Comprehension 02, The Monsoon and the Farmer

Passage (authored)

For the Indian farmer, the calendar that matters is not the one on the wall but the one written in the sky. The arrival of the monsoon, usually over the southern coast in the first days of June and then sweeping north over the following weeks, decides whether the year will bring plenty or hardship. A timely and generous monsoon fills the reservoirs, recharges the wells, and lets the farmer sow with confidence; a late, weak or broken monsoon withers the standing crop and empties the rural market on which much of the wider economy still leans. This dependence is both a blessing and a trap. It is a blessing because the rains, when they come, water a vast land for free; it is a trap because a single failed season can push a marginal household from modest comfort into debt. The remedy is not to curse the sky but to soften the dependence: to store water against the dry years, to spread irrigation beyond the rain-fed tracts, to offer the farmer insurance against a bad season, and to breed crops that ask for less water. A country cannot command the monsoon, but it can decide how much of its fate it leaves in the monsoon's hands.

Questions

1. Why does the author say the calendar that matters to the farmer is written in the sky, not on the wall?
2. Describe, in your own words, the difference a good and a bad monsoon make to the farmer.
3. Explain what the author means by calling the dependence on the monsoon "both a blessing and a trap".
4. What four remedies does the author suggest for softening the dependence?
5. What is the central message of the passage in one sentence?

Model answers

1. The author means that the farmer's fortunes depend on the timing and strength of the rains rather than on dates fixed by a calendar; nature, not the schedule on the wall, governs the agricultural year. (Answer in your own words.)
2. A good monsoon fills reservoirs, recharges groundwater and allows confident sowing, bringing a year of plenty; a poor, late or interrupted monsoon damages the crop and weakens the rural economy, bringing hardship.
3. The dependence is a blessing because the monsoon waters a vast land at no cost when it arrives well; it is a trap because the same dependence means a single failed season can push a poor household into debt. The phrase captures the double-edged nature of relying on the rains.
4. The four remedies are: storing water for dry years, extending irrigation beyond rain-fed areas, providing crop insurance against bad seasons, and breeding crops that need less water.
5. India cannot control the monsoon, but through water storage, irrigation, insurance and better crops it can reduce how much of its fate depends on the rains.

Why these answers score

• Question 3 is partly inferential; the answer explains the metaphor rather than repeating it.
• Question 4 lists exactly four items as asked, no padding.
• The one-sentence message in question 5 captures the thesis, not a side detail.