Comprehension Passage – 8 marks (2017. 16)
Q. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
I was born in the small but beautiful mountain village of Nakuri near Uttarkashi in Garhwal, with the gurgling, playful Bhagirathi River flowing nearby. My parents were a hard-working and extremely self-contained couple. Even though our family was poor, barely managing the essentials, my father taught us how to live and maintain dignity and self-respect—the most treasured family value till today. At the same time my parents also practised the creed, “Kindness is the essence of all religions.” They were largehearted, inviting village folk passing by to have tea at our home, and gave grain to the sadhus and pandits who came to the house. This characteristic has been ingrained in me so deeply that I am able to reach out to others and make a difference in their lives—whether it is in my home, in society or at the work place.
I was the third child in the family—girl, boy, girl, girl and boy in that order—and quite a rebel. I developed a tendency to ask questions and was not satisfied with the customary way of life for a girl-child. When I found my elder brother, Bachchan, encouraging our youngest brother, Raju, to take up mountaineering I thought, why not me? I found that my brothers were always getting preferential treatment and all opportunities and options were open to them. This made me even more determined to not only do what the boys were doing, but to do it better.
The general thinking of mountain people was that mountaineering as a sport was not for them. The considered themselves to be born mountaineers as they had to go up and down mountain slopes for their daily livelihood and even for routine work. On the other hand, as a student, I would look curiously at foreign backpackers passing by my village and wonder where they were going. I would even invite them to my house and talk to them to learn more about their travels. The full significance of this came to me later when I started working. The foreigners took the trouble to come all the way to the Himalayas in order to educate themselves on social, cultural and scientific aspects of mountaineering, as well as to seek peace in nature’s gigantic scheme of things
Questions
(a) Where was the author born?
(b) Explain ‘self-contained’.
(c) Give an example to show that the author’s parents were very hospitable.
(d) What kind of girl was the author?
(e) How do you know that the author’s parents discriminated between sons and daughters?
(f) Why do the mountain people consider themselves to be born mountaineers?
(g) Why would the author invite foreign mountaineers to her house?
(h) Why were foreigners drawn to the Himalayas?
Answers
(a) The author was born in a small but beautiful mountain village of Nakuri near Uttarkashi in Garhwal.
(b) Self-contained means independent or self-reliant.
(c) The author’s parents were very hospitable. They invited the village folk passing by to have tea at their home.
(d) The author is a rebel who developed a tendency to ask questions. She is not satisfied with the customary way of life.
(e) The fact that the author’s brothers were always getting preferential treatment and all opportunities and options were open to them reveals that her parents discriminated between sons and daughters.
(f) The mountain people considered themselves to be born mountaineers as they had to go up and down mountain slopes for their daily livelihood and even for routine work.
(g) The author invited foreign mountaineers to her house to talk to them and learn more about their travels.
(h) The foreigners were drawn to the Himalayas as they were keen to educate themselves on social, cultural and scientific aspects of mountaineering and to seek peace in natures gigantic scheme of things.
