The Professor, Comprehension Level Questions and Answers

The Professor

Extract I

By God’s grace……..family must have black sheep.

(i) What does the speaker mean by saying ‘all my children are well settled in life”?

The speaker wants to say that all his children, i.e., his sons are economically well off and his two daughters are happily married.

(ii) What does the speaker want to convey when he says, “ Both have cars?” What does it convey about the Indian society?

By saying, “Both have cars”, the speaker wants to convey that both his sons are well off and have a status in society. It conveys that in Indian society the worth of an individual is measured more by his financial status than anything else.

(iii) Who is the ‘Other’ referred to in the above lines? Why does the speaker  say that he is not  doing ‘so well’?

The “other” is a reference for the speaker’s third son. The speaker says that he is not doing “so well” because in comparison to his

other two sons, who have managerial jobs and are economically well off, he is not as successful as they are.

(iv) What does the speaker mean by ‘Every family must have black sheep”? Who is the black sheep in the speaker’s family? Why?

By saying, “Every family must have black sheep”, the speaker intends to say that in every family there is a person, who is different from the rest of the family and is an embarrassment to the family. The speaker considered his third son as the black sheep in his family because he was not as well off as his other two sons.

(v) How does the extract show that many Indians value economic success more than academic success?

The extract shows that Indians value economic success more than academic success through the speaker’s attitude, who measures the success of his two sons by their managerial jobs and the cars they owned.

Extract II

Sarala and Tarala are…….I am not against.

 (i) Who are ‘Sarala and Tarala’? Which practice of naming do they show in our society?

Sarala and Tarala are the speaker’s daughters. The practice of giving rhyming names to the siblings like ‘Sarala and Tarala’ is shown in this extract.

(ii) What does the speaker say about the marriage of his daughters? What trait of the Indian society is hinted at by the speaker’s comment about the marriage of Sarala and Tarala?

The speaker says that his two daughters ‘Sarala and Tarala’ are happily married to nice boys. The speaker’s comment about the marriage of Sarala and Tarala hints at the gender bias prevalent in Indian society, which considers the success of a man by his economic status and a woman’s by getting married to a nice boy.

(iii) What does the speaker mean when he says “ how many issues you have?” Whom is he asking this question?

 By saying, “How many issues you have”, the speaker wants to enquire from his student about the number of children he has. He is directing this question to his former student.

(iv) Why does the speaker say ‘That is good’? What is the ‘good’ that he is talking about?

 In reply to his former student’s remark that he has three children, the speaker says “That is good”. The speaker considers his student having three children as “good”.

(v) What is that which the speaker is not against? What is the irony in this statement?

The speaker is not against family planning. The irony in this statement is the fact that though the speaker says that he is not against family planning, yet he feels proud at having eleven grandchildren.

(vi)How far is the poem a satire on the urban Indian way of life?

 The poem The Professor is a satire on the urban Indian way of life as it satirises:

(a) the urban Indian society, which measures the success of a man by his economic success rather than his academic excellence.

(b) gender bias present in Indian society which believes that woman should be happily married and confined within the four walls of their domestic life.

(c) the pretence of the urban Indians, who consider it as a prestige to speak in a foreign language rather than their mother tongue.19

Extract III

We have to change……with leaps and bounds.

 (i) Why does the speaker say that ‘ We have to change with times?” What does it show about the character of the speaker?

The speaker says that “we have to change with times” because he feels that since the whole world is changing, so we should also change with the changing times. It shows the pretence of the speaker, who feels that we should change with the changing times, but in reality, he himself clings to the old traditions and does not want to change.

(ii) What is that with which India is also ‘keeping up’?

 India is “keeping up” with the changes and development going on in the world.

(iii)  What according to the speaker is happening  to ‘values’? Why?

According to the speaker, new values are replacing the old ones. He feels so because of the rapid changes taking place in society.

(iv) Why according to the speaker ‘Everything is happening with leaps and bounds’?

According to the speaker, “Everything is happening with leaps and bounds” because of the rapid changes and development that is taking place in Indian society and the world at large.

(v) The poet use of Present Continuous tense for simple present indicates the incorrect use of English by the Indians. Give two examples from the above extract of such usage.

 Examples of the use of Indian English in the extract are:

(a) We are keeping up. Our progress is progressing.

(b) Old values are going, new values are coming

Extract IV

I am going out rarely…..sound habits in youth.

(i) Why does the speaker say that he rarely goes out? What is the ‘price of old age’ which the speaker has to pay?

The speaker says that he rarely goes out because of his old age. The “price of old age” which the speaker has to pay is that he rarely goes out.

(ii) What does the speaker tell us about his health in the above lines?

 The speaker says that apart from usual aches and pains associated with old age, he is hale and hearty without any major disease like diabetes, blood pressure or heart attack.

(iii) What reason does the speaker ascribe for his good health?

The speaker ascribes his good health to sound habits practised by him in his youth.

(iv) What according to you might have been the ‘sound habits’ followed by the speaker  in his youth?

The sound habits followed by the speaker in his youth might have been — eating balanced diet, regular exercise and abstaining from smoking and drinking.

(v)  Explain the main theme of the poem.

The main theme of the poem is the hypocrisy and pretence of the urban Indian middle class, which measures the success of an individual in terms of wealth and status rather than academic excellence.

Extract V

This year I am sixty-nine….house’s backside

(i)  What does the speaker mean by saying ‘hope to score a century’?

By saying “hope to score a century”, the speaker wants to say that he hopes to live upto the age of hundred.

(ii) What is meant by ‘man of weight and consequecne’? To whom and why does the speaker say that he is a ‘man of weight and consequence?”

“Man of weight and consequence” means a man, who is physically healthy, economically sound and has a status in society. The speaker says these words to his former student because he finds him physically healthier than what he was earlier and also because of his status in society.

(iii) What is the ‘good joke’ the speaker is referring to in the above lines?

The “good joke” referred to by the speaker is that his former student, who is now healthier, once used to be thin like a stick.

(iv) Give an example of Indian English used by the speaker in the above lines.

Example of Indian English used by the speaker in the given lines is:

(a) You were so thin, like stick. (Stock usage of Indian English)

(b) If you were coming this side by chance. (Use of Present Continuous Tense instead of Simple Present Tense)

(c) I am living just on opposite house’s backside. (Direct translation of the local language)

(v) How far is the title of the poem appropriate?

 The title of the poem is quite apt because:

(a) the entire poem revolves around the character of a retired Professor, his life, his thoughts and actions.

(b) through the character of the Professor, the poet has ridiculed the urban, educated, middle class of India, its hypocrisy and pretense.