Gujarat Board GSEB Class 12 English Textbook Solutions Flamingo Chapter 5 Indigo Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 5 Indigo
GSEB Class 12 English Indigo Text Book Questions and Answers
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 47)
Question 1.
Strikeout what is not true in the following:
(a) Rajkumar Shukla was ……………..
(i) a sharecropper.
(ii) a politician.
(iii) delegate.
(iv) a landlord.
Answer:
(a) (ii) a politician.
(b ) Rajkumar Shukla was ……………………..
(i) poor.
(ii) physically strong.
(iii) illiterate.
Answer:
(b) (ii) physically strong.
Question 2.
Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
Answer:
He had come all the way from Champaran district in the foothills of Himalayas to Lucknow to speak to Gandhi. Shukla accompanied Gandhi everywhere. Shukla followed him to the ashram near Ahmedabad. For weeks he never left Gandhi’s side till Gandhi asked him to meet at Kolkata.
Question 3.
Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
Answer:
Shukla led Gandhi to Rajendra Prasad’s house. The servants knew Shukla as a poor yeoman. Gandhi was also clad in a simple dhoti. He was the companion of a peasant. Hence, the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant.
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 49)
Question 1.
List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.
Answer:
Gandhi’s first meeting with Shukla was at Lucknow. Then he went to Cawnpore and other parts of India. He returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Later he went to Kolkata, Patna and Muzaffarpur before arriving at Champaran.
Question 2.
What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?
Answer:
The peasants paid the British landlords indigo as rent. Now Germany had developed synthetic indigo. So, the British landlords wanted money as compensation for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement. The prices of natural indigo would go down due to the synthetic indigo.
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 51)
Question 1.
The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence?
Answer:
Gandhi’s politics was intermingled with the day-to-day problems of the millions of Indians. He opposed unjust laws. He was ready to court arrest for breaking such laws and going to jail. The famous Dandi March to break the ‘salt law’ is another instance. The resistance and disobedience was peaceful and a fight for truth and justice. This was linked directly to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence.
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 53)
Question 1.
Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Answer:
For Gandhi, the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been forced to return part of the money, and with, it, part of their prestige too. So, he agreed to settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers.
Question 2.
How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Answer:
The peasants were saved from spending time and money on court cases. After some years the British planters gave up control of their estates. These now reverted to the peasants. Indigo sharecropping disappeared.
Understanding the Text
Question 1.
Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?
Answer:
The Champaran episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of large number of poor peasants. He got spontaneous support of thousands of people. Gandhi admits that what he had done was a very ordinary thing. He declared that the British could not order him about in his own country. Hence, he considered the Champaran episode as a turning point in his life.
Question 2.
How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.
Answer:
Gandhi asked the lawyers what they would do if he was sentenced to prison. They said that they had come to advise him. If he went to jail, they would go home. Then Gandhi asked them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers held consultations. They came to the conclusion that it would be shameful desertion if they went home. So, they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail.
Question 3.
What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home rule’?
Answer:
The average Indians in smaller localities were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home rule. Gandhi stayed at Muzaffarpur for two days at the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. It was an extraordinary thing in those days for a government professor to give shelter to one who opposed the government.
Question 4.
How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Answer:
Professor J. B. Kripalani received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur railway station at midnight. He had a large body of students with him. Sharecroppers from Champaran came on foot and by conveyance to see Gandhi. Muzaffarpur lawyers too called on him. A vast multitude greeted Gandhi when he reached Motihari railway station. Thousands of people demonstrated around the courtroom. This shows that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement in India.
Talking about the Text
Discuss the following:
Question 1.
“Freedom from fear is more important than Legal justice for the poor.” Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Answer:
For the poor of India means of survival are far more important than freedom or legal justice. I don’t think the poor of India are free from fear after Independence. The foreign rulers have been replaced by corrupt politicians and a self-serving bureaucracy. Power-brokers and moneylenders have a field day. The situation has improved in cities and towns for the poor but the poor in the remote villages still fear the big farmers and moneylenders. The police and revenue officials are still objects of terror for them.
