Page 1 - SOUND OF MUSIC - 2

BEEHIVE

THE SOUND OF MUSIC – 2

Questions based on Extracts

A. Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family of professional musicians, who
had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi. He chose a pipe with a
natural hollow stem that was longer and broader than the pungi and made seven holes on the body of
the pipe.

Questions:

Q1. What does ‘it’ refer to?

Q2. Why did ‘it’ need to be revived?

Q3. Why was “it” likely of interest to the barber?

Q4. Has ‘it’ been improved by him? Yes, but how?

B. As the story goes, since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers and was played by a nai (barber), the
instrument was named the ‘shehnai’. The sound of the shehnai began to be considered auspicious. And for
this reason it is still played in temples and is an indispensable component of any North Indian wedding.

Questions:

Q1. What is ‘it’ here?

Q2. How did ‘it’ get its name?

Q3. Find a synonym of lucky from the extract.

Q4. What does the instrument being played in the royal court represent?

C. Till recently it was used only in temples and weddings. The credit for bringing this instrument onto the
classical stage goes to Ustad Bismillah Khan. As a five-year old, Bismillah Khan played gilli-danda near a
pond in the ancient estate of Dumraon in Bihar. He would regularly go to the nearby Bihariji temple to sing
the Bhojpuri ‘Chaita’, at the end of which he would earn a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg, a prize given by the
local Maharaja.

Questions:

Q1. Which instrument is being referred to in the extract that was used in temples and at weddings?

Q2. Why do you think that it was used only in temples and weddings?

Q3. Who was Ustad Bismillah Khan?

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