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.
Video 1 Ends
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.
Video 2 Ends
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.
