Class Notes NCERT Solutions for CBSE Students
Iswaran the Storyteller: NCERT 9th Class CBSE English Moments Chapter 03
Question: In what way is Iswaran an asset to Mahendra?
Answer: Iswaran cooked for Mahendra, washed his clothes, and chatted with him at night. He would narrate various stories on varied subjects. He also had an amazing ability to produce vegetables and cooking ingredients out of nowhere. He would miraculously cook the most delicious dishes made with fresh vegetables within an hour of arriving at the new workplace. Iswaran was quite attached to Mahendra and followed him to wherever he was posted. Hence, Iswaran was an asset to Mahendra in more ways than one.
Question: How does Iswaran describe the uprooted tree on the highway? What effect does he want to create in his listeners?
Answer – Iswaran the Storyteller: Iswaran’s descriptions were greatly influenced by the Tamil thrillers he read. When he came across an uprooted tree on the highway, he said very dramatically that the road was deserted and he was all alone. Suddenly, he spotted something that “looked like an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road.” He was half-inclined to turn and go back. However, as he came closer, he saw that it was a fallen tree with its dry branches spread out.
Even if he was narrating the smallest of incidents, he tried to introduce suspense and a surprise ending to the story.
Question: How does he narrate the story of the tusker? Does it appear to be plausible?
Answer – Iswaran the Storyteller: He started the story of the elephant by giving a prologue in which he called elephants ‘huge well-fed beasts.’ He said that after escaping from the timber yard, the elephant started roaming about, stamped on bushes and tore up wild creepers. It then came to the main road of the town and smashed all the stalls selling fruits, mud pots, and clothes. It then entered a school ground where the children were playing. It pulled out the football goal-post, tore down the volleyball net, flattened the drum kept for water and uprooted the shrubs. All the teachers and students were so afraid that they climbed up to the terrace of the school building. According to Iswaran, he was studying in the junior class at that time. He grabbed a cane from the hands of one of the teachers and ran into the open. The elephant continued grunting and stamping its feet. It looked frightening. However, he moved slowly towards it. When the elephant was ready to rush towards him, he moved forward and whacked its third toe nail. It looked stunned and then collapsed.
This story does not appear to be plausible.
Question: Why does the author say that Iswaran seemed to more than make up for the absence of a TV in Mahendra’s living quarters?
Answer: Iswaran used to narrate different dramatic stories to Mahendra. Not a day passed when he did not recount some story packed with adventure, horror or suspense. Mahendra enjoyed listening to these stories, whether it was credible or not, because of the manner in which they were narrated. It is for this reason that the narrator says that Iswaran seemed to more than make up the absence of a TV in Mahendra’s living quarters.
Question: Mahendra calls ghosts or spirits a figment of the imagination. What happens to him on a full-moon night?
Answer: One night, Mahendra was woken up from his sleep by a low moan close to the window near his bed. Initially, he thought it was a cat running after mice. However, the sound was too guttural for a cat. Mahendra resisted the curiosity of looking outside the window but when the noise became louder, he could not resist the temptation. When he looked outside, he saw a dark cloudy form clutching a bundle. He broke into a cold sweat and fell back on the pillow. When he recovered from this ghastly experience, he concluded that it must have been some trick that his subconscious mind had played on him. When he got up in the morning, the terrible memory of the previous night had faded from his memory. However, when Iswaran confirmed the presence of the female ghost, he immediately resigned from his post and decided to leave the ‘haunted place.’
Question: What impact did Iswaran’s story of a female ghost have on Mahendra?
Answer: Mahendra avoided looking out of the window when the moon was full. He went to bed with a certain unease and peered into the darkness to make sure that there was no movement of dark shapes outside.
Question: Why did Mahendra become fond of Iswaran?
Answer: Mahendra became fond of Iswaran because he was a very resourceful person and took very good care of him. He was a trained cook and could also arrange for things at a desolate place. In addition to this he took very good care of Mahendra.
Question: Why did Mahendra decide to leave the haunted place?
Answer: He was afraid of the haunted place after hearing and watching a ghastly experience at night. He
found that he often dreamt of that woman ghost. Therefore, he wanted to leave the place.
Question: What sets Iswaran apart from other domestic helps?
Answer: Iswaran was a class in himself. He was highly resourceful and a big help to Mahendra. He was a trained cook and to top it he narrated captivating and interesting stories to Mahendra at night.
Question: How did Iswaran tackle the elephant?
Answer: The elephant had caused much terror, children and teachers ran here and there to save their lives.
Iswaran dared it and hit it on the third toe with a rod. Thus, the mad elephant was controlled.
Question: Why was Iswaran called Mahendra’s asset?
Or
How did Iswaran show his usefulness to the narrator?
Answer: Iswaran was not only a trained cook but also very attached to his master, Mahendra, as he followed him everywhere he was posted. He not only took care of him by washing his clothes and cooking food but also gossiped with him in the night and told him various modified folk tales.
Question: What did Mahendra decide after he had seen the ghost?
Answer: Mahendra was convinced that there were ghosts around his house. He was scared and did not want to live there any longer and so, he resigned his job.
Question: Who was Iswaran? What all he did for his master?
