Session 2022-2023

Connecting Class to Home

CLASS: X SUBJECT: ENGLISH July 2023
Book: Footprints Without Feet
Ch: The Thief’s Story
By: Ruskin Bond
NCERT Solutions (Notebook Work)
Ques1. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Answer: I refer to Hari Singh, the narrator of the story who is a 15-year-old experienced thief.
Ques2. What is he “a fairly successful hand” at?
Answer: He is a fairly successful hand at stealing. He is an experienced thief. He is so clean and
swift in the work that he robs people without being caught.
Ques3. What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Answer: In return of Hari Singh’s work, Anil gives him food and a place to live in.
Ques4. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Answer: According to Hari, Anil would be sad not because of the loss of money but because of the
loss of trust he had in Hari.
Ques5. What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?
Answer: Hari’s experience at theft had made him aware of differences in reactions of people when
they’re robbed. According to him, a greedy man shows fear; the rich, anger, and a poor man,
acceptance.
Ques6. Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?
Answer: Yes, Anil realised that he had been robbed, as he gave a fifty rupee note to Hari which
was still damp due to the night’s rain.
Ques7. What are Hari Singh’s reactions at the prospect of receiving an education? Do they
change overtime? What makes him return to Anil?
Answer: Hari was very happy and grateful when he learned to write his name. He was very
excited when Anil promised to teach him to write whole sentences as well. He knew that being an
educated man will add to his abilities and he could achieve anything. But when he left Anil’s
house, he realised that stealing was simply a crime to indulge himself but being educated was an
entirely different thing. He knew the respect, reputation, and possibilities that would come to him
once he was educated. And so his urge to receive education compelled him to return to Anil.
Ques8. Why does Anil not hand the thief over to the police? Do you think most people would
have done so? In what ways is Anil different from such employers?
Answer: Unlike others, Anil does not handover Hari to the police on theft charges. He knew about
the theft but he did not thrash him nor even mentioned it in front of Hari. He was glad that Hari
had realised his mistake and the importance of education in life.
Anil wanted Hari to become a literate man and lead a respectful life.
He is different from other such employers because he is very understanding. Hari’s return gave
him the hope of a change in him.
Ques9. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or are there
such people in real life?
Answer: People like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction. Though exceptions might be
there, these people are rarely found. Anil was a kind and considerate person who was concerned,
about Hari’s education and future. And Hari was a thief whose heart changes after realising the
importance of education for his future. People like these are imaginary in today’s world.
Ques10. Do you think it is a significant detail i story that Anil is a struggling writer? this
explain his behaviour in any way
Answer: Yes, it is a significant detail that Anil is a struggling writer. His lifestyle was simple and
used to spend according to his pocket at all time His struggle sometimes gave him a lot of income
while at other times he used to worry about the next payment. Hari’s observation about the
discontinuation in his work justifies his behave regarding money.
Ques11. Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? Can you think and imagine the circumstances
that can turn a fifteen-year-old boy into a thief?
Answer: No, I haven’t met anyone like Hari Singh but the existence of such people is certain. A
fifteen-year-old boy can be forced by circumstances to become a thief. It may be the need to feed
the stomach, to satisfy illegal addiction, to maintain health, to fulfill luxurious demands, etc
Ques12. Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the persons and places
mentioned in it). Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the
characters in the story spoke to each other in English?
Answer: The story is set somewhere in Uttar Pradesh near Lucknow. We can say so because the
story mentions that there is a railway station for Express train to Lucknow. The presence of sweet
shops and bazaars also indicate it to be a decent-sized town. No, the characters in the story do not
speak to each other in English but probably in Hindi.

Ch: The Midnight Visitor

By: Robert Arthur
NCERT Solutions (Notebook Work)
Ques1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
Answer: Ausable is different from other secret agents in more ways than one. He has a small room
in the musty corridor of a gloomy French hotel. It was on the sixth and top floor and it was
scarcely the setting for a romantic adventure. He was extremely fat. In spite of living in Paris for
over twenty years, he spoke French and German with difficulty and had an American accent.
Instead of getting messages passed secretly to him by beautiful girls, he got only a routine
telephone call making an appointment. In these ways, he was different from the conventional
notion of a secret agent.
He dealt with Max by inventing some stories and convincing Max to act on them so that he could
get rid of Max permanently.
Ques2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day?
Answer: Fowler is a writer and he had come to meet Ausable. His first authentic thrill of the day
came when he saw a man in Ausable’s room pointing a pistol towards Ausable and himself.
Ques3. How has Max got in?
Answer: Max had got into the room using a passkey or master key.
Ques4. How does Ausable say he got in?
Answer: Ausable said that he thought Max had got into the room through the balcony. He said
that it was the second time in a month that somebody had got into his room this way.
Ques5. ‘Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do
secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some
stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance
with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other
than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or
Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)
Answer: Secret agents in fiction are projected like ideal men, ‘Tall dark and handsome’. They are
usually well-built and keep beautiful women for the company. They would smoke a pipe (like
Sherlock Holmes) or a cigar and execute death-defying stunts (like James Bond). Movies based on
James Bond show hi-tech gadgets that assist the detective in countering villains. However, there
are some exceptions to this appearance of a secret agent also. A character named Feluda was
created by Satyajit Ray, the famous Bengali filmmaker. Feluda was a tall athletic figure who relied
on his superb analytical ability and observation skill.
Ques6. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his
room? Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?
Answer: Ausable creates a detailed description of how his office was part of a bigger apartment
and how the next room had a direct connection with a balcony. His statement that. somebody else
also broke into his office through that balcony earlier made it a convincing story. Ausable’s ability
to think quickly and calmly in a situation of panic makes it convincing.
Ques7. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting
rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or
did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?
Answer: No, I don’t think that he had worked out his plan in detail earlier. He took advantage of
events as they happened. Ausable made up a story of the balcony outside the room and as there
was a knock at the door, he said that it would be the police. All these made Max desperate. He
became restless and without seeing below, jumped out of the window.
Ques8. In this story, Ausable shows great ‘presence of mind’, or the ability to think quickly and
act calmly and wisely, in a situation of danger and surprise. Give examples from your own
experience, or narrate a story, which shows someone’s presence of mind.
Answer: This story refers to the play ‘If I Were You’. Gerrard was held hostage by a criminal.
However, Gerrard treated the criminal as a guest and trapped him with his confidence. He
managed to convince the criminal to run away as the police is behind him. He told the criminal to
run through the exit door, which was actually a cupboard door. The criminal exited through the
door and was trapped in the cupboard.

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