Q1.
Arrange the events in order of occurrence in the story. Two have been done for you. 1. Rakesh discovered that the small, well-rooted twig, had grown into a cherry tree. 2. Rakesh was sent to live with his grandfather in Mussoorie. 3. Rakesh pressed the cherry seed into the soft soil with his thumb. (5) 4. The cherry tree grew quickly after the rains arrived early. 5. Rakesh bought a bunch of cherries and ate most of them. 6. A goat entered the garden and ate all the leaves of the young cherry tree. 7. Rakesh's parents grew maize, rice, and barley in a village. (1) 8. Rakesh sprinkled water on the cherry tree and surrounded it with pebbles. 9. Grandfather told Rakesh that cherry trees were tough. 10. Rakesh kept rolling the last cherry seed in his mouth.
Answer
| Order | Event (number as printed in the book) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rakesh's parents grew maize, rice, and barley in a village. (7) — given |
| 2 | Rakesh was sent to live with his grandfather in Mussoorie. (2) |
| 3 | Rakesh bought a bunch of cherries and ate most of them. (5) |
| 4 | Rakesh kept rolling the last cherry seed in his mouth. (10) |
| 5 | Rakesh pressed the cherry seed into the soft soil with his thumb. (3) — given |
| 6 | Rakesh discovered that the small, well-rooted twig had grown into a cherry tree. (1) |
| 7 | Rakesh sprinkled water on the cherry tree and surrounded it with pebbles. (8) |
| 8 | The cherry tree grew quickly after the rains arrived early. (4) |
| 9 | A goat entered the garden and ate all the leaves of the young cherry tree. (6) |
| 10 | Grandfather told Rakesh that cherry trees were tough. (9) |
So the answers to be filled in are: 1 → 6, 2 → 2, 4 → 8, 5 → 3, 6 → 9, 8 → 7, 9 → 10, 10 → 4.
How to get the order right: Bond marks time with the seasons, not with dates. Track them and the sequence falls into place — winter by the charcoal fire, then spring when the wild duck fly north to Siberia (that is when the twig is found), then the early monsoon when the tree shoots up, and only after that the goat. The two events the book gives you fix the two ends of the seed's journey: buying the cherries is before planting, and planting is event 5.
Check it yourself: Events 1–4 all happen on a single afternoon — the walk home, the two cherries, the seed on the tongue. It is worth noticing how much of the story's beginning fits into half an hour, and how many years the rest of it takes.