Chapter 1 A Letter to God Important Questions Class 10 English
Extra Questions and Answers for Class 10 English A Letter to God
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. How much money did Lencho receive from God?
Answer
He received only seventy pesos from God.
Question 2. What was the effect of the hail storm on tile valley?
Answer
No crop or vegetation was left in the entire valley.
Question 3. What did Lencho’s field need badly?
Answer
His fields needed heavy rain badly.
Question 4. Lencho had only one hope. What was it?
Answer
Lencho’s only hope was help from God.
Question 5. What destroyed the crop?
Answer
The hailstorm which lasted for an hour destroyed the crops.
Question 6. Why did Lencho keep gazing at the sky?
Answer
Lencho kept gazing at the sky because he hopefully wished for rain.
Question 7. How did Lencho feel when he counted the money in the envelope?
Answer
He got angry after counting the money in the envelope.
Question 8. Where was the Lencho’s hous located?
Answer
‘The House’ was located on the top(crest) of a low hill.
Question 9. How did Lencho feel when it started raining?
Answer
Lencho felt very happy.
Question 10. Who was Lencho?
Answer
Lencho was a hard-working farmer.
Question 11. What does Lencho call the rain-drops?
Answer
He calls the big rain-drops ten cent pesos and the small rain-drops five-cent pesos.
Question 12. What could be seen from Lencho’s house?
Answer
The fields of the ripe com could be seen from his house.
Question 13. Who did Lencho write a letter to?
Answer
Lencho wrote a letter to God.
Question 14. Who sent the money to Lencho?
Answer
The postmaster sent the money to Lencho.
Question 15. When did it start raining?
Answer
It started raining when the family was having dinner.
Question 16. Who does Lencho blame for the loss of thirty pesos in the envelope?
Answer
He blames the post-office employees for this loss.
Question 17. How did Lencho appeal to God?
Answer
Lencho wrote a letter to God, asking for one hundred pesos.
Question 18. Why do you think it is called ‘the’ house and not ‘a house’?
Answer
It is called ‘the house’ and not ‘a house’ because it was the only house in the entire valley.
Question 19. Was the rain really a blessing?
Answer
No, the rain proved to be a curse.
Question 20. What was the effect of the rain on the crops?
Answer
Lencho’s crops were destroyed because of the rain and the storm.
Question 21. What had Lencho been doing throughout the morning?
Answer
He had been looking at the clouds in the northeast throughout the morning.
Question 22. How did the postmaster react on reading Lencho’s letter?
Answer
He felt that such faith in God should be sustained.
Question 23. How did Lencho’s field look after the hail had rained?
Answer
The field looked as if covered with salt.
Question 24. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer
Lencho hoped for getting some rain from the sky.
Question 25. How did postmaster react seeing Lencho’s letter?
Answer
The postmaster laughed heartily on seeing Lencho’s letter.
Question 26. How much money did Lencho demand from God?
Answer
Lencho demanded one hundred pesos from God.
Question 27. Why did the postmaster decide to answer Lencho’s letter to God?
Answer
By doing so he wanted to protect Lencho’s faith in God.
Question 28. How did Lencho regard his field? Why?
Answer
When it started raining Lencho regarded his field with satisfaction. He was happy to see his crop draped in a curtain of rain. He hoped to reap a good harvest.
Question 29. What does Lencho call the post-office employees?
Answer
He calls them “a bunch of crooks.”
Question 30. What was the reaction of Lencho after receiving lesser amount of money?
Answer
Lencho thought that the post office employees had taken, away 30 pesos.
- NCERT Solutions for A Letter to God
- Extract Based Questions for A Letter to God
- MCQ Questions for A Letter to God
- Summary of A Letter to God
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may select appropriate words from the following list to answer the question. Greedy, naïve, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, unquestioning
Answer
In the real world it is almost impossible to find people, like Lencho. Lencho seems to be naïve and unquestioning. Naïve in the sense that he doesn’t even bother to think about who sent the money or if God would actually send the money. Probably his naiveté comes from his unquestioning belief in the God.
Question 2. Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent through mail?
Answer
Lencho wrote in his second letter that he received only seventy pesos but he needed a hundred pesos. He requested god not to send rest of the money by post since the post office employees were a bunch of crooks and would steal the money.
