CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -What was her strongest desire? Answer : The sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli.

Detailed explanation-2: -She had an overwhelming desire to ride on the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. Over many months, she listened carefully to conversations between her neighbours and people about the bus journey such as bus fare and time and also saved money by not buying toys, balloons etc.

Detailed explanation-3: -Valli’s deepest desire was to go on a bus ride. The words and phrases in the story that tell this are ‘overwhelming desire’, ‘stare wistfully’, and ‘kindle in her longings’, ‘dreams’ and ‘hopes’, ‘wish became stronger and stronger’. Was this answer helpful?

Detailed explanation-4: -Valli planned that she would take the one o’clock afternoon bus, reach the town at one forty-five, and be back home by about two forty-five. She found out that the town was six miles from her village. The fare was thirty paise one way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes.

Detailed explanation-5: -Ans: The following lines in the text show that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus: (i) “Valli devoured everything with her eyes.” (ii) “On the one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky.