Madam Rides The Bus

Valli's favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house and observe everything happening around on the street.

Valli derived unending joy by looking at the bus plying on the street. Her strongest desire was to ride the bus one day as she was highly attracted towards it.

Valli found out the bus took forty-five minutes to travel between the town which was six miles away from her village. She also found out that the fare for the one-way trip was thirty paisa. She found out these details by listening to the conversation of the passengers and sometimes by asking them.

Valli was planning to ride on the bus. She had calculated the time to cover the complete journey. It took ninety minutes in total to go to the town and return. She also planned and saved the money that was required for the bus ride.

The conductor calls Valli 'madam' because of her confidence. When she was trying to board the bus, the conductor stretched his hand to help her, but Valli didn’t take his help and said that she can get on the bus by herself. She tried to behave like a mature lady. Therefore, the conductor tried to crack a light-hearted joke by addressing her as ‘madam’.

Valli wanted to look out of the window and see the things outside the moving bus. But as bus curtains had covered the lower part of the windows she was not able to see the sights. So, she stood up. She saw the bus moving along the canal, the narrow road, green grass fields, and palm trees.

Valli tells the elderly man when he calls her a child that there was no child on the bus as she had paid full fare just like other passengers.

Valli didn't want to make friendship with the elderly woman because she found her repulsive in nature. Also, she thought that the elderly woman looked dirty because the earing holes in the ear lobes of the woman were quite big and she was wearing an ugly earing. Moreover, the betel juice almost flowing through her lips. Due to the appearance of the elderly woman, Valli did not want to socialize with her.

To save up money for her first journey, Valli resisted her temptations to buy toffees, peppermints, toys, balloons, etc. from the stray coins that she had collected. Moreover, in the village fair, she eagerly wanted to ride the merry-go-round but she suppressed her desire to save the money for using it later in the bus ride.

On her way, Valli saw that a cow coming in front of the bus. The driver slowed down the vehicle and sounded the horn but the cow got scared and instead of leaving the road, she kept on galloping in front of the bus. This made Valli laughed heartily. She laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes.

She didn't get off the bus at the bus station as she was afraid to move alone. She had already planned to take the return journey from the same bus. Also, she knew that she did not have money to buy things from the stalls.

Valli didn't want to go to the stall and have a drink because she didn't have money for it. She even tried to refuse the offer of a treat by the conductor. This tells us that she was a wise girl and had self-control on her feelings. She also knew the value of money and was righteous enough to avoid taking a favour from strangers.

Valli's deepest desire was to enjoy a ride on the bus. The words and phrases that tell us this are:

(i) A fascinating thing

(ii) the sight of the bus

(iii) a source of unending joy

(iv) a tiny wish crept into her head

(v) she watched the bus

(vi) wanted to ride on that bus

(vii) became stronger and stronger

(vii) picked up small details about the bus journey.

Valli enquired about the fare of the bus from the people who traveled on the bus. She also listened to the travelers to understand the time taken to complete the journey. She saved the money for the fare by making sure she did not spend the money she got on buying things like toys, sweets etc. She also saved money by avoiding riding the swings in the village fair.

(i) commandingly

(ii) simply have to

(iii) who's a child

(iv) get on by myself; haughtily

(v) can take care of myself

(vi) to see you again.

Valli is a confident and courageous girl.

She had clarity about what she wanted to do.

She didn't like to call herself a child. She understands the value of money and the dynamics attached to it. She wants to be considered like a matured lady.

She is strong-willed and does not like to take any unnecessary favours from anyone.

She is independent and does not like to be told what to do.

She is good natured and mild mannered.

The conductor refers to Valli as 'madam' because as a joking jibe on the manner in which she behaved when he offered her help to get on the bus. Her behaviour is like that of a matured lady while she is just eight years of age. She behaves like a mature woman.

These lines in the text tell us that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus-

(i) Valli clapped her hands with glee.

(ii) This was very funny to Valli.

(iii) Se laughed and laughed.

(iv) Struck dumb with wonder.

(v) Valli gaped at everything.

Valli refuses to look out of the window on her way back because she saw the cow lying dead on the wayside. It was hit by a vehicle. Valli has seen the same cow happily galloping while travelling from the village to the town. The death of the cow made her very sad.

When Valli returned home after bus riding, her mother was talking with one of Valli’s aunts. They were talking about things happening without their knowledge in the world outside. Valli was also agreed to their view because she had enjoyed a bus journey and they did not know about it.

These are the evidence from the text for this statement:

(i) A fascinating thing for her was the bus.

(ii) She travelled between her village and the nearest town.

(iii) Valli devoured everything with her eyes.

(iv) It was all so wonderful for her!

(v) She was very happy to see the canal, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains and the blue sky.

(vi) Struck dumb with wonder.

(vii) Valli gaped at everything.

Plan to Visit the Taj Mahal

When was a young boy and studied in class VIII. I lived in Mathura with my family. I have heard a lot about the beauty of the Taj Mahal from my classmates. My city was about thirty kilometers away from the Taj Mahal. Many of my friends used to go there. When they talked about their journey, I heard very carefully. I collected every information from their explanation such as its distance, its fare and it's time to cover this journey. A desire to visit the Taj raised in my heart and it became stronger day by day. One day on a holiday I decided to visit the Taj and I had saved enough money from my pocket money that my father gave at the end of the month. I rode on a city bus and enjoyed the journey. I watched green trees, market, and many different schools. When the bus stopped, I got down and covering a distance on foot reached the Taj. After watching its beauty I forgot everything. I spent one hour there. It was looking like a heaven. Then I started for my house, once again, I rode the city bus and reached my house without' any problem. No one could know about it because my father was on duty and my mother was busy in her daily work. It was my first journey and a unique experience.

There are five characters described in this poem. A girl Belinda and her four pets; a kitten, a mouse, a dog and a dragon. List with their pet names-

Custard cried for a nice safe cage to be safe in case some danger comes up.

The dragon had a very ferocious and frightening appearance but did not behave in an aggressive manner. This made others think that he was a coward and thus he is called the ‘cowardly dragon’.

Belinda and everyone considered the dragon to be a coward. She wanted the dragon to show some behaviour that suited his fearsome external appearance. Also, as she was not afraid of him she behaved very casually around him.

In the third stanza, the poet describes the appearance of the dragon as having big sharp teeth, spike on the top body and scales underneath it. The dragon’s mouth had fire and thus has been called a fireplace and the nostrils have been compared with the chimney.

The rhyme scheme of the first and second stanza is-aa bb.

The looks of the dragon have been illustrated by simulating a visual imagery of fireplace and nostrils. The author has depicted the bravery of the cat, dog, and the mouse by creating a written image of them chasing lions etc. In the latter part of the poem, the author uses these imageries to describe the appearance and the engagement of pirate with Belinda and her pets.

The poem 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon' is a humorous poem. The names of the characters are funny. The pets called Custard by funny names, which makes the poem all the more humorous. All the pets boasted of being very brave but went into hiding as soon as the pirate arrived. After the events have finished, they again started to boast like nothing has happened. This part is funny as well.

'Light of Asia' is an epic ballad. It tells the story of Prince Siddartha, whose life started as a royal and culminated as a saint.