After you’ve mastered the Indigo summary, it’s time to tackle the Indigo reading comprehension of important passages.
Reading comprehension of paragraphs of Indigo in class 12 English Flamingo will enhance the student’s reading skills and understanding of Indigo’s essence and ultimately clear all doubts about Indigo. Thus, the reading comprehension of Indigo will boost their scores in CBSE and other boards’ examinations. The critical analysis of important phrases in Indigo will let you understand the reading comprehension and the plot of the Indian Freedom Movement of the story. Your securing in the class 12 examination will be better.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English Flamingo
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
Oxford Dictionary of English defines comprehension as a noun that explains formal comprehension and will test your spoken and written language.
Reading Comprehension Passages
The reading comprehension passages are academic in content and style, and we will be doing reading comprehension of passages of Indigo. Reading comprehension includes topics from science and the arts. It is the practise of reading Indigo textbooks, skimming them, and getting the main ideas from them.
According to Wren and Martin, “a comprehension exercise can be defined as a passage upon which questions are set to test the student’s ability to understand the content of the given text and to infer information and meanings from it.” It means reading comprehension of the passage of Indigo, which means understanding of what you have read.
While doing reading comprehension of Indigo passages, keep the following steps in mind:
Step 1: Before looking at the questions, skim as quickly as possible to determine the main idea. At this point, don’t be concerned about unfamiliar words.
Step 2: Highlight the words you don’t understand to help you understand the passage completely. This will allow you to answer the vocabulary questions more quickly.
Step 3: Carefully read the words. It is recommended that you keep the order of the questions on the test paper. Read the section relevant to the answer carefully.
Step 4: Concentrate on the vocabulary items and find out the meanings of unfamiliar words from the context.
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
Indigo Class 12 English Flamingo
The critical analysis of important phrases in Indigo is the gateway to understanding the main ideas and helps solve comprehension questions as Flamingo comes under the detailed study. Hence, students are required to take this topic seriously to be comfortable in the final exams of CBSE and other boards’ examinations of class 12 English.
1. he said, “I will tell you how it
happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British.
It was in 1917.”
Critical Analysis:
As per the writer, Louis Fischer, of Indigo, Gandhi decided in 1917 that British rule must be ended.
2. Gandhi recounted, “a peasant came up to me
looking like any other peasant in India, poor and emaciated,
and said, ‘I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran,
and I want you to come to my district’!’’
Critical Analysis:
Gandhi gave a heart-touching picture of Indian farmers by giving the example of Rajkumar Shukla. Indian farmers are poor and weak.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
3. Gandhi had never heard of the place. It was in the foothills of the towering
The Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal.
Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran
peasants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was one
of them. He was illiterate but resolute. He had come to the Congress session to complain about the injustice of the
landlord system in Bihar
Critical Analysis:
Gandhi had never been to Champaran before, which is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas near the kingdom of Nepal. He considers Rajkumar Shukla a determined farmer who came to meet Gandhiji to take him to Champaran, where farmers were exploited by the landlords.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
4. There Shukla led him to
the house of a lawyer named
Rajendra Prasad who later became
President of the Congress party and
of India. Rajendra Prasad was out
of town, but the servants knew
Shukla as a poor yeoman who
pestered their master to help the
indigo sharecroppers. But Gandhi
was not permitted to draw water
from the well lest some drops from his bucket pollute the entire
source; how did they know that he was not an untouchable?
Critical Analysis:
After reaching Bihar, Gandhi reached the house of Rajendra Prasad, who later became the President of India. Here, the author explains how untouchability prevailed in an educated person’s house. Gandhi was considered an untouchable and was not allowed to fetch water from the well.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
5. The news of Gandhi’s
advent and of the nature of
his mission spread quickly
through Muzzafarpur and to
Champaran. Sharecroppers
from Champaran began
arriving on foot and by
conveyance to see their
champion. Muzzafarpur lawyers
called on Gandhi to brief him;
Critical Analysis:
The news of Gandhi’s arrival spread like fire in Champaran, and people gathered to support the movement of sharecroppers led by Gandhiji.
