【#】A Devoted Son Exercise Questions and Answers Class 12 by Anita Mazumdar

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Summary Of A Devoted Son by Anita Desai

The story is all about the family of Verma. Verma family had Rakesh, his mother, and his father. Rakesh was very disciplined and respectful towards his parents and society. All the neighbours and relatives used to praise him for his good behaviour. His father used to work in a Kerosene Delears Deport, whereas, his grandfather was a vegetable seller, and his mother was a housewife.

             

The story begins with Mr. Verma having a cup of tea and his son Rakesh comes to him touches his feet and says "At the top of the list, Papa," and shows him the morning papers.

            

His family organized a celebration for his achievement. All the neighbours praises him for his good behaviour and all the members of his family were happy. His father had done a lot of hard work for his quality education and better future. Rakesh was the first children from Verma family to get education and achieve such a big achievement.

Rakesh got scholarship in The USA for his further studies. He went there and completed his studies and won a lot of prizes. He was called upon to work in one of the reputed and fine hospital in the USA. Though getting a very prestigious job he always wanted to stay with his family and work in his own nation.

Rakesh comes back to his own country in his small house. His mother was afraid that he would bring a foreigner wife as the whole society were saying, but she was happy seeing Rakesh agree to marry a girl of her choice and so does he. He was married to a girl of his mother's choice, though she was uneducated. They had their first baby son. 

He started working in the city hospital, quickly rising to the top of the administrative organization. He was made director of the hospital. Soon, he left his job and started his own clinic. He took his family in his new car "Sky Blue Ambassador" having a rear window full of stickers and charms revolving on strings to see them his clinic. He was honoured as the "Richest Doctor in the Town."

His mother started feeling ill and she finally died. This gave a huge shock to Rakesh and his family, mainly his father. His father started acting as a mental after the death of his wife. This brutal truth couldn't be handled by his father. His father suffered from a unknown disease which Rakesh being the top doctor couldn't find. 

Diseases like cholera, typhoid, gastritis, were flourishing very fast in his town. So, he decided to restrict his father eating sweets like jalabei and foods like suji-halwae and all the fried oily food which his father used to consume a lot in his diet and which he loved eating. After Rakesh ban his oily fried diet his father used to have a lot of complaint on his diets. 

He even bribed his grandchildren, giving him 50 paisas and ordering him to buy him jalebie worth 30 paisas and rest 20 paisas to get something for his grandson himself. This was known by Rakesh soon, and he scolded his father in low voice. Rakesh was disappointed to see him bribing his son.

Boiled vegetables, boiled fish and meat, and healthy foods were added to his diets, which his old father hated. Mr. Verma had a lot of medicines. Now he just wanted to die.

One day, Rakesh came home in the evening with a bottle containing medicines and syrup, but his father refused to have it. He smashed the bottle and thick brown syrup was splashed up. He gave one push to the pillows at his back and dislodged them, so he could sink down on his back, quite flat again. He closed his eyes and pointed his chin at the ceiling, like some dire prophet, groaning, “God is calling me now let me go.”

Finally, his father died and the story ends here.

Anita Desai Biography: 

         Anita Desai, original name Anita Mazumdar, (1937) is an Indian novelist, short story writer and the writer of children’s books. As a biracial child born to a German mother and Indian father, Desai was exposed to German, Hindi and English language from her childhood. After completing her B. A. from University of Delhi, Desai began to publish her stories and novels. 

         Her novels Cry, The Peacock (1963) Where Shall We Go this Summer (1975), Fire on the Mountain (1977), Clear Light of the Day (1980), In Custody (1984) Baumgartner’s Bombay (1988), Journey to Ithaca (1995), Feasting, Feasting (1999) and Zigzag Way (2004) received mixed response from the readers. She received Shahitya Academy Award for her novel Fire on the Mountain. Her novel In Custody was adapted into a film in 1993. She published several volumes of short stories, including Games at Twilight and Other Stories (1978), Diamond Dust and Other Stories (2000). Two of her Children’s Books The Village and the Sea (1982) and The Artist of Disappearance (2011) became popular among Indian children. 

           ‘The Devoted Son’ is extracted from her collection of stories, The Complete Short Stories. ‘A Devoted Son’ is a realistic story set in a middle-class Indian family in an Indian village. The story shows how parents cherish their ambition towards their children and how a son should fulfil his duty towards the parents.

