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Madam Rides the Bus
The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?
The author has described the things that Valli saw from an eight-year-old’s point of view. She was fascinated by a bus. Watching the bus filled with a new set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her. Her strongest desire was to ride the bus. She saved money by cutting on peppermints, toys, and balloons, and even resisting the temptation to ride the merry-go-round at the fair. When the author describes the bus, the points he stresses on are the colour and look of the bus. It was a ‘new bus’, painted a ‘gleaming white’. The overhead bars ‘shone like silver’. The seats were ‘soft and luxurious’. The descriptions that the author gives when Valli looked outside are also typical for an eight-year-old. The ‘blue, blue sky’ and the ‘acres and acres of green fields − green, green, green’ show the enthusiasm of a kid on looking at different colours. Valli clapped her hands in glee on watching a cow run right in front of the bus. She found it so funny that tears came into her eyes. On the other hand, she was overcome with sadness on her way back when she saw the same cow lying dead. It had been a ‘lovable, beautiful creature’ and later it ‘looked so horrible’. The memory of the dead cow haunted her so much that she refused to look outside the window. These are the typical reactions of a young child.
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Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow:
She no longer wanted to look out the window.
She sat thus, glued to her seat, until the bus reached her village at three forty.
1. Who does ‘she’ here refer to?
2. Why did she not want to look out of the window?
3. What does the statement ‘She sat thus’ mean?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
“Just a chit of a girl, she is,” said her aunt, “and yet look how she pokes her nose into our conversation, just as though she were a grown lady.”
Valli smiled to herself. She didn’t want them to understand her smile.
1. How did Valli’s aunt find her manner of talking?
2. Why did Valli smile?
3. What does ‘poking her nose’ mean?
What kind of a person was Valli?
What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
When would Valli get on with her excursion? Why?
Why did Valli want to ride on the bus?
What did Valli require for her first bus journey? How did she arrange that?
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How did Valli arrange for her bus fare?
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Why did Valli need sixty paise? How did she collect them?
What information did Valli require to plan for her first journey? How did she get it?
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Why did Valli take so much interest in the conversations of the passengers?
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Why did Valli ask the passengers and neighbours about the bus journey?
What plans did Valli make and why?
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How did Valli plan for her first journey?
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What proves that Valli was a meticulous planner?
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