Key Concept: Leadership and Organization

c) Pressurized the merchant to provide rice

[Solution Description]

Prashant, a nineteen-year-old, decided to take leadership in his village. His first significant action was organizing a group of youths and elders to pressurize the merchant to part with his rice. This delegation succeeded, and they returned with food for the entire shelter. This action ensured that the survivors had food to eat after surviving on green coconuts for four days.

Key Concept: Comprehension

c) He felt safe traveling with them

[Solution Description]

The protagonist felt relieved because he found two friends of his uncle who were also returning to their village. This provided him with a sense of safety and companionship, as they decided to move ahead together.

Key Concept: Basic Concept

b) They were sinking deeper into grief

[Solution Description]

Before Prashant encouraged the women to join the food-for-work program, they were sinking deeper into grief. This emotional state prompted Prashant to take action.

Key Concept: Cyclone Impact

c) 350 km per hour

[Solution Description]

The passage mentions that the building was strong enough to survive the devastation of the wind’s velocity of 350 km per hour. Therefore, the wind speed during the cyclone was 350 km per hour.

Key Concept: Government and Relief Workers

c) Children would grow up without love and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness

[Solution Description]

The initial government plan was to set up institutions for orphans and widows. However, Prashant’s group resisted this step because they believed that in such institutions, children would grow up without love, and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness. They advocated for resettling orphans within their own community, possibly in new foster families made up of childless widows and children without adult care.

Key Concept: Minimal Complexity

c) By having children lie with utensils on their stomachs

[Solution Description]

Prashant’s youth task force gathered empty utensils and had the children lie in the sand with these utensils on their stomachs. This visual signal communicated their need for food to the passing helicopters.

Key Concept: Prashant’s Journey

b) Waist deep

[Solution Description]

The water was waist deep in some places during Prashant’s journey through the floodwaters.

Key Concept: Emotional Impact, Decision Making

c) He experienced coldness in his heart and went to the Red Cross shelter

[Solution Description]

Prashant’s heart went cold upon seeing the destruction of his home and belongings. This indicates a deep emotional shock. His immediate decision was to go to the Red Cross shelter to look for his family, showing concern for their safety over material loss.

Key Concept: Community Support

c) To prevent stigma and loneliness

[Solution Description]

Prashant and other volunteers believed that resettling orphans and widows in their own community would prevent them from suffering from stigma and loneliness. They proposed creating new foster families within the community.

Key Concept: Journey Through Floodwaters

c) Using a long stick

[Solution Description]

Prashant used a long, sturdy stick to locate the road and determine where the water was shallow and safe to wade through. He also avoided floating carcasses, debris, and dangerous creatures while navigating through chest-deep and neck-deep waters.

Key Concept: Role of Leadership During Disasters

b) Organizing cricket matches for children

[Solution Description]

Prashant showed effective leadership by mobilizing women to care for orphaned children, organizing sports events, and helping widows and children rebuild their lives. These actions highlight his ability to lead and support the community during difficult times.

Key Concept: Velocity and Impact

b) 350 km/h

[Solution Description]

The passage mentions that the wind’s velocity was 350 km per hour during the cyclone. This value is directly stated in the text.

Key Concept: About the Author

b) Human rights

[Solution Description]

Harsh Mander has worked extensively in the fields of human rights and social justice.

Key Concept: Innovative Communication

c) By lying in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs

[Solution Description]

The youth task force deputed children to lie in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs. This was an innovative way to communicate their hunger to the passing helicopters.

Key Concept: Leadership in Crisis

d) He organized a group to get rice from the merchant

[Solution Description]

Prashant, after seeing the desperate situation in the shelter, decided to take charge. His first action was to organize a group of youths and elders to pressurize the merchant to part with his rice, which they succeeded in doing. This action provided food for the entire shelter.

Key Concept: Communication Strategy

b) Miscommunication about the need

[Solution Description]

The helicopter initially dropped food parcels but did not return immediately because the youth task force devised a strategy using children lying in the sand with utensils on their stomachs to signal the need for more aid. This method successfully communicated their necessity, prompting the helicopter to make regular rounds afterward.

Key Concept: Relief Efforts

c) By having children lie in the sand with utensils on their stomachs.

[Solution Description]

Prashant and the villagers used a creative method to signal their need for food. They deputed children to lie in the sand left by the waters around the shelter with utensils on their stomachs. This visual signal communicated their hunger to the passing helicopters, which then made regular rounds to airdrop food and other basic needs.

Key Concept: Basic Concept

b) To summarize main points

[Solution Description]

The primary purpose of a conclusion in an essay is to summarize the main points and provide a final perspective on the topic.

