CBSE Class 11

Here we are providing The Address Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots, Extra Questions for Class 11 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Address Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots

The Address Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Where had the narrator come? Why was she back?
Answer:
The narrator is a Dutch Jew, who had to leave Holland during the Second World War. She had left along with her mother for safety. Now she was back to where her past ‘things’ lay. She wanted to see and touch her belongings in order to relive those memories.

Question 2.
Whom did the narrator desire to meet in Holland? Why?
Answer:
The narrator was told by her mother to remember ‘Number 46 Marconi Street’, where Mrs Dorling lived; she had insisted on keeping their things safely till the war was over. After the war, the narrator was curious about their possessions that were still at that address and she went to meet Mrs Dorling.

Question 3.
What kind of a welcome did the narrator get from Mrs Dorling?
Answer:
Mrs Dorling was cold and indifferent and evidently displeased to see the author. In fact, she tried to prevent her from entering by blocking her entrance. Later, she said it was not convenient for her to talk to the narrator at that point of time and refused to meet her.

Question 4.
When did the narrator first learn about the existence of Mrs Dorling?
Answer:
The narrator recalled the time when she was home during the first half of the War. She had noticed that various things were missing. Her mother then told her about Mrs Dorling, an old acquaintance who renewed their contact, and came regularly, each time, carrying away some of their things.

Question 5.
What was the narrator’s mother’s opinion about Mrs Dorling?
Answer:
The narrator’s mother considered Mrs Dorling a very benevolent lady, who strived to ‘save’ their ‘nice things’ by carrying some of them away, each time she visited. The narrator’s mother was unable to see through the lady who wished to cheat her out of her valuables, instead she felt grateful to Mrs Dorling.

Question 6.
What did the narrator recall about her first meeting with Mrs Dorling?
Answer:
The narrator saw Mrs Dorling for the first time on the morning after the day she came to know about her. Coming downstairs, the narrator saw her mother about to see someone out. It was a woman, dressed in a brown coat and a shapeless hat, with a broad back; she nodded and picked up the suitcase.

Question 7.
Why did the narrator return to Marconi Street after a long time?
Answer:
The narrator returned to Marconi Street after a long time because in the beginning, after the Liberation, she was not interested in all that stored stuff. She had lost her mother and was also afraid of being confronted with things that remained as a painful reminder to their past.

Question 8.
How did the narrator decide to go back to the ‘things’?
Answer:
Gradually, when everything became normal again the bread was of a lighter colour and she had a bed to sleep in, securely, and the surroundings became familiar again the narrator was curious about all the possessions that must still be at that address that her mother had talked about and went there to relive her memories.

Question 9.
Explain: “I stopped, horrified. I was in a room I knew and did not know.”
Answer:
When the narrator went to Mrs Dorling’s house the second time, a girl of about fifteen let her in. She saw familiar things but arranged differently that lent unfamiliarity to the surroundings. She found herself surrounded by things that she had wanted to see again but which really oppressed her in that strange atmosphere.

Question 10.
Why did the narrator not want to remember the place?
Answer:
The narrator had primarily returned for the sake of memories that were linked to the things that had once belonged to her mother. However, she realized, the objects linked in her memory with the familiar life that she had once lived lost their value as they had been removed and put in strange surroundings.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Describe the narrator’s first post-War meeting with Mrs Dorling.
Answer:
When the narrator knocked at Mrs Dorling’s door and introduced herself as Mrs S’s daughter, Mrs Dorling showed no sign of recognition. She held the door in a way making clear that the narrator was not welcome. For sometime, she stared quietly at the narrator at which she felt that it was not the person that she had been looking for. When Mrs Dorling let her in, the narrator noticed her wearing her mother’s green knitted cardigan.

The lady saw her looking at the cardigan and hid herself partially behind the door. When the narrator mentioned her mother, she said that she had thought that none of the people who had left had come back. The lady expressed regret at her inability to do anything for her but the narrator insisted on talking to her having come all the way for it. However, the lady refused to talk to her, claiming it was not a convenient time; the narrator had no option but to leave.

Question 2.
Contrast the character of the narrator’s mother and Mrs Dorling.
Answer:
The narrator’s mother was a trusting woman. She told her daughter about Mrs Dorling, an old acquaintance, who had suddenly turned up and renewed their contact and since then had been a regular visitor. The mother did not doubt her kindness and was obliged that she insisted on taking all her nice things with her to save them. The mother was worried about Mrs Dorling getting a crick in her back from carrying the crockery and lugging the large vases. When the narrator showed her scepticism, she was annoyed.

On the other hand, Mrs Dorling was an opportunist. She renewed her contact primarily to take the antique things the narrator’s mother owned. When the narrator came back after years, she made her feel unwelcome as she did not wish to part with the things that had belonged to the narrator’s mother. She was rude and brusque with the narrator and did not allow her to enter the house.

Question 3.
Describe the narrator’s second visit to Mrs Dorling’s place.
Answer:
On her second visit, a girl of about fifteen led the narrator in and she noticed an old-fashioned iron Hanukkah candle-holder that belonged to them. In the living room, the sight was dismal. The room had a strange, stressful effect the atmosphere, the tasteless way everything was arranged, the ugly furniture or the muggy smell that hung there. She noticed the woollen tablecloth and recalled the bum mark on it that had never been repaired.

When the girl put cups on the tea table and poured tea from a white pot with a gold border on the lid and the pewter plate these things clouded her mind with strange emotions. The narrator noticed various things that brought back memories of the past. The narrator rushed out for her train as the girl went to get their cutlery. As the narrator walked out, she heard jingling of spoons and forks.

Here we are providing The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots, Extra Questions for Class 11 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What does the writer suggest by beginning the story with the following words, “One day back there in the good old days…”?
Answer:
The beginning of the story is suggestive of the fact that the episode that is going to be narrated is not one from the recent past. On the contrary, it is something that happened years back. The words ‘good old days’, suggest that the times in the past were better than what they are at present.

Question 2.
What does the writer say about the ‘good old days’?
Answer:
The ‘good old days’ refer to a time when the narrator was about nine years old. Then, to him, the world was full of all possible kinds of splendour. Life then seemed charming and was as alluring as a mystifying dream.

