NCERT Solutions for Class 9th English: Chapter 10: Kathmandu
Question 1:
Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.
1. Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.
2. The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?
3. What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
4. Name five kinds of flutes.
Answer:
1. The two temples the author visited in Kathmandu were the Pashupatinath temple and the Baudhnath stupa.
2. ‘All this’ refers to a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob roasted in a charcoal stove (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon), a couple of love story comics, and a Reader’s Digest.
3. Vikram Seth compares the fifty or sixty bansuris protruding in all directions from the bamboo-made pole to the quills of a porcupine.
4. The five kinds of flutes are the reed neh, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America, and the high-pitched Chinese flutes.
Question 2:
Answer each question in a short paragraph.
1. What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?
2. What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?
3. The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of
(i) the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath (for example: some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside…)
(ii) the things he sees
(iii) the sounds he hears
Answer:
1. The author notes that the flute seller selected a flute from time to time and played it for a few minutes. The sound rose clearly above the noise of the traffic and the hawkers’ cries. While the flute seller played slowly, meditatively, and without excessive display, the hawkers shouted out their wares.
2. At Pashupatinath, there is a small shrine that protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank. The belief is that when it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of Kaliyug will end on earth.
3.
(i) The author has drawn powerful images and pictures of the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath. Many worshippers trying to get the priest’s attention were elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. On the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggled for permission to enter as only Hindus were allowed to enter the temple. A fight broke out between two monkeys. One was chasing the other, who jumped onto a shivalinga, then ran screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati.
(ii) He saw that the Baudhnath Stupa had an immense white dome, which was ringed by a road. Small shops were there on the outer edge where felt bags, Tibetan prints and silver jewellery could be bought. There were no crowds there. On the busiest streets of Kathmandu, he saw fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.
(iii) The sounds he heard were film songs that were blaring out from the radios, car horns, bicycle bells, vendors shouting out their wares. He also listened to flute music, calling it the most universal and most particular of sounds.
Question 3:
Answer the following questions in not more than 100 − 150 words each.
1. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupathinath temple.
2. How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets?
3. “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?
Answer:
1. The atmosphere at Pashupatinath temple was one of noise, chaos and confusion. Worshippers were trying to get the priest’s attention; others were pushing their way to the front; saffron-clad Westerners were trying to enter the temple; monkeys were fighting and adding to the general noise; a corpse was being cremated on the banks of the river Bagmati; washerwomen were at their work, while their children were bathing. In contrast, the Baudhnath stupa was “a haven of quietness in the busy streets around”. There was a sense of stillness and serenity about the Buddhist shrine.
2. Along Kathmandu’s narrowest and busiest streets, there were small shrines and flower-adorned deities. Apart from these, there were fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques. The author heard film songs that were blaring out from the radios, sounds of car horns and bicycle bells, vendors shouting out their wares. He also saw a flute seller with many bansuris. He contrasts the serene music produced by the flute seller with the cries of the hawkers.
3. The author considers flute music to be “the most universal and most particular” of all music. There is no culture that does not have its flute. Each kind of flute has a specific fingering and compass, and “weaves its own associations”. Still, for the author, to hear any flute is “to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind”. In spite of their differences, every flute produces music with the help of the human breath. Similarly, in spite of the differences in caste, culture, religion, region, all human beings are the same, with the same living breath running through all of them.
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Question 1:
Read the following sentences carefully to understand the meaning of the italicised phrases. Then match the phrasal verbs in Column A with their meanings in Column B.
1. A communal war broke out when the princess was abducted by the neighbouring prince.
2. The cockpit broke off from the plane during the plane crash.
3. The car broke down on the way and we were left stranded in the jungle.
4. The dacoit broke away from the police as they took him to court.
5. The brothers broke up after the death of the father.
6. The thief broke into our house when we were away.
Question 3:
Punctuation
Use capital letter, full stops, question marks, commas and inverted commas wherever necessary in the following paragraph. an arrogant lion was wandering though the jungle one day he asked the tiger who is stronger than you you O lion replied the tiger who is more fierce than a leopard asked the lion you sir replied the leopard he marched upto an elephant and asked the same question the elephant picked him up in his trunk swung him in the air and threw him down look said the lion there is no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer
Answer:
An arrogant lion was wandering through the jungle. One day, he asked the tiger, “Who is stronger than you?” “You, O lion!” replied the tiger. “Who is more fierce than a leopard?” asked the lion. “You sir,” replied the leopard. He marched up to an elephant and asked the same question. The elephant picked him up in his trunk, swung him in the air, and threw him down. “Look,” said the lion, “there is no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer.”
Question 4:
1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets.
(i) The heart is a pump that ___________ (send) the blood circulating through our body. The pumping action ____________ (take place) when the left ventricle of the heart ____________ (contract). This ____________ (force) the blood out into the arteries, which __________ (expand) to receive the oncoming blood.
(ii) The African lungfish can live without water for up to four years. During drought, it _________ (dig) a pit and ___________ (enclose) itself in a capsule of slime and earth, leaving a tiny opening for air. The capsule ____________ (dry) and _____________ (harden), but when rain ___________(come), the mud ___________ (dissolve) and the lungfish ___________ (swim) away.
(iii) Mahesh: We have to organise a class party for our teacher. ____________ (Do) anyone play an instrument?
Vipul: Rohit _________ (play) the flute.
Mahesh: __________ (Do) he also act?
Vipul: No, he __________ (compose) music.
Mahesh: That’s wonderful!
Answer:
(i) The heart is a pump that sends the blood circulating through our body. The pumping action takes place when the left ventricle of the heart contracts. This forces the blood out into the arteries, which expands to receive the oncoming blood.
(ii) The African lungfish can live without water for up to four years. During drought, it digs a pit and encloses itself in a capsule of slime and earth, leaving a tiny opening for air. The capsule dries and hardens, but when rain comes, the mud dissolves and the lungfish swims away.
(iii) Mahesh: We have to organise a class party for our teacher. Does anyone play an instrument?
Vipul: Rohit plays the flute.
Mahesh: Does he also act?
Vipul: No, he composes music.
Mahesh: That’s wonderful!
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