Class-XI
Prose
Chapter- 1
Leela's Friend
-RK Narayan
 |
| Leela's Friend Broad Questions and Answers |
Broad Questions and Answers (Long Questions and Answers)
1) How would you assess the character of Leela?
Ans: Leela is the pivotal point of Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”. She is instinctive enough to feel that Sidda should be employed. Her belief in the trace of the moon on the ball suggests her childishness. Her playing the role of a teacher to Sidda suggests that she is not temperamentally different from other children of her age. Her unusual attachment to Sidda suggests her psychological detachment from her parents. Thus, she becomes a pitiable figure. However, the forte of her character is her instinctive faith in the innocence of Sidda. The ending of the story apart from establishing her childish forgetfulness evinces the triumph of this faith on her part.
2) How would you assess the character of Sidda?
Ans: Sidda is an important character of Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”. He is dutiful as a servant and friendly as a playmate. So, neither the Sivasanker couple nor Leela has anything to complain against him. Excruciating poverty has made him a servant. Therefore, he does not take to heart Mrs. Sivasanker’s neglectful attitude and abusive words. In short, he has a heart of gold. Therefore, it is a matter of pity that he is accused as a thief and that too purely upon conjecture. Expectedly the supposed theft proves to be a case of mere missing. Still he is deprived of poetic justice as Mr. Sivasanker decides not to re-employ him.
3) How would you assess the character of Mr. Sivasanker?
Ans: Mr. Sivasanker is an important character of “Leela’s Friend”. As the head of the Sivasanker family, his worry about the servant problem is natural. However, his indecision about employing Sidda does not befit this position. The contract he makes with Sidda presents him as shrewd. His lodging a complaint against Sidda is too hasty to be supported. His accepting the inspector’s opinion about Sidda suggests that he has no faith in his own power of judgement. His casual nature about the matter informing the inspector about the discovery of the gold chain is an indirect injustice to Sidda. Most importantly, his decision of not reemploying Sidda suggests his moral vacuity.
4) How would you assess the character of Mrs. Sivasanker?
Ans: Mrs. Sivasanker is an important character in R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”. Her indecision in the matter of employing Sidda is not at all expected. The proximity of Leela and Sidda suggests her mental detachment from Leela. Her threatening of Sidda by mentioning the police is a kind of psychological torture. Her incapacity as Leela’s playmate is exposed at the night Sidda runs away. Her materialistic self comes to the fore in her desire to get back the gold chain at any cost. It is true that she indirectly establishes the innocence of Sidda. It does not however justify her passivity in her husband’s decision of not reemploying Sidda.
5) What message is conveyed by Mr. Sivasanker’s final words in the story: “In any case, we couldn’t have kept a criminal like him in the house.”
Ans: At the end of R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend” Mr. Sivasanker decides not to re-employ Sidda as the servant of his house. It has become evident to him that Sidda is not a thief. Moreover, he has not found any element of criminality Sidda though the inspector has said otherwise about him. In this situation, Mr. Sivasanker should not have any reason for not re-employing him. However, his decision otherwise suggests that he is guided by middle-class sentiment in which social prestige becomes more important than the call of morality. Out and out the latent inhumanity of Mr. Sivasanker becomes evident through this incident.
6) How would you justify the title of R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”?
Ans: The title of Narayan’s story comprises two words. The first word ‘Leela’s raises our curiosity about the identity of Leela. The second word ‘Friend’ makes us inquisitive about this friend of Leela. In order to know the answers to these questions, one goes through the story. This is what a title does. Expectedly the story answers these questions. The answer to the first question is that Leela is a five-year-old girl. The answer to the second question is that Sidda is this friend. The story under review pivots around the friendship of Leela and Sidda. Thus, one can conclude that the title of Narayan’s story is appropriate.
7) What is the theme of R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”?
Ans: R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend” deals with the relationship between the master and the servant. Very often the master exploits the servant because the latter has to do the work badly. Not only that, the servant is exposed to inhuman behaviour. The missing of an object is looked upon as an act of theft purely upon conjecture. Expectedly, the servant is accused as the thief. Most importantly, the servant is not reappointed even after the real nature of the incident becomes evident and thus his innocence is established. The instinctive faith of the children in the servant fails to change the prejudiced attitude of the elders to the servant.
8) How does R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend” open?
Ans: R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend” opens with the employment of Sidda as the servant of the Sivasanker household. At first Mr. Sivasanker asks him some questions about his work under his previous employer. The answers Sidda gives to them cannot satisfy him. So, he calls his wife. Sidda appears to her to be somewhat better than the previous servants of their family. Thus, the matter seems undecided. Then Leela, the daughter of the Sivasanker couple, comes and gives her impulsive consent in employing Sidda even without being asked. As a major responsibility of Sidda is going to be looking after Leela, her opinion incidentally ensures the employment of Sidda.
9) Comment on the ending of R.K. Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend”.
Ans: Towards the end of “Leela’s Friend” Sidda is put to jail on the accusation of theft. Thereafter, the supposed stolen chain is found inside the tamarind pot of the kitchen. Thus, the incident of theft proves to be a mere case of missing and at the same time, Sidda’s innocence is established. Mr. Sivasanker decides to inform the inspector about the incident. However, he considers social prestige to be more important than morality and so decides not to re-employ Sidda. Thus, Sidda suffers and that too quite unjustly. Out and out the bond of friendship between Leela and Sidda is broken forever due to this enforced separation between the two.
10) How would you assess “Leela’s Friend” as a short story?
Ans: Narayan’s “Leela’s Friend” is a short story because it fulfils all the major characteristics of a short story. First, it has a moderate length. Secondly, it focuses on a single incident, the missing of Leela’s gold chain to be exact. Thirdly, it has a limited number of characters —- four main characters besides the police inspector and the constable. Fourthly, only the main characters have been developed and that too up to a certain level. Finally, there is a sense of incompleteness. Precisely speaking, after reading the story the readers want to know what will happen to Sidda now that Mr. Sivasanker has decided not to re-employ him.
11) “Mr. Sivasanker was unable to make up his mind.” – Who was Mr. Sivasanker? In which matter was he unable to make up his mind? Why was he unable to make up his mind?
Ans: Mr. Sivasanker was the head of the Sivasanker family.
He was unable to make up his mind in the matter of employing Sidda as the servant of his family.
Mr. Sivasanker asked Sidda some questions before employing him. The answers Sidda gave to these questions could not satisfy him. Sidda told him about the place he worked earlier. However, Sidda did not tell him the name of his former employer. Finally, Sidda was asked about the reason for his master’s sending him away. Sidda gave the stock reply that they left the town. Therefore Mr. Sivasanker was unable to make up his mind.
12) How did Leela teach Sidda to read and write? What was the result?
Ans: Leela wanted to play the role of the teacher to Sidda. She knew two or three letters of the alphabet. She could draw a kind of cat and crow. She wrote and drew them in her catalogue. Then giving Sidda a catalogue and a pencil she told him to copy these things.
Sidda was not efficient in writing and drawing. So he failed miserably. Leela checked his efforts, felt pity for his effort and so tried more and more to teach him. Thus Sidda had no scope of escape. So it looked as if Leela would keep him pinned to his seat until his wrist cracked.
13) “Sidda, come and play!” – How did Sidda play with Leela?
Ans: Whenever Leela called Sidda to play, he ran to her. They flung the red ball at one another. Then Sidda would evoke her fancy by telling that the ball had touched the moon when it had been thrown upwards. It gave rise to the question as to if Sidda could touch the sky. Taking the cue, Sidda told her of his familiarity with the moon. In order to prove it he took her from the garden to the backyard. Then making her see the moon from both places he argued that the moon was following them because he had told the moon to do likewise. Thus Sidda played with Leela.
14) “Don’t send him away. Let us keep him in our house.” -Who was the speaker and to whom was it spoken? About whom was it said? How did the person or persons spoken to react?
Ans: Leela, the five-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sivasanker was the speaker.
It was spoken to her parents —- Mr. and Mrs. Sivasanker.
It was about Sidda who had come to Mr. Sivasanker’s house to work there as a servant.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sivasanker could not decide whether Sidda would be employed as the servant of the family or not. So Leela’s affirmative reply was welcomed by them. They reacted by employing Sidda. They also decided to give Sidda two meals a day and four rupees a month in return for his work. The work consisted of washing clothes, tending the garden, running errands, chopping wood and looking after Leela.
15) “I don’t see it.” – Who has been referred to as ‘I’? What has been referred to as ‘it’? How can the speaker see it?
Ans: Leela has been referred to as ‘I’.
The trace of the moon on the red ball with which Leela and Sidda have been playing has been referred to as ‘it’.
According to Sidda the ball with which they have been playing has touched the moon. He adds that there is a trace of the moon on the ball. He goes on to say that the trace will evaporate and go back to the moon in a short while. Therefore the speaker can see it only by being very quick about it.
16) “… … … a gold chain Leela had been wearing was missing.” – How was Leela’s gold chain lost? How did she react to the incident? What did Sidda say about the incident?
Ans: One day Sidda went to the market to buy sugar. Leela accompanied Sidda. When they came back, Leela’s gold chain was not there. Thus Leela’s gold chain was lost.
Leela was asked by her mother where she had kept the chain. She looked for it for a moment in her shirt. Then quite casually she said that she did not know about the whereabouts of the chain.
Then Leela’s mother asked Sidda about the chain. He became nervous to hear it. He simply blinked and answered that he did not know anything about the chain. After a moment he got the chance to escape and ran away.
17) “… … … Sidda opened the gate and came in … … …” – Why did Sidda open the gate and come in? What did Mr. Sivasanker think about Sidda when he saw him? What did Mrs. Sivasanker say in such a situation?
Ans: Sidda came to Mr. Sivasanker’s house to work there as a servant. He asked Mr. Sivasanker if he wanted a servant. Then Mr. Sivasanker told him to come in. So Sidda opened the gate and came in.
When Mr. Sivasanker saw Sidda he thought that Sidda was not of a bad type. He also thought that Sidda was neat and clean by any stretch of the imagination.
When Mrs. Sivasanker looked at Sidda she said that she felt that Sidda would not be worse than the other servants they had so far.
18) “They left the town, master” – Who is the speaker? To whom are these words said? Who are referred to as ‘they’? Why does the speaker say so?
Ans: Sidda is the speaker.
These words are said to Mr. Sivasanker, the person to whose family Sidda has come to work.
The family members of the doctor to whose house Sidda worked earlier have been referred to as ‘they’.
The speaker says so to answer Mr. Sivasanker’s question as to why he was sent away from his job in the doctor’s house. He is trying to impress upon Mr. Sivasanker the fact that having lost his job and being poor he needed a job at any cost.
19) “How many times have I told you to take it off and put it in the box?” – Who is the speaker? To whom are these words said? When does the speaker say so? Why does the speaker say so?
Ans: Leela’s mother is the speaker.
These words are said to Leela.
The speaker says so immediately after slapping Leela for having lost her gold chain.
One day Leela went to the market with Sidda. When they came back it was found that the gold chain Leela had been wearing was missing. So Leela’s mother asked Leela about the whereabouts of the chain. In response, Leela looked into her shirt and quite casually told that she did not know about it. This enraged her and therefore she said so.
20) “I have asked it to follow us about” – Who is the speaker? To whom is it said? What has been referred to as ‘it’? Why does the speaker say so?
Ans: Sidda is the speaker.
It is said to Leela.
The moon has been referred to as ‘it’.
Sidda tells Leela that he will show her something nice. They are standing near the rose plant in the garden. From there he shows her the moon in the sky. Then he takes her to the backyard and stops near the well. From there he shows her the moon in the sky. Leela feels elated at this sudden displacement of the moon and asks him the reason. So he says so.
21) “She pitied him and redoubled her efforts to teach him”- Who has been referred to as ‘she’? Who has been referred to as ‘him’? Why did she pity him? Why did she double her effort to teach him?
Ans: Leela has been referred to as ‘she’.
Sidda has been referred to as ‘him’.
Leela told Sidda to write a few letters of the alphabet and draw a kind of crow. Sidda tried his best to accomplish the appointed task but failed. Leela felt so and so pitied him.
Leela tried to teach Sidda to write and draw. Sidda failed miserably to accept her teaching. However, Leela was not prepared to accept her failure as a teacher. So she redoubled her efforts to teach him.
22) “He looked at her mutely, like an animal.” – Who looked at whom? What was the situation when this occurred?
Ans: Sidda looked and he looked at Leela who was his friend.
Sidda was arrested by the police and brought to the Sivasanker household. There Sidda was interrogated by both the Sivasanker couple and the police inspector. Sidda, however, did not accept the charge of theft brought against him. So it was decided to put Sidda in jail. To Sidda and Leela, it was thus a momentary union to be followed by long separation. Leela did not want to accept this separation. So she held Sidda’s hand tightly. In reply, Sidda looked at her. Though he did not say anything, his facial expression suggested that he was grateful to her for showing her faith in him.
23) List the ways in which Sidda’s company makes Leela “supremely happy” and also how Leela attempts to ‘educate’ him in turn.
Ans: Sidda’s company makes Leela supremely happy in many ways. First, Sidda accompanies her in playing whenever Leela calls him for this purpose. He also ignites her fancy by showing her the trace of the moon on the ball and proving to her his familiarity with the moon. Then at night, he lulls Leela to sleep by telling her fanciful stories about magicians, animals and gods. In turn, Leela tries to educate Sidda. She teaches him to write the letters of the English alphabet. She also teaches him to draw a crow. Though he fails miserably, she never loses her patience; rather she tries her best to teach him.
24) What is the relationship between Mr. Sivasanker and Sidda? Trace the difference in their relationship at the beginning of the story and at the end of the story.
Ans: Sidda is a servant of the Sivasanker household. So the relationship between Mr. Sivasanker and Sidda is the master and the servant. At the beginning of the story, the relationship between Mr. Sivasanker and Sidda is one of trust. To Mr. Sivasanker Sidda appears to be tidy. He holds the opinion that Sidda is not a bad sort of manservant. Sidda performs all his duties properly. So we see that Mr. Sivasanker does not hold a grudge against Sidda at any point of time.
However, at the end of the story, Mr. Sivasanker does not show any faith in Sidda. He is sure that Sidda is not a thief but he does not want to take the risk of re-employing him.
25) How do Mr. Sivasanker and Mrs. Sivasanker react to Leela’s missing chain? How does Leela herself react? What does this suggest about each of them?
Ans: Mr. Sivasanker becomes very excited to hear the news of Leela’s missing chain. As a result, he goes to the police station and lodges a complaint against Sidda.
Mrs. Sivasanker becomes angry at Leela for her missing chain. Not only that, she slaps Leela. Then she pressurizes Sidda to confess that he had stolen Leela’s gold chain.
Leela does not seem to be serious about it. Actually, she is too young to care for such material objects.
This suggests that both the Sivasanker couple are high tempered and materialistic and Leela is innocent and simple-minded. Thus Leela as a character is poles apart from her parents.
26) What is your own view of Sidda? Do you think he is a suitable friend for Leela? Give at least three examples from the text to support your argument.
Ans: I think that Sidda is a simple person whom poverty has drawn to the path of a servant. He is honest and innocent. Yes, Sidda is a suitable friend of Leela. Sidda has the mindset of a five years old child. The text provides several examples of it. First, he has the time to leave his work and accompany Leela in her play. Secondly, he has the fancy to tell that the ball has touched the moon and tells stories of animals in the jungle, gods in heaven and of magicians having the capacity of conjuring up golden castles. Above all Sidda shows the mentality of being a friend of Leela and so Leela clings closer to him.
0 Comments