Reading Comprehension Challenge - Passage about Deepak Mouthattil - The Sand Artist

The following passage is about Deepak Mouthattil - The sand artist

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions given below. 

The child Artist Deepak Mouthattil still builds castles in the sand. In addition, he also makes portraits and abstract expressions in the sand. For the last two years, on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, Deepak has been paying homage to the Father of the Nation by making Gandhi’s sculpture in sand on Shanghumughom beach. In 2011, it covered an area of about 100 feet. Forty of them worked on it from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some of them were his friends from Kannur, his home town, who are working in the city. The end result was pleasing. In 2012 too, he created another work in sand to pay his respects to Gandhi, but on a smaller scale. As usual, in addition to his small team of friends and well-wishers, passersby and visitors to the beach joined in when they saw him working. “Who does not like to play in the sand?” asks Deepak, all smiles. According to his instructions, they heaped the sand in certain places, made mounds of it in certain other places and flattened it elsewhere. At the end of three hours, they were able to sculpt an image of the Mahatma. His creative endeavour on Gandhi Jayanti has been supported by various organizations with the result that Deepak had painted 22 works showing different incidents from Gandhi’s life, all in watercolour. The works were put on in an exhibition that was sponsored by the Public Relations Department of the Government of Kerala.

(Source: The Hindu)

Q.1. What instructions were given by Deepak to his team?

(a) To collect sand and sculpt the portrait

(b) To mix watercolours and mix sand with water

(c) Level the sand, heap it up and mould it 

(d) To heap the sand, make mounds, flatten it and sculpt the image  

Q.2. Why did various organizations help Deepak?

(a) Because Deepak was a child artist

(b) Because his creativity was so rare, it embraced 22 different facets of Gandhiji’s life

(c) Because all the paintings were in watercolour

(d) Because these works were sponsored by the Government of Kerala

Q.3. How did Deepak succeed in paying homage to Gandhiji?

(a) By working on the beach from dawn to dusk

(b) By enlisting the willing cooperation of forty people

(c) By sculpting a 100-foot picture of Gandhiji on the beach

(d) By producing a pleasing end result

Answers & Explanations:

1. (d); Choices (a), (b) and (c) give partial reasons and answers. A complete answer can be found in choice (d) which lists all the actions performed by the team to produce the picture to pay homage to Gandhiji. 

2. (b); No doubt Deepak was a child artist but that is not the only reason for others to help him. So choice (a) is eliminated, Answer (c) says watercolour was used and that doesn’t sound a strong reason. Choice (d) says his works were sponsored by the Government of Kerala. Both the answers are incomplete. There is a better reason and that is found in choice (b). Hence (b) is the right answer.

3. (c); Choice (a) says he worked from dawn to dusk, whereas he worked from morning till evening 4. So, this choice is wrong. Choice (b) says he got the cooperation of forty people. No doubt they supported him. But this choice doesn’t say in what concrete form they gave the support. Hence choice (b) is not acceptable. Choice (d) says Deepak produced a pleasing end-result, but there is no mention what that end result is. However, option (c) hits the bull’s eye: Deepak and his team sculpted a 100-foot image of Gandhi to pay homage to him. Thus, the right answer is choice (c).

Important Vocabulary:

(i) Homage (noun) - Special honour or respect shown publicly

Synonyms: Allegiance, Deference, Loyalty, Tribute

Antonyms: Criticism, Censure, Disregard, Scorn

Sentence Examples:

• She acknowledged their homage by bending her head and giving them a quick look.
• Many villagers come here to pay homage to the oldest man in the village.

(ii) Mound (noun) - A rounded mass projecting above a surface

Synonyms: Dune, Drift, Anthill, Hillock

Antonyms: Ditch, Valley, Depression, Decline

Sentence Examples:

• The bushes were little more than vague mounds beneath the snow.
• To cover the dead with a mound of earth was a custom common to all nations.

(iii) Endeavour (verb) - Try hard to do or achieve something

Synonyms: Aim, Effort, Venture, Work

Antonyms: Idleness, Inactivity, Passivity, Peace

Sentence Examples:

• He is endeavouring to help the Third World.
• Enthusiasm is a vital ingredient in all human endeavour.