Poem: Felling of the Banyan Tree NCERT Solutions | Class 11 English Woven Words - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Understanding the Poem

Q1: Identify the lines that reveal the critical tone of the poet towards the felling of the tree.
Ans: There are several expressions in the poem that reflect the poet’s critical tone of the poet towards the felling of the tree:
“Its scraggy aerial roots fell to the ground”
“Sawing them off for seven days and the heap was huge”
“Insects and birds began to leave the tree”
“Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped”
“We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter”.

Q2: Identify the words that help you understand the nature of the poet’s father.
Ans: “Felling of the Banyan Tree” by Dilip Chitre provides us with an abundance of incidents and words or phrases that help us understand the poet’s father’s personality and temperament. According to the poem, the father was a sensible guy who cleared all of the trees off the property when it was changing. The terms “the structures were demolished”; “but he massacred them all”; and “my father ordered it to be removed” may all be used to describe this aspect of the father.

Q3: ‘Trees are sacred my grandmother used to say’— what does the poet imply by this line?
Ans: Many legends surround the sheoga, oudumber, neem, and, most notably, the banyan tree. In Hinduism, they are regarded mythologically important and sacred. Cutting down these trees, according to the holy texts, is considered a sin by people who are extremely devout. They even say that if you fell a neem or a peepal, you will be cursed with bad luck. There are several legends in our mythology that instill dread and superstitions in our culture. Thus, the poet is merely attempting to convey the fears and religious beliefs of elderly people such as his grandmother.

Q4: ‘No trees except the one which grows and seethes in one’s dreams’— why is the phrase ‘grows and seethes’ used?
Ans: The poet narrates his experience of getting to spot another banyan tree after shifting to Baroda. This banyan tree reminds him of the one his father had removed before moving to Baroda. The memory of that banyan tree is imprinted on him and appears faded and blurred in his dreams. In his dreams, he is haunted by the memory of the tree. The poet uses the phrase “grows” and “seethes”, meaning the tree swells and grows with anger and sorrow in an effort to revenge her murder.

Q5: How does the banyan tree stand out as different from other trees? What details of the tree does the poet highlight in the poem?
Ans: Lord Krishna remarked in the Bhagavad Geeta, “Of all the trees, I am Banyan Tree.” In Hindu mythology, the most religious tree is the banyan. Buddha is said to have renounced under a banyan tree in Bodh Gaya. There are many more similar tales contained in this tree’s age-old aerial roots that mysteriously descend to the earth.
The banyan tree is beautiful in existence. The ring on the tree notifies the poet about the tree’s age, like “the great tree revealed its rings of two hundred years.” The mysteries are disclosed by tree shoots that have reached the ground.

Q6: What does the reference to raw mythology imply?
Ans: Since ancient times, the banyan tree has played an important role in mythologies and stories. When the tree was cut down, its scraggy aerial roots fell to the ground, killing a massive existence that occupied a fifty-foot area. It was an ancient tree that contained all the wisdom wrapped within. When it was brought down, the poet felt as if all of mythology was revealed to him.

Q7: ‘Whose roots lay deeper than our lives’— what aspect of human behaviour does this line reflect?
Ans: A banyan tree survives through generations and lives. It observes people, ages, changes, revisions, cultural and physical transformations, and so on. It sees civilization’s rise and replanting. The tree has a lifespan of 200 years and may be seen from any angle. A banyan tree, unlike an eighty-year-old man, travels through generational changes and upheavals. These trees have seen everything taking rebirth.

Q8: Comment on the contemporary concern that the poem echoes.
Ans: The poet is concerned about the changes brought about by globalisation and westernisation. The younger generation is being robbed of actual values, while old values are being discarded. People have failed to attention to the entrenched but unseen presence of tradition, which has always played a vital role in people’s lives.

Try This Out

Q1: Most of us have had this experience of seeing trees in our neighborhood being mercilessly cut down in order to build a house or a public building or to widen a road. Describe any such experience you have had of the felling of a tree you were attached to, with reasons for your special attachment to the tree.
Ans: For once, I had planted a mango tree in our backyard space when I was just five years of age. It was a mere experiment that I had tried out after being influenced by the “Vanmahotsava” program organized in our village. With years, the tree grew up, strong and stolid. After returning from classes, I used to water the plant and sit under it o narrate my lessons and experiences of the entire day. The tree wouldn’t speak except for the slight slouching and movement of its branches caused by the wind. I would take that as its consent t my words. Years went by and I had to leave my place for higher studies. In the holidays I would return with my secret diary to sing my studies to her. She never disapproved of me. A year later, our backyard space was confiscated by the municipality to widen the roads and had the tree uprooted. Huge machines were brought to displace the tree from its home. In thus world, it’s not just humans who are being displaced by natural and man-made calamities but nature too, that has to tolerate the indecencies and brutality of people.

Q2: Find out the equivalents for sheoga, oudumber and neem in your language and English and the equivalent of banyan in your language.
Ans: In Bengali, “sheoga” is termed as “shoga” while “oudumber” and “neem” are termed in the same fashion. While the banyan tree is termed as “both gachh” in Bengali.

Q3: The adjective ‘scraggy’ is used to describe ‘roots’ in the poem. Find out two other items which could be described as ‘scraggy’: scraggy…………….
Ans: “Scraggy” can be paired with a “pole” , to mean a long and lean pole. Besides, scraggy can also be used as an adjective to define a “puppy”, to denote its unhealthy growth.

Q4: Use the following adjectives to describe suitable items
Raw, Aerial, Sacred
Ans: Raw: vegetables
Aerial: spirits
Sacred: Texts