NCERT Solutions Class 5 English Chapter 8 the Decision of the Panchayat

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 8: The Decision of the
Panchayat

NCERT Textbook — Santoor

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

91 – 104 12 55 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 41 pages

Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH · SANTOOR

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 8: The Decision of the
Panchayat
Chapter 8 of Santoor closes Unit 4, Ups and Downs. The Decision of the Panchayat is a short story — a
village folk tale. The book does not name a writer. A hard-working farmer buys a well from his neighbour, the
neighbour tries to cheat him by saying he sold the well but not the water, and the village Panchayat settles the
quarrel with one clever, fair judgment. The chapter carries these banners: Let us Read, New Words, Let us
Think (A and B), Let us Learn (A, B and C), Let us Speak, Let us Write (A and B), Let us Listen, a Did You
Know? box and Let us Do (A and B). There is no Just for Fun in this chapter.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Santoor (Class 5) 91 – 104

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

12 55

MEDIUM

English

Let us Read — Pages 91–94
The Decision of the Panchayat (story)

LET US READ

Story Let us Read — The Decision of the Panchayat. Read the story and enjoy it.

Here is the whole story, just as it is printed in the book. Read it once for the fun of it. Then read
it again and stop at the judgment — that is where the whole story turns.

Page 1 of 41

Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer in a small village. He had two fields. He used to work

very hard. When he prospered, he bought another field. There was a well next to it. Since the

farmer needed a source of water for his fields, he bought the well from his neighbour.

The neighbour was a cunning man. He thought of a plan to cheat the farmer.

The next day, when the farmer reached the well, he found the neighbour standing there. He

refused to let the farmer take water from the well. On asking why, he replied, “I sold only the

well to you, not the water. The water still belongs to me. You cannot take it.”

The worried farmer didn’t know what to do. So, he went to the village chief and told her
about his case, and said, “He is not letting me take the water.”

The village chief fixed a day for a meeting of the Panchayat.

The day came, and the members of the Panchayat gathered under the banyan tree in the

centre of the village. Both the farmer and his neighbour were summoned. Most of the

villagers were present.

The farmer explained the situation to the gathering. The chief asked the neighbour why he

was not letting the farmer draw water from the well. The cunning man said the same thing

again, “I sold only the well to him, not the water in it. The water still belongs to me. So, he

cannot take my water.”

The members of the Panchayat, as well as the villagers, tried to reason with him, but he was

adamant. Finally, the Panchayat members discussed the matter among themselves. Then they

stood up to give the judgment. The villagers also stood up.

The village chief began, “After hearing both sides, we agree that it is correct to say that only

Page 2 of 41

Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

the well was sold.” The neighbour gave a satisfied smile. “However,” continued the village

chief, “if you have NOT sold the water and the water is yours, then you have no business

keeping your water in his well. Remove the water or use it all up immediately. If not, the
water will belong to the owner of the well.”

The farmer was relieved and gave a shout of joy. The cunning neighbour realised that

cheating will not lead anywhere. He had to pay a fine as well as apologise to the farmer. The

villagers praised the wisdom of the Panchayat.

The story in six steps:

1. The farmer works and grows. He has two fields. He works very hard. When he prospers, he
buys a third field, and then the well beside it.
2. The neighbour makes a plan. He has taken the money for the well. Now he wants the water
back too.
3. The trick. He stands at the well and says he sold the well but not the water.
4. The farmer asks for help. He does not fight. He goes to the village chief.
5. The Panchayat meets. Under the banyan tree, in front of the whole village, both men are
heard.
6. The judgment. The chief agrees that only the well was sold — and then says the water must
be taken out at once. The neighbour is caught in his own words.

Why the judgment is so clever: The chief does not argue with the neighbour. She
agrees with him. She takes his own sentence — “the water is mine” — and simply
follows it to the end. If the water is his, then it is his water sitting in someone else’s
well. Nobody may store his things in another man’s property for free. So the
neighbour must either carry his water away or give it up. Neither choice helps him.

What is a Panchayat? A gram panchayat is the elected council of a village or a group
of villages. The villagers vote and choose its members. Its head is called the
sarpanch, or village chief — in this story the chief is a woman. The Panchayat looks
after local work such as water, roads, street lights and cleanliness, and it often helps
neighbours settle small disagreements by hearing both of them together. It is not a
court of law. Serious crimes are for the police and the courts.

Page 3 of 41

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Did you notice? The meeting is held under the banyan tree in the centre of the village,

m l a se
and “most of the villagers were present”. Nothing is decided in secret. Everyone
o g the decision
.c each man says. That openness is a big part of what makes
a
m
hears what
fair.ase
agl

co m
e m . ag
as
Let us Think — Page 95
A. Answer the following questions
a g l

m
LET US THINK

co
em.
m l as
.co g
Why did the farmer buy the well?
a
A.1

a s em
a l
gANSWER
s
The farmer bought the well because he needed water for his fields.
m a
.co agl
The story tells us how it happened. He had two fields and worked very hard. “When he

a s em
prospered, he bought another field. There was a well next to it.” A new field is of no use without

a gl farmer needed a source of water for his fields, he bought
water for the crops, so — “Since the
the well from his neighbour.”

co m
m .
Why water matters so much: A farmer cannot wait only for the rain. Rain may
m as e
.co a g l
come late, or too little. A well gives water whenever the crop needs it. That is why

s e m well was worth buying, and why losing it was such a blow.
the

ag la
se m
com g l a
. a
em
A.2 Why did the farmer become upset?

a s
ANSWER agl
The farmer became upset because the neighbour would not let him take water from the
co m
m .
se
well he had just bought.

o m l a
g “I sold only the well to you,
.cfarmer asked why he was being stopped, the neighbour said,
The very next day the farmer reached the well and found the neighbour standing there. When
m a
se
the
a
agl
not the water. The water still belongs to me. You cannot take it.”

.c
m
So the farmer had paid his money and owned the well, but he still could not draw a single

m a s e
co agl
bucket of water. The book calls him “the worried farmer”, and says he “didn’t know what to do”.

m .
as e
a g l

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Notice what he did next: He did not shout and he did not fight. He went straight to
the village chief and told her his case. That is the right way to deal with a quarrel.

A.3 How did the Panchayat solve the problem?

The Panchayat solved the problem by hearing both men in the open, and then giving a
judgment that used the neighbour’s own argument against him.
It happened in five steps:

1. A day was fixed. The village chief did not decide on the spot. She fixed a day for a meeting
of the Panchayat.
2. Everyone gathered. The members met under the banyan tree in the centre of the village,
and most of the villagers came too.
3. Both sides were heard. Both men were summoned. The farmer explained the situation.
Then the chief asked the neighbour for his reason, and he gave it.
4. They tried talking first. The members and the villagers tried to reason with the cunning
man — but “he was adamant”, so that did not work.
5. They discussed, then judged. The members talked the matter over among themselves and
then stood up to give the judgment.

