GLIMPSES OF INDIA- REFERENCE MATERIAL

SECTION -1
GOA

Short Answer Type Questions

1. What did the baker mean to the narrator during his childhood? How
many times did he pay a visit?

Answer: The baker or pader was an important person in the author’s life.
He was treated like a friend. He used to come twice a day, once in the
morning to sell bread and then while returning after emptying his basket.
The author used to run to meet him in order to take the bread-bangles. He
chatted and gossiped with him.

2. What were the bakers called? Describe their peculiar dress.

Answer: The bakers were known as pader. These bakers wore a peculiar
dress known as the ‘kabai’. It was a single piece long frock reaching down
to the knees.

3. What was Kabai ? Give a brief description.

Or
What did the bakers wear — (i) in the Portuguese days? (ii) When the
author was young?

Answer: Kabai wants a particular dress — a single-piece long frock

reaching down the knees which the bakers used to wear in the old days.
Later it was replaced by a shirt and trousers which were longer than the
shorts and shorter than the full length.

4. What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?

Answer: In Goa, the elders are nostalgic about the good Old Portuguese
days as well as the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread.

5. How can you say, ‘bread-baking is still popular in Goa’?

Answer: Bread making is still very popular in Goa. Still, we can see the
mixers, molders and those who bake the loaves. Most of their festivals and
other occasions are meaningless without the loaves of bread.

6. “Even today any person with a jackfruit-like physical appearance is

easily compared to a baker.” Explain.

Answer: Bakers had a plump physique which meant they were happy and
prosperous and hence, even today, any person with a jackfruit like physical
appearance is compared to a baker.

7.`Baking was, indeed, a profitable profession’. Justify the statement

with reference to the extract ‘A Baker from Goa’.
Or
Explain with examples that baking used to be a profitable profession.

Answer: Baking was indeed a profitable profession in the old days. The
baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants always
looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open
testimony to this.

8. How did the baker attract the children?

Or
How does the writer know about the arrival of the baker? Why are
they anxiously waiting for him?
Or
What role did the baker play in the childhood of the narrator?

Answer: The children would know about his arrival from the ‘jhang, jhang’
sound of his bamboo stick. They would run to meet and greet him. They
tried to surround the basket but were pushed aside until the bread was
delivered to the maid. Then they were allowed to choose their bread-
bangles.

9. How did the baker make his entry?

Answer: The baker made his musical entry with the ‘jhang, jhang’ sound of
his specially made bamboo staff One hand supported the basket on his
head and the other banged the bamboo on the ground. He would greet
the lady of the house and then place the basket on the bamboos.

10. How were the baker’s accounts maintained?

Answer: The monthly records/accounts of the baker were maintained on

some wall in pencil.

11. Is bread an important part of Goan life? How do you know this?

Answer: Bread is still an important part of Goan life. Marriage gifts are
meaningless and a party or a feast loses its charm without bread.
Sandwiches are important for a daughter’s engagement. That is what that
explains the fact that the bread makers are still there.

12. What marks of the Portuguese way of life can still be seen in Goa?

Answer: Goa was once occupied by the Portuguese. They were famous for
preparing the loaves of bread. They left Goa long ago. But the traditional
work of the bakers can still be seen in Goa. The furnaces in which the bread
was baked still exist there.
13. What does the author recall about the visit of the baker to his
village?

Answer: The author recalls that a baker used to visit the village twice a day.
He used to be the author’s friend and guide. He used to carry a bamboo
stick. The sound of this stick used to wake up the author and others from
sleep.

14. How was the village baker very important for special occasions in
the village?

Answer: The village baker was especially important for festive occasions.
The villagers were much fond of the sweet bread known as ‘bol’. Marriage
gifts were meaningless without these sweetbreads. Sandwiches, cakes,
and Bolin has been a must for Christmas as well as other festivals. These
were made with the bread.

15. Describe the bread-sellers dress.

Answer: The baker or the bread-seller wore a special, peculiar dress. It was
known as the ‘kabai . It was a single-piece long frock. It reached down to
his knees. During the narrator’s childhood, Bakers wore trousers which were
shorter than full-length and longer than half pants.

16. When did the baker collect his bills? What showed that the bakers
were prosperous?

Answer: The baker usually collected his bills at the end of the month. In the
household, the baker’s monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall
in pencil. Baking was a profitable business in those days. Their families
never starved. Their plump bodies showed that they were prosperous.

17. When would the baker come every day? Why did the children run
to the baker?

Answer: The baker would come twice a day. Once in the morning when he
set out on his selling round, and then again after emptying his basket. In
the morning the children ran to him to have bread-bangles.
18. How did the baker make his entry in the morning?

Answer: In the morning the baker made his musical entry on the scene
with the ‘jhang–jhang’ sound of his specially made staff. One hand
supported the basket on his head and the other hanged the bamboo on
the ground.

19. What are the childhood memories described by the author in this
extract?

Answer: The author passed his childhood days in Goa. In this extract, he
remembers his old days in Goa when the village baker occupied an
important place in life. Although, with the passage of time, people do not
eat so much bread, yet the sillage bakers are still there.

20. What do the elders reminisce about and why?

Answer: The elders reminisce nostalgically about the good old Portuguese
days and the Portuguese loaves of bread. The loaves of bread were an
integral part of Goan’s life. Marriages were meaningless without sweet
bread. The lady of the house must prepare sandwiches on her daughter’s
engagement. Christmas and other festivals must have cakes and bolinhas.
They still remember the jingling thud of the baker in the morning.

21. How can you say that the makers of the famous Goan loaves are
still there?

Answer: Many of those eaters of loaves might have died but their makers
still exist. The mixers, moulders and those who bake the loaves are still
there in Goa. The fire in the furnace has not yet been extinguished and the
thud and jingle of the baker’s bamboo can still be heard in the morning in
some places. These bakers, known as padres, exist in Goa even today. The
family profession is still carried on.

