Question 129
HardOriginal questionOn her first day at the new school in Pune, Anjali ate lunch alone, because she did not know anyone and because her lunchbox smelled of fish curry. She had noticed the girl beside her when she opened it.
On the second day, she asked her mother for sandwiches.
Her mother looked at her for a moment and then, without a word, packed the fish curry again, with extra rice.
Anjali was all morning. At lunch she opened the box as little as she could, holding the lid half-closed like a . That was when a voice behind her said, "Is that macher jhol?"
It was a tall boy from the back row, Rohan, whom she had heard the teacher twice already. He was holding a steel box of his own. "My dadi makes it," he said, "but hers is always too spicy. Swap you half for half?"
His box held poha, bright yellow and dotted with peanuts. Anjali, who had eaten poha every week of her life in Kolkata and never once liked it, found that it was the best thing she had tasted in a month.
By Friday, four of them were sharing. Nobody asked for sandwiches again. Anjali never told her mother what had happened; she her mother had guessed.
Why did Anjali find the poha "the best thing she had tasted in a month", though she had never liked it before?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Until then she had eaten alone and felt judged for her food. Rohan's offer to swap was the first act of friendship in the new school.
The poha tastes wonderful because of what the moment means to her, not because the food has changed.
Worth noting
Nothing in the story says the poha was made differently. The change is in Anjali's situation.
- Concept
- Understanding why a character's feelings change
- Typical timeTypical
- 55 s
- Your timeYours
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Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.