Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Umbrella Mender
Under the neem tree by the post office
old Kasim sits on a sack, his tools laid out:
a coil of wire, black thread, a pair of pliers,
spare ribs and handles in a biscuit tin.
All summer no one stops. The sun is harsh,
and people hurry past him to the shade.
But when the first clouds gather over the hills,
the lane remembers him and his small trade.
They bring him broken things: a schoolgirl’s red one,
a clerk’s black giant with three ribs snapped,
a grandmother’s faded one with flowers on it,
older than the lane, and patched and patched.
He turns each one slowly, like a doctor
who listens to a heartbeat through his hands,
then bends a wire, ties a knot, and gives it back
with the same nod for coins or for thanks.
And when the rain comes down at last in sheets,
the lane goes home beneath the roofs he made.
Kasim pulls a plastic sheet over his head
and waits, unhurried, in the dripping shade.
Which of the following statements are true according to the poem?
(A) People seldom stop at Kasim’s place in summer.
(B) Kasim treats every customer in the same way.
(C) Kasim charges high prices during the rains.
(D) Kasim keeps a good umbrella for himself.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A) and (B) only
Each statement is checked against the lines of the poem.
(A) People seldom stop at Kasim’s place in summer. — Correct.
- The poem says, “All summer no one stops.”
(B) Kasim treats every customer in the same way. — Correct.
- He gives back each umbrella “with the same nod for coins or for thanks”, whether he is paid or not.
(C) Kasim charges high prices during the rains. — Incorrect.
- The poem never speaks of his prices.
- The same nod for “thanks” shows he does not even insist on being paid.
(D) Kasim keeps a good umbrella for himself. — Incorrect.
- When the rain comes, he “pulls a plastic sheet over his head”.