Wind (Poem)

Wind (Poem) Question and Answer
 NCERT Class 9 Beehive Text Book

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1 What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?

Answer The wind breaks the shutters of the window, scatters the papers, throws down the books from the shelf and tear the pages of the book. In the first stanza, wind is a trouble maker. The poet is requesting the wind to come softly but it did not pay any heat, rather comes in the form of hurricane.

Question 2 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  Yes, I have witnessed women winnowing grain in villages. It is the process of separating grains from the chaff. It is majorly done for paddy crops. In the process, traditionally the dried grains are allowed to fall from a height. “Soop” is the winnowing basket that is used for the process and “Pichhorna” is the term used in Hindi for winnowing. 

Question 3 What does the poet say the wind god winnows?

Answer The poet says that the wind god winnows weak people or weak things. The poet has compared the traditional farming practices of winnowing with the destruction that the wind creates during a natural calamity. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the weal fires and it intensifies the stronger one. The fierce wind, like the process of winnowing uproots all the crumbling homes, wood, bodies, lives, and hearts. 

Question 4 What should we do to make friends with the wind? 

Answer To make friends with wind we need to build strong homes with strong doors. We should also make ourselves physically and mentally strong by building strong, firm bodies and having steadfast hearts so that next time when such a calamity hits the area again, they are ready to combat and withstand it physically and emotionally.

Question 5 What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?

Answer In the last four lines the poet inspires us to face the wind which symbolises the hardship of our lives. We should be mentally strong to face all the challenges that life throws at us. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the weak fires and it intensifies the stronger one. Having a positive attitude towards hardships not only makes them easier to deal with but also teaches a lesson that we carry with us throughout our lives. Adversities deter the weak hearted but make those stronger who have unfaltering will.

Question 6 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’?

Answer There is an anger in the poet’s tone while speaking to the wind. Strong wind breaks away the fragile items human beings have put together. They cause plenty of damage and destruction to both life and property and human beings are bound to submit to the cruelty of nature. Storms, cyclones, gales, and intense winds cause havoc on the land. They uproot trees, bring down houses, electric posts, and claim an encumber of lives. Yet, I do not agree with the poet that the wind only ‘crumbles lives.’ The wind is also responsible for bringing rains and contributing to the water cycle. It lowers the temperature of the land and helps as a carrier of pollen grains too. With advancements in technology, the wind is also utilised for the purposes of energy harnessing using wind power plants.