Key Concept: Organized Sports

b) Cricket

[Solution Description]

Prashant loved to play cricket and organized cricket matches for the children to help them overcome their grief. Therefore, the primary sport he organized was cricket.

Key Concept: Leadership and Initiative

c) Organize a group to pressurise the merchant for rice

[Solution Description]

Prashant noticed the desperate situation in the shelter and decided to take charge. His first action was to organize a group of youths and elders to pressure the merchant into giving them rice. This effort succeeded, and they were able to bring back food for everyone in the shelter.

Key Concept: Empathy and Community Building

b) Organised cricket matches for children

[Solution Description]

Prashant persuaded the women to start working in the food-for-work programme started by an NGO and organised sports events for the children to help them cope with their grief.

Key Concept: Leadership

c) Pressuring the merchant for rice

[Solution Description]

Prashant organized a group of youths and elders to pressurize the merchant to part with his rice. This action ensured that the survivors at the shelter had food to eat.

Key Concept: Basic Concept

d) Paris

[Solution Description]

The capital of France is Paris.

Key Concept: Hyperbole

d) The book was on the table.

[Solution Description]

A sentence without hyperbole will be straightforward and not exaggerated.

Key Concept: Survival Instinct

b) Wading and swimming

[Solution Description]

Prashant and his friends waded through the floodwaters, which were waist-deep at places. They had to swim at several points where they lost the road. They also had to push away human bodies and animal carcasses swept by the current.

Key Concept: Rebuilding the Community

b) To set up institutions for orphans and widows

[Solution Description]

The initial government plan was to set up institutions for orphans and widows. However, this plan was resisted by Prashant’s group, who believed that such institutions would lead to children growing up without love and widows suffering from stigma and loneliness.

Key Concept: Emotional Impact

c) He felt shocked by the widespread devastation.

[Solution Description]

Prashant experienced shock at his first glimpse of the devastation in the grey light of early morning. Everything was covered by a raging, deadly brown sheet of water, and he saw bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floating everywhere.

Key Concept: Cyclone Impact

c) The coconuts provided food

[Solution Description]

When two coconut trees fell on the roof of the house, the tender coconuts from these trees provided a source of food. This helped Prashant and his friend’s family survive by preventing starvation during the days they were trapped on the roof after the cyclone.

Key Concept: Emotional Support, Community Building

b) Persuaded women to work in the food-for-work programme and organized sports for children

[Solution Description]

Prashant persuaded the women to start working in the food-for-work programme started by an NGO. For the children, he organised sports events, including cricket matches, which he loved to play himself. These activities helped the women and children cope with their grief.

Key Concept: Leadership in Adversity

d) He organised a group to pressure the merchant for rice

[Solution Description]

Prashant organised a group of youths and elders to jointly pressurise the merchant to part with his rice. This delegation succeeded, and they returned with food for the entire shelter.

Key Concept: Concept: Communication through utensils

c) To indicate that they were hungry

[Solution Description] The children were asked to lie in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs to communicate to the passing helicopters that they were hungry. This method was effective in getting the message across, leading to regular airdrops of food and other essentials by the helicopters.

Key Concept: Writer

b) Mahatma Gandhi

[Solution Description]

“The Story of My Experiments with Truth” is an autobiography written by Mahatma Gandhi, detailing his life and philosophy.

Key Concept: Prashant’s Determination

c) He was determined to find his family

[Solution Description]

Prashant decided to leave his friend’s house because he was determined to seek out his family without further delay. He was worried about their safety and wanted to check on them as soon as possible.

Key Concept: Empathy and Social Responsibility

b) Children and widows would suffer from loneliness and stigma

[Solution Description]

Prashant resisted setting up institutions because he believed children would grow up without love and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness. Instead, he suggested resettling orphans in foster families within their community.

Key Concept: Imagery

b) The mental representation of visual information

[Solution Description]

Visual imagery refers to the mental representation and processing of visual information without the presence of external stimuli. It involves creating, manipulating, and recalling images in the mind’s eye, which helps in tasks like problem-solving, memory recall, and spatial reasoning.

Key Concept: Devastation caused by the cyclone

c) The rising waters in the house forced them to move to the roof.

[Solution Description]

During the cyclone, the waters rose rapidly in the house, making it unsafe to stay inside. To escape the rising waters, Prashant and his friend’s family had no choice but to take refuge on the roof. This decision was crucial for their survival as the water levels continued to increase.

Key Concept: Structural Damage

b) Brick and mortar

[Solution Description]

The syllabus explicitly states that the building was made of brick and mortar, which was strong enough to withstand the storm’s devastation.

