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He caught up with the girl as she was leaving the station. When they got to the road, Velu found that the vehicles kept coming and never stopped for anyone. Smoke and dust flew at him from all sides, making his head spin. They had to wait for a long time before they could find a gap to run through. Velu kept hesitating and the girl finally dragged him to the other side.
“What do you think you’re doing? Grazing cows? If you stand around in the middle of the road like that, you’ll be chutney. ”Velu’s heart was still beating fast. He looked back at Central Station and the traffic speeding by. How had they managed to come through that? They walked along the side of the road under some huge signboards. Velu looked up at the pictures: banians, car tyres, pens, a woman holding a box. The writing was all in English, so he didn’t know what it meant.
“What do you think you’re doing? Grazing cows? If you stand around in the middle of the road like that, you’ll be chutney. ”Velu’s heart was still beating fast. He looked back at Central Station and the traffic speeding by. How had they managed to come through that? They walked along the side of the road under some huge signboards. Velu looked up at the pictures: banians, car tyres, pens, a woman holding a box. The writing was all in English, so he didn’t know what it meant.
Explanation:
Velu ran behind the girl. She was walking very fast, and later on, Velu reached the girl before she left the station. After coming out of the station Velu and the girl came near the road. The vehicles on the road were passing at an incredible speed. They were moving without stopping for anyone. From the cars and other public transportation, heavy smoke and dust released. It made him feel very giddy, and his head started to spin. Velu and the girl found it very difficult to cross the road because they need to wait a long time to see a gap between the vehicles. Once they found a gap between the cars, they can run through it to cross the road.
Smoke and dust released from vehicles
The girl found a small gap, and she called Velu to cross the road. Velu hesitated to cross the road, but she dragged him to the other side. The girl started scolding Velu for standing in the middle of the road. If he stood on the same road for a long time, the vehicles would turn him into "chutney" ("Chutney" is a kind of South Indian dish). In this paragraph, the girl compares accidents to the chutney. For instance, if a person crosses a busy road without following the traffic rules, accidents may happen, and he/ she crossing the road will become chutney.
Velu's heart was beating very fast on seeing a lot of vehicles moving fast. Velu looked back at the Central railway station and the road traffic, and he was amazed how people would cross the busy road. Velu and the girl were walking near the pavements. On the top, there was a signboard, and he looked up at the signboards. There were a few pictures about car tyres, pens, banians and a woman holding a box. Over the photographs, a few writings were there. But it was written in English, and Velu did not know to read English and he did not understand what was written on the board.
Meanings of the difficult words:
| S.No | Words | Meanings |
1 | Hesitating | Slow in acting or speaking or refusing to do some work |
2 | Giddy | Having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall or stagger; dizzy |
3 | Signboards | A board displaying a sign to direct traffic or travellers |
4 | Pavements | The hard surface of a road or street where people used to walk |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2008). It so happened. Children at work- Gita Wolf, Anushka Ravishankar and Orijit Sen (pp. 7-16). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
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