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Kathmandu
What attracts Vikram Seth’s attention in the square? Why?
Vikram Seth sees a flute-seller standing in a corner of the square. He has a pole with fifty or sixty flutes displayed on it. He plays on flute every now and then. He plays quite slowly, meditatively, without excessive display. He doesn’t shout. He sells in a disinterested manner. His flute music and his manner attract Vikram Seth’s attention.
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(a) What is the atmosphere inside the Buddhist shrine?
(b) Where do the small shops stand?
(c) What do you understand by ‘a haven of quietness’?
(a) What type of place is Kathmandu, according to the writer?
(b) Mention some of the things that one can buy in Kathmandu bazar.
(c) Find a word from the passage which means ‘clear’.
(i) Which route would the writer take back home if he were propelled by enthusiasm for travel per se?
(ii) Which route does he decide to take up?
(iii) Find the words/expressions from the passage which indicate the same meaning as in –
(a) by itself, (b) thrill.
(a) Why is the writer unable to tear himself away from the square?
(b) Why does the writer consider flute music ‘the most universal’?
(c) Find a word from the passage which means ‘harmony’.
How does the narrator describe Kathmandu?
How does Vikram Seth describe the Hindu temple?
How does Vikram Seth describe the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu?
What is the belief associated with the half-immersed shrine in the river Bagmati ? What does it tell us?
What attracts Vikram Seth’s attention in the square? Why?
What differentiates the flute-seller from other hawkers and vendors?
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