CBSE Class 12 English Indigo Worksheet Set E

Question. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhiji’s life. Elucidate. 
Answer: Before the Champaran episode, Gandhiji was not aware of the reality of the peasants of his motherland. On the insistence of Rajkumar Shukla, a share cropper, Gandhiji went to Champaran and saw the miserable condition of the poor illiterate farmers. It was an eye-opener for him. The Britishers exploited the farmers to grow indigo. When it was not needed, they had to render compensation in order to be freed from old agreement. Gandhiji was shocked to see them going to the court. He gathered them. This was the first step to free them from their fear of the British. The officials felt powerless without Gandhiji’s co-operation. He made them realise that the power of the British could be challenged by Indians. The peasants were made to realise they too had rights. The British landlords left the estate to the peasants and returned to their land after some time, thus ending indigo share cropping. Through the Champaran episode, he made it clear to the British that they could not order Indians in their own country and through his personal example taught masses to be self-reliant and motivated them into civil disobedience.

Question. Why did Rajkumar Shukla invite Gandhiji to Champaran? How did Gandhiji solve the problem of the indigo farmers? OR Why did Gandhiji consider freedom from fear more important than legal justice for the poor peasants of Champaran? 
Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a poor peasant from Champaran. Under an old agreement, the peasants were compelled by the British to grow indigo on 15% of their land and part with it as rent. For this, Rajkumar Shukla had been advised to speak to Gandhiji who he was told, would be able to do something about their problem. The landlords had learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo. They forced the sharecroppers to sign agreements to pay them compensation to be freed from the 15 per cent arrangement. The sharecroppers, who refused, engaged lawyers. The information about synthetic indigo reached the peasants who had signed the agreements. They wanted their money back. Gandhiji organised a gathering of the peasants at Motihari around the court. This was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British. Though Gandhiji co-operated with the British and regulated the crowd, but it was a clear proof that their might could be challenged. He inspired the lawyers to fight for justice for the sharecroppers. After the inquiry committee’s report, the peasants expected the entire sum of money as refund, but Gandhiji asked for 50% only. He was offered a refund of 25%. Gandhiji accepted it. According to Gandhiji, at that stage, money was less important. The landlords had to surrender their prestige and the peasants realised that they too had rights. This was their first lesson in courage. This is how their problem was solved.

Question. Which factors helped the fear-stricken peasants of Champaran to achieve freedom? 
Answer: There were several factors in which Gandhiji’s contribution was remarkable. The peasants were sharecroppers with the British planters. According to an old agreement, the peasants had to produce indigo on 15 per cent of the land and give it as rent to the landlords. Around 1917, it was told that Germany had developed synthetic indigo. So the British planters now no longer desired the indigo crop. To release the peasants from the old agreement, they demanded compensation from them. Most of the illiterate peasants agreed to it. However, others refused. Lawyers were engaged to go to the court. At that time, Gandhiji appeared in Champaran. He fought a long battle for the poor peasants for one year and managed to get justice for them. The peasants now became courageous and became aware about their rights. Along with the political and economic struggle, Gandhiji worked on the social level also. He made arrangements for the education, health and hygiene of the families of poor peasants by teaching the lesson of self-reliance. It was one of the ways to forward the struggle for Indian independence. The peasants now had courage. They believed that they had rights which they could defend. Gradually, the British planters left their estates. These estates now came back to the peasants. Indigo sharecropping disappeared for all times to come.

Question. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. 
Answer: Gandhiji went to Champaran on receiving reports of exploitation of the poor sharecropper peasants at the hands of British planters. He began by trying to get the facts. The British landlords as well as commissioner of Tirhut were non-cooperative. Lawyers from Muzaffarpur briefed him about the court cases of these peasants. Gandhiji and the lawyers collected depositions by about ten thousand peasants. Notes were made on other evidences. Documents were collected. The whole area throbbed with the activities of the investigators and forceful protests of landlords. The lieutenant governor summoned Gandhiji. After four protracted interviews, an official commission of enquiry was appointed to look into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation. Gandhiji was the sole representative of the peasants. The official enquiry assembled huge quantity of evidence against the big planters. They agreed in principle to make refunds to the peasants. After consolation, a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers was agreed upon. This was a moral victory for the peasants. They recognised their rights and became courageous. Within a few years, the British planters gave up their estates. These now went back to the peasants. They became the master of the land. Thus, indigo sharecropping disappeared.