The judgment itself was the clever part. The chief accepted the neighbour’s claim that only the
well had been sold — and then said that in that case his water could not be kept in another
man’s well. He had to take it out at once or lose it.

Why this way of deciding is fair: Nobody was judged before he had spoken. The
talking was tried before the punishing. The whole village could hear, so nothing
could be twisted later. And the decision followed from what the two men themselves
had said, not from who was richer or louder.

A.4 What was the final judgment given by the Panchayat?

The final judgment was this: the well belonged to the farmer, and the neighbour must
remove his water from that well at once — or the water would belong to the owner of the
well.
These are the chief’s own words from page 94:

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

“After hearing both sides, we agree that it is correct to say that only the well was sold.”

“However, if you have NOT sold the water and the water is yours, then you have no business
keeping your water in his well. Remove the water or use it all up immediately. If not, the

water will belong to the owner of the well.”

Two more things followed from the judgment. The neighbour “had to pay a fine as well as
apologise to the farmer.”
Let us look at both sides before we say who was right.

WHAT THE NEIGHBOUR SAID WHAT THE FARMER SAID

“I sold only the well, not the water in it. The water still “He is not letting me take the water.” He had paid for the
belongs to me.” well because he needed the water for his fields.

His point is not silly. A well and the water inside it His point is that a well without water is only a
can be thought of as two different things. hole in the ground. Nobody buys that.

What the story decided: The Panchayat did not call the neighbour a liar. It let his point stand —
and then showed where it leads. If the water is truly his, it is his property lying inside another
man’s well, and he cannot leave it there for free. Take it away, or give it up. Since nobody can
carry away a whole well of water, the water became the farmer’s.

The lesson the book gives: “The cunning neighbour realised that cheating will not
lead anywhere.” A trick may look clever for one day. Followed to the end, it usually
turns back on the person who played it.

Let us Think — Page 95
B. Think and discuss

THINK AND DISCUSS

B.1 Do you think the decision of the Panchayat was correct?

Yes. The decision was correct — and it was correct for a good reason, not just because the
farmer was the nicer man.
Before answering, look at both sides honestly.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

THE NEIGHBOUR’S SIDE THE FARMER’S SIDE

He says he sold the well only. A well is a thing you can He paid for the well because he needed water. A dry well
point at. Water is something else. So the water is still his. is of no use to a farmer. Water was the whole point of the
sale.

Nobody wrote down what exactly was sold, so he thinks Everyone in the village knows why a farmer buys a well.
he can say what he likes. What was meant was plain to all.

Now the reasons why the Panchayat was right:

1. It listened to both men first. The chief did not decide the moment the farmer complained.
She fixed a day, called both men, and heard each one out.
2. It did not shout the cunning man down. It agreed with the true part of what he said —
only the well was sold. That is honest.
3. It followed his own argument to the end. If the water is yours, then it is your water in
another man’s well. You cannot keep your things in someone else’s property for nothing.
Take it out, or lose it.
4. It matched what everybody knows. A well is bought for its water. A rule that makes the
sale useless is not a fair rule.
5. The punishment fitted. A fine and an apology — not a beating, not the loss of his land. Just
enough to teach and to make good the wrong.

Sample answer: I think the decision of the Panchayat was correct. The Panchayat did not take
sides at the start. It called both the farmer and the neighbour and let each one speak in front of
the whole village. It even agreed with the neighbour that only the well had been sold. But it
then showed him that his own words worked against him. If the water was really his, he could
not keep it in another man’s well; he had to remove it or use it up. Since nobody can carry away
all the water in a well, the water had to go to the owner of the well, who was the farmer. The
neighbour was fined and made to say sorry, which was fair, because he had tried to cheat a man
who had paid him honestly.

If a friend disagrees: Some children say the neighbour should have got a bigger
punishment, and some say the fine was too harsh because he did not steal anything.
Both are worth arguing about. What nobody can argue with is the way the
Panchayat reached its decision — by hearing both sides first.

B.2 You have an extra painting box which you wish to share with your friends in the
class to complete an activity. Two of your best friends, Radha and Sita, fight for the
box. How would you deal with the situation so that you are fair to both of them?

This question is really asking you to be a small Panchayat. So do what the village chief did.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

How to deal with it, step by step:

1. Stop the fight first. Ask both of them to stop and sit down. Nothing can be settled while
people are shouting.
2. Hear both of them, one at a time. Let Radha say why she needs the box. Then let Sita say
why she needs it. Do not interrupt either one.
3. Find out the real need. Does one of them have no colours at all? Does one need only two
shades? Very often the need is smaller than the quarrel.
4. Look for an answer that gives something to both. Sharing is usually possible.
5. Say your decision clearly, and say why. A decision without a reason feels unfair, even when
it is fair.
6. If it is still equal, use something no one can argue with — a coin toss, or turn by turn —
and let the other one go first next time.

What a good answer must contain: hearing both sides, a solution that is shared rather than a
winner and a loser, and a reason you can say out loud.
Sample answer: First I would ask Radha and Sita to stop quarrelling and to tell me one by one
why each of them wants the painting box. When I listened, I would find that Radha has brought
her own brushes but no colours, and that Sita needs only the red and the yellow for her
drawing. So I would keep the box open on my desk between them and let them both use it
together, taking one colour at a time. If they both needed it fully at the same moment, I would
ask them to use it turn by turn — Radha for the first half of the period and Sita for the second
half — and I would tell them clearly why, so that neither of them feels I like the other more. I
would not give the box to one friend only, because both of them are my friends and both of
them have to finish the same activity.

Why this is the fair way: A fight has two people in it, so an answer that helps only
one of them has not really ended it. The Panchayat in our story did the same thing
— it heard both men before it said a single word about who was right.

B.3.a Who said to whom: a. “I sold only the well, not the water.”

The cunning neighbour said this to the farmer.
He said it on the very next day after the sale, standing at the well. His full words on page 92
were, “I sold only the well to you, not the water. The water still belongs to me. You cannot take
it.”
He said the same thing a second time later — but that time to the village chief and the whole
Panchayat, when the chief asked him why he was stopping the farmer.

