A Leaf in the Storm by Lalithambika Antharjanam Questions and Answers

Here we have tried to put on all the questions and answers from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. Most of all, we have focused on the short questions and answers. Hope we all love it.

FOR PART2 Q/A, CLICK HERE – Questions and Answers- A Leaf in the Storm by Lalithambika Antharjanam, Part-2

Table of Contents

• Q1) When was the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” got published?
• Q2) Who was the most emaciated and outraged woman, out of the fifty women ‘reclaimed’ at the starting of the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”?
• Q3) Explain the phrase “From one prison to another?…” from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”.
• Q4) From where did Jyoti be ‘reclaimed’ and shifted to, in the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”?
• Q5) What does the phrase “reunited with their lost children” means?
• Q6) What was the full name of the character “Jyoti” in the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’?
• Q7) What did Jyoti order instead of ‘crumbs of bread’?
• Q8) “This woman must have gone mad”, which women had gone mad and why?
• Q9) “She has indeed been a mother to the whole village”, who has been the mother to the whole village and how did she suffer from the act of partition?
• Q10) What was the condition of the Sindhi officer’s wife? What did fate store for her and her family?
• Q11) “She raised her eyebrows in question”- Who raised her eyes in question and why?
• Q12)Describe the character of the doctor in the short story “A leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam.
• Q13) Describe the village scenario that we have seen in the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam.
• Q14) “They cursed all the well-known leaders”- Who are the leaders here and why they had been cursed?
• Q15) Describe the conditions of the child that was found dead in the toilet?
• Q16) Describe the guest that had arrived at the camp and what did he announced?
• Q17) Discuss the past life of Jyoti before partition.

Q1) When was the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” got published?

Ans) The short story “A Leaf in the Storm“, by Lalithambika Antharjanam was published after the partition, i.e., after 1947 and in 1948.

Q2) Who was the most emaciated and outraged woman, out of the fifty women ‘reclaimed’ at the starting of the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”?

Ans) The most emaciated and outraged woman, out of the fifty women ‘reclaimed’ at the starting of the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ was “Jyoti“.

Q3) Explain the phrase “From one prison to another?…” from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”.

Ans) The phrase “From one phrase to another?…” is taken from the short story “A leaf in the storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. Here the prison had been denoted to a refugee camp, i.e., a detention camp. Where refugees were kept after getting exchanged from one country to another, that is, from India to Pakistan and vice-versa.

Q4) From where did Jyoti be ‘reclaimed’ and shifted to, in the short story “A Leaf in the Storm”?

Ans) The character ‘Jyoti‘ is taken from the short story, ‘A Leaf in the storm’, by Lalithambika Antharjanam. Jyoti was reclaimed from Pakistan and shifted to India. She was reclaimed due to the bonded contracts between the governments of India and Pakistan after the partition.

Q5) What does the phrase “reunited with their lost children” means?

Ans) The phrase ‘reunited with their lost children‘ is taken from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. The phrase indicates that, when the 50 women, who were reclaimed by the government were put together in the refugee camp, they got to meet up with their lost relatives and known people from their areas. That is, they got the hope that they are with someone they know. They are not alone there, suffering and tolerating the side effects of partition. The refugees were happy to meet them and be with them. As despite of everything happening all around them, they got to meet some of their known people.

Q6) What was the full name of the character “Jyoti” in the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’?

Ans) The full name of the character ‘Jyoti’, in the short story ‘A Leaf in the storm’ was “Jyotirmoyi Devpal“. We came to know about it through a Sikh woman, who belongs to the same village, where Jyoti’s mother came from.

Q7) What did Jyoti order instead of ‘crumbs of bread’?

Ans) The character ‘Jyoti’, is taken from the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam. She asked for a gun, dagger, or a little poison instead of crumbs of bread.

Q8) “This woman must have gone mad”, which women had gone mad and why?

Ans) The question quoted line is taken from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. A lady volunteer stated this line, for Jyoti. As Jyoti went mad after she was offered the crumbs. She didn’t wanted live anymore and asked for a gun, a dagger, or a little poison. She got frustrated by the act of partition. And she was brutally violated during the partition. Also, she was pregnant and unmarried. So she wanted to end her life anyhow and acted abnormally/madly in front of the lady volunteer. The reaction was taken as normal as who will not behave like that in that kind of situation.

Q9) “She has indeed been a mother to the whole village”, who has been the mother to the whole village and how did she suffer from the act of partition?

Ans) The question quoted line is taken from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. The mother to the whole village was an “Old woman“, who had nine children of her own. From the nine children, she got fifty grandchildren. And she was indeed been the mother of the whole village, to both Muslims and Hindus. As she was a respected woman in her village. And it was her last wish to take her last breath in her village. So her family decided to stay on. But now she remains alone. Her children were killed and girls were abducted. Her house was gutted in front of her. She was just standing on a supporting stick watching her house burn down to ashes. Yet now she had to live alone as destiny had planned something else for her. She eats, sleeps, and talks but alone and in a refugee camp.

