Class 12 Semester-III

The Night Train at Deoli

- Ruskin Bond -
~~~

-- Achievers’ Guide to ace in English --

Sem-III being in MCQ doesn’t mean that you can just say f*** off to learning literature.

The text piece is provided here for convenience.

When I was at college I used to spend my summer vacations in Dehra, at my grandmother's place. I
would leave the plains early in May and return late in July. Deoli was a small station about thirty
miles from Dehra; it marked the beginning of the heavy jungles of the Indian Terai.
The train would reach Deoli at about five in the morning, when the station would be dimly lit with
electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks would just be visible in the
faint light of dawn. Deoli had only lone platform, an office for the stationmaster and a waiting
room. The platform boasted a tea stall, a fruit vendor, and a few stray dogs; not much else, because
the train stopped there for only ten minutes before rushing on into the forests.
Why it stopped at Deoli. I don't know. Nothing ever happened there. Nobody got off the train and
nobody got in. There were never any coolies on the platform. But the train would halt there a full
ten minutes, and then a bell would sound, the guard would blow his whistle, and presently Deoli
would be left behind and forgotten.
I used to wonder what happened in Deoli, behind the station walls. I always felt sorry for that lonely
little platform, and for the place that nobody wanted to visit. I decided that one day I would get off
the train at Deoli, and spend the day there, just to please the town.
I was eighteen, visiting my grandmother, and the night train stopped at Deoli. A girl came down the
platform, selling baskets.
It was a cold morning and the girl had a shawl thrown across her shoulders. Her feet were bare and
her clothes were old, but she was a young girl, walking gracefully and with dignity.
When she came to my window, she stopped. She saw that I was looking at her intently, but at first
she pretended not to notice. She had a pale skin, set off by shiny black hair, and dark, troubled eyes.
And then those eyes, searching and eloquent, met mine.
She stood by my window for some time and neither of us said anything. But when she moved on, I
found myself leaving my seat and going to the carriage door, and stood waiting on the platform,
looking the other way. I walked across to the tea stall. A kettle was boiling over on a small fire, but
the owner of the stall was busy serving tea somewhere on the train. The girl followed me behind the
stall.
'Do you want to buy a basket?' she asked. 'They are very strong, made of the finest cane...'
'No,' I said, 'I don't want a basket.'

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We stood looking at each other for what seemed a very long time, and she said, 'Are you sure you
don't want a basket?'
'All right, give me one,' I said, and I took the one on top and gave her a rupee, hardly daring to
touch her fingers.
As she was about to speak, the guard blew his whistle; she said something, but it was lost in the
clanging of the bell and the hissing of the engine. I had to run back to my compartment. The
carriage shuddered and jolted forward.
I watched her as the platform slipped away. She was alone on the platform and she did not move,
but she was looking at me and smiling. I watched her until the signal-box came in the way, and then
the jungle hid the station, but I could still see her standing there alone.
I sat up awake for the rest of the journey. I could not rid my mind of the picture of the girl's face and
her dark, smouldering eyes.
But when I reached Dehra the incident became blurred and distant, for there were other things to
occupy my mind. It was only when I was making the return journey, two months later, that I
remembered the girl.
I was looking out for her as the train drew into the station, and I felt an unexpected thrill when I saw
her walking up the platform. I sprang off the footboard and waved to her.
When she saw me, she smiled. She was pleased that I remembered her. I was pleased that, she
remembered me. We were both pleased, and it was almost like a meeting of old friends.
She did not go down the length of the train selling baskets, but came straight to the tea stall; her
dark eyes were suddenly filled with light. We said nothing for some time but we couldn't have been
more eloquent.
I felt the impulse to put her on the train there and then, and take her away with me; I could not bear
the thought of having to watch her recede into the distance of Deoli station. I took the baskets from
her hand and put them down on the ground. She put out her hand for one of them, but I caught her
hand and held it.
'I have to go to Delhi,' I said.
She nodded. 'I do not have to go anywhere.'
The guard blew his whistle for the train to leave and how I hated the guard for doing that.
'I will come again,' I said. 'Will you be here?'
She nodded again, and, as she nodded, the bell clanged and the train slid forward. I had to wrench
my hand away from the girl and run for the moving train.
