The Passing Away of Bapu Important Questions Answers
This is the passage from Nayantara Sehgal’s memoir The Passing Away of Bapu. The Passing Away of Bapu is all about the impact of Gandhiji’s sudden death on the people as well as on the narrator. The questions answers from The Passing Away of Bapu elaborately express the effect of Gandhiji’s death.
The Passing Away of Bapu Questions Answers (Unit – I)
1) When and how did Gandhiji die?
Ans: Gandhiji was shot when he was going to a prayer meeting on the evening of 30th January, 1948.
2) What is the source of the text, “The Passing Away of Bapu”?
Ans: The text, “The Passing Away of Bapu” is an extract from Nayantara Sehgal’s memoir “Prison and Chocolate Cake”, recounts the incidents following the death of Mahatma Gandhi.
3) How did Nayantara Sehgal come to know of Gandhi’s death?
Ans: Nayantara Sehgal came to know of Gandhiji’s death by an urgent telephone call on the the evening of 30th January, 1948 when she was having tea at home.
4) How did the narrator react when she was informed of Gandhiji’ death?
Ans: When the narrator learnt from an urgent telephone call that Gandhiji was shot on his way to prayer meeting, she became numb with shock. She immediately got into a car to go to the Birla House.
5) Who gathered round the body of Gandhiji inside the Birla House?
Ans: Gandhiji’s relatives and followers gathered round the body of Gandhiji inside the Birla House.
6) How is the simile used in the passage to describe the spreading of the news of Gandhiji’s death?
Ans: In the text, The Passing Away of Bapu, the spreading of the news of Gandhiji’s death has been compared to a flame fanned by wind with the use of simile.
7) How was the situation inside the Birla House?
Ans: The people inside the Birla House were stupefied as Gandhiji breathed his last. An unnatural silence prevailed inside the Birla House as the people lost their speeches with the sudden shock of Bapu’s death.
8) How was the situation around the Birla House after the news of Gandhiji’s death had spread?
Ans: The group of mourning people gathered around the Birla House when the news of Gandhiji’s death had spread. Out of every window a brown blur of faces of sad people could be seen. People became speechless out of sudden shock of event. An unnatural silence engulfed the area.
9) Describe the reaction of the people gathered outside the Birla House after Gandhiji’s death?
Ans: At first the people who gathered around the Birla House were stupefied with the news of Gandhiji’s death. They were speechless in grief. But later they began to clamour wildly. They were shouting and crying. They jostled one another in a stampede to break into the Birla House to see their beloved leader.
10) Why did the people jostle one another in a stampede?
Ans: The people who gathered outside the Birla House jostled one another in a stampede in order to break into the Birla House to see their beloved Gandhiji for last time.
11) What announcement made the people calm down a little?
Ans: The announcement that the people would be allowed to see Gandhiji before the funeral made the people calm down a little.
12) How does one feel after facing a loved’s one death?
Ans: The death of a loved one’s makes a person grief-stricken. The person feels that the life has become meaningless and insignificant in the absence of loved one’s.
13) What was the question that hovered in the minds of the mournful people after the death of Gandhiji?
Ans: The mournful people were at loss to think that what would happen to them after the passing away of Bapu who had led the people of India in many struggles.
14) Why were the people compared to lost children after the passing away of Bapu?
Ans: Gandhiji was regarded by the people of India as the father of nation. He was their beloved leader and philosopher. Like the father for the people of the country, he had guided them in many struggles. Thus, his death made them fatherless and rudderless.
15) How did the narrator and other listen to the broadcast?
Ans: Gandhiji’s death made the people grief-stricken. They were in a spell of unbelief when they were listening to the broadcast telling that Gandhiji was no more.
The Passing Away of Bapu Questions Answers (Unit – II)
1) When did Gandhiji’s funeral take place?
Ans: Gandhiji’s funeral took place on 31st January, 1948, a day after his death.
2) Where did the people gather and why?
Ans: The people lined the route the funeral procession of Gandhiji was to follow hours in advance to pay their last homage to their beloved leader.
3) Who was Padamasi and what did she suggest?
Ans: Padamasi was the daughter of Mrs. Naidu. Padamasi suggested that they would walk in the funeral procession of Gandhiji as that would be their last time walking with Bapu.
4) Why was the walk called ‘agonizing’ ?
Ans: The narrator felt that the walk was ‘agonizing’ because it was the funeral procession of their beloved leader, Gandhiji who had led from the front the people of India over many difficult paths. But now he was lying dead on an open truck. So the walk was agonizing.