6. He said, ‘‘I have
concluded that we
should stop going to law courts.
Taking such cases to the courts
does a little good. Where the peasants
are so crushed and fear-stricken,
law courts are useless. The real relief
for them is to be free from fear.’’
Critical Analysis:
Gandhiji advised them to stop fighting the case of sharecroppers in the court of law where the real motto was supposed to be endangered as people were afraid of landlords. Gandhi aimed to relieve the farmers from the fear of landlords.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
7. The chief commercial crop was indigo. The landlords
compelled all tenants to plant three twentieths or 15 percent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire
indigo harvest as rent. This was done by a long-term contract.
Presently, the landlords learned
that Germany had developed
synthetic indigo. They, thereupon,
obtained agreements from the
sharecroppers to pay them
compensation for being released
from the 15 percent arrangement.
Critical Analysis:
The whole story revolves around the Indigo, which is the commercial crop of sharecroppers, and they return it to landlords as a rent of the land, which was happening due to a long contract. The value of indigo decreased after the development of synthetic indigo in Germany. This dispute became the cause of the movement in Champaran.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
8. Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants.
They did not know Gandhi’s record in South Africa. They
had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them
was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous
demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was
the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
Critical Analysis:
Thus, Motihari became the town of the struggle for the sharecroppers, and this was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
9. Gandhi protested against the delay. He read a statement
pleading guilty. He was involved, he told the court, in a
“conflict of duties”— on the one hand, not to set a bad example
as a lawbreaker; on the other hand, to render the
“humanitarian and national service” for which he had come.
He disregarded the order to leave, “not for want of respect for
lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our
being, the voice of conscience”. He asked about the penalty due
Critical Analysis:
Gandhi had never violated the rule of law; therefore, he asked the court to punish him for the violation of the rule.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
10. “Thinking probably that he would not give
way, the representative of the planters offered to refund to
the extent of 25 percent, and to his amazement Mr. Gandhi
took him at his word, thus breaking the deadlock.”
This settlement was adopted unanimously by the
commission. Gandhi explained that the amount of the
refund was less important than the fact that the landlords
had been obliged to surrender part of the money and, with
it, part of their prestige. Therefore, as far as the peasants
were concerned, the planters behaved as lords above
the law. Now the peasant saw that he had rights and
defenders. He learned courage.
Critical Analysis:
Gandhiji accepted only a 25 percent refund. He knew that money was not so important as the courage to fight against the oppression of the landlords. Thus, the farmer learned courage.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
11. Gandhi never contented himself with large political or
economic solutions. He saw the cultural and social
backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to
do something about it immediately.
Critical Analysis:
Gandhi never considered himself a big political leader and he was a believer in complete solutions to social problems.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
12. The Champaran episode was a turning-point in
Gandhi’s life. ‘‘What I did,” he explained, “was a very
ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order
me about in my own country.”
But Champaran did not begin as an act of defiance. It
grew out of an attempt to alleviate the distress of large
numbers of poor peasants. This was the typical Gandhi
pattern — his politics were intertwined with the practical,
day-to-day problems of the millions. His was not loyalty
to abstractions; it was a loyalty to living, human beings.
Critical Analysis:
The Champaran incident was a watershed moment in Gandhi’s life. Gandhi believed in the ordinary, and the Champaran episode was an attempt to alleviate the suffering of a large number of people. He believed in the practical problems that millions of people face daily.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Critical Analysis of Important Phrases: The Right Tool to Understand Indigo Reading Comprehension
13. “He had read our minds correctly,’’ Rajendra Prasad
comments, “and we had no reply… Gandhi in this way taught
us a lesson in self-reliance’’.
Self-reliance, Indian independence, and help to
sharecroppers were all bound together
Critical Analysis:
Gandhi taught people a lesson in “self-reliance’’. He believed that Self-reliance, Indian independence, and helping to
sharecroppers were all bound together.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Reading Comprehension to Understand the main ideas of Indigo
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
Reading paragraphs and answering the questions related to the paragraphs will help the students understand the reading comprehension, textual questions, and MCQ questions and answers of Indigo.