Q10) What was the condition of the Sindhi officer’s wife? What did fate store for her and her family?

Ans) The reference to the “Sindh officer’s wife had been taken from the short story “A leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika. When the family got to know about the partition and had been warned of the revolt, she took her three children with her and tried to run away with her family. But fate had something else for them. The tragedy took place, and her car was stopped. She was violated in front of her husband’s dead body, which was ripped open and scattered. Her children were killed and she can only see the bloodstain of them. But someone reclaimed her body, which was dead than alive. And alas, she was still alive chewing dirty and hard bits of chapati. Wearing torn saree, with her cheeks and breast swollen.

Q11) “She raised her eyebrows in question”- Who raised her eyes in question and why?

Ans) The question quoted line is taken from the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam. The question was raised by “Jyoti“. The question was raised as she wanted to abort the child, but the doctor insisted Jyoti to keep the child. She said the child was not the cause of love but hate and the inhuman consequences of rape and ignorance. So she wanted to abort the child and asked the doctor to do it. As the doctor was not ready to do it, Jyoti asked if he could destroy the child and save her life.

Q12)Describe the character of the doctor in the short story “A leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam.

ANS) The doctor that we see in the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam was a follower of ahimsa. He followed the path of his master Gandhiji in the direction of ahimsa, i.e., not believing in non-violence or killing anyone. He was severe for the poor or refugee people as he left his well-paying job to treat them. He was also a Vedantin, as his kind and moral words helped Jyoti to eat again and take care of herself as she was pregnant.

Q13) Describe the village scenario that we have seen in the short story “A Leaf in the Storm” by Lalithambika Antharjanam.

Ans) The villages are described beautifully in the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam. In the camp, most of the people were villagers, they knew little things about politics. They all belonged to the beautiful land of five rivers, and sugarcane fields. Where buffaloes grazed in the field, and the wheat field swayed in laughter. Far away, a caravan of camels crawled towards the adjacent village. On every evening like this, these men had returned to their homes, humming tunes, their work tools balanced on their shoulders. But now, they had been hounded out of those houses, those ancestral homes they had inherited, and which they would have passed on to their progeny (upcoming generations). They had been thrown out of from that houses like stray dogs, hunted out of them like a wild hen.

Q14) “They cursed all the well-known leaders”- Who are the leaders here and why they had been cursed?

Ans) The leaders that are discussed in the short story ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam, are Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed-Ali-Jinnah. The people had been cursing them, as they are the reason for the partition and all the happenings that are going on in their life. Because of their selfishness to get into a higher position, the people had to part away from their land and people. The leaders don’t suffer from the partition but the people do. So they curse the leaders.

Q15) Describe the conditions of the child that was found dead in the toilet?

Ans) The reference to the dead child found dead in the toilet, had been taken from the short story, ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam. It was a beautiful child, round, gleaming, like a thick clot of blood. It was fair skin like the inhabitant of the territorial border. It had brown hair. On its neck was a bluish mark resembling a crescent (half moon). That is, somebody had killed the child by choking it through their hands. It was a newborn and still warm body that the scavenger dragged and put into his garbage. And no girl shred a tear for it and there was no case against anyone.

Q16) Describe the guest that had arrived at the camp and what did he announced?

Ans) The reference of the Guest, had been taken from the short story, ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam. The guest had brought a well-known and appreciated message for the refugees. The guest had addressed the people under a big shaded tree. He said that young men should be prepared to accept abducted women as their mothers, sisters, and even as their wives. Jyoti did not listen to it carefully. The children that are born will be indeed the citizen of India, the first citizen of free India. But she listened about the children carefully.

Q17) Discuss the past life of Jyoti before partition.

Ans) The character Jyoti had been taken from the short story, ‘A Leaf in the Storm’ by Lalithambika Antharjanam. Far away in the prosperous village of Punjab to a well-to-do house, a mother was in labour. The doctor and nurses waited in hand, her relatives were anxious. The master of the house sat on the bed and fixed his eyes on the clock. They were waiting for the fruit of prolonged medical treatment and their virtuous deeds. Jyoti was born that day. She was the darling of her family and neighbours. She joined college despite the initial objections of her parents, whom she won over her charms. She shocked her people when she gave up her purdah. She loved freedom. That explained her refusal to settle for a marriage, which others considered desirable. The freedom she earned was not only for herself but from slavery for her community, indeed the whole human race. She wanted to free the boned, those who were enslaved by convention. She wanted to make them happy and contented. She hoped in vain that she could knit together a net of silver threads, that is, to take everyone together. She had also been in prison, without food and rest. And suffered police brutality for the upliftment of women. But this partition took everything away from her. And gifted her the reward of being pregnant but unmarried.

PART 2 – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS