Kathmandu | Question and Answer |
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Thinking about the Text
I Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.
Question 1 Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.
Answer The author visited the Pashupatinath temple and the Baudhnath stupa in Kathmandu.
Question 2 The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?
Answer Here, ‘all this’ refers to a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob rubbed with salt, chilli, and lemon roasted in a charcoal stove and reading a few love story comics and a reader’s digest.
Question 3 What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
Answer The author of the chapter, Vikram Seth compares the fifty or sixty flutes tied to the pole of the flute seller, to the quills of a porcupine.
Question 4 Name five kinds of flutes.
Answer The reed neh , the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music and the breathy flutes of South America are some kinds of flutes.
II Answer each question in a short paragraph.
Question 1 What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?
Answer When the author saw the flute seller, he noticed a difference between him and the other hawkers, The other hawkers shouted to call people to buy their products but the flute seller was not shouting to sell his flutes. Instead, he played the flutes occasionally in a slow and meditative manner to make people notice its melodious sound and get tempted to buy it.
Question 2 What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?
Answer At Pashupatinath, there is a small shrine on the bank of Bagmati river which was half inside the river. The belief is that when the complete temple would come out of the river, the goddess inside the temple will escape and the evil period of Kaliyug will end on the Earth.
Question 3 The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of
(i) the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath (for example: some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside…)
Answer The pictures of ‘febrile confusion outside the temple of Pashupatinath drawn by the author are: two monkeys fighting with each other, many worshippers trying to get the priest attention were pushing their way , a royal Nepalese princess for whom everybody makes way, and a group of saffron-clad westerners struggling to enter the temple as the temple allowed only Hindus to enter.
(ii) the things he sees
Answer He saw that the Baudhnath stupa had an immense white dome, which was ringed by a road. Small shops were there on the outer edge where felt bags , Tibetan prints and silver jewellery could be bought.There were no crowds. On the busiest streets of Kathmandu, he saw fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolates, copper utensils, Nepalese antiques, etc.
(iii) the sounds he hears
Answer The sounds he hears are, the sound of various hawkers and vendors shouting out their wares, the sound of movie songs coming out of the radio, the sounds of car horns and bicycle bell rings, etc.
III. Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.
Question 1 Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.
Answer The main difference between the atmosphere at the Baudhnath shrine and the Pashupatinath temple is that the Pashupatinath temple was a noisy and highly chaotic place while the atmosphere at the Baudhnath shrine was quite and peaceful.
At the Pashupatinath temple, there was a large crowd rushing towards the entrance of the temple. People were pushing each other to get the priests attention. At the same time, Westerners dressed in saffron clothes were trying to enter the temple and some monkeys were fighting with each other. Around the temple, there was the holy river Bagmati where a corpse was being cremated. A washerwoman was washing clothes and children were bathing. In contrast, the Baudhnath Stupa was completely quiet. There was no crowd around it. There was a sense of stillness and serenity around the Buddhist shrine.
Question 2 How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets?
Answer The author describes the busiest streets of Kathmandu on the basis of the things he sees and the sounds he hears. The author describes that along Kathmandu’s narrowest and busiest streets there were small shrines and flower-adorned deities. Apart from these, there were fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolates, Copper utensils, Nepalese antiques, etc. He also hears some sounds on these streets, such as the sound of movie songs blaring out of a radio, sounds of the honking of the cars, and the sound of bicycle bells. He also saw a flute seller with many flutes. He was playing a flute meditatively and was not shouting out his wares. He contrasts the melodious music produced by the flute seller with the shouting of the hawkers.
Question 3 “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?
Answer For the author, to hear any flute is to be drawn into man the commonality of all mankind. Music is a commonality for the mankind. Music draws everyone’s attention and where all the things are considered equal. The one who knows and understands music, is very much sure about the way it brings all together. It doesn’t matter how this music is produced but every instrument has the same way of commonality.
The author considers flute music to be the most universal and most particular of all music. There is no culture that does not have its flute. The Japanese have their Shakuhachi, the Indians have the bansuri, the South Americans have the breathy flute and the Chinese have the high-pitched flutes. Each kind of flute has a specific difference. In spite of their differences, every flute produces music with the help of the human breath. Similarly, in spite of the differences in caste, culture, religion and region, all human beings are the same, with the same living breath running through all of them.
Thinking about Language
Question I Read the following sentences carefully to understand the meaning of the italicised phrases. Then match the phrasal verbs in Column A with their meanings in Column B.
1. A communal war broke out when the princess was abducted by the neighbouring prince.
2. The cockpit broke off from the plane during the plane crash.
3. The car broke down on the way and we were left stranded in the jungle.
4. The dacoit broke away from the police as they took him to court.
5. The brothers broke up after the death of the father.
6. The thief broke into our house when we were away.
| A | B |
| (i) break out | (a) to come apart due to force |
| (ii) break off | (b) end a relationship |
| (iii) break down | (c) break and enter illegally; unlawful |
| (iv) break away (from someone) | (d) of start suddenly, (usually a fight, someone) a war or a disease) |
| (v) break up | (e) to escape from someone’s grip |
| (vi) break into | (f) stop working |
Answer
| A | B |
| (i) break out | (d) of start suddenly, (usually a fight, someone) a war or a disease) |
| (ii) break off | (a) to come apart due to force |
| (iii) break down | (f) stop working |
| (iv) break away (from someone) | (e) to escape from someone’s grip |
| (v) break up | (b) end a relationship |
| (vi) break into | (c) break and enter illegally; unlawful |
II Question 1 Use the suffixes -ion or -tion to form nouns from the following verbs. Make the necessary changes in the spellings of the words.
Example: proclaim – proclamation
cremate _____ act _____ exhaust _____
invent _____ tempt_____ immigrate_____
direct _____ meditate_____ imagine_____
dislocate _____ associate_____ dedicate____
Answer
cremate: cremation
act: action
exhaust : exhaustion
invent: invention
tempt: temptation
immigrate : immigration
direct : direction
meditate : meditation
imagine : imagination
dislocate : dislocation
associate : association
dedicate : dedication
Question 2 Now fill in the blanks with suitable words from the ones that you have formed.
(i) Mass literacy was possible only after the _____ of the printing machine.
(ii) Ramesh is unable to tackle the situation as he lacks_____ .
(iii) I could not resist the _____ to open the letter.
(iv) Hardwork and _____ are the main keys to success.
(v) The children were almost fainting with _____ after being made to stand in the sun.
Answer
(i) Mass literacy was possible only after the invention of the printing machine.
(ii) Ramesh is unable to tackle the situation as he lacks imagination.
(iii) I could not resist the temptation to open the letter.
(iv) Hard work and dedication are the main keys to success.
(v) The children were almost fainting with exhaustion after being made to stand in the sun.
Question 3 Punctuation
Use capital letter, full stops, question marks, Commas and inverted commas wherever necessary in the following paragraph.
An arrogant lion was wandering through the jungle one day he asked the tiger who is stronger than you you O lion replied the tiger who is more fierce than a leopard asked the lion you sir replied the leopard he marched upto an elephant and asked the same question the elephant picked him up in his trunk swung him in the air and threw him down look said the lion there is no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer.
Answer An arrogant lion was wandering through the jungle one day. He asked the tiger, “Who is stronger than you?” You, O lion! replied the tiger.” Who is more fierce than a leopard? asked the lion. “You, sir,” replied the leopard. He marched upto an elephant and asked the same question. The elephant picked him up in his trunk, swung him in the air and threw him down. “Look,” said the lion, “There is no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer”.
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