maintained that he was a poor trader. He had pleaded and begged to
be allowed to stay in the forge. No harm had been done by his stay. He was
willing to put on his rags again and go away.
Q5.
Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about
him?
Ans: Edla did not think it
proper on their part to chase away a human being whom they had asked to come to
their house and had promised him Christmas cheer. She understood the reality of
the peddler’s life and wanted him to enjoy a day of peace with them. Hence, she
still entertained the peddler even after knowing the truth about him.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?
Ans: As soon as Edla opened
the package of the gift, the contents came into view. She found a small rattrap
with three wrinkled ten kronor notes and a letter addressed to her. The peddler
wanted to be nice in return as she had been so nice to him all day long. He did
not want her to be embarrased at the Christmas season by a thief.
Q2.Why
did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?
Ans: The ironmaster has
invited the peddler to his house mistaking him for Captain von Stahle. He was
welcomed there and looked after as captain even after the reality became known.
The peddler got a chance to redeem himself from dishonest ways by acting as an honourable
Captain.
UNDERSTANDING
THE TEXT
Q1.
How does the peddler interpret the acts of kindness and hospitality shown by
the crofter, the iron master and his daughter?
Ans: The peddler
interprets the acts of kindness and hospitality shown by the crofter, the iron
master and his daughter differently. He cheats the crofter as he provides him
company in his loneliness and helps him pass time. He wants to get a couple of
kronors from the iron master and is surprised at the contrasting style of
behaviour of father and daughter. He is touched by the kindness, care and
intervention of Edla on his behalf.
Q2.
What are the instances in the story that show that the character of the
ironmaster is different from that of his daughter in many ways?
Ans: The ironmaster is
impulsive* whereas his daughter is cool, logical, kind and thoughtful. In
uncertain light he (iron master) mistakes the stranger as his old regiment
comrade. He invites him home and takes care of his feeding, clothing etc. When
he sees him in broad day light he calls the man dishonest, demands an
explanation and is ready to call in the sheriff. His daughter is more
observant. She notices the fear of the stranger and thinks that either he is a
thief or a run away prisoner. Inspite of that She is gentle, kind and friendly
to him. She treats him nicely even after knowing the mistake in identity.
Q3.
The story has many instances of unexpected reactions from the characters to
others’ behaviour. Pick out instances of these surprises.
Ans: The peddler is
surprised at the warm welcome, generous supper, cheerful company and intimate
confidences by the crofter. The ironmaster addresses the peddler as Captain von
Stahle. He is surprised when the ironmaster calls him “Nils Olof. The
ironmaster assumes his declining the invitation a result of embarrassment
caused by his miserable clothing. The peddler’s comparison of the world to a
rattrap makes the ironmaster laugh and he drops the idea of calling in the
sheriff.
The peddler looks at Edla in boundless amazement when she tells him that the
suit is a Christmas present. She also invites him to spend next Christmas with
them. She does all this even after knowing the mistake about his identity.The
crofter is robbed by his guest, the rattrap peddler, in return of his hospitality.
Q4.
What made the peddler finally change his ways?
Ans: Edla Willmansson
treated the tramp in a friendly manner. She was nice and kind to her. She
interceded on his behalf when her father was about to turn him out. She still
entertained the peddler even after knowing the truth about him. She offered him
the suit as Christmas present and invited him to spend the next Christmas with
them. Her love and understanding aroused the essential goodness in the peddler
and finally he changed his ways.
Q5.
How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the human predicament?
Ans: The world entices a
person through the various good things of life such as riches and joy, shelter
and food, heat and clothing. These were just like the baits in the rattrap.
Once someone is tempted by the bait, the world closed on him.The peddler was
tempted by thirty kronor of the crofter. It makes him hide himself. He walks
through the wood. He is afraid to go to the Manor house. He gets peace only
after returning the bait (money).
Q6.
The peddler comes out as a person with a subtle sense of humour. How7 does this
serve in lightening the seriousness of the theme of the story and also endear
him to us?
Ans: The peddler has
a subtle sense of humour, which is revealed during his interactions with the
ironmaster and his daughter after the truth about him becomes known. He is
neither afraid of being turned out in cold in rags nor of being sent to prison.
He makes the ironmaster laugh with his metaphor of the rattrap. His letter with
the Christmas present to Edla is a fine example of his capacity to make others
laugh at him. Thus, he lightens the seriousness of the theme of the story and
also endears himself to us.
TALKING
ABOUT THE TEXT
Discuss the following in groups of four. Each group can deal with one topic
and present the views of your group to the whole class.
Q1.
The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning of the
story. Why is this so? Is the sympathy justified?
Ans: The peddler wins
our sympathy for his way of life and how the world treats him. It is an
admitted fact that the underdog always runs away with sympathy, so does the
peddler with the rattraps. He begs the material like wire for his rattraps. His
business not being specially profitable, he resorts to begging and petty
thievery to keep body and soul together.
His life is sad and monotonous. He plods along the road lost in his own
meditation. The world has never been very kind to him and he feels happy in
calling it a rattrap. Whenever, he asks shelter for the night, he meets sour
faces. He is an unwelcome, unwanted and undesirable figure. The blacksmiths at
forge glance at him only casually and indifferently. The master blacksmith nods
a haughty consent without honouring him with a single word.
The old and lonely crofter finds him an enjoyable company. The ironmaster
mistakes him for an old regimental comrade. Only Edla Willmansson behaves with
him in a kind, friendly manner. Her nice treatment arouses the tramp’s
goodness. He redeems himself Hy returning the stolen money and wins our
admiration. Thus, we see that the sympathy is not only well earned but well
justified too.
Q2.
The story also focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others.
Ans: There are at least
three characters in the story who suffer from loneliness and express the need
to bond with others. They represent three strata of the human society as well.
The peddler with the rattraps, the old crofter and the ironmaster all suffer
from loneliness. The peddler is called a tramp, a vagabond and stranger at
various points of the story. He moves wearily from one place to the other. He
is lost in his own thoughts. He seeks shelter for night and people look at him
with sour faces. Even the blacksmiths look haughtily at him and nod consent.
The old crofter suffers from loneliness as he has neither wife nor child with
him. Hence, he feels happy when he gets the peddler to talk to in his
loneliness.
The ironmaster is also lonely in his manor house. His wife Elizabeth has died
and his sons are abroad. There is no one at home except his oldest daughter and
himself. His requests to Captain von Stehle to accompany him show his need for
human bonding. He admits frankly that they didn’t have any company for
Christmas. The stranger turns down the request not because he is against
bonding with others but because he fears being caught with stolen money.
Q3.
Have you known/heard of an episode where a good deed or an act of kindness has
changed a person’s view of the world?
Ans: Yes, I know how
the kindness of a Bishop transformed a hard-hearted beastly convict into a man
again with faith in God and human values. The story is presented in the form of
a famous play ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’
The Bishop provides food and shelter at midnight to a runaway convict who
threatens him with a knife. Long years of imprisonment and harsh treatment in
the prisonship has transformed the man into beast and he is devoid of all human
feelings now. The convict runs away with the Bishop’s silver candlesticks, but
is caught by the police.
In order to save the convict from further punishment and torture, the Bishop
tells the police officer that the fellow is his friend and he had himself given
him the candlesticks. This kind act of the Bishop melts the hard heart of the
convict. He sobs and weeps. He promises to be a man again.
Q4.
The story is both entertaining and philosophical. Discuss.
Ans: The story entertains
us by providing glimpses into human nature and how people react to various
situations. The actions of the peddler after stealing thirty kronor are quite
amusing. The reactions of the blacksmiths to the tramp’s request for shelter
show how casual and indifferent human beings can be.
The U-turn in the ironmaster’s attitude towards the stranger reveal how selfish
and ignorant human beings can be. Mistaking the vagabond for his old regimental
comrade, whom he thinks he has run across unexpectedly, he asks the stranger to
accompany him home and spend Christmas with them. When the stranger refuses to
go with him, the ironmaster sends his daughter. With her better persuasive
power she makes him follow her.
The ironmaster is annoyed on seeing the stranger in broad daylight. But instead
of realising his own mistake, he puts the blame on the man. He talks of handing
him over to the sheriff. The metaphor of the world being a rattrap saves the
situation for the tramp, but the ironmaster wants to turn him out. His
daughter’s comments are quite entertaining and philosophical. She wants the
tramp to enjoy a day of peace. Secondly, she does not want to chase away a
person whom they had invited home and had promised Christmas cheer.
WORKING
WITH WORDS
Q1.
The man selling rattraps is referred to by many terms such as “peddler,
stranger” etc. Pick out all such references to him. What does each of these
labels indicate of the context or the attitude of the people around him.
Ans: Initially, the man who
went around selling small rattraps of wire is called a Vagabond’ for he plodded
along the road, left to his own meditations. He is referred to as “stranger” by
the narrator while describing his meeting with the old crofter. When he leaves
the next day he is described as “the man with rattraps.’ When he returns half
an hour later to steal money he is called ‘the rattrap peddler.’
For the blacksmiths at the forge he is an intruder. The narrator now refers to
him as a ‘tramp’. For the rich ironmaster he is a “ragamuffin’. Since he had
never seen the ironmaster or known his name, the man with rattraps is called a
‘stranger’. He is described as ‘stranger* while he stretches himself out on the
floor when the ironmaster leaves. The label sticks to him during his stay at the
manor house as a guest. These descriptions also suggest the degree of social
difference ^between the persons and the peddler of rattraps and their attitude
towards him.
Q2.
You came across the words, plod, trudge, stagger in the story. These words
indicate movement accompanied by weariness. Find five other such words with a
similar meaning.
Ans: Five other words with
a similar meaning are: clomp, lumber, lurch, reel, stumble.
NOTICING
FORM
1.He made them himself at odd moments.
2.He raised himself.
3.He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught.
4. a day may come when you yourself may want to get a big piece of pork.
Notice the way in which these reflexive pronouns have been used (pronoun +
self)
•In 1 and 4 the reflexive pronouns “himself’ and •‘yourself” are used to convey
emphasis.
•In 2 and 3 the reflexive pronoun is used in place of personal pronoun to
signal that it refers to the same subject in the sentence.
•Pick out other examples of the use of reflexive pronouns from the story and
notice how
they are used.
Ans. 1.He had not come there to talk but only to warm himself and sleep.
2.To go up to the manor house would be like throwing himself voluntarily into
the lion’s den.
3…….there is no one at home except my oldest daughter and myself.
4.But he laughed to himself as he went away …
5……apparently hoping that she would have better powers of persuasion than he
himself.
6. The stranger had stretched himself out on the floor…
7. It would never have occurred to me that you would bother with me yourself,
miss.
8…… if he had not been raised to captain, because in that way he got power to
clear himself.
In sentences 3, 5 and 7 the reflexive pronouns ‘myself, “himself and ‘yourself
are used to convey emphasis.
In sentences 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8, the reflexive pronoun is used in place of
personal pronoun to signal that it refers to the same subject in the sentence.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE
Q1.
Notice the words in bold in the following sentence:
“The
fire boy shovelled charcoal in the maw of the furnace with a great deal of
clatter.” This is a phrase that is used in the specific context of an iron
plant.
Pick
out other such phrases and words from the story that are peculiar lo the
terminology of ironworks.
Ans: Words and
phrases that are peculiar to the terminology of ironworks are given below:
hammer strokes, smelter, forge, rolling mill, coal dust, furnace, pig iron,
anvil, iron bar, big bellow, coal, charcoal, shovel and sooty panes.
Q2.
“Mjolis” is a card game of Sweden.
Name
a few indoor games played in your region. “Chopar” could be an example.
Ans: ‘Rang-kaaf and
‘Turap Bol’ are popular indoor card games in our region.
‘Chukkhal’ is a poor man’s substitute for Chopar.
‘Goti-paar’ is popular among young girls in rural areas.
Q3.
A “Crofter” is a person who rents or owns a small farm especially in Scotland.
Think of other uncommon terms for “a small farmer” including those in your
language.
Ans: The uncommon
terms for “a small farmer” are:
tiller, plowman/ploughman, husbandman, rancher, tenant farmer and small holder.
In our language there are words like haali’, ‘bataai-jotta’, ‘jotta’ etc.
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
How did the peddler of rattraps manage in survive?
Ans:He made rattraps of
wire and went around selling them. He got material for making them
by begging in the big stores or at big farms. Since his business was not quite
profitable, he would beg or steal in order to survive.
Q2.
How did the peddler look? Was he different from people of his type?
Ans: He was a man with a
long beard, dirty, ragged, and with a bunch of rattraps dangling on his chest.
His clothes were in rags, his cheeks were sunken, and hunger gleamed in his
eyes. No, he looked like the way people of his type usually did.
Q3.
What idea. did he get about the world? What were its implications?
Ans: He got the idea
that the whole world was only a big trap. It sets baits for people exactly as
the rattrap offered cheese and pork. It offered riches and joys, shelter and
food, heat and clothing as baits. It closed on the person who let himself be
tempted to touch the bait. Then everything came to an end.
Q4.
Why did the peddler think of the world as a rattrap? What became his cherished
pastime?
Ans: The world had
never been kind to the peddler. So, he got unusual joy to think ill of the
world. His pastime was to think of people he knew who had let themselves be
caught in the dangerous snare of the world, and of others who were still
circling around the bait.
Q5.
What hospitality did the peddler with rattraps receive from the old crofter?
Ans: The old crofter
served the peddler hot porridge for supper and gave him tabacco for his pipe.
He entertained his guest by playing cards with him. He also informed him about
his prosperous past life and how his cow supported him in his old age now.
Q6.
‘The old man was just as generous with his confidences as with his porridge and
tobacco’. What personal information did he impart to his guest ?
Ans: The old man told his
guest that in his days of prosperity he had been a crofter at Ramsjo Ironworks.
Then he worked on the land. Now he was unable to do physical labour. His cow
supported him now. He supplied her milk to the creamery everyday. Last month he
had received thirty kronor in payment.
Q7.
Where had the old man put his money? Why did he hold it up before the eyes of
his guest and what did he do later on?
Ans: The man had put
his money in a leather pouch which hung on a nail in the window frame. He
picked out three wrinMed ten-kronor bills for his guest to see as he has seemed
sceptical. Then he stuffed them back into the pouch.
Q8.‘
The next day both men got up in good, season.’ Why? Who are the men and what
did they do after getting up?
Ans: The two men are the
old crofter and his guest-the peddler with, the rattraps. The crofter was in a
hurry to milk his cow. His guest did not want to stay in bed when the host had
risen. They left the cottage at the same time. The crofter locked the door and
put the key in his pocket. The peddler bade him goodbye and thanked him. Then
each went his own way.
Q9.
Why did rattrap peddler return and how did he rob the old crofter?
Ans: The rattrap peddler
was tempted by the thirty kronors he had seen in the leather pouch of the old
crofter. He returned half an hour later, smashed a window pane, stuck in his
hand and got hold of the pouch. He took out the money and thrust it into his
own pocket. Thus, he robbed the old crofter.
Q10.
How did the peddler feel after robbing the crofter? Why did he discontinue
walking on the public highway?
Ans:At first he felt quite
pleased with his smartness. Then he realised the danger of being caught by the
police with the stolen money with him. He decided to discontinue walking on the
public highway and turn off the road, into the woods.
Q11.
Why did Edla plead with her father not to send the vagabond away? [All India
2014]
Ans: Edla was kind
and sympathetic. She was much pained by the plight of the peddler. Edla
requested her father to spend a day with them in peace as a respite from the
struggle.
Q12.
How did the peddler feel while walking through the wood? What did he realise?
Ans: During the first
hours the woods caused him no difficulty. Later in the day, it became worse as
it was a big and confusing forest. The paths twisted back and forth. He kept on
walking but did not come to the end of the wood. He realised that he had been
walking around in the same part of the forest.
Q13.
What do you learn about the Ramsjo Ironworks from ‘The Rattrap’?
Ans: The Ramsjo Ironworks
used to be a large plant, with smelter, rolling mill and forge. In the summer
time long fines of heavily loaded barges and scows slid down the canal. In the
winter time, the roads near the mill were black from charcoal dust.
Q14.
Why did the blacksmith fail to notice the entry of the peddler in the forge?
Ans: The forge was full of
many sounds. The big bellows groaned and the burning coal cracked. The fire boy
shovelled charcoal into the maw of the fumance with a great deal of clatter. A
water fall roared outside. Sharp north wind made the rain strike the
brick-tiled roof. Due to all this noise the blacksmith failed to notice the
peddlar’s entry.
Q15.
‘The blacksmiths glanced only casually and indifferently at the intruder’, What
prompted them to do so?
Ans: Usually poor
vegabonds, without any better shelter for the night, felt attracted to the
forge by the glow of fight which escaped through the sooty panes. They came in
to warm themselves in front of the fire. The intruder looked like other people
of his type usually did.
Q16.
What did the tramp ask? Was his request granted? What did he do then?
Ans: The tramp asked
permission to stay. The blacksmiths hardly deigned to look at him. The master
blacksmith nodded a haughty consent without uttering a word. The tramp too did
not say anything. He had come there only to warm himself and sleep. So, he
eased his way close to the furnace. ‘
Q17.
Who was the owner of the Ramsjo Iron Mill? Why did he come to the forge that
night?
Ans: The owner of that mill
was a very prominent ironmaster. His greatest ambition was to ship out good
iron to the market. He insisted on quality and kept a watch on the work both
night and day. He came to the forge on one of his nightly rounds of inspection.
Q18.
What did the ironmaster notice in the forge? How did he react then?
Ans: The ironmaster noticed
a person in dirty rags lying quite close to the furnace. Steam rose from his
wet rags. The ironmaster went near him and looked at him very carefully. Then
he removed his slouch hat to get a better view of his face. He thought that he
was an old acquaintance of his and said : “But of course it is you, Nils Olof!”