Question 3.
What was the narrator’s first reaction to the horse?
Answer:
When the narrator’s cousin, Mourad, came to his house at four in the morning and woke him up, Aram couldn’t believe what he saw. Mourad was riding a beautiful white horse. He stuck his head out of the window and rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

Question 4.
What did the narrator think of Mourad?
Answer:
Unlike the rest of the world, it was only Aram who did not feel that Mourad was ‘crazy’. Aram knew that Mourad enjoyed being alive more than anybody else, and ‘who had ever fallen into the world by mistake’.

Question 5.
What were the chief traits of the members of his family that the narrator could recall?
Answer:
The narrator felt that although the people of his clan were poverty stricken, yet they were honest. They were proud, honest, and they believed in right and wrong. None of them would take advantage of anybody in the world, let alone steal.

Question 6.
Why was the narrator both delighted and frightened at the same time?
Answer:
The narrator was delighted at the magnificence of the horse. He could smell it, hear it breathing, which excited him but what frightened him was that Mourad could not have bought the horse. The narrator realized, if he had not bought it, he must have stolen it.

Question 7.
How did the narrator establish that Mourad had stolen the horse?
Answer:
When the initial fascination and surprise wore out, Aram asked Mourad where he had stolen the horse from. Aram was certain that no one in their family could afford one. When Mourad did not deny having stolen the horse, and evaded that question, Aram was sure that he had stolen the horse.

Question 8.
How did Aram justify the act of stealing the horse?
Answer:
Aram felt that stealing a horse for a ride was not the same thing as stealing something else, such as money. Perhaps, it was not stealing at all because they were crazy about horses. He felt it would not be called stealing until they offered to sell the horse, which they would never do.

Question 9.
What did Aram feel about Mourad’s temperament?
Answer:
According to Aram, Mourad had a crazy streak. That made him the natural descendant of Uncle Khosrove who had a crazy element in him. This crazy streak was common in their tribe and need not be passed on from a father to the son. The people of the tribe had been, from the beginning, unpredictable and unrestrained.

Question 10.
What happened when Aram tried to ride the horse?
Answer:
When Aram kicked into the muscles of the horse, it reared and snorted. Then it began to run. It ran down the . road to the vineyard of Dikran Halabian where it began to leap over vines. The horse leaped over seven vines and Aram fell off but the horse continued running.

Question 11.
What was the problem the children faced after getting the horse back?
Answer:
After Aram had been thrown off, it took Mourad half an hour to find the horse and bring him back. The next concern was that they did not know where to hide the horse till the next day, and by then the people had woken up.

Question 12.
Where did the boys hide the horse for the night?
Answer:
The boys walked the horse quietly to the bam of a deserted vineyard, which at one time had been the pride of the farmer named Fetvajian. There were some oats and dry alfalfa in the bam. It was there that they kept the horse.

Question 13.
Who was John Byro? What concern did he express at Aram’s place?
Answer:
John Byro was an Assyrian farmer who, out of loneliness, had learned to speak Armenian. He was sad because his white horse, which was stolen a month back, was still not found. Byro had a surrey a four-wheeled horse-drawn pleasure carriage having two or four seats which was of no use without a horse.

Question 14.
Mourad showed a special concern for animals. Justify.
Answer:
Mourad not only had a special understanding with the horse but Aram saw Mourad, trying to nurse the hurt wing of a young robin which could not fly. He healed the bird and it took flight. The dogs, too, in John’s farm, did not bark when he went there to put back the horse.

Question 15.
What did John Byro mean when he said, “A suspicious man would believe his eyes instead of his heart”?
Answer:
John Byro scrutinized the horse; it was an exact replica of the one he owned. He refused to believe that the two boys had taken his horse, as he knew their family was famed for honesty. So, even when his rational mind said that it was his horse, his heart refused to believe it.

Question 16.
What did John Byro perceive about the horse after it was returned? Why?
Answer:
After the horse was returned, John Byro said that the horse was stronger than ever and also better tempered. It was so because the children loved the horse and had taken good care of it. Moreover, it had exercised without the weight of the surrey.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Answer the following in 120-150 words each.

Question 1.
Write a brief note on the Garoghlanian family as perceived by the narrator.
Answer:
The Garoghlanian family was poor. In fact, the whole tribe was poverty-stricken. But the family was living in the most amazing and comical poverty in the world. Nobody could understand where they ever got money enough to feed them, not even the old men of the family. Most importantly, they had been famous for their honesty for around eleven centuries, even when they had been one of the wealthiest families in the world.

They were proud, honest, and believed in values such as right and wrong. None of them would take advantage of anybody in the world, let alone steal. The streak of ‘madness’ shared by the narrator’s Uncle Khusrove and cousin Mourad had been there in their tribe, from the beginning, unpredictable and unrestrained.

Question 2.
What did Aram feel about the ‘crazy streak’ in the family?
Answer:
Aram felt that every family has a crazy element somewhere, and Mourad seemed to have inherited it from their Uncle Khosrove, a man so furious in temper, so irritable, so impatient that he stopped anyone from talking by roaring, “It is no harm; pay no attention to it.” That was all he said no matter what anybody happened to be talking about. Even when his own son Arak came running to the barber’s shop where he was having his moustache trimmed to tell him their house was on fire, Khosrove roared exactly the same thing. The barber repeated what the boy had said but Khosrove roared, “Enough, it is no harm, I say.” Mourad, though he was the son of Zorab, was the one who had inherited the streak of madness from Khusrove.

Question 3.
Describe the ride of Aram and Mourad when they went out together for the first time.
Answer:
Mourad called out to the narrator who leaped onto the horse behind his cousin Mourad. On Olive Avenue, they let the horse run for as long as it felt like running. Mourad, then, went for a ride alone; he kicked his heels into the horse and shouted, “Vazire, run.” The horse stood on its hind legs, snorted, and burst into a fury of speed. Mourad raced the horse across a field of dry grass, across the irrigation ditch and five minutes later returned, dripping wet.

When Aram leaped onto the horse for a ride, the horse did not move at first. Mourad told him to kick into his muscles. When Aram did so, the horse once again reared and snorted and began to run. But instead of running across the field to the irrigation ditch, the horse ran down the road to the vineyard of Dikran Halabian where it began to leap over vines. The horse leaped over seven vines and then Aram fell off.

