The Refugee by K.A.Abbas: Questions and Answers

 

The Refugee by K.A.Abbas: Questions and Answers

1.Very Short Answer-type Questions Textual): Answer the following questions using a word, a phrase or one or two sentences:

Q1. What does the word ‘storm’ symolise here?

Ans.It symbolises or it stands for the partition of India.

Q2.Where were the two weak women blown to?

Ans.The two women were blown to Bombay.

Q3.Which place was the ‘whole world’ for Maanji before the partition?

Ans. It was Rawalpindi.

Q4. Point out the simile used in the opening sentence.

Ans. like autumn leaves

Additional Very Short Answer-type Questions: Answer the following questions using a word, a phrase or one or two sentences:

Q1. What kind of house did Maaanji live in Bombay?

Ans. It was a one-room house.

Q2. What was Maanji’s complexion and stature?

Ans. Maanji was a lady of short stature and fair complexion.

Q3. Who is the writer of the story ‘The Refugee’?

Ans. K. A Abbas

Q4. Whom did Maanji help with food, bedding, and blankets?

Ans. She helped the Muslim refugees who came there from East Punjab.

Q5.Was Maanji disturbed on reading the newspaper?

Ans.Not at all. She was not disturbed.

Q6.Who came from East Punjab with the bitter feelings of revenge?

Ans. The Muslim refugees came from East Pakistan with bitter feelings.

Q7.What was published in newspapers in June 1947?

Ans. It was about the partition of India.

Q8.What was the only source of income for her?

Ans.Rent from the shops was the only source of her income.

Q9.How many rooms were in Maanji’s house?

Ans. Only one room was there.

Q10.Who reached Bombay the same day?

Ans.The narrator’s and his friend’s mothers had reached Bombay the same day.

Q11. What frightful scene did Manji witness in front of her house?

Ans.Some Muslims killed a Hindu who used to drive a tonga.

Q12.What did Maanji do after witnessing the frightful scene?

Ans. Then she decided to leave Rawalpindi.

3.Exercise 3. (Short Answer-type Questions (Textual); Answer in about 40 to 70 words each:

Qa. Which are the regions that the writer uses to set his story of the partition of India? How does he trace the movements of his characters?

Ans. The narrator uses Rawalpindi, Panipat, Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai) as the regions to set the story ‘The Refugee’.

The narrator’s mother (A Muslim woman) lived in Panipat. The narrator’s friend’s mother (A Sardar woman) lived in Rawalpindi before Partition.

The narrator’s mother along with other women and children of the family were evacuated (moved to a safer place) from Panipat in a military truck and brought to Delhi. After three weeks, they were brought to Mumbai in a plane as it was still unsafe to travel in train.

The narrator’s friend’s mother, along with her old husband travelled in a refugee caravan from Pindi to Amritsar. From there, they reached Delhi and finally, they reached Mumbai.

Qb. How did the ‘two women’ arrive in Bombay?

Ans. The narrator’s mother lived in Panipat, while his friend’s mother was in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). But it was a strange coincidence that both of them reached Bombay on the same day. The narrator’s mother, along with other women and children of their families were brought to Delhi by a military truck. She had to stay there for three weeks in a crowded room with two other families. After that, she was brought to Bombay by plane. The narrator’s friend’s mother, along with her husband reached Amritsar in a refugee caravan from Rawalpindi. After that, they reached Delhi, and finally, from there, they reached Bombay.

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Qc. Prior to partition, what did Manji think of Muslims?

Ans. ‘Maanji was the mother of the narrator’s friend, who was a Sikh. She lived in Rawalpindi along with her husband. She always thought of the Muslims and the Sikhs or the Hindus as brothers. She even helped the Muslim refugees, who reached Rawalpindi from east Punjab. She allowed them to stay in her house. She gave them clothes, blankets, beddings, etc. She was not able to imagine how Muslims and Hindus or Sikhs could become enemies of each other. But later on, one gruesome (ghastly/horrible) incident snapped (broke) the last thread of her faith. In front of her house, a Hindu tonga-wallah was brutally killed. The killers did not even spare his horse, the dumb animal that had no religion or a caste.

Qd. How did the old ‘Sardar’ couple reacts to the news of the impending partition?

Ans. It was in June 1947 when the newspapers published the news regarding the impending (sure to happen) partition. The old Sardarni (Maanji) or Sardarji was not at all worried at the bad news of the partition. They thought it just a political issue. They believed that it made no difference to them whether they lived in Pakistan or in Hindustan. Their small world was their neighbourhood. They knew that their neighbours were very friendly with them. In that situation, they needed nothing to bother about. They were not ready to leave their house and neighbourhood.

4.Answer the following in about 150 to 200 words each:

a.’The Refugee’ proves that men and women are capable of behaving both as uncouth (uncivilised) animals and noble human beings. Discuss.

Ans.The story ‘The Refugee’ definitely proves that both men and women are capable of behaving as uncouth (uncivilised/bad-mannered) animals and also as noble beings. After reading the text of the story, we have some examples that prove the above statement.

