THE TREASURE WITHIN
Q.1 : What did Hafeez contractor have nightmares about?
ANS: Hafeez Contractor got nightmares about appearing for a mathematics examination in which he did not know anything.
Q.2: What did the Principal say to him, which influenced him deeply?
ANS: When Hafeez was in the eleventh standard, his Principal said to him that he had been seeing him since day one. He was a good student. However, he had never studied. The principal told him that so far he had taken care of him, but from then on he was by himself. He mentioned how Hafeez’s mother had worked extremely hard to bring him up and had paid all his fees for all those years. However, he had only played games. He thus told Hafeez to rise to the occasion and study. These words influenced Hafeez in a deep manner.
Q.3 : “... that year I did not step out onto the field.” What was he busy doing that year?
ANS: He was busy studying that year. He went for prayers, and just ate and studied.
Q.4: (i) What “distraction” did Hafeez Contractor create one day?
(ii) Would you have liked to participate in the “distraction” had you
been with him?
ANS: (i) Hafeez mentions how one day he did not want to study. Thus, he decided to create a “distraction”, and for one whole hour, he played ‘chor-police’ with his classmates.
Q.5: Is it likely that someone who is original and intelligent does not do very well at school? Should such a learner be called a failure? If not, why not?
ANS: It is likely that someone who is original and intelligent does not do very well at school. Such a learner should not be called a failure as everyone has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Those who are academically brilliant do well in other fields. Hafeez Contractor was not a very good student. However, he had the talent for construction, and he is now one of the leading architects. Each individual has his or her own individual talents, which may or may not be visible in the academic report. That is why students should be encouraged to showcase their talents, and work on them. They should not be called failures.
Q.6: Hafeez Contractor wanted to join the police force. Why didn’t he?
ANS: Hefeez Contractor did not join the police force because his mother told him not to. His mother told him to do his graduation.
Q.7: In the architect’s office, Hafeez Contractor was advised to drop everything and join architecture. Why?
ANS: When Hafeez Contractor was in the architect’s office, he saw somebody drawing a window detail. He told him that his drawing was wrong, and that the window he had drawn would not open. Later, it was found that the drawing was indeed wrong. Seeing this, his cousin’s husband asked him to draw a few specific things, which he immediately did. He then asked him to design a house and he completed this task as well. His potential for architecture was clearly visible from these incidents. Thus, he was told to drop everything and join architecture.
Q.8: (i) What was Mrs Gupta’s advice to Hafeez contractor?
(ii) What made her advise him so?
ANS: (i) Mrs. Gupta, who was Hafeez Contractor’s teacher in the second and third grades, advised him to become an architect when he grew up.
(ii) She always said to him that he was quite useless in everything, except for his sketches, which were always very good. Therefore, she advised him to take up architecture.
Q.9: How did he help fellow students who had lost a button?
ANS: When his fellow students lost a button, he helped them by cutting a button from chalk, by using a blade.
Q.10: Which rules did he break as a school boy?
ANS: As a school boy, he was more interested in things other than academics. If it started raining outside, he would think of the flowing water, and how to build a dam to block it. He thought about the flow of water within the dam, and how much of water the dam would be able to hold. He was interested only in games, running around, and playing jokes and pranks on others. He copied in class during exams. He used to get hold of the examination paper that had been prepared, and study it as he could not remember things that had been taught to him in class.
Q.11: (i) What is Hafeez contractor’s definition of mathematics?
(ii) How would you want to define mathematics? Do you like the subject?
ANS: (i) He said that putting design, construction, psychology and sociology together, and making a sketch from all that is ‘mathematics’.
