Indigo Lesson Summary, Theme and Difficult Words
Table of Contents
- 1.About the Writer
- 2.Indigo Lesson Theme
- 3.Main Characters
- 3.1 Rajkumar Shukla
- 3.2 Mahatma Gandhi
- 3.3 Kasturba Gandhi
- 3.4 Dr Rajendra Prasad
- 3.5 Devdas
- 4.Main Points
- 5. Question and Answer
- 5.1 Think as you read (Page 47 NCERT)
- 5.2 Think as you read (Page 49 NCERT)
- 5.3 Think as you read (Page 51 NCERT)
- 5.4 Think as you read (Page 53 NCERT)
- 5.5 Understanding the Text
- 6. Indigo Lesson Extra Question & Answer
- 7. Indigo Lesson Summary
- 8. Difficult Words Chapter Based
- 9. Difficult Words Answer Based
1.About the Writer
Louis Fischer was born on the 29th of February, 1896 in Philadelphia ( U.S.). He also served in the British Army. He was also a journalist and wrote for The New York Times, The Saturday Review, and European and Asian publications.
He died on Jan. 15th, 1970 at the age of 73 in Princeton ( New Jersey). The story, Indigo has been taken from his book, The Life of Mahatma Gandhi.
2.Indigo Lesson Theme
The chapter describes the conflict between Mahatma Gandhi and English landlords who were very dominant to the poor sharecroppers in Champaran.
Finally, he got the victory in the Champaran episode and gave justice to the poor sharecroppers.
3.Main Characters
3.1 Rajkumar Shukla
Rajkumar Shukla was a poor sharecropper of Champaran ( Bihar). He met with Mahatma Gandhi at the annual convention of the Indian National Congress party in Lucknow.
There were 2,301 delegates and many visitors who had come from different parts of the country. He requested Mahatma Gandhi to come to his district.
He was uneducated but resolute because he did not leave the side of Mahatma Gandhi till he had not to get a fixed date to come to Champaran.
3.2 Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi plays a vital role in the story, Indigo. He is who wants to finish the landlord system in Champaran and gives justice to the poor sharecroppers.
Shukla and Mahatma Gandhi took the train for Patna from Calcutta. He longed to meet with Dr Rajendra Prasad who was out of town.
Later, he sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani. Gandhiji stayed at the house of Malkani for two days. Gandhiji chid all the lawyers for charging heavy fees.
He met with the Secretary of the British landlord association who was not ready to share any kind of information. He got an official notice.
He called all the reputed lawyers from Bihar and influenced them by a powerful speech. Finally, Mahatma Gandhi won the movement.
He considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life.
3.3 Kasturba Gandhi
She was the wife of Mahatma Gandhi. She came at the end of the movement to help the people of Champaran.
She opened primary schools in six villages. She taught the people the value of personal cleanliness and community sanitation.
3.4 Dr Rajendra Prasad
He was a prominent lawyer in the whole of Bihar. He lived in Patna. Gandhiji visited him in his residence but he was out of town. His servants misbehaved with him.
3.5 Devdas
He was the youngest son of Mr and Mrs Gandhi. He came to Champaran to help his parents. He basically supported his mother step by step.
4.Main Points
1.Annual convention of Indian National Congress was organized in Lucknow in1916. There were gathered 2,301 delegates and many visitors.
2.Rajkumar Shukla came there and introduced himself as the sharecropper of Champaran and requested Gandhi to visit his district, Champaran.
3.Rajkumar Shukla was uneducated but resolute. He followed Gandhi till he did not fix a date to come to Champaran.
4.Rajkumar Shukla and Mahatma Gandhi reached Patna and went to meet Dr Rajendra Prasad who was out of town.
5.He sent a telegram to his friend, J.B. Kripalani of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, and stayed at Malkani’s house for two days. Malkani was a government teacher in a certain school.
6.Gandhi chid all the lawyers for collecting heavy fees to advocate in Muzzafarpur.
7.The landlords cheated money from poor sharecroppers by misinforming them that Germany had developed synthetic indigo.
8.He met with the Secretary of the British landlord’s association to get some information, but he called him an outsider and refused to share any information.
