OU Degree 4th Sem English – The Kitemaker Questions and Answers & Summary
Comprehension I (Short Answer Questions)
Question 1.
What was Mehmood doing when Ali woke him up?
Answer:
Mehmood was sitting in the sunshine of their back courtyard nodding dreamily, when Ali woke him up.
Question 2.
What did Mehmood do when Ali lost his kite?
Answer:
When Ali lost his kite, Mehmood the kitemaker made a new kite from bamboo paper and thin silk, and it lay in the sun, firming up. The kite was pale pink in colour, with a small green tail. Finally, Mehmood the old man handed it to his grandson Ali.
Question 3.
Why do so few people buy kites these days?
Answer:
In his story, Ruskin Bond explained that not many people bought kites these days. The author viewed that adults disdained them, and children preferred to spend their money at the cinema. In addition to that, there were not many open spaces left for the flying of kites. Now the city had swallowed up the open grassland that had stretched from the old fort’s walls to the river bank.
Question 4.
What were the various things that people did when they fly kites in the past?
Answer:
According to Mehmood, the old man remembered a time when grown men flew kites. Then the people fought great battles with their kites. During the kite flying competitions, the kites were swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other until the string of one was severed.
Ruskin Bond was philosophical when he explained that the defeated but liberated kite would float away into the blue unknown. While the kite flying competitions were going on, there was a good deal of betting, and money frequently changed hands.
Question 5.
What was the name of the special kite that Mehmood made at die request of the nawab? What happened to it?
Answer:
The name of the special kite that Mehmood made at the request of the nawab was the ‘Dragon Kite’. At the first attempt it refused to leave the ground. However with great difficulty, it went very high, and started pulling fiercely on the twine. Mehmood’s young sons had to help him with the reel.
Still the kite pulled. Within no time, the twine snapped, leading the kite leaping away toward the sun, sailing on heavenward until it was lost to view. It was never, found again. Mehmood did not make another like it.
Question 6.
How many sons does Mehmood have? Where are they?
Answer:
Mehmood has two sons: one is working in a local garage and the other, who is in Pakistan at the time of the Partition, has not been able to rejoin his relatives.
Question 7.
Which two trees are Mehmood and Ali compared to? How is the ending related to the beginning of the story?
Answer:
Mehmood was compared to the banyan tree and his hands gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree. Similarly, his grandson Ali was compared to the young mimosa that was planted at the end of their courtyard. In two years both Ali and the mimosa tree would acquire the strength and confidence of their early youth.
Ruskin Bond skilfully related the ending with the beginning. In the beginning of the story, Ali’s kite was stuck in the branches of the banyan tree. In the end the same tom kite was lifted in the air liberating itself info the heavens. The story is an example of Ruskin Bond’s philosophical view of life and his extraordinary writing skills.
Question 8.
What does Mehmood dream of and what is it compared to?
Answer:
Mehmood dreamt of a beautiful and powerful kite. The kite is compared to the great white bird of the Hindus – Garuda, God Vishnu’s famous steed.
Question 9.
What did Ali find when he came asking about his mother?
Answer:
Ali was at the courtyard door, asking if his mother had yet returned from the bazaar. When Mehmood did not answer, the boy came forward repeating his question. The sunlight was slanting across the old man’s head, and a small white butterfly rested on his flowing beard.
Mehmood was silent. When Ali put his small brown hand on the old man’s shoulder, he met with no response. The boy heard a faint sound, like the rubbing of marbles in his pocket. He realised that his grandfather was no more and ran down the stret shouting for his mother.
Question 10.
What happens to the kite at the very end of the story? How is the ending related to the beginning of the story?
Answer:
In the beginning of the story, Ali’s kite was stuck in the branches of the banyan tree. In the end the same tom kite was lifted in the air liberating itself into the heavens. The story is an example of Ruskin Bond’s philosophical view of life and his extraordinary writing skills.
Comprehension II (Essay Type Answer Questions)
Question 1.
Write an account of the lifestyle of the people in the past, as described in the story “The Kitemaker”.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond (born 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof when he was 17 years old and went on publishing more than a 100 books-novels, novellas, collections of stories, essays, and so on.
The Blue Mountain, a Hindi film that was awarded the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film in 2007, was based on his story of the ‘ same name, and the Hindi film Junoon(1978) was based on his story “A Flight of Pigeons”.
He received two awards from the SahityaAkademi- the Annual Akademi Award in 1992 for his anthology of stories Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra and the ‘BalSahityaPuraskar’ in 2012 for “Total Contribution to Children’s Literature”.
