Short answer questions

Which words or phrases suggest that the crocodile was a dangerous animal?

Ans. The crocodile is described as an antediluvian saurian, prehistoric juggernaut, ferocious and
formidable, vast force in water and propelled by the unimaginable and irresistible power of a huge tail,
all suggesting that he was a strong and dangerous animal.

Describe Sibia’s meal.

Ans. As described in the story, Sibia was eating the last of her meal which was chapatti wrapped round a
smear of green chilli and rancid butter. She had divided this too to make it seem more.

What work did Sibia do with her mother?

Ans. Sibia went up to the cliffs above the river with her mother to fetch paper grass. The grass was to be
sold to an agent who would sit on a silk cushion and smoke a hookah. This was a way for them to earn
money.

What thoughts did not trouble Sibia? Which were the instruments that Sibia carried with her?

Ans. Sibia did not care much about the work done by her since most women of her community toiled in
the same fashion. She also did not care much about the disproportionate work done by the agent and
the women because she was a happy child. Although she desired fineries, she was content with the
situation. She carried a sickle and homemade hayfork with her as she went to work.

What type of ornaments did Sibia wish to wear?

Ans. Sibia wished to wear ornaments which would make a rattling swish around her neck, as she rushed
along with lots of necklaces. When she went to the bazaar, she fancied the anklets, bangles and nose
rings sold at the bazaar. However, her heart was set on colourful glass beads. She wished to wear a new
necklace made from those beads.

Describe the Gujars.

Ans. Gujars were people born and bred in the forests for countless centuries. They earn their living from
animals, grass and trees as they scratched their food together. They stored their substance in large
herds and possessed silver jewellery. Neither primitive like the Stone Age hunters nor modern like
cultivators, they were wanderers of the pastoral age.
How would the Gujar women cross the river? Why?

Ans. Gujar women would make a lot of noise while crossing the river. They would laugh and bicker about
something. They would gird their skirts so as to jump from stone to stone. Their sickles and forks
clanked. They also quarrelled loudly and their noise frightened the crocodiles.

What happened when Sibia was working? What was she dreaming about?

Ans. Where Sibia was working, the wind coming across hundreds of miles of trees cooled her sweating
body, and she could look down over the river as if she was a bird. Although she could not literally fly like
a bird, her imagination took a swooping flight over the bright water and golden air to the banks where
she played as a child. She had kept little bowls of moulded clay in cavelets above the watermark of the
highest flood. Sibia was distracted from her work and drifted into the land of her imagination, but her
mother was quick and alert enough to snap her back into the world of reality.

How did Sibia react after she saw the Gujar woman being attacked by the crocodile?

Ans. Sibia came into action and leaping like a rock goat, she jumped from boulder to boulder. It was
sometimes difficult to cross these stones, especially the big gap in the middle. That is why she had to
jump like a goat choosing her footing mid-air.

What did Sibia find when she returned to collect her instruments near the river?

Ans. When Sibia went to save the woman, she had left the grass, sickle and fork on the boulder. She
returned to the river to get them. She found the blue bead wobbling in the movements of the stream.
The blue bead was not looking blue as the sun had set. It was looking white blue as it was worn by sand.

State the role of women in the village as described by Burke in this story.

Ans. Village women are not restricted to look after the household. Sibia, her mother and the other
women are seen going to the cliffs to get paper grass to be sold in the market. The Gujar nomadic
graziers have also set up their encampment of grass huts near the river. They are seen carrying gurrahs
to the river to fetch water, whereas the men and boys go out to graze their cattle and to the market to
sell the produce.

Long answer questions

Describe the crocodile.

When he came out of his egg by breaking his shell, he was a tiny creature that could be hunted by a bird
or by a great carnivorous fish that eats baby crocodiles. He ate whatever he could and fended for
himself. Now, he was capable of hunting and eating everything which came within his reach—fish,
ducks, deer, monkeys, dogs and thin cows. Sometimes his hunger forced him to go down the burning
ghats where he could find half-burnt bodies of Indians cast into the stream. He had no scarcity of food
and thus was prospering well.

