If you are searching for the Class 12 Alt Eng Chapter 3 Question Answer for the HS Final Examination 2023 then this is the right place to find “The Scarecrow Question Answer” for you. Hey everyone! Welcome back to another important discussion on Class 12 Alt Eng Chapter 3 Question Answer.
Besides the Class 12 Alt Eng Chapter 3 Question Answer, we have added the Question Answer from the Previous year’s Question papers. Also, here at the Assamese Medium website, you will get a summary of the lesson “The Scarecrow”.
Class 12 Alt Eng Chapter 3 Question Answer | The scarecrow Question and Answers
A. Answer the following questions in one or two words.
1. What was the name of Mriganko Babu’s driver? (2020)
Ans: The name of Mriganko Babu’s driver was Sudheer.
2. Where did he go to fetch petrol? (2016, 18)
Ans: He went to Panagarh to fetch petrol.
3. Name the Magazine that asked Mriganko babu for a story.
Ans: The Bharat Magazine asked Mriganko Babu for a story.
4. Whose voice did Mriganko Babu recognize in the voice of the scarecrow? (2016, 19)
Ans: Mriganko Babu recognized the voice of Abhiram, who was once his servant, in the voice of Scarecrow.
5. Where did the scarecrow ask Mriganko Babu to look for his watch? (2018)
Ans: The scarecrow asked Mriganko Babu to look for his watch under the wardrobe at his house.
B. Answer the following questions in a few words.
1. What did Sudheer not pay attention to?
Ans: Mriganko Babu had to point out to Sudheer that the petrol gauge had not been functioning properly. But Sudheer did not pay attention to that.
2. Why did Mriganko Babu go to Durgapur? (2017)
Ans: Mriganko Babu was a famous and popular writer. A club in Durgapur invited him to a cultural function in order to felicitate him. Accordingly, he went to Durgapur to attend the function and accept the felicitation.
3. What kind of shirt was the scarecrow wearing?
Ans: The scarecrow was wearing a torn, red, and black printed shirt.
4. Who was Abhiram? (2017, 18)
Ans: Abhiram was a servant of Mriganko Babu who had served his family for twenty years. But he lost his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch of Mriganko Babu.
5. What did Mriganko Babu decide never to do again?
Ans: Mriganko Babu decided that if something ever got stolen from his house, he would never seek a witch doctor’s help.
C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
1. Describe the western side of the road as seen by Mriganko Babu. (2018)
Ans: Mriganko Babu had to wait all alone in the middle of a deserted road, after Sudheer, his driver went to fetch petrol from Panagarh. On both sides of the road, there were stretched paddy fields.
Mriganko babu observed that on the western side of the road, the scenery was rather the same as on the eastern side. About forty feet away from the road, there was a pond with very little water in it. There were some thorny bushes there and a few trees were visible at quite a distance. There were two huts but there was no sign of any inmates. In the middle of the field, there stood a scarecrow.
2. Why did Mriganko Babu feel a tremor?
Ans: As his car ran out of petrol, Mriganko Babu got stranded near a paddy field on his way back to Calcutta after attending a felicitation function at Durgapur. He had to wait all alone in the middle of a deserted road after his driver went to fetch petrol from Panagarh. There was a scarecrow on the western side of the road.
Mriganko Babu, for some unknown reason, continued to feel strangely drawn toward the scarecrow. He looked steadily at it. In a few minutes, a few things made his heart beat faster. He felt the appearance of the scarecrow had changed somewhat. The two arms were lowered and it was standing less stiffly, more like a real man. The black pot seemed smaller and really like a head. Moreover, the scarecrow was advancing toward Mriganko Babu, limping, and walking on two legs. It was wearing the same printed shirt and a short lightly dirty dhoti. When the scarecrow called Mriganko Babu ‘Babu’ he recognized the voice of Abhiram, his servant who lost his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch of Mriganko Babu, and a tremor shot through his body.
3. What happened to Abhiram after he left Mriganko Babu? (2017)
Ans: Abhiram was a servant of Mriganko Babu who had to serve his family for twenty years. But he lost his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch of Mriganko Babu.
After Abhiram left Mriganko Babu, he never worked anywhere else. In fact, he could not as he fell ill. He suffered from dropsy and it becomes serious. As he had no money, he could neither go to the doctor for treatment and buy medicines nor eat proper food. He never recovered and died of his illness.
D. Give suitable answers to the following.
1. Describe the scarecrow as seen by the Mriganko Babu from the beginning to the moment when it addresses him as ‘Babu!’.
