Class VIII: Those People Next Door

Those People Next Door

Concept Map:

Text-book Exercise:

1.    Why are Londoners strangers to their neighbours?

Ans: Londoners are not interested in knowing who stay next to them as their neighbour, as they are very busy in their own life. They don’t want anyone to disturb their daily life. So, they are strangers to their neighbours.

2.    How does Gardiner show that we are always unsympathetic to our neighbours?

Ans: To show that we are always unsympathetic to our neighbours, Gardiner gives us two incidents. One incident is where Matilda sleeps very late due to the noise created in the party happening in the neighbourhood. The other is where the man beat a can tin as a way of retaliating upon a neighbour who strummed the piano. In both the cases, the neighbours act unsympathetic towards others.

3.    How does Gardiner compare neighbours in the city with neighbours in the village?

Ans: Gardiner says that people live isolated lives in city, each living in his own shell. They are busy with their own lives; they don’t want anyone to disturb their lives. And to find neighbours, they go to countryside. On the other hand, neighbours in the village are always generous to offer their belonging to each other.

4.    ‘And it can never be too black for their deserts?’ who is Gardiner talking about here? How does he explain his statement?

Ans: Gardiner, here, is talking about the neighbours who does late night party and it continues till the dawn. He explains this statement by sharing an example where his friend Matilda couldn’t sleep till four o’clock in the morning as their neighbours were busy in the party. The party lasted till four o’clock.

5.    ‘They are always in the wrong.’ Who are ‘they’? Why does Gardiner say ‘they are always in the wrong’? What examples does Gardiner give to support his statement?

Ans: ‘they’ are neighbours. Gardiner calls neighbours always wrong. Gardiner says so because most of the times, our neighbours working hours are entirely different from ours. To support his statements, Gardiner gives following examples:

ü  They always manage to be gay when you are sleepy.

ü  They take delight in going away for more holidays than you can actually have.

ü  They are not just the way you though they were about.

6.    What does the case of a man who beat a tin can illustrate?

Ans: The case of a man who beat tin drum illustrates that it is very difficult to avoid being annoyed by neighbours.

7.    Who, according to Gardiner, is the perfect neighbour? Do you agree with him? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans: According to Gardiner, the perfect neighbour is the one who we never see and whom we never hear except when he pokes the fire. I don’t agree with Gardiner’s definition of the perfect neighbour. According to me, the perfect neighbour should be the one who takes interested to be a part of your life’s happy and sad moments, who understands you and give you enough opportunities to understand him too.

8.    ‘I dare our paths will not cross through we go living beside each other until one or the other of us takes up a more permanent adobe.’ Who is Gardiner talking about here? What do you think he means to the phrase, ‘more permanent abode’?

Ans: Gardiner, here, is talking about his neighbour. I think that he mean ‘death’ to the phrase ‘more permanent adobe’.