What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
When the elderly man expresses concern for her safety and calls her a child, Valli gets annoyed by his unwanted attention. She immediately retorts haughtily that there is nobody on the bus who is a child.
To assert her independence and equality as a passenger, she firmly states that she has paid her thirty paise like everyone else. Furthermore, when he initially called her a child for standing on the seat, she had irritably declared that she was not a child and proudly announced that she was eight years old.
Explanation
The textbook shows two instances where Valli reacts to being called a child by the elderly man. First, she irritably says she is eight years old. Later, she haughtily claims she is not a child because she paid her fare like the adult passengers, showing her strong desire to be treated as a grown-up.