Bholi · Class 10 English · Footprints Without Feet: quick revision, 36 bites

Sulekha, Called Bholi

The first line gives a name and takes it away.

Her name was **Sulekha** — but since childhood everyone had called her **Bholi**, the **simpleton**.

Takeaway. Watch for the name 'Sulekha'. It returns once, on the last page.

How She Became 'Bholi'

Four misfortunes, in order.

Takeaway. She talked very little, which everybody took for stupidity.

Before the Smallpox

She was pretty once.

At birth the child was **very fair and pretty**.

Takeaway. Nobody in the story ever says that out loud.

Ramlal's Household

Seven children in a comfortable house.

Takeaway. The neglect in this story has nothing to do with poverty.

Sons to College, Daughters to Marriage

Two futures, decided at birth.

Takeaway. Education is for sons; for daughters, looks are the qualification.

Why Her Father Worries

One sentence, and it is cruel.

Ramlal’s worry is set down in one flat sentence: this daughter had **no beauty and no brains**.

Takeaway. A set question — and the answer is about marriage, not about her happiness.

A Primary School for Girls

Then the school arrives.

Takeaway. The instruction is public, and Ramlal's position makes refusal impossible.

“Who Will Marry Them?”

His wife's first reaction.

Her first words are that he must be **out of his mind**. Then the question that settles it for her: **who marries a girl who has been to school?**

Takeaway. Schooling is seen not as an opportunity but as a risk to a daughter's value.

“Send Bholi”

And then she solves it.

Takeaway. The set question asks for the unusual reasons. These are they.

The Irony Being Built

Look at what the household has just done.

Everything counted **against** her — the **pock-marks**, the **stammer**, the **hopeless prospects** — is what sends her to **school**.

Takeaway. The one daughter written off is the only one allowed to be rewritten.

Casual Neglect

Not cruelty, exactly.

Takeaway. The story is more damning for being so ordinary.

Answering on This Section

Two set questions live here.

Takeaway. Quote the mother's two sentences; they carry the whole attitude.

Taken by the Hand

She had no idea what a school was.

Ramlal took her by the hand and set out. Bholi was **frightened** — she **did not know what a school was like**.

Takeaway. The terror in this scene is the terror of not being told.

Like the Cow Lakshmi

What she thought was happening.

She remembered the **old cow, Lakshmi**, who had been **turned out of the house and sold**.

Takeaway. A set question — and the answer shows what she believed her family thought of her.

Not for Her Sake

Why the clean dress?

The reason given: the **teachers** and the **other schoolgirls** must **not think badly** of the family.

Takeaway. And she does not know that, which makes it worse.

Bathed, Oiled, Dressed

Three small things, never done before.

Takeaway. That last line is the saddest sentence in the story so far.

Mats, Slates and a Corner

Inside the classroom.

Takeaway. Her first want at school is not learning. It is a friend.

The Coloured Pictures

Everything on the wall she already knew.

Takeaway. The classroom is made of her own village — which is why it stops being frightening.

“What’s Your Name, Little One?”

Then the question comes.

“**Bh-Bho-Bho-**” — and then **tears**. She **hung her head**, and the class **laughed**.

Takeaway. Exactly what has happened to her all her life — in a new place.

Her Name, Spoken Softly

And then a voice.

“**Bholi.**” — a voice so **soft and soothing** that **no one had ever spoken to her like that in her life**.

Takeaway. It touched her heart. Nothing else in the scene is needed.

Four Syllables

Watch how the word is drawn out.

Takeaway. No scolding, no hurry, no finishing her word for her.

“Put the Fear Out of Your Heart”

The sentence the story turns on.

Drive the **fear out of her heart**, the teacher tells her, and her speech will come as easily as **anybody else’s**.

Takeaway. The teacher will not accept a nod. She insists on a voice.

The Promise

Then she is shown a book.

Takeaway. Nobody had ever told her what she might become.

Bells and Red Flowers

How it felt.

She felt as if **all every bell in the village temple was ringing** and the **trees in the courtyard had blossomed into big red flowers**.

Takeaway. Remember this image — the fire at the wedding will answer it.

The Village Becomes a Town

Time passes in four sentences.

Takeaway. Bholi has grown up inside that school the whole time.

Bishamber Nath

A proposal with one great advantage.

Takeaway. The whole case for him is that he costs nothing.

“She Is Like a Dumb Cow”

Her mother's reasoning, overheard.

Takeaway. Remember the phrase. She will use it herself at the end.

Band, Horse and Pomp

A wedding worth being proud of.

Takeaway. Every detail here is about display, not about the bride.

“Five Thousand Rupees”

Then the veil slips.

Takeaway. He asked for nothing until he saw what he was getting.

The Turban at His Feet

A father on the ground.

Takeaway. The marriage is now a completed transaction — and then the bride speaks.

Cold Contempt

A bride's eyes should be downcast.

The veil slips back again — but her eyes are **not downcast** (= looking downwards).

Takeaway. The eyes smallpox spared are the ones that end the wedding.

The Garland in the Fire

The moment the story has been building to.

Takeaway. Her first public sentence is a refusal — and it is perfect.

“Have Some Regard for Our Izzat”

And the guests turn on her.

Takeaway. She does not reject him for being old or lame. She rejects what he did at the fire.

The Dumb Cow Is Speaking

An old woman says the wrong thing.

“We all thought she was a **harmless dumb cow**.”

Takeaway. She takes their insults and uses them as her own weapons.

“What Shall We Do With You?”

What is left afterwards.

Takeaway. Note the name. The author has given it back to her.

The Artist and Her Masterpiece

One person in the room is not surprised.

The **teacher** had been standing in a **corner** through the whole drama. “**Yes, Bholi, of course.**”

Takeaway. The masterpiece is not a book or a lesson. It is a person.