A college student from Gorakhpur finds, in an old collection, a set of stories that were told in villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh in 1921. Each story tells of a person who spoke or acted against Gandhiji and then met with some misfortune soon after. The same stories were repeated from one village to the next, and many villagers accepted them as true. Her history teacher asks her to treat the stories as historical evidence and to think about what they can show.
One story in the collection came from Gorakhpur city. In it, a gentleman's house caught fire. What had he done before this happened?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → He had questioned the need to ply the charkha.
Option (1) He had questioned the need to ply the charkha. — Correct. The rumour said the gentleman <strong>questioned the need to ply the charkha</strong>, and then his house caught fire. Spinning was a central Gandhian practice.
Option (2) He had abused Gandhiji while gambling with friends. — Incorrect. Abusing Gandhiji while gambling is a different rumour. There the man's goat was bitten by his own dogs.
Option (3) He had broken his promise to give up drinking liquor. — Incorrect. Breaking the promise to give up liquor is another rumour. There brickbats fell in the man's path.
Option (4) He had refused to send his son to a national school. — Incorrect. No rumour in this set is about national schools. The fire followed doubts about the charkha.
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