Living in the World of Four Senses

Word Bank

Knick-knacks == Small objects which people enjoy looking at or playing with.

Expunged == rubbed out totally

Deprived == Prevented from having something

Fragile == delicate

Despair == a feeling of hopelessness because things seem so bad or unpleasant

Impasse == a difficult situation from which it is impossible to bring about a solution.

Exhaustively == thoroughly

Atonement == Something you do to show that you are sorry for the wrong you have done

Exertion == Physical effort or exercise

Myriad == Things in a very large number

Stubble == Newly grown

Caress == Affection, love, kiss

Acquiesced == Agree unwillingly

Questions and Answers

Q.1. What are the memories of childhood that every person fondly remembers?

Ans. Every person remembers those persons who are affectionate to him during his childhood. He remembers his parents , brothers , sisters and friends.He remembers his playing with other children and the experiences he face with.

He also remembers the pleasant and frolicsome episodes of this childhood. He remembers the colours , the butterflies and birds.

Q. 2. The author’s childhood was different from that of other children. How?

Ans. The author’s childhood was different from that of other children as he was having a prolonged sickness (Meningitis) so he went blind at the age of three, because of this he was deprived of all the sweet and pleasant things that a child loves and enjoys to do in his childhood. He lived in the world of four senses while other children lived in the world of five senses.

Q.3. “It was good that I lost my sight when I did……” Why does the author say that?

Ans. The author means to say that having no memories of seeing there was nothing to look back, nothing to miss.

Q.4. The author’s father especially asked for a transfer to Karnal. Why?

Ans. Author’s father wanted his transfer to Karnal because of friends and relatives, who came to sympathsize them which hurts them a lot so the wanted to live a peaceful and quiet life.

Q.5. How did the various members of his family treat the author soon after he turned blind? Discuss.

Ans. In the beginning, it was tough for all the family members to have a blind person in their house and the only blind person the author’s parents have seen were began. Although the author was treated with great care and love after he turned blind.

Q.6. Why did the author’s family object to the treatment prescribed by Hakim and the family pandit?

Ans.The author’s father himself being a doctor considered the treatment prescribed by hakims and pundits unscientific and irrelevant.

Q.7. Which incident shows that the author had developed a very keen sense of hearing?

Ans. When his mother used to shake her hand before him, putting switch on and off shows that the author developed a very keen sense of hearing.

Q. 8. What was the fate that normally befell a blind person in India in the 1930s and 1940s?

Ans. In the 1930s and 1940s in India, all blind people had turned to begging for their livelihood, or had become owners of Pan and Biri shops and spent their days rolling huts and condiments in a betel leaf or tobacco in a cigarette paper.

Q.9. Why did the author’s father wish to send him a hundred miles away?

Ans. The author was sent to Dadar school for Blind in Bombay that was nine hundred miles away from his home because his father knows that his staying at home would result in his father knew that his staying at home would result in his dependence on other family members. The author’s father further realized that his son would have difficulty in playing with normal children.

Q.10. In about 50 words, give a brief character sketch of the author’s s father?

Ans. The author’s father was a medical doctor by profession. He had a wife, two sons and three daughters. His second son, the author, had turned blind at the age of three and a half year. The author’s father did not believe in Pandits and Hakims. He believed in scientific treatment. He did not allow his wife to continue with the treatment of Hakims. He was a practical man. He wrote to different quarters to seek advice from them for his blind son. He succeeded in getting the advice from the principal of Dadar School for Blind. He made his wife agree to send his child to the school for the blind. This changed the life of the author and he became a useful citizen.