CBSE Class 10 English Glimpses of India Important Questions Set 07

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. Critically examine the natural beauty found in Coorg and Assam as described in the two travelogues ‘Coorg’ and ‘Tea from Assam’.
Answer: The natural beauty of both Coorg and Assam is vast and amazing. Both places are rich in greenery and have unique traditional cultures. The chief crop in both places is a beverage popular for its taste and flavour. Coorg gives us fragrant coffee, while Assam gives us some of the best quality tea in the world. One gets a similar kind of visual delight on visiting these places.
However, there is a vast difference in their geographic location and vegetation. Coorg has evergreen rainforests and rolling hills, while Assam has densely wooded hills and endless tea gardens. Coorg and Assam also have different flora and fauna. Nonetheless, both places are a treat to the eyes.

Question 2. As Rajvir, create a diary entry about how learning about the history and significance of tea broadened your understanding of Assam’s cultural heritage.
Answer: 12 November, 20XX, Monday
9 pm
Dear Diary,
As we set out on our journey to Pranjol’s home, the soft green paddy fields and endless tea bushes left me awestruck. While Pranjol buried himself in a detective book, I read about the history of tea. Tea was first drunk in China and reached Europe only in the sixteenth century, where it was valued as a medicine. The Chinese and Indian legends about its discovery fascinated me.
When we reached the Dhekiabari Tea Estate, we saw women plucking leaves with bamboo baskets on their backs and a truck loaded with freshly plucked leaves. It was the second-flush season, which gives the best tea. I realised that tea is not just a crop in Assam but a way of life that shapes its people, work and identity.
Rajvir

Question 3. Give a pen portrait of a Goan baker. (Delhi Gov. QB 2022)
Answer: A baker holds an important place in Goa. The profession of baking bread was brought to Goa by the Portuguese, and bread became an integral part of Goan culture. The baker in Goa is called a ‘pader’. He came to every household twice a day, once in the morning on his selling round and then on his way back after emptying his basket. The jingling thud of his bamboo announced his arrival. He brought loaves of bread and bread-bangles, and sometimes sweet bread of special make. In the old days he wore a single-piece long frock called the kabai; in the author’s childhood bakers wore a shirt and trousers that were shorter than full-length ones and longer than half pants. He collected his bills at the end of the month, and his plump physique showed his prosperity.

Question 4. Prepare a speech draft for the students of Class X, based on the reading of the part ‘A Baker from Goa’, on the topic ‘Importance of Bakers in Goa’.
Answer: Good morning, everyone. Today I would like to speak on the importance of bakers in Goa.
The art of baking bread was brought to Goa by the Portuguese, and though they have left, the bakers, or paders, still continue the tradition. Their age-old furnaces still burn, and the thud and jingle of the baker’s bamboo can still be heard in the mornings.
Bread is woven into Goan life. Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bol, a feast loses its charm without bread, and cakes and bolinhas are a must at Christmas. For children, the baker was a friend, companion and guide who brought them bread-bangles.
Bakers thus preserve Goa’s culture and keep its traditions alive. Thank you.

Question 5. You have been asked to present an evaluation of the childhood of Nelson Mandela with that of the narrator in the chapter ‘A Baker from Goa’. Write this presentation draft including your insights, in about 120 words, comparing the childhood of both.
Answer: The childhoods of Nelson Mandela and the narrator of ‘A Baker from Goa’ were both happy on the surface, but they differ in a deeper way. The narrator remembers a carefree childhood in Goa, waking to the jingling thud of the baker’s bamboo and running to choose bread-bangles. His memories are warm and nostalgic.
Mandela too felt free as a boy, running in the fields near his mother’s hut. However, he later realised that his boyhood freedom was an illusion, because as a black South African he had already been denied his basic rights.
Thus, the narrator’s childhood was genuinely secure, while Mandela’s happiness hid the injustice of apartheid, which later shaped his lifelong fight for freedom.

Question 6. What are the various legends about the origin of tea? (CBSE AI 2012)
Answer: There is an Indian as well as a Chinese legend related to the origin of tea. Tea was first drunk in China in 2700 B.C. According to the Chinese legend, a Chinese emperor discovered tea leaves by accident. He always used to boil water before drinking it. One day, while preparing a pot of boiling water, he unknowingly dropped into the water a few leaves from the twigs he had put under the pot to light a fire. When the water boiled, the leaves in it gave it a unique and delicious flavour. It is believed that those were tea leaves.
The Indian legend of the origin of tea goes like this. There was an ancient Buddhist ascetic named Bodhidharma. Every time he tried to meditate, Bodhidharma would invariably fall asleep. So that he would not fall asleep during meditation, Bodhidharma cut off his eyelids. Out of those eyelids grew ten tea plants. The leaves of these plants, when put in hot water and drunk, banished sleep.

Question 7. Give the two legends about the discovery of tea.
Answer: There were two legends about the discovery of tea. The Buddhist legend: There was a Buddhist ascetic named Bodhidharma. He often fell asleep during meditation. To stop this he cut off his eyelids. It is said that ten tea plants grew out of the eyelids. The leaves of this plant are put in hot water and drunk to banish sleep. The legend connects the energising quality of tea with the ascetic’s problem of sleep. The Chinese legend: There was a Chinese emperor who always had boiled water. Once a few leaves from a twig fell into his boiling water. They gave a delicious flavour to his water and from then, tea became popular in China.

Question 8. Write a paragraph on Coorg.
Answer: Coorg is the smallest district in Karnataka, situated about 260 kms from Bangalore. It is situated between Mysore and Mangalore. There are hills all around the town which appears like a piece of heaven broken down from the Kingdom of God. It is the land of the brave martial clan of the Kodavus. There are coffee plantations in the area. The Coorgis are very hospitable people. They are a brave community with the first Army chief of our country being a Coorgi. The flora and fauna of the area is unique and one can easily encounter elephants, Malabar squirrels, langurs, loris etc. The best time to visit Coorg is from September to March when the rains have stopped. Coorg is also a haven for adventure sport enthusiasts.