Ans: As his car ran out of petrol, Mriganko Babu got stranded near a paddy field on his way back to Calcutta after attending a felicitation function at Durgapur. He had to wait all alone in the middle of a deserted road after his driver went to fetch petrol from Panagarh. On the western side of the road, Mriganko Babu saw a scarecrow. Someone had grown some winter crops in a small patch of land and the scarecrow was placed right in the middle. It was made of two bamboo poles, vertically and horizontally fixed together for arms and legs and a shirt was slipped onto this structure. Its sleeves covered the arms. For its head, an earthen pot, painted black, complete with two eyes drawn in white, was placed upside down on the free end of the vertical pole. The shirt of the scarecrow was torn, red, and black printed which reminded Mriganko Babu of someone but he failed to remember the person.
Gradually the western sky had turned crimson and announced the advent of dusk. For some unknown reason, Mriganko Babu continued to feel strangely drawn toward the scarecrow. He looked steadily at it. In a few minutes, a few things made his heart beat faster. He felt the appearance of the scarecrow had changed somewhat. The two arms were lowered and it was standing less stiffly, more like a real man. The black pot seemed smaller and really like a head. Moreover, the scarecrow was advancing toward Mriganko Babu, limping, and walking on two legs. It was wearing the same printed shirt and a short lightly dirty dhoti. Finally, it addressed Mriganko Babu as ‘Babu’, and a tremor shot through his body.
2. Narrate the circumstances that led Abhiram to leave Mriganko Babu. What did the latter do on reaching home?
Ans: Abhiram was a servant of Mriganko Babu and had served his family for twenty years. Everyone in the family trusted him. However, one day he was charged with stealing a gold watch that Mriganko Babu had received as a wedding gift. Abhiram denied the charge but nobody believed him. Through the watch was not recovered from his bag and baggage, everyone felt that Abhiram had both the time and opportunity to remove the object. All were further convinced of Abhiram’s guilt when Mriganko Babu’s father called a local witch doctor who cast a spell and made an ordinary wicker tray spin and rotates until it stopped, pointing at Abhiram. It was these circumstances that led Abhiram to leave Mriganko Babu.
On reaching home, Mriganko Babu went straight to his room and searched for the gold watch under his wardrobe as guided by the ghost of Abhiram. Indeed, the watch was lying there and Mriganko Babu realized that Abhiram was innocent. Thereafter, he resolved that if something ever got stolen from his house, he would never seek a witch doctor’s help.
Class 12 Alt English Previous year’s paper Solutions (2016-22)
1. Whose voice does Mriganko Babu recognize in the voice of the Scarecrow? (2016, 19)
Ans: Mriganko Babu recognized the voice of Abhiram, who was once his servant, in the voice of Scarecrow.
2. Where does Mriganko Babu’s driver go to fetch petrol? (2016, 18)
Ans: He went to Panagarh to fetch petrol.
3. Where had Mrigankoshekhar Mukhopadhyay been invited and why? (2016)
Ans: Mrigankoshekhar Mukhopadhyay had been invited to cultural functions organized by a club at Durgapur. He was to be felicitated by the organizers.
4. Why was Mriganko Babu terrified? (2016)
Ans: Mriganko Babu was terrified because he felt that he had heard his former servant Abhiram’s voice in the scarecrow. The scarecrow seemed to move towards him as he was waiting for Sudheer to come back from Panagarh with petrol.
5. What did Mriganko Babu do on reaching home and why? (2016)
Ans: On reaching home Mriganko Babu went straight to his room and searched under his wardrobe.
Mriganko Babu had a dream vision in which Abhiram, his former servant who was accused of stealing Mriganko Babu’s gold watch, appeared and told him that the watch was never stolen by him. Abhiram also told him that he should have searched it properly. He would find the watch lying under the wardrobe in the corner. It is due to this reason that Mriganko Babu went straight to his room and searched under his wardrobe to find his gold watch.
6. Who is the author of the story, ‘The Scarecrow’? (2017)
Ans: The author of the story ” The Scarecrow” is Satyajit ray.
7. Whom did Mriganko Babu’s father call in to find the lost watch? (2017)
Ans: Mriganko Babu’s father called in a local witch doctor to find the lost watch.
8. Why did Mriganko Babu go to Durgapur? (2017)
Ans: See Above Qno. 2 (B. Answer the following questions in a few words.)
9. Who was Abhiram? (2017, 18)
Ans: Abhiram was a servant of Mriganko Babu who had served his family for twenty years. But he lost his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch of Mriganko Babu.
10. What happened to Abhiram after he left Mriganko Babu? (2017)
Ans: See Above Qno. 3 (C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.)
11. Where did the scarecrow ask Mriganko Babu to look for his watch? (2018)
Ans: The scarecrow asked Mriganko Babu to look for his watch under the wardrobe at his house.
12. What did Sudheer not pay any attention to? (2018)
Ans: See Above Qno. 1 (B. Answer the following questions in a few words.)
13. Attempt a description of the western side of the road as seen by Mriganko Babu. (2018)
Ans: See Above Qno. 1 (C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.)
14. What is the full name of Mriganko Babu? (2019, 22)
Ans: Mriganko Shekhar Mukhopadhyay.
15. Why did Mriganko Babu never consult the almanac before traveling anywhere? (2019, 22)
Ans: Mriganko Babu never consulted the almanac before traveling anywhere because he was not one to believe in superstition.
16. Why did the driver go to Panagarh? (2019)
Ans: Mriganko Babu got stranded near a paddy field on his way to the city as his car ran out of petrol. Mriganko Babu had pointed out this to the driver but he paid no heed. So he sends his driver to bring petrol from Panagarh and stayed back in his car.
17. Why did Abhiram leave the house of Mriganko Babu? (2019, 22)
Ans: Abhiram worked for MrigankoBabu’s family for twenty years. Everyone trusted him. But one day he was charged with stealing a gold watch that Mriganko Babu received as a wedding gift. Abhiram pleaded innocence. He denied it. Then Mriganko Babu’s father called a witch doctor who cast a spell and made an ordinary
wicker tray spin and rotate until it stopped and pointed at Abhiram. Everybody thought that Abhiram was guilty, so he was dismissed from his job and made him leave the house of Mriganko Babu.
18. What is the name of the driver of Mriganka Babu? (2020)
Ans: The name of Mriganko Babu’s driver was Sudheer.
19. Who did invite Mrnganka Babu to felicitate him? (2020)
Ans: A club in Durgapur invited Mriganko Babu to felicitate him.
20. What is an almanac? (2020)
Ans: An almanac is an annual publication listing a set of events forthcoming in the next year. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmer’s planting dates, tide tables, etc.
21. Why did Mriganka Babu decide never to seek a witch doctor’s help? (2020)
Ans: Mriganka Babu decide never to seek a witch doctor’s help because, on the basis of the words of the witch doctor, he doubted Abhiram’s innocence and was dismissed from the job.
22. Describe Mriganka Babu’s reaction after meeting the Scarecrow. (2020)
Ans: As his car ran out of petrol, Mriganko Babu got stranded near a paddy field on his way back to Calcutta after attending a felicitation function at Durgapur. He had to wait all alone in the middle of a deserted road after his driver went to fetch petrol from Panagarh. There was a scarecrow on the western side of the road.
Mriganko Babu, for some unknown reason, continued to feel strangely drawn toward the scarecrow. He looked steadily at it. In a few minutes, a few things made his heart beat faster. He felt the appearance of the scarecrow had changed somewhat. The two arms were lowered and it was standing less stiffly, more like a real man. The black pot seemed smaller and really like a head. Moreover, the scarecrow was advancing toward Mriganko Babu, limping, and walking on two legs. It was wearing the same printed shirt and a short lightly dirty dhoti. When the scarecrow called Mriganko Babu ‘Babu’ he recognized the voice of Abhiram, his servant who lost his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch of Mriganko Babu, and a tremor shot through his body.
23. How far is Panagarh? (2022)
Ans: Panagarh was three miles away from the place they were stranded.
24. What were the suspicions of Mrigangko Babu? (2022)
Ans: The sight of the scarecrow reminded Mriganko Babu of someone because it was wearing a red and black printed shirt that seemed familiar to Mriganko Babu.
Reference to Context (2016-22)
1. Mriganko Babu tried very hard but failed to remember. Yet, he felt sure that he had seen someone wear such a shirt, a long time ago. (2017)
Ans: The quoted lines are from Satyajit Ray’s short story ‘The Scarecrow’. These lines are reflective of Mriganko Babu’s thoughts as he was standing near a patch of land that had a scarecrow in the middle of it. The scarecrow that stood in the middle of the small patch of land was made of bamboo poles and an earthen pot that was placed upside down. The scarecrow was placed to frighten the birds that came to eat the crops. As Mriganko Babu was looking at it, he noticed that it was wearing a printed shirt. The torn shirt which was printed red and black seemed familiar to Mriganko Babu. He felt that he had seen the shirt worn by someone but he was unable to remember exactly who had put on that shirt. However, he was certain that he had seen someone wearing that shirt a long time ago.
2. On reaching home, Mriganko Babu went straight to his room and searched under his wardrobe. (2018)
Ans: These lines have been quoted from Satyajit Ray’s short story “The Scarecrow.”
