9 english kathmandu

8/14/2019 9 English Kathmandu

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Finish Line & Beyond

Kathmandu

I. Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.

1. Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.

Answer: The author visited the Pashupati Nath Temple and the Budhnath Stupa.

2. The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘allthis’ refer to?

Answer: The author purchased a bar of marzipan and corn cooked on charcoal fire,alongwith some comics and a Reader’s Digest. He ate the edibles while reading thosebooks.

3. What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?Answer: The flute seller’s stock of flutes was looking like the quills of a porcupine.

4. Name five kinds of flutes.

Answer: Bansuri, Reed, Murli, Shakuhachi, and Neh.

II. Answer each question in a short paragraph.

1. What difference does the author note between the flute seller and theother hawkers?

Answer: The author notes that the flute seller was not at all bothered about sellinghis wares. He was more engrossed in playing his flutes and sometimes talking to fel-low vendors. The sale was incidental for him.

2. What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?

Answer: There is a small temple near the banks of the river Baghmati, which ispartly submerged. The age old belief is if the water recedes enough to expose thegoddess then the Goddess will leave that place and that will herald the end of theKaliyug. Kaliyug is the era of all sins as per Hindu mythology.

3. The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three ex-amples each of (i) the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupat-inath(ii) the things he sees(iii) the sounds he hears

Answer: Febrile confusion means a situation of complete chaos or confusion. Likemost of the Hindu pilgrimage centres Pashupathinath temple is also buzzing withpeople and mindless activity. The crowd, monkeys, devotees attempt to get prefer-ential treatment, calls of hawkers all of these cerate a completely noisy situation.

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III. Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.

1. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnathshrine with the Pashupatinath temple.

Answer: The atmosphere in Pashupatinath Temple is utterly noisy and it can get onnerves of people who are not used to this kind of situation. People jostle with eachother to touch the idol of the God. Monkeys are prevalent near temples in India andNepal. They live in not so perfect harmony with human beings. Because of Hindu GodHanuman nobody disturbs them. The hawkers selling their wares and taut trying todupe tourist is common at places like Pashuptinath temple.

On the other hand, the atmosphere at Budhnath stupa is full of calm. The way of Budhist worship is more about meditation and it is far from ritualistic worship of theHindus. The Budhnath stupa is has some Tibetans selling nick-nacks but the hugecrowd of the Hindu pilgrimage is missing there. There is calm as opposed to chaosnear the Pashupatinath temple. 2. How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets?

Answer: Kathmandu’s busiest streets are narrow. They are full of life. There aresmall temples with colourful deities along these streets. The street is full of vendorsand shops. Some are selling things which are used in worship. Then there arehawkers selling fruits. There is a flute seller as well playing melodiously on his flute.There is total cacophony as loudspeakers are blaring different kinds of music.

3. “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.”

Why does the author say this?Answer: The flute is one of the basic musical instruments. It is the simplest yetclosest to the human breathing. One needs to breathe life into it to play it soulfully. If the flute player stops to catch his breath then the flute stops playing. Moreover, al-most all civilizations have some kind of flute.

Because of its prevalence around the world and its closeness to the human breathingthe author says that to hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of allmankind.

A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal





A slumber did my spirit seal—I had no human fears.

She seemed a thing that could not feelThe touch of earthy years.No motion has she now, no force—She neither hears nor sees,Rolled round in earth’s diurnal courseWith rocks and stones and trees.

In this poem the poet is mourning the death of a loved one. He says that a deepsleep has taken his spirit or joy or the desire to live. After her death it seems thatshe cannot fell the touch of earthy years. This is a way to tell that after death thetime stops and stands still and the person who is dead need not fear about growingold. She is motionless, and cannot hear or see a thing. Even planet earth’s routinecourse of moving on its axis has no effect on her, although it can move the stationaryrocks and stones along with it. In other words after the death she has reached bey-ond earth’s power as well because she no more a mortal being. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Fear No More

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,Nor the furious winter’s rages;

Thou thy worldly task hast done,Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages:Golden lads and girls all must,As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.Fear no more the frown o’ the great,Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke;Care no more to clothe and eat;To thee the reed is as the oak:The sceptre, learning, physic, mustAll follow this, and come to dust.Fear no more lightning-flash,Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;Fear not slander, censure rash;Thou hast finished joy and moan:All lovers young, all lovers mustConsign to thee, and come to dust.

This poem is about the inevitable which happens to all of us. After someone dies heis free of his physical body. The soul is free and it need not fear the heat of the sunor the ferocity of the winter. Everybody, including superstars, has to turn to the dustsomeday and nobody can escape from the inevitability called death. Once a person is





free of the physical body he need not worry about clothes and food. For him a flute issame as a tree. The lightning or thunder cannot harm the soul.

This is more or less like Krishna’s preaching in the Gita. In the Gita Krishna says thatsoul is the real thing and body is like a cloth which we take off after it becomes wornout. Fire cannot burn it, water cannot dissolve it and air cannot sweep it off. After thedeath the soul becomes free of all the worldly desires.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE


9 english kathmandu

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