Comprehension
Check
Page
no-9
1. Velu
stood on the platform but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train”. Why?
Ans. Velu escaped
from his home and was quite tired and hungry so he thought that he was still on
a train.
2. What
made him feel miserable?
Ans. Velu had
travelled quite a long distance so he was tired, hungry and exhausted. This was
the reason why he was miserable.
3. (i)
Velu travelled without a ticket? Why?
(ii) How did he escape the ticket
collector’s attention?
Ans. (i) Velu escaped
from home and he was not having any money. So, he had to travel without a ticket
as he couldn’t buy it.
(ii) Velu had no
ticket and he was there in the unreserved compartment where the ticket
collector didn’t arrive. By this way, he was able to escape the attention of
the ticket collector.
4. Why
had Velu run away from home?
Ans. Velu’s father
used to beat Velu unnecessarily and snatched the money from him and his sister
and wasted it. Velu was not able to tolerate this anymore as a result of which
he ran away from home.
5. Why
did he decide to follow the ‘strange’ girl?
Ans. Velu was new to
that place and he was tired and hungry. He didn’t know anyone over there except
the girl who told him to provide food. So, he decided to follow the ‘strange’
girl.
Page
no-13
1. Can
Velu read Tamil and English? How do you know?
Ans. Velu could read Tamil as he read the Tamil
sign written as ‘Central Jail’. But he couldn’t read English as he couldn’t
read the signboard which was written in English.
2. “If
you are not careful, you will soon be counting bars there,” the girl said.
(i)
What is she referring to?
(ii)
What does she mean when she says “If you
are not careful…”? (She says something a little later which means the same.
Find that sentence.)
Ans. (i) She was referring
to the Central Jail.
(ii)
She meant by the
above statement that Velu need not to do anything but he should not get caught.
3. (i) Where did the girl lead Velu to?
(ii) What did they get to eat?
Ans.
(i) The girl led Velu to a building where a marriage ceremony was supposed to
take place.
(ii) They got to eat the
leftover food from the garbage bin which was overflowing from it.
4. What
work did she do? Think of a one-word answer.
Ans. She did the work
of a rag picker.
Page
no-15
1. (i)
What material are the ‘strange’ huts made out of?
(ii) Why does Velu
find them strange?
Ans.
(i) The ‘strange’ huts are made up of metal sheets, tyres, bricks, wood and
plastic.
(ii)
Velu finds those huts to be strange
as he had never seen such huts in his life.
2. What
sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what did they do with
those things?
Ans. Jaya and the children used to
collect paper, plastic, and glass.
They used to sell it to the Jam Bazaar Jaggu.
3. Is
Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your answer.
Ans. Velu is not at
all happy with the work of ragpickers.
But he is bound to do
this as he needs to fill his stomach. Later, he will be searching for a better job.
Page
no-16
Discuss the following questions in small
groups. Write their answers afterwards.
1. Is
Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text show that he is or isn’t?
Ans. Yes, Velu was a
smart boy as he escaped from the home when he couldn’t bear his father beating
him and taking all his money and wasting it. He moved to a different place by
train. When he met Jaya, he decided to follow her as he thought that he would
get something to eat. He even agreed to eat those leftover foods as he knew
that it was the only way to fill his stomach. After that, Jaya told him about
rag-picking and he decided that he would do this work until he gets a better
one.
2. Do
you think Jaya is a brave and sensitive child with a sense of humour? Find
instances of her courage, kind nature and humour in the text.
Ans. Yes, Jaya was
indeed a brave and sensitive girl. She was one of the ragpickers. At such a
tender age, she had started working and when she saw Velu all alone, she felt
pity for him and even helped him get his food and even provided him with a path
for earning a living. Besides this, she also had a good sense of humour which
can be proved by her statement, “What do you think you’re doing? Grazing cows?”
3. What
one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find this sentence
meaningful in the context of the story? How?
Ans. Yes, the above
sentence is meaningful. Things like plastic, glass and paper are wastes to us
but these are a treasure to the ragpickers especially for the children. They eat
the leftover foods and worked as ragpickers for earning a living. So, those
rubbish things are very valuable to them.