Madam Rides The Bus (Class 10th English)

 

Madam Rides The Bus (Class 10th English)

Topics Covered:

1- Introduction 

2- About The Author 

3- Chapter Explanation With Video 

4- Word-Meaning 

5- Textbook Exercises 

6- Value Based Question/Answers 

7- To Recapitulate 

1- Introduction 

Here you will get detailed explanation of the Chapter which is followed by Word-Meaning. Textbook Exercises are also covered which is accompanied by videos related to this topic. 

This story is about eight years old girl named Valli and her first Bus journey. She had a strong desire to travel in a bus and for that she saves some money.  When she collects enough money for the journey she boards the Bus. The story revolves around her adventurous Bus ride and the sketch of the world outside her village. 

2- About The Author 

• Vallikannan is the penname of the famous writer R.S. Krishnaswamy.

• He was born in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

• He started writing at a very young age.

• He was a famous Tamil writer, journalist, critic and translator.

• In his life span he wrote total seventy-five books.

3- Chapter Explanation 

This story is about an eight years old girl whose name was Valli. Her favourite pastime was to stand at the front door of her house and she was fascinated to see the Bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. She wished to ride in the bus.

With the passage of time, to ride in the bus became her desire. She used to stare at the people who are getting up and down the bus.

She listened to the talk of her neighbours  and the people who travelled regularly by bus. She even asked questions in order to gather information about the bus journey. 

Valli got to know that the nearest town from her village was six miles away and the bus takes forty-five minutes to complete the journey. The bus fare for one way was thirty paise. For Valli, sixty paise for a round trip was a lot of money. So, she started collecting sixty paise to travel.

Valli's Bus Ride

One day Valli stopped the bus. When the conductor offered his help, she refused and got on the bus on her own. She sat on the front seat which was offered by the conductor. The conductor addressed Valli as 'madam. There were few passengers in the bus.

She was excited to see the outside view. On one side of the road, was a canal beyond and there were palm trees, mountains and blue sky. On the other side, there was a deep ditch and acres of green fields. 

An elderly passenger called Valli as a child.But Valli told Valli as a child. But Valli tod him that she was not a child, but an adult. The conductor told valli to sit otherwise she would hurt herself. But Valli does not listen to him and she kept standing on her seat. 

The Bus Journey Continues 

When the bus stopped at the next stand, Valli sat down because someone might take her seat. An elderly woman came and sat beside Valli. Valli found the lady ugly. She was chewing betel. When the lady asked Valli whether she is alone. Valli told her not to worry about her and she turned her face towards the window. Suddenly, Valli was filled with joy when she saw a young cow running in the middle of the road infront of the bus. After hearing the bus horn the cow would get frightened and run faster infront of the bus. This made Valli laugh heartily. After some time the bus reached the railroad crossing. The train passed the crossing gate with lot of noise.

The Bus Entered The Town

Now the bus Entered the town. Valli enjoyed the colourful shops. The bus stopped at a stand and all the passengers got down except Valli. The conductor asked Valli to get down but she refused. She told the conductor she would return on the same bus. She handed him the return fare. The conductor offered her cold drink but she refused. After sometime the bus started its return journey. Valli enjoyed the same wonderful sights. Suddenly, she saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside. It was the same cow that she saw when she was going to the town. The vow had been struck with a fast moving vehicle. She felt sad for the poor cow. Further, she did not looked outside the window. 

Valli Returns Home

The bus soon reached valli's village. She told the conductor that she would ride the bus again. She got off the bus and entered her house. She saw her mother talking to her aunt. They both were talking that they did not know about many things in the outside world. Valli agreed to this and remarked their statements to be true. Valli's aunt told her that Valli was behaving like a grown up lady. Valli smiled and knew that her mother and aunt would never get to know about her bus ride.

4- Word-Meaning 

•mystery- secret, puzzle

• fascinating- extremely interesting 

• gradually- slowly 

• crept- make way

• overwhelming- very great in amount 

• crawl- to move slowly

• jolly- happy and cheerful

• gleaming- reflecting light

• peered- looked carefully 

• startle- surprise 

• haughtily- proudly 

• sociable- friendly 

• bother- worry

• excursion- a short trip

• hamlet- small village 

• glee- joy

• speck- a very small size 

• chatterbox- talkative person

• dampening- reducing

• traversed- travelled across

5- Textbook Exercises 

i- What was Valli's favourite pastime?

Ans- Valli's favourite pastime was to 

stand at the front door and enjoy the happenings on the street.

ii- What was the source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?

Ans- The sight of bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town was the source of unending joy for Valli.

Her strongest desire was to have a bus ride.

iii- What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?

Ans- Valli found out that the trip to town would take forty-five minutes and one way fare was thirty paise.

She found out these details by listening carefully to the conversation between her neighbours as well as by observing the people who regularly ride the bus.

iv- What do you think Valli was planning to do?

Ans- She was planning to go to the town and return by the same bus.

Oral Comprehension Check 

i- Why does the conductor call Valli 'madam'?

Ans- The conductor calls Valli 'madam' because she declined his help and was very quickly her answers to the conductors questions. So in order to tease her he calls her 'madam'.

ii- Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

Ans- As she was unable to see the outside view because of canvas, so she stood on the seat.

She can now see the narrow road. On one side of the road was the canal beyond which there were grassland, distant mountains and the blue sky. On the other side, she see the deep ditch and green fields. 

iii- What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

Ans- She tell elderly man that there was no child in the bus. As she had paid her fare like everybody. 

iv- Why didn't Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Ans- Because of her repulsive looks Valli did not want to make friends with the elderly woman. She was chewing betel. 

v- How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

Ans- She saved money and not purchased toys and eatables. 

No, it was not easy for her at all. She resisted her temptation and was able to save sixty paise for her first Bus ride.

vi- What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

Ans- Valli saw a young cow, that was running very fast in front of the bus. The more the driver horned, the more faster the cow ran in front of the bus. This whole scene seemed funny to Valli and made her laugh.

vii- Why didn't she get off the bus at the bus station?

Ans- As she wanted to return to the village in the same bus, so she did not get off the bus at the bus stand.

viii- Why didn't Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?

Ans- Valli did not have the money to pay for the drink.

This tell us that she is a well-mannered girl. 

ix- What was Valli's deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.

Ans- Her deepest desire was to go on a bus ride. The words and phrases that tell us this are 'source of unending joy', 'stare wistfully', and 'kindle in her logings', 'dreams and hopes'.

x- How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?

OR

Valli's dream was to enjoy a ride on the bus to the nearest town. What preparations did she make to realise her dream?

Ans- She planned her bus ride by listening to the conversation of her neighbours and by observing the people who rides the Bus.

She found out that town was six miles from her village. Bus one way fare was thirty paise. The bus trip took forty-five minutes. 

She saved the fare by not purchasing toys etc. So she was able to save sixty paise for her journey. 

xi- Why does Valli refused to look out of the window on her way back?

Ans- She saw the dead body of the cow who was running towards the bus when she was going to town. This made her sad and frightened. 

xii- What does Valli mean when she says "I was just agreeing with you what you said about things happening without our knowledge"?

Ans- She wants to hide her bus ride. She was also happy and excited as she accomplished her plan.

6- Value Based Question/Answers 

i- What was the most fascinating thing that Valli saw on the street. (C.B.S.E. 2019)

Ans- The most fascinating thing was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. 

ii- How did Valli save money to travel by bus?(C.B.S.E. 2013)

Ans- She controlled her temptation to buy toys, balloons and even a ride at the village fare, so that she could save money for the bus ride.

iii- How did Valli feel on seeing the dead cow on the road? (C.B.S.E. 2014)

Ans- Valli felt sad on seeing the dead cow. As while going to the town she saw the same cow running but now she lost her life. Valli now did not look outside the window. 

iv- In such a fast moving world when we hear so many incidents happening with people, do you think Valli did right by not telling her mother about the bus journey? (C.B.S.E. 2015)

Ans- No, Valli by travelling alone without informing her mother did not do the right thing. She put herself in an unsafe position. In fact, she was lucky to return home safely. 

If Valli could have expressed her desire of travelling in the bus to her mother, she would fulfill her wish. It is always better to inform parents before doing such acts.

v- Once we decide to achieve something, so many difficulties come in our way. With focussed attention we can make that achievement. How did Valli succeed in fulfilling her desire of riding a bus? (C.B.S.E. 2017)

OR

How did Valli fulfill her desire to ride a bus to the town and back? (C.B.S.E. 2020)

Ans- With focussed attention anything can be achieved in life. This chapter proves this true.

In the story, an eight year old girl Valli had a strong desire to take a bus ride. So she gathered all knowledge and also she planned her trip.

She saved the required money for the round trip in the bus. She did not buy toys, balloons and even did not take a ride in the village fair and was able to save sixty paise. 

vi- What kind of a person is Valli? Illustrate your answer from the text that you have read.(C.B.S.E. 2012)

OR

"Valli was a mature girl ahead of her age". Justify the statement with instances from the text. (C.B.S.E. 2020)

Ans- Valli was sensitive, well-mannered and a fun loving girl. She not only gather all the information but she sacrificed many things in order to save some money for the round trip in the bus.

During the bus journey, she proved to be mature and practical girl beyond her age. She enjoyed the outside view during the bus ride. She was sensitive girl as she refuse to take a cold drink from a stranger. She was also saddened by the sudden death of cow lying by the roadside. So it can be said that she was different from her age group children. 

7- To Recapitulate 

I hope the above notes would be a great help in your upcoming exams. If any doubts you can reach me through the comment section box and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank You...