Question. How was the Champaran episode a big success. Elucidate.
Answer: The fight and the success of Champaran was the success of Civil Disobedience movement started by Gandhiji. It was the attempt of the poor peasants who were helpless to the fraud met out to them. One of them contacted Gandhiji. Gandhiji’s presence in Bihar raised a huge row in Champaran. Thousands of peasants held a demonstration to protest against the government. The government was baffled. The orders for Gandhiji to quit Champaran were disobeyed by him. Afterwards, an enquiry commission was set up which ordered the sharecroppers to get 25 per cent of their money. The cruel landlords were made to surrender the partial amount of the extorted money. The efforts of Gandhiji and the peasants made the government realise its mistake.

Question. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. The poor indigo farmers were exploited by the British landlords to which Gandhiji objected. Even after our independence we find exploitation in unorganised labour sector. What values do we learn from Gandhiji’s campaign to counter the present day problems of exploitation? 
Answer: The weak are exploited and the strong prey on them is a universal fact. In the case of the poor illiterate indigo farmers, they were exploited by the British landlords. Gandhiji objected to it and freed the farmers from the agreement and brought an end to indigo share cropping. In his manner of tackling the issue, he went stepwise: (1) he gathered information (2) fearlessly he stated his points (3) in the final negotiations he did not bother about the money; it was the submission of the opponent’s pride and prestige. Similarly, we can proceed with such issues as Gandhiji’s method of solving the problem has universality about it. Today we can follow it this way: one must be fully aware of one’s weaknesses and must try to overcome them, find ways of getting justice, never give in to any kind of exploitation, if trapped try to come out of it wisely, get united when in trouble and seek help. Do not compromise your self-respect, values or dignity at any cost. Try to come out of the darkness of ignorance as soon as possible. Mistakes once made, must not be repeated.

Question. Though Rajkumar Shukla was an illiterate peasant; he was resolute and was able to bring a change in the lives of the people of Champaran. Taking hints from the text, write an article on the topic, “Grit and Determination can take you a long way”. 
Answer: Grit and determination plays a very important role in one’s life. A person who doesn’t give up too easily and has tendency to step ahead without thinking too much about the difficulties is able to accomplish anything. We can take the example of Rajkumar Shukla. He wanted Gandhiji to go with him to his area called Champaran. Gandhiji was engaged at that time. However, Shukla did not leave Gandhiji. He followed him wherever he went. Finally, Gandhiji had to arrange and fix time to go with him. Shukla’s resolute nature led to a change in the lives of the people of Champaran. His persistence bore fruit. It is important to pursue our goals with grit and determination to be successful. The will to succeed will one day result in triumph. It is possible that it might take a long time to succeed but success will definitely be achieved.

Question. Dialogue and not violence can resolve situations of conflict and injustice.’ Prove the statement with reference to the lesson Indigo. 
Answer: Gandhiji met Rajkumar Shukla, a poor peasant from Champaran at Lucknow. Shukla wanted Gandhiji to come to Champaran to help the poor sharecroppers who were compelled by the British to grow indigo on 15 % of their land and part with it as rent. Since the development of synthetic indigo, cultivation of indigo had become a waste. The landlords wanted sharecroppers to sign agreements to pay them compensation to be freed from the 15 percent arrangement. Understanding the problem Gandhiji wanted to meet secretary of British Landlord’s Association but he was refused. Then he tried to meet Commissioner of Tirhut who bullied him and ordered to leave. However he defied the order and organized a gathering of the peasants around the court. Gandhiji proved that British power was no longer unchangeable. The authorities got afraid and postponed the case. Gandhiji was released on bail. He inspired the lawyers to fight for justice for the sharecroppers. The case was dropped and Gandhi agreed for 25% refund as was agreed by landlords. Finally indigo sharecropping was abandoned and land given to peasants. This became the first success of Non co-operation movement for Gandhiji.

Question. Gandhiji won the struggle for Champaran specifically because of his good leadership qualities. Write a paragraph on ‘Qualities of a good leader’.
Answer: A leader is someone who leads the minds of others and convinces them to follow his set of ideas and beliefs. As such, there are some qualities inherent in the persona of the leader that sets him apart from the rest. One of these qualities includes dedication to one’s work. His enthusiasm is evident in his work and life, and this inspires others to follow him. A good leader is courageous in the face of adversity and never quits. He motivates and encourages others, bringing out the best in them. He appreciates the efforts of others and is not biased or impartial.

Question: Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meanings from the context.

