Madam Rides The Bus by Vallikkannan
1. Choose the correct answer:-
(i) Despite having a strong desire, what did Valli resist in the fair to save for the bus fare? hslc-2023
(a) merry-go-round
(b) ribbons
(c) snacks
(d) lollipops
Ans:- (a) merry-go-round
(ii) How old was Valli?
(a) ten years old
(b) eight years old
(c) nine years old
(d) six years old
Ans:- (b) eight years old
(iii) What was the bus fare for a trip from the village to the town?
(a) thiry paise
(b) twenty paise
(c) one rupee
(d) sixty paise
Ans:- (a) thiry paise
(iv) How much money did Valli save for the bus ride?
(a) thiry paise
(b) twenty paise
(c) one rupee
(d) sixty paise
Ans:- (d) sixty paise
(v) The outside of the bus was painted:
(a) blue
(b) red
(c) white
(d) yellow
Ans:- (c) white
(vi) How much time does it take to reach the town by bus?
(a) one hour
(b) half an hour
(c) forty five minutes
(d) twenty five minutes
Ans:- (c) forty five minutes
(vii) Who is a 'real chatterbox' in the lesson Madam Rides the Bus'?
(a) Valli
(b) The conductor
(c) Valli's aunty
(d) Valli's mother
Ans:- (c) Valli's aunty
(viii) Which word did Valli and her friends use as a slang expression for disapproval?
(a) stupid
(b) proud
(c) mad
Ans:- (b) proud
(ix) What made Valli sad?
(a) car accident
(b) dead cow
(c) dead bull
(d) the old lady
Ans:-(b) dead cow
(x) Where did Valli's aunt live?
(a) West Street
(b) North Street
(c) East Street
(d) South Street
Ans:- (d) South Street
(xi) How was the bus conductor?
(a) moody
(b) jolly
(c) strict
Ans:- (b) jolly
(xii) Valli would stare wistfully at the people...
(a) carefully
(b) longingly
(c) angrily
Ans:- (b) longingly
(xiii) This aunt was a real chatterbox....
(a) funny
(b) talkative
(c) friendly
Ans:- (b) talkative
(xiv) Valli found the woman absolutely repulsive.
(a) strong dislike
(b) attractive
(c) clever
Ans:- (a) strong dislike
(xv) Valli clapped her hands with glee.
(a) distaste
(b) delight
(c) gloom
Ans:- (b) delight
(xvi) Outside painted a gleaming white.
(a) shining
(b) dull
(c) faded
Ans:- (a) shining
(xvii) For Valli, the most fascinating thing to watch was:
(a) cows grazing in the field
(b) children playing in the park
(c) the bus that traveled between her village and the nearest town
Ans:- (c) the bus that traveled between her village and the nearest town
2. State True or False:
(i) Valli was a curious girl.
Ans:- True
(ii) Valli informed her mother about her bus journey.
Ans:- False
3. What was the full name of Valli?
Ans:-The full name of Valli was Valliammai.
4. What was Valli's tiny wish?
Ans:- Valli's tiny wish was to ride on the bus.
5. Who translated the story "Madam Rides the Bus" from Tamil to English?
Ans:- K. S. Sundaram translated the story "Madam Rides the Bus" from Tamil to English.
6. What kind of person was the bus conductor? How did he address Valli? hslc-2023
Ans:- The conductor of the bus was a jolly, kind-hearted and a friendly person. He used to crack jokes to make a normal situation amusing. He was helpful and caring towards Valli but also made fun of her over-confident nature.
He addressed Valli as 'Madam'.
7. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
(OR) What scene did Valli see on way back home that made her very serious?
Ans:- Valli reached the town. The conductor told her to get down. But Valli told him that she was going back to her village on the same bus.
During her return journey Valli saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside. She asked the conductor if the cow wasn't the same that had run before the bus earlier. The conductor replied by nodding his head. The memory of the dead cow haunted Valli. So, she did not want to look out of the window in her way back
3. What was the most fascinating thing that Valli enjoyed watching from her door?
Ans:- The most fascinating thing of all for Valli was the bus. The bus looked very mysterious for her. She thought that the bus carried another world. The bus traveled between her village and nearby town. The bus passed through her road every hour. The unending joy for Valli was the few of the buses carrying new passengers.
