The Blue Bead

- Norah Burke
Extract 1
(i)What were sleepers? What made the timber float down the river?
Sleepers — refer to Notes, Page 161.
Timber was cut and thrown in the river from the forests further up the ‘Great Indian
River’. The timber being lighter than the river water floated on the river and flowed
downstream.
(ii) What is meant by ‘dislodge’? How can the sleepers be dislodged?
dislodge — Refer to Notes, Page 161.
The sleepers can be dislodged by the use of human force, i.e. somebody needs to
forcefully remove from their place to send them on their way. Floods can lift them
and jostle them along.
(iii) From where did the crocodile come? Why did he come? What was he doing in
the shallow waters?
The crocodile came out of deep waters,/ to rest in the glassy shallows.
The crocodile balanced himself on tip-toe on the rippled sand, raised his eyes and
nostrils out of water to breathe the clean sunny air.
(iv)Why did the crocodile raise his eyes and nostrils out of water? The author says,
‘Now nothing could pierce the inch- thick armoured hide.’ What does she mean by
the sentence given above? Why does she say so?
- To catch prey and to breathe clean sunny air.
The inch-thick armoured hide refers to the thick hard covering of the crocodile that
protects him. Over the years the crocodile had become so strong and ferocious that
nothing could pierce his inch-thick armoured hide. Not even rifle bullets could pierce
it and they would bounce off.
(v) Who encountered the crocodile later in the story? What did she do to the
crocodile and why?
Sibia.
Refer to 3rd paragraph under Story in Detail, Page 156.
Extract 2
(i)What is a mugger crocodile? Give its three characteristic features.
A freshwater crocodile of the Indian subcontinent.
Its features include upper body coloured blackish brown, underbelly coloured
yellowy white with a green tinge, a huge tail, a big mouth covering practically his
whole head. It was twice the length of a tall man.
(ii) Give the meaning of :
(a) antediluvian saurian: Here, refers to the crocodile; a very old reptile.
(b) prehistoric juggernaut: The crocodile that is extremely large and powerful and
seemed to belong to the time before people could write.
(iii) Describe the appearance of the crocodile. What made him move?
The crocodile was blackish brown from above with yellowy white underside. It had a
huge tail and a teeth-filled mouth covering practically his whole head.
The little flycatcher that was flirting and trilling along made him move.
(iv) How can you conclude from the extract that the crocodile was a strong and
dangerous animal?
The crocodile is called a prehistoric juggernaut. He is ferocious and formidable, a
vast force in the water, propelled by the unimaginable and irresistible power. He has
a huge tail. He has an evil, bony smile.
(v) How does the crocodile form an important component in the development of the
plot? Give reasons to support your answer.
Refer to Wild Nature under Critical Appreciation, Page 161.
Extract 3

(i)What is said about the birth of the crocodile? How can you say that the crocodile
was very active even before he was fully hatched?

It was a hundred years ago that the sun had hatched the crocodile in a sandbank.
He had broken his shell and got his head and looked around, ready to snap at
everything even then.

(ii) What is meant by ‘brainless craft’ and ‘ferocity’?

Refer to workbook Notes, Page 162.

(iii) What were the dangers facing the young crocodile?

The young crocodile could become a prey to birds of prey and great carnivorous
fishes that eat baby crocodiles.

(iv) How did the young crocodile get the food? How did he store it? What did the big
crocodile feed on?

The crocodile would catch all the food he needed. He stored it till putrid in holes in
the bank of the river. The young crocodile grew to its magnificent size with the water
and food stored in it.

He fed mostly on fish, but also on deer and monkeys that came to drink, and
perhaps a duck or two. Sometimes, he fed on a pi-dog full of parasites or a skeleton
cow, at the ford. He sometimes went down to the burning ghats and found the half-
burned bodies of Indians cast into the stream.

(v) How is the body of the crocodile strong enough to protect him? How was he
vulnerable to an attack?

