1. She turned to me and ordered me to go out and play. I always seemedto turn up at the wrong time and at the wrong place. As I was leavingthe room, I managed to pick up a piece of the broken surahi which Ienjoyed sucking….. (i) Who is “I”? Why do you think her mother asks her to go out andplay?         In this extract from the story ‘Girls’, written by Mrinal Pande, ‘I’is the little girl narrating the story. The story has been told in achild’s perspective which very effectively brings out the Indianwomen’s secondary role in the society.         The little girl is asked to go out because being a child, she is notallowed to listen to the dire necessity of Ma to deliver a son-childthis time. In those days a boy-child used to be welcomed because hewould be earning on growing up, look after his old parents and carrythe family name onwards. (ii) What has ‘I’ told about her mother’s attitude to her children? As far as Ma is concerned, her children are perpetually creatingproblems for her, particularly so as they are all girls. If they hadbeen sons, and even if they gad been naughty, she would not be angrybecause sons are considered assets in the Indian families. (iii) Where is mother about to go? Why is she going there?         The mother is going to her parents’ house.         She is going there because she is pregnant and it is a custom inIndia for married women to have the baby delivered at their parentalhomes. (iv) What hope does she express to Saru’s mother? She hopes she will have a son-child this time. Otherwise she will haveto undergo the hassles of another child-bearing, because without amale child in the family, the family name itself will be lost. Againit is sons that will be earning, when they grow up, unlike the girlswho will leave the parents after they get married. (v)What happens as they get into the train? What does the narrator do?         Having got into the train, mother gets preoccupied with minding theluggage, the wobbling surahi and the three of her children.         The narrator, the little girl, spirited as she is, secures a seatbeside the window and sticks her tongue out at every one. She thenchants the alphabets to impress her mother. She crushes a piece ofpotato from the samosa she could not eat into the shape of an insect

to frighten her little sister. And she begins to cry when her mothersmacks her for being naughty. 

Long Question (Question Courtesy – Franksons) Describe how the narrator is treated by her mother. Does she deservethe treatment? Is she treated like this because she is a girl and nota boy?        The narrator, the little girl-protagonist of the story is treatedunkindly by her mother. The girl, is a sprightly and spirited one likeall children of her age, is naughty and mischievous. However, themother, troubled as she is, with apprehensions if she will have a sonor daughter once again this time, targets her middle daughter forpunishments as if being born a girl is an offence. In fact mother isalways scolding her, even beating her, and always referring to her asa ‘problem’. For example, mother calls her middle daughter a witch asshe innocently asks her (mother) what all Chotti Maasi has to endure.Again mother can not put up with a mere child’s playful wish to be anengine. On ignoring her Nanni’s call to put a tika on her forehead,the narrator faces the wrath of her mother who threatens her with direconsequences if she (the narrator) does not obey. This is the commonreaction of mothers in the Indian society when she has not been

fortunate enough to have a son-child even after bearing two or threegirl-children. The tradition in the Indian society looks upon a boyprogeny as a prized possession because it is he who will not onlycarry the family name but will also earn money to bring prosperity tothe family.The narrator does not deserve this kind of treatment simply becauseshe is also a human being with sensibilities and her own rights. It isa crime to treat girls harshly because they leave the family aftermarriage and that the parent has to spend a fortune to marry her off.A girl, who will soon be growing up into a woman, should enjoy as muchright as a boy – to be treated kindly, educated properly and honouredas well as a boy.It is obvious that the narrator is treated like this because she is agirl and not a boy. The cry of anger and anguish of the little girl isreally the voice of all the girls of the Indian society which makes uswake up to the fact that we should immediately begin treating the girl-child with more respect and esteem.

The story 'Girls' deals with the way Indian women is treated in our society. it basically tells us the unjustified idolatry of the male child and a woman's sensitive perspective and the hypocrisy of some rituals. it shows us how we treat women in our modern society. the whole story is narrated by an eight year old girl, who is the second daughter of a middle class family. her mother is a very irritable person, as she is going through her fourth pregnancy, and fervently hopes that it's a boy this time.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Summary_of_girls_by_mrinal_pande#ixzz23u7o0lFW

Theme - it mainly deals with the different and unjust treatment rendered to girls in a middle class Indian family. it deals with gender discrimination. the protagonist is the 9 year old girl and she has been given so much unimportance that even her name isn't mentioned in the story. she is always very insecure and nervous but also has a rebellious streak in her due to which she gets her point across to the others!the desensitized mother is very unsympathetic and thinks that girls do not have their own identity and come after boys despite her also being a female!

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Theme_of_story_girls_by_mrinal_pande#ixzz23u8P19xJ

The story 'Girls' deals with the way Indian women is treated in our society. it basically tells us the unjustified idolatry of the male child and a woman's sensitive perspective and the hypocrisy of some rituals. it shows us how we treat women in our modern society. the whole story is narrated by an eight year old girl, who is the second daughter of a middle class family. her mother is a very irritable person, as she is going through her fourth pregnancy, and fervently hopes that it's a boy this time.

the story highlights how Indian society takes its women for granted and thus women play a secondary role in the family. the author presents a critical look at Indian society, which in spite of all the progress and modernization we see around us, continues to mistreat its women.it mainly deals with the different treatment rendered to girls in a middle class Indian family. it has deals with gender discrimination. the protagonist is a girl and she is given so much unimportance that even her name isnt mentioned in the story. she is always very insecure and nervous but also has a rebellious streak in her due to which she gets her point across to the others!the desensitized mother is very unsympathetic and thinks thar girls do not have their own identity and come after boys derpite her also being a female!story illustrates the scenario of a male dominating world, and how female gender is subjugated. The opening of any piece of writing is an allusion of what lies ahead in it. The opening introduces characters of the story. Despite the fact that how the story is set in a male dominating there is very little mention of the male gender.The first sentence is bold and exasperated, desensitized mother who thinks that girls have no identity and always come after boys 

In this story, Mrainal Pandey wants to say that Indian Society has two sides to itelf like the coins..............it is self contradicting itself......on one hand it...

‘Girls’ is a short story by the author Mrinal Pande who was born in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh. She studied initially at Nainital and then completed her Master's degree from Allahabad University. Later on she studied English and Sanskrit literature, Ancient Indian History, Archeology, Classical Music and the Visual Arts at the Corcoran in Washington DC. Her first story was published in the Hindi weekly Dharmyug, at the age of 21, since then she has been consistently writing, apart from working in media, both television and press.

This story illustrates the scenario of a male dominating world, and how female gender is subjugated. The opening of any piece of writing is an allusion of what lies ahead in it. The opening introduces characters of the story. Despite the fact that how the story is set in a male dominating there is very little mention of the male gender. The first sentence is bold and exasperated, desensitized mother who thinks that girls have no identity and always come after boys and her character’s attitude towards females despite her also being a female is unsympathetic and insensitive. The short story is narrated from the point of the view of the protagonist of this story; a daughter who is so dejected that her name is not even revealed in the story due to unimportance. She is very mischievous kid who feels insecure, worried and nervous all the time but she is also a fighter, who does not give up easily. The first few sentences introduce characters of the story. There is the aggravated mother “Ma” and the father “Babbu” which is remembered on various instances by the protagonist of this story. It also introduces “Saru’s Mother”, who is the maid, it is of great significance that all the women are either addressed as their son’s mother or given ‘temporary’ identity of original names. The protagonist on various occasions says that “...yet another problem”, “To Ma, everything was a problem.” and “...we are a problem.”