9.Gandhi telegraphed Dr Rajendra Prasad to come to Champaran with some of his friends.
10.Mahatma Gandhi called all the lawyers and influenced them by his speech to stand with poor sharecroppers.
11.Mahatma Gandhi won the movement and agreed to a settlement of a 25% refund to the farmers.
12.Kasturba Gandhi opened six schools in villages and taught people about the value of cleanliness and community sanitation.
13.Mahatma Gandhi learned the value of non-violence and truth.
5. Question and Answer
5.1 Think as you read (Page 47 NCERT)
1.Why is Rajkumar described as being resolute?
Rajkumar Shukla is a poor sharecropper of Champaran. He is described as being resolute because he follows Gandhi till he does not fix a date to come to Champaran. Finally, They board a train from Calcutta to Patna.
2.Why do you think that the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
The servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant because he was with Rajkumar Shukla and Shukla was known as a sharecropper of Champaran. Gandhi wore Dhoti that confuses them.
5.2 Think as you read (Page 49 NCERT)
1.List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.
The first contact with Shukla was at Lucknow and then he went to Cawnpore and other parts of India. Gandhi returned to his ashram in Ahmedabad and boarded into the train for Patna from Calcutta and later visited Muzzafarpur and finally ended up in Champaran.
2.What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?
The peasants used to pay 15% of their total indigo production as rent. They wanted now money instead of crops because Germany had developed synthetic indigo and natural indigo was no more required. The prices of natural indigo would fall in comparison to synthetic indigo.
5.3 Think as you read (Page 51 NCERT)
1.The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence.
Gandhi has been in Champaran for the farmers and to get them justice from the British landlords. Although, he never becomes violent throughout the movement. He is ready to go to jail but never supported violence. He fought with truth and non-violence and set an example earning the victory.
5.4 Think as you read (Page 53 NCERT)
1Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of a 25% refund to the farmers?
Gandhi agreed to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers because the money of refund was less important than the fact that it was the first time when British landlords had surrendered before the peasants.
2.How did the episode change the plight of peasants?
The farmers got their land back and had no tension of taxes. They got the courage to go against British landlords at any time.
5.5 Understanding the Text
1.Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?
Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because it was the first movement against British landlords where he used truth and non-violence and got the victory.
2.How was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers? Give instances.
All the lawyers did not take it seriously when Gandhi asked them what they would do after his arrest. They simply answered to return as they have come to help Gandhi. But, when the matter of poor peasants came. Everybody was ready to help him. Even, they promised to walk to jail with him.
3.What was the attitude of the average Indians in smaller localities towards the advocate of Home Rule?
The average Indian in small localities had the feeling that it was selfish and coward and had no power to go against the British rules. They were unable to show sympathy for this rule.
4.How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
The people of Champaran walk together with Mahatma Gandhi in the Champaran movement. They stand firm with Mahatma Gandhi to oppose his arrest. It is not possible to win the Champaran episode without them. Therefore, we can say that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement.
6. Indigo Lesson Extra Question & Answer
1.Why did Gandhi go to Lucknow in 1916? Who met him there?
Gandhiji went to Lucknow in 1916 to attend the annual convention of the Indian National Congress. He was an active member of this party. Rajkumar Shukla met him there . He wanted to take Gandhi to Champaran to finish the landlord system.
2.Why was Gandhi not allowed to draw water at the house of Dr Rajendra Prasad?
Gandhi was a new face at the house of Dr Rajendra Prasad and servants mistook him as a sharecropper of Champaran. The system of discrimination was very prominent in old India. Therefore, Gandhi was not allowed to draw water at the house of Dr Rajendra Prasad.
3.How did Kasturba Gandhi help the people of Champaran?
Kasturba Gandhi opened primary schools in six villages to provide quality education to the poor students. She made aware of the people about the cleanliness and distributed medicine for the diseased people. The youngest son, Devdas helped her.
4.Why did Mahatma Gandhi chide the lawyers?
Mahatma Gandhi chid all the lawyers at Muzzafarpur because they were collecting heavy fees for their advocate. Mahatma supported farmers and asked to reduce the fees of advocates because they were badly tortured by the English landlords.