The crocodile had grown to a magnificent size with a huge powerful tail and a mouth
filled with teeth covering the length of his entire head. The crocodile’s skin was
covered with an inch-thick armoured hide. Even rifle bullets would not pierce them as
they would bounce off.

Only his eyes and soft underarms were vulnerable to attack.

Extract 4

(i)From where did the little girl come? What did she wear? What was she eating?

The girl came out from a mud house from the shrill noisy village above the ford.

She was dressed in an earth-coloured rag. She had torn her rag into 2 to make skirt
and sari.

She was eating a chupati wrapped round a smear of green chilli and rancid butter.

(ii) Describe the physical appearance of the little girl.

Sibia, the little girl was a thin starveling child dressed in an earth-coloured rag. She
had very dark coloured hair, great eyes, and brown and oily skin. She had straight
white teeth.

(iii) Give evidence to prove that the girl was from a poor household.

The girl was thin and starveling, she was dressed in a rag. She was eating a chupati
wrapped round a smear of green chili and rancid butter. She divided her chupati to
make it seem more. Even on a winter morning, she was bare foot.

(iv) Why was the little girl known as a child-woman and born to toil?

Sibia was a twelve-year-old child but the hard work that she engaged herself in to
support her family deprived her of her childhood. She was thus a child-woman born
to toil.

(v) Describe the strange object found near the crocodile. Justify why the story is
named after the object.

A glimmering, gem-like blue bead was found near the crocodile. It was a sand-worn
blue glass that was perforated right through the middle and was perhaps the neck of
a bottle.

Refer to Title, Page 156.

Extract 5

(i)Where was the bazaar? How did the girl know about it?

The bazaar was at the little town at the railhead.

She knew about it because she had been there with her parents and brothers.

(ii) What had she seen and heard while passing through the bazaar?

She had seen all the milling people, and the dogs and monkeys full of fleas. She had
heard idling people gossiping and bargaining, spitting betel juice. She had also heard
the bell of a sacred bull clonking as he walked/lumped along.
(iii) What was her experience at the sweetmeat stall? What did she sometimes taste
at home?

She was amazed to gaze at the sweetmeat stall. The honey confections were
brilliant and smelled wonderful above the smells of drains and humanity and cheap
cigarettes. The sweets she saw were green and magenta in colour.

At home, she sometimes tasted wild honey, or crunched the syrup out of a stalk of
sugarcane.

(iv)Describe what Sibia saw at the cloth stall. Did she like the stall? Why?

At the cloth stall, Sibia saw stacks of great rolls of new cotton cloth. The cloth was
stamped at the edge with the maker’s sign of a tiger’s head.

Yes, Sibia liked the stall. She found the smell of the new clothes so wonderful that
she could have stood by it all day.

(v)Was there any significance in Sibia’s life of the things sold in the bazaar? What
was she marked for from her birth?

Refer to page 95 4th para and pg 96 4th para - TB

Sibia was marked for work, from her birth.

Extract 6

(i)Mention any three of the wonders Sibia had seen in the bazaar.

Satin sewn with real silver thread, tin trays from Birmingham, sari with chips of
looking-glass embroidered on it.

(ii)What did the Kashmiri merchant sell?

The Kashmiri merchant used to sell dawn-coloured silks and semi-precious jewel
such as turquoises and opals, which he kept in a little locked chest. [pg. 96 TB 2 nd
para]

(iii) Describe the box having the best of the merchant’s goods.

The box when pressed, resulted in a bell tinkling and a yellow woollen chicken
jumping out. [page 96 TB 2nd para , last 2 lines of the extract]

(iv)How did Sibia spend her time since her childhood?

Since her childhood, Sibia was engaged in hard physical labour such as husking
corn, gathering sticks, putting dung to dry, cooking, weeding, carrying and fetching
water and cutting grass for fodder. [pg. 96 TB 4th para]

(v) What dies Sibia’s life show about the life of the people living in the vicinity of
forests? How was Sibia’s llife different from the Gujar women’s?

