EXTRA QUESTIONS
Question 1:Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?
Answer:The conductor called Valli ‘madam’ because she was behaving like a woman in an audacious and smart manner. She did not accept his help to get into the bus and was very quick in replying to the conductor’s questions. Amused by her antics and behaviour, the conductor teased her by calling her ‘madam’.
Question 2:Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Answer:Valli was enchanted by the view of the beautiful scenery outside the bus and was trying hard to look outside. But her view was blocked by the canvas blind that covered the lower part of the window. In order to catch a better glimpse, she stood up on the seat and peered over the blind. She saw the narrow road as the bus was going along the bank of a canal, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, green fields and the blue sky. On the other side, there was a deep ditch and many acres of green fields stretched far and wide as much as her eyes could see.
Question 3:What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Answer:When the elderly man in the bus referred to Valli as a child, she instantly replied that there was nobody in the bus who was a child. She further stated that she had paid her fare of thirty paise like other passengers in the bus.
Question 4:Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Answer:Valli was not interested to make friends with the elderly woman because she looked quite repulsive to her. She had big earlobes with bigger holes and wore ugly earrings. Besides, she was also chewing betel nut and her mouth was also filled with betel juice that was likely to spill all over her lips. Seeing all this, Valli thought that the elderly woman was not sociable enough to be friends with.
Question 5:How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Answer:Valli had saved every stray coin meticulously that came her way. She resisted every temptation from buying peppermints, toys, balloons, etc. to save enough money for the bus trip. It had been really difficult for her as she had to control her urges and resisted the temptation to be on the merry-go-round in the village fair. After making a lot of sacrifices, she was able to save sixty paise for her first bus journey.
Question 6:What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Answer:Valli was overjoyed upon seeing a young cow, tail high in the air running very fast right in the middle of the road just in front of the bus. The driver sounded his horn loudly again and again so that the cow moves away from the path. But the more he honked, the cow became more frightened and galloped as fast as possible. Seeing all this, it appeared very funny to Valli and she laughed out loud until tears rolled down her eyes.
Question 7:Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?
Answer:Valli’s plan was only to take the bus ride and not roam around the town. She had painstakingly accumulated sixty paise for her onward and return bus journey. She knew that she had limited money to travel by bus and would spend thirty paise fare on her onward journey, go to the town and then return by the same bus before her mother woke up from her afternoon nap. She neither had the money to roam around the town, nor had she time to explore it, so she didn’t get off the bus at the bus station.
Question 8:Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Answer:Valli didn’t want to go to the stall as she had saved sixty paise only for the bus journey. She didn’t want to waste money on anything unnecessary as she had to return by the same bus at any cost. So, when the conductor suggested her to get down and get a drink for herself, she refused. He also offered to get her a drink in case she doesn’t have money, but she still refused. This implies that she was an independent girl who did not want to rely on anyone for her needs.
Question 9:What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.
Answer:Valli’s deepest desire was to take a ride on the bus that she saw everyday from her house. The words and phrases in the story that depict her desire are ‘an overwhelming desire’, ‘source of unending joy’, ‘stare wistfully’, and ‘kindle in her longings, dreams and hopes’.
Question 10:How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?
Answer:Valli had been carefully listening since many days to the conversations between her neighbours and the people who regularly used the bus and asked a few discreet questions. She learnt from them that the town was six miles away from her village and the bus charged thirty paise as fare for the onward journey and it took forty-five minutes to complete one-way bus trip. She also made up her mind to stay in the bus and return in the same bus that would cost her sixty paise to and fro. She was determined not to get down from the bus to roam around the town as she didn’t have enough money. Hence, she saved sixty paise meticulously and resisted all kinds of urges and temptation to buy peppermints, toys, etc. and even a ride on the merry-go-round at the village annual fair. It was Valli’s secret adventurous bus trip that she had planned without her parents’ knowledge.
Question 11: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 ______________________________.
(ii) “Yes, I __________________ go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here ______________________,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can ___________________. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, ___________________________________.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I ___________________________,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope _________________________.”
Answer:Valli was a confident eight-year-old girl who believed that her age was not a limiting factor for her to travel alone in the bus to the town. She considered herself to be a grown up person and also acted like one.
(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised commandingly.
(ii) “Yes, I simply have to go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here who’s a child,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, irritably.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of myself,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope to see you again.”
Question 12:Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?
Answer:The conductor called Valli ‘madam’ as she behaved like a grown up woman and responded irritably on being referred to as a child. She was an eight-year-old girl and considered herself old enough to travel alone in the bus. Besides, she also refused his help when he extended his hand to help her get into the bus, she replied commandingly that she could manage getting into the bus on her own.
Question 13:Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
Answer:Valli refused to look out of the window on her way back to her village because she was upset on seeing the dead body of the cow that was running towards the bus while she was going to town. The poor animal was hit by some fast-moving vehicle on the road. She was overcome with sadness and extremely frightened to look outside the bus window as the memory of the cow was haunting her.
Question 14:What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”
Answer:When Valli’s mother casually mentioned that there are certain things that happen around them without their knowledge, Valli instantly agreed to her mother’s words and said, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.” She was happy about her adventurous bus trip to the town which she had taken without the knowledge of her parents.
Question 15: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?
Answer:Yes, the author had described various things from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Some of these include – ‘she was fascinated by the bus’ and ‘watching the bus fill with a new set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her’. The author described the colour and look of the new bus as ‘its outside painted a gleaming white with some green stripes along the sides. Inside, the overhead bars shone like silver.’ Through this description, the author wanted to express how a child would be attracted towards the colour of the bus. ‘The seats were soft and luxurious’. This description implies that the author wanted to show the excitement of a child to travel in the luxury of a bus for the first time. ‘The blue sky’ and ‘acres and acres of green field’, show the zeal and enthusiasm of a child. Further, when Valli sees the cow running in front of the bus, this fascinated her too whereas the sight of a dead cow brought tears in her eyes. The memory of the cow haunted her and she refused to look outside the window on her return journey. These were some of the lines which beautifully described the typical reactions and behaviour of an eight-year-old child in an ideal manner.
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