CBSE Class 11 English Hornbill NCERT Exercise Solutions

The grandmother's deep religiosity is shown throughout the essay:

• She spent her time in the village moving her lips in silent prayer, telling beads of her rosary.
• She always went to the temple in the morning, reading scriptures aloud.
• When she could not follow the narrator's education in the city, she spent all day in the temple.
• After the narrator left for university, she sat by the spinning wheel singing prayers almost continuously.
• Even in her final moments, she prayed and told beads — never breaking her routine.

The relationship went through three phases:

Phase 1 — Childhood (village): They were inseparable. She woke him, prepared him for school, and walked him to the temple-school. Their bond was close and warm.

Phase 2 — City (school): The bond weakened. She disapproved of his English school — she felt it taught no religion or morals. She could not help with his homework. They were physically together but spiritually drifting apart.

Phase 3 — University (hostel): Complete separation. When he left for university, she accepted it as the final break. Their meetings became brief and formal. She channelled her love into feeding sparrows.

Conclusion: The essay beautifully captures how modernisation can create distance even between those who love each other deeply.

When the narrator returned from abroad after five years, the grandmother was overjoyed. She sang, played the drum, and celebrated with neighbours. That evening she fell ill with fever. Sensing the end, she calmly refused to talk, told her beads, and prayed through the night. In the morning she died peacefully — lips still moving in prayer. Death came without drama, as she had lived — quietly and devoutly.

The narrator (Gordon Cook) spent 16 years preparing the 'Wavewalker' — a 23-metre, 30-tonne wooden-hulled boat. He trained as a professional crew member, took courses in navigation and seamanship, and stocked the vessel with survival equipment. He tested everything meticulously, determined to simulate Captain Cook's global voyage.

On January 2, a massive storm struck:

• Waves 15 metres high battered the boat.
• A colossal wave knocked the narrator off the deck; he was swept overboard but managed to grab a rope.
• Mary (his wife) took the wheel and steered expertly through terrifying seas.
• The boat's deck boards were smashed, hull cracked, two holes appeared — water was entering rapidly.

The narrator re-boarded, badly injured. Despite pain, he worked the pumps and kept the boat afloat. Mary's calm and courageous steering was crucial to survival.

Jonathan (7) and Suzanne (6) showed remarkable maturity:

• Jonathan had a serious head injury but never cried or complained.
• He wrote a note to comfort his father: "We are not afraid of dying if we can all be together, you and Mummy, Sue and I."
• Suzanne quietly revealed she had a cracked skull — but hadn't told anyone to avoid adding to the worry.

Their courage gave the title its meaning — and gave the narrator the emotional strength to keep fighting.

Tutankhamun became mysterious because:

• He died very young (~19), with no clear reason recorded.
• He was the last of his dynasty — after him, the royal line ended.
• Howard Carter found the tomb sealed and intact with treasures — but also found the mummy damaged.
• Carter removed gold bands by cutting the mummy — causing damage before science could study it properly.
• The cause of death (murder? disease? accident?) remains unresolved despite modern CT scanning.

The poem traces three moments across time:

• Mother's childhood (carefree beach holiday).
• Mother as adult (looking back with laughter).
• Speaker's present (mother is gone; only the photograph remains).

The sea is permanent — "the sea appears unchanged." But human beings are transient. The photograph freezes a moment, but cannot stop time. Loss renders the speaker speechless — "Nothing to say at all." The poem suggests that while memory can preserve the past, it cannot prevent loss.

Rain says it rises from the earth as water vapour (a poem originates in the poet's imagination). It wanders, changes form (clouds), and then falls back on earth as rain — nourishing and cleansing (a poem goes out to readers, nourishes them, and returns to the poet's credit). Rain descends whether acknowledged or not. Similarly, a poem's value is independent of whether it is appreciated.

The goldfinch represents life, energy, and creativity. The laburnum tree is described as "silent, quite still" in autumn — dead-like. When the goldfinch arrives, the tree suddenly comes alive with "chirruping, and trembling." The bird's presence transforms the tree from lifeless to vibrant. When the bird departs, the tree returns to silence. The goldfinch is thus the life-force that animates the tree — a metaphor for how a single vital presence can transform stillness into energy.

The poet lost his childhood: 1. When he found the concept of hell/heaven was not real geography. 2. When he saw adults preach love but practise hypocrisy. 3. When he realised he had his own mind to think independently.

In the final stanza, he says childhood now lives in an infant's face — in the innocence and wonder of very young children who have not yet been corrupted by the complexities of the adult world. Childhood, once lost, can only be remembered, not recovered.

Tibet's landscape is described as extreme and awe-inspiring:

• Vast, open, windswept high-altitude plateau.
• Mountains surrounding every direction — including Kailas (sacred to Hindus and Buddhists).
• No trees; sparse grass; dust and boulders.
• Extreme cold; the narrator encounters harsh storms.
• Wild animals: kiang (Tibetan wild ass), antelopes, wolves.
• Few human settlements; nomadic herders living in tents.

The landscape is both majestic and intimidating — beautiful but brutally inhospitable.