Them. protect then, make them feel secure.

(B) POEM OF APPRECIATION Q.3., (B) - 4 Marks

appreciation of the poem.
With the help of the following points, writea poetic
About the poem / poet and the title
The theme
Poetic style
The language/ poetic devices used in the poem
Special features
Message, values, morals in the poem
Your opinion about the poem
Ans. "Father Returning Home' is apoem written by Dilip Chitre who in two stanzas presents
the dull, monotonous daily routine of his fathr.
The poem opens with the description of the poet's father's late evening train journey from
his workplace to home. His father is the representative of the senior citizens all over the worlà
whoare suffering from a pathetic condition of alienation. The train journey for a person who is
not at the prime of youth is quite boring. The compartment is gloomy and the fellow passengers
are not cordial. He does not get a place to sit. He is least bothered to take interest in the passing
scenes visible from the moving train. He is carrying a bag full of books which he finds difficult to
handle. Moreover, because of monsoon rain, his clothes, raincoat, slippers are soiled. He gets ot
the train unceremoniously and hurries towards home. After all, at the end of a hard day's work at
hisage, home is the best place to take refuge in.
But, unfortunately, for the poet's father, the home atmosphere is not at all friendly. HiS
basicneeds like a cup of tea or his dinner are served very casually. The poet watches him drinking
bis weak tea and stale chapatis while reading a book. Perhaps, the book is his escape route t0
 Yuvakbharati - XII
English
forget about the
issue which is staleness
the common
of the food. But the poet describes him
161

alienation by their own problem of the contemplating on an important

from the wash clan, the human elderly people - estrangement, that is, loneliness or
basin.
his insecurity as an The poet hints at this
beings. His hands are trembling as he touches the water
shaking of the hand saying it might be because of
him because of the elderly person. His children are not interested to share their thoughts with
an
generation gap, He has to accent this behaviour and take
to the noisy radio before
going to sleen He dreams of his shelter in listening
subcontinent through the ancestors who have entered Indian
thefuture generation. TheKhyber Pass as well as of his grandchildren who are
mention of the past, and thefuture is
changes that have happened in the modern deliberate
representative ol
as the past snows
dream symbolizes the poet's father's inner world and the future brings the light of hope. 1ne
longings which he is unable toexpress openly.
The poem has the theme of alienation of the elderly
got an autobiographical element as the poet talkS about his
people in the modern world. It has
father. But he goes beyond that as he
hints at this lonelinessof the senior citizens as a global
phenomenon. He uses a beautifulsimile to
make the idea of the insignificance of the elderly persons very obvious. His father's getting off the
train is directly compared to the dropping of a word from along sentence which goes unnoticed.
The poet uses free verse as his thoughts about the senior citizens should flow freely out of
his mind. This is such a sensitive issue that the poet does not want the binding of rhyme-scheme
to obstruct his feelings. To convey to the readers that his father is in the twilight areas of his life,
the poet has used the images like the late evening train, dim yellow light, poor eyesight, grey
platform.
generation to
In a veryunigue way, the poet Dilip Chitre makes an appeal to the younger
out of their insecurities, He gives the
take care of the elderly people. They need attention to come
apparent. This is his massage to the readers
example of his own father but the problem is qite emotionally
this wav of making the readers feel the plight of the senior citizens
and I like