Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers

Hi Everyone!! This article will share Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers.

In my previous posts, I have shared The Sermon at Benares Textbook Questions & Answers and Amanda Textbook Questions & Answers so, make sure to check these posts as well. I have also shared Madam Rides the Bus Important Questions & Answers and Madam Rides the Bus Character Sketch so, you can check these posts also.

Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers

Question 1: What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

Answer: Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house watching the activities on the street outside.

Question 2: What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?

Answer: The sight of the bus, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli. Her strongest desire was to have a ride in the bus that travelled between the village and the nearest town.

Question 3: What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?

Answer: From the conversations between her neighbours and the passengers who regularly used the bus, Valli found out small details about the bus journey. She came to know that the town was six miles from her village and the one-way bus fare was thirty paise. She also learnt about bus daily schedule and the time each trip took.

Question 4: What do you think Valli was planning to do?

Answer: Valli was planning to undertake the bus journey from her village to the nearest town. So, she made elaborate calculations, recalculations, planned and replanned to fulfill this overwhelming desire.

Question 5: Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

Answer: Though Valli is just eight years old but she behaves like a grown-up, mature person. She is quite confident and doesn’t show any hesitation while talking to the conductor or her co-passengers. So, because of her self-confidence and assertiveness, the conductor calls Valli ‘madam’.

Question 6: Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

Answer: Valli stands up on the seat to see the view outside as she is short and finds her outside view cut off owing to the canvas blind that covered the lower part of her window. As the bus goes along the bank of a canal, Valli sees palm trees, grassland, distant mountains and the blue sky beyond it on one side and on the other side, she sees a deep ditch and acres and acres of green fields.

Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers

Question 7: What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

Answer: Valli feels extremely annoyed and irritated when the elderly man calls her a child. To show her displeasure, she tells the man that she is already eight years of age and is not a child. Moreover, she has paid her thirty paise to buy the ticket.

Question 8: Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Answer: Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman because she was ugly and dirty. She had big ear lobes with big holes and ugly earrings in them. Valli could smell the betel nut the woman was chewing and see the betel juice that was threatening to spill over her lips at any moment. Valli found the woman absolutely repulsive so she did not want to make friends with her.

Question 9: How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

Answer: Valli made careful, painstaking, elaborate plans to save money for her first journey. No, it was not easy for as she had to thriftily save whatever stray coins came her way and resisted every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and riding the merry-go-round.

Question 10: What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

Answer: Valli saw a young cow with tail high in the air, was running very fast, right in the middle of the road, right in front of the bus. This made Valli laugh and clap her hands with glee.

Question 11: Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

Answer: Valli didn’t get off the bus at the bus station because she was too afraid to go out in the shopping street all by herself and secondly, she was to go back by the same bus.

Question 12: Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?

Answer: Valli didn’t want to go to the stall and have a drink because she was having just enough money to buy the ticket for her return journey and also, she was a bit too afraid to go out in the shopping street all by herself.

This tells us that Valli was a very cautious girl and avoided undue risks.

Question 13: Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.

Answer: The following lines in the text show that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus:

  • “Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”
  • “On the one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields − green, green, green, as far as the eye could see. Oh, it was all so wonderful!”
  • “Everyone laughed, and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter. Suddenly, Valli clapped her hands with glee.”
  • “Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.”
  • “Valli wasn’t bored to the slightest and greeted everything with the same excitement she’d felt the first time.”

Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers

Question 14: Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?

Answer: Valli refuses to look out of the window on her way back because the memory of a young cow lying dead by the roadside haunted her. She was overcome by sadness as what was so beautiful a little while ago had turned into a ghastly sight. So, she remained glued to her seat until the bus reached her village.

Question 15: What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.

Answer: Valli agreed to her mother’s statement that things happened without their knowing about them. She meant to say that her mother was ignorant about her bus ride.

Question 16: The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?

Answer: Yes, for example, when the author says, ‘she was fascinated by the bus’ and ‘watching the bus fill with a new set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her’. When the author describes the bus, he stresses on the colour and look of the new bus ‘like silver’ because a child is attracted towards colour. ‘The seats were soft and luxurious’. The description that the author gives when Valli looked outside are also typical of an 8-year-old. ‘The blue sky’ and ‘acres and acres of green field’, show the enthusiasm a child. A cow running in front of the bus fascinated the child whereas the sight of dead cow brought tears in her eyes and she refused to look outside the window on her return journey. This also describes the behavior of an 8-year-old child aptly.

Question 17: What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.

Answer:

i. “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised commandingly.

ii. “Yes, I simply have to go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.

iii. “There’s nobody here who’s a child,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”

iv. “Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself. You don’t have to help me. I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said.

v. “You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of myself,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.

vi. Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope to see you again.”

These words show that Valli is a mature, determined and independent girl. Although she is only eight years of age, she has confidence and can take care of herself.

So, these were Class 10 Madam Rides the Bus Textbook Questions & Answers.

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