1.2 Newspaper Praise and Shruti’s Secret

Last updated at July 14, 2026 by

NCERT Questions (from the Textbook)
Predicting Shruti's Courage

(From "Check Your Understanding") See full Check Your Understanding section

Predicting Shruti's Courage
II. Do you think Shruti will gather the courage to speak to her father? Give a reason.
How to answer: State yes/no and support it with a specific line from Act I.
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Yes, Shruti will gather the courage because her friends encourage her and she herself says that it is time to “bite the bullet”. This means she has decided to face the difficult conversation.

Practice Board Pattern Questions Mapped to Exam Format

Extract from the Play

“Did any of you guys read what they wrote about Shruti’s performance with her father yesterday in the Parbatpuri Daily Clarion? Ahem ahem, ‘Melody runs in the veins of Miss Shruti Sharma, daughter of the master violinist Nabin Sharma!’”

Summary in Bullet Points

  • Iqbal reads out a newspaper line praising Shruti as the daughter of master violinist Nabin Sharma. Melody runs in the veins = music is presented as inherited talent and family identity.

    Newspaper mein likha hai ki Shruti bahut talented hai — "melody runs in the veins" matlab music uske khoon mein hai. Aur uske papa Nabin Sharma ka naam bhi aaya — master violinist. Yaar, publicity toh acchi baat hai, lekin Shruti ke liye tension aur badh gayi!

  • Avinash and Peter tease Shruti, but she remains lost in thought. lost in her thoughts = mentally preoccupied; her anxiety is stronger than her friends’ excitement.

    Dono dost Avinash aur Peter chheda kar rahe hain, party maang rahe hain. Lekin Shruti apni duniya mein kho gayi hai. Lost in thoughts = dimag kahin aur tha. Yeh typical hai — friends mazaak karein, banda sune hi na.

  • Avinash directly asks whether she has still not told Nabin about the concert. secret = the dramatic problem; the audience now knows the fear driving Shruti.

    Avinash seedha pooch leta hai — "bhai, tu abhi bhi papa ko nahi bataya?" Yahi sabse bada tension point hai — Shruti ne concert ke baare mein ghar pe bataya hi nahi tha. Chori chhupe practice chal rahi thi!

Hinglish explanation: Yahan newspaper Shruti ko praise karta hai, isliye friends excited hain. Lekin Shruti khush nahi hoti, kyunki usne abhi tak Nabin sir ko concert ke baare mein nahi bataya. Simple point: praise bahar se aa raha hai, par pressure andar se aa raha hai. Secret hi Act I ka main tension banata hai.

Fill in the Blank. 1 mark
The newspaper mentioned Shruti’s performance in the __________. (Parbatpuri Daily Clarion / Sangeetika Monthly)
How to answer: Use the exact newspaper name from Iqbal’s dialogue.
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Parbatpuri Daily Clarion.

Parbatpuri Daily Clarion — exactly wahi paper hai jo Iqbal ne padha aur quote kiya. Directly play mein mention hai — yad rakho: "Parbatpuri."

The review calls Nabin Sharma a master __________. (violinist / flutist)
How to answer: Use the descriptive phrase in the quoted review.
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violinist.

Nabin Sharma violin bajate hain — master violinist hain. Violin hi Shruti bhi bajati hai — isliye baap-beti ka ek hi instrument hai, lekin alag style. Yahi clash ka point hai.

MCQ. Inference (1 mark)
Why does the newspaper praise increase Shruti’s tension?
How to answer: Identify the irony: she is praised through her father’s musical identity while hiding a musical choice from him.
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A. It proves she cannot play well.
B. It reminds her that her public identity is tied to Nabin’s musical tradition.
C. It announces that the concert is cancelled.
D. It makes her friends stop supporting her.
It increases her tension because the praise links her publicly to Nabin’s classical reputation, while she is secretly preparing for a fusion concert he may reject.

Bhai, praise mili toh khushi honi chahiye. Lekin Shruti ke liye tension kyun? Kyunki jitna naam hoga, utna zyada papa ko pata chalega ki woh fusion kar rahi hai. Isliye praise aur tension ek saath aaye — double problem!

Short Answer. Humour and Tension (2 marks)
How do the friends’ teasing lines create both humour and tension?
How to answer: Give one point for humour and one for tension.
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The teasing creates humour because the friends exaggerate Shruti’s fame and ask for a party. It also creates tension because Shruti is not enjoying the praise; she is worried that she has hidden the fusion concert from her father.

Friends ne party maangi, joke kiya — yeh humour hai. Lekin isi se pata chala ki Shruti ne abhi tak papa ko nahi bataya — yeh tension hai. Comedy aur drama dono ek saath — yahi drama ka style hai yaar.

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