Comprehension – I
Question:
1. What
was Valla’s favorite pastime?
2. What
was a source of unending joy for Valla’s? What was her strongest desire?
3. What
did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?
4. What
do you think Valli was planning to do?
Answer:
1. Valliammai
was eight year old girl who was curious about things. Her favourite pastime was
to stand in the front doorway of her house and watch what was happening in the
street outside. For her standing at the front door was as enjoyable as other
games that the children played outside.
2. Valli
enjoyed the sight of street standing on her door. For her the source of
unending joy was the sight of the bus that travelled between her village and
the nearest town, filled with a new set of passengers each tim e it passed
through her street. Her strongest desire was to ride on that bus.
3. Valli
heard conversations of her neighbours and people who regularly travelled on
that bus and found out that the town was six miles from her village. The fare
was thirty pai se one way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes. On
reaching the town, if she stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she
could return home on the same bus. She also gained information by asking them a
few questions.
4. Valli
was planni ng to travel on that bus.
Comprehension – II
Question:
1. Why
does the conducto r call Valli ‘mada m’?
2. Why
does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
3. What
does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
4. Why
didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Answer:
1. Valli
was trying to behave sophisticated and more mature than her age. She is trying
to look overconfident and smart. The conductor tries to tease her and calls her
‘madam’. Everyone is amused at her behavior in the bus.
2. Villi
devoured everything with her eyes but her view was cut off by a canvas blind
that covered the lower part of her window. So, she stood up to look over the
blind. She saw that the bus was going along the bank of canal and the road was
very narrow. On one side of which there was the canal and beyond it were palm
trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue sky. On the other side, there
was a deep ditch and many acres of green fields.
3. The
elderly asked her not to stand in the bus. The elderly man was concerned for
her. But Valli was annoyed by his attention and told him that there was nobody
on the bus who was a child. She had paid her fare of thirty paise like everyone
else.
4. The
elderly woma n sat beside Valli. She found the women repulsive. The elderly women
had big earlobes with bigger holes. Valli could smell her chewing betel nut and
the betel juice was about to spill out of her mouth. That is why Vaali did not
want to make friends with her.
Comprehension – III
Question:
1. How did Valli save up
money for her first journey? Was it easy for her? 2. What did Valli see on her
way that made her laugh?
3. Why didn’t she get
off the bus at the bus station?
4. Why didn’t Valli want
to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Answer:
1. Valli was very
curious to travel on the bus for once. She thriftily saved every coin that came
her way resisting herself from every temptation like having peppermints, buying
toys and balloons. Sacrificing her childish urges would have been very
difficult for her. It is tough to savour a candy or to enjoy a toy for the
kids.
2. Valli
saw a young cow whose tail was high in the air, running very fast right in
front of the bus in the middle of the road. Valli started clapping in glee. The
bus slowed and the driver sounded his horn loudly over and over again. However,
the m ore he honked, the m ore frightened the cow became and it kept running
faster and faster, right in front of the bus. Somehow it was very funny for
Valli and she kept on laughing until she had tears in her eyes. At last, the
cow m oved off the road.
3. The
bus reached its destination and everyone got off that bus except Valli. She did
not get off the bus at the bus station because she had to go back on that same
bus. She took out another thirty paise from her pocket and handed the coins to
the conductor. She just wanted to ride on the bus.
4. The
conductor insisted Valli to go and have a drink at the stall but she did not
want to go because she did not have any money for that. Even when the conductor
offered her a cold drink as a treat, she refused firmly and said that she only
wanted her ticket. This shows that Valli had a lot of self will and pride.
Possibly, she did not want to take anything for free, particularly from a
stranger.