The Indian government [has] announced an international competition to design a National War Memorial in New Delhi, to honour all of the Indian soldiers who served in the various wars and counter-insurgency campaigns from 1947 onwards. The terms of the competition also specified that the new structure would be built adjacent to the India Gate – a memorial to the Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. Between the old imperialist memorial and the proposed nationalist one, India’s contribution to the Second World War is airbrushed out of existence.
The Indian government’s conception of the war memorial was not merely absent-minded. Rather, it accurately reflected the fact that both academic history and popular memory have yet to come to terms with India’s Second World War, which continues to be seen as little more than mood music in the drama of India’s advance towards independence and partition in 1947. Further, the political trajectory of the postwar subcontinent has militated against popular remembrance of the war. With partition and the onset of the India-Pakistan rivalry, both of the new nations needed fresh stories for self-legitimisation rather than focusing on shared wartime experiences.
However, the Second World War played a crucial role in both the independence and partition of India. . . . The Indian army recruited, trained and deployed some 2.5 million men, almost 90,000 of which were killed and many more injured. Even at the time, it was recognised as the largest volunteer force in the war. . . .
India’s material and financial contribution to the war was equally significant. India emerged as a major military-industrial and logistical base for Allied operations in south-east Asia and the Middle East. This led the United States to take considerable interest in the country’s future, and ensured that this was no longer the preserve of the British government.
Other wartime developments pointed in the direction of India’s independence. In a stunning reversal of its long-standing financial relationship with Britain, India finished the war as one of the largest creditors to the imperial power.
Such extraordinary mobilization for war was achieved at great human cost, with the Bengal famine the most extreme manifestation of widespread wartime deprivation. The costs on India’s home front must be counted in millions of lives.
Indians signed up to serve on the war and home fronts for a variety of reasons. . . . [M]any were convinced that their contribution would open the doors to India’s freedom. . . . The political and social churn triggered by the war was evident in the massive waves of popular protest and unrest that washed over rural and urban India in the aftermath of the conflict. This turmoil was crucial in persuading the Attlee government to rid itself of the incubus of ruling India. . . .
Seventy years on, it is time that India engaged with the complex legacies of the Second World War. Bringing the war into the ambit of the new national memorial would be a fitting – if not overdue – recognition that this was India’s War.
The phrase “mood music” is used in the second paragraph to indicate that the Second World War is viewed as:
- setting the stage for the emergence of the India–Pakistan rivalry in the subcontinent.
- a tragic period in terms of loss of lives and national wealth.
- a backdrop to the subsequent independence and partition of the region.
- a part of the narrative on the ill-effects of colonial rule on India.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (C):
Passage Overview: In the passage the author seems to be stressing on “India’s contribution to the second world war, and its consequences, something which has been ignored both by academicians and the Indian government”.
This question is a kind of interpretation question. If we don’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘mood music’, we must try to the see the context in which it has been used. By the way, ‘mood music’ is recorded music that is played in the background to make the audience relax. So if you know the meaning, you can straightaway mark 3 as the answer. A backdrop is a background just as mood music is played in the background. Even from the passage it is clear that to the Indian government and Indian academicians, India’s contribution to the second world war is just a little more than a mood music, in other words it is not a significant contribution, something that the author seems to be lamenting. Option 3 is the right choice.
The author lists all of the following as outcomes of the Second World War EXCEPT:
- independence of the subcontinent and its partition into two countries.
- US recognition of India’s strategic location and role in the War.
- large-scale deaths in Bengal as a result of deprivation and famine.
- the large financial debt India owed to Britain after the War.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (D):
This is a factual question whose answer depends on how well you are able to find the information scattered in the passage. The first outcome is stated in the first sentence of the third paragraph where the author says that “India’s contribution played a significant role in India’s independence and partition”. So, since option 1 is given, it is not the right answer. Option 2 is given in the fourth paragraph. Option 3 is stated in the third last paragraph. Thus, option 4 is the right choice.
We could have marked option 4 directly, as it is stating exactly opposite of what is given in the passage. It was not India but Britain that owed large financial debt. India was one of the biggest creditors to Britain, the passage says. This means that it was India had lent resources to Britain.
The author claims that omitting mention of Indians who served in the Second World War from the new National War Memorial is:
- a reflection of the academic and popular view of India’s role in the War.
- appropriate as their names can always be included in the India Gate memorial.
- a reflection of misplaced priorities of the post-independence Indian governments.
- is something which can be rectified in future by constructing a separate memorial.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (A):
This is a very easy question, as the clue to the right answer is directly visible in the passage. The first sentence of the second paragraph says that the ‘omission was not absent-minded, suggesting that it was deliberate. He further adds that the omission “accurately reflected the fact that both academic history and popular memory have yet to come to terms with India’s Second World War”. The other choices are neither stated nor implied in the paragraph.
The author suggests that a major reason why India has not so far acknowledged its role in the Second World War is that it:
- blames the War for leading to the momentous partition of the country.
