32. Reading Skills Comprehension: The bribe to the Gods

The bribe to the Gods

Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow them:                    

Perhaps it is a bribe to the gods for protection from nosy taxmen, but disregarding the scarcity in currency notes after the scrapping of 1,000 and  500 notes, devotees are opening up their purses more generously at Delhi’s temples. At the entrance to the Badri Bhagat Jhandewala Mata Mandir on Saturday, a man guardedly enquired, “Can I deposit  500 notes?” Prompt came the reply from the receptionist, “Yes, of course, you can!”

As if to confirm this, Daulat Ram, the treasurer of the temple, could be heard telling someone over the phone: “No problem,  500 and 1,000 notes are acceptable here.” Rakesh Gupta, an archak sevadar there, claimed that many devotees were coming to the mandir and dropping high-value rupee notes into the 10 donation boxes kept on the premises.

People associated with temples conjectured that rather than disposing of sums beyond the  2.5 lakh that can be deposited in banks without inviting the scrutiny of income-tax hawks, those with contraband amounts probably thought it safest to offer it to the gods. In the bargain, they could hope for the blessings and protection of pleased divinities.

Not surprisingly, even at the Kalkaji temple, the demonetised currency notes are flowing in, according to a temple official. Spying a devotee pushing a crisp  500 note into the open box at the exit to the sanctum sanctorum, a priest smiled and intoned, “Every note, every unit of black money turns white in the goddess’s abode.”

Daulat Ram said the value of the offerings made in the prescribed currency notes would be known only when the donation boxes were opened on November 24 (despite exciting times, the Jhandewala temple management will stick to the practice of unlocking the boxes under the supervision of magistrates on specified dates).

The new-found generosity has left the priests amused. At Chhattarpur temple, Vishnu Joshi, a priest, beamed as he said, “These are rare times. I saw around 20 people putting 500 and 1,000 notes into the donation boxes.” A senior member of the temple management committee explained they did not have a problem with devotees wanting to offer the high-value notes. He, however, did not appear keen to share details of the big gifts that have come to the temple’s way post-Tuesday.

At Birla Mandir, too, Nar Singh, on security duty there, said he had not earlier seen so many devotees pulling out  500 and  1,000 notes as offerings. “You can also offer them if you wish to,” he added.

The big donations are presumably welcome because the scarcity of low-denomination notes has reduced the footfall in temples. This has also made life miserable for temple-side vendors and beggars. “Less than half the people are coming,” said Vinod Singh, a puja items shop owner at Jhandewala.

Questions

Answer briefly :

1. Why are devotees opening up their purses more generously at Delhi’s temples?

2. Why has the new-found generosity left the priests amused?

3. Do temples have a problem with devotees wanting to offer high-value notes?

4. Why are the big donations presumably welcomed in temples?

II.Vocabulary:

1. The word ‘generously’ means: (para 1)

 (a) kindly                    (b) reluctantly            

(c) liberally                  (d) honestly

2. The ‘demonetised currency’ means: (para 2)

(a) illegal currency                                         (b) black money

 (c) scrapping of currency by law                   (d) new currency

3. The word ‘beamed’ means: (para 6)

 (a) happy and smiling                        (b) shining brightly 

(c) reflected light                                 (d) reacted sadly

4. Opposite of the word ‘surplus’ in the passage is:

 (a) scarcity                             (b) shortage

(c) inadequacy                        (d) additional

Download the above Passage in PDF Worksheet (Printable)

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