CBSE Class 9 - English Literature (Beehive) - Wind Poem (Summary and Questions and Answers)(#eduvictors)(#cbsenotes)(#class9English)

Wind Poem (Summary and Questions and Answers)

CBSE Class 9 - English Literature (Beehive)

Poet: Subramania Bharati
Subramania Bharati (1882–1921) is a great Tamil poet, famous for his patriotism in the pre-Independence era.

Translated By: A.K. Ramanujan (translated the Tamil poem to English)


Poem Summary

This poem is of the Pre-Independence Era where Britishers ruled India. Subramania Bharti is a patriotic and endorses his love by pouring out anger and frustration in this poem. His anguish against the devastation caused and the struggling period Indian peasants & workers were going through is compared by the destruction caused by wind. Wind is metaphorically describing the obstacles or the hindrances that come and destroy a person's life. He starts by requesting the wind not to shatter down everything as it has crumbled so many lives. Wind symbolises the difficulties that are faced in lives. 

The poet describes how the wind god can separate the strong from the weak by crushing down the weaklings. When we have the endurance to bear the obstacles of life, we can overcome each challenge but if we are weak and unstable, we succumb to the difficulties of life. Subramania Bharti tells his readers that it is time to firm the bodies and strengthen up oneself to overpower any obstacles that come in people's life. Building strength and being firm while facing the troubles can makes us friends with it. There is power in unity and strength in staying united and firm. Both constructive and destructive aspects of the wind are beautifully expressed by the poet.

Questions and Answers

Q1: What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?

Answer: The wind blows strongly and causes a lot of destruction. It breaks the shutters of the window. It scatters the papers and throws down the books on the shelf. The pages get torn.

Q2: Have you seen anybody winnow grain at home or in a paddy field? What is the word in your language for winnowing? What do people use for winnowing ?

Answer: Winnowing is a common scene at some villages where one can see women assembling and separating chaff from grains. I have seen this activity of winnowing grains in the fields of Amritsar while I was travelling to Punjab. It was interesting to see how people used to sing and enjoy this activity. Many villages have replaced the traditional winnowing with machines.

In huge paddy fields, farmers perform this activity. People in the village use to call winnowing as 'Pachchorana' in their language. People use chhaaj for winnowing, i.e., separating chaff from grain with the help of wind.

Q3: What does the poet say the wind god winnows?

Answer: The wind god winnows the frail crumbing houses, crumbling doors, rafters, wood, weak bodies, lives and crumbling heart. The poet uses the word 'crumbling' repeatedly to show how it crushes them all.

Q4: What should we do to make friends with the wind?

Answer: Winds are metaphorically related to obstacles and hardships which hinder in achieving our motives. It pokes fun of the weaklings, it shatters the weak down. It teases people and mess up with the lives. To make friends with the wind, we should make ourselves strong, both physically and emotionally. By building strong homes and join the doors firmly, we can handle any strong wind. By keeping our heart strong and by showing determination over every obstacle, we can face any challenge which resist in moving towards our goals. By invoking challenges and having the fire to break them, we will enjoy the struggles and hurdles.

Q5: What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?

Answer:  Just like the wind roars and flourishes the weak flames of burning fire, the obstacles in our life challenges our will and makes us stronger to upheld higher enough for another phase of the obstacle. Life is full of hindrances, which will keep on entering and will trouble us. But if we stabilize ourselves firmly and make up our minds for good, we can handle the upcoming problems. If we make the challenges a part of our life, we will certainly do better. Just like the wind extinguishes the low flames of fire, hardships shatters the ones with less esteem. Building strength and being firm while facing the troubles can makes us friends with it.

Q6: How does the poet speak to the wind- in anger or with humour ? You must also have seen or heard of the wind "crumbling lives". What is your response to this? Is it like the poet's?

Answer: The poet speaks in anger about the destruction caused by the strong winds. The wind pokes and teases the weaklings and shatters them down. He stresses upon how the wind crumbles homes, lives and messes up with hearts. It blows off the big trees, rafters, woods etc. Poet seems unhappy about how the wind crushes everything off. There are situations where people can't fight with the obstacles beyond their struggles, just because they feel low and disturbed. This imbalances their lives and vanishes their hopes and desires. The poet seems unhappy about it and requests the wind to blow softly. I have a similar view as per the poets. As I have seen people suffer from storms, from troubles, from external factors, I feel devastated myself. It ruins lives and has crumbled many hearts that it pains. Everyone has anger inside them when it comes to destruction and demolishing of lives.


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Ch 1 - The Fun They Had (Chapter Questions and Answers)

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Ch2: The Sound of Music (Chapter Theme and Summary)
Ch2: The Sound Of Music (Q & A)

The Lost Child (Q & A)
The Lost Child (Summary and Theme)

Chapter 4 - Truly Beautiful Mind (NCERT Answers)

Chapter 5: The Snake and The Mirror (Summary and Q & A)

Chapter 7: Packing (Q & A)