Bholi Class 10 Chapter 8 PDF (Footprints without Feet)

Bholi Class 10 is the eighth chapter of the NCERT English supplementary reader Footprints without Feet — a complete short story by K.A. Abbas. It follows Sulekha, a neglected girl everyone calls Bholi, from a childhood accident to a wedding she refuses at the last moment.

The official chapter PDF, with the full story text and the questions printed after it, is available on this page.

Download the Bholi Class 10 Chapter PDF

Open the official Bholi Class 10 PDF — Footprints without Feet Chapter 8 to read the complete story by K.A. Abbas, the glossary that comes with it, and the Read and Find Out, Think about It and Talk about It questions that end the chapter.

Chapter at a Glance: What Is Inside

The table below shows the shape of the chapter file — how many sections, figures and question blocks it holds — so you know what the PDF contains before you open it.

What This Chapter Covers: Plot, Characters and Theme

Bholi is a complete short story in the supplementary reader, not a lesson split into sections. Read and Find Out prompts appear before the story and at points within it, and the chapter ends with Think about It, Talk about It and a Suggested Reading list.

This is the story of Sulekha, a neglected girl whose life changes when a teacher shows her kindness. The plot runs on three threads: a difficult childhood that leaves her disfigured, stammering and mocked; a first day at school where a patient teacher gives her confidence; and a wedding she rejects because the groom is greedy and mean.

Reading the Story Scene by Scene

Bholi’s life moves through six clear phases, and each phase causes the next. Follow them in order, and note the reason each one matters.

1. The Childhood That Marks Her

• As a ten-month-old baby, Sulekha falls off the cot onto her head; the family believes it damaged some part of her brain.
• At two she has smallpox: only the eyes are saved, and deep black pock-marks permanently disfigure her body.
• She cannot speak till five, and when she finally does, she stammers; other children mimic her, so she talks very little.
• Why it matters: the fall, the disease and the stammer together convince the family that Bholi is a born simpleton.

2. The Order That Sends Her to School

• A girls’ primary school opens in the village, and the Tehsildar tells Ramlal that as the government’s revenue official he must set an example by sending his daughters to school.
• Ramlal’s wife protests that schooling will ruin girls’ marriage chances, then finds a way out: send Bholi, who has little hope of marriage anyway, so the teachers can worry about her.
• Bholi is terrified — she remembers the old cow Lakshmi being sold and fears the same fate — and cries “No” when her father takes her by the hand.
• Why it matters: Bholi goes to school because a father obeys an official and a mother wants to be rid of her, not because anyone cares about her education.

3. The First Day: Fear Turns to Hope

• For once she receives care: a clean dress that no longer fits her sister Champa, a bath, and oil rubbed into her dry, matted hair — and she begins to believe school is a place better than her home.
• In the classroom she understands nothing, but the coloured wall pictures fascinate her, and she hopes one of the girls will become her friend.
• Asked her name, she can only stammer “Bh-Bho-” and burst into tears while the other girls laugh.
• The teacher’s voice is soft and soothing. She says “Well done” when Bholi struggles through her name, and tells her that once the fear is out of her heart, she will speak like everyone else.
• Why it matters: the teacher does what no one at home ever did — she gives Bholi belief in herself.

4. The Years Pass and a Proposal Arrives

• The village grows into a small town: the school becomes a high school, a cinema opens under a tin shed, and a cotton ginning mill starts working.
• Ramlal raises the proposal of Bishamber Nath with his wife: the grocer is rich, asks no dowry, but is old — almost Ramlal’s age — lame, and has grown-up children from his first wife.
• Bholi’s mother brushes aside every objection. Bholi lies awake on her cot and hears her parents decide her future without asking her.
• Why it matters: the family accepts the match for the same reason it sent her to school — she is seen as a burden.

5. The Wedding and the Five Thousand Rupee Demand

• Bishamber arrives with a brass band and a decorated horse; Bholi, in a red silk bridal dress, is led to the sacred fire.
• The groom lifts the yellow marigold garland, the veil is slipped back, and he sees the pock-marks. He holds the garland poised and demands five thousand rupees before he will marry her.
• Ramlal lays his turban — his honour — at Bishamber’s feet and pleads; the groom refuses two thousand, so Ramlal counts out the full five thousand, weeping.
• Why it matters: the demand turns a wedding into a bargain and humiliates Ramlal in front of the whole village.

6. The Refusal: Bholi Speaks

• The veil is lifted a second time. Bholi’s eyes are not downcast now: she looks straight at Bishamber with cold contempt.
• As he raises the garland, her hand flings it into the fire. She throws away the veil and speaks without the slightest stammer: “Pitaj! Take back your money. I am not going to marry this man.”
• She tells them she agreed only for her father’s izzat, but will not accept “such a mean, greedy and contemptible coward” as her husband.
• When Ramlal asks what will become of her, she answers calmly: she will serve her parents and teach in the same school where she learnt so much.
• Why it matters: the girl who could not say her own name now refuses a marriage in front of everyone — the whole change of the story is in this moment.

Key Ideas: Neglect, Education and Self-Respect

Three connected ideas carry the story. If you can explain each one, you can answer most of the questions the chapter asks.