- wants to forget the human and financial toll of the War on the country.
- has been focused on building an independent, non-colonial political identity.
- views the War as a predominantly Allied effort, with India playing only a supporting role.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (C):
This is a slightly difficult question, but can be solved by the process of elimination. Though the passage nowhere directly states the reason why India has not so far acknowledged its role in the Second World War, the hint is there in the second paragraph.
The last sentence of the second paragraph says: With partition and the onset of the India-Pakistan rivalry, both of the new nations needed fresh stories for self-legitimization rather than focusing on shared wartime experiences. “Self-legitimization” would mean self-assertion, or establishing oneself as a strong legal entity. This makes option 3 the right choice. Moreover, none of the other options have any hint in the paragraph. Option 1 and 4 go out because the author asserts that India did make a significant contribution to the war. Option might seem a tempting choice, but there is no hint for it.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
Passage: Toru Dutt is considered the earliest Indian female writer in English. She travelled extensively in Europe from a young age with her family. She and her sister Aru became fascinated with Paris and French literature. In London, they came in contact with such august personages such as Sir Bartle Frere, the Gover- nor of Bombay from 1862 to 1867, and Sir Edward Ryan, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Calcutta, from 1837 to 1843. Toru Dutt was greatly influenced in her writings by French Romantic poets like Victor Hugo and English writers like Elizabeth Browning, John Keats, Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen. She was also intrigued by the legends and myths of India, and even learned Sanskrit. Her writings were marked by romantic melancholia and an obsession and preoccupation with death. This was partly due to her suffering and pain following the early tragic deaths of her siblings, especially her older sister Aru, with whom she was quite close. Her chosen subjects often portrayed separation, loneliness, captivity, dejec- tion, declining seasons and untimely death. She led an ”Ivory Tower existence” and her own death came quite early, at the age of 21, in the full bloom of her talent and on the eve of the awakening of her genius. Toru Dutt’s most famous work is A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, an anthology of poems translated from French to English. It also contained a few original poems that showcase her vast insight into French literature. She used to publish poems in the Bengal Magazine, under the pseudonym ”TD”. But most of her powerful work was published posthumously, in- cluding the French novel Le Journal de Mademoiselle D’Arvers and the unfinished English novel Bianca, or, the Young Spanish Maiden. Her work Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan depicts a shrewd knowledge of Hindu mythology and an instinctive empathy with the conditions of life they represent. An assimilation of the Occident and the Orient nourished Toru’s poetic skills; in her, we find a tripartite influence of a French education, lectures at Cambridge and the study of Sanskrit literature.
- NPAT - 2025
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- Reading Comprehension
“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.”
(From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?- GATE PH - 2025
- General Aptitude
- Reading Comprehension
“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.” (From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?
- GATE CE - 2025
- General Aptitude
- Reading Comprehension
- “His life was divided between the books, his friends, and long walks. A solitary man, he worked at all hours without much method, and probably courted his fatal illness in this way. To his own name there is not much to show; but such was his liberality that he was continually helping others, and fruits of his erudition are widely scattered, and have gone to increase many a comparative stranger’s reputation.”
(From E.V. Lucas’s “A Funeral”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?- GATE CE - 2025
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- Reading Comprehension
- Read the excerpt from a Handicrafts Manual: ‘Advanced Knitting Techniques’ and answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate answer.
THE FAIR ISLE METHOD: Fair Isle knitting is a traditional technique that involves using two or more colours of yarn in a single row to create intricate patterns and designs. This method requires careful tension management to ensure even stitches and prevent puckering. To begin, select your colours and cast on the desired number of stitches. As you knit, alternate between colours every few stitches, carrying the unused yarn along the back of the work. Mastering the Fair Isle technique allows you to create stunning visual effects in garments, accessories, and home textiles.
THE CONTINENTAL STYLE: The Continental knitting style, often referred to as “picking,” involves holding the yarn in the left hand while the right hand manipulates the needles. This method allows for greater speed and efficiency, particularly when working with complex patterns or multiple colours. To practice this style, start by casting on your stitches and using your left hand to tension the yarn. With each stitch, simply “pick” the yarn with your right needle, forming a quick and fluid motion. As you become comfortable with this technique, you may find that your overall knitting speed and comfort improve significantly.
THE SHORT-ROW TECHNIQUE: Short-row knitting is an advanced technique that allows for the creation of shaped garments, such as sleeves and shoulders, without the need for complex shaping. To make a sleeve using this technique, begin by casting on the required number of stitches. Work a portion of the row, then turn your work and return without completing the full row to create the “short rows” that shape the curves of the sleeve. To prevent holes at the turn, wrap the stitch before you turn your work. Repeat this process as needed to achieve the desired shaping and dimension of the sleeve. Once you have shaped the sleeve, you can then sew the side seams to connect the pieces of your garment and finally, complete the edges to ensure a clean finish. This method not only helps shape curves but also adds dimension to your piece, allowing you to enhance fit and style.- AILET BALLB (Hons.) - 2025
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