Chapter 6 The Ghat of the only World | class 11th | Chapterwise Important Question  for Snapshot English

The Ghat of the Only World Important Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots

The Ghat of the Only World Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
When and why did Shahid mention his death to the writer?
Answer:
The first time that Shahid mentioned his approaching death was on 25 April 2001 although he had been under treatment for malignant brain tumour for about fourteen months. He was going through his engagement book when suddenly he said that he couldn’t see anything. Then after a pause he added that he hoped this didn’t mean that he was dying.

Question 2.
What was the strange request that Shahid made to the writer?
Answer:
After Shahid broached the subject of death for the first time with the writer, he did not know how to respond.The writer tried to reassure him that he would be well but Shahid interrupted him and in an inquiring tone said that he hoped after his death, he would write something about him.

Question 3.
How did the writer realize that Shahid was serious about him writing about his death?
Answer:
When the writer tried reassuring him, Shahid ignored his reassurances. When he began to laugh the writer realised that he was very serious about what he had said. He wanted the writer to remember him not through the spoken words of memory and friendship, but through the written word.

Question 4.
Why did he want the writer to write something?
Answer:
Perhaps, Shahid knew all too well that for those writers for whom things become real only in the process of writing, there is an inherent struggle to deal with loss and sorrow. He knew that the writer’s nature would have led him to search for reasons to avoid writing about his death.

Question 5.
Where was Shahid staying during his illness?
Answer:
Earlier Shahid was staying a few miles away, in Manhattan. But after the tests revealed that he had a malignant brain tumour, he decided to move to Brooklyn, to be close to his youngest sister, Sameetah, who was teaching at the Pratt Institute, a few blocks away from the street where the writer lived.

Question 6.
‘Shahid, I will: I’ll do the best I can.’ What best did the writer want to do?
Answer:
The writer would have had various excuses for not writing about Shahid. He would have said that he was not a poet, their friendship was recent or that there were many others who knew him much better and would be writing from greater understanding and knowledge. Shahid seemed to have guessed this and insisted . that he wrote about him. The writer promised to try his best in doing justice to the memory of Shahid in his piece of writing.

Question 7.
What did the writer do in order to fulfill his promise to Shahid?
Answer:
The writer, from the day he was committed to writing an article, picked up his pen, noted the date, and wrote down everything he remembered of each conversation after that day. This he continued to do for the next few months. This record made it possible for him to fulfill the pledge he made that day.

Question 8.
What did Amitav Ghosh think of Shahid, the poet?
Answer:
Amitav Ghosh was introduced to Shahid’s work long before he met him. His 1997 collection, The Country Without a Post Office, had made a powerful impression on him. His voice was like none that had ever heard before. It was at once lyrical and fiercely disciplined, engaged and yet deeply inward. He knew of no one else who would even conceive of publishing a line like.- ‘Mad heart, be brave.’

Question 9.
‘….his illness did not impede the progress of our friendship.’ Why does the writer feel so?
Answer:
The writer got to know Shahid only after he moved to Brooklyn the next year, as he, too, lived in the same neighbourhood. Then they began to meet sometimes for meals and quickly discovered that they had a great deal in common. By this time of course Shahid’s condition was already serious, but despite that their friendship grew rapidly.

Question 10.
What were the interests that Shahid and Amitav shared?
Answer:
They had many a common friends, in India, America, and elsewhere, they shared a love for roganjosh, Roshanara Begum and Kishore Kumar; a mutual indifference to cricket and an equal attachment to old Bombay films.

Question 11.
How did Shahid occupy himself, when he was not writing?
Answer:
Shahid was a very sociable person. There was never an evening when there wasn’t a party in his living room. He loved having many people around in his apartment. He loved serving them good food. He loved the spirit of festivity. This he said, meant he didn’t ‘have time to be depressed’.

Question 12.
Shahid was legendary for his prowess in the kitchen. Justify.
Answer:
Shahid was never so preoccupied to overlook the progress of the evening’s meal. Even the number of guests didn’t matter. He would cut short his conversation to shout directions to whoever was in the kitchen. Even when his eyesight was failing, he could tell from the smell alone, exactly which stage the roganjosh had reached. And when things went exactly as they should, he would sniff the air and appreciate. He would spend days over the planning and preparation of a dinner party.

