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The story ‘Jalebis’ in NCERT Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 is adapted from its Urdu version by Sufiya Pathan. The story is translated into English by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi. Through the story, Sufiya Pathan explains the importance of making the right decisions and ethics in our lives. Also, the author propounds that one must always be ready to face the consequences of one’s actions.
You can learn about the story in detail in the summary part of the notes. Along with that, you can access and download the NCERT Solutions to the questions in Class 8 English Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’ here. Let us begin our journey!!
Download NCERT Solutions of Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’ (Free PDF)
Table of Contents
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Summary of NCERT Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’
The story “Jalebis” by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi is about a young boy who faces a moral dilemma when he finds himself with four rupees meant for school fees and a strong desire to buy jalebis, a sweet treat. Despite initially resisting the temptation, the coins in his pocket seem to persuade him to indulge in the delicious snack. Eventually, he gives in and buys a large number of jalebis, sharing them with other children in the neighbourhood.
However, he soon realises the consequences of his actions when he learns that his scholarship money won’t come until the following month. Panicked and regretful, he prays to Allah for help but ultimately finds no money under a rock where he hoped it would magically appear. He considers bargaining with Allah but ultimately faces the consequences of his actions when he returns home and is caught for skipping school.
The story reflects the boy’s internal struggle between temptation and morality, as well as the consequences of his actions. It highlights themes of responsibility, temptation, and the complexities of childhood decisions. Through the boy’s experiences, the story explores the importance of making ethical choices and facing the consequences of one’s actions.
Important Words and Phrases and Their Meanings
Now, let us have a look at important words and phrases with their meanings in NCERT Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’.
| Words/Phrases | Meanings |
| Jalebis | Orange and crispy Indian sweet dipped in syrup |
| Khanak-khanak | Jingling sounds made by metal objects like coins. |
| Kandhao | Large-sized open pot for boiling or cooking |
| Clamour | Scream or loud noise |
| Prestige | Respect |
| Kissa Khatam Paisa Hazam | Used as a metaphor for the end of a story |
| Blabbering | To talk in a confused manner |
| Gali | A narrow lane |
| Halwai | Sweet seller |
| Persuasion | Convincing |
| Tonga | A horse-drawn vehicle with two wheels |
| Jalebi-weilding hand | The hand that held jalebis |
| Assault | Attack |
| ChabutraSummoned | Called or sent for |
| Gobbled | Eat hastily |
| Virtuous | Noble and good |
| Crouching | To sit as if hiding from someone |
| Racket | Loud noise |
| Surats | Verses from the Holy Quran |
| Bismillah | In the name of God |
| Ayat-al-kursi | Title of a verse in the Holy Quran |
| Chaprasi | Peon |
| Treasury | Wealth |
| Choo | The noise of ‘blowing over the bag’ (to ward off evil) |
| Wazu | Washing face, hands, and feet before praying |
Download NCERT Solutions of Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’ (Free PDF)
Download NCERT Solutions of all Chapters in Class 8 English It So Happened here:
NCERT Solutions Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’
In this part, we have solutions to questions in NCERT Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 7 ‘Jalebis’. Let’s proceed!!
Comprehension Check I (Page No. 58)
Ques 1. Why didn’t he pay the school fees on the day he brought money to school?
Ans: Munna didn’t pay the school fees when he had money because the teacher who collects fees, Mr. Ghulam Mohammed, was not at school that day. So, they planned to do it the next day instead.
Ques 2. (i) What were the coins ‘saying’ to him?
(ii) Do you think they were misguiding him?
Ans:
(i) The coins in the boy’s pocket were like his inner thoughts telling him to buy delicious hot jalebis.
(ii) Yes, the coins were misleading him because they were supposed to be used for paying school fees. But when he saw the tasty and sweet jalebis, the boy couldn’t resist buying and eating them.
Ques 3. Why didn’t he take the coins’ advice? Give two or three reasons.
Ans: At first, the boy didn’t listen to the coins because:
- He was honest.
- He knew he shouldn’t use the money for jalebis, it was for school fees.
- He understood that if he didn’t pay the fees on time, the teacher would punish him by hitting him with a cane.
Ques 4. (i) What did the oldest coin tell him?
(ii) Did he follow his advice? If not, why not?
Ans:
(i) The oldest coin said they were looking out for his best interests. It suggested that he could still get the scholarship money the next day, which could then be used to pay the fees. This way, he could use the fee money to buy the jalebis without any worries.
(ii) He did not listen to the advice. Even though he really wanted the jalebis, he remembered that he was a top student at school. He had earned a scholarship of four rupees per month in his fourth-grade exams. He also came from a well-off family and was highly respected. He had never been punished before, but he had seen his teacher punish other students. He felt it wouldn’t be right for someone like him to be seen eating jalebis in the market. So, he went home without buying them, explaining his reasons to himself.
Ques 5. He reached home with the coins in his pocket. What happened then?
Ans: When he got home, the coins in his pocket kept telling him to buy jalebis. During lunch, they got louder and louder. Feeling frustrated, he left the house without shoes and hurried to the market. He couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and, feeling very scared, he asked the sweets seller to quickly give him jalebis worth a whole rupee. The seller wrapped a big pile of jalebis in a newspaper for him.
Comprehension Check II (Page No. 61)
Ques 1. (i) Why didn’t he eat all the jalebis he had bought?
(ii) What did he do with the remaining jalebis?
Ans:
(i) He couldn’t eat all the jalebis he bought because he was already full. He had eaten so many that if someone had pressed his stomach even a little, jalebis would have come out of his ears and nose.
