1.
The chapter ‘Bholi’ highlights the discrimination against the girl
child. Analyse.
Answer:
Nature does not discriminate, but society does. From time
immemorial the world has discriminated against the girl child.
The chapter, ‘Bholi’ throws up many such instances. Ramlal’s
sons go to school and college. His daughters are not educated
but married off. Her mother does not think it necessary to take
Bholi’s consent for her marriage. The groom is old and lame. Still
he demands dowry. Her father is ready to pay him also. It is the
girl herself who raises her voice against this marriage. She is
criticised and humiliated for standing up for her dignity. But she
is firm and decides the course of her life.
2. Why was Sulekha nicknamed Bholi?
Answer: Sulekha was a slow child from the very beginning. She
was a simpleton. Her brain was also damaged in her childhood
resulting in her being slow, that is why she was called “Bholi”, a
simpleton.
3. What filled Bholi, a dumb cow, with a new hope in her?
Answer: Bholi’s first day of school brought a hope of a new life.
She had found a loving and kind teacher. The teacher had
inspired her and given her a book and had made Bholi feel
confident about herself.
4. In what way did the village change over time?
Answer: The village changed into a small town over a period of
time. The primary school had become a high school. The village
had a cinema and a cotton ginning mill. The mail train also
stopped at the village railway station.
5. What objections does Ramlal have to Bishamber’s proposal?
Answer: Ramlal was not very happy with the proposal. He did
not like the fact that Bishamber was of his age. He had a limp
and children were quite grown up. It was not a very satisfactory
proposition.
6. How did Bholi’s teacher succeed in changing the course of
Bholi’s life?
Answer: The teacher gives desired encouragement, inspired her
with love. She changed her into a bold and confident girl as a
result, Bholi protests at her marriage and refuses to get married
with an aged, greedy, coward and mindless person. It
transformed her life.
7. What was Bholi’s experience at school on the first day?
8. Why did the Tehsildar come to Ramlal’s village? What did he ask
Ramlal to do?
Answer: He came to Ramlal’s village to inaugurate the newly
opened primary school. The Tehsildar told Ramlal that he was
the revenue officer and the representative of the government,
therefore, he should be the first one to send his daughters to
school.