Class 9 CBSE English MCQ Practice | Kaveri Chapter Extracts with Answers

Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

How I Taught My Grandmother to Read    Sudha Murty |  Class 9  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “It was my grandmother who would request me every time I visited her, to read out the next episode of the serial to her. Slowly I began to realise how my grandmother felt. She was living in a household where no one depended on her. She had become totally dependent on others for even the smallest information. I realised that not being able to read or write makes you feel cut off from the world.”                                                                               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The narrator begins to understand the grandmother’s situation because:                                                                  [1]

A.   the grandmother tells her directly how she feels

B.   the narrator observes the grandmother’s dependence gradually over time

C.   the grandmother refuses to listen to the serial any longer

D.   the narrator’s family members explain the situation to her

Ans.  B  the narrator observes the grandmother’s dependence gradually over time. The word ‘slowly’ indicates that understanding grew through observation, not through direct communication.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: The grandmother felt dependent because she had no family members to support her.             [1]

Ans.  False. The grandmother lived in a household with family members. Her dependence arose not from a lack of family but from her inability to read, which left her feeling isolated even among people who cared for her.

(iii)  What does the extract reveal about the effect of illiteracy on the grandmother’s dignity and position in the household? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                             [2]

Ans.  The extract reveals that illiteracy had stripped the grandmother of independence and made her marginal within her own home. No one depended on her, and she depended on everyone else for even the smallest information. The phrase ‘cut off from the world’ shows that illiteracy is not simply a practical limitation but a form of isolation that erodes a person’s sense of self-worth and belonging.

(iv)  Find a word or phrase from the extract that means ‘completely relying on others for support’.                                                                                      [1]

Ans.  ‘Totally dependent’  the extract states the grandmother ‘had become totally dependent on others for even the smallest information’.

(2) “Then one day she made a surprising announcement. She would learn the Kannada alphabet and start reading on her own. She was, after all, a determined woman. She fixed her own target: to be able to read the Kannada novel Kashi Yatre independently, on the day of my exam results. If I passed, she would also have passed her own examination.”                       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The grandmother’s decision to link her deadline to the narrator’s exam results day suggests that she:                [1]

A.   wanted the narrator’s help to achieve her goal on that day

B.   viewed her own learning as an achievement equally worthy of celebration

C.   was uncertain she could succeed without encouragement

D.   wished to draw attention away from the narrator’s results

Ans.  B  she viewed her own learning as an achievement equally worthy of celebration. By choosing a day of significance, the grandmother placed her own effort on the same level as formal education.

(ii)  Select the option that is True from (i)–(iii) for what the phrase ‘she was, after all, a determined woman’ implies:                                                        [1]

(i)  Determination was already an established part of the grandmother’s character.

(ii)  The grandmother became determined only after the narrator began teaching her.

(iii)  The grandmother’s determination surprised even herself.

Ans.  (i)  The phrase ‘after all’ indicates that the narrator is recalling a quality the grandmother had always possessed, not something that emerged only through this experience.

(iii)  How does the grandmother’s act of setting her own target and calling it her ‘own examination’ reveal her understanding of what learning means? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  By setting her own goal and framing it as an examination, the grandmother demonstrates that she understands learning as something personal and self-directed. She does not wait for permission but takes charge of her own progress. The word ‘examination’ shows she holds herself to the same standard of accountability as any formal student, revealing both her seriousness and her self-respect.

(iv)  Complete the sentence: The grandmother’s target was to read __________ independently by the day of the narrator’s results.             [1]

Ans.  the Kannada novel Kashi Yatre.

(3) “She would sit in front of the idol of the goddess Saraswati and pray. Then she would open the book and start reading, not for entertainment but as a spiritual and intellectual exercise. After three months of regular practice, she could read simple Kannada. After six months, she wrote me a letter  her first letter to anyone in her life.”                                                  (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The grandmother prays to Saraswati before reading in order to:                                                                                            [1]

A.   seek protection from making mistakes in front of the narrator

B.   treat the act of learning as something sacred and worthy of reverence

C.   follow a ritual that her family had always observed

D.   impress the narrator with her devotion

Ans.  B  to treat the act of learning as something sacred and worthy of reverence. Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, and praying before her signals that the grandmother approaches literacy as a spiritual act, not merely a practical skill.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘not for entertainment but as a spiritual and intellectual exercise’ tell us about the grandmother’s relationship with reading?                                                                                                               [1]

Ans.  The phrase tells us that the grandmother approaches reading with deliberate seriousness. She is not reading to pass time but engaging both her mind and her spirit in a purposeful act of self-development, which reveals the depth of her commitment and the weight she gives to her own learning.

(iii)  The extract describes two milestones: reading simple Kannada after three months and writing her first letter after six months. What is the significance of each, and what do they together suggest about her growth? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The first milestone shows the grandmother has gained independent access to language  a practical breakthrough after a lifetime of exclusion. The second is more significant: writing her first letter transforms her from someone who receives communication into someone who initiates it. Together they trace a journey from dependence and silence to independence and self-expression, showing that her learning was both rapid and complete.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘a regular activity done to improve a skill’.                                                                                                   [1]

Ans.  ‘Practice’  the extract states that after ‘three months of regular practice’ the grandmother could read simple Kannada.

(4) “I was also amazed at my grandmother. She was over sixty, hard of hearing and her eyes were not very good either. Despite these physical limitations, she had set herself a goal and was following it diligently. It is not possible for everyone to go to school. But if you want to learn, age, poverty or physical challenges cannot stop you. All you need is a determined mind and a teacher.”                                                                                       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The narrator is amazed at her grandmother because:                                                                                                               [1]

A.   the grandmother completed her target faster than expected

B.   the grandmother overcame significant physical limitations to pursue learning

C.   the grandmother decided to teach others in the village

D.   the grandmother wrote a letter that impressed the whole family

Ans.  B  the grandmother overcame significant physical limitations to pursue learning. Despite being over sixty, hard of hearing, and with poor eyesight, she set and achieved her goal.

(ii)  Select the option that is True from (i)–(iii) for what the line ‘All you need is a determined mind and a teacher’ suggests:                                  [1]

(i)  Formal schooling is not the only pathway to learning; will and guidance matter more.

(ii)  A teacher is more important than the student’s own effort.

(iii)  Learning is only possible when physical conditions are ideal.

Ans.  (i)  The line argues that institutional education is not a requirement. What matters most is the inner drive to learn and the presence of someone willing to share knowledge. The grandmother proves that age, poverty, and physical challenges are real but not final.

(iii)  How does the narrator use the grandmother’s example to make a point that goes beyond this one story? What larger message about education does the extract convey? Answer in about 40–50 words.       [2]

Ans.  The narrator uses the grandmother  elderly, physically limited, without formal schooling  to argue that the desire to learn is more powerful than any external obstacle. The extract conveys that education is a universal possibility, not a privilege tied to youth or wealth. The message is that anyone who wants to learn can, as long as they have determination and access to a teacher.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘in a careful and consistent manner’.                                                                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Diligently’  the extract states the grandmother ‘had set herself a goal and was following it diligently’.

(5) “The novel Kashi Yatre was about an elderly woman’s unfulfilled desire to visit the holy city of Kashi before her death. My grandmother was moved by the story and identified with the old woman. ‘I am just like her,’ she said. ‘She has a dream she cannot fulfil alone. So do I. My dream is not to visit Kashi. My dream is simply to be able to read.’”                               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The grandmother identifies with the protagonist of Kashi Yatre because:                                                               [1]

A.   both are old women who wish to visit Kashi

B.   both are women with a deep personal dream they cannot fulfil alone

C.   both have granddaughters who help them achieve their goals

D.   both are from the same region of Karnataka

Ans.  B  both are women with a deep personal dream they cannot fulfil alone. The grandmother draws a parallel not between their specific goals but between the shared experience of having an unfulfilled desire that requires support to achieve.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: The grandmother’s dream, like the protagonist’s in Kashi Yatre, is to undertake a religious journey.   [1]

Ans.  False. The grandmother carefully distinguishes her dream from the protagonist’s. While the old woman in the novel wishes to visit Kashi, the grandmother’s dream is simply to read independently. The comparison is about the nature of unfulfilled longing, not about shared goals.

(iii)  How does the novel Kashi Yatre function as more than just a story the grandmother enjoys? What role does it play in her learning journey? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  Kashi Yatre functions as a mirror that helps the grandmother understand and articulate her own situation. The protagonist’s unfulfilled dream reflects the grandmother’s own longing, giving her learning a personal and emotional purpose beyond the mechanical act of reading. The novel becomes both the reason she learns and the goal she works towards, making it the emotional heart of her entire journey.

(iv)  Complete the sentence: The grandmother said that her dream was not to visit Kashi but simply to be able to __________.                                     [1]

Ans.  read.

(6) “Every time I visited her, she would sit beside me with her Kannada primer. I was her teacher and she was my student. She never missed a class, never made excuses, and never complained. If I was a little late, she would be waiting at the door. She treated every lesson as a gift, not as a burden. I had never had a student so eager to learn.”                                     (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The narrator describes the grandmother as the most eager student she had ever had because:                                    [1]

A.   the grandmother learned faster than any student of the narrator’s age

B.   her consistent effort, punctuality, and enthusiasm set her apart from any other learner

C.   the grandmother never asked questions and never required explanation

D.   the grandmother completed the entire primer in a single month

Ans.  B  her consistent effort, punctuality, and enthusiasm set her apart from any other learner. She never missed a class, never made excuses, and treated every lesson as a gift  qualities the narrator had not encountered in any other student.

(ii)  What does the image of the grandmother waiting at the door suggest about her relationship to learning?                                                                [1]

Ans.  The image suggests that the grandmother valued her lessons so highly she was unwilling to lose even a moment of them. Waiting at the door signals eagerness and anticipation, showing that learning was not an obligation but something she actively treasured.

(iii)  The narrator says the grandmother treated every lesson ‘as a gift, not as a burden’. What does this contrast reveal about the grandmother’s attitude and how does it reflect the story’s central theme? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The contrast reveals that the grandmother approached learning with gratitude and joy rather than reluctance. For her, each lesson was freely given and deeply valued. This reflects the story’s central theme that education is not merely a duty but a transformative privilege. Her response challenges the reader to consider how lightly those who have always had literacy might take what she received as a gift.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘a beginner’s textbook used to learn the basics of a language’.                                                                   [1]

Ans.  ‘Primer’  the extract states the grandmother would ‘sit beside me with her Kannada primer’.

(7) “When the results were announced, I had passed. And so had she. On that same day, she handed me a letter she had written herself. It was in Kannada, a little unsteady in the letters, but clear in its meaning. She had written to say that I was her teacher, her guide, and that she was grateful beyond words. I read the letter three times.”                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The narrator reads the grandmother’s letter three times because:                                                                                         [1]

A.   the handwriting was difficult to understand

B.   the letter moved her deeply and she wanted to absorb its full meaning

C.   she needed to correct the grandmother’s mistakes

D.   the letter contained information she needed to memorise

Ans.  B  the letter moved her deeply and she wanted to absorb its full meaning. Reading a letter three times signals emotional impact, not practical difficulty.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: The grandmother’s letter was written in perfect, confident Kannada.                                                  [1]

Ans.  False. The extract describes the letters as ‘a little unsteady’, showing the effort of a new writer. However, the meaning was clear, which matters more than technical perfection.

(iii)  In what sense had both the narrator and the grandmother ‘passed’ on the same day? What does this double meaning reveal about how the story presents learning and achievement? Answer in about 40–50 words.      [2]

Ans.  The narrator passed her formal examination, while the grandmother passed her own self-imposed test: to read independently before that day. The double meaning reveals that the story treats both achievements as equally valid. It challenges the idea that only institutional examinations count as real success, suggesting that any goal met through sustained effort and determination deserves the same recognition.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that the grandmother uses to describe the narrator’s role in her life.                                                                           [1]

Ans.  ‘My teacher, my guide’  the grandmother wrote that the narrator was ‘her teacher, her guide’.

(8) “When I came home for the Dasara holidays, my grandmother touched my feet. I was surprised because in our family, it is the elders who are touched on the feet by the younger ones, not the other way around. I asked her why she had done this. She replied quietly, ‘You are my teacher. A teacher is always respected, no matter how young.’”                                       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The grandmother’s gesture of touching the narrator’s feet is described as surprising because:                                      [1]

A.   touching feet is not a custom followed in the narrator’s family

B.   it reverses the expected direction of the gesture in their family tradition

C.   the grandmother had never shown affection in this way before

D.   the narrator felt she had not done enough to deserve such respect

Ans.  B  it reverses the expected direction of the gesture in their family tradition. Younger members normally touch the feet of elders. The grandmother’s act inverts this hierarchy, which is what surprises the narrator.

(ii)  What does the grandmother’s explanation  ‘A teacher is always respected, no matter how young’  suggest about her values?              [1]

Ans.  The explanation reveals that the grandmother holds the role of teacher above the social hierarchy of age. Knowledge and the act of sharing it command respect regardless of who occupies the role. This shows her humility, her gratitude, and her belief that wisdom is the truest source of honour.

(iii)  How does the grandmother’s gesture bring together the central ideas of dignity, respect, and the relationship between teacher and student? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The gesture brings the story’s themes together in a single moment. Throughout the text the grandmother has worked to restore her dignity through learning. At the end, she extends that dignity to her teacher using the deepest gesture of respect in their tradition. The act shows that learning transformed not only the grandmother but the entire relationship between them, placing knowledge above age and social convention.

(iv)  Complete the sentence: The grandmother said that a teacher is always respected no matter how __________.                                                         [1]

Ans.  young.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

The Pot Maker  |  Class 9  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “Sentila watched in fascination the pot emerging out of a shapeless lump right in front of her eyes. She tried again and again, but her hands would not hold the clay properly. While Sentila hung her head in shame and frustration, Arenla took over and transformed the lump into a beautiful pot. Sentila felt she would never be able to do what Arenla did so effortlessly.”   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Sentila feels ashamed because:                [1]

A.   she has broken one of Arenla’s pots

B.   she cannot shape the clay despite repeated attempts

C.   she has arrived late to the workshop

D.   she has been asked to leave by Arenla

Ans.  B  she cannot shape the clay despite repeated attempts. Sentila’s shame and frustration arise directly from her inability to control the clay, which contrasts with the ease she observes in Arenla.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: Arenla transforms the clay into a pot without any effort or skill.                                                              [1]

Ans.  False. The extract uses the word ‘effortlessly’ to describe how Arenla works from Sentila’s perspective, but this reflects Sentila’s admiration rather than a literal absence of skill. Arenla’s ability is the result of long practice and mastery, not the absence of effort.

(iii)  What does the contrast between Sentila’s repeated failure and Arenla’s ease reveal about the process of learning a traditional craft? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The contrast reveals that traditional craft requires sustained practice before the body learns to respond correctly. Sentila’s hands fail despite her willingness, while Arenla’s succeed with apparent ease. This shows that mastery is not achieved quickly but through long experience, and that the gap between beginner and expert can feel overwhelming at the start of a learning journey.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘a feeling of helplessness and defeat after repeated failure’.                                                                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Frustration’  the extract states that ‘Sentila hung her head in shame and frustration’ after failing to shape the clay.

