Flamingo - Short Answer Type Study Material

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

‘FLAMINGO’

 Q.       What was Franz expected to be prepared for school that day?

Ans.     Franz was expected to be prepared on the topic of ‘participles’ for school that day. But he did not know even the first word about them. So he was under great dread of being scolded by his teacher, M. Hamel.

Q.        What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?

Ans.    Franz noticed that it was all so still, calm and quiet like Sunday school while on other days there used to be a great hustle and bustle which could be heard out in the street. The opening and closing of the desks, lesson repeated in unison very loud. But on that day the school looked so strange.

Q.        Why was there a crowd in front of the bulletin board set up at the town hall?

Ans.    It was set up for all kinds of information and news for the public. For the last two years, the people received all the bad news from there like the news of the lost battles and the orders of commanding officer etc. When Franz was passing the Town Hall, he saw a large crowd in front of the bulletin board reading the news which stated that the German would be taught in the districts of Alsace and Lorraine.

Q.        How did the teacher describe the French language?

                                    Or

            What was the advice of M. Hamel about the importance of the French language?

Ans.     M. Hamel was very dedicated teacher of French language. While teaching his last lesson, he touched upon many aspects of French. He called it the most clear and logical language in the world. He urged all to guard it and never to forget it. In case they hold fast in their language, they had the key to their prison.

Q.        How did M. Hamel teach his last lesson in the class?

Ans.    It was the last day of M. Hamel in school. He was in his fine dress. The villagers had come there to pay their last respects. M. Hamel taught his lesson on French so decently that the students realized that French is an easy language. At last, he became emotional. He could not speak and dismissed the school by writing “Viva La France” on the blackboard.

Q.        Who is Saheb? What is he looking for in the garbage dumps and where has he come          from?

Ans.     Saheb is a rag-picker of Seemapuri. The writer encounters him every morning  scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps in her neighbourhood. He hails from Dhaka and he had migrated from Bangladesh in 1971. His house and fields had been  destroyed by a storm.

Q.        Why do these children remain barefoot?

Ans.     Throughout the country the author has seen many barefoot rag pickers. On asking them  about not wearing chappals, they give many excuses. One says that his mother has not brought them down from the shelf. Another points out that he will throw them if she brings. The third one replies that it is an excuse. It is not the lack of money.

Q.        What is the condition of the children working in the glass factory/furnaces of Firozabad?

Ans.     More than 20,000 children are illegally working in glass blowing factories in Firozabad. They work around furnaces in high temperatures to weld glasses. They work in dingy cells without light and air. Their eyes are adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. Many of them become victims of losing their eye-sight before they become adults. They work all day long.

Q.        Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?

Ans.     Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle makers in Firozabad where each family is engaged in bangle making. They live in half built huts. Mukesh says, ‘I will be a motor mechanic. I will learn to drive a car’. Thus he wants to be his own master.

Q.        ‘Garbage to them is gold’. Why does the author say so about the rag-pickers?

Ans.     More than 10,000 rag-pickers of Seemapuri live in squatters. For them garbage is gold and it is wrapped in wonder. Sometimes a child can find a silver coin or more in a heap of garbage. For the elders it is a means of survival.

Q.        What is the ‘misadventure’ that William Douglas speaks about?

Ans.     One day William Douglas was sitting alone on side of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He was  waiting for the others to come so that he could start swimming. By chance there came a big boy. He asked, “Hi skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?” He picked and tossed and threw him into the deep end of the pool. He speaks about this misadventure, which caused a lot of trouble to him.

Q.        How did the drowning experience affect Douglas?

Ans     William Douglas feared water and whenever he went back to the pool, terror seized him. He avoided water as far as he could. When he tried to enter water, the stark fear would seize him. His legs became paralysed and icy terror would grab his heart.

Q.        How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

Ans.   Douglas was a man of courage, strong determination. He realized that fear of water has become his sworn enemy. It was following him everywhere. He decided to get rid of it. Under the guidance of an expert instructor he learnt swimming and became confident to face this terror. He dived into the Warm Lake, swam across to the other  shore and back. In this way he conquered his old terror.

Q.        What does the mother of Douglas say about the Y.M.C.A. pool?

Ans.   Douglas wanted to learn swimming. His mother had advised him against his visit to the Yakima river since it was treacherous in nature. She considered Y.M.C.A. pool as the safest place because it was two or three feet at the shallow end and nine feet at the deeper end.

Q.        How did the instructor make Douglas a perfect swimmer?

Ans.    The instructor gave Douglas a practice for five days in a week. In the beginning he put a belt around him and it was attached to the rope. The rope went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. Each time his old fear returned. It went on for three months. Then he taught him to put his face under water and exhale. He taught him to   raise his nose and inhale. Thus, piece by piece the instructor built him a swimmer.

Q.        What idea suddenly struck in the mind of the rattrap peddler?

Ans.   One day the peddler was moving along the road suddenly an idea struck in his mind. He viewed that the whole world was a big rattrap to trap the people in. It offered, riches, joys, shelter, food, heat and clothing like the rattrap offered cheese and pork to tempt the rats. The world existed only to set baits for the people. Anyone who was tempted to touch the bait, the rattrap was closed in on him.

Q.        Who was Crofter and how did he welcome the peddler?

Ans.   The Crofter was an old man, who lived alone in his house. One dark evening the peddler knocked at Crofter’s door to ask for food and shelter. The crofter was a very hospitable   person and offered him supper and bed to sleep. He also amused him with the game of ‘mjolis’ before going to bed. He told the fact that he earned thirty kronor by selling the  milk of his cow.

Q.        How did the peddler rob the crofter?

Ans.   The Crofter was living alone in his house. So, he needed someone to talk in his loneliness. That time the peddler reached his house. He welcomed him. The crofter had taken out and stuffed back thirty kronors in the presence of the peddler. Next morning, both left the house. After half an hour, the peddler returned, smashed the window pane and stole thirty kronors from the pouch and hung it on its usual place.

Q.        Why did the peddler accept Edla’s invitation?

Ans.    Earlier the ironmaster had tried his best to invite the peddler to his house for Christmas. He wanted his company but the peddler declined his offer. So the ironmaster sent his daughter to invite him as she had better power of persuasion. She looked at the peddler compassionately. Her friendly manners aroused confidence in him. So he accepted her invitation.

Q.        The ironmaster threatened to call the Sherriff. How did the peddler defend himself?

Ans.    The peddler defended himself by appealing that he was a poor man. He said that the whole world is nothing but a big rattrap. All the good things that are offered to him were just baits. The baits were set out to drag a poor man into trouble. In case, the Sherriff came and locked him up, the day was not far when the ironmaster would himself be trapped.

Q.        Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Ans.    Rajkumar Shukla is described as being ‘resolute’ because he was fully determined to take Gandhiji to Bihar. Being an illiterate and poor share-copper from Champaran, he had come to apprise and complain Gandhiji about the injustice of the land lord system. He accompanied Gandhiji everywhere. Gandhiji was very much impressed by his tenacity and fixed a time for Calcutta. Months passed in waiting, Shukla was sitting on his haunches at the fixed place in Calcutta, till Gandhiji was free. Finally, both boarded a train to Patna.

Q.        Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

Ans.     Gandhiji and Rajkumar Shukla both reached the city of Patna. He led Gandhiji to the house of Rajendra Prasad. He was out of town. His servants knew Shukla as a poor sharecropper from Champaran who troubled Prasad to take up the cause of indigo. Gandhi went there with Shukla for the first time. So they took him to be another peasant.

Q.        Why did Gandhi have to chide the lawyers of Muzzafarpur?

                                                Or

            Why did Gandhi conclude that the lawyers should stop going to the courts?

Ans.    During his stay at Muzzafarpur Lawyers told about the cases of poor peasants. They told about their cases and the size of fee. Gandhi chided them for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers. He suggested them to stop going to the law courts. He pointed out that the peasants were poor and fear-stricken. It was urgent to make them   free from fear.

Q.        How did the development of German synthetic indigo become a source of great trouble in Champaran?

Ans.     The British planters learnt of the synthetic indigo being prepared in Germany. It was cheaper than the natural indigo. Being not so profitable the landlords wanted to free the peasants from the fifteen percent agreement. For this they demanded compensation.   Some signed willingly. Those who opposed engaged lawyers and the planters hired thugs.   The illegal and deceitful collection of money started the trouble.

Q.        How did we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?

Ans.   The success of the battle of Champaran, paved the path of the Indians to participate in the freedom movement. Women gave up their homely comforts and worked with their leaders. There were mass movements like freedom struggle, salt movement, Quit India Movement and Satyagraha. The ordinary people joined at the beck and call of Gandhiji.

Q.        Why did the magistrate release Gandhiji?

Ans     Gandhiji pleaded guilty of disobedience. The peasants held a demonstration around the court. The Government was confused and the officials were powerless. The peasants were mounting pressure on the government. So, the magistrate released Gandhiji without bail.

Q.        Why did Gandhiji say, “The battle of Champaran is won”?

Ans    The lawyers had decided to go home, if Gandhiji went to prison. But Gandhiji asked them what would become of the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers thought over it and decided that they too would follow Gandhiji. This was the time that Gandhiji said that the battle of Champaran was won.

Q.        Why did Gandhiji agree to the settlement of twenty-five percent refund to the peasants?

Ans.    Gandhiji had demanded fifty percent refund from the landlords. The landlords offered only twenty-five per cent. Gandhiji agreed to the settlement of twenty-five per cent because according to Gandhiji money was not important. He had made the Britishers bow down before the Indian peasants.

