Class 10 English: Madam Rides the Bus Questions-Answers, MCQ

Section I: Oral Comprehension Check

1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

 Answer: Valli’s favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house and watching what was happening in the street outside. Since she had no playmates of her own age on her street, this was how she entertained herself.

2. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?**

 Answer: The sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli.

 Her strongest desire was to ride on that bus at least once.

3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?**

 Answer: The Details: Valli found out that the town was six miles from her village, the fare was thirty paise one way, and the trip took forty-five minutes. She also learned that if she stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she could return home on the same bus.

How she found out: She gathered these details over many days and months by listening carefully to the conversations of her neighbours and regular bus users, and by asking a few discreet questions here and there.

4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?

 Answer: Valli was planning to slip out of her house during her mother’s afternoon nap (between one and four o’clock) to take a secret, round-trip ride to the town and back on the bus without her mother’s knowledge.

Section II: Oral Comprehension Check:

1. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

 Answer: The conductor calls Valli ‘madam’ because she behaves in a very mature, independent, and self-assured manner, despite being an eight-year-old child. She commands the bus to stop, refuses the conductor’s help to get on, handles her own money, and strictly insists that she is not a child. Amused by her grown-up attitude, the jolly conductor jokingly addresses her as “madam”.

2. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

 Answer: Why she stands: Valli stands up on her seat because her view outside the window is cut off by a canvas blind that covers the lower part of the window.

  What she sees: Standing up, she peers over the blind and sees a narrow road bordered by a canal on one side. Beyond the canal, she can see palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue sky. On the other side of the road, she sees a deep ditch followed by vast acres of lush green fields stretching as far as the eye can see.

3. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

Answer: When the elderly man out of genuine concern tells her to sit down and calls her a child, Valli replies haughtily and irritably that there is nobody on the bus who is a child. She proudly reminds him that she is eight years old and has paid her thirty paise fare just like everyone else.

4. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Answer: Valli found the elderly woman absolutely repulsive. She didn’t like the big holes in the woman’s earlobes, the ugly earrings she wore, or the fact that she was chewing betel nut. Valli could smell the betel juice and saw it threatening to spill over the woman’s lips at any moment, which made it impossible for her to be sociable.

Section III: Oral Comprehension Check

1. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

 Answer: How she saved: Valli thriftily saved every stray coin that came her way. She strictly resisted every temptation to spend her money on peppermints, toys, balloons, and sweet treats.

  Was it easy: No, it was very difficult for her. She had to make a particularly painful sacrifice at the village fair, where she resolutely stifled a strong desire to ride the merry-go-round, even though she had the money for it.

2. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

 Answer: Valli saw a young cow running very fast right in the middle of the road, directly in front of the bus. The cow had its tail high in the air, and the more the driver honked his horn loudly, the more frightened the animal became, galloping even faster right ahead of the bus. This comical sight highly amused Valli, causing her to clap her hands with glee and laugh until there were tears in her eyes.

3. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

 Answer: Valli didn’t get off at the bus station because she had no intention of exploring the town; her only goal was to experience the bus ride itself. She planned to return to her village on the exact same bus, so she stayed in her seat and handed the conductor another thirty paise for her return ticket. Additionally, when asked if she wanted to look around, she admitted she would be too afraid to go out all by herself.

4. Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?

 Answer: Why she refused: Valli didn’t go to the stall because she did not have enough money left to buy a drink, and her self-respect prevented her from accepting a free drink when the conductor kindly offered to treat her.

  What it tells us about her: This highlights that Valli is remarkably independent, mature, and possesses a strong sense of dignity and self-respect. Even though she is just an eight-year-old child, she knows her limits, takes responsibility for her decisions, and refuses to rely on the charity of strangers.

Thinking about the Text
1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.

Answer:Valli’s deepest desire was to ride on the bus that traveled between her village and the nearest town.
Words and phrases from the story that show this:
“A tiny wish crept into her head and grew there: she wanted to ride on that bus, even if just once.”
“This wish became stronger and stronger, until it was an overwhelming desire.”
“Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus…”
 It was a “source of unending joy” for her.

2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?

Answer: Valli meticulously planned her ride to take place during her mother’s afternoon nap (from one to four o’clock) so she could slip away and return unnoticed.
Information found out: She discovered the town was six miles away, the fare was thirty paise one way (sixty paise round-trip), and the ride took forty-five minutes. She worked out that if she caught the 1:00 PM bus, she would reach town at 1:45 PM and be back home by 2:45 PM.
How she saved the fare: She saved every stray coin that came her way, resolutely suffocating her urges to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, or candies. She even restricted herself from riding the merry-go-round at the village fair to save up the required sixty paise.

3. What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this, pick out the following words and phrases from the text as clues:
(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” and a tiny hand was raised commandingly.
(ii) “Yes, I simply have to go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here who’s a child,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself. You don’t have to help me.” “I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, irritably.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of myself,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.

(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope to see you again.”
Answer: The clues from the text indicate that Valli is highly independent, self-confident, mature, and self-respecting, with a touch of adult-like pride. She does not like being patronized or treated as a helpless child just because of her age. She is remarkably organized and strong-willed, capable of planning and executing an adventure all on her own. However, her interactions also show she can be a bit haughty and irritable when her maturity is questioned.

4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?
Answer: The conductor refers to Valli as ‘madam’ because he is amused by her adult-like behavior, confidence, and independent demeanor. Despite being only an eight-year-old child, she refuses his physical assistance to board the bus, pays her own fare promptly, and talks back firmly when treated like a child. To humor her grown-up attitude in a playful, light-hearted way, the jolly conductor teases her by calling her “madam”.

5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.
Answer: The lines indicating Valli’s immense enjoyment during her onward journey include:
“Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”
“Oh, it was all so wonderful!”
“Suddenly, Valli clapped her hands with glee. A young cow, tail high in the air, was running very fast, right in the middle of the road…”
“Somehow, this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.”
6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
Answer: On her way back, Valli sees the same young cow that had made her laugh so much earlier, now lying dead by the roadside, struck down by a fast-moving vehicle. The sudden transformation of the vibrant, beautiful creature into a dark, motionless form completely dampens her spirit. Overcome with sadness and a real-world realization of life and death, the sight haunts her, and she loses all enthusiasm to look outside the window.
7. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”?
Answer: Valli says this to her mother to quietly acknowledge the irony of her own secret situation. Her mother was commenting on how many things happen in the vast world outside without our awareness. Valli, having just successfully sneaked out, taken an entire town-and-back bus ride entirely on her own, and returned without her mother suspecting a single thing, speaks from firsthand experience. It is her private, witty way of agreeing that major events can happen right under someone’s nose without them knowing.