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MEMORIES OF CHOTA SAHIB

The author of the piece “Memories of the Chota Sahib’ John Rowntree gives an account of his experiences as a forest officer in Assam during the last days of the British Raj. After he had reached Guwahati, the author made his first home on the bank of the river Brahmaputra, which gave him immense joy and pleasure. So Get the best study materials for AHSEC- ASSAM EXAM- CLASS 12 ENGLISH SOLUTION- MEMORIES OF CHOTA SAHIB in www.assamstudy.com

BRIEF SUMMERY OF MEMORIES OF CHOTA SAHIB

The author gives a glance at the peacock’s island, A Hindu Temple where he never discovered Peacocks, but only monkeys on the island. There was a belief among the people regarding the narrow dividing channel between the island and mainland if the channel ever dried up completely it would mean the end of the British Raj.

The Banks of Kamrup District

The author also gives a detailed sketch of both the banks of Kamrup district: the North Bank and the South Bank. The north bank is a vast, remote stretch of flat, ageless land between the Brahmaputra and Himalayan foothills. It was a strange place where the rivers dried up in the hot weather or suddenly disappeared under ground. Bheels, Rhino, Mahseer, Cheetal, Sloth-bear, Dear were found in North Bank. He also highlighted the problems which appeared in the rainy season. In the rainy season, it was a hot bed of malaria and was best avoided. Travel at this time of year could also pose problems. The river was in flood and the bamboo bridge erected at the start of the cold weather was soon washed away.

Description of River Transportation

The author once happened to cross a flooded river on horseback. With much difficulty, he convinced the horse to jump into the river and slipped over his rump. He hung on his tail and used it to steer. When the author tried to push the horse to right it moved to the left and vice versa. The author had mentioned about mat boat, a ferry, consisted of a plank platform covering two open boats placed alongside one another, the then only available means of transportation on the river. A whole series of gaits or landing places had to be constructed on different levels on the river bank.

Author’s view to travel other parts of Assam

The other difficulty about travel anywhere in Assam during the rainy season was the fact that the dirt takes soon became unusable by normal cars, the jeep which can traverse all types of terrain wasn’t invented at that time. The author was traveling with his family on the north bank. They had planned to return but it was so late and the monsoon had arrived before they came back. Consequently driving became extremely risky. To raise the majority of the main roads way above the normal flood, the roads were constructed on top of embankments. These roads were quite narrow and single track.

The situation faced by the author

The author’s car went out of control on such a slippery road and started along the road to fall into a paddy field around six feet below the road. The paddy fields are divided into small enclosures by low banks in order to prevent the flood water running away. At last, the author reached the road again after a jerky driving through the paddy field.

The Bungalow of the author

The south bank was more homely and having the character of English woodland like lesser distance, smaller terrains, low hills, valley, and forest mostly was Sal. The author has two forest bungalows one at Kulsi which was the author’s favorite place and another was at Rajapara which was a pleasant place to work. The bungalow at Kulsi was ideally positioned on a high ground forested area above the river. The bats which lived in the roof, the bungalow at Rajapara would have reduced the beauty of the place. The colossal fruit eating bats were less fusty, they had a five feet span of wing and they lived in the tree outside of the bungalow.

Surrounding of the Bungalow

The bungalow at Rajapara was located near a large bheel where long ago, a quake had pushed down the surface and the land was flooded with water. At Kulsi teak plantations were planted some sixty years ago and were nearly fully grown. The author tells us about the climate of Assam, which was not favorable to produce first-class teak-like Burma.

Questions and Answers

Q.1. Who is John Rowntree? Or – How John Rowntree related to Assam?

Answer: John Rowntree was the last British senior conservator of forest of Assam till the date of Independence of India.

Q.2. Who was the Chota Sahib in the Memories of Chota Sahib ?

Answer: John Rowntree is the Chota Sahib in the Memories of Chota Sahib.

Q,3. What position did John Rowntree hold before leaving shilling a few days after independence?

Answer: John Rowntree held the position of last British senior conservator of forest of Assam before leaving Shillong a few days after independence.

Q.4. What was the boarding Himalayan state of Manas Sanctuary ?

Answer: Bhutan was the bordering Himalayan State of Manas Sanctuary.

Q.5. What disturbed the writer at Rajapara Bunglow ?

Answer: Bats disturbed the writer at Rajapara Bunglow.

