Everest Reactions
by R.K. Narayan (Roots)
Comprehension
Read and answers
1. Fill out the graphic organizer based on your understanding of the story.
= FIRST Thambi is a twelve-years old boy who brings exotic news from outside to spice up the monotonous life of the elders of his locality. The elders did not pay much importance to him doing so.
NEXT Thambi brings a real news of the conquest of the Everest by Tenzing and Hillary. The news was genuine. The elders could not totally deny the new.
THEN The elders started discussing about the news of the conquest of the Everest. Their expressions kept swinging on from dismay to disbelief. And it went for long time.
FINALLY Thambi brings a totally absurd news of his friend's father's bagging of five tiger at a time while hunting at the previous night.
2. What type of news did Thambi bring to everyone? Did people usually appreciate his reports?
= Thambi brought to everyone news of cricket scores, flying saucers, traffic accidents and other such matters.
People usually took them as a joke.
3. What is the first reaction to Thambi's news about the Everest being conquered?
= Firstly, the elders asked Thambi not to be absurd. They considered it to be a made-up story.
4. What did Thambi tell everyone about Everest's height? What is the reaction he receives to this information?
= Thambi told everyone that the Everest is about a thousand feet more than what it was thought to be.
They did not believe it to be true. They said that it is impossible as the dangerous attempt to scale the Everest was to be given up.
Reference to context
5. "What has happened to our own radio?"
a. Who says this and to whom?
= An elder who is close relative(as he asked him to keep to his books and not to loaf all over the place in the sun) of Thambi says this to him.
b. What is the response he/she gets?
= Finding that the subject was getting unnecessarily twisted, Thambi declared that the Everest had been climbed and that was all he knew.
c. What does this line tell us about the time in which this story is set?
= This line tells us about the time when people used to get news of the world on their radio.
6. "Impossible! Who has been putting ideas into your head?"
a. To what information does the speaker say 'Impossible'?
= The speaker says 'Impossible' to the information that the height of the Everest is about a thousand feet more than what it was thought to be.
b. What does it mean to 'put ideas into (someone's) head'?
= To 'put ideas into (someone's) head' means to make that person believe some strange and irrational facts.
7. "My friend's father who had gone hunting last night, it seems, has bagged five tigers simultaneously..."
a. Who is the speaker in this line?
= Thambi is the speaker in this line.
b. Why does the author choose to end the story with this dialogue?
= The author choses to end the story with this dialogue to show the habit of the childish nature of Thambi and put the readers in proper delusion.
c. How do you think the elders would have reacted to this news?
= I think the elders would have been awestruck to this news and they have not been properly digested the news of the Everest yet.
Reflect and answer
8. "With so much ice," said another with a business temperament, "suppose they find some means of quarrying all that ice and sending it down! It would revolutionize the cold-storage industry completely." Do you agree that this reaction to Thambi's news was the funniest part of the story? Why or why not?
= Yes, I do agree that this reaction to Thambi's news about Everest was the funniest part of the story.
The degree of imagination of this man breaks all the limit of wit. He is thinking of bringing the ice stack at the peak of the Everest. According to him, it would revolutionize the cold-storage industry. This would change the scenario of the refrigeration and air-conditioning industries. The employees of the same might have to find other job for their livelihood.
9. Is 'Everest Reactions' a suitable title for the story? Why or why not?
= In this story, Thambi is a twelve-years old boy who brings exotic news from outside to spice up the monotonous lives of the elders of his locality. The elders did not pay much attention to him doing so. Thambi brings a real news of the conquest of the Everest by Tenzing and Hillary. The news was genuine. The elders could not deny the news totally.
The elders started discussing about the news of the conquest of the Everest. Their expressions kept on swinging form dismay to disbelief. Ant it went for long time.
Major part of the story is enriched with the different shades of the reactions of the people against the news of the conquest of the Everest. The title is very apt and gives us hint about the essence of the story.
10. What can you infer about the elders in the story based on their reactions to Thambi's news?
= The elders reacted on the fact that the Everest is about a thousand feet more than what it was thought to be. They knew that the dangerous attempt to scale Everest was to be given up. Ultimately they accepted the news with a sort of gloom.
Their reactions were interesting to watch. Somehow, there was a general sense of disappointment at the fact that the Everest had been conquered. It would have been so nice to have left the Everest as an unassailable part of the earth.
Some said that the masterpiece of planning was the secret of the success. Some said it is the magic of astrology. They referred to the Tirupati, Colonel Hunt while reacting to this news. Another said that Everest would be everyone's favourite holiday destination. The other said about the possibility of bringing ice from the peak of the Everest and make the refrigeration and air-conditioning industries a lose.
About the Author :
R. K. Narayan (1906 - 2001), born in Chennai, in one of the finest Indian storytellers. Narayan worked as a teacher for a short while, before deciding to dedicate his life to literature. His writing career began with short stories that were published in The Hindu. Narayan's first novel, Swami and Friends, took his readers along on the adventures of a group of school boys and earned him fame. His works typically portrayed the quirks of human relationships in a simple, graceful and humorous way.