Madam Rides the Bus Questions and Answers Class 10

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7 take students on an insightful journey with “Madam Rides the Bus.” These solutions offer comprehensive answers to the chapter’s questions, providing a glimpse into the life of a simple woman as she embarks on a bus ride that transforms her perspective. Through these answers, students can appreciate the power of empathy, human connections, and the beauty of finding joy in life’s ordinary moments. The chapter encourages students to embrace compassion and understanding towards others.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7 Madam Rides the Bus Questions and Answers

Page no. 119

Oral Comprehension Check

Question 1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

Ans. 1 : Valli did not have many friends to play with but she did not miss the company of a playmate. She loved to stand in the front doorway of her house and watch the hustle and bustle in the street outside which gave her immense joy and happiness. 

Question 2. What was the source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?

Ans. 2 : Valli was overjoyed at the sight of the bus that passed her street after every hour. She was fascinated to see the bus filled with a new set of passengers each time it passed her doorway. Over a period of time, Valli developed a strong desire to ride the bus and get first-hand experience of the journey.

Question 3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find these details?

Ans. 3 : Valli listened carefully to the conversations between her neighbours and regular travellers on the bus. She also asked discreet questions to learn that the nearest town was six miles away from her village and a one-way trip took forty-five minutes and cost thirty paise. She calculated that she would have to save sixty paise for a return trip.

Question 4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?

Ans. 4 : Valli was planning to go to the town and then return back by the same bus. The fare was 30 paise one way and the ride took forty-five minutes. In this way, she planned that she would be back by 2:45 pm if she took the bus at 1:00 pm.

Page no. 122

Oral Comprehension Check

Question 1. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

Ans. 1 : Valli tried to act very mature and confident when she approached the conductor for a ticket. She felt very independent as she had single-handedly saved money for the trip and wanted to be treated like a young girl. Her pretence of appearing grown up and mature amused the conductor who teased her by calling her ‘madam’.

Question 2. Why does Valli stand up on the seat?

(or)

What does she see now?

Ans. 2 : Valli wanted to devour the beautiful sights from the bus window but realised that her view was cut off by a canvas blind that covered the lower part of the window. Thus she stood up on the seat to peer over the blind. She noticed that the bus was going on a narrow road. On one side there was the canal and beyond it, she could see the palm trees, grasslands, distant mountains and the blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and beyond that, she could see acres of green fields.

Question 3. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

Ans. 3 : Valli was visibly annoyed when the elderly man called her a child and advised her to sit down. She confidently told him that there was no child there and that she had paid her thirty paise like everyone else.

Question 4. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Ans. 4 : Valli found the elderly woman very repulsive and was not interested in conversing with her. The woman was wearing ugly earrings in the big holes of her ear lobes and was chewing betel with the juice of the betel threatening to spill over her lips any moment. She looked very unrefined and smelt of betel nut. Thus Valli was very courteous to her and asked her to mind her own business.

Page no. 125

Oral Comprehension Check

Question 1. How did Valli save money for her first journey?\Was it easy for her?

Ans. 1 : Valli needed sixty paise for the return trip to the nearest town. This was a fortune for the eight-year-old Valli but she was determined to save each and every penny. To do so she had to make sacrifices and display self-restraint by resisting the temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons etc. It was challenging for her, particularly on the day of the village fair where she had to fight the urge to ride the merry-go-round.

Question 2. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

Ans. 2 : Valli was quite amused to see a young cow, running in front of their bus, with its tail pointing towards the sky. The bus driver repeatedly honked to get it to the side but the more he honked, the more frightened the cow became and ran at a fast pace. Valli could not control herself and burst into peals of laughter with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Question 3. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

Ans. 3 : Valli did not get off the bus because she wanted to take a ride back to her village. Moreover, she was being cautious as the town was new to her and she didn’t want to risk getting lost.

Question 4. Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?

