Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 2 Prose A Pair of Mustachios 2026–27
A Pair of Mustachios by Mulk Raj Anand uses humour to show how moustaches become symbols of class, pride and false honour. For CBSE Class 11 English, the story shows how outward signs of status can expose social prejudice and foolish pride.
A Pair of Mustachios by Mulk Raj Anand is a humorous prose chapter from Class 11 English Woven Words. The story uses different moustache styles to show class boundaries, pride, false honour and social prejudice. The main conflict is between Seth Ramanand, a grocer and moneylender, and Khan Azam Khan, a proud man attached to his ancestral status.
Use these Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 2 Prose to revise the story for the 2026–27 exams. Practise moustache symbolism, character analysis, satire, dialogue, social customs, CBSE important questions and language-work answers.
Key Takeaways
- A Pair of Mustachios: The story is written by Mulk Raj Anand.
- Moustaches: They act as social symbols that mark class boundaries.
- Khan Azam Khan: He values his tiger moustache and ancestral honour more than practical sense.
- Seth Ramanand: He uses Azam Khan’s pride to gain his jewellery, goods and property.
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Very Short Answer Questions for Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 2 Prose
These questions check the author, characters and central conflict. They help explain the satire and class symbolism in longer answers.
Q1. Who is the author of A Pair of Mustachios?
Answer: A Pair of Mustachios is written by Mulk Raj Anand.
He was a celebrated Indian novelist in English. His writing often uses humour and sharp social observation.
Q2. Who is Seth Ramanand?
Answer: Seth Ramanand is a grocer and moneylender in the story.
He belongs to the shopkeeper class. He is clever, patient and skilled in business dealings.
Q3. Who is Khan Azam Khan?
Answer: Khan Azam Khan is a proud man who claims descent from an old Afghan family.
He lives in a dilapidated Moghul-style house. He values his ancestral honour and tiger moustache deeply.
Q4. What kind of moustache does Khan Azam Khan wear?
Answer: Khan Azam Khan wears a tiger moustache.
The tiger moustache is linked with feudal gentry. It symbolises pride, old status and inherited honour.
Q5. What kind of moustache does Seth Ramanand originally have?
Answer: Seth Ramanand originally has a goat moustache.
The goat moustache is worn by the nouveau riche, commercial bourgeoisie and shopkeeper class. It can be turned up or down as needed.
Q6. What does Seth Ramanand do to his goat moustache?
Answer: Seth Ramanand twists the tips of his goat moustache upward.
This makes it look almost like a tiger moustache. Khan Azam Khan sees this as an insult to his status.
Q7. Why does Azam Khan get angry with Ramanand?
Answer: Azam Khan gets angry because Ramanand’s moustache begins to resemble a tiger moustache.
He believes only people of his class can wear that style. His anger comes from pride and class prejudice.
Q8. What is the main conflict in A Pair of Mustachios?
Answer: The main conflict is between false pride and practical intelligence.
Azam Khan wants Ramanand to lower his moustache tips. Ramanand uses this pride to gain Azam Khan’s possessions.
Objective Questions from A Pair of Mustachios Important Questions
Objective questions test exact textbook details about moustache types, class markers and language expressions. These details help avoid unclear answers in CBSE important questions.
Q9. Choose the correct answer: Which moustache is worn by the feudal gentry?
- a) Goat moustache
b) Tiger moustache
c) Mouse moustache
d) Sheep moustache
Answer: b) Tiger moustache.
The tiger moustache is worn by the unbending survivals from the ranks of the feudal gentry.
Q10. Choose the correct answer: Which moustache is described as an unsure brand?
- a) Lion moustache
b) Tiger moustache
c) Goat moustache
d) Mouse moustache
Answer: c) Goat moustache.
The goat moustache is described as an unsure brand. Its tips can be turned up or down as the occasion demands.
Q11. Fill in the blank: With them clothes make the man but, to us, ______ make the man.
Answer: mustachios.
The narrator says that for some people clothes make the man, but in his society mustachios make the man.
Q12. True or False: The goat moustache can be turned up or down as the occasion demands.
