Question

As a boy I spent many happy hours playing the game of gulli-danda. Among my fellow players was a boy named Gaya. He was the undisputed champion of our gulli-club. Whichever side he played for was bound to win. One day, only Gaya and I were playing. I was fielding. I tried all means, including foul ones, but Gaya would not let me go until I had got him out. I had become tired so I ran home.

Soon after this incident, my father was transferred to another town. Twenty years went by and I became an engineer. I visited by chance, the same small town that I had lived in as a child. Nothing was familiar. Suddenly, I saw two or three boys playing gulli-danda. I went up to one of the boys and asked him if a man named Gaya lived there. “You mean Gaya, the cobbler?” Soon the boy returned with a man. I recognized my old playmate right away just as he recognized me. “I am the engineer of the district now. Do you still play gulli-danda?”

Gaya looked astonished. “Where is the time, sarkar?” he said. “I have to earn my living.” “Come,” I said. “Today, you and I will play gulli-danda.” Poor Gaya, a labourer on daily wages, had to play with a senior officer. We selected a secluded spot where there would be no one to watch us. Then we began to play. I hit the gulli, making it leap up in the air. Gaya tried to catch it, but it fell behind him. He seemed to have lost his old dexterity. No gulli had ever escaped Gaya when we were children! I started batting. That I was out of practice was obvious. But I made up for my lack of skill by cheating at every opportunity. Gaya watched silently. In the old days, his gulli had never failed to hit the danda! Now, it missed the danda each time. After some time, I allowed Gaya to bat. He started batting, but poorly and was out soon. We drove back to town as darkness fell with me bursting with joy. Before leaving, Gaya said, “There is a gulli-danda match tomorrow. All the old players will play. Will you come to watch?”

I went to see the match the following day. The game began. Gaya’s performance that day astounded me. He played with such skill and grace. Now, I knew that the day before, Gaya had only pretended as if he was playing poorly. I had cheated, but he showed no anger, allowing me to win. I was an officer. He was a poor man but I was no equal to him. Gaya, the cobbler had grown bigger while I, the engineer of the district, had become smaller.

Why do you think the narrator says that Gaya had grown bigger and he had become smaller?​

Answer 1

Answer:

• When the narrator was younger, he and Gaya played gulli-danda. There he cheated but could not have a better luck.

• After twenty years, he cheated again while playing gulli-danda against Gaya, the poor cobbler and he won.

• The very next day, he was astounded to see Gaya playing with skill and grace. This made him realize that even though he had become an engineer, he was no match to Gaya's simplicity and truthfulness to himself.

• That is why, the narrator thought that Gaya had grown bigger and he had become smaller.

Answer 2

Answer:

Even though he was poor, Gaya was a man with a big heart. He did not play his best out of pity for the narrator. It was as if he indulged him, like one indulges a child, allowing him to cheat and win. The narrator realised this after the next day's match and felt that in terms of character, Gaya had grown bigger and he had become smaller.