Chapter 2 : The River Came Home – Answer Key
A. 1. Gopala and his friends went to school in a rusty mini-van that sped down
the road, honking loudly and scattering other travellers and chickens on either
side of the road.
2. The children were excited because Ananta's mother had given him money to
buy a beyblade.
3. The boys from Stoney Hill High School were condescending and rude. This is
because they were rich and thought they were better than Gopala and his
friends, who were from poor families.
4. Mr Kirtan was the owner of the downtown toy shop 'Jolly Toys'. He tried to
pacify Sunil by telling him that he could place an order for another beyblade
with same colours. When Sunil refused, he made the same offer to Ananta.
5. Gopala hit Sunil because he had threatened Mr Kirtan that he would make
sure none of his friends buy stuff from the shop if Mr Kirtan sold the beyblade
to the village boys. Mani Sir thought that Gopala was not in the wrong, the
other boy was.
6. The rich boy's parents would have reported the fight to the police, making
things more difficult for Gopala. Therefore, the school suspended him to save
him from getting into greater trouble.
7. Gopala sat on the banks of the river, where they had their homes before
they were displaced. 'A great unmoving blanket of water from which the thick
stump of a dead tree pointed up to the sky like an accusing finger’.
‘Great, unmoving blanket of water’ This is metaphor. The water of the river
was still and covered the surface underneath like a blanket covers something
that lies below it.
‘Like an accusing finger’ This is a simile. The tree pointed at the sky like a
person points his/her finger at another person when accusing them of wrong
doing.
B.
1. a. These children were the students of Saraswati Vidyashala who came from
the other side of Pandupur. They were in the classroom at Saraswati
Vidyashala.
b. The English teacher, Mani Sir, had these thoughts. He had asked the
children to be quiet and pay attention in class.
C. These children felt out of place in the school. They did not interact with the
other kids, or share jokes, laughs or sweets. They responded only when they
were spoken to.
2. a. Sunil was a student from Stoney Hill High School. He belonged to a rich
engineer's family. Sunil said these words, deliberately ignoring Gopala's
question about whether he intended on buying the whole pile of toys. He
wanted to show Gopala's question was unimportant to him.
b. They were examining toys, and selecting and rejecting them.
c. Sunil threatened that he would make sure none of his friends bought toys
from Mr Kirtan's shop henceforth.
3. a. These words were spoken to Mani Sir. Gopala's mother said these words
in context of Mani Sir's narration of the events at the toyshop. The mother felt
that being right or wrong does not matter, because all that matters in the
world is money.
b. The mother thought that her son Gopala was now blacklisted because he
had been suspended from school.
c. Gopala had protested against the rude and arrogant behaviour of a few rich
boys at the local toy store, which had got him into trouble after he hit out at
one of them.
4. a. Gopala and Mani Sir were talking about the guava and tamarind trees that
had been cut down, much to the helpless dismay of the two.
b. Gopala expressed his inability to prevent the tree from being cut down,
much like his teacher who had also been helpless when his favourite guava
tree had been cut down.
c. Gopala stood up suddenly, stripped to his shorts, picked up a stone and
dived into the water. He swam to the tree stump, carved his message on it and
came back.
d. This would have lessened the frustrating sense of helplessness that Gopala
was feeling due to the different events in his life. Things were beyond his
control but he could always register his protest against them.
Ponder
C. 1. The boys from Saraswati Vidyashala were from lower economic
background, unlike the boys from Stoney Hill High School. The latter were
pompous rude and arrogant in their behaviour.
2. I do think that suspension was too strong a punishment for Gopala. Gopala
was right in protesting against the rude behaviour of Sunil and his friends at
the toy shop. But he had hit out at Sunil, thereby making himself the target of
the punishment.
3. Mani Sir was a wise and understanding teacher, who was very
compassionate. He was sensitive and kind as well. The fact that he shared his
own life experiences of a similar with Gopala indicates his intelligence and
sensitive handling of the matter. He did not preach to the boy or give him
lessons in right and wrong. He also showed his wisdom in quietly observing the
argument at the shop, because that gave him a clear idea of the nature of the
boys.
4. The title refers to the displacement of the people like Gopala, when the river
inundated their villages, leaving them homeless and outcastes in new
surroundings.
Way with Words
A.
1. trouble: troubled, troubling, troublesome
2. entertain: entertained, entertainingly, entertainment
3. reason: reasoning, reasonable, reasonably
4. silent: silence, silently, silencer
5. passion: passionate, passionless, passionlessly
6. commit: committed, commitment, committal
B.
A.
1. Mr Sharma is very nervous
about travelling by air.
B.
c. He has asked his son to accompany
him on his flight to Delhi.
2. Jamshed is boisterous.
a. He does not like to sit still for a
moment.
3. Sneha is usually very amazed.
b. She is always the life of the party.
4. Raghu was indifferent to
football.
e. He did not join the discussion on the
World Cup final.
5. The dog was wary of humans.
d. It ran away when the children
approached with biscuits.
Grammar in Use
A. 1. It was not such a difficult problem to solve.
2. Isn't justice delayed, justice denied?
3. Oh, the plan is perfect!
4. This is a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Ask the captain to come on the deck immediately.
6. Ananta and his friends were really looking forward to buying the beyblade
that day.
B. 1. the children
7. the cat
2. Anne
8. the guests
3. participant
9. the winners of the
4. my father
singing competition
5. her sister
10. for our school
6. this man
magazine