Question 3. What did Lencho write in his second letter to god?
Answer
Lencho was angry. He decided to write another letter to god. He wrote about the money in his second letter to god. He wrote that he had asked for a hundred pesos. But he received only seventy pesos. He asked god to send the balance amount but not through the mail. It was because the post office employees were a bunch of crooks.
Question 4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?
Answer
Lencho had all his doubts on people working in the post office. The irony of the situation is the finger pointing on those who had tried to help out Lencho. In real life also we come across such situations. Many a time you would have tried helping someone and he may get a wrong message.
Question 5. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
Answer
Postmaster was moved by Lencho’s complete faith in the God. So, he decided to send money to Lencho. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So, he signed the letter ‘God’. It was a good ploy to convey a message that God had himself written the letter.
Question 6. What did Lencho and the earth need immediately?
Answer
The only thing the earth needed was rain. Lencho, being a farmer wished for heavy rain. At least, a shower was necessary. His fields needed water immediately otherwise the crop would be completely mined. So, he would constantly look at the sky towards the north-east.
Question 7. What did the postmaster do then?
Answer
The postmaster burst into laughter on seeing the deep faith of Lencho in God. He collected money from his employees. He even gave part of his salary. He put all the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and wrote a letter containing a single word “God”.
Question 8. Why was Lencho angry when he received the letter?
Answer
Lencho had asked God to send him a hundred pesos. But when he opened the envelope he found only seventy pesos in it. He thought that the post-office employees had taken the rest of the money. So he became angry when he received the letter.
Question 9. “Now we’re really going to get some water woman.” Is Lencho sure that it is going to rain? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer
Yes. Lencho is sure that it is going to rain. He needs rain for his crops. He has been gazing at the sky since morning. He has perhaps seen some signs of coming rain. True to his prediction. It soon starts raining.
Question 10. Why was Lencho angry? What did he do?
Answer
Lencho had deep faith in God and hence wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos. But when he received 70 pesos instead of 100, he was angry. He wrote another letter to God asking him to send the rest of the money, but not through the post-office as they were a ‘bunch of crooks’.
Question 11. How far would you agree that one’s positivity can bring in a spark of brightness even in adverse circumstances’?
Answer
It is absolutely true that optimism can bring about a spark of brightness even in adverse situations. It was Lencho’s innocent optimism that eventually led to his getting seventy pesos. In fact, it was his positivity despite the hailstorm that he even wrote a letter to God in the first place. His hope finally triumphed.
Question 12. What were trenches feelings when he found the letter with money in it? What did he do after opening the letter?
Answer
Lencho was not at all surprised to see the money in the letter as he was fully confident about it. He knew that God would send money to him. On opening the letter he found seventy pesos instead of a hundred. So, he wrote another letter to God to send and rest of the amount but now not through the mail as the post office employees were crooks.
Question 13. Why did Lencho think of writing a letter to God? What did he write in the letter?
Answer
The hailstones completely destroyed Lencho’s cornfields. They would have no corn that year. Having lost all hopes, Lencho thought of writing a letter to God. He requested God to send him a hundred pesos to sow his fields again. He wrote that he needed money to live until the new crops came. If God didn’t help, his family would face starvation.
Question 14. Why did the postmaster decide to answer Lencho’s letter?
Answer
After laughing at the very idea of a letter to God, the postmaster became serious soon. He was impressed with the unshaken faith of the sender in God. He wished he had the faith of the man who wrote that letter to God. So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster decided to answer the letter.
Question 15. Why did Lencho show no surprise on seeing the money?
Answer
Lencho had a firm faith in God. He did expect help from him. He didn’t show any surprise when he received the sum of seventy pesos. He believed in the mercy of God and expected definite help from him. So, he showed no surprise when he received the money.
Question 16. Whom did Lencho write a letter? What did he ask for?
Answer
When Lencho’s annual crop was completely destroyed due to heavy rains and hailstorms and there was no one to help hint during the crisis. At that time Lencho wrote a letter to God.
He wrote the letter requesting him to send 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again till the next crop.
Question 17. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter with money in it? Why/Why not?
Answer
Lencho was not at all surprised to receive an envelope with money in it because he had utter faith in God. His unshakeable faith gave him firm confidence.