The poor, landless workers have to still work hard to make both ends meet. Peasants and tenant farmers have to borrow money from rich moneylenders on exorbitant rates of interest, which usually they fail to repay due to failure of monsoon or bad crops. Cases of small farmers committing suicide are quite common. If this is not due to fear, what is the reason behind it?
Question 2.
The qualities of a good leader.
Answer:
A good leader has a mass appeal. He rises from the masses, thinks for them and works for them. He is sincere in his approach. He is a man of principles. Truth, honesty, patriotism, morality, spirit of service and sacrifice are the hallmarks of a good leader. He never mixes politics with religion or sect. He believes in working for the
Working with Words
Question 1.
List the words used in the text that are related to legal procedures.
For example deposition
Answer:
The words related to legal procedures are Notice, summons, prosecutor, trial, plead, guilty, order, penalty, sentence, bail, judgement, prison, case, inquiry, evidence, commission.
Question 2.
List other words that you know that fall into this category.
Answer:
Complaint, complainant, decree, defendant, witness, prosecution, defence, sessions, jury, verdict, decision.
Thinking about Language
Question 1.
Notice the sentences in the text which are in ‘direct speech’. Why does the author use quotations in his narration?
Answer:
The following sentences in the text are in ‘direct speech’:
1. He said, “I will tell you how it happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British. It was in 1917.”
2. Gandhi recounted. “A peasant came up to me looking like any other peasant in India, poor and emaciated, and said, ‘I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran, and I want you to come to my district!”
3. Gandhi said, “I have to be in Calcutta on such-and-such a date. Come and meet me and take me from there.”
4. “It was an extraordinary thing ‘in those days,” Gandhi commented, for a government professor to harbour a man like me.’
5. He said, “I have come to the conclusion that we should stop going to law courts. Taking such cases to the courts does little good. Where the peasants are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts are useless. The real relief for them is to be free from fear.”
6. “The commissioner,” Gandhi reports, “proceeded to bully me and advised me forthwith to leave Tirhut.”
7. ‘But how much must we pay ?’ they asked Gandhi.
8. One woman took Kasturbai into her hut and said, “Look, there is no box or cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have.”
9. “What I did”, he explained, “was a very ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order me about in my own country.”
10. He said, “You think that in this unequal fight it would be helpful if we have an Englishman on our side. This shows the weakness of your heart. The cause is just and you must rely upon yourselves to win the battle. You should not seek a prop in Mr Andrews because he happens to be an Englishman.”
11. “He had read our minds correctly,” Rajendra Prasad comments, “and we had no reply… Gandhi in this way taught us a lesson in self-reliance.” The choice of the direct form strengthens the effectiveness of narration. The author uses quotations to highlight certain points which may not appear so effective in reporting indirectly.
Question 2.
Notice the use or non-use of the comma in the following sentences:
(a) When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, he told me what happened in Champaran.
(b) He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook him.
(c) When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgement for several days.
Answer:
(a) When the subordinate clause comes before the main clause, a comma is used to separate it from the main clause.
(b) No comma is used when the main clause comes before the subordinate clause.
GSEB Class 12 English Indigo Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
Question 1.
How did the development of synthetic indigo affect the English estate owners and the Indian tenants?
Answer:
The English clstatc owners saw that indigo cultivation was no longer profitable. They wanted money from the sharecroppers as compensation for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement. They obtained agreements from their tenants to this effect and extorted money Illegally and deceitfully.
Question 2.
Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers? What according to him was the real relief for the sharecroppers?
Answer:
Gandhi chided the lawyers for collecting big fee from the poor sharecroppers. He thought that taking such cases Lo the court did little good to the crushed and fear-stricken peasants. The relief for them, according to Gandhi. was to be free from fear.
Questions 3.
How did Gandhi begin his mission In Champaran? How far did his efforts prove successful?
Answer:
He began by trying to get the facts. First, he visited the secretary of the British landlord’s association. lie told Gandhi that they could give no information to an outsider. Then Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the Tirhut Division, The commissioner tried to bully Gandhi and advised him Immediately to leave Tirhut.
Question 4.
What according to Gandhi was the beginning of the poor peasants’ Liberation from fear of the British’?
