NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 5 One Centimetre

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Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Short stories Chapter 5 Question Answer

Answer:
Tao Ying’s decision to buy a ticket depended entirely on the conductor’s personality. If the conductor appeared responsible and strict, she would promptly buy a ticket. However, if he seemed careless and casual, she would not bother paying – viewing it as a small “punishment” for his negligence and a minor saving for herself. This reveals her practical, somewhat opportunistic approach to rules when alone.

Answer:
Tao Ying insisted on buying two tickets because her son Xiao Ye was with her. She was deeply conscious of being a role model for him. She wanted to set a perfect example of honesty and dignity in front of her child. Even though the conductor rudely pointed out that Xiao Ye was technically 1 cm short of the ticketed height, she still bought two tickets – because she understood that her son’s self-esteem and pride were at stake. Buying a ticket for him was, in essence, buying his dignity for just twenty cents.

Answer:
No, Tao Ying had absolutely no intention of cheating at the temple. She genuinely believed that children under 110 cm did not need a ticket – a rule clearly printed on the back of the temple ticket itself. She had only one complimentary ticket (gifted by Lao Chiang) and she was confident her son Xiao Ye was under the height limit. It was an honest misunderstanding, not deliberate fraud. In fact, throughout the story, Tao Ying is shown to be a woman of strong moral principles, especially in front of her son.

Answer:
Initially, Tao Ying was willing to buy another ticket just to end the public scene and not spoil her son’s outing. However, she changed her mind when Xiao Ye looked at her with a bewildered expression and asked, “Mama, did you really not buy a ticket?” This innocent question terrified her. She realized that if she bought the ticket now, it would appear to her son as an admission of guilt – that she had indeed tried to cheat. Since she had done nothing wrong, buying the ticket would permanently damage her image as an honest, ideal mother in her son’s eyes. She would never be able to explain herself. So she chose to leave rather than compromise her integrity before her child.

Answer:
No, the old lady’s scales were completely unreliable. The old woman openly admitted that her scales were old and inaccurate. She had deliberately adjusted them to make people appear both lighter and taller than they actually were. Her “convoluted logic” was this – since it is fashionable in modern times to be tall and slim, she called them “fitness scales” that flatter people. By making them feel taller and lighter, she attracted more customers and kept them happy. It was a clever, if dishonest, business trick. The result was that Xiao Ye appeared to measure 1 metre 11 cm on her scales, when his actual height was only 1 metre 9 cm.

Answer:
After the humiliating temple incident, Xiao Ye had seen the old lady’s scales show him as 1 metre 11 cm – tall enough. He now believed he was “tall enough” and began to suspect that his mother had been deliberately trying to avoid buying him a ticket all along. When Tao Ying tried to measure him at home with her own tape to prove the truth (1 metre 9 cm), Xiao Ye completely refused and accused her of dishonesty. He said: “I don’t trust you!” – deeply wounding her. The conflict was essentially one of broken trust – the son doubted his mother’s honesty, while the mother was desperately trying to prove her integrity. It was a heartbreaking clash between a child’s wounded pride and a mother’s desperate need to be seen as righteous in her son’s eyes.

Answer:
Xiao Ye became the single greatest motivating force in Tao Ying’s life. Before motherhood, she was somewhat pragmatic and even dishonest in small ways (like skipping bus tickets). But once she became a mother, she transformed herself entirely. She realized that children are the world’s best imitators – when she caught Xiao Ye eating a watermelon exactly the way she did (which she considered improper), she understood that her every action was being silently copied. From that point on, she committed herself to being a perfect moral example. She stopped lying, refused to claim fraudulent reimbursements, ate her watermelon properly and even endured public humiliation without compromising her values – all for the sake of setting the right example. As the story notes, living this way was “like carrying an audience wherever you go,” but Tao Ying embraced it with love.

Answer:
The story contains several instances that highlight the arbitrary nature of official rules:

• On the bus: The conductor tells Tao Ying that Xiao Ye is 1 cm short of the ticketed height, yet when she tries to buy a ticket for him anyway, he refuses to simply accept it graciously.
• At the temple gate: The height marker (“the earthworm”) on the temple wall was found to be inaccurately drawn – the officials themselves later confirmed this when they came to investigate. A rule enforced by an inaccurate marker is inherently arbitrary.
• The guard’s attitude: The young guard in red was certain Xiao Ye exceeded 110 cm based on a visual glance, without any actual measurement – showing how rules can be applied on personal whim.
• The one-month delay: By the time the temple officials came to measure Xiao Ye (a month and nine days later), he had genuinely grown to 1 metre 10 cm – which ironically “proved” the guard right, even though at the time of the incident Xiao Ye was actually shorter. This shows how time itself can make official verdicts seem correct even when they were originally wrong.

Answer:
Despite being a frugal, blue-collar worker for whom every paisa mattered, Tao Ying refused both the five-dollar compensation and the two free temple tickets offered by the officials. Her reasons were deeply emotional rather than financial:

• The money could not restore lost happiness: She felt that the joy of that day’s outing – which had been ruined – could never be bought back with money.
• The temple now held painful memories: For both her and Xiao Ye, the temple was permanently associated with humiliation and distrust. Free tickets to return there held no value.
• What she truly wanted was something priceless: She didn’t want money or tickets. She wanted her son to know that his mother had done nothing wrong. That restoration of moral dignity and trust could not be purchased.

Answer:
Tao Ying’s final vindication – asking the officials to tell Xiao Ye that his mother had done nothing wrong – was the most important moment in the entire story. Throughout the narrative, her primary goal was not personal reputation or financial gain, but being a morally upright figure in her son’s eyes. The incident had planted seeds of doubt in Xiao Ye’s mind; he had stopped trusting her. The ice in his eyes, as the story metaphorically describes, needed to be melted. Official acknowledgment of her innocence was the only thing that could restore her son’s faith in her. For Tao Ying, being a good mother meant more than anything else – and being seen as good by her son was the only vindication that truly mattered.

Discuss the following in pairs or in small groups

Answer:
This is beautifully illustrated throughout the story. For Xiao Ye, a bus ride without a ticket in his hand is not a “proper ride” – a ritual adults would dismiss as trivial. He measures his self-worth by his height on a ruler. When the scales show him as taller, he feels proud and validated; when his mother tries to re-measure him, he feels threatened and betrayed. A child’s world is built on concrete, tangible symbols – tickets, heights, promises kept or broken. Adults like Tao Ying understand nuance, context and the gap between intention and outcome. Children, however, see in black and white – either mama bought a ticket or she didn’t; either she is honest or she isn’t. This difference creates the central tragedy of the story: a mother whose complex adult motivations are completely misread by her child’s simpler, more absolute moral vision.

Answer:
Tao Ying herself embodies this tension. In reality, she sometimes skips bus tickets when alone, eats watermelon down to the rind and struggles with poverty and limited education. Yet she constantly strives to project the image of a cultured, honest, dignified woman – especially before her son. This gap is not hypocrisy but rather the very human aspiration to be better than we are. The irony is that in trying to appear perfect, she sometimes overreaches – like hitting Xiao Ye’s head at the temple out of panic, which made her look worse. The story suggests this gap is universal and not entirely negative; it is what drives self-improvement. But it also carries a cost – the exhaustion of “carrying an audience with you wherever you go”.

Answer:
The opening sentence – “When Tao Ying rides on the bus alone, quite often she does not bother to buy a ticket” – is masterly in its function. It immediately establishes Tao Ying’s moral ambiguity and sets up the central theme of the story: the tension between private ethics and public/parental standards. The emphasis on “alone” is crucial – it signals that her behaviour changes fundamentally when her son is present. This sentence also foreshadows the entire conflict: a story about tickets, rules, and the lengths a mother goes to uphold honesty before her child, written by someone who first shows us that same mother is not inherently, perfectly honest. It gives the story its moral complexity and prevents Tao Ying from being a one-dimensional saint.

Answer:
Bi Shu-min’s portrayal is most accurately described as realistic, which in turn makes it both sympathetic and gently critical simultaneously. Tao Ying is not idealized – she skips tickets, panics and hits her son and is sometimes overwhelmed by social pressure. Yet she is portrayed with deep empathy: her poverty, her aspirations, her fierce maternal love and her moral courage are all rendered with warmth. The author neither judges nor worships her. By showing both her flaws and her nobility, Bi Shu-min creates a fully human character that readers across cultures can recognize and respect. This realistic approach is what makes the story so powerful – Tao Ying’s victory at the end feels earned precisely because we have seen her imperfections.

Answer:
Several episodes highlight this ethical ambivalence:

• Skipping bus tickets: Tao Ying rationalizes fare evasion with logical-sounding arguments (“the bus would run anyway”) – a classic example of self-serving moral reasoning.
• The watermelon episode: She eats watermelon down to the rind privately but scolds her son for doing the same – revealing a gap between private and public ethics.
• Not claiming ticket reimbursement: She refuses to use bus ticket stubs for fraudulent work reimbursements only because Xiao Ye might ask an embarrassing question – suggesting her ethics are partly driven by fear of exposure, not pure principle.
• The temple incident: She was genuinely right, yet the crowd judged her as a cheat – showing how appearances and official authority can override actual ethical truth.

Answer:
Bi Shu-min uses a close third-person narrative that stays almost exclusively inside Tao Ying’s consciousness – her anxieties, rationalizations, tenderness and humiliation. This sustained focalization creates remarkable unity of thought: every episode, whether the bus journey, the temple visit, the weighing scales, or the officials’ visit, circles back to the same central idea – what does it mean to be a good mother and an honest person? The recurring motif of measurement (centimetres, height, worth) ties all episodes together thematically. Even seemingly digressive passages – like the watermelon anecdote or Lao Chiang’s magazine – deepen our understanding of Tao Ying’s world and values. The result is a story that feels unified, purposeful and thematically cohesive from its ironic opening line to its quietly powerful ending.

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 5 English to Hindi Translation.

One Centimetre Bi Shu-min has been serving her country, China, as a doctor for over twenty years. She also has a Master’s degree in literature from the Beijing Teacher’s College. Bi Shu-min is one of the best known writers currently working in China. Her works have been translated into many languages. She has won innumerable literary awards both in China and in Taiwan. ‘One Centimetre’ is a fine example of a mature artist working at the height of her powers.
Hindi Translationबी शू-मिन पिछले बीस वर्षों से एक डॉक्टर के रूप में अपने देश, चीन की सेवा कर रही हैं। उन्होंने बीजिंग टीचर्स कॉलेज से साहित्य में मास्टर डिग्री भी प्राप्त की है। बी शू-मिन वर्तमान में चीन में कार्यरत सबसे प्रसिद्ध लेखिकाओं में से एक हैं। उनकी रचनाओं का कई भाषाओं में अनुवाद हुआ है। उन्होंने चीन और ताइवान दोनों में असंख्य साहित्यिक पुरस्कार जीते हैं। ‘एक सेंटीमीटर’ एक परिपक्व कलाकार के अपनी शक्तियों के चरम पर काम करने का एक उत्कृष्ट उदाहरण है।

When Tao Ying rides on the bus alone, quite often she does not bother to buy a ticket. Why should she? Without her, the bus would still be stopping at every stop, a driver and a conductor would still have to be employed, and the same amount of petrol used. Clearly Tao Ying has to be astute. When the bus conductor looked like the responsible type, she would buy a ticket as soon as she got on board. But if he appeared to be casual and careless, she would not dream of paying, considering it a small punishment for him and a little saving for herself.
Hindi Translationजब ताओ यिंग अकेले बस में सफर करती है, तो अक्सर वह टिकट लेने का झंझट मोल नहीं लेती। उसे टिकट क्यों लेना चाहिए? उसके बिना भी बस हर स्टॉप पर रुकती, ड्राइवर और कंडक्टर को नौकरी पर रखना ही पड़ता, और उतनी ही मात्रा में पेट्रोल भी खर्च होता। स्पष्ट है कि ताओ यिंग को चालाक होना चाहिए। जब बस कंडक्टर जिम्मेदार किस्म का लगता, तो वह बस में चढ़ते ही टिकट खरीद लेती। लेकिन अगर वह लापरवाह और बेपरवाह प्रतीत होता, तो वह पैसे देने का सपना भी नहीं देखती; ह इसे उसके लिए एक छोटी सी सजा और अपने लिए एक छोटी सी बचत मानती थी।

Tao Ying works as a cook in the canteen of a factory. She spends all day next to an open fire, baking screwshaped wheat cakes with sesame butter. Today she is with her son Xiao Ye. She follows him onto the bus. As the doors shut her jacket is caught, ballooning up like a tent behind her. She twists this way and that, finally wrenching herself free.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग एक फैक्ट्री की कैंटीन में रसोइए के रूप में काम करती है। वह पूरा दिन खुली आग के पास बिताती है, तिल के मक्खन वाले पेंचदार आकार के गेहूँ के केक सेंकने में बिताती है। आज वह अपने बेटे श्याओ ये के साथ है। वह उसके पीछे बस में चढ़ती है। जैसे ही दरवाजे बंद होते हैं, उसका जैकेट फंस जाता है, उसके पीछे एक तम्बू की तरह फूल जाता है। वह खुद को छुड़ाने के लिए इधर-उधर छटपटाती है और आखिरकार खुद को जोर से झटका देकर आजाद कर लेती है।

‘Mama, tickets!’ Xiao Ye says. Children are often more conscious of rituals than adults. Without a ticket in his hand, the ride doesn’t count as a proper ride. On the peeling paint of the door somebody has painted the shape of a pale finger. It points at a number: 1.10 m. Xiao Ye pushed through. His hair looks as fluffy as a bundle of straw—dry and without lustre. As a rule, Tao Ying is very careful with her purse, but she has never skimped on her child’s diet. Nonetheless the goodness in his food refuses to advance beyond his hairline. As a result Xiao Ye is healthy and clever, but his hair is a mess.
Hindi Translation“माँ, टिकट!” श्याओ ये कहता है। बच्चे अक्सर नियमों और रस्मों के प्रति वयस्कों से अधिक सजग होते हैं। उसके हाथ में टिकट के बिना, सवारी एक उचित सवारी नहीं मानी जाती। दरवाज़े के उतरते पेंट पर किसी ने एक हल्की उंगली की आकृति बनाई है। वह एक संख्या की ओर इशारा करती है: 1.10 मीटर। श्याओ ये उसमें से होकर आगे निकल गया। उसके बाल भूसे के गट्ठर की तरह रूखे लगते हैं—सूखे और बिना चमक के। आमतौर पर, ताओ यिंग अपने पर्स (पैसों) को लेकर बेहद कंजूस है, लेकिन उसने अपने बच्चे के भोजन पर कभी कंजूसी नहीं की। फिर भी, उसके भोजन का पोषण शायद उसके बालों की जड़ों तक नहीं पहुँच पाता। परिणामस्वरूप श्याओ ये स्वस्थ और होशियार है, लेकिन उसके बाल गड़बड़ हैं।

Tao Ying tries to smooth it down, as if she was brushing away topsoil to get to a firm foundation. She can feel the softness of her son’s skull, rubbery and elastic to the touch. Apparently there is a gap on the top of everyone’s head, where the two halves meet. If they don’t meet properly, a person can end up with a permanently gaping mouth. Even when the hemispheres are a perfect match, it still takes a while for them to seal. This is the door to life itself—if it remains open, the world outside will feel like water, flowing into the body through this slit. Every time Tao Ying happens upon this aperture on her son’s head, she would be overwhelmed by a sense of responsibility.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग उसे सहलाकर ठीक करने की कोशिश करती है, जैसे वह एक मजबूत नींव तक पहुँचने के लिए ऊपरी मिट्टी को हटा रही हो। वह अपने बेटे की खोपड़ी की कोमलता को महसूस कर सकती है, जो स्पर्श में रबड़ जैसी लचीली है। जाहिर तौर पर हर किसी के सिर के ऊपर एक खाली जगह (गैप) होती है, जहाँ दो हिस्से मिलते हैं। अगर वे ठीक से नहीं मिलते हैं, तो एक व्यक्ति का मुँह स्थायी रूप से खुला रह सकता है। भले ही दोनों हिस्से बिल्कुल सही मेल खाते हों, फिर भी उन्हें पूरी तरह जुड़ने और बंद होने में कुछ समय लगता है। यह स्वयं जीवन का द्वार है—यदि यह खुला रहता है, तो बाहरी दुनिया पानी की तरह महसूस होगी, जो इस दरार के माध्यम से शरीर में बह रही हो। हर बार जब ताओ यिंग अपने बेटे के सिर पर इस छिद्र को छूती है, तो वह जिम्मेदारी के एक गहरे अहसास से भर उठती।

It was she who had brought this delicate creature into the world after all. Although she senses her own insignificance in the world, that her existence makes no difference to anyone else, she also realises that to this little boy she is the centre of the universe and she must try to be the most perfect, flawless mother possible. Between Xiao Ye’s round head and the tip of the painted digit setting out the height requirement for a ticket rests the beautiful slender fingers of Tao Ying. Since she is in contact with oil all day, her nails are shiny, glistening like the smooth curved back of a sea shell.
Hindi Translationआखिरकार, वह ही थी जो इस नाजुक प्राणी को दुनिया में लाया। हालाँकि वह दुनिया में अपनी तुच्छता महसूस करती है, कि उसके अस्तित्व से किसी और पर कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता, लेकिन वह यह भी जानती है कि इस छोटे से लड़के के लिए वह ब्रह्मांड का केंद्र है और उसे हर हाल में एक सबसे आदर्श और त्रुटिहीन माँ बनने की कोशिश करनी चाहिए। श्याओ ये के गोल सिर और टिकट के लिए जरूरी ऊँचाई की आवश्यकता निर्धारित करने वाली रंगी हुई उंगली की नोक के बीच श्याओ ये की सुंदर पतली उंगलियाँ टिकी हुई हैं। चूँकि वह सारा दिन तेल के संपर्क में रहती है, इसलिए उसके नाखून चमकदार हैं, जो किसी समुद्री सीप की चिकनी और घुमावदार पीठ की तरह चमक रहे हैं।

‘Xiao Ye, you are not quite tall enough, still one centimetre away,’ she tells him softly. Tao Ying does not come from a privileged background, and has not read very many books. But she likes to be gentle and gracious, to set an example for her son and make a good impression. This elevates her sense of self-worth and makes her feel like an aristocrat.
Hindi Translation“श्याओ ये, तुम अभी पूरे लंबे नहीं हुए हो, अभी भी एक सेंटीमीटर कम हो,” वह उसे धीरे से बताती है। ताओ यिंग किसी किसी अमीर या विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त पृष्ठभूमि से नहीं आती है, और उसने बहुत सारी किताबें नहीं पढ़ी हैं। लेकिन वह सौम्य और गरिमापूर्ण बनना पसंद करती है, अपने बेटे के लिए एक मिसाल कायम करने और एक अच्छा प्रभाव डालने के लिए। यह उसके आत्मसम्मान की भावना को ऊँचा उठाता है और उसे किसी कुलीन घराने की महिला जैसा महसूस कराती है।

‘Mama! I’m tall enough, I’m tall enough!’ Xiao Ye shouts at the top of his voice, stamping on the floor as if it were a tin drum. ‘You told me the last time I could have a ticket the next time, this is the next time. You don’t keep your word!’ He looks up at his mother angrily.
Tao Ying looks down at her son. A ticket costs twenty cents. Twenty cents is not to be scoffed at. It can buy a cucumber, two tomatoes or, at a reduced price, three bunches of radishes or enough spinach to last four days. But Xiao Ye’s face is raised up like a half-open blossom, waiting to receive his promise from the sun.
Hindi Translation“माँ! मैं काफी लंबा हूँ, मैं काफी लंबा हूँ!” श्याओ ये पूरी आवाज़ में चिल्लाता है, फर्श पर इस तरह पैर पटकता है जैसे वह एक टिन का ड्रम हो। “तुमने मुझे पिछली बार कहा था कि अगली बार मुझे टिकट मिल सकता है, यह वही अगली बार है। तुम अपनी बात पर नहीं टिकती!” वह गुस्से से अपनी माँ को देखता है।
ताओ यिंग अपने बेटे की ओर नीचे देखती है। एक टिकट की कीमत बीस सेंट होती है। बीस सेंट पर मज़ाक नहीं किया जा सकता। इससे एक खीरा, दो टमाटर खरीदे जा सकते हैं या, कम कीमत पर, तीन गुच्छे मूली या चार दिनों तक चलने वाली पर्याप्त पालक खरीदी जा सकती है। लेकिन श्याओ ये का चेहरा आधी खिली हुई कली की तरह ऊपर उठा हुआ है, जो सूरज से अपने वादे को पूरा होने का इंतजार कर रहा हो।

‘Get in! Don’t block the entrance! This is not a train, where you stand from Beijing to Bao Ding. We’re almost at the next stop…!’ the conductor bellows.
Normally, an outburst like this would certainly have discouraged Tao Ying from buying a ticket. But today she says, ‘Two tickets, please.’ The fierce conductor has beady eyes. ‘This child is one centimetre short of requiring a ticket.’
Hindi Translation“अंदर आओ! प्रवेश द्वार मत रोको! यह कोई ट्रेन नहीं है, जहाँ तुम बीजिंग से बाओ दिंग तक खड़े रहो। हम लगभग अगले स्टॉप पर पहुँचने वाले हैं…!” कंडक्टर चिल्लाता है।
आमतौर पर, इस तरह के गुस्से वाले बर्ताव ने निश्चित रूप से ताओ यिंग को टिकट खरीदने से रोक दिया होता। लेकिन आज वह कहती है, “कृपया दो टिकट।” तेज-तर्रार कंडक्टर की आँखें छोटी-छोटी हैं। “यह बच्चा टिकट के लिए आवश्यक ऊँचाई से एक सेंटीमीटर कम है।”

Xiao Ye shrinks, not just one but several centimetres—the need for a ticket has all of a sudden become interwoven with the pride of a small child. To be able to purchase self-esteem with twenty cents is something that can only happen in childhood and certainly no mother can resist an opportunity to make her son happy. ‘I would like to buy two tickets,’ she says politely.
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये सिकुड़ जाता है, सिर्फ एक नहीं बल्कि कई सेंटीमीटर — टिकट की आवश्यकता अचानक एक छोटे बच्चे के गौरव से जुड़ गई है। बीस सेंट से आत्म-सम्मान खरीदने में सक्षम होना कुछ ऐसा है जो केवल बचपन में हो सकता है और निश्चित रूप से कोई भी माँ अपने बेटे को खुश करने का अवसर नहीं छोड़ सकती। “मैं दो टिकट खरीदना चाहूँगी,” वह विनम्रता से कहती है।

Xiao Ye holds the two tickets close to his lips and blows, making a sound like a paper windmill. They had entered through the central doors of the bus, but alight towards the front. Here another conductor is poised to examine their tickets. Tao Ying thinks that this man can’t be very bright. What mother accompanied by a child would try to avoid paying the correct fare? However poor she would never have allowed herself to lose face in front of her own son.
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये दो टिकटों को अपने होठों के पास ले जाता है और फूंक मारता है, जिससे कागज की पवनचक्की जैसी आवाज़ आती है। वे बस के बीच वाले दरवाजों से अंदर आए थे, लेकिन आगे की ओर उतरते हैं। यहाँ एक और कंडक्टर उनके टिकटों की जाँच करने के लिए तैयार है। ताओ यिंग सोचती है कि यह आदमी बहुत समझदार नहीं हो सकता। कौन सी माँ अपने बच्चे के साथ सही किराया देने से बचने की कोशिश करेगी? चाहे वह कितनी भी गरीब क्यों न हो, वह कभी भी अपने ही बेटे के सामने अपना चेहरा खोने की अनुमति नहीं देगी।

She hands over the tickets nonchalantly. The conductor asks: ‘Are you going to claim these back?’ ‘No.’ In fact Tao Ying ought to have kept the tickets so that the next time there is a picnic or an outing at work she could use her bicycle and then claim back the fare with the stubs. Both she and her husband are blue-collar workers, and any saving would have been a help. But Xiao Ye is a smart boy, and might well question her aloud, ‘Mama, can we claim back tickets even when we are on a private outing?’ In front of the child, she would never lie.
Hindi Translationवह बेपरवाही से टिकट सौंप देती है। कंडक्टर पूछता है: “क्या आप इनके पैसे वापस लेने वाली हैं?” “नहीं।” वास्तव में ताओ यिंग को टिकटें रख लेनी चाहिए थीं ताकि अगली बार जब काम की जगह से कोई पिकनिक या बाहर जाने का कार्यक्रम हो, तो वह अपनी साइकिल का उपयोग कर सके और फिर स्टब्स (टिकटों के टुकड़ों) के साथ किराया वापस दावा कर सके। वह और उसके पति दोनो नीले-कॉलर वाले श्रमिक हैं, और कोई भी बचत सहायक होती। लेकिन श्याओ ये एक होशियार लड़का है, और शायद उसे ज़ोर से पूछ ही ले, ‘माँ, क्या हम निजी यात्रा पर जाने के बाद भी टिकटों के पैसे दावा कर सकते हैं?’ बच्चे के सामने, वह कभी झूठ नहीं बोलेगी।

It is exhausting to follow rules dictated by parental guide-books all the time, but Tao Ying is determined to be the ideal mother and create a perfect example for her son to look up to. She needs really to concentrate—living this way is not unlike carrying an audience with you wherever you go. But her actions are full of love and tenderness.
Hindi Translationहर समय माता-पिता के मार्गदर्शन पुस्तिकाओं द्वारा निर्धारित किए गए नियमों का पालन करना थकाऊ है, लेकिन ताओ यिंग एक आदर्श माँ बनने और अपने बेटे के सामने एक ऐसा बेहतरीन उदाहरण पेश करने के लिए दृढ़ संकल्पित है, उसे वास्तव में ध्यान केंद्रित करने की आवश्यकता होती है — इस तरह जीना मानो जहाँ भी जाओ अपने साथ एक दर्शक समूह ले जाने जैसा है। लेकिन उसके कार्य प्रेम और कोमलता से भरे हैं।

