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Question I:

Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.

1.     Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.

2.     The writer says, "All this I wash down with Coca Cola." What does 'all this' refer to?

3.     What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?

4.     Name five kinds of flutes.

Answer I:

1.                 The two temples visited by the author in Kathmandu were the Pashupatinath temple and the Baudhnath stupa.

2.                 'All this' refers to eating a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob roasted in a charcoal stove (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon), and reading a couple of love story comics and a Reader's Digest.

3.                 Vikram Seth compares the fifty or sixty bansuris sticking out in all directions from the pole of a flute seller to the quills of a porcupine.

4.                 The Japanese shakuhachi, the reed neh, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear flutes of South America, and the high-pitched Chinese flutes.

Question II:

Answer each question in a short paragraph.

1.     What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?

2.     What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?

3.     The author has drawn powerf ul images and pictu res. Pick out three examples each of

(i)               the atmosphere of 'febrile confusion' outside the temple of Pashupatinath (for example: some people trying to get the priest 's attention are elbowed aside...)

(ii)             the things he sees

(iii)          the sounds he hears

Answer II:

1.                 The author notices that while all the other hawkers shouted out their wares, the flute seller was a little different and did not shout his ware. He simply played his flute, slowly and meditatively, without too much of display.

2.                 At Pashupatinath, there is a small shrine that protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank of Bagmati. It is believed that when the shrine will emerge to the fullest form, the goddess inside it will escape from it and the evil period of Kalyug on the earth will come to an end.

3.                  

(i)               The author has drawn powerfu l images and pictures of the atmosphere of 'febrile confusion' outside the temple of Pashupatinath. These include the following: a group of saffron-clad Westerners were facing difficulty to enter the main gate as only the Hindus were allowed to enter the temple; a fight that breaks out between two monkeys; and a royal Nepalese princess for whom everyone makes way.

(ii)             He saw that the Baudhnath Stupa had an extreme white dome, which was ringed by a road. There were small shops on the outer edge where bags, Tibetan prints and silver jewellery could be purchased. That place was not crowded. On the busiest streets of Kathmand u, he saw fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.

(iii)          The sounds he heard were film songs that were screeching out from the radios, car horns, bicycle bells, vendors shouting out their wares on the street. He also listened to flute music, calling it the most universal and most particular of sounds.

Question III:

1.                 Answer the following questions in not m ore than 100-150 words each.

1.                 Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.

2.                 How does the author describe Kathmandu's busiest streets?

3.                 "To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind." Why does the author say this?

Answer III:

1.                 The atmosphere at the Pashupatinath temple was very n oisy, and full of chaos and confusion. Worshippers were battling to get the priest's attention; some people were pushing and elbowing their way to the front; saffron-cla d Westerners were trying to enter the tem ple but were struggling and fighting with the guards; monkeys were fighting and adding to the overall noise; a corpse was being cremated on the banks of the river Bagmati; washerwomen were at their work,while children were having a bath. In contrast, the Baudhnath stupa on the other hand was "a haven of quietness in the busy streets around". There was no crowd and hence it was relaxing. The silence helped build the stillness and serenity at the Buddhist shrine.

2.                 Along Kathmandu's narrow and busy streets, there have small shrines and deities adorned with flower. Apart from these the streets are full of fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postca rds, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, those selling copper utensils and Nepalese antiques. The author hears film songs that were screeching out from the radios, sounds of car horns and bicycle bells, vendors shouting out their wares. He also says that stray cows were roaming about on the roads. He draws a vibrant pictu re of a flute seller with many bansuris seeking out from his pole. He describes how the serene music produced by the flute seller is heard clearly above all the other noise.

3.                 The author believes the flute's music to be "the most universa l and most particular" of all music. This is one musical instrument which is common to all cultures. We have the reed neh, the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical musi c, the breathy flutes of South America, the high-pitched Chinese flutes, etc. Even though each of these flutes has its own specific fingering and compass yet the author feels that to hear any flute is "to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind". This is because the sound produced by flute is very similar to the same living breath of humans which runs through all of them. Similarly, despite the differences in our caste, culture, religion, region, all human beings are the same.