Q.6. Why did the rubber plantation of Ficus Elastica not taken place for tapping for some years ?

Answer: The rubber plantation of Ficus Elastica had not taken place for tapping for some years, because Indian rubber was no longer able to complete with para rubber commercially.

Q.7. W………….. as the belief as related to the channel that the writer mentioned ?

Answer: The writer mentioned the belief as related to the channel that if this channel ever dried up completely then it would be the end of the British Raj.

Q.8. Where was the first home of John Rowntree in Assam ?

Answer: John Rowntree’s first home in Assam was in Guwahati on the bank of the river Brahmaputtra.

Q.9. Where is Peacock Island situated ?

Answer: Peacock Island is situated at Guwahati.

Q.10. Which place is called the gate-way into the North-East Region ?

Answer: Guwahati is called the Gate-way into the North-East Region.

Q.11. “Sometimes we had unusual visitors”- who were these unusual visitors ?

Answer: Animals, one of which was tiger were the unusual visitors.

Q.12. Where is the poem is the lesson “Memories of a Chota Sahib” extracted ?

Answer: The lession “Memories of Chota Sahib” is extracted from John Rowntree’s famous book ” A Chota Sahib” memories of a forest officer.

Q.13. What was the favoriate site for the Governor’s Christmas camps ?

Answer: The favvourite site for the Governor’s Christmas camps is the bank of the rivers of Assam.

Q.14. What did an European couple do for their private profit ?

Answer: An European couple had leased a piece of land from the forest department with a view to grow simul trees for the nearby match factory that they can earn some money. For this purpose they managed fraudulently miles of electric fencing in an attempt to keep the deer out but the deer jumped over it. Hence, their enterprise was in no sense a very profitable one.

Q.15. Give a brief description of Peacock Island.

Answer: The narrator and his companions had a splendid view of the river Brahpaputtra from the veranda of his bungalow. The peacock island was in the centre of the river. The island was with a Hindu temple and the dome of the temple was only visible through the trees. The narrator jokes saying that though the name of the temple was Peacock, he only saw there monkeys, not peacocks.

Q.16. Where is the plot of Memories of a Chota Sahib based on ?

Answer: The plot of Memories of Chota Sahib is based on Guwahati and its neighboring areas on the eve of independence of India. It is a light hearted account of the contemporary period as seen through the eyes of a British forest officer making the account not only local specific but also relevant to the present time.

Q.17. What is the belief about the dividing channel between peacock island and the mainland of Guwahati that the author mentions?

Answer: In that time, it was believed that if this channel between the peacock and the mainland of Guwahati ever dried up completely it would indicate the end of the British Raj. In some years it was about to dry up. The writer says that he was ignorant whether the time of the independence, the channel was dried up or not because he would be no longer in Guwahati at that time.

Q.18. What does the author say about the importance of Guwahati ? Is the statement true in our time today also ?

Answer: Although Guwahati was said to be port entry into Assam, most of the travelers passed through between Calcutta and Shillong or to districts further up the valley. The narrator says about the geographical location of Guwahati. Guwahati was the headquarter of the Kamrup district. It was extended to both of the banks of the river Brahmaputra. The north bank had its own characteristics a vast. Lonely flat ageless land between the sandbanks of the Brahamaputtra and the Himalayan foothills.

Q.19. Briefly describe the scene observed by the author from the verenda of his bungalow on the bank of the Brahmaputtra .

Answer: The author gives a very beautiful description of the scene observed from the verenda of his bungalow. The bungalow was situated on the bank of the river Brahamaputtra and from it the view of the river is very distinct and beautiful. In front of the bungalow was a raised portico and it was used as a car port and on top a veranda from which the narrator and his companions had a splendid view of the river and its shipping and even the Himalayas. In the centre was the peacock Island with a Hindi temple and the dome of the temple was only visible through the trees. The narrator jokes saying that though the name of the temple was peacock he only saw there monkeys not peacocks.

আপুনি যদি আমাৰ এই Daily Current Affairs Quiz পঢ়ি ভাল পাইছে তেন্তে আমাৰ ‘নিউজলেটাৰ চাবস্ক্রাইব’ কৰক। নতুবা আমাৰ ‘ফেচবুক পৃষ্ঠা’ অনুসৰণ কৰক বা আমাৰ “ইউটিউব চেনেল চাবস্ক্রাইব’ কৰক ।

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