SUBJECT: ENGLISH

CLASS: X
CHAPTER: MIJBIL THE OTTER

Summary of the chapter:

The story talks about how the otter changed the poet’s life. He takes the readers through the
journey and his experiences with the otter. The journey begins from a flight to London, and
the otter creates a problem and scares everyone. The generous air-hostess helps the poet. In
London, people are clueless and try to guess the animal’s name. The story is a description of
the bond between the poet and his otter. The story ends with the wild assumptions that the
people in London make about who the animal really is. They make all kinds of guesses about
who it is like a seal, a squirrel, and some called him a beaver. The best question was from a
labourer who asked what that was supposed to be. The story about the bond is humorous and
heart-warming.

Theme of the chapter: (To be written in NB)

From a travelogue to Iraq, the poet finds out how many Iraqi have otters as their pets. This
made him decide to keep an otter as his pet. Since the death of his dog, the author was lonely.
The theme of the story is the bond between the pet otter and the poet share. The story is about
the experiences that the poet has with the otter. The poet talks about how the otter was quick
to get used to his changed surroundings and how he loved the water. The otter enjoyed
playing with water and really his baths. The story highlights how the otter was quick to fill
the void left behind because of the death of the poet’s dog. It also humorously highlights how
the people in London were so unfamiliar with the animal and made all kinds of assumptions
about who he was. 
Why do you think the otter was not friendly at first with the narrator? Can you relate
this to the human nature as well?    (To be written in NB)
Answer:
At first, the otter was not very friendly with the narrator as he had seen him for the first time.
He was brought to new place and new surroundings. He neither knew the narrator nor the
place which made him stay away from the narrator. But, as soon as he started becoming
comfortable with the surroundings, he became friendly and came close to the narrator.
This is very similar to the human nature. Even, the human beings first take time to understand
others and then only become friendly with them. Unless they are comfortable in being with
somebody, they try to stay away from that person.
In the name of rules and regulations, basic values are ignored but people like the
airhostess in ‘Mijbil the Otter’ are a ray of hope. What virtues do we find in the
airhostess?
Answer:
The airhostess was somewhat friendly, and she allowed the narrator to place the otter on his
lap. She could relate and empathise with the situation faced by the narrator. This shows that
apart from being professional, she was a caring lady. She not only wanted to do her job but
was also responsible as she helped the narrator in finding the otter back.
She did all that she could do for Maxwell and the otter. She was hard working and was ready
to help as she did not say ‘no’ to help the narrator.