Page 8 of 41

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Say it in a full sentence: The cunning neighbour said these words to the farmer at

m as e
l
the well, and repeated them before the Panchayat.

m .co a g
l a se
a g
B.3.b Who said to whom: b. “Remove the water or use it all up immediately.”

com
m . ag
l a se
ag neighbour.
The village chief said this to the cunning
She said it while giving the judgment, in front of the Panchayat members and the villagers. Her

. com
full sentence was, “if you have NOT sold the water and the water is yours, then you have no

m a s em
business keeping your water in his well. Remove the water or use it all up immediately. If not,
o belong to the owner of the well.”
the water cwill
. a gl
a s em
agl Why the chief said it: It is not a real order — nobody can carry away a well full of
s
water. It is a way of showing the neighbour that his own claim cannot work. That is
m a
.co agl
what makes it a judgment and not a scolding.

se m
g l a
a
m
Who said to whom: c. “He is not letting me take the water.”
co
B.3.c

m .
m as e
.co a g l
a s
Theemfarmer said this to the village chief.
agl He said it when he went to her with his problem, on page 92: “So, he went to the village chief
and told her about his case, and said, ‘He is not letting me take the water.’”
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
Notice the word “her”. The village chief in this story is a woman. In many Indian

agl
villages today the sarpanch is a woman.

co m
m .
Let usm as e
.co
Learn — Page 96
a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A. Match the words with their meanings

LET US LEARN

A.1 Match the words with their meanings. 1. prospered — (a. clever in a tricky way / b.
refusing to change one’s mind / c. to order someone come to a particular place / d.
a decision made by a group / e. very upset / f. to grow wealthy)

1 → f. to grow wealthy.
To prosper means to do well and slowly become better off — to earn more, save more and own
more. The story says, “When he prospered, he bought another field.” He could buy a third field
only because his hard work had begun to pay.
Your own sentence: Our village prospered after the new canal brought water to the fields.

A.2 2. cunning

2 → a. clever in a tricky way.
A cunning person is clever — but he uses his cleverness to fool people. The book uses it for the
neighbour: “The neighbour was a cunning man. He thought of a plan to cheat the farmer.”

Clever or cunning? Both mean quick-thinking. Clever is a word of praise. Cunning is
not — it means the cleverness is being used to trick somebody.

Your own sentence: The cunning jackal told the goat a lie to get the food.

A.3 3. worried

3 → e. very upset.
Worried means troubled in your mind because something has gone wrong and you cannot see a
way out. The book says, “The worried farmer didn’t know what to do.”
Your own sentence: My mother was worried when the bus was two hours late.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A.4 4. summon

4 → c. to order someone come to a particular place.
To summon somebody is to call them officially — not just to invite them. They are expected to
come. In the story, “Both the farmer and his neighbour were summoned” to the Panchayat
meeting.

Careful with the spelling: summon → summoned. Double m, and the past form
takes a double n: summoned.

Your own sentence: The captain summoned the whole team to the ground.

A.5 5. adamant

5 → b. refusing to change one’s mind.
Somebody who is adamant will not budge, no matter how many people explain things to him.
The story says the villagers “tried to reason with him, but he was adamant”.
Your own sentence: My little sister was adamant that she would not wear her sweater.

A.6 6. judgment

6 → d. a decision made by a group.
A judgment is the decision given after a matter has been heard properly. In the story, “the
Panchayat members discussed the matter among themselves. Then they stood up to give the
judgment.”

Spelling: Both judgment and judgement are correct English. Your book uses
judgment, so write it that way.

Your own sentence: Everyone accepted the judgment because both sides had been heard.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A — Completed table The completed matching table.

WORD MEANING

1. prospered a. clever in a tricky way.

2. cunning b. refusing to change one’s mind.

3. worried c. to order someone come to a particular place.

4. summon d. a decision made by a group.

5. adamant e. very upset.

6. judgment f. to grow wealthy.

The matching table as it is printed on page 96. The words are in the
left column and the meanings, in a different order, in the right
column.

Here is the whole exercise, matched.

WORD MEANING THE LINE IN THE STORY

1. f. to grow wealthy. “When he prospered, he bought another field.”
prospered

2. cunning a. clever in a tricky way. “The neighbour was a cunning man.”

3. worried e. very upset. “The worried farmer didn’t know what to do.”

4. summon c. to order someone come to a particular “Both the farmer and his neighbour were
place. summoned.”

5. adamant b. refusing to change one’s mind. “…tried to reason with him, but he was
adamant.”

6. judgment d. a decision made by a group. “Then they stood up to give the judgment.”

Check it yourself: Each letter from a to f must be used once, and only once. If you
have used one letter twice, two of your matches are wrong.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Let us Learn — Pages 96–97
B. Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions

LET US LEARN

B — How to do it Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions (in, at, by, after, before,
under, with, to, for). A preposition can be used more than once.

A preposition is a small word that tells us where something is, when it happens, or how two
things are joined. Here are the nine words in this exercise, each with its little rule.

WORD THE LITTLE RULE EXAMPLE

in inside a place or a space in the village

at at one exact spot, or one exact time at the gate · at four o’clock

by right beside something she sat by the window

after the later of two things after lunch

before the earlier of two things before sunrise

under below something, often covered by it under the tree

with together with a person or a thing he spoke with his friend

to towards a person or a place she went to school

for gives the reason, or who something is meant for punished for stealing

Here is the whole exercise, filled in:
1. to · 2. by · 3. with · 4. after · 5. in · 6. before · 7. under · 8. for · 9. to · 10. at · 11. after
Every one of the nine words has been used. To and after are each used twice — the
question tells us that is allowed.

B.1 1. The farmer went ................... the village chief to explain his problem.

The farmer went to the village chief to explain his problem.

Page 13 of 41

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
The rule: Use to when somebody moves towards a person or a place. He walked

m as e
l
from his field towards the chief, so the word is to.

m .co a g
l a se
g
Another example: I went to my grandmother with my torn shirt.
a

co m
e m .
2. The neighbour was standing ................... the well, blocking the way. ag
as
B.2

a g l

The neighbour was standing by the well, blocking the way.
co m
em.
m l as
.co a g
The rule: Use by for “right beside”. He was standing close to the well so that nobody
m
l a se
could get past — that is standing by it.

a g
m
Also acceptable: at the well. But this exercise gives you by in the list, and this is the
a s
m .co
sentence where by fits best. If you write at here, you will be left with by unused at the
agl
end.
l a se
a g

co m
m .
e
3. The villagers tried to reason ................... the cunning man.
as
B.3
m l
.co a g
a s em
gl

a The villagers tried to reason with the cunning man.
m
The rule: Some verbs always keepcthe o msame little word beside them. Reason is one of glase
m . a
as e
l
them — you always reason with a person. The story itself uses it: “tried to reason
a g
with him, but he was adamant.”

co m
.
Other verbs that keep with: agree with, argue with, play with, share with.

em
m l as
.co a g
a s emB.4
gl
4. The decision was made ................... careful consideration of both sides.
a c
m .
m a s e
co agl

m .
as e
The decision was made after careful consideration of both sides.

a g l

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The rule: Use after for the thing that comes later. First they thought about both
sides carefully; the decision came later. So the decision was made after the thinking.