For instance, whenever she eats a watermelon in front of Xiao Ye, she would take care not to bite too close to the rind even though she doesn’t actually think there is much difference between the flesh and the skin. True, the sweetness gradually diminishes as you work your way through the red towards the green, but every part of the melon is equally refreshing. In any case the skin of a melon is supposed to have a beneficial cooling effect, and is often used as medicine.
Hindi Translationउदाहरण के लिए, जब भी वह श्याओ ये के सामने तरबूज खाती है, तो वह ध्यान रखती है कि छिलके के बहुत करीब न काटे, भले ही वह वास्तव में यह नहीं सोचती कि गूदे और छिलके में बहुत अंतर है। सच है, जैसे-जैसे तुम लाल से हरे रंग की ओर बढ़ते हो, मिठास धीरे-धीरे कम होती जाती है, लेकिन तरबूज का हर हिस्सा समान रूप से ताजगी देने वाला होता है। वैसे भी तरबूज के छिलके का शरीर पर ठंडक पहुँचाने वाला माना जाता है, और अक्सर इसका उपयोग दवा के रूप में किया जाता है।

One day, she came across her son eating a melon in the same manner she did. When Xiao Ye looked up, Tao Ying could see a white melon seed stuck to his forehead. She was furious: ‘Who taught you to gnaw at a melon like that? Are you going to wash your face in it too?’ Xiao Ye was terrified. The small hand holding the melon began to tremble, but the big round eyes remained defiant.
Hindi Translationएक दिन, उसने अपने बेटे को उसी तरह तरबूज खाते देखा जैसे वह खाती थी। जब श्याओ ये ने ऊपर देखा, तो ताओ यिंग उसके माथे पर एक सफेद तरबूज का बीज चिपका देख सकती थी। वह क्रोधित हो गई: “तुम्हें तरबूज इस तरह कुतरना किसने सिखाया? क्या तुम उसमें अपना चेहरा भी धोओगे?” श्याओ ये बहुत डर गया। तरबूज पकड़े उसका छोटा हाथ काँपने लगा, लेकिन उसकी बड़ी गोल आँखें विद्रोही बनी रहीं।

Children are the best imitators in the world. From then on Tao Ying realised that if she wanted her son to behave as if he were the product of a cultured home, then she must concentrate and never fail in her own example. This was very difficult, like ‘shooting down aeroplanes with a small gun’—but with determination, she knew that nothing was impossible. With this clear objective in mind, Tao Ying found her life becoming more focused, more challenging.
Hindi Translationबच्चे दुनिया में सबसे अच्छे नकलची होते हैं। उस दिन से ताओ यिंग को एहसास हुआ कि अगर वह चाहती है कि उसका बेटा ऐसा व्यवहार करे मानो वह एक सभ्य और सुसंस्कृत घर की परवरिश का नतीजा हो, तो उसे एकाग्र रहना चाहिए और अपने स्वयं के उदाहरण में कभी असफल नहीं होना चाहिए। यह बहुत कठिन था, जैसे ‘छोटी बंदूक से हवाई जहाज़ मार गिराना’ — लेकिन दृढ़ संकल्प के साथ, वह जानती थी कि कुछ भी असंभव नहीं है। इस स्पष्ट उद्देश्य को ध्यान में रखते हुए, ताओ यिंग ने पाया कि उसका जीवन अधिक केंद्रित और अधिक चुनौतीपूर्ण होता जा रहा है।

Today she is taking Xiao Ye to visit a big temple. He has never seen the Buddha before. Tao Ying is not a believer and she does not intend to ask him to kow-tow. That is superstition, she knows. The tickets cost five dollars a piece—these days even temples are run like businesses. Tao Ying’s ticket was a gift from Lao Chiang, who worked at the meat counter. The ticket was valid for a month, and today was the last day.
Hindi Translationआज वह श्याओ ये को एक बड़े मंदिर की सैर कराने ले जा रही है। उसने पहले कभी बुद्ध को नहीं देखा है। ताओ यिंग आस्तिक नहीं है और वह उसे माथा टेकने के लिए नहीं कहने वाली। वह जानती है कि यह अंधविश्वास है। टिकटों की कीमत पाँच डॉलर प्रति टिकट है—आजकल तो मंदिर भी व्यवसाय की तरह चलाए जाते हैं। ताओ यिंग का टिकट लाओ च्यांग का उपहार था, जो मांस की दुकान पर काम करता था। टिकट एक महीने के लिए वैध था और आज आखिरी दिन था।

Lao Chiang was one of those people who seemed to know everybody. Occasionally he would produce a battered coverless month-old magazine and say: ‘Seen this before? This is called the Big Reference, not meant for the eyes of the common people.’ Tao Ying had never seen anything like this before and wondered how such a small rag, smaller even than a regular newspaper, could be called a Big Reference. She asked Lao Chiang but he seemed confused.
Hindi Translationलाओ च्यांग उन लोगों में से एक था जो हर किसी को जानते हुए लगते थे। कभी-कभी वह एक मैला-कुचैला, बिना जिल्द का महीने-पुराना पत्रिका निकालता और कहता: “यह पहले देखा है? इसे बिग रेफरेंस कहते हैं, यह आम लोगों की आँखों के लिए नहीं है।” ताओ यिंग ने ऐसा कभी नहीं देखा था और उसे आश्चर्य हुआ कि ऐसा छोटा-सा कागज़, जो एक नियमित अखबार से भी छोटा था, बिग रेफरेंस कैसे कहला सकता है। उसने लाओ च्यांग से पूछा लेकिन वह स्वयं उलझन में लग रहा था।

He said everybody called it that—perhaps if you were to take out the pages and laid them flat they would end up bigger than a normal newspaper. It seemed to make sense. Studying this publication written in large print, Tao Ying could see that it was full of speculation about the war in the Middle East. Foremost on everyone’s mind seemed to be whether the export of dates from Iraq to China would continue as it did in the sixties during the famine. In any case, Tao Ying was full of admiration for Lao Chiang.
Hindi Translationउसने कहा कि हर कोई इसे ऐसे ही बुलाता था — शायद अगर तुम इसके पन्ने निकालकर उन्हें समतल बिछा दो तो वे एक सामान्य अखबार से बड़े हो जाएँ। यह बात समझ में आने लगी।
बड़े अक्षरों में छपे इस प्रकाशन का अध्ययन करते हुए, ताओ यिंग देख सकती थी कि यह मध्य पूर्व में युद्ध के बारे में अटकलों से भरा था। हर किसी के दिमाग में सबसे बड़ा सवाल यह था कि क्या इराक से चीन को खजूर का निर्यात उसी तरह जारी रहेगा जैसा साठ के दशक में अकाल के दौरान होता था। किसी भी मामले में, ताओ यिंग लाओ च्यांग के लिए बहुत प्रशंसा से भरी थी।

In return for her indiscriminate respect, Lao Chiang decided to reward her with a ticket for the temple. ‘Is there just the one?’ Tao asked, not without gratitude but with some uncertainty. ‘Forget your husband, take your son and open his eyes! Children under 110 centimeters do not need a ticket. If you don’t want to go, sell it at the door and you’ll earn enough to buy a couple of watermelons!’ Lao Chiang had always been a practical man.
Hindi Translationउसके इस अंधाधुंध (बिना सोचे-समझे) आदर के बदले में, लाओ चियांग ने उसे मंदिर का एक टिकट इनाम में देने का फैसला किया। “क्या सिर्फ एक ही है?” ताओ ने पूछा, कृतज्ञता के साथ लेकिन थोड़ी झिझक के साथ। “अपने पति को भूल जाओ, अपने बेटे को ले जाओ और उसकी आँखें खोलो (उसे दुनिया दिखाओ)! 110 सेंटीमीटर से कम ऊँचाई वाले बच्चों को टिकट की आवश्यकता नहीं होती। अगर तुम नहीं जाना चाहती, तो इसे दरवाजे पर बेच दो और तुम्हें दो-चार तरबूज खरीदने लायक पैसे मिल जाएँगे!” लाओ च्यांग हमेशा एक व्यावहारिक आदमी था।

Tao Ying decided to take the day off and go on an outing with Xiao Ye. It is rare to find such a large patch of grass in the middle of the city. Even before they got there, there was something refreshing, something green in the air, as if they were approaching a valley, or a waterfall. Xiao Ye snatches the ticket from his mother’s hand, puts it between his lips, and flies towards the gilded gates of the temple. A little animal rushing to quench his thirst.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग ने दिन की छुट्टी लेने और श्याओ ये के साथ सैर पर जाने का फैसला किया। शहर के बीचों-बीच घास का इतना बड़ा मैदान मिलना दुर्लभ है। वहाँ पहुँचने से पहले ही, हवा में कुछ ताजगी भरा, कुछ हरा-भरा सा अहसास था, मानो वे किसी घाटी या किसी झरने के करीब पहुँच रहे हों। श्याओ ये अपनी माँ के हाथ से टिकट छीनता है, उसे अपने होठों के बीच रखता है, और मंदिर के सुनहरे द्वारों की ओर उड़ता है। जैसे कोई छोटा जानवर अपनी प्यास बुझाने के लिए दौड़ रहा हो।

Tao Ying suddenly feels a little sad. Is the mere attraction of a temple enough for Xiao Ye to abandon his mother? But almost immediately she banishes the thought—hasn’t she brought her son here today to make him happy? The guard at the gate is a young man dressed in a red top and black trousers. Tao Ying feels somehow that he ought to have been in yellow. This uniform makes him look somewhat like a waiter.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग अचानक थोड़ी उदास हो जाती है। क्या महज एक मंदिर का आकर्षण श्याओ ये के लिए अपनी माँ को त्यागने के लिए काफी है? लेकिन लगभग तुरंत ही वह इस विचार को निकाल देती है — क्या वह आज अपने बेटे को यहाँ इसलिए नहीं लाई है ताकि वह खुश हो सके? गेट पर पहरेदार एक युवक है जो लाल शर्ट और काली पतलून पहने हुए है। ताओ यिंग को किसी तरह लगता है कि उसे पीले रंग के कपड़े पहनने चाहिए थे। यह वर्दी उसे कुछ हद तक एक वेटर जैसा दिखाती है।

Xiao Ye knows exactly what he has to do. Moving amongst the crowd, he seems like a tiny drop of water in the current of a large river. The young man takes the ticket from his mouth, plucking a leaf from a spring branch. Tao Ying’s gaze softly envelopes her son, a strand of silk unwinding towards him, following his every gesture.
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये जानता है कि उसे क्या करना है। भीड़ के बीच चलते हुए, वह एक बड़ी नदी की धारा में पानी की एक छोटी बूंद जैसा लगता है। युवक उसके मुँह से टिकट लेता है, मानो वसंत की शाखा से एक पत्ता तोड़ रहा हो। ताओ यिंग की नज़रें अपने बेटे को प्यार से घेरे हुए हैं, मानो रेशम का एक धागा उसकी तरफ खुलता जा रहा हो, जो उसके हर एक हाव-भाव का पीछा कर रहा है।

‘Ticket.’ The youth in red bars her way with one arm, his voice as pithy as if he was spitting out a date stone.
Tao Ying points at her son with infinite tenderness. She feels that everybody should see how lovely he is.
‘I am asking for your ticket.’ The red youth does not budge.
Hindi Translation“टिकट।” लाल वर्दी वाला युवक एक हाथ से उसका रास्ता रोकता है, सकी आवाज़ इतनी तीखी और संक्षिप्त थी मानो वह खजूर की गुठली थूक रहा हो।
ताओ यिंग असीम कोमलता के साथ अपने बेटे की ओर इशारा करती है। उसे लगता है कि सभी को देखना चाहिए कि वह कितना प्यारा है।
“मैं तुम्हारा टिकट माँग रहा हूँ।” लाल वर्दी वाला युवक हिलता नहीं है।

‘Didn’t the child just give it to you?’ Tao Ying’s voice is peaceful. This boy is too young, years away from being a father, she thinks. Tao Ying is not working today and is in a really good mood. She is happy to be patient.
‘That was his ticket, now I need to see yours.’ The youth remains unmoved.
Hindi Translation‘क्या बच्चे ने अभी-अभी आपको टिकट नहीं दिया? ताओ यिंग की आवाज़ शांत है। वह सोचती है कि यह लड़का बहुत छोटा है, पिता बनने में अभी कई साल दूर है। ताओ यिंग आज काम पर नहीं है और उसका मूड बहुत अच्छा है। वह धैर्य रखने के लिए पूरी तरह तैयार है।
“वह उसका टिकट था, अब मुझे तुम्हारा टिकट देखना है।” युवक अडिग रहता है।

Tao Ying has to pause for a moment before it sinks in—there are two of them and they need a ticket each.
‘I thought that children were exempt?’ She is confused. ‘Mama, hurry up!’ Xiao Ye shouts to her from inside the doors.
‘Mama is coming!’ Tao Ying shouts back. A crowd is beginning to gather, so many fishes swarming towards a bright light.
Tao Ying starts to panic. She wants this fracas to end, her child is waiting for her.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग को इस बात को समझने के लिए एक पल रुकना पड़ता है—वे दो हैं और उनमें से प्रत्येक को एक टिकट की आवश्यकता है।
“मैंने सोचा था कि बच्चों को छूट है?” वह उलझन में है। “माँ, जल्दी करो!” श्याओ ये दरवाज़ों के अंदर से उसे चिल्लाता है।
“माँ आ रही है!” ताओ यिंग वापस चिल्लाती है। भीड़ इकट्ठा होने लगी है, मानो एक तेज़ रोशनी की तरफ ढेर सारी मछलियाँ तैरती हुई चली आ रही हों।
ताओ यिंग घबराने लगती है। वह चाहती है कि यह तमाशा खत्म हो, उसका बच्चा उसका इंतज़ार कर रहा है।

