CLOUDS: INTIZAR HUSSAIN/CLASS 8 / BLOSSOMS

 

CLOUDS: INTIZAR HUSSAIN/CLASS 8 / BLOSSOMS

Intizar Hussain or Intezar Hussain (21 December 1925 – 2 February 2016) was a Pakistani writer of Urdu novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is widely recognised as a leading literary figure of Pakistan. He was among the finalists of the Man Booker Prize in 2013. This story is a translation of his Urdu story Badal by Rakshanda Jalil.

‘Clouds’ is a short story which revolves round a young boy and his quest for answers behind the mystery of clouds and rain. 

The theme of this short story pivots around the keen curiosity inherent in children and their  endless questions about anything around him.

WRITE ‘TRUE’ OR ‘FALSE, FOR THE STATE MENT:

 

 

 

 

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

 

Q.Who wandered and for what?

He wandered far in search of the clouds.

Q. Where did he wander?

 He wandered down winding paths and alleys.

Q. Where did he reach wandering round?

He  reached the old mud hut.

Q.Where did heturned then?
Then, he turned on to the dirt track. 

Q.What did he see there?
He saw a grass-cutter coming from the other direction, a bundle of freshly cut grass balanced on his head. 

Q. What did he ask the man?

He stopped the man and asked, "Have you seen the clouds there?" 

Q. Why was the man amazed?

The grass-cutter was amazed, as though he had been asked the most peculiar question. 

Q.Why was he disappointed?
He was disappointed to see that the grass-cutter was still mystified. 

Q. how far he walked then?He walked on until he came upon a farmer ploughing his field. 

Q. What did he ask the farmer?
He asked him the farmer the  same question, "Did the clouds come here?"

Q. How did farmer react?

The farmer, too, couldn't make sense of the question and asked him "Clouds?" . 

Q. How was he asking for cloud?

He was asking after the clouds like a man who has lost a child and asks wayfarers if they have seen a child wandering. 

Q. How was the clouds  like?
Perhaps the clouds,  were like lost children.

 

Q.What was he doing ?

 He was going around asking people about the clouds who were like lost children. 

Q.Could any one give any answer?

But no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

Q. Whom did he first asked about the cloud?

His mother was the first he had asked in the morning  where had the clouds gone away.

Q.What was his Ammaji’s answer? 

His Ammaji asked him "Who's gone where?", as if he had asked an exceptionally stupid question about  "Clouds" and also asked if he had  lost his mind.

Q. What did his Ammaji advise him to do then?

She advised him to wash quickly and to eat his  breakfast and go to school.

Q. What did he do then?
Dejectedly, he washed his hands and face, ate his breakfast and left home.

Q. What haunted him all along?

  The question haunted him, Where  the clouds had gone.

Q. What did the boy remember about the previous night?

He remembered he had seen the night before-clouds gathering in the dark sky.

Q. What happened when he went to sleep? 

 He went to sleep, and then the sky was clear and full of stars.

Q. What did he see and hear when he awoke again in the middle of the night?

When he awoke again, he had no idea of the time, probably it was the middle of the night. Up there in the sky, the clouds were rumbling and there were occasional flashes of lightning, they were dense and black.

Q. How did it look like?

It looked as if it will be raining.

Q. What did he know?

He knew the rain will ruin his sleep. 

Q. Why was he amazed when he got up in the morning?

When he got up in the morning, he was amazed to see that the sky was clear and empty and there was no trace of rain in the courtyard.

Q. Why was he   surprised and saddened?

He was surprised and saddened because the clouds had moved across the skies without shedding a drop of rain .

Q. Why did he repent for?

He repented for he had fallen asleep and thought if he had stayed awake, perhaps, the clouds would not have disappeared like that.

Q. What did he see looking up the sky?

 He looked up once again at the sky. Not a single patch of cloud was there. The sun beat down on his head from a clear sky.

Q. What did he do then in the fierce heat?

In the fierce heat, he walked between the fields. His body was on fire and in heat his throat dry.

Q. What did he see after crossing several fields?

After crossing several fields, he saw a large tree in whose shade a Persian wheel turned gently.

Q.What did he feel seeing the Persian Wheel? 

It was like he had reached an oasis in the middle of a desert. He reached the shelter of the tree and splashed the cool water from the Persian wheel on his dusty feet. Then he washed his hands and face and drank his fill.

 

Q. What did he saw after being refreshed?

After being refreshed, he looked around and saw an  old man sat on a wall by the Persian wheel.

Q.What did he ask the old man hesitatingly? 

He asked if the clouds had come there.

Q. What was the old man’s answer?

The old man looked closely at him and answered addressing him as "Son”, when the clouds come, the earth and the sky know of their coming.

 Q.What did the boy surprisingly said?

The boy said that  the clouds were there last night and no one got to know.

Q. What was the old mansaid again?

The old man again said that it wass not enough for the clouds to come. He once lived in a place where it hadn't rained for ten years."

Q. Why was he astonished?

It was really very surprising for him to know about a place there was no rain for long ten years and he was He was open-mouthed to hear it.

 Q. What did he suddenly realize?

Suddenly, he realized how late it was so he walked for miles in the sun and dust and went back by the same dirt track he had taken to come there.

Q. What did he feel when he reah the mud hut?

The sun was still fiercely hot but when he reached the mud hut, he felt a nip in the air and the earth was damp underfoot.

 Q. What did he see when he go near the village?

As he neared his village, he saw the roads were wet. Surprisingly trees that had been standing draped in layers of dust when he had left in the morning, they are now looking looked bathed.

Q. What did he feel?

He felt a wave of happiness and  hurried home. 

Q. Why did he hurried home?

He wanted to see how fresh and clean the Jamun tree in his courtyard looked.

 Q. What did he witness?

He witnessed  that the rain had changed everything.The Jamun tree stood clean and scrubbed, freshly showered, and Ammaji was saying that was a good shower and she thanked  God.

Q. Where did he stand and why?

Raindrops were still rolling off the leaves of the Jamun. He stood beneath the tree and let them fall on his head and face.

Q. What did he see in the sky?

He raised his eyes to the sky and saw it clear, without even a wisp of cloud.

 Q. What question did arise in his mind?

He had walked so far in the dust and sun in search of the clouds, and in his absence they had come, shed their rain and gone away!

Q. Why did the clouds shed rain in the absence of the boy?

 

 

 

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES WITH INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT

 

 

 

 

 

TICK THE CORRECT ALTERNATIVE