Q19.
Why did the man with the rattraps not want to undeceive the ironmaster all at
once?
Ans: The peddler thought
that if the fine gentleman thought he was an old acquaintance, he might perhaps
throw him a couple of kronor. So he did not want to undeceive him all at once.
Q20.
What observation did the ironmaster make about the stranger? What did he ask
him to do?
Ans: The ironmaster saw the
stranger in the uncertain fight of the fumance and mistook him for his old
regimental comrade. He said that it was a mistake on his part to have resigned
from the regiment. If he had been in service at that time, it would never have
happened. He asked the stranger to go home with him.
Q21.
What did the peddler think about going up to the manor house? How did he react
to the ironmaster’s invitation?
Ans: The peddler looked
quite alarmed. He still had the stolen thirty kronor on him. Going up to the
manor house would be like throwing himself voluntarily into the lion’s den. He
did not feel pleased to go there and be received by the owner like an old
regimental comrade. So he declined the invitation.
Q22.
What did the ironmaster assume to be the reason behind his old comrade s
refusal? Hoiw did he try to reassure him?
Ans: The ironmaster
assumed that his old regimental comrade felt embarrassed because of his
miserable clothing. He said that his house was not so fine that he couldn’t
show himself there. He lived there only with his daughter as his wife Elizabeth
was dead and his sons were abroad.
Q23.
What reason did the ironmaster advance in support of his invitation to the
stranger?
Ans: He said that they
didn’t have any company for Christmas. He thought it was quite bad. He
requested the stranger to come along with him and help them make the Christmas
food disappear a little faster.
Q24.
‘The ironmaster saw that he must give in.’ What made him give in? What did he
say? What did the blacksmith think about the ironmaster?
Ans: The stranger declined
the ironmaster’s invitation thrice. The ironmaster then told Stjemstrom, the
blacksmith that Captain von Stahle preferred to stay with him that night. He
laughed to himself as he went away. The blacksmith, who knew the ironmaster,
understood very well that he had not said his last word.
Q25.
Who was the new guest at the forge ? Why had that person come there and how did
he I she look’? Who accompanied her and why?
Ans: The new guest
was the ironmaster’s daughter. She drove in there in a carriage along with a
valet who carried on his arm a big fur coat. She had been sent there by her
father hoping that she had better powers of persuasion that he himself. She was
not at all pretty, but seemed modest and quite Shy.
Q26.
Describe the scene at the forge when Edla Willmansson came there.
Ans: The master blacksmith
and his apprentice sat on a bench. Iron and charcoal glowed in the furnace. The
stranger had stretched himself out on the floor. He lay with a piece of pig
iron under his head and his hat pulled down over his eyes.
Q27.
What did the young girl notice about the stranger? What did she conclude? How
did she make him feel confidence in her?
Ans: The stranger
jumped up abruptly and seemed to be quite frightened. She looked at him
sympathetically, but the man still looked afraid. She concluded that either he
had stolen something or else he had escaped from jail. She spoke to him in a
very friendly manner to make him feel confidence in her.
Q28.
What did the peddler of rat traps think while he was riding up to the manor
house?
Ans: Whfie he was riding up
to the manor house he had evil forebodings. He questioned himself why he had
taken that fellow’s money. He thought that he was sitting in the trap and would
never get out of it.
Q29.
Why did the peddler derive pleasure from his idea of the world as a rattrap?
[Delhi 2014]
Ans: The peddler was very
happy with the idea of the world as a rattrap because he was never given kindly
treatment by the world. He had quite different feeling for it and loved to
think ill of it by comparing it to a rattrap.
Q30.
How did the ironmaster try to convince his daughter about the stranger’?
Ans: He asked his daughter
to have some patience. She would see something different as soon as the
stranger got clean and dressed up. Last night he was naturally embarrassed. He
asserted that tramp manners would fall away from him with tramp clothes.
Q31.
What impression did the well-groomed guest make? How did the ironmaster react
and why?
Ans: He looked truly clean
and well dressed. The ironmaster did not seem pleased. He looked at him with
contracted brow. It was because he had made a mistake in identifying the person
in uncertain light at night. He demanded an explanation from the man.
Q32.
What did the ironmaster threaten to do after knowing the mistake? How did the
stranger save himself?
Ans: The ironmaster
threatened to call in the sheriff. The stranger told him that the Sheriff might
lock him up for dissembling. He reminded the ironmaster that a day might come
when he might get tempted, and then he would be caught in the big rattrap of
the world. The metaphor amused the ironmaster. He dropped the idea of sending
for the sheriff, but asked the stranger to leave at once.
Q33.
‘The daughter stood there quite embarrassed and hardly knew what to answer.’
What embarrassed her? Why did she intercede for the vagabond?
Ans: The daughter had drawn
plans to make things homelike and typical of Christmas, for the poor hungry
wretch. She could not get away from this idea at once. She felt embarrassed
when her father asked the man to get out. She interceded for the vagabond to
persuade her father to let him stay for Christmas.
Q34.
What arguments did the young girl give in favour of the stranger’s stay there?
Ans: She said that
the whole year long, the stranger walked around. He was probably not welcome or
made to feel at home even at a single place. He was chased away wherever he
turned. He was always afraid of being arrested and cross-examined. She wanted
him to enjoy a day of peace with them-just one in the whole year.
Q35.
“He only stared at the young girl in boundless amazement.” What made the man
with the rattraps react in this manner?
Ans: The young girl told
him after the Christmas dinner that the suit he wore was to be a Christmas
present from her father. He did not have to return it. If he wanted to spend
next Christmas Eve peacefully, without any evil befalling him, he would be
welcomed back again. This amazed him.
Q36.
“The young girl sat and hung her head even more dejectedly than usual.” What
two reasons forced her to behave in this manner?
Ans: First, she had learned
at church that one of the old crofters of the ironworks had been robbed by a
man who went around selling rattraps. Second, her father taunted her and held
her responsible for letting that “fine fellow” into the house.
Q37.
Sum up the contents of the letter addressed to Miss Willmansson.
Ans: The stranger did
not want her to be embarrassed at the Christmas season with a thief. As she had
been nice to him as if he were a captain, he would be nice to her as if he were
a real captain. She asked her to return the money to the old crofter. The
rattrap was a present from a rat who would have been caught in the world’s
rattrap if he had not been raised to captain. It was as captain that he got
power to clear himself.
LONG
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
What is the theme of the story ‘The Rattrap’ ? How has this theme been
developed?
Ans: The theme of the story
is that most human beings are prone to fall into the trap of material benefit.
However, every human being has an essential goodness that can be awakened
through understanding and love. A human being has the tendency to redeem
himself from dishonest ways.
The theme is developed with the help of the metaphor of the rattrap. The
peddler of rattraps calls the world a big rattrap. The material benefits like
riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing are temptations that that
allure a person to fall into the rattrap of the world exactly as the bait of
cheese and pork attract a rat to fall into the rattrap. Once someone takes the
bait, the world closes in on him and then everything is lost.
The peddler is tempted by the thirty kronors of the old crofter. He steals the
money. Now he is afraid of being caught and moves through the woods. It is the
kind, sympathetic, loving and generous treatment given by Edla Willmansson that
helps him get himself free from the rattrap of the world.
Q2.
Give an account of the peddler’s meeting with the old crofter. How does the
peddler conduct himself? What light does this episode throw on human nature?
Ans: One dark evening the
peddler reached a little gray cottage by the roadside. He knocked on the door
to ask shelter for the night. The owner, an old man without wife or child,
welcomed him. He was happy to get someone to talk to in his loneliness. He
served him hot porridge for supper and gave him tobacco for his pipe. Then he
played cards with him till bed time.
The host told the peddler that in his days of prosperity, he worked on land at
Ramsjo Ironworks. Now his cow supported him. He sold her milk at the creamery
everyday. He showed the peddler the thirty kronor notes he got as payment that
month. Then he hung the leather pouch on a nail in the window frame. Next
morning the crofter went to milk the cow, and the peddler went away. However,
he returned after half an hour, broke the window pane, took the money out of
the leather pouch and hang it back on the nail.This episode shows that in
loneliness, human beings crave for company, for social bonding. Secondly,
temptations can overpower the greatest philosopher. The peddler who calls the
world a rattrap is himself tempted by thirty kronor.
Q3.
How did the peddler feel after robbing the crofter? What course did he adopt
and how did he react to the new situation? What does his reaction highlight?
Ans: Having robbed his
generous host, the peddler felt quite pleased with his smartness. He did not
feel any qualms of conscience that he had abused the confidence reposed in him
by the crofter. The selfish wretch thought only of his own safety. He realised
the danger of being caught by the police with the stolen thirty kronor on his
person. Hence, he decided to discontinue walking on the public highway and turn
off the road, into the woods.
During the first few hours the woods caused him no difficulty. Later on, it
became worse as it was a big and confusing forest. The paths twisted back and
forth. He kept on walking but did not come to the end of the wood. He realised
that he had only been walking around in the same part of the forest. The forest
closed in upon him like an impenetrate prison from which he could never escape.
The reaction of the peddler highlights the predicament of human nature.
Temptations lead to evil. The fruits of evil seem pleasant at first, but they
deprive man of his goodness and push him into the maze of the world which holds
a vice-like grip on him.
Q4.
(i) ‘The blacksmiths glanced only casually and indifferently at the intruder.’
(ii)“The ironmaster did not follow the example of the blacksmiths who had
hardly deigned to look at the stranger * What do these attitudes reveal? How
does the forge-episode help to develop the story? What is its implication?
Ans: The blacksmiths
display the typical attitude of manual workers and labourers for whom work is
the first priority and parasites on human society are drags on the fruit of
their labour. The master blacksmith nods a haughty consent without honouring
the intruder with a single word. Evidently, he regards the tramp as
insignificant.
The ironmaster, who is on his nightly round of inspection, behaves differently.
He walks closely up to him and looks him over carefully. Then he removes his
slouch hat to get a better view of his face. In the uncertain light of the
furnace he mistakes the stranger for his old regimental comrade and requests
him to go home with him. When the stranger declines the invitation, the
ironmaster sends his daughter to persuade him to spend Christmas Eve with them.
Thus the forge episode helps to develop the story.
The episode highlights the difference in the reactions of various persons to
the same set of circumstances. This reveals the shades of human nature. It shows
that even the person with best discernment may commit an error of judgement.
Q5.
Bring out the contrast in the ironmaster’s attitude and behaviour towards the
stranger before and after he realises his mistake.
Ans: The ironmaster is
moved to see his old regimental comrade in a pitiable state. He considers it a
mistake on his part to have resigned from the regiment. He insists that his old
comrade will go home with him. As the stranger declines the invitation, he
thinks that the man feels embarrassed because of his miserable clothing. He
explains that he does not have such a fine home that he cannot show himself
there. He requests the stranger to provide company to him and his daughter for
Christmas. When the stranger refuses thrice, he sends his daughter, with a big
fur coat to persuade him. Just before breakfast on Christmas Eve, he thinks of
feeding him well and providing him same honourable piece of work.
His behaviour undergoes a U-turn when he looks at the well-groomed stranger and
realises his mistake. He expresses his displeasure with a wrinkled brow and
demands an explanation from the man. Though the peddler defends himself well
saying he never pretended to be someone else, the ironmaster calls him
dishonest and threatens to hand him over to the sheriff. When the metaphor of
world being a rattrap softens him a bit, he asks the peddler to quit at once.
Q6.
What impression do you form of Edla on reading the story ‘The Raitrap’ ?
Ans: Miss Edla
Willmansson is the eldest daughter of the owner of the Ramsjo Ironworks. She is
not pretty, but modest and quite shy. She is quite obedient and visits the
forge at the behest of her father. She has a wonderful power of observation and
takes quick judgement. From the stranger’s frightened looks, she concludes that
he is either a thief or a runaway convict. She uses her skills of persuasion to
make the stranger agree to accompany her home. Her compassionate looks,
friendly manner and polite way of address help her. She tells her father that
nothing about the man shows that once he was an educated man.
She believes in the spirit of Christmas and intercedes on behalf of the
stranger to per suade her father to let him stay and be happy. She first makes
a passionate plea and then argues that they should not chase away a person they
had invited themselves and promised him Christmas cheer.
Her dejection on learning that the peddler with rattraps was a thief reflects
her sensitiveness. The gift of the captain makes her happy. It is her noble
action that helps a thief redeem himself. In short, she is an intelligent,
affectionate and kind young girl.
Q7.
Comment on the efuRng of the story ‘The Rattrap’.
Ans: The story ‘The
Rattrap’ has a very beautiful ending. It helps us to realise that all is not
lost for human beings who are prone to fall into the trap of material benefits.
It is the protagonist of the story—the peddler with the rattraps—who coins the
metaphor of the rattrap, falls
himself in it on being tempted and ultimately redeems himself by renouncing the
temptation. His admission that he had been the thief, and the treatment he got
as a captain, show how love and understanding can transform even a depraved
soul. The story thus comes a full circle with the ending. All questions are
answered and no loose tags remain hanging.
The ending also pays tribute to the goodness of humanity here exhibited through
Miss Edla Willmansson. The happy ending also arouses our optimism and belief in
the essential goodness of man and other human virtues. Thus it serves to
inspire the readers to do noble acts.
Q8.
Do you think the title of the story ‘The Rattrap’ is appropriate? Give reasons
to support your answer.
Ans: The story has an
appropriate and suggestive title. It at once draws our attention to the central
theme—the whole world is a big rattrap. This metaphor helps us to understand
the human predicament. All the good things of the world are nothing but baits
to tempt a person to fall into the rattrap. Through the character of the
peddler, the writer drives home the idea that most human beings are prone to
fall into the trap of material benefits.
The story begins with rattraps and ends with a rattrap as a present for someone
who has helped a rat to get free from’the rattrap. Even the middle of the story
revolves round the rattrap. The actions of the peddler after he steals thirty
kronor of the old crofter reveal the inner conflicts, tensions and lack of
peace of a person who touches the bait of temptation. Renunciation of the
temptation helps in redemption.Thus, we conclude that the title is apt and
significant.
VALUE-BASED
QUESTIONS
Q1.
Honesty is considered the best policy for earning one’s bread and butter. Stealing
is a sin and a punishable act. Vagabonds tend to forget this essential
goodness. Elucidate the dictum in the light of the following lines:“He made
them himself at odd moments, from the material he got by begging in the stores
or at the big farms. But even so, the business was not especially profitable,
so he had to resort to both begging and petty thievery to keep body and soul
together. ”
Ans:
Honest
Means of Livelihood
Every human being has to earn his bread and butter. Means vary from person to
person, but one has to face many obstacles and odd situations in life. These
means can be fair or foul, honest or dishonest. Unfortunately, the modem man
hankers after money and has become commercial-minded. People are not afraid of
the Almighty. They wish to accumulate riches by hook or by crook. They have no
respect for humanity and moral values. The social norms and time-tested
principles bemoan somewhere in a comer. The mortals of this computer age focus only
on pecuniary gains. They are desirous of becoming rich overnight. And it is
sure that no one can make easy money without resorting to corruption. One
should always remember that those who are honest get respect in society and
feel themselves satisfied. They don’t have to feel guilty. But those who are
corrupt hide themselves behind the veils when caught. A person should always be
honest and sincere. The factory workers, farmers, teachers and poor artisans
live an honest life and are appreciated everywhere. Freud rightly proclaimed in
his letter to Wilhelm Fliess that ‘Being entirely honest with oneself is a good
exercise’. A few honest men are better than numerous bad ones.
Q2.
It is rightly said that the crown and glory of life is character. Alphonse Karr,
a French journalist, said, “Every man has three characters: that which he
shows, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has”. Substantiate the
saying taking ideas from the following expressions:“…It was quite honest,
either. You must admit that, and I should not be surprised if the sheriff would
like to have something to say in the matter.”
Ans:
“The crown and glory of life is
character
When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;
When health is lost, something is lost;
When character is lost, everything is lost”.
Charming
said that the great hope of society is individual character. Character plays a
pivotal role in the life of a human being. It is as significant for a man as a
crown for a king. It is the glory of a man’s life. Character reflects the traits
and personality of a person. A man of character retains moral strength and
faces the music of life bravely. A man is judged by his character. A person who
has good character is respected and honoured in society. It is often said that
our lot depends on our character. One rises in life in proportion to the
strength of one’s character. Character gives self-satisfaction to a person. He
can lead a happy and contended life. He accumulates wealth in heaven instead of
building treasures on the earth. It is only character that distinguishes man
from beasts. Goethe .remarked that “Talent is nurtured in solitude; character
is formed in the stormy billows of the world.
“Not in the clamor of the crowded
street,
Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,
But is ourselves, are triumph and defeat. —Longfellow
Q3.
Man is a gregarious animal. Aristotle wrote in Politics, “He who is unable to
live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must
be either a beast or a god”. Lonliness gnaws a man from within. Write an
article on the topic mentioned above in your own words. You can take ideas from
the following lines:“…he knocked on the door to ask shelter for the night. Nor
was he refused. Instead of the sour faces which ordinarily met him, the owner,
who was an old man. without wife or child, was happy to get someone to talk to
in his loneliness.”
Ans:
Loneliness: A
Terrible Moment
Enduring loneliness requires perseverance and strength of mind. The state of
alienation may depress a person. He may become insane. Everybody cannot bear
the pangs of leading a lonely life. Seclusion irritates a mortal as it is known
to us that man is a gregarious animal. He needs company to share his views and
thoughts. It is also said that solitude is the playfield of satan. Man gets
diverted and takes recourse to illegal ways. The Bible says that ‘woe to him
that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up’. An
alienated person leads a miserable and pitiable life. Survival at a deserted
place becomes next to impossible for a human being. Solitude gives vent to the
feelings of enmity against mankind. A depressed person may go to any extent to
avenge his seclusion. Solitude and melancholy are synonymous of each other.
