Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | Bholi Solutions Chapter 9
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
9. Bholi
Q. 1. Give the character sketch of Ramlal.
Ans. Ramlal was a man of about fifty years. He had three sons
and four daughters. They had a prosperous farmer's household.
They had enough to eat and drink. Theirs was a status family. His
sons studied in colleges in the cities.
He was the Numberdar or revenue official of the government
in his village. Even the Tehsildar had high expectations from him
for the smooth running of the newly opened primary school.
He was a considerate father. He got ready even to pay five
thousand rupees to Bishamber to see his daughter happy. He was
a man of honour. He put his honour at stake but did not compel his
daughter to marry a mean coward. He was a practical man.
Q. 2. Give the character sketch of Bholi's teacher.
Ans. Bholi teacher was a gem. Such teachers are very rare.
She had full sympathics with Bholi who was suffering from physical
disability as well as mental infirmity. She provided all possible help
She had full sympathics with Bholi who was suffering from physical
and assistance to her. She made her feel at home. She encouraged
and inspired her to get over her stammer. She treated her like her
daughter. She was her true guide.
She inculcated the qualities of confidence, and daring in her.
She never scoffed at Bholi whom all the other girls mimicked. She
urged her to make persistent efforts to get over her handicap. She
enabled Bholi to challenge the dowry-seeker.
Q.3. What do you know about dowry system in India?
Ans. India is a great country of holy people. We have our rich
traditions. However, some of our inherited traditions are evil. Giving
and receiving of dowry is not only a social evil but a grave crime
against the fair sex. We have fallen to such an extent that every
eligible boy has its price ranging from thousands to millions. His
parents demand dowry in the form of cash and kird. Such demands
break the backs of the poor parents. Often we hear many cases of
bride burning and suicide. Every parent desires that his daughter
should remain happy. But the constant demand from the side of
the boy makes their life a hell on earth. Government has taken
steps towards it. But it can't be uprooted unless the people take a
pledge not to give and accept dowry.
Q. 4. (i) Why was Bholi reluctant to go to school with her
father?
(ii) What made her feel that she was going to a better place
than her home?
Ans. (i) Bholi did not know what a school was like. She
remembered how their old cow had been turned out of the house
(school) and sold. Therefore, she was frightened and was reluctant
to go to school with her father.
(ii) Bholi got a clean dress to wear. It was an unusual event for
her. She was bathed. Oil was rubbed into her dry and matted hair.
These things were new to her. These things made her feel that she
was going to a better place than her house.
Q.5. Love and encouragement make the impossible possible.
Discuss.
Ans. We see that there are spectators in a tournament. They
boost the morale of their players. Encouraged by their morale
boosting the players do magic tricks and win various medals. So it
is the love coupled with sincere encouragement that makes
impossible things possible. There are various legends in our history.
These reveal that love and encouragement made impossible things
possible. Now read Bholi and see yourself how love and
encouragement of the teacher makes Bholi into a bold young
woman.
Q. 6. There are two Bholi's in the chapter 'Bholi'. What are
they?
Or, Describe the change that came in Bholi due to her
receiving the education?
Ans. The chapter Bholi describes two Bholis. One Bholi is
before she gets education. The second Bholi is what education
makes her. Bholi is a simpleton. She has pock-marks over her face.
She stammers. She is ugly. She has some part of the brain which is
damaged. So all mimic her.
Then there comes a change in Bholi. She receives education.
Now she does not stammer also. She understands what is good
and what is bad. She had become wise and normal. Her father
marries her to an aged person. Bholi refuses to marry such a person.
She is now another Bholi.
Q. 7. Describe how and why Bholi refuses to marry
Bishamber.
Or., Describe the wedding scene of Bholi's marriage.
Ans. Bholi has received education. Her father accepts the
proposal for marriage from Bishamber, the grocer. He is rich. He
has a good shop and a big house. He is lame and aged. He has
children by his first wife. Bholi's father Ramlal thinks that no one
would marry Bholi because she has pock-marks over her face. On
the marriage day, the priest asks Bholi to garland Bishamber, the
bridegroom. But, Bishambar refuses to garland Bholi due to pock-
marks. He demands five thousand rupees as a dowry. Ramlal pays
this money. But Bholi refuses to marry Bishamber because she
finds him greedy.
Q. 8. Discuss the role of the teacher in moulding the
personality of Bholi. [JAC 2006 (S); 2009(A); 2014(A)]
Ans. A teacher is truly an artist who makes his pupils new
things. Bholi is a new piece of art of her teacher. From the very
beginning, she shows love which was never shown by Bholi's
mother. It is her teacher's firm faith, determination and devotion
which sows a new seed of a different Bholi in her. With the passage
of time, Bholi stops being a dumb cow by the love and
encouragement of her teacher. Bholi rightly refuses to marry
Bishamber. She dedicates herself to the service of her parents who
always neglected her. It is all due to her teacher's sincere love and
encouragement.
