An Alien Hand
Jayant Narlikar
Comprehension Check (Page No: 69)
1. How does Tilloo manage to find his way to the ‘forbidden passage’?
Answer- When Tilloo’s father was enjoying a siesta at home, he managed to get hold of his security card and by evading his watchful mother’s eye, Tilloo made his way to the forbidden passage.
2. What did Tilloo hope to see once he emerged from his underground home?
Answer- Tilloo hoped to see the sun or the stars once he emerged from his underground home.
3. Why did Tilloo’s father advise him not to try to reach the surface of the planet?
Answer- Tilloo’s father advised him not to try to reach the surface of the planet because an ordinary person cannot survive there. The air is too thin to breathe and the temperature is so low that one can freeze to death.
4. What changes had occurred, which forced people to live in underground homes?
Answer- The sun which had provided the sustenance turned hostile. It changed only slightly but the change was sufficient to upset the balance of nature which forced people to live in underground homes. Fish, birds and animals couldn’t bear it and became extinct.
Comprehension Check (Page No: 71)1
1. Why was everyone in the Control Room greatly excited?
Answer- Everyone in the Control Room was greatly excited because the big TV Screen showed a dot in the clear background which was heading towards the planet.
2. Was the spacecraft manned or unmanned? How do you know it?
Answer- The spacecraft was unmanned because number one reported to the president that they do not contain living beings, they only have instruments.
3. What did Number One and Number Two suggest should be done about the alien spacecraft?
Answer- Number One suggested that they should wait for the spacecraft to land and then render it ineffective anytime it is required. But Number Two suggested that we should not interfere and observe passively and not to reveal their existence by rendering the spacecraft ineffective.
Comprehension Check(Page No: 73)
1. What do you think the mechanical hand was trying to do?
Answer- The mechanical hand was trying to collect the sample of the soil from the planet for the examination.
2. Tilloo pressed the red button and “the damage was done”. What was the damage?
Answer- The damage was that the mechanical hand from the spacecraft ceased to work.
3. Where had the spacecraft come from?
Answer- The spacecraft had come from the Earth.
4. On which planet do Tilloo and his parents live?
Answer – Tilloo and his parents live on Mars.
Exercises
Discuss the following topics in groups.
1. If you had to live in a home like Tilloo’s, what parts of life would you find most difficult? What compensations might there be?
Answer- The part of life I found most difficult is the freedom and open space. It will be like living in a cell far away from open space. There were no sightseeing, social life and interactions with nature. The compensation can be peace, harmony, safety and security. As all of us were living in the same undergrounded buildings, the people must collaborate with each other nicely.
2. What, if anything, might drive mankind to make their homes underground?
Answer- Global warming may cause the depletion of the atmosphere and changes in the behaviour of the climate which will destroy the life on the surface of the Earth and drive mankind to make their homes underground.
3. Do you think there is life on other planets? Can you guess what kind of people there may be on them? In what ways are they likely to be different from us?
Answer- This question should be done by the students themselves. This question is based on using their own ideas, skills and imagination.
