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Home / Class 9th / A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT

A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT

We have shared the A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT summary along with A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT Solutions to help the students with the lesson so that students of class 9th could get a properly skimmed part of the lesson and they could answer the questions.

We have also penned down A House Is Not A Home Class 9th MCQs to help the students with the minute details of the lesson. After you got through the lesson, you all can solve the NCERT Solutions as it will boost your writing skills for the examination.


Contents

A House Is Not A Home Class 9th: Summary

The Story A House Is Not A Home revolves around Zan who feels gloomy as he got admitted to a new high school. He did not have his old friends and was a junior student there in the new school.

He was extremely missing his old school friends and continued to visit there. As he was trying to overcome the pain of separation from his old friends and teachers, one bad day his house caught fire.

His mother could save only some old photographs and some important papers, the rest of everything was in ashes. They lost everything, and to add to his misery, his pet cat was also missing after that tragedy.

Zan did not have his school uniform and shoes. moreover, he was not able to find his kitty. He then realized that he could not sit like this waiting for a miracle to happen. He should try something to find his kitty.

He with his mother try to rebuild their life, and their house to live in. They need a new house some cash, clothes, and other household things to move ahead in their life. Right now they did not have anything to depend upon. Neither moral support nor financial support.

One fine morning when Zan reached his new high school, he was amazed to see a table full of daily care things from clothes to books and uniforms, etc.  All his classmates tried to help him in their own way to make friends with him. Zan was overjoyed by their affection and help, making friends with them.

Zan after a very long time came out of the depressing conditions he with his mother was facing since the day their house caught fire. Life was a little beauty for them after long sadness. Then, one day a kind-hearted woman returned his cat, who was wandering after their house caught fire.

Zan became full of life as soon as he held his kitty in his hands and he felt that now everything will be very great as he rejoined his kitty and made new friends at his new school. Although Life gives tough conditions at times, it makes you stronger.


A House Is Not A Home Class 9th: MCQs

Q1- What is the story ‘A House is not a Home about?

A) defines a home
B) defines a house
C) None
D) differentiates between a house and a home

 

Q2- What do you mean by a house?

A) a building that people use to live
B) a place
C) a property
D) None

 

Q3- What is a home?

A) where people live together and share a bond of love and care
B) a house only
C) a property
D) None

 

Q4-  According to you, what is most precious according to this lesson?

A) a well-furnished house
B) bond of love and care amongst the members of a family
C) a house
D) None

 

Q5- Why did the narrator feel queer in his new school?

A) because he was fresh
B) all his friends went to other places
C) because he was all alone
D) All

 

Q6- What was Zan doing when the fire broke out?

A) was playing
B) was in neighbor’s house
C) was sleeping
D) was doing his homework

 

Q7- Who noticed the fire first?

A) Zan’s friends
B) Zan’s mother
C) Zan
D) Zan’s grandmother

 

Q8- What did Zan notice while doing his homework?

A) cat was jumping
B) cat was sleeping
C) smoke pouring through the ceiling
D) None

 

Q9- Why was the author feeling shy and anxious in school?

A) he was not wearing shoes
B) because he did not have his school bag and books
C) his dress was casual
D) All

 

Q10- Mention the words which express the author’s embarrassment.

A) embarrassed
B) geek and strange
C) weird and backpack
D) all

 

Q11- Why did the author want to end his life?

A) because he was not happy
B) because his desires were not fulfilled
C) because he was not ready to face the harsh miserable life state after the fire
D) none

 

Q12- Who used to wake up the cat?

A) Zan’s mother
B) Zan’s aunt
C) Zan
D) None

 

Q13- How did the cat entertain herself?

A) jump on the bed
B) would hit Zan’s pen with its tail
C) shout and cry meow
D) None

 

Q14- What changed Zan’s perception of life and made him accept his new life?

A) his new friends’ compassionate behavior
B) arrangement of all basic necessities by his classmates
C) when his new friends started inviting him to their place
D) All

 

Q15- Which words tell that Zan was able to accept his new life and came out of his gloom?

A) “My cat was back and so was I”
B) I am happy
C) I got a new life
D) All

 

Q16- What did the teachers of the old school tell Zan?

A) gradually, he will adjust and accept his new school
B) they will support him
C) they will help him
D) none

 

Q17- Why did Zan weep after the fire?

A) because of smoke
B) because he was not able to find his cat
C) because smoke choked his throat
D) all

 

Q18- Where did the author run when the fire broke out?

A) to his neighbor’s house
B) to his grandparents
C) on the roof
D) all

 

Q19- Why did the author run to his neighbor’s house?

A) to ask for help
B) to call the fire department
C) to get water
D) All

 

Q20- Where did Zan’s mother run and why?

A) to the backyard of their house to save a few precious memories
B) to their neighbors
C) to the roof
D) none

 

Answer key

Q. No. Answer Q. No. Answer
1 C 11 C
2 A 12 C
3 A 13 B
4 B 14 D
5 D 15 A
6 D 16 A
7 C 17 B
8 C 18 A
9 D 19 B
10 D 20 A

 


A House Is Not A Home Class 9th: NCERT Solutions

1. What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s reaction? What does she do?

One Sunday afternoon, the author noticed a strange smell. Then he saw smoke
pouring in through the seams of the ceiling and filling the room very quickly. They could
barely see anything. By the time they ran out into the front yard, the roof was already
engulfed in flames and was spreading very quickly.
His mother ran back into the house. She had brought out a small metal box full of important documents. She wanted to bring out important things from the house one by one. She was in a ‘crazed state.

