VPM’s IAM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (ICSE), AIROLI

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The Blue Bead
Extract – 1
Timber was being floated down this great Indian river….breathing the clean
sunny air.
i) What are sleepers? What made the timber float down the river?
Sleepers are rectangular pieces of timber, stone or steel which are specifically
cut for construction of building and railway tracks.
Woods like timber are less dense than water. So it floats. British used rivers for
transportation of timber, not by boats, but by directly floating them till they
reach their destination.
ii) What is meant by dislodge? How can the sleepers be dislodged?
Dislodge is an act of forcefully removing something from its position. Sleepers
that are lying stuck in the stones can be dislodged by delivering sufficient
force, manually or mechanically, to the sleepers using a lever like contrivance.
Also, floods can lift them and jostle them along.
iii) From where did the crocodile come? Why did he come? What was he doing
in the shallow waters?
The crocodile had come from deep black water of the river where the flowing
streams produced whirlpools. He had come to the glassy shallows of the river
to rest. He balanced his body on tiptoe on the rippled sand so that only his
eyes and nostrils were visible above the water. He lay in the water motionless
breathing clean sunny air.
iv) Why did the crocodile raise his eyes and nostrils out of water? The author
says, "Now nothing could pierce the inch-thick armoured hide". What does she
mean by the sentence given above? Why does she say so?
The crocodile raised his eyes to get a clear sight of the area around the
stepping stones and raised his nostrils to breathe easily that enabled him to
lay motionless and concealed, in ambush, for prolonged duration.
Over the years, the crocodile had grown, from a baby crocodile vulnerable to
birds of prey and carnivorous fishes, into a juggernaut so ferocious and
formidable that nothing could pierce his inch-thick armoured hide- The author
is suggesting that the crocodile is invincible as he is covered with a thick-
armour like hide which even a bullet cannot pierce.
v) Who encountered the crocodile later in the story? What did she do to the
crocodile and why?
Sibia, a 12 year old gird encountered a crocodile. The crocodile was trying to
grab a woman. Sibia threw the hayfork right at its eye. The crocodile was in
pain and hence left the woman.
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Extract – 2
The mugger crocodile, blackish brown……tinged with green.
i) What is a mugger crocodile? Give its three characteristic features.
A mugger crocodile is a species of freshwater crocodile with a short snout
found throughout the Indian subcontinent.
It is Blackish brown above and yellow white inside.
It has a powerful tail with irresistible power
It is twice the length of a man
ii) Give meaning of –
a) Antediluvian saurian
It means a large reptile which is very old as if it belonged to the times before
the biblical flood-
b) Prehistoric juggernaut:
Something which has been in existence from very old times and is unstoppable
iii) Describe the appearance of the crocodile. What made him move?
The crocodile with a huge tail was twice the length of a tall man. His colour was
blackish brown on above and yellowy white on underside. A throb in his throat,
his mouth was closed and fixed in evil bony smile, ran almost the whole length
of his head and was tinged with green where the yellow underside came up to
it. His hide was one inch thick and nothing could pierce it.
iv) How can you conclude from the extract that the crocodile was a strong and
dangerous animal?
The crocodile is described as "an antediluvian saurian, a prehistoric
juggernaut, ferocious and formidable, a vast force in water, propelled by
unimaginable and irresistible power of the huge tail", suggests that he was a
strong and dangerous animal.
v) How did the crocodile rest in the shallows?
The crocodile balanced on tiptoe on the rippled sand of the shallows with only
his eyes and nostrils raised out of water so that he could see and breathe
easily.
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Extract – 3
From the day, perhaps a hundred years ago,when the sun had……….craft
and ferocity.
i) What is said about the birth of the crocodile? How can you say that the
crocodile was very active even before he was fully hatched?
The crocodile hatched from an egg, probably a hundred years ago, in a
sandbank. The crocodile was very active because as soon as he managed to get
his head out of his shell he was looking around ready to snap at anything even
before he was fully hatched.
ii) What is meant by brainless craft and ferocity?