5. How did Valli pick up various small details about the bus journey?
(OR) What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find these details?
Ans:- Valli collected all the information about the town and the bus journey. She came to know that the town was six miles from her village. The bus fare was thirty paise one-way and it took forty five minutes to reach the town.
She collected that information from the conversations of her neighbours and the passengers coming regularly by bus.
6. What do you think Valli was planning to do?
Ans:- Valli was planning to ride on the bus. She could take the one-o'clock afternoon bus and returned home at about two-forty five p.m.
7. Why does the conductor call Valli 'Madam'?
Ans:- The bus conductor calls Valli 'madam' because she behaves like a grownup lady.
8. Why did Valli find the old woman who sat beside her in the bus 'absolutely repulsive'? HSLC-2020
Ans:- The old woman had big holes in her ear lobes and wore ugly earrings. Valli could even smell the betel nut the woman was chewing. She found the woman absolutely repulsive as she looked too ugly for her.
9. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Ans:- Valli stands up on the seat because she could not see outside. Now, she sees the canal and other things beyond it.
10. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Ans:- Valli tells the elderly man that there is nobody there who is a child in the bus. And she also says haughtily to the man “I've paid my thirty paise like everyone else”.
11. How did Valli collect the bus fare for her trip to the town?
Ans:- Valli was an eight years old girl. She collected her bus fare for her first journey. She did not buy peppermints, toys, balloons etc.
12. How could Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Ans:- Valli saved up money for her first journey. In order to save money she did not buy peppermints, toys, balloons etc. She also prevented herself from riding on the merrygo-round. It was not easy for her.
13. Why didn't Valli get off the bus at the bus station?
Ans:- Valli did not get off the bus because she was going back on the same bus.
14. Why didn't Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Ans:- Valli did not want to go to the stall and have a drink because she had no money. She also refused to accept cold-drink offered by the conductor. It tells that Valli was a wise, self-confident and self-respecting girl.
15. What was the Valli's deepest desire?
Ans:-Valli's deepest desire was to ride on the bus from her village to the nearby town.
16. What kind of a person is Valli?
Ans:- Valli is a wise, self-confident and self-respecting girl with a commanding nature.
17. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge?
Ans:- By this sentence Valli means that many things happen in our midst without our knowledge. Even if we know we can not understand the things properly.
18. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh? HSLC-2015, 2017, 2020
Ans:- On her way, Valli saw a young cow, tail high in the air which was running fast in front of the bus. The driver sounded the horn loudly, but the more the driver honked, the more frightened the animal became and the faster it galloped, always right in front of the bus. This, somehow was very funny to Valli and made her laugh very much.
19. What was the Valli's favourite pastime? HSLC-2016
Ans:- Valli's favourite pastime was to stand on the front doorway of her house and watch the happenings in the street outside.
20. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her overwhelming desire? HSLC-2018
Ans:- The sight of the bus filled each time with a new set of passengers was the source of unending joy for Valli.
Her overwhelming desire was to ride the bus, even if just once.
21. What was the distance from Valli's village to the nearest town? What was the bus fare for a trip from Valli's village to the town? HSLC-2019
Ans:- The distance from Valli's village to the nearest town was six miles. The bus fare for a trip from Valli's village to the town was thirty paise one way.
22. Give a description of the bus in which Valli traveled. HSLC-2019
Ans:- The bus in which Valli traveled was outside painted a gleaming white with some green stripes along the sides. Inside, the overhead bars shone like silver. Directly, in front of Valli, above the windshield, there was a beautiful clock, the seats of the bus were soft and luxurious.
Syllabus of Class X English
1. A Letter to God
2. Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
3. A Tiger in the zoo by Leslie Norris
4. Amanda by Robin Klein
5. Animals by Walt Whitman
6. Coorg by Lokesh Abrol
7. Tea from Assam by Arup Kumar Datta
8. Madam Rides the Bus by Vallikkannan
9. The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash
Momemts Supplimentary Reader in Class X English
10. The Midnight visitor
11. A Question of Trust
12. Footprint without feet
13. The Hack Driver
Mr. Rupjyoti Goswami
Post Graduate Teacher (English)
Bhogeswar Hazarika Girls' Higher Secondary School, Bebejia, Nagaon, Assam.
Email: rupjyotigoswami983@gmail.com
Mobile: 9864425896.
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