LESSON: SPARROWS
Q.
1. Who is the writer of the story, ‘Sparrows’?
Ans. K.A. Abbas.
Q.
2. What for had the peasants gathered at the chaupal?
Ans. For their evening smoke.
Q.
3. Who called Rahim Khan “The hard-hearted devil”?
Ans. Kallu.
Q.
4. Who was Nanha?
Ans. The fat sweet-seller.
Q.
5. Who had beaten Ramoo's child?
Ans. Rahim Khan.
Q.
6. Why had Rahim Khan beaten Ramoo's child?
Ans. For throwing stones at his oxen.
Q.
7. Who was Ramnath?
Ans. The village zaildar.
Q.
8. Whose mare had gone into Rahim Khan's field?
Ans. The zaildar’s.
Q.
9. Who told Rahim Khan that his wife had gone to Nurpur?
Ans. An old woman in the
neighbourhood.
Q.
10. How long had Rahim Khan been married?
Ans. Thirty years.
Q.
11. Who was Bundu?
Ans.
Rahim Khan’s eldest son.
Q.
12. Who was Nuru?
Ans. Rahim Khan's younger son.
Q.
13. What profession did Rahim Khan want to take up in his youth?
Ans. He wanted to join a touring
circus.
Q.
14. Who did Rahim Khan fall in love with in his youth?
Ans. Radha.
Q.15.
Who was Radha?
The village banya's daughter.
Q.
16. Who was Ram Charan?
Ans. The village banya.
A1- Rahim Khan was a farmer.
A2- This suggests that he was
friendless in the village.
A3- The villagers were always in fear
of Rahim Khan.
A4- No, Rahim Khan was not entirely
to blame.
A5- Rahim Khan’s wife had left him as
he always ill-treated her.
A6- Her absence angered him all the
more and he felt uncomfortable and unhappy also.
A7- Rahim Khan’s first ambition was
to join a touring circus. Secondly he wanted to marry a Hindu girl named Radha.
These ambitions were not fulfilled .His parents killed both these ambitions.
A8- Because his father thought it to
be a low type of work.
A9- His romance with Radha ended when
she was married to another man.
A10- This me that Rahim Khan was once
a kind man. But he turned into a hard hearted man.
A11- He held his parents, his family
and the society responsible for the frustration of his dreams. He became cruel
to his wife and children. He became unfriendly with everyone.
A12- The mother sparrow’s love for
her young ones moved Rahim Khan. He became a kind man again.
A13- Rahim Khan felt unhappy when the
group of children ran away from him.
A14- While repairing the roof of his
cottage in the rain. During his last moments, his only worry was about the
sparrows.
A15- It shows that Rahim Khan was not
bad at heart. Only the society had made him hard hearted.
A16- The sparrows kept vigil over the
dead body of Rahim Khan.
CHARACTER SKETCH OF Rahim
Khan- Rahim Khan is the main character of the story ‘Sparrows’
this story is written by K.A. Abbas. He was a son of farmer. He had two
ambitions in life. Rahim Khan’s first ambition was to join a touring circus.
Secondly he wanted to marry a Hindu girl named Radha. These ambitions were not fulfilled.
His parents killed both these ambitions. After that he turned into a hard
hearted man. He became cruel to his wife and children. He became unfriendly with
everyone. His kindness returned in the last due to sparrows. When he was on his
death bed, he was worried about sparrows. We feel pity for him.
MESSAGE CONVEYED- This story conveys the message that man is not bad from birth. But circumstances
make him bad. Rahim Khan was a kind hearted man. Rahim Khan’s first ambition was
to join a touring circus. Secondly he wanted to marry a Hindu girl named Radha.
These ambitions were not fulfilled .His parents killed both these ambitions- He
held his parents, his family and the society responsible for the frustration of
his dreams. He became cruel to his wife and children. He became unfriendly with
everyone. But in the end while repairing the roof of his cottage in the rain.
During his last moments, his only worry was about the sparrows. It shows that
Rahim Khan was not bad at heart. Only the society had made him hard hearted.
QUESTIONS 1-10
Compete
the table below.
Write
ONE WORD ONLY for each
Answer to
Answer.
Persons who remarked about Rahim khan Their remarks
Kallu The
1_____________________ devil.
2 _________________________ He beat a child for throwing a 3 _________
at his 4____________.
Ramnath, the 5_______________ He nearly killed my 6 _________ for straying
into his 7__________.
Patel was the 8_______________ Such a cruel man! No compassion for the
helpless 9__________. His
to open his mouth. own 10 _________ have run away from
home.
READING
(PASSAGE)
As a youth there had been none in the
village to beat Rahim Khan in feats of athletics skill — in wrestling, in
kabaddi, in diving from the canal bridge. He had loved a girl and wanted to
join a touring circus which happened to pass through the village. In the circus
he had felt, lay the key to his ambitions - a career after his own heart -
travel - fame. And in Radha, the daughter of Ram Charan, the village banya, he
thought he had found his soulmate. He had first noticed her watching him at a
wrestling match and it had been the greatest moment of his life when, standing
up after vanquishing his adversary, he had found Radha looking at him with the
light of love in her eyes. After that there had been a few brief and furtive
meetings when the unlettered but romantic youth had declared his love in
passionate though halting words. But his parents had killed both his ambitions.
Circus work was too lowly and immoral for a respectable peasant. Anyway, his
father, grandfather and all his ancestors had tilled the land, so he, too had
to do it. As for marrying Radha, a Hindu, a Kafir, the very idea was infamous
and irreligious.
QUESTIONS 1-10
Write True; if the statement matches
the information in the passage.
Write False; if the statement
contradicts the information in the passage.
Write Not Given; if the information
is not found in the passage.
1 Nobody could beat Rahim Khan in
wresting.
2 Rahim Khan was good at driving over
the canal bridge.
3 He wanted to join a circus party.
4 His third ambition was to become a
singer.
5 Radha was not interested in him.
6 His ambitions were frustrated
because of parental authority.
7 Ram Nath was the sarpanch of the
village.
8 Both Radha and Rahim had met
secretly.
9 Radha was a Muslim kafir girl.
10 Rahim’s ancestors were farmers.
