NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill book The Ghat of the only World Important Question Answers Lesson 6
Class 11 English The Ghat of the only World Question Answers – Looking for The Ghat of the only World question answers (NCERT solutions) for CBSE Class 11 English Snapshots Book Chapter 6? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 11 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 6: The Ghat of the only World now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract based questions, multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions.
Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.
- The Ghat of the only World Extract Based Questions
- The Ghat of the only World Multiple Choice Questions
- The Ghat of the only World Short Answer Questions
- The Ghat of the only World Long Answer questions
Class 11 English The Ghat of the only World Question Answers Lesson 6 – Extract Based Questions
Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage.
A. His head was shaved and the shape of the tumor was visible upon his bare scalp, its edges outlined by metal sutures. When it was time to leave the ward a blue-uniformed hospital escort arrived with a wheelchair. Shahid waved him away, declaring that he was strong enough to walk out of the hospital on his own. But he was groggier than he had thought and his knees buckled after no more than a few steps.
1 What is suture?
A) Thread used in tying the wound
B) Wheelchair
C) Stairs
D) Boils
Ans. A) Thread used in tying the wound
2 Which of the following adjectives describes Shahid Ali in one word?
A) Pessimistic
B) Optimistic
C) Rustic
D) Barbarian
Ans. B) Optimistic
3 Why was Shahid Ali forbidden to take any help from the ward?
A) For he had self respect
B) For he was too rich
C) For he was able to handle himself
D) For he wanted to show off
Ans. C) For he was able to handle himself
4 What does the word ‘groggier’ mean?
A) Confused
B) Dazed
C) Slow to react
D) All of these
Ans. D) All of these
B. No matter how many people there were, Shahid was never so distracted as to lose track of the progress of the evening’s meal. From time to time he would interrupt himself to shout directions to whoever was in the kitchen: ‘yes, now, add the dahi now. Even when his eyesight was failing, he could tell from the smell alone, exactly which stage the rogan josh had reached. And when things went exactly as they should, he would sniff the air and cry out loud: ‘Ah! Khana ka kya mehek hai!
1 Which cuisine was one of the favorites of Shahid Ali?
A) Butter Chicken
B) Rogan Josh
C) Chicken Biryani
D) Lemon Chicken
Ans. B) Rogan Josh
2 How would he help his friends make Rogan Josh?
A) Watching videos from Youtube
B) Telling his friends about the cooking stage of the cuisine
C) Standing in the kitchen and helping with the spices
D) Sharing recipes through video calls
Ans. B) Telling his friends about the cooking stage of the cuisine
3 How could Shahid find out the progress of the meal being cooked?
A) With its smell
B) Crying out loud
C) Sniff his friend’s shirt
D) Sniffing the books
Ans. A) With its smell
4 What was Shahid losing bit by bit?
A) His smell
B) His senses
C) His vision
D) His friends
Ans. C) His vision
C. He had a special passion for the food of his region, one variant of it in particular: ‘Kashmiri food in the Pandit style’. I asked him once why this was so important to him and he explained that it was because of a recurrent dream, in which all the Pandits had vanished from the valley of Kashmir and their food had become extinct. This was a nightmare that haunted him and he returned to it again and again, in his conversation and his poetry.
1 What does the word ‘Nightmare’ mean?
A) Good dream
B) Bad dream
C) Sweet dream
D) None of these
Ans. B) Bad dream
2 What happened to the Kashmiri pandits living in the valley?
A) They had been given money to leave
B) They had left Kashmir voluntarily.
C) They had been thrown out of Kashmir mercilessly
D) All of the above
Ans. C) They had been thrown out of Kashmir mercilessly
3 Where did Shahid mention his pain for Kashmiri Pandits?
A) In his articles
B) In his blogs
C) In his poetry
D) All of the above
Ans. C) In his poetry
4 Which of the following had been composed by Shahid Ali?
A) The Country without a Post Office
B) Mad Heart Be Brave
C) Both A and B
D) Neither A nor B
Ans. C) Both A and B
D. No matter what the question, Shahid worked poetry into his answer. Finally, the exasperated woman asked: ‘Are you carrying anything that could be dangerous to the other passengers?’ At this Shahid clapped a hand to his chest and cried: ‘Only my heart.’