This time I did not forget her. She was with me for the remainder of the journey, and for long after.
All that year she was a bright, living thing. And when the college term finished I packed in haste
and left for Dehra earlier than usual. My grandmother would be pleased at my eagerness to see her.
I was nervous and anxious as the train drew into Deoli, because I was wondering what I should say
to the girl and what I should do. I was determined that I wouldn't stand helplessly before her, hardly
able to speak or do anything about my feelings.
The train came to Deoli, and I looked up and down the platform, but I could not see the girl
anywhere.

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I opened the door and stepped off the footboard. I was deeply disappointed, and overcome by a
sense of foreboding. I felt I had to do something, and so I ran up to the station-master and said, 'Do
you know the girl who used to sell baskets here?'
'No, I don't,' said the station-master. 'And you'd better get on the train if you don't want to be left
behind.'
But I paced up and down the platform, and stared over the railings at the station yard; all I saw was
a mango tree and a dusty road leading into the jungle. Where did the road go? The train was moving
out of the station, and I had to run up the platform and jump for the door of my compartment. Then,
as the train gathered speed and rushed through the forests, I sat brooding in front of the window.
What could I do about finding a girl I had seen only twice, who had hardly spoken to me, and about
whom I knew nothing - absolutely nothing - but for whom I felt a tenderness and responsibility that
I had never felt before?
My grandmother was not pleased with my visit after all, because I didn't stay at her place more than
a couple of weeks. I felt restless and ill-at-ease. So I took the train back to the plains, meaning to
ask further questions of the station-master at Deoli.
But at Deoli there was a new station-master. The previous man had been transferred to another post
within the past week. The new man didn't know anything about the girl who sold baskets. I found
the owner of the tea stall, a small, shrivelled-up man, wearing greasy clothes, and asked him if he
knew anything about the girl with the baskets.
'Yes, there was such a girl here, I remember quite well,' he said. 'But she has stopped coming now.'
'Why?' I asked. 'What happened to her?'
'How should I know?' said the man. 'She was nothing to me.'
And once again I had to run for the train.
As Deoli platform receded, I decided that one day I would have to break journey there, spend a day
in the town, make enquiries, and find the girl who had stolen my heart with nothing but a look from
her dark, impatient eyes.
With this thought I consoled myself throughout my last term in college. I went to Dehra again in the
summer and when, in the early hours of the morning, the night train drew into Deoli station, I
looked up and down the platform for signs of the girl, knowing, I wouldn't find her but hoping just
the same.
Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to break journey at Deoli and spend a day there. (If it was all
fiction or a film, I reflected, I would have got down and cleaned up the mystery and reached a
suitable ending for the whole thing). I think I was afraid to do this. I was afraid of discovering what
really happened to the girl. Perhaps she was no longer in Deoli, perhaps she was married, perhaps
she had fallen ill...
In the last few years I have passed through Deoli many times, and I always look out of the carriage
window, half expecting to see the same unchanged face smiling up at me. I wonder what happens in
Deoli, behind the station walls. But I will never break my journey there. It may spoil my game. I
prefer to keep hoping and dreaming, and looking out of the window up and down that lonely
platform, waiting for the girl with the baskets.
I never break my journey at Deoli, but I pass through as often as I can.

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-- Thorough overview of the text --

A synopsis has been made, the literature-side has been explored, probable doubts are cleared.

Synopsis of "The Night Train at Deoli"

The story follows a young college student who frequently travels by train to visit his grandmother in
Dehra. During his journeys, the train makes an uneventful stop at the small, lonely station of Deoli,
where nothing ever seems to happen. One summer, he notices a barefoot girl selling baskets on the
platform. Her quiet dignity and dark, expressive eyes captivate him, and though they exchange only
a few words, a silent connection forms between them.
When he returns months later, he sees her again, and their brief, wordless reunion deepens his
feelings. He promises to come back, but on his next visit, she is nowhere to be found. Despite
making inquiries, he learns nothing about her fate. Over the years, he continues to look for her
whenever his train passes through Deoli, but he never gets off, preferring to preserve the mystery
and longing rather than face the possible disappointment of reality.