22. How did the baker make his musical entry on the scene in the
morning?
Answer: The baker made his musical entry in the morning. The jingling
thud of his bamboo woke up the people in the morning. He used to come
at least twice a day. The children ran to meet and greet him. For children, it
was not just for the love of the loaf but for the love of the jingling music.

23. Why was the baker, the friend, companion and guide of the
children?

Answer: For children, the very sight of the baker was quite exciting. He was
their friend, companion and guide. The jingling thud of his bamboo put
them in rapture. They ran to meet and greet him. It was not so much for the
love of the loaf What they longed for were the bread-bangles. Sometimes
they liked the sweet bread of special make.

24. What importance did the baker’s furnace have in the village in
Goa?

Answer: The loaves of bread had become an important and integral part of
the lives of the people in Goa. Marriages were meaningless without the
sweet bread or the bol. No party or feast was possible without bread. The
lady of the house would prepare sandwiches on the engagement ceremony
of her daughter. Cakes and sweetbreads were a must for Christmas and
other festivals. The presence of the baker’s furnace was absolutely essential
in the village.

25. Describe the changes in the dress of the baker or the pader with
the passage of the time?

Answer: In good old days during the Portuguese rule, the baker or bread
seller had a peculiar dress. It was known as `Isobar. It was a single piece
long frock reaching down to the knees. These days a pader wears a shirt
and trousers which are shorter than full-length ones and longer than half
pants.

26. What was the attitude of the baker towards

(i) the lady of the house
(ii) the children
(iii) the maidservant?
Answer: (i) First of all, the baker would greet the lady of the house with
“Good morning” and then place his basket on the vertical bamboo before
her.
(ii)He would push aside the children with a mild rebuke.
(iii)The loaves were delivered to the maid-servant.

27. How did the children behave when they have pushed aside with a
mild rebuke by the pader?

Answer: The baker would push aside the children with a mild rebuke. But
the kids would not give up. They would climb a bench or the parapet and
peep into the basket. They longed for the bread-bangles. Actually, the
jingling thud of the baker or the pader fascinated them.

28. Why would the children didn’t even care to brush their teeth or
wash their mouths properly?

Answer: The jingling thud of the pader and his musical entry in the
morning would wake up the children from their sleep.
They would run to greet and meet him. They didn’t even care to brush their
teeth or wash their mouths. The tiger never brushed their teeth. There was
no need of doing any such thing. Hot tea could wash and clean up
everything so nicely, after all.

29. When did the baker collect his bills and how did he record his
monthly accounts?

Answer: The pader usually collected his bills from his customers at the end
of the month. He didn’t have a notebook to record his monthly accounts.
Monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall in pencil.

30. How would you prove that baking was a profitable profession in
the old days in Goa?

Answer: Baking was quite a profitable profession in Goa in the old days.
The baker and his family never starved. Even his servants could meet both
the ends easily. He and his family always looked happy and prosperous.
Their plump physique was an open testimony of their happiness and
prosperity.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Why was it absolutely essential to have a “baker’s furnace” in a

Goan village?

Answer: The Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread had made a
permanent impact on Goan soil. The eaters of those loaves might have
vanished but the makers of the loaves — the bakers still have an important
place in the society. The Goan village still has the mixers, moulders and
those who bake the loaves. There are also the age-old time-tested furnaces
which exist till date. The bakers are still important in the village. The lady of
the house must Prepare sandwiches on the occasion of her daughter’s
engagement. Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other
festivals. Thus, the presence of the baker’s furnace in the village is still
essential.

2. Give a pen-portrait of a baker in Goa.

Answer: A baker had an important place in the village life of Goa. Marriage
gifts were meaningless without bol or sweet bread, cakes and bolinhas at
Christmas and other festivals. In the old days, the bakers used to wear a
peculiar dress — kabai – a single-piece long frock reaching down the knees.
Later they started wearing a shirt and trousers which were longer than the
shorts and shorter than the full-length pants. They used to be prosperous.
They, their family and servants never starved. Their plump physique was a
testimony of their prosperity and good income.

The baker used to be a good friend, companion and guide for the author.
He would come twice a day and then, the children of the house would
crowd around his basket to choose the bread-bangles. Even today, baking
and bakers are famous in Goa. They still use traditional furnaces to bake
bread and cakes. These bakers are known as paders in Goa.

3. Describe the childhood memories of the author’s life in Goa and his
fondness for bread and cakes.
Answer: The author’s childhood memories are full of fun. He remembers
them and gets nostalgic. The pader or baker was an important person in
the Goan village as well as in the author’s life. He used to mix, mould and
bake loaves of bread in age-old, tested furnaces. He used to come twice a
day, once in the morning to sell bread and then while returning after
emptying his basket. He made his musical entry with the `jhang, jhang’
sound of his bamboo staff. The author with other children used to run to
meet him in order to take the bread-bangles or sometimes the sweet bread
of special make. He chatted and gossiped with him.

4. How is the effect of the traditional bread bakers can still be seen in
Goa of today?

Answer: The author remembers his old days in Goa when the village baker
occupied an important place in life. Bread eating was very common in those
days. Apart from eating bread daily, bread held an important place at the
time of Christmas, marriages and other functions. Although, with the
passage of time, people do not eat so much bread today, yet the village
bakers are still there. The Portuguese were famous for earns the loaves of
bread. They left Goa long ago. But the traditional work of the bakers can
still be seen in Goa. The furnaces in which the bread was baked still exist
there. The sound of the traditional bakers’ bamboo can still be heard. These
bakers are known as Pader in Goa even today.