Drought by Sharat Chandra Chatterjee/ RBSE/ Question-Answer

Chapter - 4

Drought                                                                                                         Sharat Chandra Chatterjee

 

Short Question Answers

Q 1. Many a time Gafur was forgiven by the landlord. Why?

Ans. Gafur was a poor man. Every time he would commit some offence, he would apologize to the landlord and he would be forgiven.

Q 2. Describe the two times one Gafur lost self-control?

Ans. For the first time when his daughter told him that there was no food and water in the house. The second time when the landlord's messenger spoke in an abusive language.

Q 3. What is penance? Why did Gafur think of doing it?

Ans. For your mistake, regret is penance. Gafur brutally killed his bull Mahesh and took his life. Therefore, Gafur thought of doing penance.

Q 4. What kind of life did poor Amina lead right from her childhood?

Ans. Amina has lived a life of difficulty, poverty, conflict and lack of love since her childhood. She was a motherless girl. Yet she was an affectionate, dutiful, calm girl.

Q 5. Why was there so much scarcity of water in the village?

Ans. There was no rain in the village for a long time. Two out of three tanks had all dried up. The little water that there was in the private tank of Shibu Babu was not for public.

Q 6. Why did Gafur lose his temper and kill Mahesh?

Ans. Gafur had been ill for some days. He had no work, nothing to eat and even no water. He was quite frustrated. Moreover, he was punished by the landlord as well. When he saw that Mahesh was drinking the water brought by Amina, he lost his temper and killed Mahesh.

Q 7. Write a character-sketch of Tarak Ratna?

Ans. Tarak Ratna was the village priest. He was flatterer, selfish, cruel and unfeeling to the poor people like Gafur. He would not help the needy even if he had enough.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q 8. Giving examples from the story, comment on the relationship between Shibu and Gafur.

Ans. The relationship between Shibu and Gafur was that of a landlord and a servant. Shibu was cruel to Gafur. He had no sympathy for the poor state of Gafur. Gafur was to receive his share of straw but Shibu Babu kept it on account of last year's rent. Shibu Babu gave him paddy to last only for two months. His share of straw was added to Shibu Babu's stock. He would often be punished by the landlord. Once, when he refused to obey Shibu Babu's orders, he was dragged to the landlord and badly beaten by his men. He was quite insensitive towards Gafur's plight and never helped him out. Finally, all helpless Gafur had to leave his village.

Q 10. Describe the attitude of Shibu Babu towards the villagers.

Ans. Shibu Babu was the Zamindar of a small village called Kashipur. He was a ruthless person. The villagers dared not stand up to him. He would care only to extort from the villagers and not help them in any way as in the case of Gafur, he did not give Gafur his share of straw rather kept it on account of last year's rent though Gafur had nothing with him. He had no sympathy and empathy for the poor villagers. He did not allow the villagers to draw water from his tank even when there was no water in the other two tanks of the village. He exploited the people of the village.

Q 11. Draw a character sketch of Gafur.

Ans. Gafur was a poor cultivator on the farms of Shibu Babu. He was a widower with only a daughter named Amina to take care of. He loved his daughter very much but due to extreme poverty, he was unable to take care of her well. He wanted to be a good father but his circumstances sometimes compelled him into sudden outbursts of anger. He had a bull named Mahesh who was like a family member for Gafur but he was unable to feed him even, Once, out of helplessness and poverty, he decide to sell Mahesh but he could not. When the buyers came to him, he sent them back. But the same Gafur killed Mahesh in a sudden fit of anger when he saw Mahesh drinking water brought by Amina. He was an emotionally charged man and could not control his emotions when compelled by the situations. A t the end of the story again he makes an emotional decision to go to Fulbere where he refused to go on earlier occasions on account of certain reasons.