Q.9. Give a character-sketch of Bholi.
[JAC 2004 (S); 2016 (A); 2018 (A)]
Ans. Bholi was the fourth daughter of Numberdar Ramlal. She
had fallen off the cot when she was a baby. Perhaps, it had damaged
some part of her brain. Then she had smallpox. Her body was
disfigured by pock-marks. Bholi used to stammer. She was not
wise and not beautiful. but her education brought a change in her
personality. As she grew up, she stopped stammering. She now
knew what was good and what was bad. Her father Ramlal accepted
the marriage proposal of Bishamber. the grocer for Bholi. But he
demanded a dowry of five thousand rupees. On the marriage day,
Bholi refused to marry a greedy, mean and hateful person. Education
had,thus,made Bholi a wise girl.
Q.10. What kind of mother did Bholi have?
Ans. Bholi's mother was really a bad woman. She can be called
a blot on motherhood. She had more love for Bholi's sisters than for
Bholi herself. From the birth, she regarded Bholi as an ugly girl. She
had no sense and was called simpletion. Bholi had an attack of
smallpox. Her body was marked with black pock-marks. She could
not speak till she was five. Due to these, Bholi's mother had a
different attitude towards her. Bholi's father, Ramlal wanted her to
go to school. But her mother doubted if anyone would marry her.
So Bholi's mother discriminated against her in everything. Bholi
had no new clothes. She always was neglected in this way. If she
had been a good mother, things would have been different for
Bholi. Bholi would have not been what she was in the beginning.
Q. 11. Describe Bholi's experiences on her first day at school.
Ans. Ramlal, Bholi's father handed over Bholi to the school
headmistress. She was left alone. She looked about her with fear in
her eyes. The headmistress asked her to sit down in a corner in the
classroom. Bholi did not know what a school was like. But she was
glad to see many girls of her age there. She could not understand
what the teacher was saying. She was attracted towards the pictures
hanging on the wall. The teacher asked Bholi her name. She could
only say Bh-Bho-Bho'. She began to cry. She felt the girls would
laugh at her. When the school bell rang, she dared not leave her
seat. The teacher talked to her with affection. This encouraged her
to speak. Bholi's heart had a new hope and a new life.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. Why was Sulekha nicknamed Bholi? [JAC 2005 A]
Ans. Sulekha was a little slow from her very childhood. She was
a simpleton. She remained a backward child after her brain was
damaged. Therefore, she was nicknamed Bholi.
Q.2. Why did Sulekha start stammering ?
[JAC 2005 (S), 2006 (A)]
Ans. At first Sulekha was very fare and pretty. But Sulekha had
an attack of small-pox at the age of two. She could not speak till she
was five. She stammered while she learnt to speak. As such she
talked very little.
Q.3. Why did the Tehsildar come to their village? What did
he ask Ramlal to do?
Ans. A primary school was opened in Ramlal's village. The
Tehsildar had come to their village to perform the opening ceremony.
Being the Numberdar of the village, Ramlal was the revenue
official. He was the representative of the government in the village.
The Tehsildar asked Ramlal to set an example to the villagers by
sending his daughters to school.
Q. 4. What was reaction of Ramlal's wife ?
Ans.(i) Ramlal consulted his wife about sending his daughter,
to school. She cried and called him crazy because nobody married
school going girls then.
Q. 5. Why did she agree to send Bholi to school ?
Ans. Ramlal's wife knew that Bholi had an ugly face. She had
also a lack of sense. She had little chances of getting married.
Therefore, she agreed to send Bholi to school so that teachers at
school might worry about her.
Q.6. Did she enjoy her first day in school? What made her
happy on this very day?
Ans. Initially, Bholi felt alone and looked about her in fear. She
felt glad soon after on seeing many girls of her age there. She hoped
to be of friend some girl. The coloured pictures made her happy on
this very day.
Q. 7. What incident touched her heart?
Ans. Bholi kept sitting in the corner when the school closed.
Older girls had rushed out of the classroom. The soft and soothing
voice of the teacher calling her 'Bholi' touched her heart. She had
not been called like that before.
Q. 8. Why did the marriage of Bholi not take place?
[JAC 2006(A)]
Ans. Ramlal had placed five thousand rupees at Bishamber's
feet. It made Bholi furious with cold contempt. She considered
Bishamber, the lame old man as mean, greedy, contemptible, coward
and a heartless creature. She refused to get married with him.
Therefore, the marriage did not take place.
Q.9. What misfortunes did Bholi face since her childhood ?