Answer:

• urge the departure: insist on the going away of the British from India
• conflict of duties: clash of obligation or responsibility
• harbor a man like me: give shelter to an advocate of home-rule
• seek a prop: try to find support or assistance

Question:
1. Strike out what is not true in the following.
a. Rajkumar Shukla was
(a) a sharecropper.
(b) a politician.
(c) a delegate.
(d) a landlord.
Answer: (a) a sharecropper.

Question:
1. Strike out what is not true in the following.
b. Rajkumar Shukla was
(a) poor.
(b) physically strong.
(c) illiterate.
Answer: (a) poor and (c) illiterate.

Question: Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being 'resolute'?
Answer: Rajkumar Shukla is described as being 'resolute' because even after being told about the prior engagements of Gandhi at Cawnpore and other parts across the county, he does not quit. He continues to accompany Gandhi everywhere. Furthermore, he persistently asks Gandhi to fix a date for his visit to his native district of Champaran. His resolution and determination finally impresses Gandhi and the latter complies with his request.

Question: Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
Answer: Gandhi was a simple and humble man dressed in a plain 'dhoti' (loincloth). To the servants, he must have looked like just another poor farmer in this country. Moreover, he was accompanied by Rajkumar Shukla whom they knew to be a poor indigo sharecropper. Thus, when the servants saw them both together, they mistook Gandhi to be another peasant.

Question: List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.
Answer: After his first meeting with Shukla, Gandhi visited Cawnpore, his ashram near Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Patna and Muzzafarpur before he reached Champaran.

Question: What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?
Answer: According to the long-term contract, the peasants were forced to plant fifteen percent of their holdings with indigo and pay the entire harvest as rent. Now, with the development of synthetic indigo in Germany, the British landlords did not want indigo from these plantations. Hence, the shrewd landlords decided to release the peasants of Champaran from the fifteen percent arrangement on the payment of a compensation. Development of synthetic indigo would lead to an increase in the price of natural indigo.

Question: The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi's method of working. Can you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of satyagraha and non-violence?
Answer: There are many instances in the narrative that can be linked to Gandhi's idea of non-cooperation and satyagraha. One such instance is Gandhi's refusal to obey the court order asking him to leave Champaran immediately. Besides that, Gandhi's protest against the delay of the court proceedings is also an instance of his belief in civil disobedience. Furthermore, Gandhi does not falter to plead guilty in front of the court. He accepts his guilt but presents a rational case as to what made him disobey the law. For him, truth is above everything and, thus, he decides to follow the voice of conscience and obey the "higher law of our being".

Question: Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Answer: For Gandhi, it was not the money but the principles that were of utmost importance. He believed that the very fact that the British landlords surrendered was of more significance than the percentage of refund. He wanted the poor farmers to realise that they too had rights and that they need not really live in fear of the British landlords. Therefore, although he had initially quoted a 50 percent refund, he later agreed to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers. Besides, Gandhi was interested in long-term solutions rather than immediate benefits. His decision was proved right when, years later, the British landlords decided to leave their estates, putting an end to the sharecropping arrangement.

Question: How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Answer: The episode of Champaran brought more than one change in the plight of the peasants of that district. These peasants gained confidence which was evident in their spontaneous demonstration on the morning of Gandhi's trial. After the successful refund of the compensation, the peasants, for the first time, realised their own rights and were liberated from the fear that had plagued them. This episode brought an end to the fifteen percent arrangement of sharecropping. However, the most radical change that the episode brought about was in their social and cultural standard. Gandhi opened schools in six villages. His wife took pains to make the peasants aware of the importance of general sanitation and personal hygiene. He even appointed a doctor.

Question: Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his life?
Answer: Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because he realised that civil disobedience, which had triumphed for the first time, could go a long way in the freedom struggle. Moreover, he had succeeded in making the peasants aware of their rights and becoming confident. This success, thus, proved the effectiveness of Gandhi's method of non-violence and non-cooperation.

Question: How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.
Answer: Gandhi was able to influence the lawyers through his conviction, earnestness and pertinent questioning. Gandhi reproached the lawyers of Muzzafarpur for charging a large sum of money as fee from the peasants. Later, the lawyers from Bihar opined that they would return to their own places in the event of his imprisonment. But, Gandhi made them realise that it would be impudent for them, being lawyers from a neighbouring place, to return when a stranger was ready to get himself imprisoned for the peasants. So, they agreed to follow him to jail. Gandhi also convinced the lawyers not to seek support from an Englishman and be self-reliant.