‘Who told you he doesn’t need a ticket?’ The guard tilts his head—the more onlookers the better.
‘It says so on the back of the ticket.’
‘Exactly what does it say?’ This boy is obviously not a professional.
Hindi Translation“उसे टिकट की ज़रूरत नहीं है, यह तुम्हें किसने बताया?” गार्ड अपना सिर झुकाता है—जितने अधिक दर्शक हों, उतना बेहतर।
“टिकट के पीछे ऐसा लिखा है।”
‘बिल्कुल क्या लिखा है?’ यह लड़का साफ़ तौर पर अपने काम में पेशेवर नहीं है।

‘It says that children under 110 centimetres do not have to pay.’ Tao Ying is full of confidence. She moves to pick up one of the tickets from a box next to the guard and reads out what is printed on the back for all to hear. ‘Stop right there!’ The youth has turned nasty. Tao Ying realises she should not have touched the box and quickly withdraws her hand.
Hindi Translation“इसमें लिखा है कि 110 सेंटीमीटर से कम ऊँचाई वाले बच्चों को भुगतान नहीं करना पड़ता।” ताओ यिंग पूरे आत्मविश्वास से भरी है। वह गार्ड के बगल में एक बक्से से एक टिकट उठाने के लिए बढ़ती है और सभी को सुनाने के लिए पीछे छपी बात को पढ़ती है। ‘वहीं रुक जाओ!’ वह युवा लड़का अब बदतमीज़ी पर उतर आया है। ताओ यिंग को एहसास होता है कि उसे बक्से को नहीं छूना चाहिए था और वह जल्दी से अपना हाथ वापस खींच लेती है।

‘So you are familiar with the rules and regulations are you?’ Now the young man addresses her with the formal ‘you’. Tao Ying detects the sarcasm in his tone but she simply nods.
‘Well, your son is over 110 centimetres,’ he says with certainty.
‘No he isn’t.’ Tao Ying is still smiling.
Hindi Translation“तो तुम नियमों और विनियमों से परिचित हो, है न?” अब वह युवा लड़का उसे औपचारिक ‘आप’ कहकर संबोधित करता है। ताओ यिंग उसके स्वर में व्यंग्य भांप लेती है, लेकिन वह बस सिर हिला देती है।
“खैर, तुम्हारा बेटा 110 सेंटीमीटर से अधिक है,” वह निश्चितता से कहता है।
“नहीं, वह नहीं है।” ताओ यिंग अभी भी मुस्कुरा रही है।

Everybody begins to look at the mother with suspicion. ‘He just ran past the mark. I saw it clearly.’ The guard is equally firm, pointing at a red line on the wall which looks like an earthworm inching across the road after a rainstorm.
‘Mama, why are you taking so long? I thought I had lost you!’ Xiao Ye shouts to her affectionately. He runs towards his mother, as if she was one of his favourite toys. The crowd titters. Good, they think, here is proof, the whole matter can be cleared up at once.
Hindi Translationहर कोई माँ को शक की निगाह से देखने लगता है। ‘वह अभी उस निशान के पास से दौड़कर निकला। मैंने स्पष्ट रूप से देखा।” गार्ड दीवार पर एक लाल रेखा की ओर इशारा करते हुए उतना ही दृढ़ है, जो बारिश के बाद सड़क पर रेंगते हुए केंचुए जैसी लगती है।
“माँ, तुम इतनी देर क्यों लगा रही हो? मुझे लगा मैंने आपको खो दिया!’ श्याओ ये उसे प्यार से चिल्लाता है। वह अपनी माँ की ओर दौड़ता है, मानो वह उसके पसंदीदा खिलौनों में से एक हो। भीड़ दबी हुई हँसी हँसने लगती है। अच्छा है, वे सोचते हैं, यह रहा सबूत, पूरा मामला एक साथ साफ हो जाएगा।

The youth is getting a little nervous. He is just doing his job. He is certain he is right. But this woman seems very confident, perhaps that would be awful…
Tao Ying remains calm. In fact, she feels a little smug. Her son loves excitement. This is turning into something of an event so it is bound to delight him.
‘Come over here,’ the youth commands. The crowd holds its breath.
Hindi Translationयुवक थोड़ा घबराने लगता है। वह सिर्फ अपना काम कर रहा है। उसे पूरा यकीन है कि वह सही है। लेकिन यह महिला बहुत आश्वस्त लग रही है, अगर वह गलत निकला तो यह बहुत बुरा होगा…
ताओ यिंग शांत रहती है। वास्तव में, वह थोड़ी आत्मसंतुष्ट महसूस करती है। उसका बेटा उत्साह पसंद करता है। यह पूरा मामला अब एक तमाशे का रूप ले रहा है, इसलिए यह निश्चित रूप से उसे प्रसन्न करेगा।
“यहाँ आओ,” युवक आदेश देता है। भीड़ साँस रोक लेती है।

Xiao Ye looks at his mother. Tao Ying gives him a little nod. He walks over to the guard graciously, coughs a little, adjusts his jacket. In front of the gaze of the crowd, Xiao Ye is every inch the hero as he approaches the earthworm.
Then—the crowd looks, and sees—the worm comes to Xiao Ye’s ear.
How is this possible?
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये अपनी माँ को देखता है। ताओ यिंग उसे हल्का सा इशारा करती है। वह शालीनता से गार्ड के पास जाता है, थोड़ा खाँसता है, और अपनी जैकेट को ठीक करता है। भीड़ की नज़रों के सामने, श्याओ ये किसी नायक की तरह शान से उस केंचुए (लाल रेखा) के पास पहुँचता है।
तब—भीड़ देखती है, और देखती है—केंचुआ श्याओ ये के कान तक आता है।
यह कैसे संभव है?

Tao Ying is by his side in two paces. The flat of her hand lands heavily on the little boy’s head, making a sound as crisp as a ping-pong ball popping underfoot.
Xiao Ye stares at his mother. He is not crying. He is shocked by the pain. He has never been hit before.
The crowd draws its breath.
‘Punishing a child is one thing, hitting him on the head is totally unacceptable!’
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग दो कदमों में उसके बगल में होती है। उसकी हथेली का सपाट भाग छोटे लड़के के सिर पर जोर से पड़ता है, जिससे ऐसी तेज आवाज़ आती है जैसे पिंग-पोंग गेंद पैरों तले कुचली गई हो।
श्याओ ये अपनी माँ को देखता है। वह रो नहीं रहा है। वह तो बस उस दर्द से स्तब्ध है। उसे पहले कभी नहीं मारा गया है।
भीड़ एक गहरी साँस लेती है।
“बच्चे को सज़ा देना एक बात है, उसे सिर पर मारना पूरी तरह से गलत है!’

‘What a way for a mother to behave! So what if you have to buy another ticket? This is a disgrace, hitting a child to cover up your own mistake!’
‘She can’t be his natural mother…’
Everybody has an opinion.
Hindi Translation“माँ होने का यह तरीका! अगर तुम्हें एक और टिकट खरीदना पड़े तो क्या हुआ? यह शर्म की बात है, अपनी गलती छुपाने के लिए बच्चे को मारना!”
“वह उसकी असली माँ नहीं हो सकती…”
हर किसी की अपनी एक राय थी।

Tao Ying is feeling a little agitated now. She had not meant to hit Xiao Ye. She meant to smooth down his hair, But she realises that even if Xiao Ye were bald at this instant, he would still be towering above the worm on the wall.
‘Xiao Ye, don’t stand on tip-toe!’ Tao Ying’s voice is severe.
‘Mama, I’m not…’ Xiao Ye begins to cry.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग अब थोड़ी व्याकुल महसूस कर रही है। उसका इरादा श्याओ ये को मारने का नहीं था। वह उसके बालों को सहलाना चाहती थी, लेकिन उसे एहसास होता है कि अगर इस समय श्याओ ये गंजा भी होता, तब भी वह दीवार पर बने केंचुए से ऊपर ही होता।
“श्याओ ये, पंजों के बल मत खड़े हो!” ताओ यिंग की आवाज़ सख्त है।
“माँ, मैं नहीं हूँ…” श्याओ ये रोने लगता है।

It’s true. He isn’t. The worm crawls somewhere next to his brow.
The guard stretches himself lazily. His vision is sharp, he has caught quite a few people who had tried to get through without paying. ‘Go get a ticket!’ he screams at Tao Ying. All pretence of courtesy has by now been eaten up by the worm.
Hindi Translationयह सच है। वह नहीं है। वह केंचुआ (निशान) उसके माथे के पास कहीं आ रहा था।
गार्ड आलस्य से शरीर फैलाता है। उसकी नज़र तेज है, उसने बहुत से लोगों को पकड़ा है जो बिना भुगतान किए निकलने की कोशिश कर रहे थे। “जाकर टिकट ले आओ!” वह ताओ यिंग पर चिल्लाता है। शिष्टता का सारा दिखावा अब तक उस केंचुए ने निगल लिया था।

‘But my son is less than one meter ten!’ Tao Ying insists even though she realises she stands alone.
‘Everyone who tries to escape paying always says the same thing. Do you think these people are going to believe you, or are they going to believe me? This is a universally accepted measurement. The International Standard Ruler is in Paris, made of pure platinum. Did you know that?’
Hindi Translation‘लेकिन मेरा बेटा एक मीटर दस सेंटीमीटर से कम है!’ ताओ यिंग अपनी बात पर अड़ी रहती है, भले ही उसे अहसास हो जाता है कि वह अकेली है।
“जो भी भुगतान करने से बचने की कोशिश करता है, वह हमेशा यही बात कहता है। क्या तुम्हें लगता है कि ये लोग तुम पर विश्वास करेंगे, या मुझ पर? यह एक सार्वभौमिक रूप से स्वीकृत माप है। अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मानक रूलर पेरिस में रखा है, शुद्ध प्लैटिनम से बना। क्या तुम्हें यह पता भी है?’

Tao is flummoxed. All she knows is that to make a dress she needs two metres eighty centimetres, she does not know where the International Ruler is kept. She is only astonished at the power of the Buddha which can make her son grow several centimetres within minutes!
‘But we were on the bus just now and he wasn’t as tall…’
‘No doubt when he was born he wasn’t as tall either!’ the youth sneers, chilling the air.
Hindi Translationताओ असमंजस में पड़ जाती है। वह सिर्फ इतना जानती है कि एक ड्रेस बनाने के लिए उसे दो मीटर अस्सी सेंटीमीटर चाहिए, वह यह नहीं जानती कि अंतर्राष्ट्रीय रूलर कहाँ रखा है। वह तो बस बुद्ध की इस शक्ति पर हैरान है जो उसके बेटे को चंद मिनटों में कई सेंटीमीटर लंबा कर सकती है!
“लेकिन हम अभी-अभी बस में थे और वह इतना लंबा नहीं था…”
“इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि जब वह पैदा हुआ था, तब भी वह इतना लंबा नहीं था!” युवक ताना मारता है, जिससे माहौल में और कड़वाहट घुल जाती है।

Standing in the middle of the jeering crowd, Tao Ying’s face has turned as white as her ticket.
‘Mama, what is happening?’ Xiao Ye comes away from the earthworm to hold his mother’s frozen hand with his own little warm one.
‘It’s nothing. Mama has forgotten to buy a ticket for you.’ Tao Ying can barely speak.
Hindi Translationहंसी उड़ाती भीड़ के बीच खड़ी ताओ यिंग का चेहरा उसके टिकट की तरह सफेद पड़ गया है।
“माँ, क्या हो रहा है?” श्याओ ये केंचुए से दूर आकर अपने छोटे गर्म हाथ से अपनी माँ के ठंडे हाथ को पकड़ लेता है।
“कुछ नहीं। माँ तुम्हारे लिए टिकट खरीदना भूल गई।” ताओ यिंग मुश्किल से बोल पाती है।

‘Forgotten? That’s a nice way of putting it! Why don’t you forget you have a son as well?’ The youth will not forgive her calm confidence of a moment ago.
‘What more do you want?’ Tao Ying’s temper rises. In front of her child, she must preserve her dignity.
Hindi Translation“भूल गई? कहने का अच्छा तरीका है! तुम अपने बेटे को भी क्यों नहीं भूल जाती?” युवक उसके एक पल पहले के शांत आत्मविश्वास को माफ नहीं करेगा।
“तुम और क्या चाहते हो?” ताओ यिंग का गुस्सा बढ़ जाता है। अपने बच्चे के सामने, उसे अपनी गरिमा बनाए रखनी चाहिए।