Q.        How did Indigo sharecropping come to an end in Champaran?

Ans.   Indigo sharecropping came to an end in Champaran as Germany had developed synthetic Indigo. Sharecropping was no longer profitable for the British planters. They had to surrender their prestige and money to the peasants. So, they gave up their estates which came back to the peasants.

Q.        Why was Gandhiji summoned to appear in court?

Ans.   Gandhiji went to see a badly treated peasant. He was served with a notice from the  Superintendent of Police to quit Champaran. Gandhiji received the notice and wrote on it that he would never quit Champaran. As a result, he was summoned to appear in the court.

Q.        What was the condition of the peasants before Gandhiji’s arrival in Champaran?

Ans.    The peasants were compelled to plant fifteen per cent of their land with indigo crop and surrender the entire harvest as rent. When Germany developed synthetic indigo they were asked to give compensation for making them free from fifteen per cent indigo plantation. Those who disobeyed were beaten by the hired criminals.

Q.        What was the conflict of Gandhiji?

Ans.    Gandhiji’s conflict was of discharging the duties. On one hand, he did not want to set a bad example by breaking the law. On the other hand he was to listen to the voice of his conscience and serve the human beings.

Q.        How did Gandhiji regulate the crowd around the courthouse?

Ans.   The officials were powerless as they could not control the crowd outside the courthouse. Gandhiji regulated the crowd in a polite and friendly manner.

Q.        On the news ‘Sophie met Danny Casey’ how did their father react?

Ans.    Sophie’s father looked at Sophie with sadness on his face, he did not believe it. He called it another of her wild stories and looked at her with hatred. He warned her that those days she would put herself into a lot of troubles because of her talks and changed the topic to discuss about football and footballers.

Q.        Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?

Ans.     Sophie’s brother Geoff was an apprentice mechanic. He was almost grown up yet he hardly spoke anything of his own. Words were prized out of his mouth like stones from the ground. She could only suspect areas of his life which she wanted to hear from him. So she was jealous of his silence. She took him to be out there in the world, when he was not speaking.

Q.        What did Sophie imagine about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Ans.     Sophie told that she met Danny Casey at the Royce’s window. She was looking at the  clothes there. He came and stood beside her. She spoke to him first and asked if he was Danny Casey. He confirmed, she asked for an autograph but neither had paper nor a pen. They talked a bit. He assured for the autograph next week if she cared.

Q.        Why did not Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?

Ans.    Sophie had requested her brother Geoff not to tell anything about her meeting with Casey. When Jansie asked Sophie about her meeting with Danny, Sophie was much amazed. She cursed Geoff for it because Jansie was ‘nosey’ and would spread the facts everywhere in the neighbourhood. In case her father knew about it, there would be a great row which her mother did not like. She requested Jansie to keep it a secret.

Q.        Do you think Sophie had really met Danny Casey?

Ans.    No, Sophie had never met Danny Casey in reality. She was a dreamer. The story of her meeting Danny Casey was one of the wild stories by her .It was totally a concocted story.

Q.        In what way was Jansie different from Sophie in ‘Going Places’?

Ans.    Sophie was a dreamer. She had dreamed of becoming an actress, a fashion designer, a manager or the owner of a boutique. Her dreams were impractical as she belonged to a poor middle class family. Jansie, on the hand, is a realist. She knows that she and her friend are earmarked for a biscuit factory. She is sensible and wise.

Q.        What kind of world did Sophie dream of?

Ans.    Sophie dreamed of a world full of name and fame. There was no limit to her dreams. She wanted to buy a boutique shop. She had other options to be a fashion designer, an actress or a manager. She even dreams of having met with Danny Casey, a great football player.

Q.        How can you say that Jansie is the voice of reason in the story ‘Going Places’?

Ans.    Jansie is really the voice of reason in the story. It is she who warns Sophie not to dream of big things in her life. She asks her to be practical. She reminds her of the poor condition of her house. It is all because of her wisdom that she knows her limits as a member of middle class family and never tries to cross them. Sophie is disappointed at the end only because she does not listen to Jansie.

Q.        Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny Casey?

Ans.     Sophie knew that Jansie was very inquisitive. She would ask so many questions from Sophie about her meeting with Danny Casey and the truth might come out during their conversation that Sophie was telling a lie. Moreover, she feared that Jansie would spread it in the whole neighbourhood. That is why; Sophie did not want that Jansie should come to know about it.

Q.        How did Sophie come to know that her dad was not at home? Why was she glad to know it?

Ans.    Sophie came to know that her father not at home when she passed by the pub. She saw her father’s bicycle propped against the wall of the pub. She was glad because she would not have to see her father when she reached home disappointed.

Q.        What sort of personality does Sophie’s brother have?

Ans.    Geoff is a reserved sort of person. He is a motor mechanic under training. He is a hard worker. He is a great fan of Danny Casey. He has the coloured photographs of the Irish  Footballer on his bedroom wall. Sophie wants to share her secrets with him.

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