The mugger crocodile, blackish-brown above and yellowy-white under, laid motionless able to wait
forever till food came. The body of the crocodile was covered with an inch-thick hide that nothing could
pierce—even rifle bullets would bounce off. Only the eyes and the soft underarms were exceptions. It
was ferocious and formidable. It propelled in the water by the irresistible and unimaginable power of its
tail. It lived well with other crocodiles, muggers and fish-eating gharials.

Describe the crocodile’s surroundings.

Ans. The crocodile lived in the river close to the village. It was an ideal location for him with the
availability of food and was a secure place to have sunlight in order to warm his body. There was a forest
beside the river. The timber logs came down from the forest and struck around the stones. The
crocodile came to rest in the place where the water was not deep and he enjoyed the sunny air. He
rested where the rocks and sand were warm with sunlight, and he would go into the water as soon as he
sensed any danger to himself.

The surroundings were also Ideal for him in the matters of food. The big crocodile would eat fish, deer,
monkeys, ducks and animals which came to the river to drink water. At the ford, he would feed upon a
pi-dog or a skeleton cow. Sometimes, he would go down the burning ghats and feed upon half-burnt
bodies of Indians cast into the river. Since he had many food options in his surroundings, it helped him
to grow to a great length.

Describe Sibia.

OR

Write a short note on Sibia.

OR

Pen down a brief character sketch about Sibia.

Ans. Sibia was a thin little girl who had white teeth, ebony hair and great eyes. Her skin was the colour
of oiled brown cream. She was a happy immature child-woman about twelve years old. She was
barefoot and often goosey-cold on a winter morning and born to toil.
The little girl was marked for work since her childhood. Since she could toddle, she husked corn,
gathered sticks, put dung to dry, cooked, weeded, carried and fetched water and cut grass for fodder.
There was no end to her hardships and toil due to her poverty. Yet, she was a happy child with no
complaints.

She was interested in the natural jewellery made with seeds which rattled around her neck. She
appreciated little things in life like watching Kashmiri merchants selling silks, the smell of the wonderful
dressing of the cloth stall etc. She was brave, laborious and extremely observant.

Sibia was a courageous and adventurous girl. Even after being the heroine of such an adventurous and
life-threatening battle with the crocodile, the only detail that she considered important to tell her
mother was that she found a blue bead for her necklace.

Why was Sibia called a ‘child-woman’? What works were done by her?

Ans. Sibia belonged to a poor family. She started to work when she could toddle in order to support her
family. She husked corn, gathered sticks, put dung to dry, cooked, weeded, fetched water and cut grass
for fodder ever since when she could do all of these. She went with her mother and some other women
to get paper grass from the cliffs above the river. The grass could then be sold to an agent, who would
give them some revenue. The women toiled the whole day to earn a living by selling the paper grass to
the agent.

There was a certain maturity in her even though she was just a twelve-year-old girl. She would break her
food into several parts to feel happy that she had a lot of food to enjoy.

Therefore, we can conclude that though she possessed the innocence of a child, she had the maturity of
a grown-up woman.

How did Sibia attack the crocodile?

Ans. Sibia was sitting on the boulder when she saw that a Gujar woman was going down the river to fill
her earthen pots with fresh water. She had two pots to be filled with water. She was in a hurry as she
walked on the stepping stones where the crocodile resided and missed to spot the animal. The great
crocodile was hiding in the water where he could not be spotted easily after sunset. As a result, the
crocodile attacked the woman as she was within his reach and grabbed her leg with his mighty jaws.
Sibia witnessed this and at once went to the rescue of the Gujar woman. With amazing speed, she drove
her hayfork in the crocodile’s eyes which were a vulnerable zone for the fully grown and strong
crocodile. The hayfork hit right at his eyes and the prong went into his eyes. The crocodile released the
women as he was in utter pain and swam back into the water.
Describe in brief Sibia’s encounter with the crocodile.

