1st PUC English Notes | If I was a tree

7. If I was a tree

-Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy

Glossary:

Embraced : touch, clasp, fondle

Defiled : corrupted, polluted, spoilt

Dog eater : term of abuse (a derogatory term)

Branch out : spread out, grow

Flee : run

Hacked : wreck, shot to pieces, chopped

Bier : support for burial, pyre

Borne : carried, rode

D. Lit : Doctor of letters

Anthology : literary collection

Sacred : Holy

Comprehension : I

1. The speaker wants to be a tree because

Trees are not treated as objects of defilement.

2. What wouldn’t the bird ask the tree?

The bird wouldn’t ask what caste the tree belongs to before it builds its nest.

3. When does the sacred cow scrape her body onto the bark?

Sacred cow scrape her body onto the bark of the tree when it felt an itch, or whenever it get itched.

4. How does the speaker want to be purified?

By burning in the holy fire the speaker wanted to be purified.

5. The phrase ‘dog –eater’ refers to Untouchable.

6. What uses of the wood does the speaker see?

The wood can be used in a holy fire for sacrifices or rituals. It also become the bier for a sinless dead body on the shoulders of four good men.

Comprehension : II

1. Why would mother earth not flee according to the speaker?

2. How do the life forces-sunlight and the cool breeze enforce nature’s idea of equality?

The poem if I was a tree by Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy is a satire on social discrimination as it portrays how even a tree is treated better than a human being who belongs to the lower castes. Literally Dalit means oppressed or crushed. In earlier times, these people were made to live outside the villages and cities and their touch or even shadow was considered polluting. These groups were not entitled to education or any position of status and authority. However the sad reality is that it is still in practice in a lot of place around the country. The poet feels that if he was a tree he would not have to face discrimination at the hands of people. The poet says if he was tree then the bird wouldn’t ask for his cast before it built its nest on him, his shadow wouldn’t feel defiled (polluted) if the sunlight embraced him. He further thinks that his friendship with the breeze and leaves would be sweet and congenial (friendly, pleasing) The poet is trying to tell us that nature does not differentiate between upper and lower caste, it does not reserve its resources only for the upper castes. Forces like the rain, the wind, water serve all human beings in the same way. It is in the name of caste and creed that man differentiates and oppresses those who come from the lower castes. The poet feels that the sacred cow would scrape her body on the tree’s bark whenever he feels the need to scratch its body and the three hundred thousand Gods sheltering inside her would touch him as well. Even if it is cut and made into pieces it may be used to light the holy fire or used as a bier for a sinless body being carried by four good men on the shoulders. How can someone be purified by a bath if their inner selves are polluted with the idea of discriminating individuals? The poet feels it is convenient to be a tree that is beyond the boundaries of caste rather than being a human being who belong to the untouchable caste and suffer from caste politics.

1st PUC All Chapter English Notes

2nd PUC All Chapter English Notes