Comprehension
I grew up in a small town not far from Kalimpong. In pre-liberalization India, everything arrived late: not just material things but also ideas. Magazines — old copies of Reader’s Digest and National Geographic — arrived late too, after the news had become stale by months or, often, years. This temporal gap turned journalism into literature, news into legend, and historical events into something akin to plotless stories. But like those who knew no other life, we accepted this as the norm. The dearth of reading material in towns and villages in socialist India is hard to imagine, and it produced two categories of people: those who stopped reading after school or college, and those — including children — who read anything they could find. I read road signs with the enthusiasm that attaches to reading thrillers. When the iterant kabadiwala, collector of papers, magazines, and rejected things, visited our neighbourhood, I rushed to the house where he was doing business. He bought things at unimaginably low prices from those who’d stopped having any use for them, and I rummaged through his sacks of old magazines. Sometimes, on days when business was good, he allowed me a couple of copies of Sportsworld magazine for free. I’d run home and, ignoring my mother’s scolding, plunge right in — consuming news about India’s victory in the Benson and Hedges Cup….
Two takeaways from these experiences have marked my understanding of the provincial reader’s life: the sense of belatedness, of everything coming late, and the desire for pleasure in language. …. Speaking of belatedness, the awareness of having been born at the wrong time in history, of inventing things that had already been discovered elsewhere, far away, without our knowledge or cooperation, is a moment of epiphany and deep sadness. I remember a professor’s choked voice, narrating to me how all the arguments he’d made in his doctoral dissertation, written over many, many years of hard work (for there indeed was a time when PhDs were written over decades), had suddenly come to naught after he’d discovered the work of C.W.E. Bigsby. This, I realised as I grew older, was one of the characteristics of provincial life: that they (usually males) were saying trite things with the confidence of someone declaring them for the first time. I, therefore, grew up surrounded by would-be Newtons who claimed to have discovered gravity (again). There’s a deep sense of tragedy attending this sort of thing — the sad embarrassment of always arriving after the party is over. And there’s a harsh word for that sense of belatedness: “dated.” What rescues it is the unpredictability of these anachronistic “discoveries” — the randomness and haphazardness involved in mapping connections among thoughts and ideas, in a way that hasn’t yet been professionalised.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “The Provincial Reader”, by Sumana Roy, Los Angeles Review of Books]
Two takeaways from these experiences have marked my understanding of the provincial reader’s life: the sense of belatedness, of everything coming late, and the desire for pleasure in language. …. Speaking of belatedness, the awareness of having been born at the wrong time in history, of inventing things that had already been discovered elsewhere, far away, without our knowledge or cooperation, is a moment of epiphany and deep sadness. I remember a professor’s choked voice, narrating to me how all the arguments he’d made in his doctoral dissertation, written over many, many years of hard work (for there indeed was a time when PhDs were written over decades), had suddenly come to naught after he’d discovered the work of C.W.E. Bigsby. This, I realised as I grew older, was one of the characteristics of provincial life: that they (usually males) were saying trite things with the confidence of someone declaring them for the first time. I, therefore, grew up surrounded by would-be Newtons who claimed to have discovered gravity (again). There’s a deep sense of tragedy attending this sort of thing — the sad embarrassment of always arriving after the party is over. And there’s a harsh word for that sense of belatedness: “dated.” What rescues it is the unpredictability of these anachronistic “discoveries” — the randomness and haphazardness involved in mapping connections among thoughts and ideas, in a way that hasn’t yet been professionalised.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “The Provincial Reader”, by Sumana Roy, Los Angeles Review of Books]
Question: 1
What use was the kabadiwala (wastepicker) to the author?
What use was the kabadiwala (wastepicker) to the author?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- The kabadiwala bought up all her magazines.
- The kabadiwala’s stock of books and magazines were of interest to the author.
- The kabadiwala was about to steal the author’s magazines.
- The author ordered books online which the kabadiwala delivered.
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is B
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (B):The kabadiwala’s stock of books and magazines were of interest to the author.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The question asks what use the kabadiwala was to the author, based on the passage. Let's look at each option against what the passage actually says about him.
