The first line
A hope, before any fact.
The story opens with a hope rather than a fact. Velu wakes up wishing that today, at last, it will rain.
📚 Chapter Learning Kit
Waiting for the Rain · Class 8 English · Poorvi
English 3 topics 105 leveled MCQs 51 flashcards 5 games Free
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
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A red sun
Beautiful, and very bad news.
The sun rises a deep crimson, like fire, and there is not a cloud anywhere. It doesn’t look encouraging, he mutters.
How he farmed
Jowar, then dhal, all year round.
Velu worked hard and his land never failed him: jowar one season and dhal the next, right through the year.
The woman
Wrinkled skin, sparkling eyes.
The old woman’s skin is wrinkled, but her eyes sparkle when she smiles. The smile widens as she looks at Velu.
His first question
Nothing to smile about, Amma.
He asks what she is smiling at, since without the rains there is nothing to smile about. Amma means mother.
She agrees first
And earns a hearing by it.
She agrees with him at once and stops smiling, which costs her nothing and earns her a hearing.
📖 Smart notes
What you'll study, topic by topic
1
The Drought: a Farmer, an Astrologer and a Weather Office
Velu has farmed his own land for six years without a break. This year the rains fail. He refuses to consult astrologers, walks to the city weather office instead, and is told that nobody there can explain it either.
- Velu is a farmer who has worked his own piece of land for nearly six years.
- He harvested jowar in one season and dhal in the next, working all year without rest or a holiday.
- This year the rains did not come at the end of summer, and days, weeks and months passed without them.
~32 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
2
The Old Woman’s Answer, and the Rain
Under a tree an old woman tells Velu he has perhaps worked too hard. Her argument is that the earth works as well, that it is old, and that Nature gives her children rest. He walks home convinced, and the rain arrives.
- The old woman’s skin is wrinkled, but her eyes sparkle when she smiles.
- Velu asks why she is smiling, since there is nothing to smile about without the rains.
- He complains that he has worked hard and honestly, and is being punished.
~34 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
3
How the Story Works: Present Tenses, Determiners and Homophones
Three ways of writing about now, six kinds of word that stand in front of a noun without describing it, and seven pairs that sound the same and are spelt differently. Every example is from this story.
- The simple present states a fact or a habit: it is hard not to be able to work.
- The present progressive describes action happening now: what are you smiling at?
- The present perfect describes action that began earlier and still counts: the earth has worked for centuries.
~34 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
❓ Leveled MCQ practice
Try the smart MCQs from this kit
105 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
Assertion: Velu refused to consult the astrologers about the rains. Reason: The rains had always come before without any such consultation.
Advanced
A Both true, and the reason explains the assertion
B Both true, but the reason does not explain it
C The assertion is true and the reason is false
D The assertion is false and the reason is true
Show answer & explanation
Both true, and the reason explains the assertion
Both statements are true, and the reason explains the assertion. His experience over six years is that the rain arrives without anybody being consulted, so he can see no reason to begin consulting now.
Velu has taken two different crops off the same piece of land in successive seasons. Which two crops did Velu grow?
Beginner
A Rice and wheat
B Cotton and sugarcane
C Jowar and dhal
D Maize and barley
Show answer & explanation
Jowar and dhal
One in each season, turn and turn about.
Read these statements about Velu and his search for an answer. I. Velu had worked his own land for nearly twenty years. II. He harvested jowar in one season and dhal in the next. III. At the weather office he was told nobody could say when clouds would gather. Which statements are correct?
Advanced
A I and II only
B II and III only
C I and III only
D I, II and III
Show answer & explanation
II and III only
The two crops and the answer he got at the weather office are both as the story gives them. The land had been his for nearly six years, not twenty, so the first statement is wrong.
The sun comes up over Velu’s fields glowing the deep red of fire rather than a pale gold. What does crimson mean?
Beginner
A Pale yellow
B Dusty grey
C Bright white
D Deep red
Show answer & explanation
Deep red
The rising sun glowed with it, like fire.
🃏 Flashcards
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51 flashcards in this kit — the app reviews them with spaced repetition so the right card returns on the right day.
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Word Match
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Fact Or Myth
Sequence Builder
Memory Match
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