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If I Was a Tree Questions and Answers

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Comprehension I.

1. The speaker wants to be a tree because

Ans: a. trees are not treated as objects of defilement.

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

Ans: The bird wouldn’t ask the tree of its caste.

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

Ans: Whenever it itches her body. 

4. How does the speaker want to be purified?

Ans: By burning in the holy fire hacked into pieces of dry wood. 

5. How does the speaker view his friendship with cool

breeze and leaves?

Ans: As sweet. 


II. 

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

Ans: Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy feels that being born a tree in nature is more meaningful than being born as a low caste member  in human society. This is because humans have built barriers among themselves based on their castes. The upper caste individuals feel that they are superiors and enjoy the privileges. In contrast, the lower caste people are denied their rights. Besides, this discrimination further divides human society making the life of the suppressed even more miserable. In the poem the mother earth wouldn’t flee when the roots of the tree branch out. The mother earth nourishes and sustains every living organism without any discrimination. Nature has a wonderful system of coordination and peaceful co-existence. So, the mother earth wouldn’t flee. This is in total contrast with the human world where the high caste member runs for a holy bath on encountering a lower caste individual. The poet finds nature to be a perfect haven to be without facing any insult and humiliation 


III. 

1. Why does the speaker want to be a tree?

Ans: The poem “If I Was A Tree” by Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy talks about the evil caste system that exists in Indian society. Here, the poet expresses his wish to be born a tree in nature instead of being born a human being, for he faces inhuman discrimination based on caste in human society. His experiences as a low caste human are unpleasant and unjust. The upper caste do not allow the lower caste people to live in equal respect with equal opportunities. They believe that by coming in contact with the untouchables they become defiled and it needs purification. They have a very subtle notion that even the shadow of the untouchables would defile them. This has been in practice for decades and centuries. 

So, the poet feels that a tree in nature lives a better life. The bird wouldn't ask  the tree what caste it belongs to before building its nest. The shadow of the tree doesn’t feel defiled when the sunlight falls on it. The tree’s friendship with the cool breeze and the leaves would be sweet. The raindrops do not withdraw thinking that the tree is a dog-eater. When the tree branches out further from its root, the mother earth wouldn’t flee shouting for a bath as it happens with humans. 

Even the sacred cow which is thought to house three hundred thousand Gods would not mind scraping her body on the bark of the tree. Thus, there is no discrimination done in nature. Besides, the poet finds all these as his advantages associated with being a tree in nature. He also hopes that as a tree one is still useful at the end. The tree could become pure when it burns in the holy fire hacked into pieces of dry wood or it could become the bier for a sinless body to be borne on the shoulders of four good men.

This is how the poet wants to be a tree so that he does not have to suffer the inhuman treatment just because he is born in a particular caste. 


2. The poem is a satire on social discrimination. Discuss.

OR

The speaker brings out the concepts of defilement and

purification. How is the meaninglessness of the practice

brought out?


Ans: A satire is a work of art or literature that ridicules the vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings of an individual government, society etc,. This poem is the voice of the suppressed like the poet who face discrimination in society because of their caste. This kind of discrimination has been prevalent in Indian society for centuries. Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy expresses his dissent against this evil system that separates people. 

This poem is a metaphor for those suppressed voices that aspire to live in a free society without facing any discrimination. That is why the poet wishes to be a tree in nature rather than being a human undergoing sufferings of exploitation and separation. The poet feels that as a tree he would be accepted by the forces of nature. Unlike in human society, no other creature asks the tree what caste it is. The mother earth does not flee shouting for a bath. The holy cow also touches the tree by scraping her body when she has the itching sensation. They wouldn’t feel defiled coming in contact with the tree. The obnoxious practices of defilement exist only in human society where an upper caste human runs for a holy bath in order to purify himself on being touched by a lower caste individual . 

The speaker is painfully optimistic that by being a tree he can still become pure when burnt in the holy fire. Or, the tree could be used as the bier to carry a sinless body borne on the shoulders of  four good men. 

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