Answer:
The next morning the town of Motiharl was black with peasants. They had heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them was In trouble with the authorities. They spontaneously demonstrated. In thousands, around the courthouse. Gandhiji called their action of protest as their liberation from fear of the British.
Question 5.
Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless?
Answer:
Gandhiji felt that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless because the real relief for the peasants would come only when they become fearless. The peasants were in acute panic.
Question 6.
What according to Rajendra Prasad, was the upshot of the consultations of the lawyers regarding the injustice to sharecroppers?
Answer:
They thought that Gandhi was a total stranger. Yet he was ready to go to prison for the sake of the peasants. On the other hand, the lawyers were the residents of nearby districts. They also claimed to have served these peasants. It \yould be shameful desertion if they should go home then.
Question 7.
“Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modem India.” How?
Answer:
A case against Gandhi was initiated for disregarding government orders. The spontaneous demonstration of thousands of peasants baffled the officials. The judge was requested to postpone the trial. Gandhi refused to furnish bail. The judge released him without bail. Several days later Gandhi received an official letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil disobedience had triumphed.
Question 8.
What do you think, led Gandhi to exclaim “The battle of Champaran is won”?
Answer:
Gandhi was ready to go to jail fighting against the injustice to the sharecroppers. Many prominent lawyers had come from all over Bihar to advise and help him. At first, they said they would go back if Gandhi went to prison. Later, they had consultations. They told Gandhi they were ready to follow him into jail. This support made Gandhi extremely happy and confident. This confidence led him to exclaim that the battle of ‘ Champaran was won.
Question 9.
How did Gandhi and the lawyers try to secure justice for the Sharecroppers?
Answer:
They started conducting a detailed enquiry; into the grievances of the peasants. Depositions by ! about ten thousand peasants were written down. ; Notes were made on other evidence. Documents ! were collected. The whole area came alive with; the activities of the investigators. The landlords ! raised loud protests.
Question 10.
What amount of repayment did the big; planters think Gandhi would demand? What did! Gandhi ask? What amount was finally settled?
Answer:
They thought Gandhi would demand! repayment in full of the money they had extorted; from the sharecroppers. Gandhi asked only 50 1 per cent. The planters offered to refund up to 25 per cent. Gandhi was adamant on 50 per cent. ! The deadlock was broken when Gandhi agreed to 1 a settlement of 25 per cent refund to peasants-!
Question 11.
Which other spheres besides political “I or economic fields received Gandhi’s attention; during his long stay in Champaran?
Answer:
The cultural and social backwardness of the Champaran areas pained Gandhi. He appealed for teachers. Several persons responded to his call. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation. With the! help of a doctor and three available medicines, they tried to fight the miserable health conditions.
Question 12.
“This was typical Gandhi pattern” observes Louis Fischer. What do you learn about | Gandhian politics from the extract ‘Indigo’?
Answer:
Gandhi’s politics was intermixed with the practical, everyday life of the millions of Indians. This was not a loyalty to abstractions. It was a loyalty to living human beings. In everything! Gandhi did, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make 5 India free.
Question 13.
How did Gandhi teach his followers a lesson of self-reliance?
Answer:
During the Champaran action, Gandhi’s lawyer friends thought it would be good if C.F. 5 Andrews stayed on in Champaran and helped them. Gandhi opposed this idea as it showed the weakness of their heart. Their cause was just and they must rely upon themselves to win this unequal fight. They should not seek the support of Mr Andrews because he happened to be an Englishman.
Answer the following questions in six to seven sentences each:
Question 1.
What solution to the problems of the poor did Gandhi suggest? How far did the Champaran movement help in this direction?
OR
“The real relief for them is to be free from fear,” remarked Gandhi. What do you think, was “the beginning of their liberation from the fear of the British”?
Answer:
The sharecropper peasants had to grow indigo on 15 per cent of their holdings and surrender the indigo harvest as rent to the landlord. When Germany developed synthetic indigo, the British planters started extracting money illegally and deceitfully as compensation from the peasants for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement. The peasants were made to sign new agreements and pay money.
The planters behaved as lords above the law. Many peasants engaged lawyers at hefty fees and went to courts. The Muzaffarpur lawyers briefed Gandhi about the peasants for whom they frequently represented in courts. Gandhi realised that these peasants were badly crushed and fear-stricken. freedom from fear was more important than legal justice for them. Gandhiji was ready to court arrest for them.
Thousands of peasants demonstrated spontaneously around the court. The government had to release Gandhi without bail. This voluntary uprising of the peasants marked the beginning of their liberation from the fear of the British.
Question 2.
Why was Gandhi summoned to appear in the court? How did he gain his liberty?
OR
“Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modem India.” Relate the events during Gandhi’s stay in Champaran that led to the triumph.
Answer:
Gandhi had reached Motihari, the Capital of Champaran, to study the problems of the sharecropper peasants. He was on his way to a neighbouring village, where a peasant was ill-treated. On the way, he was stopped by the police superintendent’s messenger and ordered to return to town. When he reached home, he was served with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi wrote on the receipt that he would disobey the order. So Gandhi received a summons to appear in the court the next day.
Next morning the town of Motihari was black with peasants. Thousands of peasants demonstrated voluntarily outside the court. The prosecutor requested the judge to postpone the trial. Gandhi protested against the delay. He read out a statement pleading guilty. He asked the penalty. The judge announced that he would pronounce the sentence after a two-hour recess.
He asked Gandhi to furnish bail for that period. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail. After the recess, the judge said that he would not deliver the judgement for several days. Meanwhile, he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty. Several days later Gandhi received a letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil disobedience had triumphed, for the first time in India.
Question 3.
Give an account of Gandhi’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran.
OR
“Indigo sharecropping disappeared.” Which factors do you think, helped to achieve freedom for the fear-stricken peasants of Champaran?
Answer:
Gandhi went to Champaran on receiving reports of exploitation of the poor sharecropper peasants at the hands of British planters. He began by trying to get the facts. The British landlords as well as the Commissioner of Tirhut were noncooperative. Lawyers from Muzaffarpur briefed him about the court cases of these peasants.
Gandhi and the lawyers collected depositions by about ten thousand peasants. Notes were made on other evidence. Documents were collected. The whole area throbbed with the activities of the investigators and forceful protests of landlords.
The lieutenant governor summoned Gandhi. After four protracted interviews, an official commission of inquiry was appointed to look into the indigo sharecroppers’ condition. Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants. The official inquiry assembled huge quantity of evidence against the big planters. They agreed, in principle, to make refunds to the peasants.
After consultation, a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers was agreed on. This was a moral victory of the peasants. They recognised their rights and learned courage. Within a few years, the British planters gave up their estates. These now went back to the peasants. They became the masters of land. Thus, indigo sharecropping disappeared.
Question 4.
How did Gandhi work for rural uplift during his stay in Champaran?
Answer:
Gandhi wanted to do something to remove the cultural and social backwardness in Champaran villages. He appealed for teachers. TWo young disciples of Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh and their wives volunteered themselves for work. Several others responded from distant parts of the country. Mrs Kasturba Gandhi and Devdas, Gandhi’s youngest son, arrived from the ashram. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturba ‘taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community cleanliness. She also talked to women about their filthy clothes.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months. Only three medicines were available: Castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment. Anyone who showed a coated tongue was given a dose of castor oil; anybody with malaria fever received quinine plus castor oil; anybody with skin eruptions received ointment plus caster oil. Thus, Gandhi never contented himself with large political or economic solutions. He worked for total uplift of villages and the poor sections of the society.
Question 5.
“Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.” Elucidate on the basis of reading ‘Indigo’ by Louis Fischer.
OR
The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s life. Explain with examples from ‘Indigo’ by Louis Fischer.
Answer:
Gandhi stayed in Champaran for a long time. The Champaran episode was a turning point in his life. It was during this struggle in 1917 that he decided to urge the departure of the British. Champaran episode did not begin as an act of defiance. It grew out of an attempt to make the sufferings of large numbers of poor peasants less severe.
Gandhi concentrated on their practical day to day problems. He analysed the root cause of the problem – fear and tried to eradicate it. The voluntary demonstration of the poor peasants against the government for putting Gandhi in trouble was the beginning of the end of their fear of the British.
In everything Gandhi did, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India’ free. He taught his lawyer friends a lesson in self-reliance by opposing the involvement of C.F. Andrews, an Englishman in their unequal fight.
