The Blind Dog by R. K. Narayana:
Questions & Answers
Ex. 3. I. Short Answer-type Questions
Write short answers in
almost five lines to each of the following questions:
Q1. What happened to the dog once it became the blind
man’s companion?
Ans. The dog started
sitting near the old beggar. The old blind beggar used to feed the dog. So it
became his companion.
In the beginning, all was
well. But the dog’s misery started when a ribbon vendor tied a string to it to
help the blind man. After that, he held the string of the dog tightly. He
started walking with the help of the dog by keeping the string in his hand.
Thus more coins started falling into the bowl. It made the person greedier than
before. He kept walking throughout the day. The dog’s freedom was lost. It
became the old man’s slave now.
Or
The old blind beggar used
to feed the dog. So it became his companion. It started sitting near him. In
turn, the dog also started doing favours to the old man. It forced people to
drop coins into his bowl. One day, a piece of ribbon attached with a string was
tied around its neck. It helped the blind man a lot. Now the dog was not free
to run away. It had to remain with him. Thus the dog had to become the old
beggar’s slave.
Q2. How did the friendship between the dog and the
blind man begin?
Ans. one day, the blind
beggar was just about to begin eating his food. All of a sudden, he sensed that
a dog was sitting near him. So he gave him a small portion of his food to the
dog. It continued for some days more and the dog started remaining in the
company of the blind man. Thus a friendship started growing between them.
Q3. How did the dog guard the blind man from the
urchin?
Ans. On every Thursday, a
mischievous boy would come there to sell a load of cucumber or plantain (a
vegetable) on his head. He used to tease the beggar by calling him names and
picking his coins stealthily. One day, the old man called the dog to save him.
The boy tried to pick up coins from the bowl. But the dog noticed this and
caught the boy’s wrist at once in its mouth. With a great difficulty, the boy
freed his wrist and ran away to save himself from the dog.
Q4. Write the character sketch of the blind man.
Ans. The blind man was a
greedy person. He was also ungrateful to the dog. He gave the dog just a little
portion of his food. But he kept the dog engaged for himself all the time. He
did not let the dog enjoy its freedom. He also used to treat the dog harshly.
The old man’s greed for coins increased day after day. So the troubles of the
dog increased. It had to walk with the old man for more time to reach different
places. Thus the old blind beggar is not a good human being. He has no sympathy
for animals.
Q5. How did the dog’s life change after the death of
the old woman?
Ans. But after the death
of the old woman, the dog’s life changed completely. He had to remain all the
time with the old man. Now his movements were controlled by the old blind man.
So the dog was unable to move to the places of his choice. Sometimes he saw
other dogs and wanted to join them. As he tried to pull the string from the old
man’s hand, it always received (got) a kick from him. Within a few days, the
dog had to make a compromise with his changed circumstances (situation), in
which he lost all his freedom.
Video 1 of 3
Q6. Describe the life of the dog led after being set
free from the blind man.
Ans. One day, a perfume seller took pity on the miserable condition of the dog. So he took a
pair of scissors and cut the dog’s string. It made him free. The dog ran at his
full speed. He visited his favourite places and did activities like smelling
about the ditches, sitting in front of the butcher’s shop, the tea-stall and
the bakery. He would throw himself upon other dogs in a playful mood. He would
also run round and round the fountain in the market square barking. His eyes
had a special sparkle (shine) of joy in his eyes while doing all these
activities.
Q7. What is your opinion about the dog’s behaviour?
Ans. The dog’s behaviour
has two aspects. It is normal before it was free and after it got freedom when
his string was cut off by the perfume seller.
After the death of the old
woman and when he was tied with a string, his behaviour was a forced one. It
was hunger that forced the dog to remain in the company of the blind man.
In the beginning, it sat
with the old man because he used to feed him.
