RBSE Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 3 Ranga’s Marriage

RBSE Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 3 Ranga’s Marriage

Text Book Questions and Answers

About the Author

Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (6 June 1891 – 6 June 1986) was a well-known writer in Kannada language. He was the fourth among Kannada writers to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was popularly referred to as Maasti Kannadada Aasti which means “Maasti, Kannada’s Treasure”.

He is most renowned for his short stories. He wrote under the pen name Srinivasa. He was honoured with the title Rajasevasakta by the then Maharaja of Mysore Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadeyar. A prolific writer, he wrote more than 123 books in Kannada and 17 in English, for over seventy years. He won the Jnanpith Award in 1983 for his novel Chikavira Rajendra. The story was about the last Raja of Kodagu. He died on his 95th birthday in 1986. Since 1993, an award in his name, “Masti Venkatesha Iyangar Award” is awarded to well-known writers of Karnataka.

Main Theme

‘Ranga’s Marriage’ is a delightful story set in Hosahalli Village near Mysore. The narrator is an elderly person who is very proud of his village and generally likes to be involved in the lives of the fellow villagers.

Ranga was the son of an accountant who had been sent to Bangalore for higher studies. When he came back’ the narrator decided to have him married even though Ranga had many new fangled ideas about marriage.

The narrator arranged that Ranga saw Ratna, the daughter of Rama Rao. Ranga liked her instantly, but the narrator told him that she was married. Then Shyama, the narrator, met an astrologer and told him what to say when he brought Ranga to him. Next he took Ranga to the astrologer who told him that he was thinking about a girl and if they approach the family for marriage, they would be successful. Ranga was delighted to discover that Ratna was not married. Ranga and Ratna were married.

Reading with Insight

Question 1.
Comment on the influence of English – the language and the way of life – on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator’s attitude to English?
Answer:
The narrator has very poignantly brought out the influence of English language on the way of life in the story. As the title reflects, it is not Vivaha but “marriage” because Ranga, having had the opportunity to go for higher education to Bangalore is to an extent influenced by the West and he could talk in English. Ranga’s homecoming was a great event. People rushed announcing his arrival and went to look at him.

Unlike the people in the village, Ranga said he would not get married immediately but would wait and find the right girl to get married to. He quoted the example of an officer who got married six months back when he was about thirty and his wife, twenty-five. He liked the idea of marrying a mature girl who would understand him, unlike a childish bride. Quoting the classic tale of Shakuntala, he said that Dushyantha would not have fallen in love with Shakuntala if she were young. He said that a man should marry a girl he admires and it would be impossible to admire an immature girl.

Question 2.
Astrologers’ perceptions are based more on hearsay and conjecture than what they learn from the study of the stars. Comment with reference to the story.
Answer:
Astrologers’ perceptions are based more on tittle-tattle and assumption than what they learn from the study of the stars. This is brought out effectively through the character of a Shastri in the story. The narrator told the Shastri about his ploy to bring Ranga and Ratna together before he took Ranga to him. As planned, the Shastri pretended to make certain calculations and said that his problem had something to do with a girl.

He added that the name of the girl was something found in the ocean such as Kamala (the lotus), Pachchi, (the moss) or Ratna (the precious stone). The narrator said that the girl in Rama Rao’s house was Ratna. The Shastri was very positive about the proposal working out. Later that . evening, the narrator joked with the Shastri about his predictions based on the information he gave but Shastri did not like it. He said “…Don’t forget, I developed on the hints you had given me.”

Question 3.
Indian society has moved a long way from the way the marriage is arranged in the story. Discuss.
Answer:
The Indian society has certainly moved a long way from the way the marriage is arranged in the story. In the story, firstly, Ratna is a child of eleven. The marriage of a girl of this age is now a criminal offense. Ranga falls in love with Ratna, who is no more than a child when he hears her sing. Unlike the story, marriages are arranged but based on compatibility and maturity of the couple. The predictions of an astrologer, like the Shastri in the story, are no longer the gospel truth. Mutual consent of the couple is given more importance than that of the matchmakers, like the narrator.

Question 4.
What kind of a person do you think the narrator is?
Answer:
The narrator is an affable man who is intelligent and a keen observer. He notices Ranga’s expressions of delight and disappointment and deals with the situation accordingly. He is proud of his roots and talking of his village he says, “I am not the only one who speaks glowingly of Hosahalli.” He does not like the idea of people aping the West blindly. He talks disparagingly of them, “they are like a flock of sheep.

One sheep walks into a pit, the rest blindly follow it.” The influence of English, on the native language, too meets with criticism—“What has happened is disgraceful, believe me.” Ranga’s western concepts of marriage, too, do not appeal to him. He feels “distressed (as) the boy who (he) thought would make a good husband, had decided to remain a bachelor.” But he anyway decides to play matchmaker and arrange Ranga’s marriage.

His curiosity to know what the people were up to when they went to Ranga’s house makes him follow them. He writes, “Attracted by the crowd, I too went and stood in the courtyard.” A traditionalist by nature he is happy to note that,Ranga “bent low to touch my feet.” However, he knows how to use situations to his advantage. He decides that Ratna is just the right girl for Ranga. He plots a situation, wherein Ranga hears her sing and falls in love with her. Then, he takes him to the Shastri who has been tutored by him. He is a traditionalist but a well-meaning person. He takes onto himself the responsibility of getting Ranga married and sees it through.

RBSE Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 3 Ranga’s Marriage, Study Learner