K.POORNIMA DEVI

T.G.T. ENGLISH

JNV RANGAREDDY TELANGANA

LOUD READING

Gong: an object made of metal which gives sound when struck�Hawker: Person who travels and shouts to sell goods�Crystal: a jewel which looks clear and transparent just  like ice�Vendor: a street salesman

New Words:

• Digging: break up the soil or earth with hands or tools.

• Spade: a sharp edged tool used for digging and cutting�baked in the sun: Heated because of excessive sunlight, excessive Sun exposure�digging away: to devote serious and consistent effort

• walking up and down: to move back and forth, from one side to the other�giant : an imaginary superhuman

swings : to move from one side to another

Chasing: pursue, run after

SUMMARY

• The poem describes a child's longing for the freedom he sees in the lives of those around him. When the gong sounds ten in the morning, he walks to his school and sees the hawker crying "Bangles, crystal bangles!" and he wishes he could be a hawker. At four in the afternoon, while coming back from school, he sees the gardener digging the ground and he wishes he were a gardener. When dusk falls his mother sends him to bed and he sees the watchman through the window and he wishes he could be a watchman. The poem gives us an insight into the working of a child’s mind. Children dislike parental control on their activities. They always hunger for freedom. The freedom of a hawker and a gardener and a watchman fascinates the child narrator in this poem because they are their own masters enjoying the utmost freedom without the slightest rebuke of anybody. Foolishly, the boy does not see the hardships that each worker faces') The hawker yells all day, standing in the same spot trying to sell cheap bangles. Undoubtedly his work is boring and unsatisfying.ii)  The gardener, possibly working for someone else, spends hours doing back-breaking work.  His job is dirty and his hands are rough from using gardening tools.iii) The watchman walks all night without sleep. The streets are shadowy, desolate, and lonely. He has got very tedious job too. Therefore, the outlook of the boy is obviously childish. Hopefully, time and maturity will enable the boy to find his vocation through his education and commitment to a profession.

ACTIVITY�READ, RECOLLECT AND REMEMBER

ASSIGNMENT