Iswaran The Storyteller important Questions Class 9 English
Short Answer Type Questions for Iswaran The Storyteller
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.
Question 1: Who was Mahendra?
Answer
Mahendra was a junior supervisor in a firm which offered supervisors for different construction sites like factories, bridges and dams. His job was to keep a watch on the activities at the work site. He had to keep moving from place to place frequently.
Question 2: What was Ishwaran’s job?
Answer
Mahendra considered Ishwaran as an asset. He was not only his cook but he also washed Mahendra’s clothes. He also entertained Mahendra at night by talking to him and sometimes telling him stories.
Question 3: Where was Mahendra’s working place and what was the thing he used to keep always with him?
Answer
Mahendra worked with a firm which sent him to different construction locations. So he had to keep moving from place to place every now and then. He always used to keep with him his cook Iswaran.
Question 4: What did the tusker do when it escaped from the timber yard?
Answer
When the tusker escaped from the timber yard, he reached the outskirts of Iswaran’s town. He broke down fences like they were mere matchsticks. On the main road, he smashed all the stalls selling fruits and clothes, sending people in a state of panic.
Question 5: Where was Iswaran when the tusker reached in school? In which class was he studying?
Answer
When the tusker reached the school, Iswaran was on the rooftop watching all the destruction it had caused on the main road and how it had caused all the people to be in a state of frenzy. He was in junior class.
Question 6: Who made the tusker collapse at last in the school?
Answer
Iswaran was on the rooftop when the elephant reached the school. He grabbed a teacher’s cane and went slowly towards it. When it lifted its trunk, he whacked its third toenail swiftly and hard. The tusker collapsed at last.
Question 7: When Iswaran would leave the story unfinished, and return what would happen?
Answer
Iswaran would many a times leave a story unfinished at the climax This would make Mahendra even more excited to listen to it. He would not pick up thread of the story where he left off right away. Mahendra would have to remind him about the story.
Question 8: What did Iswaran ask Mahendra on one auspicious day?
Answer
On one auspicious day, Iswaran asked Mahendra if he could make something special for dinner that night. He also said that according to tradition, various delicacies should be prepared to feed the ancestors’ spirits.
Question 9: What happened after the most delicious dinner on that auspicious day?
Answer
That day, after dinner when Mahendra enjoyed most delicious dinner, Iswaran unexpectedly launched into a most garish account involving the supernatural and on that day after dinner Iswaran started to tell the story, which involved some supernatural elements.
Question 10: What was the most garish account of supernatural?
Answer
Once, Iswaran told the most garish account involving the supernatural. He said that the entire factory area is a burial ground. He also saw a woman with matted hair and shrivelled face, holding a foetus in its arm.
Question 11: What was Mahendra’s reaction on the woman ghost story?
Answer
Mahendra shivered at the description and interrupted Iswaran sharply saying there were no such things and that they were merely figments of imagination.
Question 12: What did Mahendra like before hearing Iswaran’s story of female ghost?
Answer
Mahendra liked to admire the milk-white landscape on the full moon nights before hearing Iswaran’s story of female ghost. But after hearing Iswaran’s story, he avoided looking out of his window altogether when the moon was full.
Question 13: Why did Mahendra wake up one night?
Answer
Mahendra was woken up from his sleep by a loud moan close to the window. At first he thought it was a cat prowling around for mice. But the sound was too deep to be of a cat.
Question 14: What did he find outside the window sill?
Answer
One night, Mahendra woke up on hearing a low moan close to his window. He realised it was not of a cat. Lowering himself to the level of the windowsill, he looked out and found a dark cloudy form clutching a bundle.
Question 15: Why did Mahendra resolve to leave the haunted place?
Answer
Iswaran had told some supernatural stories pertaining to the current place. But, Mahendra didn’t pay much attention. However, when he saw some cloudy shadow near his window sill, he resolved to leave that haunted place the very next day.
Question 16: Who was Mahindra? What did he do?