Key Word Clusters & Phrases

1. "Lonely little platform" / "Nothing ever happened there"
• Represents the desolation and insignificance of Deoli, mirroring the girl's unnoticed
existence.
2. "Dark, troubled eyes" / "Dark, smouldering eyes" / "Searching and eloquent"
• The girl's eyes symbolize mystery, depth, and unspoken emotions, drawing the
narrator in.
3. "Gracefully and with dignity" / "Shiny black hair" / "Pale skin"
• Contrasts her poverty with an innate elegance, making her stand out in the narrator’s
memory.
4. "I could not rid my mind of the picture of the girl's face"
• Shows the lingering impact of their brief encounter, emphasizing unfulfilled longing.
5. "A tenderness and responsibility that I had never felt before"
• Highlights the narrator’s unexpected emotional attachment despite knowing nothing
about her.
6. "I prefer to keep hoping and dreaming" / "I will never break my journey there"
• Reveals his choice to preserve the fantasy rather than risk disillusionment.

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Significant Themes & Meanings

• Ephemeral Connections – The fleeting nature of their meetings underscores how brief
moments can leave lasting impressions.
• Longing vs. Reality – The narrator’s refusal to seek the truth reflects a desire to hold onto
idealized memories.
• Isolation & Unseen Lives – Deoli and the girl represent unnoticed lives that briefly
intersect with others before fading away.
• Fear of Disappointment – His hesitation to get off the train symbolizes a reluctance to
confront potential loss.
The story captures the melancholy beauty of missed opportunities and the human tendency to
romanticize the unknown.

-- Questions and Answers – An MCQ Masterclass --

The questions and answers compiled here are not to be memorized. Instead, have a look. Just
read them, and not rote culture, absorb the essence of the story, don’t plainly engulf it. When you
reach the end of this short book, I swear, you will have mastered this piece and nobody will be
able to snatch the marks from your fingertips. You have my word!

Setting & Details

1. Where is Deoli located?
a) Near the Himalayas
b) 30 miles from Dehra, marking the edge of the Terai jungles
c) In the heart of Delhi
d) Beside the Ganges River
Answer: b) 30 miles from Dehra, marking the edge of the Terai jungles
2. What time does the train arrive at Deoli?
a) Midnight
b) 5 AM
c) Noon
d) 7 PM
Answer: b) 5 AM
3. What does the Deoli platform not have?
a) A tea stall
b) A bookshop
c) Stray dogs
d) A fruit vendor
Answer: b) A bookshop

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4. Why does the train stop at Deoli?

a) To pick up passengers
b) The narrator does not know
c) For engine repairs
d) To load goods
Answer: b) The narrator does not know

Character & Interactions

5. What is the girl selling on the platform?
a) Flowers
b) Baskets
c) Tea
d) Sweets
Answer: b) Baskets
6. What does the narrator give the girl in exchange for a basket?
a) A rupee
b) A shawl
c) A book
d) A promise
Answer: a) A rupee
7. How does the girl react when she sees the narrator on his return journey?
a) She ignores him
b) She smiles and approaches him
c) She runs away
d) She cries
Answer: b) She smiles and approaches him
8. What does the station-master tell the narrator during his third visit?
a) The girl moved to Delhi
b) He doesn’t know the girl
c) The girl is ill
d) The girl got married
Answer: b) He doesn’t know the girl

Themes & Symbols

9. What does the "lonely little platform" symbolize?
a) Modernization
b) The girl’s isolation and unnoticed existence
c) The narrator’s wealth

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d) India’s railway system

Answer: b) The girl’s isolation and unnoticed existence
10.Why does the narrator refuse to get off at Deoli in later years?
a) He fears missing his train
b) He prefers preserving hope over potential disappointment
c) His grandmother forbids it
d) The station is closed
Answer: b) He prefers preserving hope over potential disappointment
11.What does the mango tree near the station yard signify?
