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Kathmandu Extract Based Questions
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in one or two lines each.
(I)
There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front.
1.Which place of worship is the narrator describing here?
Ans:-The narrator is describing Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple, which is sacred to the Hindus.
2. Why are some people elbowed aside?
Ans:- This temple is visited by many worshippers, so there are often a lot of jostling and pushing while people try to get in front of the priest. As they do, some people have been elbowed aside in this attempt.
3. Why do you think some people are pushing their way to the front?
Ans:-Some people are pushing their way to the front to get a clear view of the deity and also to make their offerings through the priest.
4. What sort of atmosphere is being created by the crowd in the temple?
Ans:- An undisciplined and unorganized crowd is making chaos and causing confusion. Their unruly behaviour is robbing the temple of its sanctity.
(II)
By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter.
1. Which place is the author talking about here?
Ans:-The author is talking of the famous Hindu shrine – the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.
2. Who are the saffron-clad Westerners at the main gate?
Ans:-The saffron-clad Westerners at the main gate are a group of ti tourists.
3. Why do they struggle for permission to enter?
Ans:-They struggle for permission to enter because the temple allows entry only to Hindus.
4. What does this show about the cultural practices of this place?
Ans:- The authorities who look after this temple are very careful to maintain its sanctity. They do not want this temple to be treated like a tourist spot.
(III)
1. Which river is referred to in this extract?
Ans:-The river Bagmati that flows through Kathmandu near no Pashupatinath temple is referred to here.
2. What is the significance of this river?
Ans:-The river Bagmati is significant as it is considered sacred by the Hindus. They worship it like a pious deity.
3. What is dropped into this river and from where?
Ans:- The Pashupatinath temple sends offerings that have withered in the river, along with flowers and leaves.
4. What does dropping various things into the river reflect about the people?
Ans:- Throwing of refuse into the sacred Bagmati reflects that these people lack concern for the environment. Their faith and behaviour do not match, for they pollute the very river which they consider to be sacred.
(IV)
I find it difficult to tear myself away from the square.
- Who is ‘I’ in the above lines?
Ans:- ‘I’ stands for the narrator, Vikram Seth.
2. Which square does the speaker refer to?
Ans:-The speaker, Vikram Seth, refers to the square near his hotel in Kathmandu.
3. Why does ‘he’ find it difficult to tear himself away from the square?
Ans:-‘He’ finds it difficult to tear himself from the square because he is fascinated by the mesmerising flute-music being played there by the flute seller,
4. Why has the narrator used the expression ‘tear me away’?
Ans:- ‘Tear me away’ means to separate forcefully. The narrator of the poem is having difficulty pulling himself away from alluring music of the flute.
(V)
It weaves its own associations. Yet hear any flute is, it seems to me, to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind, to be moved by music closest in its phrases and sentences to the human voice.
1. What does ‘it’ stand for?
Ans:-‘It’ stands for a flute.
2. How does ‘it’ weave its own associations?
Ans:-The expression means that each kind of flute produces a different and unique type of music associated with some particular place.
3. Why does it draw the author in the ‘commonality of all mankind’?
Ans:- Flutes are found in all cultures, which makes them symbolic of the human race. The author of the article believes that flutes connect the whole of mankind.
4. Why is its music closest to the human voice?
Ans:- The sound of the flute distinguishes it from other instruments; the sounds created by many instruments would not be possible to produce without pauses. The flute produces notes that are very similar to breaths, phrases, and sentences in a human voice.
Read the following passages and answer the questions given at the end of each :
PASSAGE 1
At Pashupatinath (outside which a sign proclaims ‘Entrance for the Hindus only’) there is an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’. Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons and dogs roam through the grounds. We offer a few flowers. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. A princess of the Nepalese royal house appears; everyone bows and makes way. By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter. The policeman is not convinced that they are ‘the Hindus’.
Questions :
(i) Who is the writer of this passage?
(ii) What is the sign outside the Pashupatinath temple?
