“The Gardener: Question and Answers“, the story is a cautionary tale about the destructive consequences of envy and revenge. It is also a reminder that it is never too late to forgive and to seek forgiveness. Read More Plus Two English Question and Answers.
The Gardener Question and Answers
Question 1.
Why does Tammanna feel that human nature can be strange?
OR
‘Man goes on living for some revenge’. How is this presented in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
One afternoon, Tammanna finds the owner’s wife coming towards the coconut grove. She looked worried and anxious. However, Tammanna knew why she looked so. Then, he narrates the story of Tammanna and Basavaiah and finally confesses that he was Tammanna, Basavaiah’s rival, and how he had given up all his property and come to Chennarayapatna. Before telling her that Basavaiah had died, Tammanna tells her he had come to realize that human nature is very strange. He offers an explanation of why he thinks so.
According to Tammanna, though man needs wealth, education, and many more things, they do not give him a compelling reason to live. In his opinion ‘Man lives for some kind of unbearable vengefulness’. He arrives at this inference based on his own experience of life. As long as he was staying in his village, Basavaiah had considered him his rival and had gone on trying to out beat him in wealth, health, art, and so on. The very fact that there was a rival to him and he had to strive to compete with him in every aspect, gave him sufficient reason to live. It is here that one finds human nature strange.
All through his life, though man struggles to earn wealth, education, food, etc., he does not find real happiness in these things. But he derives a kind of pleasure when he finds that there is someone competing with him in these areas. Though it is the making of his own imagination yet he finds pleasure accepting his imaginary rival as real and fighting to out beat him. This gives him the real reason for his existence.
Having come away from Basavaiah, to punish him with the news of his death, Tammanna realizes that human nature is very strange. After the death of Basavaiah, he realises that he had become a non-entity and had lost his name and fame. He tells his own story along with the truth that he had realized, only to convince the owner’s wife that she needs to mend her husband.
Question 2.
What measures did Tammanna adopt to humiliate Basavaiah? Explain.
OR
Give an account of the strategies used by Tammanna to destroy Basavaiah in ‘The Gardener’.
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that the rivalry between him and Basavaiah had reached a peak and that two hundred acres of his land had been forcibly taken away from him and had been even fenced up, Tammanna hit on a plan of annihilating Basavaiah completely. He got all his bitter experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of ballads and started singing them before the people, announcing to everyone Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness. This way his reputation as an artist started spreading fast and critics and scholars of folklore thronged him and translated his songs.
As days rolled by, Tammanna’s popularity increased, and Basavaiah began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. Then he bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. Then he started inviting scholars, poets, and musicians to his place and tried to invest his home with meaning. However, one-day Tammanna suddenly took ill. This news cheered up Basavaiah’s spirits. Tammanna’s disease became Basavaiah’s health. Tammanna thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah.
Tammanna thought Basavaiah could no longer compete with him if he came to know that Tammanna had died. Therefore, Tammanna avenged himself by leaving his town, abandoning all his property, and walking away hundreds of miles. When Basavaiah came to know that Tammanna was not there in the village, he had no more reason to live and he passed away.
Question 2.
Why did the plantation owner’s wife find it hard to decide whether the old man’s arrival was for the better or for the worse?
Answer:
Before the arrival of the old man, the owner had only ten acres of land. Though the owner himself was in charge of the work in the plantation, there used to be petty thefts and he could not prevent them. Secondly, he was very busy and hard-working and hardly had any time to spend with his friends. So, he had hardly any friends at all.
Once the old man was appointed as an overseer on the farm, the old man being well-versed in agriculture, understood the problems of the workers and solved all the problems. His efficient supervision resulted in a dramatic increase in the earnings of the farm. Consequently, the owner expanded his farm, became lethargic, and shied away from hard work, leaving the plantation in charge of the old man.
Furthermore, the owner’s wealth and social prestige also increased. Along with that, he acquired a number of friends in the next town as well as in his own village. Even though he had precious little to do, his life became crowded with colourful events. He also cultivated umpteen vices including adultery. These changes in her husband’s lifestyle made the wife wonder whether the old man’s arrival was for the better or for the worse.
Question 3.
How did the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah move towards an invisible, abstract domain?
OR
Trace the course of the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah that moved from a visible domain to an abstract domain.
OR
Give an account of the strategies used by Tammanna to destroy Basavaiah.
OR
Bring out the rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah.
OR
The rivalry between Tammanna and Basavaiah started moving from the visible to the invisible domain. Explain.
OR
Explain the methods adopted by Tammanna to humiliate Basavaiah.
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to outdo Tammanna’s ten friends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet.
When he came to know that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres of land, and he had only eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna asking him to sell two hundred acres to him. Tammanna did not agree. On the contrary, he offered to buy all the land that belonged to Basavaiah. Therefore, Basavaiah went along with his people and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly and got a fence built around it. Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Later, when his supporters suggested to him that he could go to the court of law or the police or use his own people to attack him and forcibly wrest his land from him, Tammanna did not accept their suggestion.
Tammanna probably thought that competing with Basavaiah by physical means has no end to it because it depends on who is able to muster more muscle power. Muscle power has its own limitations. Secondly, muscle power needs the involvement of many more people apart from Tammanna.
Moreover, as long as both of them were fighting by visible means people will not know who was trying to compete with whom. Until then, Basavaiah was the first one to show to the people he had more land, more friends, more wealth, etc. Tammanna never did anything to spite Basavaiah. Whatever Tammanna did, was on his natural inclination and not to spite Basavaiah.
Therefore, Tammanna realized the limitations of competing with Basavaiah by physical means. That is why he thought of putting an end to the unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah by taking recourse to something invisible. He took recourse to singing ballads and telling the people through them about the cruelty and the meanness of Basavaiah.
Question 4.
How did Basavaiah try to surpass Tammanna? Why wasn’t he successful?
OR
How did Basavaiah try to surpass his rival in ‘The Gardener’?
OR
How did Basavaiah react to Tammanna’s popularity?
OR
How did Basavaiah start filling his life with all kinds of material wealth?
Answer:
When Tammanna came to know that the rivalry between him and Basavaiah had reached a peak and that two hundred acres of his land had been forcibly taken away from him and had been even fenced up, Tammanna hit on a plan of annihilating Basavaiah completely. He got all his bitter experiences with Basavaiah composed in the form of ballads and started singing them before the people, announcing to everyone Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness. This way his reputation as an artist started spreading fast and critics and scholars of folklore thronged him and translated his songs.
Basavaiah tried to surpass Tammanna’s fame by filling his life with all kinds of material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. He appointed a number of persons just to praise him and bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. But he was not successful. We can conclude so because the visitors to his house told him that without Basavaiah’s books his house looked dull and empty.
Question 5.
How does Tammanna take revenge on Basavaiah through invisible means?
OR
Explain the invisible means by which Tammanna decided to destroy Basavaiah.
OR
What invisible means did Tammanna use to annihilate Basavaiah completely? Explain.
Answer:
When his supporters advised him to either go to the court or seek the help of the police or ask some persons to attack Basavaiah and take back his land forcibly, Tammanna hit upon a unique idea of annihilating Basavaiah through invisible means. He thought of getting all his experiences composed in the form of ballads and singing them before the public.
When Tammanna started singing ballads through which he told the people about Basavaiah’s cruelty and his meanness, he became very popular. Many scholars of folklore and literary critics translated his songs and earned their share of fame. All this made Basavaiah shrink in shame. This way, Tammanna took revenge on Basavaiah through invisible means.
Question 6.
How did Tammanna and Basavaiah manage their rivalry in the beginning in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
In the beginning, there appeared to be a healthy competition between Tammanna and Basavaiah. Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as his rival at all. Therefore, when Basavaiah acquired fifteen admirers to outdo Tammanna’s penfriends, it did not come to Tammanna’s notice at all. Tammanna did whatever he wanted without bothering about Basavaiah. But Basavaiah did not keep quiet. When he came to know that Tammanna possessed one thousand acres of land, and he had only eight hundred, he could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna asking him to sell two hundred acres to him. Tammanna did not agree.
On the contrary, he offered to buy all the land that belonged to Basavaiah. Therefore, Basavaiah went along with his people and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly and got a fence built around it Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Later, when his supporters suggested to him that he could go to the court of law or the police or use his own people to attack him and forcibly wrest his land from him, Tammanna did not accept their suggestion. Tammanna realized the limitations of competing with Basavaiah by physical means. That is why he thought of putting an end to the unhealthy rivalry of Basavaiah by taking recourse to something invisible.
Question 7.
What did Basavaiah do to invest his home with meaning in ‘The Gardener’? Explain.
Answer:
As Tammanna’s popularity increased, Basavaiah began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. He appointed a number of persons just to praise him. Then he bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. Then he started inviting scholars, poets, and musicians to his place and tried to invest his home with meaning.
Question 8.
Describe the circumstances that led Tammanna to become a non-entity in ‘The Gardener’.
Answer:
Tammanna is the protagonist in the story and he tells the story of the rivalry between himself and Basavaiah. Tammanna was a farmer, had ten acres of land, a comfortable house, and people too ready to carry out his orders. Besides, he also had a rival. It was Basavaiah. Tammanna did not perceive Basavaiah as his rival initially. Tammanna led a normal life and became prosperous gradually and came to possess 1000 acres of land. Until some point whatever Basavaiah did to keep himself on par with Tammanna was seen as healthy competition.
But, one day, Basavaiah asks Tammanna to sell him two hundred acres of his land and Tammanna refuses. Basavaiah takes the land forcibly. Though there were various options available for getting his land back, Tammanna searches for a method that could annihilate Basavaiah completely. Instead of proving might is right or seeking justice from the court of law, Tammanna uses a different strategy. He composes and sings ballads about Basavaiah’s meanness and cruelty. Very soon Tammanna becomes very popular and Basavaiah has no answer to his brainy ideas.
Just when Basavaiah is contemplating what to do next to spite Tammanna, he comes to know that Tammanna is ill. Basavaiah is pleased with the news. But their rivalry does not end there. Tammanna decides to out beat him by manipulating the situation itself. He gives up everything and goes away to Chennarayapatna so as to spread the news that Tammanna is dead. Later Basavaiah dies a natural death. Though there is no cause-effect relationship between the rumour of Tammanna’s death and Basavaiah’s real death, Tammanna is shaken out of his senses. With the death of Basavaiah, Tammanna loses his identity and he becomes a non-entity.
Question 9.
What circumstances led to the unhappiness of the owner’s wife in ‘The Gardener’?
Answer:
The owner of the coconut plantation was quite a normal person. He was working hard to bring about improvement in his earnings. Probably he had little expertise in managing agricultural workers. Therefore, he was looking for someone who would help him. That is why the moment he spoke to the old man [Tammanna) he felt that he had got the kind of man he wanted. His expectations proved right and the old man helped him in every way and solved all his problems, which eventually resulted in increasing his income.
Once his worries disappeared and he had hardly any work to engage himself in, his personal attention went towards acquiring property and social prestige. It is quite natural that with social prestige follow certain vices among which adultery was one. Adultery affects any woman.
All along, her husband had been faithful to her and once his wife came to know that he was spending his money and time with other women, she got seriously worried and was very unhappy. She found it hard to decide whether the arrival of the old man had done good or bad for her husband.