a) Prosperity
b) A clue to the girl’s whereabouts
c) The passage of time
d) A symbol of unanswered questions
Answer: d) A symbol of unanswered questions (indicates the narrator’s futile search)

Literary Devices & Language

12."Dark, smouldering eyes" is an example of:
a) Metaphor
b) Alliteration
c) Oxymoron
d) Personification
Answer: a) Metaphor (conveys intensity and mystery)
13.The phrase "I prefer to keep hoping and dreaming" reflects:
a) The narrator’s laziness
b) A rejection of reality to cling to idealized memories
c) His dislike for Deoli
d) His financial constraints
Answer: b) A rejection of reality to cling to idealized memories
14.What literary tone dominates the story?
a) Humorous
b) Melancholic
c) Satirical
d) Thrilling
Answer: b) Melancholic

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Inferential & Analytical

15.Why does the narrator leave his grandmother’s place early during his third visit?
a) He dislikes Dehra
b) He feels restless and unresolved about the girl
c) His college term starts
d) His grandmother asks him to leave
Answer: b) He feels restless and unresolved about the girl
16.What does the tea-stall owner’s remark, "She was nothing to me," reveal?
a) His cruelty
b) Societal indifference to marginalized lives
c) His jealousy
d) The girl’s arrogance
Answer: b) Societal indifference to marginalized lives
17.The narrator’s decision to never break his journey at Deoli ultimately highlights:
a) His fear of trains
b) The human tendency to romanticize the unknown
c) His lack of curiosity
d) The girl’s insignificance
Answer: b) The human tendency to romanticize the unknown

Quotation-Based
18."I could still see her standing there alone." This line emphasizes:
a) The narrator’s poor eyesight
b) The girl’s persistence
c) The lingering impact of the encounter
d) The station’s emptiness
Answer: c) The lingering impact of the encounter
19."She was a bright, living thing" refers to:
a) The girl’s clothing
b) The narrator’s memory of her
c) A literal lamp
d) The train’s headlight
Answer: b) The narrator’s memory of her
20."What could I do about finding a girl... about whom I knew nothing?" This rhetorical
question underscores:
a) The narrator’s confidence
b) His helplessness and longing
c) The girl’s popularity

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d) Deoli’s busy atmosphere

Answer: b) His helplessness and longing

Setting & Details (Continued)

21.What illuminates Deoli station during the train’s early morning stop?
a) Neon lights
b) Electric bulbs and oil-lamps
c) Solar lanterns
d) Fire torches
Answer: b) Electric bulbs and oil-lamps
22.How long does the train halt at Deoli?
a) 5 minutes
b) 10 minutes
c) 15 minutes
d) 20 minutes
Answer: b) 10 minutes
23.What is visible across the railway tracks from Deoli station?
a) A river
b) The Himalayas
c) The Terai jungles
d) A marketplace
Answer: c) The Terai jungles
24.What season does the narrator visit his grandmother?
a) Winter
b) Monsoon
c) Summer
d) Autumn
Answer: c) Summer

Character & Interactions (Continued)

25.What is the girl wearing when the narrator first sees her?
a) A silk sari
b) Old clothes and a shawl
c) A school uniform
d) A colorful dress
Answer: b) Old clothes and a shawl

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26.What does the narrator do immediately after buying the basket?

a) Talks to the station-master
b) Runs back to his compartment
c) Asks the girl her name
d) Offers her a ride
Answer: b) Runs back to his compartment
27.How does the girl carry herself while selling baskets?
a) Shyly and hesitantly
b) Gracefully and with dignity
c) Aggressively
d) Indifferently
Answer: b) Gracefully and with dignity
28.What does the narrator not do during his second encounter with the girl?
a) Wave to her
b) Hold her hand
c) Ask her to marry him
d) Put her baskets on the ground
Answer: c) Ask her to marry him

Themes & Symbols (Continued)

29.What does the train’s brief stop at Deoli symbolize?
a) The inevitability of time
b) Fleeting human connections
c) Technological progress
d) Colonial influence
Answer: b) Fleeting human connections
30.The phrase "dark, impatient eyes" suggests the girl’s:
a) Anger
b) Restlessness and unfulfilled desires
c) Fear of the narrator
d) Physical exhaustion
Answer: b) Restlessness and unfulfilled desires
31.What does the narrator’s reluctance to "spoil his game" imply?