A Devoted Son Exercise NEB Class 12

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions:

a. How did the morning bring ambiance of celebration in the Verma family?

➽ The morning brought ambiance of celebration in the Verma family as the results of Rakesh had appeared in the morning papers at the top of the list.

b. How did the community celebrate Rakesh's success ?

➽ The community celebrated Rakesh's success by visiting into their small yellow house at the end of the road to congratulate Rakesh and go slap him on the back and fill the house and garden with the sounds and colours of a festival.

c. Why was Rakesh's success a special matter of discussion in the neighbourhood?

➽ Rakesh's success was a special matter of discussion in the neighbourhood because he was the first son in the family to receive an education. SO much had been sacrificed in order to send him to school and then medical college, and at last the fruits of their sacrifice had arrived, which was golden and glorious.

Rakesh's exemplary behaviour that he touched the feet of his father as soon as he saw his results made Rakesh success a special matter of discussion in the neighbours.

d. How does the author make fun with the words 'America' and 'The USA' ?

➽ Rakesh had won a scholarship in the USA. His father learnt it to be called as 'The USA' and taught the rest of his family not to say America, which was what the ignorant neighbours called it, and he felt grand familiarity saying 'The USA'. Hence, in this way, the author makes fun of the words 'America' and 'The USA'.

e. How does the author characterize Rakesh's wife?

➽ The author characterized Rakesh's wife as an uneducated pretty, old-fashioned , so placid, so complaisant that she slipped into the household and settled in like a charm, seemingly too lazy and too good - natured to even try and make Rakesh leave home and setup independently.

f. Describe how Rakesh rises in his career?

➽ Rakesh being the first son in the family to receive an education gives a golden and glorious result to his parents, appearing at the top of the list in the morning papers.
He wins a scholarship, and he goes to The USA for his further medical studies. He pursued his career in the most prestigious of all hospitals and won encomiums from his American colleagues, which was relayed to his admiring and glowing family.
He came back to his house. He was married and his first baby son. Likewise, he started working in the city hospitals, quickly rising to the top of the administrative organization. He was made director of the hospitals.

He left his job after being the director and started his own clinic. Furthermore, he took his parents in his new car called Sky Blue Ambassador having a rear window full of stickers and charms revolving on strings to see them his clinic.

He was known as the richest doctor in the town.

g. How does the author describe Rakesh's family background?

➽ Rakesh comes from a poor Indian village. They live in a shabby little colony at the edge of the city. His father works at a Kerosene delears deport. Whereas, his grandfather used to sell vegetables in the market for living. His father had never seen the inside of a school, and his mother spent her life in a kitchen.

Since, they were from poor background his father always wanted his son to get educated and be an examples and pride for his whole family. Rakesh was the first son in the family to receive education.

His family are very old-fashioned, calm and peaceful who listens and have the fear of the society.

h. What is the impact of Rakesh's mother's death on his father?

➽ Rakesh father quickly went to pieces after the death of his wife or Rakesh mother. He developed so many complaints and fell ill so frequently and suffered with such mysterious disease that even his son could no longer make out when it was something of significance and when it was merely a peevish whim.

He sat huddled on his string bed most of the day and developed an exasperating habit of stretching out suddenly and lying absolutely still, allowing the whole family to fly around him in a flap, wailing and weeping, and then suddenly sitting up, stiff and gaunt, and spitting out a big gob of betel juice as if to mock their behaviour.

i. What did Rakesh do to make his father's old age more comfortable?

➽ Rakesh used to bring his father his morning tea, not in one of the china cups from which the rest of the family drink, but in the old's man favourite brass tumbler, and sat at the edge of his bed, comfortable and relaxed and readout morning news for his father.

Rakesh used to help his father down the steps and onto the bed, soothing him settling him down for a night under the stars.

Rakesh had restricted sojjie-halwa, sweets and eventually everything that the old man enjoyed and put dry-bread, boiled lentils, boiled vegetables and abit of chicken and fish, that was boiled too.

These were the things that Rakesh did to make his father more comfortable in his old age.

j. Why did the old man try to bribe his grand-children ?

➽ The old man tried to bribe his grand children in order to buy him sweets and jalebis from the shop at the crossroads.

k. Are Mr Verma's complaints about his diets reasonable? How?

➽ No, I don't think that Mr. Verma's complaints about his diet is reasonable. His son had stopped sweets and fried foods just for his healthy life. He wanted his father to have healthy food and drinks.

