Wind Introduction This poem was originally written by Subramania Bharati in Tamil. It was translated into English by A.K. Ramanujan. This poem is about the effects of wind in general. The poet describes its effects on weak as well as strong structures. ‘The poet subtly tries to underline the fact that to be successful we should be strong. Summary In the poem, the poet first requests the wind to come softly and not to break the shutters of the windows or scatter the papers or throw down the books from the shelf. The poet says that the wind makes fun of weaklings. Weak houses, weak doors and weak bodies tend to crumble against strong winds. The poet then suggests that we should build strong homes, strong doors and a strong body. When we do so then wind will become our friend. He says that the wind blows out weak fires and makes strong fires roar and spread, The poet says that we should praise the wind God daily. Message The poet wants to convey the message that weak people tend to loose in the face of difficulties and obstacles. Only strong people are able to face the adversities of life and emerge out as winners. Don’t throw down the books on the shelf. ‘There, look what you did—you threw them all down. You tore the pages of the books. “QD Extract Bosed Questions W Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow: ‘You brought rain again. 1. Wind, come sofly {a) The poet, in this extract, is talking to the.. Don’t break the shutters of the windows (b) The poet does not want the wind to break the Don’t seatter the papers. shutters of the ind scatter the(©) The poet initially, wants the wind to blow: (i) Ina destructive manner Uke a youth (i) softly Uke a small child (ii) with energy and violence (iv) ina strong manner to tet things fall (4) Asynonym of scatter i - Answers (a) wind (b) windows: papers (6) (i) softy Uke a small chit (d) disperse 2. You're very clever at poking fun at weaklings. Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, rafters. crumbling wood. crumbling bodies. crumbling lives, crumbling hearts— the wind god winnows and crushes them all (a) The wind made fun of all the (b) Wind God takes away and crushes those who crumbling. (©) The word ‘crumbling’ has been repeated times. (0) five W sx (il) seven (iv) eight (4) The antonym of the word ‘frail’ is. Answers (a) weaktings (b) are weak (6) (i) seven (¢) strong 38. He won't do what you tell him. So, come, let’s build strong homes, Let's joint the doors firmly. Practise to firm the body. Make the heart steadfast Do this, and the wind will be friends with us. (a) ‘He’ here refers to the wind, which means (b) According to the extract, we should be strong enough to make wind our.. (©) We should build.. get into. (i) Frail body (ii) frait heart (@) strong homes (iv) huge buildings (d) The word steadfast’ means the same as. — Answers } ———+ (2) adversities in our lives (b) friend (6) (W) strong homes (@) firm 4. The wind blows out weak fires. He makes strong fires roar and flourish His friendship is good We praise him every day. (2) The wind makes the strong things . (b) State whether the given statement is True or False. The friendship of wind is not good. (©) Everything that is weak gets finished off in the face of the: (i) beasts (Gi) strong wind (@) weak fires (iv) strong rain (d) The word ‘praise’ means the same as... = Answers * (2) roar: flourish (b) Fatse (© (i) strong wind (@) appreciate/applaud ~@ Short Answer type Questions y QL Why does the poet want the wind to blow gently? The poet vants the wind to blow gently so that the window shutters are not broken, the papers are znnt scattered and the baols are not thrown off the shelves. Why is the wind called clever? The wind is called clever because it makes fun of swale parsons and things. It destroys weak houses, ‘wuale doors and weak bodies. Iris because I wants 155 to build strong homes. strong doors and a strong bouy Who does the wind God take away and crush? When we can look upon the wind as a friend? Wind God takes away and crushes thase who are ue are as strong as the wind itself What is the central idea of the poem 'Wind'? The central idea of the poem ‘Wind is that we should face the difficulties. challenges and obstacles in our Ife strongly and with determination. Only then can bbe overcome them and emerge victorious. If we fall to do so. then we will be destroyed How does the poet speak to the wind— with humour? In the starting, the poet speaks to the wind in anger because It does not listens to him and causes destruction. Hawever, towards the end of the poem the poet speaks humorously to the wind ~@ Long Answer Type Questions w ga a4 Ans. Qs. in anger or QL Describe how the poet shows the power of the wind in the poem. What moral does the poet draw? ‘Ans. The poet describes the raw force of the wind in this poem. When the wind blows if breaks the shutters oF the windows, It throws down the books off the shelfQ2. Ans. It tears the pages of the books. In doing so the wind makes fun of the weak things. It makes fun of weak and crumbling houses, doors and hearts. It nat only makes fun of these things but it also crushes them, The poet draws out a fine moral from the force of books from the shelf and it can also tear the pages (OF book. Moreover, it also brings rain. It can crumble weak houses, weak doors, weak rafters, uproot the trees in the forest and can also adversely affect human beings with weak hearts. This destruction wind. He says that the wind will not harm strong can be prevented by building strong homes with homes. doors or bodies. It means that if we are firm doors. Also, we should make our body and strong then even the strongest enemy will not be able to harm us in any way. Discuss the destruction caused by wind. How can this destruction be prevented? What does the poet wants to convey? Strong wind can break the shutters of the windows, heart strong. The poet wants to convey that life hurls man challenges and obstacles at us. if we are weak then we will not be able to overcame them and we will be destroyed. On the other hand, if we are strong then we will emerge as victorious even in the face of it can scatter the papers. it can throw down the adversities.