Sibia was from a very poor family. Sibia life’s ‘was marked for work’ and she was
‘born to toil’. Ever since she could toddle, she had husked corn, gathered sticks, put
dung to dry, cooked, weeded, carried and fetched water, and cut grass for fodder.
The Gujar women were better off than Sibia as they wore silver jewellery made of
melted rupees while the latter could only dream of jewellery from glass and beads.
The Gujar women went to the river to collect water in brass pots while Sibia went to
collect paper grass to sell and she perceived brass pots as luxury items. Sibia did
not have money even to buy a glass bangle or beads. She ate one chupati with
smeared chili and rancid butter but Gujar women were shepherds and sold white
milk and butter.

Extract 7

(i)What thoughts did not trouble Sibia?

The thought that while Sibia toiled, an agent sat on silk cushions and smoked a
hookah did not trouble Sibia.

(ii)Where was Sibia going? Why?

Sibia was going with her mother and some other women from her village to get
paper grass from the cliffs above the river to sell to the agent of a paper mill.

(iii) Who were with Sibia during the journey? Why couldn’t Sibia skip during her
return journey?

Sibia was accompanied by her mother and some other women from her village.

Sibia couldn’t skip during her return journey because she was tired and there was a
great load to carry.

(iv)Describe the necklaces worn by women. Why did they want to wear new
necklaces every year?

The women used to wear necklaces made out of lal-lal-beeges, the shiny scarlet
seeds, black on one end, that grew everywhere in the jungle.

They wanted to wear several and new necklaces because lots of necklaces together
made a rattling swish sound, which was pleasant to the ears. The old ones would
fade.

(v) What type of necklace did Sibia wish to wear? What was the difficulty in getting
such a necklace?

Sibia wanted to wear necklaces made of lal-lal beeges, the shiny scarlet seeds,
black on one end that grew everywhere. The scarlet lal-lal beeges were hard seeds.
For them to be made into necklaces, each seed had to have a hole drilled in with a
red-hot needle. Sibia’s family needle had snapped and she had to wait for the family
to earn enough to buy a new needle. [Pg 97 1st para TB]

Extract 8

(i) Why were the women going toward the river? What were the dangers they
encounter on the way?

They were going to collect paper grass from the cliffs above the river to sell in the
market.
The dangers included the crocodile, the river, the steep incline of the hill.

(ii) What is meant by ‘nomadic graziers’? How long do these people stay in one
place?

Nomads who grazed their cattle.

These nomadic graziers would live for at one place until their animals had grazed all
the grass within reach or they were unable to sell their white butter and white milk in
the district, or there was no one to buy the young male buffaloes for tiger-bait. They
would leave if there was a cattle-killing tiger making a nuisance of himself.

(iii)Describe the appearance of Gujar women as seen by Sibia.

The Gujar woman wore trousers, tight and wrinkled at the ankles. They wore large
silver rings made out of melted rupees in their ears.

(iv) Where were the men and boys from the camp? Explain why Gujars are called
the ‘men in the wandering pastoral Age’?

The men and boys were out of camp with the herd or gone to the bazaar to sell
produce. A Pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around 57 open
areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and
pasture.

(v) Explain how was Sibia like the Gujars, a jungli? Give two points of difference
between Sibia and the Gujars.

Sibia was a jungli like the Gujars. Both were poor and lived at the mercy of nature.
Both were fearless of the dangers of forest dwelling. Both did not cultivate crops.

Difference between Sibia and the Gujars — Sibia was poorer. She dreamed of
wearing jewellery made of seeds, beads and glass while Gujars wore silver
jewellery. Sibia lived in the same place while the Gujars, who were nomadic graziers,
would live for at one place until their animals had grazed all the grass within reach or
they were unable to sell their white butter and white milk in the district, or there was
no one to buy the young male buffaloes for tiger-bait. They would leave if there was
a cattle-killing tiger making a nuisance of himself.

Extract 9

(i) How was Sibia compared to a bird in the passage?