It means making use of one's craft and ferocity guided purely by natural
instinct. The young crocodile could escape from predators by instinctively
using his skills and fierceness.
iii) What were the dangers facing the young crocodile?
The young crocodile faced the dangers of getting eaten by birds of prey and
great carnivorous fishes who fed on baby crocodiles.
iv) How did the young crocodile get the food? How did they store it? What did
the big crocodile feed on?
The young crocodile caught the food and stored it in holes in the river bank.
The big crocodile fed mostly on fish but had also caught deer, monkeys, and
ducks. He had also sometimes fed on pi-dog full of parasites and a skeleton
cow. Sometimes he went down to the burning ghats and fed on half-burned
bodies of Indians cast into the stream.
v) How is the body of the crocodile strong enough to protect him? How was he
vulnerable to an attack?
The body of crocodile is protected with one inch thick layer of armoured hide
on the above. Nothing can pierce it, even rifle bullets would bounce off. His
eyes and the soft underarms made him vulnerable to an attack.
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Extract 4
It was not a gem, though it was sand worn glass……..earth coloured rag.
i) From where did the little girl come? What did she wear? What was she
eating?
(i) The girl came from a mud house, in a shrill noisy village above the ford. She
was dressed in earth coloured rag. She was eating a chapati.
ii) Describe the physical appearance of little girl.
The little girl was dark, thin and dressed in earth coloured rag and was
barefoot. She was a happy immature child-woman about twelve years old.
iii) Give evidence to prove that girl was from a poor household.
The girl was dressed in earth coloured rag; The girl divided the chapati into
parts to make it seem more; She had never owned anything but a rag; She had
divided the rag into two to make it skirt and saari which shows that she was
not having money even to buy clothes. From the above evidences we can
conclude that the girl was from a poor household.
iv) Why was the little girl known as child-woman and born to toil?
The little girl was known as child-woman and born to toil because the
circumstances had made the girl to sacrifice all her wishes and to tolerate the
conditions like a matured woman. She was born to toil as she was poor and
had to earn for her livelihood.
v) Describe the strange object found near the crocodile. Justify why the story is
named after this object.
The blue bead glimmered in the water. It was not a gem, though: it was sand—
worn glass that had been rolling about in the river for a long time. By chance,
it was perforated right through—the neck of a bottle perhaps.
The blue bead symbolizes that even the little things can make Sibia happy.
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Extract – 5
In all her life she had never owned anything………..through the dust and
hubbub.
i) Where was the bazaar? How did the girl know about it?
The bazaar was in the little town at the railhead. Sibia knew about the bazaar
because she had been to the bazaar with her parents and brothers all through
the jungle and seen the finery of life there.
ii) What had she seen and heard while passing through the bazaar?
She saw the milling people, and dogs and monkeys full of fleas, the idling
gossiping bargaining humanity spitting betel juice, heard the bell of a sacred
bull clonking as he lumped along through the dust and hubbub.
iii) What was her experience at the sweetmeat stall? What did she sometimes
taste at home?
She had paused, amazed, before the sweetmeat stall, to gaze at the brilliant
honey confection, abuzz with dust and flies. They smelled wonderful, above the
smell of drains and humanity and cheap cigarettes.
At home she sometimes tasted wild honey, or crunched the syrup out of stalk
of sugarcane.
IV) Describe what Sibia saw at the cloth stall. Did she like the stall? Why?
At the cloth store, Sibia saw stacks of great rolls of new cotton cloth. It was stamped at the
edge with the maker's sign of a tiger's head. Yes, Sibia liked the stall. She found the smell of the
new clothes so wonderful that she could have stood by it all day.

V) Was there any significance in Sibia’s life of the things sold in the bazaar?
What was she marked for from her birth?
The significance in Sibia's life of the things that they collect and sell in the bazaar is
that it shows the hard way of living their lives. Her family works very hard day today
to make a living. Sibia was marked for work from the time she was born.

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Extract – 6
But there were other wonders to see……………..and a yellow woolen
chicken jumped out.
i) Mention any two of the wonders Sibia had seen in the bazaar.