Question 4.
Bring out the humour in Uncle Khosrove’s and John Byro’s meeting.
Answer:
Uncle Khosrove came to Aram’s house for coffee and cigarettes. Soon another visitor arrived, a farmer named John Byro. The farmer, having his coffee and a cigarette, said with a sigh that his white horse which had been stolen the previous month, was still untraceable. Uncle Khosrove became very annoyed and shouted that it was no harm since they had all lost their homeland. Hence, it was no use crying over a horse.

John Byro said that without a horse his carriage could not be put to use. “Pay no attention to it,” roared Uncle Khosrove. When John said that he had walked ten miles to get there, Uncle Khosrove shouted that he had legs. The farmer said that his left leg pained but Uncle Khosrove roared again, “Pay no attention to it.” The farmer said that the horse cost him sixty dollars. Uncle Khosrove said, “I spit on money” and walked out of the house, slamming the door.

Question 5.
Describe John Byro’s meeting with his horse and the two boys. What impact did it have on him?
Answer:
One morning, on the way to Fetvajian’s deserted vineyard, where they would hide the white horse during the day, the boys met John Byro who was on his way to town. They wished each other and the farmer studied the horse eagerly. He asked the boys the name of the horse. Mourad said it was called ‘My Heart’ in Armenian. John Byro said that he could swear it was his horse that was stolen many weeks ago.

The farmer then looked into the mouth of the horse. He was even more certain that the horse was a replica of his. He said, had he not known their family’s fame for honesty, he would have claimed the horse to be his. He believed Mourad when he suggested that the horse was the twin of John Byro’s horse. The next morning, the boys took the horse to John Byro’s vineyard and put it in the bam.

Here we are providing A Photograph Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill, Extra Questions for Class 11 English was designed by subject expert teachers. Students can also read A Photograph Poem.

A Photograph Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill

A Photograph Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
The poet talks about a particular cardboard. How is it special to her?
Answer:
The poet talks about a particular cardboard to which is pasted her mother’s photograph taken at the sea beach. The mother seems to have been enjoying her sea holiday. The photograph is special as she has lost her mother sometime back and looking at the photograph makes her happy as well as sad.

Question 2.
What can you say about the childhood of the poet’s mother?
Answer:
The childhood of the poet’s mother must have been filled with fun and happiness. This is clear from the snapshot of the sea holiday. They are enjoying their holiday.

The mother of the poet laughs when looking at the snapshot even after many years have passed since the sea holiday. All this shows us that it was a very pleasant childhood.

Question 3.
What moment does the photograph depict?
Answer:
The photograph clicked by. the uncle of the poet’s mother depicts a sea-holiday being enjoyed by the poet’s mother and her two cousins Dolly and Betty. They are full of smiles in their beach dresses, not worrying about their flying hair.

Question 4.
Were the three cousins camera friendly? Who was taking their photograph?
Answer:
The three cousins appear to be camera-friendly as they stood at the sea beach without moving when the uncle took the photograph.

Question 5.
The poet’s mother would laugh looking at the photograph. Why?
Answer:
The poet’s mother was in middle age when she looked at that photograph and used to laugh remembering those golden days of her childhood, enjoying a sea holiday. She would also laugh at the beach dresses which looked weird after many years.

Question 6.
What impression do you form about the poet’s mother?
Answer:
The poet’s mother was very pretty at the age of twelve. She enjoyed the sea holiday. This is indicated by the happiness that she gets in middle age after looking at her childhood photograph.

Question 7.
The sea ‘appears to have changed less’ in comparison to the three girls who enjoyed the sea holiday. Comment.
Answer:
The poet compares the mortal nature of human beings with the eternal nature of the sea or natural objects. With the passage of time, the poet’s mother died but the vast sea has remained as it was since the photograph was taken.

Question 8.
Why does the poet feel nostalgic?
Answer:
The poet sees an old photograph of her mother in which she was standing on the beach with her two cousins — Dolly and Betty. They were enjoying themselves. The photograph captured her mother’s sweet and smiling face. At that time, she was around twelve years old. The poet remembers how her mother used to laugh whenever she looked at that old photograph. But time has passed and now the poet has been left only with the memories of her mother. Thus, she feels nostalgic

Question 9.
What does the poet say about her mother’s face?
Answer:
The poet remarks that her mother had a sweet face, smiling and caring for her cousins who were younger to her. The poet also says that her mother used to enjoy these sea holidays, and would laugh heartily, later on when she saw the photograph.

Question 10.
How does the poet react to her past? Why has she not mentioned anything about her mother’s death?
Answer:
The poet remembers with sadness her mother’s laughter which she cannot hear any more. The poet is full of a sense of loss and does not mention about her mother’s death, as it may bring more gloom to her and make her speechless.

Question 11.
Does the poet appear to be grieving?
Answer:
The poet is certainly filled with a sense of loss. Her mother is long dead and though the poet has adjusted to her absence, she is not able to completely overcome her loss.

She remembers how it used to be when her mother was still with her. The last line is an apt depiction of her state of mind. The loss has filled her life with silence.

Question 12.
Comment on the tone of the poem.
Answer:
The tone of the poem is that of sadness. Shirley Toulson looks at an old photograph of her mother and is sadly reminded of her mother who is no more. She mentions about death of her mother indirectly only but this photograph has made her speechless and silent.

A Photograph Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
The poet has paid a tribute to her mother. Similar instances can be seen in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’. This made you think that writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their portraits. Comment.
Answer:
Many writers have paid tributes to their loved ones through beautiful writing. Khushwant Singh gave an adorable description about his grandmother through his story. Shirley Toulson remembered her mother through her heart-touching poem.

In my opinion, writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their portraits. One can never tell the true personality of a person just by looking at their sculptures or portraits. One can never know about the amazing time someone has spent with them. That magic can only be created by words.

Words stand the passage of time, whereas sculptures or portraits may get damaged by it. Hence, words are the best way by which anyone can pay a tribute to one’s loved ones.

Question 2.
“Its silence silences,” writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has silenced her. Do you think that this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why/ why not?
Answer:
There is no doubt that Shirley Toulson has given a very touching tribute to her mother by remembering her through her verses. It is apparent that she is very much nostalgic and is grieving at the loss of her mother. Though she says that over the years she has adjusted to her mother’s absence, but circumstances have surely filled her with silence and a deep void.