Mother Teresa has described loneliness in a fitting manner. She said,
“Lonliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”.
Each individual needs love, affection and company. The victims of solitude and
lonliness never feel themselves gratified. They never feel themselves the part
of the main stream. It breeds negativity and animosity. They become hostile
towards the fellow human beings. The repercussions of loneliness are
catastrophic and disastrous.
Q4.
Voltaire has rightly remarked that ‘Love truth, but pardon error’. It is by
forgiving that one is forgiven. Sympathy is a divine virtue. It is
indispensable for a philanthropist. Elucidate the dictum taking ideas from the
following expressions.
“Since
you have been so nice to me all day long, as if I was a captain, I want to be
nice to you, in return, as if I was a real captain—for I do not want you to be
embarrassed at this Christmas season by a thief- but you can give back the
money to the old man on the roadside…”
Ans: The Bible proclaims
that ‘Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy5. Love begets love
and hatred begets hatred. People in this world have a reciprocal relationship.
They reciprocate the thing they receive. It is a universally accepted aphorism
that ‘To err is human, to forgive, divine’. Sympathy has a great power. A
sympathetic person receives the blessings of the destitute whom he helps or
forgives. People can’t imagine the incredible power of sympathy. A person’s
kind acts and words may save many precious fives. One must not forget that
those who sympathise with others get inner satisfaction. It awakens the
affection of a human heart. It leaves an indelible impression even on the most
rugged ’ nature. Its results are better than a king’s power. It helps a man in
his endeavour to elevate his fellow human beings from a state of poverty and
distress. Dr. Samuel Johnson averred that the wretched have no compassion. When
a man suffers himself, it is called misery; when he suffers in the suffering of
another, it is called pity. Forgiveness is, undoubtedly, a divine quality. The
philanthropists should inculcate the habit of forgiving others in their
character.
“Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge—Shakespeare
Indigo
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK
SOLVED
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
Strike out what is not true in the following:
(a)Rajkumar
Shukla was:
(i)a
sharecropper (ii)a politician
(iii)delegate
(iv)a landlord.
(b)
Rajkumar Shukla was:
(i)
poor (ii)physically strong
(iii)
illiterate.
Ans: (a) (ii) a
politician
(b) (ii) physically strong
Q2.
Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
Ans: He had come all the
way from Champaran district in the foothills of Himalayas to Lucknow to speak
to Gandhi. Shukla accompanied Gandhi everywhere. Shukla followed him to the
ashram near Ahmedabad. For weeks he never left Gandhi’s side till Gandhi asked
him to meet at Calcutta.
Q3.
Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
Ans: Shukla led
Gandhi to Rajendra Prasad’s house. The servants knew Shukla as a poor yeoman.
Gandhi was also clad in a simple dhoti. He was the companion of a peasant.
Hence, the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and
his arrival at Champaran.
Ans: Gandhi’s first meeting
with Shukla was at Lucknow. Then he went to Cawnpore and other parts of India.
He returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Later he went to Calcutta, Patna and
Muzaffarpur before arriving at Champaran.
Q2.
What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British
now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the
prices of natural indigo?
Ans: The peasants paid the
British landlords indigo as rent. Now Germany had developed synthetic indigo.
So, the British landlords wanted money as compensation for being released from
the 15 per cent arrangement. The prices of natural indigo would go down due to
the synthetic Indigo.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can
you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of
Satyagraha and non-violence?
Ans: Gandhi’s politics was
intermingled with the day-to-day problems of the millions of Indians. He
opposed unjust laws. He was ready to court arrest for breaking such laws and
going to jail. The famous Dandi March to break the ‘salt law’ is another
instance. The resistance and disobedience was peaceful and a fight for truth
and justice…This was linked directly to his ideas of Satyagraha and
non-violence.
THINK
AS YOU READ
Q1.
Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Ans: For Gandhi the
amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had
been forced to return part of the money, and with it, part of their prestige
too. So, he agreed to settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers.
Q2.
How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Ans: The peasants were
saved from spending time and money on court cases. After some years the British
planters gave up control of their estates. These now reverted to the peasants.
Indigo sharecropping disappeared.
UNDERSTANDING
THE TEXT
Q1.Why
do you think Gaffdhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning- point in
his life?
Ans: The Champaran episode
began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of large number of poor peasants. He
got spontaneous support of thousands of people. Gandhi admits that what he had
done was a very ordinary thing. He declared that the British could not order
him about in his own country. Hence, he considered the Champaran episode as a
turning- point in his life.
Q2.
How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.
Ans: Gandhi asked the
lawyers what they would do if he was sentenced to prison. They said that they
had come to advise him. If he went to jail, they would go home. Then Gandhi
asked them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers held
consultations. They came to the conclusion that it would be shameful desertion
if they went home. So, they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into
jail.
Q3.
“What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards
advocates of ‘home rule’?
Ans: The average Indians in
smaller localities were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home-rule.
Gandhi stayed at Muzaffarpur for two days at the home of Professor Malkani, a
teacher in a government school. It was an extraordinary thing in those days for
a government professor to give shelter to one who opposed the government.
Q4.
How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans: Professor J.B.
Kriplani received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur railway station at midnight. He had a
large body of students with him. Sharecroppers from Champaran came on foot and
by conveyance to see Gandhi. Muzaffarpur lawyers too called on him. A vast
multitude greeted Gandhi when he reached Motihari railway station. Thousands of
people demonstrated around the court room. This shows that ordinary people too
contributed to the freedom movement in India.
TALKING
ABOUT THE TEXT
Discuss
the following:
Q1.
“Freedom from fear is more important than Legal justice for the poor.”
Do
you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Ans: For the poor of
India means of survival are far more important than freedom or legal justice. I
don’t think the poor of India are free from fear after Independence.The foreign
rulers have been replaced by corrupt politicians and self-serving bureaucracy.
Power- brokers and moneylenders have a field day. The situation has improved in
cities and towns for the poor but the poor in the remote villages still fear
the big farmers and moneylenders. The police and revenue officials are still
objects of terror for them.
The poor, landless workers have to still work hard to make both ends meet.
Peasants and tenant-farmers have to borrow money from rich moneylenders on
exorbitant rates of interest, which usually they fail to repay due to failure
of monsoon or bad crops. Cases of small farmers committing suicide are quite
common. If this is not due to fear, what is the reason behind it?
Q2.
The qualities of a good leader.
Ans: A good leader has a
mass appeal. He rises from the masses, thinks for them and works for them. He
is sincere in his approach. He is a man of principles. Truth, honesty,
patriotism, morality, spirit of service and sacrifice are the hallmarks of a
good leader. He never mixes politics with religion or sect. He believes in
working for the welfare of the nation and does not think in the narrow terms of
class, caste or region. Corruption and nepotism are two evils that surround a
leader in power. The life of a good leader is an open book. There is no
difference between his words and actions. Such good leaders are very rare. What
we find today are practical politicians, who think of achieving their end
without bothering about . the purity of means. The law of expediency gets the
better of morality.
WORKING
WITH WORDS
1.List
the words used in the text that are related to legal procedures.
For
example: deposition
Ans: Notice, summons,
prosecutor, trial, plead, guilty, order, penalty, sentence, bail, judgement,
prison, case, inquiry, evidence, commission.
•List other words that you know that fall into this category.
Ans. Complaint, complainant, decree, defendant, witness, prosecution, defence,
sessions, jury, verdict, decision.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE
Q1.
Notice the sentences in the text which are in ‘direct speech’. Why does the
author use quotations in his narration?
Ans: The following
sentences in the text are in ‘direct speech’.
(а)He said, “I will tell you how it happened that I decided to urge the
departure of the British. It was in 1917.”
(b)Gandhi recounted. “A peasant came up to me looking like any other peasant in
India, poor and emaciated, and said, ‘I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from
Champaran, and I want you to come to my district!”
(c)Gandhi said, “I have to be in Calcutta on such-and-such a date. Come and
meet me and take me from there”.
(d)“It was an extraordinary thing ‘in those days,” Gandhi commented, Tor a
government professor to harbour a man like me.’
(e)He said, “I have come to the conclusion that we should stop going to law
courts. Taking such cases to the courts does little good. Where the peasants
are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts are useless. The real relief for
them is to be free from fear.”
(f) “The commissioner,” Gandhi reports, “proceeded to bully me and advised me
forthwith to leave Tirhut”.
(g)‘But how much must we pay?’ they asked Gandhi.
(h)One woman took Kasturbabai into her hut and said, “Look, there is no box or
cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have”.
(i) “What I did”, he explained, “was a very ordinary thing. I declared that the
British could not order me about in my own country”.
(j) He said, “You think that in this unequal fight it would be helpful if we
have an Englishman on our side. This shows the weakness of your heart. The
cause is just and you must rely upon yourselves to win the battle. You should
not seek a prop in Mr ‘ Andrews because he happens to be an Englishman”.
(k) “He had read our minds correctly,” Rajendra Prasad comments, “and we had no
reply … Gandhi in this way taught uS a lesson in self-reliance”.
The choice of the direct form strengthens the effectiveness of narration. The
author uses quotations to highlight certain points which may not appear so
effective in reporting indirectly.
Q2.
Notice the use or non-use of the comma in the following sentences:
(a)
When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, he told me what
happened in Champaran.
(b)
He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook
him. (c) When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the
judgement for several days.
Ans: (i) When the
subordinate clause comes before the main clause, a comma is used to separate it
from the main clause.
(ii) No comma is used when the main clause comes before the subordinate clause.
THINGS
TO DO
1.Choose
an issue that has provoked a controversy like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy or the
Narmada Dam Project in which the lives of the poor have been affected.
2.Find
out the facts of the case.
3.Present
your arguments.
4.Suggest
a possible settlement.
Ans: Extension
activity : To be attempted under the guidance of the teacher.
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.Who
was Rajkumar Shukla? Why did he come to Lucknow?
Ans: Rajkumar Shukla was a
poor peasant from Champaran district in Bihar. He had come to Lucknow, where a
Congress session was being held, to complain about the injustice of the
landlord system in Bihar.
Q2.
Where is Champaran district situated? What did the peasants grow there? How did
they use their harvest?
Ans: Champaran district of
Bihar is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal.
Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran peasants were sharecroppers. They
had to grow indigo on 15 per cent of the land and give it to the English estate
owners as rent.
Q3.
How did the development of synthetic indigo affect the English estate owners
and the Indian tenants?
Ans: The English
estate owners saw that indigo cultivation was no longer profitable.Ihey wanted
money from the sharecroppers as compensation for being released from the 15 per
cent arrangement. They obtained agreements from their tenants to this effect
and extorted money illegally and deceitfully.
Q4.
How did the Indian peasants react to the new agreement released them from
sharecropping arrangement?
Ans: The sharecropping
arrangement was troublesome to the peasants. Many of them signed the new
agreement willingly. Some resisted and engaged lawyers. Then they came to know
about synthetic indigo. The peasants wanted their money back.
Q5.
Why do you think Gandhi was not permitted to draw water from Rajendra Prasad’s
well at Patna?
Ans: The servants of
Rajendra Prasad thought Gandhi to be another peasant. They did not know him.
They were not certain whether he was an untouchable or not. They feared that
some drops from his bucket might pollute the entire well. So, he was not
permitted to draw water from the well.
Q6.
Why did Gandhi decide to go first to Muzaffarpur before going to Champaran:
Ans: Gandhi wanted to
obtain more complete information about conditions than Shukla was capable of
imparting. Muzaffarpur lawyers, who frequently represented peasant groups in
courts, brief Gandhi about their cases.
Q7.
Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers? What according to him was the real relief for
the sharecroppers?
Ans: Gandhi chided
the lawyers for collecting big fee from the poor sharecroppers. He thought that
taking such cases to the court did little good to the crushed and fear-stricken
peasants. The relief for them, according to Gandhi, was to be free from fear.
Q8.
How did Ga n dhi begin his mission in Champaran ? How far did his efforts prove
successful ?
Ans: He began by
trying to get the facts. First, he visited the secretary of the British
landlord’s association. He told Gandhi that they could give no information to
an outsider. Then Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the
Tirhut Division. The commissioner tried to bully Gandhi and advised him to
leave Tirhut.
Q9.
How did Gandhi react to the commissioner’s advice? Where did he go and how did
people react to his arrival?
Ans: Gandhiji did not
leave Tirhut division. Instead, he went to Motihari, the capital of Champaran.
Several lawyers accompanied him. At the railway station, a very large crowd of
people greeted Gandhi.
Q10.
Where did Gandhiji want to go? What happened to him on the way?
Ans: Gandhiji wanted to go
to a nearby village where a peasant had been maltreated. He had not gone far
when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook him and ordered him to
return to town in his carriage. Gandhiji obeyed the order and returned with
him.
Q11.
‘In consequence, Gandhi received a summons to appear in the court next
day.’Which events of the previous day led to this state of affairs?
Ans: The police
superintendent’s messenger served an official notice on Gandhi. It ordered him
to quit Champaran immediately. Gandhi signed a receipt for the notice. He wrote
on the receipt that he would disobey the order. Hence, he was summoned to
appear in the court.
Q12.
What according to Gandhi was the beginning of the poor peasants’ ‘Liberation
front fear of the British’ ?
Ans: The next morning
the town of Motihari was black with peasants. They had heard that a Mahatma who
wanted to help them was in trouble with the authorities. They spontaneously demonstrated,
in thousands, arround the courthouse. Gandhiji called their action of protest
as their liberation from fear of the British.
Q13.
Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to the court was
useless?[Delhi 2014]
Ans: Gandhiji felt that
taking the Champaran case to the court was useless. Because the real relief for
the peasants would come only when they become fearless. The peasants were in
acute panic.
Q14.
What was the “conflict of duties” in which Gandhi was involved?
Ans: First, he did
not want to set a bad example as a law breaker. Second, he wanted to render the
“humanitarian and national service” for which he had come. He respected the
lawful authority, but disregarded the order to leave to obey the voice of his
conscience.
Q15.
What according to Rajendra Prasad, was the upshot of the consultations of the
lawyers regarding the injustice to sharecroppers?
Ans: They thought that
Gandhi was a total stranger. Yet he was ready to go to prison for the sake of
the peasants. On the other hand, the lawyers were the residents of nearby
districts. They also claimed to have served these peasants. It would be
shameful desertion if they should go home then.
Q16.
“Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India.” How?
Ans: A case against
Gandhi was initiated for disregarding government orders. The spontaneous
demonstration of thousands of peasants baffled the officials. The judge was
requested to postpone the trial. Gandhi refused to furnish bail. The judge
released him without bail. Several days later Gandhi received an official
letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil disobedience had
triumphed.
Q17.
What do you think, led Gandhi to exclaim “The battle of Champaran is won”?
Ans: Gandhi was ready to go
to jail fighting against the injustice to the sharecroppers. Many prominent
lawyers had come from all over Bihar to advise and help him. At first, they
said they would go back if Gandhi went to prison. Later, they had
consultations. They told Gandhi they were ready to follow him into jail. This
support made Gandhi extremely happy and confident. This confidence led him to
exclaim that the battle of Champaran was won.
Q18.
How did Gandhi and the lawyers try to secure justice for the sharecroppers?
Ans: They started
conducting a detailed enquiry into the grievances of the peasants. Depositions
by about ten thousand peasants were written down. Notes were made on other
evidence. Documents were collected. The whole area came alive with the
activities of the investigators. The landlords raised loud protests.
Q19.
What was the reaction of Gandhi and his associates when he was summoned to the
lieutenant governor?
Ans: In June,
Gandhiji was summoned to Sir Edward Gait, the Lieutenant Governor. Anything
could happen. Gandhi met his leading associates before going. Detailed plans
for civil disobedience were chalked out in case he should not return.
Q20.
What was the outcome of the four protracted interviews Gandhiji had with the
Lieutenant Governor?
Ans: An official
commission of enquiry into the sharecroppers’ situation was appointed. This
commission consisted of landlords, government officials and Gandhi as the sole
representative of the peasants.
Q21.
Why did the big planters agree in principle to make refund to the peasants?
Ans: The official
inquiry assembled a huge quantity of evidence against the big planters. The
crushing evidence forced the big planters to agree in principle to make refund
to the peasants.
Q22.
What amount of repayment did the big planters think Gandhi would demand? What
did Gandhi ask? What amount was finally settled?
Ans: They thought
Gandhi would demand repayment in full of the money they had extorted from the
sharecroppers. Gandhi asked only 50 per cent. The planters offered to refund up
to 25 per cent. Gandhi was adamant on 50 per cent. The deadlock was broken when
Gandhi agreed to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to peasants.
Q23.
HQW did the refund-settlement influence the peasant-landlord relationship in
Champaran?
Ans: Before the settlement
of the refund, the planters had behaved as lords above the law. Now the peasant
saw that he had rights and defenders. He learned courage. Within a few years,
the British planters abandoned their estates. The peasants became masters of
the land. There were no sharecropers now.
Q24.
Which other spheres besides political or economic fields received Gandhi’s
attention during his long stay in Champaran?
Ans:The cultural and
social backwardness of the Champaran areas pained Gandhi. He appealed for
teachers. Several persons responded to his call. Primary schools were opened in
six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and
community sanitation. With the help of a doctor and three medicines, they tried
to fight the miserable health conditions.
Q25.“This
was typical Gandhi pattern” observes Louis Fischer. What do you learn about
Gandhian politics from the extract ‘Indigo’?
Ans:Gandhi’s politics was
intermixed with the practical, everyday life of the millions of Indians. This
was not a loyalty to abstractions. It was a loyalty to living human beings. In
everything Gandhi did, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand on
his own feet and thus make India free.
Q26.
How did Gandhi teach his followers a lesson of self-reliance?
Ans. During the Champaran
action, Gandhi’s lawyer friends thought it would be good if C.F. Andrews stayed
on in Champaran and helped them. Gandhi opposed this idea as it showed the
weakness of their heart. Their cause was just and they must rely upon themselves
to win this unequal fight. They should not seek the support of Mr Andrews
because he happened to be an Englishman.
LONG
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.
What solution to the problems of the poor did Gandhi suggest? How far did the
Champaran movement help in this direction?
OR
“The
real relief for them is to be free from fear”, remarked Gandhi. What do you
think, was “the beginning of their liberation from the fear of the British” ?
Ans. The sharecropper
peasants had to grow indigo on 15 per cent of their holdings and surrender the
indigo harvest as rent to the landlord. When Germany developed synthetic
indigo, the British planters started extracting money illegally and deceitfully
as compensation from the peasants for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement.
The peasants were made to sign new agreements and pay money. The planters
behaved as lords above the law. Many peasants engaged lawyers at hefty fees and
went to courts.
The Muzaffarpur lawyers briefed Gandhi about the peasants for whom they frequently
represented in courts. Gandhi realised that these peasants were badly crushed
and fear- stricken. Freedom from fear was more important than legal justice for
them. Gandhiji was ready to court arrest for them. Thousands of peasants
demonstrated spontaneously around the court. The government had to release
Gandhi without bail. This voluntary uprising of the peasants marked the
beginning of their liberation from the fear of the British.
Q2.
Why was Gandhi summoned to appear in the court? How did he gain his liberty ?
OR
‘Civil
disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India.’Relate the events
during Gandhi’s stay in Champaran that led to the triumph.
Ans. Gandhi had reached
Motihari, the Capital of Champaran, to study the problems of the sharecropper
peasants. He was on his way to a neighbouring village, where a peasant was
ill-treated. On the way, he was stopped by the police superintendent’s
messenger and ordered to return to town. When he reached home, he was served
with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi wrote on the receipt
that he would disobey the order. So Gandhi received a summons to appear in the
court the next day.
Next morning the town of Motihari was black with peasants. Thousands of
peasants demonstrated voluntarily outside the court. The prosecutor requested
the judge to postpone the trial. Gandhi protested against the delay. He read
out a statement pleading guilty. He asked the penalty. The judge announced that
he would pronounce the sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked Gandhi to
furnish bail for that period. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without
bail. After the recess, the judge said that he would not deliver the judgement
for several days. Meanwhile he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Several days later Gandhi received a letter. The case against him had been
dropped. Thus, civil disobedience had triumphed, for the first time in India.
Q3.
Give an account of Gandhi’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo
sharecroppers of Champaran.
OR
“Indigo
sharecropping disappeared.” Which factors do you think, helped to achieve
freedom for the fear-stricken peasants of Champaran?
Ans. Gandhi went to
Champaran on receiving reports of exploitation of the poor sharecropper
peasants at the hands of British planters. He began by trying to get the facts.
The British landlords as well as the Commissioner of Tirhut were
non-cooperative. Lawyers from MuZaffarpur briefed him about the court cases of
these peasants.
Gandhi and the lawyers collected depositions by about ten thousand peasants.
Notes were made on other evidence. Documents were collected. The whole area
throbbed with the activities of the investigators and forceful protests of
landlords.
The lieutenant governor summoned Gandhi. After four protracted interviews an
official commission of inquiry was appointed to look into the indigo
sharecroppers’ condition. Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants.
The official inquiry assembled huge quantity of evidence against the big
planters. They agreed, in principle, to make refunds to the peasants. After
consultation, a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers was agreed on.
This was a moral victory of the peasants. They recognised their rights and
learned courage.
Within a few years the British planters gave up their estates. These now went
back to the peasants. They became the masters of land. Thus, indigo
sharecropping disappeared.
Q4.
How did Gandhi work for rural uplift during his stay in Champarant
Ans. Gandhi wanted to do
something to remove the cultural and social backwardness in Champaran villages.
He appealed for teachers. Two young disciples of Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and
Narhari Parikh and their wives volunteered themselves for work. Several others
responded from distant parts of the country. Mrs. Kasturba Gandhi and Devdas,
Gandhi’s youngest son, arrived from the Ashram. Primary schools were opened in
six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and
community cleanliness. She also talked to women about their filthy clothes.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services
for six months. Only three medicines were available: Castor oil, quinine and
sulphur ointment. Anyone who showed a coated tongue was given a dose of castor
oil; anybody with malaria fever received quinine plus castor oil; anybody with
skin eruptions received ointment plus caster oil.
Thus, Gandhi never contented himself with large political or economic
solutions. He worked for total uplift of villages and the poor sections of the
society.
Q5.
‘Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound
together.’ Elucidate on the basis of reading ‘Indigo’ by Louis Fischer.
OR
‘The
Champaran episode was a turning-point in Gandhi’s life. Explain with examples
from ‘Indigo’ by Louis Fischer.
Ans. Gandhi stayed in
Champaran for a long time. The Champaran episode was a turning point in his
life. It was during this struggle in 1917 that he decided to urge the departure
of the British.
Champaran episode did not begin as an act of defiance. It grew out of an
attempt to make the sufferings of large numbers of poor peasants less severe.
Gandhi concentrated on their practical day to day problems. He analysed the
root cause of the problem-fear, and tried to eradicate it. The voluntary
demonstration of the poor peasants against the government for putting Gandhi in
trouble was the beginning of the end of their fear of the British.
In everything Gandhi did, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand
on his own feet and thus make India free. He taught his lawyer friends a lesson
in self-reliance by opposing the involvement of C.F. Andrews, an Englishman in
.their unequal fight. His help would be a prop. This would reflect their
weakness. Their cause was just and they must rely on themselves to win the
battle. Thus self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were
all bound together.
Q6.
Justify the appropriateness of the title ‘Indigo’ to this extract.
Ans. The title ‘Indigo’ is
quite appropriate, to the point and suggestive. It at once focuses our *
attention on the central issue-the exploitation of the indigo sharecropper
peasants at the hands of cruel British planters. They compelled them through a
long term agreement to raise indigo on 15 per cent of their landholding and
surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.
After the development of synthetic indigo by Germany, the British planters
extracted money from the peasants as compensation for being released from the
15 per cent agreement. The peasants who wanted their money back had filed civil
suits. The planters who behaved as lords above the law and were dreaded by the
poor were obliged to surrender part of money and with it part of their
prestige.
The extract also points out the work done by Gandhi and his associates to
improve the economic, political, cultural and social fife of the indigo
sharecroppers. Their education, health and hygiene also received due attention.
The plight of indigo sharecroppers, then- struggle under Gandhi’s leadership
and ultimate victory when Indigo sharecropping disappeared from important
landmarks. Thus, the title ‘Indigo’ is highly suggestive and apt.
Q7.
What impression do you form about Gandhi on reading the chapter ‘Indigo’ ?
Ans. The chapter
‘Indigo’ pays a tribute to the leadership shown by Mahatma Gandhi to secure
justice for oppressed people through convincing argumentation and negotiation.
Gandhi had a magnetic attraction and great persuasive power. He could draw
people of all classes to himself and make them partners in the freedom
movement. Even ordinary people were inspired to make contribution to the
freedom movement.
Gandhi emerges as a champion of the downtrodden and the oppressed. Rural uplift
was his favourite programme. His knowledge of legal procedure and respect for
law is also highlighted. He does not want to be a lawbreaker. At the same time
he wants to render the humanitarian and national service in obedience to the higher
law of our being, the voice of conscience. He also appears as a polite and
friendly person. Gandhi’s ability to read the minds of others made them
speechless. He believed in self-reliance, just cause and purity of means to
achieve India’s Independence.
Q8.
Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian
struggle for Independence? [All India 2014]
Ans. The Champaran
episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of a large number of ’
peasants. He got spontaneous support of thousands of people. Gandhi declared
that the British could not order him about in his own country. Under his
leadership, the peasants became aware of their rights. Raj Kumar Shukla, a
farmer of Champaran helped him a lot in bringing about the change. Other
peasants too fought courageously and contributed in their own way to the
movement. It resulted in their winning the battle of Champaran. The effects of
Gandhi’s method of non-violence and non-cooperation proved very fruitful in
this movement. Hence, it can be said that the Champaran episode is the
beginning of the Indian struggle for independence.
VALUE-RASED
QUESTIONS
Q1.
Patriotism is in political life what faith is in religion. John F Kennedy said,
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country”. Those who sacrifice their comfort for the welfare of the state get
recognition. Write an article on the topic ‘Patriotism’. You can take ideas
from the following hints:
“They
thought, amongst themselves, that Gandhi was totally a stranger, and yet he was
prepared to go to prison for the sake of the peasants; if they, on the other
hand, being not only residents of the adjoining districts but also those who
claimed to have served these peasants, should go home, it would be shameful desertion.”
Ans.
Patriotism
Patriotism
implies love for one’s nation. A patriot is ready to sacrifice his comfort for
the service of his nation. It was for his country’s sake that Sardar Bhagat
Singh kissed the gallows. It was for the love for their land that Shivaji, Rana
Pratap and Guru Govind Singh suffered untold hardships. True patriots respect
other nations and religions but don’t allow anyone to insult their nation. A
great philosopher said, “It is not gold that makes a nation great. It is the
sacrifice and martyrdom of patriots that raises a nation to the heights of
glory.” India is a land where patriots are in abundance. It got its freedom
only because of the efforts of its patriots. Patriotism is a religion and an
ideal. It is an ideology that guides the people of a nation. It is a feeling
and a bond that unites the people of various sects, beliefs and backgrounds
together. A patriot must not be narrow minded. He should develop an
international progressive outlook. It would be pertinent to quote the words of
Seneca here “No one loves his country for its size or eminence, but because it
is his own.”
Poets And Pancakes
Textual Questions and AnswersThink-as-you-read Questions
Question 1.What does the writer mean by ‘the fiery misery’ of those subjected to make-up?Answer:The writer means the misery caused by the incandescent lights that poured out intense heat. The make-up room of the Gemini Studios had bright bulbs in the room full of large mirrors that reflected the glowing lights. Under such blazing heat make-up was done.Question 2.What is the example of national integration that the author refers to?Answer:The make-up team and also those who came and went were from different states. It was headed by a Bengali and next in hierarchy was a Maharashtrian, assisted by an Andhraite, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese and other local Tamils. It was truly a gang of nationally integrated make-up men.Question 3.What work did the ‘office boy’ do in the Gemini Studios? Why did he join the studios? Why was he disappointed?Answer:The office boy applied make-up to the crowds, mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players. He had joined the studios in the hope of becoming a star actor or a top screen writer, director or lyrics writer. He was a bit of a poet. He was disappointed as he was placed low even in the hierarchy of make-up men.
Question 4.Why did the author appear to be doing nothing at the studios?Answer:The author’s job was to cut out newspaper clippings on a wide variety of subjects and store them in files. Many of these had to be written out in hand. Seeing him sitting at his desk and tearing up newspapers most people thought he had nothing to do at the studios.
Question 5.Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on?Answer:The office boy was frustrated because his hopes of making big in the movie world failed. He vent his anger and frustration on Kothamangalam Subbu, the No. 2 in the studios, whom he held responsible for his dishonour and neglect.
Question 6.Who was Subbu’s principal?Answer:S.S. Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios, was the boss and Subbu’s Principal in the studios. Subbu had a great loyalty to him. This made him identify himself with his principal completely. He turned his entire creativity to his principal’s advantage.
Question 7.Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. List four of his special abilities.Answer:Subbu was a many-sided genius. He was born a Brahmin. It is a virtue in itself as it exposed him to more affluent situations and people. Second, he had the ability to look cheerful at all times. Third, he always had work for somebody. Fourth, he had great loyalty to his principal, S.S. Vasan, the Boss.
Question 8.Why was the legal adviser referred to as the opposite by others?Answer:The lawyer was the only one at the studios who wore pants, tie and sometimes a coat, unlike others who wore khadi dhoti and shirt. His job was to give support and advise on problems, but in fact he created problems. He brought the career of a brilliant actress to an end by terrorizing her. He was rightly called an illegal adviser.
Question 9.What made the lawyer stand out from the others at Gemini Studios?Answer:The lawyer wore pants, a tie and sometimes a coat, while all wore khadi dhoti and white khadi shirt. He looked alone and helpless. He was a man of cold logic in a crowd of dreamers. He was a neutral man among Gandhiites and Khadiites.
Question 10.Did the people at Gemini Studios have any particular political affiliations?Answer:The people at Gemini Studios wore Khadi and worshipped Gandhi, but beyond that they had no particular political interests or understanding. They only had opinions on communism, which they loathed and looked down on communists. They considered communists as heartless atheists who are devoid of emotions. They went about letting loose anarchy in the society.
Question 11.Why was the Moral Re-Armament Army welcomed at Gemini Studios?Answer:The Moral Re-Armament Army was invited to stage two plays, which were more like plain homilies ‘ (sermons/lectures) for the Gemini family. It was discovered only later that the group was part of the movement countering international communism and Vasan had invited them under the influence of his political interests.
Question 12.Name one example to show that Gemini Studios was influenced by the plays staged by MRA?Answer:MRA staged two plays ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’. Their high quality costumes andwell made sets earned a lot of admiration. Their sunrise and sunset scene impressed them so much that all Tamil plays started reproducing the scene with a bare stage, a white background curtain and a tune playing on the flute.
Question 13.Who was the Boss of Gemini Studios?Answer:Mr. S.S. Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios was the Boss. Apart from producing films, he was an editor of a popular Tamil weekly ‘Ananda Vikatan’. He was a great admirer of scholarly people. Subbu seemed to enjoy an intimate relationship with him. Mr. Vasan is projected as a bit of showman here.
Question 14.What caused the lack of communication between the Englishman and the people at Gemini Studios?Answer:The Englishman’s speech was peppered with words like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ and the Geminifamily had no political interests, so they were dazed and a silent audience. Also, the Englishman’s accent was difficult to understand, because of which all communication had failed. He was basically a poet and that made no sense to the people whose life centered around a film studio.
Question 15.Why was the Englishman’s visit referred to as unexplained mystery?Answer:The Englishman was a poet whose name was not familiar. In his speech he talked about the thrills and travails of an English poet, which made no sense for the simple people at Gemini Studios who had had no exposure other than films and so they were not interested. These simple people had neither taste for English poetry nor political interests. Hence, his visit is referred to as an unexplained mystery.
Question 16.Who was the English visitor to the studios?Answer:The English visitor to the studios was poet Stephen Spender, editor of British periodical ‘The Encounter’.
Question 17.How did the author discover who the English visitor to the studio was?Answer:The author discovered his identity by reading his name on the pages of ‘The Encounter’ in the British Council Library. He also knew about him from the paperback edition of the book The God That Failed.
Question 18.What does The God That Failed refer to?Answer:The God That Failed refers to a book that was a compilation of six essays by six eminent men. It was a low priced student edition released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. It dealt with the author’s disillusionment with communism.
Poets And Pancakes Understanding the text
Question 1.The author has used gentle humour to point out human foibles. Pick out instances of this to show how this serves to make the piece interesting?Answer:‘Poets and Pancakes’ has an underlying tone of humour which is satirical and has been deployed by the author to point out human foibles. It is mainly manifested in his description of the make-up room people.The make-up room, he says, was in a building that had once been the stables of Robert Clive. He further makes fun of the make-up team that slapped make-up. Ironically, the make-up turned any normal man into a hideous monster, far from being presentable. He also refers to the fiery misery of the actors when their make-up was done under the bright bulbs, large mirrors reflecting blazing heat. His description of Subbu’s No. 2 position in Gemini Studios, the frustration of the office boy and the opposite role played by the legal adviser in the acting career of a countryside girl are humorously dealt with but effectively bring out the flaws in the set-up.The showmanship of the boss and what influences his guest list point out human weaknesses in a light-hearted manner. The humour is at its peak in the description of the visit of Stephen Spender. S.S. Vasan’s reading a long speech in his honour but he too knew precious little about him. Spender’s accent is highly unintelligible. Then the author’s establishing long lost brother’s relationship with the English visitor is also funny and humorous. All these slight digs at human foibles tickle in us humour.
Question 2.Why was Kothamangaiam Subbu considered No. 2 in Gemini Studios?Answer:Kothamangaiam Subbu was on the attendance roll with the story department and was No. 2 at Gemini Studios not by virtue of any merit, but because he was a Brahmin with affluent exposure. He was cheerful and had a sense of loyalty that placed him close to the Boss. He was quick to delegate work to others. As if tailor-made for films, sparks of his creativity showed in his suggestions on how to create shots. He composed poetry, scripted a story and a novel. He gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during its golden years. He performed in a subsidiary role better than the main players. He had a genuine love for his relatives and near and dear ones. His extravagant hospitality was popular among his relatives and acquaintances, probably that is why he had enemies.
Question 3.How does the author describe the incongruity of an English poet addressing the audience at Gemini Studios?Answer:The Gemini Studios witnessed a surprising visit by a tall Englishman who was proclaimed to be a poet. The welcome speech by the Boss was delivered in the most general terms, which only showed that even the Boss did not know much about him. The poet talked about the thrill and travails of an English poet which made no sense to the simple people at Gemini Studios. They had no exposure other than films and so, they were not interested. Also, words like democracy and freedom that featured in his speech held no interest for them as they had no political thought or interests. Moreover, the Englishman’s accent was difficult to understand, because of which all communications failed. He was basically a poet and that made no sense to the people whose life centred round a film studio. Therefore, his visit remained an unexplained mystery for much time.
