AHSEC (ASSEB) Class 11 English Supplementary Reader Snapshots – Chapter 6 Solutions – The Ghat of the Only World | Assam Eduverse
Chapter Overview:
Assam Eduverse presents the summary and solutions of Class 11 English (AHSEC/ASSEB) – Snapshots (Supplementary Reader), Chapter 6: The Ghat of the Only World by Amitav Ghosh. This chapter from the Class 11 Snapshots Supplementary Reader is a poignant memoir that explores friendship, mortality, cultural identity, and memory, making it significant for exam preparation with both summary and textbook solutions.
The story of The Ghat of the Only World narrates the deep friendship between Amitav Ghosh and the poet Agha Shahid Ali, who is suffering from a malignant brain tumor. Shahid requests Ghosh to write about him after his death, as a way to honor their bond. Ghosh recounts their shared passions, including food, music, and a playful indifference to cricket, portraying Shahid as a vibrant, generous, and gregarious man. Through anecdotes, Ghosh reveals Shahid’s humor and zest for life, even while facing a terminal illness, and his deep attachment to Kashmir, which inspired much of his poetry.
Chapter 6: The Ghat of the Only World emphasizes the power of friendship, memory, and cultural roots. For Class 11 students (AHSEC/ASSEB), it provides a reflective and emotional narrative while offering detailed summary and solutions to all textbook questions, making it an essential chapter in the Snapshots (Supplementary Reader).
AHSEC (ASSEB) Class 11 English Supplementary Reader Snapshots – Chapter 6: The Ghat of the Only World Solutions & Question Answers
📖 Summary of The Ghat of the Only World
Chapter 6 – Class 11 Snapshots (Supplementary Reader)
This memoir by Amitav Ghosh narrates his deep friendship with the poet Agha Shahid Ali, who is suffering from a malignant brain tumor. Shahid asks Ghosh to write about him after his death to honor their bond through the written word. The memoir recounts the vibrant experiences they shared, including food, music, and a mutual indifference to cricket.
Ghosh portrays Shahid as a generous, humorous, and gregarious man who faced his illness with courage and festivity. He highlights Shahid’s profound attachment to Kashmir, which influenced much of his poetry. Through anecdotes and reflections, Ghosh captures both the joy and the melancholy of their friendship, showing how humor and companionship sustained Shahid during his final days.
The memoir ends with Shahid’s peaceful death, leaving Ghosh to reflect on the void created by the loss of a dear friend. It emphasizes the enduring power of friendship, memory, and cultural identity, offering students insights into human emotions and relationships.
Conclusion: Chapter 6 illustrates how companionship, shared passions, and cultural roots can provide strength and meaning even in the face of mortality.
— From the book Snapshots (Supplementary Reader)
READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1. What impressions of Shahid do you gather from the piece?
Answer: From the piece, Shahid appears as a vibrant and cheerful personality who loved poetry, laughter, and gatherings. Even while battling illness, he remained courageous, refusing to see himself as a victim and facing hardships with humor and calmness. He was generous and caring, evident in the way he trusted his friend to write about him and wished not to trouble his family after his death. His deep love for Kashmir inspired his art, and he strongly believed in inclusiveness and harmony. Shahid separated politics from religion and valued an ecumenical outlook, as shown when his parents supported him in building a Hindu temple in his room during childhood. Overall, he comes across as resilient, warm-hearted, and deeply rooted in culture and friendship.
Q2. How do Shahid and the writer react to the knowledge that Shahid is going to die?
Answer: Shahid’s reaction to his impending death is one of remarkable calmness and acceptance. He is lucid and direct about it from the beginning, and even speaks about it with a “light, to the point of jocularity” tone. He uses humor and social gatherings to keep himself from being depressed. He makes practical decisions, like deciding where to be buried, and finds peace in the love of his family and the thought of reuniting with his mother.
The writer’s reaction, in contrast, is one of initial shock and silent discomfort. He struggles to find the right words, initially offering empty reassurances like “You’ll be fine”. He feels a sense of inadequacy in fulfilling Shahid’s request to write about him, but he accepts the charge and begins to meticulously record his memories, which is his way of processing the impending loss.
Q3. Look up the dictionary for the meaning of the word ‘diaspora’. What do you understand of the Indian diaspora from this piece?
Answer: The word ‘diaspora’ refers to the dispersion of any people from their original homeland. From this piece, I understand the Indian diaspora as a community that, while physically separated from its homeland, maintains strong cultural and personal connections.
Shahid’s life reflects this: he lives mainly in America after 1975 but travels to Srinagar every summer to visit his parents. He and the writer, along with other friends, bond over shared loves like food (rogan josh), music (Roshanara Begum, Kishore Kumar), and old Bombay films. Shahid’s apartment is a hub for writers, students, and relatives from different continents, all drawn together by a shared cultural heritage and sense of community. The piece suggests that the diaspora creates a “space where we can all come together because of the good things” from home.
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