(2) “Onula sat beside Sentila and placed her hands gently over the girl’s. ‘The clay does not obey the mind,’ she said quietly. ‘It obeys the hands. Your hands must learn first, and then the mind will follow.’ She guided Sentila’s fingers slowly around the base of the pot. ‘Do not think. Feel the clay. It will tell you what to do.’”                                                                             (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Onula’s instruction ‘Do not think. Feel the clay’ suggests that learning to make pots requires:                                     [1]

A.   ignoring the teacher’s guidance and working alone

B.   developing a physical and sensory understanding rather than an intellectual one

C.   memorising the correct steps before attempting the task

D.   working as quickly as possible to build confidence

Ans.  B  developing a physical and sensory understanding rather than an intellectual one. Onula is telling Sentila that pottery is a skill of the hands and senses, not of analysis or instruction alone. The body must learn through touch and repetition.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘your hands must learn first, and then the mind will follow’ suggest about the nature of craft knowledge?                         [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that craft knowledge is embodied rather than purely intellectual. In pottery, skill resides in the muscles and fingers before it is understood consciously. Onula is describing a form of learning that begins with physical practice and only later becomes something the learner can articulate or think about.

(iii)  How does Onula’s method of teaching differ from conventional classroom instruction? What does this suggest about the relationship between knowledge and practice in traditional crafts? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                             [2]

Ans.  Onula teaches by guiding Sentila’s hands directly rather than explaining rules or demonstrating from a distance. This physical, hands-on method contrasts with classroom teaching where knowledge is transmitted verbally. It suggests that in traditional crafts, knowledge cannot be separated from practice  it lives in the doing, not in description, and can only be passed on through direct physical contact and experience.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘slowly and carefully, with close attention’.                                                                                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Gently’  the extract states that Onula ‘placed her hands gently over the girl’s’, indicating care and deliberateness in her approach.

(3) “Every morning Sentila came to the workshop before the others arrived. She worked alone with the clay, trying to remember the feeling of Onula’s hands over hers. Sometimes the pot would collapse. Sometimes it would lean too far to one side. She never threw the clay away in anger. She simply gathered it back into a lump and began again.”                              (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Sentila comes to the workshop early every morning because:                                                                                               [1]

A.   she wants to finish her work before Onula arrives

B.   she is trying to practise the skill through quiet, repeated effort

C.   she has been asked to clean the workshop before the others come

D.   she finds the clay easier to work with in the mornings

Ans.  B  she is trying to practise the skill through quiet, repeated effort. Sentila comes early to practise alone, which shows both her determination and her desire to internalise what Onula has taught her without the pressure of being observed.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: Sentila becomes angry when her pots collapse and throws the clay away.                                     [1]

Ans.  False. The extract explicitly states that ‘she never threw the clay away in anger’. Instead, she gathered the clay back into a lump and began again, which shows her patience and composure in the face of repeated failure.

(iii)  What does Sentila’s response to her collapsing pots reveal about her character and her approach to learning? Answer in about 40–50 words.   [2]

Ans.  Sentila’s calm response to failure reveals patience, resilience, and a deep commitment to learning. She does not react with frustration or give up, but simply starts again. This shows that she understands failure as a natural part of acquiring a skill. Her willingness to return to the beginning repeatedly reflects a learner who is genuinely motivated by growth rather than by immediate success.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that describes what Sentila does when a pot fails.                                                                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Gathered it back into a lump and began again’  the extract states that when a pot collapsed, Sentila ‘simply gathered it back into a lump and began again’.

(4) “One afternoon, without warning, the pot held. Sentila’s hands moved almost without her thinking, and the walls of the pot rose slowly, thin and even. She held her breath. When she finally lifted her hands, the pot stood on its own. She sat staring at it for a long time. It was small and uneven at the rim, but it was hers. She had made it herself.”                                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The phrase ‘without warning’ suggests that Sentila’s success:                                                                                                [1]

A.   happened because she had received extra help from Onula that day

B.   arrived unexpectedly, after a long period of patient practice

C.   was the result of a new technique she had decided to try

D.   surprised Onula more than it surprised Sentila herself

Ans.  B  it arrived unexpectedly, after a long period of patient practice. The phrase captures the nature of skill acquisition: mastery often comes suddenly, not gradually, after sustained effort has prepared the hands and body without the learner realising it.

(ii)  What does the detail that the pot was ‘small and uneven at the rim’ but still described as ‘hers’ reveal about Sentila’s relationship with her first creation?                                                                                                              [1]

Ans.  The detail reveals that Sentila values the pot not for its perfection but for what it represents  her own effort and achievement. The imperfections are acknowledged honestly, but they do not diminish the significance of the moment. The word ‘hers’ shows that ownership and independent creation matter more to her than technical excellence at this stage.

(iii)  How does the moment of the pot holding together mark a turning point in Sentila’s learning journey? What does it suggest about the relationship between practice and mastery? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                               [2]

Ans.  The moment marks the point at which Sentila’s practice crosses from conscious effort to physical memory  her hands move ‘almost without her thinking’, which is the hallmark of genuine skill. The turning point suggests that mastery cannot be forced or predicted; it emerges from sustained, patient practice. The body absorbs what the mind repeatedly attempts, and the result appears, as Onula had promised, through feeling rather than thinking.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that suggests Sentila’s hands were working from muscle memory rather than conscious thought.                [1]

Ans.  ‘Almost without her thinking’  the extract states that ‘Sentila’s hands moved almost without her thinking’, indicating her hands had internalised the skill through practice.

(5) “’Every pot we make carries the hands of those who taught us,’ Onula told Sentila one evening. ‘When you make a pot, you are not working alone. You are working with your teacher, and her teacher before her, and all the women who came before them. The clay remembers even when we forget. That is why we must never be careless with it.’”                              (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Onula’s statement ‘Every pot we make carries the hands of those who taught us’ suggests that traditional craft is:                                                                                                                               [1]

A.   a skill that belongs only to the person who makes the object

B.   a living connection to a lineage of knowledge passed down through generations

C.   a technique that improves only when new methods are introduced

D.   a personal expression that has no connection to the past

Ans.  B  a living connection to a lineage of knowledge passed down through generations. Onula is saying that every act of making is also an act of remembering and honouring all the teachers who came before. The pot is not just an object but a vessel of inherited knowledge.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘the clay remembers even when we forget’ suggest about the relationship between craft and memory?                    [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that the knowledge embedded in craft outlasts individual memory. Even when a specific person forgets a technique, the tradition survives in the hands of others and in the objects produced. Onula is saying that the act of working with clay connects the maker to a larger, continuous memory that exists beyond any single person.

(iii)  How does Onula’s teaching in this extract go beyond the practical skill of pot-making? What larger understanding is she trying to pass on to Sentila? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                         [2]

Ans.  Onula is teaching Sentila not just how to make pots but what it means to be part of a tradition. She is asking Sentila to understand her work as an act of connection  to those who taught her, to the community’s past, and to all the women whose hands shaped the same clay. The larger understanding is that craft carries cultural identity and that carefulness in work is a form of respect for that inheritance.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘lacking care or attention, in a way that may cause harm’.                                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Careless’  Onula tells Sentila ‘we must never be careless with it’, meaning they must always handle the clay with respect and attention.

(6) “Sentila began to watch Arenla differently now. Before, she had watched with envy. Now she watched with attention. She noticed how Arenla’s thumbs pressed inward at just the right moment, how she tilted the base slightly before bringing the walls up, how she kept her shoulders relaxed even when the work was demanding. She was not copying Arenla. She was learning to see.”                                                                                     (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The change in how Sentila watches Arenla suggests that she has:                                                                                       [1]

A.   given up trying to make pots herself and decided to observe instead

B.   moved from emotional comparison to deliberate, analytical observation

C.   become friends with Arenla and no longer feels competitive

D.   been told by Onula to study Arenla’s technique closely

Ans.  B  she has moved from emotional comparison to deliberate, analytical observation. The shift from watching ‘with envy’ to watching ‘with attention’ marks a significant change in Sentila’s orientation as a learner. She is now focused on understanding rather than on comparing herself.

(ii)  What does the final line  ‘She was not copying Arenla. She was learning to see’  suggest about the difference between imitation and genuine learning?                                                                                               [1]

Ans.  The line suggests that genuine learning involves developing one’s own understanding and perception, not merely reproducing what one observes. Copying would be mechanical and surface-level. Learning to see means developing the ability to perceive what matters  the precise moments, the subtle adjustments, the principles behind the movements  which can then be internalised and applied independently.

(iii)  How does Sentila’s close observation of Arenla reflect a key aspect of how traditional craft knowledge is transmitted? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                  [2]

Ans.  Sentila’s observation reflects the fact that in traditional crafts, much knowledge is tacit  it cannot be fully explained in words but must be absorbed through watching and doing. By attending to the small details of Arenla’s technique  the angle of the thumbs, the tilt of the base, the relaxed shoulders  Sentila is learning in the way craft has always been transmitted: through careful looking and physical imitation that gradually becomes understanding.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘slightly, at an angle’.        [1]

Ans.  ‘Tilted’  the extract states that Arenla ’tilted the base slightly before bringing the walls up’, indicating a small but deliberate angling of the pot.

(7) “When Sentila’s first pot was fired and came out of the kiln, Onula placed it on the shelf with the others. It sat among pots made by women who had been working for twenty years. It was smaller and simpler than most, but it was there. Sentila looked at the shelf for a long time. She understood now that she had not just made a pot. She had entered something.”  (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Onula’s act of placing Sentila’s pot on the shelf alongside the others suggests:                                                               [1]

A.   Onula is too busy to assess Sentila’s pot properly

B.   Sentila’s pot is being accepted into the community’s tradition

C.   Onula thinks all pots are equally valuable regardless of quality

D.   the shelf is a storage area and not a place of significance

Ans.  B  Sentila’s pot is being accepted into the community’s tradition. Placing the pot alongside those of experienced women is a gesture of inclusion. It signals that Sentila has crossed a threshold and that her work, however simple, belongs to the same tradition.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘she had entered something’ reveal about how Sentila understands the significance of what she has made?                    [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that Sentila understands her first pot as more than an object  it is an act of membership. By making a pot that is placed alongside those of experienced potters, she has entered a tradition, a community, and a lineage. The vagueness of ‘something’ captures the sense that this belonging is too large and meaningful to be named precisely.

(iii)  How does the image of the shelf of pots function as a symbol of community and belonging in this extract? Answer in about 40–50 words. [2]

Ans.  The shelf brings together the work of many women across many years of experience, from the highly skilled to the newly learning. By placing Sentila’s small, simple pot alongside them, Onula makes the shelf a symbol of an inclusive community in which all effort is valued. The shelf is not a hierarchy but a collection  a shared space that holds the tradition together and welcomes new contributors without demanding perfection.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘baked in a high-temperature oven to harden it’.                                                                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Fired’  the extract states that ‘Sentila’s first pot was fired and came out of the kiln’, referring to the process of hardening clay in a kiln at high temperature.

(8) “A year later, a younger girl came to the workshop for the first time. She stood at the wheel and looked helpless. Sentila sat beside her without being asked, placed her hands over the girl’s, and said quietly, ‘The clay does not obey the mind. It obeys the hands. Your hands must learn first.’ She heard Onula’s words in her own mouth and understood them for the first time.”  (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The significance of Sentila using Onula’s words when teaching the younger girl is that:                                             [1]

A.   Sentila has memorised the lesson without truly understanding it

B.   the tradition of craft knowledge is being passed on through Sentila to the next generation

C.   Sentila is showing off her knowledge to the younger girl

D.   Onula has asked Sentila to repeat her exact words to all new students

Ans.  B  the tradition of craft knowledge is being passed on through Sentila to the next generation. By using Onula’s words in her own teaching, Sentila becomes part of the chain of transmission that Onula described. The knowledge flows from teacher to student and then outward.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘she heard Onula’s words in her own mouth and understood them for the first time’ suggest about the nature of understanding?                                                                                                   [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that some knowledge can only be fully understood at the moment it is applied or passed on. Sentila heard the words earlier but now, using them herself to guide another learner, she grasps their full meaning. Understanding arrives not at the moment of receiving but at the moment of giving  which is itself a profound insight about how learning works.

(iii)  How does this final extract bring together the themes of learning, community, and the transmission of traditional knowledge in The Pot Maker? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                         [2]

Ans.  The extract brings the story full circle: Sentila, once the struggling beginner, now becomes a teacher. By passing on Onula’s guidance to a younger girl, she completes the cycle of transmission that defines the community’s tradition. The themes of patient learning, physical knowledge, and communal belonging all converge in this moment, which shows that the craft survives not through any single person but through the ongoing act of one generation teaching the next.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘lost and uncertain about what to do’.                                                                                                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Helpless’  the extract states that the younger girl ‘stood at the wheel and looked helpless’, mirroring the way Sentila herself had felt at the beginning.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

Winds of Change  |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “The word punkha or pankha originates from the word ‘pankh’, which means feather of a bird. Evidence of the existence and use of pankhi in India can be found in Buddhist wall paintings at Ajanta. Over time, different places developed pankhas with distinct materials and intricate designs. Bamboo, cane, palm leaf, silk, brass, leather, and silver pankhas were used depending on geographies, cultures, and rituals.”                                              (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The word ‘pankha’ originates from the word ‘pankh’, which means:                                                                                       [1]

A.   wind

B.   feather of a bird

C.   fan made of bamboo

D.   cooling device

Ans.  B  feather of a bird. The extract clearly states that ‘pankha’ originates from ‘pankh’, meaning a bird’s feather, which reflects the object’s earliest and most natural form.

(ii)  State whether the following is True or False: The pankha was used only in royal households and religious rituals in ancient India.                          [1]

Ans.  False. The extract does not restrict the pankha’s use to royal households. It states that different materials were used ‘depending on geographies, cultures, and rituals’, suggesting widespread and varied use across different communities and contexts.

(iii)  What does the variety of materials used to make pankhas across different regions reveal about the relationship between craft and culture in India? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                            [2]

Ans.  The variety of materials  from bamboo and palm leaf to silk, brass, and silver  reveals that the pankha was not a single standardised object but one that was shaped by local resources, cultural practices, and social contexts. This shows that craft in India was deeply embedded in its environment and community, adapting to local needs while maintaining a shared identity as an object of use and meaning.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘very detailed and carefully made’.                                                                                                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Intricate’  the extract states that different places developed pankhas with ‘intricate designs’, meaning designs of great complexity and care.

(2) “Khetaram is a Gramin Dak Sewak. His left shoulder slumped from years of carrying a mailbag, he is the sole postman of Somarad Branch Post Office. Defying the harsh desert heat and sandstorms, he carries the mail to far-flung hamlets. Regulations say his load cannot exceed 28 kilos, but even a single delivery can be tiring when he has to cover long distances on foot.”         (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Khetaram’s slumped shoulder is significant because it shows:                                                                                               [1]

A.   he has a physical disability that prevents him from carrying heavy loads

B.   years of dedicated service have left a permanent physical mark on his body

C.   he is too old to continue working as a postman

D.   he carries more than the permitted load every day

Ans.  B  years of dedicated service have left a permanent physical mark on his body. The slumped shoulder is presented not as a complaint but as evidence of long, committed service. It is the body bearing the cost of a lifetime of work.

