Pigeons at Daybreak (Questions and Answers)

 

Answer the following questions in about 50 words each.

1. Describe in a few words one of Mr. Basu’s ‘worst afflictions.’

2. What kind of news does Otima read for Mr. Basu? Is Basu interested in such news readings?

3. What is the news that makes Basu restless and why?

4. What is the suggestion that Otima gives to survive the above crisis?

5. What happens to Basu at the end of the story?

1.: One of Mr. Basu’s worst afflictions was his inability to read the newspapers by himself due to his ailment. It was his wife who read the paper aloud to him. As she had many other pressing needs to attend to, this caused a lot of discomfort to Mr Basu.

2.: Otima reads all grotesque and uninteresting kind of trivial pieces like ‘Rice smugglers caught” and the “Blue bull menace in Delhi airport” or various Hindi pictures running this week like ‘Teri Meri Kismet — "the heart-warming saga of an unhappy wife, or Do Dost — winner of three Filmfare awards. No, Basu is not at all interested in such stuff; he rather feels agitated and much irritated on hearing all these stories which do not interest him.

3.: He feels that the menace of “blue bulls” can be tackled by narcotic drugs.

4.: Otima suggests that if there is nothing to interest Basu in the newspaper, then she can very well stop reading it if he so desires and permits.

5.: Mr Basu, unfortunately, dies at the end of the story as Otima finds him lying ‘flat and still, gazing up, his mouth hanging open as if to let the cool and fresh air pour into him.

 

1.      Write down a character sketch of Otima.

Ans. Otima, the wife of Mr. Basu, is a dedicated lady, who nurses and serves her ailing husband with much care and affection. Pressed with all kinds of household chores and duties, she still manages to take enough care of the moods and demands of her husband without any complaints or regrets. As far as her own personality and character are concerned, at fifty-six years of age, she did not have even a single wrinkle on her oiled face or grey hair on her head. She seemed as smooth as butter and as round as cake. As a matter of fact, life might still have been enjoyable to her if it had not been for the asthma of her husband that had made him totally dependent on her.

Otima tries to take care of him in every humane way like reading newspaper headlines to him, providing him with all kinds of comforts, shifting him from one place to the other so that he could inhale more air and tending to all his real and imagined ailments with affectionate nursing which includes bringing an inhaler, shifting to terrace, and massaging his body. She consoles him in her own sweet way when he gets upset and does not allow him to lose heart. Though physically it was very exhausting for her and she did feel tired and irritated at times, yet emotionally it gave her much relief and satisfaction to serve her husband in a selfless way. Otima’s character reflects the beauty of human relationship and human values in difficult circumstances.

2.      Throw light on the theme of the story in about 150 words

Ans. The present story ‘Pigeons at Daybreak’ deals with the theme of the tremendous power of family and human relationships, particularly the significance of love and care in times of need and ailments. The story discusses the pace of life of an aged couple living in old Delhi. The old man gets easily irritated due to his illness but his wife is always calm and composed. The story describes the beauty of human relationships against the backdrop of all kinds of day-to-day pressures. The old man symbolizes life in the twilight years whereas his small grandson stands for continuity of life in all its zeal and enthusiasm. The pigeons symbolize the yearning for freedom which is finally attained by the old man. Desai tries to focus on the problems and personal struggles of contemporary life that her characters must learn to cope up with. She maintains that her primary aim is to discover the truth that often lies submerged beneath reality. The loyalty with which Otima attends to all the real and imagined problems of her ailing husband in addition to all her exhausting daily chores speaks of her deep commitment and sincerity towards human relationships