Ans. When Sibia saw the Gujar woman struggling to free herself from the crocodile, she immediately
came to her rescue. She could see in the boiling bloody water, the face of the crocodile was fastened
around her leg and was tugging to and fro and seemed to smile. His eyes rolled on to Sibia. Sibia knew
that one slap of the tail could kill her. He eventually struck and the water shot up twenty feet high and
fell like a silver chain. The rock too jumped under the blow of its tail. But in the daily heroism of the
jungle, as common as a thorn tree, Sibia did not hesitate. She aimed at the reptile’s eyes. With all the
force of her little body, she drove the hayfork at the eyes, and one prong went right in its eyes, while
other prong scratched past on the horny cheek. The crocodile then reared up in convulsion.

Describe in brief how Sibia saved the woman.

Ans. The Gujar woman walked on the stepping stones with two gurrahs to fill them quickly with good
clear water without any sand. However, as she was within a yard of the crocodile, he lunged at her. The
great reptile heaved up out of the darkling water, and with his yawning livid jaws with all teeth flashing,
he slashed at the Gujar woman’s leg. When the crocodile attacked the woman, she screamed, dropped
both pots with a clatter on the boulder from where they bounced off in the current of the water. The
Gujar woman recoiled from the crocodile. When the crocodile’s jaws closed on the woman’s leg, she
slipped and fell on the bone-breaking stone. She clutched one of the timber logs to save herself.
However, the log jammed between two boulders, with the woman clinging to it and screaming, while
the crocodile pulled her leg, threshing his mighty tail to and fro in great smacking flails as he tried to
drag her free and carry her off down the depths of the pool. Her blood spread everywhere.

When Sibia saw the woman struggling to free herself from the crocodile, she immediately leapt from
boulder to boulder like a rock goat. Sibia took immediate action using her presence of mind at the right
time. She showed courage, and with all the force of her little body, she drove the hayfork at the
crocodile’s eye. One prong of it went in and the other scratched past his thorny cheek.

Thus, the crocodile returned into the water and the life of the woman was saved because of Sibia’s
brave act.

Explain any four examples which denote Sibia’s poverty.

Ans. Sibia wore an earth-coloured rag and had torn the rag into two to make a skirt and a saree. Even
the roll of chapatti that she ate, she divided it into many parts so that it seemed more. In all her life she
had never owned anything but a rag. She did not have even one anna or a pice or a pi. The family needle
was broken, and they did not have enough money to buy another. These are some of the signs which
state that Sibia’s family was not economically sound.

Mention the visual imagery of the bazaar.

Ans. The bazaar was full of blown glass beads and thin glass bangles. It had a sweetmeat stall of brilliant
honey confections. The cloth stall was tagged with great rolls of new cotton cloth. There were other
wonders to see too like satin sewn with real silver thread, tin trays from Birmingham and a saree which
had chips of glass embroidered into the border. A Kashmiri travelling merchant brought silks, a little
locked chest with turquoise and opals in it and a box from which a yellow woollen chicken would jump
out on pressing it.

“Ai! Ai! What a day!” Who says this and why?

Ans. This line is said by Sibia when she found something that she earnestly desired, a blue bead. Sibia
went back for her grass, sickle and fork. There in the water she found a blue bead. Her heart was filled
with ecstatic joy. Her long-awaited wish had been fulfilled. She now had the blue bead for her necklace.
She walked back as if nothing had happened. Her feet smudged out the wriggle mark of snakes in the
dust, and there were malaria mosquitoes all over. There was also a morose old elephant whose track
she was on, but Sibia had no thoughts of these. When she met her mother, she didn’t describe her fight
with the crocodile; instead, she mentioned that she found the blue bead.

Explain the moral/theme of the story.