In the present context, Mriganko Babu is in search of his lost watch. Abhiram told Mriganko babu the truth about his stolen watch, that he was not there, he has been always loyal to them, and that the watch was still there in their house. On reaching home, Mriganko babu searched for his watch under the wardrobe as directed by the scarecrow and found the watch there. He then realized his mistake and decided never to believe the witch doctors ever again.
3. But no, there was someone else. It was that scarecrow (2019)
Ans: The above lines have been extracted from the short story “The scarecrow” by Satyajit Ray. Scarecrow is a reverie that haunts the conscience of another time with regret. Mriganko Babu felt lonely when he was standing alone in a deserted land as his car ran out of petrol. There was no sign of human habitation. Mriganko Babu in his utter dismay thought that he was the only human being in the world. He felt completely desolate as he found himself standing all alone in the middle of a deserted road with endless stretches of barren paddy fields. With no sign of human habitation, then he noticed that someone was also standing there. It was a scarecrow wearing a red and black printed shirt that came to life and whose strange presence was felt by Mriganko Babu.
4.” For some unknown reason, Mriganka Babu continued to feel strangely drawn towards that figure.” (2020)
Ans: These lines occur when Mriganka Babu felt that the scarecrow was making some movements. When Mriganka Babu saw the scarecrow, he felt that he had seen the shirt before that the scarecrow was wearing. He tried to recall the person whom he had seen wearing that particular shirt, but could not. Suddenly he felt as though the scarecrow made some movement. Then he thought that it was his imagination. But then he saw that the scarecrow actually came to life and making towards him. The scarecrow came near Mriganka Babu and introduced him as Abhiram, an old servant who served Mriganka Babu and his family for long twenty years and lost his job due to some criminal activities which actually had nothing to do with Abhiram. Seeing the scarecrow come to life, moving towards him, and talking to him made Mriganka Babu’s heart beat faster.
5. “It was the end of January. All the crops had been removed from the fields.” (2022)
Ans: These lines are from the short story ‘The Scarecrow’ by Satyajit Ray.’ These lines are spoken by Mriganko Babu in the circumstances when he was waiting in the middle of nowhere for the driver, Sudheer to fetch petrol. It was the end of January. The empty barren field stretched for miles. In the far distance, a small hut could be seen standing next to the tamarind tree. There was no habitation around. On the western side, there was a pond about forty feet away from the road.
The Scarecrow Summary
Mriganko Shekhar Mukhopadhya was a popular writer from Calcutta. He got stranded near a paddy field as he was about to reach Panagarh. He was on his return journey from Durgapur. His driver Sudheer went to Panagarh to fetch petrol and he decided to stay back.
After the driver left, Mriganko Babu got out of the car and lit a cigarette. It was the end of January. The empty barren field stretched for miles. In the far distance, a small hut could be seen standing next to the tamarind tree. There was no habitation around. On the western side, there was a pond about forty feet away from the road. There were two huts, but no sign of people there. In the middle of the field was a scarecrow there was Mriganko Babu saw that the scarecrow was wearing a painted shirt. He felt as if he had seen that torn, red, and black printed shirt before. But he failed to remember it. Yet, he felt sure that he had seen someone wear such a shirt a long time ago.
In the meantime, the sun was setting, and it was getting dark. For some inexplicable reason. Mriganko Babu continued to feel strongly drawn toward that scarecrow. He looked steadily at it. In a few minutes, he noticed that the appearance of the scarecrow had changed somewhat. The two arms had been lowered a little. And it was standing a little less stiffly, and more like a living man. And soon he found the scarecrow moving and advancing toward him. It was walking with a limp. It had a real human head. But it still had the same shirt on and a short, slightly dirty dhoti.
When the wearied figure addressed Mriganko Babu as “Babu”, a tremor shot through his body. Mriganko Babu recognized that it was the voice of his servant Abhiram who was thrown out of his job on the charge of stealing a gold watch that he received as his wedding gift. In fact, Abhiram was not the thief. But nobody believed in him. Besides, when Mriganko Babu’s father called a local witch doctor who cast a spell and made an ordinary wicker tray spin and rotates until it stopped, pointing at Abhiram, there was no room for doubt that Abhiram was the thief.
Abhiram told Mriganko Babu how he died after being afflicted with dropsy. He again pleaded innocence about the theft. He asked Mriganko Babu to look for the watch under his wardrobe at his house. After that, the figure of Abhiram disappeared before Mriganko Babu’s eyes.
On reaching home, Mriganko Babu searched for the watch under his wardrobe. And he found the watch there. He decided that from now on he would never take the help of a witch doctor if anything ever got stolen from his house.