5) Give the description of the procession.
Ans: Gandhiji was laid on an open truck covered with flowers. Thousands of people watched the procession silently. They were weeping and trying to touch Bapu’s feet. The crowd was so thick that it was impossible to move in the crowd.
6) What did the narrator realise when she moved forward?
Ans: When the narrator moved forward slowly in the funeral procession of Gandhiji, she realised that she was not merely in the midst of grieving people. It was more than a funeral procession. She felt that she was among the people for whom walking with Bapu had a special meaning.
7) Why had walking with Bapu a special meaning?
Ans: According to the narrator, walking with Bapu had a special meaning. Bapu had led the people of India over many difficult paths. He taught them value of his ideals to carry them to the path of progress. The people learnt these values while they were with Gandhiji in different struggle movements. So walking with Bapu had a special meaning.
8) What image of Gandhiji did the narrator recall in the passage?
Ans: The narrator could recall that Gandhiji had a slight figure and he had walked over a large part of India with a staff in his hand.
9) What was the fact did the people not accept?
Ans: Bapu who had led the people over many difficult paths like the Father of Nation was never going to walk with them as he was no more. This fact was not accepted by them.
10) What does ‘walk’ signify? How does ‘walk’ make slow progress?
Ans: To walk is to make slow progress.
Gandhiji believed that ‘walk’ makes slow progress because it involves clear thinking and understanding of something. It also provides a chance to look at all around from small insects to the horizon in the distance. Thus, ‘walk’ helps people to make slow progress.
11) Why was the walking only way open to the average Indian?
Ans: The average Indian had preferred walking to vehicles because it required no vehicle except his own body and cost nothing but one’s own energy.
12) What is referred as ‘necessity’ in the passage? What did Gandhiji do with this necessity?
Ans: In the passage “The Passing Away of Bapu”, ‘walking’ is referred as necessity.
Gandhiji took this as a very common practice and transformed it into a joyful effort.
The Passing Away of Bapu Questions Answers – (Unit – III)
1) When and where were Gandhiji’s ashes taken to be immersed?
Ans: Gandhiji’s ashes were taken to Allahabad some days after the funeral for immersion in the Ganges.
2) How were Gandhiji’s ashes taken to Allahabad?
Ans: A special train was arranged to take Gandhiji’s ashes to Allahabad. The compartment was decorated with flowers. Amid prayers and bhajans sung by the people on the train, Gandhiji’s ashes reached Allahabad.
3) Why didn’t the people weep anymore?
Ans: The people on the train sang bhajans. They didn’t weep anymore for they could feel Gandhiji’s presence amid flowers and songs.
4) How did the people at every station react?
Ans: At every station the mournful crowd gathered to pay their last homage to the great soul.
5) How did the author feel after coming back in Delhi?
Ans: After coming back in Delhi, the narrator felt that she was at a loss. She could feel the absence of magic circle of Gandhiji within which she had grown up. The passing away of Bapu made her feel unprotected.
6) “Back in Delhi, I felt at sea” –What did the narrator mean by the line?
Ans: The quoted line suggests the mental state of the narrator after coming back in Delhi. She felt that she was at a loss like a sailor who lost in a vast sea without compass. Similarly the passing away of Bapu left her feel desolate with the absence of Gandhiji’s guidance.
7) What does the phrase “magic circle” suggest in the passage?
Ans: The phrase “magic circle” suggests the thoughts and values of Gandhiji which created a secure wall protecting the people of India for a long time. But the death of Gandhiji created a lacuna of father-like guidance and security in the mind of the narrator.
8) “I felt I had grown up within a magic circle.” — Why did the narrator say this?
Ans: The narrator felt that she had grown up seeing and following Gandhiji’s thoughts and values which helped the people of India in their freedom struggle and developing their lives.
9) How did the narrator rouse herself from the state of despair?
Ans: With an effort the narrator roused herself. The narrator felt that she possessed the strong values which were inherited from the thoughts and ideals of Gandhiji.
10) How did Gandhiji influence the millions of Indians?
Ans: Gandhiji like a vanguard, helped the ordinary people to discover the meaningful existence of life. He brought the people out of indifference and awakened them to one another’s suffering.
11) “What if now Bapu is gone?” — What did the narrator mean to say?
Ans: The narrator wanted to say that she realised the power of Gandhiji’s thoughts and values are invincible and it would continue to inspire millions of people for centuries to come.
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