NCERT Book Class 10 English (Foot Prints Without feet) Chapter 8 Bholi

Bholi 8
F r o m h er v e r y c h i ldh o o d B h o li w a s
n e gle ct e d a t h o m e . W h y d i d h er t e a c h e r
t a k e sp e c ia l in t er e st in h e r ? D i d B h o li
m ea su r e u p t o h e r te a c h er ’ s e x p ec ta ti o n s?

READ AND FIND OUT
• Why is Bholi’s father worried about her?
• For what unusual reasons is Bholi sent to school?

HER name was Sulekha, but since her childhood everyone had been
calling her Bholi, the simpleton.
She was the fourth daughter of Numberdar Ramlal. When she was
ten months old, she had fallen off the cot on her head and perhaps it
had damaged some part of her brain. That was why she remained a
backward child and came to be known as Bholi, the simpleton.
At birth, the child was very fair and pretty. But when she was two
years old, she had an attack of small-pox. Only the eyes were saved,
but the entire body was permanently disfigured by deep black pock-
marks. Little Sulekha could not speak till she was five, and when at
last she learnt to speak, she stammered. The other children often
made fun of her and mimicked her. As a result, she talked very little.
Ramlal had seven children — three sons and four daughters, and
the youngest of them was Bholi. It was a prosperous farmer’s household
and there was plenty to eat and drink. All the children except Bholi
were healthy and strong. The sons had been sent to the city to study in
schools and later in colleges. Of the daughters, Radha, the eldest, had
already been married. The second daughter Mangla’s marriage had also
been settled, and when that was done, Ramlal would think of the third,
Champa. They were good-looking, healthy girls, and it was not difficult
to find bridegrooms for them.
But Ramlal was worried about Bholi. She had neither good looks
nor intelligence.