Date 22.12.

2021
Grade 10
Subject English
Topic Madam Rides the Bus
To be completed by 23.12.2021

Writing Task - Please write the following in your Note Book

Thinking about the Text

Q1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story
that tell you this.
Ans: Valli’s deepest desire was to ride on the bus she saw every day. The
sentences in the story which depict this are as follows:
“Day after day she watched the bus, and gradually a tiny wish crept into her
head and grew there: she wanted to ride on that bus, even if just once. This
wish became stronger and stronger, until it was an overwhelming desire.”

Q2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and
how did she save up the fare?
Ans: Valli planned that she would take the one o’clock afternoon bus, reach the
town at one forty-five, and be back home by about two forty-five. She found
out that the town was six miles from her village. The fare was thirty paise one
way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes. On reaching the town, if she
stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she could return home on the
same bus. She had carefully saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting
every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and the like, and finally
she had saved sixty paise.
Q3.What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the
following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in
are the clues to your answer.
(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised
________________.
(ii) “Yes, I ____________ go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here ____________,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my
thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can ___________. You don’t have to help me.
“I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, _____________.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I _____________,” Valli said, turning her
face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope
______________.”
Ans: (i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised
commandingly.
(ii) “Yes, I simply have to go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here who’s a child,” she said haughtily. I’ve paid my thirty
paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself. You don’t have to help me.
“I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, irritably.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of myself,” Valli said, turning
her face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope to see you
again.”
For Valli, the bus journey probably symbolised the adult world. Like anyone
else, she spent her money to buy the ticket. She would have attained a great
sense of pride and satisfaction in doing so. Therefore, though a child, Valli
wanted to be treated as a grown-up on the bus. She had a great sense of
self-respect which prevented her from taking anyone’s help. She felt she was
able to take care of herself very well, and was easily irritated when anyone
treated her as a child.
Q4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?
Ans: When the conductor stretched out his hand to help her get on the bus,
Valli said commandingly that she could get on by herself, and that she did not
require his help. She did not act like a child, but as a grown-up girl and
therefore, the conductor called her ‘madam’. When the elderly man called her
a child and asked her to sit down on her seat, she replied that nobody was a
child on the bus. She kept stressing on the fact that she had paid her fare like
everybody else and therefore, she should not be treated differently.

Q5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on
the bus.
Ans: The following lines in the text show that Valli was enjoying her ride on the
bus:
(i) “Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”
(ii) “On the one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland,
distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch
and then acres and acres of green fields − green, green, green, as far as the eye
could see. Oh, it was all so wonderful!”
(iii) “Everyone laughed, and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter. Suddenly,
Valli clapped her hands with glee.”
(iv) “Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there
were tears in her eyes.”
(v) “Valli wasn’t bored to the slightest and greeted everything with the same
excitement she’d felt the first time.”

Q6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
Ans: Valli refused to look out of the window on her way back because she saw
a young cow lying dead by the roadside, just where it had been struck by some
fast-moving vehicle. It was the same cow that was running in front of their bus,
during their trip to the town. She was overcome with sadness. The memory of
the dead cow haunted her and therefore, she refused to look out of the
window.
Q7. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you
said about things happening without our knowledge.”
Ans: Valli’s mother said that many things happen around us, but we are usually
unaware of them. Valli had gone on a bus ride to town, all alone, and had come
back without any harm. She did all this without the knowledge of her mother.
Hence, she agreed with what her mother said.

Q8. The author describes the things that Valii sees from an eight-year-old’s
point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?
Ans: The author has described the things that Valli saw from an eight-year-old’s
point of view. She was fascinated by a bus. Watching the bus filled with a new
set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her. Her strongest
desire was to ride the bus. She saved money by cutting on peppermints, toys,
and balloons, and even resisting the temptation to ride the merry-go-round at
the fair. When the author describes the bus, the points he stresses on are the
colour and look of the bus. It was a ‘new bus’, painted a ‘gleaming white’. The
overhead bars ‘shone like silver’. The seats were ‘soft and luxurious’.
The descriptions that the author gives when Valli looks outside are also typical
for an eight-year-old. The ‘blue, blue sky’ and the ‘acres and acres of green
fields − green, green, green’ show the enthusiasm of a kid looking at different
colours. Valli clapped her hands in glee on watching a cow run right in front of
the bus. She found it so funny that tears came into her eyes. On the other
hand, she was overcome with sadness on her way back when she saw the same
cow lying dead. It had been a ‘lovable, beautiful creature’ and later it ‘looked so
horrible’. The memory of the dead cow haunted her so much that she refused
to look outside the window. These are the typical reactions of a young child.

Don’t write the following but SAVE them for future reference. You must study
these, since you might get these in your tests and examinations
Q1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
Ans: Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house
and watch what was happening in the street outside.

Q2. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest
desire?
Ans: A source of unending joy for Valli was the sight of the bus that travelled
between her village and the nearest town, filled with a new set of passengers
each time it passed through her street. Her strongest desire was to ride on that
bus.

Q3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these
details?
Ans: Valli found out that the town was six miles from her village. The fare was
thirty paise one way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes. On reaching
the town, if she stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she could
return home on the same bus. She found out these details by listening carefully
to the conversations between her neighbours and the people who regularly
used the bus. She also gained information by asking them a few questions.

Q4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?

Ans: Valli was planning to travel on that bus.

Q5. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

Ans: Valli is trying to behave more mature than her age. She is trying to look
overconfident and smart. The conductor is amused at her behaviour and in an
effort to tease her calls her ‘madam’.

Q6. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Ans: Valli stood up on her seat because her view was cut off by a canvas blind
that covered the lower part of her window. She stood up to look over the blind.
She saw that the road was very narrow, on one side of which there was the
canal and beyond it were palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the
blue sky. On the other side, there was a deep ditch and many acres of green
fields.

Q7. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Ans: When the elderly man called her a child, Valli told him that there was
nobody on the bus who was a child. She had paid her fare of thirty paise like
everyone else.

Q8. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Ans: The elderly woman was having big earlobes with bigger holes. She was
chewing betel nut and the beetlejuice was about to seep out of her mouth. She
was giving a sight of an unrefined elderly lady. That is why Valli did not want to
make friends with her.

Q9. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Ans: Valli saved every coin that came her way. She made great sacrifices by
controlling her normal childish urges of having candies, toys and joyrides. This
must have been difficult for her. Kids find it very difficult to savour a candy or to
enjoy a toy.
Q10. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Ans: Valli saw a young cow, whose tail was high in the air, running right in front
of the bus in the middle of the road. The bus slowed and the driver sounded his
horn loudly. However, the more he honked, the more frightened the cow
became and it kept running faster and faster, right in front of the bus. Valli
found it so amusing that she had tears in her eyes. At last, the cow moved off
the road.
Q11. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?
Ans: She did not get off the bus at the bus station because she had to go back
on that same bus. She took out another thirty paise from her pocket and
handed the coins to the conductor. She just wanted to ride on the bus.
Q12. 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 want to go to the stall and have a drink because she did not
have any money for that. Even when the conductor offered her a cold drink
free of charge, she refused firmly and said that she only wanted her ticket. This
shows that Valli had a lot of self will and pride. Possibly, she did not want to
take anything for free, particularly from a stranger.