(ii)  What does the word ‘defying’ suggest about Khetaram’s attitude towards the difficulties he faces?                                                                    [1]

Ans.  The word ‘defying’ suggests that Khetaram actively resists and overcomes the harsh conditions of the desert rather than submitting to them. It implies courage, determination, and a refusal to be stopped by the environment. His work is not passive endurance but active resistance against difficult conditions.

(iii)  How does the extract present Khetaram as a figure of dignity and service? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                        [2]

Ans.  The extract presents Khetaram’s dignity through the accumulation of physical detail: the slumped shoulder from years of work, the extreme conditions he walks through, the distances he covers on foot. None of these details is presented as extraordinary by Khetaram himself. His service is quiet and consistent, which is precisely what gives it dignity. The extract asks the reader to recognise what is usually taken for granted in the work of those who keep remote communities connected.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘villages or settlements located at a great distance from towns’.                                                       [1]

Ans.  ‘Far-flung hamlets’  the extract states that Khetaram carries mail to ‘far-flung hamlets’, meaning small, remote settlements far from urban centres.

(3) “The craft of making pankhas has been passed down through generations of artisan families. In many communities, the knowledge of which materials to use, which patterns carry ritual significance, and how to finish the edges correctly is held by women who learned by watching their mothers and grandmothers. This knowledge was rarely written down. It lived in the hands and eyes of those who practised it.”                            (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The knowledge of pankha-making was rarely written down because:                                                                                     [1]

A.   the artisans did not know how to write

B.   it was transmitted orally and physically through practice and observation across generations

C.   the craft was considered too simple to require documentation

D.   writing materials were not available in the communities where it was practised

Ans.  B  it was transmitted orally and physically through practice and observation across generations. The extract explains that this knowledge ‘lived in the hands and eyes’ of practitioners, meaning it was embodied knowledge passed on through doing and watching, not through written instruction.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘it lived in the hands and eyes of those who practised it’ suggest about the nature of craft knowledge?                       [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that craft knowledge is embodied and experiential rather than abstract or textual. It cannot be fully captured in writing because it resides in the physical memory of skilled hands and the trained perception of experienced eyes. This kind of knowledge can only be transmitted through direct practice and close observation over time.

(iii)  How does the extract suggest that women have been the primary carriers of the pankha-making tradition? What does this reveal about their role in preserving cultural heritage? Answer in about 40–50 words.       [2]

Ans.  The extract states that the knowledge of materials, patterns, and finishing was held by women who learned from their mothers and grandmothers. This reveals that women were the primary transmitters of the craft tradition across generations. Their role in preserving cultural heritage was essential but often invisible  housed in daily practice and family transmission rather than in formal institutions or public recognition.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘connected to religious ceremonies or practices’.                                                                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Ritual’  the extract states that some patterns carry ‘ritual significance’, meaning they are associated with religious or ceremonial contexts.

(4) “Today, machine-made fans have replaced the handmade pankha in most households. The electric fan and the air conditioner have made the idea of being fanned by hand seem quaint or old-fashioned. Yet in the villages where artisans still make them, the pankha is not merely a cooling device. It is a statement of identity, a gift given at weddings, and an object carried in processions.”                                                                                           (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The extract suggests that in artisan communities, the pankha is valued primarily because:                              [1]

A.   it cools the air more efficiently than electric fans

B.   it carries cultural, ritual, and social meaning beyond its practical function

C.   it is cheaper to produce than machine-made fans

D.   it is required by law to be used at traditional ceremonies

Ans.  B  it carries cultural, ritual, and social meaning beyond its practical function. The extract explicitly states the pankha is ‘a statement of identity, a gift given at weddings, and an object carried in processions’, showing it is valued for symbolic and cultural reasons, not just as a cooling tool.

(ii)  What does the word ‘quaint’ suggest about how modern society views the handmade pankha?                                                                                    [1]

Ans.  ‘Quaint’ suggests that modern society views the handmade pankha as charming but outdated  something belonging to an earlier time that has been superseded by technology. The word carries a mild condescension, implying that what was once practical is now seen as picturesque or nostalgic rather than useful.

(iii)  How does the contrast between modern cooling devices and the traditional pankha reflect a wider tension between technological change and cultural continuity? Answer in about 40–50 words.                            [2]

Ans.  The contrast shows that technological progress can displace traditional objects from their practical role while their cultural significance endures. The pankha is no longer needed for cooling, but in artisan communities it continues to function as a carrier of identity and ceremony. This reflects a wider tension in which modernisation alters the function of cultural objects without erasing their meaning, though it may erode the skills needed to make them.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that describes celebrations or ceremonies in which the pankha is used.                                                      [1]

Ans.  ‘Carried in processions’  the extract states the pankha is ‘an object carried in processions’, referring to its use in formal public ceremonies or celebratory marches.

(5) “Hamida has been making pankhas since she was nine years old. She learned by sitting beside her mother and watching. She did not ask questions. She simply observed until her hands knew what to do. Now she makes twelve to fifteen pankhas a week, working in the early morning before the heat sets in. Each one takes about two hours. She does not consider it art. She considers it work.”                                                                                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Hamida’s statement that she ‘did not ask questions’ but ‘simply observed’ reflects:                                                     [1]

A.   a lack of curiosity about the craft

B.   the traditional method of learning through silent, attentive observation

C.   her mother’s refusal to answer questions about the craft

D.   a belief that asking questions shows disrespect to the teacher

Ans.  B  the traditional method of learning through silent, attentive observation. In traditional craft transmission, watching carefully and allowing the hands to absorb what the eyes see is considered more effective than verbal instruction. Hamida’s method reflects this approach.

(ii)  What does Hamida’s statement that she ‘does not consider it art’ but ‘considers it work’ reveal about her relationship with her craft?              [1]

Ans.  The statement reveals that Hamida does not place her craft on a pedestal or regard it as an elevated creative act. For her it is a form of skilled labour  purposeful, disciplined, and part of her daily life. This practical self-understanding reflects the dignity of craft as work rather than as self-expression, which is a different but equally valid way of understanding what she does.

(iii)  How does the detail of Hamida working in the early morning ‘before the heat sets in’ contribute to the reader’s understanding of the conditions under which traditional craftspeople work? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                               [2]

Ans.  The detail shows that Hamida’s work is shaped by practical necessity and environmental constraint. She does not work in an air-conditioned studio but adapts her schedule to the climate. This contributes to an understanding that traditional craft is embedded in lived conditions  it is responsive to the environment, shaped by the body’s capacity, and integrated into the rhythms of daily life rather than separated from them.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘looks at something carefully for a long time in order to learn from it’.                                                       [1]

Ans.  ‘Observed’  the extract states that Hamida ‘simply observed until her hands knew what to do’, meaning she watched closely and attentively as a method of learning.

(6) “The decline of handmade fans has affected not just the artisans who make them but the entire ecosystem of trades that supported the craft. The sellers of bamboo and cane, the dyers who coloured the silk, the traders who carried the finished pankhas to distant markets  all of these livelihoods have been weakened. A craft does not exist in isolation. Its disappearance is always the disappearance of many things at once.”                       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The extract argues that the decline of handmade fans has:                                                                                           [1]

A.   affected only the artisans who make the pankhas directly

B.   weakened an entire network of interconnected trades and livelihoods

C.   had no significant economic impact because machine-made fans are cheaper

D.   been reversed by growing interest in traditional crafts among urban buyers

Ans.  B  weakened an entire network of interconnected trades and livelihoods. The extract explicitly lists the bamboo sellers, dyers, and traders whose work depended on the pankha craft, showing that its decline rippled outward through a whole ecosystem of related occupations.

(ii)  What does the final sentence  ‘A craft does not exist in isolation. Its disappearance is always the disappearance of many things at once’  suggest about the significance of craft to a community?                           [1]

Ans.  The sentence suggests that a craft is not a self-contained activity but the centre of a web of economic, social, and cultural relationships. When it disappears, it takes with it not just the skill itself but the livelihoods, knowledge, materials, and community practices that surrounded it. The loss is always larger and more complex than it first appears.

(iii)  How does the extract use the idea of an ‘ecosystem’ to describe the relationship between craft and the community around it? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The extract applies the ecological concept of an ecosystem  a network of interdependent organisms  to the world of craft. Just as the removal of one species affects others in an ecosystem, the decline of pankha-making affects bamboo sellers, dyers, and traders. This framing shows that craft is not merely an individual skill but a system of relationships in which many livelihoods depend on one another.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘people who travel between places buying and selling goods’.                                                                    [1]

Ans.  ‘Traders’  the extract mentions ‘traders who carried the finished pankhas to distant markets’, meaning people who transported and sold the craft products.

(7) “In Rajasthan, the pankha made of peacock feathers holds a special place. It is used in temples during worship, waved over the deity as a mark of respect and devotion. The same gesture that cools the body is here transformed into an act of honour. The artisans who make these pankhas consider their work to be seva  a form of service that goes beyond craft into the realm of the sacred.”                                                                      (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: In the context of temple worship in Rajasthan, the pankha made of peacock feathers is significant because:   [1]

A.   it is the most expensive type of pankha and therefore used only in temples

B.   a practical gesture of cooling is transformed into a ritual act of devotion and honour

C.   peacock feathers are considered lucky in Rajasthani culture

D.   it was originally designed for use in temples and later adopted for domestic cooling

Ans.  B  a practical gesture of cooling is transformed into a ritual act of devotion and honour. The extract makes this transformation explicit: ‘the same gesture that cools the body is here transformed into an act of honour’, showing how a functional object and action can carry sacred meaning in a different context.

(ii)  What does the concept of seva, as used by the artisans, suggest about how they understand their role as craft-makers?                                        [1]

Ans.  The concept of seva  selfless service  suggests that the artisans see their work as more than economic production or even skilled making. By framing it as service that enters the realm of the sacred, they give their craft a spiritual dimension. Their role is not merely to produce an object but to contribute to an act of worship, which places their work within a larger moral and religious purpose.

(iii)  How does the peacock feather pankha illustrate the broader argument of Winds of Change about the relationship between craft, culture, and meaning? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                     [2]

Ans.  The peacock feather pankha illustrates the argument that traditional craft objects carry meanings that exceed their practical function. The same physical action  fanning  becomes either cooling or worship depending on its context. This shows that the pankha’s significance is not fixed but culturally determined. Winds of Change uses such examples to argue that when craft disappears, these layers of cultural meaning disappear with it.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘belonging to or connected with religion or something considered holy’.                                                [1]

Ans.  ‘Sacred’  the extract states that the artisans’ work goes ‘beyond craft into the realm of the sacred’, meaning into the domain of the holy or spiritually significant.

(8) “Craft fairs and government schemes have tried to bring traditional pankha-makers to wider markets. Some artisans have benefited. Others feel that the market changes the craft itself  that buyers want decorative objects rather than functional ones, and that the pressure to produce quickly and cheaply erodes the quality and care that defined the tradition. They are not opposed to change. They are asking what kind of change is worth having.”                                                                                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The artisans who are cautious about market schemes are concerned that:                                                                           [1]

A.   the government will take ownership of their craft

B.   market pressures will alter the craft in ways that undermine its quality and meaning

C.   craft fairs will reveal their techniques to competitors

D.   buyers from cities will not pay fair prices for their work

Ans.  B  market pressures will alter the craft in ways that undermine its quality and meaning. The artisans’ concern is not with change in principle but with the specific kind of change that markets bring: the shift from functional, carefully made objects to decorative ones produced quickly and cheaply.

(ii)  What does the final sentence  ‘They are not opposed to change. They are asking what kind of change is worth having’  reveal about the artisans’ attitude towards modernity?                                                           [1]

Ans.  The sentence reveals a nuanced and thoughtful attitude. The artisans are not conservative resisters of all change but discriminating thinkers who want to evaluate what is gained and lost in any particular form of change. They are asking a question rather than making a refusal, which shows both openness and discernment.

(iii)  How does this extract reflect the central tension in Winds of Change between preserving tradition and adapting to new economic realities? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The extract captures the central tension directly: craft fairs and market access offer economic opportunity, but the conditions of the market  speed, decoration, low cost  conflict with the values of the tradition. The artisans do not reject the market entirely but resist the idea that economic survival must come at the cost of quality and meaning. The extract shows that the real challenge is finding a form of change that sustains rather than destroys the tradition.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘gradually wears away or weakens something’.                                                                                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Erodes’  the extract states that market pressure ‘erodes the quality and care that defined the tradition’, meaning it gradually wears away the standards that gave the craft its value.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

Vitamin M  | Asha Nehemiah |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “Ravi had a theory. He called it the Vitamin M theory. M, of course, stood for money. Just as the body needed vitamins to function, a family needed money to survive. Too little and everything suffered. The trouble was that in Ravi’s house, Vitamin M was always in short supply. His father earned enough, but not quite enough. The gap between enough and not quite enough was where most of the family’s problems lived.”               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Ravi’s Vitamin M theory suggests that he understands money as:                                                                                     [1]

A.   something only adults need to worry about

B.   a basic necessity without which a family cannot function healthily

C.   the most important thing in life, more important than relationships

D.   something that can always be borrowed from neighbours in an emergency

Ans.  B  a basic necessity without which a family cannot function healthily. The analogy with vitamins frames money not as a luxury or an obsession but as a requirement for normal functioning, the absence of which causes problems throughout the system.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘the gap between enough and not quite enough’ suggest about the family’s financial situation?                                             [1]

Ans.  The phrase captures a particular kind of financial difficulty that is neither poverty nor comfort. The family is not destitute but perpetually short, living in the narrow and stressful space where resources nearly meet needs but never quite do. This gap is where tension, compromise, and daily anxiety reside.

(iii)  How does Ravi’s use of a scientific analogy to describe a domestic problem reveal something about his character? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                  [2]

Ans.  Ravi’s use of a scientific analogy shows that he is observant, analytical, and capable of finding pattern in his everyday experience. Rather than simply feeling the stress of his family’s financial situation, he has framed it as a theory, which gives him a degree of intellectual distance from it. This suggests a boy who copes with difficulty through understanding and a quiet, wry intelligence.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘not enough of something that is needed’.                                                                                                   [1]

Ans.  ‘Short supply’  the extract states that Vitamin M was ‘always in short supply’, meaning there was never enough of it.

(2) “Ravi’s mother was at the end of her tether. Every month, she had to literally beg for the household money. She had to account for every single rupee that she spent. But with Grandpa around, life was simpler in some ways. He had his own pension, he spent very little, and  most importantly  he never asked for accounts. When Ravi’s birthday was coming up and there was not enough money, it was Grandpa who quietly slipped a few notes into Ravi’s mother’s hand without a word.”                                      (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The phrase ‘at the end of her tether’ suggests that Ravi’s mother:                                                                            [1]

A.   has run out of money completely and cannot buy food

B.   has reached the limit of her patience and endurance

C.   has decided to stop managing the household finances

D.   has asked Grandpa to take over the family’s financial decisions

Ans.  B  she has reached the limit of her patience and endurance. The idiom describes a state of exhaustion and frustration at having to repeatedly justify expenditure and struggle for basic household funds.

