A historian reading local newspapers of the United Provinces from early 1921 finds a set of short reports from villages. In each report, a person declares that he will believe in the Mahatma only if some sign appears, and the report then tells what followed. She wants to understand what such stories reveal about the beliefs of the people who passed them on, and about the times in which they spread.
According to one such report, what did Sikandar Sahu from a village in Basti say had to happen before he would believe in the Mahatmaji?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The karah full of sugar cane juice in his karkhana should split into two
Option (1) The gur kept in his karkhana should turn into white sugar — Incorrect. No report speaks of gur turning into sugar; his test was about the boiling pan itself.
Option (2) The karah full of sugar cane juice in his karkhana should boil without a fire — Incorrect. His test was that the pan should break in two; a pan boiling by itself is a different sign he never asked for.
Option (3) The karah full of sugar cane juice in his karkhana should split into two — Correct. Sikandar Sahu said he would believe when his <strong>karah (boiling pan) of sugar cane juice split into two</strong>, and the report tells that it split at once.
Option (4) The sugar cane standing in his field should ripen in a single night — Incorrect. His test was set in his karkhana, where gur was made; a field of sugar cane plays no part in it.
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