Class 9 English Chapter 10 NCERT Solutions | Kathmandu Class 9 English Beehive

Kathmandu Question And Answer

I. Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.

Question 1: Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.

Answer:  Pashupatinath temple and Baudhnath temple are the two temples where the author visited in Kathmandu.

Question 2: The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?

Answer:  All this refers to a bar of marzipan, a corn on- the-cob roasted in a charcoal brazier on the pavement (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon); a couple of love story comics, and even a Reader’s Digest.

Question 3: What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?

Answer:  Vikram Seth sees a flute seller with a pole in his hands with an attachment at the top from which fifty or sixty bansuris protrude in all directions. He compares it to the quills of a porcupine.

Question 4: Name five kinds of flutes.

Answer:  The five kinds of flutes are:

• 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

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph

Question 1: What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?

Answer:  The author says that unlike other hawkers, the flute seller plays slowly without excessive display. He does not shout out his wares. Occasionally he makes a sale, but in a curiously offhanded way as if this were incidental to his enterprise.

Question 2: What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?

Answer:  A small shrine half protrudes from the stone platform on the river Bagmati’s bank. It is believed that when it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of the Kaliyug will end on earth.

Question 3: The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of

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

(ii) the things he sees

(iii) the sounds he hears

Answer:  The author has drawn powerful images and pictures.

(i) the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath: Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons and dogs roam through the grounds. We offer a few flowers. A party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter the temple as the gate says that only Hindus are allowed in the temple.

(ii) the things he sees: Kathmandu is vivid, mercenary, religious, with small shrines to flower-adorned deities along the narrowest and busiest streets; with fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards; shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls and chocolate; or copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.

(iii) the sounds he hears: Film songs blare out from the radios, car horns sound, bicycle bells ring, stray cows low questioningly at motorcycles, vendors shout out their wares.

III. Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.

Question 1: Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.

Answer:  The author says that the atmosphere in Pashupatinath temple was an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’. He says that priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons and dogs can be seen roaming through the grounds. There are so many worshippers that people are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front.

At Baudhnath temple, the Buddhist shrine, there was a sense of stillness. There is no crowd. It is a safe place of quietness in the busy streets around.

Question 2: How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets?

Answer:  The author describes Kathmandu’s busiest streets as vivid, mercenary and religious, with small shrines to flower-adorned deities along the narrowest and busiest streets. The streets are full of fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards; shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls and chocolate; or copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.

Film songs blare out from the radios, car horns sound, bicycle bells ring, stray cows look questioningly at motorcycles, vendors shout out their wares.

Question 3:  “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?

Answer:  “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.”

The poet says this when he talks about five types of flutes- – the reed neh, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America and the high-pitched Chinese flutes. He says that a flute is at once the most universal and most particular of sounds. It is found in every culture. He says that flute links to our common characteristics. Just like every human being, the motive force is living breath. It too, needs to pause and breathe before it can go on.

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