Answer: Iswaran was Mahendra’s cook, he was an asset to him. He cooked for him, washed his clothes and chatted away with his master at night. He often narrated stories which were very convincing.
Question: What impact did Iswaran’s story of a female ghost have on Mahendra?
Answer: Mahendra avoided looking out of the window when the moon was full. He went to bed with a certain unease and peered into the darkness to make sure that there was no movement of dark shapes outside.
Question: How does Iswaran describe the story of the elephant ? Does it appear to be plausible?
Answer: One day an elephant went mad, stamping oh bushes, breaking fences, smashing fruit stalls, mud pots and clothes. He even entered a school ground breaking through the brick wall. Iswaran who was in the junior class, whacked its third toe nail with a rod and it collapsed. No, the story does not appear to be plausible.
Question: What destruction did the elephant cause in the town?
Answer: The elephant caused a lot of destruction in the town. He broke branches, fences and smashed stalls. He entered a school play ground and broke a brick wall, pulled out a football goal post, tore down a volleyball net and flattened a water drum.
Question: Do you think the ghost Mahendra saw in the night of the full moon was a real ghost?
Answer: No, I think the ghost Mahendra saw was a creation of a weak mind. Iswaran had made Mahendra’s mind a little weak by telling him the ghost story. When Mahendra rebuked him for believing in ghosts, he felt offended. To prove that he was right he himself posed as a ghost. So, that is why Mahendra thought that he had seen a ghost at that full moon night.
Question: Mahendra calls ghosts or spirits a figment of imagination. What happens to him on full moon night?
Answer: Mahendra never believed in ghosts and spirits but one night he had woken up from his sleep by a low moan near the window. He could not resist his curiosity and tried to look out. To his horror, he saw a dark cloudy form clutching a bundle. Mahendra was in cold sweat from top to bottom and fell back on the pillow panting.
Question: What are qualities of a good listener? Express your views in reference to Mahendra who a would listen to Iswaran’s tales uncritically.
Answer: Listening is an essential part of any story telling. Being a good and a patient listener helps you achieve not only meaning of the story but also the expressions and the intentions of the story teller. Iswaran was an amazing story teller but Mahendra was an equally good listener, Iswaran used to create such a magnificent aura around the story that Mahendra used to listen to him with rapt attention he used to make eye contacts with Iswaran to either depict awe or horror depending upon the story. Mahendra would let his own mind and imaginations see the story in reality. For example, during the narration of tusker story, Mahendra could actually feel the tension and fear in his mind. Mahendra never spoke during the entire story telling session, he would never interfere in Iswaran’s story, he would occasionally nod his head and only towards the end of the story show his compressions. Mahendra would listen to Iswaran as incritically.
Question: How can you say that Iswaran was a fascinating story teller?
Answer: Iswaran was a very fascinating and a drama story teller. He gave imaginative descriptions of various events. He used dramatic language and gestures to describe events and changed a simple event in suspense. His stories had surprise endings and unexpected narrations. He was influenced by thrilling novels and stories of Tamil authors. All stories had adventure, horror and suspense. All these elements made him a fascinating story teller and he could captivate any audience with his stories.
Question: How was Iswaran, the cook, an asset to Mahendra?
Answer – Iswaran the Storyteller: Iswaran, the cook, was very attached to Mahindra. He followed Mahendra whenever Mahendra got a posting. He not only washed his clothes but also chatted with him at night. He was a trained cook and could cook delicious meals really fast. He could tidy the sheds as well as narrate unbelieving accounts with utmost conviction and mostly were true accounts.
Question – Iswaran the Storyteller: Write a brief character sketch of Iswaran.
Answer: Iswaran, Mahendra’s servant, was very devoted to him. He was not only a very well trained and wonderful cook but also a good story teller. He was fond of reading thrillers and his narrations were influenced from those styles. He had to give up his job due to a practical joke played on Mahendra, his master. Life was not possible for Mahendra without him, as he was his asset, and he started living totally isolated.
Question: “Iswaran was a good cook as well as a good story teller” elaborate with the help of example.
Answer – Iswaran the Storyteller: Iswaran was Mahendra’s Jook and wholesale caretaker of Mahendra. He had an amazing capacity to produce vegetables and cooked ingredients seemingly out of nowhere. He not only could cook delicious meals but he was a good story teller. His descriptions were influenced by the Tamil authors he read. Even while narrating the smallest of incidents, he would try to make the account thrilling and full of suspense. Mahendra enjoyed listening to the stories told by Iswaran because of the way they were told. Thus, Iswaran was a real asset for Mahendra.
Question: Iswaran was a fascinating storyteller. What other skills he had? How was he an asset to Mahendra?
Answer – Iswaran the Storyteller: Iswaran was a fascinating story teller. He read a lot of story books and narrated incidents in a very vivid manner to Mahendra, his master. He could perform all kinds of actions and gestures to make the stories extremely interesting. Other than storytelling, he had excellent culinary skills. He was a trained cook and could cook delicious meals for Mahendra in very less time. He proved to be an asset for Mahendra. On the other hand, Mahendra also loved his stories and the excellent way of telling them.
