The Tunnel: NCERT Class 7 English Story (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20267 min read

A steam engine roaring out of a dark tunnel, a lonely watchman with a lamp, and a leopard on the tracks just minutes before the night mail: this Ruskin Bond story is full of quiet adventure. Children enjoy the jungle sounds and the brave friendship at its heart, and they learn how 'would' and 'used to' talk about past habits.

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From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 7, unit “Travel and Adventure”. Unit 4.

What your child learns

Following an adventure story set in a jungle, and spotting how the writer builds suspense
Sound words from the story: hissing, puffing, rustle, creaking, chatter
Talking about past habits with 'would' and 'used to'
Using a colon to introduce a list and a semicolon to join two related ideas

What the story is about

Suraj, a boy from a small town, loves trains. One hot afternoon he cycles into the jungle to watch the midday steam engine rush out of a tunnel, and then he walks through the dark, smoky tunnel himself. Coming out, he sees a flash of orange and gold on the hillside. Near the tunnel lives Sunder Singh, the watchman, whose job is to check the tunnel before every train and warn the driver of any danger with a red flag by day or his lamp by night. He jokes that the tunnel is his and that he has only lent it to the Government. The animal Suraj saw, he says, was his leopard, which minds its own business. He invites Suraj to come back and watch the night mail.

The next evening, the two drink tea at the hut while the jungle fills with night sounds. Just before the night mail is due, they hear a sawing sound: the leopard is inside the tunnel. To save it from the train, Sunder Singh goes in with his lamp and his axe, shouting, and Suraj follows. When both of them shout together, the leopard turns and disappears, and the train thunders through safely. A week later, Suraj travels on the same night mail with his father, who is going to Delhi on business. As they pass the tunnel, Suraj sees the watchman's lamp and knows his friend is out there, lighting up the darkness like a firefly.

New words, with Hindi meanings

embankment: a raised wall of earth or stone that carries a railway line over low ground (हिंदी: रेल का बाँध, तटबंध)
shimmered: shone with a soft light that seemed to move (हिंदी: झिलमिलाया)
instinctively: without stopping to think (हिंदी: अपने-आप, सहज रूप से)
flinch: to make a quick small movement back because of fear or pain (हिंदी: सहम जाना, झिझकना)
scuttled: ran quickly with short steps (हिंदी: तेज़ी से भागा)
dazzled: unable to see for a moment because of a very bright light (हिंदी: चौंधिया गया)
obstacles: things that block the way (हिंदी: रुकावटें, बाधाएँ)
porcupine: a small animal with sharp spikes on its back (हिंदी: साही)
snarling: growling angrily and showing the teeth (हिंदी: गुर्राना)
tremor: a slight shaking (हिंदी: कंपन)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

Why did Suraj go to the tunnel in the jungle?
What was Sunder Singh's duty at the tunnel?
Why did Sunder Singh go into the tunnel just before the night mail came?
How did Suraj know, from the train, that his friend was at the tunnel?
Have you ever been on a train journey? What did you see and hear?

Answers for parents

He wanted to watch the steam engine come roaring out of the tunnel. After it had gone, he walked through the tunnel to see what the inside of a tunnel was really like.
He checked the tunnel and kept it clear before every train. If something was wrong, he warned the engine driver with a red flag by day or his lamp at night.
He heard a sawing sound and knew the leopard was inside. If they did not drive it out, the train would run over and kill it.
He could not see Sunder Singh in the dark, but he saw the watchman's lamp near the tunnel, so he knew his friend was out there.
For example: Yes, I went to my nani's house by train. I saw green fields and small stations, and I heard the whistle, the tea-sellers and the clatter of the wheels.

Grammar corner: Past habits with 'would' and 'used to'

We use 'would' + verb for actions that happened again and again in the past, like a routine. 'Used to' + verb also talks about past habits, but it often shows that the habit has stopped now. 'Used to' can also describe past states (I used to live near a forest); 'would' cannot.

Every evening, the watchman would light his oil lamp and walk through the tunnel.
My grandfather used to work at a small railway station, but he has retired now.
When the night mail passed, the rails would hum and tremble.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank with 'would' or 'used to': When I was in Class 3, I ___ be scared of the dark.
Match each sound word to the thing that makes it: hissing, rustle, creaking. (dry leaves, a snake, an old wooden door)
Add a colon to this sentence: I packed three things for the trip a torch, a water bottle and a cap.

Answers: 1. used to (a past state, so 'would' does not fit) · 2. hissing: a snake; rustle: dry leaves; creaking: an old wooden door · 3. I packed three things for the trip: a torch, a water bottle and a cap.

Try this

Play 'Jungle sounds in the dark'. Switch off the light and sit quietly for one minute. Then each person names, in English, one sound they heard and what it sounded like: 'I heard a fan whirring', 'I heard a dog barking far away'. Next, take turns making a sound from the story (a train whistle, a hissing snake, rustling paper, a creaking door) while the others close their eyes and guess the sound word.

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi first: 'अगर तुम सूरज की जगह होते और सुरंग में तेंदुआ दिखता, तो तुम क्या करते? तुम्हें कैसा लगता?' Let them answer in Hindi or a mix, then help them say it in English, for example 'I would feel scared, but I would stay close to Sunder Singh.' You can also share one thing you used to do as a child, in Hindi and then in English with 'used to', and praise every try they make.

Questions parents ask

What is the story The Tunnel about?

It is about Suraj, a boy who loves trains, and Sunder Singh, a railway watchman who guards a tunnel in the jungle. One night, just before the night mail, they drive a leopard out of the tunnel so that the train will not kill it, and the two become friends.

Who are the characters in The Tunnel?

Suraj, the boy; Sunder Singh, the watchman of the tunnel; the leopard that visits the area; and Suraj's father, who takes him to Delhi on the night mail. The story is by Ruskin Bond.

Is The Tunnel in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is Chapter 10 of NCERT's new Poorvi book for Class 7, in Unit 4 (Travel and Adventure).

Learn every Class 7 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 7 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →