10

Solution : 1

1. The two temples the author visited in Kathmandu were the Pashupatinath temple and the Baudhnath stupa.

2. 'All this' refers to the author buying a bar of marzipan, a corn-on-the-cob roasted in a charcoal stove on the pavement (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon), a couple of love story comics, and a Reader's Digest.

3. Vikram Seth compares the fifty or sixty bansuris protruding in all directions from the pole with an attachment on top that is held by the flute seller to the quills of a porcupine.

4. The five kinds of flutes are the reed neh, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America, and the high-pitched Chinese flutes.

Solution : 2

1. The author notes that the flute seller selected a flute from time to time and played it for a few minutes. The sound rose clearly above the noise of the traffic and the hawkers' cries.  While the flute seller played  slowly,  meditatively, and  without excessive display, the hawkers shouted out their wares.
2. At Pashupatinath, there is a small shrine that protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank. The belief is that when it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of Kaliyug will end on earth.
3.
(i) The author has drawn powerful images and pictures of the atmosphere of 'febrile confusion' outside the temple of Pashupatinath. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest's attention were elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front.By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggled for permission to enter as only Hindus were allowed to enter the temple.A fight broke out between two monkeys. One was chasing the other, who jumped onto a shivalinga, then ran screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati.

(ii) He saw that the Baudhnath Stupa had an immense white dome, which was ringed by a road. Small shops were there on the outer edge where felt bags, Tibetan prints and silver jewellery could be bought. There were no crowds there. On the busiest  streets  of  Kathmandu,  he  saw  fruit  sellers,  flute  sellers,  hawkers  of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.

(iii) The sounds he heard were film songs that were blaring out from the radios, car horns, bicycle bells, stray cows lowing, vendors shouting out their wares. He also listened to flute music, calling it the most universal and most particular of sounds.

Solution : 3

1. The atmosphere at Pashupatinath temple was one of noise, chaos and confusion. Worshippers were trying to get the priest's attention; others were pushing their way to the front; saffron-clad Westerners were trying to enter the temple; monkeys were fighting and adding to the general noise; a corpse was being cremated on the banks of the river Bagmati; washerwomen were at their work, while their children were bathing. In contrast, at the Baudhnath stupa there were no crowds, it was "a haven of quietness in the busy streets around". There was a sense of stillness and serenity about the Buddhist shrine.

2. Along Kathmandu's narrowest and busiest streets, there were small shrines and flower-adorned deities. Apart from these, there were fruit sellers, flute  sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques. The author heard film songs that were blaring out from the radios, sounds of car horns and bicycle bells, stray cows lowing questioningly at motorcycles, vendors shouting out their wares. He also saw a flute seller with many bansuris. He contrasts the serene music produced by the flute seller with the cries of the hawkers.

3. The author considers flute music to be "the most universal and most particular" of all music. There is no culture that does not have its flute. Each kind of flute has a specific fingering and compass, and "weaves its own associations". Still, for the author, to hear any flute is "to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind to be moved by music closest in its phrases and sentences to the human voice. In spite of their differences, every flute produces music with the help of the human breath. Similarly, in spite of the differences in caste, culture, religion, region, language all human beings are the same, with the same living breath running through all of them.

Chapter 10 - Kathmandu Exercise 134

Solution : 1

(i) The heart is a pump that sends the blood circulating through our

body. The pumping action takes place when the left ventricle of the

heart contracts. This forces  the blood out into the

arteries, which expands to receive the oncoming blood.

(ii) The African lungfish can live without water for up to four years. During drought,

it digs a pit and encloses itself in a capsule of slime and

earth, leaving a tiny opening for air. The capsule dries and

hardens, but when rain comes, the mud dissolves  and the lungfish swims  away.

(iii) Mahesh : We have to organise a class party for our teacher. Does  anyone play

an instrument?

Vipul : Rohit  plays  the flute.

Mahesh : Does  he also act?

Vipul : No, he composes music

Mahesh : That’s wonderful !