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When the king heard his courtiers talking about Hilsa-fish, he lost his temper and warned them that they were courtiers and not fishermen. But the king soon felt guilty, looking at his nervous and humble courtiers whom he had rebuked. His tone changed and he said that it was the season of Hilsa and nobody could be stopped from! talking about it.

The music teacher was a bony figure. He was sitting in front of Lalli with his back towards the window. He was a bald-headed man with fringe of oiled black hair falling around his ears. He had an old-fashioned tuft. He had a shining gold chain around his neck and a diamond ring on his finger. He was wearing a golden-bordered dhoti. His large foot was stuck on the floor and he was beating time on the floor with his scrawny big toe.

Gopal was one of the wise men in the king’s court. When the king was fed up with ongoing talks about Hilsa-fish he: challenged Gopal. Gopal happily accepted the challenge of, buying a huge Hilsa-fish from the market; and to ensure that on the way from the market to the palace no one should talk to him about the fish. Gopal was an intelligent man. He dressed up like a mad man and his appearance caught everyone’s attention. He reached the court without anyone talking about the fish as everyone was drawn towards his appearance.

No one was interested in talking about the Hilsa-fish because the weird getup of Gopal had diverted everybody’s attention from the Hilsa-fish. Gopal was wearing rags, his face was half-shaven and ash was smeared over his body. People were more interested in his appearance than in the fish.

Gopal started singing and dancing in front of the palace at a loud voice. Observing his weird appearance and strange behaviour, the guards did not allow him to enter the palace, but when the king heard the noise, he ordered his men to bring the nuisance maker inside the palace.

Gopal half-shaved his face smeared ash on his body and wore rags before going out to buy a Hilsa-fish.

Ravi was an intelligent child. He had good observation skills and possessed sound knowledge of history. He was playful but had a good sense of humour. He managed to get milk for the kitten by deceiving Paati very cleverly. He also applied his intelligence and gave music teachers’ chappals to the beggar. He was kind and generous and remembered the story of Kama which Rukku Manni had told him.

Answer is (C) 1, 3

Answer is (B) Villi

Gopal funny appearance attracted the attention of people much more than the hilsafish. At that time, no one was caring about the hilsa-fish he was carrying. Everyone was busy in talking about his mad appearance, half shaved face and rags.

It was the season of Hilsa fish as everyone was busy talking about it. The king was fed of the talks about Hilsa-fish. More-ever, he did not want his courtiers to waste their time on these talks which could effect their work.

There was once a play which became very successful. A famous actor was acting in it. In the play his role was that of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in a castle for twenty years. In the last act of the play someone would come on the stage with a letter which he would hand over to the prisoner. Even though the aristocrat was not expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that the letter be written out from beginning to end.

There was a stag and he lived in a jungle. One day he went to drink water in a pond. He saw his reflection in the pond. He felt proud of his beautiful antlers but he was ashamed of his thin and ugly legs. Suddenly, there were hunters behind him. The stag ran to save his life. He wanted to hide in the bushes, but couldn’t as his antlers were stuck in them. He found the hunters just behind him.

He ran for his life and was finally saved. In the end, he realised that he was feeling proud of his antlers, but he would have been killed because of them. He felt ashamed of his legs, but the very same legs helped him run fast and save his life. The title is: Do not judge by appearances.

1. True

2. False

3. True

4. False

5. False

(1) Mridu did not know anything about history according to Ravi.

(2) The ‘forefathers’ are referred to in this sentence: ‘his that’s that’s that’s that’s that’s… etcetera, etcetera…’.

(3) Their pet, the little cat, who was named Mahendran is referred to as the descendant of the Pallava lion.

(4) (i) dynasty

(ii) etcetera

(1) The music-master took ‘an untapped- creative look’ because he was disapproving the children playing marbles.

(2) The music master called Lalli to help him find his missing pair of chappals.

(3) According to the music master, his chappals cost a whole month’s fees of his tuition.

(4)  All the way from’ is ‘the entire distance’.