Careful: before would turn the sentence upside down. It would mean they decided
first and thought afterwards — which is exactly what a good Panchayat does not do.

B.5 5. Their lived a farmer ................... the small village.

There lived a farmer in the small village.

The rule: Use in when something is inside a place — in a village, in a town, in a
room, in a box. A village is a place you live inside, so it takes in.

A misprint in the book: the sentence is printed as “Their lived a farmer…”. It should
be “There lived a farmer…”. There tells us a place; their means belonging to them.
When you copy the sentence into your notebook, write There.

B.6 6. The Panchayat members listen to both the sides ................... coming to decision.

The Panchayat members listen to both the sides before coming to decision.

The rule: Use before for the thing that comes earlier. The listening comes first; the
decision comes afterwards. That is the whole idea of the chapter.

B.7 7. The villagers gathered the Panchayat ................... the banyan tree.

The villagers gathered the Panchayat under the banyan tree.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The rule: Use under for something below and covered by something else. The huge
branches of a banyan spread out overhead like a roof, so people meet under it. The
story says the members “gathered under the banyan tree in the centre of the
village”.

Under or below? Use under when the thing above covers you — under the tree,
under an umbrella. Use below for simply lower down — the village below the hill.

B.8 8. The neighbour was punished ................... his dishonesty.

The neighbour was punished for his dishonesty.

The rule: Use for when the word that follows gives the reason. Punished for what?
For his dishonesty. Dishonesty means not being truthful and fair.

Another example: She was praised for her honesty.

B.9 9. The chief listened carefully ................... both the farmer and the neighbour.

The chief listened carefully to both the farmer and the neighbour.

The rule: The verb listen always keeps to beside it. We listen to a person, a song,
the radio. We never say “listen the teacher”.

Do not mix these up: hear takes no word after it — “I heard a noise.” Listen takes to
— “I listened to the noise.”

B.10 10. The villagers agreed to meet ................... a later time to discuss the issue.

The villagers agreed to meet at a later time to discuss the issue.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The rule: Use at for an exact point in time — at four o’clock, at noon, at a later time.
Use in for a long stretch of time — in June, in the evening, in 2026.

B.11 11. The farmer decided to buy a well ................... buying his third field.

The farmer decided to buy a well after buying his third field.

The rule: Use after for the later action. Check it against the story: first he bought
the field — “When he prospered, he bought another field” — and only then, because
the field needed water, he bought the well beside it. Field first, well second.

Now count your words. All nine — in, at, by, after, before, under, with, to, for —
should be used. To and after appear twice each. If a word is left over, go back and
check sentence 2 and sentence 10.

Let us Learn — Page 97
C. Rearrange the events in the correct order

LET US LEARN

C Rearrange the events in the correct order. 1. Sam sat by a small stream to rest and
enjoy the peaceful sound of the water. {......} 2. Sam felt grateful for the time he
spent in nature. {......} 3. Sam decided to go for a walk in the forest near his house.
{......} 4. Sam walked along the narrow path, listening to the sound of birds chirping
and leaves rustling. {......} 5. After resting, Sam continued his walk, feeling
refreshed. {......}

The correct order is: 3 → 4 → 1 → 5 → 2.
So write these numbers in the little brackets beside each sentence:

Page 17 of 41

Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

SENTENCE AS PRINTED NUMBER TO WRITE IN
{}

1. Sam sat by a small stream to rest and enjoy the peaceful sound of the water. 3

2. Sam felt grateful for the time he spent in nature. 5

3. Sam decided to go for a walk in the forest near his house. 1

4. Sam walked along the narrow path, listening to the sound of birds chirping and 2
leaves rustling.

5. After resting, Sam continued his walk, feeling refreshed. 4

The story in the right order reads like this:

Sam decided to go for a walk in the forest near his house.

Sam walked along the narrow path, listening to the sound of birds chirping and leaves

rustling.

Sam sat by a small stream to rest and enjoy the peaceful sound of the water.

After resting, Sam continued his walk, feeling refreshed.

Sam felt grateful for the time he spent in nature.

How to find the order yourself:

1. Look for the word that starts everything. Decided — you decide before you do
anything. So sentence 3 is first.
2. Look for the clue words. Sentence 5 begins “After resting”. Resting must come
before it. So sentence 1 (sitting to rest) comes just before sentence 5.
3. Walking comes before sitting. You have to walk into the forest before you can
sit by the stream. So sentence 4 comes before sentence 1.
4. The feeling comes last. Sentence 2 says he “felt grateful for the time he spent”
— the past. That can only be said at the end.

Tip: In every set of jumbled events, hunt first for words like decided, first, then, after,
at last, finally. They are signposts, and they do half the work for you.

Let us Speak — Pages 98–99

Page 18 of 41

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The four-picture story of the fallen coconut
co m
e m.
m as
LET US SPEAK

.co a g l
a s emLook at the pictures below:
a gl
Speak 1

m
.co ag
1 2

asem
agl

co m
em.
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
a g 3 4

m a s
m .co agl
l a se
a g

co m
m .
o m l a se
.c ag
The four pictures of the story, in order, as they are printed on pages 98 and 99.

se m
g l a
a
se m
m a

o
.c speak. Here is what is drawn, picture by picture. a g l
m
Look at each picture carefully before you

l a se side by side, with a low mud boundary wall running
aga blue house with a banana plant beside it. On the right is a pink-
The place. Two village houses stand
between them. On the left is
and-yellow house with a washing line. A tall coconut palm grows on the right-hand side, in the

co m
.
pink house’s yard, but it leans right over the wall so that its crown of coconuts hangs above the
m
m
blue house’s yard.
as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

com
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

PICTURE WHAT IS HAPPENING

1 (page 98, A boy in the blue house’s yard is crouching down, spinning his top (lattu) with a string.
top) There is a white kolam drawn on the ground. Next door, a woman kneels and spreads red
chillies on a white cloth to dry in the sun, and a man in white hangs a striped cloth on
the washing line. A purple bucket stands beside him.

2 (page 98, A green coconut has fallen from the tree. You can see the line of its fall and the shock
bottom) lines where it hits the ground, right next to the boy. The boy has toppled over backwards
and sits on the ground with his mouth open, startled. His top lies still beside him. Next
door, the woman turns her head towards the noise and the man has spun round to look.

3 (page 99, The boy is standing up now, smiling, holding the fallen coconut in his hands. The man
top) from the pink house is coming out through his gate and walking towards the boy’s yard.
The woman stands and watches.

4 (page 99, The boy is running away up the steps into his house, still holding the coconut. The man in
bottom) white is walking into the boy’s yard behind him. The woman is peeping from behind the
coconut tree.