Question: What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of 'home rule'?
Answer: During those times, the average Indian in smaller localities lived in fear of the British. They were afraid of the dire consequences of helping the advocates of "home rule". Hence, though they were supportive of people like Gandhi, they were afraid of showing it explicitly and only a few could actually dare to come out openly. In the story, we find people, like Professor Malkani, who had the courage to give shelter to Gandhi on the latter's visit to Muzzafarpur.

Question: How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Answer: In the chapter 'Indigo' Louis Fischer writes of how a small farmer Rajkumar Shukla from a small district, Champaran, helps bring about a very prominent change. Likewise, many other peasants from the villages fought courageously and contributed in their own way to the movement. Their cumulative effort eventually resulted in their winning the battle of Champaran and to finally free themselves of the sharecropping arrangement.

Question: Notice the sentences in the text which are in 'direct speech'. Why does the author use quotations in his narration?
Answer: The author uses quotations to indicate the actual words of a speaker. Usually a quotation is used when a particular passage or sentence is well-written or memorable or is especially relevant in the context under discussion. In 'Indigo,' the author uses quotations when he mentions important commentary or observation, or any pertinent utterance by Gandhi, or for that matter, by any other character. Examples from the text include:

• “I will tell you how it happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British. It was in 1917.”
• 'I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran, and I want you to come to my district'!"
• “Speak to Gandhi.”
• “Fix a date,”
• "I have to be in Calcutta on such-and-such a date. Come and meet me and take me from there.”
• "It was an extraordinary thing ... for a government professor to harbour a man like me”.
• "The commissioner ... to bully me and advised me forthwith to leave Tirhut."
• “conflict of duties”
• “humanitarian and national service”
• “not for want of respect for lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience”
• “But how much must we pay?”
• "Look, there is no box or cupboard here for clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have.”
• "What I did,” he explained, “was a very ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order me about in my own country.”
• "He had read our minds correctly," Rajendra Prasad comments, “and we had no reply... Gandhi in this way taught us a lesson in reliance".

Question: Discuss the following.
1. "Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor." Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
2. The qualities of a good leader.
Answer:
1. In the story, Gandhi makes it possible for the sharecroppers of Champaran to shed their fear of the British landlords. According to Gandhi, freedom from fear is the first step towards self-reliance. However, it is unfortunate that the poor of the country are not free from fear, even decades after the independence. Their actions, work, etc. are still under pressure; they are under the mercy of the bureaucratic system. Furthermore, the poor live in a continual fear of the police, who instead of taking care, often end up maltreating them. The already poor farmers are becoming poorer, because of globalisation and the craze for the foreign products. This leaves them in the fear of further destitution.
2. A leader is someone who leads the minds of others and convinces them into following his set of ideas and beliefs. As such, there are some qualities inherent in the persona of the leader that sets him apart from the rest. One of these qualities includes dedication to one's work. His enthusiasm is evident in his work and life, and this inspires others to follow him. A good leader is courageous in the face of adversity and is never a quitter. He motivates and encourages others, bringing out the best in them. He appreciates the efforts of others and is not biased or impartial.

Question: Choose an issue that has provoked a controversy like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy or the Narmada Dam Project in which the lives of the poor have been affected.
Answer: Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan are regarded as one of the largest nuclear disasters in the recent years.

Question:
Notice the use or non-use of the comma in the following sentences.
a. When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, he told me what happened in Champaran.
b. He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent's messenger overtook him.
c. When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days.
Answer:
a. In this sentence, the comma is used after a long introductory phrase.
b. Essential clauses do not require commas. In this sentence, the clause 'when the police superintendent's messenger overtook him' is an essential clause because it provides essential information. Hence, a comma is not required in this sentence.
c. In this sentence again we have an introductory clause which provides extra information. The second half of the sentence can stand alone and, therefore, is separated from the introductory clause with a comma.

Case Study: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Question: Find out the facts of the case.
Answer: On 11 March 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred disabling the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors. The three cores largely melted in the first three days. This accident, which is rated 7 on the INES scale, led to the release of high radioactive substances, including contaminated water leaking from the three units. Although there were no immediate deaths, over 100,000 residents were evacuated from their homes.

Question: Present your arguments.
Answer: The contaminated sea water from such disasters is a potential threat across boundaries. The investigations into the Fukushima disaster have proved some faults in the design of the reactors. Lack of adequate safety measures and response actions in the plant have led to a higher risk.

Question: Suggest a possible settlement.
Answer: A possible way to avert such disasters is by constructing such plants away from residential areas. It is imperative to improve safety measures and take other possible steps to eliminate the release of harmful materials.