Ans. 4 : Valli didn’t want to get off the bus to buy a drink as she was not carrying extra money. She had barely managed to save sixty paise for the return trip. She declined the conductor’s offer to buy her a drink because she didn’t want to take favours from a stranger as she was a proud and self-respecting girl.

Thinking about the Text

Q1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.

Ans. 1 : Valli’s deepest desire was to go on a bus ride. The words and phrases in the story that tell this are an overwhelming desire”, “source of unending joy’, ‘stare wistfully”, and “kindle in her longings, dreams and hopes.

Q2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?

Ans. 2 : Looking at the bus pass her street every hour kindled a deep desire in Valli to ride the bus. She started planning for her solo bus journey. Valli listened to the conversations between her neighbours and regular travellers on the bus and also asked casual questions to learn that the nearest town was six miles away from her village.

It would take forty-five minutes to reach and the ticket cost was thirty paise one way. Valli calculated that she would require sixty paise for a return journey and started saving money. She had to make small sacrifices and resisted the temptation to eat peppermints, and buy a toy or a balloon. Though it was difficult to curb the desire to take a ride in the merry-go-round at the village fair, she remained steadfast.

She decided to sneak out of the house during her mother’s afternoon nap to avoid getting caught. Thus Valli planned carefully for her secret adventure. 

Q3. What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer

(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised .…………. 

(ii) “Yes, I .…………. go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus. 

(iii) “There’s nobody here .………….,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.” 

(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can .………….. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, .………….. 

(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I .………….,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out. 

(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope .…………..”

Ans. 3 : (i) Commandingly

(ii) Simply have to

(iii) Who’s a child

(iv) Get on by myself, Irritably

(v) Can take care of myself

(vi) To see you again

Q4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?

Ans. 4 : Valli tried to act very mature and confident when she approached the conductor for a ticket. She felt very independent as she had single-handedly saved money for the trip and wanted to be treated like a young girl. Her pretence of appearing grown up and mature amused the conductor who teased her by calling her ‘madam’.

Q5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.

Ans. 5 : Valli thoroughly enjoyed her ride in the bus. The following lines from the text tell us about it. Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”

“The bus was now going along the bank of a canal. The road was very narrow. On one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields-green, green, green, as far as the eye could see.?

“Oh, it was all so wonderful!

“Everyone laughed, and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter.”

“Suddenly Valli clapped her hands with glee. A young cow, tail high in the air, was running very fast, right in the middle of the road, right in front of the bus.”

“Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.”

“Valli wasn’t bored in the slightest and greeted everything with the same excitement she’d felt the first time.”

Q6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?

Ans. 6 : On her way back, Valli saw the young cow that was running in front of the bus on the onward journey lying dead on the roadside. It had probably been hit by a moving vehicle. Valli was overcome with sadness and the memory of the cow running with its tail pointing towards the sky haunted her. Valli was so moved by the sight that she lost interest in the scenery outside and refused to look out of the window.

Q7. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”

Ans. 7 : When Valli returned from her adventurous ride, she met her mother conversing with her aunt. They were generally discussing how at times things happen without our knowledge. Valli agreed with her mother wholeheartedly and chuckled secretly because she had just returned from her first solo bus ride without the knowledge of her mother.

Q8. The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?

Ans. 8 : The author has presented the events from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl who loved to watch the busy street outside her house. Valli was particularly fascinated by the bus that passed her house every hour carrying a new set of passengers each time. It kindled in her a longing to ride on the bus and experience the beautiful sights outside her village. She got extremely jealous when any of her friends happened to travel on the bus and attempted to narrate their experiences to her.

Determined to experience the journey, she gathered information about the ride and started planning for it. She decided to save money for the return ticket and was willing to sacrifice her childish urges of peppermints, toys, balloons and merry-go-round. She chose her mother’s afternoon nap time to embark on this adventurous ride. She was quite fascinated by the bus that shone like silver and had soft and luxurious seats.

She stood on the seat to enjoy the view outside. She burst into peels of laughter when she saw a cow running in front of the bus at great speed. Thus the dreams, desires, reactions and descriptions are typical of an eight-year-old.