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As we walked back towards the clinic, Seven said, “He doesn’t look anything like a monster, Maya. But did you see how thin he is? Maybe he’s very poor and can’t afford to eat.”
Explanation:
The story "Expert Detectives" is an extract from Sharada Dwivedi's novel, "The Broken Flute". The first paragraph of the lesson introduces two of its major characters - Maya and Nishad- siblings aged 10 and 7. They live with their mother in "an old three-bedroom apartment in the city of Bombay" **.
Being the narrator, Maya often refers to Nishad through the nickname she had given him- "Seven". Nishad was named after a scale in the Indian Music- Shadaj, Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat, and Nishad - famously known as Sa - Re - Ga - Ma - Pa - Da - Ni. Since his name is the seventh note in the swaras, Maya calls him Seven. The lesson explores the imaginative, inquisitive, and creative minds of children, with the relationship and the interactions between the siblings as a backdrop.
The story begins with the brother expressing his views on a person they had just met. As seen in the prologue, the kids were playing with their marbles. Later, some of them had rolled into the house of Mr Nath, and they visit the latter’s place to retrieve their marbles. The rest of the story follows the children's speculation on the identity of Mr Nath, whom they barely knew.
Coming back to the story, we see how Nishad begins by telling his sister that Mr Nath "doesn't look anything like a monster". The line suggests that there are rumours about Mr Nath being a bad person. However, now that he had seen Mr Nath, Nishad believes that Mr Nath is not bad. Moreover, he observes that Mr Nath looks very thin. Hence, Nishad concludes that Mr Nath is poor and is unable to buy food.
When you read the first paragraph, you realise that Maya and Nishad are "walking back towards the clinic". So, there arise two questions: where are they walking from? And, why are they walking towards a clinic? Moreover, the line states that they had "walked back" towards the clinic. That reveals that they were not merely visiting the clinic but rather returning to it.
The siblings were walking back to the clinic
As revealed later in the lesson, the kids' mother is a doctor, and it is to her clinic that the kids are returning to. As far as the first question is concerned, it has been explained how the kids had been to Mr Nath's house to retrieve their marbles. Hence, the lesson begins when they were on their way from Mr Nath's place.
Nishad believed that Mr Nath was poor
Meanings of difficult words from the paragraphs:
Sl. No. | Words | Meanings |
1 | Expert | A person who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area |
2 | Detective | A person, especially a police officer, whose occupation is to investigate and solve crimes |
3 | Monster | An inhumanly cruel or wicked person |
4 | Afford | Have enough money to pay for |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2007). Honeycomb. Expert Detectives:Sharada Dwivedi (pp. 126-132). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
**Dwivedi, Sharada. The Broken Flute (pg. 5). New Delhi, BPI India Pvt Ltd,2016.
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