The wonders Sibia had seen in bazaar were the satin sewn with real silver
thread and tin trays from Birmingham.
ii) What did the kashmiri merchant sell?
The kashmiri merchant sold dawn-coloured silks that poured ice cream , a
little locked chest with turquoises and opals in it, and a box which when
pressed tinkles out a bell and a yellow woolen chicken jumps out from the box.
iii) Describe the box having the best of merchant’s goods.
The best of all was a box which, when pressed tinkles a bell and a yellow
woolen chicken jumps out.
iv) How did Sibia used to spend her time since her childhood?
Sibia worked to earn for her livelihood since her childhood. She had husked
corn, and gathered sticks, and put dunk to dry, and cooked and weeded, and
carried, and fetched water, and cut grass from the fodder.
v) What does Sibia’s life show about the life of the people living in the vicinity of
forests? How was Sibia’s life different from the Gujar women’s?
Life of Sibia shows that the status of her family was too low to even feed their
children properly and send them to school. Not only the parents but also the
children had to work hard in order to earn their livelihood.
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Extract – 7
Such thoughts did not trouble Sibia………….a great load to carry.
i) What thoughts did not trouble Sibia?
The thought of being toiled whole day and working hard to earn her livelihood
did not trouble Sibia.
ii) Where was Sibia going? Why?
Sibia was going to get paper grass from the cliffs above the river.
iii) Who were with Sibia during her journey? Why couldn’t Sibia skip during her
return journey?
Sibia was going with her mother and other women of the village. Sibia could
not skip work when she was on her way back from the cliffs since at that point,
her body would always ache with tiredness, and there was also a great load to
carry on her back as well.
iv) Describe the necklaces worn by women. Why did they want to wear several
necklaces every year?
Some of the women were wearing necklaces made out of lal-lal-beeges, the
shiny scarlet seeds, black one end, that grew everywhere in the jungle. They
wanted to wear several necklaces as they like to hear rattling swish round their
neck
v) What type of ornaments did Sibia wish to wear? What was the difficulty in
getting such a necklace?
Sibia wished to wear ornaments which would make rattling swish round her
neck, as she froushed along with lots of necklace. The beads of the necklace
were found everywhere in the jungle. Sibia was collecting them too but the
beads were hard and had to be pierced with a hot iron needle but her family
needle was damaged and due to abject poverty they could not afford to get a
new one. Thus, she had to wait until her family got a new one which would be
after a long time.
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Extract – 8
Chattering as they went………….Then they’d move on.
i) Why were the women going to the river? What were the dangers they
encountered on the way?
Women were going to the river in order to get paper grass which they would sell
to the agent who arrange and dispatch it for paper mills. They had to encounter
a huge mugger crocodile on their way to the riverbanks.
ii) What is meant by ‘nomadic graziers’? How long do these people stay in one
place?
Nomadic graziers are the people who roam around place to place, frequently, or
without a fixed pattern of movement. Their occupation is cattling (here). They
stay in one place until their animals had perhaps finished all the easy grazing
within reach, or they were not able to sell enough of their butter and white milk
in the district, or there was no one to buy the young male buffaloes for tiger
bait.
iii) Describe the appearance of Gujar women as seen by Sibia?
The Gujar women wore trousers, tight and wrinkled at the ankles, and In the
ear, they would wear large silver rings, made out of melted rupees; and one of
them was clinking a stick against the big brass gurrahs in which they fetched
water from the river for the camp, to see which one were empty.
iv) Where were the men and boys from the camp? Explain why Gujars are
called the “men in the wandering pastoral age”
The men and boys were out of the camp with the herd or gone to the bazaar.
The Gujars were born and bred in the forests. For centuries they had been
getting their living from animals and from trees. They stored their food together
in large herds and silver jewellery. The Gujars lived a pastoral lifestyle herding
livestock around open areas according to seasons and the changing availability
of water and pasture. The men and boys were out of the camp just now with
the herd or gone to the bazaar.