Indigo Reading Comprehension NCERT Solutions Class 12 English
Gandhi recounted, “a peasant came up to me
looking like any other peasant in India, poor and emaciated,
and said, ‘I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran,
and I want you to come to my district’!’’
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- Recounted: Remembered
- Emaciated: Weak
Q.1. What did Gandhiji say about a farmer?
Ans. Gandhiji said that the farmer was poor and emaciated.
Q.2. How was Rajkumar Shukla?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was very weak.
Q.3. Who was Rajkumar Shukla?
Ans. He was a sharecropper from Champaran.
Q.4. What did Rajkumar Shukla want from Gandhiji?
Ans. He wanted Gandhiji to accompany him to Champaran.
Q.5.Who is the author of the above lines?
Ans. Louis Fischer is the author of Indigo.
Q.6. What is the name of the chapter?
Ans. The name of the chapter is Indigo.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
2. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
Gandhi had never heard of the place. It was in the foothills of the towering
The Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal.
Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran
peasants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was one
of them. He was illiterate but resolute. He had come to the Congress session to complain about the injustice of the
landlord system in Bihar
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- foothills: base
- illiterate: no education, ignorant
- resolute: determined
- injustice: exploited
Q.1. What did Gandhiji never hear about?
Ans. He had never heard of Champaran.
Q.2. Where is Champaran situated?
Ans. Champaran is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Q.3. What was the ancient arrangement in Champaran?
Ans. The Champaran peasants were sharecroppers and had to grow indigo.
Q.4. Who were the Champaran peasants?
Ans. The farmers of Champaran were sharecroppers.
Q.5. How was Rajkumar Shukla?
Ans. He was illiterate but resolute.
Q.6. Why did Rajkumar Shukla come to the Congress session?
Ans. He came to take Gandhiji with him to Champaran.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
3. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
There Shukla led him to
the house of a lawyer named
Rajendra Prasad who later became
President of the Congress party and
of India. Rajendra Prasad was out
of town, but the servants knew
Shukla as a poor yeoman who
pestered their master to help the
indigo sharecroppers. But Gandhi
was not permitted to draw water
from the well lest some drops from his bucket pollute the entire
source; how did they know that he was not an untouchable?
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- yeoman: simple
- pestered: harassed
- untouchable: low caste
Q.1. Where did Shukla take Gandhiji?
Ans. He took Gandhiji to Rajendra Prasad’s house.
Q.2. Who was Rajendra Prasad?
Ans. Rajendra Prasad was a lawyer.
Q.3. What did the servant think of Shukla?
Ans. The servant thought Shukla was a yeoman.
Q.4. Why did the servant not allow Gandhiji to fetch water from the well?
Ans. The servant thought of Gandhiji as an untouchable.
Q.5. Who became the first President of India?
Ans. Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
4. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
The news of Gandhi’s
advent and of the nature of
his mission spread quickly
through Muzzafarpur and to
Champaran. Sharecroppers
from Champaran began
arriving on foot and by
conveyance to see their
champion. Muzzafarpur lawyers
called on Gandhi to brief him;
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- advent: entry
- conveyance: vehicle
Q.1. What was the news?
Ans. It was the news of Gandhiji’s arrival in Champaran.
Q.2. What did the farmers do when Gandhiji arrived in Muzzafarpur?
Ans. They gathered in big numbers to support Gandhiji.
Q.3. Who were the sharecroppers?
Ans. The peasants of Champaran were the sharecroppers.
Q.4. What did the lawyers do?
Ans. They met Gandhiji and briefed him about the case of sharecroppers.
Q.5. What is the name of the author?
Ans. Louis Fischer is the author of Indigo.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
4. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
He said, ‘‘I have
conclude that we
should stop going to law courts.
Taking such cases to the courts
does a little good. Where the peasants
are so crushed and fear-stricken,
law courts are useless. The real relief
for them is to be free from fear.’’
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- does a little good: useless
- crushed: beaten
- fear-stricken: full of fear
Q.1. What questions did Gandhiji pose to the lawyers?