Key Concept: Community Preparedness

c) Scarcity of food

[Solution Description]

The survivors in the shelter had no proper food and were surviving on green coconuts. This was their main challenge until Prashant intervened to secure rice for them.

Key Concept: Basic Concepts

c) To lead his village through the crisis

[Solution Description]

After witnessing the desperate situation in the shelter and sensing a deathly grief among the 2500 survivors, Prashant felt compelled to take action. He organised a group of youths and elders to pressurize the merchant for food and later coordinated various relief efforts, including cleaning the shelter and tending to the injured.

Key Concept: Relief Efforts

c) Had children lie in the sand with utensils on their stomachs

[Solution Description]

Prashant and his team used children to lie in the sand with utensils on their stomachs to signal to passing helicopters that they were hungry. This method successfully communicated their need for food, leading to regular airdrops of food and other basic needs.

Key Concept: Emotional Response

c) Heartbroken

[Solution Description]

When Prashant reached his village, Kalikuda, he was heartbroken to see the destruction. His heart went cold as he saw remnants of his home and belongings caught in trees. This emotional response indicates his deep sorrow and despair.

Key Concept: Cyclone Impact

c) The roof was the only safe place due to rising water.

[Solution Description]

During the cyclone, the waters inside the house rose to neck-deep levels, making it unsafe to stay indoors. To escape the rising water, Prashant and his friend’s family had no choice but to take refuge on the roof.

Key Concept: Survival and Resilience

c) Children lying with empty utensils

[Solution Description]

Prashant used children to lie in the sand with empty utensils on their stomachs. This visual communication successfully conveyed their need for food to the helicopter pilots.

Key Concept: Family’s Reaction

c) They hugged him tightly in relief.

[Solution Description] Upon finding Prashant at the Red Cross shelter, his extended family gathered around him, hugged him tightly in relief, and expressed joy as they had long given him up for dead.

Key Concept: Helping Orphans

a) By setting up a polythene shelter for them

[Solution Description]

Prashant brought together the orphaned children and set up a polythene sheet shelter for them. He also mobilised women to look after them while the men secured food and materials for the shelter.

Key Concept: Interpreting Emotions

c) She rushed to him, weak with hunger, and hugged him emotionally.

[Solution Description]

When Prashant’s grandmother saw him at the Red Cross shelter, she was weak with hunger but rushed to him with her hands outstretched and eyes brimming with tears. This emotional reunion was a miracle for both of them, as they had long given up hope of seeing each other alive again. Her reaction shows immense relief and joy at finding Prashant safe amidst the catastrophe.

Key Concept: Challenges Faced by Survivors

c) The fire was slow and difficult to start

[Solution Description]

The survivors used fallen tree branches to light a fire, but the fire was reluctant and slow because the branches were wet and difficult to ignite. This delayed the cooking process.

Key Concept: Leadership and Initiative

c) Pressuring the merchant to give rice

[Solution Description]

Prashant decided to step in as the leader of his village when he saw the desperate situation in the shelter. His first action was to organize a group of youths and elders to pressurize the merchant to part with his rice. This delegation succeeded, and they returned with food for the entire shelter. This action marked the beginning of Prashant’s leadership and initiative.

Key Concept: Symbolism

b) Love

[Solution Description]

A heart is a universal symbol for love and affection. It is frequently used in literature to represent these emotions.

Key Concept: Prashant’s Village

b) Only remnants of the roof remained

[Solution Description]

The syllabus states that where Prashant’s home once stood, only remnants of its roof remained. Some of their belongings were caught, mangled, and twisted in the branches of trees above the dark waters.

Key Concept: Prashant’s Journey, Emotional Resilience

c) He was overwhelmed by grief and despair, fearing the worst for his family.

[Solution Description]

Prashant’s weeping indicates that he was overwhelmed by grief and despair. He had witnessed widespread destruction and death, leading him to fear the worst for his family. This emotional outburst reflects his deep attachment to his family and his assumption that they were victims of the disaster.

Key Concept: Community Rehabilitation

d) Both B and C

[Solution Description]

The community resisted the government’s plan to set up institutions because they believed orphans would grow up without love and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness. Instead, they advocated for resettlement within the community.

Key Concept: Cyclone Devastation

c) All ninety-six houses were washed away and eighty-six lives lost.

[Solution Description]

The cyclone caused widespread destruction in Kalikuda, with all ninety-six houses being washed away. Eighty-six lives were lost, and the villagers were left with no shelter or food. Prashant found remnants of his house’s roof caught in tree branches above the floodwaters.

Key Concept: Resettlement Plan

c) Children would grow up without love

[Solution Description]

Prashant’s group resisted setting up institutions because they believed children would grow up without love, and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness.