NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 4 Change of Heart — Let us think and reflect

Prabhat would play a game only if he was sure of winning it.

The passage says it plainly: “He would take part only when he was sure of winning, even if the game lasted only for a minute.” Even a one-minute game was not worth playing unless victory was certain.

Badminton.

“You could not stop him from playing the kind of games he was really good at, like badminton.” That is also why he waited so eagerly for the last Friday of the month, when the badminton matches were played.

Answer: c. afraid of losing.

Refusing to enter a game the moment he sensed defeat is the behaviour of someone who is frightened of the result, not of someone who is skilful or certain.

Answer: b. unhappy.

The lines say he “could not sleep well that night. He had won the game but he did not feel as happy as he usually did.” Not feeling happy after a win is exactly unhappiness — a dull, uneasy discontent.

Prabhat finds it surprising because Surya behaved in a way that was the exact opposite of everything Prabhat believed about losing.

Two things astonished him, and the passage builds them up one after the other. First, “Surya did not feel bad about losing” — for Prabhat, losing was “the worst thing that could happen to anyone”. Second, and “more surprising”, the very next day Surya was on the basketball court, playing a game he was hopeless at, and still smiling.

We can say that Surya’s reaction to not winning was different from Prabhat’s.

Surya lost and stayed cheerful — “It’s been fun. We should play again some other time.” Prabhat won and still could not sleep. The two reactions could hardly be further apart.

In the beginning his attitude almost destroyed his enjoyment of games, because he could enjoy only the winning, never the playing.

It narrowed his life in three ways:

• He played very few games. “If Prabhat sensed that he would lose a game, he would not play it.” Everything except badminton and marbles was shut out.
• Even a win gave him only relief, not joy. He played “with great seriousness”, and the good feeling lasted only as long as the score stayed in his favour.
• A loss ruined him completely. “Losing made him feel terrible. He thought that losing was the worst thing that could happen to anyone.”

So a games period, which should have been the happiest part of the school day, became a test he was afraid to fail.

He cheated because he could not bear to lose, and he saw that he was losing.

Three things came together at that moment. First, Surya was playing far better — “Surya was a real phenomenon. He won points again and again.” Second, Prabhat had built the whole month around this match and “prepared for the match with great seriousness”; a defeat in front of the class was unthinkable. Third, the opportunity was in his own hands: he was the scorekeeper, and “Surya was paying so little attention to the match that Prabhat managed to change the scoreboard while his opponent was looking elsewhere.”

The two boys played for completely different reasons: Prabhat played to win, Surya played to enjoy.

The sharpest difference is the basketball court: Surya “was so hopeless at it that he could not score a basket for ten minutes. Yet, he enjoyed playing.” Prabhat would not even have stepped on to that court.

No, his approach was not healthy at all — neither for his mind nor for his growth as a player.

• It made him unhappy. A win brought only a brief good feeling; a loss made him “feel terrible”. His mood was placed entirely in the hands of a scoreboard.
• It stopped him from learning. By refusing every game he might lose, he never practised anything new. Surya, who did not mind being hopeless at basketball, was actually learning it.
• It led him into dishonesty. The wish to win at any cost ended in him changing the scoreboard — a win he could not even be proud of.
• It cost him friends and fun. Only after he changed did his classmates say, “Good fun playing with Prabhat.”

Sporting spirit is important because it is what keeps a game a game — fair, friendly and worth playing again tomorrow.

• It keeps the contest honest. Without it, players cheat, as Prabhat did, and then even a win is worthless.
• It protects the enjoyment. A team that laughs together after losing will play again; a team that quarrels will not.
• It teaches you to handle defeat. Exams, interviews and life itself bring losses. The child who can shake hands after losing a match learns to say, “I will do better next time,” instead of giving up.
• It builds respect. Congratulating an opponent, helping up a fallen player, accepting the umpire’s decision — these are the things people remember long after the score is forgotten.

The title is perfectly suitable because the story is not about a match at all — it is about a boy whose whole way of feeling about games changes.

‘A change of heart’ is an English expression meaning a complete change in one’s attitude or feelings about something. That is exactly what happens to Prabhat:

Notice also that the change is a change of heart, not of skill. Prabhat does not become a better badminton player; he becomes a better sportsperson. The turning point is the sleepless night — his own heart refused to enjoy a win it knew was false.