Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 2 Question Answers - A Gift of Chappals

Q1. Describe the person that was sitting with Lalli.
Ans: The person sitting with Lalli was her music teacher. He was almost bald but had a fringe of black hair that fell around his ears. He wore a tuft which was old fashioned. He wore a gleaming gold chain around his neck and a glittery diamond ring on his hand. He had big toes and was beating on the floor with them as his large foot was sneaking out from his gold-bordered vesti.

Q2. Does the beggar leave? What does he ask for from the children?
Ans: Yes the beggar did leave. But before leaving he asked the children if he could rest under the tree until the sun was out and it was hot outside as his feet were already blistered. He also showed them the blisters that he had on the sole of his bare feet. He had large pink peeling blisters. On seeing this, Mridu thought that he did not have any money to buy the slippers. That is why the beggar had asked them for an old pair of slippers.

Q3. Whose chappals were they? What happened next?
Ans: The chappals that were given to the beggar by the children belonged to the music master. When the master came out and didn’t find his chappals there, he called Lalli and asked her if she had seen his chappals. Ravi, Mridu and Meena told that they gave the master’s chappals to the old beggar. The children got scolded by Rukku Manni and Paati. Afterwards, they gave Ravi's mama’s chappals to the music master and he left. Then the family members wondered about what they would do when Mama would ask for his chappals later.

Q4. What did the beggar tell Ravi when he asked him to leave?
Ans: A beggar used to show up at Ravi's house every day for a week. He used to enter the house, sit in the garden and rest under the neem tree by leaning against its trunk. He used to make himself at home. He did all this at Ravi’s house because the ladies of the house were very generous. They used to feed him food and let him rest under the neem tree. The beggar told Ravi that it was because of the ladies that he was able to survive the week and keep his body and soul together.

Q5. Did the children find the slippers for him? What do they do with it?
Ans: Yes, the children looked for a while and found the slippers for the beggar. Mridu remembered the odd-looking chappals that she saw on the doorstep while entering the house. The children thought that those slippers would fit the beggar fine and thus Ravi picked them up and gave them to the beggar and then he also asked the beggar to never come back.

Q6. The children move by seeing the pathetic state of the needy. What trait do they have should they be appreciated or scolded?
Ans: The love of animals especially for young and dependent ones is evident in the story as well. But they passion to look after them is often looked down upon by elders. Rather than allowing them to follow their heart, they are instructed to be at safe distance from them. In juxta position of what is preached and practiced, confuses the young and sensitive minds.

Q7. What was Ravi’s argument for his charity of chappals to the beggar? ‘
Ans: Ravi was upset with the elders because he had always been told by them to be kind towards animals, but he had to hid milk for kitten. Rukku Manni had told about Karan who would give away everything he had to help others. Ravi had tried to help the beggar by giving away the music teacher’s chappals to him, but still Rukku Manni scolded him.

Q8. Ravi was confident and opinated. Do you agree or not?
Ans: Ravi was an intelligent child. He had good observation skills and possessed sound knowledge of history. He was playful, but had a good sense of humour. He managed to get milk for the kitten in front of Paati’s eyes. He also applied his intelligence and gave music teacher’s chappals to the beggar. He was kind and generous and remembered the story of Karan which Rukku Manni had told him.

Q9. What was the source of information about legacy of cat?
Ans: Ravi felt that his cat was a descendant of the Rishi cat of Mahabalipuram. He claimed that during his class trip to Mahabalipuram, he had seen statue of a cat there which he believed was an ancestor of this cat. He felt that the lion in the emblem of the Pallava king was a close relative of his cat.

Q10. Why was Rukkau Manni angry with the children?
Ans: Rukka Manni was very angry with the children as she had learnt about the chappals given to the old beggar that belonged to Lillis music teacher. She was very much embarrassed infront of the music master and decided to provide him Gopu Mama’s new and hardly worn a pair of chappal’s. Rukku Mani wanted him to leave the house at once and after learning she wandered what was she going to tell Gopu mama that wening about his new slippers.

Q11. Children’s world is full of spontaneity and imagination. Elucidate.
Ans: Ravi hid the kitten to a safe place yet was excited to display it to Mridu, the like-minded one. He fed it with his own share of milk without letting Patti to know about it. When he donated slippers to beggar after seeing his blisters. He wanted to give his own. He christened the kitten after relating its ancestors to be from Mahabalipuram Rishi cat. Thus their world is full of imagination and spontaneity as they have creative minds.

Q12. What was beggar’s expectation from the ladies of the household?
Ans: The beggar felt that the ladies of the household were very kind. They have enabled him survive for a week by giving him food to eat. He called them generous and found it hard to believe that they wanted to send him away.

Q13. How was the name of the cat different?
Ans: Ravi had named the kitten Mahendraverma Pallava Poonai in short. They were calling him Mahendran. Mridu liked the name because it sounded real to her and was different from the usual cute names kept for cats in general.

Q14. Character sketch of Rani
Ans: Rani is a young and intelligent boy. He is a very kind heartecl and generous as a person Rani and his siblings kept a secret by abandoning a small kitten behind a thick bitter berry bush in the backyard of their house. He secretly gets milk from the kitten for the small kitten. His imaginary skills are immensely high, like how he creates the story of the cals family and his relatives Ravi gifted the chapplas of the music master of the old beggar. Thus his character expresses his love for animals and kind hearted humanity.