Bholi

NCERT Solution for Class 10^th English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 9 Bholi is part of NCERT Solution for 10th class English. Here we have given NCERT Solution for 10th class Footprints without Feet lesson 9 Bholi.

Bholi Chapter 9 Question and Answers

Q.1 Why is Bholi’s father worried about her?
Ans. Bholi was not like other children. She fell off a cot as a child due to which her brain was slightly damaged. She learned to speak very used and late to stammer. Her face and whole body were covered with pockmark. Thus, her father was a woman about her marriage prospects.

Q.2 Does Bholi enjoy her first day at school?
Ans. Bholi found everything new at the school. She felt glad to see many girls of her age present there. She was fascinated by the bright colors of the images on the walls. She cried when she kept stammering on being asked her name. However, she saw how kind the teacher was and finally, managed to speak her name. She was given a book by the teacher. The teacher behaved with her as no one had ever done, thereby filling her with confidence At the end of her first day at school, her heart was throbbing with new hope and a new life.

Q.3 Why did Bholi at first agree to a no equal match? Why did she later reject the marriage? What does this tell us about her?
Ans. At first, Bholi had agreed to marry an old man because of her father’s honor, thereby placing her family’s interest over her own. However, she later refused to marry him because she saw how to mean, contemptible, and greedy he was. By demanding a hefty dowry, he took advantage of her bad the desperateness and looks of her father to get her married. This is why she rejected the marriage and silenced everybody else who called her shameless. This tells us that Bholi had grown in confidence and could very well speak for herself.

Q.4  Does she find her teacher various from the people at home?
Ans. Yes, she found her teacher various from the people at home. Her teacher was very kind and spoke to her affectionately. She did not scold or command her but encouraged her in a soothing voice. She told her that in time, she would be more learned than anyone else in the village, and no one would ever be able to laugh at her. People would listen to her and respect her. This filled Bholi with new hope.

Q.5 Why does the marriage not take place?
Ans. The marriage did not take place because Bholi refused to marry Bishamber. When the groom saw that her face was covered with pock-marks, he announced that he would marry her only if her father paid him a dowry of five thousand rupees. Bishamber did not budge from his stand in spite of repeated pleadings by Ramlal. Finally, Ramlal placed the dowry amount at the groom’s feet. Consequently, when Bishamber was about to place the garland around Bholi’s neck, she struck out her hand, and the garland was flung into the fire. She said that she was willing to marry that man only because of her father’s honor. However, on seeing that the man was mean, greedy and contemptible, she had decided not to go ahead with the marriage.

Q.6 How did Bholi’s teacher play an important role in changing the course of her life?
Ans. Bholi’s teacher played a very important role in changing her life. She was the first one to have spoken to her affectionately. She encouraged her to speak out her name without any fear. She gave her a book, thereby aiming to inculcate in her the desire to learn. She told her that in time, she would be more learned than anyone else in the village, and no one would ever be able to laugh at her. People would listen to her and respect her. This filled Bholi with new hope.

Q.7 For what unusual reasons is Bholi sent to school?
Ans. The tehsildar had performed the opening ceremony of the primary school for girls that had just opened in Ramlal’s village. He told Ramlal that as he was a representative of the government in the village, he should set an example for the villagers by sending his daughters to the school. When Ramlal discussed this matter with his wife, she said that if girls were sent to school, no one would marry them. Since Ramlal did not have the courage to disobey the tehsildar, his wife suggested that they should send Bholi to the school. She felt that as there were little chances of her getting married with her ugly face and lack of sense, she might as well go to the school.

Q.8 Why do Bholi’s parents accept Bishamber’s marriage proposal?
Ans. Bholi’s parents felt that if they did not accept Bishamber’s proposal, she might remain not married all her life. Her mother said they were lucky that Bishamber was from another hence and village, did not know about Bholi’s pock-marks and her lack of sense. Moreover, he had not even asked for any dowry. Hence, Bholi’s parents accepted the marriage proposal.

Q.9 Bholi had many apprehensions about going to school. What made her feel that she was going to a better place than her home?
Ans. Bholi felt that she was going to a better place than her home when she got the treatment that she had never got before. New clothes had never been made for Bholi. The old dresses of her sisters were passed on to her. No one cared to mend or wash her clothes. However, before being sent off to the school, she received a clean dress. She was even bathed, and oil was rubbed into her matted and dry hair. It was then that she began to believe that she was being taken to a place better than her home.

Q.10 Bholi’s real name is Sulekha. We are told this right at the beginning. But only in the last but one paragraph of the story is Bholi called Sulekha again. Why do you think she is called Sulekha at that point in the story?
Ans. Sulekha was called Bholi because everyone considered her to be a backward child and a simpleton. The name Bholi thus symbolizes her under ignorance and confidence. After mentioning her real name at the beginning of the story, the author mentions it again only in the second-last paragraph. This is a deliberate attempt on the part of the author to show that Sulekha has finally attained her true identity by literally throwing aside the veil that hid her personality.