Q1.
Let us Read — Gone with the Scooter. Read the story and enjoy it.
Answer
Read the story once for the fun of it. Then read it again slowly, and notice how it moves from a quiet veranda to a noisy playground.
The story in four parts:
- Part 1 — The sound (page 11). It is a summer afternoon. Gopi is sitting in the veranda, reading a book. He hears something rustling past and falling with a thud in the garden. He thinks a mango has fallen from the tree. He puts his book aside and runs out. He searches in the thick grass near the fence — nothing. He looks among the bushes — nothing. Then he sees a heap of dry leaves with a white ball on it. He picks it up. It is a hockey ball.
- Part 2 — The honest plan (page 12). Gopi wonders whose ball it is. He looks around and peeps outside the gate, but no one is there. His mother calls him in because it is very hot. He drinks a glass of water, lies down on the mat and says to himself, “I can’t keep this ball for myself. I will ask around.” In the evening he goes to the nearby playground where his friends gather to play hockey, and asks who has lost a ball.
- Part 3 — The three answers (pages 12–13). Manoj says he lost a ball four months ago — so it cannot be that one. Ramani says the ball is hers, but when Gopi asks what colour it is, she smiles and says, “Show me the ball and I will tell you.” Deepak boasts that his father bought him a brand-new football the day before — and Gopi reminds him that the ball he found is a hockey ball. Everyone laughs. Manoj grabs the ball and tosses it to Deepak, and Gopi shouts, “Stop! I say, stop! Let’s play before it gets dark.”
- Part 4 — Gone (pages 13–14). Manoj goes to the goalpost as goalkeeper. Gopi stands at the centre with the stick and passes to Deepak, who drives the ball to Ramani, who dribbles it to Jay. Manoj shouts, “Come on Jay, play the shot and drive it towards the goalpost.” Jay tightens his wrist, keeps the flat side of the stick on the ball, and hits it so hard that it flies past the playground gate and falls into the basket of a passing scooter. The scooterist does not know and drives on. By the time the children reach the gate, the scooter is gone — and so is the ball. They look at each other and burst into laughter.
Why the title is clever: The title says the ball went away with the scooter. The scooterist never took it on purpose. He did not even know it was there. The ball simply dropped into his basket and rode away — so the ball is gone with the scooter.
The five children in the story: Gopi (who finds the ball), Manoj (the goalkeeper), Ramani (who dribbles), Deepak (who boasts about his football) and Jay (who hits the big shot).
Tip for reading aloud: The story has a lot of talking in it. Give each friend a different voice. Say Gopi’s “Stop! I say, stop!” loudly, and read the last three lines slowly — that is where the surprise sits.