The Blue Bead: Question and Answers

The Blue Bead: Question and Answers

Part A: Essay-Type Questions

Part B: RTCs

Part A: Essay-Type Questions

With reference to the lesson The Blue Bead, answer the following questions.

Q1. What are the various conflicts seen within the story?

We come across various conflicts in the story The Blue Bead.

First, we learn of conflicts between animals and their surroundings. The crocodile, as a hatchling, had to fight for its survival and smartly keep itself safe from its predators. Even as a fully grown crocodile, it did have certain vulnerabilities - its eyes and underbelly- and had to be careful while choosing its prey.

Second, the story portrays the conflicts between human beings and their circumstances. Everyday life is a struggle for Sibia, her family and other villagers, who have to bear poverty. For the sake of survival, the women are forced to risk their lives every day as they crossed the crocodile-infested river to reach the cliffs. Sibia, a mere child, is forced to work because of the poverty.

Finally, the main conflict is that between human beings and animals. The crocodile attack on the Gujar woman is the turning point in the story and reveals the dangers of living near a jungle. Though the animal seems to have an upper hand initially, it is the humans who emerge victorious. Sibia's quick thinking saves the Gujar woman's life but proves crocodile. be dangerous for the

Q2. The writer gives many instances in the story highlighting Sibia's innocence. Elaborate.

Sibia came from a poor family and knew that she could not afford to live the life she dreamt of. This however did not affect her approach towards life in general. She made the best use of her circumstances innocently enjoying the simple pleasures of life. All she desired were trinkets. She planned to make one such trinket for herself -a necklace of seeds. She even enjoyed making and decorating clay pots for herself.

Sibia's innocence is especially highlighted during her encounter with the crocodile and the tribal woman. She did not think twice before helping the woman. It did not matter to her who the woman was or that she was putting her own life in danger.

Even the last line in the story clearly highlights Sibia's innocent nature. When her worried mother asked if something had happened to her on her way back, instead of retelling her own heroic deed. Sibia chose to excitedly show her mother her treasure, the blue bead. To her, the bead held greater importance. than the risk she had just undertaken.

Part B: RTCs

Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

This antediluvian saurian - this prehistoric juggernaut, ferocious and formidable, a vast force in the water propelled by the unimaginable and irresistible power of the huge tail, lay lapped by ripples, a throb in his throat.

i. What is the author describing in these lines? How big was it? How did it grow so big?

The author is describing a mugger crocodile in these lines.

The crocodile was twice the length of a grown man.

It would hunt skilfully and store food in holes on the river bank. This food and the tepid water of the river allowed it to grow gigantic.

ii. Was the creature always so powerful? Justify your answer. 

No, when the crocodile was a hatchling, it was vulnerable to attack from other predators. It had to protect itself from birds and large carnivorous fish that ate baby crocodiles. It was only after it had aged that the crocodile grew a thick hide and a strong tail, and became a danger to other creatures.

iii. What was the creature's diet like?

The crocodile mostly ate fish, deer, monkeys and ducks. Sometimes, it would eat a pi-dog or a skeleton cow that would be near the ford. It also feasted on half burned bodies of human beings cast into the stream near the burning ghats.

iv. Did the creature have any weakness? How does it impact the story? Even though the crocodile had an impenetrable hide, a strong jaw and a thick tail, it had certain vulnerable areas - its eyes and its soft underbelly.

It is this vulnerability that allowed Sibia to fight it off when it attacked the Gujar woman. Sibia punctured the crocodile's eye with her homemade hayfork. This not only hurt it grievously, but would eventually lead to its death.

v. How has the author thrown light on the harshness of life near jungles?

The description of the crocodile and the threat it posed to human beings who lived near the ford very clearly indicates that life near jungles was quite harsh. Sibia's mother and other village women were always at the risk of a crocodile attack when they crossed the river to reach the cliffs. However, they had no choice but to cross the river, as their livelihood depended on the paper grass they got from the cliffs. The crocodile attack on the Gujar woman further reinforces the harshness of life near jungles.

Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

It was not a gem, though: it was sand-worn glass that had been rolling about in the river for a long time. By chance, it was perforated right through-the neck of a bottle perhaps?

i. What is being described in these lines? Where was it? When did Sibia find it?

These lines describe the blue bead that Sibia found in the river.

It was in the shoals where the crocodile was lying in wait.

Sibia found it after she rescued the Gujar woman from the crocodile. When she returned to retrieve her hayfork which had fallen in the river, she saw the blue bead floating next to it.

ii What does the term 'perforated' mean? Does this fact about the object Sibia found have any significance in the story? The term 'perforated' means something that has a hole.

Yes, the fact that the blue bead was perforated is of great significance. Sibia was very fond of jewellery and wanted to make herself a necklace from the shiny red seeds that could be found easily in the forest. However, her family's needle was broken, and she had nothing with which holes could be made in the seeds. Moreover, her family was too poor to buy a new needle immediately. It is because of this that Sibia was overjoyed on finding an already perforated bead. For her, this bead was far more important than her act of saving someone's life.

iii. What jewellery did Sibia observe the village women wearing? What jewellery did she dream of adorning herself with?

Sibia observed that the women were wearing necklaces made of shiny red

seeds that grew everywhere in the jungle.

Sibia not only wanted to make a necklace just like the women's, she also dreamt of owning strings of glass and beads. She wanted all the dazzling ornaments that she saw at the bazaar - anklets, earrings, nose-rings and bangles.

iv. Describe the sights Sibia saw at the bazaar in the town. The bazaar was were Sibia got to see all the finery in the world. She saw a sweetmeat stall with green and magenta-coloured sweets. There was also a cloth stall which had several stacks of cotton cloth. She also saw satin sewn with silver thread, silk cloth, precious stones and tin trays from Birmingham.

v. Describe the financial condition of Sibia's family.

Sibia's family was extremely poor. They lived in a mud house in a village near the ford and often did not have enough to eat. Sibia is described as breaking her chapati into multiple pieces to make it seem like more food. Sibia herself owned nothing but a rag.

3 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

In the shrilly noisy village above the ford, out of a mud house the same colour as the ground came a little girl, a thin starveling child dressed in an earth-coloured rag. She had torn the rag in two to make skirt and sari.

i. Who is the little girl described in these

lines? Describe her appearance.

The protagonist of the story, Sibia, is being described in these lines.

Sibia is described as a happy, twelve year-old child woman with straight white teeth, ebony hair, big eyes and brown creamy skin. She was poor, and so was usually barefoot and wore earth-coloured rags to cover her thin, tiny body.

ii. Why does the author say that she was "marked for work"? What kind of work did she do?

Sibia's family was extremely poor, and Sibia helped around the house since she was a toddler. She would husk corn, gather sticks, put dung to dry, cook, fetch water and remove weeds. She later began accompanying her mother and other women to cut paper grass from the cliffs.

iii. The girl is described as a "starveling child" in the extract. Was she unhappy with her life? Despite being poor, Sibia was never unhappy. Throughout the story Sibia comes overall across as content with what she had. She easily accepted that she was poor and could not afford certain luxuries. She found joy in the little things like creating clay pots and making her own jewellery. Her active imagination also helped keep her happy and contented with her life.

iv. The girl was a dreamer. Justify with the help of instances from the story. Despite knowing only a life of poverty, Sibia dreamed of owning the finery she had seen at the bazaar. She especially wanted to adorn herself with jewellery. She also escaped into a dream world as she worked beside the women cutting paper grass. She dreamed that she was a bird swooping over the river.

v. Do you feel that the girl was a hero? Why/why not? Yes, I do feel that Sibia was a hero.

She did not hesitate even for a moment and rushed forward to help the Gujar woman attacked by the crocodile. Without worrying about her own safety, she plunged her hayfork into the crocodile's eye and rescued the woman from death's jaws. She even dragged the injured woman out of the river, dressed the woman's wounds and helped her get back to the Gujar camp. Thus, despite being just a child. Sibia showed great presence of mind and immense courage.

Q4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Such thoughts did not trouble Sibia, however, as she skipped along with her sickle and homemade hayfork beside her mother. You could skip on the way out, but not on the way back when you ached with tiredness, and there was a great load to carry.

i. Where were Sibia and her mother going? Why? 

Sibia and her mother, along with other women, were going to the cliffs above the river.

Paper grass grew in abundance on the cliffs. The women collected bundles of the grass, transported them by bullock cart and sold it to an agent who would sell it further to paper mills. This was a source of income for the women.

ii. What thoughts did not trouble Sibia? While the women worked hard all day long gathering paper grass and hauling it down the cliffs, the agent who facilitated the sale of the grass sat on silk cushions smoking a hookah. Sibia was not bothered by the unfairness of the situation. She and her family were rather poor despite toiling hard, and the agent could afford to buy silk cushions even though he merely sat around. She had only known a life of hard work.

iii. What did the women pass on the way to the river? What did Sibia observe? 

On the way to the river, the women passed a camp of the nomadic Gujar tribe who lived temporarily there.

Sibia observed the Gujar women and noticed their attire and their large silver earrings made out of melted rupees. One of the women was checking which of the brass pots used for fetching water was empty. None of the men or boys were to be seen.

iv. How did the women reach their destination? How was the journey back to their homes different?

The women, who were heading to the cliffs, had to cross the river. They did so by jumping on the stones in the river, all the while chatting loudly. This noise kept them safe from the crocodiles in the river.

The journey back to their homes was slightly different as they would have heavy loads of paper grass with them. They walked slightly slowly because of the added burden.

v. Where was Sibia when the women returned home? Describe her journey back.

Sibia had stayed back after all the women left because she wanted to check on the condition of the clay cups she had stored in cavelets by the river.

Sibia was all alone when she started crossing the river. The load of paper grass was quite heavy, and halfway through she had to put the bundle down to rest. She put the load down on a big boulder and leaned on her hayfork. It was then that she witnessed crocodile attacking the Gujar woman and rushed forward to save the woman's life. After getting the woman safely back to her camp, Sibia collected her things and continued walking home.

Q5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

The woman screamed, dropped both brass pots with a clatter on the boulder, from whence they bounced to the water, and Sibia saw them bob away in the current. Oh, the two good vessels gone.

i. Who was the woman? Why did she scream?

The woman was part of the Gujar tribe that had set up camp close to the river.

She had come to the river to fill water.

She was screaming because a crocodile had grabbed her by the leg and was trying to pull her into the water.

ii. Why do you think Sibia thought of the two brass vessels when the woman dropped them? 

Sibia came from an impoverished household and probably knew the worth of the two brass pots. She most likely knew that it would not be easy for the Gujar woman to replace those pots as they would cost money. Like Sibia's family, the Gujar tribe too led a hand-to-mouth existence. They stayed at a place only as long as grass was freely available for their animals and they could sell milk in the nearby villages.

iii. How did Sibia save the woman?

As soon as Sibia heard the woman scream, she instinctively skipped across the stones with her handmade hayfork towards the crocodile. She cleverly avoided its tail and punctured his eye with her hayfork. The crocodile immediately let go of the woman's leg, crashed back into the water and disappeared.

iv. What happened after Sibia saved the woman?

The woman had lost a lot of blood and could not stand on her own. Sibia somehow dragged her out of the water and dressed her wounds with some rags. She then helped the woman reach her camp. Following this, Sibia went back to the river to retrieve her hayfork, sickle and grass.

v. Comment on the ending of the story.

After Sibia saved the Gujar woman, Sibia returned to collect her hayfork, sickle and grass. When she bent to retrieve her hayfork from the river, she saw a blue bead floating beside it. She fished it out and to her joy, the bead was already pierced. It was perfect for the necklace she wanted to make for herself. After tucking the bead safely away, Sibia continued walking home and ran into her worried mother. Her mother thought that something happened to her. To this Sibia responded excitedly that something did happen and showed her the blue bead. She did not even mention the crocodile attack. This is ironic because one would expect Sibia to tell her mother about her heroism and courage.