(ii)  What does the detail that Grandpa ‘never asked for accounts’ reveal about the difference between him and Ravi’s father in their relationship with Ravi’s mother?                                                                                           [1]

Ans.  The detail reveals that Grandpa’s support is given without conditions, scrutiny, or the requirement to justify. In contrast to Ravi’s father, who demands accounts for every rupee, Grandpa extends trust and dignity. His help does not diminish Ravi’s mother but restores her sense of agency.

(iii)  How does Grandpa’s quiet gesture of slipping money into Ravi’s mother’s hand without a word reflect his understanding of dignity and family relationships? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                  [2]

Ans.  Grandpa’s gesture is significant precisely because of what he does not do: he does not make a point of it, does not expect gratitude, and does not draw attention to either his generosity or her need. The silence is itself a form of respect. He gives in a way that preserves her dignity, understanding that the manner of giving matters as much as the gift itself.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that describes the act of explaining how money was spent.                                                                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Account for every single rupee’  the extract states that Ravi’s mother ‘had to account for every single rupee that she spent’, meaning she was required to justify and explain each expenditure.

(3) “Grandpa kept a small notebook in his shirt pocket. Nobody knew what was in it. He wrote in it every evening after dinner, in a small, careful hand. Ravi had once peeped over his shoulder and seen columns of numbers. When Grandpa noticed, he closed the notebook without a word and put it back in his pocket. He was not angry. He simply indicated, with great dignity, that this was his private matter.”                                                                (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Grandpa’s response to Ravi looking at his notebook suggests that he:                                                                              [1]

A.   is hiding something dishonest from the family

B.   values his privacy and maintains it with quiet dignity rather than anger

C.   does not trust Ravi and is afraid the boy will take his money

D.   is embarrassed about his financial situation

Ans.  B  he values his privacy and maintains it with quiet dignity rather than anger. Grandpa does not scold or react emotionally. He simply closes the notebook, which communicates his boundary firmly but without hostility or shame.

(ii)  What does the detail of the ‘columns of numbers’ in Grandpa’s notebook suggest about his character?                                                         [1]

Ans.  The columns of numbers suggest that Grandpa is methodical and careful with money  that he tracks and manages his resources with attention and discipline. This contrasts with the financial disorder in the rest of the household and reveals him as someone who has developed a quiet system for maintaining control over his own affairs.

(iii)  How does the notebook function as a symbol in the story? What does it represent about Grandpa’s place in the family? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                  [2]

Ans.  The notebook symbolises Grandpa’s independence and self-containment within the family. It is the one space that belongs entirely to him  his private record of a private financial life that does not require justification to anyone. In a household where Ravi’s mother must account for every rupee, Grandpa’s notebook represents the dignity of keeping one’s own counsel, of having a self that is not subject to scrutiny.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘showed or communicated without speaking’.                                                                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Indicated’  the extract states that Grandpa ‘indicated, with great dignity, that this was his private matter’, meaning he conveyed this without using words.

(4) “One afternoon, Ravi followed Grandpa without being seen. He watched him go into the post office, then into the bank. At the bank, Grandpa withdrew some money, counted it carefully at the counter, and put it in the notebook. On the way home, he stopped at the sweet shop and bought two pieces of barfi, which he gave to Ravi’s younger sister without any ceremony. Ravi felt he had seen something he should not have. Not because it was wrong. But because it was too honest.”                                            (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Ravi feels he has seen something he should not have because:                                                                                              [1]

A.   he has discovered that Grandpa is spending the family’s money without permission

B.   the ordinary, private goodness of Grandpa’s actions was not meant to be witnessed

C.   Grandpa was doing something illegal at the bank

D.   he is ashamed of having followed Grandpa without permission

Ans.  B  the ordinary, private goodness of Grandpa’s actions was not meant to be witnessed. Ravi’s feeling is not guilt about following but a sense of having intruded on something intimate. Grandpa’s kindness was not performed for an audience, and witnessing it feels like an intrusion into a private generosity.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘without any ceremony’ suggest about how Grandpa gives to others?                                                                                  [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that Grandpa gives without fanfare, announcement, or expectation of acknowledgement. He does not make a moment of the gift or draw attention to his own generosity. This quiet, unostentatious giving is a consistent part of his character throughout the story.

(iii)  What does Ravi mean when he says the sight of Grandpa was ‘too honest’? What does this reveal about his growing understanding of the adults around him? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                    [2]

Ans.  By ‘too honest’ Ravi means that what he has seen is real in a way that feels unguarded and unmediated. Grandpa’s actions are without pretence, performance, or self-consciousness. Witnessing this level of quiet, genuine goodness is almost uncomfortable for Ravi because it shows him an adult who is entirely what he appears to be. It marks a moment in Ravi’s understanding of character and integrity.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘took money out of a bank account’.                                                                                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Withdrew’  the extract states that ‘Grandpa withdrew some money’ at the bank counter, meaning he took cash out of his account.

(5) “Ravi’s father was not a bad man. He was simply a man who had never had enough and had let that fact make him small. He counted the change when his wife returned from the market. He checked the electricity bill against last month’s. He noticed when a bar of soap lasted fewer days than it should. These were not the actions of a miser. They were the actions of a frightened man trying to hold the edges of his life together.”       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The narrator describes Ravi’s father’s behaviour as the actions of ‘a frightened man’ rather than a miser in order to:                                                                                                                          [1]

A.   excuse him from all responsibility for his family’s unhappiness

B.   invite the reader to understand his behaviour as anxiety rather than greed

C.   suggest that he is mentally unwell and needs professional help

D.   compare him unfavourably with Grandpa

Ans.  B  to invite the reader to understand his behaviour as anxiety rather than greed. The extract asks for empathy rather than judgement by explaining that the scrutiny and penny-counting come from fear, not from a miserly character. He is a man who has been shaped by scarcity.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘let that fact make him small’ suggest about the relationship between financial hardship and a person’s character?         [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that financial hardship does not automatically diminish a person but that allowing it to become an obsession can shrink a person’s generosity, trust, and sense of self. The key word is ‘let’  it implies a choice, however unconscious. Ravi’s father has permitted his circumstances to define and limit him in ways that affect everyone around him.

(iii)  How does the narrator use specific domestic details to build a portrait of Ravi’s father’s state of mind? Answer in about 40–50 words.               [2]

Ans.  The narrator uses small, precise details  counting change, checking the electricity bill, noticing the soap  to show a mind constantly monitoring expenditure. These are not dramatic actions but habitual ones, which makes them more revealing. The accumulation of such details creates a portrait of a man whose anxiety has become the organising principle of his domestic life, expressed through constant surveillance of tiny costs.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘keeping a difficult situation from falling apart completely’.                                                                        [1]

Ans.  ‘Hold the edges of his life together’  the extract states he was ‘trying to hold the edges of his life together’, meaning he was struggling to prevent his circumstances from completely unravelling.

(6) “On the first of every month, Grandpa collected his pension. He always dressed in his best kurta for the occasion. He walked to the post office with a particular straightness in his back that he did not have on other days. Ravi noticed this and understood that the pension was not just money. It was proof. It was proof that Grandpa had worked, that his work had been valued, and that he was still a man who stood on his own feet.”               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Grandpa’s special dress and posture on pension day suggest that collecting his pension is:                                      [1]

A.   a social occasion he uses to meet old friends at the post office

B.   an act that carries personal significance beyond its financial function

C.   a requirement of the post office that pensioners dress formally

D.   a habit he developed to impress Ravi’s father

Ans.  B  an act that carries personal significance beyond its financial function. Grandpa’s best kurta and straight back are not about the money itself but about what the act of collecting it means: it confirms his independence, his dignity, and the value of his working life.

(ii)  What does the word ‘proof’  used three times in the extract  suggest about what the pension means to Grandpa?                                 [1]

Ans.  The repetition of ‘proof’ gives the word the weight of something deeply felt. The pension is not just income but evidence  of his past labour, of its recognition, and of his continued self-sufficiency. For an elderly man in a household where he might otherwise feel dependent, this evidence matters enormously to his sense of worth and identity.

(iii)  How does Ravi’s observation of Grandpa on pension day reflect his growing emotional intelligence and understanding of the adults in his life? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  Ravi does not simply see a man going to collect money. He reads the symbolism in the best kurta, the straight back, the particular walk, and arrives at a mature understanding: that the pension means independence and dignity to Grandpa. This capacity to look beyond the surface action to the feeling beneath it shows that Ravi is becoming emotionally perceptive, able to see what motivates people rather than just what they do.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘financially self-reliant and not dependent on others’.                                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Stood on his own feet’  the extract states the pension proved Grandpa was ‘still a man who stood on his own feet’, meaning he remained financially independent.

(7) “’Grandpa,’ said Ravi one evening, ‘do you think about money a lot?’ Grandpa considered this for a moment. ‘I think about it enough,’ he said. ‘But not all the time. A man who thinks about money all the time has nothing else left to think about.’ He paused. ‘Your father thinks about it all the time. That is why he has nothing else.’ He said this without cruelty. As a fact. As something he had observed and understood.”                                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Grandpa’s statement ‘A man who thinks about money all the time has nothing else left to think about’ suggests:   [1]

A.   that wealthy people never need to think about money

B.   that an obsession with money crowds out other human concerns and relationships

C.   that Ravi’s father is a selfish person who does not care about his family

D.   that Grandpa himself has never worried about financial matters

Ans.  B  that an obsession with money crowds out other human concerns and relationships. Grandpa is not criticising poverty but the psychological effect of allowing financial anxiety to consume all of one’s attention, leaving no space for other forms of thought, connection, or meaning.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘he said this without cruelty. As a fact’ reveal about Grandpa’s character?                                                                             [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that Grandpa is honest without being unkind. His observation about Ravi’s father is sharp but not intended to wound. He states it as something he has simply noticed and understood, which reflects both his directness and his emotional maturity  the ability to speak truth about a person without using it as a weapon.

(iii)  How does this conversation between Ravi and Grandpa function as a moment of education for Ravi? What does he learn that goes beyond information? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                [2]

Ans.  The conversation gives Ravi a framework for understanding his father that is more compassionate than simple criticism. Grandpa does not tell Ravi his father is wrong; he explains what has happened to a person who has been consumed by financial anxiety. Ravi learns not just a fact about his father but a way of seeing people  with understanding rather than judgement. This is a form of moral education offered quietly and without lecture.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘the right amount, without excess’.                                                                                                                 [1]

Ans.  ‘Enough’  Grandpa says he thinks about money ‘enough’, meaning he gives it appropriate attention without allowing it to dominate his thinking.

(8) “That evening, Ravi heard his parents arguing about money again. He went to his room, opened his notebook  a small one he had recently started keeping, just like Grandpa’s  and wrote down: Vitamin M is necessary. But it is not sufficient. A family also needs Vitamin P, for patience. And Vitamin U, for understanding. He closed the notebook. He did not know if the theory was correct. But it felt true.”                                                                (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Ravi’s decision to start keeping a notebook like Grandpa’s suggests:                                                                                    [1]

A.   he has decided to track the family’s expenses himself

B.   Grandpa has become a model for Ravi in how to process and understand his experience

C.   he is copying Grandpa in order to impress him

D.   he needs somewhere to write down his homework

Ans.  B  Grandpa has become a model for Ravi in how to process and understand his experience. The notebook is an act of quiet imitation that reflects admiration and influence. Just as Grandpa uses his notebook to maintain his inner order, Ravi uses his to work through the complexity of what he observes.

(ii)  What does the distinction between ‘necessary’ and ‘sufficient’ in Ravi’s theory reveal about his understanding of what a family needs?              [1]

Ans.  The distinction shows that Ravi has moved beyond the simple equation of money with wellbeing. He now understands that money is a condition without which things cannot function  necessary  but that money alone cannot create a good family life. Something more is needed: patience and understanding, which cannot be provided by income. This is a genuinely sophisticated insight for a young person.

(iii)  How does the ending of the story bring together Ravi’s journey from observer to thinker, and what does it suggest about the story’s central message? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                     [2]

Ans.  The ending shows Ravi moving from passive observer of the family’s financial stress to active interpreter of it. He does not solve the problem but he finds a way of holding it  through his notebook, through the extended theory, through language. The story’s central message is that understanding is its own form of vitamin: it does not fix what is wrong but it equips a person to live within difficulty with greater clarity and compassion.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘enough on its own to achieve a result’.                                                                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Sufficient’  Ravi writes that Vitamin M is ‘not sufficient’, meaning money alone is not enough to create what a family truly needs.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

The World of Limitless Possibilities  |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “When I came out of the operation theatre, I could not move my hands or legs. The doctors told me I would never walk again. But I told myself: if I cannot run, I will swim. If I cannot swim, I will cycle. And if I cannot cycle, I will find something else. There is always something else. Disability is not the end of possibility. It is the beginning of a different kind of strength.”        (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Dr. Deepa Malik’s response to her doctors’ verdict shows that she:                                                                                     [1]

A.   refused to believe her diagnosis and sought a second opinion

B.   refused to accept limitation and chose to redefine what was possible for her

C.   felt defeated at first but recovered after many years of therapy

D.   relied entirely on her family’s support to overcome her disability

Ans.  B  she refused to accept limitation and chose to redefine what was possible for her. Rather than accepting the doctors’ verdict as final, she turned each limitation into a new question about what she could still do, showing a mindset that converts obstacles into alternatives.

(ii)  What does the repetition of the structure ‘If I cannot… I will…’ suggest about Dr. Deepa Malik’s way of thinking?                                                     [1]

Ans.  The repeated structure suggests that her thinking is fundamentally adaptive and forward-moving. Each limitation is immediately followed by an alternative, which shows that she does not dwell on what is lost but looks at once for what remains possible. The rhythm of the construction itself enacts her refusal to stop.

(iii)  How does the statement ‘Disability is not the end of possibility. It is the beginning of a different kind of strength’ function as the central idea of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                              [2]

Ans.  The statement encapsulates the argument of the entire text: that disability does not define the limits of a person’s achievement but changes the form of their strength. It reframes the conventional understanding of disability as loss and replaces it with a vision of disability as a different starting point. The text as a whole provides evidence for this claim through the specific details of Dr. Deepa Malik’s life and achievements.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘a physical or other condition that restricts what a person can do’.                                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Disability’  Dr. Deepa Malik uses the word directly: ‘Disability is not the end of possibility’, referring to her own condition of paralysis and its broader implications.

