NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 9- Madam Rides the Bus

NCERT English chapter 9 Madam Rides the Bus is a story about an eight-year-old Tamil girl Valli. Valli was always curious to explore the world outside her house. She had no friends to play with, so her favourite pastime was to stand in the doorway of her home and look at the outside world. She likes to watch people get on and off the bus to the nearest town and always wanted to get on it and explore. Over time, she collected information on the bus and found out that the distance to the nearest town was only about 6 miles and that the bus fare cost thirty paise. She started saving money with the hopes of riding the bus one day.

One day, while her mother was asleep in the afternoon, Valli went outside and boarded the bus. The conductor was a kind man and referred to her as madam and encouraged her to take a seat. During the journey, Valli thoroughly enjoyed looking at the greenery outside and saw a cow happily moving around outside. This was a very fascinating experience for her as she had never been on a bus all by herself before.

As time passed by, all the passengers started to get off the bus one by one. Soon, the conductor asked her if she wanted to get off the bus and roam around town, but she replied, saying that she only had the money for the ride back home. Valli stayed on the bus and looked outside the window. On the bus ride back home, as she was looking outside, she saw a dead cow and realised that it was the same cow that she had seen earlier. Looking at the dead cow Valli became extremely sad and made her understand the concept of life and death. Soon, the bus dropped her off at the bus stop near home, and she reached her house just in time. Surprisingly, she got away with her secret trip as her family didn’t seem to notice the time she was away.