Class 8 English (It so Happened) Chapter 8 Question Answers - Jalebis

I. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q1. How did the coins persuade the boy to buy jalebis?
 Ans. The coins told the boy that the jalebis were fresh, crisp and syrupy. They were meant to be eaten and only those with money in their pocket could eat them.

Q2. How did the boy respond to the coins?
 Ans. The boy didn’t heed to the coins. He was a good and intelligent boy. He told the coins not to misguide him. He got so much at home that he considered even looking at something in the bazaar a sin.

Q3. Why did the boy hold all the four coins tight in his fist?
 Ans. All the four coins began to speak at the same time in order to make the boy ready to buy the jalebis. There was such a clamour that passersby in the bazaar stared at him and his pocket. So, the boy grabbed all of them and held them tight in his fist to make them silent.

Q4. Did the boy eat all the jalebis by himself? How can you say?
 Ans. The boy didn’t eat all the jalebis by himself. He ate himself to his heart’s content and distributed the rest among the boys from neighbourhood.

Q5. Why did the boy’s head start to spin in the school?
 Ans. As soon as he reached the school, he came to know that the scholarship was going to be paid the following month. This news intensified his tension so much  that his head started to spin.

II. LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q1. Comment on the significance of the jalebis in the story.
 Ans. Jalebis are central to the story. These are hot, fresh and syrupy. A school boy falls to the sweet temptation of jalebis. He spends all his school fees money in buying jalebis. He eats himself and also distributes them among children. He regrets his weakness later. He prays to God to send him four rupees. But he gets no help from God. He realises in later life that God cannot meet everybody’s demand. Were he so generous, man would not have developed the skill of making jalebis.

Q2. Write a short note on the character of the schoolboy in Jalebis.
 Ans. The schoolboy in the story Jalebis carries four rupees to school to pay the school fees. He is honest, God fearing and brilliant student. He has won a scholarship also. He has never been punished. He enjoys prestige. He feels shy of standing in the bazaar and eating jalebis. But the coins in his pocket persuade him to go wrong. And he repents his foolishness. He asks for God’s help. He can recite the namaz and some portions from the Quran. His experience, however, teaches him a valuable lesson.

Q3. How does the schoolboy try to please God to come to his rescue?
 Ans. The schoolboy faces a crisis after he has spent his school fees on the jalebis.
 He turns to Allah Miyan for help. He apologises to God. He promises to never repeat that mistake, and recites the namaaz and few verses from the Quran. He hopes in vain that God will put money under the rock. He plays a game with God. But he finds no coins but a hairy worm under the rock.