Iswaran The Storyteller: ncert solution Class 9

Think About It  Page (18)

1. In what way is Iswaran an asset to Mahendra? Or What was Mahendra’s most valued asset?

Ans: Iswaran is appointed to cook food, wash cloths, and help Mahendra whenever he needs to be done so. Iswaran packs food for Mahendra so that he can have it during his office hours. Iswaran has an extraordinary skill to entertain Mahendra and that is storytelling. His fertile brain produces impressive and appreciable anecdotes which lay an indelible impact on Mahendra. He is not only a cook but a good source of entertainment also. That is why he is an asset to Mahendra.

2. How does Iswaran describe the uprooted tree on the highway?

Ans: Description about the uprooted tree made by Iswaran is curious and full of suspense. He describes the tree in a  way that it seems he is describing an enormous giant. During his explanation, he raises his hands and changes the poses of his eyebrows. He expresses his views by saying that it was an enormous bushy beast spreading across the road. The listener is bound to concentrate on his tales. Consequently, the impact of the story is seen in the behavior and attitude of the listener.

3. How does he narrate the story of the tusker? Does it appear to be plausible?

Ans: He narrates the story of a tusker by trying to provide a real situation. He tries to imitate the sound. He wants to convey that the tusker was controlled by him just with a stick and it was collapsed. I don’t think the episode of a tusker is praiseworthy and plausible. It is because he is a cook and storyteller. He is not even a mahout who can get hold of an elephant.

4. Why does the author say that Iswaran seemed to more than makeup for the absence of a TV in Mahendra’s living quarters?

Ans: Iswaran is a cook, but he has a hidden talent for telling tales. His stories are full of suspense and curiosity. His magnificent gestures of making background are worthy of respect. He is a great source of entertainment in the absence of TV. So the author says that Iswaran seemed to more than makeup for the absence of TV in his living quarters.

5. Mahendra calls ghosts and spirits a figment of the imagination. What happens to him on a full-moon night?

Ans: It is true that Mahendra calls ghosts and spirits a figment of imagination, but this is also true that he himself saw a cloudy form taking shapes in the bundle and his intuition considered the shape to be a female ghost carrying a fetus in her hands. Consequently, the darkness about the non-existence of ghosts is removed from his mind, and he prepares to desert the place then and there.

6. Can you think of some other ending of the story?

Ans: I think Mahendra prepares to leave the place just after he saw the female ghost. On the way to his village, the ghost appears and asks him to hold the fetus as he has no heir. Mahendra rejects the proposal. The ghost caught the neck of Mahendra to kill him. Mahendra starts shouting for help. In the meantime, Iswaran appears and recites some spells to save his life. Thus Mahendra was saved from being killed by the ghost.