Question 4.What do you understand about the author’s literary inclinations from the account?Answer:The author, Asokamitran, was entrusted with the job of maintaining the newspaper clippings of movies and other articles. Though to others, who just saw him tearing papers, he appeared to be doing nothing, the job kept the author well informed. Also, there prevailed an intellectual environment to some extent because the poets and script writers used to hang out there in the mess that served coffee any time of the day. The author would pick up fifty paisa copies of journals from the footpath and took part in the poetry writing competition. He actually read essays ‘The God Who Failed’ to know more about the poet Stephen Spender. All these are evidence that he had some literary taste.
Poets And Pancakes – Solved Question BankReference-to-Context Questions
Question 1.Pancake was the brand name of the make-up material that Gemini Studios bought in truck-loads. Greta Garbo must have used it, Miss Gohar must have used it, Vyjayantimala must also have used it but Rati Agnihotri may not have even heard of it.Answer the following.(a) A large amount of make-up material was a regular requirement in Gemini studios. (True/False)(b) The poets were fond of pancakes as their best source of entertainment. (True/False)(c) Actresses used much make-up as a ____ .(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘trade mark’.Answer:(a) True(b) False(c) requirement(d) brand
Question 2.The make-up room had the look of a hair-cutting salon with lights at all angles around half a dozen large mirrors. They were all incandescent lights, so you can imagine the fiery misery of those subjected to make-up.Answer the following.(a) The make-up room of the studios was an ordinary room. (True/False)(b) The room was crowded with mirrors but without any light. (True False)(c) The word ____ shows the condition of the performers.(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘showing strong emotion’?Answer:(a) True(b) False(c) torturous(d) Fiery
Question 3.This gang of nationally integrated make-up men could turn any decent-looking person into a hideous crimson hued monster with the help of truck-loads of pancake and a number of other locally made potions and lotions. Those were the days of mainly indoor shooting, and only five per cent of the film was shot outdoors. I suppose the sets and studio lights needed the girls and boys to be made to look ugly in order to look presentable in the movie.Answer the following.(a) The author creates humour by calling the make-up room workers as ‘This gang’. (True/False)(b) The use of any local cosmetics was strictly prohibited. (True/False)(c) What literary device has the author used to describe the job of make-up artists?(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘coloured’?Answer:(a) True(b) False(c) Irony(d) Hued
Question 4.Even the make-up department of the Gemini Studio had an ‘office boy’! On the days when there was a crowd- shooting, you could see him mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players. The idea was to close every pore on the surface of the face in the process of applying make-up. He wasn’t exactly a ‘boy’; he was in his early forties, having entered the studios years ago in the hope of becoming a star actor or a top screen writer, director or lyrics writer. He was a bit of a poet.Answer the following.(a) The office boy was contended to be in the make-up department. (True/False)(b) ‘He was a bit of a poet’ means the office boy was a man with literary or artistic bent of mind. (True/False)(c) As a make-up artist, the office boy felt ____ .(d) Which word/phrase in the extract has been used informally to mean the same as applying makeup?Answer:(a) True(b) True(c) frustrated(d) Slapping
Question 5.In those days I worked in a cubicle, two whole sides of which were French windows. (I didn’t know at that time they were called French windows.) Seeing me sitting at my desk tearing up newspapers day in and day out, most people thought I was doing next to nothing. It is likely that the Boss thought likewise too. So anyone who felt I should be given some occupation would barge into my cubicle and deliver an extended lecture.Answer the following.(a) The narrator’s office was in a large room. (True/False)(b) People assigned numerous tasks to the narrator. (True/False)(c) The narrator’s working capability was ____ .(d) Find a word/phrase from the extract which means the same as move/burst in rudely.Answer:(a) False(b) False(c) underestimated(d) barge into
Question 6.In all instances of frustration, you will always find the anger directed towards a single person openly or covertly and this man of the make-up department was convinced that all his woes, ignominy and neglect were due to Kothamangalam Subbu. Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini Studios. He couldn’t have had a more encouraging opening in films than our grown-up make-up boy had.Answer the following.(a) ‘This man’ refers to Subbu. (True/False)(b) Subbu and the make-up boy shared the same beginning of their professional life. (True/False)(c) Who did the office boy show his anger on?(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘public disgrace’?Answer:(a) False(b) False(c) Subbu(d) Ignominy
Question 7.On the contrary he must have had to face more uncertain and difficult times, for when he began his career, there were no firmly established film producing companies or studios. Even in the matter of education, specially formal education, Subbu couldn’t have had an appreciable lead over our boy. But by virtue of being bom a Brahmin — a virtue, indeed! — he must have had exposure to more affluent situations and people.Answer the following.(a) The narrator appears to protect Subbu’s reputation to some extent. (True/False)(b) Subbu never had to go through challenging times in his professional life. (True/False)(c) ‘Being born a Brahmin — a virtue indeed’. Which social evil is the narrator referring to through this sarcasm?(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘considerable’.Answer:(a) True(b) False(c) Caste-system(d) appreciable
Question 8.Such a charitable and improvident man, and yet he had enemies! Was it because he seemed so close and intimate with the Boss? Or was it his general demeanour that resembled a sycophant’s? Or his readiness to say nice things about everything? In any case, there was this man in the make-up department who would wish the direst things for Subbu.Answer the following.(a) Subbu never helped the needy. (True/False)(b) He had earned enemity because others were jealous of him. (True/False)(c) ____ endeared Subbu to his seniors.(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as spending money in a careless manner?Answer:(a) False(b) True(c) Loyalty(d) Improvident
Question 9.An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on the recording equipment. When the actress paused for breath, the lawyer said to her, “One minute, please, ” and played back the recording. There was nothing incriminating or unmentionably foul about the actress’s tirade against the producer. But when she heard her voice again through the sound equipment, she was struck dumb. A girl from the countryside, she hadn’t gone through all the stages of worldly experience that generally precede a position of importance and sophistication that she had found herself catapulted into. She never quite recovered from the terror she felt that day. That was the end of a brief and brilliant acting career.Answer the following.(a) There was nothing illegal or wrong in the recorded statement of the actress. (True/False)(b) Everyone had great fun listening to the record. dVue/Faisc)(c) The actress was ____ when she heard the recording played back.(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘short’.Answer:(a) True(b) False(c) dumbstruck/overawed/angry(d) brief
Question 10.Often he looked alone and helpless — a man of cold logic in a crowd of dreamers — a neutral man in an assembly of Gandhiites and khadiites.Answer the following.(a) The person being talked about is Subbu. (True/False)(b) The lawyer was a misfit among poets/dreamers. (True/False)(c) He held ____ by his cold logic.(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as the followers of Gandhiji’s ideas.Answer:(a) False(b) True(c) neutral position(d) Gandhiites
Question 11.A Communist was a godless man — he had no fdial or conjugal love; he had no compunction about killing his own parents or his children; he was always out to cause and spread unrest and violence among innocent and ignorant people. Such notions which prevailed everywhere else in South India at that time also, naturally, floated about vaguely among the khadi-clad poets of Gemini Studios.Answer the following.(a) People in the Gemini Studios were averse to communism. ( True/False)(b) Most of the employees of the studios worshipped Gandhi. (True/Faise)(c) Political ideologies of the people in South India during those days were ____ .(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘as having a guilty feeling’.Answer:(a) True(b) True(c) vague(d) compunction
Question 12.At last, around four in the afternoon, the poet (or the editor) arrived. He was a tall man, very English, very serious and of course very unknown to all of us. Battling with half a dozen pedestal fans on the shooting stage, the Boss read out a long speech. It was obvious that he too knew precious little about the poet (or the editor). The speech was all in the most general terms but here and there it was peppered with words like ‘freedom’and ‘democracy’.Answer the following.(a) The mystery guest was Byson, the English poet. (True/False)(b) The conjectures of the people there was that the poet was the editor of a daily. (True/False)(c) Was the long speech general or specific?(d) Find a word from the extract that means ‘scattered’.Answer:(a) False(b) True(c) general(d) Peppered
Poets And Pancakes Short Questions and Answers
Question 1.How does the writer describe the make-up room of the Gemini Studios?Answer:The make-up room of the Gemini Studios had incandescent lights. It also had lights at all angles around large mirrors. Those subjected to make-up had to face bright light and a lot of heat there. It was on the upper floor of the building that was believed to have been Robert Clive’s stables.
Question 2.Bring out the humour in the job of the make-up men.Answer:The make-up men came from all corners of the country and could transform any decent-looking person into a repulsive crimson coloured fiend and made people look uglier than they were in real life. They used truck loads of pancakes and locally manufactured potions and lotions to transform the looks of the actors.
Question 3.How was the make-up room a fine example of national integration?Answer:Transcending all the barriers of regions, religions and castes, people from all over India came to Gemini Studios for jobs. The make-up department was headed by a Bengali, succeeded by a Maharashtrian, assisted by a Dharwar Kannadiga, an Andhra, a Madrasi, Christian and an Anglo Burmese and the usual local Tamils. Hence, the writer finds in the make-up department a perfect example of national integration.
Question 4.Why did the author appear to do nothing in the studio?Answer:The author’s job in the studio was to cut newspaper dippings of all the relevant news items and articles that appeared in different newspapers and maintain a record of the same. This tearing of newspaper gave an impression that he was free and simply whiling away his time. People used to barge in his cubicle and lectured him.
Question 5.Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on and how?Answer:The office boy had joined the studio years back. He aspired to be a top film star, or top screen writer, lyricist or director. He felt frustrated on not being able to realise his dreams and had been given a job much below his calibre and dignity. He blamed Kothamangalam Subbu for all his woes, ignominy and neglect. He often gave vent to his frustrations in the narrator’s cubicle. The narrator yearned for relief from the never-ending babble of the office boy.
Question 6.Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. Justify.Answer:Kothamangalam Subbu may not have had much formal education but, by virtue of his being born as a Brahmin, he had had exposure to many affluent situations and people. He had the ability to look cheerful at all times, even after a setback. He was always full of creative ideas. Above all, he was a charitable and extravagant man and hospitable to his relations. His loyalty had put him close to his boss. But he seemed to others a sycophant and a flatterer and, probably, that was the reason he had enemies.
Question 7.How did the lawyer unwittingly bring an end to a brief and brilliant career of a young actress?Answer:A talented but very temperamental actress lost her cool on the sets. The lawyer recorded her outburst and played it back, much to her embarrassment. The actress from the countryside was so terror- struck that she retreated and never got back to films. In this way, his mischief making brought an abrupt end to the brilliant actress’ career.
Question 8.Why did the magazine, ‘The Encounter’, ring a bell in the writer’s mind?Answer:The writer wanted to participate in a short story writing contest organized by ‘The Encounter’, a British publication. Before sending his entry, he waited, confirm the authenticity of the periodical, so he visited the British Council Library. When the author read the editor’s name, a bell rang in his mind. It was Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited the Gemini Studios.
Question 9.What was significant about the book which the author took from roadside?Answer:‘The God That failed’ was the name of the book which caught the attention of the author. It contained the essays of six eminent men, who described their journey into communism and their return from it after being disillusioned. It suddenly assumed great significance for the author as he discovered that one of the essays had been written by Stephen Spender, the poet, who had visited the studio. He now understood the reason for his having been invited.
Question 10.What do you understand about the author’s literary inclinations from the account?Answer:The author was very knowledgeable young man whose job required him to pour over the newspaper all day long. His interest in creative writing and participating in story writing contests indicates his interest in literature. This interest was so keen that he read books on varied subjects and went about buying them even when he was short of money.
Question 11.What kind of people, according to the author, are meant for prose writing?Answer:According to the author, prose writing is not the pursuit of a genius. It is for the patient, persistent and persevering drudge whose heart can take rejections and whose spirit to keep trying does not get killed so easily.
Question 12.Why was Gemini Studios a favourite haunt of poets?Answer:Gemini Studios was a favourite haunt of poets as it had an excellent mess which supplied good coffee at all times of the day and for most part of the night. Meeting there was a satisfying entertainment. Moreover, Mr. Vasan was a great admirer of scholarly people.
Question 13.‘Prose writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius’, says the author. Explain the statement.Answer:In this statement, the author says that prose writing can’t be the true pursuit of a genius because it is always rejected. A genius is not that is accepted everywhere. The author states all this with criticism that prose writing is actually meant for rejection. Prose writers are patient, persistent and persevering drudges. They can’t be down played by rejection slips. Everytime he gets a rejection slip for his manuscript, he starts making a fresh copy and sends it to another publisher with return postage.
Question 14.‘Suddenly the book assumed tremendous significance.’ Explain the statement.Answer:The author bought one copy of the book ‘The God That Failed’ from the footpath. Six eminent men of letters in six separate essays describe their journey into communism and their disillusioned return. Among them one was Stephen Spender. The author at once recollected that Stephen Spender had visited Gemini Studios. He knew about the mystery of his visit now. So, the book assumed tremendous significance for him.
Question 15.Explain the appropriateness of the title ‘Poets and Pancakes’?Answer:The chapter describes Gemini Studios and its functioning very clearly. Its employees are little unrecognized poets. Though they work in a film studio, the focus is on the author’s station in the Studios as a make-up boy using pancakes on crowd players, and how he failed as a poet. So, the title is appropriate.
Question 16.How humorously does the author describe Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament Army?Answer:The author humorously calls the Moral Re-Armament Army after someone as ‘an international circus’. Then he states that they were not very good on the trapeze. Their acquaintance with animals should have been much as animals play tricks in a circus. “But the group ate animals”, says the author their acquaintance with animals was only at the dining table.
Question 17.What was thought of a communist by the studios people?Answer:According to these people, a communist was a godless man. He had no filial or conjugal love. He had compunction about killing his own parents and children. He was always out to cause and spread unrest and violence among the innocent and ignorant people.
Poets And Pancakes Long Questions and Answers
Question 1.How does the author come to know about the periodical ‘The Encounter’?Answer:The Hindu published an advertisement about a short story contest organized by ‘The Encounter’. The author wanted to know about it before he spent a lot of money on postage sending his manuscript to England. So, he visited the British Council Library. There he saw many untouched copies of ‘The Encounter’. When he read the editor’s name, he felt like he had found a long lost brother. He sang as he sealed the envelope and felt that the editor would also be singing the same song when he would open the envelope. Actually the editor was the same Englishman, Stephen Spender who visited Gemini Studios long time ago.Question 2.‘Poets and Pancakes’ is a beautiful example of humour in its chatty and rambling style’. Comment.Answer:‘Poets and Pancakes’ is an account of Asokamitran’s experiences at the Gemini Studios. Asokamitrandeals with a wide variety of ideas where despite one thought leading to another, the thematic coherence is never lost. The author has adopted a chatty and rambling style. The style has a flow and the reader glides smoothly with the flow of the narrative. Asokamitran highlights human foibles and unusual behaviour with the help of subtle humour. All the characters are so life like that the reader seems to come across in real life. The subtle humour is neither superimposed nor superfluous.Throughout the chapter humour seems to be spontaneous and interwoven. Even the choice of the title shows that Asokamitran has a flair for natural humour. He ridicules without hurting and the entire account becomes very interesting. Throughout the chapter the reader doesn’t find even the slightest trace of malice. But every now and then the author speaks with his tongue-in-cheek way and pays left-handed compliments to different characters to the great amusement of the readers.Question 3.What was the opinion of most of the people at the studios regarding communism?Answer:The people at the Gemini Studios wore Khadi dhoti and a clumsily tailored white khadi shirt. It was a crowd of dreamers and an assembly of Gandhiites and khadietes. The Congress rule meant prohibition and most employees worshipped Gandhiji but beyond that they had no admiration for political thought of any kind. They hated the term ‘communism’ as to them a communist was a godless man, incapable of love and always out to spread unrest and violence among the innocent and ignorant people.When Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament Army visited the Gemini Studios in 1952, they gave them a warm reception. Later they learnt that MRA was a counter movement to international communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands. Later, the mystery of the visit of Stephen Spender was resolved and the writer came to know the reason of his visit and that the Boss of Gemini Studios had not been interested in Spender’s poetry but in communism. But the khadi-clad poets of Gemini Studios fell the same aversion for communism.Question 4.The English poet who visited Gemini Studios was as baffled as the audience. Why was that?Answer:When Gemini Studios prepared to welcome Stephen Spender, they did not know the identity of thevisitor. All they knew was that he was a poet from England. However, he was not one of the poets from England that they had heard of. Later they heard that he was an editor. But again he wasn’t the editor of any of the known British publications. When the gentleman arrived, the mystery’ of his identity deepened.The Englishman left the audience dazed and silent as no one knew what he was talking about. The people of Gemini Studios led lives that least offered them the possibilities of cultivating a taste for English poetry. The English man talked of the thrills and problems of an English poet. His British accent defeated any attempt to understand what he was saying. His lecture lasted an hour but it left the people confused. The poet himself was equally baffled. He too must have felt the strangeness of his talk. His visit remained an unexplained mystery for a long time.Question 5.Explain the statement ‘Subbu is tailor-made for films.’Answer:Kothamangalam Subbu has many qualities of head and heart with a great fund of humaneness. He has the ability’ to look cheerful at all times. His loyalty to his principal is complete. He is always ready to say nice things about everything. He is resourceful. He has an inventive brain as he can create new ways and means to dramatise some difficult propositions in films. Film-making goes very easy with him. He is a poet also and has written a novel titled Thillana Mchanambal He successfully recreated the mood and manner of the Devadasis of the early 20thcentury.He is an amazing actor and has performed better than the supposed main players. Above all. he has a heart of gold for his relatives and near and dear ones. His house is a permanent residence for them. In fact, he is tailor-made for films. He gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during its golden years. His success in films overshadowed and dwarfed his literary achievements. He is a poet, an actor and a creative assistant roled into one.
