EN हिं

NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 3 My Brother's Great Invention — Let us think and reflect

Book page 99 to 101 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
I 1. Extract: 'Before beginning this story, let me put you in the picture. I am Anita, fourteen years old. My brother Anand, one year younger than me, caused all that hoo-ha with his burglar alarm. The trouble with him is that he thinks he is a scientist. He loves tinkering with all sorts of electrical gadgets, tools, dynamos, planks of wood, and things like that. And he keeps creating 'inventions' that never work out as they are supposed to.' (i) Complete the following sentence suitably by choosing the correct option from those given in the brackets. When Anita says, "…let me put you in the picture", she wants to _________ (introduce/summarise) the situation for the benefit of the readers.
Answer

When Anita says, "…let me put you in the picture", she wants to introduce the situation for the benefit of the readers.

Why it happens: The idiom to put someone in the picture means 'to give someone the background information they need'. Anita uses it before the story properly begins — she stops to tell us her name, her age, her brother's age and his habits. She is not shortening anything that has already been told, so 'summarise' is wrong; she is opening the story out for a reader who knows nothing yet.
Q2.
I 1. (ii) Anand loves 'tinkering' with all sorts of electrical gadgets. This means that he enjoys _________ gadgets. A. dismantling and creating B. labelling or naming C. repairing or improving D. collecting and displaying
Answer

A. dismantling and creating

Why it happens: The story itself defines the word for us. Anand 'takes apart all the gadgets in the house to collect parts' — that is dismantling — and then 'keeps creating "inventions"' out of them — that is creating. Option C is tempting, but he never repairs or improves anything; Ma has to keep 'a wary eye on her oven and mixer' precisely because his tinkering leaves things worse than before.
Tip: For a vocabulary MCQ, hunt for the sentence in the passage that shows the word in action. Here 'takes apart… to collect parts' settles it.
Q3.
I 1. (iii) Which of the following options most suitably describes Anand's personality? A. methodical and cautious B. creative and experimental C. energetic and hasty D. shy and reserved
Answer

B. creative and experimental

Why it happens: Anand invents things nobody has asked for — a burglar alarm with a bell and a falling water bag, and then a time machine built out of wires, springs, levers and bulbs. That is creative. He then tries them out on his own front door and his own family, which is experimental. He is certainly not 'methodical and cautious' (Anita is the cautious one), and he is the opposite of 'shy and reserved' — he announces his time machine to everyone at lunch.
Q4.
I 1. (iv) Based on the extract, compare what Anita thinks of her brother Anand with what he thinks of himself.
Answer

The two views are almost exact opposites, and that gap is where the humour of the story lives.

PointWhat Anand thinks of himselfWhat Anita thinks of him
Who he isA scientist and 'a genius' with real projects and 'blueprints'A boy who only thinks he is a scientist — 'The trouble with him is that he thinks he is a scientist.'
His workCarefully planned inventions — 'Nothing will go wrong this time. I've planned it out carefully.''Inventions' in inverted commas 'that never work out as they are supposed to'
Effect on othersHe is offended when the family shows 'lack of respect for his creation'A nuisance who gets on Papa's nerves and frightens people half to death

Anand sees himself as a misunderstood inventor; Anita sees an untidy, over-confident younger brother whose schemes end in a soaked father. Yet her tone is affectionate teasing rather than dislike — she still helps him, and at the end she reports his next project with a smile.

Q5.
I 2. Extract: 'I was about to direct him upstairs, when Anand said quickly, "The one next to this one." / "You silly goose!" I said angrily as soon as the man had gone. / "That's your room. He'll come back as mad as mad can be." / "At least it will give us some time to think of something," Anand said. "He'll take a while to locate the light switch. Let's shout." All of a sudden there was a crash followed by a loud scream. More strange noises emerged from the next room—a few muffled thumps, an eerie whine, and a low, humming sound.' (i) Complete the sentence given below with a suitable reason. Anita was angry with Anand because ____________.
Answer

Anita was angry with Anand because he had deliberately misdirected the thief into his own room instead of sending him upstairs to their father's room, and she was sure that Boppa would find nothing valuable there, realise he had been fooled, and come back 'as mad as mad can be'.

Why it happens: Anita's fear is practical. A thief who is cheated becomes a dangerous thief — and this one was already 'brandishing his cudgel'. She had been about to give him the true direction so that he would take what he wanted and leave. Anand's answer, to her mind, had simply bought them a few minutes and a great deal of trouble. She does not yet know that the room he has sent Boppa into contains the time machine.
Q6.
I 2. (ii) Which action of Anand shows his presence of mind?
Answer

The moment Boppa demands, "Now, where is your father's room?", Anand answers instantly and untruthfully — "The one next to this one" — sending the thief into his own room instead of upstairs.

