Chapter 8 – Jalebis Solutions
Question - 11 : - When it is time to pay the fees, what does he do ? How is he disobeying the elders by doing so ?
Answer - 11 : -
When it is time to pay the fees, he slips away from school. He whiles away his time beside a railway track. By doing so he is disobeying his elders. Instead of going to school, he misses the school and is cheating them.
Question - 12 : - What was the consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money ?
Answer - 12 : -
He had bought jalebis with the fees money. His scholarship was due to receive the next day. He hoped to pay the fees with that money. But it was postponed to next month. So, he slipped from school on the day the fee was to be collected. He absented himself from the school even the next day. Ultimately, the matter had reached his home.
Question - 13 : - His prayer to God is like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Does he argue his case well ? What are the points he makes ?
Answer - 13 : -
I think he argues his case quite well. He tells Allah Miyan that he is a good boy. He is His devoted servant. He had, however, made a mistake of eating jalebis but he gave these to many other children also. He requested God to just put four rupees in his bag. He won’t accept more than four rupees. He assures God that he would never spend his fees money on sweets in future.
Question - 14 : - He offers to play a game with Allah Miyan. What is the game ?
Answer - 14 : -
He offers to play game with Allah Miyan. In the game he will go to and fro a signal, touch it and come back. God will secretly place four rupees underneath a big rock. He would then pick up the rock and find four rupees there.
Question - 15 : - Did he get four rupees by playing the game ? What did he get to see under the rock ?
Answer - 15 : -
No, he did not get four rupees by playing the game. He got to see a worm coiled on the rock staring at him.
Question - 16 : - If God had granted his wish that day, what harm would it have caused hiin in later life ?
Answer - 16 : -
As he himself realised later on, if Allah Miyan were to provide all for the asking, then man would not have learnt any skill. So, it would have caused him a great harm if God might have sent him four rupees.
Question - 17 : - Select and read sentences that show
(i) that the boy is tempted to eat jalebis.
(ii) that he is feeling guilty.
(iii) that he is justifying the wrong deed.
Answer - 17 : -
(i) “But then, these jalebis are not common sort of jalebis either. They are crisp, fresh and full of sweet syrup.”
(ii) “Now for the crime of eating a few jalebis, for the first time in my life I was absent from school, and crouching in the shade of a tree in a deserted corner of the railway station.”
(iii) “So, Allah Miyan, just this once, help me out. There is no shortage of anything in your treasury. Even our chaprasi takes a whole lot of money home every month, and Allahji, after all I am the nephew of a big officer. Won’t you give me just four rupees.”
Question - 18 : - Discuss the following points.
(i) Is the boy intelligent ? If so, what is the evidence of it?
(ii) Does his outlook on the jalebis episode change after Class VIII ? Does he see that episode in a new light ?
(iii) Why are coins made to ‘talk’ in this stroy ? What purpose does it serve ?
Answer - 18 : -
(i) Of course, the boy is quite intelligent. He is a brilliant student and was never beaten by his teachers. He gets a scholarship also. He gives suitable arguments to resist the temptation of eating jalebis. The way he prays and tries to convey his message to God also shows that he is an intelligent boy.
(ii) Yes, after Class VIII the boy gets mature. And his outlook on the jalebis episode changes considerably. He thinks that if Allah Miyan were to provide all for asking then man would not learn any skill. Then the man would have been living in nests like vultures and crows.
(iii) In the story the coins are made to ‘talk’. It serves the purpose of alluring and