1 Where was Shahid stopped for enquiry?
A) Srinagar Airport
B) Barcelona Airport
C) Delhi Airport
D) Amritsar Airport
Ans. B) Barcelona Airport
2 What does the word ‘Exasperated’ mean?
A) Annoyed
B) Irritated
C) Peeved
D) All of the above
Ans. D) All of the above
3 What was the dangerous thing Shahid was carrying according to him?
A) A gun
B) A bomb
C) His heart
D) His mind
Ans. C) His heart
4 How would Shahid respond to all the questions put up by him?
A) Ruthlessly
B) Angrily
C) Poetically
D) Meticulously
Ans. C) Poetically
E. ‘I would like to go back to Kashmir to die.’ His voice was quiet and untroubled. ‘Now I have to get my passport, settle my will and all that. I don’t want to leave a mess for my siblings. But after that I would like to go to Kashmir. It’s still such a feudal system there and there will be so much support-and my father is there too. Anyway, I don’t want my siblings to have to make the journey afterwards, like we had to with my mother.”
1 What was Shahid’s last wish?
A) He wanted to write a novel
B) He wanted to die in Barcelona
C) He wanted to die in Kashmir
D) He wanted Amitav Ghosh to write a new novel
Ans. C) He wanted to die in Kashmir
2 What does the word ‘Siblings’ mean?
A) A person’s brother
B) A person’s sister
C) Both A and B
D) Neither A nor B
Ans. C) Both A and B
3 What did Shahid want Amitav to do after his death?
A) To transfer his will to his siblings
B) To transfer all his property to his father
C) To write about him posthumously
D) All of the above
Ans. C) To write about him posthumously
4 Where did Shahid Ali have his last breath?
A) Srinagar
B) Kashmir
C) Australia
D) None of these
Ans. D) None of these
Class 11 English Snapshots The Ghat of the only World Lesson 6 Multiple Choice Questions
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a type of objective assessment in which a person is asked to choose one or more correct answers from a list of available options. An MCQ presents a question along with several possible answers.
Q1 Shahid described ‘the view of the Brooklyn waterfront slipping into the East River’ as a __________.
A. ghat
B. waterfall
C. fountain
D. None of the above
Ans. A. ghat
Q2. Even after he knew about his nearing death, what did Shahid enjoy?
A. Being left alone
B. Gatherings at his home
C. Poetry
D. Both (B) and (C)
Ans. D. Both (B) and (C)
Q3 Who had a great influence on Shahid’s poetry?
A. Amitav Gosh
B. Suketu Mehta
C. James Merrill
D. Roshnara Begum
Ans. C. James Merrill
Q4 Shahid had a special passion for which food in particular?
A. Bengali food
B. Kashmiri food in the Pandit Style
C. Traditional foods
D. Not mentioned in the story
Ans. B. Kashmiri food in the Pandit Style
Q5 “No matter what the question, Shahid worked _________ into his answer.” Complete the sentence.
A. poetry
B. passion
C. nationalism
D. music
Ans. A. poetry
Q6 As a teacher, Shahid was _________ by his students.
A. disliked
B. adored
C. envied
D. worshiped
Ans. B. adored
Q7 What did Shahid describe as “the happiest time of his life”?
A. His time in Arizona
B. His time at New York University
C. His time at Manhattan’s college
D. His time at Penn State
Ans. D. His time at Penn State
Q8 Shahid’s parents continued to live in __________.
A. Manhattan
B. Srinagar
C. New York
D. Jammu
Ans. B. Srinagar
Q9 Shahid by inclination was a political poet.
A. Yes
B. Somewhat
C. No
D. Not mentioned in the story
Ans. C. No
Q10 Did Shahid write about being a victim of Kashmir’s destiny?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Somewhat
D. Not mentioned in the story
Ans. B. No
Q11 Shahid firmly believed in ________ politics and religion.
A. separating
B. interconnecting
C. mingling
D. None of the above
Ans. A. separating
Q12 Shahid always believed in _________ of members of all religions.
A. separation
B. inclusiveness
C. nationalism
D. differentiation
Ans. B. inclusiveness
Q13 Once in his childhood, what did Shahid’s mother help to create in his room?
A. A murti
B. A holy scripture
C. An artwork of Hindu gods
D. A Hindu temple
Ans. D. A Hindu temple
Q14 What was Shahid’s reaction when he got to know that ‘there was not much hope’?
A. He panicked
B. He was calm and untroubled
C. He got depressed
D. He isolated himself
Ans. B. He was calm and untroubled
Q15 Shahid wanted to go to ______ during his last days.
A. Northampton
B. New York
C. Kashmir
D. None of the above
Ans. C. Kashmir
Q16 Shahid was in a continuous conflict with his son approaching the end.
A. False
B. Maybe
C. True
D. Not mentioned in the story
Ans. A. False
Q17 Shahid passed away while he was ______.
A. driving
B. asleep
C. cooking
D. writing
Ans. B. asleep
Q18 When did Shahid pass away?
A. 8 December 2001
B. 27 October 2001
C. 25 April 2001
D. 5 May 2001
Ans. A. 8 December 2001
Q19 What impact did Shahid’s death have upon the author ?
A. He remains unaffected
B. He moved out of his place to distract himself
C. He felt a deep void
D. Not mentioned in the story
Ans. C. He felt a deep void
Q20 After reading “The Ghat of the Only World”, what impression do you have of Shahid?
A. He was depressed due to his disease
B. He was full of life
C. He enjoyed people’s company
D. Both (B) and (C)
Ans. D. Both (B) and (C)
Class 11 English The Ghat of the only World Question Answers (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)
In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from Chapter 6 The Ghat of the only World for CBSE Class 11 exams for the coming session.
Q1.What information do you gather about Shahid from this lesson?
Answer. Shahid was born in Kashmir. He had moved to the United States. He was a writer, poet, and professor. He did, however, contract cancer while he was there. He had been in treatment for 14 months. He had three operations to remove a brain tumor. However, no treatment could save him from death.
Q2. How did the author come to know of Shahid’s approaching death?
Answer. Shahid once stated that he couldn’t see anything while scanning and thumbing through his engagement book. He added that he hoped he didn’t mean he was going to die. This phone conversation between Shahid and the author gave the author a sense of Shahid’s impending death.
Q3. When and where did Amitav and Shahid become friends? How did their friendship grow?
Answer. Shahid and Amitav met in Brooklyn, New York. They lived only a few blocks apart. They did, however, start meeting for meals on occasion. Shahid’s condition was already critical at the time. But that didn’t stop their friendship from progressing.
Q4.Which English poet influenced Shahid’s poetry most?
Answer. Shahid’s poetry was lyrical and disciplined at the same time. He met James Merill in Arizona. This American poet shifted the focus of his poetry. Merill had the greatest influence on Shahid’s poetry. Shahid began experimenting with metrical patterns and poetry shapes after meeting him.
Q5. How did the writer feel after Shahid’s death?
Answer. Amitav was devastated by the death of his friend Shahid. Although his association with Shahid was brief, Shahid’s death left a huge vacuum in his life. He missed his dear friend, and his thoughts returned to him time and again.
Q6. In what spirit did Shahid receive his approaching end?
Answer. Shahid’s first blackout occurred in February 2000. He had already had several unsuccessful operations by the 21st of May. He was suffering from a malignant brain tumor. But he didn’t have time to be down. He remained active, sociable, and a foodie until the end. On April 25, 2001, he told Amitav about his impending death.
Q7.What do you know about Shahid’s likes and dislikes? Which things were most dear to him?
Answer. Shahid was a wonderful friend and an incredible poet. He enjoyed Kashmiri cuisine, house parties, music, and Bollywood films. He adored the camera, rogan josh, and Kishore Kumar and Begum Akhtar songs. He was uninterested in cricket.
Q8.How can you say that Shahid was gregarious and sociable?
Answer.Shahid’s gregariousness and love of company knew no bounds. His friends used to congregate in his living room almost every evening. They shared food and sang songs. He enjoyed their company and was always willing to assist. This demonstrated his festive spirit.
Q9. Describe the incident of the wheelchair at the hospital.
Answer.On May 21, the writer went to the hospital to pick up Shahid. A ward boy arrived with a wheelchair. Shahid asked him to go back and declared that he was strong enough to walk himself out of the hospital. His knees, however, gave out after a few steps. The hospital orderly had to be summoned once more with the wheelchair.
Q10.What do you know about Shahid’s love for cooking?
Answer. Shahid was an expert in the kitchen. He used to spend days planning and preparing for a dinner party. He stuck to tried-and-true methods and recipes. He had a particular fondness for Kashmiri cuisine. The smell alone told him what stage the rogan josh had reached. He disliked taking shortcuts when preparing a meal.
Class 11 The Ghat of the only World Long Answer Questions Lesson 6
Q1. Who was Shahid? Trace the story of his painful struggle through life.
Answer. Shahid was a young Kashmiri immigrant to the United States. He studied in Arizona and later taught at various universities throughout the United States. But he had a strong attachment with his parents in Kashmir. He used to go back and forth to his homeland. He was an English-language poet. James Merrill had a big influence on his poetry. His brother and two sisters had also immigrated to the United States. His fate had a cruel joke on him. In the year 2000, he experienced a blackout. He had a malignant tumor in his brain, according to tests. Several operations were carried out, but none were successful. His friendship with Amitav in Brooklyn helped him to cope a little. He was aware that his time was running out. He accepted it and moved on. He requested Amitav to write something about him after his death.
Q2. Give a brief character sketch of Shahid. What were the things he was most fond of?
Answer. Shahid was born in Kashmir but raised in the United States. He completed his education in Delhi. He was a fantastic poet. He was a literature professor at several colleges and universities. However, his life was cut short due to a brain tumor. He battled cancer for about 14 months. However, all operations and therapies were ineffective. Despite his impending death, he remained active and cheerful. He was a natural fan of Kashmiri cuisine and Begum Akhtar. He was secular and open-minded. He had built a Hindu temple in his room as a child. He adored Kashmir but despised violence. He had made peace with his impending death and died in his sleep on December 8th.
Q3.How did Amitav, the writer, come in contact with Shahid? How did he fulfill his friend’s last wish?
Answer. Amitav first learned about Shahid from his poem collection “The Country Without a Post Office.” They had both studied in Delhi but never met. They had a few mutual friends and spoke on the phone. Shahid then relocated to Brooklyn, where Amitav also lived, in February 2000. His condition was critical. He went completely unconscious. He was only eight blocks away. Their chance meeting evolved into friendship. Amitav and Shahid shared interests and dislikes. They met at Shahid’s house on a regular basis. They were joined by other friends. Shahid asked the writer to write something about him after his death in 2001. And he promised to do so for Shahid.
Q4. Give a few instances of Shahid’s liveliness, gregariousness and sharpness in repartee.
Answer. Even though he was about to die, Shahid refused to accept defeat. He tried to be upbeat, lively, witty, and gregarious. His gregariousness knew no bounds. He enjoyed company. His house served as a gathering place for his friends. Even in his final days, Shahid surrounded himself with friends and laughter. In his living room, there was always talk about food, tea, and poetry. He was also a quick thinker. He was stopped for questioning at the Barcelona airport by a female security guard. She inquired about his profession. He replied that he was a poet who wrote poetry. Finally, the woman asked if he was carrying anything that could endanger other passengers.He declared that he was carrying only his heart. This was an instance of his repartee.
Q5. The journey from the foyer of Shahid’s building to his door was a voyage between continents. Show how this is true.
