Madam Rides the Bus

Madam Rides the Bus 

Q.1. What details did Vall pick up about the bus journey? How did she pick up these details?
Ans. Valli found that the town was six miles from her village. The bus took forty five minutes to reach the town and another forty five minutes to come back. The one way fare was thirty paise. She gathered all this information by hearing the conversation of her neighbours who used the bus regularly and by asking a discreet question or two.

Q.2. Give examples from the text to show that Vali was a meticulous planner?
Ans Valls was really a meticulous planner. Valli made careful, elaborate and painstaking plans for her first journey or her first ride on the bus. She saved every penny, cut down on her expenses and resisted all the temptations to save sixty paise for the fare. She gathered the information from the passengers and neighbours. She calculated the time required for the trip and found that she could use that time of the afternoon when her mother would take a nap. All this shows that she was a meticulous planner.

Q.3. How did Valli save money for her first bus journey?
Ans Valli needed sixty paise for her journey to the town and come back. To save this money she saved every coin that came her way. She resisted the temptation of buying balloons, toys etc. in the village fair. She also did not enjoy merry-go -round there. Thus she collected he money required for the bus journey.

Q.4. How can you say that the conductor was a good natured jolly fellow? Support your answer with examples.
Ans. The conductor of the bus was a good natured jolly fellow. He was concerned that such a small girl was travelling to town alone. He took care that she was comfortably seated. When Valli objected to being treated as a child, he took it in good spirit and jokingly addressed her ‘Madam’. At eh bus station he offered her to buy a drink. All this shows that he was a kind hearted and jolly fellow.

Q.5. Why does Valli stand upon the seat? What does she see now?
Ans. Valli wants to enjoy the outside view. Buut she fails to do so as the lower part of the window is covered with canvas blind. It obstructs the outside view. So Valli stands up to have look of the outside. Now she was able to see the canal and the greenery beyond it.

Q.6. Why did Valli not get off from the bus when it was terminated at the bus stand?
                               OR
Why didn't she get off the bus at the bus station? (NCERT)
Ans. Valli did not get off from the bus when it was terminated at the bus stand because it was not in her planning to get off the bus. She had come in the bus just for a ride and would go back in the same bus.

Q.7. How did Valli react when she saw the dead cow by the roadside?
Ans. When Valli saw the dead cow by the roadside she became very sad. It was the same cow she had seen on her journey to the town. It had gone running in front of the bus. It had made her laugh a lot. But now the same animal lay lifeless. It had lost all the charm and life. Its legs were spread out. There was a fixed stare in its lifeless eyes. It was a horrible sight and made Valli so shocked that she sat down on her seat.

Q.8. What information did Valli collect from her first bus ride?
Ans. The information that she collected was that the town was six miles from her village and it took thirty paise one way. She also came to know that the bus took forty five minutes to reach the town and another forty five minutes to come back.

Q.9. Why didn't Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Ans. Valli had no money to buy a drink for herself. She had money for her ticket only. Though the conductor offered to buy one for her, but she refused firmly. It shows that Valli was a child of strong determination and self - respect.