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There was a shade-giving tree beside the railway tracks. I sat under it and wondered whether there could possibly be a more unfortunate child than me in this world! When the coins had first created a racket in my pocket, the entire matter seemed so simple and straightforward. Eat jalebis with the fees money and then pay the fees with the scholarship money. I thought that two and two added up to four and could never be five. How was I to know that sometimes it added up to five as well? Had I known that I would get the scholarship the next month, I would have postponed my jalebi eating programme to the next month as well. Now for the crime of eating a few jalebis, for the first time in my life I was absent from school, and crouching in the shade of a tree in a deserted corner of the railway station. Sitting there under the tree, at first I felt like crying.
Explanation:
Then the boy noticed a shade-giving tree at the side of the railway track. He then sat under the tree, wondering whether there was a child in the world who was unluckier than him. He thought that he had spent the money for jalebis, and so, he was sitting under the tree near the railway track. On the other hand, the boy would have been in school by this time. As a result of his wrongdoing, he was unable to attend school. When the coins first made a noise in his pocket, the whole thing appeared to be so easy and simple. It advised him to consume jalebis with the fees and then pay the fees with the scholarship money.
The boy sitting under a tree
While listening to the suggestion from the coins, the calculations seemed to be too easy for the boy. He thought that adding two with two answers four, and he didn't even think sometimes it would answer five. The statement implies that the boy thought of spending the four coins to buy jalebis and then pay the fees with the money he would get from the scholarship. When he thought about the plan, everything appeared very clear. However, he did not expect the scholarship amount would arrive only in the next month. If he knew it earlier, he would have postponed the jalebi eating for the following month.
Therefore, for the offence of consuming a few jalebis, he was absent from the school for the first time in his life. Even though he belonged to a well-to-do family, his situation had made him sit under a tree near an isolated corner of the railway station. After sitting under the tree, he felt like crying while thinking about the mistake he had made.
Meanings of the difficult words:
| S.No | Words | Meanings |
1 | Instruction | A direction or order |
2 | Wonder | Desire or be curious to know something |
3 | Unfortunate | Having or marked by bad fortune; unlucky |
4 | Crouching | To bend your knees and lower yourself so that you are close to the ground and leaning forward slightly |
5 | Desert | Having no people or things in it; empty |
6 | Postpone | Cause or arrange for something to take place at a time later than that first scheduled |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2008). It so happened. Jalebis- Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (pp. 62-72). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
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