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NCERT Solutions for Class 6th English Chapter 5 Ila Sachani: Embroidering Dreams with her Feet — Let us do these activities before we read

Book page 151 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Look at the given picture and information.

The photograph on page 151 (described here; see the textbook for the photograph itself). A smiling young man sits cross-legged on the floor of an art gallery. He is wearing a green shirt and cream trousers, and he has no hands. A long paintbrush is gripped between the toes of one foot, and he is working on a sheet of paper spread on the floor in front of him. Framed paintings hang on the white wall behind him, and a few visitors are sitting further back in the gallery.

Pranav M. Balasubramaniam is from Palakkad in Kerala. Though he was born without both hands, he has excelled as an artist, a singer, and a para-sportsperson.

Page 151 — the photograph and information box printed beside this question.
Do you think Pranav’s task is simple? Why or why not?
Answer

No, Pranav's task is not simple at all.

The photograph shows him sitting on the floor of a gallery, painting with a brush held between his toes, with his finished paintings hanging on the wall behind him. Almost every step of that work is difficult without hands:

  • He must hold the brush steadily with his feet, which are not naturally made for fine control.
  • He has to mix colours, change brushes and move the paper using the same feet.
  • He must sit in one position for hours, and his legs and back tire far sooner than an artist's arm would.
  • He had to train those muscles for years before the first straight line came out right.

And painting is only one of the three things he does — he is also a singer and a para-sportsperson, and each of those needed its own years of practice.

What ‘simple’ really means here: His paintings look effortless, and that is exactly the point. The work looks simple because he has made it look simple; the difficulty is hidden in the thousands of hours of practice we do not see.
Q2.
How does Pranav’s special ability make you feel?
Answer

Answer honestly, naming your feelings and giving a reason for each.

Sample answer: Pranav's ability makes me feel three things at once. First, I feel amazed, because I cannot draw a straight line even with my hands, and he paints whole pictures with his feet. Then I feel inspired, because it makes my own excuses look very small — I usually give up on a drawing after two attempts. Last, I feel a deep respect for him, not pity, because he has not asked anyone for sympathy; he has simply gone ahead and become an artist, a singer and a sportsperson.
An important distinction: ‘Feeling sorry for him’ is the wrong answer. Pranav has not lost anything; he has gained three skills. The right feelings are admiration and respect.
Q3.
What qualities do you think were important for Pranav to become successful?
Answer
QualityHow it helped him
Determination (will power)He decided he would paint, and did not give up when the early attempts failed.
PatienceTraining the feet to hold a brush steadily takes months before there is any result.
Hard work and regular practiceSkill of this kind is built only by working at it every single day.
PositivityHe looked at what he could do instead of what he could not.
CourageHe showed his work in public and competed in sport, where people would stare and judge.
Family and teacher supportSomeone had to believe in him and give him the brush in the first place.
Link to the lesson: The story you are about to read names almost exactly the same list. Ila Sachani succeeded, the text says, “with focus, hard work, positivity and never giving up.”
Q4.
What message does Pranav’s story give us?
Answer

The message is that a physical limitation is not the end of a dream — it only changes the way the dream must be reached.

Pranav was born without both hands, yet he became an artist, a singer and a para-sportsperson. He did not wait to be given hands; he trained the body he had. His story tells us three things:

  1. Ability is not in the hand; it is in the mind. The wish to paint is what makes a painter.
  2. Never decide for another person what they cannot do. If someone had told Pranav that a person without hands cannot paint, those pictures on the wall would not exist.
  3. Effort is the real difference between a person who dreams and a person who achieves.
Why this comes before the lesson: Pranav paints with his feet; Ila Sachani embroiders with hers. The book puts them side by side so that you meet the idea twice, in two different states, and see that it is not a one-off wonder but a human truth.
Q5.
Look at the picture of Kathiawar embroidery. Discuss in pairs.

The photograph on page 151 (described here; see the textbook for the photograph itself). A piece of black cloth, stretched in a round embroidery frame, carries a large ambi (paisley) motif. The paisley is filled with rows of close blue stitching, has a purple band around it and a yellow-and-orange centre, and its whole outline is ringed with small round mirrors, each held down by red and white stitches. To the left of the paisley stands a peacock worked in purple, blue and green thread, with a tiny crown on its head and yellow feet. Bright golden-yellow chain stitch outlines every shape.

Fig. on page 151, Kathiawar embroidery — described here; see the textbook for the photograph.
List the steps you think are needed to create this embroidery.
Answer

The picture on page 151 shows a peacock beside a large paisley (ambi) motif worked on black cloth in blue, green, red, yellow and gold thread, with round mirrors edged in red stitching all around it.

StepWhat has to be done
1Choose the cloth and stretch it tight on a frame so it does not pucker.
2Draw or trace the design — here the peacock and the paisley — on the cloth.
3Select the coloured threads and thread the needle.
4Fill the outlines with stitches, mainly the chain stitch, one colour at a time.
5Fix the small round mirrors by holding each one down with a ring of stitches.
6Finish the edges, cut the loose threads and press the cloth.
Tip: Notice how much of the work is holding and steadying — the frame, the mirror, the needle. That is exactly the part the next two questions ask you to think about.
Q6.
Discuss if these steps can be done with feet, instead of hands.
Answer

Yes — every one of these steps can be done with the feet, but each becomes far harder. That is precisely what Ila Sachani proved.

StepWith handsWith feet
Threading the needleA few secondsThe hardest step of all — the text says, “Threading a needle was hard, but Ila did not give up.”
Holding the clothOne hand holds, the other stitchesThe cloth must be pinned to a frame, or held by the other foot
Making the stitchFine finger movementPossible, but the toes must be trained for years to move that precisely
Fixing a mirrorOne finger presses the mirror downVery difficult — the mirror must be held still while stitching around it
The real answer: The question is not whether feet can do the work of hands. It is whether a person is willing to train feet until they can. Ila's mother and grandmother believed the answer was yes, and so it was.
Q7.
What efforts would be needed if someone has to embroider with their feet? Do you think it is possible?
Answer

Yes, it is possible — the whole lesson is the proof of it. But it needs a great deal of effort of four kinds.

  • Physical effort: years of daily practice to make the toes flexible and steady enough to grip a needle, and to sit in one position for long hours.
  • Mental effort: patience through hundreds of failed attempts, especially at threading the needle, and the will not to give up.
  • Effort from the family: someone must teach the skill, arrange the frame and the light, and keep encouraging. Ila's “mother and grandmother… were single-minded to help her overcome her challenge,” and her younger brother and sister helped her too.
  • Effort from society: people must be willing to look at the work and not at the disability, and to buy it because it is good.
Sample answer to say aloud: “I think it is possible, but only for someone with enormous patience. The person would have to practise every day for years, and would need a family that believed in her instead of doing everything for her. Ila Sachani did exactly this, and today her work hangs in exhibitions.”
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