Answer: True.
The goat moustache can show power to one person and humility to another. This makes it useful for shopkeepers and moneylenders.
Q13. What do the expressions “nouveau riche” and “commercial bourgeoisie” refer to?
Answer: They refer to newly rich people and the business or shopkeeper class.
In the story, these expressions are linked with the goat moustache. They show class identity and social ambition.
Q14. What is meant by “blue blood” in the story?
Answer: “Blue blood” means noble or aristocratic birth.
Khan Azam Khan claims old ancestry and social rank. Others doubt his claim and call it the bluff of a rascal.
Q15. Locate expressions in the text that reflect the Indian idiom.
Answer: Expressions such as “seed of a donkey,” “to become a mere worm” and “oily lentil-eaters” reflect the Indian idiom.
These phrases give the dialogue a local flavour. They also make the argument lively and humorous.
Q16. Complete the phrase: ______ one’s word.
Answer: keep one’s word.
The phrase means to fulfil a promise. In the story, Azam Khan wants proof that Ramanand will keep his word.
Short Answer Questions from Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 2 Prose Important Questions
Short Answer Questions from A Pair of Mustachios usually ask how a small social symbol creates a major conflict. Link each answer with class pride, satire or character behaviour.
Q17. What do the different kinds of moustaches represent in the story?
Answer: The different moustaches represent class boundaries and social identity.
The lion, tiger, goat, Charlie Chaplin, sheep and mouse moustaches mark different groups. The story ridicules the idea that appearance can decide a person’s worth.
Q18. What are the various kinds of moustaches discussed in the story?
Answer: The story discusses lion, tiger, goat, Charlie Chaplin, sheep and mouse moustaches.
The lion moustache belongs to rulers and generals. The tiger moustache belongs to feudal gentry, while the goat moustache belongs to shopkeepers and the nouveau riche.
Q19. What do you know about Seth Ramanand?
Answer: Seth Ramanand is a grocer and moneylender with sharp business sense.
He buys crops cheaply from hard-pressed peasants and sells them at higher prices. He stays calm and uses Azam Khan’s pride for his own gain.
Q20. What do you know about Khan Azam Khan?
Answer: Khan Azam Khan is proud, headstrong and attached to his old status.
He claims descent from an ancient Afghan family. Though he has little property left, he guards his tiger moustache as a symbol of honour.
Q21. Why does Azam Khan ask Ramanand to turn the tips of his moustache down?
Answer: Azam Khan asks Ramanand to turn the tips down because Ramanand’s moustache looks like a tiger moustache.
Azam Khan believes the tiger moustache belongs to his class. He sees Ramanand’s imitation as an insult.
Q22. How does Ramanand first calm Azam Khan?
Answer: Ramanand first calms Azam Khan by lowering one tip of his moustache.
He does this because Azam Khan is doing business with him. Ramanand then starts using the situation to bargain.
Q23. What were the contents of the petition that Azam Khan signed?
Answer: The petition transferred Azam Khan’s household goods and chattels to Ramanand.
It was prepared by the village petition writer. It was signed before the five elders of the village and sealed.
Q24. How does the insertion of dialogue contribute to the interest of the story?
Answer: Dialogue makes the story lively, humorous and dramatic.
The arguments between Azam Khan and Ramanand reveal their personalities directly. Phrases like “turn that tip down” and “I shall wring your neck” add energy to the conflict.
Long Answer Questions on A Pair of Mustachios
Long Answer Questions from A Pair of Mustachios ask for character, satire and social criticism together. Use Ramanand’s business skill and Azam Khan’s pride as evidence.
Q25. What do you understand of the natures of Ramanand and Azam Khan from the episode described?
Answer: Ramanand is practical and shrewd, while Azam Khan is proud and foolishly emotional.
Ramanand understands people and business. He remains calm even when Azam Khan insults him and threatens him.
Azam Khan values his tiger moustache as the symbol of ancestral honour. He becomes so angry about Ramanand’s moustache that he loses his sense of judgement.
He keeps giving away jewellery, goods and property to protect a symbol. The episode shows that Ramanand is guided by profit, but Azam Khan is ruled by pride.
Ramanand wins because he understands Azam Khan’s weakness.
Q26. Identify instances in the story that show the business acumen of Ramanand.
Answer: Ramanand’s business acumen appears in the way he turns Azam Khan’s anger into profit.
He first lowers one tip of his moustache when Azam Khan pawns his wife’s nose-ring. He then demands more valuable jewellery to lower the other tip.
Ramanand does not lose his temper when Azam Khan threatens him. He keeps raising the price of each concession.
Finally, he gets Azam Khan to transfer all his goods and chattels through a signed deed. This shows that Ramanand is patient, calculating and skilled in exploiting a customer’s weakness.
Q27. Both Ramanand and Azam Khan seem to have very fixed views. How does Ramanand score over Azam Khan towards the end of the story?
Answer: Ramanand scores over Azam Khan because he uses practical intelligence while Azam Khan remains trapped in pride.
Both men believe in class-based moustache styles. Ramanand, however, treats the moustache as a tool, while Azam Khan treats it as sacred honour.
Azam Khan gives away his wife’s nose-ring, necklace and household possessions only to force Ramanand to lower his moustache. Ramanand agrees step by step and gains everything.
In the end, Azam Khan keeps his tiger moustache but becomes a pauper. Ramanand wins because he values profit over empty status.
Q28. Comment on the way in which the theme of the story has been introduced.
Answer: The theme is introduced through a humorous explanation of moustache styles.
The narrator begins by saying that mustachios mark the boundaries between classes. He compares Indian social symbols with Western clothes.
This opening makes the idea of class distinction appear comic and absurd. It also prepares readers for the conflict between Ramanand’s goat moustache and Azam Khan’s tiger moustache.
The introduction works well because the whole story grows from this social symbol.
Q29. The episode has been narrated in a light vein. What social mores does the author seem to ridicule?
Answer: The author ridicules class pride, false honour and blind attachment to old social customs.
The story shows people treating moustache styles as fixed class boundaries. This makes a small matter appear more important than land, money or family possessions.
Azam Khan loses everything because he cannot accept a shopkeeper’s moustache looking like his own. Ramanand takes advantage of this weakness.
The humour exposes the foolishness of social prejudice. The light tone makes the criticism sharper because the situation is funny and painful at the same time.
Q30. What message does the author seem to convey through A Pair of Mustachios?
Answer: The author conveys that false pride and empty status symbols can destroy practical judgement.
Azam Khan’s tiger moustache represents his old honour, but it does not improve his life. He loses real possessions while protecting a symbolic identity.
Ramanand’s behaviour also shows how clever people can exploit social weakness. The story questions class boundaries that people follow without reason.
The message is that dignity should not depend on outward symbols like moustaches.
Class 11 English Woven Words Short Stories Chapter Wise Important Questions
| Chapter | Chapter Name |
| Chapter 1 | The Lament |
| Chapter 3 | The Rocking-horse Winner |
| Chapter 4 | The Adventure of the Three Garridebs |
| Chapter 5 | Pappachi’s Moth |
| Chapter 6 | The Third and Final Continent |
| Chapter 7 | Glory at Twilight |
| Chapter 8 | The Luncheon |
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
The main theme of A Pair of Mustachios is the foolishness of false pride and class prejudice. The story shows how moustache styles become symbols of status. It ridicules people who value outward signs more than practical sense.
The moustaches symbolise social class, pride and identity. The lion, tiger, goat, sheep and mouse moustaches mark different groups. The story uses these symbols to expose the absurdity of class divisions.
Ramanand defeats Azam Khan by exploiting his pride in the tiger moustache. He lowers his moustache tips only in exchange for valuables. Finally, Azam Khan signs away his goods and chattels.
Khan Azam Khan is proud of his tiger moustache because it represents his ancestral honour. He connects it with feudal status and noble descent. This pride makes him angry when Ramanand’s moustache looks similar.
The ending shows the danger of valuing status symbols over practical wisdom. Azam Khan becomes a pauper after signing away his property, but he still keeps his tiger moustache proudly.