Question 6.What idea do you get about the narrator from the chapter ‘Poets and Pancakes’?Answer:Asokamitran used to work in a cubicle tearing up newspapers all the time. Most of the people thought that he did nothing. So anyone who felt so would enter his cubicle and deliver an extended lecture. He never tried to say anything in his defence. He kept himself busy with his work, without poking his nose into anyone’s affairs but he was wide awake and highly observant. He very well knew what was going on around him. He had a deep psychological insight into the human mind.He could see through Subbu’s sycophancy, the lawyer’s smartness and the office boy’s frustration. He was very fond of books and bought books all the time even when there was paucity of money. His description of S.S. Vasan’s battling with half a dozen pedestal fans while reading his welcome address and an account of Stephen Spender’s accent are examples of his brilliant sense of humour. He was a man of cool temperament who never jumped to conclusions or pounced upon opportunities rashly. On the whole, he emerges as a responsible and conscientious man.Question 7.Describe Stephen Spender’s visit to Gemini Studios.Answer:There was a lot of speculation about Spender’s visit. Initially, everyone thought he was a poet but later they heard that he was an editor. The author describes him as a tall, very English and a serious person. It was evident from Boss’ speech that he knew very little about the visitor. When Spender addressed the gathering they were all dazed as they couldn’t understand his accent and didn’t understand what he was talking about.Even Spender must have sensed the incongruity of being called to talk about the travails of an English poet in a film studio making simple Tamil films. His visit remained an unexpected mystery. It was only much later that Asokamitran learnt that the reason why the boss had invited Spender. Spender was disillusioned with communism and had contributed an essay in a book on communism called ‘The God That Failed
undefinedThe Interview Textual Questions and Answers
Think-as-you-read Questions
Question 1.
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Answer:
The positive views on interviews are that it is a medium of communication and a source of truth and information. Some even look at it as an art. These days we know about the celebrities and others through their interviews.
Question 2.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer:
Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they look at interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel that it diminishes them. They feel that they are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves. They consider interviews immoral and a crime, and an unwanted and unwelcome interruption in their personal life.
Question 3.
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer:
Some primitive cultures consider taking a photographic portrait is like stealing the persons’s soul and diminishing him.
Question 4.
What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Answer:
Saul Bellow once described interviews as being like ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. It means he treated interviews as a painful experience, as something that caught him by his windpipe, squeezed him and left indelible thumbprints on that. It also means that when the interviewer forces personal details from his interviewee, it becomes undesirable and cruel.
Question 5.
Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer:
The interviewer is the chief source of information in today’s world. Our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are based on communication that comes from them. Thus, interviewers hold a position of power and influence.
The Interview Understanding the text
Question 1.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
Umberto Eco does not think highly of interviewers who he thinks are a puzzled bunch of people. He has reasons for thinking so as they have often interpreted him as a novelist and clubbed him with Pen Clubs and writers, while he considers himself an academic scholar who attends academic conferences and writes novels on Sundays.
Question 2.
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer:
Eco humorously states that there are a lot of empty spaces in his life. He calls them ‘interstices’. There are moments when one is waiting for the other. In that empty space, Eco laughingly states that he writes an article. Then he states that he is a professor who writes novels on Sundays.
Question 3.
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer:
Umberto’s writings have an ethical and philosophical element underlying them. His non-fictional writing work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. Even his writings for children deal with non-violence and peace. This style of writing makes reading his novels and essays interesting and being like the reading of most academic writings. His works are marked by an informal and narrative aspect.
Question 4.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer:
Umberto identified himself with the academic community, a professor who attended academic conferences rather than meetings of Pen Clubs. In fact, he was quite unhappy that the people referred to him as a novelist.
Question 5.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The success of The Name of the Rose, though a mystery to the author himself, could possibly be because it offered a difficult reading experience to the kind of readers who do not want easy reading experiences and those who look at novels as a machine for generating interpretations. For the same reason, the sale of his novel was underestimated by his American publishers, while the readers actually enjoyed the difficult reading experience that was offered bv Umberto Eco by raising questions about truth and the order of the worid.
The Interview – Solved Question Bank
Reference-to-Context Questions
Question 1.
Today, almost everybody mho is literate will have read an interview at some point in their lives, while from the other point of view, several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly.
Answer the following.
(a) Everybody who is literate has been interviewed at some point in their lives. (True/False)
(b) Several celebrities have been interviewed repeatedly. (True/False)
(c) _________ would have read an interview at some point in their lives?
(d) Several thousand _________ have been interviewed over the years, and some of them repeatedly.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) the literate
(d) celebritiesQuestion 2.
H.G. Wells in an interview in 1894, referred to ‘the inteiviewing ordeal’, but was a fairly frequent interviewee and forty years later found himself intetriewing Joseph Stalin.
Answer the following.
(a) Joseph Stalin interviewed H.G. Wells. (True/False)
(b) Find a word from the extract that means ‘a person who is being interviewed’.
(c) How long after 1894, did Wells interview Joseph Stalin?
(d) Despite giving several interviews. Wells referred to the process as ‘the interviewing _________ .
Answer:
(a) False
(b) interviewee
(c) forty years
(d) ordeal
Question 3.
Yet despite the drawbacks of the interview, it is a supremely setviceable medium of communication. “These davs, more than at any other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews.”
Answer the following.
(a) These days communication is through interviews. (True/False)
(b) The most vivid impressions of contemporaries is through interviews. (True/False)
(c) Interviews are a supremely serviceable _________ of communication.
(d) Of whom can vivid impressions be collected through interviews?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) means
(d) contemporaries
Question 4.
In 1980, he acquired the intellectual equivalent of intellectual superstardom with the publication of ‘The Name of the Rose’, which sold more than 10 million copies.
Answer the following.
(a) ‘The Name of the Rose’ is a book about a superstar. (True/False)
(h) The book, ‘The Name of the Rose’ was published in 1980. (True/False)
(c) How many copies did ‘The Name of the Rose’, sell?
(d) Eco acquired _________ with the sale of ‘The Name of the Rose’.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) More than 10 million
(d) superstardom
Question 5.
I have some philosophical interests and I pursue them through my academic work and my novels. Even my books for children are about non-violence and peace… you see, the same bunch of ethical, philosophical interests.
Answer the following.
(a) The writer pursues his academic interests through children’s books. (True/False)
(b) Through what means does the writer pursue his philosophical interests?
(c) The writer’s books for children are about non-violence and _________
(d) The writer has some _________ interests.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) academic work
(c ) peace
(d) philosophical
Question 6.
Did you know what will happen if you eliminate the empty spaces from the universe, eliminate the empty spaces in all the atoms? The universe will become as big as my fist.
Answer the following.
(a) By eliminating empty spaces in atoms, the universe will be as big as an atom. (True/False)
(b) Besides the universe, where else does the speaker want to eliminate empty spaces.
(c) Find a word from the extract that means to ‘remove’.
(d) If the empty spaces in the universe and in atoms were measured, then the universe would be as _________ as the writer’s fist.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) atoms
(c) eliminate
(d) big
Question 7.
Your non-fictional writing, your scholarly work has a certain plavful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular academic stvle – which is invariably depersonalized and often diy and boring.
Answer the following.
(a) The writer’s scholarly work is about play things. (True/False)
(b) The writer’s scholarly work is a marked departure from the academic style. (True/False)
(c) Which kind of writing by the author has a playful and personal quality?
(d) Scholarly writing is often dry and _________, according fo the writer of the passage.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) academic writin
(d) boring
Question 8.
At that point, at the age of 22, I understood scholarly books should be written the way I had done – by telling the story of the research. This is why my essays always have a narrative aspect.
Answer the following.
(a) At age 22 the author understood how scholarly books should be written. (True/False)
(b) Scholarly books are written to tell the story of the research. (True/False)
(c) What special aspect do the essays written by the author have?
(d) According to the writer, he had written his research in a manner that told the _________ of his research.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) True
(c) narrative aspect
(d) story
Question 9.
I started writing novels by accident. I had nothing to do one day and so I started. Novels probably satisfied my taste for narration.
Answer the following.
(a) The author started writing novels because he was a novelist. (True/False)
(b) According to the author, novel writing probably satisfied his _________ for narration.
(c) The author started writing novels _________ .
(d) In writing, the author had a taste for _________ .
Answer:
(a) False
(b) taste
(c) accidentally
(d) narration
Question 10.
I know that by writing novels I reach a larger audience. I cannot expect to have one million readers with stuff on semiotics.
Answer the following.
(a) The author reaches a million readers by writing semiotics. (True/False)
(b) The author reaches a larger _________ by writing on semiotics.
(c) He has reached a _________ readers by writing novels.
(d) _________ is the main focus of the author’s writing.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) audience
(c) million
(d) Semiotics
Question 11.
And this is because journalists and publishers believe that people like trash and don’t like difficult reading experiences.
Answer the following.
(a) According to journalists, authors like to read trash. iTrue/Faise)
(b) According to journalists, people don’t like _________ reading experiences.
(c) According to journalists, people like _________ trash.
(d) Whose opinion about public reading habits is being aired in the passage?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) difficult
(c) reading
(d) journalists
Question 12.
I myself at 9p.m. after dinner, watch television and want to see either ‘Miami Vice’, or ‘Emergency Room ’. I enjoy it and I need it. But not all day.
Answer the following.
(a) The author states that before dinner he watches television. (iVue/Faise)
(b) The author enjoys watching ‘Miami Vice’. (True/False)
(c) The author enjoys watching ‘Miami Vice’ or ‘ Room’ on television, after dinner.
(d) What time does the author enjoy watching television?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) Emergency
(d) after dinner
The Interview Short Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Why did Lewis Carroll have a horror of the interviewer?
Answer:
Lewis Carroll was said to have had a just horror of the interviewer. It was his horror of being lionized which made him thus repel would-be acquaintances, interviewers, and those seeking his autographs. So, he never consented to be interviewed.
Question 2.
How did Rudyard Kipling look at interviews?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling condemned interviews. His wife writes in her diary that Rudyard Kipling told the reporters that he called being interviewed as immoral and a crime like an offence against any person. It merited punishment. It was cowardly and vile.
Question 3.
How were Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells critical of interviews yet they indulged in interviewing others or being themselves interviewed?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling criticized interviews yet he interviewed Mark Twain. H.G. Wells referred to an interview in 1894 as an ordeal. Yet he was a fairly frequent interviewee. He also interviewed Joseph Stalin forty years later.
Question 4.
How are interviews, despite their drawbacks, useful?
Answer:
Despite their drawbacks, interviews are a supremely serviceable medium of communication. We get ‘ our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries through interviews. Denis Brain writes that almost everything of moment reaches us through interviews.
Question 5.
What, according to Umberto Eco, is the one thing he does through his various pieces of writing?
Answer:
According to Eco, he is always pursuing his ethical, philosophical interests which are non-violence and peace, through his academic work, his novels and even his books for children. He uses his spare moments constructively.
Question 6.
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret. What is that?
Answer:
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret to reveal. He tells him that there are empty spaces in the universe, in all the atoms. If they are removed, the universe will shrink to the size of a fist. He calls these empty spaces interstices and he writes in these interstices.
Question 7.
How, according to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, do scholars do in their research? How is Eco’s approach different?
Answer:
According to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, scholars made a lot of false hypotheses. They correct them and at the end they put the conclusion. But Eco told the story of his research and included his trials and errors. His professor allowed the publication of Eco’s dissertation as a book.
Question 8.
What did Umberto Eco learn at the age of 22 that he pursued in his novels?
Answer:
At the age of 22, Umberto Eco understood that scholarly books should be written the way he had done, that is, they should be written by telling the story of the research. He means to say that they should have the narrative technique. That’s why he started writing novels so late—at the age of 50.
Question 9.
How did Eco start writing novels?
Answer:
Eco states that he started writing novels by accident. One day, he had nothing to do, so he started writing. He felt that novels probably satisfied his taste for narration and he produced five novels, including the famous The Name of the Rose.
Question 10.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar? Discuss briefly.
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar, a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. If somebody said that he was a novelist, that bothered him. He participated in academic conferences and not the meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He identified himself with academic community.
Question 11.
What makes Eco’s The Name of the Rose a very serious novel?
Answer:
The Name of the Rose is a very serious novel. It is a detective story at one level but it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Due to these reasons it was greatly received by the public.
Question 12.
What, according to Eco, puzzles journalists and publishers?
Answer:
According to Umberto Eco, journalists and publishers are puzzled when something unexpected happens. They believe that people like trash and do not like difficult reading experiences. But Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose, a serious work, sold between 10 and 15 million copies. This puzzled them.
Question 13.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The reason for the huge success of the novel, according to Eco, is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. He states that if he had written the novel ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. So, the time component, its narrative technique, its aspects of metaphysics, theology and medieval history, made it a grand success.
Question 14.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
I think Eco likes being interviewed. His answers to Mukund’s questions are straightforward, precise and to the point. They are never wavering. He even mentions his preferences about TV shows. While answering he gets humorous and laughs. Nowhere does he say anything that may give us this sort of glimpse that he does not like being interviewed.
Question 15.
Is Umberto’s informal style consciously adopted or natural?
Answer:
Umberto’s doctoral thesis was a story of his research and a sum of his experience, his trials and errors. The thesis was appreciated and published as a book. Umberto then developed on his taste for narration and this narrative aspect lends an informal touch to all his essays and novels. It makes his style alive and reading his works is not dry and boring like the reading of other academic works.
Question 16.
Why did Umberto take to writing novels?
Answer:
Umberto took to writing novels to satisfy his taste for narration. He did not have even a single novel to his credit, till the age of 50. One day having nothing to do, he started writing a novel. Moreover, he thought that novels have more readership and he could reach a larger audience.
Question 17.
What made Roiand Barthes frustrated? What did he want to do?
Answer:
Eco s friend Roland Barthes was an essayist. He was not satisfied fully with his scholarly essays. He yearned to do some creative writing. He remained frustrated that he was as essayist and not novelist. But, unfortunately he died before he could do so.
Question 18.
How did Umberto Eco become spectacularly famous?
Answer:
Umberto Eco had earned a good reputation in the field of semiotics or the study of signs. His scholarly works were staggeringly large and wide ranging. But his spectacular fame came to him with his novel The Name of the Rose which stormed the world and sold more than 10 million copies.
Question 19.
What sort of TV programmes does Eco watch after dinner and why?
Answer:
After dinner, Eco watches light television programmes like Miami Vice and Emergency Room. These programmes do not tax his mind and he feels relaxed after a hard, day’s work. But he cannot watch such programmes the whole day.
Question 20.
Bring out Umberto Eco’s humility and modesty as evident in the chapter.
Answer:
Umberto Eco takes success in his stride and talks about his achievements in all modesty. He very humbly gives credit to the people’s capability of appreciating difficult reading experiences. Regarding doing so many things, he tells that it a fallicious impression, but at the end of the day, he is doing the same thing.
The Interview Long Questions and Answers
Question 1.
The Interview as a communication genre is here to stay. Discuss with reference to the interview with Umberto Eco.
Answer:
The interview today is a communication genre that has come to stay. Its detractors—mostly celebrities— despise it as an intrusion into their lives. However, a good interview can be a source of truth, it is an excellent medium of communication and in the modern world our most vivid impressions of contemporaries are through interviews. It is through the interview that we learn about Eco’s diverse writings, his interest in the philosophy of non-violence and peace and his ability to put every spare moment to constructive use. At the interviewer’s prompting, he tells us why he writes scholarly works in an informal style and how he started writing novels. We realise that he is an academician at heart. He honestly talks of the success of his book as a mystery saying that it might •not have sold so well in another time.
Question 2.
How did Umberto Eco assess his style of writing in The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself to be an academician who was happy writing novels on Sundays. Though he did not feel he was a novelist, he felt the novel fulfilled his desire for narration. In fact, he spoke of himself as a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. The novel, according to him, enabled him to reach a larger audience. The Name of the Rose was a very serious novel. It was a detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history’. It enjoyed a huge audience as, according to him, people did enjoy difficult reading experiences. Like him. many did not like easy experiences all the time. The novel deals with a period of medieval history and the publisher did not expect to sell so well in a state where nobody had studied Latin or seen a cathedral. He felt the timing was crucial. Perhaps its popularity would have been less, had it been written earlier or later. ‘
Question 3.
How do celebrity writers despise being interviewed as given in ‘The Interview’?
Answer:
Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become commonplace journalism. Over the years, opinions about its functions, methods and merits vary considerably. Some say it is a source of truth and in practice, an art. Others despise it being an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel it diminishes them. They equate it to taking a photographic portrait of somebody which in some primitive cultures mean ‘stealing the person’s soul.’ Some people feel wounded by interviews and lose part of themselves. They call it immoral, a crime and an assault. To some it is cowardly and vile or an ordeal.
Question 4.
How does Eco explain that he is convinced he is always doing the same thing?
Answer:
Umberto Eco explains to Mukund Padmanabhan in an interview that all the people have a lot of empty spaces. These he call ‘interstices’. He explains them through an example. He says that one is to come to him and is in an elevator and he is waiting for him. While waiting for the guest’s elevator to appear before him. he has already written an article. It means he writes in snatches of time. However, his creative ideas flow in his mind every time even when he is hosting his guest. Though he relaxes on Sundays, yet is very much busy to write novels. On other days he is busy with his academic work.