(iii) What do the worshippers do
(iv) Why does the policeman not allow a group of Westerners to enter the temple?
(v) Find a word from the passage which means the same as ‘feverish’.
Answers :
(i) Vikram Seth is the writer of this passage.
(ii) The sign outside the temple declares that only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple.
(iii) The worshippers push one another to reach near the Lord.
(iv) He does not allow them to enter because they are not Hindus.
(v) Febrile.
PASSAGE 2
A fight breaks out between two monkeys. One chases the other, who jumps onto a shivalinga, then runs screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati, that flows below. A corpse is being cremated on its banks; washerwomen are at their work and children bathe. From a balcony a basket of flowers and leaves, old offerings now wilted, is dropped into the river. A small shrine half protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank. When it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape and the evil period of the Kaliyug will end on earth.
Questions :
(i) What do the two monkeys do?
(ii) Which river flows by the Pashupatinath temple?
(iii) What activities are going on the banks of the river?
(iv) What is the people’s belief about the half-submerged temple?
(v) Find a word from the passage which means the same as ‘burning of a dead body’.
Answers :
(i) The two monkeys fight each other and one monkey chases the other.
(ii) Bagmati flows by the temple.
(iii) A dead body is being cremated; washerwomen are washing clothes, children are taking bath.
(iv) People believe that when the whole temple comes, the period of Kaliyug on earth will come to an end.
(v) Cremated.
PASSAGE 3
From time to time he stands the pole on the ground, selects a flute and plays for a few minutes. The sound rises clearly above the noise of the traffic and the hawkers’ cries. He plays slowly, meditatively, without excessive display. He does not shout out his wares. Occasionally he makes a sate, but in a curiously offhanded way as if this were incidental to his enterprise. Sometimes he breaks off playing to talk to the fruit seller. I imagine that this has been the pattern of his life for years.
Questions :
(i) Who is the writer of this passage?
(ii) Who is being referred to in this passage?
(iii) How does he play on the flutes?
(iv) What does the writer say about his attitude?
(v) Find a word from the passage which means ‘too much’.
Answers :
(i) Vikram Seth is the writer of this passage.
(ii) A flute seller is being referred to in this passage.
(iii) He plays slowly and meditatively.
(iv) The writer says that his behaviour is casual and careless.
(v) Excessive.
PASSAGES FOR PRACTICE
PASSAGE 4
At the Baudhnath stupa, the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu, there is, in contrast, a sense of stillness. Its immense white dome is ringed by a road. Small shops stand on its outer edge: many of these are owned by Tibetan immigrants; felt bags, Tibetan prints and silver jewellery can be bought here. There are no crowds: this is a haven of quietness in the busy streets around.
Questions :
(i) Who is the writer of this passage?
(ii) What contrasts with Pashupatinath temple do you find here?
(iii) How does the writer describe the dome of the Baudhnath stupa?
(iv) By whom are many of the shops owned?
(v) Find a word from the passage which means ‘big’.
PASSAGE 5
Kathmandu is vivid, mercenary, religious, with small shrines to flower-adorned deities along the narrowest and busiest streets; with fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards; shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls and chocolate; or copper utensils and Nepalese antiques. Film songs blare out from the radios, car horns sound, bicycle bells ring, stray cows low questioningly at motorcycles, vendors shout out their wares. I indulge myself mindlessly: buy a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob roasted in a charcoal brazier on the pavement (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon); a couple of love story comics, and even a Reader’s Digest.
Questions :
(i) How does the writer describe Kathmandu in the first line of this passage?
(ii) From where does the writer hear film songs?
(iii) What does the writer do in the market?
(iv) Who is the writer of this passage?
(v) Find a word from the passage which means ‘old, precious things’.
Want to Read More Check Below:-
Kathmandu- Passages for Comprehension
Kathmandu- Important Extra Questions- Short Answer Type
Kathmandu- Important Extra Questions- Long Answer Type
Kathmandu- Quick Review of the Chapter
