Night of the Scorpion

RTC I. "Ten hours
................................................ in dark room"
a) Who does 'he' refer to in these lines?
'He' in these lines is the scorpion who has enterded the house
because of steady rain outside.

b) Why did 'he' come inside? Where did 'he' hide?
The scorpion or the 'Evil One' entered the house because of
stead and heavy rain outside. It found a large stack of rice to hide
under.

c) Why does the poet refer to the tail as
'diabolic'?
He refered to the tail as 'diabolic' as the tail contained the
poison that entered the blood stream of the poet's mother. Thus, the poet says
that his tail is an act of the devil as it has caused so much suffering and
grief to the mother

RTC II. "My father
............................................... match to it"

a) What kind of a person is the father?
The father is a rationalist and a skeptic and does not believe
in the power of religion. He solves all the problems on the basis of pure
logic.

b) Do you think his behaviour was keeping with his nature
and beliefs? Why/Why not?
Although, his father was a rationalist and a skeptic, he was
forced to try out various rituals, curses, blessings etc. by priests. He was
so desperate to cure his wife that he forgot his rationalism and went for the
original way in the village to cure the mother

c) Explain the term 'hybrid'
A hybrid is an amalgam of different prayers and hymns of all
the different cultures. His fasther wanted to use every method that was
possible for curing his wife.