Main Idea Based Questions - 1 | English for CLAT PDF Download

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follow.
To turn my eyes outwards now and to say a little about the relationship between the Indian writer and the majority white culture in that midst he lives, and with which his work will sooner or later have to deal: Common to many Bombay-raised middle-class children of my generation, I grew up with an intimate knowledge of, and even sense of friendship with, a certain kind of England: a dream-England composed of Test Matches at Lord's presided over by the voice of John Arlott, at which Freddie Trueman bowled unceasingly and without success at Polly Umrigar; of Enid Blyton and Billy Bunter, in which we were even prepared to smile indulgently at portraits such as 'Hurree JamSet Ram Singh,' 'the dusky nabob of Bhanipur.'
I wanted to come to England. I couldn't wait, and to be fair, England has done all right by me, but I find it a little difficult to be properly grateful. I can't escape the view that my relatively easy ride is not the result of the dream- England's famous sense of tolerance and fair play, but of my social class, my freak fair skin, and my 'English' English accent. Take away any of these; the story would have been very different. Because, of course, the dream of England is no more than a dream.
Sadly, it's a dream from which too many white Britons refuse to wake. Recently, on a live radio program, a professional humorist asked me, in all seriousness, why I objected to being called a wog. He said he had always thought it a rather charming word, a term of endearment. 'I was at the zoo the other day, 'he revealed, 'and a zookeeper told me that the wogs were best with the animals; they stuck their fingers in their ears and wiggled them about, and the animals felt at home.'
The ghost of Hurree Jamset Ram Singh walks among us still. As Richard Wright found long ago in America, black-and-white descriptions of society are no longer compatible. Fantasy, or the mingling of fantasy and naturalism, is one way of dealing with these problems. It offers a way of echoing in the form of our work the issues faced by all of us: how to build a new, 'modern' world out of an old, legend-haunted civilization, an old culture that we have brought into the heart of newer ones.
But whatever technical solutions we may find, Indian writers in these islands, like others who have migrated into the north from the south, are capable of writing from a kind of double perspective: because they, we, are at one and the same time insiders and outsiders in this society. We can offer this stereoscopic vision in place of 'whole sight'.
Q: What does the author primarily convey about his experience as an Indian writer in England?
(a) He feels completely accepted due to England's sense of tolerance and fair play.
(b) He attributes his relatively easy experience to his social class, fair skin, and English accent.
(c) He believes that Indian writers cannot effectively write about English culture.
(d) He considers the dream of England to be fully realized in his personal experience.
Ans: (b)
Sol: The author in the passage discusses his journey and experiences as an Indian writer in England. While acknowledging that England has treated him well, he expresses skepticism about the reasons behind this. He does not attribute his relatively smooth experience to the famous English tolerance and fair play. Instead, he believes it is due to his social class, lighter skin tone, and an accent that aligns with 'English' English. This self-awareness reflects a critical understanding of how these factors can influence one's acceptance in a foreign culture. Options A, C, and D do not accurately capture the essence of the author's experiences or views as they either oversimplify or misinterpret the author's sentiments. The author's experience is nuanced, highlighting the complexity of cultural integration and acceptance, especially for people from different ethnic or social backgrounds.