The one thing the pictures want you to notice: the tree grows in the neighbour’s
yard, but the coconut fell in the boy’s yard. So who does the coconut belong to? That
is the same shape of quarrel as the well and the water in our story — and that is why
this picture task is put in this chapter.

Sample answer — describing the pictures aloud: In the first picture a boy is spinning his top
in the front yard of his house. Next door, his neighbours are busy — the aunty is drying red
chillies in the sun and the uncle is hanging clothes on the line. In the second picture a green
coconut falls with a thud from the tall coconut tree and lands right beside the boy. He gets such
a fright that he falls back on the ground. The neighbours turn round to see what the noise was.
In the third picture the boy has picked up the coconut and looks very pleased, but the uncle is
coming out of his gate towards him. In the last picture the boy runs into his house with the
coconut and the uncle follows him into the yard.

Speak 2 What do you think will happen next? Sit in small groups and discuss. One
student from each group will narrate the ending to the whole class.

How to do this task:

1. Sit in a group of four or five.
2. Each one says, in one sentence, what he or she thinks will happen. Do not talk over one
another.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. Notice the two sides. The boy says the coconut fell in his yard. The uncle says it grew on his
tree. Both have a point.
4. Choose the ending your group likes best, and give a reason for choosing it.
5. One person tells the whole class. Speak in full sentences, loudly and slowly. Start with “We
think that…”

What a good ending needs: it must follow on from picture 4; it must show what
each person says; and it should end with the quarrel settled, not just stopped. The
best endings borrow the chapter’s idea — hear both sides, then decide.

Sample answer — one ending (the kind one):

We think that the uncle will follow the boy into the house and call his mother. The boy will

hide behind her with the coconut in his hands.

The uncle will say, “That coconut grew on my tree. It belongs to me.”

The boy will say, “But it fell into our yard, and it nearly hit me on the head.”

The boy’s mother will listen to both of them without shouting. Then she will say, “The tree is

yours, uncle, so the coconut is yours. But the tree leans over our yard, and today a coconut

fell right beside my son. He could have been badly hurt.”

The uncle will look up at the tree and see that this is true. He will say sorry, and promise to

have the ripe coconuts brought down before they fall by themselves. Then he will smile and

tell the boy to keep this one, because it gave him such a fright. The boy will say thank you,

and his mother will give the uncle a glass of water. The two families will be friends again.

Sample answer — a second ending (the Panchayat one):

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

We think the uncle and the boy’s father will start arguing loudly in the yard, and neither will

listen to the other. The neighbours will come out to watch.

At last someone will say, “Do not fight here. Take the matter to the Panchayat.”

On the fixed day the Panchayat will sit under the banyan tree and hear both sides. The uncle

will say the tree is his. The boy’s father will say the tree leans over their yard and its

coconuts fall where his children play.

The village chief will say, “The tree belongs to our neighbour, and so do its coconuts. But a

tree that leans over another man’s yard is his responsibility. He must get the ripe coconuts
picked every month, so that no child is hurt.”

Both men will agree. The uncle will pick the coconuts on time, and he will send one to the

boy’s house each season. Nobody will have to quarrel again.

Why both endings work: Each one hears the boy and the uncle before it decides
anything. Each one ends with a rule the two families can follow next time. An ending
where one side simply shouts louder is not really an ending — the quarrel will just
come back.

Let us Write — Page 100
A. A letter to your friend

LET US WRITE

A Imagine you are the farmer. Write a letter to your friend about the incident and the
decision of the Panchayat. You may begin as follows: My dear friend, Something
happened last week, which I want to tell you. I wanted to buy a well ...

How to write this letter, step by step:

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

1. Put your address and the date at the top right of the page.
2. Begin with the greeting the book gives you: My dear friend,
3. First paragraph — what happened. You bought the field, then the well, and then the
neighbour stopped you.
4. Second paragraph — what you did. You went to the village chief and she called a
Panchayat meeting.
5. Third paragraph — the judgment. Write the chief’s decision in your own words.
6. Fourth paragraph — how you felt, and one line asking after your friend.
7. End with Your loving friend, and your name.

Remember while writing: you are the farmer, so use I, me and my all through. The
letter is about something already over, so use the past tense — bought, stopped,
went, said.

Sample answer:

Page 23 of 41

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
e m.
Rampur Village
m l as
20 August 20__
m .co a g
l a se
g
aMy dear friend,

com
e m . ag
g l as
Something happened last week, which I want to tell you. I wanted to buy a well. You know
a
how hard I have worked on my two fields. This year the crop was good, so I bought a third

co m
m.
field. There was a well right next to it, and my neighbour agreed to sell it to me. I paid him

m as e
.co l
the full price and I was very happy, because at last my fields would have water all the year
a g
se
round. m
g l a
a
m a s
agl
The very next morning I went to the well with my bucket. My neighbour was standing there.
. c o
s e
He would not let me draw even one bucket m of water. When I asked him why, he said, “I sold
a
agl The water still belongs to me.” I did not know what to do.
only the well to you, not the water.

m
I had paid for the well, but I could not use it.
. co
e m
m l as
m .co a g
I did not quarrel with him. I went to our village chief and told her everything. She fixed a

a s eday
agl for a meeting of the Panchayat. On that day the members gathered under the big banyan

tree, and almost the whole village came. Both of us were called. I explained my side, and my
se m
o m g l a
m .c
neighbour repeated his story. The members and the villagers tried to make him see sense, but
a
l a se
ag
he would not change his mind.

co m
.
Then the Panchayat gave its judgment, and it was wonderful. The chief said that it was true
m
m as e
.co g l
that only the well had been sold. My neighbour smiled at that. But then she said that if the
a
se m water was still his, he had no business keeping his water in my well, and that he must
g l a
a c
.
remove it or use it all up at once — or else the water would belong to the owner of the well.

s e m
m a
co agl
He could say nothing after that. He had to pay a fine and say sorry to me.

m .
l a se
g I have my well and my water, and I have learnt that a cheat is
I shouted with joy, myafriend.

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

caught by his own words. Do write and tell me how your family is, and how your paddy is

doing this year.

Your loving friend,

Ramu

What makes this a good letter: it tells the events in the order they happened; it
uses the farmer’s own voice; it puts the judgment in simple words instead of copying
the book line by line; and it ends by asking about the friend, which is what a real
letter always does.

Let us Write — Page 100
B. The suffix ‘-less’

LET US WRITE

B — The idea Read the following sentence. Water is priceless. It means that water is
valuable. It is so valuable that you cannot put a price on it. The ‘less’ at the
end of the word is a suffix. Complete the following by adding the suffix
‘less’ to the given words.

