Question

How was Muni perceived by the villagers before his interaction with the foreigner and how would it have changed after?


(In 300-350 words)

(From chp- HORSE AND TWO GOATS)

(TREASURE TROVE)

Answer 1

Answer:

SummaryAnalysis

The narrator begins by stating that, of the thousands of villages in India, Kritam was “probably the tiniest,” and noting that its presence on the map was more for the benefit of tax collectors than motorists, since the village is far from the highway. Despite its modesty, Kritam means “crown” in the language of Tamil. The village consists of less than thirty thatch houses and one majestic brick construction called the Big House. Muni lives in one of these thatch houses, and in more prosperous times owned a flock of 40 sheep and goats, which he would take each day to graze near the highway while he sat, watching them, at the foot of a clay statue of a horse and warrior. Muni’s wife takes care of him by cooking him breakfast and lunch each day: a ball of cooked millet and sometimes a raw onion. The couple are elderly, and Muni depends entirely on his wife’s care to “be kept alive.”

The village’s name, Kritam, seems to be an allusion to historical conceptions of India as a “jewel in the crown” of Britain’s colonial possessions. Thus, the village’s proclamation of its status as a “crown” in its one of the story’s main .