Answer. The journey from Shahid’s building’s foyer to his door felt like a journey across continents to the narrator. This remark was made by the narrator in reference to the aroma of good food that invaded the elevator and transformed the United States into India. The aroma of rogan josh and haak would permeate the elevator’s door and gray interior. The foyer was the United States, but by the time one arrived at Shahid’s door, the aroma of food, tea, songs in the background, and an endless mela of talk, laughter, food, and poetry had transformed it into India (Kashmir). Shahid would personally supervise the cooking of the meal and would give instructions and directions to the cooks.
Q6.Trace Shahid’s career as a teacher in the United States.
Answer. Shahid was a professor at several colleges in the United States. He was a professor at Penn University, where he ‘grew’ as a poet and reader. He was having the time of his life. He became involved with a vibrant group of students, many of whom were Indians. Shahid later taught in Arizona, where he met James Merill. He also earned a degree in creative writing and went on to teach at Hamilton College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Utah, and briefly at New York University. During the Spring Semester of 2000, he also taught at Manhattan’s Baruch College. He was adored by the students. They published a magazine in his honor.
Q7. Comment on the title ‘The Ghat of the Only World’.
Answer. This story’s title, ‘The Ghat of the Only World,’ is the most appropriate. It is linked to the main character Shahid, an Indian Kashmiri poet living in the United States. Shahid’s apartment had a view of the Manhattan skyline from the East River. Shahid adored the sight of the Brooklyn waterfront slipping into the East River like a ghat, under the glittering lights of Manhattan. The journey from Shahid’s building’s foyer to his door was a journey across continents.
Shahid most explicitly predicted his own death in his farewell poem. ‘I Dream I Am At the Ghat of the Only World,’ said one of the lines in this poem. In this line, ‘Being At the Ghat’ meant that time was passing and he was getting closer to death with each passing day. So, throughout the story, the word ‘Ghat’ is emphasized and stressed. There could not have been a more appropriate title.
Q8.Shahid, was ‘the center of a perpetual carnival’. Explain.
Answer. Shahid was the centre of a perpetual carnival. He had opted to spend the rest of his life in the company of his friends and family ever since he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. A half-dozen or more people would frequently congregate at his flat. Poetry, discussions, singing, and discourses would take place. Shahid would prepare delectable meals for his pals. The narrator, Shahid, and their friends resolved to meet together more frequently. They liked poetry, fine cuisine, and music. He was generally the host, and he invited a lot of poets and writers. A television crew once arrived with a camera and was welcomed. Addas were synonymous with good times and intellectual gatherings. They happened as a result of Shahid’s friendliness.
Thus, there was always carnival at his apartment; and he was the center of this carnival.
Q9.Describe Shahid’s apartment. What were the small meetings that used to take place in his place?
Answer. Shahid’s apartment was on the seventh floor of a recently renovated Brooklyn building. The author described the apartment as light and spacious. On the top floor, there was a study room and a terrace. The flow of the East River could be seen from the terrace, much like a ghat. According to the author, Shahid adored this scenario. He was a people person, and in his final days, he would frequently organize small gatherings in his apartment. Those meetings would have a half-dozen or more people. Many students, poets, teachers, and relatives used to pay him visits. Someone was always in the kitchen making tea or cooking Rogan Josh at the same time.Thus, he used to turn his apartment into an endless mela of food, talks, and poetry.
Q10.How do Shahid and the writer react to the knowledge that Shahid is going to die?
Answer. Shahid had a positive outlook on life. He was passionate about people, food, poetry, and music. He had a blackout in 2000, and the subsequent diagnosis was that he had a malignant brain tumor. Despite the fact that it was almost a death sentence, Shahid mentally prepared him to face the truth. He resolved to live each day to the fullest and to accept death. As a result, when he told the author about his serious condition, he laughed at the context of death.
The author, on the other hand, was taken aback by the news. He was surprised and tried to console Shahid. When Shahid asked him to write about him after he died, he sobbed even more.
Though the truth shook him to his core, he gave himself a moment after the phone call to accept it. Following this, he resolved to write down his interactions with his friend.
Also See:
- The Ghat of the only World Explanation, Summary
- The Ghat of the only World MCQ Question Answers
- Class 11 English Question Answers
- Class 11 English Lesson Explanation
- Class 11 English Snapshots Book Lesson word meaning