Class 9 English · Original EZT practice
Carrier of Words (Class 9 English Chapter 7): mail on foot through the Thar
A click sends an email today - but beyond the last railhead, where the road crumbles into sand, letters still travel on a postman's shoulders. Khetaram, a Gramin Dak Sewak, has spent 15 years as the sole postman of the Somarad Branch Post Office in Rajasthan, carrying mail through the Thar desert to dhaanis just 2.5 km short of the Indo-Pakistan border. This chapter honours the carriers who keep India's remotest families connected. This page gives a summary, themes and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - the route beyond the road
Khetaram's beat lies some 120 km beyond the last railhead at Barmer, 50 km beyond the last phone, and 10 km beyond the point where the Barmer-Chohtan road crumbles into sand so soft even bicycles cannot ply. Mail travels from Jodhpur, around 330 km away, by train and bus before being hefted onto his shoulders - and reaches the border within 24 hours of dispatch through his bodily effort.
2. Summary - defying the desert
Regulations stipulate his load cannot exceed 28 kilos, yet in summer a single delivery can mean covering 20 km; he delivers even when his body signals the temperature has crossed 50 degrees celsius - recorded as 49.9, since 50 would mean a state holiday. Scorching winds and sandstorms turn him into a 'walking sandman', and water is too precious to waste on washing: 'When I finish, there is a sand dune at my feet every evening.'
3. Summary - from delivery agents to Gramin Dak Sewaks
Till 2001, Khetaram was known as a 'delivery agent'; since then, India's three lakh plus delivery agents have been accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks, who constitute more than 50 per cent of India Post's total workforce, serving the frozen desert of Ladakh, the isles of Lakshadweep and the riverine communities of the northeast. Unlike the British postal system set up to relay company dak between administrative centres, independent India's mandate was to bring the entire population within the mailing ambit - from 25 thousand post offices in 1947 to more than a lakh and a half today, and through the GDS, rural depositors entrust their monthly savings to the post office.
4. Theme - the dignity of quiet service
The chapter honours workers whose bodily effort carries words, savings and connection to the country's farthest families. Khetaram's slumped left shoulder, his mojri-clad feet on sizzling sands, and the sand dune at his feet each evening make the cost visible; the Postmaster-General's word 'invaluable' makes the value explicit. Without the GDS, the farthest communities would be cut off from mail, savings services and their own families.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Trace the mail's journey
Choose the method: Train, bus, then shoulders.
EZT practice question
How does mail reach the far-flung dhaanis of this region?
Show the worked solution
- Mail travels from Jodhpur, around 330 km away, by mail train and then by bus.
- Where the Barmer-Chohtan road crumbles into sand so soft even bicycles cannot ply, Khetaram's footprints appear.
- His bodily effort closes the final stretch, delivering within 24 hours of dispatch.
Answer: It is transferred from the mail train onto buses, then carried on foot by Khetaram along sand beds and dunes - his bodily effort closes the last 10 km where no road survives, delivering within 24 hours of dispatch from Jodhpur, about 330 km away.
Check: The chain is train, bus, shoulders - the last link is one man's body.
Watch for this: Do not say vehicles complete the route - beyond the crumbling road, only foot delivery works.
Now try it yourself
Describe where Khetaram's beat lies.
Check your answer
Some 120 km beyond the last railhead at Barmer, 50 km beyond the last phone, 10 km past where the road crumbles into sand, reaching hamlets 2.5 km short of the Indo-Pakistan border.
The layered distances measure exactly how far beyond the grid his work goes.
Fix the facts of the man
Choose the method: Fifteen years, one shoulder.
EZT practice question
Who is Khetaram, and what physical mark has the job left on him?
Show the worked solution
- He is a Gramin Dak Sewak, the sole postman of the Somarad Branch Post Office in Rajasthan.
- He has served for the last 15 years as a trusted carrier of words.
- His left shoulder is slumped from years of carrying the mailbag.
Answer: Khetaram is a Gramin Dak Sewak who has spent 15 years as the sole postman of the Somarad Branch Post Office in Rajasthan - and his left shoulder is slumped from years of carrying the mailbag on foot through the desert.
Check: The slumped shoulder is the chapter's quiet summary of fifteen years of labour.
Watch for this: Do not call him a delivery agent - that title ended in 2001; he is a Gramin Dak Sewak.
Now try it yourself
How long has Khetaram served, and where?
Check your answer
For the last 15 years, as the sole postman of the Somarad Branch Post Office in Rajasthan.
Sole and fifteen years together show how much depends on one person.
Read the 49.9 detail
Choose the method: A decimal that hides a holiday.
EZT practice question
What does the 49.9 degrees celsius detail tell us about Khetaram's working conditions?
Show the worked solution
- His body signals the temperature has crossed 50 degrees celsius.
- The reading is recorded as 49.9 - because 50 would mean a state holiday.
- He delivers anyway, through scorching winds and sandstorms, on mojri-clad feet over sizzling sands.
Answer: He works through heat that crosses the 50-degree mark at which the state would declare a holiday - recorded as 49.9, so no relief applies; it shows both the extremity of the desert and how completely his duty depends on his own endurance rather than on rules protecting him.
Check: The decimal point is the detail: one-tenth of a degree stands between him and a mandated rest that never comes.