The narrator’s friend’s mother ‘Maanji’ lived in Rawalpindi along with her husband, old Sardarji. She had deep faith in all good feelings of fraternity, brotherhood, cooperation, compassion, and all that make a person a true human being. She was a living example of that. She had given her shops on rent to the Muslims, who paid her rent. There was a cordial relation between the Muslims and the Hindus or the Sikhs there. She would also distribute the butter milk to the whole neighbourhood.

But when the inter-communal riots spread, the fire of hate and violence made people behave like beasts. They started killing brutally even the people who lived in their neighbourhood, forgetting all human values. In that violence, even old men, women, and children were not spared. Manji was deeply shocked when she witnessed (watched) a Hindu tonga-wallah being killed mercilessly along with his horse in front of her house. Then her deep faith in humanity was totally shaken.

This was also true that when the Muslims from East Punjab left their villages or cities, they were given full protection and help by the Hindus. The same thing was also done in Western Punjab. But there were people in both the communities who behaved like beasts and forgot all human values.

b. Would you consider ‘The Refugee’ as a story about displacement—geographical, social, political and spiritual?

Ans. The partition of India took place in 1947. It was really a displacement at several levels: geographical, social, political, moral, and spiritual.

It was a displacement at the geographical level because millions of people from both sides had to migrate from their native places. They had to leave their homes, land, and other properties.

It was also a social displacement. The society in which they were rooted deeply left behind. They had to live in other societies in which they were not accepted called ‘refugees’. Their social, cultural ties with their own people were snapped. It was a political decision taken by the leadership in Delhi as a last resort to avoid volatile (explosive) situation that prevailed there at the centre.

 The partition of India was also a displacement of moral values. Many people indulged in immoral activities with the displaced people. At a spiritual level also, the partition was a displacement.

Many people from both communities behaved like beasts. They forgot all about their religious principles and human values. The thousand-year-old joint family system was shattered beyond repair.

Age-old friends and neighbours were ruthlessly (cruelly) separated. The pattern of brotherhood was broken beyond measures.

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Some More Questions

Q1. Describe the life of Maanji in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Ans. Manji used to live in a house of six spacious rooms, wide verandahs and a big courtyard. But in Bombay, she had to live along with her husband and a son in a single room tenement (apartment building). A dhobi occupied the room on one side and coal shop on the other. The kitchen was made in a small room and it also served as a dining room, bathroom and storeroom.

The narrator’s friend’s mother made the room, though it was small, spotlessly clean and everything well arranged.

Beds are covered with white sheets with embroidered pillowcases. The floor shines with constant scrubbing and no particles of dust can be found anywhere.

She cooks food herself with her own hands, washes the dishes, and sweeps the floor herself.

She always keeps smiling. She welcomes her son’s friends whenever they come and never lets them go without at least a cup of tea.

Manji had to leave all her life’s savings and possessions at Rawalpindi. Now, from a prosperous landlady in Rawalpindi, she has become a refugee in Bombay, but her hospitality was never lost.

Q2. Describe how the old Sikh couple lived in Rawalpindi.

Ans. The old Sikh couple had an ancestral house. She had a double-storeyed house in Rawalpindi. She lived in the upper part of the house. There were some shops on the ground floor. Those were on rent to Muslim shopkeepers or artisans.

The Muslim women living in the neighbourhood called the old Sardarni ‘Behnji’ while the woman of the younger generation addresses her as ‘Maanji’ or ‘Chachi’. That was the pattern of living there in Rawalpindi and all over Punjab.

Maanji’s family had a buffalo of their own, which gave ten seers of milk every day. They used to prepare butter and distribute buttermilk to the whole of neighbourhood. All thanked her and would say:

Manji also had a piece of agricultural land that was given to some farmers on lease. They would produce wheat, maize or bajra. Manji had a small bit of regular income from the rent of shops. Milk, butter, and ghee were also available at home. Thus, the old couple lived a contented and peaceful life.

Q3. Which incident shattered ‘Maanji’s’ faith?

Ans. One day, something happened that shattered ‘Maanji’s’ faith of living in brotherhood. She saw that a tonga-wallah was stabbed to death just in front of her house. She came to know as to why he was killed. She said, “It was bad enough that the tonga-walla was killed. They killed him because he was a Hindu—but they did not spare even the horse.. You know, a horse has neither religion nor caste. And yet, they went on stabbing the poor animal with their daggers till the poor, dumb creature bled to death. Then I knew the madness had gone too far, and human beings had become something else, something horrible and evil, that we could no longer feel safe in Rawalpindi.’

Q4. Who were the two women in the story? Why did they have to leave their homes?

Ans. The two women in the story are the narrator’s mother and his friend’s mother. The narrator’s mother lived in Panipat and his friend’s mother lived in Rawalpindi.

The narrator’s friend’s mother ‘Maanji’ lived in Rawalpindi along with her husband, old Sardarji. She had deep faith in all good feelings of fraternity, brotherhood, cooperation, compassion, and all that make a person a true human being. She was a living example of that.

But the cruel decision of India’s partition forced them to leave their homes for ever.

The narrator’s mother along with other women and children of the family were evacuated (moved to a safer place) from Panipat in a military truck and brought to Delhi. After three weeks, they were brought to Mumbai in a plane as it was still unsafe to travel in train.

The narrator’s friend’s mother, along with her old husband travelled in a refugee caravan from Pindi to Amritsar. From there, they reached Delhi, and finally, they reached Mumbai.