NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 1 The Day the River Spoke (Kamala Nair) — Let us do these activities before we read
Book page 1 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Close your eyes and quietly listen to the sounds around you for a minute. Are they trying to tell you something?
Answer
Yes. Once you stop talking and only listen, the sounds around you begin to carry information — they “tell” you what is happening even when your eyes are shut.
What you hear
What it tells you
A koel calling, sparrows chirping
It is early morning; the birds are awake before us
A fan or the wind in the leaves
Air is moving; the weather is changing
A cycle bell, a horn, a hawker
The street outside has come alive
Utensils in the kitchen
Someone at home is cooking
Why it happens: When one sense is switched off, the brain gives more attention to the others. Helen Keller says the same thing later in this very unit — she “finds hundreds of things to interest” her through mere touch.
Sample answer: “I heard a crow, a scooter starting and the rustle of the neem tree. They told me that the morning had begun, that someone was leaving for work, and that a breeze had started blowing.”
Q2.
Do you think the things around you also listen to you all day long?
Answer
In one sense, yes. Trees, walls, pets and the river of this story are all present while we speak, laugh and cry, and they “receive” our sounds even though they cannot reply.
Writers often use this idea. In this lesson the River not only listens to Jahnavi, it answers her — the writer treats it as a living listener so that Jahnavi's unspoken thoughts can be spoken aloud.
Sample answer: “I think they do. The peepal tree in our courtyard has heard every quarrel and every song of our family. It never answers, but it is always there — like the River that had been listening to Jahnavi every day.”
Q3.
Jahnavi was a bright young girl who lived with her parents and three brothers in a coastal village in India. Her parents worked on the farm. She had a dream. What could that dream be?
Answer
Her dream was to go to school and learn to read, exactly like her brother Ettan (Gopi) and her friend Meena.
The clues in the introduction point to it: she is called “bright”, she is the only girl among three brothers, and her parents work on the farm — so she is the one kept back at home to mind the little ones. A bright child in that situation dreams of the classroom she is being kept out of.
Why it happens: The writer gives us these details before the story begins so that when Jahnavi finally says, “I want to learn to read like Ettan and Meena,” we already understand how much it means to her.
Q4.
How could she make her dream come true?
Answer
By taking the first step herself instead of waiting to be given permission.
Go to the school, stand at the door and listen to the lesson — which is exactly what she does.
Let the teacher see how much she wants to learn, so that the teacher speaks to her father.
Keep helping at home so that the family does not feel she has abandoned her duties.
Ask an older person she trusts — the teacher, her mother — to support her.
Tip: The River's advice is the shortest answer to this question — “Remember — it's up to you!”
Q5.
What is your dream? What can you do to make your dream come true?
Answer
This is a personal answer, so write about your own dream. A good answer has three parts: the dream, why you want it, and the concrete steps you will take this year.
Part
What to include
The dream
One clear sentence — not “to be successful” but “to become a veterinary doctor”.
The reason
An incident that made you want it.
The steps
Two or three things you can start now — reading, practising, asking a teacher.
Sample answer: “My dream is to become a veterinary doctor. When our cow fell ill last year, the doctor who came from the town saved her, and I decided that day. To make it come true I am working hard at Science, I read about animals in the school library, and I help my uncle look after our cattle so that I learn about them by watching closely.”