Extract Based Questions: Kathmandu - Class 9 PDF Download

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: I get a cheap room in the centre of town and sleep for hours. The next morning, with Mr. Shah’s son and nephew, I visit the two temples in Kathmandu that are most sacred to Hindus and Buddhists.

(a) Who does “I” refer to in the above lines?
Ans: I refers to the writer of the travelogue, Vikram Seth.

(b) Where is he at the time?
Ans: He is in a cheap room in a hotel in the centre of Kathmandu at the time.

(c) With whom does the author visit the two temples?
Ans: The author visits the two temples with Mr. Shah’s son and his nephew.

(d) Which two temples in Kathmandu does he visit? With which religions are they associated?
Ans: He visits the two famous temples of Kathmandu – the Pashupatinath, sacred to the Hindus and the Baudhnath Stupa, sacred to the Buddhists.

Q2: There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front.

(a) Which place of worship is the narrator describing here?
Ans: The narrator is describing Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple, which is sacred to the Hindus.

(b) How do devotees behave inside the temple?
Ans: The devotees at the temple push and jostle with others as they try to move ahead and get the priest’s attention. In this attempt, some people are elbowed aside.

(c) Why do you think some people are pushing their way to the front?
Ans: Some people are pushing their way to the front to get a clear view of the deity and also to make their offerings through the priest.

(d) What sort of an atmosphere is being created by the crowd in the temple?
Ans: The crowd in the temple is indisciplined and unorganized. They are creating chaos and confusion with their unruly behaviour, which is robbing the temple of its sanctity.

Q3: A princess of the Nepalese royal house appears; everyone bows and makes way. By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter.

(a) Which place is being talked about in the above extract?
Ans: The writer is talking about the Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu.

(b) How had the crowd of worshippers been behaving before the princess appeared? How is their behaviour different now?
Ans: The crowd of worshippers were trying to get the priest’s attention and were jostling with each other and were elbowing others aside to push their way to the front, but as soon as the princess appeared, the worshippers bowed and made way for her.

(c) How are the Westerners trying to convince the policeman they are Hindus? Why?
Ans: The Westerners were dressed in saffron and were claiming to be Hindus because only Hindus can enter the Pashupatinath temple.

(d) Which river flows next to the temple?
Ans: The river Bagmati flows next to the temple.

Q4: By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter.

(a) Which place is the author talking about here?
Ans: he author is talking of the famous Hindu shrine – the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.

(b) Who are the saffron-clad Westerners at the main gate?
Ans: The saffron-clad Westerners at the main gate are a group of tourists.

(c) Why do they struggle for permission to enter?
Ans: They struggle for permission to enter because the temple allows entry only to Hindus.

(d) What does this show about the cultural practices of this place?
Ans: It shows that the authorities who look after this shrine are very rigid about maintaining the sanctity of the temple as a place of worship. They do not want it to be treated like a tourist spot.

Q5: A fight breaks out between two monkeys. One chases the other, who jumps onto a shivalinga, then runs screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati, that flows below.

(a) What are the two monkeys doing?
Ans: The two monkeys are fighting each other and chasing each other.

(b) Where are the two monkeys?
Ans: The two monkeys are running around the shivalingas and then down to the river.

(c) What is the atmosphere at Pashupatinath Temple?
Ans: At Pashupatinath there is an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ as crowds of worshippers and animals jostle and elbow each other.

(d) What is the belief about the shrine that half protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank?
Ans: People believe when the shrine emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of the Kaliyug will end on earth.

Q6: A corpse is being cremated on its banks; washerwomen are at their work and children bathe. From a balcony a basket of flowers and leaves, old offerings now wilted, is dropped into the river.

(a) Which river is referred to in this extract?
Ans: The river Bagmati that flows through Kathmandu and on the banks of which Pashupatinath temple is situated is referred to here.

(b) What is the significance of this river?
Ans: The river Bagmati is significant as it is considered sacred by the Hindus. They worship it like a pious deity.

(c) How is the river being polluted and by whom?
Ans: A basket of withered away flowers, leaves and old offerings is thrown into the river from the balcony of the Pashupatinath temple. Corpse are cremated on its banks, washerwomen wash clothes in the river and children bathe in it.

(d) What light does this polluting of the river throw on the people?
Ans: Throwing of refuse into the sacred Bagmati river, or polluting it by bathing or washing clothes reflects that these people lack concern for environment. They pollute the very river which they consider to be sacred.

Q7: There are no crowds: this is a haven of quietness in the busy streets around.

(a) Which place is being talked about here?
Ans: The writer is talking about the Baudhnath stupa here.

(b) How does this contrast with the other place of worship?
Ans: While the Baudhnath Stupa is a quiet, still place, the crowded noisy Pashupatinath temple is a place of feverish activity.

(c) Who owns the shops on the ‘busy streets around’?
Ans: Many of the shops outside are owned by Tibetan immigrants.

(d) What did the shops sell?
Ans: They sold felt bags, Tibetan prints, silver jewellery etc.

Q8: 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.

(a) Explain the meaning of the word “mercenary”.
Ans: The word “mercenary” means interested only in the amount of money that you can be made from a situation even at the expense of ethics. This implies sales in the shops of Kathmandu are not always above board.

(b) How does the author describe the streets of Kathmandu?
Ans: The streets of Kathmandu are the narrowest and busiest streets that he has ever seen.

(c) What are the things that the author buys?
Ans: The author buys a bar of marzipan, a com-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 a Reader’s Digest.

(d) Which things are sold in the market of Kathmandu?
Ans: Nepalese antiques, Western cosmetics and film rolls are sold there.

Q9: Go home, I tell myself: move directly towards home. I enter a Nepal Airlines office and buy a ticket for tomorrow’s flight.

(a) What route had the writer thought of taking?
Ans: The writer had thought of going by bus and train to Patna, then sailing up the Ganges past Benaras to Allahabad, then up the Yamuna, past Agra to Delhi.

(b) Why did he change his plan?
Ans: The writer was tired as he had been travelling for many days. He was also homesick and wanted to travel home straight.

(c) How did he plan to travel now?
Ans: He planned to fly by Nepal Airlines from Kathmandu to Delhi.

(d) When is he leaving Kathmandu?
Ans: He is leaving Kathmandu the next day.

Q10: In his hand is a pole with an attachment at the top from which fifty or sixty bansuris protrude in all directions, like the quills of a porcupine. They are of bamboo: there are cross-flutes and recorders. From time to time, he stands the pole on the ground, selects a flute and plays for a few minutes.

(a) What attracts the writer in the market?
Ans: A flute seller and the music being played by him attracts the writer.

(b) How is he different from other hawkers?
Ans: He plays on the flute to entertain people. He does not cry out to attract buyers.

(c) Why does he sometimes break off playing flute?
Ans: The flute seller sometimes breaks off playing his flute in order to talk to the fruit seller.

(d) What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
Ans: The flute seller’s stock of flutes protruding in all directions from an attachment on the pole was looking like the quills of a porcupine.