Question 5.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan comment on Eco’s academic writing style? What does Eco say about it?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan states that Eco’s non-fictional writing, that is, his scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular style. That regular style is invariably depersonalised and often dry and boring. To a question if he consciously adopted
an informal style, he cited the comments of one of the professors who examined and evaluated his first doctoral dissertation. The professor said that scholars learned a lot of a certain subject, then they made a lot of false hypotheses, then they corrected and put conclusions at the end. But Eco told the story of his research, including his trials and errors. At the age of 22, Eco understood that scholarly books should be written by telling the story of the research. His essays, therefore, have a narrative aspect. That is why, he wrote novels to satisfy his taste for narrative.
Question 6.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan impress you as an interviewer? Do you consider his interview with Umberto Eco a success?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan’s interview with Umberto Eco tells about his capabilities as a successful interviewer. He does not encroach upon his privacy or embarrass him with personal questions. He does not come in-between the celebrity and the readers. His questions are well worded. His questions • draw out of him what his fans would like to know. The questions asked by Mukund cover all the aspects of his works and personality. Eco gives elaborated answers to all his questions. With every question, the interviewer withdraws to the background leaving the interviewee in the limelight. The whole interview does not appear to be an ordeal for the interviewee. In short it is crisp at the same time informal.
Question 7.
What are the opinions of some of the celebrities on interviews?
Answer:
Celebrities have often seen themselves as victims of interviews. In V.S. Naipaul’s opinion, interviews have left people wounded and part of them stolen. Lewis Carroll was in horror of the interviewer and he never consented to be interviewed. He often silenced all those who sought to interview him or ask for his autographs. Rudyard Kipling too held a very critical attitude towards interviews and disapproved of them after he was left almost wrecked by two reporters from Boston. According to his wife, since then he found interviews were vile, immoral and a crime. To H.G. Wells, being interviewed was an ordeal, while to Saul Bellow, interviews were like thumbprints on his windpipe, an extortion of personal details by an overbearing interviewer. They all seemed to be terrified of interviews.
Question 8.
How does the interview with Umberto Eco prove that the interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan from ‘The Hindu’ interviews Umberto Eco and proves that interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee.
Through his interview he reveals that Eco is a prolific writer and yet a man who is most modest about his achievements. He very humbly spells the secret of his varied and staggeringly voluminous works produced by him. When Mukund asks him about David Lodge’s remark that how one man can do all the things that Eco does’, Eco very modestly says it is a fallacious impression, in fact he has always been doing the same thing by pursuing the same philosophical ideas. He views himself as an academic, rather than a novelist. He admits that he has started writing novels by accident and writes novels on Sundays.
Up
The Interview Textual Questions and Answers
Think-as-you-read Questions
Question 1.
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Answer:
The positive views on interviews are that it is a medium of communication and a source of truth and information. Some even look at it as an art. These days we know about the celebrities and others through their interviews.
Question 2.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer:
Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they look at interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel that it diminishes them. They feel that they are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves. They consider interviews immoral and a crime, and an unwanted and unwelcome interruption in their personal life.
Question 3.
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer:
Some primitive cultures consider taking a photographic portrait is like stealing the persons’s soul and diminishing him.
Question 4.
What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Answer:
Saul Bellow once described interviews as being like ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. It means he treated interviews as a painful experience, as something that caught him by his windpipe, squeezed him and left indelible thumbprints on that. It also means that when the interviewer forces personal details from his interviewee, it becomes undesirable and cruel.
Question 5.
Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer:
The interviewer is the chief source of information in today’s world. Our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are based on communication that comes from them. Thus, interviewers hold a position of power and influence.
The Interview Understanding the text
Question 1.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
Umberto Eco does not think highly of interviewers who he thinks are a puzzled bunch of people. He has reasons for thinking so as they have often interpreted him as a novelist and clubbed him with Pen Clubs and writers, while he considers himself an academic scholar who attends academic conferences and writes novels on Sundays.
Question 2.
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer:
Eco humorously states that there are a lot of empty spaces in his life. He calls them ‘interstices’. There are moments when one is waiting for the other. In that empty space, Eco laughingly states that he writes an article. Then he states that he is a professor who writes novels on Sundays.
Question 3.
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer:
Umberto’s writings have an ethical and philosophical element underlying them. His non-fictional writing work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. Even his writings for children deal with non-violence and peace. This style of writing makes reading his novels and essays interesting and being like the reading of most academic writings. His works are marked by an informal and narrative aspect.
Question 4.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer:
Umberto identified himself with the academic community, a professor who attended academic conferences rather than meetings of Pen Clubs. In fact, he was quite unhappy that the people referred to him as a novelist.
Question 5.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The success of The Name of the Rose, though a mystery to the author himself, could possibly be because it offered a difficult reading experience to the kind of readers who do not want easy reading experiences and those who look at novels as a machine for generating interpretations. For the same reason, the sale of his novel was underestimated by his American publishers, while the readers actually enjoyed the difficult reading experience that was offered bv Umberto Eco by raising questions about truth and the order of the worid.
The Interview – Solved Question Bank
Reference-to-Context Questions
Question 1.
Today, almost everybody mho is literate will have read an interview at some point in their lives, while from the other point of view, several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly.
Answer the following.
(a) Everybody who is literate has been interviewed at some point in their lives. (True/False)
(b) Several celebrities have been interviewed repeatedly. (True/False)
(c) _________ would have read an interview at some point in their lives?
(d) Several thousand _________ have been interviewed over the years, and some of them repeatedly.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) the literate
(d) celebrities
Question 2.
H.G. Wells in an interview in 1894, referred to ‘the inteiviewing ordeal’, but was a fairly frequent interviewee and forty years later found himself intetriewing Joseph Stalin.
Answer the following.
(a) Joseph Stalin interviewed H.G. Wells. (True/False)
(b) Find a word from the extract that means ‘a person who is being interviewed’.
(c) How long after 1894, did Wells interview Joseph Stalin?
(d) Despite giving several interviews. Wells referred to the process as ‘the interviewing _________ .
Answer:
(a) False
(b) interviewee
(c) forty years
(d) ordeal
Question 3.
Yet despite the drawbacks of the interview, it is a supremely setviceable medium of communication. “These davs, more than at any other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews.”
Answer the following.
(a) These days communication is through interviews. (True/False)
(b) The most vivid impressions of contemporaries is through interviews. (True/False)
(c) Interviews are a supremely serviceable _________ of communication.
(d) Of whom can vivid impressions be collected through interviews?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) means
(d) contemporaries
Question 4.
In 1980, he acquired the intellectual equivalent of intellectual superstardom with the publication of ‘The Name of the Rose’, which sold more than 10 million copies.
Answer the following.
(a) ‘The Name of the Rose’ is a book about a superstar. (True/False)
(h) The book, ‘The Name of the Rose’ was published in 1980. (True/False)
(c) How many copies did ‘The Name of the Rose’, sell?
(d) Eco acquired _________ with the sale of ‘The Name of the Rose’.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) More than 10 million
(d) superstardom
Question 5.
I have some philosophical interests and I pursue them through my academic work and my novels. Even my books for children are about non-violence and peace… you see, the same bunch of ethical, philosophical interests.
Answer the following.
(a) The writer pursues his academic interests through children’s books. (True/False)
(b) Through what means does the writer pursue his philosophical interests?
(c) The writer’s books for children are about non-violence and _________
(d) The writer has some _________ interests.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) academic work
(c ) peace
(d) philosophical
Question 6.
Did you know what will happen if you eliminate the empty spaces from the universe, eliminate the empty spaces in all the atoms? The universe will become as big as my fist.
Answer the following.
(a) By eliminating empty spaces in atoms, the universe will be as big as an atom. (True/False)
(b) Besides the universe, where else does the speaker want to eliminate empty spaces.
(c) Find a word from the extract that means to ‘remove’.
(d) If the empty spaces in the universe and in atoms were measured, then the universe would be as _________ as the writer’s fist.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) atoms
(c) eliminate
(d) big
Question 7.
Your non-fictional writing, your scholarly work has a certain plavful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular academic stvle – which is invariably depersonalized and often diy and boring.
Answer the following.
(a) The writer’s scholarly work is about play things. (True/False)
(b) The writer’s scholarly work is a marked departure from the academic style. (True/False)
(c) Which kind of writing by the author has a playful and personal quality?
(d) Scholarly writing is often dry and _________, according fo the writer of the passage.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) academic writin
(d) boring
Question 8.
At that point, at the age of 22, I understood scholarly books should be written the way I had done – by telling the story of the research. This is why my essays always have a narrative aspect.
Answer the following.
(a) At age 22 the author understood how scholarly books should be written. (True/False)
(b) Scholarly books are written to tell the story of the research. (True/False)
(c) What special aspect do the essays written by the author have?
(d) According to the writer, he had written his research in a manner that told the _________ of his research.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) True
(c) narrative aspect
(d) story
Question 9.
I started writing novels by accident. I had nothing to do one day and so I started. Novels probably satisfied my taste for narration.
Answer the following.
(a) The author started writing novels because he was a novelist. (True/False)
(b) According to the author, novel writing probably satisfied his _________ for narration.
(c) The author started writing novels _________ .
(d) In writing, the author had a taste for _________ .
Answer:
(a) False
(b) taste
(c) accidentally
(d) narration
Question 10.
I know that by writing novels I reach a larger audience. I cannot expect to have one million readers with stuff on semiotics.
Answer the following.
(a) The author reaches a million readers by writing semiotics. (True/False)
(b) The author reaches a larger _________ by writing on semiotics.
(c) He has reached a _________ readers by writing novels.
(d) _________ is the main focus of the author’s writing.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) audience
(c) million
(d) Semiotics
Question 11.
And this is because journalists and publishers believe that people like trash and don’t like difficult reading experiences.
Answer the following.
(a) According to journalists, authors like to read trash. iTrue/Faise)
(b) According to journalists, people don’t like _________ reading experiences.
(c) According to journalists, people like _________ trash.
(d) Whose opinion about public reading habits is being aired in the passage?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) difficult
(c) reading
(d) journalists
Question 12.
I myself at 9p.m. after dinner, watch television and want to see either ‘Miami Vice’, or ‘Emergency Room ’. I enjoy it and I need it. But not all day.
Answer the following.
(a) The author states that before dinner he watches television. (iVue/Faise)
(b) The author enjoys watching ‘Miami Vice’. (True/False)
(c) The author enjoys watching ‘Miami Vice’ or ‘ Room’ on television, after dinner.
(d) What time does the author enjoy watching television?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) Emergency
(d) after dinner
The Interview Short Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Why did Lewis Carroll have a horror of the interviewer?
Answer:
Lewis Carroll was said to have had a just horror of the interviewer. It was his horror of being lionized which made him thus repel would-be acquaintances, interviewers, and those seeking his autographs. So, he never consented to be interviewed.
Question 2.
How did Rudyard Kipling look at interviews?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling condemned interviews. His wife writes in her diary that Rudyard Kipling told the reporters that he called being interviewed as immoral and a crime like an offence against any person. It merited punishment. It was cowardly and vile.
Question 3.
How were Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells critical of interviews yet they indulged in interviewing others or being themselves interviewed?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling criticized interviews yet he interviewed Mark Twain. H.G. Wells referred to an interview in 1894 as an ordeal. Yet he was a fairly frequent interviewee. He also interviewed Joseph Stalin forty years later.
Question 4.
How are interviews, despite their drawbacks, useful?
Answer:
Despite their drawbacks, interviews are a supremely serviceable medium of communication. We get ‘ our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries through interviews. Denis Brain writes that almost everything of moment reaches us through interviews.
Question 5.
What, according to Umberto Eco, is the one thing he does through his various pieces of writing?
Answer:
According to Eco, he is always pursuing his ethical, philosophical interests which are non-violence and peace, through his academic work, his novels and even his books for children. He uses his spare moments constructively.
Question 6.
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret. What is that?
Answer:
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret to reveal. He tells him that there are empty spaces in the universe, in all the atoms. If they are removed, the universe will shrink to the size of a fist. He calls these empty spaces interstices and he writes in these interstices.
Question 7.
How, according to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, do scholars do in their research? How is Eco’s approach different?
Answer:
According to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, scholars made a lot of false hypotheses. They correct them and at the end they put the conclusion. But Eco told the story of his research and included his trials and errors. His professor allowed the publication of Eco’s dissertation as a book.
Question 8.
What did Umberto Eco learn at the age of 22 that he pursued in his novels?
Answer:
At the age of 22, Umberto Eco understood that scholarly books should be written the way he had done, that is, they should be written by telling the story of the research. He means to say that they should have the narrative technique. That’s why he started writing novels so late—at the age of 50.
Question 9.
How did Eco start writing novels?
Answer:
Eco states that he started writing novels by accident. One day, he had nothing to do, so he started writing. He felt that novels probably satisfied his taste for narration and he produced five novels, including the famous The Name of the Rose.
Question 10.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar? Discuss briefly.
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar, a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. If somebody said that he was a novelist, that bothered him. He participated in academic conferences and not the meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He identified himself with academic community.
Question 11.
What makes Eco’s The Name of the Rose a very serious novel?
Answer:
The Name of the Rose is a very serious novel. It is a detective story at one level but it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Due to these reasons it was greatly received by the public.
Question 12.
What, according to Eco, puzzles journalists and publishers?
Answer:
According to Umberto Eco, journalists and publishers are puzzled when something unexpected happens. They believe that people like trash and do not like difficult reading experiences. But Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose, a serious work, sold between 10 and 15 million copies. This puzzled them.
Question 13.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The reason for the huge success of the novel, according to Eco, is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. He states that if he had written the novel ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. So, the time component, its narrative technique, its aspects of metaphysics, theology and medieval history, made it a grand success.
Question 14.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
I think Eco likes being interviewed. His answers to Mukund’s questions are straightforward, precise and to the point. They are never wavering. He even mentions his preferences about TV shows. While answering he gets humorous and laughs. Nowhere does he say anything that may give us this sort of glimpse that he does not like being interviewed.
Question 15.
Is Umberto’s informal style consciously adopted or natural?
Answer:
Umberto’s doctoral thesis was a story of his research and a sum of his experience, his trials and errors. The thesis was appreciated and published as a book. Umberto then developed on his taste for narration and this narrative aspect lends an informal touch to all his essays and novels. It makes his style alive and reading his works is not dry and boring like the reading of other academic works.
Question 16.
Why did Umberto take to writing novels?
Answer:
Umberto took to writing novels to satisfy his taste for narration. He did not have even a single novel to his credit, till the age of 50. One day having nothing to do, he started writing a novel. Moreover, he thought that novels have more readership and he could reach a larger audience.
Question 17.
What made Roiand Barthes frustrated? What did he want to do?
Answer:
Eco s friend Roland Barthes was an essayist. He was not satisfied fully with his scholarly essays. He yearned to do some creative writing. He remained frustrated that he was as essayist and not novelist. But, unfortunately he died before he could do so.
Question 18.
How did Umberto Eco become spectacularly famous?
Answer:
Umberto Eco had earned a good reputation in the field of semiotics or the study of signs. His scholarly works were staggeringly large and wide ranging. But his spectacular fame came to him with his novel The Name of the Rose which stormed the world and sold more than 10 million copies.
Question 19.
What sort of TV programmes does Eco watch after dinner and why?
Answer:
After dinner, Eco watches light television programmes like Miami Vice and Emergency Room. These programmes do not tax his mind and he feels relaxed after a hard, day’s work. But he cannot watch such programmes the whole day.
Question 20.
Bring out Umberto Eco’s humility and modesty as evident in the chapter.
Answer:
Umberto Eco takes success in his stride and talks about his achievements in all modesty. He very humbly gives credit to the people’s capability of appreciating difficult reading experiences. Regarding doing so many things, he tells that it a fallicious impression, but at the end of the day, he is doing the same thing.
The Interview Long Questions and Answers
Question 1.
The Interview as a communication genre is here to stay. Discuss with reference to the interview with Umberto Eco.
Answer:
The interview today is a communication genre that has come to stay. Its detractors—mostly celebrities— despise it as an intrusion into their lives. However, a good interview can be a source of truth, it is an excellent medium of communication and in the modern world our most vivid impressions of contemporaries are through interviews. It is through the interview that we learn about Eco’s diverse writings, his interest in the philosophy of non-violence and peace and his ability to put every spare moment to constructive use. At the interviewer’s prompting, he tells us why he writes scholarly works in an informal style and how he started writing novels. We realise that he is an academician at heart. He honestly talks of the success of his book as a mystery saying that it might •not have sold so well in another time.
Question 2.
How did Umberto Eco assess his style of writing in The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself to be an academician who was happy writing novels on Sundays. Though he did not feel he was a novelist, he felt the novel fulfilled his desire for narration. In fact, he spoke of himself as a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. The novel, according to him, enabled him to reach a larger audience. The Name of the Rose was a very serious novel. It was a detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history’. It enjoyed a huge audience as, according to him, people did enjoy difficult reading experiences. Like him. many did not like easy experiences all the time. The novel deals with a period of medieval history and the publisher did not expect to sell so well in a state where nobody had studied Latin or seen a cathedral. He felt the timing was crucial. Perhaps its popularity would have been less, had it been written earlier or later. ‘
Question 3.
How do celebrity writers despise being interviewed as given in ‘The Interview’?
Answer:
Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become commonplace journalism. Over the years, opinions about its functions, methods and merits vary considerably. Some say it is a source of truth and in practice, an art. Others despise it being an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel it diminishes them. They equate it to taking a photographic portrait of somebody which in some primitive cultures mean ‘stealing the person’s soul.’ Some people feel wounded by interviews and lose part of themselves. They call it immoral, a crime and an assault. To some it is cowardly and vile or an ordeal.
Question 4.
How does Eco explain that he is convinced he is always doing the same thing?