(ii) He shared the extra jalebis with the kids who were nearby. He also used the remaining money meant for his fees to buy more jalebis. After that, he had no money left.
Ques 2. “The fear was killing me.” What was the fear?
Ans: After spending the money for school fees on buying and eating jalebis, the boy realised he made a big mistake. He was very afraid of getting caught. He thought if his parents found out, they would be very angry with him. Every time he burped, he worried he might bring out a jalebi, making him even more scared.
Ques 3. “Children’s stomachs are like digestion machines.” What do you understand by that? Do you agree?
Ans: As children are very active, they have strong stomachs. By morning, he had digested all the jalebis he ate. Kids can eat more food and digest it better than adults because they move around a lot.
Ques 4. How did he plan to pay the fees the next day?
Ans: He planned to pay the fees the next day using the monthly scholarship he would get.
Ques 5. When it is time to pay the fees, what does he do? How is he disobeying the elders by doing so?
Ans: When it was time to pay the tuition fee, Munna left the school with his bag and kept walking, wishing for something to happen that would let him avoid paying. He ended up at Kambelpur train station, even though he had been told not to cross the railway tracks by his elders. They had also advised him not to spend the money for fees on sweets, but he did it anyway, disobeying their instructions.
Comprehension Check III (Page No. 65)
Ques 1. What was the consequence of buying jalebis with the fees money?
Ans: As Munna spent the fee money on jalebis, he had to miss school for the first time ever. He realised he had disobeyed his parents for the first time and felt guilty about using the fee money to satisfy his craving.
Ques 2. His prayer to God is like a lawyer’s defence of a bad case. Does he argue his case well? What are the points he makes?
Ans: He wasn’t good at negotiating. He focused on impressing God and making promises. He said he knew the whole prayer by heart and even memorised the last 10 chapters of the Quran. He said he was a faithful servant of God who needed the money. He admitted he made a mistake.
In his defense, he said he didn’t eat all the jalebis; he shared them with other kids. He promised he wouldn’t use fee money for sweets again, and if he did, he should be punished like a thief. He said God has everything in abundance, and even the caretaker is paid well. Lastly, he mentioned he was related to a powerful officer and hoped God would grant him the money, even though he only asked for four rupees.
Ques 3. He offers to play a game with Allah Miyan. What is the game?
Ans: He suggested a challenge to Allah Miyan taht he would walk from where he stood to the signal, and if he succeeded, God would bury four rupees under a big rock. While he went to touch the signal and came back, God would hide the money under the rock. Then he would lift the rock and find the four rupees.
Ques 4. Did he get four rupees by playing the game? What did he get to see under the rock?
Ans: Munna did not win four rupees from the game with God. Instead, when he lifted the rock, he found a big, hairy worm that was squirming and moving towards him.
Ques 5. If God had granted his wish that day, what harm would it have caused him in later life?
Ans: If God had granted his prayer that day, he wouldn’t have learned from his mistake. He would have continued behaving badly, thinking that God would always rescue him whenever he made a mistake or faced a problem.
Exercise
Ques 1. Select and write sentences that show:
(i) That the boy is tempted to eat jalebis.
(ii) That he is feeling guilty.
(ii) That he is justifying a wrong deed.
Ans:
(i) The following sentences show ‘that the boy is tempted to eat jalebis’:
- Jalebis are meant to be eaten and only those with money in their pocket can eat them
- My mouth watered
- But then, these jalebis are no common sort of jalebis either. They’re crisp, fresh and full of sweet syrup.
(ii) The following sentences show ‘that he is feeling guilty”:
- When the recess bell rang, I tucked my bag under my arm and left the school and simply followed my nose, walking on and on.
- I felt like crying as loudly as I could.
- Sitting there under the tree, at first I felt like crying.
- Now for the crime of eating a few jalebis, for the first time in my life I was absent from school.
(ii) The following sentences show ‘that he is justifying a wrong deed”:
- I have memorised the entire namaaz. I even know the last ten surats of the Quran by heart.
- Allah Miyan! I am a very good boy.
- I didn’t eat them all by myself, though I fed them to a whole lot of children too, but yes, it was a mistake.
Ques 2. Discuss the following points.
(i) Is the boy intelligent? If so, what is the evidence of it?
(ii) Does his outlook on the jalebis episode change after Class VIII? Does he see that episode in a new light?
(ii) Why are coins made to ‘talk’ in the story? What purpose does it serve?
Ans:
(i) Munna was a smart student, one of the brightest in his school. He earned a scholarship of four rupees per month in his fourth-grade exam. On the day he needed to pay his fees, he was also getting last month’s scholarship. Plus, he had never missed a day of school.
(ii) Yes, indeed, his perspective changed after Class VIII. He could not understand why it would have been a problem if God had given him four rupees that day. But later on, he understood that everything has consequences. If God granted every wish, people would live like birds in nests and would never have learned how to make jalebis either.
(iii) In this story, the coins symbolise the boy’s greedy thoughts. Despite being honest and good-hearted, he could not resist the temptation to buy jalebis with the school fees money. His inner desire for sweets led him to give in to the temptation and eat them as if the coins in his pocket were encouraging him to do so.
You can also access notes and solutions of all Honeydew chapters here:
FAQs
Ans: Jalebis was originally written in Urdu.
Ans: ‘Jalebis’ in Urdu is authored by Sufiya Pathan. It was translated into English by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi. We have the English version in our Class 8 English Chapter 7.
Ans: You can download the NCERT chapters from https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php
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