A Short Monsoon Diary
Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond (born 19, May 1934) is an Indian author. His first novel, The Room on the Roof,
published in 1956, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Bond has authored more than 500
short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books for children.
A Short Monsoon Diary gives us a glimpse of the diary written and maintained by Ruskin Bond.
A diary is a record of personal experiences written day after day over a long period of time. In
his diary, Ruskin Bond wrote about the silent miracles of nature as the mountains receive
monsoon showers. The monsoon season in Mussoorie begins around the last week of June and
continues till the end of August. The cold rains are welcomed in October till the last darkest
cloud in March which renders the sky clear for the rainbow after it hails.
Answer the Following
1. Why is the author not able to see Bijju?
Ans: The author was unable to see Bijju due to the mist that covered the hills of Mussoorie like a
thick white blanket. It completely concealed the hills, and the author was unable to hear and see
Bijju in this condition.
2:What are the two ways in which the hills appear to change when the mist comes up?
Ans: When the mist comes up, it covers and conceals the hills completely like a thick white
blanket. Besides, the trees that usually ring with bird songs tend to appear deathly and silent as
the birds do not make any chirping sound and react as though it were midnight.
[Link] does the monsoon season begin, and when does it end? How do you prepare to face
the monsoon?
Ans: In India, the monsoon starts setting in from May-end every year. According to the author’s
monsoon diaries, the monsoon mist first appears in Mussoorie on June 24 or 25 and continues
until August 31 or mid-September. We usually carry umbrellas and raincoats to face the
monsoon and protect ourselves from getting wet and falling sick unnecessarily.
4. For how many days does it rain without stopping? What does the author do on these days?
Answer:
It rained continuously for eight to nine days. As the weather was damp and soggy outside and
he could not go outside, he kept pacing his room and looked out of the window at a few bobbing
umbrellas.
4. Where do the snakes and rodents take shelter? Why?
Ans: Snakes and rodents come out of their holes and burrows and they take shelter in roofs,
attics and godowns to save themselves from getting wet in the rain water.
5. Look carefully at the diary entries for June 24-25, August 2 and March 23. Now write down
the changes that happen as the rains progress from June to March.
Ans: According to Ruskin Bond’s diary entries, June 24 is the first day of monsoon mist. The
hills are concealed by a thick white blanket of mist and filled with utmost silence. From June 25,
the real monsoon starts setting in and the entire Nature, including human beings, birds, animals
and trees, welcomes it. The first cobra lily rears its head from the ferns.
People get habituated to the monsoon season by August 2. Rain starts drumming on the
corrugated tin roofs of their houses. Although there is no storm or thunder, there is just the
steady swish of a tropical downpour. Snakes and rodents start coming out of their holes and
burrows, and they take shelter in roofs, attics and godowns to save themselves from getting wet
in the rainwater.
March 23 signals the end of winter. The blackest cloud slowly occupies the sky and it is followed
by a hailstorm. This clears the sky completely, and soon, a rainbow starts forming. This is one of
the best and most splendid sights that anyone could visualize or experience about the beauty of
Nature.
6. Why did the grandmother ask the children not to kill the Chuchundar?
Ans: The grandmother asked the children not to kill the Chuchundar because this animal is
considered to be lucky and brings in good fortune and money.
7. What signs do we find in Nature which show that the monsoons are about to end?
Ans: The hillsides in Mussoorie become lush green as late-monsoon flowers begin to appear —
wild balsam, dahlias, begonias and ground orchids. The seeds of the cobra lily slowly start
turning red that signify the rains are coming to an end and the monsoon season is almost over.
8. Although tin roofs are given to springing unaccountable leaks, there is a feeling of being
untouched by, and yet in touch with, the rain.’
(i) Why has the writer used the word, ‘springing’?
(ii) How is the writer untouched by the rain?
(iii) How is the writer in touch with the rain at the same time?
Answer:
(i)The word ‘springing’ refers to moving suddenly at once. The author uses this word to indicate
how the tin roofs are prone to development of sudden unexpected leaking.
(ii) The author is left physically untouched by rain because he is safe inside his room and the tin
roof stops the rain from leaking inside.
(iii) The writer is in touch with the rain at the same time because he can see the rain from inside
his room and feel it as it has been drumming on the corrugated tin roof of his house.
9. Mention a few things that can happen when there is endless rain for days together.
Ans: When it rains continuously for days together, everything around becomes damp and soggy.
It becomes difficult for anyone to go out in the rain. The hillsides become lush green as
late-monsoon flowers begin to appear, i.e., the wild balsam, dahlias, begonias and ground
orchids. The holes and burrows of snakes and rodents become flooded, and they take shelter in
roofs, attics and godowns.
10. What is the significance of cobra lily in relation to the monsoon season, its beginning and
end?
Answer:
When the monsoon season starts setting in, the first cobra lily appears from the ferns. However,
when the seeds of the cobra lily slowly start turning red, that signifies the monsoon is coming to
an end.