Why it happens: That single quick lie does three useful things at once. It sends the thief away from the parents' room and whatever is kept there; it buys the children time, because, as Anand says, 'He'll take a while to locate the light switch'; and — although Anand cannot have planned this — it walks the intruder straight into the panel of the time machine. Anita speaks first and thinks later; Anand thinks in the second before he speaks. That is presence of mind.
Q7.
I 2. (iii) What might be the cause of the strange noises emerging from the next room? A. The intruder moving furniture around B. Anand's time machine getting activated C. The intruder locating the light switch D. Anand's invention malfunctioning
Answer

B. Anand's time machine getting activated

Why it happens: The noises are exactly the noises of a machine starting up — 'an eerie whine, and a low, humming sound' — and Anand names the cause himself in the very next line: 'My time machine, he's started it!' When the neighbours finally open the room, 'the time machine was still humming softly', which proves it was running, not broken. Option D would need something to break down; option A and C would produce dragging and fumbling sounds, not a whine and a hum.
Q8.
I 2. (iv) Which of the following best describes the atmosphere in this extract? A. relaxing B. peaceful C. tense D. sad E. suspenseful F. joyful — (a) A, D and E (b) B and F (c) C and E (d) Only D
Answer

(c) C and E — the atmosphere is tense and suspenseful.

Why it happens: It is tense because two children are locked in a room with an armed intruder in the house and are whispering about what to do. It is suspenseful because the writer refuses to tell us what is happening next door: we get only 'a crash', 'a loud scream', 'a few muffled thumps, an eerie whine, and a low, humming sound' — sounds without a cause. Nothing here is relaxing, peaceful, sad or joyful, so (a), (b) and (d) fall away.
Did you know? Describing a frightening event only through sounds heard from another room is a classic suspense technique. What the reader imagines is always worse than what the writer could describe.
Q9.
II Complete the table with the suitable traits of the characters based on evidence from the text. Choose the traits given in the box below (creative, curious, careful, responsible, bothersome, confident). An example has been done for you.
Answer
CharacterTraitsEvidence from the Text
Anand1. bothersome (given)And this is not the first time he's got on Papa's nerves or frightened someone half to death in the house.
2. creativeHe loves tinkering with all sorts of electrical gadgets, tools, dynamos, planks of wood, and things like that. And he keeps creating 'inventions' that never work out as they are supposed to.
3. confident"Nothing will go wrong this time. I've planned it out carefully. See the blueprint."
Anita1. responsible"We're old enough to look after ourselves, Ma…"
2. curious"But how does the alarm know that a burglar is opening the door?"
3. careful"Now clean up this mess before anyone gets home."
Why it happens: Each trait must be read off the evidence, not off your general impression of the character. Anand's second quotation shows him making things, so 'creative'; his third is a boast made before the alarm is tested, so 'confident' rather than 'careful' — the story proves at once that the planning was not careful at all. Anita's three lines show her taking charge of the two of them (responsible), asking the one hard technical question in the story (curious), and thinking about the consequences before the adults get home (careful).
Q10.
III 1. What prompted Anand to create the burglar alarm?
Answer

There had been a rush of thefts in the colony, and Anand 'got it into his head that what was needed was a burglar alarm'.

He waited for the house to empty — 'the minute Papa left for the office and Ma for the market' — and started at once on his 'latest scheme', complete with a blueprint of doors, wires and bells, and a water bag rigged to fall on the thief's head.

Why it happens: The thefts gave Anand what every inventor needs: a real problem and an excuse. Notice that the family's genuine worry becomes, in his hands, one more chance to build something — which is exactly why Anita is sceptical about his motives as well as his wiring.
Q11.
III 2. How did Anand's father become the target of the burglar alarm?
Answer

Because of the one detail Anand was proudest of. He had rigged the alarm 'so that the alarm works only when the door is opened gently' — his reasoning being that 'a thief tries to open the door stealthily'.

Unluckily, Papa always opens the door softly. So the first person to open the front door quietly that evening was not a burglar but Papa. The bell clanged, the water bag was loosened, and Papa was left on the doorstep 'sopping wet and scowling', roaring, "Who put that water bag here?"

Why it happens: The invention failed on a point of logic, not of wiring. Anand's alarm could not tell who was opening the door — only how. Anita spots this immediately ('But how does the alarm know that a burglar is opening the door?') and her doubts, as she says, 'were quite justified'.
Q12.
III 3. How did Anand's parents and sister react to his ideas?
Answer
  • Papa reacts with anger and firm bans. After the water bag he says grimly, "I want to know who is behind this nonsense," and later, "When I say NO, I mean NO," glaring. He locks up his tool box and hides the key, and in the end has the time machine dismantled because he thinks it is unsafe.
  • Ma is protective and soothing. She explains the alarm to Papa 'in a soothing voice', notices Anand's 'crestfallen look' and pleads, "Poor boy… At least let's take a look at it" — but she also keeps 'a wary eye on her oven and mixer' and makes him promise not to touch the machine while they are away.
  • Anita is amused, sceptical and careful to stay out of trouble. She helps him although she would rather finish her novel, warns him twice — "If you get a shelling, don't bring me in" — and quietly doubts 'the alarm's guessing powers', keeping her doubts to herself 'because when Anand is in one of his inventive moods, nothing stops him'.
Why it happens: Three very believable family reactions: the father who bans, the mother who softens the ban, and the sibling who teases but still lends a hand. Not one of them actually believes the inventions will work — which is why Mr. Sharma's disbelief at the end feels like the whole world's verdict on Anand.
Q13.
III 4. How did Anand behave when he was on his 'inventing binges'?
Answer

He became completely absorbed and completely impossible to live with.

  • He took apart every gadget in the house to collect parts, which is why Papa locked the tool box and Ma guarded her oven and mixer.
  • He filled the house with noise — 'hammering and sawing and clattering'.
  • He turned his room into 'a network of wires, springs, levers, and bulbs' with 'an enormous panel which was to be control switchboard', and would not let anyone in.
  • He stopped looking after himself: 'he went around looking like a savage. When Ma didn't notice, the fellow didn't even comb his hair.'
  • He worked at it for 'a fortnight of frantic activity' without a break.
Why it happens: The word binge means doing something excessively for a stretch of time. Anita chooses it deliberately — for those two weeks the invention swallows Anand's meals, manners and hair, and 'that was the end of peace and quiet in the house'.
Q14.
III 5. Why did Mr. Sharma not believe Anand when he spoke about his time machine?
Answer

Because a grown-up simply cannot accept that a thirteen-year-old's bedroom contraption has sent a man into the past. When Anand bursts out, "My time machine! He's gone through that!", Mr. Sharma only smiles 'indulgently' and says, "What an imagination this boy has! Now off to bed, both of you."

He had a reasonable explanation ready — Mrs. Sharma had already said, "maybe he did run out and we missed him" — and to an adult a thief slipping away unnoticed is far likelier than time travel.

Why it happens: The word indulgently is the key. Mr. Sharma is not being unkind; he is being fond, the way adults are fond of a child's tall story. The joke of the ending is that the evidence is on Anand's side — the locked house had 'only one way out', the neighbours came in by that way, the search upstairs found nobody, and the green scarf was lying by the switchboard. Even Papa, Anita hints, had 'a niggling suspicion that it worked'.
Q15.
III 6. Give an ending to this story, explaining what might have happened to Boppa.
Answer

Your ending should (a) stay in Anita's voice and her light, teasing tone, (b) settle what happened to Boppa, and (c) leave a small doubt, because the whole story is built on 'maybe it worked, maybe it didn't'. Two ways to go — the scientific ending or the fantastic one.

Sample answer (fantastic ending):

Three months later a letter came for Papa from a friend in the Archaeological Survey. Inside was a photograph of a mural dug up near Kharagpur, painted, they thought, some four hundred years ago. It showed a village crowd, a bullock cart — and, at the edge, a startled-looking man with a short thick stick and a green cloth knotted round his neck. Anand did not say a word. He only cut out the photograph, pinned it above his desk, and went back to soldering his telephone for outer space. Papa looked at the picture for a long time that evening, and then, without explaining himself, he took the key of the tool box out of his pocket and left it on Anand's table.

Sample answer (realistic ending):

Two weeks later, Sharma Uncle read out a small item from the newspaper: a man had been caught in Howrah trying to sell a bag of stolen taps and doorknobs. The police said he kept babbling about a room full of lights that whined at him in the dark, and that he refused to go near any house that had wires showing. He never came back to our colony. 'You see,' said Anand calmly, 'it worked. It just didn't send him very far.'

Tip: A good ending answers the question the story asked but does not lecture. Finish on an image — a photograph, a key on a table — rather than on a moral.
Was this helpful? Report an error