NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English, Chapter No. 8 – Kathmandu

The author sees that while other vendors were shouting to attract the customers, the flute seller frequently selected one of his flutes and played it slowly, meditatively. He also made occasional sales. This is the difference the author notes between the flute seller and the other hawkers.

At Pashupatinath, there is a small shrine that half protrudes from the stone platform at the bank of the Bagmati river. It is believed that when it fully emerges, the goddess inside will come out and then the evil kalyug period will end.

The author thought of taking the following route:

From Kathmandu to Patna by bus or train, then Benaras followed by Allahabad and Agra and finally from there to Delhi.

Pashupatinath temple and Boudhanath stupa.

Here, ‘all this’ refers to a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob rubbed with salt, chili, and lemon roasted in a charcoal stove and reading a few love story comics and a reader’s digest.

Vikram Seth compares a flute seller to the quills of a porcupine. The flute seller was holding a long pole that had around fifty to sixty flutes at its top.

The following are the five kinds of flutes:

• The reed neh

• The Japanese Shakuhachi

• The deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music

• The clear or breathy flutes of South America

• The high pitched Chinese flutes

1. The atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion outside the temple of Pashupatinath (for example some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside…) 

Ans: The pictures of ‘febrile confusion outside the temple of Pashupatinath drawn by the author are: two monkeys fighting with each other, a royal Nepalese princess for whom everybody makes way, and a group of saffron-clad westerners struggling to enter the temple as the temple allowed only Hindus to enter.

2. The things he sees 

Ans: The author has drawn very powerful and beautiful images of what he sees. Some are as follows: the things he sees at the Pashupatinath temple and Boudhanath stupa, like, the hawkers selling flutes, fruits, postcards, and various shops selling western cosmetics, chocolate, Nepalese antiques and copper utensils, etc.

3. The sounds he hears

Ans: The sounds he hears are, the sound of various hawkers and vendors shouting out their wares, the sound of movie songs coming out of the radio, the sounds of car horns and bicycle bell rings, etc.

The main difference between the atmosphere at the Baudhnath shrine and the Pashupatinath temple is that the Pashupatinath temple was a noisy and highly chaotic place while the atmosphere at the Baudhnath shrine was quite calm.

At Pashupatinath temple, there were so many things happening simultaneously and adding to the chaos. For example, the monkeys were fighting, people were struggling to enter the temple. The people were pushing each other to get to the front and struggling to get the attention of the priest. At the bank of the river Bagmati, washerwomen were washing their clothes while a corpse was being cremated.

On the contrary, the Baudhnath shrine was very quiet. There was no crowd. The author felt that it was a heaven of quietness in the busy streets around.

The author describes the busiest streets of Kathmandu on the basis of the things he sees and the sounds he hears. The author describes that along the busiest streets of Kathmandu, there were several small shrines and flower-adorned deities. Also, there were many hawkers selling fruits, flutes, postcards, copper utensils, film rolls, chocolates, and some Nepalese antiques shouting out their wares.

He also hears some sounds on these streets, such as the sound of movie songs blaring out of a radio, sounds of the honking of the cars, and the sound of bicycle bells.

The author also draws a beautiful picture of the flute seller not shouting but producing calm music with his flutes which could be heard over the honking of the vehicles and the shouting of other vendors.

 The author believes that the music of a flute is “the most universal and most particular” of all the music. The flute is present in all cultures. There are different types of flutes used around the world, be it the reed neh, the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America, the high-pitched Chinese flutes. Even though these different flutes have different fingering and compass, but, the author believes that in spite of their differences, all the flutes produce music with the help of the human breath. Hence, for an author, “to hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind” because just like flutes, humans also have the same living breath running through all of them despite the differences in their caste, culture, religion, region, etc. The author believes that all human beings are the same.

I. invention

II. direction

III. temptation

IV. dedication

V. exhaustion

 An arrogant lion was wandering through the jungle. One day, he asked the tiger, “Who is stronger than you?” “You, O lion!” replied the tiger. “Who is more fierce than a leopard?” asked the lion. “You sir,” replied the leopard. He marched up to an elephant and asked the same question. The elephant picked him up in his trunk, swung him in the air, and threw him down. “Look,” said the lion, “there is no need to get mad just because you don’t know the answer.”

digs, encloses, dries, hardens, comes, dissolves, swims

sends, takes place, contracts, forces, expands

Does 

plays 

Does 

composes