‘You have a nerve! This is not to do with what I want, clearly you must apologise! God knows how you had managed to get hold of a complimentary ticket in the first place. To get in free is not enough, now you want to sneak in an extra person. Have you no shame? Don’t think you can get away with this, go, get yourself a valid ticket!’ The youth is now leaning on the wall, facing the crowd as if he is pronouncing an edict from on high.
Hindi Translation‘आपकी हिम्मत तो देखिए! यह इस बारे में नहीं है कि मैं क्या चाहता हूँ, स्पष्ट रूप से तुम्हें माफी माँगनी चाहिए! भगवान जाने तुम्हें पहली जगह मुफ्त का टिकट कैसे मिल गया। मुफ्त में अंदर आना ही काफी नहीं था, अब तुम एक अतिरिक्त व्यक्ति को तस्करी से अंदर लाना चाहती हो। क्या तुम्हें कोई शर्म नहीं है? यह मत सोचो कि तुम इससे बच निकलोगी, जाओ, अपने लिए एक वैध टिकट ले आओ!” वह युवक अब दीवार के सहारे टिक गया था, भीड़ के सामने ऐसे खड़ा है जैसे वह ऊपर से कोई फरमान सुना रहा हो।

Tao Ying’s hands are trembling like the strings on a pei-pa. What should she do? Should she argue with him? She is not afraid of a good fight but she doesn’t want her child to be witness to such a scene. For the sake of Xiao Ye, she will swallow her pride.
‘Mama is going to buy a ticket. You wait here, don’t run off.’ Tao Ying tries to smile. This outing is such a rare occasion, whatever happens she mustn’t spoil the mood.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग के हाथ पी-पा (एक वाद्ययंत्र) के तारों की तरह काँप रहे हैं। उसे क्या करना चाहिए? क्या उसे उससे बहस करनी चाहिए? वह अच्छी लड़ाई से नहीं डरती, लेकिन वह नहीं चाहती कि उसका बच्चा ऐसा दृश्य देखे। श्याओ ये की खातिर, वह अपने स्वाभिमान का घूंट पी लेगी।
“माँ टिकट खरीदने जा रही है। तुम यहाँ रुको, भागना मत।” ताओ यिंग मुस्कुराने की कोशिश करती है। यह सैर इतनी दुर्लभ अवसर है, चाहे कुछ भी हो, उसे मूड खराब नहीं करना चाहिए।

She is determined to make everything all right.
‘Mama, did you really not buy a ticket?’ Xiao Ye looks at her, full of surprise and bewilderment. The expression on her child’s face frightens her.
She cannot buy this ticket today! If she went ahead, she would never be able to explain herself to her son.
Hindi Translationवह सब कुछ ठीक करने के लिए दृढ़ संकल्पित है।
“माँ, क्या तुम सच में टिकट नहीं खरीदा था?” श्याओ ये उसे देखता है, आश्चर्य और घबराहट से भरा हुआ। उसके बच्चे के चेहरे पर भाव उसे डराते हैं।
वह आज यह टिकट नहीं खरीद सकती! अगर वह आगे बढ़ गई, तो वह अपने बेटे के सामने कभी खुद को समझा नहीं पाएगी।

‘Let’s go!’ She gives Xiao Ye a yank. Thankfully the child has strong bones, or his arm might have fallen off.
‘Let’s go and play in the park.’ Tao Ying wants her son to be happy, but the little boy has fallen silent, sullen. Xiao Ye has suddenly grown up.
Hindi Translation“चलो!” वह श्याओ ये को एक झटका देती है। सौभाग्य से बच्चे की हड्डियाँ मजबूत हैं, नहीं तो उसका हाथ ही टूट जाता।
“चलो पार्क में खेलने चलते हैं।” ताओ यिंग चाहती है कि उसका बेटा खुश रहे, लेकिन छोटा लड़का चुप हो गया है, उदास।
श्याओ ये अचानक बड़ा हो गया है।

As they walk past an ice-cream seller, Xiao Ye says, ‘Mama, give me money!’
Taking the money, Xiao Ye runs towards an old woman behind the stall and says to her: ‘Please measure me!’ It is only then that Tao Ying notices the old lady sitting next to a pair of scales for measuring weight and height.
Hindi Translationजैसे ही वे एक आइसक्रीम बेचने वाले के पास से गुजरते हैं, श्याओ ये कहता है, “माँ, मुझे पैसे दो!”
पैसे लेकर, श्याओ ये स्टॉल के पीछे एक बूढ़ी औरत की ओर दौड़ता है और उससे कहता है: “कृपया मुझे मापिए!” तब जाकर ताओ यिंग ने उस बूढ़ी औरत को देखा जो वजन और ऊँचाई मापने के तराजू के पास बैठी थी।

The old woman extends with difficulty the measuring pole, pulling it out centimetre by centimetre.
She strains to make out the numbers: ‘One metre eleven’.
Tao Ying begins to wonder if she has encountered a ghost or is her son beginning to resemble a shoot of bamboo, growing every time you look at him?
Hindi Translationबूढ़ी औरत मापने वाली डंडी को सेंटीमीटर-दर-सेंटीमीटर खींचते हुए बड़ी मुश्किल से बाहर निकालती है।
वह संख्याओं को पढ़ने के लिए आँखें ताकती है: “एक मीटर ग्यारह।”
ताओ यिंग सोचने लगती है कि क्या वह किसी भूत से मिल गई है या उसका बेटा बांस के अंकुर जैसा हो गया है, जो हर बार देखने पर बढ़ जाता है?

Something moist begins to glisten in Xiao Ye’s eyes. Leaving his mother behind and without a backward glance, he starts to run away. He trips. One moment he is in the air, taking flight like a bird, another and he has dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Tao Ying rushes over to lend a hand but just as she is about to reach him Xiao Ye has picked himself up and is off again. Tao Ying stops in her tracks.
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये की आँखों में कुछ नम सी चमकने लगती है। अपनी माँ को पीछे छोड़कर और बिना पीछे देखे, वह भागने लगता है। वह ठोकर खाता है। एक पल वह हवा में होता है, पक्षी की तरह उड़ान भरता है, दूसरे ही पल वह जोरदार धमाके के साथ जमीन पर गिर जाता है। ताओ यिंग हाथ बढ़ाने के लिए दौड़ती है लेकिन जैसे ही वह उसके पास पहुँचती है, श्याओ ये खुद ही उठ जाता है और फिर से भागने लगता है। ताओ यिंग अपनी जगह पर रुक जाती है।

If she gives chase Xiao Ye will only keep falling. Watching her son’s vanishing silhouette, her heart begins to break: Xiao Ye, aren’t you going to look back at your mother?
Xiao Ye runs for a long time and eventually comes to a halt. He throws a quick glance backwards to find his mother, but the moment he can see her, he takes off once
more…
Hindi Translationयदि वह पीछा करेगी तो श्याओ ये गिरता रहेगा। अपने बेटे की गायब होती रूपरेखा को देखते हुए, उसका दिल टूटने लगता है: श्याओ ये, क्या तू अपनी माँ की तरफ पीछे मुड़कर नहीं देखेगा?
श्याओ ये काफी देर तक दौड़ता है और अंत में रुक जाता है। वह अपनी माँ को ढूंढने के लिए एक त्वरित नज़र पीछे डालता है, लेकिन जैसे ही वह उसे देख पाता है, वह फिर से दौड़ पड़ता है…

Tao Ying finds the whole incident incomprehensible. She wanders back to the old woman and asks politely: ‘Excuse me, these scales you have…’
‘My scales are here to make you happy! Don’t you want your son to grow tall? Every mother wants her sons to shoot up, but don’t forget when he is tall, that means you’ll be old! Mine are flattering scales,’ the old woman explains kindly, but Tao Ying remains baffled.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग को यह पूरी घटना समझ से परे लगती है। वह बूढ़ी औरत के पास वापस जाती है और विनम्रता से पूछती है: “माफ़ कीजिए, ये तराजू जो आपके पास हैं…”
“मेरे तराजू तुम्हें खुश करने के लिए हैं! क्या तुम नहीं चाहती कि तुम्हारा बेटा लंबा हो? हर माँ चाहती है कि उसके बेटे तेजी से बढ़ें, लेकिन मत भूलना, जब वह लंबा हो जाएगा, तो इसका मतलब है कि तुम बूढ़ी हो जाओगी! मेरे तराजू चापलूस हैं,” बूढ़ी औरत दयालुता से समझाती है, लेकिन ताओ यिंग असमंजस में ही रहती है।

‘You see my scales are old and not very accurate and they make people seem lighter than they really are. I have also adjusted it to make them seem taller. These days it is fashionable to be long and lean—mine are fitness scales!’ The old woman might be kind, but she is not without cunning. So that is the reason! Xiao Ye should have heard this speech! But he is a long way away and in any case would he have understood the convoluted logic? Xiao Ye still looks suspicious, as if mother has turned into a big bad wolf, ready to eat him up.
Hindi Translation“देखो, मेरे तराजू पुराने हैं और बहुत सटीक नहीं हैं, और ये लोगों को उनके वास्तविक वजन से हल्का दिखाते हैं। मैंने उन्हें इस तरह भी समायोजित किया है कि लोग लंबे दिखें। इन दिनों लंबा और दुबला होना फैशन है—मेरे तराजू फिटनेस वाले हैं!” वह बूढ़ी औरत भले ही दयालु थी, लेकिन चतुर भी कम नहीं थी। तो यही कारण है! श्याओ ये को यह भाषण सुनना चाहिए था! लेकिन वह बहुत दूर है और वैसे भी क्या वह इस उलझे हुए तर्क को समझ पाता? श्याओ ये अभी भी संदिग्ध दिखता है, मानो माँ एक बड़ी भेड़िया बन गई हो, उसे खाने के लिए तैयार।

Later when they are back at home, Tao Ying takes out her own tape measure and insists on measuring him again. ‘I don’t want to! Everybody says I am tall enough except you. It’s because you don’t want to buy me a ticket, don’t think I don’t know. If you measure me I am bound to get shorter again. I don’t trust you! I don’t trust you!’ The yellow tape in Tao Ying’s hands has turned into a poisonous viper.
Hindi Translationबाद में जब वे घर वापस आते हैं, तो ताओ यिंग अपना खुद का टेप-माप निकालती है और उसे फिर से मापने पर जोर देती है। “मैं नहीं चाहता! तुम्हारे अलावा हर कोई कहता है कि मैं काफी लंबा हूँ। ऐसा इसलिए है क्योंकि तुम मेरे लिए टिकट नहीं खरीदना चाहती, यह मत सोचो कि मुझे पता नहीं है। अगर तुम मुझे मापोगी तो मैं फिर से छोटा हो जाऊँगा। मुझे तुम पर भरोसा नहीं है! मुझे तुम पर भरोसा नहीं है!” ताओ यिंग के हाथों में पीला टेप एक जहरीले सांप में बदल गया है।

Chef! Your cakes look as if they are wearing camouflage uniforms, all black and brown!’ a customer queuing in front of her counter shouts out.
The cakes are ruined. They are full of burnt marks, and look like tiny terrapins,
Sorry sorry sorry.
Tao Ying feels very guilty. She is usually very conscientious in her work, but these couple of days she often finds herself distracted.
Hindi Translation“शेफ! आपके केक ऐसे लग रहे हैं जैसे उन्होंने छलावरण वर्दी पहन रखी हो, सब काले और भूरे!” उसके काउंटर के सामने कतार में खड़ा एक ग्राहक चिल्लाता है।
केक बर्बाद हो गए हैं। वे जले के निशानों से भरे हैं, और छोटे कछुओं की तरह दिखते हैं।
माफ़ करें, माफ़ करें, माफ़ करें।
ताओ यिंग बहुत दोषी महसूस करती है। वह आमतौर पर अपने काम में बहुत कर्तव्यनिष्ठ होती है, लेकिन इन कुछ दिनों में वह अक्सर खुद को विचलित पाती है।

She must rescue the situation! At night, after Xiao Ye has gone to sleep, Tao Ying straightens his little legs so that he is lying as flat as a piece of newly shrunken fabric. Tao Ying then stretches her tape from the soles of his feet to the top of his head—one metre nine centimetres. She decides to write a letter to the administrators at the temple. She picks up her brush but suddenly realises that this is harder than she thinks! Seeing her deep in thought with knitted brows, her husband says, ‘So what do you imagine might happen even if you wrote to them?’
Hindi Translationउसे इस स्थिति को संभालना ही होगा! रात में, श्याओ ये के सो जाने के बाद, ताओ यिंग उसके छोटे पैरों को सीधा करती है ताकि वह नए सिकुड़े कपड़े के टुकड़े की तरह सीधा लेट जाए। ताओ यिंग तब अपना टेप उसके पैरों के तलवों से लेकर उसके सिर के शीर्ष तक फैलाती है — एक मीटर नौ सेंटीमीटर। वह मंदिर के प्रशासकों को एक पत्र लिखने का फैसला करती है। वह अपनी कलम उठाती है लेकिन अचानक उसे एहसास होता है कि यह उसके विचार से कहीं अधिक कठिन है! उसे गहरे विचारों में तनी हुई भौंहों के साथ देखकर, उसका पति कहता है, “तो तुम्हें क्या लगता है, अगर तुम उन्हें लिखोगी भी तो क्या हो जाएगा?”

