Hi Everyone!! This article will share A Baker From Goa Textbook Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared The Sermon at Benares Textbook Questions & Answers and Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers so, make sure to check these posts as well. I have also shared A Baker From Goa Important Questions & Answers so, you can check this post also.
A Baker From Goa Textbook Questions & Answers
Question 1: What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?
Answer: The elders in Goa are nostalgic about the good old Portuguese days and the famous loaves of bread. During the Portuguese regime, the baker held an esteemed position in Goa as the Portuguese were very fond of eating bread. Though the Portuguese left for good, but the mixers, the moulders and the furnaces of a baker are still there in Goa.
Question 2: Is bread-making still popular in Goa? How do you know?
Answer: Yes, bread-making is still popular in Goa. A sweet bread bol is an essential part of every marriage gift. Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other festivals. Sandwiches are necessary at the time of a daughter’s engagement.
Question 3: What is the baker called?
Answer: A baker is called a ‘pader’ in Goa.
Question 4: When would the baker come everyday? Why did the children run to meet him?
Answer: The baker would come to the author’s house at least twice everyday – once in the morning when he would set out on his selling round with his basket full, and again when he returned after having emptied his huge basket. The jingling thud of the bamboo staff of the baker woke up the children. The baker was a great friend, companion and guide of the children. The moment he came, they would all run to meet and greet him. They used to love the entire exercise of being pushed away by the household servant while trying to pick out their share of bread-bangles from the huge basket of the baker. Sometimes these bread-bangles would be made from special sweet bread. It was a mouth-watering delicacy for the children and it made them look forward to the baker’s arrival every day.
Question 5: What did the bakers wear: (i) in the Portuguese days? (ii) when the author was young?
Answer: During the Portuguese days, the bakers used to wear a peculiar dress known as the ‘kabai’. This used to be a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees.
During the days when the author was young, this dress was modified and the bakers wore shirts and three-quarter pants that were shorter than full-length ones and longer than half pants.
Question 6: Who invites the comment — “he is dressed like a pader”? Why?
Answer: Anyone who wears a longish half pant reaching below the knees invites the comment ‘dressed like a pader’. It is so because the paders also used to wear such long half pants.
Question 7: Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded?
Answer: The monthly accounts of the baker were recorded on some wall in pencil. The baker generally collected his bills at the end of a month. The accounts were maintained and settled in this manner because the baker would supply different types and varying quantities of bread throughout the month. The wall would be an easy place to keep this record.
Question 8: What does a ‘jackfruit-like appearance’ mean?
Answer: A ‘jackfruit-like’ appearance means that a person has a plump physique and a round belly. In the good old days, baking was a profitable profession and a baker used to be a prosperous, plump man with a happy family and servants so, any person with such an appearance is compared to a baker.
Question 9: Which of these statements are correct?
1. The pader was an important person in the village in old times – correct
2. Paders still exist in Goan villages – correct
3. The paders went away with the Portuguese – incorrect
4. The paders continue to wear a single-piece long frock – incorrect
5. Bread and cakes were an integral part of Goan life in the old days – correct
6. Traditional bread-baking is still a very profitable business – correct
7. Paders and their families starve in the present times – incorrect
Question 10: Tick the right answer. What is the tone of the author when he says:
(i) The thud and the jingle of the traditional baker’s bamboo can still be heard in some places – nostalgic
(ii) Maybe the father is not alive but the son still carries on the family profession – hopeful
(iii) I still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves – nostalgic
(iv) The tiger never brushed his teeth. Hot tea could wash and clean up everything so nicely, after all – naughty
(v) Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other festivals – matter-of-fact
(vi) The baker and his family never starved. They always looked happy and prosperous – matter-of-fact
So, these were A Baker From Goa Textbook Questions & Answers.