NCERT Solutions For Class 8

English
Chapter 2 - Children at Work

Comprehensive Check

1. Velu stood on the platform but he felt "as if he was still on a moving
train". Why?
Ans: Velu sat on the Kanyakumari Express and ran away from his home to
Chennai. His legs were wobbly and shaky after he travelled to Chennai on a
train and still felt shaky as if he was still on the train when he stood at the
station. The effect of the train journey stayed on him for some time.

2. What made him feel miserable?

Ans: Velu was fed up with his drunkard father and hence chose to run away
from home. He ran away from home around two days ago and had not eaten
anything except some peanuts and a piece of jaggery. He didn't know
anything about the new city which made him anxious.

3.
(i) Velu travelled without a ticket. Why?
Ans: Velu‟s drunk father used to snatch away all his earnings. This irritated
him and he left for home and sat on a train to Chennai. Since he had no
money, he had to travel without a ticket.

(ii) How did he escape the ticket collector's attention?

Ans: He was sitting on the floor in the unreserved compartment. He was
lucky because the ticket collector didn't come to the unreserved
compartment.

4. Why had Velu run away from home?

Ans: Velu and his sisters had to work to fill their stomachs since they were
poor. But their father was a drunkard and would beat the kids up in the
evening and snatch away all the money. Velu got irritated by his life and
decided to run away from the home to Chennai.

5. Why did he decide to follow the 'strange' girl?

Ans: Velu came to Chennai after running away from his home but he had no
idea about the place. He had no idea about where to go, what to do and was

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hungry after two days of the journey. He felt it was better and safer to follow
the „strange girl‟ since she had an idea about the place.

6. Can Velu read Tamil and English? How do you know?

Ans: Velu failed to read the signboards in English but he was able to read the
Tamil sign, Central Jail. He could only read Tamil.

7. “If you are not careful, you will soon be counting bars there,” the girl
said.
(i) What is she referring to?
Ans: The girl referred to the Central Jail.

(ii) What does she mean when she says “If you are not careful...”? (She
says something a little later which means the same. Find that sentence.)
Ans: The girl asked Velu not to indulge in something stupid or else he
would get caught by the police officers and will be thrown into jail.

8.
(i) Where did the girl lead Velu to?
Ans: The girl guided Velu to the back of a wedding hall. They were sure to
find enough food to feed themselves because they were starving.

(ii) What did they get to eat?

Ans: The girl could manage to get only one banana while Velu got a
banana and a vada to eat.

9. What work did she do? Think of a one-word Ans.

Ans: Rag-picking

10.
(i) What material are the 'strange' huts made out of?
Ans: The „strange huts‟ were made for bare shelter and were made from
tyres, bricks, wood, metal sheet and plastic.

(ii) Why does Velu find them strange?

Ans: Velu belonged to a village in Southern India where the houses were
made of palm leaves and mud instead of metal sheets, tyres, wood, plastic,
and bricks in Chennai. They were fragile and looked like they would
collapse anytime. He never saw a slum area in his life where people
survived with the bare minimum.

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11. What sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what
did they do with those things?
Ans: Paper, glass, and plastic were some of the things that Jaya and children
like her collected. These items were taken and sold to Jam Bazaar Jaggu, who
would sell them to a factory.

12. Is Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your Ans.
Ans: In his village, Velu would weed out the farm and take the cows out for
grazing as a job. He didn't expect that he would have to dig garbage bins to
feed himself in the city. But he decided to continue doing the work till the
time he finds a better job.

Exercise

1. Is Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text show that he is or

isn't?
Ans: At the age of twelve Velu decided to leave his village because he was
irritated by his drunkard father. I believe his decision was not wise enough but
he was courageous to take the step. He took a train to Chennai and followed a
girl who knew the city well. He knew how to read Tamil. It was difficult for
him to adjust to his present conditions at first and he refused to eat the banana
from the bin but eventually submitted to his circumstances. He found the
place strange and planned to stick to his present job till the time he finds a
better one in the city to sustain himself.

2. Do you think Jaya is a brave and sensitive child with a sense of

humour? Find instances of her courage, kind nature and humour in the
text.
Ans: Jaya was a girl of Vedu‟s age who lived and sustained herself in the big
city without any help. She was a ragpicker and knew her way around the city.
She knew the places that were dangerous for them and places where they
could find food easily. Velu was an unknown boy she met at the station.
Though she didn't have enough to sustain herself she still helped Vedu in the
best possible ways. She was funny too. When she dragged him to help him
cross the road she said, “What do you think you're doing? Grazing cows? If
you stand around in the middle of the road like that, you'll be chutney.”

3. What one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find
this sentence meaningful in the context of this story? How?

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Ans: We throw away things that are not useful for us but those items might
help someone to survive and sustain themselves. The vivid picture of the slum
sketched in the story proves the same. The huts were basically made out of
scrap but were enough to provide shelter. The kids would collect items such
as plastic bottles and leftovers and then sell them to earn money. Waste comes
disguised in the form of blessings and sustenance for them.

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