Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

The  Class 10 English  Chapter- Madam Rides The Bus is a story that revolves around an eight-year-old girl who embarks on an adventurous bus ride into a world beyond her village. This journey is not only a new and exciting experience for the young protagonist, but it also teaches her about the realities of life and death. Let's see some Short Answer Questions of the chapter.

Q1: How careful and painstaking elaborate plans did Valli have to make for her first journey and how did she save money for it?

Ans: Valli had to make careful and painstaking plans for her first bus journey. Saving sixty paise for both ways fare was not an easy job. She saved every stray coin that came in her way. She had to give up the temptation of buying peppermints, toys, and balloons and stifle her desire to ride on the merry-go-round.

Q2: What was the next problem after Valli had enough money?

Ans: After she had saved enough money, Valli had her next problem. It was how to slip out of the house without her mother’s knowledge. She solved this problem easily. Every day after lunch her mother would nap from about one to four or so. She could easily venture out on her mission.

Q3: Why didn’t Valli accept a free drink from the bus conductor? What does this act show about her character?

Ans: The bus conductor asked Valli to let him bring her a cold drink. She replied that she didn’t have enough money for that. He should just give him her ticket. The conductor offered to give it totally free. She said firmly, ‘Please, no.’ This shows how proud and self-respecting Valli was.

Q3: What dampened Valli’s enthusiasm during the return journey?

Ans: During her return journey, Valli saw a young cow lying dead by the side of the road. She was the same lovable and beautiful cow that she saw only a little while ago. Now, it looked so horrible and frightening as it lay there. There was a fixed stare in her lifeless eyes and she was smeared with blood. The sight dampened her enthusiasm and she stopped looking outside.

Q4: Did Valli’s bus ride remain a secret for her mother and aunt?

Ans: When Valli entered her house, she found her mother awake and talking to one of her aunts. Her aunt was a real chatterbox. She asked where she had been so far. Valli’s mother spoke casually. She didn’t expect a reply. Both these ladies could know nothing about Valli’s pleasure ride on the bus.

Q5: Why did Valli smile to herself? Did her mother and aunt have any chance of knowing the secret of her smile?

Ans: Valli agreed with her mother that many things were happening outside of the world without their knowledge. Ironically, the two ladies didn’t know anything about Valli’s bus journey. They didn’t know that 'just a chit of a girl’ had done such a great feat. Valli smiled to herself. There was no chance of her secret being exposed.

Q6: What details did Valli pick up about the bus journey? How did she pick up these details?

Ans: Valli gathered all the minute details about the bus journey. She gathered that she required sixty paise to buy tickets for the up and down journey and that the bus would take ninety minutes from the village to town and back. She carefully listened to the conversations of the passengers and villagers to get the details.

Q7: During her journey, Valli absorbed the natural beauty and clapped her hands in happiness on seeing a young cow running very fast. What does this reveal about Valli? 

Ans: Valli thoroughly enjoyed her ride to the town and laughed and clapped when the young cow ran on the middle of the road. Valli, on the whole, can be described as a curious, joyful, smart, bold and at the same time a mature girl.

Q8: Give two reasons why Valli found the elderly woman on the bus, repulsive.

Ans. Valli did not want to make friends with the elderly woman because she found her repulsive as she had big holes in her earlobes and was wearing ugly earrings. 

Q9: Why did Valli not get off the bus when it stopped at the bus stand?

Ans: Vales sole purpose was to enjoy the bus ride. She neither had the money to buy anything from the shops at the town nor the courage to get down at the strange among at rangers.

Q10: Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?

Ans: The conductor was worldly wise and a man of jovial nature. He judges the little girl’s innocent behaviour. Being fun to love and also not to make the girl unhappy, he calls Valli as ‘Madam’, though she was a girl of eight years only.

Q11: Write down the conductor’s advice to Valli?

Ans: The conductor requested her to sit down. It will make her comfortable. Standing up, again and again, can make her fall and get hurt because the bus can make a sharp turn.

Q12: How did Valli manage to leave the house?

