Read the passage and answer the questions:
Benda lives in the wilds of the Abujh Maad area of central India. His village consists of three huts deep in the wilds. Not even birds or stray dogs that usually crowd villages can be seen in these areas. Wearing a small loin cloth and armed with his axe he slowly surveys the penda (forest) where his tribe practices a primitive form of agriculture called shifting cultivation. Benda and his friends burn small patches of forest to clear them for cultivation. The ash is used for making the soil fertile. Benda is happy that the Mahua trees around him are in bloom. How lucky I am to be a part of this beautiful universe, he thinks as he looks up to see the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees that have sheltered him since childhood. Crossing the penda in a gliding motion, Benda makes his way to a stream. As he bends down to scoop up a palmful of water, he remembers to thank Loi-Lugi, the spirit of the forest for allowing him to quench his thirst. Moving on with his friends, Benda chews on succulent leaves and roots. The boys have been trying to collect Gajjhara and Kuchla, from the forest. These are special plants that Benda and his people use. He hopes the spirits of the forest will be kind and lead him to these herbs. These are needed to barter in the madhai or tribal fair coming up the next full moon. He closes his eyes and tries hard to recall what the elders had taught him about these herbs and the places they are found in. He wishes he had listened more carefully. Suddenly there is a rustling of leaves. Benda and his friends know it is the outsiders who have come searching for them in the wilds. In a single fluid motion Benda and his friends disappear behind the thick canopy of trees and become one with the spirit of the forest.
Where are the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees mainly found?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → In Central part of India
Benda lives in the Abujh Maad area of central India, where the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees have sheltered him since childhood.
Note: This passage is the story of Benda from the box ‘The Naturalisation of Humans’ in the first chapter of NCERT Fundamentals of Human Geography, word for word. Benda stepped out of a story box in the very first chapter and walked into the exam hall with five questions in his hands. Read the boxes as slowly as the paragraphs around them.
NCERT: Fundamentals of Human Geography — Chapter 1: Human Geography: Nature and Scope, box ‘The Naturalisation of Humans’ (2025-26)
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