Question 18. Lencho calls the raindrops ‘new coins’. Why does he call them so?
Answer
Lencho hoped to get good crops because of raindrops. He thought he would earn good money so he called them new coins. But raindrops soon turned into hailstones which destroyed all his crops and ruined his hopes.
Question 19. What are the raindrops compared to and why?
Answer
It starts raining. Lencho is very happy. He compares the big drops of rain to ten-cent pieces and the little ones to five-cent pieces. Lencho needs rain for a good harvest. If he has good crops, he will get money. That is why he compares the raindrops to coins.
Question 20. How was Lencho sure that it was going to rain?
Answer
Lencho knew his fields intimately and he could predict the weather by looking at the sky. His experienced eyes saw clouds and he predicted rain.
Question 21. Lencho describes the post office employees as “a bunch of crooks.”
(i) Were they a bunch of crooks?
(ii) How would you describe them?
Answer
Lencho thought that the post office employees had cheated him. So he calls them “a bunch of crooks.” But they were not crooks. They were kind people. They wanted to help Lencho. So they collected seventy pesos and sent the money to Lencho by mail.
Question 22. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter “God”?
Answer
The postmaster was a very generous fellow. In order not to shake Lencho’s faith in God, he collected money and sent it to Lencho. The postmaster signed the letter “God”, lest Lencho should think that the money had not been sent by God.
Question 23. How did the rain come as predicted by Lencho and how did he receive it?
Answer
Lencho’s wife was preparing supper(dinner). The older boys were working in the field. It was during the meal, in the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. Then, as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. To him, the raindrops were like the new coins.
Question 24. What promised a good harvest?
Answer
Lencho felt that the field of ripe corn dotted with flowers always promised a good harvest. That is why he was anticipating a good harvest.
Question 25. Describe the loss caused by the heavy fall of hailstones in general and to Lencho in particular.
Answer
For an hour, the hailstones rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, and the cornfield. Actually, the whole valley was covered with them. Leaves and flowers were destroyed. Lencho’s fields were covered with a white layer. The corn was totally destroyed. The hail had left practically nothing. There was no chance of any corn that year for Lencho.
Question 26. How did Lencho’s prediction about rain come true?
Answer
Lencho had looked towards the north-east and remarked that they would get some water. His prediction came true when it started raining in the evening.
Question 27. What was the address written and how was the letter sent to God?
Answer
Lencho had an unshaken faith in God and his mercy. Therefore, he decided to write a letter to God for help. He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope and put the letter inside. He went to the post office and placed a stamp on the letter. Finally, he dropped it into the mailbox.
Question 28. How did the postmaster answer Lencho’s letter by sending him the money?
Answer
The postmaster didn’t want to shake the writer’s faith in God and so decided to help him. It needed something more than goodwill. So he collected money from his employees and himself contributed a part of the salary. He could collect only seventy pesos. He put the money into the envelope and put a single word `God’ as the signature and posted it to Lencho.
Question 29. Why was Lencho angry after he counted the money?
Answer
Lencho had demanded a sum of a hundred pesos as an immediate help from God. He did hope in God’s mercy and help. However, his happiness was short-lived when he counted the money. The sum was short by 30 pesos. Lencho believed that God did send him a hundred pesos but the dishonest post office employees embezzled money.
Question 30. Lencho has great faith in God. Does he have the same kind of faith in man? Taking examples from the story describes his attitude towards God and man.
Answer
Lencho’s crop was totally destroyed. He had great faith in God. He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos as help. The postmaster and the employees collected seventy pesos and sent the money to him. Lencho thought that the employees had stolen 30 pesos. He wrote another letter to God asking for 30 pesos more but not through the post office. He called the employees ‘a bunch of crooks’. This highlights Lencho’s attitude to God and man. He had full faith in God but didn’t have any faith in man.
Question 31. What impression do you form of the postmaster after reading the story ‘A Letter to God’?
Answer
The postmaster was a kind, generous, helpful, amiable and God-fearing man. He was generous, as he helped Lencho with 70 pesos. He also wrote a reply to Lencho’s letter in order to maintain his faith in God.
Question 32. Why were Lencho and his family in distress? Whom did he ask for help?
