NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 1 The Day the River Spoke (Kamala Nair) — Let us discuss

Jahnavi's dream was to go to school and learn to read, like her elder brother Ettan (Gopi) and Meena.

It was extremely important to her. She had been asking for it since she was five, and every year the answer was “Maybe next year.” She was now nearly ten and still minding Little Appu instead of studying. When she says, “They don't want me. They only…”, she stops with a sob — the dream matters so much that being refused it makes her cry.

It was important for a second reason too. Jahnavi was full of questions — why spiders are yellow in yellow flowers, why bamboo trees rustle, why the moon always comes from behind the hills, why the baby fish in the field water become frogs. School was the only place where those “so many whys” could be answered.

Yes — not by doing anything for her, but by changing the way she thinks about herself.

• It listens to her without scolding her, so she is able to say out loud what she wants.
• It answers one of her “whys” (where the moon goes), showing her that questions do have answers.
• It tells her plainly that “little girls can do as much as little boys”.
• It gives her a practical plan — slip along one morning, sit in the school and listen.
• It reminds her that she is not a timid girl at all: she is not afraid of the green lizard, the snake in the bamboo clump or the rattling trains.