‘Madam Rides the Bus’ is the story of a young girl who travels for the first time outside her village by a bus.

Important Question and Answers

Q. Why was Valli amazed to hear herself ‘a child’?

Ans. Valli did not consider herself a child. She had paid full fare of thirty paise for the trip like others when an elderly man called her a child and requested to sit down, she was amazed and said that there was none a child.

Q. What was Valli’s deepest desire?

Ans. Valli was an eight year old girl. She had listened to people who had travelled by bus and had gathered some details about the trip. It was her deepest desire to undertake a bus ride.

Q. What details did Valli pick up about the bus journey? How did she pick up these details?

Ans. The details that Valli picked up was about the distance that the bus travelled, the duration and fare. She gathered that information by hearing the conversation of others and by asking a discreet question or two.

Q. Give examples from the text to show that Valli was a meticulous planner?

Ans. Valli was a keen observer as well as a meticulous planner. Her desire to experience a bus ride was realized by systematic and organised planning. She had collected all the useful information by observing and planning and making discreet inquiries about the time of the bus, the duration of the journey as well as the fare. She was focussed and saved every penny to finance her trip and finally accomplished it by efficient execution of her plans.

Q. How did Valli save money for her first bus journey?

Ans. To save money for her first bus journey, she resisted the temptation of buying balloons, toys etc in the village fair. She also didn’t enjoy merry-go-round there. Hence, she collected the amount, required for the bus-journey.

Q. How can you say that the conductor was a good natured jolly fellow? Support your answer with examples.

Ans. The conductor of the bus was a good natured fellow, with pleasant manners. He was concerned that such a small girl was travelling to town alone and took care that she was comfortably seated. When Valli objected to being treated as a child, he took it in good spirit and jokingly addressed her ‘Madam’. His behaviour, thus, reflects the congeniality of his nature.

Q. Why does Valli stand upon the seat? What does she see now?

Ans. Valli could not see anything outside as the blind of the bus covered the lower part of the window. So, Valli stood up on her seat. Now, she was able to see the canal and the greenery beyond it.

Q. Why did Valli not get off from the bus when it was terminated at the bus stand? OR Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

Ans. Valli did not get off from the bus when it was terminated at the bus stand because she had come in the bus just for a ride and would go back in the same bus.

Q. How did Valli react when she saw the dead cow by the roadside?

Ans. When Valli saw the dead cow by the roadside, she became very sad. She was now in pensive mood as it was shocking to her that the animal she’d been laughing at just a while ago, was lying in the stillness of death.

Q. What information did Valli collect from her first bus ride?

Ans. The information that she collected was that the town was six miles from her village and it took thirty paise one way. She also came to know that the one way ride was of forty five minutes.

Q. How did Valli save up money for her first journey?

Ans. Valli needed sixty paise for her journey to the town and back home. She hardly ever saw that much money in a month. She had to save every coin that came her way. She stifled all her desires for toys, balloons and peppermints. She didn’t even ride the merry-go-round at the village fair. Thus, she was at last able to save just sixty paise for her first journey.