a) His love for sports
b) His desire to maintain the mystery
c) His fear of the jungle
d) His dislike for Deoli’s station-master
Answer: b) His desire to maintain the mystery

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32.The recurring image of the jungle near Deoli represents:

a) Adventure
b) The unknown and unresolved
c) Danger
d) Natural beauty
Answer: b) The unknown and unresolved

Literary Devices & Language (Continued)

33."The carriage shuddered and jolted forward" uses:
a) Onomatopoeia
b) Simile
c) Hyperbole
d) Irony
Answer: a) Onomatopoeia
34."Her eyes were suddenly filled with light" is an example of:
a) Paradox
b) Symbolism (hope/emotion)
c) Allusion
d) Sarcasm
Answer: b) Symbolism (hope/emotion)
35.The phrase "a bright, living thing" contrasts with:
a) The train’s darkness
b) The narrator’s dull life
c) Deoli’s desolation
d) The grandmother’s house
Answer: c) Deoli’s desolation

Inferential & Analytical (Continued)

36.Why does the narrator mention the mango tree in the station yard?
a) To highlight Deoli’s fertility
b) To emphasize his fruitless search
c) To describe the station’s beauty
d) To criticize deforestation
Answer: b) To emphasize his fruitless search
37.What does the narrator’s grandmother’s disapproval reveal?
a) Her strict nature
b) His neglect of family for an obsession
c) Her dislike for Deoli

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d) His academic failures

Answer: b) His neglect of family for an obsession
38.The girl’s bare feet symbolize:
a) Freedom
b) Poverty and hardship
c) Tradition
d) Rebellion
Answer: b) Poverty and hardship
39.The narrator’s "sense of foreboding" during his third visit stems from:
a) Fear of wild animals
b) Anxiety about the girl’s absence
c) Guilt over lying
d) The station-master’s rudeness
Answer: b) Anxiety about the girl’s absence

Quotation-Based (Continued)
40."I had to wrench my hand away from the girl" conveys:
a) Physical pain
b) Reluctance to leave her
c) Anger at the guard
d) Fear of attachment
Answer: b) Reluctance to leave her
41."I sat brooding in front of the window" reflects the narrator’s:
a) Boredom
b) Deep contemplation and regret
c) Interest in landscapes
d) Fatigue
Answer: b) Deep contemplation and regret
42."She was nothing to me" (tea-stall owner) underscores:
a) His honesty
b) Societal apathy toward the marginalized
c) The girl’s invisibility
d) Both b and c
Answer: d) Both b and c
43."The jungle hid the station, but I could still see her standing there alone" highlights:
a) The narrator’s vivid memory
b) The girl’s stubbornness
c) Deoli’s isolation

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d) The train’s speed

Answer: a) The narrator’s vivid memory

Extended Analysis & Context

44.The narrator’s age during his first encounter with the girl is:
a) 16
b) 18
c) 20
d) 22
Answer: b) 18
45.What literary genre best describes this story?
a) Adventure
b) Romance
c) Literary fiction
d) Mystery
Answer: c) Literary fiction
46.The story’s open-ended conclusion emphasizes:
a) The inevitability of loss
b) The power of unresolved longing
c) The girl’s tragic fate
d) The narrator’s maturity
Answer: b) The power of unresolved longing
47. The phrase "waiting for the girl with the baskets" ultimately symbolizes:
a) Hope as a coping mechanism
b) The narrator’s stagnation
c) Deoli’s economic struggles
d) The girl’s manipulation
Answer: a) Hope as a coping mechanism
48. What interrupts the narrator’s view of the girl as the train departs?
a) A passing truck
b) The signal-box
c) A flock of birds
d) The station-master’s office
Answer: b) The signal-box
49. The narrator’s reflection, “If it was all fiction or a film... I would have got down and
cleaned up the mystery” suggests:
a) He regrets not being a fictional hero
b) Real-life lacks the closure of stories

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c) He dislikes ambiguity
d) Films misrepresent reality
Answer: b) Real-life lacks the closure of stories
50. The phrase “cleaned up the mystery” is an example of:
a) Metaphor (resolving unanswered questions)
b) Alliteration
c) Hyperbole
d) Irony
Answer: a) Metaphor (resolving unanswered questions)

The End.

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