NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 10 Story 4: The Sweet Story of Sugar! — Discuss

Book page 169 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

1. If you could choose one Indian food to share with the world, what would it be?

Answer

Choose one dish and give a reason that is about the dish, not just about liking it. A good reason is: it is easy to make, it is cheap, it uses things found everywhere, it suits many kinds of people, and it can be changed to local taste.

Sample answer: I would share khichdi. It is made of rice and dal cooked together in one pot with a little salt and turmeric. It needs one vessel, one fire and about twenty minutes. It costs very little. It is complete food — the rice and dal together give the body what it needs. It is soft, so a baby, an old person and a sick person can all eat it. And every part of India already makes it differently — with vegetables in Gujarat, with ghee and hing in the north, as pongal in the south. Anyone anywhere could add their own vegetables to it and it would still be khichdi. That is why I think the whole world would find it useful.

Food you might choose	A good reason to choose it
Khichdi	One pot, cheap, complete food, gentle on the stomach, easy to change to local taste
Idli	Steamed, so no oil at all; soft and light; keeps well; suits children and old people
Dal and roti	The everyday meal of crores of Indians; simple, filling and balanced
Mango	India grows hundreds of kinds; sweet, juicy and loved at first taste by everyone
Millets (bajra, ragi, jowar)	Need very little water, grow in dry land, and are very good for health
Masala chai	Warm, cheap, shared with guests — it carries the Indian habit of welcoming people
Curd (dahi)	Made at home from milk with no machine; cools the body; good for the stomach

What makes a food travel: Look at the foods that have actually travelled in this chapter — sugar, rice, mangoes, bananas, chilli, potato. Every one of them is cheap, easy to grow or make, and useful to ordinary people. Fancy dishes rarely travel far. Simple, useful ones travel round the world.

In the discussion: Do not let the group settle for “because it is tasty”. Push each person to add a second reason — who could eat it, what it costs, how hard it is to make. That turns a favourite into an argument.

Q2.

2. What kind of new food items do you think will travel in the future?

Answer

The foods most likely to travel next are the ones that are healthy, that need little water to grow, and that keep well while being carried a long way. That is the same test that sugar, rice and chilli passed in their own time.

Sample answer: I think millets will travel most — bajra, ragi and jowar. They grow in dry land with very little water, they are very good for health, and the world is short of both water and healthy food. I also think ready-made Indian spice mixes and instant idli and dosa batter will travel, because they let anyone in another country cook Indian food quickly.

Likely to travel	Why
Millets — bajra, ragi, jowar, sama	Grow in dry land with little water and no fuss; rich in iron and fibre; important as water becomes scarce
Makhana (fox nuts, from Bihar's ponds)	Light, keeps for months, easy to carry, a healthy snack instead of fried chips
Moringa (drumstick leaves, sahjan)	The tree grows almost anywhere; the leaves are extremely nutritious and dry easily into powder
Turmeric in milk and drinks	Already being sold abroad as a health drink
Jackfruit	Grows on a big tree with no care at all; when raw it can be cooked like meat, which many people now want
Ready spice mixes, instant batter, packet chai	Let someone in another country cook an Indian dish without learning the whole method
Jaggery instead of white sugar	A return to the older Indian product, which people now think is better than refined sugar

How to make a sensible guess about the future: Do not guess wildly. Look at what the world is short of, and what India has plenty of. The world is running short of clean water and worried about unhealthy food. India has crops that need little water and are good to eat. Put those two facts together and you have a reasonable prediction — which is a much better answer than naming a food you happen to like.

Remember this too: Food is still travelling in the other direction. Momos, noodles, pizza and chowmein have arrived in Indian towns within your grandparents' lifetime. Ask them — they will remember when the first such shop opened near them.

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