Navigating through the English Language and Literature curriculum for Class 10 requires an in-depth understanding of realistic fiction, character motivation, adolescent psychology, and descriptive prose. Chapter 7 of First Flight, “Madam Rides the Bus” by Tamil writer Vallikkannan (translated by K. S. Sundaram), is a charming and sensitive story about an eight-year-old village girl named Valliammai (Valli). Driven by an intense curiosity to explore the world beyond her doorstep, Valli meticulously plans, finances, and executes her first solo bus journey to the nearby town. The narrative contrasts her spirited innocence and fierce self-respect against the sobering reality of death and the broader mysteries of life. To help students master every aspect of this unit, this comprehensive solutions guide offers textbook-accurate, highly structured, and pedagogically sound responses aligned with the latest CBSE evaluation standards.
Every question presented in the official NCERT textbook—ranging from all four in-text Oral Comprehension Check sections to analytical thinking questions, character trait evaluations, vocabulary exercises on idioms and phrasal verbs, and board-level FAQs—has been solved with exhaustive detail. Key scoring terms, character attributes (such as self-respecting, meticulous planner, independent, and observant), and thematic nuances have been highlighted to provide students with the exact textual evidence required by CBSE examiners. By reviewing these model answers, students will gain clarity on how to structure their responses, observe word limits, and secure top marks in their board examinations.
NCERT Class 10 English Madam Rides the Bus Solutions
The story revolves around Valli, an eight-year-old girl who has no playmates of her own age. Her favorite pastime is standing in the front doorway of her house, watching the bustling street outside. Her greatest fascination is the passenger bus that travels between her village and the nearest town every hour. Gradually, an overwhelming desire to ride the bus takes root in her mind. Instead of acting impulsively, Valli demonstrates remarkable maturity: she gathers information about the fare and timings, painstakingly saves every coin, resists childhood temptations at the village fair, and embarks on a solo afternoon bus journey.
During her journey, Valli interacts with an amused, cheerful bus conductor who jokingly calls her “madam,” marvels at the scenic countryside, and laughs joyfully at a running cow. However, on her return journey, the sight of the same cow lying dead by the roadside fills her with profound sorrow, introducing her to the fragile boundary between life and death. Below are the complete and detailed solutions for every section of the chapter.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 119)
Question 1 What was Valli’s favourite pastime? (Page No. 119) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli’s favorite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house and watching everything that was happening in the street outside. Since she had no playmates of her own age on her street, watching the varied activities, passersby, and vehicles gave her countless novel and unusual experiences.
Question 2 What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire? (Page No. 119)
Answer: The sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town once every hour was a source of unending joy for Valli. Watching it filled each time with a completely new set of passengers provided her with endless delight.
Her strongest, overwhelming desire was to ride on that bus just once. This wish gradually grew stronger until it became an intense and irresistible longing.
Question 3 What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details? (Page No. 119) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: By carefully listening to conversations between her neighbors and regular bus users, and by asking a few discreet questions, Valli gathered the following essential details about the journey:
- Distance: The town was six miles from her village.
- Fare: The one-way bus fare was thirty paise (making sixty paise for a round trip).
- Duration: The journey took forty-five minutes to reach the town.
Question 4 What do you think Valli was planning to do? (Page No. 119)
Answer: Valli was meticulously planning to take a solo round-trip on the bus to the town and back without her mother’s knowledge. She calculated that if she boarded the one o’clock afternoon bus, she would reach the town at 1:45 PM and return home on the same bus by 2:45 PM, right during her mother’s daily afternoon nap.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 122)
Question 1 Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’? (Page No. 122) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: The conductor was a jovial, good-humored man who noticed that eight-year-old Valli was behaving with extraordinary self-confidence, dignity, and independence.
She refused his physical help to board the bus, paid her thirty paise fare proudly, and insisted that she was fully capable of looking after herself like an adult. Amused by her grown-up demeanor, the conductor playfully and respectfully addressed her as ‘madam’.
Question 2 Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now? (Page No. 122)
Answer: Valli stood up on her seat because a lower canvas blind covered the lower part of the window, obstructing her outside view while sitting.
Standing up gave her a clear, unobstructed panoramic view of the outside world. She saw:
- The bus moving along the bank of a canal.
- Beyond the canal lay palm trees, grasslands, distant mountains, and the vast blue sky.
- On the opposite side was a deep ditch and acres upon acres of lush green fields stretching as far as the eye could see.
Question 3 What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child? (Page No. 122)
Answer: When an elderly passenger expressed genuine concern and told her she shouldn’t stand on the seat like a child, Valli retorted haughtily and firmly:
- She asserted that “there is nobody here who’s a child.”
- She emphasized that she was a full-fare paying passenger who had paid her thirty paise just like everyone else and demanded to be treated as an equal adult.
Question 4 Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman? (Page No. 122) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli found the elderly woman sitting next to her utterly repulsive and repulsive in appearance and habits:
- The woman had large, ugly holes in her earlobes with hideous earrings hanging in them.
- She was chewing betel nut, and the betel juice threatened to spill over her lips at any moment.
- Furthermore, the woman asked nosy, condescending questions about Valli travelling all alone, which annoyed Valli’s sense of privacy.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 125)
Question 1 How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her? (Page No. 125) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli saved the required sixty paise through immense discipline, self-restraint, and thrift:
- She systematically saved every stray coin that came her way.
- She strictly resisted every childish temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and sweets.
- The hardest test occurred at the village fair, where she resolutely stifled her strong desire to ride the merry-go-round, keeping her coins securely saved.
No, it was not at all easy for an eight-year-old child; it required extraordinary willpower and sacrifice.