He is right, she doesn’t know if anything would come of it. But in order to melt the ice in her son’s eyes, she must do something. At last the letter is done. There is a man in the factory nicknamed ‘the Writer’. People say he has had some small articles published at the back of a news rag once. Tao Ying finds him and respectfully offers up her literary work. ‘This sounds like an official communication. Not lively enough, not moving.’ The Writer traces the letter with his nicotine-stained fingers. Tao Ying doesn’t know what an official communication is but she detects a tone of dissatisfaction in the scholar’s voice. She looks at the lines he is pointing to, and nods in agreement.
Hindi Translationवह सही कहता है, वह नहीं जानती कि इससे कुछ होगा या नहीं। लेकिन अपने बेटे की आँखों की बर्फ पिघलाने के लिए, उसे कुछ करना ही होगा। आखिरकार पत्र समाप्त हो जाता है। कारखाने में एक आदमी है जिसका उपनाम ‘द राइटर’ (लेखक) है। लोग कहते थे कि किसी ज़माने में एक स्थानीय अखबार के आखिरी पन्नों पर उसके कुछ छोटे-मोटे लेख छपे थे। ताओ यिंग उसे ढूंढती है और सम्मानपूर्वक अपनी साहित्यिक कृति प्रस्तुत करती है। “यह एक आधिकारिक पत्र की तरह लगता है। इसमें कोई जीवंतता नहीं है, यह दिल को नहीं छूती।” लेखक निकोटीन से सने अपनी उंगलियों से पत्र की लाइनों पर हाथ फेरता है। ताओ यिंग नहीं जानती कि आधिकारिक पत्र क्या होता है, लेकिन वह विद्वान की आवाज़ में असंतोष का स्वर भांप लेती है। वह उन पंक्तियों को देखती है जिनकी ओर वह इशारा कर रहा है, और सहमति में सिर हिलाती है।

‘What you need to do is this. You must open with a strong and righteous claim, fawned by a passage of stunning originality so that your work stands out and grabs the attention of the editor. This would make him pick it out of a large pile on his desk. It has to catch his eyes like a blinding light, an apple in a mound of potatoes. But most important of all, your letter must touch his heart. Have you heard of the saying, grieving soldiers always win?’ Tao Ying keeps nodding.
Hindi Translation“तुम्हें यह करना होगा। तुम्हें एक मजबूत और न्यायसंगत दावे के साथ शुरुआत करनी चाहिए, जिसके बाद अद्भुत मौलिकता का एक अंश होना चाहिए ताकि तुम्हारा काम अलग दिखे और संपादक का ध्यान खींचे। इससे वह इसे अपनी मेज पर पड़े बड़े ढेर से चुन लेगा। इसे उसकी आँखों को ऐसे पकड़ना चाहिए जैसे कोई चमकती रोशनी, आलू के ढेर में एक सेब। लेकिन सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बात, तुम्हारे पत्र को उसके दिल को छूना चाहिए। क्या तुमने कहावत सुनी है, दुखी सैनिक हमेशा जीतते हैं?” ताओ यिंग लगातार सिर हिलाती रहती है।

The Writer is encouraged to continue: ‘Let us look at the opening paragraph—it should go something like this: ‘‘The power of the Buddha is surely infinite! The foot of a five-year-old boy has scarcely touched the threshold of the temple and he has grown two centemetres; but alas, the power of the Buddha is finite after all—on his return home the boy shrinks back to his original size…’’ I know this is not yet perfect, but have a think about it along these lines…’
Tao Ying tries to memorise the words of the Writer, but she finds it hard to recall all of it. Back home she makes a few corrections as best she can, and sends out the letter.
Hindi Translationलेखक उत्साहित होकर जारी रखता है: “आइए पहले पैराग्राफ को देखें — इसे कुछ इस तरह होना चाहिए: ‘बुद्ध की शक्ति निश्चित रूप से अपरिमित है! पाँच वर्षीय लड़के के पैर ने मुश्किल से मंदिर की देहलीज़ को छुआ था कि वह दो सेंटीमीटर बढ़ गया; लेकिन अफसोस, बुद्ध की शक्ति आखिरकार सीमित ही है — घर वापस आने पर लड़का अपने मूल आकार में सिकुड़ जाता है…’ मुझे पता है यह अभी सही नहीं है, लेकिन इन पंक्तियों के बारे में सोचो…”
ताओ यिंग लेखक के शब्दों को याद करने की कोशिश करती है, लेकिन उसे सब कुछ याद रखना मुश्किल लगता है। घर वापस आकर वह जितना अच्छा कर सकती है, कुछ सुधार करती है, और पत्र भेज देती है।

The Writer comes by her stall at lunch-time. Tao Ying’s face is framed in a small window where she is collecting vouchers. She looks like a photograph, staring out at the camera with a sombre expression.
‘Please wait a moment,’ and she disappears behind the frame.
Hindi Translationदोपहर के भोजन के समय लेखक उसके स्टॉल पर आता है। ताओ यिंग का चेहरा एक छोटी खिड़की के फ्रेम में घिरा हुआ है, जहाँ वह कूपन इकट्ठा कर रही है। वह एक तस्वीर की तरह दिखती है, एक गंभीर अभिव्यक्ति के साथ कैमरे की ओर देख रही है।
“कृपया एक क्षण प्रतीक्षा करें,” और वह फ्रेम के पीछे गायब हो जाती है।

The Writer suspects the cakes are burnt again. Perhaps Tao Ying has gone to find a few which are less burnt than others, to thank him for pointing her in the right direction.
‘This is for you, with extra sugar and sesame,’ Tao Ying says shyly.
This is the greatest gift a baker could offer a friend as a token of gratitude.
Hindi Translationलेखक को संदेह है कि केक फिर से जल गए हैं। शायद ताओ यिंग उनमें से कुछ ऐसे केक खोजने गई है जो दूसरों की तुलना में कम जले हों, ताकि उसे सही दिशा दिखाने के लिए धन्यवाद दे सके।
“यह आपके लिए है, अतिरिक्त चीनी और तिल के साथ,” ताओ यिंग शर्माते हुए कहती है।
यह सबसे बड़ा उपहार है जो एक बेकर कृतज्ञता के प्रतीक के रूप में किसी मित्र को दे सकता है।

Then comes the long wait. Tao Ying looks through the newspapers every day, reading everything from cover to cover including small classified advertisements for videos. In the meantime she would listen to the radio, imagining that one morning she will hear her own letter read out by one of those announcers with a beautiful voice. Afterwards she would go down to the post office, in case the administrative department of the temple has replied to her letter, apologising for their misdeed… She has imagined a hundred different scenarios, but not what actually happens.
Hindi Translationफिर लंबा इंतज़ार शुरू होता है। ताओ यिंग प्रतिदिन अखबार देखती है, विज्ञापनों सहित सब कुछ शुरू से अंत तक पढ़ती है। इस बीच वह रेडियो भी सुनती है, यह कल्पना करती हुई कि किसी सुबह वह अपना पत्र उन खूबसूरत आवाज़ वाले उद्घोषकों में से किसी एक द्वारा पढ़ा हुआ सुनेगी। उसके बाद वह डाकघर जाएगी, यदि मंदिर का प्रशासनिक विभाग उसके पत्र का उत्तर देकर अपने कदाचार के लिए माफी माँगता है… उसने सौ अलग-अलग परिदृश्यों की कल्पना की है, लेकिन वह नहीं जो वास्तव में होता है।

The days have been like the white flour she works with, one very much like another. Xiao Ye appears to have recovered from the ordeal but Tao Ying firmly believes that he has not really forgotten. Finally, one day, she hears a question, ‘Which way is it to comrade Tao’s home?’
Hindi Translationदिन उस सफेद आटे की तरह होते हैं जिसके साथ वह काम करती है, एक दिन दूसरे से बिल्कुल मिलता-जुलता। श्याओ ये उस कड़वे अनुभव से उबर चुका था, लेकिन ताओ यिंग दृढ़ता से मानती है कि वह वास्तव में नहीं भूला है। अंततः, एक दिन, वह एक प्रश्न सुनती है, “‘साथी (कॉमरेड) ताओ के घर कौन सा रास्ता है?”

‘I know, I’ll take you.’ Xiao Ye excitedly shows two elderly gentlemen in uniform through the front door. ‘Mama, we have visitors!’
Tao Ying is doing the laundry, immersed in soap up to her armpits.
‘We are from the administrative office at the temple. The local newspaper has forwarded your letter to us and we have come to ascertain the truth.’
Hindi Translation“मुझे पता है, मैं तुम्हें ले चलता हूँ।” श्याओ ये उत्साह से दो बुजुर्ग वर्दीधारी सज्जनों को सामने के दरवाजे से अंदर ले जाता है। “माँ, हमारे पास मेहमान आए हैं!”
ताओ यिंग कपड़े धो रही है, उसके हाथ और बाहें कोहनी तक साबुन के झाग में डूबे हुए थे।
“हम मंदिर के प्रशासनिक कार्यालय से हैं। स्थानीय अखबार ने आपका खत हमें भेजा था और हम यहाँ सच का पता लगाने आए हैं।’

Tao Ying is very nervous, and somewhat depressed. Chiefly because her house is very messy, and she has not had the time to tidy up. If they think that she is prone to laziness they might not believe her.
‘Xiao Ye, why don’t you go out to play?’ In Tao Ying’s fantasies, Xiao Ye would be in the room to witness the revelation of the truth. Now that the moment has finally arrived, she feels uncomfortable having him there. She cannot predict what will happen.
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग बहुत घबराई हुई है, और कुछ हद तर उदास भी। मुख्यतः क्योंकि उसका घर बहुत गंदा है, और उसके पास साफ करने का समय नहीं था। अगर वे सोचेंगे कि वह आलसी है, तो हो सकता है वे उस पर विश्वास न करें।
“श्याओ ये, तुम बाहर क्यों नहीं खेलने चले जाते?” ताओ यिंग की कल्पनाओं में श्याओ ये हमेशा उस कमरे में मौजूद रहता था जहाँ सच सामने आता था। अब जब वह क्षण अंततः आ गया है, तो वह उसकी उपस्थिति में असहज महसूस करती है। वह भविष्यवाणी नहीं कर सकती कि क्या होगा।

These are after all the people who employed the youth in red, so how reasonable can they be?
The younger of the two speaks. ‘We have investigated the matter with the party concerned, and he insisted he was in the right. Don’t tell the boy to leave, we want to measure him.’
Hindi Translationये आखिरकार वे लोग हैं जिन्होंने लाल वर्दी वाले युवक को नियुक्त किया था, तो ये कितने उचित हो सकते हैं?
दोनों में से छोटा बोलता है। “हमने संबंधित पक्ष के साथ मामले की जांच की है, और उसने जोर देकर कहा कि वह सही था। लड़के को बाहर मत भेजो, हम उसे मापना चाहते हैं।”

Xiao Ye obeys and stands next to the wall. The white of the wall looks like a virgin canvas and Xiao Ye a painting filling up the space. He leans tightly against the wall as if the act of measuring his height has once again stirred up some terrifying memory in the recesses of his mind.
The men are very serious. First of all they draw a bold line across the wall from the top of Xiao Ye’s head. Then they take out a metallic tape and take the measurement from the line to the floor. The metal of the tape glistens like a flowing stream in sunlight.
Hindi Translationश्याओ ये आज्ञा मानता है और दीवार के पास खड़ा हो जाता है। दीवार की सफेदी एक कोरे कैनवास की तरह दिखती है और श्याओ ये उस स्थान को भरने वाली एक पेंटिंग की तरह। वह दीवार से कसकर सट जाता है, मानो ऊँचाई मापने का कार्य उसके मन की गहराइयों में किसी भयानक स्मृति को फिर से हिला दे।
वे लोग बहुत गंभीर हैं। सबसे पहले वे श्याओ ये के सिर के शीर्ष से दीवार पर एक गहरी रेखा खींचते हैं। फिर वे एक धात्विक टेप निकालते हैं और रेखा से फर्श तक माप लेते हैं। टेप की धातु सूरज की रोशनी में बहती हुई धारा की तरह चमकती है।

Tao Ying regains her calm.
‘What does it say?’
‘One metre ten, just so,’ the younger man answers. ‘This is not just so. There was a delay of one month and nine days before you came. A month ago he wasn’t this tall.’
Hindi Translationताओ यिंग अपनी शांति वापस पा लेती है।
“क्या कहता है?”
“एक मीटर दस, ठीक ठाक,” छोटा आदमी उत्तर देता है।
“यह ठीक ठाक नहीं है। तुम्हारे आने से पहले एक महीने और नौ दिन की देरी हुई। एक महीने पहले वह इतना लंबा नहीं था।”

The two officials look at each other. This is a statement they cannot refute.
They produce a five-dollar bill from a pocket. The note pokes out of an envelope. They have evidently come prepared. Before they left the temple, they must have checked the height of the earthworm, and realised it was not drawn accurately.
Hindi Translationदोनों अधिकारी एक-दूसरे को देखते हैं। यह एक ऐसा बयान है जिसका वे खंडन नहीं कर सकते।
वे एक जेब से पाँच डॉलर का नोट निकालते हैं। नोट एक लिफाफे से बाहर झाँक रहा है। वे स्पष्ट रूप से तैयार होकर आए हैं। मंदिर छोड़ने से पहले, उन्होंने दीवार पर बने केंचुए की ऊँचाई की जाँच कर ली होगी, और महसूस कर लिया होगा कि वह सही ढंग से नहीं बनाया गया था।

