2.
Valli posed herself to be very confident when the conductor offered her help to ride the bus. Later
on she felt shy when all laughed at her. What does this tell you about Valli's character? What do
we learn from her character?
Answers
This question is extracted from the chapter 'Madam Rides The Bus' written by Vallikkannan (AKA) R.S Krishnaswamy.
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Valli is a confident and courageous young girl though she's just 8-years-old. Her curiosity and self-confidence made her board a bus by herself. She calculated and recalculated, planned and replanned to ride the bus of her dreams, which also shows her prudent nature. She had a maturity that was beyond her age. However, she was a very sensitive and shy little girl. When the conductor generously offered Valli help to board the bus, she refused his help by stating that she could help herself up the stairs to the bus. When the passengers laughed along with the conductor at Valli's demeanour, Valli was slightly offended and was overcome with a feeling of shyness and hurried to her seat without making eye contact with any of the passengers. This tells us that even though her demeanour was that of an elderly person, she was a child at heart. Her refusing help can also be interpreted as her knowing not to take help from strangers. From this incident, we learn that Valli is a smart, curious young girl who loves to explore, but is well aware of her boundaries too.