Chapter 8
A House Is Not a home
1. What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother's reaction? What does she do?
(এটা দেওবাৰে আবেলি লেখকে কি লক্ষ্য কৰে? তেওঁৰ মাকৰ প্ৰতিক্ৰিয়া কি? তাই কি কৰে?)
Answer:- One Sunday evening the writer smelled something strange, and then he saw smoke coming through the seams in the ceiling. The smoke quickly began to fill the room. The author and his mother ran out of the house.
The author ran to a neighbor to call the fire department, while his mother ran home. She then ran out of the house with a small metal box filled with important documents. She threw the case on the lawn and ran home to get a photograph of the author's dead father, the wee only thing she had to remember him by.
2. Why does he break down in tears after the fire?
(জুই লগাৰ পিছত তেওঁ কিয় চকুপানীত ভাগি পৰে?)
Answer:- Five hours later, when the fire was finally out, the author felt his cat was nowhere to be found. When he remembered the new school he was going to attend, the fire in his house and his cat, who also died in the fire, he cried. He suffered great losses.
3. Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words show his fear and insecurity?
(পিছদিনা স্কুলত লেখকে কিয় গভীৰভাৱে বিব্রত হয়? কোনবোৰ শব্দই তেওঁৰ ভয় আৰু নিৰাপত্তাহীনতা দেখুৱায়?)
Answer:- The next day at school, the writer is embarrassed as the clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his backpack was gone. He felt insecure and desperate.
The words that show his fear and insecurity are: “I didn’t want to grow up, change or have to handle life if it was going to be this way. I just wanted to curl up and die.”
4. The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?
(মেকুৰী আৰু লেখক ইজনে সিজনক বৰ ভাল পায়। কাহিনীটোত এইটো কেনেকৈ দেখুওৱা হৈছে? জুই লগাৰ পিছত মেকুৰীটো ক'ত আছিল? কোনে ইয়াক ঘূৰাই আনিছে আৰু কেনেকৈ?)
Answer:- The bond between the cat and the author is shown in multiple examples in the story. For example, the author says, "She was never far from me. I rescued her when she was a kitten, and somehow she knew I was responsible for giving her the 'good life.'
When the author realizes his cat is gone, he says, "Then all at once it hit me- the new school, the fire, my cat- I cried and cried. I was at a loss, big time."
The cat was so startled by the fire that she ran a mile away. She had our phone number on her collar, but the author's phone was destroyed and disconnected. A strange woman took her in and worked hard to find out whose cat this was. She had brought the cat back to the author.
5. What Actions of the schoolmates change the author's understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?
(স্কুলীয়া সহপাঠীসকলৰ কেনে কাৰ্য্যই লেখকৰ জীৱন আৰু মানুহৰ বিষয়ে বুজাবুজি সলনি কৰে আৰু তেওঁক আৱেগিকভাৱে সান্ত্বনা দিয়ে? তেওঁৰ একাকীত্ব কেনেকৈ নাইকিয়া হয় আৰু তেওঁ কেনেকৈ জীৱনত অংশগ্ৰহণ কৰা আৰম্ভ কৰে?)
Answer:- The author’s schoolmates showed genuine concern for him. On his second day at his new school, people insisted he go early and go to the gym. The author arrived at the gym. There was a big table with all kinds of supplies, just for me. They had a collection and bought me school supplies, notebooks and all sorts of different clothes- jeans, tops, sweatsuits. People who had never spoken to him before approached him to introduce themselves. He received all kinds of invitations to their homes. This event changed the author's life and people's understanding.
That was the day he made friends at school. Thus his loneliness disappeared, and he began to participate in life.
6. What is the meaning of "My cat was back and so was I"? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?
("মোৰ মেকুৰীটো ঘূৰি আহিছিল আৰু মইও আছিলোঁ" ৰ অৰ্থ কি? লেখক জনক লৈও গৈছিল নেকি? তেওঁ কিয় কয় যে তেওঁ ঘূৰি আহিছে?)
Answer:- The author wasn't going anywhere. He says the given statement because he was finally able to sort things out in his life.
He suffered great losses. He lost his friends and teachers from the old school, his house burned down and his cat was missing.
Gradually he made new friends at the new school and saw his house rebuilt. When a strange woman returned her cat to him, he said, "My cat was back, and so was I". He explains that now his life is whole again- friends, home and his cat- now he had everything he lost.
Type by Dipawali Bora.
Post ID: DABP001928
