NCERT Solutions Class 8 English (It So Happened)
The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 8 English (It So Happened) Chapter – 8 Jalebis has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise.
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English (It So Happened)
- Chapter – 1 : How the Camel Got His Hump
- Chapter – 2 : Children at Work
- Chapter – 3 : The Selfish Giant
- Chapter – 4 : The Treasure Within
- Chapter – 5 : Princess September
- Chapter – 6 : The Fight
- Chapter – 7 : The Open Window
- Chapter – 9 : The Comet 1
- Chapter – 10 : The Comet 2
- Chapter – 11 : Ancient Education System of India
Chapter – 8 (Jalebis)
Comprehension Check
1. Why didn’t he pay the school fees on the day he brought money to school?
Answer – He did not pay the school fees on the day he brought money to school because Master Ghulam Mohammed (the teacher who collected the fees) was on leave, and it would be collected the next day.
2. (i) What were the coins ‘saying’ to him?
Answer – The coins in the boy’s pocket urged him to buy hot and fresh jalebis.
(ii) Do you think they were misguiding him?
Answer – Yes, the coins were misguiding him because the money was meant for paying school fees.
3. Why didn’t he take the coins’ advice? Give two or three reasons.
Answer – Initially, the boy didn’t take the coins’ advice because of the following reasons:
- He was an honest boy.
- He could not spend the money meant for school fees on buying jalebis.
- He was fully aware of the consequences of not paying the fees on time, i.e., the teacher would punish him by beating him with a cane.
4. (i) What did the oldest coin tell him?
Answer – The oldest coin convinced him that they were telling him for his own good. He can pay his fee next day with his scholarship money. So he should not suppress his desire for jalebis.
(ii) Did he follow his advice? If not, why not?
Answer – He didn’t follow his advice. He was a promising student. He was from a good family of repute. He didn’t want to get defame for it.
5. He reached home with the coins in his pocket. What happened then?
Answer – After reaching home he couldn’t suppress his temptation for fresh Jalabis. He rushed to the shop of halwai. He bought jalebis and enjoyed them.
Comprehension Check
1. (i) Why didn’t he eat all the jalebis he had bought?
Answer – He did not eat all the jalebis he had bought because he had eaten so many of them that if anybody pressed his stomach a little, jalebis would have popped out of his ears and nostrils.
(ii) What did he do with the remaining jalebis?
Answer – He distributed the remaining jalebis to the children who had assembled in the gali where he was eating the jalebis.
2. “The fear was killing me.” What was the fear?
Answer – The fear was of getting caught and his parents finding out that he had eaten so many jalebis. He burped with every breath. With every burp, there was the danger of bringing out a jalebi or two. This fear was killing him.
3. “Children’s stomachs are like digestion machines.” What do you understand by that? Do you agree?
Answer – This means that children have a very good digestive system. They can eat as much as they can, and their stomach digests the food easily.
4. How did he plan to pay the fees the next day?
Answer – He planned to pay the fees the next day with his monthly scholarship that he would receive on that day.
5. When it is time to pay the fees, what does he do? How is he disobeying the elders by doing so?
Answer – When the time draws near to pay the fees, he tucked the bag under his arm and slips out of the school. He had disobeyed his elders by crossing the railway track.
Comprehension Check
1. What was the consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money?
Answer – The consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money was that for the first time in his life he was absent from his school.
2. His prayer to God is like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Does he argue his case well? What are the points he makes?
Answer – He tries to please God with his requests and the recitation of the entire namaz. He admits that he made a mistake. He wouldn’t have spent his money on jalebis if he had known about the delay in scholarship. Thus, he argues his case like a lawyer.
3. He offers to play a game with Allah Miyan. What is the game?
Answer – The game is that he will go upto the signal, touch it and come back. And in the meantime God should put four rupees under a big rock.
4. Did he get four rupees by playing the game? What did he get to see under the rock?
Answer – No, he didn’t get four rupees by playing the game. When he lifted the rock, he saw a worm instead of coins.
5. If God had granted his wish that day, what harm would it have caused him in later life?
Answer – If God had granted his wish that day he wouldn’t have learnt a lesson to do no wrong in future. He would have been like a bird and learnt no skill.
Exercise
Work in small groups.
1. Select and read sentences that show
- that the boy is tempted to eat jalebis
- that he is feeling guilty
- that he is justifying a wrong deed
Answer –
That the boy is tempted to eat jalebis
- Jalebis are meant to be eaten, and those with money in their pocket can eat them.
- But then, these jalebis are no common sort of Jalebis They’re crisp, fresh and full of syrup.
- My mouth watered. I rushed out of the house bare foot and ran towards the bazaar.
That he is feeling guilty
- My head started to spin.
- When the recess bell rang I tucked my bag under my arm and left the school.
- Now for the crime of eating a few jalebis, for the first time in my life I was absent from school.
- Sitting there under the tree, at first I felt like crying.
That he is justifying a wrong deed
- I didn’t eat them all by myself, and I fed them to a whole lot of children.
- ‘Allah Miyan! I’m a very good boy. I have memorised the entire namaaz. I even know the last ten surats of the Quran by heart.
2. Discuss the following points.
- Is the boy intelligent? If so, what is the evidence of it?
Answer – The boy is definitely intelligent. The first evidence is that he has won a scholarship. He is a promising boy. He knows what is right and what is wrong. He argues his case before God like a lawyer.
- Does his outlook on the jalebis episode change after class VIII? Does he see that episode in a new light?
Answer – Yes, his outlook changed after class VIII. He later realised that nothing comes without a price. If God were to grant all one’s wishes for the asking, man would not learn any skill. He would be no better than birds.
- Why are coins made to ‘talk’ in this story? What purpose does it serve?
Answer – The coins are made to talk because they reflect the conflict going on in his own mind.