(ii)Why is your face half-shaven? 

Gopal's wife asked him why his face was half-shaven. 

(iii) I accept the challenge, Your Majesty. 

Gopal told the king that he accepted his challenge.

(iv) I want to see the king. 

Gopal told the guards that he wanted to see the king. 

(v) Bring the man to me at once. 

The king ordered the guard to bring the man to him at once.

Saturday

9 February 20×× 10 p.m.

Dear Diary,

I had an enjoyable day today as I participated in Mrs. Packletide’s hunting expedition. I was very happy to get a large sum of money which would make many of my dreams come true. Mrs. Packletide paid a lot of money to all of us just for the sake of her false ego. She just wanted to show off that she was better than her friend Miss Loona Bimberton but all this was wrong. Just to satisfy her ego she had killed a tiger and distributed money among villagers for making her efforts a success. I wish she had spent this money on feeding some poor children or she had gone to some orphanage to help those poor children. It is strange that there are some people who don’t have food to eat and there are others who throw money just to flaunt. This extravagant display of wealth and money for some is rather disgusting. The money should have been spent for a noble cause.

Ram

The following were the causes of the battle of Plassey :

Causes:

• The English gave no gifts to Siraj-ud-daulah on his appointment as the Nawab of Bengal. He was, therefore, angry with the British.
• The British stationed their armed troops at Calcutta (Kolkata) and continued reinforcing them in spite of the Nawab’s protests.
• The English hatched a conspiracy against the Nawab with the co-operation of Seth Amin Chand and army commander Mir Jafar of Bengal.

Answer is (D) Persia

He declared that British rule was established in India with the co-operation of Indians and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and Swaraj would come.

The plight of Vetti can be understood through a government report written in 1878

The Non-Cooperation Movement dramatically affected the economy of the British. 

(i) The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922, its value dropping from Rs.102 crore to Rs.57 crore. 

(ii) In many places, merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. 

(iii) People began discarding imported clothes and started wearing only Indian clothes (Khadi). 

(iv) Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. But this movement gradually slowed down for several reasons. 

(i) Khadi cloth was more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth. It was not realistic for the poor Indians to afford it. 

(ii) Many elated people had left their jobs to support the Non-Cooperation Movement. But soon the problem of unemployment came before them because of the dearth of Indian institutions. So, students and teachers began turning back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.

Workers, industrialists, peasants, traders had inferred Gandhiji’s notion of ‘Swaraj’ differently. They started using violence to get their demands fulfilled. Gandhiji never approved violent means to achieve goals. Hence, he got disheartened. 

During the colonial period the peasants were forced to do ‘vetti’ on the personal land of the landlords. The soldiers would even catch peasants walking on the road and force them to do vetti in the zamindar’s fields. 

1. Many peasants could not cultivate their own fields properly. 

2. They could not improve their fields. 

3. They could not earn incomes. 

4. This was an inhumane activity. So the peasants hated ‘vetti’.

1. Dr. Rakhmabai Janardhan Save was the first practicing woman doctor in India. 

2. She delivered lectures on health related issues of women. 

3. She opened a branch of Red Cross Society at Rajkot.

Many dalit leaders stressed on demanding reserved seats in educational institutions, and a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils. Dr B.R. Ambedkar organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930 and supported dalit’s demands. When the British government conceded Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death. He believed that separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society.

Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s point and it resulted in the Poona Pact of September 1932. It gave the Depressed Classes (later to be known as the Scheduled Castes) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.

Correct option is (b) Lokmanya Tilak

(i) The fuel exists in a very limited quantity. We should not misuse it, otherwise it will not be available to the future generations. 

(ii) Every drop of fuel is precious to us. So, we should stop our vehicle engine while we are waiting in a traffic light. 

(iii) “Save oil, it is your good habit”. 

(iv) Make rational use of fuel you substitute sources of energy.

Except petrol and diesel, we can use LPG, CNG, kerosene, battery, solar power.

1. The young communist leaders built militant organisations of workers and peasants. 

2. The growing influence of Communism on Indian youth became a matter of concern for the British and they felt it was a danger. 

3. The communist leaders Shripad Amrut Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Keshav Neelkanth Joglekar, etc. were arrested.

4. They were falsely charged with planning of a conspiracy to overthrow the British rule. 

5. The trial took place at Meerut. So it was called as ‘Meerut Conspiracy Case’. 

6. They were given different punishments.

Correct option is (a) Gopal Baba Walangkar

If all the people travel by car or jeep instead of going by bus, we will need 3-4 cars in one family. By this, the consumption of fuel will increase and will also create air pollution.

Correct option is (c) Faizpur

Correct option is (a) Sane Guruji

1. The goal of Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde was to make the Dalits self respectful, well educated and engaged in work. 

2. He worked to destroy the delusive ideas regarding Dalits in the minds of the upper caste. 

3. He founded the ‘Depressed Classes Mission’ for the progress of Dalits in 1906. 

4. To achieve this, he started Marathi schools and work schools in parts of Parel, Deonar in Mumbai. 

5. He actively took part in various movement which were related to the welfare of the Dalits like Satyagraha for entry in Parvati temple at Pune, Shetkari Parishad of Dalits and Federal Electorates.

The following work was done by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for the development of workers and Dalits:

1. He founded the ‘Bahishkrut Hitkarni Sabha’ to establish social equality. 

2. He led the Chavdar Lake Satyagraha in Mahad to make the water reservoir accessible to Dalits. 

3. He burnt ‘Manusmriti’ that advocated social inequality. 

4. In 1930, he started Satyagraha for the entry of Dalits in the Kalaram temple at Nashik. 

5. He started periodicals such as ‘Muknayak’, ‘Bahishkrut Bharat’, Janata’, ‘Samata’ etc. to voice the grievances of the Dalits. 

6. He established ‘All India Scheduled Caste Federation’ to put forth issues of the Dalits in effective manner. 

7. He established ‘Independent Labour Party’ to oppose the laws that went against the interest of the workers. 

8. Through the Constitution of India he made a significant contribution to the creation of a social structure based on equality in Modern India.

Correct option is (a) Kalaram temple

1. Before launching the Civil Disobedience Movement Gandhiji demanded cancellation of salt tax and end the monopoly of the British government to manufacture it. 

2. Being an important ingredient in the food of the common people, it was unjust to impose a tax on salt. 

3. Gandhiji decided to launch the Salt Satyagraha by a violation of the Salt Act, which was symbolic in breaking all unjust and oppressive laws of the British.

If petrol/diesel is not available in your village/city for 10 days, then the complete infrastructure of transportation of our village/city will face massive disturbance, such as people cannot move from one place to another, it will not be possible to plough fields by tractor, irrigation will not be possible by motor pumps etc.

Initially the Indian National Congress was not in favour of the partition. But in March, 1947, the Congress high command agreed to Punjab into two parts. One part would consist of the Muslim -majority areas and the other part would consist of the areas having Hindu-Sikh majority. To most of the Sikh leaders and Congress leaders, partition of Punjab was a necessary evil. The Sikhs feared that their denial to the partition of Punjab may lead them to be overpowered by the Muslims. They would be under control of the Muslims.Situation was the same in Bengal. 

The Bhadralok Bengali Hindus of Bengal wanted to retain political power with them. They were also apprehensive of the Muslims. In Bengal, the Hindus were in minority. So they favoured the partition. They thought that partition would help them to retain political dominance. These reasons forced the Congress to change their view on Partition.

For women, partition was horrible. Women were raped , abducted and many times forced to live with strangers and start a new life. They were deeply traumatised and began to develop new family bonds in the changed circumstances. Women became victims on both the sides of the border. They were forced to live in a strange circumstances. 

But the government officials of both the countries did not take any serious step to consult those women. Women were left on their fate. 

They were even murdered by their own family members. When the men realized that the women of their family would fall into the hands of the enemy, they killed their women with their own hands. To escape from the hands of enemy, in a Sikh village, ninety women were said to have voluntarily jumped into a well.