His help would be a prop. This would reflect their weakness. Their cause was just and they must rely on themselves to win the battle. Thus self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.
Question 6.
Justify the appropriateness of the title ‘Indigo’ to this extract.
Answer:
The title ‘Indigo’ is quite appropriate, to the point and suggestive. It at once focuses our attention on the central issue-the exploitation of the indigo sharecropper peasants at the hands of cruel British planters. They compelled them through a long term agreement to raise indigo on 15 per cent of their landholding and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.
After the development of synthetic indigo by Germany, the British planters extracted money from the peasants as compensation for being released from the 15 per cent agreement. The peasants who wanted their money back had filed civil suits. The planters who behaved as lords above the law and were dreaded by the poor were obliged to surrender part of money and with it part of their prestige.
The extract also points out the work done by Gandhi and his associates to improve the economic, political, cultural and social life of the indigo sharecroppers. Their education, health and hygiene also received due attention. The plight of indigo sharecroppers, their struggle under Gandhi’s leadership and ultimate victory when Indigo sharecropping disappeared from important landmarks. Thus, the title ‘Indigo’ is highly suggestive and apt.
Question 7.
What impression do you form about Gandhi on reading the chapter ‘Indigo’?
Answer:
The chapter ‘Indigo’ pays a tribute to the leadership shown by Mahatma Gandhi to secure justice for oppressed people through convincing argumentation and negotiation. Gandhi had a magnetic attraction and great persuasive power. He could draw people of all classes to himself and make them partners in the freedom movement. Even ordinary people were inspired to make contributions to the freedom movement.
Gandhi emerges as a champion of the downtrodden and the oppressed. Rural uplift was his favourite programme. His knowledge of legal procedure and respect for law is also highlighted. He does not want to be a lawbreaker. At the same time he wants to render the humanitarian and national service in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience. He also appears as a polite and friendly person. Gandhi’s ability to read the minds of others made them speechless. He believed in self-reliance, just cause and purity of means to achieve India’s Independence.
Question 8.
Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for Independence?
Answer:
The Champaran episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of a large number of peasants. He got spontaneous support of thousands of people. Gandhi declared that the British could not order him about in his own country. Under his leadership, the peasants became aware of their rights.
Rajkumar Shukla, a farmer of Champaran helped him a lot in bringing about the change. Other peasants too fought courageously and contributed in their own way to the movement. It resulted in their winning the battle of Champaran.
The effects of Gandhi’s method of non-violence and non-cooperation proved very fruitful in this movement. Hence, it can be said that the Champaran episode is considered as the beginning of the Indian struggle for independence.
Reading Comprehension (Textual)
Read the following passages and select the most appropriate options as answers to the questions given below them:
Question 1.
Gandhi protested against the delay. He read a statement pleading guilty. He was involved, he told the court, in a “conflict of duties” – on the one hand, not to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, to render the “humanitarian and national service” for which he had come.
He disregarded the order to leave, “not for want of respect for lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience”. He asked the penalty due. The magistrate announced that he would pronounce sentence after a two-hour recess and asked Gandhi to furnish bail for those 120 minutes. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail. When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days. Meanwhile, he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Questions :
1. What was Gandhiji involved in?
A. Lawbreaking with the indigo farmers.
B. Rendering humanitarian and national service.
C. Ignoring his duties.
D. Not setting a bad example as a lawbreaker.
Answer:
A. Lawbreaking with the indigo farmers.
2. One of these sentences is false :
A. Gandhiji protested against the delay.
B. He set a bad example as a lawbreaker.
C. He did not want to follow the voice of conscience.
D. He did not obey the order to leave.
Answer:
C. He did not want to follow the voice of conscience.
3. What do the words ‘the higher law of our being’ mean?
A. Law of his superior.
B. What his conscience dictates.
C. Law of court.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
B. What his conscience dictates.
4. Gandhiji was free from the sentence ………………. .
A. for those 120 minutes.
B. till the judgment comes for several days.
C. till he gets bail.
D. till the court reconvened.
Answer:
B. till the judgment comes for several days.
Question 2.
