Madam Rides the bus

                                Madam Rides the bus

Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]

Question 1.
Who was Valli?
Answer:
Valli was the short name of Valliamai. She was an eight year old girl who was very curious.

Question 2.
Why did Valli kept standing infront of the door?
Answer:
Valli kept standing infront of the door as there were no playmates of her age on her street. So, she used to keep on watching the street outside her house.

Question 3.
What was the most fascinating thing that Valli saw on the street?
Answer:
The most fascinating thing that Valli saw on the street was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. It passed through her street each hour, once going to the town and once coming back.

Question 4.
How did Valli gathered all the information about the bus?
Answer:
Over many days and months Valli listened carefully to conversations between her neighbours and people who regularly used the bus. She also asked a few discreet questions here and there. This way she gathered all the information about the bus.

Question 5.
Where was the town located? What was the fare to travel there by bus?
Answer:
The town was located six miles from Valli’s village. The fare to travel to town by bus was thirty paise for one way.

Question 6.
What did Valli kept on planning and calculating continuously?
Answer:
Vails kept on planning and calculating which bus to take, how much time it will take to reach the town and the fare that would be required in completing her journey.

Question 7.
How was the interior and exterior of the bus?
Answer:
It was a new bus. Its outside was painted a gleaming white with some green stripes along the sides. Inside, the overhead bars shone like silver. There was a beautiful clock above the windshield and its seats were soft and luxurious.

Question 8.
How was the view outside the bus when it went through the canal?       [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
On one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields

Question 9.
Why did the conductor wanted Valli to sit?
Answer:
The conductor initially told Valli that as she has paid for the ticket, she should sit. When she refused he told her that she may fall and hurt herself when the bus takes a sharp turn.

Question 10.
Why didn’t Valli want to talk to the elderly woman?
Answer:
The elderly woman was wearing ugly earrings and was chewing betel nut. The betel juice was about to seep out of her mouth. Valli found all this repulsive and hence did not wanted to talk to her

Question 11.
What questions did the old woman ask Valli?
Answer:
The old woman asked Valli if she was travelling alone. She also asked her whether she knew where exactly she had to go in the town.

Question 12.
How did Valli save money to travel by bus?     [CBSE2013]
Answer:
Valli had thriftily saved whatever stray coins came her way. She resisted every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons and ride on the merry-go-round at the village fair to save money for her bus journey.

Question 13.
How did Valli manage to travel by bus without the knowledge of her mother?
Answer:
Valli managed to travel by bus without the knowledge of her mother as she was asleep when Valli went out.

Question 14.
How did Valli feel on seeing the dead cow on the road?     [CBSE 2014]
Answer:
Valli was filled with sadness. She thought what had been a lovable, beautiful creature just a little while ago had now suddenly lost its charm and its life and looked so horrible and frightening.

Question 15.
What did Valli see when she reached home?
Answer:
On reaching back home Valli saw that her mother was awake and talking to one of her aunts.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions [8 Marks each]

Question 1.
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?      [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
No, I don’t think that Valli did the right thing in travelling alone to the town without informing her mother. By doing this, she put herself in a vulnerable position as she could have easily been a victim of child abuse had she come in contact with wrong people. In fact, she was lucky to return home safelty.
Children should always travel along with their parents or elders as they are easy targets for criminals. We hear a lot of instances of crime committed against children these days like kidnapping, child abuse, molestation, rape etc. Valli could have expressed her desire of travelling in the bus to her mother. I am sure that her mother would have fulfilled her wish by talking her on a bus ride.

Question 2.
The people and surroundings are a great book to learn. Valli in the lesson ‘Madam Rides The Bus’ learns a lot from others. Mention the traits of her character which help her to learn from her surroundings.
Answer:
Valli dreamt of riding on the bus. Her eagerness to fulfill her dream fired her curiosity. This curiousness led her to listen to the conversations of people going on the bus ride and asking discreet questions so that she could gather as much information as she can regarding the bus journey.
On the bus journey, Valli acted confidently and behaved maturedly. She did not consider herself to be any less than an adult. She was focused on fulfilling her dream and did not get tempted to go outside the bus and explore the town when the bus reached the town.
On the return journey, she learnt about death when she came to terms with the dead cow. This made her aware of the fact that death is a part of life and should be accepted as it is a natural phenomenon. Thus, the bus journey made her learn a lot of things.

Question 3.
Age is not a barrier when it comes to doing something different and great. Which characteristics of Valli help her achieve the wonder of visiting the town at such a tender age?    [CBSE 2014]
Answer:
In today’s era, age is no more a barrier. Children are doing wonders at a very young age. Same goes with Valli. At an age of 8 years, Valli was able to pursue her dream all alone by travelling in the bus to town. She was no different from others, except that she had certain characteristics that made her fulfil her dreams. Valli was a very confident and a bold girl. She had a knowledge of proper planning and execution. She controlled her wishes to save money for the bus ride. Also, she was a very good observer and learner. All these qualities made her realise the dream of visiting the town. Hence, one should always remember that there is no age to learn and experience new things.

Question 4.
What kind of person is Valli? Illustrate your answer from the text that you have read.     [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
Valli was a detetmined, confident and brave girl. She was also a good planner and executioner. She sacrificed a lot of things to achieve her dream. For example, she curbed the temptation to buy sweets and riding on the merry-go-round in the fair so that she could save money for the bus ride. Sacrificing all these things at such a tender age is very difficult for a child. She also behaved confidently in the bus and did not get bobbed down in the presence of elders.
When the bus reached the town, Valli did not succumb to the temptation of going out to explore the town or having a drink. She did this as she had a limited amount of money which she wanted to ‘ save for her return journey. So, Valli used her money wisely. When the conductor offered her a drink, she showed good manners in refusing to have it.