Rakesh had some responsibility towards his father. The cases of cholera, typhoid, gastroenteritis, were increasing rapidly in the city and being a doctor how could he allow his own family mainly his old father to run such risks.

In the old age, people are weak. They have weak immune power. They suffer from diseases easily. Eating sujihalwa and sweets like jalebis can be harmful for Mr. Verma's health.

So, I think that Mr. Verma's complaints about his diets were not reasonable. His son Rakesh was just conscious about his old and weak father's health. He didn't want to lose his father as he had already loosed his mother.

Reference to the context

a. How did Verma couple make sacrifices for their son's higher education?

➽ Mr. Verma being a worker in a Kerosense Delear Deport and Mrs. Verma being a housewife doing household things have done and made alot of sacrifices for their son's higher education.

Mr. Verma had never seen the inside of a school as he was the son of a vegetable seller but he always wanted to get education. So, he wanted to fulfill his dreams through his son hence, he sent Rakesh to school for quality education. Rakesh was the first son in the family to receive an education.

So much had been sacrificed inorder to send him to school and then medical college, and at last the fruits of their sacrifice had arrived golden and glorious.

b. Mr. Verma suffers from diseases one after another after his wife's death. Would he have enjoyed better health if she had not died before him? Give reasons.

➽ I think yes, he would have enjoyed a better health if she had not died before him. He had fallen ill as soon as his wife had died.

Before the death of his wife he was enjoying his life, he had no mental harassment and had a support behind him but after the death of his wife he started being in depression and many other mental conditions. He was broken mentally as well as physically.

The only thing Mr. Verma kept on saying was that he also wanted to die. It is usual too, because when a person with whom you have spended decades,and they become part of our life and suddenly they demise, it is obvious to get sick.

c. Dr. Rakesh is divided between a doctor and a son. As a son, he loves his father and worries about his weakening health, but as a doctor he is strict on his father’s diet and medicine. In your view, what else could Rakesh have done to make his father’s final years more comfortable?

➽ With no doubght Dr. Rakesh is an good son and a good character in the story. Though, Rakesh did remain devoted to his father and his family until the end of the story, Rakesh never changes at all. He is shown ato be a devoted son at the end of the story.

Rakesh would have done more better to make his father's final year more comfortable. He could have let his old father take the lead and give him some independence and freedom beacuse it is the age where parents feel left behind.

Rakesh would have also given his father some personal space and let him dictate how and when he should take help of his son. He could have provided him freedom to ask him for assistance.

Rakesh could also have given time to talk with his father about the problems he is facing, the things he hated doing, and find out a solution for yhe problem rather than bing strict with him.

d. What does the story say about the relationship between grandfather and grandchildren?

➽ As in all the family, there is a unbbreakable bond between a grandfather and grandchildren. Mr. Verma and his grand son too had a sopecial bonding with each other.

Having a close relation, once old Verma tried to bribe his grandson to bring jalebie for him worth 30 paisa and spend rest 20 paisa on himself buying chocolates and toys. Mr. Verma used the inncoence and mean nature of a small kid for his own benefit.

Though, Mr.Verma loved him so much but due to some neccesities he tried to show his grandson the wrong path. This made his son Rakesh very angry.

Hence, the story shows a playmate, role model, guide, and a mentor relationship between grandfather and grandchildren.

The Deovted Son Literary Analysis Answer :

e. Do you call Rakesh a devoted son? Give reasons.

➽ I think Rakesh is a devoted son, though at the end of story it might not be presented Rakesh as a devoted son.

Rakesh always did whatever his parents have adviced or wanted him to do like; good academic performance, crucial part of a boy,s life which is a marriage, and also choosing to comeback to his own nation and liive with his family though he could earn alot of more money living in the USA. He always had thought of happiness of his family.

Though Rakesh sucked at some part of giving his father a happy life but he had tried his best to do so. He always used to seperate time for his old father being very busy in his professional life. He never wanted his father to suffer.

Though, he was strict about his fathers diet plan but he never wanted bad of his father. He just wanted his father to be safe from the diseases like; typhoid, cholera, gastroenteritis, which was rapidly spreading around their town. He didn't wanted his family to suffer from such risks being a doctor himself.

Hence, I think that Rakesh is a devoted son though he was unable to presenr him best in some cases live giving freedom to his old-father, giving him the lead in decision making, and not malking him feel left behind in the family.