Ans. Gandhiji asked the lawyers not to fight the case of sharecroppers in court.
Q.2. Is there any benefit to fighting the case in the courts?
Ans. No, there was no benefit to fighting the case in the courts.
Q.3. Why were the sharecroppers fear-stricken?
Ans. They were beaten by the landlords’ men.
Q.4. What is the meaning of fear-stricken?
Ans. afraid of
Q.5. What will be the real relief for the farmers?
Ans. The real relief for them is to be free from fear.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
5. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
The chief commercial crop was indigo. The landlords
compelled all tenants to plant three twentieths or 15 percent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire
indigo harvest as rent. This was done by a long-term contract.
Presently, the landlords learned
that Germany had developed
synthetic indigo. They, thereupon,
obtained agreements from the
sharecroppers to pay them
compensation for being released
from the 15 percent arrangement.
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- compelled: pressurised
- tenants: sharecroppers
Q.1. What was the chief commercial crop in Champaran?
Ans. Indigo was the chief commercial crop in Champaran.
Q.2. What did the landlords compel the sharecroppers to do?
Ans. The landlords compelled the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for Indigo.
Q.3. How much was the rent of the holding?
Ans. 15 percent was the rent of holding.
Q.4. What was the long-term contract?
Ans. Growing Indigo was the long-term contract.
Q.5. What did Germany develop?
Ans. Germany developed synthetic indigo.
Q.6. What did the landlords ask as compensation?
Ans. The sharecroppers want their money back after Germany developed synthetic Indigo.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
6. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants.
They did not know Gandhi’s record in South Africa. They
had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them
was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous
demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was
the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- merely: hardly
- spontaneous: immediate
Q.1. What was there in the town of Motihari?
Ans. Motihari was full of peasants.
Q.2. Did they know Gandhiji?
Ans. No, they didn’t know Gandhiji.
Q.3. How many people gathered there to support Gandhiji?
Ans. Thousands of people gathered to show their support for Gandhiji.
Q.4. What did the beginning of liberation mean?
Ans. Liberation means freedom from fear of the British.
Q.5. What did Gandhiji do in South Africa?
Ans. He fought against color discrimination in South Africa.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
7. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
“Thinking probably that he would not give
way, the representative of the planters offered to refund to
the extent of 25 percent, and to his amazement Mr. Gandhi
took him at his word, thus breaking the deadlock.”
This settlement was adopted unanimously by the
commission. Gandhi explained that the amount of the
refund was less important than the fact that the landlords
had been obliged to surrender part of the money and, with
it, part of their prestige. Therefore, as far as the peasants
were concerned, the planters behaved as lords above
the law. Now the peasant saw that he had rights and
defenders. He learned courage.
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- amazement: surprised
- unanimously: without objection
Q.1. How much compensation was accepted by Gandhiji?
Ans. He only accepted 25% of the refund.
Q.2. What was more important than the refund of money?
Ans. The real relief for them is to be free from fear.
Q.3. How did the landlords consider themselves?
Ans. They considered themselves lords.
Q.4. What did the peasants learn from the movement?
Ans. The peasants learned courage.
Q.5. What is the name of the chapter?
Ans. The name of the chapter is Indigo.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
8. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
Gandhi never contented himself with large political or
economic solutions. He saw the cultural and social
backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to
do something about it immediately. The Champaran episode was a turning-point in
Gandhi’s life. ‘‘What I did,” he explained, “was a very
ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order
me about in my own country.”
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- contented: limited
- turning-point: big change
Q.1. Did Gandhiji want large political or economic solutions?
Ans. He never wanted great political or economic solutions but cultural and social ones.
Q.2. What was more important for Gandhiji?
Ans. He saw the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages and wanted to do something about it immediately.
Q.3. What was the turning point in Gandhiji’s life?
Ans. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s life.
Q.4. What did Gandhiji declare?
Ans. Gandhiji declared that the British couldn’t order him in his own country.
Q.5. What did Gandhiji want for the people of Champaran?