We cannot deny that it hurts very much to lose someone, but the attitude shown by the poet at the end is not the right way to live your life. Life will keep going on even if we stop to lament our loss.

Loss is universal. It is the law of nature. We cannot let ourselves get depressed just because of this. It is also understandable that we will grieve. However, grieving to the point of hampering the normal functioning of our lives is not acceptable.

Question 3.
Happy moments are short-lived but provide a lifetime memory. They provide a cushion to bear the difficulties which the future has in store for you. Comment in the light of the poem ‘A Photograph’ by Shirley Toulson.
Answer:
Our life is a mixture of happy as well as adverse times. We must learn to move on with the help of those happy memories which provided us with so much enjoyment and happiness. As life is not a bed of roses, everyone at one stage or another is likely to face difficulties.

At the time of difficulties, happy moments can give us solace and fill us with positivity which is required during difficult times. Happy moments will certainly provide us with a hope that, as happy moments are short-lived, so are difficult times. One must learn to cope with the situation. The memories of happy times can provide us a cushion to bear difficulties with patience and peace.

Question 4.
‘Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.’ The poet is missing her mother. What is the role of the mother in forming the personality of a child?
Answer:
A mother’s role in shaping the personality of a child is of paramount importance. The child watches his/ her mother intently and learns about the world and how to react to it at the initial stages. The mother can

play an important role by making the child to deal constructively with mistakes, forgive others, handle frustration, show kindness and share love.
When a mother is nurturing and caring the child, it will develop a healthy bond with not only the mother but will be willing to form new relationships with others.

Children and adults both want a sense of independence and autonomy. It is very important on a mother’s part to offer choices to the child. This makes the child feel that he/she is smart enough to make choices.

The mother’s thoughts nourish a child’s mind and soul as her personal attention nourishes a child’s body. She is a child’s first teacher. She tries to imbibe such values that may help a child lifelong.

A Photograph Extract based Questions and Answers

I. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

“The cardboard shows me how it was When the two girl cousins went paddling, Each one
holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.”

Question 1.
What does the cardboard here refer to?
(a) A thick paper on which the poet’s photograph was pasted
(b) A thick envelope
(c) A thick paper on which the poet’s mother’s photograph was pasted
(d) A paper boat
Answer:
(c) A thick paper on which the poet’s mother’s photograph was pasted

Question 2.
What does the cardboard depict?
(a) It depicts a scenery
(b) It depicts the picture of a house
(c) It depicts the picture of a school
(d) It depicts the picture of three girls
Answer:
(d) It depicts the picture of three girls

Question 3.
Who is the ‘big girl’ mentioned here?
(a) The big girl is the poet herself
(b) The big girl is the poet’s mother
(c) The big girl is the poet’s relative
(d) The big girl is the poet’s friend
Answer:
(b) The big girl is the poet’s mother

II. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

“All three stood still to smile through their hair At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.”

Question 1.
What does the poet mean by ‘smile through their hair’?
(a) It means that a smile was painted on the hair of the photographed girls
(b) It means that the photographed girls were wearing a mask
(c) It means that the hair of the photographed girls were covering their face when they were smiling
(d) It means that the hair of the girls in the photograph was smiling too
Answer:
(c) It means that the hair of the photographed girls were covering their face when they were smiling

Question 2.
What has not changed over a period of time?
(a) The photo
(b) The cardboard
(c) The girls
(d) The sea
Answer:
(d) The sea

Question 3.
Find a word from the extract which means “lasting only for a short time”?
(a) Still
(b) Transient
(c) Changed
(d) Less
Answer:
(b) Transient

III. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

“Some twenty-thirty – years later She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty And Dolly,” she’d
say, “and look how they Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday Was her past, mine is her
laughter. Both wry With the laboured ease of loss.”

Question 1.
Why did ‘she’ laugh?
(a) Because of the funny dresses that they were wearing at the sea holiday
(b) Because one of them cracked a joke
(c) Because of the funny dresses they were wearing at the party
(d) Because of the funny man they saw at the sea holiday
Answer:
(a) Because of the funny dresses that they were wearing at the sea holiday

Question 2.
Who are Betty and Dolly?
(a) They are poet’s cousins
(b) They are poet’s friends
(c) They are poet’s mother’s friends
(d) They are poet’s mother’s cousins
Answer:
(d) They are poet’s mother’s cousins

Question 3.
…………. in the extract is the synonym of ‘photograph’.
(a) Snapshot
(b) Picture
(c) Mine
(d) Laboured
Answer:
(a) Snapshot

IV. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.

“Now she’s been dead nearly as many years As that girl lived. And of this circumstance There
is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.”

Question 1.
Who does ‘she’ refer to?
(a) The poet’s dead aunt
(b) The poet’s dead mother
(c) The poet’s dead cousin
(d) The poet’s sister
Answer:
(b) The poet’s dead mother

Question 2.
Why is there nothing to say about the death of the poet’s mother?
(a) Because the poet is confused
(b) Because the poet was not in her senses when her mother expired
(c) Because the death of the poet’s mother has left a deep void in the poet’s heart
(d) Because the poet did not have a good relationship with her mother
Answer:
(c) Because the death of the poet’s mother has left

Question 3.
Which word in the extract means the same as “events that change your life, over which you have no control”?
(a) Silences
(b) Circumstances
(c) Situation
(d) Circumstance
Answer:
(d) Circumstance

Here we are providing Silk Road Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill, Extra Questions for Class 11 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

You can refer to Hornbill Class 11 English NCERT Solutions to revise the concepts in the syllabus effectively and improve your chances of securing high marks in your board exams.

Silk Road Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill

Silk Road Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
when they set out on their journey.
Answer:
The narrator was moving towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora. He recalls the day, when they set out from Ravu, with nostalgia. It was a ‘perfect’ early morning to start a journey. The clouds looked like long French loaves glimmering pink as the rising sun shone on them. The far-away mountain peaks glowed with a rose-tinted colour. Lhamo presented him with one of the long-sleeved sheepskin coats that all the men there wore, for protection against cold.

Question 2.
Describe the initial phase of their journey.
Answer:
As they set out, they took a shorter route to get off the Changtang. It was a road that would take them south¬west, almost directly towards Mount Kailash. It required crossing several quite high mountain passes. Tsetan was confident that if there was no snow they would have a comfortable journey but that they would not know till they got there.