- The kabadiwala bought up all her magazines: This reverses the relationship in the passage. The kabadiwala bought old papers, magazines and discarded things from people in the neighbourhood who no longer wanted them, not specifically from the author, and there is no suggestion he took 'all' her magazines.
- The kabadiwala's stock of books and magazines were of interest to the author: This matches the passage directly. The author describes rushing to the house where the kabadiwala was doing business and rummaging through his sacks of old magazines, and on good days he even gave her free copies of Sportsworld. His stock, not his purchases, was what mattered to her.
- The kabadiwala was about to steal the author's magazines: Nothing in the passage suggests theft. The kabadiwala ran a legitimate, if informal, trade in discarded goods, and the author's interaction with him was about buying access to his stock, not preventing a theft.
- The author ordered books online which the kabadiwala delivered: This is out of place in the setting the passage describes. The whole point of the passage is that this was pre-liberalization India, where reading material arrived late and online ordering did not exist; the kabadiwala was a physical, local figure, not a delivery service.
Only the second option reflects what the passage actually describes: the author valued the kabadiwala because his sacks of old magazines gave her access to reading material she could not otherwise find.
Therefore, the correct answer is the kabadiwala's stock of books and magazines were of interest to the author.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 2
What according to the author is essential about the experience of being a ‘provincial reader’?
What according to the author is essential about the experience of being a ‘provincial reader’?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Belatedness in the sense of coming late for everything.
- Over-eagerness.
- Accepting a temporal gap between what was current in the wider world and the time at which these arrived in the provincial location.
- None of the above
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (C):Accepting a temporal gap between what was current in the wider world and the time at which these arrived in the provincial location.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The question asks what the author sees as essential to the experience of being a 'provincial reader.' Let's weigh each option against how the passage actually frames this experience.
- Belatedness in the sense of coming late for everything: This is close to the passage's idea but incomplete on its own. The passage does describe things arriving late, but it goes further, describing how readers responded to that lateness by accepting it as normal, which this option leaves out.
- Over-eagerness: The passage does show the author's eagerness, reading road signs 'with the enthusiasm that attaches to reading thrillers,' but this describes her personal reaction, not what she identifies as the defining feature of provincial reading itself.
- Accepting a temporal gap between what was current in the wider world and the time at which these arrived in the provincial location: This matches the passage most precisely. The author explicitly describes a 'temporal gap' caused by delayed arrival of magazines and ideas, and states that 'like those who knew no other life, we accepted this as the norm.' Both the gap and its acceptance are named directly in the text.
- None of the above: This cannot be correct since the third option is directly supported by the passage's own wording.
The passage's own language, 'temporal gap' and 'accepted this as the norm,' lines up exactly with the third option, making it the most complete and textually grounded answer.
Therefore, the correct answer is accepting a temporal gap between what was current in the wider world and the time at which these arrived in the provincial location.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 3
Why did the author feel a sense of epiphany and deep sadness?
Why did the author feel a sense of epiphany and deep sadness?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Because the things that felt special and unique to the author, were already established and accepted thought in the wider world.
- Because the author was less well-read than others.
- Because the author missed being in a big city.
- All the above
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is A
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (A):Because the things that felt special and unique to the author, were already established and accepted thought in the wider world.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The question asks why the author felt a sense of epiphany and deep sadness. Let's check each option against the passage's account of this feeling.
- Because the things that felt special and unique to the author, were already established and accepted thought in the wider world: This matches the passage closely. The author describes the professor whose years of dissertation work 'had suddenly come to naught' once he discovered that C.W.E. Bigsby had already made the same arguments, and generalises this into a pattern of provincial life, people saying 'trite things with the confidence of someone declaring them for the first time,' including 'would-be Newtons who claimed to have discovered gravity (again).'
- Because the author was less well-read than others: The passage is not about a simple lack of reading; it is about ideas being independently arrived at and then discovered to already exist elsewhere. Being less well-read is not the cause the passage describes.
- Because the author missed being in a big city: The passage does not express nostalgia for city life anywhere in this section; its focus is on the timing and originality of ideas, not on geography as a source of longing.
- All the above: This cannot be right since only the first option is actually supported by the passage.
The professor's anecdote and the 'would-be Newtons' line both point to the same cause: discovering that one's own original-seeming ideas had already been established elsewhere, which is exactly what the first option describes.
Therefore, the correct answer is because the things that felt special and unique to the author, were already established and accepted thought in the wider world.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 4
What does the word ‘anachronistic’ as used in the passage, mean?
What does the word ‘anachronistic’ as used in the passage, mean?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Rooted in a non-urban setting
- Related to a mofussil area
- Connected with another time
- Opposed to prevailing sensibilities
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (C):Connected with another time
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The question asks for the meaning of 'anachronistic' as used in the passage. Let's test each option against both the dictionary sense of the word and how it is used in context.
- Rooted in a non-urban setting: This describes a rural or small-town quality, which is not what 'anachronistic' means; the word has nothing to do with geography.
- Related to a mofussil area: 'Mofussil' refers to provincial, non-metropolitan regions, which again is a geographic idea and not what 'anachronistic' refers to, even though the passage is set in a mofussil town.
- Connected with another time: This is the correct sense of the word. 'Anachronistic' describes something that belongs to, or seems to belong to, a time period other than the one it is actually placed in. In the passage, the 'anachronistic discoveries' are ideas the provincial reader arrives at as if for the first time, even though, in terms of the wider world's timeline, they belong to an earlier period.
- Opposed to prevailing sensibilities: This describes going against current attitudes or values, which is a different idea from being out of step with time; the passage's use of the word is about timing, not opposition to popular opinion.
Only the third option captures the core meaning of 'anachronistic,' being out of its proper time period, which fits how the passage uses it to describe ideas that arrive after the rest of the world has already moved past them.
Therefore, the correct answer is connected with another time.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 5
Which of the following options captures the meaning of the last sentence best?
Which of the following options captures the meaning of the last sentence best?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Though the author feels provincial, she pretends to be from the metropolis.
- Though the author feels dated in her access to intellectual ideas, her lack of metropolitan sophistication lets her engage with the ideas with some originality.
- Though the author is aware of the limitedness of her knowledge, she is confident and can hold her own in a crowd. She also proud of her roots in the small town
- All the above
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is B
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (B):Though the author feels dated in her access to intellectual ideas, her lack of metropolitan sophistication lets her engage with the ideas with some originality.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The question asks which option best captures the meaning of the passage's last sentence, where the author explains what 'rescues' the sense of belatedness she has been describing. Let's weigh each option.
- Though the author feels provincial, she pretends to be from the metropolis: There is no pretence described anywhere in the passage; the author is candid about her provincial background rather than disguising it, so this does not match her tone or claim.
- Though the author feels dated in her access to intellectual ideas, her lack of metropolitan sophistication lets her engage with the ideas with some originality: This matches the passage's closing point. The author says what 'rescues' the sadness of belatedness is 'the unpredictability of these anachronistic discoveries,' the 'randomness and haphazardness' of connecting ideas 'in a way that hasn't yet been professionalised.' Lacking the polished, professionalised path of metropolitan intellectual life is exactly what gives her thinking its own, unpredictable route.
- Though the author is aware of the limitedness of her knowledge, she is confident and can hold her own in a crowd. She is also proud of her roots in the small town: The passage does not describe confidence in social settings or explicit pride in her hometown at this point; it is making a quieter, more specific claim about how ideas are formed, not about the author's general self-assurance.
- All the above: This cannot be correct, since only the second option reflects what the closing sentence actually says.
The key words in the passage, 'unpredictability,' 'randomness,' and 'hasn't yet been professionalised,' all point to the same idea: it is precisely the author's distance from a polished, formal way of arriving at ideas that gives her thinking its own originality.
