2.5 Father Returning Home

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 Watch the power point presentation to understand the poem Father Returning Home.

 

Question Bank Activity

Father Returning Home

Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,

Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.

He goes into the toilet to contemplate

Man's estrangement from a man-made world.

Coming out he trembles at the sink,

The cold water running over his brown hands,

A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.

His sullen children have often refused to share

Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to sleep

Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming

Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking

Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass. wrists.

A1 Complete the given flowchart about father’s activities at home. (02) 

Drinking weak tea , eating stale chapati 

                            ⬇️

....,............................................

                            ⬇️

.........................,...................................

                            ⬇️

Listening to the static on the radio

Ans : Drinking weak tea , eating stale chapati 

                            ⬇️

Contemplating in toilet

                            ⬇️

Trembling at the sink while cleaning hands

                            ⬇️

Listening to the static on the radio

A2 Find the lines to highlight the relation of children and father. (02)

a) His sullen children have often refused to share

Jokes and secrets with him.

b) Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,

Eating a stale chapati.

A3 Would you like to celebrate ‘Father’s day’? If yes how/ If not why? (02)

Ans : No, I don't like to celebrate 'Father's Day' . For me every day is a parent's day. Celebrating one day in their name and not respecting on all other days is not a wise idea. Instead of celebrating one day I prefer to listen to them and talk to them. I want to be there whenever they need me. 

A4 Name the figure of speech(Poetic Device) in the following line and give one more example. (02)

“coming out he trembles at the sink”

Ans : Hyperbole - The statement is exaggerated.

A5 (Poetic Creativity)Read the following lines and add two poetic lines to rhyme with line. (02)

He will now go to sleep

Listening to static on the radio

……………………………………………….

Ans : He will now go to sleep

Listening to static on the radio

With vibrant audio

Till he gets sound sleep.

Activity Sheet No 2

Q. 1 A Read the extract and do all the activities given below.

A1. Complete the web chart.

A2. Find the lines to prove the facts from the poem.

a. Father is isolated from the society and family.

b. Generation Gap

A3. Write a character sketch of your father.

A4. Find examples of transferred epithet and synecdoche.

A5. Replace the words from the following lines and rewrite :

Home again, I see him drinking weak tea

Eating a stale Chapati, reading a book.

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Answers

A.1

Bag stuffed with books falling apart

Raincoat stained with mud

Sticky Chappals

Soggy shirts and pants

Dimmed eyes

Unseeing eyes

A2.a. Father is isolated from the society and family. " Like a word dropped from a long sentence "

b. Generation Gap " His sullen children have often refused to share jokes and secretes with him "

A3. My father is a farmer. He works very hard. He wears paijama and kurta. His hands became rough with hard work. He works in the field.

A4. Transferred epithet: humid monsoon night- The adjective humid is transferred from weather to night.

Synecdoche : eating a stale Chapati - Chapati stands for food, the part symbolises whole.

A5. Home again, I see him drinking strong coffee

Eating fresh food, writing a story.

Brainstorming Activities

Write a poetic appreciation of the poem 2.5 ‘Father Returning Home’ with the help of the following points.

·       About the poem / poet and the title.   

·       The theme

·       Poetic Style

·       Language /Poetic devices

·       Special features

·       Message, values, morals in the poem

·       Your opinions about the poem

Dilip Chitre was a celebrated bilingual poet. He was a translator with a remarkable work in Marathi and English.

The poem ’Father Returning Home’ is taken from ‘Traveling in a cage’- by Dilip Chitre. It draws a portrait of a suburban father as commuter.

The poem depicts dull and monotonous routine of father. The father is alienated in his home. His children refuse to share their joys and sorrows with the hardworking father. This painful loneliness is a symbol of man’s isolation from the materialistic man-made world.

The poem has no regular rhyming words and rhyme scheme. The poem is divided into two stanzas. In the first stanza the vivid description of father as a commuter draws the attention. In the second stanza his painful loneliness at home is shown. Simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia and synecdoche, transferred epithet are the striking figures of speech used in the poem.

                       The underlying message of the poem generation gap in the modern age has created disrespect for the elders. In spite of all the odds the father devote his life for the children.