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🏺 Chapter 2: The Pot Maker

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Check Your Understanding 3Critical Reflection 2Answer the Following Questions 7All Exercises 12
Q1
I Do you think pot making is easy? If yes, why? If no, why not?
II Would Sentila be able to fulfil her dream of becoming a pot maker? Explain.
III Do you think Mesoba and Arenla would support Sentila? Give a reason.
I Answer: No, pot making is not easy. It involves walking sixteen kilometres to dig red and grey clay from a steep riverbank, carrying heavy loads uphill, pounding stubborn clay inside bamboo cylinders, shaping pots with precise hand coordination, and carefully firing the kiln for months with very little financial return.

II Answer: Yes, Sentila will fulfil her dream because she possesses a deep, unwavering passion for the craft, keenly observes expert potters at work, and persists despite initial failures.

III Answer: Yes, they eventually have to support her because the village council reminds Mesoba that traditional skills like pot making belong to the entire community and it is Arenla's duty to pass the heritage on to her daughter.
Q2
I Do you think Onula's support helped Sentila? If yes, why? If no, why not?
II Sentila observes her mother making pots. What does this tell us about her?
I Answer: Yes, Onula's support was crucial. She noticed that Sentila was failing because she was too tense, calmed her nerves with gentle encouragement, demonstrated the technique patiently, and guided her to observe how her mother shaped the rim of the pot.

II Answer: It shows that Sentila is a keen, observant, humble, and dedicated learner who pays close attention to the smallest details—such as hand placement, rhythm, and attaching the strip of dough—to master her art.
Q3
III Arrange the following events of the story in the correct sequence.
1. The village council called Mesoba to know about Arenla's unwillingness to teach pottery to Sentila.
2. Arenla made a new batch of pots and asked Sentila to continue the work as she was unwell.
3. Sentila observed how other expert potters crafted beautiful pots.
4. Sentila was passionate about pottery but did not share it with her mother.
5. Onula guided Sentila in the art of pot making.
6. Sentila overheard her mother saying that pot making was a tiring job and that she earned very little from it.
7. Onula observed two rows of pots inside the work shed, which she felt was the work of two people.
8. Sentila learnt the art of pot making for a year from her mother, but was unsuccessful.
9. Sentila was able to make pots quickly and skillfully, just one less than her mother's.
Correct Sequence:
1. (4) Sentila was passionate about pottery but did not share it with her mother.
2. (6) Sentila overheard her mother saying that pot making was a tiring job and that she earned very little from it.
3. (3) Sentila observed how other expert potters crafted beautiful pots.
4. (1) The village council called Mesoba to know about Arenla's unwillingness to teach pottery to Sentila.
5. (8) Sentila learnt the art of pot making for a year from her mother, but was unsuccessful.
6. (5) Onula guided Sentila in the art of pot making.
7. (2) Arenla made a new batch of pots and asked Sentila to continue the work as she was unwell.
8. (9) Sentila was able to make pots quickly and skillfully, just one less than her mother's.
9. (7) Onula observed two rows of pots inside the work shed, which she felt was the work of two people.
Q4
I Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Pounding the stubborn clay inside bamboo cylinders to soften it, is also tedious. So many times I've dropped the mould out of sheer exhaustion and have had to start all over again. It takes months to bring out a batch of pots after so much labour. And the reward? A few rupees. But if Sentila learns weaving, she can make much more money besides providing enough cloth for the family. Weaving is not messy like pot making and can be done indoors in all seasons. Also, the time spent on weaving one shawl is much less and the return is handsome.

(i) Choose the correct reason for the given assertion.
(A): The effort in making pots is far greater than the returns.
A. The process of pot making is quite tiresome and long, and one hardly earns much.
B. The process of pot making is exhausting, takes a long time, yet gives a sense of satisfaction.

(ii) Why does Arenla want Sentila to learn weaving?
(iii) State one advantage that weaving has over pot making, as per the extract.
(iv) Choose the sentence that uses the word 'handsome' in the same way as in the extract.
A. My father is a handsome man.
B. They will make a handsome profit selling this property.

