www. tntextbooks.in Tritt Tey The Woman on Platform 8 Ruskin Bond fee aes Seetion-| at boarding school, and | was sitting on platform ne tat at the tir at Ambala é ie ever d. Most of the time | had been ding broken bisoult to quiet for @ while and the vy iting, agitated human botie he carr wn upon the r allectar 7 tt 11 would be caught in itside the station, Now tired of thi y ambling my suitcase and gazed dismallly acr ald curds and lemon, the eller, the newspaper boy- but | ill that In along the busy platform, anc ued t across ling t and saw a wornar as leaning over, and | saw a pale yes. She wore’ ressed v ir ar | are to school,’ | said, and stood up respectfully. she seemed jac there was a dignity about her that parents come to see you off,’ fon't live here: | said. ‘tt change trains Anyway, | cant allior | err nn! she ar liked her. f ing that and 4 also liked her for th m heworw.tntextbooks.in, and the serenity of face dur name?’ she asked you have to your train’ ‘About an hour, | think. tt comes at twelve o'clock Then come with me and ha | was going to refuse c of shyness ull my hand stforry after my yen 2, and she held mine neither too firmly nor too lightly. I looked up at her again. She was not young. And she was not old, She must have been over thirty but, had she been fifty, I think she would have looked much the same d and samosas and jalebies, and in. The st © encounter |iad School boy, and | ate as much as I could in as polite a in watching m atonce likes and. dislike: quietly from time t listening; she drew ut ve and | had s tanger my family or where not ask her where at she had been to who gave swe rely boy on a railway platfo hour we left the dinir p10 gan walk Hunting up and down t ir le m No.8 and as it approache boy leapt off the platform and ran across the rats, taking a short cut to the next platform. He was at a safe distance f and there was no danger unless he had! fallen; but as he feapt acrc vomnan elutehed my arm. Her fingers dug into my flesh, and 1 Caught her fingers and looked up at her, and I saw a spasm of pain and across her face. She watched the b peared: in rowd that st 27 my arm. Shewww. tntextbooks.in smiled at me reassuringly, and took my hand again: but her fingers trembled against mine. e right.’ | said, feeling thet it wa: ho 2 gratefully at m Ww we have aney mother He wore spectacles Arun's mother J-say anything the d say anything he did not appewww.tntextbooks.in ‘Arun can travel alone though,’ said the woman beside me, and somehow | felt grateful te Ker for saying that. | had already forgiven her for lying and besides, | had taken an’ instinctive dislike to Satish's mother. ‘Well, be very careful Arun, said Satish's mather looking sternly at me through her spettacies. ‘Be very careful when your mother is not with you, and never talk to strangers!” | |ooked from Satish's mother to the woman who had given me tea and sweets, and then back at Satish's mother. "Ve strangers’ | said. Satish’s mother definitely staggered « |i‘tic as obviously she was not used to being contradicted by small boys. ‘There you are, you see! If you don't watch aver them all the time, they'll walk straight into trouble. Always listen to what your mother talis you,’ she said ‘wagging 2 fat little finger at me. ‘And never, never talk to strangers.’ | glared resentfully 2t her, and moved closer to the woman who had befriended me. Satish was standing behind his mother, grinning at me, and delighting in my clash with his mother Apparently he was on my side The station bell clanged, arid ‘the people whe had till now been squatting resignedly on the platform began hustling about ‘Here it cores,’ shouted Satish, as the engine whistle shrleked and the front lights played over the rails. The train mewed siowly into the station. the engine hissing and sending out waves of steam. As it came to a stop, Satish jumped on the footboard of a lighted compartment and shouted, ‘Come on, Arun, this one's empty!’ and | picked up my suitcase and made a dash for the open door. We placed ourselves at the open-windows, and the twe women stood outside on the platform, talking up tous. Satish's mather did most of the talking ‘No don't jump on and off moving trains, as you did just now,’ she said. 'And don't stick your heads aut of the windews, and don't eat any rubbish oh the wai! She allawed me to share the benefit of her advice, as she probably didn't think my ‘mother’ a very capable person, She handed Satish a bag of fruit, a cricket bat and a big box of chocolates, and told him to share the food with me. Then she stoed back from the window to watch how my ‘mother’ behaved. | was smarting under the patronizing tone of Satish's mother, who ebvlously thought mine avery poor family: and | did nat intend giving the other woman away. | lether take my hand in hers, but | could think of nothing to say. | was canscious of Satish's mother staring at us with hard, beady eyes, and I found myself hating her with a firm, unreasoning hate. The guard walked up the platform, blowing his whistle for the train to leave. | looked straight into the eyes of the woman who heid my hand, and she smiled in a gentle understanding way. | leaned out of the window then, and put mywww.tntextboaks.in lips to her cheek, and kissed her ew her hand away train bega alking to her, but OT UCR es Indian children. His first novel, Room on nA was published when he wa: This. novel won him the children and the simple hill falk of Uttarakhand. Simplicity and fluency of language and an insight into human nature 30Glossary €4) inferno (| = tegion that resembles hell heaving (v) = toraise or lift with force dismally (adv) - oheerless serenity (n) = reverence encounter (wv) = brief meeting clutched (wv) > grasped (something) tightly. imposing (edj) ~ grand and impressive in appearance embarrassed (v) - felt awkward, self-conscious, or ashamed nuisance (n) = causing inconvenience-or annoyance staggered (v) ~ walked or moved unsteadily, as if about to fall wagging (v) = move rapidly to and fro feeling or expressing bittemess or indi at havin a grinning (v) = smiling broadly crouch or sit with one's knees bent and one's heels squatting \v) ~ ¢lose tc or tauching the back of one's thighs hustling (v) = push'roughly: jostle shrieked (v) - uttered @ high-pitched piercing sound mowed (v) — moved slowly into the crowed station patronizing (adj) = treat’ ine way that is apparently kind obviously (adv) ~ In away that is easily perceived or understood: clearly jolted (v) - fMmoved with sudden jurk A. Choose the best answer. Satish’s mother han a. bag af pencil b. bag Nn would come at 3, The arly gave a. coffee and vadai tea and sa“www tintextbooks. in = 4, Arun was sitting on platform a.no.7 b. no. 8 ono. 4 dino. % §. Satish and Arun were years ald boys. a2 buy ¢ 13 4,10 B, Match the following. 1. woman in white - mother of Satish 2. train ~ boy of same age @ bowler - dressed simply 4. Satish ~ waves of stream S. spectacles ~ Asun C. Identify the character. 1. | am glad to know that. 2. Are you all alone, my son? 3. Yes, | am going to school, 4. He is one of my friends. 5, Goodbye mather. D. Answer the following questions. 1. Where was-Arun sitting? What was the expected afrival time of the train? ‘What Were the sight Arun had seen on the platform? ‘What did the vendors sell? How did the women appear? Where was Artity travelling to? What did the woman buy for him? What was the advise of Sathish’s mather?. What were the Arun's last words? oSMONY RMA DWN 10. What was the reaction of the woman at the end?www tntextbooks.in SC) Cet ty Sentence Rearrangement A. Miss Sullivan arrived at the Keller hame when Hi was seven the deaf and blind Helen learned to commun verbally C. But, eventually, Miss Sullivan's effort was rewarded. ler was two year: 2 lost her sight and her hearing. worked closely with elen, her new student er became frustrated. 20 8 3. ACFDEB Connecting to Self (J Think you are in the following situation and write what would you do and why. — Will you ignore/take and give to its owner/ take and keep it yourself. Will you ignore/go and help him/ stand watching him feeling shy to help