Therefore, the correct answer is though the author feels dated in her access to intellectual ideas, her lack of metropolitan sophistication lets her engage with the ideas with some originality.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Top CLAT Questions
- In the realm of contemporary literature, the interplay between character and setting is a nuanced dance that shapes the narrative’s essence. The setting, often described with painstaking detail, becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes a character, influencing the plot and character development.
Consider, for instance, the barren expanse of the desert in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. The arid landscape mirrors the sense of isolation felt by the protagonist, Gogol, as he navigates his identity crisis in a foreign land. The relentless sun and vast sands are not mere descriptions; they are the silent witnesses to his inner turmoil.
On the other end of the literary spectrum, there is Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. The lush, vibrant Kerala backwaters are not just the setting; they are a character woven into the fabric of the story. The teeming, humid landscape reflects the complex web of human relationships and secrets that unravel in the narrative. This interplay is not confined to contemporary literature alone. In Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy Macbeth, the eerie and foreboding setting of the Scottish moors casts a dark shadow over the characters’ actions. The moors, shrouded in mist and mystery, serve as an ever-present omen of the impending tragedy. - The crisis of justice that is the subject matter of discussion in the media today is in fact the crisis of “justice for the middle class”. The main difference between India and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries is that whereas the middle class in these countries has reasonable access to justice, in India it does not. A vocal and powerful middle class has emerged in India since 1991. It is demanding reasonable access to justice. Much of the judicial reform effort will help meet this demand…
The question of justice for the poor is, however, an altogether different challenge. No country in the world has been able to secure justice for the poor. Most of the jails of the richest countries are filled with the poorest. The “masses” are more often victims of the criminal justice system than of crime. In India as well, jails are almost exclusively filled with the poor. The civil justice system is hardly accessible to them. They are often victimised by lawyers, touts and court staff. They are docket-excluded, a new type of untouchability. The language and the logic—and the colonial and feudal culture—of the judicial system are alien to them. It rarely takes cognisance of their needs and interests.
Their main concern, therefore, is to escape the attention of the justice system, criminal and civil. A landless Dalit person in the interior of Madhya Pradesh once gave me an insightful definition of a court from the perspective of the masses: “A court is a place where you are forcibly taken by the police to be punished; no one goes to a court.” In contrast, many lawyers and judges colloquially define a court as “a temple of justice where rights are protected”.
These sharply divergent visions mean that justice for one section is often injustice for another. Protecting the livelihood of traditional taxi and auto drivers from predatory pricing by corporate app-based taxi providers by imaginatively using the available tools of law to delay their incursion would be seen by the rich and by sections of the middle class as a failure of the judicial system, and possibly as also resulting in a downgrading of the “ease of doing business” measure. However, the masses would see such a judicial intervention as strong evidence of a good justice system. Although the conflict over competing visions of the nation and conflicting demands from social and economic segments have confined judicial reform of judicial administration mainly to “neutral” areas such as process reform, procedural law, technology, planning and court and case management, judge strength, and the workload of judges, there has been considerable improvement in these areas, and the judicial system has improved its performance.
[Extracted, with edits, from “Justice and the Two Ideas of India”, by G. Mohan Gopal, Frontline] - Everything she wanted was here, at Carignano, in Kasauli. Here, on the ridge of the mountain, in this quiet house. It was the place, and the time of life, that she had wanted and prepared for all her life-as she realized on the first day at Carignano, with a great, cool flowering of relief - and at last she had it. She wanted no one and nothing else. Whatever else came, or happened here, would be an unwelcome intrusion and distraction. This she tried to convey to the plodding postman with a cold and piercing stare from the height of the ridge onto his honest bull back. Unfortunately, he did not look up at her on the hilltop but stared stolidly down at the dust piling onto his shoes as he plodded on. A bullock-man, an oafish ox, she thought bitterly. She stepped backwards into the garden and the wind suddenly billowed up and threw the pine branches about as though to curtain her. She was grey, tall and thin and her silk sari made a sweeping, shivering sound and she fancied she could merge with the pine trees and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was all she was prepared to undertake.
