Chapter-My mother Q/A

ENGLISH - 5 - MY MOTHER

A. Read the extracts and answer the given questions:-

(a) "You come to me like heaven's caring arms
I remember war days when life was challenge and toil.
Miles to walk hours before sunrise"
1. Who are you & me in the above lines?
'You' refers to the poet's mother and 'me' refers to the
poet himself in the above lines.
2. Identity the figure of speech used in the first line.
Simily is the figure of speech used in the given line.
Here; the caring hands of the poet's mother is compared
to the caring hands of God.
3. Mention any two things that made poet's life difficult.
Two things that made the poet's life difficult were:
>Poverty
>Hardship and difficulties faced during World War II
4. Why did the poet have to walk so much early in the morning?
The poet had to walk so much early in the morning to take
lessons from the saintly teacher near the temple. Then he
walked a few more miles to learn Arabic. He also had to
climb sandy hills to reach the Railway Station Road to
collect and distribute newspapers to earn some money in
order to help the family.
(b) "All this pain of a young boy
My mother you transformed into pious strength
With kneeling and bowing five times..."
1. Who is the young boy?
The young boy is the poet himself.
2. What pain is he talking about?
The pain talked about by the poet is the difficulties and
hardship faced at an early stage due to poverty and war.
3. What was this pain transformed into? How did this
tranformation took place?
This pain was transformed into strength, belief in
himself and God.
This transformation took place by drawing inspiration
from the strong character of his mother. The poet was
inspired by his mother's love, virtue and above all her
strong faith in god.
4. What do you understand by 'kneeling and bowing five times'?
By 'kneeling and bowing five times' we understand that the
poet being a Muslim by relegion, had seen his mother offer
'Namaaz' to God. This line also emphasizes that the poet's
mother had deep faith in God.
C. The poet's childhood days were full of struggle. Find out a few
things that the poet had to do in his childhood to help his family.
The poet's childhood days were full of struggle due to poverty
and war. This is evident from the facts presented by the poet in
his poem. Getting education for him was also not very easy. He had
to walk miles much before sunrise to learn from the saintly
teacher near the temple. Then again before going to school, he
had to cover a long distance to attend the Arabic classes. Morning
and evening, he sold newspapers to help the family. Late at night
he also devoted some time to his studies. All these instances
show that the poet had a great sense of responsibility.
D. Explain the last line of the poem:
"We will meet again on the great Judgement Day, My Mother."
What does this line show?
The last line of the poem shows us that the poet has a longing
to see his mother. Being a Muslim, he believes that on the great
day of Judgement, he will get an opportunity to see his mother.
This line also shows the poet's love for his mother as well as
his deep faith in his religion.