He was also honoured with the Pcidma Shri (1999) and the Padma Bhushan (2014). Ruskin Bond’s present story”The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker. In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying. They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings.
Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites. Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie.
Question 2.
Describe the life style of the people in the present, as depicted in “The Kitemaker”.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond (bore 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof when he was 17 years old and went on publishing more than a 100 books-novels, novellas, collections of stories, essays, and so on. Ruskin Bond’s present story ”The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker.
In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying. They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings. Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites. Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie.
However, in the present the life style has changed a lot. The adults disdain from kite flying. Children prefer to spend their money at the cinema. Sadly, there are not many open spaces for flying kites. The city has swallowed up the open grasslands.
In the hustle and bustle of modem materialistic city life, people struggle for a living. No one cares about Mehmood and his art. Bond nicely describes the contrast in the attitude of the ancient and modem people towards Mehmood and his mastery of kite making.
Question 3.
Contrast the status of Mehmood in the past with that in the present.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond’s present story ”The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker. In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying.
They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings. Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites. Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie.
However, in the present the life style has changed a lot. The adults disdain from kite flying. Children prefer to spend their money at the cinema. Sadly, there are not many open spaces for flying kites. The city has swallowed up the open grasslands. In the hustle and bustle of modem materialistic city life, people struggle for a living.
No one cares about Mehmood and his art. Bond nicely describes the contrast in the attitude of the ancient and modern people towards Mehmood and his mastery of kite making. Mehmood once made his living from making kites. However as he grew older there were less people looking for kites and the long serving tradition that had made Mehmood a living eventually died out. Now Mehmood is left alone. It is as though he is unknown by people apart from his family.
However, it is interesting that Mehmood still perseveres with making kites even if it is only to please his grandson Ali. Due to this contrast attitude of the people of the present and past towards kite flying and kitemaker Mehmood, he is presently living in poverty and despair, compared with his golden period of the past.
Question 4.
Attempt a character sketch of Mehmood as an expert kitemaker.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond (born 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. “The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker.
Mehmood is the protagonist of the story. Watching his grandson Ali flies kites, Mehmood recollects a time when he was well-known throughout the city for his special kits, like the ‘Dragon Kite and Musical kite, etc. He would earn three or four rupees for each kite.
In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying. They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings. Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites.
Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie. In the present the life style has changed a lot. The adults disdain from kite flying.
Children prefer to spend their money at the cinema. Sadly, there are not many open spaces for flying kites. The city has swallowed up the open grasslands. In the hustle and bustle of modem materialistic city life, people struggle for a living. No one cares about Mehmoodand his art. Bond nicely describes the contrast in the attitude of the ancient and modem people towards Mehmood and his mastery of kite making.
Ruskin Bond uses many symbols – banyan tree, butterfly, mimosa tree, Garuda, God Vishnu’s famous steed, birds, stringed and severed kites- with telling effect to depict the nature of human life. Bond describes, “Mehmood was like the banyan tree and his hands were gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree.” When Mehmood dies, Bond symbolically describes, “a sudden gust of wind…carrying it (the kite) far above the struggling city into the blind sky.”
Question 5.
Explain the symbolism of the kites and the trees in the story “The Kitemaker”.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond (born 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof when he was 17 years old and went on publishing more than a 100 books-novels, novellas, collections of stories, essays, -and so on.
Ruskin Bond’s present story”The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker. Ruskin Bond uses many symbols – banyan tree, butterfly, mimosa tree, Garuda, God Vishnu’s famous steed, birds, stringed and severed kites- with telling effect to depict the nature of human life.
Bond describes, “Mehmood was like the banyan tree and his hands were gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree.” When Mehmood dies, Bond symbolically describes, “a sudden gust of wind…carrying it (the kite) far above the struggling city into the blind sky.”
According to Mehmood, theold man remembered a time when grown men flew kites. Then the people fought great battles with their kites. During the kite flying competitions, the dates were swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other until the string of one was severed.
Ruskin Bond was philosophical when he explained that the defeated but liberated kite would float away into the blue unknown. While the kite flying competitions were going on, there was a good deal of betting, and money frequently changed hands.
Mehmood was compared to the banyan tree and his hands gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree. Similarly, his grandson Ali was compared to the young mimosa that was planted at the end of their courtyard. In two years both Ali and the mimosa tree would acquire the strength and confidence of their early youth. Ruskin Bond skilfully related the ending with the beginning.