A suffix is a small piece added at the end of a word to make a new word. The suffix -less means
without.

price + less = priceless

(price + without = so precious that no price can be put on it)

Here is the whole exercise, completed:

Page 25 of 41

Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

WORD + SUFFIX = NEW WORD WHAT IT MEANS

Use + less useless of no use at all

Care + less careless without care; not paying attention

Hope + less hopeless without hope; with no chance left

Fear + less fearless without fear; brave

Colour + less colourless without any colour

Spelling tip: nothing is dropped and nothing is changed. Just write the word, then
write less after it. Care + less = careless — with one e and a double s at the end, never
a single one.

B.1 Use + less = ..............................

useless
It means of no use — you cannot do anything with it. Think of the well in our story. Without
water, that well was useless to the farmer.
Sentence of your own: A pen without ink is useless.

B.2 Care + less = ..............................

careless
It means without care — doing something in a hurry, without paying attention.
Sentence of your own: I lost two marks because of a careless mistake in my sums.

Its opposite: add -ful instead of -less, and you get careful — full of care. Many words
work as a pair like this: hopeful / hopeless, useful / useless, fearful / fearless.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B.3 Hope + less = ..............................

hopeless
It means without hope — when there seems to be no chance left at all.
Sentence of your own: When the rain did not come for two months, the farmers felt hopeless.

B.4 Fear + less = ..............................

fearless
It means without fear — brave. It is a word of praise.
Sentence of your own: Rani of Jhansi was a fearless queen.

B.5 Colour + less = ..............................

colourless
It means without any colour. Clean water is colourless — you can see straight through it.
Sentence of your own: Pure water is colourless, but this pond water looks brown.

Spelling: keep the u — colour → colourless. That is the spelling used in Indian and
British English, and it is the one your book uses.

B.6 Make sentences using the new words in your notebook.

How to do it: write five sentences, one for each new word. In each sentence, show what the
word means by what is happening — do not just say “This is useless.”
Sample answer — five sentences:

1. My old torch is useless now, because its bulb has fused.
2. It was careless of me to leave my water bottle in the school bus.
3. The team did not feel hopeless even after losing two matches.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. The fearless boy jumped into the pond to save the puppy.
5. Petrol has a strong smell, but it is almost colourless.

Why suffixes are worth learning: one small ending gives you a whole family of new
words. Once you know -less means “without”, you can guess homeless, endless,
sleepless, restless and harmless without being told.

Let us Listen — Pages 101–102
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa — listen and choose the correct option

LET US LISTEN

Listen — the passage Listen to your teacher read out this passage and answer the
questions by choosing the correct option. Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa

How this task works: your teacher reads the passage aloud. You listen — you do not read it.
Then you tick the right option for each of the five questions.
How to listen well:

1. Put your pen down and look at the teacher while she reads.
2. Listen for the names and the places first. They are what most questions ask about.
3. Listen for any comparison — a sentence with the word like in it. That is nearly always a
question.
4. If you miss something, do not panic. Keep listening; do not go back in your mind.

Here is the passage, printed on page 101, so that you can check your answers afterwards.

Page 28 of 41

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
e m.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
g
A long time ago, in a small village of West Bengal, there lived a kind and wise man named
aSri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He loved to talk to people about God and taught that all

com
. ag
religions are like rivers—they may take different paths, but they all lead to the same ocean.
e m
g l as
He lived a simple life, wearing plain clothes and eating very little, but his smile and loving

words made everyone feel special. a

co m
em.
m l as
.co
One day, a curious young boy named Naren came to meet him. Ramakrishna saw something
a g
a s em
special in Naren and became his teacher. He taught Naren about courage, kindness, and how

a gl to find peace within.
m a s
e
. c o
m Swami Vivekananda, spreading his teacher’s agl
s
Naren later grew up to become the famous
a
agl Ramakrishna’s teachings inspire many people everywhere.
wisdom to the world. Even today,

co m
m .
m as e
The picture at the heart of the passage: all religions are like rivers. Rivers start in

.co a g l
different places and take different paths, but every one of them reaches the same

s e m Comparing two unlike things with the word like is called a simile. Here the
sea.

ag la simile says that people may pray in different ways and still be going to the same
place.
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
1 agl
1. Where was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa born? a. A colony in Kolkata. b. A small
village in West Bengal. c. A mountain in the Himalayas. d. A forest in Kerala.

co m
m .
m village in West Bengal. as e
l

cosmall
b..A a g
asem
agl
The passage begins, “A long time ago, in a small village of West Bengal, there lived a kind and
wise man named Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.”
.c
s e m
m a
co agl
a is wrong — Kolkata is a big city, and the passage says a small village.

m .
as e
c is wrong — the Himalayas are not mentioned at all.

a g l
d is wrong — Kerala is far away in the south; the passage says West Bengal.

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Did you know? The village was called Kamarpukur, in West Bengal.

2 2. Who was the curious boy that became Sri Ramakrishna’s student? a. Mahatma
Gandhi b. Swami Vivekananda (Naren) c. Rabindranath Tagore d. Sri Aurobindo

b. Swami Vivekananda (Naren).
The passage says, “a curious young boy named Naren came to meet him… Naren later grew up
to become the famous Swami Vivekananda.” Naren was his boyhood name; Swami Vivekananda
is the name the world knows him by.

The other three were all great Indians, but not this teacher’s student: Mahatma
Gandhi led our freedom movement; Rabindranath Tagore was a poet who wrote our
national anthem; Sri Aurobindo was a thinker of Puducherry.

3 3. What kind of life did Sri Ramakrishna live? a. A life full of luxury, b. A simple and
loving life. c. A life of traveling. d. A secretive life.

b. A simple and loving life.
The passage says, “He lived a simple life, wearing plain clothes and eating very little, but his
smile and loving words made everyone feel special.” Plain clothes and very little food make it
simple; the smile and the kind words make it loving.

a is the exact opposite — luxury means costly comforts.
c is wrong — the travelling was done by his student, not by him.
d is wrong — secretive means hiding things. He talked openly to everyone.

4 4. What did Sri Ramakrishna compare religions to? a. Trees in a forest b. Stars in the
sky c. Rivers flowing to the ocean d. Books in a library

c. Rivers flowing to the ocean.
The passage says he “taught that all religions are like rivers—they may take different paths, but
they all lead to the same ocean.”

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What he meant: The Ganga, the Godavari and the Kaveri all start in different places
and flow through different states. In the end every one of them reaches the sea. In
the same way, he said, people follow different religions but are all moving towards
the same God. It is a way of saying that no path need quarrel with another.

5 5. What did Sri Ramakrishna teach Naren? a. To find a teacher b. To become wealthy
c. To travel the world d. To find peace

d. To find peace.
The passage says, “He taught Naren about courage, kindness, and how to find peace within.”
The words peace within mean a quiet, steady mind — peace inside you, not around you.

a is wrong — Naren had already found his teacher.
b is wrong — Sri Ramakrishna himself owned almost nothing.
c is wrong — Naren did travel the world later, but that is not what he was taught here.

