"Father Returning Home" is an emotive poem by Dilip Chitre that paints a vivid picture of the poet's father's isolated and mundane life. The poem begins with the father travelling home on a late evening train amongst silent commuters. As the suburbs slide past.......
Father Returning Home - Literature Billabong High - Class 8 - English
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Back Questions - Father Returning Home | Literature Billabong High | Literature | English | Class 8
Based on your understanding of the poem, complete the summary of the poem given below.
The poem begins with the speaker’s description of his …………………………………………………………. travelling home. He is travelling in …………………………………………………………. In the yellow light inside the train compartment. The sliding landscapes pass through ………………………………………… of the father. The whole exercise invokes a sense of monotony in the life of the father. The poet’s father gets down from the train. His action is compared to ……………………………………………………… . The scene then shifts from the train to …………………………………………………………. . The father now performs another set of actions like …………………………………………………………. and ………………………..
……………………………………. . He goes to the toilet to …………………………………………………………. . These thoughts affect him deeply as we see when he comes out of the toilet and …………………………….. . His children refuse to …………………………………………………………. . Towards the end of the poem, we see the father listening …………………………………………………………. And dreaming ……………………………..
The poem begins with the speaker’s description of his father travelling home. He is travelling in the late evening train. In the yellow light inside the train compartment, the sliding landscapes pass through the unseeing eyes of the father. The whole exercise invokes a sense of monotony in the life of the father. The poet’s father gets down from the train. His action is compared to a word dropped from a long sentence. The scene then shifts from the train to the home. The father now performs another set of actions like drinking weak tea, eating a stale chapati, reading a book. He goes to the toilet to contemplate man's estrangement from a man-made world. These thoughts affect him deeply as we see when he comes out of the toilet and trembles at the sink. His children refuse to share jokes and secrets with him. Towards the end of the poem, we see the father listening to the static on the radio and dreaming of his ancestors and grandchildren.
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Identify the different images that are used in the poem, ‘Father Returning Home,’ and not them down in the graphic organiser below.
IMAGERY IN THE POEM
‘FATHER RETURNING HOME’
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Sign up nowIdentify and explain the figures of speech in the following lines from the poem.
a) Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light.
b) Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes.
c) Now I can see him getting off the train; like a word dropped from a long sentence.
d) He goes into the toilet to contemplate man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
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Sign up nowExtra Questions - Father Returning Home | Literature Billabong High | Literature | English | Class 8
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are stickly with mud, but he hurries
onward.
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are stickly with mud, but he hurries
onward.
a. How does the poet use vivid imagery to describe the physical appearance of his father? Discuss the significance of the use of such imagery in building the character of the father.
b. The poet describes his father as “a word dropped from a long sentence”. Discuss what this metaphor suggests about the father’s place and importance in society or family.
a. The poet uses vivid imagery to describe the physical appearance of his father as tired, ageing and burdened. This imagery includes “soggy” clothes, a “stained” raincoat, a “bag stuffed with books”, “unseeing eyes” and “chappals stickly with mud”. This portrayal of the father’s physical appearance not only paints a vivid picture but also gives an insight into his hard and exhausting life, thus building the character of the father.
b. The metaphor of the father as “a word dropped from a long sentence” suggests that he might be feeling insignificant or overlooked in society or within the family, reinforcing the theme of isolation and loneliness.
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My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are stickly with mud, but he hurries
onward.
a. The actions described in the poem, such as “standing among silent commuters”, “suburbs slide past”, and “home again”, suggest a routine monotony. How do the regularity and repetition in the father’s life contribute to the theme of the poem?
b. Explore how the poet uses language and sensory details to evoke the feeling of isolation and loneliness in his father’s life?
c. The phrase “His eyes dimmed by age fade homeward through the humid monsoon night” show us a glimpse of both the physical and emotional state of the father. How does the poet use this line to create an empathetic understanding in the reader?
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Sign up nowAbout the Poet - Father Returning Home | Literature Billabong High | Class 8 Literature | English
Dilip Purushottam Chitre was an Indian poet, critic, artist, and filmmaker born on November 17, 1938, in Baroda, Gujarat, India. His literary contributions spanned various languages, including Marathi and English. Chitre is acclaimed as a crucial figure in postcolonial Indian literature, significantly enriching its diversity and depth.
As a multifaceted artist, Chitre's creativity extended beyond poetry. His talents included painting and filmmaking. He directed a film on a fellow poet, Namdeo Dhasal, which won international acclaim.
In the realm of poetry, Chitre is celebrated for his intense and powerful expressions and vivid and poignant imagery. His works often reflect introspection, disillusionment, and existential angst, exploring themes of loneliness, alienation, and the human condition. His introspective work "Father Returning Home" is one such example where he explores the theme of loneliness and alienation.
Chitre received numerous awards and accolades for his literary works, including the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1994. He also translated works of other major Marathi writers into English.
He passed away on December 10, 2009, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to inspire artists and readers alike.
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Themes - Father Returning Home | Literature Billabong High | Class 8 Literature | English
1. Loneliness and Alienation: This theme is persistent throughout the poem. The father is depicted as a solitary figure, travelling alone, eating alone, and thinking alone. He is separated from his family and the world around him, leading......
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Unlock now 🔓Symbols - Father Returning Home | Literature Billabong High | Class 8 Literature | English
1. Late Evening Train: The train symbolizes the father's journey towards home, but it also signifies his alienated existence. His return home....
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1. Simile: The line, "Like a word dropped from a long sentence," is a simile where the father's arrival home is compared to an unnecessary word in a long sentence, emphasizing his unimportance and insignificance.
2. Metaphor: The 'unseeing eyes' and....
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