Health conditions were miserable. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months. Three medicines were available – castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment. Anybody who showed a coated tongue was given a dose of castor oil; anybody with malaria fever received quinine plus castor oil; anybody with skin eruptions received ointment plus castor oil.
Gandhi noticed the filthy state of women’s clothes. He asked Kasturbai to talk to them about it. One woman took Kasturbai into her hut and said, “Look, there is no box or cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have.” During his long stay in Champaran, Gandhi kept a long-distance watch on the ashram. He sent regular instructions by mail and asked for financial accounts. Once he wrote to the residents that it was time to fill in the old latrine trenches and dig new ones otherwise the old ones would begin to smell bad.
Questions :
1. Castor oil was given to the patient who …
A. was suffering from Malaria.
B. had some gastric problem.
C. had some skin problem.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
2. The clothes of the women in Champaran kept filthy because ……………………. .
A. they were illiterate.
B. they did not have the sense of cleanliness.
C. they had only one sari to wear.
D. they had no time to wash the clothes.
Answer:
C. they had only one sari to wear.
3. One of the following sentences is not true: During his long stay in Champaran, Gandhiji ………………….. .
A. lived in the Ashram.
B. kept on travelling all through region.
C. sent regular instructions to Ashram by mail.
D. kept on demanding financial accounts.
Answer:
A. lived in the Ashram.
4. At the Ashram, new latrine trenches were to be made because …………………………… .
A. old latrine trenches were overflowing.
B. old latrine trenches would start smelling bad.
C. old latrine trenches were not in enough number.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’.
Answer:
B. old latrine trenches would start smelling bad.
Question 3.
In everything Gandhi did, moreover, he tried to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free. Early in the Champaran action, Charles Freer Andrews, the English pacifist who had become a devoted follower of the Mahatma, came to bid Gandhi farewell before going on a tour of duty to the Fiji Islands. Gandhi’s lawyer friends thought it would be a good idea for Andrews to stay in Champaran and help them.
Andrews was willing if Gandhi agreed. But Gandhi was vehemently opposed. He said, “You think that in this unequal fight it would be helpful if we have an Englishman on our side. This shows the weakness of your heart. The cause is just and you must rely upon yourselves to win the battle. You should not seek a prop in Mr Andrews because he happens to be an Englishman”. “He had read our minds correctly,” Rajendra Prasad comments, “and we had no reply… Gandhi in this way taught us a lesson in self-reliance”. Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.
Questions:
1. In his efforts to make India free, Gandhiji tried to …………………… .
A. do everything.
B. shape a new free Indian.
C. make each individual independent.
D. None of these three
Answer:
B. shape a new free Indian.
2. Gandhiji’s lawyer friends wanted Andrews ………………………. .
A. to stay in Champaran and help them.
B. to bid Gandhi farewell.
C. to go to the Fiji Islands.
D. oppose Gandhiji.
Answer:
A. to stay in Champaran and help them.
3. Gandhiji did not want Andrews to stay back and help them because ……………….. .
A. he was an Englishman.
B. Gandhiji believed that they should not seek support from other than Indian.
C. Mr Andrews was not a reliable. man.
D. Both A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both A’ and ‘B’
4. The word in the passage which means ‘strongly’ is :
A. ‘mould’.
B. ‘vehemently’.
C. ‘self-reliance’.
D. ‘sharecroppers’.
Answer:
B. ‘vehemently’.
Grammar
Vocabulary
Choose the correct meanings of the phrases/ idioms and rewrite the sentences:
(1) We are en route to your office, please wait a little longer, (close to, on the way, searching for)
(2) My father’s friends call upon him every Saturday, (invite, ring up, visit)
(3) She was away for years and in consequence, she has few friends. (because of, however, as a result)
(4) I want to confer with you on how to handle the problem. (decide, discuss, try out)
(5) His late-game goal finally broke the deadlock and put his team in the lead, (made a drastic change, brought an end to stalemate, made a miracle)
Answer:
(1) We are on the way to your office, please wait a little longer.
(2) My father’s friends visit him every Saturday.
(3) She was away for years and as a result, she has few friends.
(4) I want to discuss with you on how to handle the problem.
(5) His late-game goal finally brought an end to stalemate and put his team in the lead.
