KATHMANDU
Kathmandu
I. Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.
1. Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.
(Ans.) The author visited the Pashupati Nath Temple and the Budhnath Stupa.
2. The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?
(Ans.) All this’ refers to the eatables that the writer enjoys on the road surrounding the Budhnath stupa. It includes a bar of marzipan and a roasted corn-cob that he enjoys along with the fizzy, carbonated drink, Coca Cola. Besides, he also gets some love story comics and a copy of the Reader’s Digest magazine.
3. What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
(Ans.) The flute seller had placed an attachment on top of a pole from which fifty or sixty bansuris protruded in all directions. They looked like the quills of a porcupine.
4. Name five kinds of flutes.
(Ans.) Bansuri, Reed, Murli, Shakuhachi, and Neh.
II. Answer each question in a short paragraph.
1. What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?
(Ans.) The author notes that the flute seller was not at all bothered about selling his wares. He was more engrossed in playing his flutes and sometimes talking to fellow vendors. The sale was incidental for him.
2. What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?
(Ans.) There is a small temple near the banks of the river Baghmati, which is partly submerged. The age old belief is if the water recedes enough to expose the goddess then the Goddess will leave that place and that will herald the end of the evil period of Kaliyug.
3. The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath, the things he sees, the sounds he hears.
(Ans.) Febrile confusion means a situation of complete chaos or confusion. Like most of the Hindu pilgrimage centres, Pashupatinath temple is also buzzing with people and mindless activity. The crowd, monkeys, devotees attempt to get preferential treatment. He sees small shops owned by Tibetan immigrants, selling bags, prints and jewellery. He also sees the various activities beside the Bagmati River. He hears the calls of hawkers and the sound of the flute. He hears the car horns, bicycle bells, cows mooing.
III Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.
1. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.
The atmosphere in Pashupatinath Temple is utterly noisy. People jostle with each other to catch the glimpse of the God. Monkeys are found near temples. The sacred River Bagmati has wilted flowers and leaves and even corpses thrown into it.
People take bath and wash their clothes in the same water.
The hawkers are selling their wares outside the Pashupatinath temple. On the other hand, the atmosphere at Budhnath stupa is full of calm. The way of Budhist worship is more about meditation. The Budhnath stupa has some Tibetans selling few items. It is a haven of quietness in the busy streets around.
2. How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets? The author presents the busiest streets of Kathmandu as ‘vivid, mercenary and religious’.
It is a place with beautiful, vivid, landscape, and a lot of religious activity goes on all the time. Besides the famous places like the Pashupatinath temple and the, Baudhnath stupa, Kathmandu also has small shrines and deities. It is ‘mercenary’ as it is a tourist place and a lot of businesses flourish in the narrow streets. One can find fruit sellers, flute sellers, and hawkers selling postcard photographs. As in any other tourist place, there are shops selling various things like cosmetics from western countries, rolls of film, chocolates, antique things of Nepal, and copper pots and pans. There is a bedlam of noises created by radios playing film songs, sounds of car-horns, bells of bicycles and vendors shouting to invite the customers. There are also the cows bellowing as they hear the sounds of motorcycles. Thus, the streets of Kathmandu are full of noise.
3. “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?
The author hears the music of a flute played by a flute seller in a square near his hotel in Kathmandu and is reminded of the various kinds of music produced by various types of flutes found in various cultures. However, the flute is universal because almost every culture has flutes, though each has a different tone and pitch. The author further describes the variety of flutes named differently as the shakuhachi in Japan and the bansuri in India. They have different fingering methods and ranges of sound. The Indian bansuri has a deep sound, the South American flute emits clear, breathy sound and the Chinese flute gives out loud, high-pitched melodies. Despite the variety of flutes and the variations in their music, the author emphasises that the music of all the flutes closely resembles human voice. To produce music, every flute needs pauses and breaths in the same manner in which phrases and sentences are uttered in human voice. These pauses and breaths are generated through fingering of the holes on a flute. This characteristic feature of the flutes gives the author a feeling of being ‘drawn into the commonality of mankind’, which gives him a sense of universality and harmony.
I. Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.
1. Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.
(Ans.) The author visited the Pashupati Nath Temple and the Budhnath Stupa.
2. The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?
(Ans.) All this’ refers to the eatables that the writer enjoys on the road surrounding the Budhnath stupa. It includes a bar of marzipan and a roasted corn-cob that he enjoys along with the fizzy, carbonated drink, Coca Cola. Besides, he also gets some love story comics and a copy of the Reader’s Digest magazine.
3. What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
(Ans.) The flute seller had placed an attachment on top of a pole from which fifty or sixty bansuris protruded in all directions. They looked like the quills of a porcupine.
4. Name five kinds of flutes.
(Ans.) Bansuri, Reed, Murli, Shakuhachi, and Neh.
II. Answer each question in a short paragraph.
1. What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?
(Ans.) The author notes that the flute seller was not at all bothered about selling his wares. He was more engrossed in playing his flutes and sometimes talking to fellow vendors. The sale was incidental for him.
2. What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?
(Ans.) There is a small temple near the banks of the river Baghmati, which is partly submerged. The age old belief is if the water recedes enough to expose the goddess then the Goddess will leave that place and that will herald the end of the evil period of Kaliyug.
3. The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath, the things he sees, the sounds he hears.
(Ans.) Febrile confusion means a situation of complete chaos or confusion. Like most of the Hindu pilgrimage centres, Pashupatinath temple is also buzzing with people and mindless activity. The crowd, monkeys, devotees attempt to get preferential treatment. He sees small shops owned by Tibetan immigrants, selling bags, prints and jewellery. He also sees the various activities beside the Bagmati River. He hears the calls of hawkers and the sound of the flute. He hears the car horns, bicycle bells, cows mooing.
III Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.
1. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.
The atmosphere in Pashupatinath Temple is utterly noisy. People jostle with each other to catch the glimpse of the God. Monkeys are found near temples. The sacred River Bagmati has wilted flowers and leaves and even corpses thrown into it.
People take bath and wash their clothes in the same water.
The hawkers are selling their wares outside the Pashupatinath temple. On the other hand, the atmosphere at Budhnath stupa is full of calm. The way of Budhist worship is more about meditation. The Budhnath stupa has some Tibetans selling few items. It is a haven of quietness in the busy streets around.
2. How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets? The author presents the busiest streets of Kathmandu as ‘vivid, mercenary and religious’.
It is a place with beautiful, vivid, landscape, and a lot of religious activity goes on all the time. Besides the famous places like the Pashupatinath temple and the, Baudhnath stupa, Kathmandu also has small shrines and deities. It is ‘mercenary’ as it is a tourist place and a lot of businesses flourish in the narrow streets. One can find fruit sellers, flute sellers, and hawkers selling postcard photographs. As in any other tourist place, there are shops selling various things like cosmetics from western countries, rolls of film, chocolates, antique things of Nepal, and copper pots and pans. There is a bedlam of noises created by radios playing film songs, sounds of car-horns, bells of bicycles and vendors shouting to invite the customers. There are also the cows bellowing as they hear the sounds of motorcycles. Thus, the streets of Kathmandu are full of noise.
3. “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?
The author hears the music of a flute played by a flute seller in a square near his hotel in Kathmandu and is reminded of the various kinds of music produced by various types of flutes found in various cultures. However, the flute is universal because almost every culture has flutes, though each has a different tone and pitch. The author further describes the variety of flutes named differently as the shakuhachi in Japan and the bansuri in India. They have different fingering methods and ranges of sound. The Indian bansuri has a deep sound, the South American flute emits clear, breathy sound and the Chinese flute gives out loud, high-pitched melodies. Despite the variety of flutes and the variations in their music, the author emphasises that the music of all the flutes closely resembles human voice. To produce music, every flute needs pauses and breaths in the same manner in which phrases and sentences are uttered in human voice. These pauses and breaths are generated through fingering of the holes on a flute. This characteristic feature of the flutes gives the author a feeling of being ‘drawn into the commonality of mankind’, which gives him a sense of universality and harmony.
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