NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 9 Story of Shane (page 203) — LET'S EXPLORE

Book page 204 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Does Shane’s country look like a democracy?

Answer

No. Test the story against the fundamental principles of democracy listed on pages 191–192, and it fails every one of them.

Principle of democracy	What the story shows	Present?
Freedom to make one's own choices	The government decides how his hair is cut and what clothes he wears	No
Freedom of expression and access to information	He cannot access the global internet and is unaware of the world outside	No
Rights protected against the state	He must serve in the military for as long as the government decides	No
Government accountable to the people	The government watches his every action; he must report on others	No — the watching runs one way
Representative participation, elections	The story mentions none — no vote, no representative, no way to change anything	No

His own answer to the tourist gives it away: ‘We all want to explore new styles, but the government decides the way we should keep our hair.' The people have preferences; the government has the power. In a democracy that sentence would not make sense.

Which form is it, then? A country where power is not limited by a constitution or law, where the people cannot choose or remove those who rule, and where daily life is controlled in detail, matches the chapter's definition of a dictatorship.

Q2.

How do you think Shane’s everyday life would be?

Answer

Take only what the story tells us and follow it through an ordinary day.

His time is not his own. He is in compulsory military service and will stay in it until the government decides otherwise — so he cannot plan studies, work or travel.
Even small choices are made for him — his haircut, his clothes. Things that seem trivial become daily reminders of who is in charge.
His world is small. With no access to the global internet, he cannot compare his life with anyone else's, read a different opinion or learn what is happening elsewhere.
He is watched. The government follows his every action, so he would weigh each word before speaking, even at home.
He must watch others. Being expected to report anyone who breaks a rule turns neighbours and friends into a risk. Trust becomes expensive.
There is no way to complain. No election, no free press, no independent court to go to.

So the texture of the day is predictable but tense: food, work and shelter may be arranged, but there is no room to be different and no safe person to be honest with.

Tip: when you answer, stay with the evidence in the story rather than adding things you have heard elsewhere. The story is used in the book as an illustration of how a dictatorship feels from inside, and that is what the question asks you to imagine.

Q3.

Would you like to live in such a country? Explain why.

Answer

This asks for your own opinion, so give a clear position and then the reasons. Almost every student will say no — but the marks lie in why.

Reasons you can build the answer on

Freedom. I would want to choose how I look, what I read, what I believe and what work I do.
Voice. If a rule is unfair, I would want a way to say so — a vote, a newspaper, a court — instead of only obeying.
Trust. A country where I must report on my friends is a country where I can have no real friends.
Correction. Every government makes mistakes. A system that cannot be told it is wrong cannot fix itself.

Sample answer: ‘No, I would not like to live in Shane's country. Rules there reach into things that should be mine to decide — my hair, my clothes, how long I serve in the army. Worse, I would have no way of changing any of it, because there is no election, no free information and no court I could turn to. I would also have to report on people around me, so I could never speak freely even with a friend. I would rather live where I can disagree openly and, if I think the government is failing, help vote it out at the next election. I know a democracy has its own problems — corruption and unfairness among them — but in a democracy those problems can at least be named, argued about and corrected.'

Keep it balanced: the chapter itself is even-handed — it praises democracy but also lists its hurdles. A strong answer says what you value and why, without claiming that one country's people are better or worse than another's.

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