Question Details

Read the given passage and answer the six questions that follow.


When I was in my late teens and still undecided about which language I should write in, he told me that the language one is born into, one’s mother tongue, can be the only possible medium of creative expression. For most of his life, my father, Sripat Rai, had been a Hindi editor and critic. Off and on, he translated writings into English from Hindi. He was fond of saying that a failed writer becomes a critic. The weight of his literary expectation came, eventually, to rest on me. He seemed happy that I was showing an inclination for writing.


“She will go far,” he told my mother after reading the first story that I sent him from Melbourne. My father’s pronouncement on the mother tongue stayed with me when I later started writing fiction in Hindi. Another thing that I barely acknowledged even to myself was that I felt something like shame whenever I thought of writing in English. It seemed wrong for a granddaughter of Premchand even to be thinking so. Our family had a certain linguistic pride. I knew that Premchand was famous, but I had not at that time realised the extent of his popularity. The fact that I was the granddaughter of Premchand, followed me everywhere.


Everyone had a story to tell about their personal engagement with his fiction — the shopkeeper, the long time cook in my father’s Delhi house, a tea vendor, etc. The list was long, for there was practically no one who had not read something by him that had moved them. However, it was this very ubiquity, the reverence and love that he inspired in people, that made of him something too large for me to comprehend in the early years of my life. It led also to the strange feeling that, without having read him and just by being related to him, I had somehow inhaled his writing. The reading happened much later.


Q)  Premchand became too large for her to understand mainly because of ______.

Options

A

the societal expectations around his legacy.

B

the complex language in his works.

C

his far-reaching influence and impact.

D

her emotional connection to his work

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option C

his far-reaching influence and impact.

Solution :

The correct option is his far-reaching influence and impact.


Step-by-step Explanation:


1. Locating the Relevant Context in the Passage:
The passage mentions the narrator's feelings regarding Premchand in the latter half: "Everyone had a story to tell about their personal engagement with his fiction — the shopkeeper, the long time cook in my father’s Delhi house, a tea vendor, etc. The list was long, for there was practically no one who had not read something by him that had moved them."


2. Analyzing the Reason for Comprehension Difficulty:
Immediately following the description of how widely read and loved he was by diverse people (the shopkeeper, cook, tea vendor, etc.), the narrator states: "However, it was this very ubiquity, the reverence and love that he inspired in people, that made of him something too large for me to comprehend in the early years of my life."


3. Connecting to the Correct Option:
The term "ubiquity" (meaning being present everywhere) and the widespread "reverence and love that he inspired in people" directly describe his vast reach, popularity, and deep influence on society. Therefore, it was Premchand's extensive influence and the profound impact of his work across all strata of society that made him seem too monumental or "too large" for the author to fully grasp in her youth.

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