Watch for this: Do not read 49.9 as milder weather - the chapter presents it as 50-plus heat denied official recognition.
Now try it yourself
What is the maximum load regulations allow his mailbag, and what can a single summer delivery involve?
Check your answer
28 kilos - and in summer a single delivery can mean covering 20 km on foot.
The regulated load and the unregulated distance frame the hardship together.
Picture the sandman
Choose the method: A dune at his feet.
EZT practice question
How do sandstorms affect Khetaram, and how does he manage water?
Show the worked solution
- Scorching winds and swirling sandstorms turn him into a 'walking sandman'.
- Water is too precious to waste on washing, so he only wipes his body.
- In his own words: 'When I finish, there is a sand dune at my feet every evening.'
Answer: Sandstorms turn him into a walking sandman, and because water is too precious to waste on washing he only wipes himself down - leaving, in his own words, a sand dune at his feet every evening.
Check: His own sentence carries the hardship better than any description - quote it.
Watch for this: Do not say he bathes after work - the chapter's point is that he cannot spare the water.
Now try it yourself
Why is a single summer delivery so tiring, in Khetaram's own words?
Check your answer
He has to cover 20 km for it, on mojri-clad feet over sizzling sands.
Distance, footwear and heat compound in one sentence.
Track the title change
Choose the method: 2001 and what it meant.
EZT practice question
What changed in 2001 for workers like Khetaram?
Show the worked solution
- Till 2001, Khetaram was known as a 'delivery agent'.
- Since then, India's three lakh plus delivery agents have been accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks (GDS).
- GDS workers now constitute more than 50 per cent of India Post's total workforce.
Answer: In 2001 India's three lakh plus delivery agents were accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks - a recognition that now covers more than 50 per cent of India Post's total workforce.
Check: The change is of name and recognition - the work itself was already being done.
Watch for this: Do not say the GDS was created in 1947 - the recognition dates to 2001.
Now try it yourself
Which regions does the chapter name as GDS territories?
Check your answer
The frozen desert of Ladakh, the isles of Lakshadweep, and the riverine communities of the northeast - besides the Thar.
The spread shows Khetaram's beat is one of many extremes the GDS serves.
Judge the word invaluable
Choose the method: One official's verdict.
EZT practice question
Why does the Postmaster-General of Rajasthan Western Region call the role of the GDS invaluable?
Show the worked solution
- GDS workers deliver in interior areas often inaccessible by any means besides foot.
- Without them, the farthest communities would lose mail and savings services.
- Rural depositors entrust their monthly savings to the post office through the GDS.
Answer: Because GDS workers deliver in interior areas that are often accessible only on foot - without them, the farthest communities would be cut off from mail, savings services and their families entirely.
Check: The verdict comes from inside the system - the person who runs the region's post says the network rests on the GDS.
Watch for this: Do not treat 'invaluable' as praise for speed - it is about reach where nothing else reaches.
Now try it yourself
How has India Post grown since independence, and how did its mandate differ from the British system?
Check your answer
From 25 thousand post offices in 1947 to more than a lakh and a half today; the British system relayed company dak between administrative centres, while independent India's mandate was to bring the entire population within the mailing ambit.
The contrast explains why carriers like Khetaram exist at all.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Khetaram's post and station?
Show answer and reason
Gramin Dak Sewak, sole postman of Somarad Branch Post Office, Rajasthan.
Fifteen years on the same desert beat.
2. How close to the border are his hamlets?
Show answer and reason
2.5 km short of the Indo-Pakistan border.
His beat lies beyond the last railhead and the last phone.
3. The mailbag limit, and the recorded temperature?
Show answer and reason
28 kilos; 49.9 degrees celsius.
At 50 the state would declare a holiday.
4. What happened in 2001?
Show answer and reason
Delivery agents were accepted as Gramin Dak Sewaks.
GDS is now over 50 per cent of India Post's workforce.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Quote Khetaram's line about the sand dune at his feet.
- List the three distances that place Khetaram's beat beyond the grid.
- In one sentence, explain why the Postmaster-General calls the GDS invaluable.
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Questions about this practice page
- What is Carrier of Words about?
- It is a non-fiction feature in Unit 7 of the NCERT Class 9 English textbook Kaveri about Khetaram, a Gramin Dak Sewak who carries mail on foot through the Thar desert to remote hamlets near the Indo-Pakistan border, and about the GDS network that keeps rural India connected.
- Who is Khetaram?
- The sole postman of the Somarad Branch Post Office in Rajasthan for the last 15 years - a Gramin Dak Sewak whose left shoulder is slumped from years of carrying the mailbag on foot across the desert.
- What hardships does Khetaram face?
- Heat recorded at 49.9 degrees celsius (50 would mean a state holiday), sandstorms that turn him into a walking sandman, 20 km on foot for a single summer delivery, loads of up to 28 kilos, and water too scarce for washing.
- Who are Gramin Dak Sewaks?
- India's three lakh plus rural postal workers, recognised as GDS since 2001 and forming more than 50 per cent of India Post's workforce, delivering in areas often accessible only on foot - Ladakh, Lakshadweep, the northeast and the Thar.
- What is the theme of Carrier of Words?
- Quiet, essential service: the dignity of workers whose bodily effort carries words, savings and connection to the country's farthest families - and why their role is invaluable.