Indigo NCERT Solutions Class 12 English

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 5 “Indigo” by Louis Fischer offer comprehensive, accurate, and easy-to-understand answers to all textbook questions. This detailed study guide covers Think as You Read, Understanding the Text, Talking About the Text, Working with Words, and Thinking About Language. I also recommend reading the complete Indigo Summary to master the chapter and score high in your board exams!

Indigo Class 12 Questions and Answers

Think as you read (page 46)

Q.1. Strike out what is not true in the following.

a. Rajkumar Shukla was

(i) a sharecropper. ✔ True
~~(ii) a politician.~~ Not true
(iii) a delegate. ✔ True (he came to the Congress session in Lucknow to complain about the landlord system)
~~(iv) a landlord.~~ Not true

b. Rajkumar Shukla was

(i) poor. ✔ True
~~(ii) physically strong.~~ Not true (he was “poor and emaciated”)
(iii) illiterate. ✔ True

Q.2. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
Ans. Shukla was determined and did not give up. He came to the Congress session in Lucknow to find someone who would help the Champaran peasants. He followed Gandhi to Cawnpore and then to his ashram near Ahmedabad, where he stayed for weeks without leaving Gandhi’s side. He kept begging, “Fix a date.” Months later, he was waiting at the appointed place in Calcutta. His tenacity made Gandhi agree to come to Champaran.

Q.3. Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
Ans. Gandhi came with Shukla, whom the servants knew as a poor peasant (a yeoman) who pestered their master, Rajendra Prasad, to help the indigo sharecroppers. Gandhi was dressed simply and had the appearance of a poor villager. The servants therefore took him for another peasant from Shukla’s village and treated him as one. They did not allow him to draw water from the well, in case he was an untouchable and polluted it.

Think as you read (page 48)

Q.1. List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.

Cawnpore (Kanpur), where he had an appointment
Other parts of India, where he was committed to go
His ashram near Ahmedabad
Calcutta, where he met Shukla at the fixed date
Patna (Bihar), at the house of Rajendra Prasad
Muzzafarpur, where he stayed for two days with Professor Malkani
Then Champaran (Motihari)

Q.2. What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?

Rent: The landlords forced the tenants to plant 15 per cent (three twentieths) of their land with indigo and give the entire indigo harvest as rent, by a long-term contract.
What the British wanted now: Germany had developed synthetic indigo, so natural indigo was no longer profitable for the landlords. They wanted to be released from the 15 per cent arrangement and demanded compensation from the sharecroppers for releasing them.
Impact on prices: Synthetic indigo is cheaper and easier to produce, so the demand for natural indigo and its price would fall sharply.

Think as you read (page 50)

Q.1. The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of satyagraha and non-violence?

Getting the facts first: He went to the landlords’ association, then the commissioner, and investigated peasants’ complaints. He later recorded about ten thousand depositions. Satyagraha is based on truth, so he first established the facts.
Peaceful disobedience: He refused the order to leave Champaran, but he did not run away or use force. He signed the notice, wrote that he would disobey it, pleaded guilty in court and asked for the penalty. This is the satyagraha idea of disobeying an unjust order and accepting the consequences.
Obeying conscience: He disobeyed “in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience”.
Non-violence and courtesy: He was polite and friendly to the officials and helped them to manage the crowd. He did not hate his opponents.
Freeing people from fear: He believed that relief for the peasants was to be free from fear, not court cases. The large crowds at the court began their liberation from fear.
Readiness to go to jail: He prepared his co-workers to court arrest in pairs and made plans for civil disobedience.
Compromise: He accepted a 25 per cent refund, because the principle mattered more than the amount.

Think as you read (page 52)

Q.1. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Ans. For Gandhi, the amount was less important than the fact that the landlords were forced to give up part of the money and, with it, part of their prestige. The planters had behaved as lords above the law, and now they had been made to yield. This showed the peasants that they had rights and defenders. The compromise also broke the deadlock, and events later proved him right, as the British planters left their estates within a few years.

Q.2. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

The peasants lost their fear of the British landlords and learned courage.
They realised that they had rights and defenders.
The indigo sharecropping system ended, and the estates reverted to the peasants within a few years.
Gandhi’s volunteers set up primary schools in six villages, taught cleanliness and sanitation and provided medical help, so conditions in the villages improved.

Understanding the text

Q.1. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his life?
Ans. Gandhi said, “What I did was a very ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order me about in my own country.” Champaran was the first time he:

openly defied British authority in India and won, which was the first triumph of civil disobedience in modern India;
gained confidence that the British could be challenged, and the people lost their fear of them;
joined politics with the practical, day-to-day problems of poor people (it began as relief for peasants, not as defiance);
started building self-reliant Indians who could stand on their own feet and make India free.
That is why he said that his decision to urge the departure of the British began in 1917.

Q.2. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

He chided the Muzzafarpur lawyers for collecting big fees from poor sharecroppers and advised them to stop going to the law courts, because the peasants needed freedom from fear, not legal fights.
When the Bihar lawyers (Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq and others) said that they would go home if Gandhi went to jail, he asked them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. Gandhi was a stranger, yet he was willing to go to prison for the peasants, so they felt it would be a “shameful desertion” to leave. They decided to follow him into jail.
Gandhi then divided them into pairs and gave the order in which each pair would court arrest.
He also taught them self-reliance by refusing C.F. Andrews’s help (“rely upon yourselves”), and they had no reply.
The lawyers were influenced by his example of sacrifice, courage and sincerity.