Question 13.
What was the impact of James Merrill on Shahid’s poetry?
Answer:
James Merrill, the poet, completely changed the direction of Shahid’s poetry. After coming in contact with him, Shahid began to try out strict, metrical patterns and verse forms. No one had a greater influence on Shahid’s poetry than James Merrill. In the poem in which he most openly anticipated his own death, ‘I • Dream I Am At the Ghat of the Only World,’ he awarded the envoy to Merrill.

Question 14.
How did Shahid justify his passion for the food of his region?
Answer:
Shahid had a special passion for the food of his region, particularly ‘Kashmiri food in the Pandit style’.This was very important to him because of a persistent dream, in which all the Pandits had vanished from the valley of Kashmir and their food had become extinct. This was a nightmare that haunted him in his conversation and his poetry.

Question 15.
What did he admire in Begum Akhtar? What merit did he have in common with her?
Answer:
Apart from her music, Shahid admired her sharpness in repartee. He, too, was a witty man. On one occasion, at Barcelona airport he was asked what he did for a living. He said he was a poet. The guard, a woman, asked him again what he was doing in Spain. Writing poetry, he replied. Finally, the frustrated woman asked if he was carrying anything that could be dangerous to the other passengers. To this Shahid said: ‘Only my heart’.

Question 16.
Comment on Shahid as a teacher.
Answer:
Shahid was teaching at Manhattan’s Baruch College. The narrator had the privilege to watch him perform in a classroom. It was evident from the moment they walked in that the students adored him. They had printed a magazine and dedicated the issue to him. Shahid for his part was not in the least subdued by the sadness of the occasion. From beginning to end, he was a sparkling diva.

Question 17.
How did Shahid’s upbringing help him imbibe ecumenical outlook?
Answer:
Shahid’s vision was always inclined towards the broader and universal outlook. He credited this to his parents. In his childhood he had the desire to create a small Hindu temple in his room in Srinagar. Initially he was hesitant to tell his parents, but when he did they responded with an enthusiasm equal to his own. His mother bought him murtis and other accessories and he was diligently did pujas at this shrine.

Question 18.
What was Shahid’s last wish? Why?
Answer:
On May 4, Shahid had gone to the hospital for a scan. Shahid told the writer that the doctors had given him a year or less. He said that he would like to go back to Kashmir to die. He wanted to go to Kashmir because of the feudal system existing there, which would be a lot of support. Moreover his father was there too. He didn’t want his siblings to have to make the journey afterwards, like they had to with his mother.

Question 19.
What does Amitav Ghosh say about his end?
Answer:
The last time the writer saw Shahid was on 27 October, at his brother’s house in Amherst. He was able to converse only intermittently and there were moments when they talked as they had in the past. He had made his peace with his approaching death. There was no trace of any anguish or conflict and he was surrounded by the love of his family and friends, he was calm, contented, and at peace. He loved the idea of meeting his mother in the afterlife.

The Ghat of the Only World Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Describe in detail Agha Shahid Ali’s attitude towards his approaching death.
Answer:
The first time Shahid spoke to the narrator about his approaching death was on 25 April 2001. It was during a routine telephonic conversation that the writer heard him flipping through his engagement book and then suddenly he said that he could not see a thing. After a brief pause he added that he hoped that this didn’t mean that he was dying. He had been under treatment for cancer for some fourteen months, but was active and perfectly logical, except for intermittent lapses of memory.

He had never before touched the subject of death. His voice sounded joyous but the subject of conversation was grim. When the writer tried to tell him that he would be fine, he interrupted him and told him that he hoped Amitav would write something about him after his death.

Later, when the doctors lost hope, Shahid said that he would like to go back to Kashmir to die. He wanted to go to Kashmir because of the feudal system existing there, as there would be a lot of support. Moreover his father was there too. He didn’t want his siblings to have to make the journey afterwards, like they had to with his mother. A day before his death, there was no trace of anguish or conflict and he was surrounded by the love of his family and friends, he was calm, contented, and at peace.