Answer
Mahendra was a young man. He was a junior supervisor in a firm. His firm offered supervisors work at different construction sites. His job was to keep an eye on the activities at the work site. He had to travel frequently from one place to another. He was a bachelor and his needs were simple. He could adjust himself to all conditions.
Question 17: Describe Iswaran’s amazing capacity to produce vegetables, etc.
Answer
Mahendra had a cook, Iswaran. He was quite attached to Mahendra and went wherever Mahendra was transferred. Iswaran was a good cook. He had an amazing capacity to produce vegetables from nowhere and cooked amazing dishes from them.
Question 18: What did Iswaran do after Mahendra left for office?
Answer
When Mahendra left for office, Iswaran would do his work and take a leisurely bath. While taking bath, he kept muttering a prayer. After lunchtime, he would read for a while before going to sleep. He read popular Tamil thrillers. The stories that he narrated were greatly influenced by these stories.
Long Answer Type Questions for Iswaran The Storyteller
Answer the following questions in 100-150 words.
Question 1: Iswaran was a master storyteller. Describe his amazing capacity of narrating stories and anecdotes.
Answer
Iswaran was a master storyteller. He was fond of reading popular Tamil thrillers. The stories that he narrated were greatly influenced by these novels. He narrated the smallest of incidents by creating a lot of suspense. For instance, if he had to describe a fallen tree, he would not simply say that he had seen an uprooted tree on the highway. He would say, “The road was deserted and I was all alone. Suddenly I spotted something that looked like an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road. I was half inclined to turn and go back. But as I came closer I saw that it was a fallen tree, with its dry branches spread out.” In order to make stories interesting, Iswaran added dramatic gestures to it. He would give the stories a surprise ending. Sometimes, he would not end the story in order to heighten his master’s curiosity. Often he was excited while telling a story. Then, he would jump and stamp his feet in excitement.
Question 2: Describe Iswaran’s encounter with the elephant.
Answer
One day, Iswaran told Mahendra the story of a mad elephant. The elephant worked in a timberyard. Once, it reached the town. Everyone ran here and there in terror. The elephant entered the school ground where children were playing. All the boys ran into rooms and shut the doors. The elephant pulled out the football goalpost, tore the volleyball net and broke the class drum kept for water. Everyone watched helplessly. Iswaran was studying in the junior class at that time. He grabbed the stick of a teacher and went in front of the elephant. He struck the elephant on his toenail. It shivered and fell down. A veterinary doctor was called. After two days, the elephant’s mahout came and took it away. Iswaran told Mahendra that he had made the elephant unconscious using the Japanese art karate of jujitsu.
Question 3: What did Iswaran tell Mahendra about a ghost? Describe Mahendra’s horrible experience one night. Why did he resolve to leave that place?
Answer
Iswaran told Mahendra that the entire factory area where he worked was once a burial ground. Iswaran told Mahendra that he had often seen ghosts at night. Sometimes, there appeared a horrible ghost of woman holding a foetus in her arms. Hearing this tale, Mahendra shivered. He told Iswaran that there were no ghosts in reality. From that time onwards, Mahendra felt uneasy at night. One night, Mahendra was awakened up from sleep by a moaning sound. The moan became louder. He looked out of the window and saw a dark cloudy form of a woman, not very far from the window. She was carrying a bundle in her arms. Mahendra began to sweat with fear. The next morning, Iswaran told Mahendra that he had also heard the moaning sound. He had seen Mahendra looking out of the window at the ghost of the woman. Mahendra became cold with fear. As soon as he reached office, he handed his papers for transfer from that place.
Question 4: Do you think the ghost seen by Mahendra was only a trick played by Iswaran? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer
First, Iswaran created the background by telling Mahendra that the place used to be a burial ground. Then, he told the story of a ghost. One night, Mahendra saw a figure outside his window. The figure looked like the ghost described by Iswaran. The next morning, Iswaran told Mahendra that he had seen Mahendra looking out of the window at the ghost. This shows that it was only a trick played by Iswaran.