2. Why does he break down in tears after the fire?

After the fire, he broke down into tears because it suddenly struck him that he was
suffering a big loss. He realized that his cat could not be seen anywhere. Then, everything
hit him at once − the new school, the fire, and his cat. That was when he broke down and
cried.

3. Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words show his fear and insecurity?

The author is deeply embarrassed the next day in school because when the fire
broke out, he was still wearing the dress he had worn to church that morning but he had no shoes as he had lost them in the fire. So he had to borrow some tennis shoes from his aunt. He was totally embarrassed by everything. The clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his backpack was gone. Words used in the lesson that shows his fear and insecurity are “…outcast and geek…” , “…like a zombie.”, “…wanted to curl up and die.” , “Everything felt surreal”, and “All the security…had all been ripped away”.

4. The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?

The author had great affection towards his cat. He cried inconsolably when he
couldn’t find his cat after the fire. He would regularly go to the site of his house in the hope of finding the cat. He remembered how the cat would crawl into his pocket and fall asleep and miss her terribly. The cat was so freaked by the fire and ran a mile away from the house. One woman found her and took her in. She located the author’s number on the cat’s collar. However, she couldn’t reach them as the phone had been disconnected because of the fire. The woman then made personal efforts to find the author and returned back the cat.

5. What actions of the schoolmates change the author’s understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?

The schoolmates showed genuine concern for the author in spite of not knowing
him well. They helped him by collecting supplies, books, and clothes for him. People whom he had never spoken to before started coming to him and befriending him. They also called him to their houses. The author made new friends. He was overwhelmed by their love and cooperation. He realized that his new school and the new people around him were good. He stopped focusing on his feeling of fear and insecurity and became confident that everything
will be alright.

6. What is the meaning of “My cat was back and so was I”? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?

After the fire, the author loses interest in life. He feels that he has lost everything.
After he gets books and other items from his schoolmates he feels a sense of newfound
security. The recovery of his cat is like the icing on the cake. He gets back his best mate.
Now both he and his cat are back to normalcy. His statement is indicating that he has begun picking up fragments of life.

7. Is it normal to feel lost and lonely in new surroundings?

It is normal for one to feel lost and depressed in unfamiliar surroundings. Just like Zan did when she moved from her junior school to a higher school. She felt detached from everyone and probably did not make an attempt to interact and communicate with
her peers as she should have. It needed a major tragedy to change the course of her
life.

8. Who provided immediate financial help to the author and her mother? Why?

The author’s mother had lost all her credit cards, and cash in the fire. Having lost all proof of identity, she could not go and withdraw money from the bank. So in their state of despair and severe crisis, it was her grandparents who helped them financially, emotionally, and physically.

9. Justify the title, ‘A House Is Not a Home.’

A house is defined as a structure made for human habitation, while a home is a place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. There is love, happiness, sorrow, birth, and death, in a home. Emotions make a house a home. In this lesson, the house had burnt, but the love of her mother, the support and empathy from her friends, neighbors, teachers, and the little kitten, enabled them
to overcome the loss of the house because the home was what they finally acquired. Thus,
the title aptly fits the story of the author’s life.

10. What was unusual and strange in the school the next day?

The news of the tragedy had spread like wildfire and everybody in the school knew about it. This made her feel uncomfortable, as though, she was responsible for their plight. People at school were looking and behaving with her in a strange and unusual way and were milling around her. This was not the kind of attention she was looking forward to. She was in for a great surprise, that paved the way to a better life.

11. What was the sight that shocked the author? Why was there no time to grieve?

As she walked past her house, while returning from school, she was shocked to
see the pathetic condition of her house. Everything had been reduced to ashes. If not
for her mother’s presence of mind, all their documents and photo albums too would
have got burnt. She had lost her cat which made her feel extremely sad. Despite all the
losses, they did not have time to grieve because they had to secure themselves, till
such time, they set their house in order.

12. What is the most important aspect of the story that appealed to you?

This true story, which was a turning point in the author’s life, appeals very strongly to
one’s emotions. It touches the right cord in our hearts. The unfortunate tragedy,
accompanied by the mental discomfort of the teenager, churns within us feelings of
sorrow, empathy, and brotherhood.

A child who was a new entrant into the portals of the high school had no friends at school or in the neighborhood. She was in a state of extreme depression. But the reaction and support provided by her schoolmates are really commendable. The young girl who felt all alone and desolate suddenly feels overwhelmed and emotional with the way she was absorbed by her peers and society. Her life takes a turn for the better, and she identifies with her true self.


Closing

We have penned down A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT summary along with A House Is Not A Home Class 9th NCERT Solutions to help the students with the lesson so that students of class 9th could get a properly skimmed part of the lesson.

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Kavisha Bagga

Hi, I am Kavisha Bagga, a teacher by profession and a part-time blogger. I love sharing knowledge, which is why I have started this blog.

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