Did You Know? (page 102) The banyan tree — the tree the Panchayat met under —
is the national tree of India. It can live for over 200 years and grow to cover several
acres of land. Its roots grow down from the branches and become new trunks, so
one tree ends up looking like a whole forest by itself.

Let us Do — Page 103
A. The Neem Tree — read and answer

LET US DO

A — The passage Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions. The
Neem Tree

Read the passage twice before you answer. The first time, read it for the story. The second time,
read it with a pencil and underline anything that says what the neem is used for — almost every
question comes from those lines.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The Neem Tree

You must have seen a neem tree near your house, or near the school, or beside the road.
Almost everyone can recognise a neem tree.

The neem is a magic medicine tree because almost every part of the tree is used for

medicine.

Sometimes, sick people are given neem juice to drink. People use the twigs of the neem tree

as a toothbrush to clean their teeth. Burn some dry neem leaves inside the house and see the

mosquitoes disappear! When you store winter clothing or blankets, keep dry neem leaves
between them. This helps keep away insects. When you store rice, keep dry neem leaves at

the bottom of the rice bin. This keeps pests away.

The five uses in one line each: neem juice to drink when ill · neem twigs as a
toothbrush · burnt dry leaves to drive away mosquitoes · dry leaves among stored
clothes to keep insects out · dry leaves in the rice bin to keep pests away.

A.1 1. Where can you find neem trees?

Neem trees can be found near our houses, near the school and beside the road.
The passage begins with these very places: “You must have seen a neem tree near your house,
or near the school, or beside the road.” It also says, “Almost everyone can recognise a neem
tree” — which tells us the tree grows almost everywhere in India, so nearly every child has seen
one.

A.2 2. Why do you think ‘neem’ is called a magic tree?

The neem is called a magic tree because almost every part of it is used as medicine.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The passage says it in so many words: “The neem is a magic medicine tree because almost every
part of the tree is used for medicine.”
Look at how many parts do a job:

Its juice is given to sick people to drink.
Its twigs are used as a toothbrush.
Its dry leaves drive away mosquitoes when they are burnt.
Its dry leaves keep insects out of stored clothes and pests out of stored rice.

Why the word “magic” is used: It is not real magic. It is a way of saying that one
ordinary tree, growing free by the roadside, does the work of a medicine shop, a
toothbrush, a mosquito coil and a pest killer. Nothing has to be bought.

A.3 3. What happens when dry neem leaves are burnt?

When dry neem leaves are burnt inside the house, the mosquitoes go away.
The passage says, “Burn some dry neem leaves inside the house and see the mosquitoes
disappear!” The smoke of the burning leaves drives them out.

Do this only with a grown-up. Anything that is burnt indoors needs an adult beside
you and an open window.

A.4 4. Why do people put neem leaves in clothes and rice containers?

People put dry neem leaves in stored clothes to keep insects away, and in the rice bin to
keep pests away.
The passage gives both reasons:

Clothes: “When you store winter clothing or blankets, keep dry neem leaves between them.
This helps keep away insects.”
Rice: “When you store rice, keep dry neem leaves at the bottom of the rice bin. This keeps
pests away.”

Why it works: Insects find the smell of neem bitter and unpleasant, so they stay
away from whatever it is kept with. Winter clothes lie packed away for months and
rice sits in the bin for weeks — that is exactly when insects get at them.

Page 33 of 41

ase
Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
New word: pests are small insects or animals that spoil our food or crops.

m as e
.co a g l
a s em
aA.5gl 5. How are neem twigs used?

co m
. ag

se m
l a
Neem twigs are used as a toothbrush to clean the teeth.
g of the neem tree as a toothbrush to clean their teeth.”
The passage says, “People use the a
twigs
A twig is a short, thin stick from a branch. You chew one end until it goes soft like a brush, and

co m
m.
then rub it on your teeth.

o m l a se
g bitter, but it cleans
.c Indian homes this neem twig is called a datun. It tastes
a
m
In many
se teeth well and costs nothing.
athe
agl
a s
. com from the following options: a. Appear b. agl
em
6. Find the meaning of the word ‘disappear’
s
A.6
a
agl
Vanish c. Grow d. Fly

co m

m .
e
b. Vanish
m l as
.co a g
To disappear is to go out of sight — to vanish. In the passage, when the dry leaves are burnt, the

a s em
mosquitoes disappear; that is, they are no longer there to be seen.

agl a. Appear is the opposite — it means to come into sight.
c. Grow means to get bigger. That has nothing to do with going out of sight.
se m
com g l a
.
d. Fly is what mosquitoes do all the time, whether or not the leaves are burnt.
m a
ase
agl
A useful clue: the little piece dis- at the front of a word usually turns it into its
opposite — appear / disappear, honest / dishonest, obey / disobey, like / dislike. It is

co m
.
called a prefix, because it is added at the front, just as a suffix is added at the end.

em
m l as
.co a g
a s em
agl A.7 7. Find the word in the passage which means ‘a short stick’: a. Tree b. Part c. Twig d.
Leaf
.c
s e m
m a
e m . co agl
c. Twig
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A twig is a short, thin stick that grows out of a branch. The passage uses it here: “People use the
twigs of the neem tree as a toothbrush.”

a. Tree is the whole plant, not a stick.
b. Part just means a piece of something — it does not mean a stick.
d. Leaf is flat and green. A leaf grows on a twig.

From big to small: tree → trunk → branch → twig → leaf.

Let us Do — Page 104

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Point out 11 differences in the two pictures

LET US DO

B Point out 11 differences in the two pictures given below. Work in pairs and write
down the 11 differences in your notebook.

The two pictures printed on page 104, the first above and the second below.

What the two pictures show. A woman in a yellow sari sits on the steps of her house. She is

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

holding a round hand fan (a pankha) with a bird painted on it. On the left of the courtyard is a
tulsi plant growing in a little red-and-yellow shrine. A boundary wall runs behind her. On the
right is the door of the house, with a doormat and a pair of slippers on it. The two pictures look
the same at first — but eleven small things have been changed.
Here are all eleven differences.

# WHERE TO LOOK FIRST PICTURE (TOP) SECOND PICTURE
(BOTTOM)

1 The sun in the sky The sun has long rays shooting The sun is a plain circle. There are
out all around it, with little no rays and no sparkles.
sparkles.

