Testament of a Walker: Alternative English

 

Testament of a Walker:

1.      In Narayan’s opinion, what does he lack? (2015/2016)

Ans- In Narayan’s opinion, he lacks automobile sensibility. He carries a different thought about values in a car. He believes that man is destined to walk and hence he has been given a pair of legs.

2.      What name does the author propose for his most ambitious work? 2016/ 2019

Ans- The author has been planning his most ambitious work since several years. He has titled it Testament of a Walker.

3.      Who fell on Narayan’s car when it was parked in front of the hospital? 2017

Ans- Two cyclists collided and fell on Narayan’s car when it was parked in front of the hospital. As a result the parking light on the left side was completely smashed.

4.      Which part of the author’s car could not ordinarily be replaced?

Ans- The parking light on the left side of the imported car could not ordinarily be replaced.

5.      For how long during the ten years he uses the car, is the air conditioner switched on? 2017

Ans- During the ten years that Narayan used the car, the air conditioner was switched on for a total period of thirty minutes.

6.      For how long does Narayan use his car? 2015,2019

Ans- Narayan used his car for a period of ten years.

7.      What does Narayan began to fear after every visit to the workshop? 2019

Ans- After his visit to the workshop, Narayan began to fear that he would go bankrupt if he had to continue to sell out exorbitant amount of more every other week for his car.

8.      What did R.K.Narayan do to turn his energies again to write stories? ( 2019)

Ans- R.K.Narayan decieded to get rid of the car locked it up in the shed as soon as possible to turn his energies again to write stories.

9.      Which part of the author’s car could not ordinarily be replaced. (2018, 20)

Ans- The curvature of the author’s car could not ordinarily be replaced.

10.  Why do you think the author is indifferent to the mention of any petrol hike? 2018

Ans- The author is indifferent to the mention of any petrol hike because he believed that man’s destiny lay in walking and it was the reason God had endowed man with a pair of legs.

11.  What name does R.K Narayan propose for his most ambitious work? 2016

Ans- Narayan most ambitious work that he had been planning for year was to write a book entitle ‘ The Testament of a Walker’.

12.  What does R.K.Narayan lack and yet dose not regret? 2016

Ans- According to R.K. Narayan he lacked automobile sensibility that is a knowledge of or feeling for automobiles.

              No, Narayan did not regret this.

13.  What name does R.K.Narayan propose for his most ambitious work? 2016

Ans- Narayan most ambitious work that he had been planning for years was to write a book entitle ‘ The Testament of a walker’.

14.  Why do you think the author is indifferent at the mention of any petrol ‘hike’? 2016, 2018

Ans- The author is indifferent at the mention of any petrol hike because he prefers to walk and firmly believes that man has a pair of legs and so  is destined to walk. The author also feels that the price hiking will end when it reaches a point, where it can’t be hiked any further.

15.  What are the things that Narayan values most? How are they lost when he moves about in his gaudy car? 2016

Ans- Among the things that Narayan values the most are privacy and anonymity. Travelling in his big car makes him visible and attracts people and he does not like to draw attention towards himself. He compares going in his car to sitting in a howdah on the back of an elephant and hoping to go unnoticed.

16.  Why does Narayan call himself a fanatic?

Ans- Narayan calls himself a fanatic as he is passionate about walking. In his younger days he used to walk more than ten miles in a day. He still continues to derive satisfaction from his habit of walking daily. Even when the weather is bad, he walks in the veranda, though spectators may see and fell about him as a caged bear.

17.  What made the author fear that he would soon become bankrupt? 2015, 2017,2019

Ans- The workshop where Narayan used to take his car for servicing and repair cost him much. They also used to direct him to an exclusive shop to purchase spare parts, where the prices were fit for royalty. The frequent trips to the workshop made him fear that he would soon become bankrupt.