Question 2 What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh? (Page No. 125)
Answer: Valli saw a young cow running at full speed right in the middle of the road, directly in front of the bus, with its tail held high in the air.
Whenever the driver honked the horn loudly, the frightened animal only galloped faster right in the path of the vehicle. The comical sight amused Valli so much that she laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks.
Question 3 Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station? (Page No. 125)
Answer: Valli did not get off at the bus station because her sole objective was the experience of the bus ride itself. She had only saved sixty paise—thirty for the journey to town and thirty for the immediate return trip. Furthermore, being a sensible child, she was afraid of getting lost or wandering alone in the unfamiliar town.
Question 4 Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her? (Page No. 125) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli refused to go to the refreshment stall because she did not have any spare money for a cold drink. When the generous bus conductor kindly offered to buy her a drink with his own money, she politely but firmly declined the offer.
This incident reveals several admirable traits about Valli:
- Fierce Self-Respect: She had self-esteem and refused to accept favors or charity from strangers.
- High Discipline and Integrity: She knew her financial limits and stayed strictly within them.
- Maturity Beyond Her Years: She possessed the wisdom to decline food or drinks from someone she had just met.
Thinking about the Text
Question 1 What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this. (Page No. 127)
Answer: Valli’s deepest desire was to ride on the bus that travelled between her village and the town.
The textual words and phrases that vividly capture the intensity of this longing include:
- “an overwhelming desire”
- “the wish became stronger and stronger, until it was an overwhelming desire”
- “Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus”
- “their faces would kindle in her longings, dreams, and hopes”
Question 2 How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save the fare? (Page No. 127) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli planned her bus ride with meticulous attention to detail:
- Information Gathering: She spent months listening to passengers and asking discreet questions, discovering that the town was six miles away, the fare was thirty paise one way, and the trip took forty-five minutes.
- Time Management: She selected the 1:00 PM to 2:45 PM window because her mother always napped during this time, ensuring her absence would go unnoticed.
- Financial Planning: She accumulated sixty paise by denying herself peppermints, toys, balloons, and resisting the village fair merry-go-round.
Question 3 What kind of a person is Valli? Pick out the words and phrases from the text that substantiate your answer. (Page No. 127) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Valli is an extraordinary eight-year-old girl who possesses a rare combination of curiosity, self-respect, intelligence, and emotional depth:
- Meticulous and Determined: She planned her journey down to the minute (“meticulous planning”, “calculated and recalculated”).
- Self-Respecting and Independent: She refused help and charity (“I can get on by myself,” “I don’t want your cold drink”).
- Observant and Inquisitive: She closely monitored human behavior and natural scenery (“watching with all her eyes”).
- Sensitive and Empathetic: The tragic death of the cow deeply affected her spirit (“haunted by the memory of the dead cow”), showing her emotional depth.
Question 4 Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back? (Page No. 127) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: On her return journey, Valli saw the same playful young cow lying dead by the roadside, bleeding and struck down by a fast-moving vehicle.
The horrifying sight of the dead creature—which only an hour ago had been full of vitality, charm, and life—shattered her joy. Overcome with grief and the grim reality of death, a terrible sadness settled over her, and she sat quietly glued to her seat, refusing to look out of the window for the remainder of the journey.
Question 5 What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”? (Page No. 127)
Answer: When Valli returned home, she overheard her mother and aunt conversing about how countless things happen in the outside world without people’s knowledge.
Valli smiled to herself and agreed with the statement because she had just successfully completed a secret bus journey to the town and back without her mother ever knowing about it. Her remark was a clever, private acknowledgment of her secret adventure.
Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises Explained
Exercise 1: Phrasal Verbs and Idiomatic Expressions (Page No. 128) Understand the meaning of the phrasal verbs used in the story:
Answer:
- Set out: To start a journey. Sentence: Valli set out on her bus journey at one o’clock in the afternoon.
- Get on: To board a vehicle. Sentence: She refused the conductor’s hand and got on the bus by herself.
- Get off: To alight or descend from a vehicle. Sentence: Valli decided not to get off the bus at the town terminal.
- Kindle in: To ignite or awaken feelings or desires. Sentence: The sight of the passengers kindled a strong longing in Valli’s heart.
- Stifle a desire: To suppress or hold back a strong wish. Sentence: Valli stifled her desire to ride the merry-go-round to save her coins.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Class 10 English Chapter 7
Question 1: What kind of character is the bus conductor in “Madam Rides the Bus”? Answer: The conductor is a cheerful, kind-hearted, and jovial man. He enjoys harmless banter, appreciates Valli’s self-confidence, playfully calls her “madam,” and generously offers to buy her a cold drink when she refuses to get off at the town.
Question 2: How old was Valli, and what was her full name? Answer: Valli was eight years old, and her full formal name was Valliammai.
Question 3: How much was the bus fare from Valli’s village to the town? Answer: The bus fare was thirty paise for a one-way trip, amounting to sixty paise for a complete round trip.
Question 4: What realization about life and death does Valli experience during the journey? Answer: Seeing the playful cow running joyfully on the way to the town and then finding it dead and bloodied on the return trip makes Valli realize how fragile life is and how quickly beauty and vitality can turn into tragedy.
Question 5: Why did Valli refuse the conductor’s offer of a free cold drink? Answer: Valli refused the drink because she was a self-respecting girl who did not want to accept favors from strangers and had strictly budgeted only for her bus ticket.
Mastering the NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 7, “Madam Rides the Bus”, ensures complete preparation for both factual comprehension and high-weightage character sketch questions. Pay close attention to Valli’s planning skills, the contrast between the live cow and the dead cow, and her interactions with the conductor to score full marks in your CBSE Board Examinations.