In the beginning of the story, Ali’s kite was stuck in the branches of the banyan tree. In the end the same tom kite was lifted in the air liberating itself into the heavens. The story is full of symbols such as kites and trees and is an example of Ruskin Bond’s philosophical view of life and his extraordinary writing skills.
Question 6.
Discuss the author’s attitude towards the past and the present in the story “The Kitemaker”.
Answer:
Ruskin Bond (born 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. “The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker.
Watching his grandson Ali flies kites, Mehmood recollects a time when he was well- known throughout the city for his special kits, like the ‘Dragon Kite and Musical kite, etc. He would earn three or four rupees for each kite. In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying.
They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings. Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites. Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie.
In the present the life style has changed a lot. The adults disdain from kite flying. Children prefer to spend their money at the cinema. Sadly, there are not many open spaces for flying kites. The city has swallowed up the open grasslands. In the hustle and bustle of modem materialistic city life, people struggle for a living. No one cares about Mehmood and his art.
Therefore, the author beautifully displayed the strikingly contrast attitude of the people in the past and in the present towards the hobby of kite flying and kitemakers. Ruskin Bond nicely describes the contrast in the attitude of the ancient and modem people towards Mehmood and his mastery of kite making.
The Kitemaker Poem Summary in English
Ruskin Bond (born 1934) is a renowned Indian English author. He is popular for his books for children and young adults. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof when he was 17 years old and went on publishing more than a 100 books-novels, novellas, collections of stories, essays, and so on. The Blue Mountain, a Hindi film that was awarded the National Film Award same name, and the Hindi film Junoon(1978)was based on his story “A Flight of Pigeons”.
He received two awards from the Sahitya Akademi- the Annual Akademi Award in 1992 for his anthology of stories Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra and the ‘BalSahityaPuraskar’ in 2012 for “Total Contribution to Children’s Literature”. He was also honoured with the Padma Shri (1999) and the Padma Bhushan (2014).
Ruskin Bond’s present story ’’The Kitemaker” is a moving story about an expert kitemaker. The story is based on the recollection of Mehmood’s past experience as a master kitemaker. Watching his grandson Ali flies kites, Mehmood recollects a time when he was well-known throughout the city for his special kits, like the ‘Dragon Kite and Musical kite, etc.
He would earn three or four rupees for each kite. In the past, the people, young and adults alike, had the time for leisurely pastimes such as kite flying. They had the aesthetic sense to patronize crafts such as kite making. Mehmood recalls that kite flying was considered as a sport of kings.
Even the Nawab used to participate in the flying of kites. Then people used to bet with money during kite flying competitions held in the open and spacious places. In this way, the write recreates a bygone era through Mehmood’s reverie.
In the present the life style has changed a lot. The adults disdain from kite flying. Children prefer to spend their money at the cinema. Sadly, there are not many open spaces for flying kites. The city has swallowed up the open grasslands. In the hustle and bustle of modem materialistic city life, people struggle for a living. No one cares about Mehmood and his art.
Bond nicely describes the contrast in the attitude of the ancient and modem people towards Mehmood and his mastery of kite making. Ruskin Bond uses many symbols – banyan tree, butterfly, mimosa tree, Garuda, God Vishnu’s famous steed, birds, stringed and severed kites- with telling effect to depict the nature of human life.
Bond describes, “Mehmood was like the banyan tree and his hands were gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree.” When Mehmood dies, Bond symbolically describes, “a sudden gust of wind… carrying it (the kite) far above the struggling city into the blind sky.”
The Kitemaker Poem Summary in Telugu
రస్కిస్ బాండ్ (జననం 1934) ప్రఖ్యాత భారతీయ ఆంగ్ల రచయిత. అతను పిల్లలు మరియు యువకుల కోసం తన పుస్తకాలకు ప్రసిద్ది చెందాడు. అతను తన మొదటి నవల, ది రూమ్ ఆన్ ది రూఫ్ ను 17 సంవత్సరాల వయస్సులో వ్రాసాడు మరియు 100 కు పైగా పుస్తకాలు-నవలలు, నవలలు, కథల సేకరణలు, వ్యాసాలు మరియు మొదలైనవి ప్రచురించాడు.
2007 లో ఉత్తమ పిల్లల చిత్రానికి జాతీయ చలనచిత్ర పురస్కారం లభించిన ది హిందీ చిత్రం ది ఐ్లూ మౌంటైన్, అదే పేరుతో అతని కథ ఆధారంగా, మరియు హిందీ చిత్రం జునూన్ (1978) అతని కథ “ఎ ఫైట్ ఆఫ్ పావురాలు” ఆధారంగా రూపొందించబడింది. 1992 లో సాహిత్య అకాడమీ- వార్షిక అకాడమీ అవార్డు నుండి డెహ్రాలో అవర్ ట్రీస్ స్టిల్ గ్రో మరియు “పిల్లల సాహిత్యానికి మొత్తం సహకారం” కోసం 2012 లో “బాల్ సాహిత్య పురస్కర్” కథల సంకలనం కోసం రెండు అవార్డులు అందుకున్నారు. పద్మశశ్రీ (1999), పద్మ భూషణ్ (2014) లతో సత్కరించారు.
రస్కిన్ బాండ్ యొక్క ప్రస్తుత కథ “ది కిట్మేకర్” అనేది నిపుబులైన కిట్మేకర్ గురించి కదిలే కథ. మాస్టర్ కైట్ మేకర్గా మెహమూద్ గత అనుభవాన్ని గుర్తుచేసుకోవడం ఆధారంగా ఈ కథ రూపొందించబడింది. తన మనవడు అలీ గాలిపటాలను చూస్తూ, మెహమూద్ తన .ప్రత్యేక వస్తు సామగ్రి, ‘డ్రాగన్ కైట్ మరియు మ్యూజికల్ కైట్’ వంటి వాటికి నగరమంతా సుపరిచితుడైన సమయాన్ని గుర్తుచేసుకుంటాడు. అతను ప్రతి గాలిపటం కోసం మూడు లేదా నాలుగు రూపాయలు సంపాదించేవాడు.
గతంలో, ప్రజలు, యువకులు మరియు పెద్దలు, గాలిపటం ఎగురుట వంది ీీరిక కాలక్షేపాలకు సమయం ఉండేవారు. గాలిపటం తయారీ వంది చేతిపనులని పోషించడానికి వారికి సౌందర్య భావం ఉంది. గాలిపటం ఎగరరుట రాజుల క్రీడగా పరిగణించబడిందని మెహమూద్ గుర్తు చేసుకున్నారు. నవాబు కూడా గాలిపటాల ఎగురుతూ ఉండేవాడు.
బహిరంగ మరియు విశాలమైన ప్రదేశాలలో జరిగే గాలిపటం ఎగిరే పోదీలలో ప్రజలు డబ్బుతో పందెం వేసేవారు. ఈ విధంగా, ప్రాత మెహమూద్ యొక్క పున ప్రారంధం ద్వారా పూర్వ . యుగాన్ని పున సృష్జిస్తుంది.
ప్రస్తుతం జీవన విధానం చాలా మారిపోయింది. పెద్దలు గాలిపటం ఎగురుతూ ఉండరు. పిల్లలు తమ డబ్బును సినిమా వద్ద ఖర్చు చేయడానికి ఇష్టపడతారు. పాపం, ఎగిరే గాలిపటాల కోసం చాలా బహిరంగ ప్రదేశాలు లేవు. నగరం బహిరంగ పచ్చికభూములను మింగేసింది. ఆధునిక భౌతికవాద నగర
జీవితం యొక్క హస్టిల్ లో, ప్రజలు జీవించడానికి కష్టపడుతున్నారు. మెహమూద్ మరియు అతని కళ గురించి ఎవరూ పట్టించుకోరు. మెహమూద్ పట్ల పురాతన మరియు ఆధునిక ప్రజల వైఖరి మరియు గాలిపటం తయారీలో అతని పాండిత్యం బాండ్ చక్కగా వివరిస్తుంది.
రస్కిన్ బాండ్ అనేక చిహ్నాలను ఉపయోగిస్తుంది – మర్రి చెట్టు, సీతాకోకచిలుక, మిమోసా చెట్టు, గరుడ, దేవుడు విష్ణు యొక్క ప్రసిద్ధ స్టీడ్, పక్షులు, తీగ మరియు కత్తిరించిన గాలిపటాలు- మానవ జీవిత స్వభావాన్ని వర్ణించటానికి ప్రభావంతో.
బాండ్ వివరిస్తూ, “మెహమూద్ మర్రి చెట్టు లాందిది మరియు అతని చేతులు పురాతన చెట్టు యొక్క మూలాల వలె మెలితిప్పినట్లు మరియు వక్రీకృతమయ్యాయి.” .మెహమూద్ చనిపోయినప్పుడు, బాండ్ ప్రతీకగా వివరిస్తూ, “అకస్మాత్తుగా గాలి దాన్ని (గాలిపటం) పోరాడుతున్న నగరానికి చాలా దూరం అంధ ఆకాశంలోకి తీసుకువెళుతుంది.”
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