Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Q1: Should the boy be allowed to grieve for his ball? If his loss is irreparable or irretrievable then how should one handle it? What lessons can be learnt?

Ans: Yes, the boy should be allowed to grieve for his ball, as he had that ball for a long time. He had many old memories associated with it since his childhood. Moreover, when a person is trying to overcome his grief on his own, then one should not intrude or disturb him as it may break his chain of thoughts and may irritate him.One should have self-consolation, and self -understanding in order to bear the loss. Self-realization and understanding are more effective and lasting than when it is done by an external agency or a person.

Q2: How did the boy really react to the loss of the ball or was he fearful of something or someone ? Can our attention be directed toward his family and other people? Are there any lessons to be learnt?

Ans: The boy was not fearful of anyone, in fact, he was really upset about the loss of the ball. The ball was valuable for him. He was shocked, remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball had fallen. His family must not have been affected by the loss as a ball is an easily available and inexpensive item.The loss of the ball teaches a lesson to us. Money is external in the sense that it can give you only outer happiness or pleasure not inner. Money cannot buy the emotions and heavenly virtues. It cannot be linked with old memories. Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than done by an external agency or a person.

Q3: Why does the poet say, ‘I would not intrude on him?’ Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?

Ans: When a person is trying to come over his grief on his own, he is busy making himself understand certain things if then, someone intrudes or disturbs, and his chain of thoughts is broken. It makes him irritated. Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than when it is done by an external agency or a person. The poet knows it. So, he does not intrude on him.His offer of money to buy another ball is useless for the boy wants the same ball he is attached to and has been playing for a long time. No other ball will be able to take its place.

Q4: How is the lost ball, the metaphor of the lost childhood of the boy? Why doesn’t the poet want to ‘intrude on’ the boy by offering him money to buy another ball? 

Ans: The boy has a ball. Perhaps he has been keeping it for a long time. He must have developed a lot of attachment and love with the ball.Suddenly while he is playing, the ball bounces down the street. And after a few bounces, it falls down into the harbour. It is lost forever. The boy stands there shocked and fixed to the ground. He constantly goes on staring at the spot where his ball fell down into the water. Outwardly, the loss seems to be quite small. The boy seems to be making a fuss over the loss. Many boys have lost such balls and will lose so in future. A new ball can be easily bought in a dime. The metaphor of the lost ball is beautifully linked to the loss of sweet childhood. No amount of money can buy the ball back that has been lost forever. Similarly, no worldly wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The poet doesn’t want to sermonise on this issue. The boy himself has to learn epistemology or the nature of the loss. He has to move ahead in life forgetting all the losses he has suffered in the past.

Q5: What is the epistemology of loss in this world of possessions? How has the child learned to stand up in life?

Ans: Gain and loss are the two sides of the same coin. Getting, spending and losing things form a natural cycle of life. The boy is inconsolable at the loss of his ball. Actually, it is not the ordinary ball but his long association and attachment with it that makes the loss so unbearable. It is like the good sweet days of childhood that the boy cherishes so much but are lost and gone forever. They will never come back again. So, what is the remedy? He can bear this loss by understanding the epistemology or nature of the loss. In this world of material wealth and possessions, it seems that money can buy anything. However, it is a false conception. Money has its own limitations. Its nature is external. It cannot compensate for the losses that a person suffers emotionally or internally. No wealth can buy back the ball that has been lost forever. Similarly, no wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The child will have to move ahead and stand up in life. He has to stop weeping over his past losses and start living life as it should be lived.

Q6: Why is it important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it?

Ans: Everyone experiences a loss at some point in one’s life. It might be the loss of a beloved, or a parent or a close relative or even a pet. Humans have a tendency of getting attached to things and the loss of things or people close to heart causes grievance. But one must not let that pull us down. Loss is an essential and significant experience of one’s life. And one must learn to deal with it and move on.If we keep thinking about it or grieve over that loss, we can never come out of it. It will only affect us psychologically and can have severe consequences. Brooding over a loss will never help in bringing things back to normal. Loss is inevitable sometimes. Once a loss occurs, one must grieve, but only for a short while. Thereafter, one must get over it and move on in life.

Q7: Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then and saying whether—and how—you got over your loss.

Ans: Last year, our beautiful dog Tommy was lost. All the family loved the dog very much, but I was very deeply attached to Tommy. I used to take full care of him and Tommy would accompany me wherever I allowed him to do so. I felt desperate and upset when Tommy was not traced at all the possible places, where we could find him. I did not feel like eating or going for morning walk. Tommy always used to accompany me when I went for my morning walk, Gradually I reconciled with the situation and consoled myself.I totally engrossed myself in my studies though I did not feel like playing. I never stopped missing Tommy. Then, one day, when I went to another colony to meet a friend, I found Tommy tied in someday else’s home. When I approached them, they said that the beautiful dog seemed to have lost his way and so they had been giving care to him. I thanked them and returned home happily with Tommy.