Ans: Valli knew that after lunch her mother would take a nap from 1 pm to 4 pm. It was Valli’s habit to engage in these hours for her excursions and move outside the village.

Q13: What type of person was the conductor?

Ans: The conductor was a very wise man and knew how to tackle and talk with the passenger. He was fond of jokes and in his jolly tone interrogated Valli many times.

Q14: What did Valli’s mother say about the things happening without our knowledge?

Ans: Valli’s mother said that so many things happen amidst us and in the world outside. We cannot know about everything. Even when we know about something we often can’t understand it completely.

Q15: What was the favourite pastime of Valli?

Ans: Valliammai or Valli was eight years old. Her favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house. From there, she watched what was happening in the street outside. For her, standing at the front door was as enjoyable as any of the games other children played.

Q16: What was the most fascinating thing for Valli?

Ans: The most fascinating thing for Valli was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. The sight of the bus was a source of unending joy for her. Each time she used to see a new set of passengers, it was a very thrilling experience for her.

Q17: What was the tiny wish that crept into Valli’s head?

Ans: The sight of the bus was the most fascinating thing for Valli. Day after day she watched the bus, a tiny wish crept into her head. She wanted to ride on that bus at least, once. This wish became so strong that it grew into an overwhelming desire.

Q18: Why did Valli listen to the conversations? What did she get from them?

Ans: Valli was anxious to know more and more about the bus journey. She had nourished a strong desire to enjoy a bus ride from her village to the nearest town. She listened to the neighbours and people who regularly used the bus. She was collecting the necessary details from them to plan out her bus journey. Such details could help her in her mission.

Q19: How did Valli board the bus? When did she say, ‘I can get on by myself’?

Ans: When Valli sighted the bus she shouted ‘Stop the bus! Stop the bus!’ She raised her tiny hand ‘commandingly’. The bus slowed down and finally stopped. She told the conductor that she wanted to go to the town and she tried to hand over the money. The conductor, seeing that she was just a child, stretched out his hand to help her up. Valli replied that she could get on by herself and didn’t need any help.

Q20: Why was Valli overcome with shyness and avoided everyone’s eyes?

Ans: It was the slack time of the day. There were only six or seven passengers on the bus. They were all looking at Valli and laughing with the conductor. Valli was overcome with shyness. She tried to avoid everyone’s eyes. She walked quickly to an empty seat and sat down.

Q21: What did Valli see when she peered over the blind?

Ans: Valli found that a canvas blind cut off her view. So, she peered over the blind to look outside. The bus was going along the bank of a canal. Beyond its palm trees and grassland and distant mountains. And then, there were acres of green fields as far as her eyes could see.

Q22: Why didn’t Valli like the remark of the elderly man? What did she say to him?

Ans: An elderly man saw Valli standing on the bus. He asked her to sit down. He had honestly felt concerned for her. Valli didn’t like to be called herself a ‘child’. She retorted that she was not a child. She had paid thirty paise like everyone else.

Q23: How did Valli react when the conductor called her “a very grown-up madam?”

Ans: The bus conductor teased Valli by calling her ‘a very grown-up madam’. Valli reacted sharply saying that she was not a madam. She reminded him that he had not yet given her ticket. The conductor mimicked her tone and said, ‘I’ll remember.’ Everyone laughed and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter.

Q24: Why did Valli laugh until there were tears in her eyes?

Ans: Valli saw a young cow running very fast in the middle of the road. It was right in front of the bus. The bus slowed down to a crawl. The driver sounded the horn loudly again and again. But the more he honked, the more frightened the animal became and galloped right in front of the bus. Valli laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

Q25: Why didn’t Valli get off the bus when the bus stopped at the town?
Ans. Valli’s destination, the nearest town from her village, had come. Everyone got off except Valli. The conductor reminded that her destination had come and she should get off the bus. Valli told that she was going back on the same bus. She handed thirty more coins to the conductor and asked for the ticket. She just felt like having a bus ride again.

Also Check at EduRev:

• Detailed Summary: Madam Rides the Bus
• Character Sketch: Madam Rides the Bus

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