Answer
Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed by the hailstones. He feared that he and his family would go hungry. He had no one to help but he had full faith in God whose eyes see everything. He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos to sow the crop and live until the next harvest.
Question 33. Did the letter reach God? Why did the postmaster send a reply to Lencho?
Answer
No, the letter did not reach God. The postman saw the letter addressed to God. He took the letter to the postmaster. The postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So he sent a reply to Lencho. He sent seventy pesos to him.
Question 34. Where was Lencho’s house situated?
Answer
Lencho was a farmer. His house was the only one in the valley. It was situated on the top of a low hill overlooking the valley. From this height, he could see the river. He could also see his fields of ripe corn dotted with flowers. The flowers always promised a good harvest.
Question 35. Why were the raindrops like new coins for Lencho?
Answer
Lencho had been impatiently waiting for the rain. The earth needed a downpour(rain/shower) immediately. At least, a shower was necessary to save the crops. Fortunately for Lencho, in the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. Big drops of rain began to fall. Every drop was precious for the fields and the crops. The bigger drops were worth ten-cent pieces and the little ones were fives.
Question 36. In the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house …, there was a single hope ….’ What was that?
Answer
The hail had practically left nothing. The cornfields were totally destroyed. Lencho and his family would have no corn that year. He could expect no help from human beings. In the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house, there was a single hope: help from God. Only God could save them from such a miserable situation.
Question 37. How did the postmaster react when a postman showed him the letter to God?
Answer
When a postman received Lencho’s letter, he laughed heartily and took that letter to the postmaster. The postmaster looked at the letter to God and laughed heartily too. However, he soon grew serious. He was impressed with the sender’s faith in God who tried to correspond him. “What a faith”! he could utter only such words.
Question 38. Why did Lencho go a bit earlier than usual to the post office the following Sunday?
Answer
Lencho had firm faith in God and His mercy. He did expect a reply from Him. So, on the following Sunday, he went to the post office a bit earlier than usual. The postman handed over the letter to Lencho. The postmaster was only content to perform a good deed.
Question 39. Why did Lencho ask help from God? Did he receive it?
Answer
Lencho had written a letter to God requesting him to send a sum of one hundred pesos. This money was necessary to show his fields again and to live until the new crop came. The help did come in the form of 70 pesos. Actually, it was not God but the kind-hearted postmaster who had collected the money and sent it to Lencho by post-signing God.’
Question 40. What is ironic about the ending of the story?
Answer
The end of the story is rather ironic. The postmaster was greatly impressed by Lencho’s faith in God. He didn’t want to shake his faith in God. He collected a sum of seventy pesos from his employees and contributed a part of his salary. However, his great act of charity was not recognised and appreciated by the man who received help. On the contrary, the helpers were ironically called ‘a bunch of crooks’.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Answer
In the initial part of the story the episode of rainfall turning into a hailstorm shows the conflict between man and nature. When it is a rainfall the man is very happy dreaming about happy days ahead. But once the rain turns into hail the man is ruing the happening of hailstorm. The way Lencho is feeling sad and gloomy after the storm appropriately projects the conflict of the nature and the man. In the later part of the story when Lencho blames post office people for stealing part of the money then it is showing the conflict between humans. Although nothing is written what happened after that, but anybody can imagine the mental situation when postmaster read the letter.
Question 2. Give a character-sketch of Lencho.
Answer
Lencho was a simple man and a hardworking farmer. He worked as an ox in his field.
Lencho’s entire crops were badly destroyed by the hailstorm. So, he became very sad as he was worried about his family. He was an optimistic person. Although his only source of living was taken away, he didn’t lose hope. He had his last hope in God. He was confident that God would help him in his distress. Lencho was an innocent atheist who didn’t know that there was no such living person as God who could send him money. He had blind faith in God and sought solution of his problem Troms God only.
Question 3. How did the postmaster and post office employees help Lencho? How did he react to their help?
Answer
When Lencho got the envelope and opened it to count money, he became angry. He again wrote a letter to God demanding the remaining thirty pesos. He thought that post office employees had taken away the remaining money and called them a bunch of crooks, which was not justified at all as they were the people who had helped him. But it shows his innocence and firm faith in God.
Answer
As Lencho had predicted the rain did come. At mealtime, it came in the form of big drops. Naturally, the rain gladdened his heart. He could see better prospects of a good crop. However, his happiness was short-lived. Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow. The rain turned into big hailstones. The falling of heavy ball of big hailstones for an hour completely destroyed everything— leaves, trees, and the standing crops. Naturally, such a heavy loss put Lencho into a deep concern.
Answer
Lencho was a hard working farmer living with his family in a lonely house on the top of the low hill. That year his crop was very good and needed a shower. It rained but the rain brought hailstones and destroyed the whole crop. Not even a single leaf was left on the plants. He had no hope of help except help from God. He had firm faith in God and he decided to write a letter to God requesting to send hundred pesos to sow seeds again and to live until the crop grew up. The letter reached to the postmaster. The postmaster was also a man of faith, who did not want to shake the faith of Lencho. He collected seventy pesos from his employees and sent it to Lencho. On opening the envelop Lencho got angry as he received only seventy pesos instead of hundred pesos. Once again he wrote a letter to God to send him the remaining money with a request not to send through the post office employees as they were a bunch of crooks.
Answer
In the initial part of the story the episode of rainfall turning into a hailstorm shows the conflict between man and nature. When it is a rainfall the man is very happy dreaming about happy days ahead. But once the rain turns into hail the man is ruing the happening of hailstorm. The way Lencho is feeling sad and gloomy after the storm appropriately projects the conflict of the nature and the man. In the later part of the story when Lencho blames post office people for stealing part of the money then it is showing the conflict between humans. Although nothing is written what happened after that, but anybody can imagine the mental situation when postmaster read the letter.
Question 7. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? Describe the ironic ending of the story.
Answer
Lencho’s faith in God was complete and unshaken. When he lost all hopes, he looked towards God for help. And he was sure that God would come to the help of a simple man of clear conscience like him. So, when he saw the money, he was not at all surprised as he had been waiting for it. But when he counted the money, he became angry. He was sure that someone had stolen thirty pesos out of the hundred sent by God. Who could be they except the employees at the post office? Therefore, he wrote a second letter to God to send him the rest of the money immediately. He asked him not to send money through the mail as the post office employees were a ‘bunch of crooks.’
The situation at the end becomes quite ironic. It is ironic that men who collected pesos to help Lencho were called `a bunch of crooks, by him. He couldn’t know till the end who had really sent that money.
Question 8. “I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter.” In the light of this statement describe Lencho’s character.
Answer
As soon as the postmaster received and read the letter written by Lencho to God, he expressed his feelings in the words by referring Lencho’s faith in God. Lencho, the writer of the letter was a simple farmer. He had a firm belief in God. Once, when his crop was destroyed by hailstones, he turned to God for help.
He wrote a letter believing that God would not leave them to die of hunger and starvation. When he received a packet full of money, he was not the least surprised. Being simple in mind and generous by soul, he never knew that some generous soul had sent him the money in the name of God.
Question 9. What circumstances made Lencho write a letter to God? What does this act show about him?
Answer
The rain did come but came with disastrous hailstones that ruined everything. The leaves, plants, and flowers were ruined. The corn was totally destroyed. The hail had nothing left. That year Lencho and his family would have no corn. They would be on the verge of starvation. All such depression prospects worried Lencho. There was only one hope— help from God.
Lencho and his wife were highly religious and had unshaken faith in God. They believed in God’s mercy and also believed that ‘no one dies of hunger’. So, Lencho decided to write a letter to God. He wrote that he needed immediate help. He wrote that without God’s help his family would face starvation. He needed a hundred pesos in order to sow his fields and live until the fresh crop came. He wrote the letter and wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope and dropped it into the mailbox.
Question 10. Lencho described the post-office employees as a ‘bunch of crooks’. Were they really a bunch of crooks? How would you describe them?
Answer
A crook is a person who cheats others. He earns his living by dishonest means Lencho requested God for a 100 pesos. He received a letter in the mail. When he opened it he found 70 pesos in it. He thought that the post-office employees had taken the rest of 30 pesos. So he called them a bunch of crooks. But in fact, they were kind and generous people. They did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So they raised money to help him. But they could not raise 100 pesos. So they put 70 pesos in an envelope and addressed it to Lencho. The post-office employees were good people. They did an act of kindness and Charity. It was wrong for Lencho to call them a ‘bunch of crooks’.
Question 11. Think about the statement:
“Faith can move mountains.” Do you think that this feeling had been in Lencho’s mind and so he could have been able to write a letter to God? Throw light on his feelings.
Answer
Without any doubt, I can say that this statement has a great importance. This statement can give a great strength to anyone who is about to fall deep down in earth, reason may be different. According to me, this is true that Lencho has deep faith in God. Because of his faith in God, he wrote a letter to God. When he got seventy pesos, once again he wrote a letter to God to get the remaining amount. So we can say that his feelings for God were very powerful.
Question 12. (i) What did the postmaster need to answer the letter? How did he collect it?
(ii) How did Lencho react to help?
Answer
(i) Lencho’s crop had been destroyed. He needed God’s help. So he wrote a letter to God. He posted the letter. At the post-office, a postman took the letter out of the letterbox. He laughed at reading the address. He showed the letter to the postmaster. The postmaster also laughed. But he praised Lencho’s firm faith in God. He did not want to shake this faith. He was very kind. He decided to help Lencho. He and the post-office employees collected some money. The postmaster gave a part of his salary. They put the money into an envelope and addressed it to Lencho.
(ii) The next Sunday Lencho came to the post-office. He asked if there was any letter for him. The postman gave him the envelope. Lencho opened the letter. He found that the money was less than what he had requested for. He thought that God could not have made a mistake. He wrote another letter to God. He asked God to send him the rest of the money. But he should not send it through the mail as the post-office employees were a ‘bunch of crooks’.
Question 13. Show Lencho’s faith and confidence in God with examples from the lesson.
Answer
Lencho had full faith in the help of God. The following sentences in the story tell us about it. ‘Lencho thought only of his one hope: `the help of God’, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.’
Again, Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money in the envelope—such was his confidence. But he became angry when he counted the money. ‘God could not have made a mistake nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. The above facts from the text prove his deep faith and confidence in God.
Question 14. The postmaster represents such people who still believe in helping others mention those values of the postmaster which you would like to emulate in yourself. Write in 100-120 words.
Answer
The postmaster was a kind, generous, helpful, amiable and God-fearing man. He received a letter from Lencho which was written to God asking for 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again. The postman felt sympathetic towards Lencho. He decided to help Lencho. He gave up a part of his salary and asked all other employees to help. Even friends were made to contribute to the cause of charity and he managed to collect 70 pesos. He sent the money to Lencho along with a reply. He did so in order to preserve the man’s faith in God. This shows the postmaster was a nice man at heart.
Question 15. How do you think the postmaster felt when he received Lencho’s second letter? What do you think he did?
Answer
When Lencho opened the letter, he found only seventy pesos in it. He thought that God could not make a mistake. Perhaps the post office employees had cheated him. He wrote another letter to God. He wrote that the post office employees were a bunch of crooks. The story does not tell us what the postmaster felt when he received the second letter. Perhaps he felt shocked. It is possible that he realized that sometimes even good intentions are misunderstood. I think he met Lencho and explained everything to him. He told him that the post-office employees were not a bunch of crooks. In fact, they were kind and helpful. They had collected money to help him.
Question 16. Why did Lencho need God’s help?
Answer
Lencho was a simple farmer. He was very hard-working. His crops had always been good. One year, he wished that there should be some rain so that his crop would be better. Lencho was sure that the rain would come. In the evening it started raining. But soon the rain changed into a hailstorm. The hail fell on the house, the garden, the hillside and the corn-field. The field looked white as if it had been covered with salt. No leaves were left on the trees. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed. His heart was filled with sorrow. But he had faith in God. He was sure that God would help him. He wanted God’s help for sowing seed and for living until the next harvest.
Question 17. Writing a letter to God for help really shows not only the unshaken faith in God of the writer Lencho but also shows his utter simplicity and innocence. Comment.
Answer
Lencho was a simple and hardworking farmer who worked like an ox in his fields. When the heavy fall of hailstones destroyed his corn totally, he and his family were rather on the verge of starvation. He was left with one hope, help from God. He believed that God was all-merciful and hears the call of those who are of a clear conscience. He requested him to send a hundred pesos immediately to help him to sow his fields. He and his family also needed some money to live on until the fresh crop came.
