Prose : Chapter 10 Kathmandu English - Prose : Chapter 10 Kathmandu

I find it difficult to tear myself away from the square. Flute music always does this to me: it is at once the most universal and most particular of sounds. There is no culture that does not have its flute— the reed neh, the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America, the high-pitched Chinese flutes. Each has its specific fingering and compass. It weaves its own associations. Yet to hear any flute is, it seems to me, to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind, to be moved by music closest in its phrases and sentences to the human voice. Its motive force too is living breath: it too needs to pause and breathe before it can go on.
That I can be so affected by a few familiar phrases on the bansuri, surprises me at first, for on the previous occasions that I have returned home after a long absence abroad, I have hardly noticed such details, and certainly have not invested them with the significance I now do.
(i) What makes it difficult for the narrator to leave the square?
(ii) What kind of music deeply affects the narrator?
(iii) Name at least four types of flutes mentioned in the passage.
(iv) What is common about all flutes across cultures?
(v) How is flute music similar to the human voice?
(vi) What is meant by “its motive force too is living breath”?
(vii) Why is the narrator surprised by his own reaction to the bansuri?
(viii) Find words from the passage that mean:
(a) musical instrument of Japanese origin
(b) musical instrument of Hindustani classical music

Why did the writer not want to tear himself away from the square?

What is the belief about a small shrine protruding from the stone platform on the river bank ?

Why were the Westerners struggling for permission to enter Pashupatinath?

Who are elbowed aside? By whom?

What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug ?

Why does the author consider the pollution of Bagmati River disturbing? What measures should we take to preserve the sanctity of holy rivers in India?

Describe the various types of confusion the author observed outside the temple in Kathmandu. What should be done to maintain peace and sanctity in such religious places?

What confusions and chaos did the author notice outside the Pashupatinath temple? What does it tell us about temple management in India and Nepal?

Describe the flute-seller’s way of life and his attitude towards selling. What lesson do you learn from him?

Do you think talents like the flute-seller are ignored in society? What can be done to support such people?

What did the author buy from Kathmandu?

How was the atmosphere at the Baudhnath shrine ?

What were the activities which one can notice at the Bagmati river?

Why did the policeman stop the party of Westerners in the temple?

How was the atmosphere at Pashupatinath?

Which two temples did the writer visit?

What did the writer mean by saying ‘All this I wash down with Coca Cola.”?

Tell the other names of the Flute.

What is Kaliyug as per Hindu Mythology?

What was there at the banks of river Bagmati?