Answer:
Umberto Eco explains to Mukund Padmanabhan in an interview that all the people have a lot of empty spaces. These he call ‘interstices’. He explains them through an example. He says that one is to come to him and is in an elevator and he is waiting for him. While waiting for the guest’s elevator to appear before him. he has already written an article. It means he writes in snatches of time. However, his creative ideas flow in his mind every time even when he is hosting his guest. Though he relaxes on Sundays, yet is very much busy to write novels. On other days he is busy with his academic work.
Question 5.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan comment on Eco’s academic writing style? What does Eco say about it?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan states that Eco’s non-fictional writing, that is, his scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular style. That regular style is invariably depersonalised and often dry and boring. To a question if he consciously adopted
an informal style, he cited the comments of one of the professors who examined and evaluated his first doctoral dissertation. The professor said that scholars learned a lot of a certain subject, then they made a lot of false hypotheses, then they corrected and put conclusions at the end. But Eco told the story of his research, including his trials and errors. At the age of 22, Eco understood that scholarly books should be written by telling the story of the research. His essays, therefore, have a narrative aspect. That is why, he wrote novels to satisfy his taste for narrative.
Question 6.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan impress you as an interviewer? Do you consider his interview with Umberto Eco a success?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan’s interview with Umberto Eco tells about his capabilities as a successful interviewer. He does not encroach upon his privacy or embarrass him with personal questions. He does not come in-between the celebrity and the readers. His questions are well worded. His questions • draw out of him what his fans would like to know. The questions asked by Mukund cover all the aspects of his works and personality. Eco gives elaborated answers to all his questions. With every question, the interviewer withdraws to the background leaving the interviewee in the limelight. The whole interview does not appear to be an ordeal for the interviewee. In short it is crisp at the same time informal.
Question 7.
What are the opinions of some of the celebrities on interviews?
Answer:
Celebrities have often seen themselves as victims of interviews. In V.S. Naipaul’s opinion, interviews have left people wounded and part of them stolen. Lewis Carroll was in horror of the interviewer and he never consented to be interviewed. He often silenced all those who sought to interview him or ask for his autographs. Rudyard Kipling too held a very critical attitude towards interviews and disapproved of them after he was left almost wrecked by two reporters from Boston. According to his wife, since then he found interviews were vile, immoral and a crime. To H.G. Wells, being interviewed was an ordeal, while to Saul Bellow, interviews were like thumbprints on his windpipe, an extortion of personal details by an overbearing interviewer. They all seemed to be terrified of interviews.
Question 8.
How does the interview with Umberto Eco prove that the interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan from ‘The Hindu’ interviews Umberto Eco and proves that interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee.
Through his interview he reveals that Eco is a prolific writer and yet a man who is most modest about his achievements. He very humbly spells the secret of his varied and staggeringly voluminous works produced by him. When Mukund asks him about David Lodge’s remark that how one man can do all the things that Eco does’, Eco very modestly says it is a fallacious impression, in fact he has always been doing the same thing by pursuing the same philosophical ideas. He views himself as an academic, rather than a novelist. He admits that he has started writing novels by accident and writes novels on Sundays.
Going Places
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1.Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
Ans: Sophie and Jansie would soon pass out of their school. Only a few months were left. Jansie knew very well that both of the them were earmarked for biscuit factory. Sophie had wild dreams about her career. Jansie was a realist. She knew that they did not pay well for shop work and Sophie’s father would not allow her to work there.Q2. What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of? Why does Jansie discourage her from having such dreams?
Ans: Sophie wanted to open a boutique. It would be the most amazing shop that city had ever seen. Alternatively, she would become an actress and have the boutique as a side business. She also thought of being a fashion designer. Jansie had her feet firmly planted to the ground. She wanted Sophie to be sensible and drop all her utopian plans because all of them required much money and exprience.THINK AS YOU READ
Q1.Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
Ans: Sophie knew her father well. He would be angry if he knew of her meeting with the young Irish footballer, Danny Casey. She didn’t tell him. When Geoff told his father about it, he became angry. He turned Ms head to look at her with disdain. Sophie wriggled where she was sitting at the table
Q2.Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans: No, Geoff doesn’t believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey. First, he looks round in disbelief and says, “It can’t be true”. Again he says, “I don’t believe it.” Sophie then narrates how Danny Casey came and stood beside her. Geoff asks her, “What does he look like?” So, he doesn’t seem to be convinced that Sophie met Danny Casey.
Q3. Does her father believe her story?
Ans: No, Sophie’s father does not believe her story. When Geoff tells him that Sophie met Danny Casey, his father looked at SopMe with disdain. He ignores her totally. He thinks that it is yet another ‘wild story’. He begins to talk about Tom Finny, another great football player.Q4. How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in her fantasy of her future?
Ans: Geoff was always the first to share her secrets. So, she told him about meeting Danny Casey. She also told him about her plan to meet him next week. She suspected areas of his life about wMch she knew nothing. She longed to know them. She wished that someday he might take her with him. She saw herself riding there behind Geoff.
Q5. Which country did Danny Casey play for?
Ans: Danny Casey played for Ireland.
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1. Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
Ans: Jansie was very interested in things that did not concern her. She wanted to know other people’s affairs. She would spread the news in the whole neighbourhood. So, Sophie didn’t want Jansie to know about her story with Danny. It may also be mutual rivalry and one-up manship on her part. Sophie was startled to learn that Geoff had told Jansie about her story with Danny.
Q2. Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey? [Delhi 2014]
Ans: No, Sophie did not really meet Danny Casey. She was very fascinated by the young Irish footballer. She imagined his coming. She sat in the park, waiting for Casey and knowing that he would not come. She felt sad. Sadness was a hard burden to carry. She was always lost in a dreamy world where she imagined Casey meeting her.
Q3. Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person?
Ans: The only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person was when the family went to watch United on Saturday. Sophie, her father and little Derek went down near the goal. Geoff went with his mates higher up. United won two-nil. Her idol Casey drove in the second goal. She saw the Irish genius going round two big defenders on the edge of penalty area. He beat the hesitant goal keeper from a dozen yards. Sophie glowed with pride. She was very happy.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Q1. Sophie and Jansie were classmates and friends. What were the differences between them that show up in the story?
Ans: Sophie and Jansie are poles apart in tastes and temperament. Sophie has fantastic dreams and floats in a fairy land. She is an incurable escapist who won’t come out of her dreams. Jansie is down to earth—a realist. Sophie wants to do something sophisticated. Jansie knows that these things require a lot of money which their families do not possess. Jansie also knows that they were earmaked for the biscuit factory. She even advises Sophie to be sensible and practical. Sophie considers Jansie ‘nosey’ and does not want to confide in her.
Q2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father?
Ans:Sophie’s father has a plumpy face looking grimy and sweaty. He doesn’t seem to be a soft or sophisticated man. Sophie fears his agressive manliness. He is a realist and does not believe in his daughter’s wild stories. He loves watching football. He hopes young Casey will be as good as Tom Finney. He wishes that the young footballer keeps away from all distractions. He shouts instructions to Casey at the playground. When the Irish genius beats the hesitant goal keeper, Sophie’s father screams with joy and pride. He goes to a pub to celebrate the victory.
Q3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective, what did he symbolise?
Ans: Geoff is the only person who listens to Sophie’s fantasies and long cherished dreams. Her father is too bossy and aggressive. He hates Sophie’s fantastic stories. Even little Derek – makes fun of her growing rich. Her classmate Jansie is ‘nosey’ and can’t be trusted with a secret. Only Geoff can be trusted to keep all the secrets of Sophie to himself.From her perspective, Geoff symbolises an elder brother who has grown up and visited places unknown to her. She wished that someday her brother might take her to those places. He is sympathetic and cautions her by telling her that Casey might have strings of girls. He warns her that he would never show up again. He speaks softly so as not to break the heart of the young dreamer.
Q4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her family’s financial status?
Ans: Sophie belongs to a lower middle class family. She is an escapist and has wild dreams. She dreams of things she can’t have in real life. Jansie tells her that boutique needs a lot of money. Sophie knows that the family doesn’t have money. She says, “If ever I came into money, I’ll buy a boutique.” Even little Derek understands her unrealistic nature.
Geoffs occupation reflects their socio-economic background. He is an apprentice mechanic. He travels to his work each day to the far side of the city. His jacket is shapeless. Her father lacks sophistication. He is a heavy breathing man. He sits in his vest at the table. He grunts and tosses one of little Derek’s shoes from his chair on to the sofa. There is stove in the same room where dirty washing is piled in a comer. Sophie’s father goes to pub on his bicycle. All these indicators confirm their lower middle-class family background.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Discuss in pairs
Q1.Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.
Ans: Sophie is a young school-girl belonging to a lower middle-class family. She wants to rise from the situation in which she finds herself. She is an incurable dreamer and escapist. She dreams of opening a boutique. Her classmate Jansie, who had her feet firmly planted on the ground, tells Sophie that opening a boutique requires a lot of money and experience and she has neither of them. Sophie, who floats in a dreamy world of her own, dreams of becoming an actress or a fashion designer. She has dreams of a hero also. She develops fascination for Danny Casey, the wonder-boy of football. She sees him in action only once when he scores the second goal for United. She imagines him coming to her and tells her brother about the meeting. She goes on waiting for him on the next date but he does not turn up. She becomes sad and carries the burden of sadness all the times. Thus, her dreams and disappointments are the creations of her mind.
Q2.It is natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams. What would you say are the benefits and disadvantages of such fantasising?
Ans: Teenagers have boundless enthusiasm and ambitions. They have sweet dreams and go on fantasising. It is natural for them to do so. Every youth is a dreamer. Every great scientist or writer has a dream. Without some thing to aspire for one can’t strive to achieve that goal. Dreams lead to the golden gate of success. Some teenagers float in the world of fantasy. They have unreal dreams. It is just like a child asking for the moon. Their feet are in the mud and they dream of the stars in the sky. Such fantasising results in disappointment and disillusionment. A dreamer who fails to realise his dream is labelled a failure. Those who realise their dreams become heroes and achievers in their spheres. I think it is better to have dreams even if we fail to realise them. Who would have dreams if the teenagers don’t—will these grey-headed, grey-bearded persons have dreams? Let the teenagers indulge in their natural activity and dream of a golden future. They will strive to translate them into reality.
WORKING WITH WORDS
Notice the following expressions. The highlighted words are not used in a literal sense. Explain what they mean.
•Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of a ground.
•Sophie felt a tightening in her throat.
If he keeps his head on his shoulders.
•On Saturday they made their weekly pilgrimage to the United.
•She saw … him ghost past the lumbering defenders
Ans. (i)Phrase Meaning : Words had to be prized out of him. He was so silent that words had to be extracted from him with great difficulty or force.
(ii)Phrase Meaning : … a tightening in her throat. Sophie felt a stiffness in her throat and felt upset.
(iii)Phrase Meaning : … keeps his head on his shoulders. If he is sensible or intelligent.
(iv)Phrase Meaning : … they made their weekly pilgrimage. They went to see the football match every week as if they were visiting a holy place.
(v) Phrase Meaning :… ghost past. Making a silent move or running to dodge/deceive.
NOTICING FORM
Notice the highlighted words in the following sentences:
1.“When I leave,’ Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going to have a boutique.”
2. Jansi, linking arms with her along the street, looked doubtful.
3.“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
4. Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy.
5.And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie standing in the rain.
-When we add “ing” to a verb we get the present participle form. The present participle form is generally used along with forms of “be’, (is, was, are, were, am) to indicate the present continuous tense as in “Sophie was coming home from school.”
-We can use the present participle by itself without the helping verb, when we wish to indicate that an action is happening at the same time as another.
-In example 1, Sophie “said” something, “Said”, here, is the main action.
-What Sophie was doing while she was “saying” is indicated by “coming home from school”. So we get the information of two actions happening at the same time. We convey the information in one sentence instead of two.
-Analyse the other examples in the same way.
-Pick out five other sentences from the story in which present participles are used in this sense.
Ans. 1.“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad? said little Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair. ,
2.She was conscious of a vast world out there waiting for her …
3.She saw herself riding there behind Geoff.
4.Here I sit, she said to herself, wishing Danny would come, wishing he would come
and sensing the time passing.
5.She waited, measuring in this way the changes taking place in her.
6.Sitting here waiting and knowing he will not come I can see the future…
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Notice these words from the story.
•“chuffed”, meaning delighted or very pleased
•“nosey”, meaning inquisitive
•“gawky”, meaning awkward, ungainly.
These are words that are used in an informal way in colloquial speech.
Make a list of ten other words df this kind.
Ans. (i) “boutique”, meaning a shop selling fashionable clothes or expensive gifts.
(ii)“dad”, meaning father.
(iii)“scooping”, meaning picking up something with a spoon.
(iv)“prized out”, meaning extract some infrmation with difficulty or force.
(v)“muttered”, meaning murmured.
(vi)“pub”, meaning a place where one can drink.
(vii)jeered”, meaning taunted.
(viii)“damn”, meaning ‘go to hell!’
(ix)“ghost past”, meaning moved unseen and unheard.
(x)“huh”, meaning an expression showing disagreement.
WRITING
-Think of a person who you would like to have as your role-model.
-Write down the points to be discussed or questions to be asked, if you were asked to interview that person on the Television show.
Ans: INTERVIEWING SUNIL GAVASKAR
1.Welcome, Sunil to our chat show. How do you feel at this stage of life?
2.Sachin Tendulkar has broken your record of hitting the highest number of test hundreds. How do you react to that?
3.What helps you to keep fit and smart at this age?
4.What are your current international engagements?
5.What do you prefer—writing books on cricket or commenting on television?
6.Have you ever thought of coaching India?
7.Would you like to be involved intimately in grooming budding talent, if offer comes from the right quarters?
8.What are your plans for helping the players to get a better deal?
9.How do you balance your international engagements with you personal obligations?
10.What are your interests other than cricket?
THINGS TO DO
1.Look for other stories or movies where this theme of hero worship and fantasising about film or sports icons finds a place.
Ans: Extension Activity : To be attempted under the guidance of the teacher.
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. What does Sophie dream of doing after she passes out of school? Why do you call it a ‘dream’ and not a ‘plan’?
Ans: Sophie dreams to have a boutique of her own. It will be the most amazing shop the city has ever seen. She says that she will buy a boutique if ever she comes into money. She does not mind becoming an actress to run a boutique as a side business. Since she has no money or experience, it is called a ‘dream’ and not a ‘plan’.
Q2. What are the other dreams of Sophie in addition to having a boutique?
Ans: The greatest dream of Sophie is to have a boutique. She wants to be a bit sophisticated and rise above her lower-middle class status. Her other dream is of being an actress as “there’s real money in that”. Moreover, actresses don’t work full time. She can look after her first love i.e. boutique as a side business. She has another option. She can be a fashion designer, and do something sophisticated.
Q3. Why does -Jansie say : “Soaf, you really should be sensible” ?
Ans: Jansie knows Sophie’s family background and financial position. She knows that both of them are earmarked for that biscuit factory. Sophie dreams of big and beautiful things like having a boutique or becoming an actress or a fashion designer. All these things need a lot of money and experience. Sophie has neither of them. So Jansie being down-to-earth advises her to be sensible and stop having wild dreams.
Q4. Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie?
OR
Jansie is Sophie’s classmate and friend but doesn’t entertain any ‘wild dreams’like her. Why?
Ans: Sophie and Jansie are classmates and friends, but the similarity ends here. They are poles ’ apart in thinking and temperament. Sophie is an incurable dreamer and escapist. She dreams of big and beautiful things, which are beyond her reach.
On the other hand, Jansie is realistic and practical. She knows that they are poor and will have to work in the biscuit factory after leaving school. She is well aware that big things require big money and experience, which they don’t have. It is better to live in reality and think accordingly.
Q5. What job is Geoff engaged in? How does he differ from his sister, Sophie?
Ans: Geoff is a grown up boy. He left school three years ago. Now he is an apprentice mechanic. He has to travel to his work each day to the far side of the city. He speaks little but listens to his sister’s ‘wild stories’. But he is not a day dreamer like her. He knows the financial limitations of his family. He cautions Sophie against entertaining dreams for a celebrity like Danny Casey.
Q6. Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?
Ans: Geoff was almost grown up now. He spoke little. Words had to be extracted out of him like stones out of the ground. Sophie was jealous of his silence. She knew that when he was not speaking, he was away somewhere. He was out in the surrounding country—in those places she had never been. She wanted to share her brother’s affection.
Q7. What does Sophie tell Geoff about her meeting with Danny Gasey? How does Geoff react to it?
Ans: Sophie tells Geoff that she met Danny Casey. Geoff is surprised. He looks round abruptly and asks ‘where?’ Sophie replies that she met him in the arcade. Geoff can’t believe her. He says, “It’s never true.” He asks her, “What does he look like?” She replies that he has green eyes and is not very tall. Geoff is still not convinced.
Q8. How does Sophie’s father react when Geoff tells him about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans: Geoff informs his father that Sophie had a meeting with Danny Casey. He turns his head on his thick neck to look at her in disbelief. His expression is one of disdain. He ignores the news and goes on to talk about Tom Finney. He hopes that Danny will he like Tom Finney one day. When Sophie says that Casey is going to buy a shop, he reacts sharply. “This is another of your wild stories.”
Q9. “He don’t believe you—though he’d like to.” Who says so, about whom and in what context?
Ans: Geoff says so to Sophie about their father. He reacted sharply to her account of meeting Danny Casey. Geoff said that she had met him in the arcade and then told him how it had been. Their father said aggressively that she was going to talk herself into a load of trouble. Sophie asked Geoff to confirm that it was true. It was then that Geoff uttered these remarks. *-
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