NCERT Solutions for Class 9th English Chapter 2 The Pot Maker
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
The Pot Maker (prose, pages 33–56, Temsula Ao): Sentila wants to be a potter like her mother and grandmother. Her mother Arenla wants a weaver, and says why — the clay is “sixteen kilometres from here”, the climb down is “a sheer drop”, the pounding is “tedious”, a batch takes months, “And the reward? A few rupees.” Sentila hides her passion and learns by watching other potters. The village council turns a family matter into a public one. The elders remind Mesoba that a skill “handed down from generation to generation” does not ‘belong’ to any individual, and that experts are “obliged to pass on their skills not only to their own children but also to anyone who wished to learn”. Craft, in this story, is community property held in trust. Teaching alone is not enough. Arenla does teach — for
- The Pot Maker (prose)
- The Pot Maker
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem)
Quick revision
| Word or term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Used in a fresh sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| outgrow | to lose interest in something as one grows older | “she would soon outgrow her childish passion for the craft” (glossed on page 34) | Most children outgrow their fear of the dark. |
| pittance | a small amount of money received as income | “only a pittance for my troubles” (glossed on page 34) | He repaired watches all day for a pittance. |
| tedious | tiring | “Pounding the stubborn clay… is also tedious” (glossed on page 34) | Copying the register by hand was tedious work. |
| deftly | skilfully | “how deftly they rotated the lump” (glossed on page 35) | She deftly folded the banana leaf into a cup. |
| spatula | tool used by a potter to shape a pot | “with a spatula held in the right hand” (glossed on page 35) | The potter smoothed the neck with a wooden spatula. |
| kiln | the oven in which pots are fired | “loaded on to a kiln… and then the kiln would be fired” (page 36) | The whole batch cracked because the kiln was too hot. |
| followed suit | did the same thing as somebody else has just done | “if all pot makers followed suit” (glossed on page 36) | One shop lowered its rates and the others followed suit. |
| dao | an instrument used to dig | “how to dig the clay with a dao” (glossed on page 37) | He cleared the path with a few strokes of the dao. |
| malleable | able to be put into shape without breaking or cracking | “turned the clay into malleable dough” (glossed on page 37) | Warm wax is malleable enough to press into a mould. |
| dexterity | skill | “the same speed and dexterity… in her mother’s hands” (glossed on page 40) | Her dexterity with the loom astonished the visitors. |
| momentous | of great significance | “something momentous had happened” (glossed on page 40) | The vote was a momentous day for the village. |
| revelation | a moment of realisation | “a profound revelation in the two batches” (glossed on page 41) | Seeing the accounts was a revelation to all of us. |
| myriad | countless; very many | “woven with colours and myriad hues” (poem, page 58) | The fair sold bangles in myriad shades. |
| hues | shades or tints of colour | “colours and myriad hues” (poem, page 58) | The sky took on the hues of a ripe mango. |
| affirming | declaring with confidence | “The shoemakers affirming the quality of their work” (poem, page 59) | She kept affirming that the design was her own. |
| free verse | poetry with no fixed rhyme scheme or metre | the form of Gifts of Grace (item II.1, page 60) | His whole collection is written in free verse. |
Exercises
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Reflect and Respond Page 33
- The Pot Maker — Check Your Understanding Page 37
- The Pot Maker — Check Your Understanding Page 41–42
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Critical Reflection Page 42–45
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Vocabulary and Structures in Context Page 45–48
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Listen and Respond Page 48–49
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Speaking Activity Page 49–50
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Writing Task Page 50–51
- The Pot Maker (prose) — Learning Beyond the Text Page 51–56
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Reflect and Respond Page 57
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Check Your Understanding Page 60
- (Check Your Understanding, item II)Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Let us appreciate the poem Page 60–61
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Critical Reflection Page 62–63
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Vocabulary in Context Page 63–64
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Listen and Respond Page 64–65
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Speaking Activity Page 65
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Writing Task Page 66–67
- Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations (poem) — Learning Beyond the Text Page 67–68