CLASS 12 · FLAMINGO · CHAPTER 5
Original student-friendly answers for Indigo and its comprehension, discussion, vocabulary, language, and research activities.
17 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Textbook pages
Question Think as You Read
Use the opening account of Shukla’s work and visit to Congress.
Distinguish his persistence from his social position.
He was a poor, illiterate sharecropper and Congress delegate; he was determined, not a landlord or politician.
Question Think as You Read
Follow Shukla’s journey with Gandhi.
List the stops in order.
Lucknow, Cawnpore, Gandhi’s ashram near Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Patna, then Champaran.
Question Think as You Read
State the 15 per cent indigo condition.
Explain the compensation demand after synthetic indigo was developed.
Tenants had to grow indigo on 15% of their holdings; landlords then demanded compensation to end the arrangement when synthetic indigo threatened their profits.
Question Think as You Read
Compare a new manufactured substitute with the natural crop.
Explain what increased competition could do.
It could reduce demand for natural indigo and lower its price.
Question Think as You Read
Recall how he responded to the notice.
Explain what happened when he appeared in court.
He stayed, accepted the court summons, and peacefully challenged the order; the peasants’ support showed their growing courage.
Question Think as You Read
Notice the planters first offered less than Gandhi demanded.
Explain why the act of refund mattered beyond the amount.
The refund’s symbolic value mattered more than its size: it made landlords admit wrongdoing and gave peasants confidence.
Question Think as You Read
Consider the refund and the end of sharecropping.
Include the change in the peasants’ confidence.
Peasants gained confidence and rights; indigo sharecropping eventually ended, and village improvement work began.
Question Understanding the Text
Recall that he challenged the British order in his own country.
Connect the local struggle with later methods of action.
It showed Gandhi that peaceful resistance could challenge British authority and help ordinary people overcome fear.
Question Understanding the Text
Recall his criticism of their high fees and reliance on courts.
Explain how they changed their actions.
He challenged their high fees and reliance on courts; they chose to support him and help investigate the peasants’ cases.
Question Understanding the Text
Use the peasants’ gathering at Motihari.
Explain why their action was significant.
People may have known little about national politics, but local injustice could bring them together to support freedom and rights.
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Question Understanding the Text
Identify Shukla’s role in bringing Gandhi to Champaran.
Include the peasants’ support and evidence.
Shukla, peasants, lawyers, and volunteers helped bring the issue forward, provide evidence, and improve village life.
Question Talking about the Text
Explain why fear can prevent people from seeking justice.
Give a balanced view of present-day conditions.
Freedom from fear helps people seek justice, and legal rights protect them; independence did not remove every source of fear or inequality.
Question Talking about the Text
Identify qualities shown through actions rather than labels.
Support them with examples from Champaran.
A good leader listens, checks facts, acts with courage, negotiates fairly, and builds others’ confidence.
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Question Working with Words
Find terms used in the court case and inquiry.
Explain them in simple language.
Summons, trial, prosecutor, deposition, evidence, inquiry, and commission are legal-procedure terms.
Question Thinking about Language
Consider whose words are being reported.
Explain the effect of hearing the people speak directly.
Direct speech makes the account vivid and shows the speakers’ own voices, motives, and reactions.
Question Thinking about Language
Find whether the when-clause comes before or after the main clause.
Apply the punctuation pattern for introductory subordinate clauses.
Use a comma when the introductory when-clause comes first; usually omit it when the main clause comes first.
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Question Things to Do
Choose a documented issue and consult reliable sources.
Separate facts from opinions and include different viewpoints.
End with a reasoned conclusion or possible remedy.
Use verified facts, explain who is affected, present more than one viewpoint, and propose a fair solution with sources.