7. Indigo Lesson Summary
The beautiful chapter, Indigo has been written by Louis Fischer. The Chapter has been taken from his book, The Life of Mahatma Gandhi.
It talks about the Champaran episode where Mahatma Gandhi plays an important role in finishing the landlord system. Gandhi had gone to attend the annual convention of the Indian National Congress in Lucknow.
There were gathered 2,301 delegates and many visitors. A poor sharecropper, Rajkumar Shukla visited him there and requested him to visit his district, Champaran.
At first, he did not take Shukla seriously. But, Shukla followed him till he did not fix a date to come to Champaran. They caught a train for Patna and went to meet Dr Rajendra Prasad.
The servants misbehaved with him as he was with Shukla and Shukla was a sharecropper of Champaran. Gandhi sent a telegram to J.B. Kripalani, the Professor in the Arts College, Muzzafarpur.
Gandhi stayed at the house of a teacher in a government school, Malkani. Gandhi chid all the lawyers for collecting heavy fees.
The landlords cheated money from poor sharecroppers by misinforming them that Germany had developed the synthetic indigo and they were free to grow any crops.
Mahatma Gandhi met with the Secretary of the British landlord’s association and then the commissioner of the Tirhut division. He got an official notice to quit Champaran immediately.
He telegraphed Dr Rajendra Prasad to visit Champaran with his advocate friends. Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq, and several other pioneer lawyers supported Mahatma Gandhi for his honest purpose to help sharecroppers of Champaran.
Gandhi got the victory in the Champaran episode and the landlords had to surrender before the peasants. Gandhi agreed on the settlement of a 25% refund to the farmers.
According to him. The refunded money was not important. The most important fact was that it was the first time when British landlords had surrendered before the sharecroppers.
Mahatma Gandhi took it to be the turning point in his life. Mrs Gandhi comes to Champaran, opened primary schools in six villages.
She also taught the value of cleanliness and community sanitation. Finally, Gandhi brought the fountain of happiness on the faces of sharecroppers in Champaran and proved his power and strength.
8. Difficult Words Chapter Based
Delegates (representatives) प्रतिनिधि
Emaciated (weak) कमजोर
Resolute (Determined) दृढ़ निश्चय
Tenacity (Firmness) जिद्दी
Haunches (buttock) कुल्हा
Yeoman (small landlord) छोटा जमींदार
Pestered (annoyed) परेशान किया
Advent (arrival) आगमन
Conveyance (transport) परिवहन
Maltreated (misbehaved) दुर्वयवहार किया
Summon (called for) बुलावा
Province (state) प्रान्त
Triumph (win) विजय
Vehement (eager) उत्सुक
Unlettered (illiterate) अशिक्षित
Trench (pits) गड्ढे
9. Difficult Words Answer Based
Served (help) सेवा किया
Convention (meeting) अधिवेशन
Visitors (audience) दर्शक
Justice (merit)- न्याय
Telegram (a type of letter) तार
Association (connection) संघ
Consider (assume)- मानना
Cleanliness (proper cleaning) साफ सफाई
Misbehaved (behave badly) दुर्यवहार करना
Certain (particular) खास
Oppose (contradict) विरोध करना
Movement (episode) आंदोलन
Misinforming (mislead) – गलत सुचना देना
Crops (harvest) फसले
Pioneer (famous) सर्वश्रेठ
Settlement (proposal) प्रस्ताव
Outsider (out of state) बाहरी
Described (depicted) वर्णन किया
Plight (luck) भाग्य
Instances (examples) विश्लेषण करना
Attitude (thought) सोच
Coward (timid) डरपोक
Sympathy (console) सहानुभूति
Sharecropper (partner farmers) बटाईदार किसान
Delegates (individuals) प्रतिनिधि
Resolute (Firm) दृढ़ संकल्प
chides (got angry) डाँटना
Community Sanitation (community cleanliness) सामुदायिक साफ सफाई
Discrimination (untouchability) भेद भाव
Then India (old India) पुराना इंडिया
Synthetic (articficial) मानव निर्मित
Episode (movement) घटना
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