On Grasshopper and the Cricket
(Poem)
The grasshopper is a symbol of hot summer and cricket is a symbol of cold winter. The poet
says that the music of nature or earth is always alive whether it is hot summer or cold and bleak
winter.
It is a Sonnet (poem with 14 lines) comprising of an octane (8 lines in first stanza) and a sestet
(6 lines in second stanza)
Rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA
Themes:
The beauty of nature: Nature is beautiful in all seasons, and its beauty can provide consolation
during difficult times.
The music of nature: The music of nature is always present, even when the weather is harsh.
Overcoming obstacles: People should be joyful and pleasant no matter what the situation.
The poet's inspiration: Nature inspires poets to write poetry, regardless of the season.
John Keats (poet)
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second
generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Romantic
poets are those poets who write poems based on themes of human emotion, nature and
individualism. Emotions are given importance. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 26.
Famous works: Ode to Nightingale, To Autumn, Ode on a Grecian Urn etc.
Poetic devices:
1. Oxymoron: combining opposite ideas: pleasant weed
2. Alliteration: Mown- Mead /M/
3. Symbolism- Grasshopper (summer) and cricket (winter)
4. Personification: Frost has wrought a silence, a voice will run
Answer the following Questions
[Link] with your partner the following definition of a poem.
A poem is made of words arranged in a beautiful order. These words, when read aloud with
feeling, have a music and meaning of their own.
Ans: According to Wordsworth, Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions
recollected in tranquility. A poem is an artistic piece of speech or a few lines which are
expressed by the poet like a song with rhythms and metaphors. There is a musical element in
the arrangement of words in a poem. The beautifully arranged words in a poem enhance the
essence and meaning of the poem. The rhythmic expressions in it carry several ideas and
reflect the imaginative power of the poet. An interesting and musical poem has a lasting impact
in the minds of the readers as it gives an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the lines in the
poem.
2. ‘The poetry of earth’ is not made of words. What is it made of, as suggested in the
poem?
Ans: The poetry of earth is not just made of words, rather it is composed of the rhythmic songs
produced by nature’s beautiful creatures. The musical element of nature never ceases to
mesmerize us with its ever changing seasons. Summer and winter are considered to be the
most difficult seasons for many creatures such as the grasshopper and cricket. These seasons
bring with them a lot of joy, sorrow and excitement to such creatures. During summer, the
grasshopper excitedly hops around tirelessly in joy and when he is tired, he rests beneath a
pleasant weed. On the other hand, a cricket sings with a shrill voice during the dark and lonely
nights of the winter season.
3. Which word in stanza 2 is opposite in meaning to ‘the frost’?
Ans: In stanza 2, the word that is opposite in meaning to ‘the frost’ is ‘warmth’. The word frost
indicates a cold or chill experience. On the other hand, warmth in the poem refers to the
cricket’s song which brings in warm feelings and can make one feel drowsy and sleepy.
4. The poetry of earth continues round the year through a cycle of two seasons. Mention
each with its representative voice.
Ans:The poetry of earth continues round the year through summer and winter. During the
summer season, the grasshopper hops with joy tirelessly depicting the beautiful poetry of earth.
While in the winter season, the cricket’s song is like a mesmerizing poetry of earth. Hence, in
the poem two different creatures are used as a reference to wisely explain the difference of the
two seasons.
Jalebis
(Supplememtary)
Comprehension check 1
Answers
3. Initially, the boy didn’t take the advice of the coins seriously for a couple of reasons. He could
not spend the money meant for paying school fees on jalebis. Secondly, the boy knew the harsh
nature of the master and the punishment.
4.(i) The oldest coin convinced him that they were telling him for his own good. He can pay his
fee next day with his scholarship money. So he should not suppress his desire for jalebis. .
(ii) He didn’t follow his advice. He was a promising student. He was from a good family of
repute. He didn’t want to be defamed for it.
[Link] reaching home he couldn’t suppress his temptation for fresh Jalabis. He rushed to the
shop of halwai. He bought jalebis and enjoyed them.
Comprehension check 2
Answers
2. He had eaten so many jalebis that there was the problem of digesting them all. His fear was
that one jalebi or two would come out with a burp.
[Link] statement “children's stomachs are like digestion machines” means that children have a
strong digestive system because they are physically active. Children's active digestive systems
allow them to digest more than their usual diet.
[Link] the time draws near to pay the fees, he tucked the bag under his arm and slips out of
the school. He had disobeyed his elders by crossing the railway track.
Comprehension check 3
Answers
1. As a result of spending his fees money on jalebis, he had to be absent from school for
the first time in his life.
2. He tries to please God with his requests and the recitation of the entire namaz. He
admits that he made a mistake. He wouldn’t have spent his money on jalebis if he had
known about the delay in scholarship. Thus, he argues his case like a lawyer.
3. The game is that he will go upto the signal, touch it and come back. And in the meantime
God should put four rupees under a big rock.
5. If God had granted his wish that day he wouldn’t have learnt a lesson to do no wrong in
future. He would have been like a bird and learnt no skill.
