12.7 Going Deeper (Exam Prep)

Real-world connections

The old woman’s wisdom is sound science. Farmers around the world let fields lie fallow (unplanted for a season) so the soil can recover its nutrients; this is part of sustainable agriculture. Velu’s story also reflects a real and growing challenge: with climate change, monsoons are becoming less predictable, and droughts more common. The story quietly teaches both patience in hardship and a deeper truth — that caring for the soil and using water wisely keeps the land able to feed us.

Quick revision card

Quick Revision Card

  • Form: a short story about rural life.
  • Main character: Velu, a hardworking, honest farmer.
  • Problem: a drought turns his fertile land barren.
  • His search: rejects astrologers; goes to the city; finds no answer; returns disheartened.
  • Turning point: an old woman teaches that the land must rest, like people.
  • Ending: Velu, now at peace, walks home as clouds gather and the rain comes.
  • Theme: dependence on rain; patience, resilience, and respect for nature.

Exam Corner

Objective / one-mark questions

  1. What is Velu’s occupation, and what problem does he face?
  2. What did the villagers suggest to bring rain?
  3. Whom did Velu meet under the tree?
  4. What did the old woman say the land needs?
  1. Velu is a farmer; he faces a severe drought. 2. Consulting astrologers. 3. An old woman. 4. Rest — just as people need rest, the land too must rest after years of cultivation.

Short-answer questions (2–3 marks)

  1. How did the drought affect Velu’s land and his state of mind?
  2. Why did Velu go to the city, and what was the result?
  3. How did Velu feel by the end of the story, and why?
  1. His once-fertile land became cracked and barren, and he grew anxious and restless, watching the empty sky each day.
  2. He went to the city in search of answers about the drought, but found none and returned disheartened.
  3. He felt comforted and at peace, because the old woman’s wisdom helped him understand the drought as part of nature’s rhythm — and then the rain finally came.

Long-answer questions (5–6 marks)

  1. Trace Velu’s journey from despair to understanding in the story.
  2. “The story teaches that hard work must be balanced with patience and respect for nature.” Discuss.
  1. Velu begins anxious and restless as the drought ruins his land; he rejects superstition and searches actively, even in the city, but fails; resting under a tree, he meets the old woman whose wisdom reframes the drought as nature’s rest; he returns calm and accepting, and the rain arrives. The journey moves from worry to peace.
  2. Velu is hardworking, but hard work alone cannot bring rain. The old woman teaches patience and trust in nature’s rhythms — the land, like people, must rest. Balancing effort with understanding and respect for nature brings both inner peace and, in the end, the rain.

HOTS (Higher-Order Thinking)

  1. Velu found his answer not in the city but in a chance talk with an old woman. What does this suggest about where wisdom is found?

It suggests that wisdom is not always found by travelling far or seeking experts; sometimes it lies in simple, lived experience and in quiet reflection close to home. The old woman’s everyday insight outweighs the city’s answers, reminding us to value humble, practical wisdom.

Assertion–Reason

  1. Assertion (A): The old woman said the land must rest. Reason (R): Like people, land that works continuously needs time to recover.

Choose: (a) Both A and R true and R explains A; (b) Both true but R does not explain A; (c) A true, R false; (d) A false, R true.

(a) Both statements are true, and R correctly explains the old woman’s idea.

A pinch of science

Did You Know? Leaving land fallow — unplanted for a season — is an ancient farming practice still used today. Resting soil lets it rebuild moisture and nutrients and recover from pests, so future crops grow better. The old woman’s simple wisdom is, in fact, a principle of modern sustainable agriculture.