(2) “Dr. Deepa Malik was paralysed below the shoulders following a spinal tumour surgery in 1999. She has had over thirty operations. Despite this, she became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympic Games, taking silver in the shot put at Rio 2016. She has also completed a motor rally across the Himalayan terrain and swum across a stretch of the River Yamuna. She holds multiple national records.”                                                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The range of achievements listed in the extract is significant because:                                                                          [1]

A.   it shows that Dr. Deepa Malik was already an athlete before her surgery

B.   it demonstrates that her achievements span sport, endurance, and adventure, not only one field

C.   it proves that the surgery had no lasting effect on her physical abilities

D.   it shows that she received exceptional support from the Indian government

Ans.  B  it demonstrates that her achievements span sport, endurance, and adventure, not only one field. The extract lists a Paralympic medal, a Himalayan rally, a river swim, and national records, showing the breadth of her accomplishments rather than achievement in a single narrow domain.

(ii)  What does the detail of ‘over thirty operations’ contribute to the reader’s understanding of her achievements?                                             [1]

Ans.  The detail contextualises her achievements within a sustained experience of medical intervention, recovery, and physical challenge. Knowing she has undergone more than thirty operations makes each achievement more significant  they were not accomplished from a position of ease or ordinary health but in constant negotiation with a body that required repeated surgical attention.

(iii)  How does the factual, list-based style of this extract serve the purpose of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                  [2]

Ans.  The factual, list-based style presents evidence without embellishment, allowing the achievements to speak for themselves. There is no need for emotional language when the facts themselves  a Paralympic silver medal, a Himalayan rally, a river crossing after thirty operations  are extraordinary. The restrained style also lends credibility and prevents the account from feeling exaggerated. It trusts the reader to register the significance without being told how to feel.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘holds the highest level of performance in the country for a particular sporting event’.                    [1]

Ans.  ‘Holds multiple national records’  the extract states that Dr. Deepa Malik ‘holds multiple national records’, meaning she has achieved the highest recorded performance in several events at the national level.

(3) “People often ask me what drives me. I tell them it is not ambition in the usual sense. I am not trying to prove something to the world. I am trying to stay alive in the fullest sense of the word. When you have been told that your body will not do what bodies are supposed to do, you have a choice. You can mourn what is gone, or you can find out what is still there. I chose to find out.”                                                                                                         (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Dr. Deepa Malik distinguishes her motivation from ordinary ambition by saying:                                                                  [1]

A.   she is motivated by a desire to win medals for India

B.   she is motivated by a need to live fully rather than to impress others

C.   she has no ambition and simply follows opportunities as they arise

D.   she wants to show the medical community that their diagnosis was wrong

Ans.  B  she is motivated by a need to live fully rather than to impress others. She explicitly distinguishes her drive from the desire to prove something to the world and frames it instead as the need to stay alive in the fullest sense  to engage with life as completely as possible.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘stay alive in the fullest sense of the word’ suggest about her understanding of what it means to live?                      [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that for her, living is not simply biological survival but active, purposeful engagement with the world. To be fully alive means to continue choosing, exploring, and participating despite physical limitation. The phrase redefines life itself as something that requires effort and intention, not just the continuation of bodily function.

(iii)  How does the binary choice she presents  ‘mourn what is gone or find out what is still there’  reflect the philosophical argument at the heart of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                        [2]

Ans.  The binary captures the fundamental choice the text asks every reader to consider: whether to be defined by loss or by what remains. By framing this as a choice available to her  not a destiny or a lucky disposition  she makes the argument applicable to everyone. The philosophical claim is that how one responds to limitation is itself a form of agency, and that choosing curiosity over grief is the beginning of a different kind of strength.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘to feel or express deep sadness over a loss’.                                                                                          [1]

Ans.  ‘Mourn’  the extract states ‘you can mourn what is gone’, meaning to grieve or feel prolonged sadness about what has been lost.

(4) “The Paralympic movement is built on the belief that sport belongs to everyone, regardless of physical ability. Dr. Deepa Malik has spoken about how her participation in the movement changed not just her own life but the way her family, her community, and eventually a wider public thought about disability. When she won the silver medal at Rio, she said she was not just winning for herself. She was winning for every person who had been told they could not.”                                                                                               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Dr. Deepa Malik’s statement that she was winning ‘for every person who had been told they could not’ suggests: [1]

A.   she believes only people with disabilities face obstacles in sport

B.   her individual achievement carries a collective meaning for all those who have faced dismissal or limitation

C.   she was competing as part of a team and shared the medal with others

D.   she wanted her medal to be dedicated to a specific charitable organisation

Ans.  B  her individual achievement carries a collective meaning for all those who have faced dismissal or limitation. Her victory at Rio became a symbol for anyone who has been told their goals are beyond their reach, extending the significance of her personal achievement into a wider social and emotional territory.

(ii)  What does the extract suggest about the relationship between individual achievement and social change?                                                  [1]

Ans.  The extract suggests that individual achievement can challenge and shift the way entire communities think. Dr. Deepa Malik’s participation and success in Paralympic sport changed perceptions of disability among her family, her community, and a wider public. One person’s achievement, when it is visible and documented, becomes evidence that changes what others believe is possible.

(iii)  How does the Paralympic movement, as described in this extract, embody the central argument of The World of Limitless Possibilities? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The Paralympic movement embodies the text’s central argument by institutionalising the belief that physical limitation does not exclude a person from sport, competition, or excellence. It creates a structure in which the definition of possibility is continuously expanded. Dr. Deepa Malik’s participation and medal are both personal and symbolic expressions of this belief, making the movement itself a kind of living proof of what the title claims.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘took part in’ an activity or event.                                                                                                                   [1]

Ans.  ‘Participation in’  the extract refers to ‘her participation in the movement’, meaning her active involvement and engagement with the Paralympic movement.

(5) “Before she became a Paralympian, Dr. Deepa Malik had been an athlete, a biker, and an adventurer. Her surgery did not create her desire to push boundaries  it redirected it. She has said that the woman who came out of the operation theatre was not a diminished version of the woman who went in. She was a different person, with a different set of tools, facing a world that had not yet understood what she could do with them.” (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The statement that surgery ‘redirected’ rather than ‘created’ her desire to push boundaries suggests:                 [1]

A.   her disability gave her a new personality that she did not have before

B.   the drive and energy she possessed before surgery continued in a new direction after it

C.   she had to be persuaded by doctors to take up Paralympic sport

D.   her achievements before surgery were more impressive than those after it

Ans.  B  the drive and energy she possessed before surgery continued in a new direction after it. The word ‘redirected’ is precise: it implies that the force was always present but that disability changed the channel through which it found expression.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘a different set of tools’ suggest about how Dr. Deepa Malik understood her post-surgery body?                                        [1]

Ans.  The phrase reframes the paralysed body not as a broken or lesser version of the former self but as a different instrument with different capabilities. Tools are neutral  they are means, not limitations. By describing her body this way, she refuses the language of deficiency and replaces it with the language of practical adaptation and resourcefulness.

(iii)  How does the contrast between the world’s understanding of her potential and her own self-understanding drive the narrative of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The contrast between external perception  a world that had not understood what she could do  and her own self-knowledge creates the central tension of the text. The narrative is essentially the story of her proving that contrast wrong, one achievement at a time. Each medal, each rally, each swim is not only a personal milestone but a correction of an external misperception. The text’s argument is that the world’s limits are not the same as the individual’s.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘made smaller or less significant’.                                                                                                          [1]

Ans.  ‘Diminished’  the extract states she was ‘not a diminished version of the woman who went in’, meaning she had not been reduced or made lesser by the surgery and its consequences.

(6) “Dr. Deepa Malik has spoken about the role her family played in her journey. Her husband, Colonel Bikram Singh Malik, she says, never treated her differently after the surgery. He did not lower his expectations. He did not protect her from difficulty. He simply continued to see her as the person he had married. This, she says, was the most important thing anyone did for her. Being seen as a whole person, not as a condition.”                         (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Dr. Deepa Malik describes her husband’s continued expectations as important because:                                            [1]

A.   they pushed her to train harder than she might have done on her own

B.   they affirmed that she was still a complete person, not defined by her disability

C.   they helped her win the support of the Paralympic committee

D.   they encouraged her to take on physical challenges that doctors had forbidden

Ans.  B  they affirmed that she was still a complete person, not defined by her disability. The extract explicitly states that ‘being seen as a whole person, not as a condition’ was the most important thing anyone did for her. Her husband’s unchanged expectations were the practical expression of this.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘not as a condition’ reveal about the way disability is often perceived by others?                                                          [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that disability is frequently used to reduce a person to their medical diagnosis  to see them primarily through the lens of what is wrong with their body rather than as a full human being with desires, skills, relationships, and a history. Dr. Deepa Malik’s gratitude for being seen differently implies that the reductive view is common, and that escaping it requires deliberate effort from those around a disabled person.

(iii)  How does the role of family support described here complicate a purely individualist reading of Dr. Deepa Malik’s success? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The extract shows that her achievements were not accomplished in isolation but were supported by a relationship in which she was seen and treated as a whole person. This complicates any reading that attributes her success solely to individual willpower. Her husband’s refusal to lower expectations was itself a form of enabling, and the text suggests that what appears to be individual triumph is often shaped by the quality of the human relationships surrounding the person.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘reduced someone’s level of expectation because of a perceived limitation’.                                           [1]

Ans.  ‘Lower his expectations’  the extract states that her husband ‘did not lower his expectations’, meaning he did not reduce what he believed she was capable of achieving because of her disability.

(7) “She completed the Raid de Himalayas, a gruelling motor rally through some of the highest and most difficult mountain terrain in the world, as a co-driver. She did this while managing a catheter and the physical demands of a paralysed body. The organisers had not expected her to complete the rally. She not only completed it but won her category. She said afterwards that the mountain had not asked her what her spine could do.”                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The detail that the organisers had not expected her to complete the rally is significant because:                         [1]

A.   it shows the rally was poorly organised and unprepared for disabled participants

B.   her completion and victory directly challenged the assumptions others had made about her capacity

C.   it explains why she was placed in a separate category from other drivers

D.   it suggests that the rally was too difficult for most participants, disabled or not

Ans.  B  her completion and victory directly challenged the assumptions others had made about her capacity. The organisers’ low expectations become the backdrop against which her achievement is most clearly measured. Winning her category was not just a sporting result but a refutation of a prior judgement.

(ii)  What does her statement  ‘the mountain had not asked her what her spine could do’  suggest about the relationship between the natural world and human limitation?                                                                           [1]

Ans.  The statement suggests that the natural world is indifferent to human categories of ability and disability  the mountain presents the same challenge to everyone. It is only human social institutions that impose additional barriers on disabled people. By invoking the mountain’s neutrality, she highlights the contrast between natural difficulty, which she can meet, and social prejudice, which she has had to overcome in addition.

(iii)  How does the Raid de Himalayas episode illustrate the broader argument of the text about what is possible? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                  [2]

Ans.  The episode illustrates the argument by showing the gap between what others believed was possible for her and what she actually achieved. The mountain, the physical demands, the catheter, the paralysis  these are real and formidable obstacles. Yet she completed and won. The text uses this to argue that limits are often projections of other people’s imaginations rather than facts about what the person in question can achieve.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘extremely demanding and exhausting’.                                                                                                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Gruelling’  the extract describes the Raid de Himalayas as ‘a gruelling motor rally’, meaning it was exceptionally demanding and physically exhausting.

(8) “In 2017, Dr. Deepa Malik was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. She was the first Indian woman with a disability to receive this honour in the field of sport. When she received it, she said she hoped the award would send a message: that India was beginning to see its disabled citizens not as recipients of charity but as contributors to national pride. The world of limitless possibilities, she said, begins when we stop limiting people with our assumptions.”                                             (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Dr. Deepa Malik’s statement about the Padma Shri suggests she viewed the award primarily as:                           [1]

A.   a personal recognition of her individual sporting career

B.   a signal of a broader social shift in how disabled people are seen in India

C.   evidence that India’s Paralympic programme had improved significantly

D.   a reward for the difficulties she had overcome in her personal life

Ans.  B  a signal of a broader social shift in how disabled people are seen in India. She explicitly frames the award as a message about national perception, expressing hope that it marks a change from viewing disabled citizens as objects of charity to recognising them as contributors to national pride.

(ii)  What does the distinction between ‘recipients of charity’ and ‘contributors to national pride’ reveal about how disability has traditionally been perceived in India?                                                                                   [1]

Ans.  The distinction reveals that disabled people have historically been positioned as passive beneficiaries of others’ goodwill rather than as active participants in national life. The charity model sees disability as a condition that requires accommodation and sympathy. The contributors model sees disabled people as agents with something to offer. Dr. Deepa Malik is arguing for a fundamental shift from the first model to the second.

(iii)  How does the final sentence of the extract serve as both a conclusion to Dr. Deepa Malik’s story and a challenge to the reader? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The final sentence concludes her story by locating the source of limitation not in disabled people but in the assumptions of those around them. In doing so, it turns from autobiography to argument and addresses the reader directly. The challenge is implicit: if the world of limitless possibilities begins when we stop limiting people with our assumptions, then it is the reader  not the disabled person  who must change. The text ends as a call to examine one’s own perceptions.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘people who receive something from others without giving anything in return’.                       [1]

Ans.  ‘Recipients of charity’  the extract contrasts disabled citizens being seen as ‘recipients of charity’ with being seen as contributors, meaning people who receive help or support without being expected to contribute.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

Twin Melodies  |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “Nabin: (calmly but firmly) No is the answer. You know my rule  one performance in every six months. More than that, familiarity breeds contempt. Work on your art and everything will follow. And which concert is this anyway, of which I haven’t heard? Shruti: It is a group performance papa, next week. Nabin: And this is what you have judged best for yourself? To drown your individual style in the hubbub of an orchestra is hardly a wise choice, Shruti.”                                                                                       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Nabin’s rule of one performance in six months reflects his belief that:                                                                        [1]

A.   performers should rest frequently to avoid injury

B.   scarcity of performance preserves the quality and impact of the artist’s work

C.   Shruti is not yet skilled enough to perform more frequently

D.   audiences lose interest if a performer appears too often in the same city

Ans.  B  scarcity of performance preserves the quality and impact of the artist’s work. The phrase ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ supports this: Nabin believes that performing too often diminishes the value of the performance and the respect the audience brings to it.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘drown your individual style in the hubbub of an orchestra’ suggest about Nabin’s view of group performance?                [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that Nabin sees group performance as a threat to the distinctiveness of an individual artist. He fears that Shruti’s unique voice and style will be submerged and made indistinguishable within the collective sound of an orchestra. For him, individual artistic identity is something to be protected, not merged.

(iii)  How does this opening exchange establish the central conflict of the play? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                             [2]

Ans.  The exchange immediately establishes two opposing positions: Nabin’s rigid adherence to tradition and individual artistic purity, and Shruti’s desire to participate in a broader musical world. Nabin’s calm firmness and Shruti’s hesitant request create the tension between parental authority and a young person’s growing sense of her own musical identity. The conflict is not simply about a concert but about who has the right to define what good music is.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘excessive familiarity leads to a loss of respect’.                                                                                           [1]

Ans.  ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’  Nabin uses this proverb directly to explain his rule of limited performances, arguing that performing too often causes the audience to take the artist for granted.