(v) 'And the reward?' What is the author's purpose of using a question mark here?
(i) Answer: A. The process of pot making is quite tiresome and long, and one hardly earns much.
(ii) Answer: Arenla wants Sentila to learn weaving so she can earn a good income, avoid the back-breaking exhaustion of pottery, and provide cloth for the family.
(iii) Answer: Weaving is not messy, can be done indoors in all seasons, takes much less time, and yields a handsome financial return.
(iv) Answer: B. They will make a handsome profit selling this property.
(v) Answer: It is used as a rhetorical question to highlight the bitter contrast between months of exhausting physical labour and the meagre pay of just a few rupees.
Q5
2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Onula saw her taking out some clay and the implements from her basket quietly. She watched Sentila's clumsy efforts to make a pot and noticed that Sentila was too tense. As a result, the clay seemed unable or unwilling to yield the right shape. When Sentila wearily let the misshapen lump fall flat on the ground, Onula went to her and said, "Don't worry, little one, I shall teach you how to make a perfect pot." Sentila watched in amazement as Onula fashioned a beautiful pot and asked her to try again.

(i) Complete the sentence with an appropriate reason.
Onula feels Sentila's effort at making a pot is clumsy because ________________.
(ii) Choose the correct option to complete the following sentence.
'Don't worry, little one, I shall teach you how to make a perfect pot.' This shows that Onula was ________________.
A. sincere and generous
B. forgiving and thoughtful
C. thoughtful and generous
D. forgiving and sincere

(iii) Which among the following is the effect of a cause?
A. As a result, the clay seemed unable or unwilling to yield the right shape.
B. Onula saw her taking out some clay and the implements from her basket quietly.

(iv) 'Onula fashioned a beautiful pot.' Here, the word 'fashioned' means ________________ (created/styled).
(v) How might Sentila have felt when she saw 'the misshapen lump fall flat on the ground'?
(i) Answer: Sentila was too tense and anxious, which prevented her hands from shaping the clay smoothly.
(ii) Answer: C. thoughtful and generous
(iii) Answer: A. As a result, the clay seemed unable or unwilling to yield the right shape.
(iv) Answer: created
(v) Answer: She must have felt deeply frustrated, exhausted, helpless, and disappointed in herself.
Q6
1. Describe the process of pot making followed by expert pot makers, as observed by Sentila.
1. Answer: First, grey and red clay is dug from the riverbank, soaked in a trough, mixed with water, and pounded inside bamboo cylinders. Next, the potter pushes their left hand into a lump of softened clay and rotates it deftly while shaping the outside with a wooden spatula held in the right hand. After two or three days, the pots receive a final touch-up, are dried in the sun, and are finally stacked on a bed of hay and dried bamboo to be fired carefully in a kiln.
Q7
2. What warning was given to Mesoba by the village council?
2. Answer: The village council cautioned Mesoba to remind Arenla that it was her moral duty to pass down the ancestral skill of pot making to her daughter, warning that traditional crafts belong to the entire community rather than any single individual.
Q8
3. How did Sentila feel when she failed at pot making even after a year of training with her mother?
3. Answer: Sentila felt a deep sense of shame, frustration, and dejection, hanging her head in embarrassment as her mother silently took over the clay without offering encouraging guidance.
Q9
4. 'Onula stood there for a long time as if trying to absorb a new phenomenon'. Explain.
4. Answer: When Onula entered the work shed after Arenla's passing, she saw two identical rows of freshly made pots standing side by side in perfect symmetry. She was awestruck to realise that Sentila had finally mastered the art so completely that her pots were indistinguishable from her late mother's handiwork.
Q10
5. 'The tradition and history of the people did not belong to any individual,' what does this symbolise?
5. Answer: It symbolises that indigenous crafts and skills are the collective cultural heritage and identity of a community. Skilled artisans are custodians who are obliged to pass their knowledge to the next generation so the tradition never dies out.
Q11
6. What is the significance of the concluding line of the story, 'A new pot maker was born'?
6. Answer: The line signifies the continuity of tradition and generational legacy. Even though the master potter Arenla passed away, her art lived on through Sentila, who had blossomed into an expert potter capable of carrying the village's heritage forward.
Q12
7. What is the role of perseverance in pursuing one's dreams? Elaborate with reference to Sentila.
7. Answer: Perseverance is the key that turns raw passion into mastery. Despite her mother's initial refusal, the gruelling physical labour, and a whole year of failed attempts, Sentila never gave up. She continued practising in secret, accepted Onula's feedback humbly, and observed her mother closely until she achieved perfection.