Ans. He wanted them to be free from fear.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
9. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Indigo, the Champaran movement
“He had read our minds correctly,’’ Rajendra Prasad
comments, “and we had no reply… Gandhi in this way taught
us a lesson in self-reliance’’.
Self-reliance, Indian independence, and help to
sharecroppers were all bound together
Think of the maening of Important words in the paragraph of Indigo:
- self-reliance: independent
Q.1. What did Rajendra Prasad say about Gandhiji?
Ans. Rajendra Prasad commented that Gandhi taught us a lesson in self-reliance.
Q.2. What did Gandhiji teach us?
Ans. He taught us self-reliance.
Q.3. What was interrelated?
Ans. Self-reliance, Indian independence, and helping sharecroppers were all interrelated.
Q.4. Who is the writer of the chapter?
Ans. Louis Fischer is the author of Indigo.
Q.5. What did Gandhiji read about?
Ans. He read about the minds of people.
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
10. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follows: (HBSE 2022, Reappear)
Most of the arable land in the Champaran district was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant three twentieths or 15 percent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done by long-term contract.
Questions: Choose the correct option:
Q.1. What is the name of the chapter from which these lines have been taken?
(A) Lost Spring
(B) The Last Lesson
(C) Indigo
(D) Deep Water
Ans. (C) Indigo
Q.2. Who is the writer of these lines?
(A) Anees Jung
(B) Stephen Spender
(C) Andriene Rich
(D) Louis Fischer
Ans. (D) Louis Fischer
Q.3. Who owned most of the arable land in Champaran?
(A) Gandhiji
(B) Farmers
(C) Englishmen
(D) Lawyers
Ans. (C) Englishmen
Q.4. Which one of the following was the commercial crop in Champaran?
(A) Wheat
(B) Rice
(C) Gram
(D) Indigo
Ans. (D) Indigo
Q.5. The farmers were ordered to surrender the entire indigo crop as ….
(A) rent
(B) tax
(C) fair
(D) wages
Ans. (A) rent
Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
Indigo’s reading comprehension of important passages.
11. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follows: (HBSE 2019)
“Gandhi decided to go first to Muzzafarpur, which was en route to Champaran, to obtain more complete information about conditions than Shukla was capable of imparting. He accordingly sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani, of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketan school. The train arrived at midnight, 15 April 1917. Kripalani was waiting at the station with a large body of students. Gandhi stayed there for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. ‘‘It was an extraordinary thing ‘in those days,’’ Gandhi commented, “for a government professor to harbour a man like me”. In smaller localities, the Indians were afraid to show sympathy for advocates of home-rule”
Questions: Choose the correct option:
Q.1. Where did Gandhiji decide to go first?
(A) Sevagram
(B) Lucknow
(C) Patna
(D) Muzzafarpur
Ans. (D) Muzzafarpur
Q.2. Why did Gandhiji decide to stay there briefly?
(A) to meet old friends
(B) to meet the sharecroppers
(C) to obtain complete information
(D) to find the official version
Ans. (C) to obtain complete information
Q.3. Whom did Gandhiji informed telegraphically?
(A) Professor J.B. Kripalini
(B) Rajendra Prasad
(C) Professor Malkani
(D) Brij Kishor Babu
Ans. (A) Professor J.B. Kripalini
Q.4. When did Gandhiji’s train arrived there?
(A) at noon
(B) at midnight
(C) at sunset
(D) at sunrise
Ans. (B) at midnight
Q.5. Who were waiting at the station with Kripalini?
(A) Sharecroppers
(B) Home-rule supporters
(C) Lawyers
(D) College students
Ans. (D) College students
Readlearnexcel Message on Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English
The goal of reading is to gain understanding. If readers can read the words but do not understand or relate to what they are reading, they are not reading. Good readers are active and purposeful, able to absorb, analyse, make sense of, and apply what they read. Indigo Reading Comprehension Class 12 English will help you to understand the techniques of reading and skimming. Thus, take the reading comprehension of Indigo seriously to understand the complete solution of Indigo class 12 English.