(2) “Shruti: (timidly) Papa, it’s an … an … Indo-western fusion concert. Nabin: (getting up) I never thought any of my students, let alone my own child, would lose their sense of musicality to such an extent. Since my views on fusion music have been iterated in this house on several occasions, I think there remains nothing for me to say now. Shruti: Please papa! I request you to consider. Just attend the practice only once and then you can decide!”   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Shruti’s hesitation when naming the concert  ‘it’s an … an … Indo-western fusion concert’  suggests:                     [1]

A.   she has forgotten the name of the concert

B.   she anticipates her father’s reaction and is nervous about revealing the type of music

C.   she is embarrassed about her own participation in the concert

D.   she is unsure whether the concert will take place

Ans.  B  she anticipates her father’s reaction and is nervous about revealing the type of music. The ellipses show hesitation born of fear, not forgetfulness. She already knows her father’s position on fusion music and is bracing herself before saying the words that will trigger his disapproval.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘lose their sense of musicality to such an extent’ reveal about Nabin’s attitude towards fusion music?                                 [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that Nabin regards an interest in fusion music not simply as a different aesthetic preference but as a failure of musical understanding and sensitivity. For him, appreciating fusion means having lost one’s genuine musical instinct. This is a very strong judgement  he is not saying fusion is merely inferior but that it represents a form of musical corruption.

(iii)  How does Shruti’s request  ‘just attend the practice only once and then you can decide’  reveal her character and her strategy for dealing with her father? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                          [2]

Ans.  Shruti’s request reveals a combination of courage and tactical intelligence. Rather than arguing with her father directly, she appeals to his own value of informed judgement, asking him to make a decision based on direct evidence rather than prior assumption. This shows she understands his character well enough to know that a direct confrontation would fail, and that inviting him to listen is the most likely way to change his mind.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘repeated or stated again on multiple occasions’.                                                                                           [1]

Ans.  ‘Iterated’  Nabin says his views on fusion music have been ‘iterated in this house on several occasions’, meaning he has expressed them repeatedly and they are well known to the family.

(3) “Leela: Nabin da, do you remember when you first played the flute in front of Baba? He thought it was a waste of time. He said the same things to you that you are now saying to Shruti. He said you were losing your sense of music. He said you were spending time on something that had no value. And you didn’t listen to him. And you became what you became. Nabin sat very still for a long time.”                                                                              (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Leela’s story about Nabin’s father is intended to:                                                                                                        [1]

A.   praise Nabin for having the courage to defy his father

B.   show Nabin that he is repeating his own father’s mistake in judging Shruti’s choices

C.   remind Nabin that he owes his success to his father’s eventual support

D.   explain to Shruti that her grandfather also disapproved of music

Ans.  B  to show Nabin that he is repeating his own father’s mistake in judging Shruti’s choices. Leela is holding up a mirror to Nabin by using his own history against his present position. The parallel is precise: the same words, the same dismissal, the same resistance to a young musician’s choices.

(ii)  What is the dramatic effect of the sentence ‘Nabin sat very still for a long time’?                                                                                                           [1]

Ans.  The sentence creates a moment of arrested action that signals internal recognition. Nabin’s stillness is the physical expression of the impact Leela’s words have had on him. The dramatic effect is one of silent reckoning  the audience understands that something has shifted in him without a word being spoken. His silence is more eloquent than any reply.

(iii)  How does Leela’s revelation function as the turning point of the play? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  Leela’s revelation is the turning point because it confronts Nabin with the contradiction between his own history and his present behaviour. Until this moment, he has held his position with absolute certainty. The parallel with his father destabilises that certainty by showing him that the very resistance he overcame to become a musician is the same resistance he is now imposing on his daughter. It is the moment the play’s central argument is delivered and received.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that captures the exact language Nabin’s father used against him.                                                                     [1]

Ans.  ‘You were losing your sense of music’  Leela reports that Nabin’s father said ‘you were losing your sense of music’, which directly mirrors the language Nabin himself has used against Shruti in the present.

(4) “Nabin: (after a long pause) Where is this concert being held? Shruti: (surprised) The Rabindra Sadan, papa. Nabin: And what time does the practice begin tomorrow? Shruti could not speak for a moment. She had not expected this. She had come prepared for more argument. Instead, her father was asking for the time of the practice. She told him. He nodded, went to his room, and closed the door quietly.”                                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Nabin’s questions about the venue and the practice time suggest:                                                                                       [1]

A.   he wants to report the concert to the music authorities

B.   he has decided to attend the practice as Shruti had requested

C.   he is checking whether the venue is respectable enough

D.   he wants to arrange alternative music teaching for Shruti at the same time

Ans.  B  he has decided to attend the practice as Shruti had requested. His practical questions about venue and timing signal a change of position without any explicit statement. By asking what he needs to know in order to attend, he shows that he has accepted Shruti’s proposal.

(ii)  What does Shruti’s surprise  ‘she had come prepared for more argument’  reveal about the nature of their relationship before this moment?                                                                                                             [1]

Ans.  It reveals that Shruti’s relationship with her father has been characterised by persistent disagreement on matters of music. She has learned, through experience, to expect resistance and has prepared accordingly. Her surprise at his capitulation is genuine and shows that this shift in his behaviour is unusual enough to be unexpected, which in turn reveals how entrenched his previous position was.

(iii)  How does the playwright use Nabin’s physical actions  nodding, going to his room, closing the door quietly  to convey his emotional state at this moment? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                         [2]

Ans.  The three physical actions create a sequence of quiet withdrawal that suggests a man processing something significant internally. The nod is the only acknowledgement he gives; he does not speak, does not explain, does not apologise. Going to his room and closing the door quietly signals that he needs to be alone with what has just shifted in him. The playwright uses these restrained physical signals to show that a profound internal change is taking place, even though nothing dramatic is said.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘moved the head slightly downward as a sign of agreement or acknowledgement’.                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Nodded’  the extract states that ‘he nodded, went to his room, and closed the door quietly’, meaning he inclined his head briefly to show he had understood or agreed.

(5) “At the practice, Nabin sat at the back of the hall. He did not speak to anyone. He listened. The students were young. Some of them were good. The music they were making was not what he would have made. But it was not without feeling. He heard something in it that surprised him  not the notes, but the intent. They were not playing carelessly. They were playing towards something. He could not yet name what it was.”                            (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Nabin’s recognition that the students were ‘playing towards something’ suggests:                                                           [1]

A.   he is beginning to understand that fusion music has its own artistic seriousness

B.   he has decided that the students are technically superior to classical musicians

C.   he realises that the concert will be commercially successful

D.   he is comparing the students unfavourably to his own students

Ans.  A  he is beginning to understand that fusion music has its own artistic seriousness. The phrase ‘playing towards something’ indicates directional intent  the musicians have a goal, a feeling they are reaching for. This is precisely the quality Nabin values in music, and recognising it in a context he previously dismissed is the beginning of his change.

(ii)  What does the detail that Nabin ‘could not yet name what it was’ suggest about the state of his understanding at this point in the play?  [1]

Ans.  The detail suggests that Nabin is in a state of transition  his old framework for judging music is no longer sufficient, but he has not yet developed a new one. He can perceive something real in the music but cannot categorise or articulate it within his existing vocabulary of musical value. This is the moment of genuine open-mindedness: he is hearing something his theory has not prepared him to hear.

(iii)  How does the contrast between ‘not the notes, but the intent’ reflect the play’s argument about the nature of musical value? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The contrast suggests that musical value resides not in the technical correctness of notes but in the emotional and artistic intention behind them. Nabin has always judged music by its adherence to classical form and tradition. This moment asks him  and the audience  to consider whether intent, feeling, and genuine artistic reaching might be the deeper criteria for musical worth, regardless of the genre or tradition in which they appear.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘the purpose or aim behind an action’.                                                                                                            [1]

Ans.  ‘Intent’  the extract states that what surprised Nabin was ‘not the notes, but the intent’, meaning the purpose and artistic direction behind the music rather than its technical content.

(6) “After the practice, Shruti came to find him. She was nervous. She did not know what he had thought. He looked at her for a moment before speaking. Then he said: ‘The boy on the tabla  he has something. And the girl on the violin  she is listening, not just playing. That is rare.’ Shruti stared at him. He had not said the music was good. But he had said something. And in her father’s language, that was everything.”                               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Nabin’s comment that the girl on the violin ‘is listening, not just playing’ reveals:                                                             [1]

A.   he thinks the girl should join a classical music school

B.   he values musical attentiveness and responsiveness above technical performance

C.   he is criticising the other musicians for not listening carefully enough

D.   he has decided to take the girl as one of his own students

Ans.  B  he values musical attentiveness and responsiveness above technical performance. The distinction between ‘listening’ and ‘just playing’ is central to his musical philosophy: a musician who truly listens  to the other players, to the music itself  is engaged in something deeper than mere technical execution.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘in her father’s language, that was everything’ reveal about the relationship between Nabin and Shruti?                         [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that Shruti has learned to interpret her father’s restrained and precise vocabulary of praise. Nabin does not effuse or congratulate easily, so when he identifies something specific and real in a musical performance, it carries weight that a more liberal compliment would not. Shruti’s ability to read this shows how deeply she knows her father, even amid their disagreements.

(iii)  How does Nabin’s response after the practice show a change in him without requiring him to explicitly admit he was wrong? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  Nabin’s change is communicated entirely through what he chooses to notice and how he describes it. He does not say fusion music is good or that he was wrong to dismiss it. But by identifying specific qualities  the tabla player’s something, the violinist’s listening  he demonstrates that he has engaged with the music on its own terms rather than dismissing it. The change is shown through perception and language, not through confession.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that suggests Nabin noticed an unusual and valuable quality in the tabla player.                                                        [1]

Ans.  ‘He has something’  Nabin says of the tabla player that ‘he has something’, meaning he possesses an indefinable but real musical quality that distinguishes him.

(7) “That night, Shruti heard her father playing the flute alone in his room. She stood outside the door and listened. He was playing something she did not recognise  something that moved between the classical and something else, something freer. She did not know if he knew he was doing it. She went back to her room and sat with the feeling for a long time before she understood what it was: hope.”                                                          (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The music Nabin plays alone  moving between the classical and ‘something freer’  suggests:                          [1]

A.   he has secretly been practising fusion music for years

B.   his encounter with the practice has begun to affect his own musical expression

C.   he is composing a new classical piece that incorporates folk elements

D.   he is testing whether Shruti is listening outside his door

Ans.  B  his encounter with the practice has begun to affect his own musical expression. The music moves between classical and something freer, which reflects his own internal movement between his old position and something new. The change in his playing mirrors the change in his thinking.

(ii)  What does the detail that Shruti ‘did not know if he knew he was doing it’ suggest about how change happens in the play?                                    [1]

Ans.  The detail suggests that the most genuine change is unconscious  it is not performed or announced but simply happens, expressing itself before the person is aware of it. Nabin’s music is changing before his mind has fully processed or accepted the change. This makes the shift more credible: it comes from inside rather than being a conscious decision to alter his position.

(iii)  How does Shruti’s identification of the feeling as ‘hope’ bring together the emotional journey of the play? Answer in about 40–50 words.         [2]

Ans.  Hope is the right word because it captures the provisional nature of what has changed. Shruti does not know that her father has changed; she senses that he might be beginning to. The feeling is not certainty or resolution but the possibility of both. This is where the play leaves the audience: not with a complete transformation but with the opening of a space in which change might happen, which is perhaps more truthful than a full reconciliation.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘not restricted or confined; expressing itself without conventional limits’.                                              [1]

Ans.  ‘Freer’  the extract describes the music Nabin plays as moving between the classical and ‘something freer’, meaning music that was less bound by conventional form and discipline.

(8) “The next morning, Nabin came to the breakfast table and placed two tickets in front of Shruti without speaking. She looked at them. They were tickets to the concert. She looked up at her father. He was already eating, reading the newspaper, as if nothing unusual had happened. But Shruti noticed that the newspaper was upside down. She smiled and said nothing. Some things, she had learned, were better left unspoken.”           (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The detail that Nabin’s newspaper is upside down is significant because:                                                                             [1]

A.   it shows he is too old to read without glasses

B.   it reveals that he is pretending to read in order to hide his emotional state

C.   it shows he has made a mistake in his hurry to come to breakfast

D.   it indicates he cannot concentrate because the concert will be too noisy

Ans.  B  it reveals that he is pretending to read in order to hide his emotional state. Nabin is maintaining his usual composure through the gesture of reading the paper, but the upside-down newspaper betrays the fact that he is not really reading  he is feeling something he is not ready to express.

(ii)  What does Shruti’s decision to smile and say nothing reveal about how she has come to understand her father?                                                       [1]

Ans.  Her silence reveals that she has learned to read her father well enough to know when not to press him. She understands that naming what has happened  acknowledging his change of heart openly  would embarrass him or force him into a defensive position. By saying nothing, she protects his dignity and allows the change to stand without requiring him to explain it.

(iii)  How does the ending of the play reflect the theme of communication through silence and gesture that runs throughout Twin Melodies? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The ending embodies the play’s consistent argument that the most significant communication between people  especially between parents and children who know each other deeply  often happens without words. The tickets say what Nabin cannot say. The upside-down newspaper says what his emotions cannot hide. Shruti’s smile says what she chooses not to speak. The play ends in silence because the most important things have already been understood.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that mirrors the lesson Ravi learned at the end of Vitamin M about the limits of spoken understanding.            [1]

Ans.  ‘Some things were better left unspoken’  Shruti reflects that ‘some things were better left unspoken’, meaning certain truths are better communicated through gesture and feeling than through explicit statement.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

Carrier of Words  |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “Khetaram is a Gramin Dak Sewak. His left shoulder slumped from years of carrying a mailbag, he is the sole postman of Somarad Branch Post Office. Defying the harsh desert heat and sandstorms, he carries the mail to far-flung hamlets. Regulations say his load cannot exceed 28 kilos, but even a single delivery can be tiring when he has to cover long distances on foot.”         (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Khetaram’s slumped shoulder is presented as significant because:                                                                                       [1]

A.   it shows he has been injured while working and needs medical attention

B.   it is a permanent physical mark left by decades of dedicated service

C.   it indicates that he carries more than the permitted weight each day

D.   it suggests he is too old to continue working as a postman

Ans.  B  it is a permanent physical mark left by decades of dedicated service. The slumped shoulder is not presented as a complaint or a medical problem but as testimony  the body bearing the visible evidence of a long working life spent in service to remote communities.

(ii)  What does the word ‘defying’ suggest about Khetaram’s attitude towards the conditions he works in?                                                              [1]

Ans.  The word ‘defying’ suggests active resistance rather than passive endurance. Khetaram does not merely tolerate the desert heat and sandstorms  he goes out against them, deliberately and consistently. The word implies courage and will, framing his daily work as an ongoing act of refusal to be stopped.

