LAST MINUTE REVISION CHAPTER 9 : MADAM RIDES THE BUS by Vallikannan

KEY POINT

 The story is about an eight year old girl named Valliammai. She was very curious to know about things

.  Her favourite pastime was to stand at the front doorway of her house and see what was happening in the street outside.
 She would watch the bus that passed every hour from her village to the nearest town. 

She developed a desire to ride the bus.

This became her deepest desire. 

Valli found out the details of the bus journey by listening carefully to the conversations between her neighbours and regular bus users.
 She came to know that the town was just six miles from her village and the fare for the bus journey was thirty paise one way.

The trip took 45 minutes.
 Valli planned her visit to the town.

She saved sixty paise for the fare. Finally, one day she took the one o’clock bus to the town.
 Valli was very happy to have got into the bus. 

On the way to the town, Valli saw a cow running right in front of the bus

. She clapped as the cow kept on running towards the bus despite the continuous honking by the driver.
 Valli did not get off the bus when it reached the town.

She also declined the offer of a cold drink by the conductor.
 On the return journey, she saw the same cow lying dead by the roadside.

This unpleasant sight made her very sad.
 The bus reached the village at three forty.

She ran straight for her home after getting down the bus
HER mother did not come to know about her journey.

IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWER

1. Why does the conductor call Valli “madam”?
2. 2. “And even when we do know about something we often can’t understand it completely, can we?” Elaborate
   with reference to the chapter Madam Rides the Bus.