From the gently sloping hills of Ravu, the short cut took them across vast open plains with nothing in them except a few antelopes grazing in the arid pastures. As they moved ahead, the plains became more stony than grassy. There, the antelopes were replaced by herds of wild ass.

Question 3.
What did the narrator notice about the ‘drokbas’?
Answer:
As the narrator went further up the hills from the rocky wasteland, he noticed the solitary drokbas tending their flocks. Sometimes these well-wrapped figures would halt briefly and stare at their car. They seldom waved as they crossed. When the road took them close to the sheep, the animals would swerve away from the speeding car.

Question 4.
The narrator was fascinated by the awesome mastiffs. Why?
Answer:
Crossing the nomads’ dark tents pitched in remoteness, the narrator noticed that a huge black dog, a Tibetan mastiffs, guarded most of the tents. These monstrous creatures would tilt their great big heads when someone moved towards them. As they drew closer, these dogs would race straight towards them, like a bullet from a gun. These dogs were pitch black and usually wore bright red collars.

They barked furiously with their gigantic jaws and were so fearless that they ran straight into the path of their vehicle. They would chase them for about a hundred metres. The narrator could understand why Tibetan mastiffs became popular in China’s imperial courts as hunting dogs.

Question 5.
How did Tsetan manoeuvre across the first patch of snow that they came across?
Answer:
Tsetan stopped at a tight bend and got out because the snow had covered the path in front of them. This unexpected-depository was too steep for their vehicle to mount. Tsetan stepped on to the covered snow, and stamped his foot to determine how sturdy it was. The snow was not deep but the car could turn over. Tsetan took handfuls of dirt and threw them across the frozen surface. Daniel and the narrator, too, joined in. When the snow was spread with soil, Tsetan backed up the vehicle and drove towards the dirty snow. The car moved across the icy surface without noticeable difficulty.

Question 6.
When did the narrator feel unwell or the first time? What did he do?
Answer:
When they went further up the trail and were 5,400 metres above the sea level, the narrator got an awful headache. He took gulps from his water bottle, which is supposed to help during a speedy uphill journey. His headache soon cleared as they went down the other side of the pass.

Question 7.
What was the sight on the plateau ruins of the Tethys Ocean?
Answer:
The narrator and his friends stopped for lunch in a long canvas tent, part of a work camp erected beside a dry salt lake. The plateau was covered with salty desert area and salty lakes that were remnants of the Tethys Ocean. This place was bustling with activity. Men with pickaxes and shovels were moving back and forth in their long sheepskin coats and salt-covered boots. All wore sunglasses as protection against the dazzling light of blue trucks that energed from the lake with piles of salt.

Question 8.
Why was the narrator sorry to see the miserable plight of Hor?
Answer:
Hor was a dismal place with no vegetation. It only had dust and rocks coupled with years of accumulated refuse. He found this unfortunate because this town was on the banks of Lake Manasarovar, Tibet’s most venerated stretch of water.

Question 9.
What is the belief about Lake Manasarovar? What is the fact?
Answer:
According to ancient Hindu and Buddhist cosmology Manasarovar is the source of four great Indian rivers: the Indus, the Ganges, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra. In actuality only the Sutlej flows from the lake, but the headwaters of the all others rise nearby on the flanks of Mount Kailash.

Question 10.
The narrator ‘slept very soundly. Like a log, not a dead man’. Explain.
Answer:
After going to the Tibetan doctor the narrator soon recovered. Unpalatable as it seemed, the medicine led him to a quick recovery. Hence the narrator had a healthy and sound sleep unlike when he was ailing and restless. He slept undisturbed. He was not tossing and turning because he was sound a sleep, not because he felt lifeless.

Question 11.
‘Darchen didn’t look so horrible after a good night’s sleep.’ Justify
Answer:
The narrator had a very uncomfortable night at Darchen. After he rested, although Darchen was dusty, with heaps of rubble and refuse, the bright sun in a clear blue sky gave the narrator a view of the Himalayas. He also noticed the huge, snow-capped mountain, Gurla Mandhata, with just a tuft of cloud suspended over its peak.

Question 12.
‘I hadn’t made much progress with my self-help programme on positive thinking.’ Why does the narrator feel so?
Answer:
The narrator was very disappointed with Darchen. It was dusty, with heaps of rubble and refuse. But he was even more disappointed as there were no pilgrims. As his mind went over the drawbacks of the place he concluded that he hadn’t made much progress with his self-help programme on positive thinking. In that case he would have been more accepting and optimistic.

Question 13.
Who was Norbu? How could he be a help to the narrator?
Answer:
The narrator met Norbu in a cafe. He was Tibetan, and worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the Institute of Ethnic Literature. He had come to do the kora. Norbu had been writing academic papers about the Kailash kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature for many years but .he had never actually done it himself. The narrator was relieved to team up with him. He would not be alone then.

Question 14.
‘He suggested we hire some yaks to carry our luggage, which I interpreted as a good sign’. Why does the narrator feel so?
Answer:
The narrator was relieved at meeting Norbu. He kept telling the narrator how fat he was and how hard it was going to be for him to climb. He wasn’t really a practising Buddhist, but he was enthusiastic and was a Tibetan. Making the trek in the company of devout believers would not be easy as they would go prostrating all round the mountain. But Norbu suggested that they hire some yaks to carry our luggage. This to the narrator came as a relief.

Silk Road Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
The narrator on his way to Mount Kailash came across a lot of topographic variation. Comment.
Answer:
The narrator and his companions took a short cut to get off the Changtang. Tsetan knew a route that would take them southwest, almost directly towards Mount Kailash. It involved crossing several fairly high mountain passes. From the gently rising and failing hills of Ravu, the short cut took them across vast open plains with nothing in them except a few gazelles that were grazing in the arid pastures. Further ahead,
the plains became more stony than grassy, and there a great herd of wild ass came into view.

Still ahead hills became steeper wh^re solitary drokbas were tending their flocks. This led them to the snow-capped mountains and then to the valley where the river was wide and by and large clogged with ice. At a height of 5,515 metres, piles of stones marked the landscape. Next was the plateau which was covered with salty desert area and salty lakes that were remnants of the Tethys Ocean. Hor was next in line. It was a wretched place with no vegetation just dust and rocks, liberally scattered with years of accumulated refuse.

Question 2.
The narrator realized that the snow was both dangerous as well as beautiful. Justify.
Answer:
Tsetan on his way surveyed the snow on the path by stamping on it. It was not deep. But in case they slipped the car could turn over. Hence to cover the risk, they flung handfuls of dirt across the frozen surface. When the snow was spread with soil, they drove without difficulty. Ten minutes later, they stopped at another blockage. This time they decided to drive round the snow.

However, the risks did not undermine the scenic beauty of the place. In the valley, they saw snow-capped mountains and the river was wide but mostly blocked with ice that was sparkling in the sunshine. As they moved ahead, on their upward track, the turns became sharper and the ride bumpier. The rocks around were covered with patches of bright orange lichen. Under the rocks, seemed unending shade.

Question 3.
Enumerate the difficulties that the group faced in Hor.
Answer:
The group reached the small town of Hor by late afternoon. Daniel, who was returning to Lhasa, found a ride in a truck and left. They had suffered two punctures in quick succession on the drive down from the salt lake and they got them replaced. Hor was a gloomy place devoid of vegetation. It only had dust and rocks, liberally scattered with years of accumulated refuse.

Hor’s only cafe which, like all the other buildings in town, was constructed from badly painted concrete and had three broken windows. The good view of the lake through one of them helped to compensate for the draught. The narrator was served by a Chinese youth in military uniform who spread the grease around on his table with a filthy rag before bringing him a glass and a thermos of tea.

Question 4.
Describe in detail the narrator’s miserable night in Darchen.
Answer:
The narrator reached the Darchen guesthouse after 10.30 p.m. This was just the beginning of a troubled night. The open-air rubbish dump in Hor had set off his cold once more. One of his nostrils was blocked again and he was tired and hungry. He started breathing through his mouth. After a while, he woke up abruptly. His chest felt strangely heavy but when he sat up, his nasal passages cleared almost instantly and relieved the feeling in his chest. He lay down again. Just as he was about to doze something told him not to.

He was not gasping for breath, but could not go to sleep. He sat up but as soon as he lay down, his sinuses filled and his chest felt strange. He tried supporting himself against the wall, but could not manage to relax enough to sleep. He did not know what was wrong but had a feeling that if he slept he would not wake up again. So he stayed awake all night.

Question 5.
Narrate the narrator’s meeting with the Tibetan doctor.
Answer:
After an awfully uncomfortable and breathless night, Tsetan took the narrator to the Darchen Medical College. The college was new and looked like a monastery from the outside with a very solid door that led into a large courtyard. The consulting room was dark and cold and occupied by a Tibetan doctor who did not have any kit that the narrator had been expecting.

He wore a thick pullover and a woolly hat. The narrator explained the symptoms and the doctor shot him a few questions while feeling the veins in his wrist. Finally he said, it was the cold and the effects of altitude. He said that the narrator would be well enough to do the kora. He gave him a brown envelope stuffed with fifteen screws of paper. Each package had a brown powder that had to taken with hot water. It tasted just like cinnamon. The contents of the lunchtime and bedtime packages were less obviously identifiable. Both contained small, spherical brown pellets. Though the medicine looked like sheep dung, it helped him recover quickly.

Question 6.
Meeting Norbu came as an immense relief to the narrator. Why?
Answer:
The narrator was not only disappointed with the filth in Darchen but also because of the lack of pilgrims. Moreover, since Tsetan had left, he had not come across anyone in Darchen with enough English to answer even this most basic question. It was then that he met Norbu in a cafe. He was Tibetan, he told him, but worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the Institute of Ethnic Literature.

He had also come to do the kora. Norbu had been writing academic papers about the Kailash kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature for many years, but he had never actually done it himself. He was relieved to form a team with another academician. This apart, Norbu, wasn’t really a practising Buddhist, though he was a Tibetan. He suggested that they hire some yaks to carry their luggage, as he had no intention of prostrating himself all round the mountain.

Here we are providing The Adventure Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill, Extra Questions for Class 11 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Adventure Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Hornbill

The Adventure Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
‘That is, assuming that in this world there existed someone called Rajendra Deshpande!’ Why does Professor Gaitonde feel so?
Answer:
Professor Gaitonde had gone through a strange and a harrowing experience. He had been literally transported into an alternative universe. In the alternative world the reality was very different. History had altered its course. Now back into the real world Professor Gaitonde, as a historian felt he would go to a big library and browse through history books and would return to Pune and have a long talk with Rajendra Deshpande, to help him understand what had happened. After the queer happening, he was unsure about the reality and wondered if Rajendra Deshpande existed.

Question 2.
What were the things that Professor Gaitonde noticed as the train entered the British Raj territory?
Answer:
As the train touched Sarhad, from where the British Raj began, an Anglo-Indian in uniform went through the train checking permits. The blue carriages of the train carried the letters GBMR on the side an acronym for ‘Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway’. There was the tiny Union Jack painted on each carriage as a . reminder that they were in British territory. As the train stopped at its destination, Victoria Terminus, the station looked remarkably neat and clean. The staff was mostly made up of Anglo-Indians and Parsees along with a handful of British officers.

Question 3.
Where was Khan Sahib going? How did he intend to reach there?
Answer:
Khan Sahib was going to Peshawar. After the train reached Victoria Terminus he would take the Frontier Mail out of Central,-the same night. From Bombay he would go to Delhi, then to Lahore and then Peshawar. It would be a long journey and he would reach Peshawar two days later.

Question 4.
What was the strange reality that Professor Gaitonde saw as he stepped out of the station?
Answer:
As Professor Gaitonde came out of the station, he saw an impressive building. The letters on it revealed that it was the East India headquarters of the East India Company. He was shocked as it was supposed to have had stopped operating soon after the events of 1857 but here it was flourishing.

Question 5.
What came as the biggest blow to Professor Gaitonde?
Answer:
Professor Gaitonde was shocked to see the East India Company flourishing, a different set of shops and office buildings at Hornby Road. But when he turned right along Home Street and entered Forbes building, a greater shock awaited him. He asked for his son Mr Vinay Gaitonde but the English receptionist, looked through the telephone list, the staff list and then through the directory of employees of all the branches of the firm but could not find anyone of that name.

