Testament of a Walker by R.K. Narayan

Important Solved Questions and Answers -

A. Answer the following questions in one or two words -

1. What is an automobile according to the author?
Ans: The means to an end.

2. What causes ecstasy in every auto pundit?
Ans: The author's new imported car.

3. In Narayan’s opinion, what does he lack?
Ans: Automobile sensibility.

4. What are the things that the author values most?
Ans: Privacy and anonymity.

5. What name does the author propose for his most ambitious work?
Ans: Testament of a walker.

6. For how long did Narayan use his car?
Ans: Ten years.

B. Answer the following questions in a few words -

1. Why do you think the author is indifferent at the mention of any petrol ‘hike’?
Ans: The author is indifferent at the mention of any petrol 'hike' because he believes that man's ultimate destiny lies in walking and that is why he is endowed with a pair of legs that require neither petrol nor gears. He feels the price hike will stop when it reaches a height where it can't be hiked further.

2. What made the author fear that he would soon become bankrupt?
Ans: The author owned a very flashy, sophisticated imported car. He had to visit the accredited workshop for the maintenance of the car which was a hundred miles away at Bangalore. The cost of servicing and repairs were also too high. The author feared that he would soon become bankrupt if he had to visit the workshop every other week and spend a reasonable amount.

3. Who fell on Narayan’s car when it was parked in front of the hospital?
Ans: Two cyclists collided with each other and fell on Narayan's car when it was parked in front of the hospital.

4. Which part of the author’s car could not ordinarily be replaced?
Ans: The parking light on the left side of the author's car could not ordinarily be replaced.

5. How, according to the author, did his friend spend his leisure hours?
Ans: According to the author, his friend generally spent his leisure hours under his imported car doing repairing on his own as did not he trust any mechanic or workshop in India. All his time was spent collecting spare parts from far and near. He had collected such a rich stock of parts that he could easily assemble a couple of new cars if he wished so.

C. Answer the following question briefly in your own words -

1. Discuss the reason for the author’s imperious attitude towards his car.
Ans: The author R.K. Narayan has owned an imported and sophisticated car. The car caused ecstasy in every auto pundit. It was a car full of features like a recessed handle, push-button glass raiser, floating seats, multicolored speedometer, concealed air-conditioned, tape recorder, digital alarm with a calculator. But for the author, it was only a means to an end. The car in itself is not valuable but helps take him from one place to another. He is not bothered about the other features of his car.

2. Why do you think the author regards himself as a ‘fanatic’ in the context of walking?
Ans: 'Fanatic' is a person who has excessive zeal and attachment to a cause. The author R.K. Narayan regards himself as a 'fanatic' in the context of walking as he is passionate about walking. He believes that man's ultimate destiny lies in walking and that is why he is endowed with a pair of legs that require neither petrol nor gears. When he was young, he used to walk ten miles a day, morning and evening in Mysore which was conducive for such walks. He continued the habit of walking even later, though on a lesser scale irrespective of the season. If bad weather compelled him to remain indoors, he walked in the verandah of his house.

3. What is Narayan’s opinion about his driver?
Ans: Narayan considers his driver to be an old-fashioned one who is not at all comfortable in driving the air-conditioned car of the author. He had the habit of showing right or left turn by thrusting his arm out of the car's window. But when the glass was raised for running the air conditioner of the car, he constantly hit it with his fist. Moreover, he would gesticulate animatedly at the erring pedestrians and address them volubly in passing. But in Narayan's sophisticated car, the driver felt restricted, confined tongue-tied, and eventually drove morosely.

D. Give a suitable answer to the following -

1. Narrate the circumstances that led Narayan to decide to ‘get rid’ of his car.
Ans: Once two cyclists collided and fell on the author's car parked in front of the hospital, and smashed the parking light on the left side. The situation following the incident led the author to decide not to use the car anymore. The light smashed by the collision of the cyclists could not easily be replaced in India. The elite repair shop could produce one only if the author was prepared to pay two thousand for it. The mechanic, after examining the broken light, declared that it could be repaired he could fabricate a cover in plastic. So, he unscrewed off the whole assembly of the light and left. After that, he was away from the workshop for ten weeks on sick leave. And later on, when the author met him, he denied that the light was with him. And the author had no other way but to accept what the mechanic said. All these made the author conclude that he had no use for a car. It seemed to him that the most thoughtless thing he had done in his life was to have acquired the car. He decided to get rid of it, lock it up in the shed as soon as possible, and turn his energies again to writing stories.

Ticker

Testament of a Walker by R.K. Narayan - Important questions and answers