Question 2.
How did the writer decide to write a piece on Shahid after his death?
Answer:
When for the first time Shahid expressed his desire that Amitav write something about him after his death, Amitav was shocked into silence and a long moment passed before he could bring himself to try to reassure him.But Shahid ignored his reassurances. He began to laugh and it was then that the writer realized that he was very serious. He understood that Shahid was trusting him with a specific responsibility.

Shahid knew all too well that for writers things become real only in the process of writing, but there is a natural battle in dealing with death. He knew that Amitav’s instincts would lead him to search for reasons to avoid writing about his death, so he repeated ‘You must write about me.’ The writer could think of nothing to say so he promised to put in his best efforts.

Question 3.
How did the bond of friendship grow between the writer and Shahid?
Answer:
The writer, in 1998, quoted a line from Shahid’s ‘The Country Without a Post Office in an article that mentioned Kashmir. Then the only fact that the writer knew about him was that he was from Srinagar and had studied in Delhi. The writer had been at Delhi University at about the same time but they had never met. Later, some common friend introduced them. In 1998 and 1999 they had several conversations on the phone and even met a couple of times.

But they barely knew each other until he moved to Brooklyn the next . year. Then, being in the same neighbourhood, they met for occasional meals and discovered that they had a great deal in common. By this time Shahid’s condition was already serious, yet their friendship flourished. They had common friends, shared a love of rogan josh, Roshanara Begum and Kishore Kumar, had a mutual indifference to cricket and an equal attachment to old Bombay films.

Question 4.
Why does the writer feel that ‘Shahid had a sorcerer’s ability to transmute the mundane into the magical’?
Answer:
The writer quotes an episode when Shahid was to be got back from the hospital after a surgical procedure that was meant to ease the pressure on his brain. His head was shaved and the shape of the tumour was visible upon his bare scalp, its edges outlined by metal sutures. When it was time to leave the ward a blue- uniformed hospital escort arrived with a wheelchair. Shahid said that he was strong enough to walk out of the hospital.

But he was weak and dizzy and could take no more than a few steps. Iqbal got back the wheelchair while the rest of them held him upright. At that moment, leaning against the depressing hospital wall, a kind of delight flooded Shahid. When the hospital orderly retuned with the wheelchair Shahid gave him a broad smile and asked where he was from. The man said he was from Ecuador. Shahid clapped his hands gleefully together and said loudly ‘I always wanted to learn Spanish. Just to read Lorca.’ Shahid had an ability to metamorphose a dull moment into a delightful one.

Question 5.
Shahid placed great store on authenticity and exactitude in cooking. Comment.
Answer:
Shahid placed great store on authenticity and exactitude in cooking and did not like variation from conventional methods and recipes. He pitied people who took short cuts. The aroma of roganjosh and haale would invade even the elevator. No matter how many people there were, Shahid was never so preoccupied as to lose track of the progress of the evening’s meal. From time to time he would interrupt himself to shout directions to whoever was in the kitchen.

Even when his eyesight was failing, he could tell from the smell alone, exactly which stage the roganjosh had reached. And when things went exactly as they should, he would sniff the air and appreciate the cooking. He had a special passion for ‘Kashmiri food in the Pandit style’ because of a recurrent dream, in which all the Pandits had vanished from the valley of Kashmir and their food had become extinct. He also loved Bengali food.

Question 6.
The steady deterioration of the political situation in Kashmir the violence and counter-violence had a powerful effect on Shahid. Comment.
Answer:
Shahid traveled frequently between the United States and India and hence was an irregular but first-hand witness to the growing violence that gripped the region from the late 1980s onwards. The continuous decline of the political situation in Kashmir had a great effect on him. It became one of the fundamental subjects of his work and it was in writing of Kashmir that he created his finest work.

Distressed about Kashmir’s destiny, Shahid firmly refused to accept the role of victim. In fact this would also have given him a great deal of popularity but Shahid never had any doubt about his mission. Although respectful of religion, he believed in the separation of politics and religious practice.