What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of all Kasauli of course-its starkness. It had rocks, it had pines, it had light and air. In every direction there was a sweeping view - to the north, of the mountains, to the south, of the plains. Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear unobstructed mass of light and air, that was all. And Carignano, her home on the ridge, had no more than that. Why should it? The sun shone on its white walls. Its windows were open the ones facing north opened on to the blue waves of the Himalayas flowing out and up to the line of ice and snow sketched upon the sky, while those that faced south looked down the plunging cliff to the plain stretching out, flat and sere to the blurred horizon.
Yes, there were some apricot trees close to the house. There were clumps of iris that had finished blooming. There was the kitchen with a wing of smoke lifting out of its chimney and a stack of wood outside its door. But these were incidental, almost unimportant.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “Fire on the Mountain” by Anita Desai] - English literature is a vast and diverse field that has left an indelible mark on the world of letters. From the eloquent plays of William Shakespeare to the complex novels of Jane Austen and the profound poetry of William Wordsworth, English literature offers a window into the human experience. One of the luminaries of English literature is William Shakespeare, often hailed as the greatest playwright in the history of English language. His works, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, are celebrated for their exploration of human nature, love, ambition, and tragedy. His characters, such as the tormented Hamlet and the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, continue to captivate readers and audiences worldwide.
The 19th century ushered in a new era of literary giants. Jane Austen’s novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, provide incisive social commentary through the lens of wit and romance. Austen’s heroines, like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, remain beloved literary figures known for their intelligence and resilience. The Romantic era brought forth poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who celebrated * 8 UG the beauty of nature and the emotional intensity of the individual. Wordsworth’s ‘‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’’ and Coleridge’s ‘‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’ are testament to the power of the written words to evoke profound emotions and imagery. Moving towards 20th century, English literature continued to evolve. Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking novel Mrs. Dalloway explored the inner thoughts and lives of its characters with a modernist narrative style. Dystopian visions, as seen in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provided stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarianism and the erosion of individual freedom.
Today, English literature is a global phenomenon, transcending borders and languages. Indian authors like Arundhati Roy, with her novel The God of Small Things, have won prestigious international literary awards. The book not only explores intricate family dynamics but also delves into the broader socio-political landscape of India. In summary, English literature is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the written word. It encompasses an array of authors, themes, and styles that continue to captivate and inspire readers across the world. - On the evening of the 10th, General Dyer arrived at Amritsar, and the Deputy-Commissioner handed over the civil power to him. He issued a proclamation by word of mouth that no meetings should be held. Two days later, after there had been no sort of riot, nor murder, General Dyer heard that a meeting was to be held at the Jallianwala Bagh. He proceeded there with about fifty troops, half British, half Indian, and a certain number of Ghurkas, armed with their kukris. The Jallianwala Bagh is an open space, half a mile square, which has one entry wide enough for three persons. The troops got in and lined up on a mound of debris. The walls, seven feet high, and the surrounding houses enclosed the people. There were, too, three alleys through which the people might have been able to pass. Within thirty seconds of the troops getting in, General Dyer gave orders to fire, and the crowd of people, estimated at anything from 5,000 to 20,000, who were sitting on the ground peacefully listening to the mob oratory, were fired on. The result of the troops’ fire into the mass of people we do not know. But we do know that Dyer’s own estimate of the casualties resulting from ten minutes continual individual firing, was 400 to 500 killed and 1,500 wounded. The people were not able to escape. They were people who had not offered any violence and who had not been warned. These people were shot down. After ten minutes, the ammunition was exhausted and the troops marched off, and they left 1,500 wounded there. There were men lying there for two days, dying of thirst, eating the ground, bleeding to death and nobody to look after them. Those who lived nearby came and carried away some of the wounded from the heap of dead and dying, but the unfortunate country people died there miserably of their wounds. This is what is done in 1919 in British India…
Centuries hence you will find Indian children brought up to this spot, just as they visit now the Cawnpore Well, and you can imagine the feelings of these Indians for generations over this terrible business.
[Col. Wedgwood, MP, speaking in the British Parliament, 22 December 1919]
View More Questions