Question 6.
What did Professor Gaitonde decide to do when the reality that he was living seemed very strange?
Answer:
When Professor Gaitoride saw unfamiliar sights and felt that he was reliving history he was very surprised but not finding his son as an employee in Forbes baffled him completely. He decided to go to the library of the Asiatic Society to solve the riddle of history. So he made his way to the Town Hall.

Question 7.
What books did he browse through in the library? What did he discover?
Answer:
In the Town Hall library, he asked for a list of history books including his own. When he got the five volumes, he started looking through them from the beginning. Volume one dealt with the history up to the period of Ashoka, volume two up to Samudragupta, volume three up to Mohammad Ghori, and volume four up to the death of Aurangzeb. This was history as he had known. However in the last (fifth) volume, history had taken a different turn during the Battle of Panipat. The book mentioned that the Marathas won it handsomely and Abdali was chased back to Kabul by the triumphant Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau and his nephew, the young Vishwasrao.

Question 8.
How did the victory of the Peshwas in the Battle of Panipat help them?
Answer:
The victory in the battle was not only successful in building their confidence tremendously but it also established the supremacy of the Marathas in northern India. The East India Company, watching these events temporarily deferred its plan to spread out further. For the Peshwas the immediate result was that the influence of Bhausaheb and Vishwasrao increased and Vishwarao succeeded his father in 1780 A.D. The rabble-rouser, Dadasaheb, had to retire from state politics.

Question 9.
What was the effect of the victory of the Peshwas on the East India Company?
Answer:
The East India Company was alarmed when the new Maratha ruler, Vishwasrao, and his brother, Madhavrao, expanded their influence all over India. The Company was limited to pockets of influence near Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. However, in the nineteenth century the Marathas were aware of the importance of the technological age starting in Europe. Hence when they set up their own centres for science and technology, the East India Company saw another chance to extend its influence, it offered support and experts. But they were accepted only to make the local centres self-sufficient.

Question 10.
What was the final outcome of the Peshwas?
Answer:
During the twentieth century, inspired by the West, India moved towards a democracy. By then, the Peshwas had lost their enterprise and democratically elected bodies slowly but surely replaced them. The Sultanate at Delhi survived even this change because it exerted no real influence. The Shahenshah of Delhi was a nominal head to rubber-stamp the ‘recommendations’ made by the central parliament.

Question 11.
Gangadharpant began to appreciate the India he had seen. Why was it so?
Answer:
After reading this new history, Gangadharpant was pleased at the India he had seen, it was a country that had not been subjected to slavery of the white man; it had leamt to stand on its feet and knew what self-respect was. From a position of strength and for purely commercial reasons, it had allowed the British to retain Bombay as the sole outpost on the subcontinent.

Question 12.
How had the Marathas won the battle?
Answer:
After reading about the consequences of the battle Gangadharpant felt that his investigations were incomplete. To find the answer he went through the books and journals before him. At last, among the books he found one that gave him the clue. It was ‘Bhausahebanchi Bakhar’. He found a three-line account of how close Vishwasrao had come to being killed. However God had been merciful. The bullet brushed past his ear and he was saved by inches.

Question 13.
What did he take with him absentmindedly from the library? How did it help him?
Answer:
At eight o’clock the librarian politely reminded the Professor that the library was closing for the day. Before Gangadharpant left he shoved some notes into his right pocket. Absentmindedly, he also shoved the ‘Bakhar’ into his left pocket. It helped the Professor convince Rajendra that the story was not a figment of his imagination. He produced this as a very important piece of evidence.

Question 14.
What happened did Professor Gaitonde see in the Azad Maidan?
Answer:
In the Azad Maidan, the Professor found a multitude of people moving towards a pandal to listen to a lecture. As the lecture was in progress, people kept coming and going. But Professor Gaitonde stared at the platform, he noticed that the presidential chair was empty. Like a piece of iron attracted to a magnet, he swiftly moved towards the chair.

Question 15.
What happened when Professor Gaitonde went ahead to occupy the chair on the dais?
Answer:
When Professor Gaitonde went ahead to occupy the chair on the dais, the audience protested vehemently. Professor Gaitonde went to the mike to give his views but the audience was in no mood to listen. However, he kept on talking and soon became a target for a shower of tomatoes, eggs and other objects. Finally, the audience rushed to throw him out bodily but he was nowhere to be seen.

Question 16.
‘… facts can be stranger than fantasies, as I am beginning to realise.’ Why did Rajendra say this?
Answer:
Rajendra had thought that Professor’s mind was playing tricks on him till Gangadharpant produced his own copy of ‘Bhausahebanchi Bakhar’, where the account of the war stated that Vishwasrao was hit by the bullet. He then produced the other evidence in the form of a document that he had inadvertently picked up from the Professor Gaitonde’s library.

Rajendra was confused when he saw this material evidence. He then admitted that his experience had not been just a fantasy. He realized that facts could be stranger than fiction.

Question 17.
How did Rajendra explain ‘reality’?
Answer:
Rajendra said that reality was what we experience directly with our senses or indirectly via instruments. It may not be unique as has been found from experiments on atoms and their constituent particles. Physicists discovered that the behaviour of these systems couldn’t be predicted definitively even if all the physical laws governing those systems are known.

Question 18.
How did Rajendra relate the lack of determinism in quantum theory to the Professor’s experience?
Answer:
Rajendra said that the path of an electron fired from a source cannot be determined as in one world the electron is found here, in another it is over there. Once the observer finds where it is, we know which world we are talking about. But all those alternative worlds could exist just the same. Similarly, catastrophic situations offer radically different alternatives for the world to proceed. It seems that so far as reality is concerned all alternatives are viable but the observer can experience only one of them at a time.

Question 19.
How did Professor Gaitonde make the transition from one reality to the other?
Answer:
Rajendra admitted that there are many unsolved questions in science and this Professor Gaitonde’s transition was one of them. But he guessed that since one needs some interaction to cause a transition, at the time of the collision he must have been thinking about the catastrophe theory and its role in wars. Perhaps he was wondering about the Battle of Panipat and the neurons in his brain acted as a trigger.

The Adventure Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Describe the observations made by the Professor as he entered the alternative universe.
Answer:
Professor Gaitonde was shocked when the train stopped beyond the long tunnel at a small station called Sarhad. An Anglo-Indian in uniform was checking the train permits.