(iii)  How does the extract establish dignity as a central theme in the portrayal of Khetaram? Answer in about 40–50 words.                             [2]

Ans.  The extract establishes dignity through understatement and physical detail. Khetaram’s slumped shoulder, the weight limit, the far-flung hamlets, the distances on foot  each detail accumulates into a portrait of sustained, unacknowledged service. The text does not sentimentalise or dramatise but simply describes, trusting the details to convey the weight of what this man does every day. His dignity lies in the ordinariness with which he performs an extraordinary service.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘villages or settlements far from main roads and towns’.                                                                           [1]

Ans.  ‘Far-flung hamlets’  the extract states that Khetaram carries the mail to ‘far-flung hamlets’, meaning small, remote settlements at a great distance from urban centres.

(2) “On other days, his khaki turban and uniform are his only protection against the desert’s furies, the scorching summer winds and swirling sandstorms which turn him into a walking sandman. ‘Water is too precious to waste on washing, so I can only wipe my body. When I finish, there is a sand dune at my feet every evening,’ he says.”                                (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The image of Khetaram as a ‘walking sandman’ suggests:                                                                                            [1]

A.   he enjoys working in the desert and has adapted well to its conditions

B.   the desert environment has physically transformed him  he is covered in sand from head to foot

C.   he works at night like the mythological sandman who brings sleep

D.   the sand has damaged his uniform beyond recognition

Ans.  B  the desert environment has physically transformed him  he is covered in sand from head to foot. The image is both vivid and grim: Khetaram does not just work in the desert; the desert gets inside him, covering him so completely that he becomes part of the landscape he crosses.

(ii)  What does Khetaram’s comment about water being ‘too precious to waste on washing’ reveal about the conditions in the area he serves?   [1]

Ans.  The comment reveals extreme scarcity of water in the desert region. Water is so limited that it cannot be used for personal hygiene  it must be reserved for drinking or essential use. This detail shows that Khetaram works in conditions of basic deprivation, where the ordinary comforts taken for granted elsewhere are luxuries unavailable to him.

(iii)  How does the use of Khetaram’s own words  quoted directly in the extract  affect the way the reader responds to his situation? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                           [2]

Ans.  The direct quotation gives Khetaram a voice and a presence that mere description could not achieve. He is not being described by someone else as pitiable or heroic  he is describing his own situation in plain, matter-of-fact terms. The absence of complaint in his words makes the hardship more striking, not less. The reader is invited to register the difficulty precisely because the speaker himself does not emphasise it.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that describes the accumulation of sand around Khetaram at the end of each working day.                                      [1]

Ans.  ‘There is a sand dune at my feet every evening’  Khetaram describes how, by the end of each day, so much sand has settled around him that there is ‘a sand dune at my feet’, meaning a small mound of desert sand has accumulated.

(3) “Till 2001, Khetaram was known as a ‘delivery agent’, operating in rural areas devoid of schools and primary healthcare centres. Since then, India’s three lakh plus delivery agents like Khetaram were accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks, who constitute more than 50 per cent of the total workforce. The frozen desert of Ladakh, the isles of Lakshadweep, and the riverine communities of the northeast are all GDS territories.”                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The change from ‘delivery agent’ to ‘Gramin Dak Sewak’ is significant because:                                                                  [1]

A.   it came with a significant increase in salary and benefits for all workers

B.   it gave formal recognition to workers who had previously operated without an official identity

C.   it allowed delivery agents to work in urban areas for the first time

D.   it reduced the number of workers needed to cover rural areas

Ans.  B  it gave formal recognition to workers who had previously operated without an official identity. The change in designation represents a shift from informal, unnamed labour to acknowledged service within a formal institutional structure. Recognition of this kind matters both practically and symbolically.

(ii)  What does the listing of Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and the northeast suggest about the scope of GDS work in India?                                            [1]

Ans.  The listing shows that GDS work extends to the most geographically extreme and isolated parts of India  frozen mountains, remote islands, and riverine communities. These are not minor or peripheral zones but the outermost reaches of the country, where the state’s promise to connect all citizens depends entirely on the willingness of individuals like Khetaram to go where no other infrastructure reaches.

(iii)  How does the statistic that GDS workers constitute more than 50 per cent of the total postal workforce contribute to the argument of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The statistic reveals that the postal system’s reach into rural India depends more on GDS workers than on any other category of employee. Over half the workforce is made up of people like Khetaram  workers in remote, difficult conditions who are essential to the system’s function. The argument is that the people least visible and least celebrated are the ones on whom the entire enterprise most depends.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘completely lacking something essential’.                                                                                         [1]

Ans.  ‘Devoid’  the extract states that Khetaram operated in rural areas ‘devoid of schools and primary healthcare centres’, meaning areas that completely lacked these essential services.

(4) “’The role of GDS is invaluable, since they deliver in interior areas that are often inaccessible by any means besides foot,’ explains the Postmaster-General of Rajasthan Western Region. ‘They are the last mile of connectivity. Without them, vast sections of rural India would simply not receive mail, money orders, or government communications at all.’”                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The phrase ‘last mile of connectivity’ suggests that GDS workers:                                                                              [1]

A.   are the final stage in a delivery chain that begins at national headquarters

B.   cover the most difficult and essential portion of the postal route  the part no other system reaches

C.   have been recently hired to replace older postal workers

D.   work only in areas within one mile of a post office

Ans.  B  they cover the most difficult and essential portion of the postal route  the part no other system reaches. ‘Last mile’ is a term for the final, most difficult leg of delivery  the connection between a centralised system and the individual recipient. GDS workers are the human bridge that no machine or vehicle can replace.

(ii)  What does the Postmaster-General’s use of the word ‘invaluable’ suggest about how official bodies regard GDS work?                                 [1]

Ans.  ‘Invaluable’ means too valuable to be measured or replaced. The Postmaster-General’s use of the word signals official recognition of the fact that GDS workers are not simply useful but irreplaceable  the system cannot function without them. This is significant because it comes from an authority within the postal institution, confirming the importance of workers who are often overlooked.

(iii)  How does the Postmaster-General’s statement function as institutional evidence for the text’s argument about the importance of GDS workers? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The Postmaster-General’s statement provides authoritative, institutional confirmation of what the individual portrait of Khetaram has already suggested through personal detail. By quoting an official source, the text moves from the specific to the structural: Khetaram’s work is not an isolated act of individual dedication but a representative instance of a systemic necessity that the institution itself acknowledges as irreplaceable.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘would not receive any communication at all’.                                                                                       [1]

Ans.  ‘Simply not receive mail, money orders, or government communications at all’  the Postmaster-General states that without GDS workers, vast rural sections would ‘simply not receive’ any of these forms of communication, meaning they would be entirely cut off.

(5) “A money order can mean the difference between a family eating and not eating. A government letter can contain a pension approval or a land record. A school certificate sent by post can be the document a young person needs to apply for a job. For the people Khetaram serves, the mail is not a convenience. It is a lifeline. And he is the one who carries it.”       (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The three examples of mail  money order, government letter, school certificate  are used to show:                       [1]

A.   the variety of documents that rural post offices handle each week

B.   that the mail Khetaram carries has direct, material consequences for people’s lives

C.   the administrative complexity of rural postal work

D.   that government communication is more important than personal letters

Ans.  B  that the mail Khetaram carries has direct, material consequences for people’s lives. Each example represents a piece of communication on which something vital depends: food, financial security, employment opportunity. The mail is not abstract; it is connected to the most basic conditions of people’s survival and progress.

(ii)  What is the effect of the contrast between ‘a convenience’ and ‘a lifeline’ in the extract?                                                                                       [1]

Ans.  The contrast sharpens the reader’s understanding of what mail means in different contexts. For urban, connected people, postal communication may be a convenience  pleasant but not essential. For the people Khetaram serves, it is a lifeline  something on which survival, income, and opportunity genuinely depend. The contrast insists that the same service has fundamentally different significance depending on where and for whom it operates.

(iii)  How does the final sentence  ‘And he is the one who carries it’  function as a statement of the text’s central argument? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The sentence is brief and declarative, which gives it the weight of a conclusion. After establishing what the mail means to the people who receive it, the text turns to the person who makes that meaning possible. The simplicity of ‘he is the one who carries it’ is the point: behind every vital piece of communication that reaches a remote village is a specific person, walking, in heat and sand, because no one else will.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘something absolutely essential to survival, like a rope thrown to a drowning person’.               [1]

Ans.  ‘Lifeline’  the extract states that ‘the mail is not a convenience. It is a lifeline’, meaning it is something on which people’s survival and wellbeing critically depend.

(6) “Khetaram has been doing this work for over two decades. He has delivered letters announcing births and deaths, results and rejections, summons and pardons. He has carried news that made people weep and news that made them laugh. He does not know what is inside the envelopes. He carries them all with equal care. He says: ‘Every letter matters to someone. That is enough for me.’”                                                     (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The pairs of contrasts  births and deaths, results and rejections, summons and pardons  are used to show:       [1]

A.   the emotional difficulty of working as a postman over a long career

B.   that the mail Khetaram carries encompasses the full range of human experience

C.   that Khetaram is aware of the contents of the letters he delivers

D.   the legal complexity of the documents that pass through the postal system

Ans.  B  the mail Khetaram carries encompasses the full range of human experience. The paired contrasts place joy and grief, success and failure, punishment and mercy side by side, showing that Khetaram is not simply a delivery worker but a carrier of the full weight of human life.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘he carries them all with equal care’ reveal about Khetaram’s understanding of his role?                                                          [1]

Ans.  The phrase reveals that Khetaram does not differentiate between the value of different letters based on their contents, which he does not know. He treats each piece of mail as equally worthy of careful delivery because he understands that every letter matters to its recipient. This equal care is a form of respect for each person he serves, regardless of what the letter contains.

(iii)  How does Khetaram’s statement  ‘Every letter matters to someone. That is enough for me’  reflect the text’s argument about the dignity of service? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                        [2]

Ans.  The statement reflects a philosophy of service that finds its justification entirely in the needs of others rather than in personal recognition or reward. Khetaram does not need to know that his work is celebrated or that his contribution is acknowledged. The knowledge that each letter matters to its recipient is sufficient motivation. This is the text’s definition of dignified service: work done not for acknowledgement but because it is needed.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘official documents ordering someone to appear before a court’.                                                               [1]

Ans.  ‘Summons’  the extract lists ‘summons and pardons’ among the types of letters Khetaram has delivered, meaning legal orders requiring someone to appear before a court.

(7) “In the village of Dhawa, an old woman named Rukma has been waiting for a letter from her son in the city for three months. Every week she asks the same question when Khetaram arrives: ‘Koi khat aaya?’ Every week he says: ‘Kal aayega.’ He does not know if this is true. But he says it because it is what she needs to hear. He says it the way a doctor says ‘you will be fine’  not as a lie, but as a form of care.”                                                                 (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Khetaram’s reply  ‘Kal aayega’  is described as similar to a doctor’s reassurance because:                            [1]

A.   both are technically dishonest statements that should not be made

B.   both are acts of care that prioritise the other person’s emotional wellbeing over strict factual accuracy

C.   both are professional obligations required by their jobs

D.   both are statements that will definitely prove to be true

Ans.  B  both are acts of care that prioritise the other person’s emotional wellbeing over strict factual accuracy. The text draws the comparison precisely to show that Khetaram’s reply is not a lie in the negative sense but a compassionate act  he gives Rukma what she needs to keep going, not what she may not be ready to hear.

(ii)  What does the detail that Rukma asks the same question every week reveal about her emotional state and her relationship with the mail?    [1]

Ans.  The repeated question reveals that Rukma’s emotional life is organised around the hope of the letter’s arrival. She lives in a state of suspended waiting, and Khetaram’s weekly visit is the moment when that hope is renewed or deferred. The detail shows that for isolated elderly people, the postman’s visit is not merely a delivery but a point of emotional contact with a wider world.

(iii)  How does the Rukma episode extend the text’s argument about the nature of Khetaram’s service beyond the physical delivery of mail? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The episode shows that Khetaram’s service is not simply logistical but deeply human. He carries not only letters but the emotional needs of the people who wait for them. His reassurance to Rukma is an act of pastoral care  he sustains her hope in the absence of the letter itself. This extends the argument: the GDS worker is not just a postal employee but a human presence in isolated communities, performing a form of care that no system can automate.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘spoken as an act of kindness rather than as a statement of fact’.                                                [1]

Ans.  ‘A form of care’  the extract states Khetaram says it ‘not as a lie, but as a form of care’, meaning the words are offered as an act of compassion rather than as a factual claim.

(8) “When Khetaram retires, there is no guarantee that his route will be covered. There are not enough GDS workers. There is not enough pay to attract people to such difficult postings. The letters will pile up at the post office. The villages will wait. An old woman in Dhawa will ask her question and there will be nobody to give even the small comfort of an answer. The system will continue. Only the human presence will be gone.”     (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The extract ends with the warning that when Khetaram retires:                                                                                               [1]

A.   the postal system will be taken over by private courier companies

B.   the institutional system may continue but the human presence that makes it meaningful will be lost

C.   a new and better-paid GDS worker will be appointed to cover his route

D.   the villages he serves will receive mail by drone delivery instead

Ans.  B  the institutional system may continue but the human presence that makes it meaningful will be lost. The system  the post office, the letters, the routes  will survive. What cannot be automatically replaced is Khetaram himself: the person who knows Rukma’s name, who gives her the weekly reassurance, who carries each letter with equal care.

(ii)  What does the image of letters piling up at the post office suggest about the gap between the postal system’s official promise and its practical reality?                                                                                                                 [1]

Ans.  The image suggests that the postal system’s promise of universal connectivity is dependent on individuals willing to do the difficult last-mile work. When those individuals are absent, the promise collapses into a pile of undelivered mail. The gap between the system’s stated commitment and the reality of what happens when it lacks people willing to fulfil it reveals the fragility of institutional infrastructure.

(iii)  How does the final sentence  ‘The system will continue. Only the human presence will be gone’  serve as the text’s central argument about the value of Khetaram’s work? Answer in about 40–50 words.                [2]

Ans.  The final sentence separates what is institutional from what is human and argues that it is the human element  not the system  that gives the work its real value. Systems are structures; they do not recognise people, comfort the lonely, or carry letters with equal care regardless of their contents. Khetaram’s work matters because he is a person doing it, not because the system requires it. When he is gone, the system continues but something essential is lost.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘not enough workers to fill all the positions needed’.                                                                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Not enough GDS workers’  the extract states ‘there are not enough GDS workers’, meaning the number of people available to cover all the required routes is insufficient.

    Extracts (1) to (8)  |  With Answers

Follow That Dream  |  Class IX  |  CBSE  |  Kaveri

(1) “Arjun had always known what he wanted. Since he was eight years old, sitting in the back of his father’s autorickshaw, he had watched the city from the window and thought: I will build things. Not fix them. Not maintain them. Build new ones. He did not have the vocabulary for it then. But by the time he was fourteen, he had found the word: architecture. And once he had found it, he did not let it go.”                                                                          (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The detail that Arjun found his dream while sitting in his father’s autorickshaw is significant because:                          [1]

A.   it shows that children from poor families cannot pursue professional careers

B.   it establishes that his ambition arose from a specific, ordinary experience rather than from privilege or guidance

C.   it suggests that his father encouraged him to pursue architecture

D.   it shows he spent more time travelling than studying as a child

Ans.  B  it establishes that his ambition arose from a specific, ordinary experience rather than from privilege or guidance. Arjun’s dream began in an autorickshaw, not in a library or a classroom with a counsellor. This detail grounds his aspiration in a lived, unpretentious reality, which is part of what makes it credible and admirable.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘once he had found it, he did not let it go’ suggest about the nature of Arjun’s relationship with his dream?           [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that Arjun’s identification of architecture as his goal was not a passing interest but a commitment he actively maintained. The word ‘let go’ implies that there were forces that might have caused him to release the dream  doubt, discouragement, practical pressure  and that his not letting go was a continuous act of will rather than a passive given.