Q.3. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home rule’?
Ans. They were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home-rule, because they feared the British authorities. That is why Gandhi said it was extraordinary at that time for a government professor (Professor Malkani) to shelter a man like him.

Q.4. How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?

Rajkumar Shukla, an illiterate sharecropper, brought Gandhi to Champaran, and that started the movement.
Thousands of peasants gathered spontaneously at the Motihari courthouse to support Gandhi, which began their liberation from fear.
About ten thousand peasants gave depositions against the landlords.
Ordinary people like Professor Malkani gave shelter to Gandhi at a time when it was risky.
Several young men, women and teachers volunteered to open schools and do health and sanitation work in the villages.
These unknown people played a major part in making the freedom movement a mass movement.

Talking about the text

(Discussion topics, so here are points you can use.)

1. “Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.” Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Meaning: Where the poor are afraid of the powerful, the courts cannot help them. Without courage, they will not even seek justice. Gandhi said, “The real relief for them is to be free from fear.”
Discussion: Political freedom and legal rights have given the poor more protection. They can vote, they have constitutional rights and they have laws and public interest litigation. But many are still afraid. They fear landlords, moneylenders, contractors, and the police, as well as hunger, losing their jobs and caste or social pressure. Many do not know their rights or cannot afford lawyers. So the poor are only partly free from fear, and real freedom needs education, awareness, economic security and fair implementation of the law.

2. The qualities of a good leader.

Courage and fearlessness, and the willingness to face punishment
Sacrifice and selflessness (Gandhi was ready to go to jail for strangers)
Concern for people’s real day-to-day problems
Honesty and truthfulness
Determination and patience
Self-reliance, and the ability to make others self-reliant
Good communication and persuasion, and the skill to negotiate and compromise
Leading by example and respect for opponents
Organising ability and attention to detail

Working with words

List the words used in the text that are related to legal procedures:
deposition, summons, sentence, judgment, bail, plead (pleading guilty), prosecutor, magistrate, court / courthouse, trial, penalty, notice, commission of inquiry, case (dropped), recess, conferred, contract, lawbreaker, evidence, inquiry, grievances, compensation, arrest, jail, order.

List other words that you know that fall into this category:
verdict, plaintiff, defendant, accused, witness, appeal, acquittal, conviction, lawsuit, petition, hearing, injunction, warrant, advocate, barrister, attorney, jury, oath, affidavit, cross-examination, custody, tribunal, litigation, adjournment.

Thinking about language

1. Notice the sentences in the text which are in ‘direct speech’. Why does the author use quotations in his narration?

Examples:

Gandhi said, “I will tell you how it happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British.”
“Fix a date,” he begged.
“The battle of Champaran is won,” he exclaimed.
“What I did was a very ordinary thing…”

Why:

It makes the narration lively, real and authentic. We hear the actual words of Gandhi, Shukla and the others.
It shows facts from first-hand witnesses, such as Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad and Rev. J. Z. Hodge, so the account is trustworthy.
It reveals the character and feelings of the speakers (Shukla’s persistence, Gandhi’s firmness).
It makes a biography read less like a plain report and more like a story, which keeps the reader’s interest.

2. Notice the use or non-use of the comma in the following sentences.

(a) When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, he told me what happened in Champaran. The subordinate clause (“When I first visited…”) comes first, so a comma separates it from the main clause.
(b) He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook him. The subordinate clause (“when the police…”) comes after the main clause, so no comma is used.
(c) When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days. The subordinate clause is first, so a comma is used.

Rule: A comma is used to separate a subordinate clause from the main clause when it comes before the main clause. It is omitted when the subordinate clause comes after the main clause.

Things to do

(Sample answer on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, following the four steps: issue, facts, arguments, settlement.)

1. Issue chosen: The Bhopal Gas Tragedy

2. Facts of the case:

On the night of 2–3 December 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Thousands of people died within days, and lakhs were affected by breathing problems, blindness and other illnesses. Many of the victims lived in poor settlements near the plant.
Safety systems at the plant were found to be faulty or not working, and warnings were ignored.
The legal case continued for years, and the compensation was considered inadequate by many victims. Many suffered from long-term effects, and survivors’ groups continued to demand better medical care, compensation and cleaning of the site.

(Verify the figures from a reliable source before presenting.)

3. Arguments:
For the victims:

The company and authorities failed to follow safety standards and ignored warnings.
The poor victims lacked the power and the means to fight legal battles. Like Gandhi’s peasants, they needed justice and freedom from fear and neglect.
Compensation should match the scale of loss, lifelong illness and loss of livelihood.

Against (the company’s/authorities’ position):

Companies argued about the cause of the leak, claiming that it was sabotage, and about the extent of their responsibility.
Industrial development also provides jobs and products, such as pesticides for farmers.

4. Possible settlement:

Fair and sufficient compensation for the victims and their families, and lifelong medical care
Cleaning up the contaminated site and safe drinking water
Strict safety laws for hazardous industries, regular inspection and accountability for those responsible
Rehabilitation and jobs for the affected families
Following Gandhi’s approach: investigate the facts, put forward peaceful arguments, negotiate, and aim for a fair compromise that restores dignity and rights.

(You can choose the Narmada Dam Project instead. Use the same four steps: displacement of villagers versus benefits of irrigation and electricity; settlement through proper rehabilitation, fair compensation and consultation with the affected people.)