Explore the 60-Second Visual Storyline Roadmap, Valli’s character analysis, and 12-Year CBSE Solved Question Bank (2015–2026).
Download free comprehensive NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7: Madam Rides the Bus by Vallikkannan (translated by K.S. Sundaram), accompanied by full solutions for the companion poem The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash. Below are authentic answers for every textbook exercise, alongside official CBSE Board Examination questions and marking rubrics from 2015 to 2026.
1. Madam Rides the Bus — Vallikkannan (Textbook Solutions)
Thinking about the Text
Q1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? How did she plan her bus journey and save money?
Answer:
Valli’s deepest desire was to ride on the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. Over months, this longing matured into an overwhelming determination.
She meticulously gathered operational facts by listening intently to conversations between neighbours and regular bus commuters: the town was six miles away, the trip took forty-five minutes, and the fare was thirty paise one way (sixty paise return). She saved every stray coin, bravely resisting temptations to buy peppermint candies, toys, balloons, and riding the village merry-go-round until she accumulated the required sixty paise.
Q2. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘Madam’? How did Valli react to being called a child?
Answer:
The conductor was a jovial, good-humoured man fond of joking. Seeing an eight-year-old girl travel completely alone, paying her own fare with haughty self-assurance, refusing his helping hand, and acting like a dignified adult, he teasingly addressed her as “Madam”.
Valli resented being patronised. She snapped proudly that she was not a child, had paid her full thirty paise like everyone else, and could look after herself without adult condescension.
Q3. What made Valli laugh during her journey to the town? What dampened her enthusiasm on the return trip?
Answer:
On the forward trip, a young cow galloped in the middle of the road right ahead of the bus with its tail held high. The louder the driver honked his horn, the faster and more terrified the cow galloped in front of the vehicle. This comic spectacle delighted Valli, making her laugh until tears filled her eyes.
On her return journey, she saw the very same cow lying dead by the roadside, struck down by a speeding vehicle, smeared in blood and stiff. The sudden realization of how a vibrant, lovely creature could turn into a gruesome corpse in a split second shocked Valli profoundly. A heavy grief settled over her, and she sat silently in her seat without glancing outside again.
2. Companion Poem: The Tale of Custard the Dragon — Ogden Nash
Q1. How did Custard prove that deeds matter more than words?
Answer:
Belinda, Ink, Blink, and Mustard constantly boasted of their fearless bravery while mocking Custard for desiring a “nice safe cage”. However, when an armed pirate broke into the house, the loud boasters fled in terror—Belinda cried for help, Mustard fled with a yelp, Ink hid in the basement, and Blink bolted into a mousehole.
Custard alone confronted the threat, snorting like an engine, clashing his tail like irons, and devouring the pirate whole. Once the crisis passed, the cowards resumed their hollow bragging, yet Custard humbly conceded that everyone else was braver than him, demonstrating true courage and humility.
3. CBSE Solved Board Questions (2015–2026)
Q. How did the incident of the dead cow mark the beginning of maturity in Valli?
Answer: Seeing the energetic cow lying lifeless and bloody stripped away Valli’s naive childhood illusion of an immortal, playful world. It confronted her with the harsh, irreversible finality of death, replacing carefree amusement with somber introspection.
Q. “Maturity is learning to see beyond the surface of life.” Explain how Valli’s secretive bus journey symbolizes an eight-year-old’s transition towards adult understanding.
Answer: Valli’s solo bus expedition is an allegory for growing up. Her careful budgeting, refusal of candy from strangers, and deliberate resistance to get down at the town showcase adult discipline and prudence. However, her true emotional transition occurs through the juxtaposition of the frolicking cow and its subsequent gruesome corpse. By witnessing life and death within two hours, Valli encounters the mystery of mortality. When she returns home and agrees knowingly with her mother that “so many things happen without our knowledge”, she smiles with quiet adult wisdom.