Question

Let‟s go see the doctor,‟ says Javed, his eyes on the screen of the laptop balanced on his

knees. He is sitting in the easy chair by the bed and scrolling through his emails. Jaan thinks

of the vast hospital a kilometre up Sarjapur Road through whose drab corridors she and Javed

have wandered so many times, from cashier to lab to waiting room to doctor‟s chamber, from

one specialist to another and then back to the same crowded pharmacy for a new stack of

medicines.

„No,‟ she says, closing her eyes. „No.‟

„What then, you can‟t lie here and suffer,‟ says Javed in an even voice, the same voice in

which he speaks to his colleagues on conference call from Europe about incentives and

quarterly targets, and the very one he uses with the joint on the corner when he orders

takeaway. He pauses in his scrolling and starts to type.„Do they still like you in the office?‟ she asks her husband. He‟s been taking frequent leave on

her account and missing deadlines. He chuckles briefly, his fingers flying. He does this every

evening, hanging on to his laptop and rooting endlessly in his messages for God knows what,

checking every few seconds for new mails and occasionally answering older ones.

Eventually he glances at her and says in that calm, punctuationless way of his, „I‟m off to

Hyderabad for three days tomorrow so let‟s go to the doc so you don‟t get worse when I‟m

away, alright?‟

Jaan is about to suggest that perhaps what she needs is a holiday in the hills or by the sea,

remonstrate with him about his blind faith in doctors, when the doorbell rings. Javed, laptop

clutched in one arm, goes to get it. He is gone for what seems like a long time and Jaan drifts

off, sleep settling heavier on her weak limbs than the thick covers she is swaddled in.

„Why are you asleep so early in the evening?‟ asks a woman‟s voice. „Are you sick?‟

The lights haven‟t been switched on and she cannot clearly discern the woman‟s face, but her

rough voice, the hand on the hip and her sun-baked smell strike Jaan as imperious. For the

first time that day, she makes an effort to swing her feet off the bed, fight the fuzz in her head.

„Who are you?‟ she asks.

„I just explained it to your husband. I‟ve come to work here.‟

And so Jamini takes over as their help, turning up at eight-thirty every morning, leaving her

new sandals by the door and starting the day by inquiring into the details of Jaan‟s health.

Shakti, their previous maid, zipped through her tasks with an air of deadly efficiency but

inevitably left grease on the dinner plates and curls of hair in the corners. Jamini never seems

to be in any hurry. She has a lot to say – about the poor quality of the restaurant food that the

couple often order in, the ineffectiveness of their washing machine and the sad state of their

potted plants.

She starts cooking for them. She decides that the ironing man who comes for their clothes

overcharges, so she takes on the ironing. Then she starts to find fault with the vegetables and

fruit that Javed picks up on his way back from work and is soon bringing in the groceries as

well.

Jaan‟s fever abates but is replaced by a long spell of vertigo. She watches from her bed, the

room tilting and spinning around her, as Jamini takes over her life.

„What day is it, ma?‟ she asks Jaan one morning.

Jaan is not sure, a sign of grave degeneration she thinks, not being able to tell the days apart.

She is getting worse.„Whatever day it is, you‟ve been in bed for too long. Get up,‟ says Jamini.

Jaan pretends to be asleep but the maid bullies her till she drags herself out of the room and

her bed clothes can be soaked in a tub of foamy warm water.

[670 words]

Q. 5. This question has two subparts, A+B. Both have to be answered:

A. Jaan's name, which means "life" is at odds with the lifelessness of her everyday

existence. Do you agree? Give a reasoned answer quoting words or phrases from the

passage that allow you to draw your conclusion. (10 marks)

B. If Javed and not Jaan was bedridden, what would Jaan's daily routine be? Present your

narrative in the form of a short essay/part of a short story or as a dialogue. (15 marks)

Q. 6. This question has two subparts, A+B. Both have to be answered:

A. Jamini is very efficient and appears to be taking over the life of the house. What could

her intentions be? Will her presence prove to be beneficial or harmful for Jaan? What

words/phrases in the passage allow you to conclude this? (10 marks)

B. What are Jaan's thoughts as she lies in bed, sick? Visualise what she must be thinking

about, and present it in the form of an essay or a part of a short story or a dialogue with

anyone else, like Javed or Jamini. (15 marks)​

Answer 1

Answer:

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Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

youk akdkdm ksdcdckvfsldmc you ae mmad dfu cjking guy