NCERT Book Class 10 English First Flight Ch 9 Madam rides the bus pdf
Madam Rides the Bus
Key Points
- The story is about an eight year girl named Valliammai. She was very curious to know about things.
- Her favourite pastime was to stand at the front doorway of her house and see what was happening in the street outside.
- She would watch the bus that passed every half an hour from her village to the nearest town.
- She developed a desire to ride the bus. This became her deepest desire.
- Valli found out the details of the bus journey by listening carefully to the conversations between her neighbours and regular bus users.
- She came to know that the town was just six miles from her village and the fare was thirty paise one way. The trip took forty-five minutes.
- Valli planned her visit to the town. She saved sixty paise for the fare. Finally she took the one o’clock bus to the town.
- The conductor was a jolly sort of person. He amused Valli with her light hearted remarks. He calls her MADAM by way of joke.
- Valli was very happy to have got into the bus. She saw outside through the window. She could see the canal, the palm trees, grassland, distant mountains and the blue sky.
- She met some passengers in the bus. She got annoyed when an elderly man called her a child. She disliked the elderly woman for her shabby look and didn’t prefer to talk to her.
- On the way to the town, Valli saw a frightened cow running right in front of the bus. She clapped gleefully as the cow ran faster.
- Valli did not get off the bus at the town. She did not want to go to the stall and have a drink because she had no money. She also declined the offer of a cold drink by the conductor. It tells u that she is a self-respecting girl and can overcome temptation.
- On the return journey, she saw the same cow lying dead by the roadside. This unpleasant sight made her very sad.
- She was a sensitive girl.
- The bus reached the village at three forty. She got down the bus and reached her home. Her mother did not come to know about her journey.
Summary
This is a sensitive story of an eight year old girl’s first bus journey into the world outside her village .The girl Valli, at a very tender age, tries to understand the mystery of life and death. The outside world for Valli is charming and fascinating but mysterious. She wants to experience it by herself. The talks of the village people about the town added fuel to the fire. She decides to go to the town all by herself without anybody’s support. She asked the bus conductor to take her to the town .She herself paid her fare. She wanted to see everything with her eyes. She saw the canal, palm tree, grass land, distant mountain and the blue sky. She also saw great stretch of green field as far as the eye could see. She was overjoyed when she saw a cow running with her raised tail on the road ahead of the bus. While returning she noticed that the body of the same cow was crushed and bled. She was moved from within. Perhaps she was trying to understand the meaning of life and death in her own terms. She returned home in time. None of the family members could know her adventurous journey.
Important Questions
Question 1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
Answer: As Valli had no playmate of her age, so her favourite pastime was to stand in her doorway and watch the street. The street outside used to be full of activities which were enough to keep her amused and engaged.
Question 2. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Answer: The bus was a source of unending joy for her. The bus used to bring a new set of passengers every-time it came from the town. The diversity of people, their activities were a treat to watch for Valli. Her strongest desire was to take a ride in the bus at least once.
Question 3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?
Answer: Valli tried to listen to her neighbours to get the desired information about the bus journey. She would ask some discrete questions to get more information. She got information about distance of the town from her village and the total journey time it usually took.
Question 4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?
Answer: Till now information provided in the story indicate towards her plan to fulfill her strongest desire which was to go on a bus ride.
Question 5. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?
Answer: Valli is trying to behave more mature than her age. She is trying to look overconfident and smart. The conductor is amused at her behaviour and in an effort to tease her calls her ‘madam’.
Question 6. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Answer: Valli’s view was obstructed because of a canvas blind on the window and because of her small height as well she was unable to have a good view outside. She stood up on her seat to have a better view of the scenery outside. She could see a canal with palm trees, grasslands, distant mountains and blue sky as backdrop. On the other side there was a drain followed by vast tract of greenery.
Question 7. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Answer: Valli doesn’t like to be called a child. She thinks that she is grown up. She says that she had paid her full fair the way adults do. This is typical behaviour shown by many kids of Valli’s age.
Question 8. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Answer: The elderly woman was having big earlobes with bigger holes. She chewing betel nut and the betel juice was about to seep out of her mouth. She was giving a sight of unrefined elderly lady. That is why Vaali did not want to make friends with her.
Question 9. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Answer: Valli saved every coin that came her way. She made great sacrifices by controlling her normal childish urges of having candies, toys and joyrides. This must have been difficult for her. Kids find it very difficult to sacrifice candy or to enjoy a toy.
Question 10. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Answer: A scared cow was running for her life in the middle of the road. It was jumping with tails up. The more constantly bus driver honked the more furious its run became. Valli could not control her laughter after seeing this.
Question 11. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?
Answer: She did not know anything about the town so was afraid of getting lost. Moreover, her particular savings plan allowed her enough money to buy only tickets for her journey. Additionally, she had to return before her mother could find her missing.
Question 12. Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Answer: She did not want to take obligation from the conductor. This indicates that she is taught of not taking anything from strangers. She may be a small child but she knows how to behave properly in the outside world.
english class 10 chapter 9 madam rides the bus extra question answer, notes and summary