CBSE Class 8 English Chapter 7- Jalebis Important Question Answers from It so Happened Book
Class 8 Jalebis Question Answers – Looking for Jalebis Important questions and answers for CBSE Class 8 English It so Happened Book Chapter 7? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practicing Class 8 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 7: Jalebis now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given Text book Questions (NCERT Solutions) to the chapter’s Extract-based Questions and Extra Question Answers
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.
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Class 8 English Jalebis Text Book Questions – NCERT Solutions
Comprehension Check
1. Why didn’t he pay the school fees on the day he brought money to school?
Ans. The author went to the school with four rupees in his pocket to pay the school fees and the fund. When he got there he found that the teacher who collected the fees, Master Ghulam Mohammed, was on leave and so the fees would be collected the next day.
2. (i) What were the coins ‘saying’ to him?
Ans. One of the four coins asked him what he was upto when fresh, hot jalebis were being prepared in the shop near him. They told him that those fresh, hot jalebis coming out of the kadhao in the shop over there, they’re not coming out for nothing. They further said that jalebis were meant to be eaten and only those with money in their pocket could eat them, and that money wasn’t for nothing. It is meant to be spent and only those people spend it, who like jalebis.
(ii) Do you think they were misguiding him?
Ans. The four rupee worth coins in his pocket were for his school fees and funds. His teacher who collected the fees, Master Ghulam Muhammed was on leave that particular day, so the author was supposed to submit the amount the next day. Thus, the coin’s advice on being spent on jalebis when they were actually meant for his school fees was misleading.
Yes, the coins were misguiding him indeed, by persuading him to spend them on hot, crispy and fresh jalebis.
3. Why didn’t he take the coins’ advice? Give two or three reasons.
Ans. Despite the coins’ best efforts to persuade him, the author did not take their advice. This was because, initially, he knew it was wrong to spend the school fees and fund money on jalebis because he had to submit it to his Master Ghulam Muhammed the next day. He knew that when Master Ghulam Mohammed gets angry and makes you stand on the bench, he simply forgets to let you sit till the last bell rings. He was afraid of him and considered him answerable to Allah miyan as well, at Qayamat.
Secondly, he was well-aware about how much he got from his home and he was so grateful for it that even letting his eyes fall upon something at the bazaar felt like a sin.
Thirdly, when he thought about what the coins were saying a little, he realised that they were not completely wrong either. He was firm and decided not to let himself get carried away so easily. So, he put a lot of thought into it. In school he was among the most promising students. In the fourth standard exams, he had even won a scholarship of four rupees a month. Besides, he came from a particularly well-to-do family, so he enjoyed considerable prestige. He’d never once been beaten so far. On the contrary, Masterji had got him to beat the other boys. For a child of such status, he did not find it right to stand there in the middle of the bazaar and eat jalebis. Thus, he decided not to listen to the coins’ advice and went home instead.
4. (i) What did the oldest coin tell him?
Ans. The oldest coin told him that they were looking out for his own good and how ungrateful it was of him, that instead of thanking them or listening to them he was trying to squeeze them. The coin tried to persuade him further by asking him if he himself didn’t wish to eat those hot, fresh jalebis. Moreover, the oldest coin also told him that it wouldn’t be a big deal if he spent those four today because he was supposed to receive the scholarship money the next day. So he could buy jalebis with the fees and fund money and can pay the fees with the scholarship money. They made it all seem very simple and told him that money well spent will put the story to an end. In the oldest coin’s exact words, “Kissa khatam, paisa hazam”
(ii) Did he follow his advice? If not, why not?
Ans. No, he did not follow the oldest coin’s advice. He told the coin that what he was talking about was not correct but he also knew it wasn’t completely incorrect either. So, he asked them to stop talking foolishly and let him concentrate. He thought to himself that he was not some regular boy and similarly, he realised that the sweets weren’t any regular jalebis either. They were crunchy, freshly made and loaded with sugar syrup.
His mouth watered at the thought of jalebis but he was not someone who could be easily manipulated either. In school he was among the most promising students. In the fourth standard exams, he had even won a scholarship of four rupees a month. Besides, he came from a particularly well-to-do family, so he enjoyed considerable prestige. He’d never once been beaten so far. On the contrary, Masterji had got him to beat the other boys. For a child of such status, he did not find it right to stand there in the middle of the bazaar and eat jalebis. Thus, he decided not to listen to the coins’ advice and went home instead.
5. He reached home with the coins in his pocket. What happened then?
Ans. The coins were so keen on being spent that day, they kept up their attempts at persuasion till their voices began to choke. When he reached home and sat on the bed, they began to speak. As he went inside to have lunch, they began to shriek. Thoroughly fed up, he rushed out of the house barefoot and ran towards the bazaar. Terrified he was, but quickly he told the halwai to weigh a whole rupee worth of jalebis. Halwai’s astonished look seemed to be asking where he had the handcart in which he would carry all those jalebis. The halwai opened up a whole newspaper and heaped a pile of jalebis on it.
6. (i) Why didn’t he eat all the jalebis he had bought?
Ans. At first, he bought a rupee’s worth of jalebis. Upon devouring some of them for a while, he became full. He ate so many jalebis that if anyone pressed his stomach a little, jalebis would have popped out of his ears and nostrils. Thus, he could only eat that many in his capacity and this is why he didn’t eat all the jalebis he had bought.
(ii) What did he do with the remaining jalebis?
Ans. Upon having devoured the jalebis, he found out that the boys from the entire neighbourhood had assembled in the gali. By that time he was so pleased with his stomach full of jalebis that he got into the mood for some fun. He started handing out jalebis to the children around. Soon a whole lot of other children appeared, probably having heard the good news from the others. He dashed to the halwai and bought one more rupee’s worth of jalebis, came back and stood on the chabutara of one of the houses, liberally distributing jalebis to the children. Then, he bought jalebis for the remaining two rupees as well and distributed them.
7. “The fear was killing me.” What was the fear?
Ans. It was not an easy task for his body to assimilate and digest the pile of jalebis, as easy it was for him to devour them. As often as he breathed, a burp came out of his mouth and he was scared to death with the fear of throwing out one or two jalebis. Thus, “the fear was killing him”
8. “Children’s stomachs are like digestion machines.” What do you understand by that? Do you agree?
Ans. “Children don’t have stomachs, they have digestion machines.” This means that their body’s ability to break down food into simpler nutrients is much more than adults. Thus, their stomachs have been called “digestion machines”.
Yes, I agree that children’s stomachs are like digestion machines. This is because of the high metabolic rate that they have as a result of being engaged in constant physical activities like playing outdoors. They also lead a stress-free life which keeps their organs in good shape.
9. How did he plan to pay the fees the next day?
Ans. As a result of being one of the most promising students in school, he was awarded with a scholarship in his fourth standard examinations. As a result of this, he received a sum of four rupees every month and for that particular month, he was supposed to receive it the next day (on which he was supposed to submit his fees). Thus, he planned on paying the money for his school fees and funds out of his scholarship money.
10. When it is time to pay the fees, what does he do? How is he disobeying the elders by doing so?
Ans. Upon realising that he won’t be receiving the scholarship money on that particular day, when he was supposed to pay for the school fees and funds, his head started spinning. He felt as if he was standing on his head and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get back on his feet. Master Ghulam Mohammed, on the other hand, had announced that the fees would be taken during the recess.
Thus, when the recess bell rang, he tucked his bag under his arm and left the school and simply followed his nose, walking on and on. If no mountain or ocean had blocked his path, he would have kept on going till the earth ended and the sky began, and once he got there, he would have prayed to Allah miyan to save him by ordering a farishta to drop four rupees in his pocket.
He couldn’t reach the point where the earth ended, but definitely reached the point where the Kambelpur railway station began. The elders had warned him never to cross the railway tracks but they had also warned him that one must never eat sweets with one’s fees money. But despite their warnings, he disobeyed them by spending the money for his school fees on jalebis.
11. What was the consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money?
Ans. As a result of the crime of eating a few jalebis with the fees money, for the first time in his life he was absent from school, and crouching in the shade of a tree in a deserted corner of the railway station, which his elders had warned him against.
12. His prayer to God is like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Does he argue his case well? What are the points he makes?
Ans. His prayer to God is indeed, like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Yes, he also argued the case very well.
He began with an introduction of himself as a very good boy and mentioned having learnt namaaz by heart. He specified that he even knew the last ten surats of the Holy Quran and offered to recite the entire ayat-al-kursi.
