Karma Broad Questions and Answers - Khushwant Singh - WB HS

Class-XI

Prose

Chapter- 2

Karma 

-Khushwant Singh

Karma Broad Questions and Answers 

Broad Questions and Answers (Long Questions and Answers)

1) How far the title of the story Karma justified?

                       OR

Justify the title of the story Karma?

Ans :- Karma is a story about Sir Mohan Lal (Native Indian) who looks down on his fellow countrymen including his wife and embraces the English ways and culture. He had a reservation on everything Everything English like English cigarettes, Whiskey, The Times NewsPaper and clothing. When the train was about to leave two English soldier goes to the cabin the he is occupying and threw him out of the train with his lag-gauge.It may be true that moral-seekers are apt to find Khushwant Singh’s “Karma” a little too predictable, even simplistic. For them, Sir Mohan Lal’s is just another story of pride that goes before a fall. In its widely understood sense, “karma” is “the sum total of the ethical consequences of a person’s good and bad actions . . . that is held in Hinduism and Buddhism to determine his specific destiny in his next existence” (“Karma”). On this count, Lal’s sin of pride is punished when two British soldiers throw him out of a first-class compartment.His wife’s karma, it would seem, enables her to have a safe and comfortable journey in a ladies’ compartment.

2) Sketch the character of Sir Mohan Lal in your own words.

                         OR

Write a short note on the Character of Sir Mohan Lal.

Ans :- In the short story, "Karma", Khushwant singh has elaborately sketched the character of Sir Mohan Lal and Lachmi,his wife. The character of Sir Mohan Lal is revealed through his thoughts and feelings. When he thinks about his personality and image, he appears snobbish and proud. He calls himself as distinguished, efficient and handsome. He regards Indians as inefficient, dirty and indifferent. This discloses his hypocrisy. Further the author gives the physical description and behavior of the character. He has acquired the manners and attitudes of the upper class, he imitates Englishmen and likes to talk on books politicks and people. He considers his wife as dirty and smelling like any other countryman in India He thinks that being Indian is shameful. This reveals his frivolous nature. He can be called as flat character as he does not change throughout the story.

3) Sketch the character of Lady Lal in your own words.

                          OR

Write a short note on the character of Lachmi.

Ans :- The character of Lachmi is contrasted with him. It is more authentic. She represents a common Indian. This character is revealed through description. Author describes her as she is more than forty five,fat,fair and short. She wares a dirty white sari with a red border. One side of her nose gistened a diamond ring and she had several gold bangles on her arms. After this physical description author describes her behavior, that she is talkative. She chews betel leaves, eats chapattis with mango pickle. She reflects typical Indian ness trough her dialogues and behavior, hence she is a type or stereotypical character. The minor characters are the coolie,Bill and Jim and the bearer. By this way the characterization is done and it helps the story to proceed further and enables the reader to draw a conclusion.

4) Comment on the relationship between sir Mohan Lal and his wife.

Ans :- In the story “ Karma” by Khuswant singh, sir Mohan Lal is an Anglicized Indian who is very fond of British in his attitude. On  the otherhand his wife Lachmi is a typical Indian village woman, a housewife.

                   They live in the same house but Sir Mohan in the ground floor and lady Lal in the first floor. They travel in the same train but in different compartment.Sir Mohan has no time to spare for his wife. She is alone.Sir Mohan does not even like her to spend time with her native realtives and they do not visit their house.Lachmi can not speak English and she has no knowledge about the English manners.she does not feel comfortable in their company.Consequently Sir Mohan dislikes her.He comes to her once in blue moon. He orders her to do as he likes.She passively follows him, almost unwillingly or without any mental attachment.Obviously , the husband wife relationship is anything but normal.

5) Compare and contrast the character of Sir Mohan Lal and Lady Lal.

Ans :- In the story “ Karma” , sir Mohan Lal appears  before us as a dignified gentleman who appears  to be very English in his attitude.He dislikes everything Indian, including his wife Lachmi.He prefers to spend time rather alone ruminating about his five years spent in London.He is very reluctant to spend a word more than necessary to his fellow native people although he is very eager to have an impressive conversation with an Englishman.

            Lady lal, Lachmi, is on the otherhand a complete contrast to her husband.She prefers to stay with the common people and to have a little gossip with them.She does not hesitate to eat chappattis and mango pickle sitting on a railway platform. When her husband is dressed is costly attire and fragrance, she wears a dirty white saree with red border and a few ornaments like a typical Indian house wife.She calls the bearers or the coolie as ‘brother’ when such people get nothing more than a sneering look from her husband.

              When sir Mohan Lal represents the Anglicised class who blindly admires and imitates the British culture, his wife stands for an Ordinary Indian women faithful to her culture.

6) Write a short Character Sketch of Sir Mohan Lal from his conversation with himself in front of the mirror.

Ans :- Mr. Mohan Lal looked himself in the mirror of a first class waiting room at the railway station and talked to him.The  soliloque revealed his character. He smiled at the mirror with an air of pity and patronage. This is the observation about the indian  things and the Indian.The mirror lost its smoothness and visibility here and there.The Oxford educated high brow Mohan thinks that in India everything is like that old dirty mirror.

                 Then Mr. Mohan lal looked at his own image reflected on the mirror.He liked it with its neatly trimmed moustache, smart, and expensive dress and scent of costly perfume and talcum powder.

              Actually Mr Mohan lal a pro English arrogant aristocrat who prides himself on his own Anglicised manner, education and affectation.On the other hand he is cynical about his native country en, culture, heritage and lifestyle.

7)  How did Sir Mohan Lal feel when he saw two Englishmen coming up to the coupe? 

Why was he half smiling and half protesting?

Ans :- Sir Mohan Lal felt comfortable when he saw the approaching British soldiers and his heart warmed up at the prospect of a good conversation with them. He thought of welcoming them by talking to the guard though they were entitled to travel only second class. He felt assured that his journey would not be a boring thing after all.

               Sir Mohan was half smiling because he wanted to welcome the British soldiers in the coupe and play the gracious host. He wanted to show them his generosity and wanted them to be thankful. He was half protesting because the soldiers did not care for taking his permission and barged inside the first class compartment and spoke ill of Sir Mohan and wanted him out of the train.

8) Describe the Character of Mohan Lal

Ans :- The story Karma written by Khuhwant Singh was originally published in his short storybook “The COLLECTED STORIES “in the year 1989. The central character of the story is sir Mohan Lal who fancied English culture but, at last, realizes his real identity. 

Sir Mohan  Lal was a middle-aged Oxford-educated man who worked in the British Raj. He felt ashamed of being an Indian and never tried to talk in his mother tongue “HINDUSTANI".Rather he felt proud of talking in English which earned him a higher position in the upper class of the society. He was very careful and efficient in his appearance. His suit with carnation, the aroma of Eau de cologne, Malcolm powder, and scented soap made him different from others. He underestimated his wife and her relatives for their illiteracy and lower class mentality.

To attract English people, he wears Balliol Tie and even sips scotch. During traveling, he used to fill crossword puzzles of the English newspaper to show others his command over the English language. But at the end of the story, he was pathetically humiliated by two English soldiers whom he wanted to welcome warmly in his compartment.

9) Lachmi - Mohan relationship

Ans :- In the story “ Karma” by Khuswant Singh, sir Mohan Lal is a proud Indian who likes   British ways and their manner. On the other hand, his wife Lachmi is a typical Indian woman of northern India. she is merely a housewife.

                  Mohan and Lachmi lived separately in the same house. Sir Mohan lived on the ground floor while her wife lived on the first floor. Mohan Lal not only liked her wife but also her relatives too. As they were illiterate,  he did no allow them to his bungalow. As they lived separately, they did not travel together. Mohan always journeyed in the first-class compartment while her wife was allotted to the zenana compartment. The logic behind this separate traveling is that lady all did not know English culture and manner.

Sometimes at night, Mohan visited lachmis first floor. Then he ordered Lachmi and Lachmi passively obeyed his orders. There was no love in their conjugal life, so they did not get any child to bridge their broken relationship.   

They were two people of different spheres. Their relation was exactly like servant master, though a servant gets more attention from his master.  

 

10) what are the plans sir Mohan Lal made to attract his fellow travellers?

Ans :- In the story “Karma,” Khushwant Singh portrays Sir Mohan Lal as a high official who is extremely proud of his command of the English language.

He’d been in England for five years. He only spoke Hindustani sometimes, and when he did, he Anglicized it. He enjoyed conversing, and, like a well-educated Englishman, he could speak about almost anything: books, politics, and people. He still brought his bottle of whisky, his English cigarettes, and ‘The Times’ with him when he travelled by train. He boasted of his connections to Oxford universities, rugby matches, and Piccadilly prostitutes, and he despised Indian life. He thought his Hindustani wife Lachmi was a complete mismatch and spoke to her in anglicised Hindustani. He wished to have some Englishmen as fellow passengers on his journey so that he could have an impressive conversation with them.

He would fold his newspaper in such a way that the name ‘The Times’ was clear to everyone when doing only the crossword puzzle. His fellow passengers, he hoped, would notice his Balliol tie and English cigarettes. He expected to meet some English officers in his coupe at the Cantonment station. Two young English soldiers, however, shattered his daydream and brought him back to earth. They began their conversation in a brusque way, ordering him to vacate the coupe because it was reserved for the army. Sir Mohan attempted to clarify in Oxford English before threatening to have the documents attested. The two soldiers were furious and threw him off the train. As a result, the author portrays Sir Mohan as a megalomaniac.

11) He was dismayed”– Who was he, exactly? When and why did he become dismayed? So, what did he do after that? 

Ans :- Sir Mohan Lal is the “he” in this case. Sir Mohan was dismayed to discover that his train compartment was empty when he entered it.

Sir Mohan Lal was the topic of discussion. He enjoyed conversing as if he were a well-educated Englishman on almost any subject. He was anticipating a fascinating chat with his fellow passengers in his cabin. He was sad because the compartment was empty.Sir Mohan lal sat in a corner of his compartment, his heart heavy, and opened the newspaper “The Times,” which he had read many times before.

12) What was the difference between Sir Mohan’s life in England and his later life in India?

Ans :- Sir Mohan Lal, the protagonist of the story Karma, was described as an anglicised, well-educated, polished character who loved and practised English etiquette and culture. His five years in England, he says, were like fairy tales. Oxford Colleges, masters, tutors, boat races, and rough patches were all part of the scene back then. Grey bags, gowns, sports blazers, and mix doubles were all the rage back then, as were evenings at the Inns and nights spent at Piccadilly. Those were the days of Sir Mohan’s five glorious histories.

Sir Mohan Lal, on the other hand, thought his later life in India was filthy, with vulgar countrymen and gruesome descriptions of his path to success, such as the nocturnal visit to the upper story to meet obese Lachmi, his wife, who reeked of sweat and raw onions. Those five years were spent in an almost dreamlike state with the British. Now, he only remembered those moments because of his international manners and his ability to communicate with Englishmen.