Writing a letter to God and addressing it `To God’ shows the writer’s unshaken faith in God. He was a simple man not distrusting that such a letter could reach God. His innocence and firm belief in God’s mercy even deeply impressed and influenced the postmaster who decided to answer his letter. He didn’t want to shake the writer’s faith in God. He collected and sent 70 pesos as help signing the letter with one word, ‘God’. Lencho had so much faith in God and his mercy that he didn’t show any surprise when he received the money sent to him. He wrote another letter requesting him to send the rest of the money immediately but not through the postal mail as the post office employees were a ‘bunch of crooks’.
Question 18. Draw a character sketch of Lencho, the farmer in about 120-150 words.
Answer
Lencho was a simple man as farmers usually are everywhere. He was a man of limited means and earned his living by farming his fields. His older sons helped him in farming activities. His wife did the same but also managed the kitchen and other household works. Lencho was highly religious. So was his wife. He had unshaken faith in God. He believed that God always helps people with a clear conscience. Therefore, when he lost all hopes and he and his family were on the verge of starvation, he looked towards God for help. His deep faith in God even impressed the postmaster who decided to help him. He was strong and sturdy like an ox. Not only that, he worked day and night in the fields. Being a farmer, he had a deep knowledge about the weather, the winds and the rains of his region.
He was simple-hearted. He was rustic and inhabitable and thought. He was a little educated to write a letter. He shows his innocence by trying to have a correspondence with God directly. He wrote ‘To God’ on the top of the envelope and posted the letter into the mail-box.
While he had unshaken faith in God, he mistrusted the motives of men. He could never know and nor did he ever try to know who had sent him those seventy pesos to help him. It is quite ironic that he abused his helpers by calling them ‘a bunch of crooks’.
Question 19. “If you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.” Lencho had faith in God but he didn’t manage to solve the problem by himself. Did he lack the courage to resolve his matter himself? What values did he lack? Explain it in 100-120 words.
Answer
Lencho was a hardworking farmer. He was completely dependent upon the crops of his fields. His annual crop was completely destroyed due to heavy rains and hailstorms. In the entire village, there was no one to help him during the times of financial crisis. He had a firm belief in God and hence wrote a letter requesting Him to send 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again till the next crop. This act did not prove that he lacked the courage to resolve his problem but shows that he did not have any option left for himself. He had a firm belief in God. He was an ox of a man but lacked money to stand again.
Question 20. Write a brief summary of the story ‘A Letter to God’.
Answer
Lencho was a simple farmer. He was very hard-working. But one year, his harvest was completely destroyed by the hailstorm. He had firm faith in God. He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos. The postmaster saw the letter. He decided to help Lencho. He collected money from his employees. He gave some part of his own salary also. But the money was less than what Lencho had asked for. The postmaster put the money into an envelope and addressed it to Lencho. Next Sunday Lencho came to collect his letter. When he counted the money he became angry. He wrote another letter to God. He asked God to send him the rest of the money. But he asked God not to send money through the mail as the employees of the post-office were a ‘bunch of crooks’.
Question 21. Why did the postmaster and his employees decide to help Lencho? Was their effort appreciated by the receiver of that help?
Answer
Lencho was a simple-hearted farmer who had tremendous faith in God. The heavy hailstones destroyed his corn. There was only one hope — help from God. So, Lencho wrote a letter to God describing his and his family’s miserable condition. He requested for a hundred pesos to help in sowing the crop and living till the next crop came. The postmaster himself, a generous man, first laughed at the idea of Lencho’s having a correspondence with God. However, he soon became serious. He was highly impressed by Lencho’s unshaken faith in God. He didn’t want to break his faith in God. So he decided to answer the letter and help Lencho.
He needed something more than goodwill. He asked his employees to collect money for this cause. He also contributed a part of his salary. All in all, they collected 70 pesos. The postmaster put the money in an envelope and mailed it to Lencho. He wrote a single word as a signature, God. Ironically, this noble act of charity by the postmaster and employees was not appreciated by Lencho. On the contrary, he called them ‘a bunch of crooks’ who embezzled the remaining 30 pesos. He never knew who the real helpers were. He only wrote God not to send the remaining 30 pesos through the mail as the post office employees were a ‘bunch of crooks’.