He confessed to Allah miya that he accepted that he had committed a mistake but he also fed a lot of children with those jalebis. He further pointed out that even if he shared it, doesn’t change the fact that a mistake had been committed.
He clarified that he only needed four rupees to pay for his school fees and funds and he would be displeased with God if he granted him even a paisa more.
He said that since there is no shortage of anything in God’s treasury and even a peon earned a good amount every month, he, being the nephew of a big officer, deserved to have a sum of at least four rupees.
13. He offers to play a game with Allah Miyan. What is the game?
Ans. He came up with a game to play with Allah Miya. He told God that he’d be going to the signal and till the time he reached there, he asked Allah miya to secretly keep the money under the huge rock. He felt how exciting it would be to find four rupees under the rock upon coming back from the signal. He asked God to be ready as he counted till three before moving towards the signal.
14. Did he get four rupees by playing the game? What did he get to see under the rock?
Ans. No, he did not get four rupees by playing the game. When he lifted up the rock, this big hairy worm got up, and came curling and twisting wriggled towards him.
15. If God had granted his wish that day, what harm would it have caused him in later life?
Ans. He concluded that if Allah miyan were to provide all for the asking, then man would, even today, be living in nests like vultures and crows and would not have learnt the art of making jalebis! Thus, if God had granted his wish that day, he would have fallen into the habit of asking God for everything instead of working for it. It would have stopped him from growing up and evolving into the best version of himself.
Class 8 English Jalebis Chapter 7 Extract Based Questions
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow-
A. All right. Coins don’t talk. They jingle or go khanak-khanak. But I’m telling you, that day they actually spoke! One coin said, “What are you thinking about? Those fresh, hot jalebis coming out of the kadhao in the shop over there, they’re not coming out for nothing. Jalebis are meant to be eaten and only those with money in their pocket can eat them, And money isn’t for nothing. Money is meant to be spent and only they spend it, who like jalebis.” “Look here, you four rupees, I said to them. I am a good boy. Don’t misguide me or it won’t be good for you. I get so much at home that I consider even looking at something in the bazaar a sin.
Q1. What unusual thing did the narrator experience?
Ans. He heard coins speak.
Q2. What were the coins talking about?
Ans. They were talking about the hot jalebis.
Q3. According to the coins, who spends money on jalebis?
Ans. Those who like jalebis, spend money on buying them.
Q4. Why does the narrator consider looking at something in the bazaar a sin?
Ans. The narrator considers looking at something in the bazaar a sin because he gets so much at home.
Q5. What was the amount of money with which the narrator was talking?
Ans. It was four rupees.
B. The coins disliked what I’d said so much that all of them began to speak at the same time. There was such a clamour that passersby in the bazaar stared, eyes wide with surprise, at me and my pocket. The coin of those days, the wretched thing, made so much more noise too! Finally, in a panic, I grabbed all four of them and held them tight in my fist and then they were silent.
After taking a few steps, I loosened my grip. Immediately, the oldest coin said, “Here we are trying to tell you something for your own good and you try to strangle us instead. Tell me honestly now, don’t you feel like eating those hot, hot jalebis? And then, if you do end up spending us for today, won’t you get the scholarship money tomorrow? Sweets with the fees money, fees with the scholarship money. End of story! Kissa khatam, paisa hazam.”
Q1. Why did passersby stare at the narrator?
Ans. They stared at him because there was a lot of clamour in his pocket.
Q2. What is ‘the wretched thing’? Why?
Ans. The coin is the wretched thing because it makes so much noise.
Q3. Who tried to strangle whom?
Ans. The narrator tried to strangle the coins.
Q4. According to the coins, how could the narrator pay the fee?
Ans. He could use the scholarship money for paying the fee.
Q5. What according to the coins, could he do with the fees money?
Ans. He could buy sweets with it.
C. My mouth watered, but I wasn’t about to be swept away so easily. In school I was among the most promising students. In the fourth standard exams, I had even won a scholarship of four rupees a month. Besides, I came from a particularly well-to-do family, so I enjoyed considerable prestige. I’d never once been beaten so far. On the contrary, Masterji had got me to beat the other boys. For a child of such status, standing there in the middle of the bazaar eating jalebis? No. It wasn’t right, I decided. I clenched the rupiyas in my fist and came home.
The coins were so keen on being spent that day, they kept up their attempts at persuasion till their voices began to choke. When I reached home and sat on the bed, they began to speak. I went inside to have lunch, they began to shriek. Thoroughly fed up, I rushed out of the house barefoot and ran towards the bazaar. Terrified I was, but quickly I told the halwai to weigh a whole rupee worth of jalebis. His astonished look seemed to be asking where I had the handcart in which I would carry all those jalebis. Those were inexpensive times. One rupee fetched more than twenty rupees does nowadays. The halwai opened up a whole newspaper and heaped a pile of jalebis on it.
Q1. Why did the narrator’s mouth water?
Ans. He was tempted by the jalebis.
Q2. Which standard was he in when he won a scholarship of 4 rupees a month?
Ans. Standard 4
Q3. What did the narrator do to avoid the temptation of buying jalebis?
Ans. He clenched the rupiyas in my fist and went home.
Q4. Why did the halwai think that he needed a handcart?
Ans. In one rupee, he got a huge pile of Jalebis because things were cheaper then. So, he thought perhaps the narrator needed a handcart to carry them.
Q5. What forced the narrator to buy the jalebis?
Ans. The coins kept on their attempts to persuade him. Finally, he gave in and went to buy them.
D. Very quickly, boys from the entire neighbourhood assembled in the gali. By that time I was so pleased with my stomach full of jalebis that I got into the mood for some fun. I started handing out jalebis to the children around. Delighted they ran off, jumping and screaming, into the galis. Soon a whole lot of other children appeared, probably having heard the good news from the others. I dashed to the halwai and bought one more rupee’s worth of jalebis, came back and stood on the chabutara of one of the houses, liberally distributing jalebis to the children just like the Governor saheb used to distribute rice to the poor and needy on Independence day. By now there was a huge mob of children around me. The beggars too launched an assault! If children could be elected to the Assembly, my success would have been assured that day. Because one little signal from my jalebi-wielding hand and the mob would have been willing to kill and get killed for me. I bought jalebis for the remaining two rupees as well and distributed them. Then I washed my hands and mouth at the public tap and returned home, putting on such an innocent face, as if I hadn’t even seen the hint of a jalebi all my life. Jalebis I had gobbled up easily enough, but digesting them became another matter. With every breath came a burp, and with every burp, the danger of bringing out a jalebi or two — the fear was killing me. At night I had to eat my dinner as well. If I hadn’t eaten I would have been asked to explain why I did not want any food, and if I had pretended illness the doctor would have been summoned and if the doctor, after feeling my pulse, had declared, Munna has devoured a mound of jalebis, I would simply die.
Q1. What was fun for the narrator?
Ans. He shared the jalebis with boys from the entire neighbourhood.
Q2. How many rupees in all did he spend for the jalebis?
Ans. 4 rupees
Q3. What bothered him later?
Ans. He had overeaten Jalebis and feared the risk of giving out the secret whenever he burped.
Q4. What did he do under pressure?
Ans. He ate dinner because otherwise the doctor would be summoned and his secret could get leaked.
Q5. Devoured means –
A. Tear
B. Eat hungrily
C. Ran
D. Steal
Ans. B. Eat hungrily
Class 8 Jalebis Extra Question Answers
Answer the following questions-
Q1. At night, why did the narrator sleep coiled like a jalebi?
Ans. He had eaten too many jalebis which made him uneasy at night. So, he lay coiled like a jalebi.
Q2. What made the narrator’s head spin?
Ans. When he came to know that the scholarship would be paid next month, his head started to spin. He had used the fee money to buy jalebi and so, he didn’t have any money to pay the fee.
Q3. What mistake had the narrator committed?
Ans. He had spent the fee money on jalebis. He had bought the jalebis, ate them and also fed them to kids.
Q4. What plan of his had failed?
Ans. He planned to use the scholarship money to pay the school fee. However, the next day, it was announced that the scholarship money would be given next month. So, his plan failed.
Q5. Instead of being at school, the narrator went to the railway station. Why?
Ans. When his teacher announced that the fee would be collected after the lunch break, he left school and walked straight. Perhaps he would have reached the end of the Earth, if it existed. Instead he reached the railway station and as his family had instructed him never to cross the railway tracks, he stopped there.
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