Exercise of Unit 17 War and Peace || Train to Pakistan || Compulsory English Grade 12 || Language Development

 

Unit 17 War and Peace

Train to Pakistan

-Khushwant Singh

 

Before you read

a.   Have you ever travelled by trains? Share your experience.

      Ans:- No, I have never travelled by Trains but I have travelled in crowded buses several times. I have shared my experience in the last question under writing section.

 

b. What does it fell like while travelling on a crowded train like in the second picture?

      Ans:- Travelling on a crowded train like is the second picture is really trouble some. It is risky to travel in such a train. Moreover, the travel experience will be miserable because of suffocating crowd. People of various types travel in such a train and to bear them through out the travel time is awful. The noise, trifles, baby cries, suffocation really make us feel irritated.

 

Working with words

A. What do the underlined words in the following sentences mean? Tick the best answer.

a. The shouting and clamour would continue long after the train had left the station.

i. clapping                                        

ii. music

ü iii. a loud and confused noise

iv. train whistle.

 

b. There were dozens outside perched precariously on footboards holding on the door handles.

ü i. not securely     

ii. carefully    

iii. joyfully     

iv. prudently

 

c. The book had gone round the compartment for scrutiny.

i. appreciation         

ü ii. examination   

iii. entertainment    

iv. religious ritual

 

d. But Jugga had run away, absconded.

i. committed suicide          

ii. killed a fellow friend       

iii. surrendered        

üiv. hid somewhere secretly

 

e. His countrymen's code of morals had always puzzled him, with his anglicized way of looking at things.

i. characteristics of Indians                       

ü ii. Characteristics of English  

iii. Characteristics of Pakistani                 

iv. Characteristics of Aryan

 

f. Iqbal felt a little silly for coming out with these platitudes.

üi. commonplace remarks

ii. philosophical remarks

iii. critical remarks

iv. doubtful remarks

 

B. Many words have been borrowed in English from different languages. Find the meaning of the following words which are borrowed from Hindi language.

veranda       - a roofed platform along the outside of a house, level with the ground floor.

khaki             - a strong cotton or wool fabric of a dull brownish-yellow colour, used especially in military clothing

pashmina    - a shawl made from fine-quality goat's wool.

pajamas       - a loose-fitting jacket and trousers for sleeping in

pukka           - genuine

pundit          - an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called upon to give their opinions to the public

avatar           - a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher

bangle          -a rigid ornamental band worn round the arm or occasionally the ankle

cheetah       - a large slender spotted cat found in Africa and parts of Asia. It is the fastest animal on land.

guru              - a Hindu spiritual teacher

jungle           - an area of land overgrown with dense forest and tangled vegetation, typically in the tropics

karma           - the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences

nirvana         - a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism

shampoo     - a liquid preparation for washing the hair

raita               - an Indian side dish of yogurt containing chopped cucumber or other vegetables, and spices

 

 

C. Add the given suffixes to the following words to make new words. Notice whether 'e' is retained or dropped.

a.         change + -able      =          changeable

            change + ing          =          changing

            change + -ed          =          changed

            change + - less      =          changeless

b.        time + -ly                 =          timely

            time + -ing              =          timing

            time + -ed               =          timed

            time + -less             =          timeless

c.         notice + - able        =          noticeable

            notice + - ing          =          noticing

            notice + -ed            =          noticed

d.        praise + -worthy   =          praiseworthy

            praise + - ing          =          praising

            praise + - ed            =          praised

e.         home + -less           =          homeless

            home + - ing           =          homing

            home + - ly              =          homely

Comprehension

Answer the following questions.

a. Why did Iqbal want to sleep in the afternoon?

Ans:-  Iqbal wanted to sleep in the afternoon because he had spend the night sitting on his bedroll in a crowded third class compartment in a train.

 

b.  How did people react with each other in the train?

Ans:-   People in the train shouted and produced clamor and they argued with each other in different trifles.

 

c. Why did the book Iqbal was reading bring commotion in the compartment?

Ans:-  The book Iqbal was reading brought commotion in the compartment because the book was written in English language.

 

d. Why did Iqbal have to give clarification with his personal details?

Ans:- Iqbal had to give clarification with his personal details because all the Muslim people travelling in the same room guessed him to be a Muslim and he looked educated and belonging to a rich family from  a city.

 

e. Who was Meet Sing and What did he report to Iqbal?

      Ans:-  Meet Sing was a priest of gurudwara, a sacred place of worship for Sikhs in Mano Majra, Punjab and he reported that Jugga Singh had murdered his fellow villager Ram Lal.    

 

f.   How, according to Meet Singh, was Jugga Sing different from his forefathers?

