In the story, the family's financial status was quite low. They didn't have the luxury of owning a car, unlike most families in the town. The father, a mere clerk, barely earned enough, with half his salary being utilized for the care of impoverished relatives. Additionally, the house was mortgaged, adding to their financial quandaries. Their means of transportation was a pony-driven basket cart, a blatant sign of their limited means. The garage, meant for cars, only harboured their pony, Barkis which further underscored their economic status.

Slumdog Millionaire is a much acclaimed film. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all and won eight Oscars. The film is a rage-to-riches story of an eighteen-year-old orphan, Jamal, who works as a tea server. The story is set in the slums of Mumbai. Jamal is a contestant on the Indian version of the popular American TV show “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire”. When he is just a question away from becoming a millionaire, the envious host of the show suspects him of cheating and calls the police. Everyone else is suspicious too because no one can believe that a poor, uneducated boy could answer all the questions. Jamal is arrested. The police interrogate him. The story of Jamal’s life unfolds in flashbacks. The audience then learns that Jamal has not cheated and that his life has taught him a lot. The message of the film is clear: the rich cultural diversity of a country like India can enrich a person’s learning immensely. The screenplay of the film was adapted from the novel Q & A. The film was made on a shoestring budget but it has earned more than 100 million at the box office.

1. The family was in a poor financial condition. A substantial part of the father's salary was used to support ill and poor relatives which made it difficult to maintain their own needs. They were so poor that even their house was mortgaged. They were different from the other families in their town because they were the only family who didn't own a car.

2. For shopping, they used to go to the market with a disreputable two-wheeled basket cart, which was drawn by an aged Shetland pony named Barkis.

3. The name of the pony that drove the cart was Barkis. It was named so by the mother after a character in David Copperfield.

4. Find words in the passage having the following meanings:

(a) Not respectable in appearance: Disreputable

(b) Very old: Ancient