Ans. ‘The Blue Bead’ is a story which depicts the extraordinary power of human will. This story written
by Norah Burke highlights the heroism of a 12-year-old girl in a humble way. If we are keenly
determined to achieve something, we can always find a way to have it. Sibia, hardly twelve, sees a Gujar
woman being attacked by a ferocious crocodile. She jumps from rock to rock as if she has wings. She
knows that one slap of the crocodile’s tail could kill her, but she is determined, and with all the force of
her little body, she drives the hayfork into the reptile’s eyes. Rather than giving up in order to reach back
home, she overcomes the crocodile and helps the woman to return home. Her willpower and
determination to save the woman’s life make her victorious over the dangerous crocodile.

She was very fascinated by the colourful beads that she had seen in the market. She was very hopeful
and desired of having a blue bead so that she could make a necklace out of it. When she went back to
collect her instruments and the earthen pitchers of the Gujar woman, she found a blue bead lying close
to the river.

These incidents make it quite clear that if one has a strong and positive will of achieving something, one
shall definitely have it or find a way to achieve it.

The story denotes the struggle for survival. Justify how.

Ans. Life is a struggle and we face new challenges every day. ‘The Blue Bead’ is a story written by Norah
Burke about a girl, Sibia, her family and people struggling for their daily survival in a village close to a
forest. Besides the life of these people constantly threatened by wild animals, they have to strive very
hard for basic amenities. They live in mud houses, the roads are not proper, the people use sticks and
dung as fuel for the fire. Sibia who is a very young child belongs to a poor family and is also
undernourished. The women of the village have to climb a cliff to get paper grass to sell in the market.
They have to carry a great load back home since there are no bridges to cross the rivers. The women
need to jump from stone to stone and have to shout and make noise to frighten the crocodiles. They
have to come to the river to fetch water for their daily needs, and hence, their lives are always at risk
from wild animals. These are the serious health hazards, lack of facilities and other hurdles which
subdue the invincible human spirit.

Mention how poverty is one of the themes of the story.

Ans. Poverty is one of the most important themes of the story. It is depicted through the life lived by
Sibia, the protagonist. She lives in the mud house in a noisy village. She is introduced as a thin starving
child dressed in an earth-coloured rag. She is 12 years old, but she has accepted the fact that she is born
to toil. To make her chapatti seem more, she divides it into several pieces. She stands amazed before
the sweetmeat stall but cannot have them. Satin sewn with silver thread and clothes with looking glass
embroidery seem wonderful to her eyes, but she has to collect paper grass from the cliff along with her
mother to provide for her daily needs. She imagines how nice it would be to hear the rattling swish of a
necklace around her neck, but she has to wait till her family can afford another needle to drill the seed
beads. The last scene of the story is very touching, as Sibia exclaims to her mother that she has found a
blue bead for her necklace. The battle that she fought with the crocodile to save the Gujar woman is
sidelined by her because this daily heroism is a part of the jungle life. What is of worth in Sibia’s poverty-
stricken life is the glittering blue bead. These things depict that poverty is one of the direct aspects
highlighted in the story.

Did Sibia ignore her heroism? Why?

Ans. Sibia was an extremely poor girl who led a simple life devoid of materialistic pleasures. The only
thing she owned was a rag. Thus, fighting a crocodile to save the Gujar woman was not as big an
achievement for her as that of finding a glittering blue bead. The blue bead was one of the unattainable
wonders for her that she managed to attain at the end. Thus, it was only natural for her to rejoice at
having discovered the glittering bead. Hence, Sibia says to her mother in ecstasy, ‘I found a blue bead for
my necklace’. Sibia was a courageous and adventurous girl. Even after being the heroine of such an
adventurous and life-threatening battle with the crocodile, the only detail that she considered
important to tell her mother was that she found a blue bead for her necklace. This immediately reveals
that though she had accepted her poor condition, deep in her heart, she wished to have the ‘wonders of
the world’ which are the amazing things that she saw in the bazaar.