18.  I began to fear that at this rate (  I was obliged to visit the workshop every other week to shed my savings), I should soon reach the brink of bankruptcy effortlessly. 2016

Ans- These lines are from the essay ‘Testament of a Walker’ by R.K. Narayan. In the essay, he narrates his woes on becoming the owner of an imported car. In these lines, he expresses his concern that regular visits to the workshop would soon drive him to bankruptcy. The workshop, where Narayan used to take his car for servicing and repair was a costly one. They also used to direct him an exclusive shop for purchase of spare parts, where the prices were fit for royalty. The frequent trips to the workshop made him fear that he would soon become bankrupt.

 

19.  Why did R. K. Narayan avoid all public engagements and invitations? 2020

Ans- R.K. Narayan loved his privacy and anonymity and he valued it most. Since he had owns a imported car, he becomes centre of attraction and he don’t like such as he loves privacy. He becomes conspicuous to all. In a small city like Mysore, it becomes very difficult for the author to hide from the people.

              He generally avoids all public engagement and invitations with the excuse that he will be away to Bangalore or Madras or Delhi. It is because he did not want to lose his two most valued things of his life, i.e. his privacy and anonymity.

20.  What are the reasons for the author’s impervious attitude towards his car? 2019

Ans- The author has an impervious attitude towards his car because to him a car in itself is not valuable but it is useful in taking him from one place to another. He is happy if in the name of a car, he gets a seat and four wheels that can roll.

21.  Among the things I valued are privacy and anonymity, both are lost when I allow myself to be carried about in a gaudy car. 2018

Ans- The given lines have been extracted from the satirical Prose piece ‘The Testament of a Walker’ written by R.K. Narayan. Narayan valued his privacy and anonymity the most. Both of these were lost when he moved about in his gaudy car because his car’s sophisticated nature and unique looks  people’s interest,and thus it always resulted in him being noticed by people. Thus Narayan compared his car to a howdah atop an elephant and rued that neither could escape the curious glances and questioning looks of passers- by.

22.  Lack automobile sensibility and do not regret it. 2017

Ans- The given lines have been extracted from the satirical prose piece ‘ The Testament of a Walker’ by R.K. Narayana and describe his philosophy on walking.

              In the satirical prose piece, Narayan confides in his readers that he lacked automobiles sensibility or knowledge of or feeling for automobile. But this was not something Narayana regretted because he was a staunch believer of the philosophy that man’s destiny lay in walking. This in turn left him indifferent to any news of hike in petrol prices because he rejoiced to think that the hikes might one day lead man to discover the lost art of walking and he will realize the true worth of his pair of legs.  

23.  Describe the author’s imported car. 2018

Ans- Though the author lacked automobile sensibility, he owned an imported car. For him an automobile was just means to an end. He was happy and satisfied if he got a seat and four wheels that can roll and take him to his destination. He was blind to all other point of a car. But he owned a flashy and sophisticated car which attract people in mass who saw it. The car was having a lot of facilities. It had recessed handle, steering manoeuvrable with a flick of a finger, push button glass raiser, floating seats, multicolour speedometer, calculator air conditioner, tape recorder, digital alarms with calculator etc. All these would examine the author’s dash board panel admiringly. But sadly out, author never understood the purpose of most of these buttons, switches and gadgets. It found safer to leave them alone. The air conditioner which was supposed to make one’s journey dust free and give comfort in heat and noise, was switched on very less. During the ten years of duration when he used the car for a total period of thirty minutes which worked out to less than three minutes a years.

24.  Why is the acquisition of a sophisticated imported car an irrelevancy and nuisance for Narayan? (2016)

Ans- Acquisition of a sophisticated imported car was an irrelevancy and nuisance for Narayan because apart from its high maintenance cost and the necessity of driving a hundred miles for every simple repair job, driving around in it meant the end of his privacy and anonymity. Much to R.K.Narayan dismay his new car led to him being notices by people everywhere. He could not lie his way out of public engagements with fake excuses about being out if town, as his new car led to his movement being notices every time he drove inside the town. Thus his car attracted more people’s interest and they reacted with genuine curiosity and admiration. Moreover being in possession of a car also hampered his habit of taking long daily walks. Thus, Narayan ended up feeling that buying an imported car was not best decision he had made.