Rectification of Errors
Rectify the errors in the following text:
Question 1.
This settlement adopted unanimously by the commission. Gandhi explained if the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had obliged to surrender part of the money.
Answer:
| Errors | Corrections |
| adopted | was adopted |
| If | that |
| then | than |
| had obliged | had been obliged |
Question 2.
The officials felt powerless with Gandhi’s cooperation. He helped them .regulating the crowd. He was polite and friendly. He was given them concrete proof that their might, hitherto dreadful and unquestioned, could be challenged by Indians.
Answer:
| With | without |
| regulating | regulate |
| was given | gave |
| dreadful | dreaded |
Punctuation
Punctuate the following passage:
Next Gandhi called on the British official! commissioner of the tight division in which the Champaran district lay the commissioner Gandhi reports proceeded to bully me and advised me forthwith to leave that.
Answer:
Next, Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the Tirhut division in which the Champaran district lay. “The commissioner,” Gandhi reports, “proceeded to bully me and advised me forthwith to leave Tirhut.”
Indirect Speech:
Convert the following into Indirect Speech:
One woman took Kasturbai into her hut and said, “Look, there is no box or cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have.”
Answer:
One woman took Kasturbai into her hut and showed her that there was no box or \ cupboard there for clothes. Then she added that the sari she was wearing was the only one she had.
Transformation of Sentences
Rewrite as directed :
1. Gandhi had never heard of the place. (Change the Voice.)
2. For weeks he never left Gandhi’s side. (Turn into Affirmative.)
3. It was an extraordinary thing in those days. (Turn into Exclamatory.)
4. Muzzafarpur lawyers called on Gandhi to brief him. (Use ‘With a view to’.)
5. I have come to the conclusion that we should stop going to law courts. (Turn into Simple.)
6. The sharecropping arrangement was irksome to the peasants. (Turn into Negative.)
7. Gandhi did not leave. Instead, he proceeded to Motihari, the capital of Champaran. (Join these sentences using ‘instead of’.)
Answer:
1. The place had never been heard of by Gandhi.
2. For weeks he kept by Gandhi’s side.
3. What an extraordinary thing it was in those days!
4. Muzzafarpur lawyers called on Gandhi with a view to briefing him.
5.1 have come to the conclusion to stop going to law courts.
6. The sharecropping arrangement was not gratifying to the peasants.
7. Instead of leaving, Gandhi proceeded to Motihari, the capital of Champaran.
Indigo Summary in English
Indigo Introduction:
Louis Fischer (29 February 1896, 15 January 1970) was a Jewish American journalist. Among his works were a contribution to the ex-communist treatise The God that Failed (1949), The Life of Mahatma Gandhi (1950), basis for the Academy Award-winning film Gandhi (1982), as well as the Life of Lenin, which won the 1965 National Book Award in History and Biography.
Indigo Summary:
This story describes Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. In those days most of arable land in the Champaran district was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was Indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant 15 % of their Indigo and surrender the entire Indigo harvest as rent. This was done By long term contract.
The British didn’t need the Indigo crop anymore when Germany had developed synthetic Indigo. Just to release the peasants from the 15% agreement they demanded compensation. Some illiterate peasants agreed but the others refused. One of the sharecroppers named Rajkumar Shukla met Gandhi in this regard and compelled him to visit Champaran because of the long term injustice of landlords.
Then the two of them boarded a train for the city of Patna in Bihar. From there Shukla led him to the house of a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad. Mahatma Gandhi’s humble and simple attire made the servants mistook him as another poor peasant. He surveyed before taking any vital step in order to get those peasants justice. It was the time when British government punished those who in any condition gave shelter to national leaders or protesters.
Gandhi’s arrival and the nature of his mission spread like a wildfire. Many lawyers and peasant groups came in large numbers to support him. The lawyers accepted the fact that their charges were high and for a poor peasant, it will be irksome.
Gandhi rebuked them for collecting big fee from the sharecroppers. He stressed on counselling as this would give the peasants enough confidence to fight their fear. He managed to get justice after a year-long battle for the peasants. He also made arrangements for the education, health, and hygiene for the families of the poor peasants. He gave them the lesson of self-reliance.