(iii)  How does this opening extract establish the central theme of Follow That Dream? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                [2]

Ans.  The extract establishes the theme of purposeful ambition rooted in personal experience rather than social expectation. Arjun’s dream is self-generated and specific: not a vague desire for success but a clear identification of what he wants to build and why. The theme is not simply that one should pursue one’s dream but that the dream must be genuinely one’s own  found, named, and held with active commitment.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘the technical terms used within a specific field or subject’.                                                                    [1]

Ans.  ‘Vocabulary’  the extract states that Arjun ‘did not have the vocabulary for it then’, meaning he did not yet have the specific words and concepts that would allow him to name and articulate what he wanted to do.

(2) “The problem was the entrance examination. Architecture colleges in India required mathematics at the highest level, and Arjun’s school did not offer it. The school was a municipal one, underfunded and understaffed. The teacher who was supposed to teach advanced mathematics had left two years ago and not been replaced. Arjun knew what he needed. He also knew that the usual path to it was not available to him.”                        (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The detail about the missing mathematics teacher is used to show:                                                                                   [1]

A.   Arjun’s school was poorly managed and should have been closed

B.   the structural inequalities in the education system create different starting points for students from different backgrounds

C.   Arjun should have moved to a better school earlier in his life

D.   mathematics is the most important subject for a career in architecture

Ans.  B  the structural inequalities in the education system create different starting points for students from different backgrounds. The absent teacher is not an individual failure but a systemic one  the school is underfunded, the position unfilled, and the consequence falls on the students who have no alternative.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘the usual path to it was not available to him’ suggest about the relationship between ambition and access?                [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that ambition and access are not the same thing. Arjun has the goal but not the conventional means to reach it. This gap between what a person wants and the pathways available to them is a form of structural inequality that the text asks the reader to recognise. The dream is the same; the starting conditions are not.

(iii)  How does the portrayal of Arjun’s school situation challenge a simplistic understanding of individual effort and success? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  By showing that Arjun’s path to his goal is blocked not by lack of effort but by institutional failure, the extract complicates the idea that success is purely a matter of individual determination. The absent teacher, the underfunded school, the gap in provision  these are not Arjun’s failures but the failures of a system that does not give all students equal access to what they need. His success, if it comes, will be despite the system, not because of it.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘not given enough money or resources to function properly’.                                                                      [1]

Ans.  ‘Underfunded’  the extract describes the school as ‘underfunded and understaffed’, meaning it had not been given the financial resources needed to operate at full capacity.

(3) “He found a solution in the most unlikely place: the footpath. Outside a second-hand bookshop near the railway station, he discovered a mathematics textbook for competitive examinations. It cost thirty rupees. He did not have thirty rupees. He came back the next day with twenty-five from his mother and five he had saved himself. He took the book home, placed it on the table, and began.”                                                                     (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The detail that Arjun had to gather money from two sources to buy the textbook suggests:                                         [1]

A.   his mother did not believe in his ambitions and gave him less than he needed

B.   the purchase required a small but real act of resourcefulness and effort

C.   thirty rupees was an extremely large sum of money for his family

D.   he was not allowed to ask his father for money

Ans.  B  the purchase required a small but real act of resourcefulness and effort. The book costs thirty rupees  not a fortune, but more than he had. His solution  combining his mother’s contribution with his own savings  is small in scale but significant as an act of self-directed problem-solving.

(ii)  What does the simple sequence  ‘He took the book home, placed it on the table, and began’  convey about Arjun’s character?                   [1]

Ans.  The sequence conveys decisiveness and lack of procrastination. Having solved the problem of acquiring the book, Arjun immediately begins the work. There is no ceremony, no hesitation, no further preparation. The simplicity of the sentence mirrors the simplicity of his approach: he has what he needs, and he starts.

(iii)  How does the footpath bookshop episode reflect the text’s argument that determination finds its own means when conventional paths are unavailable? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                [2]

Ans.  The episode shows Arjun solving a real problem  how to access advanced mathematics without a teacher or a well-equipped school  through a specific, practical act. He does not wait for the system to provide what it owes him. He finds a second-hand book on a footpath and teaches himself. The text argues through this episode that determination, when genuine, generates its own solutions, however modest they may appear.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘a place where used or previously owned books are sold’.                                                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Second-hand bookshop’  the extract describes ‘a second-hand bookshop near the railway station’, meaning a shop that sells previously owned books at lower prices.

(4) “His mathematics teacher  the one who taught the standard syllabus  noticed the extra book. ‘That is not for your class,’ she said. ‘I know,’ said Arjun. ‘It is for the entrance exam.’ She looked at him for a long moment. Then she said: ‘Come on Saturday. I will go through the first five chapters with you.’ He had not asked her. She had simply decided. He came on every Saturday for the next eighteen months.”                                           (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The teacher’s offer to help Arjun on Saturdays is significant because:                                                                     [1]

A.   she was required by her school to provide extra tuition to all students

B.   it was an unprompted act of support that made the difference between Arjun having a chance and not having one

C.   she recognised that Arjun was the most intelligent student she had ever taught

D.   she wanted to prove that the school’s mathematics teaching was adequate

Ans.  B  it was an unprompted act of support that made the difference between Arjun having a chance and not having one. The teacher was not asked, not obligated, and not rewarded. She simply saw what he needed and decided to provide it. Her choice is what makes his eventual achievement possible.

(ii)  What does the detail ‘He came on every Saturday for the next eighteen months’ reveal about Arjun?                                                                            [1]

Ans.  The detail reveals sustained, consistent commitment over a long period. Eighteen months of Saturday sessions requires not just initial enthusiasm but the discipline to show up repeatedly, across seasons, through tiredness and setbacks. This consistency is the quality that converts a dream into a realistic possibility.

(iii)  How does the relationship between Arjun and his mathematics teacher reflect a broader argument about the role of individuals within systems? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                        [2]

Ans.  The episode shows that while the system failed Arjun  by leaving the advanced mathematics position vacant  an individual within the system compensated for that failure through a personal choice. The text is not arguing that systems are irrelevant but that individuals who choose to act beyond their formal obligations can make the difference that institutions do not. The teacher’s Saturday commitment is an act of personal responsibility in the face of systemic neglect.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘without being asked or prompted’.                                                                                                          [1]

Ans.  ‘He had not asked her’  the extract states ‘he had not asked her’, meaning the teacher’s offer came entirely from her own initiative, without any request from Arjun.

(5) “The night before the examination, Arjun did not study. He had studied everything he could. He sat on the roof of his building and looked at the city. He thought about the buildings he could see  which ones were interesting, which ones were not, and why. He thought about what he would do differently. He was already thinking like an architect. He did not know yet if he would be allowed to become one.”                                               (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Arjun’s decision not to study the night before the exam suggests:                                                                               [1]

A.   he is not serious about the examination and has given up

B.   he has reached the limit of what preparation can do and is now ready

C.   he is too nervous to concentrate on his notes

D.   his teacher has advised him to rest before the examination

Ans.  B  he has reached the limit of what preparation can do and is now ready. The decision not to study is not laziness but the calm of someone who has done everything possible. Sitting on the roof and thinking about buildings is itself a form of preparation  a return to the source of his original motivation.

(ii)  What does the contrast between ‘already thinking like an architect’ and ‘did not know yet if he would be allowed to become one’ reveal about the relationship between identity and opportunity?                                         [1]

Ans.  The contrast shows that identity can precede the formal permission to act on it. Arjun has already become an architect in the way that matters most  in how he sees and thinks about the world. But the system has not yet confirmed this. The gap between who he is and what he is allowed to do is the central injustice the text explores.

(iii)  How does the image of Arjun on the roof looking at the city echo the image of him in the autorickshaw at the beginning of the text? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                           [2]

Ans.  Both images show Arjun looking at the city and thinking about what could be built or built differently. The echo is deliberate: he started from a moving vehicle as an eight-year-old with a wordless ambition, and he arrives at a rooftop as a young man with a fully formed architectural sensibility. The city is the same; what has changed is the depth and precision of how he sees it. The echo shows growth without displacement  the dream has become more sophisticated without losing its original character.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘given formal permission or approval to enter a profession’.                                                                      [1]

Ans.  ‘Allowed to become one’  the extract states that Arjun ‘did not know yet if he would be allowed to become one’, meaning whether the examination system would grant him the formal access to pursue architecture as a profession.

(6) “He passed. Not at the top of the list, but comfortably within the range for admission. His father, when he heard, sat very quietly for a moment. Then he said: ‘I drove people around this city for twenty years so you could be the one to change it.’ He said it simply, without drama. Arjun understood that this was not a small thing his father had said. It was the summary of a life.”                                                                                                                  (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: The father’s statement  ‘I drove people around this city for twenty years so you could be the one to change it’  suggests:                                                                                                              [1]

A.   he is disappointed that Arjun did not come first in the examination

B.   his twenty years of work was consciously oriented towards enabling his son’s future

C.   he believes his son will literally change the city’s appearance through his buildings

D.   he is asking Arjun to repay the investment he has made in his education

Ans.  B  his twenty years of work was consciously oriented towards enabling his son’s future. The statement frames the father’s working life not as an end in itself but as a contribution to something larger  his son’s ability to do what he himself could not. This is not self-sacrifice expressed with bitterness but with quiet pride.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘it was the summary of a life’ suggest about how Arjun understands his father’s words?                                                           [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that the father’s statement compressed decades of labour, limitation, and deliberate choice into a single sentence. Arjun hears in it not just pride but the full weight of what his father has given up and given over. A summary is what remains when everything non-essential has been removed  and what remains here is the fact that the father’s life was shaped, in part, by this son and this moment.

(iii)  How does the father’s statement reframe Arjun’s individual achievement as part of a larger, intergenerational effort? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                      [2]

Ans.  The statement shows that Arjun’s success is not solely his own but the culmination of his father’s twenty years of work in the same city. The father’s labour was the foundation on which the son’s opportunity was built. This reframing argues that individual achievement rarely exists in isolation  it is usually the visible expression of invisible contributions from others whose work made the achievement possible.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘a brief statement that captures the main point of something much larger’.                                  [1]

Ans.  ‘Summary’  Arjun understands that his father’s statement ‘was the summary of a life’, meaning it compressed and expressed the essential meaning of twenty years of work in a single sentence.

(7) “In his first year of college, Arjun struggled. The other students had come from better schools, had private tutors, and knew things he did not know. He sat in the design studio and looked at their work and felt, for the first time, the full weight of what he had missed. He thought about quitting. He thought about it seriously. Then he thought about the rooftop, and the city, and the autorickshaw. And he did not quit.”                                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Arjun’s struggle in his first year of college is caused by:                                                                                                            [1]

A.   the workload being heavier than he expected

B.   the gap in prior preparation between him and students from more privileged educational backgrounds

C.   his inability to get along with his classmates

D.   his teacher’s unfair evaluation of his work

Ans.  B  the gap in prior preparation between him and students from more privileged educational backgrounds. The other students had better schools, private tutors, and more exposure. Arjun confronts the accumulated disadvantage of his earlier schooling now that he is competing on the same terms as those who had more.

(ii)  What does the phrase ‘the full weight of what he had missed’ suggest about the experience of educational inequality?                                         [1]

Ans.  The phrase suggests that the consequences of educational inequality are not fully felt at the time but arrive later, when a person from a disadvantaged background enters a space where the gaps in their preparation become visible by comparison. The ‘weight’ is retrospective  Arjun is now experiencing what his school failed to give him, measured against what others received.

(iii)  How does Arjun’s decision not to quit reflect the text’s argument about what sustains a person through difficulty? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                               [2]

Ans.  Arjun does not quit because he returns mentally to the source of his dream  the rooftop, the city, the autorickshaw. The text argues that what sustains a person through difficulty is not willpower in the abstract but a specific, remembered connection to why the goal mattered in the first place. The dream is not just an ambition; it is a reservoir of meaning that a person can return to when the present becomes too hard.

(iv)  Find a word from the extract that means ‘thought about something carefully and with full seriousness’.                                                                [1]

Ans.  ‘Seriously’  the extract states ‘he thought about it seriously’, meaning he considered quitting not casually but with genuine deliberation and intent.

(8) “By his final year, Arjun was among the strongest students in his cohort. His thesis project was a proposal for low-cost housing in a neighbourhood like the one he had grown up in. His supervisor said it was the best student proposal she had seen in fifteen years. Arjun said: ‘I just designed what I know.’ His supervisor said: ‘That is exactly what architecture is. It begins with what you know.’”                                                                                   (5 marks)

(i)  Choose the correct option: Arjun’s decision to design low-cost housing for a neighbourhood like his own reflects:                                                    [1]

A.   a deliberate choice to use his personal knowledge and experience as the foundation for his professional work

B.   his inability to imagine architecture in contexts different from his own background

C.   his supervisor’s instruction to work on social housing as a final year project

D.   a political statement against wealthier clients in the architecture profession

Ans.  A  a deliberate choice to use his personal knowledge and experience as the foundation for his professional work. Arjun does not design a fantasy or an abstract project  he designs what he knows from the inside. His background, which was an obstacle throughout the story, becomes the most valuable thing he brings to his profession.

(ii)  What does the supervisor’s response  ‘That is exactly what architecture is. It begins with what you know’  suggest about the relationship between lived experience and professional practice?          [1]

Ans.  The response validates Arjun’s approach by identifying it as architecturally correct rather than merely personal or compensatory. It suggests that the most grounded and genuine work in any profession begins with what the practitioner knows from direct experience. Arjun’s background, far from being a disadvantage, has given him exactly what the discipline values most.

(iii)  How does the ending of the story bring together the text’s themes of dream, origin, and the value of lived experience? Answer in about 40–50 words.                                                                                                                  [2]

Ans.  The ending closes the circle opened by the autorickshaw image. Arjun began by watching the city from his father’s vehicle and dreaming of building. He ends by designing for the kind of community he came from, which his supervisor identifies as the most genuine form of architectural knowledge. The text’s argument is complete: the dream, followed faithfully from its origin, leads back to where it began  and that return is not a limitation but the source of its greatest value.

(iv)  Find a phrase from the extract that means ‘designed based on personal and direct experience rather than theoretical knowledge’.                       [1]

Ans.  ‘I just designed what I know’  Arjun’s explanation that ‘I just designed what I know’ means he used the direct, personal knowledge of his own community and background as the basis for his architectural proposal.