Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, extra MCQs, PDF for Ruskin Bond’s The Night Train at Deoli: WBCHSE Class 12 English Literature textbook A Realm of English (B) Selection, which is part of the Semester III syllabus for students studying under WBBSE (West Bengal Board-Uccha Madhyamik). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
A young college student used to travel by train to his grandmother’s house in Dehra for his summer holidays. The train would make a ten-minute stop at a small, lonely station named Deoli. The narrator always wondered about this quiet place where no one ever got on or off the train. He felt a strange sympathy for the station and decided he would one day spend a day there.
When he was eighteen, during one such stop at Deoli, he saw a young girl selling cane baskets on the platform. She was poor and had bare feet, but she walked with grace. Their eyes met, and a silent connection formed between them. Before he could say much, the train’s whistle blew, and he had to leave. He bought a basket from her, and as the train moved, he watched her standing alone on the platform, smiling.
The memory of the girl and her dark, expressive eyes stayed with him. On his return journey two months later, he was excited to see her again. She recognized him and came straight to the tea stall where he stood. They felt a strong connection, like old friends. He held her hand and promised that he would come again. She nodded just as the train started to move, and he had to run to catch it.
The following year, he eagerly returned to Deoli, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Deeply disappointed, he got off the train to ask the station-master about her, but the man knew nothing. He had to run and jump onto the moving train, feeling sad and worried. He returned to Deoli again a few weeks later, but the old station-master had been transferred. The tea stall owner remembered the girl but only knew that she had stopped coming to the station.
The narrator realized he might never know what happened to her. He thought about getting off the train to find her, but he was afraid of discovering a sad truth that might ruin his beautiful memory. He decided it was better to keep the hope of seeing her alive. He chose to never break his journey at Deoli. Instead, he continues to pass through, always looking out the window, dreaming and waiting for the girl with the baskets on the lonely platform.
Textual Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where does the narrator meet the young girl in the story?
a) On a crowded bus stop
b) In a bustling marketplace
c) On the railway platform at Deoli
d) In a quiet park
Answer: c) On the railway platform at Deoli
2. What is the narrator captivated by in the young girl?
a) Her bright and cheerful personality
b) Her loud and assertive voice
c) Her quiet dignity and dark, troubled eyes
d) Her expensive and colorful clothes
Answer: c) Her quiet dignity and dark, troubled eyes
3. What does the narrator’s repeated visits to Deoli station suggest?
a) He needs to catch a train there frequently.
b) He enjoys the scenery of the place.
c) He hopes to meet the young girl again.
d) He has business dealings in the town.
Answer: c) He hopes to meet the young girl again.
Additional MCQs
1. Who is the author of the story “The Night Train at Deoli”?
A. R.K. Narayan
B. Khushwant Singh
C. Ruskin Bond
D. Mulk Raj Anand
Answer: C. Ruskin Bond
2. Where did the narrator typically spend his summer vacations?
A. In Deoli
B. At his college
C. At his grandmother’s place in Dehra
D. In the jungles of the Indian Terai
Answer: C. At his grandmother’s place in Dehra
3. At approximately what time in the morning would the train reach Deoli?
A. Three o’clock
B. Five o’clock
C. Seven o’clock
D. Nine o’clock
Answer: B. Five o’clock
4. For how long did the train usually halt at the Deoli station?
A. Two minutes
B. Five minutes
C. Ten minutes
D. Twenty minutes
Answer: C. Ten minutes
5. What was the narrator’s age when he first met the girl selling baskets?
A. Sixteen
B. Seventeen
C. Eighteen
D. Nineteen
Answer: C. Eighteen
6. What was the girl on the platform selling?
A. Tea and snacks
B. Fruits
C. Newspapers
D. Baskets
Answer: D. Baskets
7. Which feature of the young girl particularly captivated the narrator?
A. Her colorful clothes
B. Her loud, cheerful voice
C. Her graceful and dignified walk
D. Her expensive-looking shoes
Answer: C. Her graceful and dignified walk
8. What did the narrator buy from the girl during their first encounter?
A. A cup of tea
B. A shawl
C. A cane basket
D. Some fruit
Answer: C. A cane basket
9. How much time passed between the narrator’s first and second meetings with the girl?
A. Two days
B. Two weeks
C. Two months
D. Two years
Answer: C. Two months
10. During their second meeting, where was the narrator traveling to?
A. Dehra
B. His college
C. Deoli
D. Delhi
Answer: D. Delhi
50. The tea stall owner’s reply, “How should I know? … She was nothing to me,” conveys a tone of:
A. deep sadness
B. cold indifference
C. genuine confusion
D. playful teasing
Answer: B. cold indifference
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