Madam Rides the Bus | NCERT Solution
Updated: Apr 23, 2022
Lesson Architecture
Theme
Lesson-At-A-Glance
NCERT Solution
Theme:
The lesson narrates the story of a precocious girl by the name of Valli, an eight years old.
She nurses a secret desire to take a bus ride fro her village to the town.
The lesson narrates the childhood dreams and fantasies and the realization of such dreams with commitment and patience.
Lesson -At-A-Glance
Valli wishes to ride the bus that goes from her village to the town.
She sees every day the bus that travels between her village and the nearest town.
She looks wistfully at the people who got on and off the bus.
People inspire her the hop and wish to take a ride herself one day.
Valli's secret wish started spreading wings till she decides one day that she wold attempt a ride on the bus.
She saves every penny resisting the temptations to buy peppermints and toys, the ride on the merry-go-round and the village fair.
One afternoon when her mother is asleep, Valli slips ot of the house, boards the bus and starts relishing her first ever bus ride.
The conductor is taken aback to find her travel alone and is amused by her haughty manners.
She resents being called a child and reminds everyone on the bus that she has paid full fare like anyone else.
On the way to town, Valli is delighted to see a young cow running right in the middle of the road in front of the bus. The honking frightens the cow and he gallop[ed even faster.
On the way back to the village, Valli becomes sad by the sight of the same cow who lies dead by roadside.
On her return home, she finds her mother awake and is involved in chatting with her aunt.
Her mother is not able to guess that she have been outside home all the while.
NCERT Textbook Questions
Oral Comprehension Check ( Page 119)
1. What was valli's favourite pastime?
Valli's favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house and watch what was happening in the street outside.
2. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Ans A source of unending joy for Valli was watching the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town and back each hour.
Her strongest desire was to ride the bus which was filled each time with full of passengers going to the town and returning back to the village.
3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?
Ans: Valli collected the following details about the bus journey:
Valli found out that the fare was thirty paise one way.
The trip to the twn took forty -five minutes.
On reaching town, she could return home on the same bus if she could pay another thirty paise.
She found out these details by listening carefully to conversations of her neighbours and people who regularly travelled in the bus.
4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?
Ans: Valli was planning to take a ride on the bus to the town and back to her village one day.
Oral comprehension Check ( Page 122)
1. Why does the conductor call Valli 'madam'?
Ans Valli talks like a matured adult person. She refuses to take help from the conductor while climbing the steps of the bus. She behaves as if she was capable of taking care of herself.
2. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Ans: Valli stands up on the seat because the lower half of the window was covered with a canvas blind.
She can see the canal on one side of the road and beyond it the palm trees, grassland, distant mountains and the blue sky. On the other side of the road, she can see a deep ditch beyond which were acres and acres of green fields.
3. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Ans Valli is annoyed at being called a child and replies that she can take care of herself. She further says that she has paid her thirty paise like an adult passenger.
4. Why didn't Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Ans: The elderly woman appeared to be very shabby. She had very big holes in her ear lobes, and ugle earrings in them. she could smell the betel nut the woman was chewing and the betel juice was about to spill over her lips at any moment.
Oral Comprehension Check ( page 125)
1. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Ans: Valli had thriftily saved a total of sixty paise. She had saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and the like. It wasn't easy for her. She had to curb a strong desire to spend the money at the fair and ride the merry-go-round.
2. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Ans: Valli saw a young cow running very fast right in the middle of the road. It had its tail high up as it ran. The more the driver blew the horn the more, the cow grew frightened and ran faster in front of the bus. It grew frightened and ran faster in front of the bus. Thus Valli laughed by seeing this frantic act of the cow.
3. Why didn't she get off the bus at the bus station?
Ans: Valli did not get off the bus at the bus station because she wanted to return to her village by the same bus. She was not left with adequate money to explore the town. She just had the bus fare to return to her village.
4. Why didn't Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Ans: Valli did not want to go to the stall and have a drink because she was left with just the money to buy a ticket for the journey back home.
It tells us that Valli is a disciplined and alert girl She refused to have the drink even when the conductor offered it as a treat. She was having the self-respect and did not take any undue favour from any one unnecessarily.
Thinking About the Text: (Page 127)
1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.
Ans: Valli's deepest desire was to take a bus ride to the town. The words & phrases that tell us about this fact are the following:
'most fascinating thing'.
'a source of unending joy for valli'
'wish became stronger and stronger until it was an overwhelming desire'.
2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?
Ans: Valli planned her bus ride in the following manner :
She listened carefully to conversations between her neighbours and people who regularly used the bus.
She asked a few discreet questions here and there.
She found out details about the bus like :
The bus fare to the nearest town was thirty paise one way.
The trip to the town took forty-five minutes.
On reaching town she could return to her village in the same bus by paying another thirty paise.
Thus she planned to catch the one-o'clock afternoon bus, reach the town at one forty-five and be back home by about two forty-five.
Valli saved up the fare in the following manner :
She saved by collecting whatever stray coins came her way.
She resisted every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and so on.
She resolutely stifled a strong desire at the village fair to ride the merry-go-round.
Thus she ended up saving a total of sixty paise for a to-and-fro trip to the town.
3. What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.
(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised ________ (Commandingly)
(ii) “Yes, I ________go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus. (simply have)
(iii) “There’s nobody here _________ ,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.” (who's a child)
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can ______________. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, ________ ( get on by myself , irritably )
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. ___________________ ,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out. ( I can take care of myself)
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope _____________.” (to see you again)
4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?
Ans: Valli talks like a matured adult person. She refuses to take help from the conductor while climbing the steps of the bus. She behaves as if she was capable of taking care of herself.
5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.
Valli devoured everything with her eyes.
Oh, it was all so wonderful !
Suddenly Valli clapped her hands with glee.
Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.
Struck dumb with wonder, Valli gaped at everything..
Valli wasn't bored in the slightest and greeted everything with the same excitement she'd felt the first time.
6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
Valli refuses to to look out of the window on her way back due to the following reasons:
She had seen the young cow lying dead on the road.
On her way to town, she was taken back to have seen a young cow running right in the middle of the road.
On her way back the cow was hit by a vehicle. The sight of the dead cow moved her so much so that she refused to outside.
7. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”
On reaching home Valli overhears a conversation between her auntie and her mother about things happening without our knowledge. She then agrees to what they say as the same thing has also happened with her. Her mother was blissfully unaware of Valli's to and fro bus ride to Town.
8. The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?
The following are the text sentences to support the statement.
The most fascinating thing of all was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town.
She wanted to ride on that bus even if just once.
Valli devoured everything with her eyes.
She stood up on the seat and peered over the blind. Valli found the woman absolutely repulsive... who could be sociable with such a person?
How difficult it had been, particularly that day at the village fair....
Suddenly Valli clapped her hands with glee.
<<<<<<<<<< End>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
.png)