Chapter 8 A House is Not a Home

NCERT Solutions for A House is Not a Home, Chapter 8 Class 9 English Moments

Question 1 What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s reaction? What does she do?

Answer The author noticed smoke coming from the ceiling of his house on a Sunday afternoon. The author and his mother came out of the house. The reaction of author mother was that she ran back into the house to save important documents and photographs and letters of his father.

Question 2 Why does he break down in tears after the fire?

Answer The author broke down in tears after the fire as he was unable to find his pet cat. He was already sad as he missed his old school and now his house got burned and his pet cat was missing

Question 3 Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words show his fear and insecurity?

Answer The author was deeply embarrassed on the next day in school as his clothes looked weird, he had no books or homework and his backpack was destroyed in the fire. He was full of fear and insecurity. The words ‘outcast, ‘geek and ‘zombie’ show his fear and insecurity.

Question 4 The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?

Answer The author missed the cat badly when she got lost. Many times he would go to his damaged house to search for the cat. He would also remember the time the author spent with the cat. The cat used to climb on him and crawl into his pocket to sleep when it was a kitten. She would also follow him. All this shows that the author and the cat were very fond of each other.

Question 5 What actions of the schoolmates change the author’s understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?

Answer The author’s schoolmates gave him school supplies, notebooks and clothes as his house had been completely destroyed by the fire. They also introduced themselves to him and invited him to their house. All these things comforted the author emotionally and changed his understanding of life and people. This incident made the author think for the first time that things are going to be normal in the future. It made his loneliness vanish and led him to make new friends.

Question 6 What is the meaning of “My cat was back and so was I”? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?

Answer The sentence ‘My cat was back and so was I means that the author is back to normal life after finding his cat. The author had not gone anywhere. He says this sentence because finding his cat gives him new hope that have replaced the feelings of loss and tragedy. His beloved cat rescues his interest in life and he came back to a positive state of mind.