Available Answers

1. 1.

   Write the correct stanza number for the paraphrases given below for each stanza.

   1. The statue of Gandhi is observing everything and is searching for honesty in the web of past. Stanza number _____________	2. Mahatma Gandhi set a good example for us so that we could reflect upon ourselves. Stanza number ____________
   3. The poet says that Mahatma Gandhi stands in the form of a statue at the crossroads but is still ignored by the masses. Stanza number _____________	4. The poor are becoming poorer. They are still suffering. Stanza number ____________

2. 2.

   He grew and grew like a huge banyan
   with knotted roots
   and a leafy shade
   for us to sit under
   and introspect.

   1. Who grew like a huge banyan?
   2. What does the 'knotted roots' and 'leafy shade' suggest about this person?
   3. The act of introspecting is the same as _____________________________. i) soul-searching and thinking deeply ii) celebrating iii) relaxing
3. 3.

   He now stands at the crossroads
   spectacled in stone
   piercing through the dimness
   of truth
   in iconic distance
   in the labyrinths of history.

   1. What does 'spectacled in stone' refer to?
   2. What does the poet mean by 'iconic distance'?
   3. What does the poet mean by 'labyrinths of history'?
4. 4.

   The Mahatma
   in his statuesque immobility
   carved in rocky apathy
   at the traffic signal
   remains forever forgotten
   in the quagmire of life.

   1. What does the phrase 'statuesque immobility' refer to?
   2. What does the statue of Mahatma 'carved in rock apathy' convey? Why does the poet feel so?
   3. Why do you think the poet says that the statue remains forgotten?
5. 5.

   Why does the poet compare the figure of the Mahatma to a tree?

6. 6.

   Why is the statue of Mahatma Gandhi piercing through the dimness of truth?