Ans. Bholi could be called unfortunate. She fell off the cot
headlog. Some part of her brain got damaged. Then she had small-
pox when she was two years old. It left her body disfigured with
permanent black spots. She stammered and could not speak properly.
Q. 10. How fervently did Bholi's parents bring up Bholi and
other sisters ?
Ans. Bholi's parents neglected Bholi. Her sisters were healthy
and strong. They were good-looking. It was not difficult to find
husbands for them. Bholi's parents cared for them at the cost of Bholi.
Q. 11. Why did Bholi feel frightened to go to school?
[JAC 2007(A)]
Ans. Bholi had never heard anything about a thing called
school. She didn't know what it was all about. She remembered only
how a few days ago their old cow Lakshmi had been turned out and
sold. So she was naturally frightened to go to school.
Q. 12. What preparations were made to send Bholi to school?
Ans. Bholi had never been given a new dress to wear. So a clean
dress was given to her to wear. She was bathed. Oil was rubbed into
her dry and matted hair before she was sent to school.
Q.13. Why did Bholi look about her in school with 'fear-laden
eyes'?
Ans. Bholi reached school. She was amazed to see so many
rooms having so many girls in them. The girls sat on the mats and
read books or wrote on slates. So she had fear in her eyes. She had
come to school for the first time.
Q. 14. In what way did Bholi find her teacher different from the
people at home?
Ans. Bholi found her teacher different because she did not
rebuke her. She did not look harsh. On the other hand, she spoke softly.
She had soothing effect in her voice. Bholi was touched by that.
Q. 15. How did the teacher persuade Bholi to come to school
daily?
Ans. The teacher told Bholi that she would soon know reading
and writing. She would soon be more learned than anybody in the
Village. People would listen to her and she would speak fully well
this made her go to school daily.
Q.16. How was marriage a grand show in the village?
Ans. Bishamber came with a large number of friends and
relatives. There was a brass band playing a popular tune from an
Indian film. The bridegroom sat on a decorated mare. This all was
a funfare for the villagers.
Q. 17. Why were all the relatives amazed to hear Bholi
Speak?
Ans. Bholi always stammered. The people had never seen her
speaking. But now she spoke perfectly well in a loud and clear voice.
She said she was not going to marry an old man. Her saying so
shocked all because they had thought she was like a dumb-driven
Cow.
Q. 18. How did Bholi say she would live when she refused to
marry Bishamber?
Ans. Bholi said to her father not to worry about her. She told
him that she would serve them in their old age. She would teach in
the same school and live with them. Above all she would not marry
a greedy, mean and hateful person who demanded dowry.
Q.19. Why was Ramlal's head bowed low with the weight of
grief and shame?
Ans. Ramlal's head was bowed low with the weight of grief and
shame. He knew that he had wronged Bholi in marrying her to an old
man Bishamber. He was fifty years old and had grown up children.
Q.20. Why is Bholi's father worried about her?
[JAC 2010(A), 2013(A); 2017 (A); 2018 (A)]
Ans. Bholi's father is worried about Bholi because she has
neither good looks nor intelligence like his other children.
Q. 21. For what unusual reasons is Bholi sent to school?
Ans. Bholi is sent to school not for education but to worry her
teachers about her. This is the unusual reason.
Q. 22. Does Bholi enjoy her first day at school?
Ans. Bholi does not enjoy her first day at school because she
is fearful of everything therein.
Q.23. Does she find her teacher different from the people at
home?
Ans. She finds her teacher different from the people at home.
She finds the teacher's voice soft and soothing. In all her life she had
never been called like that as the teacher called her by her name.
Q. 24. Why do Bholi's parents accept Bishamber's marriage
proposal ? [JAC 2017 (A)]
Ans. Bholi's parents accept Bishamber's marriage proposal
because Bishamber has a big shop and his own house. He also
doesn't ask for dowry.
Q.25. Bholi had many apprehensions about going to school.
What made her feel that she was going to a better place than her
home?
Ans. Bholi was afraid of school because she did not know what
a school was like and what happened there. The teacher told her that
if she came to school, no one would laugh at her. People would
respect her. She would also speak without a stammer. This made her
feel that she was going to a better place than her home.
Q.26. How did Bholi's teacher play an important role in
changing the course of her life? [JAC 2012(A)]
Ans. Bholi's teacher acted more than Bholi's parents. She
showed her great love and affection. She told her that if she came to
school no one would laugh at her. People would listen to her with
respect. And her schooling made her a complete woman. Bholi stood
on her own legs She faced the problems of life with confidence.
Q. 27. Who was Bholi ?
Ans. Bholi was the fourth daughter of Ramlal. She was actually
Sulekha. She was very simple and not a good looking girl. She had
deep pock marks over her body.
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