‘The other day you and your son were unable to enter. This is a small token to redress the situation.’ This time it is the elder of the two gentlemen who speaks. His demeanour is kind, so he must be the more senior of the two.
Tao Ying remains still. That day’s happiness can never be bought again.
Hindi Translation‘उस दिन आप और आपका बेटा अंदर नहीं जा सके थे। यह उस नुकसान की भरपाई के लिए एक छोटा सा मुआवज़ा है।’ इस बार दोनों सज्जनों में से बड़ा बोलता है। उनका लहजा बहुत सौम्य और दयालु था, जिससे साफ़ था कि वे पद में बड़े थे।
ताओ यिंग स्थिर रहती है। उस दिन की खुशी को फिर से नहीं खरीदा जा सकता।

‘If you don’t want the money, here are two tickets. You and your son are welcome to visit the temple any time.’ The younger man is even more polite.
This is a tempting proposition indeed, but Tao Ying shakes her head. To her, to her son, that place will always be associated with unhappy memories now.
‘So which would you prefer,’ both men ask in unison. In fact Tao Ying is asking herself the same question. She is gracious by nature—if the youth in red had come in person to apologise today, she would not have made him feel awkward.
Hindi Translation“अगर आप पैसे नहीं लेना चाहते हैं, तो ये दो टिकट हैं। आप और आपका बेटा कभी भी मंदिर आ सकते हैं।” छोटा आदमी और भी अधिक विनम्र है।
यह वास्तव में एक लुभावना प्रस्ताव है, लेकिन ताओ यिंग अपना सिर हिला देती है। उसके लिए, उसके बेटे के लिए, वह स्थान अब हमेशा दुखद यादों से जुड़ा रहेगा।
“तो आप कौन सा पसंद करेंगी?” दोनों लोग एक स्वर में पूछते हैं। वास्तव में ताओ यिंग खुद से भी यही सवाल पूछ रही है। वह स्वभाव से दयालु है – अगर लाल वर्दी वाला युवक आज खुद आकर माफी माँग लेता, तो वह उसे असहज महसूस नहीं कराती।

So what is it that she wants?
She shoves Xiao Ye in front of the two elderly officials.
‘Say Grandpa,’ she tells him.
‘Grandpa.’ Xiao Ye sounds infinitely sweet.
Hindi Translationतो आखिर वह क्या चाहती है?
उसने श्याओ ये को आगे बढ़ाया और उन दोनों बुजुर्ग अधिकारियों के सामने खड़ा कर दिया।
‘दादाजी बोलो बेटा’, उसने कहा।
‘नमस्ते दादाजी’, श्याओ ये की आवाज़ बेहद मीठी और मासूम थी।

‘Dear Leaders, please take back the money, and the tickets. Kindly do not punish the guard on duty, he was only doing his job…’
The two officials are puzzled.
Tao Ying nudges Xiao Ye closer: ‘Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to explain to my son exactly what happened on that day. Please tell him that his mother has not done anything wrong…’
Hindi Translation‘आदरणीय अधिकारियों, कृपया पैसे और टिकट वापस ले लीजिए। कृपया ड्यूटी पर तैनात गार्ड को दंडित मत कीजिए, वह केवल अपना काम कर रहा था…”
दोनों अधिकारी हैरान हैं।
ताओ यिंग श्याओ ये को और करीब ले जाती है: “सज्जनों, क्या आप इतनी कृपा करेंगे कि मेरे बेटे को ठीक से समझाएँ कि उस दिन वास्तव में क्या हुआ था। कृपया उसे बताएँ कि उसकी माँ ने कुछ भी गलत नहीं किया है…”

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 5 Summary in English and Hindi.

Tao Ying is a working-class Chinese woman who works as a cook in a factory canteen. When she rides the bus alone, she often avoids buying a ticket – rationalising that her presence makes no real difference to the bus’s running costs. However, when her young son Xiao Ye is with her, she holds herself to a completely different standard – she buys tickets, refuses to lie, claims nothing dishonestly and behaves as the most perfect mother she can be, because she knows children are the best imitators and she must be a worthy example.
One day, Tao Ying takes Xiao Ye to visit a large temple using a complimentary ticket she received from a colleague named Lao Chiang. At the bus stop, she checks Xiao Ye’s height against the height marker – he is still one centimetre short of requiring a ticket – and she buys two tickets anyway to protect his dignity and self-esteem.
At the temple, a young guard in a red uniform stops her, claiming her son is over 110 centimetres and therefore requires a ticket. Tao Ying calmly points out what is printed on the back of the ticket. The guard grows hostile, gathering the crowd against her. When Xiao Ye is brought to the height marker on the wall, the red line reaches his ear – confirming he is indeed tall enough. In her panic, Tao Ying accidentally slaps Xiao Ye on the head trying to smooth his hair down, which shocks the crowd and humiliates both of them further. The guard demands she buy another ticket and apologise. Tao Ying, determined not to lie in front of her son, refuses to admit wrongdoing and pulls Xiao Ye away without entering the temple.
Later, after confirming at home that Xiao Ye is only 109 centimetres tall, Tao Ying writes a letter of complaint to the temple’s administrative office. After a long wait, two officials from the temple arrive at her home. They measure Xiao Ye carefully – he now measures 110 centimetres exactly, but this is a full month and nine days after the incident, during which he has clearly grown. The officials offer money and tickets as compensation. Tao Ying refuses both. All she asks is for the officials to tell her son, in their own authoritative words, that his mother did nothing wrong that day. This is the vindication she has been fighting for – not money, not re-entry, but the restoration of her image as a trustworthy, honest mother in her child’s eyes.

Summary in Hindiताओ यिंग एक फ़ैक्टरी की कैंटीन में रसोइया का काम करने वाली साधारण मध्यवर्गीय चीनी महिला है। जब वह अकेले बस में सफर करती है तो अक्सर टिकट नहीं खरीदती – खुद को यह तर्क देकर कि उसकी मौजूदगी से बस की लागत में कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता। लेकिन जब उसका बेटा शियाओ ये साथ होता है तो वह एक आदर्श माँ की भूमिका निभाती है – पूरी ईमानदारी से, बिना कोई समझौता किए, क्योंकि वह जानती है कि बच्चे सबसे अच्छे नकलची होते हैं।
एक दिन वह शियाओ ये को मंदिर दिखाने ले जाती है। बस में वह शियाओ ये की ऊँचाई नापती है – वह अभी भी एक सेंटीमीटर कम है – फिर भी वह दो टिकट खरीदती है ताकि उसके बेटे का आत्मसम्मान बना रहे।
मंदिर के द्वार पर लाल वर्दी में एक युवा गार्ड रोकता है और दावा करता है कि शियाओ ये 110 सेंटीमीटर से ऊँचा है और उसके लिए टिकट चाहिए। ताओ यिंग शांति से टिकट के पीछे लिखे नियम का हवाला देती है। गार्ड आक्रामक हो जाता है और भीड़ जमा कर लेता है। जब शियाओ ये को दीवार पर बनी लाल रेखा के पास खड़ा किया जाता है तो रेखा उसके कान तक पहुँचती है। घबराहट में ताओ यिंग उसके सिर पर हाथ मार देती है जो भीड़ के सामने और भी शर्मनाक हो जाता है। अंततः वह बिना मंदिर में प्रवेश किए बेटे को लेकर चली जाती है।
घर आकर वह अपने टेप से शियाओ ये की ऊँचाई नापती है – 109 सेंटीमीटर। वह मंदिर प्रशासन को एक शिकायत पत्र लिखती है। लंबे इंतजार के बाद मंदिर के दो अधिकारी घर पर आते हैं, शियाओ ये को नापते हैं – अब 110 सेंटीमीटर और मुआवजे के तौर पर पैसे और टिकट देने की पेशकश करते हैं। ताओ यिंग दोनों ठुकरा देती है। वह केवल एक चीज़ माँगती है कि अधिकारी खुद उसके बेटे को बताएँ कि उस दिन उसकी माँ ने कुछ गलत नहीं किया था। बेटे की नज़रों में अपनी साख वापस पाना ही उसकी असली जीत है।

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Short stories Chapter 5 Very Short Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

1. Who is the author of ‘One Centimetre’ and what is her profession?
   Answer:
   The author is Bi Shu-min, a Chinese writer who served as a doctor for over twenty years and also holds a Master’s degree in literature from Beijing Teacher’s College.
2. Where does Tao Ying work?
   Answer:
   Tao Ying works as a cook in the canteen of a factory, where she bakes screw-shaped wheat cakes with sesame butter all day near an open fire.
3. What is the height limit set for children to travel free on the bus?
   Answer:
   The height limit painted on the bus door was 1.10 metres (110 centimetres). Children below this height did not require a ticket.
4. How much did a bus ticket cost?
   Answer:
   A bus ticket cost twenty cents.
5. What did Tao Ying observe about Xiao Ye’s hair?
   Answer:
   Xiao Ye’s hair was dry, fluffy, and without lustre – like a bundle of straw. Despite eating well, the nutrition seemed to never reach beyond his hairline.
6. Who gifted Tao Ying the temple ticket?
   Answer:
   Lao Chiang, a man who worked at the meat counter and seemed to know everybody, gifted Tao Ying the complimentary temple ticket.
7. What was the ticket price for the temple?
   Answer:
   The temple tickets cost five dollars each.
8. What was the height limit for free entry into the temple?
   Answer:
   Children under 110 centimetres did not need to buy a ticket for the temple, as stated on the back of the ticket itself.
9. What did the old woman’s scales show as Xiao Ye’s height?
   Answer:
   The old woman’s inaccurate and deliberately adjusted scales showed Xiao Ye’s height as one metre eleven centimetres.
10. What was Xiao Ye’s actual height when measured at home?
    Answer:
    When Tao Ying measured Xiao Ye at home while he was asleep and lying flat, he measured one metre nine centimetres.
11. Who was nicknamed ‘the Writer’ in the factory?
    Answer:
    A man in the factory who had reportedly got a few small articles published at the back of a news rag was nicknamed ‘the Writer.’
12. What did Tao Ying gift the Writer as a token of gratitude?
    Answer:
    She gave him freshly made wheat cakes with extra sugar and sesame – described as the greatest gift a baker could offer a friend.
13. Who came to Tao Ying’s home to investigate the temple incident?
    Answer:
    Two elderly gentlemen in uniform from the administrative office of the temple visited her home after the local newspaper forwarded her complaint letter to them.
14. What did the temple officials offer Tao Ying as compensation?
    Answer:
    They offered her a five-dollar bill and alternatively, two complimentary tickets to visit the temple any time she wished.
15. What was Tao Ying’s only request to the temple officials?
    Answer:
    She asked the officials to kindly explain to her son what had actually happened that day and to confirm to him that his mother had done nothing wrong. She refused both the money and the tickets.

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Short stories Chapter 5 Short Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