V) Explain how was Sibia like the Gujars,a jungli. Give two points of difference
between Sibia and Gujars?
The Gujars, like Sibia, are called junglis because they were born and bred in
the forest. For countless centuries, their forefathers had lived like this. They
had never been to a developed city or such.
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Extract – 9
Where Sibia was working wind coming across hundreds of miles……….played
as a child.
i) How was Sibia compared to the bird in the passage?
The author compared Sibia with a bird as she looked down the cliff, the same
way the bird look down from height when they fly.
ii) What did she keep in the cave? Why?
Sibia, as a child used to hide small bowls modelled from clay in the cave for it
to dry and harden. She did this so that she could use it for colouring.
iii) Why was the mother angry with her? How did Sibia react to the situation?
Sibia’s mother was angry with her as she was day-dreaming instead of
working. Sibia’s mother glared at her and angrily said “child”. This pulled Sibia
back to work, and they continued to labour.
iv) Why did the women carrying the load go? Why?
The women carrying the load went to see their animals and to have an evening
meal.
v) At the end of the day, how did Sibia feel? What does it reveal about her
character?
She would just dawdle a bit as she would become tired. Though her muscles
ached she never complained and continued her life with an invincible human
spirit.
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Extract – 10
At the same moment a Gujar woman came down with two gurrahs……the
two good vessels gone.
i) What happened when the Gujar woman walked on to the stepping stones?
When the Gujar woman walked on to the stepping stones, the crocodile lunged
at her and slashed at her leg.
ii) When the crocodile attacked the woman, how did she react?
The woman screamed, dropped both brass pots with a clatter on the boulder.
The Gujar woman recoiled from the crocodile but at the same time she fell on a
bone-breaking stone. She clutched one of the timber logs to save herself.
iii) Describe the struggle between the woman and the crocodile?
The Gujar women recoiled from the crocodile, but his jaws closed on her leg at
the same moment as she slipped and fell on the bone-breaking stone, and
clutched one of the timber logs to save herself.
iv) Sh
ow how Sibia came to help the woman immediately?
Sibia came leaping like a rock goat in order to help the woman. She came on
wings choosing her footing in midair without even thinking about it, and in one
moment she was beside the shrieking woman.
v) Briefly state the theme of conflict between human beings and wild nature as
shown in the story?
This is a personal understanding question. Refer to Page no. 162 , Critical
Appreciation – Wild Nature and Page no. 158 – Struggle for survival . Some
important points are :-
While nature is beneficial to human beings, it can also be wild, awful and
savage. Blue Bead presents both the aspects.
Extract – 11
The crocodile reared up in convulsion, till half his lizard………….. disappeared.
i) Why did crocodile go into convulsion? What happened during his convulsion?

The crocodile went into convulsion because his one eye was poked by Sibia
using a hayfork. He reared up in convulsion, till half his lizard body was out of
the river, the tail and nose nearly meeting over his stony back. Then he
crashed back, exploding the water, and in an uproar of bloody foam he
disappeared.
ii) How did Sibia attend to the Gujar woman?
Sibia got her arms round the fainting woman, and somehow dragged her from
the water. She stopped her wounds with sand, and bound them with rag, and
helped her home to the Gujar encampment where the men made a litter to
carry her to someone for treatment.
iii) Where was Sibia’s sickle and fork? What strange object did she see in the
water?
The fork was lying in the river, not carried away by water. The strange object
that Sibia saw in water was a blue bead whose shape was wobbling in the
movement of the stream.
IV) How did she take possession of the strange object? Describe the object.
Sibia reached her arm down into a yard of the cold silk water to get it. Missing
it first of all, because of refraction. The object was perfect, white- blue and
even pierced ready for use, with the sunset shuffled about inside it like gold-
dust.
v) State why was Sibia more thrilled at finding the blue bead than saving the
Gujar woman from the crocodile? What does this reveal about Sibia?
Sibia was not excited at saving the Gujar women as ‘daily heroism’ has become
a part of her life while what is of worth in her poverty-stricken life is the
glittering blue bead.

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