Several factors can be attributed for the partition of British India. Some of them are discussed below: Role of Communal Parties and Organisations: Several historians and scholars think that the main purpose of the foundation of the Muslim League was to serve the interests of the Muslims. In retaliation, the Hindu Mahasabha was founded. The Muslim League was demanding more and more political rights for the Muslims. In retaliation of this, some of the Hindus took steps and established the Hindu Mahasabha in the year 1915. 

The Hindu Mahasabha also demanded more political rights and representation of the Hindus in the different government organizations. Following in the footsteps, the Sikh League was founded. Akali Dal also put forward demand for their people. Directly or indirectly, these political parties helped separation. They created feeling of separation and isolation among different communities. British Policy: In India , the British followed the policy of Divide and Rule. In India, before the arrival of the British, the Hindus and the Muslims lived happily. There was unity, mutual cooperation and brotherhood among them. But the British did not like this. They sowed the seeds of dissension and followed the policy of Divide and Rule. Most of the historians believe that this policy of Divide and Rule was the main reason of the partition. The British historians, journalists and writers propagated through their writings that Muslim invaders made the Hindus enslaved and they had been exploited for centuries. Role of British Government: The British Government also encouraged partition. The British Government encouraged the Muslim League to demand for a separate state. They tried to disrupt the movement of independence by playing the game of imperialism. 

Role of Leaders: Role of leaders was also responsible for the partition. Under the leadership of Jinnah , the Muslim League moved a resolution at Lahore demanding a measure of autonomy for the Muslim majority area and after that a new nation called Pakistan.The great poet Mohammad Iqbal also spoke about the need for a Muslim state in north west India as early as in 1930.

For ordinary people, partition was full of challenges and brought sufferings. The division was not a territorial division for them. It was also not a party politics of Congress and the Muslim League for them. 

But for the ordinary people, partition was a challenge for them. It brought misery and troubles to them. It meant death of their loved one, loss of property and wealth. Partition also uprooted them from their paternal land. People were forced to live in refugee camps. They were also forced to start their life once again from a new platform. So for ordinary people, partition was not a pleasant experience, but it was painful and full of sufferings.

Some people think that partition of India in 1947 was a sudden development. Many Muslim leaders were not serious in their demand for Pakistan as a separate nation. On many occasions, Jinnah used the idea of Pakistan to seek favours from the British and to block concessions into the Congress. 

Even the Muslims were confused about the idea of Pakistan. They could not think of their future in an independent country called Pakistan. Many people had migrated to the new country with the hope that they would soon come back to India as soon as the situation improved. In fact, the partition was so sudden that nobody could imagine it.

1. After the resolution of complete independence was passed, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement. 

2. he Salt Satyagraha was launched on 6th April 1930 at Dandi. It was a symbolic act by Gandhiji. 

3. The main objective was to break all unjust and oppressive laws of the British through peace and Satyagraha. 

4. Salt Satyagraha took place at Dharasana in Gujarat and at Wadala, Malvan and Shiroda in Maharashtra.

5. The mill workers were on the forefront in the Solapur Satyagraha. 

6. The forest Satyagraha was undertaken at Bilashi, Sangamner, Kalavan, Chirner and Pusad by tribals in Maharashtra. 

7. In the Northwest Frontier Province, the Satyagraha was organised under the leadership of Khan Abdul Gafar Khan. 

8. The satyagrahis in Mumbai obstructed the trucks loaded with foreign goods. 

9. Women also participated in large numbers. 

10. This movement reached urban as well as the rural areas, thus making it a national movement.

1. The British Prime Minister, Ramsay Mac Donald wanted to discuss constitutional issues related to India. 

2. For this purpose, he organised Three Round Table Conferences at London between 1930 and 1932. 

3. Representatives of various communities, castes, political parties and princely states attended the conferences. 

4. Gandhiji attended the Second Round Table Conference as the representative of Indian National Congress. 

5. As no important decision was taken in them, all these conferences proved to be futile.