NCERT Solutions for Class 4th The World Around Us Chapter 9 In the Mountains, with Nayan — Discuss
Book page 147 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
How does the cold climate in mountain regions affect the way people live and dress?
Answer
The cold decides almost everything about daily life there.
Part of life
How the cold changes it
Clothes
Thick woollen robes like the bakhu, dumdyam and Gunyo cholo, with caps, shawls and covered shoes
Houses
Built of wood with sloping roofs and small windows, so the warmth stays inside
Food
Hot dishes like thukpa, and soft sel roti
Animals
Animals with thick fur, such as the yak, are reared
Work
Indoor work like weaving cloth and making bamboo baskets goes on when it is too cold outside
Why it happens: the body loses heat quickly in cold air. Warm clothes, warm houses and hot food all do the same job — they keep the body’s heat from escaping.
Q2.
What traditional clothes are worn in your region? How do they match with the local climate?
Answer
Answer for your own region. Do it in two steps.
Ask at home which clothes elders wear at festivals and weddings. Those are the traditional clothes.
Now ask yourself: is my place hot, cold, rainy or dry? Then say how the clothes suit it.
Sample answer: In my region people traditionally wear a cotton dhoti or saree with a light gamchha. Our summers are long and hot, so thin cotton clothes are best — they let air pass and dry quickly after a wash.
Other examples from the chapter:
Punjab (plains): kurta-pyjama with a turban, and salwar-kameez with a dupatta — loose cotton for hot weather.
Rajasthan (desert): ghaghra with a bandhini dupatta, and colourful turbans — they cover the head from the strong sun and blowing sand.
Sikkim (mountains): bakhu, dumdyam and Gunyo cholo — thick and warm for the cold.
The rule to remember: traditional clothes are not chosen only for beauty. They are shaped by the weather of the place, which is why they differ from region to region.
Q3.
Why do you think certain trees, like pine and oak, grow better in the mountains?
Answer
Pine and oak grow well in the mountains because they are suited to cold weather and steep, rocky ground.
They can stand very cold air and snow without dying.
Pine leaves are thin and needle-like, so the tree loses very little water.
A pine tree is narrow and pointed, so snow slides off its branches instead of breaking them.
Their roots hold on well in thin, rocky soil on a slope.
Oak has a strong trunk and deep roots that grip the hillside.
Why other trees cannot: a tree with wide, soft leaves would lose too much water in the cold dry air, and heavy snow would snap its flat branches.
Q4.
How do animals like yak survive in the cold climate of Sikkim?
Answer
A yak is built for the cold.
Its body is covered with thick, long hair that hangs down almost to the ground, like a warm blanket.
Under the skin there is a layer of fat that holds in the body’s heat.
It has strong legs and hard, broad hooves, so it can walk safely on rock, ice and steep paths.
It eats grass and mountain plants, which grow there through most of the year.
Why this matters to people: because the yak is strong and sure-footed, people use it for travel in the mountains. Nayan wrote in his diary that he enjoyed a yak ride, and that yaks are commonly used there for mountain travel.