Sibia’s sharp vision to that of a flying bird. She could look down over the river as if
she were a bird. She did not dare to stop for a moment under her mother’s eye, so
her imagination took her in swooping flight over the bright water and golden air to the
banks where she had played as a child.

(ii) What did she keep in the cave? Why?

Sibia, as a child used to store in the cave some little bowls moulded of clay to
harden.

She did this so that she can use them for colouring. The cavelets were above the
high-water mark of the highest flood.
(iii) Why was the mother angry with her? How did Sibia react to the situation?

Sibia’s mother was angry with her because she was day dreaming instead of
working. Sibia’s mother glared at her and angrily said — “child”.

This pulled Sibia back to work, and they continued to toil on.

(iv) Where did the women carrying the load go? Why?

The women carrying the load had to go back at the end of the day to see their
animals and the evening meal. Thus they set out to cross the river again.

(v) At the end of the day, how did Sibia feel? What does it reveal about her
character?

At the end of the day, Sibia felt ecstatic as she had found a glittering blue bead for
her necklace.

Refer to Poverty under Themes, Page 158.

Extract 10

(i)What happened when the Gujar woman walked on to the stepping-stones?

When the Gujar woman walked on to the stepping stones, the crocodile lunged at
her. He heaved up out of the darkling water with water slushing off him and his
livid/angry jaws yawning and all his teeth flashing as he slashed at her leg.

(ii)When the crocodile attacked the woman, how did she react?

The woman screamed, dropped both brass pots with a clatter on a boulder.

(iii) Describe the struggle between the woman and the crocodile.

The crocodile lunged at the Gujar woman. She recoiled from him but his jaws closed
on her leg. She slipped and fell on the bone-breaking stone. She clung to one of the
timber logs stuck between two rocks and continued to scream. The crocodile pulled
on her leg threshing his mighty tail and tried to drag her into the deep water. Blood
spread everywhere.

(iv) Briefly state the theme of conflict between human beings and wild nature as
shown in the story.

Refer to Wild Nature, under Critical Appreciation, Page 161.

(v) On seeing the woman being attacked by a crocodile, what was Sibia’s first
thought? Show how Sibia came to help the woman immediately.

Sibia’s first thought was about the brass vessels that the Gujar dropped. She felt bad
at the loss of ‘two good vessels’.

Sibia sprang immediately and she came leaping like a rock goat from boulder to
boulder. She heroically came on wings, choosing her footing in mid air without even
thinking about it. In a moment, she was beside the shrieking woman to save her.

Extract 11.
(i) Why did the crocodile go into convulsion? What happened during his convulsions?

With all her force, Sibia drove the hayfork at the crocodile’s eyes. One prong of the
fork went right into the eye while its pair scratched past on the horny cheek.

The excruciating pain made the crocodile rear up in convulsion half of his body till
half his lizard body was still out of the river and the tail and nose nearly meeting over
his stony back. The next moment, he crashed back, exploded the water and
disappeared in an uproar of bloody foam.

(ii) How did Sibia attend to the Gujar woman?

Sibiagot her arms round the fainting woman and dragged her out of the water. She
stopped her wounds with sand and bound them with rag. Moreover, she helped her
reach the encampment safely where the men made a litter to carry her to someone
for treatment.

(iii) Where was Sibia’s sickle and fork? What strange object did she see in the
water?

Sibia left her sickle and fork at the site where the Gujar woman was attacked by the
crocodile. The fork was later found lying in the river.

Sibia saw a “no-colour white blue bead” in the water.

(iv) How did she take possession of the strange object? Describe the object.

As soon as she saw the strange object, she reached her arm into a yard of the cold
silk water to get it. She missed it at first because of refraction, and then it lay in her
wet palm.

The strange object was a glittering pierced blue bead, perfect and ready for use. It
appeared as it the sunset shuffled about inside it like gold-dust.

(v) State why Sibia was more thrilled at finding the blue bead than saving the Gujar
woman from the crocodile. What does this reveal about Sibia?

Refer to Poverty under Themes, Page 158, and Irony, under Style, Page 159.