Later, when he was tied to a string, then also he had to remain with the
old man under compulsion. But after some time, the dog was set free as the
string was cut by the perfume seller. He enjoyed freedom and went to the places
of his choice. That was also his natural behaviour. The dog had to run from one
place to the other for food. It was difficult for him to continue with that
struggle because he had now another option of getting food from the old blind
beggar. So he returns to his old master in the end. This was also the dog’s
forced behaviour. He was compelled to accept the old man’s slavery due to the
pangs of hunger.
Q8. Describe the irony contained in the very title of
the story ‘The Blind Dog’.
Ans. The writer, R. K.
Narayana has appropriately titled this story as ‘The Blind dog’. It is a great
irony that the dog is not blind at all. He can see things quite clearly. It is
the old man, who is blind and unable to see the physical world.
The dog joined the blind
man’s company of his own choice because the old man gave him some food to eat.
But after some time, a string was tied to the dog’s neck. It made his life
miserable. The dog lost all his freedom. Previously, he was free. But now, he
lost his freedom.
But when the dog was set
free by the perfume seller, he regained his freedom.
But after some time, he
again came back to his old master to lose his freedom once again. Herein
lies the dog’s blindness. The dog accepted the blind man’s slavery and this
is quite ironic.
II. Long Answer-type Questions
Q1. Describe the dog of the story. How did it become
the blind beggar’s companion?
Ans. The dog’s story is very
interesting and also full of some dramatic turns (changes). He was a mongrel
(mixed breed) dog and was born in a street. He had spotty eyes and his hairy
coat was of a white and dusty colour. He had a mutilated (cut) tail also.
He could be found taking rest in the
hot afternoons under the culvert (a drainage pipe) at the eastern gate of the
market. In the evenings, he would start his daily rounds in the surrounding
streets to pick up food to satisfy his hunger. But during such wanderings, he had
to engage himself in skirmishes (small fights). He would come back to his usual
place before nightfall.
The narrator says that it continued
for three years and the dog’s life changed when a blind beggar began to sit
there in the marketplace. An old woman used to lead him up there in the early
morning to make him sit there. She would again come up at midday with some foodstuff, collect his coins and take him home at night.
Gradually (slowly), the dog started sitting
beside the blind beggar. He would eat food given to him and watch him receive
alms from morning to evening.
In the course of time, the dog
understood that it was mandatory for the passers-by to drop coins in front of
the blind beggar. If the people didn’t drop a coin, the dog would chase them,
tug at the end of their dress, and pull them back to the beggar to force them
to drop a coin or so in the beggar’s bowl.
Life went on smoothly for the dog
till the old woman, who used to bring food for the blind beggar, lived. After
that, the dog’s life became miserable.
Video 2 of 3
Q2. What happens to the blind man and the dog at the
end of the story?
Ans. At the end of the
story, the dog returns to his master, the blind beggar. The dog had become
dependent on him for food and shelter. He willingly accepted the old man’s
slavery. So we may guess that he would never leave the blind beggar.
It means that prosperity
would again come in the old man’s life. He would do the same type of behaviour
with the dog as it was done before. The old man would push the dog with his
stick and force him to move forward. More coins would fall into his bowl. He
would again start giving money to people on interest. Thus the condition of the
dog would be the same. Food again forced the dog to fall in a virtual hell
created by the old man.
Q3. How did the life of the blind beggar change when
the dog was tied to a string?
Ans. In a
way, a turning point came in the life of both, the blind man and the dog too
when the tiger (the dog) was tied to a string.
The blind man started moving from one
place to the other with the help of the dog.
He used to have his staff (stick) in
one hand and the ribbon in the other while moving from one place to the other.
He moved down the ‘choultry’ (an inn,
a resting place) street. He stepped wherever he heard some voice or sensed
people’s presence. Then he would spread his hand for alms. He went to all the
common places like shops, schools, hospitals, hostels, etc.
The dog protected (saved) him from
falling into pits or stamping against the stone steps. People started helping
him by giving him coins. Children also used to gather around him and give him things to
eat.
As time passed, the desire to collect
more money grew in the blind man’s mind. So he thought taking rest was just a waste
of opportunities of collecting money.
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