1. How does the watermelon episode reveal Tao Ying’s approach to motherhood?
   Answer:
   Tao Ying privately ate watermelon close to the rind without thinking much of it. However, wanting to set a cultured example for Xiao Ye, she always avoided biting near the rind in front of him. One day she found Xiao Ye eating a melon exactly as she did privately – with a melon seed stuck to his forehead. She scolded him sharply, though he had simply imitated her. This episode was a turning point. She realized children are the world’s best imitators and that she could not maintain double standards. From then on, she committed herself fully to being a consistent moral example at all times. The episode shows her motherhood was not just emotional but deeply intentional and disciplined.
2. How did the bus conductor’s behaviour affect Tao Ying at the temple?
   Answer:
   On the bus, even though the conductor rudely pointed out that Xiao Ye was 1 cm short of the ticketed height, Tao Ying still insisted on buying two tickets. This decision was driven by her need to protect her son’s dignity and self-esteem. The conductor’s remark had made Xiao Ye visibly shrink with embarrassment. Tao Ying understood that purchasing the ticket was essentially purchasing her child’s pride for twenty cents. This same maternal protectiveness and consciousness of her son’s dignity carried into the temple episode – where her refusal to be labeled a cheat stemmed from the same deep desire to remain honourable in her child’s eyes.
3. Describe the role of the young guard at the temple. What does his character represent?
   Answer:
   The young guard dressed in red and black represents petty authority – the kind of official who exercises limited power with disproportionate arrogance. He insists Xiao Ye exceeded 110 cm based purely on a visual judgment, without measuring. When challenged, he becomes confrontational, sarcastic and ultimately cruel – even invoking the International Standard Ruler in Paris to intimidate an uneducated working-class woman. He enjoys the gathering crowd and performs for them rather than genuinely enforcing rules. He represents how bureaucratic authority can humiliate ordinary people, especially those without education or social standing. Ironically, his height marker was later found to be inaccurately drawn – making him both arrogant and wrong.
4. Why is the ending of the story considered emotionally powerful?
   Answer:
   The ending is powerful because Tao Ying rejects all material compensation – money and free tickets – in favour of something intangible but far more valuable: her son’s restored trust and faith in her. When she pushes Xiao Ye forward and asks the officials to simply tell him his mother did nothing wrong, it encapsulates the entire emotional journey of the story. She has endured public humiliation, her son’s accusation of dishonesty, sleepless nights, burnt cakes at work and a long anxious wait – all to restore not her public image, but her image in her child’s eyes. This selfless, quiet request reveals the depth of her love and the purity of her motivation throughout the story.
5. What does the story suggest about the relationship between poverty and dignity?
   Answer:
   The story powerfully argues that dignity is not determined by economic status. Tao Ying and her husband are blue-collar workers for whom twenty cents represents real value – enough for vegetables to last days. Yet she spends freely when her son’s pride is at stake, refuses fraudulent reimbursements despite needing the money, declines five dollars in compensation because it cannot restore lost happiness and writes a formal complaint letter not for financial redress but for moral vindication. Bi Shu-min shows that poor people are not inherently dishonest or without pride – in fact, Tao Ying’s fierce sense of dignity and honour is more refined than that of the arrogant young guard who humiliated her.
6. What does Xiao Ye’s behaviour after the temple incident reveal about his character?
   Answer:
   After the temple incident, Xiao Ye undergoes a sudden and painful loss of innocence. He runs away from his mother, trips, picks himself up and keeps running – pausing only to check she is still behind him before running again. This behaviour reveals a child caught between hurt, anger, and the inability to completely abandon the one person who is his whole world. Back home, his refusal to be measured and his cries of “I don’t trust you!” show how deeply the incident wounded his sense of security and his image of his mother as infallible. The story observes poignantly – “Xiao Ye has suddenly grown up” – suggesting that distrust and disillusionment are the true markers of the end of childhood.
7. How does Bi Shu-min use the motif of measurement throughout the story?
   Answer:
   The motif of measurement – centimetres, height, rulers – runs throughout the story as both a literal plot device and a deeper symbol. On the bus, 1 cm determines whether a child pays or not. At the temple, 110 cm becomes the line between honesty and accusation. The old woman’s false scales distort measurement for profit. The officials’ metallic tape finally brings accuracy. At home, Tao Ying’s yellow tape becomes, in Xiao Ye’s eyes, “a poisonous viper.” Through this motif, the author shows how arbitrary numerical standards can govern human dignity, how systems of measurement can be manipulated and how in human relationships – especially between a mother and child – what truly matters cannot be measured at all.
8. How does Tao Ying’s letter-writing episode add humour and depth to the story?
   Answer:
   The letter-writing episode is gently comic yet deeply touching. Tao Ying, uneducated and uncertain, seeks help from a factory colleague pompously nicknamed “the Writer” – who has only had minor pieces published in a local rag. He gives her grandiose advice about opening lines that shine “like an apple in a mound of potatoes” and invokes the phrase “grieving soldiers always win”. Tao Ying nods earnestly throughout, understanding little but trusting him completely. She memorizes what she can, makes her own corrections at home and sends the letter. The episode shows both her limitations and her determination. It also humanizes the complaint process – this is not a powerful person fighting the system but an ordinary woman doing her best with the tools available to her.
9. What is the significance of Tao Ying’s thoughts about the soft spot on Xiao Ye’s head?
   Answer:
   When Tao Ying touches the soft gap at the top of Xiao Ye’s skull – the fontanelle – she is flooded with an overwhelming sense of responsibility. She reflects that though she feels insignificant in the larger world, to this one small boy she is the entire universe. This moment is one of the most philosophically rich in the story. It explains everything that follows: why she endures humiliation silently, why she refuses money and tickets, why she writes a letter against all odds. The vulnerability of the child’s skull becomes a symbol of the vulnerability of the bond between them – and of the enormous weight a mother carries in knowing she has brought a fragile life into the world and must now protect not just its body, but its sense of truth and trust.
10. “Living this way is not unlike carrying an audience with you wherever you go”. What does this line mean in context?
    Answer:
    This line refers to Tao Ying’s constant self-awareness as a mother being observed by her son. Just as a performer on stage is always conscious of their audience, Tao Ying was always conscious that Xiao Ye was watching, imitating and internalizing everything she did. She could no longer eat carelessly, behave dishonestly, or act inconsistently – because her child would absorb all of it. The line captures the beautiful burden of conscious parenting: the idea that raising a child well means performing virtue not for applause but because a small, impressionable person is quietly taking notes on what it means to be human. It is exhausting, but for Tao Ying, it is also what gives her life focus and meaning.

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Short stories Chapter 5 Long Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

Answer:
At first glance, One Centimetre appears to be a simple domestic story about a working-class mother navigating a dispute over a bus ticket and a temple entry. But Bi Shu-min uses these small, everyday incidents to explore much larger questions about the nature of honesty, the ethics of ordinary life and the meaning of human dignity.

The story opens with a frank admission of ethical imperfection – Tao Ying skips bus tickets when riding alone. Rather than condemning her, the author invites us to understand her reasoning, flawed as it is. This honest portrayal of moral ambivalence sets up the story’s central tension: can a person who is not perfectly honest in private aspire to be a moral exemplar in public, especially as a parent?

Tao Ying’s transformation begins with motherhood. The watermelon episode crystallizes her realization that children are mirrors of their parents. From that point, she commits herself to a kind of ethical vigilance that is exhausting but loving. She refuses fraudulent reimbursements, insists on buying tickets even when technically unnecessary and refuses to lie before her child under any circumstances.

The temple incident is the story’s ethical core. Tao Ying did nothing wrong – yet she was publicly accused, humiliated by an arrogant guard and even doubted by her own son. The story raises uncomfortable questions: Is following the rules enough? Does being right protect you from being judged wrong? Can institutional authority substitute for actual truth?

Tao Ying’s final act – refusing compensation and asking only for verbal vindication before her son – is the story’s most powerful ethical statement. True honesty, the story suggests, is not about following rules out of fear of punishment. It is about being answerable to the people who love and trust you. For Tao Ying, one small word of truth spoken to her son by the officials was worth infinitely more than five dollars or two free tickets.

The “one centimetre” of the title thus becomes a metaphor for the tiny margins by which human dignity hangs – and how fiercely ordinary people must sometimes fight to protect it.

Answer:
Tao Ying is one of the most richly drawn characters in contemporary short fiction – a woman who is simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, flawed and deeply admirable. Bi Shu-min achieves this complexity through a narrative technique that grants us full access to Tao Ying’s inner life, exposing both her contradictions and her nobility.

Tao Ying’s flaws are presented honestly and without apology. She skips bus fares when alone, rationalizing it with self-serving logic. She privately eats watermelon in a way she considers improper for her son. She is limited in education, sometimes overwhelmed by circumstances beyond her control and prone to panic – as seen when she accidentally strikes Xiao Ye’s head at the temple gate. She is not a saint.

Yet these very imperfections make her aspirations all the more moving. She is a woman who chooses to be better than she naturally is – not for social approval, but for her son. Her commitment to honesty before Xiao Ye is total: she will not lie to him, will not claim fraudulent reimbursements in his presence and will not buy a ticket that would imply admission of guilt she does not feel. This is not the easy virtue of someone naturally inclined to goodness – it is hard-won ethical consistency maintained under genuine strain.

Her intelligence, while informal, is acute. She understands social dynamics, reads people accurately and navigates difficult situations with grace when not panicked. Her frugality is born not of greed but of genuine need – yet she spends without hesitation when her son’s dignity is at stake.

Most admirable of all is her final request to the temple officials. Having suffered humiliation, sleepless nights and her son’s distrust, she asks for no money, no apology, no punishment for the guard. She asks only that the officials tell her son the truth. This single act of emotional intelligence and selfless love elevates Tao Ying from a realistic portrait of a working-class woman to a genuinely heroic figure – defined not by strength or status, but by the depth of her love and the clarity of her values.

Answer:
Throughout One Centimetre, Bi Shu-min examines a recurring and deeply human conflict: the gap between official, institutional versions of truth and the lived, personal experience of individuals who navigate those institutions from a position of powerlessness.

The institutional forces in the story are represented by the bus conductor, the temple guard, the height markers on walls and ultimately the temple administration. Each of these carries the weight of official authority – rules printed on tickets, measurements painted on walls, uniformed officials who investigate complaints. They represent a system that claims objectivity but is riddled with inaccuracy, arrogance and bias.

The bus conductor’s height marker is presented without nuance – 1.10 metres is the rule and it is applied rigidly, without compassion or common sense. The temple guard’s height marker, meanwhile, is later discovered to have been inaccurately drawn – a fact the officials themselves knew before arriving at Tao Ying’s home (they came prepared with compensation). Institutional “truth” here was built on a physically incorrect measurement. Yet it had the power to publicly humiliate a woman and shatter a child’s trust in his mother.

Tao Ying’s individual truth – that her son was below 110 cm at the time, that she had not intended to cheat – is technically correct but socially powerless. She is a blue-collar worker with limited education, facing a uniformed authority in front of a crowd. The crowd, conditioned to defer to official judgment, sides with the guard. Even her attempt to read the rules printed on the ticket is met with hostility – “Stop right there!”

The story suggests that institutional authority derives its power not from accuracy but from spectacle and social consensus. The guard’s confidence – his invocation of the International Standard Ruler in Paris – intimidates Tao Ying not because he is right, but because it sounds authoritative. She is “flummoxed” not because she is wrong, but because she lacks the vocabulary of power.

Yet the story does not end in despair. Tao Ying writes her letter, persists and is ultimately vindicated – not by dramatic confrontation, but by quiet determination. The officials come, measure Xiao Ye carefully and implicitly acknowledge the error. Institutional truth corrects itself, slowly and imperfectly. Bi Shu-min’s message is cautiously hopeful: ordinary people can challenge arbitrary authority, but the cost – in time, dignity and emotional damage – is always borne by those least able to afford it.

Answer:
Motherhood in One Centimetre is portrayed not as an instinctive, effortless condition but as a conscious, disciplined, sometimes exhausting practice – and this is what makes Bi Shu-min’s portrayal so distinctive and so honest.

Conventional portrayals of motherhood tend to emphasize unconditional love, sacrifice and natural wisdom. Tao Ying has all of these, but the story goes much further. Her motherhood is characterized by intellectual self-discipline – she actively monitors her own behaviour, corrects her private habits and commits herself to being a consistent ethical example. When she reflects that living this way is “like carrying an audience wherever you go”, she is not complaining – she is describing the rigorous standard she has set for herself.

What is particularly striking is that Tao Ying’s maternal aspirations are not about material provision. She cannot give Xiao Ye wealth, social status, or elite education. What she can give him is integrity – a model of honest, dignified living that he can carry with him regardless of circumstances. This is a deliberately chosen form of motherhood, born of clear-eyed recognition of her own limitations and of what she values most.

Her love is also unsentimental in its expression. She does not shower Xiao Ye with empty reassurances. She is strict, consistent, and honest with him – sometimes painfully so. Her refusal to buy a second ticket at the temple when Xiao Ye’s question frightened her, her insistence on re-measuring him at home, her long nights writing a letter he would never read – these are not the grand gestures of storybook motherhood but the quiet, unglamorous acts of a woman fighting for something she believes matters deeply.

The story’s most profound insight about motherhood comes in its ending. Tao Ying does not want an apology, money, or even justice in the conventional sense. She wants only one thing: to be seen as honest by her child. This is motherhood reduced to its purest, most vulnerable essence – the need not merely to love your child, but to be worthy of their trust. In this, Bi Shu-min gives us a portrait of motherhood that is at once deeply personal and universally recognizable.

Answer:
The gap between aspiration and reality is perhaps the most fundamental human experience and One Centimetre explores it with remarkable subtlety and compassion. Through Tao Ying’s story, Bi Shu-min examines how ordinary people navigate the distance between who they wish to be and who they actually are – and what it costs them to bridge that gap.

Tao Ying’s aspirations are clear and consistent throughout the story. She wishes to be a refined, cultured, perfectly honest mother – someone whose son can look up to her as a model of gracious living. She wants to belong to a higher moral register than her circumstances might suggest. She imagines herself as an aristocrat of spirit, if not of birth.

The reality is more complicated. She is a blue-collar cook who skips bus fares, eats watermelon carelessly when alone, lacks formal education and is easily intimidated by the vocabulary of authority. She cannot articulate her complaint elegantly without help. She cannot always control her reactions under pressure – the accidental blow to Xiao Ye’s head is perhaps the story’s most painfully realistic moment, showing how completely her carefully maintained composure can collapse in an instant of panic.

Yet the gap between aspiration and reality in Tao Ying’s case is not hypocrisy – it is the engine of her growth. The watermelon episode shows her recognizing the gap and closing it. Her refusal to claim fraudulent reimbursements shows her choosing aspiration over convenience. Her long, anxious wait for a response to her letter – reading newspapers cover to cover, imagining radio announcers reading it aloud – shows a woman whose aspirations have given her life a direction it might otherwise have lacked.

The talking-point question in the textbook itself acknowledges this gap: “There is always a gap between what we really are and what we wish to appear to be to others.” But Bi Shu-min’s story goes further – it asks whether appearing better than we are, if sustained long enough and honestly enough, eventually makes us actually better. For Tao Ying, the answer seems to be yes. The aspiration, however imperfectly realized, is what makes her admirable. And it is what, in the end, makes her worthy of the vindication she so quietly and courageously seeks.