NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 9 Roles and Responsibilities — LET’S EXPLORE
Book page 141 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Draw a simple tree of this family of seven members.
Answer
Here is the family tree of Shalini’s household, drawn from the story on pages 140–141.
Shalini’s family tree. The top row is the grandmother’s generation, the middle row the parents’ generation (the two horizontal ties mark the two couples), and the bottom row the children.
How to draw one yourself:
Put the oldest generation at the top — here, Acchamma alone.
Draw her children in the next row: Shalini’s father and Chittappa, who are brothers. Join each to his wife with a short horizontal line — Father–Mother, Chittappa–Chitti.
Drop a line from the middle of each couple to their children: Shalini and her younger brother from the first couple, Chinni from the second.
Label each person with the term the story uses. In Malayalam, Acchamma is the father’s mother, Chittappa the father’s younger brother and Chitti his wife.
Check it yourself — the count. The question says “seven members”, but the story actually names eight people living in the house: Acchamma, Shalini’s father, Shalini’s mother, Chittappa, Chitti, Shalini, her younger brother and Chinni. Count them on the tree above. Draw all eight and add a line below your tree saying “8 members are named in the story”. In an examination, drawing the complete family from the story is the right answer — a tree that leaves out a person to reach seven would be wrong.
Q2.
Why do you think Shalini’s parents bought clothes for everyone?
Answer
Because Chittappa’s family could not buy festival clothes that year, and in a family what one member has is shared with the others.
The story gives the chain of events plainly:
Chittappa lost his job; Chitti is a homemaker → the family had financial difficulties Acchamma told Shalini’s father about it → the elders spoke to each other
Onam was coming → new clothes are part of the festival for everyone
So Shalini’s parents bought clothes for Chittappa, Chitti and Chinni as well
The money had to stretch further → Shalini got a simple cotton dress instead of the silk one she expected
Acchamma’s own explanation, in the book’s words, is the answer to this question: “this is how families support each other and share what they have.”
Why this counts as more than kindness: the chapter has already named the values a family teaches — dāna (giving), sevā (service) and tyāga (sacrifice). Shalini’s parents practised dāna, and Shalini herself practised tyāga without being asked to. Notice also how it was done: nobody was made to feel small. The clothes were bought quietly while shopping for everyone, so Chittappa’s family shared the festival as equals rather than receiving charity. That is why the last line of the story is about happiness, not loss: “She was happy that everyone could get some new clothes.”
Q3.
What would you have done if you were in Shalini’s place?
Answer
This asks for your own honest answer. Here is what a thoughtful answer would contain, and a model you can adapt.
Sample answer: I think I would first have felt disappointed, because I had been looking forward to the silk dress for weeks. But once Acchamma explained why, I would have done the same as Shalini and taken the cotton dress happily. Chinni is like my own sister, and a festival in which one part of the house has new clothes and the other part does not would not feel like a festival at all. I would also have kept it to myself — I would not have said anything to Chinni about the dress I gave up, because that would have spoilt it for her.
What makes an answer good here: (1) admit the first feeling honestly — disappointment is natural and the book does not pretend otherwise; (2) say what changed your mind; (3) say what you would do, not only feel; (4) think of the other child’s feelings. An answer that says “I would happily give up everything” without a reason is weaker than an honest one.
Another defensible answer: you could say you would have asked your parents to buy the silk dress next month instead, so that nothing was cancelled, only postponed. That is also a fair answer — as long as you explain that the uncle’s family comes first this festival.