Here are some nouns from the text.

culture  monks  surprise  experience  weather  tradition

Work with a partner and discuss which of the nouns can collocate with which of the adjectives given below. The first one has been done for you.

unique  terrible  unforgettable  serious  ancient  wide  sudden


(i) culture: unique culture, ancient culture
(ii) monks:
(iii) surprise:
(iv) experience:
(v) weather:
(vi) tradition

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
During our childhood in Goa, the baker used to be our friend, companion and guide. He used to come at least twice a day.

1. How do the children look upon the baker?
2. Who enjoys an important place in the lives of Goan people?
3. Find out the word in the passage that means ‘two times’.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The jingling thud of his bamboo woke us up from sleep and we ran to meet and greet him. Why was it so? Was it for the love of the loaf? Not at all.

1. What announced the arrival of the baker?
2. What was the effect of the jingling thud of the baker’s bamboo?
3. Find the word in the passage that means ‘to welcome and wish someone’.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
But we would not give up. We would climb a bench or the parapet and peep into the basket, somehow. I can still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves. Loaves for the elders and the bangles for the children.

1. When would the children give up?
2. What does the narrator remember even after many years?
3. Find the world in the passage that means ‘to accept defeat’.

Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Then we did not even care to brush our teeth or wash our mouths properly. And why should we? Who would take the trouble of plucking the mango-leaf for the toothbrush? And why was it necessary at all? The tiger never brushed his teeth.

1. Who does ‘We’ here stand for?
2. Why didn’t they care much about brushing and cleaning teeth and mouths?
3. Find the word in the passage that means ‘to pick out or remove’.

Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread known as the bol, just as a party or a feast loses its charm without bread. Not enough can be said to show how important a baker can be for a village.

1. What was the role of bread in the life of the Goans?
2. Why is a baker important to the people of the village?
3. Find the word in the passage that means opposite to ‘significant’.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open testimony to this.

1. What does the phrase: “The baker and his family never starved” mean?
2. What proves the baker’s prosperity?
3. Find out a word in the passage that is opposite to ‘thin or slender’.

How do the Goan people react to their colonial past?

Is bread-making still popular in Goa? How do you know?

Why would the baker come everyday? What announced his arrival?

What would the baker do after his musical entry?