Tanvi, a student of history, is preparing a project on journeys made between the tenth and seventeenth centuries. She first asks why people left their homes at all. Then she imagines a young man reaching a faraway land, where the hills and rivers, the food, the speech and the forms of worship are all unfamiliar to him. She wonders how such newcomers reacted to what they met, and why only some of them left written records. Finally, she goes to the library hoping to find accounts of journeys written by women of that period.
Tanvi wonders how often a person who reaches a new land meets a world different from the one at home. Which of the following best answers her?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Invariably, whether the person comes for a short time or comes to stay
Option (1) Invariably, whether the person comes for a short time or comes to stay — Correct. Both a short-time guest and a settler invariably meet a different world. The difference lies in the land itself and in the customs, languages and beliefs of its people.
Option (2) Only in exceptional cases, mostly when the person keeps a written account — Incorrect. Every person who visits or comes to stay in a new land meets a different world; only those who note the differences carefully in accounts are somewhat exceptional.
Option (3) Mostly when the person comes to stay, seldom on a short visit — Incorrect. Those who visit as well as those who come to stay invariably meet a different world, so a short visit also brings it.
Option (4) Occasionally, depending on whether the person comes as a trader or as a pilgrim — Incorrect. The encounter with a different world comes invariably to every visitor, whatever the purpose of the journey, be it trade or pilgrimage.
NCERT (2026-27): “Perceptions of Society FIVE (c. tenth to seventeenth century) “Those who visit or come to stay in a new land invariably encounter a world that is different:” “in terms of the landscape or physical environment as well as customs, languages, beliefs and practices of people. …” |