MCQ ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
1. What is the name of Raka's mother?
A) Nanda
B) Asha
C) Ila
D) Tara
ANSWER: D
2. "Raka" means
A) Insect
B) Bird
C) Star
D) Moon
ANSWER: D
3. Who is the narrator of Fire on the Mountain?
A) Ila Das
B) Nanda Kaul
C) Third person entity
D) Raka
ANSWER: C
4. What sort of bird sings a "low, domestic call" as Nanda Kaul waits for Raka?
A) Cuckoo
B) Swallow
C) Eagle
D) Nightingale
ANSWER: A
5. What does Nanda Kaul think of her children?
A) They make her proud
B) They're all the same
C) Several of them passed away which makes her sad
D) They were too dull
ANSWER: B
6. What do Nanda Kaul and Ram Lal agree to feed Raka
A) Chicken
B) Fruit
C) Cake
D) Potato Chips
ANSWER: D
7. What was a "habit Nanda Kaul had mislaid"?
A) Leaving Carignano
B) Dreaming
C) Thinking about herself
D) Care of others
ANSWER: D
8. What does Nanda Kaul do for an hour every afternoon?
A) Sits in her garden
B) Weaves
C) Lies very still
D) Reads a novel
ANSWER: C
9. Ila Das' voice is
A) Monotone
B) Lilting
C) Deep
D) Shrill
ANSWER: D
10. How does Nanda Kaul feel about her great-granddaughter coming to stay with her?
A) She is mildly excited
B) She is extremely disturbed
C) She is indifferent
D) She is scared
ANSWER: B
11. Nanda Kaul likes Carignano because of its
A) wildlife
B) weather
C) barrenness
D) flora and fauna
ANSWER: C
12. Nanda Kaul's life can be best described as
A) Lively
B) Solitary
C) Boring
D) Content
ANSWER: B
13. Why is Nanda Kaul jealous of Ram Lal?
A) Because he has everything he could ever want
B) Because he always seems happy and content
C) Because Raka seems to like him
D) Because he is religious
ANSWER: C
14. What do the villagers think about Ila Das and her work?
A) They feel lucky to have someone so wise to guide them into modernity
B) They hate her and think she meddles in their affair
C) They fear her and follow her commands
D) They love and support her unconditionally
ANSWER: B
15. What happens to Ila Das as she enters the hamlet where she lives?
A) She is murdered by Preet Singh
B) She slips on a cowpat and hits her head
C) The villagers surprise her with a birthday party
D) She meets and takes in a street dog
ANSWER: A
16. How long have Ila Das and Nanda Kaul known each other?
A) Since Nanda Kaul moved to Carignano
B) Since Ila Das worked at Punjab University
C) Since one fateful Mew Year's party at the Kasauli club
D) Since childhood
ANSWER: D
17. How does Nanda Kaul try to connect with Raka and hold her attention?
A) She fabricates fantastical stories about the past
B) She takes her shopping at the bazaar
C) She bakes her sweets every day
D) They roam together in the forest
ANSWER: A
18. How does Nanda Kaul compare Raka to herself?
A) She thinks Raka could probably take her in a fight
B) She thinks Raka is incapable of living up to her own standard
C) She thinks Raka is the naturally perfect version of what she aspires to be
D) She thinks Raka is utterly unlike her and wonders if they are even related
ANSWER: C
19. What does Raka grab when no one is looking?
A) A bottle of wine
B) A box of matches
C) A few rupees
D) A loaf of bread
ANSWER: B
20. What does Raka do all day?
A) Help Nanda Kaul and Ram Lal with chores around Carignano
B) Read novels and daydream
C) Wander and explore the hills and ravines around Kasauli
D) Play games and dance at Kasauli Club
ANSWER: C
21. What does Raka see at the Kasauli Club?
A) A Beatles cover band
B) Nightmarish versions and flashbacks to her own trauma
C) The wedding of an important military general and a famous theater actress
D) An impressive debutantes ball
ANSWER: B
22. How does Ila Das spend most of the visit talking about?
A) Her favourite cricket players
B) The pain of partition
C) Her plans for the future
D) The past
ANSWER: D
23. All of the following describe someone who lived at Carignano before Nanda Kaul except
A) A wife who tried to kill her husband everyday
B) A woman who concocted things out of what grew in the garden
C) a social worker in the village
D) an English couple and their children
ANSWER: C
24. Ram Lal can be best described as
A) Practical
B) Religious
C) Rude
D) Dour
ANSWER: D