2 The tulsi plant The plant is thick and bushy, full The plant is thin, with far fewer
of leaves. leaves.

3 The hand fan she is The rim around the fan is blue. The rim around the fan is yellow.
holding

4 Her hair Her hair is tied into a bun at the There is no bun. The hair is loose
back of her head. behind her.

5 Her nose She is wearing a nose ring. She is wearing no nose ring.

6 The pallu over her The blue border has pink The blue border has dark blue
shoulder diamond-shaped flowers on it. paisley (mango-shaped) motifs on
it.

7 The end of the pallu, Again pink diamond flowers. Again blue paisley motifs.
hanging over her knee

8 The bottom border of Pink diamonds on the blue Blue paisleys on the blue border.
the sari border.

9 Just above that border The yellow sari meets the blue There is an extra wide pink band
border straight away. between the yellow and the blue.

10 The steps she is sitting There are three steps, and her There are only two steps, and her
on feet rest on the lowest one. feet rest on the ground.

11 The slippers on the A pair of blue rubber chappals. A pair of yellow slippers.
doormat

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

How to hunt for differences without missing any:

1. Do not let your eyes wander. Split each picture into four parts in your mind —
top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right.
2. Compare one part at a time. Look at the top left of the first picture, then the top
left of the second. Then move on.
3. Check the four kinds of change: something missing (the bun, the nose ring, the
rays), something a different colour (the fan, the slippers), a different pattern (the
sari borders), and a different number (three steps or two).
4. Tick each one off as you find it, so that you do not count the same difference
twice.

If your list is a little different: Some children count the four sari changes (numbers
6, 7, 8 and 9) as one big difference, and then find another one somewhere else. Your
teacher will accept any difference you can actually point to in both pictures. What
matters is that you can show it, not that your words match mine.

Write it in full sentences. Do not write “fan blue, fan yellow”. Write: In the first
picture the hand fan has a blue rim, but in the second picture the rim is yellow. That is
how the writing part of this task is marked.

Chapter at a glance
Who is in the story. There are four people who matter: the farmer, who works hard and
buys land bit by bit; his neighbour, who is cunning — that means clever in a tricky,
dishonest way; the village chief, who is a woman and who heads the Panchayat; and the
villagers, who come to watch and who try to reason with the cunning man.
What happens first. The farmer has two fields. He works very hard, he prospers — that
means he grows better off — and he buys a third field. Next to that field there is a well. He
needs water for his crops, so he buys the well from his neighbour.
The trick. The next day the neighbour is standing at the well. He will not let the farmer
draw water. He says, “I sold only the well to you, not the water. The water still belongs to
me.” This is the trick the whole story turns on.
What a Panchayat is. A gram panchayat is the elected council of a village or a group of
villages. The villagers vote and choose its members; the head is called the sarpanch or
village chief. It looks after local matters — water, roads, street lights, cleanliness — and it
often helps neighbours settle small disagreements by hearing both of them. It is not a court
of law. Serious crimes go to the police and to the courts, not to the Panchayat.

Page 38 of 41

ase
Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The meeting. The village chief fixes a day. The Panchayat members gather under the
co m
se
banyan tree in the centre of the village. Both men are summoned — that means ordered to
m.
c o m g l a
come. Most of the villagers are there too, so everything is said in the open where everyone
can hear .it. a
m
sesides are heard. The farmer explains what happened. The neighbour repeats his
l a
agclaim word for word. The members and the villagers try to reason with him, but he is
Both

m
adamant — he refuses to change his mind. Only then do the members talk among

. co ag
m
themselves and stand up to give the judgment.

l a se
The judgment. The chief agrees with the neighbour on one point: it is true that only the
ag Then comes the turn: if the water is still his, he has no
well was sold. The neighbour smiles.
business storing his water in another man’s well. He must remove it or use it up at once —

co m
m.
and if he does not, the water belongs to the owner of the well. His own argument is turned
around and used against him.
m as e
.co a g l
How it ends, and what it means. The farmer shouts with joy. The neighbour has to pay a

a s
fineemand apologise. The villagers praise the wisdom of the Panchayat. The lesson is plain:
a gl cheating leads nowhere, and a fair decision is one that listens to both sides first and then
follows the argument all the way to the end.

a s
comunder, with, to, for); C puts five jumbled events agl
The language work. Let us Learn A matches six chapter words to their meanings; B fills in

m .
issaefour-picture story about a fallen coconut. Let us Write A
eleven prepositions (in, at, by, after, before,
in the right order. Let us Speak a
gl -less, meaning “without”. Let us Listen is a passage
is a letter, and B teaches theasuffix
about Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa with five questions. Let us Do A is a reading passage

co m
.
about the neem tree, and B is a spot-the-difference puzzle with eleven differences.
e m
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
ag
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT APPEARS A SENTENCE OF YOUR
OWN

panchayat The elected council of a village. New Words, page 94 · “The Our panchayat has put a
The villagers choose its members, village chief fixed a day for a new hand pump near the
and it settles local matters. meeting of the Panchayat.” school.

adamant Refusing to change your mind, New Words · “he was adamant” He was adamant that he
however much people try. would not say sorry.

cunning Clever in a tricky, dishonest way. New Words · “The neighbour The cunning fox tricked
was a cunning man.” the crow.

apologise To say sorry for something wrong New Words · “He had to pay a I had to apologise for
you have done. fine as well as apologise to the breaking my friend’s
farmer.” pencil.

wisdom The good sense to judge a matter New Words · “The villagers My grandmother settles
rightly and fairly. praised the wisdom of the our quarrels with great
Panchayat.” wisdom.

prospered Grew better off; began to earn “When he prospered, he The shop prospered after
well. bought another field.” the new road was built.

summoned Ordered to come to a particular “Both the farmer and his The two boys were
place. neighbour were summoned.” summoned to the head
teacher’s room.

judgment A decision made by a group or by “Then they stood up to give the Everyone accepted the
a judge after hearing a matter. judgment.” judgment of the
panchayat.

reason To try to make someone see sense “The members … tried to I tried to reason with my
(with) by talking calmly. reason with him.” little brother, but he kept
crying.

relieved Glad because a worry is over. “The farmer was relieved and I was relieved when I
gave a shout of joy.” found my lost bag.

fine Money you must pay as a “He had to pay a fine.” He paid a fine for
punishment. throwing rubbish on the
road.

suffix A small part added to the end of a Let us Write, B · price + less = Adding the suffix -less to
word to make a new word — like priceless fear gives fearless.
-less, meaning “without”.

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Class 5 English Chapter 8 The Decision of the Panchayat AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT APPEARS A SENTENCE OF YOUR
OWN

banyan A very large Indian tree whose “gathered under the banyan The old men sit and talk
tree branches send roots down to the tree in the centre of the village” under the banyan tree.
ground. It is our national tree.

twig A short, thin stick that grows out Let us Do, A · “People use the She cleaned her teeth
of a branch. twigs of the neem tree as a with a neem twig.
toothbrush”

Page 41 of 41