      Ans:- According to Meet Singh Jugga Sing was different from his forefathers though all were dacoits. His forefathers never robbed their own village folk but Jugga Singh robbed and murdered his own villagers.

 

g. How does the author show contradiction in Meet Singh's character?

      Ans:- The author shows contradiction in Meet Singh's character by revealing his inner virtue. Meet Singh said that he would have saved Jugga Sing from being arrested by the police vowing on the holy scripture that Jugga had been praying in the gurudwara at the time of the murdered if he had not murdered a people from neighboring village. 

 

h. Who was Hukum Chand and how did he succeed in his career?

     Ans:- Hukum Chand is the Deputy sahib or magistrate of Mano Majra. He succeeded in his career by pleasing the sahibs.

 

 

Critical thinking

a. Iqbal is addressed as Babu Sahib by general folk simply because he knew English. Are Nepali people who can speak English taken with respect? Discuss the importance of learning English in the Nepali context.

     Ans:- English is an international language out of almost 4000 languages in the world. This is the native language of Canada, Australia, the USA, and the UK. It is also used as official languages in some countries. Being such an important language, people who can speak English, is taken with respect. We we hear people speaking fluently in English, a different kind of respect arises in us towards them. Our respect goes towards them because they can speak English. Much impressive those people will be when they speak like native speakers. People with good command over English languages get job opportunities easily. Not only this, the important books in the worlds are written in English or translated into English and to read those books we must have efficiency in English language. In our country, this language is taught as a foreign language. In every field English language is important. If we want to go abroad study, peruse a prestigious profession of a doctor, an engineer, or a pilot, we must have proficiency in English. From every angle English language is important in the context of Nepal.

 

 

b. Do you agree with Iqbal's comments on crime and punishment? In you view, what should the state, society and individuals do for peace and order in social lives?

      Ans:- Most of people like Meet Sing believe on this theory that the offerings or criminals also become criminal by blood.  But Iqbal doesn't think so. According to him, "There is no crime in anyone's blood any more than there is goodness in the blood of others." Criminal instinct doesn't transfer from one generation to another. Some people commit crime because of various reasons but nobody tries to find out those reasons. Instead, they are put in a cell or hanged off. Peace and order don't reside in our locality until we wipe out the problems such as hunger, discrimination, inequality, biasness etc. Murdering and stealing do not come to halt unless we alleviate hunger or unemployment problems. State, society and individuals have their own respective roles to reduce and eliminate crimes. The state must create employment opportunities. Once people have job and earning and can fulfill their familial needs they never indulge in criminal activities. There should not be any kind of discrimination in our society, cooperation and mutual help make out society a better place to live.

 

Writing

A. Meet Singh says Jugga a badmash. There can be such people in your locality too. Write a paragraph describing him/her.

      Ans: - No society is imagined without either one or two bad people. No matter how much civilized my society is, we are troubles by such badmash. Badri is such a bad guy in our locality. He is over 45 years jobless person. Though he carried a profession of driving in the past, he was not employed by anyone because of his alcoholic nature. He heavily drinks alcohol and smokes marijuana. He is also known as Gajedi Badri. He has been arrested several times by police because of his various criminal acts. He threatens innocent people, loots them if he finds them alone. Every night he comes back in his small cottage having drunk scolding villager bad words. He speaks bad words loudly making people irritated in his surroundings. We never expect good works from him. His is a notorious person in our locality.

 

B. You may have travelled by bus or train. During you travel, you might have got different experiences. Write a letter to your friend describing about your unforgettable journey.

     Ans:-

 

    

21^th Feb. 2022.

 

Dear Hari,

 

I am very happy today that I am writing this letter to you after a long time. You have also not written any letter to me since long. Tell me Hari, how are you doing these days? I hope you and all your family members are fine by the grace of the God. I am fine here. The purpose of writing this letter to you is to know about your condition as well as to tell you about an unforgettable latest travel experience, I made by bus.

 

Last week I travelled to Rasuwa in a local bus. I had an important work in Dhunche so I caught an early morning local bus to Dhunche. The journey began at around 7:00 am from Machha Pokhari. The bus was full of passengers and as it headed ahead several people got in the bus at different stops. By the time we got at Kakani the bus was full of local passengers as if it was about to burst out. People of different ages made the bus crowded. Some women were carrying infants who cried through out the ways. There were also some working-class people who talked in a loud voice. Some of them were drunk. I was feeling suffocated though I was sitting in a seat. It was difficult to travel in summer season in a crowded bus. After 8 hours suffocating travel, I got off at Dhunche. When I got off the bus, I felt fresh and relaxed.

 

This much in this letter and If I have any such kind of experience, I will write to you. I hope you will also share me such kind of experience.

 

Best regards,

Anup