• The label placed on her. “Bholi” means simpleton — a foolish person easily tricked by others, as the book’s glossary says. The nickname, like the pock-marks and the stammer, is not her doing, yet it decides how her family speaks of her: “witless”, a “dumb cow”, someone who need not be consulted.
• Education as confidence, not lessons. The teacher never drills Bholi’s speech. She speaks gently, praises the smallest attempt, and promises that in time no one will laugh at Bholi and people will listen to her with respect. That promise is what takes the fear out of her heart.
• Self-respect finally wins. Bholi is willing to marry an old, lame stranger to protect her father’s honour. She rejects the marriage only when the groom shows greed and meanness — and in refusing, she stops being the simpleton the world made her.

The ending makes this point by naming her. Through the story she is Bholi; at the end she becomes Sulekha again. The author switches back to her real name because the girl who spoke at the wedding has an identity, a plan and a future — she will serve her parents and teach. The nickname no longer fits.

Characters in Bholi: Who Does What

Character questions are quick to answer once you know each person’s job in the plot. The table below gives the role and the idea each character stands for.

Glossary: Words the Book Explains

NCERT prints a glossary at the end of the chapter. These are the words the book itself chooses to explain, as they appear in the story line.

Common Mistakes Students Make with This Story

These five errors come up again and again in answers and class discussion. The correction is in the text itself every time.

Exam Pointers: The Questions NCERT Asks

The chapter’s own questions are the best practice. Think about It tests your understanding of the story; Talk about It opens discussion. The Read and Find Out pairs that sit before and within the text guide your reading. Below, each Think about It and Talk about It question is mapped to the idea it tests.

Bholi in a Nutshell: Quick Recap

If you have one minute, this is the whole story in sequence.

• Real name Sulekha; everyone calls her Bholi, the simpleton, after a fall from the cot, a smallpox attack that leaves pock-marks, and a stammer that makes her a target for mockery.
• A girls’ school opens in the village; the Tehsildar orders Ramlal to send his daughters, and Bholi’s mother volunteers Bholi to be rid of her.
• On her first day the teacher replaces fear with hope — a soft voice, praise, and the promise that learning will make people listen to her with respect.
• Years later the rich grocer Bishamber Nath proposes; his age and lameness are overlooked, and Bholi agrees for her father’s honour.
• At the wedding Bishamber sees the pock-marks and demands five thousand rupees; after Ramlal pays, Bholi flings the garland into the fire and refuses the marriage without a stammer.
• The story ends with her plan: serve her parents and teach in the same school where she learnt so much.

Related Chapters and Resources

This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.

The Bholi Class 10 story is one of the short stories in the Footprints without Feet supplementary reader. For notes on the other Class 10 English chapters — including The Sermon at Benaras and The Proposal — visit the Class 10 English notes hub. Resources for the Class 10 subjects are gathered on the Class 10 notes page and the main CBSE notes page.

The chapter’s Suggested Reading list points to three further stories: “The Brass Gong” by Qazi Abdul Sattar, “Old Man at the Bridge” by Ernest Hemingway, and “Gandhiji the Teacher” by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.

You can open or download the official NCERT textbook page for this chapter, where the current edition of the book is published.

This page is maintained for the current session and describes the NCERT edition on ncert.nic.in; NCERT settles textbook editions and PDFs, while CBSE sets the examinable syllabus — textbook contents and the official syllabus are not always identical, so check the current syllabus for what is examinable.

Reference: NCERT Class 10 English Footprints without Feet textbook, chapter 8, official edition on ncert.nic.in.

Frequently Asked Questions About Bholi Class 10

Why is Bholi called Sulekha at the end of the story?

Because the ending restores her identity. “Bholi” — meaning simpleton — is the label others put on Sulekha. At the wedding she speaks without fear and decides her own future, so the author calls her Sulekha again: the same person, no longer a simpleton.

Why did Bholi’s parents send her to school?

Not because they valued her education. The Tehsildar ordered Ramlal, as the government’s representative, to set an example by sending his daughters to school, and Ramlal did not dare disobey. His wife then suggested sending Bholi, who seemed unlikely to marry, so the teachers could worry about her.

Why did Bholi refuse to marry Bishamber Nath?

Because he was greedy and mean, not because he was old or lame. Bholi was willing to marry him for her father’s honour. But when he demanded five thousand rupees after seeing her pock-marks and humiliated her father in front of everyone, she flung the garland into the fire and refused.

Who helped Bholi overcome her stammer and how?

Her schoolteacher. On Bholi’s first day the teacher spoke in a soft, soothing voice, praised her when she managed her name, and told her that if she put the fear out of her heart she would speak like everyone else.

The teacher did not drill her speech — she gave Bholi confidence, and the stammer disappears whenever fear is gone, most completely in the wedding scene.

What does the name Bholi mean and why does it matter?

“Bholi” means simpleton — a foolish person easily tricked by others. The name matters because it shows how the family and village see Sulekha: as someone with no sense who can be ignored, mocked and married off without being asked. The story’s ending, when she is called Sulekha again, shows that label was always wrong.