Then the train passed through the suburban rail traffic. The blue carriages carried the letters, GBMR, on the side that stood for ‘Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway’. There was a tiny Union Jack painted on each carriage as a gentle reminder that they were in British territory. The station at Victoria Terminus looked impeccably neat and clean. The staff comprised mostly of Anglo-Indians and Parsees along with a handful of British officers.

Coming out of the station, he found himself facing an imposing building. It was the office of the East India Company. As he walked along Homby Road, as it was called, he found a different set of shops and office buildings. There was no Handloom House building. Instead, there were Boots and Woolworth departmental stores, imposing offices of Lloyds, Barclays and other British banks, as in a typical high street of a town in England.

The greatest shock that awaited was when he entered Forbes building and wished to meet his son, Mr Vinay Gaitonde. The receptionist searched through the telephone list, the staff list and then through the directory of employees of all the branches of the firm and finally shook her head and said, that nobody of that name was either there or any of their branches.

Question 2.
Write a detailed account of the different history that Professor Gaitonde read in the fifth volume of the book in the library.
Answer:
The book mentioned that the Marathas won Battle of Panipat. Abdali was chased back to Kabul by the victorious .Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau and his nephew, the young Vishwasrao. As a consequence the Marathas gained a great deal of confidence and established their supremacy in northern India. The East India Company, watching these developments, temporarily postponed its expansionist programme. This increased the influence of Bhausaheb and Vishwasrao who succeeded his father to the throne in 1780 A.D.

The troublemaker, Dadasaheb, was pushed to the background and he ultimately left state politics. Vishwasrao and his brother, Madhavrao, combined political insight with courage and expanded their influence all over India. The Company’s influence was limited only to areas near Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. For political reasons, the Peshwas kept the puppet Mughal regime alive in Delhi.

In the nineteenth century the Peshwas realized the importance of the technological age and set up their own centres for science and technology. They accepted East India Company’s help only to make the local centres self-sufficient. In the twentieth century India moved towards a democracy. The Peshwas had lost their enterprise and democratically elected bodies gradually replaced them. The Sultanate at Delhi was just a nominal head to rubberstamp recommendations made by the central parliament.

Question 3.
What was the difference in the actual events of the Battle of Panipat and the ones reported in the alternative universe?
Answer:
Professor Gaitonde wanted to look for accounts of the battle itself, so he went through the books and journals before him. At last, he found ‘Bhausahebanchi Bakhar’. There he found account of how close Vishwasrao had come to being killed but the ‘merciful’ God had saved him. A shot had brushed past his ear and he had missed death by inches. However, in this world in which Gaitonde had written his volumes of history, ‘Bhausahebanchi Bakhar’ reported that Vishwasrao had died fighting. God had ‘expressed His displeasure. He was hit by the bullet’. The entire history seemed to have changed radically.

Question 4.
What was the outcome of the Battle of Panipat in the alternative universe?
Answer:
Their victory increased the morale of the Marathas. The East India Company temporarily shelved its expansionist programme. The Peshwas expanded their influence all over India. The Company was reduced to pockets of influence near Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. The Peshwas kept the puppet Mughal regime alive in Delhi. With the dawn of the technological age in Europe, they set up their own centres for science and technology.

The East India Company saw another opportunity to extend its influence but its aid and experts were accepted only to make the local centres self-sufficient. The twentieth century brought about further changes inspired by the West, India moved towards a democracy and democratically elected bodies replaced the Peshwas. After reading this, Professor Gaitonde began to appreciate that India because it had not been subjected to slavery of the white man; it had learnt to stand on its feet and knew what self-respect was. From a position of strength and for purely commercial reasons, it had allowed the British to remain.

Question 5.
Describe the scene that transported Professor Gaitonde to the alternative universe.
Answer:
Professor Gaitonde, after a frugal meal, set out for a stroll towards the Azad Maidan. There he saw a pandal where a lecture was to take place. Professor Gaitonde walked towards the pandal and noticed that on the platform the presidential chair was unoccupied. Drawn to the stage like a magnet, he quickly moved towards the chair.

The speaker stopped in mid-sentence, too shocked to continue. But the audience shouted at him. When he insisted on talking he became a target for a shower of tomatoes, eggs and other objects. But he kept on trying bravely to correct this blasphemy. Finally, the audience crowded on the stage to throw him out. And, in the crowd Gangadharpant was nowhere to be seen.

Question 6.
‘But we live in a unique world which has a unique history.’ Why did the Professor say so?
Answer:
Rajendra tried to rationalize Professor Gaitonde’s experience on the basis of two scientific theories known today. He had passed through a catastrophic experience. He applied it to the Battle of Panipat. The Maratha army was facing Abdali’s troops on the field of Panipat. There was no great disparity between the latter’s troops and the opposing forces. So, a lot depended on the leadership and the morale of the troops.
In the history known to us Vishwasrao, the son of and heir to the Peshwa, was killed.

This proved to be the turning pointing in the battle. Whether Bhausaheb was killed in battle or survived is not known. The soldiers lost their morale and fighting spirit and were defeated. However, in the alternative universe the bullet missed Vishwasrao, and it boosted the morale of the army and provided just that extra force that made all the difference. Professor Gaitonde felt comparable statements are made about the Battle of Waterloo, which Napoleon could have won. But all this is assumption. We live in a inimitable world which has a distinctive history. This idea of ‘it might have been’ is not acceptable for reality.

Question 7.
How did Rajendra explain Professor Gaitonde’s experience by linking it to ‘the lack of determinism in quantum theory’?
Answer:
Rajendra felt that reality might not be unique as has been found from experiments on atoms and their constituent particles. The behaviour of these systems cannot be predicted definitively even if all the physical. laws governing those systems are known. The course taken by an electron fired from a source cannot be asserted. This is the theory of the lack of determinism in the quantum theory. Similarly, in one world the electron is found here, in another it is over there.

In yet another world it could be in a completely different location. Once the observer finds where it is, we know which world we are talking about. But all those alternative worlds could exist just the same. The electron could be orbiting in any of a large number of specified states. These states may be used to identify the world. In state no. 1 we have the electron in a state of higher energy.

Instate no. 2 it is in a state of lower energy. It could make a jump from high to low energy and send out a pulse of radiation. Or a pulse of radiation could knock it out of state no. 2 into state no. 1. Such transitions are common in microscopic systems. If it happened on a macroscopic level people could make a transition from one world to another and back again.